"A Life Deferred" A work of Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction, by Glazius Falconar The legalese just keeps on rolling along... This story and all new characters and situations are copyright ((c)) 1998 by the author, Glazius Falconar (a.k.a. Paul Arezina). The characters of Lyria, Sai Huong, and Shadow are copyright some #sonic individuals, who will remain nameless... if you want to contact them, please let me know. What the last two sentences mean is that you can't change the text in this story in any way without contacting us and getting our approval. The poem which appears in this story (you'll know it when you see it) is not my own. An anonymous fan of Final Fantasy VII wrote it as a requiem for Aeris. I think. At any rate, the poem is not up for alteration. And, as always, Sonic the Hedgehog and everything related to the Saturday morning cartoon and Archie comic book of his are copyright ((c)) SEGA, DiC, and/or Archie Comic Publications. This means that, if you want to charge money for the express purpose of viewing this work of fanfiction, you'll have to get their approval. Good luck. Now... let's see... right. The concept of the Internet was first put forth by H. G. Wells, in a short story entitled "Men like Gods". And you're probably getting tired of hearing this, but read it sometime. And, if you'd care to post this on your website, make changes to it, flame me heartily, (for which I will reply to you a thousand-fold) or just feel an irrational need to send e-mail, the address is at the end. Oh... the title? "What happens to a dream deferred...", Langston Hughes, I think. **** Under better circumstances, Sai would have been amazed at the dexterity and speed that carried her through the forest. But she was currently preoccupied... she had her life to worry about. A platoon of SWATbots, riding hover-cycles, was following her through the forest, and firing every now and again when they got a clear shot. Sai leapt from limb to limb and tree to tree, trying to shake her pursuers by taking off at odd angles and doubling back, but... robots aren't dissuaded so easily. And she was running out of breath... and trees... and time. She paused for a moment on a limb, to get her bearings and try and find a path back into the forest... and a SWATbot laser missed her, a bit low... and splintered the limb she was standing on. She tried to leap away, but there was nothing to push off of, and she fell to the ground, no other limbs near enough to grab... "I hope this works," she thought as the ground came ever closer. It was a move she had practiced many times... but not from this height, and certainly not in this setting. Sai thrust her bamboo staff downward as she came up on the ground... and it bore the brunt of the impact. She was only slightly dazed, the flexibility and strength of the pole having taken most of the shock of the landing. And the momentary relief she felt was quickly overwhelmed by a sense of panic... she couldn't maneuver nearly as well on the ground as she could in the treetops... and the SWATbots were closing in. As one of them neared, she lashed out with the staff. The SWATbot was thrown off its hover-cycle, and hit a tree trunk, flying apart on impact. A bit emboldened by this minor victory, Sai leapt at another one of the SWATbots, bamboo staff aimed for its head... She was a bit surprised to see the head shear from the body. Either the staff was a lot stronger than she thought... or the SWATbots were much weaker. She grabbed onto a tree limb at the apex of her leap, and was racing through the treetops once again, a much different strategy in mind. The SWATbots tried to follow her, tried to keep up with her near-flight from tree to tree... but she had gained a new confidence, and was not about to give in to a patrol of weak robots. Every now and again, Sai would double back, moving through the pack of SWATbots like a black-and-white lightning bolt, lopping off a head or two with each pass. The battle, such as it was, was over in a matter of minutes. As the last riderless hover-cycle crashed to the ground, Sai worked her way down to the forest floor to examine the wreckage. Every now and again, a headless SWATbot would find itself also missing a leg or an arm as Sai tested her staff. "They certainly LOOKED strong enough," she thought, amazed at how easily a blow in the right place could take these SWATbots apart. After she was satisfied that the patrol wouldn't be up and running any time soon, she shouldered her staff, and turned... **** And stared right into the barrel of a plasma blaster. "Surrender, Freedom Fighter, by order of Robotnik!" Sai took one look at the figure that confronted her... and her heart fell. She couldn't bring herself to strike it... because... it was Shadow. And, as she stood there, staring at certain death, the memories began flooding back... **** As far back as she could remember, she and Shadow had been inseparable. Her father's village had thrown her family out... because, while her father was a panda, her mother was a cat, from outside the village. Her name - Sai Huong, or "Little Bear" in the ancient tongue - was a constant reminder of where she had come from. **** She didn't remember very much of where she was born, because a treetop village of panthers had taken her family in. And, while most of the children had tried to stay out of her way... because she had inherited her father's strength... Shadow had befriended her. Initially, it had been because she was the only one in the village who could climb faster than he could... but it had later become a bit deeper than that. **** She and Shadow were the best of friends. They knew everything about each other, and there were no secrets between them. Shadow would occasionally try to teach her to move with the stealth he used... he could walk over dry leaves without so much as a rustle... and she would try and teach him to use a bamboo staff, like the one she had carved for herself... although the attempts usually failed miserably. She was much too massive for silence to be practical, and he was used to fighting with quick claw slashes, not the slow sweep of a bamboo pole. But the general consensus in the village was that they would be married some day... a notion that didn't seem altogether unattractive to Sai, though Shadow was a bit reluctant to admit the possibility. But he was slowly warming to the idea... and they would have been more than a happy couple... if not for that one day... **** She had woken up to a cloud of gas... and was quickly asleep again, but not by choice. When she next regained consciousness... she was being held by two of the robots that had pursued her today. And Shadow was inside a plastic tube of some kind, with a grotesquely huge man looking on and laughing... "I see our two guests have come around... good, good... I think you two will make a lovely couple... of robot soldiers!" The man's maniacal laughter chilled Sai to the bone... but what frightened her even more was what happened to Shadow... She could still hear his screams as... something... happened to him. He emerged from the tube... a metallic version of his former self, with eerily glowing red eyes. He walked across the floor, and Sai noticed that his stealth had been preserved in this strange form. The thing that had been Shadow gave a quick salute. "Request orders, Dr. Robotnik..." The madman laughed. "Excellent, excellent... those stupid Freedom Fighters won't be able to bring themselves to hurt one of their own fellow Mobians... this is the beginning of the end for that miserable hedgehog and his band of outlaws!" Maniacal laughter rang through the steel room, and Robotnik turned to the robots that were holding her. "SWATbots! Throw her into the roboticizer..." Sai screamed, and tried to wrench herself out of the grip of the SWATbots holding her. As she was pulled ever closer to the Roboticizer, Robotnik's laughter and her own desperation awakened a new spark of strength, and she was free. Tossing the SWATbots aside like dead branches, she sprinted out the door to the room... and what she heard Robotnik say chilled her to the bone... "Operative Shadow... your first assignment is to hunt down the creature who recently escaped... and bring her to me." **** She had managed to make her way back to her forest home... to find the village utterly destroyed, and SWATbot patrols everywhere. It had been two months since that day... and she had managed to elude most of the patrols. Most of them... but not the one that had flown through the forest today... **** Sai looked into Shadow's eyes, now metallic and red... "Shadow... Shadow, don't you remember me?" The robot simply stared at her. "Shadow, it's me... Sai... remember? Remember... us..." Tears filled Sai's eyes as she glanced up at the robot... he didn't remember. He couldn't. Whatever Robotnik had done to him, he only lived to fight... and kill... "Sai... Sai... I'm... I'm..." Sai's eyes widened... it was the robot Shadow's voice, but... she looked up to see that the red had faded from his eyes, which were staring down at her in bewilderment. "I'm... what happened to..." Sai lunged forward and caught her metallic friend in an embrace. "You're back! You're back, I can't believe..." She was cut off as a minor blast of plasma flung her against a tree. Shadow's eyes were glowing red again... "Surrender, Freedom Fighter, by order of..." **** "Die, demon!" A silver streak descended from the trees, and before Sai could react... Shadow was in pieces on the ground. **** Lyria wiped her blade on the grass to clean it... wait... the metal men had never bled before... she bent over the thing she had killed and gasped in shock... it was alive. At least, it had been... it seemed that the red-eyed demon could afflict others with the same hideous condition that affected his arm. But... why was this thing, once alive, now talking like the demon's metal men? Lyria shook her head, puzzled... And barely blocked a blow from a bamboo staff which came from behind. She had heard the whistle of the staff sweeping through the air... the lessons from the book were helping, improving her senses enormously. She turned, expecting one of the metal men to be wielding the weapon... And recoiled in shock when she saw the panda she had saved glaring at her with a deep hatred. "You... killed... him!" she shrieked, accenting each word with a sweep of the staff. Lyria blocked the blows easily with the flat of the tiger's sword... but the panda's superior strength was forcing her back... "I killed... a metal man... a servant of the demon..." said the lynx, ducking under and around staff blows. "He would have... killed you... had I not." The panda facing her backed off for a moment. "He would... but... he... I..." She let out a scream of rage and charged Lyria, whose back was against a tree. The lynx tried her best to dodge the blows, blocking the remainder with the flat of her sword. The being fighting her was obviously not in her right mind... and it would be a tremendous dishonor to kill such an opponent. However... **** Sai struck at the lynx again and again, barely even noticing that her staff never hit its intended target. This stranger had killed the only friend she'd ever known, and she was not about to let the death go unavenged. She thought that it was a bit odd that the lynx never bothered to strike back, but that did not concern her. All that concerned her was... what had been done to Shadow... Sai gasped in shock as her staff was flung into the brush... by a fluid sword stroke, which stopped just short of her throat. She and the mysterious lynx stared into each other's eyes. The lynx was the first to speak. "I do not wish to harm you." "Why this, then?" Sai raised a paw and pointed at the lynx's sword, which was scant inches from her neck. "You attacked me. I thought it prudent to defend myself." Sai flared with rage. "I attacked you because you killed Shadow!" The lynx stared at her with cold, almost expressionless eyes. "I killed him because, had I not done so, he would surely have killed you. He is a servant of the red-eyed demon... at least, he was..." Red-eyed demon? The lynx must mean Robotnik... but Shadow had broken free... "But... the red had faded... for such a short time... I thought I was..." Sai began crying, as the death of her only friend finally registered... and the lynx lowered her sword as Sai slumped to the ground. "Perhaps... perhaps we can bring him back." Sai looked up at the lynx, tears filling her eyes. "No. No... he's dead. Nothing can change that." The lynx, for answer, pulled a scroll out of a waist pouch. "Perhaps. But perhaps something can." The lynx unrolled the scroll, and Sai read... "The Wonders of Mobius?" The lynx looked a bit surprised. "So you can read the ancient tongue as well. That will help much." She unrolled the parchment, and tapped a certain location with her paw. "Read for yourself." "The next Wonder of Mobius, seeker of knowledge, is the Stream of Renewal, a spring of water bubbling with the very essence of Life itself..." Sai trailed off, and glanced up at the lynx, who was trying to smile. "Yes. That is why I have come to this forest... in search of the stream. Perhaps it can help your friend. Will you join me?" The lynx extended a paw, and Sai took it, pulling herself off the ground. She rerolled the scrolls and wiped the tears from her eyes. "If it means that Shadow will be healed... yes." **** The trek through the forest would not have been so bad... had it not been for the bundle the panda insisted on carrying. Lyria sighed as she looked back along the trail... the panda was off in the distance, struggling to carry the blanket that the half-metal man was wrapped in. At least, the pieces had been wrapped... and any effort Lyria made to attempt to shoulder the burden was calmly but firmly refused. Perhaps, Lyria mused... perhaps the two had been as close as she and her sensei had been. A friendship, enduring even beyond death... Lyria parted a few tree limbs and gasped in astonishment, as she motioned the panda closer. The two stood, open-mouthed, and slowly stepped into a natural clearing in the forest. **** In the center of the clearing... was something which could only be described as liquid light. A pool of water, broken only by a small spring upwelling in its center, shed a gentle radiance against the willow trees that surrounded the clearing. Lyria and Sai stepped forward, almost reverently, and gazed down at the smooth, round stones that lined the bottom. Sai gently sent the bundle of what had been Shadow down on the ground, and she and Lyria nodded to each other. They knew what had to be done. Shadow gradually began to take form on the cloth. Lyria prided herself on keeping a sharp-edged blade... and so most of the cuts were clean... making it easier to fit the pieces back together. Both felt a slight revulsion at what they were doing, but kept on... Sai, because she wanted Shadow back again, Lyria, because it was her blade that had killed an innocent - an innocent turned to evil by the red-eyed demon. After what seemed like hours, Shadow was lying on the cloth, reassembled. Lyria and Sai lifted opposite sides of the cloth, and gently lowered Shadow into the pool, so that his body rested on the stones. Both stood, waiting... expecting a miracle to happen. And one did. The cracks in Shadow's body began to fill, slowly but surely, with the strange light... and, in a brilliant flash, the body was whole again. Sai's eyes filled with tears, and Lyria's face carried a faint hint of a smile... but both were amazed at what happened next... The metal that encased Shadow's body slowly began melting away... as winter snow in the sunlight of spring. The evil Robotnik had done was slowly undone, as a wave of light slowly spread from Shadow's feet to his head. When the light faded at last, Shadow was whole again. It was as though nothing had happened, and the lynx and the panda both cried tears of joy... as they bent down to retrieve the body from the pool that had healed it. The damp cloth rested on the ground now, with Shadow's prone body lying on it. The lynx and panda stood over it, eagerly waiting for the dead to live again. But their enthusiasm diminished... for Shadow showed no signs of life. **** Sai watched in apprehension as the lynx knelt and placed her ear against Shadow's chest. The lynx arose, and shook her head sadly... and Sai broke into tears as she knelt beside the body of her dead friend. Lyria was reading from the scrolls again, but Sai paid her little heed. "Know, seeker of knowledge, that the Stream will bestow all that is needed for life... all but the desire to live. If the dead wishes not to return to life..." Lyria rolled the scrolls up and gave a sigh of resignation. "I am sorry... friend... but what the red-eyed demon did to him... destroyed his will to stay alive. Without that..." "Shut up!" yelled Sai, as she slowly stood, her eyes flowing freely with tears. "All that matters is that Shadow is dead. All that matters..." She slowly shook her head. "All that matters now is that Shadow is... is..." She began crying again, bending over the prone form of her friend and taking his paw in hers. "You wish to mourn. I understand..." Sai turned around, ready to scream at the lynx again... but she was gone. She returned to her friend's body... and loud sobs rang through the forest as a panda mourned her loss. **** Sai woke to... music? She lifted her head from Shadow's chest, which was now wet with tears, and looked for the source. She could see nothing in the dim moonlight, though she tried to look beyond the curtain of willow branches that encircled the clearing... but she could hear a voice, singing... "Do not stand at my grave and weep... "I am not there. I do not sleep. "I am a thousand winds that blow. "I am the diamond glint on snow. "I am the sun on ripened grain. "I am the gentle, soothing rain. "When you awake in morning hush, "I am the swift uplifting rush "Of quiet birds in circled flight. "I am the stars that shine at night. "No... do not stand at my grave and cry. "I am not there... "I did not die." A few of the drooping limbs of one of the willows parted, and the lynx stepped into the clearing, holding a strangely bent piece of metal with strings on it... from which sounded the final chord of the song. The lynx lowered the instrument she was playing, and Sai could see the radiance of the pool reflecting off her damp eyes. "It was a song... my sensei taught me. I played it over the place where I laid his body to rest. I thought... it might help." Sai looked up at the lynx. They had both lost someone... and yet, the lynx was somehow unaffected by this. Didn't she know what it felt like... inside... to lose the only person who understood you? "My sensei... he was the only one in the world, as far as I knew. I was alone, wandering, without a family, until he took me in. And if I listen... carefully enough... I can still hear him speak to me." The lynx reached a paw down to Sai. "Mourning is not a good way to spend a life. The memories you have of him are surely much better than the reality the red-eyed demon made." Sai hesitantly reached for the paw, then pulled her own paw back. "But... who do I turn to now? Shadow was... the only friend I had." Tears came to her eyes again, as the memories of her time with Shadow came flooding back. Sai felt herself moving as the lynx lifted her to her feet. "There are many others whose lives have been destroyed by the red-eyed demon. While I cannot guarantee that you will find a friend... you will find some measure of solace for what has happened to you." Sai wiped the tears from her eyes. The lynx was right... she had to continue with her life. "I will go with you... but let me bury my friend first." The lynx nodded. "I would expect no less..." She turned to go, paused for a minute, and turned back to Sai. "You never told me your name. I am Lyria." The lynx extended a paw. Sai took it. "And I am Sai Huong." The lynx looked puzzled. "Little bear?" Sai nodded. "It's a long story... but there are more important things to attend to." She knelt over Shadow's body and began wrapping it in the cloth it had lain silently on... and was more than a little surprised to find the lynx kneeling beside her. "You'd help me? But..." The lynx responded, "It is the least I can do... it is due to my actions that this has happened." **** The two silently wrapped the body, and carried it to the north end of the clearing. The soil was damp and loose... and, two hours later, home to the body of a formerly roboticized panther. **** The final chords of Lyria's mourning song faded into the night. She and the panda, eyes wet with tears, had thrown a final handful of earth on the grave, and were now headed... for the tiger's cabin. It was late in the day, and she had suggested that they spend the night there and head for Knothole in the morning... since she knew that no one would be awake at this hour. The panda had somewhat reluctantly agreed, and they were both moving almost effortlessly through the forest. Lyria looked up to see the panda leaping almost effortlessly from limb to limb and tree to tree... in contrast to her progress along the ground, with the occasional leap over a thornbush or fallen branch. The panda moved with great precision... she had to, or the consequences could quite possibly be lethal. Occasionally, Lyria would call up to the treetops to guide the panda to the cabin, which had been home to her... and when the moon was at its zenith, they arrived. **** Sai stepped through the wooden doorframe and looked around... and was in awe. The room she was standing in was lined with parchments, drawings... and more than a few weapons. "Was it like this when he..." She trailed off, not wanting to remind the lynx of her sensei's death. The lynx stepped through the doorframe and nodded to her. "I have kept it exactly as my sensei left it. He was a wonderfully talented old man... I can only imagine what he may have been like as a youth." Sai examined the walls more closely. "Poetry... these sketches..." "All his work," said the lynx, answering the question Sai had been planning to ask. The panda turned... and yawned rather loudly. "Is there a place to sleep here?" The lynx smiled a bit. "Of course." She reached for the wall behind her and... folded it? Sai quickly realized that it was nothing but a cunningly painted screen. And in the small room that the screen hid... were two tatami mats. The lynx stepped inside and lay down on one. "Exactly as he left it?" Sai was a bit apprehensive about sleeping on the mat the lynx's sensei had used... would it be taken as disrespect for the dead? That was something she didn't want to do... The lynx turned over onto her back and smiled. She seemed to read Sai's mind. "Were my sensei still alive... he would insist that you use it. It would be a great disservice to his memory were I not to do the same. Please... the both of us need sleep." The lynx shut her eyes, and her breathing gradually slowed to the gentle rhythm of slumber. Sai lay down on what had been the sleeping-place of a great teacher... and found herself drifting off to sleep... **** She was walking through the forest. Where... she couldn't tell, exactly. It seemed so familiar... and yet she was sure she'd never been in this place before. The sunlight streamed down through the leaves, dappling the forest floor with its gentle radiance. Sai felt an odd sense of peace... but it was not at all unwelcome. As she slowly walked down the trail, heading from nowhere to nowhere... a familiar black shape caught her eye. She turned, expecting it to be a tree stump that her imagination had converted to what she knew she wanted to see. It was not. "Shadow? Shadow!" Sai sprinted toward the black panther, overjoyed that he was alive again, not bothering to question why or how. Shadow spread his arms wide, and Sai leaped into them... Or tried to... She landed a bit roughly on the ground... and turned, not wanting to believe what had just happened. It was Shadow... that she could not deny... but, as he walked toward her and stepped into a shaft of sunlight... he grew oddly transparent. Sai found tears streaming from her eyes, despite all her efforts to hold them back. Shadow was dead; nothing could change that, and the one thing that might have been able to had failed miserably. As she poured out her sorrows on the earth below... "Sai... Sai, look at me." Shadow's voice? Sai looked up from the tear-stained earth to see the image of Shadow shaking its head. "Sai... if you could see yourself now... you've changed so much from the way I remember you." Sai wiped the tears from her eyes. "I... I have?" The image nodded. "What happened to the girl who wasn't afraid of anything or anyone? Sai... I'm gone. When Robotnik threw me into that tube, I knew it was the end. I'm dead, Sai... and, like it or not, that's how it's going to stay." Sai said nothing. What was there to say? She turned away from the image, tears forming in her eyes again... "Sai... if you must remember me... remember me like this... not as some body buried in the ground." Sai turned to face Shadow again... but remained silent. "Promise me, Little Bear!" Silence. "Promise me..." Shadow's voice softened a bit. "...or I may not come back." "What?" "Sai, I am as you remember me. And if I'm just a body lying somewhere... I can't do very much, now can I?" Sai shook her head slowly. "Then promise me, Little Bear. Promise me you'll remember me as more than just a body in the earth." Sai nodded... once. "I... I promise," she whispered, eyes downcast... And was startled to feel a pair of arms enfolding her body. She looked up... to see Shadow, smiling down at her. "That wasn't so hard now, was it?" he asked, face the very picture of happiness. Sai let out a cry of delight and flung her arms around Shadow, burying her face in his chest, crying tears of joy... **** And waking up, face down, on a tear-soaked tatami mat. Sai slowly rose to her feet, noting that the lynx had already awakened... and wondering... had that all been a dream? It had seemed so real... so very real... Sai shook her head as if to clear it as she walked over to the screen, which Lyria had been courteous enough to close. She folded the screen aside, stepped into the main room... and saw the lynx, sitting on the floor, legs folded, forepaws on her knees... and not moving an inch. Sai moved closer and was more than a little unnerved that her ears couldn't pick up the sound of the lynx's breathing. "Good morning..." she said, a bit hesitantly... and received no response, verbal or otherwise. Sai was getting a bit worried... when the lynx slowly opened her eyes and rose to her feet. "Good morning, Sai. Did you sleep well?" "Yes, thank you... but what were you doing?" "Doing? Oh... yes... my morning meditation. My sensei taught me the importance of losing focus... which is what I do when I meditate... send my spirit outward and leave my body at rest. But I sensed something strange this morning... almost as if there were some other presence here..." "A ghost?" "I am not sure... why do you ask?" And Sai told the lynx about her dream, about how she had seen Shadow... and about how he had almost forced her into accepting his death. The lynx grew thoughtful for a few moments... "Perhaps... perhaps the stream gave his spirit the strength to visit you. Though I cannot say for sure... if that is what has happened, I am sure he is grateful to you... for all that you did for him." The lynx moved to the door, motioning for Sai to follow... they were leaving for Knothole. "And I am grateful to him..." thought Sai, as she walked out the door, leapt into the treetops, and began following the lynx. "I think it would be best if we walked," called the lynx from below. Sai worked her way to the ground, leaping from limb to limb and landing a few feet away from Lyria. "Why?" "There are a few things you should know about Knothole before you go there. The most extraordinary things go on..." Lyria began explaining all the oddities she'd seen at Knothole as the two worked their way slowly through the forest. **** "A dragon and a kitsune? Fighting for them?" Sai couldn't believe what the lynx was telling her. Lyria shook her head. "Not the way you think. There are real dragons, and there certainly appear to be real kitsunes as well. They are not spirits... but flesh and blood as are you and I." Sai shook her head in disbelief. She had no real reason to doubt the lynx's words, but... surely dragons and kitsunes were too fantastic to really exist. But the lynx seemed as astonished as she was that they did... so perhaps they... "Lyria, hold it. I hear something." The lynx nodded. "Metal feet, correct? One of their members was partially... converted... by the red-eyed demon. She is probably out patrolling now." "Is there anything else that I should know about them?" "Nothing I can... get down!" Sai hastened to comply with the lynx's request... it was delivered in too urgent of a tone to ignore. She and the lynx crouched behind a rather large shrub, peering through its branches... but Sai couldn't see anything... there! A robotic hedgehog was walking through the forest. Sai unshouldered her staff... but the lynx placed a paw on her shoulder. Sai glanced questioningly at the lynx, who simply shook her head and whispered, "Once is enough. This time... I wait." Sai nodded, and the two returned to near-motionlessness in the bush, crouched and tensed, weapons drawn, waiting to see whether the robot was friend or foe... **** This was not good. This was way past not good... Sonic streaked out of Robotropolis into the Great Forest, thankful there weren't any SWATbots on his tail this time out. This was not good at all... he slowed to a walk, wanting to make the journey back to Knothole as long as possible... so he could think of what to tell Sal... Uncle Chuck was gone. There was no doubt in Sonic's mind... he'd tunneled into the hideout when Uncle Chuck didn't open the door... empty. He'd raced through the ventilation ducts, checking on all Robotnik's projects, looking for his uncle among the crowd of worker-bots... nothing. The only thing Sonic could think of... and his mind resisted the possibility with all its strength... was that Robotnik had found him again... and was extracting all sorts of information from his brain. Including the location of Knothole... Sonic suddenly realized that he needed to get back, and fast. He blazed through the forest, mind racing... no, if he told Sal to evacuate, she'd listen... what the? Sonic screeched to a halt, shoes making twin furrows in the earth. He turned... it couldn't be. It couldn't be... it was! "Uncle Chuck!" The robotic hedgehog turned to face the voice... and recalibrated his visual sensors as he was swept backward by a blue blur. When the world finally stopped moving, a blue hedgehog had locked his arms around the robot's neck... a gesture that Sir Charles Hedgehog was quick to return. "You're not usually this anxious to see me, Sonic. Is something wrong?" Sonic released his uncle and took a step backward. He took a deep breath, collecting his thoughts and fighting the instinct to respond with a stream of insults... "I thought something was. I went up to Robo-town this morning and I couldn't find you anywhere, and I thought..." Sonic trailed off, not wanting to relive the gruesome possibility that had flashed through his mind. "That Robotnik had captured me again?" responded Sir Charles. "Sonic, if that happened..." Sir Charles slid a compartment on his forearm open, displaying a small radio transmitter. "...I'd activate this... and you and Sally would know immediately. You'd have plenty of time to clear out of Knothole." The robotic hedgehog shook his head. "Something's come up... something that I need to discuss with all the Freedom Fighters. So I hacked into Robotnik's mainframe and gave myself the day off, so to speak." Sir Charles paused for a minute. "I'm sorry I couldn't let you know..." "Sorry? Sorry?!" Sonic felt his emotions rising to the surface... and decided, for once, to let them out. "Unc..." Sonic's voice softened. "...you're the only family I've got now. And if I was to lose you..." Sonic took a deep breath. "... all I can say is, if Sal, Rote, and Bunnie have to go through every day what I went through... they're a lot stronger than I give 'em credit for." "So he has kept control of himself." Sonic visibly started at the voice, and turned to see... Lyria, coming out from behind a bush, joined by a panda he couldn't recognize... wonderful. Just wonderful. "Umm... how much of that did you see?" "I suppose all of it," replied the lynx, sounding a bit puzzled. "Why do you..." "Great. Just don't tell anyone else, OK?" responded Sonic, a pleading tone creeping into his voice. He had a reputation to protect, after all... surely she could see that... "Why? Respect for family is hardly out of the ordinary..." Sonic looked up to see if the lynx was kidding. She wasn't... and the panda next to her only nodded in agreement at the comments she'd made. Didn't they understand... he had an image to maintain? Sonic the Hedgehog, fastest and coolest thing on Mobius... Sonic dashed away in a mixture of bewilderment and disgust. **** Sai gazed after the rapidly fading cloud of dust. "Is he always like that?" she asked no one in particular. The robotic hedgehog slowly shook his head. "Always that fast, yes. But not always that eager to dash off... and I don't believe I've ever seen you two before." "Nor have we seen you, until today," responded Lyria. "True..." The robotic hedgehog extended a metal-sheathed hand. "I am Sir Charles Hedgehog, Sonic's uncle... and, sad to say... inventor of the Roboticizer." Sai shot a quick glance to Lyria, who was as astonished as she was at the hedgehog's news. She found her voice first... "How could you design something... so evil?" The robotic hedgehog lowered his arm and gave a metallic sigh. "It was intended... originally... as a way to help the elderly live out their final years in relative comfort. What Robotnik has done with it -" the hedgehog's eyes flashed red, briefly - "is not a use I could possibly have dreamed of. And the modifications he's made..." The robotic hedgehog trailed off. "That's why I was heading to Knothole. If you two would care to follow me, I'd be more than happy to take you there." The robotic hedgehog slowly began picking a path through the brush, and Sai followed close behind him. Lyria, she idly noted, had left, presumably to make her own... no. Sai caught a glimpse of the lynx leaping from tree to tree when she cast a glance skyward... following their path, but a few dozen paces ahead of them because she had no undergrowth to contend with. A few minutes of travel later, she heard a light thump come from the direction the lynx had traveled... no doubt Lyria was acting as their herald. From what she could pick up of the conversation ahead, that certainly seemed to be the case... **** "I have returned, Maj... Sally, and have located another of the wonders of Mobius... and potentially a new ally." The lynx genuflected low to Mobius's Princess. Sally let a faint smile touch her lips as she lifted the lynx to her feet. "I've told you many times over, Lyria... I have little need or use for such formalities. And who might this new..." Sally's voice abruptly ceased; she heard a faint rustling in one particular clump of bushes which surrounded Knothole. That was the back entrance to and the emergency escape from this place, known only to herself, her father... and... "Uncle Chuck!" The robotic hedgehog felt another pair of arms lock around his neck... "Sally... it's good to see you again." Sally broke her embrace with the hedgehog who served as advisor to the Freedom Fighters. "Good to see you as well, Uncle Chuck... but why - and how - have you come to Knothole?" Sir Charles seemed at a loss for words. "Sonic didn't tell you?" he finally managed to say. Sally shook her head. Sonic had come in at his usual blazing pace a few minutes back, but had headed straight for his hut and slammed the door behind him. Though the behavior wasn't exactly normal for the speedster, she'd chalked it up to one of Sonic's myriad mood swings. Sir Charles shrugged. "Very well then... it should become clear in a few minutes. Robotnik may just have made a serious miscalculation." He walked past Sally, headed for the War Room at the center of Knothole. The Princess turned to follow the robotic hedgehog, and realized that something was missing... of course! Lyria had spoken of a new arrival, but she could see no one... then the bushes rustled again, and Sally turned... to find herself staring up at a panda with a wooden pole slung over one shoulder. **** Sai looked over the village in the forest clearing and was struck dumb... not by the technological sophistication of the place or by the beauty of it... no, what impressed itself upon her was the similarity this place bore... to the village where she and Shadow had grown up. The huts were much the same design, constructed of the same materials... the only difference was that this village was settled firmly on the earth instead of high in the treetops. Sai felt tears coming to her eyes at the memories of the time she and Shadow had spent together... and angrily forced them back. This was not the time to grieve... certainly not in front of what she hoped would be a group of friends. Sai looked down at the squirrel who was smiling up at her and extended a paw. "I am Sai, a warrior of the northern forests." The squirrel took the proferred paw and grasped it with surprising strength. "And I am Princess Sally Alicia, of the House of Acorn. Welcome to Knothole." This creature was a princess? She looked like no royalty Sai had ever seen. "No disrespect meant, Highness, but..." The squirrel cut her off. "I don't look like a princess. I know... and I certainly don't feel like one most of the time. But that," she said, shaking her head slowly, "is of little importance right now. What is important is that we have a new ally in the fight against Robotnik... if you wish to join us, but I don't see..." The sound of a metallic throat clearing startled the two, and Sai could see the robotic hedgehog motioning toward a hut at the center of town. "...but we can take care of that later," the Princess amended her statement. "Whatever brought Uncle Chuck here must have been very important. Will you join us?" Sai nodded as she followed the Princess to the hut, stooping slightly to fit under the door. The ceiling inside was barely high enough to accommodate her head... and she saw why when she glanced at the creatures in the room, who were all gathered around some sort of table... the tallest among them barely came up to her chest. If this were everyone... then Robotnik had as good as won already. She had to admire their courage, to fight against such odds... The robotic hedgehog motioned for silence, and withdrew a small disk from a compartment in his chest. He inserted it into - the table? - and a picture sprang from the table's black, polished surface. Sai recoiled at the sight, noting that everyone else present did the same... that machine... it was... "The Roboticizer," sighed the robotic hedgehog. "Not a day goes by that I wish I'd never had the idea spring into my head to build the blasted thing. And now... Robotnik's made a few modifications to the process he uses to make the machine outfit worker-bots." The picture projected above the table faded, to be replaced by a schematic of a roboticized fox. Sir Charles gestured to it as he spoke. "The welding torches and storage compartments and toolkits... have been replaced. Replaced with laser rifles, shielding, razor-sharp claws..." "They weren't all like that?" Sai said to herself... but the heads which turned to look at her told her she had said it a bit too loudly. "'Weren't all like that'? You mean... you've seen one of them?" asked the robotic hedgehog. Sai nodded. "About two months ago... Robotnik captured our village, and he threw Shadow into that machine... and..." She trailed off, not wanting to relive what had happened, forcing the tears from her vision. "He's started already," stated the robotic hedgehog, and Sai nodded silently in response. "Robot soldiers, armed as heavily as the SWATbots, if not more so... but not lifeless inside. Robotnik forced us to work for him... now he's going to force us to fight for him." Sonic slammed a fist on the table, and the schematic flickered briefly in response. "He's gone too far! Way too far! I am not going to spin apart some poor guy who got nailed by Robuttnik..." The hedgehog's anger quickly dimmed... "even if it means I gotta die for it..." "I think we all feel that way, Sonic," said the Princess, placing a hand on Sonic's shoulder for a moment. She turned to Uncle Chuck. "Isn't there some way we can stop this?" The robot nodded in response. "Yes, there is, Princess. It's not just against Sonic's nature to kill... taking another Mobian's life is not something any sane Mobian would willingly do. And we can take advantage of that." "How?" asked a walrus who was seated at one end of the table. "I mean, once someone goes into that roboticizer, there's no turning back. Robotnik's got them under control for good." "I should think you know better than that, Rotor," replied the robot. "I'm proof enough that Robotnik's hold can be broken... and I know how to do just that... at least in theory. You see, when I was going to turn Sonic over... something just snapped. And I realized that Robotnik hadn't entirely rejected my old design. I'd put in a way to pump up the brain's neural output... to leap gaps in damaged nerves and the like... and I must have subconsciously activated it. I've got it on all the time now... and I can still feel Robotnik's instructions trying to force their way into my brain, but I can override them. I'm guessing the same thing will happen..." "It does," said Sai. She knew all too well that it could happen. "Before Lyria had to save me from being blown to bits by Shadow... the red faded from his eyes, and he was in control... or at least seemed to be..." She stopped her thoughts short again... no, he's dead. Remembering it, thinking about what could have happened... that won't change anything. "...but when he realized he was back to normal again... that's when he changed back to a red-eyed monster." "Then there is hope... Rotor, Sally... Tails, you too... we're going to need to work on finding a way of keeping that higher level going once it gets started. Just the thought of being forced to kill should be enough to prompt that feature's activation... but we won't have long until Robotnik's in control again." The robotic hedgehog tapped the table, and the image hovering above it blinked out of sight. "Robotnik thinks he's finally won... I say we show him how wrong he is." He withdrew the disk from the slot where it had rested, and handed it to the walrus. "This disk has the schematics for the new, 'improved', worker- bot design. I'll come back to help you when I can... but you three are on your own until then. Think you can handle it?" "It's not a matter of thinking we can do it, Uncle Chuck," responded the walrus. "We have to... or Robotnik's going to overrun us with an army of slaves. I'll get right to work on it." Rotor turned and headed for the door to the War Room, but paused at the entrance. He turned around, embarrasment reddening his face, and added, "...if the meeting's over, that is." "It's over," responded the Princess, a hint of a smile crossing her lips. "Go get yourself lost in your work, Rotor... Tails and I will be joining you shortly." The walrus nodded, tipping his cap slightly before turning to leave. And, even though he was a step away from crossing the threshold, Sonic beat him out of the War Room. **** "Sonic!" Great. Sal's probably ticked I left in such a hurry, thought the speedster as he braked to a halt. He pivoted smoothly on one foot and rocketed back to the War Room, sliding to a halt just outside the door. Another perfect entry. "Thank you, thank you. No applause, just throw chili dogs." A single pair of hands clapped together with exaggerated slowness... Sonic glared at the Princess, who was smiling half-heartedly as she "applauded" his efforts. "Oh, c'mon Sal, it wasn't that bad." The Princess shook her head in reply. "Sonic, must you always be so flamboyant?" "Hey, style is the hedgehog's middle name." "I thought 'speed' was your middle name." "That was last week," quipped the hedgehog, a smile returning to his face. He and Sal could keep this up for hours, and she never seemed to get tired of it. He certainly didn't. But the rather stern look on her face told Sonic that she meant business... "We're going to have to put Lyria and Sai up for the night, Sonic. It took them most of the day to get here, and I'd rather not lose our newest members to a pack of heat-seeking SWATbots." "And you called me over to tell me because..." Sonic interjected, tapping his foot. He had some idea of what Sal was suggesting, and he didn't like it one bit. Not one bit... "Like it or not, we're the only two who have anything remotely close to room for anyone else. And Lyria's already finding room in my hut for her bedroll." "Sal, you can't be..." "It's only for one night, Sonic." "But I can't..." Sonic trailed off as he caught a glimpse of the Princess's eyes. When Sal got like that, there was no reasoning with her. "All right... but she gets the hammock." Sal didn't take too well to that line. "Sonic!" "Hey, it's not like she'd fit on my cot." "True. But you're going to have to get that hut of yours into some semblance of order before tonight." Housework. Not exactly his favorite thing in the world... but it looked like he didn't have much of a choice. "Right," said Sonic with a heavy sigh. "Anything else you wanna spring on me?" Sal smiled a bit... he wasn't losing his touch. "No... I'll be in Rotor's workshop if you need me for anything." Sonic dashed away... maybe this wouldn't be quite so bad as he was making it out to be. Then again, he hadn't seen any trouble with Antoine moving in for a few days... and what a fiasco that had turned out to be. He braked to a stop in front of his hut, went inside, and started doing the one thing his speed couldn't help him with... putting things in order. **** Two hours later, Sonic was jolted by a knock at the door. He'd taken Sal's comment as a personal affront and set about cleaning his hut with the single- mindedness that he usually turned against one of Buttnik's machines. He was a bit surprised to see that it had gotten dark outside while he had worked... and idly noticed how much better the place looked clean. Perhaps he should keep it this way... nah, once Sal and Rote had finished putting together that whatever-it-was, he had a feeling he'd be spending a lot more time in action. He opened the door, and was not entirely surprised to see Sai standing there a bit sheepishly. "The Princess told me that I was to sleep here tonight." "Lemme guess... you're as against this whole thing as I am, but Sal gave you the look." The panda smiled. "You might say that..." "Well, we might as well get this over with. Come in, already." Sai ducked her head as she stepped through Sonic's doorway, and looked around a bit curiously. "Umm... where do I sleep?" Sonic shook his head. "Ever used a hammock before?" Sai nodded in response, and Sonic opened his closet... and, for once, wasn't greeted with an avalanche that rivaled the one coming out of Rotor's storage shed. Now where had he put that... right, the box in the corner. Sonic withdrew the folded hammock - more like a cloth net with a very tight weave - and withdrew the two end loops from the bundle. He tossed one end to Sai. "Just loop it around that peg in the wall," he said, pointing to the place he wanted Sai to hang it. He looked for one on his side of the hut where the hammock would hang tight enough so she wouldn't hit the ground when she climbed in... perfect! Maybe a little tight, but it would work. "Well, hop in. The sooner we get to sleep, the sooner it will be morning and the sooner you'll be out of here." Sonic walked over to his bed... and was a little concerned when he heard sobbing behind him. He turned to see Sai on her knees, crying... that was the first time one of his lines had ever hit that hard. "Look, I'm sorry if..." "It's not what you said," responded Sai. "It's just that... just that... this is so much like home," she said between sobs. She was homesick... great. A memory tugged at Sonic's brain... and something told him he'd better let it out. "You think you have it bad? Try having to get used to this place when you're five." Sai stopped crying and lifted her head. "You mean... he started that early?" "Buttnik? Yeah. I guess he's been spreading out a little lately. But... man, if you feel like this now..." Sonic paused a moment to collect his thoughts. "...imagine how I felt when I woke up and realized I wasn't in Uncle Chuck's house... 'cause Buttnik took him away. It was two weeks before I could finally get used to him being gone." "And your parents?" asked the panda. Sonic laughed, weakly. "Uncle Chuck was my whole family. I don't know where my mom and dad went off to... and Unc's been a bit too busy to give me a straight answer. I think he doesn't know either..." Sai's eyes widened a bit in response. If she thinks that was bad... "It gets worse. I had to watch while Buttnik... did that to him." Sonic found himself on the verge of tears as he remembered seeing his uncle turned into a robot... by his own machine, no less... "Then you know... how I felt when I saw Shadow..." "Yeah. I know. And how you felt when he went back to his old self... 'cause Unc pulled that trick a few times when I slipped him a Power Ring." "A what?" asked the panda. She'd never seen one before, Sonic reminded himself. "It's something that makes me juice faster... but it also pulled Unc out of whatever Robotnik did to him... for a little bit. And every time, I had to leave him behind... it was the hardest thing in the world, to know Unc was like that and have to leave him behind... every single time..." Sonic trailed off... if he kept this up, he'd be bawling as badly as she was... "But at least he's alive," said the panda, sadness creeping back into her voice. Sonic's thoughts snapped back to the present... and what she'd said at the meeting earlier came back to him. "You mean... Lyria saved you... by KILLING Shadow?" The panda nodded. "If she hadn't... he would have killed me." Sonic shook his head... very slowly. "Whoa... not good at all..." "And we tried to restore him... and it worked... almost. He turned back to normal, but the spring couldn't..." "Hang on a minute! 'Back to normal'? There's something out there that can de-robo people?" This was great... he and Uncle Chuck could be together again... and Bunnie wouldn't have to clank around when she walked... and Buttnik wouldn't have anybody to hold his city together anymore. "Only if they die," responded the panda. "And only if they wish to live again. Shadow... whatever Robotnik did to him, he didn't want to live with it." Sonic's enthusiasm quickly faded. "Man... if I lost Uncle Chuck like that..." He shuddered. If he DID lose Uncle Chuck... he didn't even want to think about what he'd do. "But I see him in my dreams... Shadow, I mean..." "Yeah. Sometimes I dream about Uncle Chuck and me, back in Mobotropolis, no Buttnik to mess the place up..." And wake up crying, he mentally added. It was so real sometimes... "So, how 'bout we try and get some sleep? Can't sleep, can't dream... right?" he asked, a smile creeping back onto his face. Sai nodded and climbed into her hammock, Sonic onto his cot... and, in moments, the two were asleep... the cold reality of the present temporarily forgotten. **** "As you predicted, M... Sally. They do have much in common." Sally smiled as she and the lynx climbed down the tree overlooking Sonic's hut and began walking toward hers. She hadn't known Sonic could act like that... it was certainly a change from his usual reckless attitude. After seeing Sai nearly break down in tears, she'd asked Lyria what had happened and received the story from a rather repentant lynx. And she hadn't been entirely truthful about the sleeping arrangements... there was room elsewhere, but she felt that putting Sai and Sonic together... would help both of them. And it certainly appeared that it had helped. She opened the door to her hut and walked through, smiling a bit as the lynx stooped to follow her. She would have to make a few adjustments to the hut they were building for Lyria... not the least of which was a larger doorway. She yawned as she walked over to her bed. "Good night, Lyria." "Good night... Sally." The lynx lay down on the padded mat she had brought and was asleep in a matter of minutes. Sally soon joined her. As the Princess fell asleep, she began wondering... were there others out there, like Sai, who had escaped Robotnik but were nowhere near anyone who could help them? Perhaps Lyria would find a few more... but she would definitely have to send out patrols if... no, not if, WHEN they defeated Robotnik. **** She was racing through the treetops again, leaping from limb to limb with an agility that belied her size. Almost there, she thought. If I can just make it... She nearly collided with a black shape as she landed on the limb of the beech tree. "Getting slow, Little Bear." "Shadow..." But he was... "No, Little Bear. This is a dream... and I am but a ghost. But here, at least..." The black panther gestured to the forest around him. "...we can be together. So... best of three?" Before Sai could say anything, Shadow was off, leaping through the treetops and calling, "The oak at the northern edge. Race you!" Just as free-spirited as ever, thought Sai, as she began leaping through the limbs of a dream forest... following her friend. **** Another tale comes to a close. But more can and will follow. You can contact the author at arezina@acad1.stvincent.edu if you so desire.