My name is Ringo. I'm lead guitarist/singer for the rock band 'Renegade' and now, I'm a part-time hero it seems.

The reason is simple, I'm hoping Sonic will be willing to take down some punk biker for me, and in return my band I will help him deal with Eggman.

Silvia keeps insisting we shouldn't have gotten involved…

But hey, Sonic and the others wouldn't have let us help if this were really dangerous…

Right?

Chapter 7

The Rich and Famous

Up in the bridge of the Egg Carrier, the forces of evil had gathered to discuss the next part of their devious plan. That, and enjoy some delicious smoothies, courtesy of Slayer Red. The crimson robot stood near the back of the room, cleaning bits of fruit off its blades as its fellow automations entered.

Rave was slurping up his drink with gusto, and smacked his lips together as he put it down.

"What did I tell ya?" He challenged.

Eggman, who was sipping at his own drink as he typed commands into his computer, sighed as he lowered the glass.

"Well, this is the best smoothie I've ever had in my life," he admitted.

Slayer Red crossed its arms and retracted its blades, giving Slayers Green and Yellow a smug look before Eggman stood up. The three robots snapped to attention immediately as the computer screen that took up the majority of the far wall displayed the image of a world map.

"Okay everybody, listen up!" Eggman commanded. "Things are going fairly well so far, but we can't get sloppy. There are three Chaos Emeralds left, and we need to find them before Sonic and his obnoxious friends do."

"Okay, let's get those emeralds!" Op cheered.

"Chao Chao!" Ex replied, before returning to her own smoothie and taking a large gulp.

Eggman cleared his throat, while the image behind him lit up with three small dots.

"Now then, we're in luck," he explained. "It seems the last three emeralds landed not too far from one another. Our enemies will still need to split up to find them, weakening their forces."

"Won't we need to split up too?" Op interrupted.

The three slayers stared at Op, who gave a sheepish grin.

"Just asking," she said.

"You're correct, Op, but consider the fact that we'll be sending a deadly robot soldier to each emerald to recover it," Eggman pointed out.

"That leaves nothing for me to do!" Rave protested. "If Red goes, I can't even have a nice smoothie."

"Did I say you wouldn't get to go?" Eggman asked. "Mr. Rave, I expect you to be of great help in not only finding the emeralds, but holding off those annoying heroes while my robots recover them. Or vice-versa."

Rave unsheathed his sword, his features lighting up with an excited grin.

"Leave the fighting to me, your rust buckets can take the emeralds," he declared.

All three robots turned their gazes on Rave now, looking offended at being called rust buckets, but Eggman just laughed it off.

"Just the answer I wanted to hear! You can accompany Slayer Green on his mission," Eggman ordered.

"What do I get to do?" Op asked looking equally excited now.

Eggman gave her a cautionary gaze and slowly looked to the robots. All three were shaking their heads as he slowly rose one finger to them.

"Fine, you help…Slayer Yellow," Eggman decided, pointing at the yellow bot.

Slayer Yellow hung its head, dejected, while the other two looked relieved as Op snapped a quick salute to Eggman. Ex mimicked the action before finishing what was left of her drink in one massive slurp. The chao immediately fell over, clutching its head and howling in agony.

"Oh no! Exey has brain freeze!" Op fretted, cradling her chao with a motherly expression.

"Told her not to drink it so fast," Rave informed them.

"Yes yes, we're all concerned about Ex. If we could focus for a moment," Eggman went on as he gestured to one of the dots. "Slayer Green and Rave will be deployed here, to Station Square. I've detected one of the emeralds inside the Station Square Resort, and guess who has the honor of fetching it."

"You're sending me to a hotel?" Rave queried, sheathing his weapon. "That's no fun. Give me someone to punch!"

"You're highly capable of handling the police by the looks of things," Eggman pointed out.

"Then what do I need him for?" Rave challenged, pointing to Slayer Green.

"In case I'm wrong," was the doctor's answer.

Rave crossed his arms with a displeased growl as he took a seat and rested his legs on a table in front of him. Eggman referred back to the map with a satisfied smirk.

"Now, for the other two, Yellow and Op will explore the Aquatic Mines. I do hope you know how to swim," Eggman advised.

"I'm a great swimmer, and Ex looks so cute in water wings," Op proudly declared.

Ex seemed to have perked up quite a bit from her brain freeze, and let out a happy cry at the thought of swimming.

"We can even use that new tube I bought her!" Op gushed.

"Business before pleasure please," Eggman warned.

"That's what Ravey always says," Op grumbled, crossing her arms.

Rave almost fell out of his chair, and struggled to regain his composure and bad mood after hearing that comment.

"Moving on…Slayer Red will take care of the one hidden in the GUN military base on Prison Island," Eggman finished.

"You're sending one robot to face an army of GUN troops?" Rave asked.

"He's more than capable, unless you want to volunteer," Eggman stated.

"I do!" Rave shouted.

"Too bad!" Eggman barked back.

Bad mood thoroughly reawakened, Rave went back to grumbling angrily to himself.

"Okay, your first priority is to get those Chaos Emeralds. Anything in your way is an enemy and should be treated as such," Eggman went on. "In other words, destroy it. Once the emerald is secure, your mission is to bring it here as fast as possible. If Sonic or any of his friends get in your way…"

Eggman paused to chuckle a bit before continuing.

"Well, all the worse for them. Understood?" He finished.

"I like this plan," Rave smiled.

"I'm happy to be a part of it," Op agreed.

"Chao chao chao!" Ex chimed in.

All three Slayers nodded. Eggman pointed toward the door as it opened up.

"Alright then, let's begin!" He ordered. "After all, the world won't conquer itself!"

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At Station Square Resort, located at the heart of the city, a familiar trio was making their way into the lavish entrance hall. Ringo paused for a moment, looking from the desk for the incoming and outgoing guests to the entrance he, Silvia, and Drake had just used.

"Well, here we are…again," Ringo acknowledged.

Silvia detached a small walkie-talkie from the waistband of her shorts, and pressed down on the button.

"Tails? Sonic? Can anyone hear me?" She asked into the device.

A hiss of static was the initial response, before the voice of Tails came through.

"Loud and clear Silvia. You guys make it to the hotel yet?" The young fox asked.

"Yeah…" Silvia sighed, noticing Ringo was motioning for her to hand over the communicator. "Hang on, here's Ringo."

Ringo took the walkie-talkie and said, "Are you sure the emerald is here? This is the same hotel that we've been staying at for the last few days now and we never noticed anything like a Chaos Emerald here."

Another hiss of static sounded before Tails responded.

"According to the radar, the Emerald has to be either in, under, or over the hotel," Explained Tails. "That's all I can figure from my readings though…"

Tails was interrupted as a muffled voice called his name.

"Hold on a second Knuckles!" Tails called back. "Sorry guys, you're on your own from here. Just be careful alright?"

"Can do," Ringo nodded. "Renegades, out."

Silvia took back the radio, and let out a frustrated groan.

"It might be under the hotel? He said that, right?" She hissed at Ringo.

"Well…" Ringo began.

"Let's just remember this was all your idea," Silvia grumbled, cutting off her bandmate.

Drake just rolled his eyes, silently praying that his friends wouldn't begin another argument. As he did, a new voice called out from the elevators at the far side of the lobby.

"Silvia! Ringo! Drake! There you are!" The voice cried with a thick Brooklyn accent, filled with worry. "I've been looking for you three all morning."

Putting aside their disagreement for the moment, Silvia and Ringo turned to see a human wearing a black suit and green undershirt. The jacket was completely unbuttoned, and the top few buttons of the undershirt were undone to show off the man's graying chest hair. He wore frameless sunglasses, obscuring any view of his eyes, and his obviously dyed black hair was done up in a short ponytail that still had a few gray streaks.

"Perry," Ringo winced. "I was kind of hoping…"

"What, that I wouldn't notice you guys had snuck out?" The man guessed. "Come on, you know the old saying: Your manager is always looking out for you."

"Even if you don't want him to," Ringo thought, but avoided saying.

Perry wiped his brow with a handkerchief from his pocket before continuing, "I thought maybe you had gone back to the arena to practice or something, but no one there had seen you three, Then I here from the hotel management that you were asking about the next train to the Mystic Ruins. What, you guys went to some amusement park without me or something?"

"Actually, Ringo got an idea about getting even…" Silvia began.

"Yeah, yeah, that's great Silvia," Interrupted the manager. "How many times to I need to remind you three that we have a schedule to keep. After all, you three like stardom right?"

"Yes…" All three sighed together, having heard this spiel before.

"And you three want to be the biggest thing since sliced bread, right?" He went on.

"Yes…" Was the response again.

"Then you got to listen to me! How is it the three of you can go running off on a train ride and prepare for a rain date concert at the same time? The studio won't like it if you guys start slacking…" Perry started.

Ringo and Silvia's eyes met for an instant, the two of them obviously agreeing (for once) that they would have rather avoided this situation. Drake was allowing his attention to wonder again, something he seemed quite adept at, and as he looked toward the check-in desk something caught his eye.

Standing at the desk, chatting with the clerk, was a man in his mid-forties. He was dressed in a well-kept purple tuxedo with matching top hat, and freshly shined black shoes. A monocle was set in one eye, and only slightly more eye catching was the bushy, gray mustache under his nose. What had really caught the dragon's attention though was the cane that the man held. It was a solid black cane, with a golden spiral twisted up its length. The spiral culminated into a small cup at the top, in which sat a large, blue gem.

Given that Drake had seen the emerald Shadow had used, and Tails had given them a good description of what to look for, it was easy to recognize the crystal for what it truly was.

"Ringo," Drake whispered, trying to avoid interrupting Perry. "The emerald, over there!"

Ringo turned to his friend, then looked over to where Drake was pointing. He spotted the gentlemen and the emerald, just as the man walked away from the desk and headed toward the elevators.

"Are you paying attention?" Perry snapped, pulling Ringo's focus back to him.

"Uh…Yeah. Real sorry about ditching you Perry, but there's something that we need to take care of at the moment," Ringo explained.

"Practicing, right? Yeah, what am I thinking wasting your time lecturing you guys about wasting time," Perry realized. "You kids get moving, I'll be…"

As Perry spoke, he noticed two bikini-clad women leaving the outdoor pool area. His eyes went wide and his voice faltered as he lowered his sunglasses.

"…Getting a couple phone numbers. 'Scuse me," Perry stated, brushing past his clients.

"You know, I bet deep down Perry's kind of likable," Drake commented.

"After you get past all that grease, sure," Silvia shrugged.

"Yeah, Perry is a sleaze, but he's the sleaze that gave us our chance. Now come on, the Chaos Emerald just got on the elevators," Ringo chimed in, pointing to the lifts.

"Wait, that's why you weren't paying attention to Perry?" Silvia asked as she followed Drake and Ringo to the elevators.

"Any excuse to ignore Perry is a good excuse," Drake joked as Ringo looked up at the LED numbers over the elevator that the tuxedoed man had got on.

"Huh, he's on the top floor," Ringo observed. "That's the most expensive suite in the place, our record company only got us up to the floor below it."

"Sounds like this guy could buy our record company," Silvia noticed. "So we're going after him?"

"Yeah…but one of us should stay down here and keep a watch in case Eggman sends one of those robots," Ringo warned.

Drake and Silvia looked to each other, and as he turned his head Drake noticed the hotel restaurant advertising its all-you-can-eat lunch buffet. The dragon smiled and held up the team's second walkie-talkie saying, "I'll keep look out."

Noticing the object Drake was holding, Ringo looked to the walkie-talkie that Silvia had clipped back to her shorts, then pointed to the one Drake held asking, "Have you had that this whole time?"

"Yeah," Drake nodded, looking at it himself.

"Where were you carrying it?" Silvia asked, noticing Drake still wore nothing more than his sandals from earlier.

His attention now drawn to this fact, Drake looked to the walkie-talkie and then shrugged, "Hmm…I don't know. Maybe I'll remember after I eat."

As Drake headed toward the buffet, Silvia raised one hand to try and stop him. Ringo just a put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head as he pressed the elevator's call button.

"Don't bother, I don't think we want to know," He advised, the elevator bell ringing as the door opened.

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On the outskirts of Station Square, one of the floating platforms from the Egg Carrier descended. On board was Slayer Green, its body covered by a black hood and cape with a large Eggman symbol painted across the back of the cape. It sat on the back of Rave's motorcycle, the disgruntled red hedgehog looking like he'd rather have a lighter-weight passenger.

"You'd better not lean on the turns, metal head," Rave grumbled as he revved the engine.

With a squeal of rubber on metal, the bike thundered off the launch platform into the unsuspecting city. Eggman's voice sounded from the area Slayer Green's mouth would have been, sounding quite pleased.

"Now Rave, the emerald is somewhere in this city," Eggman instructed. "Your orders are simple: Find it and bring it back to me immediately if not sooner!"

"Do I still get to smash stuff?" Rave asked.

"Oh…Why not. Just don't draw too much attention to yourself," Eggman ordered.

"Haven't you heard? There's no such thing as bad publicity," Rave grinned as he gunned his vehicle down a sidewalk, sending pedestrians scurrying for safety.

"Very funny, now pay attention! Slayer Green should be able to home in on the emerald once you get close enough. Pay attention to it, it will point directly toward your target," Eggman went on.

With this message finished, Slayer Green extended one arm, pointing to the left. Rave made a quick turn around the next corner, a car's brakes screeching to avoid colliding with him, and the robot began pointing straight ahead. Rave looked toward the building it was indicating, a smile on his face as he saw Station Square Resort.

"Jackpot!" Rave shouted as he tore down the street.

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Many things could be said about the gentleman that Ringo and Silvia had followed to the top floor. His name was Reginald Richington. He spoke with a snobbish, British accent, he enjoyed the finest things in life, and apparently had never heard the phrase "tone it down."

One thing he was not was gullible.

Silvia had her face buried in one hand as Mr. Richington laughed at her and Ringo, after the raccoon had attempted to explain their situation in front of the entrance to his room and why they needed to take the gem from his cane.

"You actually said 'an evil maniac and his robots are after that jewel you have…'" Silvia grumbled.

Ringo responded through clenched teeth, "I didn't hear you come up with any good ideas. I figured honesty was the policy here."

Richington's laughter died enough for him to gasp out; "I can't believe…you'd expect me to hand over my latest treasure with such a ridiculous story!"

"But it's true!" Ringo insisted.

"Then what does this big, bad robot look like?" the rich man taunted. "Covered in spikes and claws and armor? Oh my, let me hide my wife and child!"

Richington's mock-terror made it all the clearer to Ringo that he had no intentions of giving up the Chaos Emerald. Before he could attempt another rebuttal, Silvia grabbed the frustrated raccoon by his tail and yanked him back toward the elevators.

"Come on, we'll deal with him later," Silvia grumbled as Ringo let out a yelp of pain before falling into stride behind her. "After all, it's not like the emerald is going anywhere if he has it."

"I guess…." Ringo muttered.

A hiss of static burst from Silvia's walkie-talkie, and Drake's frightened voice called over it accompanied by the sounds of a general catastrophe in the background.

"Silvia! Ringo! Are you there!?" The dragon yelled. "That biker is in the hotel, and he's brought one of those robots!"

"Oh, one of your little friends in on the joke, eh wot?" Richington asked as Silvia nearly dropped the small radio as she attempted to answer Drake's hails.

"Drake, where are you?" Silvia asked, trying to remain calm while Ringo focused on every sound he could hear from the nearby area.

"I'm just outside the restaurant in the lobby…" Drake started, "And…."

He was cut off by what sounded like smashing wood, followed by a discouraging bout of white noise. Silvia pressed down on the button on her communicator, her voice wavering as she whispered her friend's name, "Drake? Are you…"

Ringo's ears suddenly twitched, and he turned his gaze over the elevator.

"Oh no." He said simply, the bell ringing to indicate that the lift had reached their floor.

The door to the elevator opened up, revealing Rave's smirking figure seated on his motorcycle inside the very roomy compartment of the elevator car. He was leaning on the handlebars of his bike, and waved to Silvia and Ringo as he saw them.

"You know, I was being serious when I said we should stop meeting like this," He said.

From behind Rave stepped Slayer Green, hefting Drake over its shoulder. The robot looked from Silvia to Ringo and then to Mr. Richington before tossing Drake at Silvia and Ringo's feet. Drake let out a low moan as he struggled to get up, Silvia kneeling by his side.

"Dang thing packs a punch…" Drake stammered out as the fox girl helped him up.

"Now which one of you has my emerald?" Rave demanded.

Slayer Green nudged Rave with one hand, and then pointed directly at the blue crystal in Richington's cane.

"Okay, now this joke has gone too far," Richington grumbled. "Oh Julius!"

The doors to Richington's room opened up, and from them emerged a rather tall and muscular human dressed in a simple black suit. He lowered a pair of sunglasses to take in the scene before him, before shaking his head and wondering aloud, "Why did I take this job?"

"Julius, remove these cretins from my sight," Richington ordered.

"Yeah, yeah, you're the boss," The bodyguard grumbled as he reached forward and picked up Ringo by the scruff of his neck with one massive hand.

"Hey, put me down! We're not the ones that are dangerous here!" Ringo shouted, struggling to get his feet back on the ground.

"Then who is?" Julius wondered.

Rave's engine revved twice as he pointed his thumb toward himself and declared, "That would be me and Sparky."

Slayer Green glared at Rave with its glowing eyes before clashing its fists together and producing a shower of electric sparks.

"That don't look safe," Julius fretted. "How'd you get a motorcycle in here anyway? Is that even legal?"

"Ask me if I care," Rave grumbled. "It's been way too long since I smashed something."

"It's barely been five minutes, you just tore the entrance lobby apart!" Drake shouted, his strength returning.

Rave adopted a slightly serious looking expression and nodded, "My name is Rave, and I'm a smashoholic…But it's better than being a corpse!"

The engine revved again, and Rave shot forward, Richington scrambled into his room, and Julius released Ringo who rolled to the side just in time to avoid being in Rave's path. Julius grabbed the front of the handlebars of Rave's bike, his muscles bulging as he struggled to hold Rave back. Since Julius was thusly preoccupied, he didn't notice Slayer Green lunging toward his employer, who had neglected to shut the doors. Richington screamed and ducked to the side, scampering away from the electric fists of the deadly automation and winding up right next to Silvia and Drake.

"Give me that!" Silvia shouted, quickly yanking the blue emerald free from the head of Richington's cane.

Slayer Green immediately turned its focus onto Silvia, who turned toward a doorway labeled "Stairs" across from the entrance to the suite. Drake and Richington both watched as Silvia tore through the door and headed down the steps, Slayer Green a mere second behind her.

"Hey…" Richington attempted to protest. "That's mine! Julius!"

"A little busy boss!" Julius grunted as he continued to push Rave back.

"Let go, this thing's a Harley!" Rave commanded. "You're gonna hurt my baby, and then daddy'll have to get rough!"

Richington was about to bark another order when Ringo suddenly snatched the cane itself from his grasp and headed for the stairs as well.

"Sorry I'll leave this downstairs thanks!" Ringo shouted very quickly.

"Why I never!" Richington fumed.

Rave now noticed that Siliva, Ringo, Slayer Green, and most importantly the Chaos Emerald were now all missing from the hallway. Growling in the back of his throat, he released the handlebars of his bike, allowing Julius the chance to push him back a bit by leaning further forward. Rave pulled back both hands, and slammed Julius on top of his exposed head with a hammer blow, knocking the guard senseless and allowing Rave to wrench his precious handlebars free.

"So long, suckers!" Rave shouted as he piloted his bike around Julius and headed toward a large picture window at the end of the hall.

Rather than smashing through the window though, he spun the bike back toward the elevators and gunned the engine. He charged forward, pulling a sharp left and directing his bike into the stairwell after the rapidly fleeing emerald.

Drake looked back and forth from the fuming Richington to the still open stairway, and let out a sigh. He made a deep bow to Richington, the tips of his wings brushing the ground. "Sorry for all the trouble," He apologized before taking off down the stairs as well.

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Silvia ran down the stairs, chaos emerald in hand, when she heard a metallic clang behind her. She looked up and saw Slayer Green just a few steps above her. The fox girl began to run even faster down the stairs, even jumping to skip half a flight at a time.

Green stopped and leapt off the stairs' railing. He landed directly in front of Silvia, pulling back his arm to deliver a fistful of electricity to her head.

Just before the machine could unleash its attack, Richington's cane came crashing down on its head! Ringo had followed the mechanical monster off the railing and used the expensive stick he had stolen from the wealthy man like some kind of fighting staff. Slayer Green was caught off guard by the attack and fell over onto its side.

"Ringo!?" Silvia called out in surprise, "Then where's..."

The raccoon grabbed her hand and started running down the stairs with the bass player in tow. "Drake should be fine," he told her as they ran.

Silvia worked her hand free and ran next to Ringo, saying, "I wasn't asking about Dake, I was going to ask about…"

Suddenly, the roar of an engine could be heard throughout the stairwell. Ringo glanced up for a moment, his ears picking up the repeated thuds of a large object barreling down a flight of steps. He pulled Silvia along as he started running again, Slayer Green getting back to its feet, its fists sparking as it began to chase down the musicians once again.

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In the lobby of the hotel, Perry (who was sporting a black eye and carrying his broken sunglasses) was looking at what appeared to be the aftermath of a miniature tornado. The chairs and tables had been turned over, most of them broken into pieces. The windows and the glass of the pictures that hung on the walls were almost all shattered to bits, most of the portraits lying on the floor. The carpet was covered with bike tracks, and several burnt spots that looked as though a small fire had sprang to life on them.

"What the hell happened in here?" Perry wondered aloud.

Nervously, the receptionist peaked out from behind his desk, teeth chattering uncontrollably.

"Is that psycho hedgehog and his robot pal gone?" Asked the employee.

"Psycho…?" Perry began to ask.

He was cut off when the door to the stairwell flew open, Ringo and Silvia dashing out of it. Silvia headed straight for the front door leading out to the streets, while Ringo ran to the desk and handed the cane he had borrowed to the receptionist.

"Tell Richington I said thanks!" Ringo shouted very quickly once again as he followed Silvia outside.

Perry had one second to realize that two of his stars had just run out the door when Slayer Green barreled through. It spun immediately toward the exit and took off, following the guitarists without so much as noticing the other two occupants of the room. Perry fell back against the wall, the situation beginning to become a bit too much for him.

Rave emerged from the stairs at just that moment, his engine screaming as he pulled his bike to a quick halt.

"You see a big green robot run through here?" He asked, glaring at Perry.

Numbly, the greasy manager pointed out the front door.

"Thanks gramps," Rave nodded as he revved his engine again.

As Rave shot toward the exit, Drake entered from the stairs as well. He stopped right next to where Perry sat, and looked to his manager, catching his breath as he did so.

"Uh…Hi Perry," Drake wheezed.

"What's going on here Drake?" Perry demanded.

Drake ignored his manager, looking up just as Rave smashed through the doors, blowing them off their hinges. Drake's eyes narrowed, he took a deep breath, his chest swelling and sparks leaping inside his mouth…

Rave heard a loud crackling behind him, and wisely swerved to the left before pulling to a stop again. He stared as a stream of fire splashed against the ground he had occupied just a moment before, sizzling against the pavement. Eyes wide, Rave looked back into the lobby to see Drake running out, the dragon's face occupied by a sneer.

"Deal with you later," Drake growled, spreading his wings.

With one flap, the dragon was in the air, heading down in the street in the same direction that he could see the slayer heading in.

"He can fly…And he can breathe fire," Rave realized. "That just ain't fair."

Rave's bike came to life once more as he began trailing Drake. Perry finally decided enough was enough, and reached for his cell phone. After punching in three numbers, he lifted it up.

"Hello, police?" He asked.

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Ringo and Silvia were already a few blocks from the hotel, Silvia still clutching the emerald to her chest as she glanced over her shoulder.

Slayer Green had not given up yet. Its legs and arms crackled like live wires as it slowly gained on its target.

"Real smart playing keep away with a deadly robot!" Silvia shouted at Ringo as she looked to her companion.

"I'm not the one that grabbed the emerald!" Ringo retorted.

Silvia pursed her lips together before admitting, "Maybe we should argue about this some other time."

"For once, we agree," Ringo nodded.

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Drake, in the meantime, was flapping for all he was worth. Unfortunately he could see his friends were gradually losing their race against the mean machine that was chasing them.

"Urgh…" Drake grunted as he felt his right side begin to cramp up.

"Maybe I shouldn't have scarfed down that extra plate of pasta back at the buffet," he lamented to himself as he struggled to stay airborne.

Hearing an engine below him, Drake looked down to see Rave was closing in fast. Gritting his teeth, Drake managed to take another deep breath.

"I'm not sure I can get the fire big enough," Drake said to himself as he felt the sparks in the mouth. "But I can't let this guy catch up to Ringo and Silvia, they've got enough trouble already."

Rave looked up, just in time to see another blast of fire heading for him. He surged ahead, forcing the engine to its limits in attempt to get ahead of where the weaker fireball was about to hit. He nearly succeeded, but the smell of burnt rubber and a loud sizzle as the flames whooshed past told him all he needed to know.

Drake hadn't fully disabled the bike, but his attack had melted the rear tire. Rave glared up at the tiring reptile above him, one hand reaching back to finger the hilt of his sword.

"Oh that is it!" He shouted, slamming the brakes and releasing the handlebars as he pushed up with his legs.

The combination lead to Rave being launched into the air with the same velocity his vehicle had had but a moment before. He grabbed his foe around the waist as he drew level with him. The sudden shift in weight pulled Drake down, his sore wings giving out and resulting in both of them hurtling toward the ground.

The crash landing was slowed significantly by a convenient awning, which both Rave and Drake tore through. Drake landed first, the combination of his own exhaustion and the impact knocking the air from his lungs and any conscious thoughts from his head. Rave bounced off of Drake's back before landing on his own rear, wincing in pain as he landed on his short tail.

He looked over to Drake and, hearing the dragon groan slightly, was assured that he wouldn't need to put up with anymore flaming surprises. Rave ran back to where his bike had been halted and pulled it upright. He looked at the back of the motorcycle, but other than a melted tire and some parts where the paint had bubbled from the heat, his preferred mode of transport was unharmed. Rolling the bike alongside him, Rave set off back down the road on foot, attempting to catch up to Slayer Green.

"Just perfect," Rave grunted sarcastically as he pulled his bike along. "I wish everyday could be like this."

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In the meantime, Ringo and Silvia had been doing a fairly good job of staying ahead of Slayer Green. The train station lay just a couple blocks ahead, and Ringo pointed to it with a smile.

"Hey, I think we're gonna make it!" He shouted to Silvia.

Silvia suddenly grabbed Ringo by the tail, pulling him backward just as Slayer Green pulled up next to him and threw a punch. The raccoon yelped in pain, then again in surprised as he felt a sudden build up of electricity in his fur from the close proximity of the tazer fist. Slayer Green came to a stop, placing itself between its enemies and their destination.

"So now what do we do?" Silvia whispered.

This question was answered as Slayer Green lunged right at her with a fist pulled back for a powerful blow. In one motion, Silvia tossed the emerald to Ringo and ducked to her left, the fist only grazing her shoulder. This was enough, however, as lightning arched from Slayer Green's limb and danced over Silivia's body for a second. The girl screamed before falling over, her body twitching from the residual charge.

"Silvia!" Ringo yelled, momentarily forgetting about the emerald he had caught and running to his friend's side.

He pressed a finger to the side of Siliva's neck, and allowed himself a sigh of relief. She was still breathing, and her pulse, though quickened from the running, was present. He gently shook her shoulders, paying no attention to the approaching threat.

"Silvia, please Siliva wake up," Ringo worried, struggling to revive his comrade.

Silvia moaned softly, her body almost completely numb, "Emerald…get away…"

Ringo looked to at the gem in his left hand, and then looked up…

Rave stood over him, Slayer Green clashing its fists together in a menacing way. Without thinking, Ringo slammed his right fist into the biker hedgehog's stomach, Rave stumbling back a step from the sudden blow.

"That all you got, rock star?" Rave taunted as he stepped forward again.

Rave delivered a punch of his own into the side of Ringo's head. The blow was more than enough to send the raccoon sliding to the right, landing roughly on his side as the emerald flew from his grasp. Slayer Green claimed the jewel, while Ringo managed to get back to his knees. Rave stood over the would-be hero again, a mocking smile on his face. Seeing this, Ringo clenched his fists.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Rave asked. "What do you think you're trying to fight for? Peace? Justice? Come on, I won't tell anyone…It's the fox girl ain't it? I don't blame ya…"

Rave was forcibly silenced as Ringo swung his left fist up and slammed the biker's jaws together. Rave stumbled back, rubbing his fresh bruise and running his tongue inside his mouth to check for cracked teeth. Growling, he stormed forward, reaching for his sword when a new voice emerged.

"Rave! What is taking so long?" Eggman's voice demanded from the 'mouth' of Slayer Green.

Rave stopped, his hand closed over the hilt of his weapon as he turned to his computerized partner. He looked back to Ringo as he growled, "Pest control."

Rave brought his leg up in a swift motion, striking Ringo in the stomach and sending the breathless raccoon to the ground. Rave walked back over to his damage motorcycle, Slayer Green obediently following him.

"Okay, you can send that weird platform thing," Rave growled.

"You mean the Egg Platform?" Eggman verified.

"Do you have to name everything 'Egg-something?'" Rave asked. "Just make sure the Egg-Garage is ready to fix my ride!"

A humming noise sounded overhead, and the platform floated down. Rave rolled his motorcycle onto it, Slayer Green still following, and the machine took off back to the Egg Carrier. Slayer Green triumphantly held up the blue emerald as they headed into a bank of clouds.

Back on ground level, Drake ran up to his companions, doubling over as he tried to catch his breath. Silvia moaned slightly, feeling starting to return to her extremities as she heard the dragon approach.

"Drake, are you?" Silvia wondered, managing to get to her knees.

"I'm…Just a little…Winded," Drake assured the fox as he helped her up. "What about…Ringo?"

Ringo groaned as he clutched his stomach and got to his feet again. He looked close to being sick, but somehow he managed to keep his lunch down.

"When I get my hands on that punk," Ringo swore. "I'll make him wish he never even heard of Renegade!"

Ringo fell back to his knees, Silvia limping over to him and helping him back up.

"Okay, that's enough. I told you, we should have left it to Sonic," Silvia warned.

As if in response to this, Tails' voice suddenly crackled over the radio.

"Guys, how's your search going?" Asked the young vulpine.

Drake caught the walkie-talkie as Silvia tossed it to him. He fumbled it in his tired hands before adjusting his grip and pressing down on the talk button.

"Um…Let's say it could be better," Drake admitted.

Urgh…

I can't describe how much that hurt, both my body and my pride.

So much for one Chaos Emerald, and that means a new slayer too.

I hope Sonic and the others are having more luck.

Check out chapter eight if you want to find out. I call it

Swimming Lessons

I'm just gonna go watch the stars fly around my head for a while.