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"Oh mah stars, is this guy the biggest hunk yawl ever seen?" Bunnie Rabbot cried as she snuggled up to Davey's right leg. She only went up to his thigh, but then she expanded her robot legs and got into his chest. "And looky here, this one's got some fur! Oh, Sally Girl, grab a limb, there's enough man here for all of Knothole!"
"He ess big, all right," Antoine DeCollette answered, then noticed the left arm. "Ess eet moi, or did Robotnik found ze Fountain of Youth?"
"He's definitely not Ro-Butt-Nik, Twain. You should've seen how he trashes Swats! And I do mean Trash!!!! We are talking MA-17 mode here! Oil and wires and chips flying all around him! Robot corpses lying at his wake! See that tube in his mouth? He ripped it out of a Crabmeat with his own teeth!"
"He did not, Sonic!"
"Hey Sal, I'm on a roll here! Where did King Acorn found him? Psychos'R'Us?"
"Sonic . . . <sighs, turns to assembled Freedom Fighters> . . . I would like to introduce Davey Crockett. He's a messenger sent by my father. I think that message is in your robot arm."
"Okay." Davey said, held his arm up, and pressed a button. The holographic projector sprang up.
King Acorn appeared in mid-air:
"Hello Sally, it's good to get to speak to you again. A lot has happened since I was able to temporary return to you. I have made several discoveries to aid us in our battle against Robotnik. The ability to send Davey here is one. It is one step closer to me being able to return to Mobius for good. I have copied all of my findings in a CD-ROM, which you will find in Davey's robot shoulder. <On cue, a CD-ROM slid out of that spot, ripping through the shirt. Rotor took the disk.> It also contains several design files and computer programs from Davey's world. I assure you, they will be quite useful. My daughter, there is not a day that passes by without me thinking of you. As much as I wish to return home, I had to settle to sending Davey in my place, and he I give to you. Good bye, Sally. I love you always."
The hologram ends, the lights turn back on, and Sally was found crying on Davey's shoulder. After a moment, when she dried her eyes, she looked at him and thanked him for what he did.
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"So Sal, what are you going to do with the psycho, er. I mean Davey," Sonic asked while munching on a chili dog.
"I dunno, Sonic. I thought about returning him to his home, but not only don't I know how, but I'm afraid that the crystallization that almost killed Daddy might strike him as well."
"In other worlds, he's stuck here."
"I'm afraid so. Rotor, what would you find about that left arm of his?"
"Nothing but incredible, Sally! Davey's robot arm is, in essence, a souped-up Nicole, but he has on-line satellite access and a data wire that gives him direct access into any computer on Mobius. If you believe in 'Knowledge is Power' . . . "
"Then Davey Crockett could be the most powerful Freedom Fighter on Mobius! Man, we've got to keep him! Besides, he followed us here."
"Yeah, right, but I wonder how he'll fit in here. He does look like a young Robotnik."
"Sal, Sal, Sal. Ro-Butt-Nik would not play Terminator with the Swats. Imagine what he'll do against Tubby himself when he gets back. His check is definitely good here. By the way, where is he?"
"When I saw him leave the hut, I think he was heading for the ring lake. I'll go see if I can find a place for him to crash in." Rotor leaves.
"So, Sonic. Do you think Robotnik'll return?"
"Haven't a clue, but I do doubt that he's gone for good."
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Three full moons reflect their light into the lake. A flat stone skips the length, breaking the mirror-like reflection with its ever-increasing circles. A second was thrown, then a third. Several more flew away from the human arm of a Dimensionally Displaced, and very homesick, Davey Crockett. When he ran out of stones to throw, he looked up at the multitude of stars above him.
One of these specks may be my home planet, Davey said to himself, not realizing that he was being watched by someone in the woods. I wonder what's going on out there right now. Do they know that I'm gone? Do they care? And what of the fox that scraped me off that dark alley, replaced my lost arm with this cyborg one, and sent me here? I pray that he comes here soon. I pray for his safety in general. Planet Earth ain't the paridice God created. I'd rather call it a hell-hole. He flops on a nearby log and raises his voice a little. Well, your majesty. I sent your letter to your daughter. What the hell am I supposed to do now? He taps some keys on his left arm, and some new age music from an earthling artist named Enya played from it.
He hears someone coming near from the darkness of the forest. He looked towards the noise, and sees a small fox with two tails. "Hi there, kit," Davey told him, holding out his hand as he would to a puppy in his world. "You friendly? I won't bite." The fox approached, hesitantly at first, sniffing him out. That robot left arm and the red color of his eyes does give Davey "the Robotnik look," but his friendly smile and King Acorn's ring on the right ring finger dispels the fox's fears. He must've been in the Roboticizer and Sonic rescued him just a wee bit late, the fox reasoned to himself. Maybe I should make him feel at home. He does look lonely. By this time, the fox is close enough to be petted by the human's right hand, causing his twin brushes to wag.
"I bet everybody calls you 'Tails,' don't they?"
"Yessir."
"Hey, call me Davey, please. Save the formalities for royalty like King Acorn, the Princess, or that french dude that's here."
"You must mean Antoine. He can be funny sometimes."
"I reckon you'd be too when eating hedgehog backwash."
Tails giggles hard enough to fall back on his tails.
The duo was joined by a pink girl hedgehog. Tails introduces her as Amy Rose. "You must be Davey Crockett the guy King Acorn sent here to deliver a message to Princess Sally and looks like Ro-Butt-Nik's found the fountain of youth and return to give us all h-e-double-hockey-sticks."
"I sense a trend here."
"Uh maybe I shouldn't tell you about the rumor that you're a psycho because you like to shoot holes into Swatbots and watch them bleed 10W40 all over?" Davey jokingly mocked menace: "Looks like a certain blue hedgehog's gonna lose some of his rings a punch at a time."
"I'd pay good money to see you try it."
"Yeah Davey, Sonic's not the leader of the Freedom Fighters for nothing."
"Yeah, I know--wait a minute. What's that in the water?" Tails ran toward a dock into the lake. A golden glow is forming in the water. "Alright! Another power ring is coming. Come over here and see this, Davey. It's gonna be cool!"
Davey stood at the edge of the dock and looked straight down into the glow. A bright white circle formed within the glow and approached. The world turned to black on gold as the power ring broke the water. "Way past cool, ain't it?" Tails asked. Davey could only stand in awe as the power ring hovered in front of him. Slowly, he reached out to touch it. Again, the glow went nova. Tails had to cover his eyes to avoid being blinded. He cried out to Sonic, but he couldn't hear his own voice. When the glow finally subsided, he saw that everyone in Knothole has heard him, but they were all staring at the dock that Davey was at. Tails turned around toward the human.
He saw a red fox holding the power ring and wearing the human's cap, he recognized it as Davey's because of the racoon tail attached on the back.
"Way past cool! The power ring's changed him into a fox!"
"Oh mah stars, he just keeps gettin cuter every time I see him."
"This is great, now he can pass as one of us."
"Maybe I can geet a power ring and be as tall as him, yes?"
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"Fellow Freedom Fighters," Sally said in the evening campfire. "Today another Freedom Fighter has joined our ranks. A hero sent by my father to help us bring victory in our fight for freedom. Hopefully, we will treat him a lot better than how he was treated in his home world. Everyone, I give you, Davey Crockett."
"Davey stood up and tipped his hat to a round of applause. "H-Hi. I would like to thank everyone, especially the Royal Family of Acorn, for having me. Er, Sally, you want this ring on my finger?"
"Keep it."
"It's from your father."
"Keep it."
"It could be all you'd see from King Acorn for a while."
"Keep it. I want you to give it to him when he returns."
"Okay, then. <Davey turns around> Hey, Hey, Hey, what are you people, the Freedom Fighters or a picture I drew? Let's hear a 'To A Free Mobius' out there!!!!"
Cue a round of hooping and hollering from everyone as they welcomed him in.
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Later into the night, Sally walked by the campfire to find Davey singing some song that she haven't heard to the tune of something she recognized. Apparently the notes being played matched too much with a song from his planet:
On a dark desert highway
Cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas
Rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance
I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy, and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself
This could be Heaven or this could be Hell
Then she lit up a candle
And she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor
I thought I heard them say
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year
Any time of year
You can find it here
You can find it here
She smiled one more time for the night and retired to her hut.