Series 2 - The Three Tests
Episode 6
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Clang.. clang.. clang..
His boots made loud noises as he hurriedly made his getaway from his persuers. He looked to his side. His ally was still there. He was a different species.. a large reptile. He grinned a scaly grin.. the red marble in his eye socket just stared into space. They finally reached their target - a large door. They opened it, and the teleportation device was inside. "KA-CHING!!" boomed the lizard. "Tell me! Where are we off to, Dominatrek?" The other figure nervously fiddled with the controls. "I know the co-ordinates of a planet.. Mobius. We can flee there." "Oh goody.. sounds appetizing!" replied the reptile. The figure, Dominatrek, finally opened a portal, just as the police burst in. "The Council of Peace demands your arrest!" shouted the leader, as Dominatrek was pounced on. Some of the police de-activated the portal, and Dominatrek was led away. His ally had vanished.
CHAPTER ONE:
Packbell cleared his throat as he sat down. Mecha Sonic sat across from him at the table, at one end was Genesis, and at the other was Robotnik. Mecha turned to look at the stumpy robot, Genesis. "I do not see what use this prototype will be at our meeting." he muttered. Genesis just stared back at him with beady eyes. "Genesis is as intelligent as you are." Robotnik protested. "Even though he cannot speak, he has as much right to be here as you do. Now, I have called this meeting, because it has come to my attention that...." There was a loud 'bang' outside. The door opened, and Vlad the Bat tumbled in, a suitcase in one hand, a tie in the other, and a piece of toast in his mouth. He collapsed in a seat next to Genesis, finished the toast, and proceeded to put the tie on. Everyone stared at him. "Whew.. sorry I'm late, guys! Bad day at the rat races today!" he said, tying his tie a bit too tight. "Where's the coffee machine?" "This is a private meeting, Vlad." Packbell said. Vlad looked up at him. "Hey, don't worry, man! I won't tell anyone! Whatever you guys say is safe with me!" Packbell frowned. "No, I mean that.." "Don't worry!" Robotnik butted in. "Let him stay! He will be no trouble." Genesis stared blankly at Vlad. "Whatcha' looking at, googly?" Vlad asked, tapping his knuckles on the robot's head. Robotnik sighed deeply. "ANYWAY.. back to business." he said. "You may have noticed my recent reclusiveness. The sheilds I have instructed you to put up, the computer blockages I have put up, etcetera. It has come to my attention that we are wasting our time with the Freedom Fighters. They are few, and we have more force than them. Robotizing them is not in our best interest, right now. To eventually take over the rest of this continent, and indeed the world, we shall need to expand." "Sure thing, Doc!" said Vlad, stretching his neck out, blowing his lungs out like a balloon, and showing his full wing-span. "How's.. this..?" he asked. Everyone ignored him. "How do you propose we do this?" asked Mecha. Robotnik brought down a large map. Robotropolis was shown in the center, and about fifty kilometers north, a large 'X' was shown. "Station Square." he said. "The largest city within the immediate viscinity. Twice the size of Robotropolis, then some. If we could capture this city, convert it into a base, and build a second robotizer, the Freedom Fighters would shiver in their boots. I call it.. Project:" he grinned "Robotnikland." Vlad snorted. "A little corny, there, Doc." Packbell shook his head. "Sire, Station Square is home to the biggest band of Freedom Fighters on the continent!" Robotnik sat back down. "I have done research into that." he said. "The Station Square Freedom Fighters. Run by one 'Amy Rose', I presume. After looking into it, it becomes apparent that they will be little trouble. Being so far from Robotropolis, they have never actually had an encounter with my armies. They have become street-wise brats, whose defensive strategies include skateboarding, dating and shopping." he grinned. "Still, Station Square does have quite well prepared defence systems, and the Freedom Fighters will be a hinderance, if only a little. I will need some form of.. great power. Some kind of weapon. Something I can have at my control, that they do not stand a chance against. But, I do not know where I could find such a weapon.." At that moment, Genesis beeped loudly, and stood up. Robotnik, Mecha and Packbell stared at him. Vlad, startled, fell off his chair. "You have a suggestion, Genesis?" asked Robotnik. Genesis stared at him blankly or a few seconds, then extended his arm, pointing at something across the room. A slab of rock, with harsh diagrams all over it. A map, to someplace called 'The Chaos Isle'. Robotnik's eyes lit up. "Yesss.."
Sally Acorn was in the bushes, gathering food for Knothole. She hummed to herself, and thought about the month's happenings. It was strange how so many odd things happened. Dangerous things. Since the beginning of the year, Knothole had had to deal with the likes of both Cinos and Ashura, not to mention Drake the Dragon. Funnily enough, there had been no activity on Robotnik's part since he stole Knothole's hacking codes. The destruction of Nutwood and the loss of Knothole's secrets, including the village's location, gave Robotnik an advantage of the likes he had never had before.. a frightening advantage. So why did he stop? "Just as well." said Sally to herself. "Hope the old moron is dying, or something." She picked a bunch of grapes, and put it in the bucket. Just then, there was a tremendous BANG! She flew back six feet, and landed on her back. "WHOA!" she shouted. "Where did THAT come from?" She got up and looked around. Nobody else was around. Nerously, she got back to work, keeping on full guard.
The figure looked around. He raised a hand to his right eye, held onto it with his thumb and foreclaw, and pulled it out with a 'pop'. He breathed on it, rubbed it on his chest, and put it back into the socket. It was a glass eye.. It was red, and had a black slit as a pupil, which made him look particularly demonic. He had a deep scar above and below the eye socket. He was a raptor. A slightly darker shade than Shax, and the striped markings on his body were sharper and of greater amount. "'ere.." he mumbled. "What kind of dumb, greeny-greeny planet is this?" He looked around again, but this time spotted movement. Some kind of creature, in the bushes, picking nuts and berries. "Well, well, well!" he muttered. "If it ain't lunch time!" He rubbed his belly. "Been ages since I've had a good meal.. heh..heheh..eh.."
Sally heard a sound behind her. She turned. Nothing but bushes all around her. Strange... Must have just been some kind of animal. She got back to what she was doing. Another sound.. closer, this time. She turned. The bush was swaying behind her, as if recently disturbed. She got a little edgy, and began to back away. She could hear heavy breathing. "Who's there?" she asked. "Sonic?" No reply. "Sonic? Is that you?" "Yess.. I'm VERY sonic.." came the hesitated reply, at last. It was not Sonic's voice. "Who are you?" Sally asked. More heavy breathing. "ANSWER ME!" Sally shouted, losing her patience. The presence kept shifting position, as if constantly moving. Sally couldn't catch a glimpse of it, though. "Ever seen a raptor hunt?" the figure asked. Sally frowned, because she did not understand his question, and he never answered hers. "Who are you?" Sally asked again. "We stalk our prey in the shadows." said the figure. "Usually we hunt in pairs, but having no friends, I have to improvise.." he chuckled. Sally began to back away from the scene, when she was touched on the shoulder.. She screamed. "HELP, SONIC!!!!!"
"Yeah?" Sonic asked. Sally spun around. Sonic chuckled. "I've been stalking you!" he said with a grin. "S..Sonic!" Sally said, out of breath. She whacked him upside the head. "You jerk!" she said. "You scared the beejeebers outta me! How'd you disguise your voice like that?" Sonic looked at here strangely. "What do you mean?" he asked. Suddenly, a figure jumped out of nowhere, and landed right in front of them. A massive lizard.. and he didn't look nice. "Two for one deal! Heh..heheh..heheheh.."
CHAPTER TWO:
Shax was walking through the forest, looking for dinner. "Ok, lets see.." he mumbled. "Field mice are too stringy... hm.. rabbit would go down well tonight!" He caught a glimpse of Knothole. The villagers were running around with weapons, looking very spooked. "What's up with them?" Shax asked himself. He walked up to the village gates. "HALT!" screamed a villager, pointing a gun at him. He turned around, motioning for backup. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" exclaimed Shax. "What's wrong?" "Think you can terrorize the village, eh?" inquired the villager. "WE'LL see about that!" "Terrorize? No!" replied Shax. "I wouldn't harm a fly! Well, okay, if I was hungry, I would harm a fly.. but I wouldn't harm a SENTIENT fly.. Okay, an EVIL sentient fly.." "Shut it!" replied the villager. "Giant grey lizard, razor-sharp teeth, black stripes.. how many of THOSE do you find in the forest?" Sonic appeared. "HEY! What do you think you're doing?" he asked. "What? You told us to protect the village against a giant grey raptor, and that's what I'm doing!!" "THIS one's safe." replied Sonic, pulling Shax inside the village.
"Hey! What's going on?" asked Shax. "There's another raptor in the forest." Sonic replied. "He attacked Sal and me.. we were lucky to escape!" "Another raptor?" asked Shax. "No, that's impossible... you SURE?" Sonic nodded. "He was definately a raptor, Shax, he looked just like you! He was darker grey, though.." "Eh?" asked Shax. "I gotta see this.. where'd you see him?"
"Hey, you!" shouted Vlad, wearing a yellow construction helmet. The old echidna turned around. He had sensed the presence of the bat, but kept to himself. "Hey, old dude!" shouted Vlad again, waving his arms. "You may refer to me as Pantheos." said the old echidna. "Where did you come from?" "That ain't important!" replied Vlad. "I need answers.." "What answers do you seek?" asked Pantheos. "Uhm...." replied Vlad. "HEY MECHA! WHAT ANSWERS DO WE SEEK?" he shouted. A figure stepped out from behind the rocks. "Ancient weapons, you pathetic creature!" he exclaimed. Mecha Sonic. "We need your ancient texts, echidna!" "Yeah, spill it!" replied Vlad. Pantheos looked with horror at the blue robot. "You again.." he snarled.
"Shoosh... I hear something!" Shax warned, looking around. A small rabbit hopped across their path. "Yess!" Shax exclaimed, picking it up by the tail. "There's dinner!" he put it between his jaws and carried it. Sonic rolled his eyes. "Here.. it was around here that.. IT.. attacked us!" "Now, are you sure it was a raptor?" asked Shax, muffling his words with the rabbit struggling in his mouth. "The geckos get pretty big around these parts..." "Shax! I'm sure!" Sonic protested. "Ok, ok.." replied Shax. There was movement in the bushes. "Stay low." said Shax. Suddenly, a figure burst out of the bushes, with a rabbit in his jaws. The other raptor. The two reptiles' eyes met, and both their jaws opened, letting the two rabbits fall to the ground and hop away. Sonic stepped back. "What?" asked the other raptor. "Number 34?" "Sh..SHRED!" gasped Shax. "This is.. a.. SHOCK!" "What the heck are YOU doing here, 34?" Shred demanded. "I should ask YOU the same question!" replied Shax. Shred grinned a long, toothy grin. Shax nervously grinned back. "Well hey, good to see you again!" Shred commented. "And I see you've been out hunting!" he glared at Sonic. "What's about we share this bounty 50/50? Like the old days, back on Earth.. I hope you don't still hold that silly grudge against me.." Sonic gulped, and realised he was standing with two VERY dangerous animals..
"Hang on, Shred, this guy ain't to eat!" Shax protested. "He's a friend.." Shred looked shocked. "A friend? WHAT? Since WHEN have YOU been makin' pals with pastry? That's perposterously.. perposterous.. poppycock!" "Listen, Shred.." Shax said. "This planet is different to Earth.. it's a planet where the MAMMALS are dominant, not the reptiles. You can't just eat things here.." "Oh, fantastic!" replied Shred. "Food that's almost as smart as you are! It makes the hunt more interesting, dontcha' think? Heh..heheh.." "Shred, I'm warning you.. Stay away from these people. You can stay here, as long as you only prey on the lesser animals, and don't harrass the sentiant animals, OK?" "Number 34! You have it all mixed up!" Shred chuckled. He popped out his glass eye, and shined it by rubbing it on his leg. "This planet is a GIFT! It's heaven! A raptorian paradise! An all-you-can-eat steak and salad bar! Raptorkind was MEANT to come here, and eat its fill!" "No, Shred, quit thinking with your stomach!" warned Shax. "You can live here without having to eat everything! There's just MORE TO IT than that! And you can call me Shax, we're not working for Dominatrek any more. "Shaxxx.." Shred hissed. "Don't argue with me.. I might not share this delicious morsel with you, after we cut it up.." "NO!" Shax protested, putting himself in front of Sonic. "I'm TELLING you, Shred.. I'm not laying a claw on Sonic, and NEITHER ARE YOU!" "Sssonic?" Shred asked. "Oh, so it has a NAME, now?" "Yeah!" replied Shax. "You know Shax, you're beginning to bug me." Shred scowled. "I might have to declare a lizards' duel.." "Oh, Shred, no!" replied Shax. "We can live in harmony, all that I ask is..." "Losing my patience!" replied Shred. "You're FORCING me to declare a duel, I don't WANT to, but I am being FORCED to by your ARROGENCE, Shax.." "Shred, just LISTEN.." Shax said, beginning to sweat. "What?" asked Shred. "You can eat anything in the forest. Sentiants, non-sentiants, anything." Shax said, looking defeated. Shred grinned.
CHAPTER THREE:
As Shred began to back away, Shax added "ON ONE CONDITION." Shred turned. "Yes?" he asked. "Leave Knothole ALONE." "Knothole?" asked Shred. "Sonic's village." replied Shax. "Fine. I agree." replied Shred. "Such a pity we have to do this, but I suppose it's only right. Be here for the duel tomorrow at ten AM." Shax's eyes widened. "WHAT?? But... b...but... WHAT??" "A lizard's duel, you scrawny raptor!" replied Shred. "If I win, I can eat anything in the forest except for Knothole. If YOU win, I die. Win-win situation for you, you should be happy!" "I DIDN'T AGREE TO A DUEL!!" Shax protested. "You don't have to!" replied Shred. "I can declare one with or without your permission! And I have! So.." He stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry. Shax sat down. "Fine. You win. Tomorrow." he muttered. "HAHA!" laughed Shred. "NOW we'll see who's HIGHER on the FOOD CHAIN!" He jumped into the bushes, and vanished. "I can't believe that happened.." Shax said. "What's wrong?" asked Sonic. "What was that all about?" "He declared a lizards' duel." said Shax, glumly. "Something I've only ever watched.. and it ain't pretty." "What is it?" asked Sonic. "A fight to the death." replied Shax. "A deathmatch to prove who's the dominant raptor."
Sonic gulped. "What's going on?" he asked. "Who was that guy? And why does he keep calling you 'Number 34'?" Shax sighed. "It's a long story." he said. "It dates back to my origins on Earth. Shred and I were actually friends, back then. That was until he got in a huff with my brother, and declared a lizards' duel. He was the victor, but he lost an eye out of it. I avoided him as much as possible after my bro's death, 'cause I knew if I argued with him, he'd duel me, too, and let's face it, he IS the stronger raptor. Then, Dominatrek invaded Earth, and kidnapped a lot of the raptors, including Shred and I. For the years that we worked with him, Dominatrek always referred to us by number. I was number 34, and Shred was number 1, due to nothing but coincidence. But, Shred, stubborn as he is, thought that he was something really special, and that he was Dominatrek's right-hand-raptor, or something. After a while, he gained Dominatrek's respect as the only non-rebellious worker, and after a while, he was treated thusly. That day that you rescued us from Dominatrek's prison, Shred refused to go, and said he would help Dominatrek win the war. As for how he got HERE, I really have no clue.."
"You will not get away with this, steel demon." warned Pantheos. "If you do this, you fulfil the prophecy of your own demise! The moment predicted by the elders!" Mecha Sonic side-eyed the echidna, as he passed the echidna scriptures to the E-100 army. "And what is this prophecy?" he asked. Pantheos lifted his finger and pointed it at Mecha, accusingly. "Following the second invasion of the steel army, the fury of the three tests shall return five fold. First the second test will return, and the very force which prevented it the first time shall be the threat at hand, and will wipe out one third of the steel army. The third test will occur second, with the effects reversed and the echidna ancestors returned to our lands, wiping out another third of the steel army. And finally, and most devistatingly, the first test will occur again, completely obliterating what remains of the army, and wreaking endless havoc on the world as we know it." Mecha stared for a few seconds, then broke out into digital laughter. "I do not understand these 'tests' of yours." he said. "It is stupid gibberish, grow up, old man." Vlad was hopping around. "Man, I just remembered I haven't eaten anything but BUGS in MONTHS!" he said. "I need blood! BLOOD! BLAH!" Mecha scowled at him. "Quit your complaining, fleshapod. If you must, you can have this joker." The robot hedgehog walked away. Vlad looked at Pantheos, and stared at his wrinkles. "Yeah right!" he said. "I don't drink POWDERED blood.." He slapped Pantheos with the back of his hand lightly, then spun around and marched off. After they were gone, another echidna came out of hiding. "They took the writings of our ancestors!" he said. "I thought they came for the Havoc Gem again!" "They have a greater lust, now." replied Pantheos. "The lust for Armageddon itself. They will release the three tests apon themselves indefinately. It will mean absolute doom. For everybody." "We are doomed." said the other echidna, miserably. "Not quite." replied Pantheos. "I sense that our own Sagittarius and the foreign echidna will return soon." "But what if you are wrong?" asked the other echidna. Pantheos turned to him. "Then I am wrong." he replied. "But there must always be hope."
Shred eyed the village hungrilly. He frowned when he saw Shax inside. "Ah, drat." he said. "That severely stupid sickly stupendously.. stupid.. silly.. spastic... SHAX..!! I'm not allowed to come within fifty metres of him when we're in preparation for a duel! AND HE'S TAKEN ALL THE GOOD FOOD!" he scowled at Shax, who was nervously chatting to someone.. a walrus. "Seafood." muttered Shred. He sensed the presence of someone nearby. Before he had time to hide, a fox came out from the bushes. He looked at Shred, and suddenly wore an expression of extreme shock. It was Tails.. Shred gleamed at him. Tails took a step back.. when Shred turned his head, the young fox saw that he had a glass eye.. He thought to himself that he would hate to see the loser of that fight... "Are you hungry?" asked Shred. "H...huh?" asked Tails, nervously. "Are you hungry?" Shred repeated. Tails shook his head no. "Hmmm..." replied Shred. "Funny.... I am." He took a step towards Tails, and Tails took a step back. Suddenly, Sonic jumped between them. "GET LOST, LIZARD!" he warned. Shred jerked back. "What?" he asked. "My meal is telling me what to do! I don't see the logic in that at all! No.. it's illateral illogical... ill-fated... oddity! I'm not going to take orders from YOU!" "Shax! We could use some help here!" Sonic shouted. "I can't!" came the reply. Sonic turned to face Shax, standing quite a distance away from the scene. "WHY NOT??" Sonic demanded. "I can't come within fifty metres of Shred until the duel! It's.. it's the rules!" "Do you HAVE to follow the rules?" asked Sonic. Shax just walked away. He didn't seem to be particularly worried about the situation, which made Sonic a little angry. He looked back at Shred, who was staring at he and Tails, drooling..
All of a sudden, Shred dropped back in pain. "AH! MY *#$%*$ LEG!!!" he screamed. He pulled an arrow out of his leg, and then bent it to make sure it still worked. His tough raptor skin prevented it from doing any major damage. Sage jumped out of the bushes, armed with his bow and quiver of arrows. "BUZZ OFF!" he yelled. Growling and giving Sage the evil eye, Shred sulked back into the bushes. "Thanks Sage!" he exclaimed, slapping the echidna on the back. "You're a lot more helpful than SOME people.." He threw a glance in Shax's direction. The raptor was pacing nervously. "I'll just be glad when this is all over.."
CHAPTER FOUR:
"I am dead." said Shax. "Huh?" asked Sonic, looking up. "I am dead." replied Shax, staring into space. "He killed my brother, now he is going to kill me." "Who, Shred?" asked Sonic. "YES SHRED!!" shrieked Shax. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE SEVERITY OF THE SITUATION??" Sonic frowned. "All I know is that you and another raptor are going head-to-head, and now you're following all these weird rules. Like that! What are you doing now?" "Eating rhubarb!" replied Shax frantically, hacking into a plant. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get rhubarb in this forest? I can't eat anything but rhubarb until the duel! I WILL STARVE! THERE IS NONE ANYWHERE!" Sonic slapped his forehead. "Look, Shax, you're starting to get a little weird. You don't have to follow all these weird rules, it's just a dumb fight..." "DUMB FIGHT??" shreiked Shax. "DUMB?? DO YOU LITTLE MORESELS HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I AM GOING TO HAVE TO GO THROUGH??" "What?" asked Sonic. "What do you mean 'moresels'?" "I dunno!" replied Shax. "What DO I mean?" "Uh.. I dunno.." replied Sonic. "But I don't like it when a great big lizard-of-prey calls me that." "I didn't call you a moresel!" replied Shax. "Yes you did.." replied Sonic. "NO I DIDN'T!" shreiked Shax. "Did I?" Sonic nodded. "Oh no. OH NO!!" gasped Shax. "AARG! NOO! I'm reverting!" "Reverting?" asked Sonic. "YEAH!" replied Shax. "Back to my raptor instincts.. Soon I'll stop seeing you as a friend, and start seeing you as the other white meat!" Sonic took a step back. "I gotta get out of here.." said Shax. "The more frantic I get, the more I forget what planet I'm on.. I'll see you later." He turned, and left Knothole.
The raptor Shax walked through the thick scrub, contemplating the situation. His thoughts drifted to his brother, Rorax. He scrunched up his nose, hatefully. Hateful towards the raptor elders, who invented the Lizard's Duel. Shred knew he was stronger than most other raptors, and had declared and won at least five duels in his time. This would make one more victory. "Hey Shax!" came a voice. Shax looked up. On a low but strong branch of a tree above him, he could make out the shape of another raptor. "SHRED!" shouted Shax. "Fifty metres! REMEMBER?" "Uh uh uh." replied Shred. "The rules say, we're not allowed to be within fifty metres from each other, before, behind or beside. I'm ABOVE you, so it's okay. Heh..heheh..heheheh.. loophole. Got any rhubarb?" Shax frowned. "Shred, how did you GET to Mobius?" he asked. Shred chucked. "Same way YOU did!" he replied. "Got meself through a tesseractofyer!" "Tesseractofyer?" asked Shax. "The T01 was destroyed!" "Uh-huh!" replied Shred. He tenderly scratched his injured leg. "But the T02 wasn't! There was a SECOND teleporter, Number 34! Dominatrek an' I invaded the Terran Technology centre to nick it, and I jumped through, but it looks like ol' Domino didn't make it! Oh well.. all the more food for me, eh?" He grinned. "There are two tesseractofyers..." Shax repeated. "Three, actually." replied Shred, still grinning. "See, I know a lot more about the Council of Peace than you EVER could! The Bions, the Wars.. All up here!" He tapped his forehead. Flinching, he scrached his injury again. "You know, your friend broke one of the rules." he said. "He attacked me during duel preparation time.. BIG no-no! If any of your pastry friends do that again, they can be put to death.." "I'll see to it." growled Shax. "It won't happen again." "Good." replied Shred. "Now, if you don't mind, I have a duel to prepare for! So RACK OFF!" Shax growled, and changed direction.
The sun went down. Sonic hadn't heard from Shax in three hours. The raptor was apparently reclusing himself from everyone else. Sonic began to get worried.. The Lizard's Duel was a duel to the death, and according to Shax, Shred was a lot stronger. What if Shax was killed? He's seemingly the only one who can keep Shred relatively under control.. If Shax was killed, the combination of Robotnik and Shred would wipe Knothole out indefinately. Sonic tossed and turned, but he couldn't get to sleep. He decided to get up and visit Shax's cave..
Shax was sleeping soundly, when he sensed movement outside the cave. He snapped awake, and jumped up. "GO AWAY!" he shreiked. "Can't you WAIT until the MORNING before you TORMENT me, Shred?" "No, it's me." replied Sonic. "Who?" asked Shax. "Me.. Sonic." replied Sonic. "Who? That walking shish kebab? What do YOU want?" Sonic was startled. "I.. I just wanted to wish you well.." Sonic said. "WISH me WELL? I don't NEED your WISHING, meat head." exclaimed Shax. "SOMEONE is going to die tomorrow, but it WILL NOT be me." "You don't have to go through with this.." Sonic said. "YES I DO!!" yelled Shax. "It's a lizard's duel! There is NO WAY OUT OF IT! I have to kill Shred! And I'm getting hungry, so I'd leave if I were you." "Okay." replied Sonic. "But just remember this... You're on Mobius now. Several million years after your species died, and several million light years away from your planet. You CAN break free.." "Get out of my sight." replied Shax. There was a long pause, and then Sonic turned and left.
CHAPTER FIVE:
The next morning, the whole village of Freedom Fighters were anticipating the duel. They crowded around outside the village, and waited. Suddenly, a figure appeared. One of the raptors. Sonic squinted to see who it was. It was Shax. Luckily. Sonic didn't really like the idea of meeting Shred again without Shax there as protection.. even though Shax was a little insane himself. He was starting to act like a steriotypical dinosaur should, mean, gruff, and always thinking about his stomach. Shax approached the crowd. "Ugh.. An audience?" he asked. "Great." There was a long drawn-out screeching sound, and Shred appeared. "KICK HIS %$^@, SHAX!" Petals yelled out. "Heh..heheh..heheheh.." Shred giggled. "You're gonna DIE, you maniacal moronic... maniacal... moron! You're gonna meet Rorax again!" "SHUT UP, SHRED!" Shax screamed. "Let's just get this over with!" Shred growled, and leaped at Shax. "AACK!" screeched Shax, darting out of the way. Shred leaped again, and Shax rolled away. "Did I ever mention that I have NEVER BEEN IN A FIGHT BEFORE??"
"GO SHAX! GO SHAX!" chanted the crowd. Shred flipped back, and landed on Shax's back, digging his long velociraptor claws into his scales. Shax let out a wail of surprise, and fell down. Shred jumped off, and kicked the downed raptor in the head. "THAT'S NOT FAIR!" screamed Sonic. "It's a very unfair world, you walking beef jerky!" Shred shouted back. He turned and started slicing into Shax with his claws. "NOOO!" screamed Sonic, bolting into the arena. Shred turned his head, and frowned. He ran towards the incoming Sonic, jumped, and did a flying kick into the hedgehog. Sonic flew back into the wall of a hut, winded.
Shax opened his eyes. Pain all over his body was the first thing he noticed. He lifted himelf up slowly, and saw Shred attacking Sonic! The raptor was laying into the hedgehog big-time, kicking and slashing.. the other Freedom Fighters were trying to help, but to no avail. "I LIKE TO PLAY WITH MY FOOD!" Shred shouted. Shax could see the beads of sweat on sonic's forehead as he tried to fight off his attacker... the blood being drawn by the constant slashing.. Sonic collapsed onto the sharp-bladed grass at the base of the small brown hut made of wood and grass, desperately trying to fend off his attacker.. Shax painfully forced himself on two feet, and scraped up a handful of mud. "HEY CYCLOPS!" he shouted. Shred turned around, and scowled. "You want more?" he asked. In reply, Shax smacked a glob of mud over Shred's left eye. Shred let out a wail of surprise.. his left eye was the only eye he could see out of. "I CAN'T SEE!!" he shouted. Shax jumped at Shred, and began throwing punches and clawing at his enemy. Shred started wailing. "AAAH! MERCY! OH NO! GAK!" He scraped the mud from his eyes, and saw Shax's normally grey, but now red, face with a killer expression on it. Shred jumped into the air, and drop-kicked Shax in the head. Shax wailed, and fell to the ground. His head landed on a grey rock, surrounded by leaves and more pointed grass.. he could feel blod tricking down his nose, and then he saw a spot of it land on the rock under him. Shred kicked him again. Shax saw his opponent's legs in front of him... Shred had a wound on his right leg.. he was standing mostly on his left leg, the wound was obviously in pain again. Shax remembered the arrow that Sage shot at him... He was kicked again, and turned red with pain. Without thinking about it, and filled with rage, Shax clamped his teeth around Shred's right leg. Shred's eyes widened, and he screamed in pain, and collapsed. Shax rolled on top of the downed raptor, and picked up a rock. He stared into Shred's horrified eyes, and, hopelessly enraged, prepared to strike to kill.
He suddenly thought of Sonic. What he said in the cave..
"You're on Mobius now. Several million years after your species died, and several million light years away from your planet. You CAN break free.."
Shax looked again at Shred's face. The raptor had both his eyes closed, and he was prepared for the inevitable.. Shax knew what he had to do, to protect his honor, to protect his brother's honor.. to protect the honor of raptors everywhere.. He had to go through with this.. He lowered his claw towards Shred's face....
Shred heard a little 'pop'. "Huh?" he asked, opening his good eye. Shax had something red in his eye socket. SHAX WAS WEARING SHRED'S GLASS EYE! Shax faced the audience. "Hi everybody!" he yelled. "I'm Shred, the big dum-dum raptor!" Shred looked at him strangely. "What are you playing at?" he asked. "FINISH ME!" Shax giggled and threw the glass eye back to Shred. It bounced off his forehead. "I'm not gonna kill you, Shred." he said. "Get outta here, meat head!"
PROLOGUE:
"Look, Sonic.." Shax said. Sonic looked up, bandages on his head. "Hmm?" he asked. "I'm sorry." replied Shax. "Sorry I was so heartless the other night." he said. "I don't know what came over me." "Heck Shax.. that's okay." Sonic replied. "Right now, I don't care about anything except the fact that Shred is GONE!" "Heh, yeah!" said Shax. "I banished him from this place. It's a loophole in the rules.. Haha!" Sonic laughed. "I wonder where he went!"
"MECHA!" screamed Robotnik. Mecha Sonic ran into the room. Robotnik pointed out the window. "WHAT HAPPENED!?!" he screamed. "AS SOON AS WE GET BACK FROM THE CHAOS ISLE, ALL THE ROBOTS ARE SMASHED!" Mecha looked out the window, and saw one of the E-100 robots running in terror. There was an error message flashing all over it's control panel, and suddenly, a raptor jumped on it's back. "HAHAHA!! Take THAT, you really robotic rotton-skunk raptormeat robot!"
SERIES TWO CHRONOLOGY:
1. The New Girl
2. Dragon the Chain
3. Never Say Nemesis
4. When a Hedgehog Meets a Fox
5. Just Your Imagination
6. Shred
7. The Death Machine
8. Metal Made Flesh
9. Power Corrupts
10. Halfway Across the Galaxy
11. Two For One
12. Prologue to an Adventure
13. Adventure