Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are copyright Sega, Archie Comics, and/or DiC. I'm not sure which, nor do I care.

Robyn Hedgehog and related characters are copyright Michelle McGee.

Grace Raccoon copyright Grace McGee.

Midnight and Amanda Starr are both copyright Lily McGee.

You may print this story out to read later, but please don't change it, or try and sell it. You may think I'll never find out, but I will. And when I do, I'll track you down, have exactly 113 pizzas sent to your house, and tell the government that you're a spy from another country. So there. ;)

Authors note: Hi!! I was reading over all the different versions of my profile, and I was amazed at how many changes my character has been through. So, I decided to write an origins story so I could lay down a solid continuity for my characters, some of my sisters characters, and our collective view of Mobius. Also, the first part of this isn’t gonna seem too much like a Sonic story. But that part is important! So just try to bear through it, it’ll get better later on! I promise! Enjoy!

Family Reunions: The Story of Robyn

By: Robyn Hedgehog

“What is it, Snively?”

"Sir, the vehicles are on course for the Great Plains. They should reach their destination within 24 hours."

"Excellent Snively. Alert me when they arrive."

"Yes sir." the lackey turned to leave and added quietly to himself, "You big ball of lard."

"What was that Snively?!"

"Uh, h-heh, n-n-nothing sir." Snively stammered.

"Good. Now get out."

The Great Plains, the same day. The sun had been up several hours, shining it's golden rays down on the miles of tall grasses. Located in the direct center of the large stretch of land, was a long extinct volcano turned forested valley. Exactly one mile in diameter, it held a small forest, a large lake with good fishing, and a small village that is almost completely cut off from the rest of the world.

"Robyn, come down for breakfast! It's almost ten o' clock!" Sara Hedgehog called up the stairs where her daughter's room was located. She heard a loud grumble, some shifting around, and Robyn plead sleepily for five more minutes. Sara chuckled softly to herself. The girl reminded her so much of her husband, Sam. Impossible to get them to bed, impossible to get them out. "Alright, but if your not down by then, I'm coming up." she received no response, which probably meant Robyn was asleep again.

Walking down the hall toward the kitchen, Sara passed some pictures hanging on the wall. She stopped a moment to look at them. The hedgehog looked among the family pictures, and let her gaze fall on a picture of her brothers, Charles and Jules. She sighed. She hadn't heard from either of them in years. If the Great War, -- which the people of this village hadn't found out about until over a year after it had begun -- was still being fought, it might explain the lack of communication. Still, Charles and Jules, Charles especially, had always been good about such things. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't heard from either of her brothers since, since Robyn was about four.

Sara sighed once more, gave her head a little shake, and decided to give up on that train of thought for the moment.

Entering the kitchen, the purplish blue hedgehog began making sandwiches, knowing full well that that daughter of hers had no intention of eating breakfast.

A few minutes after Sara had finished with the sandwiches, Robyn came into the kitchen and headed straight for the refrigerator. The presence of her backpack suggested that she had somewhere to go.

"There are some sandwiches on the table, honey."

Robyn looked over the refrigerator door at her mother. How could she have known I was in here? she thought to her self. She's not even facing me. Deciding all mothers had radars for ears - or hers at least - Robyn went over to the table, and put the sandwiches in her backpack.

"Thanks mom. See ya later." she said, heading toward the back door.

"Hold on. Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"I told you last night that I was going to meet Grace at the northern wall of the crater. And right now, I'm late."

"Alright, but I want you home no later than 5."

Robyn muttered something indiscernible, and walked out the door, letting it slam shut behind her.

Sara watched her daughter go, once again finding the similarities between father and daughter quite amusing.

Racing at sub sonic speeds, Robyn reached her destination within seconds.

"Grace! GRA-ACE! Where are you?!" the hedgehog called, not seeing her friend anywhere. "Now where could she have gotten to?" she asked herself. They were going to explore the extensive cave system they had found a few days ago, but Grace didn't seem to be here yet. Which was truly odd since she was almost never late. Grace wouldn't go in with out me, would she?

A twig snapped. The purple hedgehog turned to face the noise, thinking it was probably an unevolved squirrel, or Grace trying to scare her. The latter was right. A few moments later, the afore mentioned raccoon jumped out of the tree directly in front of the hedgehog, yelling quite loudly.

"YAHH!" Robyn screamed in surprise. "Grace! Don't do that! Ya nearly scared the quills offa me!" the raccoon just stood there giggling, her eyes shining. "Are you quite finished?"

Grace stopped giggling, and cleared her throat. "Uh huh, I'm done now." Robyn could see her friend was trying very hard not to laugh.

She sighed. "Go ahead, Gracie." upon hearing those words, the raccoon burst out laughing.

After several minutes of this, the raccoon finished laughing. "Okay, now I'm really done." she said, pretending to wipe away a tear.

"Good. Now, are we gonna go in, or what?"

"Yep, follow me!" she said, darting off. Robyn pursued at a jog. They stopped at the wall of the crater, near a group of large bushes. Grace pushed some branches out of her way, and stepped onto some hidden path between the bushes. The hedgehog followed, wondering where on Mobius they were headed.

Emerging from the foliage, the violet hedgehog was met with the site of what appeared to be the mouth of a cave. A very small cave. The cave mouth looked more like large crack than anything else. It was tall, narrow, and didn't seem to go in more than a few feet.

Carefully, the raccoon slipped inside the crack. "C'mon Rob! It's really cool in here." she called out to her friend.

Robyn hesitated, then attempted to squeeze through. It was a tight fit, but she managed to make it through, scraping her knee and yanking out a few quills in the process. Once inside, the hedgehog found that the so-called crack in the wall opened up into a fairly wide tunnel.

“Grace? Where are you? I can’t see a thing!” she called into the darkness. Suddenly the tunnel lit up, and the hedgehog saw Grace standing a few feet away, holding a flashlight.

“Hurry up, Robbie! I think you’ll really like this!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Robyn muttered, rubbing her knee.

After several minutes of wondering through the tunnel, -which had several twists and turns- Robyn and Grace entered a large cavern. The hedgehog stood there a few moments, taking in what she was seeing, when she realized that her friend no longer had her light on.

Odd she thought. Looking up, the violet hedgehog saw many large crystals on the ceiling of the cavern glowing softly in several different colors.

“Neat, huh?” the raccoon asked, interrupting Robyn’s train of thought.

“What makes’em glow like that?” the hedgehog asked in an awed tone.

The raccoon shrugged. “Dunno. I tried to get some of it, but it’s way to high up.” She wrinkled her nose, then sighed. “But anywho, this is just the main cavern. I still haven’t shown you the other stuff yet.” Grace walked over to the far side of the cavern, where a natural staircase of sorts was formed. She climbed part way up, then realizing that her friend was not behind her, asked, “Are you coming, or what?”

Later that afternoon, Robyn walked through the front door of her home, plans of further exploring that cave system, and figuring out what those glowing crystals were, running through her mind.

“Hi Mom! Sorry I’m late!” she yelled as she pelted up the stairs to her room.

She flung her backpack in her room, then went back downstairs, heading straight for the kitchen. “What’s for dinner?” the hedgehog asked, leaning her back against the counter next to her mother.

“You’ll see.” was all she said.

“Hmph.”

A few minutes later, the two hedgehogs heard the front door open, and somebody enter. “Hi honey, I’m home!” Sam called from the living room.

“How original, Dad.” Robyn remarked from the kitchen entryway.

“And I suppose you could think of something better?” he asked, giving her shoulders a squeeze.

“You bet I could.”

“Now don’t get him started, honey. Dinner's almost ready and the last thing I need is you two getting into a competitive mood and losing your appetites.”

“Okay Mom. I won't embarrass Dad tonight with my unsurpassed genius.” said the purple hedgehog giggling.

“Oh, a comedian, huh?”

“Yep!”

“Well, despite the fact that you made fun of my extraordinary mental capabilities,” he paused to give his family a sarcastic grin. “I’ll go ahead and give you your surprise anyway.”

“You got me something? What is it?”

“Follow me and you’ll find out.” curious now, Robyn followed her father up to the attic.

After digging around in some boxes, Sam pulled out a long, dusty wooden box. He wiped the dust off of it, and handed it to his daughter.

Puzzled, the purple hedgehog carefully opened the box, and gasped when she saw what was inside it. Lying in the old wood box was the most beautiful long bow she had ever seen. The wood was carved in a rose design, and had a dark cherry finish.

“Where did get such a beautiful bow, Dad?” she asked, totally entranced by the gleaming long bow sitting before her.

“Your grandfather gave it to me.”

“Really?”

“Yep. This bow has been passed down in my family for generations. I wasn’t getting much use out of it, so I thought you might like it.”

Clutching the box in one arm, she threw the other around her father in an affectionate hug. “Thanks, dad!”

“You’re welcome kid. Now let’s go eat dinner.”

The next morning, Robyn was out early. An unusual phenomenon considering the girl’s sleeping habits. She had left a note explaining where she was, assuring her mother that she would be careful, and had plenty of food, as well as other supplies.

The purple hedgehog wanted to explore that cave system a little more thoroughly before Grace got her hauling supplies.

Having satisfied her curiosity about the complex cave system, the purple hedgehog emerged into the sunlight to wait for her friend, Grace, to arrive.

After waiting several hours, it became apparent that Grace was not going to show up. In that time, Robyn had done a multitude of things from throwing rocks against the crater wall, to catching grasshoppers, to seeing how long she could hold her breath to help pass the time. Now, feeling very irritated, the violet hedgehog started walking back home, hoping she would meet the aforementioned raccoon on the way back.

Robyn didn’t see Grace on the way back. In fact, she didn’t see anybody. Which was odd, since there was almost always somebody going in and out of the village doing something or other.

As she came closer to the village, the hedgehog heard screams, and could smell smoke in the distance. Alarmed, the purple hedgehog poured on the speed, fearing what she would find.

When Robyn reached the village, the sheer intensity of what was happening hit her like a physical blow. Houses were on fire, people were running recklessly through the street, and hundreds of humanoid robots were taking everybody prisoner. Thinking of her family and friends, the hedgehog dove into the melee.

Weaving around buildings, people, and bowling over the occasional ‘bot, Robyn searched frantically for the ones she cared about. While running about, she saw out of the corner of her eye a band of furries - led by a fox she thought she knew – fighting what appeared to be a losing battle against the robots.

Unable to find either of her parents, or any of her friends, self preservation kicked in. Picking up the pace, the violet hedgehog blasted out of the burning village, the panic that had been welling up inside her adding wings to her feet.

The frightened hedgehog ran like she was being chased by demons from deepest, darkest, reaches of hell. She stopped at the outer wall of the crater, where she hit the ground and wept painfully.

It was several hours before Robyn could summon up enough courage to sneak back up to her village. Thankfully, all the robots were gone. Unfortunately, so was everybody else.

Cautiously, the young hedgehog walked through the ruins of what was her home. She soon came up to her house, one of the few buildings spared from the fire.

Entering, the purple hedgehog crept down the halls, thinking how so very quiet it was. She knew she couldn’t stay in the village, but where could she go? Well, wherever she went, she would need supplies. Coming into the kitchen, Robyn removed her backpack and filled it with as much food as she could carry in her already laden backpack, then continued on through the house.

She was about to leave when a group of pictures hanging on the wall caught her eye. Unbeknownst to her, those were the exact same pictures her mother had stood in front of only the day before. While looking at them, an idea formed in her mind. Her mother had often talked about her two brothers that lived in the capital, Mobotropolis. She resolved right then and there to go find her uncles and tell them what happened.

That decision made, Robyn pulled several of the pictures decorating the walls down, and ripped them out of their frames. Then, with one final look around the place she had called home her entire life, left, wondering what lay ahead of her.

“This is it?” Robyn asked herself. The violet hedgehog was standing on a small hill over looking a large, polluted looking city. Mobotropolis wasn’t exactly as she had pictured it. It had always been described to her as a beautiful garden city. This however, looked more like a giant factory with a greasy cloud of chemicals hanging over it. “Might as well go down there. Couldn’t hurt to at least look, I guess.” Taking a deep breath, the young traveler marched down to the massive metropolis, a sudden sense of dread filling her.

Sonic the Hedgehog crept through the dark alleyways of Robotropolis. He had just picked up some information from the blind drop his Uncle Chuck oft used for getting info to the Freedom Fighters, and was on his way back to Knothole. The going had been pretty easy; he had seen only a few Swat-bots. In fact, he had seen hardly anything the entire time he was there. This whole thing had been entirely too easy, and more than once did the thought that something was wrong cross his mind. The super-sonic hedgehog was now nearing the edge of the city, so he figured if Robotnik was going to spring a trap on him, he’d have to do it pretty soon.

The young hedgehog poked his head out of the alley he was in, looking for any signs of approaching danger. No sooner had he done that, than a purple streak sped by him, followed by who knows how many Swat-bots.

“What the heck was that?!” the blue hedgehog exclaimed in confusion. Whatever it was, it was fast. Now of course, being a hedgehog of action, Sonic wasn’t about to let an opportunity like this go by. So with out another moment’s hesitation, he gave chase, deciding to keep a respectful distance behind until he found out what was going on.

The purple flash gave the bots and hedgehog a merry chase throughout the city, until finally it came to a dead end and was forced to stop. The ‘it’ turned out to be a female hedgehog. Though panting hard, she took on a threatening stance, trying to show she wasn’t afraid of the Swat-bots. The obvious fear in her eyes was the only thing that gave her away.

The female hedgehog was backed against the wall, watching the robots close in on her, and not quite sure what to do. The only weapon she had was her long bow. Not that it mattered. You couldn’t fight in such close quarters with a bow anyway.

Lost, tired, and defenseless, with no hope of escape or rescue, the girl closed her eyes, and waited to be carried off. It never happened. The sound of destruction reached her ears. Well, that is if destruction had any particular sound. She tentatively opened one eye, then the second in astonishment. Strewn about the street were pieces of the Swat-bots. Electricity crackled from some of the hulks of the dismembered robots where limbs, or in a few cases, heads, had been severed. Among the wreckage of scattered robotic parts, stood a cobalt blue hedgehog, who appeared to be admiring his handy work.

It was a few moments before he noticed her standing there. “Are you OK?” his words brought Robyn out the state of shock she was in. Straightening up, she brushed herself off, and absently ran a gloved hand through her bangs and head quills.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” she answered.

“Well, aren’t ya gonna thank me?”

“For what?” the purple hedgehog asked, feeling an unusual sense of bravado.

“For savin’ your life.” replied the blue hedgehog, his arms crossed.

“Saving my life? I had everything under control, thank-you-very-much.” what on Mobius was she doing? This guy had just saved her life, and she was arguing with him!

“Didn’t look like it from where I was standing.” he eyed her a moment, then continued. “What’s your name?”

“Robyn. What’s yours?”

“Sonic the Hedgehog. I’m sure you’ve heard of me.” from blank expression on her face, he guessed she hadn’t. Shrugging this off, he continued. “Well Robyn, I’ll be seeing ya. Later.” turning on his heel, Sonic walked off, silently counting down from five.

When Sonic reached one, Robyn called out to him. “Hey wait a minute! You aren’t just gonna leave me here, are you?”

“Of course. You said you had everything under control.” The blue hedgehog was mentally grinning. He had seen this type of thing a million times before.

“I do.” she said after a moment. “It's just that I'm kinda new here, and I'm not as familiar with everything as I'm sure you are. And since I'm obviously in the wrong place, I thought maybe you could point me in the direction of the nearest friendly civilization.”

“Alright, I’ll help you out,” he flashed her a mischievous grin then continued. “That is if you can keep up.” before Robyn even had time to react, the blue hedgehog had raced off, a cloud of dust trailing him.

“Hey! No fair!” she yelled, revving up and dashing after her egotistical savoir.

“Well, Snively, what is it?” Robotnik asked his lackey irritably.

“Sir, I just received the status report from Swat-bots you sent to that village in the Great Plains.”

“And?” he prompted.

“We did suffer some very, very minor losses,” seeing his uncle’s temper wouldn’t hold much longer, Snively decided not to attempt to sugar coat it any more and simply get on with it. “but we did manage to capture most of the residence of the village.”

“Most? I wanted them all captured. How many escaped?”

Snively was now stammering quite a bit, and sweating profusely. However, the tub of lard was taking this much better than expected. “W-w-well, I’m not exactly sure, b-b-but I estimate c-c-close to th-thirty, s-s-sir.”

That did it. “THIRTY!? Snively, there was only a hundred Mobians in that village!” the evil dictator was now his feet. The short, bald lackey was stuttering and stammering, making every word completely incomprehensible. Robotnik looked like he was about to ram his nephew into the closest available wall, when the intruder alarm went off.

Snively stumbled over to the computer control panel as fast as he could and hit a button. A moment later, the image of a purple hedgehog being chased by at least two dozen Swat-bots appeared on the main screen.

Both Overlanders, uncle and nephew, watched with interest. The Swats-bots soon had it cornered in a dead end alley. It looked as if they had her (despite the fact the hedgehog was little more than a purple blur on screen, they decided it was indeed female after the Swat-bots had cornered her) when the sound of rending metal filtered through the speakers and the screen abruptly went blank.

Two hedgehogs with speed? Now this was interesting. Very interesting indeed. The rotund doctor sat in his chair, twisting his ridiculous orange mustache between his thumb and index finger.

“Shall I send out more Swat-bots, sir?” Snively asked timidly.

“No, Snively. I want you find out who that purple hedgehog was. There may be some connection between her and that miserable blue rodent.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Where are you from, Robyn?” Princess Sally kindly asked the violet hedgehog sitting before her. Sonic had brought her in only a few minutes before, tired and travel worn. The girl was dirty, had cuts and scratches in various, and looked like she had been traveling for days.

“Havenwood, in the crater of the Great Plains.” Robyn answered in a quiet voice, still in a state of mourning over the loss of her home. Sally and Sonic glanced at each other, and made eye contact for the briefest second. They sympathized with her, but neither had heard of a village called Havenwood, and they certainly had never heard of a crater in the Great Plains large enough to hold an entire village of any size.

“And you say your village was attacked?”

“Uh-huh.”

“By who?”

“By large robots. They had lasers mounted on their arms, and looked kinda like humans.”

That certainly sounded like Swat-bots, which of course meant Robotnik. But if the not so good doctor were planning an attack on a helpless little village, wouldn’t the Freedom Fighters have known about it before now? If Robotnik were anything, it certainly wasn’t subtle.

Sally was still deciding whether or not to believe the young hedgehog’s story, when a distinctive cooing sound was heard.

“What was that?” Robyn asked, not being familiar with the Freedom Fighter’s messaging system. The princess walked over to the window, cupped her hands over her mouth, and repeated the cooing noise. A few moments later, a small, strange looking bird fluttered in, and landed on the squirrel’s extended arm. Sally then removed a note contained in a tube strapped to the bird. She read it to herself as the little bird flew off to it’s unknown perch.

The princess shook her head. In her hands was the confirmation of Robyn’s story. A highly secluded village located inside a formerly volcanic crater located in the Great Plains named Havenwood had been attacked and destroyed. There was also a possibility of an unknown number of survivors. And apparently, that survivor was sitting right in her own living room.

“S’what’s Uncle Chuck say, Sal?” Sonic inquired from where he was lounging on Sally’s couch.

“Look’s like you were telling the truth Robyn. Robotnik did attack a village in the Great Plains named Havenwood. Uncle Chuck also says that there is a chance some of the villagers escaped.” she hadn’t meant to be so blunt, but oh well. Too late now.

Robyn looked down at the floor a moment before speaking. “I’m guess I’m that one, huh?”

“He must have just found out about it, otherwise we would’ve known of this before now. I’m sorry Robyn. If you like, you can stay here in Knothole.” Sally offered, feeling totally abashed for the lack of tact used in her previous statement.

The young refugee looked up at the squirrel whom had been introduced to her as princess. “Alright,” she agreed, her voice only a little unsteady. “I suppose searching for my uncles was pointless anyway.”

“Uncles? What uncles?” Sonic asked, who until now had been silent.

Robyn took a deep breath to calm herself before answering. “My mother had two older brothers that lived in Mobotropolis. After Havenwood was destroyed, I decided to go in search of them. That’s why I was in,” she paused, trying to remember the name of that awful city. “Robotropolis. But from what you tell me, if that’s the first place this Robotnik took over, I suppose they’re long gone by now.”

“Sonic, why don’t you show Robyn to one of the guest huts?” Sally suggested, deciding it best to get the purple hedgehog's attention on something else for now. There was something not quite right with this situation.

“Sure thing Sal. Follow me, Rob.” Robyn stood up, and followed him obediently. Something the Freedom Fighters would soon learn wasn’t something she did often.

Once they were gone, Sally pulled Nicole off her boot, and opened her up. The tiny hand held waited patiently for Sally to make her request.

Another hedgehog with speed. With two uncles that lived in Mobotropolis. Sonic had an uncle living in Mobotropolis, and who knows what happened to his father. Could Sonic and Robyn possibly be…naw. It’s just coincidence. There was no way they could be related! Right? “No, it’s impossible!”

“WHAT IS IMPOSSIBLE, SALLY?” Nicole asked unexpectedly.

“Nothing Nicole.” sighing, the princess closed up Nicole, and placed her back in her appropriate spot.

It was late. Very late. All the residence of Knothole were sound asleep. Even Robyn had managed to find sleep in her strange new surroundings. The night air was pleasantly cool, the only sound was the gentle song of the crickets calling to each other in the darkness.

The quiet serenity, however, was not to last. The messenger bird flew through Knothole as fast as his dragonfly wings would carry him. He didn’t give the usual alert of his presence. For being a mindless animal trained for this single task, he was certainly polite. The little bird landed lightly on the ledge of Sally’s window, and cooed softly. Not getting any response, it cooed again, a little louder this time. His calls still not being answered, he began tapping on the glass. Finally, the squirrel drug herself out of bed and groggily stumbled over to the window. She opened the window, removed the note carried from the tube, and watched as the little bird - relieved of his duties for the time being - flew off until he was needed again.

Once the tiny messenger had flown out of sight, the princess unfolded the piece of paper and read it to herself. “Finally! Some good news.” news which also could also wait till morning to be shared with the others. With a yawn, Sally laid the paper on her writing table, and headed back to bed, making a mental note to wake up a bit earlier.

“I’ll ask you one more time; where are the other villagers?” Snively asked the Mobian sitting in front of him. It was a young beaver, probably somewhere in his early to mid twenties. He was also absolutely no help at all. Pretty much all he had said so far were things that didn’t bear repeating.

“An I’ll tells ya one more time; I don’t know! One of yer fraggin ‘bots whacked me on the head before I knew what was a going on.” he said, arms crossed and a nasty expression on his face.

The long nosed human grumbled some impurity under his breath and walked over to the nearby computer console. “Then perhaps you can tell me who this is.” Snively tapped out a command and an image of a purple hedgehog appeared on screen.

The beaver carefully kept his face expressionless. He knew who that was. Everybody from Havenwood knew who that was. That was Sara and Samuel’s kid, Robyn. But why did this bald little Overlander want to know? Had she escaped? God, he hoped so. She was probably their best bet for rescue. Should he just tell his captors what they wanted to know? No. That wouldn't be wise. Unless he could get something in return.

“Why should I?” responded the beaver. He was probably pushing what little luck he had, but what did he really have to lose? Maybe the gamble would even pay off.

Snively snorted with annoyance. Then he had an idea. "What if I made it worth your while?"

The beaver's ear twitched. Looked like his gamble was paying off after all. "If I told you, what would I get for my cooperation?"

"What do you want?"

"For you to let me go."

"Done. Now tell me who she is."

"Her name's Robyn Hedgehog. Her parent's are Sam and Sara."

Sara Hedgehog, now why did that sound familiar? No matter, he’d gotten the information he’d wanted. The lackey instructed two Swat-bots to take the prisoner to be roboticized, and turned backed to the console, ignoring the cursing and screaming beaver as he was dragged away.

“You mean I wasn’t the only one?” Robyn asked, eyes wide with excitement.

“That’s right. Robotnik didn’t roboticize all the Mobians he captured from your village. He’s holding them in the prison block for some reason.” replied the princess. She could understand the purple hedgehog’s excitement. Something like this didn’t happen everyday. They still had to hope they’d be able to rescue the villagers in time, though. “Sonic, Uncle Chuck said he’d have more information in the morning. It’s morning, so I want you to go down to Robotropolis to see what he’s found out.”

“No problemo, Sal.” Sonic answered cheerfully. He never passed up an opportunity to see his uncle.

“Can I go?” Robyn inquired hopefully.

Sally wanted to groan. It was too early for this. Heck, she had made everybody tip toe around so they wouldn’t wake up Tails, just to avoid this exact situation. “Robotropolis is too dangerous Robyn. I think it would be better if you stay here.”

“C’mon Sally, those could be my friends and family over there. Please, let me help.” pleaded the violet hedgehog. No way was she gonna be left out of this.

“Lighten up Sally. It’s just Uncle Chuck’s. Besides, she’ll be with me. What could possibly go wrong?”

“Everything.” she sighed “Alright, but be careful.” Sally wanted to strangle Sonic. He did this every time Tails wanted to go somewhere, and now this. Well, if Robyn could run half as fast as both hedgehog’s claimed she could, then she’d probably be alright. The princess watched as the blue and purple hedgehogs tore off toward Robotropolis. Already this felt like one of those days.

It didn’t take long for Robyn and Sonic to reach Robotropolis, their arrival marked by twin sonic booms. Making it to Uncle Chuck’s hideout didn’t take long either.

“What are we doing in a junkyard, Sonic?” the violet hedgehog asked, stepping over a rusted piece of metal.

“Cause this is where my Uncle Chuck’s hideout is.” Sonic ducked behind a pile of garbage, looked around carefully for prying eyes, and tapped on a pipe a few times. To Robyn’s surprise, a door swung up out of the junk heap, revealing a hidden room down below.

The two hedgehogs entered, and the door silently locked back into place. Once more becoming part of the less than scenic surroundings.

“Hey there Sonie boy.” Uncle Chuck greeted, hugging his nephew. Robyn stood at the entrance, staring open mouthed. She’d never seen a roboticized Mobian before. “Who’s your friend?” he asked, noticing the purple hedgehog after a moment.

“This is Robyn. She’s from the village that Buttnik destroyed the other day. Rob, this is my Uncle Chuck.”

“Hi.” she said lamely, while holding up a hand of greeting.

“It’s nice to meet you Robyn.” The robotic hedgehog turned back to his nephew. “So what can I do for you kids?”

“Sally sent us to see if you found out anything else about those captive Mobians from Rob’s village.” Sonic informed his uncle.

“Well, you’re right on time then. I just finished compiling everything onto disc.” Uncle Chuck walked over to a nearby computer, and removed a small compact disc from the drive. “There you go. All the information you need should be on that disc.” he said, handing the CD to his nephew.

“Thanks Unc. We’ll take this to Sally. See ya later.”

“See you later Sonie. Goodbye Robyn.”

“Bye.” returned the purple hedgehog as she hurried after Sonic.

Uncle Chuck chuckled to himself as the door closed. The girl was shy, but if she survived an attack by Robotnik, and came all the way to Robotropolis willingly, she at least had guts. The robotic hedgehog smiled as he started tidying up his secret base. He had made himself a bit of a mess earlier; papers, ‘borrowed’ objects, spy equipment. All the stuff one would expect to find in a spy’s hideout.

“Oops,” Uncle Chuck had dropped a floppy disk on the floor. He scanned the ground in the immediate area. He spotted it lying on the floor next to a piece of paper. He bent to pick them up, and found the paper wasn’t paper, but a picture. Must have fallen out of Robyn’s back pack he thought. I’ll give it back to her—wait a second! “It can’t be. It’s impossible.” the folded, slightly faded picture was of…

“Sir Charles’s sister, Sara.” reported Snively.

The rotund dictator gave his lackey a disbelieving look before all the proper connections sunk in. Sir Charles did have a younger sister. He remembered meeting her once; it was in passing at some event or other. He had no idea the girl had had a daughter in the fifteen odd years since he’d met her. Well, it certainly explained the speed.

“What’s the girl’s name?”

“Robyn, sir.”

Robotnik had an evil looking grin on his face. “So the old goat has a niece. Let’s see how we can use this to our advantage.”

Elsewhere…

“What do you mean I can’t go?” demanded Robyn.

“Retrieving information is one thing, Robyn. But a rescue mission is completely out of the question. It’s too dangerous.” replied Sally. She almost would have preferred saying no to Tails.

The purple hedgehog turned to Sonic, who at the moment seemed to be her only supporter.

“I’m gonna hafta agree with Sally on this one. Sorry Rob.” said the blue hedgehog, an apologetic expression on his face.

“Argh! You Freedom Fighters are impossible!” exclaimed the violet hedgehog, storming out of the hut and slamming the door behind her. All the Freedom Fighters in the room locked eyes. That seemed vaguely familiar.

When Robyn got upset over something, she would grumble about it while taking a walk in the woods. By the time she returned from said walk, she normally felt better. And, apparently, old habits died hard. Unfortunately, the hedgehog didn’t take into account the fact that she didn’t know these woods when she left. So after about an hour of aimless wondering, she realized that she was totally, completely, and utterly lost. A receding “do’h” was heard through the forest.

“This is just not my week.” she said, slapping her forehead. “Okay. Now, what to do?” Robyn never really had gotten the hang of tracking, so retracing the rather erratic path she had taken probably wasn’t going to work.

She walked on a little further in the direction she thought Knothole was in. After discovering that she had circled a large group of trees and bushes three or four times, she stopped and leaned against the nearest tree.

“Mandy!” Robyn’s ears pricked up when a sound met her ears. “Mandy!” There it was again! It was close. Very close. Curiosity piqued, the violet hedgehog went behind the tree, looking for the source of the noise. She found it sooner than expected. She hadn’t even taken a single step before running straight into a midnight blue cat. The feline was obviously unhappy; her red eyes were glowing brightly.

Hold the phone, glowing red eyes? Midnight blue fur? “Midnight? Izzat you?” the cat blinked, and her eyes immediately stopped glowing.

“Robyn?”

“The one and only. Oh, it’s so good to see you, Mids!” Robyn chimed, hugging her friend. “Wait a sec. Aren’t you a little far North? I thought you lived in the Southern Continent?”

Midnight grimaced before answering. “It’s a long story. But what are you doing here? I thought you lived in the Great Plains?”

“Uhhh, in a nutshell, a power mad tyrant destroyed Havenwood and enslaved it's inhabitants.”

They stood there in awkward silence, neither knowing exactly what to say. It had, after all, been several years since they had seen each other.

While Robyn was digging her toe in the dirt, and Midnight was rocking back and forth on her heels, a little sky blue cat with dark auburn hair pulled back into a pony tail wandered up.

“Midy, I’m hungry.” she said, tugging on the older feline’s white vest.

The darker blue cat looked down at her sister. “About time you decided to come out of hiding.” she said, in a slightly scolding tone. She sighed. “Want to have lunch with us, Robyn?”

Realizing for the first time that she was hungry, Robyn readily excepted the invitation.

“So that’s what happened? Wow.” Robyn said between mouthfuls. The three had been exchanging stories over a humble meal of canned beans.

“Yes. We’ve been traveling ever since Catalina fell. But you sound like you had better luck. Roof over head, and in a hidden location.”

“It’s not that great. Those Freedom Fighters are absolutely impossible. They think that some Havenwooders are being held prisoner, but they won’t let me help rescue them. What’s worse, they’d rather sit around and discuss everything ‘til the sun goes down before they do anything. It’s insane.”

Midy stuck her tongue out and wrinkled her nose before speaking. “Figures. Why don’t you go yourself?”

“Can’t. Left my pack back in Knothole. And, I can’t really…find my…way back.” She admitted, flushing with embarrassment. Amanda giggled loudly, all the while trying not to drop her bowl. Midnight just sat there with an amused smile on her face, trying not to laugh.

“Rob,” she started, then found out she couldn’t talk and not laugh at the same time. “Rob,” she tried again. “How could you lose a village?”

“Oh, hush.”

“Alright, I’m sorry. So is Amanda.”

“No I’m not.” the younger feline protested.

“Yes you are.” she said, giving her sister an ‘I dare you’ look. “If it makes you feel better though, I found Knothole this morning. I’ll take you back if you like.”

The violet hedgehog seemed to think about this, apparently not sure if she wanted to go back to those unbearably idle Freedom Fighters. At length she said, “Okay. I really don’t have anywhere else to go anyway. Besides, my stuff is there.”

Meanwhile, at around the same time in Knothole, the Freedom Fighters sat waiting impatiently for Sonic’s return.

He rushed through the door just as Antoine had fallen asleep. There was a startled shriek coming from the French fox’ direction.

“Did you find her?” Sally asked. She had sent Sonic out to find Robyn after soon after she had left. The princess was afraid that the girl would try to do something foolhardy like charging into Robotropolis by herself.

Sonic shook his head. “Nope. I looked everywhere in Knothole, and part of the Great Forest. Couldn’t find her.” he sounded rather disappointed. He had grown rather fond of her in the short time he’d known her.

The squirrel shook her head. “We’ll have to find her later. If we don’t leave soon, we will miss our window of opportunity.” The others reluctantly agreed. They hated to leave her alone in an unfamiliar place, but what could they do? There simply wasn’t enough time.

Unbeknownst to them, Robyn was much closer than they thought. She had sat outside one of the War Room’s windows, listening in on what was going on. Annoyed, the violet hedgehog snuck off, thinking; So they think they can run off and leave me behind, do they? Well, fine then. I’ll go to Robotropolis and rescue the Havenwooders all by myself. I can get there way faster than they can anyway. Sonic can’t tow all of them, can he? And, even if he could, they’d all slow him down a lot. Oh, who cares? I’ll still get there way before they do. Decision made, and with firm resolve, the young would-be hero set off towards her destination.

The junk heaps on the border of Robotropolis loomed ahead. She had reached the foul city quite sooner than expected. Maybe I should stop by Uncle Chuck’s… Robyn thought, suddenly loosing her nerve. “No. He’d only try to stop me, and send me back to Knothole.” The thought of being sent home like a little girl angered, and restored her lacking confidence.

Bolstering up her courage, the hedgehog marched into the city, determined to set her fellow villagers free.

It may have been intuition, fate, or sheer dumb luck, but somehow, Robyn made it to the prison building without being spotted, or having to search through multiple buildings.

“Must be my lucky day…” she muttered as she ascended the levels in search of prisoners. The violet hedgehog eventually made it to the top level, checking each cell as she passed by.

She groaned when she reached the last cell. There were no prisoners in the entire building! “I came too late.” the hedgehog said, grasping the bars of a cell door, and looking inside mournfully.

There was a sudden sharp pain at the back of her head. Everything began to get dark. “This can’t be good.” she muttered, slipping into unconsciousness.

Uncle Chuck sat in his secret hideout, stunned. Robyn couldn’t be his niece, could she? But how else would she have a picture of Sara, their brother Jules, and himself? Granted the picture would have to be at least 25 years old, and it was a little faded, but it was certainly of him and his siblings. He knew he had a niece. But communications had always been slow with Havenwood, especially during the Great War. So he had really no way of telling until he got a chance to talk to her.

“Better send a message to Knothole…” muttered the robotic hedgehog. He scribbled down a short note asking the Freedom Fighters to send Robyn down a.s.a.p. He then went outside, called the messenger bird, and sent if off to Knothole with this all important message.

When Robyn awoke, the first thing she saw was fuzzy gray lines. She blinked a few times to clear her vision. The lines were bars. The hedgehog was lying on her side, in a cage somewhere. Though she couldn’t figure out where.

A quick check told her that her back pack was missing. She heard somebody speaking behind her. No, two people were talking. She couldn’t tell what they were saying, everything sounded fuzzier than her vision. One sounded amused, and seemed to have control of the situation. The other she recognized. Sonic? He sounded angry.

The violet hedgehog sat up as far as she could, and turned around. There were two Overlanders standing several yards away from her, the larger one was speaking into a computer console. She guessed that one must be Robotnik. The little one with the long pointy nose was probably Snively. He looked like a Snively anyway. Sonic was nowhere to be seen, however. She moved around a little, and saw the blue hedgehog’s image on a screen. He definitely wasn’t happy.

After a few minutes, Robyn realized they were talking about her. What have I done now? She thought. Not only have I put myself in danger, but I put Sonic and the Freedom Fighters in danger too. If they try to rescue me, and they’re hurt, or captured, it’d be all my fault. Oh, me and my dumb ideas! Robyn would have kicked herself had she been able. Her speed definitely wasn’t going to get her out of this one.

Sonic sped toward Robotnik’s headquarters. He was supposed to be distracting Swat-bots, but his conversation with the lord of lard had really unsettled him. Why on Mobius would Robyn try something as idiotic as that? Admittedly, he would have probably done the exact same thing under similar conditions. It was still a stupid thing to do though. Now she had to be rescued. And he was just the hedgehog to do it, to!

Robotnik wouldn’t lock her in the prison. That’d be too easy. The roboticizer room, maybe? Yeah, that seemed right. Now, how to get in? Well, when in doubt, take the direct approach! Which he did.

The blue hedgehog met and dismantled the usual amount of resistance. As well as a few other surprises. Robotnik wasn’t going to make this easy for him, that was for sure.

Easy or not, Sonic made it through the massive command center and to the room where the roboticizer was kept in respectable time. When he got there, he found a ready and waiting Robotnik.

He took a quick assessment of the current situation. Robyn was in the roboticizer, Snively was hovering over a control panel, and oddly, there were no Swat-bots. Or any other robots for that matter. Though he had a feeling that there would be in a minute if he didn’t do something.

"Come to save your little cousin have you, rodent?"

"Let her go RoBUTTnik." demanded Sonic, addressing his nemesis with the usual insult.

"Really hedgehog. You say that as if you actually expect me to do it. Snively?"

"Yes sir." the bulb headed human pressed a button on the control panel he was at after responding to his uncle. As a result of this, several large laser rifles popped out of the walls and ceiling behind the blue hedgehog.

Robyn beat on the glass of the roboticizer tube, trying to draw Sonic's attention towards the weapons pointed right at him. This didn't really work, but the blue hedgehog did manage to get out of the line of fire and buzz saw the lasers into little pieces.

"Is that all ya got?" Sonic asked with a yawn. The incredibly large Overlander fumed, but didn't get a chance to retaliate. For while he was trying to decide what trap to unleash next, the blue hedgehog had gone from standing on one side of the room to standing on top of gargantuan dictator's head.

Robotnik swatted at him, but didn't succeed in catching him. The only thing he did manage to do was somehow give the blue rodent the idea to yank on his gravity defying mustache. Which was quite painful if the screaming was any indication.

Sonic gave the lord of lard a boot to the head before jumping down to terrorize Snively. "So how do you work this thing Needlenose?" the hedgehog had shoved the bald little human to the side so he could get a good look at the roboticizer controls. Now, Sonic didn't really need to ask how to open the roboticizer; he'd seen it done enough times to be able do at least that. But why let them know he could use it?

"What's this button do Snivenerd?" he asked after seemingly picking a button at random.

"No! Don't touch that!" Snively cried in his high, nasal voice.

"You mean, this button?" Sonic pushed the button. "Oops…" The glass roboticizer tube raised back into the ceiling, and before anybody had time to react, the two hedgehogs were out the door and gone.

As they sped away, Robyn could've sworn she'd heard something she was destined to hear many times before the war was over; "I hate those hedgehogs!"

Sonic and Robyn arrived in Knothole only minutes after the others had; twin sonic booms

announcing their return. Sonic seemed distracted by something. What it was, Robyn wasn't sure.

"Where on Mobius have you two been?" Sally asked. She seemed to have materialized out of nowhere.

The two hedgehog looked at each other, neither quite sure how to answer that question. Fortunately, fate seemed to have taken pity on the two, for Tails flew up before either hedgehog had a chance to reply to the less than happy squirrel.

"Aunt Sally! A message came from Uncle Chuck while you guys were gone." he said in rush of words, almost not making sense, while stuffing the slightly wrinkled note into Sally's hand. She then uncrumpled the paper and read it.

"What's he say?" asked Sonic, hoping Sally would forget about being mad at them.

"It says he wants Robyn to come to his hideout a.s.a.p. But it doesn't say why."

"I'll go with her, Sal. Make sure she doesn't get lost or anything." the blue hedgehog was backing off and motioning Robyn to follow. She picked up on the poorly hidden message, and the hedgehogs were gone again.

Sir Charles was typing rapidly at his computer when the knock came. He had no doubt in his mind who it was. Still, he was nervous. The robotic hedgehog had no idea how to broach what must still be a very painful subject for the girl. And what if his suspicions were right, and she really was his niece? What then?

He contemplated all this and more as he went to open the door. The spy seemed relieved when both Robyn and Sonic entered. Until he realized that this would be even more difficult with his nephew present. Sonic didn't know he had an Aunt Sara.

"What's up, Unc?" asked the blue hedgehog.

Uncle Chuck opened his mouth to speak and found he was unable. He took the robotic equivalent of a deep breath to calm himself. God this was hard! "C'mon in and sit down kids. I've got something to tell you." They obliged, giving each other a brief glance before doing so. There was definitely something important going on, and they hadn't the slightest clue as to what it was.

"Robyn, I found this on the floor after you left. I think it belongs to you." Charles handed her the photograph he had found. Robyn accepted it, looking relieved to have it back. "Tell me, is that a picture of your mother?"

The purple hedgehog nodded. "Yes…how did you know?"

"And the other two standing next to her, are her brothers -- your uncles, right?" Another nod. "Robyn, that picture was taken about 25 years or so ago. Your mother had just graduated from college, and was about to enter nursing school. The hedgehog with the shock of brown hair is her brother Jules. The other one is me."

Robyn blinked, then blinked again. She tried to say something, but her tongue felt too big for her mouth. With a little effort she finally managed to sputter out the beginning of a sentence. "You mean…?"

Uncle Chuck nodded his head. "That's right. I'm your uncle."

"Whoa, wait a minute!" this was from Sonic, who had been silent until now. "If you're Rob's uncle, and you're my uncle, does that mean we're-"

"Cousins?" Robyn finished the question for Sonic, whose voice seemed to have failed him.

Chuck nodded again. "I know this is a shock to both of you. I couldn't believe it myself at first."

"So that's what Robotnik meant." Sonic hadn't even realized he'd spoken.

"What do you mean?" Robyn asked. Lost in his thoughts, the blue hedgehog nearly jumped when she spoke.

"When I came to rescue you, Robotnik asked if I had come to save my little cousin. I kinda guessed he was talking 'bout you, but I didn't realize he actually meant it when he said 'cousin'. I thought he said cousin 'cause we're both hedgehogs or something."

"Hmph. Well, talk about your family reunions." Robyn said, a doofy grin on her face. The three hedgehogs laughed. Wait till the others heard this!

The End