(AN: BREATHES HEAVILY KNOWING FORCES COMES JUST A FEW WEEKS
But on that note, hello again! Well, October's almost over, I work Halloween (kill me), and school's hard. Trust me, I could have gotten this chapter out yesterday but my stupid laptop has been having an overheating problem and turning off.
But it shouldn't stop this fic, now should it?)
A delivery bike sped down the road of Station Square, making a right as it stopped in front of a street vendor. The bike, being driven by a GamNeg robot, hopped off his vehicle and opened a case at the back of the bike.
"Ah, the GamNeg robot! You must have my issues, yes?" The street vendor asked.
"Yes Mr. Walrus, we hope you enjoy this month's issue!" The robot replied before leaving the crate on the counter, walking back to his bike to make the next few deliveries.
How could no one enjoy this month's article? Foretune had written this big article himself: "Big the Cat showing signs of being useful for once?!"
"Everyone will buy it!" The robot laughed.
As the robot continued to drive, Knuckles and Shadow sat at a corner on the black hedgehog's motorcycle.
"GamNeg robot just drove by, guys," Knuckles said into a walkie-talkie. "Time we head out?"
"Of course. We went over the plan," Tails replied.
"Well Shadow, if you may do the honors?"
Shadow nodded as he revved his motorcycle. He immediately took off, quickly following behind the GamNeg robot. The robot didn't take notice of this at first, simply driving off and coming up to yet another street vendor.
It was then that the robot turned around to see Knuckles and Shadow behind him. It audibly gawked.
"Now, Red!" Shadow yelled. Knuckles jumped off the motorcycle and onto the motorcycle of the robot.
"Think you can deliver huh? Think you can spread more lies, eh?!" The echidna said, wrapping his arms around the robot. The bot tried to swerve to get the echidna off, but the more he did so, the stronger Knuckles' grip got.
"Get off of me! I have to-argh!.. -deliver!" The robot yelled, now punching the red echidna. Though Knuckles was affected, it wasn't enough to get him off.
"I'll-ow!" Knuckles was cut off by a punch to the eye. "I'll let you deliver when you see what's in front of you!"
"Wha-"
Knuckles jumped off the motorcycle as the robot and his bike crashed into a wall, causing an explosion. The robot was melting as the Examineer issues burnt to a crisp.
"I'll let you deliver in the inferno…" The echidna smirked. Shadow drove up next to him.
"That's four down," he reminded the other.
"Vector, Espio, how is things on your end?" Knuckles picked up the receiver.
"Yup, already see a bike comin' up to our fake stand," Vector replied.
Over with the two reptiles, they sat by each other in front of a table selling magazines. Wearing disguises, their plan was to make the robots think that they were yet another stand selling Examineer copies, and then destroy them while still fooled.
"You ready, hun?" Espio asked, holding Vector's hand under the table.
"Ready as can be."
The robot drove up next to the two reptiles.
"Excuse me sirs, I couldn't help but notice you selling magazines there. Well, would you like to be interested in the Mobius Examineer?" It asked.
"Well gee! The Mobius Examineer? I never heard of such a thing!" Vector exclaimed, trying to make his best fake tone.
"You must be living under a rock sir! It's only the most high quality magazine in all of Mobius, dedicated to telling the truth, and nothing but the truth!"
The two reptiles smirked at each other.
"Why, how interesting!" Espio said, trying to sound enthusiastic than he normally ever would be. "Perhaps my partner and I will take a few!"
"Why of course, sirs! Let me hand you some copies, and if you'd be so kind, I'll even leave you a subscription card so you can get more subscriptions to the Examineer!"
The robot went to the back of his bike to gather copies. The crocodile nodded to his boyfriend.
In a flash, Espio threw a kunai knife straight clean into the back of the robot's neck. The robot simply sputtered out nonsense as it fell to the ground, deactivating.
"Nice job! Now let's get outta here!" Vector exclaimed, taking off his disguise.
"What about this table of magazines?!"
Vector had to think about that for a minute. In the end, he wrote a note that said "Take any for free!" on the table.
With that, the two reptiles ran hand in hand.
It wasn't just Knuckles and Shadow or Vector and Espio; the entire Investigation Team plotted ways to destroy robots all around the city. Tails splashed water from the sky on the Tornado to make the robots rust, Amy would pretend nice then smash them with her hammer at the last second, Sonic would beat them like he would with Eggman's robots, and Cream, Charmy and Rouge collaborated on a scheme involving the rabbit crying, pretending to be lost, bringing the attention of a GamNeg robot, only to destroy him.
Though they felt it was fool proof, that wasn't the case.
Back at GamNeg HQ, Foretune noticed that various robots are going off the radar.
"What the?! What's going on!" He yelled, splashing wine on his desk. Foretune pressed a button on his desk, the speaker by it buzzing to life. "Haola, get me Admiral JX-21!"
"A-admiral JX-21?!"
"Yes! You heard me! Do it! Sonic and his friends are destroying my robots! If they keep it up, we won't have enough Examineer copies printed out! And guess what will happen? YOU'LL lose your job!"
Haola sighed. "Very well, sir."
Minutes later, a robot wearing an admiral's outfit entered the room.
"How may I help you today, Mr. Foretune?"
"I'm sure you're very much away of the Sonic the Hedgehog crisis, no?"
"Of course. You rant about it every fortnight-"
"Enough! Now, you may remember… when I built you, I gave you a special mode called 'Rage Mode'. This was to only be activated in times of desperate need…"
"I understand…"
"Now, find Sonic and his friends, and make sure they are crushed by you!"
"I will not fail you, sir…"
"Job well done, guys! Foretune may keep building robots, but we'll keep destroying them until he gets the message!" Sonic said, high fiving his friends (sans Shadow of course). The Investigation Team sat at the Station Square Park's bench area, enjoying their day after destroying the GamNeg robots.
"Still, let's hope we don't get put on some domestic terrorist watch list or something," Amy said, holding her hammer behind her.
"We shouldn't. We're exposing the truth of GamNeg after all. Even if it is a bit unruly…" Espio replied.
"Unruly is right… but… I think being nice won't work here," Cream added. "Besides, it's not every day I get to do this."
"Pardon me," A voice suddenly said. The group turned to see a gopher man wearing some kind of military uniform.
"Uh… Amy? Remember what you said about being put on some terrorist watch list?" Charmy asked.
"Shh!"
"I must be so rude; would you happen to be Mr. Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends?"
"Yeah, what's up dude?"
"Ah, I'm glad to meet you! Don't worry; I won't bug you about that Examineer's painful articles. Trust me, I know how it feels to have a scandal. I once went through something like that 30 years ago… but alas! I'm going off topic. I just want to know how you are doing these days? The Examineer isn't bugging you, is it?"
The Investigation Team looked at each other. How could they explain to the man that moments prior, they were destroying GamNeg robots?
"Oh, they're… a bit annoyin'. But not too bad," Vector replied.
"Ah, I see! Well, I'm glad to see you're doing fine. Don't worry, I believe you're all innocent. In fact, let me buy you all something to drink."
"Oh, no sir, you don't have to," Tails replied, shaking his hands.
"Oh but I insist! It's the least I could do…"
"I don't mind taking the gift. It IS a bit hot today…" Rouge mulled.
"Good! Now, wait right here."
As Admiral JX-21 walked away, a sly grin on his face grew.
Moments later, the Admiral came back with water bottles. A smile was on his face as he handed them out to the Investigation Team.
"Now that I've done my deed, I'll take my leave. Have a good day, lads and gals!"
As the Admiral left, everyone except Shadow took a drink.
"Ahh, that hits the spot…" Knuckles said.
"Nice 'n cold… perfect fer a hot day like this," Vector added.
"Hm? Not gonna drink, faker?" Sonic asked.
"I thought you'd stop calling me that. And… I don't know… something about this bottle seems… off," The black hedgehog replies.
"Well, suit yourself. C'mon guys, let's-"
Just as the hedgehog got up, he held his stomach.
"Sonic?!" Amy screamed.
"Are you okay?!" Tails asked. "You made this exact same move when you transformed into a Werehog. Surely you don't have Dark Gaia energy in you?"
Then, Charmy groaned.
"My stomach hurts, Vector and Espio…" He whined.
"I'm sure it's your imagination-hrk!" Vector suddenly winced, holding his mouth. "N-no! I feel it sick too!"
Cream was next. "What's happening?!" She cried, the pain too much for the little rabbit.
"What's going on?!" Shadow replied. He quickly opened his bottle and sniffed. "This water has a… smell to it!"
"Give me… argh!- That!" Rouge said, getting sick too. She took a sniff of the bottle. "P-poison…"
"Poison?!"
"Poisoned water meant to knock out-"
Then Rouge collapsed. Followed by Tails, then Charmy, then Espio.
"That Admiral! He tricked us and tried to knock us out! Where is he-"
It was then that Shadow was hit in the back of the head with something blunt. The ebony hedgehog fell to the ground.
"Damn… you…"
"Oh Shadow, getting slower are we? Don't worry, just go to sleep…"
SOMETIME LATER…
Vector awoke to his stomach in pain, and the feeling of wooziness. The crocodile struggled to get up, his muscles aching.
"Guys?" He called out.
The crocodile couldn't tell where he was. His eyes were too droopy, and unable to adjust to the darkness.
Stumbling a bit, Vector looked around to hope someone was nearby.
"Espio?" He called out. "Where yeh at, hun?"
No response.
Vector sucked his teeth. Before he could worry about anything, he needed to get out of wherever he was.
"But what was I even doin'?" He mused to himself, holding his head.
"Okay okay, lemme recap. We were in the park, some admiral dude came by, gave us some water, mah stomach hurt, Shadow and Rouge were sayin' somethin' 'bout it bein' poisoned…"
It was then that the door opened.
"Ah… so you're awake."
Vector turned to see where the voice came from, and right in front of his face was the lifeless Admiral. His face was stitched up, his eyes closed, and no expression was on his face as he simply stood still. The crocodile screamed as he tumbled to the floor.
"W-who are ya?!"
"I'm surprised you were able to wake up before any of your friends on the floor. But I haven't answered your question have I? I am Admiral JX-21, the personal admiral of Mr. Foretune."
"F-foretune?! So… what do ya want?"
"I was given a task by Mr. Foretune himself. He isn't enjoying how your little 'team' is going to destroy his business."
"Oh, his business? Well, tell him this: it must suck so much to not have a little bit of money, when people like me 'n the people I love more than anyone else in the world…" Vector stared at the motionless body of Espio and Charmy. "…don't have anythin' to put on the table!"
"That's not my problem. You WILL end your endeavors now… unless you think you can stop me."
"Think? Oh no, I WILL stop yeh!"
Vector ran up to Admiral JX-21, attempting to punch him. The crocodile was however, stopped. The Admiral grabbed his fist, stopping him mid-way.
"You're weaker than you think."
The Admiral threw the crocodile to the wall. This in turn, woke the group up, despite their grogginess.
"W-where are we?!" questioned Amy, moaning as she tried to collect herself.
"Ah, it seems the foolish fools that spread foolish lies that only a fool would foolishly believe is now awake…" The Admiral mused. He waited for the group to get up, waiting for this 'team' to have full energy to fight before he activated rage made.
"Y-you!" Espio pointed. "You're the man that poisoned us!"
"The robot."
"Ro… then you are from Foretune!" Tails yelled, holding his aching head.
"I'm glad that you have figured out. But now, it is time for eradication."
"Like hell it is!" Shadow growled.
"Wait… where's Vector?!" Espio yelled.
"Your crocodile lover is over there. But I wouldn't try playing hero, because you'll just set yourself up to be destroyed…"
"What did you do to him?!"
"The man is still alive. Just… he tried to go against me so I did what I would do if someone tries to go against me."
"We'll get out of this place soon!" Cream said.
"And I'm gonna start with this escape!" The ebony hedgehog pulled out a Chaos Emerald. "Chaos Control!"
Disappearing, Shadow appeared behind the Admiral and kicked..
…only for Admiral JX-21 to dodge.
"What?!"
The Admiral chuckled. "Poor Shadow… unaware that you all are useless here. At last, it is time! Foretune, your new mode has finally come to use!"
Admiral JX-21 pressed the button on his back.
"To think… rage mode begins now!"
"Rage mode?" Rouge questioned.
"You think you 'kicked my ass' huh? You think you've won? You haven't seen powers like… like… ARGH!"
The robot begun to transform as black mist oozed out from him. He floated in the air as his body deformed and contrasted.
"What's this rage mode?!" Knuckles questioned.
"Whatever it is, knucklehead, it ain't good!" Sonic replied.
In the time of his transformation, Espio and Charmy were able to find Vector passed out on the ground. The chameleon held his boyfriend, shaking him slightly.
"Please Vector… wake up soon…" He mulled. The fuschia reptile looked up to see the transformation of the Admiral, the bee and the reptile realizing that something was about to go down.
"We'll worry about Vector later, Charmy. For now, there's a new enemy we have to focus on," Espio said.
"I know! He's gonna pay for what he did to Vector!" The bee exclaimed.
With his transformation finished, Admiral JX-21 crashed onto the floor on all floors. His wide, massive body crushed and collapsed the walls around him.
"DO YOU SEE WHAT I'VE BECOME? FORETUNE CREATED ME AS THE ULTIMATE ROBOT… HE HAS NO INTEREST IN NEGOTITAION, NO INTEREST IN STOPPING, NOTHING! WHY? WHY DO YOU FLESHLINGS GET IN THE WAY?!" The Admiral bellowed in a deep tone.
"Cause that stuff ain't true! And we're going to expose the truth!" Sonic said.
"That's right! We've had enough of your lies!" Amy added.
"That's why… we're finding the truth," Rouge said.
"FO…FOOLS… THE TRUTH ONLY GETS ONE SO FAR… WOULDN'T IT BE LOVELY TO LIVE A WORLD OF LIES? THIS LIE… IT ONLY LETS YOU BE REMEMBERED BY EVERYONE. WITH THE PEACE AND QUIET, YOU ALL WERE FORGOTTEN…"
"Cut the crap!" Knuckles pointed. "We're gonna defeat you!"
"Yeh a-and… Foretune… are gonna go down!"
A slurred voice rung out through the destroyed room.
"Vector?!" Espio gasped. "You're okay?!"
"Of… course… heh heh…"
The crocodile slowly got up, grinning as he held his arm.
"ALIVE, ARE WE MR. VECTOR? I DON'T UNDERSTAND… WHY DO YOU CONTINUTE TO LIVE?"
"Why… do yeh continue to keep flappin' yer mouth!"
With another roar, the robot grew more limbs from its body.
"I think you made it mad, Vector!" Charmy yelled.
"Ya dun think… I know that?!"
"Have any ideas how to beat this thing?!" Tails questioned.
"I say just go for it! There's nothing to this thing after all!" Knuckles replied. The echidna ran up to the robot and striked at the robot.
"Ẉ̭̫̌̄̌̽̅ͪ̚ͅH̠̺̙̪͜Y͍͈͓̳͉̭̝ͮ͌?̟̥̙͇̲!̆҉͉͖͍͍ ̤̄ͧͥͭ͑̒̄W̺͉̦̘͕̊͋̾H͈̪͚̹͔ͧͮ̚Yͦ͊ ̯͍͕͎͓̠́Ď̘̗̪̩̥̣̋̚O̘̣͒̎ ͚̦̈ͥ̋ͤ̽̽̾Y̤ͨͥ̏ͯͦ̽O̡͍U͙̪̘̒̋ ̭ͅC͓̟̠͑̌̓̿̏ͩO͒ͨ̂́ͩN̫̮͓̝͚̫T̜̱̎̇ͤI̘̙̙̱̒̅ͫ͌͊̉ͮN̷̗̬̪͚̲̗̉Ũ̪̽̈͞Ȩ͔̗͉̗̺̤ͪͥͥ ͘T̞̬̻̻̎ͣ̎ͅO͚̳͇̻̓̑̊̄ͥͬ̃ ̼͋ͯ͞ͅR̢̬̬̗̪̲̬̙̅E͉̖͇̰S̱̬͖ͧ̌ͦ̈́̚͜I̕Sͫ͗͋̉͆̄Ṱ̜̦͓̳̖̮?̗̙̟̲̰̦̭̋!̷͖͙ͤ̾̄͊"
The voice of the robot scared Cream, the rabbit held Cheese tightly as her face showed fear.
"Don't worry. You're not only doing this for us, but for you and your mother," Shadow said, putting his hand on the rabbit's shoulder. "She wouldn't want you to cry, would she?"
"She said I could shed as many tears as possible…"
"Go ahead. But remember… you have a duty to attend."
Cream softly smiled at the black hedgehog, wiping her tears.
"Cheese, are you ready?"
"Chao chao!"
Meanwhile, Sonic, Tails, Amy, Shadow, and Rouge were busy attacking the robot. Though there was no weak point, the robot was formidable.
Striking at the shell with a wrench, Tails grabbed Amy, floating in the air.
"Now's your time to strike!" The fox said, flying past the robot. Attempting to strike at them, the pink hedgehog smashed her hammer into the robot's head.
Just as Rouge was about to strike the robot's chest with her heel, the sound of an amplifier tuning up was heard.
"What the?"
Everyone turned to the noise to see the Chaotix with full music set up, complete microphones and speakers.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Rouge screamed.
"Where did you get that?!" Knuckles questioned.
"It's the Chaotix, after all!" Tails replied. "It's uhh… well in their name?"
"You're not wrong there," Shadow commented.
"HEY! ADMIRAL DUDEFACE!" Charmy said into the microphone.
"Seems like yer not gettin' this idea that yeh need to know the truth!" Vector pointed at the robot. "Well, we've got a song fer yeh!"
"It's a very… incomplete song. But we hope you do enjoy," Espio said lastly into the microphone. He held his shamisen tightly, strumming it.
"ARE YOU READY TO ROCKKKKKK?!" Charmy screamed.
No one said anything until the robot flailed around.
"W̙̟ͥͥ̐̂ͪͦ̆́ͅHA̭̣̥̺͍̗͙ͫ͐T̹ͨͦ̀ͤ̎͊ ̩̬̟̭̬͚̗ͦͩͩ̑̈͛I̮̊S̢͎̿ ̶ͬ̚T̵̳̯̫̖̎̆̊͆̊̑̀H̯͇̋ͥͩ̚Ỉ̠S͓̣̔̈́͢ͅ?ͤ͏!ͨ̄͌͊ͯ͏͖̭ ̛͖̥̝̭̟͓̙͆ͧͤH̱̲̘̖͆̀͆͊O̠̰͈̺̪̬͋͐̌̇̐͊W̬̱̫̋͌̏ ̦̤̺͈̺̈́͌̎́̚ͅͅD͏͎̞͉̘Ā̛̲̥͖̲̘̝R̷̻̞ͪ̋ͬͦ͌E͎͕̽͗ ̪̳̥̂͒̾̽͌ͮÝ̷̥ͥ́͛̐Ọ̮͕̤̻ͣ̏̓̆̃ͪU̖̬͒ ̲̳W̫̝̮͇̝̪͛ͮĨ̺̺̪̙̻S̝̳̰̩͈̥̪͋́͑̾͛ͣ͞H̠̫̹̥̪͐ͣ̀́ ̺͉̓ͭ̃T̍̂̒̐̿̉̉͠O̧̬͚͖ͣ̐̾͂̈́̽̑ ̮̮̱̹̫̿̉͛̅̄̂ͬͅD̙̝̱̝͖̖͑͌̿̀Í̐̍̅͏̻̦̮͎͔̳S̗͖͓̮̘̱̰ͤ͋̀ͧͨ̕T͉̤̼̆͐ͅR͕̻ͣͮͣ͊A̎͐C̶̞̦̝T̻̜͖͎͍̞̓͋̈ ̲͕̰̝̓̓̒͌W͙̥͚ͩ̾̐̀̎ͦ̓I̳̙͉̳͍̼̘T͓̭͈͙̺͐̆̍̏ͩ̓͂H̭̘͉͎͛̿̓̚̚ ̮͍͙̣̺̈̑S̤̒̏ͯͯͅŲ͍C̘̉͌̃͑͟H̰ ̻̻͙͎̟ͩ͂͒̈͆̈́͐ͅͅV͈̲̮̺̦I͔̘̥̥͎͎̣͐ͤͦ̑ͩL̸Ė̬̯̽́̏ͮ!̤̖̖̉̑ͫ͊ͧ̈́!͍̪̤̰̙͓ͯͭ" The admiral said. He smashed into the walls, the daylight from outside shining. Vector winced.
"Okay, MAYBE I'm starting to regret this," He said.
"This was your idea!" Espio hissed.
"I wasn't expectin' him to do that!"
"So did we not practice for a reason?" Charmy asked.
"Yes."
"Well, we have all this set up. We might as well do this."
"Eh, we're gonna ruin a lot of eardrums with this."
Vector took a deep breath and yelled into the microphone, attempting to 'sing'. Charmy played his little snare drum and Espio played his shamisen.
"S̢͎̗̯͍̓T̫̈ͧO͊̉̌̀ͤ͂̚Pͪ̌̓ͮͨ̇͠ ̜̩̤͇̪͚̈̇̍̾̐͡T̰͈̾̿́H̙̟̜̘͊͛̀I͇͎̞̳̥̮͈̿S̴͎ͩͩ̎ͥ̂!̖̠̩̲̫̮̳ ̶̞̯̝̲͖͗͑S̗̼̖̣̩̋T̰̭̩̰̥ͫ̕O̳̺͆P̡̰͈̝̗͔ͫ̎̉̂͌ ̘͕̬̪̲̀͆ͨ̇͌̃͑Ş̜̣̫̫͓͇ͭI̧̔Ņ̬̫̖̜͔́̑͛G̷̞ͯ̓I̷̫͖̪̮̽ͦͫ̽ͨN̳̺̩̺̰̬̭̍͆̍̍̐ͥ̎Ğ̣͋̋̉!̶̦̟̜̻͂͐ͨͅ!̶̫̫̹̠͎̎"
The rest of the Investigation Team got out of the way as the robot destroyed more and more of the walls collapsed.
"GO HARDER! LOUDER! IT'S DESTROYIN' HIM!" Vector yelled in between singing.
The vibrations from the bass got so intense; it shook the floor, and the ruined remains of the wall.
Finally, the song came to an end. Admiral JX-21 flailed around, stepping back into the destroyed wall.
And then, he deactivated.
Huh?" Tails asked, rubbing his ear to hear clearly again.
"What the?" Sonic added.
Then, a voice boomed from the robot.
"Enough, enough!" Foretune pleaded. "The more you kept the Admiral crashing, he would have destroyed that building! And I need you alive. I haven't tortured you enough…"
"I thought it was you who said you'd still write about us even if we died! Gonna drop the tough guy act now?!" Knuckles questioned.
"I'd shut your mouth where you stand, Echidna! I realize that you all won't give up with this, and sooner or later, you'll dry me out of robots. And that won't be fun, will it? So I give you a compromise. I'll stop, but you WILL meet me soon at GamNeg HQ. Do you wish to know where it is? Well, look outside and around at the buildings. Because I see you…"
The Investigation Team looked outside to not only see people looking at them from the ground, but at the buildings around them like Foretune said.
Then, they saw him. A block down, they saw a familiar pheasant, staring down at them and grinning wide.
"I can't wait to meet you all soon…"
The transmission ended.
"Let's go after him!-" Sonic said, before being cut off.
"No, Sonic," Vector replied. "We're not ready yet."
"What do you mean not ready?!"
"Vector's right. We're in no shape to take on GamNeg. We have no idea what he has planned," Amy said.
"If we die, who will learn the truth?" Shadow asked.
"Defeating him is our top priority first," Rouge added. "And besides, I think THEY want to deal with us first."
The Team looked down to see that police and other personnel were parked by the building.
"THE COPS?!" Vector gawked. "Whadda we do know?!"
"Hold on! I'll get the Tornado! I can call it using its autopilot mechanism!" Tails replied, tapping his wristwatch.
"Hurry, Tails! I'm scared!" Cream cried.
The door began to pound.
"POLICE! WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"
Just then, the Tornado flew by the open hole. Everyone got on, the two tailed fox flying away as the police opened the door. They could hear their gawks at the robot on the floor, wondering why it was here.
"That was close…" Sonic said.
"Tomorrow… we HAVE to get GamNeg…" Espio said.
"We'll do it…" Vector replied. Under all the seats, he took his boyfriend's hand. "…together."