...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...and now, they learn that Davey's really David Kintobor, the son of none other than Robotnik!....FoxFire Studios presents: Sonic The Hedgehog Blood and Metal Alpha By David Gonterman [DGonterman@aol.com] Issue Seven, Revision Two Sonic The Hedgehog by Sega of America Davey Crockett by David Gonterman Sonia Hedgehog by Emily Smith Bear (The Hermit) by Daniel Davis Sasha Prower by RottinKid Robotnik's origin by Emily Smith BAM Nicole by Alex Weitzman ________________________ Zone Six, Act Three: "Cancer? My Uncle? Oh, no!" "I'm afraid so, Sonic. All over." Uncle Chuck coughs in his infirmary bed as Sonia and Sasha feed their healing magic into him while the bobcat that used to be Sally's portable computer, Nicole, did a diagnostic check. "It was all that waste from my former mechanical body," he speaks weakly. "The poison from this design flaw almost got me. This is one of the reasons who almost half of all who have been roboticized are dead now including Mutski . . . He just died five hours before you showed up. I'm sorry, Sonic." Sonic hid his head in his hands. "Aw no. . . not Mutski . . . first him, now . . . you?" Chuck held his nephew's head back up. "Now, now, sonny. I wasn't given this new life just so I can throw it back in your face. I'll beat this cancer! " "And it looks like you will, Sir Charles." Nicole completed her diagnostics. "Thanks to your new biogenetic body given you by Davey Crockett, alias David Kintobor, and the combined spells of Suni and Sasha, you will be cancer free in three weeks. You will pull through, my friend." "Really," Charles raises one of his now-soft-again eyebrows, "er, Nicole? Hypothetically, what would happen if I were just . . . deroboticized, straight?" "I'm afraid that my best educated guess will predict you dead in six days." A long and ominous pause from the planet again. Tonight was by far one of the quietest. Charles sighs as he nestles back into his pillow. "So, this is the key, isn't it Freedom Fighters. Clever to use a Roboticizer to undo a Roboticizer. I should've seen his Father's influence in him sooner. Still, he just might be what this planet needs to be healed and whole again. By the way, Princess, where is he?" "David? Oh, he's . . . oh . . . my . . . gosh . . . SONIC!! HE'S STILL IN ROBOTROPLIS!!!" _________________________ Sally and Sonic was just as stunned as even the Swats that were chasing them when they saw from Nicole--in pocket computer form--Davey accidentally unlocking the DNA Lock that proved that he was Robotnik's son, but Sonic snapped out of it when he saw Uncle Chuck collapse from an apparent heart attack in a far corner. They dropped everything and headed to Main Roboticizer #2 in a flash. They scooped up Chuck and grabbed Tails, then they were shouting for Davey to snap out of it. The details of the next five minutes were very fuzzy. They only comprised of a cry that came from the deepest depths of David Kintobor's anguished soul, and the sight of Main Roboticizer #2 descending to Hell as they all streaked to Knothole, fearing that an errant Power Rifle blast would hit them. . . __________________________ "YOU LEFT HIM IN ROBOTROPLIS?!?" Sonia had her up against the wall. "How could you, Sally Acorn? Did you leave him to die?!?!" Sally couldn't answer. The shock of the revelation over Davey has yet to sink in her. "Dammit!" Sonia dropped the Princess and booked toward the smoldering ruins at 300 km/hour. All others just stood there stunned, some shaking it off to join in the search party. "Oh my stars, Sally girl. This hear's somthin' to wake you up in th' mornin', nothing like a good shock plot twist." "Man, I can't believe it. Davey Crockett is Robuttnik's . . . son?" "I'm afraid so, Sonic. Only a person with a DNA pattern close enough to match Robotnik's DNA pattern can open up that lock." "Damn, first King Acorn almost became a crystalline figure, now this." This is the first time Tails ever used a cuss word. No one bothered to get out the soap. Elizabeth Racoon, who didn't get that Meeko joke Davey said about his hat the first day he arrived at Knothole, was the only one to raise her voice, which was normal for her. "You mean that somebody was desperate enough to become Ms. Robotnik?" ___________________ Bear found him first. He started as soon as he know about David Kintobor, so he had a head start. He saw the grief-stricken cyborg fox amongst smoldering rubble, robot parts, oil flowing like rivers, and a broken glass tube. Packbell, Snivley, and the beheaded body of the A-A Robotnik were nowhere to be found. "Still alive," Davey swore out loud. "Damn you, Dad. Damn you to hell. Guess I can't seem to be killed outright. Too much bad karma, I guess. Wished it was *mine*, tho'." He got up to start the long walk back to Knothole--he no longer regrets giving Antoine his hoverbike--not noticing the old grey fox nearby. "I heard. All on Knothole heard." No answer. "David? We . . . We don't blame you for what your father did. It appears that he screwed us *all* over." No answer. "Son . . . We don't know what to say. You just came here, and in a matter of weeks, you did what we were unable to do in over a decade. You just successfully deroboticized someone--Sir Charles of all people--and he's going to live." Davey turned his head to the fatherly figure with red glowing eyes. He tossed the Power Rifle toward him. "You wanna shoot off a leg this time?" Bear looked as if Davey went up and slapped him dead in the face. "Young man, I don't know what hell hole mudball of a planet you and your father came from, but I hate to disappoint you; we do not thank our heros by lining them up against the wall and shooting them dead, no matter *what* their parents have done!" Davey gave him a very distrusting look, as if he was disappointed, then he turned around, and continued walking. As the solitary figure left the scene, a shadow of a robot monkey--it looked like Coconuts, but the shadow looked bulkier somehow--rose from the far end of the rubble and aimed a plasma rifle at the figure. "No," came a voice from behind, it sounded like Scratch's. "Not tonight. He's had enough for one day. We'll kill him next time." _____________________ The rainstorm that accompanied Davey back to Knothole matches the bleakness in Davey's heart. His head hung low, he dragged his tail, and his feet as he stepped. The water that hit him was allowed to just flow down anywhere, soaking the fur, making it stink. Or, maybe it was raining because the Floating Island was passing overhead, and the water was actually coming from a river that fell off the edge. At the ledge, a lone red enchida looks down to the Forest and sees the lonely fox. "Bummer," the enchida said to himself, "you poor devil . . . may Destiny have mercy on you, bub." There were others there; the eyes of all of Mobius were upon this fox. He imagined the entire populace gathered on both sides, in gnauletfashion, watching him as he passed them by; all of them knowing who he is, all of them knowing that he's the son of the man who caused all this pain and suffering. The mere thought of it made the fox strike his chest; the sign of being struck dead. All his life, he was forced to answer, unjustly, for the atrocities some of his ancestors have done, evil deeds that were buried in centuries of history, evil deeds that are too eagerly dug up by resentful minorities and shoved in his face, as if he himself had done those same acts. He took the first chance he could get to get away from that unfair circumstance by coming to this planet, and now, God help this poor white soul, it was all laid directly on his shoulders, because the distance of time between the atrocities and himself was cut from 400 years to just a few months. It was all too much to bear. When he could no longer take another step in the now muddied path, his knees buckled, sank into the mud. the rest of the body followed in kind, as he lied prostrate under a willow tree, hid his face in his arms, and sobbed. The search party found him lying there, dead-like, under the willow. Sonia rushed up to him and laid over the crying boyfriend. "Oh, Dear Bright Lady Above. Destiny have mercy on all our souls. . . " She pulls him out of the mud he was sinking in. "It's okay . . . s'okay . . . " She embraces this lost soul and slurps at his tears, like he has done to her earlier. "I still love you. I still love you sooooo much. . . " The Princess was only a shadow in the shadows when she softly said, "C'mon, let's take you home." Real eyes were watching him this time, knowing who he is, and who his father is, and they were all following him as he continued his long walk home. However, there was something the lonely fox failed to notice: These eyes were not filled with anger, or revenge, but sorrow. Some of them even had tears. But none of them spoke a word. Nor did they spoke when the fox arrived at Knothole, in the blackness of night, with only a bonfire as light and heat. All activity and sound stopped suddenly as he entered, all eyes turned to him as they followed him across the village, toward his hut, and through the door. Nothing resumed for a few long seconds after the door was closed behind him. _________________________ He stayed in his hut for about a week afterward, alternating between tears and dreamless sleep. Sonia stayed by his bedside constantly, comforting him, stroking his warm orange fur. She told him how his father, Julian Kintobor, came to this world, and his change into Robotnik: "Your father, Dr. Julian David Kintobor, and his wife, Astillia Jalisca Kintobor, split up in your world. He was crushed, broken hearted, and felt sorry for his young son--you, David Jim Kintobor. He found the Void . . . and Mobius. He served as a bright, thin, red-headed Second Guard in the Great War, second to my father, High Commander Wallace Hedgehog. He lost *his* left arm in battle, which was replaced by Uncle Chuck as he was beta testing the original Roboticizer. Yet, unlike you, he vowed revenge on all animals for his left arm. He took his nephew, Sir Regenald Snout, and devised a plan to get even with the state and rule Mobius. While beta testing one of his machines, which collects the darker sides of Nature's delicate balance, it exploded, transforming your father and his nephew into the present-day Dr. Ivo Robotnik and Snivley." The others trickled in and out, one by one, throughout this time. Sally came in first, while Davey was asleep. She hung a medallion over his head and placed the metal in his paw. "The first of many, I hope," she said as she kissed him. Antoine came in next after a long while. "Misu Crockett? Bonjour. I just want to give you some theengz." He laid down some mementos on Davey's dresser: A picture here, a pocket watch there, some metals housed in a display. "Your fathair meant theez for you. He also left thiz behind. It waz hiz uniform before he became ze evil Robitnik. For zis we are all sorry, my friend." Antoine draped the old Acorn uniform over Davey's body, like a blanket, and he saluted as he left. Uncle Chuck showed up as soon as he was able, once he got from the bed to the wheelchair left over from when Mighty was crippled trying to rescue Vixie. The fox who meant so much in so little time was awake when he arrived. Sonic was with them too, who saw the picture. "Hey, who's this skinny guy with the red hair next to you, Chuck? Looks like he skipped his dinner." "That, Nephew, is Julian Kintobor, . . . as he once was." "Robotnik? No way?" "Yeah, we were best buds, him, Wallace, and me. We did *everything* together. Here David, I stored every home movie I have on your father in this holocube." He hands Davey something that looks like a painted-over Rubic's Cube. Davey found the play button. A young thin red-haired Julian sat with two hedgehogs--Wallace and Charles--for a beer during some idle time. "You know," the young thin red-haired Julian said, "maybe I *should* bring my son here. He'd love this planet. . . " Davey was awestruck when he heard that voice. Last time he did, he was in that man's arms, as an infant. "Daddy. . . " ". . . good land, good trees, and a good life. I love this planet, and I don't think I'll do anything to change it." The young thin red-haired Julian and the two hedgehogs lifted up their steins--Julian's was one of the trinkets--for a toast: "Here Here! For a peaceful Mobius!!" More tears well up in Davey's eyes. He missed his father so. ______________________ Davey finally had a dream during the last night of his 'mourning.' He fell asleep in Phenix's arms (She wanted to hold him for a while, showing her gratefulness for Davey reprogramming her in his image) while cradling the holocube. In his dream, he was human again, and he was with a tall dark-skinned, silver-haired woman, who reminded him of the X-Woman Storm. "Your father went his own way, David Kintobor. Maybe he just wanted a place where he could be the master of the house. Fortunately, you will not share his destiny. I should know, that's my name." "So you're this Destiny deity I keep hearing about here on Mobius." "You didn't expect a goddess, child?" "I did expect that. Picked that part up from prayers to you. I didn't expect you to look like a comic book character I know, tho'" "I'm using images in your memory so I can be able to communicate to you easily. Ororo Monroe's form suits me to a 'T'. Besides, the writer of this story wanted as least one good guy who-s b--" "Why, your majesty," a voice--Davey's voice--came from down a street, in a Mobotropolis in repair. "It's nice to see that your aim has improved." "My aim, Crockett?" King Acorn said--*King Acorn!* "Tell me, where on Mobius did The Void spit you out in?" "A few blocks down from here . . . up to my neck in Swats." This Davey was dressed up in his father's uniform. ". . . oops . . . " "Buuuut, Sally was in there too, so I'd say that your aim was pretty well on." Acorn laughs. "Very well, my friend. So, where's my daughter now?" "Over in that chapel, as the first maid in my wedding." David looked to Destiny. "My wedding?" "To Sonia." "Ma'am, I must know. . . will be, or could be?" "Might be. Future telling's a hit-or-miss business, even to goddesses. What you see around you are several time lines combined in one composite. Here's one where you married earlier, and have two wonderful children, a fox boy and a hedgehog girl. . . and here, where you had to assume the role as Mobius' king when The Royal House of Acorn fell during the climatic battle with Robotnik. There are even futures where you are not alive in here, but are immortalized in stone. However, all of these separate time lines have one thing in common: A son undoing what his father has done, not because of shame or guilt, as on Earth, but for the mutual affection and comradeship of his fellow Mobians. That is your destiny, David Kintobor." "Fellow Mobians? But do I get back to Earth in any of--Destiny? Wait, where ya' going?" "I'm not going anywhere, child--David--You are. Someone's waking--Daaavid--you up for something--Daviddd--Don't worry, We'll meet again. . .--*David?*" Davey opened his eyes to find that the holocube was calling him. A yellow square was blinking. He pushes it, and hears his father's voice: "David, son, if you're hearing this, then a lot of stuff has definetly gone wrong. Mobius would be plunged into utter darkness, no doubt by me, and you are probably asked to clean up my mess. I would just love to say that I didn't mean it, but by now I've probably become that evil bastard you would want to see dead and I don't want to come to you as a liar. At the time I'm putting this down, I've got my replacement arm, and I'm increasingly becoming more resentful about it. I don't know . . . how much longer . . . I can hold out. I don't think, by the time you're hearing this, you can do anything to save me . . . only to avenge me. When this . . . evil . . . Robotnik . . . finally takes over my soul, I will cease to be the good man you know as . . . your father. But, there is a way I can still do something . . . for your sake. I've managed to backup what's left of my good side into this computer, along with everything I could glean from . . . my bad side . . . I sincerely hope that this will aid you in your quest. Oh, God . . . Please give me . . . the time . . . . . . I don't want you to remember me . . . as the man I will . . . become . . . in just a few short . . . seconds . . . I want . . . you . . . my son . . . to remember me . . . Iv--Julian . . . Rob--Kintobor . . . as the man that was . . . nev-*was before* . . . son, I don't know . . . what pit in Hell . . . I'm going into . . . but I want you to . . . forg-remember . . . . . . . . . I love you, my son . . . al . . . ways . . . " "Ohmygod. Sonia. He must've become Robotnik at that exact second. And his last clear thought . . . was for me. . ." IT WAS. It was the computer again, this time in a clear, if computer generated, voice. HELLO, DAVID. I'M JULIAN. I'M YOUR POCKET COMPUTER WILLED TO YOU BY YOUR DAD, JUST BEFORE HE BECAME THE EVIL DOCTOR ROBOTNIK YOU KNOW TODAY. "I know that, er, Julian, but why?" "Maybe he wanted to be with you," Phenix answered, "as his last words said." THAT IS CORRECT, BUT I SERVE A HIGHER PURPOSE. YOU SEE, SON, MOBIUS IS A BIG PLACE, MUCH LIKE EARTH, AND THERE IS AN AWFUL LOT OF IT YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT, MUCH LESS AWARE OF IT'S EXISTENCE. YOU ARE GOING TO NEED A GUIDE TO SHOW YOU WHERE EVERYTHING'S AT. LIKE NICOLE WAS TO PRINCESS SALLY, I WILL BE YOUR GUIDE THROUGH THIS WORLD OF MOBIUS. I CAN BE ATTACHED TO YOUR ARM; JUST SNAP ME ON TOP OF YOUR CONTROL PANEL. "Very well," Davey said as he snapped his new add-on in place, "looks like you've got the job. Welcome aboard . . . Dad." ____________ Final Stage: It was a bright sunny day when Davey finally got out of the hut. It also matched the brightfullness of his heart. It was as if all of Mobius was welcoming David Kintobor, a.k.a. Davey Crockett, into their arms as one of its own. He and Sonia were romping around the forest in a game of tag after a quickie breakfast. They tumbled into an oversized ball of fur and quills when they tackled each other, bouncing around for a while before ending up with one of the two in a pinning predicament. The score was tied when Sonia asked him about his alias. "Davey Crockett was a historical figure in my world. He was an explorer of my country when it was young. I was called that when I wore a cap made out of a raccoon hide, which Mr. Crockett usually wore, in grammar school. By my teenage years, I'd abandoned it, but then came the Internet in my world. I considered it the next wild frontier, and I felt that it too needed a Davey Crockett, so I resurrected the name as a handle. I found my coonskin cap, but it was too small, so I removed its tail and tied it to the back of a baseball cap I'm always wearing now, and the nineties' version of that legend was born. Little did I know that I'd be exploring another flipping planet with the Internet, or find you for that matter!" Davey pulls Sonia down, and forms the ball again. This time it rolls around the Power Ring Lake and near Princess Sally, when the two pop out for the last time. This match is to be a draw. "Good morning, Davey, or is it David?" "Davey, David, Dave, whatever. As long as you mean me." " I'm glad to see that you're feeling better, my friend." "I'm glad too, Sally. So tell me, anything on the agenda today, now that I'm back on-line?" "Oh, something that would interest Suni: Your cosine Speedy's coming here to train." "That's great Sally. You'd like her, Dave. Dark purple, fast as Sonic, and has a 'New Yoirkain' accent." "Oh-oh, somebody better tell the Hedgehog to stay off the road!" "She'll be over at Minoc Grove, Davey. I need you to pick her up, and some stuff too, while you're at it." "I'll gas up the bike and get over there, Sal. Wanna come with me, Suni?" "Yeah, I'd love to . . . er, I wanted to go with you anyway, next time you went to Minoc Grove." "Why's that? Oh, silly me, I haven't taken you for a ride yet, haven't I?" "Not that. It's just that I don't want you to run into Packbell again without me being involved in it, either." Davey laughs for the first time since his mission to Robotroplis. "Okay, Sonia, let's go." ________________________Game Over This is the end of Blood and Metal, but not the end of Davey Crockett. Check out the next storyline to come from FoxFire Studios soon, it's called "Haunted Fantasies," and it's about how your childhood dreams and fantasies--including invisible friends and boggy men fears--can come back to haunt you when you're not looking. _____________Thank You, Thank You, You're Too Kind A list of people who I wish to thank are in order. My page's too short to tell you why, so, you know who you are: American On-Line Emily (((***Sonia***))) Smith Alex Weitzman http://rat.org Dredd13 Daniel Davis Brookshire Draftwood WordPerfect for Windows Logitech Microsoft Windows Paint Shop Pro Fractal Paint HTML for Dummies ...and to all who read all this and like what they see, (I assume that this means you:-) ___________________Letters Subj: Thank you 4 the help Date: 95-11-16 01:33:33 EST From: edward@genesis.org To: dgonterman@aol.com I'd like to thank you 4 the help in finding the rest of your stories. they _did_ hit a nerve, tho, as I suffer from Post-tramatic stress (long story) and Davey's problems echoed a little, if you know what I mean. Nice web page, by the way. I've really enjoyed it. When can we expect the next chapter? When I have a little more time, i'll tell you about my character, and you can feel free to use (or abuse) him in any story you like. Just one little thing, tho. I don't know what sort of furry I should be. I've often thought I'd like to be a sasquatch (bigfoot) but there is an old family ledgend that my great-grandmother was one of the bastard daughters of Old Man Coyote, the totem spirit of her tribe. But they won't talk about it. They (the tribe) insist that it's private, and occationally ask me odd questions about _myself_! Supposedly, from what little I can get, I've supposed to have inherited something from her, that makes me a little closer to Coyote. Would that mean I'd be a coyote on Mobius? Heh. Who knows? My Response: Edward, expect new chapters of my stories to be added on as soon as I can finish them, which is, on average, bi-weekley. I'll be honored to use your character--make it an coyote--in my story, as soon as I can write him in, as soon as I get enough background, and I'll give YOU most of the credit for the character design. I'll only do the compilation, sifting through the raw data to find what will stick--and draw a pic of him for a data sheet. I'll E-mail you that sheet when I'm through, just keep the info on this coyote coming!! He can be in Blood and Metal Beta, which will begin in December. I just hope that your tribe won't mind, tho.... See ya on-line.. David Gonterman [dgonterman@aol.com] http://users.aol.com/dgonterman