Revenge of a Hedgehog

By: Ben Harvill

They're gone. My brother, my father. My sister. All of them taken from me for no reason at all. Those soldiers just barged in here, bashing the door down and shooting their weapons. Bullets were flying everywhere, and by a cursed fate, I was the only one who survived in one piece. My father was killed off, and Maria… how could they? It only took one shot, that's all it took. No words, no warnings. Bang, thud, gasp. And she died. My brother was sent to Earth by her, but he was captured after he reached the surface and put in a cryogenic state. Shadow… Maria… how could they? My family is gone because of them. My name is Z.T., and I am G.U.N.'s downfall. This is my revenge.

The flies buzzed around his head. The hot sun beamed down with no mercy, and the humid tropical forest didn't help. Animals were heard at random times in various places. A monkey screech in a tree. A tiger roaring, and his food screaming in its death throes. But that didn't matter to him. He didn't even notice any sounds at all. They're here. I can feel them. Those murders are here. Somewhere… Those were the thoughts of Z.T., hedgehog after revenge. He was here to exact it against a main post of G.U.N. A communications outpost linking all of the organization in the eastern part of the planet. And also housing an immense number of guards. But that was to be expected. That's what he was told to expect.

"I want you to take them out."

"Of course. That's why I'm here."

"Of course. Well then, take these plans. They're what little intelligence we can gather."

"Alright. Thanks for your help."

"Remember, burn those plans after your done, and you won't get any money for this."

"I never asked for any…"

He awoke from his doze in the lazy summer heat. What a boring job this was. But important. Z.T. was scouting out his prey, finding out what he could that wasn't on the plans, and confirming what was. One thing to remember in this business: Never trust anything, except yourself.

Night had fallen. The animals had quieted, and the bugs seldom rang out. It was time. Z.T. snuck through the sparse forest that surrounded the giant complex. He stopped behind a bush and counted off the time of the guard's patrol. It still followed the same time. There were two guards patrolling each wall, with an added two after each wall. He waited until he was in both of their blind spots before he threw up his grappling hook, barely allowing it time to catch before he bounded up the twelve foot wall in five leaps. He pulled the rope up quickly after him, making his first wall run in less than seven seconds.

"Getting slow." He didn't find that very funny. He surveyed the next run from his position on the battlements. They're were four guards patrolling, and in another pattern, making movements easy to see and remember, but this pattern provided little chance for a blind spot. But he was prepared for that. Just in case stealth failed to work.

He jumped down the wall and landed in a soft crouch in the shadows, barely causing any sound. Such a shame these guards were lazy. They didn't seem to hear a thing, but continued in their drone-like fashion of marching. Z.T. watched them as he slid along the wall to try and get around them, but it seemed impossible. There was always Plan B.

He went back to the place he had originally fell from the wall and started searching his belt. He pulled out a small blowgun and four darts from it. He studied their movement again as he loaded his gun. They're always watching. But they're not looking… He was ready. He gave one quick check of his gun in a second and then began his attack. As the first guard past, he threw a dart in his neck with perfect accuracy, knocking out the thug in no time flat. Those new tranquilizers sure did work. But he had no time to think of that. He shot the further guard before he came in sight of his buddy. With two down, Z.T. rushed forward with his remaining darts and proceed to strike down each guard, shooting one from afar and placing the dart in the final guard at point-blank. With that, he checked his timing again. Twelve seconds.

"What's with my speed? Shouldn't be so lazy now. Not with only one more wall…"

And with that thought, he climbed the next wall and proceeded to study his final target.

His final query would be near impossible to slip through with stealth. This section of the complex not only housed six guard patrolling in a perfect fashion that left each guard always in sight of at least two others and no blind spots for an intruder to pass through, but each guard also had a dog near his side, sniffing the air constantly. Z.T. checked the air quickly, and breathed a sigh of relief when he discovered he was downwind of the dogs. That gave him some time, but wind has a tendency to change quickly. He studied the guard quickly, and then decided what he was going to do.

He drew his blowgun and took out his remaining six darts. He watched the guards again. Three of them were within his range. That can take out three thugs and three dogs. The rest… He checked to make sure, and then prepared to fire at the guards, taking careful time to aim correctly. Unfortunately, he had no time to aim. The wind changed with the slightest bit.

The dogs raised their heads one by one, only a second apart, and all facing towards Z.T. The nearest guard looked up and saw the shadow of the figure, and that was it as he felt a slight sting, then fell to the ground in a dreamless slumber.

The dogs began to bark, and the guards drew their weapons. Z.T. had to act fast. He drew his sword and jumped into the crowd of guards and dogs. He began to cut down the guards and dogs quickly enough, but bullets move awfully fast. As he raised his sword against the final guard, he was able to get off a lucky shot, shooting Z.T. in the arm. The sword came down and the guard still lost his life, but he helped his fellow guardsmen. Z.T. checked the wound and saw that it wasn't the worst thing that could happen, but it did impair the movement of his right arm. He started reaching for the bandages, but stopped halfway through the action.

WARNING! WARNING! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! LETHAL FORCE AUTHORIZED! LETHAT FORCE AUTHORIZED!

The bandages were left forgotten as Z.T. barely managed to slip through the door before the twelve-inch thick steel door closed.

Z.T. had his blood-soaked sword held at the ready, striking down the obstacles that got in his way. He kept his cool as he ran through the labyrinth, hoping the map was correct. Left, left, right, left, right, right, left, right, left, second door, left, right, right… His lost just became directions, his sword moving as though a part of himself and his subconscious. Finally, after millions of scrambled directions, he came upon a large, steel, double-door entrance, leading into what the sign said "Control Center." He looked for a control pad, and finding none, looked for a vent, and in that, he was successful. He jumped up and pulled the vent out, then jumped into the air ducts, easily finding his way forward towards the center. He kicked in the vent and fell down into the center, only to find something other than what was wanted.

Before Z.T. stood a massive hedgehog. Or what appeared to be a hedgehog. Upon closer observation, it was just a half-completed cyborg, half robot, half hedgehog.

"Do you like it? I hope you do. It's the work of countless months of research and work."

Z.T. turned around to find a fox standing on a high platform staring down a them.

"Please, forgive me. Where are my manners? Allow me to introduced myself. My name is Mandor, and that is my faithful servant, Beta725, or "B" for short. I do hope you'll enjoy his company. He certainly is a fine fighter, and from what I've seen," at this he clicked a button on a remote and a hundred TV monitors turned on to play his recorded entrance from hundreds of angles, "you do like to fight. But if will humor me, and tell me two things. One: who are you? and two: what do you want?" Z.T. just stared coldly up at Mandor. He had no reason to explain himself to this fool. The silence lasted for a minute.

"Well, if that's how you wish it to be. B, kill him!" Mandor then turned and walked off, a door slamming behind him. Z.T. turned to face his n challenger, only to find that he had disappeared.

"What the…-!" Z.T. fell to his knees from an invisible hit to his stomach, and then backwards to an unseen hit to his jaw. He got up in some pain and began to search wildly for his competitor before being hit against the wall five feet back. Z.T. got up once again from his fall and began to search for a way to fight this invisible foe. He then leapt straight towards the computer, landing right in front of the main terminal. He took his sword and thrust it into the large control panel, sending sparks everywhere. He took his sword out and removed as many electrifying pieces of cable he could find. He turned around and then threw the wires everywhere, hoping one would his robotic foe. And it worked. The cyborg gave a shriek of pain and his form began to short in and out of visibility. Do it NOW! He ran forward, his sword held high to strike down the borg for good. With one final war cry, the sword came down, but at an odd angle because of his arm. He did not decapitate the machine as he had intended, but instead cut the being in two halves, top and bottom. Z.T. sank to his knees as the adrenaline began to leave his body, but only for a quick second.

WARNING! WARNING! REACTOR CRITICAL! MELTDOWN IMMINENT! REACTOR CRITICAL! MELTDOWN IMMINENT!

Z.T. rose and left the control room as it began to blaze, the poor creature of science left to burn in it's home.

The complex's personnel were running wildly everywhere, trying to get out of the dying building. None of them noticed the presence of an armed intruder. He began to run back the way he came, jumping over the people who got in his way. As he neared the door, he noticed it was still locked tight. He sprinted forward and raised his sword to chop off the hinges, and easily succeeded. He kicked the door down and began to hop the walls back to the forest. As he cleared the last wall and made it a few feet into the forest, a loud explosion was heard from behind, and a wave of radiation hit. If he could just make it…

Z.T. raised his head in his home base, fifty miles from the complex. He sighed in relief, and crawled out of the dirt tunnel into the welcome daylight. He had ducked into his hidden access tunnel and began crawling away as fast as he could barely a second after the explosion. He was safe. He had completed what he wanted to complete, and had achieved a small step towards his ultimate goal. Total revenge against G.U.N. Now, to wipe out the east side…

Now you know. The first part of my revenge. I swore to my family I would accomplish this. And I am starting. Maybe the next time you meet a hedgehog with a stone cold look in his face, heading off in the general direction of a G.U.N. facility, perhaps you'll think of me. It might even be me. Just remember one thing. They know what I look like, and they know I'm coming. So get out of my way.