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

Chapter 18: 20,000 Leagues Under the Oil Ocean


Badniks were scampering about the base's lavender floorings as the Egg Pawns were driving the cargo recently offloaded from the ship towards Storage Bay 2-X-B. However, unbeknownst to the robots would there be some contraband along for the ride. Soon enough the large bay doors opened up as the cargo was unloaded, being placed in a rather meticulous order around the room in sorting before they stepped back, looking over the crates one last time before heading back to the cart, the Wisp capsules still on board with the squirming scared aliens inside them.

"Hey, uh, weren't we supposed to offload the Wisp things here?" One of the Egg Pawns said.

"No, dummy!" Another one said, smacking him upside the head. "King's orders were to take these things to the main generators! Otherwise we're gonna lose power to this entire place!"

"But we have oil."

"That crap is way too coarse for using as fuel! If it lit on fire, it'd probably blow up the entire base!" The one Egg Pawn said. "What do you think we're making all those Firebreaths for?!"

"Ooooooohh..." The other Egg Pawn said as the cart drove away and the massive bay doors shut, leaving the room in silence... before a light thumping would be heard as the vixen's boot smashed open the side of the crate, her and the hare crawling out of the side of it facing away from the door as to not leave evidence of their intrusion.

"Good thinking with the hiding spot." Hanna spoke. "I don't even thing those slag heaps know we're here."

"Well, we can't risk them knowing we're here." Rob spoke. "Chances are those hallways are going to be crawling with Badnik guards. We need an alternate route into another room."

"Vents?"

"Vents." Rob answered, starting to look around the room. "Though... we may not be lucky since storage rooms like these wouldn't have a need for a ventilation shaft."

"So what other choice do we really have? I highly doubt that either of us can disguise as a Badnik well enough." Hanna spoke. "Metal bulky parts just don't match my element, or my frame for that matter."

"We'll just have to hide cautiously." Rob said as Hanna's ear twitched, turning towards the door.

"There's more coming." She said. "We need a plan, now."

"Hide under their cargo transport." Rob answered as the doors slowly opened, the two getting on either side as the next cargo cart came in. Keeping still and silent, once the massive cart came through the door, both Hanna and Rob would roll underneath the vehicle, gripping to the underside chasis and keeping a firm hold as soon the cart would back out from the hold and move off down the corridor again, the vixen's tail twitching in anxiousness as she soon looked down at the stainless steel ground below her... only to also see through glass windows into the oily ocean below them if it wasn't the seafloor. Hanna swallowed hard at her realization of what this base really was.

Rob's ear twitched a bit as he could sense the discomfort of his partner. He motioned to her to calm down before soon seeing what looked like an alcove the two could hide in. Grabbing her wrist, the two would dive out from underneath the cart without being seen by any other robots within the immediate area. Feeling his heart rate finally starting to lower ever since this infiltration started because of Hanna's rash action, Rob would finally look at their current loaction... and see why Hanna's discomfort was so evident. The lavender and gold walls, the gold and green piping running from the hanging ceiling, the security cameras...

This was clearly Eggman's own interpretation of Brevon's old Thermal Base from Avalice.

But the chances were he already learning from the warlord's mistakes.

Rob grit his teeth, looking to Hanna. "We've got some recording to do."

The vixen nodded in response. "Right." She said, as the two snuck off into the base...


More Octus units would be scanning across the corridors as they kept their optics open, only to soon be burst by a laser shot that ricocheted off the walls and pierced through each one, taking them down altogether. Keeping her composure, Whisper shifted the position of her gun back into the neutral position before the two took off deeper into the corridors, soon seeing the newer model Egg Pawns coming after them in a wave-like fashion. Tangle, sticking to her instincts, swirled her tail in a top like motion, smashing through several of the robotic shells as they fell into a pile. The two would round a corner as they ducked behind a wall, letting more of the stampeding Egg Pawns run past without them knowing of their location.

"Well, we've certainly distracted them." Whisper spoke. "Not in the way I would have preferred to though..."

"It'll keep them off our backs for a while, won't they?" Tangle said.

"Yes, but now the base is on a high-strung alert." Whisper countered. "We didn't need the raise for an alarm cause. Now move."

"Right." Tangle said as the two took off into the next corridor, soon finding the open pipes of oil running through the floor. Soon sliding across the corridor, Whisper made a mental note to keep track of these open pipes; she had a gut feeling it might come in handy later.

Skidding around the corner, Whisper rolled up to behind an outcropping in the wall as Tangle met up by her side. Repositioning her mask, she'd look through the optic to soon see at least four confirmed hostiles up ahead, Egg Pawns for sure. She grit her teeth; this was going to be harder than she thought. She needed a way to take out all four of them at once...

It dawned on her, and quickly she shifted her weapon as it shifted to a darker black hue before taking a shot at the group of pawns. The gun would spit out a small orb-like projectile as it landed in the center of the four Pawns. One would look down to look at it.

And then it exploded, making short work of the Pawns as Whispter and Tangle made their way up to the next door.

"How much further we got?" Tangle asked.

Whisper checked the scanner on her mask. "...fifteen-hundred meters downwards."

"Greeeeat." Tangle said. "Better hope we find more elevators; I am NOT looking forward to taking the stairs. "

"Would you stop with the snide comments already?" The wolf growled. "How can you be cracking wiseass comments in dire time such as this?"

"You seriously need to get that stick out of your rear end." Tangle spoke. "Seriously, I knew you before Eggman's takeover, and now you're this? Whatever happened to that shy socially-awkward wolf I met in Mystic Jungle all those years ago?"

"War, that's what!" Whisper barked, nearly clocking the lemur in the face as she whipped around. "I don't know if you've been paying attention, but this is a crisis we have on our hands. Everyone's lives, yours, mine, the Resistance's, it all depends on whether or not we win this fight! Cockiness leads to arrogance, arrogance leads to downfall!"

"Maybe, but being pretentious and so serious it hurts doesn't help either." Tangle shot back. "This isn't you Whisper. I know this isn't you-"

"What do you know?!" Whisper growled back, her voice rising for the first time ever since she joined the Resistance. "Acting all carefree in the face of danger isn't 'strategy', it's just going to get yourself killed!"

"Well being uptight and not knowing when to relax can also get you killed!" Tangle shot back.

"How would you know?!" Whisper yelled.

"BECAUSE ITS WHAT KILLED MY MOM!" Tangle yelled, soon angrily slamming Whisper across the hallway with her tail, her frame trembling. The wolf had the wind knocked out of her as she hit the back wall, her weapon falling to her side as she remained motionless.

"Wh... Whisper?" Tangle asked, soon rushing over to check the wolf's pulse...

She didn't feel one.

Tangle felt a pang at her heart freeze. "Oh... oh gods... Wh-Whisper... I..." She stammered, soon realizing the gravity of what she just did. Feeling her courage fleeting her in an instant, she took off away from Whisper's motionless form; she couldn't stand to see what she had done to her...

That was, until Whisper soon squirmed and sat up, holding her head in pain.

"Nnngghh..." She moaned, soon opening her eyes to see that Tangle was gone. "...shit." She breathed, and soon rushed off to find the lemur, sliding down the mechanical hallways as soon large screens came on in the halls, showing none other than Heavy King's face on the screen.

"Attention troops." King's voice spoke over the screens as Whisper continued her rush down the corridors in search of Tangle. "It appears we have some... 'unwanted guests' snooping around where their noses do not belong. Should anyone see these two little Resistance-affiliated rats, do not hesitate in using full force to subdue them. And whomever you find of the rats, bring them directly to me."

Whisper grit her teeth as she overheard the oversized Eggrobo talking. "We'll see how long you keep that bravado up once I'm through with your defenses..."

Though with Tangle, she didn't get too far before she soon found her... currently trapped in a chokehold by Heavy Shinobi. Before the wolf could even attempt to get a shot in on the robot, he vanished in a blast of smoke, leaving no trace he and Tangle were even there...

The wolf grit her teeth; finding her ally was going to be much harder than she anticipated...


"Nnnnggghh..." The lemur moaned, her vision blurry as she tried to move her hands to wipe her eyes... only to find she couldn't move them. Worry started to grip her as she struggled to move, soon finding out she had been restrained to what felt like a metal table of some sorts, adjustable from a computer console nearby. Part of her cockiness came back, she could just reach over and-

'...why isn't my tail responding?' The lemur thought, the panic starting to set back in as she soon saw it was heavily restrained, much more so than her arms, legs or torso. She squirmed hard, trying to break free of her restraints before a voice interrupted her thoughts.

"I would advise against doing that." A voice said as a figure stepped out from the dark, revealing it to be none other than Heavy King. "After all, the life expectancy of your little Resistance pests are... not that high, let's put it."

"Let me go you sadistic bag of bolts!" Tangle growled, trying to squirm out of the restraints, only to soon feel them tighten harder.

"Hmph... you're certainly not one for playing by the rules." King spoke, his tone ominous and chilling. "However, I will not tolerate any sort of foul play from your mouth, so do not expect any mercy should you decide to defy me."

Tangle spat in King's face, earning a very unamused glare from him before a smash came across the side of her face with the blunt end of his sceptre. "...very well then, if that's how you're wanting to play, then I can accommodate for your... primitive methods." He spoke, a hint of acid in his sinister tone as he turned to the console. "Shinobi. Activate it."

"Understood, King." The other Hard Boiled Heavy spoke as the console soon fired up, a low hum filling the room with crackling sounds as King stared down at the lemur, who was still trying to squirm free. a small capsule would descend out of the top of the room, encased in it was an Ivory Wisp, still trying to throw itself against the glass to break free.

"Now then..." King spoke, his red optics almost burrowing into Tangle's soul. "Where are they?"

Tangle glared back. "Where are what?"

"The Chaos Emeralds that are claimed property of the Holy Robotnik Regime." King spoke back. "And I suggest you choose your next words wisely..."

"Like hell they're yours!" Tangle angrily said, not even flinching at Heavy King's threat.

"...hmph, very well then." Heavy King said. "You just need a little... 'coercing'." His optics would then look to Heavy Shinobi. "Set the bar for the lowest voltage."

Tangle froze up. 'Voltage?' She thought, trying to squirm more before the electricity coursed through her veins at a low painful input, feeling her veins burning from the inside as tears started to flow, her lungs not getting the air. The voltage soon stopped, Tangle slacking on the board, panting heavily and in pain.

"I'll ask again." King spoke, his tone remaining ominous. "Where is our property?"

"Ggghhh..." Tangle merely gurgled out. "I-If you think I-I'm gonna stoop as low as to be begging from torture, you got another thing coming, asshole!" Tangle growled in response.

"...another shock. Higher voltage." King merely responded before Tangle shrieked in agony from the volts flowing through her, feeling her skin burning inside and her muscles aching in writing pain as the volts unnaturally coursed through her body. The voltage shut off again as Tangle slumped once more, breathing heavily from the pain.

"Your stubbornness is amusing, but really, you're wasting my time here." Heavy King spoke. "Since you seem so uncooperative in telling me the location of the Emeralds, I'll move on to a better topic; where is the location of your Resistance's base?"

"U-up your ass..." Tangle coughed out.

Heavy King would merely glare at the lemur before backhanding her hard across the face, drawing blood from her nose as it streamed down the from of her muzzle before Shinobi activated the electricity again, this time her screams becoming unbearable as the blood from her nosebleed splattered all across the room.

"Eugh, now that's just disgusting." King spoke. "First you refuse to disclose the locations of the Emeralds or your base, and now you decide to bleed all over the interrogation room?"

Tangle merely grit her teeth. "Go... to hell... you sadistic scrap metal..." She choked out.

"...have it your way then." King spoke, turning to Shinobi. "Max charge."

Shinobi nodded, as soon the slab and Tangle were lit up with coursing hot white electricity. She screamed in complete agony as the burning smell started to come in... and then the electricity stopped, Tangle passed out unconscious from the electrocution and blood loss...

"Hmph, disappointing." King spoke, turning and heading for the door.

"And of the runt?" Shinobi asked.

"Leave her." King merely responded. "she's of no use to us right now, and I'm not risking an escape like with what happened with that Corazon brat when Lord Robotnik handed off Sonic and Sash to her. She is to be detained here at all times, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir." Shinobi spoke, bowing slightly.

"Good." King spoke as the two left the room, leaving the unconscious broken Tangle to herself...


The lower engines would be like a blast furnace as the heat expelled outwards into the large chambers from the pistons, the lower generator rooms acting like a swelter system. Needless to day, Hanna wasn't exactly too thrilled when she and Rob managed to find their way into here.

"Ancestors, it at least has to be a thousand fuckin' degrees in here..." Hanna growled. "Remind me why we're in this sector of the base again?"

"We need to get those creatures out." Rob spoke. "Doesn't matter what they are, they can't just be genociding an entire species for a fuel for a base."

"Point fuckin' taken, now how the hell are we supposed to go about doing it without letting the whole damn place know we're here?" Hanna shot back. "If we take out the power here, we're gonna get seen y'know."

"Well, you got any other plans?" Rob asked.

"Does it look like I do?" Hanna retorted.

"No." Rob flatly answered.

"Fair enough." Hanna spoke, seeing the magma flowing through the outer container walls. "First things first, let's find the creepy little buggers."

"Well, looks like that might be our first lead." Rob said, pointing off towards a ceiling direction of the room. Hanna would soon turn to see a capsule of the cyan Wisps being pulled along a ceiling crane belt towards an opening into another room.

"Duly noted." Hanna spoke before she took off, soon leaping up onto the higher contraptions as they worked away in synchronocy, pumping the magma as they rose and fell. The vixen would be making quick leaps between the platforms as they bobbed and weaved, soon enough whipping around a pole-like structure as she soon landed straight into the corridor for the crane's hauling. Rob would be up not long after that, and soon the two would be moving through the small holding corridor before they entered into the next room, sliding down the massive pipeworks in it as they two rounded a loop in the piping. Skidding to a halt, large bursts of flame would come up from dark patches, only to be stamped out by the massive pistons from the ceiling. Hanna would point, indicating of the next corridor the Wisp capsule was taken through before the two would go through the piping system and come out in the other room, soon finding what appeared to be where that cyan Wisp capsule was taken.

The Wisps were being dumped into an enormous machine, the glass container holding back their attempts to break out of it as they threw their miniature bodies at it. They were desperate for freedom, as if also evident from their cries. They were terrified. At the bottom of the machine was a claw, soon forcefully grabbing a single Wisp at a time before stuffing each one into a smaller capsule below, the capsules being fed out of the room like an assembly line.

Rob tensed up. "Alright, we need to get this machine shut down. Those creatures in there are no doubt in pain." He spoke, as Hanna went over to the assembly line, looking at the capsuled Wisps.

"Hmmm..." Hanna spoke. "Maybe if we get one of these guys out they could help us burst open the machine itself?"

"I don't know, but we've got to try something." Rob spoke, walking over to the conveyor belt. "Question is... which one do we grab?"

Hanna would look between the conveyor belt capsules... before she grabbed one, a Red Wisp inside the capsule. "This little fire guy looks useful, wanna try it with it?"

"You sure about that?" Rob asked, looking at the Wisp. "I'm not sure what it could be..."

"C'mon! This guy looks like a little fuckin' fireball! How the hell can we not?!" Hanna said bursting open the capsule and setting the Wisp free. "Alright buddy, let's get your friends out of that hunk of junk."

However, the Wisp was so overjoyed that Hanna had freed it that it flew inside Hanna, starting to make her glow red.

"Woahwoahwoahwoah hey! What the hell?!" Hanna yelled. "I didn't consent to thi-" Was the last thing that came out of her mouth before a flash of red enveloped her and she transformed into a large fireball with yellow eyes, soon blasting across the room and releasing explosions across the encapsulating room, the explosions breaking apart the machine like it was nothing...

Soon enough Hanna came crashing back down next to the hare, the Wisp popping out of her as it bubbled in gibberish, happy at the freedom of its friends as Hanna tried to pick herself up off the floor.

"You alright Hanna?" Rob asked as he helped the vixen up.

"Aside from the fact I just had my personal space violated by an alien and turned into a living explosion of fire, yeah, I think I'll be okay." The vixen responded, getting to her feet, seeing the swarms of alien creatures now flying around the room, happy they were free from the machine. "And from the looks of it, these guys will be too."

"Well, we've done what we could." Rob spoke. "Only thing is... how do we get out of the base?"

"Good question." Hanna responded. "Though given we've just released all these guys, the base is gonna go into panic mode. So chances are stealth is now completely out of the question."

"So..."

"Beat the shit out of all the robots in the way?" Hanna said. "Yes. Yes we do."

"Ho boy..." Rob spoke, rolling his eyes. "Well, if we go down here, 's on your head."

"As if I'll get killed here!" Hanna remarked.

"Suit yourself." Rob replied before the two burst through the door to the corridors, letting the Wisps flood out with them...


The wolf would skid around the corner as she fired back at the horde of Egg Pawns chasing after her. How had security gotten tighter after she and Tangle had been separated?! Surely only the few Badniks she scrapped through her mission in here couldn't have set off that large of red flags, has it?

Didn't help that soon several Motobugs would be rounding the corner and charging straight for her. Whisper grit her teeth, switching her weapon's systems as it soon became a hammer, she twirled like a top through the group of Motobugs as they crashed into the walls, blowing apart the Badniks. Keeping her momentum, she'd slam the hammer into the ground as she lept over another set of charging Motobugs before her weapon altered forms and opened fire on the Badniks, three orange missiles coming out of the barrel and exploding on the group of insectoid robots before she landed on the other side.

She'd internally sigh; if attention wasn't drawn to her before, it definitely was now. She kept moving for her own sake; if she slowed down now she'd more than likely be caught. Skidding around the corner, she'd soon see a few Egg Pawns carrying a combined table of Wisp capsules; just her luck! She'd soon have her weapon switched to a new mode again as a pink sawblade was loaded in the front. Keeping her pace, she'd soon slide right under the table, sticking the sawblade up as she'd soon slide right underneath, the table slicing clean in half as the capsules broke on the ground. The Wisps would scamper into the air, some of them immediately flying into the Egg Pawns and making them detonate from the overload of their Hyper-Go-On energy, while others, specifically, an Orange Rocket Wisp, Cyan Laser, Yellow Drill, and Green Hover, went after Whisper herself, soon travelling alongside the wolf.

"Ah, so you're wanting to come along, are you?" Whisper asked the Wisps. Hover would respond in its blurbly gibberish, and Whisper nodded. "Very well. Drill, into my Wispon!" The Yellow Wisp would comply as it flew into Whisper's weapon, the weapon changing form as the front barrel became more pointed and sleek. A synthesized voice from the Wispon would yell out 'DRILL' as soon Whisper took off much faster along the floor of the base's corridors, twirling like a drill along the metallic purple flooring as the other Wisps followed after her. Several Badniks would be attempting to ambush her, but soon would be thrown aside from the Color Power activated in her Wispon, smashing against the walls as the other three Wisps followed suit. Soon enough the Color Power would wear off as the Drill Wisp soon popped out of the Wispon, again following along with the group as Whisper rounded another corner, skidding down the steep slope meant for a lift before leaping off, vaulting herself off the top of another Egg Pawn before the Octus turrets opened fire.

"Down!" Whisper yelled as she slid under the fire, the Wisps following up with the same. "Damnit, with this much fire, I can't find Tangle!"

The Cyan Wisp then flew into the Wispon, activating the next Color Power as the Wispon soon fired of a large reflective laser, bouncing off several walls and crashing through the Octus turrets, shredding them entirely. The Cyan Wisp would fly out of the Wispon, Whisper continuing her run... before a horde of the Badniks would be rushing straight for her.

"Oh shit..." She breathed, skidding to a halt and starting to run the other way. There was no way she could take on that many Badniks at once!

Of course... then she'd hear what sounded like a horde of burbling...

"What?" She asked herself, before her Wisps responded with the same happy burbling.

"Your friends?"

Soon enough the hallways would be flooded with escaping Wisps as the horde soon flew into the Badniks, making them detonate from overloading their circuits with the Hyper-Go-On energy, soon enough making the corridor filled with scrap metal. The several Wisps would be rejoicing in their freed state and destroyed robots as soon Hanna and Rob rounded the corner.

"Damnit, we missed the action again!" Hanna spoke. "I really wanted to scrap some robots this time..."

"Look, we need to find the exit." Rob spoke, before noticing the wolf. "Another Resistance member?"

The wolf nodded. "Whisper. Mobius division."

"Rob Stiil, Avalice Resistance division." Rob answered. "And my partner Hanna."

"Hanna Skarlett, thank you." The vixen spoke. "Either way, wasn't expecting to find another Resistance member in here."

"Tails sent myself and associate to investigate." Whisper spoke. "Associate was kidnapped, and can't find her."

"Well, that certainly ain't good." Hanna spoke. "What, you need help finding her?"

Whisper nodded. "Can't do this alone."

"Well then, where should we start looking?"


Pain. Agony. Regrets. Those were coursing through Tangle's mind as she laid there electrocuted on that board, tears flowing from her eyes. She was going to die here... her hope was gone and so was all that confidence and bravado. This was it; this was her end...

She looked up at the capsule above her with the Ivory Wisp, tears in her eyes. The Wisp was still trying to throw itself against the container it was in, trying to break free as it let out distressed blurbling.

"I-It's okay... little guy..." Tangle barely choked out, feeling the pain coursing through her with every breath she took. "I-it's not y-your fa-ault..." A cough would rip through her system, causing a bit of blood to come up and splatter on the floor. "Y-you didn't h-hurt me... it-it... it's all gon... gonna... be..." Tangle would collapse completely on the board, the pain and agony of her nerves having overloaded her senses and knocked her out...

Though soon a loud banging would come at the door before it was thrown open, Whisper, Hanna, and Rob charging in, along with the few Wisps that were accompanying Whisper. The wolf gasped upon seeing the electrocuted lemur attached to the board, completely unconscious and electrical burns marring her body. Almost instantly she went to work and smashed the restraints off the board while Hanna and Rob smashed open the capsule holding the Wisp, which immediately flitted down to Tangle's side as Whisper held her unconscious body close.

"T-Tangle..." Whisper spoke, tears starting to form in her eyes as she hugged the lemur tightly. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

"Hate to burst your bubble, but we can't dawdle around here!" Hanna said. "Longer we stay here, the more likely we're gonna get fucked over by the horde of robots that's coming after us!"

"Hanna's got a good point." Rob spoke. "Let's get out of here while we still can..."

Whisper nodded as she hoisted Tangle onto her back as the four look off out of the base...


It wasn't long before the three burst out into the open area again, the Wisps flying out and scattering away from Oil Ocean Zone, off to several other points on both planets, aside from the ones that decided to stick with Whisper. Soon enough the three had scaled a large scaffolding and were running across the deck of the large submarine in the drydocks, several of the worker Badniks scurrying off as the three ran through. However, their escape attempt would soon be failed as Heavy Shinobi soon appeared out of the smoke, soon tossing several Asterons as they sliced through the cabling of the ship's drydock supports, causing the ship to collapse down into the ocean itself, floating on the oily surface. After the three tried to get their stability down... they soon felt the oily water rock the ship. It wasn't long before the long pink metallic tentacles shot out of the inky black and gripped tightly around the sub's frame, holding it in place and threatening to take it apart. Soon enough the large Octus head emerged from the oily black ocean as it stared down on the group, the hatch at the top opening to show Heavy King emerging... and not looking too pleased at that.

"Well, you little rats have certainly done your snooping, but that will not be allowed anymore now." King spoke, acid in his tone. "I hope you enjoy a burial at sea; once the oil is done corroding your dead bodies there will be no trace of your existence here anymore."

"As if lead-face!" Hanna growled.

Heavy King would merely glare at Hanna, slamming down one of the Mega Octus's tentacles mere inches from her.

"You know, I think you made him mad..." Rob commented.

"Like I care!" Hanna said.

"Whisper." Rob spoke to the wolf. "Get the hostage to safety. We'll handle this."

"I'll provide cover fire." Whisper spoke before took off for the edge of the sub. Several other tentacles with twirling holed orbs would rise out of the oil before opening fire on the wolf. Whisper grit her teeth as she soon lept off the sub, leaping off the top of the turret orbs as she soon made it to the drydock scaffolding. Scaling it quickly, she'd soon reach an upper platform and set down Whisper and let her rest to the side as she readied her Wispon, setting it to the laser sniper setting as she took aim at the Mega Octus...

"HMPH! Your insolence wears my patience thin!" Heavy King spoke, dipping back into the gigantic Badnik as it resubmerged into the oil. "I will personally make sure you don't survive this!"

"Bring it!" Hanna yelled.

The Octus's tentacles would soon start to try and crunch the ship into pieces. Whisper would immediately fire off several laser snipes at the offending tentacles as they slunk back into the ocean, out of sight. Hanna kept a close guard on the sea as her eyes darted from area to area, before moving as another new tentacle came crashing inwards towards the sub, slamming down hard. Hanna would then proceed to viciously attack the tentacle, laying into with with a flurry of hard-hitting kicks and punches, before it essentially disassembled itself from the damage, the many orbs making it up bouncing back into the oily water.

Rob would grip his sais, eyes darting across the inky water before another tentacle with an orb turret emerged from the oil, ready to open fire on the deck of the sub. Rob would dodge-roll out of the way of the oncoming fire as he soon threw one of his sai at the orb, catching the outer shell and jamming on the turret holes. With it jammed, it attempted to fire again, but this merely resulted in the tentacle blowing apart, throwing the sai back onto the deck as the tentacle collapsed into the oil itself.

"He's certainly persistent." Rob spoke as the main head surfaced a bit aways from them, soon looking skyward as the snout puckered up... before shooting several missiles out of its snout into the air, intending to rain them down on the sub's deck. Hanna tensed up as her tail twitched madly.

"Yo! Wolfy!" Hanna yelled to Whisper. "Think you can take some of those missiles out?!"

Whisper grit her teeth, taking aim at some of the falling missiles as she activated the laser rifle shots again, taking out several of the missiles... but some of them would appear to have harder plating than others.

"Shit!" Hanna yelled. " Nonononono, I am NOT going down with this ship!" She said, soon slamming a roundhouse kick straight into the armored missile, sending it careening back towards the Mega Octus, causing it to rotate on its head axis before it rightened itself, an enraged look on it's face before it sank back into the oil itself.

"We get it?" The vixen asked, rushing to the edge of the sub to look out... only to be answered as a tentacle shot out of the oil and tried to choke her around the neck, looking to pull her in. Rob acted on a panic instinct and slashed at the tentacle as it fell apart, falling back into the oil and nearly taking Hanna with it had Rob not grabbed her and pulled her back.

"I'm gonna take that as a hard 'no'." Rob spoke as the tentacles raised from the oily sea again, soon grabbing at the large oil tanks on the other side of the oily arena and chucking them at the ship.

Hanna gasped. "There's no fuckin' way this sub's gonna survive that!" She yelled.

"Hold on!" Whisper called to them as she changed her Wispon to its rocket launcher mode and opened fire on the large oil tanks, exploding them in the air.

Rob flashed a thumbs-up to Whisper, before turning his attention back to the Mega Octus, which had now resurfaced a minigun barrel formed in its snout as it opened fire on the sub. Both Hanna and Rob scrambled from the bullet fire as Whisper took aim to cripple that snout from firing that minigun.

Shot fired; just narrowly missed the target as it retreated back into the ocean. Damn.

Whisper grit her teeth as she aimed down-scope, trying to get a read of where that Mega Octus went. Her aim darted frantically from point to point in the oily waters, trying to get a read of where that gigantic Badnik sub went...

And soon got her answer in the worst way possible as a spike-tipped tentacle was lunging out of the oil, heading straight for her. The wolf reacted quickly as she soon switched to hammer mode, batting the tentacle away before it could harm her or the already injured Tangle.

"He's aware of me!" Whisper yelled. "I need backup!"

"Shit." Hanna said as she and Rob saw the Mega Octus emerging from the oil and using its tentacles to try and start climbing the drydock scaffolding. "We gotta take that thing down!" She yelled as she rushed for the massive octopus-shaped sub, soon scaling the drydocking to try and tear the mech off of the scaffolding.

"Hanna, wait!" Rob yelled.

But it was too late. Hanna had already pried off a tentacle on the drydock scaffolding, throwing the balance of the mech off as it soon tipped and fell off it, crashing on the hard surfacing of the drydock itself, beginning to explode into pieces.

"FUCK!" Hanna yelled. "I didn't think it'd start exploding like that!"

"IN SUB, NOW!" Whisper yelled as she grabbed Tangle and made a dive off the scaffolding, landing hard on the sub as she rolled across it, scrambling for the hatch as the Wisps accompanying her flew in as well. Soon enough Hanna and Rob would dive in as well as the hatch sealed tightly on it.

From the exploding frame of the Mega Octus, Heavy King would eject into the air, soon warping out of the area back to main base further away on Westside as the exploding Mega Octus sank into the ocean... before the entire ocean violently detonated, sending a massive column of fire into the air and launching most debris into the stratosphere entirely. However, one submarine would come crashing back down into the ocean outside the perimeter of Westside Island, its outside shell utterly charred entirely. The top hatch would open up as Whisper, Hanna, and Rob flopped out onto the top deck, panting exhaustively.

"Holy... ancestors..." Rob breathed. "That... was... WAY too close for comfort."

"Y-yeah..." Hanna panted. "Y-you okay Whisper?"

No response.

"Whisper?"

A noise this time... giggling?

"Uh... you okay Whisper?" Hanna asked, now confused.

At this point Whisper broke down into full-out laughing, tears flowing from her eyes as she just let it out of her system. She laughed for a few minutes before she finally calmed down, almost out of breath.

"Seriously, you okay?" Hanna asked.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine..." Whisper spoke... though her tone was less tense. "Just the adrenaline rush."

Rob nodded. "You got contact to base at all?"

Whisper nodded, sliding her mask down and activating her comm unit...


Everyone had hit the deck in the Resistance base when the explosion incident happened, the explosion hard enough to rock South Island from Westside Island. What the hell was going on over there?!

Though Tails would get the answers as a call came through on the main computer.

"Agent Whisper coming in!" The voice said. "Are you there Tails?"

"Whisper! Are you alright?!" Tails said. "We just felt a massive explosion here not long ago! What's going on over there?!"

"Uh... long story." Hanna's voice spoke over the comm.

"Hanna?!" Tails exclaimed.

"Remember that ship we were on? Well, we got out at Oil Ocean Zone on your planet." Rob spoke. "Turns out that fat bastard had a complete enslavement of some sort of alien race he was going to use as fuel for his base's generators filling up here at the Zone. Man-"

"He had gotten at the Wisps?!" Tails yelled.

"Don't worry; they are free now." Whisper spoke. "And at this point in time, Oil Ocean Zone in of itself is completely leveled."

"Wait. Was that the explosion we felt?!" Amy yelled.

"Yeah... sorry about that." Hanna spoke. "One of his head robots tried to attack us as we were escaping in this gigantic octopus submarine, but the explosion... kinda detonated the entire Zone. Sorry."

Half the group in the base sweatdropped from that statement.

"Well, that's one way to stop his resources..." Knuckles dryly commented.

"E-either way... are you guys on your way back now?" Tails asked.

"We're on our way as we speak." Rob spoke.

"Alright." Tails said. "Get here as soon as possible to rest up."

"We're shipping out early tomorrow morning: got a juicy tidbit that the bad doc's gonna be launching a full scale assault on Empire City on the mainland, and we'll need everyone here for the planning." Carol spoke. "Got it?"

"Yeah yeah, just hold your face." Hanna spoke. "Don't get your tail in a knot."

Hanna grumbled before the communicator cut out.


"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'VE DESTROYED OIL OCEAN AND LET MY BEAUTIFUL WISP POWER SOURCE ESCAPE?!" Robotnik roared, slamming his fists on the console.

"I tell it as it is, mi'lord." Heavy King spoke, bowing. "It appears the fox and hare were hiding on the ship ever since we had departed from Jade Creek. As for how the wolf and lemur got in, that's up in the air."

"I don't care where it is, I am outraged that you and Shinobi had let this happen!" Robotnik growled, gripping tightly to the console. "I am not going to allow any more failure from my topmost elite guard of robots that I painstakingly handcrafted from my own bare hands, do I make myself clear?!"

"Understood, Lord Robotnik." Heavy King spoke.

"Good." The mad doc growled. "Now get yourselves prepared for the invasion of Empire City. They can't be holding out forever."

"Yes, mi'lord." Heavy King spoke before the transmission cut out.


An exploded Oil Ocean, the Wisps freed, and a group completed with their mission; these are the three things that make up a good day for the Resistance. But will their luck run out soon enough with the upcoming defense maneuver at Empire City? Or will they be able to prevail once again with their combined Forces? Find out about the culmination of their efforts in Chapter 19: "Crisis at Capital City"...