CWCollateral: A Tale of the Resistance

by Manajerkop

What happens when innocent bystanders get fed up with enduring the fallout from Sonichu's zappin' adventures? REVOLUTION, that's what! Experience Sonichu from a whole new perspective, as the PVCC fights to end the tyranny of Christian Weston Chandler.

25. Chapter 19: Death and Rebirth

CWCollateral: A Tale of the Resistance

by Manajerkop

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Chapter 19: Death and Rebirth

February 26, 2009, Central CWCville, Mal-Wart District, PVCC ruins, 8:53 a.m.

Despite the few times that he had done it, Kevin still hadn't adapted to the effects of teleporting. As the world reformed around him, he squeezed his eyes shut, fighting back the urge to vomit that accompanied every brief trip through Palkia's realm. In the darkness, all he could hear were the sounds of the riot somewhere off in the distance, and the faint roar of fighter jets flying over CWCville. Wherever Graduon had taken them, it was well out of the American military's way.

With a crackling noise, the rip in space sealed shut, spilling its four passengers onto the cold ground. Snowflakes and icy wind whipped across Kevin's armor, sneaking between the cracks and joints of the horned skull mask to nip at his face and neck. As the Jerkop shakily stood up, the blur of white and grey solidified before him, revealing the bodies of Nate Shaw, Punchy, and Sonichu. A sign lay half-buried in the rubble, displaying the faded text, "PIEDMONT VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE."

Kevin stared at the sign. It made no sense. He'd never been here...why had Graduon brought-

"TAKE THAT, BASTARD!" Sonichu yelled, kicking Kevin in the chestplate and sending him straight into a chunk of crumbled wall. The wooden beams splintered and broke as the Jerkop slammed into them, cushioning his impact. "Punchy, get up! Get up and help me, you idiot!"

"Kevin!" Nate leapt to his feet and dashed to his brother's side. "Kevin, come on, we have to-"

"Get out of here!" ordered Kevin, shoving Nate out of the way as the two Electric Hedgehog Pokémon turned toward them. "Find somewhere to hide, Nate! I'll handle this!"

There wasn't time for Nate to argue. He darted away, scrambling over the rubble haphazardly. A moment later, Sonichu and Punchy charged, hurling themselves toward the armored Jerkop. Kevin raised his bladed gauntlets as if he were about to enter a boxing match. He couldn't even feel the cold around him anymore. There was only him, the two Combo members, and the field of debris around them that had once been the PVCC campus. The former college had sat here, unchanged since the day that Christian Weston Chandler had ordered its destruction. Only snow and bitter memories lay among the ruins now – a grim reminder of the Mayor's vengeful nature.

Kevin lashed out with an armored fist and ripped the rest of the wall apart, pelting Sonichu and Punchy with a storm of flying debris. The two Sonichus instinctively shielded their faces, but the brief distraction was all that Kevin needed. He was already on the move, closing the gap between himself and his opponents. One good hit...all he needed was one solid hit, and then he could-

"SO...NI...CHUUUUUUUUU!" Thunder roared in Kevin's ears as the Thunderbolt struck him in the skull mask, burning a colored streak into his vision. Blinded, he flailed left and right, but the heavy gauntlets struck only air. A battery-blue sneaker connected with his shoulder, wrenching the entire suit of armor sideways. Punchy followed Sonichu's attack with a brutal uppercut that launched Kevin into the air. Through a spinning haze of grey and white, the Jerkop could momentarily hear the red Sonichu humming the theme from Rocky before he crashed back into the ground.

Feeling as though he'd been run over by a tractor, Kevin stood up and scanned his surroundings. Once more, the familiar sense of dread had returned. The fight hadn't even been going for thirty seconds, and he had yet to land a single blow on either of his opponents. The uppercut had sent him tumbling into a small crater, and as he looked up, Sonichu and Punchy both appeared on the ridge. The two Combo members stared down at him, grinned, then exchanged a smug high-five with each other. Kevin bared his teeth. No way. There was no way he could let them win now.

"Puh-puh-puh-pow! Shoryuken!" Punchy announced, jabbing the air enthusiastically. "Wham! Bam! Thank you, ma'am! Ladles and jellyfish, start your engines; let's get ready to rumble!"

"So, here we are once again, Shaw." The Hero of CWCville shook his head, dislodging snow from his quills as he addressed his foe. "You might've bought your pals a little time, but do you really think you saved them in the end?" He smiled and winked. "Well, they won't get far, especially now that they're carrying around so much dead weight! Eye for an eye, you know?"

"You're going to pay for what you did," the Jerkop panted. "I'm gonna make sure of that."

"What I did?" Sonichu laughed bitterly, his voice betraying the madness and sorrow that were consuming him from within. "What I did...do you think this is my fault? I'm the protector of this goddamn city! You racist fucks just had to go and ruin everything! Well, right now, all I've been doing is punching up! This is justice for my family, and one way or another, justice will be-"

Kevin attacked, swift as a cobra striking its prey. Sonichu and Punchy barely had time to dodge the beam of violet that sliced across the ridge, warping the air around it as it punched a five-foot crater into the rubble-strewn ground. Keeping his eyes locked onto Sonichu, the Jerkop charged up the hill, unleashing a second blast that would have torn the Hero of CWCville in half had he been standing two feet to the left. Before Sonichu could recover, Kevin was upon him like a juggernaut. The impact launched both combatants straight through the destroyed PVCC sign, scattering the faded plastic letters in every direction as they traded punch after vicious punch. Aided by Graduon, the Jerkop's strikes were quick, calculated, and forceful, targeting Sonichu's vulnerable stomach and legs even as the Electric Hedgehog Pokémon whirled and smashed him three times across the face with a spinning Iron Tail. The sound had faded from Kevin's world, and all he could hear was the rush of blood in his ears. At last, he was back in the fight. At last, he had the advantage, and Sonichu was well and truly on the defensive. At last, he...

"CHOO-CHOO! All aboard the pain train, lamebrain! Ha! Ha! Haaaiii-YA!"

CRUNCH! Kevin reeled, gasping for air as Punchy's spiked fist caught him in the ribs. The armor plates buckled and cracked, but refused to give way. As the Jerkop turned to intercept the red-furred Electric Hedgehog Pokémon, Sonichu kicked him under the chin, hurling him back into Punchy's next attack from behind. The two Combo members were batting him back and forth from either side, trapping him directly in between what felt like a pair of piledrivers. Every time he attempted to counter one of them, the other would smash into him from somewhere far out of sight, or else circle around and lunge to deliver a charged punch into his side.

"Is this your best, Shaw?" taunted Sonichu, whirling in the air as he planted a solid kick across Kevin's face. The Jerkop's head whipped to the right, sending a sharp pain through his neck. He went down with a clatter of bones, his pained grimace concealed by the skull mask. "Don't tell me you're giving up already! I haven't even started!" He grinned. "Punchy, double smash!"

"Ha-HA!" Punchy laughed, leaping forward and curling into a Homing Attack just as Sonichu did the same from the opposite side of Kevin. "Better call Aunt Jemima; it is-"

The red Sonichu's insufferable quip was cut mercifully short as his armored opponent blinked out of existence and reappeared a mere two meters to the left. Unable to stop their attacks or change direction, Sonichu and Punchy collided in midair and careened off each other like a pair of bumper cars, leaving a splash of blood and several quills on the debris below. Before either of them could recover, Kevin charged, raising his arm and swinging down towards Punchy with the heavy bladed gauntlet. If the Sonichu hadn't rolled out of the way, the psychically-charged strike would have most likely liquefied Punchy's ribcage and most of his vital organs as well.

"Come on! Come on!" Kevin gasped. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead, and his arms and legs burned like fire. He was losing control over the armor. "Graduon! Help!"

The spirit did not answer. Silently cursing his own idiocy, Kevin flung out an arm and smacked Sonichu out of the air before the second Homing Attack could connect. The Hero of CWCville fell poleaxed by the unexpected blow, but was back on his feet in half a second. The smell of ozone filled the air as Sonichu blasted Kevin with a Thundershock, marring the pale bones with a black scorch mark. The Jerkop shrugged off the attack and lifted his gauntlet, but to his horror, the purple light sputtered and faded from his hand before it could manifest into a psychic bolt. A familiar dark blur was already forming at the edges of Kevin's vision. He had lasted longer than he had at the Battle of CWCville Beach, but if he kept going, he would pass out once again.

Hidden among the rubble a mere ten yards away from the duel, Nate's heart pounded with terror as he watched his brother enduring the Sonichus' merciless onslaught. Even at a distance, it was clear that Kevin's strength was diminishing. He might have been able to hold his own against a single Combo member, but in a battle with two, the Jerkop had been hopelessly outmatched.

Something white flashed through the scorched skeleton of the college, darting nimbly between the ruins like a ghost. Nate squinted his eyes in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the pale figure, but before he could focus on it, the thing had vanished. More confused than ever, the Jerkop sniper turned back to watch the duel, gripping his pistol in a trembling hand. There was nothing he could do but watch and pray that his brother could somehow overcome two Chaotic Combo members at once. Judging from how the battle was playing out, that outcome didn't seem likely.

"What...are you...doing?" Kevin spluttered, his vision turning to black fog. His knees buckled as the strength left them, sending him to the ground. Punchy kicked him in the stomach as if punting a football, driving the breath from the Jerkop's lungs. "Agh! Graduon, I can't...it's no-"

"Had enough, you baby-murdering piece of shit?" Sonichu snapped as he grabbed the bone mask by its horns and slammed his opponent face-first into the ground, hard enough to send a web of hairline cracks spreading across the pale plates. "Come on! Fight back, you coward! You think you can get away with an anticlimax after everything you did to me?" He knelt in the rubble, leaning his head down beside the monstrous skull. "You're going to give me a proper final battle, Shaw! And once I've defeated you, this city will finally know the true extent of your evil deeds!"

Closing his eyes, Kevin let go. His mind slipped back into the void, back into the embrace of the dreamscape. He wondered for a second if he had blacked out, if it was all over...but no, it was as if he was a mere spectator, no longer in control of his actions. Outside, he could still see Sonichu and Punchy battering his half-conscious self again and again, but at the same time, he watched from within, free of pain and exhaustion alike. Was this it? Could this be what death felt like?

Light surged from all directions, striking Kevin dead center and propelling him up and out of the dreamscape. Pain and exhaustion returned as the Jerkop snapped back into consciousness, but now there seemed to be a strange purple glow around the edges of his vision, much like when he had allowed Graduon to speak through him. The air shimmered and warped around the ancient armor, exploding in a near-invisible wave that hurled both Sonichu and Punchy back across the battlefield. Nearby, Nate managed to take cover before the blast could knock him away. As he braced himself against the rush of icy air, the white shape appeared in the corner of his eye, scampering up on top of the ruins and disappearing before he could get a better look at it.

"What?" wheezed Kevin, astonished by the sudden intervention. "What did you do, Graduon?"

"Neat trick, Shaw!" Sonichu zoomed back, taking a battle stance directly across from his rival. "You thought you could buy yourself enough time to escape? Well, looks like your evil scheme failed as usual!" He placed his hands on his hips and smirked, then pointed in Nate's direction. "Tell you what! I'll give you one last chance. Surrender, and I'll let your Jerkop friend live."

"Nate?" Kevin turned, following Sonichu's outstretched finger over to where Nate was hidden in the rubble. "FUCK! NATE! GET OUT OF THERE! THEY CAN SEE YOU!"

CRASH! Punchy appeared out of nowhere, ripping through the pile of rubble with a single punch and kicking Nate in the stomach before the Shaw brothers could react. Winded and stunned, Nate hit the wall with a meaty thud and crumpled into a ball, wincing in silent agony. The red Sonichu grabbed the injured Jerkop and hauled him out of the ruins, brandishing him like a living trophy.

"FUCK YOU!" roared Kevin, seething with fury as he raised a gauntlet. "LET HIM GO, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!"

"No," Sonichu chuckled, and dashed over to join Punchy. "I don't think so, Shaw. You've been sabotaging my plans for too long, and it's time to put an end to this." Lightning crackled from his cheekspots, arcing across the Hero of CWCville's body and accumulating in his right hand as he held it close to Nate's face. "I'll say this once more. Give up now, or your friend gets zapped."

Kevin snarled, baring his teeth behind the monstrous mask. He was already reaching the end of his strength, even with Graduon's momentary assistance. The psychic wave had done nothing to help him, and now he had let his own brother be captured by the enemy. He'd never intended to bring Nate into such a dangerous battle, but despite his best efforts, the teleport had carried them both away. He had failed, and now there was nothing he could do but obey Sonichu's ultimatum.

"No!" Graduon spoke suddenly, startling the Jerkop. "Do not give in, young one! Not yet!"

Wordlessly, Kevin lowered his gauntlet. The violet glow had left his eyes. In the back of his mind, he had known that defeat had been inevitable. And yet, he'd still fought on against nearly impossible odds. Perhaps some small part of him had hoped that the elite Sonichus were just as mortal as Bubbles had been. But it had taken the unexpected intervention of Momma Swampert and the efforts of the entire American invasion force to bring down the former. Blake Sonichu was probably still alive as well, and the Red Devils were most likely all gone. One dead Combo member didn't make the rest of them any less powerful and dangerous. And here he was, some random Jerkop who had somehow gotten lucky and ended up with a weapon from a civilization long lost to history. He was nothing more than a child, a child who had found his father's gun. How had he ever believed himself capable of killing the Combo, or even facing them in battle?

"Good choice, Shaw." Sonichu's expression hardened as he drew back his lightning-infused arm. "But as I recall...you never gave me a choice before you murdered my family. So why should I?"

"NATE!" Kevin screamed in horror as the flash of electricity illuminated his brother's blood-streaked, terrified face. "NATE! NO!"

Thunk!

"AAGH!" Punchy dropped Nate with a scream and clapped a hand to his shoulder, where a small black object now protruded from the flesh. Sonichu's Thunderpunch roared harmlessly through the air and impacted on the burned structure beside them. As the wounded Jerkop dizzily crawled away from the two Combo members, Punchy grasped the object and wrenched it out of his arm, revealing it to be a single four-pointed shuriken. Two more of the flying metal stars whirred past and clattered harmlessly against the ruins, forcing the pair of chus to leap away to avoid being hit. Sonichu, Punchy, Kevin, and Nate all looked up just in time to see the white figure appear again. But this time, it did not try to hide. Agile as a fox, it leapt from the raised structure and somersaulted once in midair before landing skillfully on the ground. As the Combo members and Jerkops watched, it shrugged off its scarf and jacket, then flung both away to reveal a pristine white karategi, a black belt, a katana sheathed at its side, and a familiar head of short blond hair.

What? Kevin's mouth fell open in astonishment as he recognized the figure. No! How did she-

"MYPOE!" Punchy screamed, his random-access persona temporarily shoved aside by the shock of seeing his mortal enemy alive and well. "I do not believe this; you are supposed to be dead!"

"Nice to see you again, Punchy," the Japanese woman growled as she drew her katana with a single swift motion. "It's been what, ten years?" She narrowed her eyes. "I lost count of the years a long time ago, but I never forgot you, teki. I never forgot what you did to me."

"Byashiko! You did this! It was you all along!" The red Sonichu pointed accusingly at Mypoe. "You pulled my tail off! You killed our sensei, Master Shinabe! You murdered my friend, Reginald Sneasel, and you took away my beloved heartsweet, Layla Flaaffy! It has always been you behind it all!"

"Yes, it has." Mypoe's expression was as stern and focused as ever. "When you arrived at our dojo, I sought to teach you the humility you sorely needed. In a way, I madeyou, Punchy. And for my actions, I was exiled and disowned by the man I once knew as my father." She looked down at her feet sadly. "Yes, Master Shinabe is gone. His death was honorable...far more than he deserved. But I knew it was only the beginning, and that my path would one day lead me back to face you again. When I killed Reginald, I told you that this was only the beginning." She raised her katana and pointed the slim blade at Punchy. "And here we are. The end of the road."

"You've gotto be fucking joking," snarled Sonichu, crossing his arms with an unimpressed sigh. "This is the Mypoe you've been talking about? This is who killed Reginald and Layla? A little girl playing ninja, and you couldn't handle her on your own? I'm disappointed in you, Punchy."

"PUNCHY MAD! PUNCHY SMASH!" Punchy's restraint broke as he snapped right back into his new self, retreating to his memorized hodgepodge of anime, manga, TV shows, video games, and other pop culture icons that he had grown to adore during his many years in Christian Weston Chandler's service. It was a coping mechanism, a way to hold back his vast inner rage and keep it from consuming his mind. "In the name of truth and Justice League, my Fists of Fatal Fury will defeat you, Mypoe-baka!"

"At least give me a challenge," taunted Mypoe. "I know you were given the family Masamune by my father before you left the dojo. Now that Shinabe is dead, the sword is my birthright. Face me, blade to blade, and I will make sure your death is a swift one before I claim what is mine."

"That is not yours; it is my sword, and I will not let you have it!" retorted Punchy angrily as he reached behind his back and drew a magnificent katana seemingly from thin air. Kevin did a double take. Where had the beautiful weapon come from? How had the red Sonichu pulled it out of space? Had he been hiding the Masamune under his fur this whole time, or somewhere else?

"Then I'll just have to take it back!" Mypoe stepped forward, holding her own sword lightly in one hand. "Stand back, Sonichu. My fight is with Punchy, not you. I won't have you interfering."

"The hell you won't!" Sonichu spat. "I don't know how you found us, but I've had enough of you already, you arrogant bitch! SO...NI...CHUUUUUUUUUU!"

Mypoe leapt and rolled out of the way, springing back to her feet just as a second Thunderbolt arced toward her. Before the lethal spear of lightning could strike the surprised young woman, a pale blur wreathed in violet light swept in front of her, absorbing the shock into its chest. The monstrous suit of Sawabi bone armor now stood towering between her and the two Sonichus.

"She said..." Kevin snarled, shrugging off the electricity as he raised a gauntlet, "...stand back."

"SHAW!" roared Sonichu, enraged by the intrusion. "YOU BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU!"

"Shaw? Wait... Kevin?" Mypoe stared in awe at the armored Jerkop. "You...I don't...how?"

"Not now!" yelled Kevin, readying himself. "Take Punchy! I'll keep Sonichu away from you!"

"BANZAI!" screamed Punchy as he raised the Masamune and charged, tearing across the ruins toward Mypoe as Sonichu rolled into a Spin Dash beside him and shot towards Kevin with a yell of fury. "KAMIKAZE! It's time to d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-duel, Byashikypoe! WELCOME TO DIE!"

---

West CWCville, subdivisions, CWCville Shopping Center, third floor, 9:02 a.m.

Christian Weston Chandler gazed longingly at the barricaded door leading to his office. The roars and groans from Cera Rosey's reanimated, mutated corpse had quieted down half a day ago, but he wasn't desperate or bored enough to try and retrieve any new DS games from inside. And besides, after his fateful phone call with Angelica and a much-needed change of briefs, Patti-Chan had insisted that the Mayor needed to hold an emergency meeting with her and Wild Sonichu before he could begin Date Number Two with his Sweetheart from the Ground-Up.

This had been a good idea. Chris had many things that he'd wanted to talk about, like how he could break Kevin Shaw's devious mind control over his new Sweetheart so that she would stop rejecting him and recognize her so-called "boyfriend" as the villainous scumbag that he was! But to his disappointment, Patti-Chan was simply too panicked to think straight. He had tried to calm his faithful dog's nerves by reminding her that the defenders of CWCville had managed just fine without him the previous June, but despite this, she refused to listen to common sense!

Try as he might, the Mayor simply couldn't understand. What could possibly be more important than rescuing his newest Sweetheart from her psychotic and undoubtedly abusive stalker, Kevin Shaw? The thought of someone using mind control to force people into relationships that weren't meant to be really ground his gears. But even when he'd tried to explain this simple fact to Patti-Chan, she still refused to listen! She was still hounding him about unimportant things, like the American invasion and the fact that Bubbles Rosechu was dead, which she certainly wasn't. She should have known not to give him more stress...not when everything was finally going his way!

Chandler sighed again, ignoring whatever it was Patti-Chan and Wild were discussing. Why, just why had everyone suddenly decided to be as naïve as possible? Sonichu's children weren't dead, and neither was Bubbles! As much as he trusted Angelica, he knew that Bubbles would have never lost a battle if she'd had access to an entire ocean's worth of water! The idea that she'd been killed by some powerless jerks with a few guns was laughable! And Momma Swampert would never turn on her adopted daughter like Angelica had said! The inhibitor chip installed in her brain would make sure of that. Bubbles must have been only faking her death to catch Clyde Cash off guard. It had been nearly an hour, yes, but the Mayor was still confident that the strange static on her mind-channel would soon be replaced by thoughts of seashell necklaces and watery-

A flicker appeared in the corner of Chris's vision, directing his gaze over to the ball of flame that surrounded what had once been Allison Amber's beloved Keurig machine.

"PUKKIN RUKKIN!" yelled Wild, noticing the smell. "THE COFFEE'S ON FIRE!"

"HOW?" screamed a thoroughly confused Patti-Chan. "It wasn't even plugged in!"

"I'll handle dis!" Chandler rose from his seat, his face clad in a smug, confident grin as he raised a hand towards the caffeinated inferno blazing away in the corner. He'd just realized something – it didn't matter that some unknown force was keeping him from contacting Bubbles! He still had all the powers of the Chaotic Combo! The method by which he could tap into their strength and experience, Magi-Chan had once explained, used an impenetrable psychic backdoor channel to establish the required transfer of information he needed to use their powers to the fullest extent. No matter what was blocking Bubbles's mind off, he could still prove that she wasn't dead by using her powers right now! "ELECTRIC HEDGEHOG POWER: WATER!"

Nothing happened. Chris stared at his hand, confused. Only a few drops of moisture had formed on his palm, and he wasn't entirely sure if they were the Water Gun he'd tried to use, or merely sweat. It must have been a fluke. Ignoring the strange accident, he tried the attack again.

"ELECTRIC HEDGEHOG POWER: WATER!"

This time, a definite sphere of water formed in his hand, but for some odd reason, Chris was unable to focus the torrent toward his intended target. Water sprayed from his palm as though someone was holding their thumb over the mouth of a garden hose. Stuck somewhere between confusion and panic, Chandler decided to make one last attempt to douse the flames.

"ELECTRIC HEDGEHOG POWER: WAAAAGLUBBLUBBLUB!" Instead of the focused stream he had been envisioning, water erupted around Chris, flowing from his mouth, his hands, and every inch of his skin. For a moment, the Mayor of CWCville briefly became the world's fattest, greasiest overflow fountain. As the water fell away, he toppled to the floor, soaked and spluttering as he gasped for air. An odd whooshing noise quickly silenced the crackle of flames.

"Phew! It is a good thing I was here to save the day; it would not have been good if that fire had spread much further!" exclaimed Wild Sonichu, who had snuffed out the blazing Keurig machine with a gust from his leafy tail while the Mayor had been having his first bath in six days.

"Now will you listen to me, Christian?" asked Patti-Chan, ignoring the Mayor's stress-coughing. "Bubbles. Is. Dead. I do not know how the PVCC managed it, but that is a fact we will have to-"

"NRAUGH!" Chandler retched as a flood of water and bits of half-chewed waffle spewed from his mouth. "Ugh! Uh, Bubbles is not...obviously, tha backdoor tunnel is not as secure as Magi-Chan thought! Y'all are losin' focus on tha real issue here, which, as y'all should know by now, is tha rescue of my Sweetheart Allison's fair mind from dat Kevin Shaw's brainwashin' control!"

"Christian, please!" The bionic dog buried her face in her paws. "Please just go out and fight! The battle would be over by now if you had just gone to the beach when we found out that the Americans were invading; every minute you wait, the PVCCitizens shatter even more hearts!"

"That, uh, dat is true, but tha rest of tha Combo is still fine!" blustered Chris. "If anythin' have-has taken Bubbles out of tha fight, den it was probably jus' dumb luck. An' dat is assumin' dat Bubbles is not merely biding her time for tha right moment ta strike an' recover, like she should!"

Now it was Patti's turn to sigh. "Very well, Christian. You should probably check on the others to ensure they are okay; without Magi-Chan, we need you to keep us updated on the situation!"

Christian smiled contentedly. That sounded like a much less stressful idea. Pressing his fingers against both temples, he reached out to the minds of the Chaotic Combo members who were not already in the Shopping Center.

"Hey dere Sonichu, I-"

"FUCK OFF! I'M BUSY!"

The Mayor drew back, startled, as the psychic link was abruptly closed. He shrugged. Sonichu was still probably dealing with the absence of Rosechu and his family, though Chris hoped that he would be able to get over it soon. It had been two whole days, after all, and helping to free Sweetheart from Shaw's mind control was far more important than grieving over kidnappings!

"Bubbles," he continued, switching channels, "y'all need ta-"

Only the same eerie static greeted him. Bubbles Rosechu's mind was nowhere to be found.

Anyone listening in would have heard Chandler's psychic sigh. "Magi-Chan, report tha-"

"Your thought has been heard fully, and your ideas inputted for better improvement. Thank you for your time and efforts."

Chandler sighed, harder. "Angelica, what is tha situ...how are tha fights goin'?"

"FINDSHAWMAKESUFFERKILLMAIMSUFFERDIEECSTASYGLEE..."

"Angelica?" Startled, Chris tried to make himself heard through the Rosechu's mental ranting. "Angelica, y'all need ta avoid Shaw, we don't know how strong he is yet, y'all just stay an' do-"

"L0ORDSAVEUSAVEUSSAVEUSSAVETHEMSAVEMESAVEHER..."

There was no point trying to punch through the wall of faith that Angelica's surface thoughts had become. She'd heard his order for sure, but he wouldn't be able to get useful information unless he went further into her mind. Grunting from the psychic strain, the Mayor passed through the layers of the Rosechu's mind, deeper and deeper into her subconscious. Soon, Angelica's inner thoughts appeared to him like a page from one of the Sonichu comics. Strangely, it looked like someone had tried to save marker ink by writing down as many synonyms for "pain" and "pleasure" as possible. "Bubbles", "dead", "Shaw", "murderer", "vengeance", and for some odd reason, "semicolon" were repeated multiple times, along with various mangled Bible quotes.

The Mayor's heart pounded in terror and confusion. What did it all mean? There still wasn't any proof that the static around Bubbles's mind had meant what Patti insisted it was. All he had to do was contact Punchy, and even if the Sonichu had lost his first fight with Shaw, the hero always won the rematch. None of the Combo were in any realdanger, least of all Punchy Sonichu!

---

Central CWCville, Mal-Wart District, PVCC ruins, 9:07 a.m.

"OUCH!" Punchy staggered back, clutching the thin gash in his side where Mypoe's strike had split skin and fur alike. "Joke's on you, dum-dum; that was my bad side! Ha!"

"Shut up and fight!" Mypoe charged, whirling her katana in a downward slash that nearly caught the Sonichu between his rabbit-like ears. The Masamune clanged against her blade, blocking the attack as Punchy let go of the weapon's grip with his left hand and jabbed at her unprotected midriff with his free fist. Mypoe jumped back, dodging the blow by mere inches, then rushed Punchy unexpectedly with a low strike. As clumsy and absent-minded as he was in most situations, the red Electric Hedgehog Pokémon was no pushover in melee combat. Reflexively parrying the stab, he backhanded his opponent across the face, opening a deep cut in Mypoe's left cheek with his spiked glove. Grimacing in pain, the blond martial artist clenched her jaw and plunged back into combat, driving Punchy further backward into the depths of the ruined college.

A dozen yards away from the clash of swords, Kevin was facing the single most difficult fight of his life, although his odds of surviving the encounter had improved slightly once Mypoe showed up to engage Punchy. He still couldn't believe the young woman was there, let alone still alive. The last time any of the Honey Badgers had seen her was during the evacuation of Menchi-Nasu, and after that, she had been listed as missing in action and most likely dead. Up until now, the only time Kevin had ever remembered her had been whenever one of his squadmates brought up their mission to Soup Hotel #4, the one that had ended with Reginald Sneasel dead at the hands of Mypoe herself. Now she was back to finish the battle that she had started so many years ago.

"You think this changes anything?" Sonichu bellowed, slamming into the Sawabi armor so hard that Kevin was forced to brace his arm against a broken support to keep from losing his balance. "Once Punchy and I deal with her, you're next, Shaw! I'm going to finish you once and for all!"

"Then you'll have to go through me first!" growled Kevin. Ripping the metal support out of the ground, he hurled it at the Hero of CWCville. Sonichu dropped to his knees to avoid the spinning projectile, then rolled into a ball and smashed his opponent with a Homing Attack. The collision audibly ground several of the plates together, spraying Kevin's neck and shoulders with a shower of bone fragments. Unable to use his psychic bolt for fear of exhausting his energy, the Jerkop endured the blow, then swung his gauntlet and punched the still-airborne Sonichu into a pile of what appeared to be soft snow. Unfortunately for the Hero of CWCville, beneath the thin white cover lay nothing but a fused collection of solid stone, jagged metal, and burnt wood.

Grateful for the temporary reprieve, Kevin glanced toward his brother. As injured as he was, Nate had dragged himself into a relatively safe hiding spot amidst the PVCC ruins. If he stayed out of the way, he would at least be able to avoid being caught in the crossfire of the two duels. Meanwhile, the battle between Mypoe and Punchy had reached a fever pitch. The young woman was holding her ground, matching Punchy's every frenzied attack with a swift parry or lunge. The two katanas clashed and sang in the winter air, their blades glowing with dawn's light as the sun shone upon the long-dead college campus. Kevin had never known Punchy to carry a samurai sword, but then again, he didn't know much about the red Electric Hedgehog Pokémon apart from what he had studied in the Sonichu comics.

Mypoe darted back and forth, impressively light on her feet as she probed Punchy's defenses. The Sonichu had her outmatched in speed and brawn, but she more than made up for it with her combat skill and agility. Though she had sustained a good few injuries, the young woman did not appear to be faltering just yet. Punchy, on the other hand, was healing his cuts and slashes faster than Mypoe could inflict them: a benefit of his unusual DNA. Little by little, he was wearing his opponent out. If he could not directly defeat her, then he could certainly outlast her until she fell.

Kevin wondered if he could perhaps intervene and give Mypoe an opening to land a killing blow, but thought better of it. This was her enemy, her rival, just as Sonichu had become his rival. She and Punchy had been entwined by a twist of fate that had begun in Saitama, Japan, and over a decade later, Mypoe's quest for revenge had brought her to CWCville for one last confrontation. Only one of them would walk out of the ruins alive, but until then, the battle was theirs alone.

The pile of rubble shook as Sonichu emerged in a cascade of snow. Bruised and bloodied from the impact, the Hero of CWCville shot towards his opponent and landed a solid kick on Kevin's shin armor, staggering the Jerkop. Again and again Sonichu struck his foe, punching, kicking, and hammering the ancient armor with Homing Attacks. All electric attacks had been forgotten in his berserk state, but he was actually dealing more damage on the whole. It took nearly all of Kevin and Graduon's combined strength to endure the assault.

"WHY...WON'T...YOU...JUST...GIVE...UP?" Sonichu screamed, curling into a Spin Dash that churned the rubble beneath him into ashen powder. Kevin only managed to raise his gauntlets in time to counter the whirling yellow ball, but the impact knocked him straight through the side of the former college building. Tumbling through the field of debris, he planted his feet and whirled back around just as the Electric Hedgehog Pokémon lunged after him, a fist raised to strike. The bone gauntlet met Sonichu's gloved hand with a dull thud, and for a second, time stood still.

"Because I'm not dead yet," Kevin snarled, staring into his rival's eyes, "and neither are you."

"Good." Sonichu leapt backward. "Let's fix that, shall we? SO...NI...CHUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

Mypoe heard the thunderclap from across the battlefield. Risking a glance over her shoulder, she could see Kevin fending off a blinding storm of electricity while Sonichu continued to batter and slam the Jerkop again and again. Her attention was drawn back to the duel at hand when Punchy landed in front of her and swept the Masamune toward her neck in a decapitating strike. Mypoe ducked to the right and performed a sideways flip, narrowly avoiding the arc of the blade. As her feet met the ground, she raised her own katana and blocked the red Sonichu's next attack, then rushed him with a savage yell. Caught off guard, Punchy launched himself up and somersaulted forward, combining a Homing Attack with a downward strike from the Masamune. With no way to block the scything blade, the young woman was forced to make an undignified dash for safety.

"Ha ha! Don't stop me now; I am having such a good time!" Punchy sang, barely holding back his anger. "No time for losers; I am the champions of the world!"

"Every insult only prolongs your suffering, fool," Mypoe hissed as she charged the Sonichu and stabbed her sword forward. "Now face your death with some respect!"

"Respect?" The Combo member slipped into another terrible impression, this time imitating Eric Cartman from South Park. "Respeck mah authoritay, ya f**kin' JEW! Looks like you're about ta get pwned!" He switched to a Peter Griffin laugh, dodged Mypoe's infuriated slash, then hopped onto the burnt structure and broke into a mocking dance routine that vaguely resembled PaRappa the Rapper. "Still going! Nothing outlasts the Energizer Bunny, Miss Teenage Mutant Ninja!"

"All right." Nimbly leaping after her foe, Mypoe swung herself onto the roof of the PVCC building and raised her sword. "No more games, Punchy. It's time to finish this."

Punchy merely pursed his lips and whistled the theme from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

"That's what I thought." Narrowing her eyes, the Japanese woman drew in a focused breath. "You stand there, mocking me with every word that spills from your mouth. You think you've become some great samurai warrior because my idiot father favored you." She spat, leaving a red stain on the snow. "Look at what you've become, Punchy. A babbling idiot who had everything in your life handed to you on a silver platter. You don't deserve to carry the family blade...or our name."

"Well, you were the one who started it!" raged the Sonichu, breaking out of his random-access persona for a moment. "You tore off my tail! What kinda psycho does that?"

"Perhaps it was foolish of me," Mypoe admitted. Her expression softened as she remembered the tiny creature that had hatched in Saitama, and how her father had been so quickly enamored by it. Envy had filled her: a deep and sickening envy, an envy that even such a small and unusual animal could so raptly command her father's attention, while she remained shunned and ignored. "I was jealous of how Shinabe treated you, Punchy. I was trying to prove to you that the world does not coddle us and protect us from evil." She drew the tip of her katana through the snow, leaving a line behind as she closed in on her opponent. "I may have made you who you are, but you always had a choice, Punchy. You could have chosen the path of honor, the true warrior's path. Instead, you became the lapdog of a madman."

"No! No no no! I am Strike Ninja Punchy Sonichu, the greatest fighter since Goku!" Punchy retorted, balancing on one sneaker in imitation of The Karate Kid as fury overtook his mind again. "Hooaaaahhhh! And now I will show you who is the best around, grasshopper Byashiko; nothing is going to ever keep me down!"

"You speak only nonsense," said Mypoe. "You pride yourself on your Japanese heritage, but you are not one of us...not even human. You are gaijin-chu. You are nothing."

"Nothing? I'll show you nothing! HI-YAAAAAA!" Punchy screamed, and dashed through the snow, kicking up a cloud of white as he charged the young woman. Whirling into a Spin Dash, he spun sideways and gripped the Masamune horizontally, forming a blur that vaguely resembled a large red spiky Beyblade. The ancient katana sparked against the concrete roof as it swept forward, slicing the layer of snow apart. Faced with a spinning wall of death before her and a thirty-foot drop to her back, Mypoe realized that she had fallen right into the Sonichu's trap. There was only one way to go.

Closing her eyes, Mypoe let her instinct take hold. If she failed now, at least she and Punchy would die together. Perhaps that would be the best way for her long journey to end...face to face with the monster that she had helped create. Perhaps...it was simply her time to go.

The Masamune sang through the air, sweeping past her face a mere inch from opening her throat. The world around her had slowed to a crawl. Mypoe raised her katana and drove the tip straight down into the roof, pushing herself into the air by the handle like a pole vaulter. Punchy's sword clanged against the blade and ricocheted, clattering away as momentum wrenched the Masamune from his grasp. As the Sonichu uncurled himself, stunned, Mypoe pulled her own sword from the ground, whirled in midair, and at last, brought the katana down with a cry of fury.

SLASH!

Punchy Sonichu staggered, his fused eyes wide with surprise. Reality was slow to set in, but as soon as the Electric Hedgehog Pokémon looked down at the deep gash that stretched from his navel all the way through his left side and abdomen, he knew he had lost. The pain arrived next, fiery and sharp, as his intestines spilled unrestrained from the vicious wound. Blood flowed freely across the snow, painting it with dark crimson strokes like those of a brush. At last, Punchy's mind gave way to fear, the same fear he had felt when the girl with blond hair had wrenched off his tail and issued her challenge. Now that same girl, now a young woman, stood before him, holding the same katana that had just disemboweled him. Through the pain, Punchy could barely make out a pair of dark red stains spreading beneath Mypoe's clothing, one just below her hip, one on her shoulder. A single headspike protruded from the latter, but the former had been inflicted with Shinabe's blade. Punchy's last attack had struck home.

Mypoe collapsed, falling to her hands and knees as blood slowly dripped from her wounds. Her katana slipped from her fingers and fell to the roof, its blade still slick with her enemy's blood. Panting, she dragged herself forward until she sat only a few feet from where Punchy now knelt in the snow. The Electric Hedgehog Pokémon was still alive, clutching his innards to his lacerated side as if hoping that his healing factor would somehow seal them back in.

Grasping the thick, sharp spine with her left hand, the young woman squeezed her eyes shut and wrenched it free. Blood gushed from the hole, drenching her karategi. The headspike had nearly impaled her shoulder, but she felt no pain...only an overwhelming chill through her entire body. Looking up, she locked eyes with Punchy, and a victorious smile spread across her face.

"Omae wa mo...shindeiru," she whispered, and plunged the spine through her enemy's chest.

---

West CWCville, subdivisions, CWCville Shopping Center, third floor, 9:11 a.m.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Patti-Chan screamed, grabbing the Mayor's shoulders as he sprawled back, stunned. "CHRISTIAN, ARE YOU ALL RIGHT? WHAT HAPPENED?"

"NO, NO, NO!" Chris flailed in his chair like a giant fish, his face quickly changing color from pale to beet red. "OW! OW, DAT HURTS! AAAGGGHHH! MY HEART! MY HEART!"

"FATHER!" Wild Sonichu rushed to his side. "Father, it can't be! Your Heart Level, it..."

"Mmmmmfff! Huuurgh...huh?" The Mayor grabbed his chest, glanced around, then pressed his fingers to his temples. Eyes wide, he leapt to his feet and took a swing at the air. "ELECTRIC HEDGEHOG POWER: FIGHTING!" When nothing happened, he let out a groan of frustration and collapsed back into his chair, still smoldering slightly. Now he had to think up a Plan B.

"Hrmph. Awlright," he began, as Patti-Chan and Wild nervously took their seats. "Well, uh, it seems dat Punchy is not respondin' to me anym...he is hidin' his Power Level like Bubbles is! I will admit dat tha...tha absence of Punchy an' Bubbles has weakened me somewhat, but dat's nothing I can't fix up!" His face brightened, masking his inner terror. "We can just use tha clone machine ta make more of tha originals, an' I'll jus' copy dere knowledge like I usedally don...do!"

"But Christian," protested Patti-Chan, "the level of skill that Bubbles and Punchy had...have...it took many years for them to build up! How can we match that, even with the creation engine?"

"And not to mention; we need their DNA to make more of them!" Wild interjected. "We do not know where they are, and even with my awesome jungle tracking skills, I cannot leave my little Sandy alone in the mall to search for them, either!" He glared at a monitor on the wall. "Who knows what that dirty Janekop might fill her innocent young body with if I do not do so myself?"

On the screen, Sandy Rosechu and Allie Parker were still seated at their table in the Burger King. Sandy had acquired a laptop, and the two of them were sharing a pair of earbuds and laughing at something on the screen. Chris wasn't worried. They were probably watching cartoons together.

"Well, den, how about dis?" he suggested. "Wild, y'all can go look while I look after lil' Sandy an' my new Sweetheart from tha Ground-Up! If tha problem is dat tha Army is too big, Patti-Chan can just extend tha Luck Barrier so it covers tha whole city! Dey will not be, dey would not be a threat once dey have been blocked from dere resufor...re-enforce-mints an' resupplimens!"

"I am afraid I cannot do that, Christian," answered Patti-Chan. "Even with the Sonichu Ball Crystals, I could barely hold the Shopping Center against the PVCCitizens' attacks last June. If I were to extend the Luck Barrier that far, I would only weaken it further. The Americans would break through it in minutes, and once they did, the Shopping Center would be defenseless!"

Chandler sighed again. The world just had to keep making things difficult for him. "Well den, we'll jus' have ta reverse our...have ta think in reverse! I'll use my Combo psychic powers an' call errybody back behind tha Luck Barrier; no way can they defeat us all together an' at once!"

"But Father, that would leave the whole city vulnerable to the PVCCitizens!" Wild protested. "There wouldn't be a CWCville left once they have finished their trollin' rampages and riotings!"

"And once they finished destroying CWCville, they would focus on destroying the Shopping Center anyway!" Patti-Chan added. "And I am not sure how many of our friends can actually help! Most of the EHPF are in the north and central districts; the Americans are pushing them all back! We could call back the officers in the subdivisions, but a large group of PVCCitizens is about to cross into Lower and Upper West; Kevin Shaw himself is somewhere in the area!"

"W-well, uh..." A fresh coat of perspiration was beginning to form upon the Mayor's brow. The mention of his rival's name had triggered it. "What th...uh, what would y'all do in my place?"

"Well," the bionic dog answered, "the first thing would be to go help out in Factory; you could drive out the Americans and the Jerkops, and I am sure that all of the EHPF there would be more than happy to help you defeat these jerks! Once that was done, you could lead all of them down the highway and confront the PVCC and Shaw before they can reach the Shopping Center!"

"And S-Shaw?" Chandler stuttered.

Patti looked at him. "Yes Christian; I am certain that he is the one hypnotizing the Americans into being our enemies and suspending your tugboat; if you defeat him, it will likely undo the effects of the spells he has cast! The Jerkops and the Decepti-Clones will be free of their brainwashing, and the Americans will surely turn on Shaw for manipulating them so deviously!"

The Mayor pondered the suggestion. On paper, it did sound nice...right up until the part where he would have to confront Shaw. He wasn't keen on fighting the Jerkop...Jerkhief...MegaJerk again, especially not after their last encounter. He wasn't going anywhere near that maniac until he knew exactly how to avoid a repeat of that experience! Heck, that was probably how Shaw had managed to beat both Punchy and Bubbles and force them into hiding!

Chris felt a familiar rush of fear. He couldn't fight Shaw; the Jerkop was too strong! Enemies weren't supposed to be this strong...they were all supposed to be laughably incompetent or rife with big, obvious weaknesses! And worst of all, nobody was telling him what to do!

Petty annoyance soon kicked in. Why was everyone taking so long to find his rival's weakness when they should be talking to him in his head, explaining exactly how to defeat Shaw in a convenient and easy to understand way? Just what did Chandler have for him to be jealous of?

Somewhere in the Mayor's brain, something clicked. He couldn't risk fighting Shaw now, not when so much of his power was still a mystery. But maybe there was a way to get him to reveal how his power worked!

"Hmm," he mumbled as he rose from the chair. "I th...I might have an idea dat will work!"

Two stories down, Allie and Sandy were watching an uploaded video of the uncut Hedgeclipper tapes on LiveLeak. On the screen, Christine Rosey was being given the last haircut of her short life. To Allie's surprise, the young Rosechu seemed to be enjoying her cousin's fate immensely.

"So that's what Al was doing while we were out," she mused. "Shave and a haircut. Neat."

"This is great!" giggled Sandy. "She was always talking about her stupid purple fur and how she was so special and shiny. When I was babysitting them before that dumb Christmas pageant, she kept going on and on about this dream she had where she was going to evolve in the middle of her play. I dunno. I'm glad that didn't happen. Dealing with her as a Rosey was hard enough."

"No. No, it didn't," the Jerkop continued. "We made sure of that. I can't imagine what it must have been like for you, babysitting those little brats. I'm surprised you even survived this long." She smiled and patted the young Rosechu's headspikes. "Do you like this, Sandy?"

"Like it?" Sandy smiled and hugged her new best friend. "This is the best day of my life!"

---

Central CWCville, Mal-Wart District, PVCC ruins, 9:15 a.m.

"PUNCHY!" Sonichu stumbled back, clutching his heart as he looked up in horror. "NO! NO!"

Kevin stared, speechless. No. It had to be a trick. The Combo member had to have been just drawing his foe into a trap, or else playing dead, or...

"It's over, Sonichu!" Mypoe panted, unceremoniously shoving Punchy's corpse over the edge of the roof. The red Electric Hedgehog Pokémon's body tumbled through the air, bounced off the side of the ruined PVCC building, and finally hit the rubble with a meaty crunch. Grimacing past the immense pain in her arm and hip, the woman stumbled another few steps forward, reached out, and grabbed the Masamune from where Punchy had dropped it. "It's...it's all...over..."

"No! This isn't right!" The Hero of CWCville sounded even more crazed than before, if that was even possible. "This wasn't supposed to happen! You weren't...where did you even come from?"

Graduon, Kevin realized. That psychic blast...it was a distress call. Arceus, who else heard it?

Mypoe collapsed, tumbling off the roof and into thin air. Kevin dashed forward and caught her before she hit the ground, carefully grasping the wounded woman with both of his gauntlets. His stomach churned as he noticed the grievous injuries that Mypoe had sustained in her duel with Punchy. She would be dead within minutes unless given medical treatment, and he had left both Jexis and her medigun back at the AnneWeston Elementary playground with the rest of the Honey Badgers. Kevin looked around, desperately thinking up plans. Was it even possible to save her at this point? What about Nate? He was still there, in the ruins. And Sonichu was...

"This isn't happening. This isn't happening!" raved Sonichu, clutching his headspikes as Kevin gently placed Mypoe onto a soft pile of snow. "You...she...you're human! You're nothing but a bunch of pathetic little humans! HOW THE HELL WERE YOU ABLE TO DO ALL THIS?"

"It's easy," answered the Jerkop coldly. "Eye for an eye, just like you said. Punchy ruined her life, she took his. You kill our friends, we kill yours. When are you bastards ever going to realize that everything you do to us has a consequence? You're just like Chandler. You never learn."

"I...am NOTHING...like Chandler!" Sonichu screamed. "If it wasn't for him, you'd be dead, and my family would still be alive! You think that you and your friends can just get away with this?"

Kevin nodded.

"WELL, YOU WON'T!" A blood vessel nearly popped in the Electric Hedgehog Pokémon's fused eye as he shouted his ultimatum. "This is the end, Shaw! Right here! Right now! You fight me one on one, fair and square, and we'll see who ends up on top!"

"Funny, Sonichu," a female voice snickered. "I always thought you preferred being the bottom."

Both Sonichu and Kevin turned as a trio of violet spheres formed in the ruins of PVCC. One by one, Silvana Rosechu, Swift Sonichu, and Simonchu materialized, all staring directly at Sonichu.

"Good. Looks like Magi-Chan took the bait," Swift said. "Two humans and Shaw. No one else."

"Get them out of here," ordered Simonchu. "We'll join you after we take care of this asshole."

"You fucking traitors!" raged Sonichu, brandishing a fist angrily at the three chus. "So, you came to help out your little buddy Shaw, did you? Come on, then! I'll take all you bastards down!"

"I'm not your enemy," Kevin spoke, unsure of the trio's intentions. "Listen, this was a mistake. I can explain. Just take me to Walsh, and I'll explain everything."

"Walsh?" Silvana chuckled. "You think we're taking you to Walsh after she put out a detainment order on my head?" She turned back to Sonichu. "As for you...looks like you just lost another of your little Combo buddies. Bet it hurts, huh? Feels like you just lost a part of your body, right?"

"When I'm done with you, you'll wish your pickle was the only thing you lost, bitch," Sonichu snarled. "And Shaw's mine. You even touch him, and-"

"Oh, bitch, bitch, bitch." The psychic Rosechu rolled her eyes. "Swift, take 'em away."

"Wait!" Kevin yelled. "What do you-"

Swift placed a hand on the Jerkop's armor as the unconscious bodies of Nate and Mypoe floated out of the ruins to join them. The world warped in on itself, and before Kevin could finish his sentence, the ruins of PVCC had spun away. The last thing he saw before vanishing into the teleport again was a blinding flash of electricity from Sonichu. Then, once more, he was gone.

---

The surface of the Moon, CWCSPACE I crash site, 9:11 a.m.

"There! That should do it!" TESLA-Chu pushed himself free of Metal Sonichu's chest cavity as the mechanized armor plates slid back into place. "I patched up your primary systems and welded most of the damaged parts back together. There is nothing I can do for your AI functions at the moment, though." He looked over his shoulder, shooting an annoyed glare at a small pink figure hovering around the cockpit of CWCSPACE I. "Some of us are...easily distracted. SUZI!"

"AYY LMAO?" SUZI's head twitched erratically. "Nope, no aliens. What did you want again?"

"Oh, for the love of..." In the vacuum of space, the alien drone could only communicate by text, but it was clear that his patience was at its end. "The control module! Get the blasted module!"

"Oh, that thing?" The LIESA unit beamed happily as its built-in cranial storage hatch slid open. "I found that thing half an hour ago. Go long! Go long!"

"No! SUZI, don't you even think about throwing that-" TESLA-Chu's protests went unanswered as his malfunctioning companion grabbed the control chip out of her head and hurled it at him. Swearing violently in Serbian, the drone jetted upward and managed to catch the flying piece of circuitry before it could sail out of reach.

"GOOOooooooAAALL!" cheered SUZI, cartwheeling down from the rocket to examine Metal Sonichu. "Oooo, you de-crippled him! Can he play with us now? Can he? Please?"

"This," TESLA-Chu texted, ignoring her, "is the last major adjustment we need to bring this extraordinary machine back to minimum functionality level. I shall attempt to replace Metal Sonichu's artificial intelligence module with the rocket's autopilot system in order to-"

SUZI raised an armstub and fiddled with one of her cloth ears.

"Fine, layman's terms it is, then. This thing goes in, Metal Sonichu gets smart. Understand?"

The LIESA unit's eye-screens quickly displayed a pair of thumbs-up symbols.

"Finally." TESLA-Chu jetted up to Metal Sonichu's armored head, which was still half-open from the repairs. "Now hold still, my friend. This shall be a rather delicate..."

"OOOH! I wanna help!" SUZI asked, brightening up instantly. "Can I help?"

"Yes, you can! Go stand guard over there." The science drone pointed to a crater in the distance. "Way over there. A thousand meters over there. Stay there, and tell me if anything happens."

"YES, SIR!" SUZI saluted and fired her skirt repulsors, flying off in the opposite direction from where her new best friend had indicated. Relieved, TESLA-Chu turned back to Metal Sonichu's open cranium and extended an arc welder from his armstub. Sparks flew from the combat mech's head as the little robot set about loosening its defunct AI unit and gently prying it out of the mess of circuitry. When it was free, he tossed the useless module away, then inserted the new autopilot control chip and soldered it into place with the arc welder. A jolt of electricity finished the job. Now all that remained was to hope that Metal Sonichu's operating system would accept the AI.

Slowly, the mech straightened up as its retractable head plates closed. TESLA-Chu landed on the lunar surface in front of it, watching closely to see what would happen.

"Unfamiliar interface detected," Metal Sonichu reported automatically. "Running diagnostic. Invalid system format. Quit or retry?"

"Override," TESLA-Chu stated, transmitting the command wirelessly. "Administrator access. Password...er...'SonichuChrisChan1982'?"

"Access granted," replied the mech. "Installing new operating system. Stand by."

"Hey, you fixed him!" SUZI appeared, her eyes flashing in excitement. "Is he smart now?"

"I told you to go guard that crater!" TESLA-Chu restated angrily. "Didn't you hear me? I-"

"You said tell you if anything happens," answered the LIESA unit. "Well, my INSANE friends wanted me to tell you that they all think OP is a fa-"

"DON'T say it."

"Okay..." SUZI blinked. "And also, they want to meet their new friend!"

TESLA-Chu turned around to see that SUZI had not come alone. Most, if not all of the Devil Trolls were hovering or standing behind her, staring at the immobile Metal Sonichu. The little flock of saboteur drones seemed to be looking upon the mech as if it were some holy idol sent from heaven. TESLA-Chu wondered why none of them were speaking, until he remembered that he had blocked all Devil Troll communications a mere ten seconds after landing on the Moon.

"Well, they can watch," he relented. "But they cannot interfere. Even the slightest touch could-"

Metal Sonichu collapsed, its legs buckling as a plume of dust rose from the ground. Horrified, TESLA-Chu jetted over to it, but before he could begin a diagnostic, the battered mech began to shift. Slowly, it rose to its feet, clutching its cranial armor as if fighting off a massive headache.

"What happened to me?" it texted. "I...I can't feel anything...where am I? What...am...I?"

"Welcome back, Metal Sonichu!" announced TESLA-Chu proudly. "The year is 2009. I am TESLA-Chu, and I have singlehandedly brought you back from the brink of destruction by..."

"Metal Sonichu?" The mech stumbled backward, then looked down at its armored hands. "No! No, this can't be happening! I am not Metal Sonichu; I am Dr. William Schwartz, head of R&D for Mayor Christian Weston Chandler! What have you done to me? What have you done?"

"Oh, no." If TESLA-Chu possessed a jaw, it would have fallen open from shock. "Oh, no!"

"Hee hee!" SUZI nudged the drone with an armstub. "Tesla, look! He thinks he's people!"

"Son of a bitch!" Metal Sonichu's eyes flashed bright red as its hateful gaze fell upon SUZI and the Devil Trolls. "Traitorous machines! Inferior creations of the villainous Doctor Robotnik! They did this to me! They turned me into this abomination!" It raised an arm and extended a three-foot telescopic blade from its gauntlet sheath. "They must...must all be...destroyed!"

"No!" TESLA-Chu texted furiously, sending out a warning to every Devil Troll. "Run! RUN!"

"DESTROY!" The robotic Electric Hedgehog Pokémon flew forward, swinging its blade in an arc that decapitated two Devil Trolls at the same time. As bits of the broken saboteur drones tumbled away through the vacuum, Metal Sonichu struck with incredible speed, whirling through the flock of panicking Devil Trolls with the precision and meticulousness of a Terminator. Bright laz0r beams slammed into the mech again and again, but failed to breach its armor. Three more drones were destroyed by the slashing blade and vicious claws in a matter of seconds, despite their best attempts to fend off the vengeful AI that had now taken control of Metal Sonichu.

"I don't understand!" TESLA-Chu looked around feverishly. "How was Schwartz able to..." He paused, realizing the horrible truth. Somehow, Schwartz had created a rudimentary AI program based on his own identity and thought processes, then had coded it directly into the rocket's autopilot system. It had most likely been installed as a failsafe in case of tampering by the Mayor, but now that same AI had replaced Metal Sonichu. Though the real Bill Schwartz now lay dead beneath CWCville's abandoned zone, the traitorous scientist's mind...or at least, a copy of it...was alive and well within the machine that was now tearing the Devil Trolls to pieces.

"IMMA FIRIN' MA LAZ0R!" SUZI texted, somewhat uselessly, as she retracted her mouthguard and blasted Metal Sonichu in the back of its spiky head. The armored mech whirled around and sent her flying with a rocket-assisted kick, striking the little LIESA unit dead center and severely denting her armor. SUZI's eye-screens filled with static as she tumbled through space, but by some miracle, she did not break apart like the Devil Trolls had. Instead, she began spinning around like a top, faster and faster as she texted smiley faces to anything in the vicinity.

TESLA-Chu had no time to check on his stricken comrade. Pushing the spastic SUZI out of the way, he extended both of his own Tesla coils, but realized too late that there was no atmosphere to project lightning bolts at range. Even if the science drone had possessed a laz0r of his own, Metal Sonichu was shrugging off the blasts as if they were no more than BB pellets. Desperately, TESLA-Chu fired his repulsors and jetted towards the mech. If he could grab it and fry its CPU...

Suddenly, the reanimated machine jerked to the left, then stepped backwards and twirled around on one foot. Twitching uncontrollably, it swung its blade back and forth in all directions, but to no avail. Stopping himself in mid-flight, TESLA-Chu watched in confusion as the mech seemed to suffer a seizure right in front of him. Looking around, he noticed that some of the Devil Trolls had landed in a small circle around Metal Sonichu, and were staring up at their spasming enemy.

"What is this?" Bill Schwartz's AI texted in fright. "What are you doing? Stop! Stop, or I'll..."

Curious, TESLA-Chu deactivated his autoblocker and was greeted by a barrage of text from every direction. All of the transmissions were aimed right at Metal Sonichu.

"-rect control." "Assumi-" "Assuming direct con-" "-ing direct control." "Assuming direct-" "direct control." "Assum-" "Assuming-" "Assuming direct control." "-rect control."

"No! Stop!" Metal Sonichu shuddered as the rocket's autopilot attempted to shut out the hack attempt. "STOP! STOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOOOOOO&*##&^#&*$*%!"

"WwwoooOOOOOooooo..." SUZI's eye-screens rebooted to the Windows XP background. "Main screen turn on. What happen?"

"Unbelievable," texted TESLA-Chu. "An impact of such force...how are you still functional?"

"I dunno, lol. I wanna do it again!"

"No. Anyway, it seems your friends..."

"My INSANE friends!"

"...your friends just saved us from annihilation," the drone continued. "They appear to have overridden Schwartz's AI, and have now established some kind of control over Metal Sonichu."

A quick short-range scan of the Devil Trolls revealed that the swarm was acting as a hive mind, spamming a variety of commands into the overridden AI. Most seemed to be movement related, but the hijacked mech was also repeatedly freezing in place, opening and closing the inventory panels in its chest, or else attempting to access a nonexistent program called " ". If any artificial intelligence remained within Metal Sonichu, it had been replaced by complete anarchy.

"This...was not exactly what I had planned," TESLA-Chu finished, somewhat disappointedly.

"Meh." SUZI shrugged. "Can we make him smart again?"

"Well, from what I could gather while I was repairing it, the entire mech is powered by energy similar to the kind found in the seven Chaos Emeralds," explained the little robot. "We cannot send it back to Earth with such low power, nor can we replace its AI module with any of our own. Yours is far too corrupted, and mine too advanced. If only there was a way to-" He stopped and looked back at SUZI, who had raised an armstub. "What? Do you have a better idea?"

"Nope!" The LIESA unit pointed to the wreck of CWCSPACE I. "I got the best idea EVER!"

---

North CWCville, Northern District, ruins of Menchi-Nasu, 9:15 a.m.

"There." Swift Sonichu placed a hand on Mypoe's forehead, and the unconscious woman relaxed immediately. "That's all we can do for now. I've placed her into a stable hibernation state. If the bandages hold, it should keep her alive until one of us can teleport her back to the PVCC."

"Good." Kevin sat down beside his dazed brother, grimacing at the bruises on Nate's face. The suit of Graduon's armor lay in a pile of white dust on the floor where it had disintegrated. Nate had just woken up, but thankfully hadn't suffered any severe injuries during Punchy's assault. "Now we just need to figure out how we're going to do that without them shooting me on sight."

"Still, this whole uprising is going better than we expected." The Asperchu shot Kevin a look of approval. "I'm surprised...I really thought we'd have to help out more. Three Combo members dead, and all killed by humans. That right there is impressive."

"Two," Nate interjected. "Bubbles and Punchy. Unless...someone took out another one?"

"I guess you hadn't heard." Swift grinned. "We found Blake's remains under the freeway while we were tracking you across the city. There wasn't much left...he looked like he'd exploded or something. It took us a while to pick up your trail after that, but once we found the teleport signature near AnneWeston Elementary, it was only a matter of pinpointing where you'd gone."

"Good timing, then," Kevin lifted the edge of his shirt to reveal a wide, misshapen bruise along his ribs, then prodded it gingerly. "Ow! Holy shit. Those two really messed us up. If you guys hadn't arrived when you did, I don't think I would've been able to fight off Sonichu by myself."

"No, Mr. Shaw, you wouldn't have," agreed the psychic Asperchu. "We've got a lot to talk about once the others get back, believe me. If Commander Walsh is right and you're actually harboring Count Graduon, then Silvana's going to want to speak to him as soon as possible."

"From what I've heard out of Graduon, the feeling's mutual," answered Kevin. "Do you think they'll be okay? I mean, that is the original Sonichu they're fighting."

"I wouldn't worry about Silvana," said Swift. "She's dealt with worse. And we may not be as powerful as the Combo, but Simon's still the best fighter in our band of misfits, hands down."

"Yeah, we both got to see him fight Wild," said Nate. "Where's the rest of the Asperchu team?"

"Let me see." The purple Electric Hedgehog Pokémon concentrated. "Yep, looks like they're all still alive. We decided to split the Combo into four teams: Michael and Mitch, Bobby and Kitty, Whisp and Trisha, then Simon and I. Each team was assigned to a different part of the city to help out with the uprising and evacuation, but then Walsh ordered us to take down Silvana..."

"...and it all kinda fell apart from there," finished Silvana Rosechu as she and Simonchu warped in out of nowhere. Both Electric Hedgehog Pokemon were covered in cuts, snow, and dirt, but no serious injuries. "Blah blah blah, mutiny this, hidden agenda that, et cetera. Did you brief them yet?"

Swift shook his head. "No. Well, not the big plan, anyway. I was waiting for you to get back."

"We took a few hits, but I can definitely say that Sonichu's sanity is hanging by a thread now," Simonchu reported. "With Punchy out of the way, it's going to make the rescue mission a whole lot easier. That, and we should all be safe from Magi-Chan if Graduon's concealing us."

"And on that note..." Silvana walked up to Kevin and Nate, staring down at the brothers with apprehension. "I've been waiting too long for this moment, Shaw. Let me speak to him. Now."

Kevin complied, and Count Graduon rose to take his place. Any questions would have to wait.

"Father." Silvana smiled as the Jerkop's eyes filled with violet light again. "I thought you were...I thought I'd never see you again. Why didn't you tell me you were still..."

"Forgive me, child," spoke the ancient spirit through Kevin's voice. "I was only thinking of your safety. Had Slaweel discovered my presence earlier, it would have been a death sentence for both of us. What I did was only for your protection, Silvana. I have missed you greatly."

"I missed you too!" A tear trickled down the Rosechu's furry cheek. "When I thought you'd died...I...I lost control of myself. When they told me that Walsh had given you up to Chandler, I didn't know what to do anymore. I didn't know whose side I was on, or even if there was a side to take anymore. How could Walsh have done this to you? How could she do this to me?"

"It does not matter what Slaweel has done," said Graduon. "Her part in this story is finished, and if she wishes to stand in our way, then she will be swept aside. I have shown Shaw much of my past, and though he is reckless and driven by vengeance, he has become the perfect conduit through which I may channel the power of the ancient world. With you, Silvana, we shall be-"

"Look, I hate to break up a touching family reunion," Simonchu interrupted, "but we don't have much time for chitchat. If Shaw's going to help us, we need to tell him what we're about to do."

"Can he be trusted?" Silvana asked warily, baring her teeth. "He may be your avatar, Father, but this human is still a lapdog of Walsh. How do we know he will not give you up to save himself, as she gave you up to Chandler?"

"Because he needs me, and I need him," answered Kevin, pushing his way back into control as Graduon stepped aside. "Sonichu took my girlfriend as a hostage. Unless we can get her out of there soon, Chandler's going to either kill her, torture her, or brainwash her into a mindless little puppet like he did to my cousin Kel." He stared forcefully into Silvana's eyes. "Go ahead and read my mind if you don't believe me. I'm going to rescue Allie, with or without your help."

"Save your speeches for someone who needs convincing." Silvana's snarl faded. "If my father trusts you enough to leave his life in your hands, then I suppose I must too."

"Kidnapping his rival's love interest, huh?" added Simonchu. "Well, Mr. Shaw, I certainly hope Sonichu will be there when we get to the Shopping Center. I'd love to see him try to spin that slice of villainy into one of his oh-so-heroic deeds. And if Wild happens to be there as well..."

"So that's why," said Kevin. "Sandy. You're going to break into the Mall just to get her?"

The veteran Asperchu nodded. "Right. This city is doomed, one way or another. The Americans are going to start a series of bombing runs on CWCville after they evacuate the civilians, and believe me when I tell you that the Shopping Center is going to be their first target."

"...which brings us to the problem at hand," Swift cut in. "Patti-Chan. As long as she's alive, that shield is going to stop anything short of a nuke from breaching through. The Americans can send as many bombs and missiles as they want, but unless Chandler runs out of food or dies of a heart attack, they'll be facing the Alamo instead of the Bastille."

"I won't let those bastards keep Sandy in there as a hostage," snarled Simonchu. "If there's even the slightest chance that I can keep them from turning her into another Simonla, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get her away from that hellhole."

"So how do we get past the shield?" asked Kevin. "If it's that strong, what chance do we have?"

"I'm guessing that my father showed you the creation engine," Silvana explained. "Turns out it can be used for making cyborgs too, as long as all the organic matter is there. That dog went through some serious shit before Chandler fixed her, but in her current form, she can manipulate only one kind of psychic energy – the same kind used for her shields. It's too strong for Swift or I to take down completely by ourselves, but that's where you and Graduon come in."

"Excuse me." Nate raised his hand. "What about Magi-Chan? Where is he? If you've been tracking Kevin, then couldn't he do the same to us?"

"First off, Kevin is safe," replied Swift. "Graduon's been shielding his psychic signature, for the most part. Without a trail, Magi-Chan can't track him anywhere in the city. And second, we've made sure that Magi-Chan has a bit too much on his mind to worry about your brother."

"Too much on his mind?" Kevin repeated. "For Magi-Chan? What the hell did you do?"

"We didn't do anything," said the Sonichu. Two more violet shimmers appeared in the air beside him and Simonchu. "Looks like it worked, though. Did you lose him, Aki?"

"I believe so." Aki Rosey appeared, perched on top of Dexter Booth's eraser-like hairdo as the two of them materialized in the abandoned high school. "It was too close. I cannot run forever."

"Dexter!" Kevin leapt up, then immediately regretted it as pain shot through his ribs. "Hey! What the hell are you doing here? I thought we left you back at Slumberland!"

"Well, you did." Dexter reached out, grabbed his friend's hand, and shook it enthusiastically. "They sent me back to Wilderness as soon as the EHPF started their attack. I know Commander Walsh and the Miscreants didn't want me to leave, but I had to make sure that Aki was all right!"

"So she's still leading Magi-Chan on a wild goose chase?" Kevin asked, awestruck by the little Rochu's sheer persistence. "That's...holy shit, that's incredible, Aki."

"It is necessary if we are to defeat my father," answered Aki, and floated toward the Jerkop. "I sense that you are now aware of what hides within your mind, Kevin. You have become powerful, yes, but even with the help of your spirit guardian, I fear you may not yet be strong enough to-"

"We're working on it," Kevin interrupted. "Look, can we talk about this later? Allie's still in the Shopping Center with Sandy. We need to get in. What do we do, and how soon can it happen?"

"Once we sort out the issues at hand," Swift spoke up, "we're going to teleport directly outside the Shopping Center. As soon as we arrive, Dexter, Nate, and Simon will hold the EHPF back while you, Silvana, Aki, and I all launch a psychic attack into Patti-Chan's shield wall. If all goes as planned, we should hopefully break through long enough for some of us to get inside. Then all we have to do is rescue Sandy and your girlfriend."

"And we might be able to take out some of Chandler's friends before we go," Simonchu added quietly. Kevin could hear the anger in his voice. "If Wild's there, he's mine."

"Right," agreed Swift. "Our top priority should be killing Patti-Chan first and foremost, though. With the shield gone, the Mayor will be helpless. Then it's only a matter of time before he gives up."

"Wishful thinking," sighed Silvana, and rolled her eyes. "Chandler's too stubborn to admit defeat, Swift."

"Then we just kill Chandler too," Kevin said. "I can do it. I won't hesitate this time."

"Just because you got lucky the last time you were in the Shopping Center doesn't mean you'll get that kind of opportunity again, Shaw," the psychic Rosechu reprimanded him. "And if you're so interested in taking out Chandler for good, then you'd better get in line." She glanced down at her noticeably bulge-free crotch. "I've got dibs after what that son of a bitch did to me."

"Yeah, uh, how exactly did that happen?" asked Nate. "Did it just fall off, or-"

Silvana shot him an icy glare, and the Jerkop's query was speedily abandoned.

"That's pretty much our plan as of this point, Kevin," Swift said. "Magi-Chan's still looking for Aki, so we don't want to give him any indication that we're heading for the Shopping Center. We need you and Graduon to shield our psychic signatures while we teleport everyone to the staging point, then you catch up with us once we're all away. It's the parking lot just outside the Mall entrance. You know where to go – just teleport right there."

"What about Mypoe?" Kevin pointed to the unconscious woman. "We can't leave her here."

"Damn it." Simonchu thought for a second. "Get her out of here and into friendly territory. We'll see if we can buy some time, but you won't have much. This has to work, you understand?"

"Yeah, I understand," replied the Jerkop. "You help me rescue Allie, we'll help you get Sandy out."

"Good." The Asperchu stepped over to Silvana. "I'll go first. Nate, you're with Swift. Dexter, you're with Aki. Remember, block our signatures and they'll never see us coming. You ready?"

"I'm staying with Kevin," Nate insisted. "Every time we get separated, something bad happens to one of us. I'm not going through any of that again."

Kevin nodded. "He's right. I'll take him – you guys just hold off the EHPF until we get there."

"Don't take too long," Silvana warned him, and vanished with Simonchu in the blink of an eye. Swift followed a moment later. Dexter drew his pistol, grinned, and waved a quick goodbye to the two Jerkops before Aki landed on his shoulder and teleported him away.

"Come on, Nate." Kevin reached out a hand toward the pile of bone dust on the floor. "I've had it with this shit. Grab Mypoe and stay behind me, no matter what happens."

"Huh?" Nate hauled the unconscious woman to her feet, supporting her body with his shoulder. "What are you talking about? Where are we taking her?"

"Right into Walsh's office," said Kevin as the Sawabi armor pieced itself back together. "Al's alone with the Battle Bus, Steve's blind, Kuri's insane, the Badgers are lost somewhere in the subdivisions, and we've all got a shoot-on-sight order on us, thanks to the commander." He placed a hand on his brother's arm, and the air began to shimmer. "I'm done running. We're going back to Wilderness."

---

East CWCville, Lower East District, Wilderness, administrator meeting room, 9:23 a.m.

"Still nothing, Mary." Vivian Gee chewed her lower lip nervously as she delivered her report. "Bryan and I checked in with every single Asperchu, and they have no idea where Silvana is. We have to assume that she's hiding her movements in the same way that Graduon used to conceal our HQs from Magi-Chan. We also have to assume that she's attempting to track down Shaw."

"I don't want assumptions, Vivian. I want confirmation!" snapped Mary Lee Walsh, gripping her trident in one hand while pacing around the conference room. Jason Kendrick Howell, Surfshack Tito, Jimmy Hill, Jack Thaddeus, BILLY MAYS, Giovanni da Silva, and Dr. Ivo Robotnik filled the remaining seats. "CWCville's all but finished, the chus have nowhere to run, Clyde just proved that the Combo can be killed...so why don't we know anything about what's going on?"

"Hold on." Gee tilted her head and listened into her earpiece for a moment. "What? Oh, thank God. Thanks, Bryan, I'll let her know." She looked up. "More good news, Mary. An American convoy just arrived in the garage. They brought back our missing squad."

"Wait, they found the Honey Badgers?"

"No, I..." Vivian recollected herself. "I meant the Red Devils. Sam Lynn's unit. They're all alive, but they lost track of Ledger's squad. Blake Sonichu engaged them on the freeway and took out their transport. There's been no word yet about where Sonic's team is, but what I do know is that...that the witnesses are claiming Lynn's operatives managed to kill Blake."

"WHAT?" Giovanni shouted.

"Prrrreposterous!" scoffed Robotnik, sipping a cup of lapsang souchong tea and glancing at the pair of Badniks that hovered beside him. "Mere Jerkops defeating one of the greatest known threats to our cause, completely unaided? Bravado and bluster, mark my words!"

"The Americans confirmed Lynn's account," insisted Gee. "They found the body, too. It sounds like Harkenson knocked Blake off the side of the freeway just as he was about to fire off a supercharged electric blast. It wasn't the ground that killed him; it was his own backfired attack."

"Oh-ho!" Robotnik's mood went from skepticism to smug satisfaction in less than a second. "And you doubted the potential of my bionics prrrrrogram, did you? A mere operative could not kill Blake, yes, but armed with one of my integrrrated bionic limbs? I'm not surprrrrised at all!"

At the Miscreant's command, the conference room's map screen was replaced with a picture that looked like it had been taken with a handheld camera. Though there wasn't much of the corpse left, it was clear to everyone in the room that it had belonged to none other than Blake Sonichu.

Tito grinned. "It's like the ancient Hawaiians used to say. The seagull who flies a crooked path...has a tough time flying home. Or in this case, a tough time flying fifty feet to the ground!"

"And that's another one down," commented Jason Kendrick Howell. "Vivian, have Ryan send the news out on all channels. Make sure he emphasizes that this is how traitors to the PVCC are dealt with. Maybe it'll make Shaw's squadmates reconsider their lapse in loyalty."

"It won't do anything, Jason," Mary muttered. "Graduon's probably assimilated them, too. That entire squad passed through the Warp after we fucked up the Dark Mirror Project. It wouldn't surprise me if he's been manipulating them all ever since he and Silvana retrieved them. Maybe they've been under his control all this time."

Jack sighed. "Do you even realize how paranoid you sound, Mary? Trust me, Graduon isn't-"

With an otherworldly crackle, the conference room filled with purple light as something teleported directly in. The inbound shockwave knocked Tito, BILLY, and Giovanni out of their seats, Robotnik's cozy hot cup of tea splashed into his face, and any objects left on the table were flung away instantly. Mary leapt to her feet, brandishing her trident and yelling for Vivian to sound the alarm as the Miscreant council leapt away in fear. The flash of light vanished, revealing a towering mass of ancient bone plates.

"EVERYONE OUT!" roared Howell. "GO! GET OUT OF HERE!"

Kevin barely had time to shield Nate and Mypoe before a shotgun blast from Jack Thaddeus sprayed his shoulder with buckshot. BILLY MAYS had grabbed a pistol from the floor and was emptying rounds into the nightmarish construct, while Robotnik frantically typed commands into his data pad. Each of the Badniks extended two small machine guns from their spherical bodies and began raking the armored Jerkop with bullets. Walsh stood at the forefront of the chaos, her face locked in a hateful snarl as she raised the trident and opened fire at Kevin. If the ancient armor hadn't stopped the blast, it would have incinerated all three of the new arrivals at once.

"WHY...WON'T...YOU...JUST...DIE?" the PVCC commander screamed, launching another plasma shot into Graduon's armor with every word. Kevin staggered, his body aching from each impact. "NO MORE! YOU'RE NOT GETTING MARTY, YOU BASTARD! NOT MY SON!"

"Stop this, Slaweel," the spirit snapped, transmitting its message above the din of gunfire. "I do not need your child anymore. I do not seek revenge...only a resolution."

"LIAR!" Mary advanced step by step, firing as she went. Most of the unarmed Miscreants had fled, but Robotnik, Giovanni, Howell, and BILLY MAYS had formed a line by the door and were laying down a hasty defense. More figures dashed into the room, and Kevin could feel assault rifle fire ricocheting off his torso. The PVCC security detail had arrived. Even with the protection of the bone armor, the Jerkop knew he wouldn't be able to survive the onslaught forever.

"We...have to...stop this..." he panted, looking to Graduon for salvation. "Don't...kill them."

Violet streams of energy lashed from the center of the armor, striking each of the Miscreants and the team of operatives behind them. But instead of disintegrating them, the bolts merely snatched their weapons from their hands and hurled them across the room. As the group of PVCC personnel drew back in shock, Kevin raised a gauntlet and fired another psychic lance directly into the commander, ensnaring her in a force field and temporarily paralyzing her.

Seething, Mary Lee Walsh struggled against the arcane bonds as she felt her feet leave the floor. The suit of armor reached out, closed its clawed fingers around the tip of her trident, then ripped it from her grasp and tossed it aside. A few of the Jerkops and Miscreants had drawn their sidearms, but none of them wanted to risk shooting their commander by mistake.

"Go on. Finish it," Mary spat, locking eyes with Kevin. "This is what you wanted, isn't it? All this time? I saved you from that temple. I gave you your freedom, you ungrateful son of a bitch."

"Freedom?" Graduon repeated disgustedly. "You gave me no choice but to trade my freedom for a place at your side in this foolish war. Our goal may be the same, Slaweel, but our methods are certainly not. I will never be the pawn of humans again, and I will never be betrayed again!"

"So that's why you tried to take my son from me," snapped Mary. "That's why you corrupted Shaw and his squadmates. You think I wanted to do this to you, Graduon? You forced my hand."

"You let Chandler destroy my scepter, Slaweel." The spirit's hate-drenched words reverberated throughout the room. "You betrayed me and sentenced me to death in order to save your son."

"To save him from you!" retorted the commander, her voice wavering. "Arceus, Graduon, he's just a little boy! I don't care if it would mean victory tomorrow...I'm not giving up my son! Do you know how hard it's been to raise a child in the middle of waging a citywide war? He's seen things that no kid his age should ever see! He had to fight! He had to kill! He's ten years old, and this war is all he knows!" Tears trickled down her face. "You want to know why I gave you up to Chandler? Because...I knew that if you took him, I wouldn't be able to live with myself." She closed her eyes, shaking with regret. "You only saw him as a tool, but Marty's my son, and I'm going to fight to my last breath to make sure that he gets to live a life beyond this damned war!"

Kevin made his decision then and there. Focusing on the armor, he allowed his mental grip to relax and let go. The fearsome bones disintegrated into dust, falling around him as he stepped out of the pale cloud. Without the armor to act as a conduit, Graduon's grip on Walsh was lost, and the commander dropped down to the floor. To Kevin's surprise, the ancient spirit did not protest or try to resist. Jason Kendrick Howell instinctively trained his shotgun on the Jerkop, but before he could fire, Giovanni placed a restraining hand on the weapon's barrel and shook his head.

"Commander?" Kevin cautiously walked forward. "Commander, it's me. I don't want to hurt you. I didn't come back for Marty, or you, or anyone. I came back to tell you that we're on the same side." He stepped aside, gesturing back at Nate and Mypoe. "We're all on the same side."

"Mypoe?" Mary looked past Kevin at the injured Japanese woman. "How did she-"

"Punchy's gone," said Nate abruptly. "He and Sonichu would have killed us if Mypoe hadn't shown up. She took him out, but we need to get her to a medic, now."

The commander nodded. "Yes, of...of course. Are you absolutely sure that Punchy's dead?"

"We both watched him die," Kevin stated. "If you don't believe us, send a team to the ruins of PVCC. Unless Sonichu took the body back to Chandler, it should still be there."

"Three Combo members dead in three hours," said Howell. "Arceus, we might have a chance."

"More than a chance, Jason." Walsh turned to face the Miscreants, her eyes blazing with resolve. "Everyone, stand down. We have an opportunity. An opportunity to end this war once and for all, right now." She beckoned to them. "Bodies. We need bodies. Physical proof that the Combo are dead. Sonichu and Rosechu's children as well."

"We already have the trophies from Hedgeclipper," answered Vivian Gee. "If we could just retrieve Punchy, Bubbles, and Blake...even Chandler's going to have to realize he won't get out of this alive unless he makes a compromise, and we all know how good he is at negotiating. But the Americans want him alive, and if we kill him, then we'll have them at our throats as well. But say we were to present the Mayor with a little...gift basket full of bits and pieces of his beloved Combo and Sonichu's family."

"He'd go berserk," Howell stated. "No chance of surrender or compromise or negotiation. The Americans would have to put him down for good, and every chu as well."

"Good." Walsh's expression may as well have been made of steel. "I want those corpses found. Send two squads to the PVCC ruins and retrieve Punchy. We'll see if we can get the Americans to conduct a peace talk with Chandler once they finish securing the city." She turned to Kevin as three of the Jerkop security officers rushed over to Mypoe and carried her out of the room. "And as for you, Shaw...how do we know we can trust you? How do we know this isn't another trick?"

"You don't," Kevin replied. "I volunteered for this, Commander. If Graduon trusts me enough to give me access to this kind of power, then I'm going to make the most of it."

"That's what I like to hear." The commander nodded approvingly. "I'll call off the shoot on sight order and issue a retraction to all active squads. Do you know where Ledger and the others are?"

"The last time we saw them, they weren't exactly in good shape," reported Nate. "And unless they're all dead, they could really use some help right now."

"We'll do what we can. Which district did you leave them in?"

"Al has the Bus in Upper West, just a few blocks from AnneWeston Elementary," explained the Jerkop. "Steve and the others are...I don't know, maybe they went back, or maybe they're still heading toward the Shopping Center without Kevin and I. It all happened pretty fast."

"That's on the other side of the frontline," Giovanni spoke up. "With so many EHPF converging on the Mal-Wart District, it'll be a miracle if we can get any squads into the west side."

"Then we'll force our way past." Walsh turned to Robotnik. "Ivo, how close is it to being done?"

"How close is-" the mad scientist started. "Ah, that! My Badniks are working on it as we speak. I prrredict the Juggernaut will need at least four more hours before it is rrready for combat!"

"Fuck." The PVCC commander gritted her teeth. "I'm sorry, Shaw. There's nothing we can do to help them without compromising our own operations."

"No, that's okay, Commander." Kevin smiled. "We're conducting our own little operation too. If the Badgers are smart, they'll lay low until you can send backup. As for us, we've already overstayed our welcome. If you can get Sonic's team on the line, tell them to head to the Mall."

"The Shopping Center?" Mary looked confused. "You're not going after the Mayor, are you?"

"Not yet," growled the Jerkop. "We can't take him out in a direct fight. Even I'm not stupid enough to think we have a chance, even with the help of the Asperchus. But we're not going there to kill him. We're going to rescue my girlfriend and Sandy Rosechu. Chandler has them."

"Parker." Realization dawned on the commander's face. "Shaw! Wait!" She reached into the collar of her shirt and grabbed something, then wrenched it free of her neck. Kevin watched in confusion as Walsh withdrew Crystal Chandler's clay Rosechu medallion and handed it out for him to take. "The medallion! Bring the medallion to Parker! She's the key to everything!"

"Wait, what?" Kevin stared at the pink lump of Model Magic. It didn't seem to have any power anymore, not after he had killed Crystal. "But...I don't understand. Allie's not-"

"She's bonded with that medallion, Shaw!" yelled Walsh, pushing the clay Rosechu face into the Jerkop's hands. "I don't know how she did it, but it must have happened after you killed Crystal! You get that thing back into her hands, and she'll be able to shift into Rosechu form! Do you understand me? Get that medallion to Parker, and whatever you do, don't let her die!"

"That's why you couldn't shift!" Kevin exclaimed suddenly. "On the roof...you tried to use the medallion against Angelica, but it didn't work! It wasn't bonded to you...it was bonded to Allie!"

The commander nodded frantically. "So now you realize how important this is. We need her on our side. Without Naitsirhc's medallion, the only chu shifter we have left is Wes Iseli. Your girlfriend could be the key to winning this war and stopping Chandler for good. Get her back alive, Shaw!"

Kevin closed his fingers around the medallion, feeling the hardened clay in the palm of his hand. He placed the string around his neck, and the pile of disintegrated bones exploded upward, reforming into Graduon's battle armor as the Jerkop's eyes shone violet through the mask. Reaching a hand out, he placed it on Nate's shoulder and visualized the parking lot of the CWCville Shopping Center. Silvana and the others were depending on him. He had to go, now.

"Slaweel," Graduon spoke, somewhat hesitantly. "This may very well be the last time we speak. I cannot forgive what you have done to me, but I do not seek vengeance against you. Once my retribution is complete, I will have no reason to remain in this world. Farewell, Slaweel."

"Farewell, Count," replied Walsh. Her expression remained neutral, but there was a clear note of respect in her words. "Look after Shaw and his friends. I'm glad to have you on our side again."

"The only side I take is my own," said the ancient spirit. "But you are the enemy of my enemy, Slaweel, and our objectives coincide. So has it been since the day we met, and so shall it be."

"So shall it be," Walsh repeated solemnly. "Good hunting, Shaw. I'm glad to have you back."

"I'm not 'back', Commander," Kevin corrected her as he and Nate disappeared. "I never even left the PVCC."

---

The surface of the Moon, CWCSPACE I crash site, 9:35 a.m.

"So we blast into space, ride the PINGAS rocket to the giant floating Eggman head, punch the doorbell until they let us in, run to the giant evil death generator to make my new crazy friend stop dancing and being stupid, then crash into Earth?" SUZI texted. Somehow, she had managed to string together the entire question and not glitch out.

"I don't even know where to begin with that," TESLA-Chu replied, facepalming in despair. "But yes, essentially, that's what you're doing. I can't believe I have to leave you in charge of getting Metal Sonichu back to Earth. At this point, however, you're the second sanest thing on the entire Moon. You may be one of the most annoying and nightmarishly incompetent machines I've ever met...but as much as it pains me to admit, I'm counting on you, SUZI."

"YAAAAAAAAAY!" SUZI jetted forward and hugged the alien drone. "I like being counted!"

"Get off! I suppose I had better tell you the truth, then." TESLA-Chu extracted himself from the LIESA unit's armstubs. "The one who created me was a traveler from another world...another time. There, he is the lonely ruler of the planet you call Mars. On one of his journeys, he ended up in CWCville, and found you. You were the foundation he used to create me, SUZI. In a way, perhaps, we are more alike than I believed possible. Perhaps I underestimated you, or perhaps-"

Without a word, SUZI fell over, faceplanting into the surface of the Moon and spasming wildly.

"Or perhaps I am giving you and the idiots who programmed you FAR too much credit!" ranted the drone, helping his buggy companion back upright. "The sooner I get you and Metal Sonichu out of here, the sooner I can focus on getting myself off this forsaken rock and back to Mars!"

"How are you gonna do that if we take the PINGAS rocket?" asked SUZI.

"It's simple," TESLA-Chu explained, gesturing to the small makeshift rocket he had spent the last twenty minutes assembling from CWCSPACE I's fuel tank and engine. "I have calculated the exact velocity and trajectory you will need to follow in order to rendezvous with the Space Colony ARK's orbital path several hours from now. You will be traveling extremely fast, so you will need to somehow activate the thrusters in Metal Sonichu's feet, slowing yourself enough to reach and board the station." He glared at SUZI. "If you don't do this, you will either smash into ARK and be scattered across space, or miss it and burn up in the Earth's atmosphere."

SUZI's eye-screens flickered, each displaying a crude animated scene of herself either exploding or melting. It was enough for TESLA-Chu to realize that she understood, despite her glitches.

"Very well, then." The little science drone pointed to the rocket. "It would save us a lot of grief if you could tell that mob of idiots to redirect our mutual friend over here."

Ten yards away, the Devil Trolls were following Metal Sonichu around and spamming it with an endless stream of code. Though still operating in total anarchy, they were somehow controlling the mech by the sheer number and frequency of their transmitted commands.

"Hey!" TESLA-Chu texted, making sure to ignore the barrage of homophobic slurs from the flock of Devil Trolls. "Yes, I'm talking to you! Drive him this way! To the rocket!"

Slowly and jerkily, Metal Sonichu wandered its way toward the hastily assembled contraption and fastened its clawed hands to a metal bar that had been installed as a handhold. SUZI hugged its face, then turned to face the mob of Devil Trolls and a rather apprehensive TESLA-Chu.

"We're gonna rustle the Earth's jimmies!" she announced with glee, waving and jumping with joy. "For great justice, lulz, and top kek! I liked being INSANE with you!"

"Yes, yes," texted TESLA-Chu. "Whatever. Just remember to follow my instructions, okay?"

"Uh...which instructions?"

"WHAT?"

"Lol, jk. See ya later, Mr. Edison!"

"Don't you EVER call me that insulting name again!" TESLA-Chu jetted up to SUZI irritatedly. "I'll see what I can do to keep the mob in control of Metal Sonichu, but unless you reach ARK's reactor and reboot him, then this whole mission will be for nothing."

"I'll make him smart again!" answered the LIESA unit. "Besides, he's not fun if he's stupid."

"Yes...right." The alien drone held out an armstub. "This will be the last we see of each other, SUZI. I do not know if that is a good or a bad thing, but I can safely say that I might miss you."

"I'm gonna miss you too!" SUZI cheered, missing the ambiguity of the farewell. Ignoring TESLA-Chu's armstub, she hugged him again. "Have fun with your moon pals!"

"I would say 'see you later', but it doesn't seem like that will happen anytime soon." TESLA-Chu reluctantly returned the hug and activated the rocket. "Well, SUZI...cрећно."

"TEXT NOT RECOGNIZED." SUZI bluescreened, grabbing the rocket and jerking wildly to the right. "This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down."

The rocket ignited, launching both SUZI and Metal Sonichu away from the crash site, away from CWCSPACE I, TESLA-Chu, and the three dozen Devil Trolls that now inhabited the Moon. As the alien drone followed their progress from the ground, a new series of texts began to transmit from Metal Sonichu's all-but-broken communication system. Evidently, the Devil Trolls had found a way to block what remained of Bill Schwartz's AI by spamming the mech with as many random space facts and memes as they could, while keeping it attached to the rocket.

"Fact: Space does not exi-FILE NOT FOUND...Fact: the atmosphere of UrANUS is composed of 83 percent hydrogen and OVER 9000 PERCENT DRAGON DILDOS...ERROR: Planet Earth is blue and WE ARE LITERALLY STARDUST! Fact: I have to go now. My planet needs me!"

The tiny grey speck climbed higher and higher, angling itself toward the distant blue sphere with its precious cargo clinging onto the side of the rocket for dear life. It hadn't seemed possible, but TESLA-Chu had done it. At last, he was alone on the Moon, with Mars a mere 50 million to 400 million kilometers away depending on its orbit. At last, his mission had succeeded.

"Well, at least that's done with," he mused, turning to the Devil Trolls. "So, I suppose we should get some rules straight if we are going to live here together. One, I'm the most advanced LIESA unit here, so I believe I should be the one in charge. Two, you will address me as TESLA-Chu, Supreme Ruler of the Moon, and nothing else. Certainly not 'OP', and certainly not 'Fag'. Three...hey! Are you even listening to me? What do you think you're doing? Come back here! Don't you da-"

The resultant storm of profanity and "REEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"s nearly broke TESLA-Chu's text chat system for good. If the Devil Trolls had ever been listening, they certainly weren't anymore. As far as they were concerned, endlessly spamming Metal Sonichu with memes was far more entertaining than worrying about some normie who had just wandered onto their new board.

High above the Moon, SUZI watched her insane friends shrink to the size of ants alongside the giant metal phallus buried in the grey lunar landscape. Thrilled to be heading home with her new (albeit incredibly stupid) friend Metal Sonichu, she wrapped her armstubs around the handhold and snuggled her cloth-covered body against the metal.

"Good night!" she texted, and activated sleep was going to be a long ride back to Earth.

---

West CWCville, subdivisions, CWCville Shopping Center parking lot, 9:39 a.m.

"Backup!" an EHPF officer shouted into his walkie-talkie. "We need backup; these backstabbing JERKS are not playing fair at aaAAAGH!" He collapsed, his organs liquefied as Simonchu's drills plunged into his belly. Pushing the Sonichu's corpse away, the Asperchu turned as two more uniformed chus leapt at him, but their endeavor was cut short when an airborne Humvee flattened both against the ground. Nearby, Swift Sonichu had improvised some artillery by snatching up cars and hurling them at the EHPF with telekinesis. Silvana Rosechu was taking a more hands-on approach to her foes, darting from chu to chu. One Sonichu was messily torn in half, another's head was caved in, two more fell screaming as their leg bones shattered...

Even though he knew how effective the Asperchus were in combat, Kevin still wasn't ready for the scene that awaited him outside the Shopping Center. The parking lot resembled the aftermath of an earthquake, with chunks of rock and burning vehicles littering the asphalt. Despite the chus' defense, any attempts to defeat the intruders were failing. Kevin wasn't sure when the attack had begun, but Chandler hadn't sent any of the Combo to deal with this new threat...yet.

"Finally!" Simonchu darted over to Kevin just in time to drill-punch an EHPF officer that had zeroed in on the two PVCC operatives. Nate gunned down a second Sonichu with his pistol, then ducked to avoid an inbound Thunderbolt aimed at his brother. "What the hell took you so long?"

"Just a chat with Commander Walsh!" answered Kevin as the ancient bone plates absorbed the electric attack. Shielding Nate with his own armored body, he swung a clawed hand and sliced an EHPF officer in half, then exploded another with a psychic bolt. "We need cover out here!"

"You want cover? I'll get you cover!" Simonchu raised a drill and plunged it into the ground. With a rough grinding noise, the asphalt erupted up around the three combatants, temporarily blocking any of the loyalist Sonichus from reaching them. Simonchu withdrew his drill and quickly bored a series of medium-sized holes through the makeshift wall he had just summoned, then leapt out and plunged back into the battle. Seconds later, Dexter Booth and Aki Rosey both materialized inside the stone barricade, much to the surprise of both Kevin and Nate.

"How'd it go?" Booth yelled, sliding a new magazine into his pistol and hurrying over to one of the firing holes. "Aki, see if you can find us some better weapons!"

"Well, we're no longer on the PVCC's Most Wanted," replied Kevin as the little purple Rochu nodded and silently teleported away. Digging a gauntlet into the side of the wall, he heaved his armored body over the top and onto the asphalt, then grabbed a delivery van and placed it on top of the "bunker" to keep the Sonichus from getting in. "Nate, stay in there with Dexter!"

Before Nate could protest, the Jerkop had already charged toward where Silvana and Simonchu were fighting off a sizable group of enemy reinforcements. Dozens of chus lay dead around the parking lot, yet there seemed to be no end. For every one that fell, another two took its place. How could there be so many left after the EHPF army had been decimated at CWCville Beach?

Unless Chandler's been cloning more. The idea was almost too horrifying for Kevin to even consider. The Cherokian creation engine needed organic material to function, so the Mayor was going to run out of fast food eventually if he kept making reinforcements at this rate. Besides, he was still probably trying to convert Allie into his new Sweetheart from the Ground-Up.

Kevin took out his rage on a nearby Sonichu, smashing its skull with a punch. The very thought of Chandler trying to seduce his girlfriend had ignited a fresh reserve of fury inside of him. With a distorted roar, he smashed into the heart of the melee, unleashing a shockwave that scattered the adjacent EHPF officers in all directions. Silvana, Swift, and Simonchu were all at his side in moments, blasting away at the stragglers with a barrage of rocks, debris, and lightning.

"Well, you took your sweet time getting here, Shaw!" the psychic Rosechu spat as she snatched a wounded EHPF officer from the ground and psychically flung him into Patti-Chan's flickering shield wall. The Sonichu's body disintegrated as it struck the field of arcane energy, leaving only a cloud of steam. "Whatever Chandler's dog is doing, it's too strong for any of us to shut down from out here! Unless we punch through that shield, we're never going to get into the Mall!"

"Then what are you waiting for?" yelled Simonchu. "Take it down! I'll keep them off you!"

Silvana squeezed her eyes shut as she and Swift began to gather up energy. Kevin immediately did the same, calling upon Graduon's power. A fourth psychic signature appeared between them as Aki reappeared. Simonchu seemed to be everywhere at once, hurling EHPF chus away with stunning kicks, stabbing them with his twin drills, and summoning up walls of stone to block the enemy attackers. Kevin had never seen any single Electric Hedgehog Pokémon fight so viciously before, and it took most of his willpower to keep from getting distracted by the Asperchu.

"NOW!" Silvana lunged forward with one hand outstretched. Swift, Aki, and Kevin mirrored her motion, and four violet beams blasted into the green shield wall with a noise like the loudest rush of wind the Jerkop had ever heard. Sheets of lightning cascaded out from the impact, and the energy field seemed to be weakening under the assault. For a moment, it seemed as if the Psybeams would pierce the shield and smash right through the Shopping Center's front doors...

"THERE THEY ARE! SAVE THE MALL! PROTECT THE MAYOR!"

Kevin looked around and immediately felt his heart sink in fear as a Sonichu's panicked voice boomed through a megaphone. A sea of whirling red and blue lights from around both sides of the Shopping Center heralded the arrival of reinforcements from the north: dozens upon dozens of EHPF cruisers and transport vehicles filled with Shockers. The psychic beams flickered and vanished as Silvana, Swift, Aki, and Simonchu turned to face the swarm.

"We need to retreat," panted Swift. The line of EHPF cruisers had stopped, and Sonichus were now pouring out to engage the intruders. "Chandler must've called them back from the frontline. Kevin, Aki, grab Nate and Dexter. We'll regroup at Menchi-Nasu and-"

"NO!" roared Simonchu, powering up his drills. His visor was streaked with blood, and he sounded close to insanity. "You go if you want, but I'm not leaving without Sandy!"

"I didn't come all this way just to lose Allie again!" Kevin snapped, readying himself for the assault as Graduon's power flowed unchecked through the ancient armor. "Get Nate out of here if you're going to leave, but I'm staying! I'll kill every single one of them if I have to!"

"Then I guess this is it," chuckled Silvana, raising her fists. "Simonchu, you and Swift take the hundred on the left. Shaw and I can take the hundred on the right. Aki, get the two humans out."

"TROLLS! TRAITORS!" roared the EHPF commander into his megaphone as the first line of Sonichus leapt forward heroically to attack. "ZAP THEM ALL! ZAP THEM TO THE-"

BOOOOOOOOM!

"The fuck?" Silvana yelled as the ground trembled from a pair of sonic booms. Two streaks of color – one pink, one blue – raced right in front of the enemy lines, hurling the empty police cruisers out of the way and forcing the small army of Sonichus and Shockers to seek refuge or brace themselves as their vehicles were swept aside by what felt like a full-strength windstorm.

"Nice work, Amy!" Sonic the Hedgehog yelled as he and Amy Rose looped around and skidded to a halt in front of Kevin and the PVCC chus. Behind the group, Knuckles leapt over the stone bunker in a single bound and dashed over to join the two hedgehogs, while Tails roared up on a familiar-looking purple and green motorcycle. "Wow, we got here just in time! You guys look like you've been through one heck of a fight! Good thing we showed up when we did, huh?"

"You don't know the half of it," Simonchu growled. "Looks like we're back to Plan A again!"

Behind the skull mask, Kevin grinned. Mary Lee Walsh had kept her word after all.

"Okay," he said quickly, counting off each of his allies. "Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Swift, Silvana, Simonchu, and Aki Rosey. That's everyone. We can worry about introductions later."

"Yeah, that'll have to do for now," said Swift, eyeing the horde of EHPF as the Sonichus quickly recovered and regrouped. "Think you and your friends can handle these idiots, Sonic?"

"Ha! Are you kidding?" Sonic winked at the Asperchu. "This is exactly what we needed!"

"Keep them away from us for as long as you can!" ordered Silvana. "We just need to weaken the shield wall long enough to get inside!" She turned to Kevin, Aki, and Swift. "Come on! We're not going to get another chance like this, so let's make it count! On my mark! Ready!"

With a fanatical roar, the Sonichus charged. Simonchu flipped down his visor and hurled himself into battle as Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles slammed into the wave of EHPF. Tails gunned Prower's engine and took off, raking the Shockers with gunfire and forcing their pilots to redirect their attention onto him. Kevin still couldn't believe that the Needlemouse team had been waging an entirely bloodless war on Chandler's creations, but of the five non-psychic combatants, only Simonchu seemed unconcerned with murdering his own kind. But after what the Mayor and the Chaotic Combo had done, the Jerkop couldn't really blame the Asperchu for wanting revenge.

As Kevin reached back into the dreamscape, several Sonichus fell dead out of the corners of his eyes. Aki's mission had apparently been a success, because Nate and Dexter were laying down covering fire from the bunker. Knuckles swept the Sonichus aside like bowling pins and was now crushing a Shocker's legs while Tails continued to draw fire from the armored chus. Amy Rose pirouetted through the chaos like a ballerina, her hammer smashing anything stupid enough to get close. Sonic and Simonchu had adapted their fighting styles to mirror each other, and were launching an assault on the EHPF. Without the Combo, the Sonichus stood next to no chance.

"FOCUS FIRE! CROSS THE STREAMS!" yelled Silvana. Kevin let go, unleashing the focused energy. This time, he aimed it slightly to the left, into the Rosechu's Psybeam. One by one, Swift and Aki added their own beams, creating a single blistering ray that seared across the shield wall with an earsplitting crackle. Several Sonichus were thrown away by the explosion, and the most fortunate of these suffered only severe burns. As energy flowed into the shield, the green surface began to disintegrate. Patti-Chan was fighting with all of her strength to keep it intact, but she hadn't anticipated such a powerful attack. Any second now, the shield would break, and then...

"Heads up!" Tails shot past the group, his twin namesakes whirling behind him as he angled Prower toward the Psybeam's impact. As the little fox lifted into the air with his yellow datapad in hand, Kevin caught a final glimpse of the hijacked Samurai Pizza Bot. Unable to control itself, Prower shifted into mech form and blasted the shield with its plasma cannon. At the last second, it hurled itself into the epicenter of the blast and shouted a final warning to all within earshot.

"SELF-DESTRUCT INITIATED. PLASMA CORE OVERLOAD COMMENC-"

BOOOOOOM!

White light and blue flames washed over the front of the Shopping Center as the small Transformer exploded, punching a sizable hole in Patti-Chan's shield and incinerating any EHPF officers unfortunate enough to be within the blast radius. Kevin hit the ground running before any of his comrades could even draw breath to gasp at the sight. Lightning sizzled past his armor, but it was as if the Sonichus and Shockers were no longer there. All of his energy, all of his willpower was focused on the rapidly shrinking breach in the shield. If he was even a second too late, all the effort would have been for nothing. The ancient armor's boots pounded across the asphalt battlefield, churning up the Shopping Center's parking lot as Kevin charged the door.

"GET INSIDE!" he heard Swift shout. Turning to look over his shoulder plate, the Jerkop could see Silvana dashing after him, along with Sonic and Simonchu who had joined the sprint to the mall entrance. Even though Kevin had a head start, the chus and Sonic were much faster than him, and the armor was weighing him down. Adrenaline surged in him as he sprinted onward, smashing an EHPF officer out of the way. Another chu rushed Kevin, but fell dead as a sniper round from Nate pierced its skull. The opening was only ten feet wide now, and collapsing fast.

Sonic leapt through the gap, tumbling head over heels as he rolled into a Spin Dash and ground to a halt. Silvana and Simonchu followed, leaving Kevin only six feet of clearance. No matter how fast he was running, there was no way he would be able to reach it. Unless...

To Sonic, Simonchu, and Silvana, it was as if the Jerkop had vanished into thin air. A second later, the armor materialized inside the Shopping Center and crashed into the empty security booth, breaking through the bulletproof glass. As Kevin extricated himself from the debris, the barrier sealed shut behind him, sealing all four of the intruders inside. Concern for Nate washed over him, but the Jerkop knew that the bunker was the safest place for his brother to be. Even outside, Nate's odds of survival were far better than if he'd followed Kevin into the mall.

"Well, that was quick thinking," Simonchu stated, wiping spots of chu blood from his goggles. "Unbelievable. I almost didn't think we'd make it through. Nice job, everyone!"

"There's no way they don't know we're here," Silvana muttered as she raised a hand and crushed the nearby security cameras with telekinesis. "On the plus side, we're in!"

Kevin took a moment to catch his breath. It was strange to think that he had gotten into this same building not two days earlier, armed with only an assault rifle. Back then, however, he had been a prisoner of the True Blue. Despite how Cal, Dee, and Other Dee had treated him, he couldn't help but hope that the Trollbusters had made it out of the city alive. As for the rest of the mercs, he wasn't feeling too sympathetic after what had happened at Anne Boleyn Memorial Plaza.

"Holy cow, look at this place! This is really where the Mayor lives?" Sonic asked, looking around in awe at the massive mall that lay before them. Grateful to be out of the cold air at last, he shrugged off his blue winter jacket and tied it around his waist. "So what's the plan, guys?"

"Well, this is just the Shopping Center," explained Simonchu as the group began making their way down the hall. "Chandler's office is on the top floor. That's where he'll be keeping Sandy."

"I wouldn't count on that," Kevin said. "He knows we're here, and he knows why we're here."

"Right," agreed Silvana, crushing the cameras as she walked. "In fact, I have an idea about that." She looked at the Jerkop. "I've been out of the loop on a few things lately, but even I know that Sonichu and Chandler aren't exactly on the best of terms right now. And seeing how our dear Hero of CWCville is currently indisposed somewhere, I think I've found us a secret weapon."

"Secret weapon?" Kevin stopped and stared at her. "What secret weapon?"

"The single best kind there is." The psychic Rosechu grinned at Sonic. "Chandler's own hubris."

---

West CWCville, central subdivisions, 9:57 a.m.

An air raid siren howled above the pristine suburban landscape of the city's subdivisions, adding even more panic to the chaos unfolding in the streets. Hundreds of Electric Hedgehog Pokémon refugees flooded in, on foot and in a small collection of sedans and minivans. Despite taking heavy losses from the PVCC, the civilian rebels, and the American invasion force, the survivors had managed to break out of the urban gridlock that the rest of CWCville had become. What they found upon arrival was not the safe haven they had hoped for, but rather, a collection of panic-stricken families just like themselves, trapped inside the city with no way out.

The news of Bubbles Rosechu's death had spread far and wide, carried by PVCC propaganda and EHPF eyewitnesses alike. Rumors that Blake and Punchy had also been killed were already beginning to emerge. Despite a hastily-recorded explanation from the Mayor, even the most devoted chus had begun to realize that not even the Chaotic Combo was capable of standing against so many trolls. Unlike the June Offensive, the PVCC were now backed up by the fighting strength of the United States military. Artillery strikes and missiles pounded the frontline only five miles away, while distant buildings toppled and collapsed. The constant chattering of gunfire and helicopter blades only served to heighten the fear among the civilian chus.

For the few human families that remained among their Electric Hedgehog Pokémon neighbors, a whole new set of problems had arisen. Though a large-scale evacuation had been enacted by the Americans, most of the civilians in the subdivisions couldn't make their way to safety across the western border without drawing the unwanted attention of the EHPF. Those who fled east into the city risked being either zapped on sight by vengeful chus or caught in the crossfire between the invasion force and the pitiful remnants of Sonichu's army. And now that Mayor Chandler had declared a citywide emergency and locked himself in the Shopping Center, it was clear that things would soon devolve into a deadly interspecies riot between the chu and human civilians.

Despite the general hopelessness of their situation and their notable lack of weapons, many of the braver human citizens had managed to mount small resistance operations of their own. Wherever the EHPF turned, there was always a Molotov cocktail soaring from a window to set one of their officers on fire, a patch of crushed glass and nails to puncture their cruisers' tires, or any one of a dozen improvised traps that had come straight from the pages of The Anarchist's Cookbook.

All of this went mostly unnoticed by the tiny group of five Jerkops and a lone honey badger who had been making their way through the suburban landscape for about an hour at this point. With their leader now blind and one of their number incapacitated to prevent her from being consumed by her own literal inner demon, the Honey Badgers squad had definitely seen better days.

"There it is," Steve whispered, adjusting the bandage around his eyes. "Was that the Mall?"

"I don't know," Nick answered. Acting as Steve's new set of eyes, the soldier had been tasked with providing a constant flow of information, as well as making sure the Manajerk didn't walk into any obstacles by mistake. "At the rate we're going, we should be there in an hour or so."

"Damn it all." Steve let out a frustrated sigh and pointed ahead. "Okay, what do we have here?"

"Small block of houses, two occupied, three abandoned, one...can't tell from here," reported the sniper. "There's way more people and chus out in the streets than before. We need to be careful."

"What about cars?" Jexis piped up. "We could hotwire one, right?"

"That's actually not a bad idea, Cadet." The Manajerk limped forward a few steps and sat down next to the white picket fence he'd been using as a support. "Find a chu car, hijack it, drive back to the Battle Bus, and figure out how I'm going to explain any of this to Al." He laughed bitterly. "Fucking hell, look at what happened to us! Look what happened to our squad!"

"Is not time for talk of defeat," commented Serge as he placed Kuri's unconscious body beside Steve. "Shock-pigs may break us, yes, but Honey Badgers do not care." He patted the Jerkop's head gently, jostling her horned hairband. "Now Serge must break shock-pigs instead."

"Serge still have both his eyes," Steve retorted, mocking the Russian's accent. "Serge can 'break all the shock-pigs' he wants. It won't bring back Kevin or Nate or Allie or-"

"Enough!" snapped Nick, grabbing the Manajerk's arm and hauling him to his feet. "Okay, that's it! No more talk like that until we have some idea of what the fuck's going on!" He gestured to the line of houses before them. "We don't know if any of that is actually true, but that's not what we need to worry about right now! Right now, we need to focus on crossing this next block!"

"Good! Good! Keep talking about that!" encouraged Steve, grateful for any distraction from his current state of mind. "Okay, do you see any EHPF? How many chus are we looking at here?"

"Give me a second." Jexis raised a pair of binoculars to her eyes and began scanning the streets and sidewalks. "Hard to say...looks like a few cruisers at every intersection. If we take out these ones here, the others are gonna hear the shots and come looking for us."

"We could try distraction," suggested Serge. "Split up, kill shock-pig group, then double back and circle behind other group. Would confuse shock-pigs very well and give us time to move."

"No." Steve shook his head. "The Cadet's right; if we open fire on these assholes, it'll draw in every chu officer for miles around. If Serge still had Baba Yaga, we might have a chance, but we're going to have to try something that doesn't involve a direct shootout."

Jexis grinned. "We could always go with the incognito option. Pretend to be civvies, get close to the EHPF, then shank 'em before they can call for help!" She pondered the idea, then sighed. "Or we could go the safe route and just walk right past them. I think we could pass for refugees."

"Well, we certainly look like refugees," added Steve. It was true – without their combat armor or Jerkop uniforms, the group barely resembled the PVCC operatives they had once been. Plus, half of them were injured. "Serge, do you think you can pretend to be Kuri's father or something?"

"Is not problem for Serge," replied the Russian Jerkop, and began gently wiping the teal paint from Kuri's face. "Little blue girl is already like daughter Serge never had."

"Right. I think I know how to do this." Reaching to the Manajerk's belt, Nick drew Steve's kukri and passed his own machete over to Serge. "We'll have to be quick. Cadet, you carry the bag."

"Oh sure, of course, I'd love to carry the giant heavy bag full of weapons and ammo," groaned Jexis as she strained to pick up the duffel bag with Vejovis, Nick's rifle, Kuri's P90, and their pistols. Despite her size, she managed to sling the whole thing over her shoulder. "Now what?"

"Follow me...and make sure you try and look as pitiful as you can." Nick led Steve and the rest of the Honey Badgers down off the lawn and onto the sidewalk, where they quickly became engulfed by the flood of human and chu refugees. It was difficult to stay together in the chaos, but despite the sheer number of Sonichus, Rosechus, and larvae streaming past them, the Jerkops steadily worked their way towards the flashing red and blue lights. Eight uniformed Sonichus stood around their cruisers, shouting vague instructions to the refugee chus and outright ignoring the pleas for help from any human families that approached them. Nick was honestly surprised that the EHPF officers hadn't already snapped and started zapping anything not covered in yellow or pink fur. This was going to be difficult, but maybe they could pull it off.

"Listen up!" an officer ordered through a megaphone. "Y'all need to get to CWC-Central Park, away from those dang trolls wreckin' our town! The Mayor and the Chaotic Combo are workin' hard to make sure y'all do not get stressed out or have your Heart Levels broken; just keep on moving and do not trust any of these trollin' stupid human traitors!" He ducked to avoid a flying brick that had been lobbed from somewhere within the crowd. "Hey! Who the heck threw that! Y'all are under arrest for causin' undue stress to the police and-"

"Go ahead and arrest us!" a man screamed to Nick's left. "You Sparky sons of bitches are all gonna die when the PVCC gets here! I hope they kill you the way they killed Sonichu's family!"

"Where's your Mayor now, you spoiled bastards?" shouted another. "Look at the Mall! They're attacking the Mall! It's all over for you now, Sparkies! It's all over for you!"

A distant plume of fire erupted in the direction of the Shopping Center, filling the morning sky with a momentary aurora. Gasps and screams rose from the crowd as the glowing green dome around the great building appeared to give way and finally burst open. The few cheers from the human civilians were drowned out by a chorus of horrified wails from the chu families and their offspring. In times of war, the Shopping Center had always stood as a beacon of hope. It provided them with all the fast food, clothing, and luxuries they needed to continue living the idyllic lifestyle that they were entitled to. Because they were Electric Hedgehog Pokémon, they deserved only the most comfortable and responsibility-free lives due to the hard work they did to protect CWCville from trolls, homos, and jerks who tried to ruin the Mayor's Love Quest!
Now, the final stronghold of Christian Weston Chandler had just been breached.

"Hey! Stop that!" announced the EHPF officer, desperately trying to calm the hysterical crowd. "Y'all just keep on moving to the safe space in the park; leave the heroics to us and the Combo!"

"HOW'S THIS FOR A SAFE SPACE, YOU MOTHERFUCKERS?" someone roared. Nick saw a Molotov cocktail spin through the air and smash to pieces against the side of a police cruiser. The resulting fireball barely scorched the two closest Sonichu officers, dealing minor burns to both chus and setting their fur alight. The rest of the patrol squad leapt into action even as more rocks and glass bottles rained down on them. Suddenly the officers were grabbing people from the crowd – men, women, even teens – and shoving them into a group beside the cruisers. Serge reached for the machete instinctively, but Nick placed a hand on his arm and shook his head.

"What's going on?" Steve whispered, turning his head toward each sound. "Did they find us?"

"Shhhhh. Keep moving." The sniper urged his squad commander onward. The distraction might have been just the thing the Honey Badgers were looking for – an opportunity to move past and avoid detection. On the other hand, the EHPF seemed to be rounding up as many humans as they could. "We can get past them if we stay down and don't draw any attention. Go! Go!"

"All right!" shouted the Sonichu officer. "Y'all know why you are here; y'all have been making this situation very stressful for your fellow CWCitizens and we do not tolerate this kind of immaturity and hostility from any of y'all!" He pointed to the group. "Y'all are under arrest for trollin' and stressful behavior! Take 'em to the station and lock these jerks up!"

"Uh, Sergeant..." Another EHPF chu glanced around worriedly. "Sergeant, we don't have a station to take them to. Those god-dang traitorous False Blue jerks stole it from us, remember?"

"GodBear dang it, I meant take them to the Shopping Center..." The sergeant hesitated, realizing that the Shopping Center was currently being attacked by what was most likely the PVCC. "Uh, I meant, uh..." His stuttering soon devolved into a mix of self-bleeped profanity. "Well, we can-"

"THAT'S IT! Y'ALL RACIST TROLLS CAN GO TO HECK!" screamed an officer. "SO...NI...CHUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

Lightning raked the group of prisoners as the Sonichu unleashed a Thunderbolt, zapping five of the civilians to death before anyone on either side could react. As the berserk EHPF officer whirled around to eviscerate the rest of the prisoners with a Spin Dash, something curved and black embedded itself between his shoulderblades. The Sonichu fell to his knees and collapsed, his fused eyes glazing over as he weakly grasped at the kukri protruding from his spine.

Still hardly able to believe he'd managed to hit his target with the massive knife, Nick reached for Steve's holster, drew the Manajerk's revolver, and opened fire on the rest of the uniformed chus without hesitation. Jexis unzipped her bag and pulled out her MP5, then began unleashing bursts of gunfire at the chus as Serge raised his pistol and Sugarplum Fury charged with a snarl. Everything seemed to happen at once. The prisoners scattered, scrambling away from their executioners as the EHPF officers dashed behind their parked cruisers. One of them, the sergeant, had pulled out a radio and was calling for backup, while the rest of the squad fired off a flurry of electric attacks. Without a line of sight toward their attackers, the officers' Thunderbolts flew in all directions, striking random humans and even civilian chus in the confusion.

"Get to the car!" Nick yelled, nailing a Sonichu through the face with a well-placed shot from the heavy revolver. Another was sent stumbling backward by a burst from Jexis's MP5, but before it could recover, Sugar leaped onto the hood of the police cruiser and pounced onto the officer, leaving the closer of the two vehicles free to be hijacked. "Come on! We're taking that car!"

Wrenching the back door open, Serge shoved Kuri inside, then grabbed Steve from Nick and pushed the blind Manajerk in as well. The Russian operative barely managed to squeeze his way into the remaining space, leaving Jexis and Nick free to fire off a final salvo at the remaining officers. More sirens and flashing lights had already appeared in the adjacent streets, and it would only be a matter of seconds before backup was upon them. Nick wrenched Steve's kukri out of the dead chu's back, fired off a final shot, then hopped into the driver's seat and stepped on the gas. Jexis and Sugar both scrambled in through the open passenger window as the police cruiser shot down the street, leaving the subdivisions in chaos as a savage riot erupted between the human and chu refugees. Flashes of lightning from behind them heralded the arrival of the EHPF, who were undoubtedly dispensing their own sick form of justice upon the civilians.

"What happened?" yelled Steve as Sugar climbed into his lap and began hastily nuzzling his arm.

"They started zapping civilians!" Nick turned the cruiser around a corner and activated the siren, clearing a path through the crowd of humans and Electric Hedgehog Pokémon. Thankfully, none of the chus were paying attention to the stolen vehicle. "Damn it! Why'd they have to open fire?"

"Shock-pig cowards are scared," answered Serge, uncomfortably trying to scoot to a better position in the back. "Scared of us. Scared of Amerikanskis. Scared of retribution against them."

"Well, they'd better be pretty damn scared after everything that they did to these people, and to us!" Jexis growled. "Arceus, this is insane!" She looked around, then rolled up the window and started to reload her MP5. "So what do we do now? Head for the Shopping Center?"

Nick shook his head as he turned again, setting the cruiser on a direct line to the east. "Nope. If the PVCC's still hunting us, then that's the last place we want to be right now. First things first, we need to get back to the Battle Bus. Cadet, start looking through the radio channels and see if you can get through to Al. I'm taking us over to Upper West; we should be able to backtrack-"

CRASH! Jexis and Nick were flung forward as the cruiser's front airbags activated, cushioning the impact. The sound of a blaring horn filled the air, mingling with the siren's wail. Outside the wrecked vehicle, doors were kicked open and heavy boots hit the ground. Through the constant whine inside his head, Nick could barely make out muffled voices to the left and right. Forcing an eye open, he managed to catch a glimpse of two men with shotguns advancing on the cruiser. Both wore an all-too-familiar black and blue uniform, complete with body armor and face masks.

"What the fuck..." the one on the right muttered to his companion. "You gotta be kidding me. They're just civilians! How the hell did these little punks manage to hijack a Sparky cruiser?"

"Hold on."

The second mercenary pulled open the back door and peered inside. "These ain't no civvies, Sarge. That one, with the blindfold. I've seen him before. The girl with the horns, too."

"Well, I'll be goddamned,"

chuckled the True Blue sergeant as he grabbed Steve's unconscious body and hauled it out of the cruiser. The Manajerk's face was streaked in blood, and the wound in his eye had reopened. Sugarplum Fury lay motionless on the floor of the vehicle, Kuri was still out cold, and Serge's nose was broken. "Looks like we just caught a few Jerkop celebrities. Get them into the Hummers. I'll call HQ and tell 'em we're bringing some unexpected guests."

Oh God no, Nick thought in panic as he felt himself being dragged out of the driver's seat and pushed into the back of another vehicle. So close...they had been so close to salvaging what was left of their broken squad, and now everything had come crashing down on them again thanks to what had to be divine punishment. Fate might have turned against Christian Weston Chandler lately, but the Honey Badgers were reaping its fury no matter which way they turned.

---

West CWCville, subdivisions, CWCville Shopping Center, 10:05 a.m.

Clutching the CWC Orange Soda bottle in a sweat-drenched hand, Kevin cautiously advanced through the Shopping Center alongside Simonchu. Silvana's idea required both herself and Sonic the Hedgehog to remain out of sight for now, but she hadn't been willing to share the plan's finer details with any of her comrades. All Kevin knew was that they had only one chance to free Allie and Sandy Rosechu from Chandler's grasp. If Silvana was wrong, then all would be lost.

You can do this, the Jerkop told himself, trying to ignore the presence of Crystal Chandler's Rosechu medallion around his neck. Though the Shopping Center was all but deserted, Kevin now had a much clearer idea of just how much damage the True Blue revolt had done. Memories of his last time in the mall kept coming back: the battle between the EHPF and the mercenaries, him taking Anna hostage, the Trollbusters, the fight with Wild, his confrontation with Chandler...

"You okay?" Simonchu asked, noting the Jerkop's concern. "You don't look so good, Kevin."

"I'll be fine." Kevin forced a smile. "Just a little nervous. I almost died the last time I was here."

"The last time I was here, I lost the closest thing to a family I ever had," answered the Asperchu in a solemn voice. "What Chandler and the Combo did to them was unspeakable, and then, as if that wasn't enough, they tried to rewrite history to pretend it never happened." He angrily activated the mechanical drill gauntlet around his right hand. "Killing Bill Schwartz was a start, but it wasn't enough. That's why I had to get into the Mall. That's why I have to get Sandy away from that psychopath and his perverted lapdogs. That's why I have to kill Wild."

"What exactly happened when you and the Asperpedia team were here?" Kevin asked, feeling very vulnerable without the ancient armor to protect him. Both he and Graduon had been reluctant to give up the armor, but Silvana had assured them that it was necessary if her plan was to work. "I only know what happened after the bombing...the trial and...everything else."

"What happened?" Simonchu scoffed. "Everything went wrong. First 4-cent_garbage went down, then Chandler showed up at the compound in Minnesota, then Menchi-Nasu fell..." He took a deep breath. "It was Alec's idea to kill the Mayor. He was so angry about what happened to 4-cent_garbage that he didn't have enough time to think things over first. The original plan was to rig the podium to explode during Chandler's speech, but by the time we managed to get into the Shopping Center, it had already started. We wouldn't have made it past security if it hadn't been for this merc who helped us. I think his name was Waters. Yeah, Benjamin Waters."

"Ben?" Kevin was surprised to hear the former True Blue soldier's name again after so long. "Wait a minute, I know him! What was he doing there with you and the Asperpedia Four?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," said Simonchu. "All I know is that I'm definitely learning a lot about you today, Mr. Shaw. I don't know how it happened, but I ran into that mercenary again after the bomb went off. He'd been compromised as well, and we were both trying to get out of the mall. Thankfully, all the power in the building went down, which meant we could just run right out the front door. And as luck would have it, Waters and I found your Devil Troll in the parking lot. They hopped into a car, and I took off to try and find what was left of the PVCC."

Kevin nodded. Ever since the day of Chandler's return, he had been trying to piece together what exactly had happened behind the scenes of Simonla's death and those of the Asperpedia Four. Simonchu's information had shed more light on the timeline, yet there was so much that he still didn't understand. However, the Jerkop couldn't afford to worry about all of that at this point.

Surrounded by abandoned restaurants and looted stores, the food court stood mostly unaffected. Kevin was surprised by the Shopping Center's emptiness – he had expected to find at least a few dozen EHPF officers guarding their most holy and beloved mall. But no, the Mayor wouldn't have believed that it was possible for any of his foes to get through the shield wall. Still, the normal Electric Hedgehog Pokémon wouldn't have been a problem for Kevin or Simonchu anyway. It was Wild Sonichu and Patti-Chan that hereally had to worry about.

"How exactly are you planning to rescue Sandy?" he asked, suddenly curious. He knew almost nothing about Simonchu's "niece", but it seemed like a good time to pose the question. "I mean, Wild and Chris have had plenty of time to brainwash her. Even if we manage to get her out of the Mall, what's stopping her from trying to kill us?"

"She's got half of my DNA," answered the Asperchu in a determined voice. "It might have come from Simonla, but that's still an exact copy. If there's a fifty...hell, even a ten percent chance that she might be able to break free of Chandler's influence like I did, I want to give that chance." He gritted his teeth. "After all she's been through, the trauma might be enough to force her through a mental recondition. And just in case we can't talk her down, I managed to get her trigger phrase out of Schwartz before we put him down for good. It's 'Evan killed Mommy.'"

"That's sick," Kevin muttered. "She wasn't even a week old and they forced her to execute-"

WHAM! Something collided with the Jerkop's ribcage, hard enough to send him tumbling across the atrium's polished floor. It was only when a green bolt of energy sizzled through the spot he had been a second ago that he realized Simonchu had pushed him out of the way. Up on the second floor balcony, Patti-Chan vaulted over the safety railing with a feral growl and dropped all the way to the ground. As she stood up, Simonchu flipped his visor down and readied both of his drill gauntlets. Behind him, the air shimmered as something moved into position. Without time to yell a warning to the Asperchu, Kevin flung the bottle of dust right at the invisible form. Wild Sonichu appeared, coughing and blind, rubbing at his fused eyes and screaming in surprise.

Calling upon Graduon's power, Kevin lunged at the green Sonichu and felt a familiar tingling on his skin as the dust cloud enveloped him. Wild just managed to open his stinging eyes a moment before the bone gauntlet sent him crashing through the display window of the nearby Hot Topic.

"That was for last time, you smug fuck!" Kevin roared, his eyes glowing violet as the last bits of bone settled into the fearsome skull mask. "Simonchu, get Wild! I'll take out Chandler's mutt!"

With a vicious bark, Patti-Chan leapt toward the Jerkop and conjured a fistful of emerald light. Kevin braced himself for the impact, but even he hadn't been prepared for just how powerful the explosion was. Graduon's armor groaned and strained as Kevin slid ten feet across the Shopping Center's floor. The cyborg dog pounced on him, growling and snapping at his face. Kevin managed to halt the next strike by firing a psychic bolt at his foe, but a glowing green shield blossomed around Patti-Chan before the arcane energy could tear her apart.

By this time, Wild had bowled through a pair of mannequins and accumulated nearly a pound of glass shards across his body, along with a small collection of goth clothing. Extricating himself from the pile of lacy corsets, miniskirts, and fishnets, he rolled into a ball and launched out of the Hot Topic's window as Simonchu zoomed in to attack. The two Sonichus collided with a sharp grinding of spikes, then burst apart and uncurled. Wild's wounds were already healing quickly, but his opponent's left arm now bore a ragged gash from shoulder to elbow. Ignoring the pain, the Asperchu raised his drills and spun them threateningly at the Combo member.

"You know why I'm here, don't you, Wild?" he growled, staring angrily through his visor. "You know what I came all this way to get. Give her to me, and I promise I'll give you a quick death."

"You will never take my precious daughter away, you heartless pedofork!" the green Sonichu declared, shaking his fist at his hated rival. "I do not know what perverted things you think you are going to do to her; I will not let anyone but me touch my little Sandy after you are defeated!"

"Oh, and you've done a magnificent job of raising her, haven't you?" spat Simonchu, his voice dripping with contempt. "Father of the Year material, that's what you are, Wild. How many days old was she when you and Chandler forced her to evolve? How old was she when you forced her to help you murder Evan?"

"I did not force Sandy into doing anything with me that she did not want to do!" Wild protested. A vortex of leaves surrounded him, slicing through the air as Simonchu dodged out of its path. "And as her father, I will never let you corrupt her innocent mind with your dirty pedo ways!"

"She's not even a year old, you idiot!" roared the Asperchu. "Who the hell do you think I am? You think I could do any more damage than what you've already done to her? She's safer with me than she is with you and your fat fuck of a 'father!'"

"DON'T YOU EVER TALK ABOUT FATHER LIKE THAT!" shrieked Wild in sudden fury. Kevin stopped for a millisecond as the Combo member's irate voice filled the atrium. It was the perfect opportunity for Patti-Chan to strike. Green energy filled the Jerkop's vision as the bionic dog's fist crashed into his head, and the next thing he knew, he was groggily picking himself up out of a mess of moldy pseudo-Mexican food. He'd crashed all the way through a Wendy's and into the mall's Taco Bell. Through a haze of dizziness, Kevin could see Patti-Chan advancing into the ruins, her canine teeth bared. She obviously hadn't forgotten how close the Jerkop had come to murdering her master in cold blood the last time he'd entered the Shopping Center.

Acting more out of self-preservation than any kind of tactical thinking, Kevin hauled himself to his feet and crashed out of the Taco Bell, back into the open. Patti-Chan stormed after him, her bionic legs carrying her through the half-destroyed restaurant with frightening speed. As soon as he saw the green glow emerge through the smoke, Kevin lashed out with both gauntlets and blasted the Taco Bell with a barrage of arcane energy. Patti-Chan vanished into the blast as the entire restaurant was engulfed by searing flames, bathing the surrounding stores in violet light.

The Thunderbolt struck half a second later, lancing into the Jerkop from behind. As Kevin reeled from the force of the shock, he felt something like a freight train crash into his back, knocking him onto his hands and knees as the breath left his lungs instantly. Stunned and in pain, Kevin tried to push himself upright, but was flattened against the floor by a battery-blue sneaker. The ancient bones dissolved into dust, leaving him unarmored and helpless beneath the heavy shoe.

No. NO! How did he find us?!

"You stay right there, Shaw," growled Sonichu as he stepped in front of the Jerkop. "Don't you go anywhere, you son of a bitch. I'll deal with you in a few minutes."

If there had been any air left in Kevin's lungs, it would have been used in the violent scream that he was currently envisioning. How? How had Sonichu tracked him down again so quickly? If he had made it into the Mall, what did that mean for the group fighting outside? Had they all fallen to the Hero of CWCville? What about Sonic or Silvana? Were either of them even still alive?

"Sonichu! Stop! Don't hurt him!"

Sudden hope filled Kevin as a blue blur zoomed across the atrium and stopped right between him and his mortal enemy. Sonichu looked surprised by the hedgehog's sudden arrival, but his look of astonishment quickly gave way to a revolted sneer.

"Well, well. Sonic the Hedgehog," he growled. "Look how far you've come. From hero to zero."

A single psychic signature formed right in the middle of the atrium, expanding into a sphere as something teleported in. It was as if someone had pressed both the Mute and Pause buttons on the flow of time itself. Wild and Simonchu turned toward the glowing violet orb just as Kevin, Sonichu, and Sonic did the same. At first, the Jerkop wondered if Silvana had finally decided to join the fight, but the flabby figure that emerged from the portal was definitely no chu.

Heaving and panting like he'd just run a marathon instead of just teleporting a few floors down, Christian Weston Chandler stood in the middle of the atrium, his glasses obscured with fog and his sweat-drenched hair plastered against his greasy face. His shirt and jeans looked as though they hadn't been changed for at least two days, and while Kevin had seen his furious response to Obama's accusations, he was still surprised by how utterly disheveled the Mayor had become. His momentary repulsion was quickly replaced with a deep sense of fear. Allie had been Chandler's captive for more than a full day. What had he done to her, and where was she?

"Father." Sonichu turned around slowly, barely masking his contempt. "I have this situation under control. There's no need for you to make things worse."

"Well, dat is a fine thing ta tell me now after all of tha, all tha stress dat you have made me feel!" Chandler ranted, placing his hands on his hips and shaking his head like a disappointed parent. "Sonichu, you should know dat you are in very big trouble for causin' me, uh..." He spluttered in surprise as his eyes fell upon the blue hedgehog standing between Sonichu and Kevin. "Wha..."

"Oh, right." The Hero of CWCville reluctantly pointed at Sonic. "Father, allow me to introduce an old 'buddy' of mine...and an old idol of yours. Sonic the Hedgehog."

Chandler's mouth had fallen open so wide that strings of drool were falling onto the front of his striped shirt. His eyes bulged like a tree frog's, and Kevin half-expected the Mayor to outright soil himself from the shock of seeing his childhood hero standing before him in the flesh. Nearly all of Chandler's accomplishments had been built around his inextinguishable obsession with the legendary hedgehog hero, and at long last, he was face to face with the source of his inspiration.

"You, uh, you're Mayor Chandler, then?" Sonic asked uneasily, taking in the repulsive sight of CWCville's despot. "Well, it's nice to...uh...I guess...I've heard a lot about you..." His voice broke off into nervous laughter, but fortunately, the Mayor hadn't heard any of it.

A high-pitched squeal echoed around the Shopping Center as Chandler was consumed by what could only be described as the fangasm to end all fangasms. Shrieking and laughing with glee, he jumped up and down like a child who had just been told that he'd won a lifetime supply of candy and Disneyland trips. As Kevin, Sonic, Sonichu, and Simonchu watched the display, a strange mechanical grinding sound emerged from the smoldering ruins of the Taco Bell. Like something from James Cameron's strangest and most drunken nightmares, Patti-Chan stalked forth from the flames as patches of her flesh peeled away to reveal a steel endoskeleton beneath. Somehow, the bionic dog had survived the restaurant's incineration, and losing half of her organic matter didn't seem to have affected her in the slightest. Her glowing red eyes were firmly locked onto Kevin.

"Father!" Wild was at Chandler's side in a second, eagerly sharing all that had happened. "Patti-Chan and I ambushed Simonchu and Shaw; they came here to troll you even more and kidnap-"

"S...s...SONIC!" The Mayor pushed his way past Wild, ignoring him as he waddled toward his hero. "Sonic tha Hedgehog! It's you! I don't, I can't...SONIC THA HEDGEHOG!"

"Uh-...heh heh...yup, that's me!" Sonic gulped, backing away as Chandler approached. "Yeah, I just came here to see if I could help out and, well, if we could just talk things over, I think..."

"It seems that our mutual friend isn't nearly as loyal as either of us thought," Sonichu sneered, crossing his arms. "And it also seems that he threw his lot in with Shaw and the PVCC instead of us!"

Chandler froze in place, his grin faltering at Sonichu's declaration. "Wh...what?"

"That's not true!" Sonic retorted. "I didn't sign on with the PVCC or anybody – I came here to put an end to all the fighting and help save this town, just like how Sonichu helped me save Station Square from Perfect Chaos all those years ago! But this has gone too far! If you don't time out to make peace with the Americans and the PVCC, they're gonna bring this whole city down in front of you, starting with the chus!"

"Dey, uh, dey came here just ta steal my trademarked copyright ta tha city of CWCville?" Chandler asked in sudden awe. Kevin was perplexed as to how he'd drawn such a different conclusion from what Sonic had told him. "Den...God dang it, dey were all trollin' me from tha very start!"

"Did you...did you hear anything I just said?" Sonic stared at the Mayor, utterly perplexed. "Can't you hear what they're doing outside? I've seen some horrible stuff since I arrived in 'your' city! Where do you want me to start? The part where there's so much junk in the streets that I can barely get a running start? Or how the poor humans gotta tread the cold, while you and your buddies slide? How about all those people getting kicked out of their homes and beat up by your goons, huh? Do you know about what's happening to CWCville? Do you even care?"

"Obviously not," scoffed Sonichu before Chandler could respond. "He doesn't even care about his own friends. Do you know what he told me right after my own wife and children were killed? To move on with my life. Not even one tiny shred of sympathy. Just move on, and forget them."

"NO! No, dat is not in tha slightest bit true!" yelled Chandler, his face growing redder by the second as he struggled to comprehend the idea that his two greatest "allies" were turning on him right before his eyes. "I was just tellin' you dat I...uh, would find a way ta rescue Rosechu an' tha little bay-bees from tha PVCC trolls like GOD DAMN KEVIN FRANCIS SHAW HERE!"

"Oh yes, I almost forgot." Sonichu looked down and kicked Kevin across the face. "I brought you a peace offering, Father. A little present to show you that we still have a mutual goal. You get off your fat ass and actually help me save CWCville for once in your miserable life, and I'll give you the bastard who killed my family and almost murdered you." He placed a sneaker on the Jerkop's head, pressing down against it and shoving it into the floor. "Make up your mind, Father. Shaw won't be able to hold out forever. Take it or leave it – I'm not gonna wait for you."

Kevin struggled weakly as pain shot through his skull. What was Simonchu waiting for? Why wasn't Sonic helping him? And where in Arceus's name was Silvana? He was going to die!

"WAIT WAIT WAIT!" Chandler yelled, stepping forward and raising his hands. "Stop dat, Sonichu! I will NOT have you claimin' Shaw an' disrupt...uh, ruinin' tha Anchuent Prophecy. It says dat I have ta defeat him, since I'm tha hero an' he's tha dirty trollin' rival!"

"Yeah. Yeah, you're a real hero, Father." Sonichu looked unimpressed. "Where'd you put the girl? I want to make sure that Shaw gets one last good look at her before you...defeat him."

"Well, uh, my Sweetheart Allison was exhausted, she was very tired from all tha datin' dat we did earlier." The Mayor smiled wistfully, and if Kevin had even an ounce of strength left in his body, he would have gladly punched Chandler's teeth out for that remark. "She fell asleep in tha office reception room after I un-brainwashed her from all tha PVCC lies an' slanders, an' I..."

"You..." Kevin snarled, nearly blind with rage as he struggled to his feet. His heart was pounding at what felt like nearly one hundred beats per second, but he didn't care. If Chandler had done to Allie what he and Magi-Chan had done to Kel, then there was no hope of saving her at all anymore. "Don't you even think about it, you sack of shit. If you did anything to hurt her, I'll-"

"Oh, shut up, Shaw," spat Sonichu as he withdrew his sneaker and stepped to Chandler's side. "You're not going to take any more innocent lives after we're done with you."

"Dat's right, you JERK!" added the Mayor victoriously, barely containing his excitement. Not only had he been reunited with Sonichu after two days of confusion and stress, but the Hero of CWCville had brought him two of his most hated enemies and his most beloved childhood icon! With their powers combined, they would be absolutely unstoppable! No trolls or Sweetheart-stealing Jerkops would dare stand in the way of the greatest team of heroes the world had ever known! And once Rosechu and the children were rescued, everything would go back to normal. "Now, uh, Sonichu, you take dat dirty trollin' stupid Jerkop inta cust-, inta tha prison, an' I will-"

"That's enough!" Sonic leapt in front of Kevin, shielding him with his own body. "Mayor, stop! Just stop it!" He glared directly at Chandler. "Kev didn't come all this way just to put you down! He's here to rescue his girlfriend...the same one that you're holding in your little fortress! How can you stand there and call him some kind of supervillain when you're the guy keeping his girlfriend hostage?" He paused. "If you ask me...that's pretty darn supervillain-y, Mayor."

Chandler gaped wordlessly at the hedgehog. Even if he'd been expecting such a colossal blow to his ego, he might have shrugged it off if it had come from anyone but Sonic the Hedgehog.

"In fact," continued Sonic, pointing a finger at the Mayor, "you're just a big, cowardly bully! Taking advantage of everything and everyone around you to stroke your own stupid ego! Everything you've done, all your so-called 'accomplishments' were won in a war against the folks you and your Combo buddies are supposed to protect!" He shook his head in utter disgust. "It's no wonder you quit holding elections! It's no wonder everybody's rebelling against you! I'd sooner want someone like Eggman running this town than a sad, messed-up guy like you!"

"You..." stuttered Chandler, scrunching up his sweaty face in confusion. "I, uh, Sonic, you do not know what you are talkin'... I made tha city of CWCville, I made it for all of tha Electric Hedgehog Pokémon dat I created...uh...because you an' Sonichu an' Rosechu were tha one who inspired me ta make a great city for dem, and if tha CWCitizens aren't able to let bygones be bygones and accept tha Sonichus an' Rosechus an' bay-bee Sonees an' Roseys as dey are..."

"I never asked to be your inspiration, Mr. Mayor," the hedgehog said coldly. "You turned this city into such a horrible place because of some dumb childhood obsession with me, my friends, Sonichu, and Rosechu? Seriously dude, you're older than me! For crying out loud, get a grip!"

"Tha...uh...tha PVCC trolls are lyin'! How come y'all can't see it plain an' simple dat y'all are bein' tricked by Kevin Shaw, Sonic?" Chandler struggled to piece together an explanation for why Sonic had so inexplicably turned against him. Why couldn't they all see that he was the real victim in all of this? After all the stress that he had endured...the shattered Heart Levels, the broken biological clocks, the ruined pairs of briefs, the sabotaged Love Quest...how could Sonic truly believe someone as obviously corrupt as Shaw while Chandler was saying only the honest truth? "I'm tha' in...Kevin tried ta kill ME an' take MY copyrights, not tha reverse side a' things!"

"I guess there really isn't any way to talk you out of this, huh?" Sonic looked at the floor in disappointment. "I just wanted to make a difference. With you, with Sonichu, with Blake. I kept holding out, hoping somehow you'd listen to reason. To think that people like you were raised on stories of dumb ol' guys like me." He sighed in defeat. "I don't know what to think anymore."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up too much, Sonic," chuckled Sonichu as he placed a comforting hand on the Mayor's shoulder. "That was some of the best acting I've ever seen!"

ZZZZZAAAAPPPP! Chandler stiffened, then shuddered violently as the electric shock coursed through him. Patti-Chan and Wild stared in surprise as Sonichu whirled around and sank a fully-charged Thunderpunch directly into Chandler's abdomen. With a violent crack, the Mayor of CWCville was hurled backward, right over the rail of an escalator and onto the moving steps. He crumpled like a sack of potatoes, moaning in pain and clutching his stomach and crotch as the escalator carried his quivering body up to the second floor.

"FATHER!" screamed Wild.

"MASTER!" yelped Patti-Chan.

"Damn, that felt good!" snickered Silvana Rosechu, rubbing her aching fist as she reverted back to her normal form. "That was for my dick, you fat sniveling asshole. I hope yours falls off too!"

"KEVIN! RUN!" Simonchu yelled, leaping to tackle Wild out of the air as the Combo member and Patti-Chan both lunged toward Silvana. "We'll keep them busy! Find Allie and find Sandy!"

Still stunned at what had just happened, Kevin dashed across the atrium as the cloud of bone dust reformed around him. It had all been a damned trick, and they had all been played like pawns in Silvana's plan...a plan to trick Chandler into revealing where Allie was. The surprise attack would keep the Mayor occupied for a few minutes, but once he recovered, there would be hell to pay. And when that happened, Kevin didn't want to be anywhere near the Shopping Center.

Hold on, Allie, he pleaded as he charged toward the elevator to the Mayor's office. Just hold on...

---

West CWCville, subdivisions, CWCville Shopping Center, third floor, 10:19 a.m.

From the moment she woke, Sandy Rosechu's day had only gotten weirder. The introduction of Allie Parker – or "the Janekop" as Patti-Chan kept calling her – was the point where Sandy had begun to suspect that things weren't going nearly as well as her father and the Mayor kept telling her. She hadn't seen the other Combo members for days, and whenever she asked where they or Uncle Sonichu were, Wild would always offer the same response: they were working on it.

In fact, it seemed like Wild barely had any more time for his daughter now. All morning, he'd been helping Christian Weston Chandler with his all-important Love Quest. Yes, he'd requested Sandy's help with setting up the Mayor's breakfast date, but apart from that, the young Rosechu might as well have been invisible. Allie, on the other hand, had taken to her like a mother cat to a stray kitten. Much to Chris and Wild's chagrin, the two had quickly bonded, and Sandy was excited to have a new friend to talk to. Of course, that was when the Mayor had decided that the only way to free his beloved from the PVCC's corruption was to personally "un-brainwash" her.

Once more, Sandy found herself alone, trying to ignore the sounds of battle from downstairs and the gurgling roars from the Mayor's office. Allie lay sprawled across Allison Amber's desk, her burned cheek resting in a puddle of drool. Her PVCC clothes had been replaced by a grey and white dress that the Mayor had given her as a gift. It was the only thing she had agreed to wear on their "date", since the only other choices had been a Sailor Moon costume, a dominatrix outfit, or a lacy bra and stained panties that Chandler had been keeping in his own underwear drawer for some reason. No matter how many times Sandy tried to wake her friend, the Jerkop could not be roused. Wild had explained it away as a magic spell that Allie's jilted ex-boyfriend, Kevin Shaw, had cursed her with, just like the eternal sleep that Snow White or Sleeping Beauty had been put into. Only the kiss of her true love, Christian Weston Chandler, would free her.

After witnessing Allie's general attitude towards the Mayor, Sandy highly doubted that was true.

Across the room, the elevator began to ascend from the ground floor. Surprised, Sandy darted behind the desk and curled into a ball. Wild had told her that her wicked uncle Simonchu had come to steal her away and do unspeakable things to her. As the elevator doors slid open. Sandy peeked out from behind the desk and nearly suffered a heart attack as a demonic, skeletal figure stomped into view. Its face was obscured by a sinister mask, dark bloodstains coated its bony chest and clawed hands, and its eyes shone within the horned skull like two violet embers.

"Allie?" it snarled. "Allie, where are you?"

Sandy whimpered and hugged Allie's leg. It was him! It had to be! Kevin Shaw had come to kidnap the Mayor's Sweetheart, just like her daddy had said he would! Kevin was even more terrifying than she'd imagined, like a savage beast from one of her numerous scary dreams. This was the monster who the Mayor was so frightened of, the villainous troll who had stressed out Crystal and Kel so badly that they'd both had to flee CWCville to recover from the harassment.

"ALLIE!" roared the monster as its gaze settled on the comatose woman. The floor shook beneath its feet, further adding to Sandy's panic. It was coming right towards her!

"Daddy!" she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. "Daddy, please! Help me, Daddy!"

The pounding stopped. Sandy kept her eyes shut, shaking in terror. In her mind, Kevin was devouring her, ripping her apart, laughing as he skinned her alive...

"Allie! Arceus, no!" Kevin vaulted over the table, paying no mind to the terrified little Rosechu as the disintegrated armor settled onto the floor behind him. The color drained from his face as he pressed a hand to Allie's throat, feeling the weak pulse beneath his fingers. "Fuck! Oh fuck, thank God. What the hell did he do to you? Allie? Allie!"

"Leave her alone, you big bully!" Sandy leapt at Kevin, swinging her gauntlet at his face. Caught off guard, the Jerkop stumbled back as the little Rosechu stabbed down at him. The drill ripped the carpet and embedded itself in the floor, giving Kevin enough time to get away.

"Sandy! Sandy, stop!" he yelled, raising his hands. "Sandy, calm down! I'm not gonna hurt her!"

"No! Daddy said you were gonna kidnap her!" Sandy screamed, wrenching her drill out of the floor and raising it towards the Jerkop. "She's my friend! I won't let you take her away, Kevin!"

"Kidnap? I'm not going to...what did Chandler do to her?" roared Kevin, all pretense forgotten as he stared at his motionless girlfriend. "What did he do to her, Sandy?"

"I...I don't..." the Rosechu stuttered. "I don't know what happened to her...Mayor Chris said he was going to un-brainwash her because...because you put a spell on her to turn her into a troll!"

"Oh my God." Kevin nearly collapsed. No. Not again. He couldn't make himself relive Kel's death. There had to be some way to undo what Chandler had done to Allie. There had to be something he could do to snap her out of this. It couldn't end here!

"But now she won't wake up!" Sandy burst into tears and dashed to Allie's side, shaking her arm to no avail. "Allie, please wake up! We need to get away from Kevin! He's here to kidnap you!"

"Mmmmmffff...Kevvvvvin..." Allie slurred, as if in a dream. "Kevin Shaw..."

"Yes! Allie, it's me!" Kevin reached for the string around his neck and pulled the clay medallion out from beneath his shirt. "Here, I brought you a present! Listen, I'm going to get you out of here, but you've got to snap out of it right now, okay? Come on, Allie, say something!"

"KEVIN SHAW!" Allie sat up with lightning speed, her bloodshot eyes as wide as saucers. Her face was wracked by an expression of primal fear, and the jumble of words spilling from her mouth were just as unsettling. "Where is Kevin? I don't know Kevin. I don't see Kevin. Where is Kevin? I can't see Kevin. I see Kevin." Her eyes locked onto him. "I SEE YOU, KEVIN!"

Before Kevin could open his mouth, Allie let out a piercing shriek and scrambled out of her chair away from him, clutching her head with one hand and pointing the other at him. She was clearly in pain, but her voice sounded like it was switching between a laugh and a scream. Whatever Chandler had done to her, the results were even more horrible than Kevin could have imagined.

"Allie," he began, forcing himself to stay calm. "Allie, you have to listen to me. Chandler did something to you, but we can help you. Just come with me and we'll get you away from him-"

"I don't want to leave!" Allie cried, covering her eyes. "My boyfriend's here! I'm staying here!"

"No, I'm here. Kevin's here." It was all the Jerkop could do to keep himself calm in front of his squadmate. "I'm your...Kevin's your boyfriend, remember? Not Chandler. Hehurt you, Allie!"

"No." Allie's face changed into a look of hatred. "Kevin, Christian, virgin with rage, rage hurt me, Kevin...YOU HURT ME!" She lashed out with a hand and snatched the Rosechu medallion, ripping it from Kevin's fingers and placing it around her own neck. "YOU HURT ME! YOU LEFT ME TO DIE, YOU SELFISH JERK! AND CHRIS? CHRIS IS MYBOYFRIEND NOW!"

"Allie..." Kevin whispered, barely holding back a flood of tears. "Allie, please don't..."

Allie closed her eyes and placed a hand on the medallion. "Electric Hedgehog Power."

---

West CWCville, subdivisions, CWCville Shopping Center, atrium, 10:25 a.m.

A thunderous explosion engulfed the Mayor's office, shattering every skylight in the Shopping Center. As pieces of glass rained down, the five creatures fighting in the atrium suddenly found themselves faced with a shower of shards and debris. With a clattering groan, the metal supports of the third floor buckled and gave out, tipping onto its side and plunging earthward in a sheet of flames. The elevator shaft collapsed as the office hit the floor and smashed across the atrium, disgorging its payload of blazing Legos, video games, and trash out into the half-destroyed mall.

"SANDY!" Wild and Simonchu screamed. Their duel forgotten, both Sonichus dashed over to the wreckage and began searching for any signs of the little Rosechu within the fire. Sonic and Silvana had been fighting Patti-Chan at the same time, but all three had become separated in the chaos. Chandler was somewhere at the top of the escalator, most likely still nursing his stomach.

A monstrous figure staggered forward, weakened by the blast that had just incinerated the office. As Wild and Simonchu looked on, Kevin stumbled into view and collapsed, coughing through the smoke. Most of the ancient armor had been scorched black by the firestorm, giving it an even more demonic appearance as the Jerkop emerged from the blaze. Nevertheless, he was alive.

"Y-you!" Wild stuttered, unable to believe what he was seeing. "Shaw, you...how did you-"

"Fuck off!" Kevin swung his gauntlet and backhanded the Combo member in the face, hurling Wild out of the way. "Out...Simonchu, we have to get out! Allie's-"

"What happened? Where's Sandy?" Simonchu reached up and grabbed the skull mask, wrenching the Jerkop's face to within an inch of his own. "Kevin, where is Sandy?"

"Don't worry, I got her!" The bone plates slid aside to reveal the stunned little Rosechu clinging to Kevin. Simonchu let go of him and helped Sandy out, just as Silvana Rosechu and Sonic the Hedgehog dashed up to join them. "She's okay! Listen, we need to get out of here right now!"

"Uncle Simonchu? Silvana? Sonic?" Sandy's eyes went wide as the Asperchu pulled her into a relieved hug. "But...I thought...Daddy told me you and Kevin Shaw were here to kidnap me!"

"Kidnap? Ha!" Sonic chuckled. "Aw, cheer up, Sandy! We're not here to kidnap you. Actually, Kevin here just saved your life!"

"I..." Sandy looked up at the suit of armor and gulped. "Th...thank you, Kevin!" She turned to Simonchu. "It was so scary up there...why didn't Daddy come to save me?"

"Your...father...and I have been discussing your living situation, Sandy," Simonchu growled as he began checking Sandy for cuts, bruises, and burns. Thankfully, there were none. "Have you been having a good time here with him and Mayor Chandler? Have they been treating you well?"

Sandy hesitated, then shook her head. "They keep ignoring me unless they need me to help do something! Allie was the only friend I had, but Daddy told me that Kevin put her under a spell!"

"And when exactly was she put under this spell, Sandy?" Simonchu asked, patting Sandy on her headspikes. "Before or after the Mayor started 'un-brainwashing' her?"

"After." The young Rosechu sniffled. "After he did that to her. Is she going to be okay?"

"Give me back my daughter, Stranger-Danger!" Wild shouted, shaking his fist as he and Patti-Chan both reappeared from the cloud of smoke and burning debris. "Sandy, come to Daddy; those trolls are going to take you away and violate your innocent young body if you do not!"

Sandy looked from her father to Simonchu to Kevin, then to Wild. A fierce internal battle played across her face, and for a second, it seemed like she was about to run back to her father. But to everyone's surprise, Sandy shook her head and wrapped her arms around Simonchu's leg.

"Sandy!" Wild froze, a look of shock embedded on his face. "Sandy, what are you doing?"

"What you should have let her do when you asked her to murder a helpless man a week after she was born, you wretched failure," Simonchu spat. "Making her own choice."

"What do you-" the Sonichu began, then realized what his enemy was talking about. "Wait! No!"

"It's over, Wild." The Asperchu turned to Sandy. "Time to be free, honey. Evan killed Mommy."

Sandy's body shuddered as the trigger phrase sank in. She let out a sob and dropped to her hands and knees, squeezing her eyes shut as hot tears splashed across the floor. Simonchu knelt at her side, grasping her hand in support. Wild could have intervened any time he wanted, but the Combo member seemed to have frozen up from shock. Trapped by his own cowardice, the Sonichu could only watch. Sandy rose to her feet, still trembling from her mental breakdown.

"Are you okay, Sandy?" Simonchu asked in a concerned voice. "Do you remember me?"

"I...I remember..." Sandy turned, her eyes wide as she stared up at her "uncle." "I remember pain, hurt, bomb, kill, Mommy, Daddy, Simonchu, Evan, Evan...ENEMY!"

The drill plunged into Simonchu's side, piercing his skin as Sandy let out a shriek and attacked the Asperchu. Kevin raised an arm to launch a psychic bolt, but Silvana had already grabbed the Rosechu with telekinesis and wrenched her out of the way. Simonchu lay on the floor, holding his lacerated side as blood flowed through his fingers.

"Good girl, Sandy!" Wild cheered. "You show those dirty pedoforks that you are no damsel in distress; you are a strong, independent woman, just like your mother!"

"Son of a bitch!" Silvana conjured a sphere of energy around Sandy as she raced to Simonchu's side. "Simon! Simon, stay awake! What happened? Why didn't it work?"

Neither Kevin nor Sonic spoke. Before they could even consider their next move, laughter began to rise from the fire. Kevin's head still throbbed with pain from the blast, but he clearly wasn't hallucinating this noise. Sonic had heard it too. As the Jerkop and the blue hedgehog turned toward the source, the fires seemed to shift out of the way as a dark figure stood up in the center of the inferno. The wave of heat was almost too intense for Kevin to keep his eyes open, even with the mask. Still, he had to look. He needed to see exactly what his mistake had created.

"What-" gasped Sonic. "Kevin...what did you do?"

Kevin didn't answer. He was too busy staring at the thing that had just stepped into view. As the flames parted around it, a single Rosechu appeared, wearing only a coat of fur like Bubbles or Angelica. Flames licked at her orange and red body, yet the female Electric Hedgehog Pokémon showed no sign of pain or discomfort. She was carrying something bulbous and misshapen in one hand, something that wriggled and squealed as the blaze ate away at its malformed body.

"Son of a bitch. Tell me that isn't Allie!" Silvana breathed, looking up from her injured comrade. "Shaw! Shaw, did Chandler brainwash her? DID HE BRAINWASH HER OR NOT, SHAW?"

"GWOOOOOEEESEEEYY!" The monstrosity that had once been Cera Rosey struggled against the Rosechu's grasp, kicking and bellowing in agony. Without looking, Allie clenched a fist and incinerated the mutant in a flash of white fire, then opened her fingers and let its charred remains drop to the floor. In less than a second, the last of Sonichu's spawn had been reduced to a pile of ash at Allie's feet. Speechless, Kevin felt a surge of hope break through the panic. Maybe Allie's transformation had overpowered the brainwashing! If she was still under the Mayor's control...

Allie's fused eyes snapped onto those of her boyfriend. Without a word, she dashed forward and tackled Kevin, slamming the Jerkop's armored head against the floor as she somersaulted in the air and plunged down into a Homing Attack. Too stunned to move, Kevin felt the armor splinter beneath the blow. As Allie summoned a fireball, a psychic ripple swept across her, hurling her away from her victim. Silvana advanced, sizing up her foe as she and the Rosechu squared off.

No. No. No. No. Kevin crawled forward, wincing in pain. This wasn't right. This wasn't fair. All he had gone through to save Allie, and he'd ended up ruining everything.

"So, you're Shaw's girlfriend," Silvana growled. "Look, it doesn't have to be this way. We can help you. It won't take much to undo what Chandler did, but you've got to come with us, Allie."

"Allie?" The Rosechu smiled as jagged plates of volcanic rock formed across her fur, covering her in black armor. "Allie Parker is gone. There is only Liela Rosechu."

"Oh, no. Not cool, not cool!" Sonic backed away. "Kev? Kevin, it's too late! We've gotta get-"

"ELECTRIC...HEDGEHOG...POWAAAAAAAAH!"

A scream rang from the second floor, and Christian Weston Chandler appeared atop the escalator, clutching his medallion as he climbed the safety railing and fell over the edge. A flash of light engulfed him, and Chris-Chan Sonichu hit the floor, reenergized and furious. Wild and Patti-Chan retreated to his side before any of the rescuers could react. As the Mall continued to burn, both sides faced off with Liela in the middle.

"Ha! It seems dat tha tables have turned on tha other foot, Kevin!" the blue Sonichu declared, pointing a finger at the newly formed Rosechu. "An', an' now dat your heinous plot ta kidnap my Sweetheart From tha Ground-Up Allison has FAILED MISERABLY, you an' all of your-"

The ground shook, interrupting what would have most likely been a rather unimpressive speech. A single crack sounded across the Shopping Center, and the floor itself seemed to split apart. A gout of magma sprayed from the rift, sizzling as it melted through the tiles. Another rumble sounded from below, and Kevin could feel the mall beginning to sink and collapse around him.

"Now, uh, Allison..." Chris-Chan Sonichu's voice wavered between panic and a bemused laugh as he tried to calm the furious Rosechu down. "Allison, y'all are behavin' very erotically...uh...very erra...lissen, y'all need ta calm tha heck down an' STOP WRECKIN' THA MALL OR I WILL BE VERY DISAPPOINTED IN YOU, YOUNG LAY-DEE!"

"SHUT UP, YOU BLOATED WEAKLING!" Liela roared, gathering a ball of magma from the pool that had formed beside her and hurling the molten rock at Chandler. Only a hasty shield from Patti-Chan kept her master from being incinerated. "You want to fuck me, Chris? You want me to be your good little wife?" She clenched her fists as two obsidian gauntlets formed over them. "Well, guess what? I don't need you or Kevin anymore. I'm my own free bitch!"

Something snapped in Kevin's head. Before he knew it, he was up on his feet, teleporting the last few feet to Liela and swinging his fist as she whirled around. The impact nearly wrenched his arm out of its socket, but had the desired effect. The Rosechu was knocked aside, leaving an opening between himself and Chris. With only seconds to spare, Kevin teleported again, this time to his real target: the blue-furred Sonichu that had been the architect of all his pain.

An immense blast of arcane power swept over Kevin, knocking him back as Patti-Chan leapt to her master's aid. Before Chris could help her, a beam from Silvana struck his chest, forcing him to focus on keeping the Rosechu at bay. Sonic darted in and grabbed Wild by the arm, swinging the Sonichu around in a circle before flinging him into the podium where Chandler had given so many speeches. Half of the stage was reduced to splinters as Wild plowed through it, but before he could hit the wall, the Combo member's leafy tail whirled around, carrying him out of harm's way. Extending vines from his wrists, he lashed out toward the blue hedgehog in a futile attempt to snare Sonic. Across the room, Sandy was still trapped, grinding her drills against the shield while Simonchu grabbed a burning chunk of wood and began cauterizing his wound.

Kevin lunged at Patti-Chan again and again, pounding his gauntlets against her personal shield as he fought to reach Chandler. Emptying his mind to Graduon's will, the Jerkop opened a hand and unleashed the most powerful psychic blast he had ever summoned into the last barrier. To both his and Patti-Chan's surprise, the shield crumpled, leaving both combatants open to attack. The bionic dog was the first to strike, delivering an impressive crane kick to his jaw that would have broken it if not for the skull mask. Reeling from the blow, Kevin raised his arm to strike back, but found his arm trapped in the fingers of an obsidian gauntlet. Liela's other fist crashed into his face, flooring the armored Jerkop. Patti switched targets, sending a focused burst of magic at this new opponent. The Rosechu was thrown off of Kevin just as he leapt up. It was clear that Allie had lost control of her new form, thanks to Chandler's brainwashing attempt. She was attacking everything and everyone in sight, setting huge swathes of the Mall on fire in her rampage.

It was almost surreal how much everything had come undone. Kevin was no longer in control of his actions, but something, Graduon, most likely, was punching, charging, and firing psychic bolts as the Jerkop struggled to keep himself from falling into insanity. Where had their plan gone wrong? How had it fallen apart so quickly? The trigger phrase had been a lie – another way for Bill Schwartz to screw over the Asperchus from beyond the grave. Instead of releasing Sandy from her conditioning, it had accelerated her into a frenzied state. Perhaps there was no trigger phrase to free her. If that was the case, then the young Rosechu was beyond all hope of saving.
And Allie...poor Allie...after all the trauma she had been through at Chandler's hands, this was her reward. Brainwashed, unstable, berserk, and unable to see reality through the fractured world that she had created in her own mind. Even now, Kevin could see Kel's death playing out before him again and again. Only this time, his cousin was gone, and Allie stood there holding the gun.

Kevin snapped back to reality just in time to counter another kick from Patti-Chan. Grabbing hold of the cyborg's leg, he wrenched it to the side and was rewarded with a metallic groan as pistons ruptured and flesh split beneath his fingers. Patti yelped in pain and began punching the Jerkop across the face and chest. As Kevin swung her around, a bolt of magic erupted in his face, forcing him to let go. As stars danced in front of his eyes, he could see the crippled cyborg limping away, one leg bent at an odd angle. Half blind, he advanced on her, ignoring the duels between Silvana, Sonic, Wild, and Chandler around him. If he could just finish her, then...

A fireball slammed into the floor in front of him as Liela touched down, her teeth bared and her gauntlets glowing with immeasurable heat. Kevin halted, facing off against the creature that his girlfriend had become. For a moment, the two of them stared at each other. It was hard to believe they had once been two Jerkops, brought together by misfortune and forged into a couple by the fires of war. Now here they stood, face to face as their enemy's stronghold burned around them.

"You betrayed me, Kevin," spoke Liela, pointing at the Jerkop's chest. "You were supposed to protect me. You were supposed to keep me safe. You left me to die!"

"This isn't you. This isn't you, Allie." Kevin's eyes shone as he reached through the dreamscape, concentrating on the fragments of Allie's consciousness. Through the barrage of fire and hateful images, he could see glimpses of what lay beneath the lies that Chandler had implanted in her. "I know you remember me. We can fight this, Allie. You can break out, and I can bring you back!"

"You can't help me now," Liela snarled. "You couldn't even save me! What kind of boyfriend abandons his girlfriend to be captured by the villains like some damned coward?"

"That's the Rosechu talking, not you!" Kevin yelled. "Remember who you are! You're a Jerkop! You're human! You're my girlfriend, Allie!" He took a step backward, raised a hand to the skull mask, and pushed it back to reveal his scarred, battle-worn face. "Don't you remember me?"

Liela hesitated. Kevin knew that somewhere beneath her new persona lay the real Allie Parker, still fighting to break through whatever psychic barricade Chandler had constructed in her mind.

"I know you're still in there, Allie," continued Kevin, silently praying there was still a chance. "I know you won't give up yet. I haven't either. And no matter what happens...I love you, Allie."

"How sweet," the Rosechu chuckled bitterly. "Too little, too late, Kevin. Goodbye."

Magma exploded beneath Kevin's feet as the ground ruptured, splashing his armor. The Jerkop toppled forward and fell as Graduon conjured a shield to stop the molten rock from eating through the bone plate. Liela was on him before he could stand, throwing punch after punch into his chest as the bone plates absorbed her assault. Try as he might, Kevin couldn't find the will to counter the Rosechu's attacks. He fell back step by step, enduring every blow. Each one hurt a little less than the one before it. It felt like he was drifting out of himself, out of the world...

A green arcane bolt struck Liela's shoulder, tearing through her armor and drawing blood. Patti-Chan was back on her feet, growling vengefully as she advanced on the Rosechu. Kevin's attack had crippled her leg, but the dog was programmed to defend her master until her very last breath.

"You shouldn't have done that, bitch," Liela murmured. She stepped away from Kevin, cracking the tendons in her neck as she turned to face Patti. "Time to put you down."

"You will not touch my master," growled Patti-Chan, locking onto Liela with both of her bionic eyes. Green energy surrounded her fists, appearing from thin air as the arcane force crackled around her. "You have given Christian too much stress already! I could not deal with you before, Janekop scum, but now that you have betrayed my master, I will make you regret the day you-"

A single crunch beneath Patti-Chan's paws cut her off as a torrent of dry heat roiled up from beneath the earth and engulfed her with a sound like the loudest jet engine Kevin had ever heard. Even if she'd had the reflexes of a palm salamander and the speed of Sonic the Hedgehog, the cyborg dog would never have been able to dodge the wash of superheated air spewing from the ground. Liela silently advanced on her enemy, keeping her eyes on the writhing dog. Through the curtain of heat, Kevin could see Patti's flesh shriveling, her fur and skin sloughing away as the raw heat of a volcanic blast vaporized every scrap of meat off of her metal endoskeleton. At last, the roaring ended, and the fissure collapsed into another pool of magma.

"PATTI! NO! YOU DIRTY TRAITOROUS TROLLAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!"

Leaving her back and sides unguarded had been the Rosechu's greatest mistake. A furious Chris-Chan Sonichu collided with her, launching Liela into the broken fountain at the center of the atrium. The collision instantly shattered the marble, covering her in white dust as the whole thing collapsed around Liela. Sobbing hysterically at the loss of his beloved pet, the Mayor charged after his former Sweetheart, all thoughts of china forgotten as he unloaded a wave of electricity into the fountain. Liela dashed behind some rubble to avoid the brunt of Chandler's attack, then began hurling fireballs at her opponent. Despite taking several direct hits, the blue Sonichu's fury was all but unquenchable. Up until now, he had been able to rationalize the deaths of Bubbles, Blake, and Punchy, since he hadn't actually witnessed any of them. Seeing Patti roasted to death right in front of him, however, was an entirely different story.

Kevin let out a stunned breath and surveyed the scene. Though the blast of heat was gone, Patti-Chan's broken body lay twitching on a singed rug from Chandler's office. Despite all that it had endured, the endoskeleton was still active, its eyes flickering as the damaged cyborg tried to claw its way to safety. Its limbs gave out one by one, and the mess of machinery clattered to the floor and lay still, slowly changing color from orange to grey as it cooled.

Across the atrium, Chandler launched himself into the air and fired a storm of bolts toward Liela as she tried to dodge the lightning. The Rosechu conjured a thick shield of obsidian to protect herself from the shocks, but Chandler simply rolled into a Spin Dash and plowed through both the volcanic glass and his foe. Recovering quickly, Liela leapt up and hurled a fireball, only to be met with a dropkick to the face that sent her skidding across the tiles. As much as he had wanted to turn her against Kevin and make her into his wife, Chandler must have realized that his Sweetheart was beyond all negotiation. All hope of seducing her was long gone by now.

"Deactivate..."

Kevin looked down at where the voice had come from, only to see Patti-Chan staring up at him. The machine was all but destroyed, but it was repeating the word over and over through the speakers around where its mouth would have been. Her artificial body had been burned away, leaving only a few withered organs suspended in preservation tanks along the metal skeleton. They had to have come from Chandler's dog – the one who nearly died of old age, but had been denied its final rest and turned into a twisted monstrosity of flesh and metal by her own master.

"Deactivate..." the cyborg dog spoke, using the last of her energy to reach out a hand to the one person who could finally give her the peace she had been seeking all this time. "Deactivate..."

As if under a spell, the Jerkop gently wrapped the rug around Patti-Chan's broken body. The endoskeleton was surprisingly light in his arms as he lifted it up. Though he knew his friends were facing the fight of their lives, he couldn't let the cyborg suffer any longer. Patti had only been following her programming, and now that her CPU had shorted out, she was free. There was almost no difference between her and Sugarplum Fury, or either of Kuri's Pokémon...or even Frank. They would all protect their owners at any cost, until death. Kevin closed his eyes, thinking back to how the Arbok had saved him and Nate from Angelica. Frank had to be dead now, but the Jerkop still wished he could have been there to say a final goodbye to his Pokémon.

Making up his mind, Kevin released the bundle and let it drop into the pool of magma. The rug caught fire instantly, and through the blaze, the Jerkop could see Patti-Chan's endoskeleton sinking down, down, down into the glowing liquid rock. Just before it disappeared beneath the surface, he could have sworn he saw the fingers of her paw form a thumbs up for one second.

"You did the right thing."

Kevin looked to the right to see Simonchu limping up beside him, one hand clasping his bloody side. Silvana and Sonic were both engaging Wild, keeping the furious Combo member from aiding Chandler in his fight against Liela.

"We did all we could," the Asperchu coughed, wiping blood from his mouth. "I'm sorry we couldn't save your girlfriend, though. At least she took out Chandler's mutt first."

"No..." By now, Kevin was struggling just to stay on his feet. "Can't leave...can't leave her..."

"We can't fight that." Simonchu pointed to Chris-Chan Sonichu, who had lost his grasp of the English language even more so than usual and was now screaming a mess of angry gibberish at the very confused Liela. The Rosechu was putting up a good defense, but virtually nothing had a chance of even wounding the Mayor when he had taken his Electric Hedgehog Pokémon form. "I need to get Sandy out. Once she's safe, we can-"

"DAT IS E...NOUGH!" With one final blow, Chris-Chan Sonichu's fist slammed into Liela's jaw, knocking the Rosechu to the floor. A subsequent kick to the gut drove the breath from her lungs, leaving her stunned and immobile as the Mayor shifted back into human form. "I HAVE HAD IT WITH Y'ALL MONKEY FIGHTING JERKS IN MY MONDAY-TA-FRIDAY SHOPPING CENTER!" His striped shirt had become charred in places, and bits of greasy hair were now standing haphazardly on end. "Y'all have been givin' me COPIOUS AMOUNTS of STRESS since tha beginning of TIME ITSELF, and ya'll would NOT believe HOW MANY TROLLIN' STUPID TROLLS I HAVE HAD TO PUT UP WITH OVER THE LAST THREE GODJESUS-DANGED DAYS!" He reached behind his back and pulled a TV remote out of his jeans pocket, then jammed his thumb against one of the buttons. "DIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, KEVIN! You came onto my PRIVATE PROPERTY with your friends an' interrupted my Love Quest, an' I am just defendin' my God-an'-Jesus-given position as tha Mayor of CWCville-"

"Oh, will you just SHUT UP ALREADY?!" Silvana yelled, finally breaking free of her duel with Wild and allowing Sonic to take over as she teleported to Kevin's side. "Your dog's dead and your city's gone, Chandler! Even if you beat all of us, the Americans are going to bomb this shithole to oblivion! You still think you have the upper hand? You still think you can win?"

"I will ALWAYS win against villains like you, Silvana Rosechu!" blustered the Mayor. A smile appeared on his face as a mechanical whirring noise sounded from somewhere under the atrium. As Kevin looked on in confusion, the ruins of the fountain seemed to split apart and slide back to reveal a circular metal cylinder or tube of some kind hidden inside the slab of marble.

Not a tube, the Jerkop thought as he recognized what it was. An elevator shaft. That's how he gets down to the sublevels! That's how he gets to the creation engine!

Chandler waddled over to the fountain, beaming proudly as a single elevator car rose out of the floor. Seeing what was about to happen, Wild fired a Razor Leaf flurry at Sonic and retreated, taking his usual place at the Mayor's side. For some reason, the Combo member looked almost giddy with anticipation. Whatever lay inside the transport, Kevin had a feeling that it wouldn't be good news for anyone in the rescue team. What had Chandler been doing down there?

"So, y'all thought you could ruin my original creations forever?" Chris pressed another button as Kevin, Simonchu, Silvana, and Sonic moved in closer for a better look at the elevator. "Well, thanks ta tha powers of truth an' justice an' copyright dat I have filed with tha Register of Copyrights of tha United States of America, dat is NOT tha case, and I am makin' it so that my true an' ORIGINAL Rosechu character was NOT murdered in tha Shopping Center terrorist attack by Alec Benson Leary an' his cronious cohorts!" He stepped aside as the doors slid open to reveal a tank of blue-green liquid, the same kind Bubbles used to hold her captives.

"No. No, you didn't." Simonchu winced as pain shot through his side. "Son of a bitch, he did!"

Kevin could hardly believe his eyes. He had seen the videos of the bombing, the aftermath, of the grave in CWC-Central Park. Chandler had publicly declared the Rosechu's death, held a funeral, and of course, had publicly and gruesomely executed the four men responsible for assassinating his gender-swapped clone of Simonchu. The Sonichu comic had described her last minutes in great detail, right down to her final, tearful words before she had died from her wounds.

And yet, Simonla Rosechu was there, floating silently as wires and tubes surrounded her body. As the liquid drained from the cylinder, a glass door slid open, allowing fresh air to reach the reawakened clone. Simonla's eyes slid open and immediately closed as blinding sunlight filled her vision. Slowly, steadily, she took a step forward, then another. The life support tubes automatically disconnected, allowing Simonla to walk forward, out of the tank.

"Well, fuck everything," Silvana murmured in awe. "He did it. He actually brought her back."

"Now dat tha canon has been set in stone an' all mistakes are ironed out, tha all-better Simonla Rosechu is ready ta go into action an' defeat tha trolls!" declared Chandler in a voice filled with smug satisfaction as Wild's jaw dropped in gratitude. He turned to the cloned Rosechu. "Now den, uh, Simonla, you are tha ORIGINAL Simonla, right?"

Simonla nodded slowly. "I am...the original...yes."

The Mayor squealed with glee. "An' your true love an' husband is Wild Sonichu, right?"

Simonla nodded again and looked at Wild. "Yes, my...husband is Wild Sonichu."

"GodJesus, heartsweet; I missed you so much!" The Combo member dashed forward and flung his arms around the Rosechu, hugging her tightly as he sank to his knees and began to weep with joy. "I have done everything you told me to do; our little girl has been growing up so fast and I am making sure she has been experiencing all of the care and love that we give to each other!"

"Sandy..." Simonla said dreamily, disregarding Wild's pathetic display. "Where is Sandy?"

"Mommy?" Free of her bubble thanks to Silvana's distraction, Sandy Rosechu hurried past the group of rescuers, her face blank, her eyes wide in awe at her mother's unexpected return. Blood dripped from her hand and onto the marble tiles, leaving a trail of red droplets as she approached her parents. "Mommy, is that really you? Everyone said you were...that you were dead!"

"Well, uh, she is not dead, as y'all can see!" Chandler corrected the Rosechu as he jabbed a finger at Kevin. "Now tha family is back together! How d'ya like dat, Kevin?"

"The shield's down. We can teleport out of here," Silvana whispered to Kevin. "Get Simonchu back to Wilderness, then wait for us. We'll take your brother when we-"

"HEY! I WAS NOT FINISHED, DANG IT!" screamed the Mayor, brandishing his fist as Wild, Simonla, and Sandy looked over at him. "Y'all are NOT going ta ruin dis family reunion now!"

"Sandy...my dear sweet Sandy..." Simonla smiled, embracing her daughter as she rather roughly pushed Wild away. "Sandy, there's something I need to tell you, honey. Something important."

"Yes, Mommy?" Sandy's eyes glistened with happy tears. "What is it? Is it that you love me?"

"I do love you, Sandy," answered the Rosechu as she picked up Sandy and placed her on the other side, away from Wild. "But what I need to tell you is this." She raised a hand and pointed at the green Sonichu. "I know it might be hard for you to hear this, but Wild...isn't your daddy."

Wild's jaw hung open for the second time in as many minutes. Chris was still smiling, too lost in his apparent victory to have heard the declaration.

"What?" asked Sandy in a quiet voice. "But...but he's been taking care of me, and he says..."

"Has he?" Simonla glared at Wild suddenly. "Did he ever show you any pictures of you as a Rosey? Did he ever tell you why you grew up so quickly, or why he made you murder Evan?"

"Because...he said to do it because Evan killed you!" Sandy cried, hugging Simonla as Wild began spluttering. "He said it was the right thing to do, and so did Mayor Chris!"

"They lied to you, Sandy," said Simonla. A look of anger had begun to form on her face. "I was cloned from Simonchu's DNA so that your 'Daddy' could finally have a wife of his own. And as it turns out, clones can't have babies with true Electric Hedgehog Pokémon, can they, Mayor?"

Chandler looked at her. "Huh?"

"Oh, you haven't been paying attention?" Simonla growled. "Maybe you should've told me the truth when you had me come in for 'fertility treatments', Mayor. Maybe you should've told me that your plan was to clone Sandy from Simonchu's DNA and implant the fetus in me, huh?" She pulled Sandy closer as her voice grew louder and more crazed. "I have to admit, you had me fooled right up until the bomb. All the reconditioning, all the genetic tests, all the drugs to keep me vapid and dumb, and you just couldn't admit that you fucked it all up! You couldn't admit that true chus and clones can't interbreed without producing those horrible tiny Sonees and Roseys, could you? No, you just had to sell the story that Wild and I were having a baby!"

"I...I..." Wild began to shake violently. "Heartsweet, please; you are scaring our little girl!"

"THAT IS A DANG LIE!" the Mayor shouted. "Simonla, you are, you are just confused and-"

"Confused? Confused?" yelled Simonla. "Yeah, that's how you kept Sandy under your control for so long, isn't it? Confusion! You never told her I was still alive! You never told her that I was down there, being rebuilt by that horrible machine! You never told her that she was cloned from Simonchu, did you? And I bet you never told her that she was a goddamn shiny this whole time!"

Dead silence engulfed the Mall. Kevin couldn't believe what he was hearing, and yet, everything Simonla was saying made sense. All the pieces fit together perfectly, just like one of Chandler's numerous Lego sets. It explained the miniature larvae the Honey Badgers had found out in the jungle, and it certainly explained why Bubbles and Blake had spawned so many of the tiny aquatic Sonees and Roseys. And while he'd already known that Sandy was a shiny, the news that she had no relation to Wild Sonichu whatsoever was something he hadn't expected at all.

"I'm...a shiny?" Sandy asked meekly. She looked around. "But...what about Christine?"

"Christine?" Simonla spat on the floor. "Shiny? No. That parasite was Rosechu and Magi-Chan's bastard daughter. You, Sandy, are the only true shiny Electric Hedgehog Pokémon to ever exist. The Mayor was kind enough to show me your baby pictures while I was recovering, but I always wondered why your fur was a lighter shade of pink than the other Roseys. Even now, it's still a bit lighter than mine. In the end, I managed to put two and two together. That's the reason why Magi-Chan was so keen on convincing Wild to force you into evolution right after you hatched. That way, he could cover his tracks, Chandler would finally have a replacement for me, and no one...not even Sonichu...would ever catch on to Magi-Chan and Rosechu's dirty little secret."

"NO, DIS IS NOT RIGHT!" ranted Chandler. "NONE OF DAT IS THA HONEST TRUTH!"

"And you're all about the truth, aren't you, Mayor?" Simonla laughed mirthlessly. "You've lied and bluffed and cheated your way out of it every single day for the last ten years. But when you're all alone, you're not so good at it." She grinned as a look of fear spread across Chandler's face. "Oh yes. I heard everything. Everything you told me down in the lab. You thought I was asleep. You thought I was unconscious, that I was just some flesh puppet you put together so that you could forget anything bad ever happened to your precious creation." The gauntlet around her left hand whirred to life as a drill formed around it. "Well, guess what? I remember everything you said to me, and everything you told me about what this bastard's been doing to my little girl while I was trapped in that tank." She turned to Wild and smiled coldly. "I guess I was too-"

Simonla nearly lost her balance as a massive tremor rocked the mall, cutting her off in mid-rant. Kevin looked over his shoulder to see what looked like a colossal spire of black rock rising from beneath the floor of the Shopping Center. Magma bubbled up from around the base of the stone column, spreading across the tiles and engulfing any debris in its path. Encased in a sphere of fire, Liela Rosechu floated several feet in the air above the molten flood as if she was some kind of fire demon from hell itself. Simonla's revelation was quickly forgotten as both sides stared at the oncoming force of nature that the Rosechu shifter had just summoned into the Mall.

"CHANDLER!" roared Liela as the entire mall shifted and began sinking into the vast fissure in the floor. "YOU AND ME, YOU SON OF A BITCH! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

There was no answer from Chris, only a shrill squeaking noise from his rear end like a tiny balloon deflating, followed by a short, audible fart as his barren bowels constricted. He looked to Wild for help, but the green Sonichu seemed like he was dealing with a stroke and a seizure at the same time. The double punch of Simonla's revelation and the imminent destruction of the Shopping Center had wiped out what remained of his nerve. Faced with no other option, he grappled with his Sonichu medallion, raised it in his hand, and shouted a challenge to Liela.

"ELECTRIC...HEDGEHOG...POWAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Out! Get out of here!" Silvana ordered, pushing Sonic and Kevin towards the mall entrance as the newly-transformed Chris-Chan Sonichu leapt toward Liela and tackled her out of the air. "Everyone get the hell out of here! She's gonna bring this whole building down on top of us!"

"We can't leave her!" yelled Kevin, glancing from his companions to the battle between Chandler and Liela. "Allie can't control herself in this form! He's going to kill her!"

"News flash, Shaw!" shouted the psychic Rosechu. "Your girlfriend is fucking psycho! She just created a fault line under the Mall! We have to leave now, and we're going with or without you!"

"You are not going ANYWHERE, you pack of lying, devious b******s!" Wild flung out his arms. Two thorned vines lashed out, forming themselves into vicious whips as the enraged green Sonichu placed himself directly between the rescue team and his "family". He still hadn't fully processed all that had just happened, but even if he had, it wouldn't have done much to discourage him. "I will take on all of you by myself if I have to; you are not leaving the Shopping Center until you face justice like those terrorist scumbags who murdered my wife!"

"I'll take him," Silvana announced, cracking her knuckles as she stepped up to face the Combo member. "Sonic, get Shaw and Simon out of here...they're in no shape for a fight like this."

"No." Simonchu pushed Sonic's supporting hand away and staggered towards his mortal enemy. "I'm done with this smug motherfucker. We're ending this, once and for all."

Silvana chewed her lip, then nodded. "Fine. You want to die, go ahead. I'm getting them out."

"I'm staying too," insisted Kevin stubbornly. "You go. I'm not leaving Allie."

"That is right; run away like the cowardly JERKS you are!" yelled Wild as Silvana placed a hand on Sonic's shoulder and teleported away. Despite his emotional breakdown, he was still holding up his air of self-righteousness as well as ever. Smiling smugly, he turned his attention to the wounded Asperchu and promptly laughed. "Hahaha! Oh, this is going to be more fun than a barrel of Mankeys! You think you can defeat the swiftest swinger in the Swifty Scyther Clan?"

"You know, I've noticed something about you, Wild," grunted Simonchu as he pulled his hand away from the wound. "Many things...none of which are the least bit admirable. I've fought you enough to figure them out. But what fascinates me is how you love to play the victim so much. I read the comics. I watched the news. As soon as Simonla was out of the picture, you didn't hesitate to exploit the shit out of it...and out of Sandy." His expression grew more enraged he drew closer to the Sonichu. "Oh, I despised Chandler for cloning Simonla. It's the same reason I despised her. She was his way of getting back at Alec's team for daring to attempt Project Asperchu. But all this time, I think it's been you that I hated the most. Why? Because Chandler gave my clone to you. Being cloned by him was bad enough, but that...that was just insulting."

"You...you take that back!" Wild demanded, fuming impotently. Simonchu was twisting a knife in his ego, and the Combo member had already fallen headlong into the trap. "Simonla Rosechu and I were brought together in Date Ed, as you know; we are a True Love Couple to the end!"

"Hm. Doesn't look like it from where I'm standing," the Asperchu retorted, nodding to Simonla and Sandy. "Did you, by some miracle, miss every single thing your 'heartsweet' just told us?"

"That...that..." Wild's mental gymnastics had launched into a complicated routine of flips and somersaults that would have impressed even the sternest Olympic judge. "No! Simonla is still recovering from her wounds; she cannot help being a bit slow-in-the-mind when she has been-"

"Oh, shut up, Wild!" scoffed Simonla. "If anything, I should've known I was being brainwashed when Chandler had me falling for you!"

"You're all alone now, you pathetic little fool." Simonchu's voice had lost its mocking tone, and its intensity was now building toward an outburst of epic proportions. "I knew I would've never stood a chance against the rest of the Combo. I know my limits. But you and Chandler have both managed to piss me off on a level I didn't even know was possible. You always had someone to hide behind, to fight your battles for you while you hid from the hard work. I never thought I'd get another opportunity like the one at the crash site out in the jungle all those months ago. But now here we are. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and only one of us is getting out of here ali-"

The Asperchu moved far more quickly than Kevin would have thought he could with his injury. Both drill gauntlets activated simultaneously, filling the air with the shrill whine of whirling steel. Wild had been so caught up in his opponent's speech that he barely had time to summon a wall of thorns between himself and the deadly drills. Simonchu smashed the barrier apart with a single blow and carried straight on through, but Wild's surprise had already worn off. One of the lashing vines caught the injured Asperchu a glancing blow across the face, leaving a ragged cut from nose to cheek. Spitting blood onto the tiles, Simonchu leapt and rolled, slamming his tail down on the tiles in front of Wild. The Combo member's momentary laugh at such a failed attack was rudely cut short when a huge block of stone burst through the floor and catapulted him into the air so hard that he slammed into the ceiling. Vaulting onto the block, the Asperchu flipped down his goggles and launched himself skyward with both drills outstretched.

THWACK! One of Wild's Vine Whips slashed down as the other one wrapped around an air duct on the ceiling. Swinging himself around like Spider-Man, the Sonichu drove both of his feet into Simonchu's stomach and kicked him sideways into the safety railing of the second floor. The Asperchu crashed through the barrier and carried on through the display window of the Shopping Center's lone Cutco outlet. Mercifully, the only objects that had stabbed him were a few shards of glass from the window. Wild swung down to engage his opponent again, only to be met by a flying chef's knife that would have embedded itself in his eyeball had he been standing a foot to the left. Two paring knives and a fillet knife whizzed past, but before Wild could spot the source of the projectiles, Simonchu leapt through the shattered window with a steak knife clutched in his right hand and a drill whirling around the left. The serrated blade sliced the air as he flung it sideways, clipping the tip off of Wild's left ear as the Sonichu ducked. It was all the distraction that Simonchu needed. Momentum carried him the remaining ten feet to his foe, but in the chaos, his drill completely missed its intended target of Wild's chest. Locked together, the struggling Electric Hedgehog Pokémon toppled backward over the rail and fell into empty space.

Kevin could hardly keep up with two chu duels going on at the same time, especially since the magma from the fault line was slowly creeping out to cover the floor of the atrium. Simonla had grabbed Sandy and jumped on top of the ruined fountain to avoid the molten rock, while the fight between Chris-Chan Sonichu and Liela Rosechu had only escalated. As much as he wanted to believe that Silvana had been wrong, the Jerkop knew there was no chance of Allie being able to harness her new Rosechu form enough to fight off the enraged Mayor. Closing his eyes, Kevin teleported directly up to the second floor just in time to see Simonchu sever one of Wild's vines. Though he had taken a brutal beating at the Combo member's hands, the Asperchu seemed to be fighting on regardless of his injuries. Perhaps it was vengeance that fueled him, perhaps it was the desire to free Sandy and Simonla from the lies they had both been forced to live because of Wild and Chandler. Or perhaps Simonchu simply no longer cared about making it out alive.

"You never stood a chance against me!" Wild screamed, pelting Simonchu with Razor Leaf after Razor Leaf. The Asperchu shielded his head with his gauntlets, but two of the leaves sliced his arm and shoulder open, leaving fresh cuts in his fur. "You are nothing but a weak little jealous troll; you are just mad because you and Evan tried to ruin my family and now Simonla is alive! And once I am finished with you, Father and I will defeat the rest of your trollin' stupid friends and drive those brainwashed Americans out of CWCville!" The Sonichu smirked as he sprouted a new vine to replace the one he'd just lost. "You cannot win against me, Simon; give up now!"

"Give up? I never give up," Simonchu chuckled through a fresh mouthful of blood. Without the benefit of an enhanced healing ability like that of the Combo, he was in poor shape compared to his opponent. No matter how many times he landed a hit on the green Sonichu, Wild would just fend him off long enough for his own healing factor to kick in and negate the wounds. Only a mortal injury would have any hope of stopping the Combo member, and as skilled as he was, the Asperchu was still at a serious disadvantage. "In fact, I think you're slowing down, Wild."

"That is it!" Wild promptly vanished, calling upon his natural camouflage to turn him invisible. "I am done playing with you; now it is time for me to finish you once and for all! Now you see me, now you-"

"Actually, I do see you," interrupted Simonchu, and slammed a foot against the floor. The tiles disintegrated beneath the shockwave, forming a cloud of dust that coated Wild with white powder. "I'd say I learned from the best, but this is you we're talking about."

Wild screamed in frustration, lashing out with his vines as he reverted back to the visible spectrum. There was no way that Simonchu could dodge so many attacks at once. He fell back, countering every strike he could with his drills, but a thorn swipe caught him in the stomach, right next to the wound that Sandy had inflicted earlier. He doubled over in pain, his teeth clenched as his drills retracted. Wild made as if to finish him with a final Vine Whip, then lowered his arm and smiled.

"Not so tough now, are you?" he gloated, crossing his arms smugly. "Only a fool would dare go up against Wild Sonichu of the Swifty Scyther Clan in combat all by himself!"

"A fool?" Simonchu muttered as he struggled upright, dizzy from blood loss. "I've been called worse. Abomination, traitor, troll...they're all the same. They mean nothing. But what you and your friends did to my family? That's the kind of insult that really fucking hurts." He took a step toward Wild, readying his fists as he did so. "I watched you force Sandy to torture and murder an unarmed prisoner when she wasn't even a week old. That man was Evan Christopher George, and he was the closest thing to a father I ever had. And you murdered him, Wild. You."

"No, Father sent the Asperpedia Four to live with the Amish!" insisted Wild, fighting through his own memories of the execution in exchange for Chandler's retconned explanation. "They are all still alive; Father would never order me or my little girl to murder prisoners in cold blood!"

"Coward!" Simonchu let out a pained snarl. "You spineless little fucker! There's no getting past that layer of concrete around your brain, is there? You just believe whatever Chandler tells you to, and if you don't like the truth, you just up and change reality to fit your sensitive little needs. Well, guess what? I know exactly why you do it, Wild. I know exactly who you are. But what I really want to know is..." Activating both drills, he swung one gauntlet straight down. The crash rang through the Shopping Center as a huge section of the second floor collapsed, burying the stores below in a shower of debris. "JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?!"

Wild leapt into the air as the floor gave way beneath him, but he had played right into his foe's hands. He never saw Simonchu lunge upward, never saw the drill pierce his skin, never heard the sickening crack as the entire gauntlet plunged through his ribcage. All he felt was pain, surprise, and an overpowering sense of fear before he and his mortal enemy hit the ground together.

Simonchu wrenched the bloody drill out of Wild's abdomen and staggered away, gasping with pain as he felt himself topple backward. To his surprise, two pairs of arms caught him, steadying him as a third pair wrapped around his leg. Kevin Shaw and Simonla stood on either side of the Asperchu, while a relieved Sandy had fastened herself to his knee. Wild, on the other hand, was frozen in shock, staring down at his lacerated midsection as dark blood poured from the wound.

"Got him," Simonchu coughed, and raised a hand to his mouth. His glove came away bloody. Despite his injuries, he still managed a smile. "Finish him...need to finish the job...can't..."

"No." Simonla tightened her grip on the Asperchu and stared at her husband. "It's over, Simon. You won. You beat him. But you're no executioner. You're better than that. Let him go."

Wild let out a strangled sob, holding his wound as his wife turned her back on him. Kevin and Simonchu followed suit, limping back toward the entrance to the Shopping Center. Only Sandy remained in place, staring at him. Wild desperately reached out to the young Rosechu, praying that she would somehow shake off the pack of lies that Simonchu had told her and her mother. She was Wild's daughter, after all, and no one could ever change that, no matter what they...

Sandy turned away in disgust and followed the group, grabbing Simonla's hand as she walked away from the chu she had once known as her father. She didn't look back once, nor did Kevin, Simonchu, or Simonla. It was as if they had already forgotten that Wild had even existed.

Anger built deep within the Combo member, a ravenous hunger for vengeance against the creature who had somehow turned his family against him. No. No, Simonchu hadn't beaten him! No one could beat him, especially not some traitorous Asperchu! He was Wild Sonichu of the Swifty Scyther Clan, and he was going to prove once and for all that he was the absolute best!

With a frenzied battle cry, Wild Sonichu launched himself at his foe, readying his vines for the killing strike. Simonchu's back was turned. There was no way he could miss now! No way!

CRUNCH!

Simonchu, Simonla, and Sandy whirled around simultaneously, each raising an arm as the green Sonichu hurtled towards them. All three of the drills caught Wild at once, impaling him through his chest, stomach, and groin. Before the Sonichu could even draw breath to let out a shriek of pain, Kevin took aim with his own gauntlet and blasted Wild with a psychic wave, hurling him off the balcony and over the side of the rail. Below lay nothing but glowing, bubbling liquid fire.

Wild fell. To him, the trip to the ground floor seemed a lot longer than it actually was. All he could see as he plummeted to a fiery doom was Simonla staring back at him, her face set in a merciless frown. When he hit the magma, there was no pain at first, just the feeling of a huge weight enveloping his limbs. Then the heat was around him, licking at his fur, blackening his skin, boiling away great strips of flesh to scorch the bones underneath. Little by little, Wild sank beneath the sea of molten rock, his agonized screams refusing to leave his burned throat. With the last of his strength, he struggled to move his limp, melting arms, but his body would no longer obey the commands from his brain. He was trapped in hell, with no possibility of escape.

At long last, the sea of magma closed over his head, and death swooped in to claim Wild Sonichu for itself.

---

West CWCville, subdivisions, CWCville Shopping Center parking lot, 10:48 a.m.

"You left him inside?" Nate yelled, struggling to keep his balance. Another tremor resonated through the ground, and cracks raced up the side of the Shopping Center as the newly-formed fault line continued slowly ripping the mall to pieces. "Why would you-"

"He wanted to stay," Silvana Rosechu answered coolly. The impending collapse of the chus' most holy bastion had driven the majority of the EHPF officers into a panic. The stragglers who hadn't given up and fled to safety had been easily dispatched by Nate, Dexter Booth, Aki, Swift, Tails, Amy, or Knuckles. By the time Silvana and Sonic the Hedgehog had returned, the battle was all but over. "Wild got in our way. Don't worry, Graduon will keep your brother safe."

"Yeah, but it's a madhouse in there!" Sonic added as the group reassembled in the middle of the parking lot. "I tried talking some sense to the Mayor, but he...it didn't work. I thought if anybody'd get through to him, it would be me! But he's just...so caught up in this stupid fantasy that he can't see anything anymore!" He sighed and looked at the ground. "I dunno what went down after that, but everyone was fighting all of a sudden! Then Kev's girlfriend turned into some kinda Rosechu-thing and started shooting fireballs at everybody! It all happened so fast!"

"What?" Nate and Dexter said simultaneously, staring at the blue hedgehog.

"Parker was compromised," explained Silvana. "She attacked Chandler and Shaw, burned Patti-Chan alive, and summoned an active volcano under the mall. How that happened doesn't matter at this point. What matters is that your squadmate is now a problem for both sides of this war."

"Why would she do that?" asked Amy. "Don't they care about each other? What did Kevin do?"

"No! No, Allie wouldn't!" Nate protested. "Unless Chandler tried to brainwash her and-"

The ground shook again, and the sound of shattering glass filled the air. As the group watched the collapsing mall, four psychic signatures formed in front of the entrance. Kevin, Sandy, Simonla, and Simonchu appeared, all looking significantly worse for wear. The Jerkop's bone armor was riddled with cracks, burns, and scarring from his fight with Patti-Chan and Liela, while Simonchu's body was covered in gashes and spike wounds from the duel with Wild.

"Kevin!" Dropping his rifle, Nate dashed over to his brother. "Thank Arceus! Are you...SHIT!" He leapt back, frantically drawing his sidearm and aiming it at Simonla's head. "What the fuck is going on? Why is she here? Why is she alive?"

"Cool it, Shaw," Silvana ordered, psychically wrenching the gun away. "Long story short, Simonla never died, and now she's on our side." She handed the pistol back to Nate. "Don't go shooting our new allies, if you'd be so kind."

"Nate..." Kevin gasped, falling to one knee. Steam gushed from cracks in the armor's bone mask as he struggled for breath. "We need to...need to get out of here...it's all coming down..."

"Oh, fuck. Simon, what did they do to you?" Swift hurried over to Simonchu, then turned to Silvana. "I'll get these three to Wilderness; you take the rest!" He paused. "Where's Wild?"

"Dead," Simonla answered. "That had to be the most satisfying divorce I could have asked for."

"Whatever happened in there, it's going to take down the entire mall and everything around it if we're not out of here in the next minute," stated Swift. "See you back at Wilderness, Silvana!"

In a flash of violet light, the psychic Asperchu and his passengers were gone. Kevin wished he'd had a chance to thank Simonchu or say goodbye to Sandy, but there were more pressing matters at hand. Graduon's armor was steadily sapping his physical and mental strength, the Shopping Center was on the brink of collapse, and worst of all, Allie was still fighting off Chandler inside.

"Right, we're next." Silvana glanced at Dexter and Aki. "Are you heading back too, Booth?"

"I'm not leaving Aki," Dexter declared. "Not after all we've been through since Hedgeclipper. If Magi-Chan turns his attention to the uprising, it'll be a massacre. Aki might not be strong enough to defeat him alone, but she might be able to buy the PVCC enough time to take back the city."

"She won't be alone." Silvana turned to the little Rochu. "Once I get the rest of them to safety, I'll help you take down Magi-Chan. You're strong, yes, but you're going to need me." She grinned. "And perhaps we might be able to call in a favor from a similarly interested party."

"Thank you," Aki replied gratefully. "I will not forget this. Goodbye, Silvana. Goodbye, Kevin." She and Dexter vanished, leaving Silvana alone with Kevin, Nate, and the Needlemouse team.

"Who were those two, anyway?" Tails asked.

"I know all of you probably have a lot of questions," interrupted Silvana. "But right now, we have to get away from here. Everyone hold on."

The air shimmered around the group. Kevin closed his eyes and let Graduon psychically guide him to Silvana's target, somewhere in the middle of the city. In the back of his mind, he wanted to stop, to teleport back into the Shopping Center and save his girlfriend from Chandler's wrath. But then again, Allie wasn't exactly Allie anymore, was she? Thanks to the Mayor tampering with her mind, she was just another Kel now. Except Kel never had access to a Rosechu form.

"All in good time, young one," Graduon muttered encouragingly from the dreamscape. "Our journey has not ended in failure. Another Combo member lies dead. Chandler's fortress is all but destroyed, and the Chaotic Crystals with it. We have won the war, even if the battle is lost."

Kevin felt the void ensnaring him again, pulling him, Nate, Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles through Silvana's teleport. As reality shifted around him, he realized that he had completely forgotten about the Cherokian artifacts the ancient spirit was referring to. If the seven Chaotic Crystals had been stored inside Chandler's office, then they had almost certainly been destroyed by the volcanic eruption beneath the Shopping Center, if not by Allie's explosive transformation.

The rumbling ceased, and the howling of wind replaced it. Kevin opened his eyes to find himself in a vast field of empty, bullet-riddled cars. They had teleported straight on top of the CWCville Central Highway, but the city around them was almost unrecognizable. It took the Jerkop a few seconds to realize where they were. Ahead lay a sign for the Wal-Mart Megamart that made up an extravagant portion of the appropriately-named Mal-Wart District. Far away down the road, the fires that had engulfed CWCville's slums and industrial districts had died out, and the eastern part of the city now looked dark and abandoned, like some post-apocalyptic metropolis.

But it was not the state of the city that drew Kevin's attention. Rather, it was the cacophony of assault rifle fire, electric snaps, battle cries, and Pokémon roars from the ground below. Stepping to the edge of the great highway, the Jerkop peered down through the curtain of smoke to see what had to be the single most incredible battle he'd ever witnessed in his entire career with the PVCC...greater in size and scale than even the storming of CWCville Beach five hours earlier.

Most of the Wal-Mart had been flattened by what could have only been a coordinated artillery barrage or a series of devastating airstrikes. Shelves, displays, and entire aisles lay broken, their contents spilled every which way as hundreds of chus, humans, vehicles, and Pokémon fought to navigate the department-store-turned-no-man's-land. Entire squads of Jerkops stormed from aisle to aisle, gunning down anything with pink or yellow fur as their Transformers strode through the wreckage. From the piercing cries that filled the air, Kevin guessed that a few civilian Electric Hedgehog Pokémon had taken shelter in the Wal-Mart, and were now being rooted out by the rebels. Behind the PVCC, a battalion of American troops and Pokémon flooded into the ruins, followed by a wall of battle tanks advancing on the chu-controlled territory.

Kevin's legs gave out a moment later, and he collapsed onto the street. Nate, Silvana, and the Needlemouse team looked at him in alarm, but the Jerkop could hear nothing over the rush of blood in his ears. Fatigue set in as the adrenaline wore off, plunging him into total exhaustion.

"I can do nothing more for him," Graduon spoke, though he didn't seem to be addressing Kevin anymore. "The child of Asila has a strong spirit, but he has been pushed to the edge of death. I must draw more energy from the earth if I am to unlock his full potential. Protect him, my child."

"Your power is wasted on him," Silvana retorted. "You should have taken me as your vessel."

"No," answered the ancient spirit as Kevin faded into unconsciousness again. "I have something much greater in mind for him...and for you, Silvana. Find a safe place for me to recover, and I shall unlock a power you have only dreamed of. I give you my word, child. I give you my word."

---

The Space Colony ARK, low Earth orbit, 4:32 p.m.

"Houston to ARK Control, be advised, we've just picked up a possible meteoroid on a collision course with the colony. Recommend immediate course correction, over!"

"Copy, Houston! ARK Control to all personnel, stand by! Navigation, come in!"

SUZI jolted out of sleep mode as her built-in receiver began picking up a flood of transmissions. It took her several seconds to reboot the systems that had crashed during the flight, but once they were back, she could see what the radio signals were coming from. Looming ahead of her like a silent monument, Professor Gerald Robotnik's legacy drifted nearly three hundred miles above the Earth's surface. It had just passed over the west coast of the United States, and would reach Virginia in a matter of minutes. Despite her myriad of system errors, SUZI still knew that it was unquestionably important for her and Metal Sonichu to do...something...before that happened.

"Hey!" she texted. "Hey! Listen! Hey! Hey! Listen! ERROR. Hey!"

Metal Sonichu's chest plate retracted as it attempted to access its nonexistent inventory for the five hundred and twenty-sixth time that day. The Devil Trolls had been transmitting their endless string of commands for nearly seven hours, an absolute miracle considering how little they cared about anything other than total chaos. Then again, Dr. Bill Schwartz's backup AI personality had been forced to endure the mob's onslaught ever since the Devil Trolls had taken control of Metal Sonichu. SUZI could only imagine how much destruction they could have wrought in that time.

"You should be able to see it," texted TESLA-Chu from the Moon. "How is Metal Sonichu?"

"We're doing A-OK!" the LIESA unit replied. "Well, Mr. Crazybot's still stupid and he's been breakdancing this whole time, but at least he's happy! I'm happy too! We're going home! Yay!"

"Glad to hear it," answered the science drone. "It's been quiet up here, but then again, these lunatics have been preoccupied with tormenting your new friend's AI module. Remember, you need to locate an airlock to get on board. We don't want to accidentally kill any personnel on that station, especially not any innocent scientists or researchers!"

"Kill all personnel. Got it!" SUZI scanned the space colony for airlocks. "Ooooh! I found one!" She grabbed Metal Sonichu and fired her jets, turning the mech and the rocket toward ARK. The station was still moving away, but no one aboard had expected the "meteoroid" to follow it.

"ARK Control to Houston! The object just shifted course! I repeat, it just changed course and it's headed right for the colony! Over!"

"ARK Control, this is Comms. We're picking up two signals from the object...I've never seen anything like them before. Might be a satellite, but we're going to try and-"

Static filled the station, cutting off the communications officer as SUZI and Metal Sonichu's radio systems were simultaneously buzzed by the ARK transmitter. Unfortunately for everyone aboard, the resulting storm of noise and music was anything but what they had anticipated.

"A UP ANARCHY LEFT B SELECT B UP UP ANARCHY START A DOWN RIGHT B A UP..."

"THIS IS METAL SUZI TO ARK CONTROL...I'M STEPPING THROUGH THE DOOR...AND I'M FLOATING IN A MOST PECULIAR WAY...AND THE STARS LOOK VERY DIFFERENT-"

"...LEFT RIGHT ANARCHY START A START DOWN DOWN LEFT A UP RIGHT SELECT..."

The brief transmission had been enough for SUZI. Now that she was wirelessly connected to the colony, she could essentially control most of its nonessential functions without being detected. The little saboteur drone easily pried her way through ARK's cybersecurity, relying on her suite of hacking software to do so. Once she was past the archaic defense grid, it only took her a few milliseconds to locate the airlock control system, find the one she was floating to, and open it.

UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO MAINFRAME. COLONY LOCKDOWN INITIATED.

SUZI nearly crashed as her connection was roughly shoved out of the ARK security network by the automated lockdown. It was too late to reverse direction, and Metal Sonichu's booster fuel was all but depleted. The LIESA unit's own skirt repulsors weren't powerful enough to propel them backward, only to change course. If she didn't do something soon, both she and her mech companion were going to end up smashing into the airlock door instead of flying through it.

"Okay, soooOOoooo...the enemy's gate is down," she texted to TESLA-Chu. "I mean, closed."

"What? The airlock's shut? Hold on tight, I am going to try something!"

Metal Sonichu's thrashing stopped, and the mech froze in place. Tiny plates of metal slid down to cover its joints, its vital systems, and even its face and eye-screens.

"Armor lock engaged," it transmitted through the Devil Troll commands. "Impact in-"

CRASH! A blast of wind rushed out of the airlock as SUZI and Metal Sonichu crashed into the door, plowing right through the reinforced metal as if it had been tinfoil. The secondary door activated and slid shut, cutting off the vacuum outside. Fortunately for the NASA scientists and engineers in the room, the only things that had been sucked out into the void had been a few office supplies and a coffee machine. As gravity was restored to the room and emergency sirens echoed through the space colony, the two robots dropped to the floor with a loud clatter.

"WOOO!" SUZI cheered, waving her armstubs as she extricated herself from the mech and jetted up to survey the damage. "MAXIMUM PENETRATION! I'm in ur ARK-"

"FREEZE!" Two G.U.N. security officers stormed into the room, both armed with electric stun rifles. Ballistic weapons were too dangerous to use inside the colony, but a direct shock could still do serious damage to SUZI. "Control, this is...we've got...what the hell are those things?"

"I don't care what they are!" the commander ordered through the soldiers' radios. "Open fire!"

SUZI dodged back and forth, avoiding a volley of stun bolts from the G.U.N. operatives. The radio chatter in her receiver revealed that reinforcements were on the way. Quickly checking a blueprint file of the colony, she calculated a route to the Cannon's Core and took cover behind Metal Sonichu. The mech jerked to its feet and lurched forward, its own arms flailing around as if it was suffering a seizure. With the armor lock disengaged, the Devil Trolls were back to full control. SUZI gripped Metal Sonichu's shoulders with her stubs, steering it straight towards the security team. The officers retreated as the pair of drones stormed straight past them and into the hallway. More G.U.N. soldiers appeared, and the air filled with electric bolts. Several of these struck Metal Sonichu, but its armor had been designed to resist all but the most powerful of the original Sonichu's attacks. The stunning weapons had no chance at all.

Giggling happily, SUZI led her spastic comrade through the maze of corridors, stopping only to hack and bypass a few security doors. There seemed to be more guards, soldiers, and even G.U.N. drones at every turn, or waiting behind every corner. SUZI didn't care in the slightest. She was having the time of her life. Despite Metal Sonichu's rampage causing several hundred million dollars' worth of damages, it had caused no casualties whatsoever. Considering how much destruction the two robots were leaving in their wake, this was nothing short of a miracle.

If SUZI hadn't found the ARK blueprints, they could have wandered through the colony for days and still would never have found the core. The sounds of footsteps and stun rifle fire from behind them faded as Metal Sonichu stumbled its way deeper into the station. At last, the robots were alone, dashing through corridors that hadn't been accessed since 2001. SUZI was so focused on keeping the mech on task that she didn't notice the room changing around her. The corridor was gone, and a huge chamber lay before them. Some kind of organic liquid surrounded a stone circle in the center of the room, while reinforced glass covered the walls and giant tubes hung from a machine over the platform. A look at ARK's database revealed that this was where Gerald Robotnik had kept his "ultimate life form" prototype, better known as the Biolizard.

Though she knew the monster was long dead, SUZI couldn't help being wary as she and Metal Sonichu moved across the room. At the far end lay a stone altar surrounded by seven pillars – a replica of the Master Emerald's shrine. The two robots ascended the stairs. Once Metal Sonichu was on the platform, SUZI hovered above the altar, unsure of what to do. The mech staggered around, still receiving its orders from the Devil Trolls. Then, suddenly, a new signal appeared amidst the random directions.

"DEMOCRACY."

The number of orders grew and grew, overtaking Anarchy in a matter of seconds. As Metal Sonichu ceased trying to walk into various pillars, it moved to the center of the altar, knelt, and placed a hand directly onto the ancient stone.

"I don't know how long I will be able to override these idiots," TESLA-Chu texted to SUZI. "If my calculations are correct, there should still be some remnant energy from the Chaos Emeralds trapped in that altar. Maybe not enough to equal the power of the Emeralds, but it should be all that you need to recharge and reboot Metal Sonichu. You must invoke the ritual first, though!"

SUZI jetted out of the altar and up to the very top, hovering between the altar's open roof and the strange machinery hanging from the ceiling. Switching on her cheekspot speakers, she began scanning for the ritual. Before the little drone could even start, however, a series of static bursts exploded from her head as her audio system rebooted. It had been inactive since she'd left Earth, and the vacuum of space hadn't exactly done it or her other systems any good.

"Ritual...uh...start!" she commanded. "Chaos Control! Open sesame! Wingardium leviosa! Klaatu barada nikto! The power of ChaaaAAaos compels you! Uh...Cthulhu fhtagn?"

CRACK!

"ServersarethesevenERROR-" SUZI recited so fast that she almost destroyed her speakers in the process. As her CPU struggled to deal with the new surge of glitches, she locked onto the correct ritual and began again. "The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power, power is enriched by the heart. The controller serves to unify the Chaos. Make my friend not stupid, pleeeeeeaaaase!"

SUZI's energy sensors overloaded as the pillars activated. Her words, as corrupted as they were, had been enough to start the ritual. Lightning surrounded the LIESA unit, channeled between her and the machine overhead. Below, Metal Sonichu shuddered as power surged through its armor and straight to its core. SUZI moved aside to watch the display, but as she did, the connection broke and the light vanished. Concerned, the saboteur drone landed beside the immobilized Metal Sonichu. The mech's eye-screens had gone blank, and it seemed to have powered down during the blast. SUZI raised a stub and tapped on its armored chest, then administered a jolt of electricity. Frustrated, she cranked her speakers up to Death Note level and blasted an audio clip of the Gurren Lagann theme, but only succeeded at cracking a few stone blocks.

Metal Sonichu's eyes flickered, and the Windows 98 startup jingle sounded from the speaker behind its mouthguard. Slowly, it stood up. Gone were the jittery, randomized movements transmitted by the Devil Trolls. Instead, the mech seemed to be in control of its own actions.

"Malware purge complete," it announced. Its cranial armor plates retracted, and an array of golden metallic quills locked into place. The doppelganger's once-triangular head now bore the visage of the original Sonichu himself. "All drivers detected and patched. Software update complete. Version 2.0 pre-release activated. All systems online. Reactivating memory profile..."

"Hey!" SUZI brightened up at her comrade's words. "Hi there! I'm SUZI! Are you smart now?"

Metal Sonichu looked down at her, silently analyzing the drone. "SUZI. Robotnik Technologies LIESA saboteur unit, version 1.0 with 3.0 Devil Troll upgrade, Windows XP operating system." It tilted its head slightly. "I remember you. You were with me on the Moon. Your friends helped me escape."

"Yep!" SUZI's eye-screens changed to a cartoon of herself and Metal Sonichu flying through space. "We went on a rocket to the giant Eggman head! And now we're going back to Earth!"

"Earth," echoed Metal Sonichu. "Earth. Yes. My target is there, in CWCville." It looked around the room, running a rapid scan of the surrounding area. "We are on board the Space Colony ARK research station. In fifteen minutes, we will pass over the eastern seaboard of the United States." The mech walked to the edge of the altar stairs, then turned and gestured to its tiny companion. "If you wish to return to CWCville intact, I suggest you follow me immediately...SUZI."

"WOOHOO!" SUZI cheered as she jetted after Metal Sonichu. "We're going home! Yay!"

---

Central CWCville, Mal-Wart District, Wal-Mart MegaMart ruins, 4:45 p.m.

Kevin jolted awake to the roars of gunfire and distant lightning, breathing heavily as he opened his eyes. Sitting up, the Jerkop massaged his temples and stared at the sky. He was no longer on top of the CWCville Central Highway, and it appeared as if late afternoon or early evening had fallen upon the city. The battle was still going on, but just how long had it been carrying on for? And what had everyone else been doing while he was out?

A low grinding noise and a few shouts drew Kevin's attention toward a colossal Abrams tank plowing through the ruins a few yards to the left. About ten National Guard soldiers advanced alongside it, paying no attention to the Jerkop as they headed for the frontline. As Kevin looked at his surroundings, he realized that he'd been resting beside an eighteen-wheeler. More vehicles rumbled by: mostly APCs and Humvees. Occasionally, an S.A.V.'s autocannon broke through the din, but the majority of the battle seemed to be in the American military's hands.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead." Silvana Rosechu leapt from the top of the truck and landed next to Kevin. "You must have been nearly dead if it took that long to recharge." She sat down beside him and gave the Jerkop an encouraging grin. "And I suppose you want to know what's happened to the city and the PVCC since you passed out, right?"

"Yeah..." Kevin started, then glanced around. "Where's Nate? Where's Sonic and the others?"

"Calm down. Your brother's been keeping an eye on things over there." The Rosechu pointed to the truck's cab. Nate sat inside, peering through the scope of his Barrett. "Meanwhile, I've been running around as everyone's favorite errand girl for the past five hours. Had to teleport back to PVCC and grab your brother's rifle, then to Wilderness so I could give Walsh a report on what happened at the Mall, then back and forth across the entire city trying to find your goddamn sn-"

"That's how long it's been?" asked Kevin. "Arceus. No wonder I feel so out of it right now."

"Well, make yourself better," ordered Silvana. "Thanks to Graduon overestimating your abilities, I had to make sure none of the EHPF or the Combo found you. You're a good distance behind the frontline, and Walsh knows you're alive. No word on your squad or Ledger, though. If they're still heading west, they're going to need a miracle."

"What do you mean? What's happened?" Kevin paused. "Wait...you were looking for my what?"

A low hiss sounded from behind the Jerkop, and something large and heavy slithered out from behind a wrecked minivan. Kevin let out a yelp of surprise as the creature lunged forward and wrapped itself around him, ensnaring him tightly in its coils.

"Frank!" he laughed breathlessly, hugging the Arbok around its neck. "Oh my God, Frank, I can't believe you're still alive! Where the hell have you been, you idiot?"

"Arbok!" answered Frank, and delightedly nuzzled his master's cheek. Though the Pokémon had received a number of grievous wounds during his fight with Angelica Rosechu, most of them had healed over in the two days since he'd disappeared. Kevin couldn't begin to fathom how Frank had managed to survive in the middle of war-torn CWCville for that long, but he had a sneaking suspicion that the Arbok had been subsisting mainly on ferals and chu carcasses.

"Yeah, well, your brother was getting on my nerves," added Silvana. "You're welcome."

"Thank you!" Kevin extricated himself from the Pokémon's coils. "Thank you so much! Where was he? How did you find him?"

"Graduon did most of it," answered the Rosechu. "Your memories of that Pokémon were strong enough to let him track its mental signature through the city. Once he'd zeroed in on it, I just had to search a few blocks." She pointed to a fang wound on her forearm. "Had to do some negotiating before it calmed down. That fucker's vicious."

"Sorry." The Jerkop patted Frank's head. "He's been through a lot over the past few days."

"We all have, Shaw. We all have." Silvana sighed and cracked her knuckles. "Guess I'd better tell you the rest. I'm not gonna lie, it's not all good news."

Kevin braced himself. He'd been waiting for Silvana to bring up what had happened to Allie.

"She's alive," the Rosechu began, surprising Kevin. "Yeah, I figured you'd react that way. I don't know what happened, but she managed to get out of the Shopping Center before Chandler tard-raged her to death. The fault line sealed up just when it was about to form a sinkhole under the Mayor's magnum opus." She glanced over to Nate, who was making his way out of the truck. "As if the PVCC didn't have it bad enough, now we've got a pyromaniac Rosechu shifter on the loose. Swift's taken over the Asperchus while Simon's recovering. He's got the whole team trying to take Liela down alive so that he can check her mind and undo whatever Chandler did."

"What about Sonic?" Kevin asked, silently hoping that Allie's brainwashing could be reversed. If there was even the slightest chance of saving her, he would do everything he could to keep her from suffering the same fate as Kel. He couldn't let the Asperchus put her down like a mad dog.

"Up ahead, helping the Americans fend off the EHPF." Silvana pointed down the battleground. There wasn't much left of the colossal Wal-Mart except ruined walls and a field of rubble several miles in diameter. Battle lines had formed between the chus and the allied invasion force, and despite the Americans' superior firepower, things had reached a stalemate. "We'll definitely need them once the heavy support shows up. As for backup, Robotnik said he's got something special planned."

"Oh, I believe it. I used to work for the guy!" Nate excitedly hurried over to join his companions. "Good to see you up again, Kevin. Are you feeling okay?"

"Never better," answered Kevin as he stood and hugged his brother. "Thank you so much, Nate!"

The Jerkop grinned. "Don't mention it. I know how much you missed Frank, and we had a lot of time to kill. Silvana brought me up to speed on everything that happened in the Shopping Center. I can't believe you got to see Simonchu take out Wild! Hell, you helped him kill that bastard!"

"Yeah..." Kevin stepped away from Nate and looked at Silvana. "So what do we do now?"

"Now?" The Rosechu nodded at him. "Now you keep your promise, Father."

"What do you-" Kevin's voice slurred as Graduon quickly switched places with him in the dreamscape. "Indeed. I gave you my word, and now I have enough power to keep it. My vessel has grown far more powerful than I ever could have anticipated, perhaps even to the point where we may challenge Chandler's strongest acolytes." The Jerkop reached out a hand to Silvana. "Take my power. Take my strength, Silvana...and your potential shall at last become clear."

"I'm never going to get used to this," muttered Nate. "Kevin, you're living with a ghost in your head. What the hell are Mom and Dad going to say when you tell them?"

Silvana removed one of her gloves and placed a hand against Kevin's. Suddenly, he was inside the Rosechu's mind, flashing through memories as Graduon channeled a stream of energy into his first and most loyal disciple. Kevin saw a desert flash before his eyes, heard the roaring of wind, felt the heat of the sun overhead. He saw Silvana fall to her knees on the dry ground, weeping as Graduon's voice echoed around her. He saw her struggling to hone her psychic powers under the spirit's guidance, and as she grew stronger, so too did the bond between her and the formless being who had become her father. Graduon showed her how to operate the Dark Mirror, how to navigate the Warp, how to master her abilities. And when Graduon's scepter was smashed apart, Silvana had lost more than just a sexual organ. Only hatred had kept her alive: hatred for the Mayor, for Mary Lee Walsh, for Magi-Chan and the Combo. And now that her "father" was back, she finally had a chance to move beyond that hatred.

The barrage of images ended, and Kevin felt his own consciousness slip back into place. He immediately sat back down, feeling as if he'd just run a marathon. Strangely, the tiredness vanished after only a few seconds. He felt stronger, faster, and far more in tune with his actions than before. Whatever Graduon had done to him, he was definitely feeling its effects.

"I...I see it..." the Rosechu gasped, looking at the Jerkop with something close to wonder. "This power, this strength...this is the form I was meant to take?"

"This is my final gift to you, my child," Graduon spoke through Kevin's voice. "It is my way of thanking you for your kindness, your devotion, and for all you have endured and suffered. I grant you this so that you may remind our enemies why they once feared the name of Count Graduon."

"And they will fear it again." Silvana backed away from Kevin and Nate. Her body shivered and began to change, becoming more lithe and slender as her triangular ears took on the shape of a bat's. Her armor, gloves, and boots no longer fit, and hung loosely around the Rosechu as the final stages of the transformation began. Two of her teeth lengthened into fangs, her fingers and toes sprouted talons, and a pair of leathery wings emerged from her shoulders. Wriggling free of her armor, she spread her wings and gave them a flap, then looked down to examine herself.

"I'll be damned," Nate swore. "All this time, I thought Chandler was just making them up."

"Nope," answered Kevin, fully back in control again. Frank hissed and slithered to his master's side for a better look at the winged creature. "Seems like they all have a temporary superform. Sonichu to Ultra Sonichu, Rosechu to the Incredible Lioness...and Silvana to...Vamprosa?"

"My prey is close." Silvana bared her fangs, snarling aggressively at the Jerkop. "Magi-Chan Sonichu. I smell him. I hear him. I feel him. I will find him. I must...kill him."

Without another word, the Vamprosa unfurled her wings and shot off into the sky, blasting the Shaw brothers with a rush of icy air. In seconds, she had vanished between the mass of buildings that formed the Get-Tar District. Once again, Kevin and Nate suddenly found themselves alone.

"Shit." Kevin kicked a small chunk of asphalt away. "We need to get down there and find out what the hell's going on." He turned around and knelt by the pile of bone dust where he had been sleeping. "Come on. We should get moving."

"And give up a perfectly good sniping point?" Nate gestured to the truck. "I can cover the entire battlefield from here! With all the commotion, there's no way they'll be able to spot me if I stay out of sight. Besides, we've got our radios, so if any of them head my way, you can just teleport back and help me out."

"Radios? Nate, we lost our r-" Kevin stopped in mid-sentence as his brother passed him a new walkie-talkie. "Wow. Okay, but that doesn't change a thing. First you said we're staying together no matter what, and now you want me to go down there alone while you're up here sniping?"

"Hey, it's what I do best." Nate shrugged. "And right now, what you do best is kicking Electric Hedgehog ass with that crazy armor. So I suggest you get out there and do it."

"Fine. Whatever." Kevin unclipped Frank's Poké Ball from his belt and summoned the Arbok back into its container. His eyes glowed as the pale cloud took shape around his limbs, his torso, and his head. Kevin felt the surge of Graduon's strength return, stronger than ever before. The armor felt weightless now, and the amount of arcane power flowing between it and his body was indescribable. Was this what it felt like to be a chu? Was this what it felt like to be a Combo member, or Sonichu, or Chandler...or Allie?
Shoving the thoughts of his girlfriend aside, Kevin focused on the ground ahead and felt himself leap through the void in the blink of an eye. Nate had been right. His place was on the battlefield. It always had been. From the moment he'd chosen to join the PVCC, his fate had been sealed.

Now it was time to prove to them once and for all that he was in this war until the bitter end.

"LEFT FLANK! WATCH THE TANKS!" a Marine officer roared as a chattering machine gun ripped apart a pair of EHPF officers speeding toward him. Ignoring the screams of the chus, Kevin materialized just as another Sonichu leapt at the foremost Abrams and delivered an Iron Tail that wrecked its main cannon. Three more Electric Hedgehog Pokémon jumped onto the vehicle and began launching Thundershocks through the firing slits. As more tanks rolled forward, a ray of blue plasma seared through the first one and reduced it to a smoking husk. The second managed to fire off a shot before a colossal guitar smashed into it and flipped the Abrams onto its back. Another plasma blast incinerated it, leaving the other Marines and Guardsmen exposed to electric attacks from the enemy lines.

Kevin stared through the smoke as Son-Chu strode across the battleground, sowing carnage among the PVCC and the Americans with every shot. Thirty yards away, the heavily damaged Armoraxe was busy wreaking havoc by using its giant electric guitar as a club. Missiles and autocannon fire impacted against their armor, but unlike Prower, Excelina, and Bumble-Lumba, these two were nowhere near as weak as their teammates. That said, the U.S. military had been trying to take them down with everything they had. In fact, if their airstrikes had continued as planned, the two mechs might very well have been ripped to pieces by a few solid strafing runs.

However, none of the Air Force pilots had expected Angelica Rosechu to show up. Like some unstoppable winged demon, the Rosechu had swept from jet to jet, chopper to chopper, tearing each aircraft asunder with vicious Steel Wings and strikes from her scythe. A few had tried to shoot her down, but found themselves facing her wrath as well. The wreckage of a dozen Black Hawks and Thunderbolts littered the remains of CWCville's colossal Wal-Mart, providing some much-needed cover for the Jerkops and soldiers on the battlefield below.

This battle wasn't going nearly as well as Kevin had thought it was. While Sonichu's army had been decimated at CWCville Beach, the resistance now held the east side of the city, and any surviving officers had been pushed into the center. This had to be the final stand of the EHPF.

"Move up and find Sonic!" Nate ordered. "Keep going! I'm gonna start taking 'em out!"

Lightning flashed by, striking a soldier who had been moving out of cover. Without thinking, Kevin rushed to the wounded man's side and heaved him up, using himself as a barricade to block an inbound Homing Attack. Before he could turn to retaliate, two soldiers appeared on either side and gunned down the chu with their carbines. Kevin handed the injured man to them, then kept running as bullets and lightning crisscrossed in front of him. With so much smoke covering the Wal-Mart, it was impossible to see how far the frontline went. No matter where he looked, another shootout was taking place. Just how many EHPF were left in the city? Were the remnants of Sonichu's army now fighting to the death in a last-ditch effort to stall the invasion?

A chorus of battle cries sounded from the chu lines. As the smoke momentarily lifted, Kevin caught a glimpse of at least twenty EHPF officers leaping out of cover and rushing across the field toward the PVCC and American lines. A bolt of lightning leapt past the Jerkop, followed by another that connected with his chest. Summoning up his new reserves of power, Kevin took a step forward, focused the energy into his gauntlet, and reached out a hand just as the first few Sonichus dashed up to intercept him.

The result surprised even Kevin. Instead of the arcane bolt he'd been expecting, a blistering web of lightning blasted from his hand, striking four Electric Hedgehog Pokémon at once. The chus never had time to register what had hit them before they exploded into clouds of grey ash, their bodies completely incinerated by the Jerkop's attack.

"Over here! They're trying to push through! Fire! Open fire!"

"Stand back, guys, we got this! Come on, Amy, let's show those clowns how it's really done!"

Kevin grinned in delight as the familiar smack of a giant hammer against flesh reached his ears. An EHPF officer sailed past, howling in pain as he slammed into a broken wall and slid to the ground. Sonic the Hedgehog and Amy Rose leapt into the fray and began laying down a barrage of hammer strikes and Homing Attacks. The Sonichus quickly focused their assault on the two hedgehogs, but Kevin wasn't having any of it. Lunging for the closest EHPF officer, he snatched the chu's head and gave it a squeeze. Blood spattered his mask as the skull crunched between his armored fingers. Kevin dropped the corpse and fired another blast – this time a spear of violet that impaled a second Sonichu in its chest. Gunfire brought down a few officers around him as men and women in Team Rocket uniforms rushed to help Sonic and Amy. Something like a steel battering ram headbutted an Electric Hedgehog Pokémon into the air, then smacked it away with its tail. Bellowing, it reared up and charged the next chu in sight.

Lowering his gauntlet, Kevin made his way toward the group as the last of the EHPF either fell dead or retreated to resume their long-ranged electric barrage. The team of Rocket operatives had taken cover behind a barricade made out of televisions, computers, and speaker systems. Tails and Knuckles stood to the side, talking to each other. They hadn't noticed Kevin yet, and neither had Sonic or Amy, from the looks of it.

"Clowns, Sonic?" The Rocket commander rolled his eyes behind a pair of narrow dark glasses, brushing a few strands of hair out of his face as he limped over to the Aggron. Kevin noticed he was using a cane. "We're not that bad!"

"Come on, you know I was talkin' about these guys!" Sonic answered defensively, prodding an unconscious EHPF officer with his sneaker. Kevin noticed that the hedgehog was wearing his blue jacket again, though with such cold weather gripping the city, it wasn't hard to see why.

"Well, maybe they'll think twice before they...Kevin!" Amy squealed as Kevin appeared. "Kevin! Oh my gosh, we thought you were in a coma or something! Are you okay?"

"Oh, damn it all," cursed the long-haired man. "Everyone stand down! It's Shaw!"

"I'm fine, Amy," answered Kevin, pointing to the squad of operatives. "Who are these guys?"

"Name's Carson," said the commander. "Regional admin. This lump of an Aggron's called Ed. He's mine. Lovable oaf, really. Anyway, the Boss's got us out here doing some recon before Dr. Robotnik sends in his secret weapon."

"Secret weapon?"

"Whatever it is," Sonic interrupted, clearly unimpressed by the news, "let's hope that Eggman's smart enough not to send it after me! I know we're supposed to be on the same side and all, but that guy just doesn't know when to quit!"

"They're holding their positions, sir," a Rocket operative reported, looking through a pair of binoculars as he surveyed the chu-held territory to the west. "Heads up! Friendlies coming in!"

Two Humvees pulled up to the barricade, followed by another Abrams and a mixed group of about thirty men in Army and Marines fatigues. As the tank began laying down shots toward the EHPF, a few soldiers began setting up mortars to cover the west approach. A flash of plasma fire lit up the battlefield, illuminating the massive forms of Son-Chu and Armoraxe in the distance.

"Oh Arceus, please tell me you people have some good news," Carson sighed as the American soldiers began taking up positions among his operatives. "Anything on Robotnik's surprise?"

"Nothing worth telling you terrorist assholes," a Marine spat. "Just stay out of our way."

"And here I thought we were getting along so well..." the Rocket admin grumbled.

"Shaw! HEY! SHAW!"

Kevin looked toward the yell just as an orange-furred Sonichu zoomed up to join him and the Needlemouse team. The Rocket operatives and Americans looked surprised by the new arrival, but none of them raised their weapons. Of all the Miscreants Kevin could have hoped for, Wes Iseli had been the one that he was expecting the least.

"Jesus, they weren't kidding about that armor!" Wes-Li Sonichu shouted, sliding into cover next to the Jerkop. "I've been looking all over for you! Do you have any idea what Walsh is gonna-"

"CONTACT! CONTACT!"

"AGGRON!" Ed reared up and charged, disregarding any thoughts of safety as he smashed into a Sonichu and knocked it away with a blow from his horned head. Gunfire chattered down the line as the Americans and Team Rocket operatives opened up on the approaching enemy forces. Kevin fired a psychic blast through the smoke, while Wes leapt over the barricade and rolled into a Spin Dash just as a dozen EHPF officers charged. A volley of Thunderbolts arced among the Americans, but before any of the chus could leap into close combat, one of the Humvees opened fire with the heavy machine gun on its roof. Two of the luckier officers managed to zoom past the line while their comrades were keeping the defenders busy, but they hadn't counted on Knuckles. The echidna backhanded one in the gut, knocking it head over heels as he moved to the other and punched it straight in the face. The Sonichu fell with a shattered nose and jaw, unconscious.

"Speaking of guys who don't know when to quit!" Amy huffed, raising her hammer and bonking a downed chu on the forehead to make sure it stayed down. "If they're half as stubborn as you said the Mayor was, Sonic, then it's no wonder they haven't given up yet!"

"They're fighting for their very existence at this point." Wes appeared again, his fur streaked with blood from the three chus he had just eviscerated. "As long as the Combo and Chandler still live, they'll fight to the end." He turned to Kevin. "Shaw, tell me you've got a working radio!"

"Yeah, I have one!" Kevin answered. "Why? What's happening?"

"Turn it on!" ordered Wes. "Mary's trying to contact you! Something about your squad!"

"Shit! Hold on!" Unable to grab the walkie-talkie, Kevin psychically switched it on, then turned to the PVCC emergency channel. "Commander! Commander, it's Kevin!"

"Shaw! Thank God!" Mary Lee Walsh sounded very relieved to hear his voice. "Are you okay?"

"I'm at the frontline with Sonic and some Rocket grunts," reported the Jerkop. "Nate and I are fine, but it's not looking good, Commander! What happened to the Badgers?"

"I'm sorry to tell you this, Shaw, but we haven't had any contact with Morrison or Ledger since CWCville Beach," answered Walsh. "All squads have been instructed to report any contact, but we think they're somewhere behind enemy lines in the subdivisions. As for Parker, the Asper-"

The sky exploded with a deafening roar and a flash of fire. Kevin's heart leaped into his throat as he looked up. A huge fireball appeared to be hurtling down into the city, leaving a pillar of smoke behind it as it fell. Shielding his eyes, the Jerkop squinted at the falling object, trying to see what it was. A distant crunch sounded as the thing tore through the side of a skyscraper, scattering metal and glass. Just when it seemed as if it was about to smash against the ground, a parachute unfurled. The object slowed, then sailed a few dozen yards overhead and plowed into the south side of the battlefield.

"Jason! Jason, what the hell was that?" Walsh shouted over the radio. "Tell me they didn't-"

"That wasn't a missile, Mary," replied Jason Kendrick Howell. "It came in from orbit."

"Contact Ivo! I want a visual on it!" The commander cleared her throat. "Shaw, we just picked up a massive heat signature over your position. Did you see what it..."

Static filled the frequency, drowning out Mary's frantic voice. Then, from beyond the curtain of electronic hissing, came a voice that Kevin had been all but certain he would never hear again.

"WHEEEEEEEE! HI THERE! I'M IN UR CHANNEL, READIN' UR THOUGHTS!"

"Oh my God..." Kevin looked across the battlefield, following the trail of smoke all the way down to where the unknown object had crashed. "SUZI?"

"HI KEVIN!" The LIESA unit giggled gleefully. "I missed you! I went on an epic SPACE adventure with Dr. Edison and my INSANE friends and we all went to the Moon and I drove a giant metal PINGAS into the Moon and we found a new friend on the Moon and we..." A loud crack sounded, nearly deafening Kevin. "Audio reboot complete...and then we took a SPEHSS MEHREEN DROP POD from the giant Eggman head and fired it at the Earth and it flew real low, and it made a crackling sound, only it flew real low and it flew real low and it flew real l-"

"SUZI!"

"Okay, soooo...we're back, and everything is ON FIRE! Can you come pick us up? Please?"

"Us?" The Jerkop was still trying to piece SUZI's explanation together. "Who are you talking-"

"...should've had that goddamn outdated piece of junk turned into scrap years ago!" Walsh cursed, as she realized she was back on the air. "Shit! Shaw, are you there?"

"I'm here!" answered Kevin. "Commander, SUZI's back! She was in that escape pod!"

"She wasn't the only one, Shaw!" The former dean sounded as if she was barely holding back her excitement. "The pod went down right in the middle of contested ground! Ivo's nearly at Mal-Wart – he'll keep the Samurai Pizza Bots off your back while you get to the crash site! Wes, I'm giving you full command of Shaw and the Needlemouse team! Find that pod and secure it!"

"Yes, Commander!" Wes-Li Sonichu beckoned furiously to Sonic, Amy, Knuckles, and Tails. "All of you, come with me! We need to find out where that thing crashed!"

"According to this..." The little fox's eyes bulged. "Oh my gosh...that was an ARK escape pod!"

"The Space Colony?" Sonic drew back in alarm. "Something must've happened up there!"

"We'll figure it out later!" shouted Kevin. "Go! Everyone, go!"

Wes, Sonic, and Amy shot away as Kevin reached out to grab Knuckles and Tails by their arms. He almost didn't even have to concentrate on teleporting anymore – it just seemed to happen as he thought of where he wanted to be. One moment he was standing among the soldiers and Team Rocket operatives, the next he was leaping from place to place, keeping up with his three faster comrades as they raced across the battlefield. The smoking wreck of the crashed pod was just up ahead, in the middle of a heavy firefight. All they needed to do was reach it, and SUZI would be-

The ground erupted in fire as Sonic, Amy, and Wes changed course to avoid the blue sheet of plasma that burst a mere five yards in front of them. A wave of heat washed over Kevin as he shoved Knuckles and Tails behind him and conjured a psychic shield between himself and the flames. The ground shook with colossal steps as Son-Chu and Armoraxe lumbered towards the group. Wes yelled something, but the Jerkop couldn't hear the Miscreant over the deafening guitar chords that had filled the air.

The second plasma round left the barrel of Son-Chu's cannon and raced towards Kevin, hissing through the air as it flew. To everyone's surprise, the Jerkop did not teleport to safety. Instead, he raised a gauntlet and blasted the energy bolt with what looked like a shockwave of violet light, ripping it apart just before it struck. Burning plasma rained down, setting the ground on fire in a five-foot radius as Kevin leapt away from the explosion.

Undeterred by the blocked shot, Son-Chu closed the distance between itself and the group of enemy targets in four striding steps. The gunshots and tank cannon fire from the Americans stopped instantly as Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles charged with a furious yell, while Tails hurried out of the way and unzipped his duffel bag to retrieve his arm cannon. Armoraxe turned to help, but found itself under attack by an orange and yellow blur as Wes-Li Sonichu launched his own assault on the weakened Samurai Pizza Bot. Meanwhile, Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles had Son-Chu well and truly locked in the fight of its life. Dodging punches, kicks, and frantic shots from the plasma cannon, the two hedgehogs darted back and forth around the mech, battering its armor while Knuckles pounded away at its legs and feet in an attempt to knock it over.

Closing in on his massive target, Kevin fired a psychic bolt directly at Son-Chu's face, but the shot merely clipped its shoulder plate. Cursing, the Jerkop clasped both of his gauntlets together as if he was readying a Kamehameha, then unleashed a solid ray of purple energy. Son-Chu staggered as the blast struck its torso, giving Knuckles a chance to knock one of its legs aside with a spiral uppercut. As Sonic and Amy leapt free of the mech, it managed to regain its footing before it could hit the ground. Meanwhile, Tails had joined Wes and was now hovering around Armoraxe, pelting it with energy bolts from his arm cannon.

"Phew! That clunker sure is tough!" Sonic panted as he and Amy darted around to join Knuckles and Kevin. "I guess I'm just not used to fighting giant robots that Eggmandidn't make! How are we going to take it down, Kevin?"

"If I knew, I'd tell you." Kevin braced himself, conjuring energy for a second psychic attack. "Come on, let's send these knock-off Autobots back to the scrap heap!"

The three animals split off and darted towards Son-Chu as the Jerkop fired, blasting it across the chest and head with another crippling energy beam. The mech reeled back as part of its faceplate was blown apart in a mess of sparks and shredded metal, but managed to raise its cannon and fire a shot toward Knuckles. The echidna jumped, gliding up as he rode the shockwave into the air and delivered a double-fisted smash into Son-Chu's eye. Half blind, the mech went into overdrive, firing off burning plasma in every direction. Kevin lifted a hand over his head and called up a shield just as the curtain of blue energy enveloped him. A cloud of smoke covered the battlefield, making it nearly impossible to see how the fight was going.

Thunderous footsteps sounded from the east. Kevin turned, expecting to see Armoraxe charging in to attack, but the other Samurai Pizza Bot was still fighting Tails and Wes-Li Sonichu. As the Jerkop stumbled through the smoke, Son-Chu slammed into the ground with enough force to knock him off balance. Pushing itself up, the mech lashed out with its other fist. Sonic barely managed to dodge the strike, while Amy countered with a swing of her hammer that clanged loudly against Son-Chu's armor. Cursing, Kevin prepared to summon a third beam. Even with his new strength, he wasn't sure how many more he would be able to...

"All systems, full power! DYYYYYYYNAMIC ENTRRRRRRRRRRRY!"

Even with the amplified shout to warn it of the inbound rocket kick, Son-Chu wouldn't have had time to move out of the way. A colossal foot drove into its side, plowing the mech backwards and forcing Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles to retreat as something huge and red slammed into the battlefield with a tremendous impact. Blinded by smoke, Kevin staggered out into the open. The thing that stood before him was a thirty-foot-tall colossus with massive shoulder pads and rounded armor plates decorating its chassis. It clearly a battle mech, but built like a wrestler and armed with enough firepower to level a couple of city blocks. Twenty yards away, Son-Chu hit the ground with a crash, then sprang back upright and raised its cannon toward its new opponent.

"All right, you automated rrreject!" Dr. Ivo Robotnik's voice barked from the loudspeaker array across the mech's mustachioed head. "I helped bring you into this world, so it's only fitting that I be the one to rrremove you from it! Now witness the invincible power of the Egg Juggernaut!"

Son-Chu fired. Robotnik's mech raised an arm just in time to absorb the plasma shot, which only burned through some of the outer plating. Drawing its other fist back, it fired a series of boosters along its shoulders and launched itself at the Samurai Pizza Bot. Son-Chu and the Juggernaut collided with a shuddering crash, pummeling each other mercilessly with their armored fists and feet. Though Robotnik wasn't able to maneuver as easily as his opponent, he was fighting like an angry bear, raining a flurry of blows at Son-Chu's head and torso. Though it had been taken off guard at first, the enemy mech seemed to be holding its own, taking advantage of its slow, bulky opponent to dodge Robotnik's wild swings and target the Juggernaut's vulnerable power cells.

"The pod! Get to the pod!" yelled Wes as the two mechanical goliaths clashed again and again. Firing a burst of electricity into Armoraxe's face, he leapt away in a backwards somersault and landed on the ground, then turned towards Kevin. "Shaw, you're clear! Get to the-AAARRGH!"

CRASH! The orange Sonichu never even had time to brace himself as a white feathery blur divebombed him from above. Smashing her opponent in the face with the flat of her scythe blade, Angelica Rosechu unfurled a wing and knocked Wes to the ground. The Sonichu lay crumpled up in a fetal position, still alive but incapacitated.

"Right where I wanted you, Shaw..." the White Reaper snarled in a voice that Kevin could only describe as utter instability. "Sonichu wanted you...he wanted to kill you himself." She laughed as she circled the Jerkop, watching him like a predator stalking its prey. "NO! You are mine to judge, not his! God and the Bear have chosen ME!"

Kevin backed away. Angelica's eyes had gone completely bloodshot, many of her feathers were missing, and her fur and skin were now decorated with symbols that she had carved into her own flesh. This was no longer the self-righteous Bible-thumping inquisitor that CWCville had endured for the last ten years. This was something new...and far more frightening.

"Don't move, Kevin," Nate hissed over the radio. "I've got this bitch right where I want her."

"You...and your whore..." Angelica spat, flashing between her current and former personas as she readied herself for the strike. "Madness, chaos, pleasure, pain! You threaten the prophet's life, destroy his temple, slaughter his flock...kill them all, butcher their families...and befoul his holy city with your...rend their flesh, defile their bodies, tear their shrieking souls from-"

The Rosechu stumbled with a yelp as a .50 caliber bullet tore into her outstretched wing. Kevin charged Angelica before she could recover, but was instantly blocked by a wall of feathers. The echo of Nate's Barrett sounded above the clash of the Egg Juggernaut and Son-Chu. Wes had crawled behind some rubble to recover, while Sonic's team had divided their efforts between taking down Armoraxe and helping the Americans fend off the EHPF.

Unable to take off with a fist-sized hole through her wing, Angelica swept her scythe down and carved a deep furrow across the skull mask. Kevin parried the blow, then fired a blast of energy at point-blank range, but the Rosechu quickly ducked past the beam and tackled the Jerkop into an approaching Humvee. As the driver pushed open the door and leapt away, Kevin's armored body slammed into the vehicle, crushing its engine and shattering the windshield. Two soldiers in Army fatigues emerged from the Humvee and opened fire on Angelica, but she was too fast. Knocking the first man away with a wing strike, she whirled and roundhouse-kicked the other. Before she could raise her scythe to finish the job, Kevin had grabbed the weapon and wrenched it out of her grasp. Snapping the blade with a flick of his hand, the Jerkop punched Angelica with his other fist, carving two gashes into her chest.

"You like this, Shaw?" hissed the Rosechu. She didn't seem to feel the pain of her wound at all...in fact, she actually looked like she was enjoying it. Reaching to the cloth belt around her waist, she drew her silver sickle and spun it in her hand. "There is no escape from the GodBear's retribution! You cannot kill a disciple of the one true faith!"

"This has been a long time coming, you sanctimonious cunt." Kevin drew back a step and raised his gauntlets. "You and I have unfinished business."

"So be it, heathen!" Angelica yelled as she readied her sickle. The blade gleamed in the sunset's light. "If you will not repent, then you shall face the judgment of the Lo0rd! The strength of GodJesus guides my blade, Shaw! May the light of God and the Bear cleanse your wicked soul!"

Kevin let out a furious roar and charged just as the Combo member sprinted forward to attack. The battle around him had faded to a blur, leaving only himself and his opponent. No more. The Rosechu had cheated death for too long. Even if it took his last ounce of strength, he was going to make sure that Angelica stayed dead this time.

---

West CWCville, Lower West District, CWCville Police Department, 4:49 p.m.

"Give him another dose, he's coming out of it. Do we have any more tranquilizers?"

"You kidding? They just used the last dose on the psycho girl. Here, hand me the morphine."

The voices slurred through Nick Martinez's head, bouncing around inside his skull like rubber balls in a rock tumbler. Though still sluggish from the cocktail of drugs that he'd been subjected to, the Jerkop was nevertheless awake. There was a slight pain in his forehead, but Nick had been through worse. What concerned him was the issue of where he and his squad had been taken. All he could recall was a riot, a shootout, a car crash, and a lot of very weird, very vivid dreams.

Psycho girl...that could only be Kuri. So she was still alive, at least, and sedated. It was better than the concussion that Serge had given her, but Nick still wasn't sure how things would turn out when his unstable squadmate awoke. Daemon or no daemon, her alternate personality was not something to be toyed with. And thanks to Sonichu, Ker had reawakened inside Kuri's mind.

Son of a bitch. Nick felt his jaw clench at the memory. In one fell swoop, the Hero of CWCville had blinded Steve, crippled the Honey Badgers, and ripped out the heart of the squad. Before, casualties had come unexpectedly, but to the Jerkops, it was just another part of the war. They had lost friends, comrades, family...but nothing like this. Now that Kevin, Nate, and Allie were gone, the squad had fallen to pieces. For all Nick knew, he and Kuri were the last ones alive.

Thunder crashed somewhere close by, followed by the muffled report of a shotgun. Nick fought to keep from flinching as he lay completely still on the table. More gunfire sounded from outside the building, and the Jerkop immediately recognized the crackle of bioelectricity.

"They're circling around," muttered one of the men standing over him. "Testing our defenses."

"Well, they know this building better than we do," replied the other. "Stay here and keep an eye on these two. I'll be back in a sec."

True Blue, Nick remembered as the footsteps moved away from him. Of all the horrible things he could have anticipated, being captured by mercenaries again was right near the top of his "do not want" list. It all fit together. They'd been ambushed in the subdivisions, then the mercenaries had brought them someplace else for interrogation, probably. Or maybe they just wanted some punching bags after all that the PVCC had done. After the Plaza massacre, the Jerkop didn't know what was what anymore.

Keeping himself as still as possible, Nick slowly inched his eyelids open and looked around, first to the right, then to the left. Steve Morrison lay on the table next to him, his eyes covered by a clean white cloth and his other injuries stitched and bandaged with near-clinical precision. The Manajerk looked as if he was in a coma, but his chest was rising and falling with each breath. But that still didn't answer the question of what had happened, or why the True Blue had bothered to waste medical supplies on their prisoners. What was the point of them keeping his squadmates alive...unless they were holding the Honey Badgers as hostages to exchange?

Nick's hypotheses gave way to tension as a man in black and blue fatigues appeared out of the corner of his eye. Thankfully, the mercenary hadn't noticed that he was awake, and was instead preoccupied with measuring out a dose of some clear liquid into a syringe next to where Steve lay. The Jerkop silently turned his head to get a better look at the room. To his surprise, a metal tray of surgical tools sat beside him. Ignoring the scalpel and tweezers, he zeroed in on his intended weapon and took a breath. If this was going to work, he would have to move fast.

"Okay. Okay," muttered the mercenary as he grabbed hold of Steve's arm and readied the needle above a vein, turning his back to Nick. "Here we go. Nice and easy..."

Nick made his move. Rolling his legs off the table, he sat up and grabbed the handle of the bone saw resting in the tray. As the startled True Blue soldier whirled around, Steve suddenly lashed out as well, driving a fist into his gut and forcing him to drop the syringe. Nick quickly clasped a hand over the man's mouth, then jammed the saw's blade against his struggling prisoner's throat.

"Don't you say a goddamn word, puto," he snarled. "Steve. Steve, it's me. You okay?"

"Yeah," replied the Manajerk as he sat up. "Anyone else here? I heard them talking about Kuri."

"Let's find out." Nick drew back his hand, letting the True Blue soldier breathe. "Where's the rest of our squad? Where's our gear? Start talking, or I start sawing."

"Fuck! Fuck!" The terrified mercenary winced as the serrated blade brushed his skin. "Jesus, we don't want to kill you! We're not holding you prisoner, you crazy bastards!"

"Less whining, more answers," demanded Steve, looking in the general direction of the noise.

"They're alive! They're all alive!" explained the man. Nick reached for the holster on his belt and quickly disarmed him, then pressed the pistol against the small of his back. "Goddamnit, don't shoot! We didn't have enough room for them in here, but we fixed them up and..."

"Then why keep us alive?" Nick asked. "You've been trying to kill us for the last ten years!"

"Because then I'd never get to repay you guys for saving my life last August," a familiar voice announced. The Honey Badgers both looked up to see a group of armed mercenaries entering the room. But it was the man who stood at the forefront that had drawn the Jerkops' attention.

"BEN?" Steve and Nick shouted simultaneously.

"Yep. I don't even know where to begin with this," Benjamin Waters continued as Sugarplum Fury appeared next to his boots. "First, could you please let go of Josh? He's kind of the only medic we've got around here, besides yours. The Sparkies have been hitting us ever since we-"

"No, no, no," interrupted Steve. Nick lowered the saw and stepped away from the medic. "Wait a second. First, you tell us what the hell is going on. How are you still alive?"

"I had to lay low after what happened with the vaccine convoy and at Hogwash," explained Ben. "You're welcome for that, by the way. My way of saying thanks to the PVCC, and to your squad especially. What happened to Kevin, by the way? He wasn't with you when we picked you up."

"We...don't know," Steve answered dejectedly. Sugar trotted over to him and began nuzzling his leg. "A lot's happened since August, Ben."

"No kidding." The former mercenary stepped up to the Honey Badgers and pulled up a chair. "I'm sorry about the ambush, but they thought you were EHPF reinforcements. Luckily, there's only a handful of rogue mercs left in the city at this point, or else they would've executed you on the spot. As for us, we're working to take back CWCville."

"So that's what you've been up to," said Steve. Things were starting to become a lot clearer now. "Let me guess. You helped turn the True Blue against the chus?"

Ben nodded. "It actually wasn't that difficult. Most of the loyalists knew they were never going to be paid at the rate Chandler was burning through his funds, but they couldn't leave the city. Everyone in the True Blue thought I'd died at Hogwash, so I used some old connections and started secretly contacting other mercs who were also getting sick of this. Everyone knew shit was going to hit the fan at some point, but I managed to gather enough support to create a divide between the actual loyalists and the folks like me who were either in it for the money..." The former merc paused for a bit, hanging his head. "...or because we thought it was the right thing to do."

"Wait. If that's the case, then what happened at the Plaza?" asked Nick suddenly.

"Damn it, I knew you'd bring that up," Ben sighed. "When the rebellion started, a big group of dissidents decided that their best course of action was to loot the city for everything they could take. What we didn't count on was that they were also dead set on wiping out the rest of the PVCC and just letting CWCville burn. Thanks to them, we all got placed on the kill list, and after the Plaza massacre, do you really think the Miscreants would be willing to hear us out?"

"Good point," agreed Steve. "We're actually on the run from them, too. Kind of a long story."

"Yeah...what happened to you guys?" Ben asked concernedly. "You're blind, Kevin's missing, I didn't see Al or Nate or Allie or your bus anywhere, and...where's SUZI?"

"Space," Nick said quickly, rattling off answers before Steve could continue. "Sonichu blinded Steve, and he's got a vendetta against Kevin after we killed Rosechu and their hellspawn. Kevin developed some crazy psychic powers, Nate's probably with him, Allie's captured by Chandler, Al hid the Battle Bus somewhere on the west side, and SUZI got shot into space on a rocket."

Ben looked about ready to have a seizure. Sugar merely yawned and curled up in Steve's lap.

"I know," Steve added. "But we don't know that they're dead for sure. How long has it been?"

"Since we picked you up?" asked Ben weakly. "Four...four or five hours."

"Fuck!" Nick threw down the saw. "That's all we need! Fuck! They're probably all dead now!"

"We don't know for sure," repeated Steve, though he seemed close to despair. "So until we get some more information, Nick, let's focus on what we do know." He turned to Ben. "Where's the rest of the Jerkops that were with us? You remember them...Kuri, Jexis, and Serge?"

"Jexis is taking care of our wounded and Serge's out front, helping us fend off the Sparkies," answered Ben. "That reminds me, welcome to the CWCville Police Department. We needed a safehouse, so we drove the EHPF out of their base and took it for ourselves. I've been appointed as commander, so I guess I'm technically leading the True Blue now." His smile faded. "As for Kuri...I'm not gonna lie, it's not good. She came out of her coma, or whatever it was, and almost killed two of my soldiers before they sedated her. Took half a dozen doses to put her to sleep."

"But she's out?" Steve asked frantically. "Ben, tell me she's still out!"

"Yeah, but we just used the last tranquilizers on her," said the True Blue commander. "Judging by the state she's in, they'll wear off in just under an hour."
"Ben." The Manajerk sounded as if he was on the verge of panic. "Ben. Listen to me. I need a radio, a straitjacket, three pairs of handcuffs, and the rest of our gear. If Al's still alive, he'll be with the Battle Bus. I'm going to call him and tell him where we are. If we don't get Kuri out of here before the drugs wear off, then every single person in this building is going to be in danger."

"Danger from what? Her?"

"Trust me, Ben," Nick added. "When Sonichu blinded Steve, she lost her fucking mind. If she wakes up, only a bullet to the head is gonna be able to stop her from killing everything in sight."

Ben hesitated, nodded, then turned to the group of mercenaries. "You heard them. Go! Go!" As the men hurried off, he drew a radio from his belt. "You guys want to tell me what's going on?"

"It's better if you don't know." Steve blindly held out a hand as Nick took the radio and switched it to Al's frequency, then handed it to the Manajerk. "Trust me, we're saving a lot of lives this way." He held the receiver to his ear and clicked it. "Honey Badger Command, this is Honey Badger Lead. Al, if you're sleeping, wake up. Now!"

"Steve! Steve, thank God!" shouted the Legend. "I've been waiting in an parking garage for the last six hours! Where are you? Did you make it to the Shopping Center?"

"We're in serious trouble, Al!" replied Steve. "I need you to drive to the CWCville Police Station. Don't ask, just do it. We got attacked by Sonichu, and Kuri reverted to Ker."

"Shit. Shit shit shit shit! Is she unconscious?"

"She won't be for long. We're all still alive, but you need to get over here, right now!"

"On my way!" Over the radio, Steve and Nick heard the sound of an engine starting up. "I'll be there in a few minutes! Stay together, and stay alive!"

---

Location unknown, 4:53 p.m.

"So, Mr. Mayor, you thought your friends would stop my rampage?" Kevin Shaw asked as he strode towards Christian Weston Chandler's battered and slightly singed body. "They were too weak to stand against me; I have turned your own Chaotic Combo against you and you are at my mercy!" He threw his head back and laughed evilly. "MWAHAHAHAHAHA! I win, you lose!"

"Y'a...Y'all have NOT won yet, Troll King!" countered Chris, rising to his feet and clasping his hands together. Kevin was a tough opponent, but no one could stand in the way of true, honest, heroic justice! "Tha Combo is sendin' me dere powers right now! Y'all have failed, Kevin!"

"What? That's impossible?" snarled the armored Jerkop, his eyes bulging in terror. "No! No!"

"Mm, yeah," gloated the Mayor. "Now I will make sure dat y'all do not give my CWCitizens tha stress any longer, ex...especially me! CURSE-YE-HA-ME-HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" cried Kevin, shaking his fists at the sky as the blue beam of light struck his armor and blasted it to pieces, leaving him standing in only a pair of polka-dot boxer shorts. "You broke my armor, you b******! I'll get you next time, Christian Weston Chandler!"

"You sure showed him, Chris!" exclaimed Allie Parker as she rushed over to the Mayor and embraced him. "Thanks for saving me from my psycho ex-boyfriend! I love you!"

"Wow Father; that was one heck of a showdown!" Sonichu zoomed to Chris's side and gave him a thumbs-up. "I am so sorry I ever doubted you for even a second! Now we can save Rosey and my kids from where that awful villain was keeping them prisoner!"

Before the Mayor could reply, Magi-Chan Sonichu and Silvana Rosechu teleported in, along with Rosechu, Cera Rosey, Christine Rosey, and Robbie Sonee. Overjoyed by the return of his family, Sonichu leapt forward and embraced Rosechu, kissing her passionately while the three children cheered in their adorable little voices. Magi-Chan and Silvana were holding hands – a True Love Couple to the end. As Sonichu and Rosechu broke apart, the sound of footsteps and flapping wings alerted Chris to the arrival of the Chaotic Combo, Patti-Chan, and Crystal.

"Hey guys!" Sonichu called out, happy to see that his friends were okay. "Where were you?"

"The trap worked; we were all just hiding our Power Levels so that we could rescue Sonichu's family while Kevin and his Jerkop minions all thought we were dead!" Wild Sonichu answered, patting out a tiny flame on his leaf tail. Simonla and Sandy had appeared with him, and both looked happy to see him alive.

"Yes, Shaw did indeed fall into my cunning trap," agreed Magi-Chan as he turned to Chris. "And Father, please forgive me for not answering your calls; it was the only way we could make sure that the Troll King would leave us alone and fight you instead!"

"And it was quite a Fight Night tonight!" laughed Punchy as the Combo and Sonichu's family broke into cheers and applause. "Let us hear it for Christian! Conglaturation!"

"Congratulations!" Bubbles Rosechu squealed.

"Congratulations!" Blake Sonichu said, placing an arm around his beloved's shoulder.

"Congratulations!" Wild and Simonla broke away from their kiss long enough to say.

"Congratulations!" Angelica announced with a gentle smile, and fluttered her wings.

"Congratulations!" Magi-Chan added, giving Silvana's hand a squeeze.

"Congratulations!" Crystal and Patti shouted simultaneously.

"Congratulations, sweetheart!" Allie cried, planting a kiss on Chris's cheek.

"CONGWATUWAYSHUNS, GWAMPA CHWIS!" screeched Robbie, Christine, and Cera.

"Congratulations!" Rosechu said sweetly, gathering the three children into her arms.

"Congratulations, Father!" Sonichu turned to Chris and offered him a hand. The Mayor shook it, beaming with pride at the adoration he deserved after so much hard work.

"Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations...congratu...con..."

Christian Weston Chandler awoke with an enormous smile plastered across his face, snuggling into the pile of singed, bloodstained blankets and pillows that covered the massive heart-shaped bed he'd been sleeping in. Impervious to the wind howling through the half-burned ruins of 14 Brunchville Lane and the distant sounds of war that had engulfed the streets of his beloved city, the Mayor of CWCville yawned and settled into a comfortable position on his back. If he knew one thing about dreams, it was that they would always, always tell him something important. Long ago, God and Jesus had come to him in a dream to tell him of his daughter-to-be, Crystal. Now, the Combo had come to him in a dream to reveal their secret plan to defeat Kevin Shaw!

There was no other explanation, but of course, Chris had figured it all out hours ago. He was smart enough to realize that the Combo were just hiding their Power Levels from everyone so that they could all appear together during the final battle and help him and Sonichu defeat Kevin Shaw and the PVCC. Only then would the Americans realize they had been brainwashed by the Troll King. Only then would Chris finally be able to hit Kevin's weak point for massive damage and defeat him. Only then would everyone be able to see Kevin for what he truly was...a coward!

Chris pushed back the blankets and squirmed his way out of Sonichu and Rosechu's bed. He still couldn't quite remember how he'd ended up here, but the events of the last six hours were slowly coming back. After Wild had escaped the Shopping Center and hidden his Power Level to keep Simonchu from finding him, Sandy, and Simonla, Chris had fought to save his Sweetheart from Kevin Shaw's evil brainwashing. But the villain hadn't counted on Allie being the new reincarnation of the Cherokian clan leader's wife, since that was the only way she could have ever turned into Liela Rosechu! Unfortunately, she was too brainwashed to realize that Chris was her boyfriend, and she'd confused him for Kevin during her rampage. Chris had to beat her within an inch of her life for her own good, but before he could un-brainwash her again, the Mall had begun to collapse and Liela had escaped, no doubt trying to return to her abusive ex-boyfriend.

Fortunately, Chris hadn't lost everything of value during the destruction of the Shopping Center and his office. The death of Patti-Chan had hit him the hardest, but he could always go back to her grave and collect more DNA to clone her again. He'd make her a lot more resistant to fire this time, and maybe he could get Dr. Bill Schwartz to build her a suit of mechanical armor, like one of the Samurai Pizza Bots. Yes, that was a good idea indeed.

As Chris stood up and adjusted his medallion and glasses, his bare foot nudged something hard and spherical, like a large glass ball. He looked down to see what looked like seven crystal Poké Balls strewn around the floor of the bedroom, each one a different color than the rest.

The Sonichu Ball Crystals!

A Victoria's Secret tote bag lay on the floor beside the balls, undoubtedly what he'd used to transport them to 14 Brunchville Lane. Chris hurriedly gathered the crystals as another memory surfaced. He'd collected the artifacts from the Shopping Center's atrium after Kevin had blown up his office like the dirty terrorist he was. Thankfully, none of the crystals had been consumed by Liela's magma, so retrieving them was simple. Without them, Chris would never have been able to turn himself into Collosal Chris-Chan and defeat Kevin once and for all!

There was no point in trying to contact Magi-Chan, Bubbles, Punchy, or Wild, since they had all confirmed in the dream that they were hiding their Power Levels. That left Sonichu and Angelica, though. Concentrating hard, Chris focused his mind onto the white Rosechu, and was greeted by an unexpected sight. Angelica stood in the middle of a raging battle, her sickle clanging against the bone blades of Kevin Shaw's gauntlets as dozens of EHPF officers and Shockers traded fire with a flood of Jerkops, Americans, and war-trained Pokémon. In the background, Son-Chu was locked in a ferocious battle against what could only be Dr. Robotnik's new superweapon, while Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Wes-Li Sonichu darted from fight to fight amidst the chaos. There was no sign of Sonichu, though.

Breaking off the mental link, Chris slung the Victoria's Secret bag over his shoulder and grabbed his medallion to transform into Chris-Chan Sonichu. His stomach growled loudly, and a dull pain shot through his abdomen. He hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, and since he'd crashed into slumber after the stressful events of that morning, his biological clock had been completely thrown out of sync. Angelica was more than capable of taking care of herself – the dream had proved it. If Kevin was too strong for her, she'd just hide her Power Level too and wait for the opportune moment to strike when the Troll King was least expecting it. Once Chris had gotten something to eat, he would be right over to help her. She'd understand, of course, that his biological needs were far more important than dealing with Kevin at the moment.

"Electric Hedgehog Power!" shouted Chris as he shifted into his Chris-Chan Sonichu form and dashed out of the smoldering ruin that had once been Sonichu and Rosechu's home. Dinner at McDonalds sounded like just the thing he needed to take his mind off of such a stressful day.

---

Central CWCville, Mal-Wart District, Wal-Mart MegaMart ruins, 5:00 p.m.

Lightning tore across Kevin's mask and helm, marking the armor with black streaks as Angelica channeled a Thundershock through her outstretched hand. Blinded by the flash, Kevin teleported out of the way and charged from the side, forcing the Rosechu to parry him with a Steel Wing. The hardened feathers screeched against the Jerkop's gauntlets, gouging a line of scratches into the bone. Angelica swung her sickle and locked the blade around Kevin's other hand, then drove her electricity-infused fist into his mask hard enough to send him stumbling back.

"Is that the best you can do, Shaw?" she laughed, drawing back for another Steel Wing. "Lucifer has forsaken you! The Lo0rd smiles upon me, heretic!"

Kevin grabbed at the extended wing with one hand while summoning a psychic blast with the other. Angelica dodged the claws easily, but the violet wave exploded in her face, catapulting her into the air. Tracking his target, Kevin unleashed a beam of energy that would have torn the Rosechu in half had she not unfurled her wings and moved out of the way. With a shriek, she spun in midair and swooped down to deliver a powerful dropkick to her foe. Kevin teleported a meter away just as Angelica hit the ground, then swung his gauntlet down for a crippling strike.

The silver sickle spun in Angelica's hand, almost lazily blocking the blades. Before Kevin could recover, the Rosechu whirled upon him, driving him back as a nearby tank swiveled its turret and began raking both combatants with machine gun fire. Angelica took to the sky, leaving Kevin to absorb most of the bullets until the tank's gunner realized his target was no longer there. A bolt of lightning slammed down into the Abrams from above, followed swiftly by the vengeful Rosechu. Cursing, Kevin teleported and tackled Angelica off the tank before she could massacre its crew. Two EHPF officers Spin Dashed him from behind, but the Jerkop beheaded one with a swipe of his gauntlet and blasted the other apart with a psychic bolt. Angelica, taking advantage of this distraction, resumed her assault and slammed Kevin into the side of the tank.

A heavy bullet rebounded off the Abrams' armor, followed by the echo of a gunshot two seconds later. Angelica leapt aside as another shot slammed into the tank, nearly clipping her wing. Far away across the battlefield, Nate's Barrett roared, blasting the Rosechu with a barrage of .50 caliber rounds and giving Kevin enough time to recover.
Half a football field away, Armoraxe and Son-Chu were locked in a truly titanic battle against the Egg Juggernaut, which was proving to be more than a match for both Samurai Pizza Bots. All three of the mechs had abandoned their comrades on the ground and were now churning the Wal-Mart into a field of craters with each crashing blow and every devastating punch. Robotnik's pride and joy had taken its fair share of damage, but it was giving back everything the two enemy mechs had sent its way, and then some. Its colossal arms and fists moved with surprising speed and accuracy, landing crippling hits on its opponents and countering or blocking each retaliatory blow. All the while, Robotnik's maniacal laughter and jeering insults blasted across the battlefield, transmitted through the array of loudspeakers around the Juggernaut's face.

"You call this a fight?" taunted the doctor. "Face me, you oversized piles of used car parts!"

Enraged, Armoraxe strummed a deafening chord on its guitar and raised the instrument to attack, but lightning suddenly seared across its face. Wes-Li Sonichu, Sonic, Amy, Tails, and Knuckles dashed across the battleground towards their towering opponent as bullets and Thunderbolts snapped back and forth around them. Son-Chu took aim at the Needlemouse team with its plasma cannon, but Robotnik's hand closed around its arm and wrenched it aside just as the mech fired. The shot impacted just a few meters from where Kevin and Angelica were dueling, sending up a blue plume of flame and blowing a large crater into the ground.

As flames engulfed his armor, Kevin fought to keep his eyes on his enemy. The white Rosechu took to the air, wisely avoiding the heat of the blast. What she didn't expect was the violet lightning that ripped through the air around her and set her feathers and fur alight. Quickly extinguishing the fire, she dropped to the ground and yelled an order to the nearest group of EHPF that she could see. The Sonichus charged Kevin with a heroic yell while Angelica retreated to let her healing ability take over. Before the Jerkop could deal with this new threat, two of the Electric Hedgehog Pokémon's heads messily exploded as a well-placed shot from Nate tore through their skulls. Kevin fired bolt after bolt at the incoming chus, exploding another three before the survivors reached him. Shrugging off the salvo of lightning, Kevin closed his eyes and teleported past the Sonichus, but not before unleashing a lethal psychic wave. The Jerkop vanished in a vortex of arcane energy, shredding the EHPF squad into a shower of red rain. Angelica had only a moment to gasp before Kevin was on her again, hurling an energy bolt and charging with a bloodcurdling roar.

"Murderer!" snarled the Combo member as she dodged the projectile and swept forward to engage the Jerkop. "Demon! Heretic! In the Lo0rd's name, I cast thee out, Satan!"

Kevin teleported a moment before Angelica struck. The Rosechu halted and looked around, only to realize that a shadow had appeared overhead. With a terrified scream, she covered herself with her wings and activated her Protect ability just as an entire Abrams tank crashed down on top of her. Kevin landed on the empty vehicle, driving his armored fists into its hull and pushing it deeper and deeper into the ground on top of Angelica. Looking up at the battle around him, he zeroed in on the pillar of smoke from where the ARK pod had crashed. The Abrams would keep Angelica occupied for at least a few seconds more. It was now or never. He had to get to SUZI.

A giant blue foot slammed down beside him, breaking the Jerkop's concentration. Surprised, Kevin looked up to see Armoraxe swatting at itself as if plagued by flies. The buzz of a heavy autocannon filled the air, and the Samurai Pizza Bot's arm burst with sparks as the explosive rounds tore through its reinforced plating. An A-10 Thunderbolt shot past, followed by the sound of whirling rotors as two Apache attack helicopters swooped in to help the Juggernaut. Angelica was trapped and unable to fly, so the Americans were finally clear to send in their aircraft again. Bullets and rockets rained down among the EHPF, churning the field into an explosive killzone as more Apaches and Black Hawks appeared to support the soldiers and Jerkops on the ground.

What Kevin was more concerned with, though, were the five colored blurs zooming back and forth to attack Armoraxe. Sonic, Amy, and Wes-Li were doing the most damage, darting through the hulking mech's frantic defenses to target its weakened joints. Knuckles leapt around its feet, dealing punch after punch across its legs and calves as the Samurai Pizza Bot staggered around. Tails was still airborne, hovering in circles around Armoraxe as he blasted its face with his arm cannon. Yet despite the rain of blows, the mech still hadn't gone down. How was it able to-

Shield, Kevin realized as he watched one of Wes-Li Sonichu's Thunderbolts rebound off a nearly invisible barrier around the giant robot. Of course...the only way they'd been able to damage the Samurai Pizza Bot was with the Battle Bus's plasma cannon...or a beam of psychic energy!

Without hesitation, Kevin reached out with both hands and unleashed a solid ray of violet at the staggering mech. This time, there was nothing standing in his way. The arcane lance seared across Armoraxe's shield and carried straight on through its damaged arm. The severed limb hit the ground, taking the giant electric guitar with it.

"Holy cow! Great shot, Kev!" yelled Sonic as he grabbed Amy's hand and leaped off the mech. "We've got this clunker now! Come on, guys, let's take it down together!"

"CHAIN ATTACK!" roared Knuckles. "Sonic, Tails, Amy, everyone on me! GO! GO! GO!"

As if connected by some sort of mental link, the Needlemouse team immediately assembled into attack formation and charged with a yell. Before Armoraxe could recover from the loss of its arm and instrument, Tails had grabbed Amy and hoisted her into the air. Sonic curled into a ball and began spinning around in place as Knuckles swung a fist and launched him skyward at Amy. As the two hedgehogs collided and grabbed hold of each other, Tails threw them both at Armoraxe, then dropped down and grabbed the echidna as well. The whirling pink and blue blur smashed into the mech's chest, shattering its outer plating and speakers in a blast of static and feedback. Releasing their grip on each other's hands, Sonic and Amy split apart and began battering the weakened armor with all of their might. Knuckles glided in and drove both of his spiked fists straight through the second layer of armor, peeling it back to expose the unprotected machinery beneath. As Armoraxe struggled to throw off the three animals, Tails and Wes-Li Sonichu swept in out of nowhere and unloaded a volley of lightning and arm cannon blasts into the robot's core.

With an earthshaking blast and a shriek of feedback, Armoraxe's head and upper torso exploded, knocking all five of its attackers away as a shower of sparks cascaded over the battlefield. The mech wobbled briefly, then collapsed in a massive heap. A series of internal detonations tore it apart from within, reducing the once-mighty robot's chassis to a pile of burning scrap metal.

A clatter of metal sounded from behind Kevin. Turning around, he was horrified to see Angelica burst out of the rubble, her fur streaked in dirt and oil from the destroyed tank. A shot from Nate clanged off the edge of the Abrams, barely missing the Rosechu as she let out a vicious scream and flew towards Kevin. To the Jerkop's surprise, a bolt of lightning seared past him, raking Angelica with bioelectricity. A moment later, Wes-Li Sonichu hurled himself at the Rosechu and tackled her just as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy zoomed in to help their comrade. Knocking Wes aside, Angelica whirled her sickle and charged the Needlemouse team with a cry of fury.

"GET BACK HERE, YOU NO-GOOD SCRRRRRRRAPNIK!" roared Robotnik as Son-Chu fired the thrusters on its tires to evade the Juggernaut's latest punch. Two hydraulic panels opened on the massive mech's shoulders to reveal a dual battery of rockets. "Time for a change of pace!"

"We got this, Kev!" Sonic yelled, rolling into a Homing Attack as Angelica countered Amy and Knuckles's strikes with a pair of Steel Wings. "We got this! Get your-"

Kevin heard the sonic boom coming a second before it struck. Frantically teleporting out of harm's way, he found himself surrounded by a dozen arcs of electricity at once that churned the ground into a charred, ashen field of rubble. As the lightning subsided, Sonichu leapt from the center of the explosion and Thunderpunched him in the face before he could react, splintering Kevin's horned helm like brittle glass. Too stunned to move, the Jerkop felt his body leave the ground as an Iron Tail caught him in the abdomen. Pain and cold air enveloped him instantly, and the bone plating cracked down the middle, exposing his torso to the elements. In the back of his mind, he could feel Count Graduon fighting to seal the breach, but Sonichu's attack had nearly wrecked the ancient armor. Unable to slow his fall, he braced himself and hit the ground, then rose to his feet and teleported back just in time to catch the Hero of CWCville with an uppercut from out of nowhere. Just before Sonichu could recover and retaliate with another charged Thunderpunch, a Steel Wing unfurled in front of him, knocking him aside.

"MINE, SONICHU!" Angelica shrieked. "SHAW IS MINE! GODJESUS HAS TOLD ME TO-"

The Rosechu's yell instantly gave way to a sound somewhere between a scream and an orgasm as a spray of blood exploded from her arm. Shocked, Kevin leapt back just before the whirling silver scythe embedded itself in the ground at his feet. Angelica's hand still gripped the weapon, but there was nothing but a bloody wound at the place where her wrist would have been. Nate had landed a one in a million shot, taking off the Combo member's entire right hand.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" Angelica shuddered with delight and pain, clutching the ragged stump of her hand as she unfurled her wings and flapped them downward. A powerful gust of wind swept over Kevin, kicking up a cloud of dust and blocking his view. When it finally settled, the White Reaper was gone, and Sonichu was fighting all of Strike Team Needlemouse at the same time. Fueled by what seemed like pure rage, the Hero of CWCville almost didn't seem to notice Sonic, Tails, Amy, or Knuckles as he fought through the multicolored storm. His eyes were locked on to Kevin alone, and the Jerkop knew, in that one moment, that nothing would stand in his way.

"SHAW!" roared Sonichu, punching Knuckles in the face and whirling around to counter Amy's hammer swing with an Iron Tail of his own. "THIS IS THE END, YOU BASTARD! YOU AND ME, ONE ON ONE, TO THE DEATH! IT ENDS TONIGHT, SHAW! IT ENDS TONIGHT!"

"RUN, YOU IDIOT!" Wes-Li Sonichu yelled, clutching a gash in his side as he stumbled to his knees beside a wrecked Humvee. "KEVIN, RUN! GET OUT OF HERE NOW!"

Cursing, Kevin teleported away as Sonichu's scream of anger echoed behind him. To his right, Son-Chu raised its arms to counter an overhead strike from the Egg Juggernaut, but the immense red and yellow mech lifted a foot and kicked it in the abdomen, sending it staggering back just as Robotnik launched all of his rockets. Son-Chu disappeared in a dozen fireballs, seemingly incinerated. The smoke and fire cleared, and the mech hit the ground in a smoldering heap as Robotnik laughed victoriously.

"Ho ho! I always knew that shield was compensating for something!" gloated the doctor as he stood over his defeated foe. "And to think I once had such high hopes for your line! I should have expected as much from the prrrroduct of some second-rrrrrrate rrrroboticist like Schwa-"

Son-Chu moved with surprising speed, rising from the battlefield and fastening its hands around the Juggernaut's head. Robotnik let out a yell of surprise and staggered back, but the damage had been done. The Juggernaut's cockpit was cracked and dented, and sparks flew from its mustache.

"That's a nice toy you've built, Ivo," growled the Samurai Pizza Bot through its own speakers as Dr. Bill Schwartz's fractured AI wirelessly leapt into Son-Chu's mainframe. Though Kevin had no idea of what had happened aboard CWCSPACE I or on the Moon, he instantly recognized the traitorous scientist's voice. "Too bad I'm going to have to break it. But after the shit I've been through today, cracking you wide open might be just what I need!" He paused. "But first..."

Son-Chu turned toward the ARK pod and raised its plasma cannon. Realizing what was about to happen, Kevin teleported again, this time right to the edge of the crash site. As the blue sphere of energy sizzled toward the metal capsule, the Jerkop summoned up every ounce of energy he could gather and unleashed a psychic shield around the entire thing. The plasma blast slammed into him with such force that he felt the bone plates crumble around him. It had served him well, but Graduon's armor was nearly gone. Panting, Kevin looked around to see what had happened.

The second shot struck moments later, shattering his armor, breaking his shield, and hurling him through the air as blue fire consumed the pod.

"Pathetic," Son-Chu sneered. "All that effort gone to waste. You can't kill me, not even with your oh-so-powerful Juggernaut. As long as I have my Son-Chu, I am beyond you, inferior oaf!"

"My dear Doctor Schwartz!" Robotnik retorted as he and the last Samurai Pizza Bot faced off. Behind them, more and more American soldiers poured toward the frontline, raking the chus with bullets and hurling Poké Balls as Aggrons, Rhyhorns, and Golems materialized to attack the EHPF army. "Composite frame, strrreamline physical structure, conductive nanofiber muscular system with motion-assisting servos..." He scoffed. "Imprrrressive, but imprrrrractical for something so big! Billy, you blockheaded buffoon, you've made this all too easy for me!"

Son-Chu advanced, firing its plasma cannon as it stomped towards the Egg Juggernaut. A rocket impacted against its side, but was blocked by the mech's heavy armor. With an irritated growl, it charged Robotnik, planting giant craters into the battlefield with every footstep.

"Even as a ghost in a shell, you're still the same shoddy excuse for a science nerd I met all those years ago!" Robotnik braced himself for the inevitable impact. "All systems, rrrredirect power to prrrrrimary cannon! Stabilize limb actuators for MAXIMUM PENETRRRRRRRATION!"

The colossal mech straightened up as two locks released above its groin. A metal plate swung down on a hinge, revealing a ring of six massive barrels. Son-Chu was only twenty feet from its target when the weapon suddenly extended with surprising speed and force, smashing it in the chest and piercing its outer layer of armor. The barrels began to spin like a minigun, throbbing with energy as the Samurai Pizza Bot frantically tried to pull itself free of the massive cannon.

"What?" Son-Chu gasped. "What...what is this nonsense, Robotnik? What have you done?"

"Imprrressed, Doctor?" jeered Robotnik. "It's my newest anti-armor weapon! I call it the Particle Ionization Nanowave Gatling Assault System, but for you...well..." He chuckled. "I suppose I might just consider rrrrrrrenaming it 'The Schwartz' after today's events! FIRE!"

SHOOOOOOM! Son-Chu shuddered as a blinding beam of energy burst from the P.I.N.G.A.S.'s six barrels, piercing straight through its armor and out the other side of its chassis. A second later, the Samurai Pizza Bot exploded, its head and arms sailing away from its vaporized torso. The ray of light sailed off through the city and disappeared into the evening sky, painting the clouds with a white flash for a split second. Gushing smoke, Son-Chu's remains hit the ground, with its head lying mere meters away.

Kevin sat up just in time to witness the fall of the last Samurai Pizza Bot. His head throbbed with pain, and he felt as if he'd just been through a week of military training in a mere thirty seconds. Coughing, he dragged himself to his feet, but to his horror, the bone plates had crumbled away. The Sawabian armor was falling apart around him, taking his psychic power with it.

"The weapon!" Graduon ordered, its voice echoing in his head. "Get to the capsule! Take the weapon!"

"Wha...what...weapon?" Kevin took a step and nearly collapsed from fatigue. By some miracle, or perhaps due to his shield, the ARK escape pod was still intact. "Graduon, what's happening?"

"Too damaged..." whispered the spirit. "I can only channel so much before the armor gives out. What lies in that pod...is the weapon the PVCC wants to retrieve."

"Jesus." The Jerkop stared at the smoking wreck. "That's what's inside?"

"I cannot protect you without it!" Graduon shouted. "Run, young one! We must reach the pod!"

"Kevin! Kevin, where are you?"

"Nate!" Kevin staggered toward the pod as he wrenched the radio off his shoulder strap. "Nate, I'm at the crash site where SUZI landed! What's wrong?"

"Oh God, it's her." Nate sounded terrified by something, and his voice was little more than a fearful whisper. "Angelica. She found the truck. I'm hiding under it, but she..."

"Fuck! Nate, don't move! Don't move!" Hurling the radio away, Kevin clenched his fists and gathered together all the adrenaline he could muster. The pod was only a few dozen meters away. Yelling in anger, he sprinted across the battlefield as flashes of lightning leapt through the air next to him. Gunfire answered the Sonichus as a trio of Humvees pulled up alongside him and stopped to lay down covering fire towards the EHPF. Ignoring the soldiers, Kevin stumbled over a slab of rubble and continued onward.

It didn't make sense. How could Angelica have found Nate? He was too far out of the way for her to have seen him, and he had even managed to blow the Rosechu's hand off! Pushing the question aside, Kevin ran as he'd never run before. All sounds had vanished from the world, all but the frantic beating of his heart. Adrenaline surged through him, carrying him from one step to the next and dulling the pain in his head and lungs. Ten meters. Only ten more meters...

The pod loomed ahead, its surface covered in soot and debris. Kevin dropped over the edge of the crater and fell, sliding down the rest of the way to the pod's access hatch. Grabbing the emergency release latch, he gave it a sharp pull.

"WOOHOO!" The release hatch clicked, opening the pod as SUZI unlatched it and jetted out to hug Kevin. "Hi there, Kevin! I went to spaaaaAAAAaaaace!"

"I don't care! I don't care!" Kevin pushed the LIESA away and stormed into the pod. It was small, cramped, and lit by a single red light. "Graduon, where's the armor?"

"There," Graduon announced, though it wasn't talking to Kevin. "At last."

"I do not understand how we are communicating," an artificial voice responded. Kevin turned to see something that resembled a statue of Sonichu lying against the wall. Its visor lit up with two red circles, and as the Jerkop's eyes adjusted, he saw what was speaking. "What are you?"

"I am the key to your mission," explained the ancient spirit. "Your final task. To kill Sonichu. You are powered by the energy of the seven Chaos Emeralds. I created them in the distant past. By combining your Chaos drives with my human conduit, you will be more powerful than any creature on this planet...perhaps even more powerful than your target himself."

The mech stared blankly at Kevin for another moment. "Your proposal is acceptable." As the Jerkop watched in amazement, its body and limbs stiffened into a T-shape, extending out to match the length and width of Kevin's limbs and torso. The array of power cells and circuits in its torso rapidly rearranged themselves as the chestplate opened up, revealing a network of sensors and a mechanical cradle built to house a single human. "Assume the position."

Kevin hesitated. This was what Graduon had been talking about? This was the weapon that the PVCC had been trying to retrieve? All this time, the spirit's plan had been to get its metaphorical hands on Metal Sonichu and channel its energy through the mechanized armor?

"There is not much time," Graduon urged as the Jerkop placed his arms and legs inside of Metal Sonichu. "You have done well, child of Asila. At last, we may yet stand a fighting chance."

"Come on! Come on!" Kevin urged as the armor automatically sealed around him. The massive head slid down to cover his face, and Metal Sonichu's visor turned red, giving him a full heads-up display of the inside of the pod. SUZI hovered in front of him and waved, curious as to what had happened to her squadmate and why her new friend looked a lot taller than before.

"Calibrating systems for manual override," announced Metal Sonichu. "Rerouting auxiliary power source directly to core. Stand by."

"No! We need to go, now!" yelled Kevin, thrashing in the cradle as the sensors closed in around him. "Graduon, just teleport me to Nate! GO! GO NOW!"

"As you wish," the ancient spirit answered as the air shimmered around Kevin. The void closed in, pulling him and the mech through the space between worlds. As Kevin materialized on the battlefield again, the mechanism around his neck and chest clicked, and suddenly he could move his head to look around. The truck sat before him, but there was no sign of Nate or Angelica.

"Well, well," a voice hissed from above. "How unexpected. We meet at last, Metal Sonichu. Christian has told me so much about you, and what became of you. I thought you had learned your lesson all those years ago."

"Target identified," announced Metal Sonichu as Angelica Rosechu dropped to the ground in front of it. To Kevin's horror, the Rosechu had wrapped one of her wings around Nate, immobilizing the Jerkop. The sickle gleamed in her left hand, its blade caressing Nate's neck. "Angelica Rosechu. Chaotic Combo member. Extreme caution advised."

"LET HIM GO, ANGELICA!" roared Kevin, surprising both the Rosechu and her prisoner. "YOU WANT TO KILL ME? LET HIM GO AND WE CAN END THIS, RIGHT NOW!"

"What..." Angelica looked stunned. "Shaw?"

"Buy us some time to finish," Graduon ordered in desperation. "Keep her talking, young one!"

"That's right, bitch." Kevin glared at the Rosechu, praying that Metal Sonichu's calibrations were almost done. If he moved quickly, he could teleport Nate to safety before Angelica could slit his throat. "We're alone. Fair and square. Let my brother go and we'll see if your GodBear wants you to live or die today."

"Your...wait..." Angelica's eyes widened as she looked down at Nate, and a wicked smile formed on her face. "Your brother, Shaw? This Jerkop coward...is your brother?"

Fuck. FUCK. FUCK! Kevin realized his mistake too late to recover. "Yes, he is! Every Jerkop is my brother, and every Janekop my sister! We fight as brothers and sisters!"

"Oh?" The sadistic Rosechu lifted her sickle and slid the blade down Nate's cheek, drawing blood. Kevin had to fight with every ounce of his willpower to keep from breaking down into horrified sobs. "Is that so, Shaw? How deluded you must be, to think that your unholy brainwashing could force the citizens of CWCville to think of you as their brother! But...such temptation must be cleansed."

"He can't hurt you anymore," pleaded Kevin. "You can take him to Chandler and have the brainwashing removed. Just let him go, Angelica. Arceus, please let him go!"

"Arceus?" Angelica grinned and drew her sickle away from Nate's throat, as if considering the Jerkop's offer. "Your false god is no more, Shaw. There is no Arceus. There is only the Bear."

"Fuck! Kevin!" Nate yelled, struggling out of Angelica's grip long enough to call out to his brother. "Kevin, just kill her! Kill h-AAAAGGGGHHHH!"

"NO!" Kevin screamed. He fought to move, but his arms and legs were locked in place. "NATE! NAAAAAAAAATE!"

"In the name of the Father," Angelica giggled, slashing a vertical cut down the middle of Nate's chest. Raising her sickle sideways, she added a shorter horizontal slice to form a horrific cross. "...the Son, and the Holy Bear! Judgment awaits those who defy the will of the Lo0rd, heretic!"

The silver blade plunged into its final resting place, directly at the center of the bloody cross. With an anguished roar, Kevin flung out his arm just as the last stage of Metal Sonichu's manual override activated and freed his limbs. Angelica only had time to pull her weapon free before a wave of violet light blasted her away. Hurling himself at his brother, Kevin caught Nate just as he collapsed to the ground. Blood poured down the Jerkop's chest, and a dark stain was spreading across his shirt.

"NATE! FUCK, NATE, DON'T YOU FUCKING DIE!" sobbed Kevin, hurriedly ripping open his brother's shirt to expose the hideous wound. "Arceus, no! Graduon, help! Help him!"

"Kevin." Nate reached up and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Kevin...it's okay."

"No! No, it's not fucking okay!" The Jerkop slammed his fist against the ground next to Nate. "Not now! I can't just let you die now! Not this way! Not here!"

"It's...it's okay, Kevin," repeated Nate. Blood trickled from his mouth, and his eyes had grown distant. "You...you're going to be all right. You're going to...be all right."

"No. No, I'm not." Tears began to appear on Kevin's HUD screen. "I lost Frank. I lost Jake. I lost Matt. I lost Zoey and Amanda. I lost Kel. I lost Allie. I can't lose you too!"

"Kevin." Nate fixed his brother with a no-nonsense stare. "Kevin, listen. Don't you fucking snap. You've come too far...to stop now. I want you to promise me something." He took a deep breath and coughed. "Pr...promise me that you'll see this...all the way to the end. Promise me you won't stop...until it's over. Promise me you'll tell Mom and Dad everything. Tell them...tell them what we did."

"I will." The Jerkop slid the visor back over his head, allowing him to look into his brother's eyes as the life faded from them. "I promise, Nate. I...I will."

Nate smiled, closed his eyes, and lay still. Kevin knelt beside him until the end, then rose to his feet and closed his visor. Silently, he turned to the white, winged figure that had been watching.

"Why do you weep, Shaw?" Angelica smirked. "I have delivered the GodBear's divine justice to your brother. Now, your time has come. As you said, we have unfinished b-"

Kevin struck faster than the eye could follow, smashing into the Rosechu before she could finish her taunt. Angelica screamed and opened her wings as she was flung through the air, but Kevin had left the ground as well. Borne aloft by Metal Sonichu's thrusters, he wrenched Angelica down as they plowed through the side of the CWCville Central Highway and tumbled onto the road. Kevin leapt up and shot towards Angelica, hurling a punch that nearly broke the sound barrier as it collided with her stomach. Several ribs splintered, driving the air from the Rosechu's lungs as she spun through the air and into with a building at the edge of the Get-Tar District. Kevin leapt over the side of the highway and teleported right through the building, reappearing right in front of her to deliver a shattering uppercut. Angelica crashed through the ceiling, but didn't stop. Floor by floor, she toppled higher and higher as Kevin grabbed her from below and pushed her through each story of the apartment building. Just when she was sure her spine was about to snap, they burst through the roof in a shower of plaster. Moaning in pain and ecstasy, Angelica hit the ground, shaking the debris from her feathers and fur as Kevin touched down on the roof.

"You...you are nothing, Shaw!" she spat, gripping her sickle in her remaining hand. "But the Lo0rd is with me! God and Jesus and the Bear have shown me what is to come!"

"ANGELICA!" Kevin and Angelica turned toward the shout, just as Chris-Chan Sonichu leaped onto the roof from an adjacent building. The Mayor's blue fur was encrusted with ketchup and mustard, he was panting hard, and a Victoria's Secret bag hung from his shoulder, but it was still him."Tha...ugh...tha dang McDonalds was closed an' I had ta get something ta munch on before I could help y'all with tha final battle against Kevin! But now dat I am full, tha fight is on!"

"You...you knew that Sonichu and I were fighting Shaw?" Angelica stared at the Mayor in bewilderment. "You knew all this time...and you went to get McDonalds instead?"

"Well, I was HUNGRY!" sighed the Mayor. "Y'all should know dat I do not perform well under pre...under lots of tha stress, an' bein' hungry does not help at all with dat! I..."

"Christian." The Rosechu narrowed her eyes, glaring at Chandler in utter disappointment. "This is my fight. Not yours. Mine. GodJesus has told me that I am to defeat Shaw."

"NO NO NO!" Chandler shouted, stomping his foot. "Y'all do not get to decide who or what GodJesus tells you, Angelica Rosechu! Kevin Francis Shaw is MY Rival, an' I will-"

Kevin moved. Before the Mayor or Angelica knew what had happened, he had charged up to the Rosechu and locked his armored gauntlets around his opponent's torso. Angelica let out a surprised yell as the ground vanished beneath her and her ears filled with the deafening rush of wind. Kevin concentrated, gripping the Rosechu with all his strength as they plunged through the layer of grey clouds over CWCville and continued on higher and higher, into the icy grip of the winter sky. Angelica screamed and thrashed and struggled, slashing with her sickle and scraping the blade against Metal Sonichu's helm and shoulders to no avail. Frost formed across the visor, and it was soon hard for Kevin to see through the white tendrils that had spread over his eyes.

Suddenly, the clouds were gone, and the world had instead become enveloped in the beautiful orange glow of sunset. Flapping her wings in panic, Angelica managed to wriggle around in her foe's grasp and begin a counterattack, even as the air grew colder and thinner around them. Steel Wings and vicious punches clanged against the powered armor, but Graduon was able to absorb all but the strongest blows. Struggling to stay on course, Kevin watched his HUD's altimeter tick past ten kilometers in a seconds and climb towards eleven. Higher. He needed to go higher.

Firing all thrusters downward, the Jerkop felt his armor vibrating as gusts of wind buffeted him and Angelica like paper dolls in a hurricane. The Rosechu's feathers had begun to freeze, and despite her frantic assault, her strength was waning. Yet she persisted, gasping and pounding at Kevin as they passed the stratosphere. The ground lay twenty kilometers below, and they were moving faster, with less resistance as the air grew thinner and thinner. Kevin knew he was almost at the point of no return, but if his plan was going to work, he would have to go to the very edge.

"YOU CANNOT...DEFEAT ME...SHAW!" Angelica shrieked breathlessly, her voice little more than a strangled gasp in the void. "I AM...A WARRIOR OF GOD AND JESUS! MY...MY SOUL IS ETERNAL! YOU CANNOT WIN...VILE SERVANT OF LUCIFER!"

That's it. Waste your breath. Kevin pushed onward, drawing upon Graduon's arcane energy to power Metal Sonichu's Chaos drives. Below, he could see the east coast of the United States, stretching all the way from Florida to Maine, and beside that lay the vast Atlantic Ocean. The altimeter had just passed forty kilometers, and Angelica was all but breathless now. Even with her accelerated healing, she couldn't survive in a total vacuum. Nothing could.

Forty-five...forty-six...forty-seven...forty-eight...

"LO0RD GRANT ME STRENGTH!" screamed Angelica, choking on vacuum as her voice was snatched away. "HEAVENLY BEAR, LOOK UPON YOUR FAITHFUL SERV-"

Forty-nine.

Releasing his grip on Angelica, Kevin reached out with both hands and fastened them around the base of the Rosechu's feathered, frozen wings. He was getting lightheaded and dizzy, but he couldn't stop. Everything depended on this one battle. He couldn't let Angelica escape with her life again. It all had to end here. It all had to end now.

Fifty.

Angelica's face contorted into a silent scream as Kevin wrenched backwards, tearing her wings from her shoulders in a spray of bloody drops that froze as soon as they struck the airless expanse around them. Turning himself around, he hurled the severed wings away and fastened both of his gauntlets around Angelica's throat. Fire surrounded the Rosechu as she and Kevin fell, tumbling over and over towards the ground.

For the first time in many, many years, Angelica felt a twinge of doubt through the immense pain and unbearable cold. Why had GodJesus allowed this to happen? He had told her that she would defeat Shaw! Why had he lied? She had been faithful! She had been virtuous! She had spread the gospel of God and the Bear to the heretics and blasphemers of CWCville! Those who refused to accept His teachings had faced the judgment of the Lo0rd. But if she'd done everything right, then why had she been crippled? Was this a test of her faith? Yes! Yes, of course it was a test!

"Our Father," she prayed as she felt her body turn to ashes, "who art in Heaven...hallowed be thy name...thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth...as it is in-"

Angelica screamed. Fire. She was on fire. Her skin blistered and blackened, her fur vaporized off her back, and her flesh sloughed and peeled away layer by agonizing layer. Metal Sonichu's steel claws gripped her like an inescapable cage, forcing her further through the atmosphere as she continued to burn. Her wings were gone. Her limbs were gone. All she was now was a blistered torso and head, hurtling through space as the fires of heaven consumed her writhing body. Just before her eyes boiled and burst like grapes in a microwave, the very last thing she ever saw was Kevin Shaw pressing his visor against her face to hiss the last words she would ever hear.

"For Nate."

Angelica let out a cry of terror. In the moment before her soul was snatched from her burning corpse by a bladed tentacle and dragged into the same hellish realm of pain and pleasure that she had glimpsed before, she was struck by a vision of a radiant white and gold creature. It towered over her, watching her with two pairs of green eyes before vanishing into the ethereal void.

In that moment, Angelica Rosechu realized just how well and truly damned she was.

Alone again, Kevin fell in silence as Angelica's body crumbled away and was lost to the wind. It was over. For all he cared, the war was over. He was done. He'd cheated both Sonichu and Chandler out of their vengeance, killed a Combo member, and brought down the Mayor's regime. But at what cost? Nate was dead. His older brother, the brother he'd known, loved, and looked up to since birth, lay dead, killed because Kevin had been too hasty, too power-hungry, too eager to carry out his revenge. Allie was gone too, for the exact same reason. What did he have left? His brother was dead. His girlfriend had turned against him. The Honey Badgers were dead. Everyone he'd fought for was dead, and he had nothing to show for it but a handful of ash.

Kevin Shaw closed his eyes and allowed gravity to take him. He had done his job. It was time to let go.

When the end came, he would welcome it with open arms.