The Book of Latik By: Courtney “Master Gamer” Johnson Notes: This fic follows SatAM and the Games (or a merger in other words) ------------------------------------------------- Underground Mobius (10,000 feet below sea level) ------------------------------------------------- “Sir Doctor Robotnik, what is the meaning of traveling all the way down here?” A human asked, puzzled. The human stood about four and a half feet tall. He wore a plain blue shirt and rust brown pants. His big head had very few hairs, but his head’s most prominent feature was his long needle-shaped nose. “Snively, echidnas used to live here; some of the most brilliant and maniacal ones too,” Another human explained. “I’m looking for anything they could have left behind,” This human redefined the description of obese. He weighed about five hundred pounds; his arms and legs were so big they were intimidating (even though in truth they were all fat). His head had a long orange mustache that extended farther then the length of his face, and his head was bald. This man was Doctor Robotnik, Mobius’s most evil being. Suddenly, Snively stumbled forward and fell onto his hands and knees, wondering what he had tripped over. The needle-nosed nephew of Robotnik stood up and dusted himself off, turning around only to see an old book. Snively walked over, ready to pick it up when Robotnik’s voice barked “Don’t you dare Snively, let me see that book first!” The evil doctor walked over and picked up the book. He flipped through the pages with interest. “Snively, do you know what this is?” Robotnik asked his nephew. “No sir,” Snively replied. “THIS, Snively, could very well be the key to destroying that hedgehog, and the whole great forest,” ------------------ Two weeks later... ------------------ “Do you know why we are all gathered here today?” Princess Sally, head of the Freedom Fighters asked. “Let me guess, another one of those missions where we go to a SWATbot plant, place a bomb, and watch it blow sky high,” Sonic answered in his usual sarcastic way. “Sonic!” Sally snapped. “No, this mission is much more important then that. A reliable source has confirmed that Robotnik has found the ancient book of Latik. This book was written by Latik, an ancient echidna believed to be the smartest, most maniacal organic life form that ever lived. The book contains instructions for building some type of laser cannon,” “Whoa! That’s like way past not good!” The blue hedgehog exclaimed. “We’re leaving for Robotropolis in one hour. We must find take the book and destroy it. Me, Sonic, and Rotor are going. Bunnie and Antoine, you look after Tails. Be ready,” ------------ Robotropolis ------------ “Hmm... Very simple. To build the cannon we need all the metal parts, which I have more then enough of, and chaos emeralds. The number of chaos emeralds depends on the size of area you want to destroy,” Robotnik said. “Ah... Here’s a table showing how many chaos emeralds we need. Snively, what is the approximate size of the Great Forest?” “Around three hundred acres sir,” Snively replied. “Hmm... We will need any three chaos emeralds,” “What about the hedgehog sir, won’t he interfere?” “R-Knuckles! Come forth!” Robotnik yelled. A creature that looked identical to Knuckles walked forward. “Sir Doctor Robotnik, I thought you said ‘R-Knuckles’, not ‘Knuckles’?” “Snively, I did. This is not Knuckles, though they look identical,” Robotnik explained. “How can I help you sir Doctor Robotnik?” The robot asked, his voice identical to Knuckles’s. Snively could only gasp in amazement. “Go patrol the streets of Robotropolis. If any Freedom Fighters show up on your scanners, bring them here alive,” Robotnik instructed. ---------------------------------- The Great Forest one hour later... ---------------------------------- A rush of wind, a sonic boom! Sonic sped through the great forest, following the straightaway path to Robotropolis that the Freedom Fighters had cleared away for him. Sally and Rotor in his arms he rushed through the Great Forest, which could now be seen only as a blur. Sonic felt the rush of wind and smiled. As he reached the edge of the great forest, the disgusting fumes of toxic waste could be smelt; they had finally reached Robotropolis. “Okay Sonic, you sneak into the ventilation shaft and record any conversation between Robotnik and Snively with this recording device,” Sally said, handing the blue hedgehog a handheld audio recorder. “Rotor, us two will hack into his computers and see if he has anything about the book in his database. Now lets move!!!” -------------------------------- Five minutes later with Sonic... -------------------------------- It was around ten at night, but Robotropolis was so polluted that no stars could be seen. “Man, this is gonna be a cakewalk! Sneak into the ventilation system, find and destroy the oldest book in Robotropolis and...” Sonic began before being cut off by a familiar voice. “And say hello to your old friend Knuckles,” Sonic whirled around only to see the red echidna. He looked identical to Knuckles, and his voice was identical to Knuckles. Sonic couldn’t put his finger on it, but something about him wasn’t right. “Don’t you remember me Sonic,” Knuckles questioned in a strange way. That was it, this guy couldn’t be Knuckles. But if this guy wasn’t Knuckles, who was he? “I remember a red echidna named Knuckles, but I don’t remember you,” Sonic answered. “Ah... So Sonic, you’re a lot smarter then you look. I am R-Knuckles, a robotic version of Knuckles. Prepare to be tortured!!!” R-Knuckles shouted fiercely, charging toward the stunned Sonic. Sonic was too stunned to let his reflexes take effect. R-Knuckles tackled Sonic and the blue hedgehog hit the ground with a loud “oof”. R-Knuckles landed a punch to Sonic's stomach. Surprisingly, his fist didn’t feel like metal. The blow fell and an incredible pain shot through his stomach. Knuckles aimed another punch at Sonic’s jaw. The pain from this attack was much worse. He watched the blood pour out of his upper jaw and knew that this echidna was gonna kill him. This echidna seemed even more murderous then the real Knuckles. R-Knuckles aimed one final punch at the blue hedgehog’s head. Sonic yelled in pain as R-Knuckles powerful fist came in contact with his forehead. Sonic was vaguely aware of the robotic echidna getting off of him. The darkness began to blanket him, the cold, cruel laugh of R-Knuckles and the incredible pain that was coursing through his body fading from his senses. Sonic fought against it, raising one shaking fist. He forced his eyes half-open and thought “Hedgehog, you have failed big time,” before passing out. --------------------------------------- Five minutes later with Sally and Rotor --------------------------------------- The streets were quiet... Too quiet. The feeling made Sally uneasy. Normally Robotropolis was swarming with SWATbots, it was a very rare occasion that they weren't. “Look! There’s the computer we need!” Rotor softly exclaimed. “Okay then, let’s go,” Sally said. “I don’t think so,” Came a familiar voice. Sally turned around and could only gasp in shock... “Knuckles!!! What are you doing here in Robotropolis?” Sally questioned. It was very rare that Knuckles ever left the Floating Island, and it was even rarer that Knuckles would go to Robotropolis. “Oh, just hangin’ out,” Knuckles replied. “Something really strange is going on,” thought Sally. She asked aloud “Shouldn’t you be guarding the Master Emerald?” “Naw, some of my friends are guarding it,” "Since when does Knuckles have friends? That can't be right!" Sally thought, before saying aloud, “That solves it right there. You’re not Knuckles! Who are you?” “Ha! And I thought Sonic was smart! I am R-Knuckles, Knuckles’ robotic double!” The thought of this gave Sally the creeps, as his voice was the same and he looked identical to Knuckles. “You confronted Sonic?” Sally asked. “Yes,” replied R-Knuckles. “Where is he? What happened to him,” “I don’t know,” R-Knuckles replied. “Yes you do!” Sally screamed. “Ah, you are so right, I do know where he is. I don‘t think you‘ll see him anytime soon though. As for 'what' happened to him,” R-Knuckles explained, faking a punch to the head. “That is what happened,” All this time Rotor had been frozen with shock. “Now, I left him where he was even though Robotnik said to bring him, so he made it out lucky. As for you two, I‘m sure Robotnik has more then enough room for you,” R-Knuckles said. The red echidna sprang forward, tackling both Sally and Rotor in one shot. The two freedom fighters struggled against R-Knuckles’ strong body to no avail. R-Knuckles laughed a cold laugh that set shivers down Sally’s spine. Not letting the two freedom fighters from his grip, R-Knuckles swiftly threw a blow to each freedom fighters heads. Sally and Rotor were knocked cold on contact. ------------ Next Morning ------------ Sonic slowly came to. His vision was blurred and his head badly throbbed. His jaw was hurting too, but his head hurt worse. He rubbed and blinked his eyes, trying to clear the blurriness. Though it subsided shortly after, he felt as if it had taken eternity. Sonic could now make out a red echidna. “Get away from me R-Knux, I really don’t feel like fighting today, but I can sure as heck make an exception in your case,” Sonic yelled. “Sonic! You’re in no condition to fight. Look at yourself! And I am not R-Knux!” The red echidna said. Sonic looked in a mirror on the wall and gasped. His chest and face were covered with blood; it streaked from his head and his jaw. “Good grief! R-Knux, are you trying to tell me I’m a wimp?” Sonic yelled, confused. “Sonic, no I’m not, and my name is not R-Knux!” “Okay, if you don’t believe me, watch,” Knuckles said as he opened a window. “You may remember from your trips here that over there is Marble Gardens, over there is Ice Cap, and over there is Sandopolis,” “Then where are we?” Sonic asked. “Angel Island,” Knuckles answered. “I tell ya, we’re on the floating island!” Sonic slowly sat up, wincing. “Oh man Knuckles, sorry,” Sonic apologized. “No problem. What happened to you?” Knuckles asked. “Robotnik got his filthy mitts on the Book of Latik and built a robotic version of you, same voice,” Sonic explained before adding, "Same muscles too," “If Robotnik can find the chaos emeralds he needs Sonic, then you all are done for. He only needs three to vaporize the whole danged Great Forest!” “How do you know it's only three?" "Because of the size of it. The great forest IS about three hundred acres, isn't it?" "Well, yeah," "For every hundred acres, another chaos emerald is needed. He can destroy much more than the great forest and that’s real bad,” “No, that’s WAY PAST bad,” --- But things could be worse... --- Sally moaned slightly as she opened her eyes. The floor was bloodstained and smelt of a thousand decomposed bodies sandwiched together in one place. There were no walls, only bars. After seeing this, she knew that she was in Robotnik’s prison. A television came down from the ceiling. The set came on, displaying Robotnik’s face with R-Knuckles in the background. “Ah, good morning princess. Have a nice nap? Ah! Ha! Ha! Ha! I hope my dear friend R-Knuckles didn’t hit you TOO hard,” Robotnik began. R-Knuckles flashed an evil grin. “Actually, from what I hear, it sounds like you should be more worried about the hedgehog!” Sally gasped at this. “When he hears of your capture he’ll come speeding in... That is, if he’s not too weak! Then we’ll... exchange prisoners. Now I’m afraid I must be going, I have some chaos emeralds to find,” --- The Floating Island --- “Suh... Suh... Sonic,” Knuckles began, walking back from the door. “What?” Sonic asked. “Robotnik’s got them,” “The chaos emeralds?” “No, Sally and Rotor. Rotor hasn’t woke up since last night,” "Who told you?" "The chaotix received the message from robotropolis," “Oh man! Dang it!” Sonic yelled. “I’m going to get them,” “Oh no your not! Not in your condition pal!” “Huh, if Rotor hasn’t yet awakened, I’d like to see his condition! I’m going Knux, and if you try to stop me I’ll maul you good,” Knuckles backed away. He wasn’t scared by Sonic’s threat, but something told him that Sonic was a lot stronger then he looked. “Oh, and uh, Sonic,” Knuckles called. “Yeah?” Asked Sonic. “Um... Good luck,” “Thanks,” Sonic replied, running out the door at full speed. In order to jump off the Floating Island without dying, he would need a lot of speed. He ran faster and faster, reaching around four hundred miles per hour, the speed he needed to successfully jump. The blue hedgehog approached the edge at around five hundred miles-per-hour, the ground a blur around him. He felt nothing but the air as he made the jump and curled into a ball. He rapidly fell over the Great Forest, where the Floating Island was hovering over this time of year. He hit the ground and painfully uncurled. “Oh, man I hate doing that,” The blue hedgehog complained. Sonic sped away to Robotropolis unaware of what danger would lie ahead... --- Emerald Mountain --- “Snively! If the hedgehog shows up, call me IMMEDIATELY, I have a ‘little surprise’ for him,” Robotnik said. “Yes sir Doctor Robotnik,” Came Snively’s response. "Have you found the Chaos Emerald yet?" "No, but if Sonic comes, let the two freedom fighters go and have R-Knuckles capture Sonic," "Yes sir," "I want a fried hedgehog when I return Snively, out."