Verdict 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. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The steppad went up silently, high into the upper regions of the Dome. On it, stood a mentally frazzled and rather unhappy-looking vixen. She was known to many as Sandra Nightweaver, the legendary thief, spy, and (insultingly) golddigging seductress. However, to those who knew her well (namely, Joseph), she was just another female, who needed love and attention like anyone else... Tonight, however, Sandra just wanted someone to make a challenging decision for her...a decision that could affect the lives of millions and millions of people. Alas, Sandra had been forced to make this decision by several twists of fate that led her into the arms of Joseph; into the shadowy labrynth of his secrets and desires; into the sphere of knowledge that understood the terror that loomed just a small distance away...in the inky void of space. It was three in the morning when she realized that she had been wandering alone through Joseph's fortress-home for the past four and a half hours. Well, that wasn't entirely true...Bahb finally asked her what she was doing going through the countless rooms and corridors that weaved their way through the underground complex. "I am thinking," she wearily said, "so leave me alone." Being an obedient computer, Bahb did so. Yet, it continued to watch Sandra's wanderings through the Dome, not privy to her thoughts or feelings; aside from the tired and frightened look on her face, it had no inkling of the turmoil in her mind... She slipped through level one, pacing through the various recreational facilities it contained quietly as she could. It was a difficult thing for her to grasp...that something as large and as stable as Mobius, her home and her entire peer group's home, could be easily dashed to ashes by a spaceship. It was something that made her stomach boil and her normally dead-still hands to quiver. She knew that they had time. The spaceship, for whatever reason, was going to wait another year to strike. They could easily pack up and leave by then, and be settled on another planet before the first wave hit...yet...something ancient and primal within her made her grimace at the thought of abandoning her homeworld. Did Joseph feel like this, she wondered, when he had to leave his father to his blazing demise? Probably...but less for his world, which had already been mostly ruined, than for his father. Sandra had few ties to any "family". Her father had left early in her life, and her mother and herself never got along. She'd left home immediately upon graduating from high school, and never saw her mother ever since. She had no feelings for the woman left, despite a vague attempt on her part to bring any up. She paused for a moment to ponder her fate. Packbell or Robotnik had probably roboticized or killed her by now...yet, she still didn't seem to care. In Sandra's opinion, she was better off dead. No siblings or extended family members to worry about, either, and no real friends...besides her mate, Joseph. She started pacing again. She had no ties to this world by blood or love, so why did she want to stay and fight? Here, she had a chance to escape to any place, any world, and any galaxy in the entire universe, but she had this strong desire to remain on the one place that no person would logically remain. Damn you, Sandra, this was no time to develop a conscience!! Mobius was marked for death, for whatever reasons the Ur'thaens had, and nothing Joseph or she could do would stop it. She went up to the top floor, and started walking in a circular path around the lower curvature of the Dome itself. She was becoming angry at herself for being so attached to this planet. She felt a few things could happen to them both which would not be desirable... for one thing, the _Apocolypse_ could sucessfully decimate this planet, killing them all. It could also take Joseph away from her, and have her killed...or worse. The Mobians could fight off the _Apocolypse_, but it might result in Joseph being hurt or killed in the fighting. The Mobians could also fight off the _Apocolypse_, and just kill Joseph and herself outright for being treasonous. Sandra's eyes watered when she thought of Joseph being hurt or killed, even more so than the thought of her own demise. Ever since she first started her unique and dangerous trade, she knew that her life expectency would not be extremely high. The thought of ever having a family or a steady mate had almost totally left her mind before she met Joseph, but now those things could be available to her. She could have his children...she could be his mate for eternity, with kits to love and teach, and have a normal life. But if anything was to ever happen to him...she didn't know how she'd take it. She'd grown rather attached to Joseph over the last few months she'd lived with him, and learned of his great mind and heart...he could provide for her, protect her from harm, hand her the knowledge of the universe on a plate...and could sire their kits. The thoughts of kits were beginning to fill her mind more and more as the weeks had gone on, especially as Joseph's biological heat had recently reached its peak just a few nights ago, and had gradually began to ebb. His ability and control were certainly pleasing to her as well, adding another reason to care about him deeply; but it certainly was not the *only* reason to. (Sandra felt that their relationship was deeper than THAT, despite what the various gossips and old spinsters, as well as the throngs of jealous fe/males, spat at her.) Perhaps it was contagious or something...yet Joseph had kept himself sterile during that time, for reasons she'd just learned of... The invasion and the choice, that accursed sword of Damocles, now lept again to the forefront of her thoughts. They could always have kits on some other world, she noted, and Mobius hadn't been the greatest nursery as of late, anyway. SWATBots were everywhere, Packbell was still running around, and there were lots of other things Joseph had saw developing on the horizon that made Sandra nervous... But all Mobian threats paled in comparison to the invasion, which could wipe anything out completely. They were going to steal all of Mobius' water, which would be the damnation of the entire planet. Nothing could survive that; but then the planet ITSELF would be mined for whatever aliens mine worlds for. There would be, quite literally, not a stone left. If the resistance to their attack failed... That was the choice Sandra was left with, and that was had kept her up into three in the morning. Would she bet on the Keld'yrian/Mobian resistance to this ship, or would she choose to fold rather than lose? There could be no middle ground, despite what Joseph had told her when he had stated that option...did he think that an Ur'thaen could hide anywhere within civilized space after informing on his own people? Not only would they have to go into hiding from them (if they succeeded), but the rest of the galaxy would know that he was one of the old school. By her knowledge of sentinent beings, she knew that a contract would be put up by somebody to get his head. The son of a dictator is just as hated as the dictator himself, she ruminated, thinking about Packbell and Robotnik's equal levels of hatedness. Joseph wouldn't stand a chance. No, running couldn't work at all. Even if the Mobians won, there would be knowledge of another Ur'thaen running about in space, but this time the contracts would probably be at a lower price. They would have to go to the most undeveloped, unknown, unexplored parts of space to hide, and even then they'd be living out of a ship...settling down in one place would make them a easier target. Living off the land of alien worlds, after being so used to the relative luxury of the Dome, would be no way to raise a family. That left having total and undeniable faith in the forces of the Keld'yrians and the Mobian resistance. She was a bit iffy there, too. If Joseph came forward at the right time, told the Keld'yrians in Haven about what was going to come down, and got Sally informed at just the right juncture, his butt would be covered. Then, that just left the defense of Mobius down to him, and his inventions... and the combined strength of the Keld'yrians, who Joseph assured her would help. Yet, she couldn't help thinking that the _Apocolypse_ might have some sort of... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ...ace up his sleeve. Robotnik grinned in a sinister way, which was becoming more and more common as the days went by. The masquerade was approaching its climax, he thought to himself, sorting through his pirated data. That fool John, with his greed, would destroy the remainder of his race in his futile campaign to acquire Mobius. He underestimated the hedgehog's abilities, and so he would be foiled again and again, like Robotnik himself had been... The thought that Mobius could be taken by the motley crew of the _Apocolypse_ amused Ivo. He had learned shortly before he had taken Mobius of the strange alien "observers" that lurked somewhere near or on Mobius, and who were watching the world's development to see if Mobius was "ready" for induction into their "Union". He had even been able to see one of their bases, and took one of their power sources once...but then, the hedgehog and one of the aliens came and destroyed it. No matter, Ivo thought. He had no doubt in his mind, by the analysis of the composition and weapon systems of the vessel in which he resided, that these "Keld'yrians" would destroy this ship, and "save" Mobius. Or so they believed...he allowed himself a quiet chuckle. All in good time, you fools, all in good time. He held the disk in his normal hand, rolling it over and over in his palm. With the knowledge contained on this disk, he could upgrade his remaining weaponry and robots to be able to permanently defeat the hedgehog, and have the entire planet to himself. No Ur'thaens to "buy" the planet from him, no Keld'yrians to interfere, and no Sonic to defeat him. Just the way he planned it. He laughed. What irony, he mused, in the fact that his "benefactors", the ones who believed that they would have their final victory over Mobius and himself, would actually be the catylyst behind Ivo's ultimate end game. He would be the last one standing on his world, and would soon use the technology and power that his foolish Ur'thaen "allies" went and "gave" to him to destroy his arch-nemesis, while they would be themselves defeated by the Keld'yrians. And, after the Ur'thaens were gone, the Keld'yrians would have to leave...and when they left... He smacked his hand into his roboticized palm. End of the hedgehog, end of the resistance, and the rebirth of that world into "Robius", the planet of machines. Cold, clinical, perfect machines, all serving their creator, Doctor Ivo Robotnik. No meddlers, no interference, no challenges to his power. Perfection. He looked out of his window. Victory was near...he could almost see it within his grasp. Soon, all of John's plans would come undone, his ship would be destroyed, and Ivo would stealthily escape just as the vessel went up in a fireball...and, for a few weeks, he would let the resistance think they had won... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - o/~ "Robotropolis in the springtime..." o/~ Packbell chuckled at himself. Robotropolis in the springtime was not that much different than it was during the other three seasons of the year; dark, smoky, and dripping with toxins to those of the carbon-based persuasion. Yet, it held sort of a decadent aura to it, which was a bit less dark than usual. Perhaps it was background psychic radiation from the rest of Mobius, but Robotropolis only felt (at least, according to Packbell's general perception of the area) dying, rather than dead. Of course, it was also helped by his continuing repairs on the city...in only a precious few months, despite what the hedgehog and his friends did on a semi-daily basis, Robotropolis would soon be operating much as it did a few months before Robotnik's failed "Doomsday" project. However, the city would be far more efficient: only the necessities would be operating, at first, and then the other "comforts" would be constructed for the benefit of the Buyers. He flipped boredly through the control room's monitor system, looking for something interesting to watch. The hedgehog's most recent attack had been foiled, unfortunately with only slight injuries to the miserable rodent. However, Packbell knew that Sonic would go off to heal for a few days before attacking again, so he could relax his defenses slightly. The SWATBots were more useful with keeping the city operating normally, anyway...he was running dangerously low on Worker-Bots, and he'd began to notice new and oddly familiar Freedom Fighters running around. All of his offensive operations had to be cancelled in order to keep Robotropolis secure...and he was also rapidly losing ground to their continuing advances. He snarled. He didn't know how, or who, or why, but someone had to have finally figured out the deroboticization process. It must have taken a genius to figure it out, or someone who was familiar...Sir Charles. Of course, Packbell mused, Sir Charles must have figured it out. He invented it, after all, and he'd been the first one to escape after Doomsday. Damn. Now Packbell's life had gotten far more complex... the asking price on this planet was just falling through the floor, right before his eyes. If the Buyers didn't hurry up and close the deal, he'd have nothing to sell to them; Sonic would take it from him, and then who knew what sort of crazy thing he'd do. He leaned back hard in his chair. What else could possibly go-- Someone entered the room from behind him. "Knock knock." Dammit. "Hello, Jack." "I see that you've suffered even more losses." "Yes, Jack." "Obviously, you're either excessively incompetent, or that hedgehog is far more than what Ivo and his nephew told me about." Packbell generated a sigh. "I fear that I'm going to get a signifigantly lower price for this planet." The voice moved to a terminal, accessed the audit file, and examined it. "Probably...we won't be ready to buy this world until your next winter solstice." He paused. "Just try to maintain some ground, okay? I'll be back in a few months." Mumbling, the voice left. Packbell spent the next few hours sulking. His life was also rapidly declining in quality. What else could happen? What else? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Meanwhile, in the electronic ether that Bahb "existed" in, things were also becoming rapidly different. The information taken from the portable computer had been used to upgrade the present configuration of the intelligent computer, and would probably move back the final deroboticizer completion date by several months. However, some other information that it had seen concerned it immensely. It concluded that the destruction of Mobius would not be an acceptable scenerio, especially for its own continued survival. It was far too decompressed now to be easily compressed or transported, and it had began to like its surroundings now. Mobius was a "beautiful" place, and "beauty" should be protected with much zealotry. There were also sentinent lifeforms here which Bahb "cared" about, and made its escape with its "loved ones" also far more challenging. How could it protect Mobius, itself, and its "loved ones" without exceeding its own directives? Attacking the ship's computer would be futile...not only would it be easily repelled by the naturally defensive warship's computers, but it would also alert the computer there of a possible threat. One plasma torpedo and some phaser blasts, and it would be permanently off-line. It had no way of making a counterforce to repel the invaders, aside from a few hundred outdated attack robots that would be easily cut down by the advanced ships. It couldn't hide Mobius from the ship using a reflected cloak...not only did it not have the option of dipping into the main power crystal (which might have enough), but it also would destroy Mobius' ozone layer. The ship could probably triangulate its coordinates if it was cloaked, anyway. Moving the planet would be a "bad option". Carbon-based lifeforms require heat from the sun, and photosynthesis also required a sufficent star. Calling for help was not an option because not only was it not allowed to make contact with other planets, but it would probably only complicate matters further. Self-termination wouldn't help anyone. It thought on this for several cycles, taking a whole minute to deduce its new, ingenius plan...yes, it could do *something* useful, and still remain safely within its directives. Self-preservation could be humored, as well as the advancement of Mobian offensive and defensive strategy. It would take sacrifice on its part, as well as some clever rerouting of energy and physical resources, but it could be done... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Meanwhile, elsewhere on Mobius... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bookshire checked Tails' chart, and leafed through some things on his clipboard. "You're healing nicely, Tails. I'm glad to see that you've been following my advice." Tails smiled weakly, drinking some orange juice. "How long will it be, doc?" Bookshire thought for a moment. "Another month, at the most. It's a good thing you're young still, Tails. An older fox would have been in traction all the way until autumn." He smiled. "But I have faith that you'll be just fine." Tails glanced up at Bookshire. "Do you really think so?" Bookshire nodded. "You're a tough kit." He smirked. "Of course I am." Chuckling, Bookshire patted Tails on the head. "And you tough guys need your rest...so go back to sleep, Tails. We'll talk later." Tails closed his eyes. "Okay, doc, okay..." Within a few moments, the young fox drifted off to sleep, dreaming about flying over the ocean blue... After Tails had been safely asleep for a few minutes, Bookshire walked silently out of the room, shut the door firmly behind him, and walked out to the waiting room. Within the waiting room, Sally was sitting patiently, somewhat anxious about Tails' condition. She stood when Bookshire entered. "How is he doing, Bookshire?" Bookshire rubbed his chin. "Better than expected. He's doing everything I want him to do, and his body is young and strong. I wouldn't expect him to be here for more than another month." Sally bit her lip a little. "Well, that's good...I still feel so bad for him. What a way to be laid up...he can't even get out of bed to look out the window. It's like he lost all use of his legs." "Well, just be thankful that's not really the case...at the very worst, I only detected a lit of nerve damage near the tips of his tails...that's not much to you or I, seeing that we don't fly with ours..." Sally looked concerned. "What are you trying to tell me, Bookshire?" Bookshire scratched his head. "Well, Sally, I can't rightly say. I never knew how the kit could fly around to begin with. It's the same thing with bumblebees; they aren't supposed to be able to fly, but they do anyway. This might not affect his flight skills, or it might ground him for the rest of his life. There's no way to tell." Before Sally could say anything, Bookshire put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm telling you this, so that you can prepare yourself for any contingency. I think he'll be able to fly around after he gets his muscle tone back, but I want to be sure to notify you of this potential problem." Sally nodded gravely. "So you want me to tell--" Bookshire interrupted. "Heavens no!" He quieted down a bit, realizing a sleeping kit was only a few hundred feet away. "If you tell him that, it'll totally undermine his determination to heal. I've given him optimistic odds, which probably only slightly retarded his effort to get well...but it didn't last long, as his progress chart shows." As Sally looked it over, he kept talking. "What I want you to do is support him, like I know you would have anyway, during the period after I remove his casts...but you must be sure to display nothing but absolute confidence that he'll be able to fly again." Sally smirked unpleasantly. "Then why did you tell me all that about the odds...?" "Because," he said, "it is a doctor's responsibility to tell his patient's caretaker everything she should know, pleasant or not." "I'll do my best, Bookshire." He smiled gently. "I know you will." As she was about to leave, Bookshire added one more comment. "Just one more thing, Sally..." "Yes?" "Have you had the "talk" with the boy yet?" Sally frowned. She'd been successful in avoiding it so far, but now she was cornered into it. "No." "Well, he's getting to that age, you know." "I'll see if I can work it in next time I visit," she spoke quietly, her mind already gearing up for the internal turmoil that awaited. "That'd be a good idea," said he, and thus departed back into his office. "Good-bye." Sally stood there for a moment after he left, smoothed her headfur, and went outside into the sunlight. She had a feeling that this wasn't going to be easy, but it had to be done... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "You want me to WHAT?" Sonic glared at Sally, a bit surprised at her strange request. She'd brought him aside after a routine meeting, took him back into her hut, and sat him down at the kitchen table. Then, sitting directly across from him, and looking right into his eyes, she'd said something that took Sonic totally by surprise. "Sal, the main hedgehog can do lots of stuff, but this is just..." She sighed. "Sonic, look...I can't do it." "Whaddya mean? You've got the smarts to do it." "Sonic..." "No way, Sal! This isn't something I'm cool with." "But I don't know how to explain it to him, Sonic. Julayla gave the girls one sort of "talk", and gave you guys another kind, I assume." Sonic rubbed his scalp. "Oh, man...can't someone else do this?" "Sonic, it's got to be you. You're the closest thing to a father-figure that he has...and this IS a father-son talk. If Tails was a vixen, this would be different. However, since Tails is quite obviously male, this becomes *your* job." "Can't some other guy do this? There's got to be some other dude who can talk better than me." Sally leaned back. "Name people, Sonic." "Rotor. He's good with explainin' things." Sally shook her head. "Rotor's also just a larger kid emotionally, in my opinion...but you know that I'd never actually say that to him." Sonic shook his head. "Nah, that wouldn't be cool." He thought for a moment, obviously having some difficulty. "How about Bookshire?" Sally thought about this for a moment. "Under different circumstances, maybe. But Bookshire's sort of out-of-touch with colloquial Mobian." The hedgehog blinked. "Saywha?" "The language you and I both use daily, Sonic...the slang and metaphors that we all use, not to mention the other sort of linquistic quirks most of us have. He's a doctor, not a `dude'." "Okay, how about Joe? Joe and I got an understandin'." Sally just looked at Sonic. "Have you lost your mind?" "Whaddya mean, have I lost my mind?! What's wrong with Joe?" "Well, as much as I have to admire Joseph for his talent and work with the deroboticizer, he's just...creepy." Sonic crossed his arms. "Creepy! No way! He's past cool!" "Sonic..." Sally stroked back her headfur. "Look, Joseph picked the weirdest part of the forest to make a home, has a bunch of roaming balls that peer in on everyone and seem to `coincidentally' appear every time something happens, is living with an ex-criminal, and generally only comes out to run tests on people. He does weird and abnormal things all the time. All sorts of rumors go around about the guy...he's just not someone I want influencing Tails' sexual behavior for the rest of his life." Sonic stubbornly continued to argue in his favor. "He's smarter than me, Sal...and, by what he's described, he's probably got a lot more experience than me or you." She leaned down on the table, resting her head on the sides of her palms. "Sonic, look. I just don't Joseph unintentionally putting his value system on Tails if he were to explain the birds and the bees to him. I don't approve of all the things he does, and since I'm Tails' surrogate mother, what I say goes." Quickly, she hit upon a stronger patch of sand to rest her reasoning on. "Besides, he's not even family! He's just some fox who happened to end up on Mobius one day." Sonic rubbed his scalp. "Man..." He thought harder. "Ant--no, not in a billion years, I will not let Ant mess up my bro." Sally leaned back again, and crossed her arms. "You're the best choice, Sonic. Just accept it." Sonic sighed. "This is so uncool." "Look, someone's got to be the hero." "Yeah, well maybe being the hero isn't as cool as I thought it would be." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Meanwhile, at a different altitude... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Checkmate again, Snively." They had been playing chess for the past three hours, waiting for Sandra to return from her travels. By now, it was a little past daybreak, but that didn't seem to bother either of them. "Oh," Snively sneered, "I just let you win." Joseph leaned back incredulously. "Uh-huh." He flicked his wrist at a right angle to the table, setting a action in motion that reset the board yet again. "Best of 25?" Snively slipped into his game-face. "You're on, fox." And so it went on, hour after hour, game after game. Neither side wished to surrender, both wanted to win...but, realistically, only Joseph could stop whenever he wanted to. However, as daybreak faded into early morning, both their determinations began to leave them, and the game became gradually friendlier. "So, have you been here long?" asked Snively after making a particularly good defensive move. "A year or two now." he replied, countering. Snively looked up at Joseph, looking for something that wasn't there. "And yet, I've never seen you before..." Joseph smiled in that disconcerting way. "Perhaps, perhaps not." Snively moved a rook. "You seem to have the advantage, fox...it makes me wonder." "Oh? And what does this `wondering' entail?" Snively looked at him again. "Are you one of them?" Joseph made his move. "Of their blood, I am. Of their kind, I am not." Snively's mind swirled with possibilities. "But would you help them?" Joseph answered quicker than expected. "No." Snively moved a bishop. "Why?" Joseph made a brilliant tactical move with a pawn. "Because their way lacks honor. They attack a world without a king, a world that wars with itself. We never attacked weakened prey before; what makes us do it now?" Snively made note of Joseph's counter. "And that is your only reason?" "It is the only one that is honorable." He made his move, but this one was out of necessity. "And what would these others be?" "What is it to you?" "Curiousity, mainly..." Snively smirked. "After all, I don't expect to live long after you release me. It would make my death easier to handle." Joseph thought for a moment before countering. "Perhaps later." Snively made his final move. "Very well. Check." Joseph made a single deft movement with a queen over to the other side of the board. "Much later. Check and mate." Snively frowned. "You had that up your sleeve the whole time, didn't you?" "Of course," Joseph said, resetting the board. "I want to see how you'd react...what your strategies were. After all, just defeating you wouldn't be prudent...I want to find out how you make the gains you make, and correct my defensive and offensive errors." Snively grumbled, yet realized the wisdom of Joseph's overall strategy. "Bah. I'll just change my plans." Joseph smiled. "Then I'll find a way to defeat it. Care for another game?" "No, I tire of chess. I'd like to rest now...it is obvious that your bit--" Snively held his tongue, fearing visiting the inside of Joseph's roboticizer. The fox had been calm and rather civil to him so far, he ruminated, but he was large enough to probably tear a relatively small human like himself in several pieces. And if he couldn't, his mate would. And if she couldn't, the robots that staffed his home would. Quickly, he altered the words within his mouth to make the initial `itc' into a 'e' sound. "--beau is going to take her time making this `decision' you gave her." The fox realized Snively's alleged verbal slip for what it was, but made no indication of showing a reaction. "I'd hope so. The fate of this mudball is in her hands." Something about the way he said 'mudball' gave him the feeling that Joseph could (and quite possibly would) go either way on this issue, depending on Sandra's response. This gave him a painfully uncomfortable stomach-ache. "R-really...?" "Yes, it is." Snively decided that he needed to lay down for a while. "Well, I'm getting pretty tired...it must be late." Joseph checked his chronometer. "Early, actually. But I see your point." He looked into a patch of blackness. "Usagi, take our guest into the brig." A large robot decloaked from the shadows, gently (but firmly) grabbed Snively's shoulders, and put him inside a nearby restraining field. The human didn't bother to resist the large robot, seeing that it was not only as large as its creator, but had especially deadly attributes that he didn't wish to see demonstrated. Snively had seen the robot many times during his short stay inside this facility that was called the 'Dome'. It was a tall robot, almost a half-inch taller than the fox that made it. Also previously stated were its quite deadly attributes the fox had installed upon it; razor-sharp talons, spiked appendages, fangs, a gun-arm, and most likely other weapons hidden within its body. However, the robot was ironically anthropromorphic; like its creator, it was shaped roughly like a fox. Perhaps this metallic mangler was some sort of creative expression, Snively thought, like a sick extension of his creator's steely soul. Placed into his corner, he laid down on the crude bed that had been created for his use, closed his eyes, and slept for the next 20 hours uninterrupted. His journey from Robotropolis had been rough, and his stay there even harder. It was good to be able to sleep somewhere 'safe'... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sandra sat on top of a box in the storage level, sobbing quietly as her frazzled mind tried to calm itself and think rationally. The walking and the consumption of grain alcohol didn't help, nor did the repeated attempts to cajole a definitive decision out of Bahb. The large artificial intelligence had no comfort, and gave no assistance to the dark vixen, but did try to give her as much of the facts as it could. However, facts only made the problem more complex for the hapless Sandra. She wasn't equipped to decide the fates of millions. It wasn't something you learned on the streets, or in a book, or from watching vid. The special something that the Princess and the King had that made them strong enough to make such decisions was sorely lacking in Sandra, which made her even more unhappy. What she wanted right now was for Joseph to say something that would force him to make the decision. If he made the decision, it would eliminate her input in the situation, and thus would create a scenerio that would make her less guilty. On the other hand, if Joseph made the wrong choice, not only would it result in the destruction of Mobius, but it would be HER fault for not making the RIGHT decision in the first place! A fresh round of sobbing began. There was no 'good' ending to this. No hedgehog could defeat a planet-eating spaceship, so that eliminated the hope of leaving it well enough alone. Running away was just as bad...their souls would drown in the blood of Mobius. Staying might have them killed by Joseph's people, or killed by the people of Mobius to avenge any dead. Fighting could get one or both of them killed, which certainly wasn't pleasant. What was the answer!? What was it?! She clutched her head and let out a cleansing scream. This wasn't supposed to be happening! People weren't supposed to be able to do this to whole worlds! What of the children!? What of the old and sick!? What of them...hadn't they faced enough pain in their lives!? The scream faded again to sobs and sniffling. This wasn't fair. Nobody should have to make this decision... A warm paw on her shoulder startled her slightly, but realizing who it was made her spirits rise. She didn't even wait for him to say "Hey, you". Immediately, she spun from her box and embraced the figure who had given her so much grief. "Help me..." she gasped, "please..." Joseph held her close. "I knew I shouldn't have let you stay for the interrogation...I could have lied, made up some sort of excuse..." She clung to him tighter. "NO!" Startled at her own ferality, she attempted to soften her voice. "It is better that this happens now, Joseph...better because we have time to do something...anything...to stop this from hurting us." He kissed her gently. "Very well...I can--" Sandra's mind, frazzled as it was, knew it had to make a decision now. Would she fight, fly, or die? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The morning air woke Tails from his sleep, and caused him to smile at his good fortune to be alive on such a wonderfully warm spring day. He leaned up a little bit and took stock of his surroundings. They were still the same four walls he had been put into some time ago to heal from his injury, but they were filled with various things Tails liked in order to make him feel more comfortable. His computer was here, as well as a few books and some other amusements. However, the place felt more `alive' and less sterile that morning, because the temperature was just right, the sky was clear, and the wind smelled of cherry blossoms and roses. It was a perfect day to fly...but the casts were supposed to stay on for a few more weeks. Yet, Tails refused to let it depress him. He knew that he would be allowed to play in the spring air soon enough, and see all of his friends again, face to face. A butterfly flitted in the window, and landed on a potted plant that was nearby Tails' bed. It was a pretty little thing, and for a few moments Tails contented himself with mere observation of the insect's beauty. After a few moments, tho, it flew off, out of the window and into the forest, leaving Tails again with only his thoughts. He checked his watch. It was about eleven in the morning, which was almost lunchtime in Knothole. Sonic would stop by today with Sally, who would probably fawn over him and generally give him as much affection as he could possibly tolorate. He smiled. Sally was a good mother to him, but she kept thinking he was just some helpless kit. He hoped she'd grow out of that phase soon...it was starting to become bothersome. The distant sound of rapidly pounding feet, as well as the typical booming sounds caused by supersonic motion, signalled Sonic's arrival nearby. And, sure enough, he entered with Sally a moment later, who hugged him until his eyes were about to bug out. Sonic, however, gave Tails a far more tolorable high-four. "Hey, Tails!" He smiled. "Hello, Sonic. Hi Aunt Sally." Sally held him for a moment before brushing back his hair and funny-kissing him. "Hello, Tails. How do you feel?" "I'm better. How are you guys doing?" Sonic did his usual slow, horizontal swipe with his paw, denoting smooth sailing. "We're cool. BucketHead's been quiet lately. We've only had to attack 'Buttnikville about 2 times in the past week." Sally smiled in agreement. "We hope to finish him off by next winter." "That's cool. How's everything else?" Sonic shrugged. "Ehh, the usual, bro. Lots of people are moving, tho. There'll be lots more villages around by summertime." Tails grinned again. "That'll be way past! I hope I can see them being put together." Sally laughed softly. "Oh, I'm sure you will." Sonic checked his non-existant watch, a tad more anxious to leave than usual. "Well, we should be goin'..." Sally jabbed Sonic in the ribs. "No, Sonic, you can stay a little longer. I can do...uh, it, by myself." Sonic looked over at Sally pleadingly, but got only a stern glare in reply. He then glanced back at Tails. "Can you excuse me an' Sal for a minute? Grown-up stuff." Tails nodded, and Sonic took Sally out into the hall. "I can't do it, Sal!" he whisper-shouted. "It's freaking me too much." "Sonic, we had this discussion already." The hedgehog whimpered, which was something hedgehogs tended not to do much. "Sally, PLEASE!" She crossed her arms and turned her back. "Sonic, this is YOUR responcibility..." Sonic groaned. "Man..." Then, Sally did something surprising. She turned around gracefully and slowly, pulled Sonic further away from the door, and looked into his eyes with a look that could have melted a diamond. "If you do this," she whispered in a way only a woman can, "I'll make it up to you. I promise." A tense silence, and then the reluctant but more confident reply of "Okay" from Sonic. After he said yes, Sally slowly departed, letting Sonic enter the door alone, with no Sally to lean on. Fighting SWATBots and Robotnik with no power ring, a broken leg, short quills, and with a gut-ache from eating a bad chili dog, he thought, would probably be less nervewracking. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bahb took a break from its development of its new project to observe the hedgehog and fox discussing sex and its various subtopics. Choosing to record this moment for historical and personal reasons, it analyzed how Sonic went about this. Perhaps, it believed, if Joseph ever had a kit, this `talk' might be something he would have to do. Sonic began rather simply by just talking to Tails. Obviously, the hedgehog was uncomfortable with this situation, but either personal responcibility or coersion had him giving the speech to Tails. So, it concluded, he wanted to explain this to Tails in the best possible way. Sonic slowly moved into the topic with a general verbal prodding of Tails' basic knowledge of the topic to see what sort of discussion he would have to give to him. And, oddly, Tails was a little more prepared that Sonic had anticipated. This allowed Sonic to skip ahead to the intermediate level, which would probably be a little more challenging than the simplistic question-and-answer period. The hedgehog was now sweating somewhat from his anxiety. He used his hands a lot to get his points across, which Tails seemed to understand just as well as the verbal communication. Some of it, it calculated, was a bit more crude than would have been executed by, say, Sally. However, it seemed to work well enough for Tails to comprehend it all. After a few more minutes of speaking, he began to pace a little to work off some of his nervous tension, yet he kept speaking. He was obviously getting to the more complex part of mate-mate relationships, because even he was beginning to stumble over his own tongue. Yet, Tails kept listening attentively, nodded at certain intervals, and asked the occasional question to keep Sonic moving along on the topic. Sonic was now occasionally drinking a glass of water while he paced around, using his free hand to burn off the remaining stress. He was starting to settle down a bit, obviously because the actual mechanics of mating were out of the way. He was now focusing on the relationship-part of this `talk', which he felt more at home with. Tails asked a few more questions here than he did before, and seemed to be understanding and learning from his mentor all that he needed to know. The hedgehog wound up his now 45 minute discussion by answering any other questions that Tails had left, which were fortunately few. After answering these questions, and finishing off his water, he gave his `little bro' a hug, and departed. Tails looked like he was enlightened, yet he had a very slight smirk on his face after his mentor had left the area at a supersonic speed. Perhaps the discussion Bookshire had with him that morning would have had something to do with it. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Well, I'm glad *that's* over with." Sally comforted Sonic, who was sitting rather emotionally drained by the power ring pool. "Hey, it sounded like you did pretty good there, Sonic." Sonic splashed some water on his face. "Yeah, I pulled it off. But I was never so scared in my entire life." Sally gave Sonic a light squeeze. "Raising a well-adjusted kit is the most frightening mission of all, Sonic. That's what my father used to say..." "Well, he was a pretty smart dude, then, because that scared me to death." Sally smiled wistfully. "I suppose so." "Man, I just want to *sleep* for the next week. I feel like I've ran all over Mobius a few times now." Sally giggled. "Does that mean that you don't want to see my token of gratitude?" "No way!" Sonic calmed himself a bit, noticing Sally's smug look. "I mean, no way should I keep myself from you. It'd be cruel." She laughed. "What-EVER, Sonic Hedgehog." "Hey! No fair taking advantage of a weakened hedgehog!" Sally walked off smirking, but Sonic ran after her all the way to Knothole. "Wait! I didn't mean that I *minded*...!" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The decision had been made. Both of them sat in his control room, much relieved that they had agreed to do something about this situation. The tension that had existed for what seemed like weeks was now lifted, and now all they had to do would be to put their plan into motion. It was so simple, yet so clever...Sandra was glad Joseph had helped her make the decision, and his soft embrace after they had figured out their plan allowed her to unwind and think rationally again... Now the masquerade had to be played to its limit, she thought as Joseph keyed in the last overview of their plan to Bahb. There could be no mistakes in their unravelling of the plot, and the margin of error was comically small. Yet, with Joseph's planning and her smooth manipulation, they could do it. Joseph punched up a live-action picture of Mobius from space from a helpful weather satellite, showing an overview of the remaining settlements on Mobius. Blue and green lines showed communication between two points, while the reddish splotches indicated areas of electrical activity. Brown showed the pollution, and black spots showed the areas above which the sattelites that would try to melt Mobius' icecaps would be located. Seconds later, Joseph overlayed his plan of offense and defense on top of the map, showing a simple, yet effective plan of attack that would preserve Mobius, destroy the invaders, and take back Mobius all in one fell swoop. And it would only involve one or two actions on his part...the rest would be thought to have done by the Mobians themselves. All the glory would go to the hedgehog, and Joseph and Sandra could live lives of relative invisibility forever. As Joseph had said once, "Check and mate." There was hope for Mobius, after all. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -