NOTE: The (*) symbol done once is the start of a new scene, and the (*) symbol done twice is the end of a scene.

Chapter 3

*The sun's rays reflected off the T-visor of W's helmet as W and W.L. stared out at the blue, cloudless sky from the back of Miles Prower's ship the Tour. The back hatch was open, and Miles was preparing to land the ship on the ground a couple of feet away from Apotos, a city that was losing citizens because of the G.U.N. forces which were taking citizens to be slaves. Koopa was overseeing the entire operation, if that really was his real name.

"Okay, this is where you get off, set your cloaking devices on and head for the east gate to the city which is the one gate that's not shut," Miles informed.

"Acknowledged," W responded, laying the full palm of his hand onto the button on his wrist that turned on his cloaking device.

"Remember, you're here to rescue people unharmed, not accidentally kill them in a stunt crash," Miles jokingly reminded them. W looked uneasily at W.L. who had a nasty habit of being reckless on these missions. The ship was now hovering just a few inches off the ground, close enough for the two of them to just simply step right off. After getting off, W.L. switched on his cloaking device.

"Okay, I'm putting you guys into Rose's hands now," Miles said over the comGideon in their helmets.

"W? W.L.?" The voice of Rosalina asked over their com. W smiled. Rosalina, though she preferred everybody call her Rose instead, was their "security camera". She could see everything through her special equipment. W was not a technology expert when it came to those sorts of things at all.

"We read you loud and clear Rose, go ahead," W said, stealthily walking toward the city Apotos which lay beautifully underneath the sun's rays in front of him.

"You're a little too late in coming W, the G.U.N. forces managed to leave with one truck full of people," Rose said, a pinch of sadness strangling her normally straight voice.

"Well, we'll show them that they mess with the wrong guys," W said cheerfully.

"Right then, head for the east gate as planned, it's the only one open. There are two men guarding the gate, but, since you're cloaked, that shouldn't be a problem," Rose said.

"I think me and my brother will do it the hard way," W said, chuckling to himself. The two guards at the gate frowned when they heard him speak, and began looking around for the source of the voice. W and W.L. casually walked up to them, and struck them in the throat with the butt of their rifles. The two beat them down until they were unconscious.

"Should we do something with the bodies?" W asked Rose.

"No need, they'll find out you're here eventually, I take it you're going to put on quite a show," Rose guessed.

"You better believe it," W replied, and him and W.L. stepped onto the stony pavement of Apotos.

"Where should we look first?" W asked, him and W.L. continuing to walk down the street.

"There's one more truck that plans to take some people away, I heard they plan to empty out the entire city, but slowly, not all at one time," Rose said.

"Wow, that Ivo's an egghead. Where do we look for this truck?" W asked.

"They're loading a group of people now in one more truck about one mile west of your position," Rose informed. W turned left, and since the ground was so flat, he could see a black dot pretty far away, which he guessed was the truck.

"You ready for this brother?" W asked W.L. W.L. said nothing, but instead, jumped on top of the roof of a white building and began running toward the truck, jumping from building to building.

"I'm ready too, pal," W said to himself, and his gaze locked onto a white motorcycle parked in an alley between two buildings.

"W, there's…oh, you've already spotted it haven't you," Rose guessed, even over a comGideon W could hear her sigh. A mischievous grin lit up his face.

"Roger that, Rose," W confirmed. He was ready for a crazy ride.**

*By the time W.L. got just two buildings away from the truck, the soldiers there had sealed the group of slaves into the back and had gotten in the front and fired up the engine. Suddenly, they started driving as if they were in a hurry.

"They know you're here, your brother is going after them on a motorcycle," Rose sighed over his comGideon. W.L. watched W speed past him on a white motorcycle, his cloaking device off. Annoyed and frustrated, W.L. continued jumping from building to building to catch up with the truck.

W continued driving his motorcycle toward the truck, bringing the speed up faster and faster.

Carefully, he pulled his rifle out and tried to get his ride next to the side door where the passenger was sitting. Finally he did, but he found out the passenger was prepared for this. Pistol fire struck against the motorcycle, threatening to destroy the engine. W returned the fire with his rifle, but most of the shots completely missed, however, two struck the front window. Glass shattered and spilled onto the street and onto the passenger's lap. W looked at the top of the truck just in time to see W.L. jump onto it, quickly gaining his balance with his magnetic boots. However, apparently the G.U.N. forces had the same idea. Two G.U.N. commandos jumped from the roof of a building to meet W.L. on top of the truck, their machine guns blazing.

W.L. took out a cable gun and sent it wrapping around the machine gun of one of the commandos and tearing it out of his hands, sending it striking against the other commando who lost his balance and fell off the truck. W.L. grinned fiercely, knowing that's what the commandos get for not having magnetic boots. The last commando lunged at W.L. with his fists flying, sending one up his chin and the other into his chest. The commando attempted to finish him off with a knife, but W.L. grabbed the man's wrists and twisted them both, forcing him to drop the knife, which clattered a few times and then fell off the truck. W.L. finished the commando off by sending him flying right off and onto the street behind him.

"If you're done playing, I'd like you to know that the truck is almost to the south gate where they meet their reinforcements," Rose said inside W.L's helmet.**

*W was getting restless now. The truck was getting closer to the south gate to rendezvous with a backup team and leave the city with their prisoners. The passenger continued to fire at the motorcycle, thinking it would be more fun to kill him by destroying his ride. Finally, five shots hit the engine and the motorcycle exploded. W was trained for this however, jumping off seconds before and his boots, which happened to be rocket boots, powered on, and the chase continued. W could use his plasma pistol now, and he got in front of the passenger's window, a cheesy grin on his face. He fired, and a blue bolt struck the passenger. W.L. landed his feet on top of the truck in front of the driver, causing the truck to swerve because of the impact.

"No! You fool! The truck needs to be steady, we can't let the people in the back get killed!" W shouted in frustration. W.L. quickly nodded and powered on his rocket boots to the driver's door, pulled it open and fired at the driver. Pulling the driver out of the truck, W.L. took control of the wheel.

"Good work, I'll cover you, we have to eliminate any G.U.N. activity here, otherwise there's no point to this mission!" W yelled. W could see the south gate now, sure enough there was a support team, and they had a tank. W had truthfully only faced a tank once in his time as a super soldier. Whoever was in the tank seemed to immediately realize what was going on, and the cannon was aimed directly at the truck. Still flying, W removed a hidden grenade from his belt and threw it. It struck against the tank and exploded, sending it falling over onto its side on fire. Several more trucks with G.U.N. soldiers sprung into action.

"I'll deal with this, get the truck to the south gate," W said quietly through his comlink. W.L. immediately got the message, turned the truck around, and sped away. Several bullets hit the back of the truck as he drove away, but he managed to get out of range.

"So, who's first?" W asked, putting himself right into a fight. His first victim was tripped and kicked into the air, then a blow to the head from W's fist sent him flying against the wall of a building. W flipped backward, grabbed two men and slammed their heads together, finishing them off with blue stun rings.**

*W.L. raced to the south gate with a truckload of civilians. Transporting innocent civilians from point A to point B wasn't exactly his specialty.

"I'm impressed. W is taking out the last of any G.U.N. activity, and the mission should be considered a victory, they'll think twice before coming here to take people as prisoners again," Rose said over the comlink. W.L. halted the truck at the south gate, got out of the truck, and let them out the back. The civilians knew almost immediately where W.L. was from and was grateful. W arrived very soon after.

"The G.U.N. activity here has been taken care of," W reported. W.L. nodded and turned his gaze back to the civilians.

"Just give us a call if the G.U.N. forces try to bother you again," W said. Then with that, he contacted Miles to come pick them up. Like most of his and his brother's past missions, this was a success.**

*"The last truck full of slaves didn't make it to the rendezvous, it was stopped by two soldiers of the Heroes," Koopa confessed to Ivo, who had his back turned to him. Ivo was overlooking the construction of his new empire.

"That source should be thanked somehow for pointing out this land to use," Ivo said, as if Koopa hadn't said anything.

"Robotnik?" Koopa asked, trying to drive the subject of the slaves back into the picture. But Ivo only waved his hand in dismissal.

"We have all the people we need, they will all eventually suffer anyway," Ivo replied.

"What do you propose we do about this?" Koopa demanded, his voice was stern but nervous, his hand fingering his green uniform. Ivo sighed, took off his glasses and stared down at them thoughtfully.

"Patience is a good virtue general; I have other ways to achieve our goals," Ivo said. Koopa awkwardly stood, waiting for Ivo to say something else. But he didn't.

"Anything else to report?" Ivo asked, his voice with an impatient edge to it.

"No," Koopa admitted.

"Then you are dismissed," Ivo said, his impatience clear in his voice. Koopa sighed and walked away, disappointed.

NOTES: Koopa here was inspired by the presentation of the villain in the Super Mario Bros. Movie. The idea was to bring in villains from both franchises, even if a Sonic villain was the real threat here.

I will confess that I hate the characters Wario and Waluigi from the Mario franchise. They were too annoying and babyish, even if that portrayal was intended. To fix this, I decided to take those two characters and create them from scratch, making them tough, brutal super soldiers. You should notice that W.L doesn't talk, which was something I thought would be cool to make him much more intimidating. He's a bigger mystery than many readers would think he is. Despite his obvious characteristics, he has a sensitive attitude. The picture I wanted for these two characters was to show that they are strong and awesome, yes, but they are brothers that look out for each other and care deeply for each other, which will be emphasized later.