"Relics" Rain was falling along the hillside, a steamy, hot, vicious rain. Rain produced from the great funnels stretching out into the sky from a dreary city: Robotropolis. As the acid rain continued pouring down, a single figure standing no higher than 3'4" surveys the city. Then, through the smog and mist, this figure disappears; already breaking the sound barrier, he continues. Sonic quickly zipped through the streets of Robotropolis. Knowing every twist and turn, he sprints through the metallic labyrinth with ease. He had been here before many times, but this time was different. This time, he was here to save former Mobians and Freedom Fighters, to return their free will. Robot after robot passed Sonic's hideaway, not noticing his presence. And robot after robot was handed a power ring, which temporarily restored their will. Finally, after rounding up almost a dozen robots, Sonic spoke to them all. "Okay. Everybody concentrate on what I'm about to say. You can break free of Robotnik's control over you. You just have to fight him, from the inside out." There were many groans of sorrow, terror, and struggle. One by one though, the groans subsided. There were followed by gasps of awe as the mechanized ones found themselves in control of their actions. "Alright. Now everybody get to Knothole village as quickly as you can! I'll join you there shortly." And with that, Sonic rain off in a burst of mud. As Sonic raced through the soggy roads, a glint of metal caught his eye. Granted, there was plenty of metal in Robotropolis, but there was something different about it. Sonic backed up. Indeed, this metal was different. Though corroded, it still shined with a hint of gold. It was shaped like a ring with two cylindrical shapes intersecting like an "X" inside it. Beside it was a duplicate of it in silver. Two others were lying beyond them; one made of copper, the other platinum. Upon each ring was inscribed an enigmatic message. "Whoa!" gasped Sonic in awe. Though he couldn't understand it, he knew it was the language of the Ancient Times. "What are these?" Quickly, he shoved the rings into his backpack, and sped off. Sally looked out her window and onto a rain-soaked landscape. The rescued robots had returned long ago. She desperately watched the horizon. Sonic was late. "He should've been here by now." she commented more to herself than anyone else. "Oh, sugah, he's been late before," Bunnie commented. "I know, I know..." "You've got a hankerin' for him, don't ya Sally-girl?" "Is it that obvious?" A sudden knock on the door put an end to their conversation. Before Sally could reach the door, Sonic barged in. He was soaked and dripping on the floor, but a welcome sight to Sally. "Sugah-hog! What took you so long? You were getting' Sally-girl mighty worried." Sonic didn't answer. He seemed preoccupied. Something's definitely wrong if Sonic's not being a wise guy, Sally thought. "Sonic, what's wrong?" Sally inquired. "Nothing," Sonic said vaguely, still staring outwardly. "SONIC!" "Huh?" "Sonic, talk to me. What's wrong? "I've been thinking." "Oh, that explains it," Sally joked, "What've you been thinking about?" "These." With that, Sonic dropped his backpack and revealed the rings. Sally's jaw dropped. "What is it, Sally-girl?" asked Bunnie. "Sonic, where did you find these?" Sally asked. "In Robotropolis." answered Sonic. "What are they?" "If they're what I think they are, they're a miracle." responded Sally. "Assemble the senior staff. I want to have a meeting going within the hour." Night had fallen upon Mobius. The meeting was held near Rotor's Workshop, where the mysterious toruses to which owed the honor of the convening of this council. Sally sat with her back to the workshop, Rotor to the left of her, Bunny to her right, Antoine sitting next to Bunny, Sonic Sitting Next to Rotor, Tails sitting next to Sonic, and Dulcy plugging up the rear by Antoine and Tails across from Sally. "Okay, lets begin," Sally began. "This afternoon while interdicting our roboticised friends, Sonic came across a set of four ring like structures made of precious metals and engraved with a cryptic message." "A massage?" Antoine asked. "I could enjoy a massage." "A Message," Tails corrected, "not a massage." "What are they, Sally" Dulcy asked. "At first we didn't know." Rotor explained. "We though that maybe these were Robotnik's attempt at making rings." "But then I remember an old wise tale that I was told as a child about 'X's and 'O's working together." Sally added. "Then Nicole found a match in her database." With that, Sally removed Nicole from her vest pocket and activated her. "Nicole, access the file named "Xeta Rings" "Accessing Sally." A holographic projection of the rings appeared. "The Xeta Rings are mysterious artifacts resembling power rings found in the ring pool with four exceptions. One, they are forged from gold, silver, copper, and platinum rather than just gold. Two, they have an intersecting "X" shape within the ring. Three, they are engraved with two words from the Ancient's Language 'Hivslonah veeneh'. Though an exact translation cannot be acquired, it generally means 'with few do persevere'. And fourth, the energy output of the Xeta rings are approximately fifteen times that of a power ring." The small crowd gasped suddenly as one. "Fifteen percent?" Tails asked, almost choked from amazement. "Cool!" said Sonic. "The Xeta Rings were used by the Ancient Ones," continued Nicole, "to strengthen the might of their army during offensive assaults against the nomads which rendered them nearly invincible. They were believed lost when the Ancient Ones died out long ago." "Thank you, Nicole." Sally said. "Obviously, Robotnik must have discovered them and excavated them. With their power in his hands, the casting of the Freedom Fighters to oblivion would soon follow." "But now that they're in our hands," started Tails, "We have an ace up our sleeve!" "Yeah! We could whip ol' Butnik till he can't fight back!" Sonic cheered. "Since when did you study Machiavelli, Sonic?" teased Sally. "Okay, here's the plan. We're going to begin testing the Xeta Rings so that we can most effectively use them. I'm going to need everyone's help with this." The rain had subsided long ago. The sun was just peaking above the horizon, as if it was just awakening like the residence of Knothole Village. That is, all but a few sleepless souls within a certain workshop. Sally opened the door and yawned. It had been a long night. Initial test had discovered no new information about the relics, but a single gravimetric scan picked up a severe distortion in the weight of the Xeta Rings. Though their mass was that of a normal ring, they weighed only half the weight of a normal ring. Further analyses confirmed that the energy output of the rings was so strong that matter within its reach was slightly distorted. It shouldn't be a problem, Sally thought, but what if... Sally laughed at herself. The Xeta Rings were a dream come true. Why should they care if it defied the laws of physics? Sonic's speed, Dulcy's flying, and her love for Sonic defied the laws of physics too. Still, she couldn't help but feel uneasy... A metallic fist banged a greasy Comm panel. Snively's report was late! Robotnik swiveled his chair impatiently. Where could he be?! Snively's incompetence would be costing him invaluable time to research the Xeta Rings he recently located in a secret vault by the Great Swamp. An armored Swatbot column was sent to retrieve them. Snively was put in charge of the task force, which should've returned a whole 12 hours ago. A sudden buzzer caught Robotnik's attention. "What is it?" he barked. "Sir, task force X1 is returning to base. There is only one "survivor" left." "Send the survivor in!" Snively scurried in. He seemed disheveled, dirty, and extremely upset. "Snively! What happened? Where are my RINGS?!!" "The-the-they're gone sir." "WHAT?!" "After we retrieved them, we brought them into the city. About the same time there were reports of roboticezed citizens escaping, I looked back and... The TASK FORCE had DISAPEERED!" "Idiot! What happened to the rings?" "I went back to the position where the end of the column was, they weren't there!" "Hmm..." Robotnik wondered why the task force had disappeared, and why the Rings were gone. Of course! The rings must've caused the task force's disappearance, and the rings were probably stolen by the Freedom Fighters. "Well, perhaps this is a blessing in disguise. I believe it's time to complete the Science wing of my Citadel, Snively." "Are we ready for phase 2 testing?" shouted Rotor over the whine of the hastily assembled pressurized environment simulator. Appearing to be an elevator from a nearly bankrupt firm's building, the rickety crate struggled to keep from imploding on itself. "All set!" shouted Tails, who had just placed two of the Xeta rings in the elevator. With that, the doors closed, a bell dinged, and the test began. Within seconds, the elevator began vibrating like an insane man out in the snow only his swimming trunks on. These shakes turn into hops that even a rabbit would be jealous of. "Readings are steadily increasing," barked Rotor, "The rings are producing more energy as the air pressure builds." He flipped a lever on a control panel, and the elevator came to a dragging halt. At once, the doors opened with a pathetic "ding". Bright light shined from inside. Tails and Rotor had to shield their eyes with their forearms to keep from being blinded. Tails ventured a look. When he did so, he made out the silhouettes of three Swatbots. "Swatbots!" he yelled. "What? How in the..." But then the light faded, leaving an empty elevator and two Xeta rings lying on the floor of it. "Too weird..." remarked Tails. What happened? pondered Sally. She was reading the report that Rotor had dropped off only a few minutes ago. Though it was a fair day outside, Sally could not think about anything other than the sheet of paper in her hands. ...Sonic vibrations occurred at an uncontrollably high rate within the test platform. Data collected, rings increase in magnitude in higher pressures, unexplainable anomalies occurred after shutdown procedure. The silhouetted forms of a pair of armed Swatbots appeared before both engineers' eyes. Results inconclusive, but possible causes could be mind-inducing affects, unknown phenomenon of the space-time continuum, or a temporal rift leading to another dimension. Sally could not understand what in the world had occurred. She only hoped that the incident would not repeat itself. If one were to search below the smoggy clouds of waste, one would find Robotropolis, and the main event below that dismal arena was an annex to Robotnik's Citadel. Though small and seemingly insignificant, countless robot soldiers patrolled the area around the complex construct. Within the annex were Dr. Robotnik and Snively, surrounded with wires, cables, readouts, panels, and worker bots that scurried this way and that. "I still don't understand your plan, sir." stated Snively. "The Xeta Rings are most definitely in the hands of the Freedom Fighters, Snively, and they no doubt would love to use its amazing powers on me. What they, and apparently you don't know, is that the Xeta Rings produce a rift in time and space which leads to another dimension. When you said the task force had "disappeared", I concluded that they were transported to such a dimension. They also toy with the effects of gravity, which is why we are constructing this annex. It will house both a tectonic monitor to locate variations in gravity and a highly advanced spectral analysis sensor which can locate inconsistencies in space/time. Once located, a special munition will be fired to that location, which will obliterate that area as well as five miles around it. As the munitions has to do with causing an atom to split via nuclear force, I have dubbed it, the 'nuclear missile'." Robotnik grinned as he said this last part, "And I have the utmost faith in its ability to obliterate the Freedom Fighters." Sally looked around the complex in which nearly all the Freedom Fighters of Knothole Village were assembled. She feared that the news she was about to spread would lower their morale, but she had to convey the news. "We've recently found some strange artifacts that we had hoped would aid us in our fight against Robotnik." There was a great cheer from the crowd. It pained Sally to continue. "Unfortunately, the 'Xeta Rings' as they are called cause some strange anomalies that apparently toy with the fabric of space and time. I'm sorry, but I am forced to bar access to the rings for everybody. Already, some strange things have happened, and I'm not willing to put any of you at personal risk. That it all." Both the speaker and the crowd were silent for a moment, as they all realized that their goal to defeat Robotnik wouldn't be realized at the moment. Some of the crowd piped in. "We still believe in you, Sally!" "Robotnik will get what's coming to him some day." The crowd began cheering "Sally! Sally!" and one could tell that, though they were disappointed, they weren't beaten. Amid the crowd, though, stood a fox, shocked with disbelief. So certain was this fox that the Xeta Rings were the key to defeating Robotnik, that he crept out of sight and to Rotor's Workshop. Tails emerged from the underbrush to find himself facing the storage closet. He sneaked over to the Workshop. After toying with the locking device on the door, he opened it. It was empty; of people, that is, of course it was cluttered with gizmos, doodads, and whatnot. To the rear were the Xeta Rings, left conspicuously on a workbench. Tails flipped a scanning device on and discovered that the rings were still emitting the same level of energy as they were at the height of their time in the compression chamber. If all that energy were harnessed into a single form, then it could be directed at a single target in a destructive manner. In this way, Tails decided to destroy Robotropolis. He collect the Xeta Rings: Gold, Silver, Copper, and... When Tails reached the Platinum, he felt a surge of energy rush over him. It felt as if he were caught in a Tsunami of boiling water. He tried to scream, but found that he had no control over himself. Then, as suddenly as this state of shock had descended on him, he disappeared, leaving behind the Xeta Rings, which were disturbingly arranged in a perfect square around the spot that Tails had just seconds ago fallen to. The meeting had ended, and only Sonic, Sally, and Dulcy were left. Sonic and Sally were conversing in a concerned manner. Dulcy decided to leave, but as she was about to take off, Sally called to her. "Dulcy, did you see where Tails went?" she asked. "Umm, I think I saw him going to Rotors workshop a few minutes ago." Sally's eyes widened in fear. Sonic was shaken as well. "C'mon, Sal, we've gotta juice!" "No, Sonic, we're going to assemble a search team. Dulcy, find Antoine and Bunny, and tell them to assemble a search team of a dozen to find Tails." "Okay." And Dulcy was off. "Remembaire, Tails is probably trying to use the rings against Robotnik, now go! Find him, and bring heem out heer!" The 12 members of the team rushed into the Workshop. Antoine and Bunny waited outside. They continued to wait for five minutes. "What's happening?" asked Bunny. "I yam not knowing, Bunny. Perhaps wee should have a looksie?" Antoine and Bunny opened the door and looked inside. Nothing. They saw none of their team, or Tails. All they saw were four glistening Xeta Rings floating in midair, surrounded by light. With that, Antoine ran from the Workshop, and all the way back to the Village Square. Antoine looked back, impatiently at Bunny, but even she was missing now. "Nosink! We saw nosink! It all go kapooped al front of our eyes!" Antoine was raving as if he had been introduced to a poorly made croissant. "All gone away, it was terriible, teeeeeerrrrrrrriiiiiiibbbbbbllllllllleeeeeee!" Antoine had returned alone to Knothole's center. He claimed that everyone had just disappeared. Similar reports had been filed from all around the workshop. There was anything ranging from sightings of ghostly figures silhouetted by smoke and the like, to mass disappearances. The whir of the advanced computers of Robotnik's science wing could barely be heard over the alarms sounding. "Bingo!" exclaimed Robotnik. "Sensor indicate possible rift in the space-time continuum in the Great Forest." He motioned to Snively. "Prepare to launch the nuclear warhead!" "Uh, oh." stated Rotor, as he looked at a computer readout. He turned to Sally. "Robotnik's built a new super-weapon, and is in the process of launching it at us!" Sally turned away, disgusted. There were so many crises going on. She just couldn't stand it. Knowing that she had to trudge on, she turned back towards Rotor, but only an empty chair in front of a computer terminal was there to greet her. A towering cylinder raised at an angle from the ground. It held in place at about 45o. Within a skyscraper, a man shouted fire and pushed a red button, and the tower emitted a projectile not much larger than a football toward its target. Sonic and Sally were alone, now. Knothole village was entirely deserted of all its residents. They were the only ones left. They stood in front of the Workshop, knowing their fate. They could see the tiny speck that would end their world, their cause, their lives hurtling at them from afar. They embraced; knowing that nothing could be done now. They could only watch. The bomb came closer and closer, relentlessly pressing forth towards the Workshop in which the "relics" were held. "I love you," said Sally. The bomb was but a few dozen meters away. Destruction was but a few seconds off. "I know," said Sonic. It ended. Sonic and Sally looked at each other. They were no longer standing in front of the Workshop. They had seen it blown up, seen the explosion with their own eyes. Was this life after death? They looked around. The "room" if it could be called that was oblong, with no defined walls or ceiling. The surface of the floor/walls/ceiling was that of gold, silver, copper, and platinum, swirling and spinning in a haphazard manner as if it were a never-ending tidying session. Surrounding Sonic and Sally were all their former comrades, Tails, Bunny, Rotor, Antoine, all of them. "What is this place?" asked Sally. Tails turned, he seemed a bit sheepish, possibly blaming himself for the whole incident. "This is the holding bay. I learned of its existence during the short time I was in physical contact with the Xeta Rings. Their purpose was not to power weapons of war, but to be weapons of war. They were able to make entire armies disappear. Actually, that army would be sent here and dealt with. The visions of Swatbots were images from similar installations as this. It seems that the rings are able to discern good and evil, and places good in this chamber, evil in another facility." Tails looked down again. "It's my fault we got into this." Sonic put a comforting hand on Tails' shoulder, telling him it wasn't so. Sally frowned in dismay. "Do you know what's going to happen to us?" she asked him, not wanting to upset him. "No," he replied. "Then we wait." The Freedom Fighters sat and waited in the cavity in which they were contained. It seemed at one point that night was about to occur, as the pulsing, mixing, swirling metals of the hall's surface shed less and less light. Sonic was rudely awakened by a blinding light. Sunlight! Sonic looked up, and saw that he and the others were no longer in the hall. They were atop a domed building, below a blue sky with but few clouds in it filled the gap. They gazed at the brilliant sight. It had been a long time since golden sunshine had caressed their cheeks and greeted them. No one noticed the robed figure standing in their mists. "Tereh mat curah," said the robed figure, in a calming tenor voice which seemed as pure as the splendor of the picturesque sky. Immediately, Sally unhooked Nicole from her latch and opened her."Nicole, translate." "Translation: Greetings good strangers." The figure spoke again. "Siquem shok putem." "Surprised, you are indeed." "Ehmen greetanoo 'Ancients' framah." "I, Ehmen, am last of whom you called 'Ancients'." "Heqe leque mak. Surna michta huahe." "The Heqe is what we are called. We as is plain are advanced." "Yernes gras, Xeta grened pgoah." "Many years ago, we used the Relics called Xeta to defeat our enemies." "Shok grensa anarah quwent. Hoquh pgoah arnmak chagnot." "You tried doing the same, which can never happen again. The Relics are too dangerous to be used again in a hostile manner. They should be used to create." Sally spoke up. "We didn't know that. We thought that they could rid us of the evil dictator who is destroying our world." "Yes I know." the robed man stated. Everyone was shocked that he was able to speak their language after only hearing a line of it. "That is why you may keep them. You see, the Relics were created so that they could create other things, mainly metals which were difficult to extract. When war came, they were used to make weapons, until one day a scientist discovered that he could use the power of the Relics themselves to destroy the enemy outright. He did not destroy just the enemy, but the entire race of that enemy. Lost forever. We were so ridden with guilt that we moved here, to Cathanat, to reside forevermore. We refused to let such an event happen again. That is why we took 'Tails' from you when he tried to use the Relics. The dictator you referred to had created a weapon which would've destroyed your race as well. We evacuated you from there using the Relics' energy field as a catalyst. To give you an equal chance in the war against that dictator, we entrust the Relics to you. You are not to use them directly for offense." "What good'll they be then?" asked Sonic. "If dropped into a place known as the ring pool to you, they shall increase the natural production there of power rings. Now, off you go." Ehmen paused, "Though I am not to take sides in wars, I do hope you are victorious." A second of jet-blackness, and Sonic and Sally found themselves embracing in front of the Workshop again. This time though, they weren't alone, and there was no bomb to reign death upon them. A few paces in front of them, lying innocently on the ground, were the Xeta Rings, or the Relics as Ehmen called them. "This is a dream come true." stated Sally softly. "We have a new ally, and we are now equipped with a method for producing rings." "It's cool." was all that Sonic could come up with. Tails nudged Sonic, silently reminding him that he and Sally were being watched by all the other Freedom Fighters. Sally turned. "To the ring pool." Splash, splash, splash, splash. The usually lazy ring pool was stirred up and about, rippling four sets of concentric circles around its peaceful banks. Sonic asked Sally if she was sure that this was going to work, and was assured that it would. In an instant, a small waterspout formed in the pool's center, and grew until it was at least 20 feet into the air, in which it emitted a growing glow, which climaxed into the forming of a power ring. "See Sonic, the Relics have boosted power ring production. It won't be long until we have a large supply of them waiting to be used against Robotnik.""Cool, Sal. So, you up for a chili dog? My treat." "Sure." If one was to look at Mobius at a glance, they would see a great forest with a smoking, charred, evil looking city hacking waste into the environment, spitting its poisons, and choking life. Nevertheless, on closer inspection, one would find a society living in organic harmony, in thatched huts and tree houses inside that forest. Moreover, some day, they pledged that the evil city spewing waste would be destroyed, and that the tyranny, which came with it, would end as well. Now, with a little help, they have come far closer to that goal than ever before. The End