Heyo!
I'm back again and oh boy the fact that we're in September already is great! Summer's almost coming to a close and I can already feel the nice wind and upcoming days that come along with it... unless global warming doesn't rear its ugly head in again lol, but at this point the planet is technically getting warmer so meh. Anyways here's a fresh one so hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or locations. They belong to Sega.
Chapter 13: The Encounter IV
"You're late, slowpoke!" said a rough voice.
"Yeah, well, I stopped to enjoy the scenery! This planet is pretty cool! It's nice here! Yeah, you'd like this world too if you weren't such a party pooper!" said another.
"Enough talk, let's go!" the rough one responded.
"Oh relax, will ya?! We have all afternoon to duke it out, buddy boy!"
The rough person got angrier. "I'm not your buddy and don't forget it, smart aleck! Now put 'em up! I didn't come here to sniff the flowers!"
"That's your loss! You don't know what you're missing, but if you rather clobbered by me-." the other voice was cut off however.
"SHUT UP! Give the emerald you stole! OR ELSE!"
The other one snickered. "Your brain's even slower than your feet!"
…
…
…
Scorching hot fires raged throughout the once peaceful city of Chun-nan. Several buildings were decimated by flying missiles and stray lasers that impacted their surface with violent clashes. Brick and wood were no match for heavy metal and energized plasma as the once decorated buildings that were hidden within the mountains were being destroyed by an evil outside force.
This evil threat came in the guise of hundreds to thousands of robotic sentries with different types of weaponry, from rocket launchers and laser pistols to warhammers and swords. Glowing red eyes and egg-shaped bodies were their defining features as the mechs tore through the small town and leaving it demolished in their wake. Luckily the citizens that lived within the town were able to evacuate, only the fires and debris remaining among the streets with a small teddy bear lying on the ground intact… until it was stepped on by one of the menacing robots.
Said robot that stepped on it scanned the area, its crimson eyes looking for signs of life and anything else that it would encounter. A beep came out of it once indicating that no living beings were around the area as it was about to turn on its thrusters.
SLASH!
Then everything went dark in its vision.
A huge claw mark embedded within its chest that came out the other side, blowing up at the end.
WHOOSH!
Right behind the smoke that laid after was a silhouette of a creature, claws coming out of its hands with the tips glowing a bright orange. The being turned with jade eyes watching the other surrounding mechs angrily, the smoke clearing to reveal a white mobian tiger.
"That's one down." she muttered. Her eyes shifted to the right, seeing another explosion with several more following suit that got closer and closer. A streak of bright light was left in their wake that followed a zig-zag pattern with another silhouette leading the charge.
Upon reaching the last robot nearest to the mobian tiger did the newcomer reveal themselves, apparently a shell spinning rapidly with arms, legs and head coming out of the holes. Doing several flips in the air, the being landed right next to them and nodded. A dark green mobian tortoise greeted the tiger.
"Chun-nan is no longer safe Jian. We must protect what we can as Master Shuifon has wished." the tortoise said to Jian. The latter nodded back and got into a battle stance. "Luckily the people have evacuated so we are all that is left. Not sure how Dulcy, Cinder and Knuckles are doing but I know we won't fail them Bunker."
"That is correct." Bunker replied, eyeing a portal open ahead of them. "And it looks like we may be in more trouble than we thought."
Jian noticed the portal as well and clenched her teeth, seeing more robots come out of it with the same menacing red eyes and lethal weapons they held. With how almost all invasions occur the enemy tend to surround the defenders and for both tiger and tortoise, they were indeed surrounded. Guns and melee weapons were pointed at them ready to strike, several beeps coming from each of the mechs signaling each other in their own native language.
"You know what they are saying?" Jian asked Bunker who shook her head. "Unfortunately I do not. This is an enemy we have never face, but we must not let our guard down."
Jian looked back at the robots with claws out. "Well if they're simply talking this is a good time to take the initiative." The mobian tiger then dug into her pocket and took out two white pellets. "Get ready Bunker!" she said throwing them to the ground.
POOF!
A large white smokescreen covered the entire area making it hard for anyone to see. It also worked as well against the enemy as the mechs looked around for them.
"HYAH!"
Jian dealt the first blow slicing through the first mech. Spin dashing in place and charging up quickly she bolted off and struck another that was sent flying towards several others and crashing into them. The mechs went on the offensive and began shooting where the white feline would be, the latter dodging and weaving around the attacks which struck several of the robots that exploded upon impact. Jian didn't let up and continued the assault, utilizing claw strikes and kicks to decimate the robots in her path.
One robot aimed their gun at Jian, having located her whereabouts in the smokescreen. Mechanical finger on the trigger they fired.
The shot going up in the air with their head severed from their body.
Bunker landed behind the robot that fell forward and collided onto the ground with a heavy thud. She nodded once and sensed an incoming mace behind her.
Instantly she used fluid like motions to catch the mace and expertly twirled it around her shoulders, causing the robot to lose their grip on it. She then used the momentum from the throw to smash the head of it into the mech as its powerful impact made several electrical components fly out of its now gaping hole. She sensed a laser flying at her and in less than a second disappeared from sight.
The robot that fired the shot was sliced in half from the middle, separating into two pieces as Bunker was revealed behind them with a finger stretched out. A glowing light was shown on the tip.
POW!
Jian palmed a robot hard into the ground, tremors and quakes rattling the area around her. The mechs that flew on jet packs rushed at her location as they fired several missiles. The mobian tiger noticed and thought quickly raising up a downed robot.
An explosion happened after, black smoke and debris rising into the air among the dark purple-pinkish sky. The dust cleared eventually with Jian running on all fours towards them eyeing the incoming missiles. Expertly just like her native trait she used her high agility to jump onto the missiles, using them as a launch pad to jump towards the next one at blinding speeds. She grabbed the last one and threw it towards one of the mechs which collided successfully, causing another large explosion to occur as Jian continued to run towards them.
Her eyes widened however backflipping at the last second, a shuriken flying below her. Jade eyes watched the lime green surface of it with the reflective surface showing her own.
'Where did that come out?!' she thought in shock.
Bunker rapid spun within her shell, colliding against several robots with their lasers rebounding off her shell. Apparently her natural shield was incredibly strong that it can withstand heavy punishment, and lasers are no different. She felt the impacts against them but due to hiding herself in her shell they recoil was lessened. Like a pinball she dealt incredible damage to her opponents, smashing her way through their tough exterior and seeing them blow up which caused shockwaves to tremble throughout the environment.
A missile struck at the mobian tortoise, her protected body rebounding opposite to the incoming projectile. Flipping erratically into the air she revealed herself again and controlled her descent. Upon landing she skidded across the ground using her hand to stop. Bunker looked up to see several rocket launcher mechs paired with ones that held flails.
'These are dangerous opponents. Why would they attack this peaceful land and its peaceful people?' she thought. 'May Gaia guide us through this.'
WHOOSH!
The robots fired their missiles which headed straight for Bunker. She remained unmoving however with a gentle expression as is her nature. Each second the missiles got closer and closer… yet the tortoise remained unmoving.
BOOM!
They hit their target, a large explosion rattling the buildings nearby and causing those that were giving in to finally topple down into the ground. Several more fires lit up due to the collision with black smoke mixing with the ominous sky up above, the atmosphere becoming darker from it. The mechs watched ahead of them silently, missile launchers clanking and hissing to indicate the reloading process. The smoke was clearing up along with the smokescreen that thinned out as well.
A bright wall of light encased around Bunker who can be seen through it, the same calm expression on her face. A smile was present on her, the tortoise in a battle stance ready to counterattack.
Bunker started off disappearing from sight.
DING! DING! DING!
Three glowing fingers made contact on metal with several waves of energy flowing on the mech's surface. This caused the robot to short-circuit and deactivate, falling to the ground. Bunker did the same thing with the others at blinding speeds, avoiding gunfire and melee weapons heading her way. She performed several touches, kicks and rapid spins against her enemies seeing them fall to the ground one by one. The mechs were slow to react with most of them short-circuiting and hitting the pavement with loud thuds. Others exploded just from the raw energy being put out by Bunker, though the reason for this is still unclear.
Just as unclear it was for another projectile heading towards her… but she couldn't sense it.
However Jian knew of it and turned her head quickly, seeing the same shuriken heading towards her teammate. Doing a quick spin dash in place she sonic boomed towards the weapon as quickly as she can.
It was getting very close to Bunker.
Inches into centimeters.
Closing in on her neck.
'NO!'
…
…
Until it disappeared into thin air. Jian was surprised.
SLASH!
"AAH!" the mobian tiger screamed in pain clutching her now bleeding arm. Her white with black stripes fur is stained in red, a deep cut running down her arm as she clutched it with her other hand. Bunker saw this and rushed to her aid. "Are you okay Jian?"
"Yeah, it was heading straight for you but it disappeared." Jian responded.
Bunker was confused. "What was heading towards me?"
'Wait she didn't know?' the feline thought. Her jade eyes widened again, pushing Bunker out of the way just as the same shuriken nearly hit them horizontally. The dark green tortoise was shocked, not knowing of the sharp weapon. 'How can that be? I couldn't sense it?'
The green shuriken then disappeared into thin air again. This caused the duo to be on edge as they looked around, Bunker however eyeing Jian's heavily bleeding arm. "We must take you to Zonshen, otherwise you'll faint from-."
"I'm fine Bunker don't worry about me! We have to fight for our home and I won't stop until we repel this enemy!" Jian yelled, eyes turning into slits with claws becoming sharper than ever. The green tortoise was worried about her friend, instead turning and hovering her hands over her arm. A bright light encased them which surprised Jian.
"Now's not the time Bunker."
"Hush Jian, while the enemy is still down I will tend to you." Bunker saw the wound beginning to close but not fully, her hands returning to their normal state. "I am not proficient enough to heal but I hope this is enough to reduce the bleeding."
The white tiger smiled. "It's more than enough, thank you."
Bunker nodded as the two watched more enemies approach them, the last of them ready for a final assault.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Jian grinned at her teammate. Bunker nodded once with a tender smile. "If you are ready my friend."
"Then let's do it!" Jian said with a fist up at the robots. Their mechanical opponents charged at them with weapons being thrown.
Bunker then jumped in the air and hid herself within her shell. Her entire body then began glowing an intense yellow with Jian jumping up as well and grabbing her from the edge of her shell. A confident smirk was present on her face, throwing Bunker hard at the incoming robots.
BOOM!
Several detonations happened everywhere Bunker's shell hit, numerous explosions setting off as the robots were downed on by one.
Jian landed onto the ground and dashed towards the remaining ones, clawing her way through the pack with intense punches, kicks and slams into the ground. She teleported behind one and punched right through it, spin dashing in place and charging off into another behind her. Jian didn't let up as the battle spirit within her raged on, continuing her relentless assault on the mechs as they fell apart quickly and brutally.
The white tiger grabbed Bunker again and tossed her towards the flying enemies that ascended up into the sky, the tortoise's shell meeting their targets and downing them. Jian found an intact nearby building and began climbing its walls on all fours. Being a tiger had its benefits, her immense strength, speed and agility helping her as she flipped and weaved up the wall of the building until she got to the roof.
With a large grunt she jumped high into the air, grabbing Bunker's shell and placing it between her hands just as the flying egg-shaped robots were heading towards them with weapons firing off.
"You will not harm our home any longer!" Jian focused her energy onto Bunker, her rapid spinning increasing faster and faster until she became a sphere of intense energy. The mobian tiger pulled her hands to her side, ready to fire off the attack. She kept on adding more and more energy into it with the intense heat building up as the sphere lit up the sky, the destroyed town of Chun-nan being shown faintly. Fresh wind blew across the two as Jian took a glance.
'For my family!'
Jian launched the attack as Bunker's shell fired off towards the mechs. Instantly did all of them vaporize under the intense energy given off as a bright beam of light illuminated the surroundings. It went on for a few seconds until finally it ended with a dimly thin line that disappeared.
Bunker came out of her shell upon landing on the ground as she skidded on it. Her armored body released heavy smoke as she sighed in relief. "Good grief that was intense." the tortoise said as she saw Jian descend towards her and landing softly. "That was a very nice job Jian."
"Hehe thanks, right back at ya!" Jian smirked. "Though there could've been more which I didn't mind but at the same time I wish it were somewhere else other than here."
Bunker laughed. "That would be nice, but as the Shinjin Warriors we must protect the peace. Even a barren desert is a place that must keep that peace."
"That's true. Hopefully the others aren't having too much trouble with their own fights." the white tiger said looking around. "Looks like this part of town is good now."
The dark green tortoise nodded looking as well, her smile going down at the destroyed landscape in front of her. "It will take time to rebuild, but fortunately the enemy has been repelled."
The duo looked at each other and smiled. "And we'll do it together." Jian said.
A rumbling interrupted them however as they almost lost their balance. Jian gritted her teeth in frustration. "Don't tell me there's more of them?!"
"No… this is different. I sense…" Bunker looked towards the center of the town, seeing an ominous sphere of purple energy growing from it. "This… energy. It's very… oh no."
"What is it?" Jian asked. Bunker's eyes widened not being able to respond.
"What's the matter?" Jian asked again.
"This… we have to leave. Now!" the mobian tortoise raised her voice at the last word. Jian was surprised as Bunker NEVER shouted. This was a first to which Jian came to the conclusion that something bad was going to happen.
"JIAN! BUNKER!" a high-pitched voice let off from the distance. The two turned to see three figures approaching them: a small orange pheasant, a teal-green dragon and a red echidna.
"Dulcy! Cinder! Knuckles! Over here!" Jian shouted at them. The three approached the tiger and tortoise within a matter of seconds.
"You should've seen us! Me and Dulcy were-MHGAHGAHGHAGMMPHPHGPH!" Cinder's loud voice was cut off by Dulcy muffling her. "Cinder this is serious!" she replied.
Knuckles approached Jian and Dulcy. "Is this side of town safe?"
"Yes Knuckles, the enemy has been repelled." Bunker informed. Knuckles nodded then looked at Jian, noticing her arm. "You need that checked out." he said.
Jian huffed out in annoyance. "Relax Knuckles, I'll live. Bunker here healed me so she only stopped most of the bleeding, but I'll be fine."
"We have to get you to Zonshen quickly." Dulcy let go of the now silent Cinder and pulled out a white rag. "In the meantime this'll stop the bleeding for now." the mobian dragon wrapped the cloth around Jian's arm.
"Thanks Dulcy." Jian smiled, the latter returning the gesture.
Knuckles looked back at the growing vortex. "Better hurry, we have to leave now."
"Knuckles is right everyone, we must leave as this is something we cannot handle." Bunker added.
"Can you two tell us what's going on or are we-."
"SKREEEEEEE!"
Cinder was cut off by a very loud screech. The others covered their eyes as well, feeling intense winds suddenly blowing along every direction.
The group looked up and were surprised to see something that they didn't expect… or rather someone.
"IT'S THE GAIA PHOENIX!" Cinder cheered in happiness.
The mythical bird spanning several meters tall and wide glided down their location, feathers of different colors covering its body as it let out another screech. Purple eyes looked at the group below them and landing with a small thud, lowered its head and gesturing them to get on.
"C'mon everyone we have to hurry!" Knuckles said climbing up the bird's neck. The others nodded and followed him up the phoenix. With another cry into the sky the Gaia Phoenix flapped its wings several times and began taking off into the sky, a trail of color being left behind.
Knuckles looked over his shoulder to see the vortex engulfing all of Chun-nan within, not one inch of it being seen from afar.
'Damnit! Why does this have to happen?! WHY?!'
"Knuckles, are you alright?" Dulcy asked. Knuckles turned his gaze to her and nodded. "Y-Yeah… just sucks that we couldn't save our home."
"Don't worry Knuckles, at least the people were able to evacuate." Jian smiled until she flinched grasping her arm. "Ack! Damnit!"
"Don't move your arm too much Jian, it'll hurt if you do. Now how about I tell you a funny joke to ease your pain hehe~." Cinder said happily. The white tiger smiled and nodded as she listened to her joke. Bunker watched contently at the two, shifting her eyes to Knuckles.
"What of Zonshen and Master Shuifon?" she asked the red echidna. Knuckles looked back and shrugged. "I don't know."
"Does the Gaia Phoenix know?" Dulcy added. As if it heard her the phoenix looked back in sadness.
"W-Wait… are you s-saying…" the teal dragon began to tear up.
Knuckles intervened however. "It's okay, they most likely went into hiding. Knowing them they wouldn't stay long if something like this were to happen."
"B-But s-still-." Dulcy felt Bunker place a hand on her shoulder. She looked back to see Bunker smiling. "We should take Knuckles' word. I also believe that they are hiding, otherwise the Gaia Phoenix would not have come for us."
"W-Well alright… I guess that makes me happier hehe."
Knuckles grinned nodding as he looked back towards the revealing sunset seeing the mist dissipate the farther they got. "It looks like it didn't reach this far."
"That's good to know." Jian said with Cinder giggling beside her. "So where are we heading?"
Knuckles thought for a bit then leaned close to the phoenix. "Take us to the far mountains."
"SKREEEE!" was its response as it flapped its wings twice and turned left.
The red echidna then turned back towards Jian. "So what happened with you Jian?" he asked.
"I was defeating the enemy one by one with no effort, but then this shuriken came to me out of nowhere. I was barely able to sense it." Jian then turned to Bunker. "I saw it head towards Bunker's neck and rushed in to stop it, but at the last moment did it disappear from sight and struck me out of nowhere. I have not seen anything like that happen…"
Knuckles narrowed his eyes, looking back at the horizon. "I have an idea what that was… what color was it?"
"It was a light green with a yellow edge."
…
…
"The shinobi…" Knuckles whispered.
…
…
…
"It looks like Chun-nan is no longer there." an unknown voice said as they watched a screen showing the vortex having engulfed the city. "The people have evacuated the town and it looks like Knuckles escaped as well."
A sigh of relief was heard. "That's good to know Tails. It's a good thing you left that recon drone there when you found Chun-nan."
Tails looked back scratching his head. "Thanks Sonic, but why would you want us to keep an eye on him. He basically brushed us aside."
Sonic looked down in thought, an expression of sadness on him. "I've been thinking after the meeting… that maybe we've been too harsh on him. I mean look at it, we always called him stupid and dumb but in the end he was there to help us even when he acts stubborn." the Blue Blur then looked at his lower limbs.
Where his legs used to be. "This is what we get in the end. What I get."
The yellow kitsune looked at him sadly as well. "Don't be hard on yourself Sonic. We all make mistakes."
"Yeah… but we're no longer going to do that on him. He lived his whole life alone on that island, naïve and not knowing much about the outside world. He may be dense and gullible, but he's still as reliable and a necessity to us as we are to him." Sonic then looked up at Tails, green eyes meeting blue. "He's our best friend, and I won't let him go."
Tails watched him in awe, a smile coming onto his face. "You're right Sonic. Our team isn't complete without our pal!"
"Yeah, and luckily you put that tracer on him so we know where he's heading too. So where is our pal Knux going?"
Tails looked back at the screen and pressed a button in which a side map materialized. "It looks like he's heading into the mountains. The mist hasn't reached that far so they'll probably go into hiding."
"And that's where we're heading off to as well!" Sonic said grinning before his smirk turned into a thin line. "Are they ready yet Tails?"
The yellow fox returned his gaze with slight concern. "They are, but they aren't strong enough that you can use them for that."
"It's fine buddy, just as long as I'm not bound to this wheelchair I don't mind." Sonic looked back at the map seeing a red dot moving. "I want to see our best friend in person again, and this time the right way."
The two then began discussing other things, not knowing of the third person leaning against the other side of the door with hands on their chest. Blue eyes closing in joy.
'Thank you Sonic, thank you Tails.'
End of Chapter 13
And that is it!
Looks like Chun-nan suffered a terrible fate unfortunately, but at least the people evacuated just in time! :D
Will Knuckles and the Shinjin Warriors return soon to reclaim their home or will they suffer other setbacks? Will Sonic and Tails find their friend in time?
Stay tuned! ^u^