Spring is still my busy season. Bear with me people! Thing's will start to calm down after my part-time job recert, my finals and my track season is over. Oh yeah, and after prom is all finished. Busy, busy, busy!
Note to Christian Ape99: I made a couple small tweaks to keep the story on the path I wanted it on. Hope that's fine. If not, well, it's a little late to change it now, right?
Enjoy the next chapter.
The fox bolted out of his chair and ran out the door with the help-bot close behind. Tails rounded the corner to his left, almost slamming into the guard rail that kept people from falling off the second floor, and flew down the steps, skidding as he attempted to turn left again. He ran all the way to his lab station, where he arrived to a chaotic scene.
Help-bots were swerving everywhere, banging into each other and frantically typing commands into different machines. Amy was spazzing out on the table and was about to fall off; she began to foam at the mouth and her eyes were wild and frantic.
"Blood pressure rising to—"
"Stabilize heart rate! Have AED standing by!"
"Move!" The fox ordered, pushing past the robots and pulling the pink hedgehog back onto the table.
Tails quickly flipped clamps around Amy's ankles and wrists so she wouldn't move off the platform again.
"What's the situation? What caused this?" The young genius asked.
"The toxin suddenly attacked her nervous system. She's being thrown into a seizure on a large scale!" The droid replied.
"Get more anesthesia in her," The young one ordered, and then turned to another robot. "Get me a needle full of Lithium-32B. Come on! GO!"
Amy thrashed about on the table, violently shaking her head; her torso quivered and her palms waved about.
"WHERE'S THAT NEEDLE?" Tails shouted.
"What's going on in here?" Knuckles demanded as he stormed into the room.
"Knuckles! Quick! I need you to stabilize Amy's head. She might break her neck if you don't!" The genius ordered.
"Alright, but—"
"Just do it!"
The echidna jogged over to the table and clamped his hands on the sides of their friend's head, ceasing the sudden jerks and spasms from her neck up. While Knuckles was doing this, the help-bot returned with the needle full of the Lithium-32B and carefully inserted the tip into the back of Amy's head, pushing the plunger down slowly. The echidna grimaced at this sight and blinked a few times, but was relieved when the hedgehog stopped seizing almost immediately.
"Yeesh. Ugh. Did it have to be inserted there?" The Guardian of the Master Emerald questioned, letting go of his friend.
"That's where the nervous system is located. The brain; that's, apparently, where the poison inside of Amy attacked. Never seen anything like it, though. This toxin is way more advanced than I thought," Tails stated, examining Amy closely. "I sure hope this vaccine works."
"It better," Knuckles muttered.
"Computer, what's the estimated life span of Amy Rose?" The fox asked. "Rescan."
"Scanning…Assessing…Calculating…Predicting…Estimation complete. Approximate life expectancy of Amy Rose: one day, eight hours and forty-three minutes."
Tails' eyes sunk back into his skull. "What?"
"Wait, how's that possible? We had over three days before!" The echidna asked.
"Computer…uh…What's the cause of the shortening of the life span?" The young one questioned.
"Seizing, attacking of the nervous systems in the cranium and frothing at the mouth increased the rate of which the toxin is spreading. Severe damage imminent. Recommended course of action to extend life span: none."
Tails collapsed into a chair, tears forming in his eyes. "We'll never make it at this rate."
Knuckles sighed. "Either Sonic needs to step it up or we need more help, and we can't bank on the chance that Sonic'll make it in time, despite his speed."
Tails looked up and wiped his eyes. "Alright. Who're we gonna call?"
"Ghostbusters," The echidna said, chuckling a little, but frowned when the fox's expression of pain didn't change. "Uh…Help-bot?"
"Yes, Knuckles the Echidna?" A droid replied, hustling over to the hero.
"Call Espio, Vector and Charmy, please."
*With the president of Mobius, five minutes earlier*
"Any report on Eggman?" The President asked, sitting back in his large leather chair with his advisors all around him.
"Nothing, Sir. We do believe that he is hiding in a rural area somewhere in Mobius," One man stated.
"What about those two…things?" The leader of Mobius questioned, waving his hands in disgust on the word "things."
"We have yet to locate them. We believe that they have gone into hiding as well, believing that Sonic and Amy are both dead."
"Didn't the press debunk the thought that Sonic died, though?"
The advisors looked at each other uneasily.
"Oh yeah. That means we also have to consider that they went after Sonic to finish the job."
The President grew red in the face and stood up. "I want all of Mobius put on lockdown! Nobody gets in or out! We've seen how these things fade into different places and sink into the ground. I want a massive protective shield built, and I want this entire land to be encased from it. This way, Eggman and his creations will never get out if they are in here, so we'll capture them. If they are out there, outside of Mobius, then they'll never be allowed back in and we'll be free of them forever!"
"What if Sonic tries to get back in?"
The leader sighed. "Consequently, and to my dismay, I would have no choice but to forbid him entrance until this whole thing blows over."
The President stood up and walked towards the door, which would lead to the command center for the main base of operations.
"Close it off. This whole place. Lockdown Mobius."
*With Sonic, real time, somewhere in the Dai-Ki Mountains*
The Blue Blur took a deep breath and let it out, leaning back against the stone wall. He had just finished explaining what had happened to him in the Dai-Ki Mountains and why he was there. It was the least he could do since this mysterious gorilla, who sat across from him, saved his life.
His savior was quite odd looking, and it was the first time Sonic got a good look at him. His fur was multicolored, containing almost every color in the rainbow with a few streaks of neon here and there. He was dressed in mostly gold, with the exception of pants; he wore none. Gloves, jacket, shoes and a bandana were all made of gold. A golden dragon was tattooed on his right arm while a pirate ship was plastered onto his left arm. He had piercings in both of his ears and an image of two wings was sown onto the back of his jacket. To top it off, a spiked collar was clasped around his neck and he smelled of something foul.
Wow. Did he stumble into a paint factory after stealing a bunch of valuable 80s wear? The hero thought.
"I heard that," The gorilla stated, frowning. "I was born like this. The clothes? Eh… I bought 'em."
"How—?"
"Read minds," The mammal cut in, tapping his head. "That and invisibility, heat vision and the ability to tell the future."
"Ooooo!" The hedgehog joked, wiggling his fingers in the air. "You're like a walking magic 8 ball, complete with the powers of thermal eyesight and fading into your surroundings."
"More or less," The gorilla sighed. "Spencer Daniel Ricardo, at your service. I, uh, dropped the "the Gorilla" part after my twenty-fifth birthday. I've been around for many millenniums, if you can believe that. I know, I don't age much. Traveled to Mobius a little ways back. My buddy, Noah, is back in our home dimension. Don't like much excitement around here…"
Spencer narrowed his eyes.
"…which is exactly what you brought here. Pass the time by playing instruments and roaming the mountains. Still haven't explored this entire place yet. Found a really rare plant, though. Pretty cool."
"I actually—"
"But I guess you wanna know how you ended up here, hm? Well, it went like this."
*In Spencer's flashback*
Spencer was on his daily roam of the mountain ranges, leaping and swinging from different platforms that were carved into the mountains. He breathed in the air and sighed, landing on top of a medium-sized rock pile.
Nice day to be alive.
He jumped off the pile and skidded down the side, grabbing the side of a rock wall and pushing off of it, somersaulting across a stone slab below him and leaping onto another one, higher above him.
It wasn't until he neared the center of the mountain range when Spencer picked up something.
Save her…
YOU CAN'T.
The words echoed through his mind. Somebody else was here. That had to be the case. Two beings were arguing in someone's mind, which the gorilla was able to tune in on. As he bounded closer to the origin of the voices, rumbling and shifting of rock caused him to lose his balance a few times. Quickly, he was able to arrive at the very heart of the mountain range, where a large rock monster with a smaller, green one perched on the stone one, towered over a battered and bruised blue hedgehog.
Spencer examined the scene before him, watching the hedgehog grip his head before being punched around and slammed into the ground by the stone beast.
Hardly a fair fight.
The gorilla was debating on whether or not to assist the stranger. If he left him alone, then the two monstrosities might leave after they're done with the guy. If he did intervene and help the blue hedgehog, he'd be putting his own life on the line. One thing made him decide on what to do. One of his friends helped him out, many years ago, when his parents tried to kill him. Spencer was the rescued, but now he could be the rescuer.
Alright. Let's see what I can do.
The gorilla faded into his surroundings, becoming invisible to the naked eye. He crept down the rocky slope, being careful as to avoid the large stone hands that had erupted from the sides of the mountains and dropped down to the area below, careful as to not make a sound. He ran towards the blue hedgehog just as the rocky beast raised its fist to crush the stranger, scooped him up and whisked him away before the stone hand hit the earth. Dropping the stranger on the ground, Spencer became visible once more and sent a red-hot heat beam out of his eyes, into the slimy monster, making the green figure hiss as it bubbled and melted into a pile of hot green goo with steam rising from the remains.
The giant stone beast looked over at the small puddle on its shoulder, contorting its face. Turning back to the gorilla and growling, it moved towards Spencer at a surprising rate, however the hero was ready. The gorilla leaped off the ground, howling in anger as he landed on the rock beast's face. He then shot another beam of heat into the left eye of his foe, and then proceeded to do the same to the right eye, making the monster wail in pain, flinging Spencer off of it. The gorilla rolled to a stop, firing one last beam of heat at his enemy, cutting the rock monster in half. The beast crumbled into the ground, creating a large pile of rock where it once was, and taking the arms that protruded out of the mountains with it.
Panting heavily, the gorilla looked around at the carnage that enveloped the area.
That's that, I guess.
*End of flashback*
"After that, I picked ya up and brought ya here. This is my home, for now," Spencer stated, finishing his tale. "You're welcome, by the way."
"Yeah. Thanks," Sonic responded, rubbing the back of his head. "So, you mentioned this ultra-rare plant? Can I see it?"
"Oh, sure! Why not? What'd ya need to see it for?"
The Fastest Thing Alive panicked.
"Hobby," The Blue Blur lied. "I like to plant watch."
"Plant watch?"
"Yeah. Kinda like bird watching, but…ya know…plants."
The hero could feel sweat starting to form on his head. Lying wasn't his strongest suit, and he didn't wanna take the chance of saying what he actually needed it for in case Spencer didn't want it stolen. Since this gorilla could read minds, the hero used all of his energy on not thinking about his intended use for the plant.
The gorilla pursed his lips and examined the hero. "Alright. Sonic, if I remember correctly from when you told me, I'll take you to it. If you feel better, we can go right now."
YOU CAN'T!
Shut up! Dang! The hero thought.
"Yeah! I'm game. Let's go!" The Fastest Thing Alive replied, hopping down from the stone platform.
*With Rouge, twenty minutes earlier, MISSION COMPROMISED*
The two G.U.N. agents were pushed out into the open by their armed foe. The soldiers of Deathwatch turned and raised their weapons at the two as they were lead forward, forced by Backlash.
"Lower your weapons, fools," The assailant ordered.
"You're not our leader. You're just our buyer. We don't have to obey you!" A member growled.
"I said lower your weapons."
The soldiers didn't obey. The one that sassed the two G.U.N. agents' captor scoffed.
Rouge felt a slight breeze behind her, and daringly, she turned slightly and saw that Backlash was gone. A sudden gasp followed by a shout of agony made her turn back around. The assassin stood behind the soldier that taunted him, holding a sword that stuck through the Deathwatch member's chest.
How'd he get there so fast and so quietly?
She turned to face Shadow, who had his eyebrows raised in surprise, but his expression still remained hardened.
Pulling out the sword, the villain let the dead soldier collapse to the ground. "Any other objections?"
In response, the Deathwatch members lowered their guns.
Backlash slowly walked up to the two heroes and examined them. His merciless, grey eyes pierced through both of them, almost as if he were looking into their souls. Suddenly, their captor was gone yet again. He just…melted away. All that was left were wisps of blackness.
"On three, we make retreat. We run. Got it?" Shadow hissed.
"What? Shadow, that's not like you. Wh—"
"Just shut up and do it!" The Ultimate Life Form whispered. "One…Two…Three!"
The two bolted back to wear they were originally set up for spying. That's where their equipment was. Once they had that, they could get out of there. Behind them, shouts of surprise and cries of pain shot through the darkness, filling the bat's ears.
The two didn't stop, they burst through the door of their new location, scooped up everything they had taken with them and raced out the door, speeding back for the G.U.N. HQ.
"What has gotten into you, Shadow?" Rouge called.
"I remembered him from somewhere! I just didn't know where!" The hedgehog replied, shooting through the night. "He was there."
"Where?"
"Aboard the ARK! He was there when Maria died."
*With Backlash*
The assassin walked towards the large shipments of weaponry that Deathwatch was ready to sell to him. All around him, the bodies of the soldiers lay scattered around haphazardly, some with bullet holes and some with stab wounds.
Amateurs. Try to compete with me.
Placing a few C4 charges on the cases of guns and arms, Backlash turned to the bodies of the dead Deathwatch soldiers. Slowly raising his hands, he felt the shadows bend to his will, carrying the bodies onto the boat that had docked. Tying one soldier to the hull, he sealed the rest of the bodies in the ship. The assassin struck a match and lit the Deathwatch member tied to the hull on fire before casting the ship out to sea, having it head towards the base of operations for their terrorist cell.
The reason why he hadn't killed the two G.U.N. agents is because they were no concern to him. Sure, he recognized Shadow. Yes, he was surprised by how much he had grown and changed; however, he had no beef with the hedgehog or his squeeze. For now, all he cared about was one thing.
Backlash pulled out the detonator the bombs attached to the gun crates and pressed the button, igniting and obliterating the arms inside.
Turning to face the burning pile of weaponry, the flames danced in his eyes. This was just the beginning for him. Not going back to prison. Not going to start over. No. He was going to wipe out the competition. Kill those who tried to cause havoc. Deathwatch was only the beginning. Soon, they would bow to him. He was a purger; a soldier for peace, but for peace to be obtained, civilization must be ground into ashes. Only then can new beginnings truly rise.
He still had one more thing to do after he crushed his opponents.
"Where are you, Gizmo the Wolf?" Backlash murmured.
TAADAA! An extra-long chapter for you guys! Instead of studying Spanish (ugh), I wrote this for you all! Hope you liked it!
If you are wondering where Spencer came from, I promised a guy I would include his character in a small section in this story. As far as Gizmo goes, he's my guy and appeared in the previous story. Not to fret, he won't appear. This is also the last time you'll see Backlash too (also my guy. Had to create a villain to preoccupy Shadow and Rouge, right? Lol).
Please leave a review! It makes my day when people do!
More to come…