The led-radar, which had been calm up till now, suddenly displayed a singular green dot at its edges.
"Hey, boss, something's appeared on my end." Said Glen over the coms.
Besides the radar, was a collage of furry faces, displayed in real time. They were Glen's flight, the third of the Mobius rebellion's 51st squadron. One of these faces, a rabbit like one whose box was larger than the others and which was displayed at the top, moved.
"Really? That's odd. There shouldn't be any squadrons in this zone, and no Eggman goon would be stupid enough to venture out this far all on their own. Maybe it's a lost civilian? Try and see if you can get through to them." She said.
"No luck boss. They clearly don't want to make any kind of connection."
"Stay on guard then."
Nervous expressions dotted the collage. Glen removed his left hand from the lever he was holding, and saw that the red ball was coated with sweat. He then looked at the large screen above the radar, which displayed his shell's camera. There, he saw a small, blue dot, which got larger and larger…
"Boss, I can see it now. It's a blue object, and it seems to be approaching us."
"Stay calm. Try to ask for a connection again. If it still refuses, and gets too close, we are authorized to shoot it down."
And so the members of flight 3 waited with bated breath. Predictably, the mysterious visitor did not accept a connection. It was now close enough for Glen to clearly make out its visage. It was a humanoid machine, with slender legs and arms, and an elongated head. Six spikes jutted out of the back its head, and its torso was round. But the strangest thing was the machine's blue colour, which was a much lighter shade than used by any military in the galaxy.
"Seems like it's a shell… But… I've never seen anything like it before!" He said.
Glen looked at it, a hollow feeling in his throat. A feeling that jumped out of his throat and turned into a scream when the blue shell suddenly appeared right in front of his camera.
"Boss-"
The shell's stretched out its arm, and a hatch opened on its wrist. Out of it slid a sword, with a metallic blue hilt and a curved blade. The shell swung it down, adding the weight of its entire body. Flight 3 watched on in horror as the blade cut through Glen's shell like butter, cutting it cleanly in half. The two half slowly floated away from each other, sparks flying from the detached wires and tubes. And like a capsule toy, there was a surprise in between the two halves. The two halves of Glen's body revealed itself, making for a perfect vertical dissection, displaying the weasel-man's organs in splendid detail.
"Retreat! Retreat! This is an order! It's… the blue blur!"
Mobius rebellion, headquarters
15:32
Amy looked at the horrid footage, shivering slightly. She rubbed her pink quills, trying to keep them flat. Right next to her, stood a hedgehog with silver fur and a stoic appearance, and right next to him, an equally stoic pink cat.
"Those piloting skills… they're out of this world." Said Silver, his arms crossed and his eyes closed in contemplation.
"They remind me of someone…" said Amy meekly, her hands clasped.
"They do, don't they? Let's just hope it isn't so."
"You mean Sonic, right?"
The new voice came from Amy's left, out of the mouth of a twin-tailed fox. Silence descended upon them, brought there by Tails' words. Blaze was the first to break it, walking towards the screen and positioning herself in front of it, so she faced the entire crew.
"Whoever it may be, it is our duty as ace pilots of Mobius to track it down and capture it, or, in the worst case scenario, destroy it."
No one replied; Amy still had her hands clasped, and was looking down at her feet. Silver had his eyes closed in contemplation, and Tails was endlessly rummaging inside his pouch. Blaze let out a deep sigh.
"So I have to make the decision, huh? Well then, in that case, I'm going to be a little mean. Amy, I expect you'll do well."
"Huh?"
Amy looked up, and finally unclasped her hands.
"Expect me to do well with what?"
"Oh come on. Amy, you'll have to track down the blue blur. If it were up to me that'd be my decision. Any complaints?"
Tails raised his hand.
"I think I should do this."
"And why's that?"
"I… I just do."
Blaze let escape another sight, and then clapped her hands, subsequently rubbing them together.
"Okay then. Both of you will go. How about that?"
"No, I think-"
Before he could finish, Amy's voice cut through Tails'.
"That'll be fine!"
Eggman Empire, Grand Palace
17:12
The black hedgehog sat on the red velvet couch, his legs spread as far as they could go, and his back slumped so much it was almost lying on the couch's surface. In front of him stood a purple chameleon, his arms crossed and his eyes pointed towards his feet. Next to him was a large crocodile, sitting on the floor with crossed legs enamoured with some kind of red, portable console, the display's light illuminating his face. Buzzing near him was a bee, wearing an orange jacket and an unfittingly cheerful expression. Finally, to complete the picture, there was a red echidna, sitting quite a distance away, cross legged in a corner of the room, his back turned to the rest.
"So, this "blue blur"… Obviously it's that worthless blue hedgehog, right?" said Shadow.
Charmy flew towards Shadow and started buzzing around the space above his head.
"For sure, for sure!"
Espio turned towards Shadow, his arms still crossed.
"For him to attack his own allies though… It's so unlike him."
"Heh, I always knew he was a piece of shit. Now, if no one else will, I'll volunteer to take the bastard down."
The red figure finally spoke, his back still turned to the rest.
"No. I'll go."
"You serious?" asked Shadow mockingly.
Knuckles didn't respond.
"Heh, you know what? I'll let you do it. It's about time we got to see where your allegiance truly lies."
Knuckles stood up, his fists balled.
"It lies with Eggman."
He finally turned around, and walked towards the door. He pressed his id against the scanner panel besides it, and the doors two massive metal halves slid open, one sliding up, the other down. Knuckles disappeared through the opening, and the two halves reconnected with a loud *thunk*, leaving the others in silence.
The led-display basked the cockpit in its green light. Periodically, the light would dim slightly, accompanied by a subtle whirring. The cockpit's inhabitant sighed deeply, and turned a dial next to the display, dimming the light, and the whirring stopped. He reached for a rectangular cardboard container next to him, and unfolded the top. Within was an entanglement of noodles, and two chopsticks were stuck to the container's inside with some tape. The inhabitant, a blue hedgehog, undid the tape and started eating. When the container was still half-full, a green dot appeared on the radar.
"Ah, shit. Can't I catch a break?"
Sonic put down his noodles and sat up. He grabbed the control device, a complex panel of dials and buttons and sticks with a handle on each side, and with a movable bar attached to its back. The object had already entered Sonic's shell's camera, and Sonic breathed out a sigh of relief. It was just a Mobian pod, a simple and harmless civilian vessel. Sonic slouched back into his seat and picked up his noodles. He wrapped a whole bunch of them around his chopsticks, and-
*Bam!*
A massive impact to his left. Sonic dropped his chopsticks as the entire cockpit vibrated. On the radar appeared a second dot, positioned behind Sonic. He grabbed the control device again, and turned it to the left, which in turn turned the shell. On the camera display, the Mobian pod moved to the right, and then vanished, as a sea of stars swum by, like a school of fish. Eventually, the school stopped swimming, and the cockpit locked itself back into position with a loud *thunk*. And there, within the static sea of stars, was an object straight from Sonic's dreams. It was a shell, one with a gaudy, pink finish. In one of its arms, it held an almost cartoonish pistol with a ridiculously wide barrel; one that was still smoking. In its other hand, was a huge, equally cartoonish hammer, swung behind its back. The shell's head was round and almost cute, while its body was cylindrical, and all of it complied with a pink and yellow colour scheme. Upon seeing this, Sonic immediately flipped a switch, and a new window popped up on his shell's main display. It was a galactic map of the area. Sonic was confident that his shell was the fastest one in existence; never before had it been bested. So within a matter of seconds, he charted out an escape path with the least amount of obstacles in his way. And with the activation of a couple of levers and buttons, Sonic's shell was pointed straight towards the escape path, with all necessary engines and features ready to activate.
"And here we… go!"
Sonic pulled a large lever, and the shell shot forward. The pink monster tried following it, and at first, it managed to keep up. But Sonic's shell accelerated at an unprecedented speed, the stars outside turning into straight, unmoving lines. The pink shell was now no longer even on the radar. Sonic rubbed his sweaty forehead, trying to distract himself from the spaghetti of emotions gathering in his stomach, which he did not feel like untangling. He of course recognized the pink shell. While Sonic was still dazed, a loud *bleep!* came from the radar, and a new dot had appeared on it. It was approaching Sonic rapidly. Or more accurately, Sonic was approaching it rapidly; the thing itself was completely still.
"Shit!"
Sonic's head felt like it was collapsing in on itself, like his brain was being squashed. Pain moved up and down his arms, and moving them greatly accelerated that pain. And all around him was the blaring and beeping of the cockpit, and the flashing of many warning lights, dousing the cockpit in red. It took a few seconds for Sonic to scramble back unto his seat and grab the control panel again. On the radar, it still showed the mysterious dot, which Sonic had already passed. There were dunks all over the cockpit. Sonic looked at the radar again, and saw that the mysterious dot was moving. Moving towards him… Sonic turned the control panel, and the shell turned with it. He was just in time, as he saw an orange object approaching him swiftly. Reflexively, Sonic drew his weapon, and his shell's mechanical arm swung its sword in a large arc. And just in time: sparks flew as Sonic's sword collided with the mysterious assailant's attack. Now that it was right in front of him, Sonic got a better look at the enemy shell. It was orange, and had a head like two Frisbees stuck together, with a singular green eye. In its hand, it held an unusual sword, which split at the very end, and Sonic's sword was now caught in that split. Yet the most unusual thing was the massive engine attached to the shell's back. It had two massive thrusters, which seemed to each be a layered cake of rings, all of which could move separately, like a snake's bones.
"Another old pall, huh…" Sonic said bitterly.
Sonic backed off, using the extra thrusters positioned on his shell's shins. The orange shell did not pursue. Instead, a blue lightbulb lit up in Sonic's cockpit, along with a display screen. And on this screen, green letters appeared: unknown transmission. Press [Y] to accept, [N] to deny. For just a moment, Sonic hesitated, but a sense of resolve he had built up over countless live threatening situations spurred him on, and he quickly accepted the transmission.
"This is a message to the shell's pilot. You have been accused of multiple serious crimes, and are expected to come quietly. If you resist, we have the right to detain and even kill you." Said a stiff and shaky voice over the intercoms.
Sonic abruptly turned the control panel again, and his Shell turned in tandem.
"Hey! I'll shoot, you know!"
Sonic paid the voice no heed, and turned his thrusters to full throttle. His shell shot forward like a cannonball, and the orange shell disappeared off the radar. And reappeared. To his amazement, Sonic saw that the shell was catching up to him.
"How?" He said to himself through shut teeth.
It was then that he noticed it; the speed dial stood at a perfect, round zero. Of course the orange shell could catch up to him; Sonic wasn't even moving. He had shot forward for a couple seconds, but had then stopped completely.
"Shit shit shit!"
Sonic reached for one of the cockpit's many displays, and the screen turned on the moment his finger lay on it, lighting up white. He navigated a sequence of menus, until he found the option he was looking for: thruster diagnosis. He clicked a green box, and a large, unfilled bar filled the screen, with the words diagnosis in progress…0% floating above it. Sonic then closed his eyes. He had done all he could, and now expected to be pierced in the back any second. To die like this, to Tails of all people… All Sonic could do now was hope that maybe his old friend had some mercy to spare. He waited… and waited… and realized he was still alive. Sonic opened his eyes, to find the progress bar at 20%, and to find that the dot on the radar which had been pursuing him, had now stopped in its tracks. What was even more peculiar however, was that a second dot had appeared, and it was rapidly approaching Tails. Sonic flipped a green switch on the control panel, which allowed him to move only the head of his shell. There were also switches for the two individual arms, the two individual legs, and other parts of the shell, in case they ever needed to be moved manually, as they did now. He turned his shell's head, which contained the camera, to catch the scene unfolding behind him. A red smudge flew past the orange shell, and for a moment, it seemed as if nothing had happened. Then, a flare flew out of the shell's left shoulder, licking the air. Bits and pieces of smouldering, melting metal detached from the machine's metal shoulder and flew about aimlessly, like a flock of scrap exploring the cosmos. The smudge stopped in mid-air, its momentum instantly halted. It was a red shell, bulky and wide, with a cubical head, cubical legs and arms, and an equally square body, which got wider and wider as it approached the head. But what drew all attention were the shell's large, square, white fists, and the spikes jutting out of their knuckles, spikes now covered in oil and ash from the orange shell they had just pierced.
"It's like a class reunion in here…" mumbled Sonic.
The orange shell flew backwards, to distance itself from its new foe. It did so zigzagging in a way Sonic had never seen before, using the unique mobility of its back-thrusters. As the red shell flew towards Tails, its knuckles-spikes glaring with murderous intent, lit up by the orange light of its prey's flaming shoulder, an innocent *bing!* resounded in Sonic's cockpit. The display now showed a bar fully filled in green, with the words thruster diagnosis complete floating above it. Underneath the bar was new text: Main fuel supply unavailable. Use emergency fuel supply? [Y]es, [N]o. Sonic pressed the Y button, and put his thrusters in low throttle. Gradually, the starscape displayed on the large screen in front of Sonic started moving, and the two battling mechs got smaller and smaller, until it looked almost like a child's toy fantasy.