The New Boy In Town Part One
By Axel Hedgehog

        In the crowded, polluted city of Robotropolis, two metallic figures loomed 
in front of a broken down house.  It had not been explored in for years, for 
the front door was caved in, and the windows were boarded up.
        "Accessing-blaster-rifle.  Aim-and-fire," one of the bots droned.  It 
lifted its hand, and a small gun popped out.  It lit up, and a small beam of energy 
shot out.  It totalled the doorway.
        "Good-job-Swatbot-30231," said the second Swatbot.  They walked inside the
dreary house.   Their automatic flashlights came on.  Suddenly, a shadow 
darted past them.  The bots turned in the direction.  The first Swatbot cried out as its 
head was ripped off its wired body.  The second bot immediately turned on its wrist
communicator.
        "Emergency-in-Sector-7-Area-9!  Send-"
        The transmission was cut short as a huge hole was blasted through its 
chest. The limp robot fell to the ground.  Their attacker kneeled down and examined 
the bodies.
        "Damn.  Search bots.  Now I have to ditch this joint.  Oh well, at least 
they will supply me with enough weaponry," the voice said.  The silhouette plucked 
the blaster rifle off the droid hand.  It stood up and walked out the doorway, 
revealing a lime-green hedgehog.
        "Great Forest, here I come!"

        The small town of Knothole was abuzz.  All the citizens scrambled to the
Great Oak Slide's exit.  From inside, a small boom echoed through the wood.  
In a blur of blue, a hedgehog popped out and landed in the hay.  Soon to follow 
was a ground squirrel with red hair and a blue vest, then a two tailed fox in blue 
jeans.
        "Sonic, Sally, Tails!  Nice to see you in one piece," boomed a walrus named
Rotor.
        "And it's nice to be back.  Too much time in Robo-land cramps my style,"
Sonic replied.
        "Not to mention a few muscles," Tails stretched.
        "At least the mission was accomplished.  Our clothes are ruined though."
Sally looked at her T-shirt and vest.  They were stained with oil.  The trio 
laughed and went to their huts to change.

        All was quiet in the Great Forest.  A stranger entered the South side, the
closest entrance to the Great Oak Slide.  It was dark.  Very dark.  Through 
the trees, moonlight filtered down.  The green hedgehog from earlier crept up to a tree 
stump.
        "Man, I've been traveling all day," he mumbled to himself.  He brushed some
dirt off his pants.  Then he wiped some mud off his sneakers.  They were 
snow white and seemed to glow in the moonlight.  He leaned on the stump to rest for a 
second.
        The next thing he knew, he was traveling down the Great Oak Slide.  He 
landed on the hay with a soft thud.  The stranger crawled out and looked around.  
That's when he saw Knothole Village.
        "What do we have here?" he asked himself.  He walked to the village,
unknowingly tripping a laser alarm system.  The alarm bells rang and the 
whole village woke up.  The main group of Freedom Fighters rushed to the entrance 
ready for action.   Then they saw the unfamiliar hedgehog.
        "Who the hell are you?"  Sonic questioned.
        "I'd like to know the same," was the reply they got.
        "We'll tell you when we can trust you."
        "Okay, I give, I give.  My name's Axel Thomas Hedgehog.  I just came from
Robotropolis," he explained.
        Princess Sally snapped to attention at the name.  She asked, "Thomas
Hedgehog?"
        "Yeah, he was my father."
        "Oh my god.  He was the best soldier in the Royal Secret Service."
        "Not another one!  As if St. John isn't enough already," Sonic complained.
        "Don't worry, Sonic.  Thomas was nothing like St. John," Sally comforted
with a laugh.  "Now Axel, what were you doing Robotropolis?"
        "It's a long story."
        "We have plenty of time."

        "It all started seven years ago, when I was seven years old.  The reign of
Robotnik had just started and my father was called to war.  It didn't take 
long for the palace.  My mother and I were forced to leave.  That's when we came 
here, with the rest of the Freedom Fighters.
        "After enough Mobians were gathered, there was a search party rounded up
to find if there were any survivers.  I insisted on going to search for my 
father but was forced to stay in Knothole.  Or so everyone thought.  I stayed far 
behind on the rescue mission, but I was going nevertheless.  When I saw Mobotropolis, I 
almost cried.  There were bodies littering the ground.  Bot parts were scttered 
everywhere.
And the blood.  There was so much blood. The walls of the crumbling 
buildings were painted with it.  If someone didn't know about the war and just happened to 
wander to the city they'd think, 'What the hell happened here?'  I walked around 
some more when I spotted a familiar face.  An all too familiar face.  It was my 
father.  A huge hole was ripped though his chest.  The red sight of blood had stained his 
battle suit.  I cried and cried.  After what seemed like hours, I stood up.  My eyes were 
red and filled with hate.  Hate for Robotnik.  I walked on, thinking only one thing- 
  'Now it's personal.'"

                                       End of Part One

Hey, everybody.  Axel here.  That's the conclusion to part one.  Stay tuned 
to see what happens next.  If you have some questions, here's my e-mail address:

axel_hedgehog@hotmail.com

Well, see ya later!

Axel T. Hedgehog