- - - -
Chapter Five
Masquerade
by
Felix Xavier Jinx
- - - -
Timeline - June 9, about three weeks after Felix Xavier Jinx had completed his
first mission.
- - - -

     Daybreak. Felix blew warm air into his trumpet. The sun rose early, and
hit Felix full force in the face. After warming up a little, he played
Reveille, a tune the residents of Knothole had grown to hate. Like clockwork,
everybody crawled out of their huts. They were all surprised at how warm it
actually was and hustled to the dining hall. Felix jumped down, and followed
inside. Breakfast went as normal. After everyone had eaten, they all left to
attend to their daily chores. Tails had scout duty this morning, and was
looking forward to it, because it was his first time out. He got a jacket, and
a communicator from Sally. After he retrieved everything he needed, he floated
off into the forest.
     Tails had found out scouting wasn't as much fun as he thought it would
be. After fifteen minutes, he was bored, and he had another two hours of
scouting to do. He also had to hold or keep an eye on his jacket because it
was too warm to wear one.
     "Tails, how ya doin'?" Bunnie asked over the communicator.
     "Okay, I guess." Tails said. "Nothing's goin' on."
     "That's good. Tell us if ya see anything suspicious. Remember like Ah
told ya what to look for. Okay?" Bunnie instructed.
     "Okay, Aunt YAAH!" Tails screamed in surprise. He saw a SWATbot standing
next to the trail. He jumped behind a tree.
     "Honey! What happened?!" Bunnie exclaimed.
     "There's a bot on the trail!" Tails whispered.
     "Okay, hold tight. Get away, and I'll be right there." Bunnie said.
     "Wait a sec. It's not movin'!" Tails whispered in surprise.
     "What?" Bunnie asked.
     "Hold on, I mean stand by." Tails corrected himself. He put down the
communicator and picked up a stone. He tossed it, and nailed the SWATbot in
the arm. Nothing.
     "Aunt Bunnie, it doesn't work anymore!" Tails barked.
     "Huh?" Bunnie asked in disbelief.
     "Yeah! It just shut down right there!"
     "Okay. Wait there and Sonic and I will be right there." Bunnie
instructed.
     "K. Bye! I mean over." Tails turned the communicator off, and took a
closer look. It was a SWATbot, but why it shut down was the question Tails
had. It looked like a metal version of Sonic; same height and build. Tails was
as curious as ever.
     "So you think your so tough, huh?" Tails spoke up. The SWATbot just
stood there, laser in the ready to fire position.
     "Well, take that!" Tails threw a punch to the chest of the bot. The
punch caused the arms and head to loosen, the bot moved it's head to look at
Tails, and the arms fell to point the passive laser at him. Tails barked in
panic and jumped back into the brush. Sonic and Bunnie emerged from the
forest.
     "Help! It's gonna shoot me!" Tails screamed. Sonic and Bunnie looked at
the bot.
     "Handsome lookin' devil, I'd say!" Sonic said, leaning up against it.
     "You were right Tails. It's as dead as a doornail." Bunnie said.
     "What should we do with it?" Tails asked. He still hid behind a tree,
cautious of the laser.
     "I suppose we could take it to Rotor. He can always use spare parts."
Bunnie suggested.
     "I guess." Sonic said. He picked it up on his back, and found it lighter
then he thought it would be.
     "We'll walk." Bunnie said. Sonic raced back to Knothole, with the load
on his back. When he got to the village, everybody panicked and took evasive
action.
     "Whoa, guys! It's dead! I just brought it back for spare parts!" Sonic
announced. Everybody poked their heads out. Charles was the first one to
emerge and assist Sonic.
     "Handsome looking devil, I'd say." Charles said.
     "Where in the world did you get a bot, Sonic?" Bookshire asked,
examining the bot closely.
     "Out in the woods. It just died where it stood, I suppose." Sonic said.
     "May I have it?" Bookshire asked.
     "Happy birthday. I hope you like it." Sonic picked it up and hauled it
over to Bookshire's hut. Inside, he placed it on an exam table.Bookshire
immediately began to tinker with it, hooking it up to his computer to see if
he could access its memory. He flipped on his computer, and accessed the main
menu for the SWATbot's memory.
     "Access format options." Bookshire said.
     "This function requires a level five..." the computer started to say,
but Bookshire interrupted.
     "Cryptosmasher software." Bookshire said.
     "PING Access granted." the computer cheerfully replied.
     "Format memory drive." Bookshire commanded. Internal components of the
SWATbot whirred, then the computer flashed "FORMAT COMPLETE."
     "Sonic, how did you know it was my birthday?" Bookshire asked.
     "Oh, lucky guess." Sonic said, rolling his eyes and rocking on his
heals, trying to act innocent.
     "Now, Sonic, I don't want anything for my birthday. I don't want a big
deal, either." Bookshire said.
      "Well, I'll take the bot back then." Sonic said. He advanced to the
table, but Bookshire interrupted.
      "Well, I could make an exception." Bookshire said.

      After an hour, Sonic was called back to Bookshire's hut. Inside, it was
obvious he was enjoying his present... all over the hut. Sonic stepped over a
medium sized motherboard as he entered.
     "Sonic, how would you like to be a bot?" Bookshire asked Sonic, who was
still standing there. Sonic looked surprised.
     "What? You sound like Robotnick!" Sonic exclaimed.
     "Don't worry. Now that this unit has no idea where it came from or who
it belongs to, it won't mind if I hollow it out." Bookshire stated.
     "I still don't follow, Book." Sonic said, crossing his arms.
     "If we took all the components out of the SWATbot, save for some visual
relay equipment, we could dress you up as a bot! It's the perfect camouflage!"
Bookshire exclaimed.
     "Now I see." Sonic said. "But why me?"
     "Well, you, Charles and Miles are the only hedgehogs here. Now it would
defeat the purpose to put Charles into a bot costume, and Miles will have to
wait for a few years. You would fit perfectly."
     "Okay, I'll volunteer. When do you suppose this bot will be ready?"
     "Oh, with me and my eager beaver... I mean walrus working on it... maybe
a week." Bookshire said.
     "Cool. This will be fun. Going into Robotropolis and nobody knowing I'm
there." Sonic left to get Rotor, who hadn't seen the newly discovered SWATbot
yet. He found him in his hut.
     "Rote. Bookshire wants you in his hut." Sonic called from outside. Rotor
walked over, opened the door, and jumped to see the bot on the table.
     "Geez! What are you doing with THAT?!" Rotor asked in surprise.
Bookshire was laughing from he reaction Rotor gave.
     "Tails found it in the woods. I want to turn it into SWATbot camouflage
for Sonic. Will you help?" Bookshire asked, wiping a tear from laughing to
hard away from his face.
     "You don't have to ask twice." Rotor said. The two started to work
dismantling the SWATbot.

- - - -

     In Robotropolis, the sky was black with pollution. Packbell had created
a new body, exactly the same. He was producing at triple the normal rate. He
was mad. He always turned up production when he was angry. He had no idea who
Felix was, or how he managed to tear him in half during his first encounter.
While sitting at his desk, he yelled for a bot. One rolled in.
     "Yes, your excellency?" It droned.
     "Until further notice, I want all felines captured to be brought to me
before robotization." Packbell stated.
     "Yes, your excellency." The bot rolled off. Packbell looked down, and
saw the laser that Felix had used. The nose of the gun was cut clean away. He
picked it up, and fired at the wall. A beam as wide as the room had emitted
from the gun, and a slit no fatter than a piece of paper was cut into half of
the room.
     "Safety..." thought Packbell. He got up, and went to the main weapons
storage. There he spent the entire day breaking the ends off laser rifles.

- - - -
Timeline- June 12, three days later.
- - - -

     Midnight. A beam of light emitted out of Bookshire's hut and hit the
ground outside. Rotor and Bookshire had worked on the bot for eighteen hours a
day. Tonight, they were almost done with their project.
     "Visual link established, Bookshire. Go ahead." Rotor announced.
Bookshire hit a key and the screen went black.
     "Oh, great. It doesn't work." Rotor sighed.
     "Rotor, take your hand off it's eyes." Bookshire said.
     "Oops!" Bookshire removed his hand.
     "Here we go." The screen showed a high resolution picture of Rotor
staring at the SWATbot.
     "Good. That's the last test. In the morning, we play tailors to
Sonic."Bookshire yawned.
     "Neat piece of junk, huh." Rotor said. He also yawned.
     "Yep. Night, Rotor. Thank you."
     "No, thank YOU, Book." Rotor closed the door and crossed the small town
to his hut.

- - - -

     "I still can't even imagine what benefits we can reap from this
SWATbot!" Bookshire exclaimed. He was fixing the arm of the SWATbot around
Sonic's. Rotor was doing up his leg.
     "I still think it's creepy." Sonic said. "Still..."
     "Okay, move your arm." Bookshire said. Sonic bended his arm in all
directions. It moved smoothly, but still restricted movement.
     "I hope your not claustrophobic. It's gonna get cooped up in here."
Rotor said. He moved on to fixing the torso around Sonic. Sally walked in,
with Miles in her arms. Upon seeing his father, the brown hedgehog started to
cry.
     "Poor kid. Doesn't even recognize me." Sonic said.
     "Good." Sally said. "If your own son doesn't recognize you, Packbell
won't." She left, and Rotor and Bookshire continued for another half hour,
until Sonic was completely enclosed, except for his head.
     "It's lighter then I thought!" Sonic exclaimed. He jumped up and down to
test the weight. Bookshire came over with the head of the SWATbot, and slipped
it over his head.
     "Hey! It's dark in here!" Sonic's muffled voice cried.
     "Hold on a second." Bookshire called, and turned on his computer.
     "Wow!" Sonic exclaimed. He could see everything in front of him, like
the head of the bot wasn't on at all. He walked around Bookshire's hut, a
little stiffly.
     "Um Sonic, don't look straight into the computer screen." Rotor said.
The two were watching what Sonic was watching.
     "What?" Sonic asked, and looked into the screen. A mirror effect took
place, about one hundred times more intense. Sonic felt dizzy, and fell to the
ground. "Whoa! My head is spinning!" Sonic cried. "Remind me never to do that
again."
     "Don't do that again."
     "You okay?" Bookshire exclaimed. Rotor helped him up.
     "Yeah." No damage happened to Sonic's suit.
     "Okay, now we'll check the laser." Bookshire said.
     "Laser! Way cool!" Sonic exclaimed.
     "Now raise your arm straight out and make a fist." Bookshire commanded.
Sonic did so, and a panel opened. Out raised a tube about four inches long.
Also, a red cross hair appeared in front of Sonic's eyes.
     "Move your arm around." Bookshire said. With his fist still closed, he
moved his arm. The cross hair moved to the spot where Sonic aimed.
     "Cool! How do you fire?" Sonic asked.
     "Can you feel a button on the palm of your hand with your middle
finger?" Rotor asked. As he finished, a laser beam shot out, punching out a
hole in Bookshire's wall.
     "Yep." Sonic said. "Sorry."
     "Yeah, yeah, just open your hand." Bookshire exclaimed. He did, and the
cross hair disappeared.
     "So far it works well. Go walk around in it." Bookshire said. Before he
left, Bunnie, Sally, and Tails entered.
     "Wow! Is that you, Sonic?" Tails asked.
     "Yeah! Isn't it cool?" Sonic said.
     "Hiya cutie." Bunnie greeted, smiling.
     "Oh ha ha. Very funny." Rotor said.
     "Okay. I'm off." Sonic left, and the five remaining in the hut watched
the screen.
     "Can you hear me, Sonic?" Rotor asked.
     "Yeah, crystal clear." Sonic replied. Reception was clear on Rotor's end
also. Sonic walked around, moving in different directions. He then walked over
to Tails's hut, where Felix was staying. He knocked on the door. Felix opened
it, and saw Sonic. He jumped and hit the wall, exclaiming what sounded like a
swear word in another language. Laughter could be heard pouring out of
Bookshire's hut.
     "Sonic! It's you!" Felix exclaimed and rubbed his head. "Don't do that!"
     "Sorry bout that." Felix got up, and examined the suit.
     "They put it together already, huh. Cool. When are you going out in it?"
Felix asked.
     "Yeah, when, Book?" Sonic asked. After a moment of silence to Felix,
Sonic answered.
     "Tomorrow, maybe." Sonic said. "After Book does some more tests."
     "Okay. Well, bye Sonic." Sonic went about lumbering around Knothole.
After an hour of assorted tests, Sonic made his way back to Bookshire's hut.
The suit was taken off in six pieces. After it was taken off, Sonic stretched.
     "Oh, man! It's good to get out of there. I've gotta run!" Sonic
exclaimed and took off out the door.
     "Well, this suit is running perfectly." Bookshire commented, and laid it
carefully on the table.
     "Bookshire, what's that?" Rotor asked. He pointed to a dozen dots
floating in the sky.
     "I can't say." The dots were getting larger. "They look like... bats!"
They were. They were closing on Knothole.
     "What do you think..." Sally started to ask, when one swooped down and
knocked her down to the ground.
     "Death to the queen! Ha, ha!" the bat cheered. The other eleven closed
in, and began dropping rocks on the town.
     "Anarchists! Just great!" Sally moaned. She knew that they would
probably be little more than a hazardous nuisance. Sonic raced into town, and
into Bookshire's hut.
     "What is going on!?" Sonic exclaimed. "What are those boneheads doing?"
     "They're a bunch of fools that hate the crown." Sally said. "If they
hang around long enough, they might attract Packbell!"
     "Sonic! Here, put the laser arm and head on!" Bookshire exclaimed. Sonic
grabbed the arm and slipped his arm in, and put the head over his.
     "Now shoot them down." Sally commanded. Sonic stepped outside, and armed
his laser. The cross hair came on, and he aimed. A laser set to low power hit
the first target. He fell out of the sky, screaming all the way. He hit the
ground, and was knocked out.
     "On the roofs!" Bookshire cried, pointing to the dining hall. Five bats
were ripping the tiles off the roof. Sonic shot them all off, one by one. The
other six had the sense to retreat, chanting "Death to Acorn".
     "Six for six. Impressive." Bookshire said.
     "Let's round these losers up, Sally." Sonic said, taking the head off.
     They rounded up the prisoners, and tied them up to the tree next to
Rotor's hut. The ringleader had to be gagged for yelling at the top of his
lungs.
     "These bats proved to be another test, Sonic." Bookshire commented.
     "Yeah. It's easy to hit your target when that cross hair is floating in
front of your face." Sonic said.
     "I don't think we have a prison, do we?" Bunnie asked.
     "No. I don't think we will need one." Charles answered. "Just have the
fiends do some chores and send them on their way."
     "You heard em, King. Go charge em with treason, or something." Bunnie
said to Sonic. Sonic smiled, and went off to the prisoners. The ringleader was
still mumbling under the gag.
     "Okay you guys, you're charged with...." Sonic had to think. "Being a
threat to the goodwill of Knothole. How do you plead?" All the bats in unison
said "Not guilty."
     "You have no right to hold us!" yelled one of the bats. "I want a
lawyer!"
     "I am your lawyer!" Sonic exclaimed.
     "I suppose your the jury, too!" yelled another.
     "Naw. He is." Sonic pointed to Felix, who was sitting under a tree five
feet away. He had his nose in a book. He waved.
     "Oh, great." mumbled one of the bats.
     "Okay, Felix, have you reached a verdict?" Sonic asked. He pointed his
thumb down.
     "You are sentenced to repair the roof, and some other stuff that needs
to be done around here. Meet your warden." Sonic said. Felix dropped his book,
and cocked his gun. For the rest of the day, the bats repaired the roof, and
dug holes for outhouses in the forest. At the end of the day, Sally addressed
them.
     "Next time, the laser will be set for..." Sally was interrupted.
     "Well done." Felix stated. Tails giggled.
     "Hey, we're hungry! Jail gives you food, at least!" one bat piped. The
rest started to agree.
     "Okay." Sir Charles tossed the group his half eaten apple.
     "Now go away!" Felix yelled, and fired his pistol. It gave off a
deafening bang. The bats jumped and flew off at top speed.
     "That was fun..." moaned Felix.
     "Yeah. I'm going to bed.. I'll need all the energy I can get to juice
over to Robotropolis tomorrow." Sonic yawned.
     "Um, Sonic. You can't run in that suit. If you do, it will fall apart!"
Bookshire warned Sonic.
     "You mean...." Sonic started.
     "Yep. You're walkin'." Bunnie said.
     "Aw, man!" Sonic moaned. He tromped off to bed. Everybody else soon
followed.
     "I think Miles is still mad at you for being in that suit today." Sally
said. Miles lay in his crib, with his bottom lip sticking out on the verge of
crying. This made Sonic giggle.
     "Okay, okay. I'm sorry, kid." Sonic kissed him on the forehead, and
Miles appeared to forgive his father. Off in the distance, Felix played taps
to close the day. The last light out that evening was Bookshire's, who was
still checking the suit for any bugs and problems at the last second. After
the chronometer chimed ten times, he went to bed.

- - - -

     Reveille. As Freedom fighters awoke, they silently plotted revenge
against Felix. After breakfast, Sonic went over to Bookshire's to get the suit
on.
     "Now, if you get in trouble, Sonic, I want you to run. I don't care
about the suit." Bookshire said as he helped Sonic with the suit.
     "Sure thing." Sonic said, and slipped the head on. "See ya later." Sonic
then walked over to the Power Ring pool, where Felix was sitting with thread,
needle, and some cloth.
     "Hello, Sonic." Felix greeted without looking up from his project.
     "How'd you know I was coming?" Sonic asked.
     "Anybody can hear you clunking around in that bot outfit." Felix
chuckled. He continued to sew. Sonic took his helmet off.
     "Where did you learn how to sew?" Sonic asked. He was surprised that a
male had learned how to sew.
     "Out of necessity. When your out in the woods, and your backpack rips,
you learn." Felix answered.
     "Oh. Where's your vest?" Sonic asked, trying to make conversation. Felix
looked down, like he had forgotten it.
     "If nobody is going to make potshots at my X, then I leave it off. I
guess you could call it a sign of trust."
     "Whatcha making?" Sonic asked.
     "A backpack slash sleeping bag for Tails. He was so impressed with mine,
he wanted one, too." Felix answered. The water bubbled, and out shot a Power
Ring. Forgetting he was in uniform, Sonic tried to jump and catch it in
midair. He landed just short of the pool, and was waving his arms frantically.
Felix dived and shoved him two feet from the edge of the pool. Felix fell in
as a result.
     "Wow! This water's cold!" Felix cried when he came back up. Sonic
brushed himself off, and moved to the edge.
     "I think you just saved my life! Thanks Felix. I owe ya one." Felix did
save Sonic's life. With all that metal on, he would have sank.
     "Naw. A friend does those kinds of things for each other." Felix said.
He went under the surface, and came back up, wearing the Power Ring like a
collar. He jumped out quickly.
     "Brrr! Man, I'm getting a hot shower! Here, s-s-Sonic!" Felix gave Sonic
the Power Ring. He then tromped off to Tails's hut. Sonic placed the Power
Ring over his shoulder, and put the head back on.
     "Sonic!" Bookshire yelled. "What were you thinking?"
     "You saw the whole thing?" Sonic asked.
     "Yep." Bookshire answered.
     "I forgot I was in the suit. Sorry, Book."
     "Don't tell me sorry! You almost drowned! You can't be so cocky."
     "Yes Bookshire." Sonic answered. He began his trek to Robotropolis. He
found that walking was incredibly boring almost immediately. Nothing to do to
pass the time, or anything. Still, this had to be done. After an hour of
walking, he found himself on the edge of the forest, and saw Robotropolis on
the horizon. About one hundred yards away, he found a squadron of SWATbots on
patrol. They were all different species of animals that were roboticized.
Foxes, raccoons, dogs, cats, and towards the rear of the patrol, hedgehogs.
Bookshire's voice crackled in.
     "Sonic, do you see that patrol over there?" he asked.
     "Uh, yeah. What?" Sonic asked.
     "When they come near, take out one of the hedgehog SWATbots, and take
it's place. You should be able to sneak in unnoticed."
     "Cool! I'll give it a shot." Sonic answered. He hid behind a thicket of
bushes, and watched the squadron pass. As the last bot passed Sonic, he jumped
out and grabbed it. Before the bot could react, Sonic fired his laser point
blank at the robot's chest. It fell limp to the ground. Sonic then deftly
joined the ranks of the patrol, marching in step with the rest.
     "Good one, Sonic." Bookshire said. "Now, while inside, do not talk.
Others might detect you."
     "Got it." Sonic whispered. The patrol marched over another half mile of
territory, and went back in the factories of Robotropolis. Sonic easily made
it inside. When a corridor passed, he jumped in the corner and separated from
the group.
     "Alright, Sonic." Bookshire's voice crackled. "Go find a computer
somewhere." Sonic marched off to find a computer, being especially careful of
looking and acting exactly like a bot. After ten minutes of searching, he
found one in a room that was very dusty. It had probably been forgotten over
the years.
     "Good work, Sonic. Now, stick your pinky of your left hand into the
back." Sonic extended his little finger, and inserted it into the computer.
His normal sight vanished, and a menu flashed on. There, Bookshire downloaded
millions upon millions of restricted files which he could not obtain from
Knothole alone. As the menus and files flashed before Sonic, he closed his
eyes to prevent a headache.
     "Hey, Book!" Sonic whispered. "You done?"
     "Yes. Now try to reek as much havoc as possible before you leave."
     "Yes sir!" Sonic exclaimed, and shot up the computer he was working on
with an absurd amount of laser fire. Sonic could hear cheering and laughing in
the background.
     "Who else is there?" Sonic asked.
     "Everybody wanted to watch what you were doing." Bookshire replied. "Now
go have fun." Sonic did. After he snuck out of the room he was in, he made his
way into a warehouse full of barrels.
     "Shoot those." Bookshire said.
     "What? What will happen." Sonic asked.
     "Don't know. Felix just said stand at a distance and shoot them." Sonic
complied. He made a fist, and pressed the button. The first shot did nothing,
but number two set off a grand explosion. More cheering could be heard in the
background, but the sirens reminded Sonic to hide. He ducked behind another
corridor, and watched the entire reaction. He turned around to leave, when he
ran into a SWATbot at least twice as big as he was.
     "Malfunction detected. Liquidation recommended." the bot droned.
     "Oh, no!" Sonic and Bookshire exclaimed together. The last thing that
flashed across Bookshire's monitor was the laser of the SWATbot at point
blank.
     "SONIC!!" Sally screamed. She grabbed Bookshire by the collar, and shook
him wildly. "What happened!!" She screamed.
     "M-m my queen! Control yourself!" Bookshire exclaimed. Sally fell to her
knees, crying in front of the raccoon. "Now, don't jump to conclusions here!"
Bookshire said. "He could have hit the visual relay, or, or knocked a circuit
out! Rotor! Am I right?" Rotor could not say anything, just look down. He
turned around fast, to look at the animals behind him. Bunnie held Tails, and
the rest of the Freedom Fighters just looked sadly at the monitor in front of
them. "SONIC!!!" Bookshire yelled at the microphone. All he got in response
was static. Bookshire slumped into the chair behind him.
     "Computer, what is the probability of a SWATbot surviving a direct,
point blank, laser blast from another SWATbot?" Bookshire asked in a cold
tone.
     "Very minimal." the computer answered. Bookshire wiped away a tear.
     "Keep audio and visual link open." Bookshire said, and left his hut.
Nobody followed him. Sally stood up, and sat next to Bunnie and Tails. She
wrapped her arms around both, and cried.
     "Hypothetical situation, computer." Felix said. The computer whirred.
"Suppose a hedgehog was in the armor of a SWATbot, and took a direct laser
blast to the chest. Probability of survival in that situation." The computer
whirred for a full minute. During that minute, all Freedom Fighters regained a
small glimmer of hope.
     "Probability ninety four percent." the computer replied. Soft chatter
arose. Then, through the static, a voice could be heard.
     "Hey! Is anybody gonna answer me?" The voice, although faint, was
Sonic's. Everybody was ecstatic. Bunnie and Sally hugged Tails so hard, he
squeaked.
     "It's called playin' the percentages!" Felix yelled. Bookshire hobbled
back into the hut.
     "Sonic's alive!" Tails barked.
     "Oh my god..." Bookshire whispered. "Sonic!? You okay?"
     "I can't see!" Sonic exclaimed.
     "Computer, get the visual relay back on!" Bookshire commanded.
     "Tapping into auxiliary power. Ready." the computer chirped, and a fuzzy
picture emerged.
     "Where are you?" Bookshire asked.
     "Think I'm on a conveyer belt." Sonic replied. The high ceiling could be
seen passing over him.
     "What's that roar?" Bunnie asked. A low roar slowly got loud. Sonic
looked up, and saw the huge mouth of a blazing furnace.
     "Get up!" Bookshire yelled. Sonic rolled off the conveyer belt just as
his feet entered the oven. He hit the ground with a clang, but no new damage
resulted.
     "Oh! My head!" Sonic groaned. He took the head off. As he did, a full
view of Sonic was relayed. The entire front of Sonic's armor was either black
or blown off. Patches of blue and red could be seen.
     "You got to get back to Knothole, Sonic. Looks like your hurt, bad!"
Bookshire exclaimed. Sonic looked down, and saw his chest.
     "Oh, man..." Sonic whispered. He slipped the head back on.
     "Okay, I'm getting out of here. If you lose me again, it's because I'm
running. See you in a while." Sonic groaned. He stood up, in immense pain. The
bot hit him hard. He collapsed. "I gotta get this stuff off, Book. I'll see ya
back in Knothole." Sonic said. He took the head off, and placed it on the
ground. Then, he began to pull all the suit off. As he did, a Power Ring fell
to the ground. He had completely forgot about it. Bending over and seizing it,
a bright flash was relayed back to Bookshire's monitor, and nearly blinded all
watching. The Power Ring took all of Sonic's pain away. It rejuvenated him. He
felt better. Just before he took off in a blue streak, he stopped in front of
the head.
     "Power Rings. Good for what ails ya!" He said, and drop kicked the head
into the furnace. Everybody simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief that the
king was not dead. The Freedom Fighters got up and went outside to wait for
Sonic. It wasn't much of a wait. He blazed into town, and everybody greeted
him with a chant of "Long live the king."
     "Felix!" yelled Sonic.
     "Yes, your highness." Sonic wasn't in the mood to argue.
     "Can you make a really STRONG pain killer?" He asked.
     "Of course. Why?" Felix asked. Sonic looked in too good of a mood to be
in intense pain.
     "Because this Power Ring is about to wear off." Sonic said, smiling.
Felix trotted off to gather ingredients for a big batch of morphine.

- - - -

     Later that evening, everything was calm in Knothole. Sonic laid in bed
with a bandage around his entire torso, and his head. Only his ears stuck out.
He not only had laser burns, but acid burns on his body as well. He was doped
up on morphine. He was out of it. Sally walked into the bedroom.
     "Sonic..." Sally called softly.
     "Uh, yeah?" Sonic asked. He giggled a little afterwards.
     "I just want you to know...." Sally softly cooed as she sat on the edge
of Sonic's side of the bed.
     "Yes, my love?" Sonic said in drunken ease, smiling a ridiculous smile.
     "That if you EVER..." Sally exclaimed, grabbing him by the bandage
around his chest, and sitting him up. "do that AGAIN, you'll have more to
worry about than bots firing lasers at you!!" Sally yelled. Sonic's funny
expression flashed to serious. He looked her in the eyes, and laughed
intensely. Sally stood up, and walked away, throwing her hands in the air in
frustration.
     Meanwhile, Rotor and Bookshire started to look over the millions of
files Sonic stole on his mission.
     "What do you want to look at first?" Rotor asked, with a mouthful of
bologna sandwich.
     "How about..." Bookshire said slowly. "Escapees." Bookshire hit enter.
Up came a list of hundreds of names, with different numbers next to them. They
later determined that ones were alone when they escaped, and twos had been
sprung by Freedom Fighters. Bookshire cruised down the list, occasionally
saying "Oh, I know him." Before long, they hit a name they thought necessary
to print out.
     On the other side of Knothole, two figures with sabers were dueling. One
was a fox, the other, a black cat with an X over his heart. They both wore
fencing helmets.
     "En guard!" Antoine roared, and charged towards Felix. Felix quickly
swung at the sword being thrust at his heart, and deflected it to the side.
Antoine then caught Felix's sword with his, and twirled it around until it
flew from Felix's hand. He then hit his X, dead center, and the rapier bowed.
     "Dang!" Felix exclaimed, taking his helmet off. "No matter how many
times you kill me, it's still a pleasure."
     "Thank you, Meester Feellicks." Antoine replied. He still had problems
with the name. Felix went to retrieve his sword. It was stuck in a tree.
     "Antoine! Isn't there supposed to be safety tips on these!?" Felix
yelled in surprise.
     "There are. I just drove the saber in to the tree with enough force."
Antoine demonstrated. He took an offensive stance, and thrust the sword
completely through the tree. Felix grabbed his X.
     "Do not worry, I will not kill you really." Antoine assured. Felix
grabbed the handle of the sword, and pulled it out. Rotor came into the light
which the two dueled in.
     "En guard!" Felix exclaimed and slashed at the air in front of the
walrus. Rotor just blinked. He held a piece of paper.
     "This is for you." Rotor said, and handed the cat the piece of paper.
Felix accepted it, and unfolded it. On the paper were a list of names, with
Onyx Jinx, Dr. circled with black ink. The circle crossed over the number one.
     "Yeah, so?" Felix asked. Rotor looked surprised.
     "Well, didn't you read the whole thing?" Rotor asked. Felix examined the
paper, and one more fold remained. He decreased it, and looked at the top
line. It read FILE - ESCAPEES.TXT. Felix looked up at Rotor.
     "Does this mean what I think it means?" Felix asked.
     "If you think it means your mother isn't what Sonic was earlier." Felix
took it to mean that his mom wasn't a mindless robot. He jumped and shook
Rotor's hand.
     "Oh, thank you, Rotor! You are a SAINT! Ha, ha!" Felix trotted off,
whistling.
     "What was that all about for?" Antoine asked.
     "His mom escaped Robotropolis." Rotor answered.
     "Excellent! I am zo happy for Feelicks!" Antoine exclaimed. He went
inside to put the fencing equipment away. Rotor went back to Bookshire's hut.
Inside, he heard Felix standing on top of the roof of the dining hall, playing
instead of taps, the Mobian national anthem in a fast and cheerful mood. This
lightened every spirit in Knothole. After three times, and gratuitous
applause, Felix went to Tails's hut. Tails greeted him when he walked in.
     "Hey, Felix! What happened to taps?" Tails asked.
     "My mom wasn't captured by Packbell after all. I mean she escaped."
     "Way cool!" Tails barked. "Where is she?"
     "Well, I don't know." Felix answered back happily. He pinned the piece
of paper on the wall next to the top bunk.
     "Why are you so happy that you don't know where you mom is?" Tails
asked, concerned.
     "Well, I look at it this way." Felix explained. He sat on the top bunk,
and looked down at Tails. "My mom is either in Robotropolis, waiting to get
roboticized, or she's anywhere else, playing doctor. Now that I know option
one is out of the equation, I'm happy."
     "I would still want to know where my mom is." Tails said.
     "True, but I don't worry about it."
     "Felix..." Tails started.
     "Yeah?" Felix asked.
     "What was your mom like?" Tails asked. Felix jumped down off the bunk,
and told Tails about his mom and her life for hours. When Felix heard the
chronometer chime twelve times, he looked for a point to close the story. He
didn't have to. Tails had fallen fast asleep.
     "The end." Felix whispered. He turned out the light, and jumped up into
bed. He hummed quietly to himself the Mobian national anthem before drifting
into sleep.