Undo Written by: Adrian Tymes [Legal disclaimer: This story is based on characters created by SEGA and DiC Productions, and Bookshire Draftwood 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.] ****** Snively, without a trace of metal on his body, chased after Sonic, who was taking every opportunity to show up his enemy. They raced through the streets of Robotropolis, looped through the Great Forest, ran along the bottom of Knothole's river, and came out in King Acorn's throne room as it had been when Sally was a child. Sally, Queen of the Acorn Kingdom, was on the throne, in full royal garb with a rifle on her lap, as she watched them go around and around. Eventually tiring of this, Sally picked up her laser and aimed it just as Sonic knocked Snively down and began revving up to slice him in two. "NO!" In the blink of an eye, Kenal stood in front of Snively, blocking Sonic's path and Sally's aim. Sonic stopped. Sally did not, firing through Kenal to attack Snively... ****** Sally woke in a cold sweat. She had had this nightmare five times in the past three nights, and each time, the nightmare had grown worse. Sally wondered whether the next iteration would have her directing a firing squad or personally pulling the trigger, and whether she would even have an apparent reason to fire next time. "Sally-girl? You alright?" Sally instinctively turned towards the voice, but in the dark of a moonless night, she saw nothing. Even so, she did not need to see to recognize her oldest friend. "Bunnie?" "You looked like you were havin' trouble sleeping yesterday, so Sonic and ah took turns watchin' ya tonight." There was a faint rustle, then Sally felt her bed sag as Bunnie sat on it. "What's troublin' ya, sugar?" "I...I don't want to talk about it." A quick pause, combined with Bunnie's tone, betrayed the rabbit's reluctance to force the issue. "Look, Sally-girl, whatever it is'll go away sooner if you talk to me about it. Nightmares have a way of doin' that." Sally did not immediately reply. "That's whatcha told me after ah got my new arm and legs, girl. And you were right: my nightmares did go away. So, now it's your turn, Sally. Come on, out with it." Sally frowned; a meaningless action by itself in the dark, but it did reflect in her voice. "You already know, don't you?" "Ah can guess," Bunnie sighed. "It's Kenal, ain't it? You're havin' nightmares about killin' him, and even though you know you didn't mean to, you're starting to think maybe part of you did...and wanted to. You've fought your whole life to keep all of us safe, and now, you think there's someone you went the other way on. Someone you failed to protect, and you're the only one you can think to blame." Sally's frown vanished. "Bunnie...didn't you just say *I* was supposed to say that?" Sally could almost swear she heard Bunnie smile. "You're like an open book, Sally-girl. And it's time to turn the page. Kenal's gone. Maybe you killed him, maybe he killed himself. Maybe Snively killed him. You could point the blame anywhere, Sally, and it won't make a speck of difference. The important thing is, Packbell's almost defeated. Now that we've totally cut off his supplies, his machines are grinding to a halt left and right. We've got to finish him off, and make sure he don't do something like takin' all the workerbots with him when he dies. We need a plan for victory, sugar, and for that, we need you. PRINCESS Sally." "Didn't I tell you, titles don't matter..." "...in the Great Forest. Ah know, ah know. That's the thing. We ain't gonna BE in the Great Forest too much longer, Sally-girl. Ah'll miss Knothole, sure, but once we get Robotropolis cleaned up...it'll be just like when we were kids." Sally sighed. "No. It can never be like when we were kids. Never again. Look at us, Bunnie. We're grown up now. And it's not just us: Mobius has never had war on this scale before. Between the Great War, Robotnik's conquest, and Snively's and Packbell's legacies, I doubt anyone on Mobius, either now or at any time in the future that they still remember us, will make war as freely as our fathers did. Mobius itself is no longer as innocent as it once was." "Perhaps that's a good thing, sugar. If our children, and our children's children, never have to fight, maybe that'll make what we've done and what we've been through all worth it." Sally collapsed back into her bed. "I wish Antoine were here, to call you an optometrist." "You mean optimist." "Who else could make us see through rose-colored glasses?" Bunnie giggled softly. "Or an infrared visor." "Huh?" "How d'you think I've been keeping an eye on you?" She patted her friend on the forehead. "Sleep tight, Sally-girl." The princess of the House of Acorn was soon asleep again, dreaming of peace. Victory, she realized, was so close that the only way she could lose would be to quit. ****** "What do you MEAN, she quit?" Rotor shrugged and held up a piece of paper, then turned so his eyes no longer faced the dawning sun. "Dulcy asked me to give this letter to Sally. I'd guess it has her reasons." "Gimme that." Sonic snatched the note, and read it. "'Dear Sally: I know you think I'm still needed. You could probably list ten things for me to do, even after Packbell falls, without even thinking about it. But the truth is, you don't need me any more. Packbell will lose with or without me, and after that, you'll have his robots. On the other hand, I am a protector. I was born to protect dragons. While Robotropolis was a threat, I did that best by helping you. But now, I must find my people. They have been scattered all over the planet...the ones that Robotnik did not not destroy, that is. If you want to know more, ask Rotor about the message he intercepted last night. Your friend forever, Dulcy. P.S.: I don't blame you for Kenal's death.'" Rotor returned Sonic's stare with a blank look. "The Wolf Pack was raiding Packbell's mountain mines, with the regular security there out of commission. Since Packbell couldn't keep the Wolf Pack out, he sent out an order to scrap everything up there, including the 'bots. I know Robotnik used some kind of special 'bots up there - the DR series, I think. They were only used in the mines, and only they and security 'bots were usually in the mines. They never bothered us, though, so I never dug up much info on them." Sonic blinked. "So, why'd you tell Dulcy?" "She was sharing monitor duty with me. Why?" "'DR series' means 'roboticized dragons'." "You mean..." Sonic nodded. "Any dragon Robotnik ever roboticized is now dead." He kicked the dirt. "Man, I just KNEW something like this was gonna happen." "I'm sorry. If I'd known, I wouldn't have just blurted it out to her..." Sonic put a hand on Rotor's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. You didn't know. Besides, she'd have found out soon enough anyway." He handed the message back to its original carrier. "Here. Sally needs to know, pronto. I'm gonna take out Packbell's communications, in case he gets any more ideas about scrapping workerbots." "Don't bother. Dulcy told me, just before she left, that Packbell was sending out orders to scrap workerbots...I can't believe I didn't get what she was talking about until now...so I set our monitoring equipment to jam all transmissions into or out of Robotropolis. We've got five relays throughout the Great Forest, and the jamming will keep up until he traces and destroys all of them. So far, though, he hasn't even attacked one yet. Until he does, all he can do is talk to himself...or us, if he wants." "Cool. Even so, I'd better-" "SONIC!" "SONEEC!" "Huh?" Rotor stepped out of the way, heading for Sally's hut, as two bodies crashed out of a nearby wall of green into Sonic. "Sonic," Tails panted, "it's Kenal." Antoine nodded. "Eet ees being ze ghost of monsieur Skyer." Sonic picked himself up. "What are you talking about? C'mon, you two, you know ghosts don't really exist..." "Well, something's lying on Kenal's grave, and it sure looks like Kenal," Tails insisted. "Say wha?" Antoine kept nodding. "Oui. Considering ze nature of Kenal's magic, eet must be his ghost, come back to haunt us for killing heem." "No way. Even if it IS his ghost, he'd be here to help." Sonic sprinted off in the direction Antoine and Tails had just come from; the two followed after catching their breath. ****** "Do you have anything worth living for?" "No. But I don't have anything worth dying for, either. You?" "..." "Well?" "The same, I suppose. My dreams have all been crushed, and all I have to look forward to is worldwide scorn until some lynch mob finishes me. My death will gain nothing, and while I doubt my life will either, there may be something I am overlooking. I can only choose between the two while I live. You could say that that is what I now live for: to find a reason to live." "You know, I think I like that reason better than the one you had last time we were together, Snively." "And why is that, Kenal?" Kenal stirred, sitting upright on the marker stone his friends had erected for him when they could not retrieve his body. "You used to live only so you could take over when Robotnik died. You wanted to be Robotnik's successor. Now, you want to find a reason for yourself. You want to be you." He walked over to Snively, and sat down in his lap. "I've always liked you better than Robotnik. Maybe it's just because you programmed me to do so, and I still have good memories of you even now that I'm free of your programs." "Robotnik was a fool in many ways, but he especially failed to grasp the value of trust. Absolute, simple-minded loyalty has its place in dumb machines, but you, Kenal, served me better than any of Robotnik's SWATbot battalions ever served him. And why?" "Because I was smarter, faster, able to sneak in where no SWATbot could go, and get what was needed without having to fight?" "Because you trusted me. And I trusted you. Packbell would have been as good as you, had he and Robotnik trusted each other like you and I did. They could have ruled the world." "They did rule the world." "But only for a few years. And now, Robotnik is dead, Packbell is about to join him, and all they sought to achieve is being undone. I may never again rule as he did, but at least I can now try to set right what went wrong. I would be pleased and honored if you would help, but let's see what Mobius thinks of a friend of Snively before letting anyone know. If it is my fate to burn in infamy, I would rather you go free than burn with me." "Snively, I..." Kenal leapt from Snively's lap, landing on the ground with wings and claws extended, body pointed at a bush. "COME OUT," he growled. "Hey, whoa, easy there." Sonic slowly emerged, hands in the air. "What's with the attitude?" Kenal relaxed. "Sorry. Bringing Snively here means I have to watch out for the less forgiving Freedom Fighters. How long were you hiding in there?" "Long enough." Sonic glared at Snively. "Are you really serious about wanting to undo all that bad stuff you, Robotnik, and Packbell dumped on Mobius?" Sonic had been expecting spineless gibbering, or at least an angry retort. He was completely surprised when Snively failed to react emotionally. "Yes, I am. As you can imagine, I worked with Robotnik partly out of fear, but also partly because I thought what we were doing really was for the good of Mobius. I always knew Robotnik would die before me, but I thought that was more due to his insistence on fighting you face-to-face, not to mention his very unhealthy diet. I wanted to use robots to do all my dirty work, knowing that I could repair or rebuild any that were irreplaceable - like Kenal - should their work injure them. I never imagined that Robotnik's evil would be his undoing. Ever since his demise, I have slowly realized that his was not the way to realize my dreams. I know that I have a heavy price to pay for my actions, and I beg of you to let me start." Sonic shook his head. "I'm not the one you'll have to convince. But, if you're serious, come with me. You can wait in our jail until Sally's ready to deal with you." Snively stood up. "I understand. You're afraid I might still intend to destroy all of you." "That's part of it, but if that was all, I'd just tell everyone you're wandering around here and let them beat you to death. This is for your own protection, Snerdly, and don't forget it." ****** Sally ran at half the speed of sound, heading for the one spot she knew Dulcy would check first. An ancient dragon breeding ground, composed of a rocky, cave-filled spire jutting up from a short, but deep, canyon. Dulcy had visited this place before, when matters of other dragons arose. Sure enough, she saw Dulcy coming in for a landing. Now she realized why Dulcy had learned to land so low: the cave openings were too small to allow for approaches that were suited to landing on a plain. Feeling a bit dramatic, Sally increased her velocity, determined to leap to the spire in a single bound. She jumped right at the canyon's edge... ...and fell well short of her target. A painful, terminal impact was averted when Dulcy scooped her out of the sky. "Sorry, Sally, can't let you die here." Sally took a few seconds to realize that her death had been postponed yet again. "Why not?" she asked, more out of instinct than conscious thought. Dulcy grinned. "'Cause then I might feel guilty and go back. And I can't let you talk me into that." "Dulcy..." The dragon's grin vanished, and she let her face show controlled anger as she turned it to face Sally. "You don't need me. The dragons - those that are left now - do. Go on, try and prove me wrong." "I..." Sally gulped. "Dulcy, please. You know I can't prove anything here. The other dragons MIGHT be able to get along without you. We MIGHT be able to get along without you. Does that mean neither one NEEDS you?" "You CAN, and you WILL, win without me." "This is pointless, Dulcy. All I can say...all I can prove, is that we WANT you." "And all I need to say is 'no'. I don't want to, but I need to." "Dulcy..." "WHAT PART OF 'NO' DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?" Dulcy nearly hit the spire, and decided to land before the argument took too much of her concentration. "Look. It always has been my destiny to protect the dragons. Before today, being a Freedom Fighter was the best way to do it, with the hope that we could deroboticize everyone that Robotnik captured. That hope is gone now. Instead, I'll have to find all the survivors, those that managed to hide from the robots, and bring them together so we can build a community. Almost no sentient races on Mobius survive as well apart as they do together. You know that, Sally; that was one of the principles the Kingdom of Acorn was founded on! Dragons are no exception. As dispersed as we are, and as few as we are, there is a chance our whole species might die out now. I can not let that happen, not so long as I have anything to say about it." Sally was about to protest again, but the look in Dulcy's eyes, and the fact that she had landed without taking her gaze from Sally's face, cut the princess off. "I don't want to be rude. We're friends, Sally, and I'll always treasure that. But I can't help you right now. Once I've found everyone, or at least as many as I'm going to find, that will change. Make no mistake, I will come back... someday. Just not today." "There's nothing I can do to change your mind, is there?" "No." Sally leapt down from Dulcy's grasp, and studied the ground. "Then I guess this is goodbye." "But only for now." Sally turned to go... "Say goodbye to Kenal for me." ...and completed her turn in a 360 degree whirl. "Kenal's dead." "No, he isn't." "But..." "Sally..." Dulcy smiled. "Remember all that care I gave him? He was like my son. We started to form a telepathic bond, just like dragons and griffins do with their own young. I could feel him, even after you said he was dead." "Wha...why didn't you say anything?" "When he didn't return, I figured he had his reasons. Expect him to surprise you, and soon." Her smile faded. "But, the way he's going, he might not survive to see Packbell's fall. I didn't want to feel him die. I've already severed the link between us." Sally folded her arms. "You also didn't want to say goodbye in person." It was Dulcy's turn to study the ground. "It would have been...difficult. But what's done is done." "Dulcy..." Sally embraced the dragon's neck. "Goodbye, old friend." "Goodbye." Dulcy partly embraced Sally with her neck, as well as her arms. "Rule with honor, ok?" "O..." Sally blinked. 'To rule with honor' was the Acorn family's secret creed. Dulcy should not have known that, but the giggle as the dragon released her and flew off left no doubt that Dulcy did. "...k." Feeling that she would be better off not immediately knowing how Dulcy knew, Sally headed for Knothole. ****** All of Knothole was glad to see Kenal safe and sound, and a minor celebration was planned for that evening to celebrate Snively's capture. Officially, it was to celebrate Snively's conversion to the Freedom Fighters' side, but more than a few refused to put faith in his words, and looked forward to the human's execution. Then again, most of Knothole just saw Snively's arrival as an excuse for a much-needed party after the past week's mostly FSM-induced stresses. When Sally came back to the village, her first thought was how to break the news of Dulcy's departure to Kenal, and her second was where to find Kenal. "Hi, Sally. Did Dulcy say goodbye to you?" Both thoughts vanished. "Kenal?" Kenal's left front paw drooped lightly from behind on her shoulder, directly above her heart. "Remember the last time you tried to kill me?" Sally froze. "I'm a lot more forgiving now." Kenal's other front paw drooped on her other shoulder, and the two slid towards each other to form a hug. "My revenge this time is succeeding despite your efforts. Snively's in your jail, and he wants to talk to you about repenting." Her mind raced in circles for a response. Somewhere behind Sally, Tails' namesakes whirred. "Hey, Kenal, Sally. When you're done, I'd like to talk to both of you. I've thought of a way to restore Mobitropolis in a few minutes, but I'll need your help to make sure it's practical." More hope bounded into her mental chaos, adding its own cacophony. Rotor walked up. "Hey, Sally, would you like to talk to your father?" With the influx of good news surpassing the ability she had grown to cope with it, after over a decade of usually desperate guerrilla fighting for the continued existence of life as she knew it, Sally quickly looked around to see if Sonic was already on one knee in order to propose marriage. When she failed to see him, her mind's logical pattern broke, and she did the only thing she was still mentally capable of: she fainted. Sonic zoomed up and caught her as she fell. "What happened?" Rotor, Tails, and Kenal shrugged. "Aw, man. And here I'd just psyched myself up to ask if she wanted to ma...err, to ask her something." Rotor shook his head. "I need her first. I've come up with a way to get communication to and from the Void: open a portal inside a sealed box, and put a speaker and microphone in the box. Nothing can get sucked in, and Nagus assures me he can anchor a portal to the box so we can carry it around. It worked, so I was going to put in a propulsion system, kind of like a robotic second body on Mobius for them while their first bodies are still stuck in the Void, then make a second one so they wouldn't have to share. Her father wanted to speak with her now, though." Tails landed. "Even he might wait for this. I wanted to ask her if it was possible to reverse the nanoformers that made Robotropolis." "I already thought of that. Robotnik would've had to create a complete backup of Mobitropolis." Rotor picked up Sally. "No way." Kenal closed his eyes. "Actually, he did." "Say what?" "In case something went wrong. He'd done that for all of his larger experiments, and converting Mobitropolis was definitely an experiment. He encoded the data into the nanoformers themselves, and kept them in his control room. Packbell wouldn't have deleted them, since they're technically not part of Robotropolis's network. Packbell might not even know they're there, since their container was already gathering dust by the time he was first switched on." "And you didn't tell us this for what reason?" "I didn't think of it before. Do you think I WANT to recall anything I did under Snively's control?" Sonic pumped his fist. "Alright! Just point me at 'em, and..." "Umm, Sonic," Tails piped up, "I don't think you'd be the best one for this." "Why not, T2?" "We'll only have one shot at this. If we mess up, and Packbell learns what we're going after, he'll destroy the nanoformers before we can try again. That means that whoever goes has to already know what they're looking for and be able to use it. Kenal can just remember, and I've seen them before too. You haven't. Besides, Packbell will pay more attention to you and Sally than to me and Kenal. If we fail, he might not even think to check what we were going after." Rotor raised a paw. "Hey, I could go, too." Kenal shook his head. "How fast can you fly?" "I can't. But..." "Once the nanoformers activate, only Tails, Sonic, Sally, or myself could get away in time, and carrying passengers would be very chancy. We can't afford to put in any time delay; Packbell could find and disarm them after we leave. Besides, we'll need everyone we can get to override Packbell's control of the workerbots and get them out beforehand. The prison where everyone, and Robotnik's 'bots, were kept during the transformation was the only unaffected structure, and it's almost empty now. Everything else was changed, which means the nanoformers will change them back to empty buildings...even the factories where the workerbots are now. If the workerbots are still there, they will be 'reverted' into empty air. You would prefer they survive for eventual deroboticization, I assume?" "Well...yeah." "We should probably get the workerbots out of there as soon as possible. If we start with just a few, Packbell will assume they're malfunctions; we can send the rest in a flood just before Tails and I start. With luck, Packbell will be so busy trying to round up the workerbots - and probably succeeding once we let him, but inside the Great Forest, so they're outside the area the nanoformers will affect - that Tails and I can slip in." "But Packbell will be in his control room." "Why do you think we're sending two? One to keep him busy, the other to go for the nanoformers. Once we succeed, we only have to get out of there; Packbell won't be able to stop us once he is no more. With his forces deactivated, it will be a simple dash for the exit." "Smooth, simple..." Sonic smiled. "I like it! So, um, what's my part?" "Your part? Well...I know, you could run interference for the workerbots. Fast moving, trashing SWATbots...and if you ARE still in Robotropolis when the time comes, YOU can get out, taking any workerbot stragglers with you. Sound cool?" He gave a thumbs up. "Sounds cool. When do we start?" Rotor grimaced under Sally's weight. "After we wake your girlfriend. Care to do the honors?" "Well, ok..." Sonic took Sally from Rotor's arms, and kissed her. Although Sally's eyes did not open, her position gradually adjusted to return Sonic's affections, and it was soon obvious that she was awake and merely enjoying the kiss. Rotor sighed and walked off. "I'm going to get some lunch." "Me too." "Me three." Both fliers followed him. ****** The SWATbot sentries at the edge of what territory Packbell still defended did not move when Sonic ran by the first time, probing their reactions by staying just outside of the range he already knew they were programmed to keep him beyond. Nor did they budge when he ran by again, tossing small packages near each one, although laser fire from behind them did bounce off the packages' reflective coatings. They also did not react when those packages blossomed into fireballs, although their pieces did move significant distances in different directions. Sonic tore into the defended core of Robotropolis, gleefully intent on just one thing: chaos. He bounced from SWATbot to SWATbot in ways even he deliberately could not predict. With no possibility of computing his plan, he figured, Packbell's battle tactics software would be largely useless. His plan seemed to be working, with occasional nudges when his destruction drifted too far from the egg-shaped command center that was his real target. He abruptly swerved to avoid a charging workerbot. Slowing down briefly, he noticed with satisfaction that it was charging towards the city's edge rather than him, and that a number of other workerbots were joining it. Shifting gears mentally, he began to pick off any SWATbot that got too near the workerbots. Sonic briefly saw two low-to-the-ground flying shapes zipping towards the command center. He bashed a SWATbot that was about to see them, but otherwise deliberately stayed away from his companions, intent on hogging all of Packbell's attention for himself. ****** Tails and Kenal raced through the nearly abandoned command center, yelling out "Tag!" and "You're it!" to maintain an illusion of childish play. They knew exactly where they were going and how to get there, but made two complete circuits of the building before heading for its center. Security guns and the occasional SWATbot shot at them, but their efforts were as futile as their allies' were against Sonic. Practically unopposed, the duo made their way towards the control room, making liberal use of tiny, but wall-demolishing, explosives when doors tried to halt their progress. Rotor had called the explosives his BFE series, but when Tails pressed him for details, he only said that they were the same ones that Sonic would be using. When they finally blasted their way into their destination, one thing was immediately obvious. "Packbell's..." "...not here." Then the ceiling erupted in a forest of guns. ****** Sonic leapt, doing a 720 degree mid-air spin while pumping his arm in joy, when he saw Robotropolis's lights flicker. That was the pre-arranged signal that all the workerbots were far enough away that they could let the SWATbots 'herd' them into one place with no worries about running afoul of the nanoformers. Although Sonic was reluctant to stop trashing SWATbots, he knew that they could be of use once Packbell's commands were replaced with their own. He broke off pursuit after breaking off one last SWATbot head, and headed for Knothole. The whole village was gathered around the War Room, where Sally, Rotor, Bookshire, and other Freedom Fighters that had been trained to defeat Robotropolis's computer security sat around the room's round table, each one with a computer terminal in various states of hasty construction and jury- rigging. Each terminal was connected to Nicole, which in turn was connected to a bewildering array of communications antennas. Sonic barely had a clue as to how it all worked, but he knew the Freedom Fighters kept a number of different ways to access Robotropolis's networks around as a buffer against Packbell discovering and shutting down any one of them. Usually at least half of the connections were kept in reserve, since active connections had a much higher chance of being discovered. Right now, every connection was active. While only one was needed to actually control the workerbots now that they were collected enough to act as a unit, the others were causing random distractions, seeking to attack the more secure SWATbots, finding backup connections and entry points in case the main controller was shut down, and a few were even attempting to knock Packbell himself out of the network. Half the room groaned when Sonic entered. "What?" As the replies came back, Sonic realized he did not even know most of the people at the table. He made a mental note to be more social once this push to eliminate Packbell was over. "Packbell just shut down all satellite links. We'll have to re-initialize." "Yeah. No prob, though. He won't recover from those five daemon processes I scrubbed before we're back in, though." "Five? Ha! I got six without even trying." Sally rolled her eyes. "Can you please stop boasting and just get back online?" "Sure, sure, just let me clear this up. Hey, Nicole! Who's deactivated the most daemons today, and how many?" "SALLY ACORN. 1,022, NOT COUNTING PROCESSES RUNNING ENTIRELY ON WORKERBOT SYSTEMS. CORRECTION: 1,026, COUNTING FOUR DURING THIS MESSAGE." The would-be braggers stared, slack-jawed, at Sally. The princess shrugged. "I asked you to stop. I knew you wouldn't like the truth if you kept seeking it." Rotor chuckled. "That's only because you're running the workerbots, Sally. You don't have to seek the daemons out - you're their main target." "True. Hey, Sonic! Nice job on the SWATbots." "Thanks, Sal. Any word yet on T2 and Kenal?" "Not yet, but we're not expecting any until it happens. If we don't hear anything within 10 minutes, go after 'em." "Will do." Sonic reached for the door... ...only to have Bunnie open it from the outside. "Hey, Sally-girl, y'all'd better get out heah! You, too, Sonic." Sally looked up, gesturing to her computer. Rotor stood up. "I'll take over for you. I just got kicked off anyway." Sally nodded, traded places with Rotor, and followed Sonic outside. "So, what's so impor-PACKBELL?!?!?" Packbell looked at the forest of huts around him, the forest of vegetation behind him, and the forest of weapons pointed at him. "So this is what Knothole looks like. Inefficient, wasteful...it's a wonder you even manage to survive like this, to say nothing of have time to be a thorn in my side. Really, Mobians, I know for a fact that most of you know how to live better than this. Where's your electricity?" "Just below your detection threshold, Packbell. If that means we do without the benefits we used to live with, then fine...at least WE'RE still LIVING." "Ah, true. I suppose that is why I always underestimated you. I have never lived in fear of myself or anyone, even Robotnik. The models of fear I patterned after Snively seem to have been inadequate to describe you." "How'd you find us?" "You wish me to reveal all my secrets? Ah, well, I suppose it does not matter now. You've been getting desperate today; I was able to trace some of your operatives' connections." He pointed to the War Room. "I've never been able to do that before; you were always too careful. But that only confirmed my suspicions. I detected low-level Void activity near these coordinates." "Rotor," Sonic hissed, too softly for anyone but Sally to hear. "You might wonder why I am standing here, alone, in person even? Yes, this is my actual body, not a mere drone. Even with your jammers, I am still in contact with Robotropolis, although the connection is tenuous enough that bringing myself here was the only way to ensure a...proper conversation. It is good enough, however, that I can transmit myself back at any time. It is also good enough to, say, ambush those two kids who just made it to my control room." The crowd gasped. Murmurs of "Tails" floated through, along with a few of "Kenal". "It is also good enough to let me recall the satellite pictures of my last weapons test. Do you wish to see?" A holographic screen faded into view above Packbell's head, displaying a view from above of a circular field surrounded by a treacherous trench, and what could only be described as a wasteland. "That's the griffins' Home." "Correct. Now, as most of you know, the griffins live underground. So, most of their dead bodies won't show up here. One made it out, though, and she will serve to illustrate my point." The view rapidly zoomed in to a point near the center, to the remains of a pink and purple griffin. "Rikal!" "Correct again. Note how her stomach burst open, and observe the liquid consistency of her skull. I assure you, everyone in her colony has suffered the same. And those are just the most obvious effects of the virus I've been experimenting with as a last ditch resort. The griffins' isolation made them perfect test subjects: no biological matter crossed their borders, except for a test tube which their defenses obligingly shattered. The contents entered their crops, then passed to their farm workers, and quickly spread to everyone. Then, tuned to the same molecular clock, all of my organisms went off at once. Rikal was the only one to make it this far. And now, Kenal is the last of his kind. For the next few minutes, anyway. Although he will outlive you." "What are you talking about?" "Oh, tut, tut. You really can't figure it out? My, I have overestimated you. I have a bio-weapon. I'm standing in the middle of you. I used this conversation as an excuse to keep standing near you. And, being who I am, I can carry around bio-weapons with no risk to myself. I started emitting my virus the instant I was close enough to you. Feeling a little ill yet? I assure you, I used the same type here that I did for the griffins, but on a much shorter clock. I would so have preferred to roboticize you all, especially Sonic, but recent events have made that infeasable in the extreme. I guess you could say you're victims of your own success. And, as I have now committed to infecting you, I am now launching missiles to spread my virus all over Mobius. By this time tomorrow, the only life on Mobius shall be myself and my servants." "NOOOOO!" Sonic reached into his backpack, determined to at least stop the missiles even if he could not save anything else. He had stashed all available power rings in there, unsure how many he would need for freeing the workerbots, and wound up using none. He intended to grab and use one. He grabbed ten, and the resulting surge was enough to activate the rest all at once. Sonic blazed off towards Robotropolis, moving faster than he ever had before. Sheer power rocketed off of him in short-lived sparks of plasma, and his quills glowed yellow-white. By the time Sonic reached the city limits, he realized he was not running, but actually flying. He saw missiles starting to come up from concealed launch silos, but they seemed to be stuck in mid-air. With no time to figure the puzzle out, Sonic buzzsawed through one of them, and turned around to make another pass. He was not surprised that, at his speed, it took some time to complete the turn and return. He was surprised that the missiles were actually lower in their launch silos the second time, and seemed to be actively receding. Taking it in stride, he spun through another missile, not noticing that the first was still undamaged. Taking a rare moment to think instead of turning around immediately, Sonic soon found himself dashing through the Great Forest, blipping through Knothole, passing himself... After his adventure with the Time Stones, he asked Nicole about the known methods of time travel, in an attempt to not visit the past again by knowing how not to go back. Fortunately, aside from various magics that were easily avoided, the only known method was to travel faster than light. Which, Sonic figured, was exactly what he must be doing. It took a few seconds, from his perspective, to figure this out. In that time, he flew almost completely around Mobius, subconsciously adjusting his flight path to stay near the ground at all times. As Robotropolis came into view on the horizon, a way to solve all his problems suggested itself. A bit further, and he passed himself as the first version of him entered Knothole, not too far away from Packbell but not within sight either. Already well past both of them by the time he processed what he was seeing, Sonic readied himself for the next pass. As he approached Knothole for the fourth time, he grabbed his earlier self's backpack, still loaded with power rings, and steered towards Packbell... ****** Half the room groaned when Sonic entered. "What?" As the replies came back, Sonic noticed that his backpack was missing. He made a mental note to find it once... * B O O O O O O O O O O O M * "What was THAT?" Sally picked herself off the floor. "I don't know, but it was too close for comfort. Sonic, check it out." "You got it, Sal!" Sonic raced towards the sound, but stopped quickly just outside Knothole. A large hole had been blasted in the forest, at the edge of which was his empty backpack. Carefully picking it up and noticing its lack of power rings, Sonic swore to be more careful when carrying that much power in the future. He grinned sheepishly as he returned to the War Room. Sally looked up. "Well?" "Uhh...minor accident. Nothing to worry about." "'Accident'? Sonic, whatever that was knocked Packbell off-line. With him out of the way, we spotted and stopped an ambush he'd set up in his control room." "Well..." Reacting to a command from Sally's console, a holographic image of Robotropolis's main control room flickered into view above Nicole. "Tails and Kenal are there now. We've taken complete control of the network. Ok, everyone, just a few more seconds..." ****** Kenal eeped when the guns came out, but quickly realized they were not pointing at him. They were just hanging, limp, from the ceiling. When he recovered, Kenal looked around, and saw movement in the central throne. The chair's back was to him, but he saw a hand caress the left armrest, as if trying a few keys. Slowly, silently, he crept up, and pounced... ...only to sail right through when the chair abruptly fell over on its back. Tails tumbled out of the chair. "Well, at least the 'recline' button still works." Kenal stopped before he hit the wall, and looked back. "Don't get any delusions of being Robotnik's fourth." Tails snickered. "Don't worry, I was just playing...hey!" He tumbled forwards to get a better look at the chair's former base. "I found it!" He reached in, and pulled out a box with a single button labeled "Restore Mobitropolis" on one side. Kenal landed next to Tails. "That's it, alright." "Shouldn't there be any codes, or some kind of lock, or..." "No. This was designed for emergency use, when there might not be any time to remember a code. Just push the button, and we win." Kenal shook his head. "You do it. I'm not worthy." "What?" "You've fought Robotnik your entire life. I've been on both sides, and more. You did more than I even tried, to make this moment possible." "Aw, go on. If it means that much to you, you push the button." "No, you push the button." "No, you push the button." "SOMEONE PUSH THE BUTTON!" Sally's voice blared from the speakers. "Yes, Sally," they replied in unison. They both pushed the button. The box collapsed into a sphere of metal, which slowly expanded. "Kenal?" "Yes?" "Time to leave." "Yes." The two bolted from the room as if their lives depended on it, but only because their lives did. Three seconds later, the sphere's expansion became much faster, and it turned nearly transparent. Once he was outside again, Tails looked back every once in a while as he fled, being very careful not to slow down in awe. The sphere quickly expanded through the command center's walls as if they were not there...which they were not, once inside the sphere. He had only seen pictures of Mobitropolis, but quickly recognized major buildings as they formed, starting with the Royal Palace where the command center used to be. Grass, trees, and other plants were recreated alongside the buildings, and even Robotropolis's smog was reconstructed into clean, fresh air. The only problem was, the reconstruction was gaining on them. Kenal was flying a bit behind Tails, not daring to look back for one second. Every thought, every ounce of strength, was directly solely towards escape. From what Tails saw, the griffin barely had time to feel pain when the sphere turned him into thin air. A momentary look of surprise when his tail started disappearing, causing him to turn upwards, and then he was gone. "Kenal..." Tails involuntarily slowed down, almost willing the sphere to take him, too, then he was snatched from the sky and carried away by a familiar blue blur. Sonic skidded to a halt just inside the Great Forest. Nearby, Sally stood, entranced, where she had stopped after racing Sonic to witness Mobitropolis's rebirth. Tears flowed down her face freely as the sphere reached the edge of Robotropolis and vanished, its job done. All three cried for a long time. Even Sonic, with only Tails and Sally close enough to see, unabashedly joined the two in mourning for their friend, and realizing that their fight was finally over. "Say, Sally, I'm not sure this is the best time for this..." "For what?" "Actually, no. Now's the perfect time. Sally, will you marry me?"