"Yes, hedgehogs. the faster the better!" said Robotnik happily. Meanwhile, Snivley appeared on the screen to the left. "Ready to roboticize, sir." Snivley reported. "Activate!" Robotnik ordered as purple rings began to pass over Sally's body. "Tommorow, Knothole will be a wasteland." said Robotnik, smiling as Sally looked desperately at the purple rings flowing over her. "All the freedom fighters and Tristina will be my loyal servants..." Robotnik hissed.
he then gave a start as the screen fizzled out. "What is this? Snivley!" Robotnik demanded. "The system's overloaded sir." Snivley replied, trying in vain to save the situation. meanwhile, in the roboticizer, Sally threw her arms over her head as various sparks flew and smoke rose from the platform.
"Ive got to turn off the..." a explosion rocked the screen as Snivley dived aside, coughing. Robotnik tensley petted his robotic chicken's head as his nephew's voice came over the now dead screen. "The video is gone, sir." Snivley reported. Suddenly, a slightly less common voice came over the second dead screen.
"Here we are, Princess;" said a female voice. the voice of Tristina the hedgehog. "Home sweet Knothole." said a male voice. this voice belonged to Sonic the hedgehog. Robotnik gave a grim smile as his hand continued petting Cluck's metallic crainium.
"The communication system works." said Robotnik. "we can still monitor thier every move." Robotnik added, anxiously stroking Clucks metal head.
The villagers of Knothole erupted in cheers as Sonic landed on the haystack with Sally in his arms. "Alright Sonic! Good job!" Rotor called, clapping. Sonic and Sally slid down the haystack while two spidery metal legs emerged. "I missed ya Sally." said Tails, rushing forward as Tristina's wheelchair made its way from the depths of the haystack.
"Tails?" asked Sally, embracing the cub and kissing him on ethier cheek. "I missed you too." she said happily. "How come you didnt do the funny kiss?" Tails asked, pulling away from Sally. Sally looked around, shamefacedly, before saying "Oh. The funny kiss, of course!"
Sally then knelt down infront of Tails and kissed his forehead. "Nuh-uh. Not that one." said Tails, shaking his head. "The funny kiss." said Tails, pulling away from Sally again. "On my nose." Tails explained, pointing to his tiny black nose. "Oh, that funny kiss!" said Sally, kneeling down and pecking Tails on the nose.
in response, Tails dug his toe in the ground and giggled. Meanwhile, his twin tails flicked behind the cub shyly. Tails never saw Sally scowl as she crossed her eyes and her eyes flashed black. Nethier did Tristina or Sonic, as the two congragulated eachother with a high five. "Nice job, blue." Tristina said, wheeling beside Sonic as they walked away from Sally and Tails. "You too, Tiff." said Sonic.
"Actually, Sonic..." said Tristina as they walked around to the side of Sonics hut. "I want to tell you something, but I didnt want to say it infront of Sally. In case I'm wrong, you know." said Tristina as a means of explaination. "Its cool, Tiff. So whats up?" asked Sonic, crossing his arms and leaning against the side of his hut.
"While I was looking for Sally with the spy orb, I noticed something...odd...in Robotnik's database." said Tristina, frowning. "Like what?" asked Sonic, frowning as well. "Thats just it. I dont know. It was marked 'Top Secret' but I couldnt crack the code long enough to get a good look." Tristina explained. "Okay..." said Sonic, looking at the ground. "So whats this got to do with Sal?" Sonic asked. "I got enough of a look to notice the words 'Project: Sally.'"
"Hmmm." said Sonic, frowning. " That sounds mondo ugly. I want you to keep tabs on this, Tiff. see if you can crack the code again and find out more." said Sonic, steering Tristina back towards the group. "What about Sally?" Tristina asked, looking over her shoulder at the blue hedgehog. "She's stressin enough about what happened today." said Sonic. "Lets keep this between us for now." Sonic added, smiling as Tristina nodded.
Evening decended upon the village of Knothole with suprising swiftness that day. Tristina had spent most of the afternoon with the groups handyman, Rotor, on exploring her hacking ability. "Come on, Rotor." Tristina sighed as she held her head. "I'm beat. can we please just call it a day?" Tristina begged as Rotor checked a video screen. "We will, Tiff. I promise, just one more try? I still think I can get a clearer picture than we currently have." Tristina frowned, then looked at Rotor wearily as Rotor pushed his muzzle further down his tusks. "Please Tiff? One more try?" Rotor pleaded. Tristina sighed, then raised her hand and closed her eyes. When she opened them, two white pupiless eyes greeted Rotor. a white light 'keyboard' formed at her raised hand. "Rotor, activate your device." Tristina instructed, focusing on the deactivated spy orb infront of her. Rotor began typing at a computer on his desk, then looked as a ring of blue light formed. the light then lowered untill it encircled Tristina's head and began to glow. Rotor then looked back at the computer to see a image of a brain flashing various colors on the screen. "Rote?" came Sonic's voice outside Rotor's hut. "Hey Sonic. come on in!" Rotor called, taking a pencil and paper and begining to note various numbers on the screen. "Spy orb sucessfully reprogramed, Rotor." Tristina reported as the orb began to float."Accessing visual feed." "Okay Tiff." said Rotor, turning on a TV like device and adjusting the nobs. Sonic stopped behind Rotor, placing a hand on his friends shoulder. "Whats up?" Sonic asked, smiling. "Check this out, Sonic." said Rotor, pointing at the computer screen. "If I can study how Tiff's brain works while shes hacking..." said Rotor, motiong to Tristina and then to the picture of her brain. "I can build future inventions that will help both Tiff and us." said Rotor, checking the screen that displayed what Tristina was seeing. "Cool." Commented Sonic, as he turned and smiled at the Tristina-controled spy orb.
With Sonic's permission (and a promise to be 'mondo careful'), Tristina found herself in the junk heaps just outside the swatbot factory. After barely avoiding yet another swatbot patrol, Tristina quietly peered over a hill of scrap. Holding up her hand, Tristina quickly went into hacking mode and scanned the building. getting what she wanted, Tristina pulled out of hacking mode and raced back down the streets towards the great planes. "Priority two hedgehog, heading south vector 2 dash 0." Tristina heard a swatbot report.
Meanwhile, in Robotnik's headquarters, Robotnik turned his command chair around to see the viewscreen. "Send more swatbots and hover units, Snivley." said Robotnik, steepling his hands. "Yes sir." Snivley replied, pressing two buttons on the keyboard beneath the viewscreen. "I would have perferred Sonic, but the hacker will do nicely as well. the girl and I have...unfinished...business." said Robotnik, smiling.
Tristina cried out as she barely dodged a swatbots attempt to corner her in a dead end. "Okay bolt bottoms," Tristina snarled, glancing briefly to her right wheelchair arm. "THIS is where we part company!" Tristina cried, jamming all of her fingers on a button with a ring etched into it. a whitish golden glow engulfed the hedgehog as a burst of power exploded from the back of her wheelchair. Tristina then whooped as she left the robots in the dust.
Tristina slowed, her arms cramping slightly as the power from her turbo boost died down. "Better keep this close call to myself." Tristina muttered as she continued on to Knothole. "I dont want Sonic and the Princess freaking out over my first solo mission." Tristina nodded to herself, then continued wheeling untill she got to the slide.
switching to spider mode, Tristina easied herself into the slide then pressed a button with a egg etched into it. a several pieces of metal surrounded Tristina's wheelchair. meanwhile, both of Tristina's wheelchair wheels snapped to the back of her wheelchair. metal plates continued to surround Tristina untill the 'egg' came to her knees. the metal then switched to glass as two glass haves finished cocooning the hedgehog.
whopping, Tristina rocked back and forth as she enjoyed all the turns, loop de loops, and slides of the sliding tree. finally, with a giggle, Tristina exploded out the other end and crashed into the haystack. spider modes long, metal arms carried Tristina out of the haystack. finally, Tristina tapped the spider mode button again and reverted to ground mode. revving up, Tristina took off for the huts where she knew Sonic, Princess Sally, Bunnie and Rotor would be waiting.
"...Then, my dog-gone arm just fell off!" said Bunnie, welding her arm back onto her shoulder. "I was so humiliated I about popped a bolt*!" Bunnie finished. "Yo Tiff!" said Sonic as Tristina screetched to a stop infront of them. "I'm afraid I come bearing bad news, Sonic." said Tristina. "According to visual scans and Robotnik's operations files, The swatbot factory is still online." "Sal, what happened?" Sonic asked, frowning to the Princess.
"Uh..." Sally stammered, apparently trying to remember. "Th-the bots caught me before I could detinate." said Sally. "Then we gotta go back. Tiff, you'd better come with us on this one." Tristina nodded as Sonic pointed to Bunnie. "We meet in the morning and plan it out."
Meanwhile, back in Robotropolis, Sally pressed her hands against the Roboticizers glass as Snivley made repairs. "This time we light the sucker." declared Sonic. "Perrrfect." purred Robotnik, laughing from a screen behind Sally. The Princess could only close her eyes and shake her head.
That night, Tails awoke from a deep sleep at a rustling outside. gasping, Tails turned and saw Sally leaning a rake against a hut. Letting out a sigh, Sally's eyes turned a bright red and a light shined along the huts. Tails gasped and ducked trembling as the red light passed over his hut, then Sonics, and finally Tristina's. Sallys eyes faded to the previous blue as she turned and started to walk away.
Tails head popped back up as Sally continued walking to her hut. "Thats not Sally." Tails whispered, crawling back to his sheets. pulling the covers back over his head, Tails trembled beneath his blankets frightendly.