The following short story is based on characters created and/or
copyrighted by SEGA! Enterprises, DiC Productions, Archie Comic
Publishers, Fleetway Comic Publishers, and the Taki Corporation.  All
other characters were created and copyrighted by Roland Lowery.
	The author gives full permission to distribute this work freely as
long as it remains intact and unaltered, and the transfer of monetary
units is not involved.
	Questions, comments, suggestions, complaints?  Send them to me at
.  I enjoy hearing from people who can
spell.

	Chaotic Multiverse Tale #14

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Quote for the day:

	"Words fail
	Buildings tumble
	The ground opens wide
	Light beams down from heaven . . . "

				-She's Actual Size, by They Might Be Giants
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	CHAOS! - Future Imperfect
		by Roland Lowery


	THE ENTIRE tower shook.  Windows burst throughout the city.  
Trees blew over miles away.  Each hit was like a mega-ton blast.
	Bunnie, Knuckles, and Sally were repeatedly thrown off of their 
feet as they tried to escape. Knuckles' hyper-powers were running down.
	"I dunno if I can make it," he told Bunnie.
	"Yes you will, shugah," Bunnie said.  She picked up Sally and 
Knuckles, then tucked them under each arm as she ran for the nearest exit.
	Once they were outside, the blasts were too much.  Bunnie felt 
her legs buckle and the three of them fell into a heap.  Knuckles used 
the last of his strength to look up.  A bright yellow beam of light
blazed out of the broken tower.  A metal monstrosity writhed against the
yellow beam.  Knuckles didn't have to be told to know that it was Sonic
and Robotnik in a death grip.
	The last thing he saw was Super Sonic's light fading into space, 
just before he slipped into the black field of unconciousness.

	Mechanik, who still retained some of the intellect that had been 
Ivo Robotnik from before he had mechanized himself, tried everthing it 
could to stop its plunge into the sun.
	It was glowing with the power of Super Sonic, a strange side 
effect of the super powered hedgehog coming in contact with him and his
force field.  It could register the massive amounts of energy emenating
from the patches of light, but it had no way to utilize it.
	So, thought Mechanik, this is it.  So much for a coffin burial.
	When Doctor Julian Ivan Roboninski had left Earth, Luna, and Mars 
for Pluto, he had never imagined that this would be how he would die, as 
a self-transformed mechanical monster, hurled by a super powered 
antropomorphic hedgehog into an alien sun.
	Ah, but life is full of oddities.
	According to Earth scientists, for example, the universe is a 
dimension - or IN a dimension - that is made up of two concepts called 
space and time.  Earth scientists, however, do not account for Chaos 
Emeralds, an oddity unto themselves.
	These glowing green jewels add a new element to the mix.  To the 
unassuming, the emerald's way of bending probability seems like magic.  
Those who have studied the emeralds for years, however, have realized 
that this ability to change probability stems from an more primal force 
than even magic, a force that reigned supreme during the time - thought 
time had no meaning then - before the Ancient Walkers appeared and formed 
Mobius and its surroundings from the primordial stuff from the beginning
of time.
	Chaos Emeralds were only vessels for microscopic fractions of 
this force.  Though weaker than the original stuff they were made from, 
the Chaos fragments within were able to affect the outside world.  That 
is why when the Chaotic Collective broke out of their confinement in the 
Zone of Silence and into the universe of order, then proceeded to change 
the past, present, and future, Mechanik remained unaffected.
	A Chaotic Collective robot caught it.

	Jim was having a bad day.
	For the past ten years, he had been an antisocial hermit living 
in the deepest parts of the Great Forest on the planet of Mobius.  He had 
been living off the land, amusing himself with the natural beauty he found 
around him, and shunning civilization in general.
	With the advent of Knuckles T. Echidna and his team of Chaotix
into his section of the forest, he was reintroduced into social life,
albeit reluctantly and with much protest and self-beration.
	He was beginning to regret his decision with a bloody vengance.  
Just as he had been preparing to offer his help to the stranded 
islanders, he felt his powers suddenly activate without his conscious 
command.  He could feel that it had been a reflexive action, like 
snatching a hand back from touching a burning flame.
	A massive headache hit him, telling him that whatever had 
triggered his powers had to be tremendously powerful.  Ever since he had 
woken up in the padded room years ago, he had never suffered a minor 
ailment like this except the occaisional broken limb, cut, or bruise.  
All of it had been easily treatable, and holding back aches of various 
kinds was a more preventive action.  Whatever was pushing him seemed to 
require his ability's full attention.
	For the first time in nine years, Jim was worried.
	"Oh, my achin' BACK!" yelled out a squeaky voice.
	But he had other concerns to attend to.
	He opened his eyes bit by bit to find that he and the Chaotix 
were now in a section of the Great Forest undamaged by the explosion in 
Robotropolis.  He looked around through bleary eyes and a purple haze 
that had laid itself over his brain.  Even in this state, he could tell 
that they were in no part of the Great Forest that he knew, and he knew 
ALL of the Great Forest.

	"Is everyone alright?" Knuckles called out.
	One by one, the Chaotix yelled out affirmatives from all around the 
echidna, and punctuated it by adding on a list of aches and pains.  They 
began to emerge from various parts of the forest, where they had
apparently landed after . . . after whatever had happened had finished 
happening.
	The last to come shambling up was Jim, the deer who they had met 
just half an hour ago.
	"Man, you look like someone sucked you dry!" said Vector Tangent
Gator.
	The alligator's assesment wasn't too far off.  Jim's muscles, 
which had been well formed earlier, had shrunken so much that his jacket 
billowed limply around his arms.  His face was haggard and worn, with 
sunken cheeks and blakened eyes.
	"Did YOU do that?" asked Archimedes Fire Ant.
	"I'm . . . not sure," said the deer.  "I must've . . . teleported 
us, or . . . something.  I-"  He went limp as his knees buckled, and he 
slid to the ground, unconscious.

	Bunnie Elizabeth Rabbit leaned over him to make sure he was still
alive. She found a pulse and felt his breath on the back of her hand.  She
was slightly startled to find that a yellow glow had clung to her where he 
had breathed on her.
	She wasn't TOO suprised, however, since only a few minutes ago 
Sonic T. Hedgehog, the person she was leaned over, had fallen to the
ground, still blazing with the power of Super Sonic.  At first he and the
crater surrounding him were too hot for her to approach.  She had waited 
patiently for it to cool down, then picked up the hedgehog, who was just 
beginning to fade out of his super powered state, and carried him over to 
the others.
	It was then that the world went haywire.  Everything seemed to 
burst outward from Bunnie's sight in multi-colored confusion.  This 
sudden attack on her five senses nearly made her lose her balance and 
pass out beside her friends.
	Just as things seem to settle back down into some sort of 
recognizable order, everything seemed to be pulled INward towards a 
single spot in the rabbit's line of vision.  Bit by bit, everything 
seemed to disappear into this point to be replaced by something else . . 
. a landscape that seemed vaugely familiar to Bunnie.
	She was suddenly overcome by a massive dose of vertigo and had to 
look down at the ground under her feet.  She noticed that the strange 
shifting of the universe seemed to end in a circular line that surrounded 
her, Sonic, Sally, and Knuckles.
	And then, with an audible POP!, everything settled back into 
order.  Bunnie looked up and around, seeing things that she had never 
thought she'd see again-
	"Uhnnn . . . "
	Bunnie's attention was immediately back on her friends.  She 
kneeled down beside Princess Sally Alicia Acorn, who's eyes fluttered
open.
	"Sally girl?" she said softly.  "You feel okay?"
	Sally certainly didn't look like she felt okay.  Her roboticized 
legs were slightly dented - from use and wear or from the falling debris 
of Robotnik's tower, Bunnie couldn't tell - and she had a large bruise on 
the side of her head where a small, crushed mechanical device was 
attached.  She looked up at Bunnie and grimaced.
	"I . . . I think so," she finally gasped.  "What . . . ?"
	She tried to sit up, but Bunnie pushed her back down gently.
	"Y'all need some rest, Princess," she said.  "Yuh just came out 
of a nine yeah long coma, of sorts."
	Sally complied and laid back down, then said, "Sonic?  I . . .
remember a little bit . . .  Where is he?"
	"He's heah, but he's . . . sleepin' rahght now.  Ah don't think
it'd be best if'n we woke him."
	The Princess nodded and closed her eyes.
	Bunnie looked back up and around her.  It was amazing.  For the
past twenty years or so, Mobius had been a dark, forboding place.
Pollution had filled the air, water, and land.  Dr. Robotnik's 'bots and
mechas had roamed the lands, hunting down the last of the free Mobians.
There were few trees, little grass, no animals.  It had been a wasteland
of planetary proportions.
	But now . . .
	The sky was clear.  There were a few dark clouds building up in
the distance, but otherwise it was a beautiful day.  Outside of the
fifteen foot raius that Sonic, Knuckles, Sally, and Bunnie were in, green
grass swayed in a gentle breeze.  The same breeze flowed through the
leaves of a clump of tree saplings not too far off.  As squirrels played
in the branches of the saplings, brightly colored birds flew overhead.
	Bunnie heard a rustling noise behind her, accompanied by two
voices speaking in unison.
	"Where . . . am . . . I?" mumbled Sonic and Knuckles.

	"NOT good!" said Espio Carlos Chameleon.  "This is definitely not
good!"
	"Damage control, people!" Knuckles T. Echidna yelled.  "Charmy, I
want you on air recon!  Mighty, ground protection!  Espio, stealth mode
and perimeter search!  Vector, help me get to Jim's backpack."
	The Chaotix nodded and took up their positions.  As Charmy Albert
Bee spiraled up into the air, Mighty Mighty Armadillo prepared himself to
take on anything that came their way, and Espio faded into the trees
around them.  Vector helped Knux turn Jim over.
	"YOW!" yelled Vector as he jumped back and shook his hands.  "That
dude is HOT!"
	Indeed, Jim and his clothes were steaming.  Knuckles stepped back
as well from the heat, then reached in quickly to unclasp and grab Jim's
pack.  He still didn't know what to do with the deer, but he figured that
something in the pack would give him an idea.
	"What the-?!" he exclaimed.
	"What?  What is it, Red?" asked Vector.
	Knuckles reached into the pack and pulled out a handful of
peanuts.  They were salted and looked like they had been roasted as well.
	"Feed them to him," said Archimedes from Knux's shoulder.  "I got
a hunch."
	Vector took his own handful of peanuts, opened Jim's mouth, and
poured them in.  The deer, in his semi-conscious state, began to chew
slowly.
	"I got some strange news, fearless leader," said Charmy as he
landed nearby.  "Not only is this part of the forest completely regrown,
but the Floating Island is gone, too!"
	The echidna rubbed his chin.  "Well," he said, "we'll just have to
worry about that later.  Right now we- WHAT, Vector?"  He turned around to
see why the gator was tapping his shoulder.
	"Oh, my," said Archimedes.
	"Give me . . . my peanuts," rasped Jim.

	The world began to fall into place around Sonic.  He slowly raised
his aching head.
	"Easy, honey," said Bunnie's voice.  "Y'all've taken quite a
beatin'."
	"S-Sally . . . " he mumbled.  "Where is . . . "
	"Right here, Sonic," said Sally.  Her voice seemed to be echoing
down a long corridor in Sonic's ears.  He turned on his side and began to
cry softly.
	"How much . . . how much do you . . . remember?"
	Sally was silent.  He looked up to see that Bunnie was sitting
nearby, glancing over at Knuckles every few seconds, but still keeping an
eye on him and Sally.
	"Y'all prob'ly shouldn't over-exert yoahselves rahght now," the
rabbit said.  "A storm looks t'be brewin' over in the east, and we need
t'get movin' soon.  Rest f'now."

	Half an hour later Sally, who insisted that she felt better,
helped Bunnie with Sonic and Knuckles, who were still a bit groggy.  The
rumblings of thunder were getting closer, and Bunnie wanted to make it to
the shelter of a forest a couple of miles distant in the west.
	"Boy," said Knuckles as he winced in pain, "those Chaos Emeralds
take a lot out've a person!  It fels like a squad'a QUANTUMbots have been
trompin' up'n'down my spine fer an hour!"
	"Ya don't look much better, either," Sonic chuckled.
	"If I want'cher opinion," the echidna replied in his raspy voice,
"I'll SLAP it outta ya!"
	Sonic swayed his fingers at Knuckles tauntingly.  "Oooo . . . "
	Sally rolled her eyes.  "Near death and they still find the energy
to trade insults," she said to Bunnie.
	"Ah, we ain't dead yet," said Sonic.  He took a step and his face
screwed up in pain.  "But . . . we might as WELL be!"
	The next two hours were spent limping towards the forest.  Clouds
gathered overhead and turned darker.  A cool wind started up, refreshing
the weary Mobians, who were now all able to walk without leaning on one
another, albeit slowly.
	Knuckles lit up a cigar.
	"Didn't I tell you to cut that out?" asked Sonic.
	"Didn't *I* tell YOU to shut yer trap?" Knuckles shot back.
	"Listen!" Bunnie whispered fiercely all of a sudden.  Everyone
stood still, straining their ears.
	"I don't hear anything, Bun," Sonic finally said.
	"Yer goin' senile, rabbit," Knuckles added.
	They continued their walk.  A few minutes later, when they had
reached the edge of the forest, Sally whispered into Bunnie's ear, "Nice
way to shut them up.  I'll have to remember that!"

	* * * * * *
	Non-linear Computer Logorithm Multiple Algorithm TRack Inducting
		X-Calibur supercomputer network booting up.
	Activity encounter in sector 14-D of the Great Forest Area.
	Loading assault grid into Sniv-1 capsule monitor.
	<-------------------->
	Error detected.
	Erronous data recieved.
	Expunge?
	Expunge of erronous data cancelled.
	Erronous data selected for viewing.  Loading into Sniv-1 capsule
		monitor.
	<-------------------->
	Data as follows:
		Visual:
			One (1) Sonic T. Hedgehog
			One (1) Sally A. Acorn
			One (1) Bunnie E. Rabbit
			One (1) Knuckles T. Echidna
		Errors in data:
			1) Sonic T. Hedgehog located in his hut.  Sensors
			   confirm double reading.
			2) Sally A. Acorn located in underground palace.
			   Sensors confirm double reading.
			3) Bunnie E. Rabbit is missing, presumed dead, 24
			   years.
			4) Knuckles T. Echidna is missing, presumed dead,
			   24 years.
			5) All have erronous quantum signatures.  Not
			   affiliated in the Cosmic Interstate Q-S files.
	Samantha-1 activated.  Loading orders into Sam-1 eye monitors.
	* * * * * *

	"-look at first, nothing too rough if they decide to attack.  We
don't know what we're dealing with here."
	Snively closed the commlink with Samantha.  He looked back at the
"erronous" visual data being relayed to him via Nicole Matrix.  The
Mobians on the screen looked almost nothing like their counterparts.
	For one thing, the Princess on the screen was roboticized from the
waist down, something that the real Sally was not.  Snively remembered
when he and the doctor had done such horrible things, back before he had
joined the Freedom Fighters.  Looking at the Princess' robot legs brought
a pang of mental anguish to him.
	Among other differences, like the black eye, Sonic was up and
moving around.  The last time Snively had checked, the hedgehog was in a
coma, unable to leave his bed, much less talk and look around.  He had
trouble BREATHING on his own.
	Bunnie and Knuckles weren't even supposed to be alive, or at least
not on Mobius.  The whole planet had been searched, and they had not been
found.  Bunnie, supposedly, was in space with the Collective.  Knuckles
had simply disappeared without a trace, as had his team of Chaotix.  There
were differences in these two on the screen and their last sightings also.
Bunnie no longer had her roboticized limbs, but a cyborg skeleton took its
place. Knuckles was wearing an eye patch and . . .
	Snively rubbed his eyes and looked again.  Sure enough, Knuckles
was chomping down on a cigar.  Where did he get that? the human wondered.
He hadn't seen a cigar since he'd left Earth so many decades ago.
	"Matrix," he said, "I want you to run a probability check on the
four anomolies.  Run the check through the chaos shunt."
	"Working," said Nicole Matrix.  "Done."
	"What is the probability that they came from a sub-dimension we
are currently unfamiliar with?"
	"0.02%"
	"Probability that they came from a zone?"
	"0.00%"
	"Probability that they came from a seperate quantum time-line in
our specific sub-dimension?"
	"Error.  Chaotic loop detected in micro-sub-processors.
Attempting to compensate."
	Sively waited patiently.
	"Probability: 78.32% and rising," said the computer.
	"Is it possible that they went back in time and changed the past,
then came back?"
	"Working . . . . . . . insufficient data."
	"Great."

	"Someone's watching us."
	Knuckles' gravely voice was so low, the rest barely heard him.
	"How d'ya know?" whispered Sonic.
	"Bein' a paranoid recluse all these years taught me more than just
a few things," the echidna answered.  "How to know when someone's tailin'
ya is one of those things."
	"So what do we do?" asked Sally.  "Except for Bunnie, none of us
are really in any shape to do anything if they want to fight us!"
	"Jus' keep walkin' eyes forward, Sally Girl," said Bunnie.  "If'n
they want t'start somethin', let 'em.  We c'n put up a good enough fight
if'n we're hard pressed.  Otherwise, let them let us alone."
	They continued through the forest in this manner for the next few
minutes.  Finally, Sonic broke the silence.
	"Y'know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say we were in the Great
Forest."
	"Me too," said Bunnie.  "Everythin' looks familiar t'me.  'Cept it
looks lahke everythin' grew out a li'l while we wuz gone."
	Without warning, Knuckles flipped his cigar to his right and
lunged after it.  The cigar hit something and fell to the ground.  A
second later, the echidna hit the same something and began to struggle
with it.
	Bunnie joined in, using Knuckles' attacks and parries to pinpoint
the invisible opponent's location.  She was trying to pick up something -
ANYthing - on her amplified hearing and on every video feed screen she
had, but it seemed like she and Knuckles were simply fighting with empty
air.  Still, she felt something stopping her punches, so she edged around
and grabbed it from behind.  She was suprised to feel a humanoid body up
against hers.
	In the space between Bunnie's arms, a figure slowly faded in.
	"Oh, my . . . " said Sally, for she and everyone else were looking
at an almost exact duplicate of her.
	There were only a few differences between Sally and the newcomer.
She wore her hair differently, her eyes were green instead of blue and
were shaped differently, her forehead was slightly higher, she stood a few
inches taller, and she filled out the gray skin-tight fatigue she wore a
bit better than Sally would have.
	"I am Samantha of the Royal House of Acorn," she said.  "I put all
of you under protective custody.  I order you to stand down."  Even her
voice was similar to Sally's, though there was a lighter quality and just
the slight hint of an indiscernable accent.
	"Ah don' think yoah in any position to give us orders, shugah,"
said Bunnie.
	"I'm doing this for your own protection!" said Samantha.
	"Riiiiight," rasped Knuckles.  "Not many custodians, at least not
good ones, follow their charges in cloak mode.  Care to explain?"
	"If you would just follow me to-"
	Bunnie sqeezed Samantha's sides lightly.
	"-follow my directions to the palace," Samantha amended, "all of
this can be explained."
	The rabbit loosened her hold.  "Start talkin', shugah."

	I woke up in an asylum (Jim said).  I didn't know who, what, or
where I was.  After a few minutes, my power first showed itself to me by
blasting a hole in the wall.  Using these blasts instinctively, I escaped
Mobotropolis and made my way into the Great Forest.
	I decided to learn more about my powers.  The first thing on my
list was to try and find a way to replinish them!  In using the power, I
use up body fat and muscle.  Eventually, I would deteriorate into nothing
if I didn't find enough food to put it all back.
	So, I found a peanut plant and dug the peanuts up.  "It's a
start," I thought.  I had maybe a handful of them, and I ate them all in
one mouthful.
	Immediately, I felt better. But it was MORE than that.  I watched,
as all of you did before, as my muscles built up at an astonishing rate.
	I can tell you, without immodesty or ego, that my brain is
hyper-jacked up.  In one second, I calculated the number and amount of
calories, protiens, and such it would take to pump me back up that much,
and realized that I had metabolized every bit of those peanuts.  Zero
waste.
	So, I could metabolize quicker and more efficiently than any other
Mobian alive.  That solved THAT problem.
	Then I fell off a cliff.  This was . . . oh, I'd say about a month
later.  I had been scaling this cliff out of curiosity.  You know, see
what's on the other side?  Well, I fell forty feet.  It wasn't pleasant.
	"When I landed, I'd sustained a multitude of minor scratches, I
had a spear of rock in my belly, and all the skin on my right hand hand
been torn away as I had tried to stop my descent.  I looked up and saw
blood splattered all over the cliff face.
	I nearly gave up then and there.  I knew no one would miss me.
Hell, *I* wouldn't miss me!
	But . . . I felt my power charge up again.  At them time, I
thought all I could do was shoot energy blasts - which, by the way, I got
VERY good at - so I was suprised to see all of my injuries heal before my
eyes.  The rock spear was pushed out and clattered on the rock pile beside
me.
	The only problem for me then was to eat enough peanuts to replace
my body tissue.
	After finding I had more powers, I started seeking them out.  Some
still came accidentaly or instinctively, like when I developed telekinesis
to fend off a rock slide, or my force field to deflect a bear attack.
	Some of the more fancy powers I had to find myself, though.  Stuff
like hyper-awareness and telepathy.
	Yes, telepathy.  I could, if I wanted to, read your minds.  Don't
worry, though.  I would no more invade another person's privacy any more
than I would want them to invade mine.
	Anyway, having . . . what was it?  Ten years?  . . . to think it
over, I realized that, at its most basic level, my power is to alter the
fundamental basics of reality.  I can take a tree apart at an atomic level
and rearrange it into a stack of paperback novels, or a speed bike, or a
sentient Mobian being who can only say "I eat Roscar Meimer baloney" over
and over again.  I can alter gravity, change matter into anti-matter, and
grow hair on a billiard ball.
	The only limit I have is how much muscle and fat I have on me.
That's why I carry a backpack of peanuts and other high-protien foods.
	Alright, that's "Jim's history in a nutshell".  Any questions?

	The Chaotix all started talking at once.
	Jim sighed.

	"Snively?"
	"Yes, Matrix?"
	"The erronous designates are approaching the gateway to the
Underground Palace.  It would appear that they think they have take
Samantha prisoner."
	"Let them in and surround them."

	"Ladies and gentleman," said Knuckles as he lit a match, "we just
stepped into a trap."
	One by one, they had jumped into the hidden trap door and
darkness.  The only light now, since the trap door had closed, was
Knuckles' match.  It revealed fifteen SWATbots pointing their laser rifles
at them.
	"Pfft," snorted Sonic.  "SWATbots?  Gimmie a-"
	Ten ComBots stepped in behind them.
	"Damn."
	"I told you," said Samantha.  "I extend my offer of custody
again."
	"Now, what is a nice li'l ol' Mobian organic lahke you doin' with
a buch'a nasty 'bots lahke these?" asked Bunnie.
	There was a short period of darkness as Knuckles' match went out.
He lit another one, then asked, "You think we can get some lights in here?
I only got so many a'these things."
	Floodlights mounted on the ComBots' shoulders lit up the tunnel.
Knuckles nodded and used his match to light another cigar.
	"I'd advise you to let me go," said Samantha.
	"And lose the only tactical advantage we have?" asked Sally.  "Why
would we do that?"
	"Because by holding me, you still have no tactical advantage.  The
'bots will shoot whether I'm here or not."
	"Which takes us back t'MAH question," said Bunnie.  "What're
y'doin' with these 'bots?"
	"Follow me and all will be explained."
	"Looks like we don't have a choice, guys," said Sonic with a sigh.
Suddenly, he grinned evilly.  "Or DO we, Knux?"
	Knuckles smiled back and replied, "The path of decisions has laid
itself before me, blue boy."
	All four of them were in action in a second.  Even in their
debilitated state, they felt good enough to at least put up a good show,
if not take the 'bots down entirely.
	Sonic slammed into a SWATbot and drove it into the ComBot behind
it.  Knuckles jumped forward, grabbed a SWATbot, used it as a shield
against a volley of lasers, then entangled it in a ComBot's hand coils.
Sally karate kicked a SWATbot's head off, then body flipped the rest of it
into another SWATbot.  Bunnie grabbed a ComBot's hand coils as it tried to
grab her and swung it around in circles, taking out two SWATbots and
another ComBot.
	There were still nine SWATbots and seven ComBots left to deal
with.  Sonic, who still had the initiative, was able to take down two more
ComBots and another SWATbot.  Knuckles and Bunnie took one 'bot each and
slammed them into each other while Sally scissor kicked a SWATbot in the
chest, causing its laser shot to go wide, cutting down the 'bot beside it.
	"STOP!" yelled a commanding voice.  Immediately, all of the
combatants fell back from each other.
	Sonic's jaw fell down.  From further down the tunnel, illuminated
by ComBot floodlights, was Sally Acorn, exactly as she had looked twenty
three years ago, only slightly older, and dressed in the robes of a Queen
of the Acorn Kingdom.
	"What is going on here?" Queen Sally demanded to know.
	Princess Sally straightened to attention.  "Your Majesty, I
respectfully ask for asylum under your wing in the Inner Sanctuary."
	"And your friends?"
	"I further extend this query to and for Sonic Hedgehog, Bunnie
Rabbit, and Knuckles Echidna.  Being the highest ranking among them in the
Royal House, I ask this."
	The Queen appeared to think it over.  Finally she said, "Your
request is in the proper form, but you appear as I do, except for your
metallic legs.  Sonic Hedgehog, I know for a fact, is in a coma.  I just
left him moments ago.  Bunnie Rabbot and Knuckles Echidna are missing, and
have been for many years, so I cannot assume in their cases.
	"If you can explain yourselves, I shall grant you the sanctuary
you seek."
	Princess Sally bowed.  "I am sorry to say that we cannot.  We
believe that we may have been inadvertantly transported here from another
dimension or timeline."
	Again, Queen Sally paused for thought.  "Request granted on a
probationary condition.  You did, after all, destroy over ten guard
robots.  Whether this was due to misunderstanding or malice is yet to be
determined.  This way."
	She turned around and started to walk back the way she came.
Sonic, the Princess, Knuckles, and Bunnie followed as Samantha and the
robots brought up the rear.
	"What was all that?" rasped Knuckles, who was less familiar with
royal protocol than Sonic and Bunnie.
	"Any member of the House of Acorn can ask for sanctuary of another
member," explained Sally.  "Here, seemingly, that courtesy is extended to
other-dimensional Acorns as well."
	"All fine and good," said Knuckles, "but what's the 'Inner
Sanctuary' you mentioned?"
	Sally shrugged.  "Anywhere they decide to put us."
	"Oh, mah stars," breathed Bunnie.
	"Heh," said Sonic.  "Not too shabby."
	They had just emerged into an enormous cavern, at least a mile
across from where they were standing.  To the left and right, the sides
were lost in the distance.  The floor was a mile distant like the opposite
wall, straight down from the ledge they were standing on.  On the ground,
lit up by a bio-luminecent fungus growing on the ceiling, were huts,
houses, stores, and other buildings by the thousands.  Mobians and other
beings were moving along sidewalks or driving through the streets on hover
vehicles of all kinds.
	Queen Sally turned to them and gestured grandly at the gigantic
city.  "Welcome to Cavernopolis, informally known as New Knothole, and
seat of the Acorn Kingdom!  The population is approximatly ten million
Mobians, three million humans, fourteen thousand Collective renegades, and
five thousand assorted races.  Established 3261 Acorn Dominion, it is the
location of the Underground Palace, which is our current destination."
	It sounds like she's quoting a script, thought Sonic.  What's up
with this place?
	"This way," said Samantha as she directed them to an elevator set
in the cavern wall.  The lift seemed to be designed to carry large
vehicles, for the Mobians and 'bots were all able to stand in one small
corner with several yards of room to spare.
	Samantha obviously still didn't trust the newcomers.  She ordered
a few of the 'bots to stand between them and the Queen.
	The elevator seemed not to be moving.  When Sonic commented on it,
Samantha said, "Inertial dampners.  We're actually moving at 70 miles per
hour.  We'll reach the cavern floor in 2.17 minutes.  After that, we'll
board a royal speeder which will take us to the palace across the gulf.
When we get there we-"
	"What's yer deal, lady?" asked Knuckles.
	"Pardon?"
	"I think I know somethin' a'what's goin' on, but I don't recognize
YOU."  The echidna tapped some of the ashes from his cigar.  "And ya don't
FEEL right.  I noticed it back in the forest, but didn't think nuthin' of
it 'till we got in here, closer together.  Ya don't SMELL right, neither."
	"More of that paranoid stuff, Knux?" Sonic interrupted.
	"Damn straight," Knuckles replied.  "As far as I c'n tell, she
ain't got no more life in her th'n THESE creeps."  He pointed at the
'bots.
	Samantha turned to face Knuckles fully.  "Very good, Guardian.  I
am Samantha-1, Acorn Model H.I.T.T.E.R.:  Holo-Interface Tractor Tracer
Enabled Robot."
	Her entire body digitalized, was replaced by a green grid, then
disappeared completely.  Underneath the holo-image was a humanoid skeletal
metal frame.  In the center of her chest was a complex laser array
centered around -
	- a Chaos Emerald!  Knuckles whistled low.  Samantha reformed her
body, then turned facing the front of the elevator again, ignoring the
questions her exhibition illicited.

	*Why did you show them that?*
	(Test of trust.  They didn't attack me for the emerald.  If they
had, I would have had them destroyed.)
	*So you trust them now?*
	(No.  I don't trust anyone.)
	*Which is why I appointed you head of security.  Your paranoia
grates on some peoples' nerves, however.  Have you thought of altering
your programming subtly?*
	(Yes, your Majesty, but I believe that it would be to the
detriment of my effectiveness.)
	*As you say.*
	-MINDLINK TERMINATED-

	"Neato," said Sonic as he looked out over the city.  "How come we
didn't see these windows in the cavern wall while were on the ledge?"
	"Holo-image of a rock face," said Queen Sally.
	They were being led down a hallway in the Underground Palace,
which seemed to be an almost exact replica of the original Acorn Castle in
Mobotropolis.  Various servant scurried by them on one errand or another.
	The next shock of the day for Sonic and his group was Snively in a
wheelchair as he rolled up to them.
	"Pardon me, your Majesty," the human said to Queen Sally as he
bowed in his chair.  "I wished to meet the dopplegangers in person."
	Save for the wheelchair and the wire-rimmed glasses, Snively
looked like he hadn't aged for the past twenty years.
	"Of course," said the Queen.
	"Thank you," Snively said as he wheeled over to Sonic and extended
his hand.  Before Sonic could extend his own, a small device flipped out
of Snively's sleeve and into the human's hand.  It seemed to scan the
hedgehog, then beeped.  "Most interesting.  My name is Snively."  He stuck
his hand out again.
	Sonic waited for something else to pop out.  When nothing did, he
took Snively's hand.  "Sonic the Hedgehog, and I know who you are."
	"Probably not, Mr. Hedgehog.  I know you as well, but not THIS
you.  Don't be so presumptuous as to think you really know ME."
	"Look, dude, you-" Sonic said testily, but Snively had already
moved on to shake hands with Bunnie.
	After introductions were made, they continued their jouney down
the hallway.  Snively engaged the "dopplegangers" in conversation.
	"How do you believe you got here?" he asked.
	"Time travel," said Knuckles.  Snively nodded as if he had guessed
as much.
	"Could you elaborate?"
	"Yes, please," added Princess Sally.  "Do you know something we
don't?  Why didn't you mention it before?"
	"Saw no reason to," answered Sonic.  "Now tho' . . . okay, it
would seem that me and Knuckles from the past jumped ahead into the future
during a time that we have little recollection of except as the day before
everything went wrong.  When we jumped ahead, it seems that we took over
our own bodies in what for us is . . . or was . . . the present.  Our
minds kinda melted together, and we went in and defeated Dr. Ivo Robotnik
once and for all.  Our past selves went back in time and we ended up here
somehow.  My guess is that our past selves went back and used their
knowledge of their future to alter time.  How the we survived the change
is beyond us."
	"Hmm . . . " mumbled Snively.  "Are Chaos Emeralds plentiful where
you came from?"
	"I wouldn't say 'plentiful' exactly," Sonic said, "but there were
enough, I guess.  It was by super charging with emeralds that me and Knux
where able to give the old one-two to the doc.  Why do ya want to know?"
	Snively glanced at the Queen and Samantha.  They both nodded.
	"There are only seven Chaos Emeralds left on our world," he said.
	"Only seven?" asked Bunnie.  "What did y'all do with th'rest?"
	"WE didn't do anything with them, Ms. Rabbit.  The Chaotic
Collective took them."
	"Who?"
	"The Chaotic Collective," said Samantha, "is hard to explain.  So
far, all we know is that they are symbiotic in a way, more like parasitic.
They latch onto organic beings - 'bots too, but only when they have to -
and override their neural structure.  All they want from the being is to
use them as an anchor because, as their name suggests, they are very
unstable.  If shot by a laser at a specific frequency, they often lose
hold of their victim.  If they don't reconnect within half a minute, they
disapate.
	"They usually take the form of large gray humanoid robots, covered
with weapons of every description.  Even with all of their bulk, they are
quick, agile, and deadly.
	"From what we could gather, they wanted the Chaos Emeralds of our
world.  What for, we do not know, but we later found that they had planned
to destroy our planet afterwards and move on to another sub-dimension to
do the same to them.  Details are sketchy because all of the renegade
Collective 'bots we encounter have mostly had their memories erased."
	"So you only have seven emeralds left," said Princess Sally.
"That's a bad situation.  If someone gathered them and fifty Power Rings-"
	"They cannot," said Snively.  "There are only forty-nine rings
left.  The Lake of Rings and other areas like it stopped producing them
when the Collective had collected a majority of the emeralds.  Anyway,
they are safely guarded, just as the emeralds are."
	Sonic and his group exchanged glances.
	"Y'mean, you don't have a ring generator?" asked Sally.
	"I'm sorry, a what?"
	More glances.  Everyone stopped walking.
	"I don' believe it," said Bunnie.  "Could th' time line've split
this far from just one li'l ol' incident?"
	"Apparently so," said Snively.  "What to you may seem like an
extremely obvious and logical step in technology may be something that we
may never have concieved of in our wildest imaginations, and vice versa."
He was about to go on when a beep sounded from his belt.  He looked down,
then said, "I would love to stay and chat futher with all of you, but I'm
afraid something has come up.  Good day."
	As Snively wheeled off in search of an elevator, the rest
continued their journey to the guest rooms.

	"What is is now, Matrix?" asked Snively.
	"Erronous data sited in Great Forest Sector 1-A," the computer
said.
	Snively paused in mid-lift as he moved from his wheelchair into
the Sniv-1 pod.  "Right on top of us," he said to himself.  He continued
into the pod, then asked, "Why didn't you call me earlier?"
	"The erronous data was not detected until it was directly
overhead."
	The pod's door closed in front of him.  The heads-up display slid
down as the cyberjack plugged into the base of his neck.
	The pod was Snively's home in many respects.  When the Chaotic
Collective had first attacked, he had awoken in a glittery haze.  He was
told that Robotnik was dead, and that he was to be the recipitant of
unimaginable power.
	He was given a choice:  Accept it or die.
	Snively had always been drawn to power.  His first step towards
"greatness" had been Dr. Julian Roboninski, whom he had felt had been
destined for greatness and would be his meal ticket to the same heights of
success.  That dream came true when Julian became Robotnik, Overlord of
Mobius.
	Unfortunately, serving under Robotnik had been beginning to pall,
and Snively had been formulating a plan to take the fat man's place when
the Collective had appeared.
	Snively had accepted their offer.
	An instant later, a massive surge of evil, chaotic power had
overwhelmed him.  The next thing he knew, he was in the ruins of
Robotropolis, back broken and legs useless.  His gambit for power had
failed.
	The Freedom Fighters - what was left of them, anyway - had found
him.  They had taken him back to the remains of Knothole Village and cared
for him even as he threw obscenities and small objects at them.
	Eventually, he had accepted his lot and decided to help the FF in
fighting the new threat of the Chaotic Collective.  He had been one of the
three people who had developed the Chaos Screen that surrounded Mobius and
kept 90% of the Collective off-planet.
	The Sniv-1 pod was created to be his legs, arms, eyes, and ears.
There, he was able to link up with Nicole Matrix and, via her, any
computer controlled object on Mobius.
	He connected to survielence cameras over the entrance to
Cavernopolis and saw Nicole's second "erronous data" for the day.
	Standing there were Knuckles and his Chaotix, and an unidentified
male deer.
	"List erronous data, Nicole," said Snively.
	"Visual:  One Knuckles T. Echidna.  One Archimedes F. Ant.  One
Mighty M. Armadillo.  One Charmy A. Bee.  One Espio C. Chameleon.  One
Vector T. Gator.  One unidentifiable, general tag:  John Doe.
	"Errors in data:  One, Knuckles T. Echidna located in Underground
Palace.  Sensors confirm double reading.  Two, Collective designate:
Chaotix are missing, presumed dead, 24 years.  Three, John Doe emenating
non-affiliated mutagenic signature.  Four, all have erronous temporal
signatures.  Approximate lapse:  24 years."
	"Expostulate," said Snively.  "Chances they are from our past."
	"Working . . . . . . . done.  Chances are 57.98% and rising."
Nicole beeped, then started blaring a siren.  "WARNING!  WARNING!
TEMPORAL BREACH DETECTED!  BRACE FOR TIMEQUAKE, FORCE FOUR!"
	"Oh, no . . . "

	"This doesn't look good," said Charmy.
	"Yo, bee," said Vector, "stifle it!  Jim's concentratin'!"
	Espio shook his head.  "The bee is right, Vec.  Lookit the sky."
	As the whine of Jim's power grew in pitch, the already dark sky
grew darker.  Though the rain had stopped half an hour ago, it started up
again even stronger than before.
	"Should we tell 'im to stop?" wandered Knuckles.
	"Somehow," said Archimedes, "I don't think he'd listen."
	Jim lifted into the air.  His muscles were all pulled tight and
his face was a mask of determination and hate.  Pinkish-purple light
poured off of him in waves, striking the ground with fierce intensity.
	In his mind, he could see it all clearly.  The cavern below was
protected by a field generated by some type of technology he wasn't
familiar with, and it was able to block him.
	If he didn't know better, he'd swear it was magical in nature.  It
was able to counter every move he made, something he had never experienced
before, and he was determined to get through.
	He finally felt it slip, then give way.
	Then the Timequake hit.

	For the out-of-timers like Knuckles, Sonic, Bunnie, Princess
Sally, the other Knuckles, the Chaotix, and Jim, the Timequake seemed like
nothing more than a normal earthquake.
	For the rest, however, it felt like their very souls and minds
were being ripped out as their bodies exploded.
	Nicole Matrix, fortunately, was not affected.  She was able to
access time on a quantum level seperate from the rest of the multiverse.
She continued to blare warnings to those who were still able to hear them.
	Samantha, too, was unaffected.  She deduced what was happening and
helped Sonic the Hedgehog to his feet.
	"Can you run?!" she yelled.
	"Yah!" Sonic yelled back.  "I think so!  Why?!"
	"You and your friends have to go back in time!  There's been a
breach in time and you have to help fix it!  We have to get to Nicole
Matrix!  Follow these directions . . . "

	ATTENTION|ATTENTION|ATTENTION
	BREAK IN THE CHAOS SCREEN DETECTED
	CONVERGE|SIGNAL : [479-BETA]
	-----------------------------------
	SITING DESIGNATE: ZGLWRTZ*
	ERROR|ERROR|ERROR
	TIMEQUAKE DETECTED|FORCE FOUR
	TEMPORAL BREACH DETECTD|SPAN: 24 STANDARD MOBIAN YEARS
	ORDERS: INITIATE TEMPORAL SNARE
	INITIATING|INITIATING|INITIATING

	It was like running through a meteor shower.  Sonic was carrying
Sally, Knuckles, Bunnie, and Samantha in a chain hanging off of his back.
He was being hit by pieces of falling ceiling and the floor was cracking
underneath him, slowing him down considerably.
	They reach Nicole's room, finally.  Snively was in his blue pod,
locked in a stasis field.
	"Nicole!" yelled Samantha.  "Initiate temporal jump, 3234 AD!"
	"Unable to comply," said the computer.  "Temporal jump currently
in use."
	"MULTI-TASK, DAMMIT!"
	"Let me," said a voice.
	They all looked at the doorway.  Standing there was a male deer,
covered in pinkish-purple light and leading Knuckles and the Chaotix.
	Before anyone could say anthing else, the light expanded
throughout the entire room.  A second later, the frozen Snively was the
only living organic in the room.

	Twenty-four years ago, the world ended.

	TO BE CONTINUED

		Roland Lowery
			

    Source: geocities.com/timessquare/dungeon/5221

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