...
Sonic and Sash: Tides of Chaos 3:
Phantom Forces
Act 1
Chapter 5: To Be Infinite
The sun was now just dipping below the horizon on the deserted once-tropical paradise of Green Hill, now its deserted wasteland and crawling with Badniks. A combination of a blue and purple blur were running across the hills before stopping on a spire, showing it to be the young Sonic and Sash. The young Sonic's spines drooped as he looked across the barren Zone...
"Jeez, talk about a wasteland..." The small Sash spoke, looking around the place. "This dump was your home?" The small Sonic would stomp his foot angrily, clearly not liking the dragon's comment.
"Oh don't blow a gasket over it." The dragon spoke, looking at the hedgehog. "We're only out here because of that tin can saying something about picking up a signal out here."
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A TIN CAN." The booming voice of Omega said as he had soon walked up behind the two. "SAY THAT TO MY FACE. RIGHT NOW."
"Ego much?" The dragon girl growled.
"I AM NOT CAPABLE OF EGOS." Omega spoke. "I AM ONLY CAPABLE OF KILLING WORTHLESS EGGMAN ROBOT CONSUMER MODELS, PRODUCING MILKSHAKES, AND SARCASM."
"Oh really?" The dragon fired back.
"YES. BECAUSE CLEARLY WE KNOW YOU'RE THE MOST USELESS MEMBER OF THIS SQUAD." Omega spoke, before a beep sound and another voice spoke. "Sarcasm self-test complete." Another beep, then Omega spoke again. "OH GOOD, THAT STILL WORKS."
"You guys better not be tearing eachother apart!" Another voice said, before Tails flew Carol in to the group. "We need to work as a team guys! A team!"
"AS MUCH AS I AM CAPABLE OF MYSELF BEING A WALKING ARSENAL, THE YELLOW FURRY ONE HAS A POINT." Omega spoke. "THANKS TO THE RADAR HE HAS INSTALLED IN ME, THE ENERGY SIGNAL IS COMING UP CLOSE."
The small Sonic would jump up and down in place, soon indicating to the large gap in front of the group.
"Little blue has a point." The small Sash spoke. "How are we going to cross this? My Dragon Boost won't be able to reach that far."
"Tailsy's able to lift me over." Carol spoke. "But I don't think Omega's thrusters are powerful enough to carry you two over with him."
"HA. THAT IS SIMPLE." Omega spoke, retracting his hands into the gauntlets of his arms. "I'LL BLAST THEM OVER."
"A-are you insane?!" The small Sash spoke. "You're not seriously going to fire us out of that thing are you?!" It was then she noticed the small Sonic climbing into the arm. "Seriously?!"
"TRUST ME." Omega said, aiming for the far side of the gorge. "I KNOW WHAT I AM DOING." He then fired, blasting the hedgehog to the other side of the gorge, the hedgehog smashing straight into a rock face and falling onto the ledge right under it.
"Little blue!" The small Sash yelled across to the hedgehog. "A-are you alright?!"
The small blue hedgehog would flash a thumbs up from where he was laying down.
"ALRIGHT, YOU'RE NEXT." Omega spoke, grabbing the dragon girl and shoving her into the cannon.
"WAIT WHAT." The small Sash spoke before Omega fired the cannon, sending the dragon girl screaming over to the other side of the gap as she smashed into the wall and fell to the ledge below, her eyes swirling. "Owwwwwwowwowww..."
The small Sonic would rush over to the dragon, checking to see if she was okay as Tails flew Carol over and Omega hovered over himself. "Aaaa...aaaa..."
"Sash, you alright?" Carol asked as she got down from Tails, checking on the young dragoness before she sat up, moaning and holding her head in pain.
"Owwww..." She moaned, before turning and glaring daggers at Omega. "The fuck was that about?! What could have POSSIBLY made you think that shooting me like a living cannonball was the rational solution?!"
"THERE WERE NO OTHER POSSIBLE ROUTES TO GET YOU OVER HERE WITHOUT RISK OF DEATH." Omega stated.
"And smashing my face into a rock cliff isn't a risk of death?!" The small Sash growled, her tendrils twitching violently.
"WELL, YOU LIVED." Omega stated, soon dispensing a milkshake from his torso. "HAVE THIS A CONSOLATION."
The dragon narrowed her eyes, glaring at Omega before taking the milkshake and taking a sip. "Hmph, chocolate. Any other flavors ya got on there?"
"SADLY ONLY BANANA AND STRAWBERRY." Omega spoke. "G.U.N. DID NOT GIVE ENOUGH FORESIGHT TO GIVE ME MORE OPTIONS FOR FLAVORS."
"That's gotta suck..." Tails spoke, before shaking his head. "Either way, we're getting close to that energy signal. Shouldn't be further than a couple meters."
"Looks like we're not the only ones..." Carol said, soon indicating to the Eggmobile flying past the group. "Looks like ol' Eggface is interested in that source too."
"KILL!" Omega said, his arms activating the miniguns and started to storm off after Eggman.
"Omega no!" Tails said, dashing in front of the robot. "We can't risk having Eggman know we're out here right now! If that energy source is something powerful, chances are that hound thing is also out here too!"
"Meaning aggression when he's around will equal a one-way ticket to hell..." Carol groaned. "We need to keep low. There's too much risk if we attack while that hound thing is around."
"VERY WELL." Omega said, retracting his miniguns. "BUT I CALL FIRST DIBS ON KILLING HIM."
"Goddamnit Omega..." Tails saighed before the group took off after the fleeting Eggmobile...
Soon enough it was night as the group of five came up upon the clearing site; several large vehicles were there, as well as the familiar shady hound figure itself, still floating in the air as the Eggmobile, Eggman included, came down.
"Hide." Tails said, the group gathering behind a large rock wall. "Omega, can you record that?"
"ACTIVATING AUDIO RECORDING AS WE SPEAK." Omega said, directing the focus of the voice pickup towards the meeting grounds.
"Alright..." Carol whispered. "Now keep quiet." The others nodded in response before turning their attention to the meeting...
"Gah, where is that bumbling fat oaf?!" Robotnik growled, looking at the time module on his personal craft. "He should have been here by now!"
"S-Sorry boss!" Another voice said as the ground shook a bit from the fat Zeti's plod-running before he tripped and faceplanted, sending a tremor across the ground and nearly caused the hiding group to fall over. "H-had a bit of a snack break before I got here; needed to make sure those Noctos-whatzit guys were handling the missile production well."
"Well while you were doing that, we've had major crisises effecting our Empire from multiple angles!" Robotnik growled. "We've had that damn Basset girl escape from our Death Egg Prison hold along with hundreds of thousands of other Mobians, and then the next thing I know, I'm getting a call from Westside's Metropolis Zone Badnik factory, from one of my own HBH Squad, telling me there was a little Resistance runt that just blew up their main power generator, leaving me without Badniks to be produced!" He gritted his teeth in anger.
"Not to be the... blunt type, but why am I needed here?" The hound spoke. "This seems like nothing more than a massive waste of my time."
"This is for preventative measures, my ally." Robotnik spoke. "I need you to head out and start destroying those Phantom Ruby prototypes I created that are now scattered across Mobius and Avalice. With this little Resistance now showing it can bear its teeth, I'm not going to take any chances with them getting their hands on them and ruin my plans."
"Then the only other question I have is 'where do I start'?" The hound spoke, crossing his arms, smugly grinning underneath that mask.
"You can start off in the Mystic Jungle." Robotnik spoke. "Once my Valkeen Bombers have incinerated the place and any kind of rebel scum inside that place, you swoop in and destroy those prototypes. And if any-"
"-one gets in my way kill them, yes yes." The hound stated. "This won't be a problem at all Doctor. They'll be eliminated, as long as I have that wildcat's head."
A disturbing chill ran down Carol's spine as she heard those words. 'D-does he mean me?'
"Yes yes, you'll get to kill that little green furball brat once this is all said and done." Robotnik spoke. "Once I can assert my full dominance over the planet, you can kill Carol Tea and Sash Lilac to your heart's content."
Carol nearly had a heart attack when she heard her and Sash's names mentioned in that way, her eyes going wide and freezing in place as the conversation continued.
"Once those prototypes are all destroyed, there will be nothing to stand in the way of my conquest of both these miserable little rocks. The heroes will become has-beens!" Robotnik laughed.
"And all of the insolent subordinates will submit to the power of the Phantom Ruby... anyone who tries to defy this will be... 'removed' to put it lightly." The hound figure said, before he rose up and took off in a streak of crimson, heading for the Mystic Jungle...
"And whatja need me for boss?" The fat zeti asked, before the ovoid doctor pulled out a blue brilliant-cut gemstone from his Eggmobile.
"You? I need you to hold onto this Chaos Emerald." He spoke, handing the gemstone to the yellow Zeti. "They may be neutralized by that Ruby's power, but I'm not taking any chances by just junking them and leaving them out in the open for those little Resistance pests to get ahold of. Make sure you guard that Emerald with your life, understood?"
"Gotcha boss!" The zeti replied. "I've got the perfect place to hide this thingus so that way they'll never get it!"
"And... where would tha-" Robotnik started before Zomom shoved the Emerald into his mouth and swallowed it whole. "...you know what, forget I asked. Just make sure no one gets that Emerald."
"Right!" The zeti said before run-plodding off and jumping down to another level, causing another tremor that nearly threw the group off their feet... except it did with the small Sonic, causing him to stumble out and faceplant on the ground.
"Eh?" Robotnik spoke, before his jaw dropped at the sight of the blue hedgehog. "WHAT?! HOW DID-" He was then interrupted by a smash to the underside of his Eggmobile from the small Sonic, causing the entire craft to shake. "Grrrr... I don't know how you got out of that prison, but I have no time for this!" The Eggmobile then rose up and soon blaster off over a rocky cliff face as the rest of the group came in after the small Sonic.
"Well, at least we've got a read on what's going on..." Tails spoke. "Eggman's gotta be hiding more though."
"I'm wanting to give him a piece of my mind for wanting to kill me." Carol growled. "But what about yellow, fat and stupid? He's got a Chaos Emerald!" Upon hearing that, the small Sonic soon took off in the direction Zomom ran off in.
"Hey!" The small Sash spoke, looking off after the small Sonic. "Shoot... guess we're getting that stone back!" She said, taking off after the hedgehog. "We'll meet back up with you later!"
"Sash!" Carol yelled before the pint-sized dragon disappeared from sight. "...shit, I really hope she knows what she's doing..."
"NO TIME FOR DISCUSSION." Omega spoke, grabbing Tails and Carol by the shoulders and dragging them off. "PRIORITY ONE EGG ESCAPING. UNACCEPTABLE FOR MY STANDARDS."
"Is he always like this?" Carol mouths to Tails as the massive robot dragged the two.
"When Eggman is involved? Yeah." Tails mouthed back.
The small Sonic would be running across the green cliffaces of Green Hill, the terrain taking on an all too familiar shape as he ran by a ledge with a monitor on it, a Motobug charging at him as he leaped over the robotic ladybird and continued across the bridge over the sandfall. A Chopper soon leapt out of the sandfall to try and take a bite out of the hedgehog, but it missed and instead got a facefull of spines from the hedgehog's jump.
The small Sonic then landed and took off across the ground, heading for the ramp right after the bridge... except the ramp and merely been eroded to a gentle slope as the hedgehog ran up it, looking slightly disappointed from the lack of a fun ramp. He continued on, running past a couple of bushes as the small dragon came up behind him, causing him to slow down a bit.
"The least you could do was wait." The small Sash spoke, crossing her arms. The hedgehog merely shrugged in response, causing the dragon to pinch her forehead in exasperation. "Okay, so you can't wait. Figures as much." She then crossed her arms, looking at the hedgehog stern in the eye. "As annoying as you are, we need to work as a team for this mission. A failure in teamwork equals a failure on the whole, you understand?"
The hedgehog nodded.
"Good. At least we're on the same page." The small Sash spoke. "Now, we need to give you a codename so we can refer to eachother, understood?"
The small Sonic seemed confused, tilting his head sideways and looking at the small dragon puzzled.
"A codename. You know, something to refer to you by instead of your real name?" The dragon asked. "Like for example, my Scarves codename is Cyclone, so you can refer to me by that."
The small Sonic nodded. He seemed to understand that, at least.
"Alright so..." Cyclone stated. "How about Classic? That sound good to you?" The Sonic shrugged, seemingly okay with it.
"Good then." Cyclone stated. "Now, let's track down that fat bastard."
Classic nodded in response, then took off further in the Zone, leaving Cyclone by herself.
"...goddamnit." She growled to herself, taking off after the hedgehog. Soon enough she was vaulting herself over small ledges in the path, keeping her momentum of her speed before she rounded a corner, using a palm tree as a tether to the ground as she went over the cliff's edge, a massive sandy sinkhole below as she swung back around to the path, taking off down it to try and find Classic.
"How the hell could I lose him that quickly?!" Cyclone growled to herself as she vaulted a fallen totem pole. "Can he not just stay still for five seconds to discuss a plan on searching the place?!" Her train of thought was derailed as the cliff gave out from under her, causing her to start falling towards the sand pit below. She quickly reacted and charged up a small boost, soon rocketing forward a bit and grabbing onto a dead palm tree sticking out of the ground , hanging over the cliff above the pit.
'Too cocky.' Cyclone thought to herself, starting to pull herself up onto the overhanging tree like a sloth and started shimmying towards the cliff face. 'I can't let myself get unfocused like that. It leads to sloppiness, and sloppiness leads to failure, by punishment or by d-' Her train of thought as interrupted as she felt the tree shake and she heard a loud snap, the tree jerking lower. She looked over to see the base of the tree starting to break...
"Shit." She breathed to herself, trying to shimmy faster to get to the cliff face. The faster speed just made the tree start to break more before it snapped, falling in an arc as it still hung on by a thread before it slammed into the side of the rock face, Cyclone's back cracking hard against the rocky wall. The dragon growled in pain, almost certain she's cracked her back in the resulting crash as she tried to climb up the tree itself.
"I'll need to check myself once I get to safety..." She grumbled to herself as she continued to climb... before the tree jerked downwards, starting to snap more. "...dammit..." She growled to herself, trying to climb faster... before the tree snapped, the dragon and the tree started to fall... before a blue blur lept up and grabbed the dragon, whisking her to another nearby ledge. She had her eyes tightly closed during the fall. but then opened them to see the hedgehog holding her.
"Uh... thanks for the save..." Cyclone spoke, getting out of the arms of the hedgehog.
Classic merely flashed her a thumbs-up.
"Right, so..." Cyclone spoke. "We're still needing to track down that fat waste of space for that stone, but the problem is that this place is... how large again, a couple square miles you said?"
Classic merely raised both his hands with all his fingers out.
"Ten square miles, give or take..." Cyclone spoke. "Thank you. Now, unless we have some sort of tracking device on us, which, sadly, we don't since the walking tin can isn't with us, meaning we're currently shit out of luck."
Classic's ear would twitch as he heard the ground shaking a bit. He looked around as Cyclone continued the explanation.
"So unless we're able to catch sight of him nearby, searching this entire area of nearly ten square miles will take, according to my calculations, nearly a day or two, and by that point he'll be gon-" Her sentence was interrupted as the fat yellow Zeti burst out of the earthen wall and went over into the pit, continuing to burrow down into the ground. "...I guess I spoke too soon. Well then, we'll need to give pursuit after hi-" She was interrupted again as Classic soon jumped off the cliff, curled into a ball as he spun through the burrowed path. "Or we could just jump after him." She sighed, jumping down to the tunnel. "Goddamnit Classic..."
"FIFTY METERS ENCLOSING." Omega droned, still dragging the two after the ovoid doctor. "BE READY FOR COMBAT POSITIONS."
"Could you let go of us first?" Carol growled, before Omega released the grips on the two, allowing them to stand up and ready their arms. "Maybe next time lay off the grip pressure?"
"I AM A ROBOTIC WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION. COMFORT IS NOT IN MY PROGRAMMING." Omega bluntly responded.
"But milkshakes are." Tails countered.
"FRINGE BENEFIT." Omega spoke, his arms morphing to miniguns. "LESS TALK, MORE EGGMAN DESTRUCTION."
"Is there anything else you get enjoyment out of than killing Eggman?" Carol asked, getting her Mech-Blade ready.
"BAD PUNS." Omega spoke, walking forward. "HE IS DEAD AHEAD, BE ON YOUR GUARDS."
"Noted." Tails spoke as the three came onto the clearing, a plain grassy field with several wooden structures surrounding it along with some scaffolding. Construction equipment seemed to litter the area, overlooking a large sandy lake. "Well... is this where he was traced to?"
"AFFIRMATIVE." Omega said, before the familiar Eggmobile lowered into view, a saw dropping from it and being held by a chain. "LAUNCHING ATTACK PROGRAMS. ALL TARGETS ON POACHING THAT EGG."
"Eh, I prefer them scrambled." Carol growled, the blade activating as she rushed the oncoming Wrecker-Saw. She sliced the blade through the chain, causing it to hit the ground... before it started going along the ground straight at Tails! The kitsune dodged out of the way as the buzzsaw soon headed for Omega, who then riddled it with bullets and slapped it out of the way before it became lodged in a rock and harmless.
"Not so confident now are ya?" Tails said, taking aim and firing a fire-bomb at the Eggmobile, it detonating and pushing the craft back. The Eggmobile merely flew over the cliff before another massive mech would rise up from the sand, one that Tails would be all-too familiar with as the pulsating sounds wracked his ears.
"Th-that's an Egg Dragoon!" Tails said. "I thought Sonic destroyed that thing back when the world shattered!"
"Well, looks intact to me!" Carol said. "And with how far out it is, I can't hit it with my shurikens!"
"SAVE THE TALK FOR LATER." Omega said, stepping in front of the two and opening fire on the Egg Dragoon, the bullets merely plinking off it's armor. "MORE KILLING EGGMAN NOW."
"Jeez, all business with you." Carol growled, looking out at the Dragoon as it started firing off drill missiles at them. Carol would dodge out of the way as the drill burrowed into the ground, just inches away from impaling her. She then lept onto the embedded drill itself before leaping off the end of it, the Mech-Blade morphing into an energy blaster and firing it right at the Egg Dragoon's cockpit. The mech recoiled from the shot, but it appeared to not do much damage as it soon backed up and whipped its tail in a fearsome motion, kicking debris onto the rounded circle. Tails and Carol barely managed to dodge out of the way while Omega merely stood there and tanked the rocks, not even fazing.
"CUTE LITTLE AVALANCHE." Omega commented, grabbing one of the grey rocks that hadn't shattered. "TRY THIS ONE ON FOR SIZE." He then initiated a blast that shot the rock straight at the Egg Dragoon, this one now seeming to actually do some damage as the mech staggered backwards more than from the shot, a dent in it's armor now made.
"Omega, that's doing it!" Tails yelled. "Get more of those bedrock chunks, it's hard enough to damage the armor!"
"THANK YOU CAPTAIN OBVIOUS." Omega commented, stomping over to the next bedrock chunk. "I VERY CLEARLY HAVE OPTICAL RECEPTORS TO SEE IT."
"Let me get a shot at it!" Carol spoke, rushing to another bedrock chunk as Omega loaded another bedrock chunk into himself. Carol's Mech-Blade would morph into a massive cannon, loading the bedrock chunk into it. Soon enough she fired at the Dragoon... at the same time Omega did. Luckily Carol's aim was a bit lower so the shots didn't end up cancelling eachother out, and both chunks slammed into the Dragoon's frame, weakening it more.
"You've got a lot of nerve for some rodents of a resistance." Robotnik growled as he whirred up the gun barrels and opened fire on the group. "Still, this Egg Dragoon has only lost ten percent of its combat strength!"
"You're lying!" Tails countered.
"You won't have to wait long to find out." Robotnik countered, soon firing another volley of rocks onto the field, some crashing into the scaffolding and causing it to collapse towards Carol. The wildcat acted fast and as she soon shifted back to her Scythe mode and began slicing through the scaffolding, cutting it apart like a hot knife through butter before the debris surrounded her.
"Alright fatso." Carol growled, dashing to another bedrock chunk and loading it up into the Mech-Blade cannon, before firing it off at the Dragoon. Robotnik would be in the know this time as he turned and fired a drill straight for Carol, piercing through the rock, and the wildcat... seemed to not be moving out of the way?
"CAROL!" Tails yelled to her, concerned. "What are you doing?!"
"Trust me Miles!" Carol yelled in response. "This is perfect!"
"BU-"
"I GOT THIS!" Carol yelled as the drill collided with the interior of the Mech-Blade cannon, metal grinding against metal as the wildcat grinned wildly, before firing the cannon again, the drill severing the Dragoon straight in two as the lower half fell into the sand chasm below, as the other one stutter-hovered over to the platform before Robotnik ejected from the craft, the rest of the Dragoon colliding with the field and exploding, caving it in and causing the surrounding arena to collapse into a massive cavern below. Carol would quickly shift the Mech-Blade into propeller mode as the scaffolding gave out from below her, stepping onto the small foothold as the propeller lifted her down into the hole safely, onto a massive rock platform surrounded by sand. Tails had also whirled his tails down onto the platorm as Omega also hovered down.
"Well... that was a bit too close for comfort..." Tails spoke. "You sure that was a good idea Carol?"
"Took the thing out, didn't it?" Carol countered. "As far as I'm concerned, it's a win in my book."
"Yeah, sure." Tails deadpanned. "Either way, we'll need to regroup with the other two. I don't know if they'll need help getting that Chaos Emerald..."
"Hey, if it's the Sash I know of in the Scarves, she's gonna rip 'em a new one." Carol spoke. "Now, let's go fin-"
"You three aren't going anywhere." A voice said as the Eggmobile lowered into view, just out of range of the group. "It seems like you three have started to pry those noses of your where they haven't belonged." He taunted, before looking to Omega. "And you. I thought my associate left you for dead in a scrap heap somewhere."
"I WAS. NOT UNLIKE HOW I WILL BE LEAVING YOU IN A BLOODY PULP ONCE I AM FINISHED WITH YOU." Omega spoke, morphing his arms into guns. "NOW HOLD STILL." He would then fire at Robotnik before a gigantic metal hand came down and blocked the bullets with itself.
"You'll have to try a lot harder than that." Robotnik spoke, as another robotic hand came down, and soon the Eggmobile was encapsulated by a massive capsule, spiked at the top and only containing a small window. "Give up now while you still can! This new mech can't be pierced by your little toys!"
"Bring it you overgrown rotten egg!" Carol yelled loudly.
"I've warned you..." Robotnik growled, the mech reaching full power as the fists clashed together. "Now, taste an upgraded piece of the technology of one of my finest pieces of technology in the past! Get ready to be crushed by... GRAND ARMS!"
"Hey! Fatso!" Cyclone yelled as the two caught up to the gigantic yellow Zeti, facing away from the two and turning around as Cyclone called him out.
"Hey, who're you callin' fat?" Zomom shot back, glaring down the two.
"You." Cyclone growled as Classic wagged a finger at him. "Now, hand over that stone. Before we rip you a new one."
"Buuuuh, why would I hand it to you?" Cyclone spoke. "Besides, I thought that the boss sent ya to that void thingus, so how you got out of there I have no clue!"
Classic would look to Cyclone, confused before shrugging and looking back to Zomom, tensing up.
"You're speaking bull, just hand over the stone, and you don't get hurt." Cyclone growled, holding out her hand.
"Uh... can't." Zomom answered, rubbing the back of his head. "It's uh, not accessible."
"...what." Sash flatly asked. "Where'd you put it? Answer. Now."
"Ehm..." Zomom said. "In a safe place."
Cyclone would start to become angry. "Alright you fat waste, I'm giving you five seconds to cough up the Emerald before I take it by force."
Zomom would take offense to that comment before charging Cyclone, trying to belly-flop on top of her. Cyclone would roll out of the way before delivering a smashing axe kick to the downed Zeti's back. Zomom moaned before getting back up, belly-smashing Cyclone away from him before he stomped the ground, a large rock landing in his hands before throwing the rock at the dragon. Cyclone merely spun in place, her tendrils whipping violently as the rock was shredded on impact, the dragon stopping on a dime, breathing heavily as she stared down the Zeti.
Zomom would then be knocked forward a bit as Classic attacked him from the back, throwing him off his guard. Zomom lept forward and slammed his ass onto the ground, creating a shockwave that threw Classic and Cyclone off their feet before the fat Zeti tried to elbow-piledrive the hedgehog. Classic would curl into a spindash out of the way before Zomom would impact the ground, throwing up a ton of sand in the air. Classic turned around and charged up another spindash before bouncing off a rubbery surface, the dust clearing to show three large Caterkillers standing tall, surrounding Zomom. "Guh, you're gonna have to try harder than that!" He said, leaping to a rock pillar out to the side as the Caterkillers lunged into the sand.
"Keep your guard up..." Cyclone growled as her tendrils twitched, one of the Caterkillers lunging up and trying to to crash down on top of the dragon. Cyclone would dodge-roll to the side before the Caterkiller collided with the ground, the dragon throwing a nasty tendril swipe and dislodging the head from the body segments. The head would still bounce around for a bit while the body segments went nuts, bouncing around the arena while Classic ran around and curled into a ball, deflecting the segments away from himself before the Caterkiller reformed, soon wiggling while it was straight up soon firing off its segments at the two before the second Caterkiller lunged for them. Classic, thinking fast, jumped into the Caterkiller's soft underbelly as it sproinged away, knocking the Caterkiller into the other one, causing the two to crash into a heap.
"Nice quick thinking." Cyclone commented to Classic. Classic would shrug and thumb his nose before the two Caterkillers would soon spring up again, now connected end-to-end as they started to sweep around the arena in a circular motion. Cyclone would tense up before yelling to Classic, "Go for the head!" Classic would nod before slamming into one of the rotating heads at the same time Cyclone did, causing both heads to slam into eachother at the same time and cause the mech to break apart by segments, the exploding heads sending the body segments into the sand and sinking down...
"Heh, that wasn't so hard..." Cyclone said, dusting her hands off. "Now, to take care of-" She stopped speaking as she realized that Zomom was gone from the pillar where he was standing. "Wh-where'd he go?!"
Classic would look around the underground area, trying to search for any glimpse of yellow to see if the Zeti could be spotted, but the arena's visibility proved less than optimal as Zomom was nowhere to be seen...
"...for fuck's sake, we lost him didn't we?" Cyclone growled, stomping her foot. "Damn it! We were so close!"
Classic would walk over, setting a hand on the dragon's shoulder to try and comfort her.
"I appreciate the comfort, but we've gotta track down that f-" was all that came out of Cyclone's mouth before a rumbling occurred, Zomom soon rising out of the sand on top of the last Caterkiller, now extended from the other Caterkiller's body segments. "...nevermind then! He wants more!"
Zomom would burp loudly before the Caterkiller attacked, firing off energy orbs at the two. Classic would dodge to the side of the blast before spindashing and colliding with the large Badnik before being rebounded by its soft underbelly. Classic would skid along the ground before Cyclone would spin into the Caterkiller, also bouncing off its soft underbelly harmlessly. The Caterkiller would then fire off its segments at the duo as they dodged, one by one as they started to bounce and collide with eachother on the arena before they magnetized back to the head. Zomom lept to a rock pillar before stomping, the entire Caterkiller being flung into his arms above his head.
"The hell is he..." Cyclone stated, before Zomom then ate the entire giant Caterkiller, swelling up large and bulbous. "...I'm not even gonna comment." She spoke, before Zomom soon started spitting out the body segments at the two. Classic would dodge out of the way of some of the body segments fired at him, but ultimately get hit with the soft underside of the one and be sent sprawling. Cyclone would growl at the annoyance of it, and as soon as the head of the Caterkiller was fired at her, she delivered a smashing kick straight into it, sending rebounding and smashing Zomom right in the face. The Zeti growled as he lept to the platform, slamming into it rear-first and causing the entire platform to crack. Zomom would then start spinning as sand would rapidly swirl around him, creating some kind of minature sand tornado as he started to go for Cyclone. The dragoness tensed up and and moved away from the suction funnel, keeping her distance as best she could while Zomom continued to spin. The fat zeti would eventually get dizzy and stop spinning, stumbling around like a buffoon before Classic came in and Spindashed right into his rear end, knocking him forward and onto the ground. Zomom got back up and charged at Classic, but Cyclone got in front of him and delivered a smashing kick straight to the zeti's gut. Zomom would stumble backwards, doubling over in pain.
"Ooooorrggh..." Zomom moaned in pain before collapsing onto his back, his head to the group, eyes swirly.
"Well, that's one way to skin a... whatever the hell he is..." Cyclone spoke, before walking over and firmly pressing her boot into his neck area. "Alright. The Emerald, cough it up. Now."
Meanwhile, high above the arena, a large swirly magenta void would open up again high above the arena, soon a 24 y/o mint-colored unconscious wildcat falling out of the hole, a familiar blade strapped to her back.
"...hhnnnuuh?" She moaned, her eyes starting to open, looking down to see she was speeding towards the ground and the three figures at fast speeds. Not saying another word she quickly flipped to her feet and unsheathed her blade, taking the buster sword shape. She then stabbed it into any of the surrounding walls she could to slow her descent as best she could to prevent herself from going completely splat like a pancake before slowing her descent to a safe speed. Soon she landed, slamming her feet straight into the gut of the massive yellow zeti. Zomom went wide-eyed before the force to his stomach causing him to spit the Chaos Emerald straight into between Cyclone's eyes, causing her to recoil in pain as the gemstone flew up into the air. Classic moved quickly before catching the Emerald in his hands, the stone now sparking with magenta static bolts and small squares. The hedgehog took a quick sniff of the gem before sticking his tongue out in disgust.
"GAH!" Cyclone screeched, stumbling backwards as she gripped her head in pain, her eyes clamped shut. "Fucking...! Son of a...! I didn't mean LITERALLY!"
"Eh... sorry..." The wildcat spoke, rubbing the back of her head as she resheathed her blade onto her back. "Didn't know that was gonna happen..."
Cyclone would then glare at the figure. "Well then next time can ya at... least..." Her voice trailed off as she realized who was infront of her. "C...Coral?"
"Heh, sorry for the short notice on arrival." She spoke. "Was expecting to die after I trashed that station... guess life wanted to give me a second chance."
Cyclone would rush up and hug the feline. "It's alright, I'm just relieved you're alive..." Her ears would then twitch as she heard the weird pulsating sound again before looking behind Coral, seeing Zomom flicker out of existence. "What in the world..."
"Hm?" Coral asked, soon looking behind her to see the zeti gone. "Huh, where's big fat and cushiony?"
"He just... disappeared..." Cyclone spoke. "That's weird..." At that Classic would come forward with the Emerald.
"Oh, is that Emerald he had?" Cyclone spoke. "What's up with it? It's surrounded by that weird energy stuff..."
"If what I see is right..." Coral said, kneeling down to investigate the stone the hedgehog was holding. "It's energy is corrupted." Her nose then caught a whiff of something. "That and it smells like it was drenched in a bath of sandwich oils..."
"Well, it apparently it was in that fatso's stomach..." Cyclone spoke, shaking her head. "Doesn't matter right now, we should probably regroup with the others. Tails might be able to make heads of this." Classic would nod in response.
"Might as well, I guess, considering I've got nowhere to go right now." Coral spoke, putting a hand on her hip, before her ears picked up an explosion from a ways off. "That explosion related to your group at all?"
"Possibly." Cyclone spoke, before Classic started running off in that direction. "...and once you get him running, he doesn't stop."
"Eh, no prob." Coral said, twirling her blade as it transformed into a hover-motorcycle. "Hop on."
Cyclone hopped onto the back as the two took off after the running hedgehog...
"Hit the decks!" Carol yelled as she hit the ground as the two gigantic metal fists soared over her head, smashing through the pillars behind them. Tails would open fire upon the mech's central cockpit, but the shots were merely dissipating upon contact with the surface of the mech.
"WORTHLESS TOY." Omega commented, his arms shifting to the miniguns. "LET A PRO HANDLE THIS." He said as he opened fire on the mech, now the bullets plinking off of it like it was nothing, sending ricocheting shots everywhere.
"Omega stop!" Tails yelled, ducking out of the way. "You're sooner going to kill us than Eggman!"
"Try all you want you little pests, you're not breaking through this armor!" Robotnik taunted from the cockpit. "The Grand Arms is made from an unbreakable Avalitinite-diamondius alloy, its weapons powered by rare-earth Mobidionite crystals! You're sunk!"
Carol would grit her teeth, rushing at the mech with the Mech-Blade scythe swinging right into the mech's body, the plasma blade squealing against the side of the mech as it tried to cut through. Robotnik merely had the mech's hand grab the feline and throw her into the ground, the Mech-Blade clanking along with her.
"Aaaagh..." Carol moaned, resheathing her Mech-Blade, trying to get up to her feet. "You can't stay crowded in that tin can forever!"
"Try me." Robotnik countered, soon trying to raise a fist over Carol, intending to smash it down onto her. The wildcat dodged out of the way before noticing some of the rocks protruding out of the ground. A lightbulb moment went off in her head as she soon lured the mech over to the rocks as it slammed own again, this time palm first as it then became stunned as it smashed through the rocks, losing control for a second. Carol then wildly smirked as she soon leaped up onto the mech's hand and unsheathed her Mech-Blade, stabbing it into the back of the mech's hand, the metal screeching as the plasma blade tried to cut into the hand, before it pierced the important component; the hand's CPU brain unit. Soon grinning wildly, a fire in her eyes for the thrill of a fight, she soon started piloting the hand towards the central cockpit of the Grand Arms. Robotnik, in self defense and slight panic, started firing plasma balls from the other hand to try and stop Carol from closing in. Carol wildly dodged the flying plasma balls before the fist collided straight with the center of the mech, causing it to be sent flying backwards entirely in circles. Carol dismounted the hand with her blade as the mech regained its composure.
"That's doing something Carol!" Tails said, seeing the massive indentation in the face of the mech. "Do that again!"
Carol flashed a thumbs up. "On it!" She called, seeing the fists of the Grand Arms now spinning rapidly before firing off forwards like rockets, aiming to flatten the three. Carol smirked and aimed for the hand she had used before, soon backflipping as it came close and landing on top of it, stabbing back into the hand again to try and take control again... but would soon find out she could no longer control that hand! Carol, in a state of self preservation, lept off the hand with the blade as it continued onwards.
"Shit, can't use that one..." Carol muttered to herself, before she realized something. "Hey, where the oth-"
"I HAVE THE SITUATION UNDER CONTROL." Omega's voice droned as Carol soon looked behind herself to see the burly robot holding back the other rocket fist, using his own boosters as a counteraction to the massive fist. "OVERRIDE THE FIST. NOW. MY HYDRAULICS CAN'T SUSTAIN THIS PRESSURE FOR LONG."
Carol would dash for the fist Omega was restraining before leaping up top, stabbing her blade into the hand and taking control of the mech's hand. Soon smirking, she went whole-hog speed crazy charging back towards the Grand Arms cockpit. Robotnik tried launching another set of plasma balls at it, but it soon proved fruitless as the fist collided with the cockpit again, sending the mech sprawling as Carol landed back onto the ground, Mech-Blade in hand.
"Alright, but now what do we do?" Carol countered. "His hands aren't gonna allow for another takeover!"
"Watch his movements for now, we'll try and get something formulated!" Tails said as the mech regrouped near the arena.
"Not on my watch!" Robotnik growled, soon the mech's hands electrocuting and the entire machine going into overdrive. "Just die already!" The electrocuted fists would then launch at the two, ready for impact. Carol managed to get out of the way, but Tails narrowly missed, getting slammed by the fists and getting delivered a nasty shock to the kitsune, his fur starting to singe a bit. The hands raised from the singed kitsune as the mech turned around, now focused on the wildcat with it's back to the kitsune. A lightbulb went off in his head as he saw the thrusters...
"That's it!" Tails said, weakly getting up while Carol kept Robotnik occupied, switching his blaster to chaser-lightning. He then took aim and pulled the trigger, soon the laser making a piercing through the engine casing, fluid starting to pour out of the back propulsion system. "Omega, NOW!"
"ONE STEP AHEAD." Omega said, the twin flamethrowers primed before they shot out their intense flame jets, searing the liquid as the flames soon ran up towards the engine pac, then causing it to explode entirely, the entire mech collapsing to the ground. "AND THAT IS NOW A SCRAMBLED EGGMAN. NOW FOR IT'S ANNIHILATION." Omega then trudged forward before the Eggmobile ejected from the machine, flying off through the hole in the ceiling.
"He's getting away!" Carol yelled.
"SAVE IT." Omega spoke. "AS MUCH AS I WANT TO TEAR OUT THAT DISGUSTING MEATBAG'S VOCAL CORDS AND THEN HAVE HIM BITE MY SHINY METAL ASS, IT IS FOR OUR BENEFIT HE LIVES FOR NOW."
"But-" Tails started.
"NO EXCUSES." Omega spoke, before his audio receptors picked up something. "IT APPEARS SOMEONE ELSE IS APPROACHING."
"Huh?" Carol asked, before looking behind to see the oncoming blue hedgehog, and an all too familiar figure...
"C...C..." Carol started to choke up as the other wildcat came in, skidding the bike to a halt.
"So, you must be the rest of the gr- OOOOF!" Coral said before getting plastered into a hug by a sobbing Carol. "H-hey, sis, calm down..."
"I-It's so good to see y-you again..." Carol sobbed into her sister's shoulder. "E-even if it's not the y-you I know, i-it's b-b-been so long..."
Coral would seem confused, but she merely returned the hug tightly. "Everything's okay sis... I'm here now..."
"So, you're telling me this 'Phantom Ruby' object is the cause of warping me to your timeline?" Coral asked once the group was outside of the hole, the night sky now out and the stars around.
Carol would nod. "And judging from what you've told us, the Ruby must've kicked in during your fall of the station in your mission, right?"
Coral would nod in response. "It's lucky that I managed to get near those stalagtites in order to slow my descent down. Otherwise I would've gone splat entirely."
Tails would nod. "Either way, it's good to have you on the team for the time being. If we need some stealth or infiltration, you'd be the go-to person."
Coral would put a hand on her hip, leaning to one side a bit. "You realize you're talking to a Tea, right?" She said, stretching a bit to accentuate her curves ever so much. "I'm not a Crimson S++ Scarf for nothing. It'll be a cakewalk."
"HOPEFULLY YOUR COMBAT PROWESS IS ALSO UP TO CODE." Omega countered.
"Fighting isn't everything." Coral rebutted. "In my code, the less bodies left behind, the better. A bloodbath doesn't exactly do good for a Scarf's public image."
"True that." Cyclone spoke. "Now then, what do we do with that Emerald?" Classic would then come forward with the Emerald, still covered in that magenta static.
"Well, not much to be honest." Tails said, taking the gem from Classic. "From what I'm seeing, it's been corrupted with the Phantom Ruby's energy, meaning it could possibly be unstable. We shouldn't risk trying to use it until we can find a way to purify it."
"AFFIRMATIVE." Omega spoke. "MIGHT I ALSO RECOMMEND THAT WE REST FOR THE NIGHT UNTIL TOMORROW MORNING AS WE'VE BEEN FIGHTING ALL DAY?"
"Good thought Omega." Carol said, rolling her shoulders. "Ouch... I never realized how tense I've been this entire time..."
"REST WILL DO US WONDERS." Omega spoke, before another cup dispensed from his torso. "THAT, AND MILKSHAKES." The sheer humor of the said statement was so amusing most of the group couldn't help but laugh a bit; they felt like they needed it after everything that happened today.
"Alright." Coral said. "Let's get us a camp set up..."
With Robotnik sent running and a Chaos Emerald retrieved from Zomom's cold dead... gut, things are starting to look up for the small rag-tag remains of AvaMerc as they settle down for the night. However, while they may get an evening of rest, for Milla, Aaron, and Silver, their night has just begun for a dangerous game. Tune in next time for Chapter 6: 'Battle of the Hounds'...
