Together in Electric Dreams (Part 2)<br>
Story and Terl copyright Rodney@general-products.demon.co.uk<br>
Mach copyright cybermohd@trinidad.net<br>
All other characters copyright respective authors (SEGA etc.)<br>
<hr>
<br>
Terl sat on a log next to the lake. As he watched the ripples, Tails
came into view and hovered over the water. Wondering if Tails was
trying a new form of fishing, Terl watched him to see what he was
doing. To Terl's surprise, a golden ring suddenly rose out of the
water, and was grabbed by Tails. "Hey Tails, whats that", Terl called
to the flying fox. The fox replied ominously "Its Tails to my
Friends." and flew off without a backward glance. Terl groaned and
hunched up on the log. Since the freakout he had suffered two weeks
previously, near everyone in Knothole had gone out thier way, to go
out of his way. Antione was still in shock over losing his hut, and it
looked like Tails would never forgive Terl for the mental anguish he
caused Amy Rose when in his Death State. Terl mused, "at least Mach is
feeling better now he knows I can bring back Amelia, if at least
temporarily." He shuddered, remembering the huge price he had to pay
when transfering life rights. "But," he reminded himself, "everyone
else was here first, so they should get first pick of life by rights."
Hearing movement coming towards the lake, Terl moved off the log and,
using his best stealth, slipped between the trees and dissappeared
into the forest. Half a minute later, Tails and Amy Rose came into
view, holding hands, walking together towards the log where Terl had
been recently sitting. "Please Tails, he couldnt help himself, its
something that is burnt deep into his mind." Amy said as they
approached the lake. "Please, be friends once....." She broke of in
confusion as she realised Terl was no longer there. "How....He's here,
he should be here, I still feel him!" Amy was seriously flustered, her
telepathic skills had never let her down before, and she was worried
about what it meant. "Hold on," she said to Tails, "Ill see if I can
sense him anywhere near." Amy scanned around, but only picked up a few
slightly unusual thoughts, Rotor in the workshop fixing something,
Bunnie in the shower singing, Sally and Sonic..  well, they were busy.
But the one mind she couldnt find, even though she knew it better than
almost any other, was Terls. "Come on," she said to Tails urgently,
"we've Got to find Mach. I think Terl's created a mind shield, and I
dont want him to hurt himself again." Amy set off back towards the
village, dragging Tails with her.<br>
<br>
Terl felt woozy, he couldnt work out what had just happened, it felt
like he was being looked for, and he hid, and was not found. But he
was walking through the forest! Shaking his head, he turned back
towards the village to go see if Mach would talk to him. A few seconds
later, Terl came to an abrupt halt, his limbs frozen, his eyes, ears,
nose, mouth wide open, his heartrate halved. Drinking in the sudden
rush of extra sensory data, Terl suddenly realised what had caused him
to stop, there was someone nearby, less than 100 meters. They were
talking softly, the occasional giggle reached his ears, smells he had
to use tough associative analysis for reached his ears, and, finally,
through the trees, Terl caught a glimpse of Brown and Blue. Swearing
silently to himself, Terl made to move off, then froze completely as a
random waft of air brought a snatch of speech to his straining ears.
"We must really do something about him, we cant carry on like th..."
The breeze faded, and so did the speech. Terls figure slowly released
from its rigid position, his eyes filling with tears. With a look of
utter dejection on his face, Terl took a huge detour around the loving
couple and headed for his hut for what he hoped would be the last
time. Sonic carried on talking, "Like, whos going to tell Tails about
what we get up to, and why he cant be with us, should it be Bunnie, or
Amy?" Sally replied, "I know Sonic, but it can wait." then she moved
back towards Sonic, and happiness filled the air.
Terl sat on the bed in the hut, he didnt even think of it as his own
now. People hated him, but now even Princess Sally wanted him out of
thier lives. He groaned, his eyes turned towards the powered
screwdriver that he was spinning from finger to finger. He could end
it now, he thought, but that would leave a hell of a mess, and he
didnt want to bother anyone else with the cleaning. He could use the
Life Transferer, but that hurt Amy, he had been imformed in no
uncertan terms by Tails, or Miles he now had to call him. What to do.
Glancing out of the window, Terl caught a glimpse of light reflecting
off metal, the sun bouncing off Bunnie Rabbots metal left arm. The
shaft of intense light speared into Terls eyes, into Terls brain.
There, it set about causing havoc amongst the suppressed memories and
knowlege.  Terl shuddered as an incredible line of thought passed
through his mind. Sonic, Power Rings, Uncle Chuck, Robotosizer,
Bunnie, Neyssa, Mach, Amelia, Life Converter, Amy Rose, Tails, Sonic.
Lines of computer code, mathematical matrices, DNA codes, 3D shapes
and things for which normal science hadnt yet even thought of, flashed
before his sight. A sense of foreboding grew as he realised where the
analysis was taking him, and he sighed with a heavy heart as it
arrived at its final conclusion. Terl then took a small notepad, a
pencil, and his watch, then set off to map Knothole into a five
dimensional matrix. The rest of that day, Terl wandered round
Knothole, bumping into adults, tripping over kits. The mutters against
him became louder. Several times he had to take evasive action to
avoid running into Amy Rose, who for some reason was crying on Tails
shoulder. She never saw him. That evening, Terl went to his hut but
found Mach had arrived looking for him. Terl lent by a tree and
waited. Sure enough, a hour later, Mach went into the kitchen to get
something to eat. Terl slipped through the now closed door, into the
bedroom, and into bed. He slid the notepad under the pillow, put his
head softly down, and was asleep before Mach opened the door a few
seconds later. Mach went to the bathroom, then to bed. Then sat up
suddenly as he realised Terl was there. "How the hell does he do
that?" thought Mach as he looked at the now peaceful face of Terl.
"Poor sod. He got a real narking behind his back from some people
today." Mach stroked Terls head, who sighed contentedly and went
completely limp in deep sleep. Mach got back into his bed and was soon
deep asleep as well, dreams of Amelia as flesh, Nessa as flesh, but a
strange void with the name of Terl.<br>
<br>
Mach awoke to the smell of his favourite breakfast, and jumping out of
bed, noticed Terl was gone. "But Terl doesnt know what I like, hes
only been round a while." mused Mach as he got dressed and went into
the kitchen. The kitchen was clean and tidy, the table laid for one,
his breakfast there ready, and absolutely no sign of Terl. "This is
getting bloody ridiculous," thought Mach, and looked out of the door.
Strangely, there was no sign of Terl there. Mach shook his head and
went back in. As he sat down, Mach froze. There was another place
setting, with freshly prepared food, none of which Mach had ever seen
Terl eat. There was a knock at the door. Mach rose slowly, expecting
some sort of joke, but there was Nessa, a puzzled look on her face.
"Mach, what am I doing here? Hey, is that breakfast?  Oh Mach, my
favorite, how did you know?" Nessa went from puzzlement to amazement.
She had nothing compared to the bafflement on Machs face however.
"Come on silly," Nessa said, "breakfast is getting old." With that,
Nessa dragged Mach to the table in the kitchen and sat down to enjoy
breakfast. As they finished eating, something caught the corner of
Machs eye and he turned to look. Nessa followed his gaze, but they saw
nothing. Looking at each other, Mach reached down to pick up the
dishes to wash them, and yelped in surprise when he saw that they had
already been picked up and washed, and a glass of fresh orange juice
sat on the table. This was seriously strange, oranges wouldnt be
available for another month. A light tremor ran through the hut, and
the orange dissapeared, to be replaced with water. Mach stood up. "I
think we'd better go see Sally and Nichole," he said, maybe they've
scanned something, or whatever. He looked round the hut and shuddered,
the beds were now made. "Lets go," Mach said to Nessa, and, holding
the hut door open, led her outside.<br>
<br>
In Knothole, there was a strange air of aprehension. Adults were
wandering around with nothing to do, kits were crying for no reason.
Mach grabbed a passing squirrel. "Whats up, whys everyone moping
around?" Mach asked. The squirrel looked at Mach and said "anything
unusual happen to you this morning? Cos it sure as hell is happening
to everyone in Knothole!" Mach looked more closely, sure enough,
things were happening, but not the way they were supposed to happen.
Just then Princess Sally came into view, Nichole in her outstretched
hand. "Nichole, scan village for unusual activity," Sally said.
Nichole replied, "Scanning Sally," and whined and beeped. Just then, a
plate, that had just been set down, vanished, only to reappear on the
stack of plates, clean. "No unusual activity detected Sally" reported
Nichole. Sally was stunned, was her ever faithful computer acting up
as well? Sally tried again. "Nichole, give description of events
concerning objects contained in location 10 meters directly ahead,
ground level to 3 meters altitude, time from 60 seconds before the
beggining of this request to time of beginning of this request. Oh,
area circle radius 5 meters." "Working," said Nichole, "Assuming
natural flora and fauna excluded, objects in given spaciotemporal
location include dining implements with comestible residues, and
person known as Terl." At that Mach exploded, "You daft pile of
circuits, theres no-one ever been there, we'd have seen them." Nichole
replied, "Terl skunk, current approximate spacial location, Knothole,
current approximate Temporal location,78 degrees to real time line,
apparent speed up 5 times normal." Sally said in wonder, "Terl is
here, but unreachable?" "Not exactly," Nichole replied, "He reads
every note left for him." The fire suddenly blazed up as more wood was
added. "Nichole," asked Sally, "why did you say there was nothing
unusual about Terl?" "Because he said so, Sally," replied Nichole,
stunning Sally. "You mean, he reprogrammed you?" queried Sally,
"when?" "Last night, when you were asleep, because he didnt want to
bother you." replied Nichole. "Nichole," said Sally dangerously, "You
WILL tell me just how he managed to do this." "Certainly Sally,"
replied Nichole, "he used the fact that at some time in his life you
will allow him into your hut, he just reapplied that to permit his
access last night." "Continue." growled Sally. "He then used the fact
that you probably will at some time in the future permit him to access
my functions. He then muted my audio, created a light blanketing
hologram, and inputted several new functions, one of which is a
Temporal Displacement Matrix, which he immediately used." Nichole
finished to a stunned audience. "But why," wailed the squirrel, "He
was bad enough before, but this?" He sank back, and jumped in shock as
his backside touched a chair that hadnt been there seconds before. The
squirrel became a quivering wreck, and was led off to the infirmary by
Bunnie. "Right." said Mach forcefully, "That does it, Im going to
Rotors, see if hes got any radios or whatever. Coming Nessa?" Nessa
replied, "No, I think Id better go help Bunnie, it looks like its
going to be another bad Terl day." Mach wistfully watched her head
towards the imfirmary, then turned and headed for Rotors Workshop, a
grim look on his face.<br>
<br>
At the workshop Mach found Rotor sat at the bench, his hands holding
what seemed to be empty air, a look of puzzlement and pain on his
face. The workshop was remarkably clean, a fact that became even more
apparent as Mach noticed the huge amount of activity that wasnt taking
place. The wires were NOT being taken form thier reels, cut to shape,
soldered and tied, the metal was NOT being cut, shaped, assembled,
Rotor was NOT holding a complex part he had just half assembled.
Things were occuring without any mess in between, there was just a
beginning, and an end, with no middle bit at all. It was seriously
unsettling. Rotor lokked up at Mach and said with a shiver, "I dont
know what hes done, or what hes doing, but Terls been at this all
morning, and theres stuff being built that would give Robotnic
nightmares." He winced as a piece of equipment suddenly half exploded,
and was cleaned up instantly. "That was part of a long range radio
..." Rotors voice tailed off as something appeared on the bench. It
looked like a very small radio. As they watched, the radio suddenly
became two, then twisted, shrank, and changed shape to become two
objects that looked like chunky clip on earings. Then, one of them
vanished and the other broke into sudden noise. "What are you two
moping around for," Terls voice suddenly appeared from the now tiny
radio, "I thought there was supposed to be a barbequeue tommorow,
youre supposed to be helping set it up." There was a sudden squeal, a
dopplering note. Mach felt something brush past him, and looked up
just in time to see the, something different?, Life Transfer Machine
burst into action in the corner of the workshop, and Terl step out of
the point of interaction of the three beams. Mach started, three
beams?, there was four when Terl had first used the machine. Terl
grimaced as he walked towards Mach and Rotor. "Well," he said
painfully, "Its a hell of lot less painful now, I think it must be
something to do with beam mismatch, Ill see if I can get it any more
stable..." his voice trailed off as he noticed the black look on Machs
face. "What, whatd I do?" Terl spluttered as Mach moved menacingly
towards him. "YOU! What the bloody hell do you think youre doing. The
entire village is going apeshit over you messing around!" Mach
exploded at Terls stupidity. "Uh," Terl was puzzled for a second, then
realization dawned on his face, "You mean that they wernt happy when I
tried to help?" "WERENT HAPPY? ILL GIVE YOU WERENT HAPPY!!" Mach
lunged for Terl, who took a step back, nudged into the bench, turned
to see what he had hit, noticed the radio fall off the bench, grabbed
for it, and moved out of the way of Mach just enough for him to go
flying on the workshop floor. Terl looked up after saving the radio
and said, "Hey, howd you get down there, hold on Ill help." Terl then
grabbed Machs arm and pulled him to his feet. Mach turned sharply to
tell Terl just what he could do with his help, and stood there looking
into Terls innocent face, a concerned look clearly apparent. Machs
heart melted, the last person who had had that look on thier face was
Tails, who was almost too young to know any better. Mach sighed, then
ruffled Terls hair. "You nut, you got everyone worried with your
highjinks today. Now, what was all that about." Terl motioned to the
bench, pulled up a stool and placed a small box on the worktop. "In
here there are 100 small infinicom devices," he said in a very matter
of fact voice, "I spent today building and positioning another 100
similar to these, but with broadband trancievers included. I had to go
round the village several times adjusting them until they fit
perfect..." Rotor interrupted, "Hold on, 100 broadband trancievers in
a widespread pattern? What are you building an arial array for? Better
radio reception? Robotnik would pick this up in seconds!!" Rotor
started to steam. "Hold on," said Terl hurridly, "Theyre not THAT kind
of tranciever, they generate phased noise, a coded hologram of radio
waves. Theyre designed to hide Knothole from ANY radio or microwave
scanner, even if it manages to penetrate to the village itself. This
box contains the links so that Nichole or equivalent can sense and
control them better. These have NO detectable links, and so are
perfectly safe. They also make good walki talkies." As Terl finished
his description, Rotor cooled down somewhat. "If this is true, Sally
better see this soon, and let Nichole get interfaced," he said. "YOU,"
he said, pointing at Terl, "Stay here! And DONT touch ANYTHING! YOU!,"
he said, pointing at Mach, "you stay here with him and make sure he
doesnt touch anything!" With that, Rotor hastened out of the workshop,
leaving behind a dejected Terl and a miffed Mach. "Baby sitting
again!" muttered Mach, then noticed Terl had gone wandering over to
the corner of the workshop. "Hey!" Mach called, "Rotor said not to
touch anything," "But this is mine, I made it just for you." Terl came
backwards out of the corner, dragging something long and metallic with
him. Terl moved to the work bench, then grunted with effort as he put
the metallic object up with one hand, and a bag shaped thing with the
other. "Its easier when youre wearing these you know." he said
brightly. "Have a look, and guess what it is."<br>
<br>

Rotor hurried through Knothole towards Sallys hut, he was worried
because of reports of Robotnik working on something, but no one knew
what. As he went, he couldnt help but notice small groups huddled
together, adults and young, the adults talking nervously, the young
ones crying. Passing near one such group, Rotor heard the words,
Princess, Terl, banish. Wincing, Rotor speeded up as he approached
Sallys hut, pausing only to knock, opened the door, went straight in
and said, "Weve got to..." He broke off as he saw just how many people
were in the hut. It was seriously crowded, Everyone had stopped and
turned to see who had come through the door, Princess Sally was sat at
the table, her head in her hands, groaning softly. Rotor walked over
to the table, put the box down and said "Terl!". Sally sighed, "Well,
that does it, Im afraid for the first time Im going to have to banish
someone from Knothole." As she said this, a cheer rose in the hut,
which cut off sharp as everyone saw the angry look on Sallys face.
"This isnt a cheering matter, no matter who its about." she said
blackly. Rotor placed his hand on her shoulder, "I think I need to
talk to you alone about Terls latest.. escapade." Sally looked at
Rotor, who motioned to the box on the table, then said "Alright, Ill
talk to Terl, now, please go about your chores, the kits are getting
hungry." As the last person filed out of the hut and closed the door
behind them, Sally went over to the table and picked up the box. "So,
whats he done now? An invisibility trick? He made himself dissapear
properly?" Sally sighed. Rotor took the box off Sally, put it back on
the table and opened it. "Actually, yes, if what he says is right
about these cuties. Can you link Nichole to them please." Rotor took
Nichole and set her in the centre of the box, on a matrix of fibres.
Sally said "Nichole, can you interface?" "Yes Sally," the micro super
computer replied, "Terl has programed me with all relavent protocols
and constructs." Sally ground her teeth, "He better have something
REALLY good to explain this, Nichole, Engage!" Nichole began to hum,
in the box induvidual lights started to appear, flicker, become
steady. As Sally and Rotor watched, the entire box lit up brightly,
then the lights dimmed and were left with patterns moving around,
sometimes simple, sometimes apparently completely random. Nichole said
"Interface complete Sally, holographic shield at 99.5 percent
complete, all Freedom Fighters and young accounted for, only Sonic and
Terl are nowhere with Knothole, please wait, shield now at 100 per
cent." Just then the door burst open and Sonic threw Terl in at Sallys
feet. Nichole suddenly started to emit a loud alarm at which Terl
lifted his head and yelled, "Nichole, take anomolous readings and
project anti source to target, false source on fake path." A glow
suddenly surrounded Sonic and the whole of Knothole became deathly
quiet. Sally started toward Sonic, then stopped as Nichole suddenly
said "Incoming transmission, tight beam, encrypted, signature, Sir
Charles, transmission as follows", "Sally, I MUST warn you" came the
fratic voice of Uncle Chuck, "Robotnik has created a distributed
nanite tracking device, to be injected into target by robomosquito. Be
careful, I dont know if hes already built it. Out" Sally, Terl, and
Rotor looked at Sonic, who was rubbing a mark on his arm. "Dont get
it, all those chillie dogs and I still get bit." Sonic moaned,
"blasted mosquitoes." Sally and Rotor started, Terl fell back to the
floor, "Ive heard of close, but THAT is gettin too flamin ridiculous."
he groaned, and passed out. Sally ordered Nichole, "Nichole, is Sonic
contaminated? Are you suppressing it? Can it be destroyed?" "Yes, Yes,
Yes, Sally the shield is working exactly as predicted," reported
Nichole, "The false Sonic is currently 50 km from Knothole and heading
at an angle past us into the Great Unknown. The nanites can be
disabled by a resonant signal, calculating, obtained. Engaging."
Nichole suddenly emitted a high pitched whine, and Sonic fell to the
ground unconcious. "False Sonic will be found out in a hour, the
Nanites were time encrypted." Nichole said. "Rescanning, all Nanites
accounted for, all Nanites destroyed, Sonic is now clear." With that,
the glow on Sonic dissapated. Sally rushed over to him, picked his
head up in her hands and kissed him deeply on the mouth. Sonic
stirred, then responded by grabbing Sally and drawing her down to him.
"Er, Scuse me," said Rotor, "but you two love birds have got something
more important yet." With that he poked Terl in the stomach with his
foot. Sally sighed, then stood up. Sonic followed. "All right, Sonic,
why did you throw Terl in like that? I know that hes got on your
nerves, just like everyone else, but you didnt have to be so nasty."
Sally asked Sonic nicely. Sonic replied, "I picked him up outside
Knothole, heading towards Robotropolis, just as I was returning, so I
brought him straight here. He was muttering something about going to
Robotnik." He turned to stare at Terl, who was just starting to stir.
"This guy is really starting to nark me." Terl woke, groaned, and sat
up. He looked round and flinched when he saw the faces that Sonic and
Rotor were pulling. What got him really worried was the concern on
Sallys face. "Im afraid youll have to go, Terl" said Sally, "we cant
handle you like this," Terl stood up, hung his head, and headed for
the door. "Wait, youll be escorted to the Great Unknown, since you
seem to have more excuse for living there than in Robotropolis. You
can get your stuff first, one small bag. Sonic will go with you, you
have half an hour." With that, Sally dismissed them, and Sonic dragged
Terl over to Machs hut. From the sounds inside, Sonic motioned to Terl
that theyd wait.<br>
<br>
Earlier, as Terl put the tube and bag on the bench, he said to Mach,
"Well, what do you think this is then?" Mach replied "I dunno, some
kind of Bazzoka? or what?" "BINGO" yipped Terl, "but it dont fire just
shells, it fires laser, plasma, and particle depending on setting. Its
something I came up with years ago, but never had enough reason to
build it, till now." Terl pulled the tube around until Mach could see
the handles, controls, and aiming systems. "Whats this socket then?"
asked Mach. "Thats the power socket, the bag is the power supply, with
knobbs on. Its a fuel cell primary source, capacitor burst system,
with an intresting add on. Ill tell you about that later." replied
Terl. "Ive just got to do something, please, I wont be long." Mach
looked unsure for a moment, then said "As long as you dont go to far.
You know youre supposed to stay here" "Its ok, its ok, Im just going
for something." With that, Terl let himself out of the workshop and
dissapeared. "Oh well," said Mach, "what harm could he do?.. Oh Shit!
Terl!!! TERL!!, where the hell are you?" Mach stuck his head out the
door, but Terl was nowhere to be seen. "Blast, hes gone, Id better
head to the hut, see if hes there. Ill kill him if I get hold of him."
With that, Mach left the workshop and headed back to his hut. He
opened the door to find Nessa standing there. "Hi Mach, Ive been
waiting for you. Ive got your favourite on the table for you to eat ,
and after, well, I thought Id leave that up to you." "Nessa? I thought
you were elsewhere. You havent seen Terl have you, he got away from me
again." asked Mach puzzled. "No, I havent" replied Nessa, "And you
know he would be annoyed at you if you didnt come in this instant."
With that, Nessa grabbed hold of Mach, kissed him passionately, drew
him into the hut and closed the door.<br>
<br>
Outside Knothole, in the Great Forest, Sonic grabbed hold of Terl and
dragged him back at warp speed back to Sally. "Right, that does it, Im
taking you back to Sally. We're going to sort this out once and for
all.<br>
<br>
Back at Machs hut. The door opened and Mach appeared, looking over his
shoulder, "Im worried about Terl, wont be lo..." Mach broke off as he
saw Sonic and Terl waiting at the door, his eyes narrowed meenacingly
when he saw the expression on Sonics face. "Go on," growled Mach "what
are you doing here with Terl" "By the powers invested in me by the
Princess Alicia Acorn" intoned Sonic "Im am hereby empowered to let
Terl collect his belongings, before escorting him to the Great
Unknown, there to be banished from contact from the rest of Mobius,
for the rest of his life." "What? What the bloody hell are you going
on about." Mach exploded "Whats this about banishment. Nobodys been
banished for centuaries." "Well, Terls been made an exception. Now,
are you going to let us in or what?" Sonic growled. "Hey, I just want
my stuff," said Terl hurridley, "Mach, dont worry, weve beat the Great
Unkown before, this time I get to take it on one to one. Actually, I
think I going to like this." Both Mach and Sonic looked at Terl, whos
face had taken on a really evil look, which quickly changed back to a
normal grin. "Youre one sick puppy, you know that." said Sonic.
"Skunk." grinned Terl, "Skunk." With that, Terl brushed past Mach and
went into the hut. "Oh, hiya Nessa, just getting my stuff, Sallys
kicked me out into the Great Unknown, you wanna see me off or would
you prefer I send you a postcard." "Banished?" queried Nessa "Please,
Nessa. I just want my stuff, er, by the way, you might be better
wearing something you know." Terl made a racket as he collected a
small bag of stuff, mainly tools and bits. There was a sudden squeal
from inside the hut. "Dont ever kiss me THERE again" yelled Nessa,
"but Nessa" soothed Terl, "I WON'T see you again, and your ass did
look so lovely, it seemed such a shame to let my last ever chance go
to waste." With that, Terl appeared at the hut door. Mach glowered at
him. "I hope you didnt do what I thought you did just then?" "No,"
replied Terl, "It was a lot more obcene than that. Well, Im waiting."
Sonic bristled at the misuse of his catchphrase, and from someone who
was getting thrown out as well. They headed back to Sallys hut. <br>
<br>
At Sallys hut, quite a few Freedom Fighters were waiting. This was a
rare and rather unsettling occurence. There was Sally, as official,
Bunnie, as force, Dulcie and Tails, air support, and Lupe and the Wolf
Clan, backup. Rotor landed in a HoverBot and everybody got on board,
except for Sonic, Mach, Tails and Dulcie. Rotor lifted the HoverBot up
and headed in the direction of the Great Unknown. Mach and Sonic went
ahead at high speed, to check the ground. Tails and Dulcie flew
alongside the HoverBot. Inside the HoverBot, Terl was sat on the floor
with the Wolf Clan in close proximity. Fortunately for everyone, Terl
wasnt nervous, or the inside of the HoverBot would have been totally
unoccupiable. It only took about an hour to reach the edge of the
Great Unknown. Rotor set the HoverBot down, while Tails and Dulcie
moved away and landed to rest. Sonic and Mach arrived a few seconds
later, theyd had a look round the local area to clear it of SwatBot
patrols. Everyone got out of the HoverBot, the Wolf Clan escorting
Terl. "Well Terl," said Sally, "Im sorry it had to come to this, but
its for your own good. Please, Wolves, release him." The Wolves moved
away from Terl, with some relief. They'd heard rumors about Terl, and
they'd seen him move occasionally. Sally took Terls hand and looked
into his eyes. "You nearly made it." She said, "I hope you have better
luck in your new home." With that, and a tear in her eye, Sally turned
and climbed back into the HoverBot. The rest of the crew followed her.
Tails paused, looked at Terl with anger, that suddenly turned to
sadness, then took off and waited for the HoverBot. Rotor lifted the
HoverBot off smoothly, and headed back towards Knothole. Sonic spun up
to follow.<br>
<br>
"Sonic, wait." called Terl, "Theres something important I have to tell
you." "All right then," snapped Sonic, "but make it quick." "Well, you
know those nanites that Nichole zapped? Robotnic sent a major assault
force after them, itll be here in a few minutes, in fact, you can just
see the dust over there." Terl pointed to the horizon, quite a few
degrees from where the HoverBot had headed. "They think we're
Knothole. Are you going to help? Or do you want to leave me to deal
with it myself. Er, sorry. Actually, I think you and Mach better go as
soon as they get here. Mach, please tell him about the effect of
Ground Zero." "He means it" replied Mach, "Terl is the only guy Ive
ever seen that can generate a nuclear explosion, and live through it.
These tin cans are going to get a real headache." As Mach said this,
an illusion of Knothole sprung up around them. "Ah," said Terl,
"Nicholes reinstated the Q Field. Get ready to rock, aw Mach, you left
the Triax back at Knothole, ah well, screwdrivers ahoy." with that
Terl threw a screwdriver up into the engine intake of a HoverBot, then
yanked on its securing wire, slicing a huge chunk off the attacking
vehicle.  "Sonic Spin Attack." yelled Sonic, then went straight
through a platoon of SwatBots. Mach became yet another blur, SwatBots
disintegrating left, right, and centre. As his spiked weight
monofilament went through two more HoverBots, Terl yelled "You better
get out of here, unless you really want a serious case of sun burn."
Mach turned, saluted to Terl, then raced past Sonic into the Great
Unknown. "Come on, Weve done this bit before," he yelled to Sonic,
"theres a blast shelter only a mile away. We got seconds before this
place doesnt exist." Sonic altered his course, and started to head
after Mach. Terl started to shiver, his fur standing on end, his body
moving so fast his hands and feet were invisible. Lasers seemed to
miss him by impossibly small margins. Small sparks began to jump from
one piece of fur to the next, they became more numerous, and more
often, and fatter, and bluer. His fur suddenly seemed to turn into an
electric hell. In the blast shelter, Mach and Sonic screamed through
the door, and heaved it shut behind them. "Goodbye Mach, I love you" a
quiet sigh came through the minature comm system on Machs shoulder.
There was utter quiet, then the light became so intense, that Sonic
and Mach threw their hands across their faces to protect their eyes.
The light rapidly faded. "INCOMING!!!!" yelled Mach, "On the floor,
under something." They were barely fast enough. An immense wave rolled
through the ground itself, shaking them around, and cracking open the
shelter. Then the air blast hit, and the roof collapsed. They hung on
for what seemed like ages, but what was in reality only a couple of
minutes. Once everything seemed to have calmed down, Mach tried to
move. "Hey Sonic, you OK?" called Mach, "Ohhh, That was some party,
anyone get the license plate of that truck." Sonic sounded a bit
unsteady, but rapidly stabilised. "We'd better get out of here" called
Mach, "Check whats happened, and check on Sally and the gang, I hope
they were far enough from that blast." "On it my man" said Sonic, and
exploded from the rubble in a Sonic Spin. "Oh WOW!" said Sonic, in
disbelif, and stood there as Mach scrambled up from the rubble to
stand along side him. Ahead of them, there was nothing but a huge lava
lined crater blasted into the ground. There was absolutely no sign of
any of Robotnics forces, what hadnt been vapourised, had been blasted
apart. "SALLY!!!" yelled Sonic, and set of at maximum speed in the
direction the princess had been going last. He had to divert somewhat
to get round the crater. Mach just sat down at the edge and looked
stunned. After a while, Mach noticed spybots around, so he destroyed a
few, then gave up and sadly headed back to Knothole. In the centre of
the crater something stirred. The spybots noticed and closed in.<br>
<br>
Mach entered Knothole slowly. His mind was numb with what he had just
witnessed. Terl had been banished as only traitors were banished, and
yet still gave himself in the most horrifying way to save those he
loved. "Mach, MACH! What happened?" Nessa came running up to him, a
look of extreme horror on her face. "The Hoverbot barely made it back,
Tails and Dulcie are in the infirmary with broken limbs and third
degree burns, and Sonic hasnt stopped kissing Sally since he got back.
What kept you? What happened? Wheres Terl?" At the mention of Terl
name, Mach collapsed to the floor, sobbing loudly, his head in his
hands. "Dead. Dead. Terls dead. He killed himself for us. After what
we'd done to him, he killed himself for us." Nessa sat down by Mach,
stunned. "Wh, what, how? What do you mean, killed himself? How could
all this happen from just Terl." Mach burst into sobs again. Nessa
comforted him as best she could, but it took several minutes before he
recovered enough to talk again. In the meantime, several Freedom
Fighters approached and sat down from a nod from Nessa. As Mach
recovered, Sonic, tightly hugging Sally, came near and sat, then Amy
Rose, Rotor, Bunnie, and the Wolf Clan, who were covered in scratches
and bruises. They all sat in silence and waited for Mach. Eventually
Mach sat up. "Terl rigged everything, the whole lot, Robotnik finding
Knothole, Sonic getting infected, the diversion, himself getting
banished, the destruction of Robotniks Swatbots, everything. He has an
ability to create explosions, ask Kepler, he was on the recieving end
of one a bit back" Amy Rose colored as she read in Machs mind just
what he actually meant by Keplar being on the recieving end. "So what
he did," continued Mach "was set Robotnik up with a guarenteed target,
then made sure that Ground Zero was well away from the true Knothole,
then let loose his power with no hold back. Theres a crater out there
you could drop Robotropolis into. Terl was right in the centre." Mach
started sobbing again, Amy Rose moved to help Nessa, using her psychic
abilities to help calm Mach. We'd better take him to My hut" said
Nessa, "I dont think he could handle going to his place at the
moment." Nessa helped Mach to his feet, Amy stood too, then they
headed back to Nessas hut. Sonic turned to Sally. "Man. He means it.
Terl caused a blast so big it wiped out Botniks entire army. We were a
mile away in a blast shelter, and WE barely come through alive." Sonic
hugged Sally tightly once more. The rest of the Freedom Fighters
quietly got up and moved away, leaving them to comfort each other in
peace. Silence decended on Knothole.<br>
<br>
"Sir, the prisoner is coming round." "Wait for me. I will deal with
this personally." Terl could barely hear the voices, one sharp and
weedy, the other full, low and very menacing. He ached all over, as he
breathed in, a sharp pain shot through his ribs and his back arched in
agony. "Sir, he seems to be in some pain." "Good, it will make it a
lot easier. Is he concious enough to interrogate Snively." "Instrument
readings suggest so sir, although there are anomolies I am trying to
compensate for. YOU" Snively said loudly to Terl "open your eyes, we
want answers, and we want them now." "Now, now, Snively. We must be
nicer to someone who can wipe out most of a robot army with a nuclear
device, and survive it. After all, he will make up for it after he
been robotocised. This promises to be very intresting. Snively!"
Snively moved forward and injected something into Terls neck. Trying
vainly to even test the bonds that held him down, Terl resisted for a
few seconds, then succumbed to the drug and fell unconcious once more.
"Reconfigure the Robotosizer Snively, it appears we're going to have a
Guardian on our side." "It'll take a couple of days Sir, we need new
componants for the synaptic interface." "Well, get them, and inform me
as soon as its ready." "At once Sir."<br>
<br>
Sally sat at her desk, looking disintrestedly at the aerial pictures
Bunnie had taken of the crater when out on patrol with Dulcie.
"Nichole, show exact centre of crater." asked Sally "Precise centre
indeterminate Sally, the local area has been disturbed. Showing area
of centre." said Nichole, "Disturbance analysis shows tracks of
Swatbots and Hoverbots, and an unknown track. A smaller crater has
been extracted from the area being shown." "Thank you Nichole" said
Sally, "now why would Robotnik be so intrested in the very centre,
unless he thought there was something there. But the only thing that
was there according to Mach, was Terl!" Sally sat there stunned, as
the importance of what she had just realised sank in. A racket outside
caused Sally to turn round, just as the door burst open, and Sonic and
Mach fell inside on top of one another. "Sally, a message from Uncle
Chuck." yelled Sonic. "Quick, he says its urgent." Sonic passed a
small container to Sally, who quickly opened it. "Oh my gosh, hes
alive." Sally said breathlessly. "but hes about to be Robotosized.
Robotnik and Snively have spent the last few days extensively
modifying the Robotosizer, and increasing the power and guards. It
will be ready in only a few hours." Sally pounded the table "We have
to help. He almost died for what he thought of us, we will not let him
down again. The rest of the message. I managed to see him, hes being
held in an interrogation cell, constantly under drugs, but he managed
to say two words when he recognised me. Triax, Ring. He must mean
Power Rings, but Triax is a new one to me. His last syllable was M...
Thats all there is. Ideas?" Mach spoke up. "Just before we kicked him
out, he showed me something he had built in the workshop. He called it
a Triax Cannon. He also said there was a surprise power supply for it.
He couldnt have meant the Power Rings could he?" "Show me" ordered
Sally, "anything to help Terl now." Sally picked up Nichole, then led
the way to the workshop. Once inside the workshop, Sally asked Mach,
"so, wheres this Triax then." Mach reached behind the workbench and
pulled out the Triax Cannon, and its backpack power supply. "So, how
powerful is it?" asked Sonic impatiently. "We dont know" replied Mach
"we havent had a chance to test it yet. But Terl said it can handle
plasma, so it must be able to do some damage." "Only a few should go
this time" said Sally, "We dont know if Terl will nuke again, although
somehow I dont think he will. Sonic, go get Bunnie. Mach, your coming
as well. Itll just be the four of us, for speed, and safety." Sonic
set off and returned with Bunnie a few seconds later. "My, shuga, you
shure are in a hurry. Whats up?" Bunnie stood on the floor,
straigtening her ears. "Bunnie, Terls alive" Sally informed her "Weve
just found out he's going to be Robotosized, so were going to rescue
him. This time properly." "Count me in shuga, actually Ah kinda liked
that madcap skunk, itll be nice to see him again." Everyone looked
suprised at Bunnie. "Well," she said "when we first picked him up, the
first thing he did when he woke up again was offer his heart to me. He
said something about knowing the pain I had, and looking into his
eyes, I knew he meant it. Somehow, when I pulled him out of that
wreakage, he felt my pain, and I felt his. Ive felt sorry for him ever
since." "Well," said Sonic suprised, "you learn something every day.
Imagine Bunnie and Terl." Mach look stunned. Bunnie reached over and
whispered in his ear "Dont worry Mach, Terl loves me for being a
female, he loves you more for being his friend" Mach looked
uncomfortable at this, but was distracted by Sally. "Right, thats
settled then, we leave as soon as Sonic picks up the next Power Ring,
which is when?" "Half an hour" said Sonic. "Man, I hate waiting."
"well," said Mach, "We can go test fire this thing. Ten min out, ten
min testing, ten min back?" "Sounds good to me" said Sonic, and set
off out of the workshop, Mach following close behind. Sally and Bunnie
sat down, "Well, Bunnie." said Sally "I didnt know you were enamoured
of Terl." Bunnie sat bashful. "Well, you didnt make out you liked
Sonic for years" she reminded Sally gently. Sallys cheeks colored.
"Yes" she said, "but Ive realised that now. Now, while the children
are away playing.."<br>
<br>
Sally and Bunnie were waiting by the pool when Sonic and Mach arrived
at speed. "Oh Man. Is Buttnik goin to get it this time" said Sonic as
he braked to a halt, "This things hotter than a chilie dog." Just then
the water surface started to boil. Sonic sped to the end of the jetty
and grabbed the Power Ring as it hovered above the water. "I hope
Tails gets better soon, he likes this bit." he said as he screeched to
a halt next to Sally. "We all do Sonic," replied Sally, "but we'd
better get going, we're running out of time." "On our way Sal," said
Sonic and picked up Sally in his arms. "Oi. Slow Poke" Sonic called to
Mach, "try and keep up." Mach growled in reply, and picked Bunnie up
in his arms. Sonic and Mach then set off at speed towards
Robotropolis. "Shuga," asked Bunnie of Mach "Just what does that thing
do? Sonic looked well pleased with it." Mach grinned evily. "Just what
Terl said it would do. Blow the crap out of anything in its way. We
found a patrol of Swatbots and wiped it out with only a couple of
shots, and a few personal strikes for fun." Bunnie winced and held on
tightly as they carried on through the Forest. After a while,
Robotropolis came into view, Sonic and Mach braked to a halt, and
Sally and Bunnie got down and stood next to the guys. "One day,"
murmered Sally. She paused for a few seconds, then moved off towards
the secret tunnel to meet with Uncle Chuck.<br>
<br>
"Sonic, Sally, weve got to hurry, theyre taking Terl to the
Robotosizer any time now." Uncle Chuck was getting worried, but Mach
interupted. "Dont worry, we'll cause a diversion that Butnik wont be
able to ignore. Bunnie? Wanna see a real hot cannon?" "Lead on shuga"
replied Bunnie "I still owe him for my arm and legs." With that Mach
picked up Bunnie and sped off a distance. Sally and co headed down the
tunnels to try to intercept Terls escort. A loud crump sounded from
above, and the building shook. Sonic grinned "That was the rail gun,
sounds like he used a Swatbot as ammo." Uncle Chuck glanced at him
puzzled, then motioned them to move on. Rounding a corner, Uncle Chuck
groaned, "Oh no, they're already on their way, we've got to catch up."
"Hey, no prob." said Sonic "We can catch them in a Sonic second." "Its
not that easy Sonic" said Uncle Chuck, "they rebuilt the Robotosizer
in a different room for Terl. Ill have to show you the way." With
that, Uncle Chuck set off at a run along the passage. A couple more
crumps, a high pitched whine and a hissing, burbling sound came to
their ears as they ran. Around a corner, the air was suddenly filled
with laser bolts. "Hey, whoa," Sonic grabbed the other two and hauled
them back to safety. "Man, I hate it when that happens." A high
pitched whine sounded again, and the lasers stopped. Looking round the
corner, Sonic grinned when he saw Mach holding the smoking Triax
Cannon, and Bunnie finishing off a Swatbot. "Chain gun my man" called
Sonic, and he and the others joined Mach and Bunnie. "You seen Terl?"
asked Sonic, "No" replied Mach "we just wiped out Swatbots as we come
in." "This way" said Uncle Chuck, and headed up a side passage. A few
minutes and several Swatbots later they reached a massive set of doors
that were sealed tight. Sonic tried a Sonic Spin attack, but only
dented the doors. "Man, theyre tough, Mach, whats maximum power on
that thing" Mach ajusted the controls on the Triax. A rapidly rising
whine came from the back pack and, a few seconds later, a red light
came on. Everyone backed up round the corner. Mach looked through the
aim screen and pointed the barrel round the corner at the doors. "Fire
in the hole!" he yelled and pulled the trigger. There was a blinding
flash, a wave of heat, the sound of something seriously strong getting
the shit ripped out of it, and the building shook. Mach shook his head
and looked round the corner. "WOW" he croaked, as everyone else looked
round the corner. The doors were gone, a huge hole blasted through the
frame. Through the hole, Swatbots could be seen stuggling with Terl,
moving him towards the Robotosizer in the centre of the room. Sonic
went in at high speed, causing Swatbots to break up with the impacts.
Mach followed, pausing only to blast Swatbots with the chain gun
setting. Bunnie used her strength to destroy Swatbots, Sally used her
gymnastics, Uncle Chuck used system disruption. More and more Swatbots
started to enter the chamber. "We're getting you out of here" Mach
reached Terl and Sonic screached to a halt. "No, you lot get out of
here" Terl yelled "Mach, give us the cannon. Sonic, I need three
rings, you should have five or six in there." "No way" exploded Sonic
"You cant use them anyway." "I cant" said Terl as he shrugged on the
power pack. "But the Triax can. Here, slot them in the back there
where it says rings. Then get the hell away from here. It aint no
nuke, but it aint no picnic either." Sonic started to argue, but Mach
reached into Sonics backpack, pulled out three Power Rings, and
stuffed them into the power pack. Terl hugged Mach. "Go. Wait at the
pond. Dont worry. But GO!" With that, Terl let go of Mach, shook his
tails so that the Triax Cannon and power pack dissappeared, then moved
just far enough away so that he was caught by Swatbots. "RETREAT"
yelled Mach, as he ripped apart a Swatbot, then grabbed hold of
Bunnie, and ran. Sonic checked Uncle Chuck had left, then grabbed
Sally and blasted off after Mach. The Swatbots finished loading Terl
in to the Robotosizer, and switched on. "Any last words?" Robotniks
voice came over the comms system, "Ahh, it seems your friends have
given up on you, how sad. Ah well. ACTIVATE!" Terl reached behind him,
wriggled his hips to make sure the Triax was vertical, then pressed a
certain code into the controls. As the Robotocizer beam decended, Terl
yelled "Warp 10" and fired the Triax. The Power Rings shorted through
the pack, and into the Triax. The Triax reacted with the down coming
beam, and a blast of increadible power went straight up, through
everything in its path. Outside Robotropolis, Mach and Sonic braked to
a halt, and turned round just in time to see the power blast. "Not
again" moaned Mach, then stood stunned as he noticed a Void Portal
opening at the end of the beam, directly above Robotropolis. "Wh.."
Mach didnt have time to finish. A beam of what appeared to be solid
light appeared for a fraction of a second from the Portal, through the
very centre of Robotropolis. The Portal then closed silently.
Mach, Bunnie, Soni, and Sally looked at each other, then at the

apparently untouched Robotropolis. Something told them they could do
no more. With heavy hearts they headed back to Knothole.<br>
<br>
"Hello shuga. You miss him dont you?" Bunnie sat down next to Mach at
the pond, looked at him, then hugged him. "He said to wait by the
pond, he said dont worry" Mach groaned. It had been a week since the
abortive rescue attempt of Terl. Bunnie held Mach tight, then moved
over as Nessa and Sally arrived and sat down, and hugged Mach as well.
Suddenly the pond erupted, showering them all with huge blobs of
water. Mach swore. Sally grabbed Nichole. "Nichole, analyse." "Terl"
replied Nichole. "Wha.." said Mach, then jumped in to the pond. A
couple of minutes later he surfaced, dragging what was barely
recognisable as a person behind him. Bunnie grabbed hold and pulled
them both out of the water. "He aint breathin" coughed Mach, and
collapsed. "Nichole, scan." ordered Sally. "Breathing, zero. Heart
rate, zero. Brain waves......barely registering Sally." replied
Nichole. "Bunnie, you handle CPR, Ill handle kiss of life." Sally said
to Bunnie quickly, then checked Terls throat. Finding it not blocked,
Sally put Terls muzzle in her mouth and started breathing hard down
his throat. Bunnie sat astride Terls hips and started applying CPR.
"Continous scan Nichole" ordered Sally, removing Terls muzzle for the
required few seconds. "Zero heart, zero breath, low brain waves, blood
oxygen increasing." intoned Nichole. Sally kept blowing, Bunnie kept
massaging. "BO2 20 percent", "BO2 40 percent", "BO2 60 percent",
"Heart 40bpm." Bunnie stopped massaging Terls chest. "Sall hon, I
think hes coming round, "Heart 60 bpm", "Heart 90 bpm, BO2 100
percent". Suddenly Terls back arched and he drew in a deep, shuddering
breath. Sally extracted Terls muzzle from her throat, then realised
Terls eyes were open and looking at her lovingly. She blushed, then
kissed him properly. Terl groaned, then looked down his body at
Bunnie. "Hiya Bunnie," Terl coughed "I think you oughta wait till
we're in private?" Bunnie looked down, realised just where she was,
then threw herself on Terl and kissed him passionately. "Does this
mean youll let me back?" asked Terl. "Of course," said Sally, "We
wouldnt have it any other way." With that Mach, Nessa, Sally and
Bunnie picked Terl up between them and carried him to the infirmary.
"Well, looks like Im here again." Terl said as he lay back in his bed.
"And this is where you can stay, forever." Sally said with a
smile.<br>
<hr>
======================================================================
<br>
Rodney@general-products.demon.co.uk<br>
<br>