Look, once more I want to repeat my apologies for the violent deaths of the
Chao and the pedestrians in the Gardens when the villain launched his
attack. The dead shall have their vengeance. But not yet. By the way
Maverick, I'm not completely sure what you were talking about at the
beginning of your eighth chapter review, but I really appreciate the
information you gave me. I think some of it might come in handy. Anyway,
please enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: I own Stripes the Chao, Scales the Lizard, and some other
stuff.
Day 2, 12:30 PM
After dropping off Amy and consoling poor Robotnik, Scales left to exact revenge. The doctor managed to tell her that the energy signature from the last Chaos Emerald was moving around a mountain in the Mystic Ruins area. The only possible way it could be moving was if it were on the Snivel Carrier III, which made sense considering the ship had been heading for the jungle after the attack on Station Square and the only Emerald left was Shadow's. Scales warped to the jungle and was about to head for the appropriate mountain, easily distinguished by the giant airship flying around the top of the peak. Before Scales could head for the mountain, Tikal showed up. "Scales, please come with me." Scales frowned. "Tikal, I have to go up to the mountain and make that villain pay for what he's done." Tikal sighed. "I know Scales, but what about the Chao?" Scales blinked. "What Chao?" "The Chao in the Mystic Ruins Chao Garden, of course. Many of them had friends or relatives in the city and they need consoling. Chaos is already there, along with many of the residents of the jungle. They all need cheering up as well, and trying to help the Chao is the best way to do it." Said Tikal. Scales stopped frowning. "Why do you want me, then?" "Because we need all the help we can get. One or two Chao won't respond to anyone else. Please Scales, come with me. Do it for the Chao, both alive and dead." Tikal begged. Scales paused, then nodded. "All right. I'll come, for the Chao's sake." Tikal bobbed and flew off, leading Scales to the Garden.
The Chao Garden was a beautiful place, as all Chao Gardens were. But the usual atmosphere of love and joy that would have made even a Goth smile was gone. Many Chao seemed a little happier, but most were crying. The archaeologists were all trying to comfort their Chao, but they weren't doing so well. Scales could even see Tails and Cassandra in the Garden, trying unsuccessfully to play with a cute little cheetah Chao. The only Chao who seemed really happy were the ones near Chaos. They were giggling and splashing about in the pond, which Chaos had filled with his essence. Tikal quickly flew off, becoming an echidna again and looking for a Chao to tend to. Scales started walking around, looking for one to take care of. All the Chao in the Garden seemed to be with their owners or other people. Then she noticed a single Chao sitting by itself on a rock near the edge of the Garden. Seeing something she could do, she walked over to the Chao and sat next to it. The poor thing didn't notice her right away. The Chao looked quite strange. It was a Dark Chao, and a male at that. His features were mostly that of a dragon, but a few stripes here and there on his body showed he was part tiger. The odd thing about this Dark Chao was that despite the fact that he had horns, he had a halo over his head, something no Dark Chao Scales had ever seen or heard of before possessed. His skin was gray in color. "Uh, hello." Scales said. The Chao looked up at her briefly, then went back to looking at his feet. "Er, my name is Scales. What's yours?" She immediately chided herself for asking such a stupid question, as if the Chao could answer her. The Chao looked at her and pointed to one of his stripes. "Huh? Is that your name, Stripes?" The Chao nodded and went back to sulking. "I guess you heard about the disaster. Did you lose anyone...special to you?" Stripes nodded slowly. "Was it your family?" The Chao nodded again. "How many of your family was in the city when the attack happened?" Stripes did nothing. "All of them, then." She sighed. "I understand your loss, you know." The Chao looked up at her, curious despite his sorrow. "A long time ago, I lost my entire home and most of my friends. My mother died trying to save my brother and myself. In the end, it seemed her sacrifice was only half worth the effort. My brother made it away safely, but I got caught by the people who were after us." She hesitated. "You don't need to hear about that, I suppose. Anyway, I was very hurt by my mother's death. Probably like you are now." Stripes nodded a little. "The people who caught me...they were very cruel. After doing some...awful things to me, I was left to rot in a little capsule for forty years. Most of my time was spent thinking about my mother's death over and over, slowly driving me insane." She paused. Stripes was looking at her with interest, wanting her to continue. "When I got out of the capsule, all I could think of was avenging my mother by killing those who had done these horrible things. I did, and, well, I was able to let my mother rest in peace." She stopped, suddenly realizing she might give the Chao ideas. "Um, I'm not saying you have to go out and kill the person who killed your family! It's just, uh..." She shook her head. "I'm really not very good at this, am I? I came over here to try to cheer you up, and now I may be convincing you to become the first Chao murderer. Great, that'll put me down in the history books. Bet Chaos would hate my guts as well." She was stopped abruptly when Stripes suddenly jumped off his rock and hugged her chest. Scales blinked. "Did-did I actually do this right? Did I make you feel better?" Stripes looked up at her from her chest and nodded. "Wow, I don't believe it. All I did was tell you a little about myself, and you're over what happened?" Stripes shook his head. "I don't understand. Why are you happy, then?" Stripes hugged her tighter. Scales' eyes widened. "Oh. I see. You want me to adopt you, since you have no family anymore?" The Chao nodded. "Well, I'll give it a shot. I don't want to leave you here all alone, after all." She got up. Stripes let go of her chest and flew up to her shoulder. "I'll just drop you off at the hotel and-" Stripes clutched her neck, whimpering. "You don't want me to leave you? But I'm heading into dangerous territory, I can't bring you with me!" Stripes hugged her neck tighter, coming close to choking her. "Okay, okay, I'll talk to Chaos about it, just let go of my neck!" Stripes obeyed. "Thank you." Scales walked across the Garden and bent over the pond. "Chaos, can I talk to you for a moment?" Chaos' head formed from the water of the pond. "Yes Scales, what is it?" He noticed Stripes. "Hey, you've cheered up a Chao! He seems to have taken a liking to you as well." "Yeah, he sort of wants me to adopt him. Apparently he lost his whole family in the attack on Station Square." Said Scales. "Well that's okay. I think it would be nice for you to take care of this little one." Said Chaos. Scales paused. "Yeah, but there's something else. He doesn't want me to leave him with Robotnik and Big in the hotel room. He wants to come with me, and I'm heading straight for the Snivel Carrier III." If Chaos had a mouth, he would be frowning. He looked at Stripes. "Are you sure you want to do this? Risk your life following her? She will be going through many life-threatening hazards, and you could easily get killed. Even worse, you may have to watch her inflict serious pain on some people. You really want to go with her?" Stripes nodded. Chaos lowered his head. "So be it. If that is truly what you want, I will honor your request. However, I don't want you getting hurt, so I shall provide you with something to keep you with Scales no matter how rough the situation gets." Suddenly, a blue bubble formed around Stripes. A little jag of blue static connected it to Scales' life support system. As Scales and Stripes marveled at it, Chaos explained its purpose. "This bubble will protect you from anything dangerous to your health and also keep you connected to Scales no matter what happens. Scales, if you wish to get rid of the bubble or reform it, it will do so at your will. Are you both fine with that?" Scales and Stripes nodded. "Good. Go forth, destined one, and avenge my fallen children, seeing as how I am unable to." Chaos' head deformed back into the puddle, and the Chao kept playing. With her new companion, Scales left the garden and headed for the mountain. Near the foothills of the mountain, she found a tunnel. She entered the tunnel and walked down its length, finding a fork in the road. To the left, the tunnel led to a pit of lava. To the right, the tunnel led to a small cave. The choice was obvious. Scales went to the right and entered the cave, finding a closed gate with a caged Kiki next to it. The Kiki mocked Scales and Stripes and hurled bombs. Scales retreated away from the monkey's range of fire and tried to think of a way to kill it through the cage, since there were no missiles nearby and the bombs would explode if she tried to touch them. Then she got an idea. She curled into a ball. Playing around, Striped mimicked her. Scales started spinning in place, lights racing around her as her spikes popped out. After a minute, she got up and started glowing. "This is for you, Mother!" she yelled, unleashing the Light Attack. Moving at the speed of light, Scales shattered the cage and the Kiki to pieces, opening the gate. As Stripes made impressed noises, Scales ran through the gate, the Chao trailing after her.
Stage 7: Red Mountain. Mission: Get to the top of the mountain.
In battle mode, Scales was now outside, on a platform at the base of the mountain. There were three Kiki in cages nearby. They threw bombs at her, but were out of range. Scales curled into a ball and charged up her Light Attack. She released it, destroying all the Kikis and causing a rocket to appear from a hatch in the ground. Scales grabbed the rocket and was launched, going higher and higher up the mountain. She dropped to a ledge and paused to make sure Stripes was still with her. She needn't have bothered; he was still floating in his little ball. Scales ran along the ledge to her right, moving carefully around some giant spiked balls floating in the air, and saw what looked like a set of monkey bars at the end of her ledge. Going along with it, Scales jumped and grabbed the monkey bars. She swung along the horizontal ladder, dropping to the next ledge. She walked around a floating spiked ball and hit a button, raising a rocket from a hatch. Scales grabbed the rocket and shot up the mountain, going higher and higher still. She let go and landed on another ledge. She followed it to the right and jumped to a platform with a spring. She bounced off the spring and ricocheted off a few other springs attached to natural pillars before landing on a platform with dead trees. She killed a Rhino Tank and headed to the right, going across a ledge with a bumpy surface and reaching a bridge. She crossed over the bridge and got to a ledge with lots of spiked balls. She ran around the floating maces and bounced off a spring, landing on a platform with a Gola. She jumped above the robot and shot down with a homing Kick, evading the flames and destroying the machine. She saw a nearby platform, noticing with distaste that it was on fire, as were the next few after it. She waited for the flames to subside, then hopped across the platforms before the flames could rekindle. She bounced off a spring on the next platform and landed on a small tier. She dropped from the tier and landed on a large platform below. She saw a metallic platform nearby and jumped to it. Two Kikis immediately attacked her. She killed the robot monkeys with a few tail swipes and jumped to another platform, hitting a switch. A rocket raised out of a hatch on the ground, ready for her use. She grabbed the rocket and launched up, scaling the mountain area. She dropped from the rocket and landed on a ledge with a Gola. She killed it and saw a long line of monkey bars suspended on the wall above a pit of lava. She jumped to the nearest set and started swinging from bar to bar. When she reached the end, she jumped to the next set and repeated the process. After going across about six monkey bars, Scales dropped to a ledge. Across a wide gap was a massive pillar with the next ledge on it. A few Bladed Spinners floated in the gap. Scales used Homing Kicks to get across the gap and the robots, landing on the ledge. She saw there were two green metal platforms above her, one spinning in place, the other still. Scales bounced off a spring and landed on the spinning platform. Before she could fall off of the tilting platform, she jumped to the next platform. She ran across the platform and down a green ramp, going over another gap and reaching a ledge with a rocket. Scales grabbed the rocket and was launched up the mountainside, going higher still. She dropped from the rocket and landed on the platform. She followed it to the right and saw a long line of Bladed Spinners leading to the next platform. She Homing Kicked across the robots, landing next to yet another rocket. She grabbed it and was launched up the mountain, going even higher. She dropped to a ledge and found a pulley. She jumped to the pulley and was raised up to the entrance of a chute. She jumped into the chute and slid down, landing in a tunnel inside the mountain. She followed the tunnel as it curved upwards, smashing several Rhino Tanks and curving to the left, past a pool of water, before coming out of the long tunnel. The heat suddenly increased dramatically. It was obvious to Scales and Stripes as they exited the tunnel why. They were now in a cavern full of lava. Scales looked around and saw a trio of green platforms to her left. Very carefully, she hopped across the platforms, not wanting to fall into the lava. She jumped to a larger platform and was attacked by a Leon. She quickly located the chameleon with her scanners and killed it, getting another cheer from Stripes. She walked across the platform and used a Homing Kick to kill a Bladed Spinner and another one to get to the platform behind it. She was now at the edge of a field of platforms in the lava, each with a Spinner hovering in the gaps. Scales Homing Kicked her away across the platforms, eventually reaching a much larger gap with three Bladed Spinners leading to the start of a big ledge curving around the edge of the lava chamber. Scales walked along the ledge, killing Rhino Tanks and a Unidus or two before reaching the end. A platform sat across an expanse of lava from her. She used a Homing Kick to kill a few Bladed Spinners and land on the platform, then jumped to a smaller greenish platform nearby. She then proceeded to hop across a series of large rectangular platforms near a wall, leading towards a platform at the base of a large ledge. Scales reached the platform and climbed to the ledge. As she did so, the room started to rumble, the lava rising rapidly! Scales and Stripes screamed and ran across the ledge, trying to outrun the flow of molten rock. Scales ran over a set of dash panels pointing for a tunnel and zipped down it, the lava chasing after her. As Scales rushed down the tunnel, the lava gaining on her, Stripes shrieked, pointing to the light up ahead. "That's the sunlight! We're almost out of here Stripes, don't worry!" Scales ran out of the tunnel and onto a ramp in the fresh air. As the lava hurtled after her, out of the mountain, Scales hit a jump plate and launched over a gap. The lava couldn't go up the slight ramp leading to the plate and subsided, falling over the sides of the ramp and soon hardening into rock. Scales landed on a ledge. She wiped some sweat from her brow. "Well, that was tough." Stripes nodded, then saw something and pointed, yelling. Scales looked where he was pointing and saw a trio of Kikis, each of them toting a bomb and looking ready to exact vengeance for their fallen comrades. Despite their not being in a cage, Scales dispatched them as easily as ever, blowing up two of them with their own bombs. The monkeys gone, Scales walked along the ledge, past several tiny spiders, until she reached one last rocket. Scales grabbed the rocket and was launched up, going to the highest point of the mountain. Scales dropped from the rocket, landing on the very pinnacle of Red Mountain.
(STAGE CLEAR.)
Scales peered around, soon spotting the Snivel Carrier III as it started to move past her, filling up her entire range of vision. Stripes made noises. "Yeah, it is big, isn't it? Now, how are we going to get on?" As if on cue, the giant airship suddenly transformed, the wings splitting apart like an X. The bottom half of the ship broke apart, forming a series of decks and columns. The top of the ship shifted, parts of it lowering into the main body and forming blocks, walls, and obstacles. The front was the only part of the ship that remained the same. Scales blinked. "Okay, that was convenient. Do you think he knows we're here?" Stripes nodded. "Yeah, he probably does. I guess this is an invitation for us. Hang on tight, little guy. Chaos Control!" In a flash of green light, the two of them warped from the mountaintop, going for the bottom of the newly formed decks, and possibly a final confrontation. (Yeah, right.)
Another semi-cliffhanger! What will Scales confront on the Snivel Carrier III? Find out next time! But for now, let's have our interview. Scales, do you like Stripes?
Scales: (Still has Stripes attached to her in the bubble.) Yeah, thanks Pi2! Me: You're quite welcome. Now, we've got some more questions from your fans. Ready? Scales: Yeah, bring them on. Me: Okay, here's our first one. Ultrafan X wanted to know where Sonic was in this universe. He asks whether or not he ever became a hero because Shadow was here instead. Scales: That's easy, Sonic doesn't exist in this reality. It would be too confusing to have him cluttering things up. Besides, no offense to Sonic lovers, but I don't think Sonic honestly fits Ultimate Lifeform material or deserves the love of Amy. Shadow's more suited for that in my opinion. Me: Couldn't have said it better myself. Next question, from our #1 fan Maverick. He asks this question: Scales, If you somehow in some possible way only had.one day to live...what would you do? Scales: Either I'd get my life support fixed since that's the only way something like that could possibly happen, or I'd spend my last day with my friends and family. That's all I can really say for that. Me: Okay, Maverick has another question. In SA2 if you had been where Amy was would you have been so violent after Snively's horrible act or would you have tortured him first? Scales: (Frowns.) I never torture people. Not after the torture I went through so many years ago. I try to make my killings swift, albeit painful, but swift. If I had been in Amy's place and loved Shadow and wasn't his sister, then let me put it this way: Before Snively could get off a single shot, his head would be rolling on the floor. Me: Um, gross. Final question, also from Ultrafan X. Here it is: Oh, Scales, instead of beating up Robo-shadow, why don't you tell him stuff about the past to jog his memory and override the roboticization. It worked for uncle chuck (See Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon and Archie Comics). Anyway, then Shadow can access his database, since he's still robotic, and figure out how to destroy the nanites. Scales: Interesting suggestion, but I'm afraid it wouldn't work. As you saw in the last chapter, Mecha Amy reacted slightly to my words. However, her programming overrode her emotions, suppressing the real Amy. If I tried to remind Mecha Shadow of his life, he would tune me out and focus on his mission. Besides, technically the roboticization process doesn't actually convert people or animals into solid metal, which would be impossible. Instead, it encases its victims in a metal body shell that works much like my life support system, supplying the occupant with power and sustenance. While encased in the shell, the victim's brain pattern is repressed, allowing the cybernetics of the robot shell to control the creature's motions and actions. Destroying the robot frees the occupant from the shell, as you've seen in so many Sonic games. Even if it were possible to break the robot from the control of the one who performed the roboticization process, it wouldn't make much of a difference in the way of information. Any information stored in the robot shell's memory banks is automatically erased if the subject regains control of him or herself. So I'm sorry, but we can't find a cure for the nanites or discover the mystery villain's identity that way. Me: Thank you for that explanation, Scales. Now, I have another special treat for you. Scales: What? Me: (Pulls out swindling weasel from Twinkle Park.) I have been requested to kill the weasel. Here you go Scales, do with him what you wish. Scales: YAY! (Proceeds to kill and devour the evil weasel, while I pull Stripes away and cover his eyes to prevent him from being traumatized.) Me: Well, that's it for now. See you next time! Scales: (Looks up, blood and a chunk of weasel meat dangling from her mouth.) And don't forget to review!
Day 2, 12:30 PM
After dropping off Amy and consoling poor Robotnik, Scales left to exact revenge. The doctor managed to tell her that the energy signature from the last Chaos Emerald was moving around a mountain in the Mystic Ruins area. The only possible way it could be moving was if it were on the Snivel Carrier III, which made sense considering the ship had been heading for the jungle after the attack on Station Square and the only Emerald left was Shadow's. Scales warped to the jungle and was about to head for the appropriate mountain, easily distinguished by the giant airship flying around the top of the peak. Before Scales could head for the mountain, Tikal showed up. "Scales, please come with me." Scales frowned. "Tikal, I have to go up to the mountain and make that villain pay for what he's done." Tikal sighed. "I know Scales, but what about the Chao?" Scales blinked. "What Chao?" "The Chao in the Mystic Ruins Chao Garden, of course. Many of them had friends or relatives in the city and they need consoling. Chaos is already there, along with many of the residents of the jungle. They all need cheering up as well, and trying to help the Chao is the best way to do it." Said Tikal. Scales stopped frowning. "Why do you want me, then?" "Because we need all the help we can get. One or two Chao won't respond to anyone else. Please Scales, come with me. Do it for the Chao, both alive and dead." Tikal begged. Scales paused, then nodded. "All right. I'll come, for the Chao's sake." Tikal bobbed and flew off, leading Scales to the Garden.
The Chao Garden was a beautiful place, as all Chao Gardens were. But the usual atmosphere of love and joy that would have made even a Goth smile was gone. Many Chao seemed a little happier, but most were crying. The archaeologists were all trying to comfort their Chao, but they weren't doing so well. Scales could even see Tails and Cassandra in the Garden, trying unsuccessfully to play with a cute little cheetah Chao. The only Chao who seemed really happy were the ones near Chaos. They were giggling and splashing about in the pond, which Chaos had filled with his essence. Tikal quickly flew off, becoming an echidna again and looking for a Chao to tend to. Scales started walking around, looking for one to take care of. All the Chao in the Garden seemed to be with their owners or other people. Then she noticed a single Chao sitting by itself on a rock near the edge of the Garden. Seeing something she could do, she walked over to the Chao and sat next to it. The poor thing didn't notice her right away. The Chao looked quite strange. It was a Dark Chao, and a male at that. His features were mostly that of a dragon, but a few stripes here and there on his body showed he was part tiger. The odd thing about this Dark Chao was that despite the fact that he had horns, he had a halo over his head, something no Dark Chao Scales had ever seen or heard of before possessed. His skin was gray in color. "Uh, hello." Scales said. The Chao looked up at her briefly, then went back to looking at his feet. "Er, my name is Scales. What's yours?" She immediately chided herself for asking such a stupid question, as if the Chao could answer her. The Chao looked at her and pointed to one of his stripes. "Huh? Is that your name, Stripes?" The Chao nodded and went back to sulking. "I guess you heard about the disaster. Did you lose anyone...special to you?" Stripes nodded slowly. "Was it your family?" The Chao nodded again. "How many of your family was in the city when the attack happened?" Stripes did nothing. "All of them, then." She sighed. "I understand your loss, you know." The Chao looked up at her, curious despite his sorrow. "A long time ago, I lost my entire home and most of my friends. My mother died trying to save my brother and myself. In the end, it seemed her sacrifice was only half worth the effort. My brother made it away safely, but I got caught by the people who were after us." She hesitated. "You don't need to hear about that, I suppose. Anyway, I was very hurt by my mother's death. Probably like you are now." Stripes nodded a little. "The people who caught me...they were very cruel. After doing some...awful things to me, I was left to rot in a little capsule for forty years. Most of my time was spent thinking about my mother's death over and over, slowly driving me insane." She paused. Stripes was looking at her with interest, wanting her to continue. "When I got out of the capsule, all I could think of was avenging my mother by killing those who had done these horrible things. I did, and, well, I was able to let my mother rest in peace." She stopped, suddenly realizing she might give the Chao ideas. "Um, I'm not saying you have to go out and kill the person who killed your family! It's just, uh..." She shook her head. "I'm really not very good at this, am I? I came over here to try to cheer you up, and now I may be convincing you to become the first Chao murderer. Great, that'll put me down in the history books. Bet Chaos would hate my guts as well." She was stopped abruptly when Stripes suddenly jumped off his rock and hugged her chest. Scales blinked. "Did-did I actually do this right? Did I make you feel better?" Stripes looked up at her from her chest and nodded. "Wow, I don't believe it. All I did was tell you a little about myself, and you're over what happened?" Stripes shook his head. "I don't understand. Why are you happy, then?" Stripes hugged her tighter. Scales' eyes widened. "Oh. I see. You want me to adopt you, since you have no family anymore?" The Chao nodded. "Well, I'll give it a shot. I don't want to leave you here all alone, after all." She got up. Stripes let go of her chest and flew up to her shoulder. "I'll just drop you off at the hotel and-" Stripes clutched her neck, whimpering. "You don't want me to leave you? But I'm heading into dangerous territory, I can't bring you with me!" Stripes hugged her neck tighter, coming close to choking her. "Okay, okay, I'll talk to Chaos about it, just let go of my neck!" Stripes obeyed. "Thank you." Scales walked across the Garden and bent over the pond. "Chaos, can I talk to you for a moment?" Chaos' head formed from the water of the pond. "Yes Scales, what is it?" He noticed Stripes. "Hey, you've cheered up a Chao! He seems to have taken a liking to you as well." "Yeah, he sort of wants me to adopt him. Apparently he lost his whole family in the attack on Station Square." Said Scales. "Well that's okay. I think it would be nice for you to take care of this little one." Said Chaos. Scales paused. "Yeah, but there's something else. He doesn't want me to leave him with Robotnik and Big in the hotel room. He wants to come with me, and I'm heading straight for the Snivel Carrier III." If Chaos had a mouth, he would be frowning. He looked at Stripes. "Are you sure you want to do this? Risk your life following her? She will be going through many life-threatening hazards, and you could easily get killed. Even worse, you may have to watch her inflict serious pain on some people. You really want to go with her?" Stripes nodded. Chaos lowered his head. "So be it. If that is truly what you want, I will honor your request. However, I don't want you getting hurt, so I shall provide you with something to keep you with Scales no matter how rough the situation gets." Suddenly, a blue bubble formed around Stripes. A little jag of blue static connected it to Scales' life support system. As Scales and Stripes marveled at it, Chaos explained its purpose. "This bubble will protect you from anything dangerous to your health and also keep you connected to Scales no matter what happens. Scales, if you wish to get rid of the bubble or reform it, it will do so at your will. Are you both fine with that?" Scales and Stripes nodded. "Good. Go forth, destined one, and avenge my fallen children, seeing as how I am unable to." Chaos' head deformed back into the puddle, and the Chao kept playing. With her new companion, Scales left the garden and headed for the mountain. Near the foothills of the mountain, she found a tunnel. She entered the tunnel and walked down its length, finding a fork in the road. To the left, the tunnel led to a pit of lava. To the right, the tunnel led to a small cave. The choice was obvious. Scales went to the right and entered the cave, finding a closed gate with a caged Kiki next to it. The Kiki mocked Scales and Stripes and hurled bombs. Scales retreated away from the monkey's range of fire and tried to think of a way to kill it through the cage, since there were no missiles nearby and the bombs would explode if she tried to touch them. Then she got an idea. She curled into a ball. Playing around, Striped mimicked her. Scales started spinning in place, lights racing around her as her spikes popped out. After a minute, she got up and started glowing. "This is for you, Mother!" she yelled, unleashing the Light Attack. Moving at the speed of light, Scales shattered the cage and the Kiki to pieces, opening the gate. As Stripes made impressed noises, Scales ran through the gate, the Chao trailing after her.
Stage 7: Red Mountain. Mission: Get to the top of the mountain.
In battle mode, Scales was now outside, on a platform at the base of the mountain. There were three Kiki in cages nearby. They threw bombs at her, but were out of range. Scales curled into a ball and charged up her Light Attack. She released it, destroying all the Kikis and causing a rocket to appear from a hatch in the ground. Scales grabbed the rocket and was launched, going higher and higher up the mountain. She dropped to a ledge and paused to make sure Stripes was still with her. She needn't have bothered; he was still floating in his little ball. Scales ran along the ledge to her right, moving carefully around some giant spiked balls floating in the air, and saw what looked like a set of monkey bars at the end of her ledge. Going along with it, Scales jumped and grabbed the monkey bars. She swung along the horizontal ladder, dropping to the next ledge. She walked around a floating spiked ball and hit a button, raising a rocket from a hatch. Scales grabbed the rocket and shot up the mountain, going higher and higher still. She let go and landed on another ledge. She followed it to the right and jumped to a platform with a spring. She bounced off the spring and ricocheted off a few other springs attached to natural pillars before landing on a platform with dead trees. She killed a Rhino Tank and headed to the right, going across a ledge with a bumpy surface and reaching a bridge. She crossed over the bridge and got to a ledge with lots of spiked balls. She ran around the floating maces and bounced off a spring, landing on a platform with a Gola. She jumped above the robot and shot down with a homing Kick, evading the flames and destroying the machine. She saw a nearby platform, noticing with distaste that it was on fire, as were the next few after it. She waited for the flames to subside, then hopped across the platforms before the flames could rekindle. She bounced off a spring on the next platform and landed on a small tier. She dropped from the tier and landed on a large platform below. She saw a metallic platform nearby and jumped to it. Two Kikis immediately attacked her. She killed the robot monkeys with a few tail swipes and jumped to another platform, hitting a switch. A rocket raised out of a hatch on the ground, ready for her use. She grabbed the rocket and launched up, scaling the mountain area. She dropped from the rocket and landed on a ledge with a Gola. She killed it and saw a long line of monkey bars suspended on the wall above a pit of lava. She jumped to the nearest set and started swinging from bar to bar. When she reached the end, she jumped to the next set and repeated the process. After going across about six monkey bars, Scales dropped to a ledge. Across a wide gap was a massive pillar with the next ledge on it. A few Bladed Spinners floated in the gap. Scales used Homing Kicks to get across the gap and the robots, landing on the ledge. She saw there were two green metal platforms above her, one spinning in place, the other still. Scales bounced off a spring and landed on the spinning platform. Before she could fall off of the tilting platform, she jumped to the next platform. She ran across the platform and down a green ramp, going over another gap and reaching a ledge with a rocket. Scales grabbed the rocket and was launched up the mountainside, going higher still. She dropped from the rocket and landed on the platform. She followed it to the right and saw a long line of Bladed Spinners leading to the next platform. She Homing Kicked across the robots, landing next to yet another rocket. She grabbed it and was launched up the mountain, going even higher. She dropped to a ledge and found a pulley. She jumped to the pulley and was raised up to the entrance of a chute. She jumped into the chute and slid down, landing in a tunnel inside the mountain. She followed the tunnel as it curved upwards, smashing several Rhino Tanks and curving to the left, past a pool of water, before coming out of the long tunnel. The heat suddenly increased dramatically. It was obvious to Scales and Stripes as they exited the tunnel why. They were now in a cavern full of lava. Scales looked around and saw a trio of green platforms to her left. Very carefully, she hopped across the platforms, not wanting to fall into the lava. She jumped to a larger platform and was attacked by a Leon. She quickly located the chameleon with her scanners and killed it, getting another cheer from Stripes. She walked across the platform and used a Homing Kick to kill a Bladed Spinner and another one to get to the platform behind it. She was now at the edge of a field of platforms in the lava, each with a Spinner hovering in the gaps. Scales Homing Kicked her away across the platforms, eventually reaching a much larger gap with three Bladed Spinners leading to the start of a big ledge curving around the edge of the lava chamber. Scales walked along the ledge, killing Rhino Tanks and a Unidus or two before reaching the end. A platform sat across an expanse of lava from her. She used a Homing Kick to kill a few Bladed Spinners and land on the platform, then jumped to a smaller greenish platform nearby. She then proceeded to hop across a series of large rectangular platforms near a wall, leading towards a platform at the base of a large ledge. Scales reached the platform and climbed to the ledge. As she did so, the room started to rumble, the lava rising rapidly! Scales and Stripes screamed and ran across the ledge, trying to outrun the flow of molten rock. Scales ran over a set of dash panels pointing for a tunnel and zipped down it, the lava chasing after her. As Scales rushed down the tunnel, the lava gaining on her, Stripes shrieked, pointing to the light up ahead. "That's the sunlight! We're almost out of here Stripes, don't worry!" Scales ran out of the tunnel and onto a ramp in the fresh air. As the lava hurtled after her, out of the mountain, Scales hit a jump plate and launched over a gap. The lava couldn't go up the slight ramp leading to the plate and subsided, falling over the sides of the ramp and soon hardening into rock. Scales landed on a ledge. She wiped some sweat from her brow. "Well, that was tough." Stripes nodded, then saw something and pointed, yelling. Scales looked where he was pointing and saw a trio of Kikis, each of them toting a bomb and looking ready to exact vengeance for their fallen comrades. Despite their not being in a cage, Scales dispatched them as easily as ever, blowing up two of them with their own bombs. The monkeys gone, Scales walked along the ledge, past several tiny spiders, until she reached one last rocket. Scales grabbed the rocket and was launched up, going to the highest point of the mountain. Scales dropped from the rocket, landing on the very pinnacle of Red Mountain.
(STAGE CLEAR.)
Scales peered around, soon spotting the Snivel Carrier III as it started to move past her, filling up her entire range of vision. Stripes made noises. "Yeah, it is big, isn't it? Now, how are we going to get on?" As if on cue, the giant airship suddenly transformed, the wings splitting apart like an X. The bottom half of the ship broke apart, forming a series of decks and columns. The top of the ship shifted, parts of it lowering into the main body and forming blocks, walls, and obstacles. The front was the only part of the ship that remained the same. Scales blinked. "Okay, that was convenient. Do you think he knows we're here?" Stripes nodded. "Yeah, he probably does. I guess this is an invitation for us. Hang on tight, little guy. Chaos Control!" In a flash of green light, the two of them warped from the mountaintop, going for the bottom of the newly formed decks, and possibly a final confrontation. (Yeah, right.)
Another semi-cliffhanger! What will Scales confront on the Snivel Carrier III? Find out next time! But for now, let's have our interview. Scales, do you like Stripes?
Scales: (Still has Stripes attached to her in the bubble.) Yeah, thanks Pi2! Me: You're quite welcome. Now, we've got some more questions from your fans. Ready? Scales: Yeah, bring them on. Me: Okay, here's our first one. Ultrafan X wanted to know where Sonic was in this universe. He asks whether or not he ever became a hero because Shadow was here instead. Scales: That's easy, Sonic doesn't exist in this reality. It would be too confusing to have him cluttering things up. Besides, no offense to Sonic lovers, but I don't think Sonic honestly fits Ultimate Lifeform material or deserves the love of Amy. Shadow's more suited for that in my opinion. Me: Couldn't have said it better myself. Next question, from our #1 fan Maverick. He asks this question: Scales, If you somehow in some possible way only had.one day to live...what would you do? Scales: Either I'd get my life support fixed since that's the only way something like that could possibly happen, or I'd spend my last day with my friends and family. That's all I can really say for that. Me: Okay, Maverick has another question. In SA2 if you had been where Amy was would you have been so violent after Snively's horrible act or would you have tortured him first? Scales: (Frowns.) I never torture people. Not after the torture I went through so many years ago. I try to make my killings swift, albeit painful, but swift. If I had been in Amy's place and loved Shadow and wasn't his sister, then let me put it this way: Before Snively could get off a single shot, his head would be rolling on the floor. Me: Um, gross. Final question, also from Ultrafan X. Here it is: Oh, Scales, instead of beating up Robo-shadow, why don't you tell him stuff about the past to jog his memory and override the roboticization. It worked for uncle chuck (See Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon and Archie Comics). Anyway, then Shadow can access his database, since he's still robotic, and figure out how to destroy the nanites. Scales: Interesting suggestion, but I'm afraid it wouldn't work. As you saw in the last chapter, Mecha Amy reacted slightly to my words. However, her programming overrode her emotions, suppressing the real Amy. If I tried to remind Mecha Shadow of his life, he would tune me out and focus on his mission. Besides, technically the roboticization process doesn't actually convert people or animals into solid metal, which would be impossible. Instead, it encases its victims in a metal body shell that works much like my life support system, supplying the occupant with power and sustenance. While encased in the shell, the victim's brain pattern is repressed, allowing the cybernetics of the robot shell to control the creature's motions and actions. Destroying the robot frees the occupant from the shell, as you've seen in so many Sonic games. Even if it were possible to break the robot from the control of the one who performed the roboticization process, it wouldn't make much of a difference in the way of information. Any information stored in the robot shell's memory banks is automatically erased if the subject regains control of him or herself. So I'm sorry, but we can't find a cure for the nanites or discover the mystery villain's identity that way. Me: Thank you for that explanation, Scales. Now, I have another special treat for you. Scales: What? Me: (Pulls out swindling weasel from Twinkle Park.) I have been requested to kill the weasel. Here you go Scales, do with him what you wish. Scales: YAY! (Proceeds to kill and devour the evil weasel, while I pull Stripes away and cover his eyes to prevent him from being traumatized.) Me: Well, that's it for now. See you next time! Scales: (Looks up, blood and a chunk of weasel meat dangling from her mouth.) And don't forget to review!
