To Choose

The second story of Mobius: Second Tyranny

written by Tergonaut

e-mail: [email protected]

This story series is based on the Sonic the Hedgehog DiC cartoon and on other stories that are and will be written here on this site. Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters and themes are © of SEGA and DiC. All original characters and themes are © of Tergonaut. Please do not copy or redistribute this story on other sites without permission from Tergonaut.

* * *

The corruption of the government under the House of Acorn began in 3296, a decade before the deaths of King Sonic Hedgehog and Queen Sally Alicia Acorn. At this time, Alic Acorn was gradually being handed the responsibilities of handling the kingdom, as his parents were finally beginning to slow down after an incredibly active life. As he gained more and more power, he used diplomacy, blackmail, treachery and even assassins as tools to ensure his rise to power. He did this all in secret so that his parents never knew what their son was really doing.

When Sonic and Sally died in 3306, Alic's careful scheming went into full swing as he reorganized the government to suit his selfish needs. Alic's aim had been to clear any records that might have connected him to the criminal organizations that had grown strong with his inconspicuous help, but the unfortunate side effect was that thousands of citizens completely unconnected to his corruption lost their jobs and could not find new ones. Hundreds of poverty-stricken Mobians were already living on the streets, hardened by the tough life of sleeping on concrete, and they were the ones who organized the newcomers into streetgangs.

Streeters! This was the term coined for the poor who could not afford to live anywhere else but in the slums of Mobotropolis and other major cities throughout the kingdom and its allied countries. They were stereotyped as illiterate slobs who were handy in a fight or a garage, but not anywhere else. This was the effect of the media on the middle class and the social elite, who further distanced themselves from the slums and allowed the streeters full reign of their territory.

The fact was, however, that streeters were actually better than their social superiors. They were physically tougher because of their lack of adequate shelter, clothing and bedding for the most part, and they became stronger to compensate. Mentally, their minds were like steel traps, as they needed to be strong of will to live on where others would give up. Experts at survival, they gained the skills necessary to scavenge and scrounge whatever they needed. And while most of them never learned the etiquette of the richer citizens, their hospitality and politeness to people that they recognized as friendly was certainly more honest and appreciated.

That is not to say that all streeters had better morals than the rich. Many streeters found that crime was one of the only ways to survive in their urban environments, and they became goons, enforcers, and other henchmen of the crime lords. Skilled and strong, streeters made good bandits, burglars, and hijackers. Very few streeters ever became leaders, however, because crime was also dominated by the rich.

Life for a streeter wasn't easy. No one got a free ride. Anyone who could do some work did, not because they were told to, but because they needed to support others who in turn supported them. Even those too old for physical work (a rarity, especially since a streeter who survived to get old stayed fit throughout their entire lives until they finally died) could still tell stories and provide valuable information. When money was earned through odd jobs or by diving in the gutters, it was usually spent on necessities. For those who had all they wanted, they either saved their money diligently or blew it all off on a spree, although the common thing to do was something in between. The local holo-arcades were a favorite hangout for teenage streeters, and ironically enough, the intensive physical workouts required by the virtual games taught them valuable fighting skills that they could apply to their everyday lives. And fighting was something that all streeters had to do at some point in their lives, for room in the slums was scarcer with every passing day. Competition for turf boiled down to street brawls where the winning streetgang was the one with the most streeters conscious at the end of the fight. Even the smaller streetgangs that consisted of only a few members had to fight to keep what they had, whether it was a warehouse that could serve as a home, or an alleyway that was the only home left. Such circumstances were hard, and life never grew beyond the daily struggle to survive.

To head off the growth of streetgangs, Alic began instituting crackdowns by police forces to cut down on the population in the slums. Many streetgangs became hostile and bought weapons from the black market to fight back, determined not to be culled like cattle. Streetfights were thick, dangerous battles that ended suddenly when one side or the other retreated.

Just as there were many streeters who thought it braver to die in battle against the police forces than to hide and live, many others adopted the practice of maintaining secret hiding places or escape routes that they used to evacuate whenever the police came. These routes were almost invariably old tunnels of the Underground, the massive network of underground caverns that spread far and wide beneath the surface of Mobotropolis and much of the Northern Continent.

The Rowdies were a smaller streetgang that consisted of four teenage members: Rad, a hyena who took charge over the group and kept the others going beyond their limitations, even when he didn't recognize it himself; Claire, a skunk who kept her softer side locked up inside a rocky exterior; Gyro, a feline who listened closely to the stories of the Great Tyranny and who wanted to emulate Rotor's mechanical skill and patience; and Bandit, a raccoon who loved the thrill of stealth and secrecy, and had used his roguish charm on many occasions to turn the favor of females in his direction. The four of them were orphans, whether on purpose or not, and they all shared the memory of surviving without friends until they all met one another and found much in common. Using their combined talents, they were able to solidify their holding within the slums. Their favorite activity was to engage in holo-arcade games, especially high-action ones based on the exploits of the Freedom Fighters during the Great Tyranny.

Things have changed recently. They have escaped from Mobotropolis, coincidentally at the same time that the city was taken over by Professor Marty Kreaton. They do not know who is responsible for this catastrophe, nor do they realize just how much they have lost. For now, they know that something has gone terribly wrong, and for these true-blooded Mobians, that is enough for them to want to right that wrong.

* * *

It was raining.

"Dang, this is bad!" Rad shouted, his voice barely heard over the sparking crackle of lightning and the rolling boom of thunder. He, Gyro and Claire were running as fast as they could through the Great Forest, holding their arms up to protect their eyes from the relentless rain.

Rad could barely hear Gyro behind him and to his left as the feline replied loudly, "Yeah, we've got to find cover and-WHOA!"

The hyena turned around and saw Gyro face-down in the same mud they had been sloshing through for the last hour. Rad and Claire went back and grabbed his struggling arms, pulling him up against the rain until he was standing on his own feet. Gyro's face was plastered with mud, but fortunately his wraparound shades had protected his eyes, and were even now being wiped clean by the pelting water drops that fell from the leaves of the titanic trees of the Great Forest. The lightning died away, leaving them all trembling close together in the darkness of the night.

"You 'kay, Gyro?"

Gyro nodded, his eyes hidden by the shades. "Yeah, thanks guys."

The three of them stood where they were for a moment, and then Rad said, "C'mon, we need to keep moving."

Claire shook her head and brushed her wet white bangs away from her face. "Yeah, but where to? We can't run all night, Rad. We're tired, we're soaked to the bone, and we need to find some place to stay until this storm is over."

Rad's face twisted into a scowl as he slouched and crossed his arms across his chest, looking to one side. "Yeah, you're right," he muttered, then looked back at her and said, "but where are we going to find a place 'round here that'll be good cover? Even these trees aren't heavy enough to keep the rain off of us!"

Gyro adjusted his shades with one hand as he pointed with the other. "How about that over there?"

Rad and Claire looked in the direction where Gyro's finger pointed, and saw the open mouth of a rocky cave set at the foot of one of the Great Mountains. In the darkness that surrounded them, Rad gave a low whistle. "Man, Gyro, good thing you saw that! I'd never have seen it, it's kinda hidden behind that tree over there."

Claire began trotting toward it. "Well, no point in staying out here, guys, let's go!"

The three of them dashed past the trees and got into the cave, slowing to a walk as they got underneath the firm protection afforded by the solid rock above their heads. The contrast was immediate, and the three friends noticed that it was not only dry in the cave, but the sounds of the storm outside were muffled. Instead of the damp smell that overwhelmed their noses in the rain, they could detect an earthy scent in the warm air inside the cave.

Gyro was the first to start chuckling, and then all three of them joined together in raucous laughter out of sheer relief. It felt so wonderful to be safe! The tension that they had been feeling ever since last night seemed to melt away now that they had reached the comfort of this cave. When they finally fell to the ground and caught their breath, they were smiling at each other, content for this moment.

And then Rad's face got serious as he got to his feet. "I don't know 'bout you two, but before we get too comfy, we need to check out this cave. Might be animals or somethin' in the back of the cave."

Claire and Gyro both nodded at Rad's common sense, and they all stood up and turned on their flashlights, pointing them down the tunnel and following the beams of light deeper into the cave.

Gyro raised his free hand and felt along the wall, then scuffed his sturdy footwear against the floor. Looking around at the floor, he looked curious enough that Claire had to ask, "Okay, Gyro, what is it?"

Gyro patted the wall as they walked along. "Feel the wall for a second, guys, and tell me what you feel."

Claire looked at Rad, who shrugged, but they did as Gyro said and felt the wall. The rock was grainy and warm, but aside from the occasional protuberance of rock that was sharp and jutted out at an odd angle, it was smooth and soft underneath their touch.

"Feels smooth, doesn't it?" Gyro asked.

Rad and Claire both nodded.

"I'm not sure if I'm just jumping to conclusions or anything, but I think this cave isn't natural."

Claire placed her free hand into her jacket's pocket. "So? How can you tell?"

"Okay," Gyro said in that same tone that he usually took when he was about to explain something, "haven't you noticed that there aren't any loose rocks on this smooth ground? That's convenient so that people don't trip over something in the dark. Then there's the fact that the walls are smooth, too smooth and regular to have been dug by some animal. Besides, what animal would be large and strong enough to dig out this cave?"

"Dunno, but when we see a giant worm, we'll know for sure."

Gyro stamped a foot, which actually didn't make much noise. "This isn't a joke, Rad! I'm being completely serious...about..."

Gyro stopped and stamped the ground again and again, making only small tapping noises. "Hey guys, I'm not making enough sound!"

Claire made a show of putting a finger in one ear and cleaning it out. "Maybe not with your feet, but you're starting to shout awful loud."

"Sorry. It's just that I noticed that when we talk, there aren't any echoes. This is a pretty long cave, so shouldn't there be echoes?"

"Gyro," Rad said, "just chill. There's a fork in the cave ahead."

The tunnel split off into two directions, to the right and to the left. Neither one looked different from the other, composed of the same brownish stone that the rest of the cave had been made of. The three streeters stopped and looked down one way, and then the other, but both of the different paths looked exactly the same.

Rad took a step forward and squatted down, placing his flashlight onto the dusty ground. With a flick of his finger, the flashlight spun around and around, the beam whirling and casting light and shadow every which way. When the flashlight stopped, the beam pointed down the right tunnel. Rad picked up the flashlight and stood up, looking at his two friends and exchanging a nod of understanding with them, and then they all walked down the right path.

They walked only a short distance before they noticed a gentle glow coming from just around a bend in the tunnel. Walking more cautiously, Rad heard Claire unbuckling her knife sheath, and he passed his flashlight from his right hand to his left hand, forming his right hand into a fist as he did so. There was no way for them to know what to expect, so they turned the bend and...

Rad's fist unclenched and his jaw fell slightly open, struck with awe at the open room in front of them. He heard Claire give a little gasp, and Gyro's breath caught noisily in his throat. Each in turn, they clicked off their flashlights and looked around the room in front of them, taking in the details and marveling at what they saw.

For they had stumbled upon a beautiful cavern. Facetious crystal covered everything in the room, wrapped around the rocks that jutted from the ceiling and floor, blanketing even the ground underneath the perfectly clear underground lake that they could see right through, even from this distance. It was as if it was an underground beach, with a short stretch of crystalline shore before it dived beneath a transparent sea. Each facet reflected and refracted light, bouncing it around until the whole cave shone with a phosphorescence that was easy on the eyes and was clear to see by. They couldn't even tell how the light had entered the room, although one thought that sprang to Rad's mind was that someone had once entered this room with a light on, and this light they saw now was the remnant of that light, continually recast into brilliance by the crystal.

Claire was the first to walk forward, stepping just beside one of the jeweled pillars that connected floor and ceiling together. The pillar had one large facet that showed her reflection in it, a natural mirror. "This is...so beautiful..." was all she could breath out, her tough image melting away as she allowed herself to be touched by this wonder that Mobius had produced.

Rad had to agree with Claire. None of the places he had ever seen, even in the virtual reality games back at the Mobotropolis holo-arcades, could compare to the simplistic and angelic appearance of this one room. It wasn't anything he wanted to leave, either, but he began asserting control over himself. "Sorry to cut in," he said softly, his voice reverent in the presence of this majesty of Mobius, "but we've got to see what's down that other corridor."

Rad could visibly see Claire collect herself, and when she turned away from the mirror, her face was back to seriousness, although her eyes were still soft with wonder. "Let's go," she whispered, and the three of them reluctantly left down the tunnel.

* * *

They were now going down the left tunnel, which accordingly bent to the left. Instead of seeing light, however, they eventually came to an abrupt halt because of a wall that stood in their path, the same color and texture of rock that had been everywhere else along the tunnel.

Rad felt cheated somehow. "A dead-end."

Gyro stepped forward, looking at the wall and shaking his head. "But this doesn't make any sense at all," he said as he turned to Rad and Claire, "I mean, why would this tunnel be here like this? I'm pretty sure that this cave wasn't naturally made, although that crystal room was definitely natural."

"So? Don't worry about it," Claire said as she began putting her hand out to the wall to lean against it. "This just means that we're-WHOOPS!"

Rad and Gyro saw her hand go through the wall, followed closely by her arm and her entire upper body as she fell through the wall. There was a thudding sound on the other side of the wall, and they heard Claire say, "Ouch, that was...this is so whacked, guys, come on through the wall!"

Rad looked at Gyro, who experimentally reached for the wall. His hand passed through it, and then Gyro walked forward and actually went through the wall. Deciding that there was no point in his being on this side when his friends were on the other side, Rad stepped forward and stopped just after his eyes could see what was behind the wall.

This time, they could see the cavern open up in front of them, this time much wider and taller than the crystal cave had been. It was wide enough to fit the cluster of small buildings built in the middle of the wide open area, on a floor that was soft and smooth to the touch, obviously artificial. Most of the buildings were shack-sized, but a few of the central ones were twice as tall and looked unique from each other and the shacks.

Gyro helped Claire to her feet, and the three of them looked at each other. "What is this place?" Rad asked.

"Think any of us know?" Claire asked back.

Rad shrugged. "Hey, just asking..."

Gyro took a few steps forward and spread his arms out. When he turned around, he had a look of sheer amazement on his face. "Guys, do you know what we've found?!"

"An underground resort?"

"I'd say this is the Royal bomb shelter."

Gyro let out an exasperated sigh, but he stubbornly held on to his positive expression. "It's a Freedom Fighter base!"

Rad rested the backs of his hands on his hips. "Get outta town!"

"I have to agree with Rad," Claire put in, "since all the locations of hidden Freedom Fighter bases were compiled and released to the public. That was decades ago."

Gyro shook his head at them knowingly. "Do you really think they would have let every base get uncovered? They could have hidden this one on purpose, or maybe they forgot about this one. And we have it all to ourselves!"

"Not entirely, strangers."

Gyro, Rad, and Claire all looked around in confusion at the low, husky female voice that had suddenly spoken from nowhere. With their fighting instincts kicking in, the three streeters went back-to-back-to-back and looked in all directions at once. But there was no one around them.

"That wasn't funny," Rad said loudly and angrily, "and I know that wasn't one of us, so you'd better show yourself!"

"As you wish," the voice said again, and the three streeters saw a series of colored beams shoot from the ceiling and strike a single spot in front of the three. They got out of their battle formation and all faced the spot as they saw the beams begin dancing left and right, leaving a multicolored glowing silhouette as they want until they could see that it was the outline of a Mobian squirrel. The beams crossed into the glowing shape, and it gained a third dimension as the color spread out in different directions to form brown and tan fur, a long and bushy tail, closed eyes, red headfur, all forming an entire Mobian squirrel who looked entirely familiar to them, albeit through their gaming sessions at the holo-arcade...

Gyro was the first to open his mouth. "Okay, change the vest and boots from green to blue, shorten that tail, and you would be-"

"Sally Alicia Acorn?" the squirrel finished as she opened her eyes, which were a distinct and startling green. "No, I am not her, although my hologram is based on her body specifications."

"Then who the heck are you?" Rad asked.

"My name," the squirrel said as she looked at each one in turn, "is Nicole Acorn. Welcome to Freehome."

* * *

"...so hold up, let me get this straight," Gyro said as he rested his chin on his hands and his elbows on the table where the four of them were sitting, "you're Nicole, the same Artificial Intelligence that once served as a minicomputer to Sally while she and the Freedom Fighters were fighting against Robotnik during the Great Tyranny. You gained sentience sometime after the Doomsday Project, and then were recognized as a free citizen after the war with Robotnik was over. You were installed into the main computer at the Royal Palace, and stayed there until just now."

"She just said so, didn't she?" Rad said irritably as he leaned back in his chair and raised his feet onto the table in the War Room, putting one leg over the other.

Nicole nodded at Gyro, pointedly ignoring Rad's behavior as she rested her arms at the head of the table. "That's correct, Gyro."

"But I thought robots and Artificial Intelligences got outlawed after the Great Tyranny," Claire said. "How come you're still around?"

"The House of Acorn made an exception for me," Nicole explained. "Because I had served well during the crisis that followed after the Doomsday Project, Sally adopted me into the royal family. They certainly couldn't kill off a member of the royal lineage, so I was preserved inside the central computer."

"So you're a princess?" Rad asked as he confidently slouched in his seat, his eyes closed.

Nicole shook her head. "No. While I am a member of the House of Acorn, I abdicated my right to the throne because I didn't want to create a conflict over the next rightful monarch."

Gyro gestured at the walls of the room around them. "So this place, what did you call it again?"

"This is Freehome. It was built after the Great Tyranny by the core Freedom Fighters, with Rotor and Sir Charles Hedgehog working together to design the technology. The reason it was built was to provide a secret location in the case that someone attempted to take over Mobius again like Robotnik did. This is a base much like Knothole Village was during the Great Tyranny, save that this base is better equipped for such a conflict. There is an armory of weapons to use, and updated maps of virtually every location on the face of Mobius."

"Okay," Rad said as he opened his eyes and got his feet down from the table, although he still slouched in his seat, "I think we've got this all figured out now, but there's one last question that needs to be asked. Why are you here now, Nicole?"

Nicole's face hardened slightly, becoming more serious. "Because Marty Kreaton, the Minister of Science, has taken over Mobotropolis."

This brought exclamations from all three of the Rowdies. Even though they had lived on the streets, they had still managed to listen in on the news from the vidscreens in the stores and arcades of Mobotropolis. Every once in a while, Marty Kreaton would show up on the screen, being congratulated for some wondrous new discovery he had made for the benefit of Mobius. While it never meant much for streeters, he was still prominent and influential enough that it was hard for the Rowdies to understand what exactly he had just done.

"What?" Claire asked, the first of the three to articulate a question, "What does this mean, Nicole? What's he trying to do?"

"The same thing that the Three Tyrants attempted to do, and that is to dominate Mobius," Nicole said with some muted venom as she mentioned the villains of a past war a hundred years ago. Gyro somehow got the impression that she felt more strongly about this than she let on, and figured that there was a lot more to her than just being an upgraded Artificial Intelligence. "I know what he's trying to do because I was in the computer that he robbed the schematics for the roboticizer."

Rad slammed his fist on the table, acting on the anger that he shared with the other Rowdies. "The roboticizer?! Kreaton's outta whack!"

Even though it had been a hundred years since the roboticizer had been destroyed and its secrets locked away, it was still the symbol of the oppression wrought through the Great Tyranny, a mark of darker days. An invention meant for good, twisted to evil, and thought to have been sealed away like some ancient demon, only to be brought back...

It was a sin.

Nicole's eyes matched the three of them in intensity, and her gaze silenced their angry protests. "I know that this is a terrible thing that's happened, but we need to focus on our plans. Before I go into that, however, I must ask whether you are willing to become the first Freedom Fighters to be trained here at Freehome and to become the first soldiers against Kreaton."

Rad set both fists onto the table, his lip pulled up to reveal his teeth. "You think we wouldn't? Some punk runs us outta town, blows up our home, we sure as heck aren't 'bout to let him off without a fight!"

Nicole's eyes narrowed, matching Rad's fierce pride with cool determination. "This isn't a hologame, and it certainly isn't a streetfight. What Kreaton is about to start will be another war like the Great Tyranny. He isn't going to try to beat you up to scare you away. He will send his robotic legions to kill you. This is not a decision you can make lightly, because if you aren't sure of yourself and your reasons for fighting, you will end up dying. And dying will only allow Kreaton to win."

Rad slumped back into his chair, Nicole's words ringing with truth. He didn't like it, but it was still truth. Claire and Gyro were also cooled down by the practicality and sense that Nicole had put down, and each of the three were thinking their own private thoughts about the matter. Rad suppressed a yawn that suddenly tried to spring out from his lungs, but was ultimately unsuccessful and let it out in full. The fact that he and the other Rowdies hadn't gotten a good night's rest was telling on them now, hours after midnight's passing.

Nicole stood up, and the three of them looked up at her. "It's nearly morning, and you've been running through the night. I'll wait for your decision tomorrow, after you've had time to rest. You shouldn't make such an important decision when you are tired. I will show you to your quarters."

The three Rowdies got up from the table, Rad scratching himself, Claire stretching, Gyro pulling his shades off and rubbing his eyes. They were exhausted, but only now did their bodies remind them of the pressing need for sleep that their adrenaline had made them forget. They followed Nicole automatically out of the War Room building and out to three of the squat-looking shacks that they had seen earlier.

Rad stumbled through the electronically-operated sliding door that opened for him at one of the shacks, and as it slid shut behind him he looked around and checked out the arrangements.

While the shack was indeed rather cramped, it had the illusion of space because of the deliberate engineering to make everything compact. The floor was a brown rubbery substance as soft as carpeting, the walls and ceiling were smooth and white. In one corner, a miniature combination shower stall and blow dryer stood, with twin glass walls that were made smoky for privacy. In another corner, there was a bed that folded up onto the wall, composed of a sturdy frame from which a thick webbing was extended, making it into a deluxe hammock with built-in pillow and detachable blanket. A computer terminal sat at a small desk next to the bed, and the light for the room came from illumination panels that were set at the edges of the ceiling, bright enough to provide adequate light but dim enough so that it wasn't hard on the eyes. Finally, another sliding door opened up to reveal a shallow closet with a cycling set of hangers.

Deciding that he wasn't going to go to bed all dirty, Rad sat down on the bed and yanked off his footgear, tossing them in an untidy heap near the door. He then hung his bandana and gloves onto the hangers, smirking at the thought that he didn't really have much clothing to wear in the first place. He jumped into the shower and turned on the water, only staying in long enough to rinse off, scrub off, and then dry off before he came out of the shower and rolled into bed, his exhaustion finally taking effect and sending him to sleep.

* * *

When Rad woke up, the first thought that came to his mind was, Where the heck am I?!

Swiftly rolling out of bed in some half-asleep instinctual impulse, he landed on his tail with a thick-sounding thud. While the floor was soft enough to absorb most of the impact, he was now wide awake from the burst of adrenaline that had accompanied his near-frenzied reaction.

The hyena slowly got up, rubbing his behind, and the memories of what had happened flowed back into his conscious thoughts. Mobotropolis. Takeover. Freehome. Nicole. Kreaton.

It was enough to make him fall back down, to consider all that had happened to him and Claire and Gyro, but it was another thing entirely to know what challenge awaited them. Last night he had been tired, hungry, filthy with mud and rain, and angry.

Now he was just hungry and angry. And bewildered.

So it's just us three? Rad thought as he got onto his feet and walked over to the closet, Me, Gyro, Claire? Against an army of robots?!

The door automatically slid open, and Rad reached in and picked out his gloves and his bandana. He was distracted from his troublesome thoughts when he put the articles of clothing onto his body and discovered that they were clean. They bore no trace of the mud or dirt that had stained them when he had put them into the closet. They were even pressed into neatness.

He took a look over by the door, and he saw that his heavy-duty sneakers were also wiped free of the mud that he had been running through almost all of the previous night. He scratched his head for a moment before walking over to the sneakers and slipping them on. "Nicole must've cleaned 'em up while I was asleep," he muttered to himself as he stood in front of the door, letting it slide open before he stepped out of his shack.

He raised a hand up against the bright light that shone from the high ceiling of Freehome. His eyes adjusted to the difference of light, and he looked around to see Claire and Gyro also coming out of their quarters, looking just as clean as he was. Then he looked up at the ceiling, and nearly lost his footing as the thought struck him that he had stepped outside.

There was a clear blue sky above him where a dark cave ceiling had been.

"No, it isn't really the sky," said a familiar voice next to him, "but it has the same general effect, with the full energy of solar radiance from the 'sun.'"

Rad whirled to face Nicole when she had first started speaking, but then calmed down after that initial sudden surprise. "Geez, don't do that!" he said with a bit of frustration in his voice after she finished.

Nicole regarded him with those brilliant green eyes of hers. "Sorry about that," she said with an apologetic smile. Then her face became solid and serious again, and she called out, "Claire, Gyro, come this way."

Leading the three of them toward one of the larger buildings, she explained, "The sky simulation was designed specifically to replicate the sky of Mobius above this mountain. The reason it was installed was to prevent the inhabitants of Freehome from suffering the effects of long-term lack of exposure to the sun. It wasn't activated until recently because there had been no life forms to worry about at the time."

Gyro immediately had a number of technical questions that Rad didn't bother to understand. The feline Mobian had always been a freak about technology, and after a good night's rest he looked pretty bouncy and ready to ask away.

When they entered the building that Nicole had led them to, however, Gyro's mouth dropped open, his questions finding rest as a different priority rose to the fore in his and his friends' minds.

This building was a more open one, with windows and glass-fronted doors. Inside, it was set up like a fast food restaurant, with neon lights dashed across the walls and chairs and tables bolted into place. There was a long sliding counter in front of several glass containers, each of them stuffed to the brim with food that looked fresher than springtime. Old-fashioned fans hung from the ceiling, slowly whirling around with intricately-designed epithets carved into the wood by the core group of Freedom Fighters who had gathered together to build this secret place. A stack of trays, dishes and utensils were stacked neatly at one end of the counter, and the smell of food was ravishing as it gently wafted through the air toward the three hungry teenage Mobians, seducing their stomachs and taste buds. There was only one question in Gyro's mind now.

"Is this what I think it is?"

Nicole nodded, smiling at the effect that food had on them. "Yes, it's a cafeteria. Just head down that way, and I'll get you what you want."

As Nicole walked behind the counter, there was a flash around her as digitized lines flowed into shape around her body, and there was a final burst of light as it formed into a white kitchen apron with the words Chew, Swallow, THEN Smile written across the front in delicate cursive lettering. She raised a set of tongs and a kitchen spoon in her hands, expertly spinning them before having them in ready positions.

"Chow's on! What'll you have?"

The only reply was a mad dash by all three to the trays.

* * *

Rad finished his breakfast with a final slurp of juice and sat back, growling with pleasure as his stomach happily accepted the full load he had just shoveled into himself. "Oh, daisy," he purred as he smacked his lips, "now that was food. The veggies were fresh and crisp, the pancakes were de-lish, but oh! Those sausages! I loved 'em!"

"Well, this proves one thing," Claire said as she, too, sat back and enjoyed the rare sensation of a full stomach, rare enough on the streets where it was hard enough getting a decent thing to eat, "you were never meant to be a food critic." The remark was only half-heartedly sarcastic this time, coming from a skunk placated by well-cooked food.

"And I suppose you could do better?" came the defensive reply from Rad, more for the sake of having a reply than actually challenging Claire.

"Well, then," Nicole said as she got up from her chair nearby where she had watched the three of them eat, "I'll clean up these plates for you so we can talk business."

She walked over and bent between Rad and Claire, her fingers slipping beneath the plates and lifting them easily. She moved around the table and set the plates down on the edge of it before she came over to Gyro, who was seated across from Rad and Claire. As her arm reached for his plate, Gyro's hand suddenly shot out and gripped it, a look of intensity on his face. "Care to explain this, Nicole?" he asked the squirrel, the unease apparent in the empathic feline's voice as he looked up at her face.

Rad and Claire both did double-takes as they saw Gyro's fingers wrapped around Nicole's arm. Rad gave out a grunt of surprise as he finally realized that something was screwy around here. Nicole was supposed to be a hologram! Holograms didn't pick up plates, serve food, and they certainly weren't solid enough to be physically touched!

At first, Nicole coolly returned Gyro's confused gaze, then her face broke out in an apologetic grin as she laughed softly. "Sorry, I should've told you," she said as she reached out with her other hand and, with her forefinger extended, beeped Gyro on the nose. Gyro acted like he had just been bitten, releasing Nicole's arm and sliding backward to the edge of his chair opposite of her, his hand now rubbing his nose as his eyes went even wider.

"Told us what?!" Rad said as he and Claire stood up. Rad didn't have any idea what was going on, but this smelled of trouble, judging from Gyro's reaction.

Nicole shook her head at them, this time the smile shifting to that of self-assured knowledge. "Cool your jets, this visual representation of me is a hologram. The difference between me and most holograms is that Sir Charles outdid himself when customizing my hologram projector."

Gyro's eyes were still wide, but they weren't fearful now. More like curious. He stood up, which placed him directly in front of Nicole, and he raised a hand up to her face, but hesitated. She gave him an understanding nod, and he slowly moved his hand forward until it touched her cheek.

Gyro left it there for a moment as he asked, "How'd they pull this off? I can actually feel your fur, and your cheek is warm!"

Nicole reached up, her hands gently taking his hand from her face. "When Sir Charles built the hologram projectors, he was able to customize them specifically for my body shape," she gestured at herself, "and installed some electric amplifier technology that was a spinoff of the deroboticizer. It took a lot of hard work on his part, but this hologram is as solid as any one of you. Sir Charles took specifications from Princess Sally's body and reprogrammed them slightly, making this hologram a unique individual who looked enough like Sally to be a sister. Thanks to the data taken from Sally, this hologram can simulate virtually any emotion, any movement, that she could. Body temperature, texture, even the ability to lift objects comes from the delayed electrical impulses that simulate this form. In short, this hologram is practically alive."

"Wow," was Gyro's response as he sat back down, looking like he had understood the more technical details of Nicole's explanation. Rad and Claire sat down themselves when they figured that there wasn't any need to get violent.

"Anyway," Nicole said after the brief, awkward silence that followed, "let me get these plates off of the table so we can talk business again."

She picked up Gyro's plate, and this time she received no interference as she took it to the other plates, which she stacked together and dumped into a nearby chute. She then went back to her original seat, her face serious once more as she looked at the three young Mobians.

"So, now that you've had a good night's rest, and have filled your bellies, it's time to come to a decision," she said, importance underlining her words. "I can't force you to step up to the challenge ahead of you. I can't make you risk your life for the sake of Mobius and everything that the original Freedom Fighters worked for. I believe that you should choose to fight, but it is up to you whether you will do that or not. Don't make your decision hastily, because I won't hear what you have to say until lunchtime at the very least, and you might regret it either way. I'm not going to try to fool you, you could die if you go up against Kreaton. You could stay here in safety instead, to help anyone else lucky enough to survive what Kreaton has started. But that choice has to be made, and soon."

This sobering discourse left the three teens quiet, their thoughts on the harsh reality of the situation. Nicole stood up then. "Meet here again in four hours for lunch. You can check the time at any of the terminals around Freehome. You are free to go anywhere you want to in Freehome. If you need anything, just call my name." She smirked, breaking the severe image she had built. "I won't be that far away."

And then with a prismatic flare of light particles, she was gone.

The three Rowdies looked at one another, and then they all pushed themselves out of their chairs and headed for the doors. They pushed outside to stand in front of the cafeteria, their soles on the soft ground beneath them and their eyes looking up at the sky above them, which was full of azure dotted with clouds of white.

They looked at each other, and in an unspoken manner they understood what they had to do now. Each of them went into a different direction, separating to do the deep thinking that was necessary at this time.

* * *

Gyro sat in front of the information terminal in the shack that he had claimed as his quarters. He was looking through the technical database, his mind only half-interested in the blueprints and readouts that came up in various windows on the screen.

Fight a war...that's what she's asking us to do...can we do it? It looks like she wasn't joking about the armory, judging by these inventory lists. It seems so hard to believe...that this place was built with Rotor's hands, his work and skill.

Why'd I hook up with the Rowdies? I guess it was because of my dad. He never tried to understand why I tinkered around with machines, throwing out my stuff and calling it junk. Sometimes I wondered whether Mom had really cheated on him before leaving him, or whether she left because of his attitude. At least with my friends, I didn't have to worry about them trashing my work.

Dad...I wonder what's happened to him? It's been a few years now since I left. I guess he might've gotten out of the bootlegging business by now. I'm glad he never drunk himself, but with that temper, it was hard to tell...

And then it hit Gyro like a punch to his gut: his father had probably been in Mobotropolis when Kreaton took over. Gyro shut down the terminal and leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling through closed eyelids.

Dad...you were a jerk sometimes, but you weren't all bad. You honestly did try to understand me a few times, before you ran out of patience and gave it up. And now, you're probably one of the machines that you hated so much.

I idolized Rotor so much because he seemed to be the exact opposite of you, Dad. He was patient, where you were crabby. He was technically-minded, while you had trouble with toasters. He had been a real hero who worked behind the scenes while Freedom Fighters like Sonic and Sally got all of the attention, while you bragged about your dead-end job.

Yet, as much as I didn't like you, you never threatened to throw me out, never hurt me besides throwing out my stuff and shouting. Maybe you weren't perfect, but you don't deserve what Kreaton's just done.

He opened his eyes, sat up, then got to his feet, stepping over to the wall before throwing his fist into it. He ignored the pain that welled up in his hand as he pulled it away from the hard surface, where he hadn't even left a dent. As much as he disliked his father's temper, he had known for a long time now that he had inherited it, and this was his way of releasing it so he could remain quiet and inquisitive around his friends. He didn't want to lose his cool around them, make them feel uncomfortable because he couldn't control his temper.

Dad...I don't know what you would think of me now. But if there's one good thing you ever taught me, even if you never really said it out loud, was that I should stay true to what I've chosen to do in my life. And right now, Kreaton's just taken over Mobotropolis. He's probably roboticized you, maybe Mom, and lots of other families that were happy.

Gyro threw another punch, and this time when he pulled it back, there was the barest impression of his knuckles in the white wall. The green-furred feline sat down, suddenly drained as he laid his head down on his arms and shut his eyes, the pain throbbing in his hand and focused in his thoughts as he thought of the pain that Kreaton had caused.

And he's going to pay for that.

* * *

Claire stood at the edge of the crystal lake, her eyes looking over the perfectly still water as her thoughts drifted like clouds inside of her head. Her knife was in its sheath at her belt, and one hand rested on the hilt.

Kreaton's pulled a fast one over all of us, she growled to herself as her teeth clenched and her other hand clenched into a fist. The worst thing about it is that it was some high-class royal punk who did it.

There was a sudden twinge of pain in the skunk's heart as she was reminded of Pedro. Pedro! she thought with ferocity and anger, driven by the agony of heartache that she felt every time she was reminded of him. Along with his name came a long string of cursing that only ended when she ran out of four-letter words to describe him from head to toe.

If that idiot had never tried to pick me up, maybe this never would've happened! But no, he thought I was some cute girl from the good section of town who liked being given the runaround. He took my heart and, and-

She fell to her knees and supported herself on her hands, sweat suddenly breaking out as she shuddered at what might have been a total disaster. Pedro had been pressing her to make out with him, and she had refused because besides the fact that her mom had specifically said that she wasn't supposed to be alone with Pedro, Claire had seen him with one of those prissy uptown girls.

If Bandit hadn't shown up then...

Yes, Bandit. That raccoon that she had seen sometimes at the local arcade with the other two Rowdies. She knew that he was a part of a gang, and that's why she kept her gaze averted from him whenever she came into the arcade. But what she hadn't known until Bandit told him later was that his eyes had always been on her, that he noticed her.

He had showed up just in time when Pedro had lashed out at her, working himself up because she had refused him. The brave raccoon not only took on Pedro despite the size difference between himself and the massive muscular stallion, but he won the fight and helped Claire back to her feet, helped her get out of there.

Claire had never liked the police much, but that had been one time where she was glad they were oppressive and overbearing when they had locked Pedro up for attempted rape and murder. That had been when she left her home and her mother to hang out with the Rowdies, especially with Bandit who had warmly befriended her after all of her so-called friends had abandoned her when they heard it was her fault that Pedro was in jail. Unlike Pedro and his deceitful flattery, Bandit meant a compliment when he said it. He wasn't some musclebound macho guy, wasn't particularly cute, but he made Claire feel good about herself. That was why she joined the Rowdies.

And now Bandit's gone, Claire thought, her eyes closing as she leaned back onto her legs, and for all I know, he could be dead, or roboticized...

She opened her eyes with a gasp when she felt the touch of cold steel against her neck. Her hands had somehow worked the knife out of its sheath and brought it up to her neck, and when she realized just how close she had been to killing herself, she gave a shriek and dropped the knife.

Her eyes were locked onto the knife, a knife that she had been told by her mother had belonged to her father, a loser who had accused her of cheating on him before leaving her to take care of Claire herself. The knife's sharp edge captured her complete attention, and she shuddered again.

No...not again...Pedro was a jerk, he doesn't deserve the satisfaction...

The fact was, Claire had really loved Pedro. When she finally realized that he didn't love her back, had only been trying to use her, she had tried to kill herself. That was the second time Bandit came to her rescue, bandaging her throat up and comforting her as Gyro had gone for an ambulance. They had been lucky that time, and she had thought that she had gotten over her suicidal tendency. Until now.

No...Pedro was a jerk, but with any luck, he's been roboticized now, Claire thought hard, her will smothering her desire to end it all. Bandit did care for me, he saved my life twice. I can't believe that he's dead. He's too smart for that. He's got to have escaped, he's got to!

Kreaton...I'm not going to give you the satisfaction either. You may think you've got it all set up, but you're no better than Pedro was. I'm not going to die until you do. "Do you hear me?! I'm going to live! I'm going to fight!"

She reached out, her fingers wrapped around the knife's handle, and she slid it into her sheath. She was bent now, determined to fight against Kreaton. She knew that she might try to kill herself again, but she decided firmly that she was going to make sure she saved that until Kreaton was dead first.

Don't go thinking you're all hot now, Kreaton, 'cause you're about to get burned.

* * *

Rad crouched as he made his way down the tight metal corridor, a large laser carbine cradled in his arms. Steam poured up from the vents that he stepped on, shrouding the floor and misting the rest of the air, making it hard to see beyond a few feet. His breathing sounded loud to him, so loud that he thought that anybody could hear him...or anything...

Suddenly, at either end of the corridor, there was an unearthly screech that made Rad's blood run cold, and he turned his head to look both ways as giant arachnids began crawling toward him, emotionless black eyes focused on him, their claws clacking and their fangs and stingers extending as they came at him. They crept across the walls, the ceiling, the floor, all at different speeds and all intent on getting to him.

"Get outta my face!" Rad shouted as he let his fear drive him to anger, and the laser carbine spouted beams of crimson obliteration as he held the trigger down, slicing them apart with the precise laser beams, their death cries more chilling than their normal chittering and screeching, their sliced body parts lying still on the ground as their fellow bug-eyed monsters crawled over them.

There were a lot of them, but as he cut them down, it seemed like the arachnids were being replaced by more humanoid creatures, creatures with claws and teeth and reptilian scales or patterned fur. They were monsters steeped in mystery and legend, all sporting horrific visages that all had the same glimmering scarlet eyes.

Rad was rushing forward now, shouting at the top of his lungs as he let the carbine run to full heat. "GET OUTTA MY FACE!" he screamed as he finished the last one off, then reached the end of the corridor as it divided into a T-shape. Picking his way over the burning bodies of his fallen freakish opponents, he turned one way first and took a quick glimpse of an empty corridor, then turned again and-

Rad nearly pulled the trigger at what he saw, but his finger was so sweaty from all of the adrenaline that his body had been generating since the beginning of this nightmarish game that he was unable to get a firm grip on it. Which was fortunate, since it was Nicole who was standing there.

She looked at him, and then at the corpses that he had left in the corridor, and then at him again, a considering look in her eyes. She didn't say anything, and she made no attempt to move out of the way of the laser carbine that was pointed right at her chest.

Rad was breathing heavily after his encounter with the freakish horde of monsters, and he was stunned by Nicole's appearance...but not for long.

"WHAT?!" he shouted at her, fierce and defensive.

She still didn't say anything, just shook her head gently and looked at him with eyes that asked questions.

Rad dropped the laser carbine to the floor, the large weapon clattering against the metal vents. The sheer sanity that was in Nicole's eyes demanded him to gain some control over himself, which he tried to do with a gulp. "If I'm going to be fighting against Cretin," he said quietly, specifically mispronouncing the scientist's name, "I have to fight, right?"

Nicole stepped toward him, and he suddenly knelt down and picked up the weapon again, pointing it directly between her eyes. "DON'T MOVE! How do I know you're the real Nicole? You could be just another creepy-crawly wearing her skin!"

"Don't be silly, Rad," she said quietly, sternly, as she held his eyes were her own. "I don't know why you're doing this, but I'd like to talk to you about it. Please, put down the gun, and let's get out of this simulator."

Rad looked up at her for a second, wondering whether his paranoia was getting the better of him or not. He pushed himself to his legs, which were now shaking after the sheer tension of his battle. "Naw, I don't need to put down the gun," he said carefully, "let's just talk like this."

Nicole shrugged. "Have it your way, Rad," she said in a matter-of-fact way, and then she leapt for his throat.

He fell backward, pulling the trigger with his second wind of desperation as he saw Nicole's body grow spines and she hissed at him through the elongated fangs she had grown. The laser pierced her once, twice, three times as she fell right on top of him, and even though she was dead, Rad threw her off and pumped a few more shots into her body before looking nervously down either side of the corridor, looking for his next opponent.

"Impressive," said Nicole's voice from the wall, "but I have to admit, programming the combat simulator with video games wasn't quite what I had in mind."

Rad watched as the walls, floor, ceiling, weapon and bodies all vanished in a scintillating spray of light, leaving only an empty dome-shaped room with a black coating covering the walls and floor. Nicole stood by the controls of the simulator, her finger still on the SHUTDOWN button as she looked disapprovingly at Rad.

Rad threw his arms wide. "What?! What's your problem?"

"I think the question is, Rad, what's your problem?" Nicole said as she came toward him, stopping a few steps in front of him. "This wasn't a practice run against robots, this was a sci-fi shoot-out. You were really losing it."

"AND WHAT ABOUT IT!?" Rad shouted as he took a single stomping step toward her, shaking a fist in front of her unflinching face.

"I asked you first."

Rad glowered at her, then he fell to his knees as all of his tension and fear poured itself out. "Dang it," he said, his voice cracking as he pounded the ground with his fist, "I'm scared! Okay, so there it is. Are you happy now?!"

Nicole squatted down in front of him, reaching out with one hand and placing it firmly on his shoulder. He raised his eyes to see her, but her image was blurred by his tears.

"Don't you get it?" he croaked, "I'm freaked out of my skin! There's a guy out there who's really trying to take over the whole planet! This is so big..."

Nicole gently shushed him as his head hung down over his chest. "You don't have to worry, Rad, you don't have to fight-"

"NO!" Rad said fiercely, pushing himself up to his feet and looking down at the squirrel hologram, brushing an arm across his face to free his eyes of moisture for a moment. "I have to fight. I'm going to fight. I'd be letting him have his way with Mobius if I didn't step up to him. No way I'm letting him off the hook, no way!"

He turned and walked a few steps away from Nicole, then let his head slump down again. "I'm scared, 'cause what if I mess up? What if someone dies 'cause of me? What if that next robot is my friend?"

He heard Nicole stand up behind him, and he continued to ramble, his mind in confusion and pain at opening up to this hologram. "My friends, they never say it or anything, but it's like they think I'm the leader or something! So, I try my best not to let them down. But what if my best isn't enough, and one of them pays for it?"

He felt Nicole's hand on his shoulder, and he turned and gripped her in a hug as some long-forgotten child's instinct made him cry his heart out on her shoulder. "I-I want to fight, Nicole," he spluttered through his tears, "I want to fight for Mobius."

She stood there, not saying anything as she patted Rad on the back and let the hyena release his fears through his tears.

* * *

Rad, Claire, and Gyro stood in the cafeteria again, all of them unaware of their friends' experiences as Nicole stood in front of them, her arms crossed behind her back as she leveled her gaze at them.

"Now, what's your decision?" she firmly asked the three of them.

They looked at each other, and they could see the answer in the eyes of the friends, which were filled with a newfound spark of determination. They turned back to Nicole.

"I'm going to fight," Rad said confidently.

"Me too," Claire responded.

"Same here."

Nicole smiled at the three. Although she hadn't approached either of the other two, she had watched through the surveillance cameras that were located all around the caves, and she already guessed at what the answer would be for all of them. Still, it made her feel good to see that they were willing to risk their lives in an improbable war.

"Then welcome to the Freehome Freedom Fighters," she said brightly, "congratulations."

The three friends gathered together, forming a triangle. Rad put out his hand, followed by the hands of his friends and his other hand. Then the three of them threw their hands up into the air, and shouted:

"BOO-YAH! ROWDIES OWN DA TOWN!"