Rise of the Grandmasters Saga Episode 7: Reigning Cats and Dogs Part 2

Not long ago, things are not looking very good for Sonic, Eve, and the team right now. Sally has been captured by two new branches of the Dark Egg Legion, and Maria has to escape to find help. As of now, Sonic, Eve, and Jazz are caught in a war between the Wolf Pack Nation and the Felidae Warrior Nation.

"I'd say we're… caught between a rock and hard place…" Sonic comments.

"More than you think Sonic," Eve replies.

"But that sounds too comfortable," Sonic says.

Then quickly turns to Lupe, "Lupe! What's the big idea?!"

"Ah. Sonic! Eve! I'm happy to see you both are all right," Lupe says, relieved.

"We were until you brought the entire Wolf Pack Army here! What gives?!" Eve exclaims.

"Chao Chao!" Jazz replies.

"Yeah. Didn't Sally say we'd handle this for you?" Sonic questions, pointing his thumb to the felines.

"She did. But you all have been gone for so long, I feared the worst. We came to help," Lupe answers.

Then asks, "Where are Sally and Mara?"

"She's investigating another lead from Maria, but we dunno where," Sonic answers.

"And we haven't heard from them either," Eve adds.

"Chao Chao," Jazz replies with a nod.

"Then we can assume she's safe…" Lupe says.

Then raises her spear and says, "And reclaim the Onyx while we're here!"

This shocked Sonic, Eve, and Jazz.

"No no no!" Sonic panics

Hearing that statement makes Queen Hathor angry and glares at Big, "So you were decoys all along! The three of you were spies for the wretched wolves!"

"We were?" Big asks, with a clueless expression.

Sonic facepalms his forehead with a groan.

The Felidae pushes Big aside and says, "Drop your pretense mongrel! You have the Onyx! You have the Ancient Onyx! You will return it to us!"

Lupe then approaches the Queen Hathor, "Return the sacred artifact, and no one has to be hurt today."

Eve groans and turns to the other wolves and felines, "Can someone please talk some sense into your leaders before things get too complicated for us to handle?"

Soon the two leaders interact with each other, but end up having a confrontation.

Lupe angrily says, "We have taken nothing from you that is not rightfully ours!"

"You cannot reclaim lands your forefathers abandoned hundreds of years ago!" Queen Hathor angrily says.

Then Lupe angrily says, "And you cannot claim domination of land you do not occupy, use, or need."

"It is not your position to tell us how to conduct ourselves!" Queen Hathor remarks.

Sonic, Eve, Jazz, Big and Froggy simply stand there as the two leaders are having an aggressive confrontation that could lead to trouble.

Eve mutters, "This is going to be a long day."

"I really wish Sally was here to defuse this," Sonic says, pointing his thumb at the two leaders.

"Should I go look for her for you?" Big asks.

"That'd be a 'Big' help. No pun intended," Sonic says.

Meanwhile, back in the ancient ruins, Sally is neither the Prisoner of the Dark Egg Legion with RazorKlaw and Drago keeping an eye on her. Sally is tied to a pillar where the Black Onyx is.

Drago walks around the pillar and says to Sally in remark, "Well-well-well. The oh-so-high-and-mighty Princess Sally at my mercy, and with no precious Freedom Fighters to rescue her."

Then turns to Sally with an evil smile, "How's it feel to be outsmarted by Dr. Eggman's best and brightest Grandmaster?"

"Oh, please. You couldn't find your own tail without… Sally retaliates, but then remembers the position she's in.

She rolls her eyes and says, "... Oh never mind. What's the point in taunting such a brilliant tactician?"

"Hahaha! That's what I'm talking about!" Drago says with pride.

"But, gee, I thought the Dark Egg Legion was just Echidnas," Sally adds in remark.

Irritated, Drago says, "Think again, toots. Dr. Eggman's been 'legionizing' folks for a while now. He just started making everyone go by that name when he got the dreadheads. I guess it makes him happy, or whatever."

"Oh, poo! I sure wish I knew what 'legionizing' meant," Sally says, not having a clue. But in reality, she's trying to get information out of Drago.

Drago growls in anger, "What are you… dense? Since he can't roboticize folks anymore, he gives them cybernetics instead. That's what the old Dark Legion used to do, so he calls it 'legionizing' seriously, keep up!"

Then turns to Drago as he points his thumb towards Sally, "Can you believe she's supposed to be the brains of the group."

Seeing the plan working, Sally asks, "Since you know so much, can you tell me who your friend is… and how you get your shiny new arms?"

"Lady, as you should know by now, I know everything," Drago says in a remark.

RazorKlaw then facepalms his forehead with his robotic claw.

Then Drago explains, "RazorKlaw used to be a big-shot Felidae Warrior. Then he got into a fight with some guy named Locke and got his butt whupped. He was disgraced and exiled and all that jazz, so he hooked up with others who got jerked around by the system when the Doc came to town, they were ready to join him."

He then grins and says, "Me? I got tired of carrying all the weight in the Destructix, so I went back to the Doc for a quick promotion. We've had our rough patches, but the Doc knows a good weal when he sees it."

"Sure," Sallys says, displeased.

Then says, "How could he pass up someone who betrayed his pack, his heritage, the Freedom Fighters, and just about everyone else? You're just as scummy as Eggman."

Drago glares at Sally as he growls in anger, "Hey! I look out for myself, and that's why I'm where I am today!"

"As just another lackey!" Sally sternly says in remark.

"I meant that in a good way!" Drago says in anger.

"I know. Show me how smart you are," Sally adds.

"Oh, I'm pretty smart!" Drago says, then points to the Onyx, "It was my idea to take the gem everyone's so ga-ga over, and pit the two groups against each other."

"Ahem," RazorKlaw firmly says.

Drago turns to RazorKlaw, "Oh right…" Then turns away ,"RazorKlaw helped. A little. But I'm the brains behind this outfit."

He then walks to Sally and points his robotic claw towards her, "But now that you're here, we need to decide what to do with you. Do we set up as the mastermind of the whole scheme… or do we bump you off and bring New Mobotropolis for a nice three-way war?"

Sally is stunned to hear what Drago says. Either Drago will try to pin this on her, or they get New Mobotropolis involved in a war.

Sally narrows her eyes in anger and says, "You forgot about Maria."

"That little yellow hedgehog! Ha! What can one small little hedgehog do?" Drago says in a mocking tone.

"Don't underestimate her. She won't give up so easily," Sally says, and keep the fact that Sonic and Eve are here.

Meanwhile, Maria is traveling through the forest to find the Felidae Warrior's Tribe. She runs as fast as she can as she climbs over stumps, rushes through or around bushes, and runs on the stones over a river. After some time of running Mara stops to take a few breaths.

She says in exhaustion, "I've been running for a while now, and…"

Then looks around the jungle-like area, "And I don't really know where I'm going. I don't even know if I'm traveling in the right direction or not."

Maria begins to feel rather discouraged of herself, "I wish I could have helped Sally. Then she wouldn't have been captured by them."

Maria shakes her head and says, "No. I can't give into the pressure and feel bad about it. Sally is counting on me to find Sonic and Eve and tell them what's happening. I have to find the village before something happens."

She then begins to hurry through the jungle to find the village and to find where Sonic and Eve are. Soon enough, she turns her head to the right to see what looks like a building up ahead. She smiles and believes she may have found where Sonic and Eve are. She then hurries on her feet to reach her friends in time.

At the Felidae Warrior's village, Sonic and Eve are thinking the best they could about the situation. Sonic is practically walking around in circles. At the same time, Big is keeping the two leaders separated from each other.

"Think, man think! What are we missing here? What did Sally see and go after that you missed?" Sonic says to himself.

"And the unprovoked attacks upon my people!" Queen Hathor adds.

This ends up provoking Lupe, "Unprovoked?! When we first resettled here, your warriors threw spears before any words here…" but is cut off when Big continues to block her.

Lupe grits her teeth in anger and says, "Look. Friends of Sonic and Eve or not… MOVE!"

"Sorry. Sonic and Eve said to stand between you like this," Big says.

Lupe glares at the Felidae queen and says, "You savages abducted my children!"

"And you took my warriors captive!" Queen Hathor retaliates.

That's when Sonic realizes, "That's it! One for one, eye for an eye… That's the angle!"

Sonic then turns to Eve, "Hey sis, you thinking what I'm thinking."

"I think I'm starting to get what you mean," Eve says.

Then turns to Big, "Okay Big, you can step side now."

"Okay," Big says, then walks away.

With that, Sonic and Eve decide to take things over.

Eve turns to Queen Hathor and asks, "Queen Hathor, is there any place neither you nor the wolves would ever go around here?"

"The wretched Echidna ruins, I suppose. They are taboo, and we will not permit the mongrels to pass through it…" Queen Hathor answers.

"Sounds super," Sonic says.

Then turns to Lupe, "Lupe! Did you guys run into any of Eggman's robots while settling here?"

"Some. But those we didn't destroy were chased into the pais misterioso and dealt with by the Felidae," Lupe answers.

Eve says, "I think we know what's going on."

"Yeah. This has Eggman written all over it," Sonic says.

"Are you saying that Dr. Eggman is here?" Lupe asks, shocked.

"Maybe. However, I'm more worried if Eggman or another Dark Egg Legion has been created here, then Sally and Maria might be…" Eve says.

Suddenly, they hear someone call out, "Eve! Sonic!"

Sonic, Eve, and everyone else turn to see Maria hurrying towards them in a panic.

"Maria?!" Eve asks, surprised.

Eve rushes to Maria, and the young yellow hedgehog rushes and hugs the black and red color hedgehog.

"Maria, what happened?" Eve asks.

Maria takes deep breaths to calm herself down, "There… There's a Dark Egg Legion at the Echidna ruins. And that wolf Drago is their Grandmaster. He and a Felidae called RazorKlaw have captured Sally. I tried to find you but… um…"

"It's okay Maria, you did your best. And you did a great job coming to us and being able to find the last piece of the puzzle," Eve says.

"I did," Maria says, confused.

"Yeah. You just gave us enough evidence to prove that the Dark Egg Legion were the ones who stole the Black Onyx, and now we can be sure that's where they're hiding," Sonic says.

"What is this Dark Egg Legion you speak of? Furthermore, did you mention RazorKlaw?" Queen Hathor asks.

Maria slowly nods her head in reply, leaving the Felidae queen shocked.

Sonic turns to the Felidae queen and asks, "You know him?"

"Yes. He was a fierce Felidae Warrior and was one of the strongest one, but years ago when he was defeated by an Echidna named Locke, he was exiled. Along with some that were exiled by our system," Queen Hathor answers.

"He and the other exiled probably meet up with Drago and join the Legion," Eve says.

"And it could spell trouble. It's best we get there fast. Now… which way to those ruins?" Sonic says.

Back in the ancient Echidna ruins, Sally is still Drago's hostage and glass at the white wolf as he taunts her.

The wolf maniacally laughs and says, "So which will it be? Scapegoat? Martyr? Disgraced? Deceased? Oh I just can't decide! Ha ha ha ha!"

"Then I decide for you," RazorKlaw says, approaching Sally and showing his sharp robotic claws.

But Drago prevents it, "No, you idiot! You've got to toy with them and break their will first! You're terrible at this villain thing."

Before the argument can continue, they hear loud howling sounds. Hearing the howling leaves the two Legionnaires at a dismay while Sally is relieved. The two rush towards the window to see what's going on.

Drago says in shock, "No way! That sounds like…!

To the Legionnaires' sudden surprise, the Wolf Pack and the Felidae Warriors charge into the ruins together and attack the Legionnaires.

RazorKlaw growls in anger, "While you delayed, she signaled them somehow!"

"No, it was them!" Drago says, pointing to the crowd.

The ones he is pointing to are Sonic and Eve, with Lupe, and Queen Hathor.

"'Dark Egg Legion' you say?" Lupe questions.

"Yeah. Cyborg jerks spiced up with a side of treachery," Sonic explains.

"Treachery…?" Lupe asks, firmly.

"You're about to watch and find out," Eve says.

Soon enough, Canus manages to capture one of the Legionnaires with Lyco having her sword in case he fights back.

"Hold him, Canus!" Lyco says, and removes his hood.

To her shock, she sees a gray wolf with a cybernetic eye, "You! But why?"

"Heh. You shouldn't have dumped me, Leeta!" The gray wolf says.

Lyco firmly says, "I'm Lyco."

"And you shouldn't have tried to two-time twins," Leeta adds.

Seeing the display made Lupe shocked, but also disappointed, "There were many unaccounted for after we had settled. Even after defeating his robots, some had gone missing. I had blamed the doctor or the Felidae, but…"

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Lupe," Sonic says.

"Amusing as it is to have the wolves proven treacherous, it does not justify bringing them to these cursed grounds," Queen Hathor says.

Eve turns to the Felidae queen, "Sorry to bring more bad news your majesty, but you have to see this as well."

Eve and Sonic then use their speed to remove the hives of some of the Legionnaires. Manye of the Legionnaires other than the Wolves are also Feliade as well. Then the hedgehogs return to the queen.

"So explain this to us… in your culture, what you wear makes you who you are, right? Who what does those robes make them?" Sonic says.

"Including them deciding to wear those cybernetic upgrades," Eve says.

Seeing the fellow Felidae wearing cybernetics upgrades and robes, she has to accept what the Hedgehogs state.

Then Queen Hathor shouts in rage, "It makes them the vilest of traitors! Warriors! Show them no mercy!"

Hearing the commands of their queen the Felidae Warriors are not going easy on the Legionnaires. Seeing that the plan isn't going well, Drago and RazorKlaw know they have to turn the tables on this.

Drago turns to RazorKlaw, "Okay, new plan… we kill her like you said."

Drago turns and to his shock, he sees Big the Cat, Froggy, and Maria."

Big happily says, "Yay! We found the princess and the gem!"

"Sally, are you okay?" Maria asks, concerned.

"I'm okay. You did a great job, Maria," Sally says.

"Thank you, but Sonic and Eve really did the hard work. We need to get you and the gem out of here," Maria says.

Just then, Drago begins to pounce towards them as he shouts, "Get away from there, you!"

Maria screams in fright.

But Sally acts fast, "BIG! HIT HIM!"

"Okay," Big answers, and throws a hard punch at Drago.

Drago crashes through the stone wall, making a hole and lands on the grounds of the ruins.

Big asks, "Too hard?"

RazorKlaw then charges towards Big, "Freak! I will have your hide!"

"Um… no?" Big says, and grabs his robotic claws.

Just then, two spin dashes: Blue, Black, and Red charge at RazorClaw.

Sonic's voice says, "Back off, fuzzy!"

Then the two hedgehogs land on the ground.

"These guys are with us!" Eve adds.

"Sonic! Eve! There you are!" Sally says, glad to see her friends.

"Yay!" Big says, then kneels down to break the ropes tying Sally to the pillar.

"It's thanks to Maria that we were able to confirm where you went," Eve says.

Once she's free, Sonic helps her up and says, "Next time you make a brilliant deduction, clue us in. It took us a while to put the pieces together."

"But you did… and you brought the Wolf Pack Nation… and the Felidae together… for timely rescue," Sally says, amazed and surprised.

The two hold each other's hands and look at each other with smiles on their faces.

"Thanks for saving the day again," Sally says.

"We're not done just yet… but you're welcome," Sonic says, getting a little bashful.

Just then, Froggy hops to them and calls out, "Ribbit!"

"I helped!" Big happily says.

"That you did, Big. Thank you very much," Sally happily says.

"Yay," Big says.

Eve then ruffles Maria's hair, "And you helped out too, Maria."

"I don't know about that," Maria says, embarrassed.

"Don't be so modest," Sonic says.

The group continues talking to one another, but unaware that RazorKlaw is able to regain his balance as he presses a button on the control panel. Meanwhile, two of the Legionnaires are helping Drago back on his feat.

"Grandmaster Drago!" One Wolf Legionnaire shouts in concern.

A Felidae Legionnaire then says in concern, "We're in trouble. Grandmaster! What do we do?"

Before Drago answers, there is loud beeping with flickering green lights coming from their cybernetic.

Drago becomes frustrated, "Ergh! Strategic retreat. Fall back to the secret bunker!"

"Good idea, sir," One Legionnaire answers.

Then another says, "I'm glad he's in charge!"

Soon enough, the Legionnaire beginning to retreat.

Seeing them, Lobo calls out, "After them."

But one of the wolves prevented it, "Wait, Lobo!"

"Have you lost your mind, Reynard? Why not?!" Lobo asks, angrily.

Reynard answers, "Because the Grand Chief says so."

Soon, the Wolf Pack joins Lupe who is with Queen Hathor.

Lobo walks towards her and asks, "The Dark Egg Legion has been routed… but not defeated. Why do you make us let them go?"

"We came with a small strike force, Lobo. We aren't prepared for war. We have broken their hold on this place and struck fear into their hearts. That is enough for today," Lupe says.

Queen Hathor and the Felidae approach the wolves.

"Likewise. But you are in the heart of our territory, perhaps there is still a battle to be fought," Queen Hathor says.

"No, there's been more than enough violence today," Sally says.

She walks over with Sonic, Eve and Jazz, Maria, Big and Froggy.

Then presents the Black Onyx, "This is what you're all here for anyway, isn't it?"

"The Ancient Onyx!" The Two leaders say, surprised.

"This gem is more than your ancestral relic. It is a symbol of precisely what's happened today," Sally announces.

Seeing how this is going, Sonic whispers to Big and Mara, "Watch this. She's good at this sort of thing."

"What's happening?" Maria asks.

"It will be best to listen and you'll see," Eve says.

Maria and Jazz nod their heads in reply.

Sally continues, "With this one artifact, your two nations were nearly pitched into war. You would've been destroying each other while your real enemy waited in the shadows to attack when you were both weak. Your enemy saw the division between you and capitalized on it. They came together and became stronger than either of your nations could hope to be alone. But here today, you choose to come together yourselves. By setting aside your differences, you became the mightiest power and not only stopped the Legion, but the ambitions of the Eggman Empire."

The two tribes, the Wolf Pack Nation and the Felidae Warriors, listen to sally.

Then Sally says, "Here what purpose… let the gem continue to rest here, out of both your reach. The Felidae will let it rest since this land is Taboo, and the Wolf Pack Nation can retrieve it for either group with super vision. Let it be shared, and when not in use, held by no one at all."

Soon, the two rulers of the nation turn to each other.

Lupe says, "Too much has passed between our people in too short a time to reconcile it all with one gesture."

Agree," Queen Hathor says.

Then the both shake hands, as Queen Hathor adds, "But it is a start."

"It is, at that," Lupe replies.

"And that's how it's done," Sonic says.

"Wow," Big says, amazed.

"Ribbit," Froggy replies.

"Go Sally," Eve says.

Maria and Jazz smile in reply.

Later in the night, the ceremony of the group being honorary of the Pack takes place. As Chief, Lupe honors them with their feather accessories on them.

As it was done generations ago…" Lupe says, placing the clip on Sally's hair, "We induct those who have shown themselves to be brave, selfless, and truly belonging among our people."

Then says, "Tonight we welcome, Sonic, Eve, Sally, Maria…" Then turns to Big, "And Big into the Wolf Pack Nation, equal brothers and sisters all."

Lupe then places her hand on the Onyx, "With the blessing of the Ancient Onyx, we raise our voices to the stars, so that the brothers and sisters who have left this world…"

Soon, Sonic, Eve, and the others, place their hands on the emerald as Lupe continues, "Know that there are five more among us!"

Soon, the wolves howl to the night sky as it can be heard across the nation.

Eve feels something odd about the rock and whispers to Sonic, "Sonic… that looks like a Chaos Emerald and given how important it's supposed to be…"

"Yeah, but there's only seven emeralds now. We know Chaos Emeralds," Sonic whispers.

Sally whispers, "You both can feel their power. I don't feel it here."

"I don't know what that thing is…" Eve says.

Then Sonic says, "But it's not a Chaos Emerald…"

Meanwhile, in New Mobotropolis, Rotor, Sonia, Tails, and Antoine help with some paperwork.

"Which means Article R now contradicts Article D," Sonia says.

"Where?" Rotor asks.

"Subsection B, paragraph five," Antoine says.

Rotor groans, "Oh for pity's sake. Can't we just overthrow ourselves and leave this to Elias or King Acorn?"

"No. Besides… we did agree to help since we aren't doing any Freedom Fighter Assignments," Sonia says.

"And you're good at putting things back together, Rotor," Antoine adds.

Rotor rubs his eyes and says, "Machines, sure. I could build a vehicle out of spare parts, but revisiting the country's constitution is a nightmare. When I agreed to help, I didn't think it could hurt my eyes this much."

"Well ze sooner with help finish with ze papers, the sooner we'll be able to return to our homes," Antoine says.

Suddenly, they hear someone shout, "Rotor!"

They turn their heads to see Galaxina in a panic state.

"Hey Galaxina, didn't expect to see you here," Tails says.

"Yes. It's good to see you, but we just got word from the Arctic Freedom Fighters!" Galxina says.

"Did something happen?" Sonia asks.

Galaxina turns to Rotor, "It's your Herd, Rotor! The Dark Egg Legion has them!"

This shocked the Freedom Fighters, especially Rotor. Something is happening at the Northern Tundra, and Rotor's herd has been captured by another Dark Egg Legion Chapter.