* There's a note I want you all to read. Scroll down to the bottom of the page please.
Chapter 9 – Rescue and Root Out
Clay's POV, 28/07 (at 12 pm)
The ride to Death Egg took hours to get there. I decided to rest in one of the spare rooms of the shuttle, even though I could have just sleep in my seat. A lone wolf like me needed some time alone, people.
I stared out at the window at the huge scenery of space. It was an infinite blackness of space with shades of rich green, red and purple. This was my first time in space so this was wonderful. White specks covered the entire place. For some reason, I could see smoke flying across the space. It was as if a special chemical was dropped into an ocean and started spreading across, creating a beautiful view.
Noting that it was midnight…or at least what my watch said, I decided to take a nap on the bench.
However, that was my biggest mistake.
I woke up and found myself lying behind a pile of rubble. I looked around.
"What?" I thought. "I'm back in this…town?"
"TAKE COVER!"
I looked at my left, seeing a group of people. Among them was…Belt?!
"What?!" I said. "Belt? What are you doing here?"
He didn't pay attention to me. There was a rumbling in front a few kilometres in front of the crowd I saw. I quickly hid behind some rubble and saw what was going on.
Not again.
"FIRE!" screamed one of the civilians.
The people took cover behind some low rubble and opened fire throwing everything they got; rocks, balls and some of them were armed with guns. Infinite just crossed his arms; none of the shots were able to affect him. I watched hopelessly as Belt threw rocks at that masked monster.
"Idiots…" said Infinite. "There is no reason to resist. Your savior…is no more."
And at this, there was a charging power in his hand. The people tried to run, but it was too late. The masked creature blasted a red beam of light and swept across the people.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The laser wiped out most of the people. Those who were shot screamed in agony for the last time before they lied onto the ground, their eyes closed shut. They were all covered in horrible burns.
I looked at the lifeless bodies lying on the floor. Not moving. Or breathing. I wanted to scream. They all died and I didn't do anything to stop it. I felt…scared. Then, my attention turned to Belt who was lying there, covered in burns. Not moving.
"Belt!" I yelled, jumping to my feet and tried to wake him up by shaking him. "C'mon! Please wake up!"
There was no response.
"Please wake up!" I yelled. "PLEASE DON'T DIE!"
I started to break down, feeling tears in my eyes. I heard Infinite laughing and I turned around. He grabbed me by the throat.
"Don't worry," he snarled, forming a red cube in his palm. "You will see him VERY soon…"
He then smashed the cube in my face. I blacked out.
…
When I opened my eyes, this time, everything was pitched black.
Oh no.
Not again.
I started to shake in fear.
I heard something growling from behind and I turned around. It was that same shadow monster. It grabbed me by the hood and lifted me up from the ground.
"P…please…just leave me alone!" I said.
"Pfft!" the shadow monster snorted. "You think that I would leave you alone after the past 6 months, Dark Wolf?"
"I want nothing to do with you! And stop calling me that!"
"You think you can just try to run away from your guilt and think it's all nothing? No. You really are pathetic. This reminds me of how you left your brother behind and how you failed to stand up to Infinite."
"Please go away!"
"I can't go. There is still one way to throw all that anxiety out of you. Become the Ultimate Dark Wolf and perish those in your path."
"N…no! That's just sick!"
"Even if you think it's sick, that doesn't mean you can't hold onto your anger for long. Let it go, let your mind go and let yourself go. After all, you are meant to be EVIL."
At this, the shadow suddenly absorbed into my body.
Everything was dark again.
I woke up screaming and jumped from the bench I was sleeping on. At this, I accidentally hit my head into something.
CLONK!
"ARGH!" that figure squawked. "That hurt!"
I looked up to see Mecha standing over me.
"What was that about?" he said suspiciously.
"About what?"
"You were screaming in your sleep. It was like you were crying out for someone. What was that all about?"
I looked away. "I-It's nothing. I'm fine."
"You don't look fine."
Instantly, I turned around and roared in his face. "IT'S NONE OF YOUR BLOODY BUSINESS!"
The bird was taken aback from my outburst. He looked shocked. Immediately, I felt ashamed for snapping at him. I was such an idiot. However, my mouth had a mind of its own.
"Just what the bloody heck are you doing here?" I growled.
He pointed at my rings. "I was quite curious about those rings you got there."
I rolled my eyes. "So some nerd decided to come barge into here, huh?"
Mecha gave me an annoyed look. "Uh…by the way…mind if I ask you what is this 'nightmare' was all about?"
A flash of Belt being killed entered my eyes. Quickly, I just looked away putting my hands over my head.
"You're…you're shaking…" Mecha said.
"No…" I said. "I'm…"
I was trembling in fear. I was on the brink of crying loudly, but I bit my lip so that all the frustration didn't come out. I didn't want to show the worse in me.
"Please…" I said quietly. "Leave me alone…let me be…"
"No," Mecha said. "What I'm seeing is pretty unhealthy. Both physically and mentally. I want to see what's going on. NOW."
"Leave me alone…"
Mecha sighed. "You know what, fine. It's not like I care now. But I'm still getting to the bottom of this. Just to note that we're almost there."
He headed to the door. "We'll talk later."
I heard him closing it slowly. Remembering the nightmare, I felt useless to everyone. I wanted to stop so that I wouldn't fail the mission, but I already made my choice to do so. I barely recognized myself.
"Why am I acting so aggressive just now?" I thought.
I wanted to stop. I…I just wished I could disappear.
"Dark Wolf…"
No. Please leave me alone.
"Dark Wolf…"
The whispering stopped. I just sat at my bench feeling tears coming out from my eyes. After sitting there in my thoughts, I finally came out of the room wiping the tears away. Espio saw me.
"Kid," he said. "Are you all right?"
I shook my head and just walked past him.
Bubblegum's POV
I was just sitting in my seat, resting for a while. The trip would take a long time, so I needed so sleep before the mission start. However, I woken up when I heard…yelling.
"IT'S NONE OF YOUR BLOODY BUSINESS!"
It was Rookie. I was silent.
"Just what the bloody heck are you doing here?"
"I was quite curious about those rings you got there."
That voice was Mecha.
"So some nerd decided to come barge into here, huh?" said Rookie.
"Uh…by the way…mind if I ask you what is this 'nightmare' was all about?" said Mecha.
There was a minute of silence. I was thinking of ignoring their conservation, but I decided to listen. My seat was near to the room they were in, so I could hear clearly.
"You're…you're shaking…" said Mecha.
"No…I'm…" stuttered Rookie. "Please…leave me alone…let me be…"
"No. What I'm seeing is pretty unhealthy. Both physically and mentally. I want to see what's going on. NOW."
"Leave me alone…"
Mecha sighed. "You know what, fine. It's not like I care now. But I'm still getting to the bottom of this. Just to note that we're almost there. We'll talk later."
Mecha came out from the room and I quickly whipped my head around. I thought about what the two said.
Mecha said that Rookie was…having a nightmare?
He even said that the wolf was trembling and the way he was in a bad way. Something didn't look right. That turquoise wolf had been acting a bit weird and it was making me feel uncomfortable. I wanted to see what was going on.
And to my surprise, Mecha seemed interested in Rookie's rings. He was even curious of what Rookie's nightmare was. I wondered if Mecha was that sympathetic before.
I saw Rookie walking towards his seat and sat there. He wiped his face with his hand in exhaustion. He looked at me. His eyes were…yellow again. I was about to say a word when something rang in our ear pieces.
"Black Squad!" came in Knuckles' voice. "Chaotix! Can you hear me?"
"About time," said Vector.
"Are you near to the Death Egg?"
"We're almost there," said Charmy.
"You got to hurry," said Amy. "They're getting ready to banish Sonic into space. The clock is ticking, guys. You need to get a move on."
"That's not good," said Sebastian nervously.
"None of this is good," said Knuckles. "That's why it's called 'war'. You all know what to do. Let's go get Sonic."
"Copy that, boss," said Mecha.
I looked at the front window to see that up close to the shuttle was the Death Egg; a gigantic grey space station that resembled the face of Doctor Eggman.
"Looks like the Death Star," said Emerald. "Only uglier."
I slightly chuckled at this, but I was getting nervous when Mecha drove the shuttle into the entrance of the Death Star. He steered it at the boarding room and drove it to one of the shuttle rooms.
Coming to a stop, Mecha turned off the engine and opened the door.
"OK," said Vector. "We should go out in two separate teams. It's up to us to find Sonic. If any of you spot any other prisoners around here, free them as well. The prisoners are being held in a kind of internment facility. Sonic is probably there, too. Security is tight, so make sure not to get spotted easily. I will go out with Espio and Charmy while the rest of you stay as a team. Just make sure not to separate from each o-"
"Last one to Sonic is a rotten egg!" announced Mecha, jumping out of the shuttle. To my surprise, his feathers were twirling around like a helicopter, making him hover through the air for a while before landing onto the ground and ran off into a hallway.
Sebastian did the same by running out from the shuttle and made his way into a hallway. He was letting out some kind of battle cry (in which sounded like a mixture of a screaming pregnant dinosaur and a wolf's nails scratching metal).
Idiots…
"Or we can just run around mindlessly like cockroaches high on sugar until we all die," I said sarcastically.
Vector groaned. "You know what? Let's just get out there. We need to find Sonic or it will be too late!"
We all went out from the shuttle. The Chaotix ran to another hallway and I was running to another one…until I stopped. I looked behind to see Rookie timidly following me.
And Emerald was still at the shuttle.
"What?" said Emerald. "Someone needs to stay behind to patrol the shuttle."
I sighed in concern. "What about you?"
"I found this tablet," she said, pulling out a holographic tablet that showed a map of Death Egg. "It shows the map of this place. You guys focus on finding Sonic. I'll check if there's any enemies coming towards you."
"Just…stay safe, OK?" I said worriedly.
"I'll be fine. Don't worry."
Nodding, I turned around and ran towards a hallway. I heard Rookie following me, but I didn't make a fuss. I needed someone to help me.
So far, this mission was like a spy mission I saw from spy movies. Except the fact that this one was longer than it should be.
I used my spy ear piece to scan for Sonic or any other prisoners. I heard Rookie sniffing. That wasn't so hard to see why. He is a wolf, so he has a strong sense of smell and hearing. However, we ended up going to different rooms.
"This is crud," I said. "The connections are complicated and jammed, so I can't find out where Sonic is. Do you spot anything?"
Rookie shook his head.
I placed my hand onto my face in obvious frustration.
"Darn place," I said.
"Guys!" called Emerald's voice. "There's someone coming! Hide!"
"Oh," I said. "Right."
Looking up, I found an opened vent hatch. Grabbing Rookie's arm, I fired my grappling gun at the hole and pulled us up to the vent. I then closed the hatch just in time before a robot stomped through the hall.
"That was close," I said.
"Too close…" said Rookie.
I checked my ear piece. "Sonic is near. Let's go this way. You go first."
"Why me?"
"…it's pretty obvious! Because you're a wolf, dummy. You got a better sense of smell than I do. Don't you have night vision as well?"
Rookie tutted. "Whatever you say, kitten."
I rolled my eyes.
We went north and crawled through the vent. It was so crowded in the vent, but good thing we have small bodies and luckily we don't suffer agoraphobia. However, I had the urge to lift my head up, but reminded myself that I would end up hitting the ceiling. It was dark, but with Rookie in front, he was able to see without any light with his golden eyes glowing. I spotted a few spider webs, but they were just small ones
Nevertheless Rookie tried to brush them off.
"This place stinks," grumbled Rookie, pinching his nose.
"No doubts, dude," I agreed. To me, the vents were OK. It was just the smell I was a bit annoyed. Rookie – on the other hand – was VERY critical of the vents.
"It's so dirty in here. It smells like there's a DEAD BODY in here."
"…also that," I said casually. "I can handle that."
"Oh really? A smelly place?"
I shrugged, unsure how to answer back.
We were crawling through the vents in silence, heading to nowhere…or at least when my ear piece sensed where Sonic was. We stopped when we saw something at the nearest vent hatch.
"Huh?" said Rookie. "What's this?"
"Sonic is close by in that room," I said. "We should probably check it out."
I opened the vent hatch to find a large room. There were monitors and blueprints everyone. The floor was a mess as scattered papers and pens filled the entire place.
"Geez," said Rookie, jumping down from the vent. "This place needs a clean-up."
I landed beside him. "We're close. Sonic is nearby. Could he be in this room?"
"I don't think so…" said Rookie, kicking a piece of paper.
We walked through the messy room looking around. I spotted a blueprint on the walls. It showed some diagram of Infinite labeling different features of that ruby. Rookie came over to see it and winced seeing that.
I looked on my left and something caught my eye.
"Huh?" I said, stopping all of a sudden. "What's that?"
Rookie looked at where I was looking at; something lying on the ground.
TWO things to be precise.
They seemed to be red icosahedron-shaped rubies with black ripple patterns. They were just lying there.
"Some kind of jewelry Eggman got," I muttered.
"Maybe…it looks like the one Infinite has…" mumbled Rookie.
"What?"
"Oh…" Rookie said awkwardly. "I mean…it…it looks like that same ruby Infinite has."
"You might be right."
I came towards one of the rubies and slowly moved my hand towards it. "Just what is this thing?"
When I grabbed it, it started to glow. I felt something warm inside my body. I felt somewhat…powerful. A flaming energy built up inside my body. Adrenaline flowed through my veins. It almost felt like my head was charged up like a battery. A fire was set off in my mind. For some reason, I heard glitching.
"Whoa…" I said, breathing hardly. For me, the power was a bit too much that I felt like I was going to explode. I don't think I can keep up with these kind of powers.
Rookie looked at the other ruby and picked it up as well. Just like mine, it glowed.
"This thing…" I said. "…is…for some reason I…feel a bit…rage. There's a lot of anger going inside this."
"R…really?" said Rookie. "I don't feel that…"
But I do. I felt the warm touch of the ruby, feeling anger burning inside me. I resisted the urge to lose control.
"Just what is with these rubies?" I thought. "Are they somewhat the core objects of this war?
CLICK!
A door opened nearby.
"Hide," I quickly said.
I quickly grabbed Rookie and pulled him into what must be a small construction site blanketed by a white sheet. I placed the ruby in my vest pocket. Rookie put his in his pants pocket. We heard voices.
"Geez," said a robotic voice. "Do we HAVE to clean up this place? Why can't the other robots do it?"
"Because Eggman used them for attacks, not for janitorial orders," said another.
I peered through the white sheet to see two small robots; one red with a circle head and one yellow with a square head.
"What…are…those…?" said Rookie.
"Shh!" I hissed.
We watched as those two robots went up to one of the monitors and the red one started to type on the keyboard. The monitor came to life and showed that it needed a password to move on. That tiny runt typed this in on the password bar.
'eggman'
"What…" I muttered under my breath. "Really?"
"OK," said Rookie in the same deadpanned tone. "Seriously?"
"Can't believe that Eggman used this password to all of his computers," said the yellow robot.
"Don't worry," said the red robot. "Even though that password is PREDICTABLE, no one will know about this one."
"That's what you think, pipsqueaks…" Rookie growled under my breath, his eyes turning yellow.
"Rookie," I said, looking away. "You're scaring me a little."
He stopped for a while before his nose started to…twitch. All of a sudden, he pinched his nose, but failed to cover his mouth.
"ACHOO!"
The robots froze hearing this. They looked around.
"Did you hear that?" said the red robot.
The yellow robot just shrugged. "Nah, probably nothing!"
I punched Rookie in the shoulder. "Be quiet, you idiot!"
"I'm trying to!" Rookie whispered back. "It's just so dusty in here."
"Just keep your mouth shut and don't make any noise, dummy."
The wolf's eyes turned back to gold. He nodded nonchalantly.
"OK," Rookie whispered. "OK. I will. I will be as quiet as a mouse."
I turned around to scan if Sonic was anywhere. Meanwhile, Rookie leaned back and placed his hand on the wall.
Or at least what we THOUGHT was a wall.
HOOOOOOOOONNNNKKKK!
As Rookie's hand made contact with a BIG RED BUTTON, the white sheet was suddenly blown off. I froze, eye widened. I looked up to see that Rookie was leaning on a GIGANTIC FOGHORN. It LITERALLY blew our cover.
The two robots turned around to see us, our hiding spot totally uncovered.
We just stared at their robotic eyes with nervous expressions. I pointed to Rookie as if to say, 'he did it'.
After a few seconds of silence, my instincts kicked in. I quickly picked up a nearby barrel and threw it at the two robots.
CRASH!
It hit the yellow robot, causing the red robot to scream. It pressed on a red button from the keyboard.
Out of the blue, the room started to flash red. Sirens could be heard. At this, a group of attack robots fell from the ceiling and right in front of Rookie and me. Quickly, I fired spiky balls at the robots, making a path for us to run. We burst out of the room and started to run.
The alarms were going off, the hallways were flashing red and sirens were making a loud sound enough to blow my eardrums.
Once we got some distance away from that room, we stopped and hid behind a wall. I was TICKED OFF. I couldn't believe that we tripped the alarm. I meant…ROOKIE tripped the alarm. I glared at him.
"You…" I hissed. "…IDIOT!"
"It was an accident!" protested Rookie.
Accident or not, I knew this kind of action would get us into trouble. I was too angry to listen his excuse. I grabbed his collar, pulling his face towards mine.
"Once we're done, I'm going to rip off all of your teeth…"
Rookie winced as his eyes turned yellow, but I snarled in return. I let go off him and ran off, hearing Rookie running after me.
So much for a good mission.
Third Person's POV
For the past 6 months, Sonic was forced to go through torture.
All stuck in Death Egg, he couldn't escape as he had laser handcuffs around his wrists and ankles. He was all by himself in a small cell.
Instead of killing him, Eggman took the chance to torture Sonic both physically and mentally. The blue hedgehog never felt so much pain before. Being beaten a lot, electrocuted or even worse; being under water for a few hours…much to his horror as Sonic has a fear of water.
Other 'tortures' included being the janitor. That job wasn't as bad as the violent tortures, but it literally stank. He had to clean up the hallways, prepared some of the weapons and even cleaned up Eggman's BATHROOM.
Don't even ask him how the toilets were like.
The mad doctor even used emotional torture. Sonic was forced to watch videos of what was going on back on Earth. He couldn't believe that the war was happening. Unable to stop Eggman, the blue hedgehog watched in horror as towns were destroyed and many people lost their lives either trying to fight back or trying to survive.
He heard that almost everyone lost hope. He heard about that his friends made up an army to fight back, but to no avail. He felt that it was his fault to prevent the war. He let his friends and everyone down. He wasn't there to five them hope. He felt…scared. Even though he didn't show his emotions, the sad stoic look on his face explained it all.
Luckily, he wasn't alone. Even though the prison was empty, there was another person. That person was Vlad; a dark brown bear with black eyes and wore a black leather jacket, black finger-less leather gloves and black leather boots. Vlad was with him as he was caught trying to infiltrate the Death Egg upon sneaking onto a shuttle.
He was a man living on the streets and committed colossal crimes by stealing jewelry and money, but he didn't do it for pleasure. He said that it was his only choice for survival. He isn't a bad man to Sonic and didn't complain too much about the torture.
Sonic kept his hopes that his friends might be able to win the war. Even though things looked bleak, he hoped that there would be a way to stop Eggman and possibly find out who Infinite was. He hadn't seen that masked monster for so long ever since his first encounter.
Maybe someday Sonic would be able to help the Resistance.
But this day was probably his last. He was about to be banished into space, but he hoped that things would change.
"If you die in space, then I might as well follow you," said Vlad grimly as they sat in their cells.
"Don't take this too much," said Sonic, attempting to sound confident. "I will be OK. You will be too."
Sonic was trying to lighten the mood, forcing a smile onto his face, but the look on Vlad's face totally showed the opposite.
Heavy footsteps could be heard. Sonic looked in front to see Zavok coming. After his last adventure, Sonic swear that the red Zeti was no more, but something didn't look right. What he found surprising was that the red beast would have a few glitches on his body.
All of a suddenly, the room trembled.
"Hey, what's shaking?" said Sonic.
"It's a little earlier than planned, but your time has come," said Zavok in a hostile voice.
"The end, huh?" grumbled the blue hedgehog. "Sounds like the party's started. Want to let me go and join in? No? Of course not; you hate fun."
All of a sudden, an explosion could be heard. The alarm went off. The room was flashing red and the sirens went off. The power went out shortly and both Sonic's and Vlad's cuffs came off, freeing them.
"Oh wow," said Sonic surprised, jumping off the bench he was sitting on. "The end, huh? Let's see you try something now that I'm free."
Zavok stared at where Sonic's handcuffs were before letting out a snarl. "Foolish hedgehog. Getting out of your chains does not make you free. Now come and face the inevitable."
Sonic just grinned and stood up. He was ready to fight despite being battered the past 6 months. It was time for some action.
"You think you're gonna end me, huh?" questioned Sonic cockily. "The only thing inevitable here is my foot kicking your butt!"
At this, the blue hedgehog dashed out from his cell and Zavok attempted to knock him out, only for Sonic to dodge. Speeding to the side, Sonic curled up and did a homing attack onto the Zeti's face causing the latter to fell over the platform.
Sonic looked down to see only a bottomless hole with many other empty jail cells.
No sight of Zavok.
"Well, that didn't take too long," said Sonic shrugging.
He went over to Vlad's cell and unlocked the door.
"About time too," said the bear, stepping out. "Thanks, kid."
Another explosion could be heard, shaking the room again.
"Uh oh," said Sonic. "Not time to think. It's time for running."
A third explosion could be heard. However, it was CLOSE BY.
"What…was that?" asked Vlad, his eyes widening in fear.
A loud buzzing noise could be heard. It echoed throughout the entire room.
Looking behind, Sonic realized that Zavok wasn't going to lose without throwing a BFG on him.
Flying from above was a large colossal bee-based robot with a striking resemblance to the bee robots Sonic encountered before. It was black, orange, had two pairs of yellow insect wings, sharp red claws and a massive black stinger. On top was Zavok.
He smashed his fists together two times before letting out a loud, unearthly roar, shaking the entire room.
"This is just great," said Vlad. He nearly fall but regained his footing.
"I can't wait to see how long you last against this," snarled Zavok.
"Come off that piece of trash and fight me yourself," taunted Sonic smirking. "I'll mop you up real quick with the floor."
"Impudent runt! I'm going to savour watching you suffer."
At this, the large robot shot a long light-yellow laser from its legs at the two men. Grabbing Vlad's hand, Sonic ran across the platform, dodging the laser as it moved towards them. When the laser stopped, Sonic threw Vlad above onto an upper platform, away from the battle.
"You get out of here right now!" instructed Sonic. "I'll catch up with you later!"
Nodding, Vlad ran off.
Sonic smiled before turning towards Zavok. The bee robot flew towards the blue hedgehog with its stinger.
BASH!
The stinger crashed onto the platform, causing it to break, but Sonic was able to get out of the way.
Taking his chance, Sonic jumped upwards and used his homing attack onto Zavok, attacking him three times while avoiding the flapping wings. This was able to cause damage, but wasn't enough to knock the large brute down.
"You're not making this easy, are you?" questioned Sonic after bouncing off Zavok after his third attack and landed onto another platform.
"No matter," said Zavok, quickly reviving. "Crushing you will be all the most satisfying!"
At this, the bee robot charged at Sonic with its stinger, yellow swirls dancing around it. Sonic got out of the way as the stinger uselessly bashed into one of the jail cells.
Using this attack again, the bee robot charged towards Sonic only for the agile hedgehog to jump out of the way and onto the bridge that was connected to jail platforms.
Flying high above, the bee robot smashed its stinger onto the platform to stab Sonic again only for the blue hedgehog to jump out of the way. Again, Sonic leapt high in the air and used his homing attack to hit Zavok at a perfect angle. After repeatedly hitting him many times, the Zeti nearly fell. As Sonic landed on the robot, Zavok attempted to punch him only for Sonic to jump high and used a charged-up homing attack in the face. With the buff monster dazed, Sonic started punching and kicking him before knocking Zavok off the robot.
The Zeti roared in anger and heavily fell onto the bridge below with a sickening thud.
"That was a blast," said Sonic victoriously. "Bring some chill dogs next time."
Without warning, the large bee robot started to swerve dangerously. It hit to the sides of the walls.
Sonic realized that the robot was committing a last ditch attempt to kill him once and for all.
Thinking quickly, he jumped off and landed onto another platform. The bee robot raised its stinger, ready to charge.
Just as it started to move, a large laser out from nowhere burst through the left and shot a large hole through the robot. When the laser stopped, the large robot collapsed and blew into a pile of wrecked parts.
Sonic stared at the rubble, shocked but grateful. He looked on his left to see Vlad holding up a large laser gun – the size of a machine gun – with smoke pouring out from the mouth.
"Someone shouldn't have left the weapon faculty unattended," muttered Vlad matter-of-factly. "AND they should put in more ammo."
"Thank you," said Sonic smiling. "And extra points for that bad rad entrance."
Vlad rolled his eyes and dropped the weapon onto the floor.
A groan could be heard. Both Sonic and Vlad looked at the bridge to see Zavok getting up.
"N-no!" he cursed. "How could I lose to the likes of you again?!"
"Just use hands and feet next time," said Sonic snickering. "Big guys like you always use big machines that are useless."
Growling, the red Zeti cracked his knuckles. "Well said. If you think you can leave, then you are wrong. THIS ISN'T OVER YET-"
WHAM!
Out of nowhere, a yellow and turquoise blur burst through one of the exit doors and did a huge uppercut to the Zeti under the chin, knocking him out. Whoever did that placed his foot onto the unconscious Zavok.
"You can say that again," said the turquoise bird coldly.
"Dear God," muttered Vlad in annoyance. "A bird."
Mecha looked up and smirked. "Hey guys."
"Who are you?" asked Sonic.
"Are you one of the Babylon Rogues?" said Vlad, crossing his arms.
Mecha laughed dryly. "Ha, ha, ha, NO. Though I wish I was a Babylonian bird once. The name's Mecha Nism; an expert and resourceful cadet from the Resistance."
BANG!
Oh. Forgot to tell you this.
When Mecha beaten Zavok with an upwards punch, he used his Drill Wispon and it flew in the air. Forgetting about his weapon, it flew upwards before it fell and hit the bird on the head. He stumbled when head-struck by his own weapon, but luckily, he didn't fall down like last time.
"Ow…" grumbled Mecha, rubbing his head. "My head. My fractured, disintegrated head."
Vlad rolled his eyes. "Done with the introduction?"
"Are you here to rescue us?" said Sonic.
Mecha nodded. "Yep. Knuckles sent us here along with the Chaotix and a squad I am with."
Sonic responded this with big surprise. So, they came for him after all.
The blue hedgehog smiled. "Can't tell you how much I appreciate it. It's been a while since I've seen a friendly face."
Mecha didn't smile smile at that. This was probably the first time he was called 'friendly'.
"Y-Yeah, yeah, yeah," muttered Mecha, looking away. "Don't say that please…"
"Question though," said Vlad rudely. "Why didn't you come until now?"
"Everyone thought that you were gone for the past few months," said Mecha, looking at Sonic. "If it wasn't for Rouge, you would have been a goner. Sorry that we didn't know that he was tortured you."
A weird glitching sound suddenly filled the air. Zavok's body started to glitch before…disappearing.
"Huh?" said Sonic. "That's weird."
Another explosion could be heard shaking the whole room.
"Looks like it's time to go," huffed Mecha, frustrated. "This would have been better if I just go alone on this mission."
"Wait," said Vlad. "What about that red hulk? What happen to…it?"
"Let's talk about it later," said Sonic. "We got to go now."
"Any other prisoners here?" asked Mecha.
"No. Just the two of us."
At this, Sonic ran off with Mecha and Vlad following him. He couldn't help but put a bright smile on his face. After being captured by Eggman for six painful months, he have a chance to rise up. To be free again. To help his friends. To save his world.
The blue blur us going home.
Clay's POV
"This way!" said Bubblegum. "My ear piece says that Sonic is around here!"
We were running from hallway to hallway while avoiding many robots. There were so many that they appeared out from nowhere.
Suddenly, a large robot fell from the ceiling, causing Bubblegum to halt. I bumped into her and two of us to fall down.
"Ow!" I groaned.
"My bad," grumbled Bubblegum.
Looking up, more robots started to corner us. They all aimed their cannons at us.
"Whelp," said Bubblegum. "We're screwed."
"Not yet!" I exclaimed, raising up my hand.
I concentrated a bit and the same shield that I made before surrounded us. Just in time as the robots fired their cannons.
POW! POW! POW!
The lasers bounced off the shield with no effect. However, I noticed that damaging the shield would make it start to crack. Crack lines gradually appeared on the shield. It didn't look good.
"How long will this shield be up?" asked Bubblegum.
"I'm not sure," I said, biting my lip. "Judging by the crack on the shield, it won't be long before it breaks open."
Bubblegum stood up, kneel on one knee and charged up her Wispon. "Unlock the shield by the count of 3. I will wipe them out. 1. 2-"
Before Bubblegum could say '3', a blue blur came in and destroyed all the robots in a flash, blowing them to debris. It landed in front of us. The shield disappeared and I looked up and saw who that was.
Sonic.
"…3…" said Bubblegum quietly.
"Easy there!" he said. "Everything's cool."
He helped me to my feet. I was awestruck since I was face to face with the worldwide hero who was thought to be dead during the war. It was a bit awkward because I was supposed to save him when HE already saved me. I was slightly shaking.
"Are you all right?" said Sonic.
"You mean accidentally tripping the alarm and nearly got blasted into pieces by robots?" said Bubblegum sarcastically. "Yeah, we're FINE."
I looked behind to see a dark brown bear and Mecha. The latter looked at me – including Bubblegum – with a smirk before shaping his hand to an 'L' meaning.
"Losers," he mouthed.
I resisted the urge to growl. Bubblegum looked ticked off.
My headphones blasted with sound. So did Bubblegum's and Mecha's ear pieces. It was Knuckles.
"Hey Rookie," he said. "Are you still in one piece?"
"Oh sure," said Sonic jokingly. "Don't even bother to ask how I am."
"SONIC!" said Amy over the radio. "I'm so glad!"
Because she nearly screamed over the radio, Bubblegum and I cringed since we had ear pieces. Mecha looked disgusted hearing this.
"Hold up, Amy," said Knuckles. "We're all happy Sonic is alive! But he won't be for long if he doesn't get off that egg in a hurry."
"Your concern is touching, Knuckles," said Sonic.
"Enough chit-chat," said the bear impatiently. "I don't know if you notice, but there are robots COMING FROM THAT HALL!"
As if on cue, the sight of robots could be seen pouring from one of the doors from far away.
"Oh," said Sonic. "Right."
"Let's go," said Bubblegum, breaking into a run. "We have a shuttle ready to depart."
We all went off and ran back to the boarding room where we saw Emerald at that same shuttle, fending for her dear life.
"Get these things away from me!" she screamed, throwing sheets of PAPER at the robots from the door while avoiding the attacking lasers.
Bubblegum and I pressed the triggers of our Wispons, disintegrating the robots into pieces.
"Someone start the shuttle!" yelled Sonic as we got in.
Hearing this, Mecha skidded across the floor of the shuttle, hopped into the pilot's seat and pressed the buttons, turning it on. The engines roared to life.
"Wait!" said Emerald. "WHERE ARE THE CHAOTIX AND SEBASTAIN?!"
Everyone looked around in shock at the sound of Emerald's sound. Sebastian and the Chaotix weren't back yet.
However, screaming could be heard and out came Sebastian and the Chaotix.
"GANG WAY!" Sebastian yelled. "OMG! OMG!"
Behind them were an army of robots firing their cannons at them. Luckily, they got in the shuttle and Vector slammed the door shut.
"Good timing, guys!" said Sonic. "Did I miss anything?"
"START THE SHUTTLE!" yelled Vector.
"Oh no!" said Mecha. "We're surrounded."
I saw through the window that there were many robots blocking our path. The entrance to outer space was starting to close.
"Hey!" said Emerald, going upwards to pilot's seat. "I wonder what this red button does."
Mecha's brown pupils shrunk. "…NO!"
She pressed the red button.
Shooting out from the shuttle were two missiles. They flew and touched the first two robots in front. The effect was…effective. As soon as the missiles came into contact with the robots, they set off and exploded. Robots pieces flew in the air, leaving a wreckage of wires, machines and metal scraps.
"I like this thing," said Emerald, madness in her eyes.
"…or that works…" said Mecha, slightly shocked.
He pushed the full throttle and the shuttle charged forwards. We didn't have time to hold onto anything, but luckily, we kept our balance. It started to gradually rise upwards. Mecha was able to shoot the shuttle forwards to the entrance just before it closed.
We were safe.
"That was too close," said Emerald.
"At least we're safe," said Sonic. "Can't wait to get back to Earth after so long."
At this, Charmy flew over and hugged the blue hedgehog laughing.
"Good thing to see that you are still alive!" said the bee happily.
"OK there," said Sonic. "We got a hugger."
When Charmy let go, Vector playfully rubbed on Sonic's head.
"You got us worried for the past few months!" said Vector. "Don't disappear like that again!"
Sonic laughed. "OK."
"Glad to see that you are OK," said Espio.
"ALRIGHT!" cheered Emerald. "YES! We did it! This calls for a victory fanfare!"
She got out a PLASTIC YELLOW KAZOO and started play an off-tune version of Endless Possibilities. However, it lasted only for 2 seconds when Bubblegum snatched it and placed it into her vest pocket. She gave Emerald a glare.
"Never mind," said Emerald nervously.
And immediately, Bubblegum turned to me and punched me on the shoulder. Her face was gritty and her blue eyes darkened.
"OW! What was that for?" I said.
"Then who's the idiot who TRIP THE ALARM?" she snarled.
"It was just a mistake!" I said. "Nothing too rash and in the end, we are all safe."
"But you blew our cover! Do you know what might happen?!"
"Guys?" said Sonic, noticing our fight. "What's going on?"
"Geez! I said I was sorry!" I said, narrowing my eyes. "Everyone makes mistakes."
"But that DOESN'T mean you get to make more mistakes!" hissed Bubblegum, crossing her arms.
"Maybe it was YOU who nearly got us caught!"
In my mind, I mentally slapped myself in the face, so I could stop. That wasn't true and this wasn't going to end well. I only said that because she was making me frustrated and I nearly had enough of her attitude. Anyway, as soon as I said that, I immediately shut my mouth.
"TAKE THAT BACK, IDIOT!" yelled Bubblegum.
Without warning, she lunged and punched me hard in the face. I staggered backwards and landed onto the floor.
"Bubblegum!" exclaimed Emerald.
"Guys!" said Sonic. "Calm down there!"
I felt the urge to cry. I stood up shaking. I felt something.
That same feeling when I watched Infinite killed those poor people.
"I…I need some time alone…" I whimpered.
At this, I broke into a run and into that same room I slept in ignoring Sonic's call to stop. I slammed the door and locked myself inside.
I collapsed and started to cry – no longer able to hold back tears. Good. As if the others needed to know about this.
Idiot.
That was all I was. Maybe Bubblegum was right. I messed up by pressing some stupid button and tripped the alarm. In my mind, I believed that I was such a failure and it was my own fault. Even worse, I nearly got the others killed because of this. Yet I am fourteen years old. What would a clumsy wolf in his youth years do to fix this?
I heard voices, but I didn't care. I just placed my head into my hands, continuing to cry – this time, harder. I didn't care if my gloves were wet.
"I want to die," I thought. "I shouldn't exist."
Bubblegum's POV
OK. I will admit that I've done some bad things in the past.
Making snarky comments?
That's common.
Yelling loudly.
When I am REALLY mad.
Punching people?
That was a whole new level.
I was pretty upset about how we nearly failed the mission. I was aware of what I was doing, but I didn't stop myself from controlling my temper.
First, I snatched Emerald's kazoo. I would have thrown it out, but there wasn't a bin in sight, so I kept it in my vest.
Next, I punched Rookie. TWICE. On the shoulder. THEN, the face. Enough to make a nosebleed.
I started to have mixed emotions when I saw the pain on Rookie. As I watched him slowly stood up, he rubbed his face, revealing his shaky eyes. They were flashing from yellow to gold. And then, he quickly ran off.
The second Rookie closed the door, I started to breath heavily.
"B-Bubblegum?" said Emerald slowly. "Are you OK?"
"That was out of control, girl!" snarled Vector firmly. "What do you have to say about yourself?"
I tried to find the right words to say, but this only made me frustrated. I tried to say something, but stuttered. I placed my hand onto my head again; showing signs of frustration before shaking my head.
I stomped away and went to another room, slamming the door.
"Man," said Vlad. "And I thought I have issues."
I heard a knock on the door. "Bubblegum? Are you OK?"
I slumped onto the ground and sighed.
But not in frustration.
"We…we need to talk," said Emerald.
"Not now," I said. "Just…just leave me alone now."
"Fine…"
It was silent for a while. I heard voices on the other side.
"Is she OK?" asked Charmy.
"Just give her some time alone," said Emerald. "Let her cool down for a while."
They started to talk, but I couldn't hear them. I felt like crying, but I didn't. I wanted to let tears go down my face, but I couldn't. I was too overwhelmed after what just happened. It was one of those days when I was put up with everyone and lost my mind. I didn't mean to scream at Rookie like that when he tried to apologize and all I did was punched that wolf in the face. I knew that I have a nasty temper.
I felt like giving up.
…time passed. I had been sitting there in that tiny room for nearly an hour. I was sulking the whole time and I didn't know what to do.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
"Please just…go away…" I grumbled.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Getting up, I opened the door and yelled, "WHAT?!"
In front of me was Sonic.
"Whoa, that's some bad attitude," said Sonic, his hands on his hips.
Whoops.
"Oh…" I said sheepishly. "My bad…"
"I just came here to see if you are alright."
I sighed and crossed my arms. "I'm fine."
I noticed that Emerald was behind him.
"You don't look fine," pointed out Emerald. "I know that look before."
I looked away. "J-just forget it, dummy. It's not like…"
Sonic huffed. "You were being a bit hard on that wolf named Rookie."
I sighed again. "I…I was just so frustrated and angry that he screwed up. I was just so focused on getting the mission well and done. I-I…I didn't mean to yell at him. I was just…"
"Never mind about that," interrupted Emerald. "I'm sure he will calm down…you should as well. However, I think you should apologize to him."
"I'm not sure if I can do that…"
"Why's that?" asked Sonic.
I hesitated.
"Well…" Emerald said. "It's because-"
"…can we just change the subject please?" I said, cutting Emerald off. "I don't want to answer that. Not now."
Sonic shrugged.
Emerald had a thoughtful look.
"Well…" said Sonic. "OK then. But don't forget to apologize to Rookie soon. Also, he is already asleep, so let's not try to disturb him."
I halfheartedly nodded.
Emerald put on a smile. "Eh…anyway. I guess that we are all cool for now. Right?"
"Y-yeah," I said, crossing my arms. "I'm cool right now. I'll talk to Rookie soon."
"Alright then," said Sonic with a friendly grin. "What's your story?"
"Hmm?"
"Since we are all together here, we might as well get to know each other. You already know me, right?"
I slightly looked away again. "Uh…yes…why? Not like I care or anything."
Sonic looked slightly concerned. "Wow. You're a bit like Blaze. I was thinking of getting to know you better. I already talked to Emerald and Sebastian. You have pretty good friends."
Emerald grinned happily.
My eyes shifted to my feet. "I wouldn't consider Sebastian as a 'friend'…"
"I tried talking to Mecha," continued Sonic. "But he refused to. He said he wasn't interested. I got to say, he's a bit of a brooding dude."
I understood. Knowing Mecha, he was pretty anti-social. Even though he have a tournament team that follows him, he barely talked to anyone or join any conversations. He just like to stay at his own lonely house or just do jobs to get money. At that moment, I remembered how grumpy he would look when he was alone, acting as if he looked down on everything. In fact, he was insular to almost EVERYTHING.
"So…" said Sonic, holding out a hand for me to shake. "You trust me, buddy?"
I vaguely smiled. However, I chose to pretend to be sour. "Ugh…OK. B-but it's not like I like you or anything."
Emerald laughed. "The way you say it sounds really cute!"
My cheeks went red. "I'M NOT CUTE!"
The ice rabbit laughed again. "Well, I'll leave you two now. To give you privacy."
I grunted and rubbed my face. Swiftly, I pulled Sonic into the room.
"Heh," teased Emerald sweetly. "He is really the hope bringer, don't you think?"
Emerald giggled as I closed the door.
I turned back to Sonic.
If that hedgehog wanted to have a chat with me, I'm fine with that. Hopefully, that would cheer me up.
"So what's your name?" asked Sonic as we sat down together on a bench.
"My name is Beth Lehem," I explained. "But I prefer to be called Bubblegum."
"What got you to join the Resistance?"
I took my breath sharply hearing that question. For some reason, that made me feel uncomfortable. Why? The death of my friends? The world on the brink of death? Want to feel useful? I didn't know what to say. But if he wanted to know, then I would let him know.
"Uh…first," I said, feeling a bit embarrassed. "It was Emerald's fault. She dragged me in before I can think about the Resistance."
"Oh," said Sonic with a cocky grin. "So that's what got you onto this trip. Because of your plucky friend?"
"But since I accepted the role of becoming a volunteer soldier…I…I just want to protect others. I want to protect my home. I want to be like my father."
"Your father?" said Sonic. "Who is he?"
I laughed dryly. "I think the question is 'who WAS he?' He's gone. He and my mum passed away at least four years ago."
Sonic was shocked hearing that. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I stayed with Emerald as her adoptive sister, so I'm good. The thing is…my father – Eddie Lehem – was one of the best police cops you can ever think of. He was quirky at times, but…I looked up to him. I see him as a strong, brave, and smart and the kindest person you would ever see. For my whole life – even when he is not around – I want to follow his footsteps. I want to become a police cop like him. But…"
I trailed off before talking. I felt my heart hurting.
"…when the war begin…I…I…I saw him…Infinite…my friends were fighting him…he…he killed all my friends…those who I cared for…I tried to fight back, but…but…I never forget what he said…he called me…a failure…he spared me and a few others, but that didn't help…and the worse part? That was the same night when I called my friends stupid out of anger…I never get to say sorry when I had the chance to…I want to but…"
I stopped when I felt tears started to drip down from my eyes. I wiped them off, but the tears still go down. At that moment, I knew that I should stop talking, but it was too late.
"You don't have to continue," said Sonic sincerely.
However, I felt like I want to continue to talk. At least wrap it up when I told him why I was mad at Rookie.
"My father said…" I continued, my voice cracking. "He said 'make the world a better place'. He was so compassionate about keeping the world safe and in peace. I want to make this dream come true, but I can't. The world is in ruins and more people are going to die. I'm…I'm not sure what to do. I yelled at Rookie because I was worried that if we made a mistake…we would fail the mission and…and you would be dead already."
I was silent, letting the tears fall down. I felt embarrassed of crying in front of someone I just met. Sonic placed his hand on my shoulder.
"Don't worry," said Sonic. "I get it. We are all afraid of failing. But since we are safe – even when a few mistakes are made – there will be a solution to stop Eggman and end the war. We may be able to stop that killing machine Eggman made. Just remember to do not let your fear own you. There will be a moment for you to shine."
I had to admit that cheered me up a little. Seeing how this hero cheered someone up would be the kind of person I like. It must be why Sonic became friends with Tails. I know for a fact that heroes help people, not to be seen as celebrities.
I smiled and wiped my tears. "Thanks…"
Sonic playfully punched my shoulder. "Now there's the smile! You kind of look pretty with that."
My sadness suddenly disappeared. My face turned red pink. "W-what?! I-I have no idea what you are talking about!"
"You should probably smile more often."
I laughed a bit. "Well…I do smile often…but it's not like anyone told me that my smile is cute to them. I thought you would be devoted to Amy."
To my surprise, Sonic's muzzle turned red. "Please do not tell me that. I just gave you a compliment because I was being friendly to you."
"I-It's actually OK. I get that a lot."
Sonic smiled. "I got to say; you are got potential. Killer cop, girl. You must be pretty persistent and strong-willed. Especially when I saw you taking out those robots."
"That was just me simply shooting them," I said.
"But you didn't flinch. However, I think the problem is that you took the whole mission TOO seriously. You stressed out a bit too much."
I gave Sonic a straight look.
"Stupid…" I grumbled. "So you're saying I should be the opposite of that? Is that why you are so peachy?"
"Mostly," said Sonic honestly. "Best to feel that I can do it instead of acting so INSECURE."
I rolled my eyes. "The chance of a carefree idiot – who isn't aware of any bad things happening – to survive is a grain of salt."
"Maybe. But again, your anger would overtake you to bad decisions, Beth…or Bubblegum?"
"Call me what you want. I don't really care if you call me by my real name or my nickname."
A moment of silent passed by before Sonic started talking again.
"You know, you remind me of that black hedgehog."
I raised one eye. "You mean Shadow?"
"Yeah. He's always a brooding dude and hardly shows any emotions. From my first impression, you act AND dress the part. You AND Mecha."
I gave him a nudge. "Just deal with it. I wear black."
"So you dislike pink?"
I rolled my eyes. "I still like pink. It's my fur color."
"Heh, alright."
"As for Mecha; just leave him be. I sometimes see him wearing other clothes than black. For example, camouflage."
At this, I laid my head onto my hands.
"I…I guess this feels alright," I thought. "Talking about my problems to the 'greatest hero on Earth'. It…it still feels kind of weird. Though…maybe I should talk to Rookie. I think I need to…"
As I got lost in my thoughts, I could hear Sonic talking by himself.
"Man. I wonder how the others. I wonder how the others are doing back down there. Especially Tails."
Third Person's POV, Eggman's Mystic Jungle HQ, 28/07 (nearly sunrise)
"I wonder how Sonic is doing," said Tails.
"I can't believe that Sonic is alive the whole time," said Minty as the two traveled through the vents of Eggman's Mystic Jungle HQ. They had fixed Omega and instructed him to stall some of the guard robots, giving them enough time to sneak into the lab. "If we didn't hear the news that there is a squad coming to save him, then we would be lost."
"I just hope that they are able to save him in time."
After crawling for a few minutes, Tails and Minty arrived at the end of one of the vent hallways. In front, Tails opened the vent door and the two were greeted by a gigantic laboratory.
There were many computers and tables stacked with weapons. There were also many large human-size tubes containing destroyed or shattered Phantom Ruby prototypes.
"So these are the prototypes Eggman was referring to," said Minty.
"I wonder why he created thousands of them," said Tails. "Good thing that we don't need to worry about his unlimited supply of magic rocks anymore. Some of them look way behind maintenance."
They both jumped down onto the floor.
"This is where the database is," said Tails, walking to the computer. "Hold on a sec. It is already logged in."
"Must have failed a checked spot," said Minty.
"Let's see…failed battle plans…old robot designs…wow, he's got like ten terabytes of selfies…Chaos Emeralds...so where does he keep the-found it!"
"What is it?" said Minty, coming forwards.
"Virtual Reality weapon. The Phantom Ruby; a weapon that takes control of people's visual and depth perception to feed false information to the brain, creating a new reality for them! Like a dream so real, if you bump yourself in it, your sleeping self will bruise? I guess that explains how those illusions manage to destroy the world. It's hard to believe. Surprisingly, they can make REAL things by a single thought. Apparently, there are some DNA linked in the ruby's power. It appears that once an individual possess the power of the Phantom Ruby – in which case, Infinite already did since he has a ruby stuck to his chest – their strong emotions can be translated into the ruby's powers; mostly anger. They can tap into its energy through strong emotional stimuli depending on how they can manage their feelings. Eggman experimented with lots of prototypes and then incorporated the final version into Infinite."
"Is there a weakness though?" said Minty impatiently. "If we want to win, there must be a way to destroy it."
"Maybe smashing those rubies to the ground?" said Tails sarcastically.
"There has to be something better than that! Just snatching it ain't easy and that final prototype is fused with that monster."
Tails read through the data again. "There is. There is a weakness. Since Eggman experimented on the REAL Phantom Ruby, it now requires an incredible amount of energy, which only a generator can provide. Overall, there are two generators located. There is one at Death Egg and one in Metropolis…so…if we stop the energy transfer and boom. The Phantom Ruby is practically useless along with the prototype!"
"This is huge!" exclaimed Minty. "Let's get this information back to the others!"
Tails caught something at the corner of his right eye. He saw behind the data box was some image showing a black figure resembling…
"Shadow?" said the cub.
"What?" said Minty.
"Hang on," said Tails, moving the data box aside to reveal a pre-recorded video. "What is this?"
He looked at the date.
That was recorded about 10 months ago.
The still image shown on the screen revealed the figure of Shadow and another one that seemed to be…
"Is that one…Infinite?" said Minty. She couldn't really tell because the mask was off, but she could figure out how the body looked like.
"Must be," said Tails. "There's even another figure there."
The video image was too blurry for them to see who was that figure there. However, they were able to notice that the head was cyan and wearing something black on top of the forehead. That figure was also all in black except for a dark green shirt under its black coat.
Regardless of not being able to identify that person, Tails pressed play.
As the video played, the screen was still blurry, but it was enough to see what was going on. There seemed to be a curb-stomp battle between Shadow and the figure of what must be Infinite. Black blurs could be seen jumping around the area with punches and loud groans. What was surprising was that the cyan figure was seemingly trying to stop the two.
At one point, the black hedgehog kicked the Infinite figure to the ground and was about to deliver the final blow when the cyan figure blocked him.
"STOP!" the latter said. "That won't lead to any-"
Shadow's only reply was to do a roundhouse kick to the cyan figure. That poor person was kicked in the stomach and flew to the wall.
WHAM!
The cyan figure hit the rocky cliff hardly and slumped to the ground.
Tails' and Minty's eyes widened in shock.
The screen was blurry, so they couldn't tell if the cyan figure was moving or not. It seemed to be…dead.
"I said stay out of this, kid," said Shadow coldly.
Taking his chance, Infinite roared and attempted to attack Shadow only to be grabbed by the foot and thrown to the wall. Unlike the cyan figure, Infinite seemed to be fine as he was seeing struggling to get up.
"Worthless," said Shadow. "Don't show your pathetic face around me ever again."
With that remark, the black hedgehog teleported away. Tails and Minty watched as Infinite started ranting…something.
"I'm…I'm not weak…I am not weak. I'm…I'm not weak! I AM NOT WEAK!"
The next thing you could hear was a loud howl of pure agony and pain. And then…
POW!
The room turned dark.
"What?!" said Minty.
"No!" said Tails. "What was that video about?"
The lights turned back on. There was barely enough power for the computer. For some reason, it was apparently low on 5%.
"What?" said Tails, pressing the 'on' button. "Oh no, no, no, no, no. Stay on! Stay on!"
The computer dropped to 3%.
"What the…?" said Minty.
"I got to show that video to the Resistance," said Tails, making a few arrangements on the computer. "I can't download it on a USB as the footage is too big. The only thing I can do is to send it through the Resistance Network System. Here it goes!"
Just a second after Tails successfully sent the video, the computer went out.
"This is crazy," the young fox muttered.
"Uh…Tails…" said Minty nervously.
The fox looked behind to see at where Minty was looking at. On the other side of the room was a familiar water creature.
Just…standing…there.
"It's Chaos again!" said Tails.
"LEAVE US ALONE, YOU STALKER!" yelled Minty, grabbing a broken lever and threw it.
However, the broken lever didn't seem to have any effect when it hit Chaos. It just went THROUGH his water body. The water god just stood there.
Minty realized her mistake.
"Uh no…" said Tails, knowing what was going to happen next.
In a flash, Chaos attacked and his water arm stretched in an attempt to punch them. Minty quickly grabbed Tails and ran to the other side of the room to dodge the punch.
"DIE, YOU FREAK!" screamed Minty, grabbing a nearby laser gun and constantly pressed the trigger.
Rapid lasers shot out from the gun at the running Chaos, but the water god dodged every laser. As for the lasers that hit him…well, the water body absorbed in the lasers just like the thrown broken lever.
Out of options, Minty grabbed one of her bombs from her utility strap and threw it at Chaos.
However, HE GRABBED IT!
"AH SHEET!" exclaimed the mint green hedgehog.
As if playing catch, Chaos threw it back at the duo.
Tails quickly ran away.
Minty – not so much luck.
She accidentally tripped and saw the bomb coming closer to her.
She let out an unladylike scream before the bomb hit her.
BOOM!
Tails looked at Minty as the smoke cleared. Even though this would have harmed the mint green hedgehog, she looked fine. Not paying attention, Tails was unfortunately grabbed by Chaos. The water god let out a laugh before breaking into a run.
"HEY!" screamed the captured fox. "LET ME GO!"
At this, Minty quickly revived to see Chaos running out of the lab.
"Oh no, you don't!" she said.
She ran after Chaos, but the water god was too quick. Minty chased after him through the long hallways.
At one point, she noticed something hanging on the ceiling. It was a wooden box connected by a chain.
With the laser gun still in her hand, she aimed at the chain and shoot.
POW!
The laser sped and blasted the chain. Now finally free from chains, the wooden box fell to the ground.
CRASH!
It crashed onto Chaos and this time, he was done for. He dissolved into a puddle as soon as the box crushed him. Tails – on the other hand – was released and thrown to the ground. He was lucky that the box didn't squash him. Just like what happened last time, the water puddle started to glitch before disappearing.
"Tails!" said Minty, coming up to the slightly bruised fox. "Are you OK?"
"I'm fine," said Tails, slowly getting up to his feet. "That was good, but a warning would be nice next time."
WAH! WAH! WAH!
The alarm went off. The room started to flash red.
"Oh no," said Tails. "They are on high alert. We got to get out of here!"
"There!" said Minty pointing to a nearby vent.
The two rushed to it and peeled off the vent door. Then, they entered it just in time before an army of robots came in, looking for what was going on.
Now, Tails and Minty had all the information needed for the Resistance.
AN: OK. I did use the later event of when Tails and Classic Sonic got into one of Eggman's labs and discovered the Phantom Ruby. I decided to do that early.
Yeah...the part where Clay accidentally alert the guards is based on a scene from Flushed Away.
And it looks like Minty and Tails saw a footage of Episode Shadow! Spoilers!
Emerald playing the freaking kazoo is a reference to 'Resident Enis' from Random Encounters.
Vlad is a character I planned for another Sonic fanfic. This one would set in the IDW series where Vlad would be an antagonist, helping out Rough and Tumble when taking over a town. However, he would start to question his morals when he joined Eggman and he became conflicted when he saw the Metal Virus, prompting him to leave and join Sonic and the Resistance. However, since I grew lazy to write that story down, I decided to add Vlad in just for fun. We will more of him in the story later.
If you enjoy this chapter, be sure to follow or favorite this story, so you can get updates about this story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you think about this chapter. I'm OK of hearing improvements from you (please no flames).
* There's actually I like to let you all know. I worked so hard making this story and I thought that it's gonna go well. However...it's been a rough month, so far. Even though I'm feeling alright now, I think that I need aside my insecurities on FanFiction, so I'm putting this on a hiatus. I'm going to pause this until everything can recover. I might probably release the next chapter next month.
For now, I like to thank those who read this and I like to thank TheLostEternity for reviewing this story. But...I think that nobody cares about this story. I know you all think of that, but I'll be fine.
Until next time, keep on rocking.
