Chapter 2: Cold Reunion
"What brings you up here, Nic?"
"I decided to make something of my life and join an organisation to protect Mobius." Nic replied. "And being a Freedom Fighter didn't do it for me, so I joined G.U.N. What about you?"
"I've been an agent for years, now. I my own team. Come on, I'll take you to them."
"Oh, okay..."
Rouge led Nic through the base, pointing out various locations that the weasel tried and failed to commit to memory, eventually arriving at a door labelled 'Team Dark'.
"'Team Dark?' Really, Rouge?" Nic chuckled.
"It wasn't my idea." Rouge said defensively, as she entered the code into the keypad. The door slid open, and the two women stepped in. There, they came face to face with Shadow the Hedgehog and E-123 Omega. "These are Shadow and Omega."
"Nice to meet you." Nic smiled.
"Same to you." Shadow nodded.
"Salutations, purple forest creature." Omega droned.
"My name is Nic the Weasel. I'm a new recruit, and they assigned me to Rouge."
"Scans suggest that this is undesirable. Is there a problem, Nic?"
"Rouge and I used to be rivals when we were both in the treasure-hunting gig. She beat me to every single treasure that we both knew about."
"You didn't do too badly for someone who could fly over all the traps." The bat shrugged. "Sorry about all that, by the way. I had to eat, and all."
"I get you. You know, in hindsight, we probably should have worked together. Those things were worth more than enough to feed five people, let alone a couple."
"Yeah."
"So, what do you guys actually do?"
"Whatever is required of us to fulfill our objectives and defend Northammer from Empire attack." Shadow replied.
"Right, I can handle that."
At that moment, a screen in the room clicked on, and the face of Commander Abraham Tower appeared on it.
"Team Dark. We have received reports that the mercenary group the Destructix have been sighted in the Shamazon. Reportedly, a temple there has been found to contain an artefact of untold power, simply called the Goddess' Soul. They cannot be allowed to recover it. Be aware that interdimensional criminal, Scourge the Hedgehog appears to be at their helm. Over and out."
"Scourge, huh?" Shadow mused, pulling out his Chaos Emerald. "Last time we fought, I underestimated him. I won't do the same again."
"Give that creep a punt where it hurts for me, will you?" Rouge asked.
"I might."
"So... who's actually on this Destructix team?" Nic asked.
Anti-Sonic the Hedgehog, of the Moebius Zone. Faster and stronger than his counterpart due to an accident with the Master Emerald. Less intelligent. Lacking in sanity. Womanizer. Lightning Lynx, of Chun-Nan. Fast, but not particularly strong or tough. Skilled as a ninja. Emotionally scarred. Flying Frog, of Mercia. Able to glide long distances. Mentally deranged psychopath. Uses his tongue to fight. Sergeant Simon Simian, of Northammer. Highly-trained soldier, little regard for his own allies in crossfire. Above-average strength. Predator Hawk, of Cocoa Archipelago. Also highly-trained, but weaker. Good pilot. Uses knives. Fiona Fox, of the Acorn Republic. Turncoat Freedom Fighter. Above-average strength, but mentally fragile." Omega rumbled.
"W-wait... Fiona?" Nic gasped. "She went turncoat?"
"'Fraid so, Nic." Rouge sighed.
"Damn, I thought I raised her better than that. She and I are going to have a little talk when we catch up to them."
"You act like you're her mother." Shadow noted.
"I'm the closest thing she had to one for much of her life."
"Ah, I see now."
"How'd she turn evil?"
"Scourge seduced her, and twisted her mind, but don't worry, I have a dirty secret that should tear that little lie apart."
"You and your dirty secrets..." Nic sighed. "Let's just go and get them. We'll have to be quick if we want to stop them before they get away."
"You really are new here, aren't you?" Rouge chuckled. "Shadow can teleport us there in a few seconds thanks to his Chaos Control."
"It takes a few trips to get used to, but you should be able to handle it. Now gather around."
Arrival via Chaos Control was indeed disorienting, but Nic recovered relatively quickly, and the quartet set off to find the Destructix, hacking through thick jungle. Several times, Omega had to be prevented from torching the entire forest with his flamethrower or other incendiary weapons, but eventually, the thick trees gave way to a magnificent, rocky monolith. Standing outside were four figures- Scourge, Fiona, Predator, and Simian.
"I thought you said there were six of them." Nic whispered.
"The Destructix change lineups like the rest of us change clothes." Rouge replied. "They're either gone or inside the temple."
"Plan?"
"Shadow will take Scourge. Omega, you take Simian. I can deal with Predator, and I think Nic wants a shot at Fiona."
"Affirmative."
"On my signal..."
Omega's hand retracted, and a beam cannon extended from the socket. He aimed it at Simian, and began charging up. Shadow prepared his Chaos Emerald, and Nic primed herself to make a beeline for her former friend.
"Go!" Rouge shouted, taking to the air, and heading straight for Predator. Shadow vanished, and reappeared in front of Scourge, roundhouse-kicking him across the clearing. Omega opened fire, blasting Simian into a tree, and vaulted the length of the area to land in front of him. The hawk saw his assailant coming, and took off, heading up to meet her, only to receive a boot to the face.
"What the hell?" Fiona growled, less than a second before she was body-checked by Nic.
"You and I need to have a little chat." Nic hissed, pinning her younger friend to the ground.
"Nic? What are you doing here? And why are you working with these losers?"
"I decided to follow your example and make something of myself, and none of the Freedom Fighter teams seemed to fit, so I joined G.U.N. Turns out I was good enough to be partnered with Rouge. And then I find out that you've thrown away all that progress and you're working with these low-lifes?"
"Scourge isn't a low-life!" Fiona yelled, rolling over and taking Nic with her, before standing up, dusting herself off. "And let's be honest, you haven't got a hope against me. I'm stronger and faster than you."
"Sis please." Nic shot back, springing back to her feet and kicking Fiona in the gut as she did so. "I taught you everything you know."
Near the edge of the clearing, Omega grappled with Simian, matching him strength-for-strength.
"For an organic, you are almost strong." Omega droned, pivoting at his waist and throwing Simian back into the wall of the temple. Then he flew after him, and blasted him with his beam cannon. The ape stumbled, and jumped up, punching the robot as hard as he could manage without breaking his hand, destabilizing his flight. Omega swerved wildly, and cut power to his engines, slamming back into the dirt. Instantly, Simian was on top of him, trying to shatter the robot's optics with his fists. The crimson titan instead drove his serrated claws into the primate's side, and clubbed him over the head with his forearm. "Almost."
Above their heads, Predator lashed out with a knife, but Rouge flew under him, and grabbed his leg, before spinning her whole body around and throwing him into a tree. She dropped after him, and delivered a painful kick to his midsection, then another to his head. Dazed, he fell out of the sky, smacked into quite a few tree branches on the way down, and finally crashed into the ground, knocked unconscious by the impact. She landed behind him, and cuffed his wrists together. Then she flew over to Omega's side, and did the same with Simian, before looking around for Nic and Fiona.
The two former friends could easily have been mistaken for pretending to fight. Every punch, every kick, ever tackle was easily predicted and avoided.
"Come on, Nic!" Fiona smirked. "If you were really this good, you'd have beaten me already! I'm using your moves, after all."
"Sorry, but it's a little hard to bring myself to hit you." Nic growled.
"Aw, how sweet." The vixen laughed. "Why's that, wimp?"
"Because you're the closest thing to a little sister I ever had!" She shot back. Fiona was caught off guard by this, as Nic grabbed her by the shoulder-straps of her top and pinned her to a tree. "I raised you the best I could, and while we were criminals, I made sure you turned out better than this! The Fiona I knew would never throw her life and her accomplishments away for a slimy, lecherous creep like Scourge!"
Fiona growled, and kneed Nic in the gut, then pushed her away. The weasel stumbled, as her foe lunged at her again, only to be blindsided and snagged from the air by Rouge.
"Let me go!" Fiona yelled.
"Sorry, but unless you fancy a fairly long and probably painful drop, I'm going to have to keep hold of you."
"Rouge, I could have got her!" Nic shouted indignantly.
"Sorry, but the others are about to show, according to Omega's sensors, and Shadow's busy with Scourge. I'm going to nip this little argument in the bud, and we can get back to the mission at hand. You two have your family tiff later."
"Right." She nodded. "I'm guessing this is that "dirty secret" you mentioned?"
"Yeah." Rouge smirked. "So, Fiona, there's something that you need to know, that you deserve to know, that's been kept from you."
"Oh yeah, and what is it?" Fiona replied, glaring at her rival.
"Scourge cheated on you. Not only that, but he cheated on you with Bunnie, he went after Sally and Mina, and he cheated on you with me. Remember when we showed up in Knothole after he turned green for the first time. He couldn't take his eyes or his hands off of me. I'm surprised you didn't notice."
"You're lying!"
"I'm not. What do I have to gain by lying? Pass up another chance to beat your sorry tail into the dirt? Debase myself by admitting to consorting with someone like him? Yeah, right."
"But..."
"Didn't you ever wonder why nobody except you thinks of him as anything other than dirt? They all saw through his lies Fiona, but you got taken in by them. You were nothing more than a pretty face, and a trophy to hold above the heads of Sonic and Tails. And let's be honest, you knew all along. You just didn't want to admit to it."