Sonic and all related
characters are copyrighted
to Sega and Archie
cooperation.
Jaguar is copyrighted to me.
12/30/2000
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The Eye of the Tiger
by Gabriel Baase
Chapter 1
In a deep, dark and damp alley of Robotropolis all was still. The only thing that could be heard was a few small rats knawing on a banana peel in a garbage dumpster and the accaisional dripping of acid polluted water going into a drain. Every once in awhile this would be interrupted by the daily patrol of hoverbots going through the area, searching and scanning for those who mighta been living and hiding in the city ever since the great seige of this once beautiful and lucious city, or perhaps the nortious band of rebels known as the freedom fighters, a band of mobians who ran various runs on the city in the fall of night performing raids or operations that slow down or disable the city for a week or two. Who stood and fought for the values that been outlawed in this city, goodness, love, equality and the right to enjoy life as one would.
But nothing like that was found in this alley tonight, all was as calm and as quiet as it should be, according to the standards behind the one who made things like this, Ivo Robotnik, a person obsessed with machinery, but even more with having his own way.
Suddenly the stillness was broken all like a flash. Through the alley a white cat came runnng around the corner on all fours with nothing on eccept for a collar around his neck with some dog tag number on it reading 48732. He had rough and ruggid fur, and his body was differant from that of other cat. His legs were arked at the bottom like that of a reptile of some kind. He had blue eyes, which when excited they'd become split like that of a snake's. He had the normal height and the average appearance of any mobian, but he moved like an animal.
He was quickly followed by two hover bots who shot multiple lazer blasts at him. One shot hit a trash can causing it to go flying with a huge dent in it rather than incinerating it, the shots were set on stun. Normally this wasn't the case, mobians who were found and cornered in the city of Robotropolis were given the option to not make a move eccept to go with the Swatbots, to be put in a waiting cell for several hours and be robotisized. However if they tried to escape no attempts to reacapture them would be made, for it was better to have a dead mobian in Robotropolis rather than a non robotisized one.
The white cat ran around the right corner of the alley and stood up on his legs and took in a couple of deep but short breaths. He then stood perfectly still and watched as the hover bots came to the middle of the intersection and shined their lights in a rotating fashion. When the lights reached him he was gone, right above where he'd been was a open air shaft. Once inside the vent the cat once again moved on all fours using his claws to move along the ceiling.
He moved just as rapidly as he had done in the alley, never stoping for a moment to look back. When he reached the end of the air shaft he kicked open the end of it, he jumped to the ground and sniffed the air, his ears suddenly twiched a little picking up the sound of another hover bot headed in his direction no sooner had he picked this sound up, was the hover bot speeding around the corner firing more stun blasts at him. But the shots hit empty space, as the machine's programming told it to look up, it did so just in time to see the cat coming down on it like a cat does on a mouse. He ripped into it with his claws and teeth as a few moments later it fell to the ground looking as if it had just come out of a junk yard, with it all torn and battered up, with it's parts strewn all over the place. He looked behind him seeing two more hover bots coming down the far end of the street he was on, instinctively he ran.
But the hover bots weren't the only ones interested in the white cat. A curious little orange fox with two tails wearing a pair of white and red shoes watched him with a pair of binoculars. He had been following him since the alley. Thinking he was some one who was justing trying to escape robotisization he never once thought to look more closely at the colar around his neck. He quickly took out his communicator and switched it to a certain frequency. "Sonic? Sonic are ya there?", the worried young fox asked. "Whats up big guy?", asked Sonic. "I just saw two hover bots chasing sombody", the lil fox answered.
"Could it be one of our guys?"
"I don't think so, I've never seen him before, all he has on is a collar"
"Hmmm, where's he headed?"
"He's....", Tails stopped, he looked again to find the white cat was gone, but he could still see the hover bots that been chasing him still floating there looking and scanning around confused. It was a few minutes later he spotted the cat again running 12 more blocks down where he had originally spotted him. "He's headed your way I think", Tails finally answered. "I'm on it" , replied Sonic.
Meanwhile the white cat stopped just long enough to spy on a image that had just appeared on a screen in a small building. He recongized it, it was the first and only face he could remember since he had escaped. For some reason he couldn't remember anything farther than escaping from that laboratory he was in, and him currently being chased by the hover bots. It puzzled him deeply. He growled lowly at the face, being careful not to attrack any unwanted attention. "Hmmm we should of been prepared for a incident like this", the face said. On the recieving end was a small cowardly looking lil man with few hairs on his head. "Yes sir, shall I dispatch the Swatbots? they have better means of tracking and procedures for this kind of emergency", the little man said.
"No Snively for as much as much as I hate to admit it, this is a job far too complicated for those tin plated twits to handle, access the bounty hunters hotline", the large face on the screen ordered.
The face was large and broud, it had evil, dark red eyes, that glowed intensly when it was upset. It had orange hair, growing out from underneath its fat and stout nose and very little on it head. Its breath smelled horrible, like somthing that came out of what those rats were feeding in. The face also had two silvery like round things on the sides of its head that just didn't seem natural, but what was even more unnatural about the body that this face belonged too, was its size and weight. Somthing inside him told him that some one couldn't survive like that. The thing that pumped the living fluid in it, why hadn't it burst by now from such a large strain? The other thing about that thing's body was its two upper appendanges, one was as normal as possible for a body like that..the other, just wasnt' right, like the bolts in its head. This appendange was silver like the bolts had various lines in it that seperated and devived it up into panels and segments, almost like the ones on the metallic walls.
The cat's eyes were covered in fear and curiousty, what were bounty hunters? The word bounty meant nothing to him, but the word hunter, hunt and hunted were words he had heard that face use before. He didn't quite know what they meant, but he knew they had somthing to do with chasing, tracking and somthing not good, what was that third word used to describe that word "hunt" ki-ki-ull, ki-ull that word alone sent a few shivers up his back. That person had said ki-ull meant to make somthing no longer live or exhist, just like what he had done to one of those things chasing him back there. Whatever bounty hunters were, they weren't anything good.
His ears suddenly picked up the sound of somthing coming in his direction at a speed he couldn't pick up. He didn't recognize its scent though he didn't know too many outside of those things that been chasing him, that face on the screen and just now newly added, that little man whome the face had called Snively. His ears told him that whatever this new scent was it be upon him in a few seconds. He didn't know whether to run or stay where he was.
It was a second after he had picked the scent up that he saw the blue streak that it belonged to. The blue streak stopped aruptly, in its place was a blue hedgehog in red and white sneakers. Sonic took out his communicator and set it to Tail's frequency. "Ok Tails I've found him, poor guy looks like he's been through the wringer, you should see how shaken up and full of fear he is, then again I would be too if I had just...", Sonic was interrupted as the white cat snatched his communicator away from him and looked and sniffed at it curriously. "Hey! give that back!", Sonic ordered. But the white cat was too busy to listen to him, as he played with the lil dial on the communicator that had caught his attention.
It was suddenly disaster struck as he put the dial on a certain frequency that he picked up that face's voice. "Nack! have you found him yet?", the all too familair voice asked. Had he'd set the communicator's settings more accurately he'd been able to pick up the other side of the conversation. But he'd never seen nor used a communicator before. The only thing he got out of it was, was Nack. "Nack...", Sonic heard the white cat say hearing his voice for the first time. His voice sounded normal accept for the slight sound of roughness and animality to it. He turned at Sonic, "Nack, bounty hunter", he repeated using the word he'd heard from earlier. His logic told him, that this was Nack, and combined with what other logic he had, that he must been what a bounty hunter was. "No you don't understand, I'm...", Sonic was once again interrupted as the white cat suddenly roared at him making some of the quills on his head fly back some leaving him a lil wide eyed, this was followed by a well placed kick sending him flying into a trashcan. He got up just in time to see the white cat scaling up the wall and into the building they were near. "Its gonna be one of those nights", Sonic said with a sigh.
In another part of Robotropolis a clip was loaded into a gun, as its owner finished assembling it. The person that stood there was a light purple weasel, with a austraillian hat wearing gloves and boots. He had a sneaky and crafty appearance in his eyes. He was some one who'd always worked alone accept for the occasional help from his sister, Nick. His name was Nack and he'd just gotten off the phone speaking with Robotnik, about his new assignment.
He looked at the information he had. The cat had last been seen in 15th avenue, and there had seemingly vanished. He also had another clue. He had picked up a small conversation on the frequency the freedom fighter's used. He knew Sonic had also encountered the white cat, and couldn't help but laugh as his old target got the stuffing whipped out of him, as he had heard the roaring and that kick in the background. He normally didn't trace or bother with the freedom fighter's sygnal origins cause they never stayed in one spot for long, but this time was differant. He needed a place to begin his hunt and that was as good a place as any.
He got on his hover cycle, it was a old model but it got him where he needed or wanted to go. It was the closest thing he had to a companion in his life, and he couldn't help but get a lil intense as he remembered all the times it had been trashed close to beyond repair from his encounters with Sonic and Knuckles. He remembered that time he had discovered it in Robotropolis's ruins after that misserable rodent sent it on self destruct and sent it flying into Robotropolis. About 99.9% of this hover cycle wasn't even the original, the only thing he could save from the wreckage was the ash tray, but that had been the part of his hover cycle he'd spent some of his joyious occasions with the most, when he'd have a light cigar from him finally being able to catch Sonic and turn him over to Robotnik for robotisization, only to be cheated out of the deal right after.
He landed his cycle in the alley where the sygnal of the conversation had originated. He looked around in hopes that that kick had knocked the hedgehog unconcious, he snickered a little at the thought that this be the 4th time he'd caught that crazy hedgehog if it were so. But the hedgehog was no where to be found, but he did see a trashcan with a huge gash in it knocked over with some trash spilled out. He spied at it more closely finding some blue quills in it, this was definately the spot at least where the incident had occured. He looked around and spotted some pieces of metal lieing on the ground shaped in a weird fashion.. He walked over to im and invested the pieces thoroughly.
They were grooved on one end and rugged on the other as if they'd been dug out. This puzzled him wondering what could of done such a thing least in this city. There were several types of creatures on mobius, some so bizarre that they couldn't be categorized. But there were some creatures in there that difinately have more than sharp enough fangs or claws to do this, but none in this city that he knew of....unless. He thought about that cat he was hunting, why did Robotnik want it so badly. He looked up at the wall that the metal had come off of, he saw four to six claw marks up high, the first set looking as if they'd been to latch on to after a leap. If this was somthing beyond your typical mobian pussy cat, than he might be needing somthing a lil more powerfuller than the nets made with plant fibers that his gun fired.
He searched through his inventory of weapons and tools that he had till he found what he was looking for. He looked at the 9 compresable nets he had, each were composed of metallic fibers, and were designed to instantly clamp around the target instantly upon contact. He'd used 12 of them before on a elephant, completely imobilized that walking ivory store.
Nack got on his hover cycle and flew up the wall, noticing the dust trails left by Sonic. If he was lucky maybe he'd bag an extra bonus. He thought about this. If he did manage to bag both Sonic and this white cat, where would he put im for Robotnik to find. Ever since his second to last encounter with old lard face he'd learned to never bring the bounty straight home to the customer. He knew where there was Sonic the other freedom fighters were bound to be some where fairly close. Why they were so devoted to one another he didn't know.
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Chapter 2
Robotnik set in his chambers viewing his city. He knew that that white cat was out there some where. Other wise the tracer on his neck would of gone on off and shown his position outside the city. His experiement couldn't continue without that cat. Just like the main course of a thanksgiving dinner couldn't go on without the turkey. He'd spent months on this, and years in preparation. Unless that cat was found, it would of all been for nothing. He considered what other options he had, ither have the cat found, or attempt to start over. And that was somthing he wouldn't do.
After considering option number two, he thought even more about the possibility of Nack failing. He looked over at the glass cylinder containing a silent and still figure. The figure was shaped like a familiar hedgehog he hated. Metal Sonic had just now been rebuilt since his last encounter with Sonic and Robotnik wondered if this was an assignment worth risking another 6 months of rebuilding and redesigning. Thinking deeper into it, compared to the amount of time he'd put into that cat, compared to those six lil months it was more than worth it.
It was all dark. The last thing to go through his mind was that red echidna's fist going into him completely disabling all his primary systems. Suddenly his plane of view was flooded with light as his old familiar red scale of vission returned to him. He looked around and fletched his hands a little. Several windows popped up on his visual scanners showing all systems to be fully operation. He recognized im all eccept for a few, though that was to expected. Everytime he'd been reactivated he'd always been upgraded upon. His blasters power had been tuned up, his speed was a few meters higher, and several new weapons added to his arsennal. He looked up at Robotnik who this time wasn't grinning. "How may I serve you Lord Robotnik?", his metallic voice asked.
He now hated calling him lord and master now, cause that punch he'd gotten from Knuckles had done more than just disable him, it made his computers facter in that there were just somthings that couldn't be calculated in. And with that as a starting point, he began to question the accuracy of his master's acheivements. It had been programmed into him that his master was perfect in all ways, like a god, so he'd never question him. But from all of his failures, he realized that they hadn't been quite all his fault. His so called creater had failed to facter in the determination and resourcefulness of his enemies, or possible foes. He had failed to destroy or robotisize them all when he had them all trapped within his grasp. Also while, he'd been rehooked up to the machines that had repaired him, he'd accessed Robotnik's medical records and compared them to probable maximum potential, they were way off. Not only was his creater not perfect, but he was way below normal, a being unfit to rule this world now altered for machines to reign supreme in. He relized there was nothing he could do now about this, because he was directly linked to Robotnik's network and that he could shut him down with the push of a button. He couldn't destroy this network less he wipe out his life source.
Robotnik turned to a counsel and punched in a code of certain commands. "I'm now imputting the data of your mission to your hard drive now", the doctor informed. The information came into him like a flood, pictures of a white cat, and then simple words like escaped, last seen..., retreive at all costs. Metal Sonic couldn't help but laugh inside his metallic head at this. "Does he take me for a child?", he thought to himself. "Do you understand your assignment?", the doctor asked. Metal Sonic nodded his head. "Then go and see that it is done, and warn you do not fail me", Robotnik warned.
As Metal Sonic jetted out of the launching port he thought how he might over throw the doctor. His options were limited, but he did have one advantage, surprise. The Doctor didn't know that he now was or was close to full counciousness. He still had a desire to destroy Sonic, though he considered this to be personal and not of his circuitary or programming. He thought long and hard as he searched throughout the city. He wondered what he would do if Nack had already found and captured the white cat fore he did, his orders were to retreive it at all costs. Even though his metallic and frozen face wouldn't allow it, inside he was smiling wickedly at what his computers were processing.
As the white cat clung to the bottom of the hover transport, hoping it take him some where outside this huge place. He hung there wondering where he'd go and do now. He didn't know anyone eccept for that one person whome he wanted to forget. He looked out a lil ways behind a building. He saw somthing large and green and brown in the middle. He was looking at the forest, and despite of its scary and uninviting atmosphere it gave off at night, it gave him a rather comforting feeling like that was where he belonged. But was it so far away, and this place he was in was so big and full of danger he questioned the chances of him reaching it. As the hover transport moved on towards its destination it began to rain.
Sonic had been hot on the white cat's trail for hours now. It wasn't until he reached a certain intersection that he lost him. He searched throughout the entire region of that city but no trace of him would turn up. "Man! this cat is ither the most greatest escape artists in history, or the dumbest this side of mobius, ither way I'm about ready to give up", the tired hedgehog complained. Suddenly he saw somthing large loom over head as he ducked behind a corner. It was just a transport nothing to worry about. They didn't have any real scanners or anything threatoning, in fact they were perfect for riding under while he and his fellow freedom fighters were on important missions to really locked up places. It was then that the idea struck him. He had forgotten that this street was a common passing ground for transports every two hours, he looked up at that last transport again. It was as good a place as any to resume his search. As the blue streak took off after the transport a lone figure on his hover cycle laughed under his breath.
Behind a large garbage pile lied the secret hide away of Uncle Chuck and Muski. There Sally, Bunnie, Hershey and Antoine were waiting for the late arrival of Sonic and Tails. "I'm worried Sally girl, Sonic and Tails are never late for lunch...or dinner or breakfast or any other meal containing chilli dogs", a concerned Bunny said. "Your right Bunny, Sally said, "perhaps its best we call those two up and ask whats keeping im". Sally got out her communicator and switched it to Tails's frequency. "Tails? Tails honey are you there?", Sally spoke into the communicator. A few moments later of grumbling being heard in the background Tails finally answered. "Yes mam", a embarrassed Tails answered. Sally couldn't help but laugh remembering how much Tails wanted to be treated like a adult. "Ok sorry Tails, why aren't you and Sonic here at the meeting place yet?"
"We saw a white cat being chased by hover bots"
"What? where?"
"Down at a alley near Sir Lane street, or what it use to be called, now its just called 345-D, I on the other hand like Sir Lane a whole lot better and.."Sally interrupted him.
"Ok that'll do Tails, was he some one from Knothole?"
"No I don't think so"
"What makes you so sure?"
"Thats easy, most people from Knothole normally have cloths on"
"He didn't have anything on?"
"Well...he did have a collar on"
"Hmmm...what kind?"
"The kind you wear around your neck I think"
Sally couldn't help but cover her mouth to keep from laughing from the lil joke that Tails had unknown to himself just told."Ok Tails, I meant as in, what color and what type was his collar?", Sally explained. "Oh, it was black and dull..it had a small silver panel on it with numbers I think", Tails replied. "Do you think you could remember those numbers Tails?" Tails took out his binnaculars and rewound the scanners, to the point where'd he'd seen that white cat. He then focused in around his neck and took a look at the numbers. "they were 4-8-7-3-2 why?", Tails asked. Sally then turned towards Uncle Chuck. "Uncle Chuck, could you take Nicole and plug her into your computer?", Sally asked. "Sure thing Sally girl", replied Uncle Chuck. And with that he took Nicole, Sally's small portable computer and plugged her into the computer he had in the corner. "Ok Nicole search for numbers 48732 and white cat", Sally ordered. "Accessing Sally....", her computer answered. Various numbers and pictures, and symbles flashed across Uncle Chuck's computer screen. Finally the numbers, symbles and pictures stopped as a holo projection of the white cat that Sonic and Tails had seen earlier appeared, rotating. "Project Jaguar, subject now ready for final process of preparation", Nicole said.
Hershey gasped at the image of the white cat, she stared hardly at it, she knew that face on the holo projection. "Hmmm maybe we should leave Hershey girl here and the holo projection here alone for a couple of moments so they can get better acquainted", Bunny teased. Hershey blushed big time and turned angryly towards Bunny. "Its not like that! I know him from some where..or least I think I do...he was my boy friend fore we were seperated in cat country", she said ernestly. "Oh...I'm sorry Hershey girl I didn't know...", Bunny apologized. Hershey just started to try to hold back the tears as she remembered what her and Jaguar had shared, their love for another, and the secrets they had shared with each other that they never tell anyone else. Now here was this same figure again, rotating on a holo projection before her very eyes. Bu is physology was differant than before, he appear alot stronger now, his claws a lil bit shorter than before. His eyes were the same, but they appeared to be slit a little. His legs were arked and shaped differantly at the bottom like a kangaroo or somthing.
Hershey's stare was broken when Sally's communicator went off again...as on the other line the white cat was pounding Sonic's communicater which he still had gainst a can of food he had stolen from a small warehouse, trying to get it open. He looked at the communicator and back at the can of food and saw he was making no progress, so he tossed the communicator over his shoulder and gainst a wall carelessly as he tried to think of some other way to get the can open. As the communicator hit the wall it got damaged a little causing a load powerful sound to emit from Sally's communicator on the other end. All in Uncle Chucks hideaway covered their ears including Muskii who let out a loud waleful howl. Nack who had been listening in also got the same sygnal got the same painful sound in his ears as he covered im. He turned off the sygnal just in time to see he was about to hit a sign.
At Uncle Chuck's hideaway Sally had just finally turned off the communicator. Her ears felt as if she had gone through a hundred of Antoine's songs or worse Sonic playing his electric guitar hooked up to a nuclear generator. She looked around and saw Bunny was suffering the most cause of her large ears.
"You..ok Bunny?", Sally asked concerned for her best friend. "I'm...I'm fine Sally girl", Bunny said rubbing her soar ears. Hershey and the others rubbed their ears as well, Hershey trying to remember what it was she was thinking about fore that loud interruption. "Sucklay blue...what was zat?!...", Antoine asked. "I don't know..", Uncle said, "but we can certainly find out". He had Nicole trace that last broadcast, and found it originated from the alley a few blocks away from them. "Hmmm, that was pretty close to our area", Sally exclaimed.
She wondered if it could of been Sonic playing one of his jokes, then thought against it seeing as how he normally did that in his spare time. Sally attempted to dial up Sonic's frequency but all she got back was static. Worried she decided to take Hershey and Bunny with her to investigate and leave Antoine here with Uncle Chuck and Muskii in case Sonic or Tails returned.
Tails who had been following and tracing the same loud sygnal that had been heard, he finally stopped to rest his tails for a bit. It was then he noticed a blue streak traveling from building to building going in and out every window as if looking for somthing or some one, at first he thought it was Sonic looking for that white cat still. He took out his binnaculars and looked closer. The blue streak stopped only once to report his findings. It was Metal Sonic. Terriefied Tails took a few steps back and fell backward off the building he was on. "YAHH!!!!", he yelped as his tails twirled and started up again. Tails covered his mouth, but it was too late Metal Sonic had already picked up the scream and looked in a certain direction. Tails backed up gainst a wall scared. His eyes widened as he felt a cold and mettalic finger tap him on his shoulder. "Your lucky you aren't my target for tonight ya two tailed freak", Metal Sonic sneered. Puzzled at this Tails looked behind him. "B-B-But won't your master be upset that you let me go when ya had me?", he asked timidly. "Listen kid, your's and all your other friend's times will come, but it won't be from lord lard", his mettalic voice answered. Tails was both shocked and surprised, he'd never heard any of Robotnik's bots refer to him like that...eccept for Silver Fox. He turned around to ask what had happened to him only to find he was gone. "Yours and all your friend's time's will come, but it won't be from lord lard", still rung in his head.
It was then he noticed the white cat he had seen earlier hiding behind a corner, taking a quick moment to lick his paws from the long run, next to him was a now empty can of meat, cept for a few bites that he had saved for later. He wondered if he had been Metal Sonic's other target, but if so why hadn't Metal Sonic gotten him yet? He flew over to him as the white cat looked up at him startled and turned to run. "No! don't run!", Tails said. He set down in front of him and walked up to him. "My name's Tails whats yours?", Tails asked. The white cat turned away from him for a bit. He looked confused as he tried to think. "I...I don't know", he said finally as he looked down. Tails stood there bewildered and puzzled. Tails stomage suddenly growled a little from having missed dinner. The white cat looked at him curiously, then at the little food he had left. He picked it up and offered it to him. "Hungry?", he asked. Tails looked inside the can and saw it was still cold from being uncooked. "You ate that still cold?", Tails asked. He looked puzzled for a few moments fore answering again. "What's cold?", he asked. Now Tails was even more confused. "Um...cold is um...the feeling..of...", he'd never been asked this question before, he might as well had been asked to explain Dawson's theory on evolution. He suddenly had a idea he gently took the white cat's paw and put up gaist his own cheek. The white cat shrank back some. "Cold?", he asked. Tails nodded. Tails took what little meat was left, and started a small fire, he took a stick carved it with a knife he had in his pack and put the meat on it like a chiska bob and roasted it over the fire. He gave some to the white cat, as he sniffed it at first than ate it whole and swallowed. After that his face began to show signs of pain and intense pressure as he suddenly ran behind the wall and the sounds of lapping up water was heard. Tails looked behind to find him on all fours licking up rapidly at some murky water. "That would be hot", Tails exclaimed. The cat only nodded and smiled weakly.
It was then Sonic came running around the corner and skidded to a hault. "Yo Tails! great job! I've been following this guy for about 5 hours now", Sonic said partially exhausted. The white cat looked at im both. He saw that this new one he had encountered was some how acquainted with this one that had been following him. Suddenly that instinct to run came back to him as he got a panic in his eyes. He leaped over Tails as he ran to the end of the alley only to find himself at a dead end. He looked around and attempted to scale up a wall only to find it had been coated with somthing and he only fell on his rear end. He attempted to dig his claws into the wall again to climb it only to find the substance was too strong for that. The fear of a animal that had been being hunted filled his eyes as he saw he was trapped. He gave out a low growl as to warn Sonic to back off. "Its alright", Sonic said reasuringly, I'm not gonna hurt ya man". The white cat reared back on his legs and pounced Sonic knocking im into the ground hard with his claws around his neck, his other hand raised into the air ready to do the same thing that he had done to one of those other things that been chasing him. "Stop!!!", he heard Tails cry his claws only milimeters from Sonic's face. He looked in his direction as he picked up the sound of somthing coming at him fast. he looked in that direction as he looked just in time to see a metallic hand coming at his neck. He was knocked back into the wall with the metallic hand still around his neck, he looked down it to see it was a long extended appendage of some one.
Bunnie stood there still holding the white cat high up gainst the wall with her robotic arm still extended. "You ok Sugar Hog?", she asked. Sonic got up and felt the region of his neck to make sure his head was still attatched. "I think so Bunny, thanks", Sonic said looking around. Sally and Hershey came running up. Hershey looked up at the white cat. She slowly walked up to him, "J-Jaguar? she asked", she looked up at him and into his eyes. He hung there struggling trying to pry the hand off his neck, it was then he noticed the black and white cat looking up at him and into his eyes, he looked back, there was somthing familiar about her but he didn't know from what or where, if only he could remember. "What has Robotnik done to you?", she asked.
This was all interrupted when a figure stepped out of the shadows. "Hey ho! the gang's all here!", Nack said with a smirk. "Looks like that stuff I put up on that dead end worked like a charm", he continued satisfied with his work.
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Chapter 3
"What you Nack Weasel?", Sally growled. "Only my bounty", he pointed at the white cat and I thank you for finding him for me, now if you don't mind I'll be taking him now. Hershey unsheathed her claws, "over my dead body", she growled. Sonic folded his arms and smirked a little. "And just how do you propose to do that? when we all out number you 5 to 1?", he said counting the white cat who was most likely more than able to hold his own in a fight.
And here I was thinking this was going to be a boring night he said, he suddenly whipped out his gun and turned it to it's side as he activated a device on the side of it emitting a loud high pitch squeel. Nack whome had ear plugs in his ears laughed as the bunch held their ears and fell to their knees including Bunny, letting the white cat who was roaring out in pain holding his own ears, fall to the ground. Nack then turned the gun's barrel and fired out 3 nets pinning Bunny, Hershey and Sally to the wall, then doing the same to Sonic, Tails and the white cat pinning them gainst a oppositte wall. "Man this was almost too easy!", Nack exclaimed", not only did I get my bounty, and not only Sonic, but pratically the whole set..now all I need is this that cowardly coyotee and I got the whole set, gotta catch im all you know...no pun intended mind you".
He turned around and laughed, as he put his gun away. "Now you just hang around and some swatbots will come to escort you to your own personal holding cell", he said with a smirk. "How'd you find us all like this to begin with?", Tails asked. "Well two tails I've never been one to brag, but it was really all too simple, fact is it was kinda a accident", he explained, "I was riding along on my hover cycle when suddenly this high pitched sound came across my cycle's radio, this forced me to make a skillful emergency landing on a sign, anyway curious I traced the sygnal here eager to find out what or who it was that had caused it. Suddenly all the freedom fighters looked at Sonic. "What?", Sonic asked feeling as if he'd been accused of somthing. "That sound that came over your communicator?", Sallee said. "Communicator? what communicator? this hedgehog lost his communicator when a white cat went and snatched it....", he stopped as now everyone in that alley looked at the white cat who was now looking around puzzled as to why everyone was now looking at him as if he'd done some horrible crime.
Nack only just walked away can't believing how his night of hunting had just ended, he'd be glad when he got that extra bonus from Robotnik for capturing most of his worsest enemies. He turned and looked back at them, he knew they were thinking of some way of trying to get out, he shook his head. "Not this time", he said aloud, "he walked up to Bunny and put some kind of devices on her arm and legs causing them to shut down. "A little gift from Robotnik my dear", Nack said as he walked over to Sally and removed Nicole from her. He removed Sonic's sneakers and tied Tails's tails up, he looked Hershey over. "No! I have no special attacks or powers ok?", Hershey fumed. "I wouldn't be so sure", he said as he slipped some special gloves on her that covered her claws, he bound im up with a locks. He finally walked over to the white cat. "I'm not gonna bother with you, your obviously too stupid to even think about escaping!", he said confidently, "heck odds are you don't even know what I'm talking about". "You'd be surprised", the white cat said with a growl. Nack just laughed a lil and walked off, leaving a tracer for the swatbots to follow.
The white cat waited till Nack was out of site when he suddenly fully unsheathed his claws, which were half the length of his fingers. He started to slash at the net that was on him only to make no progress on it. Hershey watched as he pushed and slashed against it with all his might and furry. "Its no use Jaguar, we'll have to figure out a way to escape inside our holding cells", she said. He stopped and looked at her. "Why do you keep calling me that?", he asked. She looked at him clearly in the eyes, "because thats who you are, or were before Robotnik did whatever it was he did to you", she answered. He winced his eyes as he tried to think back beyond his escape and the chase he'd gone through that day. "Think back Jaguar, just try", she said pleadingly. Jaguar as he was now called was growling and squinting his eyes so tightly trying to remember was now unknowlingly pushing out gainst the net as one of sides of it began to become undone from the wall. He didn't notice this till the part of the net came undone and he was lying gainst the sharp edges of the net as he feet 5 streaks of stinging metal in him. Wincing, he crawled out of it and looked at the small streaks of blood that were on his side. He looked at the others and saw some hover bots flying in their direction. Everything inside him told him to run. "Jaguar! get out of here now!", he heard Hershey say. He looked back at the things that had been hunting him all night, he knew now who he could and could not trust.
He looked at Hershey and shook his head He knew if he ran these things that were before him now or others like it, would only catch up with him sooner or later and take his new found friends away who had obviously been willing to protect him from the real one called Nack, he could see it in his eyes. He unsheathed his claws to their fullest extent and got in a defensive position. He squinted his eyes and planned his attack. He had no memory of being trained for battle, nor how to strike down a openent it all just came to him by instinct. Like how a tiger knows how to stay low while hunting prey.
Sonic meanwhile was attempting to position his feet out gainst the net that was holding him gainst the wall. He knew he'd only have a few seconds to try this cause without his shows to protect his feet from the friction his speed generated from the ground. He revved them up, and using the force he knocked the net just far out and long enough for him to go into a sonic spin. Bye now his feet where sobbing from the pain from knocking that net back. His sonic spin cut into the net causing sparks to fly everywhere. But it had been manufactured well, and it looked and felt like his spin wasn't going to do it, suddenly somthing gold glimmered from his back pack he was still wearing. A power ring, that just might do the job, though he'd never attempted to grab it before while in a spin. It seemed like a eternity, though it was only a few seconds fore he decided to just grab it and hope for the best. If he missed, his hand might get caught up in his rotating quills, which now where like saw blades. He reached out and felt the reasuring grip of the ring. He could see and feel the power of the ring going into him as the speed and affectiveness of the sonic spin increased. Finally he bursted from out of the net and unto the ground.
Quickly he ran over to where his sneakers and nicole where. He put his sneakers back on. "Time for this hedgehog to do his stuff", he said as he revved his feet up. Jaguar meanwhile had taken out 5 of the numerous hoverbots and was slowly starting to wear down as he finished another one. He had attacked from behind to have a small element of surprise so he'd be able to dismantle a few of them quickly to have somthing to serve as cover. He suddenly recieved a stun blast from side as he roared in pain, he fell to one knee barely concieous. He rose to his feet slowly only to recieve another one from behind, then everything wen't black. Just as the hover bots were about to grab him a all too familair blue streak went past them reducing them to scrap. Sonic buzz sawed into 10 them sending metal, wires and circuits everywhere. He spun in place like a top catching all the remaining hover bots in a massive blue twister causing them to collide and smash into each other, he finished them off with a upper cut interrupting the twister suddenly and sending them all flying in various directions.
The first thing Sonic did after that was get those devices that were disabling Bunnie's robotic appendages so she could free herself and the others. "Thanks sugar hog, feels good to be able to move my arm and legs again", she said with relief. She then pushed the net off her with some trouble as she got to work on getting the others free. Once Hershey was free the first thing she did was run over to the still unconcieous Jaguar who was lying on the ground faintly breathing. "Man that cat sure did cause us alot of trouble tonight", Sonic exclaimed. "It weren't nothing we've ever dealt with before sugar hog", Bunnie said as she freed Sally. "I agree, sides now we know to what extent Robotnik will go to get a powerful working bot", Sally said. "What you mean Sal?", Sonic asked. "While you were out trying to track Jaguar here down, me and Uncle Chuck were going over the information we had about him", Sally explained, "As it turns out, Jaguar is the result of one of Robotnik's hideous experiments".
"Huh"
"He's been gentically altered Sonic, with genes from other species of cat and other mammals, like from kangaroo." She pointed at Jaguar's legs how they were arked and kind of shaped like a kangaroo's fused with the structure of that of a cat. "So thats how he can jump so high", Sonic said. "But that still leaves me with one question Sal, how did Robotnik get his claws and fangs so sharp? you saw how he ripped into those hover bots like as if they were made out of paper or somthing", Sonic asked and pointed out. "Thats somthing we're still trying to figure out", Sallee said, but thats not the important issue, after Robotnik was done with his tampering and was satisfied, he then had plans to robotisize him". Sonic stood there shocked as this sank in. This cat in his normal form, if you could call it normal, was a heap of trouble just the way he was, if Robotnik had managed to robotisize him, a mecha version could of been deadly, a army who knows what. "Thank mobius he escaped him when he did", Sonic said, "What you suppose gave him the common the sense to do that? I've also seen how primitive he is in some departments, like reasoning and thinking, before I got here I discovered my communicator he had snatched, damaged almost beyond repair lieing next to a empty can of food that had been brutally opened", Sonic explained. "Its this simple Sonic, Robotnik wanted Jaguar's full rage in him unleashed for maximum power and strength, but by doing that he also must of unleashed the natural instinct of survival, and the ability to sense people's personalities and emotions, somthing we've all losed by our races evolving to their current states". "Well what do we do with the him now? Sally girl?", Bunny asked, "do we try to turn him back to what he once was?". "I don't think thats possible Bunny", Sally said with a sigh, "I'm afraid theres no unscrabling eggs and Jaguar here is no exception, what Robotnik has done, there is no undoing".
Hershey knealt by Jaguar's side stroking his hair gently as Tails sat there treating his blast wounds. Tails looked at the blast wounds more closely and saw no broken bones, only his skin was swelled a little from the blast, as if he'd just been struck by a dodge ball really hard that was on fire. "Hey Aunt Sally! you might wanna take a look at this", Tails said. Sally took a look at Jaguar's blast wounds and was surprised. She had Nicole do a biological scan of Jaguar's skeletal structure.
"Accessing Sally", her computer friend answered a sweeping ray emited from Nicole's front and began to move over Jaguar's body starting at the feet. When it finally reached his head, the sweeping ray shut off and a holo gram projected screen appeared from out of Nicole. "Skeletal structure composed of unknown compound containing properties of both plastic and metal. Where the structure is light yet hard to the point where its almost destructable", Nicole exclaimed. Sallee stood there bewildered, "Could you explain to us how it got that way Nicole?", she asked. "Traces of small robotic nanites slowly be dissolved by the anit bodies of his immune system have been detected", Nicole answered.
"I'll say he's light, even I can carry him", Tails said as he lifted Jaguar unto his shoulder only to fall over with him on him. Sonic laughed at his lil buddy as he lifted the unconcieous cat off of him. "Hehehe not yet big guy, but Nicole is right he doesn't weigh much". "I'll say sure say he doesn't, the cat has a weight that any gal would kill for", Bunnie said.
As the group of friends laughed some and talked about getting home before Robotnik figured out that that hover bot patrol didn't get the job done and send more. Alone figure stood high on a building watching them all. Right next to Metal Sonic layed a wrecked hover cycle with Nack standing there trying to figure out how long it take him to repair it this time. Metal Sonic turned towards Nack, "so do we have a deal?", he asked. Nack stood there thinking for a moment. "I don't know", he said, "this lil scheme your planning might be a little rich for my blood, sides how do I know that once your in control you won't turn around and robotisize me as well?". He asked. Metal Sonic if he could of would of roled his eyes if he could of. A side panel on him opened up as a device with a red switch on it was revealed, he gave it to Nack. "If ever during this operation I should break my part of the deal, that switch right there is linked to a self destruct program that Robotnik has built in to me", Metal Sonic explained. Nack looked down at the device. "How do I know that this isn't some phony device? so that if you do turn on me, that'll just add to my foolishness for ever trusting you?", Nack asked. "If you doubt it's legitacy then press it, go on just for a test run, activate it", Metal Sonic said.
Nack looked at the switch and shrugged his shoulders. He figured that ither Metal Sonic was trying to gain his trust by having him test this device, or he could just be trying to bluff him by just agitating him on to press it, to try and proove he had nothing to hide. If this switch was for real, he had a form of insurance that Metal Sonic would never betray him, but it was fake then Metal Sonic would just find some one else to help him. There were plenty of other people out for higher and those who were very foolish, who could be duped for a sap. Ither way Metal Sonic's scheme would be carried out. If this scheme did work and he wasn't in it he'd pay the cost greatly with his life or robotisization, then again if it was Metal's intention to betray whoever it was that helped him, then ither way he had nothing to gain or lose. He pressed the switch down.
No sooner had he switched it down did a large orb of energy appear in the center of Metal Sonic causing him to ark back. "Five seconds till core implosion, four, three, two...", Nack quickly switched it off the device. He was sure if Metal Sonic could he'd be wiping his forehead from sweat, but then again you could never tell with machines. "Satisfied?", Metal Sonic asked. Nack nodded his head. "Gotta admit, the thought of having a machine in charge of this planet, with only me as the last non robotisized thing on the planet does sound a little awkward", he confessed, "then again, it'll probably wind up that way eventually with me included, least this way I have a little control over how it happens". "How so?", asked Metal. "Easy you spare two or three females, preferbly all young and beautiful from being robotisized and you have yourself a deal", Nack explained with a smirk, "a weasel's gotta have some companionship". Metal couldn't help but shake his head, "you furries and your bodily needs and desires", he complained, "but if that is all that you desire from this deal..." he was cut off. "And I want a small island made like a small paradise where me and my lil honeys can live", he said. Metal could only sigh and shake his head, "deal", he said. He then began to explain his plan to Nack.
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Chapter 4
A sudden drop of water on his nose woke him up from his long sleap. He slowly got up expecting to be in some place differant other than that dead end back at the alley. In that huge metallic place of unnaturalness. Back in that place of tortures and evil. He mustered up all of his strength to prepare to escape from that place again. Everywhere he went in that place loud noises were coming from everywhich way, and the lights that brought pain that those things that had hunted him all night shot. It made him wince a lil making him think he had to go through all of that again and this time the large sliding things that nearly cut off his escape last time.
When he opened his eyes and cleared the morning crust away, he saw he was somplace differant but it wasn't that horrid place he had been the night before. It was that place that felt like home. The thing he was lieing on felt hard and rugged. He turned over, it was brown, full of grooves. As he got a wider view of it standing up, he saw it had longer, smaller and pointed things with even more smaller and sharper things coming off of it with green and flat things on them, all with the same pattern on im. He turned around and looked. All around were more of what he had slept on in the middle of the night. He sensed the life coming out of them some how. "Well look who's finally awake", Jaguar turned around to greet the friendly and familair voice.
There stood the one who had been called Hershey, the only one sides the others that he actually knew in a way. She was like some one from out of a dream, that was the best way to describe how she seemed familiar to him. She was wearing everything from the night before, eccept for the things that she wore on her feet. Her bracelets seemed to glimmer more in the morning sun light, the blue thing that was around her back and arms and along with the red more thinner thing around her neck appeared to blend in better wherever he was.
He jumped down to her level. As he did so he noticed several unnatural structures composed of the tall brown and green things that filled the entire area he and Hershey were in. He turned back towards Hershey. Far off in the distance was a water fall, flowing from it was a stream and all along it people were getting water for that day. He could see the small things swimming up it. This place where he was at had so much life in it he could taste it. "G-Good morning", he replied having a slight roughness to it.
Hershey looked him over, he looked rather funny with nothing on. The collar he had been wearing last night had had to be removed cause it was found to be with a tracing unit built into it. "We've got to get you somthing to wear, you just can't walk around without nothing on you know", she said. "W-Wear?", he asked. She was a little shocked to know he didn't know what cloths were, than again she had to remember that Robotnik had done a pretty good job at erasing his memory, leaving him with just his fighting skills and leaving basic english, and a billion questions about his surroundings. "Yeah, wear", she said", pointing to her blue jacket. "Ok, whats that called your..wearing..", he asked pointing to her jacket and scarf.
After she had explained ever kind of clothing there was to be explained, she then moved on to items that could be worn just for show, like her bracelets she wore around her two wrists. "..but clothing isn't the only thing people can wear, theres also..", she was cut off when Jaguar gently grabbed her wrist and looked at her bracelets on it. "I...know what that is, I....gave it to you..", he said having some memories flood back into him.
He was standing in a field with Hershey, both him and her were in differant get ups and in a differant time and place. He slowly got out a small box containing some bracelets that he had personal had the clan's forger make out of pearl. Hershey gasped in disbelief what Jaguar was about to ask her. Just before he could ask her, he heard her voice from some where off far. "Jaguar?...Jaguar what is it?", Hershey said pulling him back to the present. "What?...oh it was nothing he said. "For a moment there you seemed as if you were in another world", she said. "Oh...just having a daydream", he replied. They both paused. How did Jaguar know what a daydream was, while at the same time he didn't even know what clothing was?
It was Hershey who finally broke the silence. "So care to join me for breakfast?", she asked. Jaguar thought for a moment and then nodded, "Ok", he said. "Maybe along the way you could tell me about that daydream you had", she suggested, "but first lets head over to the clothing hut. Jaguar just nodded, this new place he was at he was still taking in its surroundings, and most likely at this point in his state of mind he would of agreed to take a short walk off a cliff.
There at the clothing hut, Hershey's advice, Jaguar picked out a few articles of clothing, some blue and yellow sneakers, a black belt with a yellow buckle and a red utility strap for storing things which connected to his belt on his left side and over his right shoulder clamped some where in the back on his right side. He would of worn more, every shirt and pance that Jaguar tried on he'd stratch up cause it make him itch all over. The only other thing he picked out was a pair of gloves, which very quickly got holes in im from him unsheathing his claws. Hershey looked at his new get up. "It's better than nothing she said.
As the two of them walked out of the hut, there was alot of staring at the new white cat. But Jaguar nor Hershey payed any attention to them. Jaguar was too busy trying what to make at all that had happened to him during this time of relaxation and rest. Hershey was too filled with excitement with having finally met up with her long lost love of the past. Everyonce in awhile they might of caught the other looking and gazing at the other a lil, but heeded no attention to it. The two looked like quite a pair, a pure white cat and a most black cat. Complete opposites at first glance, but a bigger picture they looked like differant peices of the same puzzle.
Meanwhile in the dark fortress of Dr. Robotnik, Metal Sonic stood before Lord Robotnik. It was complete silence, eccept with Snively working away at a computer trying to find the last recorded image of Jaguar. The look in Dr. Robotnik's eyes could explain all of his moods. It was for when he was thinking, planning, or comtemplating his last defeat. It was Metal Sonic who finally spoke up. "If I'am permitted to speak master", Metal Sonic said. "You failed to capture the white cat", Robotnik finally said, "you have permission to speak, to tell me why I shouldn't just turn you into a toaster and replace you with a more updated version who'd perform much better", Robotnik said.
Inside Metal Sonic he couldn't help but get a lil annoyed with the empty threat. He knew he was built with some of the finest and most rarest elements found and mined in Robotropolis and around the planet and that Robotnik couldn't afford to lose that investment. He also knew that it took roughly around 9 months just to come up with plans for a new upgraded version of a bot and a additional 4 months just to build a prototype. No Robotnik wouldn't destroy him, unless it was out of blind and foolish rage. Not wanting to risk that he decided to come up with some good explanation. "It was already found that the white cat had been captured by Nack the Weasel and was in preparations to be handed over to you in a agreed trade of goods and services", he said, "and I didn't wish to intervene with any agreed proclomation that you've made master.
Robotnik growled deeply from this. He knew he couldn't be upset with the programming he had put in, but some times it was frustrating to know that it was simple programing glitches like this that robbed him of victory. But what upsetted him even more that once again that hedgehog had defeated him and had slowed down his plans for his total domination over this planet and eventually the entire galaxy. He hated that hedgehog, when he had first began to appear and put minor glitches in his works it agitated him a little. Now it frustrated him so much he lossed sleap over it at night. It was at times like this he thought of his most well planned and invested plots put to ruin and shame because of that hedgehog.
He thought of this one he was on now. "Not this time hedgehog", he said aloud, " You might of won this round". He looked at a cylinder containing a grew wolf in it, that had various wires and tubes hooked into him feeding various substances and certain elements, that be ready to be robotisized in a few hours. "But round 2, will be the main arena hedgehog", he said with a smirk, "fore as mother always said", he spoke again looking at the fluid in the tube starting to drain with the wires and tubes disconnecting from the grey wolf, " always carry a spare".
To Be Continued..................
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