(I do not own Sonic X, etc.)
Flip card 2:
Name: Fang the Sniper
Species: Weasel
Description: Mercenary and thug for hire. Also the leader of the Sharpshooters gang.
"I want them dead!" Fang proclaimed to his entire SharpShooter Gang as they assembled in their headquarters, a condemned building on the east side of town. An empty warehouse not used in a good decade, it was the perfect shelter. In this neighbourhood, not many people; even the cops came around asking questions. The interior was a large empty space with high metal poles serving as rafters. A row of three large crates served as a stage, upon which Fang stood addressing the unorganised rabble he called troops.
His gang, numbering about fifty in all were all mobians. Fang had distaste for humans and while they were not forbidden to join his little clan, his best thugs were all mobians. "Chaotix has been a thorn in my side for long enough! I want them iced!" The sharpshooters were not just a bunch of punks that took job for money. In their collection of impressive weaponry were quite a few pieces of military equipment, such as an old Big Foot Mech. All of it was stacked in large wooden crates behind the large crowd, ready to be broken out at the moments notice. "I don't care how many of their lackeys you get, as long as I see these three at least riddled with holes." The weasel added, gesturing behind him to a projected picture of Vector, Espio and even Charmee.
"Three dead guys. Got it." One large Mobian Tiger near the front replied, strapping a large sniper rifle with a strap over his shoulder.
"They'll be gone before the end of the day." Another, a Boar added, sliding a few large daggers in leather holsters that crisscrossed over his chest.
"Well what are you still doing standing here for?" The weasel asked, tipping the edge of his hat forward. "Go n' get them!" The chaotic squabble began as all fifty of them began arming themselves, one of them climbing into the outdated Mech and testing the controls. "And they'll be no reward until you do!" Fang added, before turning back to his own collection of weaponry. Everything a professional assassin could ever need in his profession. Several rifles, normal sets of guns, infra-red goggles, throwing knives and his latest acquisition; some experimental body armour Hexagon was developing for Swat police.
First Fang strapped on a pair of metallic shin pads, lapping them on over his boots. They gleamed brightly in the semi light, the Hexagon symbol on the front of each standing out perfectly. Then he slipped into a shirt with several pieces of armour attacked to the chest, stomach and shoulders. Completing the upper half of his body, he attached a pair of bracers; the one on the left arm had a small computer screen about the size of a watch face in it that had the ability to track energy signatures. Finally, the Weasel placed the infrared goggles over his eyes.
Ever since he had betrayed Chaotix they had been dogging him like a shadow, a near constant threat to his profits. Well, not for much longer; he through to himself; attaching a large rifle to his back and sliding from guns into a holster and each side.
Tonight, Fang the Sniper was going to finish this long drawn out feud.
-
Despite Espio's protests, the Chaotix Detective Agency was reduced to an escort service for Cream, her Mother and the Robot Emerl. Each second wasted not going after Fang was like a needle sticking itself into the chameleon's skin. In thrall to Vector's strange infatuation for Vanilla, all they could do was indulge the crocodile until he grew out of it.
Espio was still shuddering at the thought. A reptile and a furry, it would never work. Crocodiles were supposed to involve themselves with other crocodiles. That's how the species and even the animal groups themselves were maintained. Humans had it easy. It didn't matter what nationality they where, they were all still compatible with one another.
"How long do we have to keep this up?" He asked the others. Following the directions of Cream's device, they had entered up in the Park. According to the readings, the Chaos Emerald they'd been looking for was not too far away from their current position. Rei and Beck sat lazily on a beech watching Vector lead Vanilla and Cream around as they searched through the bushes and trees, Emerl in tow. Charmee, giving into his natural instincts was buzzing from flower to flower getting his short black and yellow hairs covered in pollen.
Rei glanced down at his watch.
"Until Vector gets hungry, then we eat again." He replied with a goofy grin. Espio levelled his eyes at him sceptically.
"You need to relax more Espio, you're too wound up as it is." Beck added, leaning back against the bench putting his arms behind his head.
"I just can't believe we're stuck doing this when Fang's still out there." The chameleon replied, resting his arms on his knees.
"You really must want to get this guy." The human began, raising an eyebrow.
"Gee and I had Vector pinned as the obsessive one." Rei added and the two of them broke out laughing.
"You don't understand." Espio muttered, turning away. They were new recruits. Neither of them could understand the finality of it all when Nack, now called Fang revealed himself as a traitor and murdered another of their number before them.
"Hey, what about over here?" Vector asked, calling over to Cream who hurried over. The device on her wrist was bleeping like made as she neared. That Emerald had to be around here somewhere.
Finding a spot between two tall trees that looked promising, Cream pushed some shrubs out of the way, and there, half buried in the dirt at her feet was a dark blue surface. Taking her gloves off, the rabbit began digging with her fingers around it; revealing a multi angled shape. Getting her fingers around an edge, she tugged sharply at it; edging it further and further out of the dirt.
"It's here alright…" She muttered, tugging at it.
"Need a hand?" The crocodile asked, edging one of last hands in to get a good grip on the stuck object.
Then with one last tug, the last Chaos Emerald flew up into the air in a spray of grass blades and mud.
One of Emerl's hands shot out and grabbed the falling jewel, returning with it and the Emerald in its grasp to the robots side. "Ah, there we go." Vector muttered; admiring the fist sized treasure as Emerl held it up for all to admire.
"Thanks for your help Vector." Vanilla said with a smile, leaning over and kissing the crocodile on the cheek. Espio cringed as he watched the Crocodile nearly literally walk on air.
Emerl handed the Emerald to Cream, who grasped it in both hands with a big grin on her face. If she was honest, she didn't believe she would be able to find it. The others were the ones good at Emerald hunting not here. Boy would Sonic be proud of her once he got back.
There was a sudden loud whistle and without any warning at all, Emerl pushed Cream and her mother out of the way as a missile flew past them and stuck a tree; blowing it into smithereens. Espio was nearly instantly on his feet with several shuriken in one hand and a Katana in the other. The ground shook violently as a Mech came dropping down from the air, land on two large flat feet not to far away. It was an old Big Foot, clad in full military colours with two large missile launch pads on its shoulders open; revealing it had at least another seven missiles it could fire. Through the glass that shielded the cockpit, one of the thugs belonging to the Sharpshooters gang could be seen at the controls.
Like a thick mob, other members of the gang were already storming the park in ranks, marching right for Chaotix. Running for their lives, the people had already begun evacuating the place.
"Fang!" Espio began through clenched teeth as he sighted the Weasel standing on top of the Big Foot Walker, clad in body armour and armed with nearly every type of portable weapon available.
"You've dead now mates!" Fang the Sniper called down to them, a sadistic twist of a smile over his lips. "Now I finish the job I started with the armadillo!" Espio's expression deepened from a frown into a hate filled scowl.
"Run!" Vector told Vanilla and her daughter, positioning himself between them at the small army of hired mercenaries. "This is our fight, get going!" Vanilla tugged at Cream, who nearly dropped the Chaos Emerald and she and her mother made a retreat from the area as fast as they could; Emerl following behind them.
"Woah, heavy artily." Rei remarked almost casually as Chaotix was herded into a tight circle, almost completely surrounded by Fang's army of thugs. Beck swallowed hard, eying the circle of fire power around them. Charmee was in the middle, looking incredibly scared. Espio glanced back at him. How could Fang do this? The bee was only a kid!
"Hold off it guys!" Fang began; gesturing to his group to hold their fire. "I get first shot at these losers." He reached down and withdrew a gun from it's holster at his side. "I hope you recognise this piece Espio." The chameleon only raised a non existent eyebrow. "No? Shame, 'cause this is the same weapon I used to kill that friend of yours." Espio glanced up at it. It didn't have any distinguishing marks, but almost as if he could sense Mighty's sprit tethered to the weapon; he could tell it was the same gun.
"We can't just leave them!" Cream complained, wrenching free of her mother's grip with a sudden twist of her hand. "They're going to get killed!"
"You're not going back, it's too dangerous!" Vanilla told her. Cream remained defiant.
"I won't leave them there!" She replied, turning about and running. Emerl tried to grab her by she squirmed past his arms and kept running back towards the park.
"Cream! Get back here!" Her mother called after her, before giving chase, the black and robot following shortly afterwards. His programming was screaming red. His priority mission, to keep Cream out of harms way was in jeopardy.
Jumping into the air, a small jet engine emerged from a slot on his back and sent him flying forwards, easily catching up with the female rabbit and pulling her back away from the hazard zone.
"They're going to die in there!" Cream cried, trying to keep going despite the restrictions of Emerl's metal arms. Vanilla didn't want them to die either; Vector was one of her best friends. But she wasn't about to let her seven year old daughter go charging off to fight some heavily armed mercenaries.
"Emerl…" The rabbit began. The black and gold robot looked up towards her. "You go help them." Although he never said anything, as if almost instinctively she could sense his reluctance. He was Cream's guardian, his programming was telling him to keep her safe at all costs.
"Please Emerl." Cream pleaded with him. Despite the fact his programming was telling him utterly different, The Gizoid felt compelled to obey. Trying to explain this logically as all robots would, Cream's friends were part of her life. If one died, she would be damaged psychologically and damage was the thing his mission prohibited the most.
"Say goodbye!" Fang snarled, raising the gun towards Espio; his finger itching around the trigger.
There was a sudden flush, and a metal fist came flying out of nowhere to impact the side of the Big Foot Mech. The force of the long range punch sent the Walker staggering to the side and crashing into a tree. Fang foot his footing and fell roughly to the ground, hitting his side on the Mech as he went down. As it struck the ground, the Mech's cockpit shattered open and the thug acting a pilot was thrown out and into a bush.
Stunning, the Sharpshooters looked around to see where that shot had come from. Before any of them could react; Emerl came flying through the trees to smash a kick into several of their number at once.
Seizing the opportunity, Espio tossed his throwing stars through the air with a single swing of his arm. Each one found their target, running themselves through the metal of the rifles, rendering them useless. Several raised their weapons to fire, but never got the chance as Vector initiated his bull impression and went charging forward with his head lowered; knocking them to the ground.
Rei joined in on the action as well, kicking one of them in the crotch before landing several punches against another. Charmee now filled with confidence at seeing his comrades fight back, ran his stinger through the back of one of the mercenaries. Howling, the mobian took flight.
Beck seized a plank of wood from the bench he'd been sitting on and using it was club, began battering away at any of Fang's thugs who got within swinging distance. Reducing the fighting to close hand to hand, the Sharpshooters didn't get a chance to use their guns and in this type of fight Chaotix where in their element.
Emerl's flying punch's slamming into another one of their number, the metal fingers grabbed the thug by the shirt and tossed him like a bowling ball straight into a set of charging Sharpshooters; knocking them all over. One of them tried to attack the black and gold robot from behind, but Gizoid simply rotated his body around and defended himself with his thick metal bracer.
Vector's tail swung around, knocking the feet out from a boar wielding a set of knives before the crocodile turned and snapped his jaws forwards at several others; frightening them away with just a glimpse at his teeth. The boar pushed himself up to his feet again and tried to attack while the crocodiles' back was turned. Vector simply swung his arm up and landed the back of his hand in his face. As the boar staggered back with a broken snout, the crocodile raised a leg and smashed a kick directly into his stomach.
"Chao Chao CHAO!" Cheese howled into the air, flying straight into one of their faces, knocking it over before carrying on to another and repeating the action.
"Get 'um Cheese!" Cream called over from the sidelines, safe within her mother's grasp.
"Get up you maggots; you're getting bested by a Chao for the love of god!" Nack yelled, pulling himself to his feet and reaching around for his big rifle. Resting it on his shoulder, the Weasel put his eye to the scope and aimed the barrel directly at the closest member of Chaotix: Rei.
Espio tore around and saw Fang's finger on the trigger. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion from that point on. The chameleon turned and ran towards Rei; fear more than evident in his eyes
"Oh not again!" He begged the air around him as he ran. "Please not that again!" First Mighty had fallen to Fang;s greed; not Rei now! Anything but that!
Placing himself between the barrel of Fang's gun and the Flying Squirrel, time suddenly turning to its normal rate and Fang didn't hesitate in pulling the trigger. In that fraction of a second, Espio tore several shuriken he had left from their hiding place on his gloves and went them flying through the air.
One of them hit the flying as it came flying towards them head on and diverted its path down harmlessly into the ground, the remaining five however carried on. Two missed Fang completely, but three hit him head on; two sinking into his shoulders and the final one into the side of his arm. Crying out in pain, Fang dropped his riffle and collapsed to his knees.
The fighting around suddenly stopped and everyone there just stood and watched, even Emerl.
As if something had been lifted from his shoulders, the chameleon felt light headed and almost dizzy as he watched Fang angrily wrench the three throwing stars; one after the other out of himself. The two at his shoulders hadn't pierced the body armour, but he had not been so fortunate on his arm. Blood was running out through the large hole the weapon had ripped in his bracer. He'd been fortunate that he hadn't torn a major artery. Mobians were naturally made of better stuff than humans. Deep cuts, bruises and even serious broken bones would heal given time.
"That was a good shot…" The Weasel commented, staggering to his feet with a bleeding arm. Espio smirked at him. "But you're going to have to do better than that if you want to get the better of me."
"We already have." Vector replied with a wide grin. Fang suddenly looked puzzled and in that same instant, police sirens began blaring as a good deal of Squad cars began pulling up near by; accompanied by large vans labelled: S.W.A.T. Searchlights from choppers overhead lanced down through the trees as the place was nearly instantly surrounded by the cops. The weasel barred his teeth. Chaotix had kept him and his boys busy until the authorities arrived. The oldest trick in the book and he fell for it!
"Damn you!" Fang exclaimed and turned tail, making a break for it. Panicking, the rest of the Sharpshooters did the same; scattering this way and that as the police began storming the park.
"Shouldn't we go after him?" Rei asked, watching Fang run away.
"Don't need to. He won't get far." Espio replied, reaching down and picking up a weapon that Fang had dropped. It was the same gun he had been pointing at him earlier, the one he used to kill Mighty. This was the all the proof they were ever going to need against Fang now. This gun would surely match the record of the one that killed their old friend.
As Espio predicted, Fang did not get far. Luck going south for the winter on him, the weasel ran almost directly into advancing SWAT police and was disarmed and handcuffed before he knew what was happening.
"I'll be back to get you Espio!" The Weasel cursed as the cops shoved them into the back of a police truck, slamming the door behind him. Espio's and Fang's eyes met through the bars of the back window. Hatred followed through the Weasel's eyes, yet for some strange reason that even the chameleon could not understand, only a stead fast determination was set in his. "I'll get out one day, and when I do you'd better watch your back!" With that, the truck drove away and Fang was gone.
Espio sighed and folded his arms. Someone, he left lighter than he had in years right now.
"His murder's been avenged." A voice said from behind him. Looking back over his shoulder he saw Rei standing behind him. "Fang's gone down and you have proof it was him shot your old friend." The flying squirrel gained a smirk. "You can let the vendetta go now." Espio remained silent for a moment, but then a small smile spread over his face and he turned to look up towards the sky. The sun was beginning to set and the sky was a bright orange and the clouds crossing it had a red tint of them. For a faint moment, Espio was almost convinced he saw Mighty's face up there smiling at him but the illusion was gone as quickly as it came.
Shortly after the police, the press arrived on the scene to start asking multitudes of questions and it was about then they decided to leave. After handing in Fang's weapon to the police for the forensics lab, they left the area before anyone could think of asking questions none of them had the patience to answer right now. They found a corner restaurant some distance away which was still open and ordered a large meal, on Vector's account of course.
"Look, I'm sorry about that." Vector began to Vanilla as the two groups sat down to two tables one behind the other. "That was our fight; you shouldn't have had to get involved." The female rabbit laid a hand on his shoulder compassionately.
"It's alright Vector. There's no need to apologise." The crocodile sighed and leaned on the table in front of him.
"That fight could have gotten you and your daughter killed." She just shrugged at him.
"You get used to that kind of thing when you're daughter's friends with Sonic the Hedgehog. When we're around him, as a group we get shot at three or four times a week." The crocodile looked up, a little confused. "Doesn't mean we try to avoid him."
"But…" She laid a finger on the end of his snout to silence him.
"Getting shot at is one of the hazards of your profession. You and the rest of Chaotix all have good hearts, and that's all that matters in my book." Vector began blushing uncontrollably as she placed a hand on his.
"Oh boy." Rei muttered, leaning back at his seat as Vector's eyes began swimming again.
"Vector's in love, Vector's in love, Vector's in love…" Charmee began singing again, although not loud enough for Vanilla to hear. Cream glanced at Cheese, who also bore a confused expression before the two of them looked over towards the seats in front of them, and the clearly romantic scene between the crocodile and her own mother.
"With my mom!" She asked the Chaotix members around her. Rei gained another goofy smile and Beck simply tucked into his meal. Espio was looked out the window to the street outside, resting his arm on his table.
"Tag, you're it!" Mighty called over as the armadillo slapped him on the back and Espio growled back, before the two young children made off down the meadow, one trying to catch the other.
"I'll get you!" Espio laughed, lunging at Mighty; who side stepped and let the chameleon crash into the long grass.
"Have to be faster than…" The words froze in the armadillo's mouth as he noticed his friend had disappeared completely. "Espio?" He asked of the empty space around him. Mighty searched around the reeds and long grass, but couldn't find a trace of the chameleon anywhere. Without warning, Espio began visible again behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.
"You're it!" The chameleon announced proudly, before turning and running away.
"Hey no fair!" Mighty called over him waving a fist about in the air before giving chase. Launching himself through the air, he tackled Espio to the ground and the two young children rolled through the grass under they came to a stop.
"Goodbye Espio." A voice told him as the world suddenly blurred into a white haze. "Thanks for the memories." As if waking up from a dream, the chameleon shook his head and looked around him. By now their food was being served and Charmee was beginning to reach for the pie.
"Hey Esp, you ok?" Beck asked, seeing the chameleon's melancholy expression. Espio didn't answer for a moment. The light feeling was still there and finally he recognised what it was. It was freedom.
Freedom from hatred, freedom from the dissolving need for revenge and freedom from the pain. Mighty had moved on, Fang was in jail and now Espio was free to get on with his life.
Forging a smile created from utter relief and happiness, he turned back towards the human.
"Yeah I'm fine." He replied. "Now let's get some of that pie before Charmee eats it all."
"Hey!"
-
The construction of a new defence grid to combat the growing threats was considered a national priority. Presently, thanks to salvage operations of various sources of technology, the level of military hardware in G.U.N had dramatically increased. Even so, it still palled in comparison to that of their multiplying enemies. While Sonic fought on their behalf up in space, that left them time to prepare for a conflict the Government felt inevitable.
Hexagon, now being the chief finical supplier for the military was charged with the creation and maintenance of this grid. And so far, according to the reports, the experiments in offensive and defensive weaponry had been successful. Right now, the President was on his way to survey the launch of their latest, and he was assured; greatest innovation.
Along with Christina Cooper, his personal assistant , the President was driven out to the middle of the Arizona Desert. It was here Hexagon had their main testing facility, it's security level now even higher then that of Area 51.
"I believe you'll be pleasantly surprised sir." Their guide, a Hexagon agent told them as the jeep pulled to a stop.
"I'll be surprised if nothing else." The President replied. "Why can't you tell me what this thing your going to show me is?" The agent smiled, his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses.
"My superiors thought it better if you found out yourself." With that, he turned back to face the empty desert in front of them. Apart from a few cactus' and a mountain ridge in the distance, it was quite barren. The base itself was about a mile to the west. Right now, they were directly in the middle of the testing ground itself. "We're in position, it's a go." The agent stated, speaking into his walkie talkie.
There was a moment of silence, before a humming sound began evident in the air. The President stood up and looked around, trying to see what was causing it. In the desert before them, the sand began to part, giving way as something metal beneath the surface began to rise.
"What on Earth is…" The words died in the President's throat as a giant set of metal shutter doors parted to reveal a colossal hidden bunker below. Once the doors were fully open, something began to rise up from beneath. Once half of it's giant shape was outside in the sun both the President as his assistant knew what it was.
It was Giant Wing, the colossal battleship G.U.N had built using what they salvaged from the downed Egg Fleet. But it had been destroyed when it attacked the revived Biolizard, reduced to smouldering scrap iron.
"We managed to salvage what we could from the remains." The agent explained at the repaired pride and joy of the G.U.N forces hovered before them, a giant spiral that could constant float in the air. It served a military platform, capable of launching planes and other flight capable vehicles. "Thanks to the blueprints supplied by the G.U.N officers, and…other pieces of technology we were able to acquire, this new fortress is superior to the old one in every way. We call it, Giant Wing Mrk 2. Faster, better armoured and space going." That last part caught the President's attention.
"Space going?" The President repeated. The agent gained a smirk.
"Mr. President. Our civilisation is now officially one that can venture safely beyond the atmosphere. And that's not all." As if on cue, more shapes began to rise from the giant hole in the desert floor. None of them were anywhere near as large as Giant Wing but their numbers made up for it. They were modelled after the Egg Carrier, with shield wings and large thrusters at the back. All were bright silver and had the G.U.N 'G' symbol on each side. "May, I be the first to present, the G.U.N fleet."
-
(In Chris voice)
Fang's finally been caught! Mighty's murder has been avenged, but for the guys up on the terraformed Mars: the fight is far from over. With some of their friends captured by Metal X and others lost in the wilderness, how with the crew of the Blue Typhoon hold up against the Third General of Metal X; Leviathan? Find out next time on Sonic X, The Monster called Leviathan. Don't miss it!