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Vanquish and Tyranny sprinted through the forest, weaving in between the trees. Lasers and bullets alike whizzed past them and slammed into trees, but that didn't frighten them the least bit. Right now the goal was to lose their pursuers, AKA, about fifty or so Robotnik Empire soldiers…
(…)
"Good morning, boys. I trust that you are both well rested?" Robotnik asked as the two entered his office, an ornate room that used to belong to King Acorn himself.
"Yes, father." They replied in unison, standing at attention across from him. Robotnik smiled and nodded.
"Today," he said while activating a projector on the wall. "Is the day you've been training sixteen years for. The day you finally take revenge on the accursed Sonic the Hedgehog." He said proudly. A large picture of the blue menace himself appeared on the screen…
(…)
Vanquish hopped over a fallen log, which was blown to pieces from a laser.
'OH SHIT! WHY THE HELL DID WE ENGAGE THAT CONVOY?' Mitch shouted fearfully, running next to him.
"Shut. Up." Vanquish ordered and continued running. He glanced over at Tyranny, who jumped up and bounced off a tree to avoid a wall of bullets. He looked back at him and nodded.
It was about five months since the training simulation, and they'd long since changed out of their tactical gear and now wore standard civilian clothes. Vanquish was dressed in an OD green, long sleeve tactical shirt, blue jeans, and black combat boots. On his back was a slim one-strap back pack with all sorts of gear and gadgets in it, including a Five-seveN pistol with an external laser microphone and sound and flash suppressor combo. Around his neck was a blue neckerchief, and he wore his night vision goggles around his forehead, and he wore black fingerless gloves.
Tyranny was dressed exactly the same, only his neckerchief was red. For his pistol, he had stuck with his beloved silenced M1911 .45, an old relic that he had found while wandering the "badlands", a huge desert area that spans over what used to be the great lakes area before the Xorda attack in the twenty first century…
(…)
… The twins studied the photograph. Vanquish was the first to speak.
"Father, what is our mission?"
"I thought you'd never ask! Your mission will be daunting, it will be long, it will test you each to your limits. But, if you should succeed, Sonic the Hedgehog and the Freedom Fighters shall be no more." He explained. He stood up and put his hands behind his back. "First, we are going to turn you loose. We will use your previous missions to create a false image for you two. You will become two guns for hire in the fight against my *ahem* 'tyrannical oppression'."
"Turn us loose?" Vanquish asked.
"Yes," Robotnik replied. "As soon as you two leave the gates of the castle, you will have a three day head start before I put you two as number two on the Most Wanted list. Once those three days are up, I will try my hardest to have you boys captured and killed. So keep in mind that my soldiers are your enemies."
"We understand." They replied in unison.
"Good. Now, I will give you two some gear to start." Robotnik said. He snapped his fingers and two SWAT bots walked out from a shadowy corner, each carrying a back pack and civilian clothes.
"What do we do when you start hunting us?" Tyranny asked.
"I want you two to act like just another one of these 'teams' that roam the planet trying to defeat me. Cause general hell. Assassinate major generals, blow up a factory or two, but just don't do anything that will cause lasting damage to me." Robotnik explained. "And then, once you two become well known around the people, I want you two to try and get in close with the Freedom Fighters. Make them believe that you're their friends. Once you've become their allies, do anything to keep their trust while destroying them from the inside…"
(…)
…Back to the present, Vanquish saw that the trees were thinning out. He heard the sounds of roaring water ahead. There was a river that ran through the Great Forest, and there was also a waterfall. That would be their escape route.
"Tyranny, do you hear that?" Vanquish asked through his ear piece.
"Yeah. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Yes." Vanquish replied and sped up. Mitch started panicking.
'Oh hell no! You crazy bastards aren't really considering jumping off the top of that thing, are you? You'll be dead for sure!' Mitch cried.
"Shut up…"
(…)
"Again, I cannot stress enough that I will try my hardest to kill you." Robotnik said seriously. "Keep in mind that no one beside us and a select few know of your existence. The soldiers don't know that you're my sons. To them you're just another target. But I trust that you will use your skills wisely."
"Yes, sir." They said. Robotnik smiled.
"Go then, complete the mission you've been training for your whole lives for…" he said. Vanquish and Tyranny took their gear and left the office. The timer had started, they had three days…
(…)
…And since that time limit had expired, they'd accomplished so much. They had acquired an official name amongst the people. Like Team Rose, Team Sonic, or Team Chaotix, they had become Team T.W.O.
It was an acronym for "Tactical Worldwide Operatives". They traveled the globe, completing jobs for the highest bidder. If you needed someone dead, someone protected, or something destroyed, they were the guys to call. While most teams were composed of three people, they were the only team to have two. That didn't hinder them in any way. The thing that they lacked was a member who could fly, but they could always steal a ship or helicopter if need be.
Also, they didn't carry large firearms. If they needed extra firepower, then they would steal weapons from fallen enemies, and then toss them away when they were no longer needed. This method was used to keep their packs light, and increase speed and mobility. This helped considerably, as they were each extensively trained in parkour, which is how they mostly got around an area.
Up ahead, Vanquish saw the edge of the waterfall. He ran at full speed towards a tree, jumped up, planted a foot on it, and then launched himself higher into the air. Tyranny did the same. Vanquish flew through the air and grabbed a tree branch, which he swung off to gain altitude. He landed on another tree branch and began jumping from one to the next, putting one foot in front of the other. The waterfall grew nearer and nearer. Finally, Vanquish hopped onto a single, long branch that extended out over the edge some twenty feet up. Vanquish ran like a tight rope walker along the length with Tyranny right behind him. At the edge he looked down. It was about sixty feet to the bottom, where there was nothing but rapidly moving water.
'HOoOOOOLY SHIIIIIIIIIT!' Mitch shrieked as he jumped. He flailed his arms and legs, trying to line himself up perfectly. When he was sure of where he was going to land, he assumed the position and hit the water like a jackknife. The world suddenly turned dark, and there was a faint roaring in his ears. He fought and clawed his way to the surface, where he took in a lung bursting breath. The water was cool, but not too cold. He searched frantically for his brother, and found him to his right.
"You alright, bro?" Tyranny called over to him as they were carried downstream. Vanquish nodded and floated on his back.
"Tyranny, rapids ahead." Vanquish warned.
"Yeah, I see 'em." Tyranny responded. They each rolled onto their backs and placed their legs downstream. This technique allowed one to safely float through a set of rapids, the legs acting as probes to detect rocks up ahead and to cushion impacts.
The water flowed faster and faster, pulling them along at great speed until the first set came upon them. They quickly raced through the rapids with little trouble. Once they reached the end, they rolled over onto their stomachs and swam to the sides, into a calm eddy. Vanquish climbed up on shore and helped his brother up behind him. His clothes and fur were soaked. Thankfully their backpacks were waterproof, so their gear was safe.
'My god, don't you EVER do that again!' Mitch grumbled, shaking the water from his fur and trudging onto the bank next to them.
Tyranny checked the PDA strapped the underside of his wrist. Vanquish had one as well.
"According to these coordinates, Knothole is somewhere in this area." He said.
"Let's start walking then." Vanquish said and trudged in the direction that the arrow pointed. Tyranny followed. "So why hasn't father given us an exact location?"
"He's never been able to. Apparently, Knothole's location has been unknown for years. All we were able to dig up is that it's inside the Great Forest."
"I see," Vanquish said quietly. "So do you think we lost them?"
"Who, those soldiers? Yeah, we lost 'em. There's no way they could track us." Tyranny replied with a wave of his hand. Mitch sighed with relief.
Why had they been chased in the first place? It was quite simple actually. Occasionally, they would have to restock on supplies, and what better place to get supplies than a supply convoy? Sadly, they had misjudged the amount of security, and had become overwhelmed. However, they didn't come out empty handed. With them they had taken fifteen thousand dollars, five hundred rounds of ammunition, and a shipping manifest containing locations, dates, schedules, and codes.
As they walked, their clothes and fur quickly dried off in the crisp spring sun. It was a cloudless day, and the only sounds were those of the chirping birds and the breeze flowing through the leaves. Vanquish closed his eyes, a feeling of immense calm washing over him. For once, the internal struggle to fight his emotions was gone. When this was all said and done, perhaps he would build a home here.
'Man, even a cruel dude like you has to admit that it's nice out here.' Mitch said as he casually strolled beside him. Vanquish stared off into space. It was, sure, but it was better not to dream. He was a killer, a soldier, an assassin. This is what he did, this is what he was good at. He knew that he would continue to do so until the day he died, whether of old age or combat.
"…bout building a house here?" Tyranny laughed, bringing him out of his day dream. Vanquish shook his head, glaring at himself for losing focus and toning out his surroundings, something his father had stressed on many occasions.
"What?"
"I said: Are you still day dreaming about building a house here?"
"…" Vanquish remained silent and looked ahead. Tyranny laughed.
"I can't believe it! My own brother has turned into the world's largest puss! What's next? You wanna be an interpretive dancer?"
SMACK!
"OW!"
"Shut up." Vanquish commanded, still starring ahead. Tyranny glared at him and wiped some of the blood from his own bleeding nose. Of all the people in the world, Tyranny was one of the few who could make Vanquish show some type of emotion. Unfortunately, he instigated anger and annoyance more than anything, to which Vanquish reacted swiftly and violently. As soon as he'd gotten his hit in, he'd return to normal.
"Damn insanity…" Tyranny groaned.
'Um, I would shut up before he hits you again.' Mitch suggested. Suddenly, there was a rustling to their right. Both Vanquish and Tyranny reached into their holsters and drew their pistols. They trained it on the rustle.
"Hey, you! Come out, nice and slow, with your hands behind your head." Vanquish barked. First, a hand popped out of the shrubbery, then a leg. Finally, a whole fox came out. She was a woman, for sure, with short brown hair with a yellow bow in it. She wore a skin tight yellow jumpsuit that sharply contrasted with her dark red fur. When she saw them, she rolled her eyes.
"Hold your fire, soldier." Said Fiona Fox sarcastically. The twins lowered their weapons, but didn't re-holster them. It was standard of their paranoid nature. Fiona only rolled her eyes and sighed. "You two are those assassins right? Eh, what're your names? Vanquish and Tyranny, that's it!"
"And you're Fiona Fox, correct?"
"Yeah. Anyways, so you two want to join up with the Freedom Fighters, eh?" Fiona asked, leaning against a tree. The two put away their weapons. Tyranny nodded. "Well, we don't even know if you guys have what it takes, so we were thinking…"
"What the hell's going on…?" Tyranny whispered. Vanquish didn't respond. Instead, his eyes and ears combed the surrounding area. A rustle in the shrubbery, a leaf falling from the tree above, a scrape.
'They're out there, watching our every move…' Mitch warned. 'There's about three on either side of you. Two above in the trees, and another six coming from behind…'
"Thinking what?" Vanquish asked finally. The movement was sudden, but clear. With just a flick of the wrist, Vanquish told his brother all he needed to know…
…Get ready for an ambush…
"That maybe…" Fiona said with a mischievous smirk. "You could… SHOW US WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF!" she shouted. At the shout, fourteen Mobians leaped out of the bushes at once. Vanquish and Tyranny got back to back, and took combat stances.
Vanquish reached up and grabbed the rabbit that was dropping down by the wrist and flung him into the bear to his left. Then he spun to his right and jumped into the air. He brought back both of his feet and kicked as hard as he could, sending the tiger flying into a tree. He hit the ground in a crouch and dove under the last four. They collided in mid-air and fell to the ground in a heap. Vanquish looked over to his brother, who was using brute force as usual to subdue his attackers. He could handle himself, because right now Fiona was after him.
"Not bad," Fiona grunted as she swung her foot around. Vanquish ducked just in time. "Not many people make it through that. But rest assured, I will be different."
'Cha, tell me about it…' Mitch said with a roll of his eyes while leaning against a tree.
Vanquish blocked a jab to his nose and followed up with an uppercut that sent her reeling. She swayed on her feet and rubbed her jaw.
"Hitting a lady, huh? How polite…" Fiona growled and attacked again. Vanquish could just barely dodge or block the endless barrage of fists and feet. He slowly backed away, focusing solely on avoiding getting hit. He was certain he would never be able to fight back, until finally he saw his chance. Fiona threw a powerful right hook at his cheek. On instinct, he brought up his left arm in defense. Fiona's forearm made contact with his and rebounded sharply, knocking her off balance. This left her torso completely open. Vanquish raised his right foot, and kicked her in the chest as hard as he could. Fiona flew backwards and tumbled along the ground. Vanquish rushed at her. Fiona quickly picked herself up and snarled. As soon as Vanquish was in range, she roared and threw the most powerful punch she could muster in the short amount of time. It was an impulse hit, formed from vengeful rage, and not skillful technique, thus making it very inaccurate and sloppy in form. It missed him by a mile.
'Finish her.' Mitch said in a perfect recreation of the Mortal Kombat announcer. Vanquish grabbed her wrist and yanked her towards him. He kneed her in the stomach, causing her to double over, and then brought his elbow down on the back of her skull. She instantly went to Dreamsville. Vanquish caught her before she could hit the ground and turned to face the other fourteen Freedom Fighters, who were attacking Tyranny from all sides. He cleared his throat and barked the sentence that always crushed enemy morale.
"I've incapacitated your leader! Surrender or face the consequences!" he barked like a drill sergeant. At his command, the attackers froze and starred at him in shock. A small mouse spoke up.
"O-oh my god! What'd you do to F-Fiona?" he asked in shock.
"He killed her!" another shouted. Pretty soon the whole mob was squabbling in fear and surprise. Vanquish channeled his anger to Mitch and shouted again.
"SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU!" He barked. The mob fell silent once more. "She isn't dead, she's unconscious. She'll wake up in a couple minutes. Now, take us to Knothole." He ordered.
"What? You got shit in your ears? MOVE!" Tyranny shouted. Without hesitation they scurried off through the brush, motioning for them to follow…
(…)
"Princess Sally! Princess Sally!"
Sally sighed in exasperation and wheeled around. "What, Antoine?"
"Come quickly! There are new arrivals to the village!" the tail-less coyote said urgently and grabbed her hand. Sally rolled her eyes and allowed herself to be dragged out of the community hut that lied at the center of Knothole. Antoine led her up a flight of stairs, over a bridge, and to the watch tower. He pointed in the Eastern direction, where she saw a large group of Mobians coming in their direction. She picked up a pair of binoculars and scanned them.
"My god, it's that team we sent out to intercept Team T.W.O.!" Sally gasped. They were still alive, thank god. Sally focused on the one called Vanquish, and saw an unconscious Fiona draped over his shoulder. She had believed that no one, even the trained assassins, could possibly defeat all fifteen of them. She was wrong, and now she would have to welcome these monsters into her home. She sighed and remembered what Sonic had said earlier…
"Sal, we need all the help we can get in this war. Those two would be the perfect addition to the Knothole Freedom Fighters. And here they are, wanting to join. We can't pass this up!" the hedgehog said excitedly.
"I don't know… You do remember our rule about killing, right? That's what they'll do, kill. We can't allow them to do that. They go against everything that us Freedom Fighters stand for. They're nothing but guns for hire, profiteers. Not to mention, they've also completed missions for our enemies!"
"Sally," Sonic said in a serious tone. He reached across the table and took her hand in his. "What's done is done. But if we're ever going to win this war, we'll need some heavy firepower."
Sally thought it over and sighed. "Fine…" she said reluctantly…
…And here they were, the world's greatest assassins, right at their doorstep…
(…)
"So this is Knothole, huh?" Tyranny wondered aloud. The timid looking mouse from earlier nodded, his eyes still alight with fear.
"Y-yes, this is Knothole. Home of the Freedom Fighters and headquarters of the resistance movement." He stammered quickly. They entered the village, passing primitive, as well as modern huts. People came out and stared at them in awe. They'd all heard stories, seen pictures and videos, but here they were in the flesh, the one thing that the Robotnik Empire actually feared more than the Freedom Fighters themselves.
"It's a lot nicer than I expected." Vanquish muttered. Mitch was glancing around curiously.
'Man, that model was off by A LOT! That wasn't there, nor that!' he observed. 'And THAT wasn't THAT big!'
"Shut up." Vanquish growled under his breath. The tiger he'd kicked glanced at him.
"Did you say something?"
"I was wondering when we were going to meet Sonic the Hedgehog or Sally Acorn." He lied in reply.
"Oh! O-of course! We'll be there shortly. First, we have to drop off Fiona at the medical wing." The tiger explained.
'Heh, right.' Mitch chuckled, nudging Fiona with a finger.
"What's your name?" Vanquish asked suddenly. The tiger's eyes widened.
"W-what?"
"I asked what your name was."
"Oh, um, Ace. Ace the tiger." He said quickly.
"Nice to meet you, Ace."
"Oh, nice to meet you… too- here we are!" Ace said, relieved to be rid of them. He gestured down a set of stairs leading underground. "The medical wing's the third door on the left, and Princess Sally's office is at the end." He instructed.
"Thank you, Ace." Vanquish said gruffly and carried Fiona down the stairs with Tyranny at his heels.
"That went better than expected." Tyranny whispered.
"We're not out of the woods yet." Vanquish warned. He walked down the hall, which was almost an exact replica of the one he'd seen in the simulation. It had dirt walls, a dirt roof with fluorescent lighting, and wooden doors with labels. He came to the one marked "Medical" and knocked.
"It's unlocked!" a woman's voice called from inside. Tyranny stepped in front of him and opened the door.
"Ladies first- OW!" he yipped after Vanquish kicked him in the shin.
"We have a special delivery." Vanquish grunted.
'Damn, Fiona Fox is heavier than she looks!' Mitch observed. Vanquish glared at him, forcing him to disappear. He looked ahead to see a room lined with hospital beds and medical equipment. This room did not have earth walls. It had dry wall installed, with tile floors. A door to his immediate right opened, and a grey wolf stepped out of an office. She wore camouflage pants, brown boots, and an unbuttoned, green BDU shirt with an aquamarine tee shirt beneath that. Her ghost white hair was fashioned in a ponytail, and she had eye shadow that matched her undershirt.
'Da-ha-ham! Hello gorgeous!' Mitch said with a low whistle. Vanquish once again willed him to go away. When she saw Fiona over his shoulders, she gasped in surprise and horror and dropped her clipboard. Her easy going grin vanished, replaced with a mask of horror.
"WHAT HAPPENED TO HER?" she shouted. When she saw Vanquish and Tyranny, and recognized them, her shock turned to anger. Vanquish's eye twitched. He recognized her. They'd met before, years ago. Hopefully she wouldn't remember them. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HER, YOU MONSTERS?" she shouted.
"She attacked us as part of the initiation, so I simply knocked her out." Vanquish replied, unfazed by the outburst. The wolf, whose name was Marie from what Vanquish read on the name tag next to the office door, put her hands on her hips and cocked an eyebrow.
"That was never part of the initiation process!"
"That's not what she said."
"Hmmm… argh, lay her down on a bed, and then get out of my sight." Marie snarled. Vanquish carried Fiona over to one of the beds and gently laid her down. As they turned to leave, Vanquish stopped next to her.
"So what's your name?" Vanquish asked casually as she worked on reviving Fiona.
"Marie." She replied in an unfriendly voice.
"Nice to meet you, Marie, I'm-"
"Everyone here knows who you two are," Marie snapped irritably. "So let's not pretend you never did all the stuff you did."
"I'd like to think we've turned over a new leaf…"
"Good for you, now get out." She growled. Vanquish's eye twitched again. They walked out of the medical wing and shut the door behind them. Mitch was jumping up and down tauntingly.
'OH! Was that fear and irritation I sensed?' he taunted. 'I wouldn't know, it's been so long since you've felt the former. And wow, another person besides Tyranny that could piss you off! I guess we can add her to the list!'
"Shut up…"
(…)
Sally sat behind her desk with Sonic at her side. Each little tick of the wall clock sounded like the clap of an executioner at a hanging. She stared at the door, almost fearing what was about to walk through it. And since her first attempt to get rid of them had failed, she would try again. She would give them a more challenging mission, one that has been nagging them for months. If they succeeded, which they most likely wouldn't, good for them. That would get rid of one problem, and they'd be allowed to stay. If they failed, then they would die, thus ending another problem. Either way, she came out on top.
The sudden noise made her jump out of her fur. It was a light, but firm knock at the door. She and Sonic shared a glance and nodded.
"Come in." Sally called. The door swung open, and the object- or objects- of her attention stepped inside. She studied the two felines with curiosity. This was the first time she had met them in person, and she was surprised, to tell the truth. She noticed that while they looked perfectly identical in appearance, they were polar opposites in personality.
The one called Tyranny appeared to be more outgoing and cheerful, and he had an air of confidence about him.
The one called Vanquish, well, he intrigued her. She'd heard stories about him being emotionless, unable to feel. She felt a growing sense of terror as she looked into those dull, alert eyes. They seemed to be boring into her very soul, picking out her weaknesses and deciding how and when to attack. Every once in a while they flittered off, scanning the room. She could see no emotion what so ever within them.
"As you've probably heard, we've defeated that little group of grunts you sent out." Tyranny said, breaking the silence. Sally nodded, her grip on the arms of her chair tightening just that much more. Vanquish crossed his arms.
"I was told that it wasn't part of the usual joining process. Is this a new policy?" he asked. Sally's eyes narrowed.
"One can never be too careful of his or her new recruits…" she muttered. Once again, she felt the icy stare of Vanquish, and resisted the urge to shudder.
"Understandable. But an employee can never be too trusting of his or her employer." Vanquish shot back. Sally glanced at Sonic for help. Luckily, he was able to give it.
"Well, the main thing is that you passed the test!" Sonic said optimistically.
"So are we in?" Tyranny asked. Sally spoke next.
"Not quiet, there is one mission you must do. If you succeed, you will become official members of the Knothole Freedom Fighters." She said. Vanquish leaned forward in his chair.
"We're listening…"
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