Bloodlines: Ch. 11

From: Dan Drazen <drazen_at_andrews.edu>
Date: Tue, 28 Mar 1995 08:24:57 -0500 (EST)

                                BLOODLINES

                        A Sonic the Hedgehog Story

                            by Daniel J. Drazen



                                Chapter 11

     "You need to work on your party manners, Robuttnik!"
     Robotnik turned around. Standing just behind the rank of
SWATbots at his back, as if he'd materialized out of thin air,
stood Sonic.
     "Sugarhog!"
     "Business before pleasure, I'm afraid: GET THAT HEDGEHOG!!!"
     In an instant, the Chase was on. Sonic never really
admitted it to anyone but this was not only what he was best at,
but what he lived for. Running for running's sake was a rush,
but to pour it on as fast as he could while staying one
split-second ahead of Robotnik's SWATbots--he never tired of it.
     Of course, he never took risks without a reason...at least,
that's what he told Sally whenever she'd scold him for his
reckless conduct. Even now his dashing about the chamber had a
purpose. It kept Robotnik and his SWATbots from focusing their
attention on a service duct near the ceiling. It was the duct by
which he had entered the room. And it was from this duct that a
long strip of black cloth now hung down. It was Sally's bakhat,
and Sally was rappelling down it to the floor of the room. In a
second, she was undoing the restraints on Sandy and Bunnie.
     "How'd you find us, Sally-girl?"
     "Uncle Chuck picked up a dispatch call for SWATbot
reinforcements. Now come on," she urged, "we've got to get out
of here!"
     But once Sandy was freed from the restraint, she shoved
Sally to the side, drew a third knife that had been concealed in
her boot, and ran straight for Robotnik.
     But one of the SWATbots had detected her sudden movement.
It only took the bot a second to lock onto Sandy and fire. The
blast hit her in her right arm. Crying out in pain, she fell to
the floor.
     "SANDY!!"
     Sally and Bunnie dashed to Sandy's side while Sonic got
right in the SWATbot's face.
     "Hey, that's no way to treat a lady!"
     The taunt worked; the SWATbot's attention was back on Sonic
and away from Sandy, who was being helped up to a kneeling
position.
     "My arm!" she gasped. "Can't move it. Blast must have
shorted it out."
     "Can you stand?" Sally asked.
     "Don't think so. Feels like it weighs a ton!"
     "That's it, Sandy-girl. You are out of the game!"
     And with that, Bunnie used her own robotic arm to toss Sandy
over her shoulder like a sack. With the helpless Sandy in tow,
Bunnie and Sally headed for the bakhat and began climbing, while
Sonic continued to use a combination of speed and taunts to keep
Robotnik and his SWATbots occupied. So consuming was Robotnik's
hatred for Sonic that he had no idea that his other prisoners
were escaping. Finally, Sonic came to ground at the far end of
the room, away from the magnet.
     "Man, you're slowin' down, Robobreath! Want me to be your
personal trainer?"
     "Hedgehog, you've been a nuisance for far too long. It
isn't worth it for me to roboticize you."
     "Never would've figured you for the compassionate type."
     "So I've decided that I'm just going to have to kill you."
     "Whoa, right the first time!"
     The half dozen SWATbots all drew a bead on Sonic as Robotnic
stepped behind them. "Any last requests, rodent?"
     For about two seconds, Sonic seemed nonplussed. That was
all the time he needed to sum up the situation. From where he
stood, he could see that Bunnie and Sandy were now safely inside
the conduit. He could also see Sally just inside the duct,
holding onto the bakhat as if ready to give it a pull. Sonic
followed it down to where Sally had apparently tied it off, and
the old hedgehog smirk was back in place.
     "Yeah, I got a request: smile for the camera!"
     With that, Sally gave a pull on the bakhat...which she had
tied to the power switch of the electromagnet. It started to hum
to life.
     "NOO!!!"
     It only took a second for the magnet to warm up and begin
pulling Robotnik toward it. In that one second Sonic had gone
into a Sonic spin, skittered up the wall and across the ceiling,
entered the duct, and was exchanging a high-five with Sally just
as Robotnik slammed into the magnet. Followed by a half-dozen
SWATbots.
     "Snively!! Cut off the power!! Get me out of here!!!"
     But by the time Robotnik had been freed, Sonic and the
others had safely disappeared down the miles of ducts and
conduits of Robotropolis.

                              to be concluded
     

     

Received on Tue Mar 28 1995 - 08:15:20 PST