...through the mysteries of The Void, King Acorn, a banished monarch of a faraway planet called Mobius, finds himself on Planet Earth. There he hires an earthling cyborg named Davey Crockett to go back to Mobius, through The Void, to deliver a message to King Acorn's daughter, Princess Sally, and assist the Freedom Fighters led by Sega of America's number one video game character....FoxFire Studios presents: Sonic The Hedgehog Blood and Metal By David Gonterman [DGonterman@aol.com] Issue Five Sonic The Hedgehog by Sega of America Davey Crockett by David Gonterman This part of BAM storyline by David Gonterman and Alex Weitzman [Sonic90127@aol.com] Packbell by Brookshire The Auto-Automation version of Robotnik by Alex Weitzman _____________________ Before I begin, I would like to thank Alex for allowing me to expand on events written on Sonic's journal. He's the second AOL user to put Davey Crockett in their own stories. I gave him a preliminary 'spoiler' on this story and I must say, he was stoked. I also will start mellowing out Davey's rep Hysteria think he has; you've judged him way too quickly, my man. And to all you Freedom Fighters who want to be the one who cures Uncle Chuck: I hate to break your hearts, but..... ______________________ Zone Six--Act One: Red on Black eyes stare at countless monitors. A chubby finger points at a fox figure climbing debris. "Snivley, is this the one you've been telling me about?" "Yes, Doctor, he's Davey Crockett, the newest Freedom Fighter who's causing such a ruckus as of late." "Hmmm, Interesting. I've read his file. . .his cunning and resourcefulness matches my own. Davey steps into a spotlight. "Stop the presses! His arm! And those eyes! And this record of his! . . . He the mirror image of myself, in a way. I like him already! Hahahahaha!" As Robotnik laughed, silvery liquid seeped from his left roboticized arm. Packbell quickly placed a pan underneath the drip. Robotnik leaned forward. "So, Davey Crockett, Mr. King of the Cyber Frontier--heh-heh. What have you been doing lately?" "HE'S BEEN DOIN' THIS, ROBUTTNIK!!" "Gazooks!!!!" "It's Bunnie!" "Her arm!!!" All three gasped as Bunnie Buns jumped into the camera as she pumped her formerly roboticized left arm over her right in an two-armed obscene gesture. Five seconds later, the monitor flashed blue, then cut to white noise. The "'Hedgehog--Priority One' when lit" lamp flashed loudly. _________ "PREPARE TO BE ASSIMILATED! RESISTANCE WILL BE FUTILE!" Davey shouted his battle cry as he leapt into the fray, with a blazing rifle in each arm. "Wow-whee, Big Daddy!" Bunnie cheered as her limbs morphed from skin to metal. "Show me that there mean streak of yars, sugah!!" Sonic bounded in and out of the scene, careening on every Swat he sees. "Let's dance rustbuckets, and I don't mean polka!" "In fact," Sally sprang up to slingshot a paint pellet into a bot's eye, "I believe that Davey here has some appropriate music for this ball. A little of that metal band you've told me about, please?" "A very fine choice, My Princess." Davey pushed some keys. The rhythm guitar of the Earth band Metallica blared from some of the Monitor Orbs that happened to be floating by. Sally heard of that band when Davey joined in a bonfire, and mistook a Mobian folk song for "Nothing Else Matters," one of this bands ballads. The lyrics sung--So close, but ever so far/Never guess just how from the start/Forever trust in who we are/And nothing else matters--were quite haunting. This song being played now was about war's effect on the environment and was entitled, "Blackened." She would've liked that song despite the guitars sounding like a swarm of killer bees and vocals that can melt tofu. Unfortunately, she couldn't hear the words over the sound of robot heads exploding. "Okay, Sonic. I've just got info-dumped that we've got Robotnik's attention. Go to Act Two." Sonic broke away, Tails follows. The other four paired up: Sally with Bunnie and Davey with Antoine. __________Stage Select: Sally and Bunnie An extendable robotic arm darts in and out, knocking out badniks one by one. It grabs hold of the last one. "Git ovah heah!!" Bunnie yanks that last bot in close, right into a bionic dropkick. "Something Ah picked up from Davey, Sally Girl." She looks at the robot head she's still holding, which has been removed from the body and dripping oil. "Ewww, gross, Ah didn't wanna pick up the 'oil effects.' Hey, check this out, Princess. This heah's a new model." "You're right, Bunnie. I was wondering what Snivley's been doing lately. He was designing new badniks." As if to prove her point, another Swat appeared; this one with heat laser for one arm. A paint pellet caused that laser to overload, setting the bot on fire. The two ladies has to get 25 meters between themselves from this robot torch before the fuel systems ignite, exploding the bot in a fireball. Suddenly, a dark shadow passed above them. They looked up. And gasped. "Oh mah stars, Sally. You weren't kidding." __________Stage Select: Davey and Antoine Dave zigged when he should've zagged, and that ran him right into an alley of-- "Worker Bots!! Crud!" Over a hundred robot cats, dogs, foxes, rabbits, and other fauna said in unison, "SURRENDER FREEDOM FIGHTER ON ORDER FROM ROBOTNIK," and advanced like zombies. Antoine yelped in fright. "You cannot deztroy theez, Misu Crockett!" Davey backed his partner back into the street. "Maybe I don't have to, Ant. Time to break out the EMP mode." Davey switched rifles to phasers, setting each to Electromagnetic Pulse. Antoine did the same with his one phaser. "This is a great opportunity to beta test Rotor's idea." The two returned to the mecha undead and opened fire. Within moments half of the crowd fell down stunned, the rest took cover behind the fallen ones. "It works, mon ami. Zey are down, but zey are not out!" Knowing that this wave of bots is kept at bay, the two decided to turn and run to their rondeaux point, Uncle Chuck's hidden lab in Robotroplis, where Sonic and Tails ran off to. They rounded the corner. And called out to their respective gods. Now, if it were a perfect world, Antoine and Davey would ask each other about who's name they have just used as a part prayer, part cuss word, since they have never heard of the person the other one shouted out loud: "Destiny? Who the phrack's Destiny?" "I am wondering just who ees zis Jesus Christ person, yes?" Unfortunately, discussions on religion will have to wait, because Davey Crockett and Antoine DeCollette were staring up a giant robotic gargoyle, twenty feet tall with a thirty feet wingspan. And impervious to Electromagnetic Pulse shots. "Damn. Where's Xanatos when you need him?" Davey ad-libbed as he grabbed a petrified Antoine and booked. __________Stage Select: Sonic and Tails The hedgehog, with two-tailed fox in tow, made a beeline for Uncle Chuck's hidden base, blowing past any bot unfortunate enough to be in-between them and their destination. Sonic did a bird call, which was answered. A ramp opened up from a pile of refuse. Sonic spoke into an intercom, "I made it to Uncle Chuck's. Go to Act Three," and sped inside. __________Stage Select: Sally and Bunnie The ladies got Sonic's message as they were surrounded by Swats, they locked their weapons and prepared to fire. "Time for a Bunnie Hop, Sally Girl." Bunnie picked up the Princess as her 'robot' legs expand. One hop and hydraulic jacks propelled the two a quarter mile straight up and several city blocks ahead. The Swats opened fire on empty air, taking themselves out instead. __________Stage Select: Davey and Antoine "CROCKETT MOVING ON HOVERBIKE AT 450 KM/HOUR HEADING. . .OH, NO. . .HE'S TAKING DETONATION BOULEVARD!" Detonation Boulevard was originaly just an ordinary street on Mobotroplis before the coup. Robotnik riddled the place with traps, mines, and enough automated weaponry to turn it into a death trap for living Mobians. It would have been advoided if Davey knew any better and is he hasn't been called in by Sonic at that time. "I LOVE THIS GAME!!!" Davey shouted as he gunned his bike past Mobius' answer to Purgatory at 625 km/hour with hellfire and brimstone nipping at the afterburner. Antoine screamed in terror. Davey screamed in delight. Just as the billowing flame was about to envelop the two, Davey turned at a right angle into a relatively safer street as the rest of Detonation Boulevard went the way of the Waco Branch Davidian Inferno. "YEEEEE-HAAAAAA! WHAT A RUSH!!!" Davey held his arms in victory as Bunnie and Sally landed on the nose section. "I can't believe you did that, Crockett! Not even Sonic will go near that Street of Death!" "Nor can anyone else or a while." Davey looked back past a fainted Antoine at 20 blocks of burning city. Sally found the ramp and Davey guided the loaded hoverbike in. ************** "So, you're Davey Crockett, huh?" Charles Hedgehog, roboticized creator of the Roboticizer and Sonic's uncle, said as he approached. "I've been hearing a lot about you since you've crashed landed on the feet of my nephew." His red-on-black eyes looked him up and down for a moment. "Y'now, sonny, right now, as a fox, you don't look as much like Robotnik as you did when you just showed up here. . . You don't look so psychotic, either." "Oh, don't mind that, Chuck," Sonic injected. "Davey's 'Psycho Streak' is purely hype. I started it to put fear into Snerdly and Packbald. Besides, he only shows it when he trashes bots." "Ahem!" Sonic blushes, "Oh, sorry, Unc." "Yeah, Charles. Back home, This big guy's one of the nicest people you'll know. Even Sonia warms up to him. You ask me, I think this mean streak of his is just an act." "You want to analyz ze complex human perzonalitee, my preencezz? I do not theenk you want to zign up for ze dirty job." "Besides, look what he brought with him." Bunnie turns around an imaginary catwalk, proudly showing off her new body, with the limbs in flesh mode. Charles did a double take. "Whatta ya think, Charles? Is it an upgrade or the cure? Depends on who ya ask, if ya ast me?" "We've come here to give you Davey's special treatment, Uncle Chuck. It's the sure cure for what ails the roboticized." "Is . . . is it really?" "Only if you want it to be, Sir." "Please, Davey, call me Charles. 'Chuck' if you must. I'd love to get this treatment, folks, but we've got work to do. I'll get this along the way. Please." Everybody sat down, even Tails, who just came in slowly. Everybody notices. "Sonic," Davey whispers, "Tails looks a little down." "Yo, rocket scientist. Is it full time of part time?" "As you know, Princess, we've got two mysteries to solve. The first of which is Robotnik coming back so soon. I've figured that someone that evil would not allow an exploding Roboticizer #1 to do him in." "Yeah, I wonder what supernatural place he was in, and how he came back?" "Well, Heaven wouldn't take him. Maybe Hell got terrified of him taking over. So, they sent him back!" Everybody laughs. "Good one, Dave." "We've also got this mystery about this silverily goo that Packbell's been dumping as of late. I didn't raise a fuss because the Great Jungle that accursed android was dumping it in was eating it and growing. However, the two happened to begin at the same time. It leads me to believe that they might be related." "What do you mean Zir Charlez?" "Don't know yet, Antoine. That's why I called for this two-week investigation. Sonic, Tails, Antoine, and Sally can dress up in these Worker Bot costumes and follow Packbell like a hawk, to find out what's his game is. Davey, you're with me. We can both jack into cyberspace. From there the two of us can find out all we need to know about Robotnik." "Will do, Chuck." _____________ "Y'know, Sonny," Charles told Davey as they went down a corridor, "ever since I got my mind back, I've been asking myself why in heaven's name did I make that Roboticizer, since It's been giving us all this pain and suffering. But then you showed up, with a replacement limb. This is a classic example of why I've built that thing in the first place: To mend people, to make them whole again, not to send my people into slavery." "Then blame Robotnik, who uses the machine for evil, not the machine itself. You designed the Roboticizer to be a source of good when used properly. You never knew it would fall into the wrong hands one day. I only hope that you Mobians remember that and not trash your life's work down the drain." "Oh, with this new upgrade King Acorn sent with you, rest assured. We're here." Uncle Chuck led Davey into a small room with a mainframe-style cyberdeck, dual input jacks, and comfortable, if cramped, recliner chairs. Davey's not claustrophobic, but as he looked into that room he longed for some wide open space. And cyberspace definably does qualify as 'wide open space.' Inspired by an earthling fiction writer, cyberspace became the standard virtual-reality interface to the 'net. A checkerboard expands to infinity. Chess pieces of cubes, pyramids, cones, cylinders, and other geometric shapes represents data bases, security systems, computer networks, and other connections in Mobius' Information Superhighway. Blue rivers intertwine in computer chip fashion between the chess pieces. "And with this view screen, you'll have an electron's eye view of the 'net." "View screen?" Davey said as he flopped on the couch and jacked in--directly--with the Data Spear, "The way I jack in, I don't need view screens. . ." Davey's eyes defocused and glowed as cyberspace filled his sense of vision. An image of himself appeared on the view screen, but he was changed; Davey was dressed more like a superhero, with a cape, and he appeared to be glowing inside. His hands and eyes were lit up with the promise of power, and his tail was like it was set on fire. ". . . Not when I can become one with the 'net. I now have a cosmic-style awareness over everything that goes in here. It really give quite a buzz." "I'd say," Uncle Chuck said as he jacked in himself. "If my readings are correct, every terminal and monitor is having a feedback loop sent directly to you. Davey, you're monitoring every computer on Mobius even as we speak! Do you think you can handle--" "I'm surprised to say it, but I am! Normally, the human, or Mobian mind for that matter, cannot handle this much input all at once, it would be unintelligible at least, insanity-producing at most. Yet, my cyborg implants enable me to handle all this. This is fantastic!! Oh, I've found Lard-ass." "Where?" Their vision cut to a security camera's view of Robotroplis' Command Room. "--need: Another high speed show-off! And this one destroyed a death trap meant for Sonic!" "But Dr. Robotnik, he was on a hovercycle. I don't think he counts." Robotnik glared at Snivley for a moment, but then returned to the monitors, admiring Davey's work. That's odd," Chuck mused. "Usually, Robotnik would be throttling Snivley for that crack." "Mmm. I'd believe ya, Chuck. And he appears to be admiring me as well. I don't think that's, like, normal for someone like him." "Humph, from what I heard, that would be debatable." "Hey now!" Davey turned to make a face at Chuck, but something from the feed caught his eye: Silvery-Grey ooze seeped from Robotnik's left metal arm. Robotnik notices. "Damn." "Man, Talk about crappy quality," Davey said in disgust. "Who made that arm? Apple?" Charles just stood silently, scratching his chin, as Packbell arrives into the scene, placing another pan underneath the drip. "Y'now, sonny, I'm beginning to think that's not really Robotnik." At this point, Robotnik did the one thing that took the two cyber-spies back for almost five minutes: He turned to Packbell and thanked--yes, thanked--him for putting the pan under the drip. Julian Ivo Robotnik would never thank anyone for anything. Everyone who had the nerve to help him are now either dead of roboticized. "Now I KNOW that's not Robotnik!" "If he's not, then, who is he?" "Not who, Davey, What? Do a all-database scan for 'Auto- Automations,' for me, will you." "Way ahead of you. . . [15 second pause] . . . I've got something." Davey relays a record to Chuck about Snivley and Packbell creating an Auto-Automation version of Robotnik. The reason for it was because live was just too quiet without him around. However, Packbell couldn't find up-to-date records on how to make good Auto-Automations, so they had to make do with out-of-date procedures and files. "Remind me to smack Snivley around for using such crappy work. I expected more from him. Oh, I've got access to Main Roboticizer #2! I'll upload the upgrade parameters and we can give you the treatment from there." "Main Roboticizer #2?! Ballsy, Crockett. Crazy, but ballsy--Hey! what's this? Roboticizer Override?" "This I've got to see. . . " Davey reached out for the file, but suddenly, white lightning could be seen from some of the paths of blue, and approaching paths. "ICE constructs!" Charles shouted, referring to the acronym 'Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics,' designed to take out uninvited guests in computer networks by any means possible, even if it means flatlining the poor soul. "Jack out of here, now!!" Davey managed to get a copy of the Roboticizer Override file in a split second before he jacked out, just before the ICE ran into the ram space he was just occupying one CPU cycle before. . . ____________ "Whew," Charles said as their brains were catching up to the fact that they are back in their bodies. "That was a close one. You got that last file?" "Sure did, Uncle Chuck." He popped the disk out from his upper arm drive. "For a moment there, I was disappointed in Needle Nose, but I didn't expected those cyberspace defenses to be developed on Mobius. Now, this game is going to be fun." "Sonny," Chuck sighed, "If you still think that this is something that came out from Sega, think of it from OUR point of view. And by what I'm fearing from what I think 'Roboticizer Override' means, I'm afraid that you're gonna be seeing that point of view awfully quick." Davey was too quick to change the subject. "You think that Robatsy knows we were there?" "Don't know, son. Let's assume he did, however, and move up our plans from there. I'll signal the others. . ." __________________________To be continued..... When I told Suni that this particular Zone will take up a lot of K's, I meant in computer memory, not enchidas. There's a lot of stuff yet to go on in this chapter, and I have to break it up into chunks that are easily downloadable. Besides, My WordPerfect is telling me that I'm on Page 9 anyway, and that's my normal rule of thumb for story length, and I've got some stuff to add to the advertisement section. Web Page Alert--http://users.aol.com/DGONTERMAN By the time that you're reading this, I've updated the page with more stories and links, with the report that I'll give it an good redesign soon, with more graphics and an easier interface. It'll take me a while to create the HTML files, and I need to learn how to do some of the special tricks, like map graphics and screen colors. (If there's anyone who want's to help out, let me know, please :-) Sonia and da Fox III--Coming Soon! A new direction on my turn in the series I'm working with (((Suni))). This one is spoken from Crockett's Log--It's cooler than 'Journal'--and confronts Davey with Suni's robot half. Someone care to give him a chocolate ice cream bar as an appeasement offering? Blood and Metal submission guidelines--Coming Soon! Since I'm getting some second-hand stories using my characters, I feel that I should give out some guidelines on how to write them out. These will answer some questions that will rise over chronology, which I will strongly enforce--Hey, if Davey breaks a leg in Chapter x, then he should limp in Chapter y--as well as characterization, violence, sex, and other matters. Proper English and spelling correctiveness need not be required, we are not writing for the Pulitzer here. As always, I do enjoy your input over the Electronic Mail, and I try to answer as many as I can. My address is [DGonterman@aol.com] Stay alive and on line.....David Gonterman FoxFire Studios