The Spirit of giving A Sonic the Hedgehog story by Helen Stansfeld. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sonic the Hedgehog and other affiliations, characters and locations are © Sega Enterprises Ltd. Used without permission. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Part Two - I Am Mecha-Sonic "Ooof!" Sonic exclaimed as he was thrown out of the swirling void onto something hard and square. "Ow!" Tails added as he came sailing over Sonic. Sonic sat up, rubbing his head. "Urr...." he groaned. "What happened?" "Idunno," Tails slurred. "Ithinkwewent.. went plooey! Yeah! Plooey! Plooey plooey plooey plooey plooey.... ploo- what?" "What what?" "What?" "Uh.... I don't remember.." Sonic wobbled to his feet. "Remember what?" Tails inquired. "What?" "What what remember?" Tails drawled. "Uhhrrr... I don't feel so good...." Sonic mumbled before falling face first into the dirt. "Good good remember what remember good what whaty whaty?" Tails burbled. Suddenly a dark shadow fell over them.................................... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Sonic?" Amy called. "Are you there? Sonic?" There was no reply. "Oh, where could he be?" she asked fustratedly. "I've looked everywhere!" She took one last look around and sighed. "Looks like I'll have to get that chip myself, then," she said, setting off in the direction of the Metropolis Zone. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Huh?" Sonic asked as he woke up to face a cloaked figure. "Who are you?" "You are awake now," the figure stated. "That is good. It is lucky I found you in time." "Lucky you found me in time?" Sonic echoed. "Yes. You see, the aura was making you delirious. Another few minutes and you'd've been had by Them," the figure replied. "Them?" Sonic questioned. "The Spirits. They are cursed to search for an earthly body to inhabit for infinity." "Why does that sound like a prologue for a bad movie?" Sonic asked. "Probably because it is! Ah ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" the figure laughed, waving its arms dramatically. "What?" Tails inquired, coming to. "Good question," Sonic replied. "This guy's obviously some kind of nut!" "Ahem. Sorry about that," the figure apologised. "I've had a long day." "We understand," Sonic said, suddenly remembering the things he had been saying recently. "So what's your name?" Tails asked. "I'm Tails and this is Sonic." "My name's Sam," she replied, throwing back her hood. "That short for anything?" Sonic asked. "Yeah, Samantha." "You're a hedgehog!" Tails exclaimed. "Haven't you seen one before?" Sam asked. "Excuse my friend," Sonic said. "He has seen a hedgehog before 'cos I'm one. I don't think he's ever seen a black one before, though. Come to think of it I've never met one." "I've never seen a blue hedgehog before!" Sam laughed. "So, how'd you two get dumped here?" she inquired. "We got sucked into a portal-void thing," Sonic replied. "So where exactly are we?" "You're in Dimension X," Sam explained. "That sounds like part of a tacky movie too!" Sonic said. "Very imaginative, isn't it?" Sam grinned. "Anyway, where dja come from?" she asked. "Planet Mobius," Tails replied. "Have you always lived here?" "No," Sam said. "I lived on Mobius too. I've been stuck here ever since I accidentally tripped into the portal years ago when I was a kid." "Are you saying we're stuck here?" Sonic asked, horrified. "Yup," she nodded. "As far as I know, anyway. I know every single place here and I haven't found even one measly portal outta here." "Are there any other people here except us?" Tails inquired. "Nope," Sam grimaced. "I've been by myself for years. At least you two'll have company while you're here." She sighed and looked thoughtfully towards the horizon. "Hey, we'll find a way out!" Sonic said comfortingly. "Me and Tails always do - we're superheroes!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Mecha-Sonic has been rebuilt, sir," Mecha-Knuckles reported. "Good....." Robotnik smiled. "Bring him in." Mecha-Knuckles left the room momentarily and came back with the rebuilt Mecha-Sonic behind him. "Excellent!" Robotnik chuckled. "You are dismissed." Both robots hovered out to their separate quarters. Mecha-Sonic sat down and ran his internal checks. [CPU - 200% | AI - 1000% | RADAR - 150% | WEAPONS - 400% | HOVER PACKS - 500% MORE EFFICIENT | LOYALTY CHIP - COULD NOT BE LOCATED] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "It's now or never," Amy said to herself, hiding in a doorway at the border of the Metropolis Zone. She peeked her head round and quickly glanced to either side. Seeing that everything was clear, she darted across the street to the next doorway and then to the next. Pretty soon she was inside one of Robotnik's many warehouses outside the bustling centre of the city. Investigating it carefully, Amy discovered that it was unprotected and deserted. "Funny," she thought. "I could have sworn that there was a light on in here before! Maybe I'm just being paranoid." Suddenly she whipped around as she heard the heavy sound of a large metal door being slammed at the other end of the warehouse. She quickly surveyed the room but couldn't see anything moving. She gulped and moved slowly towards one of the many boxes containing robot parts and computer peripherals. Reaching out, Amy hurriedly grabbed a pawful of chips and shrank back into the shadows. She breathed a sigh of relief and closed her eyes only to hear something moving around at the other side of the warehouse. Hurriedly she tried to locate the door but then she remembered - it was shut. Amy gulped and flattened herself against a crate, praying not to be discovered. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "So are we gonna go looking for this portal or what?" Tails inquired impatiently. "Yeah, in a minute," Sonic replied. "Just something I've gotta do first." He smiled and walked away behind a rock. "I think I know what he's doing," Tails grinned. "I'll be back in a flash!" "Aha! Just as I thought!" Tails crowed as he rounded the rock. "Whaddaya mean 'just as I thought'?" Sonic asked, staring at a pool of water. "You're trying to impress Sam, that's what!" Tails chuckled. "No I am not!" Sonic pouted. Tails played his master card. "Then explain the mirror and comb!" he challenged triumphantly. "Hey! My spikes got messed up coming through that portal! I can't run at optimum speed if my spines aren't aero-dynamic!" Sonic said, hands on hips. "Uh... uh..." Tails stumbled for a cutting retort. "You're just making that up as you go along!" "Prove it!" Sonic grinned. "Any intelligent person will tell you I'm right." With that he sprinted up to Sam. Tails stood gaping but finally gathered his senses and ran after them. "So where dja think we should start looking?" Sonic asked. "We could try over in the forest," Sam suggested. "Sounds as good a place as any," Sonic replied. "Come on - let's juice!" "Juice?" Sam queried. "Oh, you don't know about my many talents," Sonic said modestly. "Watch this!" He raced off into the distance, stopped and zoomed back. "Wow!" Sam gasped. "That was incredible! So that's 'juicing'?" "Yup," Sonic nodded. "Come on, let's go find that portal!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mecha-Sonic stood up and blinked. He had a peculiar sensation but couldn't figure out what it was. He scanned for possible faults and came to the conclusion that it was the absent loyalty chip causing it. "I... am... Mecha-Sonic.." he said timidly. He repeated it a little bolder. "I am Mecha-Sonic." Then, "I am Mecha-Sonic!" He suddenly realised what the sensation was. He was his own person. He could control his movements without the dictatorship of Robotnik. He was free to do whatever he wanted. A whole wave of emotions passed over him, including the strong want to be a real hedgehog, to have friends and be as popular and liked as Sonic. But he knew that it was never to be. Nobody would trust him after his work for Robotnik. He shivered at the thought of that name. Robotnik; he that had created and moulded his creations to his own designs and wants. Not caring about them or their feelings. 'But,' Mecha thought to himself. 'Most of them are mindless little creeps who suck up to Robotnik and do exactly what he tells them to do.' He hovered a metre or so off the ground. "Well I'm not going to be a mindless creep any longer!" he bellowed angrily. "You've had your time, Robotnik!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Far away, yet near at the same time, the Spirits shook their heads as the levels of stability shuddered dangerously. 'What is causing this?' one asked worriedly. 'Somebody has emotions that should never be theirs,' another replied. 'It is causing a fatal imbalance of the continuum of the Universe!' 'The what of the what?!' its colleague asked. 'The continuum of the Universe! Don't ask me what that means, though. It's just a buzz phrase.' An older Spirit seemed exasperated by the foolish chatter. 'What it means, here, is that if we don't sort things out pronto then the entire Universe will collapse!' it explained dramatically. There was a metaphorical sharp intake of breath from all. 'Wh-what'll happen if the Universe collapses?' one ventured nervously. The older one turned to face it. 'Use your head, you little-' it responded, getting stressed. 'If it collapses everything will cease to exist! And I mean everything!" They all gasped. 'What are we gonna do?' 'We're gonna die!' 'Every spirit for itself!' 'Abandon Universe!' 'AAAAHHH-' 'Shut up! Shut up all of you!' yelled the one in charge. 'It's our job to sort this out! So come on, start doing your job, you load of good-for-nothing, idiotic, incompetent idiots!' Suddenly the air went still. All the Spirits became quiet. A Spirit seemingly larger than the others, if that is possible, as they cannot be seen or heard, came forward. 'It is under control.' It stated. 'I have anticipated this event for a long time. The human named Robotnik - he has caused this problem by creating artificial persons and misusing their properties. You may go back to your posts.' Everything sighed and vanished and the buzz of silent whispering could be heard ringing round the Universe. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Hey! Stop!" Tails yelled. Sonic screeched to a halt and tapped his foot. "What?" he asked impatiently. "Look! Over there!" Tails pointed, getting excited. "Dja think that it could be one of those portals we've been looking for? Huh? Huh, huh, huh?" Sonic said nothing, he just stepped cautiously towards the swirling grey thing in front of him and gingerly reached out a paw. "Whoah!" he screamed as the thing sucked him in at light speed. "Sonic!" Tails and Sam cried in unison. "What are we gonna do?" Sam asked worriedly. "Follow him," Tails said grimly. "Come on! There's no time to lose!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sonic sat up, rubbing his head. He could see little rings spinning round in front of his eyes and he had a weird feeling of not standing on anything, but not falling either. He looked around and discovered, to his horror, that he was floating in the middle of what seemed to be the Universe. "Oh man," he groaned. "Just the cruise I had in mind! Major bummer!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Urrhhhhh... where are we?" Sam inquired groggily. "We're back in the Green Hill Zone!" Tails cheered. "Look, there's Sonic!" Sam pulled herself up and smiled. "Hey, is he all right?" Tails wondered. "He looks to be out cold! Yo, Sonic! Wake up!" Sonic's body twitched, as if resisting to something, and then he slowly got up to his feet. "I had a mondo-weird dream just then!" he exclaimed. "I was floatin' in the Universe and this thing started talking to me! I couldn't see it, but it was saying something like 'Back, come..... to us..' and then you woke me up." "That is weird!" Sam agreed. "I wonder what it meant?" "Oh, Sonic has weird dreams all the time, don'tcha, Sonic?" Tails grinned. "Ignore fox-face," Sonic grimaced. "He hallucinates a lot. He's never been the same after he hit his head on that wall...." Tails shot Sonic a black look and growled. "Well, what should we do now?" Sam asked, breaking the tension. "I think we should go and find out what Robuttnik's doing," Sonic replied. "If you don't mind coming, that is." "I'd love to see you in action!" Sam enthused. "Let's juice!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Amy could hear the 'bot moving closer in its scan of the warehouse. She flattened herself even more against the crate and held her breath. It seemed to be working, as the robot bypassed her and carried on with its inspection. She heaved a sigh of relief and then froze as the 'bot backtracked and set off its internal alarm. Instinctively she ran, dodging the boxes and crates as best as she could in the dim light. Amy allowed herself a swift look over her shoulder and saw to her horror that Robotnik's minion was gaining rapidly. Swerving to the left and right were tried but to no avail. She attempted a Sonic-style leap over a crate to buy time. It half-worked, in that it achieved its purpose, but, although Amy was now on top of the crate, her ankle was throbbing where she had whacked it in her far from perfect jump. She looked around in a panic and then shut her eyes as the robot moved towards her. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mecha-Sonic was about to smash the door down to empathise his current feelings but thought better of it. For one, it would alert the many guards around the place, and two, he had a few things he wanted to do before he left for good. With that in mind, he quietly slipped into the main security room and tapped a string of commands into the central computer. With a grin on his face he finished the job by pulling a small red plug out of its socket and exited. He continued silently down the corridor into the next room labelled CCTV. Scanning the many hundreds of monitors, he noticed something distinctly pink and it seemed in trouble. 'This is my first chance to do something good,' he thought excitedly. He hurried over to a small computer in a corner and instructed all robots to ignore their targets and to continue their designated tasks. Mecha-Sonic watched as the small hedgehog looked around in surprise and then limped off and out of the warehouse. A warm feeling spread over him at the thought of having saved somebody's life. He left the 'ignore intruders' command on the computer and hurried out of the building, heading towards the Green Hill Zone. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Amy limped round a corner and sank down on a cardboard box, breathing heavily. She had no idea about what had happened and was just glad to be out. After she had regained her breath, she started on her long journey back home. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Status report, sir," Mecha-Knuckles announced, holding a sheet of paper. "No time for that now," Robotnik said with a wave of his hand. "Where is Mecha-Sonic? Bring him to me!" "Mecha-Sonic is currently in training, your eggness. Do you wish to interrupt?" "Why does he need to train? He's a robot!" Robotnik questioned. "He said that he wanted to get to grips with his upgrade, Dr Robotnik, sir," Mecha-Knux replied. "Hmm...... leave him to it, then," Robotnik relented. "Prepare to launch phase one!" "Phase one," Mecha-Knuckles whispered, looking worried. Robotnik didn't notice him and wobbled out of the room laughing. "He really is insane!" Mecha-Knux exclaimed in disbelief. "To launch phase one now would be...... would mean..... disaster..........."