Chapter 9: Catch Me…If You Can
The brown wolf picked her way through the forest. Her younger companion was acting as eyes and ears from the treetops. Eyes glowing softly from the moonlight, Jade looked up at her companion.
"Do you see anything?" she called up. There was a rustling as Flicker glanced around a bit more.
"No…or at least, nothing interesting. Just rocks and trees…" There was a pause. "Hey! I see Dr. Eggman, just up ahead!" The wolf's ears pricked in interest. She started jogging in the direction of the scientist. Flicker leaped down from her tree and scrambled to catch up to Jade.
Dr. Eggman snapped to attention when he heard the sudden noise, but immediately became cool and indifferent to the girls' presence.
"Find her?" Jade asked, walking towards him.
"Not yet…but it won't be long. She stops quite often," he responded, not looking up from his radar.
"You would think she wouldn't stop moving," Flicker put in, obviously thinking about it. "Maybe we should stick together." A long silence stretched between the Mobians, as if Jade and Dr. Eggman were trying to find a way not to join forces. Jade thought back to the first and only face-to-face encounter she had with the girl. She had a kind of strong dark power that reminded her of Shadow. The guy could be kind of tough during training and it was just training. This was the real deal. Finally, Jade sighed painfully and agreed. Dr. Eggman did too, but he looked disappointed, like he had been hoping Jade said no. As the trio set out, the wolf growled to herself and curled her lip back slightly, showing the gleaming, pointed tips of her fangs. She didn't trust her now nemesis one bit.
…...
They walked in silence; the only sounds were the soft whirr… of the Egg Carrier, the leaves crunching under the girls' feet, and their soft breathing. Dr. Eggman took the time to examine his companions. Even though, it had only been about half a year since he'd last seen them, they appeared to have…matured in some way. Jade had lost her wolf pup ways months ago, when she had learned of the fate of her parents. Now she carried a battle-ready attitude, something like the black hedgehog, yet at the same time, she appeared to have conserved her good-natured persona. So she resembled her 'brother' the blue hedgehog, but in a…smarter manner. She scared him.
Flicker, on the other hand, was still as bubbly as ever, except in a more cautious way. However, he could see that the wolf and the hybrid were just as attached as when they were little. They had joined the long list of threats to him, mostly because they knew too much about him and his plans, which is why he had chosen to go alone in the first place and probably why Jade had reluctantly agreed. Sometimes he had regretted having taken them in, but they had been useful and even now, he conserved the many weapons they had built.
While Dr. Eggman was busy reflecting on his companions, Jade had let herself slip in a sort of half-meditating state. She almost missed the faint rustling, just barely within earshot. Years ago, she would have dismissed the meager noise, but life had taught her that a little noise, the slightest movement, was a reason to pay close attention. She paused, and cocked her head, ears turning to detect the source. Flicker, noticing her friend's hesitation, stopped walking. Dr. Eggman slowed the Egg Carrier to a hover and eyed the wolf curiously.
"Jade?" she asked softly.
"There's something out there…" Jade muttered, her eyes never leaving the foliage, searching. Dr. Eggman had a hunch, and just to be sure, he checked the radar. Sure enough, the soft beeping had increased greatly; the little dot was extremely close to their location. He smiled to himself, marveling at his luck. Maybe it hadn't been such a bad idea to team up with the girls. Jade returned her attention to the other two.
"Come on. I know she's out there."
…
Diana perched on the tree and looked back at the Mobians that were following her. The wolf girl was unusually keen. She was leading the group in a confident way, like she knew exactly what she was looking for. The youngest one, the fox girl, was looking around timidly. The last person in the group was…well…fat. Diana had seen him before and had instantly hated him. But enough of that. She had already planted a whole obstacle course for them. She knew they were looking for something in the woods, so why not make things more…interesting?
…
Flicker, Jade, and Dr. Eggman had to make a small pause, as the younger girl was getting tired. It wasn't a problem though, because Diana was still in the same spot. It was almost like she knew they were there. Now would be an excellent time to capture her if only he could keep Jade and Flicker away…
Suddenly 'My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark' rang out into the cool night making the girls jump and Dr. Eggman glance up quizzically. It was Jade's communicator. The wolf looked at the device. Sonic's name scrolled across the screen in flashing blue letters. She pressed the blue button. Sonic and Tails' holographic forms shimmered to life.
"Yo Jade!" Sonic greeted with a grin. Apparently, he and Tails didn't notice Dr. Eggman.
"Did you guys find anything?" Tails asked.
"Well…we're onto something alright. What about you?" Jade asked.
"She came this way…but we haven't seen traces of her since," Sonic replied. He looked at Flicker. "How's the little girl doing?"
"Hey! I'm not little!" Flicker protested.
"Yeeeah…She doesn't like being called 'little'," Jade said, a warning hidden in her tone.
"Oh hehehe…sorry."
"It's O.K," Flicker answered brightly. Sonic smiled.
"We'll leave you guys now," Tails broke in. Jade nodded.
"Good luck guys." Jade ended the transmission.
"What was that?" Dr. Eggman asked suddenly.
"What?" Jade and Flicker asked at the same time.
"The song…"
"My ringtone," Jade answered simply. She nodded at the radar. "Where is she now?" Dr. Eggman looked at the forgotten radar in his hand. The sound had lessened although it was still strong, and the little blinking dot was still within the 10 mile radius if not closer. The group set out again.
…
After talking to Jade, Sonic and Tails had been lead to a grove of pine trees, by a set of footprints that disappeared at times. Now the footprints hadn't reappeared for some time.
"Sonic, we've already look here about five times!" Tails exclaimed, squinting into the surrounding darkness.
"It's almost like she flew…" Sonic muttered. He walked over to the bushes and began to look around. Click… Silence. "Hey Tails, did you hear that?"
"Yeah, what do you think it was?" Sonic shrugged and continued looking. Tails did too, but the small noise was stuck in his head.
Tails had a good reason to worry, because a few seconds later... the bomb went off. Boom! The explosion sent the Mobians flying backward, slamming them into the shaking earth. The good news was that the bomb had been placed in a location where the explosion wouldn't do much damage. The bad news was that it had started a chain reaction…and these were much closer.
"Tails!" Sonic shouted over the blasts, worried for his friend.
"I'm fine!" Tails yelled back. Sonic managed to get to his feet and reach Tails. Another blast knocked him over again.
"Tails, we have to get out of here! Grab on!" Sonic seized Tails' arm with a tight grip.
"S-sonic?" Tails pointed behind the blue hedgehog…to the wall of fire descending on them like a huge monster ready to devour everything in its path. The explosions were making it hard to stand, but once Sonic had managed to stand, he wasted no time in starting to run. Unfortunately, the fire had spread at an extremely fast rate. Sonic had to pick his way carefully and was making slow progress. If the fire didn't kill them, the smoke surely will. Desperate to get his buddy out of there, Sonic pressed the red button of his communicator.
…
Beep, beep, beep, beep…
Silver glanced down at his communicator. A little red dot was blinking rapidly, with Sonic's name flashing in crimson letters.
"Shadow-!"
"I know," interrupted the black and crimson hedgehog. It was best to get the faker and Tails out of whatever mess they had gotten themselves into. As for the search, no clues had appeared. Shadow wasn't a happy camper. He felt that Silver was slowing him down, but he knew Silver would have done the exact same thing as Sonic and he wasn't in the mood to run around saving idiot hedgehogs. Shadow skated in the direction of Sonic, with Silver flying in his wake.
The night was darker now that the moon had decided to play hide-and-seek among the gray clouds strewed across the already black sky. Silver's aqua glow kept Shadow's path lit, as they made their way across thick bushed, clumps of trees and an occasional stream. Suddenly, Silver yelped and he slammed into the ground. Shadow skidded to a stop, sparks lighting up the night.
"Silver, what the hell-" A set of flexible metal link 'ropes' rose like silver snakes and shot in the direction of Shadow. He darted out of the way. As he did, he noticed Silver on the ground, fighting the metal links as they slowly curled around his body.
Great.
Just what he needed.
…
Jade was carefully climbing down from the highest branches of a tree after scouting ahead, when the alarm built in the communicator went off. The sound obviously said this wasn't a regular I-just-want-to-talk-to-you transmission. This was a help!-I'm-being-attacked-and-might-die- if-you-don't-get-your-ass-over-here! type of transmission. She looked at it as she reached the ground. Sonic's name was flashing in red letters.
"Damn…"she muttered. Flicker was looking up at her, aqua eyes wide with worry, tail swishing back and forth.
"Hey Doc," Jade called. The scientist glanced at her. "Go on without us."
"Something happened?" he asked, although he thought he already knew the answer. Jade nodded gravely.
"Sonic's in trouble."
…
It was the smell of smoke that alerted the two girls of what was going on. Jade's heartbeat quickened. Fire was already bad enough, but in a place like this… She hoped Sonic had the sense to forget his fear of water, and find a large lake, or stream. After all, Tails was with him, and Jade knew he would do anything for his 'brother'. The girls abandoned the trees they were using to get around, as a precaution.
"Do you see them?" asked Flicker. Jade shook her head, half-choking on a lungful of smoke. They crept forward, close to the ground. When they reached the ring of fire, they looked on completely amazed. The fire appeared to be confined to a particular area, as it wasn't spreading. Jade and Flicker shared a glance. Suddenly, they spotted Sonic, his blue fur contrasting sharply with the red, orange, and yellow flames licking at the trees. He looked completely exhausted as he towed a similarly drained Tails behind him. Suddenly, the girls' communicators announced a new emergency.
This time, it was Shadow.
"What the hell is going one?" muttered Jade. She glanced at Flicker. "Stay here and help them. I'll take care of this one." Flicker nodded, although it looked like she wanted to argue. Jade turned and ran.
She half leaped, half climbed a tree, and set out as fast as she could. Travel by trees was actually faster than by ground, as the ground was littered with unexpected obstacles. Besides, the moon wasn't helping much, even though she was leaping and somersaulting across the highest branches. Jade paused and checked the communicator. She was nearing Shadow's position. She watched as the dot marking him danced around the screen, like he was being chased by something. Jade continued through the trees. She stopped one more time, and saw that the little dot had blinked out. At first, she thought the communicator had died on her, but then remembered that Tails had built them so they that ran on Chaos Energy. Confused, she returned to the forest floor. The built in radar started beeping. Then the dot slowly faded in. The moment of relief turned to bewilderment as the wolf realized the dot was right where she was standing. Jade looked around, but there was no one around. The little dot had no name next to it.
"What the hell?" she growled frustrated. A sudden breeze made her look up. 'Great, now I'm starting to hallucinate.' Jade rubbed her face…and yelped when she looked down…as the screen was covered in little blinking dots, with a steady beep, beep, beep…
"Wow, that thing must be possessed huh?" A strange, female voice was heard right behind Jade. No one was there. She took in several deep breaths. 'Geez I've been spending too much time outside…either that or someone put something in my orange juice.' Someone tapped her shoulder. She turned again.
Nothing.
Now it was certain: someone was messing with her, and she didn't like it. "Who are you?" she called out. The only response was silence, but Jade sensed someone was out there. A soft laugh made the tinniest tear in the silence.
"You don't have to see to know what's around you…" The whisper floated into the night like a soft breeze. Then the girl was gone. Another sound reached Jade's ears. Someone was coming towards her. A split second later Sonic, Tails, and Flicker broke through the brush.
"Jade!" Flicker jumped at the wolf and hugged her. "I'm glad you're O.K." Jade nodded smiling. Sonic's fur was singed in a few places, but he looked alright. Tails' yellow coat smudged with ash.
"Are you guys are alright?"
"Yeah, the fire didn't spread," Sonic said. Tails nodded.
"Silver and Shadow need help," she said. To her great relief, the communicator was working perfectly fine, except that Silver's name was next to the dot, not Shadow's. "Are you guys sure you're alright?"
"We didn't get burnt, so I guess," Tails responded. The group set out carefully. Jade kept a close watch for the girl. They were about three quarters of the way to the other hedgehogs' location, when, the blinking dot started to move rapidly and the sound increased. Suddenly, something big, gray, and glowing aqua crashed into Sonic.
"Silver! What happened?" Silver gingerly stood and helped Sonic up.
"I don't know. One minute I'm flying beside Shadow, and then I'm tied up on the ground," He gestured to the marks on his arms and chest. "Shadow just disappeared."
"Where's Dr. Eggman?" asked Sonic. Jade and Flicker shrugged.
"Last we saw him, he was headed east," Flicker responded.
"Did you guys see anything?" The Mobians had started walking again, heading in the same direction as Dr. Eggman. The guys all shook their heads.
"We did hear some things, but we really didn't see anything," Flicker said.
"Beside, you needed help," Jade put in. Suddenly, the world turned black, but the Mobians were still conscious. Folded fabric covered their eyes, but there was so much disorientation, they couldn't figure anything out.
"Hey!" protested Jade, Silver, Tails, and Flicker at the same time. Laughter echoed through the forest.
"Who turn the moon off?" Sonic yelped. There was a scuffling sound and suddenly Jade collided with someone, she guessed it was Sonic. There were several sounds of protest and painful collisions as the Mobians staggered around. The chaos finally ended when they ended up tripping over each other.
"Like I said, you don't need to see to know what's around you." Yep, the girl was back. Jade reached up, and ripped off the blindfold. There was no one around.
Footsteps were heard by the Mobians now sprawled all over the place. Five pairs of eyes turned to meet the crimson glare of the black hedgehog as he emerged from the shadows. Like Silver, he had marks around his arms and legs from tight bonds. Jade, Sonic, Silver, Flicker, and Tails gingerly picked themselves up. The others were taking off their blindfolds.
"Where'd you go?" asked Silver as soon as he spotted the black hedgehog. Laughter was heard from a nearby tree. A blur shot past, causing the leaves to tremble from the sudden disturbance. Moving as one, the Mobians wasted no time, and continued the chase. Leading the pack was Shadow, followed by Sonic and Jade. Flicker and Tails were side-by-side. Silver came last. One last message rose into the night.
"Catch me…If you can…"
