Chapter 5: Destroyer
Agent Warwick's enforcer squad arrived in Third Gate City and began their sweep of the Liberation Building, the small town's 32 storey business tower. They'd called ahead to evacuate the employees once The Chamber's foot soldier gave them the hot tip on Allman Grey's location. The Babylon Rogues used their hover boards to fly through every floor while Starr used her elemental abilities to do the same on the higher levels. Falke Wulf searched the maze-like tunnels in the basement but found nothing of note. He rode the elevator and met his teammates on the 27th floor, meanwhile uniformed officers patrolled the street below.
"Call me crazy but I think we got duped." Jet said.
"I was thinking the same thing, guy." Falke answered.
"And Warwick sent us racing across the world to get out here, for what? Horse shit, I tell ya."
"Hey Sage, you detect anything or anyone that might be hiding?" Wave asked.
The Vigilante A.I flew around the building quickly and scanned the area surrounding. His head suddenly tilted to the sky and his eyes turned red as he locked on to something barely visible.
"Unidentified aircraft incoming."
The squad simultaneously jolted forward.
"What?!"
"Attempting communication to confirm hostile."
The squad held their breath as they waited for an answer from Sage. A grimy yellow shade slowly coloured the sky and the wind picked up. Everyone but Starr drew a pistol as she only needed her glowing magenta energy as a weapon.
Sage was jerked forward as he entered a magnetic field and was pulled inside a massive helicarrier that slowly became visible as it descended toward the building. The magnet produced a low, menacing buzz as railings were torn off the Liberation Building. The Rogues hopped over the balcony railing and raced to meet the hostile aircraft, which responded by firing a missile into the body of the building. Panic ensued as two more missiles hit the lower levels, rocking the foundation and starting fires throughout.
"Falke, give me your hand!" Starr shouted as she began floating over the railing.
The ceiling came down on him before he could react, causing his girlfriend to let out a blood-curdling scream. He had enough strength to hold the debris and avoid being completely crushed, but his right shoulder was punctured by a piece of metal. Starr telekinetically lifted the debris off him and the couple flew across the street to an adjacent building.
"Stay here, we'll knock these bastards down," Starr said while applying pressure to the soldier's wound.
"I can still shoot, pass me a rifle."
Falke watched his girlfriend jump over the railing and avoid falling debris on her way back to the Liberation Building. His stomach turned while looking up at the helicarrier unleashing warheads in all directions. He could hear families scream in terror at the devastation, then his rifle was dropped at his feet. He propped the weapon on the railing and assumed a shooter's stance, aiming the scope at what looked like weak points. The first shot dented the aircraft but didn't go through, so he reloaded and continued his sharpshooting while the rest of the squad fought on-board.
The Rogues each raised the nose of their hoverboards and the Nanotech underneath created green fluorescent shields. The Chamber's thugs fired machine guns at their flying adversaries and were cut down by the return fire instantly. Starr telekinetically ripped panels off the helicarrier so Falke could help weaken it, but every second it remained in the sky, the more damage it did.
"Stargirl, hit it with a spirit bomb!" Jet shouted over his comm.
"On it," she answered.
The elemental flew above the helicarrier and concentrated all of her energy into one massive blast. She fired the 'spirit bomb' and The Rogues retreated momentarily to avoid the blast radius. The aircraft was pushed backward and flashed magenta, but this wasn't enough to stop it.
"You're kidding me," Wave said.
"What the hells' this thing made of?!"
"Keep firing! It can't be indestructible, we just have to break it down!"
Starr agreed with the Rogues and flew around to find a better vantage point. The squad's attention was brought high above the helicarrier as a dozen stacked, spinning rings appeared. Each one spun opposite to the last and razors lined the inside, then they began to open up like a slinky. The magnet pulled Sage out a side door and lifted him above the rings, then a piledriver knocked him inside the rings. His teammates shouted as he was shredded and spit out at the bottom, reduced to nothing but scraps to rain over Third Gate City.
"These guys are INSANE!"
The magnet started pulling the Rogues toward the spinning rings before they could say another word, and their jet-powered engines weren't strong enough to pull away. They knew their only option was to bail off the boards once they were within twenty feet of the death blades. Each Rogue spread their wings and soared to nearby rooftops, then watched in horror as their nanotech boards were shredded.
"There goes $30 million," Wave said over her comm.
"I loved that thing!" Jet shouted.
"That was about to be us." Storm answered.
"Who the hell are these guys?"
"They're called The Chambers," Agent Warwick radioed in. "Mobius' last syndicate that's finally showed their face to the world."
"Firing missiles at a civilian population, that's a hell of a way to do it. Christ, there's gotta be well over 100 casualties, boss!"
"Are you grounded?"
"Yeah, fuckers swept our boards out from under us with a big ass magnet and shredded 'em. They destroyed Sage!"
"Where is the super couple?"
"I saw Stargirl fly Falke over to this adjacent building but I don't see her."
They looked to the firefight in the sky and watched the helicarrier begin to ascend back to the murky clouds. Starr stayed with the Chamber's thugs and kept blasting energy at all sides. The threat was gone, only the devastation was left.
"They just went back into the atmosphere," Jet reported. "Ceased fire, but look at this place..."
Fire and rescue sirens blared and EMS did their best to help the wounded on the streets below. Each Rogue helped civilians out of their apartments and evacuate the premises.
Falke tried to get ahold of his girlfriend but he heard nothing back. "Anybody got a visual on Starr?"
"She's following that gunship, bro." Jet said. "Hope she can handle it solo."
"My girls' tough, she's got it." Falke replied. " I saw what they did to your boards, you guys good?"
"We'll get over it. They won't be when we clap back. For now, let's help the survivors. Maybe Warwick will have a lead on these Chambers dickheads by the time we get back."
"This is past underworld crime. What they just did, it's goddamn terrorism. We gotta wreck 'em for good so this shit don't happen to anyone else."
As the squad assisted EMS, Warwick's 4x4 sped through the country roads so he see the damage for himself. While he passed cars, he opened an identification system via voice command with one name in mind.
Wilful Murder
You can't hide forever, he said to himself, I'll smoke you outta your hole, you rotten snake.
Up in the clouds, Starr took down the remaining henchmen on the surface of the helicarrier then created a shield around herself before entering. Predictably, the steel door slammed shut behind her and she knew her energy wouldn't be able to blast through, then advanced.
"Betcha think you guys are real tough, killing civilians with a flying tank." She called out. "Come out here and kill me."
A dozen energy balls flew in all directions but no one reacted.
"We can play this game, I've got all the time in the world."
Espio woke up laying on an operating table inside a cramped, unfamiliar recovery room. He didn't have the strength to sit up and his entire body was numb, no doubt in his mind he'd been worked on during his slumber. He was just glad he no longer felt the burn he received hours prior.
"You almost lost a leg." Rouge said as she entered the room. "Doctor did his best to reattach the nerves. Couldn't save your fingers, though."
The bat put a small bucket of ice on a side table and the ninja glanced at his three pointers. "She was too fast."
"A girl did this to you?"
"One of The Chambers' girls. I suspect a high ranking one, she had Shadow's power rings and a chaos emerald."
"No way, they stole them? I remember hearing about that a year ago! Jesus, Espio...are you okay?"
He made eye contact and said, "No."
The room fell silent following his answer, so he changed the subject.
"I didn't mean to sound like a douchebag when I sent you guys off. Just thought, y'know-it was the end for me and I uh, was still sour about being out here."
Rouge leaned against the wall. "Well, I was being a bit of a bitch the entire time so perhaps I deserved that little dig...but I'm sure you guys probably think of me as nothing but one."
"Not once, in the time we've known each other, have I ever thought of you as a bitch."
She slowly smiled upon hearing this comment, then took a seat next to the operating table.
"They told me to keep you awake so that you would build up your strength and let the meds kick in. I say we get reacquainted without the help of liquid courage."
"Sounds like a plan."
O'nux looked on from the hallway and slightly nodded his head at his friends, then he was met by the guy who gave them passage to the tower they stood inside.
"You should come check out the lounge, bro." Manic suggested. "Air hockey, Daytona USA, Mortal Kombat cabinets, we've got it all."
"Mortal Kombat, huh? Maybe I will make a pit stop."
"You lock up your place so Woody's Roundup couldn't jack your stuff?"
The echidna held up his phone. "Soon as we whisked Espio away from those bad guys."
Over at the badlands safehouse, Dogg and Scourge used their phone flashlights to look for a light switch, as O'nux cut the power and engaged maximum security with his device. Maggie Bloodmoon sat in the pitch black living room shivering but stayed silent, relieved to be somewhere safe during the night.
"Betray the guy whose got the key to the house and pays the electricity bill." She said.
"That was smart of us," Scourge quipped.
Dogg growled quietly. "Keep looking."
Back at Manic's tower, O'nux got his host up to speed while he was shown around. He started his story from the top as they sat inside two Daytona USA arcade cabinets, racing while conversing. The green hedgehog was emotionally invested by the time they moved on to Mortal Kombat II, and was finally caught up as they started a 'first-to-10' game of air hockey.
"Alright, so now what happens?" Manic asked, scoring the first goal.
"I'm utterly lost, my friend. I don't know these zones and a twisted army is what I'm up against. I've no clue where to start."
"Why,"
"Why I have no clue? I've been lied to, played like a fiddle and threatened in the span of 24 hours. Truly traumatic, wouldn't you say?"
"No, I mean why would you tell me your wicked story, take me on this wild fucking journey and then just end it on a downer? Dude, you're a legend for sticking through what you have, don't give up on this now! I'll help you out, I'm a vigilante who works in exchange for money put down on the lease. I know trouble, and these guys mean it. You're not alone, buddy."
O'nux grinned at his new ally. "Respectfully, you're nothing like your brother. You've got a resourceful mind-"
"It's just the power of street knowledge."
"And you know how to solve problems without the ability to break the sound barrier. You're my type of guy."
"Hey, I'm taken, big man. Sonic got Amy a bit 'ol engagement ring, I'm gettin' Cee a bigger one. He's got the speed so I've gotta one-up him somehow."
"Classic sibling rivalry, I love it." O'nux said. "...I must admit, I'm not looking forward to meeting Knuckles. I'm unsure if he's aware I assumed his identity while he was in prison, but he won't be happy with the lies I've had to fabricate in order to obtain the collection."
Manic scored the final goal to win the set, then gestured O'nux to follow. They rode an elevator down to the 4th underground level, passed a door marked 'records' and wound up in front of a safe.
"Knucklehead is a very reserved man who doesn't talk much about his personal life, right, but he wrote in a journal during the roughest time of his life, and he gave it to me after a bonding experience we had."
The echidna watched Manic open the safe and grab the black journal.
"I want you to read it and get a glimpse of what kinda guy he is."
"But, this is very personal. Won't he be mad at you for sharing it?"
"He gave it to me so I can do whatever the hell I want with it. But for real, I've kept it locked away so that no one could read it, and I'm only giving it to you because of who you are. It's in your hands now."
As O'nux opened the journal, an intercom on the wall sounded. "Manic, Espio's suit has arrived."
"Oh, perfect. I wanna be there for the fitting. Apparently this suit is John Wick levels of deadly."
They both walked to the elevator and made their way back upstairs. O'nux read the first line in the journal and looked at the torn black and white photograph that accompanied it.
"We start our journey forced to work in a government-led task force run by who I believe to be the most corrupt and vindictive piles of rat shit-codename Willful Murder."