IN DUE SEASON
Chapter III
Times of Crisis, Era of War
"So, Tails, why am I really here?" Sonic asked with a smirk as he hung up his coat on the way through the door. Tails' features twisted in surprise.
"What do you mean, Sonic?" he asked as casually as he could, though he knew the jig was up.
"Help to fix the heater, really? Come on, buddy, I'm a little quicker on the uptake than that."
The two-tailed fox had the good grace to blush as he finished hanging up his coat. He turned to face his friend and seemed to debate on what answer to give.
"Well, you see, Sol . . ."
"Oh, say no more. I know what the problem is now; trouble with the lady friend," Sonic quipped as he lay down on a hammock next to the large jet Tails had obviously been tinkering with, possibly in an attempt to clear his mind, so the hedgehog thought.
"No! Well, maybe, but it's not what you think, Sonic. It's not the usual."
"When is it ever the usual with us anyway, Tails? Besides, you wouldn't have marched through the snow at five o' clock in the morning if it wasn't important to ya."
Tails sighed as he leaned up against the wall and crossed his arms.
"I don't know, Sonic. One minute she's happy I'm there and the next she's irritated that I exist. She's almost angry with me and I didn't even do anything."
"That sounds typical to me."
"What?"
"Yeah, Amy's the same way sometimes. Can't say she has me figured all out yet either. It just comes with the territory, big guy," Sonic laughed at the young fox's concerned gaze. This was his little buddy's first long-standing relationship, though Tails certainly couldn't be classified as little anymore. The fox was a whole head taller than him now.
"Well, how am I supposed to work with that? She just hasn't been acting like herself lately, Sonic. I'm worried that she's not telling me something because every time I ask she gets upset or nervous."
"Why don't you just give her some space, she loves you right? I'm sure she'll tell you in her own time what's wrong."
Tails pondered the advice for a bit, before offering a sad smile.
"Maybe you're right, Sonic, I'm sorry I bothered you with this."
Sonic could see the concern on his good friend's face and frowned a bit himself. He jumped out of the hammock and came to stand next to Tails.
"I'm always here for ya, buddy. Trust me, it will all work out and if not . . . I'm still here for ya, buddy."
Tails genuinely smiled.
"Thanks, Sonic."
"No problem. So, do you have anything to eat around here?" Sonic chirped. Tails rolled his eyes but motioned for the hedgehog to follow him to the small galley he had in the hanger.
"Leave it to you to have a pancake breakfast and still want more," the fox smirked. Sonic grinned.
"Hey, have to watch the figure, don't I?"
They both laughed until a loud rumble rattled off in the distance, echoing throughout the workshop. The two glanced at each other; their expressions holding confusion and fear. Without a second thought, Sonic was out the door and heading for the town just as another eruption ripped through the air accompanied by a lit up sky. His feet left deep impressions in the snow as his speed devastated the winter landscape beneath him, but to Sonic, his feet felt like lead. He couldn't reach the village fast enough but he had to reach it in time, he had to.
Tails looked equally determined as he followed closely behind, using his tails to propel himself forward along the ground. What they saw over the embankment caused them both to stop cold. Flames shot out from the tops of buildings as more explosions could be heard from the heart of the city. Sirens blared as townsfolk ran around in chaos, yelling and screaming for help and answers. Robots encamped around the village began to snatch up those who came running out to the main roads and more machines entered in to take prisoners or destroy anyone who fought back.
"Tails! Get the Tornado and call for backup. Anyone in the area!" Sonic barked as he took off towards the town. Tails took a moment to take in the amount of damage done in such a short amount of time but turned to obey his friend's orders. He would call Knuckles and the Chaotix; they could come in a hurry. His brain reeled through several attack strategies he could execute with the bi-plane he had; a coping mechanism which automatically came on in the young fox's mind.
The hedgehog, on the other hand, was barreling down on any machine that lay in his path; a deadly expression of resolve set upon his face. He saw ahead what he called runners; a stable droid Eggman sent out with every diabolical mission. He crashed into them with ease, making short work of their thin metal frames and pea shooter weapons. However, what these robots lacked in strength and power they made up in speed and numbers. They began alerting other bots to his presence and before long he was overwhelmed with them, narrowly missing laser fire and sharp-clawed appendages. His thoughts were not on them though. He needed to get to Amy and see if Kimi was alright. He needed that assurance. He needed to blow past these idiotic machines.
He noticed one of the larger, more heavily armed bots ransacking a nearby building and decided to try the old friendly fire approach. He saw a break in the enemy hoard around him and bolted towards the large Demolition Droid. With the aggravating charm only he possessed he yelled out to it.
"Hey, ya oversized can opener on wheels! Bet you can't even hit the broad side of an ocean liner let alone me when I'm coming straight at ya!"
The monster of a robot whirled around with surprising speed, changing out its tank-like wheels for sturdy hydraulic legs. It also bared its full arsenal which even gave Sonic a sick feeling in his stomach. These bots were armed to the teeth and ruthless. One miscalculation here and that would be it for him, no questions asked. But with the same fearless tenacity and exciting rush he faced everything, the hedgehog grinned as he ran straight on ahead to what appeared to be death's embrace; the barrel of a large missile launcher.
At the last possible moment, just as he saw the spark and kick back of the large gun, he darted out of harm's way, allowing a 70-pound missile to whiz past and score a direct hit on his pursuers. Sonic kept on running, paying no heed to the falling debris of the fireball behind him. His home was coming up and it was all he cared about right . . . now?
His heart nearly failed as his feet came to an abrupt halt. The inn, his world, was on fire; a raging inferno engulfing the whole of it. The blaze licked the crumbling exterior walls, letting off the sounds of crackling wood and popping iron. He almost faltered as he took a step forward, trying to find a sign, any sliver of hope that his family had made it out safely. He tried calling to his beloved but his voice came out as a rasp of disbelief while he continued to struggle towards the shattered remains of a place he left intact less than an hour ago. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening. He couldn't see them anywhere. Anywhere!
His heart began pounding, picking back up on a feverish pace as his breathing reached a desperate rate. His thinking became instinctive to that of a husband and father. With his judgment impaired and reckless adrenaline finally to its peak, he ran for the flaming wreckage.
"Amy! Kimi!"
His shouts mixed in with that of several others; all yelling, screaming, crying for their loved ones, but his voice didn't go unnoticed.
"Sonic!"
A black blur derailed the blue hedgehog's path to a fiery death, knocking Sonic to the ground and holding fast to the hero's shoulders and pinning him down. The structure behind them collapsed into a spectacular shower of heated debris and ash. Sonic was stunned for a moment before glaring up to his unwanted savior with an audible growl. Without even recognizing who the other was, Sonic tried to get up and fight back, make a run for the inn again, but he couldn't break free. The newcomer only turned his head and regarded the fire with a cool gaze. He then looked back to Sonic with an equally controlled expression. The blue hedgehog felt a wave of nausea wash over him brought on by despair and guilt. Feeling ashamed he was acting like this and he hadn't acted soon enough, he screamed.
After feeling Sonic's tense muscles finally go lax, Shadow eased his grip. The black hedgehog looked around the invaded city of Kingsbury devising a means of attack. He could tell by the other hedgehog's actions of grief it may have been too late to save two lives, but there were people still in need of aid. He calmly, but firmly lifted Sonic to his feet making sure the despondent hero was stable enough to stand. Sonic's face was etched in pain, but he managed to hold back tears as he looked to his darker double. With a nod of confirmation, both knew what needed to be done. Shadow skated in towards downtown, where an alarming amount of robots were beginning to gather.
Sonic gave one last aching look towards his home, hoping his family was safe somewhere, somehow. He couldn't risk checking now because if he did he would lose all resolve and crumble again right there. He took off towards the west end with everything in him to save others from a similar fate.
o
The Tornado sailed overhead, engaging airborne enemies and diving down only to deliver blows to ground forces when necessary. The battle for the skies was becoming a raging one and Tails knew he could only keep the intense dogfight up for so long. Maneuvering the bi-plane into positions of offense and defense was taking its toll on him. If only his jet had been up and functional this would be a lot easier. Nevertheless, he knew he was probably going to be the only aircraft in this area for a while. He must keep going, he had to.
There was one thing working in his favor; the cover of darkness. The land droids couldn't spot him as easily from down below and, thus, couldn't make counterattacks against him, but, then again, the pre-dawn hours weren't helping him much for visibility either. He didn't know how many SD55's, or flyers as Sonic called them, were out here. Judging by the several near collisions in midair he had with them though, he guessed there were enough to lay waste to more buildings in town and clear a path for the bomber to come. Therein lied his true mission; stop the bomber from reaching its destination.
Usually, just one of these things came out for any given attack. The reason for that was these behemoths had a payload potent enough to devastate a ten-mile radius; one is all it took. And speaking of the devil, there it was now.
Tails locked his sights on the deadly zeppelin. He needed to intercept it, disarm it and guide it to the ground safely all in five minutes because if he didn't, it would drop its bomb and all would be over. On top of that, he still needed to avoid the several flyers in the air trying to take him down.
With the stakes so high and his energy depleting, he only had one shot at this. He barreled through the formation of SD55s trying in vain to shoot him out of the sky before he reached the bomber. He released a few rounds of his own ammunition sending some enemy bots to a fiery doom. As he focused on the task ahead of him, there was a sneak attack mounting behind him. Fortunately, someone else was launching their own strike too. With a series of well-delivered blows, five of the flyers behind Tails were eliminated and, in a flash of red, something came to rest on the wing of the Tornado.
"Knuckles!" Tails cried out in pleasant surprise. The echidna grinned and nodded. Coincidentally, he and Angel Island were not too far away from Kingsbury; in fact, after having a falling out with Rouge a little over a month ago, he had made the choice to move the island closer to where Sonic lived. He was able to intercept Tails' distress call and respond quickly.
The guardian turned to the bomber ahead. The pilot did the same as they made their way to the airship.
"We have to disengage it and bring it down without doing any more damage to the city," the fox voiced.
"What do you need me to do?" Knuckles shouted over the rushing wind.
"You see those red boxes over on the wings. If you can take those out it will lose communication and guidance from wherever it came from, then I'll take it from there," Tails instructed.
"Got it," the echidna confirmed, jumping off the wing of the bi-plane and gliding over to the bomber. As Knuckles made short work of all the guidance systems, Tails maneuvered the Tornado over the monster aircraft carefully and pressed a button on the control panel in front of him. A mechanical arm manifested from out of the hull of the plane outfitted with a sharp tip at the end. With the click of another button, the arm thrust forward, puncturing the larger aircraft.
Tails had done this several times in the past, using Eggman's designs against him. The bombers were big, true, but surprisingly lightweight and weakly armored. Once it had no connection with its sender, he could easily take control of its navigation system and steer it wherever he wanted. That's how it usually went . . .
"Ahhh!" Tails screamed in pain as the Tornado was engulfed in a strong electrical current; a new anti-tamper mechanism. It surged up through the bomber he had just pierced and was wreaking havoc on his own guidance systems. The smell of burning electrical work and singed fur was the last thing Tails could take in before he blacked out. The current faded away and so did the hum of the Tornado's engine.
"Tails!" Knuckles shouted as he witnessed what happened from his spot on the left wing of the bomber. He watched as the Tornado fell into the larger aircraft before rolling off its right side; no evidence the little craft would right itself and take flight again.
"Tails!"
The echidna had to act fast. The bomber was still on course, but Tails was plummeting to his death. He leaped off the wing, pulling his arms and legs in for speed and rocketed down towards the Tornado. As he got closer, he could make out Tails' unconscious form and frowned. At least the kid had his seat belt on or he would have been thrown from the now spiraling aircraft. He grabbed onto the tail of the plane and felt himself immediately go into a barrel roll with the plane.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"
It took a while for him to focus with such turbulence, but finally, he was able to move and start heading for the cockpit. He needed to act quickly as pieces of the plane were beginning to tear away. He reached in and wrapped an arm around the fox before looking to the ground below, seeing the swirling mass of trees and rocks quickly approaching. He placed his other hand on the seat belt latch and almost regretted the action as his legs were flung out from the force of the plane's rotation. If he undid the fastener he and Tails would be ripped out and possibly struck by the plane itself, but if they stayed with the doomed aircraft, well, it wouldn't be pretty.
"Here goes nothing."
Knuckles released Tails from the belt and, sure enough, they were both jettisoned out. The echidna struggled to orient himself and Tails so he could glide when the plane made contact with the land below. The explosion sent heat past them and the guardian looked down to see that wasn't all. A fireball was quickly rising. The echidna tried to veer to the side, but with the fox's extra weight it wasn't going to be enough. So, he did the next best thing.
"Wake up already!" he shouted as he shook the unresponsive nineteen-year-old. To his amazement and relief Tails came to.
"What . . . what happened?"
"Fly now! NOW!"
Tails was confused but twirled his namesakes and lifted them up and out of the way of the blast.
"That was close," Knuckles breathed in relief.
"What about the bomber?" Tails questioned frantically as his memory restored.
"It's up there; we still might have a chance to take it down but we need to get up there."
The two-tailed fox began to make a slow ascent to the bomber, grunting all the way.
"Jeez, Knuckles, you're a lot heavier then I remember."
"Shut up."
o
"Vector, isn't that Shadow?" asked a voice from seemingly nowhere. The crocodile responded by looking up to where the noise originated just as the city's sirens died out, leaving a haunting stillness in the air.
"I can't see ya, Espio. What were you saying?" he asked. The outline of a chameleon came into view as he jumped down from his spot on a broken beam.
"That's better," Vector smiled. Espio rolled his eyes but proceed to answer his friend's question.
"I'm sure I saw Shadow run by over there. Maybe we should investigate and see if he needs our assistance."
"Shadow, huh? Well, good thinking. I'm sure we can help without a shadow of a doubt," Vector laughed at his own pun. Espio sighed and decided to take off. The crocodile followed with some protest for the chameleon to wait up. It didn't take long for the two to come up upon a scene of destruction and struggle. Shadow was in a heated battle with a densely armed robot, trying to gain the advantage. The two reptiles looked to one another and nodded. They knew exactly what to do.
The two charged forward with Espio taking the lead as he threw several shurikens out into the robot, particularly the moving joints. The monster bot temporarily lost focus on its goal of squashing the hedgehog's head and turned to face its new assailants. It wasn't prepared for the direct impact of a more than 400-pound crocodile or the reptile's metal shattering bite. The robot toppled to the ground, critically damaged and vulnerable for the last blow dealt it by Vector.
"Are you alright, Shadow …?" Vector began when the black hedgehog lunged forward taking both him and Espio to the ground.
"Get down," the hedgehog directed through gritted teeth as laser fire flew past.
"No, let's get up and out of here," Espio exclaimed as he pointed above. Shadow and Vector glanced in that direction to see a bi-plane heading straight for them.
"Ugh, Chaos Control."
All three disappeared in a flash of light just before the Tornado crashed. They reappeared several yards away looking on as the robots erupted into flames from the downed vessel.
"Wasn't that Tails' plane?" Espio asked, not really knowing if he wanted the answer to that or not. Shadow's eyes darted from the scene of the crash to the air. He spotted what he was looking for and couldn't help but feel a little relieved. He saw the fox carrying the echidna upwards, pointing them out to the others.
"Hey, he's alright and there's Knuckles," Vector stated, happy to see some good news for a change. However, their brief joy was flattened by the collapse of the black hedgehog accompanied by the screams of people needing help nearby.
"Shadow?" Espio questioned. He hadn't seen the ultimate life form in quite some time but knew this wasn't a normal state for Shadow to be in.
"Go, they need you!" the hedgehog commanded through gritted teeth, "I'll be fine."
Without needing another word, the two members of the Chaotix headed off for the distress, wanting to bring this reign of terror to an end. Shadow watched them leave before trying to get up. He struggled with his weary limbs, knowing his energy levels were fluctuating too wildly for him to be of any real use to anyone anymore and he hated it. Ever since losing the ability to control how much power he unleashed, it didn't take long for him to go down in a fight or have to turn back and recuperate. It's why he felt worthless all the time; why he had dropped out of G.U.N. a year ago; why he left his team; Rouge and Omega.
He closed his eyes as another wave of fatigue washed over him, nearly knocking him over again. How pitiful, he didn't deserve to be called a living being much less the Ultimate Life Form.
The sound of a familiar voice shrieking snapped him out of his self-berating; his eyes focusing on the direction of the noise. It sounded like the young rabbit, Cream. He felt a new strength rise within him, bubbling over the weakness. He clenched his fists and took off in a burst of speed. As he came over the hill he saw Cream and her chao, Cheese, desperately fighting off several droids who were trying to reach her unconscious mother. With fire in his eyes, Shadow leaped over the embankment of snow.
"Chaos Spear!"
o
"What do you mean you won't send anyone down there to help?!" a white bat nearly screeched. The human in front of her put up his hands in a surrendering fashion.
"We just don't have the manpower right now and it's so far away. We just can't spare the resources . . ."
"Don't give me that crap, Commander. If it was the other way around they would be coming to your rescue before you even asked."
"We know you're upset, Agent Rouge, but facts are facts and the fact is . . ."
"No, I know exactly what the fact is. The fact is there aren't any of 'your citizens' down there so you're not going to lift a finger to help those who have saved your sorry cans time after time!" she roared.
"Now, you're stepping across the line, agent," the man stated firmly slamming a fist on the table. He was becoming defensive mainly because what she said was true but, as ashamed of that as he was, he couldn't let her know that.
"When have I ever cared about lines? I don't know about the rest of you guys but I'm going down there to help."
"Rouge?"
"What? You can't stop me," she stated coldly as she rose from her seat in front of the Commander's desk. He sighed in defeat. This argument had started ten minutes after they received a distress call from Kingsbury. To be honest, he would have sent down a platoon to help out, but his hands were tied. The public may have liked Sonic and his 'friends', even loved them in the past, but at the end of it all most humans now considered them just animals; not worth dying over or wasting tax dollars on. More distressingly some facets of society saw the animals as either a threat and something the government should deal with or a commodity and thus something to exploit. Despite all this, however, he liked Rouge and knew he could trust her with his life along with the rest of them. He had seen first-hand Sonic risk everything, even his life, to save the public before. So, what harm would it do for his best agent to go down and help stop a skirmish between the Eggman Empire and these creatures? At least, if it came back on him he could blame it on the fact she was helping her own kind.
"Just be careful. Take what you need, but don't tell anyone."
Rouge was grateful for her leader's permission, even if it was reluctant. She didn't show it though, just looked at him before walking out of the office. She spread her wings out and took off down the hall weaving in between people walking the corridors. She ignored their pleasant hellos or annoyed grunts as she headed straight for the hanger. She needed a quick vehicle with lots of firepower and she knew just the one she wanted, but first, she was going to need some backup. She landed just outside the hanger doors and pulled out her communicator. The first contact on the list was Shadow. Rouge frowned and proceeded to the next.
"Omega, come in . . ."
o
Crash! Boom!
Another robot fell to the blaze of raw speed and blue quills, acting as a launching pad for the next attack on its fellow robotic soldiers. It appeared Sonic the Hedgehog was on nothing short of a rampage, droids being the appropriate targets. He was exerting every last bit of energy into tearing through metallic armor and shields, paying no mind to the injuries he was sustaining from each assault. He was the only thing standing between homes with their families inside and the enraged android hoard bent on their destruction. He could hear the cries and screams of people behind him trying to escape their houses to safety as well as the screeches and roars of the robots in front of him wanting nothing more than to annihilate it all. He was unwavering in his quest; none the two shall meet.
"Is that the best you got," he taunted as he charged forward delivering quick and severe blows to seven runners. Another D-12 series robot reached out and grabbed the speeding hedgehog with severe force. Sonic was not easily daunted as he quickly went into a spin within the robot's grasp severing the robot's hand and traveling up its arm to bring a critical blow to its head. The bot exploded sending the wildly spinning hero into another group of deadly machines. The force of his impact sent the androids to the ground. Another explosion erupted and Sonic felt himself being thrown once again coming face to brick with a nearby building. He was dazed, burnt and bleeding but the clicks and beeps of active machinery urged him to rise to his feet again and again. His muscles were burning and his strength was waning; the snow, long since melted from the intense combat, soaked his quills. It had never been this hard in battle before, never. Sure there were close calls and it never was a walk in the park by any means, but these bots seemed to know his next move.
"Shoot," he grunted as several lasers fired at him causing him to leap right. Regrettably, as he had noted, one of the robots had anticipated this move and launched a missile ahead of time. It struck directly in front of him sending slush, dirt and Sonic back into the wall. Before he could even recover a battle droid raced forward and slammed the hedgehog into the ground. It applied pressure, crushing the speedster into the dirt and mud mercilessly. Sonic could feel the air forced from his lungs and his ribs ached from the strain. He could see more androids closing in weapons at the ready. Suddenly, the scanning device located on the top of the androids head activated bathing the hedgehog in a green glow.
"Subject identified: Sonic the Hedgehog. Initiating data retrieval process."
Sonic clawed desperately at the hydraulic arm, trying to jam it back up. He could see spots before his eyes as oxygen depleted. He couldn't let it end here. He had to save those people, he had to help the others, he had to find Amy and Kimi.
"No," he choked weakly. He was so disoriented by the lack of air he didn't notice the small metallic arm come out of the bot and up next to him holding what looked to be a hypodermic needle. However, he did feel a small sting on his arm. The large robot pushed down all the harder as the hero struggled.
"Data retrieval completed," it stated as it withdrew a syringe full of blood.
The fire in his lungs and the numbness he was feeling in his body and mind told Sonic he didn't have long. Play dead or be dead. He quit fighting hoping the robot would let him go in time. No such luck. Before succumbing to the blackness of suffocation Sonic heard something distantly.
"Leave him alone!"
Author's note: Cliffhangers, don't you just love them. Thank you for all the nice reviews and I hope you are enjoying the story so far especially this installment. More to come soon, hopefully. :)
