Cat had fought countless Badniks, the main 'bot being Metal Sally. She reached the village in a matter of minutes. As she landed, a villager about the age of nine ran up to her, clearly eager to meet Cat. "Hi!" the grey cat smiled. "Are you a Freedom Fighter?". Cat nodded with a pleasant smile, "Yes. Yes I am.". The cat squealed in delight, then ran off to a building, "Chief! Chief! The Freedom Fighter's here!". She saw the door open, and a lion walked out, wearing white robes, the tips lined with orange. He looked at Cat with his leaf-green eyes.
"It is a pleasure to meet you. Please, come in." he beckoned her with his calm and gentle voice. Cat followed inside, and the scent of food hit her nose before she saw the inside. The room was bigger than Cat's little cabin back at the Sky Patrol, a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The floor was covered by a soft, light brown carpet. There were only two glassless windows. In the middle of the room was a dining table, eight chairs surrounding it. On the table were plates of food. "I took the time to prepare a meal so you could regain some energy," the village chief told her. Cat took a seat, being as polite as possible, "Thank you. I am quite famished to be honest.". The young cat, who revealed himself to be called Slate, sat to her right, the chief on her left. As she ate, the chief informed her of the tremors that disturbed the village. He also told her of an ancient legend that they believed in.
"It is said that during the Oblivion Age, an evil hedgehog sought to dominate this world for herself. She destroyed civilizations that stood in her way, murdered kings, and enslaved many. The ancient race of Draghogs rose up and fought her, using their abilities for good. They saved countless lives. It was on this very day that the leader of the Draghogs defeated Oblivious and trapped her deep below the surface when she attempted to destroy this village.".
Cat swallowed her mouthful, "Whoa. I'm lucky to be friends with a Draghog. She teaches me from time to time, mostly after missions.". Slate's jaw dropped in awe, "You're friends with a Draghog? That's so cool!". The chief glanced at Cat. "To have bonded and taught by a Draghog is truly an honor to the chosen. She must have sensed greatness within you, Cat." he murmured. Cat nodded, "Thank you. I am finished with my meal. May you please show me to where the tremors occur most?". The chief got up, leading her out. He pointed north, "There is a clearing up north. The tremors are more likely to be there. And please be careful. The flora can be a bit aggressive.". Cat nodded, "I'll head there right away. The problem should be easy to handle.". She summoned her Mech Wings, the metal straps self-adjusting to her size so it could fit. She spread the metals wings out, then took to the skies and flew north.
It wasn't too far from the village, but it was larger than Cat imagined. As she landed, she could feel the differences in the area immensely. In some areas, the ground felt extremely hard, in a couple others, it felt lopsided. The rest were tough to maintain balance on. Cat did her best to travel through towards the middle, where she could sense a massive amount of energy building up. She only got within at least three feet from the middle when it started to crack. She froze. Then it happened.
The ground shook beneath Cat as a geyser of lava shot up from the crack in the ground in front of her. She leaped back, activating her Ice Blast, then shot the geyser at the source, and the ice froze over the crack and the lava. The heat from the lava wouldn't melt the ice, and Cat knew this. She could hear the stomping of feet behind her, and she turned around to see Sonic. She smiled triumphantly, "Well, seems like I was faster stopping the geyser.". Sonic crossed his arms, giving her a glare. "What? Was it something I said?" Cat asked. Cat stared deep into Sonic's eyes, now seeing that they were full of hostility. She hissed, "Where's the real Sonic?".
The fake Sonic took a step forwards. When he spoke, his voice changed, "You're too smart for this little trick then?". Without warning, the fake darted forwards and got within a few inches from Cat's face. "Chaos Cannon." he growled menacingly as a red sphere formed in his hands, then it shot Cat with the force of a nuclear bomb. Cat was slammed into what felt like twenty trees when the blast dissipated. She struggled to get up, pain searing through her entire body.
The fake walked up to her, "You're pathetic for one so smart.". Pathetic? Cat hissed in her mind. She glared at the fake, her fury building up. Annihilus had taught her how to channel her fury and unleash it on her opponents. She hoped what she learned was useful. She ignited that fury, her vision turning red, but her opponent covered in a white aura so she could pinpoint his location. She snarled, dashing at him with blinding speeds. Her claws extended into fiery points, and she aimed to slash at the fake. Leaping high above him, she prepared to bring the claws crashing down, until an enormous blast of fire came out of nowhere and knocked her to the ground. The pain was greater than the last blow. She could barely move now, so she looked up. Standing at the rim of the crater was a black hedgehog, red tipping her spines, red eyes, red hair, and donning a red cape, with golden shoulder armor. She had what looked to be black boots. Standing next to her was the fake, but he was now grey, with two back spines shooting upwards. His head spines also grew upwards. He glared at Cat with glowing green eyes. Cat recognized him from her learnings.
"N-Nazo…? I thought," she coughed before continuing. "I thought Sonic and Shadow… destroyed you...!". Although she was weak, she managed to stand up, balancing her weight between her legs and grey cybernetic tail. Her cybernetic ears strained to pick up the sound of help. Nazo cackled, "Sonic and Shadow failed to see me enter a Warp Ring at the last second. Of course, I waited for several years to pass until I would return. I needed Oblivious to help me bring this planet to it's knees.". Oblivious didn't smile, she just calmly looked down at Cat. "We should finish her off. It'll be one less enemy out of the way." she spoke icely. Nazo shook his head, "No. She'll be much more use to us alive.". Oblivious nodded in acknowledgement, then darted forwards and drove her knee into Cat's gut. She collapsed, slipping into the dark. "This time, we will win." Oblivious muttered menacingly. Cat fell unconscious as Oblivious took out something silver from her cloak.