***********************************

     An echidna and K'Ren'Shi gasped and twitched as they drew in breaths of air. S.A.L.T. fluid spilled over the metal floor in the lab like amniotic fluid from a birthing. Robotnik reached down and cut their 'cords'--the cables attached to their bellies to monitor their growth. They laid there on the cold wet steel floor, their minds too blank to comprehend that they were capable of standing. Swatbots picked up the lavender herm echidna first, carrying hir to a nearby examination table. Sie was limp in their arms, hir unfocusing eyes darting around the room. Then they picked up the pink, black-striped K'Ren'Shi--a species previously unknown--and took her over. She managed a slight groaning sound, just as infantile as the echidna.
     "Ah, my precious children," Robotnik smiled at them. "I will fill your heads with knowledge, and you will be my perfect creations."
     Snively brought a data-stream cord to each of the creatures, their new bodies suddenly molding to the connections. He backed up and gasped.
     Robotnik smiled even wider. "Do you see it Snively? They are made of flesh...but they are also machines!!"
     "Y-y-yes Sir," Snively stammered.
     "Their DNA is made of both metal and organic components grafted from Mecha Sonic. They are the ultimate robot warriors--because they are not truly robots!" Robotnik cackled. Soon the data-stream cords detached and the two creatures got up to sitting positions on the tables.
     "My robocellular androids," Robotnik smiled, wiping a tear from his eye.
     The echidna slid off the table and looked at the female. "Why did you make her?" sie asked Robotnik. "I am by nature stronger; what purpose does she serve?"
     "She is necessary to your species," Robotnik answered. "You are capable of reproducing yourselves like regular organic creatures. She is for breeding."
     The echidna turned and looked over the female with hir soft gray eyes. Sie walked over to the K'Ren'Shi and pushed her back down onto the table, and proceeded to crawl up on the table and on top of her. Robotnik realized what was about to occur and pulled the echidna off of the K'Ren'Shi by hir dreds.
     "Not yet!" Robotnik laughed. "That comes later!" The echidna blinked, obviously ready to have completed hir mission. Robotnik set hir down and smiled, then went over to Snively.
     "Go get them some clothes."
     "What is our purpose?" The K'Ren'Shi asked.
     "Your purpose is to follow me. I am your Father," Robotnik announced with grandeur. "I will teach the ways of the world, and provide you with everything you need. And in return, you will do as I ask."
     "This is a logical arrangement." The red K'Ren'Shi said, her fiery fur shimmering like a copper flame. The echidna looked up at Robotnik.
     "Father....what are we named?"
     Robotnik rubbed his chin and thought. He noted the fire of warrior spirit in the K'Ren'Shi's eyes. She could be an asset--or a danger. He pointed to her.
     "You are Wildfyre."
 He looked at the herm echidna, unusual in every way, from color to sex--sie even kept hir roboticized arm, which *shouldn't* have stayed robotic during the nanitic grafting process.
 "You are Crescent."
     By now Snively returned with the clothing for the two. He passed the folded bundles out to each, and they quickly dressed. Crescent dressed in a simple black jumpsuit, with gray gloves and boots. Wildfyre was given black boots and fingerless black gloves, each with copper clasps, and simple jean jacket, the sleeves of which she rolled up past her elbows. They came forward to Robotnik, waiting for orders.
     "While you all have all the information I could give you," he stated, "you still need to be taught how to behave." He put his bulbous arms around them. "Come with me, and your training will begin."

     ***********************************

 X shook his head. God how it hurt.
 He tried to move, but he found himself restrained. He immediately recognized his surroundings: One of the 'labs' Robotnik used to perform various 'experiments' on his willing 'subjects'. He found himself strapped down to an examining table. He couldn't make out anything else in the room; the only light was shining right down in his eyes.
 He heard the door open as his former master walked in, with two smaller figures behind him.
 "And how are you feeling, Mecha Sonic?" Robotnik asked, wearing his trademarked toothy grin.
 "The name is MechaSonicX," he replied as a data cord snaked down and attached to the back of his neck.
"Begin reprogramming," Robotnik commanded the machine as he stepped out, cape swirling behind him.

  TWO MONTHS LATER......

     X spun his laser pistol on his finger, bored. He leaned back in the chair and put his feet up on the control panel. Snively came in frowned deeply.
     "Get your feet off of that!" he snapped. MechaSonicX smirked and aimed the laser at Snively's head.
     "Make me."
     Robotnik, sitting on his master control/throne, laughed.
     "Just like his father, eh, Snively?"
     Snively grumbled to himself. "Annoyingly so." He turned and moved back, disgusted.
     Wildfyre came in.
     Snively took up a position at a com-panel, examining surveillance data. As Wildfyre spied Robotnik, her faces lit up and she trotted quickly to him and leapt up into his spread arms. She showered him with kisses and snuggled against him like any little children would do with their father. He laughed and kissed her back. X turned his back on Robotnik and cursed quietly, full of inner rage. Something inside said this was wrong..
     She should be mine! he thought. Not his!
     X got up and stormed out of the room, smashing the button for the door with a fist. It crackled and sparked as he stepped out.
 Wildfyre jumped. "What's wrong with him, father?"
 Robotnik rubbed his chin. "I believe, dear child, it's called jealousy."

     ***********************************

     MechaSonicX jumped into the cock-pit of Robotnik's prototype battle tank. It was a dull gray, like most everything in Robotropolis. Out of its top, three cannon turrets jutted; its sides were lined with machine gun nests and rocket boosters. The tracks were in double, four in all, and had spikes built into the treads. The inside was lit only with red, and the various com-panels and targeting screens lit up as the tank started. X grinned mischievously. This oughta really piss dad off. An alarm klaxon sounded. Swatbots scurried around the now departing tank. Its massive treads creaked and rumbled as they began to move. X laughed as he ran over the fleeing bots, grinding them under the tracks of the 50-ton tank. He approached the bay doors and fired a fusion pulse at them, blowing the fifty foot tall, 5 ton doors back hundreds of feet. He geared the tank to flight mode and blasted into the sky.

     ***********************************

     "HE DID WHAT?" Robotnik roared, jumping to a stand. His 'children' fell off of his lap, landing on their behinds.
     Snively gave a wry smile. "Your precious 'son' just stole the Battle Tank prototype and left Robotropolis."
     Robotnik growled and clenched his fist so tightly Snively could hear the leather in his glove crackling. Robotnik fixed his gaze on Snively, who quickly lost his triumphant grin and swallowed nervously.
     "Now I know why I never decided to have any real children," Robotnik grumbled, his anger slowly cooling. "Let him play with it for a while. When he gets tired, he'll come right back home."

     ***********************************

     The night sky was totally dark as the Battle Tank landed and drove out onto the barren sands. He thought Father would come after him, and then they could fight. But he didn't. Now he was out in unknown territory, and this wasn't much fun anymore. But he wasn't going home, uh-uh. It was dark and he was hungry now. He set the tank on auto and looked around to see if there were any food supplies aboard. No such luck. He went back to his seat, his stomach pinching itself in hunger; he winced and drove on, hoping that the pains would pass soon. His sensors detected structures a few miles to the east. Maybe he could get food there.

     ***********************************

     Razor smiled and looked to the starry sky. It was cooler in the dark, and so very peaceful. He took a drink of water from his canteen and buttoned his jacket. His roboticized ear picked up a low rumbling. he jumped and set his roboticized eye for night vision. He looked heard and saw something off in the distance. Something big. His jaw dropped. Razor jumped out of his foxhole, nearly tripping over the edge. He raced back the the garage and pounded on the door.

     ***********************************

     MechaSonicX stopped the tank just outside of the ruins of what was once a city. He shut the tank down, took the access key and hopped out. Nothing around for miles. He started walking towards what looked like the heat signatures of others.

     ***********************************

     Now Blade's jaw dropped. "A TANK??" Razor nodded frantically. He could not tell them with words, as he was mute, but his signing was perfectly clear. The four looked at each other. The apocalypse had finally come. Pang solemnly passed out their hand-blasters and they marched out into the night, prepared to make a kamikaze stand against their approaching doom. Much to their surprise, they found a gray-blue hedgehog wandering around in the dark.
     "Who the heck are you?" Blade asked cautiously.
     "My name's MechaSonicX," the hedgehog answered, his voice denoting a bit of confusion. Pang's intuition pulled at him. The hedgehog seemed very small and quiet, like a lost child. He was no threat.
     "Let me handle this," Pang whispered to his compatriots.
     He walked over to X. "Tell me, MechaSonicX, what are you doing out here?"
     X put his hands in his pockets. "I ran away from home. I got sick of the way Father was treating me."
     Pang creased one eyebrow in thoughtfully. "Who is your father?"
     "Emperor Robotnik," MechaSonicX answered quietly.
     The others jumped a little, blinking away the shock. Was the creature truly a child of Robotnik's?
     X's stomach gurgled.
     Pang smiled. "Hungry, son?"
     X nodded.
     "Come with me, then. I can get you something to eat. And perhaps you can tell me why you ran away." Pang took his hand and led him to past his shock-numbed buddies.

     ***********************************

     Pang wrapped a blanket around the sleeping hedgehog. X had eaten what Pang would consider an infant-sized meal, talked to him for a little while, and then fallen asleep. Pang had laid him down on the couch in their living room to let him sleep. He turned off the lights, closed the door and went out to the garage. Three very frustrated furs returned after unsuccessfully trying to enter the tank. Axl, Razor and Blade all took a seat around the table in the back of the garage and listened to Pang's report on their little guest.
     "He's very smart. He has a lot of knowledge--he sat down and explained to me how the fusion packs in the tank work--but he's only got the maturity of around twelve or thirteen," Pang explained. "When I got a good look at him, and touched his skin, it looked and felt metallic in nature. But it was warm and smooth, too. I've never seen anything like it."
     Axl tapped his chin. "You don't suppose he's some new kind or robot, do you?"
     Blade shook his head. "That doesn't make sense--why would Robotnik go to the trouble of making a robot that acts like a child and thinks Robotnik is his father?"
     "True. And the little guy told me that there are two others of his kind--a girl, and a hermaphrodite," Pang added.
     "This blows my mind," Blade stated, semi-confused. "What in the heck is Robotnik up to? Is he actually trying to have some kind of family?"
     Axl shook his head. "Doubt it. My closest bet is that these three are some kind of synthetically made creatures. Perhaps a new species of some kind. Robotnik may be trying to grow soldiers."
     Pang nodded. "That would fit with what I learned from X."
     "X?" Blade asked with a wry smile. "You've already given the thing a pet-name?"
     Pang grimaced. "He is a living person, not a "thing". He has his own free-will. And he asked me to call him that."
     Razor tapped the table with a metal claw to get the other's attention and signed, "So what do we do with him? He is no threat to us by himself, but if Robotnik considers him to be his child, he will come looking for him." There was a sudden uncomfortable silence. And no one had an answer for that particular question. The only thing they could do now is wait for X to wake up and find out if it was worth risking their necks over him.

     ***********************************

     Mecha awoke the next morning and stretched. He went to look for the others, and discovered them all still asleep in their beds. He remembered what he had been taught by his Father--if he were ever to find an organic creature, he was to annihilate them. His Father had told him that any organic creatures would hate him and destroy him out of spite..... but these hadn't. They had taken him in, given him food and even let him stay the night. Why did his Father lie to him?

     ***********************************

     "We finally have a location on the Battle Tank, Sir," Snively said to a weary Robotnik.
     "Where is it?" Robotnik asked, getting out of his seat and going over the the Control Console. Snively looked again, and then gulped, knowing that Robotnik would not like what he was about to hear.
     "The Quarantined Zone," Snively whispered meekly. Robotnik's eyes burned with rage. Now that miserable creature had put himself in contact with the most deadly viral plague he had ever designed!
     "If and when MechaSonicX comes back, have the bots decontaminate him and the tank." Robotnik walked out, cape swirling behind him. "I am going to make another male METABot, in case he doesn't."

     ***********************************

     Pang awoke to find Mecha standing over him, staring.
     "BwAAAh! What are you doing in here!" Pang yelped, wrapping the covers over his naked body.
     "Waiting for you to wake up," X answered stoically. Pang half smiled. X reminded him of his own children--he shook his head. No, best not to think of those who no longer lived.
     "So what is it about me that is so fascinating?" Pang asked. X pointed to the ring on a cord around Pang's neck.
     "Who is Lyssia?"
     Pang turned his head. He had to ask about her, didn't he? He took a deep breath and sighed.
     "Lyssia was my wife."
     "What is a wife?" X asked.
     Pang raised an eyebrow. That question actually surprised him. "A wife is a female that you love dearly enough that you want no others besides her. You marry her, and are bonded to her for life," he answered, explaining as best he could. MechaSonicX looked confused. "Love a female? Bond to her for life? I know nothing of this. I have a female and a half-female I can breed to continue my species."
     Pang felt both angry and sickened inside at this. Robotnik had reduced X to nothing more than a stud, to breed like an animal. He had single-handedly destroyed the knowledge of the precious bond between mates for an entire species.
     "Do you feel anything when you around the female or herm?" Pang asked, searching. X stopped for a minute, thinking. "I wish to protect them from harm.....sometimes I like being around them....."
     Pang put his hand on X 's shoulder. "Do you love them? And do they love you?"
     MechaSonicX shook his head.
     "Have you--" Axl choked a bit on the term. "--bred them?"
     X shook his head again. "Father says I am not ready yet and they aren't either. When either of them goes into heat I may breed them."
Pang could not hold back the anger inside, and let out a fierce growl. X jumped; Pang realized he had scared X and quickly apologized. "I am sorry, X. I am just angry that your "father" has denied you of one of life's greatest joys."
     "It is good to love a another?" MechaSonicX asked, child-like in his understanding.
     Pang smiled. "It is one of the most wonderful things in mortal existence. For both furs." X made a quiet mental note to explore this someday.
     "What happened to your wife?" X asked innocently. "I have not seen her here."
     Pang had to with-hold the angry curses he would have normally made with the answer to this question. "Your father killed my wife. And our two daughters."
     X's eyes widened. Now he was beginning to understand why the organics hated his father so. And he was beginning to join them in this hatred. He had grown to like Pang--who talked to him like an equal--who didn't hit him when he was displeased.
     "I have a question to ask you, X," Pang said with a wry smile. "Is Robotnik truly your Father? Did he take a female hedgehog and mate her to produce you?"
     X shook his head. "No. We METABots--Organo-metallic Androids-- are grown from DNA samples. The DNA from the donor is merged with nanitic cells to form a new creature."
     "Who was your DNA donor? Do you know?" Pang asked, curious. "Records indicate Sonic the Hedgehog," X answered as he recalled the data.
     "Then Sonic is your father, not Robotnik."
     MechaSonicX clenched his fist. "At first I hated him with my organic emotions out of jealousy. But now I hate him with my robot logic too! He has given me false data--I cannot tolerate that! And now he is asking me to destroy my own biological FATHER??"
     Pang smiled. "You said you have organic emotions. Do you understand them? Do they affect you, like they would affect me?"
     X nodded. "Fa--Robotnik complained that it was a design defect. I never though so. I enjoyed being happy, feeling pleasure, feeling the release of tears."
     "Then you are no robot, X. You are just like organics. You are one of us," Pang said seriously.
     This badly confused X. So much of what Pang had said had truth in it--and had caused a crack in the foundation of X's faith in his Father. There was only one thing he knew to do--go home to Father and find out what was really the truth.

     ***********************************

     MechaSonicX took the tank access key card out of his pocket. The four friends watched him walk out of the garage.
     "Wait! I'm going with you!" Pang shouted, running after him.
     Me too! Razor signed. He had grown to like the little fellow.
     Axl smiled. "I can't miss the opportunity to see how that tank works!"
     He looked at Blade, who had folded his arms. Blade sighed. "All right, I'm coming too!"
     MechaSonicX's eyes lit up. He felt very special towards these organics. He identified it as a feeling of friendship. But he had to stop them from coming with him--he had to do this alone.
     "No, stay here. If I stay with you, I will only cause you trouble. And if you go with me, you may very well die. I cannot allow that after the kindness you have shown me," Mecha said as he climbed up the Battle Tank.
     Pang sighed, slightly smiling. "Then go. But if you need somewhere to go, you are welcome here."
     X beamed. "I will remember that."
     The tank rumbled as it began to traverse the scorching mid-day sands, headed for Robotropolis.

     ***********************************

     Robotnik threw X against the wall.
     "You little imbecile!" he snarled angrily. "Don't you realize what could have happened to the tank??"
     X shook his head, dazed. He stumbled to his feet and snapped back. "Now I KNOW what they told me is true. You're not my father, you never were! No father would put an object above his son!"
    Robotnik's eyes grew cold. "Who are they?"
    X quickly shut up...he'd almost betrayed his friends...
     "WHO DID YOU FIND??" Robotnik roared at X. MechaSonicX remained quiet as death, his eyes shut tight as he backed up flat to the wall. Robotnik lunged forward and grabbed X around the throat, choking him.
     X kicked Robotnik in the stomach; Robotnik coughed and dropped X in surprise. X slashed at Robotnik's face, leaving three bloody trails down his left cheek. Robotnik exploded in anger and shot X with a laser, catching him in the side; X feel to the ground in agony, bleeding all over the floor.
     "If you won't tell me now, perhaps you'll talk later," Robotnik hissed. He signaled  a small group of SWATbots. "Take him to the retaining cells."
 

                TWO WEEKS LATER, IN THE PRISON BLOCKS IN ROBOTROPOLIS....

     MechaSonicX raised his head, and blinked his eyes wearily. The words and actions of two weeks ago still screamed through his mind as if they were happening afresh. The wound in his side, infected now, ached and burned. He blinked off-fever induced hallucinations and quelled the ever-present thirst and hunger that now threatened to break his sanity. Two weeks without food or water. Sure, he could survive longer than an organic, but he would be just as dead in the end. His "father" was sentencing him to a slow, excruciating demise. All because he had dared to question his Father's true nature. Because he had not killed the organics he had found. Because he was no longer needed. X had fought back, determined to make sure his sentence was exacted with a price. But now Crescent and Wild would have to endure the ravagings of their vile, cruel, remorseless 'father'.....
     Footsteps.
     Non-Robotic....
     Coming his way......
     The barred door creaked open as a hooded figure walked in. A soft violet hand moved his clothing back from the wound in his side. The other brought a metal tube next to it; Mecha weakly protested, but before he could try to knock it away, a warm yellow light shone down onto his wound. The area was immediately wrapped in relief and the skin began to reform and heal over it, without leaving a scar. He tried hard to look up into the hood, but it was like trying to stare into a light-absorbing black void. And what could be seen from the cloak that concealed whomever had healed him was covered in a fabric of equal darkness. All he could see was the red, knuckle-spiked hands.....
     "Do you still have the strength to eat?" a soft, soothing voice asked.
     X determined by the pitch and quality that this being might be female.
     "...yes...." he whispered hoarsely.
     With that the female <?> produced a canteen and helped X to a sitting position. She held the canteen to his lips, letting only a few drops of water find their way into X's mouth at a time. Mecha tried to snatch the canteen out of her hands and drown himself with the life-giving water, but she merely held him back. He groaned at the fact that she was successful...if he were at top form he could have broken her arm like a rotten piece of wood.
     "A little at a time," she explained, her voice as soft as velvet, "Let your body get used to having it."
     MechaSonicX calmed himself and slowly swallowed what he could get; soon he was able to take whole mouthfuls. He felt his strength beginning to return.
     "....Food....." he panted.
     "Soon enough," she replied gently.
     "But we need to leave first. We have already been discovered." She attached a small gold circle that looked like a 'c' with a black center to his arm, and one on her arm. X got a good look at the fabric that covered her sleeve; it was pure black, but had little metal wires sown into it, like circuits....
     With a bright flash the two disappeared.

     ***********************************

     MechaSonicX found himself lying on a soft cushioned table in the middle of a room filled with all kinds of equipment and devices that he wasn't sure of the function of. A bright light shone down on him and he covered his eyes, blinking. He then noticed he was without clothing, but had a towel wrapped around his mid-section. His spines were still wet, as if he had been in water, and he felt surprisingly refreshed. His hunger pains had waned, too. He looked over at the movement he had caught out of the corner of his eye, and saw someone working with various vials of multi-colored fluids. It looked like a female, except for the broader shoulders and stronger arms; this was presumably the same fur that had rescued him, or a fur associated with him or her. The fur was a crimson and gold echidna, around his height, but just a little shorter; noticed hir left arm was robotic. He watched the echidna move around the laboratory; hir body covered in a tight black suit that had an unusual pattern of wires through it. It shaped the echidna's attractive frame, over well-formed legs partially covered by gray boots, over a round firm behind and up to hir long silky red annd gold dreadlocks, which fell over firm round breasts....X felt a sudden shift in the towel around his waist and errked as he tried to disguise it. The echidna turned as she noted the sound and movement. Hir gray eyes sparkled and sie smiled lightly at him. X groaned and hunched over, still trying to disguise that rather obvious growth underneath his towel. He awaited the barrage of ridicule and scolding he felt was sure to come.
     "You needn't be embarrassed," sie reassured. "I am actually quite pleased that you have normal responses now--that means the nourishment shots I gave you have taken affect. You'll still need to take it easy when you decide to eat again, your stomach needs to adjust to working again."
     "Crescent?" X asked, his memory returning as the familiar soft voice hit his ears.
     Crescent walked over to X and held him close. "Yes, it's me X.....no matter what you did I couldn't let you die like that..."
     X held hir tight to him, not wanting to ever let go. Sie was the first friendly face he'd seen in weeks and he'd been so worried about hir and Wildfyre. He brought hir mouth down to his and kissed hir.
     "Do you know what I know?.....Did you find out about Robotnik?...." he asked, taking Crescent's arms in his hands.
      Crescent shook hir head yes. "I found out after I snuck out. I went wandering, trying to do some soul searching, and I stumbled onto this place. I found out the truth here."
     "What about Wildfyre? Did she escape?" X asked, concerned.
     Crescent shook hir head no this time. "After I left, Robotnik began to get panicked. He has her locked up in our old room, and refuses to let anyone but Snively and himself enter. I've tried to get her out, but I've failed everytime....and almost ended up captured myself."
     X sighed sadly.
     Crescent stroked his spines gently. "Now that you're here, I'm sure we'll be able to get her out."
     X looked up at Crescent. He stared into hir soft blue eyes, feeling an odd sensation enter his being. What was it?.....
     "You're feeling it too, aren't you?" Crescent asked quietly. "You're feeling the emotion well up in your soul..."
     X nodded.  Crescent drew close and kissed him once more.
 

     ***********************************

     Soon Crescent had left, returning with X's clothes, cleaned and neatly folded. X smiled, now in full control of himself once again. Sie handed him his clothes and exited once more; this time sie brought a meal with her.
     "How did you know I was in the prison cells?" he investigated.
     "You'd be surprised what one learns when one lives in Luminopolis," The echidna smiled.
     "You're pulling my leg!" X said in disbelief. 'The hidden city in the Great Unknown??"
     Crescent  smiled wisely and nodded. "Luminopolis is under your feet. I'm afraid that no one lives here anymore--what happened the the citizens of this city is a mystery. But I managed to find it in my wanderings as Outcast, and I've set up my home here."
     "You're an outcast?" X inquired, curious. "From what?"
     The Crescent's face saddened for a moment, then sie began to explain. "Perhaps you've heard of the Clans of the Great Unknown?"
     X nodded. "Yes...Robotnik cursed them daily."
     "I am from one of the Clans. The Marauder Clan to be exact," Crescent continued.
     "So why did you get kicked out, Crescent?" X asked, getting to a stand.
     "Because I am a hermaphrodite...a 'doublesex'," Crescent explained. "We are a rarity...especially since my clan forbids that we live."
     "They...they kill you because you are a different sex?" MechaSonicX asked, shocked.
     Crescent nodded and looked down.
     "They sound no better than our 'father'," X said, angered inside. "Being an outcast from them sounds more honorable than being among them."
     Crescent smiled softly. "Thank you." Sie turned to the table near them, where X's meal awaited. "Perhaps you'd care to eat?"
     X nodded, ravenous, He sat down and began to eat as Crescent joined him.
     It was then that Mecha noticed three apple-sized spheres of metal on his plate. "What are these for?" he asked, tossing one into the air and catching it.
     "You need to ingest metal as well as food. Did you not know this?" Crescent explained.
     X shook his head.
     "Well that would explain why you came up metal-deficient in my analysis," Crescent remarked. "Just hold it in your hand. You will feel a special sensation. If you do as your body urges, you will absorb it. If you resist, you will not. You will have metal hungers, just like food or water or sexual hungers." X gave into the tingling, tense sensation and the orb soon disappeared into his body, which responded immediately with a higher sheen to his skin and spines.
     "I learned about our needs in Luminopolis. We must get to Wildfyre soon," sie said concernedly. "If she does not know how to take in metals, she will suffer from DNA degradation, and die."
     X nodded. "That isn't the only reason. I want her away from that fat b*****d!"
    "I agree wholeheartedly," Crescent commented.
     He quickly absorbed the other two metal orbs and stood up. He felt terrific. Still a little weak, but much better than before. X decided to pose a question out his boundless curiosity in his surroundings.
     "You know alot now about what we are....did the information here tell you?" X asked.
    "Yes. I learned that our type of being can only be produced by touching a certain Orb," Crescent explained.
     "You know about the Helsar I touched?" X said, eyes wide with disbelief.
     Crescent nodded. "It was made by the ancient Mobians that lived here. It's call the Seed, or Helsar; it merges organic and non-organic matter together. The furs that once lived her used it heal amputees and create living, non-polluting vehicles."
     X nodded, fascinated and still hungry for more information.
     "What is that suit for, and why couldn't I see you when you wore that hooded cloak?"
     Crescent smiled broadly at hir inquisitive broodmate. "One of the wonders of the ancients of Luminopolis. The cloak and suit are made of circuit fabric and it has the quality of making one invisible to almost all forms of detection. It also has woven circuitry in it, and is able to absorb the kinetic energy from weapon blasts and blows and rechannel it into the user's blasts and blows. It also reflects almost all light, making it hard to find the wearer in shadows and especially at night."
     "That would be incredibly useful when it becomes necessary to attack Robotnik," MechaSonicX mused as he rubbed his chin in thought.
     Crescent picked up on the unspoken request. "Come with me," sie said, offering hir hand. X accepted and they headed out into the dimly lit hallway of the downed shuttle. The hallway was filled with all kinds of pipes, cables and circuit boxes. Lit with only red flood lights, it was rather forbidding. The floor was made of a metal mesh and steam rose from somewhere below. They came to a pentagonal door with five triangle-shaped metal points that came together like a blossom. Next to the door was a black panel, edged in metal with a keypad to the right. Crescent placed hir hand on the black pad and it lit up for a second; soon the metal/energy points of the "Pentashield" (that is what Crescent called it) opened and the two stepped inside. This apparently a weapon storage room. Crescent went to a container cube and laid hir palm, once again, on a flat black pad. It lit again, and this time the cube unfolded, revealing an outfit exactly like hirs, only built for a male. She handed it to X.
     "I believe this is what you wanted?" sie said with a light smile.
     X smiled. They'd be ready for Robotnik now....
     Crescent lead him to a spare room and he got changed. There was a mirror in the room, and he mulled over his new appearance. The cloak gave him an ominous, magical aura, and the suit made his body disappear into the shadows inside. The only thing visible was his head, and when he moved, the very bottoms of his boots. He liked it.
     Crescent stepped in, carrying something more. Sie looked X over, and beamed at him. "Not bad, X, Not bad at all."
     Sie tossed him a weapon of sorts. He caught it carefully, and smiled. A sawed-off shotgun?
     "It's not what you think," sie said, touching the handle. It slowly morphed itself into a sword.
     MechaSonicX blinked and almost dropped it.
     "A metapistol," Crescent said as it changed back into a shotgun.
     "I will change itself into any weapon that can be imagined by the user, and since you are a bio-mechanical fur, you can interface with it and take advantage of its sensory enhancement programs, designed for Trackerbots."
     X touched its handle, and it formed a shoulder strap. He slung it over his right shoulder. He looked back into the mirror, noting how his red eyes glowed in the shadow of the hood. Go ahead, make my day......

     ***********************************

     "You can't go yet!! You're still not up to full strength!"
     X opened the airlock. "I have to. Wildfyre can't wait any longer. You said she might die of she doesn't get metals soon."
     Crescent sighed. "That's true, but weak as you are, you may not come back alive--you know that, don't you?"
     MechaSonicX nodded. "From the start."
     Crescent stepped out with him. "I'm coming with you, then."
     X put an arm out, catching hir mid-belly. "No. You stay here. If you die, I won't know how to help Wildfyre get better. You are to valuable to be risked in battle."
     Crescent looked at X . He was dead serious.
     "OK then, but be careful!" sie admonished.
     "Careful, yes."
     He cocked the barrel on the shotgun.
     "Kind....no."