Sonic Heroes Adventures: Tower Prison Escape

Team Vile Meets Scourge And Fiona

"Quick, let's go, we've got to move," Fang stated, running towards his 'Marvelous Queen.' All at once, however, something green and fast shot from the sky, striking him, sending him flying back towards the edge with a cry of pain!

"Whoa, hang on mate, I've gotcha!" Dingo called, swiftly raising his hands to catch the weasel.

Nack slammed into his friend's arms, dazed. He groaned, putting a hand to his head. He barely had time to clear his mind when he noticed a figure fly from a high point, heading right at them! He gasped. "Dingo, look out!" Fang cried, pointing. Dingo could barely cry out in alarm before he was kicked, sliding into Sleet, piling all three on top of each other!

"Oh yeah, all hail the king, baby!" the green figure exclaimed.

Dazed, and at the bottom of the pile, typical of his luck, Sleet groaned, then in an annoyed and angry tone, recovering, retorted, "I would, except there isn't one around." The green figure was obviously taken aback.

Recovering quickly, however, he taunted, "This is the infamous Team Vile? Hah, not impressed."

Sleet scrambled out from under them, then up, facing the voice, staring in shock. "Manic!" Nack exclaimed, rising right after Sleet.

"Who's the fox?" Dingo asked, getting to his feet.

"Hey, I'm definitely not Sonic's brother," the green hedgehog said. "My name is…"

"Scourge," Sleet cut off, now baring his teeth in a scowl, remembering the stories he'd heard. "Scourge the Hedgehog and Fiona Fox. Perfect. Just what I needed, more hedgehog's," he grumbled, not happy.

"Ya mean the hedgehog ya told us ya weren't scared or impressed by?" Dingo asked.

"Who else moron?" Fang shot.

Scourge tilted down his sunglasses, eying Team Vile icily, namely, Sleet the Wolf, who wasn't even much shaken. He then grinned a cocky Sonic grin, though this one was more evil and more malicious than said blue hedgehog. "So, you ain't scared, huh? You don't think I'm a challenge?"

Sleet looked at his teammates, neither of which looked very intimidated, then asked, "Should we?"

"We'll have to fix your attitude, won't we?" Fiona questioned, trying to intimidate them.

"You?" Nack asked incredulously, chuckling a bit at the thought. The duo looked at them in disbelief.

Soon enough, however, Scourge laughed, and said to Fiona, "You read my mind baby. It's time to adjust their attitudes."

"Why Team Vile, I do believe we've been challenged," Sleet stated flamboyantly.

"Aw, not again. This is just gonna end like every otha. We win, they lose, we go home with more prisoners for Docta Robotnick," Dingo complained.

"We don't have a plan this time Dingo," Sleet remarked warningly.

"Like it matters. I ain't up for a fight. We don't have time to waste on another annoyingly cocky hedgehog. We have a problem," Nack declared, drawing his gun, irritated.

"You don't think I'm more than a waste of time!" Scourge demanded, surprised and furious at the audacity. Fiona looked equally shocked. Few were dumb, or good enough, to consider Scourge no more than an annoying pest.

"Nope," Dingo replied.

"Not really," Fang backed up, though his eyes were guarded. He knew enough about Scourge to understand he wasn't quite as boring as they were making him out to be. He sensed, however, the Sleet knew it as well. Dingo, meh, not so much. They really had to work on that.

"We've heard the stories about you, Scourge, and I don't hesitate to say, you've met your match," Sleet taunted.

"We'll just have to see about that, losers!" Scourge shot.

"Come on!" Fiona declared, running at them.

"Nack!" Sleet ordered.

"On it!" Fang replied. With that, the weasel leapt towards Fiona on his tail.

Scourge was building up momentum for his spin dash. He went right at Sleet! The wolf hardly whipped out his shield in time. The hedgehog crashed into it and bounced back with a cry of pain! Scourge gaped at Sleet in shock, as he was recovering from the hit. What was that thing made of? He couldn't break through! The blow alone should have sent the canine over the edge! What sort of shield absorbed the full shock! "Dingo!" Sleet ordered, deciding very quickly that he'd better keep out his shield. He thanked Fang a thousand times for the armour and shield upgrade, in his mind. The weasel had found an experimental object of Eggman's and 'borrowed' it. They'd tested it on armor and found it made it more resilient, even absorbing powerful shock, without changing it. Sleet had leapt on the opportunity, and why not? He wore the armor, not them.

"Aw Sleet, can't we do this the easier way?" Dingo pled, trying to back away from the morphing device. Dingo didn't have to worry about morphing, though, for before Sleet could even shoot, the wolf caught sight of Scourge coming for him!

Sleet dove the moment the hedgehog had moved, and even then barely made it. He did, however, managed to stick out his sword. He was satisfied when Scourge tried to veer to the side. He had gone too fast, and the blade cut him deeply, making him cry out in pain! Scourge stumbled, almost rolling off the edge. In that moment, Sleet ran towards his comrades.

"Oh no you don't," Scourge growled. He darted ahead in front of Sleet. Though he was limping, and slower than normal, it was still faster than Sleet could move. Scourge attacked Sleet, throwing him backwards! With a cry of pain, Sleet slid almost over the edge!

"Hang on mate, I'll get him!" Dingo called, running at Scourge growling.

"Dingo, no!" Sleet warned, sitting up.

"Oh please," Scourge said, rolling his eyes. True, if the dingo got a hold of him he would have a time, stronger than average or not, but come on, what were the chances of that? Besides, he hadn't lost even a fraction of his strength over the long time he'd been gone. He met the dingo with a spin dash.

"Dingo, move you monumental moron!" Sleet ordered with a scowl, standing. Dingo never stood a chance at dodging it, despite the warning. Dingo cried out in pain as he was sent flying over the edge! Sleet gasped and hit the ground again, letting Dingo fly over him. He looked down in disbelief on seeing his teammate thrown over the edge and falling towards the ground far, far, below. "Do I have to do everything myself?" he asked aloud.

Sleet hardly could blink before he heard a noise suddenly, and turned over onto his back, only to see Scourge preparing to rush him again. He wasn't even up! Sleet did the first thing that came to mind. He aimed the morphing device over the edge and shot, hoping it hit Dingo and turned him into something with wings. Preferably a griffin. He then leapt up and jumped, as the green blur shot at him.

Scourge barely slid to a halt in time. He whirled to face Sleet. The wolf had already turned. The two struck at the same time, clashing. Startled that even the armor absorbed his super strength blow, Scourge scowled and struck again, Sleet once more blocking. Hmm, he had to speed this up. The wolf was fast, too fast. Scourge began firing off rapid hits. Sleet couldn't hope to block them all. As he had once, years ago, he put full trust in his armor to take the brunt of the attacks. He was rarely in a position where he would be so grateful to the armor. The hedgehog was attacking from all angles. Sleet could only try to keep up and block as often as possible. Scourge was definitely no Sonic. Scourge was out to kill. Sonic was only out to win. Where were the others?

Fiona, meanwhile, had seen Fang's attack coming. She rolled out of the way of his bounce, but he simply leapt again. She dodged then tried to attack. He was up once more, however, and she scowled. He shot at the peak of his jump, grazing her. She cried out in pain. That was it. No more playing nice. She leapt up, beginning to fly. Fang laughed as she went for him in the air. It was simple enough to fall out of reach and shoot up at her, hitting her arm. She screamed in pain and fell to the ground.

Fang wondered if he was cruel to tease her with bullets like this. She'd been shot twice by him, well at least once, then grazed another time, and it looked like just recently she had been shot by someone else. Unless she caught on to him, it would be too easy to finish her off with a well-aimed bullet. She was definitely no Scourge, though she was a good fighter. He was just better and less out of practice. "Fiona, I thought you knew me better than that," Nack taunted, landing.

"You're going down Nack! Your sister will pay for trying to shoot me!" Fiona shot, standing and rushing him. She was durable, he'd give her that.

So Nic had got her, huh? Good. He supposed he could finish her then. After all, she wasn't as fast as Sonic, and he had the gun. But then again, what fun would that be? He ran at her. Just as they were about to collide, he leapt over her and shot her leg, bringing her down. He strode up to her. "What is that, four bullets you've taken within the span of a few days? Fiona, I'm disappointed." She could barely move. "That's how it's done," Nack boasted. With that he knocked her out.

Fang dusted his hands off, then looked over to check on the others. His confident smile fell, however, on seeing no sign of Dingo! He didn't dare think on what had happened to his teammate. Sleet needed help. Frankly, Nack was surprised he was still up. He ran towards his ally.

Scourge had long forgotten about Fang, instead occupied by this ancient enemy of Sonic's. He didn't like to admit it, but he was highly impressed. Sleet was, however, tiring. Sleet felt himself giving ground, being backed away towards the edge. He knew he should have gone harder at the start, though usually that was a bad idea. This time, though, he'd waited too long. Just then, however, he caught sight of a fly waving at him, then flying behind Scourge. Well, it was no griffin, but this would work. This was his last chance, Sleet knew. Eggman had talked about Scourge, a zone cop named Zonic, and some special collar that weakened Sonic's evil counterpart. Robotnick had described it in detail. Sleet aimed the morphing remote and zapped Dingo once more, with precise aim. Instantly he morphed into the collar.

Sleet grinned maliciously on seeing Nack running towards them, the weasel surprised by Dingo's sudden appearance. Scourge caught the look and frowned. Sleet simply smirked. Hopefully it would work. The wolf was banking on a placebo effect with the collar. After all, Scourge was just an evil version of Sonic. He couldn't be any smarter. As Scourge lunged, Sleet copied, finally going into offensive mode rather than defensive, striking the hedgehog with shield. Scourge flew back, and at that moment, Fang reached Dingo.

Grabbing his teammate up, Nack swiftly placed the collar on Scourge. "What, no way! No!" Scourge cried in disbelief, trying to pry Dingo off.

"Hey, don't botha tryin' mate," Dingo, as the collar, said.

"You're alive!" Scourge exclaimed.

"Surprise," Dingo chortled.

Scourge scowled at Sleet, saying, "Fine, I don't need my powers to beat you!"

As Scourge ran at him, Sleet simply rolled his eyes, replying, "Oh no?" He attacked Scourge quickly, giving him no break. Scourge could hardly believe it. This wolf was beating him in seconds flat! "Haven't you heard? A hedgehog is quite the pleasant treat for a wolf," Sleet taunted.

"Back!" Scourge yelled, finally scrambling away to run.

However, on starting off, he was frozen, for behind him, holding a gun to Fiona's head, was Nack! "You have a choice hedgehog!" Sleet said from behind. Scourge scowled back at him. "Either come quietly, or my friend there will kill her," Sleet warned.

Scourge looked from Sleet to Fiona then back. He tried to read the wolf. All he got was what the canine wanted him to see. Sleet wasn't joking. Could he still fight? Not with this collar. Team Vile had beat Sonic, Shadow, and Silver while they still had their powers. Sleet was challenging him even with his powers, though just barely, and still not even trying as hard as he could have. The wolf was good and competent; would it really be so bad to tag along with him a while? Nah, it might actually be fun. Besides… he looked back at Fiona. Enough said. "What are you?" Scourge suddenly asked.

Sleet replied, "Over a thousand times the villain you'll ever be." Scourge was sold, whether he believed Sleet's claim or not.

"I'm impressed, and that's rare. I do believe I've found a new respect for you and your little posse," Scourge admitted.

"Good, then come along please," Sleet said, drawing his gun, which Scourge noticed in frustration, the wolf hadn't drawn at all during their fight. Nope, the canine definitely wasn't going hard ball. Sleet gestured with the gun in the direction they were to go. Quickly Team Vile brought the duo to Eggman.

Eggman jumped in surprise as the doors opened. Turning to greet the intruders, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped. "Scourge, Fiona!" he exclaimed.

"Doctor," Scourge greeted.

"Robotnick," Fiona hissed.

"We captured them on the mountain when they tried to attack us," Fang narrated.

"They caught us off guard, but we still beat them," Dingo, the collar, boasted.

"Really?" Eggman said, pleased with his employees. "If I were paying you three, you'd get bonuses."

"You're too kind Doctor Rotundnick," Sleet muttered.

"What was that Sleet?" Eggman growled.

"Robotnick, sir," Sleet said, grinning innocently. Scourge couldn't help but let his mouth twitch with a laugh.

"Back to business," Eggman said, going up to Fiona and Scourge after glaring threateningly at Sleet. "Now, you two don't really need to be prisoners here. I would be happy to take you in as a temporary team. I even have a third member stored up for you somewhere. How does Team Evil sound to you? Of course, Fiona would be flight and Scourge speed. My secret weapon would be power," Eggman suggested.

"Never," Fiona protested.

"Hold on Fiona, he has something," Scourge remarked with a cruel grin. "We're going after the Sonic Heroes, right? Namely, Sonic, Shadow, and Silver?

"Of course we are, who else?" Eggman asked.

"And we'll be working alongside Team Vile?" Scourge pressed.

Eggman smiled. "Impressed with them, are you Scourge? They are my best."

"Without each other, each one would be useless," Scourge insulted, prompting Nack to cock his gun, Sleet to growl, and Dingo to laugh, thinking it was a joke. "It's rare that anyone beats me so easily," Scourge remarked casually, though, covering the insult.

"Our specialty is putting guys like you in their place," Nack boasted, still angry with Scourge's insult.

Scourge wasn't happy with the remark, but he let it slide. "I say we go for it," he told Fiona.

"I'm as impressed as you, but we don't even know who our third member is, and what if Team Vile betrays us?" Fiona asked, pulling free of Fang, who had loosened his hold.

"Coming from you?" Scourge bit.

"That's not fair," Fiona protested.

Cutting them off, Sleet stated, "I get the feeling it's us who will have to watch out. Come on Vile; let's let our new helpers get settled. We have an appointment with Team Acorn." He zapped Dingo normal, and the trio walked off, or at least began to.

"Team Acorn!" Eggman demanded sharply.

Sleet bit his tongue and silently cursed himself a thousand times, stopping along with the other two. He turned with an innocent grin, saying, "Uh, yes, I've been meaning to tell you about that, but not now."

"Now is as good a time as ever," Robotnick ordered. Sleet swallowed and looked at the others.

"He had to find out at some point," Nack remarked.

"Why me?" Sleet moaned. With that he began the narrative of the Underground's visit home and Nic's information on the teams forming because of it. "You see, sir, that's why I suggested deploying bots there, to keep them away from us," he quickly summarized, trying to save face, knowing full well he'd directly disobeyed a Robotnick order.

In all honesty, he expected Eggman to lose it on him right then. However, the man looked, to Sleet's surprise, impressed. "Well, well, well, you thought you could go behind my back, did you? Luckily for you it seems to be working," Robotnick declared.

"Does this mean we ain't gonna get killed?" Dingo hopefully asked.

"Carry on Vile, but Sleet, if you ever try something like that again, I won't be so forgiving," Eggman warned.

"Yes sir," Sleet replied, quickly ushering his teammates out. Scourge and Fiona, meanwhile, had become even more impressed.

"As for you two," Eggman began. Scourge and Fiona looked curiously at him. He then continued, "I have a job for you. You'll be pleased to know that it involves the Sonic Heroes and the awakening of your helper."

Instantly the pair lit up. Scourge maliciously grinned. "Oh, this will be fun," he remarked. He, Fiona, and Eggman all began to laugh.