Subj: KnK updates Date: 96-09-07 22:14:24 EDT From: ZJLM18@Access.ETSU-Tn.Edu (MIYAMOTO, JULIE LYNN) To: dgonterman@aol.com Sonic the Hedgehog-based series: "Kith and Kintobor." by Hysteria. Reality Base Sub Three: On the Road to Salvation... Based on characters from Sega, Archie Comic Publications, and DIC Enterprises, Inc. This work is freeware and can be distributed freely provided it is not altered in any way, shape, or form and is not sold for monetary gain. The content of this work is not intended to infringe on the rights of Sega or any related companies and may be destroyed if ever the need should arise. Author's note: Are you getting tired of that other note I never bothered to change on the previous installments? If so, here's your fresh new Author's note! If not... well, forget you... I'm changing it. Hehe... This is a rewritten update on the original version. * * * Dr. Light watched in awe as Darian and Sunspot disappeared in a flash of light. "Incredible..." he muttered. "It works..." Roll stared at him oddly. "What do you MEAN, 'It works'?" she asked with a tone of scorn. "You didn't know?? I thought you designed it!" "Well, in theory, YES... it should work, but in truth--" His eyes were dry from staring, and he blinked to clear his sight. "It's astounding..." "So you sent DARIAN, Darian Grey the one-year trainee, to test a *totally new device*?? What if he gets hurt or even *DIES* out there, wherever he is???" Dr. Light was taken aback by her bluntness. "I hadn't believed it would work... When I thought to call Mega to investigate, *Darian* insisted on going *himself*. Besides, that helmet has an auto-recall device that, when activated, should reverse the effects of teleportation and bring him straight back here." Even with this knowledge in mind, Roll was still uneasy. "But Mega's *prepared* to handle danger! Darian hasn't even passed the beginner's field course yet!" "Ah," interrupted Light, "but you forget, he's taken the Calico Androidal Servo Attackforce unit along. With any luck, it should protect him in case of trouble." Uneasy, Roll turned away. "I sure HOPE so, but the S.A.R.A.'s are so unpredictable, especially the felines. Should we have let him use the C.A.S.A. prototype?" Shrugging, Dr. Light pondered the matter. "Maybe if we tried a CANINE Special Assistance Recovery Agent instead," he mused, "like a totally obedient... Robo-dog." She sighed. "I just hope he comes back alright. Darian's too good to lose just like... that." The elder doctor rubbed his chin. "I *do* wonder where this goes, actually. Another city? state? country? Or even the same planet?" ______________________________ After a short swim to the opposite shore, Terri and Sealena got out, drying off. Terri slipped into her shirt and started to pull on her shorts when the otter spotted the tattoo on her leg. "Say, where'd you get THAT?" she asked. The redhead stared back down at the intricate Chinese Dragon emblem. "This? Oh, I got it a couple months ago, in a small parlor on the outskirts of my hometown. I don't remember the details behind it or even WHY I got it... Somebody slipped me a drink, I suppose. I just woke up one day and found it there." "Neat..." Sealena studied it more closely. "What's 'Noel Ra'?" The otter pointed to some script printed just below the Dragon's head. "I haven't the slightest idea. It was just... there." "...Where did you say you were from?" "Actually ,I didn't, but I'm from Torrance." Mistaking the identically pronounced name as another, the otter lit up. "There's a whole TEAM of people from Torrents who came to visit once!" Unimpressed, Terri muttered, "Oh, really?" "They called themselves the 'Nautilus Five', but I don't think any of them were humans..." She shrugged. "And?" At the remark, Sealena was taken aback. "Oh... well, I thought you might have known them..." "I rather doubt it." Somewhat frightened at her indifferent yet somehow angry tone of voice, the otter shrinked away, in more ways than one. "Well, I'd just thought," she squeaked, "since all of you came from Torrents--" In a flash, Terri grew unexplainably irritated. "LOOK," she exploded. There's only five people from Torrance I know, but there's *no* way ANY of them could be here, past, present, or future, okay??" Little did she know just how ironic that statement would be. As Sealena tried to back away, she stepped into the water. "Well, I'm sorry if I offended you somehow, but--" The redhead's eyes widened, and she slapped a hand to her face. "No. *I'm* sorry. I guess my temper flared up again..." Sealena felt a little more at ease but remained cautious. "Well, if that's all," she nodded, "I suppose it's okay." "Yeah..." Terri sat on the ground to calm herself down. "I don't know what's wrong with me... Ever since... THIS," she pointed to the tattoo, "I've been losing my temper like crazy, usually for no reason. I can't control it, and it really scares me at times how mean I can become... Maybe I need my head checked." Deep down, Sealena thought it was more than just a head-check the girl needed, and the tattoo was a big giveaway... ______________________________ Angered, Adrus the clearseer stood at his seat. "How can you *say* such things, Saphron??" The egret nodded sorrowfully. "I know it's against the Mistian code, sir, but if we do not interfere--" "...do not interfere in the lives of the lessers!" Adrus was near fury. That is the unwavering *RULE*! No matter *how* horrid or grotesque the end results..." "But if she destroys the universe," she protested, "what *lives* will there be to not interfere in? Please see this with *reason*, Adrus! The whole *UNIVERSE* will be reduced to nothing more than a speck of dust and a lot of black space!!" She took a deep breath. "Do you WANT the world to end??" The clearseer shook his head objectively. "It is quite possible that the universe is *destined* to end, then. Would you prevent that? And even with all our power, *how* do you expect to compete against such strong forces of time and space? Face it, Saphron. Even the mages of Mist cannot stop the inevitable." Turning red, the egret mage clenched her fists... or wings, whatever. Determinedly, she stormed back into the hallway. Adrus called to her. "Just *where* do you think you're *going*, Saphron?" Pausing, she glanced back briefly. "If I can, I will prevent this. I will *save* this universe. It's better than *nothing at all*." ______________________________ Much later, Darian awoke in a dank smelling room. "What... happened?" he asked groggily to no one in particular. "Actually," answered a voice, "much has happened since your arrival, and even more is yet to come." "Wha--?" Sitting up, he met the collective gazes of three animate statues... and a giant spiny anteater. "Now I've seen everything..." The echidna (spiny anteater) strolled forward, stopping before him. "To tell the truth, young human, you haven't seen *anything* yet." "Huh?" Darian shook his head. "Who... or what... ARE you?" Bowing shakily on his cane, the echidna introduced himself. "I am Guardian Emeritus Athair, and I'm afraid your presence here is less than currently desired." "Huh?" Glancing about, Darian finally realized Sunspot was missing. He was alone with the odd quartet. "Spot? Spot, where ARE you?" He turned back to the echidna. "Where's my cat?" "The robotic cat you mention has, in fact, left." Darian cursed mentally. Of all the times for the CASA to malfunction... "What are you going to... do... to me?" "We are not going to do anything *to* you," Athair attempted to explain, "but we *are* willing to do all we can to *help* you." "Wha--?" He scratched his head. "Why? Is something wrong?" Raising his staff, the echidna motioned toward the far wall. One of the statues withdrew a bowl of paint and wooden stake. Swirling the stake in the bowl, it painted a series of graphic pictures on the stone that almost seemed to come to life... --> A dark, eerie rift above a mountaintop. It reminded Darian of a whirlpool, except in mid-air. --> A young woman falling from within the rift. "Hey! That looks like Terri!" Darian remarked. "Just pay attention," Athair commanded. --> The woman wandering across the land. --> A group of animals fighting a male human. "Wha--? He looks kin--" "Pay attention!" "--d of... like... Dad?" Darian whispered meekly, slumping down in half embarrassment. Athair rolled his eyes. --> The woman holding a pair of strange-looking glowing stones. --> A gigantic explosion engulfing the entire galaxy... "What the--?? You mean Terri's going t--" The echidna bowed his head. "That is the prediction." "--o destroy the universe?" the young man finished. "But... how??" "I cannot say. The source of power is too unstable to define from our vantage point here, in the past." "Past? Wh--" "We are in the event's past. This will happen in the future." "How far into the future?" Athair shook his head. "If we only knew..." Darian tried to stand, but the statues held him back. "You have still not fully recovered from that shot. Do not strain yourself." "Shot? Recover? What are--" Calmly, Athair turned away. "The Oracle is never wrong, but in this case, we were hoping to prove otherwise." The statement only proved to confuse him more. "Oracle? What? And what does Terri have to do with this?" "So you *do* know her..." Athair mused. "The Oracle never made that connection, only that you had something to do with her arrival." Darian bit his lip, briefly looking away. "All the easier for your quest, I suppose." "Quest?" Raising his staff, the echidna motioned toward the painting of the animals and human. "Before this event, she *must* be stopped--removed from this world, one way... or another." Fighting the resistance of the statues, the young male stood in anger. "You'd *KILL* her?? Why? She hasn't done an--" "Not yet, young sprite. That is what we intend to prevent." "But how am I supposed t--" The echidna struck his staff on the ground. "You shall know your task when the time arrives. Now, be off." "But wait!" he cried. "What do I do? Where do I start?" He received no answer. Instead, the statues and echidna raised their arms to the ceiling, and a powerful darkness overcame Darian... ______________________________ Under the sheltering cliffs near Boulder Bay, a young girl skunk fretted nervously over her seeming decrease in height. "Oh, why is this happening to *me*?" Nina moaned helplessly, playing dejectedly with the hem of her skirt, which now reached quite easily beyond her toes. "I've done *everything* I could to grow taller, but it doesn't seem to do any GOOD..." From nearby, the sound of rustling leaves indicated the presence of another being. This being, previously with hostile intent, listened in on her soliloquy. "Hmm..." Nack muttered quitely. "Something about her doesn't seem right... Could it have something to do with all the height changes around here?" As Nina continued to complain, the bounty-hungry weasel went against his better instincts and did the unthinkable... He put down his neural disruptor and went to talk to her, undefended. As the weasel approached her, Nina suddenly turned, spotting him. "EEK!" she cried, preparing to spray. Nack threw up his arms. "It's okay, dear," he said calmly. "I'm not armed. I just... want... to... talk." Nina paused then, noticing his weapon some distance behind him, lowered her guard. "Why would you want to talk to ME?" "Well, I... overheard... your little speech about shrinking clued me in to something..." "Oh?" Nina perked her ears. "What?" "You see this rock?" he asked, pointing to the largest boulder in the bay area. "Yeah? What about it?" Nack shrugged. "For years, it's always been in the same place, unmoving. But now, it seems to be bigger than I remember, and I remember quite well." Suddenly Nina came to a realization. "Are you shrinking too??" she asked excitedly. "It... seems so." Nack bowed his head. At first, the little skunk was overjoyed that someone else understood her feelings. Then she realized something else. "If I'm shrinking... and YOU'RE shrinking... are we going to eventually... vanish??" The arms-for-hire shook his head. "I've noticed some... other... changes among the peoples of this land. Vanish, no, but I have the horrible feeling that some other dark fate will befall this land..." ______________________________ Sally stared nervously at the clock. The three of them--Sonic, Davey, and Terri--had been gone for almost five hours now. Dusk was quickly approaching. "Where could they BE??" she muttered, tapping at the clock, then smacking it to make sure it was still working. Just then, the door opened, and in walked fox and hedgehog. "FINALLY!!" she called. "It's about TIME, you came ba--" Suddenly the short-tailed squirrel paused. "Where's Terri? Didn't you bring her back with you?" Glancing at each other, Davey and Sonic shrugged. "We followed her," the hedgehog explained, "but she disappeared near the pond." "DISAPPEARED??" Sally shrieked, obviously upset. "And why were you just *following* her? Don't you *realize*... that if Terri falls into Robotnik's hands... she just might reveal the location of *KNOTHOLE*???? It's not like she's especially fond of us at the moment, you know!!" The realization hit the pair like a ton of bricks. "D'oh..." they muttered in simulcast. "Is THAT all you can say? 'D'oh'??" Sonic jumped. "Uh, 'We didn't realize'??" "You didn't realize," Sally sneered. "Realize THIS. *I* don't want any metal-crazed, Lard-bottomed, evil tyrant, FAT, UGLY, **RO-BUTT-NIK** knocking at my front door, even if he *IS* your father, David, so... for the life of me, WOULD YOU GET BACK OUT THERE AND FIND HER???" Davey and Sonic quickly saluted. "YES, YOUR MAJESTY!!" they shouted, racing back out the door. If *that* wasn't a good enough reason to keep her out of trouble, nothing was. ______________________________ A terrified bumblebird darted from within the depths of the Great Forest, struggling to keep ahead of its pursuant. After a fleeting moment, a bright colored metallic feline burst through the underbrush, intent on capturing her target. The instant before she snapped up the tiny creature, however, a startling scene caught her eye. "Rrrow?" Executing a perfect somersault and landing on her feet, the calico feline stared toward a nearby pond where two distinct shapes emerged from the water. The bumblebird, obviously relieved at the distraction, flew away. "...should you be getting back to Knothole?" asked the voice of one figure. "I don't know," replied the other. "It might not exactly be *good* if I go back now, especially for a certain blue HEDGEHOG..." Cocking her head in curiosity, the cat crept toward the pond to get a better look at the two figures. One was an otter, but the second was a recognizeable person with coppery red hair. "Mrrow!" the feline cheered happily. Hearing the cry, Terri turned. "Sunspot?" Racing across the field toward her, Sunspot leapt into Terri's arms. "Wha--? Hey! How'd *you* get here?" The otter shrieked. "Oh, NO!!!" "Huh?" Terri raised an eyebrow at Sealena. "What's the matter? It's just my cat friend..." Still screaming, the little otter dove into the depths of the pond, quickly disappearing from sight. "What's *her* problem?" The redhead sighed in frustration, shortly before a smack on the head from behind knocked her silly. "Not again..." she muttered a split second before falling back into unconsciousness... * * * To these personages I owe due credit: Capcom, for the Mega Man series -- Dr. Light, Roll, Mega Man And of course, Sega, Archie Comic Publications, & DIC Enterprises -- Sonic the Hedgehog series and related char.'s Thanks lots, --Hysteria... %) ----------------------- Headers -------------------------------- From ZJLM18@Access.ETSU-Tn.Edu Sat Sep 7 22:13:46 1996 Return-Path: ZJLM18@Access.ETSU-Tn.Edu Received: from Access.ETSU-Tn.Edu (ACCESS.etsu-tn.edu [151.141.8.9]) by emin02.mail.aol.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) with ESMTP id WAA19531 for ; Sat, 7 Sep 1996 22:13:45 -0400 Received: from NOVIX_2.etsu-tn.edu by Access.ETSU-Tn.Edu (PMDF V5.0-4 #16780) id <01I97OH9SV3490RIJ8@Access.ETSU-Tn.Edu> for dgonterman@aol.com; Sat, 07 Sep 1996 22:13:42 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 07 Sep 1996 22:11:32 +0000 From: "MIYAMOTO, JULIE LYNN" Subject: KnK updates To: dgonterman@aol.com Message-id: <01I97OIYC47A90RIJ8@Access.ETSU-Tn.Edu> Organization: East Tennessee State University X-Mailer: Pegasus Mail for Windows (v2.23) Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT X-Finfo: DOS,"knk_r3.txt",,,,Text Priority: normal X-file: knk_r3.txt Comments: Authenticated sender is