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Horizont-Al (Al for short) is a zone-imp from the Unknown Zone, and the close companion of Verti-Cal. A highly curious being, Al was notorious for his fun-loving ways. As one of the two known inhabitants of the Unknown Zone, the other one being Verti-Cal, and with near-omnipotent powers there, the two of them used their powers for their own zany entertainment. After the Omega Wave nearly destroyed their Zone though, the two blamed each other over whose fault it was for allowing that, leading to a devastating war. Eventually, they were arrested by the Zone Cops for endangering other realities and imprisoned in the Zone Jail, where they gained the acquaintance of Scourge the Hedgehog, who ultimately used them to break out of the Zone Jail.
History[]
Dr. Ivo Robotnik's Tyranny[]
Al and Cal introducing themselves to Sonic.
One day, Al and Cal met Sonic the Hedgehog when the hedgehog accidentally got himself propelled into the Unknown Zone after collecting enough Power Rings. While the pair introduced themselves and corrected his names for them, Sonic had a tough time keeping up with them as they kept letting their reality go wonky. Eventually, Sonic accused them of being Dr. Ivo Robotnik's cronies, but Al and Cal had no idea of who he was talking about. As Sonic realized his mistake though, Al and Cal bit Sonic farewell as he began falling out of their Zone, all while casually indifferent to his offer for them to join the Knothole Freedom Fighters. They soon after appeared in the Great Forest to watch an angry Sonic chase after Antoine. (StH: #2)
Al and Cal later had a game of baseball in the Unknown Zone, although the Zone's lack of physics made the game hard. Despite this annoying fact, Al and Cal provided enormous help by disrupting a virtual reality created by Robotnik to imprison the Knothole Freedom Fighters and allowing Sonic to take control, thwarting Robotnik's schemes. (StH: #4, #16)
Gods of War[]
Horizont-Al and Verti-Cal in their robotic forms.
Following Operation: EndGame, the Ultimate Annihilator's Omega Wave caused numerous effects to happen to numerous zones. Al and Cal were nearly destroyed when their Zone was reduced to near-nothingness, but they survived and restored their Zone. Unfortunately, they blamed each other for allowing this to occur, and had become warmongers out to destroy each other. When Sonic and Tails were accidentally sucked into this zone, Al and Cal decided to let them decide the outcome of the war. Al brainwashed Tails, while Cal enslaved Sonic. With their pawns now outfitted with armor borrowing design elements of their current forms, Al and Cal let their minions duke it out. Tails had superior fighting skills, but Sonic stopped Tails' twin-tails with his staff, and nearly killed Tails, had they not both chosen that moment to snap out of it. Sonic and Tails tried to talk some sense into Al an Cal, and the two thought briefly about the idea of becoming friends again (or at least, as neighbors), but nixed that idea and resumed fighting while Sonic and Tails escape their Zone. (StH: #59)
Incarcerated[]
Al and Cal helping Scourge.
Al and Cal's fighting did not go without consequences. They eventually began damaging other zones besides theirs which forced the Zone Cops to arrest them. Outfitted with Control Collars that negated their powers and reverted them back to their original forms, Al and Cal were imprisoned in the No Zone's Zone Jail and were beat up often by the other inmates. Some relief came when Scourge was brought in, as they found him being beaten more than themselves, and tried to befriend him as compensation. Al and Cal attempted to help his view on his downfall by pointing out how they had been gods, while Scourge had just been a king in his own zone, but their efforts were rudely rebuffed. (SU: #29)
Despite these setbacks, Al and Cal did not give up, and persisted in trying to endear themselves to Scourge by sharing their meals and keeping him company in the prison's otherwise harsh environment. This changed slightly once the Destructix, Scourge's former associates, arrived in jail, as they scared Al and Cal off except when they could catch him alone. A few days after this, Al and Cal were receiving one of their usual beatings from Jeffrey St. Croix, until Scourge intervened and attacked him. Al and Cal at first thought their time with Scourge was finally paying off, but he causally dismissed it, saying he just wanted to get back at his old gang rival. Fiona Fox jumped in soon after to remind Scourge of his place though, which allowed St. Croix to turn his attention back to the two zone-imps, much to their dismay. (SU: #29, #30, #31)
Freed from their Control Collars, Al and Cal rampage inside Zone Jail.
That same evening, the Destructix released all the prisoners and altered the gravity to start a riot, and before they knew what happened, Al and Cal were snatched up by Predator Hawk who then deposited them in front of Scourge. Fearful of what would happen to themselves, the two listened as Scourge pointed out their past kindnesses to him, and his decision to let them get revenge like he was doing. Their desperate protests went unheeded though as Sergeant Simian broke off their Control Collars, causing the shocking reversion back to their powerful demigod forms. Filled with pent up rage, Al & Cal went on a devastating rampage throughout the cell blocks, firing at prisoners and Zone Cops alike in their desire to get back at the "inferiors" that tormented them. However, the Warden soon managed to put a halt to their warpath by targeting them with F.O.E. Inhibitors, which brought them back down to their diminutive statures. Back in control of themselves but helpless, Al and Cal then turned to Scourge, begging him to rescue them, but he cruelly abandoned the two to save himself and fled through a Warp Ring with the Destructix. (SU: #31, #32)
Appearance[]
Al's original appearance is that of a diminutive human-like creature with cojoined green eyes. He mostly lacks hair, except for a small amount of blond hair parted down the middle in similar fashion to Antoine, and eyebrows. By comparison, Al is shorter and chubbier-looking that Cal, and wears a short green and yellow striped hat with a magenta brim. He has a shirt similar to Cal's, but it is purple with magenta lining and has arrows pointing left and right. He wears striped pants as well, but all the stripes on his outfit go side to side while Cal's are all vertical. Like Cal, he also wears one magenta boot and one purple boot, but his purple boot is on his left foot while the magenta is on his right. During his time as an inmate in the Zone Jail, Al wore an orange jumpsuit and a Control Collar.
As a robot, he appears as a squat, almost disc-like being with large red eyes, short stubby feet, and laser cannons on top of his head.
Personality[]
In his natural state, Al is a lovable, benevolent and kind, if zany and whimsical individual who tries to look at the bright side of things. Permanently perplexing, he is the best of friends with Verti-Cal, and has few, if any worries. While apparently not the type to interfere in the affairs of other zones, he has helped Sonic in the past. However, following the Ultimate Annihilator's effects on his zone, Al's mind was seemingly twisted, causing him to become warlike and suspicious of Cal, taking every opportunity to feud with him. When his powers are suppressed by Control Collars or F.O.E. Inhibitors though, Al will revert back to his old personality. (StH: #4, #59, SU: #29, #32, SA: #16)
Abilities[]
A self-styled deity in the Unknown Zone and an extra-dimensional being, Al has demonstrated incredible reality-warping and mental abilities, to the point where he was able to interfere with a computer simulation created in Sonic's mind by Dr. Ivo Robotnik, manipulate matter to the degree of turning a solid platform into quicksand, manipulate elements to create a tornado, controlling the minds of three-dimensional beings, and creating items seemingly out of thin air. His power even allowed him to fully restore himself and his Zone after both of them were reduced to sub-atomic particles. However, his powers do have some limits, as Sonic and Tails were able to free themselves from his and Cal's control. Additionally, his powers can be suppressed with the Zone Cops' technology. (SA: #16)
Al's bread and butter is physics and gravity manipulation, allowing him to walk and stand on walls and create laws of physics in the Unknown Zone, a zone where no such concepts exist.
In his robotic forms, Al can fly and unleash powerful blasts of energy. The scale of his power in this form was so great that the infighting between him and Cal damaged an unknown amount of other universes. He also appears to be able to travel between Zones.
Background Information[]
- Al's name comes from the direction "horizontal".
- Al and Cal have been compared to Superman villain Mister Mxyzptlk and possibly Bat-Mite, a reality warping beings from the fifth dimension who dresses in outlandish clothes, their race name "zone-imps" and status as extradimensional beings also reinforces this.
External links[]
- Horizont-Al at Sonic Wiki Zone, the Sonic wiki.