Sonic the Hedgehog andTails are copyright SEGA Enterprises. Sally is copyright Archie Comic Publications, INC. Delphine copyright Delphine Kiminsu. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ What is history but a fable agreed upon? -- A. B. Alcott ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tales from the Past -- Tale Two That First Meeting -- Delphine Kiminsu A year ago from "Running Part 1" short, red haired, blue-eyed(with green tints) girl wearing sneakers, jeans, a white fitted baby-tee and a green jacket flew up to the cliff, stood on the edge of it, and looked down. The green landscape dotted with trees spread out beneath her. She didn't see anyone -- or anyTHING. The Metal Sonic had hidden well; apparently, so had the original Sonic.The robot had flown to the island in the sky -- The Floating Island. So far, she hadn't seen anyone, but-- Something moved behind her. She whirled to look, but before she could see anything, she was pushed over. She slammed into the ground, awarding her with a bump and a headache. She opened her eyes and looked at the figure that had pushed her. A short, red echidna stood in front of her. "A girl?" he asked in a low, rough voice. "A human girl?" She sat up halfway and stared up at him. "Who're you?" "This is my island. I'll ask the questions. Who're YOU?" The girl glared at him. "I asked first." The echidna clenched his fists. "I don't care if you're a human OR a girl, I'll make you tell me what I want to know." "Go ahead and try." She stood up and glared at him. He blinked a little when he noticed she stood quite a few inches taller than him. "You think you can take me on?" The echidna crossed his arms. "This can be easily avoided if you'd just tell me what you're doing here?" The girl sighed and let her arms fall to her sides. "I'm one of the good guys, okay? So don't worry about it." She turned and looked back down upon the landscape. Something was moving very fast, and something else very fast was chasing it... "I need to worry about it-- do you even know what's on this island?" "You, me, Sonic, and Metal Sonic. And the latter is the reason why I'm here." "Sonic?" The girl glanced at him. "Yeah..." "You're friends with him?" She gave him a suspicious look. "Yeah..." "So you're a Freedom Fighter." "Yeah..." She looked him over, and decided he was okay. "Yeah," she repeated, "I'm a Freedom Fighter." He nodded slowly. "Why are you here?" "To stop Metal Sonic." "...Robotnik rebuilt it?" "Yes." She looked over the field again. Sonic was fighting Metal Sonic... and she was supposed to be helping! "Gotta go!" She jumped down from the cliff. "HUH?!" Knuckles looked over. She was gliding to the ground. "What the hell?!" When she reached the ground, she ran over to Sonic and Metal Sonic, but couldn't get in to help. They were both moving too fast. "Sonic! Give me an opening!" "I... can't!" Sonic was suddenly thrown back and slammed into the ground. The girl took her chance, concentrated, and sent a blast of energy, green in color, at the Metal Sonic. The robot was flung into a tree. The girl glanced at Sonic, whom was picking himself up. "There you go Del... an opening." "Thanks." She grinned, then glanced at the robot. It was pulling itself up. "Priority one: Destroy Sonic the Hedgehog. Priority Two: Capture any Freedom Fighters." It raised its arm, and a laser came up out of its arm and aimed for Sonic. "You will be eliminated." "You will be eliminated, you will be eliminated," Sonic repeated, rolling his eyes. "Can't you make up a new one?" The robot fired, and Sonic dashed out of the way. "I hear they're selling poetic licenses now." The robot fired again, missed again. "Can't you aim? Sheesh!" Something shot him in the back, and he fell with a cry. "Sonic!" Delphine looked over at what had fired. Another robot. Sent by Robotnik, no doubt. "Robot78652 assisting the Metal Sonic," it said. Sonic rolled over onto his back and sat up. "What the hell?" "Sonic, I think we're in trouble..." she said, looking around nervously. Ten or so robots had them surrounded. Sonic looked at her and stood up. "No problem Del, I'll just..." "You'll just what?" a voice said. Sonic and Delphine recognized it instantly. "Robotnik!" "Blubber-butt!" "Well, at least the lady has manners," Robotnik said as he stepped out of the shadows. "I can't say what I wanted to, young robots are present," Delphine said through gritted teeth. Sonic laughed. "Nobody's polite to you, fatty." "Oh?" Robotnik snapped his fingers. Two SWATbots stepped foreward, one holding Princess Sally Acorn, the other holding Tails. "Sal?!" "Tails?!" "What are you two doing here?" "We came after you. I figured you'd need some help!" Sally said, struggling against the robot. Tails just stared at all the robots. "If you touch a hair on either of their heads Robuttnik I swear I'll..." Sonic let it go. "Don't threaten me. It's not polite." Two robots stepped foreward to grab Delphine, but she kept away from them and backed into Sonic. "We could use some help," she murmered. "Got any ideas?" "Nope. That's your department." "HAH!" Knuckles' (the echidna Delphine had met at the top of the cliff) huge fists smashed through one of the robots. Everyone looked at him. "What?" Delphine and Sonic glanced at each other, and then Sonic took out as many robots as he could before they noticed and started firing. Sonic landed hard and almost fell over. "DUCK!" Sonic did so and Delphine blasted a robot that he hadn't seen. "Thanks." "No problem." A robot grabbed her arm, and she flipped it over onto its back. Knuckles took his his fair share of robots, and soon they were all torn apart or non-functional. The three stopped and stood in front of Robotnik. Only him and the two SWATbots holding Sally and Tails were left. "Let 'em go 'buttnik," Sonic said, his voice dangerously low. Robotnik smiled evily and pulled out a laser gun. Knuckles, Sonic and Delphine took a step back. Robotnik aimed it at Tails' head. "Such a shame, so young." "NO!" Sonic dashed at Robotnik, who fired his laser, hitting Sonic in the chest. Sonic fell to the ground with a shout. "SONIC!" Delphine, Sally and Tails all screamed at the same time. Knuckles stood his ground. Delphine ran to Sonic's side and knelt next to him. He moaned, but otherwise didn't move. "Damnit!" Delphine stood up and glared at Robotnik. He grinned smugly and held the laser up, aimed straight at her. She clenched her fists and grit her teeth, but stood her ground. "I suppose you'll be coming with him," he said. "You wouldn't leave your friends." Robotnik snapped his fingers again. Twice as many robots as before stepped out of the shadows. "Crap." Delphine glanced at the echidna she had met on the cliff top. He had his back to her, probably staring at all the robots. One of the robots grabbed Knuckles from behind. He struggled, but another robot grabbed him. Delphine glanced at him again and saw this. She slowly looked at Robotnik, then her friends. Sally nodded. Delphine nodded back, then turned and ran. When she came to the wall of robots, she flipped over them, landed, rolled, jumped up, and kept running. They fired lasers at her, but none of them hit their target. "COME BACK HERE! OR I'LL KILL THEM ALL NOW!" "DEL DON'T STOP! YOU KNOW HE'S LYING!" Delphine ignored all of it. She just ran, until she couldn't run anymore, and she collapsed under a tree. It was hours before she woke up, and another hour before she had come up with a plan. By then, Robotnik already had the Metal Sonic scouring the land for the Chaos Emeralds, and her. Her friends and the echidna were all in seperate cells, all inside a large ship. More robots than she could count guarded the ship, and that was just on the outside. How on Mobius was she going to get in?! I'll just have to come up with something... she thought. Suddenly, an idea came to her. She ran into the clearing and stopped. The robots stared at her, as if in awe that she had done that. Then their programming kicked in. "Priority 1: Overridden, goal achieved. New Priority One: Capture any and all Freedom Fighters." Delphine turned and ran. The majority of the 'bots followed her. She jumped up to a tree and climbed into the branches, hiding herself. Seconds later, the robots passed her. She waited a few seconds, the jumped down from the tree. So far, so good. She walked back to the clearing and looked at it from behind a tree. If she snuck in at the right angle... "Perfect," she murmered. It took only a few minutes to get into the ship. And another minute to find Sonic. It was simple: folow the yelling. Robotnik was standing in front of Sonic's cell, talking, and Sonic was screaming his replies. Robotnik seemed to find this ammusing, so he kept at it, until one of the robots walked in and reported that they had seen Delphine. Robotnik furrowed his brow and walked outside, all the robots around following him. Delphine stayed in the shadows, then ran up to the cell. "Sonic..." she whispered. He looked up at her, figured out who she was, and grinned. "You know the drill." He nodded and backed away from the door. Delphine blasted the lock. "Let's go before they figure it out," Sonic said. "Or they come to investigate the noise." The pair walked down the hall until they found a closet, then hid in it. "Any idea where the rest are?" Delphine said as she pulled the grate off of the air duct. "Nope." Delphine sighed. "Figures." She reached up and grabbed the top of the duct. "Yup." Delphine looked at Sonic. His eyes were darting around and he seemed especially nervous. "You okay?" "Wha? Yeah, I'm fine." He paused. "Robotnik sent Metal Sonic to find the Chaos Emerald. There's no one out there to protect it. NO ONE." Delphine nodded. "Chill. We'll get that guy out." "His name is Knuckles." She shrugged. "Whatever." He gave a sly grin and followed her into the air duct. "WHERE is the Chaos Emerald!" Robotnik yelled. "You'll NEVER get it outa me!" The robot poked the echidna with the electrode again, and Knuckles screamed. "Do you want to die?" "Instead of..." he swallowed, ignored the pain, and continued, "telling you where the Emerald is? Yes." The electrode came dangerously close. "Turn up the frequency." "Yessir." The robot twisted the dial. Knuckles swallowed. He was chained to the wall. There was a large electronic device next to him. The only robot in the room operated it. Robotnik was trying to get him to tell where the Emerald was. "Where." "Go to hell." The robot poked him. Knuckles gave a blood curdling scream and passed out. "Who was that?" "If he touched Tails I swear I'll..." Robots were coming down the hall. Sonic and Delphine hid in the shadows. The robots walked by, dragging an unconscious echidna. Sonic and Del looked at each other, as if to say "What the hell?!" They heard a cell door slam shut, and robot footsteps walk away. They ran until they found the cell. "Oh man," they said in unison. Delphine blasted the lock as quietly as she could. "I'll get Sal and Tails," Sonic said. "You get him out of here." "Right." Delphine picked Knuckles up, and went one way. Sonic went the other. Delphine got out of the ship and ran until she came to a small hill. She placed Knuckles down under a tree, then sat next to him. The sun was slowly starting on it's trip down under the horizon. Delphine hoped Sonic would come before nightfall. She didn't like being alone at night with Robotnik around. The sun was sinking below the horizon by the time Sonic found them. He was carrying Sally, and Tails was flying behind him. Knuckles was conscious, and the two had been talking. "There you guys are." "You coulda told me which direction you were going." "I could've... if I'd known." She smiled. Sonic put Sally down. She took out Nicole and tried to get a lock on Metal Sonic. "How close are we to the Emerald?" she asked Knuckles. "'Bout a quarter mile," he replied. "We have to stop Metal Sonic before he finds it." "No duh." Sonic and Knuckles glared at each other. Delphine gave Sally a look that said, No wonder they don't get along. Sally nodded slightly and gave a knowing grin. Then she glanced down at Nicole's monitor. "Found him." She studied the monitor, her eyes widening. "Uh-oh." "Uh-oh?" Delphine asked, "Uh-oh is not good. What uh-oh?" "Unless it's something else... Metal Sonic is right on top of the Emerald." "WHAT?!" Knuckles jumped up and ran off towards the Emerald without another word. The other four quickly followed. "Scan: Item: Chaos Emerald. Search: Priority Code: Priority One: Locate Chaos Emerald. Priority One: Succesful. Overriding. New Priority One: Destroy Floating Island." Metal Sonic reached for the Emerald. "Hold it right there, 'bot!" Metal Sonic turned around. Knuckles was standing in front of him, looking very much like he was going to explode. "Scan: Item: Knuckles the Echidna. Search: Irrelevant." Metal Sonic turned back to the Emerald. "Irrelevant my behind!" Knuckles tackled the robot, and the two fought. "Ack, AHG!" "We've got to get down there and help him! C'mon!" Delphine leapt down into the Emerald Chamber, with Sonic and Sally right behind her. Tails stayed behind to keep watch. With all four of them fighting the robot, it soon became overwhelmed. "Function: Retreat. Execute." Metal Sonic fired up his rockets and flew away, knocking Tails over on his way out, then dissapearing into the trees. "Damn! He still knows where the Emerald is! And now so does Robotnik!" Knuckles punched the floor. "DAMN!" "Calm down!" Sally exclaimed. "We won't get anywhere if we over-react." "Whadaya mean 'we'?" Sonic muttered as a sly grin crossed his face. Knuckles glared at him, then looked at Sally. "What do you suggest we do, then?" "There's nothing we really can do..." "DAMNIT Sally!" "...I'm sorry..." "Hey... maybe you can move it?" Knuckles shook his head. "No." He pointed to a mechanic device in the wall, which seemed to be harnessing the Emerald's power. "To move the Emerald, I'd have to move that -- and I don't know how to do that without crashing the island." Delphine sighed. "It was a good suggestion, though," he added quickly. She smiled and nodded. Sally looked between them, then grinned. "Oh my... why don't we just go after Metal Sonic?" "I'll go find out where he is," Sonic said, and took off. He came back minutes later. "All done, no worries." "...what?" "I trashed him. Gone. Kapoot. Hey what kinda word is kapoot anyway..? Asta la vista. Scrap heap. No good." Sally sighed. "Sonic... Robotnik can still get the data from Metal's database..." "Oh you mean this thing?" Sonic brought Metal's severed head out from behind his back. "Would this be the place where all that stuff you just said is in?" Sally sighed with relief. "It would be." "Good." Sonic tossed it to Knuckles. "Here, it's your island." Knuckles caught it and looked at it. Then he smashed it between his fists, turning it to undeterminable rubble. "Wow, I'm amazed. Are you amazed?" Delphine laughed at Sonic and shook her head. "Sonic, be quiet for once." He smirked but said no more. Knuckles grinned at her. "Um... we should really get back now, before everyone starts worrying again." Sally turned from them and climbed out of the Emerald Chamber. "Yeah. See ya, Knux." Sonic left as well. "Hey, Delphine..." "Yeah?" "Do you want to.. I dunno, get together sometime? I'm kinda interested in how a human..." Delphine grinned. "Sure. Why not?" Moments later, the Freedom Fighters were leaving in the bi-plane, with Knuckles waving them off. Everyone certainly had a lot to think about. The End Back