A/N Hey here's another chapter. So here's another chapter and I hope it will be…. Exciting. If this is late refer to my other crappy excuses.
"So anything on the radar?" Tails asked wiping sand from his eyes, in his hands some coffee.
"None more than normal dear" Rosemary replied "Did you sleep well?"
"As good as always when I get beat up" he sipped his coffee wishing the numbness would go away.
"If I could kiss it better I would" the female voice chuckled.
It made Tails smiled as well but then frown knowing he needed to say something to about that statement "You know even if you are a computer you will always be my mom"
"I know sweetums, but it's nice to hear you say it"
"I Love you mom I know I don't show it enough with me muting you and all that but I wouldn't trade you for anything" he smiled and took another sip letting the moment pass.
"Anyway, how's Silver?"
"He actually woke up half an hour ago, I called Blaze to go talk to him while he fully wakes up" a slight tone in her voice gave away the reason for sending Blaze in particular.
In the med room…
Silver layed on a small bed, bandages were around his chest where the Metal Sonics claws pieced his body, some band aids were on his lesser scratches and a wet cloth on his forehead
"I hope you are feeling better" Blaze smiled next to Silvers bed.
"I'd almost trade death over all this pain, almost. Rosemary gave me some meds to dull the pain and should take over in a minute" he tried to grin but even that hurt.
"She also said you'd be walking in a bit, specifically today after you've woken up entirely"
"Thank chaos, I couldn't stay cooped up in here, I doubt I'll be doing much though?" he was just glad to be out of here soon.
"Do not worry, I will watch over you while you heal" Blaze smiled kindly.
Silver blushed lightly and coyly stammered "W-well… y-you don't have to, I'm sure Nicole would be able to handle any problems"
"She has her hands busy keeping Scourge company, besides I enjoy our talks"
"Really? I usually talk to Shadow and most of the time he zones me out and I babble on and on"
"I'm sure he listens, perhaps he feels he doesn't need to speak back and you just need someone to speak to" her reasoning was pretty sound, Shadow deceptively knew a lot about the Mobian psyche and how to handle emotional matters despite his own emotional problems. The question was if he cared enough about you to help or ignore.
"Maybe, he surprises me once in awhile"
"He does that to anyone who takes the effort to crack his walls " she'd known the hedgehog for awhile during on and off encounters. Over time he became more talkative as Blaze showed no unwarranted negative feelings towards him. They also shared the unique similarity of having powers most or nobody had at all.
"I'm sure he didn't make much of a fuss over me right?" he wasn't offended, he knew Shadow was quiet and only showed concern when it was truly required.
"He didn't visually uninterested, but he gave his concern subtly , trust me, until Rosemary said you'd heal back perfectly fine he was worried" The cat had a sly smile having learned his tells over the years.
"I obviously don't know him as well as you" Silver chuckled but liked hearing that his older friend actually cared.
"I may know more about him but you spent two years with him near constantly, you know things in those two years none of us know, and you may be the closest person to Shadow as well. You're his partner and friend, he doesn't show it but I guarantee he trust you more than the rest of us"
Silver guessed what she said was reasonable and nodded slightly "I hope I didn't scare anyone else"
Blaze frowned "Ya had us all worried, I was right beside you when that Metal Sonic attacked, I could have done something, I apologize for my lack of focus" she averted her eyes from him feeling ashamed for letting her guard down in such an obvious attack.
"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself, we're not perfect. We'd fought an intense battle and that dust covered our eyes, how could you have guessed that it would attack me first?" he hoped his voice wasn't too low to keep his compassion out of his voice.
She gently smiled looking at him again "Thank you, I must remember that even with all my training I can't predict everything, as long as we all made it out I am happy. I just wish it hadn't cost you so much"
"No worries, I'm still breathing, and without robot assistance at that, just give me a day or two and I'll be back up to tip top shape, you'll see. I'm glad it didn't hurt you" he blushed at the end realizing he spoke too long.
"Not to sound rude but I glad for that as well, and I'm glad for your concern" she just barely blushed and her tail flicked behind her, Silver in such a state didn't notice in the slightest.
"Oh hey, great teamwork too. We were perfectly synced through that fight until the Metal Sonic appeared"
"Ye swe were quite formidable weren't we?" Blaze smiled.
Then her smile turned to a more appreciative smile "Had it not been for you we'd have all joined the ash as well"
"What?" he looked confused.
"Do you not remember, Shadow saw no other option besides using a chaos blast, he asked you to shield us with the last of your strength, you just barely made a barrier as he fired and held it just long enough to keep us safe then passed out?"
"No I don't remember any of that, maybe my head shut down sort of?" Silver shrugged.
"If you can't remember it then perhaps you are right, but still, we are alive because of you" her smile was still appreciative.
He just blushed again "I do what I can, even if I don't know I'm doing it, so I assume it vaporized the Metal Sonic?" he smiled hopeful until Blazes frown said otherwise "It escaped didn't it?"
"Unfortunately yes, it didn't follow us though, it seems we lost it"
"Thank Chaos" Silver mumbled "I do remember trying to use my powers on it then feeling intense pain in my head. Like a thousand headaches at once" he cringed remembering it.
"Tails and Shadow noticed to and spoke to us about it when we woke up, they are guessing your powers will be ineffective to directly use on it. But that doesn't stop you from using the environment to your advantage"
"I'll keep that in mind" Silver frowned realizing he'd lost half his usefulness if they fought it again, what if it could walk through his shields?"
"But let's not think of such things" Blaze chimed up "Perhaps I owe you a reward for saving us all?"
"Like… what kind of reward?" he asked expecting her to just watch over him like she had said before.
"First I will take care of you for today and possibly for as long as Rosemary says…..." She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek "And that" she blushed hard almost seeing through her fur.
The same could be said for Silver who instantly lost all sense and froze.
Blaze tried hard to not giggle but failed "I am sorry, I did not mean to break you"
"What no! I'm not broken… I…." he then mumbled to himself knowing that sounded foolish "Obviously that didn't break me, stupid"
Blaze just giggled again "Well I apologize anyway"
Her giggling was a little infectious and despite the pain it brought Silver managed a few nervous chuckles.
As they quieted down Rosemary's voice came "I think he's about ready to walk around, give him some breakfast, softer foods please"
"I understand" Blaze nodded then got up from the chair next to the bed and helped him to his feet, quite slow and carefully "Can you stand on your own?"
"Give me a second… maybe, stay close incase I fall" Silver said legs wobbly.
Blaze had no problem agreeing to that and helped him hobble along and outside the room to get something to eat.
In the small kitchen Scourge was making some breakfast for himself, Nicole not too far by watching him. Hearing two people approaching her eyes went to the door and smiled seeing Silver and Blaze.
"Silver, you are back on your feet?"
Scourge turned a bit to see as well but got back to work.
"Ya, Rosemary said I'm gonna live, you can all calm down now" he jokingly replied.
The lynx was glad to see his humor hadn't left him "I assume you are hear for breakfast?"
"Can't live on painkillers can I?" he chuckled getting help from Blaze to sit at the small table in the middle of the room.
"That is true" the lynx confirmed.
Blaze got to work making something for Silver, some pourage was a nice soft and warm meal for him.
"Hey Weed Head" Scourge said walking to the table with his plate of food "You better watch out next time, I should know, the hits don't get any lighter"
"I'll keep that in mind" he didn't quite like the name but atleast it wasn't an insult or sarcasm.
Scourge just got to eating seemingly done speaking, but his small peace of advice seemed to show he had a modicum of respect for the younger hedgehog.
"Do we have any plans to take that thing down?" Silver asked.
Nicole answered "Not many, it's EMP proof, psychic proof, has built in shields, armor that protects from small arms fire atleast, has the speed of Scourge and Shadow, enhanced strength. It oddly has self preservation in its programming though, unlike normal ones which would just self destruct in a no win situation"
"What she's trying to say is we have damn near no weapons to fight besides blunt force" Scourge added "And it's too fast to reliably do that either"
"Well…. Guess we got quite the boss fight ahead of us" Silver said trying to be a little funny, but the gravity of the situation made that impossible.
"We can't even avoid it. Like Shadow and Scourge its so fast it can respond to any threat in seconds, we will mostly see it again in every engagement we enter until we either destroy or force to receive repairs" Nicole frowned.
Silver just sighed at the stacked odds and was worried about meeting the robot again so soon.
"I hate to sound like Sonic but we 'll do what we do best, improvise, one day we'll fight it in a situation where we'll have one advantage and make it work" Scourge said chewing on food.
Silver nodded to that, it seemed like the only plan they had unless Tails found a new gadget to fight it.
About then Blaze came with Silver breakfast and handed it over "Thanks" the smell making his stomach remember how hungry he was and quickly began eat. His tongue burned from the hot food and waited for it too cool before trying again.
"Well for now I think we can relax, we are safe here" Blaze sat down in the last remaining chair. The group eventually began playing crazy eights after finishing eating.
With Fiona….
After a good shower Fiona went to the control room knowing Tails would be there. She stopped hearing him speaking to who he presumed was Rosemary.
"One day I'll figure out a way to get you into a body"
"There is no need, I'm perfectly content where I am, besides you shouldn't waste your valuable time thinking of something can wait until this is all over"
"I know, but I will do it one day, I promise"
"Thank you, also you have a visitor"
Fiona guessed Rosemary knew she'd been there and came around the corner casually like she'd been striding to the door the entire time.
"Moring Tails, everything looking good"
"Seems so, no new or peculiar activity, glad for that" he finished off his coffee.
"Me too" she smiled "So what you got planned today?"
"Probably gonna find a way to fight that Metal Sonic, I was thinking something that will take him out in one hit" Tails leaned back a bit already planning ideas.
"Well I'd say a rocket launcher, but that's too slow and if we wanted to slow him down someone would have to be in the blast too" Fiona said leaning on the console.
"Nah I was thinking a railgun, fast, precise and deadly beyond belief. Just need to see if I got the parts for it. Although It would more then likely have to be used in a stationary position like a sniper rifle but far more powerful" he smirked at the very idea of sending a piece of metal as such extreme speeds through the robot.
"That's gonna take a lot of setup on the battlefield, and with precision comes a lot of space for error"
"I know, but it's precise enough that if someone were to keep him from moving I could take it out without hurting the other person"
"That is an upside" Fiona shrugged.
"I probably can make one with what I got, making as portable as possible is another challenge. Perhaps I could put it into deployable pieces. Like the actual barrel is one extendable piece, the firing mechanism could me my morph-gun with a few upgrades and the actual part that gives all the power could be shoulder mounted. All together it could be a portable cannon I could deploy fairly easy" that twinkle in his eye when he had an exceptionally hard project ahead was in his eye. It made Fiona smirk.
"Sounds like quite a weapon, better hop to it"
Tails nodded spinning in his chair "I will, I know I can make this work, if ya need me I'll be working" he walked out heading straight for the workshop.
"I will" Fiona smiled watching him leave with a determined stride in his step.
"I think you give him inspiration" Rosemary said once Tails was out of earshot.
"huh?" she turned to the screens confused.
"Ever since you arrived he's been actually working towards something, before you arrived he was…. lost, he had no reason to work towards anything. He had no reason to be himself, so he just got worse than even before Eggman destroyed everything"
"Oh… really, I had no idea. I'm glad" she smiled.
"I'm serious Fiona, if you could please don't leave him behind again. I think he needs you more than he realizes" her tone had a pleading edge to it.
Fiona recalled that journal of his, he had hated her so long but he got it all wrong, he still cared about her and couldn't understand why since she betrayed and hurt him. Maybe he knew now though, maybe he had it all figured out now, thanks to her being here.
Before she could answer Rosemary said "Just think about it ok?"
She nodded to that, she oddly didn't want to make a committed answer.
The fox could hear four voices in the kitchen and assumed from certain things they said they were playing cards. Last she saw of Shadow, only moments before she went for her shower he was napping so process of illumination answered who it was and went to check on them.
She guessed right and was glad to see Silver back on his feet, he was still clearly in discomfort. His posture showed it, but his demeanor tried to hide it.
From what she could tell they were having fun together, but it was clear Scourge was winning. Even when no money was involved she had known him to be scary to play against, he had a pretty good poker face so to speak. His runner up was Blaze who seemed to be able to control her tells and emotions.
She was surprised to see Nicole was last, she had expected her to be most in control of her tells, but then again her understanding of emotions and Mobian interaction was fragmented, even after all these years. She would straight a little, grin a tiny bit or her ear would flick. She was too easy to read. She didn't seem to mind though, she seemed to be happy with the idea of being with her friends and relaxing.
"Hey if you're gonna stare let me know what Blaze has" Scourge noticed her watching and made a quick quip.
The cat responded "That would be very unsportsmanlike of you to cheat"
"When has sportsmanship meant anything to me? Remember I'm not one of you good guys" he then played his turn, one step closer to victory "Besides, in a fight anything goes, if some dust in the eye or cheap shot keeps you alive and the opponent dead it's all worth it"
He had a point, if you were fighting to the death there wasn't really any point to holding your codes of conduct, if you make the split decision to be the honorable one and die for it than you're dead. For some it's worth going down respectfully, for others life trumped any kind of code.
His comment carried even more weight considering the situation, unlike falling in battle before there was a chance of someone taking your place down the road, but they were all that was left. Nobody was coming to replace them or reinforce them. From what they could tell they were the only people who could save this world. Resting on your morals wasn't an option anymore.
Normally Blaze would have argued his point but sadly even she felt that they had to win at any cost. Eggman had hurt her in a way few had ever done before. Not only humiliated her, but stole her emeralds and locked her away for two years. Things like that change even the most hardened souls.
"In any other situation I'd disagree but…. Eggman needs to be stopped"
Hearing Blaze say that hushed the room, there it was. Out in the open. Even she had been crossed enough to warrant no holds barred, this was a war without rules.
The short silence was broken by Nicole who decided to play her next turn, it was just enough to get everyone to slowly get back to a casual feel.
"So what's pipsqueak doing?" Scourge asked Fiona.
The fox was pouring a drink as he asked "He's thinking of ways to take down Metal Sonic, he's thinking of a high power rail-gun, to obliterate it in one shot. This things seems smarter than before and if it survives our attempts it will only adapt so it has to be a one shot kill"
Silver finally spoke "If anyone can find a way it's him" apparently he had a lot of faith in the older fox.
Nicole nodded enthusiastically "Oh yes, before he left he was great at making plans or taking others peoples plans and making them better"
The game continued until Scourge edged out Blaze by one card. Due to her tells Nicole came last making Silver third.
"You got a lot of tells Nikki" Scourge stated bluntly, but oddly not rudely.
"Oh, I did not realize" she seemingly didn't even notice the nickname.
"Everyones got 'em. Just got to learn to manage them, or use them to your advantage" he replied.
"Use them? How can you use a tell to your advantage?" clearly she hadn't played before.
"Perform your tells maybe when you have nothing, seriously throws people off. It's all mind games. Sometimes giving no tells at all can be even scarier" he smirked.
She nodded seemingly getting it "Thank you, I will remember that for next time"
He nodded "Maybe I'll show you a few tricks"
Blaze had already made Silver leave to lay down for a bit so only Fiona was nearby to hear. It somewhat shocked her to see he was offering his assistance. The nickname was new too.
On the other hand Nicole just smiled brightly "That would be nice"
Scourge just nodded then got up "Anyway, I'm gonna go play some games, you know incase something comes up"
The green hedgehog left and Nicole went to converse with Rosemary leaving Fiona alone. She finished her drink while making some breakfast for herself. Once done that she settled in to read and pass the time.
It felt nice that everyone was able to relax and talk again. Whatever was happening they were all starting to get used to one another in this tight space.
Later in the day…
Fiona snorted awake looking around, the room was empty.
"What woke me?" she scratched her head and felt her book slide off her stomach.
She growled in annoyance since the bookmark hadn't been put back in and leaned over to reach it.
Rumble
She froze feeling the hole base shudder "What the fu-"
Terrifying shake cut her off incredibly powerful this time making her fall out of bed from her leaning position.
"What's doing that!?" she yelled out, as if anyone would hear her from the deafening sound.
Rosemary's voice came over the intercom "Everyone, we're under attack!"
Fiona quickly got to her feet "Oh sh-"
BOOM
The ground shook violently a loud explosion came from outside the hall knocking her off her feet and falling to her back.
With adrenaline pumping through her veins she got up again and ran through the doorway and looked out. She was immediately met with dust and ash in her face as it fanned out into the air.
She coughed and tried to wave away the debris and see through it. Choking on the air she eventually could see what happened, the ceiling had collapsed leaving a massive hole leading to the outside world. Scorch marks on what was left of the ceiling in the mound of dirt and ash told her enough. Atleast explosives had been used to make this hole.
Thinking on her feet she ran for the armory but ran straight into an eggbot that had jumped down before she could see. Staring into the barrel of its gun she froze, nowhere to go and no options, she was helpless.
Her saving grace was a green glow that game through the dust at mach speed smashing the eggbot into the wall it gun firing half a second after impact and the bullet sailing past the side of her head.
She looked and found it had been shadow using his powers to save her with chaos punch.
"What are you waiting for get your stuff!" he yelled zooming off to continue fighting.
His orders brought her back to what was happening so she rushed for the armory, nothing stopping her now. She had the jitters already thanks to her brush with death so putting on the belt took one extra try. No time for knee and elbow pads, but she remembered her pistols.
Turning she found just outside the door Scourge was grappling with one of those new invisible bots. Not wanting a repeat of his last encounter Fiona took quick aim and shot through the skull destroying it. Scourge wasted no time and rushed in grabbing his own belt and shotgun.
His speed got him back to Fionas side before she even left the doorway.
"I've only seen Shadow" she yelled to him as he loaded two shells.
"I still hear fighting so he must be out there" he gritted his teeth entering the dust storm again glasses on properly to help with avoiding dust getting in his eyes.
The fox followed at a slower pace trying to identify targets. Her perception paid off as another green glow sent a figure through the dust near her. She dodged narrowly avoiding the eggbot that he been utterly crushed by the impact.
Her blood was pumping and her mind was finally catching up now and saw a fatter figure in the dust and swiftly took aim aiming for the weak spot in between the neck and head scoring a killing shot.
She realized she'd only seen Shadow and Scourge so far but Blaze, Silver, Nicole and Tails were unaccounted for. That scared her, more than half the team she hadn't heard from so far. She got an idea and slowly made her way to the control room, the screens lights eventually showing through the dust so she ran inside.
"Rosemary, where is everyone"
Female voice quickly replied "Tails just left the workshop and is making his way to the armory for his gear, Silver and Blaze were in the kitchen when it began. They are still in there, it seems Blaze wants to defend Silver in his state. Nicole was plugged so she is safe"
Fiona turned and found the lynx already materializing.
"Shadow and Scourge are still fighting, but we're being overwhelmed" Rosemary continued.
"What the hell happened, I thought we had radar?"
"I don't know, there was nothing on the radar until the first rumble, only a few signals for a few seconds. After the second explosion a troop carrier entered radar range, by the third explosion that broke the ceiling it was on top of us and deploying it's eggbots"
Fiona growled "he knew exactly where we were, but how?"
Nicole spoke up "Perhaps we did not lose the Metal Sonic as we had hoped and simply followed us until we revealed our position when we went inside"
"Then how'd they sneak up on us?"
"Those new robots might have anti radar armor"
That was all Fiona needed to hear, they were no officially screwed.
Rosemary suddenly screamed "Behind you!"
Fiona turned narrowly dodging a bullet and returned fire straight into the optic of the eggbot. It feel backwards destroyed by the shot.
"Thanks, tell Blaze and Silver we're all ok so far, I'm gonna meet Tails. Nicole close this door behind me and monitor us, use your holograms to distract the bots if you can" Fiona turned and left and heard the door slide and lock behind her.
She gunned down two more eggbots and noticed the dust slowly thinning out, that would be a blessing and disadvantage.
She ran back into the armory and came face to face with the barrel of a gun and gasped.
"Fiona!?"
She felt someone tug on her arm back into the room and get her away from the door.
"You ok?"
She saw it was Tails now suited up hiding next to the door with her "Ya I'm fine, you?"
"Me too, seen anyone else?" doing a quick weapon check.
"Shadow and Scourge are out there fighting, Silver and Blaze are holed up in the kitchen, Nicole is with Rosemary, she says we're going to be overrun"
Tails' eyes went wide "It's that bad?" he was asking himself more than her.
"Yes, and we need to leave, we have a troop carrier right over out heads and they have explosives that could cave in the ceiling on us at any second!" Saying it out loud really made Fiona realize this was a hopeless fight and getting away was in their best interest.
"But-"
"No, we need to leave right now! You have an escape plan!?" Fiona had to grab Tails' face to make him pay attention.
He froze for half a second, something was making him worried, no doubt losing his home was one of them.
"I… yes, we need to get to the garage, with Silver not in fighting condition he won't be able to carry you or himself out of here so you don't fall behind the rest of us. We'll need a car" he explained.
"Ok, round everyone up, we'll meet in there" Fiona nodded but as she went to leave Tails grabbed her arm.
"I need to get some stuff from the workshop, don't wait for me" he ordered turning invisible and leaving before her.
She frantically followed heading to the kitchen first. She gunned down five more eggbots on her way and dodged three other eggbots that had encountered one of the two hedgehogs, and one grenade she barely saw tossed her way in the clearing dust.
As she neared she saw fire fly through the air and was happy to know Blaze was still up. To avoid being stopped by her she slid through the doorway, a fireball sailed above where she would have been had she not slid.
"I'm sorry I-"
Fiona cut off the cat getting to the side of the door for cover "No worries, we need to leave, Tails has a plan, get to the garage, we're taking a car out of here"
Silver groaned walking over to the two females "Then we better go now"
"Silver if-"
Once again Fiona cut her off "They are dropping troops in, the longer we wait the more there will be"
She nodded completely for the plan hearing that as she too realized this was a hopeless fight.
The trio moved out at a slow pace due to Silver having to keep it slow or risk collapsing. He managed a limping jog only because he didn't want them to get hurt because of him.
Before reaching the door the duo had taken down nine new eggbots together, Silver had blocked one attack that headed in their direction although he wasn't gonna be able to do that again for a little bit.
Once they reached the door they opened it and saw a tunnel leading down a hall presumably to the garage.
"I need to get everyone else, keep Silver safe" Fiona ordered closing the door at the two went inside and down the hall.
In moment she found Shadow brawling with a stealth bot , this one seemed to have forced him to slow down and fight it, which was bad. Luckily for him just as the bot parried a blow and gained the advantage a gunshot took its head out.
The ebony hedgehog turned to face the new figure but paused seeing Fiona had saved her "Thanks" he was about to blast off again when she stopped him.
"No, get to the garage, this is a losing fight!" it was getting louder as the dust had nearly settled and with twitchy trigger fired past Shadows shoulder taking out a silhouette out in the dust.
With that shot taken Fiona said "Find, Scourge! Once this dust settles we'll be open targets, I'm after Tails"
They split up through the mayhem, the settling dust only giving them more of a disadvantage as their foes gained. Their escape had to happen right now or suffer.
She knew where the fox was and ran to the workshop door, turning for a quick look to see if she'd been followed. She opened the door and a sudden weight was thrown into her followed by a growl as they landed.
She recovered quickly and saw Tails had been what hit her; he had a black eye and a scratch along his cheek. His glare went back to the door growling at his attacker.
He must have lost his gun or he'd have blown away the bot as it came into the doorway. Luckily for them both Fiona was still armed and in one swift motion fired three shots in a panic. The first two failed to be lethal, third wasn't lethal either but gave them an advantage. The shot hit the knee joint causing it to stagger, just long enough for Tails to lunge forward powered by his tails and grab onto the enemy. His shock gauntlets shocked it and finished it off.
He didn't take time to thank her and ran back inside still wanting what he needed. Fiona followed looking behind her, the dust was nearly gone now. She could see almost everything as atleast silhouettes. To say there was a lot was an understatement, how she managed to get through them all unnoticed was a miracle.
Inside Tails had a back pack half zipped up and filled with stuff, she truly hoped it was important to risk escaping faster.
He swung the bag into his back and grabbed his morph gun, which was on the ground and took one last moment to look around. Maybe to mourn, or to have one last clear picture of the room for his memory. Whatever it was quick and he bolted out of the room Fiona fast on his heels.
In not time they made it to the door just as the dust finally settled. None of the bots saw them, what a miracle that was. They faced a double barrel shotgun as they closed the door.
"It's us" Fiona instinctively gasped.
"Ya I see that" he panted, he had a cut on his eyebrow and a few lumps where he took a few strikes. He was all around still fight worthy and managed to still keep his glasses intact.
Behind was Shadow, he looked fine besides the dust in his fur.
"Alright now we leave" Shadow said heading towards the door down the hall.
"Wait!" everyone was surprised to hearing the command come from Scourge "Where's Nicole?"
Fiona gasped having forgot about her "I left her in the control room to help us, that must have been why he luck had been so good and why so many bullets kept flying despite being so few targets. Nicole using her holograms.
Scourge pushed past the two foxes "I'll get her"
"That's insane, it's overrun and tey don't know where we went yet" Tails grabbed his arm but was swiftly shoved into the wall.
"Don't wait for me"
With that he disappeared back into the fray and shooting could be heard already.
Shadow and Tails continued down the hall but Fiona still felt terrible for forgetting the lynx. So much so she didn't even worry about the fact Scourge went back to, maybe, save her.
She'd have gone to help but knew she was helpless to those numbers and followed the males.
Reaching the door it opened and they were met with an angry cat ready to kill. Since she saw fur and not metal she lowered her flame covered palm and sighed "You made it. What of Scourge and Nicole?"
Shadow was first to answer "He went back for her, he said not to wait too long for them"
While he made his brief explanation Fiona watched the door incase the eggbots learned where they went and Tails prepped a nearby vehicle.
It was, or had been a modern vehicle from two years ago. A lot of it had been stripped for spare parts or materials. The entire paneling was gone except to cover vital stuff like the engine or gas tank. The frame still stood and it had four seats.
"I meant to add more armor but forgot about it" Tails briefly explained running to a nearby hose that he then attached it to the back left side. After that he took a few spare tanks that had been filled ahead of time. He placed as many as he could into a rack on the back that looked specifically designed to carry them in the back and locked it to keep them safe.
"This shouldn't take long" Tails explained now running to a computer.
"Ok mom time to get you out" he mumbled.
"Tails? What are you doing?" his mothers voice filled their ears sounding worried.
"Downloading you so I can get you out of here of course" his voice sounded worried and unsure, but his actions gave no hint of hesitance.
"Tails you can't do that" his mothers voice became stern.
"Course I can, just need a bit and you'll be ok"
"Honey we don't have days!"
Everyone looked to the two tailed fox hearing that but Fiona spoke first "Days?"
Rosemary sighed impatiently, she wanted nothing more than to see them getting out of here.
"An AI like myself is huge, I run off my own power and have my own separate computer system. To download me fully it would take days, maybe over a week. But that doesn't matter anyway, I wasn't designed to leave this place remember?" she hoped that would stop her son.
"No, you know I've been working on a update to you so I can move you around"
"That is in such early stages it fits in one folder. Please Tails just go you know what must be done" her voice became hysterical and if she had a face she'd be crying.
"No I can save you, I need to!" Tails grit his teeth everything that was happening was clouding his judgment.
"Please stop, there's no time, everyone needs to leave now before it's too late, as do you" her crying voice telling them all she just wanted her son to survive.
"Please mom let me try- what?" Tails tapped at keys but was getting no more responses.
"I've locked you out" her voice was just barely stern again "Please take him, the eggbots have learned where you've gone, tey'll be here any moment"
"No you can't lock me out" two pairs of hands grabbed his shoulders and arms pulling him away "No, Stop! Let go of me, I have to save her!" Now the fox was crying being torn away from the computer towards the vehicle.
The fox desperately tried to pry himself from the hands but he had little control in his anger grief and desperation.
"You bastards let me go, you can't abandon her!"
"She said there is no way, she's telling us to leave and they are almost on top of us!" Shadow growled.
"She's my mom! You wouldn't understand" he spat teeth showing at he growled.
"I am sorry Tails" Blaze grunted as they neared the car.
"No you aren't, she isn't your mom, you just think she's a computer!"
"No we don't, she is your mom, but she knows it's either her or all of us. She loves you and wants you to live" Blaze tried to speak softly and calmly while trying to get him back as fast as possible. He was very strong for how small he looked.
His tears overwhelmed him "I can't lose her again" now choking on his words.
Fiona hard footsteps down the hallway they'd come from and jumped in to help. She got in his vision blocking him from seeing the computer "Please Tails think, you can't ask us to all die. Rosemary looked after us and now she is asking one request and that's to get out of here while we still can, especially you"
He stared into her eyes pleading for him to stop, he knew what he wanted to wrong, but he couldn't handle losing his mom again. He went through so much effort to bring her back from the dead in the form of an AI but now she'd be gone forever, all the tools he used to make her were in this base.
Her eyes calmed him long enough to finally think, and she was right. Asking for them all to die for an impossible task was beyond selfish. He finally stopped struggling and was forced into the vehicles back seat. Next to him was Silver who had gotten in during the whole ordeal.
Rosemary sighed in relief "Thank you, now please go, it's almost time" her voice wavered like she were frightened.
"Time for what?" Silver asked as Fiona took the driver seat and Blaze got in shotgun.
The door ahead of them lifted up revealing a long tunnel ahead, which eventually sloped up where another door was opening to the outside world.
Shadow ran forward as Fiona slammed the gas pedal. The door they had come from exploded open revealing eggbots who had been just a tad too late to stop their prey.
Tails sadly muttered "Time for her to go"
As the car screamed forward they could all hear Rosemary's faint voice say "I love you"
Shadow escaped first closely followed by the vehicle getting some air from the incline.
All went silently as the ground shook then a shock wave came from behind them bring a loud explosion.
Fiona fought to keep control of the car. Ahead of her Shadow visually lost balance for a moment from the shaking, his rocket skates kept him sliding along until he got his balance back.
Fiona looked in the rear view mirror and her jaw dropped. A giant mushroom cloud rose into the air behind them. The troop transport that had been dropping all the eggbots had been blown to pieces that had been shot into the air and were just now starting to fall back to the earth.
It was obvious what had happened, nothing survived.
She shifted the mirror so she could see Tails. He wasn't angry anymore, all she could see was him silently crying and his eyes showing a man who had just lost everything. She couldn't bare to look at him long and re-shifted the mirror back into its original position.
The mushroom had completed and was dispersing but it made her remember something else, Scourge and Nicole. He hadn't come back with her. That meant only one thing…
"Don't go thinking we're dead yet!" a familiar voice came from her left. Her head snapped in that direction and smiled seeing Scourge running next to the car. He looked bad bruised, battered and what looked like a near miss from a bullet had made a new tears in his jacket arm, a small stream of blood streamed out of the cut.
None of that mattered as he was carrying Nicole bridal style as he ran and her PDA safely clutched in her hands.
"You made it!" Fiona yelled, atleast there was some good news.
"You should know me by now, I'm hard to kill" he smirked, it reminded her of a certain blue hedgehog.
Scourge then looked to Nicole and smiled to her as well as the lynx wrapped her arms around his neck. Fiona couldn't tell if it was a hug or so she wouldn't fall.
Sadly looking in the mirror reminded her of the tradegy that had happened and how screwed they were now. They had no base, no home, no gear but what they had on their back and this car. Essentially nothing considering they meant to take down the ruler of the planet.
For now all they could do was run, figuring out where to go could wait until tomorrow.
I told you this would interesting. Finally I'm where I want to be. This was a big part I wanted to get to and the last two chapters before were this deserted har part where I was having a hard time bridging it all together. Now that I'm here I got a good plan for more. Hope you guys liked this nice long action filled chapter. Let me know what you think is gonna happen next.
And if there's mistakes well refer to my older excuses, work is still a bitch.
Oh and HAPPY VICTORIA DAY CANADIANS! And Have a Memorable memorial day to you americans(that's like on Monday I believe)
Live long and prosper
Admiralkirk