GammaTron: *on a leash* Oh goody-oh goody-oh goody!
SZ: *Currently reading the IDW Sonic comics*..hoo lordy. No matter what version of the comics...Eggman's plans can range from crazy...to outright scary.
GT: Oh goody-goody-goody! *tries to get on with it only for Z0 to tug on the leash* YIPE! *falls on back* Mou…
Z0: Not yet...first the opening bit, then...eh it's everyone else's problem, I'm immortal anyway. That's right, today's chapter is all in GT's hands, he will call all the shots and make all the story directions, I still chop the idiots here that'll never change.
GT: So excited~! ...And why the leash?!
Z0: IT's...a metaphor~ Also because after we told you you had full control you did this to our office *turns camera to a wrecked office that looks like an action movie happened in it* So since I want to sit back with a strong Irish coffee and relax… We own nothing folks, *unclicks the leash* Go...your free~
GT: EXPLOSIONS! *dumps a tower of TNT and nitroglycerin from the ceiling*
Z0: *uses Kamen Rider power ups to make myself unfeeling indestructible metal*
SZ: Oh not ag-!
*Multiple explosions*
=I can't see me lovin' nobody but you~ For all my li~fe!=
A yellow tail ending in white tapped a heart-shaped alarm clock, showing 5:30AM. Jade green eyes opened as their owner slowly sat up, yawning before cringing, dropping a blue teddy bear to hug herself tightly. She took several deep, slow breaths before the pain faded. She blinked a few times before looking around.
"Eh? Nani kore?" Roll pondered, looking at the shelves with various dry goods around the cot she was on and then down at the pale-blue button pajamas she was in, "Why am I here?" she looked around before finding a pile of notebook, "...Oh." she quickly grabbed them and skimmed through them as quick as she could, "Right...right...right. I'm in Mario-san and Yamato-san's house as a guest." she looked at her clock, "And I need to get breakfast going before heading out to get the cafe ready for the day." she picked up a bag of coffee beans before going out, "First things first; Yamato-san's morning coffee. Freshly grounded with a hint of cinnamon and two teaspoons of sugar. Normally up in about twelve minutes." she paused when she saw Leo frozen in his walking past the pantry door, several large pieces of meat in his arms.
"...Er…" Leo tried to say something through the chicken leg in his mouth.
"...You have five seconds to get that meat back into the freezer or else, Leo," Roll warned, keeping the peaceful expression on her face while her eyes conveyed the threat she would unleash on the lion.
Leo said nothing as he slowly stepped backwards towards the fridge.
"Good boy," Roll nodded, "Still, you did eat a chicken leg that was supposed to be used for a stew, so no chicken meals for you today."
"Aw…" Leo whined, his ears and tail drooping.
"Now get going back up to your tree branch. Your hot chocolate with a dash of hot sauce will be ready in a few minutes," Roll replied.
"Res ram…" he muttered through the chicken leg in his mouth, "Mah rounge is sruck…" he explained as Roll just shook her head.
"It was in the freezer. Of course it would stick to your tongue," Roll shook her head as she went off to get breakfast ready.
"Roray…" Leo mumbled as he walked off while Aphrodite entered, tying a cooking apron onto her figure.
"Good morning, sweetie," Aphrodite greeted, pecking Roll's cheek.
"Ohayo, Okaa-chan," Roll greeted, returning the kiss with her own before they hugged for a moment.
"Don't forget that the cafe's closed today," Aphrodite reminded as she pulled out some pans and ingredients, "Training today."
"Soka...This will be nice," Roll noted.
"...Your back please," Aphrodite ordered.
Roll cringed before nodding. She turned around and pulled up her pajama shirt. Aphrodite laid a pair of fingers on Roll's back, frowning as her fingers trailed the four united lines on her back, throbbing every so often.
"Not much longer…" Aphrodite whispered, looking at the numbers above the lines.
"It will work out. I'm sure of it," Roll replied as she lowered her shirt, "But for now, we need to live in the present, hai?"
"Hai," Aphrodite replied, pulling out a ladle and tossed it over her shoulder.
"OW!" Leo yelped.
"I saw that chicken leg in your mouth," Aphrodite informed before turning back to grab supplies for breakfast, "How about a recipe Data-Sora-kun found from a place known as the City of Love?"
"Sugoi~!" Roll awed.
"Umai~" Amu moaned, munching on a pastry.
"Indeed," Mario agreed, "What is this, Aphrodite-san, Roll-san?"
"Pain au chocolat," Aphrodite replied, "A roll filled with bits of dark chocolate."
"Thank you, Roll," Yamato smiled, eating his slowly as he finished up a report for his superiors at the university, "Alright...I have to turn in this report. I'll be up at the university most of the day...Please try not to burn the house down...Leo."
"It was Sticks," Leo blamed quickly, pointing at the badger.
"Hey! That was only the ten times and you know it," Sticks defended herself, a croissant dunked in her mug.
"Right...while me and Ojisan are out, the Sakurai family are totally in charge of this house. Try and be good," Yamato sighed.
"Oh that's right, I have to head south for an art expo this weekend!" Mario realized, "I better finish packing, oh right and bring back souvenirs for the kids. Leo, what would you like?"
"Hey!" Leo complained.
"Sticks and Haseo already told me what they wanted. I forgot to ask you," Mario smiled.
"Oh...Leo's good with anything tough!" Leo beamed.
"I'm not sure whether to be impressed...or insulted for him…" Sela spoke.
"Go with both," Tusk replied, buttering a croissant with some peanut butter while chewing on some grapes.
"Where did you even come up with this, Ms. Sakurai?" Amy asked.
"From the City of Love of course," Aphrodite sighed in bliss, "Will need to save up for a visit to such a place, but this is a mere taste of what I expect to enjoy upon visiting."
"France," Mario smiled, "I spent a semester there in my younger years." he smirked, "Side note...I got lost in some catacombs for a week...so if you do go...don't mention my name…"
"I will do my best not to," Aphrodite replied with a small giggle.
"Alright, I'm off!" Yamato smiled, grabbing his jacket and backpack.
"Good luck," Roll waved.
Yamato grabbed his empty dishes and took them to the kitchen and placed them into the sink. He headed for the door before tripping a little, dropping his papers before the pantry door.
"Ah!" Yamato yelped as he quickly picked it all up before looking at the clock, "Ah. Gotta get moving." he ran out, "See you later!"
"And…." Amu laughed, pointing to a window before ZyuohEagle flew past it with a loud gust of wind behind him, "I think he's taking a tiny advantage of his Mobian powers." she giggled.
=And the motion sensors have gone off in two ways= Skye noted from Aphrodite's watch =I believe Sonic's arriving in...now=
"Mornin'," Sonic greeted, sitting between Amy and Roll.
"Pastries? Jams? Hmm...I see Lady Aphrodite has discovered French cuisine," Caliburn noted, "It was only a matter of time, I suppose."
"French?"
"The place you went to last week where you stood on the top of that steel tower," Caliburn reminded.
"Wait...how'd you finally get across the water?" Sela asked.
"..." Sonic whistled before sipping the offered drink from Roll and chewed the slice of watermelon offered by Amy.
"He ran," Caliburn replied.
"He must have been screaming like a baby the whole time," Amu teased, "I bet every time he heard the splash of water, he kept moving faster and faster out of panic." she took a sip of her hot chocolate before her eyes widened and she gagged and quickly shoved a slice of watermelon into her mouth, "ACK!"
"You were saying?" Sonic asked as Leo drank his hot chocolate.
"...Hey...Where's my shot of hot sauce?" Leo pondered.
"Bleh! Blarg...I hate spicy…" Amu complained.
"Minna, the cafe won't be open today. It's a Sakurai Training day," Roll noted.
"Y-yay!" Haseo beamed, his tails wagging.
"Woohoo!" Leo cheered, "I'm coming, honeys!" he shouted, aiming himself for the city.
"Sela, Tusk, you're in charge of Leo," Aphrodite informed, "Get his leash and big boy harness."
"..." Tusk pulled out the leash as he tugged it apart, making the length snap as he did so, "Bite me and I'll crush your pea sized brain."
"Gonna work on my house," Sticks informed.
"Need help?" Amu offered.
"Sure!" Sticks replied.
"No!" Leo cried as Tusk pinned him down, Sela then stomped on his head, smacking his face into the floor.
"Shut up...We have to babysit you, so you get to come with us to the library," Sela sighed.
"Noohooo…" Leo cried.
"Well, I know what I'm doing today; being with So…" Amy began before blinking and noticed Sonic was gone along with several more pastries, some fruit, and a pitcher of milk, "Mmm...He didn't have to bolt like that."
"Considering what he's done before, not surprised he wants to get in get out around you," Roll noted.
"What was that?"
"Want to go back to your vacation?" Roll offered.
"Ladies, ladies...you're both pretty…" Amu sighed, slapping their shoulders, "Now get on with your days. We all have to deal with the boy we like being gone for the day."
"Oh! Amy, I need your help, too!" Sticks noted.
"And with that, the day is all yours, Roll-chan...Take it easy though." Amu smiled, rubbing her shoulder, "Bye-bye, auntie. I'll keep an eye on Amy so she doesn't do something goofy...again...wish me luck."
"I wish you luck and all the love you can handle," Aphrodite replied, "Now let's clean up, put the rest into some containers for snacks, and onto training, my fluffy little kittens."
"Kaa-chan…" Roll and Haseo whined, blushing a bit as Amy and Amu snickered.
"Made it with time to spare," Yamato sighed in relief, walking down the stairs from the roof entrance, "I think if I ever have to give up my powers...I'm gonna miss being able to fly." he muttered while looking at his hands, "But for now, gonna use them to my advantage." he frowned a little, "Better make sure I have everything in the right order after that trip earlier."
He stopped on his destination floor, before taking off his backpack as he took a seat outside the Zoology department. He pulled out his papers as he began flipping through them and rearranging them in proper order. He smiled, oncing the stack over before blinking upon realizing...it was heavier than before. He flipped to the last page of his report and found something that didn't belong. It was a simple notebook; not too big, but it looked rather well used. After sliding it out from his report, he realized who it belonged to, given they went to the effort of putting their name on the top.
"Roll?" he blinked, "Has she been studying since arriving to Earth?" he looked around, "Maybe...one look won't hurt?" he opened it, "Eh? 'My Memories of Kazakiri Yamato.' ...Me?" he turned the page, showing a detailed drawing of himself on one page and a list on the other, "'Important facts: Has Mobian DNA in him through his King's Credentials from Bud and Larry. He has a glare that scares the majority of Mobians. Knows how to use a sword that doubles as a whip. He's letting us stay with him and his Uncle Mario and I sleep in their pantry. Likes to have coffee in the morning with a hint of cinnamon and two teaspoons of sugar. Does not like to be compared to a parakeet.'" he raised a brow as he looked through more pages, "Why is she recording all our interactions and things she's noticed about me? Is she doing it to everyone?"
In his own interest, he flipped the page as a few more little notes on him and quick doodles of his heroic forms not as well detailed as the picture of his civilian state. After another page turn, he found one for his Uncle Mario, once more a well done drawing of him normally and many notes about him, with cute little chibi drawings of him in his costumes next to some notes.
"'Yamato's Uncle Mario. Owns the tree house we're staying in. Don't understand why he has a bathtub in the living room. Carved all the furniture and decorations for the Animal Heart Cafe. Likes to dress up as animals. A good uncle. Haseo likes him a lot. Considered an honorary uncle,'" Yamato read a few of the smaller notes, "Oh, she even put the dates of when he wore each costume." he smiled before his mind began working quickly as it did. This was sweet at first glance, but...why would she be so detailed? This didn't look like a diary; it was more like a study guide. He turned a page, showing a detailed drawing of Zyuoh Eagle, "'Monarch of the Open Skies. Zyuoh Eagle is the first form I saw Yamato turn into when we arrived on Earth. Most likely got this form from being given life energy from Bud (see Notebook for Bud).' ...Notebook for Bud-san? She has more of these?" he pondered, "How many does she have?" he frowned, "Something's not adding up."
Yamato put the notebook back into his backpack as he decided to turn in his work first and then ponder more on this with his free time. But it would bother him for most of it though.
"Alrighty, this looks like a good place today," Aphrodite noted as the three Sakurai entered a small clearing, "Are you two ready for today because we won't stop 'till we're back at the treehouse."
"Hai, Okaa-sensei!" both replied.
"Alrighty! First things first…" Aphrodite noted before flicking her tail at the ground.
A blast of smoke engulfed the trio before dissipating, revealing the trio in new clothes, all of it in a dark navy-blue in color. They were all bodysuits that also covered their tails. Navy blue socks covered their feet along with boot-like slippers and navy-blue gloves and a black belt with a black buckle resembling a heart on their waists. They all had small bags strapped to their upper legs and on their upper arms. A skirt and scarf was on both Aphrodite and Roll while Haseo's sleeves were baggy and resembled more the sleeves of robes. The front of Aphrodite's jumpsuit was unzipped, exposing her entire cleavage. She looked over the two before shaking her head.
"Haseo, you forgot your scarf," Aphrodite noted, "Roll, you're missing a pocket on your right arm."
"Oh. G-gomen, Okaa-sensei…" Haseo muttered.
"Gomen, Okaa-sensei," Roll apologized, reaching into her hair and pulled out the missing bag while Haseo pulled his scarf out of his right sleeve.
"I know we haven't done a training day since we arrived, but that doesn't mean you can slack," Aphrodite scolded, "Ten reps, now!"
The siblings slumped at that order, their ears and tails drooping. They walked up to a pair of trees before running up them and then jumping off them in a backflip.
"One…" they muttered before repeating, "Two…"
"Are we going to have to go through the basics?" Aphrodite questioned.
"No, Okaa-sensei!" both replied.
"Roll, what are the nine signs?"
"Rin...Pyō...Tō...Sha...Kai...Jin...Retsu...Zai...Zen…" Roll replied with each flip.
"Haseo, what other name do they each go by?" Aphrodite questioned.
"D-Diamond Thunderbolt, Great Thunderbolt, Outer Lion, Inner Lion, Outer Bonds, Inner Bonds, Wisdom Fist, Ring of the Sun, and...Hidden Form?" Haseo replied.
"Correct. Glad you two kept up your studies," Aphrodite noted as the two finished, "Alright then." her tail flicked and another blast of gas formed between her and her kids, dissipating to reveal two large bags of rice with one strapped to her back, "Strap them on and let's run through warm ups."
"...Hai, Okaa-sensei.." the two meeped a bit.
"Remember: Darkness gives a shinobi power, while light reveals your presence," Aphrodite advised, her voice slightly echoing in the cave she sat in, a lit candle balanced on the tip of her tail as she kept her eyes closed, "Now...let's see if you can remain in darkness while trying to snuff out my candle." she lowered her tail, letting a needle aiming for the candle's wick to avoid it, "Too noisy, Haseo." she stretched an arm out and a yelp went off, "Too clumsy on that, Roll." she caught an egg before throwing it back where it came, causing a puff to go off followed by coughing, "Too light on the throw, Haseo." she began to move just her upper body around, her fur and clothes lightly moving from a small breeze caused by movement, until she jabbed ahead, causing a coughing fit after something hit a cave wall, "Too confrontational, Roll." another egg was caught and Aphrodite began to toss it back when a pebble hit the egg, breaking it and causing her to be engulfed in the powders within, "Better…" Haseo yelped as he was wrapped up in a chain with a weight on one end and the hand-sized scythe on the other end held in Aphrodite's hand, "...But not much since you didn't relocate after the first throw." she smiled as her candle felt lighter and the cave went dark, "Very good." she turned on a flashlight and Roll smiled a little, holding the extinguished candle on the end of her current blade, "Always looking for an opening and an exit."
"Arigatou, Okaa-sensei," Roll thanked as Aphrodite flicked her wrist and Haseo spun out of the chains and landed into Roll's arms.
"Remember to keep moving when you do that, Haseo," Aphrodite advised, "You did good in utilizing your metsubushi and what you found in here."
"H-Hai, Okaa-sensei," Haseo nodded.
"And I trust you made sure to not waste the yolks you drained from them, hm?"
"H-Hai. I made them last week," Haseo replied.
"Good," Aphrodite nodded before walking over to a wall and grunted, pushing the rock out of the way to see the setting sun, "Ah, that was a good time for training. We'll take the trees back to our current residence, you two. Roll, no running. Haseo, no flying."
"Hai, Okaa-sensei," both replied.
"And new weights for the ones you've been wearing since last time. Don't lie to me; I know you two have gotten used to the last ones," Aphrodite added, reaching into her cleavage and pulled out several weights.
"H-Hai, Okaa-sensei," both gulped.
"Ow…" Leo groaned as he opened the door to the house, rubbing his neck, "Did you have to pull so hard?"
"Yes…" Sela deadpanned, "You were looking up a girl's skirt!"
"I was on the floor 'cause you knocked me over… It was circumstance!" he defended, only to get punched in the face and making him fall over.
"Go soak your head in the river," Sela grumbled as Tusk entered, reading a newly check-out book.
"This is why I always like to go alone. My friends at the Library won't stop texting me about you two…" Tusk sighed before the door opened once more, revealing Amu and Amy enter...covered in sap and sticks with a perfectly fine Sticks leading them.
"Thank again for helping me. I made a lot of progress today!" Sticks beamed, earning groans from the two girls.
"You two okay?" Tusk asked.
"Up!" Amu held a finger up to his face, "We...are going to the bath house...girls only!" she snapped at Leo, making him meow and hide under the table, "Never speak of this again...and you can keep the namesake teeth growing from your face, my dear old childhood friend." she smiled, patting Tusk's face as he was left terrified.
"Nevermind...have a nice trip…" he muttered backing away.
"Count me in," Sela spoke, holding a large basket under her arms, "Wanna wait for Roll and Auntie?" she asked.
"No way. We have sap in places we really don't want it," Amy replied with a shudder, "Sooner we get it out, the better."
"Hai, hai," Amu agreed before a squirrel popped out of the front of her shirt, "Oh! So that's what was pressing on me." it chittered before jumping off of her and running away and out the door.
"I don't want to know," Tusk muttered as he went to the kitchen and paused, "Yamato?"
"Hm?" Yamato looked up from a notebook, surrounded by several stacks as he sat by the pantry's open door, "Oh! Welcome back."
"That should be our line…" Tusk muttered.
"Yamato's home?" Sela blinked as she entered and froze, "Di-did he get those out of Roll's room?"
"He did a panty raid without his buddy?!" Leo exclaimed as he ran in before spotting the books, "...Ooh…Not the good raid."
"...So she's even had notes for hobby research…" he muttered, ignoring them as he flipped through one, "Though at least now I know how she got Amy-san in that crate."
"Um...how long have you been back?" Tusk asked.
"I got back an hour ago. I was going to stick around to talk notes with my professor...but I told them I had a personal thing to look into…" he muttered and held up the first one he found, "I accidentally took Roll's notebook this morning...I know it's rude to read her personal items...but something is bothering me. So I had to confirm something."
"You didn't…" Sela began.
"I didn't read any of her more personal effects or her family cookbook." he quickly stated, "Rather...just these notes...which serve as back up memories."
"Oi, Roll's not a robot," Leo noted.
"But she has memory issues," Yamato noted.
"Memory issues?" Tusk asked.
"I believe she has a hard time immediately remembering things...it's not bad now...but for safety, she writes down all the important things in case she can't recall them right away," he explained, "The only thing she doesn't have a notebook for, though...is Eggman."
"I imagine she's hard pressed to forget the person she's sworn to kill…" Tusk scoffed as Yamato's head snapped up at that, "Yamato?"
"It's starting to piece together…" he sighed, "Skye! Oi, Skye!"
=You called?= Skye asked, popping out of the watch on the table.
"Eh? Why are you here?" Leo asked.
=Eh, it was so to give the kids a fair advantage for training= Skye shrugged =Whatcha need, Yamato?=
"...I need to know more about the Sakurai family…" he spoke, earning his attention, "Do you have a copy of their laws?"
=Yes, I do. But you require permission from a Sakurai to access them= Skye noted =Judging by the time, they should be heading here now via jumping from the trees to practice the Tanuki Gakure no Jutsu. Before I went on standby, I watched them leave from the kitchen window. Aphrodite likes to enter the same way she exits a place, so she'll be coming back in through the kitchen window=
"Hide the books so she doesn't kill all of us…" Leo panicked with his voice as low as he could...which was still audible to everyone though.
"Who? Aphrodite or Roll?" Tusk asked.
"Yes," Leo replied.
=Keep the one you first found, Yamato= Skye advised =For evidence sake. The rest need to be put back in the spot you found them=
"Where does it go!? Where does it go!?" Leo cried as he looked around Roll's little pantry room.
=By the alarm clock= Skye replied.
"Leo, just stop panicking and you won't...crap…" Tusk sniffed the air; he pushed Leo into the room and slammed the door shut, "You're on your own!" he panicked, running for the living room and jumping onto the couch.
"Tadaima~!" Aphrodite called, jumping through the kitchen's open window followed by Roll and a panting Haseo last.
=Okaeri= Skye greeted with a wave as Aphrodite walked over and put his watch 'home' on.
"Roll, dear, carry Haseo-chan to his bed, ne?" Aphrodite asked.
"Hai, Kaa-chan," Roll replied as she picked up Haseo, who slumped the moment he was picked up and walked out.
"He always falls asleep the moment we get home after a day of training," Aphrodite giggled before turning to Yamato, "Hello, Yama…" she noticed the notebook in his hand, "...to-san…" she raised a brow and motioned to it.
"I picked it up by accident when I tripped this morning," Yamato explained, holding it out and let her take it, "I know it was wrong, but I read some of it." he explained as his voice grew worried, "Roll's memory...it's deteriorating, isn't it?"
"...Hai," Aphrodite replied, "Would you sit with me at the table, please? I feel I need to sit if what we talk about is what I believe it to be."
"Yes," he nodded, taking a seat across from her, "I'm sorry...I know this probably isn't how you ever wanted to...explain this if you had to."
"True," Aphrodite replied, "This deterioration...isn't a natural cause. Rather...it's part of the final stages of a countdown. One that's been counting down since the night I lost my beloved husband."
"I think I figured out part of it…" Yamato spoke up during her pause, "She writes notes on everyone…" he stopped for a moment, "...Everyone but Eggman...Ivo...It's because of a vow she took, isn't it?"
"Yes. Skye?"
=Yes, Aphrodite?=
"Show him it."
=Very well= Skye replied before holding a hand out and displaying a red crest that seemed to be lit with an eerie green and red glow.
"King?" Yamato pondered, looking at the emblem.
"This appeared on the back of a Sakurai...who invokes what is known as the Vow of Vengeance," Aphrodite explained, "Roll has this on her back. She has since she was eight...on her birthday."
=To Yamato's credit, he put together it's somewhat magical in nature faster than anybody else= Skye added his thoughts.
"I wouldn't expect anything less of him," Aphrodite spoke before looking back at Yamato, "Yamato, to better understand, you need to know that the Sakurai...we have three gods we honor and believe in. Inari no Mikoto, who gave us the gift of The Bond. Amaterasu no Kami, who gave us light and hope. And finally, Enma Daiou, who give us strength...and the one who gave us the Vow of Vengeance." she reached into her cleavage before pulling out an old leather-bound book trimmed in gold with gems decorating the covers, "This is our family's book of laws. Only those we bring into the clan are allowed to read the actual book, and I consider you as a part of it for everything you have done for us since we met." she handed Yamato the book after opening it to a pair of pages, one showing the mark and the other partially hidden from how she held it, "Here. All that is about the Vow and what happens involving it."
"Hmm…" his eyes flashed as he began reading over it quickly.
=Is that cheating?= Skye whispered.
"If it helps him read faster, then it's fine," Aphrodite replied softly.
"I can't read this," Yamato noted, pointing at what looked like smudge marks on the page where words should've been.
"Oh! Gomen," Aphrodite apologized before her tail laid down on his lap, earning a raised brow, "Magic taught by Inari no Mikoto-sama. You need to be a Sakurai or in contact with one to read everything in it. Even if you copy the words that are revealed elsewhere, they become ineligible."
=Why do you think I said I needed Aphrodite to be here? I can only fully talk about it because one of my housing units is connected to her wrist. Sure, you can copy the thing into a file document or a PDF, but the moment you access it and you're not a Sakurai or in contact with one? All you get is just mashing of the keyboard writing where it'd end up ineligible on paper=
"And you should know. You tried to decipher it the week before you started working," Aphrodite reminded.
=Ughgugugugu…= Skye shuddered =Why couldn't the original have deleted that memory from me?=
"...Soka...soka…" Yamato noted, now able to read the words more clearly as he read on, "...You have a rather fluffy tail."
"Aw~ Why thank you, dearie," Aphrodite giggled.
"Ohh...You are a devious little thing," Quval noted, typing furiously, "Just what is the algorithm blocking this? I've used nearly my entire database on ciphers, yet many of these entries have not yielded anything aside from what isn't behind a code."
"What's he doin'?" Tundra asked, the other members of the Dark Legion aside from Maw, Cassia, Thunderbolt, and Clove watching the alien at work.
"Considering he summoned us here, we may know soon," Akhult replied.
"Hopefully not a complete waste of time," Lord Hood huffed.
"With how these guys do things only Azald does that and only when it involves showing off Eggman," Lien-Da replied.
"...Where did he even get that giant cage for Thunderbolt?" Tundra asked.
"Has it been a lot more peaceful not listening to her talk about Eggman like he's god?" Lien-Da countered.
"...Fair enough."
"...Quval, why exactly did you call us in here?" Conquering Storm asked.
"Hm?" Quval looked away from his screen, "Ah. You're all here? Good."
"This better be important," Tundra huffed.
"I do have access to the explosives in you," Quval informed, making them tense, "Oh relax, I don't use them as an incentive for work...just a warning for when I'm interrupted. I don't like that…" he spoke, fully turning to face them as his aura of killing intent flared, making their tails stand on end, "So...shall we?" they all nodded, "Good. Now then, Conquering Storm, your clan happens to be the rivals to the Sakurai, are you not?"
"Indeed," the lynx replied.
"Wonderful! Then perhaps you know the key to decoding this," Quval grasped the floating screen and showed it to her.
"?! The Sakurai Clan's book," Conquering Storm gasped.
"Is that what this is? They must have made a wonderful protection program. Nothing I do can decode it...and I must admit...it's really starting to anger me…" Quval explained gripping his fist tightly.
"That book important?" Tundra asked.
"Important? It's rumored that the first Sakurai herself channeled their deities to write this book," Conquering Storm informed, "And from how this looks...the protections placed on not just the book, but the very words, are true. We'd need to be in contact with a Sakurai to read these sections."
"...A genetic lock? Oh, now that's insufferable," Quval noted, "Fortunately, I am up next for a Player, which is also why you are all here."
"Hmm?"
"Quizoid," Quval spoke.
"Hey-O! Hey-O! Hey~O!"
A figure floated in. While it appeared to be humanoid in appearance, the being was missing the lower half of its body; replaced with a floating silver outline of a cube with a red glowing core replacing it and letting the figure hover. The upper half of his body resembled a well-made business suit made of layered yellow metal with claws replacing the hands. Question marks emerged from its shoulders as its head resembled a snapping turtle's head with the top swollen to resemble a large brain with two antennae resembling exclamation points. He adjusted his metal red bow with a gold center before winking.
"Live from the Sagittari Ark, it's Quizoid~!" the Deathgalien declared in a rich, somewhat deep voice, producing a mic attached to a chain that ended in a scythe blade.
"This is Quizoid. As his name implies, his games are quizzes; however, he has a sort of telepathy so that he knows how to ask questions that...hit close to home. However, he himself doesn't know the answers…" he sighed the last part.
"Such a shame," Quizoid admitted, "Now who's our lucky contestant tonight, sir?"
"One I want you to force out every little thing you can," Quval replied as he produced a new screen, showing Roll, tucking in a snoozing Haseo with a teddy bear.
"The child with the bear?"
"No, the girl," Quval replied.
"Ah, now that will be exciting," Quizoid chuckled before looking at the Dark Legion, "And them?"
"Your obstacles for your show," Quval replied.
"Wonderful!" Quizoid laughed.
"How will you be sure she'll play this game?"
"Considering her efforts, we have the perfect prize," Quval replied, displaying a screen now showing Azald snoring on the floor by Eggman's medical bed, Thunderbolt now trying to dig her way out of the cage only to hit the bottom of it and breaking her spoon, "Who gave her a spoon…?" Quval sighed as the Dark Legion panicked and pointed at one another randomly, "Ugh...just...don't screw this up...or Ginis will use you all for his...experiments."
"Yes, sir."
"But if that does happen...use Hood first," Lien-Da spoke.
"What?!" the cobra exclaimed.
"Agreed," Quval stated, "Rest now, for tomorrow the show begins."
"Don't I get a say in this?!" Hood snapped.
"No."
"...D'oh. I blame you, wench!" Hood snapped at Lien-Da.
*BZZT!*
"Hmm...I'd suggest striking the middle of the right flap of his namesake next time," Quval noted, "It's more sensitive there."
"Noted," Both Conquering Storm and Lien-Da said, making the twitching Hood tense a bit at that.
"Now if you'll excuse me...I have to make a computer program that can circumnavigate magic…" Quval sighed, going back to his computer.
The alarm went off and quickly turned off. Minutes passed before Roll opened the door, a bag of coffee in hand. She blinked twice when she saw Yamato sitting at the table.
"Ohayo, Yamato-san. You're up earlier than normal," Roll greeted.
"I kinda wanted to talk to you about something." he chuckled, scratching the back of his head, "I don't know a better way to start this conversation off other then...I know." he sighed, holding up her family's book from the other day for Roll to take back.
"Eh? My family's book?" Roll pondered as she received it, "Why did...Did Kaa-san let you read it?"
"She has a fluffy tail," Yamato admitted, "But that's not important, I...know about what's on your back."
Roll flinched as her tail brushed against her back, "I...I see…"
"I understand what lead to it...and more then anything I feel like many things make sense," he nodded, "This isn't how I'd prefer to have learned of it, though. I feel somewhat bad learning about it...and excuse the metaphor, behind your back."
"It...It's fine. How did you even…?"
"I picked up the notebook you had about me and Uncle Mario when I dropped my papers yesterday," Yamato explained, "I read through them, mistaking it for some sort of diary at first. But...it was far too well detailed and maintained for that. It got me to thinking about why you would need such a thing given we live together here and are friends. So...I began thinking...and something Tusk said tipped me off that something must be causing memory problems for you. And que when I asked your mother for the details. And so...I know…"
"Soka…" Roll noted, "And...you believe it? About what my mark means and...and what will happen?"
"Roll...I'm a human who's best friends are humanoid animals from a different dimension and has the powers of flight and super strength...my threshold for faith has grown deep and vast," Yamato smiled, "And as your friend...I'm scared about learning what's happening to you. Normally, this is where I'd say I'd do anything to help you...and I certainly will to the extent I can, but after reading over your clan's rules. Sadly, I'm not the one who can do such a thing as save you. You and all of us all know who can."
"I do...and it's because of this that he can't," Roll replied, her ears drooping.
"Eh? Oh right...that does make it rather paradoxical..." he realized what she meant. Everytime she tried to assassinate Eggman, Sonic would intervene in an attempt to save his old Nemesis's life. Honorable and valiant...but it seemed to also be a source of great...difficulty now.
"Hai. It...doesn't help that the other two ways are blocked because of the queen," Roll sighed before tying on an apron and going back into the pantry to grab a brownie mix and a pancake mix.
"Too bad there aren't any loopholes in this like regular laws. I'd say something like 'since you both live on Earth now, it no longer counts,'" he sighed, trying to lighten the mood a little and maybe cheer her up, also deep down a part of him was hoping that joke would lead to an 'Eureka' moment.
"Hai," Roll sighed before her tail stuck straight up, "...Ah mou…!" she groaned before a thud went off.
"Tail, why do you betray me?!" Leo exclaimed.
"Mou...my ribbon…" Amu cried from her room.
"This didn't happen in Kenya…" Amy grumbled from Amu's room as Tusk and Sela entered the kitchen, their tails sticking up as well.
"Deathgalien," both spoke.
"Well, mess with breakfast will they?" Roll fumed as she went back into the pantry and came out in a red t-shirt and blue jeans, a katana on her hip, "Ready to go."
Early people screamed as they fled from a swarm of Moebas, throwing trash cans at them.
"Come on, put your backs into it!" Tundra barked at a group of Moebas struggling to push over a vending machine, "Wait...is it bolted down?" the Moebas paused and looked before one nodded, "..." he walked over and ripped it out of the ground, knocking it over, "There. Told ya to put your backs into it. Now get going! Sooner they arrive, sooner things get a bit more fun."
"TUNDRA!"
"...Right on time," Tundra noted as he turned, blocking a strike from Tusk just as he came charging at him, "Been meaning to pay you back for what you did to my tusk, boy!"
"Oh, you'll be wanting to pay me back for more than that after I'm through with you," Tusk growled.
"Tundra, what nonsense are you up to?" Yamato demanded.
"Hmph. Was trying to have a nice fish only for the jerks to rip me off with high prices and mislabeling a slimehead as an Orange Roughy and tried to give me a dyed salmon when I wanted a wild one," Tundra snorted, "Now everyone's gonna be feelin' my rage! Get 'em, Moebas!"
"Honno Kakusei!" they shouted, flashing and transforming.
"Oozora no Ouja!" Eagle began, slashing down several Moeba with his Eagrizer, "ZyuohEagle!" he declared, swinging his sword as the Moebas fell over.
"Araumi no Ouja!" Shark declared as she blocked a Moeba's swing before kicking it into its friends, "ZyuohShark!" she declared, blasting them with her Zyuoh Buster.
"Savanna no Ouja!" Lion roared, tackling over two Moeba before he began running and dragging them across the ground, "ZyuohLion!" he roared, slamming their heads into a wall.
"Shinrin no Ouja!" Elephant shouted as he slammed his arms into two Moeba and clotheslining them, "ZyuohElephant!" he declared, grabbing two more and tossing them into the air.
"Setsugen no Ouja!" Tiger grunted as she ducked under a swing before kicking her legs and tripping a Moeba before rolling back and slamming her leg into another, making him fall over and domino several more Moeba, "ZyuohTiger!" she cheered, seeing them fall over.
"Dobutsu Sentai!" Eagle shouted as he slashed his Eagriser in whip form before swinging and cracking it on the ground.
"Zyuohgers!" the others joined him as the Moeba all fell over and exploded behind them just as their team crest formed behind them.
"You guys are oddly well timed on that!" Tundra gawked.
"Trust us...we've had a lot of practice," Tiger sighed leaning on Shark.
"You're gonna need some new grunts. And maybe new teeth after Tusk is done with you," Shark added, leaning with Tiger as they kept each other standing at this point.
"Oi…" Tundra growled as five Moebas attempted a sneak attack only for a yellow blur to strike them down, "Heh. So the blue boy's mixed gal's here."
"Of course it'd be you," Roll frowned, stopping by the five.
"Wait, what did he just call Roll?" Tiger asked, "Tusk...sick 'em!"
"With much pleasure!" he trumpeted as he rushed first.
"Oi, that's my bit! Know your role, man!" Lion complained, rushing after him.
"Girls, please don't instigate…" Eagle sighed, pushing his mask up as he turned to Gorilla.
"Can you blame us for what he did to his own son?" Shark countered as Elephant and Tundra began to trade blows.
"Come on, peanut boy! Bring it!" Tundra roared.
"Stubborn old coot!"
"What...did he do exactly?" Gorilla asked, making his Mobian teammates tense a bit.
"...He...broke his son's spine for 'being weak'," Lion answered, gripping his hands in frustration.
"Because you Freedom Fighters made him weak!" Tundra snapped as he roared, unleashing a blast of ice that sent Elephant back, "He would've been a great warrior, but you and those blasted machines ruined him! Breaking his back was mercy for being weak!"
"..." Gorilla gripped his fist at that as steam began rising from him, "Let's do it then…" he growled, punching as he sent out a shockwave that knocked Tundra back and slamming into a wall.
"S-sugei…" Lion gawked, the sound of his chin hitting the bottom of his helmet due to his jaw dropping being heard, "Yamato just gets more manly each time he uses this form…"
"Guh…" Tundra grunted as he pulled himself out, wiping his lip a bit, "...That is strength...Moebas, keep the others busy! The red one…" he began before roaring out, unleashing a massive blast of ice at Gorilla, "Is mine!"
"HA!" Gorilla snorted as he unleashed a gust of wind which blocked the ice.
Tundra stopped before raising his arms as Gorilla punched him, sending him skidding back again. Gorilla grunted as he punched once more, his fist igniting from the force behind it before striking Tundra and pushing him back again. Gorilla grabbed Tundra's arm before bringing him and spinning him around before hooking both his arms around his and holding the evil Mobian in front of him, pinned from the hold.
"TUSK!" he grunted as Tundra turned and saw Elephant running towards them.
"Yasei Kaihou!" he roared as his legs expanded, he then trumpeted as he jumped and landed a drop kick to Tundra's chest, unleashing a powerful green shockwave.
"Gah!" Tundra grunted, skidding back from the attack as he crashed into a light pole, "Gah! Grr…!"
"Hup!" Gorilla grunted, rushing and swinging upward as his fist struck Tundra's stomach and lifted him up into the air, "Ora!" he roared, tossing him up slightly, as Tundra fell back down Gorilla let him land on his shoulder before spinning around, "Ha!" he grunted as he tightened his grip on Tundra before falling backwards and pile driving him headfirst into the concrete.
"Wow...That was nuts," Roll noted.
"Break his spine!" Tiger cheered.
"Amu…" Roll and Shark groaned.
"What? It's habit. Blame Mama for taking me to all those wrestling matches my uncles took part in…" Tiger shrugged in her defense.
"Oi vey…" Roll sighed, preparing to move out to find more Moebas when she felt something grab her tail, "...Ara?" she turned her head to see a mic connected to a chain wrapped around her tail, "Eh?"
"Congratulations!" a voice called before the chain snapped and Roll yelped as she was pulled off by her tail.
"Roll?!" Tiger and Shark exclaimed, turning only for a group of Moebas to tackle them in a dogpile.
"Eh?" Lion blinked as the Moebas missed him, "AH! Girls...AH! ROLL!" he panicked loudly.
"Leo, stop panicking and save Roll!" Shark complained.
"We'll be fine, so go!" Tiger grunted.
"Got it!" Lion replied as he ran off after the pulled Hedgefox.
"Oh come now. Only one contestant per show, my boy," the voice noted just as Lion ran by an alley...filled with Moebas.
"Oh sugar honey iced t…" Lion began before the Moebas jumped him, "GAO! OFFA ME, DANG IT!"
"Roll!" Gorilla grunted as he blew another gust of wind from his mask which began blowing off the Moeba.
"Hah...hah-hah…" Gorilla turned back to see Tundra getting up with a grin, "Got her…"
"I'm gonna punch you seriously now if you don't tell me where you took her," Gorilla stated as his arms began flexing.
"Ya want her?" Tundra asked, "...Go find her on intergalactic cable. Naria, please!" a set of green energy coins engulfed him before vanishing, revealing him to be gone.
"Damn it!" Elephant complained.
"Cable?" Gorilla asked, "I know he was taunting us...but maybe…" he realized, flashing back to Eagle, "I have an idea!"
"Idea?" Lion asked, "Oi! Where ya goin'?!"
"I think I know someone who can track them down!" he shouted, "And he's living in our house!"
=You want me to hack into an alien's cable to find out where they took Roll?= Skye asked Yamato.
"Hai," Yamato replied.
=...Well, I've done crazier. Well, the original did crazier, but I was made using his DNA turned into data, so I guess I've done crazier. Just ask Bud and the pink pill incident=
"How did you even get this idea?" Amu asked.
"Well...the Deathgaliens strike me as the type to be egotistical to literally stream their schemes onto a TV in their mothership…" Yamato explained, "We could use the transmissions from here on Earth to find their players from now on."
=Ooh! Brilliant!= Skye beamed =Oi, Nicole, I need your assistance! Gonna need to double-team for this job!=
"...Why?" Nicole asked.
=Oh, because the satellite Imma borrowing...belongs to some guys with a firewall meant to keep out a single AI at a time= Skye replied.
"Who owns a satellite that advanced?" Tusk muttered.
"Ah...day over. Time for my daily dramas," Doggy sighed, sitting down in his chair as he turned on his computer, only for it to not function, "...I'm gonna murder these rookies one day…" he sighed.
=If he finds out where the signal got hacked...we all blame Sonic, got it?= Skye advised.
"Plan A, got it." Leo and Amu nodded, earning some stares.
"...May we get on with it?" Nicole asked as Tails typed away on his laptop.
"Okay, I think I almost have it," Tails replied, "Adjusting the frequency now and…" a window popped up on the screen, showing a countdown from ten, "Bingo!"
"Woohoo...evil alien TV…" Tusk sighed, "Can you pinpoint where it's coming from?"
"That's going to take a few minutes," Tails replied as the countdown finished and upbeat music played.
=Live from Planet Earth on Deathgalien TV!= a voice came from the window =It's…=
"Hey, that's the voice!" Leo realized.
=QUIZ AND SURVIVE!= a crowd's voice came as the window showed a flashy title screen before changing to a studio stage.
=Now folks, bring your hands, tentacles, claws, or whatever you use for applauding together for your host, QUI~ZON~!= the voice called before Quizon flew out onto screen =Thank you, thank you! I love all of you!=
"What the heck?" Tusk raised a brow, "Did you get the right signal?"
=Now let's meet our lovely guest! She's turning twenty-two in a few months and from the Planet Mobius! Current heiress to her family's clan, let's give it up for tonight's contestant; Roll Harmonia Sakurai~!= Quizon called as cheering went off as the camera turned to show Roll at a podium, shaking her leg that was chained to the stand.
=...Yes?= Skye held up a digital cellphone =Uh-huh...uh-huh...I'll tell him= he 'hung up' and faced Tusk =That was Murphy's Law. He called for ya to say 'Told ya so.'= a trunk went through him =Hologram~!=
"So this is how they see our battles…" Yamato sighed, "This one must have a quiz show theme to him...It's even in his name."
"Quizon...Ah, it's been quite a few planets since his last show," Ginis noted, taking a sip of wine, "While he starts off small, the risks only grow stronger with each contestant."
"Indeed. Quite the amusing prize he gave last time someone won. I believe it was a black hole in their house," Quval recalled.
"Bah...this takes too long…" Azald grumbled, "And the questions make my head hurt!"
"Oh don't worry. He's taking a new route this time that you might enjoy," Quval assured, "He's been studying various shows from this planet."
"Welcome to the show's latest season as our first contestant!" Quizon greeted, floating down to her, "Wow. First time I had a contestant on a planet that's not her planet."
Roll decided not to answer. She didn't know what his power was. Compounded with how he seemed to be some sort of psychic, it probably wasn't in her best interest to not respond to any of his provocations or questions 'lest she trigger some power of his.
"Ah, not much of a talker, eh?" Quizon chuckled, "Ah, there's always one every season, eh? Well, that's easy enough to stop. Let's give her a glimpse at her grand prize! Take it away, boys!" a group of Moebas dressed in suits across from Roll's stand saluted before running over to a set of curtains, "If you manage to win today's show, your grand prize is something I'm sure you're just dying to have. Well into his older years, currently comatose and dressed up as a dog. Your grand prize is five minutes just you and him! It's…" the Moebas pulled the curtains to show a cage with Eggman in it, "Dr. Ivo 'Squishy' Robotnik!" he smirked at seeing her shocked expression, "Got your attention now? You beat my show, you get him. No tricks, no twists. Just beat my game, and your prize is his head."
Roll bit her lip, the fact that her goal was now literally a prize of victory. She just needed to beat this game... But the cautious part of her mind brought about by years of training told her that despite this promise of no twists...She knew there had to be something in it for them. Well, unless they just finally got tired of Eggman themselves. While possible, sadly she knew there was still something in it for them here as well. But the other hand was...this could be her only chance. If she won fast enough before her friends could find her, she could end it. Finally after all these years...a semblance of closure.
"So what do you say?" Quizon asked.
"...Let's play," Roll replied.
"Called it," Tusk groaned.
"Ooh, they play hardball," Amu cringed, "They know what she wants."
"We need to find her…" Yamato sighed, "I know what this means to her...but everything about this screams danger."
"You said it," Tails replied, typing away, "I'm trying to trace it now."
=And now let's start off with round one= Quizon informed before snapping his fingers, causing the stage to go down into the ground before the camera changed to the stage lowering down and the area lighting up, revealing a large water course with platforms and large spheres =Wipeout! Your goal's simple for this round: go through the obstacles before time runs out= Quizon explained as a twenty minute timer appeared on the screen while the chain on Roll's leg fell off =Each time you fall into the water? You gotta start from the very beginning. But to be fair, the clock pauses while you're in it. At the end of it, you just have to push the button and answer a trivia question to move on to round two=
"This...looks almost fun…" Leo muttered, as everyone turned to him, "If it wasn't run by a Deathgalien!" he added.
"Roll has great balance and awareness," Amu spoke, "She should be able to make it no problem...but the question part is where I'm worried. What does a monster do when they are literally named Quizon?"
=Oh, and one more thing. Aside from the various obstacles, you'll have to avoid attacks thrown at you by Moebas and my assistant in Round One; Give it up for Akhult the Orca!=
"And of course he'd have one of them there," Tusk groaned as the screen split to show Akhult in the water and several Moebas in scuba gear armed with oversized super soakers attached to their backs.
"What do they gain from picking Roll?" Yamato asked, "They know she wants to kill Eggman...but that's just a carrot on a stick as it were. What do they get from her specifically? ...or rather...from a Sakurai?"
"GAH! SQUISHY?! Why is Squishy down there?!" Azald exclaimed before grabbing Quval in a stranglehold, "Why is he down there?! It is not his walking time!"
"From how she reacted, he's a key to your goals for this game, is he not Quval?" Ginis asked.
"Gack! Gah! Guk!" Quval gasped out.
"That's a yes," Ginis spoke.
"Ginis-sama...you understood that nonsense?" Naria asked.
"I speak garbled nonsense," Ginis spoke, "I have hobbies…"
=Twenty minutes on the clock. Take to the starting position= Quizon continued as Roll stretched a bit before stepping up to the starting position.
"Bets on if she falls?" Ginis asked, taking a sip of his wine.
"Yes!" Azald replied.
Roll took a deep breath as she stood ready to begin the insane challenge. Looking out at it, she took note of the path. A wall that rapidly produced jabbing parts from it to knock one into the water, followed by three platforms rapidly spinning in different directions with a ring set on fire between each jump, four large orbs between two ends of a path, and a monkey bars separating the path from the buzzer. Towers were set along the perimeter with a Moeba in each one, each one wearing a large pack connected to a blaster in their arms.
"On your marks…" Roll crouched down into a running start position, "Get set…" Quizon held up a pistol, "And…" he pulled the trigger, "GO!"
Roll ran down the path in a yellow blur, and quickly made it to the first obstacle: the wall. She ducked under several of the jabbing pistons before flipping over another. She held her hands out and grabbed one of the jabbing pistons before using it like a pole to swing and vault herself through the spinning rings. Quizon took a moment to pick his jaw up as he realized how skilled she was.
"Eee~! My baby girl is showing off her stuff!" Aphrodite cheered.
"Auntie, this is a life-or-death game set up by an alien set on destroying the planet," Tusk deadpanned.
"...Your point?" Aphrodite asked after a moment.
"You can make a positive spin on anything, can't you?" Tusk sighed, slapping his forehead with his trunk.
Aphrodite shrugged before going back to cheering as the feed showed her now dodging blasts of high-pressurized water, "Ganbatte, Roll-chan!"
"Wow...she is bendy…" Amu noted, "Really...bendy…" she blinked several times, "There's taking yoga...and there's being made of rubber."
"She wasn't this flexible the last tournament she entered," Sela noted before looking to Aphrodite, "Auntie, does this involve that map you gave her when she was banished for those six months?"
"Indeed," Aphrodite replied, "She used her time wisely and woke up some dormant genes."
"Dormant Genes?" Yamato blinked.
"You saw our family tree in the book, dear," Aphrodite reminded, "For our family, all genes except for fox are recessive. But through the right training, we can bring them out."
"I'd argue that's not how genetics works...but who am I to say that given myself…" Yamato shrugged with a chuckle.
=The boy can be taught...better then literally most= Skye joked.
"He's talking about you…" Leo whispered to Tusk, who raised his fist into his face.
"Wow! Look at her go!" Quizon exclaimed, "She's weaving through those shots like a pro! And here come the big balls!"
"Switch ammo," Akhult ordered, pointing at four Moebas, who nodded before turning a switch on their blasters, "Aim for the path ahead of her and fire."
"Oh? Now what's this?" Quizon pondered before the four opened fire, releasing a green slime that hit the large balls ahead of Roll, coating them, "Oh-hoh~! Roll's in for trouble now! Now what will she do with an extra-slick coating on the big balls?"
'Must he continue the attempts at double entendres?' most everyone mentally cringed.
Roll skidded to a halt before the jump towards the balls. Dodging several shots, she looked around for another way before shaking her head. She did a backflip and pulled out a pair of slippers from her hair. She jumped towards the balls, dodging a few more shots, before landing on it with her shoes replaced with the slippers.
"Now what's this?" Quizon asked as he leaned in to look closer, "Why, she's not slipping at all on the slime! Remarkable! Also, is that legal?" he asked a Moeba dressed as a judge which raised his arms in a circle shape, "Rats...foiled by my own love of interesting twists…"
Roll took a second before jumping to the next ball, gaining her balance before jumping to the next. A Moeba by Akhult tilted his head before waving to Akhult and tapped his forehead where Akhult's gem would be on the orca's head. The Moeba tilted his head when Akhult shook his head.
"Ninja tend to be trained in both body and mind," Akhult explained, "Using it on her wouldn't do a thing."
"Well that makes you kinda less favorable as a challenge...but you'd make great Ammo!" Quizon spoke as the water around them began churning, "It's time for an Orca Cannon!" he declared as a crowed of Moeba's began clapping and cheering like madmen.
"What, a what?!" Akhult exclaimed as Roll landed on the other side of the big balls.
"FIRE!" Quizon declared as the water exploded, sending Akhult flying through the air and at Roll like a cannonball round along with his scuba Moebas.
"Nani?!" Roll gasped before grunting as Akhult collided with her, sending her crashing into the water.
"Ooh...Too bad~" Quizon noted as he looked at the timer, "But you still have time! You have fifteen minutes remaining! ...Fifteen minutes, oh goodness! You're one of the fastest contestants I ever had!"
"I…" Roll began before barely swimming out of the way of Akhlut's psionic blast.
"Oh, I forgot to mention that while you try to get out of the water, Akhult's goal is to keep you in it for a combined total of twenty minutes," Quizon continued to explain.
"Of course you did…" she groaned, already getting tired of this monster's voice and antics.
"Hmph," Akhlut scoffed before unleashing another psionic wave at her, "And here I thought the Sakurai clan were tougher than this."
"I don't have time for this…" Roll sighed, taking a deep breath and dunking under the water, Akhult and his scuba goons diving after her.
She swam and grabbed one of the scuba Moeba before pulling out a small dagger and puncturing its air tank. The Moeba panicked as the release of air sent them flying up through the water and the momentum rocketed them up into the air. Roll pushed her legs and jumped off the Moeba, landing on the obstacle course path once more. The Moeba, however, was left to crash headfirst into a stage light. Roll paused and watched as the light was now hanging by a single cord. She then looked down as Akhult surfaced again, she tossed her dagger cutting the wire...and letting the light slam on the Orca Mobian's head, the residual charge left in it shocking him and his Scuba Moeba's.
"She is resourceful, I give her that," Quizon noted in surprise as Roll went through the first part once more.
"Wow, I knew Roll had many skills...but this is amazing," Yamato spoke as they watched her overcome all the obstacles again, only faster due to remembering the patterns and tricks to them.
"When you're the heiress of a clan of shinobi and kunoichi, you tend to have to be amazing in an aspect," Aphrodite noted.
"Yes, she made it to the end!" Amu cheered, "Hahaha! Not even the Orca cannon could stop her this time!"
"But now the question…" Sela spoke, "I have a bad feeling about this part."
"What is…?"
"I'm back from my run, kyu," Miyuki spoke as she walked in, wearing a bright icy-blue sports jacket on top of an orange top and running shorts, "What d-eh?! Is...is that Roll?!"
"A Deathgellion captured her," Tusk explained.
"...And she knocked out Akhlut I see, kyu," Miyuki noted as she walked over to the screen, "...wires."
"Hmm?"
"There's wires hidden near the end of the course, kyu."
"Wires?"
"Trip wires. Shinobi use them to prepare traps, like swinging logs or setting off explosive tags."
"Uh-oh…" most of them realized.
Aphrodite facepalmed, "Oh, she hates trip wire traps…"
"I am so glad that I keep my slippers in my hair for things like that," Roll muttered as she came upon the monkey bars hanging above her with the buzzer at the end, "Well, they were smart this time. A sheet of metal so I don't just balance atop the bars and actually have to swing on them."
However, just as she was about to past through, her tail ended up hitting a near invisible trip ware, causing a flurry of kunai and daggers to come flying down from above.
"?!"
"Oh I forgot to mention. She really needs to navigate through our special surprise to reach the buzzer, other wise...heh. Hope she likes cuts and explosions."
"Trip wires...Why did it have to be tripwires?" Roll groaned, barely avoiding the flurry while swinging along the bars only to trip another wire that smacked her in the face with a pie, "..." she tasted the pie, "Huh...Coconut. Not bad."
"Ah man...that was supposed to be chocolate…" Quizon muttered, "Fire that intern!" at that, a Moeba was fired out of a cannon and through the roof.
"He really doesn't waste a chance for a gag…" Roll muttered, "Then again, what game show host, aside from Mr. Tribek, doesn't?"
"I have to admit I'm at a loss with how well you are doing, little lady, I guess I'll need to get...more creative! Bring out the wheel of obstacles!" Quizon demanded.
"I walked right into that…" Roll sighed in annoyance.
"Actually, you're about to swing into another pie," Quizon spoke.
"Wait, wh-" Roll began before another pie was smacked her in the face, "..." she tasted it, "Okay. This is the chocolate pie."
"Now let's spin that wheel!" Quizon declared as he spun the wheel, "Wheel of Obstacles, turn turn turn! Show us the traps and hope for a lot of burn!"
The wheel spun around before slowing to a stop. It seemed to be landing on one labeled Sudden Black Hole...only to pass over it and land on labeled Pillow Barrage Cannon. Quizon noticeably hunched his shoulders in disappointment. He seemed to really want Sudden Black Hole.
"Phew…" Roll sighed in relief before a fired pillow smacked her in the gut, "GUH!"
"Keep putting those bricks in the pillows," Akhult ordered the Moebas loading pillows into the cannon while also putting a brick into the pillow cases, "Just because we have to fire pillows, doesn't mean we can't make them hurt."
"And your uselessness has been redeemed," Quizon noted.
"Grr…"
"Wait...are they trying to make Roll angry?" Yamato spoke.
"Maybe, kyu," Miyuki answered as she focused on the screen, "But why? What would they benefit fr-" she tensed when she noticed Eggman in a smaller screen they were showing, "...Don't tell me…"
=Don't tell you what?= Skye asked as Miyuki moved close to Aphrodite.
"...Aphrodite...I...I think they're trying to make Roll-chan use...it," Miyuki whispered, worry heavy in her voice.
"It seems to be that way, yes," Aphrodite agreed.
"'It?' What do you mean by 'it?'" Sela asked, her hearing letting her overhear them.
"It?" the others repeated.
"Oh…" Yamato realized as he remembered what he read the other day.
"I will give just one warning," Aphrodite informed, "If we see her ever put a blade over her back and cut into it? Yamato-san and Sonic-chan are the only ones allowed to go to where they're holding her."
"Huh?! Wh…"
"Because anyone else will just freeze up," Aphrodite stated.
"Tails...any luck?" Yamato asked.
"AHA! I got ya!" he cheered, hitting enter as a map formed, "Take that aliens! I just made a system to track your transmissions!" he blinked twice, "Wow. They're on the other side of the country."
"Eh?!"
"Ughguguguh…" Roll groaned, rubbing her stomach as her tail slapped the buzzer, causing it to let out a klaxon horn.
"And she's done it!" Quizon cheered as the timer stopped, "And she had...five minutes left. ...You are quite fast."
"Is he being insulting or honest?" Akhult asked.
"Now then...On to...the quiz," Quizon informed as he appeared on the opposite of Roll, a fifteen second timer appearing behind him to the left, "You have fifteen seconds to answer the question. Are you ready?"
"Hai," Roll replied.
"Oh they always think they are." he smirked as his antenna began glowing, "Alright! Here is your question!" he spoke, producing an envelope which he tore open, Roll not noticing his eyes flash for a moment while the feeds didn't show his face during that moment and simply focused on his envelope opening, "How did Skye Hephasteus Sakurai die in Ai Village of Mobius?"
"Eh?"
"Nani?" Aphrodite stood up at that, her eyes wide in shock.
"Ai Village? That...Wasn't that village razed down by Eggman during his first decade of attacking Mobius with his new flying machines as a test?" Sela asked.
"We were all kids," Tusk reminded, "All of us…" he looked at Roll, her face in shock.
"Haseo wasn't even born yet," Amu whispered as she looked at the worried fox.
"Five seconds...four...three…" Quizon counted down.
"He was forced to stand, facing Robotnik despite his new flying robots had shot him in the knees, before Robotnik...shot him point blank in the heart with a semi-automatic pistol," Roll replied as her hand moved up to finger a small gold chain that blended into her fur on her neck, "He died five minutes after Eggman left, letting his machines start burning the village down."
"Congratulations! You got it right!" he declared as a ding went off, "On to the next round! And for being a good sport, a gift has been sent to your cafe!"
The Mobians' tails all shot up.
=...It's a GIFT= Skye informed, one eye closed =And it just blew up the cafe on its way out of the place=
"D'oh...I just finished making some new ice cream flavors for the dessert menus, kyu…" Miyuki whispered, biting her thumb in frustration, "...It's a distraction."
"It takes all five of us to stop one…" Sela spoke to Yamato.
"Tails, tell Sonic where to go. We'll catch up!" Yamato ordered, "Everyone move out. We need to stop it as fast as possible. Skye, you, Haseo, Miyuki, and Aphrodite will stay here and monitor what is going on."
=Can do!= Skye replied with a salute.
"Alright, let's move onto the next quiz!" Quizon declared floating back, "Now since it's clear any physical challenge will just be the same thing of your ninja nonsense, let's stick to something more challenging! Puzzles!" he motioned as a table with several puzzle items appeared, "You have another 2 minutes to figure out these little puzzle devices humans made but can't solve! However...you have to focus while my lovely assistants cause ear damaging noise in the background."
"...It's Maw, isn't it?" Roll asked.
"Oh you spoil sport, but you're right! Also sorry, no point for that one but I love your gumption," Quizon smiled, "Now then feel free to begin while Maw starts sawing away on what we here call the Atomic Accordion!"
"Honestly, why do people mock the accordion?" Maw questioned, holding an accordion with a sticker for an atom on both sides.
"Hey, kid, I don't ask; you don't tell. That's how this works," Quizon chuckled as an audience laugh track played.
Roll decided to ignore the banter as she began looking over the puzzles. She'd seen them before. Yamato described them as a sort of a paperweight mixed with brain exercise. They seemed to be fun time wasters, but also time consuming given their intent and design. She knew this would be a difficult one, so she needed to figure out a trick for this one. Or maybe somehow find Maw's music enjoyable, which she doubted.
She began working on one before jumping at the sudden loud boom from Maw's accordion. She fumbled the puzzle before regaining her composure, sighing in relief on seeing it hadn't gotten any damage. The volume was cranked high and left her ears ringing for a moment. She noticed he stopped, meaning he was gonna wait until she was greatly focused and then blast the notes again to spook her and mess her up.
"Oh, you wanna play that way, eh? Alrighty…Let's play," Roll narrowed her eyes at Maw.
"Oh, I intend to," he replied, playing a few notes to punctuate his point.
=You know, I just realized something= Skye noted.
"What?"
=Roll's probably gonna miss a giant robot fight=
"...If you weren't a hologram, I'd slap you upside the head with my tails," Tails deadpanned.
=I might be panicking...but due to being made of data, I don't show it=
"Is that why the printer is...printing obscenities?"
=Maybe…Either that, or it's become sentient or has become a real life SCP=
"Not the time for your internet hobbies." Aphrodite sighed.
"He has hobbies?" Tails blinked before they all flinched from the loud blaring of an accordion from the speakers, "Should probably mute this...and get tinnitus shots ready for everyone…"
=...Oh, Nicole…=
"I am not doing the recording if they do go into a giant robot battle," Nicole replied.
=Aw man…=
"You're not letting that go, are you?" Tails muttered.
=How are the kids with said mecha doing?=
"Well going off this security camera..." Nicole spoke, showing a video of the Zyuohgers as they cornered the GIFT, "They've gotten much better at dealing with these robots."
=Attakids!= Skye cheered before another blast of accordion went off =You know...If you lower the volume on replaying it, he's quite good=
"And she's done it!" Quizon declared as Roll placed the last puzzle down, "With two seconds remaining! How do you feel?"
"I apologize! I cannot hear you!" Roll apologized a bit louder than needed.
"...Wow. You played so loud, you blasted her eardrums," Quizon noted to Maw.
"Meh. I do what I do," he spoke, walking off while playing at a normal volume.
"Well asking you your question will be a lot harder now with your hearing gone. So let's just write it out for you while I...read it out in my wonderfully melodic voice to our studio audience!" Quizon declared, producing another envelop as his antenna and eyes flashed, "Alrighty, your next question is this…" a monitor appeared before Roll and wrote what he spoke, "What was the day Skye Hephasteus Sakurai died?"
Roll cringed at that, "It...It was April 4...on my eighth birthday."
"Correct!" Quizon replied, "And another gift to you delivered to right beside the first!"
"Ugh...I hate this robot…" Lion groaned as the GIFT's broken pieces twitched and sparked...before another appeared right beside the remains, "AW COME ON!"
"Guess Roll-chan won another round," Amu guessed.
"I demand a refund of her prize!" Lion demanded before the new GIFT punched him in the masked face, "GAO!"
"This...is endless…" Eagle spoke, "By the time we beat one, Roll wins another challenge...and the cycle continues. This plan is almost genius…"
"Meaning we'll never make it to them," Elephant grunted.
"Well any suggestions?" Shark asked.
"I say we punch it REALLY hard!" Lion growled, getting up.
"Screw it...we'll use that plan…" they all sighed.
"I must say I'm impressed, kid. You're the first life form to make it past the second round on my show. Most give up or go insane from the difficulty." Quizon spoke, "You have an amazing physical ability, and according to fans, an amazing bod~" he chuckled, "But also a scary sharp mind...I'm hard pressed to think of another challenge that's, well, challenging to you."
"Really now?" Roll asked as a Moeba in a nurse's hat walked away from her.
"My boss doesn't like it when natives win, so...I'm just gonna drop all pretenses...and cheat my way to ending the episode!" he laughed.
"Oh come on," Roll groaned as the platform rose up to an arena.
"Here is your final challenge Kiddo, you just have to make it across this combat room...and into the room where Squishy is being kept."
"Who?"
"Oh right. You all still call him Eggman, but our superiors have renamed him 'Squishy' and is now the lap dog to our group's strong man; Team Leader Azald!" he cheered as a screen showed a picture of Azald snoring upside down on a broken couch with a puddle of drool under him, "He's just past that room, but here's the catch: every single Dark Legion member we have on the show today will get in your way! If you can make it past them before the automated teleporter in that room goes off...well he's all yours, doll."
"...I've gone this far for getting him, I'm not stopping now," Roll scowled, "But first…" she flicked her tail and a puff of smoke covered her before dissipating, revealing her in her ninja outfit with her blade on her hip, "Ready to go."
"Remember folks, this show is unrated so feel free to stare~" Quizon laughed, "Now, this is a 1 hour show, my dear. Two 20 minute challenges have passed, so you only have 20 minutes left. I hope you can work with what ya got! Now when this flimsy chain link door opens...that's your cue to go get 'em!" he then turned to the camera, "For those in the audience with weak constitutions or aversion to violence...cover your eyes!"
"What?" Quval asked as they looked at him, "I'm all for emotional torture, but I'm a classy sadistic monster."
=Does he know we're watching or is this a usual bit?= Skye asked.
"Mmm…" Haseo pouted as Aphrodite's tail covered his eyes.
"At least you're not the only one with covered eyes," Tails deadpanned, his own eyes covered by Miyuki's tails, while Cube Mogura, Kirin, and Kuma all gave cheering squeaks until Nicole put a cloth over them.
"You want to be kids, you get treated like them," Aphrodite noted.
=This won't be easy. Even with how skilled she is, all of them at once...that's too much. They must really want her to cut loose= Skye sighed as he ran the numbers and variables in his head =She's got a percent of a percent chance of victory and it'd be even less if all of them are there=
"Huh?" Miyuki looked at him.
=Did you not hear him?= Skye asked before tugging his face and it changed to Quizon's =He's just past that room, but here's the catch: every single Dark Legion member we have on the show today will get in your way!= he tugged his borrowed face and changed it back to normal =That statement has a chance that not all of them are there. More than likely, they might not have the more compromising members, such as Cassia and Clove. They'll more than likely indeed have Maw and Akhult in there as well as Thunderbolt because even with the limited time I've interacted with that chinchilla, even I know that she'd commit genocide to keep the guy protected=
"So in short, everyone she will get the most angry with...and not hesitate with," Nicole stated, "Ensuring her rage and making this secret only a select few know us know about happen. Which I can only assume is highly negative to her health?"
"...It...It's something we don't like to talk about outside of the immediate family, not even with Shields," Aphrodite admitted, "But...yes. Highly negative."
=To paraphrase this guy the Original met about something he, the guy, made: 'Once triggered, the user triggers every single dormant gene in them. However, the stimuli results overwhelm the brain, causing a loss of rationality and ultimately resulting in an absolute impulse to slaughter everyone and everything in their path between them and their target.' In other words?= Skye inhaled before adopting a worried look =Not good; not good at all=
"Knave, why are you making me hold the fishing rod? I fear if I fall into the water…." Caliburn groaned as Sonic was relaxing.
"...Oh don't…" he started before the wind blew, but he felt something odd about it, and something wild, "...Damn it Roll." Sonic then hopped up and grabbed Caliburn before groaning, "She just can't help herself."
"What is it?" Caliburn asked.
"Remember the...incident with Roll three months ago in Mobius before Yamato arrived?"
"You mean your thwarting of her from succeeding in her task resulting in six months of banishment?"
"Caliburn, if you're gonna complain, I can leave you here 'cause I got a beast woman to stop from killing and/or maiming our friends."
"Please take me along. I worry that I may fall and become rusted."
"Uh…"
"I have never been in the lake without a scabbard and you pulled me out of a stone and not the lake."
"Yeah, where did I lose that thing…?" Sonic muttered before he started his figure 8 and kept building up energy.
"With how your luck alters with the shifting winds, it is more than likely in the hands of someone that will do no good with it," Caliburn deadpanned before Sonic's Miles Electric went off.
"..." he picked it up, still building up energy, "I know. Tell Yamato and the others to butt out of it. This is a lovers affair, so don't bother with telling me where. I can always find Roll when I want to."
=Um, that might be a problem= Miyuki replied =They're currently in the city dealing with a GIFT after just beating one, kyu=
"Good. That they can handle. By the time I get to Roll, it'll be too late."
=Okay, but just so you know we only know where she is because Nicole and I stole a satellite from SPD and we've left evidence that you were the cause of the theft= Skye noted =She's entering a very dangerous task now and you best hurry=
"...Listen and listen good," Sonic said in a serious tone, "Nothing is more important than Roll and also one problemn with your plan. I'm an outdoors guy." he said, blurring off.
"...Huh...he's right." Miyuki realized.
"Ok. Plan A is a bust." Tails muttered, "Also I have never heard Sonic that serious."
=i think he witnessed this before= Skye guessed.
"But the side effects…" Aphrodite noted before tapping her chin in thought, "...She performed a partial activation perhaps?"
"So is anyone gonna inform the very confused orange twin tail on what we're talking about? I know what you said about what happens mentally, but what else?" Tails asked.
"Same for the pink hedgehog?"
=..." Aphrodite and Skye shared looks.
"Knave, I'm confused. You stopped her once just barely. So why tell Sir Yamato and the others to stay out?"
"Cause she's going full force this time."
"That was merely half her power?! You were nearly bisected and even your healing factor left you immobile for a month!"
"Listen, you guys think I was all against it, but I read up on everything about her clan and that thing. Everything. And I still want to know how Mom Two has such a fluffy tail..."
"Focus."
"Anyways, as the wind told me, Eggman is being used as a bait and switch. The smart one, Quval, is probably interested in Sakurai DNA."
"Knave, the wind can be such a-how do you say it again?-a 'one trick pony' at times."
"I say 'wind' 'cause I know who's really warning me. Anyway, Roll's the only one who's taken the Vow of Vengeance and if she uses the full form of that thing, she'll just be somebody's perfect weapon. The worst part is...I get the feeling we're already too late."
The doors behind Roll slid shut while she kept focus upon the sight before her. The arena was rather large with several interconnected pools of water scattered about with pillars and hanging ropes scattered about. Atop of several pillars were Maw, Lien-Da, Akhult, Tundra, a twitchy Thunderbolt, Hood, and Conquering Storm.
'No Cassia or Clove...That's a relief,' Roll thought, 'Even if we're on opposite sides, those two are the ones I'd regret having to fight the most.'
=Now remember; you have twenty minutes to beat all seven of them in order for the door to open and let you receive your main prize= Quizon informed as a door on the other side of the arena with a screen above it displayed a '7' on the screen, =For each one that's incapacitated, this number counts down. Once it hits 0, the door will open, but if any of them should get back on up, well it goes back up by however many wake up!=
"So I have to ensure I make it through while it's at zero...or make sure they can't get back up to make the counter rise again," Roll simplified what the Deathgalien was telling her.
=Well I wouldn't put it as potentially morbid as that but sure, kid! Whatever floats your boat!=
"Normally, I'd try and back out of this…" Hood paused as his snake tail swayed a bit, "But I will immensely enjoy putting that 'prince' in his place once he sees his concubine defeated and in chains."
"Again with the concubine…" Roll scowled.
"Why is he even here again?" Conquering Storm frowned.
"Despite how...sexist he can be, and a bit of a coward...his specialty does have some use," Lien-Da answered.
=Everybody ready? Twenty minutes on the clock and…= Quizon informed before an alarm blared =GO~!=
A blast of lightning from Conquering Storm and Thunderbolt were the first things Roll was able to dodge before barely getting grazed by Tundra's fist. She was about to deliver a kick to his face before one of Lien-Da's whips wrapped around her, a cry of pain escaping her mouth as she was shocked before being tossed into one of the pillars. Roll coughed before her eyes widened as another fist headed for her face. She barely curled up into a ball and rolled out of the way as Tundra's fist shattered the pillar and filled the air with dust and debris from the shattering and the pieces crashing into the ground. The walrus looked around before yelping as something knocked him off his feet. He grunted as his face hit the floor before his arms were restrained. The smoke faded to reveal him flat on his face with his arms bound behind his back by chains that also wrapped around his torso. The door changed from '7' to '6' once it was revealed.
=Ooh our first one out of the fight~= Quizon taunted, =Anybody gonna draw on the back of his head? We'll show it to the audience!=
"Be on the lookout. With that cover, she could be anywhere," Lien-Da advised, "...Where is Conquering Storm?"
As if on cue, the sound of crackling lightning made them look up to see Roll jumping along the pillars as a blur, dodging blasts of lightning from Conquering Storm as she leapt around the pillars as well, the lynx throwing a flurry of electrified kunai and shuriken at the hedgefox.
"Seriously, none of them are even bo shuriken!" Roll barked as she pulled out a chain coated in rubber with a weight on one end and a scythe on the other from her hair and quickly used it to smack away the weapons, "Who throws a kunai?! They're meant for digging and cutting, not throwing!"
"Look closer," Conquering Storm stated.
"Hmm?" Roll blinked before noticing paper tags attached to the several kunai that had landed at her feet, which slowly began to burn away, "?!" she was about to jump away before a strong psionic force gripped her, preventing her from moving as she struggled.
*BOOM!*
=Oh~! And Akhlut with an assisted psionic grip to keep her from running!= Quizon exclaimed.
"While I can't get a tight grip, small things like that are enough," Akhult smirked as Roll emerged from the black smoke and crashed into one of the pools of water.
"Go drag her out. We're not done with the game," Lien-Da ordered to Akhult.
"I would…" Akhult replied before pointing to Thunderbolt, who was engulfed in electricity while aiming her hands at the pool, "But I'd rather not end up as roasted orca."
"Die!" Thunderbolt roared, sending a blast at the water.
*BOOOM! BZZZZT!*
"Ha! Suck it, Eggman-hater!" Thunderbolt laughed before looking that, "You hear that, my lord?! I took out the girl that's trying to kill you!"
"That idiot...we need her alive!" Lien-Da growled.
"Hmph! I could care less! If it causes that stupid blue jerk pain for the amusement of Lord Eggman then all the more…" Thunderbolt began before a splash made them look to see Roll pull herself out, her body smoking a little, "How?! That was almost 100,000 volts!"
"Shut it," Roll whispered before she suddenly vanished.
"Gh?! Where…?!" Thunderbolt began before she was suddenly punted away, "Ahh!" she crashed into a pillar, ending up stuck in it and turning the '6' to a '5.'
'If my family didn't line our shinobi outfits with rubber, I'd be dead,' Roll thought.
"Well, I guess I should be upset, but I'm rather glad you surprised us. That idiot almost made our lives harder," Lien-Da sighed.
"Ha…" Roll began before groaning as vertigo hit her, "H-Hood…"
"I just love my Vertigo-Inducers," Hood smirked, releasing waves of yellow energy from his namesake at the Hedgefox, "And so glad you didn't pay attention to me."
"Considering you're the weakest…" Lien-Da whispered.
"Silence!" Hood barked before he approached Roll, his eyes glowing and swirling a bit, "Now my dear...why not gaze into my eyes?"
"?!" Roll tensed as she quickly closed her eyes.
=Ooh...that's not good, is it?= Skye asked.
"He can hypnotize those who look into it," Aphrodite explained.
"It's how he stole the throne of his kingdom's former king, Kyu," Miyuki added with a frown.
=Is there anyway to break it?=
"Great amounts of pain…which she has," Aphrodite replied.
"Allow me," Maw informed as he pulled out a violin, "The right frequency and…" he started to play several different notes until one note made Roll flinch and cause her eyes to pop open in time to catch Hood's eyes, "And there we go."
"Good. Now just relax and…" Hood began as Roll started to relax...before flinching and slammed a fist into Hood's face, knocking him into Maw, "Gah! My royal face!"
'The moment she started to relax, her body flared up in pain,' Conquering Storm thought as she undid Tundra's chains, bringing the counter up to '6,' 'She must need to concentrate to suppress a constant source of pain.'
=Oh ho! Nothing can bring this spunky hedgevixen down!= Quizon laughed =She's taking electricity, sharp things, explosions, and even vertigo! But can she handle ice?=
"Ice?" Roll repeated before crying out as Tundra's icy-wind filled roar hit her, bits of her fur frozen as she skidded along the ground.
"Yeah, Ice!" Tundra sneered.
=I told ya they can get back up, making this a really difficult challenge, and it's only been 6 minutes. Fourteen left on the clock, Kiddo!= Quizon spoke, =Now if this were good television, right now is about the time you begin pulling out all those secret tricks and powers you ninja tend to have on the teli~=
'Ninja secrets? ...Why is he so focused on that? In fact...why…?' Conquering Storm began her mental thought, looking between the screen showing Eggman and the panting Roll as she barely avoided another icy blast, the lynx barely managing to catch a glimpse of a mark that was exposed when a shard of ice from the blast managed to graze her back, '?!...No….'
"What's with you? You just made a stink face of horror," Lien-da asked, noticing her expression shift.
"Disarm her," Conquering Storm ordered, "Don't strike her back and make sure to get any and all blades away from her."
"Huh?"
"NOW!" Conquering Storm snapped, her optics glowing before she jumped down to charge at Roll.
"Da hell is her problem?" Tundra pondered.
=Oh what's this? A new attacker~! A free for all is always good for television!=
Roll barely avoided another attack from Tundra only to be kicked in the gut by Conquering Storm.
"Knock her out, but don't strike her back," Conquering Storm warned.
"She sounded scared...she's never showed fear before…" Lien-Da whispered with wide eyes,"...Knock that Hedgefox out!"
"What has you two so concerned? She's losing stamina and should fall any minute!" Tundra complained, "Besides, her friends are nowhere to be seen!"
"Her allies are the least of our concern right now!" Conquering Storm snapped as she threw a punch at Roll, only for Roll to block with her tail, 'That fat idiot...he never told us he was Marked!'
"What's going on with her that's this bad!?" Lien-Da demanded, rushing over to help.
"I'll explain once we knock her out!" Conquering Storm replied.
=Oh ho! How much more can the vixen take?! She's being rushed down from all sides now!= Quizon laughed as Roll barely dodged each blast or strike fired at her from each of the Dark Legion Grandmasters, the hedgevixen still suffering a blow or two that managed to graze her, or hit her via a vertigo shriek from Hood or one of Akhlut's psionic grips =Time is running out~=
Roll blocked a blast of Maw's only for her katana to shatter. A wave of vertigo mixed with her legs locking up gave Tundra's next punch to her face enough time to send her crashing through another pillar. Thunderbolt screamed as she landed on her face as Roll landed on her back, groaning. An eye had swollen shut from the punch while her good eye looked towards a screen, showing that she had barely five minutes left. She looked at the door to see it back to '7.'
'I...I'm going to lose him again…' Roll thought, forcing herself back up, 'Even when he's right there...even when no one else is around...I still can't get near him…' tears welled in her eyes, 'Damn it! ...Damn it!' the color green crossed her eye, "?!" her free hand grasped the green object, revealing it to be one of the ends of her bow, "...Sonikku..."
"Heh. One more blow and she'll be out," Tundra smirked before Roll pulled her bow off, letting her ponytail be freed, "? Heh. That ribbons' too small to be making a splint."
"The day I Bonded with Sonikku...was the day he gave me this ribbon...and the first day he ever spoke verbally and not through his motions," Roll noted, more to herself than anyone...before letting it drop to her side.
"What's she talking about?" Amy pondered.
"I remember that day," Aphrodite noted, "It was simply adorable. They were already close friends, but Sonic just didn't talk at all. It was like he didn't want to say a thing unlike now. Then one day he gives Roll a present and it was that very ribbon for her hair and actually spoke...she loved it."
"So Roll is to thank for Sonic being able to speak…" Nicole noted.
On the screen, Roll reached to her neck and behind it. A faint click was barely caught on the audio and everyone watched her pull off the gold chain that ended in a heart-shaped pendant. Skye's eyes widened upon seeing it.
=On my eighth birthday...that horrible...horrible day...the one that has taken my dreams and only shows itself each night…= Roll whispered =Tou-san...in his last moments...he gave me this present. To never take it off and to keep it close to my heart and know he'd be with me even if I didn't know. I...was so happy, and yet...I was overwhelmed...with such despair=
=It can't be…= Skye muttered to himself before muting his audio and covering her mouth as he spoke 'aloud'...while Roll dropped the necklace right on the ribbon before bringing her broken katana over her shoulder and to her back.
"Now what is she doing?" Quval pondered, "Just what is this?"
"Run outta time already! I want my Squishy here!" Azald complained.
"You seem quite invested in what she does, Quval," Ginis noted.
"Admittedly y-"
=Minna...I'm...sorry, but…= Roll continued.
=?! She's...STOP HER NOW!= Conquering Storm snapped, visibly panicking.
'But please…' Roll thought as the blade dug into her back and she swung it, slicing right into her own back, 'Stay away from here!'
=Oh my! She…= Quizon began before everyone there felt it…a massive killing intent that blossomed from out of nowhere.
Dropping the broken blade, Roll gasped out as she stumbled back from them, her eyes dilating. Her heartbeat echoed loudly in her head as deep within the darkest parts of it...something stirred. She bent over, whimpering as all she could hear was that ominous beating.
"...What's...going on?" Lien-Da nervously asked Conquering Storm.
"Eggman was marked...That complete and utter idiot was marked and never told us!" The lynx snapped in anger and fear.
"Marked?" Tundra repeated, "Ya mean he's got bounty hunters on him? What else is new?"
"Not marked in that sense…" Conquering Storm frowned, "When a Sakurai marks someone...it means they've taken the Vow of Vengeance. When that happens…" she tensed as the killing intent increased, "...They have the chance to become something no one should ever encounter...an Apex Predator."
"You mean she has some secret power that makes her the most terrifying thing in the world?! Sure...why not?!" Lien-Da snapped.
"A what now?" Thunderbolt asked, shivering.
"A predator that has no predator above it," Maw summarized, "In other words, everything else around an Apex Predator? That is its meal."
"...a...and when a Sakurai is one?" Hood asked with a very nervous gulp.
"...They won't stop until everything...ally and enemy alike...is out of their path to the marked," Conquering Storm replied.
Roll's body let out a pulse before the back of her outfit blew off her back along with her sleeves, exposing a glowing, burning emblem on her back. It was a dark red kanji for 'King' with a pitch black fire burning behind it with both inside of a red and gold ring. Roll gasped as the sounds of bones snapping and cracking reached the ears of everyone listening. The tips of her gloves bulged before shredding open by the elongated claws that grew from her fingers as the front ends of her boot-like sandals and socks followed with the toenails. Her body's muscles grew more defined, yet kept their lithe, slender figure fully visible as her whimpers slowly faded away. Another pulse came from the mark on her back as a sickly green, black, and red aura began to flow off of her body. Her tail wildly moved about in a chaotic manner, bulging in numerous areas until finally shredding itself apart to let out the ten tails that had grown within, each one ending with a crimson red tip instead of the original's pure white tip with the wild fur on them matching her grown out hair that bled into crimson red as if it had become lit with flames. Slowly, Roll fully stood up, her mouth set into a frown with two large fangs poking out under her upper lip while red markings now decorated her cheeks as black and red flame designs crawled up her arms seemingly starting from her shredded gloves. Her eyes opened, revealing the jade green eyes full of warmth and comfort had been replaced with sharp, slit, scarlet eyes full of unfathomable rage with the whites turning pitch black like an endless abyss and a faint green tinge.
"Ten tails?" Akhult pondered.
"M..maybe they're f-" Hood began before Roll was suddenly before him, "?!"
Before anyone could even blink, Hood was sent rocketing into one of the pillars, completely shattering it as the cobra slammed into the wall, his eyes blank with a huge indent in his armor. He let out a rasp before a yellow blur struck once more, his eyes widening as blood poured from his mouth. A sickening squelching noise echoed in the silenced arena as Roll's tail retracted, the light glistening off the crimson liquid coating the stinger emerging from the tip as it retracted back into the fur of the tail, while Hood collapsed to the floor, unmoving. The '7' turned to a '6' the moment he fell to the ground.
"...Oh...my...Ginis-sama…." Quval whispered, dropping his notes upon seeing that.
"Whoa! Smashed through that pillar with a pinkie flick then impaled with a tail. ...Gotta get me a tail. I wanna do that!" Azald beamed.
"This is…" Ginis began as he looked, "Amazing~" he smiled, the glow in his eyes growing brighter, "No hesitation...no ounce of mercy...she just did it because she could. Oh, now I see why you picked her, Quval."
"Wh-What's going o…?" Haseo began to ask before Aphrodite pinched him between his neck and shoulder, "?!" he slumped into Aphrodite as she looked at the screen in worry.
"Oh..my god…" Miyuki whispered, her hands over her mouth as she looked on in shock.
"She...she just…" Amy gasped, her eyes wide as she trembled.
"An Apex Predator has awakened."
"Bwah!" those awake yelped as they turned to see Sticks as she focused on the screen.
"I always felt something was off about her. Acted way too nice," Sticks frowned as Roll turned to the remaining Grandmasters.
"Why isn't she talking?" Tails asked.
"Would you talk to a speck of dust that you just brushed off your shoulder?" Sticks replied, "As far as she's concerned, that's what they are now with getting between her and her prey."
"Kuso…" Conquering Storm whispered.
"...When Eggman wakes up...I am going to MURDER him…." Lien-Da whispered, "Me and that nephew of his told him again and again to not underestimate Sonic's friends, but NOOOOO! He had to focus on Sonic alone!"
"Shut it, ya bla…" Thunderbolt began to snarl before letting out a gasp, "Gah…" she looked down to see five sharp claws, "Ah...ah…" ozone burning filled her nose before electricity struck her body from within until it was silenced by an impact with a pillar and then the bed of water behind the pillar...the number going down to '5' as red became the water's color.
'F...fas…' Lien-Da thought before a beam went by her.
"?!" Roll looked down to see she was missing her arm and the ends of five of her tails, her hand landing on the ground.
"You consider yourself an Apex?" Maw questioned, "As if that is true!"
Roll glanced over her shoulder to look at Maw before the stumps began to hiss with steam. Bones erupted from the stumps before vessels, nerves, muscles, and skin and fur reformed all within an instant of each other. Maw's eyes widened before he collapsed. The door changed to '4' as Maw's head fell down on the other side of the arena.
=...Oh…oh dear…= Quizon gulped =This is quite the reversal...barely a minute and she took down three without a bit of effort! Four minutes remain!=
"Take her down!" Lien-Da snapped.
"Don't! You…!" Conquering Storm began just as Tundra prepared to roar. However...a moment of silence passed as the walrus' tusk were impaled in both his chest and Akhkut's head as the device that gave him his power sparked.
"Da hell...how is she moving that fast…" Lien-Da growled as '4' turned to '2' above the door.
"Hehehe…" Ginis laughed as he tossed around several Moeba medals in his palm before they all began glowing, "Oh...this...is truly a muse in its purest form. The beauty of nature and evolution." he spoke, rolling his thumb and dropping Continue Medals one after another onto the pile of coins which came from his throne's armrest, "Naria, make sure to save this for me to watch again later."
"And what of the Dark Legion Grand Masters?"
"I need them alive, obviously. No sense in wasting good test subje-I mean Players like them!" he laughed, "Ah...I almost made an oops there." he chuckled, "Anyway, once the specimen is...done, collect all of them. And should she kill Eggman, revive him, too. I still have use of him," he explained, "And no pretending to forget~" he teased as Naria sighed.
"Yes, Ginis-sama," Naria replied with a bow.
"Squishy! No, not my Squishy! I'll save you, boy!" Azald blubbered in panic as he ran for the Teleporter and turned it on, "I'm coming Squishy!" he shouted, holding his arms up as he teleported.
"Crap…" Quval and Naria cursed.
"...Fifty credits on Azald getting away with his 'Squishy' after the subject pummels him," Ginis stated, taking a sip of his goblet of wine.
=Eugh. Now that last one...was that really needed?= Quizon questioned as the number changed to '0' above the door, causing it to slide open and reveal Eggman with Quizon beside it, "Ah well. Congratulations! You won the gr-gurk?!"
Roll tossed the halves away. Quizon exploded behind her as she looked at Eggman. Her ten tails twitched before they shot out and blocked a punch that let out a shockwave from the impact..and made her skid back several meters.
"Get away from my Squishy, ya damn dirty beast!" Azald roared, banging his fists together.
Roll narrowed her eyes at Azald. She crouched down before shooting at him with a jump, breaking the ground in the process. Azald and Roll swung a fist at one another, creating another shockwave that broke apart the ground around them upon their fists colliding. Azald swung another punch only for Roll to move to the side and grab his arm with three tails and threw him away from her and through a pillar. Azald grabbed the falling top of the pillar and threw it at Roll, who backhanded it away from her only for Azald to land a punch to her face, knocking her away and into another pillar. The smoke cleared to reveal her to be gone.
"Huh?" Azald pondered before he grunted as something slammed into his face, "Gh!" another struck his gut, "Guh!" then something large slammed into him, knocking him away, "Gwah!" the space before where he had been rippled as Roll faded into visibility, "Okay...you are a fast little organic…" he muttered, pushing himself up, "But you will not hurt my Squishy." sparks appeared in Roll's mouth, "...Oh you gotta be kidding m…"
"..." Amy, Tails, and Miyuki looked at Aphrodite as they pointed at the stream of fire that had engulfed Azald.
"Great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather Ryuken was a dragon," Aphrodite replied.
"Should I say what they are all thinking?" Nicole questioned as the feed showed Azald charge through it and tackled her through a wall.
=Nah that just ruins it= Skye shook his head.
"Are we there yet?!"
"That's it! Come here!"
"No fighting on Cube Eagle!" Eagle scolded before said Cube Animal reverted to normal size and let the fighting Shark and Lion fall on the ground while Eagle, Tiger, and Elephant landed on their feet before a warehouse on the docks, "And we're here."
"Fina…!" Lion began before tensing up with others.
"What...is this bloodlust?" Elephant asked.
"Owie~!" Tiger whined, rubbing her behind, "It's like the first time we encountered Azald!"
"Aw great. I thought I told them to tell ya guys to butt out!" everyone turned to see Sonic skidding to a halt before cringing as he looked at the warehouse, "She really did go all out. Darn it."
"I fear for your limbs," Caliburn noted.
"Eh?"
"It's a...complicated thing to explain," Eagle spoke.
"Wait...you know?" Sonic asked.
"I know many things…" Eagle sighed, "But regardless, we need to save Roll. Well...you need to save Roll." he corrected, turning into Gorilla, "Minna, we need strawberries. A lot of them."
"Eh?" the other Zyuohgers looked at him with tilted heads, Shark having Lion in a chokehold.
"I'm serious, we need as many strawberries as you can get," Gorilla explained.
"...Okay…"
"For once, if there was an order I have that you shouldn't question... It is this one," he explained, "I'm talking a truck load…"
"How do we get 'em?" Lion asked.
"I have...several ideas," Tiger spoke up.
"...How?" Elephant asked.
"I can explain on the way," she declared, grabbing them, "I warn you; these methods will bend several laws!" she shouted while running.
"I'll allow it this once…" Gorilla sighed, "Sonic...iko." he spoke simply as he marched forward.
"Heh…" Sonic chuckled, "That's a leader for ya." he sighed following him.
"Hey quit it!" Azald complained as his arm reformed, "This is getting annoying, you stupid lower life form!" Roll's response was to punch him once more, "Oh you are dead, dammit!" he roared, catching her on her next attempt to strike him, he then slammed her into the ground before tossing her through several walls, "Organics can't heal forever, so let's see how much longer you can last!" she erupted from the ground, delivering an uppercut that sent him through the ceiling, "GWAH!"
Roll jumped up after him, landing back in the arena. A buzzer going off made her turn to see Azald had landed by Eggman just before the two vanished. She clenched her fists tightly before spinning around, slapping a familiar bladed whip away from her with a backhand before performed a backflip to avoid a blue blur that barely avoided the ten stingers that shattered the ground where it had gone by.
"She has many ancestors of many clans," Gorilla spoke, "She can access all of their powers. If we aren't careful...we'll make this more painful for her! Sonic, whatever you do...don't stop moving!"
"Trust me! I've never had a problem with that!" Sonic spoke, dashing around the area as fast as he could with the limited space for him to pick up momentum, dodging several stab attempts by Roll's tails, "Ah! Whoa! YIkes! Whoa now! Easy with the tails, Roll!"
"Roll…" Gorilla grunted as he was able to wrap the Eagriser around her waist, keeping her trapped in place with his strength, he then grunted as he stumbled a bit, "Tsk...I used up so much strength already fighting the GIFTS...but...this is as much as I can do for my friends…"
"Oh, this is much worse than the last time. She only had one tail and her eyes were normal," Caliburn noted, "Now they're red and she has ten tails that have stingers."
"Not the time!" Sonic quickly replied.
"Not...to sound...pushy...but...please hurry…." Gorilla grunted, pulling Roll back from another attempt at lunging at Sonic, "My power is fading…" he grunted as his body began producing steam.
"Right!" Sonic nodded, 'Hopefully I can reach out to her long enough until the others arrive with those strawberries…' he rapidly began to look around, trying to find something of hers while avoiding the dead bodies strewn around, 'Yeesh…I know these guys were enemies, but...yeesh. ...Though not surprised by how bad she is...at least, I think it's her. I mean, there's a piece of optic and...'
"Sonic, near the doors," Caliburn spoke, causing the blue hedgehog to look to see where Roll had dropped her necklace and ribbon.
"...I so feel like this is personal," Sonic sighed, carefully picking up the ribbon and necklace. "There we go, Not a scratch, not a tear."
"What amazes me is how they were untouched in all the carnage," Caliburn noted.
"SONIC!" Gorilla barked.
"I get it, I get it," he waved him off, "Sheesh. No one asked ya to hold her down." he muttered, putting Caliburn aside.
"Now is not the time for you to be you!" he barked, making him fumble, "Now hurry or so help me, I'll help her pummel you!"
"Right...not the time for sarcasm…" Sonic replied, "Stay here, Caliburn...hopefully not having a weapon will make her want to murder me less."
"That is a good and valid argument considering you were holding me last time," Caliburn agreed before blinking twice, "When could she breathe fire?!"
"Wait wh-" Sonic began before Gorilla flew past him, a stream of fire sending him skidding back into a pillar, "...Remind me to look into that family tree of hers after this is over..."
"Well you're the red dragon of ca…" Caliburn muttered before Roll's roar cut him off, "Whatever you have planned, do so now!"
"Ri-WHOA!" Sonic yelped, barely avoiding the fist that shattered the ground he had barely jumped away from, "Down, girl, down! Bad!" he ran around several stabs of her tails, "Can ya pin her again, Yamato?" a pillar slammed down on her, "Thanks!"
"Uh-huh...and you said I wasn't needed…" he panted as his muscles began shrinking.
"I said no one asked you to hold her down. Personally, you guys were Plan B." Sonic said before flinching at the glare he gave him, "Alright...Ahem. Yo Roll. It's me...Sonic. You uh..." he held up her belongings, "You dropped these."
"..."
"...Ok. Don't think those are working together…" Sonic whispered before holding up her ribbon, "You recognize this? It's the ribbon I gave ya on the day we, well, bonded...the very same day I talked verbally for the first time since, well, ever." he slowly approached, managing to barely avoid the burst of flames from her mouth, "I'm still convinced with what I told ya when you first put it on, Roll. You look a lot prettier when you have your hair pulled back." he avoided another blast of flames and managed to get the ribbon on her, "See? Even...even like this, you still do."
"..."
"And this…" Sonic continued as he held up the necklace, "This is special to you...very special. You always kept it on ya at all times…" he avoided another blast of flames, "Not once have I seen you without this on you. Even when we met as kids, you refused to take it off. Remember when you gave Manic a black eye when he took it just that one time?" he avoided another gout of flames to get it on her, "Come on, Roll. I know you're in there. I need you. I need the speed maiden with a love of strawberries. I need the young woman who cares deeply for her friends and family. I need…" Roll managed to force the pillar off her in time for Sonic to hug her as Gorilla fell over, his muscles gone, "I need you more than anything else."
Roll gave heavy breaths as her hands twitched a bit, ready to scratch the hedgehog's back as her ten tails swayed a bit, as if waiting to strike. She wanted to strike this intruder down, and yet...some part of her wouldn't...that wouldn't let this familiar warmth go away. She shook her head, snarling as she tried to attack again, only...to stop once more with her nails inches away from his back.
"This hug ain't ending 'till you turn back or tear me to sherds. Which one it'll be... that's something your heart's gonna have to tell you," Sonic told her.
Roll kept trying to strike him, only to freeze up each and every time. She began to breathe heavier and quicker before letting out another roar and started to struggle out of his grip. Sonic kept holding on to the transformed hedgehog-vixen hybrid, refusing to let go. She stumbled and fell into one of the pools before jumping out with Sonic holding onto her tails before she lunged at the floor and tore into it with her claws, digging a tunnel out of the area.
"Sir Yamato! Sir Yamato, we must make haste!" Caliburn called.
"Five more...minutes…" Gorilla replied, shakily holding up a hand to point upwards.
"...Okay, that's it. I'm asking," Elephant stated before turning to Tiger and pointed at the truck behind them with the carrier behind it open, exposing several dozen crates of strawberries, "How?!"
"A girl has her ways," Tiger giggled.
"That does not explain anything!" Elephant replied, stamping a foot.
"Doesn't matter 'how,'" Lion replied, "Why did Yamato want all these anyway?"
"I'd explain...but Tusk would ask how or why, and Sela would just nod her head, and Leo...you would just stare at the strawberries and not understand," Tiger explained.
"What?" Lion turned his attention back to them.
"Honestly…" Shark sighed before looking at the ground in the middle of the four, "Everyone? Back away from here...now."
"Huh? What? I wasn't listening," Lion noted, looking away from the strawberries once more as the other three were backing away, "...Hey. Why are you all backing away?" he paused for a moment and sniffed under his arms, "It's not me."
After a moment of silence, Roll burst forth from the ground, staring directly at Lion...who lost all color in his body as he shrank down, giving a frightened mew. She was about to knock him aside before her nose caught the whiff of something. Something juicy...something sweet...something...delicious… She turned her head to the truck. Sonic, still holding onto her tails, yelped when she lunged for them, her tails' movement smacking Lion with Sonic and knocking the Zyuohger into the air in a backspin that ended with him landing on Shark. The moment Roll was in the truck, Tiger and Elephant quickly closed it and Tiger froze the doors.
"Now w..." Elephant began before the truck began to violently rock back and forth, even faintly jumping off the ground a few times.
"OFF!" Shark barked, punting Lion off before she got up, "Was that Roll? With Sonic hugging her tail?"
"Tails," Tiger corrected, "She had ten tails. ...She had ten tails…" she slowly looked towards Lion, shivering a bit, "You...you were very lucky the strawberries distracted her..."
"I think I saw my life flash before my eyes…" Lion whispered, "...Man, we got in trouble after I punched that fat pig on the council in Sally's kingdom."
"...I would argue with that, but he did have that coming after not only trying to have Sally arrested for treason, but also for trying to have Nicole deleted," Shark stated.
A stack of green energy coins appeared in the arena before dispersing to reveal Naria and a group of Moebas carrying bags.
"Recover them," Naria ordered before the Moebas saluted and ran off, picking up and putting the scattered bodies into the bags, "And make sure not to miss anything. Ginis-sama wants them all."
Gorilla grunted, managing to use Caliburn to stand up, "What are you doing?" he grunted, only to fall over, pulling Caliburn out of the ground, "My body...has nothing left to give…" he grunted, trying to push himself up.
Naria turned and moved to grab her weapon, only to stop when Ginis sent her a message.
=No, no… Not that one, I want that one alive=
"Hai…" she sighed, walking off, "Begin administering the Continues." she ordered as the Moebas finished gathering the deceased.
"E-Eh?" Gorilla gasped.
"To start…" Naria began before a Moeba held up the hand that had been severed from Roll, "It…"
=That came from the Apex Predator. Bring it= Ginis ordered.
"...Of course, Ginis-sama."
"What are you…" Gorilla grunted, trying harder to push himself back up.
"This Continue is a gift from Ginis-sama," Naria informed, kissing a Continue before slotting it into a slot on Quizon's suit.
"Oh...Bugger," Caliburn frowned as Quizon reformed and grew into a giant.
"THANK YOU, NARIA!" Quizon declared.
"Well that's our cue," Elephant noted, looking up at the giant that emerged from the now-destroyed warehouse.
"Consider what he's done, I am glad Roll's busy and not gonna stream this," Tiger noted, the truck still rattling.
"Question...Where's Yamato? You know, the guy who makes the arms...and forms the head of all our robots?" Lion asked.
"I regret explaining that joke to you…" Shark sighed, "AH! But he makes a point! Yamato!"
"Oh him you worry about!"
"Not now!"
"Amu jumped into the hole he came out of," Elephant informed.
"Aw come on!" Shark exclaimed.
"We can at least run interference until she finds him," Elephant noted.
"Let's kick this jerk's floating butt!" Lion roared, pulling out Cube Lion.
"Ladies and gentleman! It's showt...!" Quizon began before Cube Lion bit onto the saucer that let him float and began spinning him around before chucking him into the distance, "Ahh! Rude!"
"Says the kidnapper!" Lion roared, "AND YOUR SHOW SUCKED!"
"WHAT?!" Quizon roared, whipping out his mic connected to a chain connected to a scythe, "That's it! I am following a fellow host's advice! It's Neutering Time!"
Cube Lion and Lion let out strangled mewled squeaks. Shark and Elephant facepalmed as Cube Lion ran around in a circle with Quizon giving chase, throwing his scythe to try to grab the cube animal multiple times.
"Yamato!" Tiger called, entering the arena, "Yamato!"
"Lady Amu, over here!" Caliburn called, earning the tiger's attention to see Caliburn and Gorilla the only ones there.
"OH!" Tiger beamed in relief as she ran over, "Daijobu?"
"Tired...used up all my strength to hold Roll back…" Gorilla replied.
"She had ten tails," Tiger noted.
"Indeed. We saw," Caliburn noted, "Lady Amu, may I ask that you grasp Sir Yamato's mask and pull it down for him?"
"Hai hai," she said, doing so as he reverted to Eagle.
"Ah…" he gasped as his body relaxed slightly.
"Can you move?" she asked, helping him stand.
"Only...a little…" he grunted, "But...enough to get in the robot…"
"Good. Though...which one?" Caliburn asked, "You have King, Wild, and their combined form."
"GAO! YOU LEAVE LEO AND LEO JR'S LEO JRs ALONE!"
"And once again, Knave Leo proves himself once more," Caliburn muttered.
"It's...useful for time...and distractions," Eagle spoke, pulling out his Cube Animals, "Let's go, boys…" he sighed before tossing them into the air, "Dobotsu Dai Gatai!"
"Eh?" Quizon blinked, stopping in his chase to look..only to end up getting hit by the grown cubes.
=WILD ZYUOH KING~!=
"Kasei! Wild Zyuoh King!" the Zyuohgers declared.
"Oh, now that's a big contestant!" Quizon gulped.
"Gh…." Eagle grunted, moving the controller.
"No time to waste!" Shark spoke.
"He hurt our friend...you guys made it personal…" Elephant added.
"You won't get away with just a regular beating!" Tiger growled.
"This time we're gonna cut loose!" Lion roared.
"Fine! Then let the final Physical challenge begi…!" Quizon began before he was punched in the face hard.
"AND ENOUGH QUIZ SHOW PUNS!"
=CUBE KUMA!=
"Kuma Axe!" the Zyuohgers shouted as they slashed Quizon, making him skid back, "Kuma Axe Zyuoh Impact!" they roared, swinging upward with such force the blade caught fire as it struck and sent Quizon flying up into the air and then into the upper atmosphere, "Zyuoh Dynamic ...STRIKE!" they roared as Wild Zyuoh King swung his arms up then down before unleashing the multicolored blast which struck Quizon and carried him up into space, where he exploded brightly, the shockwave shaking the Deathgalien's ship knocking all but Ginis over.
"Well...that happened," Ginis noted as the others got back up.
"Oh..that...was a terrible Id-" Quval began before Orbot and Cubot bounced off his head, "D'oh!"
"Have you two been hiding in the vents this whole time?" Ginis asked.
"Yes...very much so…" Orbot groaned.
"I am Groot…" Cubot replied as he got up, only to spark a bit as he gained a more orange color, "Let me tell ya somethin', giant chess piece alien: Cubot was not hiding!"
"...What did you call Ginis-sama?" Naria asked, stomping on Cubot and forcing him into his compact form.
"I apologize for him," Orbot rapidly bowed to Ginis, "This...mostly happens with Cubot when he receives a hit to the head due to his personality chip malfunctioning."
"Then maybe it's time he was recycled…" Naria spoke.
"Naria...I find the cube one rather entertaining," Ginis laughed.
"You live for a time 'till you are no longer...funny," Naria whispered, kicking Cubot letting him bounce off a wall and then off Azald's head.
"I'm back!" Azald laughed, ignoring that, "I put Squishy in bed. Though...Think Squishy will be sad about his toys being squished."
"Oh, that reminds me...I need to greet them when they wake up," Ginis grunted, standing up, "It seems I healed them too much...they look less...cyborg."
"...Huh?" Azald tilted his head as Ginis left, "...Does that mean I can't give the chin-chilli-thingy another spoon?
"It was you?!" Quval exclaimed.
"...BAH!" Lien-Da gasped as she shot up, panting a bit as sweat dripped down her face, "What just happened?! Did...did I die?! ...AGAIN?!"
"Yes…" Ginis laughed as she turned to see him standing over her, "Oh...the looks of pain on all your faces as you regenerated. Though…" he snapped his fingers as a mirror formed in front of him, "I may have healed your bodies to much."
"?!" Lien-Da's eyes widened as she looked at her reflection, taking a closer look as she touched various parts of herself. She even noticed that her dreadlocks...were normal and not metal, "...You...you De-Legionized us..."
"Wasn't my fault...you shouldn't have died," he argued childishly as the mirror vanished into dust which went back inside his body, "Though...my power works on the cellular level...the technology within you might very well still be in you...just...smaller...more compact...and less detectable by magnets." he rambled for a bit, "Honestly, it's interesting. I think instead of cyborgs, I made you all mutants."
"...I...I'm sorry...Mutants?!"
"I'm an all powerful ultimate life form, a galactic genius of mechanics and physics...but I'm not all knowing, my dear," he explained, holding his hand out, "If you want to know what you are...just...try using your powers?" he offered as he reformed his hand into a giant sword, "What's the harm of...an experiment?" he chuckled drawing his finger along the blade.
"...I would, but...that...thing destroyed my whips a-" Lien-Da began as she held her hand out, causing an electrical energy whip to appear in it, "?!"
"Oh my dear...you are no longer what you used to be. I'm sure that, in time, you'll discover oh so many more possibilities."
"...Soka," Lien-Da turned to see Conquering Storm sitting up, her looking completely normal as electricity coursed through her fingers, "...if you do not mind, Ginis-sama...I wish to see Eggman for payback."
"YOU STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" Thunderbolt snapped as she shot up.
"..."
"..."
"...what?"
"A...are you...a bit taller than normal?" Lien-Da asked, noticing the chinchilla was a bit taller than her usual height.
"Well I'm tempted to say no...but...ehehe if it's cathartic…" Ginis spoke, holding up a Continue Medal, "Be sure to put this on him when you're done," he laughed, putting the coin on the floor, "I'm...interested to see what it can do to such a weak and...fragile lifeform."
"...LORD EGGMAN~!" Thunderbolt screamed as she ran out of the room, grabbing the coin as she did.
"Ugh...enough with the noise. Do i need to…" Hood began as he and the other Grand Masters began to wake up, "...Ahh! Why are my legs and tail combined?! I…I am a naga..."
"Oh god he survived…" Lien-Da sighed.
"...Interesting…" Maw noted, feeling his jaw as he looked himself over, "Cellular regeneration...something not even Eggman is capable of outside of reverse engineering Robotization...what was once metal…" he looked over at Tundra and Akhlut, who seemed to glare at one another for a moment before looking at themselves, "Is now flesh again...no...something...more."
"It's...amazing," Lien-Da smirked, "We really did make the smartest decision ever...Ginis can revive us even if we do die...as long as we are with him, we're essentially immortal."
"So long as we keep in his good graces and 'amuse' him," Maw noted.
"...Of course," Conquering Storm nodded, "...What will you do with Eggman, Ginis-sama?"
"Oh, he still has some uses...once he wakes up of c…" Ginis began before a low, dark wheezing laugh filled the air, "?"
"Well...it seems quite a lot has changed since I've been asleep…" the voice spoke as Thunderbolt ran back into the room, quivering as she hid in a corner.
"You used the medal to awaken him, didn't you?" Ginis asked, "Fantastic!" he laughed, "I've never given it to something still alive!"
"Oh...I'm so much more than that, my lord…" the voice replied as Eggman walked into the room.
"...Wait...that laugh...those eyes…" Lien-Da whispered, noticing Eggman's eyes were fully black with the pupils and sclera a menacing red, "...no…."
"Gh?!" Hood tensed as he flipped his table over and hid behind it, "No...I thought when Sonic broke him, he'd never come back to that...thing again…"
"Oh come now, Mordred...you sound like Snively when something doesn't go as planned…" Eggman explained as his eyes glowed a bit, "Or when one of you got me…angry…"
"Th...that is not Lord Eggman…" Thunderbolt whimpered, "That...that's not him at all."
"...The tyrant returns it seems…" Akhlut noted, getting Ginis' attention.
"The man you've seen up to this point was not how he truly is," Tundra explained.
"He is correct...so allow me to properly to introduce myself, Lord Ginis, " Eggman began as he bowed a bit, "I am Dr. Ivo Robotnik...Mobius' true master…"
"Interesting," Ginis chuckled.
"Whatever you need, milord...enslavement, robotization, shattering dreams...pulling those filled with hope into an endless pit of despair…" Eggman...no, Robotnik began as he smirked darkly, "I...am at your command…"
Ginis chuckled, "Ah, this is truly a day of wonders."
"So...Why have you not melted the ice?" Aphrodite asked, the four Mobians of the Zyuohgers trying to not look at her before the truck's trailer, still covered in a sheet of ice, "It did stop its shaking just before you started getting back here, am I right?"
"Not until we were halfway to the house," Tusk replied.
"Mm-hmm," Aphrodite crossed her arms under her chest.
=Well, bioscans indicate that both are asleep= Skye noted with Nicole nodding in agreement.
"So why did Roll have ten tails and looked like she was on fire?" Leo asked.
"Dangerous technique only she could use," Aphrodite replied, "Now cease the distractions and open this door. And quietly at that since Yamato-san requires rest."
"Aw…" Sticks and Leo whined, lowering the sticks of dynamite the badger had handed to Leo.
"Just open it…" Tusk sighed, "After dealing with two GIFTS in a row, and a giant monster...I've more than earned the right to rest."
"May I?" Tails offered.
"You may," Amu replied.
Tails walked up to the frozen doors and pulled out a small yellow and red toy-like gun. He aimed it at the ice and pulled the trigger. A gout of flames erupted from the gun and hit the ice. After several minutes, Tails stopped holding down the trigger and smirked at the bright red doors and no trace of ice. He pulled out a blue and white version of the gun and pulled it's trigger, firing a stream of cold water that hit the heated doors, letting out a hiss of steam. After a few minutes, he stopped and the doors fell off, landing on Tusk and Leo.
"Tails…" Amu put her hands on her hips.
"Sorry…" he chuckled.
"Ah...not so loud…." Roll's voice groaned as she staggered out, holding her head a bit while all the red on her had vanished with her eyes normal aside from them being slit, "Make the world stop spinning~" one of her tails whacked her in the face, knocking her down, "ITE!"
"You may want these," Aphrodite offered Roll her notebooks.
"E...Eh? Oh, Arigatou," Roll thanked, quickly looking through them before looking around once she read them, "Ano...Kaa-san? Why am in a truck's trailer with broken crates that seem to have had strawberries in them?" she looked down, "Eep! What happened to my clothes?!"
"I'm on it!" Amu declared, swinging her arms and-in one motion-dressed Roll in a pair of pants and a T-shirt.
"Arigatou, Amu-chan," Roll sighed in relief, her ten tails all wagging, "...Eh?" she looked over her shoulder at the ten tails with white tips, "...Ohhh…" her ears dropped as she slowly looked to Aphrodite, "I...did that, didn't I?"
"Yes," she nodded.
"Don't worry. Yamato was smart and used Sonic to save you!" Amu explained, pointing at the snoozing blue hedgehog in a turned over crate, "We got the truck, though, so we earn...10 percent of the credit."
"...How bad was it?" Roll asked.
=We hacked a signal being sent to the Dethgaliens' ship in space= Skye explained =You, uh...completely decimated your obstacles...except for Azald. You kept breaking him apart, but he kept reforming until time ran out=
"The Deathgaliens took the...wounded...and used Ginis's continue power to restore them," Yamato added, being helped by Amy and Miyuki.
"Yamato-san, I thought I had you go lie down," Aphrodite scolded, "You look like you're on the verse of passing out, for love's sake."
"I had to be sure she was okay," he explained with a smile.
=He's so damn charming…= Skye sighed =Why could our daughter not kiss him first?=
"Skye," Aphrodite scolded.
=What? I'm joking=
"Did...Did H…"
"Your mom knocked him out while keeping his eyes covered so he didn't see what you did to Hood," Amy replied, "What you did...was completely nuts."
"Amy," Miyuki noted.
"You saw it, too," Amy replied, "She didn't even toy with them. Just one or two hits and nothing else!" Roll flinched at that, "Why is that even a thing?!"
=You'd have to ask Enma Daiou themself for that= Skye noted.
"Did...Did I hurt anyone here?" Roll asked.
"No," Miyuki assured, "Just tired Yamato-san out in the arena and, apparently, Sonic-san in the trailer, kyu."
"Don't," Amu said, raising her hand and slamming the back of her fist into Leo's face, knocking him back over.
"You are an Apex Predator," Sticks noted, "...Does this mean you won't hunt us since we're in your pack?"
"Wha? H-Hunt?! Eh? N-No! No hunting! Not from me!" Roll replied, shaking her head quickly until two of her tails slapped herself, "Ite! Mmm...I'll need a few days to deal with these..."
"You'll have plenty of time," Yamato sighed, "Oh...one more thing kinda...sorta...happened…" he chuckled sheepishly, "We...kinda need to make a call to the insurance company."
"What happened? Is the house okay?" Roll asked.
"The house is fine," Amy assured, "But your cafe…"
"You see, the monster said he sent you a gift...in short," Yamato went on.
"Word play is a bitch!" Leo blurted.
*WHAM!*
"Great uncle Augustus was a doberman," Aphrodite noted as Leo twitched, his head stuck in the ground as Roll's ten tails moved away from him, "His wife enjoyed their time."
"Doberman Pinscher?" Yamato asked.
"No, Doberman bit her," Aphrodite replied, "Strange thing, I know. But everyone loves something."
"Mou...Why is it always the cafe~?" Roll whined, slumping.
"That's why I took out a Sentai Shenanigans Protection Plan on the cafe," Yamato chuckled.
"...If I was not happily bonded to Sonikku and Amu-chan did not call dibs, this would earn you a Bond Kiss," Roll informed.
"Hahaha...Wait. Amu did what?" he asked confused.
"And…" Sela waited as he finally passed out from his exhaustion, "I expect him to forget the last part when he wakes up."
"Ah, so much for that," Aphrodite shrugged as Amu sighed in relief.
Ginis laughed as he looked over the data he collected from today's game. He then looked at a vial which had a sample of blood in it. He picked it up and spun it around to see its tag. 'Subject name: Roll Harmonia Sakurai.'
"I must admit...to make me learn your name, little predator...You are wonderful...from a genetic standpoint. Oh…" he plugged it into a device, "I have plans...so many plans…" he spoke while turning around to a humanoid figure chained to a wall, "Oh...so many plans...and now...I have the perfect bonding agent...Mmhahahaha…" he laughed, his eyes glowing, "Hahahahaha!"
GT: *in a straightjacket in a cage with Z0 locking it* Ohh...This won't end well.
Z0: No...no it will not. *tosses a puppy into the cage with GT* He'll keep you company...but your punishment will be...no cuddles!
GT: Aw...But puppies are cuddly! They deserve the cuddles!
Z0: Yes, but...then it wouldn't be a punishment. Also...this is the only thing that works on you…
GT: Curses. Should not have told you how much I love puppies. Still, I am glad. Finally got this out of my system and it could actually be used for plot development!
Z0: Exactly why we let you do it. But that doesn't excuse what you did to the kitchen in your madman inspiration mode! You broke the toaster...how am I supposed to make my toaster strudel now! And don't say Microwave it just makes them soggy!
SZ: *twitches on the floor* zzzz...r...read and review...and...preview...zzz…
Z0: He's fine...maybe...anybody know a doctor? Preview time!
Yamato: Eh? Sonic is wanted? Again!?
Sonic: I didn't do it...Wait, what didn't I do?
?: Sentai, do not interfere or else you will be arrested for interfering with GUN, Terrorist scum!
Skye: =If this is about the stolen satellite...then yeah, you're arresting the right guy, officers=
?: You 'heroes' have terrorized the Earth long enough...Let GUN handle these threats from now on.
Roll: That's not Sonikku on this video.
Amy: Not him one bit.
?: It all starts with this...a jewel containing the ultimate power.
Yamato: This is insane… Why are they suddenly believing Super Sentai are the bad guys?
?: Because...none of their boys...were on my Level. And neither are you...Zyuohgers.
Ch 16: Shadow over The World!
Bud: Even in the past, we've caused something horrible…
GT: Hoo boy...Next arc is gonna suck for a lot of characters in this!
Z0: Time to bring in the infamous…*blurted for nonsensical spoiler reasons for just messing with the reader* wow that was the longest censor I ever put on myself...and I'm proud of it!
GT: Yep.
Z0: And good night everybody!