Mid-chapter Conversation
Part Eight
The scene opened in the studio, which looked completely wrecked! There were craters everywhere. The floor and walls were cracked. Scorch marks lined the walls. The desk and couch where we normally sit at were both spilt in two. The curtains above the stage were on fire. The crowd was screaming and cheering as they kept their eyes on center stage.
In the middle of the chaos, Izzy, Iggy, and I were standing, battling each other with our new toys. Well, actually, we weren't battling each other. Rather, Izzy was fighting Iggy and I. We were still incased in our Life Auras, meaning that the older of the two brothers was unable to touch us. Try as he might, the hedgehog in the red vest was just no match for the shields' power.
"Ahhhhhhh!.!.!" He screamed as he lunged with his hammer held high yet again.
He leapt high in the air before coming down towards me. He then pounded my barrier. The force of his rage plus the effect of gravity caused numerous shockwaves to resonate all around us, causing the studio to shake for what seemed to be the hundredth time since we got those battle chips. My aura held strong nevertheless.
"Argh!" He gritted his teeth as he jumped away and grabbed a chip from his pouch. "Yo-yo battle chip in! Download!"
He inserted it into his mallet, causing it to flash brightly. When the light vanished, it had transformed into a launcher of sorts. He then made the wind up and swung his weapon. A spiked disc tied to a string launched out towards Iggy. The deadly toy rammed into his barrier and rolled upwards in an attempt to penetrate it. Due to the fact that the Yo-yo chip does a crappy amount of damage, it didn't even come close to breaking through. In his state of rage, Izzy simply grabbed two battle chips as his hammer turned back to normal.
"Boomerang and Wood Plus Thirty battle chips in! Double download!"
"Hmph! So he learned how to use support chips, huh?" I scoffed. Iggy snickered in response.
"I'll show you! I'm gonna break through those auras if it's the last thing I do!" Izzy shouted as he inserted the chips.
His weapon changed forms once again. It transformed into a metallic boomerang! He gave a war cry as he drew back his arm and launched the powered up projectile. It flew through the air, spinning like a buzz saw as it neared the younger hedgehog and I. Alas, despite the support chip Izzy used, the boomerang merely bounced off the auras before returning to him.
"Man! What gives!.?.!" He cursed as he caught it. It turned back into his mallet. "Why can't I hit you guys!.?"
"Duh! The Life Aura can withstand attacks that do less than two hundred hit points worth of damage!" I clarified.
"Yeah! So there's nothing you can do to break it!" Iggy teased cheerfully. His brother only growled and shook his fist at us.
"Oh don't worry! I'll find something that can break your crappy little shields. Count on it!"
"Yeah right." I said, crossing my arms. "Anyway, we gotta get to business." I turned to the audience. "Hey everybody! We're finally at the end of chapter eleven!"
The crowd roared at that announcement.
"Now then, before we get to business, we gotta do the reviewer responses…" I trailed off as I looked at the sheet. I sweatdropped before looking up. "Erm… Better make that just one response." I sighed.
"In any case, to Warior, cool battle scene! I loved it! Like I said in the last installment, I can't wait to see what you're gonna do in your adaptation of Sonic Heroes. Now then, regarding what ya said about the upgrade, I must admit, those futuristic weapons may be top notch, but don't underestimate the power of battle chips. While some, like Izzy's, are pathetic—" The hedgehog in question snarled at me. "—In the right hands, they're formidable weapons. In fact, I'm willing to show ya one of the best features of battle chips, the program advance."
The audience ooooohhhh and ahhhhhhh at that.
"Program advance? Duh!" Izzy slapped his head. "I can't believe I coulda done that the whole time!" He smirked evilly as he reached into his pouch. "Now I know how to deal with ya!"
"No way!" Iggy challenged. "There's no way you can break through our barriers!"
"Who said anything about breaking them?" The older hedgehog asked, his smirk becoming more sinister. "I'm gonna blow 'em off!"
Iggy turned to me as I paled.
"D-d-d-d-daddy… Wh-wh-what's he talking about?"
I gulped. "Iggy, get ready to use that advance I taught ya." I reached into my pouch and grabbed three chips. The little furry's eyes widened as he too grabbed three chips.
"Get ready!" Izzy announced, holding a chip high above his head. "North Wind battle chip in! Download!"
As soon as he inserted the battle chip, a transparent aura wrapped itself around his mallet. Grinning maliciously, he gave a mighty swing. A great gust of wind followed shortly after. Iggy and I tried to hang on for as long as possible, but it was no use. Izzy's attack completely blew away our Life Auras! We were defenseless!
"Gwahahahahahahaha!.!.!" Izzy gloated as his hammer stopped glowing. "Now that those troublesome auras are gone, time to do my second attack!"
He again placed a hand inside his pouch. This time however, he pulled out three chips just like Iggy and I did. He looked at his new weapons and gave a cunning smirk.
"Time to pay, boys! Mega Cannon battle chips in! Triple download!"
One by one, he inserted the three chips into his mallet. Soon after, it glowed with a bright energy. One stronger than even the greatest laser this dimension can produce. Izzy laughed insanely as the power of the chips caused his weapon to change greatly.
"Program advance!"
When the glowing finally subsided, the irate animal was holding in his hands an incredible cannon. It was a cube that looked way too heavy for Izzy to hold, but he managed to hold it level to Iggy and me. It had five chambers, one on each corner with a bigger one in the center. It gleamed in the stage lights above as the evil one prepared to fire.
"Prepare to face ultimate pain!" He said as he began to charge energy into it. A bluish light was seen in each chamber of the gun. It was dim at first, but began to grow in intensity until it was nearly as bright as the sun. "Giga Cannon Three… FIRE!.!.!"
The air grew thick with tension as the cannon charged for a few more seconds before finally firing. Izzy was knocked backwards as it discharged. A huge beam of energy headed towards me and Iggy! But we stood firm!
"Now Iggy!" I ordered.
"Right!" The younger one nodded.
"Program advance!.!.!" We both called as our own mallets glowed brightly just as the beam closed in.
°BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!°
"YES!.!.!" Izzy cheered, dancing around the stage. "There's no way they could've survived this time! I finally won! Muahahahahahaha—"
"Think again!.!.!" My voice was heard. Izzy gasped and looked at the dust cloud. Iggy and I stepped out of it, much to his horror.
"WHAT!.?.! IMPOSSIBLE! THAT SHOT WAS DEAD ON!.!.! HOW DID YOU SURVIVE!.?.!" He roared. I only chuckled in response.
"That's easy. In the last second, we activated our own program advance, the Five Hundred Barrier."
"The Five Hundred wha?.?.?"
"Duh bro! When we used that advance, we were protected from any move that does five hundred hit points worth of damage!" Iggy explained.
"And since your cannon can do five hundred points of damage, it was cancelled out!" I added. The hedgehog gritted his teeth as he shook his fists.
"This ain't over yet!" He bellowed as he tightened his grip on his newly transformed mallet.
"Fine, fine." I said, waving my hand dismissively as I turned to the camera. "But we gotta get to the chapter. Now then, in this week's installment, Clio, Keoni, Mackenzie, and Cheese will continue their trek through the Lost Jungle. Here's hoping they make it out!"
Izzy swooned. "Especially Keoni…"
Iggy and I sweatdropped as we gave him a curious look. We shrugged it off and waved at the crowd.
"Enjoy the chapter, folks!"
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Rocket Heroes
Chapter Eleven
Frogs, Frogs, and more Frogs!
Part Two-Two
The group skated down a sharp decline for a few moments before hitting a boost pad that took them into a downwards corkscrew. They were against the wall as they continued on. Soon, they leveled out as they went along the bottom of the path and up a ninety degree angle. They went upside down for a few seconds before continuing down a wall that seemed to lead into a patch of swamp water. At the bottom though was a trio of springs.
The team hit the springs and was shot up into the air over the water. Everyone performed a 360 at the arch of their jump. They soon landed on a small island with mushrooms growing out of it. It was also guarded by a jellyfish bot. It was quickly dispatched with a quick whack of the Pika Pika Hammer. Moving as fast as they can, the team hit a nearby jump pad and went flying again.
They all soared over more water before falling towards a mushroom that was poking through the surface. Situated on it was another spring, which bounced them towards a taller fungus. When they finally landed on something solid, the group found themselves overlooking another island that had a black frog standing in front of a small incline. Floating over the incline were two more spiky flappers. Growing on a giant tree root above the robots was a pair of equally large fruit.
"Aw great! Not another one!" Mackenzie protested.
"Actually, there's another one too." Keoni said, pointing ahead. On top of the incline was a second dark frog.
The first frog looked up and saw them. It immediately started croaking, summoning its vile rain. All four of them groaned and slumped forward.
"Man… I'm so glad Otto isn't around to see this…" Clio moaned.
"Blech… And I just dried myself too…" Keoni supplied.
"Chao…" Cheese added.
"Grrrrr…" Mackenzie growled, shaking all over. She made to jump towards the amphibian, but her older teammates held her back. She flailed around in a desperate attempt to escape. "Lemme go! That thing's gotta pay!.!.!"
She continued to struggle for a few moments before Clio looked and gasped.
"Woah! Check that out!"
The struggle stopped with Keoni and Mackenzie looking at her strangely. They then looked ahead and felt grins creep up on their faces.
The giant fruit that had been hanging above the robots fell due to the rain. When they landed on the hill, they rolled down until they crashed into the flappers, destroying them. The rain cleared up shortly after that. Like the first frog they encountered, it hopped away.
"Wow! Those things just got beaten like that!" Keoni exclaimed.
"Hmph! They're so lame, getting whomped by a bunch of fruit." The rabbit grunted, crossing her arms.
"Well, I guess those frogs are good for something after all." Clio shrugged as she walked to the edge of the mushroom. She then turned to the others. "Well? Let's go!"
"Right!"
They jumped off and landed at the foot of the incline. They skated/flew up it, only to be at the foot of another one. Like on the first incline, two flappers were preventing passage. Two pieces of fruit were also growing above them. The quartet faced the second frog. As soon as it saw them, it croaked, causing it to rain yet again. The fruit fell and destroyed the bots much like the previous pair. Everyone dived out of the way and allowed them to roll right into the water.
"Whew… That was a close one…" Keoni sighed as the rain cleared up.
"Yeah…" Clio nodded, looking to her right. "Hey Mackenzie, it's your lucky day!"
"Huh?" The girl in question looked at her curiously. "What are ya blabbing about now?"
She followed the older girl's finger and grinned. On top of a nearby mushroom that was growing out of the bog was an item bubble containing a yellow power core.
"Alright!" She flapped her ears and flew over to the bubble. "Level-up!" She cheered as she popped it. She then flew back to her teammates.
"Aw man!" Keoni pouted, kicking the ground.
(Me: Patience is a virtue, my friend.)
"Whatever, brah." He retorted, crossing his arms. Clio sweatdropped.
"Come on, Keoni. Let's keep going."
The cat nodded solemnly and followed his friends up the hill. There, they found a flower helicopter much like the ones they saw during their cross country trip. Across a stretch of water too wide for them to fly over was the rest of the path.
"Ok guys, get ready to jump." The leader said, pulling out her hammer.
"Alright." The others nodded, standing behind her.
Clio gave her hammer a mighty swing, generating a whirlwind. Doing so caused the propeller-like petals to spin in the breeze. Shortly after, the top part of the flower lifted into the air. The hedgehog quickly grabbed on while the rest of the team held on to her legs. The strange plant flew them over the water and onto the next area. They let go and landed on solid ground. They were now in a small, moss covered canyon.
"Look alive, kooks!" Mackenzie announced, pointing ahead. The others turned and saw several flappers flying towards them with their spikes extended! The older kids smirked at each other as they grabbed their respective weapons.
"You ready?" The female asked.
"Ya know it, cuz!" The male responded.
The two then charged towards the robots. When they were mere seconds from the bots, they jumped away to the left and right respectively. The pair kicked off the canyon walls with their weapons drawn back. When the furries reached the flappers, a massive dust cloud appeared. Grunts, shouts, clanging, and bonks were heard as Mackenzie and Cheese looked on in astonishment. A few moments passed before the cloud dissipated and Clio & Keoni were revealed standing over a pile of scrap metal.
"Heh, piece of cake!" The cat scoffed, dusting off his hands.
"Oh! That was sweet!" The hedgehog shouted, leaning against her hammer. She then waved to Mackenzie and Cheese. "C'mon you two! We're almost there!" She then jumped off the pile and continued on, followed by Keoni. The rabbit put her hands on her hips.
"Yeah, I bet."
She flapped her ears and flew high over the pile, followed by her pet. They soon caught up to the leader and the only boy of the group. They made a right turn and hit a spring bar that was next to a wall, taking them out of the canyon. Once they were on the new path, they made their way to the left, where they saw a checkpoint.
"Alright cuzzes, you all got level-ups already, so it's my turn." Keoni told the girls. The rabbit and hedgehog looked at each other and shrugged.
"Fine by us." They both said, nodding.
"Just hurry up so we can end this stupid stage, lame-o." Mackenzie added.
"Chao!" Cheese squeaked.
Rolling his eyes, the cat grabbed the checkpoint, giving him his first level-up ("At long last!" He shouted. The girls and chao groaned at that.). Once the orange glow faded from his body, the quartet continued on. After going straight for a bit, the path curved sharply to the left as they went into a tunnel made out of a great tree's roots. Inside, several mushrooms released purple pollen into the air. It wasn't poisonous. In fact, the team wasn't even affected by it. When the path straightened out and they got out of the tunnel, the animals found a moss-covered cave standing in front of them.
"Alright! We're close to the end! I can feel it!" Clio cheered, skating inside along with the others.
As soon as they stepped inside, they skidded to a stop. Two flappers were inside with them! They were guarding a cage that had an orange mushroom inside. And to make matters worse, a hammer bot fell in from above, sending tremors throughout the room!
"Aw crap! What're we gonna do!.?.!" Keoni panicked.
"There's not enough room to fight!" Mackenzie supplied.
"Guys, guys! I know what we can do!" The leader told them. The others' eyes widened when they figured out what she was getting at.
"No…way…" The rabbit said, crossing her arms.
"Don't tell me ya want us to—"
"It's either that or get turned into a bunch of pancakes by that thing!" Clio interrupted Keoni, pointing at the giant robot. Her teammates groaned, seeing no other way out of this situation.
"Alright, alright… Let's do it…" The cat sighed, taking out his pole.
"Ugh… And here I thought we were done with that stupid move." Mackenzie moaned.
"Chao, chao…" Cheese added.
"Team Blast!" The hedgehog shouted, getting ready to jump. "Flower Fiesta!"
The attack started pretty much the same as last time. The background turned pink as Keoni, moaning in defeat, opened and twirled his umbrella. Clio and Mackenzie jumped on it and spun around for a few seconds before the cat pushed up on the umbrella. The rabbit and hedgehog bounced up and landed on one foot, holding each other's hand. Keoni also balanced himself on one foot as many flowers appeared. The petals struck the three robots and destroyed them instantly. An orange power core fell out of the hammer bot.
"Hey! Wait a minute!" Mackenzie roared as all three of them became invincible and gained barriers. Clio and Keoni had stopped glowing from gaining their level-ups when the irate rabbit pointed at the latter, who was still holding his umbrella. "You mean to tell me ya had an umbrella this whole time and ya didn't bother to use it!.?.!"
Keoni looked at his weapon and hurriedly put it behind his back, sweatdropping all the while.
"What?.! I couldn't just keep it out the whole time!" He defended. The rabbit didn't listen as she advanced towards him with her hands targeting his neck.
"When I get through with you, that umbrella's toast!"
"Chill out you guys!" Clio, the voice of reason (at least at the moment) interjected. "Did you forget that we still have to finish the stage?"
"Ugh… Yeah, yeah." Mackenzie grumbled. She glared at Keoni. "Just wait until we're done with this stage, lame-o!"
Keoni gulped as he put away the umbrella and moved towards the mushroom.
"Alright! Let's move on!" The leader shouted jumping onto the fungus. Keoni and Mackenzie followed suit with Cheese hanging on to its owner.
The quartet was shot up twenty or so feet until they landed on a ledge outside the cave. They then sped down a steep hill until they reached the bottom, which was positioned along the surface of the swamp. They went into an upwards corkscrew that quickly turned into a small loop-de-loop. After going upside down, they blazed down one more hill before hitting a spring bar.
They bounced up past a normal green frog, which croaked upon seeing them, drenching them in pure, plant reviving rain. To their immense relief, the goal ring was right behind the oversized amphibian. Pulling out his umbrella, much to the rabbit's annoyance, the cat walked over and touched the giant piece of jewelry, ending the stage.
"Took long enough!.!.!" The bunny screamed. "Now we can leave this stupid place!"
"Yeah, I'm glad we can finally get out of here. I need a warm bath so badly!" Clio groaned, stretching her back.
"Now where's the exit…?" Keoni trailed off when looked back at the frog, which was still hopping and croaking. He blinked when he saw something. "Hey! What's that?.!"
"Huh?.?.?" The others gave him a quizzical look before turning to the frog. They gasped when they saw what Keoni was talking about.
Underneath the reptile was a green, glowing object. It gave them all a warm feeling despite the cold rain falling on their (or at least Clio and Mackenzie's) heads. Soon, the rain stopped and the frog hopped away, revealing what it was hiding. A jewel was the cause of the glow. Clio grinned as her eyes went as wide as saucers.
"Eeeeee!.!.! It's gorgeous!" She squealed, scooping up the rock. "It's almost as beautiful as Otto's sunglasses!" The others sweatdropped at that simile. She then gasped (rather dramatically I might add). "Oh! I just thought of the greatest idea! I'll give this handsome emerald to an even more handsome hedgehog. I can see it all now…"
Her eyes glazed over as she imagined the scenario.
Clio and Otto were standing across from each other. A pink and yellow background was behind them. Bubbles and sparkles can be seen, not to mention everything seemed kind of blurry. The taller of the two blushed and shuffled her feet as she tried to speak to her beloved. She couldn't maintain eye contact as she reached into her purse.
"H-h-h-h-h-here…" She stuttered, pulling out the emerald. "I g-g-g-got this for you… As proof of our love." She handed it to Otto, whose eyes widened. He was speechless as he accepted the extravagant gift.
"Cl-Cl-Clio… I-I don't know what to say… Except…"
With that, he wrapped his arms around the red-violet hedgehog and fixed her with a longing look. Clio's blush intensified as she returned the look.
"Oh Otto…"
"Clio…"
The two kids closed their eyes as they drifted closer and closer… They could practically feel the other's breath on their lips…
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Oh my sweet, sweet Otto-chan…" Clio bubbled as she hugged herself and kissed the air.
Meanwhile, Keoni, Mackenzie, and Cheese sweatdropped as they turned away from the sight with their eyes closed in exasperation.
"Well, there you have it." The older one started. "We lost her."
"Yet again." The female said.
"Chao." The girl's pet added. They all sighed boredly.
When the hedgehog finally got out of her movie-sized daydream, the trio continued on, trying to find a way out of the swamp.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Post-chapter Conversation
"Well, it seems that Team Rodriguez managed to get out of the jungle after all!" I announced to the audience. "Also, it looks as if they found a Chaos Emerald!"
The crowd cheered in response.
"Hey, how many does that make!.?.!" Izzy shouted at me. I held my chin.
"Hmmmmm… Both Team Lars and Team Rocket have two emeralds…"
"Don't forget that those detective guys have one too!" Iggy happily reminded.
"Right." I nodded. "And adding Team Rodriguez's latest find that makes six. That means that there's only one more emerald to go. I wonder who'll get it…"
"Pffft! I bet you already got that part thought out." The livid one scoffed.
"Maybe." I shrugged before turning to the camera. "In any case, anybody that's played Sonic Heroes knows what's coming up next, but for those that don't, let's just say that things are gonna get action packed." I winked. "Very action packed."
"You mean you're gonna off Blondie!.?.!" Izzy asked excitedly. Iggy and I only gave him irritated looks.
"Uhhhh… No." I answered. He glowered at me.
"Oh boy! I can't wait to see what happens next!" Iggy cheered, clapping as he hopped up and down.
"Hmph!" Izzy grunted before smiling devilishly. He pulled out his mallet. "Now that the chapter's over, we can finish our battle!" He pulled out a battle chip. "My Electro Sword will end things nicely."
As he prepared to insert it, I put on a smirk of my own as a grabbed a chip.
"Anti-elec battle chip in." I whispered. "Download." I slipped it into my hammer and just stood there.
"Ha! You're out of shields, boss! I'm gonna beat ya this time!" Izzy taunted, not noticing my maneuver. "Electro Sword battle chip in! Download!"
He…you know the drill. His mallet transformed into a foil that was crackling with electricity. He grinned as he targeted me and charged forward with his blade held back. When he got close enough, he jumped and made to strike.
"Hold it! You activated my trap!" I announced, holding my hand towards him. Izzy blinked confusedly.
"Trap? What trap!.?"
"Watch and learn." I replied, snapping my fingers.
In no less than three seconds, a dozen bolts of lightning struck the hedgehog. Izzy screamed in pure, unadulterated pain as his skeleton was revealed to all present. This torment continued for about thirty more seconds before an electronic voice said, "Izzy, logging out." His body was replaced by the words, "Log out" before disappearing completely. Iggy then looked at me strangely.
"Uhhhhh… Daddy, what was that all about?"
"Well, using battle chips is dangerous business, especially when we use them against each other." I explained. "So our mallets are set up so that if we take too much damage, we are automatically 'logged out' and teleported to a hospital room where we'll be healed. By the next update, he should be back on his own two feet."
"That's good to know…" Iggy sighed.
"Yep!" I nodded, turning to the camera. "See ya next time! Oh, and to Mike, sorry about wrecking the studio with our battle." I grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of my head. "I'll get my cleaning crew on it at once."
I then whistled, summoning the crew, which was made up of the Glorft. Instead of their traditional armor, they were wearing maid dresses, complete with frilly aprons and black caps. I then ordered them to clean up the place. As they got to work, they mentally cursed every deity they knew of. Meanwhile, I waved at the camera. Iggy was holding up a sign that read, "Review please!"