"He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not…"
In front of the well in the center of the small village of Creamcheese sat none other than a pink hedgehog wearing a dress as green as an emerald, shimmering brilliantly under bright blue afternoon sky. Though in the distance, a line of clouds was steadily starting to roll in. She was busy plucking the petals off of a daisy one by one in a systematic ritual to decide whether or not one other lucky hedgehog truly loved her. Or would love her as the case would be. Her head was resting against a morbidly obese purple cat with a small non-Mobian frog atop his face and a long fishing pole always at his side. His ears twitched oh so slightly in an effort to acknowledge the outside world, but he soon chose to resume his blissful slumber.
Flying in from the north side of town came a young rabbit in a red and yellow dress who was somehow managing to stay aloft by flapping two giant ears just as large as she was, and she managed to land herself with all of the grace and poise of an expert ballerina. Floating alongside was a small blue creature with an even smaller yellow sphere floating above its' head, who seemed happy just to be with Cream.
"Hello there, Amy!", said the rabbit. "What are you…" It didn't take her long to realize just how Amy was choosing to spend her free time, and as soon as she did, she wasmorbid. "AMY! What are you doing to that poor flower?! It's already lost half of its' petals!"
"Hi Cream!", said Amy. "Sorry, can't talk right now, trying desperately to make sure I get together with my future husband to be! Can you come back later?"
"Come again?"Cream knitted here eyebrows, completely and utterly baffled.
At that moment, the large kitty cat without so much as opening an eyelid or moving a single muscle other than his mouth at long last saw fit to speak up. "She means she thinks she's found the love of her life, even if she's never met the guy. Bit hasty if you ask me."
"Hey," said Amy to the cat, "just because you've never found your one and true super special soulmate doesn't mean I can't! And I know just how I'm gonna find him!"
"How so?", said Cream.
"With this!" Amy pulled out a deck of tarot cards from her pockets, showing them off like bling to one and all. "I dabble in tarot reading every now and then. Keeps me busy when I'm not going for my next big score."
"Come again?"
"She means," said Big, "that she's trying to pass herself off as something she's not and that she's basing her life goals off of something she might as well have seen at a game of poker."
"I DID NOT MEET MY ONE TRUE LOVE THROUGH POKER!", said Amy. "OR WILL NOT, I GUESS. Maybe."
"I think I'm lost," said Cream. "What's going on exactly?"
"Don't you start." Amy growled toward the feline like a wild feral beast.
"Oh," said Cream, "please calm down Miss Amy! I didn't mean to upset you."
"Oh, don't worry about it Cream. Big just doesn't know what he's talking about."
"Eh, whatever," said Big.
"Look. All I know is that when I was performing my tarrots, I saw someone; someone in the back of my mind. Someone I'd always been waiting for. And I'm just sure it's him!"
"You mean," said Cream, "like your soulmate?"
"Yup! I saw that person in a vision and I'm sure he's just the one for me!"
"Do you know what he looks like?"
"Nope."
"Do ya know what he's actually like?" said Big. "Ya know, as a person? Because I think I know what the answer is, and you're not gonna like it."
"Oh shush!" Amy was clearly starting to be bedeviled by her worst enemy of all; reality.
"You haven't actually seen him, have you?"
"Uh, well, that is to say, uh, no. Not really. But I know someone's coming, I just know it! And when he gets here, he's gonna be mine!"
"Whatever you say." At that, Big went right back to sleep.
"I do say! And I say we're destined for each other."
"Well," said Cream, "that's very nice and all Amy, but I must get back home for my daily lessons."
"'Daily lessons?" Amy was at last momentarily jolted from her delusions of grandeur. "What kind of lessons are we talking about here?"
"Hm?" Cream wondered what the trouble was until one look of pure and utter shock on her face was enough to tell Amy that she got the memo. "Oh, no! Nothing like that! Rather, my mother is simply going to teach me more about the fine art of Chao raising."
"Oh!" Amy pointed towards the blue creature now slouching over Cream's shoulder. "You mean like Cheese there?"
"Exactly! I just love Chao! I've practically spent my entire life with them! Of course, so has my mother, which quite probably explains a lot."
"You know, you're twelve years old, Cream. Shouldn't you be doing something other than just learning how to take care of blue plush bags?"
"Don't you dare insult them that way! Although, now that you mention it, there are other things I could be doing with my time. But this is still what I love doing most!"
"Well, have fun with that. Me, I'm gonna keep on chasing the man of my dreams!"
"It's a dream alright," said Big, having woken once again from his slumber.
"Oh, you shush!"
Sonic and Mina with Tails and Johnny in tow had just rushed their way out of the Wood Zone and were now barreling straight through Green Hill. They darted over the checker-square grass, ran along the spiraling roadways placed over lakes and waterfalls, and jumped over all sorts of blocks and long gaping pits. Brown, blocky checkered hills with green, grassy checkered tops were scattered across the plains, and so were large brown and green totem poles that loomed over them like ominous specters. It was as though a rather fantastic checkers player had somehow become God and decided to make this small part of the world in his image. It was mystifying.
"We almost there?", said Sonic.
"Well," said Tails, flying along like a reed in the wind via Mobian chainlink, "at the very least, we were able to get a decent estimate of just where they might be. Not too far away from the village, but not too close. And with Johnny's knowledge of the terrain, we might just be able to find them."
"So," said Mina, racing right alongside Sonic, "you been here often, Johnny?"
"Often enough," said Johnny, carried along by Mina's sheer speed in the same vein as Tales. "Used to visit here more often though. Back when…"
"Uh, back when what?"
"It's nothin', forget I said anything."
"Okay, alright. Just figured I'd ask."
"No, it's alright. It's just not something I want to talk about. Not really."
Just then, a humongous black shadow appeared practically out of thin air, looming over the horizon. Sonic and Mina stopped in their tracks, with Tails and Johnny nearly crashing into them thanks to their momentum, though it wouldn't take them long for them to notice just why they had so completely and utterly stopped.
"Uh, guys?", said Tails. Tails pointed directly up and the rest of the group followed his example, slowly craning their necks upwards to see just what was quite literally hanging over them.
Staring them straight in the face was a massive island floating high in the sky. It was a sight to behold, and if it weren't for the fact that it was passing over them like a cloud, one could swear it was going to crash on top of them any second.
"Well," said Johnny. "That isn't something you see every day."
"Incredible!", said Tails.
"Way past cool!", said Sonic.
"Ohpleasedon'tcrashpleasedon'tcrashpleasedon'tcrash!", said Mina, seeming to forget in her bout of anxiety that she could outrun it like a roadrunner outrunning a coyote.
"To be honest," said Johnny, "I've heard something about this. Legends say there used to be a mighty civilization on Mobius in days past. Well, okay, there was more than one, but this is one a lot of people talk about, and it was somethin' else. They said they combined science and technology to create somethin' they thought was always gonna stand the test of time."
"Guess they weren't so lucky," said Sonic.
"What happened then?", said Mina.
"No-one really knows," said Johnny. "For one reason or another, it just sort of disappeared off the face of the Earth. But some say that it's never really been gone. That one small remnant still exists out there, floating over Mobius and showing herself whenever it suits her. And if the legends are true —- and if experience has taught me anything, it's that the legends are always true - then I think we probably found it."
"In any case," said Tails, "you would have to be either insane or blind to deny what we just saw up there. If nothing else, there's something out there that can't be explained by normal means. Not yet anyway."
The shadow continued moving past them, and the island followed suit. Before long, it would be out of sight and out of their hair.
"Well, that was cool, but we've gotta get moving. You ready, lil' bro?" Sonic stood looking up at the island as it steadily moved further and further out of sight, but much to his surprise and impatience, none came. "Lil' bro?"
Sonic turned around to see Tails frozen in place, almost like a statue. In fact, he had been frozen in such a way that he could have sworn he had seen this somewhere before. Sensing a hunch coming on, he looked at Johnny and Mina. Sure enough, they were just as frozen in time as Tails was. And he had an idea at just what, or rather who, was the cause.
"Hey, orange lady! Yeah, the one with the dreads! I don't got all day! You gonna show yourself or what?!"
And as if beckoned by Sonic's will and sheer stubbornness, there she was, standing right in the middle of the plains as serene as ever like the calm before the storm. However, she didn't speak, or at the very least not in anything resembling coherency. Instead, she looked straight up at the floating island frozen in time and spoke to it almost wistfully, as though remembering something she had once long forgotten.
"Born on an island in the heavens. The blood of his ancestors floats inside him. His duty is to save the flowers from evil deterioration."
"You going somewhere with this?" Sonic was quite frankly not giving a crap at this point.
"Indeed," she said, for the first time ever speaking to him directly as if breaking some sort of cardinal rule. "Sonic the Hedgehog."
"How do you know my name!? Then again, I guess you know a lot of things you shouldn't know, huh?"
"That island is indeed the one of which the Legends speak. Though I wouldn't expect you to have to deal with it for quite some time."
"I'm sure. I've just got one question. Who the hell are you?"
"A name means nothing without the proper context, but if it will ease your mind even the slightest, I shall you give you one. You may call me Tikal if you wish."
"Tikal, huh? That doesn't explain a lot."
"It doesn't, does it?" Tikal smiled as though she hadn't a care in the world.
"I guess not. Anyway I'm gonna ask again: Who the hell are you? Because that doesn't tell me bubkus, and to be honest, I'm not the most patient guy around. Though I'm working on it."
"It is such a beautiful day today, isn't it? The birds are singing as though they were all in perfect harmony, and the flowers are blooming, their radiance exuding through every pore of their being."
"You're just gonna keep on making cryptic comments as long as it suits you, aren't you?"
"If you wish to put it that way, then yes."
"So are you gonna tell me anything useful?"
"When the time is right. I can tell you this. Do you see these totem poles?"
Sonic took a quick look around. If there was anything Green Hill was known for, it was the totem pills. "Yeah. I've been through Green Hill before on my way to the Wood Zone. They're littered all throughout the place. Never really knew why."
"Did it ever occur to you just who might have built those totems?"
"Not really, no."
"Well, somebody had to have built them, didn't they?"
"Yeah, but…" And then, almost out of the blue, it hit Sonic like a ton of bricks. "Wait, you're saying…"
"I AM saying. There was a mighty civilization hundreds of years ago, correct? Why, for all we know, some of their numbers might have settled on this very spot. And if they had, some of their remnants might still be intact somewhere in this Zone."
"Like the totems?"
"Yes, and just perhaps, something more."
"'Something more'? Like what?"
"Big bro?", said Tails.
Sonic looked over his shoulder. Sure enough, there was Tails. And he was once again moving. "Tails? But if you're up and at em, then…"
He looked back towards Tikal, only to see that that like the wind, Tikal had come and gone. And so had the island, now just barely visible over the horizon before it wandered out of sight for the foreseeable future.
"You okay big bro?"
"Uh, it's nothing'." What was he supposed to say? That an orange Mobian with long dreadlocks had shown up out of nowhere and stopped all of time just to spoonfeed him cryptic information that may or may not have been helpful in the long run? He'd tell him if he felt he needed to, but right now, it might have been best to keep it close to the vest. Not that it stopped Johnny from looking at Sonic as though he were keeping secret the formula for world peace.
"If you say so," said Johnny. "Anyway, like you said, we've gotta get movin'. Less there's somethin' you wanna tell us?"
"Not really, no."
Johnny sighed in exasperation. "Alright then. Guess we'd better… hey, hold on a minute."Johnny noticed someone in the distance. She was crouching in the bushes of a rocky hill, her brown vest flapping in the wind. She saw Johnny in turn and began gesturing for them to come over, all while making sure the bushes concealed her enough so that this wasn't too apparent to any passer-by.
"You seeing what I'm seeing?", said Johnny.
"Not that you mention it," said Tails, "assuming that we're both talking about that black and white cat that seems to be gesturing towards us, I believe we are."
"Right on both counts. Way I figure it, I reckon that's probably the one who sent Harvey that note."
"Do you think we should head on over?", said Mina.
"Eh, why not?", said Sonic. "Beats just standing here. Let's do it to it!"
With both Tails and Johnny firmly in hand, they raced over the plains and past the blocky hills until they managed to make it over to miss kitty, who was now lying back in the bushes and looking over herself as though she were darn fine.
"Took you long enough," she said. She stretched herself as she got up, bending her legs and stretching her arms as though she were a cover model on playboy. "It's so hard to find good help these days.
Mina was taken aback, both appalled at this harridan's free-floating behavior and yet somehow also aroused, as though this kitty had just awoken something inside her she wasn't entirely sure she could force back down.
"I could be wrong," said Johnny, "but I reckon you're the agent that sent Harvey that note, comprende?"
"Guilty as charged." The cat whirled a lock of her long, messy black hair as though she hadn't a care. "After Robotnik scattered us to the four winds, we've been trying our best to reorganize as best we could, not that it's been easy. In any case, I was on my way over to a rendezvous when I couldn't help but overhear something peculiar." She pointed towards her large ears as if to say, 'Why yes, I AM a cat, thank you very much.' "I decided to scout around a bit, see what I could find."
"I can guess what you found," said Tails. "Some mercenaries and a gaggle of robots, right?"
"Smart kid. If you were only six years older, I might have offered you my own little rendezvous. If you know what I mean."
Tails went as red in the face as a beat. "I think I do, and that's what terrifies me."
"You really ARE smart!" Hershey giggled like a schoolgirl.
"Okay," said Sonic, "can we lay off the sexual harassment? Just a thought. And no touchy where my little bro's concerned, okay?"
"Hey," said Hershey, "I was only kidding. Mostly. Anyway, the kid's right. Though I guess he also must have just heard what Harvey no doubt told you. He also managed to send a letter back over to me with that little birdy of mine. Shame I couldn't eat him. Too useful I guess. Non-Mobian birds are so tasty."
"Uh, so. Johnny tried his best not to look even the slightest mortified. Not that he could, but it was the thought that mattered. "What do you reckon they're up to?"
"Beats me. Far as I can tell, they're looking to attack some village just a few miles from here, though as to why, I couldn't say. But I bet if we listened in on them just a bit more, we might be able to find something. You in?"
"Do we have a choice?", said Sonic. "Sides, sounds like fun! So, how we gonna do this?"
Hershey pointed to the top of the tall, wide, blocky checkered hill behind her. "What we need to do is climb to the top of that hill. I can just use my claws. These babies are strong enough to dig into solid rock, though my somewhat considerable physical prowess probably has something to do with that. The rest of you?"
"Eh, me and Mina can just run up it," said Sonic, "and Tails can fly up there. Trust me, you've gotta see it to believe it. That just leaves Johnny."
"Don't worry." Johnny reached into his pack. He pulled out a grappling hook and, after twirling it around like a lasso, promptly hurled it right up the top where it clawed straight onto the ledge. "I"m covered."
"I can see that." Hershey put a finger to her curling lips as though he had suddenly become a figure of interest. "Fascinating."
"I aim to please. Now, what say we all get this show on the road?"
The lot of them managed to reach the top in record time. Sally and Mina had raced up the hill in a flash while Tails had flown up there like a helicopter, and Hershey scaled it like a pro. In more ways than one. That just left Johnny to reach the top with his grappling hook last, though being able to climb up an entire square hill with nothing but his tools and gumption was still a heck of a feat. He wiped the sweat from his gray furry brow, though that didn't stop him from asking, "Well, what next?"
"That," whispered Hershey. Below them, up atop a rounder and much more regular looking hill were two somewhat notable individuals. On one side was a rather strong ox in red armor with a sour disposition, while on the other was a yellow hound in a bartender's outfit who seemed strangely content. They were surrounded by a cadre of dormant buzzbombers as well a variety of other badnicks. Metallic chameleons, motobugs, and a select number of troopers and swatbots, though there weren't very many of any of them. There were also a pack of Mobian wolves and canines, all equipped with cybernetic limbs and the finest weaponry money could buy, though like the bots, they were small in number. And in the midst of this gaggle of freaks, the two leaders seemed to be having a little dispute…
"I told Eggman," said the Ox. "I told him, we got this. I told him, anything comes our way, we can deal with it. And what does he do? He sends someone in to deal with it!"
"Oh, come off it, Axel," said the hound. "After all, what's so wrong with a little bit of help?"
"What's wrong is that it means the Doc doesn't trust us enough to do our job. Doesn't matter whether you like somebody or not. What matters is that you've all got each others' backs. That you can depend on them to get the job done. So sending someone else in at the least minute tells us he can't trust us to get the job done."
"Perhaps, but I'm a believer of 'the more, the merrier.' If we get some additional help, we should welcome it. It's the not the end of the world."
"Stuff it, Maw. Don't even know what someone like you is doing here anyway."
"Well, if you must know, I simply believe that the world needs a strong, firm hand to guide it. I've seen more than enough, both at home and abroad, to know that if we do nothing, this world will swallow itself, either in ten years or a thousand. And so I'm willing to help do whatever it takes to ensure this does not come to pass. I have no delusions about Eggman's' morality or lack thereof. But I do believe that he is what this world currently needs. A strong if merciless ruler that will set Mobius on the path to a glorious future of law and order, unparalleled in sheer efficiency or quality of life by any civilization that has come before. Granted, free will isn't exactly guaranteed, but what is freedom compared to safety and security?"
"Whatever. All I care about is getting paid. You give me my money, I don't care about anything else. Anyway, just when's he supposed to get here anyway?"
Just then, like a whirlwind barreling in from out of the east, a green blur rushed into the encampment and started whizzing around every single bot, mercenary, nook, and cranny, making a spectacle of himself. Axel hoisted the machinegun laying at his side and made ready to fire, though something held him back from pulling the trigger. Partly, it was because he knew he probably wouldn't be able to hit just whatever he was aiming at anyway, but also because something told him that this might be what who they were waiting for. Maw was at the ready in his own way, but he also was coming to the same conclusions.
Meanwhile, all Sonic knew was that he had another competitor. "Hey!", he whispered. "That's supposed to be my sthick!"
"Quiet Sonic!", whispered Johnny.
"I know, I know" whispered Sonic. "But he's still muscling in on my territory. 'Fastest thing alive' is MY deal!"
After having made it clear what he could do, the green blur whirred over to Axel and Maw and plopped himself right down on the checkered grass, finally slowing down as though he'd already gotten bored. "Alright," said Axel, "you've guts, I'll give you that, making a show of yourself like you own the place." He then cocked his machine gun" Now, give me one good reason not to mow you down into oblivion."
The former green blur yawned, as though he couldn't care less. "Eh, why not?", he said. "Eggboss Swifty the Shrew, at your service, bro. Can I call you bro?"
Axel slowly lowered his weapon, though not without some careful hesitation. "So you're the one Eggman said he was sending in, aren't you? You're a quick little bugger, I'll give you that. But why'd he send YOU anyway?"
The green shrew admired his long claws, as though Axel were just a footnote. "Hm? Oh yeah, that. Well, bro, didn't he tell ya? Seems there's a blue hedgehog or rodent or somethin' runnin' around. Might cause all sorts of problems or somethin' like that. So he figured, only way to deal with it was to send the only Eggboss he knew that was at the hedgehog's level."
"And that would be you, I assume?", said Maw.
"Correctamundo, bro!", said Swifty.
"How we do know you're not just a robot or something?", said Axel. "Not everybody's THAT fast. Seems pretty convenient for a superfast rodent to show up right after one pops up out of the blue if you ask me."
"Well, no-one was asking, but if you're dying to know…" Swifty then promptly hocked a loogie straight into Axel's eye, causing the former to scream with rage like a wild beast.
Mina yelped ever so slightly, making sure to cover her mouth so as not to alert the packs of goons right below her. "Sorry," she whispered.
"YOU SON OF A—"
"Hey now," said Swifty to Axel, "you wanted proof I'm real, now you've got it. Bro."
"I DIDN'T WANT IT LIKE THAT!" shouted Axel.
"Now, now," said Maw. "Best not to let this mission fall apart before it even begins, hm? Now, Swifty, exactly how much do you know about our operations here?"
"Not much. Just that you guys here are looking for something. A couple of things if I remember right."
"Ah. Then you wouldn't mind if we illuminated you."
Swifty started to tighten his black biker helmet."Actually, I would, but hey, you wanna start yappin', go ahead. I ain't gonna stop ya."
Maw raised one thin eyebrow, or at least he would have if he had them. "I suppose that's one way to put it. Very well. Let us start from the top, shall we? For starters, Doctor Eggman has detected a rather peculiar energy source in this area, one which he cannot quite put his finger on. And so part of the reason we're here is to attempt to locate that power source and figure out what exactly it is."
"Boring." Swifty looked at the bandages on his wrist as though checking the time. "And the other reason?"
"Ah," said Maw, "now that is where things start getting interesting. You haven't heard of Gerald Robotnik, have you?"
"Never heard of him Don't care to. But I'm guessing he's somehow related to our Robotnik?"
"Quite so. He just so happens to be our Robotnik's grandfather, and he was an accomplished scientist and researcher in his day. He discovered a great many things about Mobius and its' history and wrote them down in a number of journals, which our good Doctor Eggman just so happens to have on his person."
"Uh-huh." Swifty began to sharpen his long, sharp claws, as though he hadn't anything better to do.
"Anyway, Eggman was looking through one of those journals when he noticed something most interesting. As you may or may not know, there were a number of mighty civilizations on Mobius back in the day. Most assume they were mere legends, but Gerald knew better. He did as much research on these civilizations as he could, on their histories and their values and customs, as well as where they were likely to have been located. You may have passed by quite a few large totem poles on your way here. According to Gerald's notes, that is proof that one of these civilizations existed here in Green Hill long ago."
"Yeah, getting bored now. Can we just cut to the chase already?
"Impatient little upstart, aren't we? No matter. In any case, there's only one thing you need to know. One of this civilizations' customs was a ritual to their God, which is the same God that many of us Mobians still worship today: Gaea."
Johnny's ears perked up at that. "Gaea?", he whispered, as if in a strange sort of reverence. Still, that would have to wait.
"However," continued Maw, "Gaea also had a dark side, and this was what this civilization, or at least part of it, sought to appeal to. In a certain spot in Green Hill, they would take a number of victims, both willing and unwilling, and slaughter them under the moonlight. Though if push came to shove, already mutilated corpses under the sunlight would be nearly as suitable. Though not as."
Sonic and the rest of his entourage were horrified, as though they had just uncovered some unspeakable atrocity. "That does it!", whispered Sonic. "We can't sit around here any longer, we need to—"
"Hold on Sonic!", whispered Tails. "I know it sounds bad, but we can't go rushing in without a plan."
"Kid's right," whispered Johnny, "much as I hate to say it. But we are NOT letting these SOB's walk off and go murder who knows how many people."
"I'm not saying we should. But we still don't know the whole picture. Let's just wait a little bit longer."
"This IS getting interesting," whispered Swifty. "So, what did they get out of this?"
"According to the legends," said Maw, "they gained vastly extended lifespans and incredible magical powers. Now, Doctor Eggman, of course, doesn't fully believe in these myths and superstitions, but that doesn't mean he isn't willing to give them a shot."
"Sounds like my kind of fun."
"Well, it'll have to be seen if you even get to have any 'fun.' You see, we've already sent a force out to round up some not so willing sacrifices at a small village off to the south. 'Creamcheese Village,' was it? In any event, we're ready to move in at a moment's notice, but if all goes according to plan, we won't have to." Maw's wide maw was grinning from ear to ear as if in ecstasy. "Now, as for the fine details…"
Mina's mouth was practically wide open in shock, and the others weren't faring much better. "Oh no!", she whispered. "We can't just sit here! We've got to do something!"
"Damn right," whispered Sonic. "I'm done sitting around. Let's do it to it!"
"Agreed," whispered Tails, "but we still need a plan."
"Right," whispered Johnny. "Mina, you go to the village and try and warn them. With any luck, you can get them out in time, but if not, just hold out best you can. Sonic, we'll need you here to take out that Swifty fella. Looks like a real nasty piece of work, so be careful with him."
"Careful shareful," whispered Sonic, "I'll be fine."
"Just don't do anything reckless," whispered Johnny. "Now, that just leaves me, Tails, and Hershey to handle everyone else here. Hershey, just how strong are you?"
Hershey sunk her clawed paw into the ground, leaving a small paw-shaped half-crater in its' midst. "Does that answer your question?"
"Right," whispered Johnny, "so at least we've got one powerhouse with us. Honestly though, if I knew just what we were up against, I would've brought Rotor or Shortfuse along. Anyway, we'll have to do. If only we had something to use for a distraction…"
Hershey slowly and suggestively as possible removed a smoke pellet from her belt as though she were removing a pair of undergarments. "Will this help, big boy?"
"If that's what I think it is," whispered Johnny, "then definitely. Hey, do you've got a laser blaster on you?"
Hershey reached to her side, loosening her blaster much the same way she did the smoke bomb. "How was that?"
"Alright, hand that over to Tails, will you? Tails, I hate to ask, but do you know how to use one of these things?"
"Well, in theory," whispered Tails, "but-"
Johnny pressed it into his hands. "Good, cause you're gonna need it. Right. Smoke pellet first, then everybody goes all out. Sonic, you go for the shrew. Mina, head south pronto. Everybody ready?"
"Yeah, ready," whispered Sonic, starting to grow impatient as though he were a petulant toddler. "Can we just go already?"
Meanwhile, down below, Maw and the others seemed just about to get to business. "So," said Maw, "any other questions?"
"Yeah," said Swifty, "I've got one. When are we gonna get some action?"
Just then, a small smoke pellet lobbed like a fastball hurtled towards the ground straight in front of Swifty's feet. "Uh, what now?" Upon impact, it broke open, unleashing a plume of smoke that rushed out like a vengeful spirit and threatened to engulf the entire encampment in short order.
"Dammit!" said Axel. "We're under attack! We're…" And yet, all he could do was practically hack his up lungs as he did his best to cover his mouth and protect himself from the onslaught of smoke. Maw was having some trouble as well. Even some of the robots seemed to stumble about in confusion, the smoke obscuring their vision and messing with their sensors.
"Now we're talking!", said Sonic.
"Right," said Johnny. "Talkin's over. Everybody, let's do it to it!"
