A/N: Here comes the unlucky 13, which ironically may be the most interesting chapter. 3 keys down, four more to go as it's been told. But, there's also another strange phenomenon going on that should be looked into. When found, it'll shed some light on what's going on behind the scenes, and old enemies will soon meet again. Check out what's going to be cooking in this chapter!
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Sega and Archie except my OC.
The trip to the Sky Patrol was shorter than when they had to travel to Mid-Esta, mainly due in part that the next Key Guardian they were looking for was in Efrika. Hornet arrived a half hour after they returned, where Kor listened to the messages the drone picked up. Confirming his suspicions, the engineer made sure to pass this information to everyone else. Needless to say, while Sonic still respected them for helping retrieve the Gaia Key, he sure wasn't going to be making any deals with them any time soon. Antoine and Big shared similar thoughts. With the possibility of Eggman increasing his search for the Gaia Keys, the heroes knew they would have to pick up the pace. After getting some rest, Sonic, Tails, and Chip went after the key located in Efrika. Sally and Rotor later took off for Spagonia to meet up with Professor Pickle, as another Key Guardian turned out to be an old colleague of his (one he wasn't entirely on good terms with however). Antoine and Kor sighed in relief as this gave them a period to relax, or in Kor's case, continue working on Terry.
Today, the fox wore a pair of cordless headphones, listening to music as he worked. He was currently singing to Welcome to Paradise by Green Day. It took a few hours of opening up the sides of the ammo tubes but the fox managed to get them wide enough for rockets to easily fit inside. The hull of the large AFV didn't need to be changed as it had plenty of space for storing said ammunition. Now, all Kor needed to do was marry the 115mm gun to the turret, test fire it, and test the time it would take for Terry to interchange guns. If all went well, the autonomous robot would be fully functional again.
At this time, Nicole walked into the hanger holding her PDA. She was greeted to the sight of her boyfriend doing an air guitar rift to match that of the song. The A.I. couldn't help but giggle at the sight. He hadn't noticed her yet, and as such she decided to surprise him. Sneaking up to him with a smirk, she tapped him on the shoulder while he was busy digging through his tools. Kor turned, only to be greeted with a peck on the lips, causing him to blush.
"Enjoying yourself?" The A.I. smirked.
"Y-Yeah." He smiled sheepishly. "How long were you standing there?"
"Long enough to see you doing an air guitar." She replied, causing his face to turn redder. "Oh come on I thought it was cute." She smiled.
"Heh, t-thanks."
"Seems you made a lot of progress here." Nicole stated, noting Terry's condition.
"Yeah, but it's not finished yet. Still got a few things to do though." Kor wiped his brow. "So what's up?"
"Well..." She said a little nervously. "Before Sally left, we both had been looking over some Dark Gaia energy readings and noticed a great amount was being directed to one spot on the planet. I haven't a clue what's causing it, but Sally wants someone to find out what is. Since everyone was going to be busy, she suggested that you could be able to do it."
Kor groaned in annoyance. "Ugh...'nother recon job? I was hoping to have Terry done by today..."
"I know Kor, but this could be important concerning this world issue. I don't want to go by yourself but..."
"I can go, and I technically wouldn't be alone because I'd have Hornet with me. It's just that if we need to do a ground assault or somethin' Terry won't be of use until it's done."
Nicole tapped her chin in thought. "How about I finish Terry for you?"
Kor raised an eyebrow. "You sure you can do that? It's gonna require some work, plus it's new gun needs to be test fired, it needs to be welded into the turret, and-" He was cut off as Nicole made him look into her eyes.
"Kor, relax. I can handle it." She smiled sweetly. "You just make sure you come back without any bullet holes this time, ok?" She added, remembering how he mentioned to everyone he was shot multiple times on the previous mission, yet his body somehow healed itself relatively quick.
The fox chuckled. "Heh, ok." The two pecked each other on the lips once more before parting ways.
Nicole had to link herself back into the Sky Patrol before the ring ran out of energy to sustain her form. In the mean time, Kor went to the ship's armory to grab a few times: his hi-tech helmet, his missile launcher, and his auto-shotgun incase things got ugly. Going to the control room, Nicole gave Kor the coordinates of where the large Dark Gaia energy signature was coming from. It wasn't long before the engineer awoke Hornet, and after a quick refill on weapons and a flight check, the two were off. Based on how far off this location was, it was gonna be a long trip.
-One Hour Later-
Sonic, Tails, and Chip returned to the Sky Patrol, having successfully retrieved yet another key. They also tangled with Egg Boss Axel and his motorized Egg Army. The big boss himself had been driving a large machine that closely resembled a spider while his underlings were on typical vehicles such as motorcycles. The trio's plan was very simple: while Sonic kept the Egg Army busy, Tails and Chip would retrieve the key. There was some slight difficulty as the key was in the temple, which was in control of their enemies. To the kit and spirit's shock, they found the Egg Army managed to put the key together. This raised some concern on whether it had been tested on any of the doors, so the two went to check.
This little venture helped Chip remember exactly what he was supposed to do when the time came to fix the planet, and with this quest done, they notified Sonic, who ceased his pestering and retreated.
"Man, Axel thinks he drove me off. I so would've wiped the floor with him if we weren't on a schedule." True Blue boasted, stretching his arms.
"I saw. You would've ran rings around him!" Chip agreed.
"So what was it that you found in the temple?" Tails asked.
"Oh right. I finally remembered who I'm supposed to be! I really am the Light Gaia, the one who supposed to fix the planet once we have everything we need! And best of all: I know what I need to do to save everyone!" Chip boasted in excitement.
"That's great! Now all we need to do is focus on gathering the rest of the puzzle, then its goodbye jigsaw planet!" Sonic stated.
After a quick look around the hangar, Tails noticed Hornet was missing. Normally the gunship would've been flying nearby patrolling the skies, but it never greeted them upon return. "Wonder where Kor sent it now?"
A distinct sound of metal on metal was heard, causing the three to look towards Terry's still separate turret. What surprised them was that a blow torch and large claw were marrying the rocket launching mortar to the turret. There was no sign of the engineer.
"Guess Kor finally made an automated machine to do the heavy lifting." Sonic chuckled.
"Close, but not quite." Nicole's voice rang out.
"Ah I see. Did Kor finally need some help on his project?" The hedgehog asked.
"Quite contrary. He would still be here doing it himself, but he had to go investigate another issue."
It was Chip's turn to ask. "Such as what?"
"Myself and Sally noticed that a large amount of Dark Gaia energy was being channeled to a particular spot on the planet. Sally wanted someone to go check it out, and at the time the only person capable of doing it was him, especially since Hornet could evade detection if the area was hostile. He's been gone for an hour, but...I don't know when he'll return..."
"Ah don't worry Nicole. That old dog can handle himself." Sonic assured her.
"Still, if it's concerning Dark Gaia, I think I should've gone with him..." Chip stated, rather concerned.
"You were busy helping us get another Gaia Key. It couldn't be helped. Plus, he's just going to take a few pictures and report back right?" Tails asked.
"Yes. I just hope he doesn't cause any trouble for himself..." Nicole stated before getting back to work.
-Elsewhere: Hours Later-
The orange rays of the sun kissed the sky as Hornet continued its trek to the northeast. The flight was taking so long that Kor had fallen asleep only two hours into the trip. His PDA started to beep, indicating that they were getting close to their destination. It took Hornet having to jossle itself to wake the fox.
"Huh? I'm up I'm up..." He rubbed his eyes groggily and eyed the incessantly beeping device. "We're close."
The PDA beeped louder, signifying they were right on their target. In the cloud layer, Hornet dived to get a better visual, but what they saw was quite...astounding...
What the two were looking at was one of Eggman's largest bases, perhaps his biggest one yet. Looking below what he assumed was the entrance, Kor saw a large neon sign that read 'EggmanLand'. The engineer heard many stores of how this was the mad doctor's ultimate goal, and now it looks like he accomplished that. But what would he want with Dark Gaia energy? Surely his armies are having the same issue with the monsters at night, right?
At the center of this vast expense sat a large tower that appeared to be radiating with the dark energy. Hornet gave a low chirp, indicating it was detecting hostiles in the area. Kor guessed it might be Eggman's robots fighting off the monsters, but he was in for a huge surprise. Once they close to the spire, the fox's eyes widened in shock. Aside from several robots, he also saw what looked like mobians down there.
"The hell is going on here?..." Kor adjusted his helmet and zoomed in to the group, getting a clearer picture.
The mobians in question bore cybernetic parts, so no doubt these guys were affiliated with the dictator himself. And speaking of the devil, Kor spotted Eggman driving some vehicle with a drill in the head, evading what looked to be Metal Sonic with some sort of crystals covering it. Panning through the mobians, Kor recognized quite a few: large electrical discharges coming from a small yellow chinchilla which he knew was Thunderbolt, a large vulture flying around which he identified as Nephthys, a purple walrus in arctic clothing which Kor assumed was Rotor's father Tundra, a large green kukku which Kor knew had to be Battle Kukku XV (never a day went by when that stupid armada didn't want to flex their air supremacy), and lastly, Kor spotted a certain lynx wearing a conical straw hat kicking some beetle bugs in.
"So, Stormy's an Egg Boss huh? Not too shocking..." He muttered to himself.
He didn't know who the other mobians were, but he assumed they must've been Egg Bosses as well. They were all busy fighting badniks covered in crystals, along with a trio of regular mobians. The engineer had no clue who the hell they were, but then he spotted what looked like two witches. At this point, Eggman was wearing some sort of green-colored armor. Wanting to find out more, Kor told Hornet to turn on its transceiver and listen to the chatter on the ground. He linked it up with his helmet so he could hear it as well.
Eggman swats Crystal Sonic away as it charged at him. "Sorry Metal Sonic. I'll repair you later!"
Naugus was getting infuriated with the doctor's constant interference. He was so close to regaining his lost magic when the doctor launched this unexpected assault on his own base, and he wasn't about to loose this battle. Wendy, his sister, joined his side. "Crystalize his armor!"
The two wizards shot crystalizing magic at the tyrant, yet he wasn't fazed by it in the slightest. "Hahaha! You can't crystalize pure energy!" The doctor jumped forward through the blast, nailing Naugus hard in the abdomen. "Had enough?"
"Y-Yes! You win!" Naugus gasped.
"Aw, but I thought you loved waging war against me!" Eggman grinned, pummeling the wizard into the ground.
Wendy scooted off to the side, hoping to make a quick escape. "I'll...leave him to you Wally. After all it was your idea-ek!" She stopped when a laser scythe was inches from her neck. It was held by none other than Clove. "If you're smart, you'll stand down..." She said, clearly irritated by this whole venture. Wendy's henchmen, the witchcarters, were incapacitated by Morderd's vertigo-inducers, after they had to be beaten down by the other Egg Bosses.
Eggman laughed as Naugus struggled to his feet. "Ah, I do so enjoy hands-on work. But, all good things must come to an end, and speaking of which..." He charged up his energy cannon. "Here's yours!"
However, just before he could end the pitiful wizard, Crystal Sonic moved to intercept the blast. The robot took the full brunt of the attack, casting a light that blinded everyone in the area. Once he regained his vision, Eggman founded that the troll wizard vanished. Thankfully, Metal Sonic was no longer crystalized.
"Any sign of that meddlesome pest?" He asked.
"Don't see Walter anywhere sir. Actually...can't see much of anything after that flash..." Axel stated, still trying to get his eyes adjusted.
"Eh, forget it. He's lost and he knows it. He likely scuttled off into the shadows to plot and feel sorry for himself, I'm sure of it. Besides..." He handed Metal to Ahklut and turned to Wendy, who was still being held in place by Clove. "Wendy was the real threat this time."
"Threat? Oh you flatter me doctor! You know me. I'm not really the 'conquest' type, this was mainly Wally's idea!" She pleaded.
"I still lost a lot of badniks thanks to you. Release the rest!" He ordered, to which Wendy ceased her control over the small robots. Kor saw the crystals disappear on all of them, at which they started to function normally. "Good, and with that, you've outlived your usefulness. Clove, reap what she's sown."
The pronghorn was about to do the deed, but Wendy once again pleaded for her life. "Hold on here! We've worked together in the past, we could do it again!"
"That was a business transaction. You sold me some ancient relics in exchange for my tech."
"And I have much, much more to offer! And I can find even more beyond that."
Kor shook his head and chuckled. "Like an animal in a corner she begs for mercy. I'm honestly surprised Eggy hasn't killed her already."
Eggman took a moment to think it over. "Hmmm..."
"You did say you wanted an even number of Egg Bosses." Axel added.
"That I did, and I don't have an expert in the mythical elements department...yet..." Eggman grinned.
"Yes yes! Listen to him! You don't even have to supply me with troops as I have my own gang!" Wendy suggested.
"Very well then. You're hired."
Clove shrugged and released the witch. "Oh thank you doctor! I promise you won't regret it!"
"See to it that I don't." Eggman chuckled evilly. "Mordred, let them up. Wendy, get your idiots back under control!"
The two Egg Bosses complied, and the witchcarters were once again under Wendy's spell. Kor began to wonder if those three were being held against their will. After all, it didn't make much sense for the three mobians to trust that witch especially since she had to cast a spell. However, the prospect of dealing with wizards that could take control of machines through their magic did cause great concern for the engineer, as his two best assets were drones. However, after hearing and seeing how Eggman dealt with those trolls, at least the fox knew what he needed to do to make his machines impervious to their magic. Shortly after, Eggman called a drop ship, to which he took Wendy and her minions to the Death Egg to have them injected with 'communicators' and to 'keep them in line'. The other Egg Bosses began to disperse as well, likely going back to their bases.
Kor smacked himself on the forehead irritably. While this was a recon mission, Hornet was still bristling with weapons, and while Eggman and his flunkies were distracted, he could have potentially taken out all of them and perhaps saving the word would be a hell of a lot easier. With all of the Egg Bosses, Metal Sonic, and even Eggman himself wiped out for good, the Egg Army would've fallen apart in short order and the world could've finally known peace.
"Ugh...goddammit. An opportunity wasted due to listening in for too long... God. Fucking. Damnit!" Kor cursed himself, bringing his fist to his helmet with the last 3 words. While there was no time to mourn on the missed chance, he was sure this fateful decision would haunt him for the rest of his life...
Still, with security low, and the amount of information he collected, this would prove useful later on. Regaining his resolve, he told Hornet to scour the base, photographing every point of interest which included the spire, the badnik control tower (which was damaged), the generator and some other places. He saw an enormous smoking hole in the base, and while it might have not housed any strategic importance, he took a picture anyway. Kor did consider doing more damage to the base, but it would be pointless as Hornet didn't have the firepower to level the entire area, and Eggman would just rebuild when he came back. After finishing their recon, Kor instructed Hornet to head back to the Sky Patrol, which according to radar was heading east. He was so going to give an earful to everyone when he got back.
-Several Hours Later-
Sally and Rotor arrived a few hours after Sonic's group, and with them was the 5th Gaia Key. Nicole informed Sally of Kor's departure when she returned, though no one was sure when he would get back, if at all. Since Rotor still couldn't pick up Hornet on the radar, all they could do was wait. In the mean time, Nicole made some steady progress on Terry. She successfully married the rocket mortar to the turret, and even had the drone test fire a few rounds to ensure it worked. The A.I stayed up as long as she could awaiting her lover's return, but even she had to put herself in sleep mode after becoming fatigued.
It wouldn't be until 3 am that Kor and Hornet would return to the ship. Due to how late it was, Kor already assumed everyone was asleep hours beforehand. Thankfully, Rotor gave him a passcode for just such an occasion. Once the doors opened, Hornet parked itself in its usual spot. It practically fell to the floor upon landing, obviously tired as hell from flying for more than half a day. Kor wasn't in any better shape either. Giving a tired smile, he patted the gunship on the face before heading towards the sleeping quarters.
Upon passing Terry, he noticed the 115mm was mounted to the turret. He was too tired to show his excitement, but Kor was thrilled that Nicole managed to get that part done for him. He rubbed the space between his eyes.
"Ugh...13 freaking hours of non-stop flying. Need to..." He gave a yawn. "Quit doing these long jobs..." Trudging to his room, he collapsed on his bed after shutting the door.
Come the next day, it was 9 in the morning and just about everyone was awake. Well, except one that is. Regardless, the heroes were going over their plan in the meeting room.
"So from what the Professor Pickle told us, there's another Key Guardian residing in Chun-nan. However, our scanners detected badniks all over the area, including a Silver Sonic, so the Egg Army may be looking for the Guardian as well." Sally explained.
"Heh, ain't nothing we've dealt with before. We'll have that key in no time and be back before dinner." Sonic assured, lying back in his chair.
"Should be easy doesn't mean it will be. Anyway, we'll deal with the badniks first to make it easier on our end. Sonic and Big, you'll be in charge of dealing with the Silver Sonic while myself, Antoine, and Cream will deal with the smaller badniks."
Cream beamed at the idea. "I get to go on a mission?!"
Sally smiled. "Yes Cream. Do you think you can handle it?"
"I'm more than ready!" The young rabbit cheered, with Cheese sharing her joy.
"I've also been able to get in contact with Dulcy. She said her group would be able to help us when they can." The princess added.
"Heh, been a long time since we've seen her. Would be nice to catch up." Sonic stated.
"Also, we've learned where the last key is residing as well. Tails and Bunnie, I want you guys to head to Adabat. The Guardian lives in a small fishing village in that archipelago, and since there isn't an Egg Army presence there, it shouldn't be hard finding him." The two heroes nodded in agreement. "And lastly...does anyone know if Kor returned from his trip yet?" The chipmunk asked.
"Logs show the hangar door opened around 0300. I'll bring up the camera now." Nicole stated, linking the hangar camera to the screen. Once the link was fully connected, everyone could see the entirety of the room. The planes, the still-under-construction Terry, and most importantly, Hornet, who looked to be sleeping.
"Well that settles that. Let's do it to it guys!" Sally cheered.
"Isn't that my line?" Sonic smirked.
"Can't I use it?" The princess pointed out.
After getting their gear ready, the two teams set out. Since nearly everyone was gone, it seemed quieter than normal. Even Chip tagged along since he felt he could do something about the troubled spirit. Rotor attached a ring to Nicole's computer so the A.I. could use her physical form.
"Thank you Rotor. I'll be back."
"Alright. Try not to disturb him too much." He smiled.
The lynx walked down the crew quarters until she came upon the engineer's room. Peaking in, she could see Kor still sleeping soundly underneath the covers. Aside from having an obvious case of bed hair, it appeared he hadn't gotten into any fights while he was gone, which suited her just fine. Closing the door softly, she would let him get his sleep in. Hopefully he found what was causing the Dark Gaia energy to gather.
It wasn't until close to 11A.M. that the engineer finally began to stir. After taking a quick shower, Kor kicked open his bedroom door and walked down the hall to the mess area, still rubbing some sleep out of his eyes. He did notice that no one else was in their rooms, or even around for that matter. Hell, not even Cream and Cheese were present. Deciding not to think much on it, he made himself some coffee before heading towards the command room. Rotor was sitting in his chair while Nicole was leaning on a window sill, studying the ground below.
The walrus turned when he heard the door open. "Back from the dead huh?"
"Somewhat. Still trying to get the sleep out of mah head." The fox sipped his mug. "Where'd everyone else go?"
"Sally, Sonic, Antoine, Big, and Cream went down below to Chun-nan to get another key while Bunnie and Tails left to go after another elsewhere."
"Chun-nan...we're over Yurashia?"
"Morning sleepy-head." Nicole greeted from her position.
"Hey Nikki."
"Did everything turn out ok? You must've been pretty tired from yesterday." She asked.
"Yeah, though uh...what I found...I don't think 'overwhelming' is too strong of a word..."
Rotor and Nicole glanced at each other questioningly. "What did you see?" The captain asked.
"I'll explain it more when the others return, but here's a hint: Eggman's involved..." The engineer finished the rest of his mug. "I'll go grab the stuff for you guys to look at. While you're doing that, I'm gonna head down there myself."
"I thought you'd be wanting to finish working on your robot." Rotor stated.
"I could, but since we're over this world's equivalent of China, I figured it'd be a good idea to pay a visit to an old 'friend'." The fox grinned.
"But Kor...after the long flight you had yesterday, are you sure that would be wise?" Nicole asked, clearly concerned.
"Don't worry sweetie. It was just a recon mission, and I was mostly jet-lagged. Also if you're concerned about security, you can wake up Hornet if it doesn't come back online after awhile." He walked over and pecked her on the forehead. "And thanks for installing Terry's gun." The lynx smiled in response.
The fox walked out the room and returned minutes later with a USB containing information he and Hornet collected the day before. Leaving the two to go about their business, he grabbed his launcher which had been sitting in the hanger all night and started his bike. He actually felt glad he didn't have to rely on Hornet for trips now, especially since he didn't want to wake the bugger after that long-ass flight.
-Down Below: Shijin Shrine-
As they had planned, the Freedom Fighters had dealt with the badniks first, which they intercepted on the Dragon Road. As the radar suggested, Silver Sonic was present for this battle. Big originally thought the bot was destroyed when it tried attacking the Sky Patrol during its early launch phase, but as Sonic pointed out, the cannons merely disabled it. The horde commander managed to put the purple cat in a painful arm-lock before Sonic intervened. Immediately after, Dulcy swooped in, engulfing it in flames before kicking it into a nearby river.
Apologizing for her late arrival, the green dragon was currently treating everyone to lunch. They also met the rest of her team, which included a tortoise named Bunker, a young pheasant named Cinder, and a white tiger named Jian, who was also an ex-Egg soldier.
"Sated, O Spirit?" Sonic asked with a grin.
"Sonic, the great creator as my witness, we must save this world! The noodles. The dumplings. We must save it all!" Chip declared.
"So do you guys know of any Key Guardians living around here?" Sally asked.
"Ah, you must mean Zonshen. He usually goes to the temple grounds to make offerings to the Phoenix Spirit every week." Bunker stated.
"I hope he hasn't gone lately. The spirit's been acting weird recently..." Dulcy noted.
"Another spirit? Like you Mr. Chip?" Cream asked.
"Heh, not quite Cream. It's a 'Lesser Spirit', meant to be the keeper of the Golden Flame. It ties into some prophecy junk my mom goes on and on about. The spirit itself is a large, powerful, fiery, and very territorial bird." The dragon explained.
"And it's the only reason the Egg Army hasn't captured the temple." Jian added.
"Yeah..." Dulcy grimaced.
"I'm actually surprised they were smart enough to know not to play with fire." A familiar voice added. Everyone turned and noticed Kor standing by the entrance.
"Heh, 'bout time you caught up." Sonic chuckled. "How'd ya find this place?"
"I was tired alright? Thanks for letting me sleep though. And it wasn't hard considering you left a trail of trashed robots."
"Well to be fair, no one knew you came back last night. So how did it go?" Sally asked.
"Found a lot more than I was expecting that's fer sure...Rotor and Nikki are lookin' through what I found to see if they could make some sense of it. In the mean time, thought I'd drop down for a visit." The engineer smiled.
"Kor! Been a long time since we last met!" Dulcy said, hugging the engineer. However, it was a bit too tight.
"Dulcy...Dulcy! Losing oxygen!..."
"Oh, sorry!" She quickly let go.
"If I had to guess, you and Dulcy met when you first came to our world?" Antoine questioned.
"We've all met before, though it was mostly an accident." Jian stated.
"How?" Big asked.
"Well, turns out the Egg Army was looking to wipe these guys out for good, and would have succeeded if I didn't decide to get involved." Kor explained, taking a seat at the table. "As I told you guys before, despite being out-numbered, we had better firepower since I laid down several of my old sentries. By old, I mean back from my days working for RED. Simplistic as they are, they're still very dangerous if you're within range of 'em. You guys know the rest after that...but since then we parted ways as I wanted to explore the rest of the world."
"So what have you been up to the last 2 years?" Cinder asked.
"Want the long or short version?" The fox chuckled.
"Keep it short Kor. We don't have the time to listen to the entire story again." Sally pointed out.
"Well, been a pain in the butt for the Egg Army and made a name for myself." He leaned back in his chair. "Hacked Eggman's network, stole an E-100 blueprint and built an autonomous gunship from it, refined and upgraded my other AFV drone, had a love interest (didn't work out), got arrested once and then joined up with Sonic's crew. Oh, and I found my long lost love."
"Well you've been a busy bee." Dulcy replied.
"So how long have y'all been friends?" The fox asked.
"We met Dulcy when we were kids. Sure had a lot of fun times, right 'Twan?" True Blue asked the swordsman.
"I remember her sneezing and setting my hair on fire." The coyote responded half-heartedly. Kor stifled a laugh.
"Pardon if I may ask, but why don't more people want to help you guys?" The young rabbit piped up.
"Well...it's kinda complicated. The clans have been fighting each other over territory and ideology for centuries. They can agree that Eggman is a threat, but they can't agree to do anything about him..." The dragon explained.
"Yeah...the Southern Pyre Clan still isn't too happy that I left..." Cinder added.
"I hate it! It's what made me run away all those years ago. But..."
"Well I look at it like this. If they can agree Eggman is a threat, why don't all of them just shut up and unite to fight against him and anyone he uses as his puppets? Guess they'll never be able to decide until he's burning their homes to the ground." Kor pointed out.
"Maybe..." Dulcy agreed.
"But, despite all that, we have been changing minds and turning hearts. But as history tells, changing traditions is a slow process." Bunker stated.
"True, and unfortunately the swiftest of change has been to the benefit of our enemies. The Egg Clan preaches of unity through strength. All are welcome so long as they work hard. It's what initially drew me in..." Jian's face turned into that of regret. "Until I realized what their true intentions were..."
"Definitely sounds like Conquering Storm alright. She likes to pride herself in strength like it's the only thing that matters..." Kor took a dumpling from the basket. "But, strength alone only gets you so far, and I taught her that lesson the hard way. Guess she's somewhat learned of her mistake since then, even though that trick I pulled almost killed her."
"They certainly had the most organized badnik horde we've faced. What other advantages do they have?" Sally questioned.
Dulcy began to count on her fingers. "Out-number us a million to one, rigid training regimen, a leader they love and follow without question, a base right next to the temple...should I go on?"
"Ladies, ladies. It's simple. We've already got a back door to the temples, so all we really need are the keys. We can worry about driving the Egg Army off later." Sonic said in a calm manner.
"True, but I can't wait to butt heads with Storm again. I'm betting right now she's probably pissed as hell knowing I'm here." Kor chuckled.
-Yurashian Egg Army Base-
Sitting on the side of a mountain less than a mile from the Gaia Temple sat Conquering Storm's base of operations. Being trained in all forms of close combat, she always prided herself on the value of one's strength, and was considered to be the strongest of all of her troops. None would dare challenge her as they adored her and held her highly for her leadership skills, despite how cold the lynx could be at times (and the fact she would easily kick the ass of whoever was foolish enough to do so). Yet, when she joined with Eggman in a bid to further her own gains, Storm was placed in a difficult position. As she and those like her prided on strength, the use of cybernetics went against their philosophy. Yet, she couldn't refuse, or Eggman would destroy all of them. So, for the sake of her soldiers, she allowed herself to be cyberized. The only way you could notice this was just by looking at her eyes.
Currently, the Egg Boss was overseeing repairs to Silver Sonic. It took a lot of damage from Sonic and Dulcy, not to mention being thrown into a river really screwed with its circuitry. It wouldn't be useful to her any time soon.
A ninja cat approached Storm. "The Freedom Fighters have been spotted in the village master. They've been joined by Dulcy's team."
"They must be coming for the Gaia Temple...good. Let them pass, just like the old man this morning. The corrupted spirit will destroy them for us." She simply stated.
"Also master, we've spotted a red fox among the Freedom Fighters." The ninja added.
Storm's usual glare hardened. She gazed at the soldier. "What did you say?"
The cat grew nervous. "T-There's a red fox among the Freedom Fighters. I-It might be the same one from all those y-years ago."
The lynx closed her eyes. "That's what I thought you said...very well. You may go." The ninja bowed before exiting.
While Conquering Storm was usually good at hiding whatever emotion she was feeling, she couldn't help but grit her teeth in anger. That damned fox...the lynx didn't know what pit of hell he came from, but Kor definitely proved to be someone you don't want to underestimate. She thought he would be an easy kill, running away like a fucking coward. It was this line of thinking that Storm came to regret it quickly, as she found herself staring down the barrels of a turret. He played her for a fool, and was prepared to end her life at a moment's notice. If it wasn't for her quick agility...she was badly wounded, but she got lucky. "Never again", Storm always told herself. She wouldn't be tricked into death this time. The lynx swore that next time she met Kor, she was going to put a kunai is his fucking throat.
"Mark my words Kor...by the end of this night, you'll be lying in a pool of your own blood..." Storm muttered to herself.
A/N: What a mouthful right? The keys are almost all collected, Kor's found something of interest, and the stage is set for an old fashioned meeting. I particularly liked giving Kor another moment to regret like I did in my first story, but unlike the first one, this will hit home more due to what's gonna happen later on. Hope you enjoy this segment, cause it's heating up.