Mid-chapter Conversation
Part Six
The scene opened in the studio in front of a fully packed audience. They cheered and screamed as the band onstage played, announcing our arrival. Seconds later, Izzy, Iggy, and I were carried onstage by the Glorft. We were sitting in comfortable chairs that were built into a huge plank of wood. The aliens grunted and moaned as they lifted us to the center of the stage. When the squid faces finally reached center stage, they lowered us, rather roughly mind you, and walked off. We dusted ourselves off as we stood.
"Ugh… Bunch of idiots…" Izzy muttered.
"Augh… Did they have to drop us like that!.?" Iggy moaned, rubbing his butt.
"Wait until later…" I growled, looking offstage. I then regained my usual expression as I turned to the camera. "Anyway, long time no see, folks! It's been way too long since our last update!"
"No kidding." Izzy grunted, crossing his arms. "It's about time ya posted something!"
"But Daddy did post something, bro." Iggy corrected. "Don't tell me ya forgot that April Fools fic!"
"Believe me, I wish I could forget that story…" The older hedgehog groaned, turning to me. "That was the worst piece of dribble ya ever wrote!.!.!" I merely rolled my eyes at that.
"Now where have I heard that one before?" I remarked, causing him to growl at me. "Anyway, that fic was so sublime, so perfect! I can't believe I tricked so many people! Hahahahahahaha!.!.!" I held my sides as I laughed. Iggy joined in soon after. Izzy, meanwhile, sweatdropped at the scene.
"Oh wow… Three people… That's really impressive." He said sarcastically. I stifled my giggles and shrugged at him.
"Eh, that's a lot in my book, considering how often I get feedback." I faced the audience. "In any case, let's get on to the reviewer responses!"
The crowd cheered as I pulled out a piece of paper. I read over it for a couple of moments before looking up again.
"First to Mythica…" I raised an eyebrow. "Shadow sent those pineapples?.?.?"
"WHAT!.?.!" Izzy roared, snatching the paper out of my hands. His eyes flared up as he read the review. His quills lit up in flames as he shoved it back to me. Iggy, who had stopped laughing, and I gulped as the elder sibling stomped around the stage. "WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HIM, HE'S GONNA BE THE ULTIMATE BLOODY PULP!.!.!"
As he continued to storm around, I looked at the review sheet again.
"Anyway, so you're moving eh?" I gave the camera a thumbs-up. "Hope ya enjoy wherever it is that you're moving to!" I read over the paper. "And to Warior, woah! That little scene was really action packed! If you can do something like this with a review, I can't wait to see what you're gonna do when ya continue your Sonic Heroes adaptation!"
I read a little further and felt my eyes bulge in fear.
"No way!.!.! The Glorft and those other aliens that betrayed ya were the ones that blew up my studio!.?.!"
Immediately after that, I heard cheers erupting from offstage. Putting on an exasperated look, I snapped my fingers. The Glorft screamed in pain as the smell of dead skin wafted through the air.
"Ahhhh… That's better." Iggy said with a smile. I nodded in agreement before holding my chin.
"Hmmmm… If those guys blew up my studio, thinking that we were still inside, they could come here!"
The audience gasped at that.
"Oh no! What'll we do, Daddy!.?.!" Iggy panicked.
"Don't worry, I have an idea." I replied, turning to the freaked out audience. "While we try to deal with this, enjoy this part of the chapter! Like I said in our last installment, we're following Team Rodriguez as they travel through the Lost Jungle. Will they survive? Read on!"
Iggy and I waved as the crowd applauded shakily.
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Rocket Heroes
Chapter Eleven
Frogs, Frogs, and more Frogs!
Part Two-One
Stage Ten: Lost Jungle
Mission: Venture through the deepest part of the jungle!
We open this part of the chapter deep in the Florida Everglades, a marshy land completely untouched by the rest of the world. This mysterious realm where only certain species of plants and reptiles thrive is where the next leg of our heroes' quest takes place. The paths have been carved by the numerous patches of swamp water, creating a musty, humid maze. The sky was misty and full of dew, as if it can rain at any moment. The—
"GET ON WITH IT!.!.!" Our heroes roared.
(Me: God! Can't I spend a few minutes setting the mood!.?.! Jeeze!)
Anyway, Clio, Keoni, and Mackenzie grinded down a single vine suspended over some water with Cheese flying right behind them. The hedgehog was in front of the group. Their air skates (SOAP shoes in the rabbit's case) stuck on the plant with no problem. They seemed to be exhausted as well as dripping wet.
"Man! That cross country trip was crazy!" Clio exclaimed.
"Yeah! Those stupid frogs got me all wet!" Mackenzie shouted in her usual manner. "They stink on ice!.!.!" She rung out her ears, causing droplets to fall out.
"Chao, chao!" Cheese squeaked in agreement.
"Hey, speaking of frogs, do ya think Froggy's in this place, cuzzes?" Keoni spoke up.
The vine dipped a bit, just barely staying above the water.
"I wouldn't be surprised." Clio said with a shrug. "There are enough frogs here as it is."
"Hey! Why don't ya just take one of these lame-o frogs and just go home!.?" Mackenzie yelled, looking back at the cat. Keoni crossed his arms, miraculously keeping his balance, and glared at her.
"Are you crazy!.? I can't just replace Froggy! He's my brah!" He protested. "We bonded! Besides, how many frogs in the world have a tail?"
"He's got a point." The hedgehog said, turning towards her teammates. "Not to mention how's he supposed to take care of these giant ones? I mean, they'd probably flood his home just like that." She snapped her fingers to prove her point.
"Hmph, whatever…" The rabbit grunted, looking ahead again.
"And I wouldn't leave you guys anyway." Keoni said.
"ALRIGHT!.!.! I GET IT!.!.! SHADDAP ALREADY!.!.!"
The other three held their ears to drown out Mackenzie's screaming as they neared the end of the vine.
"Man, when we get outta this swamp, I'm getting ear plugs." The only male of the group said.
"Ditto." The older girl agreed
"Chao, chao." Cheese nodded.
"I heard that…" The youngest member grumbled. She then looked ahead. "Hey! We're at the end of this thing!"
The two older kids looked and noticed a stretch of land below the vine's end.
"Alright you guys, get ready to jump!" Clio ordered, bending her legs.
"Right!" The others chorused, following suit.
As soon as they reached the end, the trio jumped and performed a 360° spin in the air. Their torque allowed them to clear the remainder of the swamp and land on the path. Cheese hung on to Mackenzie as they landed.
"Whew! We made it…" The rabbit said.
"Was there any doubt in your mind?" Clio remarked as she and Keoni gave her smug looks. The bunny only shook her fists at them in response.
"C'mon cuzzes, let's move!" The cat said. The others nodded and turned towards the path when they noticed something ahead.
"Hey! What's that thing!.?" Mackenzie shouted.
In front of them, where the path widened out, was a huge robot. It was at least three times taller than Clio. Its body was round, its feet were big, and in its arms was a hammer that clearly outdid the hedgehog's. But the weirdest feature about it was its head. It was designed to look exactly like Dr. Coconutman! It had the same tiny, square glasses and fishing hat. For the sake of avoiding confusion, we'll call this new enemy the hammer bot.
"Woah! That thing's big!" Keoni exclaimed. "Do we have to fight it?"
"Well, I doubt it's gonna let us pass through, so yeah, we're going have to fight." Clio replied, drawing her Pika Pika Hammer. She then smirked. "So the doctor thinks he can beat my hammer? Let's see how strong this robot is!" She then skated towards the automaton.
"Clio! Wait!" The cat held a hand out toward her but she didn't pay attention.
As Clio drew closer, the robot activated and turned towards her. When it sensed her presence, it grabbed its weapon with both hands and swung downwards. The hedgehog dodged it by jumping to the right. The hammer crashed onto the ground, causing the earth to tremble. Keoni and Mackenzie, who were watching from afar, struggled to remain balanced as they felt the tremors. Cheese wasn't affected at all.
"Ha! You're pretty good, but not good enough!" Clio bragged as she evaded another swing. She landed and jumped towards the robot. She pulled her mallet back and gave a war cry as she brought it crashing down on the bot's head!
…Only to have no effect?
"Huh?.?.?" Keoni, Mackenzie, and Cheese sweatdropped when they noticed that the hammer bot was still standing and that Clio was floating in mid air with her hammer still against the bot's head.
"Erm…" The hedgehog blinked.
Immediately after that, she repeatedly swung her hammer in an attempt to damage the robot. If the metal one was able to make expressions, it would have a look that was a mixture of boredom and irritation. Clio's "barrage" continued for about a minute longer before the robot, getting tired of the pounding, spun the upper half of its body around, effectively tossing the girl towards her teammates. She screamed as she was sent through the air until she skidded on the dirt in front of the others.
"Ugh…" She moaned as she weakly lifted her head.
"Cuz! Are ya alright!.?" Keoni asked, helping her up.
"Yeah… I think so…" The leader coughed.
"C'mon, we gotta beat that thing together, cuz!"
"Right!" Clio nodded, getting her second wind. She turned to Mackenzie. "Take the lead and paralyze him!"
"Got it!" The rabbit said, flying upwards. Clio grabbed onto her hands while Keoni held onto the hedgehog's feet.
The hammer bot stomped towards the trio, causing the ground to quake slightly. This didn't affect the team though. Mackenzie flapped her ears and ascended. When the robot was within range, the rabbit kicked her leader. Clio spun into a ball as electricity crackled around her. She shot through the air and collided into the enemy, causing that same electricity to crackle around the robot, paralyzing it.
"Now, you guys! Before it recovers!" Clio ordered, landing on the ground.
"Ya heard her, cuz! Launch me!" Keoni told Mackenzie. He was hanging onto her with only one hand. The other was holding his fishing rod.
"Ugh! Alright!" The bunny groaned, drawing back her right leg.
She held it there for a few seconds before letting it connect with the feline's back. Keoni held his "sword" out as he spun into a ball. A dazzling light display was created as he flew through the air. When he came in contact with the robot, he continued to spin, creating a huge gash in its chest. When he finally stopped, he jammed the rod into the hole, allowing the electricity to flow of it and into the robot. The result was very shocking for the bot. Keoni and Clio skated back to Mackenzie and Cheese as lightning crackled all over the enemy. Seconds passed before it blew up, clearing the way for our heroes. A yellow power core floated down onto the ground.
"Whew! That was a close one…" The cat commented, wiping his forehead.
"No kidding…" The hedgehog panted.
"C'mon, ya bunch of lame-os! We gotta get moving!" Mackenzie ordered.
"Chao, chao!" Cheese squeaked in agreement.
Moaning, the two older kids skated onward, followed by the irate rabbit and the chao. Mackenzie grabbed the power core and got her first level up as the group approached a high ledge. After some coaxing from Clio, the flying member lifted her and Keoni onto the ledge. As soon as they landed on the path, they heard a croak and looked ahead.
"Hey look! A frog!" Keoni said.
"But it looks different from the other ones we've seen…" Clio pointed out.
In front of the team was indeed a frog, but instead of green, it was black. A tall stalk of flowery platforms was growing out of the ground next to it.
"So it's a different color. Who cares!.?" Mackenzie said in her oh-so-pleasant manner. "It's just gonna make it rain, again!" She added, hissing at that last word.
As soon as she said that, the frog noticed them and started croaking. As with the normal green frogs they've encountered, the sky above darkened. Seconds later, it began to rain, soaking the group. But there was one major difference. Instead of the stalk (and any other vegetation in the immediate area) growing, it shriveled up and shrank to nothing. The furries looked around in shock. The nearby trees also suffered as a result of the frog's rain. The leaves died and fell off while the branches drooped and hung low.
"That frog's killing all the plants!" The leader panicked.
"No way!" The cat gasped.
"Ugh… I shoulda took an umbrella with me…" The rabbit groaned, trying to shield herself from the rain.
When the rain finally stopped, the frog, satisfied with its work, hopped off to the depths of the swamp. The quartet, on the other hand, rung out their clothes (in the case of the girls) and shook themselves until they were dry (in the case of Keoni and Cheese).
"I'm surprised we don't have a cold yet…" Mackenzie moaned.
"My hair is so messed up!" Clio wailed, crying waterfalls. "When we get outta here, I'm getting a perm!"
Sweatdropping, Keoni shrugged. "Well, at least the rain's refreshing."
"Chao." Cheese nodded. The girls glowered at both of them.
"Come on. Let's get going." Clio said, skating ahead. The others followed.
They skated/flew up an incline until they turned left at a bend. There, the team found a bunch of flappers floating in the way. They were all black and had red spikes protruding from their bodies every few seconds.
"Woah!" The hedgehog yelped, skidding to a stop. Anyway further and she would've been Swiss cheese! She wiped her forehead and stepped back from the robot.
"Oh great! How do we take care of this!.?" The rabbit shouted, pulling Cheese (who floated ahead) back. It would've suffered a similar fate if its owner didn't react. When the chao hugged her gratefully, she immediately regretted it.
"Not to worry, cuzzes! I got an idea!" Keoni told them, taking out his fishing rod. The others looked at him curiously.
"What?" They asked. The cat pointed to Mackenzie.
"Take her and use Thunder Shoot on those robots." He said, gesturing to Clio. "I'll be right behind ya."
The girls and chao looked at each other before nodding.
"Ok… Just be careful." The leader said.
"No prob! Nothing's gonna happen to me!" He said, pointing to himself confidently.
"C'mon already! Let's do this!" Mackenzie ordered, already hovering above the ground. Clio looked at her feline friend one more time before grabbing the bunny's hands.
Following Keoni's instructions, Mackenzie kicked Clio into each individual robot that was floating in the path. Due to the rabbit's electrical attachments, the hedgehog was able to paralyze each of the metallic nightmares. Once the robots were grounded, Keoni rushed forward and slashed each of them. With the bots gone, everybody continued on.
When they passed through the area, they reached a cliff that had platforms growing out of the nearby walls. A spiky flapper was floating in the middle of the gap. It was right in front of an air ring that led to the next path.
"Ok, Mackenzie, you know what to do." Keoni said.
"Who died and made you boss?" The rabbit grumbled as the cat grabbed Clio's feet.
After destroying the offending robot with her electrifying attack, Mackenzie flew her teammates across the gap and through the air ring. They landed on the path and broke formation. They then skated/flew around the next bend where they found a flapper floating in front of a vine swing.
"What the?.?.? What's with these things showin' up everywhere!.?.!" Mackenzie ranted.
"Chao!" Cheese supplied just as angrily. Both of their fists/flippers were clenched tightly, as were their teeth.
"Guys! There's no point in getting mad about it." Clio tried to calm the two down. "Let's just beat this bot so that we can get moving."
"Hmph! Fine." The rabbit said as she and Cheese took a deep, calming breath.
"I'll take care of this!" Keoni said, once again, readying his rod. "Roll into a ball, Clio-cuz."
"Alright." The leader nodded, doing so. "Just don't swing too hard this time! I still have the sore from the last time you did that attack."
The cat sweatdropped. "Erm… Right…"
When Clio was ready, Keoni stood behind her and held his rod like a golf club (nine iron in case you were wondering). He shook his tail as he sized up his target. He grabbed a few blades of grass that were growing nearby and let them go. A slight breeze blew them ahead, the perfect conditions for this attack. He then tapped his rod against Clio a few times, a method of mental preparation. Mackenzie sweatdropped and crossed her arms impatiently as she and Cheese watched the exercise in patience.
Keoni looked up at the robot, waiting for the right moment to strike. The spikes on the bot retracted, only to pop right out a second or two later. The cat didn't blink as he continued to watch it extend and retract its spikes. In…out…in…out…in—
"Oh will ya just swing it already!.?.!" The rabbit shouted, causing Keoni to jump in surprise. He then glared at her.
"Thanks a lot! Ya just broke my concentration!"
"Hmph!" The little girl crossed her arms. "Just hurry up and swing! She's just gonna hit the robot anyway, ya lame-o!"
"Chao, chao!"
"Ok, ok! Sheesh!" Keoni defended, holding his hands up. He then turned to his other companion and drew his rod back. The jewel on his flame ring glowed as he prepared to swing.
"FOUR!.!.!" He yelled as he swung.
The rod connected with Clio, sending her flying towards the flapper. Her body flared up in flames as she got closer and closer to it. The hedgehog screamed as she careened through the air until she crashed into it, blowing it up. She bounced away, spun through the air, and landed beside her teammates. She immediately turned and grabbed Keoni by the throat.
"Why you—! That was too hard!.!.!" She roared. Keoni gulped as she shook him.
"I-I-I'm sorry! I d-d-d-d-don't kn-kn-kn-know my own strength!" He tried. She just kept shaking him for a few moments more before letting him go. The cat had a dazed look on his face as he greedily took air in.
"Wow… She's my hero…" Mackenzie commented. Cheese gave her a quizzical look.
"Chao?" It then scratched its head before shrugging.
"Now then, if you're done wasting time!" Clio yelled at Keoni, who was standing up. "Let's move on!"
"Right!" The others saluted.
Just before they can move towards the swing, a very welcome sound (at least to Clio) was heard.
"Hello Moto." This was followed by an upbeat jingle.
"Oh!" The hedgehog gasped as she reached into her purse. She pulled out her cell phone, which had that all-too-familiar symbol displayed on its tiny screen. "Hey! Our Team Blast is charged up!"
This announcement was treated to groans, moans, and boos from the other three members of the group. Clio turned and gave them a heated glower. The trio shrank back at the outraged fire in her eyes.
"What was that?" She hissed. The others huddled together in fright. Even Mackenzie, the toughest little girl in Ocean Shores, was trembling.
"I-I-I-I-I m-m-m-m-mean yay…?" She and Keoni said with a heavy gulp. Cheese just stuttered out several strings of "Chao."
"Hmph! That's better." The leader grunted, turning away. She put her phone away and looked over her shoulders at her teammates. "Let's go! My darling Otto awaits!"
The others' fear was replaced with slaps on the head.
"Figured we weren't going to get through this place without her going on about him…" Mackenzie grumbled.
"Yeah…" Keoni agreed. Cheese simply nodded.
Anyway, everybody then jumped onto the swing. Clio was hanging on to the vine while Keoni held her legs. The rabbit held his while Cheese clung to her. The quartet swung back and forth until they reached the necessary height. Once they reached the highest point of their swing, they let go and were sent towards another path.
At the end of this one was a huge weight trap. Utilizing Mackenzie's flying ability, everyone flew over the trap and onto the next piece of road. After going around the next bend, they found another spiky flapper standing guard over the cliff. Behind it were some springs that undoubtedly led further into the swamp. The rabbit kicked Clio into the robot, paralyzing it. Keoni then let go and finished it off with a quick slash of his rod. The robot exploded, freeing the path for our heroes.
"Woah…" Keoni gulped, looking over the side at the water below. "It's a long way down…"
"C'mon! This is nothing!" Clio said. "We've been higher up during this trip."
"Let's move, ya lame-os!" Mackenzie ordered.
"Chao, chao!" Cheese supplied.
"Alright, alright!" The hedgehog groaned. She then bent her legs. "Get ready to jump!"
With that, she leapt off the cliff and rolled into a ball, followed by the others. She used her homing attack to hit the first spring. Mimicking her, Keoni and Mackenzie followed suit. They were sent towards another spring that was stuck to a nearby tree, then one more before landing on a grassy platform. A checkpoint was right in the middle of it. Clio grabbed it, giving her first level-up.
"Whew! What a trip!" Keoni commented.
"Yeah, but it's not over yet." Clio said as the red glow faded. She pointed ahead. "Look." The others turned and followed her finger.
Ahead of them was a huge grade. The only way to get across it to the ledge on the other side was through two vine swings that were a few feet apart from each other.
"So how do we get through this, cuz?" The cat asked.
"Oh that's easy." The leader replied, turning to the rabbit. Keoni followed suit. Mackenzie did a double take when she noticed the stares.
"Me!.? Why?.!" She demanded.
"Well, you're the only one that can fly." Clio said with a shrug.
"And there's no way we can normally reach that first swing, so…" Keoni supplied.
"Ok, ok! I'll do it!" The irate one shouted, already flapping her ears. "Grab on…"
With that, the trio got into fly formation. Cheese followed them as they flew over to the first swing. As soon as Mackenzie grabbed it, they all started swinging. Once they reached the arch of their swing, they let go and soared towards the next vine. During their flight, Clio and Keoni performed a quick Ollie while Mackenzie just flew along with her arms crossed grumpily. Due to the speed the others were going at, when they reached the second swing, they hit the highest point almost immediately, allowing them to land on the ledge.
"Good job, Mackenzie!" Clio complimented, looking up.
"Yeah, yeah." The younger girl muttered.
"Look alive, cuzzes! We got trouble!" Keoni shouted, letting go of Clio. The girls looked ahead and gasped.
A pair of jellyfish robots was approaching them! The kids smirked as they turned to each other.
"I'll take the one on the left. You two take the one on the right." The cat said, readying his rod. The girls nodded.
"Right!"
With that said, the team charged at their targets. Mackenzie drew back her right foot and brought it crashing into Clio yet again. The hedgehog held her hammer out as she spun towards the robot on the right. When she crashed into the bot, it was paralyzed due to the rabbit's attack. Before the metal minion can even reach the ground, she bounced high above it and brought her hammer crashing down, felling it.
The remaining robot moved to attack the hedgehog, but was quickly stopped by Keoni, who dashed up to it and delivered an upwards slash. This was followed up by a stab right through its electronic eye. The two older members of the group jumped back as the automaton blew up. In the pieces of burnt scrap metal, there was a yellow power core, which Mackenzie greedily grabbed, giving her more energy.
"Aw man…" Keoni started, crying animé tears. "How come they get level-ups while I don't even get one?"
(Me: °Shrugs° Beats me. You'll get one sooner or later, so continue!)
"Ya heard the strange disembodied voice! Let's go cuzzes!" He shouted, skating off towards the path. The girls and Chao sweatdropped and followed him.
To be continued...
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Mid-chapter Conversation
Part Seven
The scene opened in the studio. Izzy and Iggy were standing alone in the center. As always, the older brother had his arms crossed impatiently while the younger of the two looked around, barely able to keep still.
"Eeeee!.!.! I can't believe Daddy's gonna fix our mallets so that we can fight those aliens!" Iggy cheered. "I wonder how he'll set them up."
"Who cares!.? I just want him to hurry up and give it back to me!" Izzy shouted. He then shuddered. "I feel so naked without my weapon of destruction."
The shorter hedgehog only gave him a weirded out look in response.
"Uhhhh… We are naked. You need to get out more, bro." He said before smiling. "Maybe you can take Keoni with you to the movies!"
"Grrrrr…" The taller furry growled, shaking his fists. "Why you…!.!.!"
He reached into his vest pocket, ready to draw his weapon. …If he had one.
"Oh yeah… Forgot…" He slapped his head. "Man! Where is he!.?"
"Right here."
The siblings turned towards the sound of my voice. I was walking towards them from left stage. Behind me, a Glorft was wheeling a cart. On it were my, Izzy, and Iggy's mallets, as well as an additional treat. The brothers ran up to me.
"Daddy! You're back!" Iggy shouted, clinging to my leg.
"Awwwwww…" The audience went as I tried to shake him loose to no avail.
"It's about time!" Izzy roared. "Where's my mallet already!.?"
"It's right over there." I said, pointing to the table. Grinning widely, the two brothers dashed towards the table and grabbed their prizes.
"Oh baby, I missed you!" The elder brother yelled, rubbing his head against the mallet. "Come back to Daddy!"
"Wow! My mallet looks all nice and shiny!" The younger one cheered, waving it around. He then blinked. "But it feels heavier…"
"Yeah! And what's with these things here?" Izzy agreed, holding up a small pouch. Iggy reached over and grabbed another one.
"Heh, heh… It's quite simple." I chuckled as I walked over and grabbed my own mallet, as well as a pouch that was lying next to it. I used the strap to wrap it around my waist. The two hedgehogs did the same. "As you two know, I modified our mallets in case we ever have to do battle with the aliens that Warior is fighting. If you open your pouches, you'll see my little surprise."
Blinking curiously, they did as they were told. They reached for their packs and opened them. They reached inside and pulled out what seemed to be computer chips. They sweatdropped and looked up at me.
"Erm… What…?" They both trailed off. I only smirked in response.
"You're holding what are called battle chips. During the chapter, I took a little trip to the Mega Man dimension. More specifically, the world of the Battle Network series. There, the characters use these chips to battle computer viruses with their net navis, or navigators. I asked the scientist Dr. Hikari to modify our hammers to utilize battle chips much like the navis can on the Internet. I also grabbed a few hundred chips for our use."
"And how is this little reference gonna help us!.?" Izzy shouted. "We're fighting aliens, not computer viruses!"
My smirk turned into a grin. "I'm glad you asked. You see, there's a slot on the head of our weapons for which to place battle chips in." My grin widened as I reached into my pouch and pulled out a battle chip. "Allow me to demonstrate. Fire Tower battle chip in!" I inserted the chip into the side of my mallet. "Download!"
Instantly, fire engulfed my weapon. Strangely, I wasn't affected by the flames or the searing heat. I then bent my legs and jumped into the air.
"Fireeeeeeeee…" I started, holding the mallet over my head at the apex of my jump. I went for a swing as I started to fall. "Tower!.!.!"
I slammed my mallet onto the floor a few feet away from Izzy. The fire then left the hammer and sank into the small crater that was just made. Nothing happened after that.
"Whew…" Izzy let out a relieved breath. "For a second there, I thought I was gonna—"
Suddenly, a fiery geyser burst out of the ground right where the hammer was a moment ago. It was followed by another one and another and another until an inferno engulfed Izzy, who shouted in pain. Soon, the fire faded, revealing the hedgehog, who was charbroiled. He was blinking in disbelief. His body was smoking and sizzling. A quill on the top of his head was on fire as he stood there trying to figure out how that happened.
"Oh my!" Iggy gasped, grabbing a chip out of his own pouch. "Don't worry, bro! I'll put out that fire! Aqua Tower battle chip in! Download!"
Izzy's eyes widened as he turned towards his brother, who just put the chip into his mallet. Seconds later, water cascaded off every inch of it. The energetic furry then jumped high into the air.
"Aquaaaaaaaa…" He started, twirling in the air. His movements sent water droplets to the ground like rain. At the arch of his jump, he moved himself so that he was in a sitting position with his hammer drawn downwards. He then started to descend. "Tower!.!.!"
When he landed, the water surrounding his mallet sank into the ground much like my flames did. Immediately after, a massive water spout burst out of the ground. Izzy panicked and tried to move as it moved closer and closer until it submerged him completely. When the attack ended, he was no longer blackened. Instead, he was dripping water. His drooping quills covered his face completely. He unceremoniously spat out a fountain's worth of water before getting red in the face. The water evaporated as he grabbed a battle chip of his own.
"Ok, ok! You two wanna play, huh!.?.! I'll show you! Wood Tower battle chip in! Download!"
As soon as the angry hedgehog inserted the chip, his hammer glowed with a green aura. He then took his weapon into both hands and held it up above his head. He then slammed it into the ground, sending the energy flowing inside. Moments later, the entire studio shook and rumbled. Iggy and I gulped as we stood our ground.
"D-d-d-d-did he s-s-s-say…" Iggy started.
"W-w-w-w-wood Tower?.?.?" I finished.
"Hahahahahahaha!.!.!" Izzy cackled. "You're mine now! This is the strongest of the three tower chips!" He then waved his mallet. "Wood Tower!.!.!"
Following that command, dozens upon dozens of giant wooden spikes rose out of the ground at an amazing pace! They were heading right for me and Iggy! We both put on determined looks as we prepared to defend ourselves.
"Battle chip in! Download!.!.!" We both called.
°BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!.!.!.!.!.!°
Izzy cheered as gray clouds were seen where Iggy and I were standing.
"Alright! I got 'em! I got 'em! I got—" He gasped as the smoke started to clear. "No way!.!.!"
The smoke dissipated, revealing Iggy and I. We were each surrounded by a dark purple barrier. Our hammers were glowing the same color.
"Heh, I'm glad I had the foresight to grab some Life Aura chips!" I said happily.
"Yeah!" Iggy supplied.
"Aw man!" Izzy slapped his head. He gripped his mallet. "Well, aura or no aura, I'll still beat ya! Yah!.!.!" He charged towards us with his hammer drawn.
"No way bro!" The younger brother challenged, running forward.
As the two brothers prepared to do battle, I shrugged and turned to the camera.
"Eh, if ya can't beat 'em, join 'em. See ya next time!" I ran towards the battle. "Hey! Don't start without me!"