Warning: As dis series goes along, some sexual content will be involved. But don’t worry! Me’ll be a markin’ does places so U can skip if U want.
Sonic, Sally, Tails, Rotor, Knuckles, Snively, Amy Rose, Dulcy, Bunnie and Dimitri and related characters are copyright of Sega and/or Archie Comics and/or DIC productions. Everyone else is copyright of ME!

Author’s Note: U better read o’ U be really confused! Okies, dis is an alternative dimension. Not like da Archie Comic Sonic. Dis one was da some until Knuckles’ first encounter wit Enerjak. Dimitri was turned back to normal anna was a good guy. Den everything da same until da Dark Legion. When dey invaded, da Chaos Emeralf go kabloooey! Dis will be explained later. Den Knothole was a destroyed den relocated on da Floatin’ Island and Knuckles now a freedom Fighter. Oh yeah! Anna Snively issa now inna his true from, a deinonychus. Den...well. read on and enjoy ‘kay?! Any question’s o’ requests. E-mail me atta ninnako_foxie@hotmail.com

Emerald and Brass Chpater 1 by: Nin’nako Foxie

Rain fell upon the tropical jungle of the legendary Floating Island. A lone figure sat in a tree, sheltered by its foliage. Nearby, the secret village of Knothole Village II sat nestled among the trees, vines, and flowers as well. Undetectable from the ground and shy, Knothole was the perfect place for the freedom Fighters to live.
“Night,” the figure said softly. Immediately a black lap top computer appeared in front of the figure.
“Greetings, Socara,” the computer said,” you don’t seem very happy. What’s wrong?”
“I miss him,” sighed Socara,” and I feel so guilty, like I got him killed.”
“You know it wasn’t your fault,” Night the computer replied,” no one could have prevented that explosion.”
Socara the Echidna sighed again and stared off into the night, thinking. Ark, her partner , had died a month ago on a secret mission in Robotropolis. Socara and Ark had set the explosives on the main robotitizer, hoping to destroy it. Unfortunately, a swatbot had caught them, and while trying to blast them with its lasers, set off the explosives. Ark had shoved her out of the way right before he, the robotitizer, and the swatbot were destroyed. Their mission had been completed, but at the cost of a life.
Socara looked down at herself. Her legs and right arm had been robotitized. Even though all the Freedom Fighters feared being robotitized, Socara was glad that she was part robot. She could now fly, had lasers built into her Knuclaws, and was stronger. Though she was already unusually strong.
“At least he died for a good cause,” Socara muttered. ”That robotitizer had been Snively’s most powerful one. thanks for the talk. Storage.”
“No problem,” Night said before disappearing. Socara leaped to the ground and began walking to the lab, She was felling a little happier. Maybe Dimitri will need help with his new invention, she thought to herself.
When she reached the lad, she flew up through the trees had landed on the porch, instead of using the rope ladder. Shaking off the raindrops that had fallen onto her long, white dreadlocks, she walked in.
“Hi, Dimitri,” she greeted,” hi Lacoria.”
“Hello,” they replied at the same time.
“Want to help us with our new invention?” Dimitri asked.
Dimitri grinned to himself as Socara eagerly sat down next to his lifemate Lacoria and began working. The red echidna was always eager to help. Also she seemed to have a knack with anything to do with technology, and was a very quick learner.
He looked at a small laser pen that was on a table across the room, and concentrated. A green glow formed itself around the laser pen . Slowly, it began to float towards Dimitri’s out stretched hand. He grabbed it and continued working.
Looks like Dimitri started using his powers again, Socara thought. I don’t like it. She looked at the invention or rather inventions on the table. Each were a small disc with a button in the middle. There was one for each Freedom Fighter on the Floating Island. The small disc would allow the holder to teleport back to the Floating Island when they pressed the button. When they were complete, each would be programmed so it would only work for a certain Freedom Fighter. This was a safety mechanize.
Queen Sally Acorn walked into the lad. “Have any of you seen Sonic?” Sally asked.
“I haven’t seen him all day,” Lacoria replied.” Wasn’t he on a scouting mission?”
“Yes, but he should have been back an hour ago. Maybe something went wrong,” Sally said.
“Sally,” said Socara,” you are talking about Sonic the Hedgehog here. He can definitely care of himself. I’ll go to Robotropolis and see if I can hunt him down.”
“Very well, but be careful.”
“I’m always careful,” Socara grinned, “Later.” She got up and headed for the door.
“Just a sec, Socara,” Lacoria said quickly,” take this with you.” She tossed Socara one of the teleporters. “This one’s completed and programmed to you. You know how to use it right?”
“Yep,” she said and flew out the door.

Sonic opened his eyes and looked around. He was sitting in a large chair with controls before him. All around the room were television screens and a robotitizer. He was in the main control room of Robotropolis.
Sonic got up and stretched. Then turned on a screen and brought up the layout of the Floating Island. Well, he thought, they’re in for a big surprise.

Back in Knothole:
Sally paced back and forth in the War Room. There was a 3-D projection of Robotropolis on the table in the center of the room. Finally, she stopped paving and stared at the Central Tower in Robotropolis. “Where could he be?” Sally asked herself. “He’s never been gone this long. I need a walk to clear my head.” She climbed down the rope ladder leading from the War Room to the ground. The rain continued to fall, but Sally wasn’t getting wet at all.
When the Floating Island’s twelfth Chaos Emerald had exploded, it had given anyone within its magic range special powers that were deep inside them or turned them into other kinds of mythical creatures. The Freedom Fighters called this the Reality Change. This was all before Knothole Village II had been built on the Floating Island, before the original Knothole was destroyed.
Now Sally was an aquamancer, She could control water and make it do what she wanted it to do, including the power to put up a shield around herself that allowed her to breath underwater and prevent from getting wet. Sally took out the small piece of aqua aura quartz shaped like a raindrop from the pouch that was attached to her belt. It was her lifestone, something else that she had received in the Reality Change. The quartz was linked to her. If it was destroyed, then she would die. Also, if she was too far away from it for too long then she would die. This was the same for anyone who had received powers and a lifestone.
The soft blue glow of her lifestone always made her feel better, and right now she needed some comforting.
A faint rustle of leaves came from behind her, and Knuckles the Echidna emerged from the bushes. Like herself, he wasn’t getting wet either. Knuckles was a pyromancer, meaning he had the same powers as Sally but controlled fire, not water. The rain merely evaporated before it touched him. When the Chaos Emerald exploded, Knuckles was a lot closer so he was more powerful then Sally.
“Hey Sal, are you okay,” Knuckles asked gently.
“Yes, I’m all right,” Sally murmured, turning her back to him.
Knuckles put his hand on Sally’s shoulder. “Sally, you may be the Queen of Mobius and the leader of the Floating Island Freedom Fighters, but that doesn’t mean you can’t show any feelings. Sonic is your lifemate and fellow Freedom Fighter, it is natural to be worried about him. You care for him, don’t let this harsh war make you forget that.”
Sally thought about what he had said. He’s right, she thought, I have forgotten. Finally, she realized that Knuckles’ had was no longer on her shoulder. “Knuckles?” She asked quickly, turning around. But he was gone.

Socara peered in through one of the many skylights on the Central Tower in Robotroplis. All the t.v screens were blank, all except one that had the Floating Island on it. No one was in the room.
She had already searched everywhere where Sonic would have been taken if he had been capture without finding Sonic. None of the robots she had seen were acting like anything had happened. She shifted her Position on the Skylight’s sill and looked inside again. I better take a closer look, she thought. Mentally adjusting her lasers to low power, she began cutting a hole in the glass big enough for her to fit through. She caught the glass before it hit the floor.
A flash of lightning lit the sky. Something hard, cold, and iron struck Socara on the back of the head. She slumped over, the rumble of thunder answered the lightning. The circle of glass hit the floor and shattered.

“Dimitri, Bunnie, Coyota, and Divewing,” Sally commanded, “you four will search the East Sector of Robotropolis. Draca, Knuckles, Lacoria, Tails, and I will search the West Sector and Central Tower. Chita and Penzan will patrol the skies. It is no longer raining so you don’t need to watch out for lightning, Penzan. If you see a pink flare, roar once. Green flare, roar twice. Green means you found Sonic and pink means you found Socara. Does each group have theirs flares and understand the instructions?”
Everyone shouted yes.
“Good. Now move out!”

“Now, if I were a gambling hedgehog,” said Sonic, relaxing in his chair, “ then I would bet that Sally would have formed a search team to find me by now.” A groan and a faint rustle of chains came from behind him. Sonic turned his chair around. “I mean, to find us by now. What a nice thought to have someone care for us. of course it will be fun to watch them die.”

Outside, Sally, Knuckles, Draca, Tails, and Lacoria hid beside the Central Tower, concealed by its dark shadow.
“Have you located them yet, Nicole?” Sally asked her portable computer, the one she always kept at her side.
“Not yet,” Nicole replied. “I’m surprised that I can even scan the building for living beings. What with all the shields Snively has.”
“Well keep trying, Nicole.”
A swatbot walked by, but it didn’t see them, even though it had night vision. When it was out of sight, Tails let out a sigh of relief. His invisibility illusion had worked, preventing the bot from seeing them.
“Sally,” Nicole said, “I have a fix on them. They’re both in the main control room at the top.”
Sally looked up. “That’s a long way,” she said. “Okay, Tail, fly Lacoria up and wait for the rest of us. Draca, you can climb up the wall right?”
“Do birds fly,” Draca grinned, flexing her talons.
“You piggy-back me up and Knuckles can climb up using his knuckles.”
“Got ya, Sal,” said Knuckles as he began to climb up by digging his huge knuckles into the wall. Slowly he and Draca climbed the wall with Sally hanging onto Draca’s back
Thank the Ancients that Draca’s a dragonian, thought Sally, or she wouldn’t be able to carry me up this easily. Sally glanced down at the ground far below. Too bad we can’t fly up, but Draca and Knuckles can only glide. Also Tails won’t be able to keep his illusion spell on us were flying around.
They finally made it to the top. Tails leaned against the window, but almost fell through it. “Looks like someone has already been here,” he said, feeling the edge of the hole he had almost fallen through. “Part of the glass is missing and it’s too smooth, Someone had to of cut it.”
“That’s odd,” Draca said, “there’s no one in the room.”
“No look,” said Knuckles, “there’s something in the corner.”
“Let’s take a closer look,” Sally suggested. Draca glided down first. Tails and Knuckles helped Sally and Lacoria down.
“Come quick!” Draca shouted. “It’s Socara!”
“Oh my gosh,” Sally gasped, running to Draca’s side and followed by the others. Iron shackles bound Socara’s hands and feet. An iron collar was around her neck and connected to the base of the wall. It wasn’t even long enough for her to sit up.
“Move aside,” Lacoria commanded as she pulled out a laser pen from her coat pocket and slowly began cutting the off the shackles on Socara’s feet. “I wonder why Snively hasn’t robotitized her. Why just chain her to the wall? And what did he do to her?”
“What do you mean, Lacoria?” Tails asked.
“This is iron. Socara should have been able to snap these like a dry twig,” Lacoria replied.
“ Her robotic limbs are still functioning,” Draca said after doing a quick check to see if anything was malfunctioning or if she was hurt.
“Socara,” Sally said softly, “Socara, wake up.” The echidna’s left eye opened a little and looked at Sally for a moment. Socara closed her eye again. Just this little movement took an effort. She had never been exposed to this much iron before. “What has he done to you?”
Lacoria finished cutting off the leg shackles and began working on the iron collar.
“Iron to bind the magic,” a voice said.
“Who said that?” Knuckles shouted turning around. “Sonic?”
The chair in the center of the room slowly turned around, revealing Sonic the Hedgehog. “Iron to bind the fey.”
“Sonic!” Sally shouted. “What is the meaning of this?!”
“I want all of your lifestones,” he explained, slowly standing, “and if you won’t give them to me, I’ll take them.”
“You know as well as I that we can’t do that,” Sally retorted. What has happened to Sonic? She thought, he would never do this. Sally was confused she wasn’t quite sure on what to do. She didn’t want to attack the love of her life, but knew she had to if they were forced to.
“I do know,” Said Sonic, he smiled fiendishly. “I want to see you die. One by one, slowly and painfully.”
Lacoria gasped. “If you want our lifestones then what did you do to Socara?! She doesn’t have a lifestone. She could have broken out of these chains in an instant.”
Sonic laughed, an evil laugh. “You are wrong. Iron hurts those of her kind. it poisons her, her slowly killing her.” He took out a small green crystal from his pouch. “And without this, she suffers even more.”
“You traitor!” Knuckles screamed, and lunged at Sonic.
“Fool!” Using his super speed, Sonic run to a what he thought was a safe distance. “You can’t catch me!”
Draca grabbed Sonic from behind, but he seized her arms and threw her into Knuckles. “Last chance, guys,” he said. “Give your lifestone to me. You have no idea on how much energy there is in them.”
“Never,” Sally hissed. “You have to be mad if you think we’re just going to hand over our lives without a fight.”
“You’re calling me mad?” Sonic zoomed forward and grabbed Sally’s arm. “No one defies my will and lives.”
Suddenly, Socara swung the leg shackles around Sonic’s neck. He gagged and let go of Sally, clawing desperately at the chain. Socara tightened the chain.
When Sally realized that she wasn’t going to let go she screamed, “No! Socara, stop!”
Socara looked at her. Her dark eyes made Sally very nervous for some reason. And still she didn’t let go.
Sonic fell down and his struggling become weaker and weaker.
“Stop!” Then desperately Sally yelled, “Ten hut soldier!” Immediately Socara let go of the chain and stood in position. Then sunk down to her knees. Sally let out a sigh of relief and picked up the green crystal Sonic had dropped. She turned her attention back to Socara as Lacoria began to cu t off the collar again. Socara was leaning against the wall with a far off look in her eyes and breathing very slowly.
Draca climbed back out the skylight and lit both flares. In the distance, she could here Penzan roaring three times.
No one paid too much attention to Sonic because they thought he was unconscious. There for no one noticed him as he dragged himself to the chair an disappeared through an escape panel in the floor.
“He’s gone!” Shouted Knuckles, but it was too late.
“We’ll have to deal with him later,” said Sally.
“There, that’s the last one,” Lacoria said putting her laser pen away. “Feeling better, Socara?” There was no response. “Oh, dear. She’s unconscious.”
“Then we need to get back to Knothole immediately,” said Sally. “I guess now is the time to test these teleporters.”

The group of Freedom Fighters materialized in Knothole, and was greeted by the rest of the Freedom Fighters.
“Lacoria, take Socara to Dr. Quack,” Sally commanded.
“What happened?” Asked Coyota.
“Where’s Sonic,” Asked Dimitri.
“Divewing, tell all the Freedom fighters to gather in the meadow,” Sally said to the young mallard. “We are going to have a meeting.”

When all the Freedom Fighters gathered together in the meadow, Sally told all of them what had happened and her suspicions about Sonic. “Sonic can no longer be trusted and is wanted for attempted murder and capture of a Freedom Fighter,” Sally finished. “If any of you capture Sonic don’t underestimate him at all. Everyone may now leave. But I wish to speak to Tails, Knuckles, Draca, and Lacoria privately in the War Room.”
Later in the War Room, Sally said, “I know this may be an odd question, but tell me everything you know about Socara except the odvious like her species, appearance, etc. You go first Knuckles.”
“Well,” began Knuckles, “she seems to be an excellent fighter and quick learner with incredible strength. I’ve been training her as the next Guardian of the Floating Island. She’s very helpful and had military training practically burned into the memory.”
“Um... she was adopted. Everytime she wonders off somewhere no one can find her,” said Lacoria, “and she seems to have a knack with technology.”
“I taught her a bit of magic, which she caught on extremely quickly,” added Tails.
“Wait, Tails. Exactly how much magic did you teach her?” Sally asked.
“Just a few simple illusion for the heck of it. Why? Is that important?”
“I’m not sure.” Sally thought for a moment. “Did any of you know that she had a lifestone?” They all shook their heads.
“Well she does,” said Draca breaking the silence, “and it was a Chaos Emerald. Think about it, guys, a Chaos Emerald. The ultimate source of magic energy.”
“We’ve never seen her use magic though,” said Tails.
“Maybe she didn’t want us to know,” muttered Knuckles.
“What do you mean by that,” snapped Sally.
“I’m not sure. It was just a thought. But she did seem a little, shall we say, different since the day we found her as a baby by the Eternal River.”
“When she was strangling Sonic, I looked into her eyes and I felt scared for some reason,” Sally said slowly.
“Murder,” said Draca.
“What?” Lacoria asked.
“She had murder in her eyes,” Draca said casually. “She want to kill Sonic, bad. And believe me, I have enough experience as a mercenary to know that look. In my opinion, the only thing that prevent her from finishing him off was because she’s so used to military commands that it’s just automatic to obey them.”
“First, Sonic turns traitor. Now my daughter turns killer,” scowled Sally.
“Adopted daughter,” Knuckles corrected.
“Whatever.”

The next day...
“Dr. Quack, how is Socara?” Sally asked.
“She’ll be fine after a bit of rest. We didn’t find anything wrong with her,” Dr. Quack replied. “You may go see her if you want to.”
Sally knocked on Socara’s door. There was no answer. Maybe she’s sleeping, Sally thought as she quietly opened the door. Socara was sitting on the bed, staring at the wall.
“Can I come in?” Sally asked.
“Why did this have to happen?” Asked Socara.
“What happened?”
“Last night and a night far before that one.”
“I’m sorry but I don’t understand.” Sally sat down on the edge of the bed.
Socara had never questioned something like this.
“Neither do I,” she murmured.
“Socara, I need to talk to you about something important,” Sally said softly. “Why didn’t you tell me that you and a lifestone? Which means you must have powers.”
“He might find out, but I think he already has. But I don’t have powers.”
“Of course you do. All Mobians with lifestones have powers, and who’s He?”
“Someone... different.”
What on Mobius is she talking about? “Socara. You don’t need to hide anything from me,” Sally said gently. Socara looked away, with a still far off look in her eyes. “Why did you try to kill Sonic? You know that a Freedom Fighter is suppose to respect all life, good or bad.”
“He would have killed you with no second thought... why didn’t I finish him?”
Sally blinked in surprise at her. There was a short silence before a nurse came in to tell Sally that Socara needed her rest and she would have to leave.
“Oh, well rest up, child.” Sally smiled a fake smile. “See you later, ‘kay?”
Outside, Sally let out a sigh of relief. She was glad that was over. Though she had felt odd when she was talking to Socara. “Nicole, did you record that?”
“Yes, I did, Sally,” Nicole replied.
“Good. I’m going to find Knuckles and Dimitri. They might know more about this... He,” Sally said.
“They’re probably at lunch right now.”
“Yeah, well I’m hungry anyways,” Sally said as she climbed up a rope ladder to the Dining Room.
In the Dining Room, nearly all the Freedom Fighters were eating lunch. Sally grabbed a bowl of salad and sat down next to Knuckles, who was sitting with Lacoria and Dimitri. “Hi guys,” Sally greeted.
“Hey Sal, you went to talk to Socara, right?” Knuckles asked. Sally nodded taking a mouthful of salad. “How is she?”
Sally swallowed the salad then asked, “Mentally or physically?”
“Um...both, I guess.”
“Well, physically she seems all right to me, and Dr. Quack said that he didn’t find anything wrong with her. Here’s the mental part and you decide.” Sally put Nicole on the table and replayed the conversation. While they were listening, she quickly finished her salad. When the recording was over, they stared a Sally in disbelief and confusion.
“Err... that was... um...interesting,” Lacoria murmured.
“Do you guys have any ideas who this He is?” Sally asked.
“Could this He be Enerjak?” Lacoria asked cautiously. “Enerjak was well different.”
“No! No, Enerjak is gone for good,” Dimitri insisted, he was beginning the sweat a little. “Besides he was evil. Not different.”
“Well, I have no ideas,” Knuckles said. “He can’t be an Ancient Walker though. They’re good.”
“But she said that this He was different, not good or bad,” said Sally.
Suddenly, the room grew dark. “What the...” Knuckles muttered. Outside, a huge shadow was spreading across the land. Everyone looked up. The sun was black, with solar flares all around it.
“Oh shoot,” muttered Dimitri. “It’s all right everyone. It’s just an eclipse which was suppose to happen!”

An eclipse, thought Socara. She stared at Mobius’ moon as it covered the sun, something that didn’t happen very often. But there was something else. It felt like...energy. She cocked her head to the side thoughtfully. Maybe, she thought, maybe. Slowly she focused on the energy and stored it into her lifestone.
“I like this,” she giggled. She was about to pull a chair to the window so she could sit down, when a huge wave of dizziness hit her. The room seemed to wave around her. Then she screamed with pain. It felt like a hundred mad surgeon were slicing her up with rusty knives. She released the energy and collapsed.

Sonic grumbled to himself in the Central Tower. I’ll get her for this, Sonic thought. She’s going to regret making me bluer then I was last night. I’ll have her head.
A swatbot came in carrying a plate piled with chilidogs. “Here are your chilidogs, sir,” the swatbot said in a mechanized voice, “also the Memory Replay is complete.”
“Excellent, set the chilidogs on the table then get out,” Sonic said. He stuffed a chilidog into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. Or better yet, she can be my test dummy, and if it works... Sonic chuckled to himself...she’ll wish she was dead.

“There,” said Tails as he stuffed the last note into a compartment in the mechanical bird’s chest, “that’s the last note. Too bad we have to retrieve all of our spies from Robotropolis, but with Sonic as the new dictator we can’t take any risks.” He launched the mechanical bird into the air and it flew out of sight. Tails watched the bird fly away. What do I do now, Tails thought. All the scouting missions were canceled and all the computer codes are being changed. Everything was changing all because of one former friend, Tails could feel tears coming to his eyes, but he blinked them back. “Why, Sonic?” he whispered. Why? What had happened to you?”

Wind rushed through Sally’s long red hair as she ran to the medical center. She had just been informed that Socara had collapsed for no apparent reason, despite all the test they had run on her.
Inside, a nurse informed her that Socara had woken up and that they still hadn’t found anything wrong with her.
Quietly Sally opened the door to Socara’s room. Socara was sitting on the bed, hugging her knees to her chest. Her eyes were wide with fear and unblinking. She made no movement to show that she knew Sally was there.
“Socara?” Sally asked. “Are you all right?” No answer. “It’s me, Sally.” She walked closer. “Please say something.” She put her hand on Socara’s shoulder. Socara’s mouth moved a little like she was trying to say something but couldn’t. Sally sat down and hugged her.
Outside the window she could see Draca carrying her son, Zack, on her shoulders. They both looked so happy. Zack was playfully tugging at Draca’s wings. Draca just smiled and continued walking.
“That’s how I wanted it to be,” Sally said, mostly to herself. “I wanted to be as happy as they are right now. With Sonic by my side and my father here.” She looked at Socara. “Also with you. I wanted this realm to be safe for the next generation. But that generation has grown up and the next generation has come. I advised people not to have children because it is so dangerous now. Most listened. Though you are here. All you know is war.” Sally sighed and gazed out the window. “Zack’s too young to understand. can’t blame Draca though. He was laid before this war started, but Dragonian eggs take 20 years to hatch. Now my Father has disappeared again, Sonic is a traitor, and...” She couldn’t continue. Tears swelled in her eyes. She let them fall but didn’t cry.

Bunnie Rabbot ran her non-mechanical hand through Winterweave’s snow white neck feather. Winterweave the White Gryphon whimpered a little.
“What’s wrong, sugar?” Bunnie asked. “Oh, ah wish ya can talk.”
The gryphon whimpered and rested her head on her foreclaws. Carefully Bunnie removed Winterweave’s collar and tuft earrings, then placed them in a chest. “Why don’t we go fer a walk. That ah ta make ya feel better, no fun being stuck in this little ol’ hut.” Winterweave got to her feet and Bunnie sat on her back. They walked outside and flew to the ground.
After a while, they reached to edge of the Floating Island. Suddenly, Winterweave screeched and reared up. “Hey!” Bunnie shouted, rolling of her back and onto the ground. Winterweave looked at her apologetically, then flew off. “Where do ya think your going!” She fired up her jets and took off after the gryphon.

“Wha...” Sally murmered. She looked around. “Oh, I must have dozed off.” The sun was starting to set. Her stomach rumbled a little. “Better go get something to eat.” She stood up, but then looked back at Socara, she still hadn’t moved. Giving her a final hug, she turned to leave.
“Sa...Sally?”
Sally spun around . “Socara! You talked!” Sally shouted happily. “Are you all right?”
“Scared...pain...Dark...” She murmured. “Is Uncle Knuckles okay?”
“What do you mean?” Sally sat back down next to her. “And yes, Knuckles is fine.”
“Sonic...” Socara slumped against Sally, barely able to continue.
“Did Sonic do this to you?” Sally held the little echidna close to her.
“No...couldn’t see Sonic. He resha...reshaped Sonic’s mind...”
“It’s okay. Save your strength,” Sally comforted. “You can tell me when you have slept.” She helped Socara lay down, then tucked her in and kissed her on the forehead. Almost immediately Socara fell asleep. Sally smiled with relief then left the echidna.

“Finally,” sighed Dimitri, pushing one final button on the keyboard. “That is the final code. Now all we need to do is set up our how spy network again.”
“You serious?!” Chita laughed. “Dis ‘ill be fun, ‘sides we needed tah do dis sooner or later.” She swished her tail in front of Dimitri’s face. He just laughed back.
“I know, I know. Just wish Rotor was still here. Things would have been a lot quicker,” Dimitri said. “But the Freedom Fighters in the Arctic Area needed him.”
“Tell me about it,” laughed Knuckles. “Arctic the Seal practically begged us when it was unnecessary.” He looked back at the 3-D projection Robotroplis. “And Chita and I think we have an idea for a new spy network. The most major change will be that we’re going to reprogram some swatbots to report what’s going on to us. Then will have someone meet them at a certain time for the report. We can also get pictures from the Swatbot’s point of view.”
“Sound all right tah you?” Chita asked. “We’ll be placing homin’ devices in the swatbots we reprogram so we know we’re talkin’ tah the right one.”
“Sounds all right to me, but you’ll have to confirm your plans with Sally,” Dimitri reminded.
“Confirm what?” Sally asked, walking in through the door.
“Just our new spy system,” Chita smiled.

The moon was high in the night sky when Socara woke up. She got out of the bed and walked to the window. Making sure no one was looking, she opened it and climbed out. The night air was refreshing and cool. She took a deep breath and look at the moon. It was so beautiful and she couldn’t help but reach out and try to touch it.
The memory of the day’s eclipse came back. She shuddered at the memory. The eclipse was fine, but what happened after wasn’t. All the pain, then total confusion. She was aware that her eyes had been open but she just couldn’t wake up.
She had a vision. Well at least that what she thought it was. She was standing in the middle of the street, in the most beautiful city she had ever seen. People were walking by her. Some species she could recognize, others she couldn’t, and all were mixtures. They all just having a good time. There was a street party going on to celebrate something. In the center of the city was a huge beautiful tower. .
Suddenly a brownish-green deinonychus grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into an alley. “Where in Zetallis have you been?!” he hissed to her. “Come, it is almost time.” Then he began pulling her towards the pyramid.
Socara was too confused to resist. Though her thoughts screamed, What am I doing?! It’s Him! Still she followed.
He lead her into the tower and through a long corridor. She wanted to stop at look more closely at the strange symbols in the wall, but he would shove her on. They reach a large room with a pedestal in the center. About an inch above the pedestal, floating above it was a flat, round object.
On the high ceiling were eight crystal mirrors, two were shattered. .
Ten others were standing in a loose circle around the object. Socara was shoved into her place while the Dark One took his. Behind her, she could see a female gryphonian lying unconscious on the floor. Power began to build up slowly. They began to chant in a language that sounded familiar but one that she had never heard. Then it came clear when they said, “Source of power, be longer, together of emerald and brass.”
The scion began to spin faster and faster. Socara heard a groan coming from the gryphonian. The gryphonian look up, weakly at Socara. “Please, you must stop them before it is too late. You are of them, but one of them. If he succeeds in this destruction...” She paused. “I do not wish to think of what can happen. And neither would you.”
Socara stared at her blankly, then back at the Dark One, then at her again. Then finally at the Scion. She gasped, it was beginning to separate. But that would destroy the city and all the people. All those lives lost, gone. “No!” she screamed, lunging at the him. They both hit the floor hard, breaking the circle. Suddenly, the whole tower began to shake, the Scion feel into three pieces, three shards of the whole. Then the light came. She could feel herself drifting, almost growing tired and longing to sleep.
She heard three voices in unison, “Of one shall remain, one shall fall, one shall be given to child and ball. Of this will they separate, of this will they stay, leaving the darkness and leaving silence alone for all to look but never see.” Socara then found herself lying face down in the street. But everyone was gone. Like they were never there. Only silence replaced them, to replace the lost presence.

They were gone, she thought, all gone.

The next day...
Dulcy the Dragon landed in the clearing. It was a pretty good landing for Dulcy, providing that she only slid 10 feet on the scaly stomach. Though the wind was blowing very hard, making it hard to fly straight.
“Dulcy!” Draca shouted running up to her with her Zack. “How are you? How did things go at Dragon’s Nest?”
“Everything went fine. Three were three males and two females, and they were so cute,” Dulcy replied. “I think the Dragon population is starting to grow again, despite having Snively around.”
“That’s just great,” Draca exclaimed. “Say hi to Aunt Dulcy , Zack.”
“Hi Aunt Dulcy!” Zack yelled, running up to her and quickly scrambling up between her wings.
“Zack!” Draca scolded.
“It’s all right,” Dulcy laughed. Then she said to Zack, “Let’s go to lunch. I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.”
“Okay!” Zack, giggled playfully tugging at Dulcy’s wings.
“So, what’s been happening around here?” Dulcy asked.
“Girl, you wouldn’t believe it,” Draca replied, shaking her head, but with a small grin, “you wouldn’t believe it.”
“I thought I heard someone,” Knuckles said, leaping down from a tree branch, followed by Sally. “Welcome back Dulce.”
“Hi Knuckles, your majesty,” Dulcy greeted.
“How was-” Sally began. Suddenly a loud screech interrupted her.
“Gang way ya’ll!” Bunnie shouted from above. “Gryphon coming through!”
Winterweave was being blown all over the place in the wind and was desperately trying to land. Finally, the wind died down for a moment, and she swooped down to land. The wind picked up suddenly again. She was blown sideways and almost landed but tripped on a rock. At the last moment, she backwinged and dropped sprawling on the ground. She whimpered and picked herself back up.
“Whew, that was close,” Bunnie sighed. “Don’t ya ever do that again.”
“Bunnie, Winterweave where have you two been?” Sally asked.
“Ah went following this bird here when she went a flying off the island,” Bunnie explained. “Though, ah must admit it was quite interesting.”
“What do you mean?”
“Ah was flying after the bird when we flew into some mist. Ah think ah passed through some kind of energy wall, or something, and ah ended up in a valley. It was amazing. By what was going on, it looked like nesting grounds for animals like this bird and such,” Bunny continued. “Then ah followed sugah bird here back. For a moment ah thought ah had lost her.”
Winterweave leaned sideways, and what looked like a clump of feathers rolled off her back. She nudged it with her beak.
“What’s that?” asked Knuckles.
“Bunnie?” Sally looked questioningly at Bunnie. Bunnie just shrugged. Winterweave nudged it harder and let out a loud screech. The clump stirred, then flopped open. There sitting on the ground was some sort of creature. She was small, about twelve, and wearing a loose tunic and pants. What was really weird was that she looked like an echidna, but had oversized wings, talons for hand, lion feet, and a dragon’s tail with fins on it. Feathers hung all around her face.
“What do you we have here?” Sally asked, leaning closer. “Who are you?”
The creature looked at her for a moment, then screeched and bolted up a tree. “Oh my,” Bunnie gasped.
Knuckles looked down and saw a small blue ball, “Is this yours?” He asked, offering it to her, even though she was too hi up in the tree.
She surprised him by saying, “Yesss, yesss, mine, want.”
“Here you go,” he tossed it up to her. “Why don’t you come down? We won’t hurt you.”
“I might,” growled Dulcy.
“Dulcy!” Sally glared. “We’re trying to get her to trust us.”
“Good luck doing that, “ Dulcy snarled. “Isn’t it odvious? She’s a freak misborn. And is child-like in the mind.”
“What do you mean?”
Dulcy snorted at the misborn. “Her mind is going to be child-like for the rest of her life. I’ve seen this once and it was a misborn also. They’re better off dead.” Then she turned and stormed off into the jungle.
Sally watched Dulcy go. She had never seen her like this before. “What’s your name?” Knuckles asked. Good, Sally thought. He’s asking her simple, get-to-know questions. I hope it works.
“Mother and Father call me Ivy,” she giggled.
“Who is Mother and Father?”
“Mother and Father is Mother and Father,” Ivy said after a pause, but by the tone of her voice she seemed the expect him to know the answer to the question already.”
“Why don’t you come down?” Draca asked. “You can play with my hatchling, Zack.” Zack waved to her.
“No like bad dragon,” Ivy said, climbing farther up the tree, then curling her tail around herself.
“Oh great. Now Dulcy scared her,” Sally muttered. Then more cheerfully she said, “Don’t worry, Ivy. The dragon won’t hurt you.”
Finally, Winterweave fly up into the tree, and grabbed Ivy by the back of her tunic and flew back down. Ivy immediately tried to hide behind her. Sally walked up slowly. “It’s all right. I know you’re scared but you’re among friends. I’m Sally. This is Knuckles. She’s Draca, Zack, and the dragon was Dulcy.” Sally gestured to everyone while saying the names.
“I’m Ivy, “ she said proudly. as if forgetting that she had all ready old them her name.
“Well, hi Ivy,” Sally smiled. She looked at Ivy again. “Why don’t I go give you a bath. Then we can talk some more.”
“Like water,” Ivy giggled.

Ivy and Zack squealed in delight as Tails made an illusion of themselves, and many others. After Ivy had been cleaned up and given new clothes, Sally had decided with the willing approval of everyone else, except Dulcy, that Ivy would stay in Knothole. This delighted Tails because he had taken a liking to the misborn. Her feathers were now moon-white and her primaries had been cut so they didn’t drag on the ground anymore. Ivy and Zack laughed some more as Tails made an illusion of a unicorn playing with a lion. Ivy gaped at the lion and clutched her blue ball more tightly. She refused to go anywhere without it.
Ivy glanced over her shoulder and stared into the shadows of the jungle. “What are you looking at Ivy?” Tails asked.
“Socara has funny head,” she said looking back at Tails.
“What? How did you know her name?”
“I look in her head,” Ivy smile. :See I talk in head: Tails gasped when he heard Ivy’s voice clearly in his mind.
“Amazing.” he gasped. “Do that again.”
“Do what?” Ivy asked.
“Talk in my head again. Wait no, talk to Socara and see if she talks back,” Tails said.
“No need,” someone said. Socara stepped out from behind the tree Tails was leaning on. “So, we have a mindspeaker here? A misborn too.”
“How did you know, and how come you’re not in bed like you should be,” Tails asked standing up.
“I’m fine. Ivy can be very useful if she wishes to use her ability to help the Freedom Fighters. Got to go, I have a scouting mission.” Socara turned and disappeared into the jungle.
“I wish she would tell me how she does that,” Tails sighed.

At sunset, Socara returned to Knothole. Everyone else was busily bustling about doing what they needed to do. All she needed to do was write a report about her scouting mission, then her duties for the day would be done. Then she could relax.
Socara flew to the lab and looked in. In the room was Sally, Dimitri, and Ivy. “Hi, guys,” she said, pulling a chair to the computer, and began typing. “What’s up?”
“Oh hello, Socara. I hope the scouting mission went well,” said Sally, “not too tiring I hope.”
“Not at all. The place is one big lava pool, with black crystals that explode into fire when someone comes to close,” Socara replied. “If you really want to explore it, send Knuckles. Fire is his thing. And what should we call this new zone?”
“Well, you’re the one who went so you can name it,” Sally said.
“How ‘bout The-Lava-Pool-Where-You-Will-Most-Likely-Burn-To-A-Horrible-Death- Or-Suffocate-From-Fumes Zone?”
“Err...”
“Or maybe just the Black Fire Lake Zone.”
“I like the second one better,” Dimitri said quickly. Socara laughed, then finished the report. “I think you will be interested about what we found out about Ivy’s mindspeaking ability. So far we’ve found out that if she speaks to you then you can speak back. And her range is to at least Robotropolis.”
“Kudos for you all, especially you Ive,” Socara commented.
Knuckles walked into the lab. “Sally, we’ve just got the spy report.”
“What does it say?” Sally asked, taking a more serious mood.
“We don’t have much info an this but it appears that Sonic is building some kind of super weapon that can destroy everything within a ten mile radius from where it impacts.”
“Hmm, this is bad, but we need more information,” Sally said, thinking for a moment. “Knuckles, Socara do you think you two could dig up more tonight?”
“Sure, Sal,” Knuckles replied. “We’ll leave now. Come on, Socara.”

Clouds drifted across the sky, occasionally covering the moon. All the better for the two trespassers creeping among the shadows. They headed for the main construction building in the Northwest sector. When they entered the building, Knuckles went left and Socara went right. But before they seperated, Socara suddenly hugged Knuckles tightly.
“Why did you do that?”Knuckles whispered hugging her back.
“I’m scared,” she whimpered. “I have this weird feeling I’m never gonna see you again.”
“It’s okay kiddo, I’ll be fine,” he reasured her. It wasn’t like her to act this way. “I
promise. I’ll always be here to take care of you.” Then they went there ways.
Knuckles hid among a wall of crates. Nothing unusual, Knuckles thought, watching some combats and Swatbots, then moving on. Better check the storage rooms just in case. He came to a more less used area on the second floor. As quietly as possible, he snuck into a storage room. The room had a musty small and had crates piled against the walls, draped with cobwebs. He opened one of the boxes. It was filled with old, defected microchips. He opened another one , more microchips. Then he saw what looked like to be an old chest it the corner, hidden behind some crates. Farther inspection with a flashlight showed that it was an old chest made of something that looked like wood but wasn’t. it wasn’t plastic or metal either. The lock was unlike any lock he had seen. It looked more like a vine then a lock. He shoved aside the crates, then with a burst of blue flame, burned it off.
Inside was a small staff, about the length of his upper arm, laying on top of a few layers of silk. It was a goldish color with an elaborate carving at the top. With in the carving was a black crystal. “Cool,” whistled Knuckles, “I think I’ll take this back to Knothole. It could be important.”
Knuckles stuffed it into his back pack then headed for the door. He heard a creaking sound while in the middle of the room. He took a cautious step. The creak became a crack. Uh oh, Knuckles thought. The floor then collapsed and Knuckles fell to the floor below. Pieces on ceiling rained down on him. Looking up he same a gun pointed at his head. Combots had him surrounded. Double uh oh.

Socara dragged the shattered remains of the bot she had just destroyed behind a pile of crates. “Night,” she whispered. The black laptop appeared in her hands. She inserted a wire into the bots head and accessed its memory. She found a statement about the super weapon, but nothing useful. She searched deeper. A few minutes later, she still hadn’t found anything. Then she found it. Oh no! She thought, there’s no super weapon. It’s a trap. “Storage.” The black laptop disappeared. She had to warn Knuckles. Suddenly, something struck her from the side. She fell, hitting her head hard on a crate. Her vision blurred, as her attacker came into view. But then everything went black.

“Dimitri,” said Sally, “why can’t I get anything on this computer screen?”
“I’m not sure,” Dimitri replied, pushing a few buttons, “you should be able to.” Suddenly the screen went blank and then an image of Sonic appeared.
“Greetings, former friends and allies,” Sonic said with a smirk.
“Sonic!” Sally yelled. “What on Mobius do you want?!”
“Oh, not much. Just your lives!” said Sonic. “And if you want Socara and Knuckles to still have theirs, you better do something about it.” Then the screen went blank again.
“Sonic you release them now!” Sally shouted at the blank screen. She sighed. “It’s obviously a trap. But, we have to do something.”
“Here.” Dimitri tossed her a small disk. “Take a look at these plans. Then tell me what you think.”

The next night.
Sally sighed, then looked up at all the Freedom Fighters of the Floating Island gathered in the clearing. “I have made my decision. This war will continue beyond our lives if one dictator keeps on coming after another. We must put an end once and for all to them. You have all been assigned to a group and given instructions about the explosives. Good luck to you all.”
The Freedom Fighters all shouted, “Freedom to Mobius!” Then they left in their groups.

Later. Sally, Chita, Penzan, Tails and Dimitri landed their hang gliders on the outskirts of Robotropolis. Sally quickly reviewed what they were suppose to do as she buried her glider. We got here safely. Now, we need to rescue Socara and Knuckles, shut down all the security in the city, and capture Sonic. Sally took out a communicator and contacted each of the groups. Each responded that they were fine and everything was going on schedule. She forced her mind to focus when it began wondering to thoughts of Sonic. Then they continued towards the Central Control Tower.
A series of explosions could be heard when they reached the Tower. “Good,” whispered Tails. “That should be the explosions in the Northwest Sector.”
“Nicole, scan the tower for any living heat signatures,” Sally said.
“Unable to scan. The power of the shields surrounding the tower have been upgraded,” Nicole replied.
“I should have expected this,” growled Sally. “We’ll have to break in.” She handed Nicole to Dimitri. “That’s your field.”
“Right,” he replied, hooking Nicole to the access panel by the door. After a few moments of hacking, the doors slid silently open. The door slid shut as they entered. Chita experimentally tried to open them. but they wouldn’t. This doesn’t seem right, she thought.
Suddenly a blood-curling scream pierced the air. “Bunnie!” Tails shouted. “That had to be her!”
“Nicole, try to scan the tower now,” Sally said.
Another series of explosions could be heard.
“Heat signatures located. Third floor.” Nicole showed a 3-D image with the quickest route marked by a red line.
“Hurry!” Sally commanded. They ran to the third floor. Chita had quickly passed them, since she was a cheetah. The sight that greeted made her gasp in horror. There on the floor at Sonic’s feet was Bunnie. That is Bunnie’s corpse. She was clearly died, lying in a pool of her own blood with her body cut in hundreds of places. Standing above her was Sonic, holding a bloody knife. He had some small wounds and was bloody, but with Bunnie’s blood.
Draca was lying unconscious in a robotitizer, and Winterweave was nothing but a burned corpse. Socara was chained to a table was a device on her head, that generated a beam of light over her eyes, powered by her own lifestone. Sally and the others quickly reached the floor.
“Sonic the Hedgehog. You are underarrest and I demand that you release all of your prisoners,” Sally demanded.
“No can do Sal gal. Why don’t you join them instead?” With lightning speed. Sonic threw the knife at Sally, and while she was ducking it, slammed Dimitri into the wall. Dimitri slid to the ground unconscious. Sally drew her laser gun and fired at Sonic, with Penzan shooting lasers from his mouth. Chita, with her speed and experience as an arena fighter was able to wound Sonic a few times. But he was still too fast for all of them.
“You can’t beat me!” he shouted, ducking Tails’ attack from behind. Then grabbing Tails’ leg and throwing him into Dimitri, who was just coming to. He zoomed by Sally, grabbing his knife, then propelled of the wall, spread his gargoyle wings, and dove at her. Fortunately, Chita knocked Sally out of the way. Unfortunately, Chita was stabbed in the back. Sonic landed to finish her off, when a sudden blast of water slammed him to the ground, Before he could get up, Penzan stepped on him, holding him down. Sally restrained him, as Tails and Dimitri came to.
“Tails, watch Sonic,” she ordered tossing him her laser gun. “Dimitri, get Socara. I’ll help Draca.” But where’s Knuckles? Opening the robotitizer, She pulled Draca out. Her left wing had been slashed to ribbons, but otherwise seemed to have no major injuries.
“Sally?” Draca murmured, “What happened?”
“I’ll have to explain later. You need to get back to Knothole. NOW” She said when Draca started to protest. Draca nodded them pressed her teleporter and dematerialized. Then she laid Bunnie’s and Winterweave’s bodies on Penzan’s back. Then they dematerialized. Sonic had been tied securely by Tails with special chains even his quills couldn’t cut through.
“Arrrgh!” Dimitri shouted. Sally ran over and helped him up.
“What happened?” She asked.
“I was trying to get that Virtual reality device off her head. But it seems to have some kind of security, sending jolts of electricity to who ever touches it.”
“Nicole. Hack into the Robotropolis files, then download any files you find on this VR device and display.”
A few minutes later. “Found. Memory Replay, designed to replay some of the victim’s worse memories. Then replay it over and over again, but making it worse each time. Focuses mainly on guilt. In the words, sending them into a living hell,” Nicole said.
“How awful,” murmured Sally. “ How do you take it off?”
“One moment.” A nearby computer turned on, and a login screen appeared. “VR Hell. Subject: Socara. Log off.”
The beam of light disappeared, then the device fell off, and Dimitri crushed it beneath his feet.
Socara slowly blinked. Then started to sob, not even noticing that she was chained to a table. Dimitri quickly removed to chains, and she curled up into a loose ball, sobbing even harder. She babbled something that they couldn’t understand, but they were able to understand the name “Ark.”
“Socara,” Sally said softly, laying a paw on Socara’s shoulder. “It’s going to be all right.”
“Just kill me. End my horrid life,” She murmured between sobs.
“No. Whatever you saw was not real. It was only virtual reality,” Sally said trying to comfort her.
Two more explosions could be heard.
Suddenly, Socara jerked away and ran out of the room. “Socara, come back!” Sally started to ran after her, when she suddenly felt incredibly dizzy. The room started to spin and her vision became fuzzy and blurred. Sally could hear Dimitri falling to his knees, right before everything went black.

Dimitri opened his eyes. At first things were blurred, but then slowly focused. He tried to move, then realized that he was tied up inside a robotitizer. Sally was still unconscious next to him and Tails was in another robotitizer.
“At least one of you are awake,” said a voice.
Dimitri looked up. Sonic stood in front of them, next to him was a green deinonychus with a mask on. “Snively!” Dimitri shouted. “You’re alive?!”
“But of course, Don’t even tell me that you thought this hedgehog had killed me,” he laughed.
“Err..”
“Sonic the Hedgehog mine. Loyal to only me. And has done a excellent job of providing me with quite an amusing night,” Snively said with a chuckle.
“You’re sick Snively. Sick!!” Dimitri snarled.
“Only by your point of view,” he hissed. “Now, I do believe that I’ll slowly robotitize all of you one by one. Starting with Sally. Who is now coming to.”
“You!” Sally screeched, when she realized who was speaking.
“Oh yes, and your explosives did a wonderful job on removing all those unwanted buildings. Also I’m sure that I’ve killed nearly all of those other Freedom Fighters,” Snively said. “Hedgehog, you may do the honors.”
“Gladly,” smiled Sonic, reaching for the activation button.
“Sonic no!” Sally screamed. “Don’t you love me? Don’t we mean anything to you?”
“That won’t work, Sally. His mind is not what it used to be,” Snively laughed.
Suddenly, someone leaped at Sonic. Pinning him onto the ground. It was Socara. “Change him back!” She demanded. “And let them go!”
“For what price?” Snively asked, toying with her.
“Name it.”
“You.”
“Done,” Socara sighed, getting off of Sonic.
“Release them,” Snively ordered. “She is a much more fascinating prize.”
Reluctantly, Sonic let them out of the robotitizer, and untied them. Sally was being torn apart on the inside. She wanted the safety of the others but not at the price of another.
Then Snively put his foreclaws on Sonic’s head. A glow formed around Sonic. It remained this way for a few moments, until Sonic collapsed.
“Dimitri, Tails, you two teleport back and give me the casualty report. I’ll help Sonic,” Sally said.
“What’s going on Sal?” Sonic asked.
“I’ll explain later, let’s go.”
“What about Socara?”
“Go. Now,” Sally ordered.
“Sonic looked doubtful, but picked up Sally and ran out. Sally through a glance at Socara, but Socara was staring at the floor, trying to hold back her tears.

Sonic glided back to the Floating Island with Sally in his arms. She hadn’t spoken yet, and Sonic felt that this wasn’t the time to ask questions. “Land by the medical center,” Sally finally said as they neared the Floating Island. He landed where she told him to and followed her in. “Dimitri, give me the report.” She quickly read it over, then started to sob, unable to hold back her grief any longer. Sonic held her, letting her cry.
“What is going on here?” He asked Dimitri.
“Much loss, death, and grief,” was all that he could say before working away.
Sally felt something wet fall on her. Looking up, she saw that Sonic was crying with her. She couldn’t remember if she had ever seen Sonic cry. He always seemed she in control. In fact now that she thought about it, she had never seen Socara cry either. She had the same ‘never take anything too seriously’ attitude as Sonic. The more she thought about it the more she was determined to win this war.


End of Part 1

Preview for Part 2: Looky like things get kinda grim. What will things be like in 9 years? Find out in Part 2! =^.^=