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Chapter 32: He finally arrives
A few more steps and he'd be a few more steps away from where he was standing. That's about as much progress Smokestack had made while making his little trek through the seemingly endless field of snow.
This whole thing seemed pretty annoying to him. Even if the kid had an evil spirit inside of him it shouldn't be this hard to kill a four-year-old fox. It seemed stupid that they required such a huge amount of military power to destroy just one baby animal. The more he thought about it the angrier he got.
"Well, I guess it doesn't matter. After all what G.U.N does isn't any of my concern, at least not in the long run."
"Now do you think that's fair, blocking my comments out like that." Came that dreadful voice again.
Smoke stopped dead in his tracks and cringed as he turned slightly to see what he was more than sure would be there. More black smog rained from the sky and accumulated into that unforgettable figure.
Darkness was back again but despite his being here during Smoke's hour of turmoil only one thing crossed the commander's mind at that point.
"That entrance of yours is getting repetitive. You're a very uncreative person when it comes to appearance you know." Smoke had turned his body so that he was completely facing Darkness now.
"Well I'm sorry if that's true. I tend to save my creativeness for the type of torture I inflict on my victims. However, I have no time for creative fun considering I'm dealing with you. After all an incredibly plain person deserves an incredibly plain death." Darkness spoke while taking a few steps forward.
Smokestack and Darkness just stood there and stare at each other for what seemed like an annoying long year. Smoke suddenly ran forward and charged at Darkness with his right fist pulled back. The cloaked schemer stood still with both hands behind his back.
Smoke tried punching him but Darkness simply slid across the ground to the right in order to avoid him. He didn't even require the movement of his feet. Smoke kept punching at him but Darkness always ended up in another location. He eventually jumped on Smoke's outstretched arm and kicked him in the face.
The kick was enough to get him on the ground but he quickly recovered by flipping backwards and sliding across the ground.
"Hey, look behind you!"
Smoke turned around and saw Darkness with his palm now in Smoke's face. A dark energy blast started to form in his hand with an increasing pressure that struck Smoke's face.
"Goodbye dear friend." Darkness fired and Smoke immediately retaliated by firing his smoke around Darkness' blast to contain it. When that didn't work the blast exploded and blew both of them backward.
"You should no better than to try and insult my being by thinking you can finish me off with such a horrendously weak attack." Smoke said charging his hand up with his element again.
Darkness dusted himself off and cracked his neck.
"My apologizes. Perhaps this time I should be more direct with my attacks." Darkness said with his hands glowing.
Not a second later had they both charged at each other with tremendous speed and collided with an amazing aftershock following. The snow was pushed back as their powers collided and created a dangerous aura around them.
Smoke and Darkness continued to strike at each other creating shockwaves across the land as they did so. They eventually carried their battle farther across the area and higher in the sky. Anyone watching the fight from a distance could've sworn there were fireworks going off.
They both pushed each other back in to the snow and they immediately bolted at each other again. The collision completely obliterated most of the snow underneath them making the land under it visible again.
Darkness had Smoke's hands in his tight commanding grip. Smoke simply grunted as he pushed his hands against Darkness'.
"Nice grip. It won't do you much good though." Darkness lifted his leg and quickly swiped at Smoke's face making a direct hit. He then just as quickly grabbed the commander's leg and slammed it, along with him, against the ground.
Smoke hit the ground so hard he flopped back up which Darkness quickly took to his advantage by kicking it away and allowing it to hit the ground again. Smokestack rolled a bit but once again regained his composure.
"Like I've said before, you are an impressive being. Most of my victims would die instantly the second they came in contact with my body. Of coarse I didn't expect you to die so easily, but the fact that you've actually lived this long while confronting me is simply… exhilarating! It's been a long time since I've been in a fight that lasted more than eight and a half seconds. I thank you for rekindling my fighting spirit. I'm sorry to say the fun's about to end." Darkness said while approaching the frustrated commander yet again.
Smoke quickly realized that his current position was no good for fighting and almost forced himself up when he did. This guy was not only toying with him, he was deliberately insulting him! All it took was a couple of kicks and that amazing posture to do it too. It was so maddening!
That was it! No more games! No more playing around! A high-ranking commander with such an honorable mission wasn't about to give in to some chump who hid his probably stolen face under glowing hooded leather. Smoke got ready to charge his hands up again and leaned forward for another attack. Maybe he was being direct but damnit all if he didn't care!
Before he could charge at Darkness with his hatred filled attack the cloaked man raised his palm toward him. At first Smoke thought it must've been another attack but then noticed that nothing was happening. When you're fighting Darkness nothing was the last thing to happen.
"…Oh… it seems we have some company… and they've been here for a while…" Darkness spoke suddenly and fiercely swiping his hand across the air around him so that the dust that had accumulated by them during their fight had dissipated. When it cleared they appeared to be surrounded by G.U.N soldiers!
Smoke's eyes widened when he saw them. They finally caught up with him did they? What a time to do it too! He was so close he could almost taste his revenge.
"It seems to be that silly little army you're accustomed to. Oh my, and they brought their oh so intimidating toys with them." Darkness said now with his hands behind his back.
Not but a second after Darkness had spoken up had all the G.U.N soldiers had come out of hiding and pointed their guns at both Darkness and Smoke.
"It seems your friends aren't playing nice. You didn't kick you commanding officer in the balls again did you?" Darkness said not moving an inch from his place in the snow.
Smoke ignored his comment and instead focused on the last two people to come into view.
'No! They didn't! They sent in the Assassination Unit 7! Was what I was doing really that much of an annoyance to the geeks down at G.U.N Headquarters.' Smoke's eyes twitched with anger as he saw the two assassins approach him. The round one was Mardo and the focused one was of coarse Hato.
"And just what the hell do you want!" Smoke shouted not at all in the mood for G.U.N's idiocy.
"My… don't we have a temper. If it's all the same to you I'd rather you take what I'm about to say to heart and follow through by doing exactly what I tell you. You see we're relieving you of your duties here. The government has realized that the threat we deal with is far beyond that of a mere forest commander's understanding." Hato explained which made Smoke stare angrily into the man's eyes.
"As you may know we've already figured out that you went out on this mission by yourself without notifying headquarters of it's details. It was an action that would very well cost you your rank considering it was to chase a wanted and dangerous animal like that fox. We were told about an incident at the Station Square mall that had him on the run. Normally this wouldn't be such a big deal if it weren't for the fact that our planet's greatest hero associated in his escape! As you might of guessed this put G.U.N in a very awkward situation."
Smoke couldn't stand listening to this guy's voice. It was like getting lectured by the class bully! Each word he spoke made Smoke want to charge at him in blind furry.
"I'm glad they were finally able to come to a decision and nip this one in the bud before it spread to far. That's why they sent us here. Long story short… you're in the way! We'll be taking it from here!"
That did it. Smoke couldn't care less about his rank or whatever it was he had in G.U.N now.
"How dare you! HOW DARE YOU! This is my fight NOT YOURS! None of you have they right to say that I can't continue doing what I doing! I want to kill the fox too and I'm just one man! How am I in the way?" Smoke shouted his twitching eyes making him look like a madman. Never the less Hato stayed calm and continued.
"Too be honest… I don't know the true intent of Headquarters on this matter and I simply don't care. All I care about is killing the fox in the most brutal and slow way imaginable!" Hato said surprising everyone when he actually raised his voice! It even took Smoke by surprise.
"I'll admit it… the reason… the only reason I joined G.U.N was so that I could have a license to kill!" Hato admitted. Everyone gasped except Mardo and Darkness. Hato immediately grew angry and turned to face his soldiers.
"Did I say you could gasp you weaklings? Stay quiet or I'll kill all of you!" Hato's normally calm demeanor had disappeared. He turned to face Smoke and continued yet again.
"See what you made me do? I'm not one to fly off the handle but you just had to keep punching my buttons didn't you?! The only reason I'm angry now is because you're doing something that I don't take kindly to people doing." Hato explained.
"Oh really… and what's that you sick twisted fiend!" Smoke said a little more calmly than he had anticipated. Darkness had been quietly listening to this interesting conversation.
"You're trying to steal… MY KILL!"
"What! Your kill!"
"Did I stutter? I just said that the only reason I joined G.U.N was to have a license to kill. That way I could kill all I wanted while bending my way around the rules so that I wouldn't have G.U.N breathing down my neck when I killed in a criminal state of matter. Not to mention my face is a lot more suited for a license than a wanted poster. The thought of someone like you getting in the way of my right to kill is the only thing that ever upsets me. Congratulations. You just managed to faze the seemingly unfazed Hato."
Smoke and Hato seemed to stare into each other's eyes for what seemed to be under extremely thick air. It was an intense glare fest that wasn't broken until a loud cackle was heard coming from the only person there who would have the guts to laugh at such a moment.
Everyone's eyes were all now on Darkness as he laughed at G.U.N's disorderly misconduct.
"HAHAHA! Well it seems this army is a much bigger façade then even I anticipated it to be. Honestly! Is this how headquarters rewards their dogs! Kill an innocent child and you'll be marked as a hero! How very rich! It's too funny! HAHAHAHA!!" Darkness continued to mock G.U.N and laugh while he did so.
Hato closed his eyes and stood there. He looked as if he was searching for something he'd lost. Once he found it he opened his eyes. They were calm once again.
"Okay… I admit it. I wish to be the one to kill that fox. I lust for his slow and painful death and I want the blood to be ever flowing. It's a killer's ultimate fantasy to see such an innocent and young cute looking boy like him being tortured to the point of wishing he were dead. Of coarse I'm no barbarian. I did remember to bring mops so the Earth can look beautiful again after I've had my fun." Hato explained.
"Yeah whatever lets you sleep at night you bastard!" Smoke shouted angrier than before. Smoke simply wanted to kill the fox because he wanted to avenge his clan. The only reason Hato wanted to kill him was to satisfy his inhuman lust for child blood and tears. It was just sick! To think that people like him actually exist!
"Your words are too much! Mardo! Men! Ready your guns! Prepare for battle!" Hato shouted as they pointed their guns at Darkness and Smoke. Darkness simply laughed at this.
"Well it seems you've been disabled Smoke. I see no reason to kill you now. Turns out that these assassins are a big enough diversion for me." Darkness smirked as he turned himself into a puff of black smoke and drifts away. Hato saw him do it and immediately decided on a counter measure.
"Although you were one of few who've managed to piss me off Commander Smokestack I'm afraid I must leave you in Mardo's hands! After all I can't let such a powerful deity get away can I?" Hato said turning to his men. "Listen! My division, come with me to follow the cloaked one! Failure to comply immediately will result in your deaths." Hato shouted receiving a quick salute from his men.
Soon they were off leaving Smoke surrounded by Mardo and his share of soldiers. Mardo was continuously biting a Popsicle stick for seemingly no reason while his men readied their guns.
"This is nice and hot! I like this weather. A-AAAAACHOOOO!!" Mardo sneezed as the cold weather got to him yet again. Smoke's sweat dropped when he saw the way Mardo was dressed. A Hawaiian shirt and blue shorts were not essentials when heading out into the snow.
"Damn! I don't have time for this idiot! While I'm here Darkness and Hato are getting closer to the fox!" Smoke unconsciously shook his fist at Mardo knowing full well he wouldn't have regretted it if he had known he was doing it.
"I guess we have to attack now. OOOOOKAAAAAY! Men get ready to FIYAAAA!! ACHOO!!" Mardo shouted out the ridiculous sounding commands which the soldiers followed not at all hesitant.
"Damn it! Just one little diversion is all it would take…" Smoke muttered to himself. He cursed to no one in particular in his head knowing full well the chances of a diversion happening were…
"OUT OF THE WAY YOU SISSY SOILDERS!!" Came the thought-piercing shout of the incoming blue hedgehog and his green friend.
Mardo turned his head to the back of him and the first thing his eyes saw was the bottom of Sonic's shoe striking him in said area. The hedgehog then bounced off of Mardo's head and landed in front of Smokestack. Behind him Vector trampled over the stunned Mardo just as Sonic finished his descent.
Sonic looked up and immediately recognized the man in front of him.
"You!" He began before Smoke turned and ran the direction he saw Hato and Darkness head.
"Hold that thought!" Smoke blasted himself through the soldiers in his way and ran across the snow with blazing speed. The soldiers fell to the ground looking completely stunned and confused.
"OI! WHAT'S WITH MY HEAD BASSHING?! I mean what's with who be head bashing me with… uhhhhhhh… ACHOOO! Whose there?" Mardo was confused as he stood up while wiping his snot-covered nose with his frozen finger and flicking his hands across the air to try and get it off.
Sonic ignored Mardo and instead focused on what happened earlier. Smoke was obviously heading toward the goal he had wished to accomplish through this whole ordeal. Sonic knew what that meant and he had to catch up!
"Hold it hedgehog!" Came the shout of a random soldier as they held their guns out at him.
"Hold what! You soldiers always say 'hold IT'! Tell me what IT is already damnit!" Sonic said clearly frustrated.
"Hey, don't worry about it Sonic. We can take these guys. They're just punk soldiers." Vector said in a reassuring tone silently hopping none of them took a shot at his still healing back.
"Ordinary? I'm no orange… err… ordinary slugger… ordinary soldier I mean… I think… what was I saying…? I'll defeat you crocodile!" Mardo was trying to find the correct words to say while Sonic and Vector stood there confused by this man's vocabulary.
"Hey Sonic, here's an idea. You take the soldiers and leave the round guy to me. Something about him makes me what to fight him."
"Sure Vector! I do better when the odds are against me anyway!" Sonic said not wasting any time and started to attack all the soldiers in his way. Vector lunged at Mardo with his fist extending forward. To his eternal shock Mardo caught it quite easily.
Vector tried punching again but Mardo flipped Vector over and slammed him on the ground. The frustrated crocodile quickly got up and began blasting fire balls from his mouth out at the agent. Mardo simply punched them all away with ease.
"Head of security can't be weak, so says Hato!" Mardo shouted in triumph. Vector simply smirked and began to charge at him again.
"That's all fine and dandy but I ain't losing to a guy like you. Simply because you look the way do!" Vector began to punch again and Mardo easily matched his punch with another one. They fought and hit each other as face as they possibly could knowing that something would eventually have to give between the two of them.
Meanwhile Sonic was easily fighting his way through the crowd of soldiers in his wake, the only thing on his mind being that he had to get to Tails before the other guys did.
'Can't let him down… I just can't!'
Ice Region End Point
Tails continues to run across the snow toward the place his destiny was certain to come to pass. He didn't know it or think about it at the time because he was too afraid of what was ahead rather then what it would lead to.
"I hate this… I wish Sonic was here… I bet anything he'd make all these bad people stop trying hurt me." Tails forced himself not to cry as he continued to run. He was cold and his body was plum tired from all this physical activity not to mention the stress of being put on the spot in a situation like this.
"Come on Tails… you can't be sad now… focus on what you're doing." He tried to stay calm and force himself to realize the importance of his newest mission.
Hang Nail had been bullying Tails for as long as he could remember. Ever since the mean lady in charge of the scary and musty orphanage kicked him out Hang Nail and his two bully friends Slips and Silt took it upon themselves to enforce Bear Mayor's awful law that imperfection was a crime.
Whenever Tails complained after being kicked, ridiculed, and blamed for basically everything that went wrong around an area he had just arrived at everyone would say that Tails was lucky because he hadn't been killed like all the other imperfect ones.
Tails never considered himself lucky because he always wished to die. He began to believe that it truly was a crime to have an extra tail. He wanted to die or at least learn to stop complaining.
It all changed when he met Sonic though. He showed him a side to life that Tails had never seen before. It was a bright side. Thanks to Sonic he was able to finally feel what it was like to actually sleep on a bed instead of watching other kids do it from the cold hard floor. He was finally able to eat a decent meal that was made from scratch and not thrown away by some ungrateful idiot. For the first time he felt cared for.
Even though Eggman's attack on the island was scary it wasn't all that bad considering he actually gained more from it then anyone else. It sort of made him feel guilty and he started to wonder if his happiness could only exist if others felt despair.
Tails suddenly stopped. What if it was true? After all the trouble he's putting Sonic through he just didn't know. He slowly began to start up again. He was happy that he had finally found a happy life. Sonic told him not to think negative and that's what he was determined to do. His life truly couldn't get any better so long as he had people who cared. It was a great feeling! Being loved was an amazing feeling! Tails started to chuckle with happiness until he was reminded of the person who was the exact opposite of Sonic and happiness.
Hang Nail.
Usually when he heard Hang Nail's name Tails would flinch and get scared. He'd usually go the opposite direction of which the name was uttered. However, for some reason, this time it got him to walk faster. This time instead of tears of fear came tears of anger and hate. Hang Nail was back! It was a fact that burned him up inside. Tails had FINALLY found peace and wouldn't you know it Hang Nail had to barge his way back into his life and try to take all that away again!
Tails felt tears stream down his angry face. His teeth gritted and his fists clenched as he walked faster. For the first time in his life he finally felt extreme malice towards another person. Before he took all the punishment Hang Nail gave him because he thought he deserved it. BUT NOW! Now he knew that was a false statement!
Tails was running now. He was more determined then ever before. He was angrier then ever before!
'Hang Nail, Hang Nail, HANG NAIL, HANG NAIL!' Tails shouted in his head as his speed increased.
"I'm NOT letting you steal my happiness away! I'm finally going to do it! I'm going to make you stay out of my life FOREVER! HANG NAIL!!" Tails shouted as he continued on toward Coordinates 000.
Desert Region End Point
"Hey stop struggling! It will all be over in a few hours! Once I find the two tailed freak I'll let you go… if I feel like it." Rasshu said while literally dragging Knuckles across the sand toward the Ice Region. It wasn't but a few meters away and the cold air was starting to become more noticeable.
Amy and Rouge were following of their own free will. Amy didn't fuss and agreed to follow Rasshu in silence. Rouge, being a G.U.N agent, was in the clear.
Knuckles however wouldn't give up. He had to get away and do what he came here to do. His body was weak and still healing after his battle with Igneous but he couldn't let up. The world was in danger and he didn't look forward to drifting through space when it was destroyed.
Rouge noticed how much he struggled and found herself admiring this guy even more. Such spirit wasn't seen very often by her especially when you've been hanging with Big, Froggy, and Smoky.
Knuckles continued to struggle and made a very daring move. He pushed his hands against the ground and launched himself up bringing Rasshu's hand with him. Rasshu was about to turn to see what Knuckles was doing but was kicked in the face by him as he swung over.
Rasshu immediately dropped Knuckles on instinct and jumped back. Knuckles slid across the ground and smirked. His plan worked.
Amy wanted to see if he was all right but the echidna warded her off with his outstretched palm, which signaled her to stop and go back.
"You've got a lot of nerve. Pissing off assassins isn't a smart hobby to have." Rasshu said drawing two long knifes, about half the size of swords, from the brown package on his back and readying himself.
"Heh. I wasn't taught many manners when growing up. However if I was I'm pretty sure they didn't matter when dealing with assassins." Knuckles chuckled struggling to raise his tired fists.
"Now that's just not true. You should always show your superiors respect. Especially the ones that don't hesitate to kill!" Rasshu responded seemingly disappearing after he did. The move took Knuckles by surprise. He didn't have time to react as Rasshu reappeared and kicked Knuckles in his jaw sending him flying.
"He's fast!" Knuckles said while he was flying backwards. He flipped himself over so that he landed in the sand and skidded a bit. When he looked ahead of him he saw that Rasshu was no longer there.
"Behind You!" Came the agent in question's voice. Knuckles didn't bother to look back. He knew better. Instead he jumped in the air as Rasshu knife sliced through the air.
"HA! Think a lucky move like that will save you!" Rasshu jumped up and kicked Knuckles into the ground again. About a second after he did he reappeared in front of Knuckles. He tried to take another slice at Knuckles with his knifes but the echidna quickly recovered and jumped backward.
He continued to jump backward and stopped to hold out his foot just as Rasshu's Knife was about to pierce him again. The knife struck the sole on Knuckles' prepared and hard shoe.
'Damn he's fast! How'd he get behind me so quickly!'
"AH I see your reflexes are amazing! Sadly they're a minimal threat considering your condition." Rasshu pushed Knuckles back with his knife and charged at him with blazing speed.
Knuckles braced himself and saw the first swipe come at him. He dodged and saw the next one coming as well. He kept dodging and ducking hoping he'd eventually find an opening for an attack.
After about two minutes of this Rasshu was getting bored and decided he wanted this to end quicker. Rasshu had disappeared soon after his decision.
"Aww great now where'd he go?!" Knuckles looked around for about two seconds when Rasshu suddenly appeared below Knuckles with his foot pulled back. Knuckles gasped and looked down only to receive an in-your-face response.
"Too late!" Rasshu said as he extended his foot and kicked Knuckles' jaw sending him into the air. Rasshu disappeared yet again and reappeared behind Knuckles with his knife pulled back.
"D-darn it." Knuckles couldn't do anything in this position. He was screwed.
"This was fun but it's time I ended it. If you've been in the same room with Hato as many times as I have you'd understand." Rasshu said as he was about to slice Knuckles head off when something neither of them expected to happen happened.
"SCREW KICK!" Came a battle cry from below. Rouge was spinning madly toward Rasshu to fast for him to counter. He was hit square in the nose by the bat. Rasshu's knife fell, as did Knuckles.
"Hang on I'm not done with you yet!" Rouge pushed back Rasshu's face with her hand while they were still air born and kicked him in his chest over and over again. She then pulled back her leg and slammed it against Rasshu's stomach. The assassin fell to the sand and was met with yet another kick, this time it was delivered by both feet and it was focused directly in the middle of Rasshu's stomach.
The impact caused Rasshu to cough up a tremendous amount of blood before falling back unconscious.
Rouge got off him and sighed heavily.
"The best attacks are the unexpected ones. Right Knuckie!" Rouge looked up only to see that both Amy and Knuckles had run ahead without her. She turned and saw the both of them already in the Ice Region.
"Hey! How 'bout a thank you! Ungrateful punk!" Rouge shouted angrily.
Knuckles stopped in mid sprint and turned to shout.
"THANK YOU… YOU CREEPY BAT GIRL!" He then turned and continued to run, a satisfied smirk on his face.
Rouge fumed long after he was out of earshot but then calmed down to soon find herself laughing.
"Oh well, can't help who you have a crush on." She then silently goes into the Ice Region as well.
Ice Region End of starting point
"Your punches are weak!" Mardo remarked as him and Vector kept at their punching barrage.
"Your red hair is red!" Vector shouted back.
"Your skin is green!"
"You're round!"
"You have a long nose!"
"You're a retard!"
"I'M a retard!"
"RAAAAH!"
"RAAAAH!"
They eventually toppled backward and broke through a stump of ice. Vector was now on top of Mardo, which really wasn't a pleasant place to be. Mardo, however, quickly ended their little get together by ramming his feet into Vector's stomach and rocketing him in the air. Without missing a beat he got on to his feet and jumped up again.
Vector saw him coming but there was nothing he could do as Mardo head butted Vector in his stomach. He then literally jumped on the air at an amazing speed until he was over Vector again. This time he slammed his feet against the crocodile's back.
Vector shouted in pain as he remembered being stabbed there earlier. He didn't have much time to think as he fell into the snow on his stomach. Before he could get up Mardo's knee impacted Vector's back even harder then the kick before it.
Vector shouted in agony again which caught Sonic's attention. Since the hedgehog was still fighting countless soldiers when he stopped to look at Vector a bullet nicked his arm. He quickly put his hand on the burning spot on his arm out of instinct but quickly remembered to continue fighting.
Vector continued to shout and squirm as Mardo showed zero signs of letting up.
"Does it hurt weak punching lizard guy!" Mardo said as he switched knees and impacted Vector already injured back again. Vector's shout grew louder but Sonic wasn't in any position to help.
Vector eventually had all he could take and flung his tail backward hard enough to knock Mardo off of him. Vector quickly got up and Mardo quickly repositioned himself in front of Vector almost as soon as he was knocked off.
They stood there both breathing heavily until Mardo began his own little method of calming down. He closed his eyes and put his hands together. Vector didn't know what he was doing but then again he honestly didn't care. That is until Mardo started to glow a bright green color.
Eventually the green light shaped itself into that of a sphere, which was basically Mardo's shape anyway. Vector looked in front of him and saw that the roly-poly retard in front of him was now a ball of green light.
"What is this?"
"ATTACK!" Came a shout from the sphere. A second later it shot straight at Vector with amazing speed. Vector freaked out and dodged to the left barely making it. The light quickly turned around and shot at him again.
"Damn it!" Vector dodged again and again until he looked like he was a pinball dodging another pinball all across the snow.
"Try to hit me now ugly crocy!"
Vector was annoyed with this guy's voice but he had to focus on getting out of the situation alive before anything else. He dodged in all directions but it seemed like the more he dodged the faster the light was.
Suddenly and without warning Vector was hit head on by the ball of light. It stung A LOT more then he thought. Their was so much force in the impact that Vector was flung in the air while Mardo didn't even know if he reached Vector or not.
Vector hit the snow like a comet. The light circled around the area waiting for Vector to emerge. What made waiting unbearable for Mardo was that he didn't know when he was going to pop out.
'Man that stings! Can't risk being hit by another one of those again. I'm going to have to fight back though and that might require hitting it.' Vector squinted his eyes in pain. He honestly never thought he would be risking his life for some kid, especially not like this. However, he wasn't running away. A guy this annoying deserved to have his face bashed in.
"Guess that clinches it!" The crocodile said while jumping out of the snow and was once again Mardo's big green target. The light immediately shot straight at him and of coarse Vector dodged.
The process repeated the same as before except this time Vector was actually trying to find an opportunity to attack.
Soon Vector found a spot where he thought would be safe enough and far enough to get ready for an attack. He pulled back his mouth and spit fire into his hands. His fist was now a blaze as Mardo closed in on him.
"Here I go!" Vector shouted as he punched the incoming light. It stopped Mardo in his destructive path. For the first few seconds it seemed to work. However, Vector's punch started to emit smoke and that signaled to Vector that the fire in his punch was letting out. It wasn't long before his punch gave way and Vector had to dive backward to avoid taking Mardo's hit head on.
The crocodile slowly stood up while holding his arm. It burned like hell! He still had no intention of letting up though.
"Well if one fist won't work two fists…"
WHAM!!
Vector was hit clear across the face by Mardo and his burning green light. Vector fell to the ground and basically lied there in a smoking heap. His face was bleeding and he was trying desperately to focus his vision. The way his vision went in all directions bugged him. This needed to end.
"This guy's hits are getting harder and their starting to burn which means the more he flies around like that the faster he goes. I've got to trick him into stopping!" Vector said forcing his tired body up. Seeing Mardo blast around like a pinball was nothing short of vein throbbing. This needed to end, NOW!
Mardo saw Vector get up through his light and shot towards him again.
"You shouldn't have been talking out loud croc dude guy thing! Now me won't let you stop me by stopping me who is me!"
"Yeah we'll see about that you retarded red exercise ball." Vector pulled back his mouth and shot fire at both his hands. They were much bigger than before and they looked like they could take up Vector's arms. The crocodile then pulled back again and waited for Mardo to get closer.
"You won't stop me croc!"
"You know what… YOU REALLY NEED TO SHUT THE HELL UP!"
"Never stop me! NEVER! YOU'LL NEVER…"
Vector shot his fire out at the ball of green light that was Mardo and stopped him right as his attack was about to connect.
"Oi, he stopped me." Mardo said in a confused voice. Vector quickly jumped over Mardo and made his way across the snow. As soon as Vector did the fire released itself and Mardo was free.
"HA! You stupid! You stopped me but didn't uhhhhh stop me! AAAAACHOOO!!"
"Sorry you're disappointed but everything my plan consisted of worked… well it worked so far. Since I stopped you you're going to have to start up again at your average speed and since I'm stopped as well, this time with my hands a blaze, we can both attack, hit, and find out whose stronger."
"Your words are gritty and tasteless. I'm bored. AAAACHOOO! I'll end it now! Thank You!"
Vector raised his fists and one leg so he was hopping on one foot. Mardo charged up again and shot himself forward. At nearly the same time Vector pulled back his fists then as Mardo closed in on him he shot them forward.
The streaks of heat quickly passed by as Vector's flaming fists connected with the ball of light that was Mardo. Vector pushed his fists forward as hard as he could as Mardo kept trying to break through them.
"Your punches are weak and they're not as hot as mine! HA!" Mardo teased. Vector only gritted his teeth harder.
"Your right… my fists aren't as hot as yours… they're hotter! MUCH HOTTER!" Vector's power seemed to skyrocket after he said that as Mardo's force started to become unnoticeable. His green light started to fade and Vector's punches started to take their effect on Mardo.
"W-what? Don't understand the thing going on in front of me by him too me now!"
"I'm kicking your ass! That's what's happening to you now!" Vector shouted as his fists connected to Mardo's now exposed stomach. It hit him so hard that Mardo's eyes looked like they were about to burst out of their sockets. Vector put his leg down and pushed forward again sending Mardo flying across the snow and crashing into the last few soldiers Sonic was taking care of.
He continued to fly until he crashed into an icy rock and stayed stuck there. He was unconscious now and Vector couldn't be happier. The crocodile picked his limp body up and walked over to Sonic who was also satisfied with the results of the attack.
"Well shall we go?" Sonic asked with a grin that told Vector he was high in spirits. The crocodile chuckled and faced the direction Smoke ran off in.
"Yes, let us boldly go." Vector boasted sarcastically as he and Sonic ran off.
Ice Region Near Ending Point
Espio set Shimon and Charmy down next to each other in their nice warm cave. He made sure they were as comfortable as any person could possibly be in a small cave with a diminishing fire located in the middle of an icy region with no signs of food of life for miles.
"Oh well, could be worse. We could've been forced to survive on lima beans for the rest of our lives." Espio said while sighing. He was only 12-years-old! He shouldn't be given so much responsibility. Usually when 12 year olds are left in charge of two kids things didn't work out so well.
"Well, I'm pretty level-headed… but then again I've been living with Vector for almost my whole life so maybe my level-headedness is just imaginary." The chameleon moaped completely sure of one thing. This whole ugly ordeal sure wasn't imaginary.
Espio looked down at Shimon and Charmy cuddled up to each other sleeping soundly. Both kids were in a bad condition and Espio wasn't sure how long they'd sleep like that.
Unbeknownst to him, Big the cat and Froggy were still hiding behind a rock that was outside their cave looking in.
"What are we gonna do Froggy? We're stuck here and Smoke is no where to be seen."
"Ribbit!" Froggy shouted now out from behind the rock. Big freaked and almost pulled Froggy back behind it so Espio wouldn't see them but he stopped when he realized whom Froggy was croaking at.
"Hey that's Smokestack!" Big shouted as the commander ran past the cave and Big not knowing that people were around. Espio managed to pick up what Big said and decided to poke his head outside of the cave.
"That's that same G.U.N agent we met back in Future City! Which means his soldiers can't be far behind!" Espio said while starting to sweat, which seemed almost impossible in such cold weather.
Big picked up Froggy and quickly ran after Smoke. He didn't know whether or not he'd catch up to the determined commander but he had to try at least.
Espio stood there pondering what to do when he felt something tugging his arm. Espio looked down and saw little Charmy rubbing his eyes still dazed from just waking up.
"Espo, why you not sleeping?" Charmy asked as he began to yawn.
"… I tried but…"
"You sad?"
"… No… just worried." Espio looked at Charmy and the sleeping Shimon and made his decision. "We've gotta keep moving."
"Really? Why?"
"It's not safe here." Espio bent down. "Here, get on my back."
Charmy didn't hesitate to climb on the chameleon's warm back. When he was on Espio walked over and picked up Shimon with his hands and headed out of the cave.
"Hopefully we can get far enough to make it out of the Ice Region so I can finally leave the rest to that little fox kid." Espio said almost chuckling to himself. It was amazing how he was relying on a kid 8 years younger then him to save us all.
"Maybe miracles happen a lot more often then I thought they did. I guess that's good news."
Coodinates 000 starting point
Buru, Shoui, and all their troops landed in Coordinates 000 a while ago. The place was dark and musty. It looked like an abandoned maze filled with old empty buildings and carriages.
"It looks like that one place I went to on a reconnaissance mission one time. What was it called again? Oh yes, Hang Castle!" Buru shouted.
The entire area was basically how Buru thought it would be. It was filled with bleached skeletons and dried blood stained all the walls. In the distance was the most alarming thing either of them had ever seen.
"Is that a castle?" Shoui asked clearly able to see one in the distance. It wasn't any regular castle however. It was HUGE! Saying it was huge was probably an understatement though.
Another thing that was creepy was that the castle was glowing a dark purple color. Just by looking at it Shoui and Buru knew that the castle was where they needed to be.
"How far is it?" Shoui asked. Buru took out a pair of abnormal goggles and directed them at the castle. After a few beeps from it Buru almost dropped the goggles out of shock.
"Well… how far is it?" Shoui asked getting impatient.
"It's… well let's put it this way… it literally should be at the end of the next STATE!"
"… The next state…? It's that far away? But I can see it so clearly! Is it that big?"
"Apparently so. It will be a long journey ahead and to make thing worse Dr. Eggman and his men have already arrived here. They're probably on their way to the castle as we speak. We need to reach that castle before he does!"
"Why is that?"
"It's got something to do with the legend. The kitsune and that castle are closely related in the grand scheme of things. I've heard about this legend once before but there is no time to go into it. We've got to get there first. Round up all the troops and tell them we're heading out." Buru ordered while Shoui nodded and headed off.
"Doctor… where are you?"
Another part of Coordinates 000
"What's the word up there you two!"
It was an incoming call to Bocoe and Decoe from Dr. Eggman. The doctor sounded majorly pissed as usual.
"Something the matter doctor?" Decoe said while hogging the communicator. Bocoe was desperately trying to get a hold of it, which caused Decoe to shake the communicator causing Eggman's view of the robots' to shake up… which caused Eggman to get even MORE pissed.
"Stop that infernal shaking and listen!" Eggman shouted causing them both to almost drop the small device. They refocused it so both of them showed up on screen.
"Can we be of service?" They both said in unison. Eggman sighed and continued.
"I've been using my devices to track down the G.U.N geeks. My calculations report that their in Coordinates 000 and my fleet of robots is no where to be seen! They were supposed to be back at the Green Hill Region but…"
"They're with us." They both said in a quick informative manner.
"… WHAT!!"
"Their here in Coordinates 000 with us!" Bocoe said again.
"We knew you were traveling alone from the last time we communicated with you so we used the fleet's teleport function to bring them here." Decoe said in a cheery voice.
"…"
"Wasn't that smart of us." Bocoe asked cheery as well.
"YOU IDIOTS!!"
"Huh?"
"You could've told me that you going to do teleport there! Or you could've at least left one behind so that I could teleport there and gain control of my fleet so we could destroy those troublesome G.U.N people!"
"… Oh yeah… that's… something we could've done." Decoe said while pondering.
"But doesn't your Eggmobile have a teleport function?" Bocoe asked.
"… If it did then I'd BE THERE ALREADY! Now stop asking stupid questions! I need to figure out how to regain control of my fleet and take command before G.U.N reaches you. My scanners show that they aren't far from you, now that I know their location, and since that place is basically a giant maze of buildings there is no telling when you'll meet up."
"Wait a minute doctor! I have a brilliant idea! Why don't you let us command the troops? We can take G.U.N!" Bocoe suggested.
"I thought I already told you why in the planning room. It's because I'm smarter then the average bear!"
"What average bear?" Decoe asked.
"You no what? Screw it! Take control of the fleet if you want! It doesn't take much brains to say 'kill them' to a bunch of fighter robots anyway." Eggman said clearly giving up.
"Is that a yes?"
"Yes."
"Yes to what? Yes to our question or yes it's a yes?"
"The first yes!"
"Which yes was that?"
"The yes from before!"
"Was that 8 yes's ago or 9. I guess now it would be 11 yes's. No 12." said Bocoe
"It's 12." said Decoe
"BOCOE! DECOE!"
"YES!!"
"ARRRGH!! JUST GET MOVING!!" Eggman shouted then cut off communication with them. Decoe turned to Bocoe and asked.
"Wouldn't saying 'Yes it's a yes' be the same as the first yes?"
"Yes! I think… no wait… gimmie a minute…" Was Bocoe's brilliant answer.
Ice Region Ending point
Hato's army had been completely obliterated. They were all dead. Every last one of them killed with just one quick motion of Darkness' hand. It was the likes of which Hato had never seen. Could such a monster exist?
Hato and his men had been able to catch up to Darkness easily. Once they did he had them surround him and detain him. However Darkness simply didn't care. He doesn't care about much.
All he did was wave his hand and this thick black smoke flowed outward and passed by all the soldiers. It didn't look like it did anything until they all started to mystically blow holes in their chests. They were all scared when they realized what was happening and a few tried to run but it was too late. Apparently when the shadows passed by you were doomed to a painful and gruesome death.
Hato faced the maniac in front of him with an enormous amount of considerable regret. Was he scared? No. He hasn't been afraid since he was 3-years-old. It was the age when he realized fear didn't have to be an issue if you were the one causing it.
However, there was something about this cloaked deity that caused Hato a disgusting amount of discomfort. He was actually considering whether or not to try and kill him. That's also something he's never done before.
"You're drawing up the best strategy you can to try and kill me. Do you think you can do it?" Darkness stood there with his hands by his side. His remark angered Hato but he didn't show it.
"Of coarse I do. I'm an assassin that works for the seventh unit of the G.U.N. It would be against my jurisdiction not to kill such a dangerous person."
"Spare me your excuses. I saw your little explosion back there. You kill for yourself not the government. To be honest I respect you more for making something you enjoy doing for yourself your jurisdiction in your pathetic army. It shows that you're independent and not a government dog like those other insects I killed so easily."
"I assure you that I'm no insect. It would take more then you to rid me and my ambition from the planet."
"Now didn't that sound a bit too rehearsed? I take it this isn't the first time someone has called you and your troops by the name of insect?"
"It's all the same. Me and my ambition will not be destroyed."
"You? Yes. Your ambition? No. As long as there are people who continue living the way you do now their will always be someone with an ambition to needlessly kill. The way I see it the only non-barbaric way of killing is if your intention is to kill everyone and everything then restart from scratch, which is what I intend to do. Using the power I'm so dangerously close to getting and the seeds I had Metal Sonic plant on other planets using Eggman's contraption it's possible."
"What? Are you crazy? How would that work?"
"I'm not going to waste my time telling a dead man my plan. Doing so would actually make me look crazy. Imagine! Me! Crazy? HAHAHAHAHA!!"
Hato flinched. This man was… just plain creepy. There were few, if any, things Hato had seen in his life that he considered creepy but this… was just too abnormal.
"Enough of your idiotic banter. I need you dead."
Hato didn't see it but Darkness' ears perked up.
Hato quickly charged at Darkness with his fingers now a dark purple color. He jumped up and intended to jab Darkness with his two fingers but Darkness simply slid to the side and let the blast that flew out of his fingers impale the snow.
"Oh… so that's your power? You can't see it but the expression on my face is that of anger. I didn't sit well with what you just said so I'll give you 20 seconds to run before I use the unnecessary method I use to kill people. When you can't get away I promise to kill you so you won't feel a thing." The way he spoke was silent and sort of scary.
"What?"
"Run and you won't feel anything when I kill you. Fight and you die the painful way."
Hato couldn't believe this. How dare this man talk to him as if he was his superior! No one does that and lives, absolutely no one!
"Like hell!" Hato said lifting his now glowing violet leg and successfully kicking Darkness across his body. It literally sliced him in half but Darkness quickly reformed a few feet away from the angry commander.
"I won't attack. You have 15 seconds left."
"Shut the hell up!" Hato kicked across the air and landed a huge blast at Darkness. He quickly jumped over it and landed perfectly.
'I don't understand! These kicks fly to fast to dodge!' Hato was confused. He then started to deliver numerous dark violet colored punches across the air. They all materialized into blasts of fast and enormous power and speed toward Darkness without signs of letting up.
Darkness simply jumped and flipped through the air to avoid them all. Hato kept firing not knowing what was going on beyond all the flying smoke. He soon found out when Darkness spoke up again.
"3 seconds."
"Damn you! I decide who lives and who dies! Not you! ME!"
Suddenly Darkness landed right in front of Hato. The commander stopped immediately and backed away.
"Actually you don't. You just think you do… our rather, judging by the look on your face, you thought you did."
Hato couldn't believe this. All his attacks failed. No one could've seen them coming. No one with eyes at all could see them coming. He was frustrated and his hands and eyes were twitching.
"Your time has expired and you didn't run. I guess we do it the painful way."
"No damnit! Screw you!"
Darkness swiftly grabbed Hato's hand and twisted it back. He yelped in pain as Darkness leaned forward to speak.
"How dare low-life scum like you refer to my plans as idiotic banter."
"… Your plans? Your plans! How?! How is what I'm doing any different from your twisted plans!"
It suddenly went silent. Darkness had nothing more to say to this man and Hato was simply speechless. It only took one second but in that second Darkness somehow struck his hand straight through Hato's stomach. It was sticking out of his back all balled into a bloody fist.
Hato went limp and Darkness took his hand out of the corpse's body. He let it drop and continued walking.
"Normally I would've taken a souvenir from your body but I want to let the Earth swallow your corpse up and reuse it so that the planet can be fused with the very scum it tried to get me to accept. Have fun doing your little dance in Hell."
Coordinates 000 starting point
Hang Nail sat on his little rock that overlooked the numerous amounts of buildings behind him. He was starting to get bored. Had Shimon died? It was possible. A kid dressed the way he was wouldn't be able to last very long in the Ice Region.
Suddenly he heard footsteps approaching. He wasn't looking up so he couldn't see who it was but by the way they were clomping their feet it was someone who was very angry.
"It's probably the doctor. He's prob'ly pissed dat I took his fleet and den left it. Heh Heh. It sort of serves him right." Hang Nail chuckled then listened to the feet again. They were clomping angrily but they were much softer feet then Eggman's.
Could it be?
Hang Nail looked up and his eyes gleamed with satisfaction. He finally made it.
"Hey there. If it ain't my ol' friend. Homeless two tail!"
It was in fact Tails. The four-year-old stood in front of his now half mechanical bully with a very serious look on his face.
"What's with that fake bravery look. I don't like it. Why don't you come here so I can't scratch you up like I used to. You remember that don't you?"
Tails started to walk over to Hang Nail.
"That's right. That's a good little wimp. Obeying you superior like always. Let's get this over with so I can go back to being commander. Of coarse I don't want this to be too quick. After all it was always fun beating the tar outta-"
Hang Nail didn't get to finish his sentence. Tails had made it over to Hang Nail while he was talking and the first thing he did was end their contract as wimp vs. bully.
He did this by punching Hang Nail across the face while he was in mid-sentence. The surprised jaguar fell off his rock and hit the ground with a thud. Tails let his fist drop while Hang Nail quickly grabbed at his cheek.
"Two Tail… did… did you just…?"
"YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW LONG I'VE WANTED TO DO THAT YOU BULLY!" Tails shouted as he stood there with both hands by his side and his angry eyes focused on the bully.
Hang Nail was more then shocked. Who was this? It sure wasn't two tail! Hang Nail tasted something funny in his mouth. It didn't take long to place the taste.
"Why you… you little punk… you… actually made my mouth bleed! You know better than that!"
"Shut up!"
"What did you say to me!?"
"I'm done being your punching bag! I promise Hang Nail by the end of this you'll forever take on my horrible past role as wimpy little cry baby you jerk!"
It was silent again. It was tense once more. It was time to begin the rematch.
Finally done! I love this story! Review please and tell me how you all like it. I'll update as soon as I can!