Circuits, Crossed Rewrite
Social Jacking Chapter 3

by Xabin Doyarchu.

	High above, in the skies of New Mobotropolis, a yellow and gray streak shot across the horizon, dragging a red streak with it, as it came into the city's airspace. Below, it was utter chaos; numerous members of Team Freedom, Team Fighters, and the Secret Freedom Fighters fought to corral a raving, crazed Echidna horde, while Nicole, for her part, kept the two groups at bay from each other with the city's nanites, only to have her defenses drop every now and then as she was also attacked. Thick in the middle of it all was Lien-Da, still controlled by Eggman, wielding numerous electro-whips to motivate her mindless slaves to attack harder, faster, without regard to their own health. Frowning in determination, the duo in the sky spiraled down for a landing near Nicole, Rotor handing the echidna something small and gun-like as they touched down.

	“Here,” Rotor shouted, and made a twirling gesture with his fingers. “It's something I was working on, before Nicole and I built the suit. Just give it a few twirls and you should be able to make use of it as a weapon.”

	Cobar blinked, but nodded and did as he was told, spinning the device around his fingers for a few seconds before stopping, eyes widening as he saw it change shape from a dinky drill-like tool to a sizable blaster. Reaching over, he tweaked the settings to it for stun, and started shooting at his former allies. “We've got to disable Eggman's control over the Grandmaster; she's the key to all of this. If her connection to him is cut, the rest of the Legion should follow suit.”

	“But how? I checked my pockets on the walk up here; the serum we made is gone!”

	Cobar grimaced at the news. “And her cybernetics are too ingrained into her being to easily pull the plug on without hurting her.”

	Nicole walloped another Legionnaire with a piece of the city's nanite system, before joining the duo. Taking a hasty scan of the two, to make sure they were alright, she gave a tiny surprised gasp. “We may have a chance; my sensors indicate nanite serum still within your cybernetics. If we can drain them, we might be able to reprogram a payload with their schematics to deliver directly to Lien-Da...”

	Rotor breathed a sigh of relief; of course Cobar's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain... However, the Echidna spoke up in a doubting voice. “That may be, but it's gone through my entire system. Draining it won't be easy, or painless; I've done enough fluid replacements during cybersurgery to know that.”

	Rotor growled as he blasted another rabid Legionnaire from his sight. “We've gotta come up with something!”

	Wrestling with his thoughts, Cobar glared over to his Grandmaster, and made a grim decision. “EMP. Only way to knock her out long enough. Rotor, does this thing have an overload function built into it?”

	Rotor blinked in shock as he comprehended what Cobar was saying. “WHAT?! That's crazy, Cobar!”

	Nicole muttered her disapproval, as well. “A blast of that magnitude would cause devastation to New Mobotropolis within a 3 kilomark radius, and risk frying every Legionnaire's cybernetics in the fallout, yours, included.”

	Cobar shook his head, stubbornly. “Only way, at this point. Rotor, if you can fly me close enough to the Grandmaster, I can drop the overloading gun on her head and put an end to this.”

	Rotor opened his mouth to protest, but shut it just as quickly as he saw the look of determination in the needlemole's eyes. “If I can keep you out of the blast range, you should be good enough to try a transfusion of the serum from your system to the others.” He sighed, girding his wits for the task. “Okay, let's do this. Nicole, signal the others to keep the Legion contained, and keep Lien-Da in the middle. We only have one shot at this, so let's make it count!”

	With that, Rotor grabbed Cobar and flew him up overhead, the Echidna switching the gun he was given to overload. While they went airborne, Nicole sent a signal to Sonic and his teams, relaying what Rotor had planned. Naturally, none of them were very happy with it, with Sonic even asking Rotor if he was the one with the cockamamie schemes, now, but they admitted it was their only option, at this stage. Zipping around the perimeter of the fight, Sonic went into full-on troll mode, distracting and keeping the Legion off-balance as they waited for the plan to pull through.

	In the air, Rotor looked down at Lien-Da, lining himself and Cobar up with her to ensure maximum impact when the weapon went off. “I hope you know what you're doing, Cobar...”

	Cobar hrmed to himself, closing his eyes to make a silent prayer to Aurora. “I hope so, too, Rotor...” Hearing the whine of the gun grow to an ear-piercing shriek, and seeing it start to smoke and turn red-hot in his hands, the Echidna scientist nodded for Rotor to take them down low, tossing the device down at Lien-Da when within range. To their horror, Lien-Da had seen right through their scheme; Glancing up to see what was causing the whine, the Grandmaster spotted the duo and their payload, and – with a speed that would put even Sonic to shame – she slashed at them with her tendrils, knocking the gun into the distance where it exploded harmlessly, while simultaneously latching onto both Cobar and Rotor's legs. With a mighty war cry, she yanked down, pulling the duo apart and dragging them down into a crashing heap on the ground. Rotor attempted to pull himself up, but the tendril shocked his nanite suit out of commission, and the landing took not only the wind out of him, but forced his back to give out, as well, leaving him helpless as he was swarmed by mindless Legionnaires.

	Instead of tearing him apart or exploding, though, the cybernetic Echidnas pulled him up to his feet and forced him to kneel before Lien-Da, as Sonic and the team watched in horror. Grinning, she glanced at her enemies, the voice of Eggman booming through her chords. “Take one step against me, and your pougish pinniped pal gets blown sky high.” Unable to risk their friend, the teams backed off, hoping to whatever gods they believed in that Eggman wouldn't capitalize on their hesitation.

	Rotor tried to struggle out of the Legionnaires' grip, but a stinging in his back kept his strength from building up, leaving him helpless before the mad Doctor-controlled Grandmaster as she walked towards him. Behind her, she dragged Cobar – looking much worse for wear and not the least bit conscious – as Eggman cackled through her. “So, my dear Rotor, this rivalry of ours has been quite enlightening and engaging, but I'm afraid it's time to put it all to an end...”

	Rotor gritted through his teeth as he spat at the female Echidna. “Stop. CALLING. Me. That! What is wrong with you, Eggman? What is your obsession with me like that, huh?!”

	Eggman simply chuckled as he, through Lien-Da, pulled Cobar up to her and tossed him out between them. “Don't be so coy, my dear. I've been studying you, all of you, ever since I came to this world. I know a great deal of your secrets, your most intimate of confessions. I've had such grand plans for their exposure, over time, a tiny little twist at the end of a wonderfully foul fairy tale. You aren't anything special, my dear old nancy of a walrus. How do you think you would've kept your little tryst with the deceased Tommy from ol' Sonic, there? Or your betrayal of the Freedom Fighters when you helped Nicole take over A.D.A.M.'s city, as a result? Ooooh, I've got such dirt on you, on ALL of you. I was hoping that, if I couldn't destroy you from without, I'd use that dirt to destroy you from within. But, alas, such are the plans of mice and men... Goodbye, Rotor. Maybe you'll rejoin your 'friend' in the afterlife...” Eggman's cackle died off in Lien-Da's throat as she glared menacingly, not at him, but at the Legionnaires holding him. To the pinniped's dread, a high-pitched whine started coming, not only from them, but all of the Legionnaires, including Lien-Da, a signal of the impending detonation of their bombs.

	Rotor, struggling against his captors' grip, could only stare helplessly at his friends as the whine grew louder and more high-pitched with each passing second. With one last bit of determination, he grabbed onto the buckle of his bandoleer and ripped it off, pressing a button as he threw it with all his might at Lien-Da. Caught off-guard, the Grandmaster could only watch as the remaining undamaged nanites within wrapped themselves around her body, covering her in a latex-like shell of mechanical metal. Shrieking in surprise, she attempted to tear the offending coating off of her, but it stuck like tar to her body. To everyone's surprise, this managed to break her concentration over the other Legionnaires, and as she panicked for her life against the sticky substance... only to pause as the bomb within her own head detonated on its own, blowing nanite goo and cybernetics everywhere, the rest of the Legionnaires slumped to the ground, lifeless, their bombs' whining dying out as their connection to her – and Eggman – died as well.

	Rotor dropped to the ground, himself, barely holding himself up on hand and knee as Sonic and Nicole tentatively came towards him. As they approached, the others went over to the Legionnaires, fearing the worst, only to witness one, and then more, groggily prop themselves up and awaken from what seemed like a deep slumber.

	Sonic walked over to the walrus, placing his hand on his shoulder, carefully. Rotor looked up at the touch, meeting Sonic's half-worried smirk with his own exhausted one. “So, you and Tommy, eh? Who'd had thought, huh?”

	Rotor's smirk grew into a tired grin, the realization of Sonic's words washing over him in a wave of comfort. Suddenly, he turned toward Cobar, who was still laying on the ground, near-lifeless. “Cobar...”

	Nicole went over to the limp Echidna and scanned for his vitals. With a sigh of relief, she gave the walrus a thumbs-up. “He's unconscious, but still very much alive. That landing must've been a rough one...”

	Rotor chuckled at the little bit of humor Nicole sent his way, before allowing Sonic – and then Bunnie – to haul him up to be carried to the infirmary. As he was hauled off, he turned back to the holo-lynx. “Let Remington know it's safe to come to the city. I don't think Eggman's going to be doing much against us, for a while, now...”

	Weeks passed, and Rotor was sitting diligently by Cobar's hospital bed, hoping beyond hope that he'd wake up. The weeks were rough on everyone; it took Rotor himself a good number of days to heal from his injuries, but by that time, Nicole had already extracted the nanite serum from the unconscious Cobar's systems and synthesized enough of it to distribute to the whole of the Legion. Horrified at what they had done under Eggman's latest control, they denounced the Legion ways entirely, and gave themselves willingly over to the Albion authorities. Lien-Da, for her part, somehow survived her second near-death explosion, though just barely; she was in much worse condition and in just as much a coma as Cobar was. Dr. Quack was doubtful that she'd ever be the same again, if she ever came out of it, at all. As for Cobar, signs showed that he was healing nicely, but his consciousness was still elusive, making Rotor worry about him in a way he never thought he would, before.

	A knock at the doorframe interrupted his train of thought, and Rotor looked up to see Sonic and Remington standing there, concerned frowns on their lips. In one hand, Sonic had a bucket of fish, while Remington carried a cup of coffee. “Hey. Mind if we come in?”

	The walrus sighed and shrugged. “Go ahead, and thanks for the meal, if that is for me...”

	Sonic flashed his trademark smirk at his friend. “Not like either of us like whole fish, big guy.” He placed the bucket down besides the pinniped and leaned against the wall, Remington handing the cup of joe to Rotor as he sat down. “So, about what Eggman was saying, back then...”

	Rotor choked on his first sip of coffee, sputtering out an apology as he tried to regain his composure. “Yeah, um... I didn't think he'd know about any of that. Heck, I didn't know about my feelings for Tommy, until after Nicole 'revived' him for that night in the city. I'm... I'm sorry we didn't tell you guys, earlier...”

	Sonic just waved him off. “It's okay, big guy, no harm done. Besides, we have bigger fish to catch, now, no pun intended.” Rotor chuckled at that, but grew silent as Sonic continued. “Eggman said he kenw quite a lot of secrets about everyone of us, and it's obvious he has plans to use them against us, if he could. That might mean a spy in our midst.”

	“Or a traitor,” Remington piped in, rubbing the back of his neck. “Or maybe he got some hints of it from Nicole and Sally when the latter got roboticized into his minion. We dunno, at this point.”

	Rotor nodded, sagely, knowing the implication of their words. “I agree. Communication is key to a lasting relationship, friendship or otherwise, and if Eggman knows things about us that he could use to hurt us, we need to know what those are and what we can do to protect each other and ourselves from his manipulations.”

	“Sadly, the Echidnas and I won't be around long for you guys to figure that out,” the Constable mused, getting up from his seat. “Now that your promise to us has been fulfilled, we need to go back to Albion to rebuild, and fulfill our promise to Thrash.”

	Rotor nodded again, this time with worry. “What about Cobar? I don't think he's in any state to be moved, let alone that far out.”

	“Agreed,” Remington stated, simply. “And we don't have the facilities in Albion like New Mobotropolis does. I'm afraid he's going to have to stay here, until and if he awakens.”

	Sonic's smirk faded a bit, transforming into a warm smile. “We'll take good care of him, don't worry. For now, we all should get some rest. It's getting late, and you've been up since dawn, this morning, keeping vigil over him.”

	Rotor smiled back at his friend. “I'll be fine, thanks. To both of you.”

	The trio hugged each other, gently, in a sense of solidarity before Sonic and Remington departed, leaving Rotor once again alone with the unconscious Cobar. For the next hour, he fed on the fish and coffee he was given, but soon even he was growing sleepy. He looked longingly at the echidna, the one who had trusted him so thoroughly with his life countless times over, and felt a familiar stirring. It wasn't quite the same as he felt for Tommy, but it was just as strong, just as potent, and just as meaningful to him. Instinctively, he stood up and bent over the prone Echidna, pausing just long enough to realize what he was doing, before closing his eyes and going in for a kiss... only to be greeted with a loud coughing from below him, snapping him out of his daze. Blinking, Rotor stood back up, only to watch as Cobar came to, his face wrinkled in a disgusted scowl. “Jeez, did you kiss Tommy with that fish breath, or what?”

	Shrieking in delight, Rotor pressed the call button on the wall of Cobar's room, demanding that Dr. Quack come in. He looked down at the Echidna, who stared back up at him, confusedly. “Cobar, you're alright!”

	Cobar blinked and reached up to rub the bridge of his muzzle, painedly. “Once the room stops spinning, I should be... What happened?”

	Rotor chuckled in glee, sitting down beside the bed to explain what had occurred to the now-conscious Echidna.

	In another part of the infirmary, Lien-Da laid in a shambled state, her cybernetics destroyed, her lovely face messed up beyond recognition, and her injured body wrapped up in bandages. As she was being monitored, the nurses commented just within earshot of her on how well Cobar had recovered, and the success of the Legion's procedure to free themselves of the bombs. Suddenly, her vitals started spiking, and the monitors crackled a little with energy, as she tensed up unconsciously. Her eyes widened as much as they could in her state, and a single word growled through her lips, as if cursing the very name upon it. “Eggman.....”

The End...?