FoxFire Studios and The Antiverse Works! Present:



FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS

Written in conjuction by C. Gast & David Gonterman

All SEGA characters copyrighted by SEGA of America, Inc.
Davey Crockett and some script by David Gonterman
Sonia da Hedgehog created by Emily Smith
Kitsume Twyn Destroyer, Wildfyre, Erik Drocken & Boing created by
C. Gast
Lyrics from "Drown Soda" by Courtney Love Cobain (Tank Girl
SDTRK.)
Lyrics from "Everything You Know Is Wrong" copyrighted by Ear
Booker Music, BMI.


A soft, warm breeze blew in through the window in Davey's room.
It was nighttime, and Davey curled up comfortably in his bed,
dreaming sweet dreams of his beloved Sonia. Scarlet wings flapped
and fluttered on his window sill, and he heard the unmistakable
screech of a falcon. He groggily looked over at the bird on his
window ledge. 

"Lutherain?....'zat you?" he asked sleepily.

The falcon stared at him with sapphire blue eyes. He got up and
went over to the strange bird.

"Metallic feathers?" he puzzled, his mind still not quite free
from sleep's gauzy cocoon. The falcon hopped onto his hand. 

It looked up at him.  Were those feathers or horns on its head?
Horns......

"Wildfyre?  Is that you?" Davey stammered, now suddenly
embarrassed as he realized he had on nothing but boxers.

"Let me tell you a secret," the falcon said in a human voice.

Davey was now sure who it was.

"Lean in closer, David. No need to be afraid of a little birdie."

He leaned in closer, humoring her.

A green mist blew out of the falcon's beak and Davey began
coughing hard, his lungs trying to expel the foreign substance.

"Gas!" he choked.

The falcon flapped down to the floor, and changed back into its
original form. Davey lay in a stupor, hallucinating as the gas
took affect.

"Just lie still for me, hon.  This won't hurt a bit," she said,
taking out a metal cylinder.  She straddled his prostrate form,
opening his data spear and cyberjacking into him. 

"Sonia....?" he said weakly.

"That's right Foxie, it's Sonia," she lied.

She slipped the metal cylinder onto one of his normal fingers.
She began downloading pleasure at speed of thought, overwhelming
Davey's pain receptors as the tube did its work. She leaned in,
pressing herself seductively against his chest, and kissed him
long and slow. When the tube began to beep, she reached back and
removed it from his finger. He groaned, the pleasure program
complete, and she removed his data spear from her port. David
laid on the floor, half out of his mind with ecstasy and
confusion.

"Time to go back to bed, Davey," she said, helping him to the
bed.

"Read me a story, mommie," Davey asked as he passed out onto the
covers.

Wildfyre checked the cylinder.

"DNA sample complete.  My work here is done." 

She heard footsteps outside his bedroom door. She quickly changed
back into a falcon and flew out the open window as Sonia entered
the room.

******************************************

Robotnik smiled a toothy grin as he took the cylinder.

"Done, fat-boy.  Now, about our deal...." Wildfyre said, shifting
her weight onto one leg and crossing her arms.

"Everything has been arranged, dear girl," he said, walking the
the lab.  Wildfyre followed. She couldn't get a song out of her
head.  She knew it was a warning.

/Ooh yeah, he wants to take you, take you away from your life/
/Ooh yeah, he wants to take you, take you away from your lie/
/Ooh yeah, he wants to tell you, "come on and take my hand"/
/Ooh yeah, he wants to KILL YOU, baby I know you'd understand/
/Just you wait till everyone is hooked/
/JUST YOU WAIT TILL EVERYONE IS HOOKED!!/

"Now," he said, turning to her, "You finish your half of the
deal."

She walked over to a cryos-creation chamber and cyberjacked to
it. Robotnik popped the DNA sample into a hole in the steamy
cylinder. A mass of protoplasm began to form in the center of the
chamber.  It grew skeletal limbs; then muscles, sinew, skin, and
finally fur. Wildfyre's eyes began to glow as her mentat training
took over and she became a living computer.

The fox inside the chamber began to move.  Its eyes shot open;
slitted fiery orange eyes took their first look at the world. It
smashed its fist through the glass cover and shattered the rest
of the seal, breaking out. Blue-purple fur glistened in the low
lights of the lab. Orange hair cascaded down its naked back.  An
indigo tail swished from side to side.

"May I present to you Kitsume Twyn Destroyer," Wildfyre
announced.

"Call me Twyn D," Kitsume growled, smiling that familiar tooth-
filled grin.

"Excellent," Robotnik said, infinitely pleased. "Now for your
reward."

Swat bots grabbed her and bound her hands behind her. She
remained stoic; she was not surprised. Twyn D walked over to her.

"Can I keep her, father?"

"I don't see why not," he said, looking over her with fond
remembrances, "What's good for the father is good for the son."

************************************************

Wildfyre sat in the prison cell, biding her time, seemingly
uncaring as to what had just happened to her. Twyn D walked down
the hall, stopping at her cell.  He smiled, deciding to taunt
her.

"You look real good, Wild," he sneered. "Dad said he had a lot of
fun with you."

She continued to sharpen her claws, not even bothering to look at
him.

"Well, if you want to consider raping a thirteen-year-old girl
fun, then yeah, I guess I was a blast."

"You're real cocky, girl," he grimaced.  "I may have to break you
of that habit."

Wildfyre turned and faced him. She was thoroughly annoyed at this
worthless creature's brash attitude, and the obvious disdain
painted her features.

::cchhookkee yyoouurrsseellff::

Twyn D dropped to his knees and proceeded to throttle himself. 
As he gagged and wretched, Wildfyre stood up and spoke to him one
again in that eerie rasping echo that is the Bene Gesserit Voice.

::ssttoopp::

Twyn D released himself and began gasping for air.

"Listen to me, Kitsume Twyn Destroyer.  You are nothing to me. 
Your greasy, piggy little father is nothing to me.  This whole
city is nothing to me.  When the time comes, I will walk out of
here and nothing will stop me.  And when I decide, your brief,
insulting life will end. If you think you can control me, just
think of my name.  Wildfyre.  An uncontrollable, all-consuming
blaze that leaves chaos and death in its wake.  Remember that."

With that, she sat down and crossed her legs, propping them up on
a chair in the cell.  She resumed sharpening her claws.

Twyn D gave her an evil, angry look through slitted eyes. He got
up, gathering what dignity he had and left.

********************************************

"Dr. Robotnik, sir," Snively said nervously, watching what had
just occurred, "do you think it's wise to treat her like this?"

"But of course, dear Snively.  What could she possibly do to me?"
he replied, confident.

(She could kill you in heartbeat,) Packbell thought, smiling. 
She might prove valuable to him one day, if he could curry her
favor....

**********************************************

When Davey discovers what in heck Wildfyre did to him, his mind
shatters back to the woman who took his love, and his virginity,
for granted long ago.  His face went completely blank as he
marched himself into Robotropolis, find Wildfyre's cell, open the
gate to free her and promptly nearly ripped her head off with the
strongest left cross that came from the deepest, darkest recesses
of his tortured spirit.

In the Command Room.  Davey can be seen dragging an unconscious
Wildfyre caveman-style by the ankles, not caring for a second
that her head is getting bumped around very harshly by the
stairs.

Robotnik knows exactly where Davey's headed.  There's only one
reason why David Kintobor drags someone into Robotroplis, and
that is to borrow Daddy's favorite toy on that person who, as
Robotnik would guess, performed what could be the ultimate sin
against David; like raping him, perhaps?  He took one look at
Twyn D, and he saw the resemblance.

"Child, will you kindly lead Mr. Kintobor to Main Roboticizer
number 4?"

Wildfyre woke up to the sight of Davey tripping Robotnik's DNA
Lock and the inaudible noise of him banging on the glass cylinder
while screaming at her at top volume.  She couldn't figure the
words but she could tell that it was something about taking away
a chunk of him he meant for Sonia after he married her.

Davey returns to the switch labeled "Robotization Initialize"
when he found that he had an audience:  A blue-purple fox with
orange eyes and hair, and with an indigo tail.  Unlike Wildfyre,
this weird fox heard everything.  Also Davey's HUD had just found
out what this character's DNA was made of.

"Are you my f-f-f"

If Davey's mind weren't on fire with rage, this line did it.

"You're next, Pup."

David flipped the switch . . . and that was the last thing David
Kintobor knew for a while.
_____________________________________________

"Another toy of mine broken by that son of mine."  Robotnik
surveys the wreckage.  "They're like my *cars,* son.  You break
them, you *buy* them.  Humph.  Why do I wonder if he wanted to do
that after he's done with it . . ."

"He must've forgotten that she's part bot now, sir."  Packbell
picks up one of the pieces.  "He should've known about the
feedback.  Wildfyre must've did something to him fierce."

"Like rape him, Packbell?"

"I severely doubt that we'll find her here."  Robotnik turns to
Packbell, who was looking right at him.  "She's way too powerful,
Robotnik, according to my readings.  She could've break outta
here anytime she wants, and take us out while she's at it."

"Not unlike the way she got out this time, eh? . . . where's Twyn
D?"

He was answered with an uppercutting Power Rifle blast.  He lands
on the debris half-conscious to see Davey ascend from what looks
like Hell and he had the look on his face like he just took that
place over.  He was dragging an unconscious Twyn D like he was
dragging Wildfyre.  He stared coldly at Packbell, who moved in
his way.  "You want to try me, little man?"  His voice apparently
came from Hell too.

"Let him go, Packbell."

As he allowed David to march his way back to Knothole, Packbell
wondered why Robotnik said that.

"I don't want to kill him just yet.  I want to torture him with
living first, knowing that he's my son.  I want to see his
humanity get shredded from him strip by strip.  I want to get
what I got from the ROCC, only prolonged over centuries.  I want
his conscious to sear his soul to a puckered scab.  I want his
bitterness to etch canals on his face.  I want him to be
*miserable,* Packbell.  Much more so than that Hedgehog!!"

"Why, Sir.  He's your eldest son, for cripes sake!"

"Exactly . . ."
____________________________________________

Twyn D woke up to an almost disgusted Davey slapping him to
consciousness.  He then threw the strange-colored fox into the
back wall of what looks like the Knothole prison and slammed the
gate shut.

"Now you can just rot in there until *I* decide *what* I'm going
to do with you."  Davey points an accusing finger at him.  "And
so help me God, if you *ever* call me 'Dad' *just once,* I'll
make you regret that you were ever conceived. Understand?!
GOOD!!"

Davey turned around to hear Twyn D whimper behind his back.  The
sound shot through his head before he can even grab a hold of it,
and connected into the memories of his childhood, quivering and
sniveling under a tyrannical mother; someone he swore never to
become.

A promise to himself he broke just then . . .
___________________________________________________

All of Knothole was shaken by Davey's howls of outrage and fury. 
They followed the sound to find the front of the prison all but
destroyed, and Davey ramming his bloodied face into a post again
and again.  No one dared go near him--not even Sonia--for fear of
their lives.  Finally, thankfully, Davey fell down unconscious.

Sonia can still hear his cursings as she picked him up for the
infirmary.  "That bitch took something meant for *you* . . .
meant fer you . . . meant fer . . . you . . ."

"Mon dieu," Antoine cried, finally found his voice.  "Mon
phracking dieu."

Kickaha hung his head in shame.  "I can't believe that Wildfyre
did that to him."

Sally's ears picked up.  "You know who it was, Kickaha?"

Kickaha turned around.  "Was there anyone else who weren't
watching the monitors?"

Sally turned her head.  "Sonia told me about David's previous
sexual relationship on Earth.  He never fully forgiven himself
for that.  And to think that this Wildfyre did just that to him."

Sally shook her head.

Kickaha did too.  "And he was just getting over that encounter
with the ROCC.  Is there to be no peace with this child?! 
Fortuna, what has he done to deserve being punished like *this?*"

Greg Possum muttered, "Being born the son of Robotnik, I guess,"
which earned him the dirty look from *everybody.*

Rotor finally spoke up.  "Boy, I'll sure pity Wildfyre once he
gets his hands on her."

Sonic did the same.  "Yeah, but what about . . . him?"

All eyes turned to the terrified odd-colored fox in the corner of
the cell.

Sonic approached the bars to hear more of his whimpering.

He buzzsawed away the bars and landed inside.

Suddenly, the fox backed into the corner, arched his back, and
growled at Sonic, showing all his teeth.

Sonic wasn't taken back.  He knew that growl wasn't from Anger,
but Fear.

"Hey, fella," Sonic softly said to him.  "It's okay."  He held
out a hand.  "You can trust me.  I won't hurt you."

The fox moved forward, hesitantly, and stretched out his neck, to
sniff Sonic's hand.  Eventually, Sonic got Twyn D to follow him
out of the cell.
____________________________________________

"Even though it hurts,"  Kickaha counseled to an unresponsive
Davey, "You know you've got to do something with this child of
Wildfyre's."

Davey's head turned away.

"I know what you're feeling about.  Really.  I bear the same
special feelings toward sex that you obviously do.  You meant
that sexual experience that she took from you for Sonia and Sonia
alone.  I know that there could be no way on *either* of our
planets can take that back, but you've gotta go on with your . .
."

"Go away, coyote.  just go away . . . I'm damaged goods, can't
you see . . . used up and thrown away, just like on earth . . . I
don't think that Sonia would want me now . . . I don't know if .
. . anyone . . ."

Kickaha said nothing else.  He just picked up the charm bag Walks
With Stars meant for David, and placed it in his hand.  Davey
curled around it as if it was his only procession in the world. 
Kickaha left him with that . . . 
______________________________________________________

"You have a *lot* of gall allowing that monster of a cyborg fox
to just trash my property with impunity, King Acorn, and make off
with one of *my* children like that--"

"You should talk, Julian!!  David here told me everything--"

David walks up to his king's link to Robotnik and punches in his
two bits.
"Don't think for a second that I didn't hear about your plans on
me, *pop!!*"  He spits at the word 'pop.'  "I plan on making
*your* life much  more of a living hell than what you have in
store for me, *pop!!* <more spittle> The Hedgehog will be your
bed partner when compared with me, *pop!!* <still more spittle> 
Oh, and one more thing:  Next time you meet that horned wolf,
tell her she's a dead bitch, *pop!!*"

David cuts the link and storms out while Antoine reaches for the
Windex.
_______________________________________________________

Davey stood on a high hill, looking over Robotropolis which
gleamed in the evening distance. He held his gun, gripping the
handle angrily.

(I always knew there was something not quite right about you,
Wildfyre,) he thought, his ruby eyes shining in the rainbow
colors of the setting sun. His mouse-brown hair blew around his
face like a caged bird trying desperately to free itself from the
fire that burned in Davey's brain. 

An old grey-black crow flapped and came to a landing on his
shoulder.

"Hello, Gramps," Davey said, almost with a sigh, his thoughts
still pointed towards distant Robotroplis.

"It bothers you, doesn't it?" Old Man Coyote asked.

"No $#!*, Sherlock.  You may take sex very lightly, not that I
would judge and all, but *I* wanted it to be special.  She took
something I was saving for Sonia, and that's something I can't
forget . . ."  His rage turns inside.  *or forgive.*

"Wildfyre is mysterious, without a doubt. She still confuses even
*me*.  But before you go off to lynch her with her own
intestines, let me tell you a story." 

"I don't have time for this--" Davey began.

"You listen," Coyote commanded sternly.  Then, he lightened his
mood as he begun the tale.

"Once a little girl, just barely beginning to become a woman,
roamed these hills.  She was a happy, loving soul; she spent her
days in play and innocence.  But innocence never lasts forever. A
dark hearted, cold man took her away from here, and locked her in
a cage.  She was terrified. She tried to escape, but her young
body did not have the strength. Then to her horror, her body
matured in the way of her kind, and it made the dark man crazy
with desire.  He tied her down and stole her innocence; she had
no idea of what he was doing, only that it hurt very badly.  When
the dark man had finished with her, he returned her to her cage. 
Even more surprising to her, she realized that she had become
pregnant.  The dark man was happy; he waited for her to give
birth, so that he would have a new weapon.  She suffered in
labor, and gave birth to a dead child.  The dark man was furious,
beating her and blaming her for the child's death.  But he
decided to keep her to try again.  She cried out for death, but
an old coyote rescued her, and took her back to her home.  He
helped her heal her wounds, but she was now a sad, angry little
girl.  She swore that one day she would hurt the dark man as much
as he hurt her.  And today she intends to keep her promise."

The story dawned on Davey.

"My father.....did that?" he asked, actually shocked at what
Robotnik had done.  He filed that at the end of the megabytes-
long list of reasons to destroy his father.  The temptation to
include killing him to the blood-lusted approval of all the
Mobians was still there, but its sharpness was dulled somewhat,
maybe because he's got someone else to rip apart right now.

"Let her come to you.  And don't reveal to anyone what I have
told you.  For her sake."

With that, Old Man Coyote flew away.
_______________________________________________


"Let her come to me.  Okay, Coyote.  Give me the home court
advantage." David muttered to himself as he tried some of the
meditations he learned from the Wild Pack to calm the angry storm
he's been having since last night.

But on the first inhale, he smelled Twyn D.

David didn't move.  "You sure did a wrong turn, Pup.  It's just
ain't your day, ain't it?"

The odd-colored fox gulped.  Whatever pride he could protect from
Wildfyre's mind games were obliterated outright with that one
swipe of David's hand earlier today.  "Y-Y-Y-You must . . . hate
me . . . for what I came from . . . do you."

A backward glance from David.  "Pup, If I didn't know that it was
Wildfyre who did me last night, I wouldn't even cared if you
existed, but no, I have no right to hate your guys, Pup.  My beef
is with your mother and your mother alone.  But mark this well;
if you *ever* do to anyone what your  mother did to me, I will
find out and you will see that I don't make idle threats."

He allowed Twyn D a minute to allow this to sink into his head,
then he continued.  He grabbed a Diet Pepsi from a nearby cooler
and offered it to him  "Here.  You might as will sit by this fire
if you came all the way over here.  It's not like it's going to
waste or anything. Hum?"

That was when Twyn D saw David smile for the first time ever.  It
put him to ease knowing that he's not going to take a swipe at
him at every turn. He took the soda can and sat across the fire
as David Kintobor told him what Robotnik, Sonic, and eventually
himself is all about.

Wildfyre brushed her hair out of her face as she sat in the bough
of the tree above them.  She smiled thinking how nice it was that
Bio-Mechs have no scent to give them away.

(He really thinks that Twyn D's his son,) she thought sadly,
shaking her head. (Poor Davey.  It may hurt him to find out the
truth.  And he thinks I *raped* him, too! Heh, if I'd really
raped him, he wouldn't be alive to tell about it.)

As the two foxes sat around the fire, talking and getting to know
one another, Twyn D noticed his "mother's" shadow in the tree
above Davey.

"Dad..." he whispered, "Above you!....It's *her*!"

Davey shot up and looked in the tree branches overhead. Sure
enough, Wildfyre was there, smiling down at him, looking like the
cat that ate the canary. 

"YOU'RE TOAST, BITCH!" he snarled. He took out his Power Rifle
and began to raze the tree, limb from limb.  However, when the
tree fell into splintered shards, Wildfyre was nowhere to be
found. As Davey angrily kicked the branches out of the way,
looking for her body, he felt cold steel press against the back
of his neck.

"One move and your head splatters open like a melon at a Galagher
show."

"So kill me, you bitch," Davey growled, baring his teeth. "You've
already ruined me."

"Is that an insult?" she smiled.  "Y'know, technically, I *am* a
bitch--a female canine....." she saw Twyn D preparing to attack
her in an effort to save his "dad", and turned towards him.
::SSttaayy tthheerree!!:: she hissed at the indigo fox.  He
stopped stone cold in his tracks, frozen.

"Now, despite your futile efforts to eliminate me, I am here to
set things straight.  First of all, I did NOT rape you," she
began to explain.

"Yeah, Right! You'll have a hard time convincing me of that!" 
Davey snapped.

"I suppose that under the influence of my Illusion Shot that you
thought I was taking you, but you are wrong.  You see, it isn't
necessary for those of us with cyberjacks to have sex to pleasure
one another. By linking myself to your Data Spear, I simply ran a
program that stimulated the pleasure center of your brain.  If
you check your program logs, you'll find that the program is
still there, under "pleasure.exe".

Deciding to test the truth of her words, he checked his
logs....and he found the program.....she wasn't lying.

"Why did you do it then?" he asked, still angry.

"To overload your pain receptors while my DNA sample took a core
from your index finger. If you look, you'll find a tiny hole
where the sample was taken," she continued.

Davey looked.  There was a tiny, scabbed hole in his right index
finger.

"Alright, then why did the video logs show you taking me?" This
would be the acid test.

"Anybody can change the records. I screwed up.  I was *trying* to
make it look like Sonia came into your room last night.  She
walked in on me and the program got botched."

"What about Twyn D?" Davey queried, now relaxed a bit, but still
not trusting Wildfyre.

"He's not your or my son. If anything, he's more like your
brother than your son. He's a twisted clone of you, David. A
Synthoid, and nothing more." 

That was all Twyn D could take. He burst into tears.  Had
everything he learned been a lie?

::RReelleeaassee,:: she commanded Twyn D. He fell to the ground,
sobbing.

Wildfyre whispered in Davey's ear.

"He's in trouble, David.  I didn't have all the necessary
material to create him; Robotnik doesn't have that kind of
technology.....he's imperfect.  He probably won't live to see
his first birthday before he starts having critical errors. I
gave him a deep program that can be activated with a code word;
when he hears it, he will instinctively seek out Robotnik, and
when he gets within target distance, he will self destruct."

She removed her mauler pistol's barrel from behind Davey's neck.

"I've told you the truth Davey.  You can believe me, or you can
kill me.  There's nothing you could do to me that your &^*%
father hasn't already done."

"Wanna bet?!"

David whipped out the Data Spear and surprisingly found a way to
interface with Twyn D:  It split in two and formed a headband
that fitted over him.

The headband sprang to life as it glowed with flashing lights. 
Twyn D stood there staring at nothing, his eyeballs twitching
like REM sleep but with the eyelids open, within minutes, the
Data Spear did his business, and it withdrew.

"Errors debugged," Davey began, "and program erased.  It was easy
when I found out that he has *my* DNA,"  He turns to Twyn, "I
know your physical Make-up as well as I know my own.  It helps
being part machine.  Oh, and make it "Uncle Davey" and you've got
a deal."  He returns to Wildfyre and shows off that famous grin. 
"You obviously didn't put it deep enough, young lady."

"WHAT?!?"  Wildfyre was shocked.  "But he was going to be my
payback against--"

"There's only *one* person who has dibs on Robotnik,"  Davey
shouted, "And that person is *me*!  Not Sonic.  Not You.  And not
some two-bit clone who was going to be used up and thrown
away--ME, bitch!!"

"You've got that right, Davey," said Sonic, who just came in to
join him.

"Besides, it appears that he's taught her well."  King Acorn
arrived.  "Too well."

"Yeah."  So did MechTail.  "I spent the last two weeks wondering
if David here will become another Robotnik, but it appears that
you've beat him to it, Wildfyre."

Kickaha agreed.  "Using a living being, clone or no, like if he
were some emotionless machine.  Tsk-tsk-tsk.  If that's not being
a Robotnik, may I never know what is!!"

Eventually, all of Knothole showed up, standing behind David, and
showing their displeasure for Wildfyre for what she had in store
for this unfortunate soul. She couldn't have care less about
their attitude towards her; they had no idea of the suffering
Kitsume would have gone through; she had only thought to put him
out of his misery. And as for this "becoming Robotnik" crap--ha!
That fat fool had nothing he could teach her!  But she could sure
teach him a thing or two! It takes a cold hard blade to cut deep,
not a soft weak heart.

And then Davey tried out his newest trick; something that
Wildfyre herself inadvertently taught him:  He recorded her
mentat commands into his memory, and dissected the voice
signature to figure out how it works.  He then used the data his
biochip came up with and programmed the setting into his voice
box.  The result:

::Geeeeet Oooouuuut::

. . . was predictable, as a wide-eyed horned wolf was finding
herself running into the woods and away from the crowd.  "That's
impossible!!" She cried.  "That was a psionic technique that took
me *years* to learn!!  He can't to thaaa . . ."

" . . . can't?! . . . CAN'T?! . . ."  David raised an eyebrow. 
"I am David Jim Kintobor, woman, the Son of Robotnik!!  At any
time I feel like it, I can march into Robotroplis, take the city
over, turn that fat pusbag into *my own* robotic slave with his
own toy, take his throne as my rightful place and succeed in
doing what he has failed; create a peaceful world without pain or
suffering, and I'll be doing it with all of Mobius AT MY SIDE
while I'm doing it to boot!!  Do *not* assume that there are
things that I can not do!"
________________________________________________

"Bravo, Davey," Kickaha said to him later.  "That was great what
you did with her.  Any reprehensions I had for you back then, I
take it back."

"Thanks.  I guess it was Walks' doing, showing me a side of
Robuttnik I never expected to see.  Besides, as you said, I was
paying a debt forward.  Where's Twyn?"

"The poor guy went off to himself alone."  Kickaha pointed out
into the darkness.  "You've might've healed his body, but his
soul."

David proceeded after the odd-colored fox, muttering to himself. 
"You think that even if a person *is* a clone, you think that
negates the fact that he's got a mind and a soul of his own? 
Pusbags!  All of them!!  Am *I* the only person in the world who
believes that?"

"Not any more."

He spun around to find:

"As I suspected, you're not as good with the Voice as I thought!"

"Wildfyre!!  I thought I told you to--"

"You're not as clever as you thought. And I want you to know
something. Robotnik, as far as I am concerned, is fair game. At
any time *I* can walk into that city.  At any time *I* can end
his existence.  Have you ever looked down the lines of time,
David? Have you ever turned your consciousness into a tiny
glimmering spec and floated through the endless branches of
infinity? Do you know what will happen to you if you *DO*
roboticize him?  Have you ever heard of Robo-Robotnik, the
roboticized monster that turned Mobius into a hunk of radiated
rock floating through space? I have. But don't worry. I won't
kill him, but I *will* make him pay."

As Davey looked at her he saw the deadly serious nature of her
threat, and felt a cold sensation grip his guts as he looked into
molten gold eyes, the same eyes that almost tore out his soul
weeks ago. But as soon as they flashed into existence, they
were replaced by blue eyes filled with the scars of repeated
sorrows.

She waved him off.  "I'm sorry I had to do all this to you,
David.  I should have thought about how you'd take it. But at
least now you can understand how I feel.  When Robotnik defiled
me, he destroyed me.  By the laws of my kind, he should have made
me his wife <shudders>; but because he didn't, I am now
considered a whore.  I cannot marry, and any children I have,
even my grandchildren and great-grandchildren, will bear my
shame.  I am less than an animal now, fit only for slaughter. I
can only regain my honor if I am accepted under another people,
and I doubt *that* will ever happen."  She turned her back to him
and folded her arms. "Strike me down now, if you wish.  I have
nothing left to live for."

David Kintobor stood there, speechless.  If what she said were
true, he'd be killing an innocent.  If she was lying, he'd have
his revenge.  But something told him that if she were lying, she
wouldn't be so eager to allow him to kill her. She stood there,
motionless, waiting for the blow, her red hair blowing slightly
in the breeze.  For some unexplainable reason, she smelled
like......sea salt?

He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. As she turned
around, Davey saw the tears down her face, and her stormy blue
eyes waver with fear.  She was terrified of him! She had to be
telling the truth....she was willing sacrifice herself to make it
known.

"I won't kill you, Wildfyre," he said softly. She looked down in
attempt to cover up her tears, embarrassed at her display of
weakness. She began to take off her clothing, piece by piece.

"No, wait, Wildfyre, you don't have to do this!--" Davey
protested.

Wildfyre turned her back to him and continued. Then he saw them. 
Dark pink scars across her back, about fifteen of them. They
looked like they were whip-scars of some kind.  He didn't ask
about them at just that moment, but one day he would.  When she
finished, she went running toward a nearby pond. Davey went
after, puzzled as to what she was doing.  Her colors changed to
black and white, and as she leapt for the water her legs changed
into a powerful tail. Before Davey's confused eyes, a humanoid
killer whale dove into the pond. She came leaping back out of the
water with a song that sounded distressingly like the call of a
wolf.  He went to edge of the pond as she swum up to the bank.

"Wildfyre?" he asked, baffled.

"That's not my name, Davey.  That's just what I call myself."
Then, she let out a call that sounded like a wolf howl to some,
and a haunting whale song to others.....but to Davey, it was a
name, in perfect English.

"That's your name?" Davey asked, smiling.

"Yes.  And you are only the second person outside of my family to
know it.  If you ever need my help, just call my name.  I'll be
able to hear it no matter where you are.  That's the neat thing
about my kind's names." She blushed, and moved a little closer. 

"To be honest with you Davey, the thought of taking you in your
weak state had crossed my mind, but only because you look so good
in boxers. Even though I tried to maintain a professional
distance from you during cyberjack, I couldn't help but enjoy it
too.  Consider it a pleasant memory of me."

Davey blushed modestly, embarassed.  He changed the subject.

"So just what the heck are you?" he asked, scratching his head. 
God, she was confusing!

"Old Man Coyote knows.  Don't you, Coyote?" she said, looking
over Davey's shoulder.

Davey turned around, and sure enough, Coyote was standing behind
him.

"Her kind are called the Red Water Wood Hunters," Coyote
answered. "They are a creature of Wild Pack legend, the hunters
of the land and sea, the mothers of the Whale, Wolf and
Thunderbird.  With the death of her father, Wildfyre is now the
last."

Wildfyre changed back to her horned wolf form, and ran back to
her clothes before Davey or Old Man Coyote could get a glimpse,
although Coyote sure did try.

"She's not the black creature you thought she was, is she
grandchild?" Coyote smiled.  "Oh by the way, I'd like to
congratulate you on a job well done. We all were holding our
collective breath seeing you teeter over the edge like
that these last few weeks, but you pulled through in the end. 
You've even made a new family member in the end. . ."

_____________________________________________________


David finally caught up with Twyn sitting above a cliff.  The
odd-colored fox didn't feel like jumping off, but he didn't feel
like going down by safer means.  He felt empty, meaningless,
and he thought that someone up in the stars would just swoop up
to take him away before the darkness below overtakes him.

He knows what Twyn was thinking about; like he said, he knows
Twyn like he knows himself, and he put what he was feeling into
words, but then he added:

"Indeed, that would have been your fate, Twyn D, if your cries
haven't been heard, that is."

With that, Twyn broke out of his pity party and looked at David. 

"Uncle Davey?"

"I've given you a life, kid.  Make it a good one, will ya?"

"Sure thing."

As the two walked back to Knothole, Twyn joked about thinking of
becoming Davey's Snivley.

"'Snively'?"

"Well Snively calls Robotnik his uncle."

"'*Snively*'?"

"You're old enough to *be* my uncle."

"'*Snivley*', Twyn?"

"Okay!! Okay!! I'll take it back!!"

David laughs.  "Twyn, there's no way you can be like that
needle-nosed dork.  I know you too well, *already!*  Knowing
myself, you'd probably be into my toys day in and day out like my
daily raids into Robotroplis.  Not that I mind and all; there's
some stuff I got just for people to play with.  You should see my
fully interactive 64-bit game machine with a Virtual Reality
interface.  I've got this new game called Strife in it right now,
and it is the *coolest* Doom-clone out there.  It plays like an
rpg real cool . . ."

****************************************

Epilogue:

The hot winds blew across Sandopolis Zone, whipping sand against
the hard golden scales of Erik Drocken, the Ancient Desert
Wiseman. He pulled his jubba cloak over his eyes, shielding them
from the sand-rain.

"What did I teach you about revenge, Amaricia?" the humaniod
dragon asked the red horned wolf.

"It is sweet on the lips, but poison to the heart," she replied.

"Now the human-fox knows the language of command.  I know you
meant to put the clone out of its misery, but now you have made
yourself cold in their eyes."  He sighed. "I know the drive to
destroy the one who dishonored you is strong, but you must learn
to let it go, or you will become just like him.  Just like the
human-fox is destined to become, if he also does not learn to
forgive."

"I don't know if I can. But I promise you, if I do destroy him,
it will be by clan law.  Even you know that is acceptable," she
stated, gripping her sword hilt tightly.

"Do it without revenge, Amaricia.  Do it as one who dispenses the
law," the human-dragon advised.

"So it will be done, Drocken."

With a flashing of golden wings and a burst of red chaos energy,
the two disappeared, leaving the desert desolate once more.

A portal appeared over the desert sands, and a silvery creature
dropped onto the ground. It stood up, squinting its red, triangle
shaped eyes in defense of the sun's glare.  

This was no creature of Mobius!

Its tear-shaped body had four limbs that all looked exactly
alike; the upper portions were thin and tube-like, but at the
joints they began to flare out and expand, being widest at the
square shaped base, which had a claw on each point. Its large
round head had only the red eyes and what looked like a solid,
fanged overbite that almost encircled it.

It scratched its head, shrugged its shoulders, and set off into
the desert, singing a little song without the aid of a mouth.

@/Everything you know is wrong, black is white, up is down and
short is long/And everything you thought was just so important
doesn't matter/Everything you know is wrong/Just forget the words
and sing along/All you need to understand is/Everything you know
is wrong./@

********************************************************