Shining Beacon Zone, Act 3
BOSS BATTLE - DARK GUARDIAN || STAGE 02 - BOTANICAL GARDEN
Vale, United Federation - Beacon Academy - 3:52 AM
With his hands thrown behind his head, Sonic the Hedgehog lazily strutted through the halls of Beacon Academy with Tails and Knuckles by his side.
"What's with uniforms?" Knuckles asked, eyeing a group of students in their school attire.
"Well, when people have a dress code set up, they won't have to worry about what they're going to wear for the day, so that they can focus on education. Also, it can create a sense of unity and camaraderie between student's. In a school like Beacon, it's a necessity to work well with others, after all," Tails explained. "However, that doesn't mean everybody is going to follow it." The fox's gaze turned to a head of blue quills in front of them. Sonic, with a bemused expression, picked his ear with his finger.
"Listen, as long as I don't have to wear pants then I'll put on the shirt and blazer, and maybe the tie!" He said.
"Alright, but what if you have to change shoes as well?" Tails asked with a grin, staring at his best friend's sneakers.
"Then Glynda will have to pry my shoes off my cold dead body!" Sonic declared.
"That can be arranged," The blonde cat said, suddenly appearing in front of Sonic, startling the hero. Knuckles fist bumped Tails, having seen the Vice Headmaster when they turned the corner.
"Hey Glynda! What brings you to Beacon at this fine hour?" Sonic's smile was turned to a frown when she picked him up using her telekinesis, a light purple energy encapsulating his body. "You psychics are no fun, you know that?" Sonic snarked, crossing his legs.
"The three of you were supposed to be in Ozpin's office an hour ago," Glynda said, glaring at the three teenagers. "I expected Sonic to slack off, but not you two."
Knuckles shrugged. "I'd rather be back on my island than here. A combat school has nothing to teach me."
"I was just doing some maintenance on the Cyclone. Then, Sonic wanted to go to Apotos and get some ice cream," Tails explained, trying not to wince at Glynda's steely glare.
The vice headmaster simply sighed, and led the team to Ozpin's office. For the most part, it looked like a regular office, though it was larger than most. However, if one were to look up, they would see a large pendulum rocking back and forth, and three large spheres of Chaos Energy floating in the air.
"Ozpin, I've brought Team Sonic," Glynda announced. The weathered old bird spun his chair, pretending not to notice the team leader's strained smile. Tails politely waved, and Knuckles just crossed his arms and grunted.
"Thank you Glynda. If you could just set him down, that would be appreciated," The owl said. Glynda released Sonic from her hold, and the hedgehog sat down on one of the chairs in front of his desk. Sonic put on a bored expression, and placed one leg over the other.
"Ozpin," Sonic stated.
"Sonic, it's a pleasure to see you again, and your friends as well," He said, smiling warmly and extending a hand. The hedgehog's eyes quickly glanced at his gloved hands.
"Sonic, at least try to be nice?" Tails asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. He glanced at the fox, and then back to Ozpin's hand. With great reluctance and a heavy sigh, Sonic extended his hand and gave Ozpin an extra tight handshake.
"So, you wanted to see us?" Sonic asked, tenting his fingers like a diabolical mastermind.
"You've got that right," A raspy voice that came from the side said. "Technically, you guys are the experts on the Chaos Emeralds, considering you've actually used them to go Super a handful of times instead of leaving them to collect dust in the Temples or Special Zones."
A black-furred jackal wearing a black dress shirt, dress shoes, and a red scarf approached the desk, placing a dull stone in front of the hedgehog.
"Qrow?" Sonic asked, laughing slightly when the older man ruffled his quills.
"Been a while, hasn't it?" The jackal comments. "It's good to see you too, Tails."
"Hey, Qrow! The car I made for you and your family still works, right?"
"It sure does! Though, I lost some rings in a bet about its lifespan. It runs better than the expensive ones you'd find at Studiopolis. How the hell do you make something like that?" Qrow asked, groaning at the fox's grin.
"Sorry, but I can't have you selling that information to companies! That sort of money will do wonders for your alcohol addiction…" Tails quipped, gesturing to the flask tied to Qrows waist.
"I don't have an alcohol addiction!" Qrow snapped, drawing snickers from Sonic and Tails.
"Right, and Knuckles here wasn't tricked by Eggman!" Sonic laughed.
"It was only twice!" The echidna warrior shouted.
Ozpin coughed into his hand, and four heads snapped towards him. "Qrow, I believe we have more important matters than your drinking problem?" Qrow muttered something under his breath and sighed.
"He's right. I found this thing in an abandoned warehouse between Westopolis and Central City," The jackal said, grabbing the dull stone in front of Sonic, and handing it to Tails.
"Great, you found a nice rock for your collection," Knuckles sarcastically commented. "But what does this have to do with us?"
"It's not what the rock is that's the problem. It's what it once was," Ozpin said cryptically.
"Seriously, can you can it with all the 'I know more than all y'all' Oz? Gives me a headache," Sonic complained. "Qrow, what's he talking about?"
"That rock is a Chaos Emerald, except something or someone drained out all the power from it," Qrow explained, much to Team Sonic's shock.
"Somebody did what!?" Knuckles cried. "Using the Emeralds as a power source is one thing, but completely draining an Emerald of its power is something else entirely!"
"I don't see what the big problem is. Why don't we just pop open a Gaia Temple and use it to restore the emerald?" Sonic suggested.
"Because the amount of energy a temple will release when opened will be enough to alert our enemies, thus letting them know where it is located. Need I remind you that giving them the location of one Temple is essentially giving them access to a wellspring of infinite power," Ozpin rebutted.
"So, why can't we just have Ironwood place GUN robots around the temple? Gaia Spawn can only come out at night, and if any of Salem's agents come crawling down, we can always send 'em packing!" Sonic said, pounding a fist into his palm.
"No. If we involve GUN, our enemies can hack into their database and locate the temple from there," Ozpin stated.
"Well, then why don't I improve GUN's firewalls then?" Tails suggested. "That way, I can also make sure that Eggman doesn't hack into the database. Again," Tails' expression deadpanned at that last statement, because GUN's poor cyber security is what led him to learn about the ARK in the first place, as well as plenty of other government secrets.
"Tails, while I don't doubt your skills, storing the Temples' location in any database is a risk that I do not want to take. Thank you for the suggestion, however," Ozpin said.
"Y'know, Knuckles can probably restore the Emerald's power," Tails mused.
"You're… probably right. Even if I don't have it with me, I still have lots of energy from the Master Emerald. It is what lets me glide, after all. I can probably pour some of that power into Chaos Emerald, but I can't guarantee that it will be as powerful as before. It might only be enough to get two, maybe three uses of Chaos Control out of it," Knuckles said, taking the Emerald from the fox.
Knuckles enclosed both his hands around blackened gemstone and started applying pressure. He clenched his jaw and began to pump energy into the Emerald, the residual power coming out of him in the form of red electricity. After a few seconds, Knuckles opens his hands, revealing the white Emerald in all its glory. The echidna passes the Emerald to Sonic, and places a hand on Ozpin's desk to support himself after he nearly stumbles to the floor.
"Ah jeez, I'm going to have a migraine for days… remind me to never do that again," Knuckles breathes.
"Huh. I didn't know you could do that," Sonic mutters.
"This coming from the guy who pulled Chaos Control out of his ass."
"In my defense, I did see Shadow use it once before I did! Hey, wait a minute…" Sonic stares at the Emerald for a moment, trying to remember the conflict that happened yesterday.
"So, good news! I know who stole the Emerald's power!" The azure hedgehog chirped. "Tails, you remember about the girl I told you about yesterday? The one who Chaos Controlled away before I could give 'em a smackdown? Well, it turns out the one she used to get away was this Emerald!"
"You saw that Chaos Emerald last night, and you didn't bother contacting me or Qrow last night?" Ozpin asked Sonic.
The hedgehog shrugged. "I didn't know that they were gonna siphon the power. If I'd been privy to that kind of info, then I would've called up Qrow!"
"You know how dangerous the Chaos Emeralds are in the wrong hands, Sonic," Ozpin stated, glancing at the hedgehog with a neutral expression.
"Then maybe your past incarnations shouldn't have sealed six of them away on South Island," Sonic commented. Ozpin winced slightly, but didn't say anything.
"So, does that mean we can go Emerald hunting again? It'd be a lot safer if we scatter the remaining emerald all over the world again," Tails asked.
"Do you want Eggman to come at us with another hair-brained scheme? Don't answer that Sonic," Knuckles warned, glaring at the hedgehog who had his hand partially raised. He pouted and crossed his arms, glaring back at the echidna.
"For the time being, I want you to keep the emerald on you, for now. Until we know further about the other Emeralds' whereabouts. Keep it close, and keep it safe," Ozpin said.
"You do know who you're talkin' to, right?" Sonic asked with an amused smile. "Don't worry Oz, we'll keep Emeralds safe. Safer than you ever could," He said, muttering that last part under his breath. Sonic and Tails waved goodbye to Qrow, and exited the room with Knuckles.
"Is there something on your mind, Qrow?"
"A couple things, actually," The jackal confirmed, crossing his arms. "Don't get me wrong, Sonic is a great kid, and despite it being your job to protect the Emeralds, he's the one who knows more about them. Hell, he fixed the mess on South Island before you came in. And that's not one of the reasons why I find you enrolling a notoriously free-spirited, rebellious teenager into this school a bit strange," Qrow stated, taking a swig from his flask. "And then there's also you enrolling my niece. You've got some plan cooking up in that head of yours, something that involves Sonic, Ruby, and Emeralds, don't you?"
The weathered bird blinked slightly.
"Sonic is a smart kid, loyal too. He can have the biggest grudge against someone, and he'll drop it in an instant to help out a friend," Qrow continued, glancing at Ozpin with an accusing look. "Look, whatever ya do, just make sure you go easy on the kid. He's been through a lot; thrust into our war at an unreasonable age, and dealing with Eggman on the side."
Ozpin hummed in response. "If the winds of fate allow it."
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BOSS BATTLE
Dark Guardian
United Federation - Botanical Kingdom - 5:37 AM
Now Playing… Boss Battle - Night (Sonic Unleashed)
Yang yelped as the Guardian slammed its massive hammer into the floor, sending dust, rocks and electricity flying into the air. Using her shotgun gauntlets, the blonde dog launched herself backwards with the recoil. Once she landed on the ground, Yang growled and ran forward hammering her fists into two nearby Nightmares. The lizard monsters disintgrated as she fired her weapons, shredding their insides to pieces.
Meanwhile, Ren had started harassing the hammer-wielding demon with his weapon, Storm Flower, shooting a constant barrage of bullets as he flipped and leapt out of the hammer's war. Ren frowned upon seeing little to no damage being done to the Dark Guardian. Switching his gun to blade-mode, the jaguar ran forward with tremendous speed, slicing at the monster's skin and creating small cuts.
As Ren rushed backwards, he rolled under another hammer swing, and gaped when the monster picked him up and slammed him into the ground. The Dark Guardian pinned Ren to the ground with a foot, and raised its hammer with a sadistic grin plastered on its face.
Before the reptilian beast could attack, Yang appeared from behind and grabbed the hammer's handle with both arms. She pulled as hard as she could, forcing the monster backwards as it tried to keep its hold on its weapon. With its leg off of Ren's body, the jaguar quickly leapt back to his feet and stabbed his blades into the monster's belly. The Dark Guardian grunted. In a split second, it used its long tail to slap Yang away, and swung its hammer into Ren's skull, making sure to discharge electricity and shock his head.
"Shit!" Yang cursed, punching the Dark Guardian in its face and then kicking it away. She ran towards Ren, slinging him over her shoulder and jumping forward as a lightning bolt crashed just behind. Yang set him down next to a tree, and grabbed a nearby Rex, throwing it as hard as she could towards the reptilian monster.
With the monster temporarily distracted, Yang knelt down besides Ren and inspected the damage.
"I'll be fine," The jaguar said, spitting out a glob of blood.
"Suuure… I think you'll get a concussion, at least. Have any Drives on you?" Ren nodded, pulling out a green vial with a similarly colored crystal inside. He crushed the vial with one hand, and green energy washed over him. Ren's magenta eyes briefly turned green and he shakily picked himself up, drawing Storm Flower. As he did, the Dark Guardian stomped its way over to the duo, grinning maniacally as the hammer started emitting dangerous amounts of electricity.
"Hmm. If Nora were here, she'd probably say that you're copying her style," Ren quipped, rushing forwards, Yang right behind him. The Dark Guardian howled, extending a hand to fire off a bolt of lightning as three Nightmares burst from the ground and started running towards them.
Ren easily sidestepped the electrical attack, and slashed Storm Flower through one dark lizard. Yang vaulted over him and thrust her fists to the ground, launching explosive bullets that knocked the other two Nightmares away. The Dark Guardian ran forward and spun its hammer in a circle, creating a sphere of electricity around it, forcing the dog and jaguar to retreat.
The monstrous reptile charged forwards and swung its hammer wildly, knocking rocks into the air and using its weapon like a bat to launch them at the duo. Yang easily smashed through them with Ember Celica, while Ren had to dodge them by quick-stepping to the side.
As she reared her fist back, Yang felt a cold, dead claw grip her wrist tightly. She forced her hand backwards, nailing a Nightmare in between the eyes, causing it to let go of her hand. Yang then grabbed the demon by the tail and tossed it into the Dark Guardian, blinding it temporarily.
"Hey! Think you can handle Rocket Accel?" Yang asked, punching another Nightmare in the face. Ren thought about it for a moment. "As long as you don't hit my head, then yes." Ren ran up to the reptilian beast and slammed the blades into its eye. The Dark Guardian screeched in pain, dropping its hammer and trying to pull Storm Flower out of its head.
Ren positioned himself in front of the monster and curled up into a tight ball, waiting for Yang to get ready. With a grin, the girl in question dropped to the floor and tucked in her feet, only for them to shoot forward seconds later, launching the jaguar at an impressive speed and straight into the Dark Guardian. When he found an opening, Ren brought out his hands and grabbed Storm Flower, his spin causing the blades to slice the demonic lizard into three large pieces.
Boss Battle - Night - Fade Out
The Dark Guardian howled in pain, writhing on the ground until it slowly disintegrated and turned into a pile of ash on the floor. Yang and Ren both breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the overgrown lizard's death. The jaguar boy walked up to the pile of dust and grabbed his gun, taking a moment to reload the weapon.
"Remind me to never to never open my mouth again…" Yang sighed. Almost immediately after she said, both mobians heard a loud, ear-splitting roar. The footfalls of a Titan was far too close for comfort, and they ran off deeper into the forest as fast as they could.
"You're not jinxed, are you?" Ren asked the dog. Yang pouted at his words, but didn't open her mouth to retort out of fear of making the situation even worse.
Now Playing… Boss Stage Clear (Sonic Unleashed)
YANG AND REN
DEFEATED THE BOSS!
Time Bonus - 7000
Health Bonus - 955
Enemy Bonus - 10450
Total - 18405
Rank - B
"Looks like you went out with a Yang!"
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Stage 02
BOTANICAL GARDEN
Mission: It's the final stretch! Reach the goal before time runs out!
United Federation - Botanical Kingdom - 2:30 PM
Now Playing… Spiral Madness (Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity)
Weiss was not pouting. She was not stomping her feet on the ground in anger as she ran for her life. She was not venting out her frustration whenever she slayed another Nightmare or Killer Bee. She did not kick the wall in rage when Sonic laughed at her face. And most importantly of all…
She was not going insane from the hamster's ramblings.
"And there we were, surrounded by Big Mothers! Twenty of them! And they were spitting out hundreds of Rexes!" The hamster cried out, raising her giant hammer and swinging it like a golf club, slamming a Rex and sending it into a swarm of Killer Bees. Her fur was a combination of orange with yellow undertones, and she wore a black sleeveless vest with a pink undershirt, white ankle boots with pink gloves, and pink fingerless gloves.
"You don't say…" Weiss scowled, backhanding a Dark Fright in the face.
"I did!" Nora Valkyrie nodded vigorously, not noticing or unwilling to notice the snow fox's sarcasm. "But, they were no match for my power! We destroyed them, skinned their corpses, and made a fortune from selling Big Leather!" As she said this, Nora slammed her hammer's handle into a nearby Deep Nightmare, turned said hammer into a grenade launcher and stuffed it into the lizard monster's mouth.
"I'm talking here! Go bother someone else!" She pulled the trigger, and the lizard was torn apart from the inside out, turning into a black mark on the floor. Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a large, deep sigh.
"Come on. If we want to get a better rank, we have to make it to Beacon in time," Weiss ordered. The hamster pouted–pouted–and crossed her arms in annoyance.
"Not yet! I'm still looking for Ren! I promised to meet up with him after we made it out of Rail Canyon!" Weiss's scarred eye twitched.
"And? If he made it out of the Canyon, then you'll meet up with him at the goal! And we'll make it to the goal faster if you stop fighting every single monster in sight!" The snow fox scowled.
"Yeah, true, but I want to find Ren now!"
"You can look for him after we make it to Beacon, now hurry up just follow me you crazy bi–" Weiss' outburst was cut off by a harsh sounding roar. Behind them, the trees were being torn apart as large footsteps stomped on the ground, creating a force similar to that of an earthquake. A large wooden club slammed into the ground near Nora. The trees were pushed out of the way, and the single purple eye glared at the fox and hamster.
"Ooo, a Titan! Let's kill it!"
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Weiss shouted, grabbing Nora's shoulder and dragging her away before the Titan before it could grab her with its clawed hand.
"Aww… But I want to ride it!"
"WHY THE HELL DO YOU WANT TO RIDE A DAMNED TITAN!"
Weiss, still facing the crazed and probably deranged hamster, accidentally stepped on a dash panel on the floor. The sudden increase in speed caused both of them to trip and curl up into a ball and roll down a ramp made of a fallen tree, launching them towards the deeper end of the forest.
"Get off of me!" Weiss cried, forcibly untangling herself from Nora. As she did she looked down at the twisting and winding corkscrews, giant flower trampolines, and wooden platforms floating in the air from flowers acting like propellers.
"You want me to hold you for a bit longer?" Nora asked innocently. Weiss glared at her for a brief moment, and conjured a glyph with the arrows of a jump panel on it. The glyph launched them towards one of the floating platforms.
The dash panels on the platform forced them onto a set of vines that acted as grind rails. However, they were also incomplete, as the vines cut off only a few feet away from the wooden platform. Nora latched one arm around Weiss' small waist and slammed her hammer onto the vines, snapping the rails and launching them to a path made out of tree bark.
"Do not distract me!" Weiss scolded. "You may want to throw your life away, but I refuse to do so!"
"Your fault for walking into that dash panel," Nora smirked, causing steam to pour out of Weiss' ears. "If you'd just let me ride the Titan–"
"Our job is to prevent people from dying to Gaia Spawn! Something that would've most definitely happened had you even thought about riding something like a–"
"Killer Bees!" Nora turned her hammer into a grenade launcher, and fired three shots into the air. The explosions downed two swarms of insectoid monsters, while Weiss drew her rapier and struck the remaining survivors. After a while, Nightmares, Evil Flowers, two Cure Masters and a Power Master had found them as well, and started attacking them viciously.
The Power Master wasted no time in using its dark magic, raising the strength of all of its comrades, causing all of them to gain a slight red hue to their skin color. Weiss frowned and conjured a glyph at her feet, using the propellant force to slice through a few Nightmares. One of them caught the blade in its hands and swiped at her, forcing her to back off to try and stab the lizard from a safer distance.
The Nightmare put its bulky arms and used to push away the blade whenever it came too close. Weiss jabbed one more time and broke through the lizard's defense, and stabbed it right in the face, poking out an eye. Before she could deal the killing blow, an Evil Flower threw its head towards her and struck her stomach, knocking her away. The Cure Masters took this moment to heal the damage done to the Nightmare.
Nora, meanwhile, hummed a tune as she brought her hammer down as hard as she could, squashing Dark Frights and turning them into a thick purple jam. Spinning her hammer in a wide circle, she decapitated nearby Evil Flowers. One of the demonic plants fired an energy ball at her, and she used her weapon to knock it towards the Power Master, causing it to crash into the ground. The Nightmares and Frights all clambered together, forming a tight protective circle around the wizard monsters.
That just made it an easier target. With a crazed smile, Nora shifted her hammer into a grenade launcher again and fired, blasting the demons to kingdom come with an unnecessary amount of explosives. Even Weiss and her opponents had to turn around and watch in shock as Nora continuously fired at the crater filled with monster jam.
With the Power Master defeated, the monsters lost their extra power. However, they still had two Cure Masters hovering away from the fight, only in range because their recovery powers are nerfed the further they are from combat.
Weiss grabbed a Dark Fright and placed it on top of glyph, aimed, and launched it towards the left Cure Master. The wizard's wand grew in size and slapped the Fright away, and then it fired a bolt of magic at the snow fox. At the same time, the roots of an Evil Flower wrapped around her ankle and prevented her from moving. In a split second, Weiss' rapier sliced off the head and roots of the flower, and she used a glyph to reflect the wizard's attack into a nearby group of Frights and Nightmares.
One Fright bit her in the shoulder, and she jabbed the hilt of her sword into one of the creature's eyes. Immediately after, a Cure Master let out a wave of healing energy that instantly repaired the Fright, and allowed the floating monster to attack again just after it was knocked away. Weiss spun the barrel on her weapon's hilt, letting the Chaos Drive inside power and activate. The blade was now encased in a barrier of superhot plasma, melting any monster that came her way. She formed a glyph in front of her and stabbed Myrtenaster into the center. The designs on the glyphs became a gun barrel, and the snow fox started firing laser after laser, decimating the monsters.
"Big Mother!" Weiss heard Nora cry out. Looking behind her, the snow fox saw her jump over the stretchy arms of a large, overweight monster. The Big Mother howled and opened its stomach mouth, vomiting out a small legion of Rexes. Weiss cursed under her breath, moving her glyph and taking aim at the small monsters. Then, a Cure Master snuck behind her and slammed its staff into her back, changing the trajectory of the blast so that it nearly hit Nora. The resulting explosion knocked the hamster off her feet. The Big Mother swung its arm and slapped her away, sending her tumbling down the bark roads.
With a large howl, the Big Mother created another swarm of Rexes, and followed the deranged hamster into the forest, with one Cure Master close behind.
Weiss scowled for what felt like the thirtieth time that day. She deactivated the Chaos Drives in the hilt, but not before using them to fire off one final blast at the remaining monsters. She swiped her sword at a nearby vine and swung across the forest canopy, bouncing off one of the large flowers and making it to a pair of dash rings. They propelled her to a bark road filled with spikes and large black bombs. As soon as she passed a large tree, a trio of Eggman's robots, Aerochasers specifically, flew in front of her and started firing lasers.
Seriously! Badniks all the way out here! And so close to Beacon too!
She easily quickstepped away from the mines and jumped over spikes, but she had to use her glyphs as shields to counter the Aerochasers' lasers. Eventually, they passed a mountainous overpass, and Weiss reactivated Myrtenaster and fired a laser at the rock formation, causing a rock slide and crushing the flying robots to pieces. Creating a glyph under her feet, she easily jumped over the rock slide.
Running further down the path, she eventually reached a hollowed out tree, the path spiraling upwards to the tips of the branches, and a lower path with a few jump panels. Weiss decided to stick to the lower path, since Nora would most definitely try to fight the Big Mother, a notoriously slow monster despite its immense strength.
Instead of leaping off the jump panels, she instead jumped over them, falling down deeper into the forest and onto a fast flowing water in a series of half-pipes made out of tree bark. She conjured a glyph and used it as a surfboard to avoid incoming motobugs, and getting water off of her dress.
Weiss' eyes widen when she sees Evil Flowers sprouting off of the half-pipes, and firing their dark orbs of energy. She uses her rapier to knock them away, only for them to crash into the half-pipe and create a large hole.
"Oh come on…" Weiss groans as she drops her glyph and falls downward.
Landing on a lily pad, Weiss immediately swung her blade forward and sliced a Chomper. From the water, Clamers rose up and started firing projectiles at her, and Weiss jumped from her lilypad onto another, narrowly avoiding death by Chomper bites.
As she made it back to the mainland, she found Nora and the army of Gaia Spawn, this time accompanied by Egg Fighters, EggRobos, and Egg Knights. She fired lasers at the Knights, destroying them instantly. The Fighters swiveled their heads towards her and said something in robot. The Robos took notice of this and flew higher in the sky, aiming their guns at Weiss and fired their laser blasters at her.
Nora was busy firing at the sky, trying to snipe the Cure Master from the sky, but the Big Mother just threw a handful of Rexes at the grenade to protect it. Nora shifted her launcher back into a hammer and started smashing the small lizards, slowly making her way over to the Big Mother, until an Egg Fighter got in her way and blocked the attack with its shield. Another Fighter got behind her and swung its fist forward, but Nora pulled the trigger on her weapon, launching her away as the two Badniks crashed into each other. The hamster then moved behind both of them and swung, turning them into balls of scrap and straight towards the Big Mother.
The monsters belched out another group of Rexes, but the scrapped bots easily smashed through them and landed directly into the monster's stomach mouth. The monster choked on the scraps, slowly killing it from lack of oxygen. The Cure Master finally moved to the ground for once, and used its staff like a lever to try and remove the robot from the Mother's secondary mouth.
Nora moved forward, but had to sidestep a blast from an EggRobo. Afterwards, the flying robots took a moment to recharge their weapons, allowing Weiss the opportunity to jump up and slice them to pieces with her blade. She used a glyph to send herself flying over Nora and the rest of the Gaia Spawn.
"I've got an idea!" Nora suddenly cried, pulling out a Chaos Drive and crushing it in her hands. Weiss' face became concerned as Nora whispered the plan into her ear, the hamster's body and eyes glowing a harsh red.
The Rexes noticed their scheming and ran up to gnaw at their ankles. Nora started firing grenades at them, clearing a path towards the Cure Master and Big Mother. Once they were dealt with, the snow fox ran forwards with and jumped, curling up into a ball and rolled across the floor. At the same time, a glyph spawned behind Nora. The hamster jumped and planted her feet on the circle, launching her forwards. As she grew closer to the snow fox, she reared her hammer back as she crackled with pink electricity, which transferred over to her hammer. With a mighty swing, Nora slammed the hammer into Weiss' body, the momentum and force of the blow causing the poor fox to fly like a bullet, even igniting her body in flames from the friction against the air.
Weiss barreled towards the Cure Master and Big Mother with enough force to cause something akin to a volcanic eruption, with molten rocks and fire creating a destructive sphere of fire around the monsters, disintegrating them instantly.
Weiss stumbled out of the newly made crater, eyes moving in circles and she dizzily collapsed onto the floor.
"I will pay you to never speak to me ever again," Weiss moaned, drawing a laugh from the hamster.
"Nah! It's fun hanging out with you! And besides, the school is like, right there!"
"WHAT!" Weiss immediately snapped out of her daze and looked to where the hamster pointed towards. True to her words, only about 3 miles away from them was a large imposing castle.
"Yes! I can still salvage my efforts!" Weiss cheered, grabbing Nora by the wrist and boosting them towards the castle with her glyphs. Not even ten minutes later, they had arrived at the imposing structure, passing by a large floating ring with a red star and rainbow in the center.
Spiral Madness - Fade Out
"Finally!" Weiss cried victoriously as she took out her scroll and nearly slammed into the nearest terminal, waiting for the machine to calculate her grade, ending up being an A-Rank, as she expected. Not that she cared, she was more worried about the time. She saw Sonic go down the canyon with Tails and Knuckles. Once she got a picture of their times, she would have proof that Tails and Knuckles were holding him back, and then he'd be kissing the floor to join her–
"WHAT THE HELL!"
Sonic had the best time. Tails came in third, and Knuckles held second place, though it was a moot point since they were all seconds away from each other. What concerned her more was the time. They beat the initiation in seventeen minutes and thirty-four seconds. In comparison, the duo of Pyrrha Nikos and a blonde bear by the name of Jaune Arc had a time of twenty-two hours, fifty-four minutes and thirty-nine seconds. They were the only initiates to get S-Ranks, ever, in the history of the school.
Now Playing… Stage Clear (Sonic Unleashed)
WEISS AND NORA
GOT THROUGH STAGE 02!
Time Bonus - 1500
Health Bonus - 1340
Enemy Bonus - 17750
Total - 20590
Rank - A
"Look Ren! I aced it!"
Vale, United Federation - Beacon Academy - 7:29 AM
At Beacon's airport, Sonic's ears suddenly perked up and he looked around. Knuckles was snoring on an empty couch, while Tails was tinkering with the Cyclone. The fox looked away from his handiwork for a brief moment to look at Sonic's confused expression.
"Something up?" He asked, but Sonic shook his head.
"No, I don't think so anyways. I feel like I missed a joke where the punchline had something to do with a 'skill issue,'" He said with an amused smile. Tails deadpanned at the hedgehog, but didn't say anything and went back to his work. Well, he would've, if their scrolls hadn't simultaneously buzzed. Knuckles groaned when he reached out to grab his.
"Looks like all the initiation is done. The last people came in just a few minutes ago," Tails summarized, since Knuckles set his scroll to sleep mode and Sonic didn't bother to get his, "and they're going to be announcing the teams in the amphitheater in a ceremony."
"Do we have to go?" Knuckles drawled, yawning into his fist. "I mean, what're the chances that Oz actually puts us on different teams?"
"Very low, but that doesn't mean we should skip out on it. It's an important event after all," Tails reasoned.
"Oh well. I don't mind getting another medal for my work!" Sonic smirked, dragging Knuckles from the couch with one hand and grabbing Tails' wrist in the other. With a wild grin, Sonic raced from the airport to the school's amphitheater, moving so fast that the trio only appeared as a red, yellow, and blue streak of light. They made it to the stands in less than 10 seconds, seating themselves in the front row closest to the stage. Once the other students started trickling in a few minutes later, until only a handful of seats from the first five rows were filled. A few of them looked at Team Sonic with awestruck faces. Being in the same row with the guy who saved the world a handful of times would do that to a person.
Once the last students took their seats, Ozpin and Glynda walked up to the stage with the spotlights trained on them. Spotlights that Tails designed, what was it, three years ago? They are better than the ones people would buy from Studiopolis.
"Congratulations. In these past two days, you have all proven yourself worthy of being considered as the defenders of this world," Ozpin began, adjusting his glasses slightly. "It takes more than just strength, intelligence, or speed to protect the masses, let alone save a single person. It takes determination, bravery, and most important of all, heart. Without any of these, you would not have survived the Canyon of the forest. You have proven to us, not only your professors, but yourselves, that you are all ready to take the next step in careers. Now, then without further ado, let us assign the Teams," Ozpin said, a smile growing on his beak.
"But before we begin, we acknowledge that not all students can fit in the standardized three-type team system, which is why those whose skills differ from or are a conglomerate of POWER-, SPEED-, and FLYING-Types will be considered as ALL AROUND-Types."
He stepped down, and Glynda took the podium after tapping a few buttons on her device. A giant screen was lowered and an emblem appeared on it, a giant gold ring in a wreath and a pair of wings, with a blue, yellow, and red circle spinning aside.
"When you hear your name, please stand up and walk towards the stage," the blonde physic cat instructed. "SPEED-Type, Sonic the Hedgehog. ALL AROUND-Type, Gadget Garnet the Wolf. POWER-Type, Ruby Rose the Wolf. You will be Team Cobalt, led by Sonic the Hedgehog." Very slowly, Sonic and Tails turned to look at Knuckles with a blank expression on both of their faces. A drop of sweat fell from his brow as the echidna warrior crossed his arms.
"Smooth move, Knucklehead," Sonic deadpans, flicking the echidna's nose.
"What?! How is this my fault?!" His words fell on deaf ears as Sonic stood up from his seat and waved at the cheering crowd, even blowing kisses and saying "Thank you, thank you, you're all too kind!" before standing in the middle of an ecstatic wolf with black fur and a mildly interested wolf with red fur, wearing thick rimmed glasses and army green gloves and boots with black arrow markings and white backs. His weapon was a strange-looking device that reminded Sonic of an umbrella, though it had two handles, and a gray sphere piece with an open segment splitting it in the middle.
"Sonic! It'll be an honor to work with you again! I promise I won't let you down, leader!"
"...I'm sorry, but who are you again?" After receiving their Team Emblem, Ruby left the stage a broken woman, tears streaming down her face when she realized that her idol couldn't remember her.
"Up next; SPEED-Type, Blake Belladonna the Cat. ALL AROUND-Type, Pyrrha Nikos the Lynx. POWER-Type, Knuckles the Echidna. You will be Team Carmine, led by Knuckles the Echidna." Like last time, there was another round of applause, only Sonic couldn't tell if it was for Pyrrha or Knuckles, and they didn't ham up their appearances like he did. The three of them awkwardly approached the stage, nodding towards one another as their only interaction with each other that day.
"Next; SPEED-Type, Lie Ren the Jaguar. ALL-AROUND-Type, Jaune Arc the Bear. POWER-Type, Nora Valkyrie the Hamster. You are Team Chartreuse, led by Jaune Arc." The yellow bear's eyes went wide when he was declared the leader. He looked towards the crowd with a concerned look, pointing at himself. Though nobody knew why, Pyrrha giggled behind her hand and flashed him a thumbs up.
"Next; SPEED-Type, Weiss Schnee the Snow Fox. FLYING-Type, Miles 'Tails' Prower the Fox. POWER-Type, Yang Xiao Long the Dog. You will be Team Aureolin, led by Miles Prower." Weiss' expression dropped, staring at the younger fox as he was given his Emblem. She clenched her jaw as Yang congratulated Tails for his spot as the leader, while he bashfully rubbed the back of his neck. As they stepped down, Weiss looked at Sonic, who had a large smirk on his face. Her eye twitched irritably.
Ozpin went on to introduce a handful of other teams, though Sonic had already zoned out by that time. Team Aureolin took a seat close by, enough for Tails to tap his finger against his seat for only Sonic to hear.
I managed to find out where Roman's were being held. Are we going forward with the interrogation? Tails asked in morse code.
Sonic smiled. You bet. And the Chaotix are investigating are going to staking out near Junior's bar, right? Tails only nodded in response, the energy of his smile easily matching Sonic's. Even with GUN and Ozpin breathing behind their necks, they always found a way to slip through the cracks.
Westopolis, United Federation - Abandoned Warehouse - 8:02 AM
A small squadron of Badniks had rimaged through the empty containers and small crevices of the warehouse. Outside, Newtrons clung to the walls as they invisibly watched cars and other vehicles drive by, waiting to alert the robots inside if any authorities came too close.
The robot leading the charge was designed similarly to an EggRobo, though it ditched the Classic Robotnik look in favor of armor that looked like a police officer. It had a white helmet with a red siren on top, and wielded a large rocket launcher instead of a typical laser gun.
"Results: inconclusive. No Chaos Emerald to be found. Signal lost," The Heavy Gunner droned, reporting his findings back to the Final Fortress.
"Blast! I know the Emerald's power originated from this location! Double check the facility, and triple check this facility! A signal as strong as the one earlier can't simply disappear without a trace! I want Stealth Balkiries and Newtrons scouring every inch of this city! You will find the Emerald!" Maniacal supergenius, Dr. Eggman's, voice yelled through the speakers.
"Affirmative. Relaying orders to ground team and aerial horde," Heavy Gunner buzzed, its eyes glowing brighter. The robots scoured the warehouse yet again, only finding broken down and used Chaos Drives and white porcelain masks designed to look like the face of a Nightmare.
TEAM COBALT:
Sonic the Hedgehog (L) - SPEED
Speed: 10/10
Flight: 5/10
Power: 7/10
Gadget Garnet the Wolf - ALL AROUND
Speed: 6/10
Flight: 6/10
Power: 6/10
Ruby Rose the Wolf - POWER
Speed: 7/10
Flight: 5/10
Power: 8/10
"Let's blast through with Sonic Speed!"
"Yes, sir!"
"On it."
TEAM CARMINE:
Blake Belladonna the Cat - SPEED
Speed: 8/10
Flight: 5/10
Power: 5/10
Pyrrha Nikos the Lynx - ALL AROUND
Speed: 7/10
Flight: 6/10
Power: 7/10
Knuckles the Echidna (L) - POWER
Speed: 5/10
Flight: 7/10
Power: 10/10
"Time for a Knuckle Sandwich!"
"Right behind you!"
"Of course."
TEAM CHARTREUSE
Lie Ren the Jaguar - SPEED
Speed: 8/10
Flight: 2/10
Power: 5/10
Jaune Arc the Bear (L) - ALL AROUND
Speed: 4/10
Flight: 1/10
Power: 2/10
Nora Valkyrie the Hamster - POWER
Speed: 5/10
Flight: 4/10
Power: 8/10
"You guys ready?"
"Affirmative."
"Let's go, Ren!"
TEAM AUREOLIN
Weiss Schnee the Snow Fox - SPEED
Speed: 7/10
Flight: 6/10
Power: 5/10
Miles "Tails" Prower the Fox (L) - FLYING
Speed: 6/10
Flight: 10/10
Power: 3/10
Yang Xiao Long the Dog - POWER
Speed: 6/10
Flight: 4/10
Power: 8/10
"I'll do my best!"
"Let's get 'em!"
"Right…"
