
ECHO Data Recollection Files
NAME: Neil A. Castle PASS CODE: ********I think I might have met the woman of my nocturnal mind processes. Her name is Tara, and I met her on the Internet using the iMuck chat interface. She visited New York, so we got a chance to hang out. Leave it to Arachness to throw in her two cents, as she finds out about the special processor in her brain. She sent Binarix to retrieve it, but found out nothing. We managed to beat Binarix, but now Tara is in the hospital. I guess I can say without reservation now that my goal in life is to make it so that Arachness' dreams of ... well, whatever her dreams are, go unfulfilled.
Sucks to be her.
End transmission.
[New York City. In Central Park, Sydney can be seen rollerblading with headphones on. The White Sonic Ranger stops for a moment in front of a blossoming flower. After optically analyzing it, she takes a shovel out of her pocket and digs a tiny hole around it, allowing her to take the flower without leaving any permanent damage. SHe puts the flower in a protective bottle, and then skates off while a Lexicon watches her from behind a tree.]
Lexicon: (burbles)...
Synchron: What have you to report?
[The Lexicon (in his burbles) communicates the data to Synchron.]
Acknowledged.
[He cuts transmission.]
So SonicWhite is after a flower? This could be of great importance to my mistress.
[He hurries to the throne room, where Arachness is talking with Zenos about a new machine.]
Your highness, I just received a report that SonicWhite is alone in New York City.
Arachness: Synchron, it is rude to interrupt a coference such as this. We will take care of SonicWhite later. Right now, I have to concentrate our energies on Zenos's newest development.
[Frustrated, Synchron leaves while talking to himself.]
Synchron: If you won't take care of SonicWhite, then I will. (teleports)
I still fail to see why we should utilize your new machine, Zenos.
Raybin: Well, I can see why he would want to create it. Once word leaked of your supposed genocide of humans for your army of Galtoids...
Arachness: Merely a by-product of what you humans call "ill-managed spin."
Zenos: And besides that, I believe that my recombinator will have much more superior capabilities to the endless drivel that Divit has been creating.
Arachness: How can you be so sure?
Zenos: Why don't you judge for yourself. I have already created a monster using the new recombinator. Hornetox!
[Galtoid Hornetox, a small bee that's part bee, part metal, enters flying around the place.]
Arachness (indifferently): You expect me to defeat the Sonic Five with an insect?
Zenos: This is no ordinary hornet. Hornetox, pollinate!
[Hornetox flies around a group of three Lexicons, spreading a fine gray mist around their faces. The Lexicons do the Galtean version of what humans call "sneezing." As soon as they get a good sneeze pattern going, they start to grasp their throats as if they were choking. The smoky pollen then encapsulates into a hard shell.]
Arachness: I do see some possibilities.
Zenos: And in case the Hornetox runs into trouble... It can transmutate into...
[The bee mutates into its Galtoid form.]
Hornetox: The baddest wasp that ever flew south for the winter! Neither man nor beast nor annoying android can withstand my pollen
Arachness: I like this... I like this a lot.
Zenos: Then I will dispatch it at once. Synchron said that one of the Sonic Five was in Central park, right?
Hornetox: We'll begin there.
Raybin: Shouldn't we concentrate on the leader?
Arachness: We are. Believe me, we are. By getting the girl, we'll eventually lure the rest of the Sonic Five.
Raybin: Well, in that case...
[Hornetox jumps and reverts back into a bee and flies off.]
Synchron: No! She was just here! I know it! This makes me very uneasy.
[Severely bothered and bruised in ego, he returns to the Earthbase.]
Pixel: Syd?
Sydney: Oh, hey Pixel, what's up?
Pixel: Not much. Dr. O just wanted me to make sure that you were starting to get packed. You know we leave for the newly-reconstructed Techlabs next Thursday.
Sydney: I know, but I have to finish this biology experiment. It counts for a quarter of my final grade.
Pixel: Talk about being strict.
Sydney: Don't I know it. Tell Dad that I have it under control.
Pixel: I can't. Well, I can, but not now. He's gone with Neil to see Tara in the hospital.
Sydney: Again?
Pixel: Don't worry, Syd; they're letting her out today.
Sydney: That's good to hear. So did they fix the wiring of her little processor?
Pixel: From what I hear? Yeah, they did. They also ran some tests and it looks like what the Galtoid did didn't do as much damage as...
[Sydney, suspecting some overhearing, interrupts.]
Sydney: Wait a minute... How do you know what happened?
Pixel: Honest to God, I did not know...
Sydney: Could've been your psychic link.
Pixel: Could be. I better watch how I use it (smiles, then leaves).
Sydney (to her plants): Looks like you and me are going back to breed tomorrow.
Neil: You know, I really hate to see you go tonight.
Tara: Yeah, but you know, my dad's gotta make a living somehow.
Neil: I know, but it won't be the same. Talking to a screen after having talked to you up close.
Tara: Neil Castle... Are you trying to tell me something?
Neil: I.. umm... well, I...
[As if by some force of nature, Sydney skates past with her plants. She stops and talk to the two.]
Sydney: Hey guys. What are you doing here?
Tara: We're just walking around before I have to leave for Los Angeles. Neil was about to tell me something.
Sydney: Really? What?
Neil (quietly to Sydney): Ixnay on the atwhay.
Sydney: But I was just wonder--...
Neil (quietly): Ixnay! Ixnay!
Sydney: Oh... OH!!!! I'm sorry. I'll see you back at the lab. (skates off)
Tara: Why didn't you tell her?
Neil: You know how sisters are. Once they know something like the fact that I'm in love with you, they'll NEVER leave you alone about it.
Tara: Did you just say you were in love with me?
Neil: I don't know, did I?
[The two keep talking when Sydney begins her experiment in another region of the park. She transplants the plants and watches as they begin to grow at an accelerated rate, thanks to Dr. O's accelerated enzyme-electrolyte compound. While she records the results, a bee whizzes past.]
Bee(?): This is my big chance.
[The bee begins to pollinate while flying around Sydney's head. Sydney desperately tries to swat it away.]
Sydney: Get away, you!
[The pollen begins to take effect as Sydney starts to sneeze uncontrollably. Meanwhile, on the other side of the park...]
Tara: To tell you the truth, I wouldn't have expected you to know much about love. I mean, you are a machine.
Neil: That doesn't mean to say that I don't have a conscience. I mean, I know what this sort of thing is.
Tara: Then why don't you tell me how you feel right now?
Neil: Okay, I will. Tara, I'm in love with...
[Neil's aural radar begins to pick up Sydney's screaming as she is being encapsulated.]
Tara: See? That wasn't so hard.
Neil: I guess it wasn't. But now I have to go. Stay here, I'll be right back.
[Neil makes a long jump across the park, transforming in the process. He gets to the battle site to see Sydney become the victim of a stone shell.]
SonicYellow: Syd! (knocks on it) Can you hear me!
[No response.]
This could get ugly. Sonic Switcher!
[Neil pulls out his Sonic Switcher and takes a few slashes, with no effect.]
Maybe some more power. SonicBlade!
[SonicYellow then goes for his trademark boomerang and hacks away at the cocoon.]
Nothing!
[From the distance, Tara comes running toward SonicYellow.]
Tara: What happened?
SonicYellow: Tara! I thought I told you to stay back at the bench!
Tara: I'm sorry, Neil. I guess I care about you more than I thought.
[The bee starts pollinating again. Tara begins to sneeze.]
SonicYellow: Bless you.
Tara: Thank you... (sneezes)... I (sneezes) ...can't... (sneezes).. stop!
[The pollen that surrounds her begins to harden into a cocoon.]
SonicYellow: Tara! That's it. What the hell is causing this?
[Neil begins to run a bioscan of the area for the probable cause of the imprisonment. He sees a match with the cocoons and the immediate atmosphere. He reaches for his V-Pager.]
Doc!
Dr. O: What's wrong, Neil?
SonicYellow: I need a cleanup crew over in Central Park. We've got big problems.
Dr. O: I'm switching over to your ocular cameras.
[Dr. O sees the park and the two cocoons.]
That is bad. Do you know what caused it?
SonicYellow: Something in the air, but I don't know what.
Dr. O (after pushing a few buttons on the console): I've sent you Yellow Speeder to tow the two cocoons back to the Satellab.
SonicYellow: Right!
[Yellow Speeder arrives on the scene. SonicYellow latches the two cocoons to the back of the bike as it launches into space. Outside of the park, the trenchcoated man that was at the airport a few days ago hails a taxi.]
Cabbie: Where to?
Man: Do you know where O Techlabs is?
Cabbie: You're kidding, right?
Man: I don't.. think so...
Cabbie: The techlabs ain't even finished yet! Why don't you ask me again in a few weeks.
[The pollen cloud that was in the park diffuses to the outside and entraps both cabbie and rider in impenetrable cocoons.]
Rob: That's odd. It's nothing but particulate matter tightly bonded together.
Dr. O: According to some preliminary readings, it appears to be pollen.
Neil: Pollen? Bees don't live in New York City!
Rob: Actually, if it's warm enough, bees can live everywhere.
Dr. O: Then again, this is no ordinary pollen. It's laced with alien DNA.
Neil: So who's doing this?
Rob: A Galtoid?
Echo: There have been recent disturbances in New York City by the part-hornet, part-spider Galtoid Hornetox. (brings up visual) His pollen entraps its victims in a cocoon which slowly transmutates them into Horneticons.
Neil: You mean that Syd's... But she can't!
Dr. O: As long as she has a viable DNA structure, she can.
Rob (after much thinking): Neil, if you were with Sydney and Tara, how come you didn't turn into a cocoon?
Neil: I don't know. I think it had something to do with the fact that I was sonic charged when I got there.
Dr. O: I think he has a point. Your helmet must have protected you.
[Rob pulls a sheet out with several readings.]
Rob: According to these readings, the source of the pollen came from the Hornetox's abdominal spinneret-type orifices. If there was some way we could neutralize them, maybe the cocoons will weaken.
Dr. O: That's a good idea. You take the others and get going, while I...
[Just as Dr. O was about to finish his sentence, Pixel comes in, severely weakened by something. She falls to the floor.]
Neil: Pix!
Rob: What's wrong?
Pixel: I.. I... don't...
Rob: Don't talk. Father, can you handle this?
Dr. O: I can try. You better call Carter and Kevin, in the meanwhile; you'll need their help.
Rob: Affirmative. Let's go, Neil.
[The two head off towards the hangar, where the other two are waiting.]
Carter: We heard about the trouble.
Rob: Good. We have no time to lose. Sonic Pentium Charge!
[The four transform and head off to the Earth in their Sonic Speeders.]
SonicBlue: I don't get it. I thought that there was a monster here.
SonicBlack: So did I. Rob, you've got some explaining to do.
SonicRed: I did. We have to be careful, though. Echo said that he was incredibly fast ans small.
[Just then, Hornetox whizzes past and begins spreading pollen.]
That must be him!
SonicYellow: He's spreading his pollen again!
[Hornetox keeps spraying, but to no avail. So this time, he transforms into his full monster form.]
SonicBlue: There he is.
SonicRed: Sonic Switchers, now! We have to remove those spinnerets!
[Each Sonic Soldier takes a whack at the Hornetox, but they all fail to remove the spinnerets.]
We'll have to do this the hard way, then. Activate O Slider!
Hornetox: No you don't!
[Hornetix calls for a squadron of Lexicons to attack.]
SonicBlue: We can't hold off the attack for much longer, We have to wait for the Slider Cannon to charge!
[Then, from out of nowhere, Vyzerman appears with his saber.]
Vyzerman: Where is the Galtoid?
SonicRed: Vyzerman! He's over there with a platoon of Lexicons.
Vyzerman: I will remove the assailant.
[Vyzerman begins pummeling the Lexicons with his sword. His next target is the Hornetox. They have hand-to-hand combat for a while, leaving Vyzerman to call upon his VyzerBlaster.]
Hornetox: You think a pea shooter will defeat me?
Vyzerman: This is beyond a pea shooter.
[Vyzerman aims and fires at his head. Hornetox flips out onto the ground as Vyzerman turns around and poses. The Sonic Four catch wind of this "victory."]
SonicRed: Now's our chance!
SonicBlue: Power cells are fully loaded.
SonicBlack: Everybody hop on!
[The Sonics take their respective seats on the cannon.]
SonicRed: Fire!
[The cannon shoots a powerful beam at Hornetox's spinnerets, causing them to explode.]
Hornetox: No! My precious pollen!
Dr. O: Echo, maybe you can help me with this. I'm not familiar with the physiology of Galtean/human half-breeds.
Echo: Pixel's bodily morphology and physiology is 76 percent human.
Dr. O: Well, if you're 76 percent human, then your 24 percent non-human, right?
[Pixel begins to rouse.]
Pixel: What the...
Dr. O: Pixel? You're awake! Do you know what happened?
Pixel: I wish I did.
[Sydney begins to break out of her mold.]
Sydney: Eww... What's all this?
Dr. O: Sydney?
Sydney: Dad, what's going on? How did I get back here?
Dr. O: You were imprisoned in a cocoon while confronting a Galtoid.]
Sydney: So who's in the other one?
Dr. O: Miss Emerson, I believe.
Sydney: Which means if I don't free her, Neil'll never let me live it down.
[Sydney points her finger, which reveals a laser cutter, to cut the cocoon open. Slowly, Tara begins to wake up.]
Tara: Whoa... Where am I?
Echo: You are currently on board Oppenheimer Satellabs.
Tara (surprised): What was that?
Echo: I am Echo, the Electronic Computer Helping Operative.
Dr. O: Don't be alarmed. I'll have Sydney take you back home.
Tara: Thanks.
Sydney: What about the others?
Dr. O: They're with Vyzerman taking care of the Galtoid.
Hornetox: It's time for the big sleep, Sonic Five!
Vyzerman: We shall soon see. Super Macrodroid mode!
SonicRed: Sonic Macrodroid mode!
[the five transform into their Macrodroid selves.]
Hornetox: A weakling in a giant robot suit is still a weakling.
SuperVyzerman: Tough talk for an insect who is about to get their wings clipped.
[SuperVyzerman is the first to apprach the monster. Like he said, SuperVyzerman begins to clip his wings. Then the others fight him with their weapons. He gets hurt, but not severely weakened.]
Hornetox: Are you finished yet?
MacroRed: You're the one that's finished!
SuperVyzerman: Agreed. Super Vyzersaber finish!
[Vyzerman takes three slices with his Vyzersaber.]
MacroBlack: Macro Tornado finish!
[MacroBlack spins into a tornado and repeatedly puches the monster.]
MacroBlue: Macro Drill finish!
[MacroBlue uses his MacroDaggers as drill bits to gouge into the monster.]
MacroYellow: Macro Rush finish!
[MacroYellow points his MacroBlade and fires himself off like an arrow.]
MacroRed: Now... MacroHatch finish!
[He jumps up into the air and takes one final slash at Hornetox. Hornetox falls to the ground and explodes, leaving the others to pose at their victory.]
Arachness: You promised me victory!
Zenos: I made no such promise! I only said that the Hornetox would create a far better monster. And it did. Before the Sonic Five could defeat him, several of the captured humans became Horneticons.
Arachness: Perhaps you are right. Go to Earth and assemble the Horneticons. Bring them here. We will make good use for them.
Zenos: Shall I take Synchron with me?
Arachness: Whatever it takes.
Tara: Thanks again for the ride.
Sydney: No problem.
Tara: I just wish I could see Neil one more time before I leave.
[Sydney then spots Yellow Speeder in the distance.]
Sydney: I think you can.
[Tara looks off to the right to see Neil on Yellow Speeder. He then pulls up to the hotel.]
Neil (carrying flowers): Hey, guys. Did I miss something?
Tara: Neil! I'm so glad to see that you're alright... Wait a minute, where did you get...
Neil: Don't worry; these flowers are pollen proof.
[They all laugh.]
Sydney: Wait. I want to get a picture before you leave. I'll be sure to e-mail you a copy.
[Sydney pulls out her digital camera to take a picture of Neil and Tara. The two put their arms around each other as Sydney prepares to take the picture.]
All right... One, two, and...
[She takes the picture. The screen on the camera shows Tara kissing Neil's cheek, much to his surprise.
SONIC V STAND BY
Questions and comments are always welcomed to either Chris or myself.
NEXT WEEK:
Going home...