"See how bad it is?" Sonic replied, looking at the broken down van. "It's never done this before!" He added.
"Um... Did you blow up the engine?" Manic asked, a horrified look on his face.
"No I didn't blow up the engine! I just stopped working! I'm lucky I made it home at all!"
"You don't need luck, Sonic! You've got speed!" Tails cried from under the hood. Sonic abruptly left the scene as the mechanics dealt with the vehicle.
Manic walked up beside Tails. "What was the cause?"
"I don't know." Tails said. He poked his head back under the hood. Manic joined Tails and tried to find the problem. Frostfire stood some ways and observed Manic getting greasy and wondered at his mechanical skills once again.
Suddenly, there was loud blasts, as if something was being fired. SWATbots could be spotted and they were getting closer. Then flight SWATbots came to land, surrounding them and the van. More lasers were fired. Everything was chaotic mess and all you could hear was vile laughter from the man behind it.
"The man in red!" Frostfire exclaimed. Without a word, she lit her cryo-pyrokinesis and went at the nearest group of bots, destroying them completely. "I know what you want, you fiend! You will not have me! Over my dead body will you take and maim me!" Frostfire said in a blinding rage, downing more bots. Manic followed Frostfire, staying right beside her. He knew she meant her words and that made him worry. He never liked worrying about her, he knew she could take care of herself but sometimes, especially when she is in this kind of mood, it's best to provide back up.
"I'll gladly take that chance… Perhaps a lifeless body will be more use of me! I won't have to make you stop wiggling as I cut you open on a surgery table!" Robotnik responded.
"Manic, do your thing!" She commanded him. Manic saluted her before touching his medallion and summoning the amazing instrument. Pulling out some drumsticks, he started rhythmically pounding on the drums, causing the earth beneath some of the robots to give way. "Way to go, handsome!" Frostfire cheered, clawing one of the robots trying to get behind her.
"Thanks, hot stuff!" Manic called out with a grin.
"Oh, that's just precious. The thief and the bad tempered Snow Leopard! How did I not see that coming?" Robotnik's voice boomed out from his Eggmobile.
Frostfire's wrath swelled from within. "I'll show you precious!" Frostfire leapt up and flew in a mad dash towards the Doctor and readied her powers to attack her opponent.
Manic noticed that Frostfire was being followed. "Yo, Frost! Look out!" He cried, before rushing over to his drums. He targeted the incoming SWATbots and clashed one of his cymbals, sending a large mound of earth their way. They never stood a chance...
"Thank you, love! You sure saved me!" She threw Manic a smile and continued to chase after Robtnik. "Come back here you waste of a life!" Frostfire encapsulated all her might into one large cryopyro-ball at the man's face.
Robotnik immediately ducked, saving his 'waste' of a life. "That almost hit me!" He cried. Frostfire didn't let up in her attempt to carve him a new face. Robotnik dodged, yet again. "I've had enough! SWATbots! Get her!" Half the SWATbots stopped their fighting and chased after 'his experiment'. Manic was just about to provide more back up when suddenly a pink mist surrounded the SWATbot army.
A bunch of crashing and clanging was heard and then SWATbot remains fell from the strange fuchsia fog and hit the ground. "Stay away from Frostfire!" Shouted a very angry, magenta female Hedgehog. Sonia had her trusty keyboard in her grip and she looked about ready to kill something.
"To get to her you'll have to get through us!" Sonic added as he rounded the bend and knocked down several bots like he was a bowling ball and they were pins. "Strike!" He looked to Frostfire and his siblings. "Sorry I didn't get here when the party started you guys, I was chowing down at the chilidog stand…" Frostfire was eternally grateful for her newfound friends, to the point of nearly crying.
"Thank you guys so much!" She called out.
"How disgusting…" Eggman thought to himself.
Soon, a plane engine was heard. A familiar blue biplane was circling Robotnik's craft. An orange fox saluted from the cockpit. Tails carefully guided the plane on its course as he took out several aerial SWATbots. Frostfire joined Tails in the air.
"Need assistance, Tails?" She shouted.
"That would be greatly appreciated!" Tails shouted back.
Frostfire began to create a flow of flames and ice against the bots that were hovering in the air. As she was fighting, she spotted two figures she never thought she'd see again. By how rusty the electrical bar on the cages looked, she could tell Boaz and Snejok were being transported from place to place. She knew sooner or later that the man in red would go on about hostages and a ransom so she immediately focused on rescuing them. Before she could make a move, however, her being distracted cost her a severe strike to the back by one of the bots weapons behind her.
Of course, a certain green hedgehog noticed this along with his rage seething sister. "Frost!" Manic cried.
"Are you okay?" Sonia immediately targeted the SWATbots that had surrounded Frostfire.
"I-I'm okay…" Frostfire wobbly tried to stand up, looking to her beloved.
Manic called back his drums and rushed over to Frostfire. He tried to help her balance. He was afraid she might tip over. "You don't look okay." Manic said, worry clearly visible in his eyes. His attention was averted from the battle going on around them.
"Even so, I'm more worried about those two," She said pointing to cages. Inhaling sharply she continued, "They are top priority… It's Snejok and Boaz, the ones I hoped to rescue someday." She said weakly. "I'd like today to be that day… I won't rest until I get them out of there." While it hurt to stand, she used all her might to straighten her wounded back.
Manic would have argued but Frostfire was determined and there was no convincing her otherwise. He rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine. But I'm not leaving your side!" He stated, keeping his hold on her.
"Very well, I can deal with that. But for now, assist me in getting me safely to the cages so that we can figure out how to get them out." She said as she winced at the sharp pain in her back. Manic nodded his head. He helped her walk – somewhat – stealthily over to the cages. "Since you are the expert, be on the lookout for any keypad of some sort. I doubt our villain would make it that easy but according to your brother's past with fighting him, I could be wrong…"
The two gloomy prisoners looked up to see Frostfire headed their way and their faith was restored.
"Frostfire! You are alive!" Boaz was nearly in tears.
"Please, you must help us!" Snejok added.
"We're coming! Slowly but surely!" Frostfire answered.
They were about to make their move when a rather large looking robot crashed the party. "Don't think I will let you do that easily!" Robotnik shouted, playing with his red-orange whiskers.
Frostfire's eyes burned as her Pyrokinesis burned. "If you do not remove your toy at once, you will sorely regret your intrusion."
The robot stood where it was, being stubbornly obedient. It moved its robotic joints and stood ready in a fighting position. "This will be delicious!" Robotnik called, eagerly leaning forward to watch the destruction.
Within no time at all, Frostfire tackled the robot, freezing it where it stood. Soon the robot was covered in crackling crystals. And then flames devoured it. Standing in front of the flickering pieces that once made up the bot, Frostfire popped her knuckles, giving Robotnik the death glare. "I'm giving you one last chance to surrender. You have ten seconds to maneuver your little tin can on out of here and never come back, or I will give your face so many scratches that no one will ever recognize you again… Ten…" She calmly stated, popping her neck.
Robotnik seemed to be thinking before resting his head on his hand and setting his elbow on his dashboard. He wore a bored expression. "How about... No!" He cried and an army of similar robots appeared.
This was one of those rare occasions Manic felt like he would have a heart attack. He was definitely not going to allow Frostfire to go anywhere near those robots! But, knowing her, she would insist. So, before Frostfire did anything, he summoned his drums again and pounded all the sound out of them. There wasn't a robot left standing...
The Snow Leopard would have thanked her boyfriend but she was still counting. "Five…"
Robotnik started to think this wasn't his most brilliant plan. "If I leave, your friends leave with me!" He called, attempting to stop Frostfire's rather intimidating countdown. "After all, they are my property." An evil grin spread across his face.
Frostfire's scowl grew. "One." In the blink of an eye, she used her cat like agility and mauled the Doctor, as she said she would, and did the damage she mentioned, giving him innumerable scratches and scars. She sat on his chest and held whatever throat she could find with her claws. "You have three choices. I can either slit your throat while watching the blood come gushing out and I can leave you on the ground alone to slowly die, I can continue to keep you on the ground and place my hands on your face to both burn and freeze you simultaneously, or I can toss your sorry hide away from here and you can spinelessly run away. Which shall it be?"
Robotnik was not one for giving up so easily but Frostfire had him in a tough situation here. It only took him a split second to make a decision. He called off his robots leaving Frostfire's comrades in battle confused. He glared at the hybrid with pure hatred.
"Good. Now-" She looked into his eyes. "Do not think your ego, intelligence, and determination will best me. I have far more stamina than you do and I will exhaust it on you should I need to end your miserable life. I could easily have killed you long before you could bat an eye." She scoffed. "Now then… You have only a few seconds to leave once I get off of you. That is all I will grant you otherwise, I will not be so merciful if you dawdle. If you so much as continue your attack, your life will be forfeit. Understand?"
Robotnik barely mumbled "Yes…" but it was still heard by Frostfire and as soon as she had let go he took off, commanding his SWATbots to follow. He did not look back, he was embarrassed enough as is.
Frostfire looked to Manic and gestured to the cages. "Handsome, would you mind disabling the electrical field on these bars?"
"Sure, babe." Manic said, winking at her. Trying to ignore the fact that his girlfriend almost committed murder, Manic immediately got to work. He pulled out a few odd looking devices and staring typing things on a portable keypad.
"What happened?" Asked a now much calmer Sonia. Tails rushed ups beside Sonia, having already landed the Tornado. He asked a similar question.
"I threatened the Doctor's life and he fled." Frostfire noticed her back stopped hurting, which she knew later on, it would hurt like hell. "Manic, how's it coming?" The others watched as they rescued the two prisoners.
"Almost got it..." Manic fidgeted with a couple more things before he disabled the cages, "Got it!" He smiled, proudly.
Frostfire smiled as the electrical field was gone. As Manic also managed to get the cages themselves open, Boaz and Snejok went to embrace Frostfire.
"That display of a cool head and courage was inspiring!" Snejok greeted her with an arm around her.
"Agreed! It's been a long time since I've seen you like that!" Boaz smiled back at his long-lost best friend. "Tell me how you are! It's been too long!"
"Well, my old friend, there is too much to tell but I do have new friends and I am now taken by a wonderful guy."
Boaz's smile evaporated into a frown. "You're… Taken?" His heart instantly sunk.
"Yep!" Frostfire proudly said, hugging Manic's arm, seemingly unaware of Boaz even after all these years of his constant adoration.
"Oh… I-I see… I am glad for you." Boaz looked to Frostfire with a fake friendly face then at Manic. "I sincerely hope you treat this lady well." And before Manic could reply, the Russian Blue began to leave dejected.
And before Frostfire could chase after him, Snejok replied, "Sorry about Boaz, my friend. I don't know what has been depressing him but he seems to be under a spell again. Thank you so much for rescuing us!" Snejok then ran after Boaz, who was afar off from now. Snejok wasn't always the quickest one to catch onto things, even after spending years with Boaz.
"Well…" Frostfire said. "That was odd…"
"So... Was the one that just ran off your ex fiancé?" Manic asked, curious. He felt rather bad for the guy. He was missing out on something truly amazing.
"No, the one chasing after the other was my ex fiancé. I don't quite remember what I saw in him now that I think about it… Other than him being the Chief's son." Frostfire shrugged. "Anyway, there's a van still to fix and a story to tell Shot who probably observed the entire fight from the window of the base…"
Sonic came up behind them. "We won again! Let's go celebrate! Chilidogs on me!"
Manic was going to ask more about Boaz but decided the past was the past. "What do you think Shot's gonna say when she sees you?" Manic said, looking at Sonic. A grin was spread across his face.
Sonic blinked. "Why? do I look weird?" Frostfire laughed at Sonic.
"Come, Manic." She took hold of his arm. "Let's go fix that van then take up Sonic's offer!" Manic starting laughing as he followed Frostfire.
Once the van's repairs were finished, Frostfire prepared to join the others for a celebratory meal together and told Shot about the adventure she had.
"That was quite the battle you guys!" Frostfire exclaimed.
"Yeah! Did you see the way I handled those bots?" Sonic added.
"You hogged most of them…" Sonia also added.
Manic laughed at his sister's comment. "Doesn't he usually?" Sonia nodded.
"Frostfire, you and I make a great aerial team!" Tails further added.
"Indeed!" Frostfire smiled at Tails. "Thanks for buying us chilidogs, Sonic!"
Sonic leaned back and in his chair. "No problem!" Sonic said with a big smile.
Frostfire turned to Manic. "W-Would you like to go for a walk?"
"Sure, baby." He winked at her as they both walked away. Sonia and Tails did the same.
Now there was only Sonic and Shot left at the table. The Hedgehog scarfed down chilidogs like it was his last meal. Shot giggled quietly. He looked up at her blankly, with food in his cheeks, and blinked a couple of times, then swallowed his food. It was painfully audible. "Huh?" Shot blushed and covered her louder giggling. Sonic nervously chuckled. "What, something funny?"
"Er, n-no... You're just... You know." Sweat rolled down her forehead.
Sonic hung an arm from the back of the chair as slurped a pop. "I'm what?"
"Just... Cute..." Shot mumbled.
Sonic didn't really hear what she said as he was noisily eating and slurping. He then looked at her. "Hmm? You say something?"
"N-No..." She blushed harder.
"Mk." He burped. "Ah… full at last…" He admired the seemingly billions of plates stacked up high. Shot sighed to herself. "Sup, Shot?"
"H-Huh?"
"You seem tense, gorgeous." The Hedgehog burped again.
Shot let out a second sigh. "Don't call me 'gorgeous' when I'm not..." She said annoyedly.
Sonic positioned the chair where the back is facing her and he is as well. "Okay, now I know something is up… Talk to me."
Shot looked away. "It's nothing, come on..."
Sonic rested his chin on his knuckles. "Don't lie to me... I've known you long enough to know when you're upset."
Shot fidgeted some. "You'd think so..."
Sonic cocked his head at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're kinda... Clueless, you know that?"
"Tch, nothin' gets past me!" Sonic scoffed with a confident demeanor.
"Then how is it you haven't- No, nevermind..." Shot said, cutting herself off, wanting to leave him out of embarrassment.
"Try me, gorgeous. What have I missed?"
"Okay, maybe you haven't 'missed' it but that just means you're not interested a-and I should just go..."
Sonic rarely gave a serious face. When he did, you knew he meant business. "C'mon, Shot, talk to me. What would I not be interested in?"
Shot sighed with frustration. "Me..."
Sonic cheeks changed from blue to red in an instant. "Y-You? Wait you…" Shot, too, turned red and looked downward. Sonic didn't do anything for a minute. Then he placed his fingers under her chin, lifting her eyes to his gaze. Shot froze and turned even redder. He rubbed her chin a little bit.
"Clearly you've been ignoring how I've treated you. Of course I'm interested in. I've always found you attractive, you know… I mean it every time I've called you gorgeous…"
Shot was typically cynical when it came to something like this. "Eh..." She sorta smacked his hand away. "I-I don't need your pity. You say that sort of thing to every girl s-so don't try that with me... You have that girl anyway…"
"Tch… Sally isn't my girlfriend anymore. And I've never called a girl gorgeous directly; I've just used good-lookin' or whatever." Shot crossed her arms.
Not a lick of sarcasm was in his voice. "I mean it, Shot."
"You're not funny you know!" She said angrily.
Sonic growled a bit in annoyance. "I'm not being funny…" Shot glared at him and he glared back. Shot buckled under pressure and looked away. "What's up with you, anyway? I tell you that you're gorgeous and that I like you and then you freak out like I'm your worst enemy or something. Tch… I know when I'm not wanted." Sonic stood up.
Shot covered her face. "S-Sorry...!"
"If you wanted me to like you like that, Shot, all you had to do was say so…" Shot covered her face more.
"You think it's that easy?"
"Well, yeah." He replied. "I'm not some superstar you'll never talk face to face. I'm Sonic…"
"B-But... Just your name is... And physically, you... And you're always so cute when you eat..." Shot could barely process her own words. Sonic blushed like mad. Shot stared at the ground silently.
"Why do I get the feeling you're not just some normal fan?" Sonic asked.
"I-I am..." She insisted.
My senses don't lie…" Sonic told her.
Shot sighed. "Well I've embarrassed myself enough for one day s-so..." She got up to leave. Sonic grabbed her hand before she could take a step.
"Wait!" He called out. Shot froze and gulped, unable to get a single syllable out. "There's only one way to ensure you're for real or not…"
"What?" She squeaked. Sonic grabbed a hold of her and kissed her. Shot completely melted, barely gathering the sanity to try to kiss back towards the end. Her cheeks brightened with red. Sonic, thoroughly enjoying himself, kissed her little deeper. Shot whimpered and quickly pulled away.
Sonic was a little shocked that she pulled away but he managed to smirk. "Oh yeah, baby, you're for real…"
Shot was redder than ever. "S-Sh-Shut up!"
Sonic smirked bigger and put his arm around the back of the chair next to him. "C'mere…"
Shot began to rapidly breathe. "N-No way!"
"Please?" He begged with puppy eyes. Shot slowly came back to sit down, cursing him under her breath a million times. Sonic put his arm around her. Shot tensed up hardcore. "Chill babe, no need to feel tense."
"S-So what, you're just gonna call me 'babe' and put your arm around me as long as I'm entertaining?"
"No, I'm finally making a move after all this time." He answered.
"Finally?"
"Well..." Sonic blushed and looked away. "I thought about asking you out before but I was too chicken. And yes, me, I was chicken…"
"Why would YOU be chicken? I'm not some amazing thing..."
"To me you are. I've been avoiding asking you and latching onto other girls trying to get you off my mind."
Shot flinched. "Oh..."
"Now I realize that I can't cuz you drive me pretty crazy… I know my brother thinks I'm dense but… I was too afraid to ask you…" Sonic confessed.
"Well you ARE pretty dense..."
"Hey!" Sonic frowned, taking offense to her words. "If I'm so dense, you can't possibly like me…"
Shot was facepalming in her mind. "I freaking love you... but it's dumb to be scared when someone so obviously, blatantly, embarrassingly..." She couldn't stop looking into those green eyes when she trailed off. Sonic stared into hers. "What're you looking at...?" She inquired.
"Whaddya think, Shot?"
"W-W-What for?!" She demanded.
"They're captivating, why else? It's almost like seeing the ocean without having to step into it…"
"W-W-What?" Shot continued to look into his eyes intently.
Before they could exchange further words, Frostfire approached the table alone. No one had followed her.
"Hello guys, I-" Frostfire saw the blush on her face and within moments, surmised what had happened. "So, my friend… You two finally talked?"
"Convince her that I want to date her, Frost!" Sonic pleaded. Shot was too embarrassed to speak up.
"Shot is a sensitive soul who is not swayed easily by compliments. Haven't you learned by now that her skeptical mind prevents from enjoying such things? She loves you, she will accept your advances on her own time; not when you are ready." Frostfire tried to be a good friend but somehow, being with an exceptional friend only brought out the playful side of her. "Kunikpaa! Kiss himmm!" Frostfire teased. "Imirusuttuq! You are thirsty!"
"Shut your face!" Sonic blushed as Shot did. She hid her face, only to cause Frostfire to laugh.
"S-So where's your boyfriend, huh?" Shot asked Frostfire.
"Manic is back home at the base. Coincidentally, he is showering. I am meeting him at a place where we are going to have a date. He should be finished by now." Frostfire smiled. "Okay, well, anyway, I have a date to go to… Later!" Frostfire said, leaving the Squid alone with the Hedgehog once again.
At a romantic French restaurant, Frostfire and Manic enjoyed an expensive meal and chatted for a good long while.
Come sundown, they were ready to leave when Frostfire spotted something.
"Oh my god…" She said with dread dripping from her lips.
"What?" Manic asked fearfully.
She pointed to the figure that was coming their way. "Th-That's my brother…"