Rally Flag
By Jeremy Cole
It was late morning in the great forest, and the world was quiet.
A few flickys were still singing to the tune of trees rustling in the
wind, and the sky was a warm tint of autumn blue. The overall picture
was hardly affected by the harried and weather-beaten cat that hurried
between the trees, clutching a lump of something heavy. An animal
hurrying home to Knothole from a morning jog, perhaps. But the scene
was a bit more affected by the rather large and evil looking menace
crashing his egg shaped machine through the canopy.
Rally couldn’t help but a slight sense of peace as she ran
blindly for her life through unfamiliar territory. At least now that
she was out of Robotropolis, she’d have a nice quiet grave. Maybe
someone, somewhere would actually put a flower or two on top… She
glanced back at the cannon bobbing behind her. Or she could just be
reduced to so much ash. She hurried on.
Robotnik growled under his breath. “It’s never easy, is it? Where
did the little fur ball get to now?” Robotnik scanned the trees in the
monitor, then spotted a moving bush off to the left. He smirked
slightly, then torched the bush with a lightning blast. The bushes
began thrashing harder, but the noise of the blast had startled his
quarry out of hiding to his right. The evil doctor started revving up
the lightning again, and resumed the chase, not caring what he’d
torched in the bushes. The traitor was what was important right now.
Rally glanced behind her latest tree. The robot was getting
closer with every exchange. She really wasn’t very good at hide and
seek. Rally began her next stealthy move through a clearing as she
heard the cannon start its charge, praying hard that he would miss
again. But this time, the doctor guessed right. The near miss sent
Rally sprawling into a bush, to reemerge limping from a bloody wound.
Staggering, Rally tried to go a few steps, but fell winded against
another tree. “Oh well,” she thought, resigning herself to the final
bolt.
To her surprise, the next sound that she heard didn’t involve a
charred and painful death for her. Rather, it was a furious yell coming
from the doctor’s robot, who’s shot had fired away into the distance.
The robot was under the assault of what seemed to be a blue blur. Rally
couldn’t do anything but stare at the amazing sight.
Sonic, who had decided that the singed quills were not an
improvement, and was in the process of tipping Robotnik for his
haphazard work. The good doctor, caught by surprise, could offer little
resistance to the hedgehog’s assault. The ailing robot began randomly
firing around the clearing in a last ditch effort to stop its foe. But
finally, it succumbed, showering glowing parts everywhere. As the blast
faded away, the forest regained its peaceful splendor. And all was
well.
Rally staggered behind a tree to assess the one who had saved her
life. He was a blue hedgehog, handsome, with slightly blackened head
spikes. He wore red shoes, and a white smile to go with his smug
expression. Vaguely recalling a name to put to that face, Rally moved
out to thank her savior. But before she could reach him, more animals
emerged from the woods and surrounded him, masking him from view.
Great. Rally limped back into the trees to observe again. For all she
knew, those animals might rip her apart for spying. Better to wait and
see for herself. They were moving. Rally slipped from the tree in
chase.
Sonic was smirking. He’d gotten there before anyone else, and he
definitely felt good about himself. He’d splattered that robot, no help
required, and got away with a few singes on himself. He saw the others
approaching, and let them all see the smirk that spoke for him. Lets
make with the praise, guys!
Tails flew to him and reached him first, giving him an amused
smile along with his high-five. Sally, on the other hand, was not
amused. The high-five that she gave him was fast, hard, and missed his
hand completely. “Ow! What was that for, Sal?”
Sally didn’t let him play innocent. “You know just what I meant
with that, Sonic! Get a grip! Real teams don’t break ranks at the first
sight of the enemy, singed quills or no.”
Antoine grinned. “I don’t know about that, princess. I think that
its an improvement. Heh. What do you think, Rotor?”
Rotor smirked too. “The burnt, toasty look suits you well Sonic,
not that I’m any judge.”
Sonic ignored them. Sally might be right, but this was new to
him. Did she have to get so uptight?
Sally looked like she wanted to say more, but held back, sighing.
“Let’s get back. We’re still moving in guys – and somebody has to do
the unpacking.” The four males collectively moaned, Sonic louder than
the rest. Sally smiled a little at that, as the group moved off in
loose formation, joking jovially along the way. Their pursuer hurried
to catch up. She was lost in unknown territory. Ignoring new people
would have to wait.
The fall’s frosting over was just beginning to slow down in the
Great Forest. A late flicky family was just getting ready for their
winterly migration. The flicky father was contentedly preening in the
sunlight of the early afternoon. The happy murmur of a group of friends
passed beneath the flicky’s tree. The father cast one eye at the group,
then returned to his preening. He had more important things to do.
The freedom fighters had just reached their secret base at the
heart of the great forest, with Rally close in tow. Making too big a
noise, the cat hastily stepped behind a tree as the coyote with the
sword looked around suspiciously. Rally examined him from her hiding
place, trying to gauge the danger. Brown furred, the coyote was wearing
a military vest with a few medals on it, and sturdy looking boots on
his wide feet. He looked trustworthy enough, but not too trusting
either. Rally wasn’t exactly happy to be on the suspicious end of his
sword. Unconsciously, she hugged the lump of metal even tighter. Losing
this would be the beginning of the end for everyone.
Rally approached the tree stump entrance cautiously after Antoine
had finally jumped in with the rest of them. Now how did they open this
thing? Failing at pulling it open, Rally began casing the surrounding
area for signs of a switch. Try as she might, nothing that she did
would make the stump open for her. No tree, no vine, no leaf that she
pulled, twisted, or thumped would make the stump yield. Finally, she
stood, puzzled, in front of a stump, not even sure that it was the
right one anymore, puzzling over what to do. Trying one more thing, she
reached out her hand to a vine that she had not seen before.
At that moment, the stump flew open, and a very annoyed looking
sword flashed at her face. “Can I help you, madam?” it asked.
Rally stared at the sword, for a few seconds. Then she said,
“Well, I’m a little hungry.”
The sword wavered. The wielder hastened to level it at her again.
But the steel had gone out of the gesture, and the sword soon withdrew
to confer with its peers. Then came the sound of a sword sheathing, and
in its place a hand extended to her. She took it, and drew herself in
to freedom fighter headquarters for the first time.
The freedom fighter’s base wasn’t really all that impressive. But
it still took a really long time to build - and they were proud of it
too. The base consisted of two small, hollowed out chambers, one of
which could barely hold all of the freedom fighter’s sleeping pallets,
and the other that barely held a large table, Rotor’s worktable, and
some food in a cupboard. The food store was in use, busy feeding a cat
at the moment, as Rally slowly chewed each dish. The freedom fighters
looked about in uncomfortable silence, bored. How could anybody eat
that slowly?
Rally hid a calculating glance behind a watermelon slice. The
pretty brown ground squirrel in the blue vest seemed to be the
intellectual leader of the group, but maybe not the leader in practice.
She looked nice enough; Rally hoped they could be friends. Then Rally
took a cursory glance at each of the others. She noticed that the fat
purple walrus was taking a few too many glances at her important
package. She noted the work jacket that he wore. A mechanic, maybe?
Sally stare was noting some things about her, too. While the cat
ate, she was evidently sizing up her benefactors, in a friendly, yet
guarded, way. That look made you want to trust her. Frowning, Sally
noted her slightly mussed black coat with the light stripes running
down the back of it, as well as the mess of food that clung to her
purple, pocketed vest. Sally frowned a bit as she noticed that. Then
she noticed a large chunk of apple in her own coat. Flicking it off,
she looked away, embarrassed.
Some of the stares were a bit friendlier than others, though.
Antoine was glaring holes in her, probably not quite a pleasant
experience. But the comely cat just kept on eating, only pausing when
her plate had finally emptied. At this, Antoine stood up menacingly.
“Have you had your fill, cat?”
Rally considered for a moment. “Yeah, I think so.” she replied.
That set Antoine back into his chair, momentum gone. Sally took over.
“Can you tell us your name, please?” she asked.
“Rally, miss. Uh, if you don’t mind me asking, who are you?”
The princess twitched a little at that. She wasn’t from around
here. “I am princess Sally Acorn of the Royal House of Mobius.” She
said regally. “That’s Antoine,” she said, gesturing to each in turn,
“Rotor, Tails, and Sonic.” She paused. “And this is the base of the
freedom fighters.”
Rally jumped. Is that really who these animals were? “The… the
freedom fighters?” she asked, moving back slightly.
They all nodded. Antoine, looking triumphant, stood up again,
smiling sinisterly. “Why should that name give you any discomfort,
madam? I hope you are not a spy, because then we would have to…”
“Freedom fighters!” Antoine was quite taken aback when he was
interrupted by Rally enthusiastically embracing him, then moving on to
hug the rest of them. The reactions of the freedom fighters to the
enthusiastic hugs were varied to say the least. Defeated, Antoine sat
down again. “I’m happy that I found you guys! I’ve heard so much about
you!”
Sally took up the interrogation. “Who did you hear about us from?
Your parents? Are they from Knothole?”
Rally shook her head. “Knothole? No. But, I did hear about you
guys from my dad. I’d guess that you’ve heard of him. His name is Dr.
Ivo Robotnik.”
The silence was so piercing that it even got through to Rally.
“What? Did I say something wrong?”
Sally held her hands out to steady everyone, then let out a long
sigh, and sat down. “Well, I guess we’re all going to be here a while
then, Rally. Let’s hear your story.”
“Um, ok.”
“I think that I should start my story back as far as I can
remember. I was with my family, living somewhere off to the north, in a
village where it was really cold. It was a bit hard in such a small
village, but I get a strong feeing of the happiness of the place
whenever I think of it. I never wanted to leave. But that all ended
when I was about 4. Something terrible happened, I don’t know what. It
was enough that I had nightmares for months to come. And at the end of
it all, I was left walking aimlessly around the cold wastes that had
once been my home. I was in a haze for quite a while. The next thing I
remember was a dark figure reaching out a hand to me, and that was my
new dad. Dr. Robotnik. He took me to his home in the base, and we lived
there, together.
“Dr. Robotnik was always kind to me. Whenever I saw him, he would
immediately stop what he was doing, and come smile at me. He would
always have some new toy, or a robot to play with me. I loved him well,
and never suspected anything of what he was doing.
“And I was kinda happy for a time. I never forgot my parents, but
I knew that I had to make the best of the situation. And what better
situation to be in than having someone this kind to look after you?”
That statement received some angry murmurs, but Rally completely missed
them. “But then, it started to change.
“Around my ninth birthday, Robotnik began asking me if I trusted
him, a few times a month. He would always lose his smile for just a
second while he was asking me, and that scared me a little. But I
always told him how much I trusted him, and how much I loved him. He’d
always get a creepy smile on him for another small second after I told
him that. But then, he’d give me even more things to play with, and I’d
always forget all about it.
“But, one day, after about six months, Robotnik decided to move
on his real plan. He scooped me up from where I was, and brought me to
an empty room. When I looked up at Robotnik, he just smiled, and handed
me this wire.”
Here Rally produced a thin, beautiful wire. She pulled it to her,
snapped it out, struck with it like a rod, and punched with its tip.
The wire whirled and struck the air with amazing speed. Rally stopped
the display, and folded the wire back into her vest. “This is my
fighting wire, and I’ve had it with me ever since that moment. That
moment was when everything changed.”
“Every day from then on, Robotnik would show me a little more
about fighting with this wire. One day he might show me an attack;
another day he’d drill me in a way to block. I thought that it was all
fun and games, until he had me start practicing on live swatbots during
our sessions. I had just past 10 the first time he had me destroy one.
But every day after that, that’s how I’d do my warm-up, and he’d give
me more every few days.” The freedom fighters looked vaguely impressed
at that. Rally didn’t notice. “Eventually, he stopped coming to my
training every day. Gradually, he started missing it more and more,
until it was almost every day. Then he stopped coming at all. I had to
keep training, always looking out to see the kind man that I had known,
but always I waited in vain. I kept training anyway; I suppose that’s
how he wanted it. The only thing I ever got out of him was food. This
has gone on for five or six years now, and the most I ever saw of him
was a glimpse.”
“Then, one week ago tonight, I finally got mad. Lying in my bed
after a hard day of training, I finally got mad. I was finally fed up
with waiting, and waiting, just to please him. I got so mad, that I
made the decision to go find the Doctor and do something about his
neglect. I sat straight up in my bed, grabbed my fighting wire, and
left. I went straight for my father’s control room. Unfortunately, he
wasn’t there to take my wrath, but what was there shocked me.
Robotnik’s journal, open on a computer monitor… and the things that he
planned to do to some people at a place called Knothole… with the help
of “Project Rally”.
“Robotnik obviously had not forgotten about his “project” like I
had thought. I was just in reserve for a plan just like this one.
Apparently, I was to be some sort of spy to infiltrate Knothole. When I
had the location, he’d come in to capture animals for his new weapon -
the Roboticizer.” The surrounding animals looked at her in confusion.
Rally closed her eyes. She did not want to tell this story. She had
gone over it in her mind too many times.
“The Roboticizer is a weapon of vast power. It can take an
animals flesh, and turn it to unfeeling steel. It can take their mind,
and destroy it utterly. And it can turn their souls to Robotnik. Which
is the worst I wonder… I can’t quite tell anymore. With the
Roboticizer, Robotnik can create a worker army, and steal the lives of
any Mobians he can get his hands on. It would truly be a blow to
freedom if he ever got that online.” The shock that registered on all
of the freedom fighter’s faces would have kept Robotnik smiling for
weeks if he had been there to see it. But Rally was too worked up to
notice, and rushed on with her story.
“As soon as I saw that line of text, I knew what I had to do. I
still had about a week before Robotnik would try his plan, so I put it
to good use. I set out to find and destroy the Roboticizer for the good
of all. But as soon as I tried it, I had to question my ability to find
it. Robotnik’s base, my home, was huge, and Robotnik had used his
skills to build it in a spot completely guarded from eventual attack by
you guys. Robotnik had even posted his legions of Swatbots everywhere
to conceal where he was actually guarding it. If I had had to fight
them, I might not have made it. But I could come and go as I pleased,
which made everything a whole lot simpler. I almost didn’t make it in
time anyway. But late yesterday, I finally did find it.” Rally paused
again, closing her eyes. But the mental image of the machine didn’t
leave. After a moment, Rally sighed again. “I don’t know if I can
describe it to you. Let me just show you instead.” Taking a small metal
disk out of her pocket, she tossed it to the center of the table. An
image appeared on the desk above the disk, and the animals stared.
The machine was huge, made of pipes and tubes, with wires all
around the base, covering everything. It had thick, cordlike wires
leading out of it, from its place in the middle of the room. It had a
second base on the ceiling, completing the ugly picture. And in the
middle was a strangely ominous glass tube. This picture that Rally had
shown them was complete with a fearful looking Mobian being struck with
the flashes of purple light of Roboticization. The scene played over
and over, until Sonic reached over and flicked the small machine off.
Rally, who had been staring off into space, shook herself and
returned to reality. “But all of that won’t work without this.” Rally
slid a loaf-sized lump of metal to the middle of the table alongside
the disk. “Lithinium. A rare metal, explosive, and so far found only in
two places on Mobius. Those were mined completely out by unknown
sources, according to the Robotropolis records. Well, that unknown
source was Robotnik, before his attack on Knothole, right about when he
found me on the tundra. Robotnik instantly recognized the strange
properties of the metal. It was the key to a whole new line of schemes
for him. And they all started with the Roboticizer. But… he did need
this for his plans.
Rally pulled the lump of metal closer to her. “So I stole it, and
ran. That’s why dad was rampaging through the forest – he was on my
tail. I don’t really know how he found me… But I’m safe now, thanks to
all of you!” Rally beamed at all of the freedom fighters. “That’s my
story. What do you think?”
The freedom fighters had all been staring at the “highly
explosive” metal that was the cause of a whole new source of trouble
for them. Rotor was staring particularly hard. Rotor stood, and went to
his worktable. He rummaged around in a pile of metallic doodads, then
pulled out a smaller specimen. He grimaced. “Um, if this meter is
reading correctly… then this metal is giving off a whole lot of
radiation. Robotnik should be able to track this.”
Sonic grabbed the metal from a protesting Rally, and ran outside.
This thing was waaaaay too dangerous to be anywhere near the base.
Rally ran right after him, calling for him to come back. The other
freedom fighters shrugged, and piled out of the base after them.
In a clearing well away from the freedom fighter’s base, Sonic
stopped to let the others catch up. This was far enough to be safe. But
was it far enough for him to get a nap in? Sonic decided that it
wouldn’t hurt to try, and laid down for a rest on a tree. It’s cool to
be super-fast.
Sonic woke up to another slap from Sally. Sally glared at him
angrily. “Sonic, why in the world are you running around, alone, with
an explosive beacon in your hands? Didn’t you think that, just maybe,
that could be dangerous?”
“I was fine! It’s not like Robuttnik can figure us out that fast!
Do you just enjoy slapping me?”
Sally blushed, and turned her back to him. Antoine, Rotor, Tails,
and Rally were in a semi-circle around them, with Rally clutching the
clump of metal. “Ignore him. Alright people. What are we going to do
about this little problem? Any suggestions?”
Sonic stood up from his prone position and walked over. “As a
matter of fact, I do have one, Sal. Tails, Antoine, Rotor, Rally, come
over here. It’s time to take it to Buttnik.”
Robotnik made another sweep with his scanner. The metal should
have more of a mark than this! Robotnik pounded his fist on the newly
renovated lightning bot.
“Grrrr… When I decided to do the job myself, I didn’t expect it to be
this frustrating! Where is that alley cat? Does she realize how much
she just ruined my plans? The kindness I wasted on her! When I find
her, I’ll…”
The scanner blipped in front of him, cutting him off. The signal
had come up a few miles to the west. Robotnik opened his smile wide,
and set a course directly to that spot.
Taking charge again, Sally stepped back into the middle of the
circle. “Alright people, there’s the plan. Rotor, have we got the decoy
ready?” The walrus nodded to her. “Then everyone, go… Scatter!” This
last exclamation was accompanied by a loud crashing as Robotnik’s newly
redone lightning bot came by just a bit too soon for their plans.
Robotnik looked around, and scratched his head. The signal had
led him straight to a clearing in the woods. The flickies around him
stopped their songs, and hid in their treetop homes. Robotnik ignored
the birds, and looked around at the gap in the trees. Robotnik looked
at the scanner again. The blip had disappeared. Robotnik bashed the
scanner with his fist. “Stupid, lousy piece of JUNK! I oughta scrap
you…”
A rock hit him on the forehead. Robotnik growled and turned to
his attacker. Sonic stood there, brazenly tossing another rock up and
down, then chucked it at him again. Robotnik bellowed his fury, and
activated his lightning cannon. The hedgehog bolted through the trees.
Just before giving pursuit, Robotnik glanced down at his scanner. The
blip had started up again, in the direction of the hedgehog. Robotnik
smiled again, and flew off in Sonic’s direction, never noticing the
black cat moving out of the bushes to follow.
Sonic ran for his life. No amount of speed would save him here.
The thing in his hands was much too important to lose. As soon as
Robotnik put 2 and 2 together, he had activated a huge magnet on his
Robot’s hull. The magnet was more than powerful enough to grab the lump
of lithinium in Sonic’s hands. It was only a matter of time before the
hedgehog was dragged far enough back that Robotnik could blast him… he
needed help, fast. And it didn’t seem to be too forthcoming… Sonic
revved his legs harder. There had to be a way out of this. But whatever
it was probably involved more than running faster… Sonic’s thoughts
were cut off by a well-aimed lightning bolt, and everything flashed
electric yellow.
The sizzle made Rally jump and bobble the lithinium lump that she
had retrieved from the ground. She stared over, hardly believing what
she saw. From Robotnik’s ranting on and on about being defeated by
Sonic, she had expected the hedgehog to be invincible to danger. Now
she knew that that was not the case, and drew closer fearfully. The
doctor’s wide smile was vaguely menacing, even though she knew that it
was not aimed at her. Robotnik punched a series of buttons on his
console, laughing to himself. Four floating metal cylinders emerged
from the barrel of the lightning bot’s cannon, and revolved about the
still recovering hedgehog. The cylinders started crackling with energy,
then released it, trapping the still recovering Sonic in a sphere of
conflicting magnetic energy. Rally cried out sharply, but was drowned
out by Sonic’s yell of pain, as energy replaced air in his lungs. The
sphere and Robotnik rose high in the air, far away from any escape
attempts.
Sally climbed up a nearby tree in the first stages of panic,
staff in hand. Sonic was fading fast, that much was plain. Sally
grabbed at the last branch, and with strength born of panic, swung
herself up with a single hand. “Tails! Get me up there! Now!” Tails
snapped out of his daze at his friend’s pain, and leapt through the air
to Sally’s perch. Tails grabbed her, and swung her swiftly towards the
doctor with a yell. The yell spun Robotnik around, sending out a charge
in front of him instinctively. Sally’s blackened staff fell from her
charged fingers, and she clunked harmlessly off the side of the robot.
A second charge knocked Tails back into the tree, and scattered the
attempts of Rotor and Antoine to rescue the encased Sonic with one of
Rotor’s gadgets. Robotnik cackled – the freedom fighters were down, and
he had finally caught that hedgehog! What more could possibly go right
today? Then the scanner blipped back on. Robotnik was hovering directly
in front of the lithinium. The smile widened even further, until he
looked up. The smile sagged into his chin.
Rally was standing in the clearing directly in front of him,
hefting the huge lump of lithinium like a baseball. “You wanted this,
dad? I’m done using it, so you can have it back!”
The magnet sucked the explosive metal right to Robotnik’s ship.
Frantically, Robotnik reversed the pull of the magnet, trying to repel
the metal that was almost on top of him. But Rally wouldn’t have that.
Whipping out her fighting wire, Rally made a precisely timed leap into
the air, and struck the metal with the very tip.
The volatile metal exploded from the shock of the blow, just
inches from Robotnik’s craft. The glass of the cockpit shattered,
sending the radioactive shockwaves directly into Robotnik’s face. It
also had the effect of blasting the badly burned doctor far backwards,
to crash somewhere in the woods, cursing all the way. The magnetic
bubble surrounding Sonic faded away, and the now completely blackened
hedgehog fell quietly to the ground.
Rally ran over to him to check his pulse. The pulse beat faintly,
but steadily. Rally dragged him over to Sally and the others. Checking
to make sure they were ok, Rally laid Sonic down by them. No use trying
to wake them yet. Rally laid down for a nap.
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