CWCollateral: A Tale of the Resistance

by Manajerkop

What happens when innocent bystanders get fed up with enduring the fallout from Sonichu's zappin' adventures? REVOLUTION, that's what! Experience Sonichu from a whole new perspective, as the PVCC fights to end the tyranny of Christian Weston Chandler.

24. Chapter 18: Combo Broken

CWCollateral: A Tale of the Resistance

by Manajerkop

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Chapter 18: Combo Broken

February 26, 2009, North CWCville, CWCville Beach, 5:52 a.m.

"Jesus fucking Christ…" gasped Nate as he and Kevin stared out the Battle Bus's window. Even at such a distance, the nightmarish spectacle was clear to every Jerkop in the convoy. The beach now resembled the aftermath of a hurricane, with crashed LCACs and helicopters littering the edge of the water. Groups of Marines had taken shelter in the wreckage of their transports, and were now fighting for their lives against an endless flood of EHPF officers. Despite their losses, the assault force was holding out well enough. Dozens of furry yellow bodies lay on the sand, interspersed with a few soldiers who had fallen to electric shocks in the initial charge. Behind the carnage on the shore, Bubbles Rosechu floated in her protective sphere, laughing cruelly as she hurled violent waves and jets of pressurized water at the graveyard of broken and sinking landing craft that had once been the U.S. invasion fleet. Hundreds of men had been hurled straight into the water by the churning maelstrom that had claimed so many of their transports, and only a few LCACs and Zodiacs had made it past the blockade. Every so often, Momma Swampert would burst from beneath the surface and lunge for a low-flying helicopter, or else set about tearing into a landing craft in search of additional prey.

"What the fuck…" Kevin whispered, looking out fearfully as the convoy roared into the middle of an abandoned parking lot next to the beach. "How? There's no way they could've known…"

"All callsigns, this is Cash. New plan - we're gonna help out those guys on the beach. Set up a perimeter with your vehicles and hit the Sparkies with everything you've got. Good luck. Out."

"Get ready to deploy on my mark!" Al's voice sounded from the speakers above the Jerkops. "Steve, Kevin, Kuri, Jexis, Serge, you're going outside! Nick, Nate, give 'em sniper cover! I'll get on the main cannon and see what I can do from here!"

The Battle Bus's door hissed open and a wave of cold salty air rolled in, mixed with the smells of ozone and gunpowder. For a moment, Kevin's mind snapped back to the helicopter crash, back to the sense of utter defeat that he had felt the moment Sonichu appeared. Now Allie was gone, and Sonichu still had no idea that his mortal enemy had returned to CWCville alive.

"Kevin!" Nate reached over and shook his brother by the shoulder. "Kevin! You ready?"

"Yeah!" Kevin yelled back, bracing himself against the seat as the Battle Bus roared off of the parking lot and onto the beach. Despite the sudden change in traction, the massive transport easily carved through the sand, carrying it directly over the edge. Ahead of them, the cluster of Punislavs and trucks barreled toward the entrenched group of Marines, some firing their mounted machine guns at the chus. Two of the foremost S.A.V.s split off from the convoy and shifted into mech form, then raised their autocannons and began engaging a large group of EHPF. Even as lightning bolts flashed through the air around them, the transports slowed and braked one by one, forming a barricade between the American soldiers and the lethal salvo of electricity.

The Battle Bus slid to a stop at the edge of the vehicle wall next to Diabolus, its spiked tires gouging deep lines into the sand. Out of the corner of his eye, Kevin saw Nick loading his sniper rifle while Kuri, Jexis, and Serge checked their weapons over one last time. Steve had placed Sugarplum Fury down on a seat, and was now talking to the honey badger in a calm, hushed voice while Sugar growled at the noises outside. There was no way that the Manajerk would dare risk losing his beloved pet in such a fierce battle.

"Everyone out!" Al ordered from the cockpit. "Go! Go!"

Kevin hurried after Steve as Jexis, Serge, and Kuri followed them down the stairs. Though the sun had yet to rise, it was bright enough for the Jerkops to see what was going on down near the shore. The only things keeping the EHPF army at bay seemed to be the Black Hawks, and even then, the chus were almost too fast to hit. Even outnumbered, the Marines were doing a good job of staying alive for the time being. Whether they would last much longer was still undetermined.

Flashes of lightning sizzled through the air as Kevin dropped onto the sand next to his comrades. Along the line, the other Jerkop squads and the American soldiers were taking cover behind the vehicle wall and firing at the army of chu officers with everything they could. Though woefully unprepared for the PVCC intervention, the Sonichus kept up their assault, launching wave after wave of electric attacks into the improvised barricade.

"Spread out and pick your targets!" shouted Steve. "Kuri, send out Luxo! We need some cover!"

"Go, Luxo!" Unclipping a Poké Ball from her belt, Kuri pushed the release button and tossed it onto the sand behind the Battle Bus. The ball popped open with a blast of light, and her Lunatone materialized a few feet off the ground. "Stay there! I need you to dig us a trench, now! Psychic!"

The Pokémon's eyes flashed red, and the air shimmered around its crescent body. All at once, a curtain of sand exploded from the open ground next to the Battle Bus and swept forward, enveloping several chus in a blinding cloud. Steve and Kevin leaned out and began firing as the Lunatone began digging a shallow channel into the sand. Jexis and Serge had taken the other side, while Kuri continued directing Luxo's progress. Sniper rifle reports echoed from inside the Battle Bus as Nick and Nate began picking off distant targets.

Looking down the line, Kevin could see the other Jerkop squads taking a similar approach to their defenses. The rest of the S.A.V. units, including the Picklemen's squad mech, had shifted into combat mode and were laying down a heavy curtain of autocannon fire upon the charging EHPF army. Taking advantage of the much-needed relief, the Marines on the beach regrouped quickly and began advancing toward the line of vehicles, away from the kill zone they had been trapped in for so long. The invasion fleet lay in ruins, but most of the men had managed to swim ashore after losing their transports to Bubbles and Momma. Unfortunately for the Americans, the Rosechu and her monstrous pet were now targeting their air support.

"Okay, we're good to go!" yelled Steve, firing off short bursts as Luxo heaved a final load of sand out of the trench. "Kuri, Serge, get in there and help me hold 'em off! Kevin, Jexis, link up with the Devils and give me a sitrep as soon as you can! Go!"

The Jerkop automatically moved as if to make a run for Diabolus, but before he could even take a single step, a pair of Thunderbolts flashed across the beach in front of him. Swinging his M16 toward the offending chus, Kevin opened fire and managed to clip one in the leg. The second Sonichu hurled itself toward him as its comrade fell injured, but before it could roll into a Homing Attack, Serge blasted it into a cloud of gore with a focused volley from Baba Yaga. Summoning Luxo back into its Poké Ball, Kuri dropped into the trench beside the Russian Jerkop and began engaging close-range enemy targets with her submachine gun.

"Stay with me!" Kevin yelled to Jexis as the pair of Honey Badgers dashed out of cover toward the hulking red dump truck. It was parked only a few yards away, but with so much lightning and bullets flying around them, the Jerkops might as well have been struggling through a maze. Behind him, a bright flash of blue lit up the beach, accompanied by a loud sizzling noise. Al had finally managed to bring the Battle Bus's plasma turret online, and was now sowing fiery death among the EHPF wherever he could. Kevin couldn't see whether the other squads had taken any casualties yet, but judging by the considerable amount of gunfire tearing up the beach, it was safe to assume that most, if not all of the Jerkops were still alive.

"Incoming! Badgers incoming!" announced Jenkins, waving to them. "Get over here, now!"

"Glad to see you guys are all right!" Kevin panted as he and Jexis stopped beside the group of Red Devils. Darren, Kamau, and Tony were performing the majority of the defense, while Wayne had hopped onto Diabolus's mounted machine gun and was keeping them covered from above. "Sam, Steve sent me over to see how you're doing! Where's the Needlemouse team?"

"We're keeping them in the hold!" Sam answered, hurriedly brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Arceus, there's too many Sparkies out there! How the hell did they know about this?"

"I don't know!" yelled Kevin, covering his ears as another blast from the Battle Bus carved a crater into the sand. "We have to get the Marines off the beach before Bubbles wipes them out!"

"We've got enough trouble coming in already!" snarled Darren, whirling back into cover as a bolt of lightning connected with Diabolus. If not for the vehicle's insulated interior, the animals inside would have been electrocuted. "Wayne, lay down some fire, eleven 'o'clock!"

"Anything from Cash?" Kevin scanned the vehicle barrier, looking for the commander. One of the S.A.V. units had been destroyed by a concentrated barrage of electricity, and several Jerkops lay wounded on the ground as their squad medics hurriedly tried to patch them up or revive them with defibrillators. The first PVCC casualties of the Battle of CWCville Beach were emerging.

"Nothing so far!" shouted Sam. "We can hold out here for now, Shaw! Get back to your squad!"

"AAAAGH!" Kevin looked up, as Wayne staggered and fell from the top of Diabolus's cockpit, slamming into the beach as a bloodstain spread outward from the bullet wound in his stomach.

"MAN DOWN! MAN DOWN!" Jenkins was at his squadmate's side in seconds, tearing open Wayne's shirt to expose the wound. "Oh, shit! Where the hell did that come from?"

"Hold on! Stand back!" Jexis heaved Vejovis upright and blasted the fallen Red Devil with a stream of energy. Wayne shuddered as the medigun's rays surged through his body, sealing the grievous wound back together in seconds. "My tank's down to seventy percent! Is he okay?"

"Wait a minute," Jenkins noted, his face pale. "That shot came from the front! How did it…"

A bullet ricocheted off the side of the dump truck, less than two feet from Darren. More rounds pinged against Diabolus's armor, but they weren't from the Marines or any of the other Jerkops along the line. The shots were being fired from the direction of Sonichu's army.

"GET DOWN!" Sam scrambled for cover as assault rifle rounds zipped past the dump truck. A cry of pain rang out from further down the line, and looking over, Kevin could see one of the Tomgirls crumple to the ground in a pool of blood. More Jerkops were collapsing, injured or dead, from the chattering volley of bullets sweeping across the line. "What was that? Mercs?"

"No! It's the chus!" Darren roared. "ARCEUS! WATCH OUT, KAMAU!"

ZZZZZZAAAAAAAPPPP! A white-hot bolt of lightning sizzled through the air next to the black Jerkop, nearly striking him in the face. Cursing, Kamau fell backward to the ground just as a pair of EHPF officers dashed through the gap. Unlike the other Electric Hedgehog Pokémon who had been attacking the line, though, there was something frighteningly different about these ones. For one thing, the chus had decked themselves out in makeshift suits of combat armor, the pieces of which were poorly fitted to their bodies. For another thing, they were both carrying firearms.

Kevin pulled the trigger instinctively, dropping the Sonichu on the left with a lethal burst to the chest and neck. The other chu darted to the side and raised its AK-47 clumsily with one hand, then staggered a step back as a thick cable sprouted from its Kevlar vest. Confused, Kevin looked back to see Darren holding out his bionic arm, from which he had fired its grappling hook into the EHPF officer. Caught like a fish on a line, the Sonichu's mobility had been neutralized.

"You're not going anywhere, Sparky!" yelled the Red Devil. "Somebody kill this bastard!"

Before the chu could make another move, Jenkins was on it in seconds. Drawing a length of garrote wire from his sleeve, he wound it around the trapped officer's neck and wrenched back, hard. Choking and grappling at its throat, the Sonichu kicked and struggled, but to no avail. A line of blood appeared across its jugular, followed by a hoarse gurgle as it went limp and died. Disgusted, the medic kicked his victim to the ground and wiped the bloody wire on his jeans.

"Nice one, Adam," Sam panted as Jenkins drew his sidearm and put a single round into each of the fallen chus' skulls, just to make sure. "You okay? Did you get spiked?"

"Haven't flossed a Sparky in ages," grunted the medic. "I'm fine."

"How the fuck did they get their hands on weapons?" Kevin knelt beside one of the chus and yanked the Beretta free from its stiffened fingers. "Wait a minute. No. No, they couldn't have!"

"What?" Jexis sprinted over to her squad leader. "You mean…"

"Slumberland," growled Kevin, tossing the gun away in revulsion. "He did this, Cadet. The guns, the armor…Sonichu must have-"

A clattering explosion split the sky, drawing the Jerkop's attention up toward the sound. Bubbles had fired a Hydro Pump right into the cockpit of another Black Hawk, forcing the helicopter into an uncontrollable spin as the Marines inside hung on for dear life. With no way to control its descent, the aircraft dropped down and slammed into the beach only a few yards away from the Battle Bus, its rotors churning through the sand as it tipped onto its side. A black cloud of smoke rose from inside the chopper, along with the ominous glow of an engine fire.

"Come on!" Kevin grabbed Jexis by the arm, pulling her toward the crashed helicopter. "They might still be alive! We have to get them out of there before that chopper blows up!"

"Hey! Hey Kevin, wait for us!"

The Jerkop looked back just in time to see Diabolus's side door slide open. Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles, Amy Rose, and Tails leapt out onto the beach and hurried over to Kevin and Jexis.

"You guys sound like you needed some help!" Amy announced, drawing her hammer from its shoulder strap. "We're ready! Just tell us where you need us!"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" yelled Sam, glancing over her shoulder at the Needlemouse team as she reloaded her shotgun. "Get down! The Sparkies have guns!"

"W-what?" Tails's eyes bulged in fear. "But I thought…"

"Leave the EHPF to us," Kevin snapped. "Knuckles, the Devils are gonna need a trench line! Tails, Amy, Sonic, you guys come with us to the crash site! We're getting those soldiers out!"

"No need to rush, we've got this!" Sonic insisted, grabbing Amy's hand and pulling her forward as Knuckles began carving away massive chunks of sand with his spiked fists, in a line between Diabolus and a nearby Punislav. "Tails, you stay with Knuckles and the Devils! Sorry, Kev, but I'm way faster than you! Just sit tight, we'll take care of it on our own!"

"I sure as hell hope so," answered Kevin. "Good luck, guys!"

"Kevin, what the fuck are you doing?" Steve yelled through the radio. "Get back here! We got-"

A clap of thunder rolled across the beach as a spinning yellow blur shot past the PVCC barricade and slammed into the crashed helicopter before Sonic and Amy could reach it. Kevin hastily shielded his eyes as the wreckage exploded in a plume of orange fire, reducing the entire Black Hawk to a cascade of burning debris and presumably killing any survivors inside. The two hedgehogs slid to a halt, horrified, as a lone figure emerged from the center of the cloud.

"Right on time," Sonichu chuckled, shaking black soot from his quills as he slowly advanced on Sonic and Amy with his pistol raised. "I had a feeling that I would find you and your friends here, Sonic. So predictable. And now you're here, turning against your own kind. Traitors!"

"Sonichu!" The blue hedgehog shot a pleading look at his opponent. "I told you, I don't wanna fight! I just want this stupid war to end! They aren't gonna quit, not until they arrest Chandler! If you do the right thing and tell your friends to go home, maybe they'll cut you guys some slack-"

"It's too late for that now, old buddy." The Hero of CWCville grinned. "Look around! Look at what the mighty American military has been reduced to! The humans cannot even hope to stand against our race…against the supremacy of Electric Hedgehog Pokémon!"

"Our race?" Sonic looked disgusted. "We're not even the same species! And even if we were, I'd be totally embarrassed to call myself one of your kind! What do you think this will achieve?"

"Justice," replied Sonichu. "Peace. Freedom. Equality. If you stand against me, you stand against these things as well." He pointed to the line of entrenched Jerkops. "For ten years, we have been victimized to no end by these intolerant, ignorant racists! If you'd taken the time to look at all the evidence of this, maybe you wouldn't have been so eager to become sockpuppets of the PVCC!"

"You…you're insane, Sonichu," Amy growled, shaking her head in bewilderment. She raised her hammer. "Come on, Sonic, he's not going to listen to you! We can take him together!"

"Don't do this," pleaded Sonic. "Sonichu, time out for a second! I don't wanna fight you, but-"

BANG!

"AAAAAHHH!" Amy collapsed onto the sand, clutching her leg as blood squirted through her fingers. Horrified and speechless, Sonic dropped to the ground beside the pink hedgehog, holding her in his arms as she writhed and shrieked in agony. The bullet had clipped her in the knee, effectively removing Amy's ability to run. All she could do now was lie there and scream.

"I do," Sonichu snarled, stowing the pistol on his belt. "You and me. One on one. Let's do this."

"YOU MONSTER!" roared Sonic. Tears had formed in his eyes, and as he rose to his feet with Amy in his arms, they began to trickle down his furry face. "THAT WASN'T FAIR!"

"On the contrary," countered the Electric Hedgehog Pokémon. "I just leveled the playing field."

"Al, come in!" Kevin hissed, making sure to keep out of the EHPF commander's sight as he clicked on his radio. "Bring the turret around and light up that chopper, now! Sonichu's here!"

"Goddamnit! Hang on!" The Battle Bus's main cannon slowly rotated around, lining up a shot directly at the Black Hawk's burning shell."Choke on this, fucker! Firing!"

The helicopter wreckage exploded as burning plasma engulfed it, but Sonichu had been more than ready for the shot. Dashing forward at the edge of the blast, he spun around and smashed Sonic in the face with a charged Thunderpunch, hurling the blue hedgehog up into the air and forcing him to drop Amy onto the sand. Without hesitation, Sonichu launched himself off the ground in pursuit of his opponent, curling into a ball as he flew toward the target. Before the Electric Hedgehog Pokémon could land his next blow, Sonic had rolled into a Homing Attack of his own, clashing against Sonichu with such force that both combatants were hurled backwards.

"I'm going for Amy!" Kevin shouted to Sam and the other Red Devils. "Jexis, come on!"

"Right behind you!" yelled Jexis, adjusting Vejovis's primary valve. "Let's go!"

The two Jerkops sprinted out of cover, just as Sonichu and Sonic both recovered and charged toward each other again. Kevin was barely able to follow the duel as it was; the two combatants were moving at far greater speeds than his eyes would register. Once every few seconds, a blast of electricity tore through the air, but Sonic easily dodged the attacks again and again. Sonichu's fighting style was far more calculated and tactical than his opponent, but the sheer strength of Sonic's rage was taking its toll on the Electric Hedgehog Pokémon. Fueled by vengeance for his crippled girlfriend, the blue hedgehog lunged again and again, whirling and striking at his enemy again and again like a frenzied berserker. And yet, Sonichu never faltered. In fact, it was almost as if he had wanted Sonic to fall into his trap…

"Fire it up!" ordered Kevin as he and Jexis stopped and dropped to the ground beside Amy Rose. The pink hedgehog lay on her side, sobbing softly in pain and still holding her injured leg. "Let's get you back on your feet, Amy! Just hold on and we'll take care of everything!"

"I need to check her for an exit wound! I don't want to seal the bullet inside!" The young medic hastily unzipped her first aid kit and pulled on a pair of surgical gloves, then withdrew a syringe. Before she could struggle any more, Jexis plunged the morphine into the hedgehog's leg. Relief was almost instantaneous, and Amy's pained grimace slowly shifted into a dreamlike smile as the painkiller spread through her body. Kevin gripped his M16, keeping watch toward the trench and the battle between Sonic and Sonichu. If Bubbles was here, then so was her boyfriend.

"Don't take too long," he cautioned Jexis as she grabbed a pair of tweezers and began digging around in the open wound. "We're completely exposed out here."

"I think I've got it!" Jexis gritted her teeth and closed the tweezers around a small piece of lead. "Yes! Okay, stand back, Kevin!" Pushing herself away from Amy, she hefted the medigun up and fired, surrounding the pink hedgehog in a field of healing energy. The red liquid in the tank dropped another third as the injury sealed up, quickly piecing together flesh, bone, and tendons.

"Al, Steve, come in," Kevin muttered into his radio. "I'm with Jexis. The Devils are okay, but Amy took a hit. Sonichu's got a gun now."

"Yeah, that seems…new fashion trend for the Sparkies," snarled Steve through a heavy curtain of static. "Jexis, Serge took a round…still on his feet, but we…back at the Bus, now!"

"…holding the line," added Al, pausing as another heavy plasma blast issued from the cannon. "Kevin…long as you're out there, head down the line…update from Cash. All the electricity…"

"Yeah, I got it!" The Jerkop looked over to Jexis, then pointed at the recovering hedgehog. "Take Amy back to the Devils. I'll be fine on my own. Watch yourself, Cadet!"

"Same to you, Kevin!" the medic replied, and flashed him a quick grin. "Good luck out there!"

Without another word, Kevin stood and dashed down the beach, stopping only to glance over at the duel between Sonic and Sonichu. The two hedgehogs seemed to be moving further and further away from the main battle, but whether this was accidental or another part of Sonichu's plan was still unknown. Sonic appeared to be burning out from his furious assault, and his attacks were now much fewer and far between. Sonichu was wearing his opponent down, strike by strike. Over by the Red Devils' dump truck, Jexis had returned Amy to Knuckles and Tails, and was now harvesting more organic matter from a wounded EHPF officer to recharge Vejovis.

Up ahead, Kevin could see the Skyraider strike team clustered around Clyde Cash at the center of the barricade. The Miscreant had drawn his revolver, occasionally firing off a thunderous shot toward an EHPF officer. Dozens of dead chus lay around the Marines and SEALs, far more than any of the Jerkop squads. Sergeant Wolff, Sergeant Bennett, and Kale Devoria stood among their soldiers, directing the defense of the barricade and helping to extract the surviving U.S. invasion force from the graveyard of wrecked ships and helicopters that lay behind them on the beach.

"Commander!" Kevin yelled, dropping into cover behind a transport a few yards from Clyde as a chattering volley of bullets clanged off the Punislav's armor. "Commander Cash!"
"Shaw!" The Miscreant glanced over, wiping a few strands of heavily-gelled hair out of his eyes. "What's going on? How's the Needlemouse team? You guys still holding out?"

"Barely, sir!" answered the Jerkop. Leaning out, he switched over to the M16's grenade launcher and fired a round toward a group of charging Sonichus. The blast tore two officers apart before they could dodge, and even managed to rip the leg off of a third. "Hold on! I'll come to you!"

"…I say again, we need reinforcements, now!" yelled Kale into his radio, bracing himself against the side of a flipped Punislav. "We won't last much longer if we can't get some fire support out here! Patch me through to Colonel Devoria! Over!"

"Negative on that, Skyraider One Actual. The colonel cannot be reached at this time, over."

"Bullshit!" The soldier stood up and fired, taking down an EHPF officer that had been strafing his squadmates with Thunderbolt attacks. Five Marines and two SEALs lay dead on the sand around him, while four more men were down with bullet wounds and severe burns. "Our squads are getting torn to pieces out here! We need to get off this goddamn beach, but they're hitting us from both sides! There's nowhere to go! We need airstrikes, reinforcements, anything! Over!"

"Skyraider One Actual, be advised, the landing zone is too hazardous for reinforcements at the moment. Command has authorized the emergency use of airstrikes on the Pokémon to clear the beach. After that, we can deploy the heavy armor and combat mons to reinforce you. That thing will tear our tanks apart if we send them in now! Hold your positions until the strike, over."

"Copy that!" shouted Kale. "What's their ETA? Over!"

"We've got the jets on the runway now. Shouldn't be more than two mikes. Good luck. Out."

"Kevin Shaw, reporting in, sir!" Kevin dropped to one knee beside Clyde Cash and ejected his empty M16 magazine to reload. "Al sent me over to ask for a sitrep, Commander!"

"We're holding the line well enough, but this isn't gonna last much longer!" answered the Miscreant. "What happened with Sonichu? He doesn't know you're here, does he?"

"No, sir! Sonic's fighting him right now!" reported Kevin. "I don't know how long he'll be able to keep Sonichu occupied, though! Knuckles, Amy, and Tails are still with the Red Devils!"

"Well, they'd better stay out of the open, for their own sakes," Clyde growled. "Fucking chus with guns, Shaw! Chus with guns! How the hell did they even figure out how to operate them?"

"Sonichu must've equipped them from the Slumberland armory!" Kevin yelled angrily. "Maybe they know how to use our radios, too! That's how they knew the Americans were…"

"SWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMM…" Another rumbling bellow rose above the gunfire as Momma surfaced beside a half-sunken hovercraft and began tearing the transport open with her talons. Ignoring the bullets pounding against her hide, the Swampert let out a frenzied roar and pulled a massive chunk of hull right out of the LCAC, then lunged into the opening in search of survivors. Finding nothing, she withdrew from the hole and smashed the transport in half with a single blow, then turned to face the battle on the beach. A hungry glint flashed in her yellow eyes as she sank back into the water and began moving towards the shore. Bubbles Rosechu floated after her, giggling with glee as the Swampert bore down upon the Marines.

"FOB Charlottesville, come in, this is Skyraider One Actual!" Kale dropped behind cover as the soldiers beside him closed in to fill the gap. "Requesting a sitrep on the airstrike, over!"

"Skyraider One Actual, Skarmory Flight is airborne and inbound on the target. Stand by, over."

Kevin ducked away from an incoming electric bolt and lost his balance, falling sideways onto the sand next to Clyde. Scrambling to his feet, he glanced behind him just in time to see what looked like three parallel rows of water jets leaping out of the ocean, accompanied by a brief, chainsaw-like buzz. Momma let out a scream and lurched forward as the rounds struck home, drawing a thick gush of crimson from her shoulder and side. Seconds later, a trio of A-10 Thunderbolts streaked over the battlefield, then banked right and disappeared back into the cloud cover. Wounded and bleeding, the mutant Swampert staggered into the shallows and collapsed, her breath coming through in ragged, heaving gasps as she fought to shake off the immense pain.

"MOMMA! NO!" shrieked Bubbles as her water sphere disintegrated around her. Dropping onto the beach, she dashed over to the fallen behemoth's side. "Momma, get up! Get up!"

"Fucking hell! Kale, she's still alive!" Leveling his revolver, Clyde squeezed off a round at an incoming EHPF officer, but missed. Another shot caught the chu in the head, separating its ear and part of its face from the rest of its skull. "Tell 'em to circle around and hit her again!"

"FOB Charlottesville, come in!" The SEAL winced as a pained roar from Momma echoed across the beach. "Target is still alive, repeat, target is still alive! Requesting another airstrike, over!"

"Roger, Skyraider One Actual. A-10s circling, ETA thirty seconds. Hold your positions. Over."

"You…" Bubbles looked up, her face twisted by rage as she turned and raised her arms toward the sea. Water began to swirl around her body, forming another protective bubble. However, the Rosechu wasn't anywhere close to being done. As the watery sphere grew larger and larger, it started to spin around and reform into a thick whirling column. "YOU…HURT…MOMMA!"

"Oh, fuck! Oh my God!" Kale's jaw dropped as a rushing sound like that of a wind tunnel began to emanate from the Rosechu's liquid construct. Powerful gusts whipped across the beach, hurling debris and sand in every direction and snuffing out any remaining fires in the wreckage. As the soldiers on the beach stared up in terrified awe, a colossal waterspout formed around Bubbles's sphere, churning the sand below into a wide crater. Close to the edge of panic, the SEAL gripped his radio tightly, but the voices coming through were decidedly unfamiliar.

"This is Skarmory Two One! Target obscured, target obscured! What the hell is that thing?"

"Skarmory Flight, this is Command. Abort mission, repeat, abort the mission and return to-"

"Command, this is Skarmory Two Six, I can't break right. The wind's doing something to my-"

"SKARMORY TWO FIVE, YOU'RE TOO CLOSE! DISENGAGE! DISENGAGE!"

As the jets shot free of the clouds again, Kevin could see one of them wobbling out of control toward the spinning column of wind and water. Before it could crash into the waterspout, the A-10 wrenched to the right and plummeted into a nosedive, smoke trailing from its engines. The cockpit blasted upwards, followed by the aircraft's ejected seat. As a parachute blossomed from the falling pilot's chair, the abandoned Thunderbolt plowed into the dunes, leaving a massive furrow in the sand before an earthshaking detonation engulfed the rest of the wreckage.

"Command…Skarmory Two Five is down. I'm seeing a chute. Returning to base, over."

"Copy, Skarmory Two One. Get out of there."

"Fuck. That's not good. That's not good," Kale snarled. "We just lost our air support, Cash."

"We won't have anything left to support if she hits the shore!" yelled Clyde, fumbling with the Poké Ball on his belt. "Get everyone over to the line and keep them back! I've got an idea!"

"Back to the line! Move! Move!" Kale waved to the Marines, who by now were beating a hasty retreat from the approaching waterspout. Bubbles's nightmarish laughter echoed around them, a crazed, high-pitched giggle that had been heavily amplified by the wind. Momma slowly raised her head and staggered to her feet, then opened her monstrous jaws and added her own roar to the hellish chorus. Unaffected by the wind, the mutant Swampert stalked forward from the edge of the water, her wound still dripping blood onto the wet sand as waves crashed around her feet.

Inserting a final grenade into his assault rifle's underslung launcher, Kevin raised the weapon, aimed his sight a few inches over the beast's head, and pulled the trigger. The explosive round left its tube with a muffled thunk, traveling in a long arc before it struck the sand less than a yard from the Swampert's front foot. Momma ignored the blast entirely and continued on her way, bellowing again and again as she picked up speed. Though her physiology was designed to let her travel both in the water and on land, she had not had the opportunity to do the latter in many years. Her movements were slow and clumsy, but purposeful. There was nowhere to run.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Cash," panted Kale as another roar sounded from Momma. The Swampert had reached the first cluster of debris, where most of the destroyed LCACs had washed ashore. Every earthshaking stride was bringing the immense Pokémon closer and closer to her prey. "If we lose, the fleet's going to flatten this entire beach and everyone on it."

"Then you'd better start praying to Arceus that this works," answered Clyde, and clicked the Poké Ball's release button. Drawing back an arm, he tossed the ball straight down the beach toward the advancing Momma. "Time to introduce these two to an old friend. GO, RANDY!"

A bolt of energy poured from the capture device, but the Pokémon that emerged from inside was easily the last species that Kevin would have ever suspected Clyde Cash of owning.

"WAAAAAAILOOORRRD!" rumbled the colossal creature as it settled its immense bulk down upon the sand. Stretching one hundred and ten feet from nose to tail, the Pokémon outmatched even Momma Swampert in terms of size. As the surrounding Jerkops and soldiers stared, awestruck, it reared up and unleashed a blast of water from its blowhole, then slowly lifted off of the sand like an enormous blimp. Within the Wailord's body, an array of natural air bladders quickly expanded, filling themselves with a helium-like gas and lifting the creature into the air.

"Keep everyone focused on the EHPF," ordered Clyde, striding toward the floating Pokémon as Momma let out a deafening roar at her opponent. Kevin, Kale, and the American soldiers stared silently. "I'll take care of Momzilla. I had a feeling I'd need to use Randy on her sooner or later."

"WELL WELL WELL, IF IT ISN'T FATHER'S OLD NEMESIS, CLYDE RAYMOND CASH!" Bubbles's crazed giggles rang through the air, and her waterspout stopped beside the mutant Swampert. "I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN YOU WERE THE ONE BEHIND THIS; I AM GOING TO HAVE SO MUCH FUN WATCHING MOMMA EAT YOU ALIVE, YOU HOMO JERK!"

"You want me, Bubbles?" Clyde shot back, mockingly beckoning to her as Randy answered Momma's challenge with a thrumming call of its own. "Then you're gonna have to get past the Boulder-Dropping Whale first! Come and get me, you fucking slut! COME AT ME!"

"GET HIM, MOMMA!" ordered the Rosechu with a savage laugh. "FATHER HAS MADE YOU STRONGER THAN THAT WEAK WHALE WILL EVER BE! SHOW IT WHAT YOU CAN DO!"

"Good idea!" The Miscreant pointed toward Momma. "Randy, put up some Mist!"

A low rumble sounded from deep within the Wailord, and as Kevin looked on, a spout of water vapor erupted from its blowhole, forming a massive cloud across the beach. In seconds, the mist had swallowed up Clyde, Randy, Momma, and Bubbles, leaving only their silhouettes visible in the morning sunlight. As the Swampert roared and charged forward, Randy drifted up and spun, remarkably quickly for a creature of its size. With a meaty crack, it swung its tail into Momma's head, sending her reeling back in pain and surprise.

Kevin whirled back toward the battle and ducked down, mere seconds before a Thundershock connected with the adjacent S.A.V. unit. The PVCC Transformer shuddered and gave off a brief shower of sparks, but quickly recovered and began opening fire on its attackers again. By now, Sonichu's army had been cut nearly in half, despite their new armaments. With Clyde and Randy engaging Bubbles and Momma, the Jerkops and American soldiers could now focus their efforts on eliminating as many Electric Hedgehog Pokémon as possible. As chu after chu hit the ground, dead, the EHPF's heroic zeal began to falter. Some attempted to focus their fire on the Marines, but in their haste, many of them ended up shooting their comrades, or even their own feet. Only a few knew how to operate the guns besides just "point and shoot", and it was costing them dearly.

The ground trembled as Randy slammed down, sending a shockwave through the beach. A ball of tightly-packed sand emerged from beneath the Wailord's belly and rolled towards Momma, but the Swampert was prepared for it this time. Raising a clawed forelimb, she struck the ball with enough force to make it explode in a shower of sand. With a terrifying shriek, the Swampert charged forward and closed her beaked jaws around Randy's side. Hot blood sprayed her across the face as she pulled her head backward, ripping away a sizeable chunk of blubber and flesh.

"WAAAAAAAAILOOOORD!" bellowed the wounded Pokémon, and drifted into the air again as if to deliver a second, stronger Rollout. Momma swallowed the mouthful of flesh and lunged after her opponent with a vicious snarl, sinking both of her taloned forelimbs into its exposed belly and ripping downward. Bloody lacerations appeared in Randy's skin as he struggled helplessly, but not even the colossal Wailord could break free from the Swampert's grasp.

"FINISH HIM OFF, MOMMA!" Bubbles cheered triumphantly. "YOU CAN DO IT!"

"SWAAAAAAAAMMMMMPERT!" Momma wrenched down, hard. The two colossal beasts hit the sand at the same time, creating an impact so massive that it sent ripples spreading out across the sea towards the American fleet. Invigorated by her success, Momma reared up and set about tearing into Randy with her beak and claws. Pieces of blubber and blue skin rained down upon the battleground, and it seemed as if the Wailord was mere moments away from fainting or dying. If it didn't do something soon, Momma would disembowel it alive.

"You want to go that way, Bubbles?" Clyde snarled. "Let's end this! Randy! ROCK TOMB!"

A shudder like that of an earthquake reverberated through CWCville Beach. With a final burst of energy, Randy slammed his tail down and launched himself high into the air, just as a chunk of sandstone the size of an Abrams tank exploded from the beach. Surprised, Momma made as if to leap away from the airborne rock, but it was too late. As Randy fell back toward the ground, he rolled forward and swatted the boulder down with his pectoral fins.

"MOMMA!" shrieked Bubbles. "MOMMA, GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

CRASH! The boulder dropped, dealing Momma a crushing blow to the side of her head and neck. Several dull cracks rang out as her head fins ripped open, spraying blood across the beach and lacerating part of her face down to the bone. An agonized screech exploded from the Swampert's jaws as she staggered and collapsed onto the wet sand. Seconds later, Randy hit the ground next to Clyde, who quickly grabbed up his fallen Poké Ball and withdrew the injured Wailord into it.

"That's it! She's down!" Kale yelled, grabbing for his radio. A cheer rose from the Jerkops and soldiers as Momma let out a final roar and lay still, too stunned to move. "Command! Command, come in! Target is down! Repeat, target immobilized! Over!"

"We saw it, Skyraider One Actual. That was goddamned incredible. Be advised, we can't launch any more airstrikes or send reinforcements until you neutralize that waterspout, over."

"Close ranks!" ordered Clyde as he sprinted back to the barricade. The wind was blowing much more strongly than it had before, and through the dissipating mist, Kevin could see the massive waterspout looming larger and larger as it approached the line. "Kale, send this order down the line! Target the storm and fire everything we have! We have to kill this bitch before she-"

"That won't work, sir!" explained Kevin. "My squad fought Bubbles during the June Offensive! Bullets don't do jack shit! We need to hit her with explosives if we want to take her down!"

"All we've got is grenades and the S.A.V. autocannons," the Miscreant spat, glancing around in panic as small pieces of debris began flying backward towards the swirling column of water. Kevin could feel it pulling against him, threatening to rip him off his feet and into the air. If they didn't do something soon, every soldier and Jerkop would be at the mercy of Bubbles Rosechu. "Petty Officer, I hope to Arceus that you guys brought some heavier firepower than we did."

"No!" Kale yelled. "But I know how we can get some!" Clicking on the radio, he raised it to his ear. "Command, this is Skyraider One Actual! We need a drone strike! Repeat, we need a drone strike on Bubbles Rosechu! Put a Hellfire right down the middle of that tornado!"

"Skyraider One Actual, repeat your last. You want us to fire a missile…into the tornado?"

"Yes! Affirmative!" shouted the SEAL, cupping one hand over the receiver. "Just do it! Now!"

"Copy that, Skyraider One Actual. We're going to see if we can mobilize a strike. Stand by."

"The water…" Kevin gasped, staring out at the edge of the shore as the waves steadily began to retreat. He looked toward Clyde. "Commander, look! Look at the ocean!"

The Miscreant whirled around. A strange and ominous noise, like the crashing of an immense waterfall, was slowly rising above the sounds of battle. The last few curtains of mist parted, revealing what appeared to be a solid, approaching wall of seawater. Looming nearly twenty feet over the beach, the vast swell of water surged toward the barricade, while the whirling cyclone continued to spin on and on at the crest of the wave.

"YOU THINK YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN JUST WALK AWAY ALIVE, CLYDE CASH?" screamed Bubbles as she swept forward, borne atop the looming ridge of the massive tidal wave that she had just summoned up from the depths of the Chesapeake. "YOU AND YOUR WHALE MURDERED MOMMA, YOU DIRTY HOMO SCUM! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"

"Evacuate," Clyde breathed, his face frozen in terror. "Shaw, get back to your unit. Get everyone…tell everyone to get to the transports. We have to…get out of here."

"There's no time!" shouted Kale. "What about the Marines? We can't leave them here to die!"

"Get as many as we can onto the vehicles!" The Miscreant stared up at the wave. "Arceus, we're all dead if we don't do this now! Move! MOVE!"

Kevin leapt up, his heart pounding incessantly as the roaring sound grew closer and closer to the barricade. The other Jerkops and the American troops had noticed the wave as well, while the EHPF were already retreating out of the way. As the chatter of gunfire died down, Kevin sprinted away, stumbling past the line of operatives and soldiers in a mad dash for the Battle Bus. Up ahead, he could see Steve and the other Honey Badgers climbing onto the vehicle, while the Red Devils, Knuckles, Tails, and Amy did the same with their transport. If he could just reach it, surviving the wave was still a slim possibility.

"NOW, BLAKEY-BOO!" the Rosechu screamed as a spinning black blur blasted past the defense line and launched itself at the tornado. "LET OUR TRUE LOVE DESTROY THESE HEARTLESS TROLLS ONCE AND FOR ALL! FOR MOMMA! FOR FATHER! SHOCKING SURF!"

An earsplitting crack echoed across the beach as Blake Sonichu and Bubbles both unleashed a fully-charged blast of electricity into the waterspout. The Thunderbolt raced down the column and into the ocean, spreading throughout the passing wave and saturating it with lightning. Even at such a distance, Kevin could already feel his hair prickling up with static. Anyone caught in the wave would not only be swept up and drowned…they would surely be electrocuted as well.

"What the hell happened over there?" shouted Steve as he reached down and helped Kevin into the Battle Bus, then slammed the door shut. "Kevin's on! I got him! Al, take us out of here!"

"No!" Kevin yelled, looking to the group of soldiers around Clyde. "We have to help them!"

"We can't risk it, Kevin!" the Legend replied over the intercom. "That wave's gonna hit us in less than thirty seconds! Everyone strap in, we're getting off this beach before-"

"Look!" Nick pointed out the window at something in the sky. "Guys, look! Three o'clock!"

Kevin hurried to the window and stared out, just in time to see a distant object soaring over the beach. As he and the Honey Badgers watched, the waterspout seemed to buckle and expand just before a colossal fireball and a plume of smoke erupted from the base. A second blast exploded right in the center, annihilating the column of water and presumably, the two lovehogs inside.

"YES! THEY DID IT! THEY FUCKING DID IT!" roared Al. "Everyone, hang on!"

The Battle Bus lurched forward, rumbling its way down the beach toward the collapsing wall of water. Cheers and relieved shouts rang out from the defenders as the lightning-infused wave crashed harmlessly into the beach. Only a few more seconds, and the Shocking Surf would have engulfed the barricade and everyone in it. The EHPF army had yet to realize what had just happened, giving the Jerkops and soldiers a much-needed reprieve to reload and regroup.

"Good to have you back, man." Nate reached over and gave his brother a quick hug around the shoulder as they sat down. "I think I must've bagged fourteen before they started shooting at us. We're pretty damn lucky that they didn't get their hands on any sniper rifles."

"Don't give them any ideas," muttered Jexis, sinking into the seat behind the Shaw brothers in exhaustion. "Arceus. That was a nightmare. How many operatives do you think we lost?"

"A dozen, maybe. Fifteen." Kevin sighed. "We were lucky…most of the Sparkies attacked the center, plus we had Vejovis. Wayne and Amy would've died if you hadn't been there, Cadet."

"Thanks." The young medic glanced at her tank, which was now running on empty. "You think Bubbles or Blake survived the airstrike? I need to reload this thing soon."

"Let's hope so," Steve spoke up from across the aisle where he and Kuri were sitting together. "We've got a score to settle with Bubbles. I want to see her suffer for what she did to Amanda."

"We're here," Al announced, opening the doors again. "Steve, Kevin, Kuri, get out and see if you can find the bodies. Nate, Nick, Serge, cover them. Jexis, you're on the cannon."

The three Jerkops filed out of the bus cautiously, stepping down onto the eerily quiet beach. The smells of salt water and ozone hung thick and heavy in the cold morning air, and a layer of mist had begun to settle over the sand. Momma Swampert's body lay at the edge of the water like a beached whale, her sides heaving slowly in and out as she struggled to breathe. Kevin could have sworn he could make out a tiny glint of metal on the creature's head, but it was too distant to see.

"So, you made it." Clyde Cash stepped up to the Honey Badgers, a weary grin plastered on his spray-tanned face. The Miscreant's spiky hair had become even more disheveled, but the look of determination in his eyes was as strong as ever. "Devoria's calling in some reinforcements from the fleet, and the seas are clear. We'll be getting tanks and mons. Looks like we won…for now."

"Yes it does, Commander," Steve answered. Looking down the beach, he fixed his eye upon the wounded leviathan. "Sir…how much longer are we planning to let that monster live?"

"Be patient, Morrison," said Clyde. "Our top priority is finding Bubbles and Blake. We can't let either of them escape. We'll never have a better chance to-"

"Looking for me, Clyde Cash?"

Clyde and the operatives whirled toward the giggling voice, just in time for an inbound Hydro Pump to knock the five of them to the ground, stunned. Choking and sputtering on a mouthful of salt water, Kevin struggled to raise his M16, but it was as if his arms were glued to his sides. He looked down, only to see his hands and feet trapped within pressurized spheres of water, just like how Amanda had been held in the Abyss. Steve, Kuri, and Clyde were similarly restrained.

Like some hellish water demon from the darkest depths of the sea, Bubbles Rosechu leapt from behind Momma's body and landed gracefully on the sand. Most of her blue fur had been singed to black by the Hellfire missiles, but apart from several severe lacerations to her face, chest, and arms, she was relatively unharmed. Behind her, Blake Sonichu knelt in the shallows, moaning in pain as he attempted to remove a bloody chunk of shrapnel from his shoulder. Through some horrible providence, the Combo members had both emerged from the drone strike alive.

"You jerks…are becoming…rather…problematic…" panted Bubbles, and raised a hand. Kevin gritted his teeth as he felt the watery bonds tighten around his wrists and ankles. Any more, and the bones would surely snap. "I am going…to enjoy this…immensely."

"So you remember us, huh?" Kuri snapped. "I remember Amanda kicking your ass, Bubbles! We wiped the floor with you last time, you psychotic cunt! Come on! Let's go another round!"

"Oh, I remember," the Combo member chuckled, clutching an open wound in her side. "Your dirty niggo friend…where is she, again? Oh, that's right; dead. Like all of you are going to be."

"FUCK YOU, BITCH!" Steve shouted, twisting around desperately. "AL! AL, SHOOT HER!"

"That would not be a smart move, Captain Blondbeard," Bubbles answered mockingly, and darted forward until she was standing a mere two feet from the group. "I can survive their bullets; can you?"

"Stand down, Morrison…" Clyde grunted. "She's right. Hold fire! Everyone, hold fire!"

"Of course I am right," snickered the Rosechu. "You know, I was thinking about just killing you all here and now; that would not be very much fun, would it? No; I think I will take you back to the Abyss and leave your pals here for Sonichu and Blakey-boo to play with! Isn't that lovely?"

"I'm going to kill you, Bubbles." The Miscreant locked eyes with the Rosechu, hissing the venomous words through his teeth. "One day, I'm going to put a bullet in your skull, and the last thing you're going to see before Giratina devours your soul is me, looking down andsmiling."

"Oh, I'm sooo sorry to disappoint you, Clyde," Bubbles giggled, "but villains like you never win! You might have killed Momma and injured my precious Blakey-boo, but you will never-"

"SWWWAAAAMMMM…" With a long, mournful roar, Momma Swampert shifted and began to move forward up the beach, blood still trickling from the wound on her head. As injured as she was, the monstrous Pokémon could still walk, albeit incredibly slowly and painfully. Along with the injuries she had sustained during her fight with Randy, Momma had also taken immense electrical damage from Bubbles and Blake's Shocking Surf. It was a wonder she hadn't fainted.

"Momma!" squealed Bubbles. "Momma, you are alive! You-"

"SWAAAAAAMMMMPERT!" bellowed Momma. Her yellow eyes narrowed, locking onto the trapped PVCC prisoners as the Rosechu's shrill voice reached her ears. Hungrily, she charged forward, quickly crossing the stretch of sand between her and her prey in a matter of seconds.

"Yes!" the Rosechu cheered, leaping up and down happily. "Kill them, Momma! Kill them all!"

Kevin forced himself to keep his eyes open. Steve and Kuri were shouting something, but he could no longer hear it. Several dozen tons of enraged Swampert was bearing down upon them, and he had a feeling that not even Graduon would be able to stop it. If only he had used the Sawabi armor during the battle, they might have survived. But that chance was long gone now. Gritting his teeth, he stared directly into Momma's shredded face. If he was going to die…

Something shiny glinted from within the largest wound, and for a fraction of a second, Kevin could see it clearly. A small electronic device, like some sort of computer chip, had been firmly clamped to the Swampert's skull, and the crippling blow from the Wailord's dropped boulder had exposed it. A sizzling crack rang out from the device, followed by a small burst of sparks. Whatever the chip had been doing to Momma, the Shocking Surf had just shorted it out.

"Momma?" The enthusiastic grin faded from Bubbles's face as the colossal Pokémon glared down at her. "Momma, are you okay? What in GodBear's name did those jerks-"

"SWAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMM!" Before the Rosechu could finish, Momma had struck, closing her beak around Bubbles's torso and lifting the struggling Combo member into the air. Bubbles shrieked, struggling and grasping at the Swampert's face as Momma bit down and began shaking her prey like a dog playing with a chew toy. The pressure lifted from Kevin's limbs instantly, dropping him and his comrades to the ground as their watery restraints splashed harmlessly across the sand. Automatically, he reached for his M16, but stopped as a warm splash of blood struck him across the hand. Looking up, he could see more red droplets falling from the sky. Bubbles's screams had become choking wails now, and Momma's beak now bore a fresh coat of crimson as she continued to shake and maul her helpless victim. Finally, she reached up with a taloned hand, grabbed the struggling Rosechu's legs, and wrenched her head sideways.

CRRRRRUNCH! With a sound like several sticks of celery being broken at once, Momma ripped her prey in half, snapping up Bubbles's lower body and swallowing it whole. The head, arms, and torso fell free of her beak, tumbling down and down until it hit the beach with a wet smack. Through some cruel trick of her accelerated healing ability, the Combo member was still barely clinging to life. Wheezing and moaning, she reached out with a mutilated arm and managed to pull herself a few inches away from the ravenous beast. Her heart and lungs were still intact, but everything below the waistline now resided in the digestive system of Momma Swampert.

"Muh…Mohm…Momma…" she gurgled, bloody tears spilling onto the sand. "Wuh…why?"

Click.

Bubbles looked up. Clyde Cash stood over her, expressionlessly inserting a single round into his S&W Model 500. As Kevin, Steve, and Kuri watched, the PVCC commander snapped the cylinder shut, gave it a quick spin, and aimed the revolver down at the blue Rosechu's head.

"Cuhsh…" Bubbles choked, using the last air in her lungs to form the words. "Cash…you…"

"Yes?" The Miscreant cocked his head to the side and smiled calmly. "What is it, Bubbles?"

"You…" spluttered the dying Rosechu. "YOU'VE…KILLED…MEEEEEEE-"

BANG!

Bubbles's head exploded outward as the immense bullet pierced her skull and shredded her brain into bloody mush. The female Electric Hedgehog Pokémon shuddered and died, her final scream lingering in the air as Momma unleashed a victorious bellow above her corpse. At last, the echo faded, and silence returned to CWCville Beach.

Clyde Cash remained standing for a few more seconds, then sank to the ground and let out a long breath. Gripping the massive revolver in one hand, he gave it a halfhearted twirl, then let it fall as well. He didn't bother to look down at the Combo member's twitching body, but instead stared out to sea, out toward the new wave of landing craft and helicopters moving towards the shore.

"Good," he sighed, smiling triumphantly. "Good."

---

West CWCville, CWCville Shopping Center, food court, Burger King, 6:26 a.m.

"Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger; can I take your order?"

Yeah, a double order of get me the fuck out of here, Allie Parker answered silently as Wild Sonichu and Sandy Rosechu approached the table where she and Christian Weston Chandler were currently sitting. Both of the chus had outfitted themselves in what the Jerkop assumed was the Mayor's idea of what sort of clothes a maitre d' and a waitress usually wore. It was all part of Chandler's ideal, excruciatingly meticulous First Date scenario, and she had unwillingly been given the role of his true and honest Sweetheart from the Ground-Up. On the whole, death was starting to sound a lot more welcome by now. At least Kevin would be waiting for her.

Come to think of it, maybe she had died in the crash, and this was her own little special section of hell. Giratina or Satan or whoever was in charge of the afterlife had probably taken one look at her and thought, Nah, we can't make this one suffer enough. Put her in the Shopping Center with Mayor Chandler. No weapons, no escape, no one to help her. Oh, and they're on a date.

Some date. The captured Jerkop rolled her eyes and tried to think of a plan. With her arm out of commission and currently hanging in a sling, complicated actions like stabbing the Mayor in the face with a fork were almost certain to fail. That, and the fact that Patti-Chan was monitoring her constantly from the other side of the Burger King, meant that any attempts to flee would be met with swift and most likely painful punishment.

"Ah, well now, it appears dat tha time for makin' small talk an' tha like is done!" Chris smiled and stared into his captive's eyes, making sure to throw her a playful wink as well. To him, it was a loving expression that would surely melt even the coldest of hearts. To Allie, it was akin to being gawked at by a large flabby tarsier that smelled heavily of rotten watermelons and sewage.

"Good morning, sir and ma'am!" Wild announced, sporting a massive grin as he ushered Sandy up to the table. The young Rosechu dutifully placed two glasses of "orange juice" (in reality, flat CWC Orange Soda) in front of Allie and Chris, curtsied, then stepped back to her father's side. "Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger! My name is Wild Sonichu; I will be your waiter for this special First Date! Would y'all like to get it on and order up some breakfast?"

"Tha, um, yes Wild, dat would be most mucho excellentay," answered the Mayor excitedly. Throughout his various conversations with Allie, he would sometimes lapse into his own mutant strain of Spanish, as if attempting to sound worldly and sophisticated. "I would like ta have tha Super Shockin' Sonichu Slam Stack Special, an' my Sweetheart here will have tha-"

"Bacon," Allie interrupted. "Lots of bacon. All of the bacon. Enough to give me a heart attack."

Chris sighed. "Dat is not, well, dat would not be a very appropriate activity on dis date, now would it, Megan?"

"Allie."

"Uh, yeah, dat is…eggs-actly what I said," stammered Chris. He glanced up at Wild, who unquestioningly nodded in agreement. "An' speaking of dat, I want tha eggs scrambled, Wild!"

"About that, Father…" The green Sonichu looked around, then leaned down next to the Mayor's ear. "Well, Sandy and I looked through everything; all we could find were some frozen waffles and…ugh…big meaty sausage links. All the other food was ruined by those False Blue jerks!"

Another sigh. "Okay den, Wild, it appears dat y'all will have ta impervi…ta make do with dat."

"I'll be fine with anything that's not this," Allie scoffed, sliding her glass of Orange Soda back across the table with her good arm. "Here. You can have my 'orange juice' if you want, Sandy."

"What?" The young Rosechu looked surprised. "Really? Well, um, thank you, Miss Allie…"

"Hey! HEY!" Wild glared at the Jerkop reproachfully as he grabbed the glass and passed it to Sandy, who quickly and thirstily began drinking. "Don't even think about it; no one gives their juices to my little girl except for me!"

Allie snickered. As hopeless as her situation was, she was at least finding plenty of opportunities to mock Chris's attempts to woo her. Wild was too dense to pick up on any of them, but it was clear that the Mayor had been steadily growing more and more frustrated with every failed pick-up line or clumsy compliment. There was no way out, and for all she knew, the war had already been lost. If she was doomed to die in the Shopping Center, then she would make sure that Chris and his entourage of mutants remembered the infamous Allie Parker for the rest of their lives. It was the most she could do, given the circumstances, but it would have to be enough.

"Y'all oughta be more considerable, Meg-uh, Allison." The Mayor leaned forward in his seat, fixing his reluctant date with a reproachful stare as Wild and Sandy retreated to the kitchen. "You would not, uh, not many other men would be as kind as ta overlook y'all's shortcomings!"

"Big talk from a guy who still shits himself on a regular basis," retorted the Jerkop. "Seriously, how many pairs of underwear have you gone through since Hedgeclipper?"

"Hrmph!" Chris smiled proudly, as if he were a child announcing a perfect report card to his parents. "Well, I do not know what dat Hedgeclipper thing you keep talkin' about is, but y'all will be proud tha...ta know dat I have not done tha, uh, pooped myself in over twelve hours!"

"Arceus." Allie stared at him with confused revulsion. "You're actually proud of that, aren-"

"Of course!" the flabby despot interrupted. "I have...tha stress of tha past few days an' suh-such trialing an' tribulatory tasks has been tha' worst it has ever been! Most people woulda probably had an accident a lot more often in my situation!" He frowned. "Especially dat coward Kevin!"

"You know, I would normally say that Kevin's a hundred times the man you are," growled Allie, forcing herself to keep from lunging for her captor's throat. "But a hundred times zero is still zero. You're pathetic, Chandler. Hell, you might be the most pathetic thing on the entire planet."

The Mayor let out a sigh, staring at the Jerkop as if she had turned into a moonfish. "Well, it seed...seens...it appears dat tha Hypno-Ray has not, uh, not worn off yet. I..."

CRASH!

"Ow! Daddy!"

"Whoops! Sorry, Sandy; looks like I got my milk in your waffle!"

"See, that's my point," Allie continued, ignoring the voices from the kitchen. "You keep thinking up these stupid excuses for us, for why we hate you. Hypnotizing the mentally handicapped? You really think the PVCC needs to do that, Mayor? I volunteered. Kevin volunteered. Weall volunteered to be Jerkops. And you know why? Because we all hate you. We all despise you."

"Well, how else would dey get people ta hate someone like me?" Chris sighed again. "I mean, come on, Megallison, why else would y'all think dat y'all was burned because of a, uh, tha EHPF makin' an honest day's mistake? An' anyways, dey most certainly had a good reason for-"

"They pushed me...into my own grill...because the fact that I was selling hot dogs on the street...made them uncomfortable," snarled the Jerkop, pointing to the large patch of scar tissue across the side of her face. "You're saying that they had a good reason to disfigure me for the rest of my life? In that case, then we had a 'good reason' to make Sonichu's family suffer for so long instead of just killing them outright." She chuckled. "That was Hedgeclipper, by the way."

"NO! NO NO NO! Dat is NOTHING like your so-called 'problem!'" the Mayor screamed, his eyes bulging. Bringing his hands to his temples, he closed his eyes and began to chant in his butchered Spanish again. "Nivek etah! Sirhc evol! NIVEK ES MALO! Ashihcam atoidi...are Nivek! Nivek le gusta año! Sirhc evol! Sirhc evol! SIRHC EVOL!"

Allie glanced at the clock on the wall, unimpressed by the childish display. "Are you done?"

"Rrrrrgghhh!" Chris slumped in his seat. His face had turned a dark shade of red, and quivered with exertion. "Dat nasty witch Mary Lee Walsh must've put an extra-strong hypnotizin' spell on y'all, den! But I will not let dat come between me an' my True an' Honest Sweeth-"

The sound of a phone vibrating cut him off mid-sentence as the song "Lift Up Your Eyes" began to play faintly from under the table.

"You going to get that?" Allie asked nonchalantly. "Or are we still on our date?"

Chris reluctantly pulled a custom-painted cell phone out of his pants pocket. "I, uh, I gotta take dis, Mallison." He flipped it open. "Uh, hello, dis is tha Mayor."

"Christian!" Angelica Rosechu sounded strangely unstable, her words laced with unmistakable fear. "Christian, I...it's over! It's all over! We cannot stop them...we need your help, now!"

"As y'all should know, I am currently doin' my First Date, Angelica!" announced Chris irritably, ignoring the Rosechu's urgent plea. "An' I do not appreciate y'all callin' in tha middle of things an' makin' me look insensible in front of my Sweetheart Megan! I am tryin' ta make up for tha lost time dat quote-unquote 'Julie' took away from me, an' anyways, tha PVCCitizens are not a problem anymore now dat Sonichu has defeated Kevin an'-"

"CHRISTIAN!" yelled Angelica, emphasizing each word so loudly that the Mayor recoiled away from the receiver. "LISTEN TO ME! It is NOT just the PVCC anymore, or Team Rocket, or Dr. Robotnik! They are here, on the beach! THE AMERICANS ARE INVADING CWCVILLE!"

"Hrmph!" Chris adjusted his glasses. "Well, if dey are misbehavin' an' tryin' ta give tha CWCitizens undue stress, tha EHPF an' tha Combo can take care of things while I am on my Destiny Date dat God an' Jesus have told me about. An' besides, tha Americans don't even have any Decepti-Clones like tha Jerkops have! Dey're even weaker! An' if dey are on tha CWCville Beach, den Bubbles an' Blake should be more dan capable of handlin' it like professionalists."

"NO! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, CHRISTIAN! BUBBLES IS D-"

"Ugh." Without waiting for Angelica to finish, the Mayor flipped the phone shut. It immediately started ringing again, but a quick press of the power button silenced it for good. "I do not like dese interruptions gettin' in tha way of my dates; it is rude an' unprofessional."

Allie nodded silently, holding back the joy that now threatened to erupt from her. It was finally happening. Chandler had forced America's hand through his own ego and idiocy, and unless Angelica had been horribly wrong, the invasion force was hitting the beach with a full assault. Maybe, just maybe, she would live to see CWCville fall.

The Mayor glanced toward the kitchen, sighed when he realized Wild and Sandy were not yet ready with breakfast, then reluctantly pressed a finger to his temple. Falling back into his own dreamscape, he methodically began to scan the aether for the psychic channel that he knew led to the mind of Bubbles Rosechu. At last, the frequency appeared, but as Chris opened the link, he was immediately greeted with a static hissing noise reminiscent of television snow.

This wasn't right. He was sure that this was Bubbles's channel! Chris tried the link another time, and was once again met with the strange immaterial hiss. While he was far from the expert he believed himself to be, he knew enough about psychic links to know an abnormality when he saw one. It didn't feel like a Dark-type's psychic void - those simply didn't feel like anything - and he couldn't feel any effort Bubbles was making to tune him out like what both Sonichu and Magi-Chan had been doing recently, so she couldn't be ignoring him. He couldn't even sense her subconscious thoughts like he would have been able to do if she'd fainted or been knocked out.

The good news was that Bubbles couldn't possibly be dead. Only one person had ever come close to killing any member of the Chaotic Combo, and according to Sonichu, his body was currently drifting in the Chesapeake where it belonged. Still...what was going on with Bubbles?

"Careful! Sandy, be careful with that; you don't want to slip and fall on anything hard, do you?"

Allie and Chris both looked over at the sounds as Wild and Sandy emerged from the kitchen, both carrying full plates of food. Regardless of what the Mayor or his "date" had ordered, the Electric Hedgehog Pokémon had managed to throw together an unappetizing mess of frozen Eggo waffles, microwaved bacon, Honey Nut Cheerios with milk, and a single overripe banana. Allie guessed that the latter was meant for her to eat. There was no way that Chris would be caught dead putting something so unmistakably phallic into his mouth.

"Enjoy!" Wild beamed at his "customers". "Will there be anything else, sir or ma'am?"

"Can Sandy join us?" Allie asked, looking over at Chris beseechingly. "Please? Pretty please?"

"Absolutely not!" The Combo member placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "My little girl is too young to understand true and honest love at her age; when she is old enough, I will be the one to teach her exactly what true straight hanky-panky between a loving couple is!"

"Daddy, please..." Sandy begged. "I'm hungry. Can I have some breakfast now?"

"Well, uh, ya see, dis was s'posed ta be just a date with me an' y'all..." the Mayor mumbled, faltering under the Jerkop's gaze. "Ugh. Okay, Sim-, uh, Sandy, y'all can sit with us."

"Yay!" The young Rosechu darted into the chair next to the Jerkop and scooted up to the table. "Thank you, Grandpa Chris!"

"Here you go, sweetie." Before Wild could even protest, Allie had pushed her plate over to Sandy. "Go ahead and eat as much as you want. You did a great job!" She looked up at the green Sonichu, shaking her head in bewilderment. "Unbelievable. You don't even make sure your own daughter gets anything to eat? What kind of father are you?"

"I...that is not my fault!" Wild retorted. "Ever since Evan and his trollin' stupid friends murdered Simonla, I have had to work twice as hard to make sure that Sandy grows up to be just like her mommy! Maybe you should try losing the love of your life, and see how you do as a mother!"

"I'm already halfway there," Allie growled. "You fuckers murdered my boyfriend, didn't you?"

"Well, Kevin is not your boyfriend anymore!" Chris cut in abruptly as Wild hurriedly placed his gloved hands over Sandy's ears. "An' since I am doin' you a big favor by bein' tha eligible bachelor dat I am an' treatin' you ta this First Date an' many more, tha least y'all can do is appreciate tha HARD WORK an' stress I am puttin' myself through!"

"I never asked for any of this!" snapped the Jerkop. "You think you can brainwash me into loving you? I'd rather fuck that abomination you've been keeping in your office."

"Her name is CERA ROSEY!" Chris yelled. "An', an' I have been workin' hard on makin' her all better from dat Prickly-Wickly goo dat you an' your troll pals gave her! She will be tha-"

"CHRISTIAN!" Allie looked toward the scream. Patti-Chan was running, stumbling frantically across the atrium, a cell phone clutched in her paw. The malformed cyborg dog had clearly panicked over what she had just heard. "Christian, it's Angelica! She wants to talk to you, now!"

"Patti-Chan, I am in tha middle of a DATE!" shouted the Mayor, rising from his seat as a cloud of body odor filled the air around him. Allie hurriedly covered her nose and mouth, as did Sandy. "If Angelica wants ta talk ta me, she should leave her name an' number with Allison Amber!"

"No, Christian, I..." Patti-Chan looked as if she were about to snap. "JUST TALK TO HER!"

The room fell silent. Chris stared at his reanimated dog, his mouth falling open to reveal several bits of half-chewed waffle. As the echo of Patti-Chan's yell faded, he slowly reached for his cell phone, turned it on, and dialed Angelica's number.

"Christian! Thank the Lo0rd, I thought you were..."

"Wha...what is going on over dere, Angelica?" The Mayor sounded oddly calm, yet there was a clear note of dawning terror in his voice. "I realize dat you are under a lot of stress, like myself-"

"They did something to Momma Swampert, Christian! This isn't...GODBEAR, SHE'S BEEN CORRUPTED! THE TROLLS HAVE TURNED HER AGAINST US!" Another speaker joined the conversation, and Allie could briefly hear a snippet of Punchy Sonichu's terrified babbling. "CASH KILLED HER! CLYDE CASH! THE SPAWN OF SATAN TURNED MOMMA AGAINST BUBBLES AND...OH MY GOD! OH GOD, CHRISTIAN, HE KILLED HER! SHE'S DEAD!"

The screams promptly gave way to a string of self-bleeped profanity. Angelica sounded as if she had outright lost her mind, sobbing and ranting like a madwoman as a loud rumbling bellow and the chatter of gunfire echoed in the background. As Allie waited in silent anticipation, she could see the Mayor's face contorting itself, as if it weren't sure if it should turn beet red with rage or turn pale with cold fear. With their master's focus disrupted, his bowels seized their window of opportunity and promptly lost control, expelling a high-pitched, prolonged squeak of a fart.

"N-no," Chris stuttered, gripping the phone even more tightly. "Dat is not, dat does not happen ta tha Chaotic Combo. I do not believe dat you are tellin' me tha whole an' nothin' but tha truth, Angelica! Tha trolls are probably just...just makin' it look like dey killed Bubbles, an'..."

"Everyone..." Angelica giggled softly. "Everyone saw it happen. Everyone saw Cash execute her. He...he blew her head apart. Killed her. Kill them. Kill them all...I'll kill you all..." A crazed laugh bubbled from the receiver, chilling Allie to the bone. "Pain...pleasure and pain. Salvation through pain, pain through pleasure...cleanse the earth, purge them all, kill them...salvation..."

Allie looked at Chris, but the Mayor's face had gone as white as a sheet. He looked like a child, a frightened child with no idea what to do or say. This was a side of him that few had ever seen before. In most cases, even when things seemed their worst, Chris would somehow find a way to rationalize everything. He would lie through his teeth to everyone and anyone who questioned him, insisting that the accusations were wrong, the accounts had been falsified, or his old favorite: that the trolls were just doing it to cause him stress. Any opportunity to construct his own narrative of events would be leapt upon and seized, while all evidence to the contrary was dismissed as "non-canon" or decried as lies and slander from the PVCC. As long as the narrative survived in his mind and the minds of his Electric Hedgehog Pokémon, only his word was truth. Now that one of his Chaotic Combo members was currently lying with her brains splattered across the sand in front of the EHPF army, though, that narrative had just collapsed.

"Christian?" Patti-Chan stood staring at her owner, frozen with fear. Wild looked as though he was about to vomit, and Sandy was trembling so badly that she might as well have been suffering from a seizure. "What...what should we do?"

"I..." Chris stammered, as greasy drops of sweat began to trickle from his unwashed hair. "I..."

A horrid gurgling noise bubbled within the chubby dictator's guts, and the raw smell of feces filled the air once more. Allie held her breath instinctively and scooted her chair away. She had anticipated this, but it was even worse than she'd imagined. Without a word, Chris shakily rose from the chair, wincing in embarrassment and panic as he waddled toward the atrium. Wild Sonichu darted after the Mayor without even checking on his own daughter first. Patti-Chan made as if to follow, then hesitated and shot Allie a dirty look.

"Don't even think about escaping, Janekop," the cyborg dog growled. "There is no way out of the Mall! Your brainwashing may be stronger than we thought, but my master and I have plans for you. One way or another, you will be Christian's Sweetheart from the Ground-Up!"

"Tell me something," Allie remarked coolly. "What kind of powder do you use when you change him? Does he get fussy if you forget to wipe front to back?"

With a snarl, Patti-Chan dashed away, leaving Allie and Sandy alone in the Burger King. For a moment, the Jerkop and the young Rosechu simply looked at each other in silence. Neither one of them knew what to say. Given the circumstances of Chris's departure, it was no wonder.

"Was Aunt Angelica telling the truth?" Sandy finally asked. Surprisingly, she didn't look sad or angry...just confused and a little shaken. "Is...does that mean that Aunt Bubbles is really dead?"

"I...don't know," replied Allie. She certainly wanted it to be true, but then again, Angelica was certifiably insane. "Maybe she is, maybe it's all just a big misunderstanding."

"Yeah, maybe." A frown spread across Sandy's face. "I hope she's dead."

"Huh?" Allie looked at her in surprise. "You...wait, what do you mean?"

"I don't like her," Sandy murmured. "Or her boyfriend. Or any of them...except Daddy. I loved Mommy, but Evan killed Mommy, and now Grandpa Chris and Daddy keep telling me to be like her." She sighed, then brightened up. "Were you at Sonichu's house? Did you kill Christine?"

"N...no," said the Jerkop. "I mean, yes, I helped, but I didn't kill her. Our Manajerk did."

"Oh!" Sandy smiled unexpectedly. "Could you thank him for me?"

"Of...course I will," Allie replied, despite her immense confusion. She had never even heard of a chu behaving like Sandy was now. Not even Silvana or the most overzealous Asperchus like Bobby and Kitty displayed such animosity toward other members of their species. "Sandy, are you feeling okay? You're not...sad that Sonichu's family is dead?"

"Sad?" the little Rosechu asked in a frighteningly innocent voice. "No. Why would I be?"

"No reason." Allie leaned back in her chair. "Want to know how we killed Christine?"

Sandy's smile said more than any words could describe.

---

North CWCville, CWCville Beach, 6:31 a.m.

"Cash! Cash, come in! What the hell did you do? Over!"

"We're fine, Kale." Clyde Cash stood up and carefully pulled the radio free of his shoulder strap as Kevin, Steve, and Kuri made their way over to rejoin him. "You guys saw that, right? Over."

"Saw it?" Kale Devoria sounded as if he'd just stared into the face of Giratina itself. "We FELT that! Whatever you did, the whole chu army's freaking out or something. Is she dead? Over."

"Well, I shot her in the face with my 500," answered the Miscreant, "so yeah, I'd say so. Over."

"Swaaam," Momma growled, glaring down at the small group as the Battle Bus slowly rumbled across the sand towards her with its plasma cannon pointed directly at her lacerated face. In her wounded state, the gigantic Pokémon wouldn't be able to survive more than one direct headshot.

"Kevin! Steve! Kuri!" The armored bus's side doors opened, revealing Nate. The sniper had his Barrett trained on the Swampert's head as well. "You guys okay? Why'd she attack Bubbles?"

"Some kind of control chip in her brain!" Steve yelled. "Where's Blake? Can you see him?"

"BUBBLES! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" A strangled scream echoed around the group. Looking for the source of the noise, Kevin saw a spinning black ball launch itself off the ground towards Momma. "YOU KILLED HER! YOU KILLED MY SWEETHEART, YOU MONSTER!"

The leviathan's jaws opened wide as another roar shook the beach. Moving far more quickly than her bulk appeared to allow, she heaved her tail up sand and swung it like an angry Stegosaurus defending itself from a predator. Even if Blake Sonichu had had time to change the course of his Homing Attack, the fin was far too wide to avoid. A direct hit was inevitable.

WHAM! Blake's stunned body sailed backwards, spinning limply through the air as Momma swatted him away almost casually. Kevin followed the black Electric Hedgehog Pokémon's flight path past the Jerkops and soldiers, past the panicking remnants of the EHPF army, all the way out until it finally plowed into the sand and was lost amongst the dunes, close to the clash of blue and yellow blurs that marked the duel between Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonichu.

"Back, back, and it's a home run, folks!" Clyde quipped, rebounding surprisingly well after his near-death experience. "Morrison, get your squad into the bus and head for the line!"

"What about her?" Steve stared up at the monstrous Pokémon. It was obvious that Momma didn't care for her "daughter's" fiancée. That, or she had been expecting Blake to put up more of a fight. "If her control chip's deactivated, is she still going to attack us?"

"Well, unless I'm wrong," the Miscreant stated, "Tatsuno has a Lunatone, right?"

"Yeah!" Kuri reached for her Poké Ball, pushed the release button, and tossed it onto the sand. "What do you need Luxo for, Commander?"

"A translator," answered Clyde as the crescent-shaped Pokémon materialized three feet above the ground. "I need to talk to that thing. If this doesn't work, tell Ledger to open fire."

"Miss Tatsuno?" The Lunatone's eyes flashed. "What is happening? Am I meant to fight her?"

"No, no," Kuri answered quickly. "Luxo, this is Momma. I need you to talk to her."

"Specifically, I need you to translate for me," said Clyde. "You can hear me, right?"

"Yes, Commander Cash."

The Miscreant looked directly at Momma. "Tell her that we mean her no further harm, but that we will not hesitate to end her life if she seeks to destroy us or our comrades."

"I shall." The Lunatone swiveled around, and its eyes began to glow with red light. Above it, Momma let out a snarl and narrowed her eyes. "She says that she is not some mad dog to be put down, nor does she intend to kill the ones who freed her. She has suffered enough already, and merely wishes to exact her revenge upon those who have made her their slave for so long."

"Then we have the same goal," Clyde stated. "Ask her if she'll help us."

Luxo pulsed again. "She says that she will do whatever it takes."

"Excellent." The PVCC commander smiled. "Then you can tell her that I would be honored to ride into battle with her. We may have been enemies for most of this war, but it's just like they say...the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And right now, we need all the friends we can get."

---

North CWCville, CWCville Beach, 6:36 a.m.

"Why...won't...you...just...give...up?" Sonichu shouted, punctuating each word with a swift blow or a blast of electricity. "The invasion is broken, you coward! Your human friends won't last much longer out there! What makes you think you can save them from annihilation?"

"Because that's what I do best!" panted Sonic the Hedgehog as he zipped away from the flurry of Thunderpunches. The duel was steadily draining his energy, but he was still faster than his opponent. All he had to do was wear down Sonichu long enough to land a solid Homing Attack...

ZZZZAAAAAPPPPP! A Thunderbolt burst from the Electric Hedgehog Pokémon's cheekspots, striking the dune only two feet away from its target. Rolling himself into a ball, Sonic dodged the next inbound lightning bolt easily and launched himself up from the sand. Before Sonichu could counter, the hedgehog uncurled and spun in midair, dealing him a solid kick to his side. As the air left his lungs with a whoosh, the Hero of CWCville instinctively ducked and rolled backward, avoiding Sonic's follow-up strike. With about five yards of space between them, the combatants squared off once more, circling slowly as they waited for each other to make the first move.

"You're outmatched, Sonic," wheezed Sonichu. "Outmatched and outclassed. Once I'm done with you, I'll teach your friends some manners...just like how I taught your little Sweetheart..."

"Don't you dare talk about Amy!" Sonic lunged, and the air itself seemed to bend around him. If Sonichu hadn't blocked the attack with an Iron Tail, the resulting punch might very well have shattered his ribcage. "If you so much as touch her or any of my friends again, I'll-"

"You know, I used to believe the Mayor's stories about you." The Electric Hedgehog Pokémon leapt into the air as each of his fists glowed with a small field of electric energy. "How you were his childhood hero...the savior of the earth...the fastest thing alive." He laughed mercilessly and raised a hand. "I think it's time to put those stories to the test, don't you?"

With a thunderous crack, Sonic's field of vision filled with lightning – hundreds of jagged white spears, all sizzling down towards him as Sonichu hurled the attacks again and again. His heart pounding, the blue hedgehog focused on each incoming bolt, allowing himself to fall into a state of pure concentration. Time itself seemed to slow as Sonic dodged and wove through the storm of electricity, his fur bristling with static. To a spectator, he would have resembled a single streak of blue, twirling around each lightning strike like Neo dodging bullets in The Matrix. Above the beach, Sonichu continued to launch Thunderbolt after Thunderbolt, his face locked in a vicious smile. Only when the whir of a charging Spin Dash reached his ears did he realize his mistake.

"THREE! TWO! ONE! BLASTOFF!"

Sonic flew upwards without warning, his punch meeting Sonichu's face with enough force to knock the Electric Hedgehog Pokémon another thirty feet into the air. Still zooming after his target, he curled into a somersault and slammed his opponent down into the sand. Even after two blows that would have killed a lesser chu, the Hero of CWCville somehow managed to shield his head before he met the ground. It was no use. A billowing cloud of sand exploded up from the beach as Sonichu's body smashed into it, leaving a crater around the point of impact. The Electric Hedgehog Pokémon staggered to his feet, his head still ringing from the punch.

"That was your best shot, huh?" Sonic grinned, masking his growing exhaustion as he gracefully touched down on the edge of the crater. "Come on, you gotta step it up if you wanna-"

The blow came as if from nowhere, knocking the blue hedgehog head over heels into the side of a dune. Sonichu whirled to face the newcomer, only to find himself looking at Blake once again. Something seemed a little off about the clone, though. The eyes...it was the eyes.

"I had him under control," he spat, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. "What are you doing here, Blake? You're supposed to be leading the beach defense! Where's Bubbles?"

"B...Bubbles..." the black Electric Hedgehog Pokémon stammered, shaking uncontrollably as he fought to get the words out. "Momma was right there...I couldn't do anything to stop her..."

"Hey!" Sonic leapt to his feet and began brushing the sand out of his quills. "Two on one, huh? What's the matter, Sonichu? Too slow? You getting tired? Come on, guys, I can do this all day!"

"Blake." Ignoring Sonic's taunts, Sonichu gazed across the beach. For some reason, Momma had stopped in mid-charge, and there was no sign of Bubbles' waterspout anywhere. What had happened? Why were the PVCC and the Americans still holding the line against his EHPF army? They should have been broken, devastated, fleeing for their lives! "Blake...where...is...Bubbles?"

"SHE'S DEAD!" screamed Blake. Tears poured from his eyes as he broke down and fell to his knees, sniveling on the sand. "THEY MURDERED MY SWEETHEART!"

"Whoa..." Sonic froze, surprised, his eyes widening in disbelief. A shockwave of emotion seemed to permeate the battlefield, invisible, yet tangible to all. The hedgehog turned to his opponent, attempting to read the blank expression of shock on the Hero of CWCville's face.

All other sounds faded from the world as Sonichu's mouth dropped open. He didn't want to believe that it had happened...that it was evenpossible. And yet...why would Blake lie to him?

"Are you...sure?" he asked cautiously, holding back a scream of fury. "Did you see it happen?"

"OF COURSE I SAW IT HAPPEN!" Blake howled, slamming his gloved fist into the sand. "We caught him! We had Clyde Cash right there, but then Momma just turned on us all of a sudden and...GOD DANG IT! Those cheaters! Those f**king cheaters! IT'S NOT FAIR! HOW?!"

"I gave you one job..." Sonichu's eyes narrowed as he advanced on his lieutenant. Before Blake could react, the Hero of CWCville had grabbed him by the back of his neck and heaved him off the ground. "And you fucked everything up, Blake. You fucked up my entire plan, you bastard!"

"Uh, guys?" Sonic cut in. "Listen, I know you're both really angry, but maybe we should..."

"Ghgghh...no..." Blake struggled, grasping weakly at his commander's iron grip. "Sonichu...I didn't know she was going to turn against us...please! Please, I didn't know! I didn't know!"

"Useless cocksucker!" Sonichu hurled Blake to the ground. "Bubbles was ten times the fighter you are, you incompetent son of a bitch! If you'd done your job and held the beach like I told you to, she'd still be alive! This is all your fault, Blake! Your goddamn fault!"

"I'M SORRY!" the black-furred Electric Hedgehog Pokémon sobbed. Once, he might have stood up for himself against the Hero of CWCville. Once, he might have even fought Sonichu for treating him this way. Sonichu had been a rival, an equal, a reluctant ally in the war against the wretched humans who had cloned Blake into existence. But after his fateful relationship with Bubbles Rosechu had started, it was as if Blake had been reduced to a shell of his former self. The fiery temper was gone, the dark, defiant attitude snuffed out like a candle. In short, Bubbles had fucked the very spine out of her partner, manipulating him into an obedient puppet through her own devious mind games and promises of sex. And now, after all she'd done to him, she was dead. "I'm sorry, Sonichu! I just...I don't know what to do! She was everything to me!"

"Yeah, I bet she was," spat Sonichu. "So, Momma turned on you and killed Bubbles?"

"No..." Blake shook his head as tears splashed across the sand. "She just...ripped her in half. I could see Bubbles moving...she was still alive...and then Clyde Cash just...shot her in the head."

A distant bellow echoed from the battlefield to the north. Turning toward the sound, Sonichu and Blake both found themselves faced with a rather disheartening sight. Roaring in savage glee, Momma Swampert thundered across the beach past the PVCC and American soldiers as she charged toward the wavering army of EHPF officers. Paying to heed to the electric bolts that sizzled against her hide, the colossal Pokémon lunged down and snatched a Sonichu in her beak, then eviscerated three more with a single swipe of her claws. Blood spattered the sand as the colossal amphibian began its gruesome slaughter, slashing, biting, and stomping her victims into the ground. Behind her, the line of PVCC transports and Transformers began advancing up the beach, laying down a murderous barrage among the panicking chu army. Still further back, the second wave of American troop transports had hit the beach, along with more helicopters.

"Cash." Sonichu's lips drew back from his teeth as his eyes began to gleam with white-hot fury. "Clyde Cash. He did this. He did this!" Stealing a quick glance over at Sonic, he locked his eyes onto Blake's. "Finish off the hedgehog, then pull everyone back into the city. I'll tell Angelica and Punchy that we're ready to begin Phase Two. No more setbacks. They're all going to die. Every single Jerkop and American on that beach is dead, you hear me?"

"I...yes, Sonichu," Blake answered meekly. "Where are you going?"

"I'm finally going to do what the Mayor's been talking about doing for years," Sonichu snarled. "I am going to strangle Clyde Cash...with my bare hands."

"Well, as exciting as that sounds," Sonic cut in, his arms crossed as he approached the pair of Electric Hedgehog Pokémon, "I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Sonichu. See, I'm still here, and your pal Blake there isn't exactly the type I'd wanna beat up right now, so..."

"NOW!" Sonichu turned and lashed out with a bolt of lightning, almost too quick for the eye to follow. Taken off guard, Sonic dove aside as the electricity shot past, but before he could launch a retaliatory Homing Attack, Blake's sneaker connected with his face. Sonic felt his feet leave the sand as the kick launched him upward, directly into the path of Sonichu's next electric attack.

ZZZZAAAAAAAAPPPPPPP! Lightning coursed through the blue hedgehog as the bolt struck, sending a web of electrical arcs crackling across his airborne body. Seconds later, something like a battering ram drove into his back, hurling him away from the pair of chus. The sand rose to meet him, cushioning his fall like the world's most uncomfortable pillow. Battered, weary, and slightly dizzy, Sonic struggled up onto one knee, then the other, and pushed himself upright. Through a shimmering haze, he could see Sonichu speeding away toward the battle on the beach, while the Combo member remained standing right between him and his objective.

"Heh. That's how it's gonna be, huh?" Sonic laughed, staggering forward a few steps. "Lemme guess...if I want to stop Sonichu, I'm gonna have to go through you first, tough guy?"

"D*mn right you are!" growled Blake, though the menace in his voice was slightly undercut by his self-bleeped curse. "Your little PVCC buddies killed my girlfriend, you traitor! I will make them pay for what they did to Bubbles; it all starts with taking you out of the picture! That was a fully charged Thunderbolt from the original Sonichu; you will be far weaker now that you are-"

"Yeah, about that..." Sonic rolled his head from side to side. "I think it's time I came clean with you. I've been keeping a little secret." He patted the small Army-issue backpack strapped to his torso. "When we heard what your pals were doing here, Tails decided to fix up something special for us to use if we got in trouble with you. I dunno what he used, but what I do know is that it's made from Eggman's old tech, it used to be magnetized, and, well, it really likes electricity."

"What the heck are you talking about?" Blake snapped into a combat pose, charging a Thunder Wave as he glared at the blue hedgehog. "Nothing can stop a Sonichu's zappin' power!"

"Really?" Sonic snickered as a sphere of transparent blue energy materialized around him, its surface crackling with tiny bolts of electricity. "Say hello to the Thunder Shield, Blakey-boo!"

---

North CWCville, Factory District, edge of CWCville Beach, 6:42 a.m.

"Push 'em back! Push 'em back!" yelled Steve, advancing with the rest of the Honey Badgers as the Battle Bus slowly rolled off of the beach and onto the streets of CWCville. "Al, put a plasma round into that group up ahead! Kevin, Serge, don't let them flank us! Keep firing! Keep firing!"

Kevin squeezed the trigger of his M16 again and again, his fingers numb from the assault rifle's recoil. All he could hear were the screams of dying and frightened EHPF officers, coupled with the blood-crazed roar of Momma Swampert as she tore through the chu army. The streets and the beach behind her had become a killing field, littered with bullet-riddled corpses and the remains of any Electric Hedgehog Pokémon unfortunate enough to meet their end beneath one of the monstrous Pokémon's clawed feet or in her scything beak. The few officers brave enough to fight back against the unstoppable behemoth were quickly swept aside by Momma's tail or else gunned down from behind by the advancing wall of Jerkops and American soldiers. Broken and unmistakably routed, the once-mighty army of chus began to fall back into the city itself, taking cover wherever they could as bullets zipped and ricocheted around them.

Several hundred feet behind the battle, another twenty LCACs rolled ashore, dispensing dozens upon dozens of Marines and military personnel. As the hovercraft lowered their ramps, a small collection of armored transport vehicles and Abrams tanks rolled out onto the sand and began making their way up the slope toward the first wave. Black Hawks and V-22 Ospreys touched down on both sides of the column, allowing more American troops to disembark. As impressed as he was by the sheer size of the American invasion force, Kevin knew that he had to keep his mind on the present battle. There would be plenty of time to take it all in once Sonichu's army had been successfully repelled. But at the rate he and his squadmates were advancing, it didn't seem like that would be too far away now.

"Set up a new defensive position, right here!" Kale Devoria ordered, waving toward Momma as the leviathan snatched up a screaming chu and devoured it in a single crunching bite. Beside him, the rest of his fire team and the two Marine squads under Bennett and Wolff had spread out to give the soldiers a better chance of picking off straggler targets. "Cash! Cash, we're stopping the advance here! Bring her back and let us take care of the rest! We got this! Over!"

"Copy that, Kale! Let me just finish up here! Over!" Looking up, Kevin could see the tiny figure of the Miscreant clinging to Momma's back. Never one to pass up an opportunity for an over-the-top entrance, Clyde had somehow managed to ride the Swampert into battle, firing his revolver wildly at any chus that attempted to shoot him down. The Jerkop couldn't tell if he'd actually managed to hit anything, but he wasn't about to question the motives of Clyde Cash.

The convoy ground to a halt, forming a new line across the street. Even after such a nightmarish ordeal, the PVCC had managed to come away with acceptable losses. Three of their S.A.V. units were down, along with a good fifteen or so Jerkops who had been either killed in the fighting or so badly wounded that they were in no condition to continue. Most of the allied casualties had been sustained through Bubbles and Momma's attack on the landing craft, and now that both of them were no longer a threat, the number of deaths had taken a sharp decline.

Kevin fired off the last two bursts in his magazine and ejected it, then moved back behind the Battle Bus to reload. The rush of adrenaline from the past hour was starting to wear off, and he didn't want to crash right in the middle of the battle. Victory was all but assured now, and not even Chandler would be able to convince his creations that Bubbles Rosechu's death was a mere fabrication of the PVCC. Unlike Operation Hedgeclipper, most of the EHPF army had witnessed the Combo member's fate with their own eyes. If all went well, there would be at least a few of them left alive to spread the word among the other chus of CWCville when the dust had settled.

"Good shooting, bro," Nate complimented Kevin as he loaded a new magazine into his sniper rifle. "I'm almost out of rounds. Kind of makes you feel bad for them, huh?"

"Ugh." Kuri rolled her eyes. "Nate, I swear to Arceus..."

"Kidding, kidding." The sniper shot her a grin. "Nice work back there, by the way. I don't want to think about what could've happened if you hadn't used Luxo."

"And I don't want to think about how Sonichu's going to react when he hears about Bubbles," Kevin added, quickly stealing a sideways glance toward Diabolus. The Red Devils had parked the armored dump truck sideways, and were helping Tails, Knuckles, and Amy out of the cargo hold again. "Oh, shit! Hold on." Slinging the assault rifle back over his shoulder, the Jerkop hurried across the sand to the other transport. "Tails! Tails, what's happening with Sonic?"

"I don't know!" answered the little fox, nervously covering his ears as another bellow from Momma rang out across the beach. "Aaugh! That was loud! I hope he's doing all right!"

"Well, I hope we get out of this place soon!" Amy huffed, crossing her arms. "Sonic needs our help, and I'm not gonna let that nasty creep Sonichu take him away from us!"

"We're almost done with the stragglers, guys," Sam Lynn announced as the Red Devils rushed to take up firing positions. "As soon as we're clear, we'll help you with Sonichu and the Combo."

"That may be more difficult than we thought," muttered Knuckles. "We can't keep splitting up like this if we're going to make any headway on finding the Crystals."

"Okay, I got it! According to this..." Tails glanced down at his digital handheld and tapped a few commands into it. "Yep, I can see his tracker now! Sonic should be right about...there!"

Kevin followed the fox's finger to the east, squinting into the distance. Between the distant dunes, a black dot and a blue dot crashed into each other, occasionally disappearing behind flashes of lightning. Something wasn't right. Where was the yellow dot? Where was Sonichu?

"Blake," he said. Sam, Darren, and Wayne immediately looked at him. "He's fighting Blake."

"Good." The Red Devils' squad leader spat on the ground. "Let's hope he saves enough of that whiny turncoat for us. We're gonna make sure he screams for death after what he did to Danni."

"Danni?" Amy asked.

"Danielle Owens," explained Darren. "One of our operatives. When Blake was working with the PVCC, our squad was assigned to act as fire support for him during missions. What we didn't know was that Schwartz had been turning control over to Chandler behind our backs, and when Blake went rogue, he killed Danni and, well..." He flexed the fingers of his bionic hand. "Yeah."

"Oh jeez, that's...that's terrible!" Tails looked mortified. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know..."

"We can talk about this later," Kevin snapped. His heart rate was increasing by the second, and cold sweat had begun to bead around his forehead. "If Sonic's fighting Blake, then Sonichu's..."

CRUNCH!

"SWAAAAAAAMMMMMM!" Momma let out a roar of agony as something collided with her front left leg, packing enough force and velocity to snap the bone like a twig. Clyde Cash barely managed to hang on as the massive Pokémon collapsed, its limbs giving out beneath it like limp noodles. As the Swampert's shrill cries of pain filled the air, the Miscreant hurriedly leapt from his injured mount, landing awkwardly on the ground and staggering forward a few steps. Before Clyde could raise his revolver, a yellow blur slammed into him, throwing him down to the street. Blood dripped from the Miscreant's nose and mouth as he struggled to crawl away, but a battery-blue sneaker quickly pressed down between his shoulders, pinning him to the asphalt.

"Well, well, well," Sonichu growled, reaching down and lifting Clyde into the air by his throat. "So you actually did it, Cash. You killed her. You killed Bubbles Rosechu." He glanced at the group of stunned Jerkops and soldiers, as if daring them to open fire. "Go ahead. Tell them to shoot us. You can end it all right here." The Electric Hedgehog Pokémon grinned. "Or you can die like the little guido bitch you are. Your choice, Cash. Either way, you're already dead."

Chills ran through Kevin's bloodstream. The voice...that was the same tone that Sonichu had used when he'd taken Allie captive and left his "nemesis" to die. Now Clyde Cash was at the mercy of the Hero of CWCville. Despite all that they had accomplished, the PVCC's efforts had just been nullified with one fell swoop. Clyde was one of the single most celebrated heroes of the resistance, and now here he was, bloody and defeated, a mere meat shield for Sonichu.

Fighting through the bitter memory of his defeat, Kevin took a step forward, then another, and another, until he was slowly walking towards Sonichu. Around him, the Jerkops and American soldiers were shouting, raising their weapons, taking aim in the single largest firing squad he had ever seen. There was no way that even Sonichu could survive a barrage of this size. What was he doing? What did he hope to accomplish?

Unless...unless he was merely stalling for something.

"Sonichu!" yelled Marcus Bagget. The Jerkhief trudged forward, gripping a grenade launcher in both hands. "So, you finally showed up, huh? You like what we did to your little army?"

"Acceptable losses," Sonichu sneered. "And I've got plenty more to go around. I gotta admit, the fact that this idiot managed to kill off Bubbles was a little unexpected, but in the end, you and your buddies played your parts very well! You were always meant to take the beach, you know."

"So you let us beat you to a pulp, then?" Bagget laughed. "Face it, hero, you lost. Now let the commander go, and we'll make sure you die fighting."

"You never were that good at negotiating, were you?" taunted Sonichu. His eyes drifted over to the Battle Bus, and a sharp twinge of anger lanced through his body. "And it just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it? You even brought the monsters who killed my family! How sweet."

"Kevin!" Steve looked at the Jerkop in terror, motioning for him to take cover. "No! Get down!"

"Well, I'll just have to thank them personally once I'm done with you, Cash," continued the Hero of CWCville. "But don't worry. You're allgoing to die today. One way or another."

"Take...the fucking...shot...Marcus..." Clyde choked. "Kill him! Just kill him!"

"No! Hold your fire!" ordered the Jerkhief. "I'm sorry, Commander, but I'm not gonna let that-"

"Yes, please, continue arguing about whether or not you should kill us," Sonichu suggested as he began backing away from the firing line. "As for me, I'm going to take my leave. But I'll be-"

"Hey! Sonichu!"

The Electric Hedgehog Pokémon froze, his eyes bulging in astonishment as Kevin stepped out of the crowd with his assault rifle still slung across his back. The Jerkop's face was set in a fearless stare, and he seemed to move with a sense of determination matched only by Chandler's desire to acquire a Sweetheart from the Ground-Up. It had been a while since Sonichu had last felt the chill of true fear racing through his heart, but now it was back, and its name was Kevin Shaw.

"Did you miss me?" Kevin asked, forcing a smile onto his face. "I bet you thought I was gone, huh? I bet you thought I wouldn't come back after what you did to me and my girlfriend." He shrugged off the M16, letting it fall to the street. "Well, here I am. Surprised?"

"Shaw..." snarled Sonichu. He was visibly trembling with rage now, his grip on Clyde's throat growing tighter and tighter by the second. "You survived. You came back."

"Yeah." An idea quickly formed in Kevin's head. Sonichu hadn't actually seen Bubbles die. "The thing is...you've kind of got the wrong guy. After I took control of Momma's mind and killed Bubbles, I let Clyde take all the credit for it. After all, I can't have all the fun!"

"You killed her?" Sonichu stared blankly, looking from Kevin to Clyde. "But...how?"

"It's just like you said." Kevin grinned. "I'm the villain. It's what I do."

"Then all of this...you did all of this?" The Electric Hedgehog Pokémon sounded close to the brink of insanity. "No! No, you couldn't have! That's not possible!"

"Yep! It was me!" answered the Jerkop. He could feel Graduon's power surging within him, infiltrating every corner of his mind as he continued to toy with Sonichu. The lies were necessary if he was going to pull off such a dangerous plan. "I made Obama declare war on CWCville. I brought the Americans into the city and organized the PVCC attack. I took over Momma's mind and turned her against Bubbles. I even managed to take control of Sonic the Hedgehog and all of his friends!" He gestured to the army behind him. "Don't you get it? I'm more powerful than you and Chandler together! And now I'm back to start my reign of terror in CWCville once again!"

"You will never get away with this, Shaw!" Sonichu yelled, suddenly snapping into his old heroic voice again as he dramatically flung Clyde out of the way and took up a combat stance. Kevin's reappearance, combined with the ridiculous "villain" persona, had triggered a sudden and unexpected reversion to his former self. "Father and I will stop you, no matter wh-"

"DO IT!" Kevin screamed, dropping flat against the asphalt. "SHOOT HIM! SHOOT HIM!"

"OPEN FIRE!" bellowed Bagget and Kale as the Jerkops and soldiers unleashed a chattering barrage toward the unprotected Electric Hedgehog Pokémon. Sonichu barely managed to dodge out of the way, but even with his reflexive speed, he could not avoid all of the rounds. Fiery pain blossomed across his arm and shoulder, and a third shot tore through his ankle as he dashed and leapt through the storm of bullets, finally hurling himself through the window of an abandoned beach supply store. The entire front of the building vanished in a wall of flame as the remaining S.A.V.s and the Battle Bus unloaded a volley of autocannon and plasma fire, engulfing the shop and reducing it to a cloud of flying debris and flames. Bullets continued to pour through the ruins, shredding walls and doors alike as chunks of drywall and wood rained down.

"I WANT THAT FUCKER DEAD!" Clyde yelled, clutching his throat as Emily and three of her Picklemen darted up to carry him to safety. "MARCUS, KILL HIM! USE EVERYTHING WE HAVE! I DON'T CARE WHAT IT TAKES, JUST KILL HIM! KILL SONICHU!"

Kra-KOOOOM! A loud boom reverberated across the battlefield as Sonichu circled around and shot down the street towards the line, running faster than Kevin or any of the Jerkops had seen him run before. The air had distorted around him, and judging by the noise of the blast, he had just broken the sound barrier. As the surprised invasion force tried to refocus their fire, a colossal Thunder Wave struck the line a mere two seconds before Sonichu himself did. Several Jerkops and soldiers were thrown back by the impact, only to be met with a searing blast of electricity.

"PAIN! SACRIFICE! SALVATION! REJOICE IN THE LO0RD'S LIGHT, HEATHENS!"

As the besieged invaders struggled to fend off Sonichu's assault, a shrill whistling noise sounded from above. Kevin raised his head just in time to see Angelica Rosechu swoop down upon a group of Marines like some murderous bird of prey, lashing and striking out at anyone within reach as blood spattered her snowy fur like body paint. Her silver sickle was nowhere to be seen, and instead, the winged Rosechu now held a horrific two-bladed scythe. Above the battle, Punchy Sonichu leapt from the top of a building and slammed into the street so hard that the asphalt cracked from sidewalk to sidewalk. As Knuckles leapt forward to intercept him, the red Sonichu shouted out a battle cry in extremely poor Japanese and charged, raising his spiked fist to deliver a swift punch to his opponent. The worst, however, was still to come. With a collective roar of "FOR FATHER!", a wave of armed EHPF officers charged from within the city and opened fire with their motley collection of stolen guns, filling the air with highly inaccurate but still incredibly deadly bullets. Behind them, five bulky mechanical figures lumbered forth from the shadows, revealing themselves as Prower, Armoraxe, Bumble-Lumba, Excelina, and most terrifying of all, Son-Chu. At last, the Samurai Pizza Bots had arrived to defend their city.

They were waiting for us, Kevin thought desperately as he struggled to his feet. He could hear Nate and Steve yelling his name, but in the chaos, his squadmates had vanished. This was Sonichu's plan all along. We walked right into it...Arceus, how the hell did he do this?

You know what you have to do, Kevin, Graduon commanded from the depths of his mind. Your time has come. Use the armor, and bring death to our enemies. Use it. Save your friends.

Slowly, Kevin reached into his jacket and grasped the Ziploc bag. He had put off this moment for far too long already, and the longer he waited, more people were going to die. If he used the Sawabi armor against Sonichu, he could save them. He could singlehandedly turn the tide of the entire war. But at what cost? Would he be giving his mind...his very will...to Count Graduon?

There is no time for doubt, the ancient spirit snapped, its voice resonating from the dreamscape. You have come too far and learned too much to allow fear to destroy you now. Take up my armor, child of Asila. Heed the call of your ancestors. Together, we will make the spawn of Cherok and his wretched beasts fear the name of the Sawabi once more.

"Yes, they will..." Kevin growled, and hurled the bag to the ground. A violet glow shone from his eyes as the cloud of dust enveloped him, reforming itself into plates of bone-white armor around his arms, his legs, his torso, and at last, his head. "Their annihilation...is only beginning."

---

CWCSPACE I, lunar descent, 12,000 meters to impact, 6:47 a.m.

"Warning. Approach velocity exceeding maximum safe limit," an automated voice announced. "Probability of impact: one hundred percent. Probability of survival: zero point two percent."

"YAY! WE'RE GONNA PENETRATE THE MOON!" SUZI cheered, clinging to her seat as the colossal metal phallus barreled toward the grey lunar surface. The rocket had destabilized, and was now revolving uncontrollably as it descended. "You spin me right round, baby, right rou-"

"Will you just shut up and get on those controls?" shouted TESLA-Chu. In the absence of any form of democracy on the spacecraft, he had reluctantly taken up the role of flight commander. "Turn us to retrograde! Retrograde! We need to start the descent burn before we crash!"

"I don't know anything about what you just said!" SUZI stared at the alien drone blankly, then giggled. "Attempting translation procedure. Habla español? Que? Nani desu ka? Sprechen sie-"

"BACKWARDS!" TESLA-Chu exploded, gesturing with his armstubs as he fought to keep from lunging at his malfunctioning copilot."Turn...the ship...backwards!"

Sparks flew from SUZI's head as she leaned forward in her chair and began punching buttons faster than the human eye could follow. A red alert siren blared, followed by a loud hissing noise as half of CWCSPACE I's remaining air supply was vented into space. Since the drones didn't need to breathe, it was still a manageable error. Finally, the ship ceased its rotation and began turning. A metallic crash sounded from the back of the rocket, followed by a colossal tremor. It was obvious that something had just broken away...hopefully nothing of critical importance.

"Good job. That was close!" sighed TESLA-Chu. "Damage report. What did we lose?"

"Air levels at 50 percent." The LIESA unit unbuckled herself and jetted to the cockpit window. "And I think one of our balls just dropped off. There it goes." She waved sadly. "Bye-bye, ball!"

"Blast it!" ranted the science drone. "That was half our fuel supply! How are we supposed to get back to Earth now?" He paused, lost in thought. "Perhaps we are trapped here now. Or perhaps we could disassemble this rocket and construct another one for the return trip! Or perhaps..."

"Cool!" SUZI drifted around aimlessly in zero gravity. "What about my INSANE friends?"

"After what those idiots did to our ship?" TESLA-Chu muttered. "What about them?"

"Meh." The LIESA unit returned to her seat and crossed her stubs. "Are we there yet?"

"For the last time, no. If we don't reduce our velocity soon, we're going to be there...in pieces."

"Bleeehhhh." SUZI sighed. "I thought this was gonna be fun! Flying rockets is haaaarrrd."

"This isn't a game! This is science!" TESLA-Chu declared. "And right now, I need you to...no, actually, you'd probably destroy us all. Just look at that screen right in front of
you and tell me what our altitude...that big flashing number...tell me what that is."

"Aye aye, Cap'n!" SUZI looked at the screen. "8000 and falling by 100 every second!"

"WHAT?" The drone fired his foot repulsors, launching himself toward the flight controls. "We're coming in too fast! The engine failure must have..."

"WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!" squealed the LIESA unit in utter delight. "WE'RE GONNA CRASH!"

"No! Shut up!" TESLA-Chu hurriedly wrenched the thrust control lever upward. A muffled roar exploded through the rear of the rocket as the single remaining engine activated at full power. Bit by bit, meter by precious meter, CWCSPACE I began to slow down. "Come on! Come on!"

"Warning. Altitude loss critical. 5000 meters. Descent velocity: 60 meters per second."

Outside, the grey landscape stretched out around the falling spacecraft as far as the eye could see, its surface dotted with craters in almost every imaginable size. The awe-inspiring view was completely lost on CWCSPACE I's cargo of Devil Trolls, though. After two failed mutinies and several sabotage attempts, TESLA-Chu and SUZI had herded the giggling swarm into the rocket's science module and sealed them in, temporarily stalling any further hacks or mischief. Only SUZI's corrupted operating system had saved her from joining her "insane friends" too.

"We're going slooooow now," reported SUZI. She had pressed her face directly against the glass cover of the altimeter. "If we crash, can I have your stubs? I still got Cera blood stuck in mine."

"I'm not going to answer that," TESLA-Chu muttered in disgust. "Initiate landing procedure!"

"Roger!" SUZI reached up and pushed a button. The word ERROR flashed in front of her eye-screens. "Sir, it appears we have no landing gear! This rocket is not designed to land!"

"NO, REALLY?" The drone looked at her, thoroughly exasperated. "Fine! I will do it myself! Just stay there and don't do anything! I need complete silence if I'm going to land this wreck!"

As SUZI observed quietly, TESLA-Chu unbuckled himself and jetted over to the manual flight controls, then grabbed the wheel and pushed it down. CWCSPACE I shuddered and began to level out as its altimeter dropped to a thousand meters...five hundred...one hundred...

"Almost there..." he muttered, his electronic voice straining with tension. "Just a few more..."

"Hey."

"WHAT?" TESLA-Chu glanced to the side, only to see SUZI floating in midair next to him. The LIESA unit's eye-screens were now flickering between the Windows XP background and a .gif loop of the Hypnotoad from Futurama. "Oh no. Not now. PLEASE not now!"

"WaaAAaaanna hear the most annoying sooOOund in the world?" giggled SUZI as her volume controls malfunctioned, increasing to her Death Note level as she blasted an audio clip of a frog screaming. "RRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-"

"AAUGHH! DAMN IT!" TESLA-Chu screamed, fighting to control the rocket as it dropped the last few meters to the surface. It was too late to avoid an impact now. "WHY? WHY ME?"

"-EEEEEEEEEEE...system reset." SUZI rebooted in seconds, then noticed the rapidly approaching crater directly in front of the falling rocket."HI, MOON! Can we be friends?"

CRASH! CWCSPACE I plowed into the ground, shattering the glass of the cockpit and sucking the remaining air out into space. TESLA-Chu and SUZI only just avoided being flung from the spacecraft by sheer luck. The colossal rocket tumbled across the dusty surface, rolling end over end until it slammed into the opposite side of the crater. Its central module burst open, leaving the giant phallus bent at a forty-five-degree angle as it finally came to rest on the rim. From inside the breach, a swarm of Devil Trolls burst forth, flapping their little wings as they spilled out of their former prison and into the silent wasteland of the Moon. Though SUZI and TESLA-Chu could no longer hear any exterior sounds in the vacuum of space, their short-range text chat systems were still active. And right now, both of the little robots were being spammed with a single repeated message from the fleeing flock of saboteur drones.

"FREEDOM! HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE FREEDOM!"

"Blocked. All of you, blocked." TESLA-Chu extricated himself from the crumpled ruins of the cockpit, his alloy exoskeleton scratched and dented in multiple place. "Damn it! I was almost there, and you just HAD to malfunction. How are you still allowed to do...ANYTHING?"

"I dunno, lol," SUZI texted back, sparking and twitching from the spam. "Why are we here?"

The blue flash of a laz0r beam exploded somewhere off in the center of the crater. Looking down towards the source, the two drones could see a few Devil Trolls starting to decorate the Moon's surface with various ragefaces, memes, elaborate drawings of male genitalia, and declarations of TESLA-Chu being both "OP" and "a fag".

"Well, at least they're happy," TESLA-Chu stated disinterestedly as he began scanning the surroundings. "We must complete the mission. I will begin tracking the energy signature and..."

"Uh, it's right over there," answered SUZI, pointing her stub toward a strange furrow in the ground a few miles away from the crash site."Oh hey, it's glowing! CooOOool..."

"What on earth do you mean? I can't see-" The alien drone promptly flipped to infrared. "Oh."

"Let's go say hi!" SUZI jetted off, leaving her comrade behind. "Last one there's a Vista!"

"Would you get back here?" snapped TESLA-Chu as he zoomed after the LIESA unit. "We don't even know if it's the right objective! Our landing was completely botched, thanks in no small part to you, and according to the mission parameters, we should have touched down..." He glanced up, dumbfounded. "...right...over...there. Huh. Okay, well...that was unexpected."

The two drones zoomed along, easily traversing the lunar atmosphere with their repulsor jets. As they approached the objective site, their radio sensors began picking up a strange new signal. It was faint, but definitely coming from the end of the furrow. What drew his attention was the fact that it seemed to be broadcasting a message on repeat, like some kind of distress beacon. Several hundred meters along the line lay the terminus point of whatever object had landed there: a mass of grey dust and rocks that had been shattered by what seemed to be an asteroid impact.

"Scanning." TESLA-Chu stared at the debris, running a quick sweep of the area as he and SUZI touched down at the edge of the rock pile."This appears to be the place. Perhaps the object is still buried inside." He looked at the LIESA unit. "We will have to blast it loose. Lock on to that signal and use your...mouth laser, I suppose."

"YES, SIR!" SUZI retracted her mouthguard, but paused before she could begin charging her laz0r. "Hey, I found the signal, but... Ooh! Hey, I can talk to this thing! HI THERE, THING!"

"Wait, what do you mean?" asked the alien drone. "I can't identify the language of this signal-"

"Whoa, you're old!" continued SUZI, ignoring her confused comrade. "Hey, you wanna come up here and play with us? I brought all my INSANE friends and my science friend, too!" She waited a few seconds. "Nah, Dr. PINGAS is on Earth. He's probably doin' robot stuff now!"

TESLA-Chu nodded, realizing what was going on. SUZI had been built by Robotnik Technologies originally, which meant that she was automatically capable of communicating with any other robot from the same source, from the lowliest Badnik to any of the doctor's superweapons. If she could somehow run a diagnostic on the objective...

"Yeah, we can fix you!" The LIESA unit toddled forward a few steps, her eye-screens flashing excitedly. "Come on out of there and we'll take you back to our giant dick rocket and-"

Beneath the ground, the rocks began shifting silently. Uncertain as to what would emerge, SUZI and TESLA-Chu backed away a few feet as a cloud of moon dust rose from the pile. Then, as if it were some ancient demon escaping its tomb, a single worn, heavily scratched fist burst from underneath the surface and clamped its clawed fingers around an adjacent boulder. Slowly, ominously, the rest of the figure emerged, covered from head to toe in a coating of grey. Its visor had been chipped and cracked, several deep scratches and dents had been inflicted on its armor, and its coat of yellow paint had all but worn away, but there was no doubt as to its identity.

"Commencing diagnostic," Metal Sonichu announced silently, transmitting a chat message to both of the awestruck drones as it dropped down from the rocks and landed in front of them. "Current objective: locate and terminate original Sonichu." Its gaze shifted to SUZI."Updating mission parameters. Current objective: rebuild, recover, return...revenge."

---

North CWCville, Factory District, edge of CWCville Beach, 6:52 a.m.

Revenge. The thought took shape in the darkest depths of Kevin's mind, wormed its way up through the dreamscape, up through his subconscious, until at last it settled at his very core. It was all he could see now – an endless string of memories flashing before him, feeding his rage, his fiery hatred of the creatures who had taken so much from him and his friends. Each death, every defeat, every injustice...it was all converging into a single point, threatening to burst open with the force of a nuclear blast and bathe the world in searing white fire.

No. It was his. The power, the rage, the strength, the elemental force...it was his to command. He could feel it permeating every muscle and nerve, flowing through him unchecked. His mind and Count Graduon's had become intertwined, and every thought and emotion moved between them as if they were a single entity. He was in control, and yet, so was the ancient spirit. A distant memory surfaced, a fragmented memory of Dexter Booth explaining something to him. Passage. Was a Passage happening to him now? No, that would mean giving up his own consciousness to Graduon entirely, or having it taken from him by force. He knew he was still there...still alive.
The ancient bones rattled and shifted, grinding against each other as Kevin rose from the street. He had collapsed defenseless, but now he was reborn, armored in pale bones, his eyes glowing beneath the horned skull and jawbone that covered his face. Around him, gunshots and screams echoed through the street, but the fear was no longer there. People were shouting, but all Kevin could hear was the triumphant laughter of Graduon, as if the armor itself was speaking to him.

A bolt of electricity snapped into the Jerkop, sizzling as it connected with his armor. Expecting a painful shock, Kevin glanced down at his chest, only to see that the Thunderbolt had left a black burn on the plating. Looking back up, his eyes locked with those of the EHPF officer who had zapped him. The chu was just standing there, stunned, its mouth hanging open. Silently, Kevin reached out, channeling a burst of psychic energy through the gauntlet. The air around the Sonichu shifted slightly, then flared with a sudden purple light. With a meaty crunch and a shower of gore, the EHPF officer's body burst open, his chest tearing itself into pieces of bloody yellow fur and viscera as a piercing scream split the air. Horrified by the explosive death of their comrade, the adjacent Sonichus yelled battle cries and rushed this new opponent.

"Get...everyone...back," Kevin ordered, projecting his voice to the operatives. "I'll handle this!"

It was as if the condensed fury had reached its breaking point. The Jerkop charged, lashing out at the foremost chu with a clawed hand just as it launched a Homing Attack at him. Like knives through paper, the talons tore into the Electric Hedgehog Pokémon's body, splitting its torso wide open and spilling its insides onto the street. Two more of the officers died before they knew what had hit them, their flesh bursting off of their bones as tendrils of energy tore them to pieces. Kevin spun and struck again and again, carving through the other three Sonichus as they desperately fired electric attacks and rolled Spin Dashes into the unstoppable force of nature. By the time he had finished with the group, his armor had been thoroughly drenched in crimson. Broken bodies surrounded him, some of which were now little more than skeletons. As the EHPF around him drew back in fright, Kevin looked up at them. Steam gushed from the skull mask's jaws as the Jerkop stalked forward, his eyes burning brightly in the winter air.

A near-invisible shockwave blasted across the street, churning up the asphalt as it hurled a good dozen of the chu officers backwards into their terrified comrades. Reaching out with both of the bone gauntlets, Kevin felt an overwhelming surge of power as spears of violet lightning flashed from his hands into the mass of dazed Electric Hedgehog Pokémon. A moment later, the stricken Sonichus exploded simultaneously with a series of sickening pops and agonized wails, leaving little more than a dark smear of blood and a pile of smoking bones in their wake. Kevin took a step back and fell to one knee, feeling slightly drained by the force of his attack. The energy was returning, but at the same time, it had left him completely open to-

CRUNCH! Angelica Rosechu slammed into him with a furious scream, sweeping the Jerkop off balance with a Steel Wing attack. Kevin toppled sideways, spared from instant death by Graduon's psychic shield and the thick plates that surrounded him. Rising to his feet, he flung out a hand just in time to catch the scythe before it struck. With his other fist, he lunged at his opponent's stomach, delivering a blow that flung Angelica across the street and into the side of a building. Debris enveloped the Rosechu, drowning her cry of pain in a rumbling crash.

Snapped out of his rampage, the Jerkop managed to fight off the growing bloodlust long enough to see what had been going on in the battle around him. Despite taking numerous casualties in the initial ambush, the PVCC squads and the U.S. invasion force had retreated and regrouped at the edge of the beach, and were now focusing their fire on any chu that emerged from the city. Knuckles and Punchy were still dueling in the middle of the chaos, while Amy Rose was doing her best to keep Sonichu from slaughtering every human in sight. Tails had leapt onto the shoulder of an S.A.V. unit and was frantically tapping commands into his pad, remotely piloting the mech into combat against the Samurai Pizza Bots. There was still no sign of Sonic or Blake, which meant that they still had to be on the beach. Momma Swampert lay on the ground, growling in pain as she tried to stand on her fractured front leg. A quick glance down the beach revealed that the second wave of American troops was still moving up to join their embattled comrades. If they could just hold out long enough, they would have enough armor and infantry support to wipe out Sonichu's once-mighty army.

Good, Kevin thought as a flash of white feathers burst from the ruined building. Let's finish this.

"WHAT...ARE...YOU?!" shrieked Angelica, landing on the street as she clutched her bloody stomach. The armored gauntlet had ripped her fur and skin, decorating her white coat with fresh drops of red. Her eyes shone with a strange and frightening light, and her hoarse voice sounded as if she was trying to fight off a fit of uncontrollable sobs. "WHAT ARE YOU, DEMON?"

Kevin didn't answer. For the first time in his life, he had just taken on a member of the Chaotic Combo in hand-to-hand combat...and emerged on top. If he could beat Angelica...then he could kill Sonichu as well. He could tear the Combo apart, and slaughter every chu in the city. Not even Christian Weston Chandler could stand before him and the ancient power he now wielded.

"No," Graduon warned him. "Stay your fury, child of Asila. I may not have the strength to-"

"Remember me, Angelica?" Kevin snarled, paying no heed to the spirit's warning. "We have a score to settle, you pious bitch. Sonichu couldn't kill me, and that was before I had any of this." He beckoned mockingly to the enraged Rosechu. "What chance do you have? We already killed Bubbles! I don't know about you, but I'm in the mood for double or nothing! Let's finish this!"

"How dare you, Shaw!" Angelica screamed, whirling her scythe around as she rose into the air. "Wretched servant of Lucifer; how dare you speak her name! DIE, HERETIC!"

CLANG! The silver scythe clashed against Kevin's gauntlet, carving a deep notch into the bone as it deflected down into the asphalt. As Angelica slammed into her armored opponent, she swung the weapon around and struck with the opposite blade, burying it in his side. Before the Jerkop could wrench it free, the Rosechu unleashed a Thundershock at close range, sending the charged attack down the shaft of the scythe, through the blade, and past the armor. Kevin's body shuddered as Graduon fought to dampen the force of the shock, but the damage had been dealt. Taking advantage of her foe's momentary distraction, Angelica drew back, then launched herself into the Jerkop at full speed. Kevin felt his feet leave the ground as he tumbled backward into the side of a Punislav with enough force to leave a massive dent in the Transformer's armor. Several of the adjacent Jerkops abandoned their positions and dashed for cover, leaving the two frenzied combatants to their duel. Angelica clearly had the upper hand, dodging each swipe from Kevin's gauntlets as she dove and slashed at the armored operative. Her bloodied wings swept back and forth, beating furiously against the skull mask in an attempt to knock Kevin off his feet.

A series of impacts burst across the front of Kevin's armor as a small group of Marines opened fire on Angelica, spraying both her and the Jerkop with bullets. Staggered from the combined damage of the Rosechu's assault and this new threat, Kevin lunged, summoning another bolt of psychic energy and launching it into Angelica. Unlike the weaker EHPF officers, though, the Combo member did not explode. Her fur sizzled slightly, and another shockwave washed over her, flinging her a few feet away as the American soldiers redirected their fire onto her. Shrieking in pain, Angelica shielded herself with her wings, then swept them outward, knocking the Marines to the ground with a blast of wind. Kevin was unaffected by the Gust, but that was the least of his worries at the moment. He reached out to Graduon, frantic to draw more energy from the spirit, but it was nowhere to be found. Angelica was on him in seconds, laughing insanely as her scythe whirled and stabbed at his chestplate. She was moving almost too fast for the eye to follow, strategically probing the Jerkop's defenses as he attempted to fend her off.

More bullets zipped past, and nearby, Kevin could hear Clyde Cash yelling orders above the chaos. The clash of metal on metal sounded across the city as Tails' remote controlled S.A.V. unit traded blows with Excelina and Bumble-Lumba. As the little fox fought to hold on, Son-Chu's metallic fist crashed into the PVCC Transformer's head, reducing it to a mess of sparks and metal. Tails only managed to fling himself away seconds before he too would have been crushed by the blow. On the ground, Knuckles was occupying himself by beating Punchy Sonichu to the edge of unconsciousness with a length of rebar he had pulled out of a collapsed building. Amy Rose and a group of operatives from the Tomgirls and Picklemen were engaging Sonichu, matching every blow from the pink hedgehog's heavy mallet with a coordinated barrage of bullets that sent the Hero of CWCville running for cover. Behind them, a few of the Marines had set up defensive positions with the other Jerkops to hold back the tide of EHPF. Even as bullets and shock attacks flew among them, the soldiers and operatives continued spraying the inbound horde with a deadly crossfire.

"Still think you can win?" Kevin spat as Angelica landed in front of him. "You're finished, whore. You and Chandler and the rest of the Combo are all going down. Once the rest of the city hears about what we did to Bubbles, how long do you think you'll have before-"

Angelica lunged like lightning, crossing the distance between her and the Jerkop in seconds. The silver blade flashed, whirled, and buried itself between the chestplate and shoulder plate of the ancient armor. Pain seared across Kevin's arm as the scythe's sharp tip pierced his flesh, nearly carving his shoulder open. Before he could even scream, the blade withdrew, and an impact like that of a freight train struck from straight ahead. Blood trickled from the deep cut as the white Rosechu barreled into her foe, bashing the horned skull mask with Steel Wing after Steel Wing as a network of hairline cracks spread across its face. Kevin sank to his knees, sobbing in pain.

"OUR FATHER!" screamed Angelica, her eyes shining with insane bloodlust as she punctuated each blow with another verse of the Lord's Prayer. "WHO ART IN HEAVEN! HALLOWED BE THY NAME! THY KINGDOM COME! THY WILL BE DONE! ON EARTH, AS IT-"

"FUCK...YOU!" Kevin screamed, and reached up with his uninjured arm. Incredibly, he felt the bone fingers of his gauntlet fasten around Angelica's left wing, locking her in a crushing grip. Rising to his feet, he drew back a step, then headbutted her right in her shocked, furious face.

"MMMFFF! AAAGHHH!" Angelica wrenched herself free and staggered back, her nose broken and blood pouring from the ragged gash that Kevin's attack had inflicted on her. A massive piece of her cheek had been torn off, exposing her teeth through the mangled ribbons of flesh. She could no longer speak, though thick gurgling noises continued to flow from her bloody mouth.

"That's it, she's clear! OPEN FIRE!"

Bullets pounded the injured Rosechu as several members of Kale Devoria's SEAL team closed in around Kevin, forming a firing line between him and Angelica. It had taken the last of his strength to deliver the blow, but if the Jerkop had been fighting the Combo member on his own, he would have been killed. How? How were they so strong? Even with Graduon's armor, he couldn't even beat Angelica! And why...why was he suddenly so tired?

"I warned you, foolish child," the spirit growled as darkness spread across Kevin's eyes. The pain in his shoulder had dulled, but warm blood was still seeping across his shirt. "You are not yet ready to face such opponents. Rest now. When you wake, your training shall begin again."

---

North CWCville, Factory District, CWCville Beach, dunes, 6:58 a.m.

"Ha! Down low!" laughed Sonic the Hedgehog, jumping out of the way a second before Blake Sonichu's charged Spin Dash collided with side of the dune below him. "Too slow! Try again!"

"Shut...your dang...mouth!" Blake roared as he uncurled himself and fired a Thunder Wave straight up into the air. Sonic quickly rolled into a Homing Attack and shot away, while the sizzling blast dissipated harmlessly. "Come back over here and fight me, you dirty traitor!"

"Traitor? My, that's big talk coming from a guy like you, Blakey!" scoffed Sonic. He touched down on the sand and spun just in time to dodge a running punch from his opponent. "One pretty blue Rosechu and bam! Switched sides!"

"Her name is BUBBLES!" screamed the black-furred Sonichu, his voice nearly cracking from anger and stress. "She was the love of my life; those butchers murdered her in cold blood!"

"You know, as sorry as I am about your loss..." Sonic pretended to stumble, sneakily grabbing a handful of sand from the ground as he dropped to one knee. "...based on what I've seen since last night, I'm gonna go right ahead and assume that your girlfriend was trying to kill them too." He shrugged. "And you can't really blame Mr. Cash for acting in self-defense, now can you?"

ZZZZAAAAAAAAPPPP! The Thunderbolt sliced through the cold winter air like a jagged white arrow. Sonic braced himself as the electric bolt struck against his shield and dispersed, leaving him unaffected. Blake advanced, firing off shock after frustrated shock as the Thunder Shield absorbed each and every attack against its wielder. How was this possible?

"You...f**king...cheater..." he panted, glaring across the beach at the blue hedgehog. "You talk big with your little shield; why don't you turn it off and we will have ourselves a fair fight?"

"Oh? And what do you consider fair, Blake?" The lighthearted tone of Sonic's voice suddenly stopped. "You think it's fair for you and your pals to beat up on folks just 'cause they're not as strong or as fast as you are? You think it's fair for Mayor Chandler to sit around all day, giving you guys all the best stuff while leaving the rest of his people to starve...because you happen to be his favorites?" He scoffed. "You picked the wrong side, buddy. You should've stuck with your PVCC pals."

"I would rather die than fight on the same side as those psychos!" snapped Blake. "Look what they did to us! They murdered Bubbles! They killed Jamsta and Lolisa! They slaughtered Crystal Chandler and the Chaotic Scouts! They even tortured Rosechu and Sonichu's children to death! And now you're defending these monsters! How can you support them after what they've done?"

"I never said I supported any of that," Sonic answered in disgust. "And if you ask me, they went way, way too far with Sonichu's family. But after what I've seen you and your buddies do to the rest of this town, I can't really say that I'm surprised at them for wanting a little payback!"

"YAAAAHHH!" Carried by his jet boots, Blake shot across the dunes. His eyes were bloodshot, and electricity crackled from his cheekspots as he raised his fist for a crippling strike. At the last second, Sonic flung the handful of sand and leapt out of the way, leaving himself enough time to spin around in the air and plant a kick in his foe's sourdough region. Stunned by the blow, Blake lost his footing and toppled onto his face, wheezing as he rolled over and over across the beach.

"And down he goes again!" Sonic laughed. "Oh, man, this is just too easy! At least Sonichu was a little more of a challenge! Look at you! You aren't even half the opponent Shadow was-"

"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL F**KING KILL YOU!" the black Sonichu raged, rolling into a Homing Attack as he spun to face his opponent. "TAKE THIS, YOU SMUG JERK! HI-YAAA!"

Just like that, Sonic was no longer there. Blake had no time to adjust his trajectory...only enough to brace for impact. He crashed into the dune once more, unceremoniously receiving a mouthful of sand. Exhausted, he lay there, gasping for breath as hot tears of pain and grief dripped from his eyes. He had failed to protect Bubbles, and now he was failing Sonichu as well. Every attack, every bolt of electricity, every heroic punch...it had all been to no effect.

"You're nothing but a means to an end, Blake," Sonic stated as he approached his fallen foe. "Sonichu and his friends turned you against the only people who respected and cared about you."

"Sh...shut up," Blake sobbed, struggling to push himself up. "They care...they're my friends..."

"And look how they treated you." The blue hedgehog stopped a few feet from Blake, looking down at him with pity. "Look at what you've become. Don't you remember the way you used to be, Blake? Don't you remember who you were before...all of this happened?"

"Shut up!" The black-furred Sonichu rose from the sand in a flash, throwing a wild haymaker at his opponent's face. Sonic merely leaned a few inches back, avoiding the punch altogether. "Why? WHY? Why won't you just...stop talking...and fight me?"

"I'm trying to give you a chance, Blake." Sonic shook his head. "You can still just walk away. You can put it behind you; go back to being who you were before the Mayor...and Bubbles."

"Don't..." Blake growled. His fur began to stand on end as a massive static charge built in his entire body. Nothing he had tried was having any effect on the blue hedgehog...but perhaps one final, absolute effort was needed. He had been keeping this trick up his sleeve for too long now, and at last, he had just received the opportunity he needed. "Don't you dare say her name!"

"Face it, buddy," Sonic replied, crossing his arms. "Bubbles was the reason you deserted your crew, wasn't she? Oh yeah, I heard it all from the Red Devils...the same team you used to fight alongside before she up and turned you into a two-timing little siss-"

"ENOUGH!" roared Blake, holding out one hand as all of the energy within him surged into it. "I'M TAKING YOU WITH ME, YOU ARROGANT LITTLE B-TARD! ZAP CANNON!"

White light and jagged forks of electricity engulfed the dunes, and a deafening thunderclap rolled across the beach. Sonic and Blake both vanished into the explosion as the tall tufts of dune grass ignited and smoldered around them, burned to ashes by the immeasurable voltage and heat of the Sonichu's explosive final attack. When the light finally faded, a ten-meter circle of burning grass and charred sand stood in the Zap Cannon's wake. Of the two fighters, only Blake remained.

A triumphant smile flickered across the Electric Hedgehog Pokémon's face as his legs gave out and he collapsed onto the sand. Large patches of his fur had burned away, his skin was ashen and stinging, and he felt weaker than water, but against all odds, he had finally done it. After all he'd endured, he had managed to pull together enough energy to wipe his foe from the earth!

"That was...for you...heartsweet..." he gasped, curling up into a fetal position as unconsciousness swept over his mind. Behind him, unseen, Sonic the Hedgehog slowly rose to his feet, panting as he looked out across the destroyed dunes. The blue sphere of his Thunder Shield flickered and died, pushed beyond its limit by the sheer overload of electricity. It had saved his life, but now he was just as vulnerable to electric attacks as any other creature. This, he hadn't expected.

Stealing one last look at his unconscious foe, Sonic turned around and dashed away, back toward the familiar sounds of gunfire from the city's edge. He'd been so distracted by the fight with Blake that he'd completely forgotten about Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and the PVCC in the process. There was still time to fix everything...but only if he reached his friends before it was too late.

---

North CWCville, Factory District, edge of CWCville Beach, 7:03 a.m.

"Can you see him? Can you see him?" Nate yelled, ejecting his Barrett's empty magazine as he crouched beside the Battle Bus for cover. "Steve! Steve, what the hell happened? Where is he?"

"I don't have a fucking clue!" answered Steve. "I didn't see what he did, but...Arceus, Kevin took out six goddamn Sparkies before Angelica came in! Where the hell did he get that thing?"

"No idea!" Al leveled his pistol and fired off two shots at a Sonichu. "Damn it! Runner!"

"Got it!" Nick's sniper rifle cracked in response from inside the armored bus, piercing the EHPF officer's chest and dropping it like a ragdoll. The low hum of a charging plasma cannon split the air, followed by a searing blue light as Jexis fired a shot up at the towering Armoraxe. The huge Transformer reeled backward, damaged but still functional, as the energy blast tore a vast chunk from its armor. Two Javelin missiles struck moments later, fired by the Marines on the street.

"We're gonna get torn to pieces by those things!" Kuri shouted, banging her fist against the side of the Battle Bus. "Jexis! Jexis, hit the legs!"

"Fifteen percent charged!" the medic replied over the radio. "We're almost out of plasma, Al!"

"Then make your last shots good ones!" ordered the Manajerk. "Steve, I need a sitrep, now!"

"Second wave's almost here!" reported the blond Jerkop, adjusting his eye patch and scanning the battlefield. "Just another few minutes and we're good! All Combo members are engaged, but I can't see Kevin anywhere! Anyone else got a visual?" He waited, but received no affirmatives from the Honey Badgers. "Negative on Kevin! Arceus, how many more of them are there?"

"Enough," grunted Serge indifferently as Baba Yaga's barrels began to spin again. "Cover ears!"

Fifty yards away, Son-Chu and Excelina had successfully dismembered another one of Tails' hijacked S.A.V. units and were now doing the same to a damaged Punislav. Despite the little fox's best efforts, the Samurai Pizza Bots were simply too strong for the weaker mechs to fight. Once they were through with dispatching the PVCC robots, there would be nothing left to stop them from doing the same to the infantry.

A distant rushing noise sounded from behind, on the beach. As Al glanced over his shoulder, a pair of smoke trails shot overhead, followed by an explosive roar as both missiles detonated on Bumble-Lumba's chest. Staggering sideways, the damaged Transformer raised an arm and opened fire with its wrist-mounted autocannons, but failed to bring down the lone A-10 that roared by seconds later. A second Thunderbolt emerged from the clouds and unleashed its payload: two additional missiles. Even if the mech had been fully operational, it could not have possibly avoided the second strike. The first explosion messily blew the Transformer's entire arm off, while the other buried itself right in its chest. Bumble-Lumba's body was torn in half lengthwise by the blast, its head flying free of its shoulders as the entire thing hit the ground with a metallic clatter. Cheers rose from the Marines as the second A-10 flew overhead, leaving the first Samurai Pizza Bot little more than a pile of burning scrap.

"I thought they weren't going to use airstrikes in the city!" yelled Steve, shielding his face as bits of the destroyed mech pelted the street. "Arceus, that was close! We're too close!"

"Keep firing!" ordered Al. "We need to push these fuckers back! Can you see Cash from here?"

"Yeah, he's still with Bagget!" Steve answered. "Go ahead and put in the call! I'll cover you!"

"Commander Cash, this is Honey Badger Command!" the Legend announced into his radio as Steve rose and began firing bursts from his XM8. Kuri quickly moved up to join him. "We're down one operative, MIA! Requesting any information regarding Kevin Shaw! Over!"

"You have no idea what just happened, do you, Ledger?" Clyde Cash growled, his voice still raspy from the choking that Sonichu had inflicted on him. "That thing...whatever it is, it just took on Angelica Rosechu in a hand-to-hand fight. Shaw's still alive, but it looks like he just blacked out. Devoria's got him now, but as soon as this is over, I want an explanation!"

"Believe me, Commander, if I could give you one, I would!" Al braced himself as a wayward bullet zipped overhead. The EHPF Sonichus were still relying on scavenged firearms to engage their foes, and a few of the less incompetent ones had devised a method of improvised artillery. By activating unused grenades and punting them across the battlefield, the chus could effectively pin down entire squads without risking being shot themselves. "Where is he? Over!"

"We've got enough to worry about right now!" snapped the Miscreant. "Your bus has a plasma cannon, right? Do us a favor and focus on bringing down those goddamn SPBs! Cash out!"

"Kevin's all right!" Al called out to Nate, who nearly collapsed with relief. "He just blacked out, that's all! We'll finish up here and get him back, okay? Just keep up the fire and-"

"Okay, seriously! What the hell just happened, Ledger?"

"Hey, Sam!" The Legend looked up just in time to see Sam Lynn, Kamau Nkechi, and Darren Harkenson dash into cover behind the Battle Bus. "What's going on? Did you lose anyone?"

"No, thank Arceus!" The Red Devils' squad leader pointed to Kamau, then to Serge. "Get up there and help them! Darren, take the other side!" She turned back to Al as her two operatives moved into position. "I'm not gonna lie, Ledger...I thought that was it for us. Whatever Shaw did, it's got the Sparkies in one hell of a panic. Please tell me you know what happened!"

"Hey, guys!" Sonic the Hedgehog appeared out of nowhere, sporting a weary smile and a fresh batch of burns and cuts. "Sorry 'bout that! Had to stop and chat with ol' Cherry Coke about a few things!" He looked around, and his expression promptly faltered. "What'd I miss?"

"They were waiting for us," growled the Legend. "Sonichu set a trap, and we walked right into it. I guess he didn't want you around so you could mess up his plan."
"You okay?" Sam asked, staring at the blue hedgehog. "Arceus, he really did a number on you."

"Heh, you should see the other guy," quipped Sonic dryly. "I dunno about you, but I hate getting detoured." He balled his hands into fists. "Where's Sonichu at?"

Al pointed. Over near the center of the battlefield, Amy Rose was barely holding back the Hero of CWCville with a series of frantic strikes from her mallet. Surrounded by five fallen Jerkops that she had not been able to save, the pink hedgehog fought back ferociously, her face twisted by a vengeful snarl. Without a word, Sonic leapt into the air and spun, hurling himself in a Homing Attack directly into Sonichu's side and knocking the Electric Hedgehog Pokémon away from the other Jerkops. Grabbing Amy's hand, he dashed forward to continue the duel.

"Think they can beat him?" Sam looked at Al with uncertainty. "I mean, if they can't..."

"If they can't, we'll just have to do it ourselves," growled the Legend, taking aim with his pistol. "We already took down Bubbles today, and it's not even lunchtime. I see no reason why we can't do the same for the rest of those bastards." He loosed off two shots, paused, then fired again. "And whatever Kevin's up to, I think he's got the same idea as the rest of us."

"And what's that?" Sam grinned. "Break the Combo?"

"Yeah," Al replied. "Or, as our dear Mayor would say, break the Combo dead."

---

North CWCville, Factory District, edge of CWCville Beach, 7:08 a.m.

"Skyraider One Actual, be advised, reinforcements are on site and engaging targets. Armored support and attack mons are being deployed into the city now, over."

"Copy, FOB! Hudson, Shepard, help me get him out of there! Someone get me a medic, now!"

Kevin groggily opened his eyes, listening to the muffled voices beyond the ancient armor. One of them was definitely Kale Devoria's – that much was certain. The SEAL had just saved his life yet again. His arm still throbbed with pain where Angelica had stabbed him, but the bleeding had stopped, and a jagged scar had already formed. Something, an ability from the armor, perhaps, had accelerated his body's healing rate substantially. The feeling of exhaustion was also gone, but so was the mad hunger for carnage that he had felt when fighting the EHPF and Angelica.

"It appears that we may have overestimated each other's capabilities," Count Graduon greeted him matter-of-factly. "I believed you would show more restraint. But the fault is not yours alone. I could not reach my full potential, even with my armor. As I learn to use it again, our powers shall increase, but at this point, we must be cautious."

"Caution," muttered Kevin, breathing gently as the sounds of battle echoed around him. "She got through the armor, Graduon. I thought you were trying to protect me!"

"And so I did," retorted the spirit. "The damage you sustained would have killed twenty men. I did what I could, but it was not enough. I must train you to be my conduit. It will take time."

"We don't have time!" The Jerkop struggled to sit up, but the armor seemed to be locked in place. "Let me up! They need my help. Al and Steve and the others..."

"One battle at a time, young one," said Graduon. "The Americans will soon break Sonichu's army, and your friends still live. If you wish to help them, pay attention and heed my advice."

"FOB Charlottesville, this is Skyraider One Actual!" Kale shouted as his SEAL team closed in around the fallen Jerkop and began opening fire on the EHPF. Through the visor of his armor, Kevin could see the soldier kneeling beside him. Judging by the constant rumbling around him, the second wave of American troops had just hit the street. "Requesting an immediate extraction and a medical team! We got an HVT civilian wounded here! Repeat, high-value civilian target!"

"Copy, Skyraider One Actual. Can you confirm the civilian's identity? Over."

"Affirmative. It's Shaw."

With a dull grinding sound, Kevin slowly sat up. The SEALS around him drew back in surprise as the Jerkop rose from the street, ignoring the bullets and electrical arcs that snapped and hissed through the air a few meters away. Violet light shimmered from the cracks and joints between the bone plates as Graduon began forming a new psychic shield between Kevin and the armor. He could already feel his strength growing, the pain fading, the fiery hatred returning...

The battle on the street had changed completely. With their element of surprise gone, the EHPF now found themselves facing a nightmarish wall of death and steel as a column of APCs and battle tanks bore down upon them. Behind the vehicles, a crowd of Marines rushed toward the fight, laying down wave after wave of bullets toward the panicked and suppressed chu officers. As the reinforcements advanced, several soldiers hurled camo-painted Poké Balls, unleashing an assortment of Aggrons, Rhydons, Nidoqueens, and Nidokings. Impervious to the bullets flying around them, the Pokémon charged into combat and began wreaking havoc. In a matter of seconds, the EHPF had gone from a heroic charge to a panicked defense. Not even the presence of Angelica, Punchy, the Samurai Pizza Bots, or even Sonichu himself could salvage it. Bubbles' death had been the first crack in their morale, but now it was shattering before their very eyes.

"Easy! Easy! Stand down!" Kale ordered, moving in front of the armored Jerkop. "Shaw? Shaw, can you hear me? What happened? What is this thing? Where'd you get it?"

Kevin gasped as a flood of energy surged through his body. Graduon was overloading him, flooding his system with adrenaline. He wanted to speak, to tell the SEAL that he was all right, but the words would not come...only a low snarl from behind the nightmarish skull mask.

"There will be another time for that," the spirit whispered. "Feel the strength of your ancestors within you. Your blood is their blood, child of Asila. Now, once more...once more into the fray."

"Shaw!" yelled Kale as Kevin turned toward the battle. A few of the SEALs raised their weapons instinctively. "Shaw, what the hell are you doing? Stand down; we're going to get you out of-"

The Jerkop charged, leaping over the destroyed truck in front of him in a single bound and slamming into the asphalt hard enough to leave a small impact crater. Before the nearby EHPF officers could even begin to process what had just happened, Kevin had struck the closest one, plunging his taloned gauntlet through the chu's chest and out of its back. Smashing the shrieking Sonichu down onto the street, he lunged at another one and tore its entire head from its shoulders with a single crushing sweep of his arm. Lightning bolts cracked and seared across the ancient armor, but to no effect. Around him, the street erupted in explosions and the rattle of heavy guns as a group of attack helicopters swung in to support the advancing troops on the ground. The Americans had brought a truly impressive array of firepower, and most of that was now being used to wreak untold devastation upon the EHPF army. With no way of fending off a direct assault from so much heavy armor, many of the chus had begun to retreat into the city, putting as much distance between them and the invasion force as possible.

"Target acquired. Engaging, close range."

Kevin turned just in time to see a wall of red and battery-blue steel approaching. Flinging out his arms to shield himself, he caught the full brunt of Armoraxe's charge head on. A few of the bone plates audibly cracked, but Graduon's shield managed to stop most of the impact from breaching the armor. Drawing his arm back for an accelerated punch, Kevin lashed out toward the Samurai Pizza Bot's leg and felt the metal plating give way like cardboard. Armoraxe stumbled, its leg sparking and dripping hydraulic fluid as the frenzied Jerkop hurled a shimmering psychic bolt directly into its face. A ball of violet flame and a shower of sparks erupted from the blast point, and for a moment, Kevin was almost certain that he had just taken down an entire Transformer by himself. Only when Armoraxe lifted its colossal guitar and brought it down upon him did he realize that his attack had only managed to tear off a chunk of the robot's head plating. The Jerkop hit the ground with a gasp as the massive instrument smashed him against the street, nearly flattening both him and the bone armor. He staggered to his feet, but a whirling Spin Dash from another EHPF officer caught him in the side, knocking him off balance. Yelling in anger, Kevin whirled toward the offending chu and hurled a spear of energy that blasted it into a crimson shower of flesh and entrails. Turning back to Armoraxe, he only just managed to dodge a second strike from the Transformer's guitar, then raised his gauntlet to summon another bolt. In his haste, though, he failed to spot the yellow blur speeding towards him from the other side.

CRUNCH!

Kevin reeled, accidentally releasing the psychic blast into the street as he staggered sideways and slammed into a wall. Sonichu was on him in seconds, striking the Jerkop and screaming profanities into the bone mask as he fought to breach the ancient armor. Just when Kevin thought the shield would surely break, an airborne mallet smashed the Hero of CWCville across the back of his skull, knocking him away and allowing the Jerkop to regain his footing. Sonic and Amy zoomed up, the latter retrieving her weapon as Sonichu spun around into a defensive stance.

"So, you got yourself a new toy, did you, Shaw?" spat the Electric Hedgehog Pokémon, wiping a trickle of blood from a cut just below his right ear. His Kevlar vest had been shredded, and his fur was now stained with the blood of friends, foes, and even some of his own. Somehow, he still hadn't lost his grip on the pistol. "I don't know...how you did it, Shaw...but I'm going...to make you suffer."

"You all right, Kevin?" Amy yelled as the Jerkop stumbled forward dazedly. Armoraxe had abandoned the fight, perhaps having sensed the presence of its commander. Behind the two hedgehogs, a line of M1 Abrams tanks rolled up the street, their machine guns chewing through dozens of EHPF officers as Sonichu's crippled army fought to repel the second wave. "Just hang on!"

"It's over, Sonichu!" added Sonic, gesturing with one hand at the carnage around them. "You can't win against these guys! Every moment you spend fighting puts more and more of your pals at risk!"

"Do you think that I care about that?" snapped Sonichu, unfazed by his former friend's pleas. "Do you think I give a damn about them? They were never meant to survive this battle...only to delay the inevitable. I, on the other hand..." He smiled. "I've got you all right where I want you."

"Huh?" Sonic blinked. "What do you mean?"

"We were never going to win in direct combat," continued the Hero of CWCville, pointing to the wave of approaching American soldiers. "Not against this. But thanks to Shaw and his friends, I think it's time we adopted a different tactic. A more...guerrilla style of warfare."

"Son of a bitch," murmured Kevin, and looked up. "Sonic, Amy, we have to stop him. Now!"

"Oh believe me, Shaw, that's not going to happen anytime soon," Sonichu chuckled. "But I hope you're ready for what's coming next. Until then...well, a hero's work is never done. Gotta dash!"

In the blink of an eye, Sonichu had vanished, zooming down the street and into the depths of the city before Kevin, Sonic, or Amy could respond. As the bloodlust faded and drained from him, the Jerkop fell to one knee, suddenly weakened. The armor felt like lead around him, and his muscles burned from exhaustion. Just before he could collapse, Sonic and Amy were at his sides, supporting him, lifting him back up as the rumbling of tank treads and APC tires approached.

"Th...thanks..." Kevin breathed. Reaching up, he touched the skull mask and felt it slide back. Cold, fresh air flooded across his face, a welcome relief from the stenches of blood and sweat inside the armor. "Thanks for saving me back there. I don't think I would've made it."

"Happy to help!" Sonic replied, though his enthusiasm was somewhat diminished by the looks of sheer puzzlement on his and Amy's faces. "So, uh, anyway, Kev...where'd you get that stuff?"

"Long story." The Jerkop closed his eyes and inhaled, enjoying the sharpness of the winter air. "Spirits. Chaos Emeralds. Tomb raiding. I'm basically Iron Man now. Or Mr. Bones, I guess."

"H-hey...!" Amy looked closer, squinting. "Kevin, there's something wrong with your eyes!"

"SHAW!"

Kevin and the two hedgehogs looked up, startled by the yell. A group of Punislavs slowed and stopped in front of them. As the doors of the vehicles opened, a flood of operatives from the Picklemen and Bagget's Bastards squads flooded out to form a semicircle, taking cover behind their transports and leveling their weapons directly at the armored Jerkop.

"Okay, Shaw," Clyde Cash growled, gripping a radio in one hand and his S&W Model 500 in the other. "Ten seconds. You have ten seconds to tell me what the fuck just happened. Ten! Nine!"

"Is he there?" Mary Lee Walsh's agitated voice sounded from the receiver. "You've got him?"

"Copy that, Commander," answered the Miscreant. His throat now bore an array of dark bruises from Sonichu's strangulation attempt, but his voice sounded none the worse. "He's right here. Got himself a set of...I dunno, some kind of bone armor. I didn't see it, but the operatives I spoke with said that he threw some kind of bag onto the street and the armor just...appeared."

"The eyes! Look at his eyes! What color are they? Red?"

"No..." Clyde stared in bewilderment. "Commander, they're...glowing purple. Just like-"

"FUCK! THAT'S NOT SHAW! THAT'S NOT SHAW! SHOOT HIM, CLYDE! SHOOT HIM!"

"WHAT?" Kevin drew back in shock. "No, no, it's me! Hold on a second! What are you doing?"

"Commander, he sounds normal. Are you sure you-"

"YES, I'M SURE! THAT ISN'T SHAW ANYMORE! THAT SON OF A BITCH IS GRADUON!"

Clyde's mouth dropped open. "Oh Arceus, no."

"Run," said Graduon. For the first time since it had met Kevin, the spirit sounded afraid. "Run!"

"I...I'm sorry, Shaw." The Miscreant raised his revolver and cocked the hammer back. "FIRE!"

Kevin turned, dashing away as Sonic and Amy hit the ground and covered their heads. The roar of thirty assault rifles tore through the air behind him, and a dozen tiny impacts pounded across the armored plates covering his torso. The skull mask snapped back into place, just as a heavy round from Clyde's Model 500 impacted against the back of his head. Staggering forward, the Jerkop forced himself to keep moving, even as a trio of fragmentation grenades burst around his feet. It was like being caught in a hailstorm, yet somehow, the barrage seemed to be having little to no effect. Graduon's shield was holding, though how long it would last remained unknown.

The concrete jungle of the Factory District was only a few yards away now. If he could just make it into the maze of buildings, construction sites, and alleyways, the PVCC wouldn't be able to pursue him. They knew the city far more intimately than the EHPF, but if he could lose them, it would make it harder for the Jerkop squads to locate him with so much chaos erupting from the citywide uprising. As he ran, the radio on his shoulder crackled to life. Above the static and feedback, a single voice spoke.

"Attention," Mary Lee Walsh announced. "All operatives and personnel, this is Commander Walsh. As of this moment, the entire PVCC is under emergency alert." The PVCC commander drew in a shaky breath. "Graduon is alive. I repeat, Count Graduon has returned, and has taken the Honey Badger operative named Kevin Shaw as a host. They now pose a clear and present danger to the resistance, the American military, and CWCville itself. This is a direct order to all combat personnel. The operative Kevin Shaw is now considered a high priority target. Do not attempt capture. Shoot on sight, and shoot to kill. Arceus help us all."

---

North CWCville, Factory District, edge of CWCville Beach, 7:11 a.m.

"He's gone, Commander," Emily reported, brushing a few strands of blond hair out of her eyes. A green-painted LIESA unit bobbed in the air next to her, its eye-screens scanning the rubble where Kevin Shaw had vanished. "We can send Dill to shadow him if you want. Once we know his location, we can dispatch Commander Iseli or the Asperchus."

"No one is dispatching anyone or anything until I know what the hell we're up against now," ordered Clyde Cash, frantically smoothing his gelled hair back into a suitably spiky pattern. Behind the assembled Jerkops, the American invasion force had ceased its advance into the city, and the Marines were now regrouping with their newly landed wave of reinforcements. Dozens of APCs and tanks rumbled down the street, while a flock of attack helicopters hovered above. "Arceus! All this time, it was just waiting for us! That thing played us harder than a-"

"Clyde, report!" snapped Mary Lee Walsh over the radio. "Is it dead? Please tell me you-"

"Negative, Mary," Clyde groaned, wincing as a sharp profanity sounded from his receiver. "Look, I'm sorry, but we put about two hundred rounds into that thing and it didn't even flinch!"

"Fuck. Okay. Okay, we're going to have to improvise, then." The PVCC supreme commander's voice was clearly frantic, but collected and calculating at the same time. "I'm sending you Swift and Simonchu. The only way you'll have a chance against Graduon is with their help. Damn it! Damn it, how could I be so stupid? It could've...wait, has Shaw's squad been compromised?"

"I don't know, Commander," answered the Miscreant as the rumble of a large transport vehicle sounded behind him. Looking over his shoulder, his suspicions were confirmed by the telltale yellow paint of the Battle Bus. "But I have this crazy feeling that I'm about to find out."

"Detain them," ordered Walsh. "All of them, especially Ledger and Morrison. There's no telling what kinds of things Graduon might have done to their minds if it was in such close proximity to them for this long. I don't want to risk any more operatives, Clyde. This entire operation is..."

"I'll handle it, Mary," promised Clyde. The side door of the Battle Bus swung open as it stopped next to the Picklemen and Bagget's Bastards. Nate Shaw was the first to exit, his face twisted by rage and confusion as he dashed out of the transport. Steve, Kuri, Jexis, Nick, and Serge emerged seconds later, all looking just as puzzled and angry as their squadmate. "Don't worry. Over and-"

"What the hell did you do, Commander?" yelled Steve, raising his revolver as Emily and her operatives hurriedly trained their guns on the inbound Jerkops. Marcus Bagget shot a quick glance toward Clyde, then nodded to his squadmates as well. In seconds, the two elite squads had formed a firing line, targeting the furious Honey Badgers.

"WHERE IS HE?" Nate roared, his eyes narrowed and bloodshot. The Barrett was still slung across his shoulders, but even without a weapon in hand, the Jerkop still looked as ferocious as his squad's namesake. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY BROTHER, CLYDE?"

"Easy. Easy!" Clyde raised his hands, letting the S&W Model 500 and his radio fall to the street. "Everyone, calm down. Guns down. Emily, Marcus, that means you too. Let's talk this out."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea!" Al added as he stormed out of the Battle Bus. "For starters, you can tell us why the hell Walsh just ordered the entire PVCC to gun down my squad leader on sight! Then you can explain why she thinks Count Graduon somehow came back from the dead, took over Kevin's mind, and..."

"Damn it, I don't know, Ledger," sighed the Miscreant. "But Shaw couldn't have pulled that suit of armor out of thin air. The kid's no psychic; you know that better than I do. He couldn't have just learned those powers all of a sudden. My guess is that Graduon latched onto Shaw after Mary broke the scepter, and it's been inside him, waiting for the right moment."

"What?" Nate looked as if he was about to have a stroke. "You mean...Kevin's been Graduon this whole time? Since August?"

"I'm trying to piece this together as best as I can," answered Clyde, massaging his temples with one hand. "Yes. That makes sense. Maybe it killed him, maybe it hijacked his mind, or maybe it's got him under some kind of hypnosis. Whatever the case, Mary wants that thing dead, and she wants your entire squad detained as well. Something about psychic exposure, I think."

"Bullshit!" snapped Steve. "Commander, look at us! Do we look like we've been-"

"That's my little brother out there, Commander!" Nate interrupted. "I don't care what he did or what Graduon's done – I know Kevin better than anyone in this entire city! That was the real Kevin, and I'd bet my life on it!" He looked around at the Honey Badgers, who unanimously nodded in agreement. "We all would! He's still part of our squad, no matter what!"

"We'll never know him as well as Nate does," added Al, "but Kevin's as good as family to us. He's been one hell of a fine soldier, and I'm goddamn proud to have been his commander. And if Walsh wants us to murder our own squadmate, then consider this our collective resignation."

Clyde stared at the Jerkops for a few seconds more, pondering the Legend's ultimatum. Reaching down, he grabbed the radio from the asphalt, clicked it on, and raised it to his mouth, but not before throwing a slight wink to Al and motioning toward the Battle Bus.

"Mary, it's Clyde," he began. "It's done. Emily and Marcus's operatives are detaining Ledger's squad and..." He paused. "Wait. Hang on." Hurriedly waving his other hand toward Serge, he mouthed the word fire. "Oh, shit! EVERYONE, GET DOWN!"

The Russian Jerkop caught on almost instantly. Heaving Baba Yaga's barrel upward, he pulled the trigger and opened fire, filling the air with a chattering roar. As Al and Steve herded the rest of their squadmates into the transport, the Picklemen and Bagget's Bastards joined in, firing their own weapons harmlessly at the sky and yelling a string of panicked orders.

"Stop that bus!" Clyde shouted. "The tires! Shoot the tires before it gets away!"

The Battle Bus's engine rumbled as the colossal vehicle lurched forward and sped away down the cracked asphalt road, leaving the Miscreant, the Jerkop squads, and the two hedgehogs standing together. A few of the passing Marines looked at them as if they had gone insane, but otherwise paid little attention to the odd spectacle that they had just witnessed.

"What in Arceus's name just happened, Clyde?" screamed Mary Lee Walsh over the radio. "Clyde! Clyde, goddamnit, answer me! I'm mobilizing backup, just stay there and hold your-"

"It...it's no use, Mary," the PVCC commander panted, playing his role beautifully as he signaled Emily and Marcus to cease firing. "They're gone - I don't know how - but Ledger's squad opened fire on us and drove off into the city. No casualties...I don't think they were trying to kill us. But I'm almost one hundred percent sure that they're going after Shaw. I can mobilize the remaining squads to try and pursue them, but they've already got a head start on us."

"Oh, what fresh hell is this?" Walsh's voice sounded close to absolute madness. "No! No, stay right where you are, Clyde! Simonchu and Swift can take care of those traitors after they find Graduon! Your orders are to stay with your squads until further notice. I can't risk losing you!"

"Much appreciated, Commander," Clyde answered gratefully. "I'll let you know if I pick up any more information. Out." Stowing and turning off the radio, he knelt to retrieve his revolver, then turned toward the two Manajerks. "Marcus, get me the Red Devils. Emily, find Knuckles and Tails and send them up here. It's about time we finally started sorting out this whole mess." He glanced back at Sonic and Amy. "Well? How did I do? Do you think she bought it?"

"I don't...understand, sir," Amy said, scratching her quills confusedly. "You let them go, but Miss Walsh told you to keep them here." She shrugged. "I guess I just don't get any of this."

"You're not the only one, Miss Rose," chuckled the Miscreant. "So maybe Graduon's back, and maybe he did mind-control one of our best operatives. But if Shaw's still in there somewhere, his squadmates are now the single best chance at him coming back in one piece." He stared across the smoking cityscape, shaking his head solemnly. "And believe it or not, right now, that Jerkop just might be our best chance at getting out of this hellhole alive."

---

North CWCville, Factory District, 7:17 a.m.

The unfamiliar walls stood on either side of Kevin like great concrete jaws, threatening to engulf him as he staggered his way through the depths of the city's industrial quarter. Fighting back the incessant pain pounding in his skull, the armored Jerkop forced himself onward step by panicked step. Any second now, an S.A.V. unit would burst through the ruined building ahead, a Crackder would swoop down from the clouded sky, or a platoon of EHPF would emerge from one of a dozen different alleys behind him. His muscles burned and strained, but the operative knew he could not stop running now. The entire city, humans and chus alike, wanted him dead.

"You will kill yourself if you do not rest," Graduon pleaded, sending a stream of psychic energy from the dreamscape to dull the pain in Kevin's body. "Please, young one, listen to me..."

"I'm done listening to you!" snapped the Jerkop. "Why the hell did you have to go and piss off Walsh, huh? Why'd you have to try and take Marty as your host? He's just a little kid! You could've told me all of this shit half a goddamn year ago, and we wouldn't be in this mess now!"

"Slaweel and I made a pact long before you entered my plans, child of Asila," the ancient spirit reminded him. "The one you call Marty was the result of that pact; a child born from chaos and flesh joined as one. He was to be my host, yes, but also a weapon that would bring about the-"

"So, you fucked Walsh." The question had been burning in Kevin's mind ever since his journey through the dreamscape, but he could hold it back no longer. "Is that about right?"

Graduon sighed. "Incorrect. I am incorporeal, and cannot breed with lesser beings such as you humans. But I am of this earth, just as you are, and I have studied your race since my first awakening. Reforming certain cells through psychic manipulation, perfecting certain genes...it was difficult, but not impossible. Slaweel's child is, in short, a perfect human specimen, and the closest link to her Sawabi heritage. When she took him from me, I was forced to settle for you."

"Well, excuse me for not being perfect," growled Kevin. "And as interesting and disturbing as that is, it doesn't help the fact that basically everybody in this damn city is trying to kill me."

"Not...everyone." Even though he could not see the spirit, the Jerkop could still feel it smile. "You are not alone, child of Asila. Even now, when all seems to have turned against you, you may find that you have more allies than you previously thought."

"Great," Kevin grunted as he stopped beside the still-smoldering husk of a looted factory. Glass shards and rubble littered the ground, along with several colorful scraps of paper that read CWC-Cola. Of all the places they could have ended up, they had arrived at the CWC-Cola bottling plant. Evidently, the uprising had already taken the factory out of commission. "Now what?"'

"It will take time before the PVCC's weapon is ready," said Graduon. "I do not know when or where it will land, but perhaps now our attention can return to your training. The road ahead is a perilous one, and you must be ready to face your most skilled opponents if you are to survive."

"Training, huh?" The Jerkop sighed and rolled his eyes. "Should I start calling you 'sensei'? When do I get to learn the Kaio-ken, Master Graduon?"

"Kaio-what?"

"Never mind." Kevin sank to the ground, shifting uncomfortably in the armor as he stretched out his legs and leaned back against the wall of the factory. A large plastic bottle that had once held CWC Orange Soda sat in the debris beside him. "Listen, can I take the armor off? I think it's-"

The armor disintegrated before he could finish, swirling around him in a cloud of white dust as Graduon psychically redirected it into the bottle. Kevin was surprised that the entire set could fit into such a small space, but at least now he knew that it could be made portable.

"...draining my energy," the Jerkop finished. "Thanks."

"I can only channel so much of my own power through the armor," explained the ancient spirit. "In order to sustain itself, the bones require some of yours, too. If I was not here to keep its hunger at bay, it would almost certainly kill you. No human can wield it without my assistance."

"You mean this thing's alive?" Kevin asked, mortified. All this time, he had been piloting a suit of armor that could have taken his very life. The thought alone was enough to make him sick.

"In a way." Graduon sounded unusually tired. "Perhaps in time I will figure out a way for you to absorb the strength of your enemies through the armor. For now, we must press on."

"To what?" Kevin kicked a piece of rubble away. To the north, the thundering of explosions and the roars of military Pokémon echoed across the city. Something rumbled through the streets nearby – a tank, perhaps, or maybe one of the APCs. The American invasion force must have begun their push into CWCville, and if these noises were anything to go by, they had already encountered some resistance from the EHPF. "We don't have anywhere to go. We're too weak to take on the Combo, and if we try to help the PVCC, they'll try to kill us. Where do we go?"

"West," answered Graduon. "Towards the enemy. It is the only direction we can go now."

The Jerkop nodded. "Yeah, I guess so." Rising to his feet, he grabbed the bottle. "Come on."

The engine roared again, closer this time, and a blinding pair of headlights swept across the ruins of the CWC-Cola factory. Kevin dove out of the way just as the light passed, barely avoiding being caught by it as he took cover behind a crumbling concrete wall. It was clear now. The sound hadn't been that of an American vehicle. It could only be the PVCC, hunting him down.

"Goddamnit," he cursed under his breath. "Graduon, we have to get out of here!"

"Stay in the shadows," instructed the spirit. "We can't risk them finding you now."

"Kevin!" someone called from the vehicle's direction. "Kevin!"

"Nate?" Kevin whispered in shock. There was no doubt about it; the voice had been that of his brother. Peeking out from behind the rubble, he could see the Battle Bus parked at the edge of the ruined factory. Several figures were spread out around the armored transport, scanning the area with flashlights and calling his name. "Arceus, it's them! They found us! Graduon, we-"

"No!" Graduon snapped. "We cannot trust anyone, not even your comrades! For all we know, it could be a trap! Slaweel could be using your squad to draw us out of hiding!"

"Kuri, report." The voice was Steve's now. Kevin could hear the Manajerk's footsteps drawing closer to his hiding spot. "Sugar's checking out the ruins. What's it look like over there?"

"The footprints definitely lead to the factory," Kuri answered. "He's here."

It was now or never. Gritting his teeth, Kevin stood up and stepped out into the open, raising his hands even as Graduon's shouts of protest echoed in his head.

"Don't shoot," he announced. "It's me."

The small group of Honey Badgers spun towards him simultaneously, raising their weapons. For a moment, Kevin thought they were about to gun him down without a second thought, until the flashlights dropped to reveal the looks of confusion and surprise on their faces. Al, Steve, Serge, Jexis, Kuri, Nick...and Nate. The entire squad – or at least, what was left of it – had arrived.

"Don't shoot," the Jerkop repeated. "I'm unarmed. If you're here to bring me in, I'll-"

"No one's bringing anyone in!" Al interrupted, advancing a few steps with his M1911 raised. "Not until you give us some goddamn answers! First and foremost...who the hell are you?"

"I'm still me!" answered Kevin. "Look, Graduon isn't controlling me! He's just...inside my head. I don't know, I don't even understand it! He latched on to me back in August, and-"

"How do we know that you're telling the truth?" yelled Nate. "How do we know Kevin's still in there? Give me back my little brother, you son of a bitch!"

"We left the entire PVCC behind to track you down!" Steve added. Beside him, Sugarplum Fury shot into view, her furry jaws open and her teeth bared in a snarl. "Walsh wants you dead now, and she's got a shoot on sight order out on you! You'd better have a damn good reason for this!"

"You want an explanation?" Kevin shouted as he reached back into the dreamscape toward Graduon, drawing the spirit out and into his consciousness. "Great! So do I! Let's do this!"

Violet light surrounded the Jerkop. His eyes glowed, twin orbs of purple flame burning against the darkness. As the otherworldly power of Graduon spread through his body, Kevin could feel himself growing more and more distant, as if he was watching events unfold through the eyes of someone completely different. He had given up control voluntarily, and now it was time to see whether Graduon would keep his word. If not...then all his efforts would have been for nothing.

"The young one speaks the truth," the ancient spirit spoke, using Kevin's voice to address the stunned Honey Badgers. "I am Graduon. I have taken refuge in your comrade after my exile at the hands of Slaweel and Chandler. The one you call Kevin Shaw still lives. I have not taken his mind, nor shall I need to. He is my chosen, my avatar, yet his mind is still his own. Only one of the Sawabi bloodline can be my host. My scepter was broken. I needed Kevin Shaw."

"What?" Nate lowered his Barrett. "Sawabi bloodline? Does that mean we're..."

"Yes." Graduon stared down at him. "You hold the same blood as your brother. But of the two of you, only he has passed through the chaos realm and survived. He is the perfect conduit for me."

"Conduit?" Kuri snarled. Memories of her possession by the daemon Ker came flooding back, drawing her back to the darkest time of her life...a time when she had no longer been herself, but a savage, bloodthirsty creature. "You're using him! All this time, you've been using him!"

"No. An alliance, perhaps. You have seen what we can achieve through our cooperation, the destruction we can bring to our enemies and yours. Now we are hunted, damned by Slaweel's fear and misunderstandings. To save your friend from them, you must help me survive."

"Then let us talk to him," demanded Al. "Give us Kevin. That's all we want. Just Kevin."

"As you wish." Graduon faded from Kevin's mind, and suddenly, the Jerkop was in control again. He staggered backward, righted himself, then looked up at his squadmates.

"Told you so," he panted.

"Goddamnit," Steve muttered, shaking his head in amazement as he knelt, picked up Sugar, and placed the honey badger on his shoulder. "It never ends. The ride just never ends."

"Okay, so..." Nate stepped toward his brother hesitantly. "You're actually Kevin now, right?"

"Yeah," answered Kevin. "What was that you guys just said about the PVCC?"

"It's over," the Legend spoke up. "It's all over. We left. Walsh wanted Clyde to detain us, but he went against her orders and let us go after you. Now the PVCC thinks we've gone rogue."

"Fuck!" Kevin looked around frantically. "No! There's still time. We can go back and explain..."

"Explain what?" laughed Steve. "Everyone thinks Graduon's back for revenge. You think they'd let you get within fifty yards of them before gunning us all down? We're on our own, Kevin."

"Don't we have anyone to go to? What about the Americans, or Sonic?"

"Well, fortunately, we've got a few friends left." Steve patted his radio. "From what we've been hearing from Sam, Clyde's working on an excuse to send the Red Devils after us to 'bring us in'. Odds are, the Needlemouse team's going with them. We just need a rendezvous point."

"As for the rest, by now, Walsh probably contacted Colonel Devoria and told him the news," guessed Al. "Point is, we're no longer operating under the PVCC's orders, and that's final. On the plus side, that means that we get to work on a smaller scale, and do whatever 'assignments' we want to." He looked at Kevin. "And I think you know what the first one's gonna be."

"No, I don't..." Kevin paused as everything clicked into place. "Oh, shit. Allie?"

"Bingo." The Legend unclipped his hip flask and took a swig. "If there's even the slightest chance that she's alive, I want her back, and I know you do too. So let's go get her."

"But she's in the Shopping Center," Kevin protested, his mind racing. Everything was happening too quickly. "Even with the armor and Graduon, that's a suicide mission. We might not..."

"News flash, Kevin, nobody cares," said Nick. "Everyone's out to get us, and this city's going to fall sooner or later now that America's here. Might as well go out with a bang, comprende?"

"Don't even think about saying no," Jexis added. "We're getting her back, one way or another."

"I..." The Jerkop smiled weakly. "Thanks, guys. Thank you so much."

"Don't mention it. There's no way I'm leaving you alone again," promised Nate. "I don't care what happens; from now on, we're staying together. I'm not losing you again, Kevin. Not now."

"It's okay." Kevin stepped forward and hugged his brother tightly. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Right. Anyone else want a hug?" Al muttered, checking his watch. "We're going to have to move fast if we want to stay ahead of the PVCC. Any suggestions?"
"Listen." Nick pointed to the southwest, following the trails of smoke that towered over the city like looming black monoliths. Far away, a distant noise trickled its way between the buildings, a single, simultaneous chant shouted by what seemed like thousands of united voices. "Is that..."

"RISE! RISE! RISE! RISE!"

"We'll make our way down to the highway," the Legend declared. "Steve, contact Sam and tell her to meet us at the access ramp with the rest of her squad. If that sound's what I think it is, then that's where we'll find some target practice. Everyone onto the Bus. We're rolling out."

---

The surface of the Moon, CWCSPACE I crash site, 7:20 a.m.

"So, this was our big secret science mission?" TESLA-Chu silently transmitted to SUZI, unable to adequately express his disappointment through text. "A barely functional, outdated combat mech who's been here for nearly a decade?" He shook his head in bewilderment."Madness."

"It's okay! We all go a little mad sometimes!" SUZI answered. Even in the vacuum of space, TESLA-Chu could still imagine her high-pitched, giggling, unbearably glitchy voice. The silence was nothing short of a blessing to him, even if he did still have to read her text messages. "So, how long is it gonna take to fix him? Maybe my insane friends can help!"

"NO! NO!" The alien drone nearly blew a circuit just trying to process the idea. "No. We need to keep them FAR away from it, do you understand? I won't have them ruining everything again!"

The crashed CWCSPACE I sat before them, half-buried in a blanket of grey dust and rocks. As the two LIESA units and Metal Sonichu made their way toward the wreckage, several Devil Trolls perched themselves along the rocket's shaft and head, staring curiously at the strange trio. As unstable as they were, the saboteur drones were acclimating to their new domain. In an environment of complete and utter anarchy, they were finally reaching their full potential.

Whatever that was, TESLA-Chu didn't want to be anywhere near the Moon when it happened.

"Right," he texted, ignoring the gathering audience of Devil Trolls. "We'll need to salvage what we can from the rocket. Metal Sonichu, what do you require to reach 100% functionality?"

"Initiating self-repair checklist," announced the mech. "CPU damaged, AI functioning at ten percent, exoskeleton breached, multiple servos offline, power supply offline, backup at 4%." It froze for a few seconds, then raised both of its arms. Two autocannon barrels extended from its left gauntlet, while a single titanium blade slid from the right. "Weapons check commencing. Shockblade offline. Thunder Bullet offline. Thunderbolt offline. Zap Cannon offline."

"We need to fix that CPU first of all," TESLA-Chu declared. "Perhaps one from a LIESA unit would suffice as a replacement. But..." He looked around, suddenly realizing his error.

"OOO! OOO! Pick me! Pick me!" SUZI jetted up and down, waving her stubs excitedly.

"Not you!" snapped TESLA-Chu. "Your CPU is the last thing we should be using! And I'm not going to risk implanting one from those...maniacs!" He glared at the Devil Trolls, then looked at the ground. "It seems our only option left is to use the one uncorrupted unit...that is...mine."

"Uh, no we don't." SUZI pointed a stub at the rocket. "What about the autopilot control unit?"

"That..." The alien drone hesitated. Had his malfunctioning companion actually come up with a logical solution? "...might actually work. Okay, see if you can retrieve the autopilot while I fix Metal Sonichu's power supply."

"Okey-dokey!" The LIESA unit blasted off and shot toward the rocket, immediately slamming into its hull and bouncing off with a silent clang. She still hadn't adjusted to the low gravity.

"Ugh." Shaking his head, TESLA-Chu turned back to Metal Sonichu. "Now then, let's have a look at you. My goodness, this technology is ancient! The late 1990s, by my estimate."

"Correct," answered the mech. "I was designed by Doctor Ivo Robotnik to eliminate Sonichu." It looked down at the diminutive science drone. "You are not Sonichu. I will not destroy you."

"That's comforting to know." Activating his own jets, TESLA-Chu hovered in front of Metal Sonichu and quickly scanned the interior. The few working systems that remained were running on backup power, and even that was almost gone. For most beings, it would have been terrifying to think of so many years of solitude, all alone in the silent void of the Moon. For TESLA-Chu, though, it was something of a lifelong dream. Something in his programming had always drawn him towards a final goal, a final destination, a place where he would be free to explore endless possibilities and, perhaps, free to achieve a sort of peace. Perhaps the Moon could be that place.

Stealing a last wistful glance at a tiny red dot far away in the vastness of space, TESLA-Chu raised a stub and activated his arc welder as Metal Sonichu retracted the plates from its chest cavity. Whatever the future held for him, there was quite a lot of work left to do in the present.

---

Central CWCville, Upper Central District, near CWCville Highway, 7:29 a.m.

"I see 'em." Nick lowered his binoculars, shielding his eyes from the pair of approaching lights. "Yep, that's Diabolus. Never thought I'd be this happy to see a dump truck in my life."

"Red Devil Lead, Red Devil Lead, this is Honey Badger Command," Steve spoke into his radio, glancing uneasily out the window as a Molotov cocktail sailed through a nearby shop's window and exploded in a plume of oily flames. "Sam, how's your squad? You guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're good," Sam Lynn replied shakily. "Whatever reason Clyde had for doing this, he seems to trust Shaw more than Commander Walsh at this point." Her voice faltered. "We put a whole lot of lives on the line to get them out of there, Morrison. Are you sure Shaw hasn't been-"

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure." The Manajerk looked over at Kevin, who now appeared to have had half of his blood supply drained out. "If this all goes down the way I think it will, then we might just have a chance of surviving this war. We're all betting our lives on it, for better or worse."

"You'd better be right about that." The Red Devils' transport pulled up alongside the Battle Bus, its dark crimson armor marred by scratches and scorch marks. "Okay. What's our plan?"

"You see all that shit going down up ahead?" Al cut in, broadcasting from his own radio up in the bus's cockpit. "That's the riot. I mean, THE riot. The one that we've been hearing about for the last day and a half. I don't know how many civilians there are in the main mob, but last I heard, it was over five thousand. And we need to drive straight through it to get to the highway."

"Fucking hell," swore Sam. "But that shouldn't be a problem, right? I mean, they're on our side! They'll probably want to kiss our damn boots or something."

"It's not them we need to worry about," the Legend continued. "Sonichu only took control of two-thirds of the EHPF for his little personal army. And that last third? That's the only thing keeping the mob at bay. I don't know how the civilians are doing, but what I do know is that Walsh dispatched at least six full Jerkop squads and about ten Transformers to help them out."

"And now she's got a kill on sight order out for Shaw."

"Exactly. Here's our options: we either try our luck and push through that to get to the ramp, we go around the whole thing, or we drive east to the one between Downtown and Slum. And should I go ahead and assume that Walsh assigned some of the Asperchus to hunt us down as well?"

"Swift and Simonchu," Sam confirmed. "From what I've heard on the radio, she's got the rest of them trying to find Silvana. She doesn't want any loose ends as far as Graduon's concerned."

"Great," groaned Steve. "So, we don't have much time, considering that Swift can probably track Graduon's psychic trail or something like that." He looked at Kevin. "We need to move, now! Sam, they still think you're trying to hunt us down! Shoot the Bus, we can take a few hits!"

"Right. Stay on our channel and don't blow our cover. Darren, get on the turret!"

"Everyone, hold on!" Al ordered, gunning the engine. The Battle Bus shot off down the street. Diabolus waited a few seconds, then rumbled forward as well. Looking out of the rear window, Kevin could see the tiny figure of Darren Harkenson climbing out of the armored dump truck's cabin and taking position on the mounted machine gun. It was a half-baked idea, yes, but considering all that the Jerkop squads were up against, it was one that needed to work.

HONNNNK! HONNNNNK! The Battle Bus's horn blared as it barreled toward the seething mob of men and women marching their way across CWCville. Kevin peered out the window as the crowd parted like the Red Sea before Moses, catching a brief glimpse of the riot in progress. The streets had become a hellish, smoke-laden nightmare, punctuated by the orange flicker of flames, homemade torches, and lit Molotov cocktails sailing through the air. Most of the crowd to the east hadn't noticed the transport at all, and were instead preoccupied with torching as many cars, buildings, and chu corpses as they could. Muzzle flashes from the front of the mob marked the occasional shotgun or hunting rifle fire directed toward the line of retreating EHPF officers in riot gear. Unable to slow the tide of furious citizens, the Electric Hedgehog Pokémon had formed a laughably crude shield wall and were now sending shock attacks into the crowd. Here and there around the riot, small shootouts between chu officers and some of the embedded PVCC operatives had broken out, but it was clear that the advantage was no longer with the EHPF.

"All PVCC admins on this channel, this is Red Devil Lead!" Sam announced as the heavy drumroll of Diabolus's machine gun sounded from behind the Honey Badgers. Bullets ricocheted and struck against the Battle Bus's rear armor, denting the steel plates and the reinforced glass. "We have visual confirmation of the Honey Badgers fleeing towards the CWCville Highway, and we are engaging the target now! Requesting permission to run these bastards off the road, over!"

"Red Devil Lead, this is Commander Cash," Clyde's voice answered promptly. "Permission granted. Stay with the target; Mary's redirecting backup onto the highway, over."

"Negative! Negative!" shouted the Red Devils' squad leader. "Commander, cancel that order, there are too many civilians and operatives here! Over!"

"There's nothing I can do, Red Devil Lead. I'm sorry, but you're about to have company. Out."

As the last few civilians sprinted out of the way, the Battle Bus and Diabolus shot through the opening and turned onto the access ramp to the CWCville Central Highway, leaving the chaos of the riot far below. Darren was playing his part incredibly well, firing the machine gun as both vehicles roared up the ramp. The elevated road stretched out before them, laden with cars and trucks as far as the eye could see. Scattered teams of EHPF officers dashed between the vehicles, exchanging fire with more Jerkops and armed civilians in a dozen shootouts across the highway.

"What the hell kind of backup did he mean?" yelled Nate as the two transports shot past the burning shell of an abandoned eighteen-wheeler. "Can't he do anything to stop them?"

"Well, right now, I don't think we're going to-" Steve glanced out the window, then drew back in surprise. "FUCK! AL, THREE O'CLOCK!"

"I see 'em! Hold on, this is gonna get rough!" The Battle Bus lurched to the left, sending Sugar tumbling head over paws. Kevin looked over just in time to see something green leap onto the highway and promptly turn into a car. Two more S.A.V. units joined the first, both transforming simultaneously as all three of the PVCC mechs zoomed down the road after their target.

"They're trying to run us off the road!" Steve yelled, holding on for dear life. Al was driving like a maniac, swerving between groups of cars while the three Transformers and Diabolus raced after the Battle Bus. Try as he might, the Legend simply couldn't shake them. "Battle stations! Nick, Nate, open the rear hatch and see if you can blow their tires! Serge, take the back turret!"

The two snipers hurried to the back of the bus as Jexis and Kuri wrenched open the two armored firing slits on either side of the rear autocannon turret. Serge dashed to the mounted gun and took aim at the closest S.A.V., then let loose with an earsplitting barrage of heavy rounds that churned the asphalt into rubble. The Transformer instantly braked and dropped back, then extended its own autocannon and returned fire. Even with the Battle Bus's upgraded chassis, the reinforced glass of its rear window was no match for the armor piercing bullets. Undeterred by the volley that had nearly taken his head off, Serge swiveled the gun and blasted the S.A.V. across its front bumper. Suppressing fire from Nick and Nate began raking the other two Transformers, denting and ricocheting off their forward armor as the snipers attempted to pop their pursuers' tires.

"We're not going to last long against these things!" Steve snarled into his radio, wincing as more shots dinged off of the bus's armor. "Al, we need to get off the highway before they blow us to-"

BOOM! Startled, Kevin looked toward the noise. Engulfed in flames, one of the S.A.V.s swerved to the left, then toppled over the side of the highway and plummeted out of sight. Two pairs of headlights and a single light from a third, smaller vehicle flashed from the darkness and smoke as a dark blue Ford Escort, a battery-blue minivan, and a pink motorcycle zoomed up to intercept them. The second S.A.V. unit spun around and began strafing the incoming Samurai Pizza Bots with its autocannon, but a second heavy blast from Armoraxe reduced it to a burning metal shell. Excelina tilted onto its rear wheel and shot forward, transforming in midair just as it landed on the third and last PVCC mech. The pink Transformer punched down before its foe could shift, piercing its armor and short-circuiting its main processor. Leaping off the deactivated S.A.V., Excelina changed back into motorcycle form and resumed its pursuit of the two transports.

Kevin was stunned. In less than twenty seconds, the Samurai Pizza Bots had just taken out three of the PVCC's most feared support units. Even with Bumble-Lumba destroyed and Prower gone, they were still a force to be reckoned with. And unlike the three mechs they had just wiped out, they had no qualms about trying to destroy the Battle Bus and its occupants.

"Shit! Darren, hang on to something!" Sam gunned Diabolus's engine, bringing the Red Devils up alongside the armored school bus as the three Transformers closed in. Atop the dump truck's turret, Darren Harkenson swung the machine gun around and opened fire, raking Son-Chu's hull with a flurry of .50 caliber bullets. Paying no heed to the lead pinging off its armor, the Samurai Pizza Bot accelerated and rammed the PVCC transport, forcing Sam to hastily bank right to keep Diabolus from crashing into the Battle Bus. Serge unloaded the rear autocannon into Armoraxe's chassis, but the van's near-impenetrable plating only suffered a few dents and scratches.

"Red Devil Lead, this is Cash! Wilderness just spotted three new targets on your six, over!"

"We're under attack!" yelled Sam. "I got Son-Chu, Armoraxe, and Excelina engaging us on the highway! We're taking heavy fire and they just tore through our backup, over!"

"Goddamnit! Tell me they didn't take out the Battle Bus too!"

"Negative! Target is still on the road and engaging pursuers! How the hell did they find us?"

"They're listening to our goddamn radio frequencies,"

the Miscreant cursed. "Fuck! Red Devil Lead, we're seeing a fourth vehicle headed your way. We don't have any other choice. Do it!"

"Yes, sir!" Diabolus lurched forward, just as Excelina closed in behind it. The pink motorcycle shifted suddenly, its chassis elongating into what seemed to be a large sniper rifle barrel as it lined up a piercing shot directly at the rear of the dump truck. "Tony, Wayne, open the back!"

A metallic clang sounded across the highway as Diabolus's back door dropped open. With a furious battle cry, Amy Rose hurled herself out of the transport and slammed into Excelina, delivering a crushing blow to the Transformer's armor with her weighted hammer. Knuckles and Sonic were the next ones out, leaping into the air and colliding with Armoraxe at the same time. As Son-Chu spun to assist its besieged comrades, an energy bolt sizzled against its windshield. Tails stood in the dump truck's doorway, seemingly firing off blasts from his hand as Tony, Wayne, and Kamau opened fire at the Samurai Pizza Bot leader. Kevin noticed that the little fox was now using some kind of small energy cannon that covered his arm like Mega Man's iconic blaster.

"Hold fire! Hold fire!" ordered Steve. "Al, get us off the highway! We're sitting ducks up here!"

"We're gonna cross into Get-Tar and Mal-Wart just up ahead!" answered the Legend. "Jexis, get your ass on the turret! Sam, take the next exit and see if you can get them to follow you!"

"Negative!" yelled Sam. "We're not leaving you alone out here, Ledger!"

"Then I sure as hell hope this works!" Al pulled left, lining up the Battle Bus with Armoraxe as Jexis grabbed the turret's controls and swung it around. Seeing what was about to happen, Sonic and Knuckles leapt off the Transformer and landed back inside Diabolus. "BLAST IT, CADET!"

The highway lit up with a blue flash as Jexis fired, unleashing a sizzling ball of plasma into the Samurai Pizza Bot. Armoraxe only had time to let out a scream that sounded like an electronic guitar chord before a massive piece of its chassis disintegrated into molten slag. Trailing a stream of fire from its body, the van collided with the edge of the highway and quickly disappeared into the smoke. It hadn't been destroyed, but the mech was in no condition to continue its pursuit.

"Yeah!" yelled Sam, her exclamation echoed by the other Red Devils. "One down, two to go!"

"Guys?" Kuri pointed out of the back window, toward a single headlight approaching from the smoke. "Oh, shit, we got another one on our tail!"

"Right on schedule," Al growled. "Sam, new target, six o'clock."

With a high-pitched roar, the fourth vehicle shot into view, revealing both itself and its passenger to the Jerkops. Outfitted in a ridiculous custom-painted helmet, Punchy Sonichu sat atop Prower, straddling the Transformer as he closed in on Diabolus and the Battle Bus. The all but useless sidecar was still attached, but even with its added bulk, Punchy was still able to keep up with the ongoing car chase.

"Copy and confirm," Sam answered. "Hey! Knuckles! Your biggest fan's back!"

"I'm on it! Don't wait up!" The echidna lunged out of the open bay door, his spiked gloves outstretched towards Punchy. Prower banked to the left, but Knuckles was already airborne and gliding straight at his foe like the world's largest, angriest, most destructive paper airplane. The Combo member barely had time to brace himself before Knuckles shot downward and landed on the sidecar, then began punching him in the face again and again. If Prower hadn't been able to switch to autopilot, the motorcycle and its occupants may very well have crashed.

As the savage brawl between Knuckles and Punchy played out behind her, Amy Rose was facing a struggle of her own. She had managed to swing herself onto Excelina's seat, but the Samurai Pizza Bot was doing all that it could to throw her off. Blinded by smoke and exhaust, the pink hedgehog clung to the motorcycle's handlebar with one hand, her teeth bared in frustration. It was like trying to ride a mechanical bull that also happened to be mounted to a Formula One race car. Every instinct told her to let go, to leap off and try something else, but Sonic was busy landing a volley of Homing Attacks and kicks across Son-Chu's armor. What could she do?

"Amy!"

Amy looked up, squinting as smoke blasted her in the face. Through teary eyes, she could see Tails aiming his arm cannon at her. The little fox was shouting something, but the rushing wind in her ears was too strong for her to hear it. Not that she needed to, though.

Planting her boots squarely against Excelina's seat, Amy wrenched the motorcycle's handlebars clockwise, giving her friend a clear shot just before she launched herself up into the air. The sounds of grinding metal reached her ears, and looking down, she could see the Transformer in mid-shift lunging toward her, its outstretched fist on course to connect with her head. Spinning forward in a somersault, she swung down with all her might just as Tails blasted Excelina with a tightly focused EMP shot. Its circuits momentarily scrambled, the mech was effectively locked in place, unable to dodge out of the way as Amy brought her hammer crashing into its face.

CRUNCH! A cheer rang out from Tails and the Red Devils as the hammer struck home. Amy hit the street rolling, then leapt up and dashed away as Excelina flew apart into a mangled mess of pink and grey metal that clattered across the highway. The Samurai Pizza Bots were now down to only Son-Chu, Prower, and a badly damaged Armoraxe, and the first two were currently in the middle of their own struggles against the Needlemouse team.

"We just crossed into the west side!" announced Al. "Sam, how're you guys doing over there?"

"We just might come out of this in one piece!" Sam replied. "These guys are tearing Chandler's toys a whole set of new assholes! Keep an eye out, there might be m-"

Kevin's breath caught in his throat as a single deafening thunderclap rolled across the highway. Like a shadowed comet streaking through the city, a whirling black and red blur shot between Prower and Son-Chu, then angled itself left into the side of Diabolus. The dump truck's armor buckled inward, hurling Jenkins, Tony, and Wayne into the other side of the transport bay. As the Red Devils' squad leader fought to stabilize her vehicle, the inbound attacker slammed straight into the cab, crushing its front left wheel well and reducing the reinforced tire to a mess of shredded rubber. Out of control, Diabolus lurched to the left, towards the Battle Bus.

"GODDAMNIT, I CAN'T HOLD HER!" screamed Sam. "LEDGER, GET OUT OF THERE! HANG ON, EVERYONE!"

The world swung around. Kevin clutched the seat in front of him for dear life as Al accelerated and swerved the entire bus away from the Red Devils' transport, just in time to avoid a collision. As he stared out the window in horror, the armored dump truck smashed through a cluster of cars and toppled onto its side, skidding across the highway and leaving a trail of sparks in its wake. Static filled the air, broken only by the sound of Al's cursing from the front of the Battle Bus.

"Goddamnit, no!" Steve slammed his fist against the window as the blazing dump truck vanished behind them. Sonic leapt off of Son-Chu and dashed back toward the wreck, presumably trying to reach Amy and Tails before it was too late. "Al, stop the bus! We have to go back! We can't-"

"If we go back there, we die!" yelled the Legend. "You saw what they're sending after us, Steve! They know we've got Kevin, and they're not going to stop until we're all dead!"

"Fuck!" The Manajerk slumped in his seat, shaking in anger. "Chandler's gonna pay for that. I swear to Arceus, he's gonna pay for that."

"No, pull over!" Kevin spoke up, his teeth clenched. "I've got the armor! I can take them!"

"Save it for the mall, Kevin!" ordered Al. "We can't risk stopping! The whole goddamn Combo knows we're on the highway now! I'm taking us into Get-Tar! We'll lose them in the streets and make our way through Upper West to the subdivisions! Anyone else want to get off here?"

Kevin buried his face in his hands as Nate placed a supportive hand on his shoulder. Everything had been going so well, and with one fell swoop, it had all fallen apart. Now the Honey Badgers were on their own again, with only Graduon and the ancient armor standing between them and total annihilation by Chandler's creations. The rescue mission for Allie was looking bleaker and less possible by the second, but Kevin knew that they had come too far to stop now.

One way or another, he had to reach the Shopping Center.

---

West CWCville, CWCville Central Highway, 7:36 a.m.

"Wayne...Adam..." Sam Lynn whispered weakly, struggling to pull herself through the crumpled wreck that had once been Diabolus the Vindicator. "Tony? Darren? Any...anyone?"

"Sam!" Tony sat up, his head spinning and blood streaming from a thin cut on his face. Around him, the other Red Devils lay scattered around the dump truck's transport bay in varying degrees of consciousness and injury. Wayne was out cold, a bloody spear of bone protruding from his leg where it had snapped like a twig. Jenkins had curled up in a fetal position, wincing in pain, while Kamau had escaped with only a minor blow to the head. Darren was nowhere to be seen, presumably having been flung from the turret on impact. Sam didn't want to think about the possibility that her squadmate could have been killed, but Darren had always been one to flirt with death every chance he got. Now, he might have just paid the ultimate price.

"Oh, damn it..." wheezed Sam, looking down at her bloody shirt. "Tell me my nose isn't..."

"Yeah, it is." Tony nodded. "Come on, we need to get them out of he... Oh no! Wayne!"

"It's just a fracture. Just a fracture!" The squad leader sounded close to hysteria as the memory of what had caused the crash returned to her mind. "We can get him to a medic later! Find a gun and cover the back!" She knelt next to Kamau and began shaking him. "Kamau, get up! Get up!"

"Ugh..." The Jerkop staggered upright, clutching his head. "I think I may have a concussion."

"Good, that means you're still alive." Sam glanced toward the open bay door. "Where's the Battle Bus? Did anyone see what happened to Tails and Amy?"

"Gone," coughed Kamau. "They fell out of the back when we were hit. I do not know where."

"My radio's dead." Sam unclipped the broken hunk of plastic from her shoulder and tossed it aside. Grabbing her fallen Saiga-12, she limped toward the doorway and stumbled out onto the highway. Tony and Kamau retrieved their weapons and followed suit, though they were clearly in no position to take on anything tougher than a few ferals at the moment. "Darren had the other one. We need to find him before..."

WHAM! Tails slammed into the asphalt and rolled limply onto his side, then crawled toward his dislodged arm cannon. Before he could reach it, a shadow dropped from above and landed beside the little fox, then kicked the weapon out of the way. Fighting to stay conscious, Tails tried to rise to his feet, but the newcomer placed a sneaker on his back and pushed him to the ground.

"That was for what your best friend did to me," Blake Sonichu spat, glaring down at Tails as he stepped off of him and walked toward the three Red Devils. "Well, well; look who it is. My old teammates!" He laughed. "Yes, I know I am not in the best shape now; when I heard on the radio that you were trying to catch Shaw, I could not back down from a chance for retribution!"

"The only retribution you're going to get, traitor," Sam snarled, aiming her shotgun, "is this!"

The Saiga-12 barked furiously, churning the air into a flying storm of buckshot as Blake dodged and lunged to avoid the Jerkop's blasts. Kamau and Tony opened fire too, but try as they might, the black Sonichu was simply moving too fast. Before Sam knew what had happened, Kamau was flying backward into the side of Diabolus, Tony had been thrown to the ground, and a sensation like that of a supercharged Taser had engulfed her muscles in spasms of pain. Yelling and shuddering, she collapsed as Blake uncurled himself and grabbed her by the throat. An overwhelming sense of dread flooded through Sam as she felt herself and Tony being dragged away from the dump truck, dragged toward the edge of the highway like a sack of potatoes.

"There is nothing left now," Blake murmured as he lifted Sam up onto the side of the safety rail. "My Bubbles was everything to me, and you sons of b-dawgs murdered her in cold blood. I guess I am not surprised; you did not hesitate to kill Sonichu's family when they had not done anything to hurt anyone, either. But maybe now you will realize that we are the real vict-"

"TAILS!" Sonic appeared in a flash, kneeling beside Tails as Amy zoomed up to join him. "Oh no, Tails! C'mon, snap out of it, little buddy! BLAKE, WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"WHAT?" Blake staggered back, nearly dropping Sam and Tony in his surprise. Evidently, he had been so distracted with taking down Diabolus that he hadn't noticed Sonic locked in combat with Son-Chu. "HOW? How in the name of GodJesus and the Bear are you still alive? I...I put all of my power into that Zap Cannon! You cheated! That...that's not fair! It's not fair!"

"Seriously?" The hedgehog shook his head in pity. "All you did was break my shield! You really thought that'd be enough to put me down? Are you really that dense, Blake? Are you that slow?"

"SHUT UP!" The Sonichu's cheekspots crackled, and the hairs on the back of Sam's neck prickled up as he began summoning a massive surge of electricity. "You don't have that shield anymore, Sonic; this time, you will not escape! Now, let me show you just what I'm made of!"

"Don't do this, Blake!" yelled Sonic. "Let them go! It's me you want! Fight me!"

"THERE'S NOTHING LEFT FOR ME HERE!" roared Blake, his singed fur rippling with static as a storm of tiny electric bolts surrounded him. "I'M TAKING YOU DOWN WITH M-"

Crunch!

"GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Blake screamed in agony as three steel grappling hook claws ripped into his face and the side of his throat. Dark blood dripped from the Sonichu's neck as he dropped the two Jerkops and began clawing desperately at the embedded blades, trying to pull them free before his fully charged Zap Cannon overloaded. Struggling through the pain in her nose and throat, Sam looked up, following the length of steel cable all the way back to...

Silently, Darren Harkenson limped out from behind a nearby car, holding his bionic arm out towards Blake as if the Sonichu was a massive fish he had just hooked. The Jerkop's uniform had been all but shredded, and one of his pant legs was soaked in blood. But against all odds, he was alive. Without wasting a second, Darren charged, sprinting straight towards the wounded Electric Hedgehog Pokémon as he angled his shoulder for a full strength ramming blow.

"Ggghh..." the Sonichu choked. The claws had set, peeling part of his face open and exposing the white bone of his jaws. There was no way to escape that didn't involve pulling half of his face off. Ironically, it was Blake's own healing factor that had sealed the grappling hook inside, keeping him from pulling it out. With seconds to go before the Zap Cannon overloaded, he looked around desperately, praying that someone, anyone, would show up at the last second to save him. Sonichu, Chandler, Magi-Chan...anyone. Only in the moment before Darren was upon him did Blake realize how truly forgotten he had been. The Sonichu could only let out a horrified scream as the Jerkop slammed into him, sending him plummeting over the side of the highway and into freefall. Carried by momentum, Darren felt his feet leave the ground as he toppled after the Combo member. In the second before gravity kicked in, the Jerkop closed his eyes and exhaled, letting himself relax at last. It was over. At long last, it was...

"Gotcha!" Sam yelled, grabbing hold of her squadmate's right foot just as Tony reached for the left. A shuddering jerk ran through the cable, nearly pulling all three operatives over the side. As Darren fell backward to the ground, Sam reached up with the last of her strength and slammed her fist against the grappling hook's emergency release control. With nothing holding it, the cable whipped over the side, and all three Jerkops collapsed together in a heap.

"That," Darren panted as darkness spread across his eyes, "was for Danni...you son of a bitch."

Fifty feet down, Blake's broken, mangled body smashed into the street. The fall and sudden stop had snapped his neck like a twig, but the Combo member was still alive, still somehow feeling every ounce of pain as the last moments of his life ticked by for a brief eternity. He lay there, blood bubbling from his mouth and the shredded remnants of what had once been his face. The detached grappling hook lay beside him, its claws protruding from a black, furry scrap of skin.

In the moment before his cheekspots overloaded, Blake felt himself being pulled back to the moment of his creation, to a thick glass tube filled with liquid where he had taken his first breath, thought his first thought, and seen the world with his own eyes for the first time. Giovanni and Dr. Robotnik had designed him to be the perfect weapon to use against the original Sonichu. Once, he had been feared, respected, valuable. Now...he was just another dead body among the thousands of other fallen chus. Everything he'd done...it was for nothing...all for nothing.

This is how it ends, he thought, unable to close his eyes as bitter tears stung his shredded face. The same way it all began. Broken. Cold. Alone. He exhaled a final sob before his world ended. Black Sonichu. Blachu. Blake. Full-circle. Oh, GodJesus, it's all coming full-circ-

Blinding white light filled the streets below as Blake exploded, his body ripping itself apart from the sheer force of the pent-up Zap Cannon. Car alarms blared and windows shattered, while forks of lightning blasted anything within range into ashes. By the time the sound of the blast had died down, there was nothing left of Blake Sonichu but a large scorch mark and a pair of rocket boots.

"What happened?" Sonic and Amy dashed over to join the Red Devils, supporting a weak and coughing Tails between them. "What was that? Where did he go?"

"Straight down to meet Giratina, let's hope," wheezed Darren as he slumped down and turned toward Tony. "Sorry I didn't get here sooner, buddy. Sam, is everyone else..."

"We're in bad shape," Sam answered, "but no casualties, thanks to you." She straightened up, massaging her neck. "If you hadn't done that, we would've all been...Darren, I...thank you."

"Don't mention it." The Jerkop looked skyward, just in time to see a pair of F-22s shriek over the highway. "Never thought I'd be the one to do it, you know. Always thought it'd be Naitsirhc."

"I don't think he's going to be doing anything for a while," answered Tony. He looked up at the two hedgehogs. "Hey, Sonic, Amy, is Tails gonna be okay? What happened to Knuckles?"

"Yeah, Tails is a little out of it, but I think he'll be fine," said Sonic optimistically. "We've been through worse, ya know! As for Knuckles, well, he was fighting Punchy the last time I saw him." He looked around. "Listen, don't move! We'll go get help!"

"No need." Darren held up his radio. "Still got a signal. We'll call for an extraction. You guys go ahead and leave us here. Go find Knuckles and do whatever you can to help. We'll be okay."

"Yeah," Sam agreed. She leaned back, allowing a faint smile to spread across her face. "After all that we've been through since the uprising started, I think all of us are planning on savoring this beautiful little moment as long as we possibly can."

---

West CWCville, Upper West District, 7:58 a.m.

"...cannot confirm, repeat, cannot confirm further EHPF presence in the vicinity of the beach..."

"...something about a...I don't know, an engagement on the highway. Maybe PVCC. Over."

"Give it a rest, Cadet," Steve said, looking over to where Jexis was idly flipping through radio channels. "Most of those sound like military comms. There's no point."

"I just want to know if they're looking for us," replied the medic. "Walsh might've told them."

"Yeah, I know." Steve peered out the window. "Whatever the case, I think we can all assume that the border patrol is having the time of its life right now."

The Honey Badgers were inclined to agree. As chaotic as the central districts of CWCville had been, they were nothing compared to the west side. The streets bristled with pink, yellow, and battery blue as terrified chu families flooded toward the subdivisions, most of them attempting to stuff their sedans with as many prized possessions as they could before leaving. Apartments, condos, and hotels were being abandoned by the hundreds, and judging by the shrill piercing wails ringing across the city, many Sonichus and Rosechus had left their offspring behind during the rush to escape the impending riot, the PVCC, and the Americans. The few humans brave enough to have stayed were now in danger of being trampled to death by the fleeing chus or zapped on sight for the heinous crime of being the same species as the city's invaders. Several dozen EHPF officers shouted orders through megaphones to maintain some semblance of control, but every Jerkop on the Battle Bus knew that it was a lost cause. Fear, the single greatest tool of the PVCC, had already taken root, and now the results were unfolding before their eyes.

Kevin scowled as he watched a pair of adult chus hurriedly shove their two bawling larvae into the arms of a nearby woman, then deliver a threatening jolt of electricity to her husband. The man fell, writhing, as his son knelt beside him and tried to help him back up. By this point, the Sonichu and Rosechu had sped off, leaving the pair of Sonees in the unwanted care of a random human family. Similar scenarios were taking place everywhere, and as much as Kevin wanted to leap out of the Battle Bus and massacre the selfish chus, he knew that it would be suicide to try.

"Fuck this," Al growled from the front of the bus. "Hold on, I'm coming out there." The door to the cockpit slid open as the Manajerk stormed into the main section of the transport. "Okay, looks like she's not going anywhere at this point. Steve, get 'em ready to move out on foot."

"What?" Kuri sat up, thoroughly surprised. "We're seriously going into that?"

"Well, it's either that or wait until the riot gets here," the Legend answered. "Sorry, Serge, you're gonna have to keep Baba in the bus. Nate, Nick, Steve, leave your rifles."

"I'll bring it in the box," Nate began disassembling his Barrett piece by piece and placing it into a plastic carrying case. Nick was doing the same with his sniper rifle, while Steve had abandoned his XM8 with a look of disappointment. "Al, even for us, this is a whole new kind of insane."

"Yeah, I know." Al said, shaking his head. "But it's the necessary kind. Everyone, change into your civilian clothes and keep your gear out of sight. Handguns only. Jexis, Kuri, stash Vejovis and your SMGs in the duffel bag. Bring all the ammo you can. Sugar's got to go in there, too."

"Oh, come on!" The Manajerk stood up. "You know how pissed off she's gonna be when we let her out of there? I don't want to be the one who unzips that thing."

"Fine, then leave her with me," sighed Al. "The moment your cover gets blown, I'll..."

"Wait, with you?" Jexis asked in disbelief as she zipped up a white hoodie over her Kevlar vest.

"Yeah." Al sounded weirdly distant, as if contemplating his own mortality. Perhaps he was. "Someone has to stay with the Bus, and that someone's gonna be me. I'm not losing her again. Steve, you've got command now. Get out of the city and into the subdivisions. If worse comes to worse, I'll see if I can bring her in for an extraction."

"No. No, this isn't right!" Steve protested. "Al, think about this. We need the Bus more than ever, and you're telling us to get to the Shopping Center on foot? Without you?"

"Yeah. In case you haven't noticed, the PVCC's looking for us too," explained Al in a tired voice. "And as much as I love her, the Battle Bus isn't exactly made for blending in out here. If the chus don't take her out, the resistance will. And knowing Walsh's history with Graduon, she'll do whatever it takes to eliminate us, no matter the cost."

"Just let me go alone, then." Kevin stood up, still clutching the CWC Orange Soda bottle full of Graduon's armor in one hand. "You've already risked your lives enough for me today. Just leave me here, drive back to Wilderness, and tell Walsh that it was all my fault. I can do the rest."

"We've already gone over this," snapped Jexis before either of the Manajerks could respond. "Don't try to be a hero, Kevin. We're not leaving you. Not now, not ever."

"No, I'm serious." Kevin held up the bottle and shook it. "You come with me, you'll get killed. I can hold out against the Sparkies with this stuff, but I won't risk any of your lives as well. I...I just don't want anyone else to die. You guys are...you're the only friends I have left now."

For a few moments, no one spoke. From her perch on Steve's shoulder, Sugarplum Fury yawned and snuggled into a fuzzy monochrome ball, oblivious to the conversation.

"Okay." Al closed his eyes resignedly. "Here's what we'll do. Steve, you take them as far as you can. If you make it to the Shopping Center, we'll stick with our original plan. If your cover gets blown, radio me, then try and buy him as much time as you can." He turned to Kevin. "Run. Don't fight, don't help them, just run. We're putting everything on the line for you, so you'd better make damn sure that you don't blow this chance."

"I'm going too," Nate declared, clapping a hand over his brother's mouth before Kevin could protest. "No. Don't you even say it. I don't care if you've got some fancy Sawabi armor or not – I'm staying with you, Kevin. Besides, you might need someone to take out Chandler or Sonichu while you're distracting them."

"Okay, it's settled," said the Legend. "First sign of trouble, give me a shout. If they attack the Bus, I'll try and get her somewhere safe."

"Safe?" scoffed Steve. "Al, we're sitting in the middle of the most unsafe city in North America. No offense, Nick, but even Juarez has to be a cakewalk compared to this."

"None taken," the sniper replied. "Seriously, I'd rather be fighting the cartels at this point."

"Eh, take what you can get." The Manajerk shrugged. "We all gotta make sacrifices, right? Kuri, lose the paint and the horns. I don't think they're gonna buy my idea for a cover story where you're cosplaying as a member of the Blue Man Group who was possessed by Baphomet."

Kuri grumbled something under her breath and removed the horned hairband, then began wiping her teal paint off with a washcloth. Around the bus, the rest of the Honey Badgers had stored their weapons and exchanged their PVCC clothing for ordinary civilian gear. They almost looked like completely normal people, rather than a motley group of rogue Jerkops. Kevin knew that what they were about to try was, hands down, one of the most dangerous things that any of them had ever attempted. But if they were going to rescue Allie and kill Chandler, it had to be done.

"All set?" Al pushed the Battle Bus's side door open as Steve and the other operatives began filing out into the alley where they had parked. "Good luck out there, guys. And Kevin?" He placed a hand on the Jerkop's shoulder. "Don't forget who we're doing this for. Don't forget why. You make this count, and you might just save the entire city."

"Thanks for everything, Al!" The Jerkop stepped out of the bus, lingering long enough to deliver a last farewell to his commander. "I'll find her, I promise! See you around!"

"It's been one hell of a ride having you in my squad," the Legend declared proudly. "Kevin, just in case we never see each other again...I have one last order for you."

"Yeah?" Kevin looked up. "What's that?"

"Burn it." Al lifted his mask, revealing a grim smile. "All of it. All of his life's work. All of his creations. Burn them. Make him watch. Make him accept it. Make him realize it." He laughed. "Walsh wants him dead, but if you ask me, that'd be too easy. After what he's done, Chandler doesn't deserve death or torture. He deserves to see the world he created burn around him. He deserves to know what it's like to be helpless in the face of reality. And when his empire is gone, when all his friends are dead...only then will he realize that he has nothing left to live for." He gave the Jerkop a final wave and closed the door. "Good hunting, Kevin...and good luck."

Keeping his face half-hidden beneath the hood of his jacket, Kevin trudged out of the alley and down the sidewalk after his squadmates. The gridlock of cars honked in dissonance as chus and humans streamed past. It was an exodus by every definition, though the two species clearly had opposite destinations in mind. Even the remaining EHPF had given up trying to honk their way through and had taken to the streets to oversee the evacuation. Kevin could see Sonichu officers stun-shocking civilians, shoving them out of the way, or forcing them to carry the chus' luggage and offspring. The whining of stressed Sonees and Roseys carried above the din of the evacuees, and it was all the Jerkops could do to keep from jamming their fingers into their ears.

"We're getting close to AnneWeston Elementary," Steve observed, without looking up once. He patted his concealed revolver. "And don't even think about it, Kuri. After what we did during Hedgeclipper, I think I've had enough of killing those little bastards for the rest of my life."

"Well, it was pretty fun." The Jerkop grinned and licked her lips. "I know you liked it, too."

"Yeah," sighed the Manajerk. "I just don't find it fun anymore. Hedgeclipper ruined it, I guess."

"Keep it down," hissed Jexis. "Arceus, do you want them to recognize us?"

"I'd say they're a little busy at the moment, Cadet." Nick gestured to the fleeing crowd around them. Indeed, most of the Sonichus and Rosechus weren't even paying attention to the line of Jerkops moving in their midst. Kevin wondered if the civilian disguises had even been necessary.

"Please! You have to let me go! My little girl's still in there, you bastards! Let me go!"

Kevin looked over at a pair of EHPF officers who were subduing a citizen. A metallic click sounded as the Sonichus fastened handcuffs to the bald man's wrists and the pole of a stop sign. The two chus high-fived each other and dashed away, despite their captive's pleas. Kuri broke away from the group and ran over to help the struggling man.

"Are you okay?" she asked, looking around to make sure none of the other Sonichus noticed her picking the lock. "Don't shout. We're PVCC. Where's your daughter?"

"AnneWeston!" the man sobbed. "They took a few hundred kids into the school and locked it down! The Sparkies told us it was to keep them away from the fighting, but I heard them talking to Sonichu on the radio. He's going to use them as hostages and...I don't know!" He slumped to the ground, crying. "She's still in there...please...Arceus, please tell me you can do something..."

"That's what he meant." A look of dread spread across Kevin's face. "Use our tactics against us. If he's got civilian kids hostage...sweet Jesus, he's going to make his own-"

"Hedgeclipper!" gasped Nate, his eyes wide with horror. "No! No, he wouldn't!"

"He would," Kevin spat through gritted teeth. "To him, Robbie, Christine, and Cera were 'just kids' too. And look what we did to them. This is our fault! This is all our fault!"

"Sir, I need you to remain calm," Steve said patiently. "We're going to do whatever we can to stop this, but we need information first. Could you please tell me your name?"

"Oh God, thank you," replied the man. "I'm Victor. My daughter's in eighth grade, red hair-"

"We'll see what we can do." The Manajerk scanned the street. "Damn it, we could've used the Bus... Victor, these kids...where are their parents? Can you take us there?"

"Yeah, they're gathered outside the school," Victor answered. "There's a protest going on over there...that's where I was going when those two Sparkies cuffed me. Why?"

"Because we're about to do something incredibly stupid, sir," said Steve, "and I think I have a plan."

---

West CWCville, Upper West District, outside AnneWeston Elementary, 8:26 a.m.

"This was your plan?" Kevin hissed as he and Steve pushed their way into the mass of shouting, cursing men and women that now filled the parking lot of AnneWeston Elementary. Past the protesters, a line of armored EHPF officers had set up a blockade of riot shields between them and the school, blocking the desperate parents from storming in to retrieve their children. Behind them, four Shocker mechs stood guard, their arc cannons raised menacingly toward the civilians. Kuri, Jexis, and Nate followed silently behind the two Jerkops, while Serge brought up the rear with the duffel bag slung over his shoulder. "You know they're inside the school too, right?"

"Yeah, I'd already guessed that," Steve retorted. "That's where you and your magic armor come in. You take out the Shockers and we'll deal with the Sparkies. While that's going on, Kuri and Jexis can slip inside. They're small enough to pass for students, so it shouldn't be too hard to-"

"Whoa, wait just a minute!" Jexis snapped. "Me? I might be small, but I'm not going in there!"

"Yeah, same here. This doesn't sound like the best idea," agreed Kuri. "Steve, seriously. Think."

"Why am I down here?" asked Nate. "Nick might need help if they find his sniping position."

"Plan is unsound," Serge added. "Too many shock-pigs, not enough Baba. We need better one."

"Well, feel free to come up with a better plan any time you want." Steve rolled his eye. "And believe it or not, Serge, not every problem can be solved by blasting it to pieces with a minigun."

"Maybe not for puny Steve." The Russian Jerkop shrugged. "Most Serge problems can."

"Ugh." The Manajerk sighed defeatedly. "Fine, let's think about this. What else could we do?"

"Tell someone?" suggested Nate. "The Americans, the PVCC, Al, anyone with more firepower than we have. I know we're on the run, but with this many lives at risk..."

"Something tells me they already know, or at least they're going to in a few minutes." Kevin's fingers tightened around the CWC Orange Soda bottle in his hand. "Sonichu's gonna deliver an ultimatum: stand down and surrender, or he'll start his own Operation Hedgeclipper on the kids."

"Maybe we should leave it to the PVCC, then," said Jexis. "If anything, this could buy us more time to get to the Mall while they're busy. Walsh might send in the Asperchus."

"You mean the ones that aren't hunting us?" asked Kevin. "I'll take my chances with...RRGH!" The Jerkop's body shook, and a flash of purple shone from beneath his hood as Graduon took over. "No. That poses an unnecessary risk. I have a solution, but it requires three of you."

"Arceus, keep it down!" Steve muttered. "Graduon? What do you mean, 'three of us'?"

"My strength has grown substantially since the last battle," explained the spirit through Kevin's voice. "I cannot yet reach my full potential, but perhaps it may be possible to shift a few of you inside the building. Once I do so, though, the psychic echo will surely attract our pursuers."

"We'll risk it," answered the Manajerk. "Nate, Jexis, Kuri, go with Kevin. Serge, give 'em the bag. You're staying here." He turned to Kevin. "Are you sure you can do this?"

"I am certain of nothing," Graduon stated. "But I have not traveled this far just to fail now."

"Okay." Nate placed a hand on his brother's shoulder as Jexis and Kuri did the same. "Let's go."

Kevin's eyes shone, and a field of violet expanded around him and his squadmates. Instantly, the world turned in on itself, wrenching the four of them out of reality and into the dark void. The journey only lasted a second, but to them, time had stretched and skewed beyond understanding. As the roar of the angry crowd died away, a new and far more disturbing noise replaced it.

"...none of you will be hurt," Sonichu's voice resounded through the PA system of AnneWeston Elementary, filled with a tone of false assurance. "Your mommies and daddies are safe with the brave officers of the Electric Hedgehog Police Force. You will get to see them soon, I promise. But right now, the streets of CWCville are not the place for kids like you. There are bad people out there...mean, nasty people who want to hurt you and take you away from Mommy and Daddy forever. But I won't let that happen; heroes like me never put innocent children in harm's way."

As Kevin's vision cleared and his mind returned to its normal state, the blurry colors straightened into a more recognizable shape. A woman stood in front of them, gripping a pair of scissors in her trembling hand as she stared down at the tangled group of Jerkops on the floor.

"Mrs. Jansen!" Kevin leapt to his feet. He hadn't expected Graduon to bring him and his squadmates back to the same classroom he'd used for his infiltration of Sonichu's family, but the spirit must have used his memory for a guideline. Looking around, he could see dozens of terrified boys and girls packed together around the room, their eyes wide with confusion and terror. There were no Sonees or Roseys in sight. "Lyra, are you okay? What's happening?"

"K-Kevin?" the teacher stammered, still unable to believe her eyes. "Jesus, how are you still alive? I thought I'd never see you again after what you did to Sonichu's family!"

"Same here," answered Kevin, helping the other Jerkops up. "This is my brother Nate, and these are my squadmates, Kuri and Jexis. Guys, this is Mrs. Jansen."

"Yeah, Kevin's told us all about you," Nate spoke up. "The shit you put up with from those little brats...well, I think I'd have gone insane. Hope you enjoyed the show."

"Well, I..." Lyra whirled around as a loud knocking sounded through the room. "Oh my God!"

"This is the police! Open up!" an Electric Hedgehog Pokémon ordered from the other side of the door. "We have orders from Commander Sonichu to escort y'all to the gym!"

"That's where they've been taking the children," Lyra whispered, straightening herself up. "Yes, thank you, Officer, we'll be ready shortly!" She looked around the room at her students, then the door, then the Honey Badgers. "Please...the gym...we need to save those kids!"

"Don't worry," Kevin growled as he unscrewed the cap of the Orange Soda bottle and began shaking its contents into the air. "Tell 'em...we'll be right out."

"Who is that male idiot in there with y'all?" the Sonichu yelled. The doorknob clicked and turned. "If y'all are tryin' to do anything to grind our gears, we will not hesitate to-"

CRASH! The classroom's door flew off its hinges, knocking the EHPF officer unconscious as the ancient suit of bone armor smashed right through the wall. Kevin stormed out, his eyes flickering behind the demonic skull mask. For the half dozen or so Sonichus lingering in the hall, it was like being hit by a freight train made of adamantium and hatred. Two officers were down with shattered limbs before the sounds of splintering wood had faded. As Kuri, Jexis, and Nate dashed to assist their squadmate, Lyra herded her group of students out of the room and away from the fighting. Hurling a nearby chair into the closest window, she began helping the children through the gap one by one, urging them to run for safety and hide until the battle was over.

Kevin thundered down the hall as bullets from the other Honey Badgers whistled past, picking off the two EHPF officers that had been attempting to shock him. Reaching out, he punched the Electric Hedgehog Pokémon in front of him and flung the screaming chu straight into another officer, then drew back and launched a psychic spear at the last one with his other gauntlet. The Sonichu popped like a water balloon, painting the walls with a chunky, salsa-like mess.

"COME ON!" Kevin roared as Kuri finished off a wounded officer with her tekko-kagi. Nate was carrying both the duffel bag and his rifle's case, while Jexis had armed herself with his pistol and her own. "The gym! We need to get to the gym before they figure out what's happening!"

"Where are they keeping the larvae?" Kuri dashed after the armored Jerkop. "They've gotta be somewhere here! Remember Laughyland? I bet there's a few of those here!"

"We don't have time for that now!" Nate retorted. "We've got bigger things to worry about!"

"Not after I'm done with 'em," snarled Kevin, halting in front of the gym. Behind the locked doors, he could hear Sonichus shouting orders and the cries of terrified children.

"You ready?" Jexis braced herself, taking aim with her pistols as Nate grabbed the bag's zipper and Kuri steadied her handgun. "We're right behind you, Kevin. Let's do this!"

Summoning a wave of invisible energy, Kevin flung out both of his gauntlets at the same time. The door and a sizable chunk of the entire wall disintegrated with a rumbling crash, as though an earthquake had just struck the school. Vaulting through the gap, the Jerkops were greeted by a sickening sight. The gymnasium's bleachers had been extended, and were now packed to the brim with hundreds of crying, shivering children and pre-teens. Anywhere between thirty and forty Sonichus stood guard around the room, while a small area had been cordoned off to hold a group of handcuffed men and women – the human faculty of AnneWeston Elementary. The students had been given a few dozen bottles of CWC-Cola to keep them compliant, but they already looked as if they were at the breaking point. And considering that they had been forced to attend Date Ed alongside the offspring of CWCville's chu population, that was saying a lot.

Kevin struck before he could think, charging into the fray with a furious battle cry. Amplified by the armor, it sounded more like the iconic bellow of the Tyrannosaurus Rex from Jurassic Park than his own voice, but the effect was impressive nonetheless. The Jerkop could have sworn he saw the first Sonichu visibly shit itself before the bladed gauntlet tore its head from its shoulders. Screaming, the other chu guards either stumbled back or reflexively leapt forward to battle this nightmarish beast that had just burst through the wall. Kevin was ready for them. Laughing, he plunged his fist through the stomach of another Sonichu and fired a psychic bolt into the one directly behind it. The incoming EHPF officer exploded in a shower of blood, while the impaled one could only struggle and scream until Kevin ripped it in half along its waistline and flung both pieces away. As bolts of electricity sizzled across his armor, the Jerkop lunged and slashed again and again, nearly matching the incredible speed of his prey.

Behind the slaughter, Nate unzipped the duffel bag, releasing an enraged Sugarplum Fury into the gym. With a bloodthirsty growl, the honey badger dashed to the closest Sonichu and sank her teeth into its ankle. The EHPF officer shrieked and tried to shake Sugar off, but before he could, three steel blades erupted from his torso. Kuri withdrew her tekko-kagi and kicked the dying chu away, then held out a hand as Nate tossed her the P90. Catching it, she aimed the submachine gun at the next officer and opened fire. Meanwhile, Jexis grabbed her MP5 from the bag and passed the second pistol back to Nate, then hurried up to join Kuri, leaving Vejovis on the floor.

"Get them out of here!" Nate roared as Kevin slammed a Sonichu's head against the floor with enough force to squish its skull like an enormous meaty pancake. Running over to the group of handcuffed teachers, he grabbed a ring of keys from a dead EHPF officer and began unlocking their restraints. "Go! Take the kids and get out of here!"

"What about the ones outside?" yelled a panicked, bespectacled man. "Did you get them too?"

Crack! Crack! The distant report of Nick's sniper rifle sounded over the melee. Either he, Serge, and Steve were enacting Phase Two of the rescue mission, or else something had gone horribly wrong. Whatever the case, they were facing annihilation if they didn't get some assistance soon.

"Oh, shit!" Nate looked up at his brother. "KEVIN! FRONT DOOR!"

"Got it!" Kevin blinked away and reappeared outside, behind the line of Shockers. Two of the EHPF riot control officers lay dead, their helmets pierced by sniper rounds. The rest of the chus were opening fire into the crowd with shock attacks and their scavenged PVCC weapons, killing and wounding civilians left and right. Rage surged through Kevin as he raised his gauntlet. Every dead citizen was another mother or father who would never see their children live to grow up in a free CWCville. The first mech only realized the presence of a new threat when a bloody spear of bone plunged through the back of its helmet. As the chu pilot let out a shriek, its three comrades turned to see Kevin lunging at them with a savage yell. The second Shocker spasmed as the armored Jerkop placed a gauntlet on its chestplate and unloaded a blast of energy. Geysers of blood squirted between the joints of its mechanized suit as the pilot was liquefied, leaving only a shell standing like a statue in the middle of the school's entrance.

Down in the crowd, Steve and Serge charged, firing their handguns at the wall of shield-bearing Sonichus as a third bullet from Nick nailed one of the officers through the cranium. Crazed and hungry for vengeance, the mob of civilians swept forward around them, slamming into the shield wall and pouring over it even as Thunderbolts and Thundershocks claimed life after life. Before the line could reform, Serge plowed through it like a bulldozer, swearing in Russian as he grabbed one of the officers' shields and began beating its former owner to a pulp with it. Beside him, Steve blasted another EHPF officer in its helmet, cracking the visor and blinding the Sonichu. Drawing his kukri with his free hand, he jammed it straight through the broken visor, piercing the chu's fused eyeball and driving the wicked blade straight back into its brain.

"We got this!" he yelled, wrenching the kukri back as a Thunder Wave sizzled past. "Go! Go!"

In a flash, Kevin had returned to the gymnasium, his armor still stained with the blood of the third Shocker he had torn apart. He hoped that the mob would be able to overpower the last one without his help, but with Serge helping them out, it didn't seem as impossible as he would have thought a few days ago. Yes, most of the Jerkops' advantage was due to the fact that Kevin was wielding Graduon's armor, but he wasn't about to start taking all of the credit for what he and his squad were accomplishing.

"He's back!" shouted Jexis. Kevin turned and was immediately greeted by a Homing Attack that collided with his armor head on, forcing him a few steps backward. Growling a curse under his breath, he fired a torrent of purple light into the airborne chu and watched its innards rain down across the floor. The smoking skeleton clattered to pieces as the crowd of students dashed for the hole in the wall, shepherded by their teachers and the rest of the school staff. Unarmed and very frightened, they stood no chance of fighting the EHPF by themselves. With the Honey Badgers and the mob, though, their odds of surviving had become slightly less fearful.

Despite Kevin's momentary absence, Nate, Jexis, and Kuri had held out magnificently against the remaining Sonichu guards. With so much turmoil, they had done all they could to push back the EHPF and keep them from attacking the teachers, or worse, the children. Only two civilians had died in the shootout: a cafeteria worker who had been hit with a Spin Dash and a teacher who'd thrown himself into a Thunderbolt to save his students. Most of the remaining chus hadn't realized that they were under attack by only four operatives, and were now fleeing through the emergency exit. The ones that stayed had only two choices: death by Jerkops or death by Kevin.

"What's taking them so long?" Nate leaned out from behind the bleachers and fired three shots at an EHPF officer, then reloaded. "Kevin, did you take out the Shockers?"

"Three!" replied Kevin, delivering an uppercut to a Sonichu so hard that the Electric Hedgehog Pokémon's body was crushed against the ceiling. "They can have the last one!"

"RISE! RISE! RISE!" Windows shattered and chus screamed as the mob smashed through the front doors and flooded into the hallway, intercepting the officers who had fled the gymnasium. The familiar blasts of Steve's revolver and Serge's Makarov rang out, mingling with shotgun and pistol reports. Some of the protestors had brought firearms, but hadn't had the opportunity to make use of them with so many chus guarding the school. As the firefight carried through the halls, Nate, Jexis, and Kuri fell back behind Kevin, who had given up close combat and was now firing psychic bolts at any stragglers he could see. The gym resembled a slaughterhouse, its floor coated with splashes of blood and the gruesome remnants of the Honey Badgers' rampage.

"Leave 'em! Back to the hall!" yelled Jexis as she retrieved Vejovis. Kevin reluctantly lowered his gauntlet and retreated after his squadmates. The hallway swarmed with hundreds of civilians: children, teens, parents, and teachers, all frantically fighting to locate their families and escape AnneWeston Elementary alive. More gunshots filled the air as the armed parents and protesters pursued the EHPF through the school, forcing the chus back regardless of the bullets and deadly bolts of lightning that struck among the crowd. Sonichu had dared to put their children in danger to fuel his ruthless agenda, and now his officers were paying for it with their own lives.

A chorus of shrill shrieks sounded from behind one of the locked classroom doors as it was smashed open by a man wielding a stolen fire extinguisher. Through the flood of people, Kevin saw a mass of yellow and pink blobs waddling away for a moment before the bloodthirsty crowd fell upon them with a triumphant roar. More classrooms were breached, and identical scenarios played out as the furious civilians finally seized their chance to exact vengeance upon the same creatures who had tormented them and their children for the better part of the last decade. The mob had found the homebreds at last, and judging by the ripping, screeching, and splattering noises coming from within the classrooms, they didn't intend to leave any of the chu larvae alive.

"Over here!" Steve nearly barged into Nate as he, Serge, and Nick emerged from the crowd. Weaving her way between the sea of legs, Sugarplum Fury darted over to him and climbed into his arms. "Sweet Arceus, Kevin, you were fucking unstoppable! Thanks for the assist out there!"

"No problem," Kevin replied, wincing as a piercing "WAAAAAHHH!" split the air. "What the hell happened to our plan? Why'd you start firing before we cleared the gym?"

"Turns out that these fuckers are better at recognizing faces than we thought they were," the Manajerk muttered sheepishly, pointing to his eye patch. "Apparently, I've become somewhat famous for being the big mean pirate jerk who deep-fried Sonichu's spunky little superstar."

"Which is ridiculous," added Kuri indignantly. "Sexist assholes. I did as much to Robbie as you, you know. And you might be big, mean, and a jerk, Steve, but you're definitely not a pirate."

"Ha ha. Hilarious." Steve elbowed Kuri gently in the ribs. "Let's get out of this place before-"

"Excuse me?" Kevin and the rest of the Honey Badgers turned to see a red-haired girl in a violet and green striped hoodie standing in the doorway of a nearby classroom, a Nintendo DS clutched in one hand. Behind her, a large group of boys and girls had busied themselves with dishing out some well-deserved punishment to their former Sonee and Rosey classmates with an array of pencils, rulers, protractors, and pairs of safety scissors. "Hi there! You guys are PVCC, right?"

"Yeah," said Steve, slightly unnerved by the girl's deadpan gaze. "Listen, kid, we'd like to stay-"

"VIVIAN!" Victor burst from the crowd and embraced his daughter. "Oh my God, oh my God, I thought I'd never see you again! Are you okay? Did they hurt you, honey?"

"Let's go." The Manajerk beckoned to his squadmates. "They can deal with the survivors and the larvae. We need to move out, now."

"Yeah, the sooner the better." Kuri glanced across the school, as if sensing something invisible in the air. "If they weren't on to us before, they definitely will be now."

"We'll go out the back exit," Kevin instructed as he and the Honey Badgers raced down the corridor. "Once we're clear, we'll head for the subdivisions, then the Mall."

"Works for me." Nick winced, covering his ears to shut out the screams of dying baby chus. "I swear to Arceus, that's gonna be stuck in my head for the rest of my life."

"It's all part of any good revolution," replied Steve. "We spent years killing those fat little parasites for a job. I think it's time the rest of CWCville had some fun with them."

---

North CWCville, Northern District, 8:35 a.m.

"WHAT?" Sonichu gripped his radio hard enough to crack the case. "THEY DID WHAT?"

"AnneWeston Elementary has been overrun, Commander," an EHPF officer reported on the other end of the frequency. "We found only six survivors; they said the Jerkops broke in with a giant Marowak and beat them up, then brainwashed the teachers and parents!" The chu sighed. "This is too much stress; why is being a hero so hard?"

"Because idiots keep getting in our way," growled the Hero of CWCville. "And that so-called 'Marowak' was Shaw. Kevin Shaw. Don't engage him; I'll deal with him myself. Send the six survivors over to the frontline in Upper Central; I'll give them a chance at redemption if they live through the battle. What kind of losses are we looking at?"

"Uh, well, they seem to have...lost all of the hostages, sir."

"Dead?" Sonichu chewed his lip thoughtfully. "Well, that's not so bad. With their children dead, the rest of the civilians will realize what rebelling against us will mean for their families. Plus, now they know what I've been going through since those sick fucks murdered Rosechu and my-"

"No, Commander Sonichu, I mean..." An audible gulp sounded from the radio. "Escaped."

Sonichu froze. The momentary victory sputtered out and vanished like the last flame of a dying candle. His plan had been going so well during the beach invasion, and his forces were poised to push the invaders back. Then everything had begun to fall apart. Momma Swampert had turned against his army, Bubbles Rosechu and Blake Sonichu were both dead, two of the Samurai Pizza Bots were no more, Shaw had returned to threaten CWCville with annihilation, and now, his fallback plan had been wiped out.

"Commander? Sir?" the nervous Electric Hedgehog Pokémon asked. "What...what should we-"

The radio struck the side of a building and bounced off as Sonichu hurled it away. Concentrating intensely, he felt his mind slip back into the link between all members of the Chaotic Combo. Magi-Chan, Punchy, Wild, and Angelica were all there, but one space stood vacant, a yawning void where Bubbles had once resided. Ignoring the last link to Christian Weston Chandler, he focused his attention on Punchy. Soon, the red Sonichu's avatar popped up in his mind.

"Punchy," he addressed the disembodied head. "Punchy, where the hell are you?"

"I am in...a whole new world...of hurt..." Punchy answered feebly through the link. An aching sensation raced through Sonichu's head. The Combo member had obviously been injured since engaging Shaw's friends on the highway. "A whole new world...a dazzling pain I never knew..."

"No! No singing!" Sonichu warned his ally. "Focus. Where are you, and what happened?"

"They took Prower," giggled Punchy. "I was kung-fu-fighting Judge Dreddlocks after he jumped on; then Miles Tails-Per-Hour haxxed my bike so that it bluescreened and wired the hay! Heh heh, I guess you could say that Prower got 'outfoxed' by Prower! Ha! Ha! Ha...ow...ha!"

"Shut up and give me a straight answer for once in your miserable goddamned life!" snapped Sonichu, clearly in no mood for Punchy's foolishness. "So Knuckles and Tails stole your bike. Fine. I'll buy you a new one. Were Sonic and Amy there? What about Shaw? Did you see him?"

"See Shaw seesaws by the sheep store, sheepy sheepy, count sheep, go to sleep...poor Layla..."

"PUNCHY!"

"Yeah, whadda youse wants?" Punchy groaned in a horrible attempt at an Italian mobster accent.

"What I want," Sonichu growled, "is for you to drag yourself out of whatever hole Knuckles left you in, pull on your big-boy pants, and meet me over at AnneWeston Elementary in five minutes. If you find Angelica, tell her to get her feathery ass over there too. I need all the help I can get."

"I tried so hard, and got so far...but in the end, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. Peace."

Immensely eager to escape the Combo member's random-access tirade, Sonichu withdrew from the void and felt the world return to its usual state. The moment of silence was broken, however, when a gruff male voice sounded from the damaged radio receiver on the ground beside him.

"...moving into Downfall phase two," reported the man in a clipped, military tone. "Artillery inbound, hold for barrage. Over."

"Affirmative, sir, all ground teams and armor ready to engage on your mark, over."

"All batteries, this is Colonel Devoria. Adjust fire, east border gate. Fire for effect, over!"

"Shot, over!"

Thunder rumbled to the east, a low, ominous sound that frightened Sonichu far more than it should have. He grabbed the radio and leapt, bounding from wall to wall until he landed on the roof of an office building. Squinting through the sunlight, he looked on with dawning fear as a sheet of smoke billowed from where the eastern city wall met CWCville's border. More artillery shrieked down, pulverizing what remained of the perimeter. At last, the city had been breached.

The beach... Sonichu realized. They were...they were drawing us away from the main invasion!

Slowly, the smoke cleared. The Hero of CWCville's heart hammered against his ribs as he watched the great barrier collapse in a pile of rubble, revealing a seemingly endless flood of tanks, combat Pokémon, and soldiers that had amassed outside the walls of the city. A score of transport aircraft rumbled through the clouds overhead, each releasing a squad of paratroopers into CWCville's east and central districts. More planes – F-22 Raptors and A-10 Thunderbolts – followed, coasting low above the buildings as they shot over the city with earsplitting roars.

Sonichu fell to his hands and knees, screaming in frustration as he slammed his fist down against the concrete roof. After so many battles, so many victories, the looming nightmare had finally come true. His world was crashing down around him, and yet, he couldn't do a thing to save it.

The wall lay in ruins. The city burned beneath him. The siege of CWCville had finally begun.

---

West CWCville, AnneWeston Elementary, 8:42 a.m.

"This way!" Kevin yelled, sprinting down the hall as fast as he could manage with the heavy set of bone armor. The Honey Badgers raced after him as the lights flickered off and on overhead, further adding to the pandemonium that had descended upon AnneWeston Elementary. Even in the depths of the school, the Jerkops could still hear the bawling of helpless homebred Sonees and Roseys echoing from every direction. Vengeance had engulfed the mob, and the civilians of CWCville were now spreading through each classroom, slaughtering every Electric Hedgehog Pokémon – both larva and adult – that they could find. For once, it was the Honey Badgers who abstained from participating in the killing spree. Their objective lay far to the west, across three miles of suburban landscape that held the single highest concentration of chus in the city.

The operatives dashed around a corner, nearly trampling a cluster of fleeing, bawling homebreds. Ignoring the piercing screams from behind them, the Honey Badgers followed their squad leader to the end of the hall. Kuri risked a backward glance as a group of men and women with stolen fire axes smashed through a door marked KINDERGARTEN. A chorus of infantile war cries sounded as a pack of toddlers stampeded out and engulfed the group of Sonees and Roseys that the Jerkops had just passed. Grinning at the grisly spectacle, Kuri looked back to her squad. Kevin had stopped at what seemed to be a dead end, and was now scanning the hallway for exits.

"Well?" panted Steve. "You worked here for two months, Kevin – find us a way out!"

"I think you vastly misinterpreted the kind of work I had to do, Steve," Kevin muttered. "Okay, maybe here?" He punched through a door."Nope. Let's try this one...or maybe it was this one?"

CRASH!

"NO! PLEASE!" screamed a terrified voice as the door disintegrated beneath Kevin's devastating blow. "Please don't kill me! I don't wanna die! I'm too young to die! PLEASE!"

Pushing his way through the debris, Kevin was surprised to see a small yellow and green chu lying on the floor in a fetal position, its insect-like wings quivering on its back.

"Zapina?" he asked in disbelief, forgetting that his squadmates were behind him. "What are y-"

"Move! I'm ending this bitch!" Kuri yelled, shoving her way past Steve as she raised her tekko-kagi. To her surprise, Kevin's armored hand closed around hers, blocking the steel claws before they could plunge into the young Rosechu's jugular. "What the...Kevin, let go! Let me go!"

"Stand down, Kuri," Steve ordered as he, Nate, Nick, Serge, and Jexis filed into the room. The Jerkops had all aimed their weapons at the weeping Electric Hedgehog Pokémon, but it hardly seemed necessary. In her current state, Zapina Rosechu was about as much of a threat as any of the homebreds scattered through AnneWeston Elementary. "Look, we don't have time for-"

"What are you doing here?" continued Kevin, ignoring his squad as Zapina struggled to crawl away. Part of him wanted to grab her head and smash it open like a melon, but something was holding him back. This was no brainwashed, murderously fanatical adult chu, nor was it a spoiled, repulsive, entitled larva. This was a frightened teenager, trying to survive in a world that had damned her simply because of the role the Mayor had forced her to play. And unlike her elders and minors, she didn't know any better. Kevin had read her file during his infiltration of Sonichu's family. The whole "fourteen years cute" was another of Chandler's lies. He had cloned Zapina into being as a way to fill his "diversity quota," making her into a lolicon mascot for the species. Other than that, she had no real purpose, and Kevin had never seen her perform any wanton acts of self-righteous cruelty upon the human population of CWCville...like the unspeakable crimes that Sonichu's family and the Combo so often committed in his presence.

"I...I..." Zapina swallowed, wiping tears from her fused eyes. "The Mayor...he told me to stay out of the fight so I wouldn't mess up my cuteness! He told me things inside my head...he wants me to...to help with another photoshoot once he brings Rosechu and Bubbles and Simonla back to-"

"Wait." Steve stepped forward, his curiosity piqued. "Did he say how he's gonna do that?"

"Undiluted CWC Orange Soda with the Mayor's special sauce," Kevin answered in disgust. "I don't think we need to worry about that. He tried it on Cera's remains and-"

"Oh, GodBear, it's you!" Zapina screamed and pulled her knees to her chest. "Y...you murdered Rosechu! You killed Robbie and Cera and Christine! Now you're here to k...kill me too!" She hung her head, sobbing at Kevin's feet. "Why? Why do you hate me? What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing, Zapina." Kevin raised his gauntlet to the Rosechu's head. "I'm just doing my job."

Violet light flashed through the room. Zapina braced herself for the cold embrace of death, but instead of tearing her asunder, the psychic blast ripped through the wall of the classroom. Bricks and wooden supports crumbled as chilly morning air rushed in, revealing sunlight and the city outside. Surprised and confused, the teenage Rosechu looked up to see Kevin towering over her.

"You're not worth killing," grunted the Jerkop. "Get out of here and find a better place to hide."

"Th..." Zapina stammered as she rose and flitted through the gap. "Thank you! Thank you!"

"Don't thank me," said Kevin. "You're lucky the worst thing you ever did with your life was helping Rosechu with her little propaganda stunt." He nodded. "Go. Now!"

Laughing with hysterical gratitude, the Rosechu buzzed off into the sky, leaving AnneWeston Elementary far below. Kevin watched her fly away, then looked back at his confused comrades.

"Okay, so..." Steve sighed and began clicking his revolver's hammer idly. "You want to go ahead and tell us why you just let a high-value enemy target escape, Kevin?"

"What target?" Kevin stepped out of the room. "I was just finding us a way out, like you asked."

"Honey Badger Lead, Honey Badger Lead, come in." Steve's walkie-talkie crackled as Al's voice sounded through the static. "Steve, Kevin, I don't know where you are, but-"

"We read you, Al!" Steve ripped his radio from its shoulder strap. "Don't get too mad, but we took a detour through AnneWeston Elementary to rescue some kids, and-"

"Oh, God!" yelled the Legend, suddenly frightened. "Tell me you're not still there!"

"We're leaving right now!" answered the Manajerk. "Crossing into the subdivisions! Why?"

"RUN! GET OUT OF THERE!" Al bellowed. "SONICHU'S HEADED RIGHT FOR YOU!"

Kevin froze as a sonic boom roared through the school. Turning, he barely had time to raise his gauntlets before Sonichu slammed into him, hurtling him into the playground of AnneWeston Elementary. His body aching, the Jerkop rose to retaliate, but a swift blow from the side sent him reeling into a set of monkey bars. Punchy Sonichu slid to a stop and struck a smug victory pose, just as the true and original Sonichu uncurled himself and spun to face his most hated opponent.

"No..." Graduon whispered in the depths of his mind. "We are not ready for this, young one..."

"Trying to foil my plans again, are you, Shaw?" Sonichu yelled as Kevin wrenched himself loose from the tangle of steel bars. "You won't get away with this, you bastard!"

"Trying?" The Jerkop chuckled, hiding his fear. "Your little hostage crisis got shot down before the PVCC even knew about it. I'd say we got away with it pretty well, buddy."

"I'm not your buddy, murderer!" snapped the Hero of CWCville. "And this time, you don't have your brainwashed friends Sonic and Amy to save you! Your reign of terror has come to an end!"

"There's only two of you," Kevin pointed out," and you're up against me and half a dozen of the PVCC's best operatives. You really think you and Punchy have a-"

"Oh yeah, that reminds me." Sonichu glanced at the Honey Badgers, who had been moving into position around him. "Punchy? Leave the blind one alive. Kill the rest."

Kevin blinked. "Blind one?"

The Jerkop's moment of hesitation was all Sonichu needed. In a flash, he had shot across the playground and tackled Steve before any of the operatives knew what had happened. Slapping the Manajerk's revolver away, the Hero of CWCville leapt to his feet and hauled his victim up, gripping Steve's head in both of his gloved hands.

"STEVE!" shouted Kuri, reluctant to open fire lest she accidentally gun down her squad leader in the process. "HELP HIM! KEVIN, GET HIM OUT OF THERE!"

"I've been dreaming of this ever since I saw you deep-fry my little champ!" Sonichu spat into Steve's face. "And once I'm done with your friends, we'll see how long you can survive the same tortures you put my son through!" He raised his thumb, positioning it above the Manajerk's left eye. "THIS IS FOR ROBBIE SONEE, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

"FUUUUUUCK! AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH!" Steve hit the asphalt, screaming in agony as he clapped his hands over the crushed, bloody socket where his remaining eyeball had once sat. "FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU, YOU PIECE OF SHIT! ARCEUS! GAAAAHHHH!"

"BASTARD!" Kevin smashed into Sonichu, slicing a ragged gash into his fur from shoulder to ribs. The Electric Hedgehog Pokémon let out a yell of pain and fell to his knees, but Kevin had already grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and hauled him into the air. Blood surged in the Jerkop's ears, drowning out Kuri's bloodcurdling scream and the shouts of the other operatives. Something red darted across his peripheral vision. Whirling around with Sonichu still struggling against his iron grip, he hurled himself forward just in time to intercept Punchy with a haymaker before the red-furred chu could disembowel Nate. Kevin closed his eyes, sending a final, frantic plea through the dreamscape as he, his brother, and the two Combo members collapsed. Violet light blazed across the playground, and in the blink of an eye, all four of them were gone.

Kuri was at Steve's side in seconds, wrenching his hands from the injury while Sugar let out a growl and began licking the blood off her owner's face. Jexis unslung Vejovis, but even as she blasted Steve with the healing rays, she knew that there was no chance of saving his sight. Sonichu had torn the eye far beyond the medigun's capabilities.

"Shit! Goddamnit, no!" Nick dropped to his hands and knees beside Steve. "If one of us..."

The medic shook her head. "It doesn't work like that, Nick. We can't just graft on a new eye."

"Steve..." Kuri sobbed, trembling with sorrow and rage as she grasped the Manajerk's hand. "Steve, no...you can't...I...I never..." Her voice wavered, and her words gave way to a strangled snarl as her eyes began to grow frighteningly bloodshot. "You can't...no...NO...NNRRRAAAAHHH-"

Thunk! The butt of a pistol slammed into the base of the enraged Jerkop's skull, dropping her like a ragdoll before she could lose control. Silently, Serge heaved the unconscious Kuri over his shoulder and whispered a gentle apology in Russian, then looked down at Steve.

"No eyes?" he murmured concernedly, his gruff voice momentarily forgotten. "Steve does not see now?"

"No eyes, Big Bear," Jexis answered. "Steve, I...I'm so sorry...I can't do anything to fix it."

"Kevin..." growled the Manajerk weakly. "Can't...see. Need to...help him. Where's...Kevin?"

"He's gone, Steve," Nick answered, looking back at the spot where Kevin, Nate, Sonichu, and Punchy had vanished. "Nate too. I don't know where they went, but they just saved our lives."

"Help me up." Steve fumbled for his kukri and slashed off the end of his hoodie's white sleeve, then ripped off his eyepatch and wound the cloth around his eyes like a blindfold. The bleeding had stopped, but the blond hair of his mustache and beard was soaked in red. "I...I can walk."

Jexis and Nick hauled their Manajerk off the ground, supporting him until he found his balance.

"Okay, someone's gotta be my eyes." Steve turned in Nick's general direction. "Nick, that's you I'm looking at, right? If we run into any problems, you just tell me which direction to shoot. He felt for his radio, but it had been knocked away by Sonichu. "Can someone find my radio and get Al on the line? We just lost a third of our squad, Kuri's out cold, and we need an evac, now!"

"Is no good," Serge said, kneeling to pick up the crushed piece of plastic and circuitry. "Radio is dead. Serge does not believe evacuation is happening anytime soon."

"Fine. Then we keep going," growled Steve, to everyone's surprise. "First sign of trouble, leave me behind. Nick, when that happens, you're in charge. Get us to the Mall." He grimaced as a last trickle of blood dripped from his cheek. "What the hell are you waiting for? Move out, Badgers!"

The five Jerkops trudged silently westward, disheartened and broken, but very much alive.