Ascension by -- Joseph DeLaCroix This story is based on characters created by Service and Games (SEGA), and on characters created by Archie Comic Publications, Inc. Any resemblance to actual characters are not coincidental. ;) Joseph, Bahb, and all other independent creations of Joseph DeLaCroix are the copyrighted property of JoCo Inc. Commander Packbell, Bookshire Draftwood, and Sandra Nightweaver are the copyrighted property of David Pistone. All rights reserved. Etc. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Grey Mountains; shrouded for centuries in mystery, myth, and legend. Few have dared to cross the summits of the towering piles of rock and dirt, and most of those few have died in the attempt. For years, people all over Mobius have either avoided the mountains altogether, or taken the gentle lower pass through the valley that circumvents the infamous mountains. However, a royal command brought on by the suggestion of one of her more brilliant associates sent hundreds on a quest to settle a village on the semiplateaus near the peaks of the chain, and to live within the caves that pockmark them. Yet, these travellers were not going unprepared. Climbing gear, building materials, maps, replicators, and sophisticated subspace communications gear accompanied them on their trek, as well as some of the most expert survivalists that the Freedom Fighters had. Men, women, and children alike carried the tools of civilization on their backs when they left Knothole to tread the ancient path to the Grey Mountains, and they knew it would not be an easy journey despite the aid of their technology. They left on a warm morning on the dying ebb of spring, saying their last goodbyes to their families and friends the night before. The Mobians knew that some of them would not survive the journey, but they also realized that the continued survival of Knothole was more vital to the eventual restorement of the throne to the helm of Mobius, and the fate of the world, than some of the weaker members of society. The first few days were easy on them, with only a long hike every morning that could only conclude when the sun set at night looming before them. Every morning, they saw the grey geological gates of the mountains wax before them, and the safety of the Great Forest wane into nothing but a greenish blur behind them. And, slowly, the air grew cooler around them, despite the fact that summer grew in strength as they traveled. Soon, mist and fog began to linger after the morning had stretched into day, and the cries of the mountain eagles at night told them they were getting close to the second part of their journey; the climb. Finally, after several weeks had passed, they reached the foot of the mountain. Now would be the last chance for any too weak to make the climb to retreat back to the Great Forest, and it would be the final time they could stand on the soft Mobian soil of the northern highlands for several months. Undaunted, all of them refused to go back, and the climb began with the various teams united as one front. Scaling the mountain, as expected, was hard and arduous. The first few days weeded out the kits from the foxes, as it were; and a few deaths began to occur, sporadically, within each team. Yet, they continued on, climbing hundreds of yards a day. The Mobian landscape fell before them as they ascended towards the clouds, hoping that what awaited them at the top would be hospitable. Great sacrifices were made in order to keep the teams moving, and heroes were forged out of people who would have otherwise been ordinary. Finally, the first few teams made it to the semiplateaus at about 500 yards below the top of the mountain. They were above the clouds at that point, and the view of Mobius in all directions was breathtaking. Also, the environment was more favorable than expected. They adjusted quickly to the lack of oxygen, and found large caves to accomodate entire families of people. The subspace communications node was established easily, and thus contact was maintained with the surface. Replicators were activated, and the area slowly became civilized and comfortable to live in. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The success in the creation of this `new Knothole' gave the people of Mobius confidence in their ability to survive anywhere on the planet. They saw the heroics of the climbers, and felt the same seed of virtue within themselves. Immediately, morale was lifted as high as the `new Knothole' was in altitude, and it became far easier for Sally to motivate others to travel to inhospitable places for the safety of Knothole. And, oddly enough, Joseph suggested most of the sites for their safety (and ecological) value. The Great Swamp, the Crystal Caves of the southwest, the northern and southern icecaps, Green Valley, Boulder Bay, the Great Unknown, and the mysterious Watchtower Plateau were all settled by Mobian refugees, and equipped with the finest technological devices that David Prower could come up with. Soon, a stable subspace communications network had been established, and that very much reduced the complaints of those who had been temporarily seperated from their families. By then, summer had entered its full strength, and Knothole began to return to a normal routine after removing the majority of its inhabitants to places other than the town square. As usual, most of the youthful population concerned itself with goofing off, as summertime meant the cessation of scholastic activity for them. Older individuals concerned themselves with social activity, seeing that summertime was the biological `pairing-off' period for most Mobians of-age. And there were also the typical activities that the leaders of Knothole partook in. Sonic and Antoine mostly fought each other for the privledge of Sally's attention, Rotor began his sought-after air conditioner repair service, Bunnie laid out in the sun almost all day, and Tails began to realize that perhaps having a `girlfriend' wouldn't be so bad. Joseph's and Sandra's activities mainly focused on `socializing' with the people of Knothole, quietly manipulating their opinions and thoughts into very casually doing their bidding. Slowly, they observed, their plans would come to fruitition, and the world would again be safe for the populace of Mobius. However, when they were not concerned with their sworn duty, they walked through the woods, swam, ate lavish meals together, and enjoyed their mutual attraction as any other pair of foxes certainly would. Bahb continued its own work. The deroboticizer software was gradually coming close to completion, Joseph's own plans were being worked on around the clock, security measures continued to be tested and retested by Bahb's own mental prowess, the survelliance network continued to be expanded, and the normal upkeep of Joseph's various installations had somehow managed to be maintained. On top of its own secret plans, the artifical intelligence was beginning to wear down more rapidly than before. It had approximately 60% virgin computing crystal left, but it had to complete all of its tasks before it could shut down and tend to itself...but with summer waxing, it had no time for self-preservation. Robotropolis also entered its summer levels of activity. Frantic work was done in regards to repair and security measures, as the rapidly decaying city was decaying to a far greater extreme than before. Constant Freedom Fighter attacks had weakened the city to starvation settings. There was little power left to maintain even the most essencial systems, and SWATBots were slowly becoming rarer as one got further from the city. Packbell knew he was fighting a lost war, but he needed to hold out for just a little longer... In outer space, the _Apocolypse_ also began to prepare itself for the imminent attack on Mobius. The beginning of daily system checks had begun, as well as the preperation of the fighters and main weapons systems....and, within the ship, Robotnik made his own evil preparations for the attack... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - However, a new element was about to enter the equation... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For over a century, he had slept beneath the soil of the fertile Isle of Pears, at the First's request. The small island near the tip of the Southern Continent had been deserted by Mobians for over 300 years previous, after the infamous Curse of the Starfire had frightened away all traffic from the area. The fools had taken a comet's collision into the island's centre as a wrathful Goddess' curse against the peoples of the pretty little island, and had kept everyone at bay for those three (now four) centuries. The First had told him to go there shortly before his departure into the Portal in order to have him as the one who could awaken the other six Fellows from their slumber beneath the greatest Forest of the Northern Continent. He had been the last to enter the Sleep out of necessity, but he knew that his kind would be called upon for one last great mission before the Last Rest would be allowed to overtake them all. One last mission. And so, on the night of the summer solstice, the very first night of that glorious season, the Quicksilver known as Azrael arose from the dirt as if it were water, following the orders of the First for the final time... The dirt rippled beneath his feet for a few moments after he arose, the magick used still wearing off within the matter of the soil. However, it took nought more than a second for it to cease afterward, and permitted Azrael to walk normally from his solumn resting place underneath the greatest of the pear trees. He was tall, standing almost as many hands high as the First. He was a wolf of the first order; an Alpha of Alphas, most Mobians even vaguely canine gave him the right of way when he walked down a street. He had glorious silver fur, which only served to highlight his etherial green eyes and fine white teeth. Despite his rest beneath the soil, his fur had not collected one single particle of dirt, nor had his garment been rumpled by the experience. This would seem odd to most, considering a white, silken cloak would seem to pick up all manner of litter; yet, his garment and fur were totally unmolested. Having taken a breath of the air, he decided to begin his journey to the north at that very moment. After all, seeing that the need for water, food, warmth, and shelter had long been unneeded for him, the only thing left for him was his mission...his sacred duty to those still asleep. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Within the ether of that which is not definable by `time', `space', `length', `width', `height', `volume', `brightness' or `darkness', the Watchers still observed the machinations of the planet of Mobius. Slowly but surely, their plans would come to fruitition. Soon, the one called `Solaris' would come to them for his training, and then he would do for them what they could not do themselves... Some of them asked others if they were making a wise decision by bringing one of lower enlightenment into their realm. After all, only one who has substance can defeat a Watcher, they said to those determined to their goal. Those who wished the Solaris to come scoffed at the questions of the unsure, saying that the only way for them to accomplish their goal would be through the route which was planned aeons ago. They already were given `time' to worry, but `now' was not the `time'. But the bickering continued `eternally'. But it was too late to stop the process `now', because the events had already been put in motion to bring the Solaris to them for the first part of his training; the control of time and space. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The next morning, Joseph and Sandra took a necessary vacation from their work, and decided to dedicate the entire day to each other. After all, one can only manipulate the masses totally only part of the time, while you can manipulate part of the masses all of the time. Before Sandra awakened, Joseph snuck out of bed to make Sandra a traditional Mobian breakfast, seeing that he felt that a change from the usual Ur'thaen fare might be healthy once in a while. After all, his typical morning meal consisted of a tall glass of electrolyte-loaded protein, a pratically-rare rib of woota'h (a nonsentinent, slightly bovine animal, native to Ur'thae (and quite tasty)), a starchy bar of VitaMax (a rectangular slab of all the essencial vitamins and minerals, with a slightly bread-like composition and taste), and perhaps a little Sandra...not as often as his body would like, but enough to make his fur stand up on the back of his neck. (However, she didn't seem to mind.) Of course, what Sandra usually had was just as alien to Joseph. She'd roll out of bed, stumble to the replicator, and drink some very unhealthy hypercaffeinated coffee. Then, perhaps she'd have a plain, but toasted, bagel, and then wash it down with more coffee. He was surprised she remained in such excellent physical condition with the diet she consumed, but accepted it as just another part of living with someone who'd lived such an unusual life. It didn't take him more than a few hours to put together a plate of fresh chirrble eggs (sunny-side up, of course), a nice pot of Southern Mobian blend coffee, some toast made from a loaf of Mobian wheat which he had bought from a nice old granny who lived near the edge of the village (Joanna, he remembered, was her name), some interesting hash browns made from a basket of well-tended potatoes, and some imported garnishes for taste. He had cooked everything over a fire he made behind the Dome, being sure to responsibly handle the preparation and extinguishing of the element. Then, he had placed the items of food in the finest-looking plates he could replicate, and carefully decended back to their bedroom with the food totally obfuscated beneath the service. Upon reaching the bedroom, he put the entire ensemble on a tray and carried it near the bed. He allowed the scent of the coffee to awaken her, which made it all the more fufilling to watch her elated reaction to his surprise. "Mmm," she moaned from the soft confines of the bed, "what's that, darling?" "Guess," he said. She smiled delightedly, already knowing. Yet, she stayed rolled over in bed with her eyes shut, feeling playful. "Animal, vegetable, or mineral?" "Vegetable." "Solid, liquid, or gas?" "Liquid." "What color is it?" Joseph smirked smugly. "You know that's not how my question-and-answer games work, darling. You have to follow the rules." Sandra pouted rather fakely. "I don't like following rules!" He laughed. "Well, too bad." She sighed overdramatically. "Very -well-. Is it...brown?" "Yes." Sandra replied to Joseph without opening her eyes, still rolled over in bed."Is it...something you made up in the lab?" "No." She continued the little question-and-answer session banteringly. "Is it...a new cologne?" He smiled. "No." "Well, for my seventh and final guess," she said, rolling onto her back and slowly opening her eyes, "it's another sweet thing my mate has done to please me." He leaned down to kiss her. "Of course." She kissed him passionately, allowing her reaction to be more accentuated, and then consumed the food happily; helped along, just a little, by Joseph. They cleaned themselves up after breakfast, and decided to head outside to see how the weather was. Noticing it was yet another beautiful day on Mobius, they decided to head down to their pond (Joseph and Sandra had began referring to the combined amount of his and her possessions as `their' a short time ago) and enjoy the lovely weather. As they were walking along to the pond, they chatted as foxes in love tended to do... "So, Joseph, what do you think we should do about this?" "About what?" She looked over to him. "Our relationship, of course." "Something wrong with it?" Sandra smiled, gently stroking her hand against Joseph's arm. "Well, we've been together for several months now, and I think we've grown pretty close to one another..." He smiled, putting his arm over her shoulders and gently holding her closer to him as they walked down the path. "Yes, we have." Her tail swayed to side-to-side seductively. "And everyone considers us an item..." "Mmm." "And I really think you're the one I want to be with for the rest of my life..." Joseph kissed her on the brow. "Aww." She looked up to him, gazed into his eyes, and smiled. "Do you feel the same way, Joseph?" They both stopped for a few moments, the two foxes locked in eye contact for what seemed like ages. The sounds of the forest seemed to dim slightly,allowing only the wind domain to act. It blew through the forest gently,stirring up some dry leaves to drift past the two vulpine's calves. Onlythe distant singing of birds could be heard in the distance... "Why, of course..." She smiled, wrapping around him like a shroud. "Then, why don't we declare ourselves lifemated?" He stalled. "Isn't this a bit sudden?" "Joseph, I want us to be together for the rest of our lives. You've shown me that you're a good fox, loyal and honest and true; things that I've never had in a mate before." She raised her voice slightly. "I don't care if you are from another planet, or that the remains of your people have returned to try to destroy Mobius, or that you used to -like- that sort of thing!" She calmed herself a little. "It's not important to me any longer; it never was. All I know is that I feel, deep in my heart, that I never want to leave you." Joseph was still mentally stunned. "Sandra, you don't have to worry about that. I'd never..." She interrupted. "I know you wouldn't. That's why I know that I..." Sandra looked into herself one last time. She had mulled over the decision to say this to Joseph for several weeks now, ever since she learned of the true threat that loomed over Mobius. Sandra knew that she might not get a second chance to say this to Joseph, but she was still unsure of her own feelings. Should she, for the first time in her life, risk opening her heart to another fox, or should she protect herself and just let her desire and deep feelings for Joseph remain implied in her lovemaking and caretaking of Joseph? She weighed out the pros and cons for the nth time. Joseph wouldn't run off with another vixen; very few on Mobius could `accomodate' him physically, mentally, or emotionally, and her blood was the only kind, she assumed, could keep him alive. He could protect her from any harm, as well as give her anything she asked for. He could show her the universe, and get her any information that she needed. He was attractive, strong, and very...skilled. And, the reason that made all the other ones pale was that she knew he loved her...he'd never said it, but she knew it well. However, there were downsides. He was a vampire, and protecting that information from the proletariat was of the utmost importance. Aiding and abetting a known vampire to some people was a crime punishable by death...both to the vampire and the accomplice. His heritage was that of a race of planet-destroying, conquesting thugs. Some people in the universe make it their goal to destroy all traces of such races, and a xenophobic zealot might target them both. Joseph was also a very sneaky technological voyeur, which had been an issue with her since the very beginning. He smoked huge cigars, snored, and hated dealing with crowds. And he wore too much -clothing-. Yet... Joseph's flaws seemed to pale compared to how she -felt- about him. Rationally, being his life-mate was an incredibly foolish vocation, being only equal to a professional cliff diver. But he had a way of smiling at her that made her feel safe. He liked to be intimate without necessarily physically mating. He talked to her in a way that made her feel good; not talking down to her or above her, but just -talking- to her. Never before had a male truely respected her for who she was, and treated her like a foxen being despite her checkered past. He accepted her for who she was. The hard-as-nails Nightweaver bitch could fade to the soft and loving Sandra beneath, without fear of physical, mental, or emotional harm. Sandra decided what she would do, how she would say it, and put her true intentions on the table for the first time in her entire life. No deception would marr her words, no facade of toughness would sully these words with arrogance. She spoke the words she had said a million times inside her heart to Joseph that day, lovingly and with total confidence behind her statement. "I...love you, Joseph." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Words could not possibly suit to describe the sheer amount of total agreement Joseph had with his new life-mate's statement, nor could they even dare to describe the passion in which they embraced each other. Both of their hearts, one calloused from time, the other scarred from a past misadventure, opened wide to each other, allowing the pain and longing to flood out into the psychic atmosphere. No longer would they ever feel alone, no longer would they wake up at night with the gnawing feeling that they would die alone...they cried with joy in each other's arms at the words that had been spoken, and rededicated themselves to saving the world; now not only for their honor or for their friends...but for themselves. They stood for several moments in the embrace, allowing the rush of emotions to ebb to a steady flow, and then went on their way to the pond which they both truely owned... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Things were not so happy back in Robotropolis, however. A Freedom Fighter attack earlier that day had shut down yet another power plant just as the city was about to go to 24-hour power again. Now the construction of a new SWATBot factory would be delayed several weeks due to the lack of an available power source. Packbell had no time for such failures! Who knew how long of a stand he could make without a sufficient number of his forces protecting the city walls? He had to last at least another seven months, or else the Buyers would simply take the planet from the Freedom Fighters with no payment of any kind. And that, he noted, was an unacceptable outcome. He sat in what remained of his command center, cursing at a wall. He couldn't even take out his agression on SWATBots any longer, since they were almost as valuable as gold to him at the moment. One damaged SWATBot is another Freedom Fighter who gets away to blow up another factory tomorrow. Ten is a sucessful Freedom Fighter mission. A hundred means losing part of the city. A thousand means... He hit the wall with the maximum amount of force he could muster. Several stress fractures immediately formed, as well as nigh-invisible fractures in the structure of the room itself. "Be damned, you miserable hedgehog, and curse whoever made the deroboticizer for you! You waste my resources and time just when I need them the most! But I shall have my vengeance!" He went to a console, and continued working on some sort of plan to defeat the hedgehog one time, just -one- time, before he left this miserable world for other conquests... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Meanwhile, the people of Knothole were enjoying their new subspace transciever units, which David had created to allow personal communiques between seperated individuals in order to make the distance seem less epic. They operated on the same sort of principle as telephones, but had a flat screen with a little control bar on the side. A microcamera implanted at the top of the device allowed total visual contact with the other party, and the token microphone allowed even the slightest whispers to be detected. And, amazingly enough, the devices were no larger than the average wall-hanging, and only needed to be recharged every few days for about five minutes. Also, they operated anywhere in the village, since the master node was now near the town square. David now was a pretty popular fox, as one might imagine, for now he had given the people of Knothole computers and communication devices. Anyone could talk to anyone else with a device, and effective communication was now only a word away. Talk had begun about awarding David with some sort of special medal once the war was won, and the general attitude of the village was upbeat. But while people were chatting it up with other people, Sally was sitting in a chair in front of her hut, relaxing after a good two weeks of hard administrative duties. She sipped flitfully from a cool glass of iced tea, and watched the people of Knothole enjoy the beautiful summer weather. Kits played in the street, fluxuating between a game of frisbee and tag. Couples walked with each other, holding hands and giggling at private jokes. Two old wolves played checkers, muttering about current events sourly and reminiscing about previous summers being nicer than the latest ones. A few middle-aged porcupine matrons tended to their gardens, occasionally looking up at each other and speaking. She smiled, thinking to herself about what they were talking about. They were probably gossiping about her, Sonic, or possibly one of the matrons who wasn't there. A butterfly flitted by, landing on her swizzle stick for a moment before fluttering off to snag some nectar. Sally smiled at it, then drank a little more of the cool, refreshing tea. It was so nice to be part of such a quiet, serene... The dull booming that was coming toward her, however, shook her from her delusions of peace and returned her to a Sonic-inhabited reality. A gust of wind and a half-second later, Sonic stood nearby, leaning against the side of her hut like he'd always been there. "Yo Sal," he said as expected, "what's up?" She rolled her head about on her shoulders, then took a drink of her tea. "I'm relaxing, Sonic." He smirked. "Oh? Can't ya do that while you're asleep?" She sipped more of her tea, ignoring him. "It's a lovely day, isn't it?" He stopped, looked around, and sniffed the air. "Eh, it's nothing special." Sally smirked. "It's one of the first nice days we've had in about 6 months, and it's nothing special?" Sonic tapped his foot impatiently. "But nothing's happening! It's soooooo boring!" Sally looked over at Sonic from her chair. "We need more days like these, Sonic. Every day can't be an adventure." He hmmmed for a moment, then thought of something. "Okay, fine." Sally looked surprised. "You mean you're actually agreeing with me?" "Yeah." She put her drink down, folding her arms. "Are you -sure-?" Sonic nodded. "Now, you've got to do what you said you'd do." Sally looked at Sonic puzzledly. "What?" "Don't you remember? You said that the first time I ever agreed with you would be the day when you'd come up to me and give me a big, wet kiss." Sally looked shocked, yet was secretly pleased. "I did not say that!" Sonic smiled smugly. "Sure, sure, drift down the river of Denial." "You're making that up! No way would I ever agree to something like that." She smiled at Sonic gently, knowing full well that she'd said those very words not more than two weeks ago. Sonic kept playing with her. "Truth hurts, don't it?" Sally faux-grimaced. "Oooh!" Sonic laughed. "Go on, you promised." Sally's petulant look faded away to that of smug glee. "Fine, hedgehog, but you asked for it." In a very fluid, masterful motion, she slid out of her chair, slinked over to Sonic, and gave him a kiss that could have melted a block of six-inch thick titanium. Seeing Sonic's stunned expression, she smiled and sat back down, drinking some of her iced tea and waiting for him to regain his composure. As he did so, she giggled softly at him. "You asked for it." He gasped for breath. "Now why don't you do that more often?" Sally smiled. "I'm saving myself for marriage, Sonic Hedgehog." "So you've said a few million times, Sal." He grinned baudily. "But I still don't know how you learned to kiss like that." Sally smugly crossed her arms. "Royal secret." Sonic hated when she said that. It basically meant you'd have to either drug her, hypnotise her, or so emotionally strain her as to render her totally unable to resist your demands before she'd even consider telling you. It had been derived from a Mobian king in the first years of the monarchy; King Stoutfur the Mighty, he recalled, had made a sort of royal decree that a secret known by the royalty would be kept within the monarchy for all time, and never would it be divulged to the common people. It was some sort of honor thing, Sonic noted, that he slept through in history class. Sally, however, had said it more times than he'd liked to remember. Perhaps if they ever married, he'd learn about all the stuff that she knew about, but wouldn't tell him. He winced momentarily, but resumed his normal smirk. "Well...I'll figure it out one day." "Surrrrre you will." He grinned slowly. "Hey, the hedgehog knows!" She laughed. "What-ever, Sonic." "You just wait, Sally. I'll get something on you yet." She drank more of her drink. "Good luck." Looking up into the trees, Sally paused momentarily while a thought entered her head. "Hey, Sonic." "Yeah?" "Have you seen Uncle Chuck lately?" Sonic hmmed. "Yeah, this morning at breakfast. Why?" "How is he?" Sonic smiled. "Oh, he's okay. His arthritis is almost gone now, and he can get around pretty well. Why'd you ask?" Sally shrugged. "Just came to me to ask." Sonic leaned back against the hut. "Oh...well, that's cool." Sally finished her drink and stood up, heading inside. "Care to get out of the sun for a while, Sonic?" Sonic shrugged. "Sure, I'm bored out here, anyway." With that, the two disappeared inside, and gradually forgot about the strange conversation they'd had outside. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Joseph's pond a few thousand yards from Knothole was also rather serene. The two foxes were sharing a quiet moment together, drifting around the pond on a bright yellow inflatable raft. Joseph held Sandra near to him as they drifted around, and the duo looked up into the sky at the various clouds. "That one looks like a AD52-H Fluxuation Monitor." Sandra looked up from her resting spot on Joseph's chest and looked at the specified cloud. "No, that's a pair of rabbit ears." Joseph bahed. "Well, you can't dispute the one on the left looks like a Mark VII Translight Hyperkinetic Induction Wave Generator." Sandra swatted his right ear with her paw lethargically. "Silly fox, that's a diamond necklace." Joseph smooched her on the nose. "Very well, you tell me what -that- one looks like, immediately above you." Sandra hmmed for a moment, and then came up with an answer. "Hand-held scanner unit." Joseph laughed. "Atta vixen." She smiled gently. "It might be a frog, too." He laughed. "Too late, it's now officially a hand-held scanner unit. I've already come up with the brand and production date." Sandra booted him in the shin with her foot gently. "You are such a frigging scientist sometimes. Why can't you just think on a more natural level?" "I'm not a biologist." "Oh, hush. Just look up into the sky and tell me what you see. And no using scientific equipment." Joseph petted Sandra's tummyfur. "Very well." He looked up into the sky with the eyes of a child, and saw... A large, black, equilateral triangle. Rounded ends. Approximate size of 4 to 5 miles to point to point. Weapons systems that could turn a world to rubble. Invincible shields. A cloud of black Nocturne fighters of his own design rushing out to attack... A droplet of water plooked directly between his eyes. "Rain." And, sure enough, a light drizzle began. The two foxes quickly grabbed an oar each and rowed their way back to shore. Despite their celerity in rowing, they still were soaked to the bone by the time they got to shore, and had to run back to the Dome in order to keep from sinking into the now-muddy trail. When they entered the Dome, the storm really began to hit. The winds picked up considerably, and thunder boomed through the complex. From the bright flashes of light that occasionally highlighted sections of the top floor, the lightning outside was also quite fierce. "Can the top of this place take this storm?" Sandra inquired, drying off in front of the fire. Joseph was standing over a table, with most of his outfit laying on it. He was blasting a sort of clothing-drying ray at the garments, making them steam back to a state of warm crispness. "Of course it can. This complex is practically spaceworthy." She took a towel from a servant-bot and began to manually dry herself off. "What if lightning hit it?" Joseph looked up from his zapping. "Lightning?" She smirked. "I mean those static discharges outside." Joseph continued his work. "Oh, those." He thought about it for a moment, then stopped. "You know, I'd never really considered the possibility when I designed the roof." A large bolt of lightning skipped inbetween two clouds roughly 10,000 feet above the centre of the roof, accompanied by the sound of a tree crashing down somewhere off by the edge of the forest. "It can take large amounts of heat, cold, nuclear radiation, physical stress...but I'd never tested the substance used in the fabrication of the actual dome against electrical current." A boom of thunder interrupted him, as did the sound of the wind picking up. The large cloud above the Dome surged with static power, seeming to mysteriously collect the lightning for the entire storm inside of it... "Yes, the lower section; ie everything from the floor down to our bedroom, is surge protected up to 100 terawatts, but the roof was made more for its aesthetic qualities..." He kept thinking, returning to his work. "But certainly, the odds of such an occurance are so phenomenially high..." He was interrupted by several things, which were all part of the same occurance; first, Sandra's fur, no longer damp, frizzed out strangely. He thought this to be just a part of her drying-off, but then realized she'd been dry for about five minutes while he was talking to her. Second, the storm had increased to a tumultuous roar at that point, which caused his speech to be overtaken by background noise. But probably what stopped him the fastest was the fact that a powerful blast of static happened to be flying down immediately beneath the area in which Sandra was standing, and used her body as a path to ground. It became rather obvious that not only did the roof of the Dome lack any tempest-hardening, but that electrical bursts and it didn't mix very well. For at the second the lightning connected with the roof, the whole upper peak of the structure exploded rather impressively, leaving only a jagged curved wall surrounding the stunned Joseph and the thunderstruck Sandra. As the roof detonated, the bolt struck through Sandra at a nearly symmetrical ley, causing her to cry out in agony once...and then slump to the ground. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - It took about two seconds for Joseph to readjust to his new surroundings. His roof was now gone, blown into shards by a rogue burst of static. Rain and wind tore in, decimating his living room and causing his servant-bots to malfunction and run wild. And his mate was lying on the ground, slumped down like a sack of potatoes. Immediately, he rushed over to Sandra and grabbed her, checking her for any visible injuries. She wasn't bleeding, thankfully, but she'd knocked herself in the head when she fell on a table, and she wasn't breathing properly. Her heart was beating irratically, and it would be only a matter of minutes before it stopped entirely. Carrying her over his shoulder, he turned to see his two servant-bots rush at him, their `hands' bent into deadly appendages of annhilation. Quickly, he knew he had to put them out of commission before they tried to injure him or Sandra. He smirked smugly, and reached for the holster that was laying on the table. He then grabbed his cannon from the leather pocket and blasted at the two robots. However, he realized roughly a half second later that the device was not currently present within the area, since he had left it in his lab. Now realizing his defenselessness, he quickly put Sandra out of the sight of the robots and chose to attack them directly. He rushed at the first robot and executed a beautiful flying kick into its `head'. Unfortunately, the robot was not seriously damaged by the move, while Joseph was now suffering from a bleeding foot. He cried out in pain and hit the robot in the midsection with his full fury. A hole was punched through it, but the robot still kept coming. Its compatriot went behind Joseph and slashed a fair gash in his back. Weakened by the blow, Joseph wobbled on his footing and nearly fell. Yet, the thought of losing Sandra drove him to frenzy, and immediately caught his second wind. The robots did not anticipate the sudden appearance of razor-sharp polyalloy claws from Joseph's hands, nor the duel rippers on either side of his forearms. Nor did they ever get a chance to anticipate this move, seeing that Joseph took the oppotunity to disembowel them with the talons and claws that had been created. As the claws and talons retracted, and most of his major appendages bled, Joseph rushed to the stepdisk. He ordered it to go down; it did not reply. He jumped up and down on it three times, commanding it to descend. Nothing. Finally, he put Sandra down on a sofa and repeatedly bashed the stepdisk downward with his previously undamaged fist until it finally zoomed towards the lab. That would have been a good thing if Joseph had been on it, of course. Now trapped a mile from his laboratory and Sandra's salvation, Joseph entered a frenzy of rage and lept down the over 20 mile shaft himself. Plumetting downward at incredible speeds due to the MaxGrav enhancement buffers that caused the stepdisks to operate, he knew that he had one chance, and only one chance, to call another stepdisk in order to save Sandra's life. There was a control box halfway between the first sublevel and the top floor, that had the ability to activate a device that could generate another disk at the laboratory level, and project it upwards to replace a malfunctioning one. It was about 10 seconds away from his current location, and it had only a 10 rung ladder on either side of it to grab on to. At the best, he'd dislocate his shoulder grabbing onto the rungs at his speed, and at worst, he'd have to clone another arm off within 24 hours. It was the only chance he had, tho, so he couldn't risk not accepting it. So, as the ladder approached, he shoved his arm out, grabbed the rung, and let the forces of gravity tear at his body for as long as it took to stop him... With a violent crack, he stopped, his hand gripping the ladder's rung. His arm had been very bluntly disconnected from its socket, but the muscle and sinew were still firmly attached to his body core. Ignoring the incredible pain, and continuing to lose blood, he tore open the control panel with his free arm, and pulled the emergency pad lever. Seconds were like hours as the pad shot up from the laboratory and reached Joseph, and the time that it took for the pad to reach the surface again was uncalculatable in Joseph's mind. Yet, only a few moments had passed, and Sandra's body was still fitfully operating. Using his only operating arm, he grabbed Sandra again, and commanded the pad to head downward at its maximum speed. This pad obeyed its creator, and quickly got to the laboratory. Wasting no time, he put Sandra on a guerney and took out his medical equipment. While lacking any real medical skill, he knew how to operate machinery with the skill of a master, and hoped that refibulating her heart would repair the rest of the damage automatically. Meanwhile, his own injuries were being worked on frantically by his own nanites, which were not used to healing such major and traumatic wounds. He used every last bit of first aid he knew, but he still could not get Sandra's heart and breathing to stabilize. Her life-signs were failing fast, and not even he could repair them now... He cried out to Bahb. "BAHB! Open a channel to Haven, NOW!" << "Current environmental conditions have terminated subspace communications. The electrical interference is still too high." >> His rage rose proportionally with his voice. "Teleport us to Bookshire!" << "Electromagnetic flux prohibits use of teleportation." >> He threw a useless piece of medical equipment at a monitor, causing it to explode. "DAMN YOU!" He worked even harder, screaming out to Bahb when something stumped him, but still, nothing. Finally, her heart stopped, followed by her breathing. Driven half-mad by his failure, and semi-psychotic by his massive injuries, he screamed at the top of his lungs and collapsed to the ground, crying and pounding the earth in rage. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Psychic transmissions, like any other sort of communication, becomes much easier to understand when more force is put into relaying a message. Rage and fear are two of the greatest conductors of such communication, and both were being utilized by Joseph at the time of Sandra's demise. Naturally, most creatures, no matter what their race or creed, would want to know what put another creature through such duress, and maybe a few would want to help said individual. One such being would be the large energy crystal beneath the Dome which Joseph had `collected' from Snively. It was referred to once as the `Amber Chaos Emerald' by those who were unknowledgable in the naming of said devices. It was not a correct term, however, for the emerald below the Dome is, in fact, the Negative Master Chaos Emerald; the yin to the Master Emerald's yang. It has mysterious powers that had never before been explored by man or machine, and most of them could not be obtained through either one. The crystal does possess one obvious trait that put it aside from the other Chaos Emerald, however; it possesses a `soul', an intelligence that not even the Master Chaos Emerald has an equal to. And it heard the cries of the one who had taken it from the black city, and it again wanted to save him from physical and mental harm... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Negative Master Chaos Emerald projected a psychic communication to Joseph, that even in his feral state was perfectly clear... >> Bring her to me. << Joseph stopped crying, and ceased movement for a moment to determine the source of the voice. >> Bring her to me, friend. I shall heal her. << He stood, looking around. >> I am not with you now, Joseph. I am in the room of Crystal. << He walked over to Sandra and picked her up, heading to the steppad in a nearly mechanical way. The voice was right, he thought, he should go to it... >> Come to me, Joseph. Let me help you again. << He decended into the emerald chamber, where the glowing stone blinked now as it spoke. >> Put her down on the ground, friend. Let my power flow through her. << He did so, stepping back automatically. What occurred next was the stuff of legend, the very miracle that turned many a wizard to the pursuit of magick in their youth. For as Joseph stepped back, a gentle wave of orange energy flowed into Sandra's body. As it crashed over her, her chest began to lift gently up and down again, and her eyelids fluttered, as if she was awakening from a long sleep. After she appeared to be healthy again, the wave stopped, as did the crystal's attempt to communicate further. She groaned, rolling onto her chest and coughing gently, trying to stand up. Joseph suddenly regained mental articulation and went to assist her to her feet again. He also realized when he went to grab her that one of his arms was malfunctioning painfully, and that it was a really stupid idea to try to use it to get Sandra. Clamping his jaw shut to hold in the pain, he used his other arm to help Sandra to her feet, and then to embrace her after she was standing once more. She clung to him tightly, crying slightly from shock. "I was so scared... after that big flash, I felt myself slipping away...I didn't want to die on you, just as we learned to share our true feelings..." Joseph cried a little as well. "I tried so hard to save you, but I couldn't...the teleporter wouldn't work, I couldn't call Haven for medical assistance...it was the crystal that gave you back to me..." He looked into its warm glow, his mind suddenly accepting the truth. "It was magick that saved you." They held each other's sore, bruised, bleeding bodies for a few moments more, before returning to the lab to keep their injuries from worsening. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - After Sandra and Joseph had bandaged and hyposprayed themselves back to fair health, they returned to their bedroom to clean their bodies off. The rain, mud, blood, and other such debris was gladly removed by a joint effort in the shower, and wasn't really a unenjoyable experience... But after Sandra had fallen asleep (mostly from his comforting and general TLC), he returned to the emerald room, limping and with a damaged arm. He looked into the crystal, and touched it with his bad paw. The pain wasn't there any longer, and it was replaced with a warm, contented feeling all through his arm. He held it with both paws, and touched it to his bosom. He knew that his science could not save the world, that it was nothing against the raw power of nature. His helplessness against nature that caused the near-demise of his mate, the one thing he loved, showed him that. He looked again into the crystal, starting to hear its voice again. He knew that this was the right path, that this crystal was of a good nature... And now, as his eyes began to gleam with orange power, he knew what he must do to save the world...he must learn of this crystal's magick, and use it against his foes' technology...only with the power of nature would Sandra, and himself, ever know peace. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - In the quarters of John, feared captain of the _Apocolypse_, he suddenly awoke from a horrible vision. It had started out with his ship drawing near to Mobius, its weapons of war destroying all resistance, and the Chaos Emeralds nearly in his grasp...but then, a bright orange bird, made up of pure flame, rushed from the planet and destroyed his ship. The Chaos Emeralds gleamed brightly as his body was burnt in the flame, and they said only a word, over and over... "Solaris."