Chapter 5
Shadow backed himself through the hole, away from the strange monster his friend had become. The black creature walked forward in a slow, graceful pace, he leaned down towards the four-foot hedgehog and looked him in the eye. Each eyed the other coldly until Shadow cringed back and blinked, the monster started laughing hysterically.
Shadow looked up at him and said," Ha-ha, very funny. Can we get out of here now?"
In a proud, deep voice the creature replied, "After you, hedgehog."
The hedgehog took a few steps to his left and smacked face-first into iron bars. Delmon leaned against the wall and began to laugh harder than he'd done before. The black hedgehog rubbed his aching nose and looked up at the monster.
"Ahem, the bars," Shadow said.
"Aw fine," Delmon said as he held up his left hand to the bars. "Magical Game; Unlock our prison and set me free."
The bars seemed to melt and churn like butter until they gave way to an open passage.
"Now let's go."
They walked out into the hallway and looked down the almost endless underground complex. The other end of the wall and the stairs to the courtyard seemed to be miles away, not to mention the flaming debris and fallen beams from the upper levels of the prison. Shadow looked at the treacherous landscape and smirked.
Shadow stretched out a bit and said," So, do you want to race to the courtyard?"
"It looks like a Zone between here and there, mind as well get some exercise," Delmon said, spreading his large wings.
Shadow didn't wait for a signal before he jumped off the floor. But instead of the usual 0-50 in 3 seconds acceleration, it was zero to the floor in one second. Shadow sat flat on his face next to Delmon.
A pained expression and a sweat drop were on the monster's face as he said," Our personal effects like those shoes of yours and my pokeballs are in the bunker in the courtyard."
"I knew that," Shadow said, finally getting up.
==================================================
Lt. Melvin Marshal of Scorpion troop sat inside his Hot Shot Walker, shaking with nervousness. This was his first time in the field outside of a surveillance operation, he wasn't used to dealing with the explosions and fighting going on around him. His palms leaked sweat onto the trigger handles on his walker controls. He still felt confident, mind you, but who wouldn't shielded by a three foot layer of exo-steel, servos supporting your movements, a Plexiglas view screen and two missile pods on either side of the ship? And that's not counting the high-density laser cannon in the suit's core. Oh yeah, he couldn't feel more confident, even though there were rampaging mutants, a few explosives, and one unknown enemy roaming the base/prison he couldn't feel better.
KA-BOOM!!
Alarms blazed and the walls around his walker burst into flames. Lt. Marshal armed his weapons and activated his sensors.
He took an armored step forward into the smoke and flames and said over the intercom system," This is Lt. Marshal of Scorpion troop, put down your weapons or I'll be forced to fire."
Someone small stepped out of the flames, the color of their skin almost melded in with the flames.
"Lay down flat on the ground, now!"
The person in the flames lifts their hand into the air, palm stretching outward toward the walker.
"I said 'LAY DOWN'!!!"
The flames around the individual on the ground become pale and white as their left hand glows brightly. Particles of light and energy form into orb- like shapes and fly straight at the Hot Shot. Each one impacts and makes a loud explosion against the hull. Just as Lt. Marshal's hand reaches the weapons controls to fire back his shields give out and an astounding explosion rocks the Security hall. Pieces of the walker (and it's pilot) are no more than flaming debris around whoever is on the ground.
"Pathetic human annoyance," Hazard says as she leisurely skates into the security hall.
===================================================
Shadow flinches as an explosion rocks the bunker his and Delmon's things have been loaded into. The hedgehog slips on his shoes and picks up his other personal effect, the green chaos emerald. Just as he and many others have done years before and since, Shadow absorbs the emerald into his body. Suddenly he floats into the air with renewed energy from the emerald.
Not far from him, Delmon searches through his own items. Technique machines, Hidden machines, a heavy ball, a few disks, a CD player, a palm pilot, and six pokeballs. Yes, everything was in it's place.
He turned his head and asked Shadow," Are you ready to go, yet? Those explosions are getting closer."
As if to illustrate his point, another rocked the bunker. The lights flickered for a few seconds and went completely dark. Both of them clambered toward the entrance and looked outside. It was utter chaos on the compound, men and women were scattering all around and a few walker robots shuffled toward the security hold.
"If we're going to go, we'd better start moving soon," Shadow shouted above another explosion. "Any one of those walkers could pick us off if we aren't careful."
The statement stuck for a few seconds until both the fugitives heard an earth shaking thud behind them.
"So essentially what we're going to do is run like hell and attack whoever's in the way, right," Delmon asked Shadow.
Whud!
Without looking behind them, Shadow asked," Big Foot walker?"
"As far as I know."
"Two missile pods?"
"Yup."
"Possibly a laser weapon, correct?"
"Uh-huh."
"Bring it on," Shadow said as they both dashed in the opposite direction.
==================================================
Inside the security hold, teams of GUN soldiers rushed through the halls, looking for any sign of a break-in. Each cradled their weapon, always at the ready for any hostiles in the area. Suddenly the lights in the area went off and the sounds of screaming and gunfire filled the room. The lights flickered back to life soon enough and Hazard stood over a dozen dead or paralyzed enemies, holding a smoking sub-machine gun. She walked over the corpses toward a vault in the wall. She climbs up the wall and toward the computerized lock. The words 'palm Identification required' flashed on the screen. The orange lizard removed her left glove and pressed her palm to the screen. The computer screen flashes a light across her hand and then beeps.
The screen is then filled with the words 'Authorized Personnel: Unessential Class'. Hazard scoffed at the meaning of the words 'unessential class', it usually meant that you were there as an observer or citizen. This computer has no idea how 'essential' I am to this world right now, Hazard thought as she set the gun down and started rummaging through the newly opened safe.
It smells stale and dusty, as if it hadn't been open in years. On the small shelf a metal box sat with an old fashioned looking minicomputer. Hazard pocketed the computer in the military fatigues she'd smuggled from ARK and then bent down to one of the corpses. She slips off the backpack from the dead soldier and kicks him in his leaking head, his eye rolls across the floor and off a ledge.
As she slides the box into her 'new' backpack, Hazard's thoughts continue to stew and her suppressed emotions begin to bubble forth from the back of her mind. The anger of seeing the living embodiment of the one's who killed her creator, her father whom she'd never known, keep those different than themselves as well as other 'furries' from the Great War away in small cells sickened her and made her want to hurt someone else.
"Hey, you," Someone from down the hall yelled. "Get away from that safe and put your hands in the air!"
Hazard turned her head and smirked. She then kicked up the gun at her feet into her hands and rushed at the four officers standing opposite to her.
Shadow backed himself through the hole, away from the strange monster his friend had become. The black creature walked forward in a slow, graceful pace, he leaned down towards the four-foot hedgehog and looked him in the eye. Each eyed the other coldly until Shadow cringed back and blinked, the monster started laughing hysterically.
Shadow looked up at him and said," Ha-ha, very funny. Can we get out of here now?"
In a proud, deep voice the creature replied, "After you, hedgehog."
The hedgehog took a few steps to his left and smacked face-first into iron bars. Delmon leaned against the wall and began to laugh harder than he'd done before. The black hedgehog rubbed his aching nose and looked up at the monster.
"Ahem, the bars," Shadow said.
"Aw fine," Delmon said as he held up his left hand to the bars. "Magical Game; Unlock our prison and set me free."
The bars seemed to melt and churn like butter until they gave way to an open passage.
"Now let's go."
They walked out into the hallway and looked down the almost endless underground complex. The other end of the wall and the stairs to the courtyard seemed to be miles away, not to mention the flaming debris and fallen beams from the upper levels of the prison. Shadow looked at the treacherous landscape and smirked.
Shadow stretched out a bit and said," So, do you want to race to the courtyard?"
"It looks like a Zone between here and there, mind as well get some exercise," Delmon said, spreading his large wings.
Shadow didn't wait for a signal before he jumped off the floor. But instead of the usual 0-50 in 3 seconds acceleration, it was zero to the floor in one second. Shadow sat flat on his face next to Delmon.
A pained expression and a sweat drop were on the monster's face as he said," Our personal effects like those shoes of yours and my pokeballs are in the bunker in the courtyard."
"I knew that," Shadow said, finally getting up.
==================================================
Lt. Melvin Marshal of Scorpion troop sat inside his Hot Shot Walker, shaking with nervousness. This was his first time in the field outside of a surveillance operation, he wasn't used to dealing with the explosions and fighting going on around him. His palms leaked sweat onto the trigger handles on his walker controls. He still felt confident, mind you, but who wouldn't shielded by a three foot layer of exo-steel, servos supporting your movements, a Plexiglas view screen and two missile pods on either side of the ship? And that's not counting the high-density laser cannon in the suit's core. Oh yeah, he couldn't feel more confident, even though there were rampaging mutants, a few explosives, and one unknown enemy roaming the base/prison he couldn't feel better.
KA-BOOM!!
Alarms blazed and the walls around his walker burst into flames. Lt. Marshal armed his weapons and activated his sensors.
He took an armored step forward into the smoke and flames and said over the intercom system," This is Lt. Marshal of Scorpion troop, put down your weapons or I'll be forced to fire."
Someone small stepped out of the flames, the color of their skin almost melded in with the flames.
"Lay down flat on the ground, now!"
The person in the flames lifts their hand into the air, palm stretching outward toward the walker.
"I said 'LAY DOWN'!!!"
The flames around the individual on the ground become pale and white as their left hand glows brightly. Particles of light and energy form into orb- like shapes and fly straight at the Hot Shot. Each one impacts and makes a loud explosion against the hull. Just as Lt. Marshal's hand reaches the weapons controls to fire back his shields give out and an astounding explosion rocks the Security hall. Pieces of the walker (and it's pilot) are no more than flaming debris around whoever is on the ground.
"Pathetic human annoyance," Hazard says as she leisurely skates into the security hall.
===================================================
Shadow flinches as an explosion rocks the bunker his and Delmon's things have been loaded into. The hedgehog slips on his shoes and picks up his other personal effect, the green chaos emerald. Just as he and many others have done years before and since, Shadow absorbs the emerald into his body. Suddenly he floats into the air with renewed energy from the emerald.
Not far from him, Delmon searches through his own items. Technique machines, Hidden machines, a heavy ball, a few disks, a CD player, a palm pilot, and six pokeballs. Yes, everything was in it's place.
He turned his head and asked Shadow," Are you ready to go, yet? Those explosions are getting closer."
As if to illustrate his point, another rocked the bunker. The lights flickered for a few seconds and went completely dark. Both of them clambered toward the entrance and looked outside. It was utter chaos on the compound, men and women were scattering all around and a few walker robots shuffled toward the security hold.
"If we're going to go, we'd better start moving soon," Shadow shouted above another explosion. "Any one of those walkers could pick us off if we aren't careful."
The statement stuck for a few seconds until both the fugitives heard an earth shaking thud behind them.
"So essentially what we're going to do is run like hell and attack whoever's in the way, right," Delmon asked Shadow.
Whud!
Without looking behind them, Shadow asked," Big Foot walker?"
"As far as I know."
"Two missile pods?"
"Yup."
"Possibly a laser weapon, correct?"
"Uh-huh."
"Bring it on," Shadow said as they both dashed in the opposite direction.
==================================================
Inside the security hold, teams of GUN soldiers rushed through the halls, looking for any sign of a break-in. Each cradled their weapon, always at the ready for any hostiles in the area. Suddenly the lights in the area went off and the sounds of screaming and gunfire filled the room. The lights flickered back to life soon enough and Hazard stood over a dozen dead or paralyzed enemies, holding a smoking sub-machine gun. She walked over the corpses toward a vault in the wall. She climbs up the wall and toward the computerized lock. The words 'palm Identification required' flashed on the screen. The orange lizard removed her left glove and pressed her palm to the screen. The computer screen flashes a light across her hand and then beeps.
The screen is then filled with the words 'Authorized Personnel: Unessential Class'. Hazard scoffed at the meaning of the words 'unessential class', it usually meant that you were there as an observer or citizen. This computer has no idea how 'essential' I am to this world right now, Hazard thought as she set the gun down and started rummaging through the newly opened safe.
It smells stale and dusty, as if it hadn't been open in years. On the small shelf a metal box sat with an old fashioned looking minicomputer. Hazard pocketed the computer in the military fatigues she'd smuggled from ARK and then bent down to one of the corpses. She slips off the backpack from the dead soldier and kicks him in his leaking head, his eye rolls across the floor and off a ledge.
As she slides the box into her 'new' backpack, Hazard's thoughts continue to stew and her suppressed emotions begin to bubble forth from the back of her mind. The anger of seeing the living embodiment of the one's who killed her creator, her father whom she'd never known, keep those different than themselves as well as other 'furries' from the Great War away in small cells sickened her and made her want to hurt someone else.
"Hey, you," Someone from down the hall yelled. "Get away from that safe and put your hands in the air!"
Hazard turned her head and smirked. She then kicked up the gun at her feet into her hands and rushed at the four officers standing opposite to her.