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YOU HAVE SELECTED:
Blaze the Cat
OPENING FILE:
"Sonic Warriors- The Iron Wars"
(Continuing from "Sonic Warriors" Chapter 42)
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LOADING…
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43 B. "Ebony and Irony"
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He found it hard to breathe as he lay there weakly on the grass, as smoke and ash covered the battlefield under a bloody red sky. He could hear the cannons roaring and the screams of both friend and foe, though it was all a blur as he was still struggling to regain consciousness. When at last, a grey paw reached down and grabbed his shoulder.
"Porker, get up! …Hurry, on your feet!" ordered Johnny.
Porker Lewis and Johnny Lightfoot were now running for their lives, as cannon fire rained down on the burning battlefield. Their small army of woodland creatures scattered in panic, while on the other side of the field the dark-armored echidnas were moving in.
"Fire!" commanded their leader, whose quill-locks were completely metallic, and his left eye was a cyberized red.
The Dark Legionnaires were armed with cannons with dragon-headed fire bombs, but that was only half of the rebels' problems. The other half came from above: beyond the heavy smoke were flying "Cyberniks," former allies of the rebels not transformed into half-robot slaves. Among the Cyberniks were large reptiles with metallic bat wings; they looked like dragons.
"Dragoniks!" confirmed Porker as he paused for a moment to glance up at the cyborg lizards.
"There's too many of them," called out Johnny as he ran with Porker in retreat. "Fall back, everybody! Fall back to the barricade!"
It was utter chaos. The field was burning and soldiers were running straight into enemy fire. What started as a promising push toward the Iron Castle upon the ominous mountain in the distance has become a complete disaster. Perhaps if it were only the Cyberniks and Dragoniks that the rebels had to worry about, things would go their way. But the sudden appearance of this new army- the Dark Legion- has turned the tables. Now it was every woodland creature for him and herself.
And then, as if things couldn't get any more complicated… BAMF! "-CONTROL!"
Silver the Hedgehog could not possibly teleport at a worse time and place. One look at his new surroundings and he was instantly engulfed in awkwardness. "…Okay, this doesn't look right."
"Come on, soldier!" yelled Johnny, as he ran past Silver while grabbing his arm in the process, dragging him in retreat.
"Yow! Hey! What's going on? Where am I?"
"What, are you shell-shocked? We're at war, soldier! We've gotta head for the barricade before-"
BOOM!
A cannonball landed right before them, knocking them on their backs. Silver's head was facing up toward the sky; he could see more dragon-shaped cannonballs raining down upon him and his company. Instinctively, he threw his hands forward, and the blue lines on his arms and hands began to glow.
In a "Whoosh," the cannonballs were forced off their path and back toward the echidna army that fired them. The echidnas could only watch in shock as their own weapons came back with a vengeance. They were lined up too tightly to make a proper retreat, and so as the cannonballs exploded, so did they.
Johnny and Porker sat up and watched the explosion from a safe distance, as their new ally was much slower to recover.
"Wow," smiled the grey rabbit to the hedgehog. "I'm sure glad you're on our side."
"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" asked the stunned Silver.
As Porker helped him to his feet, the pig explained. "We're in the middle of a rescue mission; our king and his cousin have been captured by the Iron Empire. We've come all the way from the Forrester Kingdom to save them."
"But," added Johnny, "we had no idea that the Iron King and Queen had such powerful allies. We must try to make it back to base and regroup with her excellency, Ebony the Cat. Before…"
"Too late! Incoming!" squealed Porker, pointing at the dive-bombing Dragoniks from above.
All three jumped out of the way before the nose-ringed lizards rained down a barrage of lasers from their metallic claws. They were ready to strike again, when from the distance a thundercloud let out a mighty crash. This alarmed the Dragoniks, knowing that the dark storm cloud coming in at great speed was no ordinary cloud.
Johnny looked up from where he was lying on his side and smiled, "At last, the cavalry has arrived!"
From atop the storm cloud was a dark-furred simian with white streaks on the sides of his face. He was crowned with a dragon head-shaped helmet, and had golden shoulder pads with a flowing red cape attached to them. In his hands was the magical staff that he would one day pass down to his kin. He the Sun-Wu Khan, Lord of Storms.
With a wave of his staff, lightning shot out at the Dragoniks, making them scatter in their panic. Soon he would move his nimbus cloud toward the oncoming army of Legionnaires. But unlike the Dragoniks, they wouldn't flinch.
"Aim for the monkey," commanded the echidna general. While a line of his soldiers were prepared to fire back with their arrows, they were suddenly met by arrows from the opposite side of the field.
Running into battle was the young and feisty Techno the Canary, wearing a straw paddy hat and a red and black kimono. Her Piko-Piko Arrows could appear at will, and she was good at firing up to five at one time. Still she couldn't just sit still and fire; she kept on running toward the front line of Legionnaires just so she could drop-kick them and whack them across their robotic faces with her bow.
"Wow," gasped Silver in awe, as he watched the tide turn.
"I know," smiled Johnny. "You should see what she's like when she's really mad."
Techno kept up her dance of arrow shooting and face-kicking, until her enemies broke ranks. Some of them pulled out swords that were magnetized to their backs; they were out for blood now. One of them nearly cleaved Techno in half, had it not been blocked by two katanas that appeared from out of thin air.
Fading into view was Morain Blackthorn, wielder of the katanas. The orange vixen was also dressed in a kimono rather than full armor, but she relied on her Stealth skill to weave her way around opponents so quickly that she couldn't be seen with the naked eye. On top of that, she was the finest sword-mistress of her day; all blades fell under hers, as did their former owners.
Johnny saw that their allies had the Legionnaires on the ropes; he grabbed onto the arms of Porker and Silver and said, "Come on, now's our chance to escape."
"But, wait! D-don't they need help?" questioned the silver hedgehog.
"They're fine, they can handle themselves," Johnny assured him.
But then that's when they heard the echidna general scream out, "Bring out the tanks!"
"…Tanks?" blinked Silver, Johnny and Porker in unison.
The ground began to rumble, as though an earthquake had hit. Even the new arrivals to the battlefield paused in wonder. Then, rolling over a hill beyond the woods, they came: Ten massive army tanks equipped with cannons from top to bottom, the likes of which never seen before by Johnny and company. They realized the Dark Legion had the upper-hand all along… or so it seemed.
The general smiled proudly as his menacing robo-leviathans approached. "Let this teach them to never wage war against the Iron Empire! FIRE AT WILL!"
Silver and company braced for impact, when suddenly a dark void came down upon them.
"This is it… This is what death feels like," frowned Porker as he curled up in the fetal position, cowering in defeat. "I'll never see my wife and children again… I'll never get to learn how to play the Biwa, or that new dance craze back at home… What did they call it, Johnny? The Silly Duck, was it?"
"The only silly duck around here is you, Porker." Johnny showed no fear as he approached the edge of the dark void and proceeded to tap on its surface. "It's a force field. And I know only one person who can make one so big."
The Dark Legion turned its red eyes to the creature standing on top of the midnight blue dome that was now shielding their enemies. It was a tall black cat dressed in white and purple sash, glimmering with golden Ankhs from her ears down to her sandals. On her brow was a blue jewel- a birthmark, a sign that she was born with unnatural magic skills.
From inside the dome, Johnny smiled. "Ebony."
"Fire all lasers at the cat-girl!" roared the echidna general. At first, his tanks seemed hesitant; it was as if they knew not to mess with the black cat. Again, he roared, "FIRE!"
Bright blue lasers came out from all ends of the tanks, bright enough to blind a normal person. But Ebony only needed to blink her golden eyes once as the energy lasers consumed her.
WHOOM!
The general felt the wind from the force of impact; he covered his eyes to prevent damage to them before looking up and seeing that the cat was no longer on the dome; instead there was nothing but a small ball of blue light. "….heh-heh-heh… It's done."
"Um… General?" peeped a frightened echidna soldier nearby. He pointed up at the blue light, realizing that the light was made up of all the collected energy from the tank lasers. The cat was still there, and she was somehow keeping the laser energy in one place, with a single open paw.
"No… No, it's impossible…. It's impossible!" His red eye used its telescopic vision to zoom in on the black cat. He could now clearly see that it wasn't just a gold chain around her neck- the chain had three Sol Emeralds for jewels, and all three were glowing.
His captain started to back up. "…retreat…. All units, retreat…. Now! Run, you fools! RUN!"
But running would have done them no good; Ebony pushed the laser energy forward with her paws, causing it to backfire into the echidna army.
FOO-OO-OO-OO-OOM!
Everything turned white.
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Hours had passed. Much of the battlefield's grass was cleaved and burned to cinders, leaving nothing but dirt and stone. The rebels were all gone; they escaped back to the forest shortly after their victory. Among the ashes were dozens of echidna corpses, their bodies completely mangled and shredded from wherever their robotic parts connected to their flesh. Even the once mighty tanks were all but rubble now.
Crawling from the remains of his fallen Legionnaires, the cyborg general was faced with a fractured metal leg and malfunctioning metal locks. Also, he had a gaping wound in his chest, one of the few places left of his body that was still organic. He made his way to a boulder, safe from sight, before he pushed a button where his left ear would be.
"…This is a message… to… the Grandmaster."
He then downloaded everything he had scene in that battle to a software program shared by all Legionnaires, like a sort of mental e-mailing system. Everything he had seen and learned in those few hours, soon his master would see and know himself.
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In their grand throne room, on golden plated thrones, sat the Iron King and Queen. The king was a bull by the name of Jun Kun, with white iris-less eyes and dressed in full blue armor. Beside him sat a human woman, Regina Ferrum, who had lavishly long black hair with green highlights and dressed in all black with red lines. She was the Iron Queen, whose crown was red and tall, and her scepter was shaped like a giant magnet on a golden pole.
Standing before the grand thrones of the Iron King and Queen was their newest ally, a fully-robotic echidna with red eyes and only half of an organic face. He knelt before them humbly, though standing right behind him was an unwavering line of slightly more organic echidnas.
"Grandmaster Dimitri," presumed Regina. "You've asked for our audience?"
"Indeed I have your majesties," spoke the echidna in a slightly robotic voice. "There's been a disturbing new development that's come to my attention: it seems our rebel friends have acquired some magical creatures- a cat that can harness the power of the Sol Emeralds, and a hedgehog that can move objects to his will."
"GRAUGH!" roared the bullish Iron King, stomping his hooved foot. He spoke in a very deep octave. "I fear no magic! You echidnas just need to up your weaponry and crush those vermin before they can wave their arms."
"Easy dear," spoke Regina coyly. "Go on, Dimitri."
"We have reason to believe that this lady-cat possesses the three remaining Sol emeralds, while your majesties have the remaining four."
"So what?" grunted Jun Kun. "I still don't see why we can't just wipe them all out. We have more emeralds than they, plus we have the Grand Sol Emerald!"
"Nay," Dimitri shook his head. "The Grand Emerald cannot aid us in our battles."
Jun Kun was ready to charge, when Regina grabbed his arm. "Please explain to the king, Dimitri," she purred.
The Grandmster lowered his head. "If you will, my assistant Doctor Zachary will continue for me, as this is based on his personal findings. Zachary?"
Zachary stepped forward from the line of the Legionnaires; he was an albino, just like Dr. Finitevus of the modern age, except this albino was half-robotic, particularly on the right side of his face and torso, complete with an eerie red orb for a right eye.
He spoke in a rather raspy voice: "My king and queen. I have inspected your Grand Sol Emerald closely, and could tell right away that it has limitless power. But such power can only come with a price; should we use it, it may destroy us. However, it could be said that a creature of magic or psychic abilities could be able to tame its raw power and use it, even if only for a moment."
"Then you must find us such a medium," snorted the bull king, "or we will have your head!"
"Ugh! Jun, you're always such a drama king," Regina retorted. He glanced at her angrily, but couldn't bring himself to lash out at her. She then turned back to the Grandmaster and said calmly, "I have an idea: let's try and capture this cat lady and see if we can turn her into our medium."
Dimitri bowed his head respectfully. "As you wish, my lady. I do, however, require a few of your own Cyberniks to ensure we get her, and the Sol Emeralds."
Regina smiled and replied softly. "It shall be done."
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"SNIVLE-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-EY!"
This brash voice came from the once graceful Queen Regina; now she was showing her true colors as she marched into the lair of her doting servant- a human, like her. The lair was dark and full of steampunk-like machinery, a testament to the fact that robotics in this day and age was very much primitive.
"SNIVLEY!" she screamed harshly again, seeing that her servant was nowhere in sight. "Where are you, you miserable little miscreant?"
From around a corner came a small meek voice: "Over here, your excellency."
He, the small thin man with very little hair, was standing in front of a large cylinder. As his queen approached him, Snively looked at her with a charming smile. "Though, you really don't have to play 'Big and Nasty' when you're down here in my lab, Regina dear."
"Hush up," she snapped at him, as she nearly bopped him on his bald head with her scepter. "We don't know who could be listening in… So, have you finished Cyberizing our new captives?"
The little man gleamed with delight. "Oooh, you're going to be so thrilled when you see what I've done with the King of Forrester."
With that, he unlocked the cylinder- a sort of predecessor to a Roboticizer chamber- and flung the door open. From within a puff of smoke escaped as the queen and servant gazed in wonder at their new metallic slave.
"Oh Snively… it's perfect! You've done it again, you perverted little genius!" She stroked his head like one would a pet.
Snively blushed and smiled, "Yes, well, nothing but the best for my favorite world conqueror."
"Idiot," she hissed, nearly bonking his head again. "I told you to keep that between us… He can hear us, can't he?"
"I'm giving him time to warm up. Starting tomorrow morning, I'll switch him online, then-"
"No. Tomorrow will be too late. I want him and the rest of his friends ready for battle tonight."
"Tonight?" he gulped. "Bu-but Regi- I, I mean your majesty, I haven't Cyberized all of them yet."
"WHAT? What is taking you so long?"
"J-j-just three more to go, and then we'll be ready. I promise."
"You'd better be," warned the queen as she crossed her arms. "Or I may just tell Jun Kun why I've allowed you out of your jail cell."
Snively cowered as she stormed out of his lair. Once she was gone, he turned on the one computer monitor he had, contacting his partner in crime.
"Zachary? How many rebels do we have left in the jail cells?"
The white cyborg echidna onscreen replied with a growl. "Firstly, must I continuously remind you of which one of us has the official doctrine of science?"
Snively made a face. "Grrr… Forgive me, Doctor Zachary."
"There, that's much better. Secondly, I am not in charge of the captives. But I'm sure one of the palace guards can tell you how many guinea pigs you have left."
"I'll need to work overtime; the queen wants all of my- our- captives Cyberized by tomorrow morning."
"Hmm. Well then, I'll be on my way down to assist you soon, Snively. In the meantime, heat up the machine, will you dear boy?"
"Gladly." Snively turned off the monitor and sneered. "'I am the only one among us with an official doctrine,'" he mocked, then added, "Bah. Just wait till I help the queen dethrone her bullish husband, then we'll see who'll be groveling at who's feet."
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Deep within the catacombs that lay far below the dragon castle was a dark, dank network of jail cells. Up to twenty-five of them were housing one battered and defeated solider of the rebel army. Among the inmates was a dark-furred squirrel, dressed in silver medieval armor with a green and gold-lined tabard. He still had his acorn-shaped helmet, but was missing his acorn-shaped shield and grand sword, as they were taken from him shortly after his capture. But despite this humbling pit he was in, he remained calm and patient, as if he knew he would soon be rescued.
His attention was soon drawn to the she-lynx armed with a spear, marching to and fro from one end of the hall to the other. She, dressed in almost all black with a red-striped belt, also had long black hair rolled up in a bun that was held together by two golden pins, while her bangs hung down from the right side of her face. She was a lovely looking lynx, but she was also clearly the enemy- part of the new ninja clan called the Raiju, no doubt, as most of them were lynxes.
Still, the squirrel knight couldn't help but call to her. "Ho there, guard?"
She stopped in front of his cage and eyed him with emerald green irises.
"I am Sir Richard Acorn, but my friends call me Ricky. What's your name?"
The she-lynx frowned and turned her head away.
"Ah, don't be shy. I'm just trying to pass the time before I'm inevitably Cyberized. Can't I at least get your name, m'lady?"
Finally, she spoke. "I am not allowed to speak with strangers… especially when they are in prison."
"Aw, that's a shame. And you have such a pretty voice, too."
She glared back at him with suspicions. "Don't think that flattery will buy you your freedom, foe of the Dragon Kingdom."
"I'm not trying to flatter you, m'lady, I'm just wondering how a young lady such as yourself ended up with… eh, begging your pardon, but are you not with the lynx ninjas?"
"We are the Raiju- we are small, but proud."
"I see."
"And how I was recruited into the clan is none of your concern."
"I understand. I was just curious, that's all…" She was about to walk away when he quickly asked, "So tell me, why are the ninja clans helping the Iron Empire?"
The she-lynx stopped and replied coldly, "Because unlike you foolish woodlanders, we know which side will win this war. Had you and your friends surrendered peacefully, you might not be in this crummy old dungeon."
"So, instead of fighting for your rights to freedom, your master chose fear?"
"How dare you!" she hissed. "You know nothing about me and my clan. Just for that, I should tear out your tongue right now!" She then thrust her spear through an opening between bars and aimed it at Ricky's mouth. But she stopped just as her blade reached his lips, as though she was hesitating. "Go on," she dared him, "say one more thing about the Raiju."
He paused.
"Say it!"
He still paused.
"Say it, you coward!"
"You won't do it."
"Wha…? What do you mean I won't do it?"
"If you would, you would have done it already."
Her green eyes narrowed. "Don't test me…" Her grip on her spear wavered a bit.
"You're not a warrior. You're just a child- no more than fourteen years old, I'd bet."
"How…?" she was ready to yell at him again, when suddenly she faltered; her ears drooped slightly. "…How did you know?"
Ricky frowned. "You poor girl; your family must have been forced into this mess because they felt they had no other choice. I pity you."
"Hmph! Spare me your pity," huffed the she-lynx as she recoiled her spear. "Why should I even bother with you? You'll just be another mind drone for the empire soon enough."
"Probably," Ricky smiled. "But at least my friends on the outside will still be fighting. As long as I have that, then I have hope."
"Hope, in what? You're fighting a losing battle. You're all fools."
"Even if you're right, even if we do lose this war, at least we'll know we fought for freedom. That, I can at least be proud of."
The young ninja girl backed away, looking utterly creeped out by this prisoner as thought he had somehow gotten under her skin. She gave him a mean glare and hissed, "By this time tomorrow, you will remember none of this. You've wasted your time for nothing!"
The girl marched off, hoping to never walk past his cell again.
Ricky remained patient, sitting on a bench with his arms and legs crossed. He could only hope that he had gotten through to her.
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That evening, just as the sun went down on an indigo sky, Silver the Hedgehog found peace at last with his new friends. He sat by a campfire along with Ebony the Cat, Johnny Lightfoot, Porker Lewis, Techno Canary, Morain Blackthorn, and Sun-Wu Khan.
"So," smiled the black cat to the silver hedgehog. "You're from the future, Silver? How did you come to this place?"
"With this," he replied, holding out a circular blue gem. "It's called a Time Stone. With it, I can use Time Control to move from one place in time to another. But the problem is, I haven't exactly mastered how to direct where I'm going."
"Time Stone," mused Ebony. "Is it anything like our Sol Emeralds?"
"Uh… W-what's a Sol Emerald?"
The black cat held out one of her emeralds to him, showing that it was cut rectangular.
"Oh," awed Silver. "That kind of looks like a Chaos Emerald."
Porker was puzzled. "Time, Sol, and now Chaos… Just how many magical stones are there, Ebony?"
"No one could say," frowned the she-cat. "But, perhaps we can use this new stone to put an end to the Iron Empire once and for all… with your permission of course, Silver."
Silver smiled meekly, "I don't own these things, but… sure. Try it."
Ebony cupped the Time Stone in one paw, and with the other she held out her red Sol Emerald. "I will attempt a spell that will show me the future, to see if there is an event that we must prepare for in order to safeguard our victory."
"But Eb… D-do you know how that Time Stone works?" gulped a nervous Silver.
"I can feel its power; it is the same source of power within the Sol Emeralds. They are of the same origins…" She paused to let her friend take in such a surprising fact. "I will only try this one small spell; if it works, we will know what our enemies hope to achieve in the near future."
"And… if it fails?" asked the grey rabbit nearby.
"Have faith, Johnny." The black cat held out her gems and started to softly chant, "I speak from the past to the future. I speak for Sol and Time. What affects my world affects yours, and what affects your world affects mine. I speak from the past to the future. I speak for Sol and Time…"
A spark ignited between the two gems, starting a golden vortex that started out very small… then began to grow. The warriors stared in awe as the vortex became like a small golden tornado that picked itself up into the air, kicking up dirt and wind in the process. The warriors all braced themselves, especially when it became apparent that two dark figures came falling straight from the sky and downward through its center…
Whomp!
Ebony and Silver cautiously leaned over the two figures, and saw that it was a purple Persian feline in an indigo outfit lying on top of a tan and brown-striped raccoon with fur tufts for pigtails and clothing fit for summer. They were both winded from their fall, but were alive at least.
"Oh dear," frowned Ebony. "This isn't what I meant to do at all."
While the others looked both puzzled and concerned, Silver continued to stare intently at the unconscious visitors. One of them looked oddly familiar.
"…Blaze?"
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NEW WARRIORS:
Silver the Hedgehog (Flight)
Marine the Raccoon (Swim/Heal)
Ebony the Cat (Power)
Techno the Canary (Flight/Heal)
Morain Blackthorn (Stealth)
These warriors have been added to your roster.
Roster Count: 6 (Counting Blaze as the Starting character)
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LOADING ZONE…
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