"I knew that guy is just a bad news!" shouted Zero and shot two Bomb Bees.
"Let's solve the problem at the hand first!" Axl shot through four Ball de Vouxs.
Silver wasn't left behind, he just needed time to clear his ears and then he picked mechanoids, short-circuited them and threw them at others. The only one who was enjoying himself was Crack. He was to Mavericks like Black Arm to humans. His homing attack was especially deadly. Soon the last mechanoid bit the dust.
"Totally awesome!" Crack made victory pose. Silver was frowning unhappily their mission was too soon discovered. Finding Bits will be now unnecessary difficult.
"That's it! I run out of patience with him!" Zero approached him when Crack caught his head like he had a headache.
"Oi, Crack?" Silver got nervous.
"-kzzzt- Error… Virus… -Krzzt- Detected…" His eyes were changing from green to red and even looking sinister.
"I knew it!" Zero started to charge his buster, "He is turning to a Maverick!"
"Wait! I can—!" Silver tried to stop Zero, but then Crack jumped on his buster and made a funny face!
"Got ya!"
Everyone was shocked.
"Ya all fell for it hook, line, and sinker!" He was rolling on the ground laughing.
X clenched his fists and came to him. He hit him to head out of the blue. "You fool! You made us worried sick!" Crack looked at him surprised. "This was the last straw! I can put up with many things, but you are totally out of it! You are putting the whole team in a danger and you don't listen to us! You are absolutely uncontrollable!"
Crack looked like he was about to cry. His head went down and he started to do circles. "I didn't want anybody to step on mine… Can't compute joke properly yet… Do I have invalid coding?" He looked really sorry, making X feeling like a bad guy.
He looked at Zero. His expression was rather bored to annoyed. "He is all yours," he didn't bat an eyebrow.
X sighted. "Okay, listen, I'm sorry I hit you and yelled at you, but you have to understand." Crack lifted his head. "This mission is very important. So we have to stick together and work as a team."
Crack slightly nodded. "A team…?"
"Yes, in the team everyone has a role to play and together they can make bigger things possible, otherwise impossible for one person. So let's work together and find the small hedgehog." He knelt and offered him his hand.
Crack smiled like a child and jumped around his neck. "Ya are the best, blue bro! Unlike the red meanie."
"Zero is strict, but he means it well. So listen to him, okay?"
Crack let go and nodded.
"Alright, let's continue."
"X is really good with children," noted Silver.
"I still don't trust him," grumbled Zero. Crack approached him and Zero smirked. "Got a problem, wisebot?"
Crack bowed. "I'm sorry, I'll try to fix my behavior."
Zero felt awkward. "F-Fine, as long you mean it."
Axl chuckled. With this behind them, they soon reached an entrance to the building. Along the path, they destroyed some mechaloids and Crack was behaving, just like he promised.
"Watched out!" Crack shouted and from his left palm sprang electric whip. The flying 'bot was toast in less than second.
"Hey, nice trick," said Axl with a smile.
"Good work," admitted Zero which back was just saved.
"Didn't know I have something like that." Crack inspected his palm.
"How come?" asked Silver and cleared a debris to open a new path.
"I guess professor did mention it, but man, he was talking so fast. I guess I need invoice chip calibration." He cleared his ear.
"What a surprise," noted Zero with a sly smile.
"I still don't get why professor made a battle robot, not that I complain, you are pretty helpful." He raised another debris.
"Actually, it was more between the lines of 'charging batteries'."
Silver dropped the debris and widen his eyes. He winked few times before he looked at innocently looking Crack. Hedgehog just facepalmed himself without any comment. X scratched on a cheek. He had feelings that this professor must be a very interesting person.
Without their knowledge, their every move was watched by cameras and a dark silhouette sitting behind monitors. It was especially interested in the hedgehog robot and its eyes shone red when it saw Silver.
"Interesting," said cold voice.
[Some time later]
They battled their path to the center of the complex leaving dozens of trashed mechanoids and other mavericks behind them. Soon they reached big hall full of cables, some debris, containers and…
"You again!" Zero shouted.
"It's a pleasure to meet you again!" laughed Vile, that was standing in the middle on round and low pedestal.
"An acquaintance?" asked Crack.
"Unfortunately yes. He was one of the first Maverick Hunter to go Maverick," explained X.
"I see there is that furry creature!" growled Vile.
Silver smirked. "And what are you going to do about it?"
"Actually…" Vile lifted his hand, the other one had a buster attached to it, like the canon on his shoulder wasn't enough. "Glad you asked…" He snapped his fingers and from the surroundings wall emerged laser cannons.
"Did you have to ask?" shouted Axl as he was taking a cover from the fire behind a debris.
X and Zero ended up together in the corridor they came from. Silver made a shield from fallen debris and retreated to Axl. Only Crack ended up alone behind a big container.
"Hey, you, the one named Crack, do you hear me?"
"What? You want an autograph?" he peeked from behind an overturned container.
"You are showing a promise. I really liked your performance."
"Don't listen to him, Crack!" shouted X and he wanted to run to him, but the laser guns stopped him.
"You are the perfect machine for mass destruction. You are destined to be Maverick! Let's erase that human's insects and rule this world together!"
Crack's eyes shined a red for a while. "Destruction…?"
"You can kill as much of them as you want! Join us! You will be free."
"Crack! Professor didn't make you for destruction!" yelled Silver. "He wanted for you to protect!" He tried to run toward Crack.
"Silence!" Vile shot a charged shot at Silver, that made a shield. The impact of the shot pushed him back against the wall.
"Does it include no lights-out at ten?" Shouted Crack and jumped on the container.
"Wha—Of course not! You can go wild during the midnight if you want to!" 'What was that supposed to mean', thought Vile.
"Yay!" Cracked run to him and stopped when he was two hedgehog's steps from him.
"No! Don—Darn it!" rumbled X as laser got in his way.
"So, let's make it straight. Does the deal include non-stop destruction, killing dozens of people…" Vile was nodding, "… no paid vacation, overtime, no cookies, and a bald boss?"
"Of cou—What?!"
Crack smiled. "Screw it!" He shot his cannon arm. Vile barely avoided the direct hit in the last second, but it destroyed his back cannon. "And scroosh!" He started to spin and his homing attack made a quick job on laser guns. Vile had no chance to follow him with his eyes, resulting in his turning from one side to another. Crack stuck to the ceiling above Vile. "Like the heck, I'm gonna join ya, losers!" Spin dash made a pancake out of the x-times resurrected maverick. "One zero to coolhog—Oops!" He realized he went too wild.
Rest of the team joined him. Zero looked around before he turned his head to a side. "What a pain, I had to be stuck in the corridor to miss the show."
Crack looked confused. Zero showed him thumb up. Crack widely smiled.
"Cool job, kid," commented it Axl.
They continued further. The corridor lead them to control room with one glassed wall.
"What's that?!" Shouted Silver. All of them pressed against the glass.
"There are like tens of missiles!"
"Hahaha!" Vile's voice come from speakers. "Did you think you have defeated me? Think again!" His ugly helmet was on all screens around them. "I was only a hold up before these beauties fly to the sky and fall down on numerous human's cities!"
"Where is the big red stop button when you need it?" joked a bit frustrated Axl.
"In five minutes they will blast off and then nothing can stop—" Zero punched his face. The rest of the panels showed countdown.
"Look for anything that looks like switch off!"
While everyone was searching, Silver stood nearby. He had no idea what to look for. He wanted to ask, but all of them looked so busy.
'OK, Silver, calm down and focus. There has to be something you can do.'
Only four and half minute remained to blastoff.
He run down to the missile platform. They were all connected by pipes presumably full of cables.
Only four minutes to blastoff.
From the control room sounded an explosion. The hunters were trying to abort the countdown by destroying the control computer. Silver quickly examine his surroundings. There seemed to be a small box next to every rocket platform connected by cables to the bigger one.
Only three minutes to blastoff.
"Run for it! I'll blast the rockets!"
"That will kill you, Zero!" yelled X.
"But countless civilian will be saved! Get going! The World needs you, X!"
"Hey, where is Silver?!" Axl noticed he was gone.
"There he is!" Crack pointed down to platforms.
"What is he doing?"
"His psycho mambo!" shouted Crack as Silver started to get engulfed in his psychic aura.
Only two minutes to blastoff.
'Can I do it? Won't I make it worst?' Silver had a habit to doubt about his powers from time to time. 'No, I have to do it! Everyone is working so hard. I have to give it my all!'
With his hand engulfed in an aura, he touched the big box. He made his power to travel alongside the cables spreading far and wide. 'Just a little more!' He pushed himself to his limits.
Only one minute to blastoff.
"C'mon!" He yelled and the air was filled with a smell of ozone. He fell on the ground totally weary.
"Dang it! We don't have a time!" shouted Zero.
The last five seconds felt like an eternity.
"There are a lot of zeroes, right?" asked Axl after a while.
"Yeah," agreed on X.
"So, why nothing went kaboom?" asked almost disappointed Crack. Everyone was looking at a time, that stopped at 00:05. They run down to where Silver was.
"Silver!" they shouted one after another. "What have you did?" X helped him to stand up.
"I just thought… that my abilities can short circuit so I tried it on these boxes. They looked important."
"Do you realize there could have been a function reacting on it firing the missiles sooner?!" asked Crack by the way.
Silver became white if it was even more possible.
"And it didn't happen! Cool job, Silvie!"
"If you continue like this I'll really turn to a psycho." He made tired smile.
"Anytime." Crack grinned.
"But you did scare us," Axl patted him. "Did I told you, you look cool and creepy when you glow?"
"I guess you just did," Silver joked.
"But man, it's hard to believe this was here without our knowledge." X was looking worried.
"Don't worry, X, we will beat them."
They returned upstairs.
"What's up, Crack? You are unusually quiet," noted Zero.
"I just get the feeling we forgot something." He scratched his quills.
"Hey, we blasted tons of Maverick and stopped their rockets, what possible we could overlook?" Axl happily shrugged his shoulders.
Silver froze. "Bits!" He called his Double-Down-ing Dowsing Rods… (TM) and activated them.
"The virtual hedgehog!" X hit himself to helm. How could they forget?
"Like seriously, Silvie? How could psychic forget something? Isn't using brain yar specialty?"
"Can't be helped with all the stir around us!" The rods were guiding them before they hit the dead end.
"There's nothing." The corridor was empty with the exception of an old machine.
"I now where he is," Silver came to the machine and hid professor's invention. "Hey, Bits, it's me, Silver. Come out." At first, nothing happened, but then a small screen on it flashed and from it emerged yellow humanoid hedgehog with a ball on an antenna. It looked frightened. "There you are, you little rascal." Silver offered it a hand and the virtual hedgehog jump on it.
"He looks pretty cute," said X.
"Until you know him better," Silver smiled. Without any further ado, they returned to Maverick Hunters HQ. There they reported the situation in the G-7 sector.
Signas looked serious. They will have to make more scouting teams to detect more places like this. "Excellent job," he replied. He observed the virtual hedgehog as it was sitting on Alia's lap.
"So it's actually a materialized A.I.? And it can possess simple machines," he mumbled to himself.
Silver used his glove version of Genesis portal generator to create a connection between this world and his. It was quite a spectacle to watch it form. Silver focused. Professor Schlemmer upgraded his device to even provide a visual connection for his experimental Genesis portal generator, that Bits accidentally activated and went through it.
The purple vortex cleared and a connection was established.
"Professor von Schlemmer?" Silver called him, but no one answered. "Maybe he isn—?!
"Vat's up, Silver?"
"Whoa?!" Silver jerked as blue-skinned professor appeared upside down. "You surprised me… and why are you upside-down?"
"Zat's right. I'm testing mein nev invention." He moved further from the portal screen. "Vith zis I can levitate above ze surfa—" He started to lean to one side. Silver squinted as professor disappeared from the screen and only a loud sound was heard. Some cogwheel rolled on the floor.
"It still needs some minor tuning zou." He touched back of his head. "Vait a minute? Vy are you calling? And vere are you?"
"You sent me to look for missing Bits."
"Zat's right! Und vere mein Double-Down-ing Dowsing-rods (TM) functioning?"
"Did he just say (TM)?" asked Axl.
"He sure did," replied Zero.
Silver didn't answer but Bits flew to him.
"Perfect! Und vo are zese people?" Professor finally noticed Signas and other hunters in a background.
"This is Signas, he is the leader of Maverick Hunters I once told you about."
"Ah, zat's right. Nice to meet you. I'm professor Von Schlemmer. Und zese zree must be X, Zero und Axl." They greeted each other. "Und zat reminds me, vere is ze robot?"
"I'm here and the name's Crack," the robot got into the field of a view.
"You are in perfect shape, I vas vorried because ven I found—"
"Let's cut this short, we still have 2 Bits to find," Crack interrupted him.
"Right, send him to me." Bits flew through the portal and professor gave them in return a disc. "Put it into ze Genesis portal generator und you vill know vere to go next. I vish you a luc—" His words were interrupted by loud noise. "Nein, nein, Bits, zat is highly sensitive und sophisticated state of ze ar—" They heard professor's cry and Bits' laughing. The connection was terminated.
"Oh well, we should get going," said little awkward Silver. He put the disc in the circle on his right glove and used his power to get the coordination. "Yosh, I've got it, we are ready to go."
"So you are leaving, huh? I wish you a safe journey," said X and shook hands with the hedgehog.
"Thanks." Silver created next Genesis portal.
Crack looked at Zero and came closer to him. Zero raised his eyebrow in suspicion. That robot was most of the time just bad news.
"Um… Thanks for taking care of me. I learned a lot from ya." He scratched his quills.
"Just take care," Zero didn't want to admit it, but he started to like this small guy. He did have a knack at fighting at least.
"So I guess ya must be tired…" he run to get a chair on wheels, "... so have a seat."
"I'm not tire—pfrrd!" The loud sound was heard from Zero's seat when Crack forced him to sit. Reploid only winked a few times.
"And ya know what?" Crack peeked from behind him and then jumped on Zero's shoulder. "Don't be such old fart, blondie!" As he run, he laughed and jumped into the portal.
Zero jumped completely furious revealing a whoopie cushion. "Don't you ever come back!"
Axl was laughing and X covered his face with a hand.
"Bye," Silver waved to them and quickly jumped to the portal. There he found Crack standing on a cliff. "Why did you do such—" He looked in front of him, "—What happened here?"
The ground was one big wasteland and from the holes here and there burst out a column of fire.
"Guess someone overdid his grill party," noted Crack and put his hands behind quills.
"How can you say that!?"
"Sorry for trying to lighten the mood, Silvie."
"You jokes are always—!" Silver was really angry.
"-Krzttr-… -Krgggtg-" Crack was engulfed in a dark blue aura, jerking, and electric sparks were everywhere.
Silver quickly looked at his hands. Even if he was angry with him, he didn't want this. "I'm not doing thi—?!" The aura engulfed him too. It was immediately crushing him and giving him a hard time to breathe. He felt someone was behind them. Just turning his head hurt like a hell.
As the person was standing in front of the setting sun, he barely saw his silhouette. It reminded him a hedgehog with very sharp and narrow quills. Its body seemed thin and there were lighting squares and rounds on its head and one big long hexagonal on a forehead. It gave an impression its body is covered by an electric circuit. Its eyes were even glowing, giving it even more sinister look.
"Who… are… you…" Silver mustered few words. If it was an enemy he would really appreciate Crack's help. But judging from the strange symbols and noise on his face panel, he was out of commission for now.
To be continued…
So, how it is? Did I make you smile or at least a grin a bit? If so, this story fulfilled its purpose ;-) The next part will be a looot longer and will consist of two chapters divided into 12 parts. And since it isn't crossover anymore, I'll make new "story" for it in Sonic the Hedgehog section. So keep an eye on my profile page, follow me or just hit the link in Sonic the Hedgehog section, I'll upload here once it will be out :-)
If you like, please leave review or favorite.