Chapter 12: The Tank
The dragon watched them leave and flew back to Lyric. I have destroyed their village, it said using telepathy. Tetros and Rose are dead.
"Excellent. I'm proud of you. Now, it's almost dawn. Shouldn't you be getting back?"
They're going after a crystal. I'll follow them in my snake form.
Lyric smirked. "Fine. Just if you get there, and blue comes back, what are you going to do? And what will you do with the crystal?"
Strike chuckled. They won't stand a chance. I have the perfect plan.
"Then it's best you be on your way."
Strike nodded and left. It changed into a snake as it did so. It slithered his way to their location, looking for food, as well as them. The snake saw some deer and hissed, then began to constrict the animal. Then, it swallowed the deer whole. After, it kept on, knowing of its task. The giant basilisk kept going as it thought about its new loyalty to Lyric. it was no longer friends with any of the people in the village; it had new orders. Once it got to the temple, it hid in the grass It saw the two come out of the temple, Miles holding the crystal. The basilisk chuckled, and began to execute its plan. It turned into Ogilive and walked up to them.
"I finally found you guys. Wait, where's the others?" He asked.
Miles hung his head low, and Ombra came to his side. "They didn't make it."
Strike's eyes widened in shock. "What happened?"
"Rose, we couldn't save, and Tetros, he got swallowed whole by a dragon."
The blue hedgehog nodded. "What about the village?"
"Destroyed. Well, almost."
"Can you rebuild it?" They shook their heads. Strike nodded, and thought for awhile. Then, he had an idea. "I saw a cave on my way back. Maybe we can stay there."
"Sure, we can head there," Miles said.
Strike smirked and led the way. Once they were at the cave, he put his plan into action. He walked further into the cave, and transformed into a basilisk, then slithered back to the two. Miles instantly looked away, and covered Ombra's eyes.
"What are you doing, snake?" Miles asked.
It hissed and attacked the two. Ombra growled; he knew who this was. He pushed Miles out of the way, and shot the snake with Chaos Spear. The snake dodged it and hissed before lunging at him, baring its fangs and forcing him to the ground. Ombra screamed as he felt the basilisk dig its fangs into his arm.
"Oglive...why are you doing this?" He asked.
"Ombra, get out of there!" Miles yelled.
Ombra nodded and ran off as the snake pulled its poisonous fangs out of his arm. "That snake is Ogilvie," he told Miles. "I have a feeling he was the dragon also.
Miles nodded as they made it to the entrance, and Strike was right behind them. When they were clear of the door, Ombra shot a spear at the top of the cave, and the entrance collapsed. The snake hissed and began to transform into a tank. Its body turned to metal, as it was forced to the ground. Tracks started forming on the sides of the snake, as its tail reverted back into his body. Its body grew larger as spread out until the tracks were connected to it. Its head started to form the barrel, as its body finished forming the cockpit. When the transformation was complete, he loaded, and fired
Outside the cave, Miles and Shadow were running through the forest. They heard a loud bang and stopped. Looking behind them, they scanned the forest.
"What was that?" Miles asked. Ombra was about to respond when he saw a talk. It was moving towards them, firing its cannons. "Ombra, we have to keep going! Otherwise we'll be killed!"
Ombra nodded and ran. The tank fired upon them even more as it drew closer. Miles knew it would catch up to them, so he grabbed Ombra, and flew up high, hopefully out of range.
"What is that?" He asked the hedgehog.
"A tank. Possibly, Ogilvie."
"How did it get here, and why is it targeting us?"
He winced as the tank fired again.
"I'm not sure, but look out!" Ombra said, seeing a missile heading straight for them. It exploded, an Tails lost his grip on Ombra, who fell to the ground and saw the tank coming towards him. It ran over his legs, and he screamed.
Miles saw this, and tried to figure out a way to get the tank off him. Then he remembered, the Ener Beam. He used it, and tried to throw the tank aside. The tank skidded across the ground as Miles used his ability. He put it away, and ran over to Ombra, to see if he was alright. Ombra tried to stand but screamed. His legs were broken.
"What happened to it?" He asked, referring to the tank.
"I threw it somewhere in the forest." He said, and picked Ombra up. Ombra nodded, and they ran deeper into the forest. Soon, Miles slowed down, and set Ombra down. "So, where are we going to live from now on?" Ombra shrugged. "I didn't think you would know. Well, I don't know either. We have to find somewhere, or we'll have to be on the run all the time."
"I know. Let's get moving."
Miles nodded. "Why would Ogilvie betray us?"
"He's under the control of Lyric. I think he somehow transformed him into a snake, before he came back."
"And now he can shapeshift."
"Right. So now we have to be careful about who we meet. Well, I guess we should get going now."
Miles nodded and followed Ombra.
