A part of me feels like I deserve this.

Tekno the Canary muttered as she was sitting within her electric cell, folding her arms. Wearing black-and-red-striped jumper, a blue skirt, red and white trainers, and golden earrings, the bright green canary could think of so many ways this could go horribly wrong for both sides of the conflict, and how truly crazy those outcomes could get.

And the other part of me knows that Amy is going to be on the warpath...whiiiich is exactly what these guys want.

Tekno felt compelled to pray that for once, Amy wouldn't listen to her heart, because she knew darn well what it was going to say, and it didn't lead to a clean outcome. On the other hand, she wasn't exactly fond of being kept in a cage, either, which is why even now, she's been working on a way to free herself.

While being under someone's watchful eye.

"...Grimer, did anyone ever tell you that you have a face only a mother could love?" Tekno deadpanned to the one who facilitated her capture. Someone with a green-skinned red-eyed man, wearing a white lab suit and has a metal pack on his back.

"Oh, plenty of times! I even kept a tally!"

"Of course you did..." Tekno couldn't help but groan as she briefly massaged her forehead. For as ugly as this guy's skin was it was utterly impossible to get under it. That made him more aggravating to deal with than those who were openly jerks. "You do realize that this is going to result in something utterly crazy, right? You don't seriously believe that this little operation will end well."

"Hm. Perhaps, perhaps not." Grimer smiled. "But alas, I can't just stand by and keep progressing, when my comrades barely get a chance to prove themselves. This will be one of those chances!"

"Tch. Is your boss gonna approve of this little show of yours? I don't imagine he'll be all that thrilled-or surprised-that it blows up in your face."

"Oh, there is quite a chance of failure regarding this, that I don't doubt. However, I know quite a bit of your friends that I'm dealing with, and that gives be quite a bit of foresight." Grimer lightly turned to her. "You're very much a genius yourself, Miss Tekno. Surely you can figure out who exactly this setup is for. Miss Rose is a passionate woman indeed, but she's levelheaded enough to know that solely taking you means you're being used for something, and thus she might approach with more caution, provided she isn't angry enough." Grimer tilted his head. "Do tell me, who has even less patience than she does?"

Tekno did indeed had no need to overthink it. She took a deep breath, and sighed while massaging her forehead. That prospect was possibly even worse than Amy, mostly because-

Her thoughts were only barely interrupted by the sounds of an explosion from the ceiling. She and Grimer looked up as something blasted their way through it, and landed on the ground with a mighty shockwave, pushing several things away from them in the process.

"Ah, the guest has arrived on time! Or two seconds give or take." Grimer waved his hand so-so. "Greetings, Shortfuse!"

The figure simply glared.

"I'm only gonna ask ya once. And only once."

Before them, lies a silver body with red-and-black-striped gauntlets and shoulder pads, and black eyes with red pupils. The red pupils began rapidly gosling brighter, which Tekno could tell was a sign of the arrivals quickly increasing anger.

"Let. Her. Go."

Tekno sighed, trying to not let her distress reach her eyes. "Darn it, Shorty! Surely you know that this is a trap!?"

"Tch, I know that. I ain't that bullheaded." Shortfuse's eyes glowed behind his suit. "I simply decided that I don't care."

"Such a caring friend you are, Shortfuse! I respect that, truly I do!" Grimer gestured to Tekno. "As you can see, Miss Tekno is completely unharmed. I had no plans to anything of the sort to her, you have my word!"

"Neat." Shortfuse lifted his arm as a blaster manifested above his wrist. "Too bad it's not gonna save ya from bein' popped like the toady that you are!"

"Temper temper. Then again, it's to be expected from someone who renamed themselves 'Shortfuse', isn't it?"

The blaster began charging. "You already heard what I said."

"Indeed I did, loud and clear!" Grimer brought his hands together. "But surely you didn't think I would set this up without preparing for someone like you to show up, did you?"

Shortfuse briefly wondered what Grimer meant by this, only to jump back as a pair of sharpened claws shot up from the ground. Shortfuse briefly wondered what the heck it was, until he slowly peeked through the smoke.

"Hiya, Shorty." The newest arrival slowly rang out, his tail whipping about slightly. It appeared to have a suit similar to Shortfuse's. "Glad that you showed up, fellow Cybernik. And all we had to do was put your birdie friend in a cage."

"Vermin." Shortfuse hissed, his tail whipping angrily.

"Excuse me, but this birdie's name is Tekno." Tekno deadpanned, with barely hidden disdain. "How would you like it if I just called you 'rat', huh?"

"Feh." She was waved off, before Vermin pointed at Shortfuse. "Whaddya say, Shorty? You wanna relive a memory and make this yet another instance of you failing to save your friends?"

Shortfuse's fists clenched and unclenched for several moments, and his eyes flashed redder than ever. "Yoooouuuu...!"

Was all he could get our, before he flew right into the fellow Cybernik and tackled him to the ground, viciously punching him across the face. Vermin's response was simply to strike back, throwing Shortfuse across the room and into the wall. He dodged to the right as Vermin's foot nearly smashed where his head used to be, before he lifted his wrist and blasted Vermin in the chest, pushing him away a good deal.

"That's not gonna work, Shorty! You know I'm tougher than you!"

"But you're not ANGRIER!" Shortfuse shouted before he flew upwards and tackled Vermin again, before kicking him back into the ground, them rocketing downwards towards him with a stomp. Vermin rolled to the right and blasted him in the back with eye beams, sending him sprawling. "AGH!"

"Oooh, that must smart." Grimer winced, and Tekno hated how genuine it was, yet at the same time, it didn't really deter him. But she was more concerned about Shortfuse. That temper of his wasn't helping him focus, and Vermin was actively stoking it and taking advantage of his poor control over it.

It was bad enough that Vermin's Cybernik model was superior to Shortfuse's, any further advantages would turn a hard earned victory into an utterly crushing defeat. And the both of them knew what that would lead to.

But credit to Shortfuse, he wasn't so easily defeated.

Vermin was launched back with a sucker punch to the chin, with Shortfuse's eyes blazing behind his armor.

"You've got better and stronger Cybernik armor than me, big whoop!" Shortfuse exclaimed as he hurriedly rockets forth and slammed Vermin into the wall, cratering it around them. "Being better and stronger isn't always an absolute guarantee that you'll win! I should know, I've been on both sides of that coin!" He pulled his fist back and slammed it across Vermin's helmet. "Guess you haven't learned that lesson yet!"

"Why would I need to learn a useless lesson like that?!"

"The fact that you're callin' it useless..." Shortfuse ducked under a claw swipe from Vermin, before fervently kicking him upwards with both feet. "Means you REALLY don't have a single brain cell in that empty head of yours!" He followed up with a blast from his laser, with Vermin releasing one from his eyes. "I'll teach you that lesson today, and you're gonna REMEMBER IT!"

"Too bad you don't have what it takes to make me commit it to memory!" Vermin shot back wildly.

"Hah! So you admit to being a moron!"

Having that turned against him did not sir well with Vermin at all, and thus he began attacking with more excess viciousness than before. A swift swipe of his claws smashed into the ground, cratering it outwards. Shortfuse stood on his hands and kicked the encased rat across the head, sending him tumbling across the ground. He recovered quickly, standing with a leer as his tail whipped about wildly.

Shortfuse narrowed his eyes as he nimbly dodged an attempt to stab him with it. And again he did, and again, before he realized he was beginning an entire onslaught of tail swipes, keeping him on the defensive. He knew full well what a stab from Vermin's tail would do to his armor, and wasn't keen on letting his guard down while he had it in action.

One step to the right too many, and he managed to grab onto it before Vermin could pull it back.

"Gotcha!" Shortfuse shouted before he swung Vermin around by the tail like a lasso, before ultimately slamming him down onto the ground, greatly cratering it around them and causing a pained cry from the rodent. "I don't gotta be a genius to know that getting nicked with that tail spells bad news, so don't think I'm just gonna stand there and take it!"

Vermin lies on the ground for several moments, before he chuckled and got back to his feet, his eyes glowing behind his helmet. "Heh. Fair enough. If you're not gonna stand still and take your shot willingly, I'll just have to do what doctors do with stubborn patients, and distract you first." He raised his tail above his head and had it pointed, as he prepared to pounce. Shortfuse prepared himself for what he might have in mind, fists clenched. "Yeah. Yeah, I think that'll work nicely." With that, Vermin's tail pointed, leaping forward a great bound.

...right over Shortfuse...

...and right towards Tekno.

"Oh dear." Grimer blinked before he hurriedly got out of the way of the menacing Cybernik, who was currently hurtling towards the shocked Tekno with his tail prepared to strike. Not with a mere lashing or whipping. That would surely hurt, but nothing she couldn't recover from quickly.

With the way his tail was poised and pointed, he seemed excitedly set on taking one of her eyes.

"WHY YOU LOUSY-!" Shortfuse didn't even have time to finish cursing Vermin before he immediately leapt forward, flying right in front of Tekno as Vermin's tail shot forward, stabbing him in the back, followed by a harsh shock all over his body. "AAAGGGH!"

"SHORTY?!" Tekno gasped as Shortfuse collapsed onto the ground, grunting from the impact. And given how he appeared to be glitching while his suit constantly switched from perfectly fine to shorting out, it was easily clear to her what happened. "Oh no, it looks like a virus! Your suit's systems are completely shot!"

"Ugh...rotten rat...he used you to bait me in...I can't...move...!"

"Hah! Look at you!" Vermin cackled at the incapacitated Shortfuse. "Knowing what my play was and still falling for it!" Vermin emphasized by kicking Shortfuse across the head, forcibly landing him on this back. "Poor Shortfuse, always coming up short when it really matters!"

"Ngggh..."

"Heh. Well, let's not beat around the bush. Time to kill you while you're down." Vermin's eyes began glowing dangerously, signifying another beam attack, stronger than the others. It might not dent his armor, but it's likely to fry Shorty within it with enough intensity. "Might as well send you off with this, while I'm making fun of your name: I'm about to SHORTEN your lifespan to zero!"

For what it was worth, Shortfuse didn't cower from what might have been his demise-and nearly welcomed it after groaning from one joke too many at his name's expense-, and faced it with a glare.

Though the attempt was stopped by the sudden explosion going off in Vermin's face stopped him from finishing him off, and sending him skidding across the room, smoking slightly but otherwise undamaged.

"You irritating little...!"

Shorty looked on, wide eyed as Tekno stood in front of him, panting slightly. Her clothes were tattered and slightly burned, smoke coming off of them. She was scratched up, with a bit of blood running down her head. But aside from that, she simply glared at Vermin as she calmly placed her earrings back on.

"You made your earrings explode? But how'd you even get out of your cage?!"

"Two...explosions." Tekno muttered, holding up two fingers. "One to blast you away from Shorty...and the other to...destroy my cage..."

"You blew up your own cage while you were still in it, just to get free?!" Vermin exclaimed, legitimately shocked.

"That's the kind of desperate corner...you backed me into..."

"What kind of crazy canary are you?!"

"Quite simple, Vermin." Grimer eventually stood back up, brushing himself off. "A canary that has a history with the Battle Bird Armada. The same Battle Bird Armada led by Battle Kukku XV, with a former member named Bean The Dynamite. Both have experience with bomb and explosion manipulation...and it seems she picked up a trick or two during her time with them. Am I wrong, Tekno?"

Tekno simply glared at Grimer. Vermin, on the other hand, now began to see it.

"Woah. Gotta admit, didn't see that coming." Vermin blinked. "No wonder she's so cr-"

Before Vermin could properly finish, he was hit by something hard and heavy enough to send him flying across the room, spiralling, until he landed on the other side of it, claws digging into the metal floor. Grimer brushed himself off more and made himself look presentable, as Amy landed well on her feet, with Sally, Antoine, and Rotor not too far behind.

"Alright, I'll make this short and simple!" Amy declared, balancing her hammer across her shoulders. "Let my friend go, or get smashed!"

"Amy..." Tekno blinked. Oh sure, she was fully aware that she'd come sooner or later. Though the sincere declaration right out the gate kind of left her for a loss of words.

"Looks like we made it in time." Sally muttered while getting a quick read on the situation all around them. Though she was thrown for quite a loop when she managed to briefly catch just who Amy's friend has a connection with, that's information to be processed later. "Nicole, give me a rundown. What are we dealing with?"

"It would appear that one of Amy's friends, as well as the one they're fighting against, are both encased in Cybernik armor." Nicole scanned after briefly manifesting by her side. "Cybernetic, prototype Super Badnik armor that attaches to the user down to their nervous system. Removal is said to be extremely difficult if not outright impossible." Nicole looked about, then upwards. "The engine that we seek is on the floor above us." Then she looked forward, towards Vermin. "And he is the one that must be subdued, the most physically dangerous one here. Although the subduing of Grimer would be a significant bonus objective."

"Right, okay." Sally thought through her options, before standing up and running her rings. "Nicole, do you think you can reboot the systems of Amy's friend, scramble the systems of the other Cybernik, access any other information this base might have, and help secure the engine we need to process mass Power Ring energy?"

"That's quite a tall order you're requesting of me, Sally." Nicole lightly droned, before narrowing her eyes. "Four objectives in minutes, if I'm completely focused."

"Time we can provide." Sally narrowed her eyes towards Vermin as he fully processed what was going on. Cybernik armor, she thought to herself. It seemed to be a rough precursor to the Cyberization process combined with Badnik creation, which makes up a majority of the Egg Bosses and the Egg Army.

When she thought about Cyberization, her thoughts also went to Bunnie, though her case was a very unique one that isn't easily replicated.

"Princess Sally Acorn. What an honor! And honestly, a surprise!" Grimer managed to regain his bearings enough to greet her, which she returned with a glare. "With the kind of position and status you hold, I would have thought that you'd stay away from combat for your own safety."

Sally scoffed. "Hiding myself safely away from danger while my Freedom Fighters risk their lives? Yeah, I don't think so."

"Haha! You're as courageous and spirited as they say! Someone like you has what it takes to be a winner in this world!*

Rotor blinked, fists lowering just a smidge, "Huh. For a bad guy, he's a lot more complimentary than I was expecting."

"Probably to contrast with the fact that he looks...well, unpleasant." Antoine winced while slightly looking away.

"You can just say that he's ugly." Amy deadpanned. "Seriously, is that slime dripping down your skin or something? You could probably use it as a renewable resource and power a power plant."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."

"YOU COULD PROBABLY USE YOUR SLIME AS A RENEWABLE RESOURCE TO POWER A PLANT!" Amy shouted mockingly. "Didja 'pretend' hear me now?"

"Yeesh." Rotor couldn't help but whistle at the audacity.

"Always the thorny one, Miss Rose." Grimer pressed a nearby button, and by the dozens, Trooper Badniks emerged from the several doors around, armed and ready. "Now, as you might know, Miss Acorn, my Master has quite an intense disdain towards you."

"Feelings mutual."

"As such, as his loyal supporter, and I'm sorry for this truly, but...you do realize I can't allow you to leave this place or succeed in your endeavors, now that I have you here, right?"

"Oh? That's real interesting." Sally deadpanned. "Too bad no one's asking for your permission."

"Oh if only you chose the winning team, Princess. You really should consider surrendering peacefully while you can. The Acorn Kingdom has been in such good hands with my Master helping run things! Many of the citizens have been crying out for his guidance!"

And that was when one could almost hear a SNAP behind Sally's eyes, as one of her Ring Blades came to life. "That's not why they're crying."

On that note, the chaos returned to life.

"Antoine, back me up!" Rotor shouted as he moved forward, tearing a chunk of metal out of the walls and using it as a shield against the incoming blaster fire. He was making a go for the engine, and now was his best chance to do so while the going was good.

"Right behind you!" Antoine exclaimed, swirling around and slashing through a Badnik that managed to get close. "

As the two of them ascended forward, Sally and Amy were tasking themselves with the rather difficult prospect of holding down Vermin until Nicole managed to succeed in her own objectives. Meaning she couldn't join the battle right then and there, she needed her full focus.

"Tch, I'll deal with you in a bit." Vermin nudged towards Shortfuse, before turning towards the two women.

"Bring it!" Amy taunted, before she dashed towards the Cybernik, smashing her hammer through the Trooper Badniks that got in her way.

"Tch, you're wasting your time, Amy! You're not gonna make a dent in this armor-" Vermin vegans before he was forcefully launched away by a mighty swing from her, which sent him careening into a wall. "Woah!"

"Your suit might not take actual damage from me, but all I need to do is force you back!" Amy shouted defiantly.

"A fair enough point. But it's still not gonna help ya!" Vermin pointed off of the wall and leapt towards Amy, smashing her head into the ground with a forceful swipe of his head.

"AGH!"

"Not so tough, are ya girlie?!" Vermin taunted with a laugh.

"I'll show you tough!" Amy exclaimed before she rolled out of his grip and swiped her hammer upwards towards his head, ignoring the ringing headache and blood running down her head. "You've no right to be taunting others about toughness when you've barely got any of your own outside of that armor!"

"What makes me any different than Shortstack over there?!"

"Because we've seen him risk his life for others sakes, protected suit or not! What are YOU risking?!"

Vermin bristled at that, before his eyes glowed menacingly and he fired another intense beam towards her. Sally jumped in front of her and managed to deflect the blast down the middle with her Ring Blades the resulting two smaller beams burning holes into the wall behind her. It worked, but her arms felt a little sore from the experience, and her gloves were slightly torn from the heat, revealing a bit of her furry hands.

"Tch. Gettin' in my way. I gotta agree with the toady, aren't you royal types supposed to cower away from the action and let others shield you?"

"Your name is literally 'Vermin'. And since you're living up to the most abhorrent aspects of the name possible, any judgement from you is going to be inherently tainted and wrong."

"Now you're asking for it!"

Vermin leaped towards Sally and slashed his claws at her, which she barely sucked under, with a single claw managing to briefly graze her hair. Mid-duck, she kicked him away from her in a flip before landing on her feet. Though a moment later, she was caught flatfooted as he swiftly reassumed his assault towards her again and landing a kick into her back, slamming her against the wall next to them.

Amy leapt up from behind him and swung her hammer down atop his head, only for him to catch the handle before it could back impact. He turned towards her again as his eyes glowed.

"She can't jump in front of ya this time."

He blasted the laser fully against her side, sending her flying away and crashing into the ground. Amy crumpled on the ground, the searing burn briefly impeding her. "Nngh..."

Shortfuse, in the meantime, could hear all that was going on, as he now couldn't move at all due to the virus impeding his systems. And yet despite this knowledge, he was gritting his teeth and attempting to force himself to move with all of the might be could muster.

That rat's gonna tear them apart at this rate! GRR! Come on, you stupid hunk of junk! MOVE!

"Current Progress is ninety-four percent. Don't worry, I'll have your systems rebooted soon." He gasped as some holographic lynx appeared in front of his sensors, startling him.

"W-What the?! Who're you?!"

"My name is Nicole. I have quite a few abilities that make me a technological multitasker." Nicole smiled sweetly. "I'll demonstrate that in just a moment."

Vermin scoffed, as looked upwards towards the other floor, where Rotor and Antoine were in the midst of smashing and slicing their way through Troopers that got in their way, and we're getting too close to the engine they sought for his liking. "Oh no you don't-"

He was baffled as he felt both a slash into his back and something heavy slamming across his head. His armor was still undamaged, but he felt himself skidding across the ground regardless as he attempted to balance himself on all fours. He looked up, baffled as Sally and Amy were standing again, looking form up, battered, bruised, and bloodied from the assault he laid upon them.

Yet they still looked ready to fight.

"You're kidding me."

"Gonna live up...huff...to your name...and scurry away...?" Amy taunted again with a smile, taking some time to catch her breath.

"Not on your life!" Vermin scoffed, as another eye beam was charging. "In fact, I'll be ending them right now!"

Sally saw the opening.

Right before Vermin fired, she leapt towards him with her Rings activating. Generating a blue shield, she held it in front of herself and tightly closed her eyes and braced for what happened next: The lasers fired, and she repelled said lasers right as they did, at point blank range. The resulting misfire backfired, stunning Vermin with a bright red explosion and sending both of them flying back in opposite directions. Though Amy was quick to catch Sally after getting over the shocking maneuver.

"Sally! Are you alright?!"

"Yeah...just fine..." Sally grunted as she briefly held her side, smoke emitting off her being, wincing with a half closed eye. She was still able to see Vermin curiously stand back up, with his armor actually showing some damage. This got a smirk from her. "That Cybernik armor is super durable. Though it looks like taking one of its own stronger attacks like that, is when it apparently decides it's a bit too much."

Vermin snarled as he lifted one of his claws. "You're not gonna be able to use that, cause I'm-!"

"One hundred percent. Process completed."

All of a sudden, Vermin found that his systems were freezing up, and he was rapidly losing control of them. "W-What?!"

"Hello!" A holographic Nicole appeared in front of Vermin, waving cheerily.

"What the, what are you?!"

"Me? Well, I've already introduced myself, but my name is Nicole." She briefly looked around and tapped her foot. "And I must say, this is a peculiar armored battle suit you have here. A few touches more developed than Shortfuse's, even. Almost like it was designed to eliminate him...?"

"What's it to you?!"

"Oh, nothing. Just recalling the fact that one of your suit's abilities is to instill a computer virus through your tail that greatly scrambles any systems it makes contact with. Quite a scary ability." Nicole lightly tapped her chin with a pout, tilting her head. "It would be unfortunate if such a virus was turned against you..."

...What?

It was true, he had no more control over his suit, and he couldn't move the way he wanted to. His arms slumped down, and he leaned forward slightly.

"Ugh..."

"I also took the liberty of scanning said virus, purged Shortfuse of it, and helped him reboot. He's fully functioning...and very angry." She explained as Shortfuse landed just a few feet in front of the immobilized Vermin, who began making quickly at the implications. Nicole simply smiles and waves. "Have fun!"

With that, her Holo form vanished from his visor, leaving him alone with a very angry squirrel with a very much functioning Cybernik suit.

...Oh.

"N-Now Shorty, buddy! Surely we can talk this out li-"

"You like hittin' people when they can't hit ya back?" Shortfuse briefly cracked his metallic knuckles. "Let's see how YOU like it!"

A fist met with Vermin's gut, and he was sent soaring across the room and crashing into the wall. Vermin coughed slightly, before he slumped to the ground with a thud, no longer moving, simply groaning. Shortfuse scoffed with a flick of his armored tail, with Sally and Amy smiling tiredly at the sight of their downed enemy. Nicole materialized next to Sally and assisted Amy in helping her up.

"It doesn't look like he'll cause any trouble for now. Good going, guys."

Grimer looked a bit troubled at Vermin having been defeated. This wasn't quite what he hoped for, but he supposed he shouldn't be too surprised by it. He had thought that the Troopers being there as extra support would have been quite enough to turn the ride. But no, actually. The tide barely even recognized that it was being challenged.

Rotor and Antoine, was it? With the former managing to tear through the Trooper Badniks with his sheer strength, and Antoine managing to cut through them in near single strokes, it seems like there wasn't anything that the Badniks could do to so much as slow their advance. It helped even less that through a serious of explosions from her accurately tossed earrings, Tekno was giving them assistance from a distance. Grimer pondered his options and figured...

Yeah, this wasn't turning out very well. Perhaps it was time to exit stage-

"GAH!"

An explosion to his right knocked him off his feet, causing him to roll and hit his face on the ground. He slowly picked himself up, only to come across Tekno glaring down at him, with one of her rings right in front of him. Grimer, for the most part,.simply smiled at her.

"Very impressive! Be it Battle Kukku or Bean, either way, you've definitely learned quite a bit from them, huh?" Grimer lightly brushed off his coat. "It's just a little lacking in raw power like theirs, but you seem quite accurate with them. Well done!"

"I can't stand you." Tekno muttered.

"But Tekno, we did a lot of work together. We had so much fun!"

"There was nothing fun about it."

"Guys! I've got it!" Rotor shouted as he landed in the ground with a bit of a slam, holding the acquired Ring engine in his arm.

"Oh, you've got what you've come for. Splendid!" Grimer slowly gets up and oats down his coat. "If you're going to leave, the door's wide open for you! Although, quite a few more Troopers will be out there greeting you, whom I recalled to come here if something big were to happen. I'm more than happy to accept your surrenders if you don't want to take your chances with them."

"Thanks, but we'll pass." Rotor turned to Grimer with a smile. "With Nicole's help, I took the liberty of turning this base's outer defenses and setting them against those Troopers. That'll cover our own escape and the escape of captives long enough to go another way."

"Also, we're setting this place to blow, the innocent people you imprisoned will be released. And thanks to Vermin's helpful little virus, you can't undo it. You won't have the time." Sally folded her arms as Nicole briefly manifests beside her. "We'll take the assets we need from this factory, and leave you with none."

Grimer blinked. "...Fair enough. Vermin, time to go!"

"Nngh..."

"Yes yes, I know you're having a nap, but we truly need to go." Grimer pressed something on his wrist, and he and Vermin vanished in a flash of light.

"He got away!" Shortfuse glared heatedly at the spot the scientist left, having already been prepared to boast him.

"Shortfuse, we need to go." Tekno uttered quickly, lowering her hand. Shortfuse looked like he wanted to argue, clenching his metallic fists. Before he slumped slightly and sighed. No point. He got what he came for anyway. And so did everyone else, it seems. Tekno for one, was snapped out of her serious demeanor as Amy leapt and hugged her from behind. "A-Amy?!"

"Tekno!" Amy called cheerily as she lightly nuzzled her cheek against hers. "I'm so happy you're okay!"

"For the most part, yeah." Tekno chuckled while lightly rubbing Amy's shoulder. "So, uh, can we save this for someplace that won't be blown sky high in a couple of minutes?"

"I agree, let's make haste and get out of here while it hasn't gone too crazy." Antoine hastily called as he sucked under a bit of blaster fire. "Preferably now!"

"Right. Everyone move out! Those automated defenses will cover our retreat!" Sally rallied everyone as she led their escape our of the facility. She checked with her console as Nicole phased back into it. "Nicole, did you managed to get what we needed?"

"For the most part, the endeavor was successful." Nicole hummed, although she made a case to send the scans for the virus she used to Tails' Miles Electric. He might find some use for it.

"Good. Let's focus on escaping for now." As she finalized this order, her eyes narrowed as she glared up ahead. They got what they came for, and they did so in quite a bit of time. And with the current information Nicole was able to gather, she could begin making even more plans, once she's reconvened with everyone.

She hoped the others were doing well.

Tails weaved around a glowing punch from Bereanger, flying away while keeping a good view of the entire room that they were in. He was in a bit of a difficult spot, having to take in three opponents at once, and all of them seemed to have been empowered by something dark and malevolent. And after briefly seeing her face, it didn't take much for him to deduce that Wendy and her magic behind it. Which made things especially difficult, since his chances of overcoming the trio on his own was already slim at best, and now it appeared even more dangerous to even try it.

Despite thinking all of this, despite being able to hear the fearful beating of his heart at this development, it only made Tails clench his fist resolutely.

He wasn't leaving without the Shield Generator. As such, if it means defeating these three by himself, so be it.

He swiftly dodged around another punch from the beastly Bereanger, who began snarling at how nimble the fox was.

"GRRR! Hold still you brat!"

"I'd rather not, thank you!" Tails exclaimed while swerving around another punch, only to be be found with a link explosive carrot going off right next to him. "GAGH!"

"Foxy woxy is flying all around. Round and round and round!" Carrotia cooed as she blew a kiss, and three more explosive glowing carrots soared towards Tails. All of them simultaneously exploded right around him, the explosion itself sending him flying across the room and against the wall, before falling on his side. "Only to fall allllll the way down!"

"Ow..."

"Don't you know that wolves are superior to foxes!? Hehahaha!" Falke cackled as several blasts if energy manifested around him, and he gestured for all of them to fly towards Tails. Gritting his teeth, Tails quickly began running around to dodge the energy blasts, hearing most of them briefly piercing and destroying what they impacted. He briefly jumped over another one of the blasts, briefly taking flight again.

Only to see Bereanger's maliciously grinning face, as well as a glowing empowered punch prepared for him.

"GOT YA THIS TIME!"

Tails barely had time to brace before the fist slammed right into him, and he was sent crashing into the wall. Before he could so much as cough from the force, the grizzly grabbed him by the throat and picked him him, eliciting a struggle from him to free himself. He could see the empowered fist glowing while he was held in place, and could only since at what was sure to be a rather painful experience.

True enough, Bereanger punched him again, this time forcefully enough to crash right through the metallic wall, right through another one, before he tumbled across the ground and crumbled into a heap.

"...It's...it's no good... I'm not going to beat them like this..." Tails uttered as he slowly pushed himself back to his feet, not really minding the red substance flowing from his forehead at the moment. "I have to...think of something...wait, hold on."

He looked around for a bit, noticing that some of the robots that he destroyed on the way here still had some parts intact. Including some with electric shields, gunners, energy shields. He slowly began considering his options, and a couple of ideas began filling his young mind.

He needed to even the odds, and he was currently surrounded with the supplies to do so.

I don't have the time and space for anything super fancy, but that's fine. I can work with what I'm given.

Carrotia blinked as she held a hand over her head, tilting it slightly. "Oh no no, you sent him flying a bit too far. Through more than one wall!"

"You-hoo-hoo really don't know when to hold back a bit, do ya?" Falke chuckled. "Do yoo-hoo-hoo think you broke his skull?"

"He'll wish I did if he gets back up from that. But I'll bash him anyway even if he doesn't!" Bearenger stomped through the wall with a vicious snarl. "He ain't gonna get away with me!"

"Poor foxy woxy, it's been pretty rough and tough on him." Carrotia tilted her head while skipping along. "I really wish I could keep him, but a job is a job. Foxy's gotta go boom. Or smash. Slashy slash? All of the above?"

"SMASH!"

"Okay okay, if that's what ya say."

The trio followed the trail that Bereanger sent Tails through. Suspiciously, even though the room he seemingly landed in was found, they couldn't find find so much as a hair of fur from the fox that they were bearing down. Looking confused, they looked around,.with Bereanger simply getting infuriated.

"Where'd he go?!"

"Hehahaha! Do ya think that blow really messed him up? Did he run away?" Falke-Wulf cackled while sniffing the air around him, attempting to hunt the fox down.

"Hunting the fox? But I'm a rabbit! That's kinda backwards, isn't it?" Carrotia shrugged.

"Come on out, kid! Hiding is only gonna make it worse for ya!" Bearenger roared as he smashed his fist through another wall. "Show yourself, runt! Unless that blow really did knock you down and out for good!"

"Nah, you don't need to worry about that."

The trio blinked slightly, before a blast of lightning smashed right into Bereanger's back, briefly knocking him over. Snarling, he turned to the source of the blast.

"Aunt Sally, more than anyone, tends to worry about me a bunch since I'm among the younger Freedom Fighters. That's why I keep striving to prove something." Tails eventually floated into view with his spinning namesakes, arms folded as cannons he rebuilt and reprogrammed, took aim while charged with lightning. "That I'm a lot tougher than some people think."

With that, they soon opened fire, with the Witchcarters scattering in different directions due to the resulting electric explosions. Carrotia and Falke both dodged out of the way for the most part, and even attempted firing their own volley's of energy blasts and explosive energy carrots.

Throughout the onslaught, Tails would soar thought through, with the openings provided. Having one of the electric shields on hand, he bashed right into Carrotia, which caused a course of lightning to course through her and stun her.

"S-S-Shocky shocked! Zzzzzt!"

"Sorry about this! You seem to be the nicest one! Or at least the least crazy!" Tails slammed her against the wall with the electrified shield, before spinning around and tossing it towards Falke before he could send more blasts of energy his way. It crashed right into him and shocked him as well.

"GRRRAGH!" Bereanger roared and slammed his fists downwards, sending a shockwave that forced Tails back and knocked him against the wall.

"Ngh!"

"When I'm done with you, I'll tear you tails off and use them as boot shiners!"

"That's ridiculously morbid of you, you know that?!" Tails slowly stood up, before he pointed towards his grizzly enemy, with the rest of the cannons aimed right towards him. "And also, not going to happen. Fire!"

All blasters and cannons launched towards Bereanger at the exact same time, engulfing him in an electric explosion bigger than most of the others before it.

By the rime the barrage ended, Bereanger was standing amidst the middle of a large ashy circle, with him having electric surges all over, appearing like he'd topple over at any moment.

"Ugh...I...will...take-!"

"A nap." With one last Homing Attack, Tails slammed right into Bereanger's face, knocking him down, on top of knocking him out. He landed on his feet with a huff, swiping his brow. "That was close...now I just have to worry about getting that generator out of...huh?" He blinked as his Miles Electric beeped a few times, and he checked it over. "It looks like Nicole sent me the scans for some kind of...computer virus? But why would she send me some-" He blinked again, and looked around.

He was in the Command Tower in Metropolis.

The Command. Tower.

...

Tails slowly began to smile like the sly fox that he was. He had already disconnected the shield generator.

Hopefully this Command Tower didn't need every single bit of it's power anymore, because he sure did.

Meanwhile...

Sonic jumped upwards as the Egg Diablon slammed down it's fists where he was previously standing. He then shot forth with a swift Spin Dash and slammed right into the mech ahead of him. He tsked at the moment since it didn't seem to move very much at all.

He bounced right back, and was skidding across the ground with a grunt, leaving marks. "Ooookay, so this one's got a bit of shielding to it."

"Seems electromagnetic." Bunnie observed with a bit of a hover next to him. "Don't look like we can land a clean blow on this thing less' we strike at the right moment. And Ah'm gonna guess that there moment is gonna be..." Bunnie guessed as the Egg Diablon went to rush and punch at them again, and she spotted the moment it's shielding went down. "Right dere!'"

"It can't play offense and defense simultaneously, huh?!" Sonic grinned as he sped forth with another Homing Attack, smashing right into the mech, this time succeeding in knocking it across the room. "Gotcha!"

Bunnie went to fly towards the mech and fire a hand blast towards the Diablon, only to be met with the shield coming up at the last moment. She clicked her to the before it swiped it's hand at her, barely dodging over it via flying over. She did managed to fire a blast at the back of it's head, nearly knocking it over.

It soon began sitting outright again, however. It surrounded itself with a radical charging at it's head, and fired a laser right towards Bunnie was she was still descending. Putting up a barrier of her own, the blast pushed against the blast pushed against her and made her slam through the wall, landing her outside the facility.

"B-" Sonic nearly called out, though the Egg Diablon soon shot a blast towards him as well during the moment, sending him flying through the wall himself, not too soon after Bunnie. Both of them soon pushed themselves up from the ground, feeling a bit woozy from the blows, but somewhat still aware. "...unnie."

"Yeah, Ah know." Bunnie grunted while lightly rubbing her head, attempting to regain focus. "Tough nut to crack, ain't it?"

It was then that they could see Julian's image again, somewhat over the head of the mech.

"Do you understand your place now, you inferior creatures?"

The Egg Diablon flashed another laser towards the duo's way, before they could respond to that, sending them jumping way from each other. The large mech quickly towards Sonic while he was disoriented, throwing a punch. Sonic had barely enough time to put up his guard before he was smashed straight across the street he landed in, crashing into the building behind him. Sonic groaned briefly, as the Egg Diablon happened upon him and attempted to blast it's laser towards him again. Sonic immediately dashed out if the way, scurrying a bit before regaining his balance, sliding across the ground.

"I tend to be moving all over the place, so no. But I'm sure you'll tell me." Sonic smirked as he jumped upwards to avoid another double axe handle powerful enough to devastate the ground around it. "That toy of yours sure looks military grade, Julian! Where'd ya get it? Guessing you got it from elsewhere and tweaked it up a bit!"

"And there ain't nothin' inferior about THIS!"

Bunnie kicked the head of the mech, sending it skidding across the road, before it regained it's bearings just as quickly. She skids across the ground as it's shielding came up again.

"We're gonna be stuck in a stalemate at this rate, Sugah Hog!" Bunnie narrowed her eyes as she observed the area around her. "And ah don't either of us wants this getting more destructive than it has to be! Especially when reinforcements could help back this thing up!"

"That would be a problem, yeah."

"You don't have time for chatter. Only time to die." Julian echoes as the Egg Diablon fired another laser towards the duo, which both were quick to dodge in swift succession.

"Oh dude, don't think I can't make time for chatter. I've gotten pretty good at it!" Sonic called out.

"You oughta be more worried about your life after we take ya down!" Bunnie shouted as energy gathered in her palm, glowing lines focusing on that point, before she slammed it right into the back of the mech, sending it scrambling across the ground once again.

"You say that as if you're actually capable of such a feat." The Egg Diablon began glowing slightly all over, and Bunnie's eyes widened as she realized what was going on.

Sonic could tell however, and peeled out as soon as he could. The massive, explosive wave spreads all around the Egg Diablon, blasting nearly everything around it and sending both Bunnie and Sonic flying across the streets, until both of them landed in pained heaps.

The mech soon hopped after them, landing with a thud. Julian could be heard scoffing at Sonic and Bunnie's injured forms. "This is all the meager resistance you're capable of mustering?"

"Oh, this? This is nothin', conehead..." Sonic huffed as he pushed himself to his feet, hands on his knees.

"We're still rarin' to go..." Bunnie stands up straight, briefly wiping her mouth with a fist.

"Not for long."

The Egg Diablon wasted no time firing off another laser towards Bunnie, considering she's the less speedy of the duo. She put up a before around her, straining slightly as it was powerful enough this time to push her back a bit, her feet skidding across the ground. Sonic quickly dashed at the mech with a Spindash, though was easily smacked away by a swing of a massive metallic hand. Sonic ended up crashing along the ground again, nursing a near splitting headache.

"Ugh...so...what's the play, Julian? There's no way you and Naugus aren't plotting something big." Sonic stood up while holding his arm. "Mind telling us what your master plan is to us inferior creatures? Boast about your superiority some more? Seeing as though there's no possible way we can stop you. How about a hammy evil laugh as a cherry on top?" Julian scoffed as another laser shot out and blasts Sonic in the chest. "Ugh!"

"Who do you think I am, Ivo?"

Worth a shot...

"I'm not chancing you becoming a bigger threat than you are today. So just die, Sonic. Cease your resistance and obediently die." Julian had charged up yet another explosive wave, and fired it all around, destroying many things in his way. Sonic was swift to peel out of the way, briefly stumbling as he did so, barely getting back to his feet.

"He's seriously gonna wreck a whole chunk of Metropolis at this rate if this goes on..." Sonic grunted with his hands on his knees.

"Then we won't let 'im do that." Bunnie gently helped Sonic up, and they firmly clasped hands. "Let's try this one more time."

"Yeah."

Sonic curled up into a ball, and Bunnie carried him in her hands while flying upwards. She closed her eyes and focused energy around him, as he began charging another spindash while in her hands.

"Do you really think I'll let you?" Julian glared as he fired yet another laser towards the duo. A barrier manifested around Bunnie and deflected the barrier, slightly being pushed back by it, but otherwise her balance remained stable.

"Wasn't askin' fer permission', conehead." Bunnie snapped back. Julian glared at her.

Ah, now he understood. He heard about this one. She merged with a Nano-Core via her spine, the Power Core energy empowering lacing her with bionics across her entire body. Not only does she have numerous bionic powers, but she has a cybernetic enhanced life-force on top of it in order to properly supply them. Had she had only several of her limbs being cybernetic, it'd take a lot more out of her to do things like this.

He'd find such technology intriguing if he wasn't infuriated by the fact that it was being used against him. And by a filthy creature like her.

"Don't you go underestimatin' us, Robotnik! Sugah Hog and I are Knothole's best fighters!" Bunnie shouted defiantly.

"So if you wanna lay waste to our home and hurt Sal, or ANY of our friends, you'll have to get through us first!" Sonic readily added on.

And both exclaimed:

"AND THAT'S NEVER GONNA HAPPEN!"

With that, Bunnie launched the rapidly spinning Sonic, his Spindash surrounded by a ball of energy surging around him, as he smashed right through the Egg Diablon's shielding, smashing through it's head right out its back, landing a few feet behind it and skidding to a stop, hearing it crash into a wrecked heap. Bunnie herself landed in front of the now wrecked Egg Diablon, realizing that Julian's signal has been destroyed. Realizing that they defeated the mech, both of them smiled and clasped a high five.

"Took it down, took it out! Yes!"

"We did it, Sugah Hog!"

They then lightly jumped as they heard loud sparking noises all around them. And it seemed to be the same case for all around the city. People were running out of several facilities chanting about being freed from imprisonment.

"Guys! Can you read me?"

"Hear ya loud and clear, Tails. What's going on?" Sonic responded after rolling his arm.

"With a little coordination and help from Nicole, I sent a virus signal out to every single Badnik Processing Plant in Metropolis! They're shutting down! All Badniks within them are deactivating, all prisoners will be freed, the whole package!"

"Woah, Tails! That's incredible!" Bunnie blinked.

"Yeah. Can't really do anything towards the Badniks already out and about, though..."

"You kidding? This is MORE than enough of a big step, buddy! Metropolis can't produce any more Badniks to send to the other zones! Sooner or later it'll be perfect for retaking!"

"Yeah, but for right now, we've got what we came for. Our little buddy here simply provided a happy bonus." Bunnie smiled as she began flying, glowing lines appearing again. "Let's hit the road, boys!"

With that, the trio managed to retreat from Metropolis, having both crippled it's ability to produce Badniks and taken the shield generator from the Command Tower. Surely, there was going to be retaliation for this. Of that they had no doubt.

But for now, they'll be taking this victory home with them.

Tekno, Grimer, Vermin, and Shortfuse.

All characters from Sonic The Comic.

Here, Tekno's a dear friend of Amy's, Grimer's a loyal toady for Julian Robotnik, and Vermin and Shortfuse are Arch-Enemy Cyberniks towards each other.

Quite a gathering, don't you think?

The teams completed their missions, and are heading home! How will the baddies respond to this...?