MOBIUS APOCALYPSE

                        A Sonic the Hedgehog story

                            by Daniel J. Drazen

PAUSE FOR BOURGEOIS LEGALITIES: This story is copyrighted (c)
1996 by the author.  The characters (most of them, anyway) are
the property of SEGA, DiC and/or Archie Comics.  All the normal
restrictions under Title 17 (the copyright laws) still apply. 
Bookshire Draftwood appears in this story courtesy of David
Pistone Talent Associates.  Special thanks go to Ronin for
pointing out a side of Amy Rose little known outside of Japan. 
As this story has been in development for quite some time, I have
not made any effort to reconcile it with recent developments
reflected in "Heart of Darkness," "And One Shall Save Him" and
subsequent Archie comic stories.

CAVEAT: This story is an attempt to tie up all the loose ends of
the Sonic the Hedgehog saga.  As the name implies, the story is
going to get somewhat...intense at times.  In other words, we're
talking death and graphic violence in some passages.  A sexual
interlude between two of the characters will have to happen
between chapters due to actions by the Legal Department at SEGA,
about which Ratman can tell you the details.  If you are easily
unsettled by the prospect of such things you might want to bail
out now: this is a dark ride.

TIME FRAME: The last days of Mobius, the year 3535--11 years
since the fall of Mobotropolis to Robotnik.

=================================================================


                   PART I: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

                                 Chapter 1

     "Sally-girl, wait'll you see what Rotor..."
     It was nearly the end of a beautiful day, and Bunnie's mood
was a perfect match for it.  It was late spring; the skies had
been mostly clear and the rains gentle this season.  More
important, Robotnik had been quiet over the past few months. 
While this relative silence left Sally feeling somewhat
apprehensive, everyone else took the opportunity to relax and
pursue activities that were more reminiscent of the way Mobius
used to be, activities other than their guerrilla war against
Robotnik.
     Bunnie had just been the recipient of the results of one of
these activities and she couldn't wait to share it with Sally. 
She sprang up the steps to the door of Sally's hut, surprisingly
lightly considering her metallic legs.  She burst through the
door, but once inside, she stopped short.
     Sally was seated at her dressing table, her head in her 
folded arms.  She looked up at Bunnie, and Bunnie gasped.  
Sally's eyes were red and her face was streaked with tears.
     "Sally," Bunnie said as she pulled a chair up next to her
friend, "what's wrong?"
     "Oh, Bunnie," Sally sniffled, "today...today would have been
my father's birthday, but..."
     "Ah understand, Sally.  Ah know you still miss him, but...."
     "No, that's not it at all!" Sally shouted, startling Bunnie.
"I...I only just remembered it a few minutes ago.  The day's
almost over, and...and I nearly forgot!"  With that, Sally buried
her face in Bunnie's shoulder and began weeping all over again.
     Bunnie knew better than to try to say anything; what was
needed now was for her to be a shoulder for Sally to cry on.  She
wrapped her arms--one living, one mechanical--around Sally and
simply waited until Sally had pulled herself together somewhat.
     "I...I'm sorry," she sniffed, "but...but sometimes I feel as
if we've been fighting against Robotnik all our lives and...and
we haven't even made a dent!"
     Bunnie paused for a moment.  "Sally-girl, you need this more
than Ah do."  And with that, she removed a string from around her
neck, on which hung a small blue stone polished as smooth as
milk, and placed it around Sally's neck.
     "Oh, Bunnie, I can't accept this; it's too beautiful!  Where
did you get it?"
     "Rotor gave it to me.  Recognize the stone?"
     "No, I don't."
     "It's a wishing stone.  He got it out of the river months
ago and he's been polishing it up."
     "A wishing stone?"
     "Yeah, like the poem: 'Wish on blue, and it'll come true.'"
     "Bunnie!  That's just a children's nursery rhyme."
     "Well, you still got a few years left before you can be
called a grown-up," she said with a grin.  "Now go ahead and wish
on it."
     "Are you serious?"
     "There's a first time for everything.  Now go ahead!"
     "I feel so foolish!"
     "Ah ain't leavin' you alone until you do."
     "Oh, OK."  She closed her eyes.  "I wish...I wish that
everything would just go back to the way it was before Robotnik
took over.  I wish we were all with our families, and that Bunnie
wasn't part robot, and that we'd be at peace and not have to be
freedom fighters any more."  When she finished, she let out a
sigh.
     "Feelin' any better?"
     "A little.  Thanks, Bunnie."
     "Hey, what're friends for?  Now, you comin' to dinner?"
     "In a minute.  I don't want everyone to know that I've been
crying."
     "They ain't gonna hold it against you, but have it your way. 
See ya!"  With that, Bunnie left the hut.  Sally looked at the
stone for a while, then slipped it off her neck and placed it on
her dressing table, determining to give it back to Bunnie later
on.
     The evening meal was uneventful, the only unpleasantness
coming when Sonic challenged Antoine on the obviously inflated
details of Antoine's midday patrol.  That evening Sally went to
bed, slept a dreamless sleep, and didn't get up until the next
morning when she, and all of Knothole, awoke to the sound of
Bunnie screaming.



                                 Chapter 2

     The scene outside Bunnie's hut was already confused when
Sally arrived, pulling on her vest on the run.  "Sonic!  What
happened?"
     "Beats me, Sal.  I heard the screaming and beat feet over
here.  I tried opening the door, but it's been bolted shut from
the inside."
     "What about the windows?"
     "I checked," Rotor chimed in.  "She's got all her shutters
closed and latched, too."
     Sally made a gesture with her hands that quieted the freedom
fighters who had gathered at the hut.  She strained to listen for
some sound, any sound, coming from inside Bunnie's hut.  All she
thought she could hear was some soft whimpering, like that of a
child.  Sally walked up to the door of the hut, pulled on the
handle and found it was still locked.
     "Bunnie!  Bunnie, can you hear me?  Are you all right?"
     There was no answer.
     "We've got to get in there."
     "Leave it to the hedgehog, Sal!"
     Backing up a couple of steps, Sonic went into a Sonic Spin
and headed straight for the door.  The wooden door of the hut
shattered on impact.  Everyone stayed back, wondering what would
happen next.
     What happened next was the last thing anyone expected: Sonic
tore back out the doorway, down the few stairs leading up to the
hut entrance, and into the fringes of the Great Forest.  Bunnie
could be heard inside the hut, gently sobbing.
     Without hesitation, Tails flew over to where Sonic was
barely visible, just beyond the edge of Knothole.  Everyone
strained to listen.  What they heard, faintly, was a strange and
uncomfortable sound, like labored breathing or choking.  In a
moment, Tails was walking back toward the group.  Not flying,
walking.  And every few feet he'd pause and turn to look at the
spot from which Sonic had yet to emerge.  It was as if Tails had
seen something he couldn't quite believe, and he was looking
repeatedly at it in the hope that he would eventually be proven
wrong.
     "Tails, what's going on?" Sally asked when he had finally
reached the group outside Bunnie's hut.  "What happened to Sonic?
Where is he?"
     "Uh, Sonic's kinda busy right now."
     "What are you talking about, Tails?  Busy doing what?"
     Tails looked back over his shoulder once more before
answering with a single word: "Hurling."
     Now Sally was really alarmed.  Sonic had a strong
constitution, and it didn't just come from scarfing chili dogs on
a regular basis.  He'd been ready and able to spit in Robotnik's
eye on more than one occasion; his wasn't the kind of all-talk-
and-no-action bravado everyone had come to expect from the likes
of Antoine.  But now, for Sonic to be acting this way...
     "Bunnie!" Sally called out, "I'm coming inside."
     "NO!  GO AWAY!"  There was a tone in Bunnie's voice nobody
had heard before.  It was a choked quality, as if someone or
something had Bunnie by the throat.  "Please, just go away!"
     Nothing was getting settled this way.  Sally motioned for
everyone to stay back as she stepped across the threshold,
through what was left of the door.
     The interior of the hut was dark.  The only light entering
came through the door that Sonic had broken down.  All the
windows had been shuttered and latched shut, despite the fact
that Bunnie had never been in the habit of closing herself off
against the weather except during the winter.
     Through the dark Sally could see Bunnie's bed, as if it had
been pushed against one of the walls of the hut.  Bunnie was
sitting upright in the bed, her back against the wall.  She held
up the blanket to cover herself.  All Sally could see of her was
the top half of Bunnie's face.  The hand with which she held the
blanket trembled.
     "Ah told you to go away," Bunnie said.  She didn't sound
angry.  She sounded--and this was the only way Sally could
describe it later--as if she was dying.
     "No, Bunnie.  Whatever's wrong..."
     "You cain't," Bunnie replied in the same mournful tone. 
"Nobody can."
     "Bunnie, how can we help if you won't let us?"  She walked a
step closer to the bed and Bunnie grabbed on tighter to the
blanket.
     "Please, Sally.  Go away!"
     "Not until you tell me what happened to you."
     "Ah...Ah cain't."
     "Bunnie, what happened to Sonic?  He..."
     "Please, PLEASE leave me.  Ah just..."  There was a long
pause.
     "What?"
     "Ah just want to die."
     That was enough.  Sally was over to the bed in two strides. 
She gripped her friend by her shoulders.  "Bunnie, stop it!  You
know what we've faced so far.  There's nothing that could make
you say that!"
     Sally's eyes were now more accustomed to the low light in
the hut.  She looked into Bunnie's eyes and saw only terror. 
Bunnie started to say something, then bowed her head and let go
of the blanket, watching it fall to the floor, away from her
body.
     Sally wanted to scream.  Every part of her told her this was
the thing to do.  She felt a horror and a revulsion she had never
known.  For Bunnie no longer had a roboticized left arm and legs. 
But neither had those limbs been returned to normal.
     They were simply gone.





                                 Chapter 3

     Sally sat on the steps of Bunnie's hut, her head in her
hands.  Sonic, who had eventually emerged from the woods and who
avoided the glances of the other Knothole residents, had sat down
beside her.  They sat and said nothing while Bookshire Draftwood
was inside, examining Bunnie.  Eventually, he limped out of the
hut.  Sally was on her feet in a second.  "How is she?"
     "She's in shock more than anything else.  I gave her
something to make her sleep."
     "Will she be all right?"
     "As all right as possible," Bookshire said bitterly, "for
someone who's become a triple amputee for no apparent reason! 
I'm sorry, Sally," he added, "it's just that I've never seen
anything like this before, just...never!"
     "Maybe Rotor can fit her up with replacements," Sonic
suggested.
     "It's not just a matter of replacing some missing parts,
Sonic.  Bunnie isn't handling this well at all.  It's as if...as
if..."
     "As if she'd been raped,"  Sally said with an intensity of
feeling that startled Sonic.
     "That's probably what it must feel like to her.  But I'm
glad you said it, Princess, and not me."
     "But what happened to her hardware?  Who could have taken
them?"
     "Your guess is as good as mine, Sonic.  It's as if someone
entered Bunnie's hut during the night, bolted the door and
latched the window shutters from the inside, removed her arm and
legs, and then just...disappeared while she slept through it all! 
There's no way I can explain it!  Did anyone see anything,
Sally?"
     "Antoine was supposed to be on guard duty last night.  When
I told him what had happened, he was as surprised as anyone. 
Then when I started questioning him more closely he got the
notion that I thought he was lying!  He said he'd been insulted
and stormed off somewhere."
     "Let him storm!" Sonic said, "just so long as he's out of
our hair."
     "I'm going to do a database search," Bookshire said as he
turned toward his hut.  "Maybe I can find SOMETHING that...."  He
left the sentence unfinished as he shuffled off, though he could
be heard muttering the word "Never" several times.
     "Sal?" Sonic said after a moment's hesitation.
     "Yes, Sonic?"
     "I...uh...."
     "What?"
     "I...I was wondering if you'd help me get today's power
ring."
     Sally agreed.  Anything to take her mind off what had
happened to Bunnie.
     They started walking toward the pool.  They'd not gone a
hundred yards when they saw a young, pink hedgehog sitting in the
middle of the path they were taking.  Young Amy Rose lived in
another part of the Great Forest, but occasionally she showed up
in Knothole in response to the complete schoolgirl crush she had
on Sonic.  Sonic easily tolerated the adulation, and Sally hoped
the child would grow out of it some day soon.
     Yet at the moment Amy Rose was unusually preoccupied.  She
held three acorns in one hand, and a number of sticks lay bunched
on the ground in front of her.  This didn't look like any child's
game that either Sonic or Sally recognized.  They stepped closer
to the girl, who seemed to take no notice of them.
     Sonic and Sally watched Amy Rose.  The girl tumbled the
three acorns in her hand.  Then she studied them intently, as if
the random position in which they had fallen meant something. 
Then she took a stick and laid it on the ground.  She repeated
this action until she had a row of six sticks in front of her. 
Then she turned and looked up toward the sky with an unfocused
yet intense gaze.
     "Sal," Sonic whispered, "this kid is starting to creep me
out!"
     "Do you see them?" Amy Rose asked all of a sudden.
     "See whom?" Sally asked as she looked up into the empty sky.
     "The dragons.  The sky is full of dragons."  Her voice
betrayed neither fear nor awe; she said it as simply as if she
were telling them the sky was blue.
     Sonic and Sally both looked up at a sky full of nothing. 
"Where...where are they going?" Sally asked hesitantly.
     "They don't know.  They got no heads."
     Sonic and Sally exchanged nervous glances.  Amy Rose
continued to watch the sky for about a minute more, then stood
and walked away, leaving the sticks and acorns behind her.
     "You're right, Sonic," Sally said at last.  "There's
something definitely creepy happening here."
     "What do you suppose she meant by that stuff about the
headless dragons?"
     In response, Sally unclipped Nicole from her boot.  "Nicole,
access all general files."
     "WATCH FOR MOBIUS TO COME TO MOBIUS," was the vocal reply
from Nicole.  It was a deep, masculine voice unlike Nicole's
standard audio response.
     "What?"
     "WATCH FOR MOBIUS TO COME TO MOBIUS.  THEN THE ENDING WILL
HAVE BEGUN."  Nicole repeated the message two more times.  When
the message was beginning to repeat yet again, Sally slammed the
computer shut.  Sonic noted that Sally's eyes were wide with
fright.
     "Sal, what the heck did you do to Nicole's voice chip?"     
The only answer Sally could give was to shake her head slightly.
     Sonic grabbed Nicole and opened it again.  "Yo, Nicole! 
Front and center!"
     "SONIC...WHAT UP?" Nicole answered in her customary manner
when addressed by Sonic.
     "Nicole, explain last message," Sally interjected.
     "PLEASE SPECIFY, SALLY."
     "The one about 'Mobius coming to Mobius' and the end
beginning."
     "NO SUCH MESSAGE HAS BEEN TRANSMITTED."
     Sally took Nicole from Sonic and slowly closed it up again. 
"Sonic, I'm scared."
     "C'mon, it's probably just a short circuit or something. 
Rotor can...."
     But before Sonic could finish speaking the ground beneath
them began to shift.  Each of them dropped to the ground and lay
as flat as possible.  Around them the trees of the Great Forest
shook violently.  Suddenly there was a loud crash.  They turned
to see one of the Knothole village huts collapse inside itself. 
Then just as suddenly as it had started the earthquake stopped. 
Before either of them could take comfort from this, they both
heard a child's high-pitched scream from inside the hut.
     "TAILS!!"
     Sonic dashed to the hut in a moment, and was joined shortly
by others.  Sally stood where she was away from the hut, gripped
by an unnameable fear.  A minute later, figures began to emerge
from the hut.  Sonic and Rotor were carrying one of the
floorboards between them like a stretcher.  Lashed to the top of
it with rope was Tails, crying piteously.  They were headed for
Bookshire's hut, and he emerged a second later, calling to them:
"I'll be there in a minute.  And whatever you do, DON'T try to
untie Tails until I get there!"
     Sally ran up to Bookshire.  "What happened to Tails?"
     "One of the roof beams struck him in the lower back when it
fell inside the hut.  He says that he can't feel anything in his
tails or his legs.  We can only hope that the paralysis is
temporary."
     "Oh my gosh!" 
     "Believe me, it would have been a lot worse if Antoine
hadn't been in there and pushed him out of the way...."
     "What!?  Antoine is in there?"  Sally started toward what
was left of the hut.
     "Sally, wait!" Bookshire said as he took hold of Sally's
arm.  She turned.
     "I know it's no real consolation, but...but judging from the
way the roof beam struck Antoine on the neck, I...I believe he
died quickly."



                                 Chapter 4


     The next day dawned gray and windy.  Somehow it seemed
appropriate.
     The residents of Knothole had gathered around a grave, one
that they themselves had dug the night before.  This was by
custom a duty of the decedent's family on Mobius.  Yet the
Knothole Freedom Fighters knew that they were all the family
Antoine had left.  So each had helped.
     Even Tails had wanted to help, though he was in no condition
to do much of anything.  Once Tails had been taken to Bookshire's
hut, Sonic stayed by his side almost the whole time Bookshire was
examining him and into the night.  Despite his injury, Tails
assured Sonic that he was in no pain.  This piece of news did
nothing to lift Bookshire's spirits.  He told Sonic to wait until
the next day to see if possibly the paralysis would reverse
itself;  Bookshire looked as if he couldn't even convince
himself, so even Sonic knew that Bookshire was lying.
     Yet Tails' thoughts were of Antoine.  When he was injured he
felt no pain as the nerves to his legs and tails had been
severed.  In fact, he didn't even start crying until he had
caught sight of Antoine's face with its mouth twisted into an odd
silent scream and with its open and dull eyes.
     Now the freedom fighters were all gathered under a slate
gray sky.  Tails sat in a too-big wheelchair Bookshire had dusted
off and put into service.  It fell to Sally to say something on
the occasion.
     "It was four summers ago, during that awful heat wave. 
Antoine insisted on...on wearing those stupid uniforms, even
though he looked miserable.  I had to ask him whom he thought he
was trying to impress.  'We know each other, Antoine, we've known
each other since we were children, since before Robotnik took
over.  You don't have to prove anything to us!  So why don't you
get out of that uniform before you give yourself heat stroke?  I
feel miserable just looking at you!'
     "I remember he looked at me and said: 'My Princess, you are
not to be understanding.'  Then he turned and walked away.  He
was right.  I didn't understand.  Until yesterday.
     "I know we all thought Antoine was...was kind of a jerk
sometimes.  I don't think it ever occurred to Antoine that he
came across that way.  As crazy as it sounds, he thought of
himself as some kind of hero.  And if that made him seem
ridiculous to the rest of us, it was because he himself didn't
fit the part.  I think even he knew that, but that never kept him
from trying.
     "Yesterday, Antoine finally got what he wanted.  He couldn't
live a hero's life but he died a hero's death -- he gave up his
own life while saving the life of another."  She paused.  A
second later, the silence was punctured by Tails' renewed crying.
     "I'm sorry, I can't..." She let the sentence go unfinished. 
Then, taking a handful of dirt, she tossed it back into the
grave, onto the wrapped body of Antoine.  The others did the same
as the grave was gradually filled in.  Only Bunnie didn't take
part, watching the ceremony from the window of her hut.
     With the burial completed, Sally walked over to a nearby log
and sat down, her head in her hands.  As Bookshire wheeled Tails
back to bed, Sonic sat down next to Sally.  "You cool?" he asked
gently.
     "Sonic, I'm just about ready to quit."
     "Say what!?"
     "Maybe it's because of what happened yesterday, but...but
I've never felt so strongly that what we're doing is so...so
hopeless!"
     "Sal, this doesn't sound like you!"
     "I know.   I guess I had this little girl notion in the back
of my mind that we could somehow make things be the way they were
before."
     "Who says we can't?"
     Sally pulled a much-folded piece of paper from a vest pocket
and handed it to Sonic.  Sonic scanned it.  It was a list:
     
     OVERTHROW ROBOTNIK
     RESTORE MOBIANS
     CLEAN UP MOBIUS
     BRING FATHER BACK FROM VOID

     Sonic handed the list back to her.  "So?"
     "So even if Robotnik were to disappear tomorrow, we're still
no closer to figuring out how to do the rest of the things on
this list."  She crumpled up the piece of paper and jammed it
back into her pocket.
     "Sonic, I know now that things will never be the way they
were before.  Because even if we were to outfit Bunnie with new
artificial limbs, and even if Tails' paralysis proves to be
temporary, even if Robotnik were to be defeated today and Daddy
were to come back to us tomorrow, there'll always be one thing we
can't change: we can't change the fact that Antoine's dead."
     "Well, yeah," Sonic admitted, "but...."
     "What was that?" Sally whispered.  They listened.
     Then they heard it: a faint voice: "Sonie!  Help me!"
     It was Uncle Chuck.
     They heard the voice coming from a bush at the edge of the
forest.  They ran to it.
     Just beneath the bush, as if taking shelter, lay Uncle
Chuck, Sonic's roboticized uncle.  He lay face down on the ground
as if wounded.  Sonic and Sally each grabbed an arm to pull him
out into the open.  They had only moved him a little before Sally
dropped his arm and let out a scream.  For Uncle Chuck's body
ended at the waist.
     Sonic rolled Uncle Chuck onto his back.  Uncle Chuck moved
his head from side to side, as if unable to keep his balance. 
His hands were caked with dirt.
     "Uncle Chuck," Sonic said as tears formed in his eyes, "what
happened?"
     "Sonie...Robotropolis...it's gone crazy!"
     "What's Buttnik done now?"
     "Not Robotnik.  It's as if he disappeared.  His SWATbots
just stand there!"
     "Uncle Chuck," Sally asked, "what about the rest of the
worker bots?"
     "It's insane!  It appears to have happened overnight the
night before last.  I don't know how it could have happened, but
it's as if we all started to change back, but only partially. 
But they've all lost control."
     "Lost control?"
     "They...they're rioting all over the city, destroying
everything.  I managed to crawl into a hover unit and ditch it at
the edge of the Great Forest.  I crawled the rest of the way
here.  I was lucky to get out even without my legs.  I had to get
somewhere safe, somewhere..."
     At that moment, Rotor came out of his hut at a run. 
"Everyone get out!" he yelled.  "Get out of Knothole!  Now!!"
     "Hold it!  Rotor, what's going on?"
     "It never showed up on the radar," he panted, "until a
moment ago.  We've only got a minute left!  Run!!"
     "Run from what?"
     Just then Sally saw the answer to her question.  The gray
clouds over Knothole parted, revealing jagged tons of earth
drawing closer and closer to the tree line.  It was the Floating
Island.  Only now it was falling fast -- too fast.  Everyone
around hit the ground.  The bottom of the island scraped the tops
of the trees that sheltered Knothole from aerial view.  Leaves
and branches rained down on the prostrate Mobians.
     There was a moment of quiet.  Everyone looked up warily.  "I
think it missed us," Sonic said in a half-whisper.
     Then came the shaking, even worse than the earthquake of the
day before.
     When it stopped, Sally ran to Rotor's hut, emerging a second
later with an infrared range-finder.  She then began climbing one
of the taller trees still standing in the center of Knothole. 
She remained up there for over a minute.  When she descended, it
was slowly.
     "Sal, what happened?"
     "Mobius has come to Mobius," was all Sally could answer.
     Sonic took the range-finder from Sally and headed for the
same tree Sally had just climbed.  "Sally," Rotor said, "the
island...."
     "Robotropolis," she said as if in a trance.  "Smoke and dust
pouring from it.  Who knows how many...how many dead...."
     Sonic began climbing.  He was halfway up the tree when
something flashed in front of him, something bright red.  Losing
his footing, Sonic fell to the ground.
     Something then streaked down upon Sonic from the treetops. 
It was Knuckles.  There was a wild rage burning in his eyes.  He
turned to Sonic.
     "This was YOUR doing!"
     Without another word, he lunged at the hedgehog.  Rotor,
standing nearby, made a grab at Knuckles to try to restrain him. 
Knuckles responded by swiping the back of his barbed glove across
the walrus's face.  Rotor howled in pain.  Releasing Knuckles and
covering his eyes, he sank to the ground, blood seeping between
his fingers.
     Under any other circumstance, Sonic would have stood his
ground and paid Knuckles back measure for measure.  But for
whatever reason, Sonic turned as if to run away.  Knuckles saw
this.  With a powerful leap he lunged at Sonic.  Knuckles' barbs
sliced through the back of Sonic's left ankle, severing a tendon.
     Sonic dropped to the ground, crying out.  In pain and unable
to stand, let alone run, Sonic was helpless.  Knuckles jumped on
top of Sonic, planting his knees on the hedgehog's chest.   With
one hand he seized Sonic by the throat.  He raised his other hand
over his head.
     Just then Sally leapt at the enraged echidna.  She pushed
him off of Sonic.  Seizing Knuckles by the wrist, she held the
bloody spurs of his glove against her own throat.  All of the
sorrow and fear and rage of the past few days came boiling out of
her at once.
     "Is THIS what you want?" she screamed.  "Do you really think
bloodshed is going to put your precious island back in the sky? 
Then go ahead and kill me!  Right here!  Right now!!  Because I
don't care anymore!  I don't..."
     Anything else she would have said stuck in her throat.  She
released Knuckles' arm and collapsed, sobbing, onto the soft
ground.
     Knuckles, as if coming out of a trance, looked around him. 
His eyes were wide with horror, especially as he surveyed his own
gloves.  He practically tore them off his hands.
     Rotor, his eyes bandaged, was being led away by Bookshire. 
He had left his toolbelt on the ground.  Knuckles made a quick
grab for it.
     The next thing everyone heard was a sickening sound, like a
wet crunch.  Sally heard it again.  And again.  She dared to look
up.
     Knuckles knelt before her, his eyes glazed over.  In one
hand he held a stout and bloody hammer from Rotor's toolbelt. 
His other hand, resting on a nearby rock, was now mutilated
almost beyond recognition.
     Sally began to back away from the sight, as if it were a
poisonous serpent.  She felt herself bump into something. 
Gasping, she turned around and found herself looking into the
kind face of Lupee, leader of the Wolf Pack Freedom Fighters. 
Sally threw her arms around her.
     "Lupee," Sally sobbed out, "everything's gone mad!  Please
tell me you know what's going on!"
     "I don't know, Sally, but I have brought someone with me who
might."



                        PART II: EXECUTIVE DECISION

                                 Chapter 5


     Lupee's presence seemed to reassure Sally, giving her
something to hold on to.  Still, she insisted that Sonic be
tended to before anything else.  Gathering two sturdy branches
and binding them together with rope, she was able to fashion a
splint for his leg.  He draped one arm over Sally's shoulder in
order to hobble along beside her.  Nobody spoke of the
possibility of Sonic's ever walking again, let alone running.
     The three of them made their way to the river that ran
adjacent to Knothole.  Standing in the midst of the river as it
flowed around him was another wolf, who appeared to be about the
same age as Lupee.  Facing downstream, he would throw a ball of
string into the current, with one end of the string tied to his
wrist.  Then he would draw the string back to himself, ball it
up, and repeat the same action.
     "That is Salish.  He was apprenticed to be the next shaman
of the Wolf Pack when Robotnik took over."
     "What's he doing with that string?" Sally asked.
     "Looks like he's fishing," Sonic suggested.
     "He's not fishing, Sonic.  It's probably some form of
divination."
     "Oh, he's fishing, all right," Lupee said.  "He's an
absolute fanatic about it.  He does it every chance he gets."
     "Sonic was right the first time?  The world MUST be coming
to an end!"
     "That's not something I'd joke about if I were you,
Princess," Salish said as he began wading toward shore.  "In
fact, I believe that that's exactly what's happening.  We are
living in the last days of Mobius."
     "You're kidding, right?"
     "I only wish I were, hedgehog.  Too many of the signs from
the old legends have come to pass for me to ignore the
possibility."
     "Like what?"
     "Look at the river.  A shaman knows that by listening to the
world around us we can get a sense of whether the world is living
or dying.  And Mobius is surely dying."
     "How can you tell that from the river?" Sally asked.
     "The fish told me."
     "What, you talk to fish?" Sonic asked.
     "Ordinarily at this time of year, the fish should be heading
upstream to spawn.  They should be so thick in the river you
could walk across on their backs.  Look at the river now.  Not
one fish."
     "Maybe there's another reason," Sally suggested.  "Maybe
they were killed off by Robotnik's pollution...."
     "That's what you WANT to believe.  You want to believe in
something you can do something about.  You want to find a so-called 'natural' explanation for the way Nature is behaving.  For
me, there is only one answer: the ending has begun."
     "But what's going to happen?"
     "That will depend on the outcome of a test.  Where is the
red one?"
     Knuckles was seated on the ground, his one hand bandaged. 
Bookshire knew, but did not yet say, that what was left of it
would have to come off.  Knuckles no longer seemed to be in a
trance, but he still regarded the others with suspicion.
     Salish took a small pouch from his belt.  He poured the
contents -- a shower of powder and shards of a brilliant green --
into his palm and held it in front of Knuckles.  The echidna's
eyes widened.
     "You recognize this, then?" 
     "After all the time I spent on my island guarding one, of
course I do!  These are fragments of a Chaos Emerald!"  He
grabbed Salish by the fur with his one good hand.  "Where did you
get these?" he demanded.
     Salish pushed Knuckles away.  "Not from you, you can rest
easy on that!  I've carried these for years, in one of my
medicine bags.  If I have found the one for whom I have been
searching, I will stop carrying them after today."
     "What do you mean?" Sally asked.
     "This is where I need your help, Princess.  We have been
traveling from site to site, looking for Freedom Fighter groups. 
Without success."
     "What?"
     "We've travelled far," Lupee continued.  "We've found no
trace of any of the groups I know of: the Southern and Eastern
Freedom Fighters had deserted their base before we arrived.  And
the North...."  Lupee couldn't bring herself to finish the
sentence; she clutched at herself as if suddenly bitten by a cold
wind.
     "The Northern Freedom Fighters are all dead," Salish
continued.  "We found their bodies in the camp."
     "Doesn't sound like SWATbots to me," Uncle Chuck observed.
     "It wasn't.  Every one of them had died at the hands of his
fellows.  They murdered each other."
     The Knothole villagers were silent for several minutes.
     "That's why I was glad when I saw signs of life at Knothole. 
Perhaps my quest is over."
     "What quest?"
     Instead of answering, Salish took a hollowed-out gourd
resembling a pitcher which hung from his belt.  Into it he placed
the fragments of the Chaos Emerald.
     "I need only ask one favor of you, Princess."
     "Name it!"
     "Bleed."
     "Say WHAT?" Sonic protested.
     "One drop is all I require," he said as he produced a silver
needle, offering it to Sally.  "One drop from one finger -- that
will determine the future of Mobius."
     Sally inhaled, then took the needle.
     "Sal, you're not gonna go through with this, are you?"
     "It's only one drop, Sonic.  What can it mean?"
     Sally stuck one finger.  Slowly a drop of red formed on the
tip, then with sufficient weight fell into the gourd.  The
instant Sally's blood hit the shards, they exploded in a hiss and
a burst of green smoke and light.  In a few seconds the smoke had
cleared: nothing remained of the shards of the Chaos Emerald
except for some fine ash.
     "What was THAT?" Sonic asked.
     "The sign.  The sign I've been waiting for and haven't seen
until now."  He took the gourd down to the river, rinsed it out,
and returned to the others.  "From what I've seen here, though,
there wasn't much doubt.  The test with the emerald shards only
confirmed it."
     "So...so what is this a sign of exactly?" Sally asked
hesitantly.
     Salish seemed to take no notice as he began looking around
the village.
     "We'll use that hut over there," he said, pointing to
Rotor's storage shed.  "It needs to be emptied.  Once that's
taken care of, I'll build a fire inside.  It will take me some
time to commune with the spirits.  Then you'll be needed, all of
you who can come inside.  One other thing: leave all metal
objects outside the hut.  And any clothes you might be wearing."




                                 Chapter 6

     What was left of the Knothole Freedom Fighters assembled in
the hut late in the afternoon.  The door had been removed and the
doorway covered with a heavy blanket.  Everyone felt a blast of
steam as they entered, for Salish had built a fire in the center
of the hut which was heating a number of large rocks he had
placed on the floor.  He was dousing them with water as the
Freedom Fighters entered.  The hut was filled with a choking
cloud of steam.  It was a wonder that they could breathe.
     Not that breathing was their biggest problem.  Just moving
was difficult for some.  Tails' wheelchair was too big for him to
turn the wheels.  Rotor volunteered to push it so long as Tails
gave him directions.  Tails was happy to do so.
     Uncle Chuck arrived in a wheelchair as well, pushed by
Bookshire.  There was some concern about Uncle Chuck's being
there, especially since he was all metal.  But Sonic insisted
that Uncle Chuck be included.  Salish agreed. though he warned
Uncle Chuck that when the temperature in the hut began rising, he
would understand why he had told them not to wear anything metal.
     Sonic himself came limping in on one crutch.  He was sullen
and silent, and nobody tried drawing him into conversation. 
Nobody was quite sure what to say to him anyway.
     Sally was the last to arrive.  Cradled in her arms was
Bunnie, looking afraid and ashamed.  Sally set her old friend,
now not much more than a head and a torso, on the floor of the
hut and sat down beside her.  Then Sally spoke:
     "All right, Salish, we're here.  What's this about?"
     "Chaos."
     "Then it's a good thing Uncle Chuck is here.  You've studied
chaos theory, right?"
     "With all due respect to Charles Hedgehog, you have to
forget about his science.  If you continue to think of Chaos as
some random force in the universe, you'll have no chance of
saving Mobius."
     "Well, then, how SHOULD we think of chaos?" Sally asked.
     "You have to know Chaos as we know him: as a cunning and
powerful intelligence, as a personality, one of the first of the
God Clan."
     "You're asking us to believe in the old gods of the Wolf
Pack?"
     "Don't be so quick to judge, Princess," Knuckles
interjected.  "The immortals don't die just because you ignore
them.  They are a part of your history."
     "But I've never believed in any of the old gods.  Neither
has anyone in the royal family for hundreds of years.  How can
the old gods be a part of MY history?"
     "I don't speak of your personal history, Princess.  I speak
of your people's history, or rather their prehistory.  I speak of
the dark days of this world's infancy, after the coming of the
White Comet, when barbarous rites were carried out on old altars. 
When two generations of Mobians, parent and child, were
sacrificed at the same time, their bodies slaughtered together
that their blood might mingle in offering to Chaos.  As shameful
as it might be, that is your legacy and your past."
     "Watch your mouth, red!" Sonic warned.  Knuckles started to
rise.
     "No!" Salish ordered.  "The red one is right.  This DOES
have to do with the old gods.  Or at least with Chaos.  Has
anyone in your group had a vision concerning Chaos?  A vision of
any kind?"
     "This child," Sally said as she pointed to Amy Rose, "spoke
earlier of seeing the sky filled with headless dragons in
flight."
     "The headless dragon is the symbol of Chaos.  It is the sign
of power without purpose or direction.  Without the affirmation,
that power will destroy all of Mobius.  And soon."
     "What is 'the affirmation'?"
     "The ceremony of which the echidna spoke.  Somewhere on
Mobius there remains hidden an activation altar.  It is a direct
connection to the heartstone of Mobius: the Master Emerald.  In
the past it has drunk the life's blood of the living willingly
shed to ensure the fate of Mobius."
     It suddenly became very still in the hut.
     "Wait a minute," Charles said.  "What are we talking about
here?"
     "The affirmation.  The need to seal this world's fate while
it still exists.  To seal it in blood."
     "Look," Sonic exploded.  "Stop dancing around and give it to
us straight!"
     "Very well.  In order to prevent Mobius from coming apart
and destroying all life on it, your Princess must die."
     Sonic jumped to his feet then just as suddenly collapsed,
unable to stand on his own.  While some helped Sonic sit back
upright, the others looked at Sally.  She was white with fright. 
Amy Rose began to whimper.  Tails reached out and placed a hand
on the girl's shoulder.
     "How is it supposed to happen?" Sally asked quietly.
     "Few know, and none have told.  Once you have found the
altar, it is said that Chaos himself directs the rest."
     "This is bogus!!  You're asking Sally to let herself get
killed with no guarantees!"
     "I'm willing to entertain other options.  Can anyone come up
with any better suggestions?"
     "Even doing nothing would be preferable to the kind of
barbarity you're talking about!" Uncle Chuck protested.
     "And what WOULD happen if we did nothing, Uncle Chuck?"
Sally asked.
     "I...I had hoped I was wrong, but for the past few weeks
I've been collating data from Robotnik's outposts and coupling
them with reading from the city.  The planet's tectonic strata
have been disintegrating, as if the molten core of the planet
were devouring Mobius from the inside.  My best calculations are
that inside of two months' time, Mobius will consume itself."
     "But why the affirmation?" Rotor asked.  "And why Sally?"
     "We all know the power of the Chaos Emeralds.  And THIS
emerald is the most powerful of all.  These disturbances Sir
Charles spoke of have threatened Mobius in the past.  I'm certain
the echidna can attest to that truth."  Everyone looked at
Knuckles.
     "They have.  And it was as the wolf has said: it took the
voluntary sacrifice of two Mobians to avert the danger."
     "And as for why the Princess must be sacrificed, the
evidence is all around you.  Every one of the best of the
Knothole Freedom Fighters has been put out of commission.  All of
your people are either crippled or dead.  All except you,
Princess.  Chaos knows what he's doing.  He wants you and you
alone."



                                 Chapter 7

     "We must go," Lupee said as she rose.  "We have fulfilled
our part.  We must go back to the home of the Wolf Pack."
     "Why?" Sally asked.
     "To begin preparing to search for the activation altar,"
Salish answered.  "Will you come with us?"
     "No."
     "But Sally, Mobius is running out of time!"
     "I'll join you when I can."
     "As you wish.  Just make it soon."  With that, Lupee and
Salish left the hut.  Sally waited until she was sure that the
two had collected their things, dressed, and were on their way
out of Knothole.  Then she rose and pulled down the covering over
the doorway, allowing the heat inside the hut to escape and the
beginnings of the sunset to enter.
     "What a relief!" she said.  "That heat...I felt like I
was..."
     "Dying?" Sonic dared say was Sally could not.  She sat back
down.
     "Well, what do you think?"
     "About what?"
     "About their plan.  I've never jeopardized the lives of any
freedom fighters without our gathering together and discussing
all our options.  Now is no time to make an exception.  Uncle
Chuck?"
     The roboticized hedgehog bowed his head.  "If I had time, I
could possibly come up with something, but this is unlike
anything I've ever dealt with before!  I'm used to applying
scientific methods to make sense out of the natural world.  But
this makes no sense whatever!  I'm sorry, Princess."
     "Rotor?"
     "I feel the same way.  I WANT to believe there's an answer
but how can you keep a planet from eating itself up from the
inside?"
     "Bunnie?"
     She just sat there and said nothing.
     "Bunnie?"
     "Who are you kiddin'?" Bunnie said sullenly.  Sally kept
silent.
     "Ah think Ah know you well enough by now!" she said angrily. 
"You've already made up your mind as to what you're gonna do. 
You're gonna leave us, and you probably know when you're gonna
leave, too.  Mah guess is the only thing you ain't figured out
yet is...is how to say 'good bye.'"
     Bunnie began to cry.  Sally walked over to where Bunnie was
seated and embraced her.
     "Oh, Bunnie, I could never fool you."
     "Then why cain't we come along, Sally?  Why do you havta go
at all?  If we're all gonna die, why cain't we die together?"
     "I'm sorry, Bunnie, but my going might give you and everyone
else on Mobius a chance at living.  I only wish I knew how."
     "Then why are you goin'?"
     "Because I think Salish is right.  In some crazy way I can't
rationally admit I think he's right.  I don't know anything about
the old rites except what I've read in books, but I can't help
but feel as if there's some connection between the events of the
last few days and what's happening to Mobius and it's got to
stop.  Besides, every one of you has already paid too heavy a
price.  It's been tearing me up inside.  Now it's my turn.
     "Bunnie," she said as she took her friend by her one
remaining hand, "you're right.  I'd planned on leaving tonight,
while everyone was sleeping.  I guess I just hate goodbyes."
     There seemed to be nothing more to say.  Silently, each of
the Freedom Fighters walked up to Sally, silently embraced her,
then left, wandering off into the early dusk.  Sally wanted to
help Sonic put on his sneakers, but he sulkily insisted on doing
it himself.  So she once more took up Bunnie in her arms and
brought her back to her hut.
     "It'll be OK, Bunnie," Sally said softly as she set Bunnie
down on her bed.  "If only my first wish on that stone had come
true!  Then none of this would be happening."
     "Please, Sally-girl.  Wishin' ain't gonna help nothin' now." 
     The two friends embraced for the last time, then left the
hut.  Sally returned to Rotor's storage hut to dress.  Pulling a
crumpled piece of paper from one pocket of her vest, she dropped
it on one of the faintly-glowing coals in the center of the room. 
It caught fire, flamed briefly, then turned to dark ash.  She
sighed, then walked to Sonic's hut.
     "Sonic?" she asked as she stood in the doorway.  He didn't
say anything as he sat on the edge of his bed.  She sat down next
to him.
     "So, you happy now?" he asked bitterly.  "You ready to leave
us all so you can play the big hero one more time and...."
     "Sonic," Sally said in a tone of voice he had never heard
before.  "Please...just hold me."
     Awkwardly, Sonic put his arms around her.  She immediately
threw her arms around Sonic.  He felt her body trembling.  There
was a quietness about it that chilled Sonic to the bone.
     "Sonic, I'm scared.  I've never been so scared of anything
in my life!"  She paused and seemed to calm down under the effect
of Sonic's embrace.  He felt a teardrop fall upon his wrist.  "I
wish I could take this feeling with me.  It's how I've always
felt when we've been together.  Sonic...Sonic, I can't leave
without telling you...."
     "Chill, Sal," he said gently.  "There's something I gotta
say first.
     "I always thought I was way past fast enough for anything,
that I could always beat the old clock.  But I've been the
world's biggest slow-mo about saying the one thing I should have
said a long time ago!  And now it's...."
     It was now so dark in the hut that under ordinary
circumstances Sally would have lit a lamp or candle.  Instead she
simply held Sonic closer, listening to his voice.  It wasn't his
usual tone, heavy with cockiness and bravado.  He sounded small
and scared and absolutely sincere.
     "Sal, I love you."





                                 Chapter 8

     Sally sat on the edge of the bed.  She looked out a nearby
window at the evening sky.  She sensed that there were still
about two hours before dawn.  She knew it was time to go.
     Deftly, she slid her feet into her boots which stood at the
side of the bed, next to Sonic's sneakers.  Next to her on the
bed, she could hear Sonic's rhythmic breathing.
     Sally could remember little of what exactly had transpired
between her and Sonic during the last several hours, during "the
fever" -- that was the old name for the frenzy that sweeps over
two Mobians engaged in the act of mating. She remembered the
hungry way in which they had kissed each other; the electric
shudder that ran through her as Sonic touched her breasts; the
musky smell that rose from him as he held her in his arms--a
scent which, if anything, only intensified her desire to repeat
and repeat the act.  She wanted every sight, every sound, every
sensation of heat and of moisture to stay with her forever.  Yet
even now it was all fading from memory.
     She felt her face; it was still flushed and burning.  She
ran her hands up along and over her belly and her breasts, cupped
them around her nose, and inhaled deeply.  Sonic's musky aroma
still clung to her.
     Sally buried her face in her hands.  She wanted to cry.  She
wanted to reach over, awaken Sonic, and rekindle the passion that
had overwhelmed them just a few hours before.  She didn't want to
leave.  She didn't want to die.
     But she knew she had to.
     Picking her vest up off the floor where she had tossed it,
she slipped it on.  She walked to the door and stepped out into
the dark, closing the door softly behind her.  She sat down on
the steps leading up to Sonic's hut and unclipped Nicole from the
top of her boot.
     "Nicole," she said in a half-whisper, "record the following
message, and play it back only on command of Sonic Hedgehog:
     "Sonic, I love you so much, and I want so much to stay here
with you.  But we know I can't.  Something that's a far greater
threat to this world than Robotnik ever was is out there
somewhere.  And it wants me.
     "I don't know what I'm going to accomplish by facing it. 
Maybe it will be enough to save this old world.  Maybe it's like
what I once heard as a child: it will be the first step in
creating a new world.  I don't know.  But I do know this: if we
do wake to find ourselves in a new world, I don't doubt for a
moment that I'll love you just as much in that world as I love
you in this one.
     "Goodbye, Sonic.
     "Nicole, end recording."
     She closed up the hand-held computer and set it down on the
top step.  "Goodbye, old friend," she whispered.
     Sally looked around, then walked to her hut.  She entered
and walked over to her dressing table.  Feeling around, she found
the wishing stone she'd left there.  She slipped it on, left her
hut and walked toward the edge of Knothole.  She was not as
afraid as she thought she would be.  Instead, she felt an
overwhelming sadness.  She clutched the stone that hung around
her neck.  Bunnie's words still rang in her head: a part of her
desperately wanted to stay here in Knothole and face death
alongside her friends.  She took a deep breath and stepped into
the forest.
     She walked down a path that was familiar to her, one she had
travelled for years along with Sonic and other freedom fighters
in their raids on Robotropolis.  The path was so familiar that
she walked it with a calm assurance even in the scant moonlight.
     She had only gone about a hundred yards when she stopped. 
Someone was standing just ahead of her on the trail, not ten feet
away.  Sally could see nothing of who it was in the darkness. 
Yet she was animal enough that she could catch its scent.  She
could sense what one wise human had called "the whole range of
delicate thrills which murmur in the nose of the animal night and
day, summoning, warning, inciting, repelling."  Instantly
recognition flooded over her, along with a cascade of strong
emotions: fear tied to joy, curiosity blended with horror, the
cozily familiar become forever connected to the obscenely
repugnant.  She felt them all, and more, at once.  Yet she still
found the courage to speak: "Antoine?"
     "Oui, my Princess."  It was not a voice she heard with her
ears.  Rather, it spoke straight to her heart.  The voice was as
real, as tangible, as the scents of fresh earth and decay that
filled her nostrils.
     "What...what's happening?"
     "I am not knowing, except that I am suppose-ed to being
dead.  Now I am trap-ped inbetween death and life.  I am only
knowing this: I must warn you.
     "Princess, the shaman was part right: there is being a
powerful intelligence in Mobius.  But what he was not to be
saying was that he himself is somehow part of another power,
another intelligence.  If you are valuing your life, do not go to
him!  Do not be trusting him!  He is being too much of evil!"
     "Then where should I go?  If you know how I can help save
Mobius, tell me!"
     "I can only be telling you this much: where one quest ended,
the last quest must begin.  Do you understand?"
     "I...I think so.  Will you..."
     "Mais non.  I can now only be wandering, until Mobius comes
to her dying.  I will think of you until then, my Princess."
     "Antoine, there's something you should know.  Sonic...."
     "I am understanding.  You and Sonique belong to each other
now, soul and body.  C'est l'amour."
     Sally felt tears coming to her eyes.  A part of her wanted
to hug Antoine, but she knew that he was an undead thing.  She
stopped herself.  "Thank you for understanding.  And thank you
for saving Tails' life."
     Antoine said nothing.  He turned and with a slow sad shuffle
disappeared into the Great Forest.
     When the residents of Knothole awoke, there was no longer
any question of their waging war on Robotnik.  All the fight had
gone out of them.  They were broken in body and, with Sally gone,
broken in spirit.
     Later that day, all of Knothole was buzzing with the news
that Antoine's grave had been broken into.  After examining it,
Uncle Chuck and Bookshire agreed that it looked more as if the
grave had been broken out of.  But they kept this to themselves.



                 PART III: IN THE HOUSE OF STONE AND LIGHT

                                 Chapter 9

     It took Sally 20 days to reach the Forbidden Zone.
     Sally knew that when Antoine spoke of a quest ending he
meant only one thing: the quest that ended in the discovery of
her teacher Julayla's last testament.  That quest had started on
the far side of Robotropolis right at the border of the Forbidden
Zone.  It had taken her into the heart of the mountains just at
the border and past several dangerous obstacles.  Now she was on
her way back there.
     Before, she had been flown to the site with the other
freedom fighters and then had to get past the SWATbots patrolling
the border.  That was impossible now.  She would have to make the
journey on foot.
     The walk from Knothole to the border of Robotropolis should
only have taken four days.  Instead, it took twice as long.  The
ground continued to convulse at odd intervals, slowing her
progress.  She couldn't help but remember Uncle Chuck's
description of Mobius consuming itself.  As dire as it sounded,
it was still something she could understand--something more solid
that the old legends of doom.  But it still didn't make walking
any easier.
     Then, too, Sally wasn't feeling herself.  By the third
morning she was falling behind the pace she had set for herself. 
She spent the better part of the morning battling recurring waves
of nausea.  She attributed this to her nearness to the pollution
in the air as she was approaching Robotropolis.  Or what was left
of it.
     It was impossible to take a direct route through
Robotropolis.  Most of what was left of it, after all, now lay
beneath what was left of the Floating Island.  She would have to
cut south of the city, skirting the ridge of mountains
surrounding that side of Robotropolis.
     She had only been in the mountains once before: when she was
four years old, her father had taken her up there one morning. 
Despite the fact that she had been awakened early and was still
sleepy, the view was such that she had never forgotten it: the
entire city lay spread out before her as the sun was beginning to
slip up out of Mobius Bay.  To her young mind it was an
unforgettable moment, and though she had understood little of her
destiny at that time she took the title of "Princess" a little
more personally after that.  Who, after all, would not want to
have anything to do with a place that appeared to be so
beautiful, that must have held so much wonder and magic?
     It was midday on the eighth day when she neared the top of
the ridge.  She wanted the old sight to be there; she desperately
wanted it, even as she knew it wasn't to be.
     The view from the ridge was a nightmare.  Knuckles' island
had landed in the heart of the city.  The bay was choked with it
and nothing was recognizable.  Some buildings still stood at the
fringes of the city, tottering and windowless.  Some fires, fed
by nameless blends of toxic substances, burned in scattered
places sending up billows of choking black smoke.  Next to
leaving Sonic, nothing broke Sally's heart so much as this sight.
     "It really is over," she told herself.  "There's no way
things can ever be as they were.  Let it die, Sally.  Let it
die."
     No!  She couldn't.  She could not give up hope.  Maybe she
herself would die, but it was on the chance that Mobius would
somehow live again.
     Sally waited until evening, then started traveling toward
the border with the Forbidden Zone.  The next twelve days were a
blur of traveling by foot, in stealth, eating whatever tried to
grow from the ground, drinking from pools, running from shadows.
     The border to the Forbidden Zone was no longer guarded. 
Sally calmly, almost numbly, crossed the border into the Zone. 
After so many days, the sight of immobile SWATbots and dead
worker bots had long since stopped getting to her.
     The traps she had encountered on her first time -- a motion-sensing robot, a griffin, a two-headed dragon -- were still
there, but inactive.  They were as dead as the rest of Mobius
appeared to be.
     Opening a massive door, she found herself back in the
central chamber, the place where she had found the chest
containing Julayla's last testament.  Well, according to Antoine
this is where her last quest was supposed to begin.  But where
and how?
     Taking a torch in hand, she walked to the outer wall.  An
hour's circumnavigation of the room yielded no other doors.
     "OK, Sally, let's try this backwards."
     She returned to the center of the room.  She had found the
chest resting on top of a small pillar.  That pillar was now
resting on its side, apparently toppled by recent seismic
disturbances.
     Sally looked closely at the base.  There seemed to be a
space beneath the base where the pillar had stood.  It took some
shoving on Sally's part but she eventually moved the flagstone
base enough to reveal that there was a hollow beneath where the
pillar had stood.  A rough stone staircase spiraled down into the
darkness.
     She began to descend.  She took it slowly, not just because
the steps were rough and possibly slippery, but because the
stairs were built into the outside wall of a long cylindrical
shaft.  One misstep and she might find herself tumbling down into
the dark.
     Sally had no idea how long she spent descending those
stairs.  At some point she looked above her into absolute
blackness and felt that she had reached some kind of point of no
return.  The only thing she could do was to continue to descend.
     Finally the stairs ended; she had reached the bottom of the
well.  At the foot of the stairs was a small stone archway
leading into yet more darkness.  She stepped through.
     She found herself in a large cavern.  In its center was a
stone cylinder the color of bone and just slightly wider than she
was tall.  It looked so drab and plain that it terrified Sally. 
She moved closer to get a better look.
     Then there was an explosion of pain at the back of her head.



     The next thing she knew she was standing before the
cylinder, standing because her feet were in shackles built into
the floor very near the foot of the cylinder and her wrists
similarly shackled to the top of the cylinder.  The room was now
illuminated with a number of torches set in holders along the
wall.  She tried to move.
     "Don't bother," someone said behind her.  That someone moved
into Sally's line of sight.  It was Salish.
     "What is this?  How did you get here?"
     "I never went back to the home of the Wolf Pack.  I trailed
you from Knothole.  I couldn't let myself be known until your
mission had been accomplished.  Now we can get down to the
business at hand."
     "Who's 'we'?"
     Then Sally heard the last voice she wanted to hear:
"Welcome, Princess."
     Doctor Robotnik.





                                Chapter 10

     "Why am I not surprised?" Sally sighed.
     Doctor Robotnik strode into Sally's line of vision.  It took
Sally a moment to notice the difference about him.  The cloak he
wore draped over his shoulders didn't fit quite right.  Then she
realized why: Robotnik's own roboticized left arm was missing. 
Whatever changes were occurring on Mobius had gotten to him as
well.
     "So what's this all about?  I suppose Salish is one of your
replicants."
     "One of my few long-term investments to actually pay off.  I
infiltrated him into the Wolf Pack months ago, after I captured
and roboticized the real Salish.  I suppose his absence from
Robotropolis is what saved him from being...influenced by recent
events."
     "But where's Lupee?"
     "See for yourself, Princess," the replicant said as he held
up something from his belt.  At first Sally had trouble
recognizing it.  Then she realized that it was the color of
Lupee's fur.  It was her scalp.
     Sally felt as if she was going to be sick to her stomach,
but he wouldn't give Robotnik the satisfaction.  Just then a
horrible thought came to her.
     "But if your replicant was with Lupee, then...."
     "Oh, you don't have to worry about Knothole, Princess.  You
see," he added as he whispered to her, his face an inch from
hers, "there isn't any Knothole."
     "What?"
     "I decided it was pointless to capture your friends,
especially since the Roboticizer was destroyed when the Floating
Island fell from the sky.  So I had Salish kill them all."
     "You're lying!"
     "It's not like they were able to put up much of a fight or
make a run for it," Salish spoke up.  "It was like shooting fish
in a barrel, really.  Oh, they made the usual noises before they
died, 'Long live Mobius' and so on.  Except for the hedgehog. 
You may be interested in knowing, Princess Sally, that he died
with your name on his lips."
     "No!"
     In reply, Robotnik pulled something from the inside of his
cloak and tossed it toward Sally's feet where it clattered on the
stone floor.  Sally gasped when she saw it: a hand-held computer
dented and blackened by blaster fire.  Nicole.
     Sally let out a howl of pain and grief.  She bent her head
forward and let her tears fall onto the altar.  It was some
minutes before Robotnik spoke.
     "If you're through with your pointless weeping, we can get
down to the business at hand."
     "What are you talking about?  Why don't you just kill me too
and get it over with?"
     "Because your death needs to be voluntary in order to
fulfill my purpose.  But I suppose you don't even know how you're
supposed to die, do you?
     "I realized months ago that Mobius was a dying world, that
it would become unstable due to unusual seismic activity.  While
researching this phenomenon I found that it was mentioned not in
any past scientific reports but rather in some of the ancient
prophecies of the old religion of Mobius.  I began to immerse
myself in its study.  And I realized that what was happening was
no accident.  It was being directed by Chaos himself!  I made it
my goal to learn about Chaos and to learn about the source of his
power."
     "I never figured you to be the religious type, Robotnik."
     "You deserve to be punished for your insolence.  But that
will happen soon enough.  At the affirmation.  Do you know what
it involves?"
     Sally remained silent.
     "Quite simply, when in times past Mobius was threatened with
destruction of this kind, two members of the same household were
needed to consent to their own deaths for the sake of Mobius. 
They were brought to the altar where they died as one, willingly. 
We both know that is why you are here."
     "Isn't there someone missing?"
     "I know what you're thinking, Princess.  It would have been
too risky to bring your father back from the Void for this.  You
might have joined your wills in saving Mobius at the expense of
my final triumph.  Fortunately, in reading the old texts I
discovered a loophole that requires bloodshed only on the part of
one.  In short, I found a way to cheat Chaos himself!"
     He motioned toward the top of the altar.  For the first
time, Sally noticed something on top of it.  Some kind of raised
writing.
     "Note how the ink sparkles in the light, Princess.  Look
closely.  Do you see them?  The ink is just a vehicle for them.
Specks of a Chaos Emerald are embedded in the ink.  The Chaos
Emerald that used to be on the Floating Island.  Read the
writing, Princess.  Read about your future."
     Sally looked closer at the ancient script.  The calligraphy
was unsteady but its meaning was unmistakable:

I SHALL RULE MOBIUS AS ITS SUPREME AND OMNIPOTENT RULER.  ALL
LIVING THINGS SHALL TREMBLE BEFORE ME AND DO MY BIDDING,
OTHERWISE I SHALL DESTROY THEM WITHOUT HESITATION OR PITY.  SO
SAYS THE ONE TRUE LORD OF MOBIUS, IVO ROBOTNIK.

     "Is this some kind of sick joke, Robotnik?  Being ruler of
Mobius isn't enough for you -- you want to become some kind of
god!"
     "We both know there's no other way for Mobius to survive. 
Give me the power and Mobius will live; you know the
alternative."
     "And if I refuse?"
     "That won't happen, Princess."
     "How can you be so sure?"
     "Because we're different, you and I.  I could very easily
let this world die out and all the creatures in it.  Merely out
of spite.
     "But you're not like that, Princess.  You actually care
about the vermin running around on this world.  You'd never
consign Mobius to death, even if it meant getting back at me. 
That's why you came here, looking for your death, hoping to save
this world. *I* am this world's salvation, Princess.  Affirm it
and make it a reality!"
     "Why?  Just so everything can go back to the way it was -- a
foul, polluted ruin?
     "Beauty is in the nose of the beholder, Princess.  But I
could possibly be persuaded to restore Mobius to the way it was
when I found it.  If that would satisfy you and your friends."
     "Thanks to you my friends are all dead, remember?"
     "Merely a temporary setback."
     Sally said nothing.
     "That's right, Princess.  In return for your cooperation I
just might do you a favor by returning your friends, and the rest
of the population of Mobius, to life.  THAT's the kind of power
you can grant; the ultimate power.  Power over life and death.  I
want it!"
     "Even if you were to bring them back from the dead...if they
ARE dead...what's to stop you from roboticizing them?"
     "I can assure you, Princess, that none of your friends will
be roboticized.  Robots for me had always been a means to an end. 
Once that end--the attainment of total and absolute power--has
been achieved, what need will I have for mere machines?  And what
difference should it make to me what happens to your furry
friends?  Let them have their bodies back.  Let them spend their
days singing and dancing...."
     "Just so long as you can still call the tune.  Nice try,
Robotnik, but no deal!"
     "You underestimate my benevolent nature, Princess.  Why,
with such power I could do anything.  Even reunite you with your
father."
     Sally paused.  She knew what was coming and didn't want to
hear it, but it was as if she no longer had a choice.
     "It seems I've struck a nerve.  After all, Princess, it
wouldn't be fair to go about resurrecting and deroboticizing
everyone and reuniting families while all the time forgetting
about your own.  Why not be more generous to the House of Acorn
than it deserves?  What's to stop me from bringing back your dear
old Daddy as well?"
     "As what: as your sovereign or as your puppet?  I know my
father; he'd rather die than submit to your tyranny.  Or watch
his subjects cower under it!"
     "Don't tempt me, Princess.  My patience is about at its
limit.  Will you submit voluntarily to the affirmation or not?"
     "On your terms?  We both know the answer to that one,
Robotnik."
     "Very well, then, we'll do this the hard way.  But never let
it be said that Ivo Robotnik wasn't one to honor tradition."
     Tradition?
     The ground beneath her feet began to vibrate.  She tried to
move from the spot, but her restraints held her fast.  A doorway
between her feet slid open.  Then with amazing suddenness a long
stone shaft, sharpened to a point, thrust upward at Sally,
driving into her abdomen.  Sally let out a cry like a nursling
being pulled away from its mother's teat, then slumped over the
top of the altar.



                                Chapter 11

     "I know you can hear me, Princess," Robotnik said, his face
only inches from Sally's.  "This is a slow and painful procedure;
it could take you three days to die.  But I don't think Mobius
will last that long."  Indeed there was yet another tremor as the
ground shook.
     "What...what have you done?" Sally managed to whisper.
     "Only raised the stakes, Princess.  You've been very brave
talking about the lives of your father and your friends.  Let's
see if you're just as brave when we're dealing with your own
life.
     "Can you feel yourself bleeding to death?  I can hasten your
death, you know.  If I withdraw the shaft a little you'll be dead
in a few hours; if I were to retract it fully you'd bleed to
death in a matter of minutes.  Can you feel your life slipping
away?  I can give you your life back; just give me what I want!"
     Just then an even more powerful tremor hit the chamber,
cracking the walls.  Robotnik looked up in fright, turned and ran
toward the entrance of the chamber as rocks began raining down
from the ceiling.  One large piece of the ceiling landed directly
on the shackle holding Sally's right hand fast to the altar,
smashing it to bits.  Another landed directly on Salish, crushing
him beneath it.  Yet even more rocks rained down in front of the
entryway almost sealing it off.  Sally could hear Robotnik
grunting and cursing as he tried moving the stones away one at a
time.
     Sally just lay across the top of the altar, resigned to
slowly bleeding to death.  It really was all over and death would
be welcome.  Suddenly she felt the urge to cough.  When she did
she ended up spraying the top of the stone with droplets of
blood.  One droplet landed on one of the letters; there was a
hiss as a part of the letter eroded.  With tremendous effort she
raised herself to get a better look.  One half of one letter had
indeed dissolved away.
     The fog inside Sally's head suddenly lifted and the despair
that had been about to overwhelm her soul dissipated.  It was as
if she had been granted that total clarity of vision which
occasionally comes to the dying.  She moved her right hand until
it fell off the stone.  She then placed it against her thigh. 
Raising it again with a supreme effort, she saw that it was heavy
with blood.
     She raised her hand and ran one finger over one word.  It
sparked and fumed.  The smoke stung her eyes and filled her nose
with an acrid aroma.  Still she kept on while Robotnik, who could
begin to see what was happening, grew alarmed.
     "What is that?  What are you doing?" he demanded.
     Sally ignored him; she had to finish.  Once more she dropped
her hand, coating it with her blood.  Once more she sent clouds
of smoke up from the top of the altar.  Finally, just when
Robotnik had broken through, Sally looked up.  She was pale and
exhausted, her hair heavy with sweat, yet a fire burned in her
eyes.
     "All right, Robotnik; I've affirmed Mobius's fate."
     Robotnik scrambled to the altar to look at the inscription. 
The writing--something had happened to the writing.  The dark ink
with its glistening emerald fragments had been burned away in
many places.  Now all that was left were lines of fine gray ash
where some of the writing had once been.  Only a handful of the
original words remained, and underneath them was the bloody
handprint of Princess Sally:


- ----- ---- MOBIUS AS --- ------- --- ---------- ------  --- ---
------ ------ ----- ------- BEFORE -- AND -- -- -------- --------
------- - ----- ------- ---- WITHOUT ---------- -- -----  -- ----
---- --- --- ---- ---- -- ------- IVO ROBOTNIK.



                                Chapter 12

     "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
     Robotnik lunged at the Princess, grabbing her by the throat. 
The instant he did so, the altar cracked and a brilliant green
light filled the chamber from inside it.  The outer layer of the
altar began to slough off as if an animal were shedding its skin,
and the shackles that still held Sally flew open.  The light
continued to grow in intensity until, with a deafening crack, the
largest Chaos Emerald either of them had ever beheld, the Master
Emerald, lay exposed.
     Sally felt Robotnik's grip loosen, but in an odd way. 
Despite the brilliance of the light emanating from the emerald,
she could see with cool clarity Ivo Robotnik, the scourge of
Mobius and its would-be lord, slowly and silently dissolve into a
fine powder.  Just then the stone shaft that had pierced her
retracted and she collapsed to the floor of the chamber.  She
couldn't move her legs or even feel them.  All she could feel was
her own blood pouring out onto the floor.
     She couldn't take her eyes off of the stone.  There was
nothing fearsome about its light.  It was so cool as to be almost
warm.  A peace washed over her.  She knew that Mobius had been
saved from Robotnik.  The cost, she told herself, was small
enough.
     In front of the emerald, one small green spark seemed to
glow with a particular brightness.  That spark was touched by the
blood from Sally's wound, but instead of dissolving it grew in
size and brilliance, and it began to take shape.  In an instant
it was no longer a spark; rather it was a small child, a girl. 
Sally looked at the mysterious child.  She looked much as Sally
herself had when she was little.  There was, however, a light in
her eyes and a mischief about her smile that reminded Sally too
much of...Sonic.
     "We did it, Mommy!"
     "Did what?"
     "We saved Mobius!"
     "Who...who are...?"
     "We were together, Mommy.  Robotnik killed me first, while I
was still inside you.  Now you're dying.  But both our blood
together fixed him!"
     So Chaos had done it.  In spite of Robotnik's best efforts
and without Sally's conscious planning he had done it!  The
realization so overwhelmed Sally that she started to laugh.  Her
laughter was cut short, however, by another coughing spell.  She
could taste it in her mouth; she was choking on her own blood. 
The child walked up to her and knelt down.  "Does it hurt?" she
asked.
     "Please...stay with me...until I die."
     "OK.  Dying IS kind of lonely."
     The child got down on the ground, curling up next to Sally. 
Sally tried to say something, tried to breathe, but couldn't seem
to draw enough air into her lungs to make it worth the effort. 
Her heart.  Up until now she could feel her heart beating
strongly.  Now it was as if her heart was giving up on her.  It
no longer beat with a steady rhythm; instead it fluttered like
the wings of a wounded bird.
     This is it, Sally thought.  This is what it's like to die.
     With the last of her strength Sally reached up, took the
blue stone off her neck and draped it over the child's neck.  She
hugged the child closer to her and managed to whisper the only
thing she could think of: "Happy birthday, little one."
     Then came the greatest tremor.  Sally knew that it would be
the last tremor, the one that would tear Mobius apart.  With her
last breath she called out the one thought uppermost in her mind:
     "Oh, Sonic!"
     And then it came: the end of the planet Mobius and all life
upon it.  The tortured little world ended neither with a bang nor
a whimper.  Instead there was a crack.



     The crack of fine boot leather.

                

     Though he was approaching retirement age, Lars the elk had
lost none of his stately bearing.  As was his custom as herald,
he came to attention as the visitor approached the throne room of
the Acorn king.  He clicked his heels together.  The crack of
fine boot leather echoed the length of the throne room as he
announced in his deep, slightly-accented voice: "Francois de
Coollette, of the diplomatic service."
     Through the door there stepped a small, neatly-dressed fox
of middle age.  He carried a briefcase under one arm, and a large
cardboard tube under the other.  King Acorn rose from the throne
and walked toward him.
     "You bring me good news, I trust?"
     "Of course, Your Majesty.  The last of the differences over
the wording of the treaty has finally been resolved.  The signing
will take place tomorrow as scheduled."
     "Excellent!"  The King directed Francois to a nearby table. 
The fox placed his briefcase on the floor, then carefully drew a
rolled-up document out of the tube.  It was large and covered
with words in pencil that had been written, erased and written
again in several places.  There was a generous margin around all
borders to allow for the addition of the elaborate decorations
that were the customary feature of such treaties, and spaces for
signatures beneath the text.
     "Let's see what we have here," the king said as he scanned
the parchment. "'Be it known,' etc., etc., hmm, hmm, hmm,
'cessation of all hostilities,' and so on and so on, and a space
for the terms, 'that our children and their children may not have
the scourge of war trouble their dreams'...Thank, you, Francois,
I'd hoped that you'd leave that part in...'in this the year
3224,' and so forth...."
     The King looked Francois in the eye.  "You've no idea how
long I've waited for this day.  Your service shall not go
unrecognized."
     "I merely put your feelings and those of all Mobians into
words, Sire."
     "You've always had a gift for words, old friend.  That
reminds me; how are the language lessons going for your son
Antoine?"
     "They could be going better.  I'm afraid he still isn't
picking up on some of the nuances of your language."
     "He's just a boy, Francois; give him time.  By the way," the
King added as nonchalantly as he could, "does the name 'Julian'
mean anything to you?"
     The fox thought for a moment.  "That is the name of your
pastry chef, is it not?"
     The King smiled.  "No.  But never mind."
     The treaty was replaced in its cylinder and the King
escorted Francois to the entrance of the throne room.  "Mobius
will be forever grateful for your hard work," he said with
feeling.  Francois nodded and blushed, then left the room to take
the treaty to the calligraphers to give it its final form.
     The King then noticed that there was someone waiting just
outside the throne room: a gopher with a pair of wire-rimmed
bifocals perched precariously on the end of his nose.  Pinned to
his shirt was an identification badge which stated that he was a
researcher at the Royal Archives.
     "It's all right, Lars," the King said, "no need to announce
him."  He motioned for the gopher to enter the throne room.  When
he had done so, the King shut the doors as a sign that he was not
to be disturbed.
     "I'm sorry I couldn't get here any sooner, Your Majesty, but
one of my clerks, David Prower, is out today for medical
reasons."
     "Nothing serious, I hope."
     "Just the opposite.  He and his wife will be getting the
results of her pregnancy test today.  They're a young couple,
trying to start a family, and he's been in no condition to
concentrate on anything at work while waiting for the test
results.  So I let him take the day off while they get the word
from Doctor Draftwood.  Even if it meant we'd be shorthanded at
the Archives."
     "I understand," the King said as he guided the archivist to
a corner of the throne room.  "You checked the Archives for the
last fifty years as I requested?"
     "The last seventy-five years, actually.  There's simply no
record that anyone named either 'Julian' or 'Ivo Robotnik' ever
existed, let alone that they worked for Mobius in any capacity."
     But it had all seemed so real!  With a clarity that had
surpassed every dream he had ever had, the King recalled how, on
the very eve of the treaty signing, his War Minister Julian had
staged a coup and taken over the planet Mobius.  Calling himself
'Ivo Robotnik' he had had the King banished to some dimension
called the Void.  From there, the King helplessly watched Mobian
history unfold.  He saw the city, and then much of the planet,
fall under Robotnik's pollution and tyranny.  He also saw his
daughter Sally grow into young womanhood while leading what
appeared to be a ragtag army of resistance fighters against
Robotnik.
     Then it all seemed to collapse.  Mobotropolis, the Void, the
entire planet had begun to convulse and fall apart.  The King was
sure that he would meet his death in his crystalline prison just
as Mobius was coming undone.
     And then just as suddenly it was over.  He was back in the
throne room and he was watching Francois leave on what was hoped
to be the last round of negotiations.  Everything seemed
perfectly normal as he was informed by Rosie, the Princess's
nanny, that Sally had just been put to bed.
     Remembering what he could, he quickly walked to the desk in
his study.  He wrote out an order that someone at the Royal
Archives should attempt to determine who or what this Julian or
Ivo Robotnik was, with special emphasis on any possible
connection with the War Ministry, and they were to search back
fifty years if they had to.  While a page delivered the message
to the Archives so that it would be acted upon first thing in the
morning, the King walked to Sally's bedroom.  She was sleeping so
soundly that she was unaware when her father picked her up, held
her close and kissed her, then set her back down in her bed
again.  The King then went to bed and for the rest of the night
his sleep was untroubled.
     Upon arising, he tried as casually as he could to ask those
around him if they recognized the names 'Julian' and 'Ivo
Robotnik'.  The results were uniformly disappointing -- almost
everyone failed to recognize either name.  Those who guessed were
far off the mark and no two guesses were the same.  The king
decided that he would forgive those who guessed, because they
were probably sincere in their ignorance.
     "The names SEEMED so familiar!" the researcher went on.  "I
thought for sure something would come up.  But as you can see, it
didn't work out that way.  It's like I always say: You never know
what's out there until you start looking."
     Best just to let it go, the King told himself.  Nothing to
be concerned with.  It was all just a dream.
     "We DID come close with one name," the researcher went on.
     "I'm sorry, what did you say?"
     "The closest we could find was an Ivan," he said as he
showed the king a small portrait photograph of a walrus.  "He was
an engineer in the Ministry of Public Works, but he retired ten
years ago.  In fact, the last information we have on him is that
he became a grandfather five years ago; Rotor is the boy's name."
     The King glanced at the photo and handed it back.
     "Shall I continue the search, Your Majesty?"
     "No."  He smiled slightly.  "Don't bother.  Thank you just
the same."
     He showed the researcher to the door, then turned to return
to the throne.  Just as he reached it, he heard the rapid
approach of footsteps down the hall.  He turned and broke into a
wide grin.
     "Her Royal Highness, the Princess Sally Alicia!"  As Lars
finished announcing, the child skipped into the throne room with
her nanny Rosie trotting behind her in an effort to keep up with
her young charge.  Sally waved to the herald and called out to
him: "Hi, Lars!"  The elk could not relax his formal stance;
instead, he smiled broadly at the Princess and gave her a
wink--it was the most he could do while on duty.
     The King dropped to one knee and opened his arms wide. 
Sally ran to her father and hugged him fervently.  "And how's my
little Bean this morning?"
     "Daddy, will Mommy really be coming home tonight?"
     "Yes, my dear.  She'll be here just about nightfall."
     "Can I stay up to see her?"
     "She wouldn't have it any other way."
     "And then the party?"
     "Of course.  Tomorrow night, after the treaty is signed and
the war is really and truly over, Mobius will throw the biggest
party this old world has ever seen!"
     "Who's coming?"
     "Oh, everybody!  The dragons will be here to light up the
evening sky, just as they did on the day you were born.  Even the
Guardian of the Floating Island sent word that he'd be here, with
his son, Knuckles."
     "He doesn't sound very nice."
     "Now, Sally, you haven't even met him yet."
     "THEN where will we go?"
     "Sally, you know that very well!"
     "I still want to see!"
     The King walked to a side of the throne room and drew aside
a curtain.  Behind the curtain was a table holding a small model
of a rustic village set on the edge of a river.  This was the as-yet unnamed royal retreat being built deep within the Great
Forest, and Sally was looking forward to seeing it as eagerly as
she had ever anticipated her birthday.
     "Are we going to live there?"
     "No, of course not, Bean.  We'll just be staying there for a
little while."
     "Can Bunnie come too?"
     "Maybe your friend Bunnie can come some other time."
     "Why can't she come?"
     "Well, Sally, you've had Bunnie over here at the palace for
the last two nights in a row.  How do you think her parents must
feel?"
     "I guess they miss her."
     "Then we should let them be together the way Mommy will be
together with us again, all right?"
     "OK, Daddy."  Sally then began playing with the model while
Rosie nodded her silent approval at the King's handling of his
daughter's request.
     "Well, Bean," the king said as he studied the model, "what
shall we call it?"
     "Knothole!" Sally said without hesitation.
     "'Knothole'.  That's quite a nice name.  How did you ever
think it up?"
     For a second, Sally looked perplexed.  Finally, she
shrugged.  "I don't know."  Then she resumed her play as if that
were the end of the matter.
     For a moment, the King was unsettled; he was afraid that the 
almost-forgotten dream was going to start again.  But the moment
passed.  He looked at the clock.
     "Now you be a good girl, Sally.  Daddy has to go speak with
Sir Charles Hedgehog at his laboratory."
     Sally's eyes brightened and she lost all interest in the
model.  "Can I come with, Daddy?  Please?"
     "Well..."  He glanced at Rosie, who nodded her head.  "I
don't see why not."  This earned him a fervent hug from Sally
before she dashed to the door of the throne room, as if expecting
to leave that very moment.  Rosie walked over to the King.
     "Strange, Rosie.  I was just going over to discuss the
dismantling of the War Ministry with Sir Charles.  I've never
known her to be so enthusiastic about such things before."
     "A word in your ear, Sire," Rosie said in a conspiratorial
whisper.  "I think the young Princess's interests may not be so
much in Sir Charles's work as in his nephew."
     "Oh yes, that young boy who's always tearing around the
place every time I'm there.  'Sonic' is his name, isn't it?"
     "Yes, Sire."
     The King smiled a smile he never had before.  "Sally
interested in a boy.  I suppose they all grow up too fast, don't
they?"
     "It seems so, Sire."
     The King crossed to the doorway and took his daughter's
hand.  For the first time in a long time his mind was at ease and
his heart was full.  He had complete assurance that the best days
of Mobius lay just ahead.
     "So, Bean, maybe we'll see your friend, Sonic, while we're
there."
     For a moment Sally's face was as bright as the sun.  Just as
quickly, however, she composed herself.
     "Sonic's all right," she declared.  "For a boy."

                             THE END