Chapter 4
Wind whipped through Julie-Su's dreads as she pitched herself forward, attempting to catch her elusive adversary once and for all. The tall trees marking the division between the edge of the island and the jungles further in, rushed up to meet them both. The cloak of the figure was fanned out, catching the wind and forming a makeshift glider. Clearly, they've plotted this whole thing out from the stretch... Well, sorry to be the chaotic element in your plans!
The enhanced echidna pulled out her sidepiece with one hand as she tried to grasp that black cloth with her other. Suddenly, an array of circular objects spilled out from just below, igniting in her face! "You've got to be kidding me...!" Plumes of different colored smoke obscured her vision, as she flailed to brush it out of her face. Taking aim, she breathlessly waited for it to clear, noticing through tiny gaps that her quarry was once again widening the gap between them. Gritting her teeth, she took aim at the branches of the canopy quickly approaching beneath her, firing her grappling hook once more.
The satisfying sound of metal striking wood, with the thick metal wire whipping around a strong branch could be heard, and Julie-Su grasped her sidepiece with both gloves, holding on for dear life! It retracted slowly, allowing her to control the arc of her swing, and she allowed her metal arm to carry the brunt of the force required to bring her form between the other branches that lay in her path. With a flip, she landed deftly on one of them as she retracted her hook once again.
Taking out a mono-eye scanner, she affixed it to the side of her head, which brought up a multitude of readouts before her. The most important being the movement tracker, which caught several birds and animals fleeing from something moving forward in a straight line. "Gotcha..." Julie-Su moved to leap off, but felt the branch curve downward and heard a distinct cracking sound. "Oh sh-...!" Her perch gave out beneath her, but within seconds she caught a hanging vine and swung forward, bracing herself as she made landfall at last! Sighing in relief, she brushed herself off and began sprinting towards that figure with a determined look in her eyes. I'm done with this!
As she leapt over fallen trees and slid through tight knit roots poking through the ground, she could hear a distinct buzzing in her ear as a familiar voice poked it's way through the static... "J...Julie-Su... Can...hear me? It's Nicole!" The pink echidna cursed under her breath, almost forgetting that she had a direct line of communication installed recently. Sonic and Tails definitely benefited from that during their pursuit of...her companion.
"Now's not the best time, Nicole! Although..." Coming up on a cliffside beside one of Angel Island's many waterfalls, she caught sight of the black-clothed one grasping a jutting platform on the other side, struggling to pull themselves to their feet. "Do you have drones remaining in the area after last time?" She could hear the a sharp intake of breath on the other side, followed by a sigh.
"Yes...but Antoine wanted-" She tapped on her dread and cut comms, redirecting power to a small dish that poked out from the top. Smiling deviously, she caught the signal of the drone and brought up it's camera feed with one swift flick on the mono-eye scanner.
"The zoot chutes... That's where you're headed." Julie-Su brought her hand back up to her dread and slid it across the side, bringing a small device shaped almost like a battery. "You somehow got this tracker on me during our scuffle. Well, two can play at that game..." Moving behind the waterfall, she watched her quarry carefully as it continued to pull itself onto solid ground. Tapping her ear once more, she brought Nicole back online. "Sorry for the cut off. Had to concentrate."
A small huff on the other line could be heard as the Holo-Lynx chimed back in, "Well, you're lucky that little stunt of yours didn't get you killed." Julie-Su couldn't help but crack a smile and chuckle to herself. Wasn't the worst fall I've had! Last time, I went through a window... That blew.
"Nicole. I managed to get a hold of a tracker. That's how the figure found us on the jet. I'd recommend checking around town for any more of those things. Just in case there are more of these guys skulking about..." As she spoke, the ex-legionnaire kept one eye on the figure as it whipped around to and fro, trying in vain to find her. After a few seconds, Nicole chimed in excitedly, as the figure ran off once again.
"I will do you one better. Link that tracker to the nanite communicator and I'll track it's origin point." Julie-Su grinned as a plan of attack began to form...
The mysterious cloaked figure approached what appeared to be an inconspicuous stump, rapping the side of it with a black leather boot. It took a few tries but the hidden button burrowed in the wood clicked into place. An entryway revealed itself in short order, as the stump flicked out of the way like a hatch leading into a submarine. Without hesitation, they flung themselves into the open hole, which led to a conveniently placed slide that flung them further into the darkness. It was pitch black beneath as they were launched off the edge, but their feet caught the ground in no time, skidding to a halt.
Pulling out a cylindrical metal tube from the folds of their cloak, it rapped the top of the container across it's knee. Sparks ignited from it as it bathed the environment in a dull green color. Out of the corner of their eye, they spotted several clear encasement pods nearby, the light source reflecting off the dust covered exteriors of the containment units. Nobody's been down here in a long time...
Content that they were safe, they pulled back the hood at last, revealing the head of a female white-furred bat with scuffed makeup and ruffled fur. Grimacing, she pulled out another device from her hip and tapped it furiously. With no response, she tossed it aside in quick order as she smoothed out her features. Her ears twitched as she swore she heard a low growling noise above her. Tilting her head upwards, she saw that pink echidna bracing herself on the ceiling, her eyes narrowed and teeth set in an exaggerated snarl! "ROUGE...!"