Chapter Thirteen – The Mobian Authorities
With seven of the nine friends out of the prison, and running for the outskirts of Empire City, and safety, Sukko had to quickly derive up a new plan for the final two comrades. The two male Hedgehogs, the most powerful Chaos Creatures of the group, next to himself and Sonic. He could see them in the tower, under maximum security, and suspecting as soon as they pulled them out, the alarms would go off. So Sukko watched the others head, into Empire City, quickly finding what appeared to be a empty warehouse to hunker down in. It was impressive and suspected the Bat was behind it. He put a mental lock on her just incase of a quick get away. Sonic did tell Sukko she worked with Shadow. But he despised Orbing blind, as not knowing where you were landing when teleporting could get you killed, but he might not have the choice.
He heaved, and guided Blaze slowly up the tower. It was heaving with security, pushing Sukko's Telepathy very hard just to deal with them. Blaze panted as she climbed the tower. The night had been hard worked, all the running around, but she had prepared for it. Suddenly, the Sorcerer went very quiet on her. She heaved.
"Sukko, hang in there." She whispered under her breath. But there was a pause, before Sukko finally replied. He panted.
{Princess, I'm fine. Just catching my breath, that's all. I have been doing a lot of high-level casting. I can take it, but it's not over yet.} He informed, then he smiled. {Oh, and thank you, by the way.} He added. But Blaze frowned, as she climbed more stairs.
"For what?" She heaved, out of breath. Sukko smiled.
{For calling me 'one of your own.'} He beamed. {I'm deeply honoured.} He admitted. But Blaze just smiled and rolled her eyes.
"Well, you earned it." She beamed. "You saved my kingdom." She whispered. "But now we have Mobius to fix. Your plan, to do that, will it work?" She heaved, still incredibly uncertain. Sukko deeply sighed.
{If I have enough power left in the tank, then yes.} He added, but Blaze could feel fear on him. She knew why. He went completely all-out against the Dark Fire Golem to save her kingdom, but the horrendous mental trauma that caused, Sukko only just came back to her. To do it again, so soon, he could potentially completely loose himself. She could loose him. But the strength she could feel on him, there was no way she was going to talk him out of it. He was saving Mobius, whatever the cost. She also knew his brother wasn't going to like it, but it was the only way the end the prosecution of the Chaos Creatures.
Suddenly, Sukko stopped Blaze, making her hide. They were at the top of the tower. He in his illusionary map ahead of him, he could see two telepathic mind beacons at the top of the tower. One close to the middle of the tower and the other, towards the edge. The more central beacon having a significant red tint to the normal blue. Sukko frowned.
'Shadow!' He hissed in his thoughts. But his strange location in the tower puzzled the Sorcerer. He had no map of the tower. He just had a hollow shell containing the beacons. No room layouts, corridors, nothing. Up to now, his educated guesswork of the prison layout had got him through and his brother's friends out. Here he was blind. Now he would have to put his entire faith in the Princess. He wasn't happy about doing it. He'd never trust anyone that much before, and if he did, he's always been betrayed. His cover against the Mobian Authorities almost being blown.
But this was Blaze, and the circumstances very different, and for this brother, anything. He heaved.
{Blaze, I don't have a map of the tower. I can't guide you, because I don't know the room layouts. Two minds are up there, as well as your own. No guards. One mind is towards the centre, Stripes, the other towards the edge.} He sighed. Blaze piped up, frowning.
"Silver!" She hissed under her breath. Sukko nodded.
{I suspect so. I suggest we go after him first. Stripe's location looks bizarre, heavily suggesting he's not in a prison cell.} He wondered. Blaze then gasped in horror.
"A laboratory." She gulped. Sukko sighed.
{I wouldn't be surprised from what Sonikku told me about him, with him being created, not born. All I can tell you is that Stripes is ahead of you and Silver to your left. Nothing more I'm afraid. I suspect there are walls between you and them.} He informed. {I could extend my Telekinesis and feel my way around the tower, but that would be very draining.} He admitted, but Blaze growled, shutting him down.
"No, that won't be necessary. I can find them on my own." She hissed. "You've done enough," She smiled. "Just back me up. You do have a get out plan, don't you?" She added. Sukko beamed, and then heaved.
{Of course, I do.} He smiled. He did. It was a last resort, and it was now looking more likely that he'd have to use it. Then he sighed, proud of his Princess. {Alright, if your sure.} He beamed, holding up his hand and concentrated his Magic on her. Blaze shuddered, feeling his immense power in her mind, and all around her. It was incredible but she knew it. It felt exactly the same as Sonic's Super-Speed, the one time he'd carry her at Mach One, just significantly more concentrated. It was soothing, warm, and very trusting, and gave her a huge confidence boost. She heaved. Time to do this.
She immediately went directly left, hitting a wall, in the darkness. She silently moved along it until she found a door. It was locked. She smirked, as a simple request to the mighty Sorcerer, got it open. She slowly went through it to indeed find a laboratory. Through the darkness, it was fitting out with all sorts of strange pieces of equipment. But As Blaze looked around, she largely ignored that as Silver was nowhere to be seen. She noticed a door opposite her, and slide around the edge of the lab to it, of which Sukko opened.
Ahead, another lab, also shrouded in darkness, but this time and more importantly, there was a singular cage-like prison cell at the end, with someone sleeping inside.
"Silver." She squealed, and ran around the lab to him, of which Sukko opened the door. She ran in and shook the Hedgehog in his bed, but he just mumbled, heavily sedated. She cried.
"Sukko, I can't wake him." She sniffed. But the Blue Hedgehog smirked.
{If he's just sedated, Princess, then I can. Remember, I am a Doctor as well as a Sorcerer. Permission to cast through you?} He asked. Blaze's eyes widened. Through her? She gulped, but as she looked out of the window and saw the deep night sky slowly beginning to brighten, she realised she'd been in the prison for far too long. She heaved.
"Do it." She growled, under her breath. Sukko grinned.
{Alright. Place your hand on his forehead, and brace yourself, this is going to be hefty.} He smiled, as Blaze did as she was asked and gritted her teeth. Sukko concentrated the Magic on the her still further and pushed it hard. Through the Telepathic link he'd created with the Princess, the Magic came, and wow, was it powerful. She squealed but held herself steady. She felt her eyes burn and then the Magic went down her arm and into Silver. He glowed bright blue, and then suddenly, he awoken with a start. Sukko immediately pulled the Magic and Blaze had to very quickly grab Silver by the mouth to stop him from screaming. She managed, just. He was streaming with tears, and only when his eyes adjusted for the darkness, did he realise who it was. He squealed with delight.
"Blaze." He giggled, and grabbed her for a hug. But she was unimpressed, pushing him off of her.
"Shh." She spat. "Otherwise you'll get us caught." She growled. Silver immediately silenced. He sniffed.
"No more experiments, I can't take any more. They had been trying to remove my Psychokinesis from me, but failed. The Mobian Authorities can't control the Chaos Creatures so they are trying to remove our powers from us, for their own ends. Thankfully, I still have mine. But it has been excruciatingly painful." He shuddered, his hand glowing with a beautiful cyan aura of his Psychokinesis to prove it. But Blaze shut him down, stopping him.
"Don't. The light." She hissed. "It might be seen." She added, and Silver immediately stopped terrified. Sukko's Magic also produced light, but he was far more canny with it then Silver, and Blaze trusted him more. Silver was a loose cannon, and needed to be heavily reigned in. But he whimpered.
"What about Shadow?" He asked, whispering. "I've heard him screaming from that direction." He pointed towards a wall, towards the centre of the tower. But Blaze frowned.
"There's no way you could remove the Chaos Powers from Shadow, he's too strong." She wondered. But then they looked at each other. There was only one answer. You couldn't, and if the Mobian Authorities couldn't have Shadow's power then they'd just take 'him'.
Brain washing.
Immediately, Blaze and Silver ran back through the two labs and back into the main hall, and then towards Shadow's mental beacon. They quietly slide along the wall, thankful that the alarms hadn't been set off with Silver's release, but they both suspected they wouldn't be so lucky with Shadow.
Finally, Blaze found a door. It was locked. Silver smirked.
"I'll open it." He squealed, but then the door clicked directly behind her, making the Hedgehog stare. She rolled her eyes.
"Not necessary, Silver, and please trust me, keep your powers to yourself. I have powerful backup, a guy on the outside, someone I deeply trust. He'll help me get Shadow out." She scowled, and fixed Silver with such a hard stare, that he backed right off. But Blaze could hear someone giggling in the back of her mind. Sukko grinned.
{Deeply trust?} He smirked, sarcastically. But Blaze just stopped and smiled. Finally, the sarcasm was back. It took it's time, but it caused the Princess to just roll her eyes.
"Shut it." She smirked with a giggle, as she entered the room. It was an enormous square laboratory with even more unusually equipment which seemed to be arranged in a circle surrounding a central table. Someone was heavily strapped to it, by both his arms and feet, and across his chest, his eyes deeply closed. He was incredibly difficult to see in the darkness, but his deep crimson stripes gave him away. They both gasped in horror.
"Shadow!" She breathed. Finally, they'd found him. They both ran for him, gently sliding between the equipment in the lab, so not to touch anything. They both stood either side of him, desperately trying to shake him awake.
Nothing. Blaze swore.
"Sukko, I can't wake him." She hissed again. Silver stared in utter confusion.
"Who?" He asked, but Blaze brushed him off. The Sorcerer frowned.
{Let me try.} He asked, as the Princess nodded, as she place her hand on Shadow's forehead. The intense Magic flowed and upon seeing it's light, Silver squealed, rather loudly, only for Blaze to grab him with her other hand. She growled.
"Quiet." She spat. But she could feel the Sorcerer desperately struggling. Whatever he tried, he couldn't wake the Ultimate Lifeform either. He swore. Suddenly, he saw a problem, as the mind beacons of multiply guards began to rush the bottom of the tower, to go up, as well as voices around the outside of his garage again.
Times up.
He had to intervene. He really didn't want to, but he could feel Silver about to outright panic, which would cause chaos, not that Shadow's release wasn't going to do that already. He dived straight from Shadow's mind, to do something he really didn't like doing. The absolute peak of Telepathic skill. Mind control. There was no way they were going to carry the Ultimate Lifeform out of there. He was just too heavy.
Suddenly, Shadow's eyes opened, glowing bright blue, and he extremely quickly sat up, snapping his chest restraints, and one of the arm's, and grabbed the now screaming Silver, hard and very coldly in the mouth, instantly silencing him. He growled.
"The lady said 'quiet'" He hissed. Silver whimpered, nodding vigorously. But Blaze's jaw dropped. She gulped.
"Sukko?" She panted. "Mind control." She added. But Sukko just smirked, inside Shadow, rolling his eyes. He grinned.
"Well, what did you expect me to do? You can't exactly carry him, and I can't wake him either. Plus time's up. Guards are heading up the tower." He heaved, then he looked down at the other restraints on his other arm and feet. He smirked. "Let's see how strong Stripes really is." He added, pushing hard against the straps and they broke with relatively little effect. Sukko gasped. "Whoa." He heaved. "One word. Very." He smirked, of which he jumped off the table. That was when the alarms went off. A extremely loud blaring siren sounding, with red lights flashing everywhere. Sukko grinned. "Ok, time to go." He giggled, running for the door, of which he almost stumbled. He looked down, confused. "Weird shoes." He paused, unable to get his head around their odd design. He could barely run in them, but they was no time to hang around, and work it out.
Out of the lab into the main hall, Sukko looked around and spied a door that potentially lead to where he want to go. The roof. He unlocked the door, and to his delight saw stairs, and ran for them, immediately followed by the other two. Suddenly, they bust out onto the roof and ran for the far end, just as dawn was breaking. Blaze panicked, desperately looking to Shadow.
"Now what?" She squealed. But Sukko just smirked as he looked over the edge of the tower, to suddenly hear voices behind him.
"Halt." A voice commanded, causing Sukko to swear. The guards had caught up with them much faster then he'd anticipated. He been distracted with the voices outside his garage, still searching the area. He turned Shadow around to face their pursuers. At the opposite end of the roof, guards lined the entire side, all pointing guns at them, with a large as a mean looking Rat, with a heavily scared face, in a black suit, baring down of them, with a small Mouse scientist on a large white coat next to him. The Mobian Authorities had finally found him. Not that they knew it. The Sorcerer smirked, not saying a word. Blaze grabbed Silver and they both cowered behind Shadow. The grey Hedgehog wasn't experience enough for this type of fight though Blaze was deeply curious how Sukko would take it. She knew how Sonic would deal with it, but the Sorcerer wasn't the Blue Blur. Upon seeing Shadow, the Rat faltered.
"Shadow!" He stammered, and then he suddenly bore down on the scientist beside him. "What's going on?" He roared. But the Mouse just panicked, searching though the papers on his clipboard, he had in his hand.
"He's broken free of his control." He gulped. "I don't understand, the Nanobots were working perfectly." He stammered but Shadow's eyes seemed to glaze over, as the Sorcerer seemed to leave him. Back in the garage, Sukko frowned. Suddenly Blaze heard the mighty Sorcerer in her mind, again. He growled.
{Nanobots?} He puzzled. {So that's why I couldn't wake him. I could feel something in his blood that, as a Doctor, I knew shouldn't be there, but I didn't know what.} He heaved, then he smirked. {Nanobots.} He repeated, deeply thinking. {If there's one thing I learned as the brother of the Hero of Mobius, especially in the fight against Eggman, is that fire and robots don't mix. Stripes, I'm really sorry, but this is going to hurt.} He added, and suddenly, to Blaze's absolute horror, Shadow's body while still stood up began to violent shake and then suddenly explode into deep vivid blue flames. Sukko, pushing his distance casting to the limit, send the fabled blue fire straight for the Ultimate Lifeform. But Shadow didn't spontaneously combust. Finally, he awoke to deep excruciating pain, that made him scream. He could feel the intense heat concentrate on his veins, as the bright blue lines criss-crossed his entire body and the Nanobots within. Everyone was so stunned that they all just stood there watching.
Shadow was dumbfounded. Whomever was doing this, they were definitely helping him, so, despite the horrendous pain, he didn't resist. He wasn't stupid. Despite his past, he now knew kindness when he saw it. He believed he never break free from those machines. But as the heat quickly burned out the Nanobots, especially those in his brain, he recognised something, though he didn't know how. The power, the feeling. He knew it. He frowned.
'Sonic?' He thought. But it couldn't be. He knew the Blue Blur. He didn't have this kind of power. His confusion deepened. Then who?
Sukko from within the garage, pushed hard, and was extremely grateful that Shadow didn't fight back, successfully vaporised the Nanobots from his system. Finally, he let go of him and the both of them were left heaving and panting on the floor. Shadow was immediately pulled to his feet by Silver and Blaze, his temper now fuming at the Mobian Authorities opposite. He was free and ready for a fight, but Sukko had other ideas.
He was expert at reading a situation, and knew the shock of seeing Shadow vaporise those Nanobots, was going to give a millisecond's lull, he was keen to take advantage of. The Sorcerer, having quickly regained his composure, he dissipated all of his Magic and suddenly exploded into hundreds of bright white Orbs, teleporting out of there, just as the doors of the garage were flunk open.
The Rat and the Mouse scientist were absolutely dumbfounded. Not only had Shadow broken free of their almighty grip, but he'd just destroyed millions of Mobian dollars worth of technology. The Rat growled in anger.
"How?" He roared. "What Magic is this?" He growled. He hadn't made the connection between Shadow's release and Chaos Sorcery, he just used 'a turn of phase', not understanding the situation, but for Sukko, who had landed on the roof, within his Cloak of Invisibility, as he could teleport behind it, it was just too good to resist. The child-like element of his bloodline deciding to show itself.
Suddenly, the mighty Sorcerer appeared on the roof out of nowhere, running straight for the very Ugly Rat. His long royal Blue quills streaming out the back, his long black coat flapping in the wind, his bright green eyes glaring. He growled.
"It's mine." He grinned, as he jumped into the air, he scrunched his hand into a fist, and threw it back. He roared hard, his temper flaring badly, he threw his fist forwards and straight across the Rat's nose, knocking the Mobian right off his feet, immediately throwing him to the floor. The Mouse scientist only just dodging being squashed.
There was pandemonium. But for the Sorcerer, it was perfect, before any bullets could be fired, he immediately ran for an absolutely gobsmacked Silver, Shadow and Blaze, and to their horrors, he didn't stop. Sukko then threw out his arms and sent everyone including himself off the roof of the tower and plummeting to the ground below. They screamed.
Sukko, on the other hand, didn't and rolled his eyes, he grabbed all three of them, and immediately activated his method of getting out of there. Suddenly, everyone exploded in bright white Orbs and they swirled around everywhere, and by the time they should have hit the floor, they were gone.
Sukko concentrated hard on the Bat, whom he'd marked earlier, and sighed, desperately hoping her reflexes were good enough to get out of the way. The Chaotix, Vanilla and Cream, Amy and Rouge were all still hiding in the warehouse, but they were deeply worried. They'd heard the alarms go off at the prison and hundreds of Mobian Authority personnel were now combing the city looking for them.
Suddenly, a deep bright white light appear directly above her head, as hundred of white Orbs shown, and then began materialising into someone falling directly above her head. Vector screamed.
"Look out." He screamed, as the teleport finished, and Rouge only just about jumped clear, as Sukko, Shadow, Silver and Blaze landed on the floor of the warehouse with a crash. Everyone landed on top of the mighty Sorcerer. Having the enormous weight of the Ultimate Lifeform land on him, completely knocked Sukko silly, badly winded him, making him very dizzy. He really wasn't physically strong enough for this.
Immediately, to everyone surprise, Blaze forcibly pulled Shadow and Silver off of him, and knelt down beside him, as he was lying flat on his back. She shock him, hard. She cried.
"Sukko." She pleaded, but the Sorcerer just giggled, still extremely dizzy. He opened his eyes, grinning inanely, his head moving round and round.
"Look, stars." He pondered. Of which Blaze just slapped him, to the shock of everyone, which seemed to immediately snapped him out of it. He lifted up his head, to look directly at her. He smirked.
"Hi." He giggled. Blaze just smiled.
"Hi." She said back and suddenly she growled. "What was that? You hit that high ranking Mobian Authority official." She grilled, to Sukko's confusion, of which Blaze just screamed. "The Rat!" She spat. Sukko giggled, still very dazed.
"Oh yeah, that." He grinned. "Well, two things, Princess." He spat. "One, I'm not Sonikku, and two, why cast when you can just punch someone in the face." He smirked. "It's much quicker anyway. It got the distraction I needed to get you guys out." He shrugged. But Blaze just roared in frustration with him. She hissed.
"Sukko, you threw us off that tower." She leered, but the Sorcerer just giggled, lying his head back on the ground.
"Er, I can teleport, or did that flying spaceship disappear all on it's own." He smirked, sarcastically. Suddenly, Blaze just giggled. The Sorcerer had a very good point, and truthfully she should have seen that coming. She had Orbed before, just hadn't made the connection that he'd use it here. But Sukko was the King of Stealth. Of course, he would. Suddenly the Sorcerer got very excited, finally have the confidence to do something. To go for the Princess. The love for her in him was significantly building and fast. Finally, he seriously couldn't resist. He grinned.
"Hey, what do you call two pyromaniacs in a swimming pool?" He asked, raising an eyebrow, pausing for dramatic effect. Blaze smirked. Two pyromaniacs? The two of them. She rolled her eyes, unimpressed. He grinned. "A hole in the ground, especially if theres...". He added, only for Blaze to immediately explode at him, cutting right straight across him. He growled.
"No." She roared. "No, no, no." She spat. But Sukko just laughed. He grinned.
"...mating involved." He added, finishing the sentence, only for him get promptly slapped yet again. This time, extremely hard. He grinned. "What." He sniggered. "You can't blame a guy for asking." He added, of which Blaze herself just exploded in flames and chased Sukko off his back, onto his feet and across the warehouse, and up against the far wall. She roared at him.
"Your seriously pushing your luck, Hedgehog." She spat at him, but Sukko just intensely giggled.
"Blaze." He smiled, of which she just rounded on him, again. She growled.
"What?" She hissed. Sukko's smiled, his lip curled.
"Your far too easy to wind up." He giggled, of which Blaze's temper just broke. She just giggled, resting her head on his chest. She smiled.
"Sukko, now's not exactly appropriate, and your crazy." She smiled. But the Sorcerer just giggled.
"Yeah. It runs in the family." He beamed, but suddenly he heard the sounds of the Mobian Authorities outside. He looked up. He sighed. "I've fulfilled my promise to Sonikku, his friends are safe." He heaved, indicting the group by Blaze, who were all just staring at him. He sighed. "Now get them home. I've got a planet to fix." He added. But Blaze looked up.
"Your leaving." She sniffed, extremely somber. But Sukko just heaved.
"Technically, yes and no. A Blue Hedgehog always survives. But it could take a while. This cast is going to take everything I have, but for Mobius, it's worth it, even if the planet never wanted me." He heaved. "Because that's what Heroes do." He grinned, to enormous laughter from Blaze. Suddenly he beamed. "Besides I promised Arthur I'd come home." He added, and with that, he exploded into hundreds of bright white Orbs, right in front of Blaze, and before she could say anything else, he'd teleported away. He was gone.