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Sonic and Sash: Tides of Chaos 3
Phantom Forces
Act 3

Chapter 14: War on Park Avenue


Explosions were already rumbling across the city's mountainside as the metallic green roadways were collapsing from the attacks of the empire. The Death Egg sentinels were already taking out massive roadways and building structures as Badnik forces were already scuttling in and rounding up any more Mobians and humans alike. Sirens droned across the city as G.U.N. forces were trying to launch counterattacks against the massive sentinels, but were losing ground fast as the sentinels were pulverizing them underneath their massive drilling fists. It looked like within minutes, the city would fall under control of the doctor's forces... if it didn't fall apart itself. With the Badnik forces already overwhelming the G.U.N. mechs, it was an uphill battle as the group of five arrived on the scene.

"This isn't good..." Amy said, reaching for her headset. "I need a status update on the civilians who are still missing! Can anyone report in?"

"Espio here." The chameleon responded over the headset. "We're currently over-engaged with the Badnik forces and can't search for any survivors right now!"

"There's just too many of 'em!" Charmy piped in. "It's like a metal flood!"

"Alright, hold your positions!" Amy said. "I'll be there shortly for backup!" She then ended the comm discussion before turning to the rest of the group of five.

"Alright, split up." Amy said. "I'll head out and regroup with the Chaotix. Aaron, Tangle, you guys sweep through the west sector and clear out any Badniks in the way to send them into a scramble. Cream, Gemerl, you two are on survivor search duty. Find anyone still surviving and get the teleported out of there as soon as you can!"

"R-right!" Cream said, looking to the gizoid. "Gemerl, are your scanners functional?"

Gemerl nodded in response. "They are already calibrated to detect Mobian or humans. It should be available for proper detection."

"Th-then let's go!" Cream said, the two taking off down into the speeding roads below. Amy would then turn to Aaron and Tangle. "Alright then, are you two ready then?"

"I've been ready." Aaron growled, cracking his knuckles. "Time to make some slag."

Tangle was bouncing on her feet, eager to wreck some Badniks. "Let's make some noise!" She said, the eagerness in her voice apparent. And with that, the two took off for the west ruined sector of Star Light.

With that, Amy was by herself at the top of the perch as she looked out ahead. Taking a deep breath, Amy jumped down and started running along road, he hammer right at her side as she soon saw Badnik forces ahead of her. Gritting her teeth, she'd grip tightly to her hammer as she swung in a top-like motion, barreling through the Badniks as scraps started flying. Keeping her focus, she'd keep her speed as she weaved through some collapsed debris on the road, soon having to dodge on the fly as more debris was flung her way. Soon using her hammer as a launcher, she hammer jumped into the air out of the way of the collapsed roadway... right as a massive chunk of debris was being thrown at her.

Amy wasn't sure what happened next, it seemed like everything was happening in slow motion... next thing she knew the debris flying at her was blown to smithereens. She could've sworn she saw something that looked like a projectile resembling a Black Bomb Wisp though...

She shook her head; now wasn't the time to get distracted! Landing across the other side of the collapsed roadway, she'd keep her speed as she headed off into the lower city...

From a nearby roof, a small trail of smoke would be coming off of the barrel of an oddly shaped weapon as the canine figure stared through her mask at where she shot the debris that was going to hit Amy. Taking a deep breath, she'd holster the weapon onto her back as she soon leaped down from her position to give pursuit after the hedgehog...

With her speed kept, Amy was soon dodging out of the way of massive laser blasts from the Death Egg sentinels singular eyes. "Everyone, keep on your guards of those sentinels!" She yelled over her comm unit. "Those lasers are high grade incendiary and could melt straight through the ground!"

"Roger that!" Cream responded.

"No problem!" Tangle responded.

Amy would hang up as she skidded under a downed skyscraper, nearly getting her cheek scraped by some broken windows as she burst through the other side. Gripping tightly to her hammer, she swing it straight into a Motobug which would send it careening into a group of Egg Pawns, bowling a perfect strike as she hooked around the corner with the mallet end of her hammer. Hooking out over the cliff and back around the corner, her path was soon set down the roadway towards the downtown Star Light Zone district.

"Hey uh, Amy?" Tangle responded over the comm. "We've got a major situation out here!"

"What now?!" Amy said.

"Eggman's got those Sentinels mass produced! There's at least nine over here in the city!" Tangle said.

"Uh oh, that's not good!" Vector had soon said on the comm unit. "Amy, that might be too much for the rookies to handle!"

"Who are you calling a rookie?!" Tangle said. "I could wipe the floor with you anyday!"

"Enough you two!" Amy growled. "Vector, status report for your end, now!"

"We've still got a severe surrounding of Eggman's Badnik forces out here!" Vector responded. "I'm not sure how much longer we can hold out here!"

"Just hold your ground!" Amy said. "I'm on my way!" With that she hung up again as she sped down the roadway, keeping her hammer ready as she soon vaulted over another collapsed building onto a higher roadway, soon curling into a ball as she barreled down the slope, soon moving through a giant loop and crashing through the ground into a tunnel below, soon looping around a large pipe and bursting out the other side to a lower section of the city below. Keeping her hammer steady, she'd swing her hammer down and initiated a shockwave that sent the advancing Badniks flying. Panting heavily, she'd heft the hammer back onto her shoulder as she stared ahead at the shrapnel in front of her...

Soon she heard clapping from behind her; she'd turn around to see the Chaotix approaching her.

"Nicely done." Espio said, decked out in his assassin gear. "A fine display of skill."

"Wow, you really showed 'em who's boss!" Charmy commented, decked out i his flight outfit and goggles.

"Oh man! How am I gonna top that?" Vector said.

"Eh heh, thanks..." Amy said, rubbing the back of her head, before looking over to see the advancing Badniks. "Looks like we've got more where those came from though!"

"Then let's get ready to rock!" Vector exclaimed as the four charged at the advancing horde...


"Alright, accounted survivors are up to thirty-eight." Gemerl said, checking his statistics on what the tracking has done so far. "There should be at least twenty-two left in this area..."

"Are there any close-by?" Cream asked.

"Checking my readings... there's at least three Mobians trapped under debris up ahead." The gizoid said. "Looks to be from a highway collapse..."

Then came another sound...

...one that nearly set the small hero Chao that was with Cream into an upset fury.

"CHAO CHAO CHAO CHAO!" The hero Chao cried, flailing frantically.

"Ch-Cheese?" Cream said, concerned about the hero Chao's state. "Wh-what's wrong?"

"Hold on..." Gemerl said, still checking his scanners. "I'm also picking up a scanning of... a Dark Chao?"

"Dark... Chao?" Cream asked, before she gasped in realization.

Chocola.

Without warning Cheese took off into the other sector of Park Avenue, away from both Cream and Gemerl.

"Ch-Cheese, wait!" Cream said, taking off after the Chao, leaving the gizoid to himself. Keeping herself together, she'd soon slide down a steep slope as she used her robotic arm to punch through the wall near the bottom, rolling through the collapsing wall then landing on her robotic feet as she sprang up to an upper floor of a collapsed building. Keeping pace, she'd rocket-punch through another wall as she kept up after the fleeting Hero Chao, but the distance was starting to grow larger and larger...

Cream soon collapsed to her robotic knees, panting heavily as she struggled to get back up; her thoughts turned to worry. She lost track of where Cheese went...

"Oh no... no..." Cream started to whimper. "CHEESE!" She called. "CHEESE!"

But it was no use; she couldn't hear her little Hero Chao anywhere...

"Oh nononono..." Cream whimpered, frantically trying to look around the building for the Chao as she soon hurtled herself down one of the darker hallways, descending deeper into the ruins of the city and the sewer system...

At that point she'd be hearing the frantic cries of a Chao...

"Cheese!" Cream said, rushing ahead and sliding down the slope of the pipe before she reached a small nexus within the system of pipes. She soon saw what was in front of her...

And her stomach churned like mad from the sight.

Cheese was frantically sobbing on the ground in front of a pole attached to the back of the room, a small figure tied harshly to the pipe itself. The small frail frame of a Dark Chao laid there, unmoving and unresponsive... and looking like it was beaten to hell and back from the dried blood on it...

"Ch-ch..." Cream stammered as tears started to form in her eyes. "CHOCOLA!" She screamed, rushing over and untying the Chao before cradling it in her arms. "C'mon, c'mon... don't lose me..."

"Ch..." The Dark Chao croaked, barely able to open one eye. "Ch... chao?"

"Ch-Chocola!" Cream said, hugging the Chao. "D-don't worry... everything's g-gonna be alright..."

A child-like giggle seemed to reverberate throughout the area, catching the rabbit off guard.

"Wh-who's there?!" Cream stammered, holding Chocola close with her flesh arm while her robot arm morphed into a blaster as she looked around the room terrified. "Sh-show yourself!"

The child-like giggle came again. "If you say so..." The voice said, before an Eggrobo wearing a yellow metal tuxedo and top hat with a red stripe. "Though I do believe this will be the last time we encounter..."

Cream's eyes widened. "Y-you're-"

"Heavy Magician?" The Eggrobo said, taking a bow with its hat. "I'm flattered you know my name, considering your Resistance in general..."

"St-stay back!" The rabbit stammered, aiming her blaster straight at the specialty Eggrobo. "D-don't come any closer... o-or I'll..."

"You'll what, munchkin?~" The Eggrobo taunted. "Try to fight me with the little peashooter of your arm? That's just adorable.~"

"N-not any closer!" Cream stammered, her robotic arm trembling a bit. "I-I'll... I'll..."

Heavy Magician merely giggled again, soon summoning a large box above herself. "Well... you certainly seem less confident in your own abilities..." She said, soon floating into the box as it closed around her. "I guess you won't mind if I..." The box would break to the ground, shattering as mist filled the arena. Cream motioned to Cheese as the Hero Chao took Chocola from her arm and got the injured Chao out of there. Cream's breathing tightened as she could finally see what came out of the box, and it was...

...herself.

Well... not quite; it was like she was looking into a corrupted mirror of sorts. The copycat Cream in front of her had a dark violet fur, the normally orange accents a stark dark red in contrast. The left eye seemed to be nearly gouged out, a red bloody mess in its place as a black liquid seemed to seep from the tear ducts of the eyes. The one eye that was still visible looked dead and lifeless, all the color drained from the iris as it stared back at the rabbot in front of her. The body was a complete reflection of Cream's; the right arm being the robotic one instead of the left. Dried red staining marred the robotic legs and part of the robotic arm.

"...borrow this for a while?" The corrupted Cream said, looking at Cream with a smile filled with malice.

"Wh... wh..." Cream stammered, backing up, back against the wall.

"Oh don't worry sweetie~" The corrupted Cream responded, aiming it's arm straight at the rabbot's head. "I'll make this as quick and painless as possible!" The fist would rocket forward as if to crush Cream's skull underneath its force, but the rabbot dodged out of the way and began to sprint across the arena for the exit.

"Oooohohohoh, no you don't!" The corrupted Cream giggled, soon blasting the entryways shut, leaving Cream trapped. Worse enough, the damage to the room caused it to start building up water...

Cream gulped, soon having to dodge out of the way of another of her corrupted counterpart's punches with the robotic arm. The crazed look in her counterpart's eye mean she wanted her dead, and she wasn't about to abide to that anytime soon. Gripping tightly, she soon threw her first punch of the fight, clocking her faker right across the face. She cringed at feeling the blood from the faker's face running down her metallic arm, but she didn't care anymore

It was kill or be killed.

Leaping back, she'd activate the energy blaster as the center of her arm started to fire out shots at the impostor in front of her. The corrupted Cream grinned wildly as she lept back, soon retaliating with her own energy blast barrage as the red heat shots went right for the rabbot. Cream swallowed hard and lept away, soon charging a rocket punch and flying straight for her double. The double met it with a punch of her own, but then followed it up with a hydraulic spring kick from one of her feet, sending Cream flying into the back wall with enough force to crack the concrete itself. The rabbot fell to the ground, feeling like her back was shattered a bit from the impact to the wall. She struggled to get up as the faker readied another energy blast for her, soon firing it off right at the downed rabbot. Cream gritted her teeth as she struggled to get up, using her arm to activate an energy shield around her body as the shot impacted it, narrowly having her avoid harm.

"Now why are you making things so difficult?~" The impostor Cream said, giggling maliciously in a way that made Cream's skin crawl. "This would all end so much easier if you just gave up!~"

"I-I won't!" Cream stammered. "Not after what Eggman did t-"

She soon felt a sharp slap across her face from the impostor's robotic hand as it glared down at her. "You will NOT insult the High Robotnik with such slander as that name!" The impostor barked. "Now on your knees!"

"N-No!" Cream said, her heart starting to race. "I won't!"

"Keep resisting and I'll make this unsavory for you..~" The impostor growled, holding the blaster to Cream's head. "Now on. Your. Knees."

And right then, right there, Cream couldn't take any more of the abuse of the fight.

"FUCK YOU!" Cream screamed, jamming her robotic arm into her impostor and launching a massive energy blast that blasted her away. "Leave me alone!"

"Ghhhh..." The fake Cream growled, holding its chest. "You really dare to defy the empire?"

"As long as there's still people to fight, there's still hope for Mobius and Avalice!" Cream said, clenching her fists. "We won't ever give up! We won't ever surrender! So long as everyone stands united against people like you!"

"Ghhh... hmhmhmhmhmhm..." The fake Cream started to laugh to herself. "Hhhhahahahahahah... Aaaahahahahahahhahah..."

"Wh-what's so funny?!" Cream said, keeping her arm trained on her corrupted copy.

"You say that they'll stand united?" The copy said, soon showing that her one eye had gone black, a red pupil inside it. Soon enough the back of the faker rabbot's outfit burst open as large mechanical spider legs and crawed arms came out of the back. The tattered clothing fell away as the faker's head spun 180 degrees, the ears changing into chained spikeballs. The red eye would stare back down at the rabbot, the pupil twitching violently as a sharp toothy grin appeared on the now completely twisted copy's face. "They'll just have to stand united without you..." She giggled in her now distorted voice.

Cream felt her heart rate spike, her adrenaline starting to rush to her head as her blaster got ready.

"I'm not scared... I'm not scared...!" Cream said, a newfound determination burning in her eyes. "I'm not scared!"

With that, the mechanical spider-like Cream fake lunged for the real rabbot, the pincers primed for a kill. Cream would dodge roll to the side before using her robotic arm and gripping one of the legs, tearing it off with the enhanced strength of the robotics. The faker screeched before the craw shot straight for her. Cream gasped before leaping back, the craw slicing straight through her overall leg and into her leg. Cream inhaled in pain as she felt the weight of the limb start to set in, feeling the sparks giving power lapses to it every so often. With a half-dead limb, Cream knew she'd have a lot of a harder time to dodge the assault from the faker. With a loud screech, the mechanical spider would rush forward at Cream, swinging its spike-ball ears with intent to crush the rabbot. Cream lunged to the side out of the way of the massive spikeballs as her robotic hand grabbed the massive mass of iron and steel and lifted it up in her arm. Gritting her teeth, she'd run full force before slamming straight into the mech, launching it backwards against the wall as the roof started to collapse above them.

"Oh no..." Cream swallowed to herself as the building started to collapse, the faker Cream reverting back to Heavy Magician.

"Well, at the very least I can take you down here with me.~" Magician spoke, soon taking off her hat as missiles were flung into the ceiling. "Now goodbye sweetie~" She said, before pulling herself into her hat and disappearing in a puff a smoke. The ceiling would begin to collapse as large chunks of rock would crash to the ground. Cream gasped as she raised her energy shield as she was soon covered in the rubble...

The rabbot coughed, pushing the rubble off of her as she struggled to climb out of the collapsed crater. "Owww..." She moaned, holding her leg in pain. It had lost power at this point; it was dead weight. Panting, she'd limp along as she tried to navigate the rubble...

"Chao chao!" A cry sounded as Cheese came back down over through the ceiling of the sewer.

"D-don't worry Cheese..." Cream said. "I'll be fine..." She limped towards the opening in the ceiling before raising her robotic arm upwards, firing off her fist as a grappling hook as it latched onto an exposed pole, slowly reeling herself up out of the pit...

"I-is Chocola going to be alright?" Cream asked the hero Chao.

"Chao..." Cheese said sadly, looking dejected.

"Oh..." Cream said, looking sad. "He's that badly hurt?"

"Chao..." Cheese glumly responded. It seemed like the little Chao was going to burst into tears any second...

"..." Cream was silent as she soon pulled the hero Chao in and hugged him to her chest. "Don't worry Cheese..." She whispered into the Chao's ear.

"We'll get through this... together."


Explosions would rack across the city and highways as Aaron and Tangle tore through most of the enemy Badnik forces, scrap metal flying like mad before Aaron took off after one of the giant roaming sentinels.

"Aaron!" Tangle yelled. "What in the hell are you doing?!"

"If we can take down one of these things, it's definitely gonna leave a dent in their forces!" Aaron yelled back, soon leaping up the gigantic robotic mech. Tangle growled to herself as her tail bashed another oncoming Egg Pawn before she took off after the lion. With the lumbering mech setting its sights on another laser blast of the city skyline, Aaron saw this as the perfect opportunity to take off up the back of the sentinel's legs, soon gripping onto the gigantic rear end of the massive mech. With his hands soon igniting, he'd soon start burning straight into the rear end of the gigantic mech. The mech would start to go haywire as it seemed to slowly flail around as if something was going wrong with it before it fell backwards, the weight of the mech causing the entire thing to crumple from the force it hit the ground at. Tangle skidded to a halt as she saw the wreckage in a complete slag heap, Aaron soon burning through the slag heap and coming out on top.

"See, I told ya there was no problem!" Aaron said, smirking cockily.

Tangle sighed in relief. "We really can't risk something like that Aaron!" The lemur said. "What if Egghead's forces start coming after us even harder?"

"Please, you really think he's gonna be that difficult?" Aaron commented.

"Get serious Aaron!" Tangle said. "I may want to thrash these bots just as much as you do, but we can't do this like this! This type of chaos could potentially jeopardize this entire situation!"

"I'm sure we can handle it." Aaron said, soon seeing a swarm of Artificial Chaos flying over the city. "Oh, wouldja look at that? Looks like the backup regime is right on schedule!"

"That is a large mob of Artificial Chaos..." Tangle said. "You sure we can take those?"

"Please, a little amount of water buckets aren't gonna slow me down!" Aaron said, lunging forward towards the horde of robots. "Now let's make some noise!"

Tangle sighed, taking off after the lion as she soon coiled her tail and sprang into the air, swinging her tail in a top-like motion as she tore through several of the floating heads. Aaron's fists ignited as it slammed through several more mechanical beasts as the Artificial Chaos swarmed in more...

Soon enough a larger water blob would splash down into the ruined plaza where the duo was fighting, causing the two to leap back in shock as the water started to form into a figure...

"Chaos!" Tangle yelled, backing up, seeing the bony structures in his arms. "And he's in his 2 form!"

Right after Tangle said that, the water blob would summon the other nearby artificial Chaos around it, forming some kind of protective shielding around him as he lumbered forward towards the two.

"Got any ideas?" Tangle said to Aaron.

"Throw me." Aaron said.

"What?"

"Throw me at the heads!" Aaron yelled as Chaos 2 lunged at the two, causing Aaron and Tangle to split across the arena. "If I can take them down, there might be way to strike directly!"

Tangle grit her teeth, extending her tail to the lion. "Grab on then!" She yelled As Aaron curled up into Tangle's hand at the end of her tail before she hurtled her straight towards the Artificial Chaos heads, tearing through at least three of the ten heads forming the shield. Aaron would rebound off the far wall using his feet, going for another head before the watery tentacles slapped him away, causing him to hit the ground hard. Aaron growled in pain as he dodged backwards, the tentacles piercing the ground where he was before. Throwing fireballs as a distraction, he'd soon look over to Tangle to signal for a sneak attack, which she picked up on. Slinking around behind the massive watery creature, she soon went on the attack, smashing up four more of the Artificial Chaos heads. But this left her wide open, which caused her to get flung by the watery tentacles to the side into a wall.

"You alright?!" Aaron yelled, before he got slapped aside as well into another wall.

"Uuuugh..." Tangle growled. "Does it look like it- AACK!" She screamed, soon gripped by the watery arm of Chaos 2 as the bony endoskeleton arm tightened around her throat, the lemur thrashing to get free.

"Hold on!" Aaron said, rushing for the arm as he tackled the stone in the central bony structure. Chaos 2 would screech in pain as it released Tangle from its grip, staggering backwards and glaring straight for Aaron . The lion would set the lemur down away from the fight as he soon returned to it, arms ignited and ready to fight. Chaos 2 morphed into the giant watery orb and started bouncing towards the feline, intending to crush him. Aaron dodge-rolled to the side and delivered a flaming punch to the orb, but then felt a recoil as the shield from the heads shocked him, throwing him backwards back as well. Chaos 2 would collide against the wall and bounce to the ground, reforming back into the normal form as the Artificial Chaos came back down to shield him again. The lion growled as he cloaked himself in flames before charging right at the watery god figure, roaring in anger.

Chaos 2 merely smashed him out of the way, landing him in a pile next to Tangle.

"Aaagh..." The lion moaned, breathing hard. Gritting his teeth, he'd struggle to get up as Tangle did the same, her tail twitching violently as she glared down the watery being.

"Alright asshole..." She growled. "You want a fight? You got one!" Her tail would lash out and grab a chunk of rubble, soon slinging it fast and hard at the remaining Artificial Chaos heads as the rubble crashed through them, taking down Chaos 2's shield in the process. The lemur, not letting her opportunity go to waste, soon sprung into action as she coiled her tail and used it to rocket forward, slamming it in straight into Chaos 2's brain. The large creature reared back in pain before it's eyes flashed, and then suddenly the terrain underneath the group gave way, sending them plummeting into the sewer basin below...

Tangle managed to land on a floating manhole above the water's surface, she swallowed hard looking over the edge; she didn't wanna know how deep that water went. Quickly panic-reacting, she'd extend her tail and grab Aaron right as he fell before she pulled him to her side.

"You alright?" Tangle asked.

"A little bruised..." Aaron moaned as the watery lake below rumbled as a section of it glowed magenta.

"Looks like he's going for a round two..." Tangle spoke. "Let's give him hell."

Soon enough, the newly evolved Chaos 4 would leap out of the water, arms extended as the re-entry into the water kicked up a lot of splashwaves, causing several of the other platforms to sink in the process. Tangle gritted her teeth as she moved fast, soon using her tail as a grapple to swing off an exposed overhanging pipe to another floating platform as Aaron used the walls to his advantage to avoid the sinking platform.

"Stay spread out!" Tangle yelled. "There's no way he can target us both when we're like this!"

Aaron nodded, but the flailed as he felt the platform rising from under him, Chaos 4's watery claws lifting the platform up as he surfaced. Tangle soon sprang into actrion as her tail clenched hard into the back wall, coiling up tighter than anything she had done before rocketing forward fast and hard, slamming straight into Chaos 4's brain stem as he burst open into several tiny water bubbles that sunk back into the murky sewer depths. Rebounding off the wall, Tangle would land back on her feet on the same platform Aaron was on.

"And she sticks the landing!" Aaron commented, getting a grin out of the lemur. Though the grin wouldn't stick for long as the platform started rumbling again, causing the two to dodge out of the way as the platform rocketed up from the water geyser underneath. Leaping to another platform, Tangle would not stay still for a second as she soon launched herself off to the next platform. Gritting her teeth, she'd soon see four large Chaos bubbles rising up out of the water as they started blasting after the lemur. Tangle tensed up as she flung herself to the next platform as each water ball collided with the wall, dispersing back into the water. As soon as the fourth ball collided with the wall, Chaos 4 reformed and attempted to arm slash at the lemur... before getting struck in the brain stem by Aaron. Chaos 4 dispersed back into the water again before the platforms starting getting burst into the air by the water geysers again.

"I think one more solid hit on him oughta put him outta commission!" Tangle said. Aaron nodded to her right as Chaos 4 burst up from the water and flipped, splashing down into the water again, creating more splash waves as the platforms sank. Tangle and Aaron split up yet again, keeping separate as Chaos 4 started to target the lemur again. Gritting her teeth, she'd swing off of the hanging pipes before slamming her feet and rebounding off the wall, dodging out of the way of a watery claw slash. The lemur grit her teeth as soon she launched herself straight for Chaos 4 again, intending to end this fight for good...

..and then was caught off guard as the liquidy being intercepted her attack and attempted to hold her underneath the murky wet. Tangle struggled as she tried to break free of the grasp of Chaos 4...

...and then Aaron slammed his foot right into the brainstem of Chaos 4, causing him to release his grip on Tangle. The watery creature would explode into several fragments as Aaron would get Tangle out of the sewer system.

"Hey, you alright?" Aaron asked.

"Y-yeah..." Tangle said. "Thanks for saving me back there..."

Aaron nodded. "Anything for a teammate." He said, before getting a notification on his comm unit. "Aaron and Tangle of Badnik Wreckage, what's up?"

"Is everything alright over there?!" Amy exclaimed in a panicked tone. "We just got massive spikes of energy over there a few minutes ago! You two aren't hurt are you?!"

"Naaah, just a little run in with Chaos, that's all-" Tangle started, before she was interrupted.

"CH-CHAOS?!" Amy squeaked. "Oh jeez! R-regroup now! I can't risk you guys fighting him again in this state!"

"But-"

"Guys, please!" Amy said. "With the risk of Infinite running around and potentially doing anything with his power, he could've turned him into Perfect Chaos for all we know! Get out of there!"

"...alright." Aaron said, ending the comm unit. "Hold on Tangle."

"Roger..." The lemur said as the lion made his way across the ruins towards Amy's location...


"I think that oughta be the last of 'em!" Vector said as his jaws crunched the remaining Egg Pawn in the area. "Charmy, ya got the visuals up there?"

"Yeah, I think I got it!" Charmy said. "We got 'em on the run! I think part of your team's fight with Chaos must've driven 'em off!"

"Excellent." Espio said. "That should keep Station Square cleared for now... Amy?"

"I'm alright." The female hedgehog said. "I get this sinking feeling though... something else must have been driving them out. I'm not sure even with our small group size we'd be driving them out like that..."

Espio's eyes would soon dart to the rooftops, seeing the cloaked figure above as it turned and darted from view. "Well then, I think I can see who was the cause...!" He said, soon disappearing as the leaves surrounded him.

The figure would still be rushing across the rooftops as Espio then rematerialized right in front of them, kunai brandished at the ready as Charmy, Vector and Amy came in from behind. The masked figure, glancing from left to right, seeing their escape route was completely blocked out.

"Nowhere to run." Espio said. "You were the one responsible for Eggman's forces retreating, weren't you?"

"..." The masked figure remained silent, glancing between the two sides.

"Explain yourself. Now." Vector said.

"...very well." The voice said, moving the technological kabuki mask to show a female canine face of a wolf, brown muzzle and biscotti fur with a patch of white outlining her sharp eyes. "I do not like speaking for long. That man's eyes are everywhere."

"Just who are you?" Amy asked.

"You can call me as 'Whisper'." The wolf said quietly. "We not stay here for long. They could be coming back any second."

"But you sent them on the run!" Charmy exclaimed. "With all of us, there's no way they could be coming ba-"

"You don't understand!" The wolf said. "That army could be marching themselves back here a hundred times stronger as we speak. The longer we stay, the more li-"

"O-oh my god! WHISPER?!" A new voice said, one that the wolf recognized.

"Tangle?!" The wolf exclaimed, raising her voice for the first time since the encounter as the lemur tackled her into a bear-hug.

"Oh my god girl! You're alive!" Tangle exclaimed as Aaron finally came onto the scene. "I though those metalheads got to you first!"

Whisper merely shook her head. "They may have numbers, but they lack intelligence." The wolf spoke, looking to the rest of the group. "We need to move. Now. Longer we stay, more likely we die."

Amy nodded, hitting up her comm. "Cream? Gemerl? Are you two there?"

"Yes, Amy?" Gemerl answered from the comm unit.

"They're on the run now, we need to head back to base." Amy answered. "Where's-"

"We're already back after rescuing our civilians, Amy." Gemerl said. "Unfortunately, Cream has had a nasty run-in with one of those 'HBH' and her leg has lost power. She's currently resting up here while Sven attempts to fix it-"

At that point what sounded like a short circuit happened in the background followed by something wooden breaking.

"Key word being 'attempt'." Gemerl dryly added. "We shall await your group's return."

"Understood, Amy out." The pink hedgehog said, looking to the group. "Alright Resistance, let's regroup back at base."


It wasn't long before Amy and co. returned to the hidden base of Mobius Resistance HQ. Whisper, despite her not talking much, semmed to be much more aloof than anyone else in the base... except to Tangle, who was the only one who managed to get her to talk regularly. Amy figured those two had a past with eachother which was why they were on such good terms with one another, but she didn't want to pry into matters that weren't hers.

Unless it was Eggman's. Then she didn't care.

"So... how's the leg?" Amy asked Cream as she got off the bench.

"I-it's still a little twitchy, but..." Cream spoke. "I think I'll be able to pull through."

Amy nodded, remaining silent for a bit until she spoke. "...I'm proud of you Cream."

"Hm?" The rabbot asked.

"Standing up for yourself against one of Eggman's elite..." Amy said. "You've truly come far as a Freedom Fighter, haven't you?"

Cream sadly smiled, nodding. "Yeah..." Her smile would soon fade though. "I'm worried about what happened though... I don't know if Chocola's going to make it... He was hurt badly when Cheese and I found him in that sewer..."

"I know how much he means to his brother..." Amy said. "And hey, remember Cream."

"Yeah?" The rabbot asked, looking into the hedgehog's eyes.

"If you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'm always here for you, okay?" Amy answered.

Cream smiled as she hugged Amy tightly. "Th-thank you... Amy..."

"It's what friends do..." Amy said, before Knuckles came in.

"Uh... I ain't interrupting anything, am I?" The echidna asked, causing both parties to look at him.

"What is it Knuckles?" Amy asked.

"Y'know that weird gemstone thing that Zeena brought that reacted when Milla touched it?" Knuckles said.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"We're getting similar readings coming from the southern side of Mystic Jungle." Knuckles said, crossing his arms. "I've already sent out Milla and Sven to check out that signal."

Amy grew concerned. "I know Sven's going to be okay considering his enginuity he's shown before, but Milla?"

"She hasn't gotten time out in the sun ever since her fight with Infinite." Knuckles said. "I think she could use the fresh air instead of being cooped up here constantly."

Amy sighed. "If you say so..."


With a new ally of their cause in the form of Whisper and driving out Station Square of Eggman's forces, things are starting to turn around a bit for the Resistance. However, what are those new energy readings coming off from the Mystic Jungle? Find out next time in Chapter 15: "Reunion at Last"...