OOC: This looks like fun! I'll use my very first fan character for this.

Name:Kaeda Fox
Age: 15
Species: Double-Tailed Fox
Hometown: Station Square
Allignment: Freedom Fighter
Bio: As a young child, her village was burned to the ground, her mother slain, and older sister missing. She spent the last ten years with a relative in a neighboring village and joined the resistance movement three years ago. Now, she currently lives in Station Square with the same relative, that is until...

OOC: And here's a couple more!

Name: Terisa Fox
Age: Unknown
Species: Fox
Hometown: Station Square
Allignment: Civillian
Bio: She is Kaeda's aunt, and has raised the girl since childhood. She worries for her niece's safety.

Name: Tiuren Fox
Age: 16 (estimated)
Species: Fox
Hometown: None (she's missing)
Allignment: None
Bio: Tiuren disappeared ten years ago when the village was burned down. Her sister Kaeda is currently searching for her.

IC:

She couldn't believe the news on television. Sonic the Hedgehog was dead. Knothole's in trouble. People dying. She couldn't take it. Not after what happened to her long ago.

Kaeda stood up from her seat on the couch and ran straight for her room, past her bewildered aunt.

"Where are you off to in such a rush?"

"I'm packing some things. I'm heading out for Knothole."

Terisa's eyes widened with fright. "What? You know that place is a death trap! I can't allow you to leave!"

"Aunt T," Kaeda explained, "You know as well as I do we can't just sit here and let Snively take over the rest of Mobius. Someone's gotta act now!"

Her aunt grabbed her shoulders. "No," she said sternly. "What would your mother think if I let you go out there and die?!"

Kaeda's jade eyes filled with fury. "She wouldn't think anything!" she shouted. "She's DEAD!"

"What about your sister, Tiuren? She's still out there!"

"I know," Kaeda said, brushing Terisa's hands off her shoulders. "That's another reason why I have to go."

Terisa closed her eyes. "I give up," she said. "If you must go, then please be very careful. Don't get yourself hurt too badly. And try to find some allies."

Kaeda nodded. "I will."

"Promise me you'll be all right."

"Okay, Aunt T. I promise."

SEVERAL HOURS LATER

Carrying a small backpack with her, wearing a yellow-green tank top, jean shorts, and yellow-green/white sneakers, Kaeda found herself walking through the forest outside of Station Square. She had decided to journey by foot, seeing that going any other way would be suicide. She also liked walking, anyway, so it was a good choice.

The weather was sunny and clear; the light from the sky reflected off her golden yellow fur, almost making her seem like she was glowing. She liked these kinds of conditions best; everything around her was more discernable.

Kaeda was starting to get thirsty now. She fished her waterbottle out from her bag and began to drink from it.

But that was when she heard a loud explosion sound some distance away....

EDIT: OOC: Sorry if this seems a bit rushed. I was actually in a bit of a hurry when I wrote it...

OOC:I'll start an IC to give newcomers an alternate place to start!

IC:
Everything was silent, even the sound of the bright orange echidna's footsteps weren't heard. It seemed that he was the only one in the vast dark chamber, but that was far from fact.
"Yes?" the echidna asked asked an unseen being.
No sound was heard, but the being in the room was talking to the mysterious echidna. The voice he heard was inside his own mind.
"I see," the echidna replied, "I'll get on it right away!"
He turned and exited the chamber.
Another echidna ran up to him as he entered the hall.
"Draken!" the arrival yelled, "What did she say?"
"I have to leave the Chaos Realm." He replied.
"What, Why?"
"New dangers are occuring on the orbital sphere known as Mobius!"
"It is always the center of attention!"
"It was the first to sustain life, and it also houses the Chaos Emeralds!" the orange echidna stated, "Their powers are being disrupted as we speak. The Chaso Force is sending me to investigate!"
"I wish you the best of luck, Draken!"
Draken turned and in a blaze of light, vanished!

The echidna reappeared outside of a great city. He looked around then sensed somehting was out of place. He quickly lept in the air as blaster fire scorched the ground. When he landed he spoted several robots approaching him.
"Surrender-to-Robotnik-or-face-the-penealty!" one of them demanded.
"If I'm correct the city behind me is Station Square!" the echidna said, "What are Dr. Robotnik's robots doing out here?"
"Are-you-resisting?" another robot asked.
"I've had enough of this!"
He let loose a dangerous chaos blast that took out the robots in a heartbeat.
"Now you know the powers of Chaos Hellfire!" he looked back at the city, "Let's hope I didn't cause any attention!"
He began walking toward Station Square.
TBC

OOC:Just introduceing my character to the RP and setting the satge for anyone else to enter! Oh and here's my profile!

Name:Draken (to his brohters) Flaming Chaos (to anyone else)
Age:???
Species:Echidna
Hometown:???
Allignment:Unknown fo now!
Bio: No one knows much about this mysterious being. He is a guardian of the Chaos Force. The Chaos Force is the mystical being that controls the balances of Chaos. He keeps his past secret along with his five brothers! His brothers are also guardians!

There is the profile for Flaming Chaos. Anyone who has RPed with me before may know of him. If not that is okay!

(OOC: I didn't join this RP at first because I'm not too well up on the Archie universe, being from the UK, but I contacted Egg and we worked things out^^

I'll use my main character, Wraith, in this. His full bio, etc, can be found in the Character Profiles Thread.)

IC:

"Yo bro. What's new?"

Knuckles turned away from the console he was opperating, looking across the Emerald Chamber at the newcomer. "You're finally awake." he muttered, not without a hint of sarcasm.

"Hey, I'm on holiday here!" exclaimed the second echidna as he stepped into the room. "Come on, even I need a break sometimes! It's hard work fighting those SWATbots and Badniks all the time! When I get a rest, I live it!" His face was grinning as he came over and stood next to his brother, the dim lights in the chamber glinting on his armour and the metal implant on his forehead. "Whatcha doin?"

"Trying to get in touch with Knothole." replied Knuckles, turning back to the console and narrowing his eyes. "We lost their signal a while ago, and I can't contact them now."

The maroon echidna laughed. "Don't say Rotor fell on the radio again!" he joked, still grinning.

"It may be more serious than that, Wraith. I'm picking up some other radio signals from the village now too, ones I don't recognise."

Wraith blinked, suddenly serious. "Other radio signals?"

"Different frequency...one that the Freedom Fighters never use."

"Can you tune to it?"

"No...it's been encrypted somehow." Knuckles shook his head, folding one arm across his chest and grabbing his chin with the other. "I wouldn't be worried, but it's been going on for a while."

Wraith looked down at the console, raising his eyebrows. "Let me know if there's anything I can do."

Knuckles just nodded as he reach out to the console again. Wraith turned and wondered over to another bank of computers on the far wall, flicking a switch on them. A large screen in the wall flickered for a moment, before resolving into an immage, and sound filled the room from various speakers.

"...is as yet unknown, although investigations are already underway. We will keep you posted on any developments in the story."

The newsreader, a swan, seemed rather upset today. Wraith stared at her watery eyes staring out of the screen, and her voice sounded a little hoarse. What was going on?

"Here's an update for anybody who has just joined us. It is truly a sad day for all of Mobius today...Sonic the Hedgehog, hero, freedom fighter and savior, is dead."

Knuckles' head snapped round suddenly, staring at the screen. Wraith, already watching, felt his jaw drop.

"What???"

The immage on the screen changed to the picture of a crowded street, with an ambulance parked in the middle of the road. A caption in the corner read "Amature Video".

"He was found this morning in the downtown area, severely injured." continued the newsreader's voice over the pictures. "He was immeadeately rushed to central hospital, but was pronnounced dead on arrival."

The camera jolted from side to side as it weaved it's way through the crowd. Several ambulance personel were carrying a bed towards the waiting veichle, rolling it on it's wheels, and as the camera came close, it was raised high above the crowd's heads to get a better vantage point. There, lay on the streacher, was a prone, motionless, famous blue form!

"Snakes!!!" spat Wraith, blinking as though he didn't believe his eyes. "This...this can't be true!!!"

By now his younger brother had stepped forward alongside him, his eyes as wide as Wraiths! "What could have...?" he started.

Wraith's head immeadiately flicked to him. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" he muttered, narrowing his eyes.

Knix nodded. "It can't be a co-incidence...something's going on at Knothole." He turned and set off across the room quickly. "We need to find out what it is! Come on!"

"Wait!" Knuckles paused and turned back to see Wraith looking up at the screen again. "If this really is true..." he muttered, "if Knothole has fallen and Sonic really is..." He had trouble saying the word. "...dead..."

He turned to face his brother again. "What's next on the list?" he asked, fiving Knux with a stare. "Robotnik's gonna move on to his next objective, and you can guarentee that the Chaos Emeralds will be somewhere high on that list! We can't afford to leave them unguarded!"

Knuckles looked around at the precious, powerful gems, nestles in their crystaline, flower-like niches on the wall. "Yeah...you're right."

"You've been Guardian here longer than I have." continued Wraith, stepping forward. "It was you who descovered me...you know the place better.I'll go down there...figure out what's going on."

Knuckles considered a moment. He didn't look happy, but he eventually nodded his head in agreement. "Ok, I'll stay here, but Wraith...be careful, and..." He shook his head, his eyes closed. "...let's just hope that news is a fake, somehow!"

(OOC: One question I never thought of Egg, does everyone know that Snivley is in control, or do they still think it's Robotnik? I've put the Doctor here, but I can edit if needs be.)

OOC:That's alright Wraith, and to answer your question about Sniv, the answer is for the most part no. I just noticed that Kaze mentioned something about snively in command. Kaze, your character shouldn't know about snively unless she had special contact from someone inside Knothole. You don't have to edit, but mention how she knows in your next post. Cool?

And now an IC:
As the echidna walked down the crowded streets of Station Square, he heard whispers and what he thought was rumors about Sonic being dead. Of course it has been some time since he had been to Mobius, but he couldn't believe Sonic was dead. Well he didn't until he saw the crowd. They were spliting into groups allowing an ambulance to enter. He saw news reporters locking around the scence. Police cars were everywhere, and he could see a body wiht a thin white sheet drapped over it!

'Could this be Sonic?' Flaming thought to himself, 'After all that has happened, he lies here dead in the streets!'

A lound crahing sound was heard in the distance, and Flaming's attention focused onto it.
"More robots!" he said to himself.
Sure enough SWAT-bots were marching down the city streets taking out any car they passed by. They seemed to be focused on Sonic's body.

"You are seeing this all on live T.V." the news woman reported, "It seems that Dr. Robotnik has staged another attack against the city! With Sonic gone who will save us from his grasp. Waitaminute what's this?"
The bots went through the crowd not harming any soul and went up to Sonic's body. One of them picked it up and slung him over their shoulder. They leaped into the air and activated their jet boosts.

"They kidnapped Sonic's body!" the news woman yelled, "Why is Eggman so interested in that anyway! Someone's got to srop them!"

Flaming lept into the air, "well here we go again! This time everyones attention is turned onto me!"
TBC

OOC: Okay, I'll get to that. Sorry! ^^;

IC:

She looked up in horror as black smoke filled the sky.

"That's coming from Station Square!"

Quickly stuffing her bottle back in her bag, Kaeda took off back the way she came. Her mind began to race...

*FLASHBACK*

"Is that so? Okay, I'll let her know."

Kaeda put away her communicator. Her aunt came into the kitchen looking concerned.

"Who was that just now, Kaeda?"

"Geoffery St. John from Knothole. The Royal Family is dead."

"Oh my God." Terisa put her hands to her mouth.

"And Snively's taken control." Kaeda looked her aunt directly in the eyes. "And executing whoever tries to escape."

Her aunt had to close her eyes. "I...I can't believe this..."

"Well, believe it, Aunt T." Kaeda narrowed her eyes and looked out the window.

"Things aren't always gonna be peaceful..."

*END FLASHBACK*

As soon as she arrived in Station Square, she saw them. The SWATbots trashing the city. They were acting strangely, though...

Suddenly something caught her eye; a 'bot had something blue hanging over its shoulder. She recognized it at once.

Is that...? she began to think. She didn't have time to ponder though, as it seemed as though it was about to take off.

Kaeda found herself running towards the sight, her feet pounding the pavement under her. As she got closer, she saw what seemed to be a bright orange echidna leaping after it...

OOC: Whew! That was a bit challenging! More later!

OOC: Well here I put my chracter, Switch in. His full bio can be found on the chracter profile page. The short and sweet. Name: Switch Species: Hedgehog Age: 25 Alignment: GUN (Mercenary)

RP ON//

*1 hour before current events*

"So you need him taken out?"

"Correct."

"My pay?"

"It will be high."

"How high?"

"Higher than you can believe."

"I can believe a good bit."

"Enough." The GUN officer stood up. "You have a week to take Robotnik down."

"A week?!" Switch jumped up. "I can't do magic you know! It will take me a month or more."

"If you got double pay for a week's completion..."

"Double pay? If i heard that right, man it's a done deal."

Switch stood up, and shook the officers hand.

"Now my half before fee, or quarter if things go to plan."

The GUN officer was unsure, but signed the check.

"Don't forget..." he said rather threatningly.

"You got it." Switch walked out onto the streets of station square.

Fool. This is just the oppertunity I wanted. Once in I will build an alliance. Then when things have gone my way, I will take control. Smiling inwardly at the idea, Switch walked down the street to get lunch...

Now:

He had just finished when Sonic fell onto the street, and the SWATbots attacked. "Well this makes things... interesting..."

She continued forward, dodging crowds of people that were running in the opposite direction.

She couldn't allow herself to stand there and watch that SWATbot get away with that body. Especially if there was only ONE individual trying to stop them.

Kaeda was always told to help others, even if they don't look like they need it. And that was what she was going to do. The only thing was...

How was she going to?

"What do you think you're doing with that body?" Flaming yelled as he charged at the SWATs.
"Reason-is-confidential!" the SWAT replied as he shot his portable blaster at the echidna!
Flaming dodged and rebounded by using his CHaos Hellfire move. For some odd reason his attack missed, and all Flaming could do was watch the SWATs vanish in the distance.
TBC

BAM!!

The shot hit a nearby building, causing debris to fall. The already panic-striken crowd scattered everywhere, running away from falling pieces of concrete and bricks. Over all the screaming that made her ears ring, the golden yellow fox heard the voice of the newswoman desperately yelling at the top of her lungs to report the story.

"...CHAOS REIGNS THE STREETS AS.... ATTACKED... STATION SQUARE..."

She cursed under her breath, upset with herself as she watched the SWATbots flying away in the distance. They were too far away for her to do anything about it.

"Oh my God, someone call an ambulance! This woman is injured!"

Kaeda turned around... and froze.

Right before her eyes, lying face-down on the sidewalk with her head in a small pool of blood was the motionless form of her aunt.

-More laterz.

"I'll never cathc that SWATbot" said Switch. Time for a tracker. He had been given trackers by GUN an old assignment, but had to turn them in. Keeping one, saying he used it, he took it apart and made another, the one know in his hand. Throwing it, it hit the SWAtbot right on target "Good, now I can-"

"STOP" S SWATbot aimed for him, but Switch pulled his laser pistol, and shot the head. "Great now everyone knows I'm here" Looking as 2 more charged him, Switch shot both down, and ran.

Things well go a lot better if I don't get killedi With that thought, he fled into the city's back alleys and streets.

No...

This can't be happening...

These were the only words going through her head as she pushed her way through the gathering crowd.

Her heart was pounding... How could this have happened?

She knelt down next to Terisa, fighting back tears.

"Hey," a man behind her said, "you know this person."

Kaeda looked up. "Yes."

"I just got finished calling 911. The ambulance is coming."

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

It wasn't long before sirens were heard and EMT's came through the crowd. Kaeda watched as the took her aunt away on a stretcher and loaded her onto the ambulance.

She watched as it drove away, shedding tears as it disappeared into the distance.

Flaming Chaos walked over to Kaeda, and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"She'll be fine," he said calmly, "I sense no death on approach today!"
With that he turned and walked off as if nothing happened.
"I've got to retrieve Sonic's body, and figure out why Eggman needs it so bad!" Flaming thought outloud, "I also must figure out what is happening down in the Great Forest. It seems to be the epicenter of the dis-balance!"
Flaming looked on as it seemed that the SWATs were distracted by something.
He grinned, "Nows my chance!"
With that he took off again this time determined to take the SWATs down!
TBC

"Wait!" she called after him, but she was too late. He was already gone.

She hadn't gotten this mysterious echidna's name...

Kaeda started walking away through the now dispersing crowd. She had no idea what she was going to do. Part of her wanted to run to the hospital, but another part wanted her to go check out the trouble going on.

She stopped in her tracks. "Is St. John still alive?" she asked herself.

Looking around, she quickly ducked into a nearby alleyway and took her communicator out from her bag.

"Geoff?"

"--es? --o's there?" came the broken up reply.

"It's me, Kae. Something bad just went down..."

She explained what happened. Geoffery was astounded.

"What the--?!" he exclaimed.

"I'm on my way over to Knothole, St. John," Kaeda said. "You think you can hold on until I get there?"

"--don't know. It's --ting really viole-- --round here lately. --st hurry up, okay?"

"Gotcha. See you soon." She closed her communicator and put it away.

Now she'd have to leave right away. She was worried about what was going on, but she was even more worried about her aunt.

"No," she told herself. "I've got to stay focused. Now... something's really up here, and I've got to go find out what it is..."

She looked up at the sky, where the smoke trails from the SWATbots' boosters still remained.

"They took off in that direction, so that's where I have to go!"

She ran out from the alleyway, and through the streets of Station Square.

She had no idea she was going to be headed for extreme danger...

(OOC: Ever hated RL with a vengance? Sorry for the dissapearence everyone ><)

IC:

It wasn't long before Wraith was once again striding through the Great Forest, on course for the small village that ment so much to so many. He had used the teleporters on the Floating Island to transport down here, and now he had to start his mission.

He was so tempted to make for Station Square to see if the news report about Sonic was really true, but he had decided against it. The better course of action would be to let Princess Sally know he was here, ready to assist if need be. Besides, what was going on in Knothole with all the strange radio signals?

Speaking of signals, his forehead was beginning to itch. The implant was always affected by major computer hardware in the area, and he'd gotten used to it by now, but this was wierd. Not even the piles of machinery in Rotor's lab caused this much interference normally! Whatever it was causing the desturbance, it wasn't normally here!

"Sector-five-scan-complete. Life-readings-negative."

Wraith dropped like a stone.

"Proceed-to-sector-six."

He rolled quickly as the SWATbot troop strode out of the bushes to his left, marching across the clearing in his general direction! Fortunately he managed to reach cover before they spotted him! He stared, dumbstruck, as the white metal figures marched past, dissapearing into the trees where he had just come from!

Of all the things he'd expected to see near Knothole, this was NOT on the list!

He felt a sickening feeling in his stomach. Unusual radio transmissions from Knothole, electronics of some kind in the area, and now SWATbots? No...no...this...couldn't...

He jumped out of his hiding place and charged off into the trees at top speed! This couldn't be true...please don't be true!

A moment later he ducked down again, his face a mask of horror and shock! He was looking out over he clearing that housed the secret entrance into the village...

The entrance stood open, and four SWATs were guarding it!

His legs felt weak, and he staggered backwards, leaning heavily against a tree. No, it wasn't possible! It couldn't happen!

And yet, there it was, in wood and metal! Knothole had fallen!

But what of everyone inside? Sally, Tails, Rotor, Soni...everyone inside? He had to find out if they were okay! He had to get in there somehow and make contact!

But first, he needed to spread the word o all whom it concerned. He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a small communicator. Pressing a button on it, he began speaking, quietly, so as not to alert any bots in the area.

"Wraith to Knux, Wraith to Knux, come in."

"Hear you Wraith...talk to me man."

"I...we...we're in trouble."

*Meanwhile, in a back alley of Station Square*

"This is not my day" Switch just stood there, standing at the readout screen for the tracker. "Something is jamming the signal, hope eggman didn't add some jamming tech to those things."

He walked over to another corner. Suuddenly the signal came in, if only for a second. "Maybe it's these allys, blocking the signal from reaching my scanner."

"Looks like hes will north of here, near Pumpkin Hill perhaps."

He picked up his cell phone.

"GUN this is Switch. I have a track on a SWATbot, most likely moving out towards Egg's base. Can you patch through to the tracker? My scanner won't pick up."

"Affirmative. We have it patched through. Feeding you the coordinates now."

"Got it. I'm through. Cut your transmission my tracker has it now"

"Copy"

The transmission from GUN went dead, and the light saying "External Tracking Feed" went out on the monitor.

Now that I'm in through there satilates, yet bipassing there coputers, I could track that SWAT to the ends of the world.

With that he moved foward. The destructon was severe in the area, and there EMS vehicles in the area.

Again checking the monitor, he saw it was over the Pumpkin Hill Mountain Range.

I know just who can get me there. He thought to himself

Just need to find him. I know that fox will want to find his friend Sonic. He walked foward, and started to Knothole.

OOC://I'm not sure of where Eggmans base is, so I just guessed the SWATs would be around pumpkin hill from Sonic Adventure 2 if they moved about as fast as the Tornadoe from SA2. Don't know where Eggman's base is again, I guess that will be RPed later.

"I've got you now!" Flaming yelled as he sent out a blast of CHaos energy! Again it missed.
"What is going on? Why can't I hit it?"
"That's because they have chaos resistant sheilds." someone said from a nearby building.
Flaming looked and saw a strange looking female. She had on a pair of sunglasses, and wore a strange silver outfit.
"Give me the body," she commanded the SWATs, "We can't keep father waiting."
Flaming Chaos had no idea who she was. She spoke calmly without emotion.
"Who are you?" Flaming asked.
She picked up Sonic's body and turned to leave, "I'm Mecha, Dr. Robotnik's greatest creation."
With that she vanished in a cloud of smoke!
TBC

OOC:
I was thinking on the direction this RP should take, and I couldn't come up with a thing. I finally decided to add M into the story just to shake it up a bit!

*Somewhere in Station Square city limits*

"Um, Switch there is a problem." The voice of a GUN offical said over the radio.

"The signal was faked"

*Pretty enraged* "WHAT DO YOU MEAN FAKED?"

"Um signal was being made by a computer made by Eggman. It's tuned to our signals wavelength. It made a fake signal. The real one was cut off over Knothole by jamming."

"Ok. Now point me in the right direction now. And I do mean now."

"ok here. It's on your GPS system now. anything else?"

"Yeah. Get a new tracking wavelength."

Angered, Switch looked up. Well this changes everything. Perhaps I won't require fox-boys help until later. Hopefully he's at Knothole, but if the signal went dead... Better check the area to see what the deal is. If they destroyed the SWAT and got his body back, this setback could cost me weeks.

With that Switch ran off towards Knothole.

(OOC: I'm back! I was really busy today!)

Kaeda ran as fast as she could through the forest. She had to hurry to her destination; there was no time to lose.

She had been following the smoke trail of the SWATbots for quite some time, and they were beginning to fade. She had her communicator on hand, and was talking to Geoff.

"...so you know where they're headed?" she was asking.

"Basically," came the broken- up reply. "Don't know what's going on, though."

"All right, then."

"Which direction are you heading in, Kae?"

"East."

"Good. When you get to the river, follow it until you get to the waterfall, then head northeast to the ruins of Robotropolis. Contact me when you get there or if something comes up, okay?"

"Gotcha. Kaeda out."

(OOC: Say Egg...question: What's the rap on official characters? Will they be controled by you, simply be NPCs, or could we try our hand at them if we wanted? Kaze has talked to Geoff a little already, but not much, so it's still open I guess.

Just wondering because I've finally finished reading all the Archie comix that I bought en-masse a few months ago, and I'd like to try my hand at RPing one of the characters now I know more about the universe. If that's ok with you of course...if not then np.)

IC:

"Ok I'm coming bro...sit tight."

"Not a chance, Knux!" retorted Wraith into his radio. "Like we said, you need to keep your eye on the emeralds...Robotnik gets them, it won't just be Knothole that we can kiss goodbye!"

"But where do we go from here?"

"I'm gonna try to make contact with someone inside the village. We need to see if the King and Queen are alright, and assess the situation."

"Wraith, don't you dare be planning another of your crazy stunts!"

"Take it easy, little bro." retorted Wraith, standing up. "I know what I'm doing. Wraith out." He shut off the radio before Knuckles could protest, and turned his attention back to the SWATbot guarded entrance to the town. There was one thing about those bots...they were concentrating on the outside world, guarding for intruders coming from the forest to attack them. They were guarding too well...never once did they look around at the tree stump that was the entrance, the stump they were surrounding with their backs facing it.

Clenching his fists, he dug his knuckledusters into the bark of a nearby tree and began to climb. This would be tough...he'd have to be perfectly accurate, but if he could pull it off, they'd never know he was there!

He climbed fast, and was soon high in the branches, looking down on the bots below from a height. Well, here goes nothing! Detaching his claws from the tree and spreading his dreadlocks wide, he began to glide, out into the clearing, far above the heads of the bots below.

3...2...1...NOW! All of a sudden he pulled his arms in, allowing his dreads to drop back from their fanned-out position. Immeadeately he began to fall, head first, dropping towards the floor below! All he could do was pray he was on target!

Bingo! Smooth as a bullet he dropped directly into the treestump entrance to the village, flashing past the SAWTbots while their backs were turned! As he dropped into the roots, he heard a metallic voice behind him say: Getting-windy-isn't-it..."

The smooth curve of the root passage broke his fall, and he quickly brought his feet down underneath him, landing and beginning to run in one smooth movement. As he came towards the exit of the passageway his claws flashed out once again, embedding in the smooth wood on either side and slowing him to a standstill. It wouldn't do to go charging out into the village when who-knew-what was there!

Carefully he edged forward, peeking out into the glade. He narrowed his eyes as he took in the sight.

It was true! It was all true! As if the bots at the entrance hadn't been enough to convince him, here was the complete, total, utter proof!

More SWATbots were inside the village, hearing the inhabitants around like sheep! Nobody seemed robotisized, but maybe the Doc simply hadn't got around to it yet! Either way, the village had most definitely fallen!

He waited until the bots in the area had wondered off, then quickly exited the passage, racing over to a small hut near the entrance and diving inside. At least he was in now...that was a bonus! Just so long as he could avoid detection and get to King Acorn...maybe then they could start doing something about this mess! He couldn't believe Sonic had let the...oh wait...

He bit his lip. It was so unreal, so unimaginable, that he kept forgetting! Sonic could be a pain sometimes, but he was a good guy, and a hero. It wasn't right...it...

He closed his eyes, banishing his thoughts. He didn't have time to think right now. He had a job to do! Carefully he poked his head out of the hut, then, satisfied the coast was clear, he ran out and set off towards the center of the village, staying careful to keep himself concealed as best he could...

OOC: You could try at them I guess, I'm not controlling them.

IC:
"Damn that Robotnik!" Flaming cursed, "When I get ahold of him I'll tear him apart!"
he looked off into the horizen. He could see a faint whisp of smoke in the sky above.
"I have to leave the hidden city, and find my way to Robotnik, or knothole, or which ever comes first!"
TBC

OOC: sorry if it was short, but I'm really short on time!

"What the...?" Switch jumped back. Knothole was swarming with SWATbots. If I wasted all my time getting here, and hes not here... Switch Began thinking how to get in... There is no way around, as there are SWATs at ever corner... He picked his pistol up and turned the flash bloakcer/silencer on, as well as to stun. Stun should fry these things with a head shot. With that he fired, knocking both out. "That was easy. Well Eggman hasn't turned them to robots yet, which is good. Now to find Tails..."

Suddenly a powerful arm grabbed Switch around the neck and a glaved hand closed over his mouth, cutting off his voice! "Are you insane???" hissed a voice behind him.

He found himself being dragged backwards quickly, into a small supply hut, and once they were inside, a foot quickly kicked the door shut after them.

Now inside, the grip around his neck was released. He quickly jumped away, spinning round to look at his attacker!

Wraith folded his arms, fixing the hedgehog with a look. "You're gonna get us both killed!" he muttered angrily. "When those SWATbots are registered as missing this place is gonna go straght to hell! Now just who are you, and what are you doing here???"

"Whew... I'm finally almost there."

Kaeda stood atop a hill overlooking the Great Forest. The woods didn't look to lively; it was probably due to the SWATbots patrolling through it and all.

It was going to be dangerous in there. And she was going to have to get into Knothole by stealth. Luckily, if the need ever came for it, she had a small laser pistol equipped in a small holster on her waist.

She ran quickly down the hill and into the forest. At once, she ducked behind some bushes; SWATs were stomping by.

"Damn," she said under her breath. She picked the wrong time to be here.

She waited a few more minutes. The 'bots just sat there, just a few feet away, and didn't turn around.

That's weird, she thought. Why aren't they moving?

She decided to wait a few more minutes. She didn't like sitting there, so close to the ground, but she couldn't afford to be seen.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the SWATbots began to move again, trudging away from where she was hiding. Carefully and slowly, Kaeda rose, so as not to be higher than the bushes.

Good. They're leaving...

Making sure not to make a sound, she quickly moved away.

That was close...

It was all too long when she had finally reached the outside of Robotropolis. She was grateful Geoff gave her directions now, for at this point (hopefully) she wouldn't be too far from Knothole.

She was about to take out her communicator when she paused.

Footsteps...

Kaeda ducked behind the nearest tree. Damn... not again...

More SWATbots came marching by, and were joined by three others that were standing a few yards away. They seemed to be changing posts... at least that was what the fox was thinking.

She watched as the second three 'bots that were standing outside the city started marching into the woods past her.
Her gaze shifted to the first two that had come from the forest. They were taking the place of the others. It was just as she thought.

She carefully took a step forward, crouching low to the ground again. She looked at the SWATbots again. They didn't move.

A couple of steps more. Still silent.

Another. Nothing...

Hm... This is weird...

She began to quietly move a little faster again,staying close to the outskirts of the old city, hiding and ducking behind trees and bushes. She had her communicator in hand; she needed to know what to do next...

She finally stopped behind a large boulder, and turned on the com unit, turning the volume low so it wouldn't be heard.

"Geoff," she said as softly as she could.

Nothing...

"Geoff, you there?"

Still nothing.

"There must be some kind of interference..." She turned the communicator off and put it away. She took out a GPS unit and activated that.

At once, a map of the area showed up. She examined it intently, looking for anything that could help her.

"All right... I'm here... there's Knothole..." She pressed a couple of buttons. "Where is the entrance?"

After five minutes, she turned it off and stuck it in her bag. "I'll figure it out," she said.

She continued northwest through the woods, checking the GPS once in a while to make sure she was on the right track. It was getting harder to read the map, though-- the electronic interference was getting more intense.

Soon enough, She found herself staring through the woods into what she was sure was Knothole...

A ruined city... guarded by more SWATbots than she could count...

"Okay, now," she said to herself. "Now to actually get inside there..."

Flaming stopped as he approached the ruins of Robotropolis. It may have been more than a year, but the radiation insidet he protective barrier was so strong it could kill anyone instantly. A voice suddenly caught his attention. It was coming from what used to be the West entrnace.
As he crept closer he could see a figure, and he stopped when he could hear what it was saying.
"What is taking so long?" the figure yelled into a small comunicator, "I was expecting it to be done an hour ago! More?!? I should've never trusted you!"
The figure turned around.
"ROBOTNIK!" Flaming said to himself, "What is he up to right now? I cna't attack him now! Not until I know what is going on!"
Robotnik went over to his deluxe transportation vehicle and opened the hatch. Flaming watched as several SWAT-bots marched down the ramp.
"You know your mission," he told the last one to exit, "I'll be at my base in Megopolis!"
The last bot was different than the others. He was way taller, and seemed to be able to think for himself.
Flaming watched as Robotnik's ship flew off into the distance.
"I've got to figure out what is going on!"
Flaming came out of hiding, and started to follow the SWATs!
TBC

Angry Switch yelled, "No fool, you'll get us killed. Those SWATs got back up, registering my handiwork as nothing more than a slight glitch. They'll never knoow what hit them. Don't you think it might be a tad odd for a hedgehog they have never seen abd ab echidna, one marked as an enemy most likely, talking in a seculuded hut?"

Switch let it sink in for a moment.

"Know if I keep it cool, They won't know I enter the village, so they won't suspect anything. But know to the reason I came here: Where is the fox, Tails?"

"For a city that's heavily guarded, it sure is lacking in security in some areas," Kaeda said to herself quietly as she observed her surroundings.

It was looking too easy to enter the village this way.

Everywhere else seemed to heavily guarded. Even if she did sneak in over their heads, she would end up out in the open, a target easily picked off by other 'bots in the area.

This is the only way to go, then, she thought. But first...

She grabbed a pair of binoculars she had taken out of her bag and looked through them, switching them to infrared mode. What she saw made her curse.

A net of red lines. Blinking red lines. Most likely triggers to set off nearby explosives or alert SWATbots. Either way, tripping the alarm meant major trouble.

She would have to make her way to the city through the trees....

"Here goes nothing." Kaeda put away the scopes and leaped up to grab a branch. She pulled herself up and paused.

So far, so good.

The next branch wasn't too far away. She easily made that one.

Now for the hard part...

The closest one was farther away, and it didn't look like it would support her weight. It was either that, or swing her way past the flashing red lasers and risk being discovered.

Kaeda bit her lip. She hated making hard decisions...

She decided to go for the last branch. She'd have to move fast, or else she'd fall...

*crack*

"Huh?"

The branch she was perched on was breaking.

*snap*

Quickly, she jumped up to reach a branch above her. She barely got it before the one underneath her fell.

Great. Now she would have to leap her way in...

The broken stick landed on the ground with a small thud. Luckily, there was no one nearby.

"Whew..." She sighed with relief.

The fox directed herself to the sight of the village. From there, she started to swing herself. She'd have to get the timing right, and land safely, or else she'd trip the alarm...

"3...2...1..."

She let go of the branch and landed on some fallen leaves. At once, she turned around, taking out her scopes again.

Had she made it past the trap?

"Got it," she told herself, seeing the red lasers blink on and off again.

Kaeda put the scopes away, and looked forward towards Knothole.

"I made it here... at last..." She closed her eyes.

"Now, to find Geoff, and see if he's okay..."

"You're a fine one to be making demands." retorted Wraith, narrowing his eyes. "Just who are you anyway?"

"Switch." replied the hedgehog flatly. "You?"

Wraith considered for a moment. Switch the hedgehog...he'd heard that name. Tails had mentioned him once...only in passing though. Goodness knew if he could be trusted or not.

"Wraith, brother of Knuckles." he replied, a little sourly. "And this hut is out of everyone's way at least. They aren't likely to descover us here." As he spoke he moved over to the door again, peeking out. The area was deserted.

"I have no idea where Tails is, or even if he's still alive." he continued, turning back to the hedgehog. "As long as we're here, I guess we should work together, but I think it may be an idea to contact King Acorn first...make sure him and the Royal Familly are okay...what do you think?"

Switch seemed thoughtful for a moment, and Wraith took the chance to collect his thoughts. He still didn't really trust the guy, but in this situation he could use all the help he could get. Plus if they went together, it would allow him to keep an eye on Switch, make sure he didn't try anything, like betraying him to Robotnik or something. He'd have to watch his back though...

"Yes sure why not." If this guy figures out I'm in league with GUN, if only for a short time, im in trouble. Thoghut Switch. Switch casually droped the GPS tracker on the nearby table.

'Whats this?" Wraith asked.

"A tracker. Also the key to finnding Eggman."

"Come on out Snively we know you're in there!" a squad of SWAT-bots stood infront of the Castle Acorn, "This is your last chance before we destroy the castle with you in it!"

Flaming Chaos was hiding in the bushes nearby watching what was going down. He looked up at the balcony as two older style SWAT-bots marched out. Behind them was a small person. He wore the royal cloak and crown, he was also bald and had the longest nose Flaming had ever seen.

"That is King Snively to you, ADAM!" the so called king sneered, "Knothole is under my command! Something that Robotnik couldn't do!"

"But he's your uncle!" ADAM replied, "How can you defy him?"
"Eggman isn't my uncle! Jullian Kintobor is, and he's dead!"
"we are taking you out! If you surrender maybe we will forget your death!"
"My upgraded SWAT-bots will deal with you vermin!"

Snively turned and went back into the castle, as a squad of Snively's SWAT-bots came out to attack Robotnik's SWATs.
"This is getting out of control," Flaming told himself, "I've got to find cover!"

As the first shot was fired Flaming took off hoping to not get spotted.
"I should take cover in one of the Huts!"

Flaming turned and went to a nearby cottage. The dorr was jammed so he gave it a forceful shove! The door flung open, adn he got a suprise when he learned it was occupied!
"What the," he said in a suprised tone, "I thought there was no one left!"
He had stumbled into the hut where Wraith and Switch hid in!
TBC

"What the--?!"

Kaeda's ears perked up as she heard gunshots go off. Something told her to hide quickly or she would be caught in the crossfire.

But where could she go? She was right out in the open, and the few people she had seen had already gone rushing into their huts and slammed the doors shut. There was no way they'd let a stranger in...

Gotta think fast...

The yellow fox looked around quickly. Then something caught her eye.

A short distance away, there seemed to be what looked like vacant hut, though the door was clearly ajar. It certainly was better than being picked off like wild game.

"There!" she said to herself, running towards it.

When she got to the steps, however, she was in for quite a surprise...

High up in the castle, a lone figure lay in the luxury of the Royal Suite, surrounded by thick, luxurious carpets and magnificent, finely detailed furnature. Lay on the bed, head down on an arm, the thin figure could quite easily have been asleep, slumbering happily and peacefully in the grandure of the surroundings...

...but she wasn't asleep, and she certainly wasn't happy. The rich pink bedcovers were darkened, stained wet with a flood of tears. Her body was limp, as though she had collapsed there ready to die.

Right now that sounded like such an appealing option.

They had brought her in as the news reports went out. They had forced her to sit, and watch, and listen. They had made sure she knew.

Sonic...her Sonic...was dead.

Her world had fallen apart. Even while the SWATbots had come streaming into the village...even when the castle guards had fallen and the fortress had been swamped...even when her parents had been takenaway and she had been locked in her room, there had still been the slightest flicker of hope...the dream of escape...the call for her spikey blue hero. He would rescue her, and together they would rid the castle and the village of these infernal machines and their short, irritating master!

But no more.

It was supprising...it wasn't the thought that she would never be able to hold him again that was the crushing blow...it wasn't the thought of never again seeing his face or hearing his voice...it was the unceremoniousness of it all. She had watched him being carried to the ambulance, she had seen the bots intervene...

...and all through it, he had been lay, silent, weak, puny, small...not the hero he was supposed to be...he deserved more!

Now he was gone, and as far as Sally was concerned, Mobius had gone with him.

Her body shook as a new wave of tears came unbidden to her eyes. She had already cried more than she had ever done before in her whole life, yet still the sobs came. So engulfed in her emotions, she barely even heard the noise outside.

When the explosions finally penetrated her thoughts, she looked up, her now bedraggled brown hair hanging over her face like some curious plant. She didn't want to check what the noise was...she didn't want to move at all, but she had to find out what was going on. Wearily, with a heavy heart, she dragged herself to the edge of the bed, stood up, and wondered slowly through the full-length window and out onto the terrace overlooking the castle gates.

============================================================

Wraith jumped as the new arrivals burst in, automatically bringing his fists up to block attacks! They seemed as supprised as he was, but it wouldn't do to let his guard down!

He glanced across at Switch, who was also looking at the fox and echidna with his eyebrows raised. "You know these two?"

Switch shook his head, and Wraith narrowed his eyes. "Alright, just who are you two, and how did you find us here?" Suddenly he became aware of the fighting going on outside. "And what the hey is that noise???"

Switch grabbed his GPS quickly. "Well ig if those SWATs are blowing the village apart I say we get out of here."

"What was that?" Said Flaming

"Nothing to concern yourself with." Switch said with a degree of arogance.
"If you're against Eggman I may be able to help. "

Another explosion rocked the village.

"But I'm not standing here and getting killed."
He peeked out side to see SWATbot vs SWATbot. "SWAT vs SWAT... Well thats a new one..."

"That's because they are two different SWAT-bot armies!" Flaming said, "Their masters seemed to be locked in a war of some kind!"
Everyone else gave Flaming an odd look.

"What you may not know, and what I just discovered," Flaming continued, "Is that Snively has single handly taken control over Knothole! Not Robotnik, Snively!"

"How is that even possible?" Switch asked.
"It seems that snively has gathered older class SWAT-bots, upgraded them, and attacked Knothole! Snively then became King, and the royal guards had no choice but to obey him!"

"What did Snively upgrade the SWATs with?" Wraith asked.

"I don't know," Flaming said puzzeled, "But however I think Sonic did! That may have been the reason for him heading off toward Station Square! Whatever he knew went with him to the grave!"
* * * * * * * *

Another one of Eggman's SWATs crashed to the ground.
"Take them down!" ADAM yelled out, "They mustn't get the best of us!"
Snively's SWATs drew their blasters, and opened fire upon the downed bots. ADAM acted quick to try and pop a shot off on the lead bot of the opposite army, but a shot froma royal guard nailed him in the metal skull.

"ADAM-is-down!" a SWAT yelled, "Retreat-re..."

In a matter of moments all of Eggman's bots were destroyed. King Snively looked out upont he destruction from his balcony!
"You see "UNCLE" this is what happens when you underestimate the "UNDERDOG"!" Snively leaned back and laughed!
TBC

OOC: Sorry for disappearing, I was visiting family yesterday.

IC:

"So that's why the SWATbots attacked Station Square," Kaeda said softly. "Snively must not have wanted word to go around about it, and sent them to retrieve the body... but what is he planning to do with it?"

"Let's save the questions for later," Flaming said. "Right now, we've got to leave this place before--"

Another explosion outside shook the ground, knocking everyone off their feet.

"What the--" Wraith started.

"COME ON!" Switch growled, standing at the doorway. "If we stay in here, we're dead!"

*continued*

Flaming threw open the door and glanced outside.
"Everything is safe right here," he told them, "It seems that the fight has moved farther away from here, or has ceased!"

Flaming looked ahead, and quickly jumpped to cover. Everyone else followed suit. Up ahead was that robot the echidna saw in Station Square, she was talking into a communicator.
"ADAM failed, father," she said calmly.
"Don't worry about it, I'm putting him in charge of something else!" Robotnik's voice came back, "I want you to return to me now. You'll regroup, gather more powerful bots, and carry out ADAM's mission! Now leave that hell hole!"
"Roger that," Mecha replied.

Just like before she vanished in a cloud of smoke.
"She was the one that took Sonic's body!" Flaming told the others coming out of hiding, "So what's next?"
TBC

"Listen. WE do this my way or the highway" Switch said. "And I say we beat it. Beat it now."
"Why should we?" said Wraith The others mumbled the same thing.
"Because I say so thats why."
Suddenly the explosions stopped. Switch again looked out. Eggman's bots were wrecked, and Snively was luaghing aaway on a balcony.
"Well know thats stopped, I say we have to options. We sneak up and blitz Snively's bots which are down, and storm the palace, or we take some of Eggmans wrecked bots, and I can see if they have any information that would lead us back to Eggman."

"Do you want to get yourself killed?" Flaming told Switch, "Unless you have a deathwish I suggest that we fall back for now! We don't know what type of power Snively is using! Only thing I know is that wahtever it is, it's drawing off of the Chaos Force! Now if you want to rush in their recklessly and get kill, be my guest! I'll be waiting here!"
TBC

"Guess its plan B then. If they can be caught off guard or distracted, we can get whats left of the lead bot."

OOC:Sorry its short, couldnt think of anything else.

"We can't attack anything!" spat Wraith, staring at Switch with an irritated expression on his face. "If we try to attack and we're seen, we're dead. If we put some of the bots out of comission, alarms sound, others come running to investigate and we're dead! We just don't have the numbers to attack anything here!"

Switch was now looking just as irritated. "Okay then what do you suggest, mister know-it-all?"

"Stealth." retorted Wraith immeadeately. "Nobody knows we're here yet, so let's make use of that! Go exploring, look for any weaknesses in Snivley's set-up here...and I still say one of our top priorities should be locating King Acorn and his familly and leaizing with him! He's the kind after all, and he may have valuable info about Snivley's grip on the village!"

"How would we be able to get into the castle?" asked Kaeda, raising her eyebrows. "We've seen how many bots are out here...just imagine how many there are in there! Plus it looks like the Royal Guard are being forced to work for Snivley too!"

"In terms of being in there, we'd have to be careful, yeah, but I think we could get around without being seen." replied Wraith. "I know my way around well. As for actually getting in there...I could climb the wall with my knuckledusters...I may even be able to carry one of you on my back as I do it..." He paused and glanced at Flaming's hands, curious as to if his echidna counterpart also had spikes on his gloves. "That's what I say, anyway." he finished. "What do you all think?"

Switch thought about it. "Fine. If we get discovered..." He was still ticked. Fools. Stelth is not the way to go. Really wish I could just tell GUN to call in an assualt and level the place, but then they would know... On that thought he continued "But onn one condition. You can lead, but if things backfire, I will lead and I will take command and do things my way. Deal?" He looked for approval. "Again if it fails, I will take it from there. And I will take the best course of action, and I will get us out of trouble, if things go wrong."

Kaeda nodded. "I guess it's okay. There's someone I need to find, anyway."

She looked over at Flaming. "What about you?"

EDIT: OOC: Sorry about the short post, I had to make this quick.

"I'm on a mission!" Flaming replied, "I don't care what we do under whoever's conditions as long as I get my job done!"

He walked forward a bit and spoke to himself outloud, "I must find out what is disrupting the balance!"
TBC

Wraith narrowed his eyes at Flaming, considering asking about what he said, but he decided to leave it until a better time. He also considered giving a reply to Switch, but again didn't bother. The Hedgehog wanted to get himeslf killed, fine, but he could do it on his own time. If he started suggesting anything stupid Wraith would leave him to it and not get involved.

"Okay I'm going." he said, stepping over to the door of the hut and looking round carefully. "If anyone wants to come with me, follow now." Making sure the coast was clear, he slipped out the door and set off towards the castle, using the still smouldering embers of SWATbots as cover.

OOC:Sorry I've been on vacation, just got back from Chincoteague Island, Virginia. I'll post here a little later, just got back. EDIT:Post time.
"Ok. Now show us what to do." Switch said.

OOC: I'm back... with my second post of 2006!

IC:

Kaeda followed after the maroon echidna into the castle, not waiting for the other two; she didn't have the time to sit and dawdle.

Once inside the gates, she stopped, thinking about where to go to next. After a moment, she walked forward slowly and ducked into a dark corridor; there were SWATs approaching from around the corner.

As carefully and quietly as she could, she took out her communicator. She was going to try once again to contact St. John.

***
continued

"ok, what do we do about those SWATs" Switch said, some what angered.
"If you want, my pistol has a silencer/flash deflector. I can fire it and they wont see or hear it. Or is that too unstealthy for you people." He said with a bit of arrogance.

"Will you grow up?" muttered Wraith andgily. "Something's wrong...that was too easy. I thought we'd have to scale the walls."

"Maybe Snivley thought nobody would be able to get into the village, so there's only minimal guards here?" replied Flaming thoughtfully. Wraith nodded.

"True, I didn't think of that." He glanced around, and suddenly noticed Kaeda pulling out her comm. "Hey, who are you calling?"

"Geoffery St. John," the fox answered. "He's the person I'm looking for. I'd been trying to call him for a while now."

"Put it away," Wraith told her. "We don't know if those 'bots could easily pick up the transmission or not. You're going to get us all discovered."

"Fine then." Kaeda put the comm away. So much for that idea...

"I get this odd feeling that we've already been discovered," Flaming stated, "Call it Parinoia, but I get this felling inside that is screaming trap!"
He looked around. There were no signs of a trap. Maybe he was just nervous!
TBC