Espio the Chameleon in disguise! Working
undercover as assassin Loot,
Espio leads a secret mission to
uncover the Separatist plot against
Chancellor Solaris. Using cunning
and courage, he gains the trust of
bounty hunter Fleabyte and criminal
mastermind Zor, earning him
entrance into the stronghold of
Separatist leader, Dimitri the Echidna.
Now, it is here on the beautiful
planet of Megaopolis that a barbaric
contest will determine the fate of
Espio and possibly the
Republic itself...
The ship landed on an airstrip and our trio walked out. Zor saw Dimitri walking towards them with four Metorex guards. Zor nervously walked up to greet him "Dimitri, I apologize for my delay". The Metorex raised their staffs to him "Your careless delay could have ruined my plan, Zor. I see Fleabyte is with you. Who is the other one?". Zor saw the other two walking towards him "This is Loot the Chameleon. When Fleabyte's escape plan failed, we only succeeded thanks to Loot. I thought he might be useful for the tournament". Fleabyte crossed his arms "Enough small talk. I want my money" "That makes two of us" Loot said. Dimitri smirked "You shall have it, and perhaps much more, both of you, if you would like to enter our friendly little contest". Loot nodded "I'm in if he's in" Loot said gesturing to Fleabyte who looked apprehensive "You already owe me for one job, Dimitri. Anything else will cost you triple" "I assure you that if you survive the challenge the reward will be well worth it". Fleabyte and Loot pushed past Zor and entered a building in front of the air strip. Dimitri looked to Zor "We have all the contestants we need. Prepare the tournament" "Yes, my lord".
Blaze was meditating when she sensed Shadow about to enter the room which he then did "You summoned me, Master?" "It was wrong to deceive you. But there is much more at stake". Shadow did his best to remain calm "So I was right. Espio is still alive" "Shadow, you are a powerful Shinobi, yet you can be unpredictable and dangerous to both your friends and enemies. For Espio, everything depends on your patience". Shadow sighed "What if he needs our help?" "If you leave, you could help him, but his future is… uncertain. We must trust in Espio".
Fleabyte and Loot entered courtyard full of other bounty hunters, the only one Espio recognised was Hunter "So what kind of friendly little contest do you think the echidna's got planned?". Fleabyte shrugged "I'd be surprised if we all survive". Fleabyte then saw a skunk bounty hunter wearing a stetson hat "Nice hat". Loot tried to stop him but Fleabyte pushed past him and walked towards the skunk "Where'd you get it?". The skunk went for his pistol but Fleabyte was faster and shot him dead. Another skunk next him stared down sadly at him. Fleabyte took the hat and put it on before walking past Loot "What're you looking at? It's a nice hat". Dimitri and Zor appeared "Welcome to Megaopolis". All the bounty hunters stood in front of them as Dimitri continued "You have been invited here because you are the best bounty hunters in the galaxy". He looked a swan "Kiera Swan, two-time winner of the Obsidian Sphere". He then looked to a human man in a white martial arts uniform "Segata Sanshiro, known simply as the Exterminator". He then looked to a green robot with a torpedo shaped head "Johnny, the outlands butcher". He then looked to Hunter "Hunter, your bounty tallies were second only to one last season. Fleabyte, who needs no introduction".
He then looked to Loot "Loot the Chameleon, the Marksman of Terminal Velocity". He then looked to a lizard "Jakoli, known for never bringing anyone back alive". Then to the mourning skunk "Jean, you and your brother Dolph have been a legendary team. This challenge may prove difficult for you alone". Then to a green pronghorn with cybernetic enhancements "Cassia, your acrobatics once earned you praise by Chancellor Bullyani". Then a pig "Sinrich, inventor of the holographic disguise matrix". Then to a manta ray "And finally, Mantu, your people were once a peaceful race. How far they have fallen. In a few moments, all eleven of you will enter what we call the Labyrinth". He gestured to a large cube shaped structure behind them "Some of you will not make it out alive. For those who do, we are looking for the most skilled among you. Any additional survivors will be eliminated to preserve the integrity of the job that awaits you". The Metorex pulled a table in front of the group "Place your weapons here". All the bounty hunters did so as Dimitri continued "For those we choose you will, of course, be paid handsomely. But more than that, you will be part of an operation remembered as a turning point in the Clone Wars. And when we succeed, we will bring the Republic to its pitiful knees".
Zor stepped forward "Listen up. The Labyrinth was designed by me, Zor, to simulate certain situations that might happen on the job. Go now. Enter the Labyrinth if you have the courage". All the bounty hunters without hesitation boarded a lift underneath, and it took them inside. They entered a large white cube shaped room made up of small induvial squares. They all looked around before the walls all turned into screens showing an amused Zor "Before we begin our first challenge, let me say there is only one rule inside the Labyrinth. There are no rules". "What is the point in this?" Hunter said, "The point, my friend, is to escape. And quickly, because only the survivors will advance to the next challenge" the walls turned back to normal. Suddenly one of the squares on the floor opened and a green gas came out "Dioxis" Cassia said, "Get back!" Loot ordered everyone. They all backed away and panels on the floor started to rise up. They all jumped onto one with some pushing others off but they eventually all got above the gas "That wasn't so hard" Johnny said. The panels then started raising higher towards the ceiling. Loot pondered "The way out isn't up. It's down. One of us will have to scout a way out". Johnny nodded "I don't need air. I'll check it out" he jumped down into the gas climbed down the hatch releasing the gas. The others waited when "There's a hole in the floor which gets you below the gas line. Jump down the hole and follow the tunnel". Loot jumped down followed by the others and they all crawled through the tunnel. Loot climbed out into another room where Johnny was waiting "What took you so long?". Loot climbed out and then tried to help Fleabyte who just hit his hand away. The room was darker than the last one "Zor is impressed. No casualties on the first challenge. I guarantee you that will no be the case in the next". Some of the panels on the walls opened and released small beams of energy. The panels then extended out forcing the group to dodge it. More extended all over the room, Jean backed up against the wall to avoid one but the panel behind him suddenly opened and he was stabbed through the stomach killing him.
Dimitri and Zor were watching them from the control room "Impressive. I sense something different about that one. Tell me what you know about this Loot". Zor showed him the file "He killed the Shinobi Espio the Chameleon, but only with a sniper rifle" Zor answered, "Espio the Chameleon" Dimitri said with a smirk.
The walls started closing in on either side of the group. Loot was watching the different panels extend out and then saw something on the ceiling "I know how to get out" "Show me" Fleabyte said. "There's a pattern to the blades. If we time it right, we can climb up to that exit shaft". Cassia stepped forward "I'll lead the way" she jumped up onto the first extended panel without any difficulty and then onto another "Get moving!". The others followed but Kiara was killed by one of the blades. Fleabyte jumped to one panel but didn't make it far enough and held onto the edge. Loot quickly turned back and helped him up before they followed Cassia to the top of the room. Sinrich however stumbled off one of the panels and he fell back down to his death as the others climbed through the shaft.
Zor hit the control panel in frustration as Dimitri watched "Loot has done it again. I'm beginning to think he'd be the best one to lead this operation" "Loot is crafty, I will grant you. But let's see what happens when he is not the key to their survival".
They entered a red room next "To reach your final challenge, you must pass through my ray shield". A red shield covered all but one of the walls and began slowly closing in on the group. One of the panels on the unshielded wall opened revealing a switch and the panel went inward "The switch to turn it off is on the other side". A red shield then appeared in front of the panel. A platform on the ground then extended out revealing a syringe "The syringe on the platform contains a highly electrolytic serum that will allow you to pass through the shield. However, it is toxic to all but one of you. Haha". A large platform around the syringe panel rose up. The group all tried to climb up but Jakoli was too far away and a shield appeared on the floor. He screamed as the shield electrocuted him. Segata suddenly took the syringe but Fleabyte grabbed it "Hey, who put you in charge?" "私は免疫があります" Segata responded. "Anyone know what he's saying?" Fleabyte said to the others. Loot took the syringe "I do. He's saying he's immune to the toxin" he handed it to Segata. Fleabyte crossed his arms "He's human. How can he be immune?" "He's from the planet Hiroshi. Folks there are pretty tough. His blood can take it" "Great" Fleabyte said sarcastically. The shields started closing in faster and some of the panels lowed down into the shield. Segata quickly injected himself with the serum. He pushed his hand against the shield to the switch and with some struggle managed to push it through. He reached for the switch. The shield hit Mantu killing him, and his body fell to the floor. Segata managed to get the rest of his body through the shield, and he quickly hit the switch disabling the shields. The panels then opened revealing a way to the next area. They all walked through "His blood. How did you know about it?" Fleabyte asked Loot, "I tried poisoning someone from Hiroshi once. Didn't go well". Segata heard this and grinned proudly.
Dimitri sighed in disappointment "Your Labyrinth does not appear to be as much of a challenge as I thought. Perhaps I should put Loot in charge of the mission". Zor turned to him "But this was my plan. Your promised me the lead role" "You have one last test to change my mind" "Do not fear, Dimitri. I will show you who is weak".
The group arrived in the next room where they were standing on a platform "The final challenge has arrived". The floor under the platform opened revealing lines of torches which covered it in fire. "We supposed to throw each other in?" Hunter asked jokingly. A panel on the wall opened revealing Zor "As amusing as that would be, no" he pressed a button on his wrist and one of the floor panels on the floor opened revealing a sniper rifle "We are going to test your sniper skills. Hit the target". A yellow star appeared on the wall and started traveling across the different panels. "Step back, boys. I show you how it's done" Johnny said before taking the sniper. He looked through the scope and kept track of where the star was and fired, he hit it. The star started moving again and he again managed to hit it. However, on the third time he just missed the star. Before he could react the line of panels he was on dropped down causing him to fall screaming into the fire.
Zor laughed as Johnny's metal body started to spark and break apart. "We're gonna run out of platform" Fleabyte said. A new sniper appeared underneath the platform and Loot took it. He stepped forward and managed to hit the target each time. Half the platform with Loot on it lowered down away from the others. Zor laughed "This is not the first time you've saved everybody's skin, Loot. Five more hits. Let's see how good you really are". All but one line of panels dropped on Loot's platform. The star split into two and they both started moving even faster. Loot still managed to hit four of them but on the final shot when he pulled the trigger nothing happened. He examined the rifle and realized it was out of ammo. Zor chuckled "Oh, what a shame. Out of charges. It's also important for a bounty hunter to be lucky, and your luck just ran out". The panels in front of Loot started dropping one by one. Loot backed away to the wall but was then dropped "Aah!" but Fleabyte suddenly fired a cable down to him which he caught.
Zor glared at him "How dare you defy Zor!?" "If you're gonna kill him, do it like a man" Fleabyte told him. Dimitri suddenly appeared on the wall "You heard him, Zor. Show us what you are really made of". All the flame throwers except the outside line turned off creating a square. To Zor's horror the wall behind him moved forward pushing him down into the newly created arena. Fleabyte then lowered Loot down as well. Zor pressed a button on his wrist and four bat like robots flew in and fired lasers at Loot from their eyes. He dodged the blasts, ran forward, grabbed two of the bats and threw them at the other two destroying them. He then kicked Zor to the ground "You're gonna have to do better than that" "Hmm, you, my friend, have seen nothing yet". Platforms raised creating a small maze that Loot chased Zor through. A wall suddenly appeared in front of Loot and flame throwers were released. Loot managed to jumped up above the maze just in time tackled Zor "Let's even the playing field". He grabbed Zor's wrist and bashed it against the floor destroying it. Zor kicked him back and the two fought. Loot managed to get the upper hand and pin him to the floor with his head just above the flames.
He started punching Zor in the face before suddenly stopping "Finish him, Loot" Dimitri told him. Espio stared at Zor for a moment before standing up. Dimitri shook his head "Very disappointing" "All due respect, I just want to do my job and get my money". The platform carrying the others lowered, Loot and Zor went to stand next to them "It is unfortunate that your leadership skills are so lacking. Nonetheless, congratulations on surviving the Labyrinth. Tomorrow, you will kidnap Chancellor Solaris at the festival on Albion. With the leader of the Republic as our hostage we will demand the release of all Separatist prisoners. If our demand is not met, the Chancellor will be executed. Either way, you will help reshape the galaxy. Once you are all aboard the transport, Zor will walk you through his plan. However, the operation on Albion will be run by Fleabyte". Zor obviously didn't like this but said nothing as Fleabyte stepped forward "All of you work for him now".