Sonic The Hedgehog (part 2)

Only continue if you have read "Sonic the Hedgehog (Part 1)"  !

Chapter 8 Long Way Down

"Aunt Sally!" Tails screamed. St. John, who was covering the inside of the building, knew nothing of what had happened outside. He had his own problems to worry about such as how to get to the next level. Eventually, they figured out how to operate Robotnik's elevator. They ran into yet another problem because from what could read, the elevator only went up to the second floor. After playing around with the controls for a little while they managed to find a map of the office tower.
"Robotnik's main office is located on the tenth floor and from what this shows the only way to get there is through the duct work system." Geoffrey explained as he worked the computers.
"Which way?" Lenny asked. St. John consulted the map and his compass.
"Looks like straight up, matey. What I'm wonderin' is how, we're gonna get up there." Geoffrey answered. They both looked up above them and thought about the problem facing them now.

Meanwhile, Sally's team was working on how to get her back to Knothole as fast as possible.
"Outta the way! Comin' though. This is important, so move it!" Bunnie Rabbot said as she scooped the Princess up and went running full speed back to Knothole. Less then two minutes later, she arrived at Knothole's Infirmary.
"Dr. Quack! Help! Hurry!" Bunnie shouted as she ran into the Infirmary. Dr. Quack came out of the Emergency Room and could not believe his eyes.
"What happened? How'd this happen?" Quack asked.
"She was leading the invasion and was working on climbing the outside of Robotnik's headquarters to get the King's sward when Sonic cut her rope..." Bunnie trailed off. Dr. Quack called to the rest of the Infirmary.
"Prep OR-2. We've got another extremely important patient on her way in!" Quack ordered.
"Now, who is it?" One of the other doctors asked.
"Unfortunately, it is the Princess. She took a nasty fall and possibly injured her spine and neck in the fall." He explained.
"Radio St. John and have him capture Sonic. Preferably alive if at all possible. And tell him not to hurt the hedgehog too badly." Drago ordered. He then turned and went back to Hershey's hut. As Drago arrived at Hershey's hut, she came running back.
"I killed Snively!" Hershey happily said to Drago. Drago laughed out loud, but stopped when Hershey shot him a curious glance. "Where is the Princess? I've gotta tell her all about this!" Drago suppressed another burst of laughter.
"I've got bad news...you just killed her. The Sonic costume made it look like Sonic did it. You gullible fool! You killed your beloved Princess! And, probably the hedgehog too!" Drago laughed. Hershey ran out of her hut and ran blindly into the dark forest, not knowing where she was going.

At the Infirmary, Bunnie was stupefied that the King was back.
"How're they doin'?" Bunnie asked, very worried for the safety of the King and Princess. In Robotropolis, both teams had reached the room in which Robotnik kept the magical Sword of Acorns. Back in Knothole, Rotor was carefully monitoring the convergence of the planets.
"St. John, we've only got thirty hours until the two planets have merged completely. So, hurry up with that sword and get it back here on the double. Copy." Rotor said into the radio.
"Uh, roger. Any word on where the Princess is? I'm looking over the ledge she was supposed to be coming up and I can't see her. Over." St. John reported.
"Bad news. She's back here in the Infirmary. She's in tough shape. She may not make it through the night. Alert everyone to be on the lookout for Sonic. He was the bastard who did this. Drago wants him brought back alive. Over." There were a few seconds of silence.
"A big ten-four. If we see him, he's ours. You just do what you can for the Princess and the King."
"All right. Over and out. And, hurry for all our sakes." Rotor said and then walked back into the Infirmary.
"Doc, what's her diagnosis? Give it to me straight... I can take it." Rotor asked. Doctor Quentin Quack took a deep breath and then said,
"The King has stabilized and seems okay, but as for the Princess, her condition is rapidly deteriorating. My staff and I have done all we can do with what limited technology we have... I'm sorry. If we only had access to a more powerful computer, I may be able to do something." Quentin explained. Aaron, who had been watching the monitors for Sally, had an idea.
"Rotor, would the computers from my car be sufficient? It's the most sophisticated computer we have access to...for the time being." Aaron suggested. Samantha was knelt beside the Princess in silent prayer.
"I say we wait until tomorrow. Night has fallen and with it a wave of patrolling robots." Rotor said.

Back on Earth, Robotnik had begun his assimilation of humankind, thereby securing his role as the Supreme ruler of Earth and eventually, Mobius.
"Sir, there's a problem with the machines." Snively said.
"What'? What's wrong with them? What's happening?" Robotnik growled. Snively looked at the monitors and various displays.
"As it appears, the generators are being affected by the convergence of the planets. We will be without a source of power in about two hours." Snively reported. Robotnik grinned.
"Once the two planets are merged completely, I can use the Ultimate Annihilator to destroy both worlds at once. And, once I am rid of the meddling hedgehog, I can proceed with my plans.' Robotnik chuckled.
"Sire, I give you the great kingdom of Robotropolis." Snively proudly said as the city appeared on the horizon. Robotnik's grin grew wider.
That night as almost everyone, even Doctor Robotnik who hadn't slept soundly for the past ten years, slept deep enough to dream. As each slept and dreamt, they dreamt of how they had gotten to the point they now were at.

(End of Chapter 8)


Chapter 9 Night

While the rest of the village slept, Rotor and Aaron stayed up. They were in Rotor's lab working on the computers.
"I never thought I'd see the day that I actually work with someone known as an Overlander. Here on Mobius, you guys are hated and not allowed to come near the village or us due to one Overlander almost conquering the planet." Rotor explained.
"Well, I never thought I'd see the day I sat down and had a conversation with a purple talking walrus. As for the King; has anyone considered using the King's sword in conjunction with a chaos emerald?" Aaron asked. As Aaron asked this, both teams arrived back at Knothole.
"Hey, guys! Over here at the Infirmary! Hurry!" Bunnie, the guard that night, said.
"What's up? Where's Sally? What's going on?" St. John said as he led his team to the Infirmary.
"What'cha want? The good news or the bad?" Bunnie asked as she led them through the Infirmary to Rotor's lab.
"I dunno about the rest of ya, but I want the good news first." Geoffrey said.
"We now have the Princess and the King in the Infirmary. The bad news is that we can't do anything for either of them at the moment." Bunnie said.
"May I go in to see them?"
"I'm sorry, but I have strict orders from Dr. Quack that no one, under any circumstances, is allowed in." Bunnie said.
"Can you take me to the doctor then? I must give him the sword in person." Geoffrey asked. Bunnie nodded and then led them to Rotor's lab.
"Rotor, I'm sorry to interrupt you. We have something you guys desperately need." Bunnie said, then stepped back and let Geoffrey enter.
"Doctor Quack...I give you the Sword of Acorns." He said as he presented the sword to the doctor. The doctor accepted the sword.
"Now, let's just hope we can figure out how to use it." Rotor said under his breath.
"There's only one person who can use it besides the King...that person is Princess Sally." Said a voice from behind them.
"Knuckles, I do wish you'd stop sneaking up on us like that! You've heard what Sonic did? If you see him, capture him with whatever means you must use and bring him to Drago. In the meantime, you must stay out from underfoot. Sally is getting worse by the hour, the King is stabilized and the planets are sixty percent merged. All we can do is hope it ends soon." As the doctor said this, there was a flash and then nothing.
"What happened? Where's my power?" Quack demanded.
"Doc, we have lost power to all of Knothole. I can't get the backup generators to start up, but the backup batteries should kick in a couple seconds, but they won't help a whole lot." Rotor explained. The moment Princess Sally's heart monitor came back on, it showed that she had flat-lined.
"Start CPR! We can't afford to lose her now!" Doctor Quack ordered. After five minutes, they still had nothing. The team of medics had given up and stood around the operating table upon which Sally lay.
"Oh, God! Is...she...de...dead?" Samantha quietly asked.
"I'm sorry...but yes; she is dead. I just can't believe that Sonic actually killed her." Rotor softly said with tears in his eyes.
"Rotor, I'm gonna head off to bed...if you need me for anything, you know where I am." Aaron said as he walked out of the Infirmary running what had just happened through his head. He walked Samantha back to her hut. "You sleep tight. I don't want anything to happen to you. And, remember I love you." Aaron said as he hugged her good night. Aaron then walked back to his hut and settled in for the night.

That night, as Knothole slept, Drago carried out the second part of the plan. The plan was to replace the real King with a robotic King that would take over Knothole and surrender the village to Robotnik and his army. Once he was sure Knothole was asleep, he snuck into the Infirmary and after carefully unhooking the medical monitors and life support systems, he quietly wheeled the King into one of the back storage rooms and then carried the robotic King into the Infirmary. He carefully hooked the machines back up to the King and placed him upon a medical bed and went back to his hut. Quietly laughing to himself, he fell asleep. His sleep was troubled by dreams of him approaching Robotnik to accept this job.
Aaron had no such luck falling asleep. At three thirty in the morning, after tossing and turning for the last few hours, he got up and walked outside to have a cigarette. As Aaron surveyed the village from outside his hut, he noticed that the door to the Infirmary was slightly ajar. He put the cigarette out and went to investigate. He walked over and found that the Infirmary's door had been forced open from the outside.
Aaron quickly went through the Infirmary and found nothing was amiss. He got his sleeping bag from his car and set it up outside the Infirmary door blocking it. The next four hours passed uneventfully.
At eight o'clock in the morning by his watch, the sun made its first appearance on the horizon, which Aaron just happened to face. Finding it would be useless to try to sleep any more, he got up and set about assessing how much damage had been done to the Infirmary. Other than the door, nothing else seemed to be amiss. He walked into OR1 to check on the King and had the shock of his life; the King was sitting up in bed. Upon seeing this, Aaron ran to get Rotor.
"Rotor! It's the King! He's conscious! Get Doctor Quack! Hurry!" He shouted as he ran down to Rotor's hut. As soon as Rotor realized what Aaron was saying was the breakthrough they very possible needed to end all this madness, he got up and went over to the Infirmary as fast as possible. Aaron continued on, waking up the King's former royal guards and anyone else who had been attached to the King in some way or another. After everyone else was on his or her way to the Infirmary, Aaron made his way to Sam's hut.
"Samantha! Time to wake up! We have lots to do today!" Aaron called from outside her door. There was no answer from inside the hut. He slowly opened the door and found that she was not in her hut. Aaron closed the door and turned around. To his surprise, Sam was right behind him.
"Girl, you scared the crap outta me! What're you doing up so early?" Aaron asked. Samantha had a sad look upon her face.
"I've been helping ready the memorial for the Princess. We were able to build a glass coffin for the viewing. We even arranged for a Catholic burial under my guidance." Aaron was still overcome by the death of the Princess, but was at the same time overjoyed with the return of the King. Aaron explained to Sam what had transpired in her short absence and they made their way hurriedly to the Infirmary. As he and Sam entered the ER, they dreaded the moment the King was told of Sally's fate. They arrived right on time, for as they entered, Bunnie was telling the King what happened.
"as she scaled the wall, Sonic reached over and cut the rope. She fell the seven stories she had climbed. When I got to her, she was not breathing. We did all we could with what we have. I'm sorry, Your Majesty." Bunnie finished before she ran off crying.
"Finally I am rid of that spoiled brat. As your King, I demand that all activity be cleared through me from now on." The King commanded. Samantha could not believe her ears; Sally had told her how caring he was before the betrayal and now he sat here giving orders. Aaron turned and angrily stormed out of the Infirmary towards the lab.
"Rotor! What's with the King? One moment, he's a vegetable and the next he's giving orders like he was never captured and imprisoned. Think it's an after affect of his being isolated for so many years?" Aaron asked. Rotor shook his head and then said,
"I'm not sure, but I'm gonna find out. First thing I'm gonna do now is bring the Princess back."
"What'cha talking about? We all say it! You said it yourself...we can't do anything else for her." Rotor packed a few of his gadgets into a bag and headed for the door.
"At least, that's what you saw. What you see is not always the truth. Follow me and I'll try to explain this to you." Rotor instructed. As the two of them left the lab, Sam came walking up the path towards them.
"Hey guys! Where you off to in such a hurry?" She curiously asked.
"We're on a mission of utmost urgency. We're going to bring back the Princess." Sam stared uncomprehendingly at Rotor.
"She's dead. We all saw it!" Sam said, close to tears.
"Come with us. I'm sure Rotor will answer any questions we may have." They arrived at Sally's glass coffin. Immediately, Rotor removed a panel at the foot of the base upon which the coffin sat. He then hooked a small computer up to whatever was housed within the base. After hitting a few buttons, there was a hiss of escaping gas and the top raised up exposing the Princess. For a few seconds, she remained motionless and then she sat up and began coughing and gasping for air at the same time. Rotor gently patted her back to help her get over her coughing spell.
"Sally, you're alright! Thank God you're back! But, how? We all saw..." Aaron trailed off. Sally hopped down off the coffin and slipped her boots back on.
"What you saw was a protocol designed to fool all who were present into believing that I had died. My death was all planned out. Sally explained, turning to Rotor.
"Our plan was for Sally to take a small wound and be brought back here, where she would supposedly die. The reason for the plan is that we believe we have a traitor in our midst. And to tell you the truth, it could be anyone. We don't suspect you two because we have no reason to; you wouldn't have any reason to betray us. The plan was for the Princess to be out of the picture for a week while we searched for the traitor, but when we found out he was better, we decided to abort the plan. We figure the King will listen to his own daughter." Rotor finished. Aaron was still a bit confused by the plan.
"I say we bring the Princess back to Knothole, then we try to straighten the rest of this mess out." Aaron suggested. Quickly, Rotor packed his equipment up and once he had it ready, they left for the remains of the castle.

(End of Chapter 9)


Chapter 10 King Maximilian Acorn

Upon arriving at the ruins, they noticed that there were an awful lot of guards marching around the perimeter.
"Friends, hang back. I don't want to get you in trouble because of me. I should only be a few minutes." Sally said as she entered the main chambers.
"Daddy! I can't believe you're really back after all these years! We have so much to catch up on..." Sally exclaimed as she ran up to the King's throne. She stopped short when she set eyes on the King's cold stare.
"Sally, you have disobeyed me one too many times. I warned you not to go around with the hedgehog and you disobeyed me. I warned you to be careful about what you go around doing and you disobeyed me. You have disobeyed me most of your life and now you're hanging around with Overlanders? Wench...bring me my whips." The King said to Rosie who cowered in the corner. Before she could even react, King Acorn pressed a button set into his chair arm and Rosie obediently stood straight up and marched towards the throne. Along the way she passed by a rack of whips, chains and other devices of torture. She grabbed the whips and brought them to the King, then left the room.
"No...daddy! Please don't!" Sally screamed. King Acorn ignored her and proceeded to whip her. With each strike of the whips, Sally cried out in pain. She managed to get to her feet and ran for the door. She made it out the door before she fainted.

Meanwhile on Earth, Robotnik gleefully watched as the robot he had made whipped the Princess.
"Snively, I want you to begin roboticizing the inhabitants of this measly planet. By the time the two planets are completely merged, I want at least half of the population roboticized. Is that clear?" Robotnik ordered.
"Yes, over-weight one. Commencing start-up procedures now!" Snively announced as he brought the machines online.

Upon seeing her, Sam found she could not find the necessary strength to stand up and go over to help Sally. Her vest was torn and streaked with blood and her back was cut up something bad.
"Jesus! What the hell's she say to him in there?" Aaron asked quietly. Sam glared at him and Aaron realized that he had slipped. Just then, St. John happened by.
"Bloody hell! What's going on around here? Who did this?" Geoffrey asked as he dropped to his knees to help the Princess.
"Call me crazy, but I think it was the King." Aaron offered. St. John looked at him as if he had just lost his mind.
"That's gotta be the craziest thing I've heard all day." Geoffrey said, clearly doubting what he had just been told.
"I say we get her back to the Infirmary and then we debate what happened." Samantha spoke out. They had started towards the Infirmary when St. John's radio beeped.
"Yeah...what is it?"
"Sir, we have the hedgehog in sight. Please advise."
"Where are you? What's he doing?"
"We are five minutes from the old tree stump. It appears he is coming back to Knothole via the old trail."
"I'm on my way. Use a tranquilizer arrow if needed; just don't let him get away." They had arrived at the hut that passed for a hospital. The group with Sally in tow burst through the doors. Rotor was hard at work on one of his computers.
"Rotor, where's the doctor?" Sam asked hurriedly.
"I'll get him. What happened?" Rotor asked as he paged the doctor.
"We're not sure really. We think it might have been the King." Aaron explained.
"Take care of the Princess and keep her safe. Something's not right around here and I intend to get to the bottom of it. And those are orders." St. John ordered as he ran out the door. As he left, the doctor arrived back.
"Now what? What happened to the Princess? Rotor, you gotta figure out how to stop the merging before we lose any more of the forest."
"Here's what I have so far: the only way I can see to reverse it is to open two more portals opposite the existing ones which would then pull the planets apart and everything would go back to normal, hopefully. The only glitch I can see is: where are we going to get two more portals? And, not only that, but how would we open it where we need to?" Rotor explained.
"In the meantime, the doctor would like to know what happened to her? Who did this?" Quentin asked. Aaron answered solemnly,
"I hate to say it but the King did this." Doctor Quack quickly stitched her back up and laid her upon one of the hospital beds. The rest of the night was spent trying to build two more portals and figure out how and where to place them to pull the planets apart.
In the morning, Sam woke up first to the sound of crying coming from somewhere near the center of the village. Samantha got up and got dressed and went to investigate. As she got closer to the Infirmary, the crying grew in volume. She came to the Infirmary and found nothing. She searched around the corners and found the source of the crying. Sally was hiding in the shadows of the building, crying uncontrollably. Samantha slowly approached the Princess and knelt down beside her.
"What's wrong, Princess?" Sally sniffled.
"I was whipped by my own dad! How messed up is that? I...he didn't even seem to know who I was. He even destroyed the vest Julayla gave to me on her deathbed. It can't be fixed or repaired or anything. What am I going to do? He doesn't seem like the dad I once knew...my dad was really nice before the betrayal. And...and..." Sally said before bursting into tears again.
'Honey, I'm sure we have the materials to fix your vest back on Earth and we're working on figuring out what's wrong with the King as we speak. We have the best people working on it as we speak. Come on, it's cold out here and I don't want you to get sick or something. I'll make you something to eat back inside." Sam calmingly said to the Princess. Sally stood up and Sam guided her back into the Infirmary.

At the old tree stump, Geoffrey and his men had managed to capture Sonic. Without saying a word, they dragged him back to Knothole where the King was waiting to sentence him. After wandering aimlessly for a day and a half, Hershey realized she was getting more and more lost as she continued walking. And, as the planet's convergence neared completion, Sonic was brought before the King to receive his sentence.

(End of Chapter 10)


Chapter 11 The sentence

"Sonic, you have been brought here on charges which you have brought against yourself. The charges are as follows: attempted murder of my daughter, obstruction of justice, and ignorance of the law. After carefully reviewing your case, I have come to a final decision. You shall be roboticized and thereafter become my personal slave." The King read from the sheet of parchment he held.
"Sire, you know that I would never endanger your daughter's or your lives. Your Majesty, I beg you to reconsider..." Sonic pleaded.
"Save me your pitiful whining...your pleads are only falling on emotionless ears. Your fate has been decided and thus it shall go...for it is what your future ruler, Doctor Robotnik, would have done. This court is adjourned." The King said as the guards escorted Sonic to his holding cell. The few people who were allowed into the court chambers were ushered out by the rest of the guards, leaving just the King and Sally in the courtroom.
"I also have a plan for you, my dear. You will be the one to throw the switch that will roboticize your beloved hedgehog." Said the King coldly. Sally was speechless; nothing had made any sense to her since the arrival of the two humans and this merely compounded the confusion. As she tried to make sense of this and come to terms with she had seen and what had happened to her, the King and Sally walked back into the dining room in the heart of the palace. Sonic's sentence seemed so bitterly harsh to her even considering what Sonic had done to her and the fact that his whereabouts were unknown the past two days, and she was about to say something to the King to try to sway his judgment when he stopped and turned to her. To her shock and surprise, the King reached up, grabbed his head by his ears, and pulled his head off revealing a robotic face and head underneath.
Sally screamed and ran out of the room before even the robotic King could react. Upon running full speed out of the dining room, she ran into Aaron and Sam.
"Sally, slow down! Where you off to so fast?" Samantha asked.
"No time to explain. I finally figured it out. What we thought was our King is really a robot. We must destroy it before it hands Knothole over to Robotnik. It also wants to roboticize Sonic!" Sally explained as they hurried to Rotor's laboratory.
"Rotor! We need your help! The King isn't really the King and he...it wants to roboticize Sonic and make him a slave for life while handing the village over to Robotnik!" Aaron said as they entered the lab. Rotor was in the back working on something when they arrived and he came out as soon as Aaron started trying to explain what was going on to him.
"Slow down. I just found out about it and I'm trying to shut it down. Sally and Samantha, I want you to search the Infirmary and try to figure out where the real King is hidden. Go now. I and Aaron will take care of the imposter." Rotor commanded. The two young women immediately left for the Infirmary.
"Rotor, have you checked all of the radio frequencies for any type of transmission or communication?" Aaron suggested right away.
"No, but I can start. Have you come up with any ideas on how to separate the planets?" Rotor asked as he started his computers on a new task.
"Not yet... I'm not even sure it can be done. Wait...is there a way to reverse the polarity of the field that the portal generator creates? Because maybe all we need to do is reverse the polarity of one portal so they repel each other and push themselves apart. Let's just hope the girls find the King before Robotnik can carry out his twisted plans."
As Sam and Sally walked towards the Knothole Infirmary, Sally noticed that there was an army of robians cleaning up the rubble of the former Acorn palace.
"Okay, the target is at twelve o'clock. Let's hurry." Samantha said. They hurried to the Infirmary and began searching. After about ten minutes, they had searched every inch of it and found nothing. They left the Infirmary through the back door and were shocked at what they found. They found the King on his stretcher sitting right inside the forest behind the building. They ran over to where the King was and immediately checked to see if he still had a pulse and was breathing...he was both. Sally remembered being told shortly after she was brought back that the Sword of Acorns had been recovered and was currently at Rotor's lab under lock and key. Sally sprinted back to the lab, took the key from Rotor's desk and got the sword then ran back to where the King was.
Sally immediately began passing the sword above the King's body while reciting something in another language. The sword glowed as she spoke and the side of the King's body that had crystallized changed back to flesh and bone. Almost immediately, the King sat straight up and began gasping for air.

Robotnik detected that the real King had been found and instructed the robotic King to self-destruct at the edge of the Great Forest.
"Snively, do we have the hedgehog yet?" The evil genius asked.
"No, your roundness. He is still en route to the fortress. It should be about three more minutes." Snively said.
"Excellent. Excellent!" Doctor Robotnik cackled while he rubbed his hands together in anticipation of completely disabling the Freedom Fighters. He knew that without the hedgehog, they would be unable to touch him.

Meanwhile, Knothole was having their own trouble.
"Radio Geoffrey! Tell him to bring Sonic back here pronto! We're back in business, guys!" Sally happily announced as she brought the King into the lab for the first time in ten long years.
"Dear, there are Overlanders amongst us! What's happened all these years?" A confused King said as he looked over the scene in front of him. Sally took a deep breathe and tried to explain what all had happened the past ten years as fast as possible.
"Father, the day after you were thrown into what had been named the Zone Of Silence, Sonic formed what is called the Freedom Fighters. Since that day we have been trying, unsuccessfully, to overthrow Doctor Ivo Robotnik, formerly Julian Kintobar. With Sonic's speed, my leadership, and Antoine D’Coolette's military skills, we are striving to undo the damage he has done. Lately, we have had the added assistance of two Earthly humans; Aaron and Samantha." Sally explained to a still confused King Acorn.
"Then, I guess I should ask how the fight is going. What's this about having someone bring Sonic back? Where's Earth?" The King asked.
"Let me handle this one, Princess. A couple days ago, we suddenly got you back. We're still not sure how or anything, but obviously, you're the real thing. You dropped out of the portal that I had built to try to get you back someday...on your arrival, your body started to crystallize before our eyes. With the assistance of Doctor Quentin Quack, we were able to slow the process down, but not reverse it. Knowing that Robotnik had taken the Sword Of Acorns the day he captured and imprisoned you in the Zone, we set about trying to get it back. We got it back, but there was one problem: Sally nearly got killed when someone who looked like Sonic cut Sally's rope. Fortunately, she had a soft landing, and the only thing that happened was she got the wind knocked out of her. We had had a feeling for the past year that there was a traitor in our midst, we just didn't know who." Rotor explained. Doctor Quack came out from behind a stack of machinery and computers to explain the rest.
"In order to try to catch the traitor, we hatched a scheme. Sally would take some sort of injury that could be fatal if taken just right. Her fall was all we needed to put the plan into effect. She was brought back here and with Rotor's computer knowledge, it looked as if she had died on the table. All the time, she was totally fine...just in a state of suspended animation whereas her vitals were slowed to the point that she looked to be dead, when in fact she was still alive. The traitor, who we think was Drago, replaced you with a robotic duplicate that was supposed to hand the village and everyone in it over to Robotnik. Your getting better through the use of the Sword of Acorns foiled his plans. While the robotic King was ruling, he sentenced the real Sonic to be roboticized and thereafter become his slave while he handed everything over to Robotnik." Doctor Quack explained.
"The Humans came from the fact that Aaron had built a very similar portal on his home planet that created a portal at the same time that Sonic accidentally started mine up and fell into it. Unfortunately, with both portals open at the same time, the resulting portals are now merging the two planets. Roughly, we have about ten hours before both planets are merged and even less time until Robotnik completes the roboticization of the inhabitants of both planets." Sally finished.

"Charles, this is Snively. Are you ready on your end?" Snively said into the radio while Robotnik recharged his circuits in his sleep chamber.
"I'm ready when you are. Does Robotnik know?" Uncle Chuck asked. Snively glanced over his shoulder and glanced at the monitors for the Doctor before answering.
"He doesn't suspect a thing. He'll never know what happened! Just be sure you guys get out of the city before it happens." The little bald man said into his wrist-worn communicator.
"You just make sure not to mess the plan up at all. Chuck out." Charles said before turning the radio off. "M'lady, someday we shall figure out how to sure you of whatever it is that you have. I think it is time to alert the King of your presence." Charles quietly said to the body resting in the cryo-tube. He got up and walked out of his bunker and started towards Knothole village. After about half an hour of walking, he arrived at the palace.
"Sir Charles Hedgehog. I am here to request a private audience with His Majesty, King Acorn. This is of dire importance." Without hesitation, the guard escorted him into the King's chamber. Upon entering, the guard left the room leaving Charles and the King alone.
"Sire, I know I look like a robot on the outside and that you don't remember much of anything at all, so please do not worry. I am here under my own free will. Ever since the wars between our kind and the Overlanders ended, I have had your wife, Queen Alicia Acorn, safe in my bunker in a cryo-tube. She is alive, but for some unknown reason, her body is rapidly aging." Charles explained.
"Take me to her."

(End of Chapter 11)


Chapter 12 Queen Alicia Acorn

"Great Scot! You're serious! What happened to her?" The King asked.
"I'm not sure. From the first x-rays I took of her body, I found there was a small white lump on her lung, which I suspect was due to the chemicals or radiation she was exposed to when the Overlanders started the Great War so many years ago. She is also...her blood pressure has been rising since I found her and her white blood cell count has been falling as of late. I'm actually hoping that Aaron or Sam could maybe help diagnose her and maybe cure her of whatever it is she has." Rotor explained, reading part of it from Doctor Quack's notes.
"Why didn't you tell me about this immediately? Why did you wait?" King Acorn asked.
"We wanted to wait and make sure you were the real you before letting you know. I'm sorry Your Majesty, but we did not want to risk losing her again." Doctor Quack explained on entering. Sam then came into the room hauling one of Aaron's computers with her.
"What the devil is she doing here? How do you know she isn't a spy for Robotnik?" The King exclaimed as Sam walked into the bunker.
"Sire, I have no intention of harming you or your Kingdom. All I want to do is help you defeat Robotnik. But, right now, I have volunteered to help in trying to cure the Queen of whatever ails her." Sam explained.
"Should I get Sally?" King Max asked.
"Sire, you can go and get her, but I must have it as quiet as possible during whatever procedure will take place." Samantha said as she powered up her medical encyclopedia, which was on the computer she brought with her. She ushered out everyone except for Rotor and Doctor Quack, as she knew that she would need Rotor's computer knowledge and Quentin's medical knowledge for the procedure. Remembering what Quentin had said about her condition, she punched in the symptoms into the encyclopedia and waited as it searched through its database for a possible cause.
"Okay, according to this, she has lung cancer, a potentially lethal disease. Can you get x-rays through the tube she is in? Because, Quentin will need to know where it is before curing her of it." Sam looked up from the computer as she said this.
"Yes... I have been able to get pretty detailed ones of her while she has been in the tube. Charles, can you get the x-ray machine from the Infirmary and bring it here? And, hurry as much as possible." Quack asked through the intercom between the gallery and the temporary operating room. Charles hurried as fast as possible over to the Infirmary and retrieved the x-ray machine and brought it back to the bunker. While Charles brought back the machine, Sam and Quentin discussed how to treat it and the possible side effects from the treatment of it. After a few minutes, Sir Charles came back with the machine. After some tinkering, they were able to set it up so it would take several x-rays through the cryo-tube at varying angles.
"Okay...as it appears, the cancer is concentrated on the outside of her left lung. That means it should be somewhat easy to remove it. Dr. Quack, I hope you don't mind performing the actual surgery... I'm just an assistant nurse back on Earth. Rotor, if you would be so good as to watch her vitals during the procedure. How long will she last outside of the tube, Rotor?" Sam asked as she brought up the x-rays on the main viewer screen. Rotor ran a quick calculation on his computers.
"She should live about 45 minutes outside of there before this cancer continues its progression through her body. Will that be enough time?" Rotor asked while he setup the heart monitors and the breathing apparatus.
"It'll have to be. We may be cutting this a little close, but it should be enough time. Okay, bring her out of there." Sam said to Rotor and Doctor Quack. They walked over, inserted two keys into the corresponding keyholes, and turned them both at the same time. After a few seconds while the locks disengaged, there was a hiss of the cold air from inside the tube as it escaped into the area surrounding it. Rotor and Quentin carried the Queen over to the table and laid her upon it. As soon as they had her in place, Rotor hooked up the heart monitor and breathing equipment to her, then it was Quentin's turn to go to work. After about fifty minutes, Quentin was finally done with the procedure.

"Is the device ready?" Robotnik asked his somewhat incompetent assistant.
"I was even able to set it to home in on the hedgehog and take him out straight-away." Snively answered. Robotnik grinned and so did Snively as he ser the targeting systems to home in on Doctor Robotnik.
"Sir, the device is just about ready. I suggest we ready the transport and have them on standby." The little bald man said.
"Excellent. We shall be rid of the annoying hedgehog finally." Robotnik growled.

"Sire, the operation was a success. She may have to rest awhile before she awakens completely, but she should be just fine. You and Sally may go in and see her, but do not disturb her." Samantha said rather sternly. As Sam said this, Doctor Quack and Rotor took the Queen to the Infirmary.
Robotnik was also on the move. He was bringing Knothole a gift. Eventually, Robotnik reached the outskirts of the village where he instructed one of his Swatbot s to carry the device into the city. After the robot armed the device, it turned and returned to the evil Doctor who in turn went back to Robotropolis. Uncle Chuck watched from his bunker as Robotnik and his troops marched back to their base of operations. Once they returned to Robotropolis, Snively radioed Rotor and explained that the decoy had been set and that the timer on the shuttle that would get Ivo Robotnik and a select few of his robots off the planet had been set and was running.
"You have to get here soon and defeat him before he takes off in his rocket. If you don't, the device'll destroy you all when it detonates. Make sure that you send Sonic...he's the only one that'll be able to outrun it." Snively explained over the radio.
"We'll be there shortly. Keep him grounded. Do not let him get away." Rotor said. There was a burst of static over the old radio set and then silence. At that moment, Aaron walked into the lab.
"Rotor! I just saw Robotnik at the edge of the village. Don't you guys have defenses against him?" Aaron asked.
"Easy there, friend. What he brought into the village was a decoy; a fake. It is just a shell. The real thing is someplace in Robotropolis right now, waiting for us to set the timer when the time is right. I've had a secret alliance with Snively since about eight years after the betrayal. He's been helping us out as much as possible in trying to defeat Ivo." Rotor explained. He then picked up another microphone from his desk and spoke into it,
"Attention: this is a message for the main Freedom Fighters. Please report to the lab at once. I repeat: I need to see the core members of the Freedom Fighters at the lab at once. This is not a drill. Will Samantha please come with the rest of the Freedom Fighters to the lab?" Aaron kept thinking how much alike and different the Mobians were from the humans from Earth.
"Rotor...what's going on? What's all the hustle about?" Sonic asked as he arrived first.
"Sonic, I'll explain as soon as the rest of the team gets here." Rotor answered. The rest of them arrived within the next two minutes.
"Okay, gang...the reason I called this emergency meeting is Robotnik is going ahead with his plans to destroy the planet with his Ultimate Annihilator. I had hoped he would not use it, but it appears his attempts to roboticize Earth were unsuccessful, perhaps because of the planets merging together or because of the fact that Mobians are very different than the humans he has encountered there. In either case, we have to go ahead and try to defeat him now before he can leave. I know it's short notice, but we have to do it now otherwise we'll never have a chance, period." Rotor explained.
"Alright... I'm game. What do we have to lose? If we're unable to do it, we'll have lost the whole thing. Let's go." Sonic said in his usual sarcastic manner. Rotor walked out of his lab and was back within a minute with the decoy. He opened a door on the side of it and inside was a hundred Power Rings. Sonic filled his backpack with as many as it would hold. "Let's go! It's a ways there, so this could take a bit..."
"Wait a seconds, gang. Why don't we take my car? It has more than enough room for all of us and we'll get there a lot faster." Aaron suggested. There was a silent agreement and so they proceeded to flip the car over with the assistance of Bunnie. Once the car was flipped back onto its wheels, Aaron climbed in and put the two emeralds in their proper receptacles. As soon as the emeralds were installed, the car started up.
"Everyone in! I'm driving. Sally, can you give me directions to the city?" Aaron asked as he checked the onboard computers. Sally gave the directions and Aaron drove as fast as he could to Robotropolis. Once there, they piled out of the car and made their way towards the main tower which housed the office of Robotnik.

(End of Chapter 12)

For the final chapter, click here: "Sonic The Hedgehog (part 3)"