A/N: Sorry for taking so long been real busy, I also apologize if this chapter isn't very good because of how little time I've had to work on it. So if you any mistakes blame it on my scapegoat GorrillaBub :P.
"You mean to tell me that you don't know how to play tag?" Asked a teenage Woodstock as him and Mortifer walked into the palace.
"I've never had any friends before, and usually I spend my free time studying tactics and training." Mortifer replied and stood at attention while he waited for Woodstock's instructions on playing tag.
"So how exactly do you play tag?"
Slapping Mortifer on back Woodstock said "Dude, don't be so uptight, at ease." And rolled his eyes at Mortifer as he continued to stand at attention. "The rules are simple, one person is chosen to chase other people around until he touches someone else. Then whoever he touched has to take his place and try tagging someone."
"So it's like a survival situation? You do whatever is necessary to stay away from the person trying to touch you?"
Woodstock sighed. "Yeah, pretty much." Then smirked as he said "I know the perfect place to start." as both ran off down one of the hallways. It wasn't long before they came back running as fast as they could.
"Told you tag was fun!" Hollered Woodstock as they dashed outside and into a field.
"I'm not sure my father approves of such training" Muttered Mortifer as he followed close behind his comrade.
"It is an advanced training were something bad happens if you get caught. So i'm sure he will understand." Stated Woodstock in a matter-of-fact way.
"Halt! You young rascals! Give me back that piece! It goes to a very important project!" An elderly gray hedgehog with a white mustache yelled angrily before pausing to catch his breath. "Darn youngins, no respect these days"
Mortifer was jarred awake and noticed someone was carrying him through a forest. For a moment his mind was blank, then a flood of memories hit him.
"Wood-." Spinning around Woodstock fired his minigun all around him into the forest, clearing a mile radius of trees. "Woodstock, set me down Now." Mortifer ordered.
"Sorry Mort." Woodstock apologized as he sat Mortifer down against a tree trunk and handed him a canteen. Popping the lid off Mortifer took a swig, then looked down at his chest as he felt pain in several spots.
"They were some bandits and I, kinda forgot you were on my back." Letting out a grunt in response, Mortifer reached for the canteen lid but for some reason, he couldn't seem to grab it even though his hand seemed to be right on it. Nervously Woodstock said "Yeeeah about that, you might wanna look in a mirror." And pulled out a piece of glass so Mortifer could stare at his reflection.
"That explains a few things." Remarked Mortifer as he put a hand on the bandage covering his right eye, then pulled it off.
"Laser disintegrated that half of the helmet and fried your eyeball, plus a little bit around it." Woodstock stated as Mortifer smiled at the reflection.
"Elias always said that you weren't a true veteran until you survived a shot in the face. Took twelve years of fighting but, it finally happened."
Taking a look over his body Woodstock sighed "I wish I, had battle scars." and crossed his arms.
Putting the bandage back on Mortifer replied "If you didn't have to replace your parts so often maybe you would have some."
"True." Agreed Woodstock. As Mortifer stood up and looked around.
"My telekinesis seems to have replaced my missing eyesight, probably why I didn't notice at first. Have you been tracking Cream while I was unconscious?"
"Yep, they made it back to Knothole."
"Did you go into Knothole and map it out?" questioned Mortifer while looking at the damage done to his helmet.
"Uh no I thought our objective was get Cream there then skedaddle back to Robotropolis?" Woodstock replied and followed Mortifer as he acquired the trackers signal and started running towards Knothole.
"No. we need to get a layout of the place and their supplies. And, I want to see that Vanilla and Cream are safe with my own two-."
"Eye! You only got one now remember?" Woodstock cut in.
"I'm well aware of that Woodstock."
"This is Charlie team reporting in. We've arrived at the sight, nothing's pulling up on our gear. But whatever it was had a lot of firepower, enough to level about a mile of the forest." A voice crackled over someone's communicator. Skidding to a sudden halt, Mortifer stuck his arm out then jerked it back and hissed in pain as loud clang rang out from Woodstock's body.
"What is it?" Asked Woodstock rather loudly. Mumbling something unintelligible Mortifer yanked Woodstock down into a bush as a soldier walked by.
"Alright Charlie, whatever it was is probably still around. Go ahead and Finish your routine patrol. This is Sgt Steel to all patrolling units, we have a possible tango armed with heavy firepower. I want everyone on high alert."
while the soldier walked away Mortifer glared at Woodstock and said "Pay attention so that when I do this!" Mortifer done the hand sign he done moments ago. "You can see it and stop!"
"Sorry." Woodstock Apologized.
Letting out a sigh as he rotated his arm Mortifer asked. "I'm guessing Knotholes security is better than their outposts?"
"A whole lot better, I even heard some of the guards say it's "Impenetrable"." Replied Woodstock as he hacked into their system and pulled up a hologram of the security layout around Knothole.
"They said that about Deathlock Prison, none of the guards knew what happened to their prisoner for days." Mortifer said as he studied the hologram. "Any defenses against an underground attack?" Woodstock shifted through Knotholes data for a moment as he finished downloading the rest of their defenses, then shook his head.
"Nope."
"Then that's how you'll get in." Said Mortifer.
"What about you?" Woodstock asked.
"I'll sneak in as a civilian. When you get there find Creams house, Without Being Seen, and wait for me there."
Constant chattering echoed through the forest as group of civilians being escorted by soldiers neared the entrance of Knothole.
"What's the food like?"
"Do we get our own houses?"
"Is it safe from Robotnik?" Questions like these were constantly being asked and the soldiers answered the best they could.
"Identify yourselves." A guard yelled out at the group from one of the many, pillboxes rowed up in front of Knotholes gate. "Squad X-ray, ID numbers are 7756, 7963, 7236, and 7564. Orders are to escort civilians to the safety of Knothole." A corporal stated as him and his men stood at attention while one guard walked towards them with his gun at the ready.
"ID's are legit, but I need full body scan done on everybody."
Nodding the corporal turned and yelled "Alright, everyone line up in row." Once everyone finally lined up the guard began scanning them with a handheld device.
"Woah, they got some tight security." A Black hedgehog with a white muzzle said in awe.
"What did you expect kid? Robotnik's been trying everything to find Knothole." Replied an older orange hedgehog beside him that was wearing sunglasses.
"Ya think I could meet Sonic? Cause that would be totally wicked!" The young one asked excitedly.
Rolling his eyes the older one sighed "Kids these days. Just be glad you don't have to survive out in the wastelands like I did for years."
"Clear!" The guard yelled as he finished scanning everyone and told them to go in. The huge metal gate slowly opened and the group stared in awe at the city of knothole. People were going about their daily duties while children played in front of the many houses. Inside the walls, it looked like no one even knew there was a war going on.
Leaning towards the orange hedgehog the black one whispered "Psst, cover for me, I'm going to check out the houses."
"Nobody's supposed to go anywhere until they put us in the syste-!" Looking around the orange hedgehog noticed that the other hedgehog was already gone. "If he wants to get himself in trouble that's his problem." He mumbled.
"WOOHOO!" Running down the street the hedgehog ran past each house and waved at everyone he saw, even the bush that waved at him. "Wait what?" Skidding to a halt and backing up, he caught a glimpse of the bush as it went behind the house. Scratching his head he looked around to see if anyone else saw the bush, but no one seemed to notice it. Slowly he tiptoed towards the back of house and peeked around the corner. Not seeing the bush anywhere he stepped around the corner, then suddenly reached up and caught a punch that was aimed for his face.
"Woodstock, had you hit somebody with that much force, there head would be nothing but a red mist." Stated Mortifer while turning off the hologram disguise on him.
"Isn't that a good thing?" A bemused Woodstock asked from the bush.
Letting go of his hand Mortifer adjusted the bandage on his eye and replied. "Yes but these are civilians, we need them to be unconscious not disintegrated. Now give me my gear."
Throwing Mortifer his stuff Woodstock sat back down on the ground with his bush. While Mortifer quickly put his armor on and set his weapons to stun.
"They're home right now." Said Woodstock.
"I know." Mortifer replied as he telekinetically took the bush off Woodstock.
"There's a skyline on the roof that we'll use to see Vanilla and Cream. After we see that both are well, we're going back to Robotropolis." Jumping to the top of the two story building Mortifer began walking towards the skylight. But then quickly spun around and caught Woodstock before he could demolish the roof with his landing.
"Cream, supper is ready." Vanillas unforgettable gentle voice rang. Carefully setting Woodstock down Mortifer peeked through the glass, trying to catch a glimpse of someone he thought he lost long ago.
"Uh, Morty." Woodstock said as the roof started creaking
"Shh!" Shushed Mortifer.
"Mooort."
"Shhhh!"
"Ah heck, this isn't going to end well" stated Woodstock as the part of the roof he was standing on started sinking.
Prying his eyes from the window Mortifer quietly hissed "For the love of rings, Wha-!"
Unable to hold Woodstock's weight the roof caved in sending them plummeting into the house. Mortifer quickly reacted and landed on his feet in the second story. Woodstock however, broke through the floor on the second story, slap through the first story floor, and then came to a stop upon embedding himself into the concrete floor in the basement.
"Woodstock!" Mortifer yelled down at Woodstock angrily.
"I blame the author!" Woodstock Yelled back.
"Uncle Mort!" Turning around Mortifer was tightly embraced by Cream "I thought you said you weren't coming back with me?" She asked then gasped as she noticed Mortifer's bandaged eye "What happened!? Are you okay? Will it heal?"
"His eyeball got crispy fried from a laser, so he'll only be able to glare at everything with his left eye." Woodstock's voice echoed from the basement. Rolling his eye at Woodstock's words Mortifer hugged Cream back
"Was it because you were protecting me?" She guiltily questioned. Letting go of her Mortifer looked down at her innocent brown eyes and replied
"No, It was my fault, I made a tactical mistake and it cost me my eye." The sound of breaking glass made both of them quickly turn and look to see Vanilla with a broken tea kettle and tea cup at her feet as she stared in shock.
"Cream, go check on Woodstock." Mortifer said rather quietly as him and Vanilla both stared at each other. Seeing that her mother and Mortifer needed to be alone, Cream nodded and quickly went down the stairway.
"I thought I lost...both of you." Vanilla tearfully cried as she ran and hugged Mortifer.
"I'm sorry, I failed you and Peter as a brother, just like I failed everyone else." Mortifer sorrowfully said and held her tightly. "I'll never lose you again." Mortifer continued to hold Vanilla in his embrace as all his guilt and pain over his promise faded away.
"You're injured!" Vanilla exclaimed as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"I'm fine, have you been hurt at all by anyone?" Asked Mortifer. Breaking from his embrace Vanilla reached up and started removing the bandage over his eye as she replied
"No. And you're not fine, the wound could become infected and make it where you can't see out of that eye."
"There ain't no eye left." Mortifer stated while she removed the bandage and grimaced. "Before you ask, it was because of a tactical error."
Their moment was interrupted when a loud bang was heard from outside and Woodstock waved at them through the kitchen window.
"Can he for once in his life not ruin my day." Mortifer muttered as sirens started blaring.
"Um...I think they noticed us Mort" Woodstock mouthed through the window while guards started surrounding him
"Surrender! We don't want to hurt you!" Barked the Guard Commander. "Oh don't worry, I'm cybernetic so your weapons are useless against me." Replied Woodstock as he grinned and waved.
"Open fire! It's a robot! Take it down before it can send a distress signal!" Cried the Commander as he and his men opened fire on Woodstock.
"What is the deal with you fellows! CYBER-NE-TIC! Not a robot. Two completely different things!" Woodstock yelled as bullets and arrows ricocheted off his body in random directions. Woodstock then rolled into a ball and began rolling into the guards sending them flying into the air. "Sorry, but Mort said not to kill ya, so hope you don't mind a few broken bones!" He said as he bowled through the guards ranks.
It didn't take long for Sonic to appear along with Bug-Eyes and Rotor from hearing the commotion across Knothole.
"What the heck is going on?" Sonic asked one of the guards.
"There's a robot intruder. It fell into Cream and Vanilla's house. We've tried taking it out but it's too armored!" A guard answered as he ran by.
"Rotor, Bug-Eyes, go check on Cream and Vanilla. I'll take care of robo-ball over here." Ordered Sonic as he balled up and sped toward the intruder.
. Quickly running towards the house bug eyes and rotor rammed through the front door.
"Vani-" Rotor stopped mid sentence as he stared at Mortifer...and the massive pistol he had pointing at him. Bug-Eye pointed at the Mortifer and whispered "See! see! I told you the Reaper was real!" He quickly shut up when Mortifer pulled out a second pistol and pointed it at him.
"Any sudden moves or sounds and I'll blow your brains out." Growled Mortifer. Grabbing his shoulder Vanilla said "Mortifer these are my friends, please put the gun down and tell Woodstock to stop fighting."
"You know these guys Vanilla?" Questioned Rotor before gulping as Mortifer took a step forward and Vanilla blocked his path.
"Please Mortifer?" She pleaded.
Holstering only one pistol Mortifer stepped past her and threateningly ordered "You two, outside, NOW." the two immediately started walking backwards out the door when Cream ran in between them to Mortifer.
"Uncle Mort, what are you doing?" She asked as Mortifer walked past her.
"Stay inside with your mother Cream." He replied and walked outside closing the door behind him. Extending his arm Mortifer used telekinesis and Suddenly everyone outside stopped moving as if they were frozen, even the bullets stood still in midair. Looking around for a moment in satisfaction Mortifer stepped off the porch, walked to Woodstock who was still balled up and tapped twice on him.
"Yeees?" Woodstock responded and stood up.
"We're going to negotiate." Mortifer said as he walked towards Sonic.
"Say wha!?" Yelled Woodstock.
"Just shut up and let me do the talking." Staring at Sonic Mortifer reluctantly said "We want to meet with your leader to clear somethings up. I'm going to allow you to speak but only if you order your soldiers to stand down." Taking Sonics grunt for a yes Mortifer released him then threatenly said "Try anything and I'll break everyone of their necks."
A/N: My mind kept going blank on this chapter, especially near end for some reason. But like I said above that's what a scapegoats good for :P