Sonic the Hedgehog in Project MXCER1 Part I Search and be Seized by Blue9Tiger

Dr. Robotnik walked silently out of a hover-unit, followed by fifteen Swatbots rolling a heavy cart. The massive thing was rolled slowly, because it was weighed down by many objects. Unfortunately, the objects were hidden from view by a thick metallic covering. The cart was rolled into the main building.

Uncle Chuck peered around a corner to affirm all was clear, and started to jog towards the place where the cart had disappeared earlier. He motioned for his young nephew to jog behind him. He followed, surprised and annoyed that he had to meet the princess in only a few minutes and he was going on a seemingly wild goose chase with his mechanical uncle.

Suddenly, three hover-units appeared, firing repeatedly. Sonic the Hedgehog spied this and wasted no time. He quickened his pace to a storm and frantically flung his uncle over his shoulder. He yelled,

"Hang on, Unc! I'm steppin' on it!"

He increased his acceleration.

At this the other unnecessarily answered,

"Hurry, Sonic!"

The blue blur halted at the door and Uncle Chuck leaped off. They both looked behind them and saw the deadly gleam of the laser fire approaching. Sonic's uncle jabbed a few buttons on a control pad, and the door thankfully slid open. They leaped inside a split-second before the door closed, and the laser fire made contact with the sealed obstacle. Promptly, Uncle Chuck locked the door from the inside by use of remote control, and upon doing that he breathed a sigh. Sonic did likewise and commented,

"Glad that part's over with! Now, why'd you drag me out here, again? To run away from some hover-heads?"

The other's expression grew grave.

"We've only accomplished the easy part. The next one is to find Robotnik's new experiment. Then we have to destroy it."

Sonic yawned, and answered,

"That's it? That's no prob, Unc!"

His uncle shook his head, and continued,

"We must find it and destroy it before completion, Sonic."

The other frowned. This wouldn't be as simple as he first thought.

"How're we gonna do that? If Robuttnik's new project's so tough that it needs to be trashed before he turns it out, he must have heavy-duty guarding. Mondo ugly too."

Uncle Chuck didn't answer, and walked over to a lone computer. He typed the letters,

"TNERRUC STCEJORP".

The computer called a screen that listed every experiment of Robotnik for the current week.. The hedgehog commented,

"Way past cool!"

Sonic looked at each one and knew that the previous ones had failed, for he had destroyed them himself. Then he saw three projects set for the past two days and for that day they were currently on.

"I never saw these ones before."

He pressed a green button to open the file that read,

"CHAOS/POWER MINING TRIP".

The screen showed a picture of an aged cave. In the cave were countless numbers of Chaos Emeralds and Power Rings, pouring out from granite. Sonic's eyes burst open, the glimmering green catching his pupil.

"Is this what was in the cart?"

"Affirmative, Sonic. This is the reason why Robotnik increased his security. Now, close that file and open the next one."

The hedgehog obeyed. The file he looked at next read,

"AIIC"

Sonic briefly scanned that, and spied a chip on the screen. That was it. A tiny, insignificant chip. He quickly closed it and opened the next one, which caught his attention immediately.

"PROJECT MXCER1".

What was displayed on the screen showed a robot that Sonic had destroyed a long time ago. The demolished thing had all it's parts projecting from the metallic shell. It's red eyes flickered faintly. The memory rushed back into Sonic's brain vividly. The robotic monster he had fought alone, that he had destroyed nearly costing his and nearly all life, presented it's ugly face before him. Sonic was slightly loath to watch the screen, but the importance of this situation drove him to it. There he saw a more horrifying sight, which was an outline of the robot attached to the Rings and Emeralds by wires, and the horrible mechanical monster walked once more. What Sonic couldn't understand was the power of these two objects.

He asked,

"Unc, how can your Power Rings be enough to bring MX1 back?"

"It's not just those, Sonic. Strange devices called Chaos Emeralds Robotnik has somehow gotten a hold of and utilized. I don't know much about them."

"I didn't, either. All I know is that they got more juice than a Ring. If we could get a hold of some of 'em, 'Buttnik would be toast!"

He held his thumb downward, then slammed the button that deactivated the computer, and started foward. He couldn't let his worst nightmare become operational. His uncle followed, and they proceeded until they came to a large door. Sonic burrowed his spines into the obstacle, but he couldn't tear through the solid iron.

Just then, the door lifted, and out from beyond emerged Swatbots. Sonic blasted off in the opposite direction, calling,

"Yo, Bot-Butts! I'm over here, not there!"

Instantly, the whole hoarde followed him, firing their lasers. Because of the vast amount of space and the hog's incredible speed, Sonic effortlessly dodged the blasts. He increased his speed to the point of setting fire to the floor. He ran around it to feed the small flames, and before long, the candle-light erupted into a bonfire.

"The fun's over for now, Swatbutts!" Then he added, " And this is your daily anchorhog saying, " That's all for news at 1:00. See what's left of you tommorow!" The hedeghog yelled as he tore away from the smoking robotic heap. Sonic stopped besides his uncle and impatiently commented,

"I'm waiting."

Uncle Chuck furiously typed commands on the keyboard in his chest compartment.

"I've almost gotten it, Sonic."

Sonic turned around and saw the giant flames creeping toward them, burning the floor as it went.

"We're gonna get it, Unc, if we don't----"

He was interrupted when the door finally opened, and before the fire sneaked into the next room, the obstruction lowered and shut.

"Phew, thanks, Unc. We were gonna be toast!"

Unfortunately, it was from one puzzle to another. There were three pathways: two elevators, with Swatbots occupying them, and a wide walkway. On either side of it, though, were flame-throwers that fired at all directons.

Sonic sighed, and declared.

"This is mondo uncool, Unc. One way isn't any harder than the other. Man, I wish that the computer told us the location of Project MXCER1."

Uncle Chuck noisily scratched his head. He suddenly brightened and ordered,

"Go into that elevator and defeat those Swatbots."

Sonic looked confused.

"How'd ya know it's THAT elevator?"

"I don't. But I have a sure-fire way to find that out."

Sonic tapped his foot and coaxed,

"Spill!"

"I'll explain later. Go on."

The hedgehog spied the nearest flame-thrower. He dashed for it and switched it off. Then he rushed out again, slightly singed. His uncle watched him with concern, thinking, What's the boy up to now?

Sonic hurried to one of the elevators and rapped on the door, sticking out his tongue and using a wild facial expression. The occupants walked out, and, before they could exclaim,

"HEDGEHOG ALERT", Sonic had the Swatbots smoking and sizzling. His uncle congratulated,

"Good job, nephew. Now, if you didn't completely demolish these Swatbots, their detecting systems will be operational. If I can reset the progamming of the system from "furry Mobian" to "power sources"........"

The system began beeping, in the direction of the elevator that had been emptied.

"Way cool, Unc! So it's that elevator over there!"

"Affirmative, Sonic. Now let's go."

After the elevator reached the next floor, the passengers unloaded and continued on towards the source of the Chaos Emeralds and Power Rings, which was getting stronger. The road was straight, but then took a sharp turn, and went down an incline. The room there was not as heavily guarded, or so it seemed.

"I think it's safe,"

Sonic ventured to say. A second after he said this, ground-units from all sides entered. They completely surrounded Sonic and Uncle Chuck. Their mechanical voices rang out,

"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!"

"Mondo uncool! Haven't we been through this scene already?"

"What are we going to do now, Sonic? All exits are blocked."

.Sonic's brown eyes rushed across the room and found an escape route. He coolly answered,

"Don't panic."

Sonic grabbed his uncle's metallic hand, and executed a leap to the wall, lasers barely missing their hides. As soon as Sonic hit the wall, he ran up, dodged a few more blasters, and made it to the ledge. They rushed out of the deadly room, into something worse.

Sonic's eyes exploded from his head as he screeched to a stop, inside a thin hallway filled with noxious blue gas.

He held his nose and closed his eyes and mouth, and started to make a run for it. The hallway was straight but long, and the gas attacked his nose and eyes. When Sonic thought that his lungs were about to explode, he stumbled out of the hallway, meeting a welcome "down" elevator. The hedgehog gasped for breath, choking and coughing. He commented to Uncle Chuck, who was hardly stirred by the gas,

"(cough) You're.......(cough) (choke) lucky you're a (cough) bot! (cough)"

Uncle Chuck smiled at the remark and returned it somewhat sarcastically.

"Yes, we're lucky."

All at once, he grew serious. He kept an ear on the signal, and noticed as the elevator descended, the beeping, which signaled the source of the Power Rings and Chaos Emeralds, was fading. He jammed the "up" button. The signal grew louder. The elevator stopped, and Sonic had gained enough strength to softly exclaim,

"Look out!"

A bolt of laser fire came flying toward their heads, and they ducked right before it hit the elevator. Uncle Chuck quickly dragged Sonic out. Then another blast sang, and the latter was nearly winged in his arm. This pulled Sonic from unconsciousness and he tore from his uncle's grasp, bent on seeing who was firing at them. Despite his slightly hazy vision, the hedgehog could see a figure in the shadows, and he could hear his uncle's frantic clanging on the floor, trying to catch up.

Sonic brashly taunted to the shadows,

"You couldn't hit Robuttnik if he was ten times more fatter!"

He didn't have to say more, for after he talked, the shots abruptly ceased. It was as if the shooter recognized Sonic's unmistakable voice. Uncle Chuck stood beside him, wondering at the sudden cease of hostility.

Princess Sally emerged from the shadows, her face wrought with guilt.

"I'm sorry, guys. I didn't know---When I saw the elevator open, I thought----"

Sonic wrapped his arm around her and interrupted,

"Don't sweat it, Sal! Robo-city gets me scared, too. I at first thought that YOU were the Swatbutts."

Sally pretended to be offended, but then she glared at the other.

"We were supposed to meet at the central fountain at 16:00 hours! After I returned from attacking Robotnik's newly built spare parts factory, I waited for you for an hour! What happened?"

Sonic grew embarrased.

"Well, ya see, Sal, I was goin' there, when Unc showed me that Robuttnik's plannin' to bring MX1 back to life! Ya remember him, right?"

Sally gasped, and answered,

"Yes. It was able to destroy whole mountains. It could burn a forest with ease. There was almost no limit to his firepower. Then it released a force field cutting you off from the rest of Mobius. So you had to fight it yourself. The thing almost killed you, but it was destroyed before that could be accomplished."

She brought the subject back on track.

"Fill me in on how."

Sonic shook his head.

"Not now, Sal. We gotta juice and trash MX1 before it's up and walkin' again! No tellin' what it'll do to Mobius this time!"

He turned to his upset uncle and inquired,

"What's up with the signal? Are we goin' the right way?"

Uncle Chuck listened for the "beep", but the detector gave no sound.

"Great. It must have been fired at and destroyed earlier. Now we won't know---"

The squirrel interrupted him.

"What signals are we looking for?"

Sonic answered,

"Chaos Emeralds and Power Rings."

Sally grabbed Nicole and calmly asked,

"Nicole, lock on to any Chaos Emerald or Power Ring energy readings."

"LOCKING, SALLY. SOURCES FOUND."

"Are we going in the right directon?"

"AFFIRMATIVE."

A triumphant Sally smiled, continuing the way they were going before.

The three soon came upon an unsealed air duct. They crawled through it warily, not seeing any hover-units. The duct was a long and winding one, and they still weren't any closer to their goal; time was running short.

Sonic pointed this out to the princess.

"Sal, we've been in this duct for hours! We haven't seen it yet! And maybe old metal-head is already built and walkin' outta the city! We can't spend much longer lookin' for it!"

The squirrel gave him a strange look, and asked,

"And what do you suggest?"

The other knitted his eyebrows and smiled mischievously.

"I say someone gets busted!"

Both Uncle Chuck and Sally widened their eyes and exclaimed in unison,

"Are you nuts?!"

Sonic grinned and continued,

"That's not what I was gettin' at. If one of us gets busted, Robuttnik'll have his hands full with his prisoner! So he'll leave whatever he's doin', and I'm sure he's doin' the project. That'll give whoever's left enough time to find Project MXCER1 and trash it before it's turned on! 'Course, if it's up, we can scratch that!"

Sally folded her arms and asked,

"And who will be the one that gets captured?"

"You're lookin' at him!"

Sally glared and argued,

"We can't lose you! I reject the plan!"

Sonic reached in Sally's backpack to produce a Power Ring.

"And I WON'T get lost, Sal."

Before anyone else could argue, Sonic had taken off. The others shook their heads and continued, with increased speed.

After they reached the end of the duct, Uncle Chuck spoke.

"Are we any closer?"

Sally activated her computer.

"Nicole, lock on to energy source."

"LOCKING. THE SOURCE IS EXACTLY 500 FEET LEFT OF YOU. (BEEEEEEEP) I AM ALSO READING INCREASED ROBOTIC ACTIVITY IN THAT AREA: SECTOR 106 QUADRANT 19."

"Thank you, Nicole. Now how will we get past them without Sonic?"

Uncle Chuck frowned.

"I don't know. Maybe if we---hmm. Sonic once did this. He did a voice impression. Maybe I can pull it off, too. INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! NEED ASSISTANCE IN SECTOR 100, QUANDRANT 62! REPEAT: NEED ASSISTANCE IN SECTOR 160, QUANDRANT 20! ( What am I saying?! My big mouth, that's right here!)"

A Swatbot answered back,

"OPTIC-UNITS AFFIRM THAT THERE ARE NO INTRUDERS IN SECTOR 160, QUADRANT 20."

Uncle Chuck tried to correcct his error.

"MALFUNCTION IN SPEECH. NEED ASSISTANCE IN SECTOR 100, QUADRANT 62! REPEAT: ASSISTANCE IN SECTOR 100, QUADRANT 62!"

Both sighed when the Swatbot ordered,

"ALL AVAILABLE UNITS: PROCEED TO SECTOR 100, QUADRANT 62."

The whole platoon of Swatbots exited, the clanging of their feet dimming, then disappearing.

"That was too close." Uncle Chuck whispered.

Sally nodded, and the two hurried for a gigantic door.

"This must be it. Now how do we get in? There must be some kind of a password."

Sure enough, a computer attatched to the ceiling said,

"PASSWORD."

"Well, for starters, let's use all the words that apply to Projecct MXCER1. Hmm, Sally, do you know what those letters meant, anyway?"

She thought hard.

"I know that MX1 meant Mobius X----the "x" meaning "destruction". The "1" meant that it was the first model."

The computer rang out,

" 45% CORRECT."

"All right!" They exclaimed in unison.

Sally returned to thinking.

"Now what could "CER" mean?"

Meanwhile, Sonic's plan was working perfectly. Robotnik was gloating over him instead of his most recent project. Then, Snively shattered it. He walked into the cold room, and reported,

"Dr. Robotnik, a whole division of Swatbots is in the Dark Swamp! When I demanded what they were doing there, they told me that SOMEONE needed assistance in sector 100, quadrant 62! When I asked them who gave this order, they said it was a Swatbot patrolling sector 160, quadrant 20! I checked. There are no Swatbots in that area, and those metallic marzipans even believed that call coming from someone twenty feet away from them!"

He strode over to the unbound hedgehog and stared into his wide brown eyes.

"What are your little friends up to, hedgehog? Are you trying to upset Dr. Robotnik's new project? Well, it won't work! You see, the security you've been trying to get past is only a very strenthened version of the doctor's."

Sonic frowned and said,

"What are ya gettin' at, Needle-Nose?"

"What I'm getting at, hedgehog, is far worse than you can imagine. Dr. Robotnik has taken Chaos Emeralds and Power Rings---"

Robotnik frowned and waddled to his small lackey. He ordered,

"Enough, Snively. I want the hedgehog to see the project for himself, at the proper time." He paused. "In other words, rodent, I'm taking no prisoners." He added, "Snively, this rodent here has distracted me form attending the project. Continue that, Snively."

"Yes, Sir."

Sonic clasped his hands over his face and thought, Oh man. I failed big-time.

Back at the steel door, the two Mobians were melting their brains in an effort to figure out the 5-letter and 1-number password.

" "CER". Uncle Chuck, what was on that computer about the project?"

" There were three projects, a Chaos Emerald and Power Ring mining---"

Sally's blue eyes shined.

"That's it, then. The password is "Project Mobius X Chaos Emeralds, Power Rings!"

"COMPUTING. 100% CORRECT."

The steel door lifted, but instantly, a loud alarm rang. Uncle Chuck and Sally scanned the room for incoming danger. There was none.

In fact, the alarm was programmed to alert Robotnik, not robots. The round man heard the beeping sound, and waddled out of the room.

Sonic thought, Past cool, they're in! Now to join 'em.

He pulled out the Power Ring, and blasted off, leaving Snively in a confusion.

Sonic ran into the room, Robotnik far behind him. He greeted his companions. Sally frowned.

"If Robotnik was working on this thing, I'm glad you used that diversion. I'd hate to see it activated. It looks like it will be, soon."

"What makes you so sure?"

"The timer on it's chest. Oh my gosh, we only have one minute left! How do we deactivate it?"

Uncle Chuck answered,

"Sonic can use a Power Ring and demolish it!"

Sally explained,

"That thing is giving off more Chaos Emerald energy than the Floating Island. The gem is very mysterious and we don't want to fool around with it's power. We'll have to find some other way, and quickly!"

Despite these words, Sonic declared,

"I'm gone," and ran towards the metal object and started burrowing into the wires that fed the chaos and Ring energy into the mechanical monster through it's great head.

"Sonic, wait!"

As the princess exclaimed this, a multitude of SpyBots entered the room from the high ceiling. Sonic immediately stopped his sawing and eagerly rushed into the mass of the small airborne robots, which he buried his spines into with ease. After all were destroyed, he stormed across the room and continued with much effort to cut the many wires. As he did this, the gigantic robot's eyes glowed, and it's toothed mouth opened it's voice echoing across the room so no one could make themselves heard.

"GREETINGS. I WILL SOON BE ABLE TO WALK AGAIN, FREEDOM FIGHTERS. THEN YOUR PITIFUL PLANET MOBIUS WILL BE CONQUERED. YOU MAY BE WONDERING WHY I SPEAK AS IF I WAS A FLESH-AND-BLOOD CREATURE. THAT IS BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE COMBINED POWER OF CHAOS EMERALDS AND POWER RINGS, AND A SPECIAL CHIP ALLOWING ME ADVANCED THOUGHT PROCESSES. THEREFORE, I BECOME SMARTER THAN THE AVERAGE AUTOMATION. IN FACT, THE INCREASED SECURITY YOU SAW TODAY WAS OF MY OWN DOING."

At that, the listeners gasped in disbelief. Sally nervously eyed the timer. Thirty seconds. She grabbed Nicole.

"Is there any other way to stop the feeding of the energy before the process is complete?"

"NEGATIVE, SALLY. THE ONLY POSSIBLE WAY WOULD BE TO CUT THE WIRES, AND EVEN WITH SONIC DOING THIS, THE ROBOT WILL BE OPERATIONAL BEFORE ALL THE WIRES ARE SUCCESSFULLY CUT."

At Nicole's disappointing response, the princess glanced at the timer that spelled doom. Twenty seconds. She couldn't stand it anymore and made a futile attempt to fire the blaster at the wires of MXCER1. To her horror, the monster simply absorbed the energy, and the countdown's speed slightly increased.

Meanwhile, Sonic slowly broke the ties between the source of energy and his adversary. Needless to say, it was no use. The timer reached zero. MXCER1 sparked violently, ejecting the exhausted hedgehog from his position on the wires. The wires snapped loose from the automation, signifying that it was fully powered. Sonic angrily watched this. He slapped a hand over his face and apologized to the frightened squirrel.

"Sorry, Sal. I tried."

The other was about to respond when a deafening rumble was heard. The mehanical horror shook the steel floor as it stood up. tail lashing quickly.

As for the build, it was much like an oversized toad and a crocodile mashed together. All four of it's webbed, clawed feet were armed with powerful lasers. It's razor-sharp teeth grinded against each other with a horrible creaking sound. It laughed maniacally, daring the Freedom Fighters to try and match it's strength and intelligence.

It was to be expected that the FFs would be more than willing to fight. They weren't just plain cowards that could be pushed around by a crazed dictator's servant.. All three assumed an offensive position. Sonic could even afford a wise-crack.

"By the time ya get out of this room, you'll be scrapped!"

The robot laughed at this display of courage.

"YOU THINK YOU PUNY FREEDOM FIGHTERS CAN EVEN STAND UP AGAINST ME? YOU HAD BETTER THINK AGAIN! I WAS THINKING OF TURNING YOU OVER TO THE DOCTOR, BUT I HAVE A BETTER IDEA!"

With his long metallic tongue, the ugly automation shoved Sonic, Sally, and Uncle Chuck down into the depths of his body.

To be continued.........

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Don't worry. Part II coming soon. Very soon.

e-mail adress : Blue9Tiger@aol.com