Chapter 13 Stalled
Shadow's POV
In the middle of the now robot-cluttered town was the Doctor in his usual hovercraft machine, shouting out different orders to each of his mechs before his sight had set on us. His mouth opened to a full grin which only happens if his plans are going along perfectly, not to be ruined by his blue streaked nemesis…yet.
This time however, it was going to be me.
He hovered close to us, noticing the limp blue hedgehog that I gripped on in my arms. He gave out a shriek of joy, which let out to a series of his laughter that nobody even wants to hear. He won't be laughing after this place becomes a metal scattered mess.
"Well well well…it seems like my Eggbot has told the truth! It's about time one of you have caused enough damage to that pesky hedgehog!" The Doctor said while pointing an index finger at Sonic. A robot then came up to Eggman's hovercraft, asking for some sort of reward. It gave me the answer that this was the mech that shot the faker in the chest. The Doctor only laughed once more.
"Your only reward is to keep up what you're doing. At this rate, you might end up killing the pathetic excuse for an Ultimate Lifeform that is right in front of me!" His index finger now aimed at my face. A deep and furious growl rumbled deep in my throat till I finally roared out "WHAT!" at the top of my lungs. I'm way far from pathetic!
Before I could drop my injured rival and ram my gloved fist into the Doctor's face, the robot spoke again about asking of a reward from his maker. Little does it know that Eggman never gives, he only fulfills his own selfish desires.
"NO! Now go back with the rest of the army or I'll force you!" Eggman had commanded, threating it by showing he was about to press a button on the control panel. With an alert, the robot did as it was told. The minute he got back in the crowds of the metal soldiers, they all began to load their weapons, aiming at no other than us as the target. I heard Chelsea make a frightened gasp behind me, leading to Trevor reassuring her that nothing bad will happen. Dylan looked at the surrounding robots, and then to me with a confused stare that seemed to ask: "What now?"
I looked at my injured rivel below me, as well as Courtney in Dylan's hands. What can we do if we have two fallen as well with two humans that have no knowledge in combat? Thinking quick, I turned around and gave the blue hedgehog to Trevor as I mentioned Dylan to do the same to Courtney with Chelsea. I then reached behind me to grab the only Chaos Emerald I had and gave it to Trevor, for which I quickly instruct him to how to use Chaos Control and for him and Chelsea to escape to a safe place until the battle's done. His confusion was now replaced with excitement as he gripped the mystical emerald in his free hand.
"Yeah! I always wanted to do this!" Trevor squealed joyfully as he swiftly went beside Chelsea, who was frightfully stiff looking at the surrounding robots. It took the egg-shaped doctor at the last minute to know what we were doing, so at the time when Trevor shouted out "Chaos Control!" he commanded his mechs to shoot. But the bullets, lasers, and energy beams only shot through the emerald's bright green radiance of their disappearance. Of course the Doctor threw a fit, but surprisingly enough it didn't last as long as I thought it would.
"Whatever. I could get that little blue pincushion anytime, seeing he's not going be running in that condition for awhile now. In the meantime, you two will do. Against me and hundreds of my powerful robotic creations, you both won't stand a chance!"
I shook my head slowly in disbelief and glared daggers at the Doctor. "So you're saying we can't destroy the few of these robots though we destroyed millions countless times in the past. Sonic may be powerful, but you're forgetting I'm the ultimate in power."
"Yeah! I destroyed numerous of robots with my fire abilities. Not to mention I flung fire on your face…twice!" Dylan chimed in as he laughed while pointing at Eggman's face, noticing the burns were still there.
"Shut up! At least they're healing…" Eggman roared while leading to an uncertain tone as he softly touched a burn on his head, leading to a wince. "But enough talk! Eggbots! Destroy them!"
Without a moment's notice, the robots fired all what they had at the both of us. But we dodged quickly at each shot and took them out one by one. I paralyzed them with my Chaos Spear, and then I used my teleport ability to appear to each robot either punching or kicking one till they're broken. With my strength building up higher as I destroyed each mech I can release the powerful destruction of my Chaos Blast, making an end to this fight. Just before I released that power, I realized that I might cause major damage to the buildings in town as well as the innocent people shielding themselves inside them. Just perfect. If only we were in a more spacious area!
Sparks of ember flew around the now slim battlefield as I saw Dylan either thrown a fiery punch or a fiery throw. Quickly with his agility he dodged each attack or bullet from the Eggbots like it was no problem. Just a few more then we'll be done with this nonsense. The Doctor, however, managed to make the battle longer.
With a smirk, he pressed a button in his round hovercraft and shot a very big beam headed towards Dylan's way. I shouted to warn him but it was too late as he got jammed in the back. It caused the orange hedgehog to recoil a few feet from where the last few mechs stood.
"Dylan!" I shouted again as I skated up to him quick. Fortunately there were no signs of injuries on the guy, but an increasing of temperature rose whenever I got close. The heat rose dangerous levels when I was about to support him, and when I touched the skin on his arm it immediately lit my glove on fire. Quickly brushing it off, yet backing away quickly in the process I saw the orange hedgehog slowly rise up, now with a deadlier glare than what I had on moments ago. He then turned that menacing face from me to Eggman.
"You are messing with the wrong guy…" He said in a dark tone in which I never heard from him before. He held out both of his hands in which fire exploded upwards like an erupting volcano. Looking at that display it flushed the life out of the Doctor's face. Being in a risk of his life being engulfed in flames, the egg-shaped man escaped the town of Apotos to somewhere far away. Thinking that Dylan's temper would have died there, it only worsened as pyro embers swirl and swirl around him from his fiery hands, consuming him to a twenty-foot tall tornado. It was now heading towards the direction where Eggman fled, which was through the town. Along the tornado's passage, many of Eggman's robots were sucked in, and then spat out as broken burnt metal.
"NO! STOP!" I screamed, but I knew it wouldn't stop the triggered pyromaniac continuing towards his goal. As he continued to get closer I ran to the fire-filled tornado, trying my best to remain on ground. I then took a few of steps back and jumped into the heat-scorched center and gotten Dylan out. With him gone, it made the huge twister shrink into a tiny flaming whirlwind and to small golden sparks.
A moment later after we fell on the ground, my strength failed for me to stand or even move. Whenever I moved a muscle, my body tensed in pain.
"Ugh…Get up." I told myself, dealing with the burns as I leveled myself to my knees. Beside me Dylan was getting up as well, he turned to me with another questioning look on his face. But before he said anything, Eggman came back. He looked at his army of robots that were now scraps on the ground, giving out a smile.
A smile?
"That should be more than enough time." His smile turned to another nasty grin. I looked at him confused. "What?"
He flashed another grin. "Taking over this town was nothing but to give more time for my new accomplices to retrieve the H.I. from the next city. I've just given the word that they have."
"Accomplices?" I raised a brow at the egg-shaped doctor. The only accomplices that I know were Metal Sonic and I, but in time we knew better than to assist someone as him. Whoever they are, they're only going to get disappointed in the end.
"Yes, three to be exact. They came pleading to aid me for our goal of world domination. It's nice to have some people who want to see the world like I do. You know I would love to continue with this conversation but," Eggman flashed two H.I. gems before turning away. "I'm afraid I have to go. Ta-ta for now!" With the fading of his evil laughter going to the distance, the Doctor was gone.
"It can't be…" Dylan whispered beside me. Meanwhile I was taking all my will to stand up, but I collapsed onto the stone pathway with increasing tension. I cursed loudly to myself from the pain and to that we've just been stalled.
Trying again, I attempted and finally gotten to stand up for a long length. Now I tried to walk, which took me three seconds to move each foot.
I went towards the direction where Eggman fled, which will only lead me to shore. Dylan caught up with me and touched my shoulder, apologizing and insisting for his help many times. My reply was shrugging off his touch and telling him to leave me be.
With evil three steps ahead and half of us injured…what are we to do now?
Court's POV
I opened my eyes to the faint sound of crashing waves and the cool sea wind blowing from a nearby opened window. As my sight adjusted to look at the view through the window, it turned out to be dawn. A little of sun's head peeked through the enormous blanket of ocean. It made me smile to awake in such a sight like this.
Wait? Awake?
I looked down to see myself in a soft feathery bed covered by a few blankets. Looking around, I was in a white bedroom in company with another bed partly beside mine. In it laid a resting blue hedgehog with a white bandage that wrapped and covered most of his chest.
I was for sure that Sonic and I were sinking down into the depths of the ocean after how long we were afloat. And that light? Was it a boat? If so, how did it reach to us in time to save us? I really thought it was going to be the end of us back there. It scared me so much…
To make me forget that memory, I took another glance of the beautiful view out the window. Without a second thought, I got up and headed to the door. I wanted to know what happened after I fell into unconsciousness.
Before I reached out and touched the doorknob, a weak voice called my name behind me. Turning around I saw Sonic looking at me with his eyes halfway open.
"Sonic." I whispered as I came to him to the right side of his bed. He blinked a few times and then asked, "What happened?" There was a short pause as I took a deep breath and exhaled.
"You got shot by a robot and fell into the ocean. I came after you, but I hit my head and blacked out shortly when I found you. I was going to go out and ask the others to find out the rest." I explained to him calmly, quickly turning my gaze to the door then back to the blue blur. "Are you okay?"
He was unsure of this as he tried to move up, but he quickly fell back into the bed. "I-I don't know…I feel numb all over."
"I think someone gave you medicine. The wound on your chest must've been serious." I said.
"Man…" Sonic spoke again in his now weakened voice. "Oh how I would do anything to run right now. It's boring just lying here…"
I blinked countless times after Sonic had just said that. Yesterday he said everything will be better if he remained still. The blue hedgehog looked confused by my expression.
"What?"
"You just said you wanted to run."
"Yeah, my favorite thing to do. You didn't know that?"
"I know that! What I'm confused at is why you would say that after a while ago you said, 'things will be better if you stood still.'"
"…I said that?"
"Um yeah!"
Sonic then looked at me with a dumbfounded stare and then face palmed.
"Oh gosh Court…you know when you get into those moods you don't know what's gonna spill out of your mouth. I didn't mean it; I was just a little upset after remembering the times with Chip and my other departed friends. I'm sorry if I worried you."
I made a small laugh. "It's fine. I know you really didn't mean it. It's not like the legendary blue hedgehog not to run. That's what makes him a legend. Faster than the speed of sound, the fastest thing alive, the-"
"Stop! Now you're really making me want to dash outta here!" Sonic said while putting his gloved hands up to his ears, not wanting to hear anymore.
I laughed again. "Well, is there anything you need before I leave?"
Sonic uncovered his ears. "What was that?"
"Need anything?" I repeated.
The needlemouse shrugged. "Eh, not really…Well I guess you can stay here and keep me company, since I'm stuck here." The hedgehog changed his mind. I couldn't help but giggle.
"Alright, but I still need to check in of what happened. I'll be back in a little bit."
"I'll be waiting." Sonic gave me a fake irritated look, which quickly formed to a smile. I shook my head, smiling too, and then I was out the door.
When I exited out of the house, the first thing I noticed was an orange hedgehog picking up metal pieces that were scattered all over the main passageway. Dylan took a quick glance over in my direction and did it again once he saw I was there. He dropped all the metal he held and I was soon embraced.
"Courtney? Are you okay?" Dylan asked when he let go. There was a troubled look on his face.
"Yeah I'm fine." I replied with relief, glad that Sonic and I weren't still out in the sea somewhere. "How did Sonic and I get back?"
"Shadow saw you guys fall from a cliff while we were still sailing. We got to you guys just in time before anything gotten bad." He explained to me, his expression didn't change. I looked around Apotos again, seeing more of the metal scraps not just on the passageway but a few lay around town too.
"What happened? Was Eggman here?" I asked again, taking a good guess he was. Whenever you see a robot or broken up metal all over the place, you know that ambitious doctor was near. Dylan sadly nodded.
"Yeah, when we came back with you guys the whole town was taken over by him. There was Eggbots everywhere. We let Chelsea and Trevor look after you both and escape so Shadow and I can fight them off." Dylan answered and explained more. He still looked down on himself, for which I don't know why. Despite the mess, looks like Shadow and him taught Eggman another lesson.
I smiled. "Looks like you both did a very good job. If it's the mess you're worried about, I'll help you clean." Dylan looked at me confused for a second, and then shook his head.
"Worried about the mess? No no it's not that…" His expression dampened more. I placed a hand on his right shoulder and looked at him worriedly.
"What wrong?" I asked softly, wanting to help my best friend any way I could. Guilt swirled in his brown eyes.
"I lost control of my anger in the fight. I burned Shadow badly and I almost destroyed the whole town." He told me as his eyes directed to the ground in sorrow. "In the end, the whole battle was a stall so Eggman's new accomplices could get the next H.I. in our world..."
The information that Dylan had told me slowly sunk into my mind. No wonder he's upset. I told him to look at me and said that everything was going to be fine. I reminded him that Shadow wasn't like the rest of us, so chances that he'll recover more quickly. I did notice Dylan's anger fits have been occurring more recently, but I think it's normal if you have a power such as fire. Then again, I would be blazing mad too if Eggman shot me in the back. I reassured that if he would get in that way again, I will help him.
"What are we going to do now?" I asked Dylan while we both decided to finish cleaning the town. It looked like he didn't have an answer.
"I don't know. Our two favorite heroes are hurt, Chelsea and Trevor are goofing off somewhere, and Eggman might be getting the next gem as we speak." Dylan kicked a scrap in frustration.
"I think…maybe the both of us should go and head over to the next city in our world." I said. Dylan looked at me in shock.
"But what about Sonic, Shadow, and our friends? We can't just leave them here."
"Sonic and Shadow need time to recover, I don't want the trouble them of relocating them to another place. Besides, I think Apotos will be the best place to rest instead of a hotel room in the city." I explained. Dylan thought it through.
"Yeah, you're right. But what about Chelsea and Trevor?"
"They'll just relax and take care of the hedgehogs while we're gone. I don't think any trouble will happen, since Eggman was just here."
Dylan thought it through once more, and then he agreed to my idea. "Alright. We better go tell everyone what we're planning to do. Then we'll leave."
We both separated. I went back into the house where Sonic was in and saw that the blue hedgehog had fallen asleep. I quickly awoke him and explained of what happened afterwards, and that Dylan and I were going ahead to the next city in my world. He nodded and advised us to be careful and not to do anything too risky.
Just then when I said goodbye, Dylan came through the door carrying Shadow. He looked very displeased as Dylan placed him on the bed next to Sonic's.
"I told you I didn't need any help." He grumbled. "and I disapprove the both of you going to the next city. It'll be too dangerous if it's just the two of you out there."
"We'll be fine Shadow." I reassured him.
"Yeah, we'll be together at all times. If something happens then we'll use our powers and techniques. We've done this before you know…" Dylan reminded him.
"I have trust in them, and you should too Shadow." Sonic smiled at the black hedgehog. Shadow growled and mumbled out a "fine…"
"We won't let you down!" We said in unison, and then said our goodbyes.
Out of the house, Chelsea and Trevor waited and wished us good luck in the next city. I was expected them to be a little upset not to come along, but they looked happy as they can be.
"We got everything in control guys. Just don't go to Tokyo please! I really want to go there!" Chelsea begged.
"Hmm maybe we will…" Dylan said in a look of mischief. Chels ran up to him and playfully punched him in the arm. "You better not!"
He laughed. "Ok, we won't!"
When they left, Dylan and I tried to decide on which city to go to. Hopefully we won't pick the one where Eggman's new partners just got the H.I. from.
Finally we decided, did the routine with my necklace, and off we go!
AN: Sorry for the delay everyone! I took a break and I had to think about what to do on this chapter. Again, I'm sorry! To make up for it, I will post more chapters within the summer! :D