Darkness.
"Woah! W-What happened?" Charmy shuddered. The entire lab had gone pitch black. All the machinery was down too.
"A power cut?" Vector said. "You sure Kintobor ain't just pullin' the plug on you guys now?"
Dr Heart spun around bewildered. "I-I don't know what's happening. What happened to our reserves? We always have warnings before this sort of thing happens!" She activated a series of lights powered by batteries. They were dim and glowed red – giving them just enough light to see around.
Espio growled in frustration, slamming a fist on a nearby table. "Seems awfully convenient…"
"Huh? Whaddya mean Espio?" Charmy asked.
"Perhaps this wasn't just a simple 'power-cut'." He replied. "Think of it – the timing of it all."
"Are you sayin' that there's someone in this room with us right now, who saw what we were doing and shut the power off?"
"Well, the perpetrator did appear to be another chameleon – he could've been using invisibility."
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that chameleon power. " Vector said, scratching his head. "But wait – can't you, like, see each other since you both can do that?"
"It's not quite that simple. When we become invisible, our bodies bend the light around them – if the light doesn't reach our eyes from them then no-one can see them."
"So, wait, what do we do now? What's the guy's next move in here?"
"Well, he would've ambushed us by now if he was in here. Perhaps they've done something outside…"
"Of course!" Dr Heart exclaimed, startling the trio with her sudden outburst. "Outside. There's a power box on the side of the building. If someone were to cut something there, assuming they had pretty powerful weapons, it would override everything – all of our power would be lost."
"Let's move it guys! We can't let those guys get away whilst we're stumbling in the dark!" Vector exclaimed, pointing to the exit.
"Roger that!" Espio said.
Dr Heart ran in front "I'll show you the way!" She said, slamming face-first into the glass door. She staggered back, finally falling unconscious.
Charmy caught her before she hit the floor. "Eeee…" He said, looking at the condition of her face. "That bruised up quickly…"
Espio and Vector dashed past. "She'll be fine, just set her down gently and move!" Vector said. The two winced as the heard a sudden BONK! "Gent-ly…gently, I said gently!" Vector roared.
Charmy just shrugged "Oopsie." Before Vector grabbed him by the face and sprinted after Espio outside of the facility.
Meanwhile, not too far away on the outside of the same facility stood three dark figures.
"That was a little too close for my comfort." One of the hooded figures said. He stepped away from a large, boxed, panel on the side of the facility. "But fortunately their systems were easy to hack and destroy."
"With that subsided, we must move on to our next task…" Another said, presumably the leader.
"Yes, Takehashi-San…" The third and smallest said, pulling out a small blade from his cowl. "Now we climb in and kill the Acrodon Ninja." Using his specialised gloves, he began to scale the side of the facility.
"No witnesses." The first one continued.
"And that's all I needed to hear!" A voice called out behind them before the first hooded figure met a fist in the face.
He rolled on the dirt for a few yards, the other two spreading their bat wings in an aggressive display.
Before them, stood a black Armadillo, his red armoured shell glistening in the sunlight. "I would usually ask you fellows nicely just to stop and go on with your lives, but I don't think you're gonna listen." He smirked.
A small yellow Flying Squirrel, wearing a sky blue jacket, was hiding behind him – holding onto the armadillo's leg. "D-D-D-D-D-D-Do we really have to d-d-do this M-M-M-Mighty?" He shuddered.
"Why you little…" The leader figure said, folding back his wings. "You should've just kept to your own business!" The pair ran towards him.
The Armadillo charged in return, causing the squirrel to tumble into the dirt.
SWOOSH! One of the hooded figures swung a leg at the attacker. His target ducked, flipping him into the air instead. He was quick to recover – rolling back, tossing the blade of his kusarigama at the armadillo's face. He grabbed it from the air, pulling its wielder into his awaiting knuckles.
Kunai knives bounced of off his shell, as he turned to face their leader. He swung two katanas at him, but the armadillo rolled into a ball between his legs! The figure darted his head around – where was he? Tap-Tap
He turned his head to face a-SMACK! The first blow dazed him as the armadillo then swung his foot into the attacker's head – knocking him into the dirt.
"Get up Ray! These guys aren't so tough." The armadillo laughed triumphantly.
"M-M-M-Mighty, look out!" The squirrel, Ray, shrieked. The first figure had raced toward him with a short blade.
He rammed the blade into his back. It bent instantly as it hit the shell – not even leaving a scratch.
Mighty turned his blue eyes over to him and smiled. "Oh hello again." He said cheerfully. The figure was horrified – his eyes widening. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to punch you again now."
"H-Huh?" The figure exclaimed before being sent back from whence he came.
The leader was the only one left standing. He growled in anger. "You…YOU…!" He huffed.
Mighty just shrugged innocently.
The figure fumed. "That is it! I tried to be nice, but now you're just ticking me off!" He picked up his swords. Slowly, he walked over as Mighty did towards him. "I'm gonna dice you up good. Nobody makes a fool out of the great Atsushi Takehashi! Nobody!"
Mighty stopped. "Wait. At…athoohi? Atsoohi…Atbooshi…Takeh-Takeh…hash-brown...er…" He chuckled at himself, and scratched his head. "I'm sorry. Could you, maybe, spell that for me?"
"RRAARRGH!" He charged. He leapt towards him, his blades held behind.
Time slowed. He thrust his swords over his head – hoping to slice the armadillo in two. Mighty's fist burned a yellow light and plunged it upwards into his foe's chest.
The sudden jolt revealed the identity of the figure – a bat. His eyes widened and his pupil's shrunk. This was so going to hurt.
He was sent upwards, screaming, into the clouds above.
Mighty and the young squirrel Ray watched as he continued to climb higher and higher into the sky.
"Umm…M-Mighty? I-I-I think you h-h-h-hit him too high." Ray said.
"Don't worry Ray. Whatever goes up always comes back down again." Mighty smiled, the pair not taking their eyes off the, now disappeared, bat in the sky.
They stood quietly for a moment, still watching up.
"I-I-I don't think he's c-c-c-coming back down…" Ray said.
Mighty rubbed his head in embarrassment. "Well that's certainly not good heheh…"
"W-w-w-what should we d-d-d-do then?"
"You wanna go get him?"
"I think he m-m-m-might be t-t-t-too heavy for me."
Suddenly the figure came back down from the clouds. He likely passed out as he wasn't screaming anymore. Mighty was quick to catch him.
"Hmm. I didn't know there were many Mobian bats around here – it's mainly an Overlander city." Mighty said, before setting him down in a pile with the other two.
"W-w-what do you think they were d-d-d-doing?" Ray asked.
"I don't know, but whatever it was, we stopped them."
All of a sudden, Charmy rushed around the corner and spotted them. "Guys! Guys! I found the bad-guys!" He called. Vector and Espio soon sprinted onto the scene.
"Hey looks like the cavalry's arrived Ray." Mighty smiled. He waved at the oncoming group "Hey guys! Don't worry, we've taken care of-OOOF!" He was met by Vector's colossal fist. He went down hard.
"M-M-M-Mighty!" Ray yelped in horror.
"Now, you, stay down." Vector said, cracking his knuckles. "Unless you want me to give you a real thumpin'."
Mighty wiped the spit off his chin. He pulled himself back up. "W-Wha-?" Why'd they attack him? He was trying to help them. He noticed the Chameleon's ninja sword – making the connection with him and the other guys. "Oh. Heh, I see – okay, let's go then!"
Vector smiled. "Heh, I admire your spirit kid – but ya gotta know when you've been beat." He thrust his fist back at the armadillo.
He caught it. "Ha! Bet you didn't see that one coming." Mighty chuckled.
"And I bet you didn't see this!" His tail lashed out – sending Mighty hard into the wall.
The Komori ninjas awoke from their daze and noticed the ensuing battle.
Mighty leapt back up – delivering several blows into Vector's belly. They just seemed to bounce off of him with little pain!
Espio leapt in, drawing his sword. Mighty spun his shell into the blade – throwing the chameleon off his balance, and then returned to the croc. He threw a flurry of punches, but to no effect. Vector swiped his claws at him – sending him back into the wall.
"Stay down man." Vector snarled, not noticing the Komori Ninjas sneaking off.
Charmy called out to them "Hey Vector, what do we do with the other guy?" He buzzed around Ray who froze in terror.
Mighty saw Espio look in the direction of the young squirrel. He glanced at the katana he wielded – a sudden burst of anger arose within. His body glowed a yellow Aura. His pupils had disappeared from his eyes. "Stay away from him!" He roared as he charged towards the group.
Vector staggered back – his eyes widening as the Armadillo brought his fist down, hard, into the earth. The impact sent them all soaring in different directions. A crater was left from the impact – cracks in the ground stretched out from it.
Mighty returned back to his usual, calmer state.
"M-Mighty!" Ray called, running over to his companion.
"Ray!" Mighty said. "Are you okay little brother?"
"I'm f-f-f-f-f-fine!"
Vector was the first to recover from the hit. He sat up, scratching the top of his head. "Err…wha…?" He exclaimed hazily.
Espio was the next one to awake. He stumbled to his feet, sheathing back his sword and looking at the damages around them.
Charmy lay very dazed in the rubble. Espio rushed over to him. He was okay, just stunned.
Espio turned his head back to see the armadillo tussling the hair of the young squirrel-boy. "They do not appear to be terrorists…" He said.
Vector tapped the dirt out of his ears. "Yeah, I think you're right." He replied before getting back on his feet and walking over.
Mighty frowned as he approached. "What do you want from us? I gave your friends a chance to go!"
Vector smiled apologetically. "Listen, I think we've gotten off on the wrong foot here. We thought you were the guys attacking this place, so we're sorry if we hurt you guys at all."
Espio joined them. "Please forgive us for our error." He bowed.
Mighty then smiled warmly. "Oh no worries guys. It was a simple mistake – we can all laugh about it."
Espio smiled back. "We are glad."
Mighty chuckled before introducing himself. "My name's…wait!"
Vector and Espio raised their brows. "What?"
"Th-Those guys! The bat ninjas! They're gone!" Mighty exclaimed.
Espio gritted his teeth. "Bat Ninjas? The Komori?! Here?!" He darted around the corner only to see a vehicle driving away from the facility at pace. "I've got to catch them!"
"They were just in a pile here!" Mighty repeated.
Vector saw Espio speed off after the vehicle. "I think Espio's found 'em – follow me!" Vector ran over to Charmy and scooped him up, along with Espio's bag, and ran back to his van – Mighty and Ray were close behind.
Espio was in pursuit of the Komori vehicle – a sleek, black car-like thing. The other cars swerved violently in and around the two speeding objects.
Can't let them get away! They're the only lead I have he thought. He ran at high speed – easily breaking the 50 mile per hour speed limit as they were and still getting faster.
"What is that?!" One of the bats shrieked.
"It's the chameleon!" The leader, Atsuhi Takehashi, said. "Destroy him!" A window wound down, revealing a powerful hand gun.
"Guns?!" Espio exclaimed. "The Komori have lost their honour." He began darting side to side – dodging the stream of bullets aiming at him.
People in the streets screamed and scrambled around. Cars rammed into street lights. Trucks flipped over.
"He's too fast – I can't get him!" The gun-bat yelled.
Espio used a car in front to launch him onto the back of the speeding vehicle. "Pull over!" He commanded.
They swerved hard into another street – throwing Espio onto the road. He rolled on the asphalt but was able to get back up running. He continued to sprint down to the parallel street to them. The minor burns barely even slowed him down.
Takehashi spat in disgust "Persistent little-"
There was a sudden flash of blue and red lights behind them.
"Shimatta!" The driver exclaimed. "Satsu!"
"The cops?" The leader repeated, looking back in his seat.
"This is the M.P.D – pull over now!" They called.
Espio ran up past the police car – rapidly approaching the bats.
"This could be interesting." The leader sneered. "Turn it."
The vehicle drove into the other lane. Oncoming cars spun out of the way as the bats sped through. One car lost control – rolling into Espio. The chameleon bounded over and it instead smashed into the police behind.
"Unit down! Unit Down!" They alerted. "We've got three anthros driving aggressively in an unmarked, black vehicle – anther anthro in pursuit. Send back-up!"
It wasn't long before several police units joined the pursuit. The bats continued to ram into the sides of cars – throwing them back behind.
Espio finally began to close in again, his speed limited by the flying cars. He stretched out his hand. Closer, closer…
The lights ahead changed. Amber.
"Hit it!" Takehashi yelled.
The vehicle's exhaust pipes lit up with a bright, blue flame.
Red light.
Espio tried to speed up, but the car had blasted away. He skidded to a stop as the rest of the traffic came in – blocking his way as the bats escaped.
Espio clenched his fists. "Shi…SHIMATTA!" He screamed to the heavens before stomping around in intense frustration "Shimatta! Shimatta-shimatta-shimatta-shimatta-shi-"
He turned to see the police cars trying to break in front of him. His eyes widened.
He leapt above the first one but bounced off of the top of the second. He landed face-first onto the road.
BEEEEP! BEEP! A loud horn. Espio slowly lifted his head to see a large green van approaching. Vector!
Espio heaved himself back up and began running head-on towards it. The van kept going. Espio then leapt over and onto the back of the van – sticking to its shiny surface.
He crawled over to the driver's window, greeted by Vector's head. "Where were you going?" He said. "I told you I was your bodyguard."
Espio pointed ahead "Vector – the road!"
Everyone on board screamed as they rammed through a police car at speed.
"Hey, that wasn't so bad." Charmy laughed in relief.
"Gee…" Vector said, looking back at the upset officers. "I sure hope I don't get a ticket for that."
Mighty knocked Vector's arm and pointed forward. "Red Light!" Everyone screamed again.
The light turned green as they passed. A sigh of relief came over the group as they reached the other side unscathed.
"D-D-Did we lose them?" Ray asked as the van slowed down and parked on the curb.
"I…I think we did…" Espio said sadly, slipping down from the van.
Vector stepped out and approached him. Everyone else followed.
"Hey, what's up?" Vector said.
"No. There is nothing up about this Vector. Just down. I've failed."
"What're you talking about?!"
"We've lost the evidence – we didn't even get to see the results of the scan. And we've lost the only people who might've been able to lead us to answers. It's over…" He slumped to the floor.
"No Espio." Charmy said. "It can't be over. It can't be over after we just started. We can still do this – we can still beat those guys!"
"Stop Charmy." He snapped.
Charmy was somewhat struck back – he hadn't seen Espio like this.
Espio's scales gained a light blue hue. "You'll learn one day, that things don't always end with a 'happily ever after'. The sooner you learn that, the sooner you-"
Mighty stepped in. "That's complete garbage!"
"Huh?"
"'Happily ever afters' are things that you have to work for. Sure, they're never certain, but as long as you reach for them, you always have that chance of getting them. And if you're gonna give up now, then maybe you don't deserve one."
Espio shuffled his eyes around, before looking back down in shame. "I…I…" He then looked up. The young squirrel-boy approached him with a battered ruck-sack.
"Er…th-th-this belongs to you, r-r-right?" He said nervously.
Espio broke out a light smile. He reached over and gently took it from his hands. Peeking inside, he saw the photo of his parents and remembered his father. Masao Takemura – the Lord of Constant Vigil; a man of honour, a man of resilience. He never gave up, neither was he. He looked back up to the squirrel "Thank you, er…"
"I-It's Ray!" He replied with a smile.
Vector gave them a thumbs up. "So, what's your plan now?"
"I…I don't know." He knocked a fist against his forehead. "Our only lead has just escaped to the…" His eyes widened and he stood up.
"What?" Vector said.
"They've gone back…they've gone back to the Dragon-lands." He smiled triumphantly.
"Woo!" Mighty cheered. "I knew you'd come up with something."
"Vector, is there a way we can get there quickly?"
"Well, we're actually pretty close to the Metropolis Air Dome." He replied.
"Air Dome?"
"Is it like an airport?" Charmy added.
"Yeah, we'll head over there and get the next direct flight to the Dragon-Lands." Vector said.
"Cool – that's a nice sight to see next, eh Ray?" Mighty smiled.
"Y-y-yeah! L-Let's go!"
"Hold on." Espio cut in. "How're we going to pay for this? I'm completely out."
"Don't worry about it." Vector chuckled as he stepped back in the van. "I've gotta plan."
The rest of the group got in too. "What's that?" Charmy buzzed. "You just quit your job, how're you gonna pay for it?"
"Charmy, Charmy, Charmy." He shook his head, starting the engine. "I'm not going to pay for us all. Mighty is."
Mighty choked. "E-Excuse me?"
The van drove off. "You are the free loader. I think it's about time you started paying for stuff."
"But-but, I've not even been with you guys for that long! And what makes you think I can afford it anyway?"
"Fine, fine. We'll split it."
"Oh, well that's fair, I guess."
"I pay thirty, you pay seventy."
Charmy, Ray and Espio roared with laughter.
"Wait, percent?!" Mighty exclaimed.
"Hey, I thought I was being pretty generous."
An officer filed a report on the chase, speaking to an officer back at the station over his communicator. "This is Fleet-Runner904, just filing the chase report, over."
"Urghh, do you have to have a codename?"
"What? It's cool!"
"Well, does it need to sound like some kid's internet name? 'Fleet-Runner904'? What's that supposed to mean anyway? You're not that fast."
"Hey, no need to crit the name, girl."
"Heh. Okay, so what's my name then?"
"You're 'Needs-To-Be-More-Considerate-And-Stop-being-such-a-towel-Girl'."
"Funny. What's the situation down there anyhow?"
"It's just anthros again. Chased a couple of them seriously speeding. No license plate – so it's gonna be difficult finding them and…"
clump Clump CLUMP
"Wha-Wha…" He said.
"What? What is it?" The officer over the line responded.
CLUMP CLUMP CLUMP
"Fleet-Runner, what's your status?"
"Scared…very, very….oh-oh my go-"
"AAUU-RRRRRAAAARRRRRR!" A blood curdling roar
The officer dropped his communicator, staggering back. "Oh no…OH no…" He said as a great silhouette began to overshadow him. "P-Please…oh no…"
The officer at the station tried to speak to him. "Fleet-Runner what's going on? What was that sound? Do you need back-up? Fleet-Runner?"
"No…no please!"
CLUMP CLUMP "RRRAAARRRGGHHH!"
"No! NO! GYAAAARRRRRGHHH!"
"Fleet-Runner?!" She called over again. "Jim?! Jim…"
The silhouette moved on in the direction of Espio and the gang. CLUMP CLUMP. "HSSSSS"
Crying came from the communicator. "Jim? J-Jim?" She said. "Please answer me Jim…"