Well, here it is. Hope I did Packbell injus.. er, justice.. :) -----------------------> Cut here <--------------------------------------- SEEING STARS Author: Pat Carson Jr. * * * At the Keld'yrian base known as Haven, hidden somewhere on Moebius, the halls were quiet... Or they would seem so to those who couldn't hear thoughts... (Translated from Keldii) ** *.* ** ** ** ** ** *<...then you'd both be _dead_. As soon as Robotnik's patrol picked up the energy signature, the amount of robots he brought to the subbase would have easily overwhelmed you. Stop blaming yourself for this.>* ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** Vision just grinned and stood up from his chair. ** * * * In the great forest, at a waterfall in Knothole Village, Princess Sally was resting against a nearby log watching the clear water flow by, Nicole closed shut by her side. She liked this spot; It was a beautiful location, untouched by Robotnik's pollution and dreariness. It reminded her of what most of Moebius looked like before Robotnik staged his conquest of the planet. It was a nice place to relax and remenisce... She was startled out of her rest, however, by a sudden whooshing sound and rush of air. She quickly turned her head to see a familiar blue hedgehog standing beside her. "Yo, Sal! News flash from Uncle Chuck!" Sally caught her breath. "Sonic, you scared me... Can't you announce yourself without making others jump 10' feet?" "Aw, c'mon, Sal," Sonic replied with his familiar smirk. "You know me. I'm just too cool to not make an impression." Sally rolled her eyes upward. "Whatever, Sonic... What news did Charles have for us?" Sonic hopped up and sat on the log. "Robuttnik came across some abandoned base near the Great Unknown. Everything was trashed there except for this big, weird crystal, which he brought back to Robotropolis." "This wasn't a Freedom Fighter base, was it?" Sally asked. Sonic shook his head. "Nope. Noone knows _who_ it belonged to. But they _do_ know that the crystal holds a way serious amount of power. Enough juice to light up Robotropolis for years." "Oh my gosh..." Sally gasped. "Sonic, he could also use something like that as a powerful weapon!" "Uh-uh," said Sonic, shaking his head again. "Ol' Robuttnik can't figure out how to draw the juice out of it. The fat man hasn't got a clue how to use it." Sally frowned. "That doesn't mean he won't know how to use it for long, Sonic..." Sonic smirked. "No problemo, Sal, we'll just have to take away his little crystal whatchamacallit before he..." *Ry'den Star.* "Yeah! Ridden star!" Sonic then blinked. "Heyyy... Who said that?" Sally got up, looking a bit alarmed. "Sonic... I don't think anyone _said_ that... It's almost as if it was..." *Thought to you?* Sally gasped, and Sonic jumped off the log, looking around quickly. "Awright, that's it! Who's there?!" A rustling sound from behind caught Sonic's attention, and he spun around to see a bush shaking a bit, then remaining still. "Ok, come outta that bush and show yourself!" *Can't do that, blue boy...* Sonic frowned annoyedly. "And just why not?!" *'Cause I _am_ the bush.* Sonic folded his arms, looking even more annoyed. "Yeah, right! And _I'm_ the queen of the prom!" *If you say so, your majesty...* What happened next completely shocked Sonic and Sally both. The bush glowed brightly, then almost seemed to melt, reshaping itself into something else rapidly. When the glow faded, it was no longer a bush, but a grinning red fox holding his hands behind his back. He had a tuft of hair over his forehead, and his back hair was tied into a short ponytail. He also wore an odd gold amulet around his neck. Sonic looked completely flabbergasted. "HUH?! What th'...?!" Sally looked equally as stunned. _No_ species could change shape like that... at least no species from Moebius. "Wh-Who _are_ you?" The fox smiled and walked forward a bit. "The name's Vision, Keld'yrian shapeshifter and Lord of PEZ, at yer service..." He said with a bow. "And _you_ two," He continued, rising back up and grinning, "are _just_ the Freedom Fighters I've been looking for..." Sally and Sonic blinked and looked at each other confusedly, then back at Vision. "For us??" they both said in unison. "Absoposilutely!" Vision replied, as he walked up to the log and leaned against it. He pointed at Sonic. "You're Sonic Hedgehog, leader of the Freedom Fighters, and the biggest thorn in Crazy Ivo's bloated side. We've enjoyed watching you." Sonic blinked again, then smirked. "See, Sal? Told ya I had a fan club." Sally rolled her eyes at that comment. Vision chuckled, then turned to Sally. "And you are Princess Sally Alicia, of the house of Acorn. I know you believe that titles are meaningless out here in the woods, but you are most certainly more qualified to lead this world than Crazy Ivo ever will be. And far better looking, in my humble opinion." With that, he kissed her hand cordially. Sally blushed at the compliment. "Oh.. Thank you..." "Ahem.." Sonic interrupted, folding his arms and tapping his foot. "How come you know so much about us, an' we know nothing about you? Like, what you are, what you're doing here, and why you where looking for _us_?!" Sally bristled a little at Sonic's callousness. "Sonic, please..." Vision, however, waved it off. "All perfectly good questions, my dear. To answer them, lemme spin ya a little yarn about us..." He then sat down, leaned his back against the log, and began... "I, and the thirty others of my kind here on Moebius, come from a world we call Keld'yr. Our people believe in the sanctity of Life and Freedom, and we like to make friends with other worlds that share that belief. "We noticed yer world about thirteen years ago, and listened in on yer transmissions for a few months, to get a small idea of what you were like. We became interested, so a small handful of us, including yours truly, quietly set ourselves up here, to observe you more closely, first by simply watching everyday events, then after about a year, we began to interact with you, using our ability to shapeshift to pose as one of yer kind. "We watched you for about a year, all through the tail end of the Great War and past. We watched the King, your father, Sally, bring an end to the war and order all the warbots dismantled. He wanted to bring about a new era of peace, where people are ruled by common sense and compassion, and most Moebians were ready to embrace that change. That was the main reason we finally decided to make a formal contact with Moebius, first with the King, then hopefully with all of you. "Sadly, tho, it was only three days after we that decision when Crazy Ivo had the unmitigated audacity to make his move towards conquering the planet. We were as surprised as everyone else was that this happened, and were lucky to get all of us back to Haven, our main base here..." Vision looked away, out in the distance, and sighed. "A lot of us made friends amongst you, only to see most of them get carted away to be roboticized..." Sonic interrupted. "Yeah, well, ya coulda' _helped_ us, ya know." Vision pre-empted another admonishment from Sally by changing shape again, to face the two, becoming an orange furred cat. "A lot of us would've, blue boy, were it not for our Third Law." Sonic blinked. "Third Law?" "The Third Law," Vision replied, raising his index finger, "which states: We shall not involve ourselves in the internal politics or conflicts of any world other than our own. We almost got into a very nasty war by doing just that, and vowed never to do it again." "Hmph." Sonic corssed his arms. "How conveeenient..." Sally glared at Sonic. "Sonic, stop it. It makes perfect sense for them to have such a law." She then turned back to Vision, ignoring a "yeah, right." from Sonic. "Please, continue." Vision smiled. "Thank you. Anywayyy... Soon after the takeover, we noticed the activity of small resistance groups scattered about Moebius. We decided to keep secretly observing, always adhering to The Third Law. "Recently, however, Crazy Ivo has made a small amount of our involvement necessary, by taking something that belongs to us." "You mean this 'Ry'den Star'?" Sally asked. "Vision nodded. "Ry'den Stars are the power source for our main base and sub-bases. They hold a lot of power within them, and are usually quite stable, tho you wouldn't want one of your power stones anywhere near one. Crazy Ivo somehow picked up the energy signature of the one at our sub-base near The Great Unknown, despite the fact that we had it cloaked, and stormed in. The two of us stationed there were lucky enough to self-destruct the rest of our equipment and get out, but now he's got it. Your fears of what will happen when he figures out how to use it are well founded, Sally.." Sally nodded and crossed her arms worriedly. "We can't let him keep this thing..." "Yeah.. this is major bad news." Sonic added. He then turned to Vision. "Hey, if you're so advanced, how come ya just can't take it away from Robuttnik?" "Well, lessee.." Vision replied. "We can't teleport it out. Trying to teleport a Ry'den Star is a _baaad_ idea. To send just one of us in there is just plain stupid, and if a group of us goes, that increases the chance of one of us getting caught, and if _that_ happens..." Sally interrupted. "Robotnik could become so powerful that we _all_ would be doomed..." "Precisely," said Vision. "We finally decided to send someone, namely myself, to warn you of the threat. I would also like to assist you in this endeavor. If possible, we'd like our Ry'den Star back with us. If not, I'll be responsible for seeing that it's destroyed." "Either way, it's out of Robotnik's hands..." Sally said thoughtfully. "Hmm... I think we could most definately use your help." Sonic blinked, then shook his head. "Whoa! Time out!" he pulled Sally aside and said, "I don't trust this guy, Sal, or these Keld'yrians... He could be working for Robuttnik, or they all could be trying to take over Moebius for themselves!" Sally sighed, and said, "Sonic, that's absurd. He obviously knows where Knothole is. If he was on Robotnik's side, we wouldn't be standing here right now. And if the Keld'yrians wanted to invade and overtake Moebius, don't you think they would have done that thirteen years ago??" "But.." Sonic tried to get a word in, but Sally stopped him. "Sonic, he knows a lot more about that Ry'den Star Robotnik has, and he's confirmed my fears about how serious a threat this is. We _need_ his help." Sonic thought to himself, then grumbled. "Oh, allright, Sal... But I'm keepin' an eye on this guy!" "Whatever, Sonic.." Sally said, then walked back to the log. "Vision, we welcome any help you can give us." "Keul!" Vision said, hopping up. "We should have a team assembled ASAP. I don't think Crazy Ivo's gonna be in the dark about how to play with the toy he has for long." Sally nodded, and the three of them started towards Knothole's hub, Vision trailing behind the other two, occasionally commenting on how fascinating the foliage looked. "It's amazing..." Sally told Sonic, "That these Keld'yrians have been watching us for so long, and we had no idea that they even existed..." "Yeah, well..." Sonic replied, "I'm not sure I like..." "SONIC!!" Sonic was interrupted by a familiar two-tailed fox bounding up and hugging him. "Hey, Sonic! Hi, Aunt Sally!!" "Hey there, little bro'!" Sonic hugged tails back. "How's it goin'?" "Goin' Great, Sonic! I..." Tails then noticed Vision approaching and said, "Hey, who's... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" He immediately hid behind Sonic from the shapeshifter, trembling. Sally blinked at Tails' odd behavior, and Vision raised an eyebrow, saying, "Shyness?" Sonic glanced at Vision, then looked back down at Tails. "What's wrong, Tails??" Tails shakily pointed at the amulet Vision was wearing. "S-s-sonic! Th-that's the s-same metallion the Headless Gopher dropped where we were camping!!!" Sonic blinked, then eyed Vision's amulet. "Heyyy, you're right! I _knew_ I'd seen that somewhere..." He glared at Vision, furrowing his eyebrow. "So, what gives??" "Headless gopher, eh?" Vision chuckled. "That must've been Darius. He likes to use that illusion to scare people away from our subbase there." He knealt down and smiled at Tails. "You can relax, Tails, I'm no ghost. This amulet just carries the symbol of my homeworld, Keld'yr." Tails peeked out from behind Sonic, looking more confused than frightened now. "K-keld'yr? Homeworld?" Sonic hrm'd, then patted Tails' head. "Tell ya later, big guy. We've got business to take care of, and it's got Robuttnik written all over it!" With that, they made their way to the hub, formulating a plan and deciding who to send on the mission. Sally, Sonic, and Vision were most certainly going. Bunnie, because they could use her strength. Dulcy for an airborne escape. Sally was loathe to include Tails in the mission because of his youth, but Sonic and Vision convinced her that his natural tracking skills would be very helpful. And finally, Antoine, that decision coming after much protest from Sonic. Sally felt that he was good for something, and Vision noted that one more Freedom Fighter wouldn't hurt. Each of the Freedom Fighters were approached by Sally and Sonic, and told to accompany them to the war room to be briefed on the mission. The entire group met at the door, which Sally opened for them. They all entered to see Sonic waiting for them. "Hey, guys!" "Hey there, Sugarhog!" Bunnie replied, then paused, looking back to see the "Sonic" that came with the group walk in and up to the head of the long table. "Huh?? What in blazes...?" Everyone else was just as confused by this oddity. "Oh, mon dieu!" Antoine said with obvious dismay. "There ahre being TWO Soneecs?!" "Oh, I wouldn't say that..." The "Sonic" at the table replied. He then glowed brightly and morphed into a tan-furred ferret with a ponytail and a gold amulet around his neck. This, of course, had produced a variety of gasps and astonished responses from most of the people in the room. "Whoa!" "Sacre' Bleu!!" "What th'" "Oh mah stars..." "Oh my.." Sonic chuckled, having been privy to this planned display. Even though he still didn't trust this alien, he could always appreciate a good prank. Sally rolled her eyes, chuckling at these antics. She walked up to Vision and introduced him. "Freedom Fighters, this is Vision. I'll let him speak, because what he has to say is _very_ important to this mission." "Thank you, M'lady, "Vision said as Sally took her place at the table. "If y'all will take a seat, I'll begin by explaining who, and _what_ I am..." * * * Meanwhile, at Robotropolis, Dr. Ivo Robotnik was sitting in his chair at Central Command, deep in thought and looking very unamused. "Snively..." he said, "My day isn't looking very bright right now... How is it that I can find such a wonderful energy storage crystal, yet not be able to use one _BIT_ of the energy stored within it???" Snively turned away from his instrument panel and said, nervously, "W-we've been having trouble with the power extraction equipment, S-sir... There seems to be a tremendous amount of phase..." "Well, then..." Robotnik interrupted, "Perhaps we should _fix_ the trouble..." his eyes glowed a brighter red. "...and _SOON_. Am I clear on this, Snively??" Snively gulped visibly. "Y-y-yes, S-sir... working on a routine I created right now, Sir.." "Good..." Robotnik replied, and went back to his brooding, something he seemed to do exceedingly well... "Lord Robotnik..." A familiar voice spoke, interrupting his brooding. Robotnik spun his chair around to see Commander Packbell standing before him, flanked by two SWATBots. "Ah, my beloved Packbell..." Robotnik said with a smile. "I take it that that group of rebels in your care have been processed?" "Yes, sir, they've been roboticized. Sir..." Packbell replied, "I feel it necessary for us to double security at the laboratory where our latest.. acquisition is located." "Hmm..." Robotnik mused. "Our current resources are somewhat short in that department, thanks to that annoying blue rodent and his friends... Are you sure this is necessary?" "Yes, sir..." said Packbell. "The potential that this crystal has would most certainly attract unwanted attention." "Perhaps..." Robotnik replied, "Though I doubt those miserable rodents will discover it until it's too late... Still, I admire your enthusiasm. Permission granted." "Thank you, sir. That is all," Packbell said, and turned around, leaving the room. "...You pathetic, bloated fool..." he thought to himself, "You've no idea what you're dealing with..." He doubted that the base they found the crystal in wasn't abandoned recently. He also knew that the crystal didn't originate from this world. He couldn't shake the feeling that its original owners would soon come calling, somehow... Robotnik resumed his brooding, only to be interrupted again. "Dr. Robotnik, sir! The latest results of our tests on the crystal have arrived! They look quite promising, Sir!" Robotnik raised an eyebrow. "On viewscreen, Snively..." He read the data that began to creep up the large screen in front of him, and an evil smile crept up on his face. "Very promising indeed... Yes, perhaps I _am_ having a good day, after all..." * * * Vision recounted what he told Sonic and Sally with the rest of the assembled group of Freedom Fighters, then helped them form an attack plan; The goal being to retrieve the Ry'den Star if possible, to destroy it otherwise. Vision would be the one to destroy it, knowing the safest method of rendering it unusable. After forming a solid plan, everyone waited until dark, then went outside to take off for Robotropolis. Dulcy looked at the group. "I'm not sure I can carry this many..." Sonic smirked and put on his backpack. "I can juice over there with Tails." Tails gleefully hopped into the backpack in response. Vision nodded and said, "And as for me..." He glowed and changed into a brown-furred bat. "I can provide my own transportation," he said with a grin. Sally blinked at Vision's transformation, noting that she wasn't going to get used to that for quite a while. "Well, that's settled. Let's move." With that, the group left for Robotropolis. Along the way, Tails was talking to Sonic. "Aw, c'mon, Sonic, Vision's kinda neat! A little weird, but neat." "I dunno, little bro'," Sonic mused, "I'm still not sure I trust him; this could be some sorta trap... I mean, Robuttnik's had aliens helping him before, and he..." "Oh, he has, has he?" Vision interrupted, flying in closer to the two. "Hmm... I've had my suspicions... This bears looking into. Tell me, you ever see any of these aliens?" Sonic blinked startledly, then nodded. "Yup. It was on that Spy Sattelite that me n' Rotor took down. It was uuuug-LY! Looked like a big brown furred ball, with yellow eyes, and these slimy lookin' tenticle-like things coming out of it... It tried to wrap them around me, yuck!" Vision listened, musing, then made a face. "Bleah... Sounds like a Tenadian Alley Dweller.. Nasty suckers, they like to feed off the blood of sapients. They usually take _days_ to feed off someone. It prolly thought you looked pretty tasty, Blue Boy." He grinned. Sonic blinked at that, then shuddered, nearly tripping as he ran. "EEEEEEEEEEW!! YUCK!!! That thing TOUCHED me?!?! Ewwewweww!!!" Vision chuckled, and Sally shouted down, "Keep quiet down there, we're getting close..." The border of Robotropolis was in view as they made theit way. * * * The inside of Robotropolis' buildings didn't look any more cheerful that the outsides did. Drab hallways, cold grey walls, and dark rooms were the rule, and this particular building on the outskirts of Robotropolis was no exception. In one of the air vents, however, the color scheme was changed slightly, as a bright orange glow began to form a large circle on one of it's walls. The circle completed itself, then a grey metallic arm punched out the metal within the circle. The metal was cooled by some device, and the head of a tiger popped through the newly formed hole and said in a raspy voice, "Heeeeeeeere's JOHNNY!!" The rest of Vision's body climbed through the hole, followed by Sonic, who's eyebrow was quirked as he said, "Weird, man, weird..." The rest of the group filed through the hole, and Sally pulled out Nicole. "Nicole, are there any records of this building in your database?" "Working, Sally..." Nicole replied in her ever calm voice. "No mention of this building exist in early Mobotropolian records." Sally frowned. "He must've recently built it. We're going to have to play it by ear..." She looked at Vision. "Where to now?" "Well, perhaps we should let Tails discern that." He handed Tails the datapad he had been using to track the Ry'den Star's energy pattern. Tails looked at the datapad confusedly... "I can't read all these weird looking letters..." Vision chuckled. "You don't need to, just follow that big arrow on there and your instincts and you'll do just fine. When that arrow starts turning red, you'll know we're getting close." Tails nodded and smiled. "Ok. I can understand that." Vision pulled out another datapad, seemingly out of nowhere. "And I'll be looking out for bots in the meantime. Shall we?" Sally nodded. "Lets. We haven't a moment to lose." And the group made their way through the vents, Tails leading the way. They made their way through the vents to a dim hallway. Assured that there were no SWATBots present, they made their way through. They passed a doorway, when Vision stopped them. "Guys, hold up a bit..." He zipped into the room stealthily as the others looked at each other in confusion. After a brief moment, he came back out. "A little toy I found. I'll explain later." Everyone shrugged and continued. They made a turn, folowing Tails, when Vision stopped them again. "Bots coming at 3 and 9 o'clock, guys. Move towards the wall and stay put." Everyone moved towards the nearest wall, then Vision began to change shape, forming a metalic-like box around them. Antoine almost screamed at this, but Sonic quickly slapped his hand over his mouth and whispered, "Cool your jets, Ant, or we're all toast!" Through a small hole Vision left, Sally could see two SWATBot patrols walk by from both directions, apparently mistaking Vision for some machine located in the hall. After a moment, Vision reformed back into a tiger. "Coast is clear, let's move." They continued on, with Antoine shakily saying "I would very much be liking a warning before yeu try and serrogate us like that again..." Sally rolled her eyes. "That's 'suffocate', Antoine, and he was disguising us from the SWATBots..." Antoine complained a bit more as they continued, not noticing a shielded camera observing them from a hole in one of the walls... * * * Robotnik was in the same building, in a large room, working on some form of device. Snively was there reading off data from a terminal, trying to ignore various taunts from Packbell, who was overseeing security. Robotnik rose from his device, removing his goggles. "There, that should do it... Now, if only I had a suitable subject to test this..." He was interrupted by a SWATBot. "PRIORITY ONE HEDGEHOG ALERT! FREEDOM FIGHTERS LOCATED IN HALLWAY 13F! PRIORITY ONE HEDGEHOG ALERT!" Packbell obvserved the monitors... "Six of them located, Lord Robotnik. One of them being the Hedgehog. It appears they're heading towards this room..." "Really? I was wondering if we'd see those annoying rodents traipsing through here... Hmmm..." An evil smile crept up on Robotnik's face. "Let them come, though not TOO easily... I have something to show them." He laughed as he made his way to a control panel. Packbell nodded, and ordered the SWATBots to comply. He then looked at the monitors again, and raised an eyebrow.. "Those datapads the fox and the tiger carry... The fox I've seen before, but the other one... Hrm..." * * * The Freedom Fighters continued on, dodging a few more SWATBot patrols. They entered another air duct, and soon came across a large room. Tails looked at the datapad he carried.. "I think it's in here, guys!" Vision nodded and checked his datapad... "Just four bots outside the door to this room... Think we should make our way in?" Sally looked out the vent, then nodded. They opened the vent and made their way into the room. The room was incredibly dark, with only a few small blinking lights providing any light. Everyone made their way around with some difficulty, and Sonic looked around, saying.. "Man... Someone should get the lights in here..." "Allow me, rodent..." A familiar and malevolent voice said... The room brightened, and a few metal boxes could be seen in the large room, as well as a good amount of scaffolding. There was a large, humming device in the center of the room, with a glowing, bright yellow, multi-faceted starlike crystal being suspended in the middle of it by some form of tractor beam. And, standing on a platform located in front of the device was Packbell, Snively, and the large round shape of Dr. Robotnik. "Greetings, hedgehog... So glad you could drop in..." he said with an evil grin. The whole group stood in their tracks, a few gasps coming from it. Sally looked at the device, and the crystal in the middle of it, and silently mouthed the words "Is that it?" to Vision, who nodded in reply. He had a bad feeling about things... Sonic jumped forward and pointed at Robotnik. "You've got something that doesn't belong to you, Robuttnik, and we're here to take it away!" "Oh, are you, now?" Robotnik replied with a sneer. "And I suppose I should just hand it over to you? No, I don't think that's going to happen at all, rodent. I'd much rather destroy you with it instead." He grinned. "HA!" Sonic shouted. "Yeah, right! You can't even figure out how to use that thing!" He advanced a step forward. Robotnik smiled even more. "Oh, on the contrary... I already have. Snively?" Snively grined evilly, and replied, "Yes, Dr. Robotnik, Sir!" he pushed a button on the machine's control panel. The Ry'den star glowed even brighter, and energy started arcing along it's surface. Suddenly, it discharged a large bolt of energy directly at Sonic. "WHOOOOA!" Sonic yelped as he zipped backwards just in time. The bolt slammed into the ground with explosive force, leaving a huge hole in the floor. The Freedom Fighters gasped at this near miss. Snively grinned, and targetted the entire group, pressing the firing button again. Robotnik laughed evilly as the Ry'den Star charged up again... The group, caught completely off guard when the first bolt was fired, managed to snap out of it just in time to dodge the second one and scatter, splitting the group in two. Bunnie, Antoine and Tails ran for the cover of a tall machine, and Sally, Sonic and Vision hid behind a set of large metal boxes. Sonic wiped his brow. "Oh, man! So much for getting that thing outta here, Vis!" Vision nodded. "As well as my plan to destroy it safely... I can guarantee there's plenty of more power in that Ry'den star. We're gonna have to..." He was interrupted by Robotnik's gloating voice blaring from a set of loudspeakers in the room. "Well, hedgehog, how do you like my new toy? Impressive, is it not?" Robotnik chortled. "Surrender yourself now, and your fellow Freedom Fighters will be given the merciful fate of Roboticization..." Sally whispered to Vision and Sonic as Robotnik spoke, "he could raze all of Mobius with that thing... We have to do _something_..." Sonic interrupted Robotnik by yelling "Go jump into a reactor core, Robuttnik!" Robotnik's blaring voice spoke on. "Well, then, since you've refused such a reasonable offer, I've no choice but to _exterminate_ you all!" Robotnik laughed maniacally as Packbell added, "And take notice, rodents! If this weapon doesn't take care of you, our SWATBots most assuredly will!" As if on cue, numerous SWATBots began to file into the room through the doors, searching for the Freedom Fighters. Sonic frowned as he heard the clanking metallic footsteps, and snuck a quick glance at then machine the other half of the group was hiding behind. Bunnie was holding her own against a pair of SWATBots, as Tails and Antoine hid under the machine, Tails handling things a bit more bravely. "Man..." Sonic said, turning around to Sally and Vision. "Outta the fryin' pan, into the... LOOK OUT!!" he yelled as two SWATBots appeared behind the other two, firing their lasers. What happened next amazed Sally and Sonic. Vision zipped behind Sally, placing himself between her and Sonic, and the SWATBots, and held up his hands, as if to try and block the laser bolts with them. Surprisingly, he succeeds, his hands absorbing the energy of the bolts. The energy seemed to run down his arms, across his back, and back to his hands, discharging in two coarse blasts of energy back at the SWATBots, blowing their heads clean off. "Back at'cha, suckers!" Both Sonic and Sally stood there, completely stupified, Sonic barely managing to emit a quiet "Whoa..." as Vision dragged the two defunct SWATBots over. "It's a Keld'yrian thing." Vision said to Sonic, grinning. He then looked at Sally and shook her gently. "C'mon, Sally, snap out of it. We still need ya here." Sally blinked and snapped out of her daze. "Uh, right... How can we destroy that thing, Vision?" "Well..." he replied, ripping the back panels off the SWATBots, and sticking his hands in each of them. he began to glow as he absorbed electricity from their batteries. "My other plan for destroying it is a bit more risky... I'll need you, Blue Boy, to provide a distraction while I make my way to that platform Crazy Ivo's on. Then, on my signal, you toss me one of your Power Rings, and I'll..." "Whoa! Waitaminit!!" Sonic said, with some suspicion. "You want one of MY Power Rings? Whaddya need THAT for?" Vision rolled his eyes and pulled his hands out of the now-drained SWATBots. "We're gonna exploit the incompatability between the two power sources, by... DUCK!!" Sonic and Sally instinctively did so as a laser bolt whizzed over their heads from another SWATBot, which Vision then fried with a blast of electricity. "Look, there's a game I played as a small kid where you get a toy if you flip a metal ring onto a large spike. We're gonna play that tonight, but our prize this time is a very loud BOOM. Got it?" Sonic blinked, then smirked as the goal of the tactic dawned on him. "Heh. Oookay, I hope this works, Vis..." Vision found a small door on one of the boxes and opened it, looking inside.. "You and me both... Empty, good. Sally, hide in here, then be prepared to jet out of here with Sonic when things start going haywire." Sally nodded, and climbed in, having Nicole provide light in the empty box. Vision then turned to Sonic. "On three, Blue Boy. One... Two... THREE!" Sonic sped out from behind the large boxes, and spotted three SWATBots approaching. He put his thumbs on his ears and razzed them, then sped off as they gave chase, firing at him. Vision waited for them to pass, and said "Wish me luck, Sally!" He began to stealthily make his way to the platform, zapping two SWATBots headed in Bunnie's direction along the way. Sally kept the door to the box closed, saying, "Good luck.. we'll all need it.." * * * Robotnik surveyed the room impatiently. "Why haven't the SWATBots drawn those rodents out of their little hiding spaces yet? I... What's this?" He spotted Sonic zipping around the large room, dodging shots from the five SWATBots pursuing him, as well as a couple of bolts from the Ry'den star. "WHAT is that miserable hedgehog up to? He can't possibly believe that..." "Lord Robotnik!" Packbell exclaimed, turning to fire his laser rifle at something. He never got a shot off, however, as a bolt of electricity slammed into him, sending him flying off the platform. Robotnik quickly spun around towards the source of the bolt, and found Vision standing on the platform, his hands behind his back. "Greetings, oh fat one!" Robotnik glared at Vision startledly. "Who...? WHAT...??" Vision smirked. "WHO is one of those to whom that crystal really belongs to, and WHAT _you're_ gonna do is give it back, if ya know what's good for ya." Robotnik scowled at Vision's impunity, his eyes glowing a bright red. "Sooo... _you're_ the ones who it belonged to... hmm..." He reached over to a rifle laying next to a control panel. "Well, I'm afraid that I've grown attached to this wonderful bauble, so..." he said, pointing the rifle at Vision, "You can't have it." Vision just sighed and threw up his arms... "Oh well, in that case..." He then grinned. "...neither can you." *Now, Blue Boy!* Sonic sped past the platform, seven SWATBots now in pursuit. He reached into his backpack, pulled out a Power Ring, and quickly tossed it to Vision. "Catch!" Vision caught the Power Ring, and deftlyflipped it towards the Ry'den Star. It sailed over Robotnik's head in an arc, and landed on the topmost spike of the star with a 'clink'. *Let's move, guys, Two minutes 'till this place goes up!* Robotnik watched the ring sail over and land, then turned to see Vision wave, "C'ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!" and jump off the platform. he stood, confused at this tactic, until a screeching sound coming from the Ry'den Star enlightened him. "Dr. Robotnik, sir!" Snively shouted, panicked. "The Power Ring is creating a major energy feedback! Systems are overloading!" "NO!" He turned to see the Ry'den Star glowing brightly, energy arcing out in every direction, making electronics go haywire around it. He spotted two SWATBots nearby. "SWATBOTS! Remove that blasted Power Ring from there at ONCE!!" The SWATBots, fearing Robotnik's wrath more than the Ry'den Star, immediately began to advance towards it. They only managed to get 6' close to it before it's energies lashed out at them, reducing them to smoking rubble. "Dr. Robotnik!!" Snively exclaimed, very panicked now. "The crystal's energy level is reaching critical, and will result in a massive explosion in two minutes! We must evacuate, Sir!" This news sent Robotnik into a total conniption. "NoNoNONOOOOO! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!!!!!!" He smashed a monitor to peices with his robotic arm, then glared at Packbell, who was pulling himself back up on the platform, not looking to be in good shape, and having some choice words to say. Robotnik's eyes glowed even brighter as he said, "Commander Packbell, make sure those miserable Freedom Fighters and their friend never leave this place!!!" Packbell stood and nodded. "Yes, Lord Robotnik." He leapt off the platform as Robotnik and Snively left for the shuttle, muttering, "I knew something like this would happen, you sputtering fat fool..." * * * Bunnie, Antoine, and Tails all caught Vision's thoughtsend, and blinked in confusion at each other... Then the building began to shake a bit... Bunnie exclaimed, "Darlin's, ah think it's time to get outta here!!" She grabbed Tails and Antoine and began running for the nearest open door. They made it to the door and turned the corner, only to find three SWATBots blocking their path. "FREEZE!" Before the Freedom Fighters could react, however, three bright yellow plasma bolts sailed over them, one after the other, towards the SWATBots, obliterating them. They spun around to see Vision holding a large looking blaster weapon. He walked over to Bunnie and handed it to her. "That toy I found in that room earlier. Happy Holidays." He said with a grin. Bunnie OOFed a bit as she was handed the heavy weapon. "But..." Vision held up his hand and looked behind him. "Gotta take care of Sally and blue Boy. We'll meet ya at the rendezvous point. Bye!" He waved and zipped back into the room. Bunnie blinked, then turned to face the other two. "Ok, boys, you heard 'im. Let's move it!" She struggled with the weapon a bit.. "This thangs sure goshdarn heavy... How in blazes did he..." Antoine sreamed as he pointed behind her and Tails. "BUNNIE!!!!" Bunnie whirled around just in time to see a SWATBot bearing a similar weapon on her. She almost instinctively pulled the trigger, and it fired another yellow plasma bolt into the SWATBot, blowing it to pieces. She stumbled a bit from the recoil. "Whew! Thanks, Antoine!" She then hefted the big gun. "This thang may be heave, but it sure 'n blazes packs a whallop! Let's go, boys! Yahoo!!" and they continued on their way out of the building. * * * Meanwhile, Sally caught Vision's thoughtsend, and then noticed the building begin to shake.. "He did it! Thank goodness... We need to get out of here.. Nicole, on my mark, count off two minutes. Mark." and then left the box as Nicole counted. "Two minutes..." Sally stepped out of the box, noticing a few catwalks beginning to buckle.. it was just then that Sonic zipped up to her. "All aboard on the Sonic express!" Sally gasped, then hopped in Sonic's arms. "Where's Vision?" Sonic looked around. "I dunno, but he's probably doing the same thing we are, and that's jammin' outta here!" With that, he jetted towards the door out of the room. A very unwelcome obstacle made Sonic stop in his tracks, however, and that obstacle's name was Packbell. Packbell pointed his laser rifle at the two and smiled malevolently. "Hello, rodents!" "Goodbye, sucker!" A voice came from behind him. He spun around just intime to see a brown-furred shape slam into his chest, sending him flying into the machine Bunnie was hiding behind before, just as it was overloading. Packbell twitched uncontrollably, his head slammed through the machine's control panel, then lay still, smoking and sparking. Vision landed next to Sonic and Sally, and oos, grinning.. "That's gotta hurt..." Sonic gaped. "Whoa! Way past cool, Vis!" Nicole beeped. "One minute, 45 seconds..." "That's our cue to blow this pop stand..." said Vision, and the three made a hasty exit out of the room and down the halls. They sped through the hallways and cooridors at breakneck speed, until coming upon the front entrance. They opened the large door, and ran outside, only to be stopped again by a group of ten SWATBots waiting for them. "FREEZE, INTRUDERS!" Nicole beeped. "One minute, 15 seconds..." Vision looked at the SWATBots as they advanced on the trio, then grinned at Sonic. "How good are you at bowling, Blue Boy?" He winked. Sonic smirked and put Sally down, reaching into his backpack. "I'm Way past Cool..." he said, pulling out the second Power Ring, holding it up. The power ring glowed brightly, then bathed Sonic in a tremendous amount of it's energy. Sonic used this extra boost of power to roll up into a ball and buzzsaw roll at the SWATBots, the ground set on fire behind him as he managed to plow throw and smash eight of them, leaving two of the outermost bots behind. Vision sighed.. "Seven-Ten split, Blue Boy..." and discharged more of his stored electricity at the remaning two, putting them out of commision. He then shifted again into a form that made Sally gasp a bit... Vision looked humanoid, with yellow skin that seemed to glow, a head of black hair tied into a ponytail. A somewhat muzzled mouth, hazel colored eyes that looked like clear glass orbs, and fox like ears. Wings that looked like a cross between a butterfly's and a faerie's, and a slender tail with a slightly spaded tip. Vision chuckled at Sally's response. "What we really look like. C'mon, let's fly outta here." Nicole beeped. "One minute, 0 seconds..." Sally blinked, Nicole's voice jarring her out of her amazement. "Yes, this building's going to blow any minute." She hopped into Vision's arms and they took off. * * * The entire group arrived at the rendezvous point where Dulcy was waiting. Vision's entrance made quite a stir, and he explained how his current form was the one he was born with as Nicole counted downward. When she reached ten second, Bunnie looked at the building in the distance. "That thang's gonna blow any second, guys!" Everyone watched as Nicole counted down. She reached three when there was a bright flash coming from the building, and the entire structure blew apart in a massive explosion, large enough to make the wind stir where they were standing. Antoine eep!d and shuddered.. "I ahm very fortune hunting that we have gotten our books out of there..." Sonic rolled his eyes. "Ant, your wording stinks, as usual. Still, we think we get the picture." Antoine hmmphed indignantly at Sonic, and Sally stepped in between the two. "I think this is a good time to get back to Knothole, everyone." Everyone else nodded in agreement, and started on their journey back. * * * Robotnik sat in his chair at the Command Center, seething as he observed the exploding building on the main viewscreen. Snively was cowering at a smaller monitor, knowing better than to get in Robotnik's way in moments like this... "Snively?" Snively gulped audibally as Robotnik called him. He faced Robotnik, wishing he had some hole to jump into. "Y-y-y-y-yessss, S-s-s-sirr?" Robotnik didn't move an inch, nor did his expression change. "I want you to listen to me _very_ carefully... What I have to say is crucial, both to my mental well being... and your _physical_ well being..." Snively gulped again, jumping a bit at the thinly veild threat. Robotnik continued, "That... alien, helping those accursed rodents... Whatever it takes... I want to know everything there is to know about him and his kind.... Do you hear me, Snively?" He turned towards Snively, his face taking on a terrifying scowl, his eyes glowing infernally. "EVERYTHING..." Snively yelped and hid behind a chair, breathing rapidly... "*gulp!* Y-y-y-y-y-yesssSss S-s-s-s-sir... Will w-w-ork on it imm-m-m-ediatly, S-s-s-s-sir..." "See that you do." Robotnik turned back towards the viewscreen, seeing the rubble of the building. The time has come, he thought, to devise something that will rid me of those Freedom Fighters.. and that wretched blue hedgehog... forever.... * * * The group arrived back at Knothole amid cheers for the success of the mission. Vision had changed back into a fox earlier, to avoid startling too many others in Knothole, and was mingling with the croud quite well. Sonic was, of course, aggrandizing his role in the mission for everyone. Antoine was, of course, exaggerating his role. Tails excitedly shared what he experienced with anyone and everyone. This went on for about an hour, before everything went back to normal. Vision, Sonic, Sally, and Bunnie were sitting by a tree stump, after the crowd died down. "It's too bad we can't get help like you provided us on our mission everyday, Vision.." said Sally. "Yeah, " added Sonic, "Though I guess I do understand that Third Rule of yours, at least a little, it's still too bad we can't get your help anymore..." Vision chuckles... "Well, yanno... I have a feeling we might be help out a little bit here and there in the future.. Bunnie, you still got that 'toy' I gave you earlier?" Bunnie blinked. "Toy? Oh yeah, I fergot I was carryin' this around still... " She handed the large rifle back to Vision. Vision chuckled. He examined the rifle a bit, then opened up the handle and pulled out what looked like the power source. "A Harani micro-fusion battery. The Harani don't give out their tech to just anyone, and they most certainly wouldn't give it to the likes of Crazy Ivo. This, and what Blue Boy here told me on the way to Robotropolis, proves that Ivo's been getting offworld help. That should let us offer a little help from time to time, though not on as major a scale as I did today. That directly involved us." Sally nodded. "I understand. Any help we get is good for us, and well appreciated." Vision smiled. "Why, thank you." He then yawned a bit, and got up. "I must leave now, however, since today has made my body desire a nice warm bath back at Haven." The others chuckled, then gave their farewells. "Stay cool, Vis!" "Hope to see y'all soon!" "Goodbye, and thanks again." Vision smiled. "Farewell everyone. Perhaps you'll see more of us in the future. As for me, you can count on it." With that, he snapped his fingers. A streak of bright green energy formed at the top of his head and spiraled down his body, leaving behind a faint blue afterimage of him, which faded away. Then he was gone. The others blinked, then Sally giggled. "I suppose we should expect the unexpected from him from now on." Bunnie giggled as well. "Yeah, he sure is a strange one, but his heart's in the right place. Ah wouldn't mind seein' him again." Sonic smirked, leaning against the stump. "Yeah, he's cool. Always knew he was cool." Sally raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you did, did you?" "Yeah, I knew he was cool from the moment I laid eyes on him. Had cool written all over him, right from the start," said Sonic, closing his eyes and smirking even more. Bunnie stifled a giggle, and Sally rolled her eyes upward. "Uh-huh..." Sonic was obviously on a roll now. "Of course, ya do realize that he wasn't as cool as me. _Noooone's_ as cool as your's truly..." Sally and Bunnie got up and silently walked off as Sonic continued. "Yup, me, I'm Way Past Cool. I'm the coolest thing to hit Mobius since the Ice Age. I'm... Hey??" He noticed that he was alone, and that Sally and Bunnie were heading elswewhere in Knothole. He darted after them yelling, "Hey guys, wait up! Hey! C'mon, what gives...?" E N D This story (C) 1995 Pat Carson Jr. May be distributed freely, provided it is not altered without permission from the author. Sonic the Hedgehog, and characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog story contained with are (C) 1995 SEGA of America. Packbell (C) 1995 David Pistone. -----------------------> Cut here <--------------------------------------- /---------> ##### ##### ##### # <---------------------------------------\ |Peace, -> # # # # # <- Vision (Pat Carson in RealLife(TM)) | | Love, -> ##### ### # # <- vision@quack.kfu.com | | and -> # # # <- /-----------------------------------\| \---------> # ##### ##### # <--| Nakedness is a concept created by |/ | Humans with fur envy :) | \-----------------------------------/