You must avoid the noid. No exceptions.
Escort Saga: Chapter 45 - Crossing the Valley of Death
Somewhere in the area of the woods, the Metallic Council of Maniacal Evil were making their way towards the canyon at a regular pace. The camera focused on Metared from a low angle as he said, "Gentlemen! How are things looking over there, Metal Sonic and Mecha Sonic?"
Metal Sonic, who was ahead of the others, said, "We still can't see them yet."
"What he said." Added Mecha Sonic, who walked beside Metal Sonic.
"I can already feel the rush of adrenaline!" Metal Knuckles exclaimed.
"Those who dare trifle in our affairs will feel the full wrath of the sunshine!" Tails Doll said.
"Yes, yes, the sunshine, we get it." Metared groaned.
Meanwhile, Team Chaotix and Cherry had now reached the canyon when Espio began talking. "With our luck, they'll probably be more bad guys we have to beat down."
"Well it's what we're good at, isn't it?" Vector replied.
"Yeah, but that's not the point."
Charmy quickly interrupted the two by pointing at one mountain and yelling, "Heads up, guys! Robot monkey ninjas!"
Cherry pulled out a hand puppet of Tails and moved its mouth as she made it yell, "Run awaaaaay!" in a squeaky voice.
"Let's bust some heads, boys!" Vector yelled as he charged at the oncoming monkey ninjas. Espio and Charmy were right behind him.
At Tails' house, Sonic and Tails were now in the living room, while Sonya sat on the sofa, flicking through the channels. Tails was explaining to Sonic about the weird things going on, and why Shadow was there. After he had finished explaining things, his only response was, "Why is it I'm usually the last one to find out important things like this?"
"Because you're usually running about and doing your own thing when crazy stuff like this happens."
"Oh right."
Just then, Blaze opened the front door and walked in with several bags. Tails turned his attention to her before saying, "Hi Blaze, where did you go to?"
"I spent several days in China."
"Why?" Sonic asked.
"Eggman Nega caused some commotion down there, and then I stayed a while afterwards, and then did some souvenir shopping. By the way, what does 'Kewl' mean?"
"It means people like you."
"I see..."
Back with our villains, Virus, Rose and Lily were approaching the canyon themselves when Lily started talking again. "So Lily, are you sure ghosts don't die when exposed to sunlight and that vampires are the ones that should fear the sun?"
"Yes."
"But I read this book once, and it said that vampires sparkle in the sun."
"...They what?" Rose said in confusion.
"Sparkle in the sun." Lily repeated.
"I suggest you throw that book away as soon as possible."
"Hey, hold on, you two." Virus said as they entered the canyon area. He then pointed ahead at Team Chaotix who had finished disposing of the robot monkey ninjas. "We may have found our targets. I suggest we wait a little before jumping right in."
"All in a days work." Vector said as he dropped down from a pile of broken robots beside Espio, Charmy and Cherry.
"I enjoyed that more than I should have." Espio said. "You surprised me with those moves, Cherry. I didn't know you knew kung fu."
"Well I figured I might as well learn while I had all the time in the world." Cherry shrugged. "But Charmy, that 360 spinning atomic stinger was amazing! My mind was blown!"
"Thanks, but I thought Vector's move when he did that spinning kick which knocked four shuriken in different directions was awesome!"
As Virus, Rose and Lily continued to watch, Lily sighed as she said, "Seems it was a Missed Moment of Awesome."
"I still have no idea what you're talking about." Rose replied.
"You'll understand in time."
At the top of the mountain nearby, Sally Sue was furious by this point and threw the binoculars to the side. "Blasphemy! They dispatched my uber awesome robot monkey ninjas with ease! Well, it seems I'll have to do this myself!" As her four targets were still discussing their recent battle, Sally Sue dropped down from a high height, making a small crater, while the ground cracked beneath her feet. "So, you think you guys are so great? Hah! You still have to take on the goddess herself, Sally Sue!"
"Aww, it's that really strong mean girl again..." Cherry frowned as she hid behind Vector.
"I'm asking you guys nicely; hand over the Fujin Gem, before I have to kill you! I need it so I can bring my sister back!"
Espio stepped forward. "If you're who I think you are, then I'm gonna say it. Well, you do realize your sister will probably kill you the minute you bring her back, right?"
"Nonsense! Your attempts to persuade me won't work! I'm done talking to you morons, prepare to die!" Sally Sue said before getting into a battle stance.
"It really is a good thing we didn't decide to jump in too early." Virus said, as the three of them kept watching. "As you'd expect, we'll wait until either side goes down and then we'll strike, reducing the risk of casualties and increasing the rate of success."
Sally Sue charged forward and reached Espio before throwing two punches and one kick, which he blocked. Sally Sue followed through with a shockwave, knocking Espio further back. Sally Sue then elbowed Vector in the chest as he tried to grab her from behind, slapped Charmy out the way, and then flipped over Vector as he tried to trip her up with his tail. She grabbed his tail and threw him into Espio as he was getting up. Sally Sue then effortlessly dodged Charmy's stinger and then flicked him further away.
Sally Sue grinned and slowly made her towards Cherry, smiling triumphantly as the cute ghost girl was too afraid to move. The three bystanders saw this as the perfect opportunity to strike, as Rose froze Sally Sue's feet, while Lily fired a rocket at her which she blocked. Virus, Rose and Lily then stood in front of Cherry, much to the ghost girl's surprise.
"And just how are you people?" Sally Sue asked as she broke the ice immediately.
"I don't know about Virus, but my name is Lily, and my sister is Rose, and together, we are the Super Flower Sisters!" Lily pumped her fist in the air.
"Please ignore the Genki Girl." Rose added.
"I don't care who you guys are, I'm still gonna kill you." Sally Sue said.
"Your skills intrigue me; I wish to test my strength against the full extent of your powers." Rose said before morphing her arms into long claws of ice.
"Can you shapeshift any part of your body into weapons?" Lily asked.
"Yes. Any part."
"Rule of Cool in my book."
Just then, they all saw the Metallic Council of Maniacal Evil making their way across the canyon and stopped at their location. Virus glanced over at them, and smiled. "Seems we have company. Situations like this are always more fun with extra players."
"Holy crap! Too many dynamic entries!" Charmy exclaimed.
"This is really getting out of hand..." Espio said after noticing the situation.
At Tails' house, Sonic and Tails were standing in the same spots when Amber suddenly kicked down the door and pointed at Tails. "Tails! Are you ready!"
"I've been ready all day!" He replied.
"Let's get started on your Training From Hell!" The two of them left and went to the garden while Sonic just watched.
"Somewhat odd, wouldn't you say?" Crystal commented, floating right next to Sonic.
"Very." Seconds later he finally noticed her. "When did you get here?"
"I've been here for 20 minutes, you guys just never noticed. You even sat in my lap about 10 minutes ago."
"That was you? I thought that was just a new chair Tails got..."
"Nope, just me. Me and the guys have been training quite a bit, because I got some vision telling me that the end is approaching, and that can only mean one thing."
"...It's probably gas?" Sonic guessed.
"I just noticed what I was saying was a good setup for a joke, but that's not it. It means Mary Sue is going to be released, and she's a force like no other, so we gotta be ready."
"No problem, I'm always ready."
Back at the canyon, Knuckles and Bronze were having a conversation as they noticed the large group of people fighting in the distance. Knuckles sighed as he watched. "It's sad. Why can't people just work out their problems by asking questions instead of throwing fists? Not all solutions can be reached with violence. People need to cool down on the Hot-Blooded influences and talk things out."
Bronze nodded. "I totally agree."
