...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 Six 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 Miles, Tails' wrist computer by Daniel Davis Poem based on a passage from Ghost Rider 2099 #1, from Marvel Comics ___________________________ Zone Six--Act Two It was during the time spent tracking Packbell between Robotroplis and the Great Jungle that Sonic and Tails had their little talk: "I feel alone, Sonic. :::Looks down, drags tails, kicks a rock::: Like I don't belong here." "What are you talking about?! About half of the Freedom Fighters are foxes!" "I know, but how many have two tails? :::Points behind him::: I'm a freak, Sonic." "You're 12 now, so I know what you're going through." "You don't understand." "But I do! Every pre-teen goes through this stage of self-depreciation." ":::Looks surprised::: What?!" "You going through a phase where one special thing about you makes a bad impression on you, and you start to despise it. Some people don't get out of this phase, and become mentally-impaired, so to speak. Those who make it out don't worry about appearance, for they know it's not the most important thing. My phase was on my quills. :::Runs his fingers through his spines::: I hated them! They were too sharp, they were ugly in my eyes, and people found it easy to put rude remarks on my back. :::Sally sneaks up behind him and sticks a note saying 'Kick Me' in the back fin::: I tried to shave them off, but Uncle Chuck stopped me. I learned to like them. They were aerodynamically correct for my speed. They help me in turns. They become lethal weapons when I spun. But, most of all, I learned to think they made me handsome." "They do!" "See! What you have to do is think of the good things of those tails. :::Points to the twin brushes:::" "Thanks, Sonic. But you don't sound like yourself! Are you sick?" "Naah. Missions like these are like long bus trips. Everyone shows their dark side. Look over there! :::Notices note, rips it off::: Sal's become a major trickster. And Davey's writin' poetry. Bunnie's real tired. All the time! :::Bunnie yawns and leans on Antoine::: Antoine's acting cool. That's acting! You're growing up, and I'm getting wiser. We've all become our opposites. Don't worry, though. It'll wear off after the mission's over." "Cool, Sonic. Thanks!" That was when the team got E-Mailed by Uncle Chuck. It was tonight that they're gonna act, and they are to return to base for final instructions. As Tails went, he called up one of the poems Davey transferred into his wrist computer: Went into Cyberspace amped Input to the max I was going for total meltdown Direct feed No buffer I charge like a hotline to God Zipzip flash slickbright chrome ripping through the Matrix at supersonic speed Neural feedback hit Metabolic overload back in the Meatware Fevered tissues aflame with data I was burning Liquid metal comet boiling the data flow plume of binary stream They could see me all the way to Chiba City All the way to orbit Quicksilver tsunami of thermonuclear wildfire Never been anything like me Keep Cyberjocks talking for years I was it, man History ________________ "Me? A poet. I can't believe it." "Well, Sonny, that's what happens when you surf data for 12 days straight. You even sleep jacked in. I don't think you had a normal night's sleep all this time." The other Freedom Fighters enter the room at this point. Bunnie fell unconscious on the meeting table. "Ah, glad you're here. Have a . . . seat. Well, we all realize by now that Snivley and Packbell has created an auto-automation of Robotnik." "Yeah," Sonic said, "guess life's much too quiet for them without Bubberbutt around" "Of course," Sally adds sarcastically. "But now they should realize that we can't make their lives easy for them." "Davey here plans to take this fake Julian out, deroboticize me, and destroy this Roboticizer Override they have as an ace in the hole. It's a device that sets everyone who's roboticized-- including myself and Mr. Crockett--to self-destruct." " . . . man," Sonic was shocked at the news. The thought of seeing his uncle die very violently and without any way to stop it was almost too much. It showed in Davey's face as well. "Fortunately, everything's centrally located in Main Roboticizer #2, so I can take care of it all in one shot. Good thing too. . . " His eyes betrayed the terror he's feeling as his voice begins to wane. ". . . the sooner that override . . . gets off-line . . . the better I-I-I-I-I . . . feel . . . " He began to gasp for air. "Yo, Big Daddy, what's wrong?" "o-o-oh, it's nothing, sonic. . . " "Notheeng my tail, Mon Ami. You are terrified. It's about ze robot arm or yairs, eesn't it?" "I-I-I-I . . I don't want my . . . feelings to . . . jeopardize . . ." "It's alright, sonny." Davey leaned back on his chair, away from the huddle, as he gasped for more air. His face was hot and red, his mouth dry, his eyes shut tight. Bunnie yawns. "What's wrong with Davey Dear? He looks as if he saw a ghost." Chuck went to Bunnie and whispers to her. "He just found out that he's not in a video game after all." Sally went up to her oversized Freedom Fighter and held his head in her arms. Having learned more than she cared to know about Davey's left arm, she expected him to be a little shaken up on it. She notes about it every now and then in her diary. . . "While the normal roboticized Mobian would wonder what they did to deserve such a fate--at least Bunnie accepted hers--Davey Crockett actually believes that getting roboticized was the best thing that ever happened to him. And since he's an amputee, it probably is. . . " "I gained so much with my new arm, princess. . . " Davey said as he looked directly into her eyes. "I don't want to have it taken away." "And it won't Davey." Uncle Chuck joined in, placing his arm on Davey's shoulders. A clang of metal hitting metal. "We've got a plan." He then turns to Tails. "I'll need your computer, Tails." Tails held up his arm. His wrist com, named Miles, powered up. "I've got here the blueprints to the override." Uncle Chuck transfers the data. "I need you to get inside the panel and deactivate it from inside." "How would I know which wires to yank out?" "Here," Davey hands Tails a headset monitor. "This'll give you a Virtual Reality view of the schematics, and will show you what to do." "Cool." "Davey, you've already programmed the Roboticizer, so you can operate it on me. I've also gave you a full load in your Power Rifle, in case that fake Robotnik shows up." "Will do." "Sonic and Sally, you two can run interference to get the heat off us, Bunnie?" Bunnie was sound asleep on the far end of the table. "Er, Antoine, would you take Bunnie back to Knothole, and get us some backup." "Oui" "And here, Ant." Davey tosses him a portable holographic projector. "I'll be putting out a live feed of Uncle Chuck's deroboticization. I want to put this whole planet on notice that their liberation is at hand." "Sacre bleu cheese!! Misu Crockett!! This is crazee!!" "Yeah, Antoine. Crazy. Like a fox!" ________________ The "Hedgehog--Priority One" light went on in the command chamber. "I guess it's 'Game On,' isn't it, Snivley?" "Yessir, Doctor Robotnik. You think that Davey Crockett will--" "Of course. Does he think for a second that he can reprogram a roboticizer and send a video link to Knothole, and not have me notice?" Robotnik gets up, allowing silver goo to drip down his arm. "Oh course, you don't think that he would--" "Oh, I think he will, Snivley. He might get away with deroboticizing Uncle Chuck, but I don't think that he'll get any father. You see, I did a DNA scan on Davey Crockett, and I must say, I was surprised by what I've found." "W-What did you find, Master?" He opened his mouth as if to speak, but then . . . "Oh, I think I'll leave you in suspense for a while." He headed out the door. "But I will tell you this." He turned back to Snivley as the doors close between them. "Davey looks like me for a reason." _______________ "Programming those Swats to escort us to the Roboticizer's a nice touch, Uncle Davey." "Hey, we had to get in there nice and easy." Davey opens up a panel in the wall. "Here's your way in. The Override's at the other side." "I see it, and the VR's kicking in." "Good. Do me a favor and do it as soon as you can. Okay, Prower?" "Will do!." Tails gave Davey the Thumbs Up, then ducked in. "Well, arrrrrrrrrrrighty then. It's you and me now, Sir Charles." "The roboticizer's over here." The two went into the chamber. Davey looked at the controls. "Biological lock keyed to Robotnik's DNA? Phrack it!" Ten seconds with the Data Spear, and the lock was bypassed. The control panel pops out. "My programming's still here. Goody. You may assume the position, Chuckie." Chuck stepped into the tube. The tube slides down. "Gotta wait a bit for the 'cizer to power up. ET's about 30 seconds on the 'cizer, 25 on the override. Live feed's going smoothly. How things going, Knothole. Hiya, Suni!" _______________ Everyone who wasn't involved in the extraction team was glued to the monitor that Antoine connected the live feed into. Sonia was sitting at the front, with a diet coke in one hand and a chili dog in the other. Several others were making a similar event out of it. Soft drinks and snacks were flying everywhere. "You all are probably wondering why I'm letting you all ride shotgun with me. I guess it's my need to flick the bird at Robatsy in public. King Acorn has sent me to your planet to wreck Robotnik's world. Byte by byte, brick by brick, and bot by bot. I'm gonna drive it all down into the shocking bedrock, man. And when I'm done, and I have that bloated piece of excrement at my feet, begging that I put that reason why abortion is legal in my world out of his misery, maybe I will let him die. Or maybe I'll roboticize that bastard, just to show him what it's like--" Davey looks off camera and notices someone off camera, hiding in the shadows. He flipped on the house lights. "Eh, what's up . . . Doc?" ________________ "I always wanted to say that," Davey quirks to Chuck. 25 seconds til power-up. 10 on Tail's ET. Man, The Heartbreak Kit's doing good. Still, Davey needs to stall for more time. Robotnik's robot arm reaches for the override switch. Davey reaches for the roboticizer switch. 23 seconds on the 'cizer. Tails' time's stuck at 10. Damn. "Dueling with machines. How novel, Crockett. Honestly, do you think you can flip that switch before I take out your arm?" "I dunno, Robuttnik. I've reprogrammed that Roboticizer, I could've done the same with the override." Roboticizer: 17 seconds; Tails: 7. "You didn't have the time, mister. The ICE would've gotten you for sure." "Julian, I've been in cyberspace for two--" "WHATTT!!!!" Roboticizer at 10, Tails at 5. "How did you know my name?!?!" A pause--Roboticizer at 5, Tails at 3. "Oh yeah, King Acorn sent you did he?" Roboticizer at 4, Tails at 2. "No matter, I know what to do with His Highness' 'care package'. . . " Roboticizer at 3, Tails at 1. Robotnik threw the switch. A faint sound of a wire being ripped out. And nothing more. Roboticizer at 1. Robotnik angrily glared at the switch and jammed it a half dozen times. A splash of silver spurted out with each jam. "Game Over." Davey slowly pulled his switch. Uncle Chuck was bathed in blue light. "How can this BE!" He kept jamming on that lever until his left arm fell off, spilling another gallon of silver. "That Roboticizer Override's cost a million Mobians!!!" "Now, Tails!" A panel was kicked out, and Robotnik realized that Davey had an ace in the hole. "You snooze, you lose, Robuttnik. You need this one Mobian wire to get it to work, and I just yanked it out as you were pulling the switch." Now would be a good time to play his own ace, while the live feed was still on-line. Robotnik tried to clap his one remaining hand, but all he could do is pound the floor. "Bravo, Bravo. I must say that I'm impressed. Only someone like myself would have the guts to do what you've just done. Or my--" "Hold it right there, Julian!" Davey stepped up to the tub of lard and whipped out his Power Rifle. "What the phrack are you trying to pull on live TV? Some propaganda crap to shake up the Freedom Fighters with? No Dice." By this time the upgrade was complete. The blue glow over Chuck resided to reveal a hedgehog of flesh instead of metal. Eyes that were 30 seconds ago red on black are now black on white. He was examining his hands that now don't look like a puppet. "Amazing," he said to himself. "I know by now that my new body's artificially made, but it looks so real. Am I real now, am I?" He looks up to find Davey on top of Robotnik. He knocks on the glass to get Tails' attention, and motions him to raise the tube." Davey was laughing very sarcastically. "That is the biggest bullshit that I've ever heard!! YOU?? MY FATHER?? OF ALL PEOPLE?? HAH!!!!" "David, you don't know. . . " "You are NOT Darth Vader, Julian!" ". . . your mother was divorced when you were an infant, did you know . . . " "I'm NOT Luke Skywalker and I'm NOT training to be a Jedi Knight!" ". . . how can I know that when I don't have connections to your planet, Kintobor." "And I wouldn't give a phrack in hell WHO my biological father is, he could get--" Davey froze when he heard his real last name. "What the phrack did you call me?" "That's your real name, isn't it? David Kintobor? Not that callsign you've been using when you're surfing the net." Charles stood in awe when he heard that name. Kintobor? It couldn't be!! In Knothole, Bear felt the same. Neither one wanted to find out what would come next. Charles felt a sharp pain in his stomach. "David," Charles said slowly. "I'm afraid that he has a point. You see, Kintobor is Robotnik backwards!" "I know that Kintobor is Robotnik backwards, Chuckie? But what does that have to do with me?!?!" "A lot. Being an auto-automation in the last stage in its existence. I have been freed from my personality programming." Robotnik looked more like an expressionless wooden puppet than a evil tyrant. "You are not aware of it, but Julian Kintobor came from your world. Yes, through The Void. How else would you explain a human in a world of talking animals? He became an brilliant military genius, and became King Acorn's war minister. It wasn't until he staged his military coup when he gave himself his callsign of Doctor Ivo Robotnik, the Tyrant I am an obviously poor imitation of." "Yeah, absolutely crappy. Note to Snivley, and I hope you're watching. . ." _________________ . . . and he was, in the Control Room. "If you ever throw something at me of this low quality ever again, I'll hunt you down and roboticize you myself. Is that clear, mister?" "er, yeah, right, sure thing . . . Junior . . ." ___________________ "I SHOULD DO YOU RIGHT NOW JUST FOR CALLING ME THAT!!! I AM *NOT* ROBOTNIK'S SON!!!" "You don't know that. Before he came to Mobius, he had a family, and a child that was too little to notice that he was gone one day and never came back. That child must have been you, David." ___________________ In Knothole, time froze. Everyone stopped what they were doing, their eyes glued to the screen. Sonia's heart sank when she finally realized who she's been dating. Davey Crockett was such a nice person to her. Such a warm and caring man-turned-fox with a friendly, though introverted personality and chest fur that you would just love to dive into. Who would have known that his father was the one who brought so much pain and misery to this world. ___________________ "Nice story, pusbag. Still, it's bullshit. You could be saying that just to cause a division between me and the Freedom Fighters. They might even want to take me out for your sins! Like I said, No Dice." He held the rifle to Robotnik's head. And fired. The head burts open like an overripe melon, and silver blood squirts out the neck like a fountain. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" From out of nowhere, Packbell charged the duo that could be Robotnik and son, but that is still debatable, lifted Davey off Robotnik and threw him across the room. He landed on top of the biological lock. His right arm got stuck in the place where you put the arm in. He tried to yank it out before the lock checked that arm for DNA, in one last gasp for hope that he would still be innocent in Knothole, but . . . his DNA was close enough: DNA CHECK CONFIRMED, DOCTOR ROBOTNIK. ROBOTICIZER ACTIVATED For all of Mobius. For all of that solar system. Time froze. All was silent. Except for the sound of one heart breaking. David Kintobor's. Otherwise known as Davey Crockett's. Robotnik's son. _____________________________ How's that for a cliffhanger folks? If this doesn't make it as a shock ending, I don't know what is. And I'm still not done, folks! Davey's yet to take Uncle Chuck back home alive, and when he finally gets there, if he does at all, what the holy heck will the Freedom Fighters think of him now?? So help him, if they thank him by shooting off another limb....stay tuned for Chapter VII of BAM. ----------------------Letter Page!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now that I've finally got some feedback on my stories, I can have a decent letters page at the end of my files, something I wanted to do all this time. My address is still [DGONTERMAN@aol.com] for those who want to write to me. I read every one of them, and try to answer as many as I can. The real good ones will get posted here: Subj: Nice page Date: 95-11-03 22:27:08 EST From: atapaz@unix.twisted.com (Atapaz) To: DGonterman@aol.com I like what you've done. Have you checked out the RolloWeb, AOL pages collection? That's where I found out about your site. Just dropping a note. David "http://users.aol.com/ATAPAZ" In case you don't know, here's the URL for the RolloWeb: http://users.aol.com/jrollo2/private/sites.htm Subj: (no subject) Date: 95-11-02 20:48:56 EST From: Sirrub@hollicom (Mack Burris) To: DGonterman@aol.com Dear Mr.Gonterman, My name is Duncan Burris and I have to say that I read your "Blood & Metal"Story and completely loved it! It was one of the best Sonic stories I've ever read. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that if I could mention the name Davey Crockett in my upcoming Sonic story. You can contact my by E-mail or by AOL (My AOL E-mail is NACNUD13@aol.com).Thanks for your cooperation. Yours Truly, Duncan Burris Well, Duncan, it nice to see that the stuff I put out rates! Maybe Archie Comics would let me do one of their comic books or two :::Wishful Thinking:::: Oh, and a couple of people wanted to know if you can use Davey in their own stories. I consider it an honor if you do, just keep him in character and don't go too wild with him; like make him roboticize the Freedom Fighters or something. (Come on now, he might be related to Robotnik, but Davey C's not him, and I don't want to think what he'd do to you if you told him that right now...) If you have some questions on Davey's chara design, call up the FoxFire Web Page at http://users.aol.com/DGonterman, which is currently undergoing some redesign construction as we speak, but you can still get at his data sheet and a FAQ file, which is continuously updated. If that doesn't answer your question, E-Mail me and I'll try to answer it the best I can. I'll also add to my FAQ sheet appropriately. Ulp! The Page counter on WordPerfect tells me that I'm on page eleven; time for me to cut this one short. See ya all next time. FoxFire Studios