"Right. Time to get in some target practice!"
Having plucked all of the petals out of that poor daisy like plucking out the feathers of a scared and confused chicken, Amy, still next to the well, decided it was time to change gears a bit. There was a brown wrapped package at her side. She opened it up as though she were digging through to a nice tasty sandwich, though what was actually in the package was anything but. It was a big honking crossbow, and all Amy could do was oggle it with a sort of perverse glee.
"Do ya really to keep hauling that thing around with ya every day?", said Big. "It's kind of creepy if ya stop and think about it."
"Oh," said Amy, "like you haul that fishing rod with you everywhere you go? Yeah, nothing fishy there."
Big tilted his head upward as if Amy had finally said something truly worthy of his attention. "Hey, don't diss the rod. Me and her go a long way back."
Amy hoisted up her crossbow as though she were a world-class expert. "Well, I guess you could say it's the same for me and this crossbow. I'd had it with me for as long as I could hold it."
"Again. Creepy."
"Oh, you hush. Besides, it's not like I wanted it in the first place. My mother's an expert archer. At every single archery contest at the Acorn Kingdom festival, she's gotten a gold medal every time. Come to think of it, I'm kind of surprised she's not back yet. But whatever, the point is, she's drilled those same skills into me since I could pick up a bow. Though to be honest, the crossbow's more my cup of tea."
"So your mother's an archery nut. I get that. Question is, what's your attachment to it?"
"Well, if it weren't for my mother, I guess I wouldn't care for it all, but as long as I've got it, I'm not just gonna let it go. And besides, at sixteen, a girl's gotta protect herself."
"Good enough for me." Big leaning his head back down on the long checkered grass as though he could not give a crap.
"Now, let's see what we've got here." Am scanned the horizons, searching for a suitable target like a marksman searching for prey. She then noticed an apple hanging from a tree off to the side of the dirt road that ran throughout the village. She took aim, fired, and with one bolt, the stem was cut clean through, and the apple fell straight down to the tall green grass.
"Perfect!", said Amy.
"Glad you think so. Me, I'm starving." Still laying down on the ground, Big cast the line from his rod before it proceeded to reel about like a mad serpent. It landed squarely on the apple, its' hook sinking in like a serpents' tooth. Big then pulled the rod up with a flick of his wrist, and the line with the apple in tow rebounded straight back towards him. With another flick, the hook rescinded its' hold on the apple, and it fell straight into Big's free hand.
"Wow. You are GOOD. And lazy. Mostly lazy."
"And proud of it." Big scarfed down his apple with little to no effort, like a starving pig.
"You're absolutely disgusting when you're worfing those down, you know that right? Anyway, let's see what else we've got." She looked back into the crosshairs, seeing if she could see anything else for her to have some decent practice on. Not seeing anything in your her immediate vicinity, she instead looked towards the road leading out of the village, wondering if there were anything outside the confines of Creamcheese that would suit her purposes.
She didn't have to go far. At first, she swore she must have been hallucinating, but after blinking and rubbing her eyes, she knew this wasn't a hoax. In the distance, there was a yellow-furred, purple-haired mongoose running straight towards her. No, not just running; she was darting towards them, faster than anything this side of Creamcheese. Whatever this was, it probably wasn't something she could or even should shoot. And as it grew ever closer, going from being ten miles away to nine in the blink of an eye, she knew there was only one thing to do it. And that was get the heck out of the way.
She leaped aside as though diving out of the way of a speeding wagon, which turned out to be best. In seconds, Mina Mongoose barreled straight into town, skidding to a stop before she nearly tumbled into the well like Jack and Jill. She panted as though she'd just run the entire Mobius Olympic Circuit, pulling up the well's bucket and glugging down a drink as quick as she could, which as it turned out was very quick indeed.
"Oh Gaea!" Mina was a tad out of breath but managed to steady herself. "I made it! Somehow! I think! Good Gaea, I'm thirsty!" She took another drink and gulped it down like a fish,before noticing a couple of pairs of wide-eyed peepers staring straight at her.
"Uh," said Big, "you okay lady? You seem awfully tired. Honestly, you look like you just ran straight from here to Gigapolis."
"Uh, not quite." Mina was still panting, but was rapidly starting to get over it. "Listen! You all need to, I don't know, get out of here now or summon the militia or SOMETHING, cause they're coming! And they'll be here any minute!"
"Who's coming?", said Amy. "And why do you look like a pop star?"
Just then, they could hear a low sound of motors and roars from the north. Mina, Amy, and Big all looked out towards the village entryway. In the distance, there was a pack of wolves and hounds with cybernetic limbs all riding motobugs, with a group of buzzbombers buzzing in the air alongside them. They looked like something out of some post-apocalyptic fantasy, and they meant business. And all Mina could say was, "Oh crud."
"Everybody, let's do it to it!"
Clasping their hands to their mouths like makeshift gasmasks, (with Johnny using the collar of his jacket in his case,) Sonic and co were off. Tails flew down over the hill while Sonic raced down like a bullet. Johnny grabbed onto Sonic and dropped himself off once they reached the ground while Hershey just took a leap of faith and landed gracefully on her feet. In short order, they were all safe and sound in the encampment, and all ready for action.
Johnny went to work disabling the robots and bashing some mercs senseless with his mace. It wasn't quite strong enough to smash the bots to bits, (something he'd have to work on,) but as long as he hit them in just the right spots, it was enough to smash in their circuity and render them inert. It was better than nothing, and it was more than enough to whack away the mercs while hopping around their laser fire.
Tails meanwhile flew about the encampment, raining down death from above and decimating robots left and right with his laster blaster, aiming for the head when possible and the center if not. The buzzbombers fired away at the lot of them, and so did the odd Swatbot, but the smoke managed to obscure their aim.
Tails knew how to operate in obscurity, his home being one of the foggiest places you could imagine. In this environment, here and now, he was an expert. And Johnny, well, bashing bots' brain never really took much in the way of accuracy to pull off, did it? It was like shooting fish in a barrel. As each badnik got bashed, a cute cuddly animal popped out of a small hole as though they were being fired out of an escape hatch before scampering or soaring off to parts unknown, grateful for Robotnik wanting to make sure his fuel source was left unharmed.
Hershey had a different agenda. Coughing their lungs out as though they had just inhaled a cigar, Axel and Maw were down for the count, but it wouldn't last, and Hershey knew it. If she and the others were going to get their feet in the door, it had to be now. And she knew just how to do it.
She lept over to the coughing and near stumbling Axel. She would have lifted his head back to start with and whisper sweet nothings into his ear, but with her left hand busy covering her mouth, she'd have to skip straight to step two. Step two involving sinking her claws straight into his eye sockets and gouging his eyes out as she went medieval on his arse. He let out a deafening scream which only served to make him inhale that much more smoke like a floating whale.
Maw would have cried out for Axel, but with some of that smoke still in the air, that wasn't an option. Nor could he show what he could really do for that matter. With nothing else to show for it, Axel toppled over like a mighty piece of freshly cut lumber and was promptly out like a light.
That just left Sonic. Sonic was on Swifty just as he saw the whites of his eyes, aiming for the groin with such a swift kick to the nards that if it had hit, it would have no doubt have gone in history as one of the most glorious kicks to the groin ever to be seen. Sadly, this was not to be. Swifty dodged his attack like a blur and struck back with one clawed swipe of his own, which Sonic managed just barely to move his body around.
This started something of a pattern. Sonic struck back, and Swifty dodged. Swifty struck back, and Sonic dodged. Thus began a rapid-fire series of dodges and blows enacted at such dizzying speeds that the only way to keep track of it all would be if one were the fastest bookkeeper alive, and even that might be a stretch. And after one last block, Swifty finally had enough.
"Okay, okay, time out!" Swifty's voice was somewhat muffled underneath the hand covering his mouth, but Sonic managed to make him out just fine . "Doing things like this ain't gonna get us anywhere. What say we take this to somewhere we can really stretch our legs? Savvy?"
"Fine by me," said Sonic, his hand covering his own mouth. And besides, maybe it would keep Swifty out of everyone's hair. The two of them raced off into the plains, and blew away the plumes of smoke that had engulfed the area in the process. The smoke had cleared, and the result was a horde of bots and mercs smashed or otherwise rendered helpless, with just one Eggboss standing.
"Face it fella," said Johnny to Maw. "You're done. Now, why don't you come along quietly? No-one else has got to get hurt. We understand each other?"
Maw glanced at the fallen Axel, taking care not to gaze too much upon his countenance. Strangely enough, it seemed less to do with being disgusted by his marred visage, and more because he couldn't care even to give him the time of day. Whatever the reason, Maw didn't seem phased in the least.
"Not exactly. You see, I'm not quite like my good friend Axel here. True, part of the reason for his rather swift defeat was no doubt due to your rather impromptu assault, which I will admit is worthy of applause. But even if you hadn't so handily disposed of him, compared to Axel, I am simply in a different class."
"Guys," said Tails, "careful. Something about him just isn't right."
"He's right," said Hershey. Something's up."
"You try anything," said Johnny to Maw, "you're a dead Mobian, you know that right?"
"So you say," said Maw. "But as I was saying, myself and Axel are worlds apart. Allow me to show you why." And as Maw as opened his maw, Johnny and the others had a sinking feeling they were about find out.
"Oh Gaea oh Gaea oh Gaea!"
Mina stood in place like a tentpole, her body vibrating at the speed of sound as though she were having a nervous breakdown. Which she may have well been. "WhatamIgonnadowhatIamgonnanonoNOGETYOURSELFTOGETHERMINAGETYOURSELF TOGETHER GET yourself together…"
She finally managed to speed herself and calm herself back down to the point where Amy and Big weren't wondering whether or not she was having a supersonic conniption. "Hey, you okay lady?", said Big.
"Uh, yeah, yeah, fine. Never better. Okay, not really, but that's not important! See those guys off in the distance? They're gonna be here in just a few minutes, maybe sooner! I tried to warn you guys, but, I don't know, I guess they just had too much headway!"
"Warn us about what?", said Amy.
"Look, I don't have time to explain! I mean, I do, but that's because I'm the second fastest thing alive and you probably wouldn't be able to understand me because I'd be a motor mouth and LOOK. Bad people are coming to try and capture or maybe even kill you, and we don't have much time before they get here! I don't know if we can get you all out of here fast enough and far enough, but we've gotta do something!"
"So wait a minute. There's a bunch of guys coming, right? And they're gonna kill us for whatever reason, right?"
"Yeah. Something about some blood ritual or something. And a power-source too."
"Oh Gaea! We've gotta get out of here! We've all gotta get out of here!"
"No can do," said Big, scanning the horizon. "Those guys are riding some sort of fancy machines or whatever. So whatever we do, they'll just catch us. We wouldn't make it five minutes out there, maybe not even that."
"I'd take you all out of here myself," said Mina, "but depending on just how many of you there are, I don't know if I can."
"So that settles it. We gotta fight."
"Oh Gaea," said Amy.
"Hey Amy," said Bif, "there's one thing you can do. See that bell up there, in the town watchtower?"
Amy looked up where Big was pointing, and she knew just what he was pointing at. Near the village entrance, there was a tall, narrow wooden tower, reaching higher than any other structure in the village. And at the top was a large bell, shining gold in all its' radiance.
"You know what I'm getting at, right?", said Big.
"Oh! Yeah, that'll work!"
"What'll work?", said Mina.
"Just watch!" Amy began to feel ever more confident, like a frightened young damsel who was finally gaining the courage to fight back against her mustache twirling oppressors. She aimed her crossbow straight at the bell, readied herself, and fired. The bolt struck the bell dead-on like a bullseye, sending it reeling back and forth, back and forth, and letting out its' loud banging rings for all to hear.
In an instant, everyone and their mothers were scrambling out of their homes and their gardens and wherever else to the village center, and in that moment, Mina had her answer. It also had an effect on the incoming mercs. In just seconds after the bell rang, they stopped in their tracks, no doubt wondering just what that sound was and if the villagers had seen them. It likely wouldn't stop them for long, but it might have just given the villager enough time to plot a proper course of action.
Children and shopkeepers and parents and near everyone else were gathered in the village center wondering just what the reason for the commotion was until, at last, the portly mayor in his luxurious suit and tophat finally arrived, followed by the town militia like a herd following their shepherd. "Make way, make way!", he said, doing his best to get to the center of the crowd. "Everyone! Everyone! Please, calm yourselves! CALM YOURSELVES! Now, who had the gall to ring that bell? And they had better have a good reason."
"Uh, I think I can explain ." Mina stepped towards the center of the crowd in a flash.
"And just who are you, miss…"
"Uh, Mina Mongoose. Now look, normally, this wouldn't be easy to believe, but, well…" Mina pointed towards the village entrance and into the distance, and sure enough, there were the mercs and bots, still conversing about just what to do next. "…yeah. See, these guys are planning on attacking you guys. They want to capture or kill you or who knows what. And yeah, I know I just showed up and you don't have a lot of reason to believe me, and I swear I'll tell you anything you want to know, but for now, we've gotta do what we can to save everyone! Please?"
The mayor stroked his bushy mustache, the rest of the town conversing and whispering amongst themselves like a herd unsure of whether or not someone was hunting them. While they were busy determining whether or not there was a chance they could have their heads lopped off, Cream came flying in via her two big fluffy ears, floating on the wind and flapping them like a seagull if necessary and landed right next to Amy with her usual skill and grace. "Amy?", said Cream. "I was waiting for my mother to begin my lessons when the bell rang. Just what is going on?"
"Honestly," said Amy, "I don't know. Just sit tight for now, okay?"
"All I know is this," said the Mayor. "A most curious stranger has wandered into our village and told us that a group of marauders and bandits are out to slit our throats. A very bold claim. One that under normal circumstances I would be most inclined to disbelieve. However," he said, pointing towards the mercenaries in the distance, "at the very least, there IS a most unruly sort out there that is most likely coming straight towards our village, but we don't know that for certain, do we?"
Amy wasn't quite sure just what to do. In fact, she wasn't quite sure of anything. But she did know one thing. And that was that, if nothing else, she had to do something. She stepped forward, waving awkwardly like a speaker stepping onto a grand stage with nothing on but her underwear, doing her best not to stumble back whence she came. "Uh, if it helps, it wasn't Mina who rang that bell. It was me."
"You, Miss Rose?!", said the Mayor. "Whatever reason for?!"
"Well, because at the time, I honestly believed she was telling the truth. Or at least that there wasn't any real reason not believe her. I didn't think we could risk taking that chance. Now look, maybe it isn't my place to say, but even if for whatever reason she's not telling the truth, it's not going to do much harm to take her at her word, is it? Besides, what reason does she have to lie to you about this? I think you should give her a chance, if only because there's no reason not to."
The mayor looked sternly at Amy as though she had just nearly crossed some invisible line that she should never have crossed, but it wasn't long before he turned his gaze away. "I suppose we can't take the chance, can we? Everyone, we've heard what these two have to say, and for better or worse, we can't risk that they're not telling the truth. Everyone who cannot fight, return to your homes and barricade the doors. Keep something on hand to protect yourselves if necessary. He then spoke intently to the burly group of musket-wielding Mobians who made up the town militia. "And everyone who can, be ready to stand your ground."
As most everyone else retreated back to their homes like rabbits hopping away to their hideyholes, Big had something to say. "Uh, yeah, sorry , but I don't know if that's gonna cut it. I don't know about you, but even at this distance, I can tell you, these guys are hardcore killers. You fight these guys head on with just your ragtag band of idjits and you won't stand a chance."
"Oh really now?" The mayor was seriously beginning to wonder who had died and made Big the mayor instead. "And I suppose you can think of something better?"
"Uh," said Amy, "I don't know what Big had in mind, and maybe it's not my place to speak out, but I think what we need to do is a sneak attack. Hide out in our homes and the bushes, and when they all come into the middle of the village, WHAMMO! Pincer attack for the win! They won't even know what hit em!" She punched her fist into her open palm, effectively illustrating her point.
"Rather resourceful for a sixteen year old"
"Well, my Dad WAS the head of the town militia before he broke his leg on that unicycle or whatever he was trying to cook up. Figures I would've learned a thing or two from him."
"Quite." The mayor finally began to come around as though he were having a slow but sure about face. "You aren't too bad yourself. For a girl."
"Uh, thanks?" Amy wasn't sure whether to feel congratulated or insulted.
"Hey," said Big, "you did good kid. You did real good."
"Oh," said Amy. "Thanks Big."
"Right," said the Mayor. "Everyone who can fight, hide yourselves in the houses along the main pathway. Someone will keep watch from the watchtower. When they give the signal, let them have it. Understood?"
All of the militia and those few other townsfolk who could still fight regardless raised their arms and shouted 'AY!' in unison, though not so loudly that the mercs could hear them from several miles away. That would just be uncourteous. They began to hurry away and duck into their homes, making sure that they didn't leave so much as a trace behind. "Now," said the Mayor, "someone needs to give the signal. Let's see here…"
"Uh," said Mina, "if you want, I could do it. Really, no problem."
"Well," said the Mayor, "you did warn us about the incoming band of marauders, but this is an important part of 's plan, and you are still a newcomer to this village. Are you sure you are up to to the task?"
"Uh, yeah, I think so. Besides, I've got something most watchmen don't got." She then ran around the Mayor in circles, soon moving so fast that one could almost swear the Mayor was being surrounded by the borders of a yellow happy face. He even started to become carried away into the air as though lifted up by a cyclone, but luckily for him, Mina stopped dead in her tracks before he reached more than a foot. "Uh, sorry about that. So, does that answer your question?"
"I believe so." The Mayor was almost unsure if he could truly believe so, but he was never one to doubt what he saw straight in front of him. "I've heard of this sort of power. There are those born with special abilities, far beyond that of their fellow Mobians. I suppose you are just one such individual."
"Yeah," said Big, "I'm sure, but we don't got the time to deal with semantics here. Lookit!" He pointed towards the mercenaries. After a moment, they at last decided to get a move on and were once again headed straight this way.
"Right," said the Mayor. "Amy, you come with me. Big, I don't know that much about you, but I do know you have some peculiar talents of your own. Would you care to assist us?"
"Been planning on it from the start. Still can't say it's second nature, to be honest."
The Mayor then turned to Amy and Cream. "You two, come with me. Miss Rose, I thank you for your help, but you are still not even a grown woman. The both of you are coming to my house, where I can keep an eye on the both of you. And keep you safe. I'll explain it to your parents afterward, don't you worry. Assuming we survive this."
Cream gulped as though she had heard the Mayor, declare a death sentence, and but she did her best to stifle it, wanting nothing more than to prove there was still hope.
"Alright, but I'm still keeping this on me," said Amy, hefting her crossbow over her shoulder. "It's a good plan, but, well, things happen."
"Indeed. Your father taught you well. Come along then. And let us hope that things proceed better than we fear they will."
"Get those quills out of my face!"
Like a mighty gale, Sonic and Swifty continued to rage across the checkered landscape like two mighty locomotives who just didn't know when to quit. By this point, the whole affair devolved into sort of rhythm; punch, dodge, swipe, dodge, punch, dodge, with neither of them scoring a hit. And how could they? They were like two equal but opposite forces of nature, neither of them willing to give an inch even if doing so was the only way to move forward. And as if the both of them collective epiphany, they stopped dead in their tracks, glaring at each from a good several feet away as though a once mighty hurricane could still regain its' potency at any minute.
They were both breathing heavy and raggid, like two near winded boxers who still couldn't afford to let their guard down for an instant. And this in spite of neither of them actually landing a punch. The tension in the air was so thick, you could cut it with a spoon, much less a knife. And yet, despite this, one of them still had the gall to treat this as though it were merely Tuesday.
"You know," said Swifty, "I gotta say, this wasn't what I was expecting."
"What," said Sonic, "you seriously didn't think I was the fastest thing alive? Shows what you know."
"No, bro. Mind if I call you bro? No, see, what I mean is, I didn't think you'd be so soft!"
"'Soft'?"
"Hey bro, I'm just telling it like it is, you know?" Swifty started to fiddle with the bandages on his wrists. "See, here I am trying to tear into you with everything I've got, but here you are pulling your punches. Hell, that's the problem right there. You're PUNCHING. You've got those rad quills of yours, but you ain't using them! What gives?"
Sonic stuck a finger into his ear and rubbed it around as though there must have been something stuck in there because either he had just gone insane, hard of hearing, or both. "Are you nuts?!", said Sonic. "I'd slice you into ribbons! Badniks and SWATbots are one thing, but—"
"You don't get it. See, in this world, there are only two kinds of people; those willing do whatever they've gotta do to get by, and those who won't. I'm willing to tear YOU into ribbons with these claws of mine if it means doing what I need to do. Can you say the same?"
"HELL no! And I don't want to! I"m here because I want to save people, not murder them!"
"Fine by me. Doesn't matter to me what you do as long as you've got the guts to carry it out. Cause the truth is, one of these days, you're gonna run into somebody you can't just move around or get out of the way of. Someone who won't stop until someone else's guts is splattered on the pavement. And if you really wanna save people, you might just end up having to end some lives in order to save lives. But as far as I can see, ya just don't got what it takes."
"Okay, that's it. Done talking now."
"So, you finally gonna show me what you got?"
Sonic gave Swifty a low, stern glare of indignation; as though he were about to shove every single inane word he spouted right up his arse. And all Swifty could do was grin in wild anticipation. The two stood on the plain, their knees bent, the tension charging like static electricity throughout the air until, in a flash of green and blue, they were off.
"Get ready people! He's up to somethin'!"
Johnny, Tails, and Hershey stood their ground as Maw opened up now gaping, well, maw. It was lined with rows of sharp jagged teeth, but more than that, there seemed to be a sort of blue emitter straight in the back of his throat. And it was glowing.
"EVERYBODY," yelled Tails, "GET DOWN!" And down they did. Out of Maw's maw came a horizontal swath of bright white energy that vaporized everything it came across. It shot straight through the hill behind them, and as Maw moved his maw, the blast of energy moved with it cutting an entire line straight through the hill and bringing it crashing down.
"TAKE COVER!" Johnny and the others scrambled out of the way as quickly as they could before it came toppling down over the plains. Maw began to massage his throat as if letting that thing loose had taken more of a burden than he let on, but he did his best not to show it. But his best wasn't good enough.
"Hey," whispered Tails to Johnny and Hershey, "guys! I think I know how to beat him! He must be using some sort advanced tech placed in his throat by Eggman, and every time he uses it, it takes his toll. If we can either wear it out or irritate it enough in some way, we might stand a chance!"
"That's good," whispered Johnny, "because our chances of going up against that thing are mighty slim."
"Are you all quite finished?", said Maw. "In any case, I do believe you know just what you're up against."
"Actually, we do," said Tails. "Thanks!"
Maw couldn't help but wonder if Tails had been touched in the head. "Are you quite alright?"
"Better than ever."
"If you say so. I wouldn't want to best my foes knowing it wasn't a fair fight, would I? Though I guess it isn't much of a fight at this point, is it?"
"I wouldn't be so sure of that."
"Interesting. Very well. If that's what you believe, then you'd better show me, haven't you?" Maw opened up his mouth again, letting loose another blast straight at their necks. The lot of them ducked, barely managing to avoid the blast in time despite their best efforts. Maw quickly massaged his throat again, his eyes beginning to water just slightly. If he didn't finish this up quick, there was a chance he wouldn't be using that throat of his for much longer, something Tails was quick to notice.
"Very well," said Maw. "Time to end this sooner than later, wouldn't you say?" He then slowly opened his gaping maw like the big bad wolf, a bright swirling light forming within it that, if left unchecked, could quite possibly swallow them all up in seconds. But Maw was just one second too late. Seizing his chance, Tails fired his blaster straight into the light in Maw's mouth. Maw clamped his mouth tight before letting out a mighty belch accompanied by a spewing of bright white energy, almost as though he had an ulcer.
"Great job Tails!", said Johnny. "Okay people! Move in while we've got the chance! Hit him with everything you've got!" Hershey released her claws while Johnny readied his mace, and Tails set his blasters' setting to stun. With Johnny and Hershey leaping forward and Tails flying in from above like bunnies and cats from hell, it seemed like this was the end for Maw.
And one furious glare of death was enough to convince them otherwise.
