- - - -
Chapter Nine
Experience
by Felix Xavier Jinx
- - - -
Time line - December 20, 3237, one day before Felix's birthday.
- - - -

     Winter in Knothole. A blanket of snow eight inches deep covered the
town. Pathways carved scars into the white quilt. During the winter,
Robotropolis is always at a slow point, because machines do not operate well
in this weather. This gave everybody more free time, and for some, more
boredom.
     Felix, Rotor, Sonic and Bookshire were sitting in the dining hall,
wondering what to do.
     "So, whatcha want to do?" Rotor asked. He was draped backwards over a
chair, looking at the ceiling. At that moment, a snowball struck Bookshire in
the side of the head. Jumping up in surprise, he saw Tails and Nina standing
at the door. They both ran off laughing.
     "Okay, that's it." Bookshire growled at them, and ran outside, scooping
up snow as he did.
     "He's gonna need a posse." Felix said. The remaining three ran after
Bookshire to get Tails and Nina. After ten minutes, Sally and Bunnie were
drawn into this, and after fifteen minutes, everyone had chosen teams, and had
a snowball war. The fight continued for about ten more minutes, after which
Felix, Sonic, Rotor and Bookshire lost. They found out the hard way that
robots can make bigger snowballs, and air attacks take their toll as well.
     "We call for your unconditional surrender!" Sally yelled.
     "Never!" Sonic replied, but was distracted when he heard something in
the woods behind him. He raised an arm, calling for a cease fire, and crept
into the woods to see who it was. After ten seconds, he sprang out, and a
rhino, carrying a wooden box on his back, followed.
     "There a Jinx here?" he bellowed. Felix looked at everyone else, and
presented himself.
     "Uh, yeah?" he replied, kind of meekly. The rhino had to be at least
nine feet tall, nearly triple Felix's size.
     "Package for ya." the rhino replied. He dropped it in the snow, and
produced a clipboard.
     "Sign here." the rhino directed, and gave Felix a pen. Felix scratched
three X's on the clipboard, and gave it back. He looked at it and thought
Felix was nuts.
     "You're a courier?" Sally asked.
     "Yep." the rhino replied.
     "Who sent this." Sonic asked.
     "Should say on the package." The rhino replied. He stomped back into the
woods.
     "What could it be?" Tails asked, examining the box.
     The box was roughly twelve feet by six feet, and had an envelope stuck
on the side. Felix removed it, opened it, and read it aloud.
     "Ah hem! Dear Felix, Happy birthday. Hope you enjoy your present. See
you soon. Mom."
     "I'll get a crowbar." Bookshire replied. He went to his hut, and
retrieved a long crowbar, and pried the top of the box. Underneath the piece
of wood was a green felted table, with a hole in each corner, and a hole in
the middle of each of the long sides.
     "Oh my gosh! A billiard table!" Felix shouted. Everyone had a
questioning look on their face, except Bookshire. He dropped the crowbar, and
ran back to his hut. Inside, he threw open the closet door, dived in, and
after a minute, retrieved a small oblong box.
     "Here, let's get it inside." Felix said. Nina and Bunnie carried it into
the dining hall, and set it down in the middle of empty floor space.
     "Felix, what is a billiard table?" Tails asked. Everyone else agreed to
the question.
     "Billiards is a game. I'll teach you guys." Felix replied. He looked
under the table, and pulled out from under it a few boxes. Opening one, he
dumped it out onto the table. Sixteen balls rolled out, each very shiny. Each
had a number on it, and a different color. Some only had a stripe. One ball
was completely white. After he emptied that box, he moved onto another one. He
opened that, and found another box inside. Smallish, black, and oblong. He
opened this one, and found a billiard cue in two pieces. He took the out, and
screwed them together, making one long stick. He looked at the butt of the
cue, and gave a whistle, indicating the cue was extremely expensive. In the
third box, Felix found two one piece cues. In the fourth and final box, he
found a triangle rack, a diamond rack, and twelve dozen blue cubes, wrapped in
paper three fourths of the way, and a dimple on the top. After unloading the
merchandise, he threw away all the packaging.
     "Felix, you forgot one." Sally said, and handed him one more box. Inside
were fifteen red balls, a yellow ball, a black ball, a green ball, and a
purple ball.
     "Oh, mom. You didn't forget." He whispered. He closed the box, and
grabbed the triangle rack. "Okay..." Felix started while putting all the balls
within the rack. "Billiards is a game where you use this ball, to get these
balls into these pockets."
     "Using those sticks." Bookshire interrupted. He stood in the doorway
with a cue in his hand.
     "Bookshire! You play?" Felix asked in surprise.
     "Play! I was playing when you were in diapers! I used to be the Mobian
National Champion in 3222." Bookshire replied, and approached the table.
     "Okay, okay. Just play!" Sonic said. Everyone took a seat, and watched
Felix and Bookshire play the game 8-ball. Sally, Sonic, Nina, and Bunnie
became disinterested after a couple of games, but Rotor and Tails stayed and
watched.

     An hour later, tied at eight games a piece, Bookshire lined up his final
shot.
     "Corner." Bookshire muttered, and hit the cue ball directly into the
gleaming black eight ball, thus pocketing it. Tails and Rotor applauded.
     "Nice shot, Bookshire." Felix unscrewed his cue. Bookshire took the butt
of the cue from him, and looked at the bottom, giving out the same whistle
Felix did earlier.
     "So, where did you learn?" Bookshire asked.
     "I kinda taught myself." Felix replied. "Billiards is the most
sophisticated form of geometry."
     "What's geometry, Felix?" Tails asked.
     "Itza form of math, with shapes and angles." Felix answered. Tails got
up, and floated back into the snow. The question Tails asked stayed in Felix's
mind for awhile, and it brought about concern.
     That evening after dinner. Felix, Sally and Sonic were in the dining
hall. Sonic was holding Miles, and Sally, Julayla. Julayla pointed at the
billiard table and repeated "Ball" over and over again with pride. Miles just
gurgled, pointing at his sister.
     "Sally, has Tails ever been to school?" Felix asked. This question made
Sally think for a bit.
     "No. He hasn't. Why?" she asked.
     "We were lucky. We received an education. Well, more or less. The kids
around here today only know how to read and do simple arithmetic. I think
there should be a school established."
     "What do you mean more or less?" Sonic asked, not angry, but
inquisitive.
     "You guys had Julayla as a kind of teacher when you were younger. I had
my experiences bouncing around from town to town." Felix replied.
     "I don't know who would teach. You could do chemistry and math.
Bookshire could do history. But that's not enough." Sally replied.
     "I bet the towns around here would volunteer a few people. I'm sure they
have the same problem." Sonic added.
     "This idea could go a long way..." Sally said.
     "I'll tell you what. I'll go around, looking for potential teachers,
while a schoolroom is built here." Felix said.
     "When would you go?" Sonic asked.
     "Oh, anytime. Maybe before Packbell starts up again." Felix replied.
     "I like this idea." Sally said. "I'll tell everyone about it tomorrow.
But until then, it's time to get the little ones to bed." As Sonic and Sally
exited, Felix waved at Miles, who in turn waved both of his arms up and down
as fast as he could. Felix chuckled to himself, and the royal couple closed
the door. Bookshire entered a second later.
     "Rack em, boy!" Bookshire hissed. With a smile on his face, Felix jumped
to the command. The two played nine ball until 2300 hours.

- - - -

     Daybreak. The Mobian sun crept slowly over the mountains in the horizon.
It's rays entered Tails's hut with brute force, but did not hit Felix. Felix,
even though he was up late the night before, was up early this morning. Each
birthday he had, he was determined to get the most out of it. In the dining
hall, he was practicing three cushion bank shots on the new table he got, when
Sir Charles walked in.
     "Good morning Felix. Happy birthday!" Charles greeted. Charles stopped,
and walked over to the table to examine it. "Very nice. Did this arrive
yesterday?" he asked.
     "Yep. Would you play a game with me?" Felix asked in return.
     "I'm afraid I would beat you." Charles replied.
     "Aww, c'mon. You seem so sure."
     "Okay..." Charles sighed. He picked up a cue, while Felix racked nine
balls in the diamond rack. After he removed the frame, Charles studied the
nine balls for about ten seconds, and got in position to break.
     "Nine ball in the left corner pocket." Charles announced. Felix gave a
surprised look while Charles broke. He broke with such power only supplied
from a robot. Every ball, except the nine, bounced and ricocheted wildly. The
nine however, lurched slowly to the left hand corner pocket, and fell.
     "Uh, good game." Felix replied. He put away his cue, and retrieved his
trumpet. After he got his trumpet, he jumped atop the roof and blew the
infamous reveille. Slowly, but surely, the animals got up. After the normal
routine of breakfast, and morning chores, everyone gathered again in the
dining hall to discuss the future school.
     "Okay. We are planning to build a school for the children of Knothole
and surrounding towns. So far, we need teachers. Do we have any volunteers?"
Sally asked. After some chatter, no one raised their hands.
     "I'm sorry, my queen." a voice called out from the back. "But I don't
think any of us are teacher material."
     "Okay, that's fine. We will be sending out scouts for new teachers in a
week. On to other business, today is Felix Xavier Jinx's eighteenth birthday.
And in Knothole tradition..." Sally raised her hands, and all present rose to
their feet.
     "One, two..."
     "This is your birthday song, But it isn't very long..." At the end of
the so called song, everybody sat down. This left Felix standing, laughing his
head off.
     "Oh, ha, ha. That was good! I'll have to remember that." He sat down and
finished laughing. (Singing that ridiculous song was not Knothole tradition.
It was just something silly brought up by the queen.)
     "And now for the presents." Sonic announced. Felix's face lit up.
     "You had better get you gun, Felix." Bookshire said. He got up and
hobbled out the door. Everyone else followed. Felix retrieved his BB gun, and
followed everyone over into the garden. As Felix stepped into the garden
itself, he found himself to be alone. Silence surrounded him. He thought they
were going to pull a prank on him, so he waited in the knee high snow. Behind
him, a grinding sound growled through the bushes. Felix jumped around, and saw
a SWATbot spring out. Surprised, he yelped and fired four shots into the
robots head. Before Felix got a bearing on what was going on. The SWATbot fell
backwards into the hedges. Felix trotted over to the bushes to investigate,
but before he could see the dead bot, another grinding noise was heard behind
him. Felix swung around, gun ready. In front of him, with a snowball in his
robotic hand, was Robotnick.
     "What the...?" Felix whispered. He dropped his gun. Robotnick launched
the snowball, like a catapult, at Felix. Felix ducked the missile, and fired
three shots into the chest of Robotnick. He fell backward into the snow behind
him. Felix jumped the hedge that blocked the view of Robotnick, and peered
over. With a better look, he saw Robotnick was a hay stuffed bag painted with
skill. It was mounted on a board attached to the ground. While Felix was
examining it, he got two snowballs to the back of the head.
     "Hey!" he snapped, and looked over his shoulder. Two SWATbots were
standing behind him. They were the ones who threw the snowballs. "Irritate
Freedom Fighter! Priority one!" they droned.
     "You would have been dead, Felix." Bookshire called. He stood up,
holding three ropes in his hand. "Do you like your shooting range?"
     "Shooting range?! I thought this was an all out invasion!" Felix yelled.
"But, it was fun. Thank you!" He trudged back to town, wiping snow off the
back of his head.
     December twenty first is the winter solstice, and that means it got dark
at about 1600 hours. Once again, Felix was playing billiards, and talking to
Sally.
     "Yeah, I would like to go as soon as possible. I kinda miss being in the
great outdoors." Felix said, as he pocketed the four in the side pocket.
     "How about tomorrow?" Sally asked. Felix stood up, and thought for a
second.
     "Yeah. I will." Felix replied with a smile.
     "Tomorrow, what?" Tails asked. He walked in, shaking snow off his
jacket.
     "Oh!" Felix said in surprise. "Um, I'm going on a little trip."
     "Cool! Can I come?" Tails asked. Surprisingly, Sally didn't say "No"
immediately. She thought for a second.
     "Hmm. Let's go ask Sonic." Sally replied. She exited, and walked across
the yard to her hut. Felix and Tails followed. When she opened the door, he
saw Sonic with Miles and Julayla by one leg, in midair. All three were
laughing hard.
     "Hi, Sally!" Sonic exclaimed. He put the two babies down, and they both
ran off into the next room. "What's up?"
     "You know Felix is leaving to look for staff in our new school?"
     "Yeah."
     "Well, Tails wants to go with him." Sally said. Surprisingly, Sonic
didn't say "No" immediately either. He thought for a second.
     "Felix, how long will you be gone?" Sonic asked.
     "Uh, bout a month?" Felix replied.
     "Hmm." Sonic thought. "And you don't mind if he comes?" Tails's face was
lighting up more and more after each question.
     "No, not at all. I would like to have him along." Felix replied.
     "So be it. On January the first, you will accompany Felix on his trip to
recruit teachers for the new school." Sonic announced to Tails.
     "Yeah!" Tails jumped for joy, and flew straight up into the night sky,
and descended a minute later. When he landed, he hugged Sonic.
     "Oh, thank you Sonic!" Tails exclaimed.
     "Yes, yes. You're welcome. Now let go!" Sonic exclaimed. Tails was
squeezing him tightly.
     "Hey, Blue? Why on the first?" Felix asked.
     "I just want you guys around for the holidays before you take off." he
replied. "In the mean time, you might teach him survival skills."
     "Okay. Tails!" Felix called. Tails walked back to Felix.
     "Yeah?" he asked.
     "When we are out and about, there are three things to remember. One, my
name is "Pedro" if we ever come across a pack of monkeys or dogs. Two, don't
eat anything green unless I say so, and three, and this is the most important
one of all..."
     "Yeah?..." Tails asked.
     "Don't ever, EVER, trust a snake to watch your stuff. Got it?"
     "Yeah! Thanks, Felix." Tails replied, and ran off in the night.
     "What was that?" Sonic asked. "Those are pretty poor survival skill if
you ask me."
     "Well, those are the three things I learned the hard way, and each of
those three were the hardest on me." Felix said. "And I'm still too
embarrassed to explain."
     "Well, okay." Sonic replied.
     "This trip will give Tails a lot of new experiences. Thank you for
taking him, Felix." Sally said.
     "Aww, it's nothing. I'm real fond of Tails myself, and the idea of
teaching someone to be like me sounds great." Felix replied. Sally grimaced at
this idea. Felix took notice. "Not exactly like me!" Felix added.

- - - -
Time line - Christmas Day, 3237
- - - -

     Christmas. The one day everyone is up before Felix's trumpet. By
daybreak, all the children of Knothole were tearing open presents. Everyone in
Knothole got exactly what they wanted. Felix received a video entitled "Trick
Shots Revisited". Tails received his backpack slash sleeping bag (just in time
for his trip), and Sally got a twenty Mobium note, along side her baby
picture, in a silver frame. Later that day, after the feast Antoine prepared,
Felix was watching his video in Bookshire's hut, taking mental notes. Tails
interrupted him.
     "Hey, Tails! How ya doing?" Felix replied, with eyes still glued to the
screen. "Did Santa bring you everything you wanted?"
     "Uh, Felix, I kinda know Santa isn't real." Tails replied. Felix looked
at him with a hurt look.
     "Santa is to real!" Felix exclaimed.
     "No he isn't Felix." Tails said.
     "Saint Christopher, he lived about three thousand years ago." Felix
paused his video, just as a cue ball was airborne. "He went down chimneys and
delivered presents to little girls and boys."
     "Wow! Really?"
     "Yep." Felix replied. He unpaused his video, and Bookshire ran in.
     "Felix! Turn it off! Now!" Bookshire exclaimed. Felix obeyed. Bookshire
ran to his computer, and began typing commands.
     "Hook that cable up, Tails!" he called. Tails did, and the television
displayed static. After another command, the television picked up a picture.
     "The Independence Day marathon of The Twilight Zone will now continue."
boomed out of the T.V.
     "What's Independence Day, Book?" Tails asked.
     "Don't know, but I'm picking these signals up from a planet over one
thousand parsecs away! These signals have been traveling through space for
roughly two thousand years!"
     "Wow! Let's watch it!" Felix said, and the three sat to watch.
     "You enter through this door with the key of imagination...."
     "This is excruciatingly primitive..." Bookshire muttered, seeing the
window break.
     ""The Obsolete Man", huh? Looks like a theater production." Felix
commented. Afterwards, however, the three found the episode very entertaining,
and scary. One could apply the episode directly to life in Knothole, with
every Mobian citizen a Romny Wordsworth. Bookshire became interested, and
recorded the remainder of the marathon.

- - - -
Time line - 2355 hours, December 31, 3237
- - - -

     Every resident in Knothole was in the dining hall, celebrating the
coming of the new year. Bookshire brought Erin to the celebration. Outside the
hut, the snow was falling gently on the town. Tails was already asleep, as was
about every other child in Knothole, except Miles and Julayla. They partied as
hard as everyone else.
     Under the giant oak that grew next to Rotor's house, Bookshire and Erin
sat on a giant root that acted as a bench.
     "How many minutes, Book?" Erin asked.
     "About ninety seconds." he replied. Then he got up, and in a tremendous
display of effort (and pain), he kneeled (on his bad leg, and Erin knew this)
in front of her.
     "Now, I know that I've known you for all of about six months, but I've
never felt this way about anything." He pulled out of his pocket a box. Inside
the box was a ring crusted with diamonds. (It cost nearly two thousand Mobium.
Let's just say Bookshire will be doing without certain luxuries for awhile.)
     "Erin, will you.. mmmph." Erin placed her hand over his mouth.
     "In a heartbeat." She removed her hand, and kissed Bookshire long and
passionately; they continued long after 3237 had died.
     "Oh, Bookshire, I love you." Erin whispered.
     "You're not marrying me for the money, are you?" Bookshire asked, trying
hard to keep a straight face. He didn't, and the two raccoons were the first
ones to laugh on Mobius in 3238.

- - - -
Time line - Next year. (You know I mean next morning.)
- - - -

     Reveille. The residents hoped Felix would relent on New Year's Day. They
grumbled, and trudged through the snow. Inside, they enjoyed the warmth of the
dining hall, and of Antoine's pancakes.
     "Hey..." Felix said to Sonic with a mouthful. "Where's (gulp)
Bookshire?"
     "Mmm mm mmm." Sonic replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I'll be right
back." Sonic wiped his mouth, and went across the yard to Bookshire's hut.
     "Hey Book! Breakfast is getting cold!" Sonic said as he rapped on the
door. The door cracked open, revealing Bookshire's haggard face.
     "Uh, what?" he muttered.
     "What's the matter? Can I come in?" Sonic asked, concerned he was sick.
     "Uh, no, no. Not a good idea. No." Bookshire croaked. Sonic looked over
the raccoons head, to see a female raccoon behind him, sitting up in
Bookshire's bed.
     "Hi, Sonic." Erin said. Sonic looked Bookshire in the eye, patted him on
the shoulder, and walked back to the dining hall.

     Later that morning, Felix and Tails were packing up for the trip ahead
of them.
     "Now remember, Tails. You have to carry what you bring." Felix said as
he was packing up his belongings.
     "Um... okay." Tails replied, and replaced the stack of comic books back
in his dresser drawer.
     "Well, I'm set, Felix. Let's go." Tails barked, slipping his thick coat
on. A knock rapped on the door. Sally entered.
     "Hello, guys. Um, Felix, do you have a coat?" Sally asked.
     "No." Felix said.
     "Well, you'll need one." Sally said, and reached around the door to get
a thick, black winter coat.
     "Hmm. My favorite color." Felix said, holding it up.
     "It's got pockets inside pockets. You can hide tons of stuff in this if
you wanted. Merry Christmas." Sally said, and gave Felix a kiss on the cheek.
     "And for you Tails. This communicator patches right into Nicole. If you
ever need anything, call up." Sally presented Tails with a small, red box with
a monitor on the front.
     "Cool. Thanks, Aunt Sally." Tails said, and hugged her.
     "Okay! We're off." Felix announced, and put his coat and backpack on.
When the two left, everybody waved bye.
     Tails flew by Felix as they passed through the woods Tails knew well.
Eventually, the woods got less and less familiar, and Tails followed Felix.
They walked for at least four hours through the thick snow. After a while,
they entered into the clearing, and in the middle was a white building, with a
steeple and a cross on one side.
     "Finally!" Felix exclaimed. "Come on, we'll go inside."
     "Okay." Tails said, and the two entered the building. Tails saw nothing
like it. It was huge. The organ music that bellowed through the place made it
seem bigger.
     "Wow. What is this place?" Tails asked, whispering in awe.
     "It's a church, Tails." Felix replied. The organ music stopped, and a
badger dressed in black, approached the two.
     "Felix! Hello!" he called.
     "Hello, Father." Felix replied, shaking his hand.
     "Father?" Tails thought.
     "Father, this is Tails. Say hello."
     "Uh, hi." Tails greeted kind of reluctantly. He was still confused over
the father deal.
     "Hello, Tails." the badger greeted back. "Do you go to church often?"
     "Um... no. Actually." Tails replied.
     "Tails has had no real religious background." Felix answered.
     "My boy!" the badger chuckled. "Have you no idea who created Mobius
itself?"
     "No." Tails replied innocently. The badger smiled, and took Tails out of
the church, to his house. There he learned about the benevolent God that
created Mobius and the animals that roam it. He learned of heaven, of hell,
and the animals who were saints. The entire time, Felix was in the background,
watching and remembering the same lessons given to him by the kindly badger
ten years ago.
     That night, the badger offered them a room away from the cold January
night. In the dark room, Tails spoke up.
     "Felix?" Tails asked.
     "Hmmm?" Felix answered, half asleep.
     "Is it true what happens to all the bad people when they die."
     "Uh, yeah." Felix replied in the dark.
     "What about Packbell?" This question caused Felix to sit up and think
about it.
     "Well...." Felix started. "I don't know exactly. However, you should
concern yourself about you, and staying out of trouble, and doing good things
like the father said."
     "Okay." Tails replied. He turned over. Felix laid back down. Tails
started up again.
     "Felix?" Tails asked.
     "Hmmm?" Felix answered. He did a good job holding back the irritation of
being kept awake.
     "Have I been good so far?" Tails asked. Felix smiled.
     "The best."

      In the morning, after a warm breakfast, and a fond farewell, Tails and
Felix were trudging through the snow. After an hour of walking, the two
entered into a dense thicket of trees. It was so dense, no snow covered the
ground. Inside the trees, a small clearing opened up with no snow on the
floor. Tails could swear it was ten degrees warmer than outside. (Not that it
was warm enough to take off his jacket.)
     "Okay, Tails. We'll stop here." Felix said, and dropped his backpack.
Tails did the same.
     "Why?" Tails asked.
     "Tails, do you see the berries that grow on these trees?" Felix asked,
pointing to the bright green orbs that grew on the trees.
     "Yeah."
     "Well, we need to pick about five pounds of these, and what ever you do,
do NOT eat a single one." Felix said. Tails nodded his head, and floated up to
the top, picking berries. Felix worked on the lower level. In about two hours,
the two had approximately five pounds.
     "Okay, now, we need a pot, and a fire. Gather some wood, if you please,
Tails." Tails did, and got a large pile started. Felix retrieved his
magnifying glass.
     "Whatcha looking at?" Tails asked.
     "Nothing. Watch." Felix whispered, and tilted the glass. A circle of
light appeared on the wood, and shrunk into a pinpoint. In seconds, smoke
poured out, and a fire was produced. Tails watched in amazement.
     "Wow!" Tails whispered. "How..."
     "The sun. I used the magnifying glass to bend the rays of the sun, and
concentrate them on one spot."
     "Neat." Tails replied. Felix dumped the berries into a pot, and set it
on the fire. He mashed the berries into a lumpy cream. After it was warmed up,
he spit into it.
     "Ugh!" Tails exclaimed in disgust. "I'm not eating that now!"
     "You weren't going to in the first place. This is for someone else."
Felix replied, and stirred the concoction. Tails still looked at the pot with
a sickening look. After twenty minutes, he took the pot of the fire. Then he
dumped it in the dirt, and rolled it around with the stick he was using. Tails
still looked disgusted. Finally, after Felix had completely congealed the
stuff into a long cylinder, he wrapped the stuff in green leaves.
     "That is disgusting. I'm glad it's not for me." Tails said.
     "Nope. We're gonna sell it."
     "That?!" Tails asked in surprise. "To who?"
     "You'll see." Felix said. Tails extinguished the fire, and both put on
their backpacks on. Again they trudged through the snow, until they came up to
a mountain that overlooked a camp. The residents of the camp were composed of
dogs and monkeys.
     "Here we are." Felix announced. "What's my name, Tails."
     "Uh, Pedro?" Tails responded, unsure.
     "Good boy. Let's go." Tails and Felix walked down the long slope of the
mountain, and came to the town. The camp, upon better inspection, looked like
it had seen better days. About one hundred animals where lounging about. The
residents of the camp looked very excited to see them. One small dog, a leader
perhaps, came up to them.
     "Hello, Pedro." The dog greeted. "Long time, no see, eh?"
     "Hi." Felix answered. The dog noticed the item he carried.
     "Ah. Old Nick." The dog took the package, and took a deep whiff it.
     "Ahhhh." he sighed. "Okay, Thomas, get the scale." A monkey lowered
itself from an overhead tree, holding a scale that looked very accurate. The
dog took it, set it on the ground, and placed the green cylinder on it. In
digital numbers, it weighed six pounds.
     "Okay, Pedro. That's worth 'bout a big one. K?" he said.
     "Okay." Felix replied, trying to keep the conversation short. Another
monkey hopped up, and handed the dog a brown bag. The dog took it and handed
it to Felix. After Felix took the bag, he turned and darted out of town. Tails
followed as fast as he could fly. When the two were a good quarter mile out of
town, Felix stopped, and opened the bag.
     "What... what was that all about?" Tails panted.
     "They bought the stuff we made." Felix replied, and opened the crumpled
brown paper bag. Inside were ten one hundred Mobium notes. Tails mouth hung
open. He had never seen that much cash in his life. Felix looked down on the
town. Ten monkeys were fighting over the Old Nick, and eventually tore it into
pieces. Felix lifted the collar around his neck, and the two continued through
the snow.
     Meanwhile, back in Knothole, Charles was working on a project that was a
least a year old. The Deroboticizer looked menacingly like the Roboticizer.
While Charles fiddled with the control panel, Bookshire and Rotor watched.
     "Do you think...?" Rotor started.
     "It will work this time?" Charles finished, almost with an annoyed tone.
"I don't know." He latched the top of the control panel on the machine, and
hit a button. The glass tube descended on top of the pad where robots were to
stand.
     "Well, until Sonic and Bunnie come back, we wait." Charles sighed, and
made a motion to wipe his brow. This had no purpose, but Charles did it
anyway, to add the effect that he was still an animal. Outside, Sonic and
Bunnie dragged in a semi-functional worker bot.
     "Okay, Chuck. Where ya want him?" Bunnie asked. Charles pointed to the
pad, and pushed a button to raise the glass. The sight of the Deroboticizer
caused Bunnie to shutter. Sonic and Bunnie placed the bot on top of the pad,
and the glass descended. Charles pushed a few buttons, and paused.
     "Here it goes." he whispered, and pushed a large red button. A brilliant
flash illuminated the room for about ten seconds, blinding everybody. The
Deroboticizer was reorganizing, atom by atom, the metal and plastic back to
flesh and bone. If one were to see the transformation, he or she would find it
necessary to locate a container to heave into. The transformation, in its own
horrid, disgusting way, was an awesome and beautiful sight. After the light
has dissipated, a DING went off, like that of a microwave. Charles was the
first one to look. On the pad, in the glass tube, was a middle aged badger.
     He was dead.
     The Deroboticizer did it's job. It turned the bot into a badger, but the
utter shock to the system caused a synaptic breakdown. The badger felt
nothing. Deep inside Charles, feeling fought with other feelings. He didn't
know whether to dance with joy, or weep with remorse. His scientific reasoning
took over, and he accepted the fact that not only was this was the first test
run of the machine, but the badger would have died anyway if it had lived,
from all the toxins in his body. It was, in fact, better this way.
     "It works." Charles announced. The rest of the group looked, and saw the
dead badger.
     "Oh, mah." Bunnie said in awe. She shed a tear for the deceased, but
also thought to herself she would finally be whole again.
     "My word!" Bookshire exclaimed. "It works."
     "To a point. Bookshire, I need to perform an autopsy. Will you assist?"
Charles grimly asked. Bookshire nodded. Charles and Bookshire carried the
badger over to Bookshire's hut, where the body was examined.

     Tails and Felix were now at this point, tired of walking. Tails was even
tired of flying. The two were in need of diversion. They sat in the snow,
thinking.
     "So, now what?" Tails asked.
     "I forgot how boring trekking was." Felix replied. "We need a city with
lots of stuff to spend money on." Tails nodded his head in agreement.
Suddenly, in front of the two, appeared two humans. One was dressed in a
dilapidated robe, and pajamas. The other one, slightly rounder, and shorter,
was dressed casually, and carried a book with a cover that had "Don't Panic"
written in large red friendly letters.
     "Arthur.." spoke the shorter man.
     "Ford.."spoke Arthur.
     "Do I see a fox with two tails?" Ford asked. Tails nodded, bewildered.
     "Good. I'm not insane." Ford said, and the two blinked out of sight,
with a sound that sounded like a hundred thousand people saying "whop".
     "Okay. That was strange." Felix said. He stood up.
     "We had better go find a town, where less strange things happen." Tails
added. The two were off trekking, once again.

     Approximately a hundred miles away from Felix and Tails, Packbell sat at
his desk, watching a monitor. He was watching a documentary on Earth's WWII.
Bookshire was not the only one aware that two millennia old television waves
were catching up to Mobius. Into the office walked in Ivo. Ivo was an android
constructed by Packbell, and acted in the same way Packbell acted when Dr.
Robotnick was in power; as second in command. Only Packbell was smart enough
to make this version mind-numbingly loyal.
     "Ivo?" Packbell asked.
     "Yes, you majesty?" Ivo replied, with a voice that was a mix of a
psychopath and a twelve year old school boy, all being fed through a drive
thru window squawk box.
     "The Allied forces in World War Two used a tactic that nearly completely
wiped out Germany off the map."
     "Yes?" Ivo replied.
     "Saturation, Ivo. The Allied forces poured so much explosive on top of
that country, that the war went downhill for the Axis from then on."
     "Brilliant." Ivo replied, trying to sound awe stricken.
     "When spring comes again, I have another plan." Packbell said, and cast
and evil grin.
     "History does repeat itself." Ivo said, catching the gist of Packbell's
plan. The two androids both laughed maniacally, filling the halls of
Robotropolis with the sound.

     Felix and Tails, after a little more walking, came across a small white
house that sat on the edge of a town. Felix must have known the resident,
because he walked right up to the door, and knocked loudly. After a second, a
bird answered the door. The bird was bright red, kind of ratty, with a short
bill that stuck straight out from his head.
     "Oh, hi, Felix. Come in." the bird greeted, not with very much
enthusiasm. Felix and Tails entered the bird's house.
     "Hi, James." Felix replied. Upon entering the house, Tails was amazed.
Every wall, in every room, was covered with books. The two made there way into
the living room, where more books lay. James sat upon a stack of books. Taking
this as an invitation, Tails stacked about twenty loose books and sat down a
well.
     "James, this is Tails." Felix introduced.
     "Hi, Tails. Have you..." James started, and stopped.
     "Uh, yeah?" Tails asked.
     "You have..." James sputtered, and moved towards Tails. "Two tails!"
James nearly flew into the next room. He came back with a large book, titled
"Rare Gene Mutations". Tails was slightly offended at this.
     "I am not a mutant." Tails stated. James shushed him, and flipped a few
pages. Tails was now extremely offended. He jumped up, and slapped the book
out of his hands. "Now look here!" Tails exclaimed. James cowered in the
corner, cradling his book. "If you are SOOO interested in the fact that I have
an extra tail, you might want to check a book on "Recessive Chromosomes in the
Vulpine Family". I believe the chance of this happening..." Tails grabbed his
tail, waving it. "Are two hundred million to one against! And, I might add, I
am quite happy with it!" Tails sat down, red in the face. Felix was
dumbfounded. He had never heard Tails so angry, or sound so smart. James
slowly stood up, and set the book down carefully.
     "I'm, I'm sorry. I had...." James started, stricken with fear. "Oh, I
hope you understand."
     "Well, I do." Tails replied, with a calmed voice. "It's understanding
that allows people like me to deal with people like you." James was extremely
angry at Tails for this remark, and extremely embarrassed when he saw Felix
try desperately to keep from laughing; after all, James thought, I am ten
times smarter that this freak of nature. He didn't say anything, and looked
for a book that Tails had mentioned.
     "Tails!" Felix exclaimed. "Where did you learn all that?"
     "My dad bought a book when I was born. I read it." Tails replied. James
returned, with the book. He looked at Tails, afraid that he might eat him.
James sat opposite Tails about ten feet, reading the book. Sure enough, he
found the gene Tails talked about, and a photo taken over three hundred years
ago of another baby fox with a second tail.
     "Now, James," Felix started. "In Knothole..."
     "Oh, the Freedom Fighter camp next to Robotropolis." James interrupted.
     "Yeah." Felix continued. "We are building a school. I was wondering if
you would like to be our science teacher and librarian." James face lit up
slightly. The prospect of teaching interested James.
     "How much does it pay?" he asked.
     "Well, nothing. Room and board. But James, this goes beyond money...."
Felix started.
     "Nope. Not interested." James ejaculated. "however, you are welcome to
books." Felix nodded slightly, realizing he lost the compromise.
     "Does Tails have any formal science training?" James asked.
     "No." Tails answered. James jumped up, and grabbed Tails by the arm, and
brought him into the adjoining room. Behind him, James shut the door as Felix
squeezed past. The room was completely dark.
     "Watch." James whispered, and a click could be heard. In a second, an
explosion of brilliant light filled the room. This startled Felix and Tails.
On the ceiling and walls, beautiful formations of light flowed passed.
     "Wow!" Felix exclaimed. "What is this?"
     "This," James breathed. "Is the creation of the universe."

      Light beamed out of Bookshire's hut on to the snow outside. The
chronometer chimed the quarter hour of twenty three hundred hours. Bookshire,
in a heavy rubber apron and respirator, and Charles, were hunched over the
mangled corpse of the badger they had deroboticized.
     "This poisoning can be reversed by the Deroboticizer." Charles said to
Bookshire. "The synaptic breakdown can also be prevented if I reduce the
amount of deroboticizing in one procedure."
     "So your saying someone would be derobo only, say, part way at a time?"
Bookshire replied with a muffled voice.
     "Yes." Charles replied. "Maybe ten percent, I think."
     "It beats nothing." Bookshire said. "Are we done?" He looked at the
badger cadaver with solemn disgust.
     "Yes, I think so. We need to get a pyre started."
     "Okay. Hold on." Bookshire said, and left his hut. He returned with the
apron and mask, and threw them on the couch. Within an hour, a blazing fire
was burning. Only Bookshire and Charles were there to mourn the victim of
Packbell as he cremated.

     "The Big Bang my boy!" James explained. "As seen by me! I wrote this
program. Five BILLION years ago, there was nothing!" James's voice dropped.
"Then, BOOM! All the universe's helium and hydrogen was created within the
first half hour! Is that amazing?!"
     "Wait." Tails said. "God created the universe. Not some explosion."
Felix gulped. A holy war was going to take place.
     "Now that is absurd. A being, even as supreme as God could not create
this boundless universe in seven days!" James exclaimed.
     "He didn't." Tails replied calmly. James smiled. "He did it in one."
James was now on the offensive.
     "So you throw evolution out the window with five little words, huh?"
James responded.
     "Evolution?" Tails asked.
     "Tails..." Felix said. "Let James tell you his side of the story first.
He has already studied your side. BUT..." Felix said, pointing at James. "You
have to teach, not preach. Understand?" James nodded his head. For an hour,
Tails was given a crash course (and when I mean crash, I mean the kind of
crash that explodes into a fiery ball, sliding into dozens of towns, killing
at least four hundred people and destroying a forest along the way.) in
evolution and science.
     "So, I was, or my great to the nineteenth power grandfather crawled out
of a pool of slime?" Tails asked James with disgust.
     "Yep." James replied.
     "Okay, I've had enough." Tails replied, and picked up his coat and
backpack. He flew out the door (literally). James ran after him.
     "That's physically impossible!" he yelled.
     "Watch!" Tails yelled back.
     Felix uttered a hurried goodbye, and ran after Tails.
     "Tails! Come down!" Felix yelled. Tails did so.
     "That guy was a jerk!" Tails exclaimed.
     "I know, I know. But he was teaching you the FACTS of evolution. You can
show more patience." Felix said.
     "Facts! What about God, and the seven days, and everything else!" Tails
asked, a bit exasperated.
     "Can I tell you what I believe, Tails?" Felix asked, and sat right down
in the snow. Tails did the same.
     "I believe that God set up the Big Bang Himself. And the seven days he
did it were His days. A day to Him would be four billion years to us. He also
set up evolution." Tails face remained blank.
     "Really?" Tails asked.
     "I believe in both. It's up to you what you think. Both versions are
true." Felix said. "But don't sweat it now. We gotta go into town." Tails got
up.
     "Sounds like fun." Tails replied, and the two walked a half mile into
town.

     In Knothole, Bunnie and Sonic had captured another worker bot; a
squirrel. Charles was going to attempt another deroboticization, only this
time he was going to do the head. He figured this wouldn't kill the animal
inside. Sonic and Bunnie dragged the bot inside, unconscious. Charles directed
them to put the bot on the pad where the glass would descend. They placed the
bot on the pad, hunched and crooked.
     "Okay. Let's do it." Charles said, and dropped the glass. On the
monitor, a body diagram had a red box enclosing the head, with 10% flashing
beside it.
     "Okay, now!" Charles started, and everybody present averted their eyes.
A brilliant flash filled the room. Charles watched. The crumpled heap of
roboticized squirrel now hovered in the glass tube, chest sticking out, arms
and legs hanging limp. The metal slowly gave way to fur and skin. In a minute,
the process stopped. Inside on the pad, in a heap, breathing heavily, was a
worker bot, with the head of a squirrel.
     "It worked! Ha, ha! My god, it worked!" Charles yelled. He slapped a
button, raising the glass. Everyone looked, and were awestruck to see the head
of the squirrel. Sonic and Sally rushed to his side, and helped him up. He was
in a lot of pain. They carried him to their hut, where Miles and Julayla were
playing. They let the three through, and watched at a distance. Losing
interest, they resumed playing.
     "Okay. Let him rest." Sally said after they laid him down on their bed.
Bookshire and Rotor followed the two in. Bookshire had a stethoscope, and
placed against the chest of the squirrel. A metallic thump pealed through
every third of a second.
     "Well, I think he'll live." Bookshire chuckled, and removed the
stethoscope. "He's gonna live." The four looked out the window, and saw
Charles yelling and screaming in joy, jumping and dancing.

     Town nearly brought a shock to Tails's system. The neon light, the smoke
of a thousand cigarettes, and the people. Tails had never seen so many people
concentrated in one spot before. This was starting to infect Tails with
claustrophobia.
     "Hey, uh, Felix!..." Tails yelled, just barely being able to stay on his
tail. "Any chance we can get of the street?" Felix swerved into a building,
and Tails followed. They wound up in a lobby of a building, infinitely less
crowded than the street. Behind the counter was a mean looking cat, with about
a pound of jewelry around his neck and in his ears.
     "What do ya want?" he asked.
     "Uh, yeah. We need a room." Felix stated, and dug around in his pocket.
     "We're booked solid." the cat sneered.
     "Mr. Acorn says otherwise." Felix said, waving a hundred Mobium note,
with the picture of King Acorn staring him in the face. The cat smiled a black
grin.
     "Right this way, gentlemen." the cat walked upstairs. As he came into
full view, Tails could see his right leg had been roboticized. He nearly said
something, but something kept him from doing so. They followed the cat up to
the top floor, where he stopped at a door. The cat opened it, and waved them
in, smiling that black grin. Felix smiled back, and gave the cat a twenty
Mobium note. The grin vanished.
     "And what happened to the King?" the cat sneered.
     "Have fun with the princess." Felix deftly shut the door with Tails
inside. The cat lurched downstairs cursing.
     "Wow! This place is cool, Felix!" Tails exclaimed. It was luxury at its
not so finest, but still impressed the hell out of whoever came in it. Sixty
inch television, a refrigerator full of good stuff. A prostitute on the bed.
     "Hi guys!" She said. A fox, beautiful as make-up and cloth could make
her, sat on the bed.
     "Sorry, we won't be needing your services, my lady." Felix said, and
ushered her out the door.
     "Who was that?" Tails asked, looking in the refrigerator.
     "The maid." Felix blurted out. "I stink."
     "Yeah, I'll say." Tails laughed. "Man, take a shower."
     "Thank you." Felix replied, bowing slightly. Felix took his coat of and
retreated to the bathroom.

     "Ivo, where did you go?" Packbell asked, almost mad, into the
microphone.
     "I'm down in the lab, Commander. Join me. You would be impressed." Ivo
replied.
     "You know how hard it is to do that." Packbell said. "But I'll come down
anyway." Packbell got up out of his chair, and walked downstairs. He entered
the weapons lab, where new weapons were created. Here, Ivo was holding a rifle
that looked like it could mow down half of Mobius before it needed recharging.
     "What is that? Packaging does nothing for me." Packbell growled.
     "Watch." Ivo droned. "SWATbots!" Two SWATbots escorted a dog into the
room.
     "Let go of me, ya (obscenities continue for thirty seconds.)" Ivo pulled
the trigger, and a blinding flash of light filled the room. When Packbell was
able to see again, the dog disappeared.
     "So what? You've vaporized him." Packbell scoffed, unimpressed.
     "No, sir. Note that there are THREE bots before you." Ivo said, and
pointed to the metal trio. Packbell laughed hard. He laughed long. He had
never had a good laugh.
     "Ivo!" Packbell laughed. "I want ten thousand of those things by Sunday!
My word! By Robotnick's head, we have those stupid Freedom Fighters!" He
walked off, laughing.

     "Man, I love this place." Felix sighed. He sat on a ridiculously soft
couch in a large white terry cloth bathrobe. The bathroom door opened, and
Tails walked out in the same type robe Felix had.
     "They just give these to you?" he asked.
     "Yeahhhhh." Felix replied, and sank deeper into the couch. He was
asleep. Tails dug through is backpack, and retrieved the communicator Sally
had given to him. He pressed the button on the side, and the screen fizzed. In
a few seconds, Sally appeared.
     "Hi Aunt Sally!" Tails barked.
     "Tails! Hello! Are you having a good time?" she asked.
     "Oh, yeah! We've done a lot since we left." Tails replied. Sally looked
over her shoulder.
     "Oops. I have to go, now. Goodbye Tails." Sally said. The screen fuzzed
over again.
     "Man..." Tails moaned. He put the communicator away, and rummaged
through Felix's backpack for his computer. He searched through the directories
and found the Mobian International Communications Link. In that directory, he
went to "Random". After a click and a whirr, he ended up at the site "Myths
and Legends", with the title "The Lost Royal Mobian Army". About twenty five
years ago, when signs were pointing to Robotnick going power crazy, the Royal
Army of Mobius, the elite fighting force, were sent to the Montanas Altos to
fight an enemy to the crown. Robotnick sent those soldiers to that fight. They
were never seen since. The computer turned off automatically after Tails fell
asleep in front of it.

     CRASH
     "Shh!"
     Tails awoke. The sounds were coming from the door. He could see the
silhouettes coming through the door, and lightly closing it. Fear swelled
inside, but were pushed back. Slowly, Tails crept towards Felix's bag, and
retrieved his gun. Laying on the floor, he decreased the pressure so he
wouldn't actually hurt anyone. Then, after setting the pistol, he crawled
toward the light switch.
     CRASH
     "Be quiet!"
     Tails wormed over to the light switch. Against the wall, he stood up
slowly. He reached over for the switch.
     *CLICK*
     The two assailants looked down the barrel of the gun Tails held out
perpendicular to his body. They were a cat, with a black grin and a pound of
jewelry, and a fox as beautiful as make-up and cloth could make her.
     "Uh, room service?" the fox shyly explained. It was hard to believe
since she held Tails's backpack.
     "Felix!" Tails hissed. Felix opened his eyes, and saw the gun pointing
over his head. Looking upside down over the couch, he saw the two burglars.
      "Uh, he doesn't have any money. I do though." Felix said, pointing to
his backpack in the corner.
     "Felix, call police, or the army, or something." Tails asked. Felix got
up, walked to the phone, and called the police.
     "Okay, they're on their way." Felix said. Tails still stood their,
standing erect, gun pointed at the buglers.
     "Uh, Tails?" Felix asked. He walked over. Tails was in a trance. He was
too scared to drop his guard. Felix managed to wrestle the gun away from the
fox's grasp. Felix took the gun and pointed it at the two.
     "I oughta shoot you two." Felix said, and pulled the trigger. The loud
crack that emitted out of the gun and the visible gust of helium made the cat
faint.
     "It, it wasn't loaded?" the lady fox asked.
     "Naw." Felix said, and pushed a button on the pistol. "Now it is."
     "Great. Nabbed by a ten year old kid and a gun that wasn't loaded." The
fox sat on the bed in disgust.
     "Hey!" Tails barked. "I'm twelve."
     "You know, your kinda cute." The fox winked at Tails. Tails blinked, and
felt flattered.
     "Well, uh...." Tails blurted.
     "That's enough. Wait till the cops get here." Felix said, waving the gun
at her.
     "So what are you doing here? We've got nothing you can swipe." Felix
asked, putting his gun up.
     "You gotta try. Besides, you've gotta have something to stay in the
presidential suite." the fox replied.
     "Why has your buddy got a roboticized leg for? He lose it or something?"
     "No. He ran off on some world conquest, or something. It's funny,
though. He complained of a pulled hamstring, and look what he got."
     "I bet he was working for Packbell." Tails said. Felix nodded. Within
ten minutes, two policemen showed up, much to the embarrassment of Tails, who
was still in the white terry cloth bathrobe. The policemen took a statement,
carried the cat out of the room, and awarded Tails fifty Mobium as a reward.
The policemen left ten minutes later.
     "Fifty Mobium! Wow! Cool!" Tails exclaimed, turning the note around in
his hands to make sure it was real.
     "Easy money, man. Easy money." Felix chuckled. "Cool. Now, I'm going to
bed." Felix ran towards the bed, jumped and tried to flip in midair. He
failed, and landed in a heap on the bed. Tails laughed, Felix bowed, and the
two went back to sleep.

     "Sal! Get off that thing! He's up!" Sonic shouted, followed by the groan
of the squirrel. Sally concluded her conversation to Tails hastily, and ran
into the bedroom. Upon the bed was the squirrel, siting up and holding his
head. He looked up with bloodshot eyes. Seeing the princess, he jumped down
and bowed before her.
     "My princess!" he said weakly. Sally helped him back up on the bed. As
far as she could tell, he was about as old as she was.
     "Uh, you could use some aspirin." Sally suggested. He feebly nodded.
Sonic was already on top of the request, and tossed the bottle to Sally. The
squirrel on the bed took the bottle from her and opened it. He shook the
bottle and every pill landed in his mouth. He chewed a couple of times and
swallowed. Sally was surprised. The squirrel took a look at his hands, and
bowed his head.
     "Great, a dream, no doubt."
     "No, no! Sir Charles has built the Deroboticizer. You're the first one
to live through the process." Sally explained, kneeling and looking into his
face. He looked up, with a little bit of humor on his face.
     "Didn't work to well, did it?" He asked, thumping his leg. He felt his
face with a metallic hand. "However." He stood up, and staggered over to the
mirror. He was rather impressed to see his face for the first time in twenty
years.
     "What's your name?" Sonic asked.
     "I am Joseph of the Great Swamp, a squire of King Acorn." Joseph
explained to Sonic.
     "Uh, hold on. How old are you?" Sonic asked, a little confused.
     "I'm eighteen. I was born in the year thirty two hundred. Why?"
     "Uh oh." Sally whispered.
     "What?" Joseph asked.
     "Joseph, it's 3238. You haven't aged a bit, it looks." Sally stated.
     "Oh my..." Joseph whispered, and sat down. "Anything happen these
last... thirteen years?" He made the attempt at a smile.
     "Yeah. I was crowned Queen six months ago, and this is my king, Sonic
Hedgehog." Sally explained, and introduced Sonic.
     "Forgive me if I don't bow." Joseph groaned in pain. "Now, you're queen,
he's king. What happened to Doctor Robotnick."
     "He turned into dust 'bout ... three years ago." Sonic replied.
"However, we have a new maniac at the wheel."
     "Yeah. Commander Packbell. He's worse then Robotnick."
     "Why?" Joseph asked. "He a robot?"
     "Android." Sonic answered.
     "Oh, great." Joseph sighed. "Well, it looks like I'm back in the fight."
He grimaced in pain. "Not yet though."

     "Psst!" Felix hissed. Tails opened one eye.
     "Hmmm..." Tails groaned at the black furry face in his.
     "Get up!" Felix whispered. Tails reluctantly turned over, and got up.
     "We have to sneak out." Felix whispered, slipping into his leather vest.
     "Hmmm?" Tails asked, rubbing his head. "Aren't we gonna pay?"
     "Look. The cat made bail last night. He's coming back, and he's going to
have more than a key ring when he does."
     "But that's theft!" Tails protested with a yawn.
     "Would you rather pay the guy and leave here with two broken tails?"
Felix hissed softly. Tails thought a second, and started packing. After
everything was gathered up, Felix gathered up bed sheets, and tied two
together.
     "What are you doing?" Tails asked, gathering as much as he could from
the fridge.
     "We're going to climb out the window." Felix whispered.
     "Why?" Tails asked, and hovered slightly. Felix stopped after seeing the
wasted effort. "Oh, wait!" Tails retrieved his bathrobe. He ran to the window,
opened it, and threw it out.
     "What?" Felix asked. Tails retrieved some tomatoes from the
refrigerator. He threw those out the window. The last thing to hit the ground
was a full bottle of catsup.
     "Uh, it looks like somebody jumped and turned into street pizza." Felix
said in disgust. Then he smiled. He hung the sheets from the window.
     "Now they won't look for us." Felix said.
     "Cool, huh?" Tails said. "Okay, grab on." Felix grabbed Tails's arms,
and the two floated out ten stories above the city. They touched down in an
alley, because it would be better if nobody knew Tails could fly.
     "Okay, now we gotta get to The Pit." Felix said, adjusting his backpack.
     "Why would you want to go there?" Tails asked.
     "I know a friend there, might be interested in a job as a teacher."
     "Well, this is the place." Tails said, pointing to a neon sign that
flashed "The Pit".
     "Cool. You have to wait outside." Felix instructed Tails, and opened a
door that led inside.
     "Why?" Tails asked.
     "They don't allow kids under twenty one." Felix explained.
     "But Felix, you're only..." Tails pointed out.
     "Shhh!" Felix interrupted, and went inside.
     "I never do anything." Tails grunted, and sat down.
     "Hello?" cooed a voice. Tails looked around. "Up here." Above him hung
the largest snake Tails had ever seen. The snake had a ridiculous voice, like
he had swallowed a bottle cap.
     "Oh..." Tails started nervously. "Hi." The snake dropped down about
three feet more.
     "I saw what your friend did." the snake said, and darted behind Tails
back and looped in front of him. "Just leaving like that." The snake coiled
around again. "Why, anything could happen to you out here." The snake looped
around again, completing two coils around Tails. Tails, for some reason,
didn't notice. "Why, you could get, hee, hee, eaten!" The snakes coils now
started to tighten. Tails just now noticed.
     "Hey! Leggo!" he yelled, but to no avail. Another coil covered his
mouth. The door opened, and a large, mean looking badger came out. He saw
Tails and the snake. Just as the snake lunged to take a bite out of Tails's
head, the badger caught the snake around the head; his fist grabbed the middle
of his head with his mouth opened. The badger brought the head of the snake to
his, and looked at it in the eye.
     "Hey..." the badger growled. "He's with me." He dropped the snake, and
the snake retreated down the alley. It left Tails red in the face and gasping
for air. Felix jumped outside, and went to Tails.
     "You okay?" Felix asked. Tails nodded.
     "Man, I hate that snake!" the badger growled. "He's here every day,
picking off the best customers." Tails looked up at the badger. He was at
least seven feet tall, about four hundred pounds of muscle, and teeth that
could bite through brick. "Hi." the badger greeted. Tails was taken by
surprise by this reply. The badger helped Tails up, and dusted him off gently.
     "Tails, this is Harold. He's going to be out math teacher in Knothole."
Tails was still surprised how big the guy was.
     "Uh, hi." Tails meekly replied.
     "He's going to meet us there in two weeks." Felix explained. "Well,
until then." Harold said in a booming, but kind voice. He extended his hand
out to Tails, and Tails shook it. Harold ducked back inside.
     "That guy's the math teacher?" Tails asked, expecting Harold to be a
bodybuilding instructor rather than a math teacher.
     "Wait till you see the guy I have in mind for literature." Felix said.
The two left town into the rising morning sun.

     "Joseph, you don't have to guard me all the time." Sonic told Joseph,
who was standing next to him with a spear and dressed in Royal Guard garb. (We
have Antoine to thank for that.)
     "But My Lord!" Joseph protested.
     "And I am not you lord!" Sonic cried. "I am Sonic. True, I'm king, but
I'm no lord. Now go do what you want to do, or something!" Joseph bowed his
head, tossed his spear away, and walked off.
     "Poor kid." Bookshire said to Sonic, who appeared behind him. "All his
life he was raised to lay his life down for the king. Now there's little call
for him." Sonic left Bookshire, and wandered into Charles's hut, where he was
adjusting the deroboticizer. He could see his legs sticking out from the
bottom of it, and a welders torch spark every two seconds. Charles emerged.
     "Hello, my boy. What are you up to?" Charles put out his welders torch.
     "Not much. I'm tempted to start a snowball fight though." Sonic said. He
looked outside, and judged the snow to be of premium quality.
     "C'mon, Unc. Let's wreak havoc." Sonic pleaded.
     "He can't honey. I'm up next." Bunnie said. Sonic swivelled around, and
saw Bunnie sitting on the table. She looked extremely excited.
     "Okay Bunnie. Step in." Charles announced. Bunnie jumped up, and stepped
into the Deroboticizer. The glass descended.
     "Here." Charles said. He tossed a pair of dark goggles to Sonic. He put
them on, and gave a thumbs up to Bunnie. She did the same with her roboticized
arm, probably because she wasn't going to have it anymore after the process
was over. Charles hit the button, and the room filled with light. Bunnie was
struck with the most unbearable pain she felt since the Roboticizer. After all
was done, she was kneeling on the pad, holding her arm with pain. After the
glass raised, Charles noticed only Bunnie's arm was deroboticized. She still
had a metal paw.
     "Ooowww!" Bunnie cried. "It hurts!"
     "Yes, I know." Charles said, sympathized. "But look at your arm." Bunnie
looked down, and seemed to forget her pain.
     "Oh my..." she whispered. She rubbed the slightly charged sweaty fur on
her arm, and heard it crackle. She squeezed it. She even rubbed her face on
her arm. Bunnie was satisfied. Her arm was the real thing once again. She
looked at her hand, but didn't care.
     "Oh, thank you, Chuck!" Bunnie cried, and hugged Charles. She couldn't
hug as hard as she used to, and she was delighted at the fact. She darted out
of the hut to go show Sally.
     "Hey! You're welcome!" Charles called after Bunnie. He chuckled to
himself, and studied the screen on the control panel.
     "Hmmm." Charles looked at the screen deeply.
     "What's wrong?" Sonic asked, and looked at the screen, trying to figure
it out for himself.
     "Oh, this device has lost some power. It should have done Bunnie's hand
as well." Charles shut the machine off. "Oh, well. At least her arms taken
care of. I'll look at it tomorrow. Until then..." Charles looked at Sonic with
a wicked grin. "Let's go see if Knothole is prepared for an internal attack."
Charles ran out to the snow with a battle cry and launched a couple of
snowballs behind him at Sonic.

     Felix and Tails walked for two weeks now, and made it to a town about
two hundred miles away from Knothole. Here lived the mentor that taught Felix
how to play the trumpet. He lived at the foot of a mountain range in a large
house. He lived alone, apart from over five hundred musical instruments he
owned. About one hundred yards from the house. Felix stopped.
     "What are you going to do now?" Tails asked, lighting next to Felix in
the ankle deep snow.
     "Watch." Felix said, and dropped his backpack. Out of it he got his
trumpet, blew some warm air through it, and inhaled deeply. He played a battle
song as loud as he could. The song was littered with sixteenth notes and
thirty second notes. Like clockwork, just as Felix expected, a second trumpet
entered, and completely and totally outdid Felix. Out of the front door,
playing with one hand was a brown and white dog, missing an ear, and a nasty
limp. Felix concluded the battle song, with excessive fanfare. The dog did the
same, only better.
     "Hello, Felix!" the dog called. "Come in, ya bugle playing devil! Come
in!" Felix gathered his stuff, and trotted through the snow. Tails followed.
They were showed in by the dog.
     "Hi, Johann." Felix greeted. "This is my good friend, Tails, Johann."
Felix extended his hand, and Johann shook it.
     "I say, Tails, do you play music of any kind?" Johann asked.
     "Now, Johann, don't you start." Felix scolded playfully.
     "Okay, okay. Would you two like some hot chocolate?"
     "Yeah!" Tails barked. The cat and dog smiled together. The three went
into the living room, which was littered with sheet music and instruments.
Johann, as best he could with his limp, brought in three mugs heaped with
marshmallows.
     "So, Felix, how ya been?" Johann asked.
     "Well, I've become a Freedom Fighter now, and staying in Knothole."
     "Oh, marvelous, marvelous!" Johann cried. "How fun."
     "Well," Felix continued. "the king and queen want to establish a
school..."
     "King? He found a way out!?" Johann asked with enthusiasm.
     "No." Felix said. "He isn't out. Princess Sally married Sonic Hedgehog
and are now in charge."
     "Is King Acorn still alive though?"
     "We don't know."
     Johann wanted to change the conversation.
     "Now what about this school you needed?" Johann interrupted. "Ya need a
music teacher. Felix, I'd be delighted." Johann looked at Tails, who was
studying a display case of antique flutes. "Would you like to learn to play an
instrument there, Tails?" Johann asked.
     "No. I despise music." Tails replied. Johann was shocked. So was Felix.
Tails burst out laughing.
     "Oh, I was kidding! Gotcha!" Tails laughed. Felix and Johann smiled.
     "Your sense of humor, Felix." Johann said.
     "Anyway, how's the leg?" Felix asked, referring to the leg he broke in
six places when he was hiking.
     "Oh, fine, fine." Johann said. "As a matter of fact, I'm going hiking in
a minute. Come, would you?"
     "Sure. How 'bout it, Tails?" Felix asked.
     "Okay." Tails replied. He put his coat back on. The three followed
Johann's favorite path up the mountain.
     "My goodness, the Montanas Altas are beautiful this time of year."
Johann commented. Tails stopped in his tracks, which happened to be about ten
feet ahead.
     "Did you say Montanas Altas?" Tails asked.
     "Uh, yeah." Johann replied.
     "The Mobian Royal Guard are up here!" Tails barked, and turned to run,
before Felix stopped him.
     "Wait, wait!" Felix called. "What are you talking about?"
     "The Lost Army! I saw it on the international link the other day!" Felix
cried.
     "The Lost Army is a myth! They were never seen after they were sent
here. They're all dead by now!"
     "No way!" Tails barked. "They could live up here, can't they?"
     " Fraid not, bud." Felix said. "Never mind about them." Tails
reluctantly agreed. They continued up the path, until the summit nearly one
thousand feet up. The three sat up on the top, looking down on Mobius.
     "Ya know, we should expect an extremely early spring, Felix." Johann
said.
     "Really?" Felix asked.
     "Yep. It should warm up a good thirty degrees over the next ten days."
(One of Johann's other hobbies was meteorology.) Tails wandered off into the
trees that grew behind the summit.
     "Hey! Felix, Johann!" Tails called from the trees. The two walked over.
     "Look." Tails pointed to the ground at a boot print that resembled the
kind Antoine left behind. "Looks like Antoine's, huh?" Tails barked.
     "Yep. Royal Guard boot print." Johann replied.
     "The Lost Army! They're here!" Tails exclaimed.
     "Now, Tails, I told you they don't exist!" Felix scolded. "Now leave it
alone!"
     "Okay, okay." Tails groaned under his breath.
     "Now, someone else could have been up here since the snow fell, Tails."
Johann said. Tails got up and wandered deeper into the snow.
     "Careful, Tails." Felix called.
     "Wait, the canyon back there." Johann warned.
     "Oh, that's okay. He can fly." Felix said.
     "Fly!?" Johann asked in surprise.
     "Yeah. Spins his tails like a propeller." Felix said, twirling his
finger in a circle.
     "Remarkable!" Johann whispered. "Can he do it for me?"
     "Man, it's hard to get him to walk for you." Felix chuckled. Suddenly, a
yelp sounded from the woods. Felix and Johann ran after the sound, and came to
a clearing. In it he saw Tails being held at gunpoint by a middle aged badger
in a battered, tattered Royal Guard uniform.
     "Felix!" Tails cried.
     "Come with me, you three." the badger bellowed and led the three through
the trees. They came to a camp made up of ramshackle tents, a couple camp
fires, and two hundred middle aged Royal Guard sitting in battered, tattered
uniforms. All were kept in immaculate condition, allowing for wear and tear.
     "Captain Waters!" the badger bellowed. A fox stepped forward, obviously
the captain.
     "Report, Corporal Two Moon!" the captain bellowed back.
     "Spies, sir." He nudged sharply at Tails back.
     "Hey! We're no spies!" Felix exclaimed.
     "Oh?" the captain asked. "Who are you then?"
     "We're only looking for teachers for the school the queen and king want
to establish." Felix stated. A half dozen laughs floated through the air.
     "You twit!" the captain laughed. "The closest thing we have to a queen
is Princess Sally of Acorn! Now, you better give me a real reason why you are
here, or you will be shot." Felix gulped. All three stood there for a second
or two. Then Tails came up with the evidence that would save them.

     "Weather report." Packbell asked Ivo through the microphone.
     "You were right sir." Ivo replied from one of the weather stations that
dotted Robotropolis. "The temperature is predicted to rise thirty two point
one degrees Fahrenheit."
     "Which would make the temperature....?" Packbell asked.
     "Sixty nine degrees in ten days." Ivo answered.
     "Excellent. Return and await instructions on the invasion of the Great
Forest."
     "Yes sir." Ivo replied as cheery as an android could be.

     "Hey, Sal. Your computer's beeping." Sonic yelled.
     "Okay, okay." Sally replied with her teeth clinched around a diaper pin.
Miles squirmed under her. As soon as she finished, she went into computer
room. She sat down and flipped on Nicole. The monitor showed a fox in a Royal
Guard uniform. It panned over to the left roughly and came over to Felix's
face.
     "Felix!" Sally asked in surprise. "What's wrong?"
     "Sally! Tell these guys that your the queen." Felix complained. The
screen then roughly passed over to the face of the fox.
     "Hello." the fox greeted gruffly. "I am Captain Waters. Who is this?"
     "This is the queen, Sally Acorn." Sally said with surprise. The
communicator was then wrenched from Captain Waters grasp.
     "Aunt Sally!" Tails exclaimed.
     "Tails, what is going on?!" Sally asked.
     "Sally! This is the Lost Royal Army!" Sally's jaw dropped a little. The
communicator was fought over once again. It dropped in the snow, and was
picked up by Johann.
     "Who...?" Sally asked.
     "My queen, I'm Johann. These guys think we're spies and want to shoot
us. Let these guys know were not spies!" Johann said in a rush. The
communicator was once again in Waters hands.
     "All right!" Sally yelled. "Now, what do you want?"
     "Now, I want to know if you are really the queen like these people say."
Waters calmly explained.
     "Okay. Now, I am the queen of Mobius, Queen Sally. What proof do you
need?" Sally asked.
     "Okay. If you are the queen, you will have the Royal Seal, am I right?"
Waters asked. Sally put him on hold, and a second later, Sally held out to the
Captain a ring with the Acorn coat of arms. The captain appeared satisfied.
     "I apologize for the trouble princess." Waters asked. "Now, may I speak
with Dr. Robotnick?" Sally's jaw dropped a little more.
     "Oh no." Sally groaned. "You've been out of touch. You see, Robotnick
overthrew dad... er, the king, and took over. He's been dead for about four
years now, and the king has been trapped in a void for about five, I think." A
look of concern came over the captains face.
     "Then..." the captain hesitated. "May we come home?"
     "Of course." Sally replied. "Yes. The people you've captured will lead
you."
     "Thank you, my queen." Waters bowed slightly. He turned to the rest of
the soldiers. "We're going home!" Cheers broke out before the screen blanked
out.
     "We're going to have two hundred new Freedom Fighters" Sally thought,
happily. "I have a feeling we'll be living in the palace before you we know
it." Sally walked back into the livingroom.
     "Sal!" Bunnie called from outside. "Sally!"
     "Would you come in and stop yelling!" Sally yelled back at Bunnie.
Bunnie totted in, face beaming.
     "Look at mah arm!" Sally looked at Bunnie's perfectly normal, furry arm
with amazement.
     "Oh my goodness." Sally whispered. She petted Bunnie's arm.
     "That's amazing! Bunnie, when will you be completely overhauled!" Sally
asked, looking at the perfectly normal arm.
     "Oh, Chuck says three or four weeks, but that's no time at all!" Bunnie
said.
     "Good. We'll have the old Bunnie back then in three weeks." Sally said,
and hugged Bunnie. Bunnie winced.
     "Ooh. My arm." Bunnie groaned. Sally said nothing as she trotted of to
get some aspirin.

     "Okay, okay. We'll stop at that town." Captain Waters shouted. Satisfied
sighs of relief emitted from the mass of soldiers. After camp was set up,
Tails, Felix and Johann went into town to find some entertainment. They went
inside a restaurant with a billiard parlor joining it. They went inside, and
rented a table.
     "Okay, Tails. I'll show you how to pull off a masse shot." Johann
commented while Felix racked the balls for nine ball. Five large and mean
looking bulls advanced the three, looking to make trouble.
     "Well, looky here, boys." one said. "Looks like a few pool players."
     "Yeah." Another replied. He picked up a bar cue. "Oh, but I prefer a two
piece cue!" He deftly broke it over the table. Fragments littered the table.
The bull held the sharp end of the stick at Felix's throat.
     "Okay, kid. I want money." He stuck the stick a little harder into
Felix's throat. The bartender ducked behind the bar in the pool hall. He
didn't want trouble.
     "Felix..." Tails warned, shaken a little.
     "Okay, okay." Felix said, and reached into his coat pocket.
     "These gentlemen are with us." a voice boomed. The five bulls turned to
see about fifty rifles pointed at them.
     "Now..." Captain Waters started. "How much money YOU got?"
     "I got about fifty, sir." the bull replied shakily.
     "Give it to them." The bull pulled a wad of fivers out of his pocket and
tossed it on the table.
     "Go away." Waters ordered. The bulls made a hasty retreat out the back
door.
     "This should cover a few drinks, huh boys!" Waters said. A cheer rose
slightly, and the tiny militia went to the bar to enjoy some ale.
     "Felix, that was outright theft!" Tails complained.
     "Yes and no. You see, they would have cause all sorts of trouble. So in
a way, we saved a whole bunch of people from harm." Felix explained. Tails
appeared to understand. They all played pool for about two hours before they
retired to the camp on the outside of town. At camp, Tails retrieved Felix's
laptop, and did some random searching. Nothing caught his attention after ten
minutes. A word popped into his head. "Old". "Nick" followed. Tails went to
the directory for the international link, and looked up Old Nick. After a
second, the heading "Narcotics and other Dangerous Substances". Tails raised
and eyebrow. He began reading.

     "FELIX!" Tails yelled, mad. Felix was doing something in his tent. "What
on Mobius are you doing selling Old Nick for!" Felix looked stupid for a
second. Tails read the screen of the laptop.
     "Old Nick, a narcotic once used for a pain killer until it was found to
be EXTREMELY ADDICTIVE! All forms and derr..." Tails stopped to try to
pronounce the word.
     "Derivatives." Felix mentioned.
     "Derivatives are highly illegal! Felix! Even I know stuff like that is
bad! Why don't you!"
     "Tails! I had to get some quick cash, and they're wrecking their own
lives!" Felix pleaded. "What's the harm?"
     "The harm! Old Nick's dangerous! Why are you killing all those guys! You
should be turning them in!" Felix opened his mouth, but the words felt too
stupid to come out. He shut his mouth again.
     "I'm... I'm sorry." Felix bowed his head, slightly.
     "You've been lying and stealing the entire trip, Felix! Theft isn't a
survival skill anymore!" Tails snapped. "You have many friends that can help
out, even me!"
     "Okay, okay." Felix stood up, and looked Tails in the eye.
     "Have I ever lied to you?" Felix asked.
     "What about the maid?" Tails asked.
     "Huh?" Felix asked, surprised.
     "I kinda know what her occupation was."
     "How...? I never told you!" Tails pointed to the laptop.
     "Okay, anyway. I never lied to you for my own personal gain, so you can
believe me on this." Felix took the remaining nine hundred Mobium, and marched
outside. He tossed it all into the wind, where Royal Guard scrambled to pick
it up.
     "I swear I will never do anything purposely wrong, ever." Felix stated
to Tails. Tails looked at him a second, and smiled.
     "Okay. but there's one more thing we have to do." Tails said.

     The next day, the camp which Felix sold the Old Nick to was silent.
Nearly everybody was sleeping off the effects of the drug. The familiar sound
of a police siren blared into town. The dog that bought the stuff crept out of
bed, while everybody else tried to hide.
     "Who's 'El Chingador'?" a policepig asked at the top of his lungs.
     "Hey, you ain't gonna find anything. Go away." El Chingador, the dog
that bought the Old Nick, answered.
     "Got something!" another swine shouted.
     "Oh?" The first pig asked. "Okay, you're under arrest. You know, we're
starting a frequent flyer program..."
     "Shut up!" El Chingador snapped. "Who ratted on us, anyway?"
     "Some fox. You know, it's the strangest thing. He had two tails." the
pig answered.
     "Oh no!" the dog screamed. "That's the kid that sold me the stuff!"
     "Oh, so you did buy something." the pig said, pointing out the slip of
the tongue.
     "Aw shit." the dog growled. He remained silent.

- - - -
Time line- January 24, 3238
- - - -

     The predictions were right. It was a balmy sixty nine degrees in the
Great Forest. Sickly patches of snow hung around to see the bitter end. In
Knothole, Bookshire was rooting through Robotropolis computer files. He tapped
a few keys nervously. Suddenly, his mouth hung open.
     "Sally! Sonic!" Bookshire yelled as he crossed the yard. "Come quick!"
Sally and Sonic went into Bookshire's hut, and saw a map laid out on the
screen.
     "Okay. What?" Sonic asked. Bookshire tapped a key, and a load of dots
appeared.
     "What are those?" Sonic asked.
     "Those are attack formations." Bookshire said. "In three hours, we are
going to be invaded by about a thousand SWATbots."
     "Oh no!" Sally said. "We have to evacuate."
     "Right." Sonic said. "Start the evacuation plan." The three set into
action the evacuation plan. All children and people unable to fight were
evacuated throughout the tunnels. It was impressive; the entire load was out
of Knothole in ten minutes. The mouths of the tunnels were exploded in half an
hour. The rest of the two hours were spent reinforcing the town. SWATbots
appeared in the last thirty minutes. The remaining militia of Knothole stood
before them. Packbell himself presented himself, decorated in his own uniform
decorated with medals that he made up. Ivo stood before him, wearing his own
collection of medals.
     "Queen Sally!" Packbell growled at the top of his lungs. "I call for
your unconditional surrender."
     "Packbell, I would rather die than even think of giving up!" Sally
shouted back.
     "I'm game. However you want to do it."
     In the woods that surrounded Knothole, a solitary trumpet sounded. Felix
emerged, playing the battle cry. He wore no vest, showing the X to Packbell.
     "You!" Packbell growled.
     "FELIX!" Sonic shouted. "This is no time to play the trumpet!" He
continued. Behind him, ten bugles started up the same tune. Those trumpets
emerged. They were the brass band of the Royal Mobian Guard. Felix stopped.
     "Packbell, we call for YOUR unconditional surrender. How 'bout it,
tinkertoy!"
     "Boy! We have you outnumbered one hundred to one!" Packbell scoffed. Ivo
chuckled.
     "Uh, no." Felix stated, and waved his hand forward. Out of the forest
ran two hundred Royal Mobian Guard, armed with laser rifles, and ready to die
for the king and queen.

     And all hell broke loose.

     Immediately, the clash between robot and Royal Guard was destructive.
Nearly thirty houses came crashing down. To the two hundred guard, only one
hundred robots were fighting. Packbell stood on the sidelines, out of reach.
So did Ivo.
     "Sally, why isn't he sending his full force after us!?" Sonic yelled to
Sally, fighting off SWATbots.
     "He's pacing himself." Sally yelled back. "The full force will be upon
us any minute." Sally jumped and planted her foot in the bot's head,
effectively ripping it off. She was impressed with herself over this, but took
no time to appreciate it. Packbell, after yawning, sent in another hundred
robots, each brandishing a rifle that looked like it could mow down half of
Mobius before it needed recharging. The robots immediately began firing, and
the Freedom Fighters didn't take any special notice. They were just bots with
lasers. Nothing they haven't dealt with before. They did take notice when
Felix ran across the yard, and was tagged in the tail. He fell to his knees,
thinking his tail was sheared off. He looked behind him, and noticed what
happened to his tail just as twenty other Fighters noticed as well.
     It was roboticized.
     Felix stood up, took his tail, cradled it a bit, and dropped it.
     "Aww, crud!" Felix cursed, sounding like he was only a little annoyed.
He ran off in the direction he was going. This acted as morale for the rest of
the troops. Packbell was actually surprised. He turned to Ivo.
     "Why isn't he a bot yet?" Packbell growled, teeth clinched.
     "Sir, I shot that dog at point blank. It's not my fault these bots can't
hit a moving target. Still, these may cause more damage then the average
rifle."
     "Maybe." Packbell said, and surveyed the battle scene again. That's when
he took a BB in the eye.
     "Ahhh!" Packbell yelled, holding his damaged eye. With his remaining
eye, he saw Felix standing five hundred yards off, taunting him.
     "Come on, you aluminum piece of crud, COME ON!" Felix yelled. Packbell
crouched, and jumped five hundred yards, taking Felix completely by surprise.
He was only able to roll with the blow. That sent him rolling off, hitting a
tree. Felix rubbed his head, and looked to the sky. Packbell's face appeared,
and his foot was placed heavily on his chest. Felix groaned.
     "So, if it isn't the great cat that cut me down to size! Ha, ha, ha."
Packbell chuckled. He stopped suddenly, and placed more pressure on his chest.
Felix swore he heard a rib snap.
     "Before I kill you, I think I'll take a trophy." Packbell said, and
snatched his pocket watch.
     "Hey!" Felix groaned.
     "Shhh shh." Packbell quieted Felix, and opened it. He pressed the red
button and held it to his ear. Felix smiled to himself when the watch blew up
and tore off one fourth of his head. Felix managed to climb away to
recuperate. The explosion acted as ever more morale, and the Royal Guard was
worked up into a frenzy. About half of the guard was hit and roboticized in
some way or another. Some badly, some only a little bit. They turned around
and used their metal limbs to beat the oil out of the invading forces.
     In one surviving hut, Sonic, Sally and Bunnie were trying to regroup.
Both Sonic and Sally had an arm and a leg hit with the roboticizing rays, but
Bunnie still remained untouched. Tails skittered in, with an arm hit.
     "Oh no!" Sally said. Sonic examined his left arm. "You shouldn't be in
this, Tails!" Actually, a greeting was in order. This was the first time Sally
had seen Tails in a month. Tails looked at least a year older, six inches
taller. He looked like his father. He looked like he had matured.
     "No, Aunt Sally. I should be in this battle." Tails said, and ran off.
     "He's a big boy, Sal." Bunnie said. "I just hope he knows when to stop
playing soldier."
     "Yeah..." Sally said, detached. She saw Tails run headlong into a group
of bots. Tails ripped a bot to shreds with his arm before he flew off to pick
another fight. Sally smiled a bit while a tear rolled off her cheek.
     "We gotta go back out there, Sal." Sonic said. "Tails will take care of
himself."
     "Then until this is over." Sally said.
     "I love you." Sonic said.
     "And I you." Sally replied. The two hugged, and were slightly bruised
doing so. They still hadn't gotten used to the robotic limbs they had just
acquired. They both ran into the battle. Bunnie was going to follow them, but
a figure stumbled in. He was a squirrel, roboticized completely, except for a
head, which was bleeding badly now.
     "Joseph!" Bunnie exclaimed. Joseph propped himself in the corner.
     "Just a minute..." Joseph panted. He licked his lips. "I'll come out
fighting in a minute." He closed his eyes, and died. Bunnie stayed there,
weeping for Joseph.
     Ivo went to Packbell, and helped him up.
     "Ivo, back to Robotropolis." Packbell ordered. "That darn cat did it
again."
     "Yes..." Ivo was interrupted as Tails's fist flattened his iron alloy
nose. The force of the blow sent him about ten feet across the ground, leaving
a nasty skid mark into the grass. Tails jumped into him, and beat his face
into a flat lump of metal. He then ripped the lump off, and threw it into the
forest. As soon as Tails was done, he whipped around, and saw Packbell scamper
off into the woods.

     "Sally!" Sonic called. "Who's watching the shop?"
     "What?" Sally asked.
     "No one's in Robotropolis." Sonic said. "We could go in, cut a few
wires, and take down the entire place." Sally smiled.
     "Go get Bunnie. We'll do it." Sally, Sonic, and Bunnie raced over to
Robotropolis, and entered the empty halls. It was barren. Not a soul, bot or
animal, was around. This was the flaw in Packbell's plan. Bunnie and Sally
wasted no time cutting essential power lines. Sonic set charges in Packbell's
office. For one second, he sat in his chair.
     "Ooh, it's soft..." Sonic whispered. He then smashed it to the ground.
He proceeded to place charges on all things that looked important. Sally went
throughout computer files, and found a self destruct program. She set it for
five minutes, and found Bunnie.
     "You'll never guess what I found!" Bunnie cheered.
     "What?" Sally asked.
     "Turns out the bots can't think for themselves. Looky here." Bunnie
said, and pointed at the screen. The mainframe controlled each bot
individually.
     "Well, self destruct's set. The fight will be over in..."
     "Four minutes, thirty seconds." The computer voice interrupted. Red
lights began to flash.
     "Okay, time to get outta here." Sonic yelled, and Sally and Bunnie
latched on. They ran out the door as soon as the timer reached zero.

     "Get away, you!" Felix snapped as he climbed a tree. A bot had his leg,
trying to pull him down. Felix used his tail. He smacked the bot on the head
with his tail, knocking it down fifteen feet. Off in the distance, a heavy
boom sounded, and all the bots fell simultaneously. Everyone was dumbstruck
for a second or two, but one slightly roboticized individual cheered. Everyone
else joined in, hoping not to look like an idiot.

- - - -
Time line- two weeks later.
- - - -

     "Okay, okay. Stop whimpering." Charles said. Felix held his tail, newly
deroboticized. "Go chew on a willow branch." Felix looked up, with question on
his face.
     "It's where aceticyticylic acid is derived." Felix understood, and left.
     "So is that it?" Bunnie asked. She was completely deroboticized, and did
not hold back her pride.
     "All except me." Charles said. "Would you do the honors, Bunnie?"
Charles stepped inside, awaiting his head to be done up.
     "Okay, Chuck." Bunnie said, and hit the button. The glass descended.
Bunnie made for another button.
     "Bunnie, not that..." Charles said through the glass, but Bunnie hit the
button before he could finish. Light flashed, and faded. On the pad lay
Charles, steaming a bit. Bunnie hit the wrong button. She had deroboticized
Charles completely.
     "Oh no!" Bunnie gasped. "I snuffed him!" Charles began to rise, and
stood up. He dusted himself off slightly.
     "I don't see why you people are such wimps about this thing!" Charles
looked at himself. "Oh, my. Man, I do look good!" he exclaimed. Sonic walked
in, and saw his uncle for the first time in fifteen years. He jumped to Chuck,
and hugged him.
     "Man, you do look good!" Sonic said. Charles looked exactly like Sonic,
except for an extra thirty years of age, and a moustache.
     "Well, I'd better go tell everybody!" Chuck said, and stepped outside.
His appearance surprised everyone. Sally presented herself.
     "Hello, stranger. How can I help you?"
     "I am Sir Charles Hedgehog. Do you mind if I live with you?" Sally
hugged Chuck, laughing with joy.

     Knothole had been repaired. The dead had been buried. Joseph was
deroboticized before he was buried. He was awarded the Medal of Valor
posthumously. The award was what every Royal Guard member lived for. Everybody
was deroboticized, and the school was being built. Teachers were starting to
appear, and set their roots in Knothole. James, feeling slightly guilty about
the way he treated Tails, sent most of his books at his expense. All the bots
were cleared away, and buried as well. This created a massive mound out in the
forest.
     This was the day everybody hoped for. Packbell was dead. No more threat
to the freedom of all animals. For the first time in her entire life, Sally
slept soundly that night.

     Packbell sat in a dark recess in Robotropolis. He had repaired his head,
and operated the operations from a laptop.
     "How long till full speed?" Packbell asked.
     "Estimated time, two years." Packbell slammed he laptop closed, breaking
it. He sat there, and realized his Reign of Terror was over. Or, on an
extended leave of absence. He began to piece together a SWATbot from spare
parts, with his own hands, because all his factories were smoldering heaps.
     "Robotnick programmed me to fight the Freedom Fighters. I'll do so until
their bones lie at my feet." Packbell said quietly to himself while he started
his task.