Although he was blind, Voldo could easily detect the intruder's presence. He swung his katars at the invader, only to feel the recoil of a shield. Undaunted, he thrust his right hand forward, impaling the combatant in the gut. Hissing sinisterly, he then held him up in the air with his one hand and hit him in the face with the other, causing the victim to spin around unmercifully on his katar. Upon dumping the fighter back onto the ground, he listened to the resulting echo: he could tell that his opponent had his back against a cliff. One good hit and he would fall into the bottomless abyss behind him.
However, something happened that Voldo wasn't expecting. He first felt his foe grab him by his arm. Then, he suffered excruciating pain as his adversary leaped over his shoulder, twisting his arm completely around. Finally, he felt himself get struck hard in the back and was propelled forward, himself falling into the pit below...
Ring Out! Link Wins!
"Aw, man!" Charmy moaned, throwing his controller on the ground, "I hate that guy's throw! It's unfair! Can't you play as someone else?"
"Hey, ring outs are too fair!" 9-Volt retorted, "Besides, Link is the whole reason I got this game! You don't expect me not to use him, do you? Look, I think Nightmare is good at ring outs as well, so it should be an even match if you play as him..."
"Charmy? What da heck are you doin'?"
Charmy whirled around and saw a very exhausted Vector standing in the entrance of the cubicle.
"Whoa! Hiya, Vec! You alright? You look pretty tired..."
"I just spend this entire time trying to run away from some psycho kid who wanted to blow my head off with a freakin' magic wand, and you were in here playing video games?"
"Uh, huh!" Charmy replied, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Vector was mad at him, "Say, you wanna play? I bet you'd be a natural with Lizardman..."
"NO!" Vector roared, "Charmy, you were supposed to keep an eye on Wario, not play Tekken!"
"Actually, this is Soul Caliber II..." 9-Volt corrected, "Tekken is a game for one of those other systems..."
"I DON'T CARE! ALL I KNOW IS THAT IT'S A FIGHTING GAME, AND IT'S KEEPING CHARMY FROM DOIN' HIS JOB!"
Frustrated, Vector grabbed Charmy by his antennas and began to drag him out of the cubicle.
"Wait, Vec!" Charmy protested, "I didn't even get 9-Volt's friend code for Metroid Prime: Hunters yet!"
"I don't care!" Vector snapped back, "We've got more important things to do, like making sure Knuckles is alright!"
Knuckles was not alright. At the moment, he and Wario were staring down the barrel of a blaster, being held by none other than Mecha Waluigi.
"So... Erm... Wow, this stinks," Wario commented, rapidly regaining his composure after seeing his brother roboticized, "got any bright ideas, knucklehead?"
Knuckles didn't respond, as he was too busy looking at where Espio was standing, albeit invisible. He noticed that the shattered glass from the window over there was crunching a bit, evidence that the chameleon was attempting a sneak attack on Mecha Waluigi.
Unfortunately, the robot was already one step ahead of him. Having suspected that someone else was hiding in the room, Mecha Waluigi had activated his thermal vision. Sure enough, he saw Espio attempting to sneak up on him, which looked awfully pathetic in thermal vision, as it looked like he was just standing right there. Waluigi simply pointed his blaster at Espio and fired.
"Wha ha ha! You call that a shot, Stupid?" Wario taunted since, from his point of view, Mecha Waluigi had just shot at nothing, "You missed us by a mile! Did Eggbutt forget to give you eyes? That was the worst---"
"ESPIO!" Knuckles shouted, "Where are you? Are you alright?"
Slowly, Espio faded back into the visible realm. However, he was now standing upright on the ceiling!
"What the... Hey! What's that clod doing up there?" Wario grumbled, "The floor's down here, idiot. You should try standing on it sometime."
"Don't worry, I'm fine," Espio replied, ignoring Wario's remark, "but that guy has thermal vision! Well, this should take care of him!"
Espio pulled out a ninja star and threw it at Mecha Waluigi. However, all he had to do was hover sideways as the star flew past him and struck one unfortunate robot flying right behind him, causing it to explode.
"Nice try," Waluigi dead-paned, "but your one minute time limit has expired. Therefore, I shall destroy this entire city and claim the Emerald Star from you."
"Heh, heh, fat chance, sucker!" Wario countered, "But if you want it, ya gonna have to pry it from my cold, dead, grubby hands!"
"On the contrary..." the robot continued, "I shall capture and roboticize the three of you and then order you to give the Emerald Star to me. Thus, your hands will just be cold and grubby, not dead."
"Dang, this guy's good," Wario mumbled.
At that moment, Vector and Charmy came barging into the room. Vector looked at Wario holding the Emerald Star, then at Mecha Waluigi hovering outside the window, and then back at Wario again.
"Ah ha! I knew it!" Vector declared, pointing an accusing finger at Wario, "He was working with Eggman this entire time! He used that Emerald Star as bait to lure Knuckles over here so his roboticized brother could capture him! Fortunately, we caught wind of his plan!"
"SAY WHAT?" Wario screamed, "THIS AIN'T MY FAULT!"
"Give it up, you bad man!" Charmy demanded, preparing his stinger, "You're not fooling us! Take this!"
The hyperactive bee dive-bombed at Wario, ready to jab his stinger into him. However, at the last moment, Espio dropped down from the ceiling and landed on top of Charmy, pinning him to the floor.
"Hey, Espio! What's the big idea?" Charmy whined, "He's the bad guy, right?"
"No he's not," Espio corrected, "I saw him willingly getting the Emerald Star for Knuckles, and he certainly had no idea about Waluigi being roboticized."
"Finally! Someone's on my side for once!" Wario sighed, "It's about freakin' time!"
"Hey, I'd hate to interrupt your shenanigans..." Knuckles interjected, "but we've got a little problem to take care of here!"
The echidna pointed out the window to show that now the entire city was under attack by Eggman's robots! Waluigi was still floating outside the window, but he was now a little further away and higher up, making him out of reach and a lot more imposing looking over the destruction.
"Your incompetence has doomed this entire city," the robot announced, "surrender the Emerald Star now and I might spare the civilians' lives."
"Eh... 'Might' means 'no' in villain speak, right?" Wario assessed.
"Grr... You're not getting the Emerald Star or destroying the city!" Knuckles roared, "And we'll demolish every last one of your robots if we have to!"
"I was hoping you'd say that..." Waluigi sneered.
The blaster on his arm now transformed into a bazooka-type weapon, which he pointed right at Wario and Knuckles' feet and fired. The resulting explosion sent the duo tumbling towards the ground while, thanks to Charmy's quick actions, the Chaotix were able to grab onto the bee's feet and fly back into what remained of Wario's office.
"WHOA! KNUCKLES!" Vector hollered, "Great, he musta fallen all the way to the ground! And there's gotta be a bajillion of Eggman's goonies down there! Hold on, pal! We're commin'!"
Besides incredible punching and wall climbing, one of Knuckles other abilities was being able to glide. Therefore, the freefall from the top of the WarioWare building was of no major concern to him. He simply spread his arms and legs out like a parachutist would and began to descend slowly and gracefully... Until Wario landed square on his back, causing both of them to drop like a rock. By the time the two of them pulled themselves out of the crater they created in the sidewalk, they found themselves surrounded by Egg Pawns.
"Hmm... Thousands of robots on all sides, no seemingly possible way to escape, slow and painful death and/or robotizication imminent..." Wario mused, "... Bet I can take out more robots than you, Knucklehead."
Knuckles turned to Wario and, for the first time since the two met, he smiled.
"You're on."
Needless to say, mass pandemonium ensued.
Wario charged in one direction while Knuckles headed in another, swinging their fists everywhere as they ran head-on into the army, and it didn't take long before huge masses of robots began flying everywhere. Although both relied mainly on their fists to do damage, there was a unique difference between how the two fought: Knuckles, being a master of the more Oriental styles of fighting, defeated his advisories with one-hit 'KOs' that sent the wrecked robot tumbling backwards into its comrades behind it. Wario, on the other hand, used more over-the-top wrestling moves ranging from headlocks to body slams, and he didn't just let the robots fly where they may, either. Instead, he picked up partially wounded robots and began using them as either projectiles that he threw with such great force that he could take out an entire row of Egg Pawns with just one of them, or as melee weapons which he swung around 360 degrees over and over, taking out whatever was unfortunate enough to be in his way.
"So... Gah!... I've got... Take this!... 536 so far... Whoa!" Wario bragged when he discovered that he was back-to-back with Knuckles again, "... How about you?"
"557!" Knuckles replied.
"WHAT? I can't be beaten by a fuzzball! You musta cheated!"
And so, the battle continued, but despite their best efforts, things were looking bleak. For every Egg Pawn they defeated, ten more would take their place. Wario was the first to realize this, but he seemed to have a plan.
"Yo, dreadhead!" Wario called out, "Things ain't lookin' too good... Here, Catch!"
Wario tossed something towards Knuckles, who immediately grabbed it.
"Huh? What's this?" Knuckles asked.
"It's a clothespin! Ya gonna need it!"
"Why would I need a clothespin?"
"So you don't get affected by my..." Wario paused and struck a dramatic pose, "SECRET WEAPON!"
"Secret weapon? What on Mobius are you talking about?"
Wario didn't reply. Instead, he bent over, unceremoniously shoving his butt into the faces of all the robots in front of him. Slowly but surely, his normally huge gut began to inflate to even bigger proportions while a rather disturbing yellow glow began to form around his... glutious maximus. Deciding that he didn't need more of an explanation, Knuckles quickly put the clothespin over his nose.
"Heh heh heh... This is gonna be sooooo sweet..." Wario muttered, "Here's hoping you don't have smell receptors, you losers! WARIO WAFT!"
The next thing Knuckles knew, there was a deafening... fart, quickly followed by a mushroom cloud of toxic gas that enveloped the entire area. By the time the flatulence cleared, all that remained of Eggman's army was the occasional robotic limb. Where everything else went, Knuckles didn't even want to know. Standing in the middle of it all was Wario, who was bowing to a non-existent audience.
"Gas Expulsion in D Minor... Thank you, thank you..." Wario mockingly addressed.
"How the heck did you do that?" Knuckles gasped... almost literally, once he got a whiff of the putrid air.
"Hey, didn't your mom ever tell ya that it's what's on the inside that counts?" Wario rhetorically asked, "So... I guess I win by about 1000 bots! Pay up, sucker!"
"WHAT? Since when were we betting?"
"You could always give me that Master Emerald if you don't have the money..."
"NO!"
Casually looking up, Wario noticed that Mecha Waluigi was still there, although even he was reeling over the stench.
"Geez... Don't you ever give up?" Wario groaned.
"You may have saved the city from destruction..." Waluigi began, "But there is still no escape for you!"
Suddenly, an entire fleet of flying robots began to descend on the duo.
"Erm... Exit, stage left..." Wario sputtered before running into a nearby parking garage.
"Hey! Don't leave me out here!" Knuckles shouted.
"I'm not! I'm just getting our getaway vehicle!" Wario shouted back.
"Didn't you drive your car into the ocean before?" Knuckles recalled.
"Hey, I used Chaos Control, remember? It's stuck somewhere over in Dark Land now, not in the ocean! Besides..."
There was the roar of an engine, and Wario came racing out, riding a motorcycle with very big spoilers. He sped across the street before slamming on the breaks and stopping right in front of Knuckles.
"Who said that was my only vehicle? Now get on, would ya?"
Deciding that it was probably better not to comment, Knuckles climbed into the motorcycle behind Wario. Just as the robots began to fire at them, Wario slammed on the gas, causing the bike to peel out and speed off, with the robots in hot pursuit. The moment the dust began to settle and people began coming out of hiding, the front doors of the WarioWare building swung open, and Team Chaotix came marching out.
"Don'tcha worry, Knuckles!" Vector cheered, "We're here to give ya a ha--- GAG! HACK! UGH! WHAT THE HECK IS THAT STENCH?"
Vector doubled over, nearly coughing up a lung.
"P.U." Charmy moaned, holding his nose, "Smells like somebody farted out here!"
"Don't be... gasp... Ridiculous, Charmy!" the crocodile sputtered, "How could someone make that much of a stink! Musta been a blown gas tank or somethin'."
Espio, who didn't seem all that affected by the smell, quickly looked around at the area in front of them.
"Looks like we missed the battle," Espio stated, "the civilians are even starting to come back out. Maybe if we didn't have to stop and get someone a Friend Code, we would've gotten out here earlier..."
"Hey, come on, guys, leave me alone!" Charmy pleaded, "It's not like there are that many gamers over on Mobius I can play with! Tails is always too busy working on some contraption, and Cream---"
"CHARMY, WOULD YA JUST SHUT UP?" Vector roared, "Neither Knuckles nor that Wario guy are here! Where could they have gone?"
Vector quickly decided to put some classic detective skills to work. Glancing around, he made some quick notes of his surroundings.
"Let's see here..." Vector began, observing the robot parts lying on the ground, "It looks like Knux and Wario got rid of all the Egg Pawns first, and then..."
He pointed to some burnt rubber on the road in front of them.
"They musta got on some type of vehicle... A motorcycle, most likely... and they went that way!"
Suddenly, another slew of flying robots came rushing past the detectives. Oddly enough, none of them seemed too interested in the trio, or anyone else on the street, for that matter. Taking advantage of this, Espio quickly grabbed the wing of one of the robots and smashed it against the concrete. Before conking out completely, the robot kept repeating the same words over and over like a broken record.
"Capture of echidna and human, priority number one... Capture of echidna and human, priority number one..."
"Well, we've found out why they aren't here anymore," Espio announced, "they must be running away from all of these things."
"What? We can't let them get captured!" Vector shouted, "We have to help them!"
Looking down the street, the croc quickly spotted a taxi driving down the road.
"Well, whaduya know? How about we save ourselves some legwork, shall we? Hey! Taxi!"
The cab quickly pulled over, allowing Espio to open the back door and let the three of them pile in: Espio on the left, Vector on the right, and Charmy in the middle. Once they were seated, the small panel separating the front from the back slid open, and the face of a rather large bulldog appeared in the opening.
"Yo! Welcomes aboard!" the bulldog greeted in a thick, Brooklyn accent, "The name's Dribble. Wheres can I takes ya alls?"
"Hey, I like this guy," Vector commented to his partners, "obviously from the city, like me!"
"Didn't you say you grew up in a sewer?" Charmy mumbled.
"What the... I never said that! Where did you get that---"
Suddenly, another face, this one of a small cat, squished his way into the window with his partner.
"Hey, guys! Hurry it up, will ya?" he snapped, "there's a ton of people waiting to be rushed out of the city here! It's a cabbie's jackpot out there right now, and we don't need you guys slowin' us down!"
"Oh! Right! Follow those robots!" Vector requested, "We know the guy they're after, and we're gonna make sure they don't catch him!"
"Playin' heroes, eh?" Dribble asked, "Yous got it! Buckle up, now!"
"Hey, I've rode in taxis in Station Square. If I can survive that, I don't need to buckle..."
Before Vector could finish his sentence, Dribble 'floored it', and the next thing the Chaotix knew, they were pinned against the seats... Except for Charmy who, since he was hovering over the backseat, was now flattened against the rear window.
"Don't need to buckle up?" Espio, who had his belt securely around his waist, repeated sarcastically.
"Eh... Be quiet!" Vector groaned, "... And somebody pass the Dramamine."
With the exception of certain types of Extreme Gear, Knuckles never really rode a motorcycle before. Needless to say, riding one with Wario as the driver was probably not the best way to be introduced.
"Whoa! Look out!" Knuckles shouted, "You nearly hit that car!"
"Hey, who's driving here: You or me?" Wario retorted, "If you wanna make yourself useful, why don't you try pulling off a 'Double Dash' and start pegging enemies for me, will ya?"
"And how am I supposed to do that?"
"Well, you could start by... YIKES!"
Wario, not watching where he was going (as usual), nearly collided with a Heavy Egg Hammer. At the last second, he tilted the motorcycle on its side and passed harmlessly underneath its feet. He even managed to get back upright afterwards.
"Hmph..." Knuckles grunted, rubbing his leg, since it had been pretty much grounded against the asphalt three seconds prior, "Despite getting us nearly killed and skinning my entire leg, that was sort of impressive."
"Nice to see that impressing you is actually possible..." Wario grumbled back.
"Hey, look! It's Wario! Hiya, Wario!"
Wario looked to his left and saw a taxi cab driving right next to them. In the front seat, he could clearly see two people he knew.
"Eh? Dribble? Spitz?" Wario muttered, "What are you two doin' out here? You're supposed to be WORKING!"
"Well, yous knows..." Dribble tired to explain, "With all these peoples trying to get outta this deathtrap, we figured that we could makes a killin' in cab services!"
"WHAT? That's so low and cheep, that sounds like something I should be doing! Right, Dreadhead?"
Knuckles wasn't paying attention. Instead, he was looking in the back seat of the cab, where he could see the Chaotix waving at him!
"Hey, Knux!" Charmy called out, "You're still alive! That's great!"
"How'd you guys get all the way out here?" Knuckles asked, slightly confused, "I thought you guys were still at the office building."
"Let's just say that this Dribble guy drives fast... urp..." Vector moaned, "... and recklessly... I think I'm gonna puke..."
"Hold on there, pal! If you wanna hurl, do it that way," Wario demanded, pointing away from his bike, "I don't want Vector vomit ruining my ride!"
At that moment, one of the robots took a shot and hit the back wheel of the motorcycle, causing it to being spinning out. Wario struggled to keep it upright, but it eventually hit a curb, causing him and Knuckles to be sent flying. By the time they got back on their feet, they found themselves surrounded by Eggman's goons... again.
"Great... Now what?" Knuckles mumbled, "You wouldn't happen to be able to..."
"Hey! Don't look at me..." Wario replied, "I can't build up gas that fast! Unless you have a soda on ya, I'm out of ammo!"
Right when all seemed lost, a few of the robots mysteriously blew up. As the smoke cleared, they could see the Chaotix fighting off some of the robots! Off in the distance behind them, one could see a taxi speeding off, along with someone inside mentioning something about if rings were an acceptable type of currency in the Mushroom Kingdom.
"Yo, Knux!" Vector hollered, "It looks like you need some help, huh?"
"Thanks, guys!" Knuckles shouted back, "But I don't think these things will ever stop coming! The only way we'll be able to get out of this is if we could lose them somehow!"
Suddenly, it hit Wario like a 2x4. Pulling out the Emerald Star, he began to toss it in his hand again.
"Why didn'tcha just say so, knucklehead?"
Knuckles quickly figured out what Wario was going to do, and his eyes widened considerably.
"Wait a second! Are you crazy?" the echidna yelled, "You don't know how to use that!"
"Relax, I'm starting to get the hang of this thing! Third time's a charm, ya know! Yo! You Chaotix freaks! Get over here, will ya?"
"I don't think we've ever been addressed as 'freaks' before..." Espio murmured.
"Who cares?" Vector retorted, "If this guy really knows how to do what I think he's gonna do, it could be our ticket outta this mess! Let's go!"
The Chaotix ran over towards Wario and Knuckles, dodging enemy fire on the way. Once the five of them were together, Wario tossed the Emerald Star high into the air and caught it.
"Okay, suckers, hold on to your lunches! CHAOS CONTROL!"
The entire group disappeared in a blinding flash, leaving an entire army of Eggman robots dumbfounded. One that wasn't confused, however, was Mecha Waluigi. Pulling out a small walkie-talkie, he began to report the situation to Eggman.
"Master Robotnik, the echidna and the human, along with some of their friends, have escaped via Chaos Control."
"I'm not surprised," Eggman responded from the other end, "that Wario will probably use that power whenever we try to catch him. We need someway to get the Emerald Star out of his hands first, and then capture him."
"Master Robotnik, my scanners indicate that they have just exited Chaos Control somewhere nearby. According to my data of this kingdom, it is a dense jungle island that contains the residence of a certain 'Dr. Crygor'. Shall I attempt to retrieve the Emerald Star and capture them again?"
"No, that will not be necessary..." Eggman replied, "Liberating the star from him is a one-man job, not an entire army's. As it just so happens, I happen to have an old acquaintance of mine that would be perfect for this job..."
In a darkened office somewhere in the slums of Station Square, a shadowy figure was reclining in a chair, feet propped up on the desk in front of him. Although it was hard to see in the darkness, it appeared that he was currently cleaning a gun when his old, rotary phone began ringing. Gently laying his gun down, the character picked up the phone.
"Hello? Who's this? Ah, Dr. Robotnik... Long time, no see... What's that, you say? You've got a proposition for me? Hmm... Uh huh... So, you want me to get rid of a 'friend' of yours. Yellow shirt and cap, purple overalls, and goes by the name 'Wario'... Gotcha, but what's in it for me? This had better not be another one of your 'I'll spare you from being roboticized' deals... Ah, he's quite the moneybags, is he? Well, I suppose if he was 'disposed of', someone would have to keep an eye on all those jewels... Okay, you've got yourself a deal. It's a pleasure doing business with you, doctor."
The bounty hunter put the phone back in its cradle. Thinking silently to himself for a moment, he slowly got up and walked over to a nearby dresser. He opened the top drawer and quickly found what he was looking for: a well-worn, leather hat. As he put the fedora, he began to smile, causing a single fang in his mouth to shine brightly.
"Heh heh heh... It looks like it's time for this sniper to ride again..."
