Chapter 12 – Unwitting Pawns.
After taking his somewhat unscheduled dip, Sonic had quickly realised that he was absolutely exhausted and, having discovered a suitable patch of grass, had simply dropped right off into slumber. He slept completely soundlessly for nowhere near long enough, in his opinion, when someone shook him back to wakefulness.
"Whozzat?" the hedgehog slurred, reluctantly peeling open a single eye. It was getting relatively dark and it took him a few minutes to recognise the face in front of him.
"Knuckles", the hedgehog groaned and made to roll over, "go away, I need a few more hours".
"No you don't", the echidna gripped the hedgehog's shoulder and shook, adding, "maybe a little cold water on your face would…" Gritting his teeth, the hedgehog pushed himself into a sitting position and rubbed his eyes.
"All right, all right, I'm up already". The echidna nodded, keeping his voice low to avoid waking the others, who were all still sleeping soundly.
"Good, it's nearly time you were leaving. Listen Sonic I want you to understand this; nothing about this is a joke. You have to take this seriously or someone could get badly hurt". In an amazing moment of insight, Sonic actually managed a rare feat; he managed to see the hidden meaning of a sentence. The fact it was this sentence just made it even more delicious and he grinned.
"Or some bat", he sniggered at the look of momentary panic on Knuckles' face and decided to rub it in, just a little, "aww, so cute; so when you gonna pop the question Knucks man?" Quick as lightning, Sonic pinched and wiggled the echidna's now brilliantly red left cheek, beaming like a fool all the while. For his part, Knuckles just closed his eyes and slowly counted to five, trying desperately to keep his cool.
"I'll pop the question when you do, Sonikku", that calmed the hedgehog down and put Knuckles back on level pegging, "but listen; look after her alright – I've seen and felt what that freak can do, and, well". Seeing the look in his red friend's eye, Sonic became more serious and put a hand on his shoulder.
"If he wants her, he goes through me first". The hedgehog's tone was deadly serious and sincere, offering Knuckles the reassurance he wanted. He put one of his paws over the hand on his shoulder and squeezed; Sonic was a hot head and too flash for his own good, but at heart he would rather have undergone a full body wax than let any of his friends down. Now it was time for him to reciprocate the favour.
"Good", he brought forwards what was concealed in his other fist, "take this to help out". Sonic's eyes widened, reflecting the light from the glowing red jewel Knuckles had presented him with.
"Where'd you get the red emerald man?" The hedgehog was well beyond shocked as he gingerly took the red Chaos emerald from the guardian's hand, the warmth from the gem banishing the lingering aspects of his tiredness. Knuckles smiled,
"Ask no questions…"
"…receive no lies", Sonic finished for him, "you are way too sneaky; maybe you aught to be a spy as well; you'd be able to spend more time with Rouge that way. Think about that – can I be best man?" The hedgehog quickly dodged an irate swing, the echidna snarling and going, if possible, even redder.
"The only reason I'm leaving you alive is because I need you to look after Rouge", the guardian turned towards Shadow, "now get Rouge up and I'll deal with Shadow; you need to get to the helicopter and off this island".
In Station Square, Seraph had finished storing away the last of his equipment; he would have to leave most of it behind but that was irrelevant – all that mattered was settling his grudge. Seven years he had waited for this and in a few short days, barring catastrophes, he would visit the architect of his fate with bloody vengeance. Securing the last instrument of his plan, the dark angel took a final look around and gave a single, calculated nod; in the time available, it was the most efficient job possible. Stretching his wings, Seraph took to the air in a preconceived flight plan that gave maximum coverage of the city with minimum energy expenditure. The most recent information spoke of potential Chaos energy being utilised by one protector of the target – if this was so, one of his hypothesises would soon meet its first field test. If he had had the emotion to do so, Seraph would have given a bitter smile – he had been destroyed by his target's technology and manipulation; by the same technology and manipulation, he would have revenge.
The helicopter was parked right where Rouge had left it and was, as far as any could make out, completely untouched by sabotage. The spy hadn't lied, this was a two-seater helicopter, so trying to fit both her, Sonic and Shadow in was a real squeeze, though the two hedgehogs had just enough space to avoid sitting on each other. As all three alighted their ride, there were last minute wishes of good luck from Tails and Amy to their hedgehog friends. Rouge shook her head and made to swing her leg in to the cockpit when a quiet voice stopped her.
"Good luck". Somehow, she was both unsurprised and relieved to see Knuckles stood behind her, though his expression bordered on unreadable. The bat smiled and winked at him, catching herself in time to avoid a caustic rejoinder; the last one had got her nowhere.
"Thanks Knucks, for everything", stepping forwards, she put her hand on his shoulder, looking deep into his lilac eyes, "when this all blows over, I'll be back". The guardian echoed her smile, mischief in his eyes as he replied,
"I'll still be here, but you're still not getting it". It was her turn to slap down a comeback.
"I always get what I want".
"You can try batgirl".
"I will Knucklehead". The echidna pushed her back gently, pointing at the waiting chopper.
"Go on – we'll keep in touch by Tail's radios; they're strong enough to transmit between here and Sonic's place. If there's any trouble, we'll contact you or vice versa".
"Pray we don't have to use them" Rouge said seriously, removing her hand and heading back towards her transport. Hoisting herself into the cockpit and buckling in, she checked her bodyguards were buckled in as well as they could and then slid the roof shut. Leaning forwards, she caught sight of Knuckles watching on and, while powering the rotors up, blew him a sneaky kiss. Gotcha – she saw his eyes roll but, damn his red fur, couldn't tell if she'd made him blush or not. Pulling back on the throttle, she skilfully guided the helicopter up, forcing those still on the ground the shield their eyes against the debris stirred from take off. In the darkening gloom, the helicopter steadied itself and then steered, slowly but surely, towards Station Square.
Tails watched as the silhouette of the flying vehicle was eventually lost to flight and then smiled inside; he'd seen that kiss and was about to make Knuckle's life a living misery. Sidling up to the echidna, the fox remarked casually,
"I saw that".
"Saw what?"
"You know what". Tails mimicked the kiss Rouge had blown and the look of horror that crossed Knuckle's face as he lost the innocent act was shatteringly funny, "ohhh, Knucks is in love"; Tails was gone now; absolutely loving this chance to act as the child he truly was despite his normally serious exterior. Unfortunately, he failed to see the change in the echidna's face as he pranced around singing in a really annoying voice,
"Rouge and Knuckles, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First come loves, then comes marriage, then comes Rouge pushing a ba-erk!" A pair of strong hands landed on his shoulders, effectively grounding him and Tails was then treated to the benefit of hindsight; if he'd taken off before he'd started singing Knuckles wouldn't have been able to catch him. He felt himself hoisted up and over his friend's shoulder as Knuckles growled,
"You're getting a bit too hot to handle Miles Prower", the tone suddenly changed to one of dark, wicked humour, "but I know just the thing to cool you off".
"Amy, little help here?" Tails managed to squirm around so he could see the pink hedgehog bringing up the rear of the group; at least he could see her upside down, holding the precious radio. At first he though she would be his saviour until he remembered to turn her expression upside down to compensate for his perpendicular viewpoint.
"No way Tails; you deserve this for trying to show Knuckles up. Besides", the expression showed a little cruelty now, "I don't see a girl on your arm". Tails felt, rather than heard, Knuckles chuckle and remark,
"She got you there kid, unless you count Cream of course. I remember you two…"
"Nothing's going on!" Tails shouted, making another concerted effort to wriggle free from Knuckles' crushing grip.
"Tails and Cream, sitting in a tree…" Tails clamped his hands over his ears as the echidna turned his rhyme against him.
"AAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHH!"
They are coming.
The flight by helicopter was much shorter than the journey by wing, a fact Sonic and Shadow were profoundly grateful for. As Rouge touched the helicopter back down on the landing pad she'd taken off from nearly five days ago, there was a desperate scramble to get the top of the cockpit unlatched. As soon as it was free, twin balls of black and blue shot to the floor, sharing moans of relief as the two hedgehogs stretched of every muscle.
"Ahhhoowww", Sonic genteelly extended a single leg, expression somewhere between unbearable pain and excessive pleasure, "I didn't know it was possible to cramp up every muscle in your legs".
"And butt", Shadow chipped in, pushing both hands against the base of his spine, forcing out a few soft popping noises, "man, I'm glad to be out of there".
"Oh, stop moaning you two", Rouge shook her ears free of the pilot's helmet and stood up straight, "now where's this place of yours from here?"
"Hang on and we'll have you there in a Sonic second" the blue hedgehog stated, offering his hand and gearing up his cramped legs. Rouge nearly accepted the offer when Shadow's voice cut in,
"I'm not sure that's a good idea".
"Why's that Shads?"
"He could hear us directly, or overhear that we're back", the black hedgehog explained, the notion having only just come into his head, "as far as he knows we're still on Angel Island". Both Sonic and Rouge looked at the dark hedgehog and came to the same conclusion at the same time; subtly was key.
"Okay, we go quick and quiet", Rouge spoke hurriedly as her sharp eyes located the exit from the roof, "take us to your place by the back streets; less chance of us being seen there. You know the way?" Sonic closed his eyes for a second, picturing a map of the city in his head before licking his lips,
"Yeah, yes I think I know the way". Rouge smiled as she carefully opened the roof door and politely held it for the hedgehogs.
"Right then, let's get going". Shadow led them onto the stairs, keeping an eye out for any people on the way down.
Unknown to all three, the shadow that had followed their descent had taken a more direct route to the floor. Blending into the darkness effortlessly, Seraph carefully hovered a dozen feet in the air, waiting for his target to show herself.
Tails would have spoken curses enough to turn the air blue. He would have thrown around language so filthy it would have desecrated the pure water he currently occupied. Unfortunately, with his head submerged without his consent, the most he could muster was a stream of bubbles, violently gurgling bubbles it was true but bubbles nonetheless. The hand at the back of his neck hauled him upright and he spluttered and shook the water out of his ears as Knuckles grinned.
"Something to say, Mr Prower?"
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry", Tails waited until Knuckles had released him and turned away before pushing off the bed of the waterfall, tackling his friend from behind and yelling, "vengeance!" Caught by surprise, Knuckles lost his balance and fell face-first into the waterfall pool, Tails trying to dunk him in revenge for the echidna's throwing him into the water as soon as they'd arrived. Amy watched the pair of them from a safe distance; she'd already had one bath today and the pair of them play-fighting made it look like someone was sinking a battleship. She held the radio Tails had entrusted to her firmly in her right hand and, after considering for a few seconds, turned the dial to transmit. After a crackle of static, she whispered,
"Hello, can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear Amy – thanks Rouge", Shadow mentioned as she politely held the door of the building they'd exited out of open for him, "we're heading to our place quietly – contact us if you need to, right?" The radio cracked for a second before a tiny voice spoke out the end of it,
"Okay, and get in touch if you need us. Amy out". It went dead as Sonic glanced over,
"Anything?" Shadow quickly put the blue hedgehog's mind at ease.
"Nah, Amy just wanted to check the radios were working all right". Shadow handed the radio to Rouge, who clipped it onto her jumpsuit before signalling for Sonic to lead the way; after taking a second to get his bearings, the cobalt hedgehog carefully led his companions down a side street, taking care to try and avoid any remaining pedestrians. As the three moved off none were aware that high above them, gecko-skinned boots and gloves allowing him to cling like a spider to the sides of buildings, their pursuer never let his eyes leave them as he weighed his options in the light of all the evidence he had.
Knuckles relaxed as the cold stone at the base of the waterfall rubbed against the fur of his back. Above him, Tails was hovering upwards, trying to gain altitude for a spectacular dive. Knuckles kept his eyes trained on the fox's form as his tails suddenly stopped rotating and he began to fall, streamlining his body into the dive position as he suddenly hit, barely a ripple marking his point of impact as the echidna mentally gave him an eight and a half out of ten. It struck him as ironic that, despite his almost completely outdoor life, Tails could still dive much more flamboyantly than he could; all his dives, and swimming stokes for that matter, were effective, workmanlike performances that got the job done but had little in the way of style or panache. As Tails surfaced he gave a small round of applause.
"Nice one foxboy; take an eight point five".
"No way, that was a nine if ever there was one".
"Take it or leave it".
"Okay, eight and a half it is then", the fox paddled to the bank to try and get up enough steam for another controlled plummet and Knuckles carefully began to arrange his dreadlocks; though useful in their ability to let him glide, the hair style took a lot of maintenance. The number of twigs and thorns that continually caught in his hair could have thatched his cabin roof if he'd collected them. As he ran his hands carefully through his crimson locks he felt another collection of leaves slide free.
Seraph stiffened; those thuds he was hearing through his receiving bead weren't natural. There was a real risk of discovery; he'd seen that the two groups could communicate effectively – logically he had to strike before a warning could be given to avoid discovery. Speeding up his wall crawling, the almost invisible figure moved swiftly; he wanted to be just behind but above the group in front of him as they followed the blue hedgehog Sonic down another side street.
Ahh, got you all; Knuckles sighed as his hands slid free of the dreadlock, pulling out a couple of his hairs as well as all the rubbish that had accumulated within the hair structure. He winced slightly; some of those thorns had been really deep and had taken time to extract properly. Glancing at the little oddments that had caused him such discomfort he was a little disconcerted to see a tiny sliver of metal within the usual assortment of leaves and red hair. He hid a tiny smile; Tails hadn't known about Seraph's loopy laws so wouldn't have known not to bug the echidna – he was amazed the fox had managed to get the tracker there in the first place. He whistled as the fox, having just completed a nine and a quarter dive, started heading towards the waterfall bank.
"Hey Tails, why'd you bug us all? How many of those have you got stashed away?" The fox paused at the echidna's words and turned towards him, expression mildly confused.
"I didn't put tracers on anyone but Nack and Rouge". The echidna smiled a bit; in the darkness he couldn't see the seriousness on Tails' face and thought the kit was pulling his leg.
"Oh really, that's not what my hand says to me". The fox was filled with sudden suspicion and altered his course towards where Knuckles was relaxing, shouting as he swam.
"Knucks I'm serious; I only did those two". At his tone, the echidna promptly stopped his thoughts of joking and thought seriously. Tails sounds concerned; if he really means it, what does that mean? If Tails didn't put this here, then…
The realisation of what he held in his hand stabbed Knuckles like an icicle dagger; he'd been tracked not by his friend, but by his enemy! As his mind unconsciously joined the dots between Seraph not finishing him in the fight they'd had, especially that strike to the head, and his apparent knowledge of every plan they'd come up with since then, his fist smashed the bug to ruin against the unyielding stone. The guardian was all at once ashamed, afraid, furious and embarrassed by the simple fact that Seraph had used him to gather the information he'd needed to plan his devastating raids. The angel of hell had enough to…Knuckles gasped as he made a deadly, terrifying link. He had been present at all the meetings, he had been privy to all the plans and what he knew, Seraph knew.
Through that link, Seraph now knew about the plan to split up and where Rouge had gone. He had put in danger that which he had wanted to protect.
There was a mighty roar and whoosh of spray as Knuckles threw himself forwards into the water, striking out for land as his voice preceded him a desperate shout.
"Amy", he swallowed bitter water as he tried to convey the urgency that was needed, "Amy, tell the others to run; he knows, Seraph knows!"
As soon as the static had come through on his bead, Seraph had made ready; hoisting himself into the necessary position, he carefully began to concentrate, focussing his natural gift to see when blinded into a dangerous weapon. There was a rapid series of soft clicking noises as he held his power in check; waiting, like the patient predator he truly was, for the perfect second to strike.
Amy had heard the echidnas' dire prophesy but it somehow failed to sink in immediately. Precious seconds were lost before Tails, equally desperate, shouted at her,
"He bugged Knuckles; he'll have heard everything". Eyes wide, Amy grabbed the radio, flipped the dial round to transmit and screamed the warning down the appliance.
"Guys run, he bugged Knuckles, he…" she nearly fainted as all that greeted her words was silence, then a sudden bout of agonised cries; with dread lodged deep in her heart, she realised her warning had come too late and there was nothing she could do about it.
The crackling of the radio, drawing in all his victim's attentions, had been the split second advantage he'd needed. The ultrasound that allowed his species to echolocate was compressed and unleashed as a steady, silent beam that wrecked havoc on the ears of all in its path. In the seven years since it had first been sounded, the Silent Scream had worked well to disorientate and weaken his enemies. Having just caught the first few words of Amy's call, Sonic, Shadow and Rouge were unprepared as the soundless noise continued, causing them all to voice their pain and clamp their hands over their ears. Shadow, marginally closer to the source of the attack, was overwhelmed by the white noise tearing at his ears and collapsed onto his knees, nearly sick as Seraph finished his attack. Noting the black hedgehog was down, the assassin progressed to phase two of his plan; cut off any escape routes; Sonic could carry Rouge or Shadow but there was no way he'd be able to carry them both. Shadow looked up with tear filled eyes as something landed in front of him; he never clearly saw as Seraph, springing from his position some ten feet off the floor, swung his leg round and never felt the blow that laid him out cold. Noticing that the other two were throwing off their disorientation, Seraph leapt away from the unconscious ultimate life-form and took up a fighting stance.
"Sonic", Amy was almost in tears from fear of her friend's plights, "Shadow, Rouge, please come in". She cursed; a real rarity for her and glanced around with frightened eyes. Tails and Knuckles were approaching, horror on their faces as the tinny sounds from the radio had penetrated the night air to reach them. Tails veered off, shouting,
"Tornado, now!" and Amy felt herself scooped up by Knuckles, the echidna not even slowing down as he took a great leap and forced himself skywards, not even noticing as the chill of the air caught his soaked fur. Amy just looked up to see a few tears leak out of the echidna's eyes before her own fears forced her to shed her own droplets of dew. As she was carried by the echidna guardian, the pink hedgehog preyed with all her heart that those she cared for would remain safe in this battle.
Sonic reeled from the pain and sheer surprise of the attack; he'd been hit by sound-based weaponry before in his battles with Eggman and he would have bet money that none of the mad doctor's inventions had ever worked that well. Clearing his eyes, he staggered drunkenly for a split second before shaking his head, flicking his gaze to the left where he could see Rouge was also recovering. By some divine guidance, the hedgehog just knew who he'd see when he turned to look forwards; he snarled deeply as Seraph stood barring his way towards safety.
"Oh, Shadow". The words from Rouge took his glance away for a Sonic split second; his brain told him all he needed to know. The black hedgehog he had come to respect and even like was down, out cold from the looks of things with Rouge watching over the fallen body. This was too much; this black clad lunatic had pushed the hedgehog's fraying temper just too far and there was only going to be one outcome. Swiftly palming his red emerald, the hedgehog pointed at Seraph and said in a murderous voice,
"You, are going, to die". Seraph leant forwards slightly and his voice was like a razor being drawn across the ears.
"I am already dead".
"Prepare yourself for hell then", Rouge's calm voice belied the naked fury in her eyes as she took up her comfortable fighting stance, "this ends now". Sonic saw Seraph's attention shift and played his ace; drawing the fiery energy from his emerald, the hedgehog extended an arm and shouted,
"Chaos Spear!"
A bolt of fiery red energy streamed forwards, lancing forwards unerringly towards its target. Sonic sneered; Seraph either didn't know what he'd just summoned or couldn't dodge in time – either way, this was going to hurt the dark angel.
Avoidance impossible. Novel technology undergoing first field test.
The suit of leather that Seraph appeared to wear gleamed dully as the oncoming lance of blood red power streaked towards him. It was not originally created by the assassin himself, but the technology had been forgotten by its designer and rediscovered, modified and upgraded by Seraph. He had personally never needed to rely on the protection it had offered before but as he had underestimated the hedgehog's speed, he seemed to have little choice but to test if his scientific principles had been proven. Either way he had twisted as much as was possible to lessen the intended impact. As the bolt loomed closer, Seraph was able to make a conclusion.
Sonic watched impassively as his enemy made a last-ditch effort to twist out of the way; that wouldn't be enough, prepare to feel pain sucker. He'd been hit with a Chaos Spear once before, when Shadow was still in his blow-up-the-world phase and the sheer power behind it had nearly made him black out through pain. As impact became imminent, Sonic, with his enhanced sight for high speed collisions, saw the spear he had launched slow and, what was this; it was bending, bending away from the targeted angel. The hedgehog's knees grew weak as the red energy blast refracted away from its target, deflected away and to the right of Seraph and streaking away. He barely noticed as the energy was dissipated harmlessly by the brick work of a nearby building behind the assassin; all he saw was his foe standing untouched by one of the most dangerous weapons he knew of. He nearly dropped his own, seemingly useless Chaos emerald as Seraph pointed at him. No, no way – he's immune to Chaos energy!
Hypothesis correct. Chaos energy can not affect other chaos emeralds. Advantage of Chaos emerald neutralised. Warn protector. Prepare for hostilities.
Rouge had watched, almost as disbelieving as Sonic as the Chaos Spear had been somehow diverted from its intended target. This was serious; it would be down to tooth and nail fighting to escape now. She prepared herself for the fight of her life as Seraph's arm moved. It pointed at Sonic, then moved to the side, then repeated the gesture again. She heard a grim laugh from the hedgehog, unknowing as he repeated the promise he had made to Knuckles.
"You want her, you go through me first". As the leather face nodded, the spy was under no illusion that Seraph was going to be as good as his word. She moved up close to the hedgehog, sneering at Seraph as, realising his offer was rejected, he swiftly moved into a stance of aggression.
Both were so tense, so waiting for Seraph to run straight towards them, that his move caught them both flat-footed. The vampire bat did, indeed, charge, but he ran at the wall to the side of his target. Rouge span and ducked as Seraph kicked off the wall and span towards her in midair, his feet flashing forwards as he propelled himself into the attack. Luckily she'd dropped low enough so he passed harmlessly over her head, landing on his feet and spinning to face her.
"Bad move". She heard Sonic's shout as Seraph stumbled forwards; he'd landed between the pair and Sonic had taken the opportunity for a shot at his back before jumping back, allowing Rouge to go full tilt without risk of hitting him. As the dark angel looked for his footing, Rouge pressed the hedgehog's advantage, her legs becoming little more than blurs as Seraph defended himself, taking the majority of the punishment on his arms. The spy creased her face in concentration; this could be her best chance to hurt her harasser, so she gave it her all; she felt her reward as one of her kicks broke through, smashing into the ribs of her opponent, though he didn't seem to notice particularly. Rouge span, focussing all her strength and speed into the roundhouse kick she unleashed, her leg straight as an arrow and irresistible as a demolition ball as she let fly for the head of her enemy. Seraph ducked, the kick arcing scant centimetres from his mask before leaping back up, powering up from his crouch with an arm extended. The limb struck Rouge across the collarbone, taking her nearly to the floor as Seraph rolled away; he'd been prevented from taking advantage by Sonic's continuing presence. Both bats came to their feet as the positions were reversed – Sonic now had a clear run for home but daren't take it. Shadow was still cold and there was no way he was leaving the black hedgehog in the hands of this madmobian. Sonic grinned recklessly despite the circumstances, this was where he belonged and excelled – in the heat of battle, with life and death balanced on a knife edge. As Rouge caught her breath, the hedgehog advanced.
His speed was essential; the dark angel was good, but there was no way he could hit something as fast as the hedgehog. Sonic was everywhere all at once, landing some minor grazes but Seraph could avoid most of his homing attacks by rolling and flipping to the side. Gathering himself, Sonic quickly reversed direction and threw himself forwards again, rolling into a ball as the homing attack focused on Seraph. This time, however, the angel was prepared. He had watched the pattern of attack and realised that while airborne Sonic could neither stop nor change direction; instead of dodging to the side, this time Seraph leapt backwards, flashing out his wings in time to stop his backwards motion at the point where Sonic landed. As the hedgehog careened forwards, unable to stop his attack, Seraph was there to meet him; swinging his entire bodyweight around the pivot of his standing leg and catching the blue ball directly with the heel of his foot.
I'll feel that tomorrow; though he'd missed most of the vital points, the sheer force of Seraph's kick had simply knocked the balled up hedgehog backwards, the pain in his back flaring as he landed and rolled back to his feet. Sonic came to his feet just in time to see Seraph take the full force of a Black Wave in the flank; no dodging the technique Rouge had powered up whilst Sonic had occupied the black bat's attention. Rouge snarled as Seraph staggered from the force of the hit and Sonic realised that he'd probably not get a better shot than this; Seraph was being forced towards a corner and looked like one more decent hit would put him down. Revving up, Sonic put pedal to the metal and ran full tilt, preparing to connect with his homing attack.
Efficiency compromised but effective. Hedgehog utilising standard attack. Dodging impractical. Lever off the walls.
Rouge watched, a little drained by the power she'd just expended but triumphant as she saw her handiwork. Seraph looked much the worse for wear and was backed into a corner; she was going to follow up herself but as she heard Sonic move, she realised his attack had a better chance of success in these conditions. The hedgehog himself had a change of plan from his standard homing attack; rather than staying as a ball, Sonic straightened at the last minute, leading the way with his feet in a high speed drop-kick. There was nowhere to run for his target.
As he had predicted; the hedgehog was attempting another homing attack. Seraph played the wounded duckling role with remarkable aplomb for someone with the emotion of a beverage dispenser. At the last possible moment, he used his gambit; jumping up, he flipped his feet up from the knees, hitting the wall behind him. The leverage of his boots was all he needed to jump again, this time pushing off from the wall itself and throwing himself up and over the oncoming hedgehog. Looking down, he realised that Sonic wasn't in his usual ball form; he was vulnerable and that was all the opportunity a fighter like Seraph needed to take advantage. Whipping one hand down, the vampire bat unhooked a tiny spray off his belt while his second hand punched, connecting solidly with Sonic's exposed chest. The impact didn't do much damage but had the desired effect of pushing Sonic off his intended trajectory.
Whoa – is that all you can say…oof! Of all possible outcomes to this attack, this had been one Sonic hadn't anticipated – no Ma, expecting a cornered Mobian to jump out of the corner over you and hit you as he flew overhead was definitely not a common tick in the option boxes. Unsettled by the punch and having no time to recover, Sonic landed heavily but quickly recovered, rolling and pushing himself onto all fours. Glancing up, there was something in front of him, something that released a mini fog in front of his face with a phut. Immediately, his eyes began to sting abominably and he screwed them shut, clutching his face as the burning intensified, spreading to his nose and mouth as he realised what had happened to him.
Rouge had hurled herself at Seraph as soon as she'd seen what he'd done. For a split second she'd been as impressed as Sonic at the dark figure's escape but when the spray had come out the spy had known what that had meant. She cursed as she heard Sonic's cry of pain; the spray must have caught him right in the face; he wouldn't be fighting for a while if that was the case. So this was it; just you and me then Seraph; she couldn't use her Black Wave for a while and it was all down to her feet and hands. The black demon reholstered his pepper spray and, seeing her, prepared to fight again; this time he led and Rouge felt her guard under a relentless, unyielding attack. She was dodging, blocking and weaving with all her customary skill and more but there was just no option to counter attack, the blows were coming too thick and fast. She may never have touched her foe had it not been for outside interference.
He was expecting pain and boy, he wasn't disappointed. It felt like someone had taken a scouring pad to his eyeballs, but he forced his eyes open anyway. Through the distorted picture, he managed to ascertain that Rouge was hard pressed; he remembered what he'd told Knuckles and gritted his teeth, crawling forwards to get within striking distance. Throwing himself forwards, Sonic grabbed one of Seraph's feet and heaved, causing the assassin to crash to earth. There was a heavy impact on the side of his head and the last thought of the hedgehog was that there were fireflies orbiting his brain.
Sonic had given her the opportunity; she had to take it. She'd seen the kick to the side of the hedgehog's head and that would have put him under, it was all down to her. With a yell, Rouge released all her pent up hatred, rage and fear of the nameless demon that Seraph represented into a stomp, aimed at the back of his neck. It was a killing strike pure and simple; there was no coming back from a neck breaking stamp like that. It was misdirected, however, as Seraph used his most unlikely advantage, his unusual wing structure. Snapping them open, the wing closest to Rouge caught her standing leg and unbalanced her. The blow that should have killed landed squarely on Seraph's right shoulder blade, just above the wing joint, but that was of little comfort to Rouge as she fell and saw, out the corner of her eye, Seraph shift to catch her. An arm slid round her neck before she even landed and she took a deep breath; on the deck she was almost helpless, she had to break his grip and stand up. Lashing backwards with her elbows and knees, she pounded her tormentor's ribs and shins with several punishing attacks. The sleeper hold was tight however, cutting off the blood to her brain, causing her to start losing consciousness. It was hopeless, his grip was too tight and in this position she had no chance to get any leverage on her strikes. With her last thought, limbs too leaden to hit effectively, she hoped Knuckles and the others would be spared Seraph's wrath.
Target down. Ensure coma during journey. Efficiency severely impaired; both opponents highly skilled and unusual foes. Check innocents – most injuries superficial. Transmit co-ordinates.
Catching his breath and slowly releasing the limp form of Rouge, Seraph considered his next move. His primary activity was the same as it had been for Nack; with the aid of a small syringe, kept sheltered within a sterile stainless steel cylinder on the inside of his thigh guard, Rouge was rendered completely insensible for at least a couple of hours. The main problem was the innocents; the others must recover them or they would accuse him of unlawful kidnap. After considering his options, Seraph dragged his target into a concealed spot in the alleyway and then quickly reached a decision. The fox Miles Prower had access to an aircraft, so it was logical to postulate that the remaining three innocents would track by air. The easiest method of detection was to give a signal; glancing up, Seraph recalled a video he had studied once and a particular scene from it flagged up in his mind. Hoisting Sonic and Shadow over his shoulders, the angel took to the air.
The journey had been quiet; occasionally Amy had tried to raise a signal from the radio but all it gave was a burst of static and then simply a melancholy silence. The tension within the Tornado itself was all but striking sparks from the metal interior; Amy was worried for the safety of everyone, especially Sonic while Tails was concerned with pushing his vehicle to the limit to set a speed record from Angel Island to Station Square. However, it was Knuckles who was having the hardest time of all; he had been the one with a bug on him, he had inadvertently giving Seraph the information he'd needed therefore this mess was his fault. The echidna was furious with himself for not thinking that Seraph wouldn't try something like that, worried for all three he had delivered straight into hell and vowing vengeance on Seraph himself. It was a measure of how fraught the atmosphere was that the radio crackling into life nearly sent them all bouncing of the walls from nerves. Amy grabbed the handset and gabbled,
"Sonic, Shadow Rouge, are you all alright? What happened? Are you all safe?" There was several seconds of silence and for a second Knuckles wondered if the radio had malfunctioned before the pink hedgehog's tirade was answered. However, the voice was not the voice of any of their friends; it was as dry and dead as a snakeskin, devoid of warmth and any hint of emotion as it hissed a simple instruction.
"Seek my sign". The line went dead.
Seraph dropped the radio by his feet and quickly arranged the innocents in the recovery position. Having shed all his grenades, he was down to his standard utility belt that went with him on every mission he undertook. One of these articles was a small can of oil, WD40 to be precise. This was used to grease the joints of rusty doors and in a pinch slow down a pursuit. However, as far as the assassin could remember, he'd never used it like this before. With his target at his feet and the red Chaos emerald in his hand, the dark one simply stood atop the highest local building he could find, waiting for the tell-tale noise of the Tornado's engines.
As the line had ended, it had been all Knuckles could do not to go into a berserk fury and demolish at least half the plane he was flying in. His stupidity had led to this; by letting his guard down again he'd caused who knows what to happen to three of the people he cared deeply about; yes three of them he snarled at himself. He had resisted the destructive urge not only by his own willpower but also to help Amy. Exactly five seconds after the transmission the pink hedgehog had gone completely to pieces; she was now sobbing quietly into the mark on Knuckles' chest, the echidna's own tears dripping almost unnoticed into her spines as he gently held the child comfortingly. The echidna roused slightly as he heard his name over the intercom.
"Knuckles", Tails' voice was much quieter than normal and held the hint of a strangled sob, "I, I need you up front". After reassuring himself that Amy was now alright, the echidna carefully opened the door to the cockpit, noting the way Tails was now leant over the instruments of his flight desk. Hearing the echidna enter, the pilot looked round and Knuckles saw with a more than a hint of guilt that the fox's eyes were bloodshot and sore-looking. Motioning for him to sit down, Tails explained.
"I need you to keep a lookout – he said look for the sign".
"What should I look for?"
"How should I know", the retort was out before Tails could check it; he made to apologise but Knuckles waved it aside – the look on his friend's face was proof enough of admission of sin, "anything unusual – a flare, smoke, anything". Knuckles kept his eyes sweeping over the skyline of the darkened city.
There, an aircraft was closing in on his position. His night keen eyes quickly identified it as the vehicle the reinforcements had arrived in even at this distance; it was time to signal and then be gone. In one movement, Seraph had dropped the Chaos emerald and scooped Rouge up over his shoulder. As he expected, the heat of the red gem and the spark of its impact set off the flammable liquid he had sprayed around the building roof. As he assured himself the Tornado had altered course, he swept himself skywards and out of sight. The implant would be done tonight and the instructions were pre-programmed. In less than two hours, he'd be on the way to his final target's current location.
Something bright caught Knuckles' eye as he kept up his watch; whipping his head round for a better look, the echidna quickly realised that must have been the signal; the fire was blazing like a miniature beacon into the night sky.
"There" he shouted, indicating the fire for Tails. The fox nodded and yanked hard on the steering stick, lurching the plane round to the direction of the fire, Tails coaxed every ounce of performance from the machine; the sooner they got there, the sooner they discovered the damage that had been done. Knuckles had his face pressed to the glass and his eyes widened as he saw what the beacon was.
"Go lower" he ordered the pilot, not taking his eyes off the scene before him; the damned Seraph had been right; seek his sign. The beacon was a gigantic flaming angel on the top of a building. The reason he needed the fox to lower altitude, however, was the fact that his sharp eyes had seen something else. As they began to pass over the fiery mark, Knuckles felt his stomach lurch – at the centre of the beacon were two figures, neither of them moving as the flames ringed them. Just as he believed this was it, things could not possibly even consider getting any worse, there was a sudden rush of wind in the cockpit itself.
Knuckles had forgotten about the intercom system Tails had installed in his metamorphing mecha; he hadn't been the only one on lookout. In the back, Amy had seen the flaming mark as well and, as she saw a tiny, almost insignificant speck of blue at the heart of the fire, a cold dread had settled at the pit of her stomach. However, rather than being crushed by despair, the young hedgehog felt something else swamp over her; it was pure, undiluted logic – Sonic had risked his neck for her in the past, it was time to repay the favour. Her head was perfectly clear as she smashed the glass at the side of the aircraft door and pulled on the emergency release handle. The Tornado door handle opened and suddenly she was framed in the open door, the howling wind whipping her short spines as she realised she would have to act soon; the plane was actually passing over the building itself. The height of the Tornado wasn't even twenty feet above the building top; next to nothing in aeronautical terms but still a substantial risk for what Amy was planning. She kept her eyes trained on the spot; registering the fact that someone was saying her name; but she didn't respond as she made her choice and made perhaps the ultimate leap of faith.
Jumping nearly twenty feet onto solid concrete with no crash mats and even less of a margin for error, into a ring of fire whilst trying to avoid landing on the unmoving bodies of two of your closest friends, one of which you had a huge crush on, is generally not something attempted without lots of practice, substantial medical insurance and a crash team on stand-by. However, it is said fortune favours the brave and whatever else it may have been called Amy's action was certainly that. So it was that the pink hedgehog landed perfectly, registering only a slight shooting pain in both her legs and stumbling slightly onto Shadow's comatose form. Quickly recovering her balance, Amy looked around at the seemingly shrinking ring of fire and quickly pulled out her hammer. Concentrating furiously, she began to swing her cumbersome weapon around in slow circles that rapidly increased in speed as she acted as a counterweight to the head of her Piko Piko hammer. As the speed increased so did the turbulence; as she had hoped and planned, the disturbed air her actions generated were slowly but surely beat the flames back. As they died down, she dropped her hammer and fell to her knees, a little dizzy as she examined her hero for wounds.
Knuckles was stupefied; Amy had simply jumped – he couldn't take it in. In a state of profound shock, he simply slid the door to the cockpit closed and slumped down in the co-pilot's seat, jaws slack as he wondered what had made her do it.
"What was that?" Tails was swinging the plane round for a second pass and hadn't yet noticed the echidna's face. Knuckles lolled his head towards the fox, whispering,
"She jumped". Tails hand slipped on the controls as he whipped round to stare at the guardian, mouth falling open.
"What!"
"Amy, she just jumped out the plane", Knuckles' voice was distant and faint, "I've no idea why". Tails simply blinked before deciding to hell with his original plan. Speaking in a calm voice, the fox ordered,
"Knucks, buckle up and hold on". When he was sure the echidna had complied, the fox swallowed and hit a button at the side of the control panel, praying that all his calculations for torsion and stress would prove right.
In mid air, the Tornado began to morph into its walker mode. This combined the force of gravity and propulsion to produce rather a sharp trajectory to the ground. However, Tails had prepared for this kind of emergency and now his planning paid off; small jets around the mecha's feet fired up and slowed the descent somewhat. However, the impact was still severe; despite being braced, both Knuckles and Tails felt the shockwaves of landing ripple up and down their spinal cords like a once-over with a pneumatic drill. When he was sure they had both landed and weren't going to be moving any time soon, Tails popped the cockpit over and slapped Knuckles on the shoulder.
"Come on; we're going up". After a few seconds, the echidna unclipped himself and gripped the kit's wrists, hanging on as he had in the past as Tails took off, raising himself and his passenger off the floor as he battled for altitude.
Amy gently tapped Shadow on the side of his face; to her inexperienced eye, the black hedgehog simply looked like he'd been knocked out, though there was a bit of a bruise on his chin. As she gently tried to rouse the midnight hedgehog, she spoke in hushed, comforting tones,
"Come on Shadow, wake up, we need you to tell us what happened". Hope blossomed in her heart as he slowly started to come to.
"Urgh, who, oh let me sleep". Smiling for the first time in too long, the pink hedgehog poked him lightly in the ribs.
"Sorry sleepyhead, you can't nod off yet", she became more serious, looking deep into the crimson orbs that Shadow viewed the world through, she continued, "what happened to you all?" Shadow suddenly bolted awake, sitting straight up and glancing around as he gripped his head.
"Where are the others?" In response, Amy just pointed and watched as Shadow rolled closer to Sonic; the blue hedgehog still comatose despite her best efforts. Shadow replied to her question as he tried to wake his flat mate.
"Seraph got the jump on us; he had some kind of sound gun that knocked me out cold". Amy joined him in bullying Sonic to wakefulness and, to their combined relief, the blue wonder began to stir.
"Who's there?"
"It's me Sonic", Shadow answered, concerned as he noticed Sonic hadn't opened his eyes, "can't you see?"
"No; Seraph sprayed me with something, my eyes sting". Leaning forwards suddenly, Amy ran a finger down the blue hedgehog's cheek and tasted it; the taste was unmistakeable.
"Pepper", she exclaimed; Sonic had been hit with pepper spray, "wait with him" she told Shadow, looking around for something to help as Sonic moved his blind gaze towards her voice. She saw a small puddle, shielded from the light by a small rise of a skylight and raced towards it, needing the water to wash the pepper off. Scooping some up with cupped hands, she walked carefully back and threw it into Sonic's face.
"Gyyahh", the move took Sonic by surprise, but as the waters ran clear from his face and eyes it took the spray with it; gradually, though it still stung a little, he was able to open his eyes and see a blurry picture. As he waited, it became gradually clearer and he was able to make out the concerned faces of his friends.
"Amy, when'd you get here?"
"Never mind that, you're both safe". Amy caught both male hedgehogs in a joint hug and squeezed gently, making both squirm a little uncomfortably. After a second though, Sonic glanced around, closed his eyes and smacked a fist into his palm, anger clouding his normally smiling face.
"Damn, he beat us; he must have taken Rouge".
"What happened Sonic?"
"After you went down, we started fighting, and I mean going at it hell for leather", standing, Sonic walked over to where the red emerald lay, the gem having been untouched by the fire; how useless it was now, "I tried a Chaos Spear but he somehow reflected the attack, the chaos energy didn't touch him. So it was down to fighting and we lost". He sank his head in his hands as Shadow bowed his head and Amy's eyes filled with tears of concern for Rouge.
Tails panted as he forced himself to go faster; the building was high and he was tired, but his friends needed him and he pushed himself harder. He was within sight of the top storey and finally, with a last great effort, heaved himself up and over the roof itself, Knuckles' shoes catching on the safety rail as the echidna pulled them up as high as possible to help the fox out. As he dropped his passenger, the fox was simply astounded at the sight that greeted him; Sonic, Shadow and Amy were all waiting for him, his brother with the red Chaos emerald in his hand. His reaction, however, was nothing compared to Knuckles; the sheer relief the guardian felt as he saw Amy was unharmed simply knew no bounds. To the shock of all, suddenly it wasn't Amy giving the hugs.
"You dumb hedgehog", he couldn't decide whether to be angry at her recklessness or in awe of her bravery, but he spoke straight from the heart, "that's the kind of thing I expect from Sonic, not you; the Master knows I've got enough on my hands keeping him out of trouble".
"What is this idiot blabbering on about?" Sonic asked his younger brother whilst carefully probing the sore spot on the side of his head – That'll be a bruise and no mistake.
"This, this", Knuckles floundered for the right word, "this girl just jumped out of the Tornado to this roof to save your spiny butts from a fire; that is what I'm blabbering on about". Okay, wasn't expecting that – Sonic was so stupefied Shadow who took the lead.
"Is, is he right Ames?" The black hedgehog looked so incredulous Amy found herself examining the floor rather hard.
"Well, it wasn't that high up, and you'd have done the same for me right?" Sonic marched up to her and put a hand on the shoulder of her pink dress,
"When this is over, I owe you a dinner date – you pick where".
When Amy had calmed down from this announcement, things turned undeniably grim – Rouge was nowhere to be found and Sonic was forced to grind out the unpalatable truth.
"Seraph got the better of us; he K.O.ed Shadow so we couldn't get to safety, then he beat both of us hand to hand. He even beat this", he held up the red gem, "the Chaos Spear bent round him, didn't touch him. I went out after he peppered me, I guess he, he must have taken Rouge". Sonic couldn't look Knuckles in the eye; he'd promised to protect her and what had happened – she'd been taken anyway. The echidna himself let out a low moan, sinking to his knees and then slamming his fist into the concrete of the roof, his spurs chipping the solid construction as he raved at himself.
"This is all my fault; he spied on us through me. He knew what we were planning and where to find us, all because of me".
"Knuckles, what…?" Shadow began but was cut off by Tails, the fox looking at the stricken echidna with a glance mixing pity with sorrow.
"Seraph had a tracker on Knuckles; we think he put it there during the first fight. He heard us all through it". Sonic watched as Knuckles' head sank in defeat, something he'd never seen happen before in all the time he'd known the head-strong guardian. The eternal flame of battle that gave the blue hedgehog his strength fired up at this sight; he placed his hands on Knuckles' shoulders and forced him to look into his green eyes.
"Knuckles, you couldn't have known about that kind of a trick – Seraph seems full of them. Look at what he did to me and Shadow to see that. We couldn't stop him this time, but I promise you this; we will get her back". For a few seconds the echidna was still and Sonic feared it had been in vain but then, with a gathering momentum, Knuckles pushed himself to his feet, accepting Sonic's help as he clasped hands with the blue warrior, the fires of battle mirrored in the green and violet eyes.
"We will" he said simply. Seeing the determination, Amy stepped forwards, hammer over one shoulder and placing her smaller hand on top of the pair of mitts currently holding each other,
"Count me in".
"Us too" Tails and Shadow echoed as they added their paws. The fires were lit; there was no backing down; Seraph had won a battle, but he would be sorely mistaken if he thought he had won the war.
"Tails, still got that tracker?"
"In the cockpit" the kit replied as he took hold of Knuckles again, preparing to lower the echidna to the floor. Sonic and Shadow had no such problems, even with Amy carried by one of them, the roof was long enough to get a run up decent enough to let them simply run down the side of the building. On the descent, Tails heard Knuckles' voice, strangely taciturn as the echidna thought hard.
"So it's come full circle; he was hunting us, now we hunt him for the same prize".
"Odd that, but there's one thing we've got he hasn't".
"That being?" Tails looked down at the guardian's upturned face and dramatically rolled his eyes,
"You can't figure it out Knucklehead", he sighed, "each other, you dummy".
As the hunt began for the five remaining heroes, their quarry had landed at this hideout, carrying the unconscious Rouge in his arms. He carefully moved into the main building of his warehouse complex and carefully set the bat down on a cleared workbench. Quickly examining his injuries, he reasoned that the damage to his shoulder would take a few days to fully repair; he would have to safeguard this weakness from his potential opponents. No matter; the implantation was necessary, then the transport to the final location would be boarded and he could rest on the journey. Lifting his masked face, Seraph opened the toolbox that contained the last one of his created devices; he lifted it from its metal storage with as much care as a nuclear technician deactivating a critical plutonium bomb. The device itself was a strange looking thing; squat and blocky with a long tail, it looked like nothing more than a metallic scorpion. Much like his armour, Seraph had not originally designed the concept for this machine – he had merely scavenged and tinkered with it until the finished product matched his requirements.
The procedure itself was simple as could be; lifting Rouge upright, Seraph placed the device on top of her head, observing dispassionately as the tiny suction caps on each of the six plastic feet vacuum sealed themselves to the skin of her scalp. Once he was certain the cap was secure, the most important and dangerous part of the instrumentation began – the tail of the scorpion was held in a gloved fist and slowly, with minute precision, was held to a tiny point of flesh at the nape of the bat's neck. The metal tip of the probe had been sharpened to the point where it was almost monomolecular. It didn't cut the flesh; a needle this fine simply sank almost between the cells of skin; a refinement on the original cruder and more painful insertion method. The tip was held for nearly ten minutes until the digital display on the top of the master unit flashed into life, stating a binary code. The implant had been a success.
Seraph again moved; carrying his final pawn of vengeance towards the transport he had waiting. In the forecourt of the warehouse complex sat a single lorry, the inside fitted with hastily sitting seating and seat belts. Unbolting the back of the motor, Seraph slid Rouge inside before hoisting himself up and in, his echolocation allowing him to navigate within he cramped, dark interior. He hefted the sedated bat to the only unoccupied seat and buckled her in swiftly; the sooner he was away from her the sooner the endgame could begin. As he secured the government spy, his special sight allowed him to pick out the other motionless figures and the stashed boxes.
There were four other figures in the darkness with him including Rouge; a mouse, a rooster, a weasel and a fox-cat cross, all restrained as his last guild target now was. As the final target had manipulated them to a deadly purpose so would he, hence the purpose of the skullcaps. All emotions and compassion were crushed and swept aside; in their current state, the former guild was now a crack team of workers that would stop at nothing to complete their orders by the most effective means possible. Just like the one who would command them.
As Seraph slid into the driver seat of the modified lorry and started it up, he began to shut his body down for recuperation. The assassin had calculated that the bat's innocents would be hot on his heels, tracing the movement of his target through the fox's tracer chip. He owed them the debt of explanation; they would have many questions to the nature of his materials. He bore them no grudges so disclosing the information was the fairest way to settle such a debt. Miles Prower had proved himself intelligent enough to nearly outwit him more than once, so the information mine he had left behind would be more than adequate to satisfy his curiosity. As the truck pulled out on its programmed route, under the guidance of a driving programme that mapped the road ahead more accurately than any human or Mobian could have hoped to, Seraph slept behind tinted windows, his pawns motionless in the space behind him.
