Chaos Race Part 4: Purple Written by: Adrian Tymes and Alessandro Sanasi [Legal disclaimer: This story is based on characters created by SEGA and Archie Comic Publications, Inc., 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) 1996, all rights reserved, et cetera.] ****** Faster than most eyes could track, Princess Sally Acorn dashed down a path she had traveled more times than she cared to count. It was one of the many paths that lead from Knothole's entrance to the meadow surrounding Robotropolis. She recognized every tree; the forest animals that scattered out of her way seemed like old friends. The shadow cast by the Floating Island just made it seem as though night had already fallen, until she left the shadow behind. Most familiar of all, though, was the part that she wished she would never have had to experience: Robotropolis itself. Merely seeing the former capital of the Kingdom of Acorn reminded her why she had to retrieve the purple Chaos Emerald before the city's residents did. The abrupt change from fresh air to barely tolerable smog put her instincts on alert, but she knew Packbell would be too distracted to deal with her at the moment. Sally was more concerned about the hedgehog she carried, whom she still considered untested. She put Amy down and lead her into the city, carefully avoiding detection. ****** The emerald's course had been plotted to one of Robotropolis's few remaining power plants, where the electromagnetic fields would severely hamper any robotic sensors. Any life form would have little trouble finding the emerald - but most such forms in the city were not in a position to care about it. As far as Sally knew, there were only four types of life present: byproducts of Robotnik's experiments, most of which led deliberately short, painful lives; a few traces of nonsentient life, primarily rodents, that struggled to eke out an ecological niche; billions of Mobians who had been turned into robotic slaves, almost too far gone to still be called alive; and two Freedom Fighters, who did not intend to stay for long. Amy Rose, on the other hand, was stunned by the sheer contempt for life that Robotropolis oozed. She had been to the city a few times before, but it was still new enough to her that she sometimes thought it was just a nightmare. "I wish Sonic was here to help us," she said. "I always felt safe when he was around. He never let me out of his sight..." "That's 'cause he wanted to make sure you won't cause any trouble," Sally replied dryly. They were on a death defying mission to save both Knothole and the Floating Island, and all Amy could think of was Sonic. "No, he did because he loves to have me around. I always stick up for him, and I believe in him." Sally frowned. "I care for him too. You just want him because he's cool and popular..." "You care for him? You've never let him know that you love him. You order him around, and flirt with every guy who comes your way. How is that caring?" "What?" Sally stopped in her pace. "I never flirted with other guys!" "Oh yeah?" Amy grinned smugly. "Remember Griff, the Freedom Fighter from the underground city? Sonic told me everything about it. Case closed!" "That...that was just because Griff was so handsome. Sonic knows I love him. We go for walks, sit under the moonlight...snuggle..." "Well, I would too if you'd stop hogging him! You're always around him, every minute. I can't get close 'cause you won't let me!" Sally nodded. "That's right. I won't let you because you don't need to. Why don't you find someone your own age?" "Why don't you find someone your own species?" Sally wanted to give an adequate reply, but a noise coming from a nearby alley caught her attention. She quickly ducked behind a nearby garbage pile, pulling Amy down with her as a SWATbot walked by. "Still hasn't changed their timers," she thought. "Packbell's getting sloppy." "Oof! Was it something I said?" Amy gasped, unaware of the robot. When Sally had pulled her down, she had looped her arm around Amy's neck, barely loose enough to allow Amy to speak and breathe. "Shut up, for heaven's sake," Sally whispered. "There's a SWATbot nearby!" She was too late. The robot sentry had already stopped, turned around, and started to walk toward the garbage pile, laser ready to fire. "Great, now we've been spotted," Sally thought, while ducking deeper into the pile and cursing herself that she had taken Amy with her on this mission. "Let's hope he won't find us..." Suddenly, a small metal arrow zipped past Sally's head and pierced the SWATbot's armor, vital circuits, and power supply, sending sparks everyhwhere. The robot made a few jerky moves, then fell to the ground with a *CRASH*. It remained motionless, useful only as scrap. "What..?" Sally turned around, to see Amy holding a small gun-shaped object with a bow-shaped piece attached to the end of its barrel. "Nice gadget, huh?" Amy smirked while inserting a new arrow. "I brought this in case I had to deal with SWATbots. Works every time." "Now listen here, young lady," Sally growled. "Next time, be more careful. Just because Sonic always takes risks doesn't mean that we should do the same." "Oh, you prissy princesses are all the same," Amy pouted. "Prissy. Sonic likes how I handle things. That's why we fit together so perfectly." Sally sighed. "Listen, I'm not going to stand here and bicker on this! Let's ask Sonic himself who he prefers, as soon as we get back!" "FINE! I can't wait to hear his decision." Sally took her microcomputer from her boot. "Nicole, can you locate the emerald?" "AFFIRMATIVE, SALLY. THE EMERALD IS LOCATED IN THE POWER PLANT 50 METERS TO YOUR LEFT," Nicole replied. "Ok, let's go!" ****** Amy and Sally reached a huge platform overlooking the generator array. The power plants were about as close as anything in Robotropolis got towards waste management: they burned organic refuse from the rest of the city, and used the rising smoke to turn turbines which generated electricity. Even here, the atmosphere was not actually toxic, but it smelled as if it were. When the power plants were operating at 100 percent of their designed capacity, only special acid-proof robots could safely operate below the platform, whose air filters recycled the acidic vapors for use elsewhere. Packbell had been running the plants at above 100 percent ever since his takeover. Even though the plant occupied a full square kilometer of Robotropolis, and was hundreds of meters tall, Robotnik's insistence on a polluting design had ultimately worked to his disadvantage: Mobitropolis's smaller power plants had, before Robotnik wrecked them in his takeover, produced many times as much power with no pollution. Totally oblivious to this, Amy's thoughts were still centered around Sonic. "He's going to like *me* better!" "Yeah, right." Sally nodded in anticipation. "Now, can you please give it a rest? We have to find the emerald. Start searching!" They both started to search the platform. The ventilators, which spared them from the acidic sauna meters below, projected enough of their machinery through the platform to turn it into a giant maze. "Once Sonic even brought me a flower when I felt glum..." Amy sighed, lost in her thoughts. "Just one?" Sally snorted, unable to stand it any longer. She walked over to Amy, and turned her around. "Listen here, pencil head! Sonic is mine! I have known him longer than you, and I give the orders around here!" "Boyfriend stealer!" "He was never your boyfriend to begin with!" "'Cause you stole him from me!" "I'm a princess. I will go out with whomever I choose. Sonic is mine. Go find your own boyfriend." "Go find your brain!" "Don't talk back to me, young lady!" Amy grinned. "I'm not one of your Freedom Fighters, I'm a free hedghog. You can't command me. I will talk back to whomever I choose!" Sally was getting really mad now. "Watch what you're saying, little girl..." "Don't call me a little girl, you egotistical excuse for royalty," Amy cried back, inwardly seething. "Go jump in a roboticizer!" With that, Sally leaped at Amy. They both rolled over the ground, fighting furiously. "There's only one girl fit for Sonic, and that's me!" Amy screamed. "There's not enough room for the both of us, you pink pin cushion!" At this close range, Amy could not turn around to use her quills, and thanks to her reliance on her pistol, she was not very experienced in hand to hand combat. Sally, on the other hand, was in her element. She saw Amy trying to curl up, and countered with a well aimed uppercut. The force of her blow sent the hedgehog flying across the roof. She watched with satisfaction as Amy crashed into the back side of a projecting air vent. Sally climbed a nearby railing to get up again, and dusted herself off. "There! That should teach you not to mess with a princess, you EEK!" The railing she had leaned on suddenly gave way, and she fell over the edge of the platform. In an instant, Amy dove forwards toward Sally, and managed to grab her outstretched hand. Sally looked down at the generators below, which were working so far over their design capacity that arcs of electricity played between them through the deadly miasma. One of the arcs nipped at Sally's heels, prompting her to grab Amy's arm with her other hand. Only then did Sally realize why she was still above the vapor. Sally looked at Amy, and for a brief moment, she was afraid that Amy might just drop her. A moment that seemed like an eternity to her. Eventually, Amy's arm slowly pulled her upwards, until she was safely back on the platform. "Why...why didn't you let me fall?" Sally was panting heavily, fear having made her forget to breathe. "You could have had Sonic all to yourself." "No way! Sonic will choose who he loves. I will make him love me because of who I am, not because I'm the only one left. Besides, we're after the purple emerald, right?" Amy's other hand grabbed the gem, caught on some wiring just below the railing Sally had fallen through. "Purple is the color of royalty, so you should have it." She offered it up to her opponent. Sally snatched the emerald from Amy, then paused to consider what she had just said. "Yes, royalty should have it..." One thought screamed in her head, but Sally would not let herself give voice to it: "...the one who has earned royalty, not the one who was born with it."