You win some, you lose some...and sometimes, it just gets wierd.
---cut on this line---
Misdirected Anger
Written by: Adrian Tymes
[Legal disclaimer:
This story is based on characters created by SEGA and DiC Productions, as well
as Sandra Nightweaver and Commander Packbell by David Pistone. Permission is
granted to freely distribute this story, so long as:
a: no recompense of financial value is received or given by the person who
distributes the story, and
b: the distributed copy is identical to the story as originally authored.
In other words, don't sell it, and don't alter it.
Copyright (c) 1998, all rights reserved, et cetera.]
******
Two forms stretched and yawned, greeting the clear morning sky in unison.
Snively was actually smiling for once. Collapsing the support struts of his
tent, he bundled up the tent fabric and wrapped it around him, making sure that
it still warped light around its wearer. Satisfied that he was still mostly
concealed, he surveyed the leafy top of the FSM army's temporary headquarters.
"Just like old times, eh, Kenal? You and me, and whatever we bring with us,
against the world. Just like the other armies Robotnik let us take out."
Kenal growled in response.
"Oh, come on, Kenal. Sure, you were a robot at my command, but you put more
enthusiasm into your work than just about any other workerbot I've ever seen.
You must have genuinely enjoyed it, at least a bit."
"I enjoyed getting out of your sight, and into situations where you'd let me
take control of myself."
"And I suppose that the only reason you worked with me yesterday was because
what's left of the mind I gave you ordered you to."
"As a matter of fact, yes. That IS the only reason I didn't turn you into
ground meat when I had the chance. And that's the only thing keeping you alive
right now."
"No matter. My servant is inside you, and he will help me get through this.
Come, Kenal." Snively beckoned as he walked across the shell.
Kenal tried desperately not to stand. He willed his wings not to flap. He
ordered his guiding feathers to turn him away from Snively. Finally, he
suppressed flashbacks to his life as a workerbot. Only in the last activity did
he succeed.
******
Two forms stretched and yawned, acknowledging the smog-filled morning sky in
unison.
"Just a few more minutes, ma," Dulcy mumbled out of habit.
Rotor stood up, scratching himself. "Oww...what happened?"
"You crashed," Packbell replied.
Rotor and Dulcy tensed instinctively, and looked around. They were on the
outskirts of Robotropolis, with a few squadrons of SWATbots standing at
attention nearby. Packbell's voice sounded from some nearby speakers, while the
android himself was undoubtedly kilometers away at the city's core.
"It was an impressive collision. Your memories might bit a bit hazy, so allow
me to remind you what happened. You were fleeing a group of soldiers from the
Federation of Southern Mobius, which had overrun Knothole. You could not see
these soldiers due to their stealth suits, and thus could not effectively fight
back. These same soldiers had just failed to take Robotropolis, thanks to a
city-wide deflector shield I erected. Despite your reservations, I created a
temporary hole in the shield so you could pass through and share its protection.
Dulcy entered with more speed than was necessary at a sharp downwards angle,
and could not pull up in time. The resulting concussion knocked both of you out
for twelve hours."
"Both? But there were three..." Rotor blinked. "WHAT HAPPENED TO BUNNIE?"
"She bounced outside the shield on landing. It is a one-way deflector: things
can go out, but nothing can come in. The FSM soldiers captured her before my
robots could do anything. You undoubtedly wish to free her, and I offer the few
robots I can spare to go with you. The FSM is more of a threat than you have
ever been, so for once, I suggest we set aside our differences and work
together."
Both of the Freedom Fighters paused to let this sink in, and to correlate this
with what they remembered of the previous day. Eventually, Rotor responded,
"Two things first. One, how come you didn't roboticize us, and two, how do we
know we can trust you?"
"First, almost all of Robotropolis's power is currently routed into the shield.
Even a single roboticization would risk an electrical overload that could shut
down the shield, which would ensure the demise of Robotropolis. Second, trust
is not a factor in this mission. I expect that you will have a better chance of
ridding us of the FSM if my forces accompany you than if they do not. I trust
you more than you trust me, if only because you are more predictable."
"Huh." Dulcy snorted. "A machine, calling us predictable?"
"I only say it because it is true. For instance, I suspect that you are
currently in the mood for some food...given the time of day, I believe you'd
call it 'breakfast'. However, I also suspect that you would not eat any food I
prepared."
"You got that right," both Freedom Fighters chorused.
"In that case, my forces are ready to leave now, and I would prefer that we
attack as soon as possible. I would have woken you earlier, but you fight
better when you are fully rested." Four hoverbots, with a net large enough for
Dulcy to perch on strung between them, pulled up. "Hop on the transport, and we
can discuss our attack plans en route."
******
Two forms stretched and yawned, noticing the smell of chili dogs in unison.
Chili dogs?
Sonic sprang out of bed, his feet in motion before they hit the ground. He
slowed down only to swing his nose back and forth, in order to tell which
corridor the scent of food came from.
The fact that he was inside a large building, and therefore not in Knothole, hit
him just as he reached the kitchen. But he paid it no mind when he saw a mound
of his favorite food, freshly made and piled up as if begging him to eat them.
He dutifully obliged their call.
His ears perked up at a familiar whirring sound. "Now where have I heard that
before?"
"Above you."
Sonic slowly looked up, and made out a familiar orange-brown shape. "Tails?
What are you doing here?"
"Waking you up." The kitsune landed. From his eyes, Sonic could tell he had
not had much sleep. "What are you doing here?"
"Eating." Sonic quickly scarfed down the twenty dogs in front of him.
"Right." Tails smiled, then spoke to the doorway. "And what are you doing
here, Sandra?"
After a moment, Sandra walked in, smiling. "You're getting better all the time,
young fox. I won't be able to hide from you at all before long."
"You didn't answer my question."
"You didn't pay me." She held out her palm. "You know I work for money."
Tails rolled his eyes. "Or information. And from what I saw, you copied
Sonic's notes on the FSM. We should get something for that."
"I did try to pay my main hedgehog back..." Sandra sat down next to Sonic and
tried to cuddle, only to get the cold shoulder. "...but he won't let me." She
pouted.
Tails started to protest, then smiled. "Ok, how about information for
information?"
"That depends on the information."
"The FSM's here. I had been separated from Sonic and was almost back to
Knothole when I found out. I doubled back to find Sonic, and eventually found
you two here. I couldn't wake either of you - Sonic was curled up as if he
expected something to attack him in his sleep, and you'd fallen asleep reading
his notes. I followed your example, and when I got up, I thought that making
chili dogs would wake Sonic."
"You know me, big guy," Sonic quipped, then belched.
"It appears he does," Sandra muttered to herself. "All too well."
"What was that?"
"Nothing." No longer pouting, Sandra continued, "If the FSM is here, you two
have your work cut out for you. You can thank me for saving Sonic from drowning
later. He couldn't remember you afterwards...looks like that was only
temporary...so I took him here to recover. While he was here, I indulged my
curiosity about his trip by reading his notes."
"Did we learn anything you didn't already know?" Sonic asked.
"Not much, unfortunately. They still think they're fighting the Kingdom of
Acorn. Honestly, when I told you they had working deroboticizers, I thought
you'd try to steal one for Knothole, not try to recruit the FSM. Talk about
naive..."
"Hey, pardon me for trying to bring an end to this," Tails yelled. "Just
because I've been fighting all my life does NOT mean I want to keep on doing it
forever!"
Sandra involuntarily shrank back a centimeter. "Just a little touchy, are we?"
"It was his idea," Sonic explained. "And I thought we had a chance of pulling
it off."
"Sorry," Sandra sighed. "But, what's done is done."
"Speaking of what we did, what was that 'reward' business? You've never made
moves on me before."
"With Robotnik gone, Packbell won't last too much longer. That means you and
Sally will be in charge of Robotropolis soon." Sandra blushed. "I just wanted
to see how close you two really were. I tested Sally, too, but in a different
way."
"Yeah? What'd you find?"
"Your devotion to her can not be broken." She grinned. "But, just by asking
the right questions, Sally's heart might be stolen."
"How did you..." He frowned. "You didn't."
"I could have. That's what matters."
"But you're not even..."
"Hold on to her tight, Sonic. She does miss you."
******
Two forms stretched and yawned, bumping their muzzles against the guns pointed
at their heads in unison.
"Good morning, Princess." Crusher's evil grin made it obvious why her voice was
so cheerful. "Ready to die?"
"No," Sally replied.
"Too bad."
"And I'm not going to." She stood up. "Look, I'm sorry about your children,
but I can not be held responsible for Robotnik's actions."
"Can't you?" Manx queried. "That is the law of your land. The Acorn family
rules the Kingdom of Acorn, therefore the Acorn family is personally responsible
for the Kingdom of Acorn. And you are the only remaining member of your
family."
Sally silently met Manx's gaze of hatred with her own mask of calm. "I do not
want to fight you. But no order of mine will cause Packbell to stop."
"We'll see, Princess. Even now, your friends are on their way to rescue you.
We shall let them come here, and then offer them freedom from your rule. With
the atrocities you have ordered, I'll bet they'd gladly do the deed, if we
offered to protect them from retribution. Not that we'd honor any promise to
them, of course."
"What are you talking about?"
Manx smiled. "No more Acorns..." He jabbed the end of his rifle into Sally's
stomach. "...no more Kingdom of Acorn."
Antoine bristled. "You will be leaving her alone!"
"Don't try to be a hero." Flint sneered as he stood over the still prone fox.
"Not that you could ever be one."
"Mon sewer! Zat ees an insult!"
"Either your accent is fake, or you have a talent for comebacks." Flint waved
his rifle over the fox's chest. "I suspect the former. I used to be in the
Royal Guards, like you. None of them had been born outside of Mobitropolis, but
they all acted as if they were foreigners. I switched sides when Julian came to
power. I could practically smell his intentions, and I wanted no part of a side
which would hire him."
Manx motioned with his rifle. "Come on, let's get ready to meet your friends."
******
Two forms stretched and winced in pain. Casting her eyes about, one recognized
that the other was just her reflection in some highly polished metal.
"Ah, our mystery patient finally wakes up."
Bunnie quickly looked around. The room she was in reminded her of the hospitals
that used to be in Mobitropolis. One antiseptic white bed, a sink with
ultraviolet sterilization devices, a nurse wearing so much ceramic and metal
medical equipment one could not tell what species she was, more types of
bandages than one would find in any first aid kit, a roboticizer, medical
charts...
"Ro...ro..." Bunnie stuttered in fear.
"Row your boat?" The nurse smiled. "Or is that your name, 'Roro'?"
Bunnie sat up quickly, but what felt like lightning crackling through her body
made her immediately regret it. Ignoring the pain, she pointed at the reminder
of Robotnik. "What is THAT?" she asked, hoping that she had mistaken it for
something else.
"A roboticization modifier, known around here as a roboticizer."
Bunnie started to compose a protest...
"We were hoping to restore your original body."
...and abruptly stopped.
"But first, we must know what a citizen of the FSM is doing on the Northern
Continent."
Looking around, she saw the FSM's logo on several pieces of equipment, and bit
back an urge to insult them. "Why do y'all think ah'm with the FSM?"
"We checked your DNA." The nurse scanned a data pad mounted on her forearm.
"Miss Bunnie Rabbot, abducted by defectors to the Kingdom of Acorn at age three.
Presumed dead." She looked at Bunnie again. "Looks like we were wrong. We'd
thought that standard practice up here was full roboticizations only. Let me
guess, you were one of their test subjects?"
"Not really. They were gonna give me the full treatment, but Sonic got me out
in the nick of time."
"Ah, that would explain the shoddy work. Pardon me for saying so, but your arm
is the most patchwork system I've ever seen."
"Patchwork?"
"Almost as if someone had ripped out and replaced every system several times."
Bunnie frowned. "That's what DID happen, sugar. And ah ain't too keen on
anyone disparagin' mah Rotor's work."
The nurse shrugged. "Suit yourself. If you've been upgrading it, then I guess
I shouldn't ask if you want your original back."
"You mean the version Robotnik gave me? No thanks."
The nurse blinked. "No...I meant, your original, organic arm. And legs, too.
Nobody up here has a working deroboticizer that we know of, and those who are
involuntarily roboticized usually want their original bodies back as soon as
possible."
"Y'all can..." Bunnie gulped. "Ah...y-yes, please!"
******
"Sonic, there's something you should know," Tails said as he raced his best
friend through the Great Forest.
"I'm listening," Sonic replied.
"Knothole was attacked."
Sonic's reply was lost as the twin sonic booms that had been following the pair
caught up to and passed them, then echoed throughout the Great Forest as Sonic
and Tails stopped at the edge of Knothole. Even from the edge, the duo could
see holes burned in several huts, the crops of the fields hopelessly trampled,
and much more collateral damage to the village.
"Sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but I didn't want you to run off to
Robotropolis. The attackers didn't come from there."
As stunned as Sonic was by the sight of Knothole, he had to admit that Tails'
assessment was correct. He probably would have insisted on heading to
Robotropolis to search for survivors if he'd known about this earlier. "Who
else would..."
"The FSM." Tails sniffed the air. "And I think I can track them. Come on."
******
"You're making a mistake," Sally protested as Crusher pushed her through the
fake shrub that surrounded the FSM's base.
"We shall see," Crusher replied.
Manx stepped out behind Crusher, held the palm of his hand to his ear briefly,
and continued, "My scouts say your friends will be with us very shortly."
"Packbell's robots are not my friends!"
"Oh? Then what about the walrus and the dragon traveling with them?"
"Workerbots."
"They're not roboticized."
"Fakes, then."
"Why don't you tell me?" Manx raised his voice and pointed. "Would you kindly
come out where Sally can see you?"
Rotor and Dulcy stepped out of the forest, surrounded by SWATbots.
"Now then, Princess," Manx chuckled, "either you order your forces to
surrender, or we shoot and you die. Either way, Mobius will finally be rid of
the Acorns forever."
"Rotor?" Sally asked, noting in the back of her mind that Antoine and Flint had
not yet emerged from the shrub. "What's going on?"
Rotor pointed at Manx. "They attacked Knothole and captured nearly everybody.
We were going to try to free them. Packbell wanted to help, for once."
Packbell's voice spoke through one of the SWATbots. "I figured that you would
think we were working together, Manx, and would thus allow my robots safe
passage to your base in order to boast."
Manx blinked. "Wha..."
And then, things got confusing.
******
Antoine wiped some sweat from his brow. Luring Flint to the back of the group
and quietly knocking him out had been hard, but Antoine knew some weaknesses in
the Royal Guards' martial arts techniques. Fortunately, Flint's training in the
FSM had apparently not corrected these weaknesses.
After quickly donning Flint's cloak, Antoine snuck around. He knew that, even
though he only saw two guards on Sally, there would be many more; much more than
he could take out alone. He would not be able to help Sally as the situation
was. This intuition was reinforced by the fact that the base itself was nearly
deserted; almost all of the soldiers were presumably outside, ready for action.
Sneaking around the base, he soon found a makeshift jail which held most of the
residents of Knothole. In his new cloak, sneaking up to it was a piece of cake;
the guard on duty was not expecting anyone to be using a stealth cloak inside
the base. The bars were solid, but they proved to be no match for his saber.
The guard heard the bar being removed, but when he turned to look, the last
thing he saw that morning was the cut-out bar flying towards his face.
Antoine turned so his face was visible to the prisoners. "Ees everyone here?"
he whispered.
"Everyone who was captured," Rosie replied, just as silently. "Not many of us
escaped. Where's Sally?"
"Out front, in danger. Do not worry, I shall rescue her. But I will need ze
big distraction."
The unmistakable sound of laser fire came from the front of the base.
"Ask, and you shall receive," Rosie quipped. "I'll get everyone out of here."
She spied the unguarded storm generator. "Give us five minutes to get clear,
and we'll give you a better distraction. I don't suppose you have any more of
those cloaks?"
"No."
"Then you're on your own for rescuing Sally. It's too dangerous for any of us
to get near those soldiers without some form of concealment."
"Agreed. Once you are clear, get everyone to ze Power Ring Pool. Ah do not
think it is zafe to continue using Knothole anymore, but we need a gathering
point for anyone else who escaped." Antoine turned away, obscuring his only
visible spots from Rosie. "Good luck, mon ami." He snuck off to the fight,
intending to get into a good position from which to find and retrieve the Mobian
of his desires.
Rosie smiled despite herself as she started ushering her fellow Mobians out of
the cell. For ages, the ones she had personally lead away from Robotnik's coup
- Sally, Sonic, Antoine, Rotor, and Bunnie, who now formed the core of the
Knothole Freedom Fighters - had treated her as an elder, much as they had
Julayla. That was appropriate behavior when they were kids, but the war had
forced them to grow up. Even worse, the rest of Knothole, taking cues from
their leaders, treated her as a kind of village-wide nanny, which was especially
embarrassing when it came from residents near her own age. For the past few
years, Rosie had wished that they would start treating her as their equal, and
now Antoine, at least, appeared to be doing just that.
******
Snively cackled with glee as he examined a monitor in one of the FSM's spare
vehicles.
Kenal wandered around the tank's small control room, trying to deduce each
control's function, as laser blasts echoed outside. "The attack's started. Are
you sure Packbell won't come in here?"
"I'm cracking in to his robots right now. He's already committed over half of
his remaining forces to this assault. He'll be so busy directing them to
victory that he won't notice my implanting a new computer virus in them. By the
time he does get inside the base, I shall have complete control."
Kenal glanced at the monitor, and tried to make sense of the codes displayed.
Only one window, labeled "Target AI Monitor", showed text that made any sense
to him:
SWATBOT 90342534D REPORT
STATUS=SEEKING_TARGET
STATUS=ACQUIRED_TARGET
TARGET ID=1 STATUS=IMPRISONED
TARGET ID=2 STATUS=UNARMED
DIRECTIVE: NEUTRALIZE (TARGET ID=2)
EXECUTING...
TARGET ID=1 STATUS=IMPRISONED
TARGET ID=2 STATUS=NEUTRALIZED
DIRECTIVE: EXAMINE (TARGET ID=1)
TARGET ID=1 STATUS=IMPRISONED LOCATION=IN_ROBOTICIZER LABEL=BUNNIE_RABBOT
TARGET ID=2 STATUS=NEUTRALIZED
DIRECTIVE: EXAMINE (TECHBOT)
ERROR: NO TECHBOT PRESENT
DIRECTIVE: SUMMON (TYPE=TECHBOT LOCATION=CURRENT TASK=ROBOTICIZE)
LOCATION=CURRENT STATUS=COMBAT_ZONE
ERROR: TECHBOT NOT ALLOWED IN COMBAT_ZONE
DIRECTIVE: REPEAT_LATER (SUMMON (TYPE=TECHBOT LOCATION=CURRENT TASK=ROBOTICIZE))
DIRECTIVE: IGNORE (TARGET ID=1)
TARGET ID=1 STATUS=IGNORE LOCATION=IN_ROBOTICIZER LABEL=BUNNIE_RABBOT
TARGET ID=2 STATUS=NEUTRALIZED
DIRECTIVE: SEEK_NEW_TARGET
STATUS=SEEKING_TARGET
"Bunnie?" Kenal flew to the tank's top. "I've got to help her!"
"Get back here," Snively ordered. When Kenal did not immediately respond, he
looked up, saw that Kenal had left, and popped his head out of the tank.
Back inside, the window displayed more text:
STATUS=ACQUIRED_TARGET
TARGET ID=1 STATUS=PILOTING_ARMED_VEHICLE LABEL=SNIVELY_THE_GREAT
TARGET ID=2 STATUS=ESCAPING LABEL=KENAL_SKYER
DIRECTIVE: PACKBELL_OVERRIDE
EXECUTING...
"Well, well, well," Packbell's voice spoke from behind Snively. "This is an
unexpected bonus."
"Eeep!" Snively tried to duck back into the tank, but the strong hand of a
SWATbot grabbed his shirt and lifted before he could.
"Long time no see, 'friend'. I was beginning to wonder if the Freedom Fighters
had finished you off after all. Fortunately, I detected your latest intrusion
into my networks as soon as you started it."
Visions of torture danced through Snively's head, with himself as the victim.
"W-what d-do y-you w-want?"
"The same thing you do. Elimination of the Freedom Fighters. And I know the
perfect way to let you help me achieve it."
******
As the roboticizer's tube slid down around her, cutting Bunnie off from all
sounds of the outside world, she almost thought she heard laser fire in the
fraction of a second before there was complete silence.
She quickly put the thought out of her mind, closing her eyes and concentrating
instead on what she would be like with her natural limbs back. Sure, she would
not be as strong, but...
...
Bunnie frowned as the answer she had rehearsed refused to make sense. She
wanted her old self back, the way she was before Robotnik. And, while she was
at it, she also wanted Mobius back to the same state. Her extra strength would
come in handy...
She closed that thought off in a hurry, and others like it, but the more she
tried to resist, the louder her doubts became. Before long, she seriously
wondered if her desire was not merely selfish, as long as her robot limbs could
make a serious contribution towards finishing off Packbell.
Surely, the nurse would have an answer for her. She opened her eyes to try to
make contact with her, only to see the nurse sprawled on the floor. It was
impossible for Bunnie to tell whether the nurse was unconscious or dead, but the
laser burn on her back did not look healthy.
Bunnie pounded on the tube, but its clear material was designed to resist much
tougher forces. The same went for the not-so-clear top and bottom of the tube.
As intent on breaking the tube as she was, Bunnie did not see Kenal enter the
room until he was already typing away on the controls. She was relieved until
she saw the controls' display panel flash "FULL ROBOTICIZATION".
Only then did she see that Kenal was smiling.
******
Combat was always a confusing situation, and the larger the battle, the smaller
a piece of the whole that one could be aware of. This had only occasionally
been a problem for Sally before, as most of the fights she had been in had
pitted a few Freedom Fighters against, at most, a large squad of robots. Only
rarely had there been more than twenty individuals, SWATbots included, that she
had had to keep track of.
By her count, there were over one hundred individuals on each side firing at
each other in front of the FSM base.
She was at a loss to explain why one of Packbell's SWATbots suddenly broke off,
shoved a hole in the FSM base's shrub cover, and charged into the base. Manx
did not seem too concerned about it, probably assuming that the few soldiers
still inside could take care of the lone robot.
Sally was surprised when Crusher went from pushing a rifle in her back to
pulling her down to the ground, but the bear's action had saved both of them
from Packbell's initial volley. The FSM had scattered their troops all over in
preparation for a fight, and the maneuverability of Packbell's robots meant that
they were similarly dispersed before long. Crusher had gotten up to engage a
SWATbot, and no one else seemed to be paying Sally any attention, so she made a
break for Dulcy and Rotor
*BOOM*
and found herself racing up a nearby tree in Sonic's arms.
"Hey, Sal, did you miss me so much you threw this party for my return?"
"Sonic?"
"That's my name - don't wear it out."
Sally wondered if Sonic's voice and smirk really did reflect enormous self-
confidence, or if they were just his version of a poker face.
"I see you've met my guests."
"YOUR guests, Sonic?"
"Well, I kind of asked them to come up here, but I thought we'd have time to
prepare."
Sally rolled her eyes. "We'll talk about this later. Right now, almost
everyone else has been captured. We've got to get them out."
"Looks like that's already been taken care of," Sonic said as he pointed to a
large crowd of Mobians fleeing out a hole in the back of the FSM base.
"At least something's going right. If you're back, where's Tails?"
"Scouting around. He said he saw Snively working with Kenal earlier. If either
of them are involved with this, or even anywhere nearby, we won't find them in
the fight itself, so the big guy wanted to go check up on his bud."
The battle suddenly quieted down as one of the hoverbots began looping wildly
and spraying fire all over the battlefield. Everyone ducked, sidestepped, and
otherwise dodged the hoverbot's shots, which came too frequently and too
erratically for anyone to line up a shot.
Sonic sighed. "How much you wanna bet that's Antoine?"
"So that's where he went."
"Wait here. Despite my better judgment, I'm going to save him from himself."
Sonic waited for the hoverbot to pass by, then jumped into its open hatch.
"Soneec?" Antoine, whose stolen cloak had fallen off during the ride, was
hugging the control stick for dear life. This was all that kept him from being
tossed from wall to ceiling to wall to floor as the hoverbot tumbled. "Ah think
ah have forgotten 'ow to be flying zis."
Not even taking the time to speak, Sonic ran up, peeled Antoine off of the
controls, and ran out of the hoverbot. Half a second later, the hoverbot flew
into a tree and blew up.
"Sonic," Sally complained when he returned to her perch in the trees, "that was
dangerous! You could've been on that thing when it exploded!"
"No way, Sal. I keep telling you, if you move as fast as me, everything else is
like it's frozen."
"Ze hoghedge finally makes a funny." Antoine smiled. "Ah knew you would get
eet right one of zese days."
"You're making less sense than usual, Ant. I wasn't making a joke."
"No?" Antoine pointed at the ground. "Eet looks zat way to moi."
The entire battlefield was covered by a meter-deep layer of snow and ice,
immobilizing everything that did not fly. All of the flying units, both
Packbell's hoverbots and stealthbots and the FSM's equivalents, had been
grounded by the sudden blizzard.
"That's the second in two days," Sally commented. "Where are they coming from?"
"Over there." Antoine pointed to where the escaping Freedom Fighters had set up
the stolen storm generator just outside of the battlefield. "Ah think Rosie set
ze power to maximum, yes?"
"What about Dulcy and Rotor? They were down there..."
*CRACK*
Sally looked down again.
*CRACK*
The dragon and the walrus, unaffected by the cold, were hovering under Dulcy's
power from robot to robot, methodically disabling Packbell's contributions to
the scene. In the deep freeze, most of the robots' metal skins and skeletons
shattered with distinctive *CRACK*s under precisely directed blows from one of
Rotor's larger hammers; those few that did not were quickly dismantled by
not-so-precise blows from Dulcy's tail.
Sonic smiled. "You know, maybe I shouldn't've left. To think, I almost missed
out on all this fun."
Sally and Antoine looked at each other and exchanged a knowing smile.
"Soneec..."
"...think?"
Both of them surrendered to a brief giggling fit as Sonic just shook his head
and smiled.
******
"Bunnie? What's wrong?"
A constant shriek was coming from somewhere as the roboticizer's tube slid up,
but Bunnie was unable to spare to attention to find its source. All she wanted
to do was to get away from Kenal.
"Bunnie?"
'That wasn't Kenal's voice,' part of her mind noted.
"Are you in here?"
'That didn't even come from his direction. There's someone behind me...'
"Why are you screaming?"
Bunnie blinked, suddenly becoming conscious of her vocal cords. Willing them to
stop, she carefully turned around.
"What the...?" Tails took in the scene with wide eyes. "BUNNIE!" He sailed
forwards, knocking her off of the roboticizer's platform. "Don't worry, I won't
let Kenal roboticize you."
"What are you talking about?" Kenal queried.
"You're still under Snively's control. Back off!"
Kenal shot Tails a questioning glance, but did as he was ordered.
"Come on, Bunnie, let's get out of here." Tails dragged a very shaken Bunnie
away.
Kenal looked after the two, curious. Why would they think he wanted to
roboticize Bunnie? Sure, he had taken a bit of extra time to display and read
all of the roboticizer's documentation, including a tutorial on how it looked
when it was in operation, but that was just so he could make sure not to
accidentally roboticize Bunnie.
******
Sally was wondering whether or not to try Sonic's attitude as she walked up to a
shivering General Manx. Certainly, the snow was solid and deep enough that,
when she walked on it, she stood taller than the human, and arrogant superiority
might just convince the FSM to leave.
A second's consideration bansihed that train of thought. Right through might
was not honorable, and she was determined to make her actions as head of the
Kingdom of Acorn as honorable as her ancestors'. She knelt down and offered a
hand to help Manx up. It was a symbolic gesture; she was not strong enough to
give any meaningful leverage to someone in powered armor. She had also
expected, but was still disappointed by, Manx's sneer in reply, which silently
dismissed her offer.
"Very well, then. I'll just leave you here until the snow melts."
"You should have killed us just now."
"And I didn't." Sally folded her arms. "Why would I do that, if I really
wanted war between us?"
Manx frowned in thought.
"You are the leader of your military. My father tried to set up peace
negotiations with you, just as, I have been told, you tried to do with us."
"You shot down all of our attempts!"
"ROBOTNIK shot them down. He stopped our efforts, too."
Manx snarled.
"You came up here to end the Great War, correct?"
"Correct."
Sally sighed. "Robotnik told us you had already surrendered. We were fools to
believe him. Tell you what, if peace is what you want, then peace is what we
will offer. We can not speak for Packbell or Snively, but the Kingdom of Acorn
shall no longer fight the Federation of Southern Mobius. Agreed?"
Manx was silent.
"Agreed?"
"Agreed." Crusher dug her way out of the snow enough to poke her head out.
"Shut up, soldier," Manx barked. "That's an order!"
Crusher ignored him. "Our war was started by those who wanted violence. There
have been too many lives lost already."
Sally turned a curious gaze on Crusher, unconsciously making herself look more
imperial in the bear's eyes. "You agree with me? I thought you wanted me
dead."
"I thought you wanted war." Crusher shrugged. "We all misjudge people, and I
see that we have gravely misjudged you."
Sally smiled, knelt, and offered her hand to Crusher, who accepted. Once Sally
had pulled Crusher up, the princess replied, "Thank you. But, how do we
convince everyone else? I mean, they'll listen to Manx over you, and -"
Crusher held up a finger, then pulled back her cloak's hood, revealing a
comlink. "I'm broadcasting this conversation to our leaders back home. They
want peace, too, and unlike you, we do not allow our military to roam unchecked.
Within a few hours, Manx will either agree to peace, or be court marshaled and
replaced with someone who will agree. Either way, the Great War ends today. We
can work out the details once your...internal affairs have been sorted out."
Sally's smile grew. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to help us get rid of
Packbell?"
"Don't push your luck. Your people are free to go, as long as they leave our
property here. Once you are gone, I ask that you do not try to speak with us
again before we leave. Trust me, it will be easier for both of us that way.
Only come to us once you can speak for the Kingdom of Acorn and everyone on its
soil, for only then will the Kingdom of Acorn truly exist again."
"I see." Her smile disappeared. "Thank you anyway, and I will speak with you
again. Soon...I hope."
Crusher now smiled. "You and me both. Avenge my children, ok?"
"I will. No matter how long it takes, I swear that I will, by ridding this
place of Robotnik's legacy."
Sonic and Tails looked on as Sally and Crusher made final agreements. "Sonic?"
Tails whispered. "Do you think we'll ever do that?"
"Do what?"
"Get rid of Robotnik's legacy?"
Sonic sighed. "No, big guy. We won't. Even if we shut down Packbell and all
his robots, even if we deroboticize every workerbot, even if we get King Acorn
and Nagus out of the Void, there's still some damage that we can never undo. We
can only stop it from getting worse, and do what we can with what's left." He
smirked. "That's all we can do, so that's what we will do."
Sally, Sonic, and Tails left just as the remaining FSM soldiers began to free
themselves and set about collecting their dead.