Chapter 20: Crushed
Ridley couldn't believe what he was seeing. These guys were the colors of gemstones and towered over even him and he was almost eight feet tall. Red Wyvern, seeing this fear in Ridley, raised a foot to try and stomp him out of existence. However, Ridley was quicker than he thought and he spread his metal wings before taking off. Red Wyvern wasn't worried, seeing as White Amphis' tail was coming to meet him. The second head snapped at him, missing the cyborg's metal foot by inches. Ridley opened his mouth as the Gatling Gun activated again, and although the bullets pelted all five of them, they didn't even penetrate their thick scales.
"HA! You honestly think your little technology will work on us?" Blue Firedrake asked, as though the answer was obvious.
"Yeah. Who's that shooting straw at me?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Salamander said as he put his claws up.
Green Salamander's claws suddenly lit up and he made a vertical slash with them, creating four energy beams in the shape of claw marks at Ridley. They missed him too, but when he evaded, Yellow Drache was there to meet him in the air. The yellow Dragonoid seized Ridley with his taloned foot and Ridley could only struggle against his grip.
"Now, tell us where the Sacred Chozo Statue is or else," Drache threatened, crushing Ridley's wings in the process, "You're doomed to die a very painful death."
Just then, something blasted through Drache's wing and he fell face-flat on the ground. Trace had used his Sniper Rifle and saved his "boss". This only seemed to make the Dragonoids angry, because they charged and became a wall of roaring behemoths.
In a sudden movement, White Amphis' tail shot forward like a cobra and clenched Sylux in its teeth. Sylux struggled while cursing in some unknown alien language, but it halted when there was a sickening CRUNCH and the head dropped Sylux's limp body to the ground.
Red Wyvern shot thin streams of fire at Noxus and they seemed to wrap around him like constrictors and crystallized into bright red ropes. When he was sure Noxus was unable to escape, he crushed him under his foot.
"Useless cockroaches." Wyvern said as he shook the remains of Noxus' armor and his guts off his foot.
Sonic, Link, and Samus were about to charge and help these guys when Blue Firedrake saw it coming. He took a deep breath and belched blue flames that created a wall of fire as blue as sapphires.
"How dumb do you think I am?" Firedrake asked, grinning and showing off his sharp teeth.
"SHOOT!" Samus cursed, stamping her foot.
Trace was about to shoot down Yellow Drache when Green Salamander smashed his frail exoskeleton with his tail. It shattered many of the red alien's limbs and even smashed the gun off its owner's arm. With another swipe, Green Salamander brought his tail down on Trace and crushed him like a gorilla smashing a twig.
Spire was the only one left and Blue Firedrake was going to make sure he died as well. He exhaled blue flame that crystallized into a large blue sword three quarters of his size and beckoned for Spire to bring it on. His fellow Dragonoids came to assist him, but Firedrake waved his hand.
"Back away. I'll deal with this volcanic bug myself." Firedrake commanded.
Wyvern grinned as he motioned backward for them to back off. Yellow Drache also moved two steps back, making sure to put as much weight as he could on Ridley's metal body.
Spire's right arm turned into a kind of cannon and he aimed it at Firedrake. A blast of what appeared to be lava erupted from it and it raced at Firedrake. The Dragonoid wasn't worried and raised his sword so that the lava bounced harmlessly off before he quickly leapt into the air. Firedrake kicked Spire over like you would a toddler and brought his sword down onto Spire. The blue sword pierced the rocklike hide and lava oozed out as though it was blood. Spire's body twitched for a while and then stood still. All of Ridley's bounty hunters were dead.
Yellow Drache dropped Ridley with his foot and laughed as he saw Ridley try to limp away. He let the metal dragon try to crawl away for a while before seizing the cyborg in his mighty hand and raised him up to his large eye.
"Now that your bodyguards have been taken care of, where is the Sacred Statue? Your reward is your life…or at least what's left of it. So where is it?" Drache snarled.
Ridley was quiet and breathed very heavily, but then he spoke in a very weak voice.
"I…have it. It's attached to my arm…and it gives me strength." Ridley murmured.
Indeed, a small statue shaped like a Chozo was on his arm and it was emanating an almost unnoticeable glow. However, when Red Wyvern went over and took it off with his claws, it began to glow like the moon at night. When Wyvern removed it, Ridley's labored breathing only became harder.
"Thank you, scrap metal. Like I said, your reward is what's left of your life. Enjoy." Drache said before he dropped Ridley to the ground with a CLANG.
Ridley's mechanical body was sparking from several mechanical malfunctions as he tried to get up before he slumped to the ground, unconscious. The Dragonoids, having won the battle, took off with Yellow Drache gripping White Amphis' shoulders with his talons. In a fiery portal, they vanished to their own dimension.
The blue flames that Blue Firedrake created to block Sonic, Link, and Samus vanished and Sonic pounded a nearby tree with his fist. The only result he got was a throbbing hand.
"Sonic, don't hurt yourself." Link said as he strode past him to Ridley.
Samus had beat him there and was already beginning repairs on Ridley's body. However, she had to work quickly if the metal reptile was going to live.
"Why are you helping your archenemy?" Link asked.
"There's a much greater evil out there. I think you can cut him some slack." Samus said as she continued repairing.
"I'd love to stay, Samus, but Sonic and I are on a mission. You'll have to take care of Ridley, do you understand?" Link asked.
Samus, seeing that this mission was very urgent, nodded with a "Yes." Link helped Sonic up to his feet and then they zoomed off with blurs of blue and green. If they were right, then it meant that there weren't too many key items left.