A massive metal fist crashed down, denting the floor of the Faceship and narrowly missing its target once more. The adversary in question zoomed out of the way in the form of a blue ball, skidding along before charging up and launching itself at the fist's owner. Before the ball could even dream of connecting, a shield snapped into position, effortlessly bouncing it away.
"Ha, ha, ha! Your feeble attempts to stop me end today, hedgehog!" gloated the giant mech's psychotic pilot as his shield twisted to the left to block a lavender cat's severely-weakened stream of fire. "You and your precious flaming feline've finally met your match!"
The blue orb skidded to a halt, uncurling to reveal the speedy king of the Sol Kingdom. "Oh please, Egghead!" Sonic began before dodging an energy bolt from Eggman's wrist blaster and dashing to the side. "Blaze and I have been whooping your butt for decades! I know you're insane, but maybe it's time to stop expecting a different outcome!"
"Hmph! It's not about the battle, rodent, it's about the war!" the mad doctor fired back, training his wrist cannon on the blue blur once more.
Sonic effortlessly sped out of the way of another blast. "Quite the long war campaign you've been running then. Was losing a gazillion battles part of your long-game strategy?"
"Silence!" was the irritated response as a metal fist came surging down towards Sonic, while the other arm continued to block Blaze's fire attacks.
The speedy monarch zipped back to his co-ruler and skidded to a halt, crossing his arms. "Make me!"
The pyrokinetic queen ceased her flames. "This new mech of Eggman's has proven quite effective at reacting to our movements," she observed, not taking her eyes off their menacing opponent.
"Yeah, I noticed, you got a plan then?" Sonic asked impatiently.
"As a matter of fact, I do," was the calculated response as the cat raised her hand to point at the mech's shield. "It can only shield attacks from one direction, so we need only attack it from opposite sides. My powers may be far weaker than normal in these conditions, but yours are unaffected."
"What are you feeble furries muttering about over there?" interrupted Eggman before straightening his face back into its crooked smile. "No matter, nothing you do will hope to stand up to my mechanical masterpiece!"
"Can it Egghead!" Sonic demanded.
"My fire will serve as a distraction while you launch the real attack from behind," concluded Blaze as she struggled to ignite her hands.
"Enough stalling, you two lovebirds can babble all you want in the afterlife!" Eggman yelled, training his wrist cannon on the couple.
With one final grin and nod over to his wife, the plan was enacted. As yet another blast from Eggman's cannon soared towards the two, they darted away in opposite directions. Blaze rushed to the side, launching a volley of fireballs as she sprinted along. As suspected, Eggman's focus remained mostly on her flashier attacks, with the shield being raised to block them effortlessly.
From the other side of the room, Sonic skidded to the side and curled up into a spindash. The volatile ball spun on the metal floor, building up speed before hurling itself towards its target, the mech's midsection.
Blaze stopped running and brought her hands together, combining their strength and firing a stronger stream of fire. With the blue blur soaring at Eggman from one direction, and a stream of fire in from the other, one of the attacks seemed bound to connect.
To Blaze's surprise, the shielded arm did a oneighty, whipping around to block the midair spindash and leaving the incoming assault undefended. Sonic clinked harmlessly against the shield while the mech's other arm snapped into place in front of the burning column. The queen watched in confusion as the openings on the end of every fingertip revealed their purpose. A powerful jet of water sprayed out, the weakened fire attack being extinguished with ease by the high-pressure response.
Sonic once again skidded to a halt, uncurling from the failed attack just in time to see the wrist cannon train directly on his stunned spouse. "Blaze, no!"
She barely had time to react, throwing up a desperate shield of fire to block the blast as it surged towards her. Sonic looked on in horror as the attack made contact with the barrier, shattering it instantly. Blaze was thrown out of the blast zone, her back colliding with the wall behind her. The wind stampeded out of her lungs as she began her descent to the floor, barely catching herself with her hands.
Eggman laughed maniacally at his handiwork before turning to face his other adversary. "How do you like my 'can opener' now, you obnoxious rodent?" he sneered, brandishing his wrist blaster.
"Blaze!" the protective husband yelled before returning his attention to her attacker. "You're gonna pay for that!"
The psychotic scientist readied his shield as his adversary surged towards him at even faster speeds. As Sonic's attack futilely plinked off Eggman's shield, he raised the other arm to counterattack, another bolt surging from his mech's wrist. The speedy monarch dodged the blast, not leaving his ball form while he aimed another attack at the mech's leg.
Blaze wavered as she rose to one knee, grimacing helplessly as attack after attack was blocked and counterattacked by Eggman. With both his arms focused on Sonic, even he wouldn't be able to last forever. With a burst of exertion, Blaze shot to her feet, igniting her hands in a fiery fervor.
A warning light blinked on Eggman's console, throwing off his attempt to grab the blue nuisance. "Gra! What is it?" he glanced around to see the pyrokinetic queen glaring daggers at him, ready to go on the offensive once more. "Ah, ah, ah… stay down kitty!" the doctor taunted. With the tap of a button, the mech's unshielded arm whipped around to face her, spraying a geyser of water from its fingertips once more. Blaze was promptly drenched in water, dousing her flames and sending her flying back once more.
Sonic growled angrily as Blaze's soaked form struggled to keep its footing. "Blaze!" He curled up once more, hurling himself at the doctor while his other arm was out of the picture.
"You furry fools have been perfectly countered by my mechanical marvel, the Egg Drencher!" gloated Eggman as Sonic harmlessely ricoched off the shield once more. "Your win streak ends here, you reprehensible rodent, along with your doused and out wife!"
Sonic uncurled, only to find himself staring down the barrel of the Egg Drencher's wrist cannon. The inside whirred to life with an orange glow, preparing to vaporize its target. With a gasp, Sonic shot up into the air, narrowly avoiding the blast as the bolt crashed into the floor. The speedy monarch breathed as a small sigh of relief as he prepared to descend to the ground and deliver a counterattack. However, that chance never came.
Eggman took the opportunity of Sonic being in the air, unable to further alter his direction. The robot's shielded arm shot out in front, the open hand rapidly extending in piston-like fashion.
"Gah!" Sonic yelled as the cold metal appendage wrapped around him and retracted. He wriggled in vain as the crazed doctor brought him closer to the cockpit.
"Aww… poor hedgehog, caught in a trap!" sneered Eggman, inspecting his catch before turning to face his other adversary.
"You… won't get away with th-ahh!" Sonic winced as the hand tightened around his body.
"Oh, pitiful little Sonic," Eggman began, training his free hand on the struggling cat once more as she tried desperately to ignite her flames through her soaked body and the foggy air. "I already have…"
Blaze was unable to defend herself as a stream of water rushed towards her, soaking her all over again and knocking her back up against the wall. She gasped as all the air along with any hope of using her fire abilities was driven from her body. Collapsing to the floor, Blaze splashed in the large puddle that had formed below her, unable to stop herself this time.
Eggman watched in immense satisfaction as his arch nemesis struggled in vain to escape the iron clutches of the Egg Drencher. His wife lied on the other side of the room, her fire powers rendered useless as she glared at him, slowly rising up off the floor. "I've beaten you, Sonic the Hedgehog," Eggman gloated, holding out his fist to show his nemesis his defeated spouse. "You're going to be crushed to death in my grasp, while your defenseless wifey-poo watches helplessly from the sidelines!"
"No!" Blaze cried, finally pushing herself to ignite her hands and stand tall, directly prior to being sprayed back down to her knees.
"Hmph, pathetic, Nega and I do all this work to construct this genius plan and we won't even need it!" he cackled.
Still on all fours, Blaze's head shot up at the mention of her own nemesis' name, a look of concern spreading across her face. "N-Nega?" the worried queen muttered.
"What does that fellow roach of yours have to do with this?" grunted Sonic through clenched teeth.
The metal fingers continued to grip Sonic tighter, prompting a few cracks and muffled screams of pain as Eggman elaborated. "Well you see, my foolish furry friends. About a year ago, Nega found out that our favorite couple had birthed three beautiful children. Adorable bundles of joy, and a weakness to be exploited!" Blaze's eyes widened in shock at the mention of her kids, while Sonic struggled harder against his iron prison, only causing it to grip even tighter. "So Nega called me up on the good ol' interdimensional phone line - the minutes are quite expensive - and informed me of the situation, as well as a plan that, as inferior to me as Nega may be, was genius!"
Blaze stood up, the weakness in her legs slowly melting away. Her speechless form bared its fangs and clenched its fists as the despicable doctor continued his rambling.
"A simple, yet effective plan that you two boobs fell for like a kid for a candy bar! Launch an invasion serious enough to lure the two moronic monarchs away from their precious kingdom and children, just so we could kidnap them and hold them hostage for their parents' surrender!"
Blaze growled menacingly, steam beginning to pour from her body as her soaked fur and clothes simmered. Her fists clenched even harder, her glare burning a hole through Eggman's head with an intensity that would make the Colony Arc's laser jealous.
Sonic struggled in vain, ignoring the immense pain of his rib cage being crushed. "No!"
"Yes!" Eggman replied triumphantly. "But I digress. Such a plan didn't even turn out to be necessary. My mechanical marvel brought you two to your knees without it! Of course, now that we have no use for the little furballs..."
"Shut up."
Eggman's tangent was interrupted by a deathly growl coming from the distressed mother's direction. He whipped over to see the feline's body steaming, accompanied by exposed fangs and claws. A look of worry spread on his face before promptly being replaced with his same cocky smirk. "Hmph, or what? Turn up the heat all you want, I'll just end up soaking you again, turning you back into the helpless little kitten you are!" Eggman tapped a button, raising the Drencher's free limb and training its wrist cannon on the queen. "Any last words, my troublesome tommy?"
"Where. Are. They?" was the simmering, caustic response from the enraged mother.
"Hmph, interesting choice of last words!" chuckled Eggman. "You're in no place to be making demands here, your highness."
"I'll give you one. Last. Chance," the furious feline seethed like a lioness defending her cubs. "What did you monsters do with my babies?"
"Once again, I'm afraid I have zero incentive to tell you," the smug doctor gloated, twisting his greying mustache. "Besides, not like it matters, you and your speedy stooge of a husband are going to die here, never to see your precious little angels again!"
In a flash, the room was engulfed in a terrifyingly bright light. A mighty column of flames towered up from Blaze's location, evaporating the fog and water on and around her almost instantly. Eggman looked on in astonishment as the flames calmed, now only engulfing Blaze as she glared daggers at the despicable doctor. "Very well then, I'll have to pry the information out of you, even if it means ripping you out of that trash can and reducing your body to ash limb by limb."
"I…" Eggman began, a look of worry on his face. Moments later, he shook his head madly, replacing his concerned expression with his confident grin and slamming a button on his dash, ordering the arm to soak Blaze again. "Ha! No matter, I'll just…"
As the water shot out of the fingertips, the newly-supercharged Blaze shot forward, fueled by pure rage. The powerful stream surged toward her body, evaporating in the latent heat before it even made contact. Blaze burned even brighter than before, surging onward and charging through the Egg Drencher's left arm.
The piercing sound of melting, breaking metal rang throughout the room. Blaze shot out of the shoulder, hovering in the air as bits of liquified and disfigured metal crashed to the floor.
Eggman looked down to the dash of his one-armed mech. A look of terror spread across his face as he laid eyes on the final temperature reading the arm gave before being rendered completely inoperable. A reading of six thousand degrees fahrenheit. "Wh-what?!" he yelled in fear. "Impossible! That's far beyond any previous reading from her, save her transfor-"
"I don't want to hear another word from you unless it's your surrender." Blaze boomed from behind him, intensifying her fire once more.
In a mad attempt to shake off his fear, Eggman whipped around and slammed another glowing red button. "Not so fast, my fiery feline!"
The ferocious monarch watched as two small rocket launchers sprouted out of either side of the monstrosity's head. She merely scoffed, utterly unimpressed by Eggman's seemingly feeble attempt.
"Ha!" Eggman yelled, firing two small, quick rockets out of the launchers.
Blaze raised one arm toward each rocket, expelling scorching streams of fire from each. The rockets were hardly even slowed let alone halted as they soared through the columns of fire. She gasped, unable to manifest her realization into action in time. The projectiles hit their mark.
In an instant, the sizzle of fire being doused accompanied by the crackling of ice filled the room. Eggman's once shallow chuckles slowly graduated into evil cackles as he viewed his handiwork. Blaze crashed to the floor, the enraged look on her face immortalized in ice, along with the rest of her body. "Ha, ha, what a fool, so easily caught off guard by my cyro missiles!" crowed the doctor. Sonic continued to yell and fight against the Drencher's grip while the gloating continued. "The liquid oxygen in these babies is cold enough to turn the sun into a sauna! That along with the humidity already present in the air turned your precious idiotic autocrat into a popsicle!"
"No, don't hurt… gah!" Sonic's angry pleads were cut off by another tightening of the robot's fist, followed by the cracking of bones.
"Fat chance!" Eggman spat, bringing his remaining arm closer to the cockpit. "You're going to sit here and watch helplessly as I destroy your beloved wife, and then I'll move onto you, leaving your precious little furballs without parents, and in our clutches.
"No, I won't let you!" groaned Sonic as the metal barrier closed around him.
Eggman's evil howling continued as he savored his victory. "Hmm… and who knows? Maybe your kiddos will serve as fine heirs to my empire! With the proper reprogramming, of course."
Sonic had tuned out the mad doctor's rambling upon noticing the changes in the ice crystal. It had begun to drip and steam. His wife was far from ready to give up. "W… well Eggman, you really outdid yourself this time. You accounted for pretty much everything. Blaze's fire powers, my speed, heck, you even had a backup plan," he mustered through the pain.
"Hmph, of course I did! I'm a genius!" the doctor responded, raising his hands to the sky with a proud grin.
"But there's one thing you… didn't account for," Sonic uttered as the outer layer of ice had completely melted away, exposing a bit of Blaze's hair and part of her arms.
"And what might that be?"
"What happens when you lay a hand on a protective mommy's babies."
"What?" the confused doctor asked with a raised eyebrow. However, this confusion was momentarily replaced with fearful realization. Eggman spun the cockpit around, his gaze shooting over to the imprisoned pyrokinetic. "Wait, no!"
It was too late. With a blood boiling scream, the last of the ice exploded outward, sublimating into steam before getting near the ground. The source of this display stood to face the whimpering doctor. Burning with a fire hot enough to turn blue near the center, and their eyes devoid of anything but an inferno rage and hurt.
"Hmph, that's my girl," Sonic grinned.
"Impossible! Nothing should burn hot enough to escape temperatures that low!" the frantic Eggman yelled.
The enraged cat screamed, expanding her flames, including the egyptian blue region near the center. "The furnace of my heart burns bright enough."
XXX
A glaring red energy blade crashed into the blue wrist guards of its wielder's opponent. Purple sparks erupted around the clash, the ground cracking beneath the groaning target's feet.
"Hang in there, boss!" cried Charmy Bee from above, who ducked and weaved to avoid the Egg Paladin's constant shoulder cannon fire.
"Vector, look out!" yelled the defender's ally, materializing in the form of Espio from behind the multi-tasking robot.
Vector glanced over to see Espio priming an ensemble of shurikens. For a moment, they exchanged a glance, nodding to each other with a grin. He reacted in-kind. Thrusting his arms upward with all of his might, dislodging the sword just long enough for him to dash back and dodge its crushing blow.
Ninja stars flew, the Paladin whipped around, brandishing its shield to block the projectiles. They connected with the shield, and just as before, the robot turned to force Vector to take the brunt of the explosion. However, as the shield whipped around to face the crocodile, the detonation never came.
"What, expecting a boom?" Vector taunted with crossed arms. Before the robot could respond, the ninja stars did their job, exploding, but in a less expected fashion. A supercooling gas expanded out, forming an ice crystal and encasing the front of the shield, tethering it to the ground. The robot trained its optical sensor on him with an expressionless look. "Hmph! You're wide open, buddy!"
Vector went on the offensive, charging the Egg Paladin with a wound-back fist. However, when mere moments away from a connection, the robot trained its twin lasers off of Charmy and onto the crocodile. He gasped as the sudden attacks caught him off guard, barely being avoided by him, but stalling long enough for the Paladin to force its shield free and charge Vector in return.
The wind left Vector's lungs as the shield bashed into him, sending him skidding backwards, momentarily gasping for air. Luckily for him, his teammate was ready to dish out some payback. Charmy sailed down from above, landing a dive kick on the Paladin's head and stumbling it backwards. Vector watched as this gave Espio enough time to plant two explosive shurikens in the robot's back. They detonated, turning its backward stumble into a forward one. Seeing his opening at last, Vector quickly recovered and dashed at his enemy, delivering a powerful blow to the robot's stomach.
Having been knocked around like a ragdoll, the robot stumbled further before falling onto its back. A small break in the assault followed, giving it the required time to get back up and size up its opponents. The priority one target, Vector, stood about five meters away, his fist in his palm while he displayed long and frequent breaths. A clear sign of fatigue. Priorities two and three showed these same signs, with the flight of Charmy Bee having slowed as well. With all this in mind, the Egg Paladin's assessment was prepared. "Scenario analyzed, outcome predicted. Priority targets and this unit are evenly matched, but the former will run out of stamina before this unit runs out of power Therefore, victory is assured."
"Hah, fat chance!" Vector rebutted. "Might wanna get those loose screws of yours checked out, buddy. In fact, I know a great mechanic that would love to tear you apart and get a good look at you!"
"I wouldn't be so sure…" Espio replied, walking up to Vector during the break in the fighting. "The robot might have a point. Just look at us, we're tiring out and we've barely made a dent in the thing! At this rate, it might beat us before any slight advantage we have can come into play."
Charmy landed next to the crocodile, resting his wings as Vector prepared his response. "Hmph! Fine then, guess we'll just have to switch things up!" Vector pulled out a golden ring and smirked over to the bee. Knowing immediately what he meant, Charmy beamed in excitement, pulling out his own.
"Does this mean?"
"Sure does!" Vector replied, tapping a button on the golden band, connecting it with the other in a trail of yellow sparkles. "Team Chaotix, we're doing the slingshot maneuver!"
"You got it, boss!" the bee yelled in response, shooting up into the sky with the sparkling rope following him.
"Espio, be ready to follow up after the attack."
A nod of acknowledgement to the crocodile's instructions was followed by the purple chameleon slipping from sight once more.
The Egg Paladin readied its sword and shield, not sure what to think of the situation. "Unknown tactic under employment. Initiating defensive protocols."
"Yeah, you'd better!" Vector cheered before glancing up to his high-flying ally. "You ready Charmy?"
"Sure am!" the bee cheered. With his grasp securely on the ring, the Chaotix leader began to spin around. Charmy felt the force of it as he was yanked from the air and circled around the croc faster and faster. "Woah… woah… woah!" he shouted with the conclusion of each revolution.
Having grown wise to the Chaotix's plan, but knowing it was too late to stop them, it braced for the worst, kneeling on one knee and thrusting its shield securely out in front. Its head and sword poked out of the shield's protection. Moments later, the inevitable attack arrived, with Charmy deactivating his ring and soaring towards the unit at previously unrecorded speeds. It held firm under the kick, its shield buckling under the pressure, but staying intact, save a huge dent in the center. Furthermore, the Paladin was once again knocked onto its back.
Before the robot could recover, Espio was already looming over it, several shurikens in-hand. He fanned his arms outward, letting loose a volley of five throwing stars. The robot couldn't ready its shield in time to prevent them from embedding in its chest. A few beeps and blinks later, and they detonated.
Vector recovered from the joint-attack faster than his ally, and watched as a powerful explosion engulfed the robot, cracking the ground under its back and shallowly pushing it into the ground. As the smoke cleared soon after, he saw his chance to strike. He surged forward.
The stunned and damaged robot couldn't raise a defense as its assailant crashed down onto its chest area.
The sound of bending metal and crunching wires filled the air as Charmy concluded his recovery. He tuned in just in time to witness the aftermath of Vector's assault. The robot stumbled up, a small hitch in its get-up process. It righted itself, revealing two sizable dents on its scuffed armor, one almost perfectly centered and another near its head.
"Damage assessment. Egg Paladin unit, systems running at eighty-one percent. Optimal response-"
"Can it, tin can!" cried the battle-ready Vector as he charged forward once more. The robot swung its mighty sword to intercept, but it only served as a mere inconvenience to the prepared crocodile. Brandishing his left wrist guard, he pushed hard against the descending blade, deflecting it to the side and continuing his assault, right arm drawn back. Metal and wires tore, filling the battlefield with a deafening shriek. At long last, the Paladin's seemingly infallible armor was penetrated.
The priority one target dashed backwards as the Egg Paladin struggled to recover. It's glitchy optical unit struggled to maintain focus on its target, while its internals assessed its damage. A gaping hole protruded from the side of its stomach region. All systems now operated at a mean of sixty-three percent efficiency. With all this taken into consideration, a change in strategy must follow. As the Egg Paladin stood surrounded by a triangle of adversaries, it reached its conclusion, turning to face the crocodile head-on. "Previous strategy ineffective. Threat level: Critical. New course of action: Attack targets one at a time in order of priority."
"Huh?" a confused Vector replied, tilting his head. As an answer, the robot folded up its limbs and weapons, morphing into a ball once more and preparing to charge, spinning at insane speeds. "Oh… uh oh."
The Egg Paladin surged forward, plowing towards the crocodile before he could hope to dodge out of the way. He threw up his hands. The robot collided with them and immediately began to force him back, his shoes grinding against the tiled ground of the city square. Mere seconds later, Vector was pinned against the wall. The rolling thunder grinded against his hands, digging into the ground, tearing through his gloves, and forcing smoke from his hands. "Gah!" Vector yelled out in pain as he felt his skin burning. "Espio, do it!"
"Hang in there, Vector!" Espio cried, sprinting forward and unsheathing his blue energy knife.
Just as Vector felt his arms about to give way to the force of the robot and the sting of burning flesh, an orange line appeared straight through the middle of the robot's rotating body. The glowing streak quickly spanned its entire circumference. Moments following, Vector rapidly felt pressure lift off his arms as the robot's revolutions slowed to a crawl before ceasing entirely. Vector breathed a huge sigh of relief, removing his arms and stepping forward from his pinned position on the wall.
"Suppression... of targets… unsuccessfu…" was the Egg Paladin's final remark at it fell to each side in the form of two halves, having been cut in half under its own power.
Espio stood behind the sliced bot with a smirk, a dagger twirling in his hand.
"Sheesh, that was one tough bot to bust." the battered crocodile exclaimed
"You could say that again…" Charmy moaned, striding up to his two teammates, noticing Vector's wounds. "Vector, your hands!"
"Oh, this?" Vector said, forcing a grin and holding up his red palms and ruined gloves. "Nah, I'll be -grrrk!- good!" his sentences faltered as he winced in pain at an attempt to bend his fingers.
"Like heck you will, lemme see!" urged the first-aid bee.
"Fine…"
"Vector, you're gonna need medical attention if you want to avoid permanent scars…" Charmy solemnly explained. "I'm gonna bandage you up for now, but you'll have to stay put 'til we're ready to move out."
"What? No way, I've got a job to do!" protested the lead detective.
"Not like this, you don't!" Charmy corrected, pulling out a roll of bandage and delicately wrapping it around Vector's hands.
"Mmm… fine, doctor knows best, I guess," Vector grunted.
"The robots are all but dealt with, all Charmy and I have to do is clean up the last of them and ensure the citizens are safe. We'll be more than fine," added Espio.
"Alright, alright, you've made your point," replied the freshly bandaged croc.
Just then, a scream rang out in the direction of one of the square's many paths, turning the heads of the detectives.
"Are you fine staying put?"
"Pfft! No, but I'll manage," pouted Vector to the chameleon.
"We'll be back soon, try not to move your hands too much!" Charmy called back behind him while he soared towards the source of the cry. "Let's go Espio!"
Vector crossed his arms, watching his two teammates sprint and fly down the path towards the scream's source. He growled in protest, hating being left on the sidelines. "Hmph, I didn't wanna help anyway…"
XXX
"Woohoo, this is more like it!" Tangle cheered as she and her two teammates rampaged through the halls. Her tail, the end of it being balled into a fist, slammed through the armor of another robot, punching a hole clean through and disabling it. Beside her, Tangle's masked wife raised her Wispon. An orange bolt surged out, striking a pair of robots. "Ooo... good shot, babe!"
Whisper's light blush was concealed behind her mask as she bashfully grabbed her shoulder. The group strode on, reaching a four-way intersection. "Which way?" was her hushed query.
The couples' two-tailed navigator raised his hand to his face, peering at his watch's screen. Two red dots with a white path connecting them showed up on the blue schematics of the Faceship in the background. "Left!" Miles concluded.
With that, the couple and the fox rounded the corner, leaving a corridor of devastated bots behind. Tangle looked ahead through their sprinting, seeing a closed door at the end of the hall. "Through there?" she pointed.
"Yeah, it'll take a bit for me to hack into the door. Eggman's encryptions are a bit stronger than they used to-"
Miles' explanation was cut short by a noise behind him. The other predator of the group switched her Wispon to its blue hammer form. "Move," was her short, but effective command. The fox and lemur did as they were told, darting to the sides and letting Whisper pass, wielding her glowing weapon.
If not for that mask, Tangle could almost guarantee she'd be reminded of just how fierce her wife can appear when she's serious. With a silent bound and swing, the door was blown off its track, its two pieces blowing back into the room. The fox and lemur skidded to a halt, wide-eyed at the display as Whisper dashed in, clearing the coast before motioning for the two stunned teammates to follow.
"Here."
"Haha, encrypt that!" Tangle jested and she and Miles strode in, looking around the room. The constant hum of surging electricity was no-doubt caused by the glowing green chaos emerald in the middle of the room, suspended in a glass chamber spanning from below the floor to above the ceiling. Electric current flowed through the tube like a raging river. Several pistons connected to the base of the tube, sliding up and down through their own transparent chambers. Off to one side of the large, cylindrical room was a large access terminal, displaying several figures and numbers.
Miles' eyes widened in shock as they fell on one number in particular. "Oh no!"
"So… I'm guessing the part that says 'ninety seven percent charged' with a nearly full yellow bar below it is a bad thing, right?" Tangle mused to the sprinting fox.
"Sure is, this thing could be ready to fire any moment!" Miles exclaimed, having reached his destination in seconds. He kneeled down, attempting to locate the terminal's access port. "By the looks of it, I may have as little as five minutes to disable this thing before it's ready to fire. I'm gonna need to divert my undivided attention to this thing or I may not make it in time!"
"Pfft, no problem. I've got my super spouse right here with me," the
nonchalant lemur jeered, throwing her arm around Whisper. "Plus, not like we're meeting much resistance anywa-" The door opposite of the one Whisper destroyed slid open, cutting off Tangle's musing. The clank of metal feet echoed throughout the large room as a small army of robots, identical to the ones they smashed previously, filed in, weapons drawn. "Aww… me and my big mouth!"
"That's not good! Sorry guys, I won't be able to help you fend them off!" Miles apologized, plugging his watch into the terminal via the same small cable as before.
"All good my two-tailed technician. Whisper and I'h've got it covered!" was the optimistic response from the lemur. She nudged her wife with her elbow. "Whatcha' say, babe, wanna smash?" she added a seductive undertone to her innuendo.
Whisper's more profoundly flushed face was once more hidden behind her mask. "M'kay…"
The married couple dashed forward, intercepting the robots on their route to Miles. "Not so fast there, tin cans!" Tangle whipped her tail around, wrapping it around a robot and lobbing it into a group of others. They toppled like bowling pins. "Woohoo!" she cheered, until the robots promptly began to right themselves. "Oh…"
Before they could stand back up, the wolf's Wispon glowed pink. With the pull of a trigger, a volley of laser saws poured out of the barrel, swiftly chopping the quartet of robots into pieces.
By this time, Tangle had already begun with another group, forming a fist with the end of her tail and bashing a robot through the stomach. She dodged minor laser fire as two other robots trained their rifles on her from further back. "Woah! little help here?"
Whisper responded in-kind, switching to sniper mode and taking out the two ranged bots with ease.
Meanwhile, Miles' infiltration of Eggman's system was proving to be more challenging than expected. "What? No way!" he pouted as Eggman's symbol appeared on his screen once more. "Grr… it's ok Miles, you've got plenty of time," he thought out loud, calming himself and resuming his fervent tapping.
Limbs flew, hammers swung, and bolts fired. With every downed robot, another seemed to swiftly take its place. Whisper should've known that bashing in the door would've attracted unwanted attention. With a sigh, she mowed down another couple of bots with her rocket mode. Following this attack, her weapon went dark and the orange wisp popped out. "Orange?" the confused wolf queried.
"I'm sorry Whisp.' I'm just so tired." replied the orange wisp, being translated through Whisper's mask.
"Everything alright over there?" the worried Tangle asked, trying to maintain her wavering focus on the enemies while still conversing with her spouse.
"Wisps are tired."
"Yeah… I'm not… keeping at a hundred percent myself," Tangle replied through drained pants. "Yo Miles, how much longer?"
"Not long!" Miles replied, not looking up from his work until he continued. "I'm in the system now I just have to… Gah!" Miles looked up to see one of the bots looming over him, having escaped the prey and predator's round-up. It was too late to prevent the attack as its blue energy sword swung down. All he could do was helplessly dodge out of the way. The watch's cord flew out of the socket, and the weapon crashed down onto the terminal. The cracked screen violently flashed and went out just as the percentage reading switched to ninety nine. "No!" Miles whipped around, his tails slamming into the robot and sending it flying into the wall.
Tangle looked over in horror at the destroyed station, as well as the droopy fox that had manned it. "Miles, you okay?"
"I'm fine, but I can't see what's on the screen now, and the port is destroyed. I don't know how I'll stop the weapon now!" the panicking fox yelled back.
Tangle's tail pierced another robot as she turned back towards Miles. "We still have time, we can find another terminal thingy, disable it manually, someth-"
"Egg Drainer, ready to fire in: Sixty seconds," A computerized voice interrupted from all around the room, piercing through the sounds of breaking.
Tangle's fear-filled eyes frantically glanced around the room. She bounded over another robot and smashed its head in as she continued to try and find a solution. "Come on, Tangle. Come on, think!" she jittered. Seconds of dodging later, her eyes fell on a solution. In the center of the room, next to the suspended green gem, was a disabled, mangled robot. "Oh, screw it! Whisper, cover me!" Tangle scampered over, shooting her tail out in front of her and wrapping it around the disabled robot. "If at first you don't succeed at shutting down the Suck-O-Tron Nine Thousand, smash it!"
"Wait, Tangle no!" Miles shouted. Realizing he was too late, he bounded behind the ruined terminal, covering his head.
Using her green shield mode as protection, Whisper watched as Tangle anchored herself to the ground, whipping around with the disabled robot in-tow. It swung around like a wrecking ball, en route to its destination. With one final shout, the lemur's strong tail released its captive, sending it sailing into the electrified emerald chamber.
Shards of glass and bolts of lightning exploded from the center of the room. Tangle bounded back, acrobatically dodging the onslaught of hazards. The surge bounced throughout the room, taking out several lights and short-circuiting the majority of the remaining robot army.
As she flipped through the dimmed room to avoid a bolt of lightning, her eyes widened, falling upon a large piece of glass that was travelling straight for her midsection. In a panic, she slammed her eyes shut, forcing her hands over her stomach, ready to absorb the blow of the razor sharp shard. The impact never came.
Tangle's eyes opened to a green, transparent light. They widened further upon the realization that an arm was around her chest.
"S'okay."
She looked up to the source of the voice, none other than her wife, being quick on her feet and rushing to her rescue. "Aww… Whisper, thanks!" Tangle cooed with sparkling eyes through the chaotic explosion of lightning and glass. Whisper's mask concealed her bashful grin.
Almost as quickly as it started, the explosion ceased. The group gave a collective sigh of relief as the backup power kicked in, restoring most of the lights to the room. The last few stragglers of the robot squadron were taken out by the super-powered spouses. "Haha! Score one for the good guys!" Tangle cheered, turning to Miles. "See? I knew smashing it was the right way to go from the start!"
"I will admit, Tangle, that was some good quick thinking," Miles conceded, throwing up his hands before his face morphed into a smirk. "Of course, we're just lucky that destroying a live energy tube with chaos energy flowing through it didn't overload the containment system and vaporize us along with everything else within a twenty meter radius."
Tangle's smug look instantly departed, making way for a wide-eyed, embarrassed face. A drop of sweat slithered down her head as she bashfully scratched it. "Heh, heh, yeah… Good thing…"
"Should find the others…" a timid voice added, the source being Whisper, having removed her mask.
Miles acknowledged Whisper's idea as a good one, once again congratulating the girls on a job well done. Just as he brought his wristwatch to his face to locate Sonic and Blaze, the screen changed, with the watch emitting a low-volume ringtone. The call I.D. read out as Freedom H.Q. "Amy?"
"Wha', Amy's calling? I wonder what for," Tangle thought aloud, bounding over to the crafty fox and peering into the screen from behind him, with Whisper following suit in her own, more reserved, stride.
"Not sure, guess we'll find out." Miles tapped a button, accepting the call. Instantly, the "accept or decline" screen was replaced with the worried face of Amy. "Uh oh, what's the bad news?"
"It's not bad, per-se," Amy's electronic voice began from the other end. "Just a little... concerned is all."
"Well if you're concerned about Eggman and his little 'Suck-O-Matic Nine Thousand,' don't be. We sent that thing to the scrap heap that it belongs in!" Tangle mused with a dismissive hand gesture.
"Really? That's amazing!" Amy began with an upbeat tone. "But that's not the reason I called."
"What's the scoop?" asked the curious kitsune, raising an eyebrow.
"Just moments ago, Blaze's wristband stopped giving out readings. Right before then, it showed a heat warning, then a cold warning, then a heat warning again before finally giving out," she began, clasping her hands together and staring off into space. "I'm worried for those two."
"Uhh… didn't you design these things to take the beating of a lifetime and still keep ticking?" the equally concerned lemur asked, holding up and pointing to her own band.
"Yeah, I did. For one of my wristbands to go offline, something serious must be going down. Nothing short of the photosphere of the Sun should be able to overwhelm these things!" replied Miles. "We should get going. Whatever's going on up there, it can't be good."
"I'll let you guys get to it. Hopefully it's a simple malfunction but…" Amy trailed off.
"For once, I hope one of my inventions failed." added Miles. "I'll keep you posted, Miles, out." With a nod from the pink hedgehog on the other end, the screen switched back to the map of the Faceship. Only one red dot shone at the top now, presumably Sonic's wristband, but it would be enough for the inventive fox.
"Well, this is just all the more reason to bash some more bots and get to the top, right?" Tangle cheered, grabbing Whisper by the arm and pulling her towards the exit, eliciting an astonished jump from the unprepared wolf. "C'mon guys, let's go meet the fat man!"
Miles lowered his arm and sprinted after the couple. "Hey, wait up!"
XXX
The room had gone from humid as the Amazon to dry as the Sahara in minutes. The disarmed Egg Drencher still sat in the middle, trying helplessly to dodge the inferno of rage that circled the outside of the room, bathing its midsection in streams of flames. Grunts of irritation escaped Eggman's gritted teeth as he looked down to his dash, which now shined as red as the furnace outside, littered with overheat warnings. "Grr… I was so close. That meddlesome feline and her troublesome temper!"
The flames ceased, and Blaze looked upon the robot's orange, melting midsection with a destructive grin. "Give up!" she boomed with a tone that sent chills up even Sonic's spine. "Or this metal monstrosity of yours shall be your tomb!"
Eggman felt the entire cockpit shift to the right, the top half of the Drencher buckling under the stress. "Curses! This masterpiece was supposed to be the perfect counter to that pyrokinetic puma, yet she's eaten through it in mere minutes!"
"Well, you kinda asked for it this time," Sonic sneered from the mech's loosening grip.
"Silence, you-!"
With a burst of speed, Blaze was brought to a hover in front of Eggman near-instantaneously, interrupting his insult. Her hands folded on her chest, her blue fire burning as bright as ever. "What was that you said earlier, monster? 'Any last words?" she removed one of her hands, holding it out in front of her and charging a pure blue flame.
"Eeek!" In a panic, Eggman slammed a button, signaling for the two rocket launchers to fire again. Blaze only playfully sneered at the attempt, folding her arms once again and seemingly allowing for the rockets to hit her head-on. Steam filled the region of impact. "Haha, yes, direct hit! That foolish feline!" he cheered, leaning forward and pumping his fist in the air.
It wasn't until a few moments later that Eggman realized something was wrong. The pyrokinetic queen hadn't fallen out of the steam cloud onto the ground yet. "Wait, how? It shouldn't be possible!"
The cloud began to clear, and inside of it was a glowing orb of fire, looking completely unscathed by the scorching-subzero missiles. The raging shield lowered from the top-down, revealing its caster, looking more pissed off than affected.
"Are you done?"
"..."
Blaze took initiative, charging forward, straight at the Drencher's already-weakened midsection. In another panicked attempt to halt the seething mother, Eggman jerked his fist in front of him, putting Sonic in her path.
With a disgusted sneer, Blaze easily flew around the scummy trap and straight through the robot's arm. Metal whined and broke as it stood no match for the scorching temperatures. The arm fell to the ground, releasing Sonic mid-descent and allowing him the chance to jump out and escape before it crashed to the floor in a melted, disfigured heap.
Now free from the robot's death grip, Sonic clasped his chest, groaning as he felt his broken ribs underneath. The pain, however, didn't stop him from marvelling at the sight of Blaze cutting through Eggman's bot like a hot knife through butter. With only half an arm and some useless missiles to defend himself, it was only a matter of time now.
Sparks flew, and the cockpit shook around like an earthquake as Eggman felt his creation being decimated. Righting himself by grasping his chair, he slapped a small red button and held himself in front of his dash's comm system. "Orbot, Cubot, you iron ignoramuses! Fire the Egg Drainer, now! I don't care if it's fully charged, just do it!"
"Uhhh… well, you see… mmm…" was the red bot's nervous response from the other end. "There may be a teensy problem with that."
"What is it?!" Eggman spat as one of the Drencher's front legs fell to the floor.
"Tails and his friends knocked it out!" the yellow bot finished, in a tone far too cheerful for the occasion.
"They what?!"
Before the two robots could respond, the comm went silent, likely due to a malfunction from the quickly-shrinking Drencher.
"I think you've -hngh- got bigger fish to fry right now, Egghead." Sonic said in-between grunts, gesturing up towards his burning bride.
And fry was indeed the right choice of words. With one final charge, Blaze blew straight through the mech's midsection, cutting the robot clean in-two. "No!" Eggman screamed. The effect was immediate, the robot's top section fell to the side, crashing to the floor with the violent sound of metal-on-metal. The top compartment and windshield shattered, freeing the Chaos Emerald and knocking it to the floor and exposing Eggman to the scorching temperatures, and mother, outside.
The evil genius looked on in horror as the speechless sovereign approached him, appearing as a menacing black silhouette bathed in flames. "W-wait!" he stammered, scrambling out of his cockpit and to the floor. The predator's advance continued, still without a word, prompting the doctor to kneel down, pleading for his life. "I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me, have mercy!"
Blaze's strides stopped, she gazed down at the pitiful display, scoffing in disgust. "Hmph! I'm going to give you far more mercy than you deserve. Tell me where my babies are and maybe you'll only get off with first degree burns."
The boom of Blaze's commanding voice pierced Eggman's heart. He scurried backwards along the ground, trying to make space between him and the slow-approaching threat. His back struck the wall of the domed room, he peered to his right to see his blue arch nemesis approaching him, burying his fist in his palm with a scowl. Alas, even he knew when he was beaten.
Blaze approached further as Eggman scrambled to his knees once more. Covering his left wrist with his hand. "Okay, okay! I-I'll tell you!" he stammered. "I'll tell you where they are, just please don't hurt me!"
"You have. Five. Seconds," Blaze commanded.
"They're… They're!" Eggman began, his worried face melting into one of deceit as he twisted the band on his right wrist. "Not here!"
Blaze's eyes widened. "Don't you dare!" She dove as fast as she could as the floor opened up, swallowing Eggman and the yellow Chaos Emerald whole. The opening closed up just as Blaze's dive reached its mark. Her hands clasped around what was now nothing but emptiness. The evil doctor's chuckling slowly faded away as he descended further into the belly of the Faceship.
"He… got away?" a wide-eyed Sonic muttered, his fist clenching.
"No…" Blaze grumbled, rising to all fours and staring down at the ground in shock and regret. "No, no, NO!" Her fists smashed against the metal floor with all the force of a crashing meteor, shooting a monsterous obelisk of blue and orange flames up through the ceiling and producing a molten crater.
Sonic dashed back to avoid his devastated wife's sudden outburst, narrowly avoiding being consumed by the inferno. The flames died, and the sizzle of molten metal began to subside, slowly being overtaken by the intense sobbing of a heartbroken mother. Blaze's fire burned no more. Her completely melted wristband laid in a blue heap beside her, and not even her specialized clothes had been able to take the heat, being burned and discolored at the edges. A waterfall of tears poured from her eyes as she laid on all fours. Restraining his own anger and heartbrokenness for her sake, the loving husband approached cautiously. "Blaze?"
"I…" the feline began, slamming her fists back into the metal. "I can't believe they did this!" she cried.
Sonic approached, his feet making contact with the still-glowing metal. He winced as he felt the intense heat travel through his shoes, but continued on nonetheless. "Dear… it'll be alright," he passionately assured, kneeling down and placing a hand on her shoulder.
"They won't get away with this."
XXX
The huge metal door bursted off its track. Its two pieces went flying into the room, crashing against the metal floor beside the ruined Egg Drencher. Tangle dashed in following her wife's blue-powered handiwork. "Yahoo! Team 'T.T.W. to the rescue…" her originally cheerful tone faded away as her eyes fell on the two figures they'd come here to find. Sonic stood tall, holding his ribcage with a wince, while he supported the weight of his beloved wife. The lavender feline carried an expression that the lemur had never seen in her before. Gone was the stoic posture and fire in her eyes. In its place was an almost lifeless look, one of complete and utter defeat… "Are… you guys alright?"
Sonic looked up to the group, barely able to squeeze out a sentence. "No. We're not."
"What happened, Sonic?!" Miles exclaimed, running up to the couple and giving his big brother some much-needed support.
"We'll fill you in on the way back," the mangled monarch sputtered. "We need to get back to Freedom H.Q. Now."
XXX
All Sonic the Hedgehog characters and concepts are owned by SEGA. All original characters, as well as the AU concept as a whole is by Sonicxfan64 on DeviantArt.