Chapter 31
Another Thrill Nut
The electricity sparked around the new body, the new host. Power surged through her. This was the norm with possessing robots, though-it seems like you're invincible, then you find a major flaw and wham-you've gotta find something else. She wasn't sure of which one she had taken, or how strong it was, but it would do for now. It was a shame she lost that last one on the mountain, it truly was a powerful one. That rodent was going to prove to be a much bigger problem than before. It was her own fault, really. But she couldn't dwell on past mistakes. Her plan would still work fine, even with this minor setback. The doctor's base was a utopia of strong metal soldiers-hosts for her army.
"Mistress…"
One of the henchmen.
"Yes?"
"The next victims…they are coming soon…"
If the robot she had could give emotions, a very evil smile would have appeared on her face.
"Very good," she whispered in a metallic voice. "What of the doctor?" "He is still here…but he knows not of our plot…" "But he probably noticed the odd behaviors of his robots." "Yes…"
She thought for a minute. The screens of the room, including a real-time detection map and the occasional clock, beeped and flashed. She looked at one of the flashing times, then laughed to herself.
"In the words of Mr. Dark, "The doctor's clock. Stop it.""
"Yes," Mighty answered, "Knuckles is alive." "Then Sonic didn't do anything?" "He never did anything in the first place. This is just further proof." "Is he hurt in any way?" "Apparently not. He says he was already dead, though." "What?"
Mighty didn't respond yet because someone rapped on the window. "Big," Blade murmured without even looking. "Let 'im in." Someone in the back pressed a button-Blade didn't see who-and Big pushed his way in. He heard a slight gasping for air, followed by a spark, and a shriek from behind.
"Did you have to bring that rust bucket along with you?" Blade asked Tails. "You know it probably won't do anything in the long run." A cough came in response. He took it as a yes.
"Please continue," Blade told Mighty. "He fed us some story about how he visited some weird "other world" and a labyrinth," the armadillo wheezed. "Well this is wonderful," Blade groaned. "The echidna's alive, he's just completely insane."
"That's what I said."
"Okay, fine. We've got to follow him one way or another. So we're gonna try to pull this off. Brace yourself, guys." He then turned to Amy and grinned. "If you think Sonic was a thrill nut, you ain't seen nothin' yet."
Mighty and Big didn't know what to think of this comment, but Tails and Amy's faces wore expressions of pure horror.
"Let's see how much juice this thing has left," the bounty hunter cackled.
"Don't think that's such a good-" RaGiff began.
"WHOOOOOOOOHOOHOOHOOO!"
"No one ever listens to me anymore…"
In a nearly superhuman effort, the ninja-like chameleon pretty much willed his way to the other side of the spike pit and bounced off the floor just before it crumbled into the death trap below.
But the fun didn't stop there.
A set of stalactites plummeted from the roof of the cave, spears flying towards him. Espio ran through the maze of daggers, flipped over one that had already hit the floor, rolled past another that barely missed him, and dashed ahead in a blaze of violet as the rest of the stalactites pelted the rock path behind him.
Just as Espio thought he had escaped, the floor shook and crumbled once again. Down he fell, plummeting until he moved over to a wall and planted his feet. He bounced over to the other wall, barely missing a couple falling stones, and began running up the circular pit, around and around, higher and higher, until he reached the top. Espio then tried to press his hand on the top and flip upward, but his arms were simply too heavy. So instead, he shoved off the wall with his legs and flew out of the hole, flipping like crazy, landing on the cave floor at last.
Espio would never know himself how exactly he had managed to pull that off, but he knew he had saved his skin once again.
After going through a lighted tunnel with pieces of rock scattered everywhere, the chameleon walked down a long, descending tunnel until he reached a roadblock. A huge boulder sealed away the passage to the next area of the cavern. In his weakened state, he could not even think of lifting or moving it. There had to be a way around.
Actually, there wasn't a way around. But someone else found him a way through.
Suddenly, something came flying through the rock, shattering it to pieces and knocking Espio backwards, crushed under the thing and numerous pieces of stone. Once he had opened his eyes, he tried to make out what exactly had happened. But a large, red rock blocked his line of sight.
Wait. Not a rock. Knuckles.
"Finished yet, Red?" laughed a voice. Sonic. So, the hedgehog couldn't do it before, so he was trying to kill Knuckles again! In fear of being spotted, he initiated his ninja Leaf Swirl. A couple of the rocks shook as green leaves appeared from nowhere and flipped over Espio, but Sonic was too focused on Knuckles to notice. In a second, Espio was invisible. The first thing he did was start taunting Sonic. The only way to do that was to get his attention.
"Ow!" he yelped as something hit him in the head. What was that all about? He hadn't seen Knuckles move… "Who is it? Show yourself!" he shouted.
"No, I don't think I will," Espio teased. "At least tell me who it is," demanded Sonic, whirling around. This was creepy.
"Don't think I'll do that either," retorted the chameleon as he walked to the other side of the room undetected..
"It's the bounty hunter, isn't it Swordy?" Sonic concluded. "What's going on? If you've done anything to Amy, I'll…" Now this really wasn't like him. Occasionally, he'd save Amy's skin for the fun of it (and because it was the right thing to do-damn, he hated when he had to do that), but to publicly threaten someone for her safety was just beyond him. Could it possibly be…? No way. He'd made that promise to himself early on that that would never happen.
Espio chuckled. He was enjoying this. "No, I don't have your girlfriend-" "SHE'S NOT MY @*&$^@#&! GIRLFRIEND!" "Well, you might want to watch your mouth there. This is a PG-13 rated cave."
"Shut up!"
"Again, I don't think I will."
"God, you're so freakin' annoying, you know? I bet you're just smiling and laughing from wherever the hell you are."
"You're smarter than you look," laughed Espio.
"C'mon, you and me, we've got a score to settle, eh?" Sonic shouted to no one and nothing. "Why don't we just finish this right now?" But before Espio could make a wisecrack response, something beeped in Sonic's ear. What the hell was that? Oh yeaaaaaah. He still had the headset thing on. "We'll settle our rivalry in a second, Blade, I've got an important call."
Now, Espio, now!
But he didn't move. He didn't attack. What was stopping him? He was trying to move, but… "He's mine," growled a low, shaky voice behind him.
Espio stopped struggling. Knuckles released him from his grip and walked slowly towards Sonic.
Another Thrill Nut
The electricity sparked around the new body, the new host. Power surged through her. This was the norm with possessing robots, though-it seems like you're invincible, then you find a major flaw and wham-you've gotta find something else. She wasn't sure of which one she had taken, or how strong it was, but it would do for now. It was a shame she lost that last one on the mountain, it truly was a powerful one. That rodent was going to prove to be a much bigger problem than before. It was her own fault, really. But she couldn't dwell on past mistakes. Her plan would still work fine, even with this minor setback. The doctor's base was a utopia of strong metal soldiers-hosts for her army.
"Mistress…"
One of the henchmen.
"Yes?"
"The next victims…they are coming soon…"
If the robot she had could give emotions, a very evil smile would have appeared on her face.
"Very good," she whispered in a metallic voice. "What of the doctor?" "He is still here…but he knows not of our plot…" "But he probably noticed the odd behaviors of his robots." "Yes…"
She thought for a minute. The screens of the room, including a real-time detection map and the occasional clock, beeped and flashed. She looked at one of the flashing times, then laughed to herself.
"In the words of Mr. Dark, "The doctor's clock. Stop it.""
"Yes," Mighty answered, "Knuckles is alive." "Then Sonic didn't do anything?" "He never did anything in the first place. This is just further proof." "Is he hurt in any way?" "Apparently not. He says he was already dead, though." "What?"
Mighty didn't respond yet because someone rapped on the window. "Big," Blade murmured without even looking. "Let 'im in." Someone in the back pressed a button-Blade didn't see who-and Big pushed his way in. He heard a slight gasping for air, followed by a spark, and a shriek from behind.
"Did you have to bring that rust bucket along with you?" Blade asked Tails. "You know it probably won't do anything in the long run." A cough came in response. He took it as a yes.
"Please continue," Blade told Mighty. "He fed us some story about how he visited some weird "other world" and a labyrinth," the armadillo wheezed. "Well this is wonderful," Blade groaned. "The echidna's alive, he's just completely insane."
"That's what I said."
"Okay, fine. We've got to follow him one way or another. So we're gonna try to pull this off. Brace yourself, guys." He then turned to Amy and grinned. "If you think Sonic was a thrill nut, you ain't seen nothin' yet."
Mighty and Big didn't know what to think of this comment, but Tails and Amy's faces wore expressions of pure horror.
"Let's see how much juice this thing has left," the bounty hunter cackled.
"Don't think that's such a good-" RaGiff began.
"WHOOOOOOOOHOOHOOHOOO!"
"No one ever listens to me anymore…"
In a nearly superhuman effort, the ninja-like chameleon pretty much willed his way to the other side of the spike pit and bounced off the floor just before it crumbled into the death trap below.
But the fun didn't stop there.
A set of stalactites plummeted from the roof of the cave, spears flying towards him. Espio ran through the maze of daggers, flipped over one that had already hit the floor, rolled past another that barely missed him, and dashed ahead in a blaze of violet as the rest of the stalactites pelted the rock path behind him.
Just as Espio thought he had escaped, the floor shook and crumbled once again. Down he fell, plummeting until he moved over to a wall and planted his feet. He bounced over to the other wall, barely missing a couple falling stones, and began running up the circular pit, around and around, higher and higher, until he reached the top. Espio then tried to press his hand on the top and flip upward, but his arms were simply too heavy. So instead, he shoved off the wall with his legs and flew out of the hole, flipping like crazy, landing on the cave floor at last.
Espio would never know himself how exactly he had managed to pull that off, but he knew he had saved his skin once again.
After going through a lighted tunnel with pieces of rock scattered everywhere, the chameleon walked down a long, descending tunnel until he reached a roadblock. A huge boulder sealed away the passage to the next area of the cavern. In his weakened state, he could not even think of lifting or moving it. There had to be a way around.
Actually, there wasn't a way around. But someone else found him a way through.
Suddenly, something came flying through the rock, shattering it to pieces and knocking Espio backwards, crushed under the thing and numerous pieces of stone. Once he had opened his eyes, he tried to make out what exactly had happened. But a large, red rock blocked his line of sight.
Wait. Not a rock. Knuckles.
"Finished yet, Red?" laughed a voice. Sonic. So, the hedgehog couldn't do it before, so he was trying to kill Knuckles again! In fear of being spotted, he initiated his ninja Leaf Swirl. A couple of the rocks shook as green leaves appeared from nowhere and flipped over Espio, but Sonic was too focused on Knuckles to notice. In a second, Espio was invisible. The first thing he did was start taunting Sonic. The only way to do that was to get his attention.
"Ow!" he yelped as something hit him in the head. What was that all about? He hadn't seen Knuckles move… "Who is it? Show yourself!" he shouted.
"No, I don't think I will," Espio teased. "At least tell me who it is," demanded Sonic, whirling around. This was creepy.
"Don't think I'll do that either," retorted the chameleon as he walked to the other side of the room undetected..
"It's the bounty hunter, isn't it Swordy?" Sonic concluded. "What's going on? If you've done anything to Amy, I'll…" Now this really wasn't like him. Occasionally, he'd save Amy's skin for the fun of it (and because it was the right thing to do-damn, he hated when he had to do that), but to publicly threaten someone for her safety was just beyond him. Could it possibly be…? No way. He'd made that promise to himself early on that that would never happen.
Espio chuckled. He was enjoying this. "No, I don't have your girlfriend-" "SHE'S NOT MY @*&$^@#&! GIRLFRIEND!" "Well, you might want to watch your mouth there. This is a PG-13 rated cave."
"Shut up!"
"Again, I don't think I will."
"God, you're so freakin' annoying, you know? I bet you're just smiling and laughing from wherever the hell you are."
"You're smarter than you look," laughed Espio.
"C'mon, you and me, we've got a score to settle, eh?" Sonic shouted to no one and nothing. "Why don't we just finish this right now?" But before Espio could make a wisecrack response, something beeped in Sonic's ear. What the hell was that? Oh yeaaaaaah. He still had the headset thing on. "We'll settle our rivalry in a second, Blade, I've got an important call."
Now, Espio, now!
But he didn't move. He didn't attack. What was stopping him? He was trying to move, but… "He's mine," growled a low, shaky voice behind him.
Espio stopped struggling. Knuckles released him from his grip and walked slowly towards Sonic.