CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Far away, in a forest somewhere, someone was furiously cutting through the woodwork, searching for someone. "They're bound to be hiding somewhere..." this person muttered, as he pushed aside a tree; it was a lion, and right between his eyes, a scar ran straight down. Also, on his chest, a steel compartment was located, and judging from the pulsing light on it, one could guess that it was linked to his heart. "...and when I find them, it's gonna be gruesome."
"Well, what do we have here?"
Soon the lion encountered a dark figure leaning against a tree. This figure turned out to be a certain scandalous ewe.
"...it depends," the lion uttered, as he looked at the ewe. "Who are you?"
The ewe eyed him with interest. "Just someone who shares the same interest. You know, hunting down someone you despise..." she teased.
"...really?" the lion questioned, as he raised his eyebrow. "What's your name, then?"
"My name's Callous, handsome," she introduced, chuckling. "How about you?"
"Call me Johnny." the lion introduced, as he leaned against a tree. "So, who're you looking after, babe? Someone who got away from a fight, or something?"
"Let's say, she's like a twin sister of mine," Callous said, "We've been fighting for as long as we can remember. I'm just leisurely taking my time while she wastes her energy training for a fight we'll have in a week." Then she smirked at Johnny. "What's your story?"
"Eh, it's nothing special." Johnny said, as he knocked at the compartment on his chest. "Fifteen years ago, or something, some people I was ordered to kill ended up doing me in first. One got me through the heart, and the other got me right between the eyes." Then he pointed at his scar. "Apparently, GUN's kept my body in prime condition since then... and just recently, they got me back in action. I think they did it with a Chaos Emerald, or something..."
"A Chaos Emerald huh?" Callous said. "Interesting. So you're hunting down the very people that killed you long ago?"
"Well, they just so happened to bust out of GUN around five months ago." Johnny replied, as he shrugged. "Seven of them. Five of them flew the coop, one was captured and recently busted out, and the last one... he's the bastard who gave me this scar."
"Hmm," Callous certainly recognized the story. In fact, she was beginning to believe that she knew what he was talking about. "Gee, I'm not sure if its just coincidence, but I remember someone with that story," she said in a teasing tone. "What was her name?" A moment she tapped her lip, before she smirked at Johnny. "Does the name Queen sound familiar to you?"
"...yeah, it does." Johnny nodded, as he looked up at Callous. "How do you know her?" he asked, as he began approaching the ewe.
"Would you believe me if I said that my twin sister is friends with them?" Callous chuckled. "Actually, I must say that I was the one who broke Queen out of that cryolab, but that wasn't my main intention. It's a long story."
"Really?" Johnny uttered, as he looked at Callous with interest, before he stopped in front of her. "And would you happen to know where they're hiding out?"
"Unfortunately not," Callous said, "but I can say that one of them is with me." Then Callous glanced behind the tree she was leaning on. "Isn't that right, Ripper?"
"...kekekekekekeke... we're afraid that Ripper isn't available." At that point, the mantis appeared from behind Callous, looking down at Johnny. "Kekekekeke... he seems to be afraid of you... but we are not."
"...so, I see that the little pipsqueaks are all grown up, now." Johnny muttered, as he smirked. "So, what? He's gone off the deep end when it comes to sanity?"
"Yeah, pretty much," Callous replied. "But you should stay Johnny. We're waiting for a couple of friends, and if you know Ripper, you might know them too. Besides," she gave the lion a wink. "I kinda like you."
"Is that so?" Johnny said, as he glanced at Callous. "Well, you're certainly a piece of eye-candy, too. I think I might stay for a while." he added.
She chuckled at that.
"Callousssssssss...." hissed two demented, childish voices.
"That didn't take very long," Callous muttered. Turning to where the voice came from, she, Johnny and Ripper saw two small figures come out of the darkness in the ground. At first, they couldn't make them out as they looked like globs of black.
Then they started to adjust and appear as a couple of little girls.
Twin butterflies.
"It's nice to see you again Callous!" the pink one giggled.
"Y-yeah...we were wondering wh-what happened to you," the blue one stuttered.
"Bloom, Gloom," Callous said with outstretched, welcome arms, "it's good to see you two as well, and guess who else is here with me."
Bloom's and Gloom's eyes widened when they alternated glances between Ripper and Johnny.
"Is...is it r-really you Ripper?" Gloom questioned.
"And Johnny too!" exclaimed Bloom, jumping excitedly.
"Bloom and Gloom?" Johnny uttered, as he smirked a bit. "Heh. Last I heard, you two were blown up by Sage. Guess GUN's not as good when it comes to writing autopsies as I thought."
"...we sense something off about you two..." Ripper uttered, as he tilted his head. "...how did they come in contact with you, Callous?"
"They were revived," Callous said. "By my Daddy."
"Don't forget Callous, he's our Daddy too!" Bloom said. "And we're going to make Jill suffer for what she did to him!"
"Ah, so you two are princesses as well." Ripper noted, as he cackled, his blades moving erratically. "We are honored to meet you."
"Personally, I'd want to get revenge on the guys who offed me, first." Johnny said, as he chuckled. "But this Jill chick... what makes her so important that you'd wanna off her?"
"Well, for one thing, she is a very powerful warrior," Callous said, turning to Johnny. "In fact, she seems to be the next upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog, so to speak."
"Is that so?" Johnny mused, before he chuckled. "She doesn't sound that tough. I bet I could take her on, if I hadn't been busy. You know, with those escapees, and all."
"Kekekekeke... he knows where they're hiding." Ripper chuckled, as he looked down at Johnny.
"...really." Johnny said, as he looked up at Ripper. "Would 'he' be so kind as to point me in the right direction?"
"Yes, I'm curious to know where they are as well," Callous said, looking at Ripper.
"Tell us! Tell us!" cheered Bloom.
"Kekekekeke..." Ripper chuckled, as the blades suddenly stopped moving about. "...last he saw them, they were outside of... the Chaotix HQ. We suspect that they're still there."
"Well, ain't that convenient." Johnny chuckled, as he cracked his neck. "Alright, let's get going. The sooner I take care of those renegades..." Then, he turned to glance at Callous. "...the quicker I can get to know you a bit more, baby doll."
"Right back at ya, dark, tall, and handsome," Callous chuckled, giving him another wink.
"Hey, Johnny, can we come with ya?" Bloom pestered. "Pleeeeeease?"
"Actually Bloom, I've got something else I want you and your sister to do for me," Callous said.
"Aw…" moaned Bloom in disdain.
"And what exactly did you have in mind for them, princess?" Ripper questioned, as he glanced down at Callous.
"Sheesh, again with the princess-stuff... is your dad royalty, or something, Callous?" Johnny quipped.
"Nah, he's just really prim and proper when he—er, they refer to me," Callous said. "Speaking of which…" she looked over at Ripper with a raised eye brow. "If you aren't Ripper, then what should we refer to you as?"
"...you may refer to us as... Slashers, our dear princess." Ripper said with a grin, as his blades began moving about erratically.
"...hmph. Weirdo." Johnny muttered, before he glanced at Callous. "So, what did you have in mind for the little kiddies?" he said, motioning towards Bloom and Gloom.
"I'd like them to find other little kiddies…certain other little kiddies," Callous said. She knelt down to the twins. "I want you to find out where Jill's little friends are."
"Oooooh," Bloom said; just as a disturbing giggle escaped her. "That sounds like fun!"
"Yeah," Callous said, smirking.
"Ah, she has friends of her own." Johnny remarked. "Let me guess; she's not with her friends because of her training, right?"
"That's right," Callous said, with her smirk going wide. "So while she's training, I can round up her little friends. Then our fight comes, and I can use her friends to my advantage; if you know what I mean."
Johnny smirked at that. "Heh... I like your style, already." he said, as he cracked his neck. "So... where is that Chaotix HQ, anyway?" he asked, as he glanced at Ripper, or 'Slashers', as he now referred to himself as.
"Kekekekeke... you could travel with the princess in her darkness to get there... it's quite the convenient way of transportation..." Slashers said, as his blades moved about even more.
"Ah yes, a place dubbed 'the dark,' which is an area that so very few can access," Callous briefly explained. "But it's how I get around, and I know where the Chaotix HQ is so if you'd like I could take you there."
"...you know what?" Johnny said, as he gave Callous a nod. "I'm game. Let's go into this... 'darkness', then."
Callous smirked like an evil toad. Darkness began to collect around her feet, as she held her hand to Johnny. "Keep in mind; the first time into the darkness can be a bit rough."
"Eh, it can't be worse than dying." Johnny said with a shrug, as he took hold of Callous' hand. "And even that wasn't as bad as I'd have imagined."
Oh, if only you knew Johnny, Callous thought with amusement. Once she had Johnny's hand, the two started to sink in the ground. "Remember you two," she said, looking at the twins. "Pretend to be their friends. Don't blow your cover until I give you the signal to take them. Got it?"
"Got it," They both answered with salutes.
By then, Johnny and Callous were gone from sight, and the darkness shortly vanished afterward.
"...kekekekekeke..." Slashers chuckled, as he glanced at the two butterflies. "So, the Master brought you back from the other side..." he uttered, as he tilted his head. "Do you intend to free the Master?"
"Of c-course," Gloom answered hesitantly.
"Yeah, because he lets us do whatever we want!" Bloom laughed deviously. "Unlike that dummy-head Jill, who's going to die because she didn't let us do what we want!"
"I w-wonder what her f-friends are like?" Gloom asked, looking up thoughtfully.
"Have you met them Slashers?" Bloom asked curiously, rocking on her toes back and forth.
"...we have not met them, per se." Slashers said, as he closed his eyes. "But he has... he wanted to kill them, as with everyone who he didn't grow up with. And when they weren't available... he could only depend on us." Then, he broke out into another laughing fit, as his blades moved in sync with the laughter.
"They sound nice!" Bloom laughed with Slashers, like nothing was wrong.
"L-lets go then," Gloom said, tugging on her sister's arm.
"Hey Slashers, maybe you should check on Jill and make sure she won't stop Callous in case she gets the feeling of what she's doing," Bloom suggested. "Jill and Callous are connected after all, and it happened before."
"We would..." Slashers said with a nod, after breaking out of his hysteric laughing fit. "...but we don't know where she is hiding right now. In hindsight, maybe we should have accompanied Callous into the dark... kekekekekeke..."
"Hey, maybe you can go into the dark by yourself!" Bloom said. "After all, Callous is nice enough to let her friends do that by themselves!"
"...we've never tried that before..." Slashers noted, as he looked down at the ground. "...but we can try... kekekekekeke..." Then, he suddenly stabbed all four of his blades into the ground, with an insane look in his eyes. "...kekekekekekeke..."
"Go Slashers! You can do it!" Bloom cheered optimistically.
"Y-yeah…k-keep trying!" Gloom added.
Sure enough, darkness crawled around the four blades.
"...kekekekekeke..." Slashers chuckled, as he grinned. "Yes... we feel it working... it-" At that point, he suddenly groaned in pain, and for a brief moment, the darkness around the blades seemed to go in flux.
Kekekekeke... you're not welcome in my head!
"...kekekekeke... he tries resisting... but it's futile; we are in control." Then, as more darkness gathered around the blades, Slashers sunk down into it, as he gave the butterflies a look. "For the Master!" he said, before vanishing.
"Goodie!" Bloom said. "Now let's go find Jill's friends!"
"Alright... you're getting the hang of it." At this point, Metal and Jill had moved on to a larger area of practice; namely, a bonfire. "Just tell me when you want to go higher."
Jill was surprised she was as calm as she was right now; usually she would be on the brink of panic. Sure, she was still shaking severely and there was still some restraint on her fear, but she was getting used to the idea of it.
"I might try something bold…" she uttered. "…make a circle of fire around me this time."
Wait a minute, that's the CRAZIEST thing I've ever suggested! She screamed in her head.
"Consider it done." Metal said, as he glanced at Tails Doll. "Make a circle, Tails Doll."
"Alright, Big Bro!" Tails doll said in an enthusiastic tone, as he began flying around Jill in a circle. Then, the gem over him lit up, before opening, letting a trail of oil pour out from it, surrounding Jill.
"Just tell me if you want out." Metal said, as he grabbed hold of the bonfire, taking out a burning branch, just as he placed it against the oil, igniting it, and surrounding Jill in a circle of flames.
Now would usually be the time for Jill to finally panic.
To be honest, she was just about close to it too, but then she remembered the insight she gained about it. It's under control, she thought. I'm okay...it's not going to hurt me. After all, she hasn't been hurt so far; except that one time when she wasn't paying attention.
The idea was to respect fire and don't ignore it.
So far, Jill managed to simply look around at the flames surrounding her. The heat was overwhelming, but other then that, Jill trained her fear; her mind. She just kept telling herself in her mind that she was alright. It required her to take deep breaths though.
I'll be damned; she's showing some actual progress. Metal thought, as he watched Jill closely. She might be able to get over it... that's a good girl.
Jill was even beginning to relax now. I'm actually doing it, she thought, with a small smile creeping up.
But the smile fell immediately, once she felt a disturbing tingle inside her.
"Hm? Something wrong?" Metal asked, as he looked curiously at Jill. "Do you want me to extinguish the flames?"
As he was busy being occupied with Jill, Tails Doll glanced at the water, as if there was something there he noticed. ...is that... he thought.
"…something's wrong," Jill said, still trying to decipher the bad feeling she was getting. "I keep getting the feeling like there's something going on…something bad."
"Hmm... you know, I could send out a scout of some sort, if that would make you feel safer." Metal suggested, just as he noticed Tails Doll staring at the water. "...Tails Doll, what's wrong?"
"...there's someone in the water, Big Bro..." Tails Doll said in an eerie tone.
"In the water?" Jill wondered. Then she remembered that she was surrounded by fire and she couldn't go anywhere. "Metal, could you put out the fire?" she asked.
Without a word, and without looking at Jill, Metal simply raised his arm, as liquid metal shot out from his hand, quickly covering up the flames. "Let's see who our visitor is..." Metal muttered, as his eyes began glowing. Initiating scan...
Jill walked over to the spring to inspect it herself, but Metal would be more likely to find something than she would.
Then again, Jill also saw that something in the water. What is that? She thought.
"Get back!" Quickly, Metal grabbed Jill's shoulder, pulling her away from the water. "He's coming at us!"
Just as he said that, someone shot right out of the water; namely, a large mantis, brandishing four scythe-like blades for hands. "Kekekekekekeke... found you!"
"Ripper!" Tails Doll exclaimed, just as the mantis landed right in front of Jill and Metal, the Metallix standing in front of Jill, covering her.
"…no, it's not Ripper anymore," Jill uttered. She sensed Corruption taking its toll on the mantis, and while it wasn't acting on Ripper himself, she knew that it wasn't him. Besides, she knew beforehand that Ripper was under Callous' control.
"Who are you?" she demanded the mantis.
"...we are Slashers," Slashers chuckled with that demented voice, as he looked at Jill with an absolutely insane look, his head jittering neurotically, and his blades moving about erratically. "We are in control of him now... as we should have been, ever since we let him first taste blood."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Metal began, as his right arm turned into a blade, "but you're disrupting our training session. So I suggest you scram, before someone gets hurt."
"Oh, look at the all-powerful dictator, protecting the helpless damsel in distress." Slashers cackled, as he moved his glance at Metal. "So this is what you're lowering yourself to? A goodie-goodie's fencing coach? The Master wouldn't even consider using your lifeless husk as a door-stopper, you waste of mechanics."
"Master?" Was he talking about Callous?
No, Jill had more things to worry about then who was the Master. Again, she remembered the memory that Sage showed her, and she knew that it could be dangerous.
But it gave her something to work with.
"Ripper!" she called. "I don't want to hurt you!"
"Ripper cannot hear you!" Slashers cackled, as he began moving closer to Metal and Jill. "We are in control! We are the only ones he needs! We maim! We kill! We slaughter! We are the very reason for his existence!"
"He's mentally insane." Metal muttered, as he turned his other arm into a blade, before crossing them. "Leave him to me, Jill."
"That's not true Slashers," Jill said sternly. "I know Ripper can hear me. You aren't the bosses of him!"
"Of course not! We are his friends! He is just very submissive!" Slashers laughed, as he raised all of his blades, preparing to send them slashing down at Metal. "Now, let us show him what we do to those who defy the Master!"
"I don't think so!" Metal responded, as he prepared to block the incoming attack... but it never came. "...what?"
"...kekekekeke..." As it turned out, Slashers couldn't even move his blades from where he held them, though from the looks of it, he was struggling. "...what? He can't still be resisting?"
"Ripper! You're strong enough to fight them!" Jill continued. "Don't believe ANY of the lies they say!"
Well, Ripper can't exactly fight Corruption, and Jill knew she'd have to help him, so she ran around Metal after the mantis.
"Ungh... don't listen to her! She won't let you kill and slaughter!" Slashers yelled, as he strived to be able to move the blades, but they just wouldn't budge.
Then... "...kekekekekekeke..." he began laughing, with his voice sounding normal. "...kekekekekeke... KEKEKEKEKEKEKE! I don't need you to let me kill! I'll kill who I want to! Starting with... YOU!" Just as he said that, one of his blades suddenly made a swift swipe... aimed at one of his own hands, letting it fall to the ground.
"AAAAAAARGH!" Slashers yelled in pain, as he looked at the cut-off hand with a look of sheer horror. "You're... you're killing us! Are you insane?"
"Kekekekekekeke!" he suddenly lapsed, as he grinned. "What kind of question is that? Jill! I can't hold them still for much longer! Kekekekekekeke!"
Jill made it to him, grabbing the blades. "Hang on Ripper!" she called, as her hands started to glow.
In the twist of events that Metal and Tails Doll wouldn't see, it went into a void of darkness; a place where Ripper was held in his mind.
But it wouldn't be so dark anymore.
"Ripper, I wish I could've saved you from that dark past…"
As her voice echoed in the darkness of his mind, Ripper could see a ball of light that appeared.
"I want you to know that your life isn't meaningless, like they made you believe…"
"...kekekekeke..." Ripper uttered, as he slowly reached out to that ball of light, though one could see him trembling weakly. "...my life... always focused on killing... kekekeke..." he uttered, as he got on his feet. "...I guess... kekekekeke... I've always been... afraid... kekekekeke..."
"You don't have to be afraid anymore Ripper. I'm not going to hurt you."
The ball of light started to grow brighter, and even morph into a white figure. It turned out to be Jill in her Holy Form, with her wings stretched magnificently; and not green wings of energy, but actual feathered wings.
She was holding out her hand to him, as she continued to radiate with pure light.
"I want to help you."
"...kekekekeke..." Ripper chuckled with a weak smile, as he stretched his arm out to grab Jill's as much as he could...
"He stays with us!" All of a sudden, globs of darkness, shaped to resemble Ripper, grabbed the mantis from behind, as they tried pulling him away from Jill. "We are his reason for existing! Without us, he would be nothing more than a spastic loon who would fit better in at a mental institution! He cannot survive on his own!"
"...kekekekekeke..." Even though it seemed like Ripper didn't put up much of a fight, he still kept stretching his arm out to Jill, as he was on the verge of tears. "...help... me..."
Jill only glared at the darkness sternly. "You are NOT his reason for his existence!"
She crossed her arms just as she became blindingly bright. "And he's more than you will ever be, Slashers!" The moment her arms uncrossed, light shot out in a devastating force that would knock the darkness back ten-fold.
"GUAAAAH!" As the dark was knocked away from Ripper, however, even more of it seemed to gather behind Ripper. "What would you know of that? You cannot tell us with a straight face that you know what his feeble mind has endured! Without us, he would be as good as dead!"
"Watch me say it!" Jill said. "YES, I do know what he endured! I felt his pain too, thanks to your pitiful Master!"
This time, Jill reached forward and grabbed Ripper in a hug, keeping the darkness from swallowing him whole. "He doesn't need you! He's got his friends! He's not alone!"
"...friends..." Ripper uttered, as he finally began crying.
"Do not think you can defy the will of the Master!" At that point, the gathered darkness suddenly formed into a massive wave, which threatened to swallow both of them. "He is ours!"
"...no..." Ripper uttered, as he clenched his teeth, closing his eyes. "...I don't belong to anyone... I don't need you..."
"WHAT?"
"I said..." Ripper growled, as his eyes shot open. "I DON'T NEED YOU!"
"THAT'S IT!" Jill exclaimed, just in time for the two of them to be encased in light, preventing the wave of darkness from ever reaching them. In an instant, all the darkness was obliterated, thanks to Ripper's help.
Then finally, Metal and Tails Doll saw Jill stir as she stumbled away from Ripper in exhaustion.
"Jill!" With a bolt, Tails Doll flew right towards Jill, placing his hand on her forehead. "Are you okay?"
"...kekekekeke..." Ripper chuckled, as he looked down at Jill. "...thank... you..." At that point, he suddenly collapsed, falling to the ground.
"Ripper!" Jill snapped back to her senses and knelt by Ripper's side, setting a hand on him. She looked him over to sense if anything was left over, and thankfully, she didn't detect any more Corruption.
"...thank you..." Ripper repeated, as he began closing his eyes. "I... I couldn't help but let them control me... but you drove them away..." As he spoke, his voice began sounding weaker, as his eyes closed more and more. "...see you around..." Then, his eyes fully closed...
...only to suddenly jolt open again, as a painful sensation went through his body. "Ow. Ow, ow, ow, ow, owowowowowowowowowowow-"
"That is for disrupting our training session." As it turned out, Metal had stabbed Ripper's hand with one of his own blade-arms, as he looked down at the mantis, who was wriggling about on the ground, trying to get out of Metal's grip. "Now don't you even think about dying on us or something of the sort. Tails Doll, get his hand over here."
"Alright, Big Bro!" Tails Doll called, as he fluttered towards the hand Ripper had cut off, before slowly dragging it towards Metal, who finally retracted the blade from the mantis.
"Jill, I trust that you can heal up that little stab-wound?" Metal said, as he turned to Tails Doll.
"Uh," Jill certainly didn't expect that to happen, but she slowly nodded, applying glowing hands to the area to heal.
"Ungh..." Ripper groaned, as he looked up at Metal, who had taken the hand from Tails Doll. "...why did you do that?" he inquired.
"You have answers." Metal replied in a simple tone, as he took hold of the arm Ripper had cut off the bladed hand from, before connecting the hand with the bloody arm stump. "Answers that can benefit us." Then, lifting up one finger, a stream of fire blew out from it. "Don't waste your energy with this injury, Jill; I can handle it."
Just as he said that, he pointed the stream of flame at where the hand had been severed, making sure to weld it back into place, as Ripper groaned in pain. Seeing him do that, Tails Doll gasped. "Woah, Big Bro's really helping him out!" he said in a happy tone.
Jill blinked as she watched in amazement.
"And..." Metal began, as he eventually moved away from Ripper, looking down at the mantis. "...there. Good as new."
Blinking, Ripper glanced at that arm, seeing that his hand was back in place. "...why did you do-"
"Consider it an act of... hospitality, you could say." Metal shrugged, as he folded his arms. "Now, if you wouldn't mind... we need to ask you a few questions."
"First of all, do you have any idea what Callous is up to?" Jill asked; finally realizing that the bad feeling she had gotten earlier had to do with Callous.
"...Callous..." Ripper muttered, as he blinked, before his eyes widened. "Aah! She's planning on taking advantage of your friends during a fight!"
"Take advantage of..." Metal muttered, as he closed his eyes. "...I should have known. How does she intend to do that?"
"Um... there were these two..." Ripper began, as he held his head in thought. "Kekekekeke... it was... two butterflies! They were gonna find your friends, and...pretend to be friendly!"
"Two butterflies?" Jill blurted uneasily. "You mean, Bloom and Gloom?"
"...yeah, that's right." Ripper nodded. "But I thought Sage killed them... kekekekeke... just how did they come back alive?"
"I don't think that's the biggest issue at hand, here." Metal said, as he folded his arms. "What else is Callous doing?"
"Um... she found this one guy... and he was going after King's group..." Ripper muttered, just as he held his head in pain. "Ow... sorry, I got a headache... kekekekeke..."
"...one guy..." Metal muttered, as he closed his eyes. "Somehow, I doubt that it's Calculate; he doesn't exactly have a vendetta against any of those GUN agents."
"Ripper, do you remember what this guy looked like?" Jill asked; but somehow, she had a feeling. If Bloom and Gloom had come back, not just from that dark time but from Jill's own encounters with them, then there might be other possibilities…
And these possibilities put Jill even more at unease.
"Um... he had..." Ripper began, as he groaned. "Kekekeke... he had red hair... almost like a mane... and he had this... scar, running between his eyes. And there was a... steel box, on his chest." Then, he yelped. "That's... all I can remember..."
Jill was now worried. "You're…not talking about Johnny, are you?"
"Um..." Ripper grunted, as he held his head. "...yeah, that's him!" he said, as he quickly got to his feet. "Kekekekeke! I can't stay here! I've got to-" However, Metal was quick to pull Ripper down.
"You can't even think straight without risking brain trauma." Metal said, as he folded his arms. "You're going to have to stay here for a short while." Then, he turned to face Jill. "And that goes for you, too. We can't take any sort of break from your training."
"Shoot," Jill uttered in dismay. How in the world was Johnny alive? Didn't Desperado and Wiper kill him?
Only GUN could do something like that.
Jill finally realized right then the reason why King was going to leave. GUN had figured out their whereabouts and decided to hunt them down, and they didn't want everyone else involved.
"…but that doesn't mean we can't warn them," Jill said, thinking of something else. She picked up her satchel that was on the ground and dug through it. There was the communicator that Wiper gave her, which was underneath the Chaos Emerald. "I can contact both groups and warn them to be on the lookout," she said, looking at the communicator in her hand.
However, Metal simply grabbed Jill's arm, looking sternly at her. "If I may, Jill..." he said, as he began lowering her arm. "...but I think it's about high time that Callous learns... that she is not the superior villain." Then, he turned to face Tails Doll. "Tell me, Jill... where is the Clubhouse you talked about? I know that it's in the Mystic Ruins, but just where in the ruins is it hidden?"
Jill was silent. Could she really tell Metal where the Clubhouse was at? Right now, maybe the circumstances called for it, but for the future, she couldn't do that.
But Jill put the urgency at top priority. There's no telling what Bloom and Gloom could do to her friends.
"…it's near the temple," she admitted with her head sinking. "The temple we first encountered."
"I see..." he nodded, before he looked at Tails Doll. "You heard her, Tails Doll. Go clean up."
"Alright, Big Bro!" Tails Doll said in a cheery tone, before he sped off at a blinding speed, leaving the three on their own.
"As for this Johnny character..." Metal said, as he began chuckling. "...I have a certain someone who will be of great aid there." Then, his eyes suddenly began glowing intensely, as he transmitted a signal to a certain simian.
Overriding Unit SNITCH's neural control... mission objective clear: Approach Chaotix HQ, neutralize target: "Johnny". Avoid any other confrontation, especially regarding subject: "Callous". Engage operation: "Metal Sonic is Superior".
Meanwhile, somewhere far away in the outskirts of the now mechanical Green Hill Zone, Cal received the signal. Oh great, he thought in disdain, as his rocket boosters kicked up and he made his way to his mission.
Back in the forest, Jill still was worried. I hope they'll be alright, she thought.
"If you're worrying about them, don't." Metal said, as he closed his eyes. "With the unit I sent out, Johnny should be occupied. And as for the butterflies... well, alive or undead, Tails Doll is one foe they'll wish they'd never have made."
"…if you say so," Jill said.
"What, you don't trust me?" Metal said, before he chuckled. "Well, that's to be expected. So, shall we resume training?"
"Alright," Jill said.