CHAPTER 9
Hello everyone! I really hope you guys are liking how the story is going! I've given my OC bios on my profile more information so you guys can learn a little bit more about Zulu, Victor, and Bilge. Please read, review, message me, all that stuff, your opinion matters to me and I respond pretty quick to PMs. Thank you for sticking with me this far everyone!
Bilge pulled the truck into the garage and parked it by the elevator. He had considered a stealthier approach but figured that since the elevator was his only way in, it was pointless. Bilge quickly checked his tactical vest for his rappelling gear and made sure he had enough ammo stored away in case there was a long drawn out fire fight. He slid his handgun into its holster on his left thigh and grabbed his compact sub-machine gun, custom made for his small size, slinging it over his shoulder.
He hopped down from the truck and stepped up to the elevator door. He analyzed it before deciding he would just have to force it open. Bilge wormed his fingers into the crack between the doors and pulled, the muscles in his arms bulging as the doors slid apart. Once he opened the doors he tugged off the rope he had wound around his torso. At one end of the rope was a spike, which he jammed into the sliding door track on the ground. He then hit a button on the spike, causing small claws to shoot out, securing it firmly in place. Bilge yanked on the rope, checking that it held firm, then slotted the rope through special loops on his vest.
Holding onto the rope he then leaned out into the elevator shaft and began rappelling down. He took his time and didn't rush, knowing that they were most likely well aware he was coming down and there wasn't really much he could do about it. A few moments later he touched down onto the top of the elevator. He quickly moved over to a maintenance hatch and ripped it open, hopping down into the elevator. His ears twitched up, hearing a lot of activity on the other side of the doors. He shouldered his sub-machine gun and tapped a button, the doors slid open with a humorous "ding".
Before the doors had opened a quarter of the way Bilge opened fire, killing two people as they ran by the door carrying boxes. As the gunfire echoed through the room chaos ensued. Bilge stepped out of the elevator and began firing short bursts into anyone in sight. People dropped what they were carrying to turn and flee, only to be shot mercilessly in the back. Bilge sneered and laughed at the horror on a man's face who ran out of a room right in front of him. He put a burst into his stomach and stepped over his body, sweeping his gun around and continued the massacre.
As Bilge reached the far side of the room he saw a young woman dart out of a room and run for another. He aimed and was about to fire when more motion caught his attention.
"Emily!" Bilge swiveled to point his gun at the room she had left as a man ran out yelling her name. Bilge fired but the man slid into cover behind a cabinet. Suddenly a hand peeked around the side of the cabinet with a gun and fired, causing Bilge to duck back behind a concrete support pillar. He smiled to himself as he reloaded, happy that someone was finally fighting back. He leaned around the pillar and put three long bursts into the cabinet, stepping out from cover and quickly running up to it as he fired to keep the man pinned.
Alan stayed crouched, waiting for the split second when the rat would appear from around the cabinet. He saw the tip of the gun and jumped out, grabbing the gun and tackling the rat to the ground. Alan brought his right elbow down hard, slamming it into the side of the black rat's snout. The rat hissed and planted its feet into his stomach, kicking him off before hopping to its feet. The rat had dropped its gun and sneered at him. Alan was momentarily stunned by the rats surprising strength and in that time the rat drew the handgun that was holstered on its thigh. Alan rolled to the side and back behind the cabinet.
Bilge was impressed by the man's reflexes as he trained his handgun on the cabinet. He glanced over to see that the woman that had run out of the room was cowering in a corner. He swiveled to put a bullet in her head when yet another person burst out of the room beside him. Bilge's reflexes surged as he swept the handgun over to the new arrival and fired, shooting the person in the head. As the woman dropped to the floor a blur of movement and a scream of rage caught his attention as the man from before charged out from behind the cabinet. Bilge barely had time to turn and fire before the man rammed into him.
Alan screamed as he drew his hidden boot knife and charged around the cabinet, slamming his shoulder into the rat's sternum and knocking the rat to the ground. Alan landed on top of the rat and raised his right arm to stab but the rat grabbed his wrist and held back the knife. Alan slammed his left forearm into the rat's throat and put all his weight onto it. The rat struggled and began punching Alan in the ribs, breaking a few. Alan fought through the pain and whipped his head forward with a brutal head-butt, slamming his forehead onto the bridge of the rat's snout. The rat's hold on his wrist weakened momentarily and Alan pushed through, planting the knife deep into where the rat's neck met its shoulder.
Alan rolled off of the rat and onto his hands and knees, clutching his ribs and gritting his teeth in pain. He looked over to where Brystol lay dead on the floor. Alan growled and shifted his gaze to where Emily was sitting, propped up against a wall and breathing hard with her eyes closed. Alan started to move over to her when a surge of pain shot through his stomach. He groaned loudly in pain and looked down to see there was a bullet hole in his stomach. Alan moaned and coughed up blood, his lungs and ribs ablaze with pain. He kept crawling slowly over to her, until, after what felt like miles, his hand brushed her leg. Alan heard Emily whimper before collapsing to the floor and passing out.
Shadow appeared in a flash of light inside Brystol's secret headquarters. Accompanying him were Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, Victor, and Rogue. The place was shot up and people lay dead everywhere.
"What the Hell happened?" Victor exclaimed. "We left not even an hour ago."
"Emily called me, saying that their camera saw someone forcing their way into the elevator." Rogue replied, a worried look on her face. "Emily!" She called.
"Alright let's look for survivors." Sonic said and sped off to look in a room.
"Careful, whoever did this could still be around." Shadow warned. He looked around as he began his search. The room was trashed with papers lying everywhere and every table had been overturned. Pools of blood highlighted the bodies strewn around the room.
"Guys, over here!" Amy called. They all hurried over to find Amy crouching beside a woman who was cradling a man's head in her lap and crying.
"That's Emily and Alan!" Rogue rushed to Emily's side and gently touched her shoulder.
"I…found Brystol." Victor said grimly. Shadow and Sonic walked over to find Victor squatting by Brystol's body. "Looks like a shot to the head." He observed.
"Hey guys, who is this?" Knuckles asked, standing beside the body of a black rat.
"He wasn't here when we were, and he looks like he was heavily armed." Shadow commented.
"Think he was the attacker?" Sonic asked. Victor knelt down beside the rat and pressed his fingers to its neck.
"Well whoever it is, somehow they are still alive." He growled.
"Alright we will take him with us." Shadow stated. "Knuckles, grab him, Victor, take Alan, the girls can get Emily up. Stand close everyone, I'm going to warp us to Vanilla's."
Zulu was asleep on the couch when a bright flash woke him up. He jumped to his feet to find a crowd of people had arrived.
"Jesus Christ, what the Hell happened?!" He asked, alarmed.
"We aren't sure." Shadow replied. "Not too soon after we had left the meeting Rogue got a distress call and we gathered up a team and returned to find the place shot up. We need Vanilla ASAP."
"I'll go wake her." Zulu sprinted upstairs and returned with a groggy Vanilla.
"What happen-Oh my!" She immediately woke up upon seeing Alan and the rat's injuries. "Get those two to the kitchen now, I'll get my bag, is she hurt?" Vanilla asked about Emily.
"She is just shaken up." Rogue responded. Vanilla nodded and hurried off to grab her bag. Knuckles laid the rat on the floor and Victor laid Alan on the table.
"You guys sure this rat did it? He doesn't look that tough." Knuckles pondered.
"We will know soon enough, maybe once Emily calms down she can tell us what happened." Victor replied, glancing over his shoulder into the living room where Rogue and Amy were consoling a distraught Emily on the couch.
"Didn't bother taking the knife out of his neck?" Zulu asked Knuckles.
"Woah! I didn't really notice that."
"Leave him be you two!" Vanilla shooed them away and examined the rat on the floor. "My my, that knife is in deep, luckily though the angle doesn't seem to lead into his neck. I'll have to work on this rat first, his condition is much more fatal." Vanilla stated as she began to work. Victor remained standing by Alan and looked down on the young soldier with concern.
"You know him then?" Zulu joined him by the table.
"His name is Alan, he's been watching over us, you could say. Shadow holds him in high regard." Victor and Zulu turned to glance at the dark hedgehog, who was in the living room but kept glancing over at Alan.
"Seems he has earned your respect as well Victor." Zulu said softly, raising a hand to the large man's shoulder.
"I won't spoil his story for you, I'll let him tell you." Victor replied. Zulu nodded and left the kitchen with Knuckles. Zulu slowly approached the girls on the couch.
"How is she holding up?" He asked.
"She will be alright." Rogue said gently. "She said the rat was the attacker, but she doesn't remember much of the fight. She says she had her eyes squeezed shut for most of the fight but said Alan was the one to bring down the rat."
"Alan will be alright Emily." Amy rubbed Emily's back.
"He…he just shot…everyone…he was laughing…" Emily mumbled.
"Oh, Emily you poor thing, you're safe." Rogue comforted. Zulu left them to it and stepped up to Shadow, Knuckles, and Sonic.
"This just escalated to a whole new level." Zulu muttered calmly. "Now it seems there are some internal disagreements within G.U.N. which makes this more complicated."
"Couldn't we try and find others in G.U.N. who would side with us?" Sonic suggested.
"Doubtful. The ones after us could try and lure us in with a trap. We don't know who to trust." Shadow dismissed the idea. "We have the portal plans that Tails is working on. We also have the rat."
"According to Emily the rat is responsible for the attack." Zulu added. Shadow nodded.
"So we can question him and see what he knows." Sonic concluded. "So the plan is we rest up and get back to fighting strength, learn what we can and plot from there." He finished.
"Man I hate waiting, I wanna dish out some payback." Knuckles growled, slamming his fists together. Zulu suddenly was hit with an idea. He glanced over at Amy and Rogue and smiled to himself.
"Knuckles, I like how you think, and I have an idea." Zulu said, giving the echidna a wink. "Shadow, can you bring Blaze here?" He asked.
"Hmph, sure." There was a flash and he was gone. Moments later he returned with a protesting cat and a confused hedgehog.
"Shadow what's the big idea you can't just appear and grab me and-" Blaze trailed off, looking around and feeling the tense atmosphere.
"Blaze, Rogue and Amy will catch you up to speed." Zulu said, gently pushing the cat towards them. "I'll join you ladies in a moment. Silver, sorry for the abrupt transit."
"Don't worry." Silver replied.
"What's your plan?" Knuckles asked. "And why do you need the girls? We can do just fine without them."
"Oh Knuckles." Zulu chided him. "I am simply going to start using every tool I have available to its maximum potential. Those girls offer a lot of combat capabilities and right now is when I can start utilizing them. I'm going to see everything they can do and make up a plan for a counter attack."
"Well, long as I get to fight I'm in." Knuckles agreed.
"Good, now for you three." Zulu addressed Sonic, Silver, and Shadow. "I'm going to need you guys to hang back, along with Victor."
"What? Why?" Sonic complained.
"Shut up and let him finish." Shadow growled, but also felt somewhat irritated at behind left behind.
"G.U.N. is most likely keeping tabs on everyone they see as a threat. Now since the girls haven't been very active with what we have been doing, G.U.N. is most likely not paying too much attention to them, besides Rogue. They also believe I am out of commission. If you three are back at Tails' place while Victor hangs here with Alan and Emily, they will quickly lose track of where Blaze and Amy are. Rogue will have no trouble losing whoever is keeping track of her, but G.U.N. won't worry about that because they will think Rogue is on her own. They will assume I am with Victor, and Knuckles, they won't worry about you because they don't know how good you have become."
"I see what you are saying." Shadow nodded. "That still doesn't explain your plan though."
"Well, I'd guess I'd have a day or two at most before G.U.N. got suspicious. I am going to take Knuckles and the girls out of the city for a day or two to train and see how I can organize them into a strike team. Rogue's ability to fly is incredible but I feel that she can do more than just that. Blaze, I've heard, is quite the pyro, and I want to see it in action. Amy apparently has a large hammer and quite the strength and endurance when wielding it. Tie it all together with Knuckles' strength and gliding abilities, as well as my leadership, and we could have quite the effective in-and-out strike team."
"You know, when you list out all their abilities like that, I'm amazed the girls haven't already formed a team of their own." Sonic said. Zulu laughed.
"Oh how young and naïve you are Sonic, there is still so much you don't know about women." He chuckled loudly, catching Amy's attention. Sonic and Knuckles exchanged confused glances while Shadow stood quiet, arms crossed, considering the idea. Silver gave Zulu an approving nod at his plan.
"Excuse me, you wouldn't be talking bad about us would you?" Amy called. Zulu laughed and gave her a smile.
"Not at all Amy, Sonic just says the silliest things." Zulu walked over to the pink hedgehog and knelt again before the girls. He quickly adopted a more serious look. "Hey Emily, how are you doing?"
"I…I'm ok. Still shaken up though." Emily replied, some strength having returned to her voice. Zulu nodded.
"Good to hear, I'm Zulu by the way. I'm sorry you had all this happen to you tonight."
"So you're the man G.U.N. is after." Emily replied bitterly. "Just had to drag everyone into your fight."
"Hey, Emily that's-" Rogue started but Zulu interrupted her.
"It's ok Rogue. It is my fault all this is happening." He replied softly.
"You should have just stayed in your dimension." Emily spat. "I heard from Victor, you came here after getting ambushed. Just abandoned Victor and your team and left them behind. You don't care what happens to those around you, you're just a heartless coward, throwing away the lives of those under your command so you can live!" She shouted, loud enough for everyone to hear. "You're just an angel of death! Wherever you go you bring conflict and violence, why don't you just go away!" Zulu's face was an emotionless mask as he slowly stood up. Victor hurried into the room.
"Zulu-"
"It's alright…I'll…I'll be outside." Zulu walked to the front door and left the house, gently closing the door behind him. No one spoke. All eyes slowly made their way to Victor. Emily looked over at the man, immediately regretting her outburst. The look she received made her feel sick. Victor looked upset, angry, and surprisingly most of all, disappointed. He shook his head at her and turned to head into the kitchen when a door slammed from upstairs.
"Oh no, Cream…" Victor sighed, instead walking to the stairs and heading up to Cream's room. All was quiet, besides muffled sobs coming from the kitchen. Victor could be heard upstairs trying to get Cream to open her door, but to no avail. He returned downstairs and went out the front door. No one could bring themselves to move or speak, so sudden had Emily lashed out at Zulu.
"I…I'm sorry." Emily mumbled. The front door opened up.
"Just get upstairs sir, I'll handle things down here." Victor's voice could be heard. Emily barely saw Zulu as he leaped up the stairs in a blur. Emily stood up as Victor reentered the living room.
"I'm sorry, I was out of line." She said. Victor growled.
"You have no idea how deep those words cut. If that was really how you feel, you should join who is hunting us, because you share their way of thinking." Victor walked into the kitchen, his biting words bringing tears to Emily's eyes. Rogue, Blaze, and Amy stayed with her on the couch.
"Hun don't worry." Rogue said soothingly. "A lot has happened to you and you needed to let it out. It's ok."
"It's not ok." Emily mumbled, tears leaking from her eyes. "How I feel doesn't make it ok to bitch someone out like that. He was just being nice and I overreacted."
"Emily, it's obvious to us you didn't mean it. You should go apologize though." Amy said. Blaze nodded.
"I'd go talk to Vanilla and Victor in the kitchen." Blaze suggested. Emily stood and headed into the kitchen where she found Vanilla working on Alan. It was obvious she had been crying. Victor was leaning against the counter with his arms crossed.
"Vanilla." Emily said. Vanilla spoke without looking at her, continuing to work.
"Yes?" Her reply was short and she sounded sad.
"I'm sorry for what I said. I was out of line and there was no reason for me to say those things to Zulu."
"Victor?" Vanilla asked with a tone implying she wanted his opinion.
"I think she understands why what she said was wrong." He replied simply. Vanilla looked over at Emily and smiled.
"There is no use brooding and holding grudges over words spoken in frustration and stress. You are very mature for a young woman, taking responsibility for your words."
"Thank you Vanilla. H-How is Alan?" Emily asked.
"He will make a full recovery. The rat however, I don't know. He lost a lot of blood. He may have attacked you but I care about all of my patients." Vanilla said, sounding genuinely concerned.
"I understand Vanilla, I hope that you can help b-both of them." Emily stammered.
"You should go see m-Zulu." Vanilla caught herself, almost saying my husband. She blushed as Emily left the room, not noticing the slip up. Victor couldn't contain a laugh.
"Getting ahead of ourselves aren't we?" He teased, hoping to cheer her up a little. "You may have told your "future husband" your feelings, but he lacks any experience to know what to with them."
"Oh hush you!" Vanilla snapped.
Emily walked up the stairs and stepped up to the closed door that was Cream's room. She heard giggling and Zulu's strong, deep voice reading a story. Gently she knocked on the door.
"Yes?" She heard Zulu answer.
"C-can I come in?" She asked.
"No!" A voice yelled. Emily guessed it was Cream.
"Cream…" Zulu gently scolded. "Come in." He said. Emily opened the door and what she saw really proved that she had been wrong. Zulu was sitting on the bed, back to the headboard and feet hanging off the end of the bed. In his right hand he held a children's book of fairy tales. His left arm was wrapped around Cream, who was snuggled up to him, sitting in his lap. Cream immediately glared at her and stuck out her tongue.
"Sorry to interrupt you two." Emily said, stepping into the room.
"Hey not a problem at all." Zulu said, giving her a smile. His eyes, however, looked pained and she saw the wounds he wasn't showing. "How are you feeling?" He asked. His voice was genuine.
"Awful honestly." She replied. "I said some things that I shouldn't have said to you and I wanted to apologize." She didn't look away from his eyes as she spoke, hoping to see the pain in them go away. When he answered, the pain remained.
"Oh it's fine, no big deal." He laughed.
"Zulu, I can see it in your eyes." Emily said. Zulu's smile quickly vanished.
"How is Alan?" He suddenly asked, his face becoming serious.
"Vanilla said he will make a full recovery." Emily saw relief replace some of the pain in his eyes.
"Victor told me he is quite a soldier, and that Shadow even has respect for him." Zulu said. "I can't wait to officially meet him."
"You are also well respected by everyone, and I know now I was wrong with what I said to you." Emily replied.
"You don't know anything about Zulu!" Cream spoke up. "You just accused him of being a coward and not caring about anyone! You don't know anything about him! He didn't leave his team behind, he was there until the end!" Emily was taken aback by the little bunny's rant.
"Cream, please, don't yell." Zulu said softly, rubbing her head. "It's all right, she was mistaken, that's all, she's sorry."
"She doesn't understand what you've been through and how you felt though." Cream pouted.
"Sweetheart." Zulu said, his voice tender and loving, having an immediate effect on Cream, calming her down. "You don't need to be so upset." He continued stroking the hair on her head and gave Emily a sad smile. "I watched each man of my team get killed." He said, his voice barely audible to Emily. "Lima was first, then Echo and Romeo, then Oscar, then Mike, then Victor." He listed them off, Emily feeling a jolt of guilt with every name he listed. She could see his pain as he relived every moment of their deaths. "Victor took a bullet to the shoulder and was knocked off of the platform we were holding. I thought he was dead and was overcome with rage and anguish. I took a bullet straight to my chest and was flung back into the portal." He finished, Cream was crying with her head pressed against his chest. Emily felt tears begin to run down her cheeks as all her emotions, frustration, and stress began to come out, and she stepped up to the bed and sank to her knees, saying sorry repeatedly and sobbing.
Vanilla peaked into Cream's room having heard a lot of crying and found Zulu with his right arm cradling a crying Cream who had her face pressed against his chest and his left arm gently patting a sobbing Emily, who was on her knees at the side of the bed with her head in his lap.
"Oh dear." Was all Vanilla could say.
"Oh perfect Vanilla, can I get some help?" Zulu asked. Vanilla noticed he seemed more like his normal self, and guessed by the looks of things Emily had properly apologized.
"You know, I think you have it handled." Vanilla said shutting the door.
"Vanilla!" He called, but she was gone.
Back down in the kitchen, Victor was raiding the fridge when he heard a growl. He turned to look at Alan, thinking it was him. He heard a second growl, and realized it was coming from the rat. He crouched down by the rat, who was slowly waking up. The rat growled again and suddenly his eyes ripped open. Victor almost jumped back as the blood red eyes glared up at him.
"Vanilla!" Victor called. "The rat is waking up!" There was a commotion in the living room as everyone hurried to the kitchen. Vanilla arrived in the kitchen and knelt down besides the rat.
"Easy now, try not to move too much alright. Just relax." She said, gently resting her hand on the rat's chest. The rat glared up at both Victor and Vanilla and growled.
"Where…am…I?..."
"The closest thing you're going to get to a hospital." Victor replied. "Who are you?" The rat didn't reply, instead looking around and noticing Alan laying on the table.
"Hey, I asked you a question." Victor growled.
"Victor, don't antagonize my patient." Vanilla said sternly.
"You should just kill me." The rat growled. "I'm not telling you anything." Victor was about to continue questioning when a loud beep was heard. Vanilla got up and stepped over to the counter, where a large machine with a vile of red liquid was sitting. Its display screen was flashing and it printed out a piece of paper. Vanilla read the paper and set it onto the counter.
"Seems my assumption was right." She said out loud. "I tested his blood for any traces of the combat drugs found in Zulu's system and got a match. Seems he wasn't given nearly as high of a dose as Zulu, but the fact that it was in his system says enough."
"So, you definitely work for G.U.N. then." Victor deduced. "What's your name?" The rat remained silent, closing his eyes. "Hey, don't fall asleep on me."
"Victor please." Vanilla scolded.
Bilge thought over his situation. He had been taken captive and was being treated for his injuries. Bilge pondered how to best kill himself, having no further purpose after his mission. He could return to G.U.N. for execution, since the policy was generally one mission per assassin unless special circumstances applied. The man in charge of the assassins always liked to rinse his hands of every mission he was involved in. Bilge also considered that someone might be sent out to kill him, which would certainly make things easier.
He opened his eyes and noticed everyone was now surrounding the man on the table, the one who had stabbed him. They were all distracted, now was his chance. He slowly wriggled his fingers and clenched his right fist. It was hard, but he was able to slowly move his arm over to his left shoulder. He shut his eyes and calmed his mind, preparing it for pain. He bit down hard on his tongue, clamping his mouth shut and dug his fingers into his stitched up stab wound. He winced with pain and kept watching the group, making sure he wasn't spotted, although it didn't matter if they did. They would be distracted by his knife wound, unaware he was actually drowning himself in his own blood.
After a few moments, Victor glanced over at the rat to see him jamming his fingers into his wound.
"Oh shit!" Victor exclaimed, dropping down beside the rat and trying to restrain him.
"Oh my god!" Vanilla cried. "What is he doing!?"
"What do you think?! He's trying to kill himself!" Victor growled, pinning the rats hands to the floor. "That was a stupid move on your part rat, was that really the plan?" Suddenly Victor felt the rat starting to convulse underneath him. The rat smirked up at him as a trickle of blood oozed from the corner of his mouth. "What the Hell are you…Dammit!" Victor immediately rolled the rat over onto his side.
"Victor what are you doing!? I need to stop the bleeding in his shoulder!" Vanilla yelled.
"He has bitten his tongue Vanilla! He is drowning himself!" Victor cried. "We gotta get his mouth open! Silver!"
"On in!" Silver hurried over and knelt in front of the rats face, holding his hands up to Bilge's mouth. Slowly, the rats jaw slid open and blood gushed out. The rat continued to convulse as Vanilla began pumping his chest. The rat suddenly began coughing up blood violently and Vanilla started working on his bleeding tongue. With Silver holding his mouth open and Victor keeping the rat on his side restrained, Vanilla, after fifteen minutes of working, finally managed to stop the bleeding from his tongue. She packed his mouth with gauze and started working on his stab wound again.
The rabbit finished the last stitch and sighed with relief. She sat back on the floor and nodded to the man and the hedgehog holding Bilge down.
"I did it." She said. Vanilla wiped her eyes and leaned over the rat, who returned her look with a glare. He then noticed she was crying.
"Don't you ever do that again! You could have died!" The rabbit cried. Bilge would have made a smartass reply, but he couldn't talk with his mouth full of gauze. He was also confused about why she was so upset about it. He was someone whose only purpose was to die while killing people. He glanced past her to the group of animals who had been watching with worry, save for the black hedgehog, who couldn't seem to care less. He also saw two new arrivals, the shorter woman he had tried to kill from before and a taller man. He then noticed that the man who had stabbed him was sitting up on the table staring at him. Even he had been concerned. Bilge let out a sigh and closed his eyes, wondering what the Hell was wrong with these people.
"Looks like he's asleep." Victor said after a bit. "Crazy bastard. Everyone ok?" Victor glanced around at everyone and saw that this might have been a first time for most of them to see something like this happen. He gave Silver a pat on the shoulder. "Thanks for the help." Silver just nodded slowly and stood up, walking over to Blaze who looked quite unsettled. Zulu stepped up beside Vanilla, who was still tense and kneeling beside the rat. She was relieved, but fear was still in her eyes. Zulu crouched beside her.
"Cream is sleeping soundly. Emily and I rushed down when we heard the commotion. How you doing?" He spoke gently to her. She nodded slowly and didn't move or say anything, eyes glued to the rat.
"Alright everyone." Zulu stood up. "You all witnessed what happened. It wasn't pleasant, and I'm sure for some of you it will be hard to forget. I'm sure most of you don't understand why that just happened, but let me tell you, this rat is just as much of a victim as Victor and I." Zulu suddenly intensified. "You all remember this as you fight, the people we are after made this rat believe that he would be more useful dead then returning, and that pisses me off." Zulu seethed. Victor stared up at Zulu in admiration, seeing the leader side starting to show. Zulu's words hit home with everyone and Victor could see them starting to understand. "Rest up everyone. Rogue, Amy, Blaze, Knuckles, I want you all at Tails workshop ready for two days of intense training by 6 o-clock in the morning." Zulu finished. "Sonic, Shadow, Silver, I mentioned my plans earlier to you guys, so you three are going to have to fill everyone else in."
Early the next morning, Knuckles was the last to arrive at Tails' house. Amy, Rogue, and Blaze were already there, wondering where Zulu was. Suddenly, Zulu dropped from the sky landing right in the middle of their group, the glint of a knife in his hand. Before any of them could react he moved in a blur, lightly tapping the blade to each of their necks.
"You're all dead." Zulu growled. He stood up and looked down on them. "We have a lot of work to do." He glanced up into the darkness of the sky. "Alright Tails, let's go."
"I'm coming too?! Awesome!" The small fox hovered down from where he had been hiding.
"Zulu, how did you do that?" Knuckles asked.
"Do what?" He replied.
"You just appeared right in the middle of us!" The echidna remarked.
"Isn't it obvious Knuckles? Tails held me aloft above you four and dropped me." Zulu smirked. "You all have very strong capabilities, but working as a team is far more than fighting side by side and trusting one another. Now, Rogue and Tails, carry Knuckles and I to where I direct you. Amy and Blaze, you must keep up and arrive at the spot the same time that we do. If my feet touch the ground and I don't see you, Rogue and Tails are flying you back here and you will have ten minutes to make the trip. Understood?"
"Alright." Amy replied hesitantly.
"Got it." Blaze said confidently.
"Excellent, alright, let's go." Zulu ordered. It was a grueling half hour flight for Tails and Rogue, but they made it to the clearing Zulu had directed them too. As Tails set Zulu down, Blaze and Amy burst from the tree line, panting and sweating. "Well done ladies! Now Knuckles, your warm up is to run ten laps around this clearing, and you aren't allowed to stop until you finish, now move it!" Zulu barked, jolting Knuckles into action. Zulu watched as he ran off and turned to everyone else. "Alright, Rogue and Blaze, you two get to team up and attack me first, Tails and Amy, you get a break."
"We just, attack you?" Rogue asked.
"I want you both to try and kill me. You two can use all of your abilities and do anything you want, I will only use my hands." Zulu turned and walked a few paces back, turning around to face them. "Begin!" He yelled. Blaze created twin fireballs while Rogue took to the sky. Blaze began hurling them at Zulu while Rogue dove down at him from above. Zulu launched himself toward Blaze, dodging her fireballs with ease and jumped, drop kicking her and sending her rolling back. Landing flat on the ground, he rolled to the side to avoid a kick from Rogue. He hopped up in a blur and delivered a hard roundhouse kick to the back of her head, sending her flying to land by Blaze.
"Ladies please. I already know how you can easily beat me. Use teamwork." Zulu emphasized teamwork. He patiently waited for them to get up.
"He's fast, but not Sonic or Shadow fast." Rogue commented quietly, standing up and rubbing her head.
"He's strong too." Coughed Blaze. "Fighting him up close isn't a good idea."
"Then lets both keep our distance." Rogue winked. "Clingy guys aren't attractive you know?"
"Let's do it." Blaze grinned. Rogue wrapped her arms around Blaze and flew into the air.
"That's it ladies!" Zulu yelled. He saw fireballs begin shooting towards him and he sprinted to the side. Now, he had to evade them until they can sync themselves properly. He ran, jumped, rolled, and ducked the hail of fireballs that were sent his way. It had been twenty minutes but they hadn't landed a hit on him. He decided to put pressure on them, either get them to snap together or snap apart.
"Come on you two! You're like an indecisive lesbian couple!" He yelled. "If you don't tell each other what you want you'll never get each other off!"
"What is he talking about?" Blaze asked.
"He is being a pervert. But I actually get what he is saying." Rogue replied. "Blaze, I have the speed and agility to keep up with him, you have the ranged firepower to attack him with. You have to anticipate where I'm going to move, not where he is going to move."
"But if I don't anticipate where he is going how will I hit him?" Blaze snapped.
"Blaze you have to be in sync with me, he is reacting to where I move as much as he is reacting to your shots. Anticipate and feel where I'm going, then guess where he will move in response. But don't forget he will also be considering where you will fire."
"Understood. I'll nail him this time."
"Good, and hurry up because I can't keep this up."
Rogue flew low and shot toward Zulu. Blaze received a small squeeze from Rogue on her right side, a signal that Rogue was going to bank right. Zulu started to step to the left. Blaze fired a shot at where he would be and Zulu jumped back to the right. Blaze smiled as he unknowingly moved to where she wanted him. Suddenly Rogue banked hard to the right, flying around Zulu as he ran. Blaze then anticipated Rogue would cut in front of him and held back, knowing that firing ahead of him would make her miss. Rogue abruptly turned to the right, Zulu dodged left to try and get behind them, but Blaze guessed that he would and had begun shooting fireballs the second he changed direction, blasting Zulu and knocking him back with three direct hits.
"I got him!" Blaze cheered.
"You go girl!" Rogue exclaimed. She slowed down and landed, giving Blaze a hug.
"Nice flying!" Blaze said. She looked over at where Zulu was getting to his feet.
"Damn ladies, I knew you had it in you." He grinned, walking up to them.
"You ok Zulu?" Blaze asked, seeing the burns on his clothes.
"Oh yeah, this jumpsuit is very resilient, and the armor is able to handle a lot of force." Zulu replied, brushing off his shoulders. Knuckles jogged up and collapsed onto the ground.
"Finished…my laps…Zulu." He wheezed.
"Excellent. On your feet." Zulu ordered. Knuckles shakily stood to his feet. "So, Rogue, whenever I'm not working with you and Blaze I want you both working on what you just did. Rogue you will be required to carry Blaze at all times unless resting or working with me. Blaze, you will work on your aim and strategy for shooting fireballs. I drew up these exercises last night for both of you." Zulu pulled out a small packet and handed it to Rogue. "Both of you take a short break then get started. Knuckles, Tails, and Amy, it's your turn." Zulu turned and walked a distance away before turning to face them. "Use whatever strategies and abilities you can to kill me. I again will only use my hands."
"Ok guys, Zulu is really tough, Amy, be very careful." Knuckles warned.
"Excuse me?" Amy snapped. "Just cause I'm a girl means I'm the weak link?!"
"Amy I've sparred with him a ton and have learned a lot. I'm telling you to be careful because he could disarm you. If you lose your hammer we won't stand much of a chance." Knuckles replied, the subtle compliment calming Amy down.
"Oh, I see. Do you have a plan Tails?" She asked.
"I do, but Zulu has already anticipated it I'm sure."
"Hey, we are the out of the box thinkers aren't we?" Amy smiled. "We have to do something he won't expect."
"What do you have in mind Amy?" Tails asked. Amy smiled. "Here's my plan…"
Zulu watched as they broke their huddle and smiled when he saw Amy draw her hammer and charge him with Knuckles, while Tails flew overhead. He wondered how they were going to act and hoped he had predicted them correctly. Knuckles immediately engaged him while Amy hung back, only stepping in to swing when Knuckles had Zulu tied up. Zulu smiled to himself, guessing that Knuckles had warned her about losing her hammer. Zulu quickly found an opening and delivered a hard kick to Knuckles' side, sending him flying. Amy immediately jumped in close, making small, controlled swings with her hammer. Zulu made a move to disarm her but Tails flew in and distracted him. Zulu had to now focus on dodging Tails' attacks that could come from any direction.
Zulu went onto the defensive, waiting for an opening to get rid of Amy's hammer. Amy made a hard swing and missed, Zulu taking advantage of the opening she had made and planted a knee into her stomach. He then ducked to the side as Tails swooped in for a kick and danced around his face. Zulu kicked Amy back and swung for Tails. Tails dodged to the side, and a red blur slammed into Zulu, delivering a brutal punch and flinging him back onto the ground.
"Yeah! It worked!" Knuckled exclaimed.
"Great one Knuckles!" The fox gave the echidna a high five.
"Zulu really doesn't hold back." Amy groaned, clutching her bruised stomach.
"Excellent thinking." Zulu said as he got up. "I had expected Amy to be the one to launch the surprise attack but taking advantage of Knuckles gliding abilities to close in fast for the right moment was very impressive." Zulu rubbed his jaw.
"Wait you knew?" Tails asked incredulously?
"I had anticipated three outcomes. One was a distraction surprise attack. I wasn't aware of how you would do it however. I've already thought about how I want our strike team to operate, and have written up training regimens for everyone. I'll have to modify yours a bit to include Knuckles for surprise attacks as well. A good teacher also learns from their students."
"If you have our roles figured out already then why the tests?" Knuckles asked.
"Because the only one I have experience with here is you Knuckles, so I had to see if maybe you guys could think of better roles for yourselves than what I chose for you. Even with my experience with you Knuckles you showed another way you can benefit the team. Here is your training regimen." Zulu handed a second packet to Tails. "Tails, I am also adding hand to hand combat to your regimen, so you will also be sparring one on one with me. As a matter of fact, let's begin your session now. Amy, Knuckles, spar with each other. Knuckles, I'm trusting you will be a good partner for her and give her any pointers that I have given you." Knuckles nodded and took Amy to another part of the clearing and they began fighting.
"All right Tails, let's turn you into a fighter." Zulu growled.
"Hey." A muffled growl came from the floor. Vanilla jumped and looked down at the rat. She, Silver, and Victor had taken turns watching the rat throughout the night. She was beyond tired but instantly felt awake now that he had spoken.
"Yes? How are you feeling?" She asked. She saw the confusion flicker across the rats red eyes as he glared at her and narrowed his eyes. He slowly raised his right arm and pointed at the gauze in his mouth. "Oh, well I'll remove it if you promise not to try killing yourself again." Vanilla replied. The rat did his best to nod and she carefully removed the gauze from his mouth. The rat slowly worked his jaw around and carefully licked his teeth.
"Water." He growled. Vanilla nodded and went to the sink, filling up a glass and kneeling down next to him. She gently helped the rat sit up and held out the glass only to tug it back when he reached for it.
"Hey, you're not planning to drown yourself are you?" She gave him a small smile to show she was just teasing when she noticed his eyes widen. Her smile fell right off her face and she set the glass up on the counter, realizing that was exactly what he was going to do.
Bilge cursed in his head. This stupid bitch had almost fallen for it. He glared at her, wondering why she cared. He was interrupted from his thoughts when a smaller bunny entered the kitchen. Bilge guessed by how similar they looked that the smaller bunny must be the daughter of the one helping him. He growled as she walked by him, earning a squeak in surprise as the bunny hurried over to her mother.
"It's alright sweety, he won't hurt you." The rabbit said. Bilge watched them curiously. The rabbit noticed his stare and smiled.
"This is my daughter Cream, I'm Vanilla by the way." She said. Bilge felt nauseated by how sickly sweet she was. "Say hello dear."
"Um…Hello." Cream said timidly. Bilge just growled and ignored her. He slowly licked his teeth again and decided that he had better drink the water. He could just escape later.
"Hey." He growled. "I'd like that water now, to drink." Vanilla gave him a hard look and he rolled his eyes. "Look you dumb broad, I promise I won't drown myself with it." He snarled. Vanilla sighed and grabbed the glass from the counter and held it out to him. Bilge reached up for it but his hand was shaking violently with exertion.
"Oh dear, here." She said softly. She gently held the glass up to his mouth and tipped it so he could drink. Bilge slowly gulped it down and Vanilla set the glass back onto the counter. "There we go, now that you are talking, I have a no swearing rule in my house. I would also appreciate it if you refrained from any rude behavior towards my daughter. If you do anything to her I will make sure you regret it." Her voice was strong and packed with authority. Bilge didn't really care, however.
"Whatever." Bilge growled. "Don't worry about your dumb daughter, and quit caring for me, I'm as good as dead anyways. Soon as you let me out of here G.U.N. will kill me. Someone could be hunting me right now."
"No!" Cream yelled. "Zulu would never let G.U.N. get to you, no one here will. We won't let G.U.N. hurt anyone else."
"I am with G.U.N., I'm the one who attacked your friends." Bilge growled. "I'm the one you're fighting, foolish girl."
"I don't care." Cream declared. "Zulu tried to tell me he was a bad guy too but I knew he was good deep down. You're the same way, no matter how nasty you act." Bilge was shocked at this girl's blind trust and naivety. How could she think he was good on the inside? Bilge snarled at her, but Cream didn't back down. "I'm going to be nice to you and you're going to like it!" She marched out of the kitchen, off to who knows where.
"Stupid little girl." Bilge growled.