Episode 36
"An Arm and A Leg, Part 1"
Following the disastrous attempt to defeat the leaders of the Gemrangers from exhaustion, one of the monsters confronts his master missing an arm and a leg. Berated by this masters, the monster is forced to fulfill his duties. But instead of attacking the leaders lead on, they instead opted to attempt to break their spirit by attacking the ones why most cared about.
How do they achieve this? By stealing the limbs of their surrogate siblings.
Massive changes are about to hit both Tails and Scootaloo hard.
[Beginning of Episode]
Makeshift limbs are being attached to Blade Titan, a monster who Sonic and Rainbow spared during the challenge. They technically failed the challenge since not all the monsters got destroyed, but Fuhrer and Rita are treating it as a loss since it doesn't seem like Sonic and Rainbow has lost their cool.
Attachments are completed and Blade Titan stands in front of his masters. His new limbs do not match the rest of his body perfectly, but it will be enough for him to accomplish his task.
"You're currently in debt one arm and one limb, Blade Titan," Fuhrer told the monster. "These will serve as temporary limbs for you to use as you walk the earth. Get us what we asked for and we'll rebuild you properly."
Blade Titan performs one last check to see if his limbs are properly attached to him. They don't want any unexpected detachments to happen, stopping them from reaching their goal. Once everything is in place, Blade Titan nods before his masters. "Thanks, masters," he said.
Something else came to Rita. She's been accumulating a lot of embiggening elixir for quite some time, to the point where she has enough to have twenty monsters. So she decides to give Blade Titan a sample because she really wants to get rid of them. "Oh, and one more thing before you go," she says as she reaches into her cloak. She pulls out a vial of the embiggening substance. "Just in case it is necessary, we'll give you a vial of this. This substance will grow you into a giant size. Drink it and see immediate results."
Blade Titan takes the vial of the substance and puts it someplace safe. "Okay. Now I'm ready to go!" he announces.
Fuhrer and Rita nodded, seeing that the monster that once failed them is about to redeem himself as a reliable underling.
"Now, go, Blade Titan!" Fuhrer ordered. "Cut off someone's arm and leg and bring them to us!"
"Yes sir and ma'am!" Blade Titan responded.
A few seconds have passed, and Blade Titan did not move, much to the confusion of the others.
"Hey! Why aren't you moving?" Rita asks. "You're supposed to go out and do what we say!"
"I have a request to change my plans," Blade Titan said. "You know our last operation is trying to defeat the leaders of the Gemrangers with challenging them into something you think they can't possibly win, right?" Rita and Fuhrer nodded, having remembered that last attempt. "Well, how about instead of trying to defeat them with seemingly impossible challenges, because let's face it they're probably going to win, how about we break them?"
Rita and Fuhrer are confused. "Break them?" Rita asks. "Didn't we try to do that last time? What do you mean by nbreaking them?
"How about instead of stealing the limbs of some random person who happens to walk by, how about I steal their sibling's limbs?" Blade Titan suggested. "Yeah! Break them by injuring someone they really care about!"
Fuhrer notices some problems with that new plan. "Issue is, one of them is one of the rangers-" he began to say.
"I'll just pick them off on their own," Blade Titan responded. "Catch them off guard, then chop their limbs off."
Fuhrer initially had no words to say about this, buy he forgot about that and procced to allow his minion to continue his plan as he told them. "Okay. I was about to finish my thought, but there we go," he responded to the new plan. "Go on ahead, Blade Titan. We'll wait for you to return." Blade Titan saluted and exited the base. "And make sure that you bring back the limbs as promised."
It's been a while since Scootaloo last saw Rainbow Dash. After Canterlot High is destroyed, she and her friends haven't been seeing their older siblings in a long time. Apple Bloom is under the care of Mack, Sweetie has Honey as a babysitter, Rumble has only his mother to look after him, and Scootaloo has...well she refuses to tell.
Still, the other siblings do come back occasionally, but it's usually only for a day. After which, they return to their base. Out of all of the older siblings, Rainbow has come back to her home the least. But even after a long time of not seeing each other, Scootaloo is still eager to show off the skills she gained over the last few months.
It's a fine afternoon as the sun reaches its highest. In fact, it's not long after the challenge where this takes place. Scootaloo has, on a street, set up a makeshift ramp for her to ride her scooter off of. She steps back far from the ramp, lined up almost perfectly with it.
"I can't wait to show Rainbow the cool moves I've been teaching myself," Scootaloo said to herself. Then she puts on her helmet. "It's been a while since she left, but when she returns, I'll show her these cool moves! Here I go." Scootaloo takes in a deep breath before moving forward. She kicks back several times, picking up speed with each push on the ground. Then, Scootaloo launches off the ramp, going high into the air. In those few seconds of being in the air, Scootaloo performs some wild maneuvers with her scooter. She lands on the wheels, having performed the coolest trick possible. "Yahoo! Sweet!" she cheers as she comes to a stop. "That's worthy of an X rank right there. Let me try this again." And then she goes back to where she started.
As Scootaloo rolls back to her starting position, Blade Titan peeks from the bushes. He recalls from Rita that Rainbow's surrogate sister has orange skin and purple hair, and is also around the same age as Tails. And it looks like he has found the person who fits that description. "So, this little girl is the little sister of Rainbow, one of the leaders," he whispers. "Hmm...she looks nothing like her, but what do I know. She's a surrogate sister, but I'll treat her as if she's biologically related to her." Then he spotted her racing towards the ramp. "Alright. Better make my move!"
Scootaloo races towards the ramp, getting ready to jump off of it. "And she approaches the ramp on the street, hoping to achieve another X rank trick," she said in a announcer tone.
Blade Titan leaps from the bushes, intercepting Scootaloo. "Surprise!" he yells.
Scootaloo only had a brief moment before she faces the event that will change her lift. "Ahh!" she screams.
Blade Titan makes a swing towards one of her legs, and Scootaloo fell down towards the ground, sliding to a halt. She then lays there on the ground. Something must be wrong with her. She can't feel her right leg anymore.
"I've got one item off my list of debts," Scootaloo heard Blade Titan said. "Now, time to get the other one."
After this, Scootaloo hears a flash.
Scootaloo lays there, slipping from consciousness. She slowly blacks out over time.
Her friends rush to her aid. "Oh no! Scootaloo!" she hears Sweetie exclaims.
Scootaloo can also hear the voice of Rumble as he gets grossed out. "Oh, dear," he said, averting his gaze. "She's...oh...I can't look."
"Someone call the doctor!" Sweetie cries. "This is an emergency!"
Everything then went black for Scootaloo.
It's been hours since Sonic and Rainbow completed the challenge using that strange technique. According to their findings, this is powered by the bonds shared between the two rangers. Should their morphers come near each other, they will react and grant the wearer with a dramatic power boost. So far, this has only been seen with boosting speed, but the others are experimenting with other combinations.
The named this technique Power Bond.
For example, Silver and Rarity's Power Bond is a protective dome that covers a wide area, with the outer walls having a spell that catches any projectile that hits the wall. As demonstrated by Espio, he flings his shuriken at the dome, and upon contact it transfers to Silver's hands, who then threw it to a nearby dummy.
In another example, as demonstrated right now, Knuckles and Applejack are confronted with a fallen tree. At first, it's too heavy for either of them to pick up, even with their super strength. They tried lifting it together, but they could barely lift it. The solution is to use Power Bond to increase their strength so they together, they can easily lift the tree above their heads.
Tails and Twilight watched as their friends experimented with this new technique, gathering data and building strategies around them.
"This strange new mechanic is adding new tactics to our arsenal," Twilight said. "Wonder why we didn't bother to do this earlier. It'll be so useful in our previous missions."
"So far, I've seen you guys combining abilities of the same type," Median told the team. "For example, two speedsters to boost speed, or two powerhouses to increase strength. But, why don't you try mixing things up a little in the near future? You know, one speedster and one powerhouse?"
Just then, the power boost ran out for Knuckles and Applejack, causing the tree to fall on them. The others look at them under the tree.
"I don't see this happening anytime soon," Sonic said with his deadpan face.
"Why not?" Median wonders.
Rainbow brings her watch up to her mouth. "We haven't achieve full trust with each other," she answers.
"Hey! Watch what we can do!" Pinkie shouted.
The team turn their attention to Pinkie and Manic, who proceeded to bring their morphers close together and form their Power Bond. The result is a ground explosion that covers them both with dirt and confetti. Both smiled when they combined powers, and continued to smile after being engulfed in the explosion. Though, their eye twitches from being blown up.
"Oh..." Tails observes. "Some pairs work better than others. This one is not one of the better ones."
Knuckles and Applejack then walk towards the rest of the team.
"Okay, that's just very strange," Applejack said. "We just held the tree over our heads, and then it just suddenly felt heavier."
"What's the time limit on this?" Knuckles asks, pointing to his morpher.
The others had a laugh over Knuckles and Applejack's misfortune.
"Well, our bonds may power us up for a brief moment," Twilight concludes, "but it's enough to set the battle in our favor. You know what they say. Friendship is-"
Before Twilight can finish the phrase, Rainbow covers Twilight's mouth. "Let's not get too sappy over here," she said.
In the dining room of the base, Amy and Thunder are having a chat, hoping to form a bond between each other. Unlike her previous attempts in getting a boy, Amy is treating Thunder without being pushy. She would've berated him for not going on dates with her, but the thing is they live in the same building and they are there for usually the entire day. Why go out on a date with someone you love if that someone you love happens to live in the same house a you? Plus, they frequently got into very intense situations which helps with forming bonds, making going on dates even less sense.
Anyway, these two hammer users were talking to each other when the phone rings. The two turn to the phone as it goes off.
"What? The phone's ringing?" Amy asks.
"Huh. We didn't see the phone ringing very often," Thunder comments. "Usually, we communicate through our morphers."
Amy got off her chair. "Hold on. Let me go answer it." She then walks up to it and picks up the phone. "Hello?" she calls into it. From the other side, she got a shocking response. "What? Oh no..."
"What?" Thunder asks, wondering what Amy heard from the other side of the line. "What is it? What did you hear?"
Amy brings the phone away from her ear, her arm shaking because of how shocking the things she heard was. "It's...for someone else," she replies. Then she runs out the door with the phone in her hands.
"Hey! Amy! Wait for me!" Thunder shouted as he ran after Amy. "I wanna here as well!"
Amy got outside and looks at Rainbow. "Rainbow..." she said. Thunder catches up with her, holding the door open.
The others turn their attention to Amy and Thunder.
"Huh?" Rainbow responded. "What is it, Amy?"
Amy lifted the phone up. "It's for you..." she answers.
Rainbow walks up to Amy and took the phone. Then she brings the phone up to her ear. "Hello? Anyone there?" she asks. The response she got shook her to her core. "What the-? Scootaloo?"
"What?" Sonic and Tails gasp at the same time.
Rainbow breathed heavily, a sense of worry went down her body. "Something has happened to her?" she asks. "Tell me! What happened? Is she okay? Where is she now?"
The person on the other side only gave a location. Then, the call ends. Rainbow beings the phone away from her ear, shocked by what she heard.
"What did you hear?" Thunder asks.
Rainbow hands the phone back at Amy. She looks down in sadness. She can't believe that she's about to see this. "Get on the train, guys," she ordered. "We're going to Canterlot City Hospital."
"So, back to your hometown?" Tails asks. "Right."
Tails, Sonic, and Rainbow all head off towards the train station in the town. In just a few steps, Sonic suddenly tripped and fell. Rainbow then catches Sonic and he falls, struggling to lift him back to his feet.
Tails stopped and looked at the two speedsters. "Huh? What's wrong?" he asks.
"That last mission was more draining than I expected," Sonic groans. "I may need a little more rest."
Rainbow then gave in and she fell along with Sonic.
Applejack then stepped up to Tails. "Fine," she decides. "I'll go with you."
Pinkie then jumped to Tails' position. "I'll go as well!" she said. "That poor person could use a little support from us."
It's been a while, but they have arrived at their location. Canterlot Hospital Station. For some reason, the train bound to this area is nearly empty, aside from a few passengers who probably didn't get the memo. When they arrived, Applejack, Tails, and Pinkie all got off the train.
"Here we are," Applejack said, entering the station. "Canterlot Hospital Station." They look around and noticed that the station seems empty today, not bustling with passengers like any other day. There were a few people who are seen hiding behind anything they could find. "Strange. This station seems...empty. Don't usually see this around normally."
Pinkie looked at the hiding people. "Huh. Seems like they're scared of something," she observes. "Tell me, what are you hiding from?"
No response from the hiding people.
Tails approaches the other side of the station. As he walks, he hears the sound of sharp blades clashing against metal. "Hold on. I think I heard something from this corner," he said. "Let me see..."
Tails then turns the corner, where a bladed monster awaits him.
"I've got you now!" Blade Titan yells. And then he slashes at Tails' arm.
"Ahh!" Tails screams as a sharp pain went up his left arm. He fell to the ground, slowly losing consciousness.
"And your little morpher as well!" he hears Blade Titan say. Then, he hears a flash, follows up with something clanging against the floor.
"Tails!" he hears Applejack said as she and Pinkie rush to his aid. "Oh no...did that really happened?"
"Ahh!" Pinkie screams. "I can't look!" and then she throws up.
Tails then blacked out.
"Beep. Beep," someone said from nearby.
How long have I've been out, Tails thought. Is it morning or the evening?
"Beep. Beep."
What's this pain in my left arm? I can't even feel it. Must've been painful.
"Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep," Pinkie said as she watches Tails slowly regain conscious. Annoyed by this, Applejack decides to smack Pinkie in the back. "Ow! Hey!"
Applejack then took off her deadpan look and wears her neutral look. "You okay, sugarcube?" she asks.
Tails felt dizzy as he wakes up. He doesn't feel very fine. "What happened?"
"Umm...Tails," Pinkie said, trying to keep her causal look. "Look at your left arm. Or...what's left of it. It's...uh...not much left, to be honest. Sorry if that hurts you."
Tails then turns to his left and looks at his left arm. Or at least, what's left of it. In place of his left arm is a bandaged stump. And he is shocked to see this. "A...A..." he said, unable to comprehend what happened to him.
"Ahhhhhhhh!"
He doesn't know this yet, but Tails has been out for nearly a whole day. He went unconscious sometime in the afternoon and woke up hours later with the sun rising.
Tails was wondering why he couldn't feel anything in his left arm. His left arm was completely missing. "M-My arm!" he screams. "It's..."
Just now, Sonic and Rainbow entered the room Tails is staying at. They heard his scream and uses it to pinpoint where his room is.
"What's going on?" Rainbow asks. "I've heard that Tails was in an emergency situation over at Canterlot City Hospital."
Sonic then looks at Tails and his shocked to see what happened. "Oh my," he gasps. He then went towards Tails. "Tails, buddy. Your arm..."
Rainbow looks at Tails and gasped to see what's missing. "It's...it's gone!" she hollers.
Sonic looked at the table by his hospital bed and saw that his morpher is still with him. He picks it up to look at it. "Well, at least he hasn't lost this," he said. Then he places it down and gets up. "Applejack, what happened to Tails? Where is his arm?"
Applejack tries hard to recall what she saw. It was only for a brief moment which she saw the monster that took Tails' arm. "It...got chopped off," she said, forming a chopping motion with her arms. "By...a monster. With...very sharp blades on his...everywhere.
Sonic realizes that the monster that took Tails' arm is the same monster which he and Rainbow spared. It was Blade Titan. "No..." he said, shaking his head. Then he starts to pound on the door. "Why? Why must this happen? First, we went through a difficult challenge, and now Tails loses an arm?"
Rainbow shakes her head, covering her face with her hand. "This is terrible stuff that's happening around here," she said.
"It's...much worse than that," Applejack said, grabbing the dividing curtain. "Because..." And then she pulls it back, revealing an unconscious Scootaloo just laying there on the bed.
"Oh no..." Rainbow gasps. "Scootaloo!" She reaches out, wondering what happened that causes her to be in this place. "What's wrong with her?"
"Uhh...I think you need to uncover her from that blanket," Applejack replies, pointing to the blanket.
Rainbow then looks at Scootaloo before pulling the blanket off of her. What she found was something she was not told in that phone call. Scootaloo's right leg is missing. "Ahh!" Rainbow screams.
Sonic turns around and walks up to Rainbow. "What's wr-" he began, before looking at what's left of Scootaloo's right leg. "Oh! Oh, for the love of...that's horrible! Her leg! It's missing!"
What remains of Scootaloo's right leg is a bandaged stump as well.
"Well, this is just sickening," Sonic remarks. "Two young people, both had their limbs cut off. And they're both close to us! They're our surrogate younger siblings! And worse, we know who did all of that!" Sonic then finds himself unable to handle it any longer. "You know what? Forget this! This is getting too much for me to handle. I'm out of here!"
Sonic then stormed out of the hospital room, followed by Rainbow, then Applejack, and finally Pinkie.
It's nearing noon, one day since Sonic and Rainbow completed the challenge set by their enemies. One night has passed since the incident that cost Tails his left arm; he's been unconscious for hours.
Everyone gathers around the command table in sorrow over their seriously injured friend.
The four who visited Tails then entered the building, and as soon as they arrived, Sunset got up and approached them. "What did you see?" she asks. All of them were too nervous to talk about it. "Come on, guys. Tell me something."
"It's...not for the faint of heart," Sonic said, frowning and drooping his eyes. "Definitely something that you should not see."
Sunset got a bit impatient over this. "Come on. Let me have a look!" she insisted as she grabbed Sonic's arm, much to the shock of the others.
Moments later, Sunset yanked her hand out of Sonic's arm with a clearly shocked look on her face. "Oh...oh no..." she muttered. "No...did that really happened?" Sunset soon feel on her knees, covering her face and sobbing.
"And now, you're scarred for life," Pinkie said in an unsettlingly cheerful tone.
Nearly everyone reacted to this insensitive comment. "Pinkie!" nearly all of them yelled. Applejack took a step further and smacked Pinkie in the back.
"Ow!" Pinkie shrieked. "You don't have to hit me so hard."
Tails was asleep as noon approaches. He didn't have much to do at this point, since he did not pack in anything to keep him company. Even if he did, he would find himself unable to do most things due to his missing left arm hindering his ability to do most actions. So, he is left to sleep, hoping that the pain would go away sooner or later. As he was sleeping, his roommate began to speak to him.
"Hey. Hey. Miles?" he hears Scootaloo say from his right. "Are you there? Miles!"
Tails opened his eyes briefly. He still felt mostly asleep. "Uhh…" he groans. "What?"
"Miles!" Scootaloo shouted. "Hey! Miles!"
Tails snapped awake and lifted himself up, though the world felt like it was tilting. He was still very much tired. He supported his head with his right arm. "I'm not used to using this arm," he said. Then he felt a sharp sting go up his torso from the left side. "Ah! The pain. It hurts." Tails then rubs the area where his left leg used to be.
"Miles!" Scootaloo said, which made him jump. Tails looked towards the other bed of the room he's in, where Scootaloo is at. "Ahh good. You responded."
His mind is a bit foggy after losing his arm, but Tails is pretty sure that Scootaloo is calling him by the wrong name. So he attempts to correct it. "But-" he spoke.
"I know," Scootaloo admitted. "I was confused as you are when I woke up after blacking out."
That's a bit annoying. She interrupted him before he could complete his thought. So he tries again. "But Scootaloo-" Tails said again.
Scootaloo notices that there was something missing in Tails. "Hey, is there something wrong with your left arm?" she asks.
Tails looks at this left arm for a brief moment before turning his attention back to Scootaloo. He takes a deep breath as he said this. "Before we get to that, I want you to know that I'm no longer referred to as Miles," he said. "That might be my birth name, but I'm now referred to by me friends as Tails."
"Tails?" Scootaloo asks, confused and curious about her friend's new name.
Tails nodded to confirm it. "Yeah," he replies. "After two tails sprouted on my lower back, my mentor and my friends decided to call me Tails," he explains. "I don't know about this, but I feel like Tails is a bit more fitting than Miles."
"Oh," Scootaloo responded. "That's interesting." She then thought about what to refer to her friend from now on, and that's when gets an idea. "Say, mind if I call you Miles, your birth name? I feel I like the name better than Tails. Or at least, more familiar with the name."
Tails looked at Scootaloo long and hard. She treats what she calls him something of an affectionate nickname, even though that's his birth name. So he decides to go with it and allow Scootaloo to refer to him by his birth name since nearly everyone else refers to him by his nickname. "Sure," he replies.
Scootaloo smiles in response to Tails' decision. Then she gets curious about his missing left arm. "So, how did you lose your left arm?" she asks. "Got into an accident?"
Tails leans back on his hospital bed. He knows what hit him, but felt that it was a bit to heavy for him to give it out. Alas, he and Scootaloo encountered the same monster and lot one of their limbs to them, so what cost is there to share it out? Mustering the courage, Tails reveals his story. "Me and my friends have gotten news that you lost your right leg," he explains, "so I decided to pay you a visit. However, shortly after arriving at this hospital, I was attacked by a...man who is covered in blades. He seems to be missing one arm and one leg. The limbs that are missing have been replaced by some shoddy ones."
Scootaloo remember seeing someone like the one Tails has described. "What?" she exclaimed. "You were attacked too? I remember catching a brief glimpse of someone who looks like the one you described before I blacked out."
"So, we both lost a limb so the same monster," Tails remarks. "That's...disturbing."
Things went a little silent between the two of them for a while.
Scootaloo broke the brief silence. "So, Miles," she began, catching Tails' attention. "How do you consider your relationship to Sonic now?"
"Since I'm a part of his team," Tails began, "there's rarely a long time where he and I have been apart. This turned into us hanging out almost all the time since he and his team got escorted to a base." He then got curious about Scootaloo. "What about you? How do you consider your relationship to Rainbow now?"
Scootaloo sighs. "Not the same as you to Sonic," she replies. "Since Rainbow and her friends left after Canterlot High was destroyed, I have not seen her as often as before. We do not hang out as often as I would like it to be. Life's just not the same without Rainbow around."
"And why is that? " Tails asks, raising an eyebrow. "Why haven't you payed us a visit?"
"Wait, I can pay you a visit?" Scootaloo asks, shocked that visiting the rangers is possible. It has not occurred to her that she can just pay these guys a visit.
"Our ranger base does not usually welcome outside visitors," Tails explains, clearing up any confusion Scootaloo might have. "Unauthorized access is not permitted without our permission. However, we don't mind if you came in here. You're not considered a threat."
Scootaloo's eyes began to sparkle with excitement. "Really? Does that mean that I can see Rainbow whenever I want?" she asks.
Tails smiles at his friend. "Suit yourself, my friend," he answers.
The doctor then arrives at their room to make an announcement.
"Hey kids," the doctor said. "We would like to inform you that we have a biotic limb attachment happening tonight. You'll regain your limbs, though they're not organic."
Tails sighed in relief. "What a relief," he said. "I was wondering how much longer I'll spend with a limb missing."
"Be prepared, little ones," the doctor told them. "We want you to be back in service as soon as possible." And then he exits the room.
It'll be a matter of time before these two would regain their limbs.
In the laboratory, Twilight is working on a project that will hopefully help out the two that lost their limbs. Using the limbs cut off from Blade Titan, she modified them so that they can serve as replacement limbs. They're a bit smaller to account for their size.
Sonic and Rainbow entered the lab. "Twilight," Rainbow began to notify. "Canterlot City Hospital has requested that we provide our friends with a replacement limb."
"I know," Twilight replies. "That's why I've been modifying the limbs you chopped off that monster to suit their needs and size."
Sonic takes a look at the arm Twilight is working on and notices that something is missing. The blades have been removed to the point that the arm is unrecognizable. "That looks nothing like the limbs we chopped off. You sure this came from that Blade Titan?"
"The sharp blades that are attached to these limbs are made for combat purposes only," Twilight explains. "They're not really practical for everyday use. So, I removed them. Now it looks like a arm and leg made out of metal."
"Did you account for their height?" Rainbow asks.
Twilight places the tools down to take a brief break. "They're still young," she said. "They haven't reached the end of their growth period. Here's the genius part. These limbs are able to expand to account for their growth as they age." She demonstrates this by picking up the leg and pulling it apart, causing it to expand a bit in either direction. "No matter how tall they will be in the future, the proportions will be close to perfect for their body size."
"And what about Tails?" Sonic asks.
Twilight realizes that she forgot about something. "Oh! And one last thing," she brings up. "Tails is a ranger, right? His new left arm will feature a slot where he can place his morpher in. See?"
Sonic looks down at the arm that will become Tails' new arm. On the wrist is a slot about the size of the watch that every member of the team has. He hasn't really noticed it until it was pointed out to him. "Okay. That's just clever," he commented. "So clever."
"Good thing that most of the hard work is already done for me," Twilight said. "All I had to do is modify the length, remove the blades, and add in a slot for his watch."
She then puts in the final necessary features on the leg. Her job is mostly done. Now all that's left is to tweak it to make sure that it functions properly most of the time.
"The replacement procedure will take place tonight," Twilight reminds Sonic and Rainbow. "That means that I have a few more hours to put in the finishing touches before I have to ship them off. Hey, since the people involved are your surrogate siblings, why don't you take the liberty of delivering these limbs to them?" She turns around to look a them, only to find them slumping on the nearby chairs. "Something wrong?" she asks.
"There's...something that's been bothering us ever since Tails and Scootaloo have their limbs stolen," Sonic began. "I know it's our fault that we didn't have the foresight to see this coming but...out of all the people they chose to steal a limb, why them?"
Twilight ponders about the reasoning behind this. At first, she thinks that it is an act of revenge. But as she thinks about it more, she realizes that there is something going on between the two monster attacks that have Blade Titan involved in some way. "You know, I have this strange feeling that there is a theme going on in these past few missions," she said. "Am I correct?"
"It's a bit too early to tell at this point," Rainbow responds. "We'll have to wait and see, but I think what they're trying to do with us is to break our spirit. Our will to fight. Does that make since to you?"
Twilight thinks about it for a while. "You know, maybe we should wait and see what the next few missions would bring," she said. "Go outside. I'll call you when these limbs are finished."
Sonic and Rainbow then got up and exited the laboratory, waiting for the limbs to become finished and the procedure time to arrive.
In the meantime, the others continue to practice that Power Bond trick discovered yesterday.
With his debts repaid, Blade Titan gets the new limbs that was promised to him. All four of his limbs have been replaced with newer, better limbs. He has become a new version of himself, as if he is reborn.
"There you go, Blade Titan," Fuhrer said, patting his finished work on the shoulder. "The new and improved version of you. Sharper blades, more durable limbs, and with the skills needed to defeat these rangers. Also, you have something that will make you grow giant."
Blade Titan then takes a moment to knock on his limbs. They certainly feel stronger now. "Yes," he said. "Yes! This is certainly an improvement. With their spirits crushed by seeing a loved one cling on the edge of life, they will surely lose the drive to fight. Haha!" He then breaks his sinister attitude. "Can I go out now?"
Rita shook her head. "Not right now," she answers. "You need a little bit more time for your body to adjust to the new limbs. It'll be a while before a stable connection is made. Now, go get some rest."
Blade Titan grew eager to go out and do his thing. "Wait!" he begged. "I want to go out now! Let's see how much I've improved thanks to you!"
"Sorry, Blade Titan," Fuhrer said. "I get to dictate what you do. And I insist that you take some rest now. Then, I'll let you go. Understand?"
Blade Titan refuses to answer. Fuhrer then decides to deal with him by dragging him into the monster habitation chambers where he will be recovering for some time.
Night falls on the base as Twilight finishes up the new arm and leg that will be attached to Tails and Scootaloo respectively sometime within the next few hours. Sonic and Rainbow are on their bikes, ready to deliver the limbs direction to the procedure location.
Twilight places the limbs in the backpacks of Sonic and Rainbow. "One left arm for Tails," she said as she places it in Sonic's backpack. "One right leg for Scootaloo," she said as she places it in Rainbow's backpack. "Phew! That went by quickly. Went faster than I thought."
"You're sure they're fine in there?" Rainbow asks, looking at her backpack.
"I'm sure they're safe in there," Twilight answers, assuring Sonic and Rainbow.
"Remember, Sonic and Rainbow," Median reminded. "This is your one chance to rescue your surrogate younger siblings from a life without one limb. Should you fail, one will be confined to a wheelchair, the other will have one less hand to survive. Both are unpleasant things to live on, especially at a young age. Besides that, good luck, have a safe journey, and be sure to get back here tonight."
Sonic and Rainbow speeded off in their Mach Nerve to the northwest, flying through the air close to their bike's maximum speed.
"I can't believe this," Sonic said, shaking his head. "Two stressful missions that involve us in a row. Back to back! It's...getting kind of stressful around here."
"Life as a ranger may be stressful at some points, but overcoming them just feels awesome," Rainbow remarks.
"Right," Sonic agrees. "And considering what we've been thorough these last couple of days, we might be seeing two awesome moments from us in a row. Just like I said before. Way past awesome."
"Speaking of that, is there another level that's beyond awesome?" Rainbow wonders.
"Amazing?" Sonic suggests.
Rainbow stared at Sonic for a moment. "Sure. Let's call this one amazing moment from us," she replies.
The two of them continued to speed off into the night.
Tails is now in the operational sections of the hospital he's staying in. The bed he's resting in is being transported into the part of the hospital by a team of doctors.
"Alright, kiddo," the doctor assures. "Your new arm should be arriving here shortly. Stay calm. Don't panic. You're going to be fine. The only things that you're going to feel is a sting in your upper torso. That's it. Now get ready. We're going to inject some anesthetics into your body. You will barely feel a thing during the procedure."
Tails arrives in one of the operating rooms with a team of surgeons surrounding him.
"Ahh," the surgeon said. "This must be one of the famous rangers protecting this land. We'll operate on him first, and then we'll move on to the girl."
Outside the hospital, Sonic and Rainbow have arrived. They got off their bikes, took out the limbs for their younger siblings, and headed off towards the door, where one of the doctors is waiting for them.
"Here's the limbs that you ordered from us," Rainbow said as she and Sonic handed them to the doctor's hands.
"Let's hope that the procedure is a success," Sonic hopes.
The doctor looks at the two limbs handed over by the two leaders. "Perfect," she said. "This should work fine for these growing kids." She then sets them aside, ordering her coworkers to deliver them to the operating rooms. Then she turns back towards the two leaders. "Hey. We'll call you to come here once the procedure is finished. Come here by tomorrow morning."
Sonic smiles at the doctor. "Thanks doctor," he said.
The doctor bows down to them. "Much appreciated," she replies.
Sonic and Rainbow soon got back on their bikes and head off back to their base. Meanwhile, the procedure has just begun.
To be Continued
From the Author:
This is one of the toughest episodes for me to write, since the subject matter is a bit gruesome for such a lighthearted series. While writing this episode, I even consider making a who separate section dedicated to the more mature episodes with darker themes. It eventually never came into light for two main reasons.
1. Loss of limb is not something that is unheard of even in children's media. In those cases, no blood is directly shown; typically only implied. This is true with this series where blood leaking out is not explicitly shown, only implied by the reactions of others.
2. This is a significant episode which could not be separated from the rest of the main series. Those interested in only main episodes would find themselves switching between entries every time they would like to look at this. Which would have been a bit impractical. Since this marks a change in the series, it is impossible to kept this one separate.
I think this arc would be the darkest times this season has to offer. Don't worry. A bit more lighthearted moments will be coming up.
Off the Rails
"Inspector Safety"
"You sure this ladder is safe?" Manic asks one of the managers of a factory. "There's steam pipes which are leaking steam towards the ladder!"
"I'm sure they're safe," the manager assures Manic. "Haven't seen an accident involving this ladder in months."
"Let me see," Manic decides. He then carefully climbs up the ladder towards the top, making sure to avoid the steam that leaks out of the pipes every few moments. Then, he reaches the top without a burn mark on his clothes. However, as soon as he got to the top the ladder begins to tilt backwards. "Wait a minute," he realizes. 'Waa!"
The ladder then fell to the floor, smashing Manic onto it in the process.
"You said that it was safe!" Manic yelled as the manager laugh at his expense. "Why didn't you bolt this down properly?"
Written by TheAPPstore
Sonic the Hedgehog characters, property of Sega
My Little Pony characters, property of Hasbro
Series inspired by Super Sentai/Power Rangers, property of Toei Company/Saban Brands