Disclaimer - I do not own Sonic or any other characters. They are property of SEGA and anything Sonic the hedgehog affiliated with it.
It was dark out by the time the Freedom Fighters were on their plane headed to Angel Island…
It took more time than expected to prepare because of the hectic nature in which the Freedom Fighters had received the intel of Knuckles being in danger. Which was of course them watching it happen in real time and alerting a broadcast around New Mobotropolis that they were in a low state of emergency. More importantly the Royal family and the military had helped the Freedom Fighters in a panic, prepare to leave.
The entirety of Castle acorn was in a frenzy as they boarded their plane and took off into the air. At the moment, the Freedom Fighters transport plane had just crossed the threshold of Angel Island, and now flying over the land below. The plane flew by the shrine of the Master Emerald and flew deeper into the forest nearby it, knowing they could not track where the Marauders had gone with the little information that they did have. Instead, they tracked the energy signal of the Master Emerald knowing it would lead them straight to it all.
While they were en route the Freedom Fighters discussed their plans on how to rescue Knuckles and get the Master Emerald, although their plans were vague because they did not know what they were dealing with.
Sally stood by a whiteboard attached to the metal plane wall with a black marker in one hand and Nicole in the other as she scribbled on the board discussing ideas aloud. The rest of the Freedom Fighters sat on the opposite side of the plane wall with serious faces and earpieces in their ears as they listened.
Nicole spoke as Sally wrote on the whiteboard "As of now we do not know what tactics we will have to employ. If anything, I surmise there will be some level of technology we will have to bypass to get to Knuckles and the Master Emerald. We are also unaware if they have a base of operations even though at this point that is unlikely because they have been here only for a short amount of time. We should not count that out though considering the Nocturnus Clan has been around for four thousand years or more from what we know, and their technology is without a doubt very advanced, and I would not put that beneath them that they might be able to craft something much faster than we expected."
Sally turned around crossing her arms "Bunnie?" Bunnie nodded silently as Sally spoke again "If there is any technology detected I think you may need to hang back. Once the alarms are tripped if they have any, you can rush in to support once we're sure they don't have any surprises for us."
"Yiah really think they can detect my cybernetics?" Bunnie asked curiously.
Rotor responded to her sitting farthest left of the group "We're not sure. But I'm guessing they'll be scanning for any type of electronic wavelengths nearing their operations if they have anything set up."
"Do you think they might have any technology that could harm Bunnie, specifically?" Amy questioned.
Bunnie who was sitting next to Amy briefly wrapped her cybernetic arm around Amy and hugged her smirking "Yiah know what, yeur righ. It aint no telling what surprise they could throw at me." Bunnie released Amy, they both lost their smirks and donned serious expressions again, and Bunnie spoke "I'll come a rushing as soon as possible."
Sally nodded and wrote down that note on the whiteboard "We didn't think about that. Good one, Amy."
And though Amy held a serious look, she felt warm on the inside from Bunnies show of affection. The Freedom Fighters sometimes praised her as the nurturer of the team. As she was probably the most empathetic of them all, always having great concern about others in danger. It gave her an awareness that protected them all on so many occasions.
Tails sat to her right, and Amy darted her eyes to her right past Antoine, who just asked a question, to Sonic, who had been mostly quiet on the ride here. She knew having personal conversations with Sonic, that Knuckles was a good friend of his. Despite their rivalry, many had watched them over the years fight for each other's lives, never questioning what they did for each other.
And if Amy wasn't mistaken Sonic had a look of concern in his eyes that he usually didn't. They had an odd relationship, but they were the bestest of friends. Knuckles on rare occasions would mention the first time they met and how they fought together to save Angel Island from Dr. Eggman. He said he would never forget when Sonic and Tails returned the Master Emerald to him…
And the trio had been friends ever since…
Amy did smirk a bit. They had a friendly rivalry that probably would never die…
But Amy donned another determined look as she glanced over at Sonic. This was it. She had to put her everything in. If she wanted to impress Sonic, she had to protect him. She had to give enormous support on this mission and future ones. This was another one of her plans to impress Sonic…
She knew if she could be the MVP of the missions Sonic would have to notice her. She had to be the one who made the missions successful…
She had been sporting a mostly passive role her whole freedom fighter career. She knew she had to step up her game, as Sonic would say. She tried to turn the tables in the past and make him chase her, that did not work. She had tried pleasing his every whim, that did not work. She continued to shower him with love and kisses, this continued to not work. And so many other different methods to obtain his love…
But one thing was for certain over all the years of her spiritual practices, and that was, if she did not change, nothing did…
Her tarot readings always stayed the same unless she changed. That was why she was trying this…letting go…business…
She didn't understand it but if she was able to be helpful, it might impress Sonic, and he would most certainly look at her differently. The thing she had been trying to do for so long…
He had to…he had to see her different…seeing her change…
She was going to fight tooth and nail to stop the Nocturnus Clan…tooth and nail to change herself…
Because if this didn't impress Sonic…if he didn't notice…if she did not have him…his love…by the end of all this…
She would break…
She already felt it waning…
…hope…
She didn't know if she could continue to chase him after this. She had already tried it all. It seemed sometimes she might be headed towards what the tarot was showing her regardless of how she felt or wanted. She didn't want to let go…but in some ways… it already looked like it was headed in that direction…
She was in love and wanted Sonic to love her…
This time…
She was putting everything in…all of her…
If she did not have this love…she would change…
As those thoughts passed through Amy's mind the rumbling of the planes thrusters jolted her out of her thoughts. The plane lurched to a stop hovering in place, and the pilots spoke through a P.A. system "We got a landmass a head from your coordinates. Headlights are off, how do we engage?"
Sally pressed the ear piece on her ear to respond "Hold."
"Roger that." one of the pilots responded.
Then all the Freedom Fighters looked to Nicole in Sally's hand. Nicole responded promptly "Whatever the landmass is, I believe it is our destination. I am detecting the Master Emerald nearby."
And on Nicole's screen a radar popped up and a blip pinged indicating that it was time for action. Sally pressed her ear piece "Alright, bring us down silent and easy. Touch down fifty meters away from the target destination."
"Copy that." the pilot responded.
Sonic pressed his ear piece "What do you guys have eyes on?"
One of the pilots responded a moment later "From what we can gather, it looks like some kind of old abandoned facility of some sort…"
Tails spoke aloud with frown "Sounds like one of Eggman's old bases."
"Sounds pretty obvious to me." Amy said knowingly.
Sally nodded crossing her arms "Right. It looks like they found some old technology to build upon for their base. That means we do have a problem, and we have to get in there quick."
"Right!" everyone said collectively as Sally spoke again "Rotor, Nicole, and I are going to see what we can do from here."
Everyone nodded silently as Sally walked over to the transport planes door hatch She pressed a button as they felt the plane finally lurch and touch down on the ground. The door hatch opened slowly and Sonic, Amy, Tails, and Antoine went out into the darkened forest only seeing the faint dark blue glow in the clearing ahead of them. The light from inside the plane was bright as well so they cut them off, leaving the door hatch opened and dark as well.
It took them less than a minute to traverse through some roughage until they got a clear view of the Marauders makeshift base. There was light that could be seen from inside but unfortunately there seem to be a turret sitting on the top of the dilapidated building. And from the looks of it, it was already operational as it moved left to right scanning the area in front of the building.
Sonic, Amy, Tails, and Antoine retreated back into the bushes they were hiding in and contacted Sally. Amy was first trying to take more of an active role. She spoke with a determined look "Sally? Do you copy?"
"We copy you. We also are seeing what you're seeing, what is that thing?" Sally responded.
Nicole spoke "It is a turret, I am unsure of its capabilities."
"I think we're going to need some help getting in there." Tails said stating the obvious.
"I am already working on it. My bypass will not be long though, I am certain they will notice." Nicole responded.
"Needless to say, be prepared." Rotor said seriously "We'll give you the countdown when we're ready."
So Amy, Tails, Sonic, and Antoine crouched down further into the bushes they were hiding in. It seemed since they hadn't already triggered the alarms they were going to get a good sneak attack. From the inside of the base though, an eerie blue glow emanated from the cracks outside. The Freedom Fighters felt anxious as they had been on a time limit since this mission started. If the Marauders extracted any energy from the Master Emerald or the Chaos Emeralds they would be overwhelmed by a powerful foe in the blink of an eye. It was in their best interest to prevent anything from happening in the first place…
Meanwhile inside the Marauders base…
The Master Emerald sat in the middle of the main room hooked up to some sort of machine. All four of Shade's Marauders were around it and working on the machine. The area was dimly lit by a makeshift generator, a few yellow lights, and one flickering light in one of the entrances doorways. All of the technology in the building did not function, they had to manually repair some of it, and the rusty walls certainly made the place feel more flimsy when the wind blew. A draft made an eerie howl, blowing dust around, and making the already weak walls wain in the wind as the Marauders attempted to extract energy from the Master Emerald. Shade stood in front of a large but cracked monitor that was attempting to connect a signal. Shade quietly stared up at the monitor as she waited for it to connect.
Meanwhile in the back of the room Knuckles was strapped by his wrists and ankles to a wall in metal restraints. Marauder Shade had stabbed him with her red energy blade at least two times since they had restrained him. It made him pass out each time, but he had woken up not that long ago. Although, he kept his head down this time, and he kept his eyes closed pretending to still be knocked out. He hadn't heard much information so far and he did feel a bit drained now, but he was hoping he might hear some information throughout this ordeal. So he pretended to still hang limp from the wall in his restraints, listening as the Marauders attempted to suck energy from the Master Emerald.
He did ponder thoughtfully with his eyes closed about those red energy sucking blades that marauder Shade used on him. He only passed out when she used the blades on him for a long period of time like she had. He somewhat at least knew now what he was dealing with on a strategic level. When they fought again he would be aware of the limitations of his enemies. He wondered if his distress call even made it through to Sonic and the others …
But suddenly, the screen Shade was standing in front of flickered to life. And although Knuckles couldn't see who she was talking to, he could hear in her tone that she was probably speaking to her boss, and the number one person he was going to sock in the face as soon as he got the chance.
Shade's Marauders stopped working on the machine and glanced over as marauder Shade hand saluted Imperator Ix on screen. With his dark armor and his glowing cyan eyes, he spoke calmly "Marauder Shade, what is your progress?"
Shade lowered her hand and placed both behind her back as she spoke "We have acquired the Master Emerald. All that is left to do is transfer the energy to the Twilight Cage."
Imperator Ix nodded sounding pleased "Excellent. We will need gigatons of energy to do another phase shift. How long till the energy extractor is ready?"
One of Shade's Marauders spoke at the screen "Imperator, in a few hours' time in this realm. So you may experience it a few weeks in the Twilight Cage."
They all paused though when the power fluctuated for a moment, but they dismissed it merely as a minor fluctuation of their power generator.
Imperator Ix nodded "Still much faster than our progress here. Excellent work Marauders, at this rate we will be free from this infernal cage once and for all…" Imperator Ix paused as he looked at the back of the room "You have a POW as well?"
Shade glanced back at Knuckles then back at the screen with a curt nod "It seems there is still a guardian alive for the Master Emerald from the Knuckles clan."
Imperator Ix looked intrigued "Are you certain he is not awake?"
Shade nodded with certainty "Certain. I used my leech blades not long ago; he should be out for a while."
"In that case, probe him for information once he awakens. If he is a guardian of the Master Emerald he surely must know where the Chaos Emeralds are and any other information that might be useful before I arrive." Imperator Ix stated authoritatively.
"Will you probe him as well?" she asked questioningly.
"For informational purposes, I think he could be useful in letting me know what has happened to the clans. Who knows where they are hiding if they are still around." Imperator Ix said in an ominous tone.
But suddenly the power flickered again, and the video screen became dim for a moment. Shade looked to her Marauders and one of them immediately walked away from the Master Emerald, and to the generator on the other side of the room.
"I will check it out." one of the Marauders said as they neared the generator.
Before the marauder could even touch the generator, the power stabilized back to normal again. The marauder shrugged, turning back around to rejoin the others working on the machine for the Master Emerald, and Shade turned back to the monitor to continue her conversation with imperator ix. But as their conversation started up again the power fluctuated again and this time Shade looked irritated.
Shade turned to her Marauders again "Check our comms. Are we picking up something?"
One of her Marauders stood and began checking some data on their wristband. The marauder spoke with slight surprise "Yes actually…I'm not sure what that is though…"
"What is it that you see?" Imperator Ix questioned.
"It seems like…"-a loud bang startled them all, coming from the only entrance door in the room. And before they could react it happened again. BOOM! The rusty metal door flew through the air forcing Shade to jump out of the way. The door smashed right into the monitor and console Shade was talking to Imperator Ix on, destroying it and ending her conversation.
Then all the Marauders only saw a quick fast moving blur suddenly in the room. A fast-moving blue ball crashed into them all. It hit them, knocking them off their feet and flying into the nearby flimsy walls.
Knuckles quickly opened his eyes as he heard the commotion, lifting his head just as he saw Sonic spin dash into Shade. Unprepared she was flung into another flimsy wall.
"Oooof!" Shade exclaimed.
Sonic hit her so hard she went through the wall and into another dilapidated room. A plume of dust and smoke erupted from the hole in the wall. Knuckles blinked his eyes as Sonic didn't stop, instead he was headed directly for him next.
Knuckles closed his eyes but opened them when he heard the sound of metal chinking and felt one of his arm restraints loosened around his wrist. Knuckles grinned seeing one of his arms was free, but the Marauders were already on the offense "He is trying to free the guardian! Stop him!"
Sonic jumped back as the Marauders began charging their blades which he was unaware of. Knuckles still had trouble getting free from his restraints though. He strained tugging at his other restraints, but they only loosened. And he growled shouting to Sonic "Careful! They have hidden blades!"
As Sonic fought the Marauders, Shade, had just came out of the hole in the wall, placing a hand on the opening to help her stand. Inside her helmet, she held an angered expression. The attack knocked the wind out of her.
But she removed her hand from the wall and dashed into the fray. As she began charging her blades, she was deciding on whether she should go for the guardian or the hedgehog, but three more intruders entered the room.
Amy, Tails, and Antoine rushed in and ambushed the four Marauders attacking Sonic. Tails and Antoine helped Sonic while Amy helped Knuckles. Her Piko Piko hammer was already transformed, and she lifted her hammer into the air "Arrrggghhhh!"
With the force of her strength, she smashed her hammer into one of his leg restraints, breaking it and freeing one half of his body. Knuckles struggled using his strength as his restraints became looser. Shade though immediately made up her mind and went for Knuckles. Amy spun around swinging her hammer at Shade, but Shade deflected it with a smooth swipe of her hand, and Amy's hammer flew out of her hands and slid across the floor. Amy growled as she punched at Shade, but yet again Shade made quick work of her, kneeing her in the stomach and knocking her onto the floor just as her blades charged.
Amy held an angered expression as she held onto her stomach. She watched as pink blades extended from Shade's wrists, and she attempted to stab Knuckles with them. With half of his body free Knuckles dodged and pushed Shade back. Unfortunately, the wind was knocked out of Amy, and she stayed on the floor feeling useless like so many times in the past…
This Shade marauder was stronger than they thought, and Sonic seeing what had happened rushed over to help. One of the Marauders were down, and Tails and Antoine were defending against the other three. Sonic kicked at Shade but she moved out of the way. It was at this point though that they all noticed that Shade shifted her attention onto Sonic and attacked him aggressively.
Shade's blades had just retracted and began charging again as Sonic and Shade exchanged blows. Shade landed a few punches and Sonic hit her with his spindash equally. However, it was made clear that Shade considered Sonic her main threat.
One of the Marauders fighting Antoine overwhelmed him with the strength of their armor knocking him down. The other two Marauders overwhelmed Tails as well, with one of them stabbing Tails with one of their blue energy blades. Tails groaned in pain as he backed away from them.
Soon though, one of Shade's pink energy blades finished charging, and it extended. She attacked Sonic with it this time and sliced his side. Sonic grunted in pain looking down at his side but seeing no physical injury.
"Marauders! On my mark!" Shade said pointing at Sonic.
It seemed it was obvious that Shade wanted to subdue Sonic first. Sonic seemed to be the most obvious threat to them because he was. Or so they thought…
Knuckles was still struggling to break free from his restraints, yelling to Sonic to be careful as Sonic stood ready in a fighting position with his hand on his side. And this sight ignited a fire within Amy on the floor…
She was still in pain, but adrenaline kicked in and all the pain seem to go away. Her resolve came back and was stronger than she had ever felt. Sonic was in danger and her panic instinct kicked in. Her panic always kicked in whenever it came to Sonic. She had always been useless in many missions in the past. Always playing a passive role within the Freedom Fighters, but SHE was on a mission to this time. Sonic would never notice her at this rate…
She had to be the MVP of this mission and all missions going forward…
This would lead to her love…
"No…no…no…"Amy repeated in her head as a new momentum built up with in her, and as if a force took over her body she rose to her feet.
Shade and her Marauders noticed her but seemed to ignore her as they focused on Sonic. With an angered expression still on her face, her teeth gritted, Amy walked to her Piko Piko hammer with her hand on her side and picked it up. Amy growled under her breath as her hammer dragged across the floor, then she took her Piko Piko hammer in both hands, her hands clinched tightly around the hilt of her hammer.
Sonic was defending himself but he needed help. Amy still vaguely felt the pain in her side, but she recovered more quickly because of the situation. She dashed at the Marauders with her hammer raised, but she did not yell as she might have in the past. Like many things lately, she was trying something new.
To be the MVP she had to focus…
The Marauders took notice, but Shade took her as of no concern again, cocking her head at one of her Marauders to take care of her. Antoine and Tails had recovered as well and were rushing over to help Sonic. The marauder attacking Amy waited for her to swing her hammer, and she did. With a determined look, Amy held her hammer high, then brought it down in a slow and heavy manner. The marauder held up their hands and grabbed it, but they did not expect the force of the attack. The marauder was shocked as they flinched, and they swayed on their feet and stumbled.
The marauder pushed Amy's hammer back guessing that by being swift they could defeat her. But what Amy did next surprised them all, for not a moment after pushing Amy's hammer back, Amy's swung her Piko Piko hammer again even faster!
The marauder did not have time to react as Amy swung her hammer directly into the marauder's side "Yaaaaah!" the marauder yelled in agony as they flew through a wall!
This made Shade and her Marauders pause, as well as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Antoine. Now there were three of Shade's Marauders left. But Shade only signaled for another marauder to get Amy as they went back to attacking Sonic and also Tails and Antoine, who were helping Sonic now.
Amy was more irritated now too that Shade saw her not as a threat. The second marauder attacked Amy head on seeing what she had done. Both of the Marauders charged blue blades extended, and Amy blocked with her hammer as they attempted to stab her. On top of the energy blades, the Marauders were strong because of their armor. And as the marauder lunged at Amy, it almost made her lose her grip, taking a step back as she blocked their attack. But her grip tightened again on the hilt of her hammer as anger flared up within her again…
Amy held her hammer horizontally and pushed it back, then with a mighty force, she shoved the head of her Piko Piko hammer straight into the marauder. It was another direct hit, and the marauder's blades retracted. The strike was so strong the marauder froze were they stood at a loss of breath. Amy then swung her hammer in an upwards manner, flinging the marauder into the ceiling. The marauder slammed against the ceiling and bounced back down onto the floor.
Amy then turned her hammer upside down and swung one final time, and in a sweeping motion, swung as hard as she could.
"Ahhhhh!" Amy yelled, and the marauder went flying across the room "Ooof!"
Antoine, Tails, and a marauder had to dive out of the way. The marauder went crashing into the machine that held the Master Emerald destroying it completely! The Master Emerald slumped over and Shade, though they couldn't see it, knew she was now angry. The remaining two Marauders without a word dog piled onto Antoine and held him down as Shade ran over to him. Her pink energy blade turned red as she lunged at him.
Antoine was not able to overpower them as she stabbed him with the blade. Antoine yelled in pain, but it didn't last long as Tails spin dashed into the Marauders freeing Antoine. Antoine butted one of the Marauders with the hilt of his sword as he stood to his feet again defending himself.
Shade's red blade depleted and began charging again, but her other charged blade was ready, and she hit Tails with her other pink energy blade knocking him out of the air. Tails yelped in pain as she threw him to the floor. It was then Shade noticed the blue hedgehog speaking to the guardian. Amy was fighting the other marauder.
Without hesitation, Shade dashed towards Sonic and Knuckles across the room. Knuckles held a growl on his face and Sonic grinned seeing Shade was coming. Sonic leaned closer to Knuckles "Hit me."
Knuckles growled as he attempted to do just that. And with one final heave, he freed his other arm just barely missing the side of Sonic's grinning mouth as Sonic jumped back. Knuckles then freed his leg as well falling onto his feet. Knuckles was angry, and he balled his fist slamming it into his hand as Shade stopped just short of Sonic and Knuckles. Shade stared them down as they did the same.
Sonic and Knuckles looked at one another nodding, then at Shade. Shade expected them to attack so she went on her guard extending both of her pink energy blades as they just finished charging. They both dashed at her, and Shade lunged at them with both blades extended. Shade slashed at them, and they dodged as she rolled out of the way, but she soon realized it was a ruse as Knuckles had dashed completely past her. Knuckles instead glided through the air right to the marauder who was fighting with Antoine. The marauder turned their head as Knuckles delivered a whopping blow knocking them down.
Antoine helped Knuckles up, and they ran over to Tails to help him retrieve the Master Emerald. Shade was about to try and stop them when Sonic spindashed into her back making her stumble. But Shade back handed him, just grazing him with one of her pink energy blades again. Sonic uncurled with a grin wiping the side of his mouth as they went at it again. But this time Shade was even more aggressive. She tackled Sonic to the ground and because of her strength from her armor Sonic was pinned and had a hard time pushing her off.
Sonic figured she still considered him a big threat because of the malice of her attacks, and even more so when one of her pink energy blades suddenly turned red. Sonic growled as he grabbed her wrist holding her back as she attempted to plunge her red blade into his chest. He didn't need to guess that he didn't want to be hit by this red blade, it definitely couldn't be good.
Amy was nearby and saw this. Her eyes widened for a moment deflecting the blue energy blade from the marauder she was fighting. Then Amy donned a determined look in her eyes again…
With an angered expression, she tossed her hammer at the marauder she was fighting. The marauder had no choice but to try and catch the humongous hammer coming at them. Their energy blade disappeared as they caught the hammer, but they quickly realized their mistake. Amy's Piko Piko hammer was super heavy, so heavy they could not even hold it!
The marauder stumbled as Amy kicked them and sent them falling backwards. She then picked up her hammer with ease and slammed the marauder with it a few times. The marauder groaned as they were now down as well and Amy dashed over to Sonic and Shade without another word.
Shade was dangerously close to stabbing Sonic with her red blade as Amy knocked her off of him. With a wide swing, she hit Shade sending her sliding across the floor. Shade huffed in frustration as she stood and looked down at the side of her armor. It had been dented a bit…
Amy helped Sonic stand with a gentle smile, and he graciously took her hand grinning at her. Shade continued her attack seeing out of the corner of her eye that the guardian, and his friends were almost done freeing the Master Emerald. Amy and Sonic both attacked her at the same time, but they both missed as Shade gracefully got in close. Shade sidestepped both of their attacks, and she slashed at Amy's side as one of her pink energy blades extended after recharging.
Amy dropped her Piko Piko hammer growling in pain. Sonic jumped back as Shade's other energy blade extended, and she kept on the offensive. She ignored Amy again though keeping her focus on Sonic and this enraged Amy, who fought the pain in her side. She growled as she lifted her Piko Piko hammer with one hand, pulled her arm back, aiming carefully "Arggh!"
Amy yelled as she released her hammer, and it spun in the air right at Shade. Sonic and Shade noticed. Shade was a bit caught off guard as she was focusing on taking Sonic out of the fight, and she just barely dodged Amy's hammer as it crashed into the rusty metal floor in front of her. With a loud crash, Amy's hammer left a huge indent in the floor. The metal floor was depressed right at the feet of Shade, and she observed how warped the metal floor was around the head of the hammer.
She knew she was lucky not to be hit by that attack. But something else finally clicked in Shade's mind as she looked away from the hammer. She finally shifted her focus away from the blue hedgehog and looked directly at Amy as she ran over to her hammer. This pink hedgehog was quite the nuisance. She had underestimated her formidability, as the pink one was actually stopping her and her team from carrying out their goals.
And from all her years of being militarized that made this pink hedgehog a threat in her book. Any one thing that prevented them from completing their objectives needed to be dealt with swiftly. The blue hedgehog and the guardian were still obviously the top players, but this girl was starting to get on her nerves. And anyone that could do that to her, she knew, they were going to have problems…
As Shade slowly rose to her feet, inside her helmet, she held a deep frown as Amy grabbed the hilt of her hammer and pulled it out of the floor. The sound of metal bending was heard as Amy fully pulled her Piko Piko hammer off the floor. Shade frowned inside her helmet, and Amy frowned back at her as they stared one another down…
Amy and Sonic were ready to gang up on Shade when three of her Marauders that were knocked down recovered and joined Shade. But Knuckles, Tails, and Antoine just freed the Master Emerald. Unfortunately though Knuckles was having trouble lifting it alone. It was known he could lift it by himself with ease, but he seemed tired.
"Stop them." Shade ordered two of her Marauders with military hand gestures.
It left Shade and one of her Marauders to fight with Amy and Sonic. Before the two Marauders could make it over to them Tails touched the ear piece on his ear and spoke in a panic "Bunnie, we need your help!"
Antoine, Knuckles, and Tails engaged in a tug-of-war with the two Marauders briefly before the faint sound of thrusters was heard above them. And Bunnie came crashing down through the roof barreling at fast speeds near the Master Emerald and the fight. A plume of dust, smoke, and debris followed Bunnie's entrance temporarily blinding them all. But it did give them the upper hand as Knuckles, Antoine, Tails, and she made quick work of the two Marauders.
And with that Knuckles and Bunnie lifted the Master Emerald and ran for the exit. The two Marauders who they knocked down slowly got up and gave chase. Shade noticed this in the heat of her battle and immediately switched focus again. She tried to go after them, but Sonic and Amy got in her and her Marauders way.
Shade then ordered her marauder to go after them. The marauder nodded and ran towards the exit as Shade landed a punch on Sonic's chin. Shade ducked under Amy's hammer just barely missing her, and she was able to disarm Amy again. Yanking the hammer from her hands and she stumbled because of how heavy it was, but she tossed it to the floor figuring it would be easier to fight this pink hedgehog without her weapon.
Amy frowned as she blocked Shade's punches but saw that her pink energy blade had just been charged, and it extended as Shade pulled back her arm. Amy's eyes widened as she used her speed to swiftly move out of the way as Shade swiped at her a few times, then she gracefully did a back flip completely out of her reach.
It was obvious Shade had not expected that as her other energy blade extended, and she charged right at her with both of her blades turning red. Amy narrowed her eyes as she planted a foot back, then quickly dashed forward into a spindash. It seemed Shade did not expect her to be able to defend herself without her weapon, and Amy hit her directly head on.
"Ooof!" Shade exclaimed as she was sent flying back in the opposite direction.
Shade's red energy blades retracted as she was knocked into an old computer console. Granted, Amy sometimes felt spin dashes to be slightly uncomfortable depending on what she was wearing, but she had mastered them so she could more effectively chase Sonic.
Amy uncurled and glanced back at Sonic with a curious look. He winked at her as he struggled to lift her hammer. Amy giggled as she went over to him snatching her hammer up, and they quickly exited the room before Shade could get up.
Amy and Sonic made it outside and were met with the sight of the three Marauders fighting Knuckles, Tails, Bunnie, and Antoine. The Master Emerald laid on the ground, and they defended it. Amy and Sonic looked at one another with smiles as they ran over and committed a sneak attack. The three Marauders were caught off-guard, and once they were knocked down Knuckles and Bunnie picked up the Master Emerald again, and they all ran for it.
As they ran through the darkened forest branches, and leaves hit their faces and blinded them. They tripped and stumbled, and their hearts raised as they searched for their transport plane. Antoine who was running with his hand on his side pressed his ear piece "We are ready for extraction! Start zis plane!"
Everyone heard him as they ran, and they seemed to be lost as they could not find where they had come from. But the engines of their transport plane revving up was heard loud and clear. They were nearby, and they all changed direction towards the sound of their plane. The thrust of the engines pushed wind all around them, making all the trees in the nearby vicinity sway violently.
Soon they could see the dim lights from within the plane. Once in sight, they ran straight up the ramp and inside. Once everybody was inside Sally ordered the pilots to take off. There was a lot of tension as they expected for the Marauders to be hot on their heels trying to stop them. But they were able to take off without incident, and it worried them.
All of their eyes scrambled down below as the door hatch began to close, half expecting some sort of attack from Shade and her Marauders. Once in the air they began flying over the forest but a large explosion suddenly sounded. They all looked around at one another with confusion as they opened the hatch door again.
Sally pressed on her ear piece to speak to the pilots "Take us around that facility again."
"Roger that!" one pilot responded.
The transport plane shifted its direction instead of just flying away, and it flew over the abandoned facility. Everyone held on tightly as the door hatch remained open as they flew by. They were all shocked to see that the Marauders makeshift base, one of Eggman's abandoned facility's, had gone up in flames. They didn't have to wonder anymore what that explosion they heard was. And as they flew away they all caught sight of Shade and her Marauders just a short distance away from the explosion.
Shade and her Marauders looked up at their plane momentarily then they all ran and disappeared into the darkened forest. Everyone looked at one another in the cramped confines of the transport plane with a look of surprise, then donning frowns on all their faces. Rotor closed the hatch of the plane knowing he was thinking what everyone was thinking. They destroyed their own base so they would leave no evidence…
And since they now had the Master Emerald that meant Shade and her Marauders had to be planning for something else. Obviously, the Chaos Emeralds were their next targets…
on their way back to New Mobotropolis they talked about what happened in combat, with Amy's name coming up multiple times, there seemed to be a general air of praise for her. But they were going to discuss that in more detail when they got back to New Mobotropolis. First Shade and her Marauders had arrived faster than expected, and now they were already going after the Chaos Emeralds. They had to stop them from getting any emeralds because if they got any energy, they would have a whole army of technologically advanced beings breathing down their necks.
They knew they would not be able to stop the Nocturnus Clan if they made it through…
Because they all realized on the flight back they had even bigger problems now, and their time limit had just accelerated again…
Past midnight, New Mobotropolis…
Back in the Freedom Fighters situation room, the Master Emerald sat in a corner of the room while everyone else sat around the oval table discussing what had happened. The doors to the situation room were open and other than the Freedom Fighters, there were many nurses and doctors present, Dr. Quack being the lead Doctor. There was also a lot of medical equipment around the room as they inspected Knuckles and the Freedom Fighters. Just outside the situation room, in the main control room, were many military officials who had just come out of the situation room and were discussing things amongst themselves.
The minute they arrived back they were swarmed by all that top officials. The news of the Nocturnus Clan was a national security threat and now that the top officials had more information they were making their own plans. The Freedom Fighters always and continued to act separate of government bureaucracies. They followed the Freedom Fighters lead…
There were not papers strewn all over the oval table this time though, many different types of food were, and a projector. Being as the Freedom Fighters dinner plans were ruined, they had to grab a bite to eat while they were discussing their next steps. Of course, Rotor, Sally, and Nicole were unscathed they quietly watched as the doctors and nurses checked on them; Nicole was in her holographic form.
Amy placed her food down as two nurses carefully wrapped her waist in bandages. The mood in the room was mostly somber and so was the somewhat neutral expression on her face. She did hold a small smile because she was happy at the moment. Sonic was sitting next to her…and it was obvious to everybody that it was no coincidence…he chose to sit next to her…
But they hadn't gotten to that conversation yet. Sonic was fussy at a nurse as he tried to eat his food while she tried to wrap him in bandages. The same was being done to Antoine, Tails, Bunnie, and Knuckles, but Amy noticed something going on with the nurse working with Knuckles. The nurse was smiling at him…she seemed to fancy him…
Unfortunately though Knuckles looked to be completely oblivious. He raised an eyebrow curiously at the infatuation of the nurse and Amy giggled silently. He was just as dense as Sonic sometimes.
Although, Amy's smile disappeared hoping that the way she had put herself on display tonight would be recognized by a certain someone…
A few minutes later though the nurses and doctors finished their inspections, and Dr. Quack walked over to the middle of the table. Dr. Quack pressed a few buttons on the projector on the middle of the table and dimmed the lights in the room.
Everyone turned to look and listen as he spoke. Dr. Quack held a serious expression like he usually did "Alright, let's discuss combat abilities."
On the whiteboard on the other side of the room, Dr. Quack slid through a few slides projected onto the wall of internal x-rays "So you are saying they were using some sort of energy blades?"
"That's right, and you can see they left no physical trauma." Rotor said aloud as Dr. Quack switched screens.
This time it was an x-ray of someone's rib cage and the surrounding tissues. The tissues looked to have holes in them, but they had no physical wounds "From what we can gather, these blades cause a more nonphysical damage. They obviously still cause physical damage like a standard weapon, but what I am trying to say is that, from the analysis that we have made, the damage they cause from these energy blades could be more dangerous than a physical injury. As they seem to cause a lot more unnoticeable internal damage…"
Everyone sat quietly and thoughtfully for a moment before Amy questioned aloud "How serious is the damage?"
Dr. Quack nodded seriously as he pulled out a red laser pointer from his white lab coat and pointed at the projection on the wall across from him "Non-life-threatening all except Knuckles that is…" he looked over at Knuckles "You're not going to die, but you have sustained a lot more trauma than the others." Dr. Quack looked around the table "Who's to say they couldn't make those blades stronger and cause real damage. I don't know what will happen if you continue to get exposed to those types of weapons. All of you need to rest at least for a day or two. You are going to feel the inflammation temporarily in the morning, and should go away as the day goes on. You are still in slight pain are you not?"
"I am." Sonic responded.
"It hurt a lot when they first stabbed us with those blades…they still do…" Tails looked at Dr. Quack with a frown "Wait…could it be fatal if we kept getting attacked by those blades?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Just like standard weaponry, but the internal damage will be harder to notice." Dr. Quack responded to him.
"Hmmm…" Amy mumbled under her breath.
Sally rubbed her chin "I don't like the sound of that…"
Everyone seemed to be lost in thought for a moment when Knuckles spoke. He held a frown like everyone else "The Marauders used a different attack as well."
"We weren't around them as long as Knuckles, tell us more of their combat abilities." Nicole responded in her usual stoic manner.
Knuckles closed his eyes and crossed his arms as he spoke "It was like I was saying before, they have energy blades, and obviously you can see how dangerous they are, but I noticed something while I was fighting them…"
Knuckles opened his eyes seeing that everyone was staring at him now, and he continued "The energy blades they use do seem to have some kind of limitation. They have to charge, and they do deplete…"
"So the blades don't last forever…that means they can overheat…" Sally said curiously.
"Noted." Nicole stated.
"Marauder Shade also used another attack. After charging the blades for a period of time, they became red, and when she used them on me, they not only hurt even more, but after she used them I felt drained…i still do a little…" Knuckles said with an upset expression.
Antoine interjected looking slightly shocked "I feel the same…"
Everyone recalled the retelling of events of their brawl, and they had all seen the red blades, and everyone remembered that Antoine was the only one hit with the red blades. Though they found out afterwards Knuckles had been attacked with the red blade's multiple times by now, and it now seemed the blades had different effects…
"So what? They can leach life from us to?" Sonic said stating the obvious.
"That's what it's starting to sound like." Tails said rubbing his chin.
"Thets great news." Bunnie said with a frown.
"Wonderful…" Amy said in a dry tone.
"Wonderful indeed, Amy. We'll take notes on this and make a new tactical combat assessment. Now that the Master Emerald is secure we need to move out again and collect the Chaos Emeralds." Sally said glancing at Nicole, who silently nodded and took notes, but Sally frowned even more as she spoke again "But I'm sure you're aware we have even bigger problems now…"
The nurses, doctors, and the Freedom Fighters, and Knuckles stared at Sally with a sense of dread in their stomachs. Sally spoke again "The minute we stepped into this Nocturnus Clan mess we have been on a time limit. That time limit being, if we don't prevent Shade and her Marauders from drawing energy from the emeralds, they are going to unleash an entire race of technological advanced beings on us. We do not have the firepower, good guys or bad guys, to stop them. They would overrun Mobius. Preventing, Shade, and her Marauders from getting their hands on any of the emeralds and their energy is our time limit. And every moment there out there our time is counting down. But because of what just happened our time limit has accelerated exponentially…" and Knuckles growled under his breath knowing what Sally was about to say "The Master Emerald has been removed from Angel Island…it will fall from the sky…"
It need not be said around the room that they could not take the Master Emerald back anytime soon. Shade and her Marauders would surely be looking for it out in the open. It was too dangerous to take back to Angel Island right now so it had to temporarily stay in New Mobotropolis for protection.
"We have to get it back to Angel Island as soon as possible." Sally looked at Knuckles with a serious look "How long can the Master Emerald stay away from the island?"
"A few weeks, a months' time max. We can't even take it back unless we collected all the Chaos Emeralds. Otherwise…you know…" Knuckles said with irritation.
"Yeah…they'll probably come looking for it…" Amy said sympathetically.
"Noted." Nicole stated with her usual neutral expression "Even if Shade and her Marauders find New Mobotropolis by detecting the Master Emerald at least it will be safe here. I think we have enough information to make new plans. I will compile them while you all finish eating."
Nicole's holographic dematerialized, and Sally pulled her portable out of her pocket and placed her on the table. Her screen seem to be loading data and Sally lost her serious demeanor and smirked "We'll get into our plans later." Sally looked over at Amy who curiously blinked her eyes "Let's talk about our resident heroine!"
Amy blinked her eyes for a moment then grinned sheepishly "I think we all pitched in to get the job done…"
But Sonic shook his head glancing at her "No way Amy! Everyone was down, but you saved me and saved the day!"
Tails agreed with Sonic whole heartily "Yeah Amy! If you hadn't kept those Marauders busy we would have never got the Master Emerald out of there!"
Knuckles nodded with his eyes closed "If you hadn't literally knocked those Marauders out things would have turned out bad."
And everyone gave their various praises to Amy about how she protected Sonic, prevented Shade from doing far worse, and in general saved the mission, because if not for her things really would have turned out bad. Amy blushed from all the flattery because she realized what she'd done. She didn't quite believe herself at first when she went on the offensive, but she had really surpassed what she thought she could do.
No one knew her motivations but obviously Sonic was the reason she displayed the ability's she had tonight. She'd found an inner strength spurred by her drive to get Sonic's love…
She would do…anything…to get Sonic…
And she just showed everyone what lengths she would go to…how far she was willing to go…she just showed everyone what she could do…
Surprising herself even…
To see…how…powerful…she was…
For the first time she could see, she could be independent…though this was just the first step…
It was possible…
But she wasn't done…
She was going to keep going…on all the missions…
And she wouldn't stop until she reached the end…of that, she still wasn't sure what the end would turn out to be…
She didn't know what she would do if she did not have Sonic by the end…
But time slowed down for Amy, as in the midst of her praise, in slow motion Sonic turned and smiled at her. Amy's eyes widened, and her heart skipped a beat. But not because it was simply a smile from Sonic, but because she could tell his acknowledgement of her was real this time…
She really had been the MVP…he noticed her…
She really had to keep going…
Were her plans starting to work for real? Was Sonic starting to look at her differently? She didn't know, but something did change a little…right?
Now all she had to do was try this letting go thing a little more. She had never tried this before, but she decided to try it some more since nothing else was working with Sonic. That and he responded favorably when she did…let go…
Letting go made her feel unease, but that meant it was working…right?
So Amy, instead of jumping out of her seat and hugging him with brute force love, sat calmly for a moment and smiled brightly back at him. To which he smiled even more seeing—Amy lost all control and scooped Sonic into her arms squeezing him tight!
"Sonic!" Amy exclaimed in a girly squeal with her eyes squeezed shut and a big smile on her face.
Sonic was at a loss for breath and his eyes were wide as he tried to remove Amy yet again. And everyone in the room thought for sure, at least for a moment anyway, that Amy was not going to glomp him. But it seemed Amy lost her control again as everyone rolled their eyes. They should have expected that.
Very quickly though Amy let go of Sonic, but not because of her plans. Amy grimaced in pain and so did Sonic as she let go of him as their injuries still were painful.
"Ow ow ow!" Amy said with gritted teeth.
"Ha! No hugs for me!" Sonic said in pain but with a grin.
Amy narrowed her eyes at him irritatingly "We'll see about that buddy boy! Get over here!"
Sonic donned a panicked expression as he slowly got out of his seat and began slowly moving around their oval table. Amy was right behind him moving just as slowly, and she chased him slowly around the table.
"Sonic!" Amy said angrily.
"Somebody help me! Knuckles!" Sonic exclaimed as Amy engaged Sonic in a slow speed chase around their table.
Knuckles snickered at first, but burst into laughter making everyone else begin to laugh as well. Sally sighed as she picked some food off the table with a smirk "You two should finish eating first. It's getting late."
And while everyone was enjoying the show, Amy was bubbling on the inside. It seemed her…letting go…had worked again…well at least until she couldn't control herself any longer and jumped him…
Because in those moments where she restrained herself…when she let go…Sonic was receptive to her…
And it made her a bit sad that he was so resistant when she expressed her love. She could admit that she could be a little overbearing at times, but she could not hide her love. But if he accepted her when she was letting go, did that mean he did not like her like that?
Were her romantic feelings not conclusive?
It couldn't be though because he seemed to like her more when she did. It was just like when they were sitting on her porch, and he squeezed her hand back…
That meant something right?
When it was just about friendship and not marriage Sonic was open with her…
She wondered all this and more as she continued to chase him. She needed to connect with spirit again and see what was going on. It looked like this letting go thing was working in getting Sonic's attention and getting him to like her more, but she wasn't so sure anymore she liked how getting Sonic to like her was working…
All this…letting go…
She felt doubt enter her mind…more than anytime before…
Doubt that was starting to question all that she believed…
Her feelings…her thoughts…about her life…Sonic…
Was Sonic not what she thought he was…
Elsewhere on Angel Island…
Near one of the edges of Angel Island in a rocky plain with tropical foliage, mountains, and waterfalls, Shade and her four Marauders were assembling something they had just built to continue their mission. Shade stood near an edge of the island while her Marauders worked. Looking out into the distance, all she could see was darkness and water below and around them. It seemed this entire island was really above a water mass. But Shade activated her night vision in her visor to confirm her suspicions.
Her Marauders and she had scoped the area where they initially touched down, and they climbed to a higher area to get a scope of where they were. Though they thought there was no land masses below them as they could not spot any, their visors allowed them to zoom a very far distance away, and with their vantage this far up they barely detected a land mass away from this island. It appeared as a spec, and unfortunately the land they needed to reach to escape this island was very far away.
Shade stared at the spec with her night vision, and her visor zoomed out as far as it would allow. After they destroyed their base they were free to keep moving. The Master Emerald was currently out of their reach, but the Chaos Emeralds were still out there somewhere. Shade looked around in the darkness with her night vision, and she scanned from similar wavelength energies of the Master Emerald, but her scan detected nothing. However, when she scanned for similar wavelengths, she got a ping.
The signal was weak and that meant it was most likely one of the Chaos Emeralds, but it was really far away on the land below.
So Shade turned off her night vision and zoomed out, taking a moment to glance behind herself at her Marauders "Are you finished yet?"
The four looked up at her, and one responded "Momentarily marauder Shade. Once their servo motors are inspected we she be able to take off. We should be able to glide for quite some time, and we should be careful of turbulence this high up that our gliders may suffer damage. After we land in the water we should be able to make it to land in a day or two if the motors don't fail."
"Finish your inspection then, it is imperative they are working." Shade nodded, and her Marauders did so too as they went back to work.
Shade then lifted her wrist "Initiate connection…"
She waited a minute or so until she got an answer "Hello? Marauder Shade?"
Inside her helmet, Shade frowned knowing there would be some disappointment on her part from him "Imperator Ix, this is Shade, we were attacked."
"I figured as much. What is your status? The Master Emerald?" Imperator Ix questioned impatiently.
There was a moment of hesitation from Shade speaking slowly "…We have suffered injuries and…the Master Emerald and the guardian have escaped…"
There was a pause from Imperator ix, but he spoke somberly "Who were your attackers?"
"There was a group of them, but most noticeably, there was a blue hedgehog that seems to know the guardian and…" but Shade was cut off.
Imperator Ix sounded slightly angered "Wait…a blue hedgehog…" Ix growled "…it is the ones I spoke to after they found our probe…"
"You know of them imperator?" Shade questioned.
"Yes. They are a group of intelligent beings that seem to reside here at the moment. They said they would try and stop us…" Imperator Ix spoke with annoyance "…the hedgehog said he would 'kick my butt'…"
"I see." Shade said curiously "In my current threat assessment, all of them are dangerous. There was a pink hedgehog that was a nuisance as well. But in particular, the blue hedgehog I believe needs to be taken out. He is a danger to our mission. His capabilities are unlike any I've ever encountered or seen."
"Do what it takes to complete your mission." Imperator Ix stated in a strong conviction.
Shade turned to look at her Marauders who stopped what they were doing "Marauders, we are making the blue hedgehog a target for assassination."
"Yes marauder Shade!" the four of her Marauders said in unison.
"We are preparing to move out again. I have detected a faint energy signal similar to the Master Emerald on the mainland. I am certain it is a chaos emerald." Shade stated looking down at her wrist again.
"Excellent work. Setbacks are to be expected, I did not think the scale of what we are trying to accomplish would be easy. Take care of your injuries, rest, and contact me once you have made it to the mainland." Imperator Ix stated authoritatively.
"Yes imperator…" Shade said as the line went dead.
Shade then watched as her Marauders worked on their gliders. Inside her helmet, she continued to hold a frown. Other than her mind racing like it always did, always focused on her next mission objective, worries were at the forefront of her mind at the moment. Though she never told anyone, she was impressed by formidable foes.
That hedgehog…she was curious about him now…wanting to…learn from him…
The formidable foes she did come across she had never done so because she…killed them…
That's what she was told to do…her mission and objective…
The pink hedgehog also crossed her mind. She looked like she could be a problem as well. But as a habit Shade's mind snapped back to focus on her current objective which was of getting off this island to find Chaos Emeralds. All these curious thoughts about the hedgehog…about wanting to take a break and relax by the water…
They were thoughts that were distracting her from her mission. That's what she was told…how she was raised…
Complete the mission…
Shade felt a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach which she attributed to her injuries. But she knew deep down it wasn't. Shade crossed her arms as inside her helmet worry consumed her face. She knew the horrible feelings of dread in her stomach was something wrong…
Something was wrong…
But she ignored her intuition, her inner knowing, because of her training. She didn't question…never questioned…
She was a soldier…that's who she was…this was her life…
And something was wrong about that…
Elsewhere unbeknownst to the Freedom Fighters and the Nocturnus Clan…
In an all metallic room at an unknown location, filled with strange technological marvels, a man sat in front of a large computer console. The room was dimly lit by only the light of the screen, and the man sat with a blank expression on his face, and his hands folded together as he re-watched the footage in front of him.
He was alerted that there was tampering going on in one of his old facilities. He figured at first someone was trying to tamper with or reverse engineer some of his technology. He of course made sure that any of his left behind work was unusable the day he stopped using the facility. He also guessed it might be someone just salvaging for parts, but because ruminants of his old technology came back online, with no functionality of course, he was curious to see what was going on.
There would be no sign of anyone salvaging parts, but because there was an online connection, he knew there was something else going on…
And there was much to his surprise. He did not know who the chaps in the black armor were, but the minute he saw Sonic he was back in familiar territory. And when Sonic and friends began fighting those things in the black armor in his old facility, he knew he had stumbled upon something.
He only saw when the fighting started but it left him with so many questions. Light from the monitor reflected off his black spectacles as he pondered. The Master Emerald? Knuckles tied up? His old facility blown up again? He just had to get to the bottom of this…
The man soon donned a malevolent smile as the footage in front of him replayed once more. Dr. Eggman! He didn't know what was going on, but he was sure he just stumbled into a conflict of epic proportions. And he liked the chaos…
"Well well…it seems I have some information gathering to do…" he said as he typed into the console in front of him.
As he hit enter the sound of a machine humming and starting up was heard, and two red eyes lit up from behind him on the other side of the room. And Eggman continued to smile, knowing whatever trouble Sonic had got into, he was going to exploit. With the emeralds involved, there might be something to gain…
Things are heating up again! With some down time coming up how will the forces of good and evil prepare for their next battles? What will Sally talk to Sonic about? Will Amy be jealous? Of course! What else will we learn of Shade? What is Eggman up to? How will Amy's and Sonic's date go? Find out next time! Later.