Disclaimer: Storyline is mine, the characters are not mine...well, except any NPCs you see running around :P
So much for summer giving me more time to write. It always takes me forever to update. I swear, I should just stop writing and leave this sort of thing to the professionals. I've got no business typing this junk down. Why did I ever get into this sort of thing... -pauses, looking at an oh-so-awesome picture of the male cast of Sonic Adventure 2- Ooook....maybe that's why...Oo
ChaosHavoc: -looks over her shoulder at Knuckles- Whoa...who is that?!
Huh?
ChaosHavoc: Who is that?! Who is that sexy beast?! Oh my gosh, my pants are shrinking!
Oo Well....okay....
Nameless Muse: Don't ask me, she's your sister. I just live here.
Svaroki: Ditto...
Chapter Three - Fight or Flight
I feel no more pain
Tears dried before
They hit my eyes
And the one
I can't save in this life
Forever haunting me...
I can't make them disappear
They only fade
- Avernus, 'Disappear'
The black-blue velvet sky that had once only been broken by large purple clouds, was suddenly filled with blinding light. Fiery rays of brilliance seared unadjusted pupils and on instinct, everyone threw their arms up to shield their eyes from the shining luminescence that was suddenly stabbing them. A loud droning noise surrounded them; it was like someone had increased the volume on a world that had previously been rendered mute. Most were torn between shading their burning eyes, and covering their tortured ears.
The first of them to recover was Espio. Though he still had to keep the horrid clamor muted, he could squint through the light just enough to make sure of what was going on. The chameleon looked upward, suffering the brilliant glow through slit eyelids, and was unable to stop a gasp from tumbling out of his mouth and becoming lost in the din, where no one could hear it.
Above them, a large helicopter loomed, just low enough to give the grass a good whipping. And dropping lower all the time, Espio noticed. The whirling blades seemed to be slower, just barely, with each turn, causing the chopper to descend from the skies towards the huddled group on the ground. He gave a start when he realized that if they didn't move very soon, the chopper would most definitely land on them.
"MOVE!!!" He yelled, turning as quickly as he could to shove, push, and yank his still thoroughly blinded friends to safety, with some help from Mighty, the armadillo having also regained his sight.
True to Espio's suspicion, the chopper hovered just above the ground where they had been standing moments ago. The door almost immediately swung open, and a crowd of darkly-clad, armed humans came pouring out.
"You are all under arrest, and in custody of GUN!! Come quietly, and no one has to get hurt!"
Now there was an understatement if Espio had ever heard one. Even if they came quietly, he'd heard enough about GUN from Knuckles, and the over-active hedgehog the Guardian often spent time with while battling against the formerly power-crazed Robotnik, to know that there would be plenty of 'hurting' involved. Which side came out more beaten however depended on whether they were stuck in cells like Sonic complained once that he had been.
Espio hated a lot of things, but confinement was at the top of his list.
Knuckles must've agreed with him.
"What do you think guys?" Knuckles called to his friends, loudly and pointedly. The Chaotix exchanged serious, thoughtful glances, each calculating how many of the bulked up rookies he could take, while Chaos seemed to be simmering, his gaze shifting back and forth between the humans and their guns, obviously only just containing himself, since if he charged, Tikal would be left unprotected. He couldn't count on the Chaotix; they had a thing for rushing forward into battle. Tikal was no warrior, meaning someone had to hold back, or she had to run. And while she was physically fit, she was no Olympic athlete.
Chaos's thoughts were disrupted when a single, roaring battle cry of 'Charge!' sliced through the evening air. In seconds, both forces had clashed, each member taking on their own pack of trained humans. But no matter how vigorously those people had been disciplined, nothing and no one could've prepared them for a raging band of battle-veteran furries like the Chaotix.
Knuckles was one of the first into the fray, slamming dead-on into the foremost soldier, driving every atom of air from the man's lungs, as well as breaking quite a few of his ribs, before using his limp body as a hand-hurled missile into the midst of his comrades. Most of the closer warriors didn't have time to charge their laser guns, having to fight Knuckles hand to hand, or draw out knives to combat with, neither of which really did them any good once he got hold of them.
Mighty was right behind the Echidna, thrashing his ways through the leftovers of Knuckles's beating. Soldiers filled in the pathway left by the Guardian, so Mighty had to pummel himself a new one. But unlike Knuckles, the armadillo didn't throw his victims back at their fellows. He instead knocked them down and either used them to push off of so he could land in a crowd of opponents, or plowed his way through with their mass as a guard.
Charmy and Vector entered the fight together, the reptile launching the insect into the air so he could come down safely beside Mighty and work from there. The bee was no where near the size of his companions or opponents, and his injured wing was rather constricting, so his battle tactics mostly consisted of running circles under the soldiers legs, usually ending up with them shooting their own feet, or trying to run after him, and being so focused that they didn't noticed when one of the other Chaotix members showed up.
Espio was the last in battle, and didn't have to go far, since the fight was most literally brought to him when the others went headfirst into combat. It didn't take long before he was fully surrounded, so, with a rather sly grin, he let himself blend in with the world around him. Practically invisible, he proceeded to soundly thrash the soldiers while they scratched their heads, trying to figure out where the hell he'd gone.
Chaos wasn't to be left out of the battle though, bursting into a flowing wall of water in a semicircle around Tikal and the Chao egg. His roaring was enough to keep most soldiers away, but a brave few shot at him from a distance. The watery being simply absorbed the bullets, so no harm was done. Behind him Tikal, crouched, the egg in her arms, and cringed against the noises of battle beyond Chaos's protection. As a peaceable kind of person, she would never fully understand what the Chaotix and her fiancé got out of confrontations such as this.
A noise reached her ears through the clamor, and she raised her head to be met with the sight of a second pitch black helicopter, identical to the first, and most probably carrying more soldiers. Chaos would be more helpful if he was out in battle, but she would have to move away from the war zone, seeing as she herself couldn't do much to help other then offer moral support. And the Chao egg was her responsibility; she was too drained to resurrect the Chao again. Then there were the Chao back at the shrine...the shrine! If humans were invading the island chances were they were after the Emeralds! She made her decision quickly.
"Chaos! I'm returning to the shrine to hide the Emeralds." She called in the ancient tongue, knowing that the humans wouldn't understand, and therefore, chances were, wouldn't pursue her.
"I'll come with you–" He started, but she cut him off before he could get very far.
"No, you stay here. The others will need you, more humans are coming," She pointed upwards at the lowering copter. "...and I will need you to make sure none of the attackers follow me to the shrine. We cannot endanger the Chao or the Emeralds." She held the egg close, much like a mother holds a young babe, and Chaos finally gave in.
"Go with the light, Tikal." (1)
"Go with the light....Atl..."
She could just feel his hidden smile; though in none of his forms did he have a mouth with which to do so, except the final one, when he merged with the Chaos Emeralds, and that mouth rarely showed signs of cheer. Nevertheless, she rose from the ground without much more than a stiff-looking nod, and ran in the direction of the shrine, knowing that as soon as she was out of sight, Chaos would turn on the humans with the short temper he tried often to keep hidden from her ever since he'd almost destroyed the world below the clouds. True to this, she heard his battle-cry, or bellow depending on how close you were.
Tikal rushed on, only now realizing how hard it was to move through the Island's dense tropical forests when one was in a hurry, especially with a large, delicate egg in one's arms that was hard to grip, despite the fact that it was virtually weightless. The familiar trees and vines looked twisted and bloodthirsty, long thorns she would've simply moved around in her orb form caught her skirt and ripped the fabric, as well as grazing her flesh. The very rain forest she called home seemed to be against her, but she rushed on.
When she finally tumbled out of the trees she saw that if she'd moved over to the right a few dozen feet she would've had a clear path to the shrine. Funny how in daylight she would've never missed that. Mentally kicking herself, she rushed to the gathering of trees by a pond where many Chao were cowering, having fled from the noisy warfare. She placed the egg in their midst and rushed up the stairs to the platform where the Master Emerald sat, brilliant against the dark sky. She jostled over to the pillars the Chaos Emeralds sat on and began moving them first, reaching up to grab them and place them in a pile on the ground.
The sound of a copter made her freeze, and her head whipped upward to the heavens. There, suspended in the air, was another of the winged hell-machines, this one also black, but bearing a strange emblem she hadn't seen on the other two. Though she couldn't make it out, she could see that they were probably in league with the other humans.
Wasting no time, she rushed to the large gem and threw her weight against it, pushing it off its altar and into the collection of trees below. In her brief contact with the gem however, she'd sent her mind's images of the surroundings and what was happening at the shrine to Chaos. Not for the first time, she was thankful for their shared connection through the Master Emerald. Chaos would be here soon.
Meanwhile, she chucked the Chaos Emeralds out into the forest, getting rid of five out of the seven before something heavy landed on her. She struggled and almost immediately found herself tangled in a thick net, made of some kind of twisted metal. It felt like it weighed a ton, and under it she couldn't rise past her knees. For a moment she panicked, but then realized that she could go into her orb form and escape. Feeling that she'd found a way out of her predicament, she concentrated.
Nothing happened.
Instead of becoming light, her stomach suddenly turned upside down, and sharp pangs jabbed at her sides and temples. It was like someone was poking the inside of her head with sharp stones. It hurt so much that she barely noticed hands reaching through the net and roughly binding her limbs with more of the strange metal, except this time in a thinner, more twine-like state. She did, however, notice when the net was lifted off her, and instantly began a violent struggle, kicking and lashing out at the strangers in fear.
They paid her no mind, roughly dragging her to the copter which hovered a few feet off the ground, its blades still whirling steadily to keep it somewhat aloft. She could hear the clinking sound as they snatched up the two remaining Emeralds, and knew the garbling noises she could barely hear were the humans being ordered to try and find the rest. Out of instinct, she sunk her fanged teeth into one of her captor's hands, and felt a stinging blow as retaliation. Her head swam, and small spots glittered in front of her eyes.
Just as they were placing her in the copter's interior with the Emeralds, a loud roar accompanied with a tidal wave crashed into the steps of the shrine. Chaos had arrived, and with his splashy entrance came the war-cries of the Guardian and Chaotix. She would've yelled for joy, or for rescue, but her voice was against her. A human had shoved her inside the helicopter, and she felt it begin to rise. In desperation, she tried once more to revert to her other form, but with the same reaction as before, a killer headache.
Chaos seemed to sense her danger, and swelled up under the copter. The pilot must've been very experienced though, flying his aircraft just short of the water monster's reach, even with its few soldiers hanging on for dear life. Tikal wasn't sure how she got to the open door of the chopper, but she found herself there, trying to leap out of it and back down to the shrine and her friends. The stronger arms held her inside of the machine, but she found her voice long enough to call out to the others before she was pulled inside so the door could close.
"CHAOS!!!"
(1): Sometimes people say things like 'break a leg,' or 'God-speed,' or even just 'Good luck,' so I figured the ancient Echidna race would have their own little saying for this kind of thing. I though 'Go with the light' suited it, because of the Emeralds' light which gives strength and power, etc. If there's already one out there, please let me know, kay guys? I'm not psychic.
ChaosHavoc: -still going on about Knuckles 'sexiness'- Look at those curves, oh my gosh...
Yes hello, is this the asylum for furry rapists? Yes I'd like to admit my sister. Who did she rape? Well, no one yet, but I have a feeling Knuckles will have trouble walking soon...what? It won't be the first time...? Oh...well, can you take her anyway?
ChaosHavoc: Who're you calling?
Noooo oooone..... -hangs up quickly; before looking to readers- Don't forget to review! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to run in order to save my life and writing hand. Ciao! -flees with CH on her tail-
Nameless Muse: Think we should help her?
Svaroki: Give 'em five more minutes...
