FoxFire Studios presents.... Sonic the Hedgehog--Blood and Metal Beta Haunted Fantasies--Installment One Sonic the Hedgehog by Sega of America Blood and Metal, Haunted Fantasies, and Davey Crockett by David Gonterman Kain "Kix" Trevor Knight by Brandon Stewart Sonia Hedgehog and Kopter by Emily Smith MechTail by Paul Lapensee Song Lyric listed is from "See You on the Other Side" by Ozzy Osborne _________________________ "Anger? Hell, yeah, I've got anger." Davey Crockett says as he stands tall on top of the Green Hill, his back toward a very concerned Kix. "You'd be more than a bit pissed off yourself if you find out that your father's an evil tyrant. Why you'd ask? Oh, let me guess: You sensed it, huh?" "W-Well," Kix stammered. "I didn't want to intrude, but I did find out about it when I tried to scan for potential budding Jedis . . ." "And?" ". . . I found something *huge* in you. It ain't the Force, but it's definably something . . ." -Must be that 'Strange Attractor' stuff Kickster's talking about- ". . . You're going to be a big player in this fight to free your planet." "But on which side?" "Good question." "And here's my answer Jedi. King Acorn scraped me off the street I was dying in, turned me into a walking web browser with enough firepower to take out the Death Star from here, and set me loose on his home planet of Mobius for one purpose: To free this marble from whatever crap my 'dear old daddy dearest' threw at it. I'm duty-bound to see that pass; but let's get one thing perfectly clear: Robotnik's *not* Darth Vader. Whatever's left of my Father could be stored in a computer chip, and I've asked it and it said that it doesn't want to return to its body. I'm *not* Luke Skywalker, and I'm definably *not* a Jedi Knight. When he and I meet, and we *will* meet--I'm *counting* on it--it will not be pretty. One of us will be walking out of this final conflict. The other won't even *be*." -But you've got a good point there, Kix. Who was it that said--I think It was Storm . . . "If you stare into the abyss long enough, the abyss stares back at you"? If you fight evil long enough, must you become evil?- Davey later realized that he said that last question out loud. He felt a little awkward, but then his V.R. vision clicked onto something in the distance. "Answering that will have to wait, Kain." He turned to the group of Freedom Fighters that were with him at that time. They were returning back to Knothole after assisting Sally and Remy Brooks on their way to a power station. the roster included Kickaha, on his first mission on the Knothole team; Sonia, as Team Captain; a new arrival, a girlie version of Tails Prower that Suni calls Kopter; Bunnie; and Antoine. "Folks, We've got a solid T-A on the road dead ahead. Mecha Sonic's running blocker on a group of 12 Swats and 6 Workers, including two I positive I-D as Lucella and Sammi." The ears of Davey's girlfriend perked up when she heard those names. "That's *great* news, hon! Now we can get the whole family back! Antoine, you got the Neuro-Reactivator?" "We, We, Mademoiselle," Antoine held up the unit created by Uncle Chuck and an alien orange hedgehog Davey didn't know named Joesph. It was shaped like a rather large rifle that Davey wouldn't mind firing. It was as tall as Antoine was. "Alright. You, Bunnie, and Kix go for the Workers. You'll be the second wave. Davey? Kick? Kopter? You'll be with me as the first wave. Feeling like trashing some Swats, boys?" "Do we?" Davey cracked his knuckles in anticipation. Kopter's definably excited on her first chance to take on Snivley's forces. Kickaha was just as thrilled at the promise of battle. He let out a yell worthy of any 'Native Mobian,' as Davey would say. ____________________ Mecha Sonic zigged when he should've zagged, and that sent him right into the rifle sights of Davey Crockett. "Oh sh--" CHOOM!! Mecha Sonic's head disintegrated by the blast. Kickaha and Kopter were shocked at their first experience of seeing the Power Rifle in action, although Kick heard it before. What was left of the unit was a beheaded metal hedgehog with flames coming out of the back, scattered scrap metal and wires, and a still-barely-functional circuit board. ". . . not again. . ." "Wow! And that was from one shot! One bleeping pull of the trigger!" "And that's on the lower settings too, my friend." "I like you already, Big Daddy!" "Will you stop gawking at your work, guys?! We've still got a dozen Swats!!" "Yeah!" "Right!" "On my way!" Davey activated his jetpack. Kick off on his hoverbike as Kopter took to the skies. Sonia zig-zagged up ahead as Davey charged into the fray. __________________ Davey buzzed that mysterious mansion created by the Chaos Emerald that beaned him three weeks ago. If he bothered to notice what was going on inside, he would have noticed that he was being watched by a rabbit head. It looked like one of those paper mache heads that go with the cartoon character costumes you'd find at amusement parks. Yet, as it were held up, so it can look outside, it appeared to be talking. "If that who I think it is? Move me to the next window." As the five-foot tall marionette doll carried the rabbit head across the lavishly decorated parlor, the head could see the tail end of the flying fox, followed by a purple hedgehog with flowing red hair. It heard the girl hedgehog call the fox's name. "David!" The rabbit head's face lit up when it heard the name. "I can't believe he's here! Soon now, we've got to find a way to bring him back here. And back to me." _________________ "All right, Davey! Let's show off that new move of ours!" "Okay. Get ready. . ." Davey moved above his speeding girlfriend and joined hands. "Now!" "Double Sonic Spin!!" Sonia leapt into one of Sonic's patented spins, which pulled Davey into it. The resulting wrecking ball of fur and quills is twice as big. It plowed into the pack of Swats, scattering them everywhere, but leaving two of them at the far corners. "Awww," Kopter whined. "7-10 split! That's gonna be tough to take out." "Not unless you throw *two* balls at once, young one!" Kickaha grabbed a rifle in each arm and steered with his knees, guiding himself in-between the stunned Swats. With another yell, he took both out at once. He then spun around to examine the oil oozing out of the metal carcasses. "Something wrong, Mr. Kickaha?" "Nooooooo, but Davey won't be too pleased when he realizes that Old Man Coyote's Tung Oil trick is about to kick in . . ." Davey and Suni laid half-dizzy near the rock they obviously crashed into the wrong way. "We need work on that, Suni." "I know, Dave." A Swat has spotted them. "CROCKETT PRIORITY ONE!" ". . . right about . . ." The Swat aimed his rifle. ". . . now!!" The Swat froze. All the remaining Swats did. Davey finally saw them and dove into one with a decapitating flying kick. For a brief moment right after he done so, he wonders where in heck did he know how to do that, but then he saw another Swat. He started off to take that one out, but noticed that it wasn't going anywhere, so he merely toppled it with a gentle push. The oil oozed out a whole lot slower than usual. It felt gooey and thick to the touch. Tung oil. Damn. Davey looked straight at Kickaha. "Granddad's little prank *had* to kick in *now,* Kicker? I was getting used to them spraying it!" Sonia passed by them with a snooty expression. "Mortal Kombat makes you stupid, Darling. Now boys, shall we return to Knothole now that playtime's over?" ____________________ Along the way back home, Kickaha was telling the very inquisitive Kopter all about Old Man Coyote, the Native Mobian spirit guide of Kickaha who just 'adopted' Davey Crockett, who was protesting. "Yer putting ideas in the kid's impressionable little mind, Kickster." "If she didn't want me to put ideas in her impressionable little mind, she wouldn't ask me to." "Mr. Kickaha, is Coyote a good spirit or a bad one?" "errr. . ." Kickaha didn't know how to answer that question, but Davey did. "Coyote ain't the type who worries about good and evil, Kopter. He ain't *that* dense. All he's concerned with is the well-being of his kids and where and when he's gonna get his next--*Hold it, people!!*" Davey's eyes glowed. He saw something behind the child. "We just got a solid Target Acquisition 50 meters west of here. Squirrel needing assistance." Davey booked in that direction. Sonia, Kickaha, and Kopter followed him to find that squirrel struggling against a costume he's wearing. "Hey! Help me out of this, guys!" "Hang on, dude! I'm coming!" Davey was the first to approach, not caring what kind of costume he was wearing at that time. Cybernetically enhanced reactions and his budding fox instincts were working like an automatic program at that time. Suddenly the squirrel spun around and a hand cloaked in soft white polyester gestured toward Davey. "LOOK OUT!!" Davey leapt to a tree branch to avoid a lightning bolt fired by the costumed squirrel. "This damned costume's got a mind of it's own! It's controlling my body! Dammit! It's just like getting roboticized!" "Don't panic, Dude." Davey inched upward on his branch. "That's costume's controlling ya, eh? I'd figure getting you out of it'll release ya. Kick, Suni, come around at the sides. When I give the word, dog-pile him." He heard Kopter lower by him. "Kopter, child. I'm gonna need your help. Costumes like the one he's in have a zipper in the back. I'll need you to unzip that zipper." "I see it, Big Daddy!" "Good. Wait 'til I land on him. Ready?" Kopter nodded. Davey let go of the branch. "NOW!!" Sonia and Kickaha rush toward the squirrel. Davey crashes into him from above. The three knock him to the ground. Davey grabbed hold from behind with a full nelson as Sonia and Kickaha grabbed a kicking leg. Davey moved to the side for Kopter to undo the zipper. Davey changed holds and grabbed under the arm pits, and with a . . . YANK!! . . . the squirrel flew out of the costume, which collapsed under Kickaha and Sonia. "Alright, Davey!" The squirrel laid flat on his back and gasped for air, glad to be out of that costume, his body now his again. Everybody went up to him to see if he's all right. "I-I'm fine now. Thank you, all of you. Whew. Glad *that* nightmare's over." "Just glad we could help. I'm Davey Crockett. This here's Sonia, Kickaha and Kopter. We're going to Knothole. Wanna come." The squirrel's eyes widened when he heard 'Knothole'. "er, No thanks. I've got places to go myself." Kickaha looked puzzled. "Who are you then, and what was that thing doing with you?" "T-That's not important right now. Just call me 'MechTail'. Listen, I gotta go. Thanks again." "Fine then, catch ya later, Mech. Now then, where's that costume." "It's gone, Big Daddy. It seemed to be moving by itself, it was weird. I tried to find out where it went, but it lost me." "Do you know what that thing is, David?" Davey scratches his chin. "I've read about that kind of costume, Sonia. They're called symboites, a kind of smart clothing. They *do* have a mind and life of their own, but they need to be on a host's body in order to be complete. That rabbit costume seemed to be that kind of . . ." "Dave?" Davey was thinking back. "I think I know that costume . . . but I don't know exactly . . . oh, heck, if it's important, it'll come to me. Lets get back home." ____________________________ Princess Sally wanted to do two things with the revelation that Davey Crockett is Robotnik's son: One, she wanted Davey to remember and keep what Robotnik was before, that good and noble Mobius-loving Julian Kintobor that was in fact Davey's father. And the other, and this keeps her up at night, she didn't want Davey to associate any feelings he had for his father on Robotnik himself, so that when he should meet him one day, he would not have that between himself and defeating him, even if he has to do it by killing him. That's what she wanted to do when they gave David all of Julian's trinkets and clothing during that rainy week afterward. She also wanted to do a mock funeral for Julian Kintobor, for the benefit of his son, David. It was supposed to be done according to Mobian custom, but they had to wing it at some places. Like actually having something to bury. Davey done this--he *had* to do it. Mobian custom--by PKZIPping the entire contents of Julian, his new pocket computer with his father's memories, into his remaining supply of 3 1/2 inch disks he brought with him from Earth. He placed them in a cigar box some of Dad's metals were stored in. It was too small for bed sheets, so he wrapped it in a pillow case. "It looks like I done *cremated* the man," Davey commented. Davey carried the 'coffin' with both hands, draped in another item brought in from Earth; the flag of Davey's country, referred to as "America." It made a perfect pall. Davey had on his father's uniform, which was *his* now, even though the pants were baggy and the sleeves were too long--Julian *was* a human, after all--and a black sash wrapped around him, a 'bakhat,' Sally called it; something he should wear for the next ten days he was told. He led the march toward the gravesite, followed by the rest of the Freedom Fighters, some of them surprised to find themselves crying over the pseudo-death of their enemy. Davey was crying more over the beauty of the ceremony itself. According to custom again, a certain Mobian requiem would be played, or sung, or whatever, during this funeral march. Davey selected something from his collection of CDs for the right song. It was played by Sonic on his guitar, since he heard that song being played, and it thought it was 'way past cool.' he sang the words over an acoustic guitar that twanged up and down . . . Voices, A thousand, thousand voices Whispering, the time has passed for choices Golden days are passing over, yeah I can't seem to see you Daddy Although my eyes are open wide But I know I'll see you once more When I see you, I'll see you on the other side Yes, I'll see you, I'll see you on the other side Leaving, I hate to see you cry Grieving, I hate to say goodbye Dust and ash forever, yeah Though I know we must be parted As sure as stars are in the sky I'm gonna see you when it comes to glory And I'll see you, I'll see you on the other side Yes, I'll see you, I'll see you on the other side Never thought I'd feel like this Strange to feel alone But we'll be together Carved in stone, carved in stone, carved in stone Hold me, hold me tight, I'm falling Far away, distant voices calling I'm so cold, I need you by me, yeah I was down, but now I'm flying Straight across the great divide I know you're crying, but I'll stop your crying When I see you, I'll see you on the other side Yes, I'll see you, I'll see you on the other side I'm gonna see you, see you on the other side God knows I'll see you, see you on the other side, yeah. Davey lowered it to the grave, allowed to place it directly in there with his hand--It was *small,* after all--then he allowed everybody else do actually do the burying, one handful at the time. Suni held him as he cried on her shoulder all that time. This time, it was *her* that licked away his tears, as he himself had done just a few months ago. ___________________________ "Was it just that a few months since you came here, David?" Sally asked him as he stood over Julian's 'grave' for a while on his way to his hut. "And it appears that you've been here since the coup." "Feels like I've been here all my life too. Hey, what's that grave next to my dad's" "That belongs to MechTail. It happened before you showed up. . ." She then preceded to tell him about how she got lost in Robotroplis and assumed dead, but is rescued by a former Worker Bot who used that name. The squirrel died while taking her back to Knothole, or so she thought. "I hate to break your heart, Princess, but I just seen a gray squirrel who called himself MechTail on the way back home." It wasn't known whatever or not Princess Sally Acorn suffers from Mobius' answer to Epilepsy, but it was apparent that Sally had a petit mal when she heard that. "It appears that rumors of his death is strongly exaggerated." Then he heard somebody shout from the distance. "Somebody Help!! One of the Worker Bots is going spastic! We can't seem to bring her mind back! She'll tell Snivley where Knothole is!!" Davey said, "Excuse me," as he left the stunned Princess, who, some moments later, recovered to pick up the gravestone and threw it into the trash. No sense to have graves for the *living,* is there? _________________________ Davey didn't care if that Worker Bot *was* Sammi, a relative of Sonic and Sonia's, when he manhandled her into the modified Roboticizer. He just wanted to have it done before she could click on her homing signal. He managed to do just that and slammed the tube around her. He let out a sigh of relief as he pulled the switch. A brief blue flash, and Sammi was herself again, a girl light blue hedgehog about the same height as Sonia. "Sammi!" Lady Lucella, the other Worker Bot relative who were just de-roboticized, said. "Welcome back!" Sammi just stood there stunned. She wondered who. "He did it, sugar," Bunnie said, pointing to Davey. 'He's David Kintobor." She took one look at the fox that rabbit pointed to and Sonic Spun right into him. "THANK'S FOR *NOTHING*!" Davey was knocked clear out of the hut, with Sammi in hot pursuit. "SAMMI! WHAT THE PHRACK ARE YOU *DOING?*" Davey crashed into a tree with Sammi trying to choke his life out. The look on her face resembled that of Robotnik. "You've got a ton of damned nerve to save *me*, Kintobor." "Hey, it's not as if he *had* to do it," Sally protested, "After all, he *is* the son of the man who roboticized you in the first place." "The *son*" Sammi's eyes opened wide, her hands tightened. She reversed his last name. Her face went even uglier. "then that's all I need to know, do I?" "Sammi! NOOOOOOOO!" Sammi balled up and Spin Dashed right on top of David! "ARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGH!" Davey was ripped stem to stern. His blood flew in a arch around Sammi, staining her quills. She would have let go and saw Davey in half with her body, right then, but. WHAMM!!! Three hedgehogs--Sonic, Sonia, and Chuck--plowed into Sammi, knocking her off Davey. Sonia shrieked in horror at what happened to the man she loved. "NOOOO-OOOO-OOO-OOOOO! NOT AGAIN!! NOT AGAAAAA-AA-AA-AIN!!!" Several people rushed to take down the livid hedgehog, some of them were even punching and kicking her, as Davey blacked out in the arms of a weeping Sonia, split between using her healing powers on him, or summoning a fireball the strength of a nuclear weapon to make her cosine pay the ultimate price for what she did . . . . _____________________________ Fortunately for David, and for all you BAM fans, Sonia's love for him overcame her hatred for Sammi at that time. But then again, I have to continue this story, do I? See you next ten-page installment. ____________________ Also coming from FoxFire Studios this first week in 1996: Sailor Moon: American Kitsune Installment One They dump cars on our shores, they call us lazy bums, they blame us for Hiroshima . . . Paybacks sure are hell, aren't they? I made the announcement on the Sailor Moon board at American On-Line. Starting this January, I'll be posting instalments on a new Fan Fiction story called Sailor Moon: American Kitsune. This takes place after Piasa has come and gone, and it finally dawned on Davey Crockett that life does continue after living a lifetime in the space of eight hours, much to his disappointment. And who could drop into his life--literary--but Serena, leader of a group of 'Power Rangers in skimpy outfits' who is not exactly the brightest ambassador Japan can dump over here. At least she's not the ugly Japanese like that Sunny Boner fartnocker that tried to buy up WCW! (One of the reasons why I write 'Blood And Metal' is because I can't blow up federal buildings with bombs made out of cow excrement. The attitude New Japan Pro Wrestling has toward their host country makes me wish for one such bomb) Davey also realizes that he's no longer of the Angry White American Male his brain still thinks he is, but an Americanized version of the Kitsune, a supernatural race of foxes straight out of Japanese legend! Together is a sort of pseudo-partnership, Davey and Selena set out to take out a demonic force that could destroy both their countries. . . . Pray for a nuke, my friends. Pray for a nuke. Also on the web page--http://users.aol.com/dgonterman: The Jonathan Brisby Strips are now On-Line!! I had one professional assignment before I went wired. It was my first, and now I brought it to the Web, where they can't shut me up despite congressional legistration! The entire collection of the Alestle's Jonathan Brisby Strip is now on-line, including four new strips never allowed in by PC thought police. You can jump over to the page at http://members.aol.com/jbrisby833/jbstrips.html. There is only one way to stop me now, liberal dumb@$$es; and that is, you have to kill me. But for the rest of you, have a Happy and Safe New Year from the FoxFire Studios!!