Regeneration by -- Joseph DeLaCroix This story is based on characters created by Service and Games (SEGA), and on characters created by Archie Comic Publications, Inc. Any resemblance to actual characters are not coincidental. ;) Joseph, Bahb, and all other independent creations of Joseph DeLaCroix are the copyrighted property of JoCo Inc. Commander Packbell, Bookshire Draftwood, and Sandra Nightweaver are the copyrighted property of David Pistone. All rights reserved. Etc. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Timeline: A month or two later. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The powers of spring were overcoming the tyranny of ice and slush easily. Songs of birds were now heard all the time in the budding trees and bushes, while the nonevolved animals of Mobius were coming out of their long winter's sleep. The nearly forgotten music of nature, specifically the chorus that speaks of rebirth in the warm rays of the sun, rained down from the sky like a monsoon; carried by the winds, it played through the tops of the trees like some sort of eternal concert of the gods. Sunshine and warm breezes smote down the powers of cold and silence, shattering it like so many icicles in the hands of a playful kit. And, for the first time in many months, hope and life became stronger than the dreaded forces that lived outside the primeval forest... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bunnie skipped through Knothole, happily carrying some buckets of water from the town well. She was assisting some of the older residents today, who were either too weak or too old to get such things themselves. It was not an exceptionally easy task; the buckets possessed much girth, and often tried to get away from her. Yet, she enjoyed her work...it was a job where a good bedside manner, not Herculean strength, was required. She carried the buckets of water into a hut on the far side of town, where a kind, yet aged, female feline lived. She was a witty old lynx, still possessing a very thick, fluffy coat; and a very keen, eloquent mind. Yet, her coat had not been as fortunate as her brain, and did not escape the ravages of time. The once orangish fur had turned grey and wispy with the passage of many years, giving her the appearance of simply being a patch of fog that had settled to earth. However, her yellowish eyes were still sharp, and even piercing, if necessary. She was sitting in her favorite chair today, which was by a large window. The sunlight that streamed in made her look even more etherial, despite her well-mended green dress trying to give her a definite shape. She noticed the rabbit enter, and smiled knowingly. "Hello," she softly spoke to Bunnie, "I see you've got my water." Bunnie smiled, always glad to speak with the old lynx. "Yes'm." The old female took a walking stick from the side of the chair, and used it to pull herself to her feet. "That's a good girl. Now, just tow it back into the icebox--" She gave a general gesture towards the kitchen. "--and we can talk for a while." Bunnie nodded, and walked back into the kitchen. As she did so, the old lynx hobbled back to her chair, and sat back down. A moment or two later, Bunnie emerged from the kitchen, and pulled up a small stool by the aged one's chair. "So," Bunnie said, "how've you been?" The old lynx smiled. "Oh, I'm alright. My arthritis is acting up again, but that's normal for this time of year...what, with the weather changing around and all." Bunnie put her paw gently on the old lynx's. "If you need anything, Ms. Noon--" The old woman interrupted. "Bunnie, I told you, you can just call me Joanna...we're not lawyers, after all." Bunnie smiled. "Of course, Ms--Joanna." Joanna giggled dryly. "At least I can't say that you don't respect your elders, child." She patted the rabbit's hand. "But you know all about me; I don't get out much. Tell me about your life for once...how's your body doing?" Bunnie stretched a bit. "Oh, 's alright. A little stiff in the mornin', but Joseph said it'll pass af'tah a few more weeks." "Good, good." She grinned wistfully. "So, what does everyone else think?" "About whut?" Joanna laughed. "Why, your body, Bunnie. Have the suitors surrounded your hut yet?" Bunnie blushed embarassedly. "Well...the guys do look a bit mo' at me since I was de-ro'ed." Joanna patted Bunnie weakly on the shoulder. "That's nice to hear." Bunnie grinned. "I think so." Joanna coughed softly. "Well, I won't embarass you any more by talking about that...what's the latest gossip?" Bunnie giggled. "You get tah the point, don' you?" She reclined a bit in her chair. "I like to stay informed." "Okay, okay, 'ere's the scoop..." Bunnie took a breath. "Since dere's so many people runnin' around de-ro'ed now, Sally's started movin' them to other villages. Da usual complainin' and whinin' from people getting sep'rated from their friends hap'ened." She continued. "One big incid'nt happened just yesterday, ou'side Sally's hut. One o' the big aristrocrat types...ahh, I thin' it was that nasty Jenny duNeer--you know, the tall mare--that started kickin' up one hell of a rant about how such-and-such was movin' away from so-and-so, and that was just awful because it was Breaking Up Families and would she please reconsider? Well, Sally didn' take to well to dat, so she told this horse where to get OFF. After Sally was done, she just gave Sally a look an' mumbled s'mthin'. But as she was walkin' off, Sally walked right in fron' of her and freaking demanded to hear what she said." Bunnie took another breath. "*Well*, SHE said, right to Sally's face, that any queen of hers that had a mere commoner--Sonic--as a mate, and dat let a br'lliant scientist--Joseph--be corrupted by a common t'ief--Sandra Nightweaver--was certainly expected to do something as idiotic as moving such-and-such from so-and-so!" "*Well*, SALLY said right back to her, w'thout skippin' a beat, that anyone who would be ign'rant enough to say things like that about such great heroes like Sonic and Sandra Nightweaver was some sort of fool, *and* dat any duNeer dat would say that sort of thing obviously had not a single drop of blue lef' in their blood, and was just another common jackass." She giggled. "That shut that mare up but quick." Joanna smiled. "It's good to hear that Sally knows who the good guys are. Anything else?" "No, not really. Most people have been concerned with starting to deroboticize their friends." "As they should be," Joanna wisely stated, "as they should be." She paused, and smiled at Bunnie. "Well, I've taken enough of your time today. You can go now." Bunnie smiled. "Are you sure you'll be okay?" "Yes, yes...I'm not totally helpless." She smirked. "Go play." She giggled. "Okay, but only because you said so." She got off the stool, dusted herself off, and waved goodbye as she walked out the door. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bunnie walked out of the hut with a smile on her face. She'd done a lot of work with the elderly and sick lately, she mused, heading toward the center of town. She rather enjoyed it...after all, seeing that she wasn't as "tactically useful" any longer, she wasn't needed on missions. She could dedicate herself now to domestic concerns, which she far preferred. She entered the center of town, and leaned up against a large tree. The effects of the deroboticization on her social standing had been minimal. For a day or two, she was the town oddity...but, as a few other people started to be deroboticized, she was eventually forgotten about. She brushed her hair back with a paw. Bunnie liked being just another face in the crowd sometimes. It made her feel like just another rabbit, not some sort of freak like she used to be. It made her feel kind of good to be anonymous. Of course, her friends hadn't forgot her. Sally was still kind to her, and they still talked often. The people of the village soon adjusted to her new role in their lives, and accepted her as one of their own. In fact, the general quality of life for her had just about stayed the same; the only major difference was that her life became much quieter. Ah, quiet...she liked it so much. The sounds of kits and the whistling of the wind were her main distractions now, as opposed to the metallic clanking of SWATBots and exploding factories. It was so utterly normal, she could often pretend Robotnik and the coup had never even occurred. But then, some roboticized person would wander by, enviously glancing at her before moving on to some other lucky Mobian. That served to keep her firmly planted in the reality that surrounded her--the war continued, just with her as a spectator. She crouched down beside the tree, looking out into the village. She hoped that Joseph would hurry up and get all the combinations right to the program. If everyone was as they were before, a conventional army could be raised, and it could crush Packbell once and for all...just by the virtue of numbers. Then they could leave this place, and begin to rebuild Robotropolis back to its former glory. Perhaps then, Joseph could find a way to bring home the King. Bunnie figured everyone would like that. As she got back up, the sound of two tails twirling in the traditional turbulent tactility of Tails was heard nearby. Cheering up a bit, she turned around to be sure it was Tails, and not his brother David. She looked, and indeed saw Tails standing over by a hut. "Heya, Tails!" she shouted, "Why don' ya come here and chat with me fer a bit?" The fox propelled his way over to Bunnie. "Hi, Bunnie," he said, "how are you today?" "Ah'm okay, Tails. You?" "I'm okay." He rubbed one of his ears. "Just a little bored." Bunnie smiled. "Bored, honey? Want to go for a walk?" Tails shrugged. "Sure. Anything for something to do." Bunnie got up, took Tails' hand, and plodded off into the forest. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bahb hummed softly, using approximately 85% of its total resources to calculate the parameters for the deroboticizer task. It toiled ceaselessly, testing variables and refining the program to work with the various different versions of the roboticizer that had been created. Equations and figures roared by at incredible speeds, being tabulated at rates that would boggle the imaginations of even the most talented mathematicians. Nothing stopped the artificial intelligence's computations...the difficult parts slowing, but not stopping, the fierce computational juggernaut. The other 15 percent of the computer's available power was spread over many different tasks. 1 percent operated the Dome's basic functions; replicators, life support, teleportation, and other such minor activities. Another percent went to the security of the complex; which had been fortified recently, so needed less attention from the computer itself. Three percent went to the maintenance of the power core, which happened to be a crystal of unknown origin. The remaining ten percent went to, strangely enough, the observation network that Joseph had set up over his stay on Mobius. Bahb took its central being away from the deroboticizer for a moment, leaving its lower functions to handle the juggling of numbers. It took a curious interest in the survelliance network its creator had set up. It gave Bahb the opportunity to observe lifeforms besides Joseph and his female companion, which the AI enjoyed greatly. It activated some of the scanning devices around the area in which it was housed, and looked over the steel and plastic shell that surrounded its "body", the computer core. This perspective on itself sometimes gave Bahb a feeling of alienation from Joseph...but, it realized that he cared about Bahb despite this. He had given it life, taught it to be self-reliant, and gave it purpose and direction...perhaps Joseph "loved" Bahb, but in a different way than he "loved" his female companion, which went under the designation of Sandra Nightweaver. Growing tired of looking at itself, it gazed around the other levels of the Dome. It observed cleaning droids vacuuming up the "living room" floor, which entertained it for a while. Then, it looked over around the laboratory and clean room, which had nothing interesting. The storeroom was also in tolorable condition, and the long stairwell that led down to the bedroom was neat and tidy. Bahb activated the security cameras in the bedroom, and looked around for anything out of the ordinary. As expected, the two foxes were still asleep; dozing in each other's arms peacefully, deep in REM sleep. Bahb noted that a tableau like this was listed in its databanks as "tranquil", and continued its examination. They appeared to be in perfect working order, according to a light medical scan Bahb chose to conduct. Joseph's blood was not due for any sort of refreshment for another few days, and his mimetic polyalloy was operating at maximum efficiency. His breathing was steady, and his heartbeat was slow and constant. All was as it should be, it thought, so it could move on to the other specimen available. The female fox was sleeping peacefully in Joseph's arms, holding onto his chest snugly...her muzzle reflected her pleasure in being close to Joseph, which mildly amused the etherial Bahb. Her vitals were normal, as were expected, and her blood was still healthy and strong. Sandra was a very healthy and happy vixen, Bahb hypothesised, and would probably remain that way for an extended period of time. Bahb continued to observe the two from a scientific perspective. They shared similar sleep patterns: their heartbeats, air intake patterns, and nearly their rapid eye movements were alike, if not syncronised. Joseph's larger mass was always below Sandra's smaller mass. Sandra's tail usually stuck out a little from the bed, while Joseph's was always in a straight line beneath the covers. Sandra's head rested usually on Joseph's left shoulder, and her nose usually stayed 9.3258 cm away from the tip of his left ear. After realizing that the two were not going to awaken and become active very soon, Bahb put the food replicators and bathroom facilities back on standby, and moved on to another section of its survelliance network. With no great deal of difficulty, Bahb `entered' the nexus of Joseph's external sensory network, which was spatially located in the Master Control Room. It opened its great Cyclopian eye slowly, scanning through the events that had occurred since its last check. Mobius had been quiet during the last 12 hour interval that had passed since Bahb had investigated it via its hidden cameras, microphones, and motion sensors. Travel away from Knothole had increased lately, with several recently deroboticized citizens leaving to other villages. The people leaving were usually older citizens, with the occasional kit or small nonevolved animal joining them. Only rarely would an adolescent join them, seeing that Knothole required the young and virile to assist them at the front lines. It turned its iris toward Robotropolis next, and utilized its own stealthily hidden cameras...and Robotnik's, thanks to the skillful infiltration of Robotnik's own security system. Some SWATBot movements were detected along the eastern and southern areas of Robotropolis, which were obviously intended to increase the defenses of those areas against Freedom Fighter attacks. A refinary had come back on-line, which was also heavily guarded. Packbell had destroyed approximately two SWATBots and damaged another three. Two roboticized citizens were taken off-line due to the difficulty in keeping them operating. A garbage fire had been extinguished at the cost of 50 gallons of water and 4 kilos of sand. And repairs on the control center were continuing, which was rapidly reaching completion. Having gathered all useful information from there, Bahb moved on to the Great Meadow; the natural `buffer zone' between Robotropolis and the expansive Great Forest. As expected, little had occurred there. The Great Unknown was then monitored, and also was devoid of new activity. The Great Mountains next came under scrutiny, and several sections of the Great River. Nothing. Becoming rather bored, Bahb decided to check up on a few of the satellites that orbited Mobius, and project the weather patterns for the next few weeks. A gradual warming trend was beginning, which heralded the beginning of spring. Temperatures would rise slightly over the next few weeks, which would slowly trigger the natural pattern of budding and leafing that was typical of Mobian springs on the Northern Continent. After running some simulations of hurricanes and tornados rushing around Mobius, Bahb chose to cut to a live feed of the Great Forest, where activity was detected... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bunnie and Tails passed by the hidden camera in the rotting elm tree, too engrossed in their own conversation to notice anything as minor as a marble-sized nodule in the side of it. "So you've been feelin' alienated from the res' of us lately, Tails?" Tails shrugged. "Yeah...it seems that everyone's been too busy deroboticizing people lately to pay much attention to me. I know it's special that these people are normal again...but still, I can't help but feel funny when Sally and Sonic sorta blow me off." Bunnie smiled softly, giving Tails an empathetic glance. "Hey, 's no crime to feel lonely, sugah. Ah used to be when Ah was the way Ah *was*, once...the only reason that anyone would bother to talk ta me wuz when Ah wuz needed to move somethin' or smash it. But aftah Ah was deroboticized, at least at first, nobody seemed to talk tah me much, aside from lookin' at me all weird. Ah felt like some sorta outcast." She paused, ruminating on the memories for a moment. "But people came around, and started treatin' me normal, aftah the deroboticizin' STUCK." Tails swished his tails against the ground for a moment, thinking. "Yeah, I noticed that, too." Bunnie put her paw on Tails' shoulder. "Look, if you ever need to talk, or somethin', Ah'll be there." She smiled, somewhat maternally. "Aunt Bunnie's not gonna jus' blow her favorite neph-eww off." Tails smiled innocently. "Thanks, Bunnie." "'S no problem, sugah." They kept walking along the path, observing the scenery in silence for a mile or so; only emitting a sound to warn the other of patches of ice. However, when they approached the banks of a small river, Tails piped up again with a question. "Bunnie, can I ask you something?" "Sure, sugah." "Have you ever...loved anyone?" Bunnie paused for a moment, not quite expecting the question from the youthful fox. "Me?" "Yeah...I'd like to know what it feels like, just in case." Bunnie leaned up against a tree, looking Tails over. "Isn't this something you should ask Sally about?" Tails looked away a bit. "I'm kinda nervous about asking Sally. She's... well, she's like my mom. This isn't the sort of thing I could ask a mom." Bunnie withheld a smirk. "Well, okay...give me a minute to put this inta words." She thought for a moment, and then thought up something appropriate. "Love...well, there's different sorts of love. The weakest sort is the kind yew usually get first; it's called "kit love", usually. 'S just like liking someone a whole lot, but not really deeply...it usually wears off after a few months. Anothah type is the stuff you get when you look at someone, and get weird feelings; yew sweat, get all tingly in yer stomach, and you feel sorta anxious when yer around 'em." She smirked. "That's lust." Allowing a moment for a chuckle, she continued. "Then, aftah lust, there's a kind just called "love", where you have a mixture of all of the three kinds before, plus you relate to the person almost perfectly. Most mated people have this, and 's really nice. Then, there's 'true' love, which is so in'redibly rare that maybe one in a million people'll ever see it. All four types Ah already mentioned are rolled intah one big lump, and then some." "That's what it all feels like?" "Inna nutshell. There's all sorts of subtle variations on dat theme." Tails looked incredulous. "Wow. I never knew it was so complex." Bunnie grinned. "Now, Ah'm gonna ask you a question. Why'd you ask?" Tails smiled weakly. "Well, it's really dumb." "Try muh." Tails looked away a bit, and shuffled his shoes on the ground. "Okay, but you gotta keep it a secret." "Promise." He looked up at Bunnie, with a generally guilty look on his face. "Some of the other guys, especially some of the older ones, were talkin' about some...stuff...around the tree in the middle of Knothole. I was listenin' in, 'cuz I wanted to know what was up. And they were talking about their "girlfriends" and were laughing at stuff I didn't understand, and it made me uncomfortable. I felt dumb..." Bunnie put up a paw politely. "Say no more. Ah understand how young'uns can be when they hit that age. You didn' understand some of the stuff dey were talkin' about, so yew had to trick them into thinking you did." "Yeah." Tails frowned. "I felt so embarassed that I didn't know what was going on, I could have spit." "Well, Ah think you should ask Sally about the rest. I don' mind filling in the blanks sometimes, but she'd get upset if she knew yew'd asked muh first." She smiled. "You know how she is, sugah. She's so possessive about yew." Tails nodded. "I understand." "Good...now let's keep moving. Ah'm gettin' chilled." They continued down the trail, continuing to enjoy the beauty of the rapidly melting snow. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bahb paused for a moment, using its available intelligence to analyse the signifigance of the conversation it had just overheard. Its psychoanalysis program concluded that Tails and Bunnie had had something akin to a 'fox to fox' talk: a type of conversation related to the coming of age. While it lacked a real conclusion, it was probably the prelude to a series of continuing questions from Tails about growing up, the opposite sex, and various questions that skated around the subject of mating. A quick age analysis showed that Tails was indeed ready for such a conversation...it somewhat surprised Bahb, tho, that he would consult Bunnie. Bahb's probability daemon had given results that favored Tails asking Sonic or Sally about it, rather than someone relatively innocuous like Bunnie. Only Antoine had possessed a lower chance of being asked. Bahb kept puzzling over the conversation. It was a definite marker in the young fox's development, which he would remember for the rest of his flicker of a life. Bahb felt rather honored to be a witness to something that was typically private...that voyeuristic observation of such events was percieved in Mobian morality as a negative was not something Bahb concerned itself with. It chose to note the development in memory, in case Joseph should ever want to observe the conversation himself. It might prove to an advantage one day, Bahb noted, that this information was stored. Maybe a Mobian archive would find it interesting. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The two Mobians walked over a stone bridge that had been constructed in recent years, and had been kept in good repair all winter. As they continued to talk, they began walking down a long, winding stone path that led to a small clearing. As a small, marble-sized nodule in a rock observed, their conversation continued... "Bein' confused," Bunnie said, "is real normal. Ah was when Ah wuz your age...I jus' had to ask Julayla about it. She explained it to me real nice and slow." She paused. "But, as Ah said before, Ah think you better take dis up wit' Sally." Tails mumbled depressedly. "Yeah, I know...it's just hard." "Well, Tails, this sort of thing is always hard." They walked in silence for a while. "I think I will...later." "Alright," Bunnie added maternally, "yew just do what you gotta do." "Okay." They approached a small creek, near an old, rotting tree. After pausing to appreciate the beauty of the scene, they sat down on a few large boulders within the shadow of the dead deciduous dicot. "Bunnie?" "Mmm?" "How does it feel to be deroboticized?" One of Bunnie's ears flopped down over her head. "What do yew mean?" Tails stumbled through his vocabulary to clarify his thoughts. "Like, do you feel...different?" She pushed the ear back into a more pert position. "Yeah, Ah suppose Ah do. It's sort of strange to feel heat and stuff from muh feet, and not bein' able to just strongarm my way through everything." Bunnie smiled. "But I like it. It makes me feel more like a person, not like a tool." Tails thought for a moment, and then got an idea. "Have some of the guys--" Bunnie smiled, then chuckled. "Ah can read you like a book, sugah. Yew wanna know about what Ah look for in a guy, don' yew?" Tails blinked. "How--?" She chuckled again. "Julayla said that if Ah ever had a kit, that would be one of the first questions he'd ask." Tails rubbed his ears. "Jeez..." He looked up at Bunnie rather nervously. "Well, what *do* you look for?" The tree creaked a little on its knoll, but did not attract the attention of the duo. Bunnie smiled, thinking. "Well, there's lots of things that girls like to see in a guy..." Bunnie allowed the ear to flop over again. "But what most girls look for, most of all, is a nice guy." "A nice guy? But Sonic--" Bunnie laughed. "Sonic, Tails, although he doesn't show it, is a pretty good guy. Sally's lucky to have him...sure, he's a bit of an egotist, he's somewhat vain, and he thinks he's Goddess' gift to women, but he's a good hedgehog. Sally and him will be together forever." Tails grinned. "I hope so. I want them both to be happy." Bunnie pushed the ear back. "They'll be happy...after Robotnik's gone, and Sally has her dad--King Acorn--back, and Mobius is back the way it should be." "Gee, I think everyone'll be happy when that happens." Bunnie grinned. "True. But that's the only thing that'll make Sally happy." Tails smiled. "Well, back to what we were talking about..." "Mmm hmm." The large tree creaked a bit more, and started to tip a bit toward Bunnie. Tails looked at Bunnie questioningly. "A nice guy?" "Yes, a nice guy." Bunnie grinned. "It also helps if the guy's got a brain in his head, too. Stupid fellas, unless they're absolutely physically perfect, usually don't get attention from us ladies." "What else?" Bunnie thought for a moment, a soft grin on her face. "Let's see... nice, smart...cute helps too, but that's something you've got or you don't." Before Tails could reply, Bunnie chipped in, "Don't worry, Tails, you'll do just fine there." Tails giggled, blushing a bit. "You really think so?" Bunnie smiled and ruffled Tails' headfur. "Yeah, you're a nice-lookin' kid." Tails smiled. "What else?" "Thoughtful guys always have lots of girlfriends...the sort that remembers birthdays, anniversaries, and stuff like that. The rare guy even goes out of his way to surprise his mate by sending her gifts sometimes for no reason at all..." Bunnie primped her headfur a bit. "But you always gotta remember that you can't buy love." Tails nodded. "And?" "The last big thing is usually a tie between the ability to provide for your mate and a family, and..." She grinned. "The other one isn't somethin' Ah'm at liberty to discuss. Sally'll tell you all--" But Bunnie was rudely interrupted by the tree suddenly disengaging from the ground, and starting to fall toward her! ^L Tails saw the tree starting to fall. Instinctively, he lept toward Bunnie to knock her out of the line of the tree's descent, and was able to get her and himself almost clear of the fall of the tree...however, his tails got halfway smashed between the tree and the ground. Bunnie was thrown clear toward the riverbed, and just missed falling into the rushing, freezing-cold water. The sickening sound of smashing cartilage and bone resounded through the small clearing only for a second, but then was immediately followed by the pained howl of Tails. Bunnie, hearing the crunch and the cry, scrambled back to the top of the riverbed, and saw the painful sight in all of its awful glory. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bahb reacted quickly, realizing that the continued life of Tails overruled its main directive not to be noticed. It speedily dispatched a SpyGlobe into Knothole, confronted as many people as was prudent, and allowed the proper authorities to handle the situation. The group of Knothole residents ran up the trail to the riverbed, where Tails was trapped. Bunnie had not left, and was trying her best to relieve some of Tails' fear about the situation while being sure that it didn't get any worse. The group of Mobians assaulted the tree with all their might. Pushing and straining against the tree with all their might, they slowly began to roll it off of the lower half of Tails' tails that got smashed. They dared not speak of amputation for fear of frightening the already scared kit into injuring himself...but it crossed many of their minds as they strained and strained against the tree, and slowly were able to get it off of the young kit's appendages. Tails was prevented from seeing the damage the tree had done with a rag blindfold someone had quickly created out of a piece of clothing. However, it looked like it would be a bad idea to move him without first sedating Tails with something pretty powerful. Luckily, some of the forward-thinking people were able to get some powerful sedatives that grew in the area around the river, and fed them to the small fox to calm, and eventually totally subdue Tails. After they had done so, they made up a rough stretcher to carry Tails off with, put him on it, and rushed him over to Bookshire's. When Bookshire saw the wounds, he had the Mobians rush him right into his ER, and got rid of everyone but Bunnie and Sally, who had arrived moments later. A minute or two later, Sonic roared in, looking rather concerned. However, he was prevented from seeing Bookshire work by a few citizens who had been put there by Bookshire to prevent any such intervention. Eventually, Bunnie, Sally, and Sonic were relegated to a waiting room, where they were told to remain until Bookshire fetched them himself. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Just as Bahb had finished restationing the SpyGlobes, Joseph and Sandra chose to finally wake up. Actually, Joseph chose to wake up, and rolled over on his side; this caused Sandra to flop off of his stomach and boink her head against the mattress. The jarring of her head bouncing off the mattress woke her up as well, and gave her a good reason to whack Joseph upside the head with a pillow. "Ow!" Sandra snarled. "You know how much I *hate* that!" "Sorry." Muttering not-so-sweet nothings to herself, she tried to go back to sleep. Meanwhile, Joseph stumbled into the bathroom to try to regain lucid thought patterns via lots and lots of hot water. While he was in the progress of getting from the bedroom to the shower stall, he made so much of a racket that Sandra stuffed her head into a big bank of pillows to try to block it all out. Unfortunately, the sound of the shower system powering up caused enough vibration to even foil this attempt at getting peace and quiet. Eventually, but reluctantly, she decided that she was just going to have to get up now...Sandra was also not a morning person. After everyone got properly cleaned, Sandra went up to watch some video transmissions in the rec level, and Joseph made his way to his master control room to observe what had happened in his absence. The incident with Tails jarred him severely. However, once he saw that Bookshire was working on Tails personally, he eased up a bit. Yet, he still was concerned for Tails, and had Bahb monitor Bookshire's progress through any means possible. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - They sat in silence, but their faces told volumes about how they each felt about what had happened. All three of them knew what Bunnie and Tails had been talking about; two by second-hand explaination by Bunnie, and one from first-hand experience. However, each of them had their own personal spin on where the guilt, and the fault, lied. Sally's expression and thoughts were pretty much matched. She tried to avoid showing any weakness, so to keep Sonic and Bunnie's morale as high as possible, but her own feelings kept interfering with her noble gesture. Not only was she mad at herself for not directly confronting Tails about the "birds and the bees" herself, but Sally had also known about that rotting tree by the creek, and was going to have it removed yesterday... unfortunately, circumstances had kept her from getting round to having that done, so she had almost forgotten about it. Sonic's face showed grave concern for his near-little brother. He knew that, at the very best, Tails's lower tails would be in a way-uncool cast for a few weeks. At worst...well, Sonic didn't want to think about it. He was always very body-centered...to his perfectly-arranged quills to the well-kept sneakers he wore on his feet, Sonic had absolutely no coping skills in the unfortunate situation someone lost some limbs... especially ones central to someone's entire life like Tails' tails. It was something that he simply could not handle well. He hoped very strongly that it would only be a cast... Bunnie's visage only seemed to show great guilt and personal anguish. Unlike Sally or Sonic, she was less concerned with the effects of this rather than the cause. She could have saved Tails and herself so easily-- if it wasn't for the fact she was regular again. She'd lifted so many trees from the ground that doing it would have been as routine as breathing...hell, she could have caught it as it fell, and pushed it into the river! But she had no such powers any longer. All she could do was stare as it fell on Tails, and try to keep him from hurting... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Time passed slowly for the three in the waiting room. Bookshire worked through the day, using all of his abilities to try to repair the wounded Tails. All of his medical knowledge was thrown to the test, as he clipped and knitted bone back to cartilage, wrapped bandages, transfused blood, and nearly exhausted his supply of sedatives. ^L But lo and behold, Bookshire was able to successfully keep Tails' lower appendages attached, and put the injured appendages inside two seperate casts. After cleaning up and wheeling Tails to a recovery room, he went to break the good news to the three in the waiting room. "He'll be alright in a month or two," he said, "but I want to keep him under observation for a few days." They all took a sigh of relief. "Okay, Bookshire," Sally said, "but can we see him now?" Bookshire shook his head. "No. He needs his rest...I can let him see people tomorrow, though." "Okay, doc," Sonic said, "that's cool. We'll be back tomorrow." With that, Sonic took Sally unsteadily outside, leaving Bunnie and Bookshire alone. After Bunnie thought that Sonic and Sally were out of range, she spoke to the raccoon. "H-he won't be in too much pain, will he?" Bookshire shook his head. "No, not at all. A little uncomfortable, sure, but who wouldn't be uncomfortable with 2 pounds of plaster on their butt?" He smiled. "He'll be fine...but you need your rest, too." "I think I should--" "Go home, and get some rest? Excellent idea." He carefully pushed her out into the forest. "Goddess knows, I could use some." Before she could turn around to protest, he had already shut the door. Realizing that he obviously wanted to have Tails get some rest (as well as getting some himself), she started to walk home, alone with her thoughts and the falling night... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Joseph kept a eye on Tails the whole day, occasionally breaking up his observations to fetch food, or take a short nap. But after Bookshire had made clear that Tails' condition had stabilized, he finally relaxed enough to stop observing the small kit's condition, and started complaining to Bahb. "Bahb, you could have woke me up when you noticed the tree falling." << "You were sleeping." >> "But he could have gotten seriously hurt." << "He didn't. Besides, I thought I handled that rather well." >> "You acted wisely, but the most useful response would have been to have roused me, so I could have taken action." << "What would you have done?" >> "I could have teleported Tails right to the Keldii medical area, and had his tails repaired within minutes. He could have been flying around right now." << "I am not authorized to take such action." >> "That's why you're supposed to wake me up!" << "I understand that now. But I did not have that knowledge at my disposal at the time. I did all that I could with my authorization level." >> "Well, that you did. But next time, wake me up, alright?" << "Affirmative, Joseph." >> Joseph sat back in his chair, groaned, and lumped back to the control room. Sally'd have a fit if she knew what he could have done. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Interlude - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The starship loomed far from Mobius, barely able to see the blue-green world from the distance from which it lurked. It laid cloaked from all sensors anywhere near the large ship, using almost none of its power and with most of its crew in cryogenic storage. It was a large vessel, about 100 miles long from its helm to the large jump-engines, 150 miles wide, and 150 miles thick. It was also armed to the teeth with every sort of energy weapon available. If it would have been decloaked, one might describe it as vaguely cubical in shape, and of a blackish hue. The average crew on such a vessel was in the upper hundred thousands...but at the moment, only a few hundred were active. The majority of the ship was stored in reserve, so they would be fresh for the great project that laid before them next solar year. The ship drifted toward the planet at a comically slow pace, almost a tenth of one percent of its maximum speed. Yet, this was necessary to avoid detection by the annoying Keldy'rian busybodies that operated their little base on one of Mobius' moons. But soon, so very soon, it would all be made worthwhile... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The creature awoke within a large, white room. It felt weakened, and its mind was scattered. Where was it? Why was it here? Nothing made any sense...then, the thoughts returned. He began to remember what had happened, what had gone so terribly awry...he rubbed at his eyes, shaking off a bad headache. How long had he been out? He sat up, appraising the room around him. It was relatively featureless. It lacked any furniture, any machinary, or any people. The only things in the room were himself, and the cot that he was laying on. He uneasily pulled himself to his feet, being careful not to lose his balance as the large man got back to his feet. He was dressed in his normal outfit, which gave him a odd feeling of reassurance...the alien environment in which he now stood lacked nothing else that was even vaguely reminiscent of his home. He checked himself for other useful items...his blaster was, thankfully, still with him. It was fully charged, and looked undamaged. He dug through his pockets for anything else of value. A stick of gum, a few screws, his lucky screwdriver, a few charge-modules for the blaster, a bottlecap, some pieces of electrical tape, and a blank diskette. The man thought for a moment, and then put all of those items back in their original locations, and his blaster back in its holster. Perhaps they would be useful later. He looked around again, scanning for a door or anything that wasn't a glowing white wall. After a moment, he discovered a spot on the horizon a few hundred yards off. Listening for a moment for any sound, he started trudging toward the spot, hoping he wasn't walking into some sort of trap. After a few minutes, the man arrived at the discoloration, and discovered it was a door. He assumed it was a motion-sensitive door, because it lacked either a plate to push against, or a knob to turn. So, with some trepidation, he approached the door...and, as he suspected, it opened. He glanced outside the door cautiously, taking stock of this new area. It looked like a long hallway, that leaded from his far left to his far right, broken up occasionally by doors similar to the one he was currently peeking out of. After spotting no enemies, he emerged from the white room, and stepped into a more metallic area. The hallway was certainly metallic in origin, as his clinking footfalls soon told him. Perhaps the owner of whereever this place was also was a great fan of cold, impersonal technology. The man hoped so...if it was one of his enemies, he would be in a great deal of trouble. He looked behind him, then to his left and right. After cogigating for a moment, he chose to start walking down the right wing of the hallway...but did so as stealthily as possible. He walked down the hallway for a few minutes, examining the walls for any clue of where or what this place was. It certainly wasn't a prison; his ease in manuvering around certainly was abnormal for even the lowest security house of felons. Nor was it some sort of residential area, unless he was walking around during some sort of curfew. It seemed rather unsanitary for a hospital, seeing that parts of the walls had grime deposits thick enough to leave a mark on. Therefore, it must be something the man had never encountered before. He traversed the hall for a bit longer, noting a small curve that had began to form in the hallway's structure. He had still not detected one bit of activity from any direction. Perhaps whereever he was had been abandoned. If so, why did all the lights (the few of them there were) operate? Automated self-service? Possibly. After a few more minutes, he found another large door. Deciding to try his luck, he walked toward it with his blaster drawn, and carefully triggered the door-opening device... ^L "Oh, there you are." The man jumped back, startled to find activity in such a great amount behind the obviously soundproof door. He had somehow wandered into a large control center, where many tall foxes were working at various stations, working determinedly on various tasks. The room was larger than might have been expected by the door's relative size. It was disc-shaped, with a floor that sloped down and a ceiling that sloped up. By his estimation, it was about 50 feet wide, and about 12 feet tall; a fairly large room, even for a large structure. All around the walls of the room were blinking instruments, screens, and various other mysterious, highly technical, objects. However, this room lacked the glowing white walls of the place he had just left, choosing to have the grimy, dull metallic form of the hallway outside. Most of the light was generated from the instruments or the screens, with only two or three lights imbedded in the overhang around the perimeter of the area. A large chair, similar to the one he had at home, was on a sort of a pedestal in the center of the room, overlooking a large screen. He examined the room further, and was amazed by what he saw. The large screen that was in the front of the room, that must have been at least 50 inches wide and tall, not to mention very sharp, seemed to overlook a planet that was very, very far away. Meanwhile, a few foxes pushed their way by him, obviously quite set on getting to whatever was behind him. "Well, are you just going to stand there, or are you going to come in?" The man looked toward the source of the voice, and soon found himself in direct eye contact with a pair of eyes approximately one foot above his. They were attached to a large fox, who was dressed in a reddish bodysuit, which nearly matched his reddish-orange fur. His eyes were silverish grey, which complimented his sharp fangs. He had a robust, but not overly muscular build, and had quite nifty black combat boots. "Honestly, Ivo, are you THAT out of it? Snap out of it, man." Robotnik coughed, putting his blaster back in his holster, and holding his head with his "good" arm. "Oh, my head...what happened?" "You've been out for a long time, friend. Perhaps we should discuss this in my ready room?" He gestured toward another door. "Okay, I guess..." They walked into the small room, the fox sealing the door behind him as he entered. After Robotnik and himself had taken a seat, he leaned over to Robotnik and looked into his black-red eyes. "Ivo, what's the last thing you remember?" Robotnik paused for a moment, thinking aloud. "I-I was back on Mobius... the Doomsday project...an accident..." The fox rubbed his chin. "Sounds about right. The meds say you'd be a little hazy...you almost blew core without a backup, friend. If it wasn't for the fact that one of my ships was stopping by to see how you were doing...why, I'd have lost one of my best friends in the entire universe." Robotnik looked up into the fox's eyes, memory clairifying. "John?" He smiled. "You remembered my name, Ivo. Long time, no see." Ivo looked around. "I'm on the _Legacy_?" John nodded. "Yes...we certainly couldn't leave you there, at the mercy of your cretinous nephew. He probably would have killed you with his echidna pal of his." Robotnik looked stunned. "Snively? That--" John put up a paw. "I'll explain everything later. Right now, the only thing that's important is your refamiliarization with our plan; it's changed just a little..." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Back at the ranch... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Tails awoke the next morning, dazed from his strange experience. His memory was blurry, his head hurt, and he felt like everything below his bellybutton had been turned into lead. He opened his eyes, looking around the room. Tails had obviously been taken to a recovery room...it seemed that he hadn't died, after all. However, the headache he had seemed to make him want to wish that he had...footfalls heading toward the door on the far side of the room broke his concentration. The door opened, and Bookshire walked in. "Oh, you've decided to wake up...how convienent." The raccoon smiled. "And how is my patient today?" Tails groaned. "I feel like someone dropped me on my head a few times." Bookshire chuckled. "I see that your medication is starting to wear off. Don't worry, it won't hurt at all after another few days." He walked over and examined a small chart that he had drawn up on the front of the bed. "Nope, not at all. In fact, it'll start to progressively fade by this afternoon." "I feel awful." Bookshire kept looking at the chart, and made the occasional mark on a few bits of it. "I bet you do. Tail-injuries always hurt the worst. It's like getting a really bad paper cut. More nerves and such." Tails glanced down at the foot of the bed at the two casts that were neatly aligned, and slightly raised. "Mister Bookshire?" Bookshire looked up from his chart for a moment. "Hmm?" "Will I...ever fly again?" The raccoon was temporarily dumbfounded. "Will you ever fly again?" "Yes, that's what I asked, sir." Bookshire scratched his head. "I don't know...it depends on a lot of things. But I'd say you've got a 60-40 chance, if you do everything I say and get a lot of rest." This revelation was not useful. "60-40?" "Well, you smashed up your tailbone pretty bad, Tails. You nearly pulverized a portion right in the middle. It's lucky we got there when we did...otherwise, we would have had to amputate them both." Tails grimaced. "Yeah." Bookshire went back to the chart, now occasionally looking at Tails and examining several parts of him. "Yes, it's a good thing that flying thing of Joseph's warned us...sheer luck that it was heading that way to inspect the perimeter of Joseph's "territory"..." Tails' thoughts suddenly went to his friends. "Is Bunnie okay?" Bookshire distractedly replied to Tails while listening to his heartbeat. "Yes, she's fine. Just a little shaken up...you'll get a chance to talk with her and the rest of them later, during visiting hours." He put his stethoscope back in his pocket. "Right now, you should basically put your effort into resting..." "Mister Bookshire?" "Yes?" "Thank you." The raccoon smiled. "You're welcome, Tails." He glanced at the clock. "Well, look at that. It's just about time for--" He was interrupted by a series of sonic booms outside, the sound of skidding sneakers, and a knock on the door. "--visiting hours to begin." A familiar voice beckoned from behind the door. "Hey, doc! Open up!" Bookshire limped his way to the door. "Yes, yes, hold on..." He opened the door carefully, but that was to no avail. Sonic burst in, nearly knocking the middle-aged raccoon doc on his butt. With him came Sally and Bunnie, who rushed nearly as fast as Sonic toward the injured kit. Sonic went right to his friend's side. "Hey, Tails! How're you doin', bro?" Tails smiled, the negative thoughts negated by the arrival of his best friend. "I'm okay, Sonic." "Way past!" Sally immediately embraced Tails, as hard as she thought was safe. "Oh, Tails! I'm so sorry..." Tails hugged back weakly. "That's alright, Aunt Sally. It wasn't your fault that tree fell--" Sally tried not to cry. "But it was! I knew about that tree, but I just forgot that..." "Sal," Sonic interrupted, "we went through this last night. 'S no use blubberin' over felled trees." Sally just kept hugging Tails in response. "I'm sorry." "It's okay, Sally...really. I'll be fine in a few weeks." Bunnie stepped to the bed and also weaseled in on the hug. "Yew saved muh life, Tails...I don' know how to thank ye." Tails hugged Bunnie as well. "You would have done the same for me, Bunnie." Bunnie winced mentally. "I know, sugah...I know." They all hugged for a while, grateful that everyone was still among the land of the living. Then, Sonic took some stuff out of a backpack, and placed it on the nightstand. "Lessee here, kiddo...I got lots of stuff for you to do while yer laid up." He dug around for a while, and first took out a book. "This should keep ya busy for a few weeks, Tails...I found this book in Robotropolis a few years ago. I must have read this thing a hundred times. It's called "Trinity". All about some guy who goes around getting treasure and fighting badniks. And you know that if I'll sit down and read somethin', it's gotta be Way Past!" Tails smiled and looked over the book. "Thanks, Sonic!" Sonic grinned. "No prob...but that's not all!" He rustled around in his rucksack a bit more, and pulled out a small palmtop computer. "I got this from your room. I figured you might want it...I certainly don't know how it works." Tails' face lit up. "Thanks, Sonic...I was about to ask someone to get this for me." Sonic looked puzzled. "What're you up to with that, bro?" Tails smiled. "Oh, I just like to play with it..." The hedgehog shrugged, and dug around in his backpack s'more. After a moment, he removed a small device with a button on it. Putting it down on the table, he looked over at Sally. "Now what does this thing do again?" Sally smirked at Sonic, and looked over at Tails. "That's a special button that will send out a small signal to Nicole, Tails. If you ever need anything, or you want to talk...all you need to do is press it." Tails nodded. "Don't worry, Aunt Sally, I'll be sure to keep in touch." The princess chuckled. "I'd hope so." Bookshire suddenly piped up. "Okay, okay, you guys have kept him awake for long enough. He needs his rest." Sonic scowled. "Aww!" "Now now," Bookshire said, "you know as well as I do that the more he rests, the faster he'll be able to go out and race around with you again." The raccoon smiled. "Sally, Bunnie, leggo of the poor kid. You're jostling him too much." The two females let go of Tails reluctantly, and started heading, with the hedgehog following close behind, toward the door. "Bye, Tails!" "Ah'll be around, Tails!" "Cya!" Tails grinned and waved. "I'll see you around, fellas!" As they said their goodbyes, Bookshire escorted his visitors to the door, and politely told them to come back tomorrow. After speaking with Sally for a moment, he returned to the room where Tails was. "Now, you try to get some rest. I'll get you something nice to eat the next time you wake up, okay?" Tails smiled, and laid back in the bed. "Gotcha." The raccoon closed the door again, and allowed the kit to gradually fall back asleep...dreaming of flying off into the sunset yet again...one day. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Meanwhile, in the Great Forest: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Snively stumbled on, running further away from Robotropolis. He had been discovered by the SWATBots, that much he knew... and now, Packbell was using them to hunt him down. Now no place in Robotropolis would ever be safe for him... as long as that damned android lived. He cursed his miserable luck as he careened further and further into the Great Meadow, the buffer zone that existed between Robotropolis and the first growths of the Great Forest. The fact that spring was breaking the tyranny of winter gave little pleasure to the small human, who was too occupied with keeping alive to worry about such aesthetics. Finally, he broke through into the forest itself, giving him a chance to escape the SWATBots in the underbrush. They had never been good at manuvering through the forests, he recalled, because there were too many unknown factors that had to be accounted for. However, Snively was not a SWATBot, and had learned how to hide from the SWATBots during his unfortunate time within the confines of Robotropolis. Snively quickly chose to dive within a log that had been used as a growth area for several different kinds of beautiful forest fungus. The SWATBots would be upon him in seconds, he gasped, so he'd better get out of plain view. And, sure enough, the killer machines roared into the area that Snively was hiding in, and began to search through it to the best of their ability. Luckily for Snively, after a few moments of searching, the SWATBots gave up on trying to find him. Probably realizing the anger that Packbell would vent on them for failing to acquire Snively, they flew off toward Robotropolis in a rather somber fashion. Snively waited for a few moments after the sounds of SWATBot propultion units had died away to a whisper before emerging into the clearing. He had gotten lucky, this time....but he had better find a cave or something to hide in until he could figure out what to do next. He certainly didn't want the Freedom Fighters to capture him....that would probably mean certain death, if not *torture*... He started walking down a musty path toward a quite dead and frightening part of the Great Forest. He certainly didn't think that Knothole would be in such a place...the one time he had been able to enter it, it was in a very nice, lush, green part of the Forest. This area would be perfect to hide in...after all, what sort of fool would make his home in such a unpleasant part of the otherwise beautiful forest? He wandered down the path a few more paces, not realizing that he was being shadowed by a floating orb. "Perhaps," Snively muttered to himself, "just perhaps, this place might have water nearby." He was very thirsty from his long run, and could have also used a shower at that point, too. However, Snively found something that didn't even vaguely resemble a pond. Indeed, when he reached the end of the path, he found something completely alien... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To be continued... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8J -J - - - - - - - *- - - - - - - - - - -J - - - - - - - *- - - - - - - - - - -6 - - - - -U$XhI&N=!a`p LTAl4&M`NL8500NLPIpS D8QD<\FѠeEMLYeIp Ԡ 8bCU$Vh