When Worlds Collide - A Sonic Fan Fiction for the Foxes and Sorcery Series ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Co-written by: Aaron Lye (prower@pacific.net.sg) and Joseph de LaCroix (hk512@cleveland.Freenet.Edu) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Acknowledgments Magnus "Tyro" Andersson - for some very valuable advice ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEGAL STUFF Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters used within this fanfiction are fully owned and copyrighted by one or more of the following: Sega of America, Sega Enterprises (Japan), DiC, and/or Archie Comics Several characters used within this work may have been the creation of the authors of this or other fanfiction. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This story's main characters are: Sonic Tails Sally Joe - Joseph de LaCroix Rotor and supported by: the Freedom Fighters Sandra Nightweaver - David Pistone and others ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ March 3239, immediately following the end of Legends Awakening II, one week after the Confrontation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tails looked at the item Tasha had just handed him, incapable of any action other than to gawk at it. He asked tentatively, "Does this mean I'm a full Guardian now..?" Tasha smiled and nodded, "Sure does, sugah. After what ya did, Ah thought ya deserved a li'l reward like this." Tails shouted, "YES!", accompanied with a strange movement of one of Tails' arms that Tasha was not familiar with. She continued, "However, ya'll still hafta continue lessons with me. There's still a lot of things for you ta learn.." Tails nodded willingly, as he clutched the insignia tightly in his paw, as though it were the most valuable jewel on the face of Mobius. ***** Sonic clutched the datadisk tightly in his paw, as though it were the most valuable jewel on the face of Mobius, as he raced around a bend along one of Robotropolis's streets. All around him, strobing lights were casting their reddish beams onto the darkened roads, and an alert siren accompanied by a mechanical voice droning "Hedgehog Priority One" boomed in the distance. He glanced behind him to size up the SWATbot forces that Snively had sent to do away with him this time, and he felt a tinge of worry as he saw the sheer number of robots that were converging on his location. "Man...way uncool..." was all the hedgehog managed. As he turned to face the front, he caught sight of the wall he had inadvertently been speeding towards. He braked, and not a moment too soon, either. One second later, and there wouldn't have been enough left of Sonic the Hedgehog for Snively to roboticize... He looked around, seeking a route of escape. There, however, was none. He was boxed in by walls on three sides, and by SWATbots and hoverunits on the other. "This is NOT good, Sonic ol' buddy...", the hedgehog thought to himself. There was only one option left. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a power ring, shouting the signature "Juice Time!" phrase simultaneously. The energy filled him, and he prepared to break the sound barrier, trashing the SWATbots in the process. It was then that his legs locked up and refused to move. An uncommon emotion filled the hedgehog: fear. What was happening? Then, the feeling began. An urge... a compulsion to use the emerald's energy-magic. With a jolt, he realized what was happening. The Emerald's energy was warring with his physical energy for control over the power ring. He wasn't physically paralyzed... It was indecision...internal conflict, and Sonic, of all Mobians, knew best what happened when you were undecided and waited too long in Robotropolis. Roboticization...or even death. It was a losing battle. The emerald's energy battered down the physical and seized control of the power ring's energy reserves. White, color-streaked energy streaked towards the SWATbots, and Sonic knew then that that was a BIG mistake. What little of the Emerald's energy he possessed, when spread out to attack that many SWATbots, wasn't even enough to fry a few circuits. In horror, Sonic dropped to the ground, exhausted, his physical energy drained from fighting the Emerald. So fatigued was Sonic that he didn't even notice he had dropped the datadisk he had been clutching so tightly just a while ago. Escape wasn't even an option now. There was only the wait... and the hope that whatever was about to come would be quick... ***** Tails was still looking at his insignia when he walked out of Tasha's hut. It was then that he saw his paws flash white for a second, followed a few seconds later by a feeling of fatigue that washed over him. He lost control of his paws for a second, and the insignia dropped. Then, as suddenly as it had come, the occurrences disappeared, leaving Tails worried about Sonic. Somehow, he was in trouble... He rushed over to Sally's. Not even taking time to catch his breath, the fox asked, "Aunt Sally, where'd Sonic go?" Sally looked at the fox, "He's gone to get some info from Uncle Chuck. He should be back soon, dear." Tails vehemently shook his head, "No, Aunt Sal! Sonic's in trouble. I have to go help him!" When Sally heard that, she grabbed hold of Tails, trying to make sure he didn't rush off to Robotropolis at that very moment, and spoke, "Tails, I don't think you should be venturing by yourself into Robotropolis. It's too dangerous...maybe we should go ask Tasha.." Tails nearly yelled, "There's no time! Sonic needs me now!" With that, he disappeared in a flash of color-streaked white, leaving behind an exasperated and worried Sally. ***** A white flash appeared in one of the darkened streets of Robotropolis, revealing Tails. He searched around frantically, looking for the hedgehog who was his best friend. As he searched, thoughts started creeping into his head. What if he was already too late? What if Sonic had already been captured and roboticized? Tails forced those thoughts out of his mind. It was too painful to think of such things. He yelled Sonic's name as he flew around the city, not even bothering to conceal himself from being spotted by the security cameras. ***** By this time, Sonic had been tied up, and was being carried back to Snively's command center. He was far too weak to fight back, and had given up all hope of ever seeing Knothole again. His thoughts turned to Sally, and his feelings towards her, to all his friends at Knothole, then to Tails. It was then that Sonic got a feeling that Tails was nearby. He concentrated on thinking about Tails, hoping that somehow, Tails could find him. ***** It was around that time that Tails felt a compulsion again, the same feeling as when he had wanted to find Sonic the other day. The young fox turned a corner, following the compulsion, and to his immense relief, found the object of his search. The fox raced towards the SWATbots that were transporting Sonic, sending a wave of Emerald energy crashing into the first SWATbot. The bot exploded, sending fragments of metal and circuits flying. The remaining bots opened fire with their lasers, and Tails ducked, then rolled out of harm's way. He flew off the ground, and once again, white Emerald energy unleashed itself from his paws, slamming with full force into two SWATbots, sending yet some more shrapnel flying in all directions. The fox repeated the attack, destroying two more SWATbots. The Guardian looked around, noticing that a lot of reinforcements were on their way. Thinking quickly, he sent an invisible wave of energy crashing into a nearby building, making it seem as though a new attack was coming from that direction. As the SWATbots turned to fire at the supposed new threat, Tails utilized the opportunity when they were distracted to teleport the datadisk, Sonic and himself back to Knothole. As they dissolved from view, Sonic smiled at the young fox. "I owe you big time, little bro." ***** Sally took the datadisk from Tails as Sonic sat down on a couch in the hut he and Sally shared. The hedgehog seemed no worse for wear, and was regaining his strength quickly. The ground squirrel placed the disk inside the desktop terminal that had been hooked up to Nicole, just as Rotor and Bunnie walked in. Sally instructed her computer, "Nicole, begin information decryption protocols." "Initializing protocols, Sally. Software activated. Now decoding. Please stand by." the computer responded. Nicole buzzed and beeped for a few seconds and soon emitted, "Decryption complete. Information now being fed to desktop viewer." True enough, an external view of a missile-shaped object appeared on the screen, alongside what appeared to be the object's blueprints. Sally stared at the object, unable to make head or tail of it from the limited data displayed. She spoke, "Nicole, analyze internal components and display schematics." The computer obliged, and did as it was told. The room turned silent as all it's occupants stared at the schematics on the screen, the shocking realization of what the device displayed there actually was hitting them with full force. Bunnie placed a paw to her mouth, and whispered, "Oh mah stars... it's a nuclear warhead.." ***** Nuclear fission. A discovery of both good and evil. Good in that it provides large quantities of usable energy when the fission reaction is controlled. Evil in that when uncontrolled, it becomes a weapon of mass destruction. Nuclear technology had been developed on Mobius long before the coup that had ousted the house of Acorn from power, and had also been discarded as a dangerous technology that was best left undisturbed and forgotten. Now, Snively possessed one of those devices. Sonic paced around, to the slight annoyance of the other Mobians in the room. "Snively's gonna nuke Knothole, Sal ! We have to do somethin'!" Sally spoke, "First of all, he doesn't even know where Knothole is.." She was interrupted by Rotor, "A nuclear warhead that size would be big enough to wipe out three quarters of the Great Forest. There's a good chance Knothole would be in that three-quarter.." Sally turned to the computer again. "Nicole, where will the warhead be launched from?" "Robotropolis, Sally." "Are any target co-ordinates provided in the information?" "Yes, Sally. Co-ordinates of ground zero have been set to 320.023.058" Sally spoke to Nicole, "Nicole, display Sector 320." A view of a section of the Great Forest popped up. Sally continued, "Magnify to display an area 10 square kilometers in size, centralizing on co-ordinates 023 by 058." The display changed, and the requested area popped up on the screen. Sally whispered, "That's one thousand meters north of Knothole..." Sonic, feeling left out, spoke up, "I say we storm the place and take out the bomb before ol' big nose launches it!" Sally looked at Sonic, "We both know direct assault won't work. We'd be outnumbered fifty to one!" Rotor suggested, "We could get David to shoot it down before it can impact..." Sally shook her head, "All that'll do is create a radioactive cloud above the Great Forest that would undoubtedly wreck our entire ecosystem..." Bunnie spoke up, "We can't just sit here.." Sally thought deeply, weighing all her options. After careful deliberation, she spoke, not knowing what to do. "I'm open to suggestions, guys." Rotor told Sally, "Sal, I'll try to work something out. How much time do we have?" Sally queried Nicole, who responded, "Launch of nuclear warhead is set for 1700 hours tomorrow, Sally." She turned to Rotor, "You have the rest of today to come up with something." Rotor nodded, "I'll get started on it right away, Sal." As Rotor walked out of the room, Sally whispered, "I hope you pull this off, Rotor. Our lives depend on it." ***** Tails found Sonic sitting at the edge of the power ring pool. Ever since he had been abducted by Angela, the fox felt that Sonic had been spending far too much time at this location. He walked up to the hedgehog, found a comfortable spot next to him, and sat down. Tails looked at his best friend, and asked, "So what happened, Sonic? How'd ya let yourself get captured by those bots?" Sonic shook his head, "I don't know, little bro." Tails was about to reply, when a single word popped into his head. Emerald. The fox was puzzled and spoke the word out loud, "Emerald?" Sonic nearly jumped when he heard Tails, then simply said, "Man... it was easier keeping a secret before I got this emerald.." Tails looked strangely at Sonic, "The Emerald is bothering you?" Sonic nodded, "Earlier, when I was being chased by those SWATbots, I used a power ring, to escape back here. Only when I used the ring, the Emerald fought me for it. It won, used the energy to blast a weak shot at the SWATbots and left me exhausted, ready to be trussed up like a chicken! I've lost control, Tails.. and I don't know how I'll ever go on a mission again, knowing that somethin' like this can happen.." Tails was about to reply, to try and console the hedgehog, when a familiar voice came from the tree they were under. "That, sugah, can be solved." Tasha said, as she disappeared from the tree and reappeared next to them. "What you did wrong was fight the Emerald for control of the power ring. You fought it, not took control of it and ya have ta learn the difference between fighting somethin' and controlling it. The next time you use a power ring, and this happens again, don't think of fighting the emerald for it, just concentrate on thinking of the Emerald, focus your mind on control, on control over the Emerald. Then, ya'll have no problems from the li'l monster." Tasha ended with a smile. Sonic questioned, "How do ya know all of this?" The rabbit got up, and started to walk away. "Let's just say Ah was very thorough with my research on the power rings...Well, Ah'll leave you two alone. Have fun!" They watched as Tasha walked away, and were just about to continue talking when Dulcy rushed up to them. The dragon spoke breathlessly, as though she'd just flown a hundred miles. "Sonic.., Rotor's got something.. Sally wants..wants you and Tails immediately.." ***** Sonic rushed into the room, followed closely by Tails. "OK, Rote, whatcha got?" "Well, our options are limited, but this is my plan. We'll get a small team in, maximum of 2. One will create a diversion, while the other will attach this subspace transceiver to the control computer, I'll explain how it's done, and from there, I'll link up to it from here and defuse the warhead. We'll probably need to get this done fast, so we'll need your speed, Sonic." Sonic nodded, "No prob, Rote." Sally spoke up, "Now all we need is someone to provide a diversion." Tails offered, "I'll do it, Aunt Sal." Sally was about to say no, when Sonic replied, "Sure thing, little bro." The ground squirrel looked at Sonic, but decided to keep quiet. ***** The next morning, Tails walked over to Tasha's hut, ready to begin lessons for the day. He knocked on the door, and when there was no response, he opened it and entered. The place was neat and tidy, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The fox looked around, until he saw a small note on the coffee table in the living room. He picked it up and read, "Tails: I was called back to Ghylcana early this morning and didn't want to wake you. I'll be gone for the rest of the day, and I'll be back later this evening. Sorry. With regards, Tasha." Tails sighed and tossed the note into the trash, before walking out of the hut. The rest of the morning passed quickly, and at exactly 1500 hours, Sonic and Tails walked over to Rotor's workshop to be given a quick lesson on how to attach the transceiver to the computer at the launch site. (If you want, you're welcome to add a bit of tech stuff here about attaching the device.) That over with, the two ran and flew off towards the city of Robotropolis. Sally watched them leave, and shouted, "Good luck, guys! We're counting on you!" ***** The duo soon reached the city, and managed to slip past the outer defenses with ease. Sonic took out a small scanner, and keyed in the co-ordinates of the launch site. The device processed the information, and displayed the quickest route there. As soon as the information came, the hedgehog and the fox took off for their target. A minute's journey brought them to the other side of Robotropolis, and in a large clearing surrounded by heaps of trash, sat the most deadly weapon known to Mobius. Next to the launch pad, they saw a brightly lit screen, attached to the pad, and to a computer. Hidden by one of the trash heaps, Sonic searched the area, and looked slightly worried, "Man.. somethin' fishy's goin' on here.." Tails whispered back, "What is it?" Sonic answered, "Ol' big nose's only got two teams of SWATbots guarding this place.." Tails shrugged, "So? It just means he's over-confident..." Sonic looked around, then agreed, "I guess so. OK, big guy, ready to do your stuff?" The fox nodded, then snapped a finger. On the other side of the clearing, a blue hedgehog that could've passed for Sonic's twin appeared. He yelled at the SWATbots, successfully attracting their attention. "Yo, bucketheads! Over here! Come an' catch me!" With that, the pseudo-Sonic raced off, with the two teams of SWATbots in hot pursuit. Tails snapped his fingers again, and in the distance they saw the hedgehog shimmer out of existence. Sonic gaped at the hedgehog that had just winked out of existence, then turned to Tails, "Who on Mobius was that?" Tails smiled, "Not who, Sonic. What. That was a projection, a form of magic holography." Sonic grinned, understanding, then hi-fived the fox. "Way to go, bro!" He dashed towards the console, then followed Rotor's instructions to connect the transceiver. Once it had been properly attached, he activated it. ***** An insistent beeping from the desktop console in Sally's hut told Rotor that Sonic had activated the transceiver array. He sat down quickly, silently praising the hedgehog, and got to work, while Sally, Bunnie and Dulcy crowded around behind him. He typed in some commands telling the terminal to link up with the console at Robotropolis and with Robotropolis's computer network in general. A few beeps later, the terminal spat back a message. "Link not established. Connection failed." Rotor refused to give up, and tried again. "Link not established. Connect-" The message broke off into static, then was replaced by a picture of Snively. "Hello, Freedom Fighters. I've been expecting something like this from you." Over at the launch site, Sonic and Tails watched on the screen as Snively continued. "I have still not discovered how you got the information in the first place, but rest assured I will be searching for the leak in my computer system. Like I said, I've been expecting this, so I took the liberty of providing you with specially created dud information.. the real launch site is elsewhere, and as of now," he pressed something out of the range of the camera," the warhead's headed for 320.020.050. It's been a long fight, Princess Sally, Sonic and all of you at Knothole, and you have been worthy opponents. Cherish whatever life you have left, Freedom Fighters..." With that, the image winked off the screen. Sally stood up, and asked, "Nicole, scan lower atmosphere for a radius of 15 kilometers for any projectiles heading for coordinates 320.020.050." "Scanning, Sally. Projectile confirmed entering Sector 320. Impact in 20 seconds." Sally looked down, unable to look into the eyes of the Freedom Fighters she was leading to their doom. Bunnie walked up to her, and held her hand, "We don't blame ya, sugah.." Sally nodded. ***** Sonic watched the screen, unable to move, to think, as he watched the timer tick away. Ten seconds... eight... five... three.. one... impact.. Sonic and Tails covered their eyes as a bright white flash emanated from the Great Forest, which was unfortunately still visible from this part of Robotropolis, a flash that was followed closely by a loud explosion. When they opened their eyes again, all they saw in place of the Forest was a barren landscape, devoid of tree or animal. At the center of the carnage and destruction, a large mushrooming cloud was forming. Sonic and Tails both didn't know what to do. All their friends, the people they had worked with for years... their family, their loved ones, all gone in a single flash... A rage built up inside Tails, a rage far in excess to the one that had taken control of him when Matthew Prower was slain by SWATbots a year ago... The two-tailed fox snarled, and stormed off, heading towards the main control center. Sonic came out of his daze in time to notice Tails walking off. He raced after Tails, and demanded, "Hold up, li'l bro. Where do ya think you're going?" Tails growled, "What do you think? I'm going to pay back Snively for what he did to Aunt Sal and the rest!" Sonic tried to calm him down, "Tails, that's suicide. Come back with me.." trying to rationalize with the fox. The hedgehog took hold of Tails' arm, and was immediately zapped by a bolt of white energy that flung him away from the fox, stunned. Tails was in too much of a rage to even realize or register what he had just done to Sonic, even though he had seen him fall.. the only thought in his mind at that moment was revenge... ***** Snively watched as the Great Forest went up in smoke, and grinned. A grin that was wiped off his face when a wave of energy came crashing through the main door to his control center. The shattered remains of the door dropped off it's hinges, and a small, angry-looking two-tailed fox stepped through the entrance. Before the five SWATbots in the room could open fire, they and part of the wall behind them had been disintegrated by an arc of Emerald energy. The fox turned and started walking towards Snively, snarling as he did. When he was one meter away from the short human, he brought up his paws, and Snively was restrained by an energy bind. A small wave of energy sparked from one of Tails' fingers, striking the human. The fox growled, "That was for Sally!". Another wave. "That was for Rotor!". And another. "For Dulcy!". And another... ***** Sonic picked himself off the ground, in time to see a blaze of light shimmering into view to his left. Expecting it to be Tails, he was surprised when he saw Tasha forming. The rabbit looked very sick, both physically and emotionally. Sonic walked up to her, but she waved him away. "No, don't come near me. Ah've just come from Knothole, and Ah've probably soaked up enough radiation to do ya some harm if ya get too close.." Tasha continued, "I reappeared at what used to be my hut, only to find the place gone, destroyed. The radiation level there is still very high, high enough for me to get a near lethal dose before Ah could teleport out of there...." She grimaced as though in pain, then continued, "Where's Tails? I thought he came with you.." Sonic told her where Tails had gone, and the rabbit Guardian teleported herself there, in time to see the fox torturing Snively. She yelled, as best she could for someone who was dying of radiation poisoning, "Tails, STOP! What do ya think you're doing?" The fox didn't seem to hear her, but simply continued his relentless assault on Snively. Tasha tried again, but nothing was getting through... ***** Sonic watched as Tasha reappeared next to him, and said, "It's no use. He's not listening to me.." She looked at Sonic, "We have to find a way to stop that rage he's feeling. If not, after he's done with Snively, he may just go berserk permanently.. and end up attacking someone else.. or even us." She sat down, too weak from the radiation, "Sonic.. try.. try to contact him via the Emerald.." Sonic did as she asked, it wasn't easy, since Tails' mind was clouded with rage, but he managed to get through to the fox. *Tails! You have to stop this right now!* *Why? After what he did?* Sonic felt as though he was banging his head against a brick wall. That fox really was stubborn... The hedgehog's mind raced, trying to think of something that would snap Tails out of his rage. He snapped his fingers as he remembered something that might work, and he contacted Tails again. *Tails, remember our conversation before the Confrontation? Can't you see what's happening? You're falling prey to the same thing you were worried about...* Over in the command center, some semblance of a rational Tails emerged, as his mind raced back to the conversation Sonic had mentioned.. >Tails paused a moment, then continued. "It scares me, Sonic. It scares >me how powerful hatred is. The things it drives people to..." >Tails looked up at the hedgehog. "Jacer fell prey to the Emerald of Anger, >Angela is consumed by hatred for telepaths..." >"I worry, Sonic, that someday, the hatred we all feel for Snively and >Angela will grow to the extent that it consumes us... until we will not >let anything, not even friendship, or loyalty, or even love, get in the >way of exacting revenge on them.." Those sentences had a powerful effect on the fox. He seemed to suddenly be thinking deeply, and the energy bonds holding Snively winked out, and the human dropped to the ground, injured. The rage slowly seeped away, replaced by horror, as the realization of what he had done sunk in. A second later, he disappeared, leaving no trace of his presence, other than a badly injured human, some SWATbot parts, and a broken door. ***** Tasha looked up at the fox and smiled, "Ah see you've come to your senses." Tails nodded sheepishly. Tasha winced again, clearly in pain, as the radiation took its toll on her. It was an effort for her to speak. "Tails, Ah'm in no condition to use mah Emerald energy... it is up to you now, to reverse what has happened here today.." Tails blinked in surprise, and said, "But I don't know what to do..." Tasha nodded, "... the.. Emerald will...will know what to do.." A sense of deja vu hit the fox. Those were the exact words that Matthew Prower had said to him before he died from the wounds inflicted by the SWATbots. Now, Tasha, was dying in front of his eyes as well.. saying the same thing... Tasha smiled at the fox, "Don't let me down, sugah..." Tails held her hand, "I won't." Tails got up, resolved to do as Tasha asked. He concentrated on the Emerald, thinking of it, thinking of the predicament they were in.. Knothole being nuked... Tasha dying... Snively's launch site.. A crackling sound started emanating from a point directly in front of them, and a small hole started forming in the air where the sound was coming from. The hole widened dramatically, expanding into a grayish portal, with strands of white color-streaked energy crackling within. The crackling sound increased in volume, and a wind started blowing towards the portal. Tails puzzled at the sudden change in weather, then realized what was causing the wind. The surrounding air was being sucked into the portal... As if on cue, the three Mobians were sucked into the portal as easily as the air that had gone in before them, sucked into whatever was on the other end of that portal... ***** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TIMELINE: Several days after "Summer Days", written by Joseph de LaCroix ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Joseph stood in his training field behind the Dome, surrounded by the trees and shrubs that served as the walls of the arena. His mind was focused and unfettered by the distractions of his environment, and his body was locked in a single graceful position. The wind blew through his fur, the warm front moving over the area. The thunder would come again, he knew, and soon he would have to either generate a magical field to keep the water off of him, or just accept the gift of life-giving water as it hit him. Either way, he was going to do this -now-... The target, a fox-sized stone on top of a stump, had sat unrelentingly on the surface of the dead wooden object for several hours now...not a scratch laid in sight of it, nor even a single chip of dent. His multiple attempts to pull off the Tu'ne'kah manuver on it had failed...but now, he willed, it would work. He focused his power towards the object...slowly, it lifted exactly from the stump at a ninety degree angle, heading upward as if a large wolf was lifting it up slowly so to not injure himself. When it had gotten a few yards up in the air, he ceased its motion and concentrated more at it... The wind picked up as an orange aura surrounded the stone. His right fist balled into a iron-hard knot, and his jaw clamped closed tight enough to shatter bone...he let the primal roar build in him, focused, focused, focused... "RRRRRRRRRRR----VAH!" In an instant, the stone shattered as if it were glass, detonating loudly all over the practice field...clay and shale rained from the sky as the storm hit, the rock being joined by water. With a smile, Joseph draped himself in a self-generated rain-sheld, and walked off. >> "Your skills are greatly improved, Joseph. Soon you will be ready for your final and most grueling test...but for now, bask in the glow of your great accomplishment." << Joseph smiled, entering the Dome again as the rain increased in intensity. "Yes, Mob, I shall." He descended to the lower levels, returning to his laboratory. As he quietly headed downward to his work area, Bahb began to speak. << "Joseph, a disruption of the time/space continuum has occured in sector E4. Shall I send out a SpyGlobe wing to investigate?" >> He stepped off the disk, walking into the middle of the lab. Joseph's curiousity was engaged by this event, so he immediately replied. "Affirmative. Dispatch the SpyGlobes and dump their output to monitors 3E, 5G, and 8-12F." ***** The portal disgorged the rabbit, fox, and hedgehog in a dim clearing in the Great Forest. They immediately fell to the earth, all of the trio stunned by whatever had occurred...a few minutes went by before they slowly came to their senses. Tails was the first to regain consciousness. He knew this part of the forest from his adventures around Knothole. They were perhaps a few miles from the centre of town, but few ever ventured into this part of the forests; it was said to be haunted by ghosts. As he got his bearings, he went to assist Sonic. He came around about a minute or two later, and had a not-too-small headache to go with it. "Oh, my head...anybody get the number of that Hovercar?" Tails smiled, knowing that Sonic would be okay...his mentor, however, looked in bad shape. Going to her immediately after Sonic seemed to start getting himself back together, he grimly looked her over. Her fur looked matted and dirty, and she felt...broken...inside. She coughed when she breathed, and her eyes looked somewhat glazed. The small fox concentrated, trying to use the power of the Emerald to heal her; but, despite his efforts, the damage done to her was too tremendous...he was not skilled enough to repair a being at the cellular level. She would die in a day or two, his powers told him, unless some sort of miracle occurred... Right about then, a pack of floating orbs drifted into the clearing. They numbered about four, and were somewhat artistic in their design. All of them were perfectly round, but had a metallic part near their frontal lower parts that seemed to be some sort of speaker. A thin crease went around the spheres, and above the crease near the top-middle of the front and rear side was a glassy patch of the object that seemed to be a lens. Spraypainted on the object's grill was a number, plainly readable to any Mobian...`1', `8', `13', and `7' were now floating in front of them, humming dimly as they bobbed in the air. Tails instinctively got into a defensive position, defending Sonic and the incapacitated Tasha. His magic, tho weakened from whatever he had done, was still strong enough to blast at the strange machines...his hands started to glow a dim red, and his eyes locked on the objects in sheer primal hatred. Yet, the spheres did not attack. They floated around the clearing, whirrring and investigating the trio. Some stayed near Tails, others floated over Sonic and Tasha. They seemed to be friendly, Tails mused, if a machine could be friendly...he stared into the middle one that was hovering near him, wondering who made such odd contraptions... ***** Joseph sat back in his chair, looking over the monitors. "Report." << "Temporal/spacial disturbance has been nullified. Entities involved being scanned...Sonic Hedgehog, Tails Fox, and an unidentified rabbit have been confirmed witnesses to the event, if not the involved parties in the creation of the disturbance. Tails is manifesting unidentified energy powers, and the rabbit is suffering from class 5 radiation poisoning. Sonic seems to be the only one unphased." >> He cracked his knuckles. "Teleport them all to medlab. Prepare the medical drones to deal with the rabbit. I shall be there to meet them." With that command, he got up from his chair, and walked off into another section of the laboratory. ***** The trio were then teleported with a flash of blue energy to another area, appearently a medical lab. The disorienting effects of the fast movement caused Tails to lose his concentration; his paws returned to normal, as did Sonic's. Tasha was picked up by a robot and put on a table, where a bluish light began sweeping up and down her body. Tails initial instinct to pull her away was defused by the realization that she was actually beginning to look a little better due to the device, so he just stood back and watched. Sonic, in the meantime, was looking around rather dumbly, having no idea what to make of the place. The writing on the consoles was alien to him, as was the design and operation of the robots that were milling around. They weren't made in Robotropolis, that was for sure. None of them had any visible weapons, and they all seemed to be clean in body and in power source. The entire room hummed dimly from something that he couldn't identify, and the walls themselves illuminated the room. "Whoa," Sonic could only say, "we must have gone way forward in time or something, Tails...the forest is green, and this technology is way past advanced!" "Actually," an unfamiliar but rather aristocratic voice, "you not only traveled into another dimension, but you also traveled -back- in time." They turned to face their new arrival, and were slightly less than frightened of him at first glance. He was an extremely tall, neon- orange fox. Elvish features were evident on his face, and his face was bespectacled with a pair of very black wraparound sunglasses. He was bare-chested, only wearing a pair of black-and-white horizontally striped shorts. His feet had sandals on them, and he wore a glowing orange pendant around his neck. "Greetings, Sonic and Tails, from whatever dimension you arrived from. I am Joseph." Tails saw the emerald, and immediately felt the sheer amount of power it gave off. It was like walking against a wall of pure energy, and it made his own power seem like a mere spark...he retreated a bit, mostly out of instinctive fear of any one person who could possess such terrible power in his very palm. Joseph noticed the fox's reaction, and did his best to calm him. "Fear not, Tails, I mean you no harm...I merely noticed your arrival on this world, and wished to help you. Your associate--" he waved his hand to the healing Tasha, "--seemed to be suffering from radiation poisoning. She will be fine shortly." Sonic looked at him oddly. "Are you..." He smiled, expecting this question. "No, brother, I am not of this world. I come from a planet that died long ago, far from this world. I arrived here by accident, and have since learned to...adapt." Sonic ahed and kept his mouth shut, having no further comment. Tails, however, was full of questions. "How did you become a Guardian?" He looked at Tails strangely for a moment, then realized the pendant was still on his person. "It's a long story, kid...after your friend recovers, I'll tell you the whole thing." ***** An hour of so later, Tasha was fully detoxified, and Joseph told them his life story in a nutshell; he left out the parts about the impending alien attack and some other unsavory things, but he still spoke for over an hour. They were all quite fascinated by Joseph's story, and they came to like the kindly alien a bit more after he had explained to them his origins. Yet, Tails kept on giving Joseph the third degree. "You have amazing technology here, Joseph," said Tails, "why not take out Robotnik yourself?" He sat back in his chair. "It is not my place to solve the problems of the world, young one. I am merely a scientist, concerned only with repairing the damage my kind has done. The defeat of Robotnik must come from Mobian paws, not my sullied ones." He kept on questioning. "What if you were directly endangered?" He took out a cigar, lighting it up and smoking. "Then I'd fight back until Robotnik learned not to bother me." Tails smiled. "Ah-hah." Joseph blew a smoke ring. "What're you getting at, kid?" "Well, it's like this..." And then, Tails told him their problem. ***** He leaned back, mulling the story over in his mind. "So, Snively's gonna nuke the Forest, eh?" He blew a nice-sized ring, which circled over Tails' ears. "Sucks to be you." Tails looked at him pleadingly. "Please, Joseph, you're the one that the Emerald sent us to...you're our only hope!" The scientist-wizard sat back in his chair, deep in contemplation. "Ahh, what the hell. It's not my dimension. Okay, kid, you got my help...let's see if some Ur'thaen mental skill can defeat ol' Needlenose one last time..." That part of his comment left the trio stunned, but then they realized that this dimension must be -far- more alien than they could imagine... ***** A few days went by as Joseph worked. The trio were forbade to leave the Dome, naturally; too much confusion and alteration to both dimensions could occur if either the Sonics or the multi-Tails met. Tasha stayed around, however, simply to recover her strength and learn of this new, `Super-Guardian' that had saved them. She had, in fact, struck up a conversation with him after talking with his `mate', Sandra Nightweaver. She, too, was a strange and mysterious individual...she wondered if perhaps they had gone way, way off into a different Mobius sometimes by what she picked up from the pair. However, when speaking with Joseph, she began to get the distinct impression that this Mobius was far more primal than her own... "So there are only -8- Emeralds here?" He smiled, tapping away at a console. "Yep, only the eight. Law of octaves, you know." She ignored the scientific jargon. "But why? Certainly the world needed magic in the early days of civilization in order to survive." "Nah," he said, "this Mobius' people are far more in-tune with Mobia than your people obviously are. Only the forces of the elements and the two parts of the World-Spirit have emeralds to them; the rest of the magic of the world is free, ready to be used, consumed, and sent back out into the world." He continued. "It's like how air is, really. It surrounds you constantly, swirling around you and through you; you use a bit of it to live, then change it to something else--in this case, carbon dioxide--and, as you exhale, the spent air goes towards some trees or some bushes, and is taken in by the tree and used for its own purposes. It reverses itself again, and becomes air for someone else to breathe." He hit a few keys, spun in his chair, and kept going. "Magic never can be used up, my dear Tasha, it can only be changed to something more structured for a short time before entropy returns it to primus." Not even allowing her to blink, he continued on. "The Emeralds themselves are only focal points; if we keep with the air example, they are like very small, but very powerful electric fans. One can use an emerald to draw more air to ones self if one is in hot weather, but you aren't `making' the air; it was already there, but it was simply unfocused towards a task. A few Mobians can do this by merely concentrating very hard; they become fans, to a certain extent, and these people are the truely blessed." He smiled at her, finishing his thesis. "Ergo, your world has a lot more fans than this one does, making it far less `hot' than this world is. It must certainly be easy to live there; what structure it must have! Reality must be rather static." Tasha could only blink, this explanation taking some time to sink in. "I guess so," she said, lacking for any other words. A satisfying beep came from the console as Joseph hit the enter toggle. "All done," he said, "we can begin immediately." ***** The trio and Joseph returned to the original part of the forest where they had materialized, with the plan memorized by each one. Joseph had told Sandra he was going to return them to their home dimension safely, so she would not worry about him going forth on a mission. All of them had returned to their top form, and they knew the fate of the world rested on the successful completion of this task. "Everyone ready?" Joseph asked. The trio nodded. "Okay, then everyone get ready to go through the portal when it opens. Tails, you know what to do, right?" He nodded weakly. "I'll try, Joseph." Joseph adjusted his shades. "Let's do it, people." Tails closed his eyes, the power flowing to his paws. (Sonic's paws flared as well, but nobody was really paying attention to him at this point.) He concentrated on a few days before the explosion, thinking of the spot they wanted to be at...the portal opened, and they quickly dashed through; the portal closing behind them. ***** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TIMELINE: March 3239, a few hours before the nuclear strike ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They materialized in the Guardian capital city of Ghylcana, right outside the Chambers of the Control Guardians, running through a hole in space before it simply faded away. Tasha walked over to the entrance of the Chambers, activating a public intercom system, calling for all Guardians presently in Ghylcana to assemble at the Chamber's entrance. Sonic, Tails and Joseph merely stood there, waiting for everything to get organized. After everyone came to the entrance, Tasha began speaking. "Fellow Guardians! I bring you together now because a great peril awaits us all in less time than it takes for the sun to rise again from the horizon! Snively, that foul tyrant, will send a nuclear warhead to the Great Forest; and unless we act swiftly, it will destroy not only the Forest, but the only hope we have of one day defeating Snively: The Knothole Freedom Fighters!" Concerned mutterings from the crowd filled the air, and a few astonished gasps as a few began to notice the psychic disturbances caused by Joseph's pendant. "However, Tails and I have returned from another dimension, bringing with us one who can help us save the Forest from total destruction...he is a Guardian, of sorts, but from a world very different than our own." She looked to Joseph, as if this was a cue. He began speaking easily, as if he were lecturing to a class. "Greetings, friends. I am Joseph, and I come from a Mobius not unlike your own. I have knowledge of nuclear weapons, as well as magic, and I have a plan that just might work; that is, if we all work together..." ***** Over at the launch site, Sonic and Tails watched on the screen as Snively continued. "I have still not discovered how you got the information in the first place, but rest assured I will be searching for the leak in my computer system. Like I said, I've been expecting this, so I took the liberty of providing you with specially created dud information.. the real launch site is elsewhere, and as of now," he pressed something out of the range of the camera," the warhead's headed for 320.020.050. It's been a long fight, Princess Sally, Sonic and all of you at Knothole, and you have been worthy opponents. Cherish whatever life you have left, Freedom Fighters..." With that, the image winked off the screen. Sally stood up, and asked, "Nicole, scan lower atmosphere for a radius of 15 kilometers for any projectiles heading for coordinates 320.020.050." "Scanning, Sally. Projectile confirmed entering Sector 320. Impact in 20 seconds." Sally looked down, unable to look into the eyes of the Freedom Fighters she was leading to their doom. Bunnie walked up to her, and held her hand, "We don't blame ya, sugah.." Sonic watched the screen, unable to move, to think, as he watched the timer tick away. Ten seconds... eight... five... ***** "NOW!" Suddenly, the warhead was surrounded in a magical field, stopping it from continuing on its deadly flight path. The combined forces of every Guardian on Mobius was focused on holding the nuclear weapon in place, and it was working rather spectacularly...multicolored fields of energy crackled around the device, slowly stopping it from moving at all. ***** ...three... ***** The combined forces of all the Guardians, and Joseph himself, cast the device higher into the sky; faster than sound, faster than light, and even faster than warp speed...it broke from the atmosphere, left orbit, and went rocketing towards the sun. After it had been assuredly sent from the world, the magical field dropped, slowing the device to a steady speed of a little less than light. ***** ...one... ***** The device exploded invisibly within the sun, not even disturbing it. ***** And the monitor hit zero, with no ill effects from the planet. The Guardian assault had been so well-organized and so fast as to make it seem that the warhead simply blinked out of existance. Sonic and Tails looked out of the window at the Great Forest. It was still there, totally undisturbed. The shock was not so great, however, as to keep them from getting as far from Robotropolis as they possibly could in a short of time as possible...after all, Snively was not going to be pleased. The short big-nosed creature, in fact, was pounding and cursing his machines like a madman. His plan had been complete! Nothing could have stopped the warhead! It was perfect! How could they have stopped something that was so well planned?! He cursed and ranted, stomping his feet in a helpless tantrum... ***** Joseph relaxed his muscles, having spent a good deal of energy on the assault. "Nice shot, fellas." The Guardians cheered and rejoiced, having saved the world from nuclear decimation. The city square was a huge wall of Mobian flesh, cheering at and celebrating their victory. "Thank you, Joseph." said Tasha and Tails, smiling at their new friend. He smiled, putting back on his shades. "No problem, guys. It was my pleasure." Nicholas and Jennifer, the First and Second Control Guardians walked over to Joseph, and addressed him, "Today, you have rendered a great service to this world, Joseph. In honor of this, we have decided to grant you Guardian status. Should you ever choose to, wish to or have to return to our universe, you will have the full rights and privileges of a member of the Ghylcanan Guardians." Nicholas reached into his robes, and took out the standard Ghylcanan Academy graduation insignia. He held it for a moment, red Control energy flowing into the insignia, changing it permanently from silver crystal to a sparkling red crystal. He handed it to Joseph, who graciously accepted it with a nod, and a "Thank you." Joseph started to walk away. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go..." With that, before they could even react, he faded away in an orange hum... ***** "Snively." He stopped his tantrum, turning to face the odd voice. Before he could cry out for a SWATBot, invisible hands grabbed his throat, lifting him about 10 feet into the air and not allowing him to breathe. His attacker was unseen, but not unfelt. "You tried to destroy 1.5 million lifeforms, sentinent and non." Clawmarks slashed through his uniform, going at an angle down his chest. Blood began to seep from them, and they hurt more than he could think such very exact incisions could make. "You tried to make a patch of Mobius totally barren for a thousand years." Impacts from a fist, far too fast to be from a living being, were felt all over his body. They too, hurt a lot more than they should have. "Finally, you are a blood-relation to Ivo Robotnik." One very exact impact broke his nose. His body now stung totally with unnatural agony. But now, he was released, falling to the floor with a unpleasant wet thud. As he gasped for breath on the floor, he tried to speak...but could not. "You will live, fiend, but remember this; my vengeance is not complete. One day, you will be destroyed by my hands, and the world shall be whole again." Snively was able to gasp out, "Who...are...you?" "I am Mobius, Snively." A cold burst of air was felt from the other side of the room, and no more could be heard or felt of the being. The medical drones were summoned by an unseen force a few moments later, which started to slowly patch the small human back together. ***** Sally, Rotor and Bunnie watched the red dot that represented the nuclear warhead slowly came closer and closer, and all gasped when they suddenly saw it blink out of existence. Sally demanded, "What happened?" Rotor worked the scanner controls furiously, "No idea, Sal. Looks like it must have malfunction and detonated in mid-flight... but I'm not detecting any residual radiation cloud..." Sally was still puzzling over the turn in events when three blazes of red appeared in the room, dropping off Tails, Tasha and Sonic. She smiled as she saw them, and immediatly rushed across the room to hug Sonic, clearly knowing how the warhead had been disposed of. She looked at the trio, then said, "I have no idea how you did what you just did, but a lot of Mobians will continue living because of your actions today." Tails smiled, "We had a lot of help, Aunt Sal. From the Guardians..and from.. a friend." At Sally's quizzical glance, Sonic grinned, "C'mon, Sal. Let's go grab a bite ta eat, and we'll fill ya in on what happened." The group walked out of Sally's hut, chatting and laughing amiably. Life continues. THE END