Chapter 15 – The Guild Reunited.
She was stood ahead of him, silhouetted against the sudden light of the Chaos emerald, turning slowly to face this new light. Knuckles was temporarily paralysed with horror; he had mentally prepared himself for the sight of that hideous metallic insect splayed on her head but, standing here, less than twenty feet from her, he couldn't tear his eyes away from how it had stung into the back of her neck, the tail stiffly running down to sink into her skin. As she finished her turn, Knuckles let out a low moan as her face became visible. Her eyes, her beautiful blue eyes were glazed over, only half open and she was moving with the clumsy grace of a sleepwalker; he doubted she had any control over her movements. The Chaos emerald clattered to the floor as freezing slush flooded the echidna's stomach and bowels, shock stealing the breath from his lungs and the strength from his muscles as his knees threatened to collapse. His vision swam as he realised she was armed and slowly bringing one of her pistols upwards to meet his eyes; he doubted, shocked as he was, he'd be able to dodge the bullet she would fire so closed his eyes to await the inevitable.
The brain box realised that the unidentified presence was close to the area it had been instructed to guard with the host. Utilising the appropriate connections to the brain of its host, the mind-enslaving unit orchestrated the pre-programmed procedure.
He wasn't dead; there was no bang, no pain, nothing. Could the gun have malfunctioned? Peeking one eye open, the echidna realised his friend had just raised the gun at him; she didn't actually have her finger on the trigger. This was simply a warning; come no closer. Letting out a deep, relieved breath, Knuckles was dimly aware of the radio in his hands sparking and lifted it slowly back up, never taking his eyes off the familiar stranger in front of him.
"Knuckles, Knuckles come in, please" Shadow was speaking slowly into the radio and waiting seconds for a reply before repeating himself, panic beginning to tinge even his normally steady voice. Sonic paced before throwing his arms up.
"Right, Tails give me a lift down; we'll figure out what's going on". The kit nodded and began twisting his tails, Amy offering a plea of good fortune, when the radio emitted a thankfully familiar voice.
"Guys, listen", there was a collective relief of tension as they heard Knuckles speak; if he could talk he must have been alive and well, "it's about thirty foot deep but don't come down, not yet". Shadow clicked to receive and replied.
"Reading you Knuckles; what's wrong?" Down in the darkness, Knuckles gave a nervous chuckle and wiped the sweat from his brow as he thought how best to break the news.
"There's a problem". Sonic grabbed the receiver and sighed,
"That's obvious; where's Rouge?"
"About twenty feet in front of me, holding a pistol aimed right between my eyes", Sonic nearly dropped the radio as the implications of that sank in, but before he could answer the guardian continued, "she's being controlled by one of those things Tails showed us. I don't think she'll shoot but if you lot suddenly turn up I can't guarantee that'll remain the case". The line went dead as Tails wrung his hands, face frustrated.
"Great, she's almost within touching distance and we can't get to her; it's a Mexican stand-off".
"Good analogy; give me that", Amy demanded, pointing to the radio; as soon as Sonic handed it over, she spoke down it, "just take it easy Knucks, we'll wait up here until you say otherwise, cool?"
"Okay, be ready to go when I say; oh yeah, tell Sonic and Shadow not to try and run it down; the ground's too uneven to stop them turning an ankle or breaking a leg. Knucks out". The radio went dead and all four looked at each other, not sure what to say until Tails sat down suddenly remarking,
"May as well get comfortable; not telling how long this could last". Unfortunate as it was, this was the truth and there wasn't anything they could do to avoid it; settling as best they could to avoid the sun, all four rescuers waited for the radio to sound with baited breath.
Exit vents. Enter temporary objective. Signal to tools to advance.
He kept a tight hold on the grille as he unfastened it from the inside; if it feel to the ground it would alert his target despite the thick sheet metal door between the two adjoining rooms. Seraph lifted the loose grille into the vent itself and then slid it along, giving himself room to slip his upper body out of the vent shaft. Having accomplished this, he flipped himself fully free, using his wings to lessen the fall to the bare floor. Checking his progress had gone unreported, the assassin beheld his goal; a seemingly useless pipeline leading upwards to a different section of the mine area. The sliding door operated by proximity sensor; it slid open as he approached, allowing him to see the interior of its design. It was a lift, as simple as that, but once the door had been closed and the big red button pressed, there would be no way to open the lift shaft from the outside. He entered, completing his objective as the door slid shut behind him like a coffin lid closing; quite an apt analogy for the dead Mobian who walked. He was in place, there was no way to escape for his target; it was time to end this. Clenching his left hand, Seraph lifted it to his lips and spoke the final code word.
"Exculpate".
In the grim confines of this miserable place, five receivers understood the order and willed five slaves to obey the programme Seraph had installed into them.
Knuckles' eye narrowed as Rouge seemed to jerk as though pulled by an invisible wire; her dance dictated by an unseen puppet master. Without a glance back at him the bat took off, her sudden burst of speed taking the echidna by surprise; he lost sight of her as she sped away. Taking a split second decision, the echidna speeded up to follow her, adrenaline pumping through him as he relayed his decision to the others.
"She's moving; come down now. I'm following her. Out". Dropping the radio to fall back around his neck, the echidna ran on. As the run stretched into minutes, Knuckles found his breath coming quick and fast; deep in the wild, untamed part of his nature the guardian prayed she would lead him to Seraph. There would be no mercy for the assassin – he had hurt those the echidna loved and for that there was hell to pay.
The bottom of the shaft was left deserted, lit only by the ruby glow of the fallen red emerald. Maybe this was just as well; by it's light Tails was able to pick out the floor of the mine and safely drop his passengers from the height of a couple of feet, shortening the trips down by several minutes. Shadow was the first down and helped to catch the other three, keeping his eyes to the end of the passageway the whole time in case of a surprise attack. When none arrived and all were present, Sonic grabbed the receiver and took a single glance.
"This way" he pointed and started down the route plotted by his little brother's receiving unit, keeping his speed down to avoid Amy and Tails dropping behind; being separated could prove fatal if Seraph had planned any surprises on this assault course. The rough terrain underfoot didn't help either as it threatened to turn ankles or trip the unwary, especially as the Chaos emerald Shadow held now provided the only light. On they ran, dogging the heels of their wayward friends.
The code word had opened the last ream of code Seraph himself had written; though long and complex, taking into account meticulous details such as what constituted an active threat and the difference between an organic and inorganic life-form, it basically boiled down to the following instructions: Follow the pre-programmed route. Utilise the material in host's hands to neutralise any inorganic active threats in the way. Rouge therefore unknowingly raced on, the helmet controlling her to get to the objective with all haste. Suddenly, two beings were registered up ahead; instructing her arms, the spy was forced to snap off some shots from her pistols, the two bullets tearing through the metal like it was thin tin and destroying the robots completely. Vaulting over the smoking remains, she pressed on relentlessly.
Knuckles heard the two shots and grimaced; he knew it couldn't have been any of his friends, so who had Rouge fired at? Could she have thrown off the control Seraph had over her and used his weapons against him? He grinned ferally; if that was the case that would surely be poetic justice at its most sweet. He swung round the corner and skidded to a halt; there was light up ahead of him, but that was impossible, there couldn't be any light down here. Walking forwards now, mind trying to process this information, the echidna saw what Rouge's targets had been and felt his jaw drop; in front of him lay the tatters of a pair of robots and as he saw the grinning logo on a scrap of metal, he grunted in astonishment. Badniks, Knuckles shook his head, Sonic was right. He pushed himself up, wanting to continue the pursuit of the one he really cared for but as a low, piercing alarm filtered the air towards him and the light ahead of him was polluted by crimson, Knuckles heard his name being shouted from behind him.
"Over here".
I swear, if this is another glitch in the alarm system I'm going to rip the cameras out of this base. Muttering bad-temperedly under his full moustache, Julian Ivo Robotnik, a man more commonly known and reviled as Doctor Eggman, shut down the program he'd been debugging and moved his cursor over the computer icon that would allow him to see the very outskirts of this hole in the ground through the eyes of his many security cameras. It was bad enough that he'd been humbled into retreating to this decrepit pit by the treachery of one of own creations, the deadly Metal Sonic, but even he hadn't expected the situation to be so dire. The place looked like it had partially crumbled to dust; there had been passageways blocked off by rock falls and many of the robots he'd designed to keep the place ticking over had simply run down over the years as water had polluted and shorted out their recharge ports. It had taken him the better part of the four months he'd been here to get the place in working order and he'd had little time to even consider his next move against his accursed nemesis. Still, it wasn't all bad; he had been able to create a few more badniks to bolster the base defences but still he had only fifty or so machines; much too few for his liking. In his precarious position, the most precious advantage he had was the fact that this old base of his was concealed and mostly forgotten about; a place to lick his wounds and put new plots into motion. At least I would if this place would give me a few minutes peace without a false alarm every ten seconds he thought as he clicked the camera views open.
Sonic had heard Knuckles' shout and speeded up a little, the distance not being as great as he'd feared as he was quickly able to pull up to origin of the shout and the whistle that had followed it.
"Hey Knucks, what's the stats and…", the hedgehog's voice died as his echidna friend pointed at the shells of the two destroyed robots, "what, are those badniks?"
"Yeah", Knuckles looked Sonic square in the eye and gave tight, grim smile, "you were right Sonic; Seraph must be in league with Eggman, how else would he know about this place?"
"If that's the case", both turned to see Tails, Amy and Shadow illuminated by the red light ahead of them all, "why are those badniks destroyed? If they're working together why would Seraph trash his partner's toys?" Tails knelt besides the scraps of metal and his brows knitted, shaking his head and standing again.
"These are basic guys", the fox pointed to the comparatively crude construction of the robot's interior as he explained, "these badniks are nowhere near as sophisticated as those Eggy's built recently. If I was to give a guess, I'd say these were five years old".
"This doesn't make any sense – if Seraph's working for the egg why would he take this place for a base?"
"Just that fact, it's old", Sonic had a knowing smile on his face as several puzzle pieces slotted home flawlessly, "this place is probably one of Eggy's old hangouts and he's gifted it to his pet killer. For services rendered as it were".
"No I don't think that's right", Amy turned to Knuckles as she made her hammer visible, "Rouge did this didn't she?"
"Yeah, she had a pair of pistols and I heard a pair of shots".
"Right; Rouge is being controlled by Seraph and therefore he ordered her to do this on purpose. This is a deliberate attack Seraph's set up here. I think there's something else going on that we don't know about", Amy made to set off, "and only one person can tell us what it is". From further inside the cave complex there was a stuttering burst of fire; that was no pistol. As one, the remaining heroes launched themselves forwards through the crimson light; plot or no plot, there was a danger to one of their own and they could not turn away, no matter the odds.
This was no glitch; Eggman gripped the edge of the computer terminal hard with his free hand as he saw three of his badniks literally ripped in half by a volley of gunfire, the camera picking out a large shape concealed in the darkness before it was shut down by a bullet. The doctor swore out loud, shifting to a different camera and a more immediate threat; from what he could make out his base had been discovered and was being attacked from at least three separate angles. His forces were being destroyed as he hadn't been able to order them into battle fast enough to cope with the flow of information – even with an IQ of 300 he wasn't able to do everything at once. He'd have to leave soon, but he was going to get look at his enemy first. He quickly logged into a camera set up behind a hairpin bend, there was no chance of his enemy destroying it before he could get a good eyeful. The camera next in sequence suddenly became a screen of static; it wasn't going to take long. As a figure rounded the bend and snapped of a few pistol shots at a retreating badnik the doctor curled his lip; it was strangely unimpressive. Apparently he was being pursued by a mouse; the Mobian was wielding a pair of pistols and…wait! His hand shot towards the zoom button but before he could trigger it, the Mobian raised a single gun and the screen blanked out, cheating him of a clear cut diagnosis. From what he had seen however he had an inkling of something dark occurring; he couldn't be sure but for a second he had been suspicious that one of his discontinued projects was being used against him. It was used only once, how could anyone know, unless… The doctor shook his head – this was neither the time nor the place to court inconceivability's. The game was up; it was either flee or be captured and he had a reputation for being uncatchable that he had no longing to spoil.
Shadow swerved and headed down another passage, not racing but aware that Sonic was level with him. The further they had progressed the more obvious it had been that Eggman had created this place; the high reliance on mechanics and an overabundance of steel helping confirm Sonic's former suspicions. As he ran, the black hedgehog suddenly began to feel more comfortable; looking up he saw the way he'd run so often before, often racing down here to beat old records. This was it; had to hit the turn just right or he'd lose nanoseconds of time. Pushing forwards, Shadow planted both feet in the steel floor and leapt to the right, making to speed down the right to his destination. There was a strange crunching noise as his memory was splintered by pain.
"Shadow!" Sonic pulled up as his peripheral vision recorded the black hedgehog's sudden careening into the right hand wall. Screeching to a halt, Sonic turned and saw the others were approaching, heading towards the lain out Shadow. He managed to get there ahead of them and kneel beside the recovering midnight hedgehog, helping him into a sitting position as the others clustered round, perturbed at their friends sudden out of character act. Leaning down, Sonic clamped a hand around Shadow's bleeding nose and heard the black hedgehog mumble something; leaning closer and having an idea what this was about as he chided gently.
"Hey Shadow, what was that, I didn't hear you".
"No right", the black hedgehog was momentarily disorientated; he definitely remembered the way to go; what had changed, "there should be a right turn". Meeting the eyes of the others, Amy took hold of the dazed hedgehog's hand and spoke soothingly.
"Shadow, listen to my voice. Why should there have been a right turn there – what do you remember?" Shaking his head to try and blow out some of the cobwebs he answered.
"I, I used to run like that, I ran to beat my record, but, but it was different", looking around, he put a hand to his head as he took in the rough wall enclosing him, and the feeling of cold earth, rather than cool steel, beneath his body, "it was metal, all of it; no earth, and the light was brighter then".
"You had a new memory", Knuckles was a tremendous person but any one of his friends would have freely admitted tact was not his strongest point, "take a minute to rest; Amy and Tails stay with him, Sonic and I will go on". Tails made to look up at the echidna but his eyes fell on something far more interesting.
"Hold it a sec Knucks", the fox quickly moved forwards to the computer terminal and flicked it open, ignoring the leering logo of the mad doctor it portrayed as he began to hack into the mainframe, "maybe I can crack this and get a clearer picture of what's going on; no sense in going in unprepared right?" There was a shaking of heads and Sonic gave a thumbs-up.
"Go for it bro, break that sucker good". The fox gave a slight bow before turning and hammering the keys in a graceful dance of trickery as he tried to prise open the security system.
His forces were decimated and his base was pretty much a ruin anyway; time to be gone Eggman concluded, pushing away from the console he was seated at. He didn't hurry unduly as he had already made plans for this kind of eventuality; a touch of paranoia went well for a future dictator of Earth. Someone, he noted with annoyance, was trying to hack their way into his computer memory banks but he didn't have any time to stop them and besides, if they found anything worth having in that old relic they deserved it. Standing up, he felt the familiar pangs of disappointment resurface as he realised he had been defeated yet again but, as always, he refused to give in to despair; he would win someday, just not today. Turning away from the computer banks, he opened the door to his escape route.
Tails gave a bark of triumph as he finally hammered down the ageing fire walls; the whole of Eggman's mainframe was his to command. What to look for first though; he decided to try and get visual contact with anyone and quickly brought up the cameras section. Most of them were blown out completely, but a few still functioned and, wait, that shape was unmistakeable. Excitement bubbling in his voice the fox shouted,
"Guys, come look at this". As the others crowded round he gave the camera full screen. Sonic tensed at the sight of his most hated enemy walking towards a door set back.
"Eggy, so this is a base of his for sure".
"Yeah, but", the screen changed as Tails clicked into a second camera into the room Eggman had just entered; Shadow saw the device at the far end and gave a savage snarl, "he's gonna get away".
"Forget him, all that matters now is Rouge, we'll hunt Eggman down some other time". Knuckles assured the others before he realised they weren't listening; there was a collection of gasps as they all stood transfixed by the screen. Flicking it a glance Knuckles immediately saw why; soundlessly, he also joined the paralysed watchers.
Eggman moved quickly as the sound of gunfire reached his ears; he had almost left it too long and would have to move fast to avoid them. Sliding the door shut behind him, the evil genius moved towards his last invention and the sanctuary it offered; he gave a brief mutter of thanks that he hadn't installed any kind of password or number code to any of his escape routes, the delay in opening them could have proved fatal. He kept his eye on the door he had just come through, hearing the door to his haven slide open, guiding the way to his release as he…
Pain exploded in his lower regions as a crippling strike landed, bringing tears to his eyes as he grabbed himself and fell, his knees turning to water as he fought to keep his consciousness from slipping away due to sheer pain. Something grabbed his moustache and forced his head down, his chin slamming into something as solid and unyielding as the rock his base was carved in. This fresh impact sent the doctor sprawling backwards, falling flat on his back as his brain, unused to such abuse, blocked out the pain with shock, unable to comprehend being violated in this way. Clearing the tears from his eyes, Eggman looked up and felt the blood drain away from his face, his pain replaced by utter disbelief as someone from seven years ago stared facelessly back at him.
"No, no, you, you're dead!"
Repay the grudge.
Despite the loathing they all held the not-so-good doctor in for various reasons the sight of Seraph's first kick had four pairs of eyes watering in agonised sympathy. As it became obvious that strike had just been a precursor to the main event Tails abruptly broke the connection and headed down the tunnel to the doctor's current position.
"Come on; I never though I'd say it but we've got to save Eggman", before arguments could be raised the fox continued, "Seraph's there; he'll be able to get us to Rouge". That was all the encouragement the others needed; Shadow and Sonic scooped up Amy and Tails and took off towards where their enemies were destroying each other. The case led them to the room with the capsule and, more importantly, the door that had recently been kicked off its hinges by a pair of solid kicks. There was a flash of white visible in the gloom beyond and Knuckles accelerated as much as was possible; pulling past the other two, the echidna was the first to enter the main control room and observe the pandemonium within.
Two figures were currently at the door, striking the solid metal construction with kicks and gun butts as they tried to progress. Knuckles wanted to help desperately but forced himself to hold back; that isn't Rouge, he forced himself to repeat the thought over and over. She was now under the complete control of an alien force that he had no comprehension of; from the evidence they had so far gathered and postulated, Seraph had been allied with Eggman but they'd all just seen that, if such an allegiance had ever existed, it had just been most painfully terminated. There was a crash from off to the right and Knuckles was able to see a third stranger enter.
"Whoa"; Sonic's voice was in his ear as the Mobian became visible; from what they could see this monster was in the same league as Big in terms of sheer weight and power, holding the gun in his hands like it was nothing. As he advanced unerringly towards the door currently under assault by Rouge and the rooster the five had assumed was Razzy, all could see this creature was again in Seraph's thrall; there was a clearly visible metal tail descending from the bandana the fox wore. Knuckles felt a tug on his arm and shot a glance to see Tails pawing at him; standing on tip-toe, the fox whispered in his ear.
"I think that's Chalkie, look at his coat". Looking harder, the echidna was able to see that there was a definite pattern on the course fur that covered the figure's back. The lighter patches of fur ran in specific patches that flowed together in a ginger pattern of light orange and light cream. A dull boom rang out as the latest arrival reached the door and used the end of his gun to hammer into it, the structure beginning to buckle under the weight of the heavy blows being levelled against it. None of the free willed Mobians present dared intervene; there was no guaranteeing their safety in the ruck and it seemed that Seraph's zombies needed little help in their task as it was.
The door was nearly caved in; it was time to finish this. Delivering another solid punch to the small of his target's back, Seraph kept his eyes trained on the door; the human at his feet had been no match for him. Eggman was in a terrible way; he wasn't built for physical combat and Seraph had quite literally ripped the living hell out of him; there wasn't an inch of his body that hadn't been crushed by dark vengeance. Hopping backwards behind the slumped over figure, Seraph contended himself to wait for the arrival of his secondary targets; he, and the bleeding man at his feet, owed them a debt of explanation for his previous actions.
As the door finally crashed off its hinges there was a collective jerk forwards; Sonic and his friends rapidly followed as Rouge and the other suspected guild members filed through the battered doorway. Knuckles was at the forefront of the group as it entered; all that filled his vision was Seraph and he pointed a deadly knuckle barb at his enemy, breathing harshly through flared nostrils as battle rage began to rise.
"You are a dead Mobian".
Unexpected but not impossible; Knuckles Echidna skilled at tracking. Other innocents also present. No grudges borne – no conflict. Delay potential for battle.
Despite the invitation, it appeared Seraph had other plans than fighting; like a cobra, his hand darted down and seized Eggman by the collar, hoisting him upright. As the human's face became visible Knuckles snarled,
"Guess nothing changes; still beating up those that can't defend themselves".
"What do you…". Knuckles snorted disdainfully as Seraph wrapped his other arm around Eggman's neck; it would only take a single twist to finish him now. It would be impossible to try and fight Seraph now; the echidna was under no impression he'd kill without compassion and he for one didn't want a death on his hands. Not looking round, he casually cut off Amy's question.
"Rouge showed me a picture when she first arrived on my place", he addressed his enemy directly now, "it was the result of one of his missions; a beaten up wolf. It convinced me to let her stay". Knuckles felt the tensions of those behind him raise as he exposed this crime of Seraph, though there was no reaction from the assassin himself; he appeared to have shut himself off completely. There was a strangled cough from his knees as Eggman recovered his scattered wits and hastily reviewed the situation. He had no time and fewer options, so he grasped at the last straw he had and made the only choice available to him.
"Help…me", the doctor gave a pitiful wince as Seraph cut the grip even tighter, "please, he'll kill me".
"Why?", Shadow looked piercingly at the beaten human; from what he could remember and had been told, Eggman was a dangerous enemy and as slippery as oil, "what's the story Eggman; why's Seraph after you?" The doctor's shoulders sagged in defeat; that question was the end of it all. Before he could even consider a response, there was a jerk at his neck as his current captor growled in his ears. Looking forwards, he saw the end was coming ever closer.
Amy felt the horrid suspicion of something, or someone, creeping up behind her and spun round, hammer held high as she confronted her would-be back stabber.
"Nack?" The pink hedgehog squeaked as the purple weasel approached, a mouse also just visible behind him, coming through the door she and her friends had used to get to the main control room. She rapidly tapped the others as Nack approached; she realised he wasn't going to stop and she had seen what the others had done to the last thing that had got in their way. Tapping Sonic on the shoulder, she managed to get them both out of the way and allow the zombified guild member entrance into this area. Nack moved clear of the door, standing near to the other three guild members with a pop-gun held loosely in his hands, rigid as a board as Eggman gave another low moan. As the mouse entered, Seraph stirred.
All secondary targets present. Utilise innocents. All debts end here.
Knuckles hadn't taken his eyes off the assassin at any time, even when Nack had entered the
room, and suddenly his caution paid off. Seraph's free hand, his left, suddenly shot forwards, something small flying towards the echidna. Knuckles fired up his guard, closed his eyes and opened his mouth, trying to avoid the worst of any grenade his enemy may have employed. There was a tiny clink as something landed at his feet and, as everyone looked down, a single word, in the same dead, dry voice from the Tornado, reached their ears.
"Drop".
As Seraph whispered the command there was a sudden clatter as assorted weapons fell to the ground, the imprisoned Mobians relinquishing their arms as their master ordered. Knuckles looked at the tiny metal sliver at his feet and slowly knelt to pick it up. Looking up, the guardian was confused as Seraph pointed to where his peons were clustered and then tapped the back of his head with a free hand, the other maintaining a constricting grip on Eggman's neck. Suddenly Knuckles understood; moving carefully and ignoring the questions of the others, the echidna made something very plain indeed.
"If you lie, this will be your tomb" he said at Seraph, who seemed to nod in assent.
"What are you doing?"
"Just trust me" Knuckles said shortly, praying that his own concerns would prove unfounded as he reached Rouge. When she didn't move or react to his presence, the guardian moved to be behind her, scrutinising the back of the unholy unit Seraph had placed on her, checking the key Seraph had thrown to him. There, a tiny hole at the side of the tail entrance; taking a deep breath and casting his eyes heavenwards, the echidna slowly inserted the metal twig into the hole.
The reaction was instant; the neural fibres that had entered though the hypodermic tail of the thing were retracted by the insertion of the key. It acted to completely reverse the process of mind control, restoring free will to the target. This function had been added by Seraph; the original designer of the device had never planned to release anyone he managed to ensnare. As the tail retracted and the implant fell to the floor with a dull clunk, before seven pairs of shocked eyes, Rouge returned to her body.
There was a low groan and suddenly the bat slumped forwards, her head pounding as she grappled with feelings of extreme disorientation. She would have fallen had it not been for Sonic's timely intervention, the blue wonder catching her and settling her onto her knees. The spy screwed her eyes shut before lashing out; she had no memories beyond those of fighting Seraph and was acting on them. Dodging the drunken strikes and catching her slim wrists, Sonic spoke clearly as the others watched on in wonderment.
"Rouge, Rouge listen; it's okay, we're all here, stop fighting". He felt the bat's struggles lessen as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Sonic?"
"Yeah, yeah it's me", he held her gaze as she tried to focus on him, "take your time and breathe slowly; you're safe now".
"What happened?" Using the blue hedgehog as a pad Rouge lurched to her feet and swayed, mind still foggy but beginning to clear as she saw the others were approaching; she also caught sight of the motionless Seraph, holding onto Eggman like a stationary statue, and leapt back with an adrenaline surge, narrowly missing careening into Knuckles, "And what's he doing here?" she demanded, pointing at him as though her finger could stab her captor dead on the spot.
"It's okay, he's, he's not going to hurt you", Tails said to calm the bat down; he actually wasn't sure what Seraph was doing and how Eggman was involved but he still wanted to calm the bat down, "from what we can tell he's done all this; are these the other…"
"The guild; how did they get here, and what happened to them?" The bat was shocked as she realised they were completely unreactive to her and the others. Amy pushed in front of Sonic and Tails, giving a sign behind her back.
"The same thing that happened to you; listen, go outside for a minute and Knuckles'll explain what we know, alright?" Before either could argue, Shadow had caught on and nodded.
"Yeah; if you do that, we'll get the others free and send them out to you". The black hedgehog skilfully snatched the key from Knuckle's hand as the guardian, having at last seen through the trick too late, extended his hand to her.
"Come on Rouge, let's get out of here". Shakily gripping the hand of her formerly dangerous adversary, the bat was led from the scene as Shadow advanced purposely to the motionless form of Nack the Weasel.
Presence of innocents useful; secondary targets released and restrained when necessary. Confusion evident, the information shall wait until all are ready.
I'm a dead man, Eggman had glanced up at the mask of his former servant and realised this was it; there was no coming back from this. Even if, by some miracle, Seraph actually decided to spare his life he would definitely be handed over to the authorities to rot in jail for the rest of his life. From what he could tell this had been an extremely elaborate and convoluted plot to trap him, but why was he still alive and why was Seraph having those damned Mobians from the guild released? The black mask he occasionally glimpsed in his vision betrayed nothing and at the end Eggman was able to draw a foregone conclusion; Like father, like son.
It took a while, but eventually all five of the former Guild of Treasure Hunters were released and the situation was explained to the best of Knuckles' ability, though as he admitted himself, that was not too clearly at all. The echidna's voice was getting hoarse from all the talking he was doing, especially as he had to restart the story every time a new arrival joined his impromptu story circle. As he finished for the third time, the hulking Mobian who had confirmed his identity as Chalkie spoke, his voice surprisingly soft for such a big creature.
"So the freak's been hunting us all, but for how long?"
"No idea, but I saw the mark at Jess's and the guild photo was there too", Nack spoke to his old friend, "he'd cut out you three, so I assumed you'd been taken". The rooster clucked low in his throat.
"I think I was taken first; I remember the day clearly, it was the fourteen of June, what's the date today?"
"The twenty-fifth of July" came Tails' disembodied voice; he, Sonic, Amy and Shadow were still in the last room, keeping a close eye on Seraph and Eggman, though the dark angel didn't appear to be doing much apart from waiting for them to make the first move. The mouse who had introduced herself as Jessie Wheatear, or Jess, nodded,
"So I'd have been taken about what, eight days ago and you and the rookie", Rouge scowled at the diminutive figure,
"I resent that remark; I'm a fully qualified treasure hunter now".
"No run, no rank", the mouse grinned up at her before continuing, "would have been had three and two days respectively". Chalkie grunted before bringing himself to full height, his shadow engulfing the rest of the group as his face darkened.
"It doesn't matter now; the guild hasn't finished its business yet – there's the small matter of a freakoziod in there to deal with". At the mention of Seraph Knuckles observed a change in all five treasure hunters, specified by Nack leaning forwards, looking surprisingly smaller with his hat off. The weasel spoke straight from the heart,
"I say we hear what he's got to say and if it's not good enough we go for it; we hand in both of them and split the money".
"Money?" Rouge smiled sardonically as the others looked agog.
"Yeah, there's a bounty on Eggman's head but whatever, we'll deal with that later", the bat held out one hand, glancing round at the others, "we hand them in, no more death". Razzy put his wing on the bat's extended hand.
"I'll swear on that". Chalkie, Nack and finally Jess added their hands to the pile when another voice spoke.
"Count me in too", Knuckles placed his mighty paw on the top of the pile and smiled grimly at the others, "I've got enough reason to want them both dead, but I'm sick of fighting; no more death". All six swore and then removed their hands, Razzy speaking first,
"So let this be the end", he set off towards the yawning doorframe, the battered metal door lying crushed on the other side, "the Guild of Treasure Hunters ends now".
They are here.
No-one spoke as the five and Knuckles entered; for a second you could have cut the air with a knife before Nack stepped forwards, Seraph's mask rising to meet his approach.
"Okay Seraph", the weasel looked his personal devil levelly in the eye, "you caught us and brought us here. We were helpless and you let us all go; we want to know why, and what that lard-ball's got to do with it". Eggman whimpered pathetically as Seraph dragged him onto his knees.
"Everything", those unfamiliar with Seraph's voice glanced around to try and see the hissing serpent before realising he had spoken and now looked down at his primary target before finishing.
"Tell them".
