21. "Of Wolves and Dingoes"
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To the south of Frozen Peak laid a vast, lushly green highland with massive rolling hills and boulders scattered across open plains. Though the road was anything but straight, Tails and Rotor's vehicles kept a fast and steady pace. Tails' vehicle, The Sleet, was built like a race car with a silvery lupine front; its wheels could switch over to jet skis whenever needed. Rotor's vehicle, The Dingo, was brightly orange with violet headlights, and lined in yellow on its three-barrel cannon. It moved like a tank, but should the terrain go aquatic, it could switch to a submarine mode.
New to the traveling group was Guntiver, who was freed from his robotic prison by Amy. He clutched onto the tail end of the Dingo, along with Julie-Su and Amy, while Antoine and Bunnie held onto the tail end of the Sleet. Sonic and Sally (charged by her Sol Emerald) were running alongside the vehicles.
"This valley is home to the Wolf Nation," explained Guntiver. "Just a few miles south of here lies what we call the Onyx Temple, where all the canine leaders gather to discuss crisis such as this. I was on my way there when I got captured, along with some of my friends."
"Do you know what happened to the other wolves, and why there was a factory back there?" asked Sally as she peddled her feet.
Guntiver frowned, "I don't know what became of the others, but from what I can remember, those factories are meant to dig for fossil fuels, like oil and coal, or whatever else could be used to fuel Robotnik's armies."
"Any chance of us finding Robotnik or the Dark Legion in the village?" asked Julie-Su.
"Maybe, but it's more likely they're at the Onyx Temple. As long as it's under they're control, we canine folk are defenseless."
"Then let's pick up the pace, people!" shouted Sonic as his feet peddled ever faster.
As they raced on, a strange object was seen in the distance. It was a gigantic white and blue orb with drills lined along its edges, and equipped with four long tentacles that would shoot lasers. Its wheels were like that of a standard tank, but it was unclear as to who was piloting the strange machine.
"Hey guys? D-do you see that thing? What is it?" gasped Rotor.
"Whatever it is, it's headed for Lobo Village!" replied Guntiver worriedly.
"Okay team," announced Tails, "let's rev up!"
…
- LOBO VILLAGE ZONE -
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Team Selected: Tech-Team (Tails and Rotor)
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- ACT I -
The Sleet, piloted by Tails, was armed with two cannons. Sonic was in one, and Sally was in the other. This vehicle was built for both terrestrial and aquatic transportation, as it could switch from wheels to jet skis.
The Dingo, piloted by Rotor, was once again the bigger and heavier cousin of the Sleet. It too had dual transportation, only it also counted to be a tank. Within its three cannon barrels were Antoine, Bunnie, and Guntiver, ready to launch at any given time.
"We gotta beat that guy to the village," ordered Tails to his tag partner, as their vehicles zoomed into play.
The mossy green fields looked safe enough, but pit and spike traps were scattered all around. As if that wasn't challenging enough, the fields and skies were also being patrolled by Badniks. Seen previously from the Acorn Kingdom, returning now were Motobugs and Buzz Bombers. But new to the scene were Rollers, armadillo-like robots that would roll down a hill as if disguising themselves as boulders. Also new were Yadorin,which looked like spike-shelled hermit crabs but were wheeled like Motobugs, and hiding in plain sight waiting to strike were Hoppers, named for their grasshopper appearance.
It was two Motobugs that came after the team first, but Tails was in the lead with the faster of the two vehicles and so all he had to do was veer past them, and straight into a line of rings.
Ring Count: 5
Crossing over a log bridge, Tails made haste down the path toward small hills; one of which he scaled across to increase his speed. Then a trio of Buzz Bombers were coming his way, so he launched Sonic in ball form first, followed by Sally. They both hit their targets easily. But then Tails realized that some rings were hovering in the air, positioned right behind the flying Badniks. Since his vehicle couldn't jump for them, he shot Sonic through the cannon to snag them.
Ring Count: 10
From the distant hill, Rollers were cascading down and headed for Tails. He decided to "tag" Rotor, since his vehicle was better equipped for battle.
"Comin' at'cha!" cheered Rotor, as his vehicle mowed down the Rollers on impact. Though his Dingo was slower than the Sleet, it was definitely the easier one to steer. Rotor turned right and broke through a pile of boulders, and was rewarded with a hidden Ten-Ring Box.
Ring Count: 20
Moving on, he waited for two Buzz Bombers to come diving down on him before he launched Antoine and Bunny out of his cannon. Antoine hit his target, but Bunnie missed hers. Fortunately, the Buzz Bomber that survived didn't turn around to finish its attack, and so the Dingo rolled on.
"Tag me!" called Tails from behind, and he went flying down a zig-zag patterned slope. The Sleet picked up speed while going down the hill, and so when it hit solid ground it bulldozed over an unsuspecting Hopper. While still in its high-speed mode, the Sleet then veered right, drifting into a half-circle pattern of Rings.
Ring Count: 26
Tails hit the brakes as he came toward a tree. Curious, he shot the Sonic cannon at its top. Sonic went barreling through the tree branches, but caught nothing. He was then pulled back by a bungee chord before the Sleet moved on. That's when a sneaky Yadorin came from behind him; its spiky hide was tough enough to pierce the Sleet.
Ring Count: 0 – 12
"Darn it," frowned Tails as he recovered only twelve rings after being hit.
On sped the Sleet, picking up speed from a speed booster in the middle of the road. He was careful to drift away from spikes that were jetting up from the earth, and passed through a small tunnel where rings were waiting.
Ring Count: 17
Two Hoppers were waiting on the other side of the tunnel, but Tails timed his vehicle right so that as they landed, he ran them over mercilessly.
A rock barrier was coming his way, so he tagged in Rotor; "Let me!" exclaimed the walrus.
Rotor then fired his Guntiver cannon; the brown ball of fur was strong enough to break through the barrier, and the Dingo rolled on.
Coming to a steep hill, the Dingo was fortunate enough to get a lift from a spring board at the foot of the hill. On the hilltop, the Dingo shot down two Motobugs, as well as fire the Guntiver cannon into a tree where an Electro-Shield was hiding.
Acquired: Electro-Shield
This was the Dingo's lucky break; as soon as Rotor rolled down the hill's steep opposite side, rings from everywhere were magnetizing toward him.
Ring Count: 17- 21- 28
The electro-shield also cam with a special double-jump feature, giving both the Sleet and the Dingo extra lift on their pathway. This was especially handy when it came to the Yadorin; normally they were invincible with their spiked shells, but one the Dingo performed a double-jump, all Badniks within sight fell onto their backs.
"My turn!" said Tails, as he quickly took the lead. He wasted no time in running through all felled Badniks while they were still stunned. Only one Yadorin regained its footing, but by then the Sleet was on its way toward its next goal.
Ring Count: 28- 34- 42
Rings were piling down on the Sleet as it just barely crossed their paths. But as Tails' vehicle turned a corner, the strange machine he saw earlier was suddenly in view. "There it is!" he yelled, and took off after it.
Though it was a distance away, the machine was clearly headed straight for the small village that the zone was named after. As Tails drew closer to it, he was beginning to pass by small huts with straw roofs. There were also more trees scattered in this area; some of them had to have secret items in them.
Tails fired once at a tree with the Sally cannon, and snagged a Ten-Ring Box.
Ring Count: 52
"Yeah!" he cheered, satisfied with himself. But now he was losing sight of the hamster ball-like war machine; he boosted up his speed.
The Sleet then crossed over another log bridge, but then it had to double-jump to avoid the line of spikes at the end of it. Again, all Badniks in sight were stunned, but Tails decided that their plight was secondary to the task at hand. As he sped on, the machine was getting closer.
But then, disaster struck! A team of Rollers came falling down from sights unknown and deliberately blocked Tails' path.
"Let me!" said Rotor from behind, and he took the lead. Like a bulldozer, the Dingo plowed through the Roller barrier within seconds. But the Rollers had done their job; now the machine was nowhere to be seen, it must have changed its course.
"I got an idea of where he went," said Rotor, changing his direction leftward, toward a high hill in the distance. Along his way, more rings came flying at him.
Ring Count: 52- 59- 64
Buzz Bombers were now swarming the air, but Rotor only had to fire his Bunnie cannon at one of them in order to clear his path. And this time, her target was hit. "Yee-haw!" she cheered in victory.
The Dingo wasn't swift enough to climb the hill on its own; fortunately a set of springs were placed along its uphill slope so that Rotor could simply ricochet himself to the top. Finally, at the roof of the hill, he had a perfect view of the whole Lobo Village.
Rotor paused to pull out a telescope, and eyed his target. "…There it is. Oh no, it's charging for that dam up ahead!"
Indeed, there was a great wooden damn at the far side of the village, keeping a great lake at bay. The hamster wheel of a tank that the team was chasing was positioning itself to slam right into it. The team had to act fast.
"Tag me!" yelled Tails. The Sleet took the lead and flew down the hill like a boulder off a mountain. But there were spike traps on the way down, so he had to double-jump a few times to make a clean landing.
Now that the wrecking ball was clearly in sight, it was time to let loose the cannons. First, the Sleet fired Sonic, and he made a hit to the ball-shaped tank as it passed by. But on the firing of Sally, she missed her target.
"Tag me!" yelled Rotor, and his Dingo positioned itself in front. As the wrecking ball rammed into the dam, the Dingo let loose its Antoine cannon. Antoine hit the target, but suddenly the white tank went in reverse. It was going for a second ramming.
The Dingo lined up its target, and fired the Guntiver cannon. It missed, and with a great "WHAM," the wrecking ball collided with the dam's wall again. Water was starting to trickle out from the damaged logs.
Quickly, the Dingo fired its Bunnie cannon, and hit its target just as it went by.
Now Buzz Bombers were coming in to distract the Dingo; one of them flew right into the electro-shield, breaking it. Rotor had no choice but to rapidly fire his cannons at the remaining Buzz Bombers, while the wrecking ball/tank slammed into the dam's wall a third time.
"Tag me!" yelled Tails, and the Sleet took over.
The team had only a few more shots before the war tank hit the dam a fourth and fifth time, otherwise the mission would fail. Luckily, Sleet's cannon firing was much faster than the Dingo's, and before the wrecking ball could even begin its fourth charge, the Sonic and Sally cannons fired into it.
Tails didn't even bother to deal with the next swarm of Buzz Bombers that were headed his way; he allowed them to hit him.
Rings: 0
Keeping his aim on the war machine, Tails fired the Sonic cannon one last time, and the machine finally started to show signs of submission by spewing electric bolts on its wheels. Then, they collapsed underneath it, making it nothing more than a glorified hamster ball.
…
- ACT I CLEARED! -
Ring Count: 0
Bonus Points: +2000
Rank: B+ (Not Bad!)
…
In his last desperate attempt, the creature within the giant ball used up all of his strength to roll it toward the dripping dam. The heroes could only watch at that point, as the machine they tried so hard to stop was now pummeling itself into the dam.
To everyone's surprise, the dam didn't break, and that was because the monstrous ball was wedged right in its center, trapped. But even so, water was starting to rush out and flood the village.
"Quick," ordered Princess Sally, "everyone break into teams and try to find the locals before this whole place goes under!"
As everyone else paired off and took off in a flash, Amy darted over to Julie-Su, with whom she was itching to make a team name for: "Pink Power?"
"No," said Julie-Su quickly.
"Sister Sledgehammer?"
"No."
"Tier-Amy-Su?"
"No!"
"Rosy Rascals?"
"…Where did that one come from?"
"That was my nickname when I was a kid; Rosy the Rascal."
Julie-Su made a face as she pondered. "….It's do-able."
"Great!" Amy jumped for joy. "Let's go, partner!"
The hot-pink echidna sighed deeply as she took off after her bubblegum-pink counterpart.
…
- ACT II -
Team Selected: Rosy Rascals (Amy and Julie-Su)
"Let's get that maniac before he makes things worse!" growled Julie-Su, as she and Amy took off ahead.
The girls wanted to finish the machine off, but first they had to power-up. So instead of facing it head on, they turned back and started to run through the village rather aimlessly. Tailing them were two Motobugs, which Julie had no trouble shooting down.
As they raced on, the water level was rising to their ankles. Julie, in the lead, scaled a hut to its rooftop to grab three rings.
Ring Count: 3
Then she made a daring long jump onto the next hut, where three more rings were waiting.
Ring Count: 6
She then jumped down to ground level, where Yadorins were pacing back and forth. She jumped over them, avoiding their spikes, and ran toward a spring box that launched her to the roof of a two-story building. Clearly, this village had some sophistication to it, not just random one-room housings.
On the roof of the two-story building laid a zip-line, which connected to a one-story row house. As she zipped downward, Julie grabbed more rings.
Ring Count: 11
"I need fire power," muttered the she-echidna. She crossed the row house and hurled herself into a ball, bouncing into a bush that had a hidden item box.
Acquired: Basic Shield
A basic shield was not what she wanted, but it was enough to at least keep the on-coming Badniks at bay. She raced on until she came to a pitfall with a spring board as its only escape route. As Julie-Su bounced of the board, it carried her into another spring board, then a third; all at one, she zig-zagged upward toward a moving platform that hovered in mid-air. She waited for it to carry her across the aerial plain, and onto a platform that went straight up. She jumped off it, and landed onto a rooftop-
Sting! A spike trap popped out of the space Julie landed on, and the force not only broke her shield but pushed her completely off the roof and onto solid ground with a splash. The water level now was halfway to her knees, but Julie was determined to get to the high ground, and so she went back to the spring-board pattern and retraced her steps. Only this time, she was more careful about timing her jump when the spike trap came around again.
"Tag me!" called out Amy. Julie stepped aside, and the hammer-wielding she-hog took the lead. She ran across the rooftop of a three-story building and swung her hammer at an on-coming Yadorin. Since jumping on it would have wounded her, it was best to use brute force instead.
Amy leaped into a ball from the ledge and onto another, where she broke open two Ten-Ring boxes.
Ring Count: 31
On the end of this rooftop was a zip-line, only this second one shot straight across instead of downward. It carried Amy very quickly, onto a pedestal of sorts, with its top covered in moss. She ducked down to see what was at ground level, and could see that two Hoppers were crouching down to appear like grass. Amy wasn't fooled; she rolled into a ball and fell on top of them before splashing into the water.
The water level was now knee-high, and she was clearly at a loss of where to go until she noticed another hovering platform ahead. She hopped onto it, and it carried her straight up, into a patch of rings…
Ring Count: 36
…and gave way for what appeared to be a stone-cut aqueduct, similar to those of Ancient Rome. She raced across it, careful to swing at three Buzz Bombers on the way, until it started to break away under her feet. Amy then took a leap of faith, and jumped off, landing onto a moss-covered block of stone. Curious, she jumped and slammed her hammer onto it, smashing it into pieces. Hidden inside was a shield box.
Acquired: Basic Shield
"No time to lose!" she said, as she hopped back onto the ground level of the village. The water was still knee-high, slowing down Amy's pace, so she started to jump across the path until at last she came to another stone block. When she smashed this one, it gave way to a spring board. She jumped on it, and it sent her flying vertically into the air. As she landed onto another aqueduct pipeline, she snagged more rings.
Ring Count: 42
She paused and witnessed something terrible: "The wrecking ball… it's loose!"
Indeed, the wrecking ball machine had rolled out of its wedge against the dam's logging, and suddenly a torrent of water came pouring out onto the village. Everyone else scrambled, while Amy and her teammate stood their ground. They were well out of the water's way, but time was clearly running out.
"Hurry, tag me!" demanded Julie-Su.
Julie took the lead and dashed across the aqueduct's path and jumped onto a higher pipeline before the previous one broke apart. She picked up speed, along with some rings…
Ring Count: 51
…before jumping onto an even higher pipeline. There, a line of Hoppers were waiting, but Julie needed onto to roll into a ball and slammed them down like they were bowling ball pins. The pipeline then curled downward, sending Julie underwater momentarily before sloping upward again. As she winded up and down, she rolled into a line of rings.
Ring Count: 59
With the pipeline now giving way, Julie took a flying leap onto a zip-line that shot her straight up into the air, onto a four-story building's rooftop.
Suddenly, WHAM! The mechanical hamster wheel of doom rolled itself into the base of the building, and it was starting to crumble. Julie had only a few short seconds to make one decisive hop after another, bouncing from one safe platform to another before they all started to crumble. Her final bounce was on top of the wrecking ball, and she landed right in front of it with a splash.
As Julie-Su and Amy looked on, the machine's four tentacles started to peel out and open up their laser guns…
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- MINI-BOSS BATTLE: vs. DRAGO'S WRECKER -
Song: Mini-Boss Theme from "Sonic 3 and Knuckles," remixed
"Keep behind me!" said Julie, as she whipped out her pistols. She was a quick shot, taking out the first laser gun in just three hits.
The second laser fired, breaking Julie's shield bubble, but that didn't stop her from shooting it down next.
"My turn!" demanded Amy, and she came out swinging with her hammer. She jumped just in time before the third laser could hit her, and with her Double Smack attack, it was destroyed. The pattern repeated itself with the fourth and final laser: dodge, jump, Double Smack.
But the fight wasn't quite over; as his last laser was obliterated, the pilot of the machine finally smashed his way out from its center. He was revealed to be a white wolf with bright yellow eyes, fully-metallic arms, and dressed in a dark blue one-piece suit. He lunged at Amy, but she was quick to jump out of the way.
"TEAM-UP!"
At the cost of just fifty of their rings, the team performed their Special Attack, the "Piko-Pummel." Amy's massive hammer morphed into two, one for herself and one for Julie. Amy aimed right, Julie aimed left, and at once they plowed their mallets into each other, but with their enemy caught in the crossfire. It counted as five hits, and only one more swing from Amy's true hammer was enough to bring the wolf down.
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- MISSION:COMPLETE! -
"Well done, partner."
"Yeah! Girl power!"
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- ACT II, MISSION COMPLETE! -
Ring Count: 9
Bonus Points: 10,000
Rank: A (Very Good!)
Level Up! –Amy can now use "Piko-Dash!"
Level Up! –Julie-Su can now use "Rapid Fire!"
…
In the end, Lobo Village was a drenched mess. Most of it, in fact, was completely underwater by the time the heroes found dry land again. It was, to say the least, a dark victory.
Julie-Su dragged the stunned white wolf to the bank where her team was waiting. "…Any survivors?" she hesitated to ask them.
Sonic shook his head, "No one was there; the whole village was deserted."
Suddenly, the white wolf began to snicker. His fiendish laughter caused Julie's fur to stand on end; she tossed him onto his side, slammed her boot down on him and aimed her gun in his face. "Talk, scumbag."
The crazed white wolf opened his yellow eyes. "…heheheheee…. Heheheheh!"
"Are you a wolf, or a hyena? SPEAK!"
"You want to know what happened to the wolves of this village?" hissed the white wolf. "They're all been captured, every last one of them except for me. I was the only one among them who knew better than to fight against the Dark Legion, so I joined them instead. They rewarded me with these new arms and that Wrecker machine there. Hee-hee-hee… You did a good job tearing it down, but you actually did me a favor by destroying the village! Hahahahaha!"
"What do you mean by that?" asked Julie-Su.
The white wolf was allowed to sit up, and he did so as he continued to gloat. "This village was the only place left of the whole Kingdom of Canus that hasn't yet fallen to Robotnik's empire. I took it upon myself to tear it down so that even IF the wolves were somehow rescued, they'd have no home left to go to. They'd be sitting ducks waiting to be roboticized all over again!"
"How could you do this to your own people!" growled Sally.
"It was easy," smiled the wily one. "All I had to do was choose between being a mindless slave or a free-willing lackey that could be paid for his services. Really, if you had the choice, which would you take sweetheart?"
"Treacherous slime!" snarled Guntiver. "Julie, give him what's coming to him."
"No," frowned Julie-Su. "I can think of lots of better punishments for this creature… Besides, I want more answers, like: Where is the Dark Legion now? And where are their wolf slaves?"
"Heh," grinned the white wolf. "You mean you don't even know? Some heroes you are! The Legion's halfway to the Onyx Shrine by now, and the slaves are-"
BANG!
Everyone gasped in stunned surprise, as their captive enemy took a laser shot right through his neck. He slumped over, lifeless.
"Julie…?" muttered Sally.
The echidna shook her head as she raised her loaded gun. "It wasn't me."
Quickly, Sonic and the others turned and looked around to see where that shot had been taken from…
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"That stupid mongrel never knew when to shut up," muttered the gunmen, who turned out to be a half-roboticized dingo. The whole right side of his face was completely metallic with a red left eye, while the left side of his body was mertallic from the neck down. He donned a black and blue suit with an emblem for the Dark Legion on his chest, a testament to his allegiance. He had been taking cover behind a boulder, when a blue hedgehog caught sight of him in the distance.
"Hey! You! Over there, stop!" called out Sonic. He tried to chase after him, but the shadowy figure escaped through teleportation. Poor Sonic could only pause and scratch his head.
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A stunned Amy hid behind Rotor, while the rest of the team stood in awe at the sight of the dead white wolf. Only Guntiver was bold enough to approach the body and examine it thoroughly.
"I knew this character," confirmed Guntiver. "His name was Drago. Never did like that son of a… Well, anyway, he got what he deserved as far as I'm concerned."
"But who was that other guy?" asked a shaken Amy. "The one who…?"
"The two-face?" asked Sonic as he hurried back to the others. "I dunno who he was, but he looked like a dingo. Can we trust their kind, Guntiver?"
"Most of them are alright," replied the brown wolf. "But did you say he had two faces?"
"Yeah; half-real, half-robotic."
Guntiver nodded solemnly. "Kage von Stryker. He's a bounty hunter; and no, we can't trust him anymore than we could Drago."
"So what now, y'all?" chirped Bunnie. "Do we go after Stryker, or the Legion, or look for th'wolf slaves?"
Sonic tapped his foot while thinking deeply for a moment, then he snapped his fingers. "Okay, there's plenty of us right now, but we've also got Knuckles and Shadow out there doing their thing. I saw we split into to factions; Sal, Amy, Bunnie and Julie, you guys go find Knux and the Faker."
"Right," nodded Sally. "I can locate them with my cell phone's map mode."
Sonic then added, "The rest of you hang with me, and we'll take on the Legion at Onyx Shrine Zone head on. Whaddya say, gang?"
"Agreed," replied Sally and Guntiver. The others agreed silently.
While the others were more than ready to go, poor Amy was still standing by the dead wolf's body. For the first time, perhaps, the seriousness of this adventure was beginning to sink in. She was at a complete loss for both words and thought, when a brown hand gently clutched onto hers.
"Come on Amy," purred Sally. "Let's get out of here."
Taking a gulp, the she-hog nodded once, and let the princess lead her away.
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- NEW TEAMS! -
TEAM ROYAL PAINS
Sally Acorn (Speed) and Amy Rose (Heal)
TEAM CYBER PUNKS
Bunnie Rabbot (Power) and Julie-Su (Stealth)
… …
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-PAUSE GAME-
-GO BACK TO WORLD MAP-
Save Your Progress?
-YES-
-SAVING-
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LOADING…
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-WORLD MAP-
Worlds Unlocked: ACORN, FELIDAE, CANUS
-SELECTING CANUS-
CANUS KINGDOM: Frozen Peak Zone, Lobo Village Zone, Onyx Temple Zone
-SELECT ZONE: FROZEN PEAK-
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-SELECT TEAM-
DARK CHAOS: Knuckles (Power) and Shadow (Stealth)-
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RE-LOADING ZONE…