Chapter 4: Gone Down Under

"Blaze!" Static called out as he tried to pull his comrade out the quicksand to no avail. Torrent rushed over to help but all three were pulled underground.

Things were pretty hazy as Torrent landed hard on his head. He looked around and observed that he and his friends were in an underground temple surrounded by at least a dozen Sandshrew. "So you're the Sand Bandits? You guys have been following us for days haven't' you?"

One of the larger Sandshrew stepped forward "Well aren't you sharp, just let us take the goods and then you can take a hike"

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, make it easy on yourselves and let us pass." Torrent stated boldly.

"We've got you outnumbered five to one; you're not really in the position to be making demands" the Sandshrew began to laugh amongst themselves. "You don't know what you're up against."

Blaze was not impressed "There is one thing I do know... I've got a job to do, and I'm gonna see it through." as the Sandshrew continued laughing he began to grow impatient, "look there's obviously no reasoning with you which is fine by me because diplomacy is boring, but I have just one question for you." He Fire Punched the nearest Sandshrew clear across the room. "Who's next?"

At that moment all hell broke loose Sandshrew began charging and attacking left and right. Torrent used Water Gun to keep a couple at bay but the arid temperature made his water attacks pathetically weak."Damn this weather" he cursed in his mind.

Static was faring a lot better than his friend, as three Sandshrew tried to corner him he used Quick Attack and moving faster naked eye the three assailants were on the ground before they could blink. Static dodged to the side as a fourth Sandshrew burst from under the sand only to be met with a powerful Double Kick to the head that launched it backwards at breakneck speed.

Blaze used his claws to block an oncoming Scratch attack and countered with a Metal Claw. Before a second Sandshrew could attack it was met with a knee smash to the chest followed by a spinning round house kick to the head and was koed instantly. A third Sandshrew headbutted him in the back causing him to fall onto his knees from the pain, but with one strong flick of his powerful tail the Sandshrew was knocked unconscious.

Because using special attacks was physically draining Torrent resorted to melee. After blocking a Scratch he rolled to the side to avoid an oncoming Rollout. He caught his attacker with a haymaker to the jaw sending it flying backwards. He spun around quickly to give mean right hook to the Sandshrew behind him and hit another Sandshrew with a spinning uppercut to the chin. When he was knocked off his feet by a Tackle attack he performed a stabbed windmill, using his forearms for momentum as he rolled his shell continuously in a circular path on the floor, while twirling his legs in a V-shape through the air wildly as Sandshrew were sent flying in all directions. He finished with a fancy backspin and then a freeze.

Soon all the Sandshrew were down for the count. Except for the really small Sandshrew that Blaze had punched earlier. "You won't get away with this. I'm going to get the captain" he ran off quickly. And as it ran past Blaze, Torrent called for Blaze to stop it but Blaze just stood by and let it go.

"Blaze he was right there, why didn't you stop him?" Torrent scolded as they ran after him.

"I'm sorry bro, guess I wasn't fast enough" the lizard replied feigning concern.

Then it dawned on him "You let him go on purpose didn't you? You wanted him to alarm Razor. Well your ego may have just put our lives in danger"

Static was angered by the action of his friend "Way to go flame head."

Blaze expressed no remorse "Let it go. What's done is done. Besides if this Razor guy is anything like his lackeys we got nothing to worry about."

They continued running until they had the little Sandshrew cornered…but something was wrong. The look of pure terror the Sandshrew had before had completely vanished and was replaced by an evil grin. Behind him was the most massive, viscous looking Sandslash they had ever seen.