Chapter 2: Back for More
ONE HOUR LATER
Amy doesn't make it easy for Victor's guards to control her, but eventually she calms down and speaks with the Robotozed Eagle. She tells him pretty much everything Tails said, but not as polite as the teenager put it.
After offering Amy a glass of water, only to be spit on in return, Victor orders his guards to bring Tails, Manic and Knuckles into the boardroom.
"What're you doing?" Amy asks
The Eagle cleans himself off with a tissue before answering "...I understand you're angry with me, Amy Rose, so I'll cut the shit... I like you. You've got heart, and you're clearly not afraid. You and your friends made it here from - Wherever you're from, so you all seem like you're quite capable. We could use that around here"
Victor's two guardians, Velocita and Maine, turn and give their leader concerned looks, only to be waved off by the Eagle.
Amy looks up at him "So, what the hell does that mean?"
"...I'm gonna make you an offer"
The Fox, Hedgehog and Echidna are brought in, each wearing heavy shackles that are connected by chains around their ankles. Amy stands up but is stopped by a tall guard.
Victor opens the blinds to a large window, giving his guests a view of the wasteland horizon.
"...there's 5 major districts out here, 3 on the satellite and 2 more that lead to a nearby sub-station. Now, we've got groups that occupy these areas and work out here to make it half-decent to live in. And I'm giving you 4 a chance to work with us, since you aren't leaving anytime soon-"
Tails clears his throat "Well, we could just as easily leave if you give my device back-"
"Yeah, but I already sent it off for inspection from my science team, so, looks like you're stuck here" Victor responds gleefully
"Wait a second - you want to keep us here, don't you?" Knuckles asks
The leader nods his head
Manic lunges forward angrily "What for, baldy?!"
As two guards knock him down, Victor sighs before answering Manic's question
"...my teams need help with everything, pretty much. Our workers aren't the greatest or most reliable, my science and resources team don't have the knowledge to find a safe way off of this satellite and I'm trying to keep everything afloat, all by myself... we just wanna live, guys, and I'm not afraid to ask for help when I need it"
"How do we know everything you just said isn't complete bullshit? Huh?! My brother came through here and now he's nowhere to be seen! For all we know, you could've killed him!" Manic shouts
"Yeah, Sonic, right? You guys came here for him... I met with him but he ran away from me. I can truthfully say he's not here and we weren't able to find him, as much as we've tried"
"LIAR!" Amy shouts
Victor sighs, growing agitated "You don't have to believe me, but this is what I'm telling you. Sure, you could break out of here and run, but you wouldn't last one night out there. And that's a fact. So really, you guys came here for nothing because your friend Sonic is almost certainly dead and in the ground. You can believe me on that one"
Amy growls angrily as she gets back to her feet, ignoring the warnings from Victor's guards.
"Now, I'm making you a deal: You work for me or you all die right here and now in front of everyone"
The pink hedgehog says nothing as she manages to get closer to the warlord.
"If you came here thinking you were going to kill me-"
Amy interrupts Victor "That wasn't the plan to begin with, but now I just might take you up on that"
The Eagle laughs "I'd love to see you try"
As the boardroom shifts their attention to Amy fighting to get at Victor, Manic quickly reaches down, lock-picks the shackles around his ankle and hears a CLICK as the locking mechanism opens, freeing all 3 captives.
At the same time, Tails looks up and makes eye contact with Maine. The female Wolf shakes her head No, warning him not to make a move.
Knuckles starts off the brawl by swinging his fists wildly at his captors, encouraging Manic to join him.
"They're loose! Stop them!" Victor shouts
Amy fights with a guard in the centre of the boardroom, while Manic spin-kicks his way through the guards racing toward him.
The only one not moving is Tails.
"Come on, kid, move it!" Knuckles shouts while knocking down everyone in his path
Maine keeps her eyes glued on The Fox, now able to sense his fear.
Velocita, the chameleon with the metallic helmet, blocks the exit for Manic so they race toward each other and get ready to fight.
Until the green hedgehog side-steps and trips Velocita.
He bumps into Maine and they tumble down a small set of stairs, so Tails runs away from the fight and Knuckles looks away angrily.
As Victor's guardians get back to their feet, Manic decides its time to leave, but Knuckles wants to fight.
"Amy!"
Manic races over to her, lock-picks her ankle shackle and both make a run for the exit.
"Knux, where's Tails?" Amy calls out across the boardroom
"I don't know, he split!"
Just then, Velocita grasps Manic and Knuckles by their throats
"I don't think so" The chameleon says through a distorted speaker in his mask
As they fight to get loose, Amy kicks him in the body but this does nothing, then Maine tackles her to the floor.
Manic and Knuckles start to lose conciseness when Tails flies in and quickly removes Velocita's mask, revealing black eyes and grey skin.
It's his turn to gasp for air as he releases the duo, giving them a chance to run.
"COME ON! LETS GO!" Tails shouts as he flies around the boardroom
Manic pulls Maine off of Amy, tosses her down a hallway and locks the door behind her.
Velocita kneels down as he struggles to breathe, so Knuckles hits him with a knee strike to the face before taking off with his friends.
The Fox throws the helmet out the 4th story window and looks back "Meet me by that bridge outside! We've got a better chance if we split up!"
"I agree. Watch yourselves out there!" Manic says
Amy looks up "Wait! Tails-"
Gunfire erupts through the hallway doors, so Manic pulls Amy close and they dive out the window, spiraling down and crashing into a steel ledge, Manic's body taking the brunt of the fall.
Knuckles throws a metal table at the door and then races to a stairwell on the opposite side of the boardroom.
Tails zooms down the hallways at top speed, dodging past guards and avoiding being caught.
"Too slow, guys! I thought you could keep up!" The teenager shouts
He gets past everyone in the stairwell and dives down to the main floor. Guards reach over the railings but nobody can catch him.
The Fox stops and looks for a vault room or storage area, spotting a massive door that's wide open just down the hall.
"Come on, don't let me down..." Tails says to himself as he approaches the door
He enters the room and finds Amy's War Hammer, Manic's medallion and pieces from his Transportation device.
"Hell Yeah!"
Just before he grabs them, a human-like android steps in his way, eyes glowing red
"Aw, come on!" Tails shouts
The android steps forward, Tails ducks and rips out it's CPU chip from it's neck as he zooms past. The android falls down and crumples into pieces.
"Well, then... lets wrap things up, here"
The Fox grabs his gym bag from a locker, loads it with his device and carries everything else as he leaves the vault room. His two tails propell him forward at such a fast speed that he knocks over guards that are in his way. He kicks the side doors open and looks out at the massive maze that surrounds the castle.
Tails exhales "I really don't have time for this..."
The Fox flies above the green maze and easily gets past everyone on the ground. Guards race through the maze and try to cut him off but Tails is already far away from their location.
On the west side of the compound, Amy and Manic recover from their 4 storey fall. The green hedgehog lets out pained groans, indicating he's hurt.
"Manic, come on, we gotta move! I know you're hurt but we can't sit here!" She says, doing her best to help her friend up
"Uggghhh... just leave me here, Ames... I can't move, you gotta get outta here.."
"Manic, you're not staying here, now get up! Let's go!"
Just then, Tails flies around the corner and races over to the ledge they're sitting on.
"Amy, Manic! Catch!" He shouts
The Fox throws the War Hammer to Amy and throws the Jade Medallion to Manic.
In an instant, the green hedgehog's eyes glow Jade Green and the Medallion's energy fills his body.
"Whoa! God Damn, that woke me up!" Manic says, looking noticeably stronger
Amy pulls him up by his vest "Great to hear, now let's move!"
Before they can come up with a plan, Tails zooms through the sky once again.
"Tails! Where are you going?! TAILS!"
"He's going back for Knuckles. He'll be alright, Amy, we gotta leave the castle before they pick us up, again" Manic warns
The two hedgehogs jump off the ledge and make a run for the large compound gate they broke down to get in here.
Back inside the castle, Knuckles is surrounded by Victor's guards in a ballroom, so he does his best to keep them back. He dodges attacks, counters with powerful punches and kicks, but there are just too many guards for him to handle. One by one, the guards dog pile ontop of the Echidna, while he tries his best to get free.
Victor stands at the top of a stairwell and observes
"Don't kill this one! He looks like he could work..." The Eagle says
As Knuckles growls angrily, he feels two hands grab his left wrist and pull him from under the dog pile.
It's hard to see, but he makes eye contact with Tails through the crowd.
"Tails! Don't worry about me, I can take 'em! They're gonna kill us both, you gotta let me go!" Knuckles shouts in between breaths "...really, I can handle this!"
"No you can't, I'm getting us both outta here!" the teenager responds
He cries out as he uses all his strength to pull the heavy Echidna from under the guards. Knuckles attacks them with painful elbow and forearm strikes, until the path is clear. Tails lifts his friend into the air and they both fly through an open window.
"You sacks of shit are lucky! You won't have my boy here to stop me, next time!..." Knuckles calls out while wiping blood from his nose
"Shit, I hope you fall!" one guard shouts as they fly away
As they gain height, Knuckles relaxes and is given a chance to breathe.
Down on the ground, Amy and Manic have escaped the compound and are using a chain link fence as cover while they move.
"I hope they made it out" The pink hedgehog says
Something catches Manic's attention in the sky "Look, that's them up there! They're alright"
"Oh, thank god. I was worried for a minute-"
"Wait, what the hell is that?"
Their attention is shifted to the top of Victor's castle, Maine is running as fast as she can and heading in the same direction as Tails and Knuckles. She picks up speed and jumps as high, and as far, as she can.
Knuckles looks back and his eyes widen "Tails, Look Out!"
The female wolf is able to slash Knuckles' spiked glove, causing him to let go of Tails hands, while she also gets ahold of the Fox's gym bag hanging over his shoulder.
"Knuckles!" The Fox calls out "Ow, OW OW! Let go!"
He watches the bleeding Echidna free fall over 80 feet down into a nearby body of water.
At the same time, Velocita has retrieved his mask and races out to catch the two hedgehogs.
Manic grabs Amy's hand "Oh shit, RUN!"
The Jade Medallion helps them gain speed and get a head start, but Velocita is not far behind.
Up in the sky, Tails fights to get Maine off of him, while trying to get away from Victor's castle. She's digging her sharp claws into his arms, making him wince in pain as he flies west.
"Get off me, lady! OW! No, don't scratch me! OWWWW!"
Maine says nothing as she drives her claws deep into the teenager's rib cage, immediately drawing blood and a painful scream.
"Ugh! Wait, is - whoa, that's a lot of blood.."
Tails blacks out mid sentence and both he and Maine begin to free fall over 100 feet. The female wolf starts to freak out as she watches the ground coming up fast.
She shuts her eyes and waits for impact, but instead feels another pair of arms grasp her and Tails.
A massive individual catches both the fox and wolf in mid air, lands on the ground and all three roll to safety.
Maine looks up and recognizes the individual instantly
"Aw, shit-"
He zaps her with a modified tazer mounted on his forearm. Tails suddenly wakes up but his vision is blurry and he's too weak to move after losing so much blood.
He watches the individual open a cellphone and make a call.
"...yeah, It's her. She's got some new guy with her, this time, don't know who he is... he's got two tails and - damnit, he's bleeding all over the sand, get down here! I'll try to keep him alive, just hurry!"
Tails feels a large bandage being put on his wound, then medical tape being wrapped around his body to put pressure on and stop the bleeding.
Before he can say anything, he passes out from the pain.