Chapter 33
The Unlikely Savior
"Espio, where the hell are you?" Vector shouted into the radio again. "Espio!"
Still nothing. "Figures," the crocodile grumbled, jamming the radio back into his belt. "Demands that we have the friggin' thing for emergencies, and now we can't use it because he can't hear us in it." "We must be getting closer to the mountains," Charmy said. "Look, I think the trees are thinning out." Vector was about to object when he studied them for a minute. "Hey, you're right. Let's hurry up. Knuckles might be all the way through these things by now."
The two sped ahead, Vector pumping his arms as he ran, Charmy zipping by in the air. The patch of trees began getting smaller and smaller until finally, at long last, green turned to light gray.
"The base!" Charmy exclaimed. "'Bout bloody time," agreed Vector. "Let's go."
They began their ascent of the mountain along a path that circled around it. But they hadn't gotten more than a few yards up when Charmy stopped in the air. Vector screeched to a halt behind him.
"What is it?" "Don't you feel that?" Charmy asked.
"Nope. Wait…yeah, the ground's shakin' a bit. This thing volcanic or something?"
"Earthquake?" "No way. What are the odds?"
"Yeah, we should just keep-ACK!" Charmy barely dodged a rock that pelted the ground beside the two. Vector picked it up and observed it before chucking it against the mountain. "You gotta be more careful about this, Charmy. I mean, rocks from the mountain might be small, but if they fall from far enough up, they can-" Vector stopped.
"Kill me?" Charmy finished.
Vector was no longer interested in the conversation, mainly because, after looking up, he now knew where that last rock had come from. Charmy followed his gaze up to the pinnacle of the mountain, where thousands of boulders and rocks tumbled downward.
"AVALANCHE!" they both screamed.
"GOOD FREAKIN' GOD!" shouted Tails, Amy, Mighty, and Big from the back of the car. The remains of Metal Sonic clanked as they pounded the car's back. Only Blade appeared to be content with the speed.
"If you think this is fast…" Blade chuckled. "I'm surprised this is the fastest you've gone considering how much you hang out with that hedgehog." "I do NOT…hang out with that hedgehog!" Mighty corrected.
"Oh shut up." Blade pushed the thruster further up. Crash.
"I think Metal's busted for good…" Tails remarked.
"So? That thing was screwed anyway," countered Amy.
"Well, there was a chance before," began Tails, but a sudden jolt jarred them all from their seats, except for Big, for obvious reasons.
"Why'd we stop?" asked the cat.
Blade looked back at them. "We're here. It's only another hundred yards or so to that mountain." "Why can't we drive closer?" demanded Mighty.
"God you guys are lazy. It's to conserve energy. So we'll have enough to get out of here afterwards. It regenerates energy slightly during periods of non-use, so by the time we get back, we'll have enough to at least make it out of this little wildlife preserve." Tails admitted to himself that it was, in fact, a good idea.
"Okay, 'Giff, any parting words?" "Yeah, bring me back a souvenir. Like "I kicked Eggman's ass and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.""
"No." "Fine, then good luck." "That's more like it." Blade was about to open the hatch door when another alarm went off.
"This isn't another low energy thing, is it?" he groaned. It wasn't.
"What the heck…Seismic activity? RaGiff, tell me you didn't…"
"I was runnin' out of ideas for special features, so I threw one of those in." "So in case of an earthquake, I'd know about it? Don't you think I'd know about it when the ground started shaking uncontrollably?" "Shut up, it's working now." "It's probably just a fluke. Something it thinks is an earthquake that really isn't."
Blade clicked on the exclamation point that had popped up on the screen. A map showed the mountains, the location of him, and the location of Rouge. Small waves emitted from the mountain symbol.
"Seismic activity near that mountain. Is it erupting? RaGiff, in your spare time, did you include a volcano detector or something stupid like that?" "No, but I can see through that monitor and the conditions of the area if you move your fat head." "God, I will kill you." "Yeah, sure, whatever, now scoot." Blade sighed and moved.
"Hey you, the peanut gallery in the back, can you do me a favor and not be there for a little bit?" The four in the back reluctantly parted so RaGiff could see through the back window.
Not even ten seconds passed before RaGiff piped up, "Nope, no volcano." "I'll never know what you just did, will I?" "No. So, the only other explanations are an actual earthquake, which I doubt if it's emanating from a mountain, or…" "The rockslide!" Mighty cried.
"Dammit, he's right!" concluded RaGiff. "That's the only reasonable guess!" "Then let's roll," Blade said coolly. "Buckle up, boys and girls." He pushed the thruster forward and braced himself for… Nothing. "Go!" Blade yelled to the machine.
"Yep, that's gonna work every time," RaGiff teased. "Especially since it won't." "Can you be a little serious?!? We're a minute away from death here!" Amy screamed.
"Fine…Blade, are you sure you have no energy left on that thing?"
"Oh man…Less than .5%. That's not even enough to get us in the air. Can we burst?" "Maybe, just go further from it. Don't try circling the mountain."
"Let's go for it," Blade muttered as the machine continued to beep uncontrollably. He punched the booster and braced himself. The hover car whirred and revved as it drained whatever remained of its energy to boost.
"C'mon, you old thing, go!"
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, War Machine thrusted away from the avalanche. After a few seconds, the hover car began to slow down until it ground to a complete stop.
"That should be good for now. Everyone out of the car!" Blade cried. He flipped the switch to open the hatch. Nothing.
"Blade, we can't get out unless the thing's open," Tails muttered.
"I'm very aware of that, you little brat. It won't open." RaGiff thought for a moment. "No energy," he concluded. "No energy, no power to the car whatsoever, no strength to open the hatch." "Damn!"
More shaking.
"It's getting closer," Amy whispered.
Mighty closed his eyes. Big held Tails and Amy close to them as they cowered in fear.
"Not gonna give up yet," Blade told himself. "Rouge, are you there?" "Yeah, what's up?" "Certain death, that's what. How soon can you get down here, and how many can your little ship hold?" "It can hold three, maybe four if they're small, but there's only enough oxygen for one." Blade uttered a curse under his breath. "What's that…" "It's probably the rockslide," Blade grumbled.
"No, I know about that. It looks like…That other mountain is erupting!" "What?" "No lie. There's a river of magma coming right through the forest." "Damn! RaGiff, are you sure there's nothing else we can do???" "Just break the glass! Use your sword, man!" "Big won't fit, we don't have time to fit everyone through, and plus, how do we get out of here after that?" "I dunno, man! I'm thinking of anything now!"
"Tails, can you carry us?" Blade asked. "I don't think I can carry all of you," Tails admitted. "It's useless," Mighty muttered. "Nothing will help." "Can't you be a little more optimistic???" Tails exclaimed.
"Nothing to be optimistic about…"
Big held Amy and Tails closer to him to comfort them as they cowered in fear.
In front, Blade and RaGiff even had given up hope.
"Blade? Are you still there?" Rouge called into the com link.
Blade cut her off.
"God, I'm sorry man," RaGiff tried to console.
"It's alright man…You did all you could." The warrior then dropped his head onto the dashboard as the warnings beeped and flashed still now. "Just…Just tell everyone I said hi…and when you find her…when you find Cassie…" He sniffed. "Just tell her…tell her I'm sorry…"
Before RaGiff could respond, Blade cut off his connection with him.
The red magma came from the front, the rocks from the back.
The beeps became one solid siren as a "Time to Impact" screen appeared. Just another fifteen seconds.
Amy, Tails, and Big cried alongside each other. Mighty sat silent as the grave, eyes still closed and arms folded.
"Is this truly the way it was to end…?" Mighty asked rhetorically.
Five seconds.
A flash from the mountain.
Four.
"Good bye…"
Three.
"I'm sorry…Cassie…'Giff…everyone…" Two.
Another flash, and a whirring from behind the machine.
One.
Loud beeping from behind, louder than the others.
Impact! A final flash somewhere outside the War Machine.
Amy screamed.
The Unlikely Savior
"Espio, where the hell are you?" Vector shouted into the radio again. "Espio!"
Still nothing. "Figures," the crocodile grumbled, jamming the radio back into his belt. "Demands that we have the friggin' thing for emergencies, and now we can't use it because he can't hear us in it." "We must be getting closer to the mountains," Charmy said. "Look, I think the trees are thinning out." Vector was about to object when he studied them for a minute. "Hey, you're right. Let's hurry up. Knuckles might be all the way through these things by now."
The two sped ahead, Vector pumping his arms as he ran, Charmy zipping by in the air. The patch of trees began getting smaller and smaller until finally, at long last, green turned to light gray.
"The base!" Charmy exclaimed. "'Bout bloody time," agreed Vector. "Let's go."
They began their ascent of the mountain along a path that circled around it. But they hadn't gotten more than a few yards up when Charmy stopped in the air. Vector screeched to a halt behind him.
"What is it?" "Don't you feel that?" Charmy asked.
"Nope. Wait…yeah, the ground's shakin' a bit. This thing volcanic or something?"
"Earthquake?" "No way. What are the odds?"
"Yeah, we should just keep-ACK!" Charmy barely dodged a rock that pelted the ground beside the two. Vector picked it up and observed it before chucking it against the mountain. "You gotta be more careful about this, Charmy. I mean, rocks from the mountain might be small, but if they fall from far enough up, they can-" Vector stopped.
"Kill me?" Charmy finished.
Vector was no longer interested in the conversation, mainly because, after looking up, he now knew where that last rock had come from. Charmy followed his gaze up to the pinnacle of the mountain, where thousands of boulders and rocks tumbled downward.
"AVALANCHE!" they both screamed.
"GOOD FREAKIN' GOD!" shouted Tails, Amy, Mighty, and Big from the back of the car. The remains of Metal Sonic clanked as they pounded the car's back. Only Blade appeared to be content with the speed.
"If you think this is fast…" Blade chuckled. "I'm surprised this is the fastest you've gone considering how much you hang out with that hedgehog." "I do NOT…hang out with that hedgehog!" Mighty corrected.
"Oh shut up." Blade pushed the thruster further up. Crash.
"I think Metal's busted for good…" Tails remarked.
"So? That thing was screwed anyway," countered Amy.
"Well, there was a chance before," began Tails, but a sudden jolt jarred them all from their seats, except for Big, for obvious reasons.
"Why'd we stop?" asked the cat.
Blade looked back at them. "We're here. It's only another hundred yards or so to that mountain." "Why can't we drive closer?" demanded Mighty.
"God you guys are lazy. It's to conserve energy. So we'll have enough to get out of here afterwards. It regenerates energy slightly during periods of non-use, so by the time we get back, we'll have enough to at least make it out of this little wildlife preserve." Tails admitted to himself that it was, in fact, a good idea.
"Okay, 'Giff, any parting words?" "Yeah, bring me back a souvenir. Like "I kicked Eggman's ass and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.""
"No." "Fine, then good luck." "That's more like it." Blade was about to open the hatch door when another alarm went off.
"This isn't another low energy thing, is it?" he groaned. It wasn't.
"What the heck…Seismic activity? RaGiff, tell me you didn't…"
"I was runnin' out of ideas for special features, so I threw one of those in." "So in case of an earthquake, I'd know about it? Don't you think I'd know about it when the ground started shaking uncontrollably?" "Shut up, it's working now." "It's probably just a fluke. Something it thinks is an earthquake that really isn't."
Blade clicked on the exclamation point that had popped up on the screen. A map showed the mountains, the location of him, and the location of Rouge. Small waves emitted from the mountain symbol.
"Seismic activity near that mountain. Is it erupting? RaGiff, in your spare time, did you include a volcano detector or something stupid like that?" "No, but I can see through that monitor and the conditions of the area if you move your fat head." "God, I will kill you." "Yeah, sure, whatever, now scoot." Blade sighed and moved.
"Hey you, the peanut gallery in the back, can you do me a favor and not be there for a little bit?" The four in the back reluctantly parted so RaGiff could see through the back window.
Not even ten seconds passed before RaGiff piped up, "Nope, no volcano." "I'll never know what you just did, will I?" "No. So, the only other explanations are an actual earthquake, which I doubt if it's emanating from a mountain, or…" "The rockslide!" Mighty cried.
"Dammit, he's right!" concluded RaGiff. "That's the only reasonable guess!" "Then let's roll," Blade said coolly. "Buckle up, boys and girls." He pushed the thruster forward and braced himself for… Nothing. "Go!" Blade yelled to the machine.
"Yep, that's gonna work every time," RaGiff teased. "Especially since it won't." "Can you be a little serious?!? We're a minute away from death here!" Amy screamed.
"Fine…Blade, are you sure you have no energy left on that thing?"
"Oh man…Less than .5%. That's not even enough to get us in the air. Can we burst?" "Maybe, just go further from it. Don't try circling the mountain."
"Let's go for it," Blade muttered as the machine continued to beep uncontrollably. He punched the booster and braced himself. The hover car whirred and revved as it drained whatever remained of its energy to boost.
"C'mon, you old thing, go!"
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, War Machine thrusted away from the avalanche. After a few seconds, the hover car began to slow down until it ground to a complete stop.
"That should be good for now. Everyone out of the car!" Blade cried. He flipped the switch to open the hatch. Nothing.
"Blade, we can't get out unless the thing's open," Tails muttered.
"I'm very aware of that, you little brat. It won't open." RaGiff thought for a moment. "No energy," he concluded. "No energy, no power to the car whatsoever, no strength to open the hatch." "Damn!"
More shaking.
"It's getting closer," Amy whispered.
Mighty closed his eyes. Big held Tails and Amy close to them as they cowered in fear.
"Not gonna give up yet," Blade told himself. "Rouge, are you there?" "Yeah, what's up?" "Certain death, that's what. How soon can you get down here, and how many can your little ship hold?" "It can hold three, maybe four if they're small, but there's only enough oxygen for one." Blade uttered a curse under his breath. "What's that…" "It's probably the rockslide," Blade grumbled.
"No, I know about that. It looks like…That other mountain is erupting!" "What?" "No lie. There's a river of magma coming right through the forest." "Damn! RaGiff, are you sure there's nothing else we can do???" "Just break the glass! Use your sword, man!" "Big won't fit, we don't have time to fit everyone through, and plus, how do we get out of here after that?" "I dunno, man! I'm thinking of anything now!"
"Tails, can you carry us?" Blade asked. "I don't think I can carry all of you," Tails admitted. "It's useless," Mighty muttered. "Nothing will help." "Can't you be a little more optimistic???" Tails exclaimed.
"Nothing to be optimistic about…"
Big held Amy and Tails closer to him to comfort them as they cowered in fear.
In front, Blade and RaGiff even had given up hope.
"Blade? Are you still there?" Rouge called into the com link.
Blade cut her off.
"God, I'm sorry man," RaGiff tried to console.
"It's alright man…You did all you could." The warrior then dropped his head onto the dashboard as the warnings beeped and flashed still now. "Just…Just tell everyone I said hi…and when you find her…when you find Cassie…" He sniffed. "Just tell her…tell her I'm sorry…"
Before RaGiff could respond, Blade cut off his connection with him.
The red magma came from the front, the rocks from the back.
The beeps became one solid siren as a "Time to Impact" screen appeared. Just another fifteen seconds.
Amy, Tails, and Big cried alongside each other. Mighty sat silent as the grave, eyes still closed and arms folded.
"Is this truly the way it was to end…?" Mighty asked rhetorically.
Five seconds.
A flash from the mountain.
Four.
"Good bye…"
Three.
"I'm sorry…Cassie…'Giff…everyone…" Two.
Another flash, and a whirring from behind the machine.
One.
Loud beeping from behind, louder than the others.
Impact! A final flash somewhere outside the War Machine.
Amy screamed.