CHAPTER TEN: GIVE UP

The white hedgehog walked through Station Square, passing by several civilians. The hedgehog thought to himself. "I remember when my time used to be like this." He looked back with a melancholy expression. "There is no time to be sad, I have to find Sonic!" The young mobian began running down the streets of Station Square. "He should be near this location somewhere. I can't waste any more time!" As the white hedgehog dashed down the streets, a golden energy ball flew past him, hitting the ground in front of him. The mobian came to a halt and turned around to confront his attacker. "Who's there?!" Standing before him was the menacing Bass.

The cloaked robot stood with his cape, now good as new, blowing in the wind. "I heard you were looking for Sonic the Hedgehog?" The white hedgehog nodded. Bass lowered his head. "Good. Maybe when I kill you, Sonic will have a reason to hate me." The hedgehog raised his palm and pointed it at Bass. "Sorry, I'm on a mission. So I can't waste time fighting you!" Bass grinned. "I'm sorry, but you don't have a choice. I know who you are. You're Silver the Hedgehog. I won't pass up the opportunity to take your powers!"

Silver closed his eyes for moment. "So you know who I am and you have no intention of letting me leave, huh?" He then shot a glare at Bass. "However, I have no intention of losing here!" Cyan energy began to flow around Silver as he lifted off the ground. Silver put his hands forward. "Psychokinesis!" Pieces of the sidewalk began to unearth themselves. The concrete revolved around Silver, encased in the same energy he was. "Take this!" Silver launched the concrete slabs at the dark robot.

Bass put his palms together and they began to glow with golden energy. Bass pushed his palms out. "Thunder Arrow!" Bolts of lightning shot from Bass' palms. After the two attacks collided, Bass charged at Silver with a Sonic Boost. Silver flew backwards, attempting to create distance between the two. "Those techniques, they belong to Sonic and Knuckles!" Silver unearthed another piece of the sidewalk and used it as shield. "So that's what he meant when by wanting to take my powers!" Bass punched through the concrete shield and grabbed the psychic hedgehog's face. Bass proceeded to slam Silver down on the ground. "You'll have to do better than that!" He raised his left arm as a golden energy ball formed in his hand.

Silver realized what was about to happen. "Ugh, I have to act quickly..!" Silver's forehead and quills began to glow. He clinched both of his fists as he concentrated his energy. "Hold ALL!" Bass completely froze in place, completely encased in the same cyan glow as Silver. "What the-!" Silver swung his palms to the left. "Now go away!" Bass was pushed back into an alleyway, crashing into the wall. Silver sat up. He was breathing heavily. "Wow! He sure fights rough! But….." Silver glanced at the alley where he threw Bass. "I still don't understand his ability fully, but if he absorbed my powers, then I know it didn't work."

Suddenly, a purple energy bomb rocketed from the alley. Silver jumped to his feet. "WHOA! Psychokinesis!" The psychic hero put his palms forward. The energy bomb stopped in its track. He closed his palms in a clasping motion causing the energy bomb to implode. Bass walked out of the alley and stopped at the sidewalk. "What's this? What did you do?" Silver gave smug smile. "So, I was correct after all!" Bass narrowed his eyes. "You were correct about what?"

The white hedgehog pointed toward Bass. "You can't absorb my powers!" Silver folded his arms and continued. "My Head Cage technique prevented you from taking them! Head Cage blocks my mind from any outside forces! I developed it specifically to counter Metal Sonic's Copycat." Bass stomped on the ground, causing sidewalk break apart moderately. "Head Cage?! When did you use that technique anyway!?" Silver pointed to the ground beneath him. "Just a few moments ago when I forced you away."

Bass thought back. "Your forehead was glowing right before you pushed me away." He took a step forward. "Huh, not only did you prevent me from stealing your data by blocking your mind, but you covered that ability up by countering with an attack at the exact same time! You're a smart one, Silver the Hedgehog." Bass looked down at his palm. "My Get Ability requires two components: seeing the technique and taking the info on how to use it. I guess you could say that when I see an ability, I get to read the mind of who I take it from to know how to use it." Silver directed his finger towards Bass. "And since I blocked you from my mind, you can't copy my moves!" Bass teleported in front of the smug hedgehog. He grabbed Silver by the throat and slammed him into the wall behind him. Bass grinned maliciously. "Too bad I don't need to take your powers to kill you." He tightened his grip on Silver's neck. "Now, die."

Out of nowhere, a shuriken star landed on the wall beside them. Silver's eyes widened. "That star..!" Bass looked to the side to see slash on his shoulder. "Oh?" Bass turned around to see a purple chameleon standing on the lamppost across the street. The cloaked robot pointed at his shoulder with his thumb. "I guess you're the one who did this to me." Suddenly, Bass felt someone grab the arm that was holding up Silver.

"YEAH, and I'm the one who's gonna do this to you!"

Bass whirled around only to receive a powerful sucker punch. The strike sent Bass hurdling into a red SUV parked next to sidewalk. Silver fell to his knees, gasping for air. A hand reached down to Silver. "Hey, need a hand?" Silver looked up to see a green crocodile with an orange bee sitting on his shoulder. "You're…..Espio, Charmy, and Vector! What are you guys going here?"

Vector was a bulky green crocodile with red scales running down his back. He wore white gloves with black and white cuffs and shoes fitted with gold buckles, and a large gold chain around his neck. Vector also had black wireless headphones. He had red eyes.

Charmy was a gold eyed mobian honeybee who wore an orange vest with a bee emblem on the left. He had white and orange shoes, and white gloves with black cuffs. Espio was a purple chameleon with a yellow horn on his forehead. He had three black scales on his back and a coiled tails. He wore dark purple and black shoes with elaborate cuffs.

Espio had studded bands around the wrists and ankles. He also had gold color eyes. Together, the three formed Chaotix. Vector grabbed Silver's arm and brought him to his feet.

"Well, that's not anyway to greet those who just saved your life." Espio jumped from the street lamp. He performed several flips before landing next to Vector. "It has been awhile since we last met, Silver the Hedgehog." Charmy flew off of Vector's shoulder and hovered above Silver. "Yeah, the last time we talked was when we were captured by that purple smokey monster clock thing on Sonic's birthday!" Silver stood up. "Well, when I saved my future, I didn't have a reason to come back to this time." Espio closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "So are you saying you have a reason to be here now?" Charmy cut it. "Is our world going – KABLOOEY? Or is it going – KABLAMY? Or is it-" Vector grabbed the hyperactive bee's face. "Charmy, SHUT IT!"

Silver turned around. "I-I'll explain later! Right now, I have to get past this guy!" A torrent of wind erupted from the destroyed vehicle. Silver and the Chaotix braced themselves. Bass charged at the heroes. "Team Chaotix? It's time you group of misfit idiots met your end." Vector stepped forward.

"ALRIGHT CHAOTIX, Let's show this tin can not to mess with us!"

"OKAY!"

"ROGER!"

Vector opened his mouth. "FLAME BREATH!" Widely spread flames exited his mouth. Epsio jumped up into the air. "NINJA ART: SHADOW SHURIKEN RAIN!" He threw a ninja star. Espio formed a seal. The shuriken split apart into 20 more shuriken. The ninja stars caught the flames of Vector's Flame Breath. The flames consumed Bass with the shuriken raining on him as well.

Espio landed on the sidewalk. "Behold, the Fire Style: Burning Shuriken Shower!" Charmy buzzed around in excitement. "ALRIGHT! WOO! We did it!" Espio looked up as Charmy. "No, you did nothing." Charmy flew down to the chameleon. "I rooted you guys on! That counts haha!" Vector facepalmed. "It doesn't matter! Either way, that guy was burned and shredded!" Silver eyes widened in realization. "No…I forgot to shield your minds with my Head Cage!"

Vector looked back at Silver in confusion. "Meaning…?" A powerful shockwave pushed Vector off his feet. The crocodile sat in shock as he saw Bass was completely unscathed. "Wha? Why are you still there?! You should have been burned to ashes!"

Bass smiled. "I simply countered with the exact same attack." Espio, with Charmy in tow, joined Vector and Silver. "Is it some type of copying technique?" Bass dropped down to the street. "You could say that, but that would be dumbing it down. It doesn't matter anyway. Weaklings like you need to die."

The cloaked robot opened his mouth. "Fire Style: Burning Shuriken Shower!" A torrent of flames rushed toward the heroes. A ninja star appeared in Bass' right hand and he threw it at the flames. It split apart into 40 more shuriken and were drawn into the flames. Vector stepped back in fear. "Wa-wait that's our attack!" Silver looked on as the powerful attack closed in on the heroes. "No way. Not only can he copy other people's attacks, but he can also use combination techniques? Not even Metal Sonic can do that!" Espio took a battle stance. "Perhaps we should counter with our own! Vector!" The green crocodile agreed and joined the calm chameleon. "Alright let's go, Espio!"

"Fire Style: Burning Shuriken Shower!"

Vector and Espio's attack clashed against Bass', but it didn't take long for it to be quickly consumed. Vector dropped to the ground in exhaustion. "N-no, our power wasn't enough." However before the attack could reach them, Silver jumped before them. "I'll handle this! Psychokinesis! HOLD ALL!" The shuriken drenched in flames immediately froze. Charmy cheered in victory. "YEAH Vector! Silver stopped the bad flame stars!" Vector leaned his head back and let out a huge sigh. "Phew! That was dangerous!" He looked back ahead and his smile turned into a frown. Silver had fallen to his knees, he was struggling to keep the flames in place. "I-I….I can't hold it..!"

Silver released his hold and fell to the ground. Espio raced to help Silver as Vector and Charmy watched the attack headed towards the four. Before they could meet their end, 3 cars flew past them and collided with the barrage of flaming shuriken, causing a powerful explosion.

Silver managed to look up and caught a glimpse of a figure standing before Bass. This being was a black-and-yellow armadillo with a red shell. He had large black, red, and brown boots, as well as wearing a small pack around his left leg. He had black, fingerless gloves with red lining the finger holes and buckled brown cuffs, with bandages wrapped around his lower arms. The armadillo looked over his shoulder and smiled. Vector's eyes widened. "No way." Charmy smiled brightly. "Hey it's you!" Espio was taken completely off guard. "This can't be! That's-"

"Mighty the Armadillo!"