SONIC HEROES: THE SERIES

Chapter Forty: The Rascally Raccoon

The days following the sol emerald escapade were busy and brutal. The other heroes questioned the disappearance of Blaze, which Silver refused to answer. Cream refused to let Tails out of her sight unless he agreed to go on a date; Tails agreed. The week was used to search for the returned chaos emeralds. Nazo got a head start; having the power to detect the emeralds. Nazo has four emeralds, while Metal and the Heroes each have one.

The scene opens up to the heart of Station Square to the home of the worlds greatest mercenaries: Team Virtex. Raine was sitting at her desk in her room which was covered in test tubes, beakers, flasks filled with unknown mixtures. She occasionally glancing at the picture of her and Charmy and the flower Charmy got from Espio's home. She was working on a permanent cure for acne when...

"Whatcha doing, mate?" Marine asked; popping up behind Raine.

"Marine!" Raine screamed in surprise.

Marine's sudden appearance caused Raine to spill the contents of a beaker all over herself. A second later, Raine felt hundreds of small bumps on her face and nearly screamed when she looked in the mirror; she was covered in horrid green boils.

"Crikey, you should see a doctor about that." Marine stated.

"They won't have time." Raine seethed. "They'll be dealing with another patient."

"Who?" Marine asked curiously.

"YOU!!" Raine screamed.

Raine grabbed the beakers and threw them at Marine in rage. Marine quickly whipped out of the room and slammed the door behind her; glass breaking behind her.

"Uh...Talk to ya later, mate." Marine said uneasily.

Marine sprinted down the hall and entered Howl's room, which looked something out a Japanese dojo. The doors slid sideways, a variety of weapons mounted on the wall, and several pedestals holding valuable artifacts, Howl sat in the center of the room with his eyes closed in meditation on a large cushion with his sword.

"Welcome, Marine." Howl greeted without looking.

"How'd ya know it was me, mate?" Marine asked surprised.

"I have a heighten sense of smell and hearing." Howl explained. "Your footsteps were small and Raine flies, so it was clearly you. Can I help you with something?"

"Just taking a look." Marine stated as she wondered into the dojo. Her eyes scanned curiously at a jade wolf statue on one of the pedestals. "What's this?"

"Huh?" Howl opened his and smiled. "That my families greatest treasure. It was a symbol created by my ancestors during the Feudal Era. They carved it as a mark of leadership and honor."

"I have no idea what he said." Marine thought.

Marine yawned at Howl's long and boring story, stretching her arms out. Unfortunately, one of her arms hit the jade wolf and knocked it off its pedestal. Howl screamed in panic and nearly jumped when Marine's hands shot out to catch it. Howl sighed in relief.

"That would have made a mess, eh, mate?" Marine giggled.

Marine replaced the statue back on its pedestal and turned to smile at Howl. But as luck would have it, Marine's tail swiped at the pedestal and knocked the statue off again. This time, it hit the ground and smashed into hundreds of pieces. Howl stood up stunned; his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open.

"How – what – I – but – Marine!" Howl sputtered.

"Uh...see ya, mate!" Marine said quickly.

Marine shot out the door. Meanwhile, the scene changes to Recter's room. It looked normal; having only a bookcase, a desk, and a couple of pictures of his family and team hanging on the wall. Recter sat at his desk, his legs propped on top, talking over the phone while gazing at the white chaos emerald in his hand.

"So you think you'll be able to pick it up tomorrow, Amy?" Recter asked over the phone. "Let's just hope Nazo doesn't show up again. I still have the scars from last time." Recter paused to let Amy speak. "Ok, see ya tomorrow."

Recter hung up the phone. Just then, his door swung wide open with Raine and Howl on the other side. Raine's head was covered in bandages and Howl was sobbing over a pile of rubble in his hands as they made their way to his desk.

"I've had enough!" Raine screamed; slamming her fist on the desk. "Marine has got to go!"

"What's this about?" Recter questioned.

"She ruined by face and broke Howl's statue!" Raine proclaimed; Howl broke out in a new wave of tears.

"Guys, take it easy. She's new here." Recter said coolly. "Raine, you're the world's greatest medic. I'm sure you can think of something. And Howl; I'm sure we could get Knuckles to mend it. He's a specialist at that sort of thing."

"You're not upset about Marine being here?" Howl questioned.

"Why would I be?" Recter chuckled.

"Hey, mates, I think you're lettuce has gone bad." Marine said as she stuck her head into the room.

"We don't have any lettuce." Recter said confused.

"Then what's this?" Marine asked.

Marine held out her hand and held a bundle of chewed up greens. To Recter's horror, he found that the 'lettuce' was actually the money they had collected from all their mercenary missions. Raine and Howl took great pleasure in Recter's furious expression.

"You were saying?" Howl said amusingly.

"GET HER!!" Recter screamed.

"AHH!" Marine cried.

Meanwhile, in the Dark Ruler's dimension. Nazo sat upon his throne with Mephiles, Shira, and Black Doom gathered around the chess board that represented them. While Mephiles and Shira were enthralled with each other, Black Doom floated around Nazo with a look of sheer irritation.

"How much longer must we wait?" Black Doom questioned.

"We must plan ahead before act." Nazo said coolly.

"But with four emeralds in our possession, we would hold an advantage against our adversaries." Mephiles stated, looking away from Shira. "Now we have the power to defeat Metal Sonic."

"But first, we must deal with another problem." Nazo informed. "I have discovered that Team Virtex is planning to transfer a chaos emerald to the heroes. We must intercept it before they do."

"Then let's go and take it." Shira suggested.

"No! we cannot risk it." Nazo stated. "I could defeat them, but it would require the use of my Hell Form."

"But you have the emeralds." Mephiles informed. "They should numb the side effects of your transformation."

"Even so, I would rather not risk the heroes interference." Nazo said seriously. "That is why Shira will be going alone."

"What?! Why me?!" Shira exclaimed.

"The heroes do not know of your existence." Nazo explained. "And this will be your chance to actually prove yourself worthwhile. I only accepted you upon Mephiles request."

"But..." Shira trembled.

"Shira, you can do this." Mephiles said thoughtfully; taking her hand into his own. "You are intelligent and skillful. You will be able to take that emerald with ease."

"All right, I'll do it..." Shira sighed; gazing lovingly into Mephiles' eyes. "...for you, Mephiles."

"Truly sickening." Black Doom thought.

Back at Team Virtex base, Marine barricaded herself in the guest room where she slept. Marine leaned against the window sill, gazing out into the night sky. It was hard to believe that only a week ago, she was living the carefree days on her island, working on her boat. Her attention was brought back to reality were her stomach started to rumble.

"That 'mooney' didn't taste good and now I'm hungry." Marine rubbed her empty belly. "I wonder where the food is."

Marine tossed aside the stuff blocking the door and cracked it open to make sure it was safe. She looked down the hall left and right before stepping outside. Knowing the others were still in a bad mood, she tiptoed quietly along the wall. It looked like she was in the clear until...

"This Marine situation is getting out of hand."

That was Recter and he was talking about her. Marine peered into the open door of Recter's room, where Howl and Raine were standing in front of his desk.

"She destroys everything she touches." Howl stated.

"She barges in without permission." Raine proclaims.

"I never expected Marine to be this way." Recter admits. "If I had, I never would have brought her here in the first place."

Marine could not believe what she was hearing. Recter and the others were talking about getting rid of her. Tears were streaming down the side of her face. She was starting to wish she had never left her room.

"What do we do with her?" Howl asked.

"Tomorrow, Amy is coming to pick up the chaos emerald." Recter informed; though he didn't look to happy with himself. "We'll ask her to take Marine and hope for the best."

"Why don't I save you the trouble, mate!" The trio shot around to the door, now realizing Marine was there. "If you didn't want me here, you should have told me! I don't need you! I don't need anyone!"

Before they could say anything, Marine zoomed down the hall and out the door. Recter leaped over his desk in hopes of catching her before she escaped. Howl and Raine followed, feeling guilty about what happened. Recter ran out the door and jumped over the rails to land in the street. Recter watched hopeful for any sign of her, but with all the noise, lights, and people, it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Howl and Raine jumped/flew down to join him.

"Where is she?" Raine asked worriedly.

"I don't know." Howl said; taking a quick sniff at the air. "There are too many scents in the air and it's too loud to hear her footsteps."

"We'll have to split up." Rector instructed. "Raine, you look from the skies. Howl, sniff out Marine the first chance you get. I'll look down the streets. When you find her, head back to base immediately." Howl and Raine nodded in understanding. "Marine, please be safe."

Recter and Howl ran in opposite directions while Raine flew upwards. Unknown to them, a pair of green eyes were watching from the shadows. Raine loomed over the city streets with eyes like a hawk. Twice she thought she saw Marine, only to find that they were regular raccoons. Howl was also mislead and ran into a terrible dilemma; having unknowingly walked into a women's washroom. Recter was searching every abandoned street within ten blocks and now headed for the eleventh. Recter couldn't shake off the feeling that he was being followed.

"Who's out there?" Recter questioned. The street was completely deserted, but the silence was unnerving. Recter began to turn when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. "All right, I know you're there! Come out now!"

"I'm sorry." Shira said as she stepped into the open. "I got nervous. After all, You're Recter Rose, the famous leader of Team Virtex."

"What are you doing here?" Recter asked.

"You were shouting for someone and I though I could help." Shira lied.

"I'm looking for my friend, Marine." Recter explained. "She's a raccoon, eight years old, about this high." Holds his hand up to his chest. "She's wearing a green shirt and black shorts."

"I've seen her." Shira said.

"Really? Where?" Recter asked eagerly.

"Right over there." Shira behind him.

Rector turned around sharply in hopes of finding Marine, but only found an empty street. With his back turned, Shira saw this as an opportunity to strike. She pulled out a dagger from her pants pocket. She raised it over her head and swiped down to Recter's back. But thankfully, he was watching her shadow on the wall and twirled around to catch her by her wrist.

"Who are you?" Recter growled.

"The name's Shira." Shira introduced with a smirk. "You probably heard of my boyfriend, Mephiles."

"Ok, that is creepy beyond words." Recter said disgustedly.

"You wouldn't understand love." Shira said irritably.

"What is it that you really want?" Recter questioned.

"Oh, nothing." Shira said innocently. "Just...your chaos emerald."

"You'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands." Recter stated.

"That can be arranged." Shira grinned.

Shira tugged on her arm, but Recter refused to let go. Suddenly, Shira placed on of her feet on his chest and flipped up to kick him in the chin. This forced Recter to let go and rubbed his chin. Once on her feet, Shira twirled around and kicked the male hedgehog to the chest, landing him in a pile of garbage.

"Did I forget to mention I've taken six years of jujitsu and lessons from Tomo?" Shira said.

"You might have." Recter said; pulling a dead fish from his teeth.

Shira jumped up and swung her leg around, but Recter raised his arm to block. The female hedgehog planted her hands on the ground and swung her legs in the other direction. But Recter dropped to the ground and saw an opportunity. Pulling of a rather difficult flip, Recter swung his legs and swept Shira off her hands. Good news: she flipped back to her feet. Bad news: Recter grabbed her by her shoulder and pinned her to the wall. He raised his fist to strike when...

"Wait!" Shira shouted. "You wouldn't hit a girl, would you?"

Recter froze. She was right, he couldn't hit a girl; he was too chivalrous. Shira took her chances and kicked Recter in the crown jewels. Recter took a sharp intake of oxygen and fell to the ground, holding himself. Shira chuckled while reaching into his quills and pulling out the white chaos emerald.

"That was hilarious!" Shira laughed loudly. "One of the world's strongest men can't even hit a girl!"

"He can't, but I can!"

Shira turned around, just as a trash can lid slammed against her face. Shira was thrown into a pile of garbage, forcing her to release the emerald. Recter weakly stood up and, to his surprise, found Marine, playing with the emerald.

"Marine!" Recter cried, moving forward to embrace her. "I was so worried about you."

"Why?" Marine asked in a surprised tone.

"Marine, it was wrong of me to say those things." Recter said as they parted. "I was so angry, but I can't blame it on you. I need to remember that your only a kid and your new to our world. I may not know you much, but I do know that you are very important to me."

"Thanks, mate." Marine said; wiping a tear from her eyes.

"This is so unsanitary." Shira said; wiping the muck off her.

"What do we do, mate?" Marine asked.

"I can't fight her, but you can." Recter said with a grin. "Just follow my moves and you should do all right."

"You in for in now, kid." Shira proclaimed.

Shira charged forward with her fist raised. Marine watched Recter slide to the right and did the same. She was amazed how easy it was to dodge. She saw Recter swing his foot and did the same, hitting Shira in the gut. Shira growled in frustration and charged headlong. Marine continued to follow Recter's movements until they were in perfect sync. Shira was becoming frustrated and swiped randomly. But Marine, following Recter's moves, avoided them with ease until finally sweeping down to knock Shira off her feet.

"Now for the final blow!" Recter exclaimed.

"Bonza!" Marine cheered.

Recter, followed by Marine, reeled back their fists to strike. But as Marine was about to contact with Shira, a purple oozing claw grabbed her wrist. Marine looked up to find she had been caught by Mephiles.

"Crikey!" Marine screamed.

"Now it's my turn to have some fun." Mephiles sniggered. He lifted Marine by her arm and threw her into the garbage. Recter was set to attack, but Mephiles held out his claw, forming a dark barrier to trap him. "You stay. I'll deal with you in a moment.

"That hurt." Marine said, rubbing her sore head.

"And It's only going to get worse." Mephiles said as he loomed over her. "Now...hand over the chaos emerald." Instead, Marine spat in his face. "Big mistake!"

Mephiles kneeled down and wrapped his claw around Marine's neck. Marine gasped as her oxygen started to leave her lungs. Recter was punching at the barrier to escape while Shira watched. Marine was panting heavily, her vision becoming blurry. Without knowing why, she placed her hand to Mephiles' chest. To everyone's surprise, an orb of green light shot out of her hand and sent Mephiles flying. Mephiles was splattered against the wall, releasing the barrier and dropping Marine, who was unconscious.

"Marine!" Recter yelled. He kneeled down to her and placed a finger on her wrist. He was relieved when she still a pulse. "Good. She's still alive.

"Not for long." Mephiles said as he reformed.

Recter stepped in front of Marine to defend her as Mephiles advanced. But in a stunning turn of events, Mephiles dropped to his knees and clutched his chest in agony.

"Mephiles!" Shira cried.

"I-I can't - fight." Mephiles said hoarsely. "M-must retreat."

Shira understood and grabbed Mephiles' arm to carry over her shoulder. Mephiles weakly held out his claw and produced a sphere of purple chaos. He raised the sphere above them and vanished within it. Rector had no idea what happened or where they went. All that matter was that he found Marine and she was safe. He picked up her unconscious form and trudged back to the base.

Marine woke up the next day, which she acknowledged as her last day with the team. She packed all her stuff, which were only her fishing rod and ship blueprints. As she walked out the door, she looked at the room she could have called home before closing it shut. She trudged down to Recter's room sadly and walked inside, where she found Howl and Raine with him at his desk.

"When is she coming?" Marine asked; her voice breaking.

"You missed her." Howl grinned. "She just left."

"Huh? She left?" Marine questioned. "But what about me?"

"What about you?" Raine repeated.

"I thought you were going to send me away with her, mate." Marine said.

"I guess we just...forgot." Raine said deviously. "Now you should get some rest. After last night, you're going to need all your strength for this evening's mission."

"Mission?" Marine asked curiously.

"Didn't we tell you?" Recter said. "We took a vote last night and came to a unanimous decision." Recter stood out of his chair to look at her directly. "Marine, we have decided to make you an official member of Team Virtex."

Marine screamed for joy, dropping all her things on the ground. She ran to Recter and leapt over the desk to knock him to the ground. Marine was crying again, but with tears of happiness. The team had accepted her and now she had a place to call home.

"I think she likes the idea." Howl stated.

"Maybe a little too much." Raine said when she noticed Recter's face turning a deep shade of purple.

When Marine realized what she was doing, she let go to allow Recter to breath.

"Thanks." Recter chuckled. "Now get you stuff and unpack."

"Gotcha." Marine saluted. She turned to the door when...

"Hold it. I got something for you." Recter said suddenly. Marine look of curiosity turned to one of great surprise when Recter presented her with an amazing treasure: the blue sol emerald. "I found it the day after we met on the beach. I thought you might want it."

"Thanks, mate." Marine said softly as she took the emerald into her hands.

After a moment to get over the shock, Marine gathered her stuff off the floor and skipped down the hall, humming a happy tune, towards the guest room, or should we say, her room. She barged into the room and flung her stuff in every direction before flopping down on her bed.

"Bonza! I can't believe I get to stay!" Marine cheered joyously. She held up the sol emerald and gazed appreciatively at the reflecting surface. "Blaze...thanks for watching over me, mate."

Marine sat up almost instantly and reached deep into her shirt to pull out a piece of paper. It was a picture of her and Blaze five years ago before she left. Marine walked over to the desk and set I down next to a framed picture of her standing on a beach with her new family: Team Virtex

There is a home for everyone and Marine found hers. What new, exciting adventures await her? And how did she recieve these unknown powers? Find out on the next Sonic Heroes!

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