-Chapter 220-

The Orca, the Egg, and the Dingo

Great Swamp

A bit of time had passed since Akhlut dealt with the hikers searching out the ghost springs. He'd long since left the area, making his way to the most recent secluded cabin he'd claimed as his home. At the moment, he was just finishing up a post-workout shower, grabbing a towel before picking up his phone.

"Better send in my progress report," he remarked as he turned on the screen. Almost immediately, he saw that he had several messages from Eggatha, all of them dated back several days. "Crap…"

Figuring it was better late than never, the orca began getting dressed, scrolling through the texts.

"Just finished building my new Pinball Fortress, check it out!" one said, immediately followed by "Gonna use it on Sonic and his friends. Wish me luck! ^w^"

From there, the messages consisted of several photos of the Pinball Fortress itself, and even some shots and GIFs of Team Sonic fighting for their lives. He scrolled idly through him as he adjusted his shorts, chuckling at some of the expressions and poses left by the three Freedom Fighters.

"Good job brat," he commended as he smiled fondly. "Good job."

Just then, a new message popped up at the bottom. "Check out Flickee, #GlacialGod. It's crazy popular." He shrugged, going to do so.

"It's probably another stupid cat thing or-" Flickee booted up with the tag, and his eyes went wide. "WHAT THE HELL!?"

It was a picture of Akhlut showering, clearly taken a few minutes ago, his bare body glistening with sweat and water from the falls. He sputtered in shock.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?""

He scrolled down, finding more and more pictures of him training, showering, and resting at different locations. The more he scrolled, the more mortified and furious he became.

"How did they get these!? How did they find me!? Who posted these pictures!?" He squinted at the page. "Wait a second…" It was then he noticed the username: OmelettaRobo. He scowled in anger. "Agatha…"

"That's me!"

Akhlut looked up to see an Egg Mobile descending from the sky, appearing just outside of the cabin window. In it was Eggatha, who happily opened a window to wave. With a growl, Akhlut stepped out to meet her.

"Hi Akhlut!" Eggatha greeted cheerily as the orca slammed the door to the cabin shut, still clad in only his shorts with his tower draped over his shoulders. "Did you miss me?"

With a bellow of outrage, Akhlut immediately punched Eggatha's Egg Mobile, only to be blocked by a force field.

"Wow…" Eggatha deadpanned, "You're really lucky Uncle Ivo isn't here, or your brains would be hamburger meat right now."

Akhlut just growled again, holding up his phone to show her the pictures she posed.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?! You posted my nudes on Flickee?!"

Agatha gave a smug grin. "Consider it payback for leaving and not calling back every now and then." She put on a visible pout, leaning on the Egg mobile as she blinked cutely behind her glasses. "You didn't even say goodbye, big meanie…"

"Oh no, how horrible," Akhlut said sarcastically, his expression never changing. "What kind of monster am I? Oh wait, I am a monster."

"Sure are!"

"And what's stopping me from being a monster and snapping your tiny body in half like a twig?"

Eggatha began counting the reasons on her fingers. "Well, aside from this indestructible force shield, the miniature explosive that's put in your head, and the fact that you owe me for convincing Uncle Ivo to give you a second chance after the Meropis incident…it's because you love me."

"I do not."

Eggatha lowered her hand, putting on a teasing grin. "Oh don't try to deny it, you look and act all big and scary, but you're soft and squishy on the inside."

"It's called blubber, it keeps me warm in the frigid wastes of Artika."

"In your birthday suit?"

"Yes…" Akhlut perked. "Wait, I…!"

"Ha! I gotcha! Speaking of…would you hurry up and get dressed already?" She cringed awkwardly. "I know you're in shorts, but still."

Akhlut just sighed in annoyance.

-X-

After Eggatha had her fun, Akhlut finished drying off and gathered the rest of his clothes. He returned to his room to get dressed, Eggatha waiting just outside the door.

"Sooooo, how's your little training pilgrimage been?" she asked, kicking her feet slightly.

"Very rewarding." Akhlut smiled, flexing an arm in the mirror for a brief moment. "It's been years since I've felt these kinds of aches. The only other times I've pushed myself this hard were my battles with Sherman Walrus."

"That's what she said!" Eggatha quipped

The door opened briefly, and Eggatha ended up with a face full of towel.

"Quiet, you..." Akhlut grumbled as he began putting on his jumpsuit. "Honestly, you're worse than the idiot hikers I have to deal with. They've been so persistent lately, and keep interrupting my training."

"Hikers?" Eggatha folded the towel, setting it aside. "Since when have they been a problem?"

Akhlut finished getting his legs in and started getting an arm into the sleeve.

"They were looking for ghosts or some other nonsense and stumbled upon my training grounds." He put his other arm in before zipping up his suit. "Seventh group this month alone."

"Sounds annoying."

"Almost as annoying as you."

Eggatha stuck her tongue out, blowing a raspberry as Akhlut growled in response, grabbing his vest.

"Drylander guardsmen on patrol. Hikers looking for big feet and 'yoo-foes'. Teenagers sneaking off to mate or steal my clothes." He cringed as he stepped out of his room, grabbing his boots from over by the door. "There was one human female who thought I was some sort of 'sparkling, vampire fish Mobian' and begged me to ravage her… disgusting."

As Akhlut sat down to put his boots on, Eggatha came over, looking mildly concerned. "Did you?"

"Of course not!" Akhlut insisted, nearly dropping his boot at the accusation. "Why would I do something like that?!"

"I thought you loved the 'lamentations of women'?"

"As in their wails of grief and anguish at the demise of their husbands, fathers, and sons! I'm bloodthirsty, not sick! Don't confuse me with the dragon." He grimaced as he resumed donning his boots. "The way he treats women is repugnant."

Agatha gave a sly smirk. "Well whadya know… 'Black Ice' Akhlut the Orca, Beast of the Boreal and Commander of the Northern Oceans Egg Navy, is a feminist."

Akhlut pulled on his gloves. "I'll have you know my people are primarily matriarchal. Most of the Pod's greatest warchiefs were women, including my mother." He closed his eyes. "Asgard, rest her soul."

"And a momma's boy."

"Should YOU really be making that joke?" Akhlut shot back, only to get his towel thrown back at him. "Gah! You little-!" Akhlut saw Eggatha glaring at him venomously, and winced as he realized what he just said. "Forgive me. That was uncalled for."

"Yeah, it was…" she replied with more than a little venom in her tone. She then took a breath as Akhlut walked over to where she was sitting, joining her. "So, what happens if someone walks in on you?"

"Zap their memories and swim to the next landmass."

"Oh…" Eggatha stressed the syllable for a couple seconds. "So that's why all those hikers and campers kept passing out and rambling about 'ghost springs'."

"Yes..."

Eggatha turned to Akhlut. "Y'know, the Citadel has a gym. You could train there."

"Not the same," Akhlut shook his head. "I gained my strength and fortitude from braving the wrath of the oceans and the might of nature in all its savage glory. Mere machines can never recreate that."

"Least you don't have to worry 'bout people seeing you in all your savage glory."

Akhlut promptly gave her the finger, getting a giggle out of the girl.

"So, what's this all about?" he growled, desperate for a change of subject before he did something ill-advised. "I doubt you came all the way out here just to irritate me."

"Well…not just that." Eggatha handed Akhlut a slip of paper. "Here, I think you might enjoy this. Hopefully, this will make up for the pictures."

Akhlut examined it, then smiled evilly, chuckling under his breath.

"You know, I think this does." He promptly incinerated the paper with his mind.

"This is gonna be big, so make sure you get plenty of rest and eat lots of fish before you head out," Eggatha pressed. "Understand?"

Akhlut bowed. "Understood, Miss Eggatha."

"Good! See you at the Citadel!"

Eggatha boarded the Egg Mobile and took off. As she did, she contacted someone else.

"It's me. Akhlut has been given his orders. The plan's about to begin."

The person on the other line growled in annoyance. "What took so long? It feels like we've been waiting for years."

"Relax. Trust me when I say this will all be worth the wait."

Knothole

Meanwhile, at Freedom HQ, Sonic arrived from a run just in time to see the others video chatting with Undina and laughing their heads off as they looked at the various "#GlacialGod" pictures and read the hilarious comments, which ranged from gushing about how handsome/sexy Akhlut is, imagining what he was going to do to the poster, and cracking jokes about Eggman reducing him to a piece of fanservice, amongst other things.

"What the heck is this?" Sonic asked, approaching in confusion.

"Oh, that," Undina wiped her eyes. "Apparently, Eggman's been posting these pictures of Akhlut for a payoff. It's… kinda hard to believe he's forty-six, isn't it?"

Once they got themselves under control, Undina got to business.

"So, I'm gonna start my own travel blog. I wanna teach my people more about the Drylands so they'll open up more."

"I can get behind that," Sonic agreed. "Hopefully, it'll help get your parents' heads out of their asses."

"Sonic!" Sally admonished.

"They were willing to let their subjects be poisoned because they didn't want surface-

walkers helping them, Sal, and only gave in because of Drake. Everyone's thinking it, I'm just saying it."

"Still…" Sally muttered.

"It's alright, Sally," Deena assured the irate squirrel. "Mama and Daddy can be…" she sighed, shaking her head. "They are extremely stubborn and thick-headed. But I swear, they're good people and they only want what's best for Meropis."

"I guess…" Sonic mused, not entirely convinced.

Before they could get into the matter further, Sally decided to change the subject.

"Deena, what can you tell us about Akhlut? He works for Eggman now, but we haven't heard a peep out of him since Meropis.

"I don't know much beyond what Captain Stryker told me," Deena replied. "He was originally from Artika, making him one of the few non-native Meropians to ever get into the guard, and he attacked Iceborough, but that's about it."

Hope and Rotor stepped in at that.

"We can help with that," Hope said. "Ever since we found out he attacked Rotor's hometown, we've been doing research."

"Akhlut is the Warchief of the Orca Pod, longtime enemies of the Walrus Herd," Rotor continued. "He's also a pirate and raider famous for his savagery, ruthlessness, and ability to strike when you least expect it, earning him titles like the 'Beast of the Boreal', 'The Northern Devil, and his most famous epithet, 'Black Ice'. His biggest claim to fame were his battles with my dad, the only person to ever match him in strength and ferocity…" He winced before going on. "and ultimately resulted in his death during the Iceborough raid."

Sonic and Tails perked at that.

"Your dad was Sherman Walrus?" Sonic recalled. "He was one of my dad's old war buddies on Squad Saturn!"

"Mine too," Tails realized. "Dad always described Sherman as a walking tank… and if Akhlut could beat him…"

"Eh, nothing to worry about," Sonic said with a shrug. "We beat him before, we can do it again."

"I'm open to suggestions." Rotor replied.

"Easy. He's a marine Mobian. He's used to fighting underwater. You saw how he was when we faced him the first time. As long as we keep him out of the water, we have an advantage."

"That's still no excuse not to take him seriously." Sally pointed out.

"Sally's right, Sonic," Undina cut in. "Akhlut may be a bloodthirsty killer, but he's a bloodthirsty killer with a brain. He won't fall for the same tricks twice and he ."

Sonic scoffed. "He's an overgrown robo-tuna with a fancy green rock. What's the worst he could do?"

Station Square

Meanwhile, Tom Wachowski is going about his day, not realizing h that he and the rest of the city were being watched by a squadron of Egg Troopers. Their leader raised a hand to his com.

"Doctor, we're in position. Should we attack?"

"No," came Robotnik's voice. "Stay still and wait for my signal. You attack then, and not before."

The leader grumbled indignantly, but stood still, signalling for the others to stay put.

-X-

Tom headed into the station, sitting down at his desk and looking over reports of several Akhlut sightings.

"Princess Undina said this guy is bad news," Wade remarked. "Especially now that he's working for Robotnik."

"Yeah," Tom snorted. "But you wouldn't know that from his GlacialGod status on the web."

As Tom looked over the latest report, which indicated Akhlut sightings in the Mystic Ruins, the door opened, and a new voice cut in.

"Sheriff Tom Wachowski?"

"Yes, how can I help…you…?" Tom lowered the paper, beginning to sweat at the sight of Akhlut smiling back at him.

"Oh Aurora…" he thought nervously.

"Good day, officer," Akhlut greeted politely. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm new in town and I was hoping you could tell me where I can find this guy."

He handed Tom a picture of Sonic, the man taking the photo nervously.

"Sonic the Hedgehog?"

"Yes, him." Akhlut grinned. "I have… important business with him."

Recalling what he read about the reports of the Meropis battle and Akhlut's psychological profile, Tom quickly figured out what the orca was up to. He immediately began a plan to stall for time while trying to press a hidden button under his desk.

"Well, I'm sorry sir, but I'm afraid I can't help you there. We don't keep tabs on Sonic and he only shows up when there's trouble."

"I see…" With lightning speed, Akhlut grabbed Tom's wrist, crushing it and getting a pained yell out of the sheriff. He held him up by that arm, grinning maliciously. "I can do trouble."

Wade immediately drew his gun, the others following suit and aiming.

"Freeze!" he shouted. "Drop the sheriff and put your hands behind your head, or we'll-!"

Akhlut merely smirked wickedly before his forehead jewel glowed, knocking them all out and away with a wave of psychic energy. He then casually threw Tom aside and strolled over to his desk, where he pressed the button.

Knothole

Back at Knothole, an alarm went off. The group hurried to the computer, checking it.

"Distress signal!" Amy reported. "Coming from the… Station Square PD!"

"Oh, no…" Sonic already had a Warp Ring in hand. "Donut Lord!"

Before anyone could stop him, he threw the ring and jumped in.

Station Square

Sonic ran into the police department, his face going pale to see the department ransacked and everyone out cold. As he got to Tom's desk, he heard the last voice he expected to hear.

"There you are."

Sonic turned, and was shocked to see Akhlut sitting at Tom's desk, casually eating coffee and donuts with a bored expression.

"You know, for somebody who claims to be the 'Fastest Thing Alive', you certainly took your time getting here." He mused, sticking the whole donut in his mouth.

"Akhlut…" Sonic scowled. "Funny, we were just talking about you."

"Were you? Wondering just what I've been up to these past several months?"

"Kinda figured you took up modeling, Mr. GlacialGod," Sonic quipped. "Honey's looking for someone for her new line of men's swimwear, and you'd be perfect."

"I'm sure." Akhlut replied, visibly annoyed as he crushed the donut in his hand.

"Speaking of, you really shouldn't be eating those, they'll ruin your figure."

"And because they're the Donut Lord's? I'm sure he wouldn't mind sharing... wouldn't you, Tom?"

Sonic's smug countenance faded to shock and horror as Akhlut casually pulled a battered Tom out from behind his desk.

"Sorry, Sonic," he wheezed. "He got us…"

"What the hell did you do!?" Sonic demanded

"Nobody's dead, if that's what you're worried about. I've been given explicit orders not to kill or severely injure any unauthorized targets. And considering Wachowski is like an uncle to you…" Akhlut seemed to smirk a bit. "Yeah, I think I've replaced enough of my flesh with metal, thank you."

Sonic simply scowled in rage.

"You think this is just some big game, Akhlut?!" he shouted. "I'm gonna chop you into blubber nuggets for putting your flippers on the Donut Lord!"

He immediately launched into a Spin Dash. However, Akhlut merely held out a hand and grabbed him mid-dash, much to his shock.

"Same tired-ass moves," His hand began to glow green, as did his gem. "Find some new material, eh?"

-X-

The rest of the Freedom Fighters had just arrived outside of the station as a window was smashed open, Sonic flying out in a mess of broken glass and landing heavily. Akhlut casually exited the station, looking them over as Rotor scowled.

"Ah, so you all came," he mused. "Not that it'll make any difference."

"Bastard!" Rotor yelled. "You've got a lot of nerve showing your face around us again!"

Akhlut waved a hand in dismissal.

"I'm only here for the hedgehog," he informed them. "I have no interest in the rest of you." He looked right into Rotor's eyes. "Especially not Sherman's pathetic, cowardly excuse of a son."

Rotor charged at him in a rage. Akhlut merely scoffed, landing a casual backhand that laid the walrus out flat. The others immediately jumped into the fray, only for Akhlut to effortlessly wade through them and knock them aside, either blocking or dodging all of their blows while projectile attacks like the Omochao Gun didn't even faze him. Seeing his chance, Sonic plowed into him from behind, backing him into a corner.

"I've got you now!" he shouted.

Akhlut smirked. "Do you really?"

The orca punched out the wall, revealing the ocean behind him, before diving inside, a flash of psychic energy preventing the others from giving chase. Sonic shook his head, clearing it, before turning to Tails.

"Track him!" he ordered. "Where's he going?"

Tails pulled out the Miles Electric, looking it over. "He's headed for Emerald Coast!"

"Then let's get going," Sally decided.

But as they prepared to head out, a blaster shot hit the ground before their feet, stopping them. Sounds of panic reached their ears, and to their shock, the city was now swarming with cyberized Egg Troopers, all armed with blasters and other high-tech weaponry. A squadron of them marched toward them directly, a figure in a hooded cloak in their lead.

"I've been waiting a long time for this moment," he growled, looking at Kat and Knuckles. "Especially you two."

Knuckles perked. "That voice… it can't be!"

"It is!" The leader cast off his cloak, revealing the face of the rogue Dingo Kage von Stryker.

"It's you!" Kat exclaimed. "You… you joined the Egg Army?!"

"Damn right, I did," Kage growled. "You filthy Echidnas and your pet human got me cast out of the Dingo Regime. Did you think I wasn't gonna do anything about it? That I wouldn't make you PAY?!"

"Honestly, we were kinda hoping you'd end up in a ditch somewhere," Knuckles admitted bluntly.

"But you came back like dime store sushi…" Kat snarled. "Then again, what can you expect from the Dingo who refuses to take any blame for himself?"

"Your exile was your own damn fault, Kage!" Knuckles snapped. "You brought it on yourself!"

"Shut up!" Kage snapped. "I've been waiting months for the doc to call this plan, and now, I'm getting the payback I deserve!" He prepared his blaster. "But first, hedgehog, you go right ahead and go for Akhlut. He wants to deal with you personally… which I can relate to."

Sonic looked between the ocean and Kage, clearly torn. Knuckles turned to Sonic, just nodding.

"Go. This is our fight, and Akhlut is yours."

Sonic nodded, hurrying for the Emerald Coast.

"Now that that's out of the way…" Kage gestured to the remaining Freedom Fighters. "KILL 'EM!"

The Egg Soldiers charged, and thus, the Freedom Fighters' biggest battle yet began...

Author's Note:

And so it begins. What will happen now?

A big thank you to WindstarOsprey for helping me work out the details of this arc, and the general outline.

Please R&R. Until next time!