ENTER THE RAVAGERS
Author's Note: Hey! I'm back, and with a vengence! (Well, sort of.) Anyway, this is my third story, so if you havn't read "Break Up, Break Down" and "Eclipse: The Legendary Echidna"(in that order) then turn back now and do so. Otherwise, things may not make sense to you. This story will have some of my own characters, which belong to ME!!!So no shistin', ya hear? lol. Sorry. I'm weird. Anyways, on with the show!
"Is this all necessary?" Sonic asked Sally as he looked at himself in the mirror. "Stop complaining. You look good," she said. Sonic was wearing an orange short sleeved, button-down shirt and blue jeans. "I don't know. I'm not used to so much clothing," Sonic said as he pulled at the collar of his shirt. "That's because you never wear any," Sally replied. "Do we really have to go to all this trouble?" Sonic asked. Sally sighed in annoyance and said, "Yes. We have to blend in with the crowd, so stop complaining and get used to it!" Sally had put on a pink T-shirt and white bell-bottoms. "The other's are waiting," she said as she led him out of his hut.
Mighty was wearing a blue football jersey and black cargo pants with a red, backwards ball cap on his head. Espio wore are red shirt and brown shorts. Vector wore a white wife-beater and loose jeans, held up with a belt. Tails, his arm and shoulder still in a sling, wore a gray sweatshirt and blue shorts. Antoine wore a bright green, long-sleeved shirt and white dress pants. Ray was wearing brown khakis and a pine green, short sleeved shirt. Rotor was sporting a white Lord of the Power Rings T-shirt and black sweatpants. Amy wore a pink shirt with long, white sleeves and blue jeans. Rouge wore a black T-shirt and black shorts. Bunnie still wore her pink tube top, but wore a brown jacket and pants to cover her robotic appendages. Julie-Su wore a black tank top and purple pants.
"Well then...uhh, where's red?" Sonic asked as he looked around. "He went off into the woods 'bout twenty minutes ago. We called after 'im, but he didn't answer," Vector replied. "There he is," Amy said as Knuckles walked out of the woods. He was wearing a sleeveless black shirt tucked into blue jeans, which were secured with his brown belt embedded with the guiding star gem. He also had his grandfather Hawking's hat on, and he wore black sunglasses. "Sup, Knux?" Mighty said cheerfully as he walked up to his friend with his open hand in the air, hoping for a high five. However, Knuckles didn't even look up at him, and he was left hanging. "You look good," Mighty said as he playfully punched Knuckles' shoulder, but still got no word from his friend. Mighty stared in silence for a moment, and finally said, "Aren't you gonna talk to me anymore?" Still silence. Mighty sighed and hugged his friend, who still stood silently. "It's alright, man. I'm here for you," he said, trying to comfort his friend. "Thanks," Knuckles finally whispered.
The King rode up on his horse, escorted by the royal guard. "All preparations have been made. Your presence will not be known. Your ship is registered to Station Square, so the Legion will not be able to find you," the King said. They all walked to pack their belongings in the jet, passing crowds of pedestrians as they went. Knuckles could hear them talking about him, saying how evil and heartless he was. Everyone glanced over and saw the crowds giving Knuckles death-glares, which greatly angered them. Within the hour, their supplies were packed and they were off for Station Square. They only intended to stay a few days, so they only packed the necessities. The plan was to get there, blend in, gather information, and take down Dimitri before their presence was discovered. They would simply find a hotel and get a few rooms while they were there.
They were in Station Square by nightfall. The city was much like Echidnapolis, only with fewer echidnas. It was a mixed population. Mostly "humans", as they preferred to be called, and all sorts of other creatures. Tall buildings, bright lights, large crowds. This was indeed a city. They walked down the street, and no one seemed to pay any notice to them. "See? We blend right in," Sally said to Sonic, who grumbled. As they were walking, Knuckles' head shot up and he stopped walking. They all paused and looked at him, until he began to run down the street until he cut into an alley. They all sped after him to find that he had stopped, and was in a fighting position. "What's up, Knux?" Espio said. Knuckles didn't answer, which irritated Sonic. "Alright! Enough with this silent crap!" Sonic said as he began to walk over to Knuckles. Knuckles turned around and threw a punch towards Sonic, but his hand grabbed another hand that was phasing through the wall next to Sonic. "What the...?" Sonic said as Knuckles pulled a Dark Legionnaire out of the wall and threw him across the alley. Before anyone could react to this, the shadows in the alley began to move, and about a dozen Legionnaires surrounded them.
"Master Dimitri bids you welcome. He has been expecting you. You can come willingly, or by force," a legionnaire said menacingly. "There's only twelve of you! We can take this!" Sonic said mockingly, but was silenced when the legionnaire began to laugh. "You don't get it. We are Dimitri's elite shadow troops. We can phase into shadows and evade all of your attacks. Resistance is-""YEEEEEEEEEEE..." someone yelled, interrupting the legionnaire. "Who was that?" Amy asked. "Oh, no. Not them again!" a legionnaire yelled. "HAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" the voice finished as eight figures jumped down from the rooftops and took the legionnaires by surprise. A few short seconds later, the legionnaires melted down into shadows and crept away. "Nice! That's seven groups tonight! Pound up, man!" one of them said as he collided his fist with another one of the figures.
The one that had spoken was wearing some kind of armored suit. It was like a blue body suit with a red chest plate, red wrist cuffs, and a red helmet. The helmet had a long, horizontal green visor on it, and was topped off with a beanie, oddly enough. His companion wore no mask at all. He wore a white body suit with red shoulders, a blue torso, and a yellow belt. Blue gloves and boots covered his hands and feet. He had a blue headband on, which was tied behind his head as the ends hung behind him. He appeared to be young, with black, spiky hair with one curl in the middle of his hairline, soft blue eyes, and a reassuring smile.
"Nice job, bro," another one said to him. This one was a bit shorter, with long, messy, combed back black hair that went down to above his shoulders. He wore basically the same outfit as the spike-haired guy, except the colors were darker and a pair of goggles replaced the headband. In his hands he held two triangular blades that extended from his mid-forearm to about a foot ahead of his fists. "They don't train them like they used to," one of them said. This one wore a green karate uniform, held with a karate belt, black lightweight shoes and wrist cuffs, and a long purple scarf. On his head was a mask that resembled a serpent, his face being the black, open mouth with two teeth hanging before his eyes. "Hey! It's not them! We're just too tough!" another threw in. This one wore a white body suit. An ice-blue mask covered his face, and his blonde bowl cut hair flowed freely above it. His gloves and boots shared the same blue color, and starting from his shoulders, down to where his waist met his belt, a large triangle had the same blue color as well.
"You are such a show off," one of them sighed. He wore a dark violet cloak, with a golden pendant holding it together below his neck. The area of his face above his nose was concealed in shadow, but his mouth and black goatee were visible. "Naw! He's just a hot head," yet another one said. His outfit had very little imagination to it. A blue body suit with a blue mask to hide his face. "Let's move on! The night is still young and I'm just getting warmed up!" the last one said. His one wore a dark gray cloak with tattered ends. His whole face was concealed in blackness. All that could be seen were his red eyes with his cat-like pupils, and a pentagon-shaped mouthpiece with three vertical slits in it.
"Uhhh...hello?" Sally said, causing them all to turn to them. "Shoot! I forgot all about them! Are you okay?" the one in plain blue yelled. "Yeah. Um..." Julie-Su began, but was still confused, along with the others, about their sudden visitors. "You all new in town?" one of them asked. "Yeah! We're...here on business," Rouge answered. "Bit young for a business trip, but I'm down with that," the spike-haired one said. "You got names?" another asked. "Yeah," Sally said as she introduced herself, then everyone but one. "And who's the red guy?" the violet-cloaked one asked. "...Red. My name's Red," Knuckles answered, not wanting to give out his real name. "So what did those guys want with a group of kids like you?" one asked. "Well...we...uhhh..." Sally began, until she was cut off with, "It's alright. You can tell us. We can offer you protection. Besides, even if it were some 'big secret', who would ever believe eight guys in crazy colored outfits anyway?" the armored one asked them They all looked at each other. "The Legion already knows who we are somehow, and he does have a point...so I guess it wouldn't hurt," Sally finally said. She turned back to their visitors and said, "I am Princess Sally Acorn, and we are representatives from the Kingdom of Acorn." The costumed companions stared as their eyes widened in surprise. "...Holy crap," one of them finally said.
"We are the Freedom Fighters, and they are the Chaotix," Sally said, pointing out who was from what group. "Well surely you know who we are," the armored guy said as he outstretched his arms in opposite directions. There was a brief silence, until Rotor said, "Can't say we do." The armored guy's shoulders sagged as he said, "Surely you jest? If not, then I shall tell you! We are the sultans of salvation, the poobahs of peace, the...doers of good...things, when the world is in danger of being endangered, we are there to meet the challenge! We are..."
"Captain Independence..." The spiky haired guy stepped up. "Call me Cap."
"Quick Freeze..." The bowl-haired guy gave them a peace sign with his hand. "Freezie for short."
"Viper Ninja..." The Karate guy bowed. "Vipes."
"Forest Centipede..." The violet cloak nodded his head. "F.C."
"Morph Man..." The blue guy waved his hand. "Morph."
"Sword Swipe, Cap's younger brother..." The duel blade-bearing guy clanged his blades together. "Swiper"
"Grim Reaper..." The dark figure just stood there and said, "Grim."
"And I'm the Mecha DJ...DJ for short. And together, we are...the Ravagers!" DJ said, once again outstretching his arms as if to present merchandise before a crowd of buyers.
They all stared curiously at the Ravagers, until Mighty said, "Okay... but what are you?" The Ravagers paused and looked at each other. "I dunno. Super heroes, I guess," DJ said. "Yeah, I don't really know. I never thought about it," Swiper threw in. "Wait...you don't even know what you are?" Tails asked. "Well...technically we are super heroes, but on the other hand...we're wanted criminals," Cap said. "How does that work?" Bunnie asked. "What's the lowdown, DJ?" Vipes said as he turned to DJ. "Let's see...as of today, we're wanted for vigilantism, escaping arrest, road rage, driving an unregistered vehicle, flying an unregistered aircraft in public airspace, disturbing the peace, and property damage...which amounts to twelve thousand, seven hundred and forty two dollars...and thirty three cents." "Well...that's...quite a record," Julie-Su said. "I know. So what business are you here about?" F.C. asked. "Vell, ve ah here to fight ze Dark Legion," Antoine said. "I didn't pick up all of that, but did you say...the Dark Legion?" DJ said in a creepy voice, until he said "No need to worry! We got 'em covered!" in his normal voice. "We have inside information," Rouge boasted. "We do too!" Morph said. "Like w-what?" Ray asked. "Well...they're echidnas...they're techno geeks...they have grim's sense of fashion...and..." Freezie said as he leaned over to DJ and whispered "What else do we know?" DJ whispered something in his ear that made him smirk as he looked back at them. "And we can handle them, no problem!" "Well, we have a score to settle," Vector said, glancing over at Knuckles, who remained silent. "And we know a lot more about them," Julie-Su commented. "Well we know this city better, so nah!" Freezie said. "Cool it, Freezie. Ravagers, team huddle," Cap said as they formed a circle and whispered amongst themselves.
"What do you think they're talkin' about?" Sally asked Sonic. "Probably whether we're trustable or not," Sonic answered. "So it's decided...we'll get one large cheese pizza, and one with pepperoni," DJ said, as they all nodded in agreement. "Wait! What about them?" Swiper asked. "Back to them, they seem cool to me, and seem to know more than we do, so I guess-" "No! I mean, if we invite them over, two pies won't be enough!" Swiper replied. "Good point. I'll ask them," DJ said. The visitors from the Kingdom of Acorn and the Floating Island stood at attention when DJ's head popped up out of the huddle. "You guys like pizza?" he asked. They all stared in confusion and muttered, "I guess..." "Plain or pepperoni?" Another moment of confused silence. "Uhhh...either or...I...guess..." Mighty answered. "Okay, so we'll get two large plain, and two large pepperoni, just to be safe," DJ said as he rejoined the huddle. "What're they talking about now?" Julie-Su asked Rouge. "Probably drinks," Rouge muttered. The huddle dispersed as DJ stepped out in front of them. "We have decided...that you are not orcs," he said. They all stared in confusion as Grim punched DJ in the back of his head. "Idiot!" he scolded. "Heh, heh, heh! Kidding. You're cool with us. Fashizzle, dizzle!" he said, receiving more raised brows. "You speak the languizzle?" Vector asked, walking up to DJ. "Yeah, my nizzle!" "Sizzlin'!" Vector replied as the two performed some strange high five. Either that, or it was some kind of tribal ritual. Espio leaned over to Mighty and whispered, "There's more than one of him?" Grim leaned over to Cap and whispered, "There's more than one of him?"
F.C. walked over to Knuckles and said, "I know who you are, and there is no need to hide your identity from us...Knuckles." Knuckles clenched his fists as he tried to figure out how he knew. "I am a mage. I know many of the mystic arts, and telepathy is a novice lesson. Besides, your aura says it for you," F.C. said. "Aura?" Rotor asked. "Every living thing has an invisible aura around them. It is effected by how powerful a person is, and how they feel," Vipes explained. "Your aura shows sorrow, regret, torment, guilt...a thirst for revenge...And your mind says all the rest. However, I did not go into your personal thoughts, just what you were thinking about at the moment, and that was keeping your identity a secret," F.C. concluded.
Knuckles growled angrily at F.C. He was enraged that someone else had gone into his mind without him knowing. Dimitri was bad enough, but he didn't even know this guy. "Hey," Cap said as he walked over to Knuckles, "It's cool. Don't worry 'bout it." Knuckles looked at him curiously as he lowered his sunglasses. "He means about the whole...thing...last week. No biggie, man!" DJ threw in. "No biggie? No biggie??? Are you stupid or something?!?! Do you have any idea how much innocent blood is on my hands?!?! How is that 'no biggie'?!?!" Knuckles roared. "Hey! They didn't mean nothin'! They're just sayin' that everyone makes mistakes," Morph said, trying to calm the situation. "Well I made one hell of a mistake," Knuckles growled as he began to walk away. "Where're you going, Knux?" Tails asked. "I'm finding Dimitri. Now. Discussing pizza, or anything else with these morons is wasting my time," Knuckles said before he ran down the alley and turned down the street. There was silence for a second, until Freezie said, "Well, that isn't the first time we've been called that." "We'd better find him. He doesn't know the city. With this new technology that allows the legionnaires to become shadows, they could attack from anywhere," Grim said.
Knuckles had climbed up a fire escape and was already jumping from roof to roof. After he had gone a few blocks, he stopped and looked up at the stars. 'I really lost it back there. They were only trying to help, but...' He started weeping now, thinking about what he'd done. "I am so, so sorry. I will avenge you all. I promise! Just please forgive me..." he whispered to the stars, hoping for an answer that would never come. Suddenly, a familiar scent in the air alerted him to the fact that he wasn't alone. He turned around to see three of the shadow troops behind him. "Master Dimitri wishes to see you," one of them said. "Well Master Dimitri can kiss my-" "No, no, no. That won't do, Knuckles," Dimitri's voice said. Knuckles felt himself losing control of his arms. "Wh-what...?" "I didn't just disappear. I've been biding my time. And now the time has come for me to take complete control of you. Stun him," Dimitri's voice said, using Knuckles as a puppet. The three legionnaires drew their blasters, set them for stun, and fired.
Not too far away, the sound of the blasters grabbed the attention of Knuckles' companions. "What was that?" Sally asked. "E-105 laser rifle. Set for stun, fired at close range, hitting the target, approximately eight hundred and thirteen meters away," DJ said. The Freedom Fighters and the Chaotix stared in confusion and amazement. "Due east," DJ said to Freezie, ignoring the stares. "I'm on it!" Freezie replied as he ran off at an incredible speed. Sonic smirked and sped off after him as the others began to levitate into the air. "What's goin' on?!?!" Vector asked. "It's a simple floatation spell," F.C. replied as he held his glowing fingers in a strange position. "Yeah...I knew that," Mighty said sarcastically. "I prefer my own jets," DJ said as small boosters on his feet levitated him. When they all caught up with Sonic and Freezie, they were wondering why the two speedsters were just standing there with their backs turned. "What's up?" Vipes asked. "Guys," Sonic said as he turned around with Knuckles' hat in his hand, "I think we've got a problem."
Author's Note: So? What'd ya think? Like I said before, the Ravagers, in all their self-proclaimed greatness, belong to me. Hand's off! LOL. Don't be intimidated by me! Please come back and read some more!