Chapter 4: The First Encounter
Roman Victor calls his lieutenants to the boardroom for a meeting, now the only ones left inside his castle. He curses under his breath as he walks through the interior, almost completely torn apart after the fight with Sonic's friends. Victor climbs up the concrete stairs, takes a seat and waits for his men to enter.
Velocita comes through a metal door on the left of the boardroom, followed by Victor's android assistant Spaceman, and the militia leader Raul.
"Lets state the obvious and admit we underestimated our guests. Especially that Rose girl" Victor says "...but, I think we can come back from this"
"With respect, those heathens have taken Maine and have now aligned with the local renegades. Mr. Victor, we stand at a major disadvantage" Velocita says
Raul steps forward "I agree with him, sir. We're the best pure fighters in The Nexus but there's only so much we can do against an enhanced enemy squad"
Victor growls "...what about Sonic? He's the one we gotta watch. They haven't gotten to him yet, have they?"
Spaceman reviews security footage of taken from cameras all around the wasteland, and sees Knuckles meeting Sonic.
"I can confirm one of their members has made contact with Sonic the Hedgehog, sir"
"Damnit!"
Velocita and Spaceman look at Raul for an answer, so he steps forward "Sir, as your combat analyst, I recommend we bring in Mongol"
The Eagle turns to him "No. Absolutely not! We can't let that psycho loose, look how long it took to get him back inside! No, we don't need him"
"Victor, we've lost control of this situation. It's a desperate call for sure but we cannot defeat the renegade faction without Mongol. His aid is the only kind of advantage we have left"
Victor sighs and rubs his forehead "...alright, I'll go with you. If you say we can't handle this alone, then I'll trust your decision... but you need to handle Mongol, I won't speak to him again"
Velocita nods and leads Raul and Spaceman out of the boardroom. Victor leans back in his 'throne' and calls for an assistant to bring him a drink.
After a short hike thru a desert area, Cam and Penelope lead Amy and Manic to where Hunter is holding Tails and Mine. The group climbs over one last sand dune and finally reach the yellow hedgehog's campsite. Amy walks past the others and makes eye contact with Hunter
"Where is he?" She demands
The taller hedgehog points to the left "Over there"
The group catches up, partially getting in Amy's way
"Move" the pink hedgehog says as she pushes past Cam
"Relax, lady, jeez.."
Amy makes her way over to the satellite conductor that Tails is tied to, then quickly unties the ropes around his hands, but leaves Maine to sit alone.
"Are you okay? They didn't hurt you, did they?" she asks as she looks him over
"I'm fine" Tails answers
Amy spots some gauze and bandages around his waist so she looks at Hunter angrily
"What the hell did you do to my friend?!"
"I'm pretty sure I saved his life! Don't try to put that on me! Go speak to that hag over there!"
Tails tries to calm her down "Amy, I'm alright, it's okay"
"No, it's actually not. You can't let these guys walk all over you, Tails"
Penelope makes her way toward them "Okay, I think I've heard enough from you"
Amy stands face-to-face with her "What, do you think that just because you have super powers, you can push around anyone you want?"
"We're not pushing anyone around, but I'll be damned if the two idiots we just saved are gonna disrespect us right after!"
"Well, you shouldn't have disrespected my friend Sonic back there. That's just asking for trouble"
As the girls argue, Tails gives up trying to keep the peace and joins Manic, Cam and Hunter. The Fox bump fists the green hedgehog and takes a seat on an ammunition crate, meanwhile Manic's phone starts vibrating so he pulls it out of his pocket
"I gotta take this. You guys aren't gonna do anything, are ya?" He asks
Cam looks at Hunter, then back at Manic "Nah. We already know we could kick your asses, so it ain't even worth the effort"
The green hedgehog raises a finger to him and shakes his head in disapproval before turning away to answer the call.
"Oh, what the hell, video call this time? Damnit, Charmy... hey, does anybody have a signal? The reception out here is dog shit..."
The green hedgehog raises his phone up to get a better signal, finding the closer to the satellite conductor he gets, the better reception his phone receives. Manic walks over to Maine and grasps her shoulder for leverage as he steps onto an ammo crate next to her.
"Hey! Stop that! Quit it!" She yells
"Hold still, I don't have much balance up here!" Manic responds, then his call is connected "...sweet!"
Charmy Bee appears onscreen sitting at his computer desk, and he's not alone in his apartment. Manic's friends Thompson, B.B, Farrell, Mickie and Bark are seen hanging out in the basement apartment.
Rouge walks by holding OMEGA 123's head, the only part of the robot's body that survived the scrap yard, and his head now resembles an old computer monitor from the 90's.
"Hey, Manic" Rouge says as she sets OMEGA's head down on a desk
"Oh, hey. What're you guys up to, having a party?" Manic asks
Charmy looks up at the female bat, then back to the screen "Well, I told Rouge not to tell anybody about this, but you know her..."
"Tommy! B.B! Pops! Mickie! Bark! What's happening!"
As Manic's friends wave to the screen, the frame rate slows down and he gets an inaudible response.
"I didn't hear a damn thing all of you just said but it's great to see you guys! I don't know if I mentioned this but this Nexus place sucks ass. Can't wait to get back"
Charmy is pushed out of view of the camera and suddenly Knuckles' pregnant girlfriend Julie Su appears on screen
"Is Knuckles with you? I really need to talk to him!" She calls out
Manic can hardly hear what the pink echidna is saying while Amy and Penelope argue directly behind him
He turns around "Hey, cool it, ladies, I'm on the god damn phone! I can't hear shit!... sorry, what'd you say?"
"Our child is about to be born! I know you broke him out of prison, I need Knuckles here NOW!"
"Yeah, that's a funny story, Julia-"
"Julie!"
"Julie, my bad. See, we're on a giant satellite in outer space and we sorta got split up so uh-"
"WHAT?!"
The loud feedback from the speakers makes Manic pull his phone away from his face until it quiets down.
Amy looks up at the green hedgehog intently, while Tails signals for him to not tell Julie anything about The Nexus.
"Uh, what I mean by that is, we'll have Knuckles back to Green Hill before that baby arrives, Julie. You don't have to worry about a thing" Manic says
Julie sighs in disbelief "...I really need him, Manic. Please don't let anything happen to him!.."
"You've got my word on that"
The pink echidna steps out of view of the camera and Charmy sits down in his gaming chair, cracking open a fresh can of soda.
"Things are pretty messed up over there, ain't it?"
Manic feels a gust of ice cold wind hit him, so he crosses his arms together to get warm
"...things are as great as you'd expect it to be in an orbiting city in space. Pitch black out where the light posts down cover, one part of this shithole is half decent, the rest of it is all garbage. (sigh)...I really wanna go home, man"
"So, come home. I've been sitting here for two weeks waiting for Tails to use the transporter and bring you all back"
Manic looks over at the fox "...yeah, well, we lost the god damn teleporter device or whatever the hell it's called. Now, we're stuck. Sonic's nowhere to be seen, Amy didn't even want us to come, but you know us, we can't help ourselves... I'm starting to regret coming here"
The wind picks up and soon everyone is freezing. Tails wraps himself up with a long sleeve shirt, but even this isn't enough to keep warm.
The ground starts to shake so much that Manic falls off the ammo crate and falls on his back, dropping his phone in the grey sand and ending the video call.
"What the hell is going on?!" Amy shouts
Penelope, Cam and Hunter look up towards the stars
"Is that - Mongol?"
Tails and Amy look up to see what they're talking about, while Manic growls quietly as he gets back up to his feet. Maine shifts around until she can look up at what everyone else is looking at.
A dark, massive figure appears to be jumping from hilltop to hilltop, clearing 30 feet gaps with ease.
"Holy shit, it is Mongol" Cam says
Tails turns to the taller hedgehog "Who?"
"Mammoth Mongol"
"What? Are you serious? Mammoth Mongol? I know him!"
The entire group looks at him, with Amy speaking first
"You do?"
"I know of him!"
The group's attention is brought back up to the stars once again. Mongol shakes the ground as he vaults across the hills, getting closer to their location.
Manic looks down and sees Maine has a giant grin on her face
"What're you all cheery about?" he asks
"I knew they'd send someone for me. You guys are so fucked, now" the female wolf says
Manic looks up, sees Mongol is getting closer yet nobody is moving so he nudges everyone
"Yo, idiots, maybe we should move just in case he-"
"Hey, he's getting pretty close, ain't he?"
"Oh SHIT!"
"Man, look out!"
Manic pulls Tails and Amy to safety, while using his Jade Medallion's energy to push the other three out of the way. Mongol narrowly misses them as he stomps on the ground, kicking up sand as he moves.
Mammoth Mongol stands 22 feet high, with his ears measuring 7 feet on their own. His dark brown shaggy fur serves as a body armour for his round torso. His grey trunk is 2 times as long as a regular elephant's trunk and that much stronger, while his tusks have been sharpened to a razor point.
"What the FUCK, man?!" Manic exclaims
Tails gets to his feet "Why's it always gotta be monsters?"
Mongol lets out a deep roar as he swings his giant fists as the group, and both sides fight together against the behemoth.
On the other side of The Nexus, Sonic is still recovering from the gut punch Knuckles gave him, while the echidna argues with him.
"...and other thing pal, we came all this way to this pile of monkey crap Nexus place just to find you, and now we're stranded here so you'll have to forgive me if I'm a little on edge!"
As Knuckles speaks, Sonic feels the ground shake and hears Mongol's roaring, even from this far away. Without hesitation, Sonic picks up Maddie and her child, zooms out of sight and leaves the echidna alone but he hasn't noticed they've left.
"You know what I think you are, Sonic? An egotistical blue bastard! Yeah, that's what I really think of ya-"
Knuckles is interrupted as Sonic races by, grabs his forearm and takes him towards the fight.
In less than 10 seconds, Sonic and Knuckles reach the desert in Jambi Country and the blue hedgehog starts his attack by throwing Knuckles at the back of Mongol's head, dazing the behemoth on impact.
"Oops!"
Knuckles lands on the ground and grasps his abdomen
"You did that on purpose!"
Mongol turns around and lets out a deep growl
"Blue..."
Sonic spin dashes around the behemoth, using homing attacks and quickly evading before Mongol can hit a counter strike
"Still too slow, big guy!" Sonic taunts as he moves at light speed
Amy can hardly believe what she's seeing, shouting the blue hedgehogs name in excitement.
As Sonic looks at her, Mongol uses this split second to back hand him in mid air, sending him skidding across the sand.
"NO!"
Amy throws her War Hammer at Mongol before he stomps on Sonic, giving her friends a chance to attack the beast.
Manic fires Jade Energy Blasts to distract him, while Penelope uses her telekinesis to uproot the satellite conductors from the sand and throw them at mongol. Cam uses his curved weapon to hook the beast' left leg and drop him to one knee.
"Watch out!" Hunter shouts
The tall hedgehog climbs up Mongol's bent leg, grasps one of the tusks and applies a headlock-type hold, preventing the beast from moving too much.
Knuckles finally gets to his feet, gets a running start and jumps up at Mongol's face. He swings his left fist at the tusk Hunter is holding and smashes it with such power that it snaps and breaks into behemoth roars out in pain and anger, swinging his massive fist at Hunter and Knuckles in retaliation. The yellow hedgehog dives out of the way but Knuckles is caught and knocked back with enough force to send him backflipping through the grimy desert. Hunter takes this chance to combat-roll towards the broken shards of Mongol's tusk and puts as many pieces in his pockets as he can, then combat-rolls away once more.
Seeing that Mongol is being overwhelmed, Maine calls out to the beast to free her.
Tails looks over "Maine, WAIT!"
Mongol uses his trunk to grasp the female wolf, but Tails grabs her hand and holds on as tight as he can. The others fight the beast so he is distracted while Tails pleads with Maine.
"What are you doing?! RELEASE ME!" She yells
"You can't go with him, he'll kill you after he doesn't need you anymore!" The Fox warns
"You don't know what you're talking about, let me GO!"
"I'M TRYING TO SAVE YOUR LIFE!"
Mongol's trunk tries to pull her away but Tails won't let go
"I almost killed you an hour ago, What do you care for?!" Maine demands
Tails strains as he holds on "...there's good in you, Maine, and you can change - You don't need them!"
Maine is taken off guard by this statement, however Mongol isn't impressed with the Fox.
"Enough, Two-Tails!" Mongol says
Cam looks over "Kid, if she wants to leave, let her leave!"
"Yeah, don't be a hero, she ain't worth it!" Hunter adds
Manic notices Mongol has turned his attention to Tails, looking to kick the small fox with his giant foot.
"I got him!" Manic calls out
His Jade Medallion gives him enough of a speed boost to run around Mongol and tackle Tails out of the way before the soccer kick connects with either one of them.
At the same time, Mongol accidentally releases Maine from his grasp as he pulls her away from Tails, and she is thrown over 100 feet across the desert.
"Oh shit" Tails and Manic say in unison
"MAINE!" The behemoth shouts
He forgets about the fight and jumps over the sand dunes to the wolf's location. Cam, Penelope, Hunter and Knuckles regroup with Manic and Tails, while Amy helps Sonic to his feet and walk back to them.
"Well, then. I guess we win?" Manic shrugs
Even though he's out of sight, Mongol's scream is heard everywhere throughout The Nexus. The group is startled by the rumbling this causes and one by one, all eyes look down at Tails.
"Now you pissed him off" Hunter says
Without hesitation, Sonic hooks his arms around Amy and Penelope and takes them away from the battlefield.
"Hey! What about us!" Cam shouts
Sonic returns to grab two more and zooms away. He repeats this until everyone is rounded up inside a massive cave, partially hidden from the rest of The Nexus.
"Everyone get back! It won't take long before he finds this entrance, so we gotta move!" Sonic calls out
"Hold up, I'm not going anywhere with the likes of you!" Hunter says sternly "...as far as I'm concerned, you're the reason all this is happening, and your friends are just adding to this mess!"
Mongol's footsteps are heard getting closer and closer, causing rocks to fall from the roof of this dark cave.
"...however, I think I can make an exception this time-"
"Yeah, you'd better shut your ass up 'less you wanna go have a play date with our boy outside" Knuckles says
"What'd you say, little man?"
Hunter stands a few inches taller than Knuckles, but the Echidna faces off with him regardless of the difference.
"I've listened to ya talk for 10 seconds and I already know I'm gonna end up kicking your head in, pal. Just waitin' on you" Knuckles responds aggressively
Hunter chuckles "I've met so many wannabe bad asses like you, Echidna, and they all went down the same-"
"Then it should be no problem to kick my ass, now shouldn't it. Come on. You get the first shot"
Cam puts his arm in between them "Easy, Hunter. Let him talk shit, we know what's up-"
"Yeah, my foot up your ass!"
Manic backs up Knuckles "These guys might be something around here, but I doubt they'd last 10 seconds with anyone of us"
"Yeah, that's right. Come on, boys. Anytime"
As both sides argue, Amy turns around to face Sonic and hug him.
"Hey, Amy" He says "...I can see nothing's changed with them"
Both hedgehogs looks back at the Knuckles and Manic, now resorting to name calling in this argument. Sonic looks over and sees Tails kneeling down and staring blankly at the cave walls
"I need a second, Ames... try to keep them from tearing this place apart, please" Sonic says
The blue hedgehog walks over to the fox and puts his hand on Tails' shoulder
"It's alright. We know that wasn't your fault back there"
Tails looks up "...I'm feeling all kinds of guilt here, man"
"Well, we're still breathing, nobody else around here can say that after meeting Mongol. Just think of it that way"
Tails does his best to smile, then embraces his friend.
"It's good to see you, Sonic"
"You too, little brother"
As both groups continue to argue, an invisible hedgehog suddenly appears out of thin air.
"Holy crap, It's the Sonic Heroes!"
Everyone jumps away from the transparent young hedgehog. He is short, skinny, wears a long black hoodie with red designs sewn on the sleeves and matching black jeans.
"...you know us?" Knuckles asks
"Of course I do! You guys are awesome!"
Hunter looks at his friends, while everyone else turns to Sonic for an answer, but nobody is able to completely grasp what is happening.