Just as a heads up, the *FLASH* that will appear later in this chapter means that the story is going from the present, back into the past, and back again when another *FLASH* happens. It'll be a little confusing…so just bare with me please.

*Mystic Ruins: Ace's Workshop: Third Person POV*

Ace rolled around in his bed, grunting and snoring in his sleep as Ginger hovered over him. "Rise and shine sleepyhead!" Ginger yells as she pushes Ace off his bed, causing him to scream in surprise. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" Ace yells as he jumps up off the floor, looking around wildly until he sees Ginger laughing her ass off. "What did you do that for?! I was having a good dream…" Ace mopes as Ginger wipes a few tears from her eyes and her laughs turn into chuckles, and then disappear entirely. "Sorry, but from the way you were snoring I didn't think you'd wake up easily." Ginger says smiling at Ace, causing the panther to just roll his eyes. She was right of course, a herd of elephants could trample his entire workshop and he wouldn't notice unless one of them stepped on him.

"Well, get dressed! We're going out!" Ginger says raising an arm for good measure. Ace just stares at her, "What part of national criminal do you not understand?" Ace says looking at Ginger like she's an idiot. "Dummy! I never said we were going into town! We're going on a picnic!" Ginger responds, wagging a finger at Ace while she does. Ace just slumps, "…That actually was pretty stupid of me to jump to conclusions…" Ace thinks as Ginger walks out of the room. The panther sighs before he starts to gather his clothes from around the room and get dressed, preparing for this, 'day out'.

*Chuck's Workshop*

The fox had been taking a shower when he heard the phone ring, causing him to sigh in annoyance. He quickly finished and stepped out of the shower, grabbing a nearby towel and wrapping it around himself as he walked down the hallway. It was a little cold, but nothing he wasn't used to. He dried his hands and picked up the phone, "Who is it?" Chuck asked, sounding a little irritated. "Someone sounds a little grumpy." Ginger replies from the other side of the phone, causing Chuck to pay a little more attention. He hadn't heard from her or Ace is a little over a month. Ace hadn't been answering his phone calls, and while he thought about visiting them, something always came up when he tried. "So, to what do I owe the honor of receiving a call from you my lady?" Chuck says in a mock tone, causing Ginger to chuckle a little bit. "Welllll…I was wondering if you wanted to come along with Ace and me on a picnic!" Ginger says excitingly, which causes Chuck to raise an eyebrow. "A picnic? Since when does Ace go on picnics?" Chuck thinks are he shakes it off. "Um…sure…I'll be there in about half an hour, okay?" Chuck says, causing Ginger to squeal quietly in excitement. "Oh thank you Chuck! Alright, see you then, bye!" And with that Ginger hangs up the phone, leaving Chuck with the empty beeeeeeeeeeep sound that the phone started to make.

*Ace's Workshop: Around half an hour later*

Ginger was impatiently tapping her foot outside the door to the workshop when she saw Chuck walking up to her and Ace. She huffs and storms over to him, "Your late!" She yells at Chuck, who doesn't even flinch as he looks at the watch on his wrist. "On the contrary…I'm 2 minutes early." He responds, causing Ginger to be dumbstruck and stand there in silence. "Soooooo…Are we going now?" Ace says breaking the silence, they hadn't even started walking and he was already annoyed having to be the one to carry all of the food and the blanket. "R-right! Off we go!" Ginger says pointing in a direction and starts to walk in that direction, causing both Chuck and Ace to sigh, both regretting that they agreed to this…

*Mystic Ruins: Silver Meadow*

The group arrive around 10 minutes later, Ginger instantly running into the center of the field and falling down into the grass, taking big breaths of the air, "Its so relaxing here…" Ginger says are she rolls around in the grass. "She seems to be enjoying herself." Chuck comments as he stops to watch her. Ace just walks right past him, "She enjoys a lot of things." Ace walks into the middle of the meadow and picks up Ginger, surprising her as he tosses her onto his shoulder. "HEY! What's the big idea?!" Ginger screams as she struggles to get off his shoulder. "Sorry, but you were in the way." Ace says as he walks back over to Chuck and puts her down next to him. She crosses her arms and legs and pouts as Ace walks back into the middle of the meadow and starts to set up the picnic supplies. "Man…sometimes I wonder why I do this stu-" Ace started to think, before a large silver blasts comes out from the woods and slams into him! Sending him flying back through some of the trees. Both Chuck and Ginger are shocked as Ginger quickly rises to her feet, "Ace!" "Ugh…What just hit me?" Ace says as he stands up and looks at the person who blasted him.

In the middle of the meadow stands a silver fox with grey eyes. He has a obvious scar on his forehead, and a white flame tattoo that stretches down his entire right arm. He's wearing grey jeans and shoes that looks a lot like Sonic's, only they are white with silver stripes. "No…fucking…way…" Ace says quietly as he stares at the silver fox, who glares at him in anger. "Its been 3 years Ace…how have you been since you tossed me out into space?" The mysterious fox asks, spitting out the words like venom. "Swift…how are you still-" Ace starts, but is cut off, "Alive? I don't feel like telling you that." Swift says as he slowly draws two katana's that he has on his back. "What I feel like doing, is paying you back for what happened 3 years ago…Draw your weapons." Swift says in a deadly serious tone. "…Fine then." Ace replies, pulling out two pistols that he had brought along with him, Chuck and Ginger hadn't argued when he did, he WAS wanted after all. "So…you still carry them…Dawn." Swift says pointing at the white gun, "…and Dusk." He says pointing at the black one. "Of course I carry them…though I haven't fired them since THAT day…I just had a feeling I should bring them along today." Ace says, not having moved an inch since he drew the guns.

"Who IS this guy? It seems like he knows Ace…and Ace seems to recognize him as well." Ginger thought to herself, Chuck saying nothing at all. "Well, it seems like you've made some friends since we last met, they both know you're a mass murderer, right?" Swift asks looking at Ginger and Chuck, then back to Ace, who simply scoffs in response. "What? No comment? They don't look that surprised, so I assume they both know. Whatever, its not like I came here for idle chit chat anyway. I came to fight." Swift says readying himself. Ace just looked at him, "It has been 3 years…hasn't it?" Ace thought to himself, it'd been…so long ago.

*Flashback, 3 years ago: Space Colony ARK*

Ace bursts into the control room of the Eclipse Cannon, surprised when he sees Swift up near the control panel of the cannon, his case in his right hand. "Swift…what are you doing?" Ace asks as he slowly approaches the fox, he draws one of his katana's with his left hand and points it at Ace, causing the panther to stop in his tracks. "That's as far as you go Ace, now…" Swift starts as he clicks open the case, revealing 6 of the seven Chaos Emeralds in it, causing Ace to widen his eyes in surprise, "It all ends…" "What…but how didn't I-" Ace starts, but is cut off by Swift. "My case…it hides Chaos Energy. Nobody, not even Shadow himself could have sensed the emeralds inside this case." Swift explains as he turns to face Ace, who grits his teeth together when Swift mentions Shadow. "So…what do you plan to do Swift?" Ace asks, already having a pretty good idea. "Simple, I'm going to kill you…and take the emerald you have…Then I'll use the Eclipse Cannon, and obliterate this pathetic planet!" Swift yells in triumph as he waves his hand at the Eclipse Cannon.

Ace just scoffs to this as he draws his pistols, "I could care less about the planet other then the fact that it gives me a place to live…but killing me, is gonna be a harder task then you think it'll be." Ace says as he hangs the pistols at his sides, waiting for Swift to make the first move. The silver fox grins wickedly and drops the case, drawing his other katana before it hits the ground and charging Ace.

*FLASH*

Ace raises his weapons and begins firing at Swift, the fox deflecting the bullets off of his katana's and slicing at Ace, who dodges and jumps around firing at Swift as he dodges his slashes one by one. Swift then impales both of his katanas into the ground as he nears Ace again and dropkicks the panther in the stomach, sending him flying through the forest.

*FLASH*

Ace slams through several metal rooms, finally stopping at a room that looks like a giant test chamber. He picks himself up just in time to use his guns to block an attack from Swift, pushing the fox back and jumping into the air, firing two chaos charged bullets at him. Swift jumps to the side, but the two bullets explode when they hit the ground, sending the fox flying through a wall.

*FLASH*

Ace jumps down from the tree he's on, firing bullets at the downed Swift as he descends. Swift is nicked by the first two bullets, but then he rolls out of the way and continues to flip to avoid the bullets at Ace lands and redirects his fire. "Ha! Is that the best you've got Ace?!" Swift yells as charges Ace.

*FLASH*

"Not on your life!" Ace yells back as he throws his guns into the air and shoots a Chaos Cannon at Swift, catching the fox of guard with only enough time to guard at the energy collides against him. Swift goes crashing through multiple rooms, until he skids against the floor of a room filled with test tubes. "Hm…not exactly where I wanted to be…" Swift says as he slowly stands up. Ace sprints through the hole in the wall and swings a fist at Swift.

*FLASH*

Swift uses the back of his blade to block Ace's punch, pushing the back of the blade and flinging Ace backwards. The panther redraws his pistols and fire a storm of bullets at Swift, who weaves through the bullets and slashes at Ace, giving him a nice gash on his chest. "Kuh…Damn it!" Ace yells as he kicks Swift in the face and uses it as a springboard to create some distance between the two, causing the fox to yell and hold his face in pain. "Little bastard…I'll kill you!" Swift yells as he stabs one of his blades in the ground and fires a Chaos Torrent at Ace. Ace jumps into the air, causing the blast to take out a few trees behind Ace as the panther falls toward Swift, firing bullets at him as he does.

*FLASH*

Swift deflects each of the bullets and slices down Ace's left arm, the panther grunting in pain the whole time as the blade pierces his skin. Swift jumps past Ace, finishing the slice, which causes to panther to tumble into a pile. Ace quickly jumps back to his feet, holstering his guns and holding his left arm in pain. "Damn it…" Ace says as he looks around the room, running out and down the hallway, Swift on his heels. "What's wrong Ace?! Can take the heat?!" Swift yells at Ace as continues to flee, looking for a specific room. "Where is it…THERE!" Ace yells as he kicks down a specific door and runs into the room, Swift chasing him into the room. The room was the escape pod room.

*FLASH*

Ace jumps as Swift slices at him, Ace still holding his arm in pain. "Alright then…just a little closer…" Ace mutters to himself as Swift jumps into the air after him. Just as Swift is about to stab Ace, the panther redraws his pistol and fires a few bullets into Swifts left arm, the fox screaming in pain as he falls out of the sky as Ace flips around and lands on his feet. Ace then fires a few more bullets at Swift, who moves his head just in time to avoid them, the bullets slamming into a nearby tree trunk. Swift charges Ace yet again, swinging his remaining katana like a madman in rage. The panther easily dodges each of the slices, waiting for the perfect moment. The second that he leads him to the center of the grove, Ace shoots Swift in the foot, causing the fox to scream in pain.

*Flashback: 3 years ago…*

Ace jumps back and quickly presses a few buttons on a nearby control panel, causing one of the pods to close around Swift. The fox tries to cut the pod to pieces in anger, though his efforts prove to be futile. "Sayonara…Swift the Fox." Ace says waves at the fox as the pod descends a little, then shoots out of the space station and towards Mobius completely. Ace walks over to the window and watches the pod…then his face turns to that of surprise as the pod explodes as it nears the planet.

*End flashback*

Ace jumps back as he shoots Swift in the foot, stopping to stare at silver fox, who looks up and stares back at Ace. "Something on your mind?" Swift asks, slightly annoyed at Ace. "How…how did you survive?" Ace replies, causing Swift to scoff. "Like I'd tell you that." Swift says as he rises to his feet, waiting a second before charging Ace again. "All I know is that you tried to kill me!" Swift yells as he swings his sword down at Ace, who blocks it with his gun. He then trips Swift and slams him into the ground, holding down his right arm with his foot and pointing his gun at Swift's face.

"I didn't try to kill you that day, I didn't have the slightest idea that the pod would explode in space." Ace says while holding Swift down. "How the fuck can I trust you?" Swift responds, staring daggers at Ace. "I heard about those pods from Shadow, who had rode one down to Mobius many years ago. I thought they were safe, not explosive capsules of death." Ace replies calmly, causing Swift to grunt and turn his head away. "Do you believe me now?" Ace asks, causing Swift to look back up at him for a moment. "…Just let me get up." Swift says emotionlessly. "And how do I know that you won't try to cut my head off?" Ace asks sarcastically. "I won't, just let me up damn it." Swift says, growing slightly annoyed, which causes the panther to chuckle. "Fine, I'll let you up." Ace says as he holsters his pistol and steps back as Swift stands up and sheathes his other katana, brushing the dirt off of himself as well.

Ace and Swift both examined each other. "Wow, I really fucked you up, didn't I?" The two both say simultaneously, causing them both to laugh at the same time. "Heeeeeey!" The two both turn their heads in the direction of the voice to see Ginger and Chuck approaching through the forest. "Right, your 'friends'." Swift says with mock attitude. Ace elbows him lightly in the gut, still causing the fox to cringe, "At least I've got friends 'lone wolf'." Ace replies, waving at them with his uninjured arm. As the two continued approaching, Ginger notices that both of them are seriously injured, causing her to gasp, then become rather upset, "What did you do to yourself this time?!" She yells as she hastily approaches them. "Heh, sorry. Just sorta got a little…caught up in the reunion." Ace fibs, chuckling as Swift just glares at him.

"Reunion? Bah, when I first got here I wanted your blood." Swift thinks to himself just as he and Ace are both smacked by Ginger. "OW! What was that for?!" Both of them yell in unison. "That, is for going and beating the shit out of each other! Now both of you don't move, we don't want you bleeding any more then you already are." Ginger says as she jogs over to Chuck, who sighs and hands her the medical kit that she had packed. "Now, both of you stay still." Ginger says as she starts to clean out their wounds, Ace not even really flinching while Swift can't seem to help but flinch.

*A half an hour later*

"There! All done!" Ginger yells happily as she stands up. Ginger then skips back over to Chuck, pretty sure that the two wanted to talk to each other a little bit. The two stay silent for quite a while, Swift being the first to speak. "I've heard you made quite the reputation for yourself…Ace the Panther, the biggest mass murderer of all time. That's what they say." Swift says as he looks over at Ace, who has no emotion on his face. "Well? If you were really like what they say, I wouldn't be alive right now. So what's the real story?" Swift asks Ace, he stares coldly at the silver fox. "Its exactly like they say, I'm cold blooded to anyone that gets in my way." Ace says, causing Swift to be completely silent…until Ace bursts out into laughter. "At least, that's what they would want me to say, I made exceptions for innocents. The only people I kill are criminals, and lots of guards. Cops, Military, Mall Security, you name it." Ace says with a chuckle with the addition of the last one.

"So…that's the story?" Swift asks, just to confirm that Ace wasn't joking. "Yep, that's it, nothing more to add to it." Ace says slowly lying back on the grass. "What about those two?" Swift asks, pointing at Chuck and Ginger who are playing a game of chess using Chuck's portable holographic chess board. "…I'll save that story for another time." Ace says, staring up at the clouds. Swift just drops the subject and lays back on the grass with Ace. "…So, mind if I join the picnic?" Swift asks, the fight had made him pretty hungry actually. "I don't see why not, we have plenty of food. Though we're going to have to backtrack all the way to the meadow." Ace says, smirking at Swift who just mutters under his breath and stands back up. Ace chuckles and does the same, walking over to Chuck and Ginger and explaining the situation to them both.

*7 hours later: Ace's Workshop*

After the picnic, Swift had taken off to…god knows where. Chuck had also left, returning back to his workshop, most likely to find Ace a job. Ace sighs loudly and looks goes down to the river to fetch some water for the shower, while Ginger takes a nap on the couch. When Ace returns with the water she's still napping, breathing rather quietly. Ace smiles lightly and goes into the bathroom, using the water from the river to take a quick bath, cleaning out his wounds again and redressing them himself. "Swift…wonder if we'll see him again?...More then likely…" Ace thinks, then he yawns, "I'm tired…I think I'm going to go to bed early today." Ace thinks to himself. As he goes up the stairs he hears a soft voice, "Good night Ace…" Ginger says quietly, causing the panther to smile. He delays himself for a second, then turns to look at Ginger, "…Good night." Ace says before climbing the rest of the stairs, causing Ginger to smile as she goes back to sleep.

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