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Chapter Text

The Sonic Chronicles: The Robotnik Wars

Dramatis Personae

The Freedom Fighters

Sonic the Hedgehog (male mobian, age 15)

Sally Acorn (female mobian, age 15)

Miles "Tails" Prower (male mobian, age 12)

Sasha Acorn (female mobian, age 11)

Robert (male human, age 15)

Rotor Tusker (male mobian, age 16)

Bunnie Rabbot (female mobian, age 15)

Antoine D’Coolette (male mobian, age 15)

Geoffrey St. John (male mobian, age 18)

Lupe (female mobian, age 17, leader of The Wolf Pack)

Chaotix

Knuckles the Echidna (male, age 15)

Julie-Su (female, age 15)

Vector (male, age 16)

Espio (male, age 15)

Mighty (male, age 16)

Charmy (male, age 14)

Archimedes (male, age ??)

Civilians in Echidnaopolis

Lara-Le (female, age 35)

Constable Remington (male, age 25)

Robotnik’s Forces

Julian Ivo Robotnik (male human, age ?)

Snivley (male human, age 25?)

Princess Sally Alicia Acorn sat on the large log that faced the Ring Pool and brooded. The magical pond emitted a faint glimmering light which helped to alleviate some of the gloom, as the stars and moons were barely visible through the pollution in the sky.

“BOO!” yelled a voice behind her. Sally shot a full two feet into the air and her scream could be heard in broadest Knothole.

“DON’T EVER DO THAT TO ME AGAIN YOU SPINEY JERK!!” she screamed into the face of Sonic the Hedgehog.

“Sorry Sal couldn’t resist. You never heard me comin’ did ya?

“You… you… you…” but Sally couldn’t find the words, instead she sank down on the log.  She wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered. Tonight, several of their fellow Freedom Fighters had been captured following a raid on one of Robotnik’s factories, including the old man called Cat. 

She sighed. They’d barley been able to damage Robotnik in the last two months and even though Sonic had led a mission to get their comrades back, it was unlikely he would totally succeed. It was all starting to get so hopeless. 

We’ll never defeat Robotnik, she thought. Freedom Fighter groups have been fighting him for the last ten years and we’ve done what? Blown up a few factories and labs that can easily be rebuilt a few months later? What have we really accomplished? 

She buried her face in her hands, knowing that the last few years hadn’t just been a rebellion but a fight for survival.

“Hey Sal you haven’t been into to my chili-dogs have you?” said Sonic but Sally just aimed a withering tear-stained look at him.

“I’m sorry Sal. I was just trying to…”

“It’s ok Sonic,” said Sally, “ I was just… feeling the strain of it all. How did you do?” 

Sonic shook his head. “We managed to get most of them out but the rest were gone… including Cat.” Sonic’s fist shook as he clenched it. Sally buried her face in her hands, tears threatening to overwhelm her once again at the news that Old Man Cat, the one who had taught most of them how to be Freedom Fighters, was very likely now one of Robotnik's mechanical slaves.

“We just barely got inside in the fist place and had to leave under threat of SWAT-Bot interference. I swear Sal, we need to get into more of those factories and put a dent in the Bot population.” Sally hung her head.

“Even if we could, which is doubtful, what would it accomplish? The other factories will just make more,” she said, notes of defeat creeping into her voice, “at this point it will probably be our children or grandchildren who defeat Robotnik. And by then there might not be enough of Mobius left to save. Or maybe Robotnik will stop fooling around and finally send an army to finish us off. He told me once that he keeps giving us chances to escape because we… amuse him.” She then began to cry.

“Sal,” said Sonic gripping her shoulders. Although usually carefree and cavalier in attitude Sonic could be deadly serious when it was warranted.

“Sal… Sal look at me! I know its been tough these last few months. And sure, we’ve been at this for a few years now,” a fierce passionate fire burned in his eyes, “but I don’t care if it takes 20 or 30 years, WE WILL DEFEAT ROBOTNIK! And I WILL be there when he goes down! ‘Cause I plan to be the one who does it!”

“Sonic… how is it that you always know just how to cheer me up when I begin to lose faith?” she said, smiling up at him and wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes.

“Well if wasn’t for your coveted rank of ‘princess’, I would be in charge of this whole operation! I would take all of our Freedom Fighters and go in there and give old blubber bolts a piece of our minds,” Sonic picked up a stick and began to wave it around like a sword, “fighting with the force of a hundred mobians!” Sally clamped a hand on Sonic’s mouth

“Thank you Sonic. You’ve helped more than you know. I just wish that we could get some sort of… decisive advantage against Robotnik. The other Freedom Fighter groups are too far spread and too few in numbers to be of great help. I just wish we could get… an edge,” she said. Sonic put his arms around her.

“I’m sure we’ll get it sooner or later. I believe we will. Now come on, everyone’s waiting to see you,” said Sonic, leading her away from the ring pool.

“You know if you really want my job, it’s up for grabs,” she said playfully.

“Yeah right. You really think I’m that stupid?” said Sonic as he raced off. As Sally made to follow him, she turned around and suddenly, for some reason, she saw a star appear and glow briefly yellow, and then fade away gain. She didn’t have time to wonder what it was or meant when Sonic’s voice yelled for her to come. She took one last look skyward and then ran off to join the rest of the Freedom Fighters.

Chapter Text

Chapter One

The Arrival

May 31, 2001

11:47 pm EST

Robert sat at his desk, typing on his computer, finishing up the last of an over-the-summer school assignment that he’d resolved to get out of the way so he could enjoy the rest of the summer. It almost seemed, however, that fate was conspiring against him getting the assignment done. Everyone else in the house had things to do as well and it began to add up to a lot of little interruptions. The dog needed to be let in, the dog needed to be walked, could you get your laundry from off the bed and put it away? Fix your own lunch, you’re old enough now, could you grab my game guide and bring it to me? And so on and so forth. Then his computer had crashed and it took far too long to get rebooted properly. 

Robert let out a deep sigh and stood up and stretched. Finally, after all the little interruptions, his assignment was finished and he could look forward to a summer full of swimming, gaming, reading, movies and hanging out. After brushing his teeth and putting his night clothes on (a baggy long-used t-shirt and mesh shorts) he took a quick look around his room, mostly just to check that he’d turned his computer off. There were the movie posters for things such as Star Wars and Back to the Future and the plaque with his Boy Scout awards next to them. The desk with the turned off computer and printed out school assignment. There was the overstuffed bookshelf that ranged from school books to fun books (which themselves ranged from Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt novels to Harry Potter to Star Wars, anime magazines detailing the latest info on Dragon Ball Z, Gundam, Tenchi Muyo and others and a recently-purchased copy of The Lord of the Rings in anticipation of the upcoming movie) to a small collection of comic books and graphic novel trade paperbacks. Robert smiled fondly as he noticed the cardboard organizer sleeve that had been pulled off the bottom of the bookshelf and some of the comics pulled out of them, specifically his old Sonic the Hedgehog comics that he’d started putting into order the other day and hadn’t finished. 

Sonic had been the first comic book he’d ever actually subscribed to, although he’d actually started out buying individual issues at the local grocery store, back when that had still been a thing in the early-to-mid nineties. He’d been a faithful fan up until around the issue sixties when he’d let the subscription lapse and had just never renewed. Maybe it was time to get back into the series? Especially since Robert and his brother had enjoyed Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast so much. Robert knew that the comics were still being made but after this long away from the story would he even still recognize the characters? Would he even still like them? Ah well, that was a problem for another day, Robert thought as he let out a big, sleepy yawn. Finally time to get some well-deserved sleep.

Robert quietly slipped under the covers of his bed and within minutes was fast asleep, the peaceful sleep of someone who had absolutely not-one-clue  just how insane his life was about to get. The clock on his dresser turned to 12:00 am. 

It was now June 1, 2001. 

If Robert had been awake he would have noticed that it had gone very quiet in his room. In fact it was so quiet that there was no sound at all. On his room’s ceiling there was a tiny glow. The tiny spark sat there, as if glued to the ceiling, glowing brighter and brighter, beginning to spark and then… it went! A boiling, seething maelstrom of purple-black smoke exploded across the ceiling roaring like a class five hurricane. Jagged electrical bolts arced out, raking the walls and floor but strangely left no scorch marks or other signs of damage. A bright white light flooded the room from the center of the miniature storm. How Robert slept through it, no one knows. The light engulfed Robert and he began to float upwards, the bedcovers somehow slipping off and hovered to the center of the room. Everything suddenly imploded, the light was sucked up and everything instantly became as it was, with the exceptions of the disturbed sheets and the total absence of life in the room. There was no reaction to any of this from the rest of the house, despite all the sound and fury that had wracked Robert’s room. His parents, brother and even the dog, Daisy, continued sleeping as if nothing had happened.

Robert was having a very strange dream. He was surrounded on all sides by thick gray fog that prevented him from seeing more than a few feet in any direction. He heard a strange sound in the distance and tried to peer through the strange fog. It sounded like wooden wind chimes. 

He cautiously began to walk through the mist towards the sound of the noise. Ahead, he began to dimly make out three strange forms, all weird and distorted with huge heads and lanky bodies. Thanks to the fog he couldn’t see much more than the outline of these figures. Were those their heads… or huge masks? One of them raised an arm and made what to Robert seemed to be a beckoning gesture. Robert tried to follow him but the fog and the darkness enveloped him and he felt like he was falling… falling…

In another world, a small, black-and-white badger girl dashed through a field, picking flowers. She turned and looked into the sky above her, as a great thunderclap sounded and a seething maelstrom of purple-black clouds, white light, and jagged lightning appeared out of nowhere. She looked into the eye of the storm and then, without warning, another thunderclap sounded like an atomic bomb. All of that huge storm vanished in brilliant flash of light, leaving only a few wisps of purple haze behind. The small animal-girl suddenly screamed and dove aside as a body fell out of the sky and crashed to the ground. The girl took one look at the body and screamed again, running back into the tall woods bordering the field. The body continued to lie there, its violent entry into this world not seeming to have disturbed it one bit.

Robert awoke with a violent start. He blinked, mumbled something and turned over. He sat bolt upright in bed.

“What in the…?!”

He leapt out of the bed that was not his and took in his surroundings. He was in some sort of circular wood hut with a straw-thatched roof and three circular windows as well. Everything about this was all circles, it was starting to make him dizzy or maybe that was just the adrenaline. He looked out one of the windows and saw a line of green leaf trees, probably oak. It was definitely not the usual view from outside his bedroom window. Even the air smelled wrong, much more… forest-y than the salt-tinged air of Florida. Starting to feel a bit of panic coming on, Robert scrambled over to and tried to unlock the single, rather small door. 

Locked. 

Now officially panicked, he looked around for something that he could use to undo the door. Nothing, the dim, unlit room was bare except for the bed and unadorned nightstand. Robert was about to try and bust down the door, when it opened and he saw the very last thing in the entire UNIVERSE he expected to see. Princess Sally Acorn stood in the doorway. 

Chapter Text

Robert’s shock was comparable to being suddenly shot. His brain locked up. He stood there, unwilling to believe what he saw. It was one of those things that the human brain could not comprehend. He finally began to speak but his brain had apparently decided to loop his first word.

“What…what…what…what,” he stuttered and he suddenly had a vision of himself as a gaping fish and the ridiculousness of it snapped him back to reality.

“Are you…are you Princess Sally Acorn?” he asked as loudly as he could with an uncooperative throat that threatened to make his voice squeak.

“Stay back!” snapped Sally, leveling something that looked like a weapon at Robert, “first of all mister I want your name, where you’re from and if you know a man named Robotnik!” she said.

“Hold on a second! I’ve just received a major shock here! I mean you’re…you’re not supposed to exist! You’re a character someone made up in a comic book!” 

“I’m not sure what you mean but that wasn’t the answer I’m looking for. What do you know about Robotnik’s experiments with the Void?”

“The Void? What? No I don’t know what that means. Why don’t you tell me what I’m doing here. That would make a lot more sense right this minute.”

“I’m the one asking questions here mister, not you. Where did you come from? Are there more Overlanders like you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! I want to know what the crap is going on here?!” Robert bellowed. He was beginning to lose his temper, partly due to the nature of Sally’s questions and partly due to surreal confusion at what was going on. If this was some kind of dream, it was the most life-like dream he’d ever had. He moved towards the Princess, causing her to raise the strange, cobbled-together weapon she had in her hand towards him.

“Stay back!” she snarled and zapped him with the weapon causing him to yell in pain.

“Listen ‘Princess’,” growled Robert, clutching his arm where the weapon’s discharge had struck him, “ I have no damn idea what the hell is going on here, but I swear if you ever do that to me again I will SNAP YOUR HEAD CLEAN OFF!!” he snarled. Sally pressed a button on the weapon and it began to make a humming noise and her gaze turned arctic cold.

“You are in no position to make threats mister. Now I suggest that you work on your manners while we decide what to do with you. Unless you’re a bit politer, I can’t guarantee your safety here,” she said as she backed out of the room.

“What are you talking about?” yelled Robert but Sally had already closed and locked the door. He looked out the window trying to find one familiar sight, but he couldn’t find a single one. Still fired up from his ‘interview’ with the Princess, he turned to banging on the door, yelling for someone, anyone to come explain what was going on. Finally, Robert felt like he was about to be sick. He curled up on the bed and stared at the wall. 

“What’s happening to me?” he whispered.

Sally entered the hut again early in the morning and gently prodded the lump on the bed.

It grunted.

“Hey, wake up. Look… I want to apologize about what happened last night but you have to understand. There are things happening here that have us all on edge and we don’t see many Overlanders out here, at all actually…” she tailed off as the lump began to extricate itself from the sheets that were to small for it. Sally winced and felt a wave of guilt wash over her when she saw his bloodshot eyes.

“Someone didn’t bother you did they? No… I guess that was me huh?” Robert scowled and gave a curt nod, although partly it was because he was still feeling that surrealness about seeing someone who, previously to him, had been a fictional character.

“I am sorry about that, but we have to be very careful, what with Robotnik and all. We started off on the wrong foot. I’m Sally Acorn,” she said holding out a hand. In the daylight, Robert was able to get a better look at her. She had to be roughly four feet tall if he was any judge of height. She wore her trademark blue vest and blue boots, but she was also wearing a white T-shirt and jean shorts. Other than that, her features were practically identical to the ones he knew from the comic and the cartoon.

“Robert,” he said a little guardedly, taking her hand in his. It felt like a human hand but with more pronounced joints, warm, smooth fur, pads on the underside of the fingers and palm and small, sharp nails. 

“I am really sorry about what happened last night…”

“It’s fine,” yawned Robert, “you’ve got security to worry about. What I want to know is… WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!”

“I think we should go outside and talk about this with the others,” said Sally a little taken aback.

“The others?” You mean the other Freedom Fighters?” asked Robert, feeling nauseous again.

“Well yes,” said Sally, a little suspicious as to how Robert already knew about the Freedom Fighters, “Come on.”

“Oh… OK, he said a little shakily.

Robert tried to follow her out the door, but in his slight stupor from what was going on, he didn’t realize that the door was about a foot shorter than he was and he cracked his head on the too small frame as he trying to get out. Growling he rubbed his head and stepped out. For the briefest of moments he felt what Neil Armstrong probably felt like as he took the first steps onto a brave new world.

The rest of the Freedom Fighters, Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails, Bunnie Rabbot, Rotor, and Antoine stood on the grass outside the hut. So far only Rotor had seen the Overlander up close. They were all feeling very nervous. None of them had even been born when Overlanders had still been on Mobius but the one thing they did know was that the Overlanders had nearly been wiped out and the only living example any of them knew of was the worst example anyone could have.

 They snapped their gazes to the door as it opened and Sally walked out. She was followed by a large shape that bumped its head on the door frame. It paused, rubbing its head, and then stepped out into the muted sunlight of Knothole Village and the Great Forest. The Overlander was a good height, almost six feet exactly. As Sonic recalled, Overlanders were on average about six and half feet tall and very broad in the chest and shoulders. This guy must have been on the young side. The human and the Freedom Fighters stared at each other. None of them knew it at the time but it was a moment they would remember for years to come.

Chapter Text

Rob’s brain had locked up again. Sally tapped his arm and he snapped back to reality. He sank down to the ground and put his head between his knees as his world began to lose focus.

“Are you all right?” asked Sally as the other Freedom Fighters crowded round. Sally waved them back as Robert slowly began to rise to his feet. He stared back into those faces from his childhood that he knew so well. They were almost the exact same, the one major difference was, like Sally, they all wore clothes of some sort. Sonic didn’t have a shirt though, as his quills prevented it. But those jeans had to have been a custom fit. The only ones who didn’t look any different, except for the fact that they were real, were Bunnie and Antoine. Bunnie’s legs and left arm were all robotic and she was wearing the pink leotard that he remembered. Antoine was of course, wearing his Royal Guard uniform. 

I wonder how many of those he has, thought Robert. 

After the awkward silence had played out for a few more moments, Robert gave a little wave and said “Hi!”

Nobody said a word, just continued to stare at him. Robert was about to say something else when Sonic walked straight up to him, looked him up and down then stared him straight in the eyes. Robert again had that strange feeling, something like vertigo as he gazed back at one of his childhood heroes.

“I like him,” said Sonic, grinning his trademark grin, “Let’s keep him!”

“I think that it would be better if we continued this discussion somewhere else, the mess hall perhaps?” announced Sally in a clear, commanding voice. Everyone nodded and they made their way towards the central part of Knothole Village. As they walked, Robert got his first good look at Knothole and the forest and he was astonished. If he didn’t know any better he would swear that he was on Earth. All his senses said so but he knew it wasn’t.

Knothole, as Robert saw it, looked like a fusion between the version shown in the comics and the one in the TV show. It was settled in a natural valley within the forest that was hidden by gigantic oak trees. At the moment they were walking through a grassy area covered in different sized huts. They all followed the same design, with one circular wall, circular windows, and cone-shaped, straw-thatched roofs. As Robert and the Freedom Fighters walked on they came to what Robert guessed was the town center. There was a single, titanic redwood here, its base 50 feet in diameter. The gargantuan trunk disappeared into the other trees’ branches, but the canopy of this tree must’ve begun not too far above the others. At the base of the tree were a bunch of covered pavilions, their awnings made of what seemed to be white tarp. Robert guessed that they must’ve served as a gathering place for the mobians. Sally led them under one of the awnings and into a huge, hollowed out room that could only be the mess hall. Sally directed them to sit at a table near the door. And so a heavy silence descended on the Freedom Fighters and the young man from Earth. Sally, ever the leader, was the first to speak.

“Well, before we start letting you run around Knothole, free as a bird, we really do need to know where you came from, who you are, and why you’re here,” she said.

Robert nervously gazed back at the Freedom Fighters as he tried to figure out what to say. He got the feeling that lying wouldn’t be a good move. Besides what would he lie about? He didn’t know much about the Overlanders from the comics and websites he’d read and things seemed to be slightly different here. But would they honestly believe him about being transported from his room in the middle of the night?

“Can I ask one question?” he said.

“You may,” responded Sally, with a slight grin.

“How did you find me?”

They then told him about the young badger girl who had seen him fall from the maelstrom in the sky. Sonic and Rotor had brought him back.

“Well then there isn’t much to tell. I went to sleep in my room and then I woke up in that hut.”

“Where is your room?” Sally pressed. Robert could see that he wasn’t going to be able to get away from this.

“Okay, you’re probably not going to believe me but I’m not from Mobius. I live on a planet called Earth. That doesn’t ring any bells does it?” Nobody responded except for Sonic who just shook his head.

“Oh great. Listen I don’t know how to explain this any other way. I know it sounds crazy but you gotta believe me! I went to bed in my room on Earth, I wake up in the middle of the night on Mobius. That’s all! That energy thing in the sky must be responsible!”

“What you say may be true,” Sally said carefully, “We know that Robotnik has been experimenting with the Void lately and that it leads to some kind of pocket dimension where he exiled my father. If that’s the case…” Sally gave him another once over, frowned and said, “Hold up your hands please.”

Not knowing why she asked that, he did so. All the Freedom Fighters leaned forward to look.

“My stars, he has four fingers on his hand,” said Bunnie.

“Zut alors!” added Antoine, though Robert didn’t have a clue what that meant.

Sally reached down and then placed a small tan box on the table. She opened it and pressed a button.

“Nicole, can you perform some kind of biological scan on our guest here to determine if he is an Overlander?” she asked.

“I can Sally. One moment,” replied the tiny AI. There was a very pregnant silence as she analyzed.

“Analysis complete. The subject is almost identical to a Mobian Overlander but bears several unique genetic markers, enough that I can conclude with 98.726% accuracy that he was not born on this world.”

Maybe he did just so he could do something goofy to relive the tension in the air, maybe not, but at that point, Robert raised his right arm, palm up and fingers spread in a familiar gesture to sci-fi geeks and said, “I come in peace for all mankind.” For a moment, nothing happened. Then Sonic and Tails burst into laughter, followed by Bunnie and Rotor. Even Sally seemed amused as she was finally smiling now. 

“We may have to run more tests, but this seems pretty definitive.” She turned to the rest of the Freedom Fighters.

“We need to have a private conference. Now.” She got up and headed for the door and the others followed her. Turning to Robert, she said, “Stay here for the time being. Others in Knothole might not be so happy with you wandering around just yet. And get something to eat, you look starved,” she said with a smile. Robert’s stomach chose that moment to growl loudly and he smiled sheepishly. Sonic was the last Freedom Fighter out the door and as he was about to leave, he spun around raised his hand like Robert had, grinned and said, “Welcome to Mobius buddy! We hope you enjoy your stay!” He laughed again and sped out the door.