Chapter 12 – A Trio of Nightmares.
A/N: reviewers as always (P.S. – Something just caught my eye last time I logged into my account; AODAI had 666 hits; anyone think that's some kind of omen?)
HHH – School getting you down huh? Well tell you what; if you've got a bit of work that's getting you down, drop me a line at my hotmail address and I'll see what I can do; Biology's my strong point, but I'll have a go at anything :-).
RGN – Only two left then; that's a shame, they must be a fascinating group of creatures to study. Anyway, a couple of questions for you, one of them going to make me look really dumb to an Australian; firstly, is a wombat a marsupial, and secondly does a puggle mean a baby (told you it was dumb)?
Ri2 – As I said earlier that ironing bit was written from the point of view of someone who's had an hour's worth knocked over and ruined; believe me compared to what I felt like doing Vector got off lightly!
TH – Your request is my command…:-)
A flashlight, housed in the upper left shoulder of the Central Dogma, winked quickly into life, illuminating the scene before them, focussing on the pair of red eyes that now loomed threateningly from in front of them. The strong beam of light was reflected back from the polished blue bodywork, lovingly restored by Lien-Da and her team, and stainless steel joints of the repaired metallic doppelganger, the robotic hedgehog swinging his head around to scan the other cyborg with greater detail, though the force-shield interposed between them was hampering his abilities.
"Greetings Metal Sonic…" Dimitri began the introductions but was cut off by a growl, higher pitched than his own mechanically generated voice and somehow more threatening because of it; the robot had raised on hand extended the claws, diamond edged and glittering harshly in the light that illuminated him,
"Never mention that name in my presence", Metal demanded menacingly, "I am Metal, or Mecha; the hedgehog will never be named by me until I fulfil my core directive. Now answer my question; who are you? You are not one of the fat man's creations I can see that; what manner of creation are you that is both organic and mechanical?" Deciding to dispense with the pleasantries, the grandmaster locked his eye with that of the assassin droid,
"I am Enerjak, grandmaster and Lord of this, the Dark Legion".
"Nice title"; so it's true; the grandmaster felt excitement that he'd not felt since returning to the land of the flesh from his long imprisonment; the use of sarcasm implies understanding of emotional context and application of that emotion – that should not be possible for a robot. Quickly storing his excitement away, the metallic echidna continued,
"Thank you; you are wondering, no doubt, as to why we have gone to the trouble of unearthing your remains and restoring you to full functionality?"
"Not really", if anything, Metal seemed bored, raising one of his hands and microscopically analysing each of the claws on it to see if it would be possible to sharpen them any further, "why is not an issue; the issue is what shall I do now I am restored".
"Showing some gratitude would be a good start"; the robot looked up, assessing the speaker and categorising him according to risk; though the claw on his arm afforded him great strength, he was a low risk for one of Mecha's formidable armament and cunning. However, he certainly had some fire in him, that he couldn't deny,
"Very few even try to order me around now dreadhead"; potential for gaining information, falsehood suggested; acting on the idea and realising that the circumstances he found himself in now contradicted those he had previously encountered, the robotic hedgehog lowered both his hand and his head, "but I am curious as to some of the facts I see before me; an exchange of information would be mutually beneficial".
"So it would, and you have information that would be most beneficial to us" the echidna in the tin can answered; Metal stored the information that he outranked the clawed echidna and seemed to be the leader of this motley band before inquiring,
"Very well; I shall begin. I see you are all echidnas, yet I was informed the race was extinct save a single member, the guardian Knuckles".
"Circumstances have changed recently", Enerjak spoke again, "we have returned from our exile, the civilisation of the echidnas lives once more".
"Interesting", the robot's monotone dipped a little; the grandmaster's guard rose instinctively, "how many are there now?"
"Enough to be getting on with"; Dimitri knew better than to give numbers – he'd read what this robot was capable of and the knowledge that he was restored once more troubled him, regardless of the number of safeguards programmed into him anew, "now time for our question; how did you come to be in such a lamentable condition when you were found?"
The eyes had it; the sudden flare, the robotic equivalent of a pupil dilation, confirmed what all present had prayed for; that the robot before them was capable of, if not acutely feeling, at least understand emotions and reacting to them. Nothing changed in Metal's voice, though his claws flexed menacingly as he growled,
"I failed to fulfil my directive; that will be sufficient for you".
"Says who?" Lien flipped her hair back behind her ears and glared at the glowing red eyes she could see; taken slightly aback, Metal was silent for a few seconds before letting a low, mirthless chuckle slip through the air.
"Says the one who will leave you in several bloody pieces if you enquire further, good enough for you?" The spine-chilling menace he was able to put behind that dead voice was enough, only just enough but enough regardless, to convince the echidna to back down, though he gaze remained steady as she heard her great-grandfather speak once more,
"Few call you by the name of your nemesis; fewer still threaten my third-in-command in the heart of our base and live to bear witness of it".
"Lucky me", Metal snickered with malice; for once Lien was grateful his face couldn't reveal his emotions; she'd never know a piece of technology she'd outright hated, but this thing was bordering on it as he continued, "my turn again; well I must admit a certain amount of curiosity as to why I am back amongst the living".
"Because you have something we want", Kragok's repost was typically his style; swift and not pulling any punches, "we offer you a trade Metal; your restoration for the information we need from you".
"And that is?"
"The software that allows you to feel what all other robots cannot", Dimitri grated, standing tall enough to cast the slimmer, smaller robot into shadow as he grated, "your emotional programming".
There was no gesture of surprise, nothing that gave the game away as to what the metallic hedgehog was computing, just a few seconds silence before Metal slowly raised on hand, tapping his claws against the side of his face with a hair-raising clinking noise,
"My emotions?"
"Yes", Dimitri affirmed, stepping forwards, close enough for the energy bubble interposed between them reflected of his bodywork, tingeing him with a light sea green; as if challenged, Metal did the same though the colour change was muted on his blue armour, "we have restored you to functionality; we require a little payment".
"Strange, I don't agree", Metal thrust his face upwards, the power from the imprisoning field all but striking sparks from his face plate as he leered, "I'm famous for a lot of things, generosity isn't one of them".
"Very well", Dimitri took a pace back, though the manner in which he placed his hands on his hips gave no indication of defeat, "you have been offered a choice and you have refused; you could have given freely, but now we shall be forced to take".
"Really; you think I am helpless here, behind this force shield?" Lien broke in, enjoying having one over on this obnoxious machine,
"I know you are; I configured it to your specifications exactly. Put one toe over that line and you'll get a shock that'll trip your self-defence programmes and switch you off automatically". Get out of that one then; she allowed herself a smug grin as Mecha looked at the pale luminescent bubble around him anew.
"A lot of effort went into this; I am impressed", he commented grudgingly before, with a sudden flare, his eyes lit up again, "but while the one who designed this shield should be proud, whoever installed it should be shot".
With a sudden whoomph that sent all present scrambling backwards save Dimitri, insulated as he was against flames and fire, Mecha activated his thrusters and soared towards the ceiling; a loud tearing noise preceding his meteoric ascent as his wrist lasers sought to rip apart the air itself. The twin beams of ruby red light hit the ceiling and penetrated it, the robot's voice echoing though the confusion as some of the honour guard, reactions finally clicking into place, swung their weapons upwards and took a few pot shots,
"I'll offer this as payment; most emotions are weaknesses, nothing more – I only bear the ones that will make my inevitable victory all the sweeter". With that, an ear-splitting crash and a sudden shower of partially melted ceiling, Metal Sonic smashed into the roof above his head, bare of eclectic protection it yielded, setting the homicidal machine free in the base. Fortunately thanks to Dimitri's quick wits, a frantically voxed evacuation order had allowed the floor above to be completely abandoned, denying the robot any chance of a retaliatory assault on any unsuspecting legionnaires. Kragok bellowed into his wrist communicator, demanding reports and carrying out quick, curt orders remotely,
"Seal it off, I don't care how…no, bring it down, keep it away from the hangers…use your bare hands if you have to, just make sure…no weapon is useless, just the trooper using it…no, who are you? I'll have your hide for this"; with a snarl he cut off the communication and slammed his claw around the nearest piece of metal he could find, sheering through it in his frustration as he looked up at his commander, trying to explain this shambles,
"My apologies Lord Enerjak, but it appears the subject had attained freedom; he has left Necronopolis".
"Casualties?"
"None, a few light injuries". Enerjak growled a little before looking up at the ruined ceiling,
"Not a complete disaster then; good work Lien", she looked up at this rare praise as he flicked his glance her way, eyes dimmer than normal in respect, "I imagine some Legionnaires owe their lives to your work". She seized the opportunity with both hands, milking it for all it was worth,
"My duty is all, my lord, nothing more", she gave slight bow, seeing without meaning to Kragok go puce as he turned away, "and it shall give us back the advantage in the future".
"Explain". The female looked up and smiled slightly, tapping her fingers together to make her point crystal clear,
"I know Metal's processing computations are exceedingly well developed; if he were mortal, he'd be considered at the least genius. Going on that and the information we disclosed, I imagine he knows, or at least strongly suspects, his current location is Angel Island. And who do we know he has history with here?"
"The guardian, who else?" Kragok spat the word like poison, red eye glowing maleficently; Lien merely smiled,
"Yes, Knuckles; so he'll be going on the element of surprise, he wants power and the Master is the closest thing to him, and when he tries to take it", the female let herself laugh, even as she could see the unmade look of horror on her grandfather's face as he considered that thing with the power of the Master Emerald, "he'll find out just how deep the modifications I made actually run!"
XXX
Interesting; Metal could not think to the same extent a living being could, but he was at least capable of understanding outside the box that held most machines captive, even if his limited emotions made that understanding sour; my altitude sensors indicate a height correlating with the local of the Floating Island, yet I recognise none of these landmarks. His robotic eyes swept the ground before him as he increased the range of his scan; almost as soon as he did, he pulled to a stop in mid-air, trying to compute the best course of action in the light of the new information. Though the city he had detected was smaller than Station Square, suddenly appearing in the air above it didn't seem like the logical thing to do; assuming this was Angel Island, the inhabitants were probably affiliated with the guardian Knuckles and were therefore potential enemies. Though he knew that individually he was far superior to a mere citizen, regardless of species or armament, even he baulked at the idea of a one-droid assault on a city of that size; no, he needed to be careful than that – no sense in losing the function so soon after he had regained it. He hovered for a few moments, weighing up the options he had open to him, before altering his trajectory and taking off, the location of his next power source finally revealed to him by his long range sensors.
XXX
"It's a shame Vec couldn't make it", Mighty commented as she looked up at the displays above her head; the placard bearing the message of 'sweets and savouries' gaining her especial interest, "I have a funny feeling this is his sort of place". Her companion looked around and stepped forwards, now looking like a display of cans having been stood in one place too long; with a visible effort he turned his original colour and smirked,
"After what happened last time he went shopping; I'd say he was being prudent".
"Am going to hear the end of this within the next year?" The chameleon chuckled,
"Maybe the next century; come on, when Vector showed back up with a lump the size of his egg on his head, a swollen tail and you looking sheepish, it doesn't take Tails to join the dots". The armadillo rolled her eyes, a slight smile twitching her lips as she wrestled down a laugh,
"Well he did deserve it; come on how would you have felt if he'd come in and thrown ashes all over the shop?"
"I would've felt nothing" Espio commented dryly before adding, "he would have the next morning, after I'd super-glued his head to his pillow, but I wouldn't have said anything".
"Let me guess; training in espionage and assassination?"
"The glue could be a poison in reality". Perturbed by the chameleon's seemingly morbid fascination with death and in particular how to deliver it, Mighty turned and looked him square in the eye,
"Espio, have you ever actually put any of this into practise?" He snorted,
"Of course, I have, er, well"; he was in a bit of a fix here as he couldn't give away what he'd been up to with the Metal Overlord – the fewer questions Mighty asked the better; in the end he had to concede a partial lie, "well it never hurts to be prepared". Seeing his obstinate features, the armadillo gave up on him as a cause lost to fantasy and mumbled a quick,
"Forget it", before giving her attention back to the store she was in, heading for the display she'd had her eye on before a sudden low whine, reminiscent of the hundreds of mosquitoes she'd had the dubious pleasure of feeding not too long ago, rang in her ears, causing her to grit her teeth and shudder.
"What's that noise?" She looked over her shoulder to see Espio fiddle with his watch, face troubled from embarrassment as he tried to shut off whatever alarm it was that was traumatising the eardrums of everyone within a ten foot radius, "crikey Esp, couldn't you have got a better sound effect?"
"I, just wanted to make sure I'd hear it", the chameleon said nonchalantly, grateful as ever to his training being able to bury his apprehension behind a smokescreen of oblivion a casual observation couldn't pierce, "must have forgotten to switch it off this morning".
"Make sure you do in the future; my ears are still ringing" the armadillo complained, rubbing the side of her face as she shook her head and made to carry on; behind her, Espio took a deep breath and with a visible effort cooled down a touch; relax, Vector is on duty; he's probably already at the shrine and sorting out the problem – probably someone got lost and tripped the system accidentally.
XXX
Unbeknown to him, Espio was half-right; the second the alarm had been transmitted to the wrist monitors of the Chaotix, Vector had leapt up from his paper, rushed down the hall and activated the hidden teleporter array, jumping into the beam of light and closing his eyes, trying to ignore the stomach-lurching jolt that came with this kind of travel. He held them shut until he felt solid ground beneath his feet again, took one breath and then ran down the short tunnel ahead of him, emerging in the centre of the shrine and carrying on, barely casting the Master Emerald a second glance as he headed for the entrance, the only way into this scared place. He arrived, body thundering with adrenaline and breath coming in ragged, excited gasps, leaning against one of the pillars, eyes sweeping the ground ahead of him as he looked for the trespasser, muscles primed and nerves taut for action. Nothing yet – keep sharp though; anyone who breaks the net should be able to have a vague view of the shrine, so they'll either come here or just turn around; Spectre's explanations of how the glyphs he and the rest of the Chaotix were immune to worked by intruding on the mind of the approaching individual and seeding him or her with nameless fear, making them dread taking another step until their nerve broke and they ran back the way they'd come, reassured him slightly.
He probably would just have to wait here for a while, making sure no-one was brave, or suicidal if those glyphs did their thing, enough to come here anyway; leaning against the stone arch, the crocodile looked around, each second sending more tension trickling away as there appeared to be no imminent catastrophe. He looked around a second, something at the edge of his hearing prickling him; it sounded like the Tornado was passing overhead, but it couldn't be – Tails was more than smart enough to know better than to take his customers sightseeing over this part of the island due to the risk of them seeing the shrine. He squinted upwards, shielding his eyes as the noise became slightly clearer; there was a speck on the horizon, the sun glinting from it – he tried to focus, watching as it ate up the ground with terrifying rapidity; damn that's quick and; there was a slight pause as the light from this thing shone into his suddenly fearful eyes; oh hell, it's blue!
The tension flooded back to Vector, redoubled and draining his limbs of effort as he finally saw what this thing was; he'd never fought with Sonic's robotic doppelganger one on one and to be perfectly honest didn't want to – he'd heard the stories and seen the scars Knuckles bore as a reminder of the duel he'd fought with the robot, when he'd just about stopped the rampaging machine from stealing the Master Emerald by a combination of skill, bravery and sheer dumb luck. He needed back up and he needed it now; Metal, if it was him, was steaming in like a blue bullet and didn't look like stopping and Vector knew he couldn't fight him here. The crocodile retreated into the shrine itself, trusting the stone to reduce the robot's supreme speed and agility at the same time he prayed he could hold out long enough, one hand shooting down to his left wrist.
XXX
"Yeah, that's everything thanks"; Mighty handed over a couple of bills to the cashier and hefted the few bags of sundries she'd purchased, enough to get through a few more days of Chaotix-induced insanity without killing anyone, at least on purpose. She peeked in to see everything was as it should be before a sudden rattling thump, soft but still perfectly audible, caused her too look around; it was with a certain amount of trepidation she asked,
"Esp, everything okay?"
XXX
Three stings; the chameleon replayed the trio of minor electric shocks over and over again in his mind; we all swore we'd never use three stings, unless it really is a case of if you don't get here soon I'm going to die. That promise, swore by each of them with their hands clasped, would never, could never, be violated willingly, and it couldn't be a mistake; then that means…this is real, this happening…to Vector!
Sudden, overwhelming fear bubbled up through Espio; much as he might complain and moan about the crocodile's slovenly habits and bad taste in music, they'd been together so long he couldn't image the great green lunk not being in his life. He heard Mighty's voice and felt her concern; he found himself faced with a split-second decision he had no time to take and went, for the first time in too long, with his gut rather than his head. One hand lashed out almost too fast for the eye to follow, grabbing Mighty's thick wrist and stopping her questions dead as he hissed,
"Quickly, come with me"; he started to run but it was like trying to move a mountain; the armadillo braced herself, suddenly perturbed with the company of this familiar stranger,
"Espio, what about…?"
"Drop it", he ordered brutally before stepping in close, aware of other eyes on him now but not giving a damn as he hissed under his breath, "someone's life is at stake – shut up and keep up or he might die". Doubt flickered; if it had been longer than a second, he'd have dropped her and run anyway, but then Mighty blinked and her eyes cleared, face becoming set as she went with her gut instinct and trusted her friend,
"Right, let's go". Without waiting, the chameleon turned and raced away, fighting through the milling crowd, using knees and elbow when the press became to thick to squirm through – Mighty had no such problems, bulldozing her way out the crowd, Espio falling behind as she made faster progress than he did. As they burst from the shopping mall, purchased produce discarded in their wake to save on speed, the chameleon raced ahead, mind set on his destination as he prayed he'd have enough time to reach it.
XXX
Touching down, Mecha wasted no time; he speeded in through the entrance, expecting challenge at any stage but encountering only silence as he slowed his pace; taking a second to switch his vision to heat-sensitive, aware that Knuckles was well-known for his stealth. The guardian is absent; he concluded after his brief scan, rearranging his vision at the same time as feel his logistical core explore the potential of this situation and give him the feedback he needed; his treasure is mine. With that new goal he rocketed forwards once more, seeing the green glow highlighting the walls of the chamber ahead as he still met no resistance, not even when he burst into the central chamber of the shrine of the Master Emerald, fully intent on pillaging the treasure within. His eyes were locked onto the prize; when his close quarter klaxon chimed in his head, he had no time to dodge, he could only brace as the bar of the trap Knuckles must have planted slammed into him, not killing his momentum but redirecting it, sending him skittering off at a crazy angle as he internally diagnosed himself for damage. In nanoseconds he was assured that his left arm laser defence system, which had borne the brunt of the surprise attack, would be recalibrated in two minutes, twelve seconds; everything else was at full combat effectiveness. Now for Knuckles; with a deft twist of his upper body, Mecha dimmed the thrust of his boosters and span, completing a full half-circle to glare at his opponent in the same second the Mobian issued his challenge,
"Touch that jewel an' your scrap, Metal".
Hell, I hit him with a full on slam and he just twirled out of it like a god-damn ballerina; though he let nothing show on his face, Vector knew he was out of his depth against this assassin; Mecha had gone from sprawling to complete readiness in the time it had taken him to shout and was now gazing at him levelly, blood red eyes boring into his own, seeking to undermine his resistance, fathom for some unknown and possibly unknowable goal.
"You are not the guardian Knuckles". Despite the grim situation, Vector felt himself smile; well, if I'm gonna die here, I'm gonna die like I lived…
"Get a grip tin can; of course it's me, don't you know I had a species swap", the crocodile said in a tone that could have stripped the paint off Mecha's armour, "common enough op if you've got the dough for it".
"Where is the guardian?"
"Works on bots too you know", Vector continued as though he hadn't heard the unmissable screech, "you should try it – see if they can swap you with a garbage disposal; I know which one I'd find scarier". Metal cocked his head, having used the time Vector had been speaking to access both his memory and threat files and draw up a profile on the Mobian before him. He was one of the ones who had a hand in my downfall; Metal computed, allowing the crocodile's words to wash over him as he made up his mind about what to do next; his threat policy is as yet undecided – experimentation unnecessary. With a sudden flare of his LED eyes, a trick he knew from experimentation worked to intimidate mortals, he spoke at the same time as flick the claws on his fingers into open view,
"You are Vector Crocodile?" The reptile nodded and gave a carefree grin,
"Aw, how sweet, you remember me".
"You have damaged me in the past", he powered up every offensive system he had available to him, he watched with interest as the biological being did the same with his organic components, muscles tensing and senses straining as he sought to second guess his opponent, "I shall damage you now, and you shall not be repaired from this!"
XXX
Espio pounded the pavement, the impacts reverberating through his shoes and calves but he kept going, not letting anything stop him as he heard Mighty keep pace slightly behind him, the armadillo not having the breath to spare for questions as she tried to keep up with his remorseless running. It's still five or six minutes before we can get there; the chameleon thought desperately, pushing himself to go faster still, straining every inch of performance from his body as his dire thought ran to its conclusion; so much can happen in five minutes. All he could do was pray that Charmy was faster off the mark than either he or Mighty could be.
XXX
Vector threw himself to the side, narrowly dodging the claws that flicked out from the side of the blue blur, seeking his stomach in an eviscerating slash; spinning quickly to capitalise from his opponents missed attack, the crocodile used his momentum to lash with his tail, the impact minimal but it caused the robot a second's pause as he corrected his flight path, a second that brought reinforcements ever so slightly closer. Breathing heavily, Vector sneered as Metal hit the ground and turned to face him,
"That all you've got?"
"No", the icy truth in the voice cut deeper than any shout would have, "I have merely been assessing my combat readiness; those who restored me, those who named themselves the Dark Legion, have not altered my combat skills". The crocodile felt his fists drop to his side for a minute, ignoring the ache in his muscles and the sharp pangs of pain from the slight cuts he'd received as he gasped,
"You got fixed by the Dark Legion?" Oh hell, so they're still around and now they've got this killer working for them; preoccupied, if only for a second, Vector was unaware of his opponent's movement until it was a little too late. He struck back out of instinct, but as something crashed into him and bowled him over, he felt this was one time too late.
Metal was well used to fighting organic creatures and, though not an expert at body language, he was aware that certain poses and actions meant certain circumstances were being fulfilled. The manner in which his opponent had let his eyes cloud over meant he was not fully focussed on the fight; a mistake that is usually, as in this instance, fatal. Metal didn't hesitate; thrusting forwards in a flat-out charge he made to slam into his larger enemy, trusting to his steel-augmented strength to overcome his adversary at close quarters. Though he was swift, he had to concede underestimating Vector's reactions; the crocodile took a pace backwards and his jaws shot open; a sheet of flame flooded forwards, Metal registered a temperature rise of three hundred and twenty nine degrees on his skin sensors, forcing him to activate his internal coolant systems, before he felt the impact, cutting the flames off at the source, the paint that remained on his bodywork bubbling and hissing as he wrestled with the crocodile, his claws gouging the reptile's skin and drawing blood as Vector retaliated with his fists, his jaws and his tail, pounding new dents into the robot's metal hide, though due to the awkward angle and close in nature of the attacks, he couldn't get enough power behind his hits to jar and shock any of the robots internal systems.
The two rolled together, clawing, biting, spitting and snapping madly, muscle and tendon pitted against torsion cable and joint strength and, at this close range, the superior endurance of the robot began to tell; Vector's strikes began to lose their venom, though Metal's assault continued undimmed, his blades unheeding of strength as the could cut through even a crocodile's thick skin with little appreciable effort. With a triumphant snarl, Mecha twisted and threw with all four limbs, sending Vector flying over his head; in the same movement, he was on his feet and heading for the point of impact, watching as the crocodile crashed into one of the seven plinths raised around the glowing Master Emerald, the jewel Mecha would soon claim as his own; just as soon as this obstacle is removed, permanently.
Vector rolled, everything hurting as his ears rang from the impact and he knew this was it; the one time he wouldn't be able to walk away; but I gave you something to remember me by; he thought grimly, savagely as in these last few minutes, his eyes saw the damage he'd managed to inflict. One of Mecha's wrist lasers wasn't going to be firing anytime soon; the lens was cracked and broken – he dimly recalled biting down in the dirt scuffle and hearing something crack, might have been glass, and the robot's paint was completely stripped away, blackened and burnt as the dents and slight cracks in the steel showed up. Vector gave a slight smile as the machine rolled forwards; he tried to stand up, give one last stand, but there was a crippling impact on his legs and he collapsed, Metal suddenly in front of him and grating,
"No last minute heroics", a single hand clamped down just below Vector's lower jaw, forcing his head up, exposing his throat for the killing blow, "I said you would not recover, and I always keep my word". With that, Metal slashed forwards his other hand, the steel of his finger equivalents quickly drowned in red, the last breath wheezing useless from his now slain opponent; it took the realisation of there being no changes detected on the sensors of his hand to realise something had gone wrong.
His killing blow had never landed – his hand had failed to move.
It was incomputable; his arm had failed to react to a direct command from his CPU. Taken aback by this unforeseen problem, Metal ran a self-diagnostic programme – no errors reported. He sent the order again, trying to kill his helpless victim, but again his arm remained poised to deliver the fatal blow, not moving to deal it as he had commanded. I am malfunctioning; Metal was confused; a second self-diagnosis again showed no errors detected, but there was the undeniable fact that his arm was not responding, would not do as he commanded. He paused, for the first time unsure of what his problem could be; he was too concerned for his own well-being to hear the shout of horror that echoed throughout the place, or the improvised war-cry that followed it; only when the impact rang on his shoulder and sensors in his lower back chimed in, indicating repeated, extremely high increases of pressure in extremely localised areas, did he realised he faced a second opponent.
XXX
Espio threw himself through his front door, gasping for breath as he leaned against it for a few seconds, letting Mighty catch up as she rounded the end of the street. He looked behind him as he saw the armadillo raced down the road, pulling himself to his feet once more, he stood in time to hear her question,
"What, the hell, is going on?"
"Bad, stuff", he gasped back before taking off down the hall, heading for the stairs that led to the basement.
This confused Mighty; the first thing she'd been told once she'd stepped foot in this house had been that the basement was out of order; it had been bordered up and the door wouldn't open, but Espio was running there as though the devil were behind him. She followed him though, aware of the fact that he of all the Chaotix was the one most likely to stick to the truth and not exaggerate it; if said it was bad, chances were someone else would call it a calamity. She thundered down the stairs in time to see him reach for the light switch outside the sealed door, turning to look over his shoulder as he heard her hit the bottom,
"When this opens, jump in the light beam – when you get to the other end, run down the corridor and hit anything that isn't Vector or Charmy, got it?"
"What, Esp", she groped blindly for words, especially when she saw him, rather than flick the switch, grip the front of the light socket and twist the whole thing; it slipped down, exposing a button the size of a pin, "what is this?"
"Our job" he replied bluntly as he hit the button; as the grating started and the door in front of her slid upwards, retracting into the ceiling, he finished, "what it means to be a Chaotix; you've been drafted because lives are in danger, go!"
She froze for a second, eyes wide as she saw what was ahead of her; a large purple ball rested in the grip of three perfectly circular metal bands, emitting a beam of light upwards that grew in intensity; she imagined it had been switched on by the same button that had opened this secret room. She turned to see Espio; his face, normally blank and unreadable, was a mask of anxiety and that broke the paralysis; lives are…right, jump in the light beam. She powered forwards, her athletic legs easily landing her on top of the purple ball; the light around her glowed, and she felt herself move at the same time she stood still, heading for a destination she knew nothing about bar the promise of a friend.
XXX
This is not possible; Metal felt his rage and frustration grow, threatening to drown out his logical, clear thought as once more his own body conspired against him; his single remaining wrist laser failed to fire as the bee above him flitted around, him tracking its flight with no difficulty and lining up the shot. Both of these, should be dead many times ove…; he was interrupted as something crashed into him from behind, throwing him forwards and allowing the smaller, faster bee, Charmy unless his memory circuits were as faulty as the rest of him, dive in and deliver more of his stings, the sharp natural knife threatening to puncture through his armour as his opponent concentrated on a few spots. Metal snarled, kicking in his boosters and shooting forwards, dislodging the clinging parasite and blasting with his laser, illuminating a bloodstained Vector in red light as all his shots went, intentionally it seemed, wide of the crocodile. What is wrong with me; the robot screamed silently, denied his kill once more as sudden movement was detected by his visual sensors; a third opponent was here now. Not, as he'd predicted, the chameleon who had attacked him last time with these other two, but someone new. His logical thought was to assess this potential enemy's threat; he knew he would have to retreat – it was a case of how much information he could harvest before he had to disengage. With this aim in mind, already thinking of possible methods of retribution for this defeat, the assassin droid fired up towards the newcomer in this battle.
XXX
She felt the sensation of movement stop with a sudden lurch; she stepped forwards instinctively only for her foot to find nothing; Mighty snapped her eyes open to see the ground approaching and out of instinct braced herself, flipping onto her back so she could roll upright on her shell. As she hit and used the momentum to come to her feet, she saw the corridor, the only exit from this place, beckoning her and without thinking she ran down it, seeing the green glow that highlighted the end of this place with a hint of trepidation that, a split-second later was drowned out by a voice, a strangled growl of pain she recognised with a thrill of fear. Vector; she increased her pace, forgetting the ache in her thighs as Espio's voice echoed in her head, haunting her; lives are at risk – could Vector be one of them? She couldn't see it, she couldn't even think about it – throwing herself forwards, ready for just about anything, she saw the scene before her and everything she had know before was thrown up in the air.
Vector was there, as was Charmy, but the crocodile was bleeding, at least a dozen cuts were scraped into his thick torso and he looked to be panting for air at the same time the bee was giving chase to…Sonic? Mighty was dumbfounded for a minute; why was Sonic here, and why did he have a rocket on his back…but wait, it wasn't Sonic, it looked like some kind of robot, engineered around the blue hedgehog as the similarities were unmissable. As it swerved in the air and its eyes looked at her, she suddenly glanced at its hands and fury rose in a cinder cloud; there was blood on the fearsome blades there, and only one place it could have come from. All right then; she planted her feet, a grimacing smile on her face as the robotic doppelganger of her friend sped towards her, looking for a collision; you'll only do it once, whatever you are – steel skin won't help you if I get a shot in.
The impact rocked her, but with her weight braced and her legs locked into the floor, the armadillo didn't move backwards, the robot crashing into her and slamming off a few feet. Without thinking, she drew a fist back at the same time it lashed out like quicksilver, her own blood mingling with the congealing stuff on its razor claws as it sliced three parallel grooves down her forearm. That, combined with what she already knew, let her really wind up; anger and pain combining in a furious bellow, Mighty let fly with one juggernaut punch. With a ringing crash, her enemy was thrown away, his chest plate virtually caved in as she roared after him,
"Let's have you, or is that all you can do".
XXX
He'd been in trouble before, this was worse; he had never predicted this new Mobian could be so strong, so much power could be packed into one devastating punch, and he had paid the full price for it. His radar was barely functioning, his ability to see in any other spectrum save the visible one was gone and his main weapon processor was shot to hell; that single impact had crippled him completely. The information is mine; that single positive thought occupied his mind as he thrust to the side, avoiding Charmy's rush, before something whizzed into his badly injured chest cavity, then another. Looking up from his raised point, he realised the odds were too great now; the purple chameleon had shown up and his stars, though little danger to him in perfect health, now had a high probability of cutting straight through his weakened armour and hitting something he needed. It is time to leave; his thrusters juddered as he ordered more power, for a second he feared they would cut out, but then the flame lit up and he hurtled upwards, away and free to repair and plot his vengeance; as well as; he snarled as he programmed in his flight path, virtually retracing his earlier route; ask a few questions of my own!
XXX
Mighty stood for a second, snarling as that machine made its escape, not feeling anything bar the blood singing in her ears and heart pounding in her chest, before the sound of Espio moving past brought her back to the present, and the fact that someone was injured. Shaking her head, she rushed over to where the other two Chaotix were clustered around Vector, helping him sit down and checking his injuries; he must have seen her as she approached,
"Mighty?" Oh no, this is sure to kill our big chance; "what are you doing here?"
"Apart from saving your tail?" She joked, though her face fell almost immediately afterwards, "Espio said something about lives being in danger, ran me back to your dive, opened some hidden door to something that brought me here and told me to deal with the consequences later. So where am I? Who or what was that thing?" She looked around, pointing out the Master Emerald and seeing it clearly for the first time,
"And what the heck is that green jewel doing here?"
As she gazed upon the Master Emerald, gently spinning on its plinth, two things were simultaneously broken; firstly, what was seen could not be unseen; the glyphs on the walls that were designed to protect the Master from observation lost their hold on the armadillo forever; no longer could this place be hidden from her. At the same time, Vector saw her gaze and knew that, despite their promises to the Brotherhood and Knuckles in particular, the Chaotix had failed. He placed one hand over his face, shaking his head gently as despondency set in; all because we wanted an easier ride – I shouldn't have let Shadow talk me into giving her a shot. Still, what was done was done and he couldn't change it, much as he would dearly have loved to; it might have been hopeless at best and maybe professional courtesy at most, but he beckoned Espio over lazily and whispered in a dead voice,
"Esp, give them a call; tell Spectre to get over her soon as – he needs to know what's going on now". Seeing his leader's hollowed eyes, Espio for once lost his sarcastic bent and merely nodded, raising his left wrist to his mouth as he found a secluded corner, shielding his words as Vector raised his voice, Charmy in close proximity as the crocodile called,
"Mighty", she tore her eyes from the revolving stone with difficulty, virtually lost in its allure, "take a seat a minute; this is gonna be hard to explain".
"What, you've got gadgets that would put James Bond to shame hidden in your house, you fight robots for fun and this is just a nest egg of some kind – nah, surely not". It wasn't sinking in yet and, Vector thought, it couldn't; Mighty didn't know what was at stake here through no fault of her own – if there was any blame it was his for dragging her into this mess in the first place. Charmy, seeing his older friend take a breath, understood what he needed to do; stepping forwards, he gently put his hand on Mighty's lower arm and spoke,
"Come on, there's some things we need to tell you now". She couldn't use sarcasm against him, not like she could Vector – she let herself be guided to where the bloodstained crocodile sat, still nursing his wounds even though most of them had stopped bleeding.
She sat down ahead of him, curling her legs in to make herself more comfortable before looking at him expectantly; he knew he had to make the first move,
"Right, we haven't been honest with ya Mighty, before you say anything though, I will say we had no choice; it's our job to keep this under wraps", he pointed to the Master, the armadillo following his finger as he explained, "that there's the Master Emerald; basically, it's our job to keep it safe by whatever means necessary, even death if the situation called for it". Death, for a colourful lump of rock?
"Why?" Mighty was aghast at the idea of fighting to the death over something this trivial; compared to life this was just a pretty stone, "why the hell would you die over that?"
"Because by doing to we'd save everyone else on Angel Island", Charmy cut in, his normally warm eyes dark and sorrowful; it looked like it was hurting him to say this, "that's not just a big jewel Mighty; it's got powers only Knuckles really understands, and even then I don't think he knows the half of it. The only thing we know for sure is that, take away the M.E. and there is no Angel Island; it'll crash into the ocean. And with a city on it, and everything else, never mind what would happen with the tidal waves it'd cause…" he didn't finish, merely shaking his head at the thought.
Silence descended for a few minutes, the two storytellers letting Mighty come to terms with the earth-shattering news in her own time, just as they had, answering her disbelieving looks with quiet but firm truth and confirmation.
"So", she licked dry lips, minds buzzing as she tried to take this in, "so you have to keep this thing safe", they both nodded, "but how; it's an island, there are loads of echidnas here, someone must have blundered…"
"See those", Vector cut her off coolly, nodding at the green script glowing on the walls all around them; Mighty looked and once more nodded, "well those are what do most of the work; I'm not sure how, but those fancy words somehow keep people away from this shrine; problem is", a faint smile touched his lips as he regarded her levelly, "they don't work if the guy, or girl, has already seen the Master Emerald".
"And you all have, well obviously", she answered her own question as Vector and Charmy both waited; ah, there we go; realisation had stolen her breath, eyes bulging as she pointing one trembling hand at her own torso, "and me, what about me? I've seen it, so…"
"Hate to be blunt, but you're a security risk", the crocodile sighed, seeing a green flare from the passage that led to the main entrance and knowing his doom walked closer and closer still, "sorry Mighty, but this really is out of my hands now; you have to deal with the real guardians, as do we".
"Wha?" She turned in the direction of her crocodile friend's nod to see two other figure approaching; both echidnas, or as far as she could tell they were, one sneering and red whilst the other, she shuddered slightly, the other just plain put her back up; who wore thick black robes and a helmet at this time of year?
XXX
This will be interesting to hear; Spectre thought calmly as he realised temper would get him nowhere fast with this case; the girl Espio had mentioned was standing before him, confused and mixed up by something she could barely understand. The chameleon had mentioned life being in danger and, though he knew the guardian code required secrecy above all things, he did not overlook both the loyalty shown to Vector by his team mate and the need for protection of the Master Emerald. And it looked as though the crocodile had needed help; he was torn up something rotten, though most of the wounds were actually fairly shallow, there were plenty of them and more dried blood than Spectre was comfortable of seeing. Ignoring Sojourner, who he could almost feel itching to lambaste his decision to test the idea of assistants for his seventh-son, the leader of the Brotherhood of Guardians stepped forwards, waving Vector down as the crocodile made to get up and greet him,
"Don't stand on my account, your wounds are healing and you'd do more harm than good moving".
"Thanks, hurts like a beehive let me tell you".
"Hey", Charmy reverted to his age old saying 'if it's too late to be serious, be playful' and folded his arms, "I resent that last remark". Still works; Vector chuckled wearily as Spectre, well, he was Spectre and probably didn't feel fun the way most other people did; life must get a bit dull when you live over a hundred and fifty years.
"Your friend was, somewhat hazy with the details", the eldest guardian continued, examining the crocodile's wounds more closely before looking him in the eye, "something about a disturbance that could have resulted in a fatality".
"Could've, and should've", Vector grunted, not flinching as he held Spectre's gaze, "listen, I heard the alarm, got here soon as and when I saw what was heading my way I hit the panic button; I honestly believe if I hadn't, I at least would be dead – I nearly was anyway, only Charmy stopped that robot from using my guts for garters".
"Robot", Spectre's voice was hard now; Mighty looked on in alarm and amazement as his anger manifested as wisps of smoke, giving him the look of a Guy on Bonfire Night, "the Dark Legion were behind this?"
"Yes and no", was Vector's answer after a couple of minutes, eliciting surprise from all corners including Charmy as he finished, "it was Metal Sonic; he wasn't built by the Legion but he said he was repaired by them. Believe me Spectre, he makes anything we've seen from them look like a tin whistle".
"Truly; I might need to…"
"Go ahead"; ignoring the pain of his cut back, Vector leaned forwards only to be propped back up by Charmy, the bee adamant as he shook his head,
"No Vec, you're hurt; Spectre, look in here"; before Mighty's astonished eyes, the black furred echidna eased off one of his gloves and placed his now bare hand gently on the bee's head.
XXX
Silence pervaded for a few minutes, the scene remained stationary; Mighty made to ask what was going on but Vector managed to catch her eye and shake his head warningly; this was not something to be disturbed. The end was so sudden she jumped back startled; Spectre pulled his hand back and staggered a pace, maybe a hint of fear on his otherwise unreadable face as he pulled himself together with a visible effort, finding his tongue a minute later,
"I see", was all he gave as answer to the armadillo's questioning glance before he turned to see Espio, beckoning the chameleon forward and speaking, "so you were the one who brought the stranger to the shrine; why, and who is she?"
"Hey, I can answer my own questions", the armadillo was sick of being ignored and settled the problem in the way she knew best; she marched forwards and looked the black echidna dead in the eye, "I'm Mighty Armadillo, and I was called up here to help with the heavy jobs these guys have had to do; about fifteen minutes ago I was shopping with Espio, then he grabs my arm and says something about lives being at risk, runs me back to home and I end up here. I hit that, Metal Sonic, if that's what you say it was?" Vector nodded and she finished, "and it flew off, without that green stone over there".
"Watch your tone", the other echidna, the one about as thick as her thumb through the middle, spoke reprimandingly, "that is the Master Emerald, and…"
"Is the reason we're all up here", Mighty finished for him, throwing up her arms at his look of disbelief, "I'm not as dumb as I look; I can guess why that thing was after it. For a start it must be worth a fortune, on top of any ransom it might demand; I mean, what price can you put on a whole city at the very least, and last of all Vec said that thing was powerful. I don't know what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands, but I'm guessing nothing pretty. So don't stand there like I'm some kind of moron; I figured out why that thing needs guarding and I'm just glad Esp and I arrived in time to stop Metal Sonic turning these two into sushi".
For a second, all the only sound that could be heard was Mighty's ragged breathing as the speech had taken most of her breath; all eyes were on her in varied stages of disbelief or indignation. All eyes, that was, save one pair,
"Everyone", Spectre stood tall, eyeing the armadillo as though seeing her for the first time, "go outside, even you Sojourner". Mighty didn't move, waiting with the ebon guardian until they were alone, folding her arms as she wasn't sure exactly what to expect, though she didn't flinch as Spectre stepped closer, his red eyes uncannily resembling the robotic doppelganger of her friend as he coolly extended his still-bare paw.
XXX
"Esp", the chameleon looked over to Vector at the sound of his name, "that was a good point; why did you bring Mighty?"
"Three stings", the ninja held up his arm, the communicator dangling there as he finished steely, "we all swore three was life or death; I was with her, thought she might help save a life, your life, that was in severe danger, and brought her. As it was, she probably did and almost certainly drove Metal off. Why, you would have rather I came alone and leave us with the questions when we all got back; I couldn't just leave her in the shops alone without an explanation could I?" The crocodile nodded, his lips creasing in a tight smile,
"Thought it was somethin' like that", he touched the deepest of his cuts, still trickling a minute stream of blood and winced, "well, that's the end of our stint here; we lat someone in to see the M.E".
"Life's worth more than a job, and I'd have done the same", Charmy cut in, waving a finger at the leader of the Chaotix before adding, "and I'd have done it even if it were Knuckles, or Rouge".
"You would Charmy?" The bee nodded, folding his arms and looking stern even as Vector gave a gruff laugh, "well, so would I" he admitted, feeling Sojourner's eyes on his back even if the echidna said nothing; Vector knew he was inwardly pleased that they'd failed, but knew better than to say anything with tempers running high, especially in the light of a new threat to the Master. Well screw it; the crocodile clicked his fingers at Espio once more and smiled,
"Hey, thanks for that". The chameleon looked away, though something that may just have counted as a hint of a smile might just have pinched his lips as he answered curtly,
"Any time".
XXX
Something is wrong with my systems; Mecha stormed through the open doors, following the route the guard at the door had pointed at the same time as carry out more experiments; the echidna in black robes had looked so smug, even as Mecha had casually tossed him against the wall, the robot had calculated minutely how much force had been put behind the shove, barely enough to knock the wind out of him, let alone snap bones. He casually pointed his single remaining laser at the milling crowd, only to feel it disobey his neural impulses; the beam would not fire if directed at any one of them; someone is going to answer me, or I will rip this place down around their heads. With this determined, the robot pushed roughly past the honour guard that flanked where the lord of this collection of black clad idiots must have been, spitefully not giving them enough time to get out of his way in his desire to inflict misery on someone, and crashed through the doors. His vision, still only in visible spectrum, compensated for the dim conditions and locked onto his target, allowing his synthesisers to growl with all the menace he possessed,
"What did you do to me?"
So Lien's predictions were accurate; Enerjak rose from his throne and nodded at the glowering android, though he noticed with distaste that there was unmistakeably dried blood on his claws as he spoke,
"You will understand this Mecha", he began slowly, watching as he saw his single audience member make to interrupt before deciding to listen to what he had to say, "we of the Dark Legion fight with the guardians, but they are not our ultimate enemy; the emerald would be a significant advantage, but is not our goal".
"Then what is?" Mecha could not compute this, "what could be worth more than holding the safety of this miserable slab of earth in the palm of your hand?"
"Conquering the great destroyer, once and for all", the robot stepped back a pace, surprised by the conviction in the other mechanical beast's synthesised voice, "death has taken far too much, for far too long; we stand against it now and forever". A mortal would have been shocked, speechless, but Metal Sonic was not mortal, his processors were not taken out of sync by the announcement and he spat,
"You seek to avoid death, become immortal. How do you propose this audible aim?" Enerjak discreetly ignored the sarcasm and pointed one finger, as thick as Metal's whole arm, to his own chest,
"What manner of being am I that is both organic and metallic; one who death cannot reap? I will pass this benevolent existence to my followers as soon as I am able, though for that I need to understand emotional programming, for that I need your software".
"My software", Metal purred dangerously, the claws on his hands extended once more, "is at the minute explaining to me that I would like nothing more than to shred your clumsy excuse for eternal life into ribbons, but I can not", he flicked one finger to the robotic echidna and spoke, "what is wrong with me; did you forget to repair something?"
"No Metal, we did not", the grandmaster stood to his full height, knowing he was safe and explaining why, "I've read your memory circuits, I know the purpose you were built for and I could never allow it; death must never strike, however deservingly", Metal's logical chips were going into overdrive, an unpleasant conclusion forming in his mind as the lord of the Legion finished, "therefore we have taken safeguards; your CPU was reprogrammed with a specific clause that ensures your offensive systems fail to discharge whenever an organic being is your target", two pairs of red LED eyes met as he finished, "you can never kill again Metal Sonic".
I, am unable…it is not possible, this can not be; now he knew what he was looking for, he scanned his internal systems once more, ignoring the damage he had suffered as he looked to deny this preposterous boat; only when the newly reprogrammed software showed up, modified mere days before, did it finally sink in. He could never again feel the thrill of besting his sworn opponents, no more would he experience the thrill of the hunt; the Legion had crippled him forever. With rage, impotent and useless now as he could never act on it again, he screeched,
"You had no right to enter there; I was created to wreak havoc and destruction, it is my purpose and you have destroyed it. How can I fulfil my core directives now?" Infuriatingly, even above and beyond all that he now knew, Enerjak remained calm, refusing to rise to his rage as he stated calmly,
"Maybe", he began, Metal devouring every word at the same time as envisioning driving his claws through the other robots optic circuits, "you should look at your core directive once more".
No; Metal failed to compute this for a second; surely not even these butchers, cripplers of mechanic perfection, would even dare to alter that, dream of changing the whole core of his focus, the whole purpose of his being. He delved in, unlocking the safeguards that, unknown to him, Lien-Da had laboured long and hard to defeat, to see the four words that had shocked her when they had blinked into life on her computer screen, the malevolence in the four green letters chilling her to the bone; that someone could construct a machine this complex with no other purpose that death nearly brought her to tears as she had read and re-read them:
Kill Sonic the Hedgehog.
So, to protect the interests of the Legion she had grown up in, and safeguard the life of someone she had never met, she had altered that statement of evil, changing it, altering it by a single word. A single word that now Metal read and understood as his core directive had changed:
Defeat Sonic the Hedgehog.
A strange, unfamiliar feeling welled up within the blue robot as he read this change, his whole world, his whole perception of his life and his goals shifting violently on its axis as some implications began to sink in. The feeling that he had lost control.
A mechanic scream of rage and fear combined chilled the honour guard outside the room; both shuddered for a second, looked at each other and simultaneously clicked the safeties off their weapons, just in case.
XXX
Hours passed, mostly unnoticed, by the shrine of the Master Emerald, all four Mobians who lounged by the side of the building merely waiting for the conclusion that three of them were now convinced would result in their unemployment. Having quickly located some of the plants Knuckles had assured them had antimicrobial properties, Charmy had helped Vector squeeze the juice into the cuts he'd suffered as Espio swiftly bound them with thick, strong leaves he's cut from a nearby bush with one of his stars. It was as they'd just finished the grisly task and sat down that Sojourner had cleared his throat; looking around, all three of the Chaotix saw with stone hearts that Spectre had emerged from the shrine, Mighty slightly behind him, looking a little vacant as the black guardian began,
"So, you three have allowed the Master to be seen".
"Yeah", Vector sighed wearily; best to get this over with now.
"And were unable to protect it alone against this, Metal Sonic?"
"One of us wasn't", Espio corrected, "when the other two arrived, were would have won". Spectre said nothing, but still looked grim; Charmy had a fleeting second to wonder why Sojourner wasn't smirking before the eldest of the Brotherhood spoke once more,
"Well then, in that case it looks like you need an extra pair of hands". In response to the baffled looks and mutterings, Mighty smiled and lost her acted vacant look,
"Apparently, Spectre's decided to extend my contract, as it were", her grin broadened as the news sank in with her now new team mates, all of which goggled at her even as smiles of their own began to bloom, "it's official boys; Mighty's here to stay".
XXX
Big sank down into his seat, the old armchair squashing slightly as it always did when he let it all go and just kicked back. Elation thrilled him; he was done for the day and for a good long while in the future; one last trip to run in a couple of days and that'd be that. And now, for celebration; he casually reached down into the pouch of his chair and drew out his pad, sharpening the pencil with a claw as he remembered a promise he'd made. Almost as soon as he did, one particular instance filled his mind and he chuckled, but no, he couldn't do that, it would be cruel. But the more he tried to block the image out, the more it intruded on his ideas, pushing them all roughly to the side to stand in full view of his mind's eye once more, proud and almost irresistible, but at the same time so outright cheeky he could barely give it credence.
"Ribbit"; the cat looked over at where Froggy was perched on one of his shelves, seeming to look at him before giving his attention back to the small cloud of flies that were buzzing around a sprig of freshly harvested lavender, tensing for the spring that would net him dinner. With a last chuckle, he finally gave up the fight and placed the pencil on the page, taking time out for one last look at his oldest friend,
"Well Froggy", he drew the first line with a grin and his tongue planted firmly in his cheek, "she never said it had to be a flattering drawing did she?"
"Ribbit!"
A/N: Well HHH, next chapter it'll all be okay again; the honeymoon ends and the two newlyweds are back!