Author's Note:
Let me first sincerely apologize and graciously thank you all. I made a promise to get this final chapter out before the end of summer and I failed. I could make excuses but the fact still stands. And for that I appreciate you all sticking through for the long run. This has definitely been the longest writing project I've ever endured and it has given me great practice and improvement over the past two and a half years since I started. Well over 180,000 words, I think it is safe to say I have completed my first novel. Just one step further in my progression of publishing a few books I have ideas for - with that being said PLEASE take half a second to vote on the poll on my profile. It will help a lot.
I don't mean to ramble as I tend to do so I present to you, the final installment to "Still A Need For Heroes". Let me know what you all think and forever and always,
Read, Review, and ENJOY!
Still a Need for Heroes
Chapter 29: Still a Need for Heroes:
Part 3: Days of Fury
"You… you unpalatable mongrels! What have you done? What have you done to my dear Gregory?!" Hook's words arose from unseen speakers and echoed through the large and presently silent room. The group turned and looked up toward the rafters as if they'd find the man there himself. "My dear son…" He said with devastation in his voice.
"The kid was your son?" Sonic asked, being one of the many who had no idea.
"You're even more of a sick bastard than I thought if you put your own son to all this." Shadow sneered.
"I would have never put him up to any of this if it was not his choice to do so." The stuttering and sniveling in his voice only spoke of sincerity. Some of the more sympathetic members of the group felt small pangs of pity. A sniffle was even heard from Bunnie. "After I took him in, he begged me to help avenge his biological family after you animals killed them with your unnatural legionizing and deadly Eggman conflicts…" But the man's tone suddenly changed. "Why am I consoling in grievance with you monsters?! Perish! Perish in the uprising fires!" A few background noises were heard that must have been coming from Hook's end as he hadn't stopped whatever sound system he was using to communicate. "Gregory… I loved you as my own." He was heard mumbling. "I'll miss you."
But whether there was more under-the-breath confessions from Hook, the troupe wouldn't know because just then three of the outlying doors to their currently location flung open and an army of E-100 series appeared.
"Out of the frying pan," Tails quirked.
"And into the fire." Bunnie finished the old saying as they gathered up and got ready for round two.
…
"Espio? Espio, come in…" Nicole continued to try to reach the chameleon. Her tone held a little bit of distress.
"Still no word from them Nicole?" Sally asked. Her facial expression however said more than her words as she was starting to really question Nicole's connection with Espio. It couldn't be by chance she seemed to only try and address to him and not anyone else.
"Unfortunately no. I hope they're alright. I haven't heard from him since they made it to that service elevator."
"I'm sure they're fine. They have some of our best fighters with them." Saffron comforted as she too had concern.
"I hope." Nicole mumbled, to which brought only more curiosity to Sally.
"They're fine." Rouge blurted out in confident annoyance. "Now can we get back to the task at hand? How much further until we get to this energy source?"
"Huh? Oh. I'm sensing the signal is getting stronger which means we are on the right track, but since I do not know the total amplitude of the energy output I'm picking up, for all I can configure it could be either right around the corner or another long trek away." The lynx said as she was projected in front of the group as they continued to walk down a long corridor. "On the plus side, I haven't picked up anything that could bring about immediate dan–"
"Great." Julie-su huffed, figuring what was up next. "What's with the pause." She demanded with a simultaneous rolling of her eyes.
"Brace yourselves. We have company." Nicole squinted as she peered ahead of the group down a long hallway.
"Company. I don't suppose ze are ze 'coffee and crumpets' kind, non?" Antoine said jokingly as he was drawing out his sword. Immediately, a barrage of assaulting fire came from the hallway. The groups dove to the sides to find whatever cover they could hide behind.
"G-g-guess not." Ray said as he and Antoine were stuck behind a crate together.
"Nicole, what kind of foe are we looking at?" Sally called out. The cybernetic lynx was standing in the middle of the hallway, the bullets zooming by, and through, her artificial body.
"I can't tell, it seems–" but she was cut off as an explosion sounded right in their vicinity. The floor began to crumble and the crew fell down below.
With shouts and cries, they landed what seemed like a couple stories below in another chamber. The unstable structural rigidity of the complex was not proving itself in good light in the eyes of this team.
"Grrr." Rouge grumbled as she threw off a few pieces of debris from her chest as she lie in a bed of rock and dirt. "Damn it echidna girl, you didn't let off your other bomb did you?!" She shouted.
Julie- su groaned similarly as she moved and stretched out her contorted body after the fall. She reached back and grabbed the bombs out of her pack that got loose and landed next to here. "Nope." She moaned, swaying them over her head showing they were still intact.
"Could we have just hit another weak spot in the complex?" Saffron proposed as she was fluttering about, obviously not as shaken up by the collapsing floor as her land restricted counterparts.
"More than likely." Sally agreed. She was already on her feet and was brushing off her vest. She looked above and could still see the corridor they were previously in a couple tens of feet above being lit up with the flashes of gun fire. "We should probably keep moving before whatever it was up there firing at us realizes we aren't up there anymore."
"Not to assume it was worth it, but I think our little stumble brought us closer to our destination. I can feel a stronger surge of residual energy down here." Nicole stated as she too was already up and ready to move on.
"Then let us go." Antoine complied as he helped Ray up off the ground.
…
"We're getting closer guys." Knuckles said as his crew continued to move down an old mineshaft-like tunnel.
"Knux, you said that at least five times now." Vector scolded.
"Well at least you know we're not losing the signal." Knuckles snapped back. "We still haven't been able to get in touch with Sally Su and the others have we?"
"Not since last time no. I think we're out of range for our simple radios." Mighty said.
"I don't get it, sometimes we're in range, sometimes we're not. Yet sometimes we're in range but we still can't get in touch." Amy complained.
"It's likely there are some disturbances in this facility. It's clear many of these tunnels weren't meant to be here originally. We could be getting interference with things in the ground or foundation which could be mixing things up." Matilda answered quite logically.
"Well that'd explain a lot." Vector spat again.
"It doesn't matter," Knuckles said as they kept walking; Omega's floodlights illuminating their darkened path, "we can reach up with them after we get to this energy source. We probably only have a few more hours to do so anyway." As the echidna's words suck in, so did the sinister truth behind it. For all they knew, they could parish within a couple of hours. This gave the nagging and demotivated spirits reason to depart.
"Come on guys, let's keep moving." Vector encouraged to much surprise from the others.
"Quiet." Knuckles ordered as he froze in his footsteps. Everyone listened without question. Their eyes shifted around the dark tunnel as if their hearing would improve if their eyes were fixated on certain spots.
After a short while of silence, Amy spoke up. "Knuckles, I don't hear anything."
"Hmph." He grumbled. "I do. And I know exactly what it is." He moved over to a nearby wall and placed his ear to it. Not long after, he backed away. "Omega, think you can make a hole here? Nothing too deep. Just enough to break the surface."
"I will comply." He moved over to the wall and his metallic hand withdrew into his forearm and replacing it was a small drill. He trusted it into the wall and the drill began to spin rapidly, creating a squealing on the occasion it would scrape by a rock or other hard surface. After a short while, a loud 'clank' was heard. Omega paused for a moment before withdrawing the drill from its new found hole in the tunnel wall. "Obstruction." Knuckles moved up to it, brushed off some residual dirt and muck and there before him was a long pipe. A small smile formed on his face.
"What'd ya find?" Vector asked.
"We had these in the chaos chamber before Finitevus tore the place up and scattered the Brotherhood. They're high powered energy siphons. These will lead us straight to the source of whatever energy source I'm sensing!" He explained. "Make finding the thing quicker than relying on me picking up energy spikes at least. Omega, will it be possible for you to somehow dig the wall away along these pipes so we can follow them?"
"Analyzing." He answered then about half a second later he reached out with his hand, now replacing the drill that was once present, and clamped onto the pipeline he uncovered. He began to forcibly walk forward, causing his arm to pry away any dirt and rock between the pipeline and the tunnel wall. The group followed him down the path.
A good number of yards later however, Omega began walking toward another wall. "The energy siphon pipelines continue into the wall."
"Well that didn't last long.." Vector grumbled.
Amy let out a sigh. "Ugh… more digging?"
"Unfortunately. Let's get to it gang. The clock ain't going to stop no matter how much we complain." Knuckles answered as he was first to dig his knuckles into the dirt.
…
"Tails! To your left!" Sonic shouted as he kick flipped into the air. He zoomed forward in a small blue ball and slammed into one of the assaulting robots.
Reacting to the call, the fox jumped back just in time to dodge the barrel of one of the E-100 cannon/arms as it smashed down into the ground in an attempt to turn Tails into a mark on the ground. Quickly, he took to the skies and divebombed onto the robot, leaving a nasty dent in the central computing system of the robot (vulnerably locating in the robot's 'head').
The group was scrambling and scattering. Shouts from Shadow and his chaos attacks were mingled in amongst the constant gun fire. Metallic clings and clanks were heard as Espio tossed around his knives and stars. Bunnie's blasts over powered the sound of the E-100's guns on the occasions she made her shots. And the buzzing of Charmy was distant over head as he'd find debris to drop onto the enemies below.
"I hope they're having as much fun as we are." Sonic chanted as he left hole in the torso of another foe.
"We need to get in touch with the others. We don't know where to go to next without any direction." Tails noted.
"No time to chitchat until we take out these guys first." Shadow growled as he flung another blast of chaos energy through the enemy he was quarrelling with at the time.
"Why not double task?" Tails asked hypothetically. "Who has the radio?" He called out.
Sonic was flipping from one machine to the next, toying with his simple-programmed enemy. One would release open fire on the hedgehog as he bounced from one robot to another, effectively causing friendly-fire on his enemy's end to do half the work for him. "I had it." He said before bouncing to another robot. "But dropped it when kid-assassin tried to do me in."
"I've got one." Espio shouted out and tossed it to Tails. Tails was able to catch the device even in his surprise that Espio had a second radio. But he brushed it aside and continued with his plan.
"Charmy! Catch!" He threw the small piece in the air. The bee swooped down and snatched it. "Get in touch with Sally! Let them know of our situation. We need to know which way to go. I don't think these E-100's will ever stop coming."
Charmy nodded and radioed in from high above the fray that was taking place on the ground below him.
"Espio!" He heard Nicole shout from the other end.
"No Charmy." He answered nonchalantly. "Listen, we're alright on our end. The others are fighting off waves of these robots but we don't know where to go next."
"Are you still at that service elevator?" The lynx on the other end asked seeing as as far as she knew, that was where they were last even if it was a good while ago.
"Well you see, that assassin guy pulled Sonic up and–"
"What?!" Charmy had to pull the radio away from him for a moment at Sally's shout.
"No, no, don't worry! We're all safe. Shadow killed the assassin guy." A faint 'That'a boy!' from Rouge was heard in the background on the other end. "Yeah, apparently he was Hook's son or something? Anyway we'll fill you in with that later." The bee said a bit childishly. "Do we have a meeting place or…" He looked down at the fighting below. "…an escape route?"
Nicole, on the other end, forgot to mention the change in plans to them. They had no clue about the energy source. For all she knew, they could be on opposite sides of the complex. Her only solace was that they must be close enough to be able to radio in, but even that wasn't any help.
"Umm, you may just have to find your way until I can get a clear depiction of your location based on what little schematics I have of this place. We're investigating our own lead over here." She answered to the dismay of Charmy and the other fighters. Where were they supposed to go to? Surely they couldn't fight off those robots forever. "Get back in touch once you get away from the robots you said you were handling."
Charmy let out a sigh. "You got it." He clicked off the radio and flew back down to the others.
"No hope just yet guys!" He shouted, dodging some stray fire. "We need to find a safer place before figuring out what way to go."
"Great." Bunnie exasperated as she hovered over a few E-100s, shooting them down from above. "If we're gonna be playing a game of cat and mouse, I at least like to be the cat."
"I feel ya Bunnie!" Sonic shouted.
"We can't win them all." Tails stated. "Let's try and shake these tin cans."
…
Sally and her group had been travelling down their new path for quite some time. Not that they were looking for hostilities, but some of the more high-action members of that team were getting quite bored of their situation. They understood that they needed to keep moving though. Not stopping for anything, though moving with caution for any further surprises, time was still a large factor in whether a majority of the world's population would live to see another day. The thought constantly loomed in the back of their minds.
But after at least another hour of navigating down the dark and dank passageways, Nicole finally broke the stagnant situation. "Sally."
"Yes Nicole?" The princess stated as the lynx appeared next to her, walking forward with the crew as if she was always doing so.
"I- uh… Well I need to tell you something but…" She said quite softly then turned back and glanced at the others. They couldn't hear her. "But I don't think this is the right time."
Sally's first reaction was to give her a questioning stare, maybe this was something to do with her suspicion between the A.I. and Espio. But when it came to her friends, let alone her best friend, she always tended to be a bit more sympathetic. "Nicole, you can tell me anything. Any time or place."
"Well, that's the thing… there might not be another time… Well not for you." She then mumbled under her own breath. "Or him…"
Sally wrapped her arm across Nicole's shoulder and pulled her close. "Girl, I would travel to the ends of Mobius to help you out, just like you are doing for us right now." She gave her friend her signature honest and reassuring smile that she was quite capable of doing to those who needed it. "Nothing you say will change that."
Nicole tucked her head down and blushed a bit. She gave a small shy smile. "Okay." She took a deep breath, ready to confess whatever it was she needed to say when suddenly her ears perked up and stopped in her tracks.
Sally noticed this and stopped with her. She scanned her expression and could tell something was up. "Nicole? Something wrong?"
"Guys, we need to move." She simply stated.
"We have been moving. And if you ask me, to quite the uneventful beat." Julie-su called out.
"Nicole. What's wrong." Sally demanded.
"I've just picked up a large spike in the power ring energy. Something… not normal compared to what I was just picking up." The lynx explained. "I'm afraid Hook may be getting ready for the final preparations for the Reverse Gene Bombs."
"Good enough reason for me to kick it into higher gear." Rouge stated.
"Y-yeah. Me t-too."
And like that, they took off running; no time to stay cautious around the corners. They didn't go far until they ran through one last large gateway and into another mausoleum like room. Standing in front of them was a gargantuan structure that resembled an old-time energy reactor. Strands of high voltage electricity were flinging from the center monolith-like generator to outstanding prongs with sounds of loud cracks and buzzes. The centerpiece to it all was encompassed by a large barrier of what seemed like raw energy.
"Nicole, think you can tell me what that thing?" Sally asked as her, like the others, were frozen starring up at the piece in awe.
"I need to get connected to the system. Find a port and hook me up." She responded then disappeared into her handheld. Sally ran over to a switchboard on a nearby wall and plugged the handheld into an open access port. "It seems this was the energy source I was picking up." The lynx's voice now sounded through speakers that had been previously established around the large room. "As I analyzed, it is running of power ring energy. The center structure in the middle is the focal point of the generator. Unfortunately it is protected by a barrier. I'm trying but… I can't seem to shut it down. The barrier is controlled by reactors outside this central system. If we can get access to those reactors and shut them down…"
"Sounds like a plan." Sally concluded.
"The only thing that bugs me, is how was Hook able to get his hands on power ring energy?" Nicole added.
"I see you infernal creatures stumbled upon my little power source for my whole operation." Nicole's voice over the speakers was replaced by that of Hook's. "A little gift from the Kingdom of Acorn. Unfortunately, it was my acquisition of this fuel that caused you pups to get on my trail. Who knew that two-tailed mutant and tusk-faced blubber of a councilor were so smart. I have to say, for being disgusting little things, your kind sure are persistent."
"It was you that shut down the fuel line while we were inspecting that reactor in the mountain faction!" Sally stated in revelation.
"Ah yes. The tampering of the reactor was intended just to grab the attention so the investigative party would be the ones to blame for the fuel shutdown that occurred later. Unfortunately I didn't think Freedom Fighters would be sent for such a mundane task. My 'sampling' of the fuel was just enough for me to copy it and produce power ring energy of my own. But I digress… as it's too late for you and your petty little squads. That bastardly crew comprised of that insufferable dark hedgehog may have taken out…" A sniffle was heard for some reason unknown to the listeners. "Taken out my son." He continued. "But I will do you all in. If not in only an hour or two, but sooner so that you don't further impede my efforts!" He shouted with rage; a bit offset from what this group was used to hearing from such a normally calm and collected character such as Hook.
Just then, what sounded like large doors from the upper levels of the large room slammed open. A shout was heard from Nicole as she appeared out of the panel on the wall that Sally and the handheld were still next to and plugged into. "Nicole!" Sally shouted.
"Sally, unplug me. Now!" And just as quickly, she complied.
"It seems we 'ave aggressors." Antoine called out as the visual forms appeared of numerous flying robots, similar yet slightly different than the flood of airborne hostiles encountered when they first accessed Security Outpost 057 on this excursion.
"Let's get ready people." Rouge stated as they all got ready. The flying bots dive bombed on the crew. Antoine Rouge and Julie-su dove aside in aversion while Saffron and Ray took to the air.
Sally and Nicole were still over near the wall. "Sally." Nicole sounded pretty weak.
"Nicole, what happened?"
"Some kind of aggressive firewall. I'm fine." She said with a tone that signified that she shook off the defensive attack. "I was able to gain access to the locations of the external reactors holding up that barrier. We need to take them out to get to the central component. If we take out this big energy source, we may be able to stop the bombs from going off."
Without a second's hesitation, Sally gave the order. "Then let's get to it."
"I'm picking up Knuckles' radio signal. They seem to be getting close. I should be able to direct them him and the others to the reactors. I'll let them know that's the plan." She explained as the others were still bouncing around in the back ground, taking on the flying foes.
"Great work. Any word on Sonic and the others?"
"…" Nicole remained silent. "Unfortunately no. I'll try to reach them too but… I can only hope they are alright."
Sally let out a sigh. "That's all we can do at this point." Then she too sprang into action to help out her battle buddies.
…
"Knuckles, come in." The echidna stopped as the rest of the crew continued to slowly follow Omega as he plowed through still attached to the pipeline.
"I hear ya Nicole." He responded.
"We've come across the source of a large flux of energy. Everyone else is pretty occupied at the moment; I'm communicating through the handheld at the moment." She began to explain. "Hook is initiating the final procedures of the Reverse Gene Bombs. He pumped up this generator and–"
Knuckles cut in a mumbled, "Yeah, I felt that." as Nicole continued.
"is getting ready to set off the bombs in an hour or two."
"That fast!?" He said in shock and fret.
"I'm afraid so. We have a plan though. There are a few reactors outside this central system. I have their locations and you are in close enough proximity for me to track your signal and lead you to those reactors. We need you and your group to take them out." The lynx could be heard through the COM link.
"Lead us to them Nicole. Looks like we need to move double time." He answered back.
Nicole directed the group on which directions to go. The pipeline they were following had different juts and branches, as they had found out, but Knuckles always pointed them to the energy he was picking up which came from the large reactor Sally and the others found. This time however, Nicole was leading the way and this often meant following the pipeline's branches rather than the trunk itself.
Occasionally taking the time to dig a new path, Knuckles and the other heavy hitters made it to their first destination. "The reactor should be directly above you." Nicole told them. "That's as much as I can do at the moment. Give me a call once you take it out, I'll help you to the next one. In the mean time, I need to help monitor things on my end. Nicole out."
"Alright guys, you heard the gal." Knuckles ordered. "Mighty, Matilda – grab those posts over there." He tossed his index finger toward a few beams that were quite the common occurrence in their excavating. "We need to make sure this place is pretty stable before we starting making a hole in the ceiling here." The two siblings followed orders and did so. Meanwhile, Knuckles was poking around the ceiling. Not too long after, he and Omega began to make their entry point.
With little effort, they managed to create an access to the reactor room. If there were anyone around to see it, it may have appeared quite comical to see an assortment of mobian heads pop up from a new found hole in the ground. But nonetheless, they climbed out of the hole and got to scoping about.
What they saw was similar to what Sally Nicole Antoine Ray Julie-su and Rouge had encountered except on a much smaller scale. It was not as large but it still stood taller than anyone in the crew. There was a central piece and outward posts but there were no flashes of stray electricity that snapped between the two.
"Well. Let's get this over with." Vector said stepping forward toward the reactor. Suddenly an ear piercing alarm sounded. The unsuspecting croc must have stepped into a monitored proximity. With the alarm still sounding, a few defense armaments arose from the dark corners of the ill-lit room. With the flashes of incoming fire creating a strobe effect, the group scattered to evade.
Without any words, the team knew they had to take out any and all kinds of defenses before they could even think about how to sabotage the reactors. Amy, of course, knew a good few smacks with her Piko Hammer should do the trick. The hard part would be getting close enough. Flipping and jumping, and the occasional spin dash (which she still was not too good at), she tried to get close.
Mighty and Matilda decided to use their own special ability and tired to throw whatever heavy object were lying around at the opposing weaponry while Omega was retaliating with his own gunfire.
Knuckles and Vector decided their best bet was to do what they did best as well: punch their way through. But like Amy, this meant getting close to the guns which was the challenging part. They all were quite accustomed to maneuvering around incoming fire (they had been doing it with Eggman's robots for years) so evasion wasn't too much of a task. But they wouldn't be able to get close just on their own.
"Mighty, Matilda! Rendezvous! I have an idea!" Knuckles shouted. The two armadillos nodded in agreement, tossed at the artillery whatever was occupying their hands at the time, and met with Knuckles and Vector behind a heavy metallic crate they were using for cover.
A loud 'bang' sounded. "One defensive shooter taken out." Omega confirmed.
"Keep it up big guy!" Vector shouted out from the crate as Knuckles began to delve into his plan.
"We need you guys to help me and Vector get close to some of the guns. Omega can take them out from a distance but we need to get close. I'm figuring there are other objects lying around that would bring enough cover as this crate here." He threw a thumb behind his back at the large box that was taking quite the hit for the four.
"So you need a shield?" Mighty asked.
"In a way." The echidna answered with a grin.
Another crash was heard as Omega confirmed a second gun taken down. "Ideal usage of ammunition per cannon is becoming too high. Need assistance in destroying further hostile sentries."
At this time, Amy was able to maneuver close enough to take one hefty swing with her hammer to knock out another one.
"We're on our way Omega!" Knuckles shouted as the echidna and his crocodile partner was seen straddling to two separate large metal crates. Mighty and Matilda then picked up the large crates and took aim at the heavy gunners. With Knuckles and Vector clinging to a side of the crates not facing the open fire, the crates were tossed into the open air with ease. They smashed into their targets as the two riders leapt off. The guns were still firing despite the heavy hit but that's where the two passengers came in. Knuckles clung to the supports of the mounted gun and began bashing it with his name-sake fists. Vector was mounted similarly yet instead of punching the thing, he began gnawing at the cords and outlying pieces.
Within a short time, the final guns were taken down. Knuckles and Vector leapt down and landed to regroup with the others. "As much as I like breaking the bad guys, or bad guns…" The crocodile stated as he turned and glared at the dismantled artillery cannon lying on the ground. "I'm not one to fly wildly into open fire. Can we not do that again?"
"Depends." Knuckles ensured humorously.
"Well now that we got the defenses out of the way…" Amy stated focusing at the job at hand.
"Let's take out that reactor." Matilda finished her statement.
Without the defensive precautions, the reactor was quite simple to take out. A well-placed miniature mine from Omega's arsenal and a smack with Amy's hammer and the thing went up in flames. "Nicole, we got this reactor out."
"Great! I'll lead you all to the next one." She answered back.
…
"Alright, seal the door!" Bunnie shouted as the rest of her group went to work. Just as she ordered, a large security door slammed shut on the hoard of E-100s that were mindlessly marching their way to this group of heroes.
Finally, a breath of relief from going straight from fending off a deadly assassin, to fighting what seemed like an endless wave of hostile robots whose sole purpose was your death. The moment of peace even caused Charmy to collapse to the ground to regain at least a bit of energy that was drained from the constant adrenaline.
"Damn. It's about time." Shadow stated a little too loudly. Truth was, he was quite exhausted. Expelling so much energy during his fight with the assassin then jumping right back into the fray took its toll on even the ultimate of lifeforms. But of course he was not the one to let that show, especially in the face of one of his greatest rivals.
"I'll say." Sonic added, plopping down with no shame in showing his fatigue.
"Unfortunately, we need to keep moving. This was all just so we can get in touch with the others remember? We need to regroup. I have no idea how much time has elapsed but we have got to be getting close to the deadline our species has been issued." Tails pulled out as the voice of reason with a grim reminder of their approaching demise.
"He's right." Espio agreed. He stepped away from the group to get in touch with Nicole seeing as he was the only one with a radio now. Sonic was heard somewhat jokingly in a slight mumble in the distance, 'I still don't know how he had a second radio. Crazy ninjas.' Espio brushed it off; knowing Sonic for a number of years now, he knew it was just his personality. "Nicole, come in Nicole."
"Espio! Are you alright?" She answered back.
The chameleon couldn't fight the smile that came to his face. "We're fine. We've been through quite the succeeding events but we're all in one piece. More importantly, we need to get back together with you and your group."
On the other end of the radio link, Nicole was still communicating via her handheld as Sally, Antoine, Ray, Rouge, Saffron, and Julie-su were fighting off their flying menace. "Right." She said realizing the situation at hand. "I'm zeroing in on your location now…. You actually aren't too far. It may take a short bit to get here but assuming you don't run into any further aggressors, you should arrive relatively quickly. We've come across the central energy supply for Hook's Reverse Gene Bombs." The lynx explained. "We're looking to take it out before the bombs go off but we need all the help we can get."
"We'll get there as quick as we can." Espio ensured.
"I hope so." Nicole stopped for a moment. "Espio." She cooed over the COM link. "If we don't take care of these things in time…"
"Nicole, we'll be fine."
"… I don't want to have to continue living knowing you won't be here anymore. You, or Sally, or Sonic…"
It was a devastating time for the lynx as something was overlooked by her authentically living lover. Whether they succeeded or not, the lynx would live on. She was as much Mobian as her counterparts with the exception of truly being Mobian. She went into Security Outpost 057 with the willing knowledge that if they did not succeed in defeating Hook and his Reverse Gene Bombs, she would likely remain there in the complex, alone, for the rest of eternity. All her friends would be gone. The overlanders that would now be the only sentient beings on the planet would not come retrieve her. She would remain in desolation and solidarity until her data was expelled into the void after what could be thousands of years after her handheld died out. That kind of torture is something no being, real or artificial, would want to succumb to.
"Oh Nicole…" Espio answered back. But his sorrow was quickly replaced with optimism. "I promise, it won't come to that. We'll regroup and fix this problem. Just lead us to you and the others."
If Nicole was in her holographic state, she would have smiled and blushed in comfort. "Thanks." She then proceeded to tell the chameleon which way to go.
…
"Sally." The lynx called out from the handheld stored in Sally's vest pocket.
"I hear ya girl. What's up." Sally answered aloud as she had no means to reach into her pocket and speak directly into the handheld.
"I've gotten in touch with Espio. They're all alright." The handheld answered back loudly. "I've directed them to our location. It shouldn't be long before they arrive."
"Great." Sally answered. She proceeded to take a flip before moving behind some cover. She leapt up and was able to grab onto one of the flying assailants. Her weight was enough to drag it down. Once on the ground, she grabbed a nearby tool and continued to smash the hostile into pieces. She then continued. "Nicole, as a friend, we need to talk after we take care of these flying nuisances. You keep talking solely about Espio. Is something going on?" She asked not expecting a response.
Nicole was silent for a short bit. "We will talk once we find a chance."
The Acorn Princess and the others continued to fight off their attacking force. Antoine, with his ever-so-sharp saber was able to slice any incoming bogies with ease. He'd often jump up onto higher leveled objects to reach them as they'd swoop down for their attacks. Julie-su, being quite the shot, was able to pick them out. Rouge Ray and Saffron were able to fly about and destroy them through the air when given the chance and Sally held her own when needed.
Their only issue was the sheer numbers. But low and behold, the group of skilled fighters and acrobats were able to take out the large number of them in due time. There were only a few tens of enemies left at this point when suddenly, a large crash was heard. The central barrier around the energy source began to dissipate. Alongside this, the remaining flying foes malfunctioned and crashed to the ground from where they were flying. The reactors must have had a greater impact on the remote functionality of devices in the outpost.
The ones surrounding the energy source stood in awe for the instant of it all. It surely was not what they were expecting. They may be able to save the Mobian race after all. "Nicole. Analyze." Sally ordered.
"What you see is what you're getting Sal." Nicole explained out loud so that everyone could hear them. "It seems Knuckles and the others were able to take out those reactors. And even to my surprise, the reactors must have held control over those flying robots."
"Well that's good." Rouge stated blatantly.
"Umm… Sally?" Nicole said on a volume level that only she could hear.
"Nicole? What's up with you and always only referring to Espio?" Sally cut in out of the blue. It was not like Sally's character to converse about such things in such a dire time but she was near confident it was related to what Nicole wanted to talk about previously. And if she knew her close friend, she would like to discuss what was irritating her before she may not get the chance to do so.
"Okay…" Nicole took a moment of silence to bring up her confidence. "Espio and I have been… 'seeing' each other for a number of years now."
"What?!" Sally shouted.
"Something wrong Sally?" Julie-su asked with regard to the princess' sudden outburst.
"N-nothing." Sally said dismissing the third party. She then began to speak quieter. "Nicole. You and Espio?"
"Yes. We've decided to keep it secret seeing as, well… I'm artificial." The cybernetic lynx sounded quite belittled.
"Nicole." Sally said with such a comforting tone. "I'm happy for you. You are more real than anyone I know. This is nothing to be ashamed of. You have evolved into everything a 'real' Mobian is. You deserve nothing less than to feel affection for another and to receive it nonetheless."
"Sally, I–" But Nicole stopped as she couldn't hold her emotions anymore. "I'm just so scared. I don't want to have to carry on without any of you." It sounded like she was crying.
"Nicole, don't cry." The sadness was contagious as Sally began to feel for her best friend. "We'll get through this. We…we just have to keep pushing."
"You're right." The lynx let out one last automated sniffle then stiffened up. "We need to keep pushing."
But the heartfelt moment as abruptly interrupted as a loud banging sounded from a door that had remained sealed.
"Brace yourselves guys!" Rouge shouted out as the crew got ready for another assault.
Another bang on the door. A third bang and this time, an accompanied dent was visible. The fists of the fighters were clenching with fierce force. A fourth bang as the bolts on the side of the door loosened. Finally, with one last smack, the door flung open. As the doors crashed down, who else was visible than the large allied robot Omega accompanied by Knuckles Vector Amy and the sibling armadillos.
"Are we late?" Knuckles called out. Julie-su ran up and greeted him with a kiss on the cheek.
"About damn time you got here bub." She poked.
"Omega, glad to see you're still in one piece." Rouge said with her own sentiments.
"Likewise Rouge." The large robot answered back.
"Bro! Sis!" Ray shouted as he too rejoined with his family.
"I hate to break it to you all but I think we can save the greetings for later." Amy stated as she walked forward, eyes transfixed on the large complex that was standing in front of them. "So this is the energy source?"
Nicole was the one to answer this time. "That's correct." She said, appearing in a flurry of green pixels.
"Not so fast you annoying inbreeds." This time, it was not Hook's voice projected into a sound system. It was from his own voice box. He appeared, standing on a small levitating platform similar to what Eggman would have used (seeing as it was his old facility, it makes sense). He looked quite well kept for an evil villain. "I do not see why you all continue to oppose me. My plan is already set in motion. Nothing will stop these bombs from going off at this point. If you wanted to stop me, you should have arrived sooner than three days."
"Under decree of the Kingdom of Acorn and her alliance with the free nations of Mobius, you are under arrest for war crimes and plots of genocide." Sally shouted out to the man. "Step down and do not resist and forcible action will not be taken."
"Do you honestly think a few threats from deformed occurrences such as yourselves would make me stop what I have placed in motion?" The man began to chuckle slightly.
"Alright then." Sally mumbled. "Julie-su?"
The echidna nodded with glee. She took the final bombs she had with her and armed them. Her cybernetic arm was able to place the bombs in quite the accurate trajectory. One bomb flew toward the now vulnerable central component of the energy source and the other was tossed right at Hook.
The bomb thrown at Hook exploded right underneath the platform he was standing on while the other was still on its way to the core. But in that short instant, something shot out and 'caught' the bomb before hitting the core. It exploded and the core was still intact.
"You could not possibly expect to take me out with such ease could you?" Hook said as his 'platform' was transforming into something much much more. Tendril mechanical-like 'arms' shot out from its undercarriage and its shape began to take the form of a large mechanical being. Multiple legs and supports sprouted to give it ground. Hook remained rested in the heart of the device as it grew into a fearful piece of last resort. "This last piece of salvation should do the trick for the next half hour or so before the bombs are ignited." He let out a snicker. "You're time on this planet is finished." One of the arms lashed out and struck right between the two recently adjoined parties. The now twelve members of resistance then took action against the final obstruction to saving the planet's population of Mobian life.
Those arms of the mechanical menace lashed out with great speed. Striking the ground with such an impact, it often left a small crater. It would not be a good day if one of those were to hit any of its targets. Omega and Julie-su tried to unleash some fire on the man behind the machine but it seemed his cockpit was protected by a barrier similar to the core except this time, they had no idea how to take it down.
Rouge Ray and Saffron flew around scouting about for a weak spot but simply could not determine one on their own accord. Mighty and Matilda used their strength to either swing long heavy objects at their enemy like a baseball bat or to chuck objects at it like they did at the reactors.
Amy would try to lure Hook into slamming one of his machine's arms her way then swiftly dodge aside and give a heavy hit with her hammer but it didn't seem to faze the thing. Antoine tried a similar tactic but no matter how sharp his blade was, he couldn't seem to slice through their opponent.
"We need to try and get to that core!" Sally concluded, figuring whether they were able to take down Hook's mechanized 'salvation' or not was not important. Time was important. Her Nicole Knuckles and Vector were left to try and figure out how to get past that thing.
They would try to make a diversion as one of the flyers would pick one of them up to get them close to the core, but the device Hook was utilizing was too quick to catch on and would smack them out of the sky. They tried to use Omega to launch a few of his rockets toward the core but Hook always seemed to shoot them down before they got close. Something had to be done though, they only had half an hour left according to the evil man.
As if time was on their side for once, another door opened and Sonic Bunnie Tails Shadow Charmy and Espio entered the fray.
Everyone gave a quick greeting, Sally shouted out to Sonic, Nicole did the same for Espio, Antoine toward Bunnie and Rouge toward Shadow. But it wasn't the place for reunions even if they had been separated for at least a day now.
"Just in time for the party I guess?" Sonic asked as he gazed upon Hook's defensive last resort. It gave the hedgehog a striking resemblance to one of Eggman's creations and a sinister grin developed on his face.
"Sonic, we need to take out the core of the energy source in the middle. We only have half an hour before Hook sets off the bombs!" Sally shouted in haste.
"Half an hour?!" Bunnie exasperated in shock and fear.
"Not a problem. That's practically a lifetime!" Sonic blurted out in over confidence. Zooming around the room, he tried to get a visualization of what option he should take.
Meanwhile, Tails joined Rouge and the other flyers in attacking Hook from the air. They'd often tried to clash with the arms constantly being flung at them or they'd take the safer route and try to drop something to draw attention away from the other attackers.
Shadow's chaos attacks unfortunately were not quite effective. Omega's attacks seemed to be the most effective but with every hit the machine would take, it seemed to only merely flinch.
Sonic screeched to a stop at some point to relay what he figured. "Guys! This looks like a renovated Ro'butt'nik robot. If that's the case, the joints of the legs should be where we need to focus on."
"If you think that's the case Sonic, I want half of you to focus on that while the rest still tries to get to the core!" Sally commanded.
"Omega, how many of those nifty bombs you got left?" Amy asked the large ally as they recently were sided back-to-back.
"Enough." He answered before firing at some of the 'arms' that slammed down right in front of the two.
"You focus on getting to the core." Amy demanded. The two split and Amy sided with the other ground forces as Omega moved on.
Bunnie was fluttering around firing shots at Hook. She noticed that though they were dispersed on that barrier of his, it created enough of a flash that it could impair his visual. Saffron Charmy Tails Rouge and Ray were able to find some minor explosives from the upper levels of the large room and tried to create small airstrikes on Hook and his device.
A good number of the others tried to get to the core. Nicole had relayed to Sally that if she was able to get into the system, she could override it to cause an overload while Omega's arsenal was still available for a less tactical approach. So that was their plan for the moment.
It seemed if anything was going to help them at this point it was their sheer numbers and team work. Sonic kept dashing around the robot, trying to find places to jump up to Hook's level. The flyers continued to try their airstrike but with all the flailing arms, the airspace was getting a bit crowded. Shadow regrouped with Omega as he felt most comfortable collaborating with his team. The others weren't quite unified yet as Hook's attacks kept dispersing them; he was quite the tactician knowing that keeping them separated was his only chance in delaying them for the next couple minutes.
They continued fighting and though likely only ten or fifteen minutes had pasted, it seemed much long than that. Any chance they had to communicate to come up with a single strategy was futile. It was at this that Nicole started thinking systematically – instead of everyone trying to get to the same goal, if smaller groups each had one goal that worked up toward that larger goal they might have better success. She broke over their COMs.
"Everyone, keep fighting but pay attention. We will not be able to all work together to get to that core. Hook is keeping us too detached for that to work. So we'll have to work in smaller groups. I need a group to make heavy hits on the joints of the supports of Hook's device." The word heavy hits diverted Amy, Omega, Mighty and Matilda to jump on the task. "Simultaneously I'll need someone to get Sonic to Hook." Sonic, Bunnie, Tails, Shadow and Espio moved on that task. "On another hand, I'll need someone to get me to the core. There is a system access point on the higher levels and closer to the core. If a few of you could work on just getting someone up there with me in their possession, we should be good. Everyone else, continue with the distractions and keep Hook occupied."
At this, Knuckles, Sally, Julie-Su, Antoine, and Vector – who were all closest together – figured they'd be the ones to collaborate. It was almost perfect for the other flyers to keep up with the distractions. "That arm of yours is still able to be put to good use Su?" Knuckles asked with a sneer.
"What do you have in mind?"
Meanwhile, Mighty and Matilda were smashing and tearing away at the joints of Hook's armament. Omega and Amy were doing their own to try and weaken them. Sonic and Shadow were scaling and dashing around an upper level trying to get closer to Hook. With Bunnie and Tails as their air support they began to make some progress moving toward him. Espio kept himself concealed while he was trying to drop down to Hook from a rafter that hung overhead.
Vector and Antoine moved Sally Knuckles and Julie-su through some of the paths and stairs that circled the large room. With any kind of shots or attacks sent their way, Vector and Antoine kept good at bodyguards as they inched forward. "We only have approximately ten minutes left Sally." Nicole had fear in her voice.
"Don't worry girlfriend. We'll get there." Sally said with confidence.
"I think we're close enough." Julie su said and the group stopped.
"Alright, Sally I will need to take Nicole." Knuckles said as he extended his hand to receive the handheld. Antoine and Vector stood guard.
Sally was quite reluctant to let go of her friend but she knew this was it. It was either this or nothing. "Take care of her." She said and handed Nicole off to Knuckles.
Julie su got ready and grabbed Knuckles' wrist in her right hand and his ankle in her left cybernetic arm. She moved quickly though for her cybernetic arm could bear the weight, her biological one was not as strong. "Smooth sailing Knux." She quickly twirled and forcing much of her power in her cybernetic arm, she propelled the red echidna forward and launched him toward the core.
Bunnie, seeing the group collaborating at a distance figured this would be an important time to impair Hook's visual. She began rapidly firing some shots at the force field surrounding the man. She was hoping the glare would be enough to throw him off from the other plans. Nearly simultaneously the ground crew made sufficient damage on one of the legs and the retrofitted Eggman machine flinched and staggered a bit. With this, Espio dropped down on the small cockpit-like area of Hook and began ripping apart any kind of wires and machinery that could disable the force field. Sonic and Shadow took this time and made it right up to the man. The force field blipped in and out and the two hedgehogs landed, with timing of the flickering shield, right on Hook's platform. The two drew back a fist and threw it into the man at the same time causing him to fly back off the platform and land hard on the ground beneath. Rouge then dropped down from above and tried to pilot the machine so it wouldn't crash on anyone below.
Knuckles, with his gliding ability, was able to fly through the air and landed on the platform Nicole directed him toward. "Alright Knuckles, hurry and plug me in! Seven minutes!" She shouted.
With Hook on the ground and his machine taken out, the fighters could finally regroup. A few of them, Sonic Shadow and Bunnie, approached Hook. "Your game's through old man."
The man stumbled over his words for a moment after having the wind knocked out of him from the fall but soon enough began to speak. "God willing the death of you infectionous beings. But just like a virus, you'll stop at nothing to ensure you survive."
"Excuse me but I'm pretty sure you just described all of life." Sonic retorted as he moved over and placed a foot on the man's chest to keep him from moving or getting up. "You're the one trying to kill us off."
"I do not give a fuck what you say. From the time of the Xorda Attack, you are nothing but mutations in the Earth's natural ecosystem and you all should be returned to the grabbling rodents at which your ancestors first encountered the waste from the Gene Bombs."
"Ah don't know what bad fruit you ate this morning but last time I checked this was the year 3243. Those Xorda dropped the Gene Bombs some ten thousand years ago. Your twisted fascism is a little outdated." Bunnie mentioned.
"Even the Overland Nations find your views backward. You are literally the only one with these ideas." Shadow mentioned.
Hook let out a little chuckle. "Do you believe so? Half the world was on the brink of civil war last time I checked."
"Can it! That wasn't a global mindset. That was fear brought on by your terroristic acts!" Shadow shouted.
"I don't need any of your aggression. Your time here is through regardless."
"I don't think so bub. We got the smartest of A.I.s on the task. Your reverse gene bombs are duds." Sonic answered back, pressing his foot farther down onto Hook as his anger began to grow toward the genocidal maniac he was speaking with. "Like Sally said, you're going to be arrested and locked up for a while. And I don't think a lot of Mobian prisoners and guardsmen are going to have the slightest bit of empathy toward you." He sneered with a malicious grin showing a complete reversal in his usual attitude toward any living being. His disdain for the man was quite apparent at this point.
"Even if a world rid of you vermin is mere moments away, I refuse to be considered taken out by you." Hook began to squirm around for a moment which threw Sonic off guard. The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a small capsule.
"It's a cyanide pill!" Shadow shouted as he reached down to try and take it from Hook; they weren't going to let him off that easy.
But it was too late. He shoved it in his mouth and bit down. In a final moment, he mumbled. "I'll see you soon Gregory." Then he began to convulse. The trio stepped away from him and watched in horror as Hook was now twitching and contorted uncontrollably. The convulsions lasted only a few seconds before the energy cycle in his body was so disrupted that his body wouldn't move any more. His body already shut down, he will be dead in the next couple minutes.
"Oh mah stars." Bunnie called out.
Sonic bowed his head and turned away. "Sally, Hook's done. What's the word on the reactor."
"Nicole?" Sally forwarded the message as for once she was not directly by her side.
"….." There wasn't a response from the lynx.
"Nicole!" Sally asked more promptly.
"I….I can't stop it."
It was heard from the loud speakers in the room as she answered from inside the system. Everyone froze. It wasn't likely that in the next minute or two, something would change. If Nicole, inside the system herself, couldn't find a way to stop it then no one else could.
"Nicole, are you sure?" Sally asked with grievance.
Omega began to arm himself. "Preparing to unload entire arsenal." He proclaimed.
"That won't do anything. Even if this entire room blew up right now, it won't stop the bombs from going off." Nicole answered back. "I already shut down the core. The energy build up prior to my invasion of the system was too high. Even after I shut it down it reciprocated pent up energy similarly to a capacitor. The bombs are fully charged and will ignite in approximately one minute and fifty three seconds."
It was the most silence any of the collaborative group heard in the past three days. They were done. Saffron was already crying onto Charmy's shoulder. Mighty Matilda and Ray held each other close. Vector even showed some affection to the pink echidna next to him as Knuckles remained suspended across the room near the access port he slipped Nicole into. Rouge clenched onto Shadow's arms as little tremors in the dark hedgehog resonated through his body. Amy plopped down on her hammer and dropped her head in her hands sobbing. Sonic moved over and comforted her. Antione slid next to Sally and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close. Bunnie was next to Tails and she slipped her hand into his grasp. Espio stood alone, clinging onto Nicole's words.
"I can't believe it." Rouge said, breaking the silence. It was a sobering moment. They've come so far, spent three days navigating a retrofitted underground bunker, took out a deadly assassin and stopped the man who created a device to perform mass genocide. But it was all for nothing. What about their loved ones back home? Their parents. Brothers. Sisters. Other friends. Rotor was back at Acorn. Elias, Mina, Uncle Chuck, Hope, hell even Julie su was thinking of Lien-da. They failed them. They failed their species. They failed Mobius…
"Sally." Nicole said with urgency. It seemed all ears in the room perked up as her tone in that one address spoke of something else; hope. "No time to explain but there is still a chance. No time for debate or discussion, I've already initiated the process. But… I… just want to say thank you."
"Nicole, what are you talking about?" Sally's confusion also held the sounds of fear. At this, Nicole's image was projected into the air through the complex's systems she overran.
"You've been more than a friend than any being, biological or artificial, deserves. I have forever been in your debt and right now, I'll be repaying that debt."
"Nicole, what are you talking about!?" The princess had tears flooding her eyes.
"Espio," the lynx moved on knowing her time – everyone's time – was short. "I love you so very much. I am sorry for leaving you. I couldn't bear to live with you gone by Hook's bombs… I just hope you can bear without me."
The chameleon's expression was a distraught one. He didn't even care about the few perplexing looks his surrounding teammates were giving him at the lynx open confession.
"And everyone, you all have been so kind. Please live with prosperity." She concluded.
"Nicole! What is going on!" Sally shouted out in despair.
"On board the Death Egg, you sacrificed yourself Sally to save everyone from roboticization. I've done nearly the same. I've reconfigured the Gene Bombs to a singularity that I myself encompass." A large timer arose above the projected lynx's head. Ten seconds. "I do not know if this will work… but it is our last chance. It has been a wonderful… life." She said thinking of the best word to describe her existence as the AI. The lynx's figure disappeared but the clock remained. A click with each counting second. More silence ensued.
Three….
Two….
One…
The complex began to shake uncontrollably and a good few of them lost their footing. "Is this supposed to happen?" Sonic called out. Suddenly a white flash spread through the room. Then, nothing.
"…."
"…."
"…."
"…."
"…Sally?..."
"…Taaaiiilllsss…."
"…."
"Sonic?... Is that you?"
"…."
"Yeah, it's me. Are we….?"
"I don't know…. I…think."
"…."
"Sonic! Tails!"
"Amy!"
"…Would you all shut up."
"Damn Shadow's here. Does that mean we're in hell?"
"Sonic, cut that out!"
"Sal!"
"Wait a minute, I've felt this before…"
"Knuckles?"
"Aur….Aurora?"
"..."
"…..No way….."
"So that means we are….."
"…."
"…."
"Guys, wait! I see something!"
"Hey, I see it too. But…"
"…."
The blanket of blinding white soon began to fade. The vague mechanical structures and components of Security Outpost 057 were starting to form. A few short moments later and the group of forces were all standing next to each other beneath the core of the Reverse Gene Bombs. "How did we get down here?" Antoine asked looking over at Sally. But before any speculation could take place, a large orb of light began to descend before the group. They could only stand in awe.
As the orb got close to the ground, it too began to dissipate and revealed a brown figure. Black tufts on the ears and black hands and feet. The rest of the energy surrounding the figure snapped away as Nicole fell limp to the floor. Espio was the first to run up and catch her followed immediately by Sally and the others.
"Nicole!" He shouted. He gently cradled her in his arms. "Nicole…" He buried his head into her neck. Vector slowly placed a comforting hand on Espio's shoulder.
Suddenly her eyelids twitched. She blinked a bit then slowly tried to open her eyes. "Nicole!" Sally shouted.
Espio jerked his head back to see Nicole weakly smiling at him. "Hey Espy." She cooed. The chameleon broke down in happiness. The rest of the group too was filled with joy. Tears were forming in a few of their eyes. More notably the Freedom Fighters than Chaotix and especially Team Dark but the sentiment was felt all around.
"I don't believe this!" Tails called out.
"How…" Sally said as she was bent over the lynx as well. She wiped a tear from her eye.
"I… I feel weird." She said frail and hesitantly.
"Where's the handheld?" Espio asked. "Someone get to the handheld and check on her!" But the chameleon was stopped as Nicole grabbed his hand and placed it on her bare chest. He froze in bafflement. "Nicole, I don't–"
"Do you feel that Espio?" She smiled.
Espio's eyes grew massive as he muttered, "…is that…a heartbeat?" The lynx nodded lightly and smiled then suddenly slipped out of consciousness. "Nicole!"
"It'll be alright sugh. She's been through a lot. Let her rest." Bunnie answered.
"I don't get it, how could…" Sally said at the marvel that had happened.
"Does that mean Nicole is… real now?" Sonic inquired.
"Like she said, she did the same thing as Sally did on the Death Egg and that roboticized her." Tails said glancing over to Sally. "Do you think the same thing could have happened?"
"We'll need Dr. Quack to check up on her." Sally concluded.
"Then we should vacate ze complex and regroup with ze outside forces, non?" Antoine suggested.
"Agreed. We'll take turns carrying Nicole."
"Umm, not to be a buzz kill but I sure as hell do not know the way back. Nicole was the one in charge of directions." Vector cut in making a very valid point.
"Guys, look what I found!" Charmy said as he fluttered down from a higher level. He carried Nicole's old handheld in tow. The device was seared and blacked as it probably took a bit of damage.
Rouge turned to Omega. "Hey big guy, if that thing is still intact, you think you could get some of the nav files from that thing and show us a quick way out?"
"Affirmative."
The group looked around at each other. "We might as well give it a shot." Sonic concluded seeing as there wasn't a whole lot they could do at that point. "Let's do it to it."
