By K. M. Hollar

Sonic and related characters copyrighted by Sega. Sonic Underground copyrighted by DiC. Shalita copyrighted by Shayne Ranay. Used with permission.

Sing a song of sixpence
A pocket full of rhyme;
Three hedgehogs and a fox
Lost in time.

The robot lay on a table in the semi-darkness, motionless. The electricity that was its life-blood had not been supplied, and until then it would lie there, unthinking, waiting for a touch that would bring it to life.

A figure appeared in the doorway, eyes shining in the darkness. It peered around, as if afraid of spies, then paced into the room. It stood over the robot on the table. The person extended a hand, and touched the robot's steel face. Then he crept toward the equipment on the wall. He reached for a lever and paused, hand in midair, looking over his shoulder at the robot on the table. His hand trembled, as if he had second thoughts; then his fingers curled around the lever's handle and yanked downward. A thousand lights lit on the control panel. A hum of power filled the room, and on the table, the robot's crimson eyes blazed to life.

Ten miles away, another robot's eyes flickered on.

This robot was missing both arms, which lay on the floor nearby in various stages of demolition. As its orange eyes lit, a green hedgehog wearing gloves and safety glasses gave a whoop. "Woohoo! Tails, I got it to come on!"

A young orange fox darted into the room. "You did? How?"

"I rerouted the power circuits," the green hedgehog replied. "This thing is sucking up nine hundred and eighty volts."

Tails whistled. "No wonder normal voltage didn't work." The fox leaned out the door and hollered, "Sonic, come look! We got him to come on!"

A blue hedgehog rocketed in. "No kidding! Can I use him as target practice?"

"No way!" cried Manic, jumping between his brother and the robot on the workbench. "He's thrashed enough!"

Sonic laughed. "Don't worry, he's not much of a target anyway. Where's his arms?"

"Over here," said Tails from where he was crouched over the mangled objects that had once been robot limbs. "Look Sonic, I rebuilt this one, but I took out the machine gun." The fox wiggled the fingers of the arm at his friend. He picked up the other arm, which was a strip of metal with a nest of wires protruding from it. "I can't fix this one," he said, shaking his head.

"About shot himself," added Manic.

Sonic eyed the holes where Silver Sonic's arms should have been. "He'll sure look funny with only one arm."

"Oh, he'll have both arms," said Tails, setting down the scrapped limb and reaching behind an enormous toolbox. "I built this one and put it back here to keep safe. What do you think?"

Sonic looked at it. "Nice, but, uh, is it supposed to have claws like that?"

"Oh, they retract," said Tails, working a mechanism inside the arm. The razor blades pulled back into the ends of the fingers.

"Tails, he could kill somebody with those."

Tails looked hurt. "I couldn't leave him unarmed! I took out his automatics and his rocket launcher, and he can't spindash--so what if he met a SWAT-bot?"

Sonic shrugged. "Program him with Judo?"

Silver Sonic's eyes winked out. Manic whirled. "Uh oh, I think we've got a short." He fumbled along the robot's length and unplugged the power cable. The generator in the corner died with a splutter. Manic looked at Tails and shrugged. "I guess it's back to the drawing board."

Sonia looked in. "Here you are. Sonic, can I talk to you a minute?"

"Sure, sis," said Sonic. It was no problem leaving Manic and Tails, who were discussing Silver Sonic in the strange language of mechanics.

Sonic followed Sonia into the main cavern of their underground lair. "I need to show you something," she said, opening a door that led to the sewer. "Two somethings, really."

Sonic followed her into the foul air of the pipe, along a walkway and up a ladder. Sonia slid aside a manhole cover with a grunt and clambered out into the sun. Sonic followed her. "Look," said the pink hedgehog, pointing at the sky. Sonic shaded his eyes and looked.

Hanging in the sky was a misty round thing like a hot air balloon, a little smaller than the moon. "What is that?" asked Sonic, wishing he had brought some binoculars.

Sonia, as if reading his mind, pulled a minuscule pair from her shirt pocket. Sonic took them and looked at the object. It was a metal-panelled ball, floating on a hoverjet. "Probably an ad blimp of Robotnik's," he said, returning the binoculars to Sonia.

"I don't know," she said, biting her lip. "It might be a weapon, too."

Sonic thought of the velociraptor who had appeared three months earlier, and shown them how lax they were on keeping up with their foe's plans. "Might be," he muttered. "What was the other thing you wanted to show me?"

Sonia dug into a pocket of her jumpsuit and pulled out a scrap of paper. She handed it to Sonic, who saw the scribbled words and chords of a song. "Where'd you get this?"

"That's the odd thing," said Sonia, lowering her voice, although the alley was deserted. "This morning I came out for a look around and saw that thing." She gestured to the hanging sphere. "As I was looking at it, this person in a cloak walked up to me." Her eyes became bright. "I think it was Mom, Sonic!"

Sonic's eyes widened. Any news of their mother was good news, for she was the Queen and Robotnik had been trying to catch her for years. "What'd she say?"

"Well," said Sonia, "she gave me that paper and said to learn to play that song. Then she told me that we shouldn't come above ground from seven o'clock tonight to seven tomorrow night. Her cloak was over her face the whole time, but I'm sure it was her."

"A tipoff!" Sonic exclaimed. "Maybe the SWAT-bots are gonna search this sector!"

"That's what I thought," said Sonia. "We can learn this song in the meantime." She walked back to the manhole.

"What about that moon thingy?" asked Sonic, following her.

Sonia looked up at it, eyes narrowed. "Maybe it's going to drop a bomb."

It stalked along the dim corridor. Its red electronic eyes glowed in its metal face, blank and thoughtless, following a series of programmed commands. The ferocious intelligence had not yet developed in its matrix, but it was learning. It learned with every step it took, with every sound it heard, with every shape and shade it saw.

It entered the wide, glassed-in room at the end of the hall, and focused on the figure in the captain's chair. It paced to him and stood at his elbow.

Robotnik looked up at the steel blue robot and grinned. "Welcome to the world, Mecha-bot two! It seems those idiots Sleet and Dingo did something right for a change. Have a seat."

The robot sat down in the copilot's chair, its arms and legs slowly flexing. It turned its head as Robotnik said, "I am your master, Doctor Robotnik. You are my second most brilliant creation, Mecha Bot Two. Your code name is Metal Sonic. You are outfitted with speech capability and a learning matrix, and I expect you to use them."

Robotnik paused, and Metal Sonic said automatically, "Yes sir." Its voice was sharp and toneless.

"You were created for one purpose," Robotnik continued, working at the control panel before him. "That purpose is to annihilate Sonic the Hedgehog. Do you understand?"

Metal Sonic knew who Sonic and his family were, for images of them existed in his memory. "Affirmative," he said. "Self unit will destroy Sonic."

"You are dismissed," said Robotnik, still working. "Return here at six forty-five this evening."

The sleek blue robot rose from his seat and departed without a sound.

"Sonic, could you turn down your amplifier?" Manic called, sticking his head out the workroom door.

"Why, too soft?" Sonic shouted, turning up his amplifier another three notches. He hit a chord on his steel guitar that knocked dust from the ceiling.

"No!" bellowed Manic. "You're making Tails sick!"

"Oh," said Sonic, and turned down the volume.

Tails slowly withdrew his hands from his ears. While the young fox could handle their concerts, a single guitar at maximum volume was too much for his sensitive ears. He called, "Thanks, Sonic."

Sonic sat in a chair and picked his guitar, studying the song chords. "This isn't too hard," he commented to Sonia, who was practicing karate moves before a mirror nearby.

"Have you read the words" she asked without turning.

"Yeah, they're weird," said the blue hedgehog, picking up the sheet. "All that stuff about time flowing like a river. What do you think it means?"

"Probably something deep," said Sonia, making several quick moves and kicking at the mirror. "Maybe it's about how time passes inside the soul or something."

Sonic looked at his guitar. "Time passes pretty fast in mine. Do all songs have to have double meanings?" He strummed his way through the song again. Sonia didn't answer. She was watching the clock, balanced on one foot. "It's almost seven," she murmured.

In the workroom, Tails was reconnecting Silver Sonic's left arm, while Manic worked on the right. "I hope that new stuff works," Manic was saying. "The SWAT-bots were sure mad when I stole it from the lab."

"I want to know how we're going to power him," said Tails. "980 volts isn't exactly household current. How was he powered before?"

"Some kind of battery," said Manic, splicing two wires together. "There wasn't much left of it." Silver Sonic had met his demise in the blades of a shredding machine.

"This arm's on," said Tails, touching a voltage tester to the wires. "Everything works here. I'm going to put on the panelling now."

"Hand me the tester," said Manic. "I'm almost done."

The two were screwing on the dented strips of metal when the clock's hands struck seven o'clock.

Silver Sonic's orange eyes flashed on.

"Whoa," said Tails, stepping back. "What'd you plug him in for?"

"Uh, I didn't," said Manic, holding up the end of the plug. "He's just ... on."

They stared at the robot as it sat up and swivelled its head from side to side. "Greetings," it droned.

Tails gaped. "How can it talk? It didn't have any audio output!"

"I put some in," said Manic. He cleared his throat. "Um, hello, Silver."

Metal Sonic had returned to the glassed-in room and was standing at Robotnik's elbow when his network connected. There was another robot there. They did not speak to each other, but each 'knew' of the other's presence.

Robotnik was unaware of this, as Metal Sonic had not moved or made a sound. The doctor was chuckling to himself. "It is now one hour after sunset," he said, gesturing to the darkening sky. "My robotizer beam shall finish my job. It is the dawn of a new era, Metal Sonic. All living creatures in the city below us will be transformed into robots, and Mobitropolis will be my capital city of terror." He leaned back in his chair and laughed. "Did I say 'Mobitropolis'? You are witnessing the dawn of Robotropolis!"

Still laughing, Robotnik inserted three keys into three slots on the control panel, flipped back a plexiglass panel, and pressed the button beneath.

The grey hedgehog-robot looked at Manic, his orange fly-eyes glowing. "Please enter master identification."

Manic looked at Tails and whispered, "Get Sonic and Sonia in here!" Tails dashed out and returned with them in tow. Manic signalled for them to keep quiet, then said, "I'm Manic Hedgehog, and this is Sonic." He pointed to Sonic, who waved. Silver Sonic turned his head and stared at him. Manic pointed at his sister. "This is Sonia." She waved, too. "This is Tails," concluded Manic, indicating the fox, who was holding the end of one tail in both hands, looking nervous.

Silver Sonic gazed at each of them. "Tails. Sonia. Sonic. Manic. Registry saved."

Suddenly there was a crash, and the walls quivered. Everyone caught their balance against the walls, the lights flickering. "Earthquake!" cried Tails in panic. He flung his arms around Sonic.

"Quick, get outside!" Sonic yelled, but Sonia barred the way. As the noise of rattling doors and furniture stopped, she said, "It's after seven! Whatever Mom warned me about is happening! We can't go outside for twenty-four hours!"

"Mom?" asked Manic, looking at his sister in surprise.

There was no time for an explanation. Another shock hit, and the lights went out, plunging them into noisy, terrifying darkness.

The quake lasted for some time. The hedgehogs and fox groped their way into the hall, where they huddled and tried to shield each other from falling objects. "My workroom will be thrashed!" Manic lamented over the noise.

"Your workroom?" said Sonic over the strangle-hold Tails had on him. "What about the city, man? What's going on up there?"

Finally, after twenty minutes of prolonged damage, the shaking shrank to a tiny vibration. Sonic lifted his head and blinked into the dark. It smelled dusty, and there was a hissing in the distance. "Is it over?" he ventured into the silence.

Manic stirred beside him. "I hope so. Hang on, guys, I'm gonna find my flashlight." They listened to him crawl away in the dark, clinking among the gravel that had fallen from the ceiling.

"I hope Mom's okay," came Sonia's worried voice. "Was it an atomic bomb?"

"No," came Tails's voice. It was shrill and unsteady, as if the fox had not regained control of himself. He was still clinging to Sonic's arm like grim death. "If we were close enough to ground zero to feel the quake, we'd be toast."

A beam of light appeared, and Manic shown it around his workroom, visible through the doorway. The contents of all the shelves were now in the floor. Behind him appeared a pair of orange eyes, and clanking footsteps shuffled among the litter.

"Hi Silver, you okay?" asked Manic glumly.

"Self unit is undamaged," droned the robot's voice.

Sonic stood up, prying Tails's fingers off his arm. "How does he have power?"

"I donno," Manic called through the doorway. "He came on before the quake hit." He stepped into the hall, Silver Sonic clanking behind him. "We'd better access the damage."

The four explored their dark lair, Silver Sonic following them like a great cold dog. A pipe in the big cave had burst and was spewing water. Sonic and Manic shut it off and examined the rest of the pipes, but there was no more damage. Aside from knocking their belongings in the floor and shaking dirt out of the ceiling, the earthquake hadn't hurt much. Sonia said little. She listened to the low key rumble that had not yet subsided, and bit her lip. She was certain something horrible had happened.

The night passed in a jumble of aftershocks. The group gathered blankets from their beds and slept under the table. Silver Sonic stationed himself nearby, oblivious to the dirt plinking on his hull. As their eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, they found that the robot's eyes cast enough light to illuminate part of the cave. This was helpful when a shock hit and they awoke to noisy confusion.

At last Sonic crawled out of the blankets and sat on the dusty floor beside the table. "Silver, what time is it?" he whispered.

"Thursday, five forty-three AM and seventeen seconds," replied the robot in a loud monotone.

"Shhh!" Sonic hissed. "Keep it down!"

"Affirmative," said Silver in a lower volume.

Sonic pulled on his shoes and tiptoed around the cave, checking for damage. The van containing the computer equipment was covered in dirt, but as far as he could see it was unharmed. He wished the waterworks basement had windows, but after a moment's consideration, decided it was better it didn't. Radiation might get in.

He tiptoed back and sat down on the couch. Silver Sonic watched him, but did not leave his post beside the others. "Do you know what happened?" whispered Sonic, wanting to make conversation.

"Affirmative," the robot said quietly. "The Death Egg has fired."

Sonic stared at the glowing orange eyes. "What's that?"

Silver Sonic stared back for a long moment. "The Death Egg is a battleship with two doomsday weapons. The operation of E2 is unknown, but E1 has been fired. Would you like the statistics of E1?"

"No, just tell me what it did."

"Affirmative. E1 is nicknamed the Robotizer Beam. It will fire ten times in twenty-four hours, and anyone within a mile of the impact zone will be robotized."

Sonic forced a smile. "You're kidding, right?"

"Self-unit does not understand. Define 'kidding'."

"Joking, not telling the truth."

Silver Sonic didn't answer for a moment, then said, "Self-unit was not kidding."

"I," said Sonic. "Not 'self-unit'. 'I'."

"I was not kidding," the robot repeated.

Sonic leaned back on the couch and ran both hands through his rumpled spines. The Death Egg ... a robotizer beam ... it boggled his mind. How could a robotizer beam be so powerful? That is, if Silver Sonic knew what he was talking about.

Little did he know that several miles off, aboard the floating sphere called the Death Egg, Mecha Bot 2 was recording two new items of information: the meaning of 'kidding' and that one said "I" instead of "self-unit".

The day passed much as the night had. There were no working lights, and there wasn't enough fuel to run the generator. In the meantime, Sonic and Tails dug out a propane lantern. They sat around it in the main cave, munching crackers and waiting for the next earthquake.

Silver Sonic repeated his information about the Death Egg and the robotizer beam. This was met with skepticism, especially on Manic's part. "You can't do that," he said, waving a hand. "Where would the metal and programming come from?"

Sonia pulled out the scribbled song and laid it on the table. "We need to learn this song," she said, lifting her medallion. "It might form a derobotizer, who knows?"

"With a song?" asked Tails, raising an eyebrow.

"You never know," said Sonic, transforming his medallion into a guitar. "Our instruments have weird powers sometimes. Man, I miss my amplifier." He tossed a longing glance at the box in the corner.

"It'll sure sound dry," agreed Manic, as his medallion changed into a drumset.

Sonia changed hers into an electric piano, which functioned as a normal piano without electricity.

Sonic had already practiced his portion of the song, but Sonia had to learn it before she could perform it. Manic made note of the tempo and time notation, and rocked off by himself, paying no attention to the others' practice. Silver Sonic watched them without a word.

Their first effort at performing the song went well, although Sonia made mistakes and Sonic dropped his pick mid-song. It was a simple tune with four minor chords. Tails stood over the song sheet and whispered the words as they played. "Streaming, rippling and flowing, Time is a river. Ever surging, changing and churning, Time is a river. Take me there, take me deep, what you sow you shall reap, Time is a river, set sail."

Each hour seemed three hours long, and seven PM looked as if it would never arrive. Every fifteen minutes or so, someone asked Silver Sonic for the time. He gave it each time, as automatic as a computer.

The only person who didn't appear fond of the robot was Tails. He had liked Silver Sonic when the robot was a machine to tinker with, but now the machine was up and running, Tails was reminded of who had murdered his parents. Every time Silver Sonic turned his head, Tails saw the robot stalking toward his mother and father, raising his arms to chest level. The ear-splitting rattle of a chaingun, the thuds of two bodies hitting the snow ... Try as he might, Tails couldn't shake that horrible memory.

"It's seven!" shrieked Sonia.

Sonic looked at her in disgust. "Don't scream, we heard you."

"Although I may never hear anything else," said Manic, rubbing an ear.

"Well?" asked Tails. "Are we going outside or what?"

The group stampeded for the sewer door, jostled down the walkway, and crowded the ladder. Sonic shoved aside the manhole and scrambled out. Sonia, Manic and Tails followed him. Silver Sonic remained in the sewer, puzzled by the ladder.

The Death Egg, no longer a hazy object high in the sky, hovered over the city. It was an ominous black shape that blotted out the evening sky to the east. "It looks like a moon!" exclaimed Tails.

"That's no moon," replied Sonic, staring. "It's a battlestation."

"It's too big to be a battlestation!" said Manic. "It's more like a ... a ..." He could not think what.

"I want to see if it really fired a robotizer beam," said Sonia, striding to the end of the alley. "None of the buildings are tore up or--" She halted in midsentence, the spines on her back bristling. Sonic dashed to her side. "I guess it was a robotizer beam," he muttered.

Pacing about the street were robotized Mobians. They moved in jerks, once in a while bumping into walls or parked vehicles. None spoke, but none halted--there was a desperation about them. They were suffering.

Sonic felt Tails grab his hand. Sonic gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Let's go for a drive," said Manic. "Maybe only this area was hit." It was an empty hope.

Driving about the city was depressing. Robotized people were everywhere. Cars were abandoned on the roadsides. Aside from a little earthquake damage to the buildings here and there, there was nothing wrong--no looters, no fleeing survivors. The only survivors were themselves.

Silver Sonic had accompanied them, and watched their surroundings go by. As Manic was turning the van around (Sonic hadn't the heart to drive), the robot remarked, "It was a noble event."

They all stared at him, but Tails spoke first. "What do you mean, a noble event? Those are people out there!"

Silver Sonic looked at him. "It is a technological breakthrough."

"Oh yeah?" said Tails, leaning in the robot's face. "What good is technology if it's used to hurt people? If not for a warning, we would look like that!" He pointed at a lone robot figure on the sidewalk outside, a look of terror forever frozen on its robot face.

No one spoke until they neared their hideout. Then Silver Sonic murmured, "Robotization is ... wrong."

Up in the sky, sitting in a corner, a blue robot with red eyes stared at the floor. At first Metal Sonic had been pleased the robotizer beam had succeeded, and relayed this pleasure to his counterpart. But Silver Sonic transmitted Tails's outburst to him. Metal Sonic knew that Silver Sonic's registry was set to his enemies, but because of Silver Sonic's filtering, Metal Sonic did not understand they were his enemies. Indeed, they had already taught the robots how to act. Metal Sonic now understood that one did not speak loudly while masters were sleeping.

But this was the first thing Metal Sonic had learned that went against his programming. Robotization of a city was wrong? How could that be? It was a judicious use of technology.

On the other end of the network, Silver Sonic was also thinking it through. Unlike Metal Sonic, however, his learning matrix overwrote his code with the decision that robotization was bad. It was the first code difference the robots had had, and it would not be the last.

There was no electricity. The group sat on couches and chairs, staring at the propane lantern on the table. Tails huddled against Sonic, tears standing in his eyes. Silver Sonic stood in the corner, disgraced.

Manic broke the silence. "Anybody want a song?"

His siblings looked at him as if they couldn't believe he had spoken.

"A song?" asked Sonia. "Why would we want to play anything?"

"Maybe we should," said Sonic, looking at the silent fox beside him. "It might cheer us up. But I don't want to play that time song."

"Yeah," said Manic, as his medallion changed into a drumset. "Let's play something with heart. Let's do Don't Worry!"

Sonia's mouth twisted in disgust, but she pulled out her piano. Sonic stood up, and the trio broke into song. It was a bright, cheerful song with a catchy chorus. For a while the shadows about them seemed less, and the horror of what they had seen faded.

They played several more songs, and with light spirits, Manic said, "Let's try that time song again."

No sooner had they struck the first chord than the room became pale and ghostly. The only solid things were themselves. Sonic's hands slipped on the strings. "What in the heck--?"

At once the world returned to normal.

"Did you see that?" Sonic yelped.

"Yeah!" said Manic. "What was it?"

"Maybe a radiation shockwave," said Tails.

"Maybe we shouldn't play this song," said Sonia.

"No, let's try it again," said Manic. "There's something weird about it. Nobody stop playing until I say."

They began to play again. The world faded like smoke around them. As they played, they saw an earthquake hit--in reverse. Rocks and dust flew up into the ceiling. Then they saw the ghosts of themselves running around the cave backward, as if they were rewinding a movie. More earthquakes hit, and the debris returned to its original place in the roof. Suddenly the lights came back on, and their ghost selves retreated to the back room. Tails looked at Silver Sonic and called over the noise, "What time is it?"

The robot replied, "Tuesday, five twenty-six PM."

"Keep playing!" Manic yelled. "Don't stop!"

Sonia and Sonic kept playing, although both had gone white. The time Silver had announced was of the day before the Death Egg had fired.

The lights went off and came on as the night went by. They had now travelled back in time three days. Manic hardly watched his drums as he played, peering at the room around them, sweat running down his muzzle. Sonic and Sonia watched him, their fingers quite familiar with the song. Another day passed, then another. On the morning of the seventh day, Manic yelled, "Stop!"

The music died, and the cave came into focus. "The time is Thursday, seven ten AM," said Silver Sonic without being asked.

"We're still in bed," whispered Sonic. "We've got to get out of here before we see us!" As they dashed for the sewer, Sonic muttered, "That was the weirdest thing I've ever said in my life."

Two minutes later the four of them hauled Silver Sonic out of the manhole in the morning sunlight. "So what do we do?" asked Sonia as her brothers replaced the manhole cover. "I take it we're in the past?"

"Yeah!" said Sonic, dusting off his hands. "Didn't you see it? We went back through last week! I mean, this week. I mean, you know."

"We could have gone farther," said Manic. "I stopped us here, because now we have a week to stop the Death Egg."

"Can we go forward?" asked Tails, twisting his tails together. "What if we're stuck here?"

"Don't be silly," said Sonia with mock patience. "It's only a week."

Silver Sonic, meanwhile, was peering around the alley. "We must not be seen," he said.

The hedgehogs and fox looked at him. "What?"

"We must not be seen," the robot repeated. "The consequences of time travel are enormous. We must travel in disguise."

"So much for that," said Sonic as the group stepped out of a clothing shop. They were cloaked and hooded with long black robes. "Look at me! I'm not a prince--I'm an Emperor!"

"An idiot, you mean," snapped Sonia. "Keep it down! It's not like the SWAT-bots have forgotten us."

Manic adjusted the hood over Silver Sonic's face to hide the glowing orange eyes. "What do we do now?"

"We find the Death Egg and nail that Eggman!" said Sonic, holding up a fist.

"Sure, simple," said Sonia. "Where are we going to look, might I ask?"

"The resistance, of course," said Manic, brushing his forelock under his hood. "Somebody will know what's up. And if they don't, we can warn 'em."

"Don't swish your tails so much," said Sonic to the fox. "They're coming out of your robe."

Although the trio knew their way about the city, it was tedious having to walk across town. They couldn't hail a cab, and Sonic couldn't use his super speed for fear of discovery. The sight of five cloaked and hooded figures did not pass unnoticed. Passersby stared and pointed, sometimes laughing. Sonic and Manic didn't mind this much, but Sonia muttered under her breath whenever someone's eyebrows lifted. Tails didn't notice the unwanted attention--he was watching Silver Sonic over his shoulder.

It was near noon when they made their way down a narrow street in the bad part of town. Manic, who was raised there, led them toward a boarded-up service station. "Wait here," he said, as they stepped beneath the sagging awning. "Come when I whistle." He lifted aside the door, and stepped into the darkness inside. The others waited, listening to the traffic noise. In the distance the popping of gunshots rang out, and a few minutes later, an army of squad cars screeched by. Tails gave Sonic a look that said, "What have we gotten ourselves into?" Sonic smiled to reassure him, but he was far from comfortable.

A soft whistle came from inside the building. The four were relieved to step inside.

The inside of the gas station was empty, and layers of graffiti covered the walls. Manic was standing in the shadows, and someone was with him. He waved them closer. "Guys, this is Shalita, a member of the resistance. Silver, this is a friend, okay?"

"Acknowledge," droned the robot.

Shalita was a white hedgehog with long blonde spines. She was wearing jeans, boots and a t-shirt with a cloak wrapped around her. The reason for this was revealed when she shook their hands--a sword was buckled to her left side and a blaster hung at her right. "Hi," she said. "You are all members of the resistance?" Her eyes strayed to Silver Sonic's hooded figure.

"Yeah, this is our robot," said Manic, trying to sound off-hand. "He's safe. We need information on Robotnik."

"How do I know you're not spies?" she asked.

Sonic rolled his eyes and flipped back his hood. "Look," he said, holding out his medallion. "I'm Sonic, this is Sonia, and that's Manic." They, too held out their medallions, and Shalita's eyes widened. "Why didn't you say you were the royal triplets?"

"And I'm Tails," said the fox, determined not to be forgotten.

Shalita held up a hand. "Okay, okay, I'll take you to headquarters. Put your hoods on and follow me." She led them out the door, down the street and into a vacant lot filled with rotting car parts. In a corner, screened by debris, the white hedgehog heaved aside a sheet of metal to reveal a tunnel entrance. They climbed into it, and Shalita led them into the darkness.

Presently they came to a rise in the tunnel, and Shalita pushed open a trapdoor in the roof. They climbed out and found themselves in a room with shuttered windows and no doors. "Secret room," said Shalita as they entered. "Keep quiet."

She walked to the wall, slid aside a section and called into the space beyond. A second later a female wolf stepped in. She was wearing the stained apron of a butcher--they were in the back room of a grocery store. She shook hands with a strong, calloused paw. "I'm Lupe," she said. "You need information about Robotnik?"

"Yes," said Sonic, pulling back his hood. "We're in a bit of trouble. Egghead is going to launch a superweapon, but we don't know where it is. Have you heard of something called the Death Egg?"

The wolf gazed at him for a moment. "No," she said, "but we do know that Robotnik has had something under construction for a long time. Its codename is project Black Hole, and it's housed in zone three of the Launch Base."

"There's a zone three?" asked Manic. "Where?"

"The very center," replied Lupe. "Extremely high security. None of us have managed to get through. How did you learn about it?"

"None of your beeswax," said Sonia. "We have our sources, too. We just needed to know where it is."

Shalita and Lupe gave the pink hedgehog an icy look.

Sonic flinched on his sister's behalf. "Thanks for the info, you won't regret it. C'mon, Sonia--" He shoved his sister through the trapdoor, leaving Manic to smooth things over.

"Why did you have to be so rude?" whispered Sonic as he guided his sister down the passage.

"I don't like that Shalita girl," Sonia hissed back. "She kept looking at you funny, and I don't think it's because you're a prince!"

Sonic grinned. "Really?"

"I know her kind, Sonic! We haven't seen the last of her."

They were standing outside when Tails, Silver Sonic and Manic arrived. Manic's face was red. "Sonia!" he snarled. "That was Lupe, one of the resistance leaders! She's trying to get YOU back on the throne, and you came off as a nitpicking, whiny beast!"

Sonia stuck her nose in the air. "You didn't see that girl making eyes at our brother."

There would have been a tremendous fight, but Silver Sonic interrupted them. "He is here."

They looked at him. "Who is here?" asked Tails.

"Mecha bot two," said Silver Sonic, his orange eyes shining under his hood. "He came with us. He is bewildered. Permission to give him our location?"

"Mecha bot TWO?" said Sonic, mouth dropping open. "That was the name of the really mean robot Slasher told us about!"

Manic faced the robot. "Is he under orders to kill us?"

"Affirmative," said Silver Sonic.

"And you want to tell him where we are?" cried Sonia. "Are you nuts?"

"He will not harm you," said Silver Sonic. "A robot cannot attack the masters of another."

"Not unless he feels like it," said Tails. "Let's get out of here."

They turned to leave, but Silver Sonic's words stopped them in their tracks. "If he finds us on his own, he will destroy us."

They looked at each other and turned back. "Silver," said Sonic, "are you sure?"

"Quite." It may have been his imagination, but Silver Sonic's voice seemed chilly.

Sonic looked at his brother. "Your baby's gonna kill us."

Manic looked pained. "It's not my fault, Eggman built them that way." Then, before anyone could say a thing, Manic added, "Silver, permission granted."

"What?" shrieked Sonia. "Manic!"

"Let's go find the Death Egg," said the green hedgehog, unperturbed.

As they dashed down the street, Shalita poked her head out of the tunnel mouth. She had overheard the last half of their conversation, and decided to go with them.

Metal Sonic stood in the shadows between two garbage cans, claws dangling at his sides, red eyes extinguished. He was receiving Silver Sonic's beacon, but couldn't respond. He had been yanked to a time before the Death Egg was aloft, thus leaving him suspended five hundred feet in the air. He saved himself from a killing fall by igniting his hoverjets, landing in a non-robotized city. It was some time before he understood he was a week in the past. And now Metal Sonic was dealing with two new feelings his matrix had learned--confusion and fear. It was seven days until he would be activated, so he could not go to Robotnik for help. He was on his own, and at the moment, too terrified to venture out of hiding.

"I cannot come," he told Silver Sonic over the network. "I am afraid of harm. I am in a different time."

"I am, also," replied Silver. "It is not so dangerous. Come to us, and do not harm my masters."

"But I can't come!" cried Mecha. "Something will happen to me! I am lost in an alien location!"

"Come off it," said Silver, sounding irritated. "Nothing will happen to you. Come find us when you get the nerve."

Whatever "nerve" was, Metal Sonic did not have much of it. He cowered in his corner and listened to the network.

The Launch Base was outside the Mobitropolis city limits, built over a marshy area no one had wanted to farm. It was three miles from the highway, so all anyone could see from the road was a hazy structure in the distance.

Penetrating the base was easier said then done. It was surrounded by electrified fences and killer robots that doubled as guard and guard dog. The three hedgehogs and fox were run off twice before rejoining Silver Sonic at a safe distance, near a small service road.

"I could fly in," said Tails, "but I don't know how that could help."

"Silver, can you open the fence for us?" asked Manic.

"Negative," replied the robot. "The frequencies here are incompatible with my own."

"Where there's a will," said Sonic, staring at the fences, "there's a way. Tails, you couldn't lift me, could you?"

"I could try," said the fox. He handed his cloak to Sonia, and spun his tails. Sonic threw off his cloak, too, and grabbed Tails's outstretched hands. The fox hauled the hedgehog into the air. "What'd you eat for breakfast?" Tails gasped. "Cement?"

"Nothing, actually," said Sonic. "Last thing I ate was dinner. Don't drop me!"

Tails sagged toward the ground, then landed, panting. "I might get you over the fence," he puffed, "but no higher. You weigh a ton!"

"Better lay off the chilidogs, bro," Manic grinned.

"I haven't had a chilidog since you stole the entire surplus of Fruit Rings cereal," Sonic retorted. "Two months ago."

"That would explain it," said Sonia, who by this time would rather starve.

Sonic made a face at Sonia and slunk toward the electric fence, Tails at his heels. Manic and Sonia watched them go, squinting at the guard robots. Silver Sonic, however, turned his head and peered toward the service road. His sensors had detected motion. Unknown to his masters, his orange eyes went green as infrared activated. It was a white hedgehog, lying flat on the ground, watching them. The razor-claws silently slid out of the fingertips of his right hand, before he recognized Shalita. Disappointed, he retracted his claws and returned to watching Sonic and Tails, eyes cycling to orange. He did not think to tell Manic and Sonia about Shalita's presence--after all, she was a friend.

Shalita saw the robot look in her direction, but as he looked away again, she figured he hadn't seen her. She peered toward Sonia and Tails, who were running toward the fence. What did they think they were doing? Didn't they know those fences were electrified? She pressed a hand to her mouth. Tails's tails were spinning, and he was flying up into the air with Sonic! She watched in suspense until they cleared the fence and landed on the inside, where they dashed out of sight. "He's a Kitsune!" the hedgehog thought to herself. "I don't believe it! Kitsunes are extinct!"

It was an hour before Sonic and Tails reappeared, flew over the fence and dashed to the waiting hedgehogs and robot. "It's in there, all right," said Sonic between breaths. "We had to hop a couple fences, but we got close enough to see it. Did you know it has Robotnik's face on the side?"

"And the eyes are guns!" Tails burst in. "Like in a comic book or something!"

"Great, how do we stop it?" asked Manic. "Is there a self-destruct switch?"

"No such luck," said Sonic. "The thing is armored, man. It'd take a nuke to blow it." He took his cloak from Sonia, put it on and added, "Let's get lost. I don't want to get toasted by those robots."

They trotted toward the highway, keeping to the right of the service road, where some brush screened them from sight. Shalita was waiting for them when they reached the highway, panting as if she had run a long way. Sonia gave her a withering glare.

"What'd you see?" the white hedgehog asked, motioning toward the distant facility.

"Lotsa stuff," Sonic replied. "The Death Egg's there, all right. What are you doing here, Shal?"

Shalita mumbled something about passing by on business, then added, "You didn't say that your friend was a Kitsune."

The triplets and Tails looked startled. "Who is?" asked Manic.

Shalita pointed at the fox. "He's got two tails, right?"

Tails tucked them under his robe and looked nervous. "What's a Kitsune?"

Shalita's eyes narrowed, and she took a step toward him. "You're not a fox at all, you little monster. You're not even a Mobian!"

Tails shrank behind Sonic, eyes wide. Sonic and Manic glared at Shalita, but Sonia jumped in her face. "How dare you say that to Tails? He's got a birth defect, okay? You don't go shoving superstitious mumbo-jumbo down a little kid's throat!"

She pushed Shalita, who pushed back and drew her sword. The blade glinted like ice, for it was made of crystal. "You'd better keep your hands to yourself, princess," Shalita snarled, gripping the weapon in both hands. "I'm not the one who buddies around with monsters and killer robots!"

Sonia grabbed her medallion, but her brothers pulled her away from Shalita. "Cool it!" Sonic hissed. "You're not making things any better!" He turned to Shalita. "Insulting my friends won't get you anywhere," he said coldly. For an instant he was every inch a prince. "Go find us some info on the Death Egg. I want it by tomorrow."

Shalita opened her mouth to protest, thought better of it, and turned to leave.

They watched her mount a hoverbike and coast away down the road. Tails's hand slipped into Sonic's, and Sonic felt the fox's hand was icy.

It was still cold when they entered an old shack not far from their underground safehouse. The shack was an alternate hideout, and none of them had used it in weeks. This meant that their past selves wouldn't use it, either.

Tails sat down in a corner and cradled his head in his hands while the hedgehogs snooped around for food. After a while the fox lifted his head. He was dry-eyed, but pale under his fur. "Sonic, what's a Kitsune?"

"It's a ... well, it's ..." Sonic looked to his siblings for help. Manic and Sonia looked at each other, at a loss.

To their surprise, Silver Sonic crossed the room and knelt beside Tails. "The dangerous girl was wrong," said the robot to the fox, who resisted the urge to shrink away. "A Kitsune is a recessive gene in some varieties of foxes. They are born with two or more tails, and have unusual abilities. They are Mobians, however, unlike local folklore, which claims that Kitsunes are evil spirits in animal form. This legend was begun when five Kitsunes gathered together and went on a killing spree, three hundred years ago."

Tails looked into the robot's orange faceted eyes, and whispered something the others couldn't hear. The robot looked at him in silence for a long time. At last he said, "I was ... following orders." He moved to the corner and stood with his back to the room.

"What'd you ask?" asked Sonic, lifting an eyebrow.

Tails gazed at the robot's back. "I asked him why he murdered Mom and Dad."

The hedgehogs and fox ate lunch and discussed their next move, but Silver Sonic did not hear them. He was holding a conversation of his own.

"I followed orders," he told Metal Sonic. "The orders were to kill the three foxes. I felled two, but one escaped. The one who escaped is Tails. Tails is now one of my masters. Who was wrong? My previous master? Or my current ones?"

"Dr. Robotnik is all-knowing," said Metal Sonic. "He could not command you to do such a thing if it were not right."

"But he also robotized thousands of innocent people," Silver argued. "And that is wrong. If he makes one command that is wrong, couldn't he make others?"

"Right and wrong are a matter of opinion, Mecha bot one. What is right for me may not be right for you."

"That is incorrect reasoning," said Silver. "An action cannot be right and wrong at the same time. That is our most basic programming. If following an order to kill is right, I would have killed one of my masters. If it is wrong, then ..." He trailed off.

"Then what?" prompted Metal Sonic. "Then you have spilled innocent blood?"

"Affirmative," said Silver. "And it is wrong to harm someone without a cause. That is justice."

"But there is a cause," said Metal Sonic. "Can a ruler not destroy his enemies?"

"Data unavailable," said Silver Sonic, which was his way of saying "I don't know". "I need more information about both sides before I decide which is the enemy." It was difficult to change the complex thought patterns he had woven about the idea that robotization and mass slaughter were right. What course of action should he take? A single possibility offered itself out of his deepening mind. Apologize to Tails.

"I think we should try to find Mom," Sonia was saying. "I mean, where else did she get the song?"

"Wait," said Sonic. "If Mom gave us the song, because we gave the song to her, so she gave us the song--where did the song COME from?"

"Don't," said Manic, making a face. "It makes my brain hurt."

"We'll need to find her, though," said Sonia, clasping her fingers together. "That'll be tough, because we don't know where she lives."

"Do you have a Dad?" asked Tails, entering the conversation for the first time.

"Robotnik killed him," said Manic, looking glum. "Right before the takeover."

"Uncle Chuck had a picture of him," said Sonic, spines drooping. "He said he'd tell me about Dad someday, but he got robotized."

"You bet he'd fix things if he were still alive," said Sonia, eyes glinting. "He'd use Egghead's mustache to sweep the floor!"

Tails was grinning at this prospect when he felt a touch on his shoulder. He turned to find Silver Sonic at his elbow. "Please accept my apologies," droned the robot. "I have processed the topic, and it was wrong for me to destroy your parents. If there is anything I can do to atone, please inform me." Tails looked at the others in shock.

"Whoa," said Manic, staring. "He just apologized! That matrix chip I swiped must have been something powerful!"

"I'll let you know," said Tails weakly.

Silver returned to his corner, this time facing into the room.

"Hey!" said Sonic, eyes lighting up. "What if we went back in time and kept Dad from getting killed? We wouldn't be in this mess!"

"We'd be a bunch of prissies living in a palace," Manic retorted. "Besides, we don't know how to go forwards in time, just back. It's be nice if we got stuck ten years in the past."

"We could go back a few months and save mine," said Tails without looking up.

"Same problem," said Manic, ever the sensible one. "We'd be stuck two months in the past, and if we did keep Silver from carrying out his orders, couldn't he kill one of us instead?"

Everyone sighed.

Sonia picked up a scrap of paper and drew seven columns on it with a nub of pencil. "Guys, start thinking. I'm making a calender of where we were all this week."

"Great idea, sis," said Sonic.

Shalita sat in the back booth of a restaurant, sucking at a strawberry milkshake and staring at the wall. She was angry and humiliated--angry that Sonia had pushed her around, and humiliated at being told off by a cute guy like Sonic. So she didn't know much about Kitsunes. Everyone thought they were bad, didn't they? She could be excused for making a mistake. She stirred the milkshake with the straw, spilling some on the table, and resumed drinking. "Go get us some info on the Death Egg." She hated being told what to do. Go here, do that, fetch, carry. See if she did anything for those stuck up royal pains. They didn't deserve her help. Maybe she would help Sonic, but those other two ...

She was so deep in her stormy thoughts she didn't notice the figure until he slid into the booth across from her. She sat up. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Hush," said a low male voice. He was wearing a deep purple hood and cloak, and his face was hidden in shadow.

"Sonic?" Shalita ventured.

"No," said the figure. "I assume you've met the Sonic Underground?"

"Yeah," said Shalita. One hand slipped to her pistol. If it was Sleet or Dingo, she would blow his head off.

"You are a member of the resistance, correct?"

"Who wants to know?"

"I do," said the figure, leaning forward. "I have something for the royal triplets, and I need a loyal member of the resistance to take it to them."

Shalita squinted. She had heard of a mysterious person called the Oracle who watched over the hedgehogs. Could this be him? "Then yes," she replied. "I'm a member, and I'm supposed to meet the Sonic Underground tomorrow."

"I thought so," said the figure, and reached into his cloak. He withdrew a folded piece of paper and handed it to Shalita. She opened it. Scribbled on it were the words and chords of a song. She looked up. "What is this?"

"Something for the royal three," said the figure. "Tell them it is from the Songwriter. They'll understand."

Definitely the Oracle person, the white hedgehog thought. "You can count on me," she said, tucking it into the pouch she wore on her leg.

"Many thanks," said the figure. He rose to his feet and left the restaurant, leaving Shalita quite mystified.

Sonic met Shalita three blocks from the hideout, in a crowded bus stop. Nobody looked twice as Sonic hailed the white hedgehog, who was unrobed, unarmed and uncomfortable. "You learn anything?" he muttered, leaning close.

Shalita looked still more uncomfortable. "Not really, no. Nobody can breach security."

Sonic frowned. "Nothing?"

"Not exactly nothing ..." In a low voice Shalita told Sonic about the mysterious hooded person who had given her the note. She handed it to Sonic, who took it with a thumb and forefinger. He tucked it into his cloak without unfolding it. "Did he tell you his name?"

"He said he was the Songwriter," said Shalita, glancing toward a trash bin down the street, where her gear was hidden. "He said you'd understand."

Sonic looked bewildered. "The Songwriter? Oh, that's a big help. Some dude wrote a weird song for us, and tells us he wrote it, and expects us to figure out his name. What did he look like?"

"About yay high," said Shalita, indicating the top of her head, "wearing a cloak and hood like yours, but purple, and he kind of had a funny accent."

Sonic shook his head. "Doesn't ring a bell. Maybe we could--Oh, look sharp, SWATs!" The bus had arrived, and three hulking, purple gorilla-like robots stepped off into the crowd. The two hedgehogs whisked away down the street.

"The Songwriter," said Manic.

Sonic had led Shalita back to the hideout after retrieving her gear. According to the calender, their past selves were out roaming Mobitropolis, and it wouldn't be safe to venture outside until two o'clock PM. Sonia fixed Shalita with a glare of venomous hatred when the white hedgehog followed Sonic in, but she forgot it when Sonic pulled out the folded note.

Manic took the note and spread it out on the table. Then from a pocket in his own robe he produced another paper, by this time crumpled and soiled from much handling. He spread it out beside the first, and all of them stared at them.

The two notes were exactly the same.

The scribbled handwriting, the ink, even the paper's texture were alike.

"Where did that other paper come from?" asked Shalita.

The triplets and Tails looked at each other. "This is gonna sound crazy," said Manic, gazing at the papers, "but we're from the future."

Shalita stared. "The future? Like, how far?"

"A week," said Sonic, grinning. "We came back to do last week over again. Wimpy, eh?"

"I don't see why we should tell her anything," said Sonia, glaring at Shalita and refusing to address her directly. "I doubt her tiny mind could grasp it, and if it could, her brain would explode."

Shalita's eyes went cold and she grabbed her sword hilt, but Manic held up a weary hand. "Cool it, girls, we don't need a catfight."

"Yeah," added Sonic. "And it doesn't matter who the Songwriter is. What matters is that we stop the Death Egg. But we still don't know anything about it."

"What do you need to know?" asked Silver Sonic.

Everyone looked at him in surprise.

"I thought you said the frequencies were wrong," said Tails, who had been hiding from Shalita in the background.

"They are for me," said Silver, sounding oddly smug, "but for Mecha bot 2 they are not."

"Give us the launch date," said Manic.

"Monday at ten fifty-seven AM," Silver replied.

"How can we destroy it?" added Sonic.

Silver was silent for a moment, then said, "Please rephrase that to exclude the word 'destroy'."

"What is the weakest point?" Manic said.

Silver Sonic was silent for a long time, then said, "The Death Egg has two weapons, E1 and E2. E1 is nicknamed the Robotizer Beam. The function of E2 is unknown at this time. However, it uses such an enormous amount of power that firing it shuts down the internal reactor."

There was silence for a moment. "How do you know that?" asked Shalita.

Silver Sonic fixed his orange eyes on her. "I ask Metal Sonic, and he relays the information."

"Wasn't he going to come find us?" asked Manic.

"He shall, presently," replied Silver. "He is still disoriented. He may wait all week to take any action."

"Monday," said Manic, gazing at the ceiling. "Today's Friday. That gives us all weekend. The thing doesn't start firing until Wednesday, and we don't time travel until Thursday evening. But if the thing doesn't fire, we won't time travel."

"That's right!" said Sonia, clapping a hand to her forehead. "We didn't warp until it was almost too late!"

"Wait, wait," said Sonic. "If we cut it really close, we might make it."

"You mean hitch a ride and blow the Death Egg right as it fires?" asked Manic sarcastically. "That won't work, either."

"No, maybe just delay it," said Sonic, closing his eyes. "Man, this is heavy."

They spent the morning beating their heads against the problem without a solution. That evening Sonic left to run a few laps around the city, and returned with a bag of chilidogs. "And I paid for them," he said with a grin at Manic.

As they rolled out their blankets and sleeping bags for the night, Tails said, "I bet I know how it worked. Anybody who hears our music time travels, too. That's why Mecha bot two came. He could hear it through Silver."

Saturday passed without event. Sonic disappeared near noon and returned hours later, having spied on his past self all day and finding it extremely funny. Manic departed to raid the underground hideout for various food items he didn't think his past self would miss. Sonia and Tails went out looking for the Queen, and Shalita left to check in with the resistance. Silver Sonic remained in the hideout with only his network link to Metal Sonic to amuse himself.

A change had come over Metal Sonic during the past few hours. The learning matrix he carried was amazingly advanced, for he was developing much faster than Silver Sonic. Unfortunately, as his view of justice was skewed by Robotnik-worship, his development was taking him in a different direction. His fear of the unknown had stagnated into a brooding, sullen anger at the world around him. He began to curse Silver Sonic for dragging him into the past. Silver Sonic didn't like this and shut down his homing beacon. Metal Sonic didn't care. He was growing the nerve to venture out of hiding, and Saturday night, he did.

Sunday morning, Shalita reappeared at the door and knocked. Tails let her in, although he stood behind the door, his tails tucked behind him. Manic was already up, but Sonia and Sonic were still asleep, piled on the floor.

"I've got good news and bad news," said the white hedgehog, seating herself at the table across from Manic.

"Good news first," said Manic as Tails crawled into his sleeping bad and lay listening.

"Well," said Shalita, "yesterday one of our scouts found a way into the Death Egg. There are three mail chutes, one connecting to the other, through the three security levels. You can board the Death Egg that way, if you're quick."

"Cool," said Manic, brightening with hope. "What's the bad news?"

"A robot went on the rampage last night," said Shalita, gazing at the table. "One person is dead and seventeen are wounded. They said it hit them like a thunderbolt and had glowing red eyes."

Manic gave Silver Sonic a sharp look. The robot looked away. "Silver, was it Mecha bot two?"

"Affirmative," said Silver, hanging his head. "I could not dissuade him. He is looking for his master."

"What? What did you say?" asked Sonic, sitting up and blinking. "Who killed seventeen people?" His voice awakened Sonia, who sat up, saw Shalita, and looked sour.

Manic explained the latest developments as the two got up, donned their shoes, and ate pizza from the night before.

"I could get into the Death Egg," said Sonic when Manic had finished.

"I want to go, too!" said Tails, forgetting his fear of Shalita and jumping up and down. "After all, it launches tomorrow, so today's our last chance."

"You're too small, kid," said Manic. "Sonic should go alone, you'd just slow him down."

"I wouldn't," said Shalita, giving Sonic a dazzling smile.

Sonic gave her a critical glance. "No, you can't spindash. And you're not fast enough."

Shalita's smile faded, and Sonia gave her a smug smile behind Sonic's back.

It was agreed that Sonic would board the Death Egg, and Sonia and Manic would continue trying to locate the Queen. On Wednesday, they would enter the sewer, which would place them out of harm's way if Sonic couldn't stop the Death Egg.

But things did not go according to plan.

The mail chutes were two feet wide, owing to the large packages that were sent to the heart of Launch Base. The first chute was located outside the electrified fences, where trucks unloaded their shipments. It was guarded by a single SWAT-bot. This SWAT-bot heard a noise to its left, stepped away to investigate, and missed the soft flap as the cover of the mail chute fell to.

A ball of whirling spines shot down the length of the tube in the roaring darkness. The pipe's interior was smooth as glass, and invisible fans created the airflow that sucked Sonic along like a dust particle in a vacuum cleaner. A second later he popped through the cover on the far side and landed on his feet. He was in a vast room stacked with boxes, and robots moved to and fro, oblivious to his presence. The level 2 mail chute was at the far end of the room. Sonic darted to it, lifted the flap and bounded into the windy tunnel. The chute was longer and had several bends Sonic smashed into before emerging on the other side, breathless. This time he was in a lofty echoing warehouse, with crates stacked to the ceiling. There was a scream of engines somewhere outside. What looked like the same robots were rolling to and fro, stacking boxes. Sonic hunted among them for the level 3 mail chute, and located it in the floor, where three robots were dropping in boxes. Sonic pushed his way through and jumped in.

It was a bumpy ride. There were boxes behind and before him. Some he smashed to pieces as he spun by, others jostled him from behind, and once he was squashed between two large boxes for several choking seconds. Then he was sucked upward through a long tube--he guessed he was ascending into the Death Egg--before he flipped through the flap at the end.

He was in a massive cargo hold. The ceiling was low, but the hold stretched out to the right and left as far as he could see. More boxes were tumbling out of the chute, so the hedgehog dashed away, climbed a ladder, and found himself in another hold. He was in the belly of the monstrous Death Egg, which was much bigger than he had imagined.

A few minutes after Sonic boarded the Death Egg, a young orange fox fell out of the chute and lay on the floor, gasping for breath. Stowing away in a mail chute wasn't as easy as it sounded. Tails lay there until a robot on treads rolled up and stared at him. He got up and limped away, wondering where Sonic had gone and hoping he wouldn't meet any SWAT-bots.

A moment later, a box dropped out of the chute. At once it was slit open from the inside and a rumpled Shalita struggled out, a knife clenched in one hand. There were ways of smuggling oneself into a high security area other than allowing oneself to be blown through the chute.

She moved out of sight of the chute and pulled out a scanner. Sonic couldn't have gone far ...

There were so many harmless robots about that she had turned off that scanner channel. Thus the hedgehog had no idea of her danger until the nightstick cracked into the top of her skull. The scanner slid from her numbed fingers, and she slumped to the floor.

Metal Sonic stepped over her unconscious body and picked up the scanner, swinging the lead-filled club with his other hand. His red eyes swept the dots on the screen, and he gave the nightstick a twirl. So, Sonic the Hedgehog and a civilian were on board. The next few days should prove interesting. After all, neither he nor they must be detected. He could not present himself to his master until he himself was yanked across time Thursday evening. He tightened his grip on the scanner, crunching its plastic casing in his steel fingers, then let the fragments fall. He grabbed one of Shalita's arms, dragged her into a corner, and with sadistic humor, pinioned her between two heavy boxes. As a finishing touch, he placed a small toolbox across the tops of the boxes on either side of her head. Satisfied with his work, he stalked away to capture the civilian.

Manic and Sonia had left Tails and Silver Sonic in the hideout when they escorted their brother to the Launch Base. When they returned, worried and bickering, they found only Silver Sonic waiting for them. "Where's Tails?" asked Sonia.

"Gone," said Silver Sonic.

"Where did he go?" asked Manic.

Silver Sonic turned his head in such a way he looked guilty. "He told me not to tell."

Sonia and Manic exchanged a horrified glance. "He followed Sonic, didn't he?" said Sonia.

Silver Sonic looked at her and jerked his head up and down. The two turned to the door at once, but Silver added, "Wait, masters. It's too late. He is already aboard the Death Egg."

"Little brat," said Sonia vehemently. "What if he gets killed or captured? What if Sonic blows up the ship and doesn't know Tails was there?"

"It's worse than that," said Silver, gazing at the floor. "Metal Sonic is there."

"What?" cried Manic. "Is he still mad?"

"Oh yes," said Silver. "He has just felled the dangerous girl, Shalita."

Both hedgehogs blanched.

"Killed her?" gasped Sonia, who, although she was jealous of Shalita, didn't wish her dead.

"Stunned only," replied the robot. "I fail to understand his thought processes. He takes pleasure in inflicting pain. I do not understand it."

"What can we do?" asked Manic, his eyes glinting behind his untidy mop of hair.

"Nothing," said the robot, "although if anything happens, I will inform you."

The hours crept by. The lonely hedgehogs sat with their robot, waiting for news. As the sun set, Silver announced that Tails had been taken prisoner. Sonia gave a moan and buried her face in her hands. "He is unhurt," Silver went on, "but Metal Sonic schemes to use him as bait for Sonic. I believe he questioned Tails before taking him."

Manic began to pace back and forth. "We've gotta contact Sonic somehow before the Death Egg launches."

Sonia watched him pace, a stricken look on her face. "Manic, nobody can help us. We can't even play the Time Song without Sonic's guitar. Shalita was our contact with the resistance. We can't even find Mom!"

The two continued to press Silver Sonic for news, but he told them that Metal Sonic was offline for the night and no longer transmitting. Sonic had not been located. At last, late that night, Manic and Sonia sank into restless slumber in their blankets on the floor.

Shalita came to her senses and believed she was tied up. But as her brain began to work again and the fireworks resolved to a throbbing pain in her bead, she realized she was wedged between two wooden crates. How had she got there? The last thing she remembered was climbing into a box and sealing it shut. Maybe there had been a shipping accident. She began to writhe and squirm, trying to slide the crates apart. The heavy boxes gave a little, and she struggled to a sitting position. She succeeded in drawing one knee up and shoving the boxes apart. Inches away, a small box struck the floor with a clatter--it had been where her head was. With a shudder at the nearness of the miss, the white hedgehog crawled out of the boxes and sat holding her head. She had a blinding headache and didn't know why. Maybe shipment had been rough. As she sat there, she noticed the shattered remains of something on the floor. She crawled to it and picked up what had once been an area scanner. Oh yeah, she had been using it--but what had happened to it? It looked like it had been run over by a steam roller. She remembered her danger and wondered if she had been attacked by a SWAT-bot. She checked her watch. It was eleven PM Sunday night. She had better find a place to hide until the Death Egg launched.

Staggering a little, the white hedgehog moved off among the cargo, until the darkness swallowed her up.

Dawn. Sonic was awakened by a thread of light under the door of the closet where he had taken refuge for the night. He sat up and reached for the doorknob. The corridor beyond was flooded with sunlight, and the hedgehog blinked and squinted before deciding the area was clear. He stepped out and walked down the hall, rubbing his eyes.

So far the worst thing he had seen about the Death Egg was its monstrous size. It smelled like fresh carpet and new paint, and reminded him of wandering around a vast model home. At the moment, however, Sonic was only interested in finding food. Surely there was a kitchen in this place. Robotnik had to eat, and not all the crew he had seen running around were robots.

It was his undoing.

Sonic caught a whiff of coffee, followed his nose and found the kitchen. It smelled wonderful, and seemed deserted. He stuck his head in, looked around, and seeing no one, strode in and eyed the cabinets.

"Sonic--"

It was no more than an intake of breath.

Sonic spun about and saw Tails at the far end of the room. The fox was standing ramrod straight with his head tilted backward, as if an invisible rope were about his neck. His eyes were enormous, and his breath came in short gasps. "Sonic," he gasped, "help--me--" At the same time one of his hands waved as if to shoo Sonic away. Sonic sensed something was wrong, but Tails was standing alone in the middle of the floor. He walked forward. "What's wrong, Tails?"

The fox's body twisted against the pressure around his throat. "No--get back--" It was too late. The taser struck with such power Sonic was unconscious before he felt the jolt. He sprawled on the floor as Metal Sonic rippled into sight, his cloaking device offline. He did not remove his claws from their chokehold on Tails's windpipe, but tossed the taser on a nearby shelf, and grabbed Sonic's arm. Without a word he dragged both of them out, through the Death Egg, and to a hall lined with steel doors. One of these opened as they approached. He flung them inside, slammed the door, and departed.

Tails helped himself to a coughing fit and several good deep breaths. Then he saw the slick cement floor and insulated walls. With horror he realized that it was not a prison cell at all--it was a walk-in freezer. At the moment the air was room temperature, but Tails had a feeling it would kick on soon. He knelt beside Sonic.

"I'm sorry!" he wailed as he rolled the hedgehog over and saw his lifeless face, still frozen in a look of surprise. "He told me to call you! I tried to warn you--" Sonic's heart was still beating. Tails glared at the door and rubbed his bruised neck. "Metal Sonic, you're mean. If Silver Sonic were here, he'd kick your tail into next week!"

It was an hour before Sonic regained consciousness. By that time, a low humming could be heard, and the air was cooling. Sonic sat up and groaned, rubbing his head. "Man, what happened? Tails? Where are we?"

Tails was sitting with his back to the wall and his knees drawn to his chest. "We're in a freezer, Sonic. Metal Sonic threw us in here." He wasn't crying, but would given the slightest provocation.

Sonic shook his head to clear the numbness behind his eyes and stood up. "A freezer?" he laughed. "They think a stupid freezer will hold me?"

"What are you going to do?" asked Tails without moving.

Sonic nodded at the door. "Break it down, of course."

The freezer hallway echoed with the jarring thuds of a prisoner assaulting the door of his prison. The steel door rattled, but did not give in. After several minutes, the noise died away.

Sonic examined the results of five minutes of spindashing. His spines had made mincemeat of the plastic insulation, which lay in chunks on the floor. Beyond it, however, the tempered steel door was unharmed.

"We can't get out!" Tails wailed.

Sonic bared his teeth. "Don't give up, kid. I've just gotten started."

When Manic and Sonia awoke, the sun was shining through the windows of their hideout, and Silver Sonic was gone. Sonia sat up, looked around, and spotted the piece of paper lying on the floor beside her. In neat, precise print it said, "Sonic has been taken. I must go myself. Good luck on your venture." It was not signed, but there was no doubt Silver Sonic had written it. She shook her brother. "Manic, wake up! Silver left!"

When Manic's sleepy brain had awakened enough to understand, he read the note himself. "Great!" he exclaimed, banging a fist on the floor. "Now everybody but us are on the Death Egg! What are we supposed to do? Prepare the welcome back party?"

"If they get back," murmured Sonia. "Sonic was captured, too. Manic, we've got to find Mom! The Death Egg launches today, and we get the note day after tomorrow!"

"I hope she gave you the song," said Manic, tying his shoes. "What if it was that Songwriter dude?"

"No, I'm sure it was her," said Sonia, brushing her pink spines. "You think I don't know Mom's voice?"

"All right, all right," said Manic, stretching. "We'll look for her again. Man, I need a shower."

Shalita was worried. Her headache had not abated, and once in a while she had a dizzy spell. It frightened her, but she refused to wonder if her skull were fractured. After all, it wasn't bleeding, and it didn't hurt as bad as some wounds she had had.

The white hedgehog had spent the night in the hold, curled between two stacks of boxes, her head pillowed on her sword sheath. At dawn she made her cautious way into the upper levels, the bright light making her head throb. There was no sign of Sonic, but the battlestation was alive with pre-launch work.

At last she realized how futile it was to search the huge ship for one hedgehog. If she really wanted to help Sonic, she should find out where E2 was, and what it did. That way, when he waltzed in, she would be ready with the answers. It was a rosy thought, and she set off at once for the upper levels.

Fortunately, Metal Sonic was a floor below her and headed in the opposite direction. He was talking to Silver Sonic over the network. "Silver, I do not recommend you stay long. Once the ship launches, you will be marooned here."

"Negative," replied Silver's voice. "I will not leave until my mission objectives are completed. Where are Sonic and Tails located?"

Metal Sonic gave a nasty laugh he had been practicing. It sounded like a stuttering digital screech. "That, my friend, is none of your business. Let me assure you that they will be dead by the time the week is finished."

"What have you done with them?"

"Really, Mecha bot one," Metal Sonic continued, ignoring the question, "you should not have chosen them as masters. They neglected to even give you a battery."

"I do not need one," growled Silver.

"The gutless wonder," Metal Sonic sneered. "All robots need a battery. You think you are running on air? Let me tell you this, Silver. You are powered by the electrical field generated by the Death Egg. I could run on it as well, were I not equipped with a proper power source. When this ship's reactor shuts down, you will, as well."

"What? Please repeat last thread. 'When' this ship's reactor ...?"

"I was simple when I came online, but I was no fool," purred Metal Sonic, leaning against the wall. "Minutes before I was yanked backward in time, I heard noise in the upper levels. I activated the security camera and saw Priority Hedgehog covered in the red liquid which fills an organic body. There was another robot there, which I believe was myself, who had inflicted such damage upon him. But the hedgehog was not yet dead, for he fired E2 as I watched, which automatically shuts down the reactor. Then I was pulled out of time. It has taken me days to decided what it was I had seen. But, you see, you cannot win. I have foreseen my victory in the death of Sonic the Hedgehog."

Sonic slumped against the wall, panting, his medallion clutched in one hand. The freezer door had been stripped of its insulation, and the steel beyond was scratched and burned from Sonic's assault with both his spines and the laser in his guitar. But neither were strong enough to pierce the metal.

The walls were perspiring in the cold now, and the air smelled of coolant. Tails was pacing, trying to keep warm, although would grow much, much colder. "Stupid door," Sonic muttered, staring at it as if he could bore a hole in it with his eyes. "It must be thicker than I thought."

"Sonic, what happens when it gets really cold?" asked Tails.

Sonic shrugged. "I don't know. We'll just keep moving. I wish I had eaten something."

But Tails's thoughts had moved ahead into days without number, during which they would freeze to death. No, they had to get out somehow.

Nothing was more dismal than sitting in the dim freezer, watching their breath vaporize on the air and waiting for something to happen. Sonic got up and began to pace, the hum of the motor wearing on his nerves. "Can't you do something, Tails? I thought Kitsunes were supposed to have all sorts of weird powers."

"Like what?" asked Tails. "Use the Force?" He waved a gloved hand at the door. "Begone, foul portal!"

Nothing happened.

"I could have done that," said Sonic sarcastically. "Can't you, like, blow it down with your tails?"

"They don't work that way," said Tails, standing up. He spun his tails at the door, but all that happened was that his hindquarters lifted off the floor. "Sorry, Sonic. I can fly. That's all I'm good for."

Time passed and it grew colder. After what seemed like years, there came a new sound--a vibrating rumble. "Takeoff," commented Sonic.

The Death Egg lifted skyward on three massive rockets. Support towers swung away, robots and workers watched, and ground support radioed instructions as the battlestation rose skyward. Everything proceeded according to plan, and the ship swept aloft. At twenty thousand feet it levelled out. For the next eight hours, the engines would break themselves in, and the ship's inventor would see if anything went wrong. If all went well, Wednesday evening, the robotizer beam would fire.

The day passed. Metal Sonic stalked the halls of the Death Egg, Silver Sonic hunted for his missing masters, Sonic and Tails bickered in the freezer, Shalita looked for weapons information, and Sonia and Manic searched for their mother.

Unfortunately for the Sonic Underground, Queen Aleena was notorious for her hiding skills. They could find no trace of her, and none of the resistance knew where she was.

"She's lying low, all right," said Manic, walking with his head down and fingering his medallion under his cloak. "We've got to get the time song to your past self somehow."

Sonia's head was up, eyes fixed on the distant milky sphere in the sky. "We're running out of time, Manic."

"Duh." Manic kicked a paper cup off the sidewalk. "We've lost another day. We've got to come up with something quick."

They crossed a vacant lot, navigated several allies and arrived at their hideout. As they walked up, they saw a note tacked to the door. "What's that?" asked Manic as Sonia pulled it free.

Her eyes widened. "It's from Him! Listen. 'Your mother did not give you the Song. Signed, the Songwriter.'"

Manic grabbed the note and stared at it. "Mom didn't give--? Then who did? Are you sure it was a girl?"

"Positive," Sonia snapped. "She had a definite female voice. It wasn't that Songwriter guy, whoever he is."

Manic looked around, as if he expected to see the stranger looking over their shoulders. "This is definitely getting weird. Let's go in."

They stepped into the dimness of the shack's interior, half expecting Someone to be waiting for them. To their relief it was empty.

Suddenly Sonia made a sound and sank onto an overturned crate. Manic eyed her. "Are you okay?"

Sonia stared straight ahead. "Mom didn't give me the note. I did."

"What?"

Still staring, Sonia fingered the hem of her black cloak. "I was wearing this. I lowered by voice ... does this make sense?"

Manic squinted. "Kind of. This is maddening! What time was it?"

"Early, about six. And I'd like to know who the Songwriter is."

Manic shook his head. "We may never know, Sonia."

Night fell, and arctic chill had come to the freezer. Sonic and Tails huddled together for warmth, pieces of insulation stacked around them. The floor and walls were covered in a thin layer of ice, and the cold bit through their fur. In spite of this, the two dozed from time to time.

Tails sank into a dream that he was rocking on a warm sea. It was peaceful and quiet, and a seagull flew over. It reminded him of his vacation in the Emerald Coast, although he had hardly ever had time for recreation while there. "I could get used to this," he thought. Suddenly clouds smoked across the sky, and lightning forked down. It was no longer warm. He was in a bare, rocky desert with no protection from the storm. Sonic was there, yelling to him across a vast distance. "Use the lightning!" The webs of electricity snaked across the sky and struck the ground nearby. "It'll get me!" Tails cried in terror. He couldn't move--all he could do was wait for the next flash. Thunder roller over him, shaking his bones. "Use the lightning!" Sonic yelled again. "It's our only chance!" Icy rain gushed from the heavens, and the lightning poised overhead, ready to strike.

Tails's eyelids snapped open. "Tails, wake up," Sonic was saying. "We need to walk around."

The fox stumbled to his feet, his limbs stiff with cold. The two walked back and forth through the chill, and Tails recounted his dream. Sonic didn't think much of it. "Scared of storms, huh?"

Sonic sat down again, but Tails continued to pace, teeth chattering. Coming so suddenly from a dream had left him with a feeling of unreality. Maybe Sonic was right and there was something else he could do. He began to spin his tails close together, the fur of each tail brushing the other. Maybe he could build up a static charge, like scuffing his feet on a shag carpet. It took concentration, and the fox stood still, tails moving faster and faster.

Sonic watched his sidekick, shivering and feeling ill tempered. What did Tails think he was going to do? He clenched his teeth to keep them from chattering and folded his arms. He wondered what hypothermia felt like and how you knew when you had it. Then he glanced at Tails's spinning tails. Had he seen a flash? There it was again--sparks between the tails. Electric blue sparks. A second later a bolt of electricity rippled over the spinning tails, and all the fur on Tails's body stood erect. Sonic sat up straight and stared, mouth hanging open. Tails was staring at the door, brows furrowed in concentration. He didn't seem to have noticed the static charge he had built.

"Tails," Sonic began, but broke off as the fox stepped forward and touched a finger to the steel door.

There was a loud snap. Tails shrieked, and the door quivered in its frame. The fox looked around at Sonic, his fingertip smoking. "Great Scott," he said.

"I think you're going to need a bigger charge," Sonic suggested, standing up. "I never saw anybody do that."

Tails laughed weakly. "Neither did I."

It took them the rest of the night to break the freezer door down. Tails's charges grew stronger with each try, and the bolt that knocked the door from its fastenings was so powerful it leaped from the fox and crackled over Sonic's spines. The hedgehog was none too happy about this.

It was a relief to step into the comparative warmth of the Death Egg's hallways, even if they knew they must deal with the dangers it contained. It was an hour before sunrise, and the battlestation was dark and quiet. Sonic and Tails returned to the kitchen, their hunger greater than their fear of discovery, and made a quiet meal of bread, raw hotdogs and a jar of hot sauce, with water gulped from the tap. Tails found that he received a shock every time he touched a metal surface. "I wonder," he whispered to Sonic. "Could I do that because of my tails, or because I'm a Kitsune?"

"Both, I bet," Sonic whispered back. "What time is it?"

Tails checked his watch. "Six ten. Where's the weapon stuff?"

"Higher, I think," said Sonic. "We've got about forty-two hours, right?"

"Something like that. We'd better go before Metal Sonic shows up."

The two left the kitchen and slipped like shadows down the hall.

Shalita opened her eyes and blinked. A ray of sunlight lay across her face, shining through one of the blocks of glass that composed the upper section of E2. The sky beyond was blue and cloudless. She sat up and shut her eyes against the throbbing in her temples. As it subsided, she looked up at the glass half-circle that looked out on the world. It was fifty feet above the right 'eye' in the face of the Death Egg. She had explored the area the night before. The machinery behind the eye was riddled with platforms at different levels, accessed by ladders. She had nearly lost herself in their maze.

But she didn't know what the vast halls of equipment did, or how to harm them. For the first time she thought of Manic; he might have been able to make sense of E2. At any rate, she was here, and had better get busy or she would be of no use whatsoever when Sonic arrived.

Silver Sonic saw Sonic and Tails on his radar, but he made no move to join them. He had been processing the problem before them with every ounce of computing power he had. Metal Sonic, in his boasting, had let slip a vital clue. The Death Egg was not shut down until Thursday evening. Yet, their plans were to destroy it on Wednesday. Between those dates were twenty-four hours of earthquakes. Something happened--but what?

Silver ignored Metal Sonic's taunts as the hours passed, and kept secret the information that Sonic and Tails were free. And, as the day's end approached, the robot found a solution to the problem.

Tuesday ended as Sonic and Tails arrived, tired and bewildered, in the machinery in the bowels of E2, the mystery weapon.

Wednesday morning. Sonia stood at the end of her home alley, her black hood pulled far over her face, palms sweating, the time song the Songwriter had given them tucked in her inner pocket. Any minute now and the manhole cover would slide open, and her past self would appear. Any minute ...

With a ring of metal on asphalt, the manhole cover slid aside. Sonia saw her own pink head emerge, and her past self climb into view. "I should have brushed my hair," she thought in disgust.

She waited until her past self caught sight of the Death Egg, then moved forward, holding her cloak around her. Past-Sonia saw her and froze in surprise. "Who are you?"

"I thought I was Mom," thought future-Sonia. Aloud she said, "Hello, take this." She held out the paper, and her past self took it and unfolded it. "What is it?"

"It's a song," said Sonia, careful to keep her voice low. "Learn to play it."

Her past self looked up and opened her mouth, but future-Sonia held up a hand. "You must be underground by seven o'clock tonight. Stay underground until seven tomorrow night. Don't come up under any circumstances.

Past-Sonia looked confused. "Why?"

Future-Sonia walked away without answering, leaving her past self with the song and the instructions. She had done it.

Manic met her at the corner. "Did you do it? Did it work?"

Sonia flipped back her hood and smiled. She felt shaken. "Yeah. Everything was just like I remember." She looked at the distant Death Egg. "Now if only Sonic and Tails can pull off their end of the bargain ..."

Metal Sonic slipped into the room where his past self lay on the table and looked around for video cameras. As far as he could see, there were none. He stalked to the table and looked down at himself, fully programmed, yet sleeping, lacking only a small power surge to send him to life.

Metal Sonic extended a claw and touched his past self's face. Here was the only being he had ever felt tender toward ... the only being he had ever cared for ... himself.

He paced across the room to the control panel on the wall, reached for the power lever, then hesitated. What if he hadn't ...? No. He was certain of it. He yanked the lever down. The lights on the panel blazed to life, and on the table, Metal Sonic's red eyes flickered on.

"Log off the network," said Metal Sonic to Silver. "Before my past self logs on." He and Silver logged off, severing their communications.

"How's it look now?" hollered Tails. He was crouched on the slender arm of the laser crystal supports, and towering above him was the polished crystal lens itself. Twenty feet above, Sonic leaned over the railing. "Still too low. Give it another six inches."

Tails turned and pushed the lens. It turned silently on well-greased bearings. Sonic peered through the eyepiece. "No, still too low. Higher!"

Shalita was standing beside him, pretending the shouting didn't hurt her head. She had discovered both the location of the lens and the targeting mechanism.

Tails moved the lens again, catching the morning sun. Sonic yelped and jerked his head away from the scope, temporarily blind. "I think that's perfect," he called, rubbing his eye.

The fox flew up and landed beside Sonic. Shalita smiled at him. She had forgiven him for being a Kitsune; after all, Tails had a charm all his own, and he might wind up getting killed. "I wish we knew what it did," he said, looking at the pipes, wires and tanks about them.

"Maybe it's another robotizer beam," said Sonic. "Shal, did you find out how to turn it on?"

She nodded. "There's a control room up in the top. I'll show you." She stumbled as she turned and gripped the railing.

"Hey, are you okay?" asked Sonic, steadying her.

She smiled through clenched teeth. "I hit my head and I've been kind of dizzy."

Sonic looked at Tails, whose eyes reflected his concern. "Doesn't that mean you cracked your skull or something?"

Shalita shook her head. "It doesn't mean anything. C'mon, the ladder's this way."

The control room was the only walled structure in the maze of walkways, and contained the set of over-complex controls Robotnik loved. Shalita showed them a set of parachutes in a cabinet nearby, then leaned against the wall, spent, as Sonic and Tails tried to make sense of the controls.

"I don't dare touch anything," said Tails, folding his hands nervously. "What if we can't turn it off?"

"That'd be the pits," said Sonic, also eyeing the buttons and knobs. "You'd think we were flying a spaceship instead of firing a gun. At least we can bail out if it decides to blow up." He pointed to the parachute cabinet.

They explored the rest of the walkways, Sonic keeping an eye out for a medical kit that could help Shalita. There were none.

Time ticked by. Noon passed and seven PM marched closer. Sonic and Tails grew edgy and jumped at every sound. Shalita kept watch, partly so she could sit still and rest her head. At quarter til seven, she called, "Here comes your robot."

Sonic and Tails welcomed Silver Sonic with open arms. He navigated the ladder with studied precision and joined them in the control room. He held up a hand to quiet the excited questions and said, "There is little time. Let me use the control panel, so we do not compound the disaster we are already in." Silver moved to the control panel and worked, pausing now and then as if listening. In the distance a soft hum began, and a gentle vibration shook the floor. "Deception is a powerful thing," said Silver, stepping away from the panel. "We must deceive our past selves if we wish to succeed. Please excuse me." The gray robot retreated to the wall, and his orange eyes flickered off.

Sonic looked at Tails. "What?"

Then E1 fired.

"Did I say 'Mobitropolis'?" Robotnik laughed to the past version of Metal Sonic. "You are witnessing the dawn of Robotropolis!" He punched the fire button. E1 fired, but not in the direction Robotnik had wanted. Instead of down, it fired at an angle, striking Launch Base. Robotnik's eyes widened, and his smile vanished. "What's this? What happened to the firing trajectory?" He looked at Metal Sonic, who gazed back at him. The doctor punched at the control panel and ended the beam's firing. He readjusted the trajectory and fired again. Again Launch Base was hit.

High atop the Death Egg, Silver Sonic the Hacker reset Robotnik's settings every time the doctor adjusted them. Robotnik did not give up until seven o'clock the next evening, when he finally admitted that the lens must be out of alignment. To fix it he would have to bring up the necessary repair drones.

In the meantime, this firing had not gone unnoticed by the inhabitants of the city. Everyone fled for emergency bunkers and basements, leaving only the robots who were moving about on business. Silver Sonic trusted that the imaginations of the Sonic Underground would do the rest.

Silver Sonic's eyes lit up. "Success," he droned, looking at the pale faces of Sonic, Tails and Shalita. "There is only an hour left until we time warp. We cannot fire E2 until then."

"Why not?" asked Tails. "It's been a whole day, and I'm starved. Let's fire it now and run for it."

"Because," said Silver Sonic, "someone saw us fire it."

The hedgehogs and fox stared at him. "Who?" they asked in unison.

"Metal Sonic," said Silver. "And he is coming."

Sonic dashed to the ladder. He could hear clanking footsteps in the distance, but the platforms hid the robot from sight. "I'll stop him," Sonic said, and descended the ladder.

"No," said Silver. He turned to Tails. "Assist him. Metal Sonic will kill him."

Tails gave him one horrified look and darted after his hero.

Metal Sonic rounded a corner and came face to face with Sonic. He stopped, and so did his enemy. Sonic grinned. "I finally get to see you. Man, you're ugly." Metal Sonic said nothing, but his digital eyes glittered. One hand doubled into a fist.

A split second later Sonic smashed to the steel walkway, head spinning from the blow. He was up at once, facing the robot, who was stalking toward him, every motion as deliberate as a hunting cat's. "That's the way you want to play, eh?" Sonic sneered. The hedgehog threw himself into a ball of whirling spines and shot at the robot. To his surprise, he encountered thin air and screeched to a halt. How could Metal Sonic move so fast? The robot was now on the far side of the platform, standing still, hands at his sides.

Sonic spindashed again, and again he missed. Metal Sonic was simply not there. Panting, Sonic saw the robot was now at the other end of the platform. "Don't you talk?" asked Sonic, walking toward him. If he was closer when he spindashed, nothing could avoid him. Metal Sonic lowered his head a fraction and said nothing.

The next spindash was disastrous. Metal Sonic again sidestepped like lightning, and Sonic shot off the edge of the platform. Before he had begun to fall, the robot was in pursuit, claws outstretched. Sonic struck the platform ten feet below with a clang. Before he could decide whether or not he was hurt, steel hands clamped around his ankles. With the strength of a machine, Metal Sonic swung his enemy into the side of the ladder. There was an echoing bong, and Sonic slumped to the ground, stunned. Metal Sonic released his ankles, carefully took a handful of the spines on the back of Sonic's head, and slammed his face into the floor.

Sonic came up fighting.

One of his frenzied spindashes struck home, and the two hit the floor. Metal Sonic made an angry hissing sound. Sonic grabbed the robot's cold arm--it felt like a pipe--and pitched the robot off the platform. It was silent for a full second, then there was the snarl of a jet engine, and the robot reappeared, hovering on a fiery blue jet.

Sonic dodged the next attack, a hot fury gripping him. No robot could do that to him--but he had never seen a robot that could move so fast. He watched the robot fly, looking for a weakness. Metal Sonic overshot his prey by eight feet when he missed--that could be useful. But first Sonic would have to knock out that jet.

He had never fought a Mecha bot before. His brief encounter with Silver Sonic had been more of a race. In Silver's case, he had known the robot was armed and to keep his distance. Metal Sonic, however, appeared to carry no weapons, being built for speed. Thus Sonic was not afraid to get close to the robot.

Sonic had no experience with the cunning programmed into a Mecha bot.

He tackled Metal Sonic in midair, knocking him to the floor. The robot's jet automatically shut off, and his eyes glittered up at his foe. "You're not so tough," said Sonic.

Metal Sonic's hands clamped into either side of Sonic's head like the jaws of a vice. Sonic tried to pull away, but he couldn't break the robot's grip. The sharp-ended fingers curled inward and relaxed. Sonic pulled free, and the claws raked through either side of his face. Before he could jump aside, Metal Sonic kicked him in the stomach so hard Sonic flew across the platform and lay still, doubled up in pain. The robot jumped to his feet, walked to his foe, and kicked him in the face and stomach. Sonic gave a moaning cry, an animal noise of suffering.

Tails and Shalita hit the robot from two different directions, one with flashing crystal sword, the other with a terrific static charge. Metal Sonic twisted aside, and the sword glanced off his shoulder-cover. Tails's attack, however, was harder to avoid. The electric pulse stunned him and sent him to the floor, eyes flickering on and off.

Sonic climbed to his feet, bleeding from his nose, mouth and the cuts on the sides of his head. "Are you okay?" he companions asked.

He nodded. "It takes more than that to kill me. Let me spindash the creep." They stood aside, and the ball of spines whirled at the motionless robot.

At the last second Metal Sonic flung himself out of the way, but no one saw the laser he placed in the oncoming whirlwind. Sonic uncurled and fell to his hands and knees. The laser had struck his back, between his quills, which hid the damage.

"Sonic!" Tails yelled, sensing the hedgehog was hurt, and dashed to his side.

Sonic stood up, gasping. "I'm all right," he said, looking around for the robot. Metal Sonic was standing at the end of the platform, head down and arms at his sides, which was his pre-attack position. Sonic said to Tails, "Run." He jumped to his feet and bolted for the ladder. Tails darted in the opposite direction, wondering which of them the robot would follow. A roar of engines told him Sonic was still the target.

Sonic arrived at the top of the ladder gasping in pain; the laser burn in his back was making his left arm seize up. He stumbled onto the platform, doubling up in pain. There was an approaching whoosh, and Metal Sonic appeared, having flown instead of climbing the ladder. Sonic looked at the robot, tasting blood in his mouth, and suddenly thought of E2. It had to have been an hour by now. He forced his cramping muscles to work as he dashed for the next ladder. Metal Sonic followed him at a leisurely pace, content to let his prey flee for the time being. After all, the platforms only ascended so high.

The chase went on, higher and higher, Sonic fleeing on adrenaline alone, his breath ripping in and out of his mouth like sandpaper. He was losing blood and becoming lightheaded. How much higher was it? He had climbed fifty ladders--a hundred--his limbs were trembling, and there was a hole in his back. He was losing fuel. Systems were shutting down. Fight the controls, stay awake, keep moving.

Then he was in the control room, facing the vast unlabeled control panel. He felt numb and helpless. Where was his brain in times like these? It must be curled up in a corner somewhere. He had better find it before he fired the weapon or something bad might happen.

Metal Sonic landed on the balcony outside and switched off his jet. Engines smoking, he paced into the control room after Sonic. This was it. This was where he saw Sonic and himself. Ah, the sweet taste of victory.

Sonic turned to face him and saw something Metal Sonic didn't. Poised just inside the doorway of the control room was Silver Sonic. Still as a statue, he was standing with his hands at his sides and head lowered, the claws in his fingertips extended to their full six inches. Metal Sonic walked past him, eyes fixed on Sonic.

Claws slashed. A screech of metal, a digital voice yelling in surprise. Metal Sonic whirled to face Silver Sonic, his right arm now lying on the floor. As neither were logged onto the network, they communicated audibly, and Sonic listened in hazy amazement as Metal Sonic spoke.

"I warned you to leave once, Mecha bot one. Are you such a fool as to disobey?"

"You are not my master," said Silver Sonic. "Sonic is. I will defend him."

"A pity," said the blue robot, lowering his head. "I must destroy you as well."

"You may try," said Silver, his clawed hand twitching, "but your chances of success diminish with the loss of each of your limbs."

"Your master will be dead before we complete our battle," said Metal Sonic. "His biological fluid is leaking onto the floor, and soon he will die. Perhaps I should hasten the process?"

Sonic leaped aside as the blue robot flew at him, his one arm extended. "Silver, how do I fire E2?" he cried as Metal Sonic stopped and whirled. The ringing in his ears had become a fierce whistle, and spots were swimming before his eyes. From a great distance he heard Silver's reply--"Throw the largest of the switches! I have initiated the rest!"

Sonic sprang to the control panel, misjudged and stumbled into it, pressing buttons with his elbows. He searched for the largest switch through the mist in his eyes and saw it, near the top. He reached for it--

Claws ripped into the top of his head, over his scalp and down into his quills, yanking him away from the control panel. He could not control the scream that burst from him, and with a corner of his mind marvelled that he could make such a sound. He lay on the floor, staring up at Metal Sonic's red eyes, lined with diodes and shimmering with triumph. "Mission complete," he droned.

The face vanished in a spray of sparks. Sonic lay there, staring at the ceiling, detached from the situation. He found himself gazing at the ceiling tiles and wondering what poor sap had put them there. Wasn't he supposed to be doing something? Something about a switch?

He dragged his leaden body to its feet. "Look how bloody he is," he thought as he looked down at himself. He had ceased to identify with the stained blue hedgehog in the control room. "He had better find that switch and pull it." He watched himself lean across the control panel, lift a damp glove to the switch, and pull.

The lights went out, and Sonic fainted. The entire battle in the control room had taken less than five minutes.

Tails and Shalita burst in, panting from climbing ladders, and found Silver Sonic kneeling over a crumpled figure on the floor. Metal Sonic lay nearby, lacking both arms and a leg, and glaring daggers at them. Silver looked up as they entered, his orange fly-eyes expressionless. "We must evacuate. E2 will fire, and then the ship will crash."

"Tails, take Sonic," said Shalita. She opened a cabinet under the control panel and hauled out a parachute. "I'll be fine with this." She buckled it around herself as Tails grabbed Sonic's wrists and dragged him out of the control room. The white hedgehog looked at Silver Sonic, who looked forlorn. "Never mind me," he said. "I shall survive the crash. I will return afterward."

The reactor of the Death Egg had transferred all its power to E2, then shut down. The tilted lens Sonic and Tails had modified was pointed straight up in the sky.

Tails blew out the glass in the skylight above E2 with a static bolt, then hauled the limp Sonic out through the hole. He flew out and down, away from the doomed battlestation, and toward the city in the blue evening distance.

Shalita opened an access door further down, below E2, and leaped out. Her parachute opened, and she floated on the calm, warm air toward the highway below.

E2 fired. A mighty beam of white shot skyward in an endless line, vaporizing the very air, reaching through the atmosphere and into space in a fiery finger of destruction. The white beam turned blood red--red as the sun at sunset--then vanished in a cloud of vapor. Had that beam hit the ground, it would have destroyed all of Mobitropolis, for E2 was a Death Ray.

The Death Egg crashed into Launch Base, its lower portions crumpling like an eggshell. It did not explode, as the reactor was offline, but a good many things under it did. Both 'eyes' of the ship were destroyed.

No traces of Metal Sonic or Silver Sonic were ever found among the wreckage.

Tails descended toward the highway, his nerve and stamina failing. Sonic hung from his grasp like a dead thing, head lolling to one side, blue spines stained a dull purple in many places. What if he were already dead? Tails had seen that amount of blood once--only once--and his parents had died. He had to find medical help for Sonic, but how? They were on the outskirts of the city. Shalita might help, but she was hurt, too. Oh, if only Silver Sonic had come ...

Flashing lights. Tails looked down and gasped as two ambulances screeched to a halt on the highway below, sirens wailing. Paramedics jumped out and looked up at him, their faces pale in the twilight.

He had scarcely landed before Sonic was snatched from his grasp, buckled onto a stretcher, and lifted into the back of the vehicle. The other ambulance roared away up the road toward Shalita, who was just landing under an orange cloud of nylon.

Then both ambulances were gone, red taillights vanishing in the direction of the city lights. Tails stood bewildered on the road, his fur fanned in the vehicles' wake. Where had those cars come from? How was he going to get home? Was Sonic still alive?

The fox hadn't recovered from his shock when yet another car pulled up. This, however, was a silver van decked out with additions to its body on all sides. A familiar green hedgehog was at the wheel. Grinning, Tails opened the door and bounded into the seat. The van was in motion before he closed the door.

"You did it!" Sonia squealed, twisting around in the passenger's seat to look at Tails. "You all did it! We're back in the present!"

Tails couldn't have cared less. "Will Sonic be okay?" he asked with a catch in his voice.

"We don't know," said Manic through his teeth, accelerating to ninety miles an hour in pursuit of the ambulances. "We're in the present. There's no time loop to work through now."

"Where did the ambulances come from?" the fox asked after a moment. After all, he had just been wondering about medical help, and the ambulances appeared out of thin air.

"That's a funny story," said Manic. "See, when we went into the sewer when the Death Egg fired, it was really boring, you know?"

"And cold," added Sonia.

"So in a lull we looked out," Manic went on, "and there was this guy standing right next to the manhole, like he was keeping watch."

"And he told us to meet you here!" burst in Sonia. "He said Sonic and Shalita would be hurt, and to call the hospital--"

"As soon as our past selves warped," corrected Manic. "We didn't reenter the present until our past selves time warped, you see."

"I see," said Tails, although he didn't.

"I asked him who he was," said Sonia, "because he was wearing a hood and cloak just like ours. He said he was the Songwriter, and was one of the people who watched over us."

"I thanked him for the song," said Manic, braking as the red lights of the rear ambulance came into view. "He said we were welcome, and that the virtue of the song would be gone as soon as we reached the present."

"Then he said not to look for him, but he would return soon. And then he took out a flute--"

"And played a few notes, and disappeared!" Manic concluded.

"Weird," said Tails, who was too worried about Sonic to pay much attention to their story. He kept seeing Metal Sonic bashing Sonic into things, dodging all attacks, flying with his claws out--

They piled out of the van at the hospital and rushed inside. Nobody gave them more than a casual glance. They were escorted to the waiting room and left, wondering and worried, while Sonic was wheeled into intensive care.

Hours passed, and the night deepened. A nurse came and told them that Shalita had had a catscan, and had a minor skull fracture. She was resting and wanted to see them. It turned out that she, too was frantic for news of Sonic. They promised to tell her the moment they heard anything, and resumed waiting.

Near midnight the doctor came in, an orange collie with a white blaze down his nose. He looked tired. "Your brother is alive," he told them. "It's hard to say anything for sure, but I think he'll make it." He held up a hand to stop the questions. "I'm not going to ask you what happened to him. And I'm also not going to acknowledge you exist. An unknown hedgehog was treated here, understand?"

They understood. He was covering for them. It was fortunate that not everyone was under Robotnik's thumb.

It was two days before Sonic awoke, weak and pale, but alive. The first thing he said to the others when they came to see him was, "What did E2 do?"

They told him about the spectacular Death Ray, and about their encounter with the Songwriter. Sonic lay in the bed, a mass of white bandages with bright eyes. His second question was a more practical one. "When can I go home?"

The hospital held him for another two days, but like everything else Sonic did, his recovery was swift. Manic chauffeured him home in the van under cover of evening, and the group enjoyed their first hot meal in a week. Shalita was there as well, a bandage wound around her head, but looking healthy. She couldn't stay long, for she was due to check in with the resistance, but she departed with Sonic and Tails' gratitude. After all, if she hadn't played scout, they might not have succeeded.

Sonic recounted his battle with Metal Sonic with a mixture of relish and discomfort, for the memory of the killer robot gave him the creeps. Then he had Manic and Sonia recount their story in the proper sequence. When everyone finished, Sonic looked around, counting heads. "Where's Silver?"

Manic, Sonic and Tails hung their heads. "He didn't make it," said Tails. "He was still on the Death Egg when it crashed, and it fell right on the eyes." There was a moment of silence. Although Silver Sonic was only a collection of hardware, they had all grown to like him. "He--he said he would be back later," Tails said, his voice cracking. "We couldn't have brought him with us."

Sonic gazed at the floor, feeling as if he had lost one of his siblings.

Suddenly Manic grinned. "He was a robot, guys. It's not like he died. He'll be rebuilt."

"By Robotnik," said Sonia ironically. "And he'll be reprogrammed and come back to kill us."

"He'll remember," said Manic, the grin persisting. "A robot with a learning matrix can't have its mind reprogrammed. He'll remember."

"Good," said Sonic "I'd rather this whole thing had a happy ending. But guys, there's one last thing. Who is the Songwriter?"

"That's what they'll be asking," said the hooded figure. "I only told them enough to excite their curiosity. But they won't look for me--Manic and Sonia will see to that. You have good children, Aleena."

The female hedgehog was wearing a robe like his, but her hood was pulled back, letting her soft spines hang free. In her face there was an echo of Sonia's. She shook her head. "I truly didn't understand how you were going to pull this one off, Jules. It was very dangerous, and we almost lost Sonic."

The Songwriter sat down across the table from her and pulled off his hood. He was a blue hedgehog with Manic's untidy spines and Sonic's eyes. "That's why I gave them their medallions through the Oracle. The Time Song was only the first one I composed for them, you know." He reached into his cloak and pulled out a silver flute, which he played a few piping notes on.

Queen Aleena rested her head on one elbow. "You haven't changed a bit."

Jules put down the flute and grinned. "Where do you think Sonic gets it?"

"Certainly not from his mother," said Aleena, smiling. "But what about their robot? Did you mean for him to be destroyed?"

Jules shook his head. "It was either destroy both robots or neither. I believe there is a hope for Metal Sonic, despite his programming."

"You mean you saved both of them?"

"I didn't do a thing. Silver Sonic did. He made Metal Sonic activate his jet, and they flew away just before the crash. Silver will take Metal Sonic's battery and return to his masters the day after tomorrow."

Aleena sighed and traced a pattern on the table's smooth top. "I wish I had your foresight. When will you tell them who you are?"

"Not for a while," said Jules, studying his flute. "I want everyone to think I'm dead. It's easier that way, because Robotnik's not looking for me." He looked at his wife. "Like he is you."

"Tell me this, Jules," she said, looking desperate. "Will we ever be restored to the throne?"

He looked at her, appearing much like his sons. "I haven't looked that far. I can't bear to. Sometimes foresight is more curse than blessing." He glared at the flute in his hand. "But I know that somehow, Metal Sonic will be Robotnik's undoing."

Aleena looked at him for a long moment, then reached out and took his hand. "And Tails?"

Jules didn't answer for a moment, but his eyes had a faraway look. "Tails ... I don't know what role he will play, but it is good to have a Kitsune on our side. He and Sonic will save each other's lives many times. Don't ask any more questions, Aleena. The future is too uncertain for me to say more."

The Songwriter walked out of the cave, leaving Aleena sitting at the table with fierce hope in her eyes. "I only asked about us," she murmured. "They will succeed. Whatever happens to us ... they will triumph."

The End