Spikes! Sonic Colors references aside, we were last off witnessing Mr. X's old building being destroyed by Zomom's strongest technique. At what appeared to be hopeless, there will be lots of hope coming your way once you read this chapter. Knuckle's shard hunting will be shorter than expected once you see what are the odds later on. That being said, let's get this chapter over with at Sonic speed!
At what appears to be a grim scene, the building is already in ruins due to the blast and Knuckles was too late to stop the yellow Zeti from executing his destructive plan. The fat Zeti kept laughing evil while rubbing the punch wound on his cheek he had received from Knuckles, making him glare back him in anger.
"I guess your plan to stop me from destroying that green gem was a failure and boy does victory feel so delicious. Too bad that cop guy and that Shiva jerk got what they deserved and died a satisfying death, What can I say, I've always hungry when it comes to destruction," Zomom said in a sinister, yet goofy manner.
He continued his nasally evil laughter to annoy his spicy opponent to make the situation worse. The hotheaded echidna's eyes had this burning sensation as his temperature started to rise like a volcano getting ready to erupt. Despite what appears to be a lost to continue his mission, he still thought that beating the snot out of that fat monster would be a great way of venting his anger.
"You are going to pay for not only killing innocent people, but also getting in the way of my mission to recover the Master Emerald. Since you think its so funny to mess with a guardian like me, then let me show you something that you will not find funny!" he yelled.
This slightly startled Zomom since he did thought what he did was great, but he definitely regretted this since this is Knuckles he was messing with at the wrong time. Within a few seconds, a white gloved fist was shoved into his fat yellow face at a force that would chip his already chipped teeth even more. Knuckles still looked at him with the face of a vengeful warrior and kept rapidly punching the obese Zeti's body in a fit of rage.
I bet my mom wouldn't like this one bit if she were to here that I've succeeded, yet failed to make someone feel powerless. I bet that's why she will never love me like a real caring parent.
Then Knuckles engulfs his right hand in flames and places it on Zomom's face, which caused him to yell in pain from the heat and force alone.
"Now I'll really teach you a lesson to mess with Knuckles the Echidna, you fat freak!" he barked.
The red echidna eventually shoves the yellow Zeti downwards as if he's dunking him like a basketball at a falling speed that rivaled Sonic's. Meanwhile, Beat and the others aren't taking the building's destruction well since they are still convinced that they have failed their mission and Axel was killed. Big looks sadly toward the ground, feeling guilty about slowing his new friends down and still sad about the disappearance of Froggy. Both of the Bonanza Bros. were blubbering in udder sadness and blowing their noses on the sacks they've held despite the fact that they've had their loot in them. Toejam was crying against Earl's big yellow gut as his bigger friend tried wiping his black shades from the tears of sadness with his handkerchief. Beat crossed his arms in disappointment and anger despite BD Joe attempting to cheer him up during this somber situation. Kiryu looks at his right fist and clenches it in anger within seconds to express his failure to save a life.
Damn it! If only we could have made it there in time to save Axel and none of this would have happened. Not to mention we won't be able to completely rebuild the Master Emerald if one of the main pieces is permanently destroyed!
Ryo knew how the man felt as he watched him blow off some steam during that situation. He was equally as mad as him, but didn't want to do so since Honey was already in the verge of tears at the situation. She had literally felt useless for not being able to keep up with Zomom and failing to save Axel for Akira's sake. Like a comforting boyfriend, he wrapped his arm around her body and allowed her to cry onto his jacket. Surprisingly, Akira and Kasumi didn't feel sad nor disappointment at all as if they've knew that something special had occurred. The Japanese martial artist had stared at the rubble intensely, examining it as if he were pinpointing their location. Jacky pats his partner on the back to get his attention being the concerned friend he was.
"Akira, is there something wrong buddy? You seem a little too into the building's ruins for some reason," he said.
"Jacky, I know that they are alive. Axel is a man that is known for surviving the worst, like a hidden weapons base in the past for example. I have a feeling that they are hidden in the rubble somewhere and are most likely unconscious from the fall," his honorable friend responded.
"I believe him and so should you, Jacky. I can sense something living within that rubble and I feel that they have survived and became trapped within the process to avoid being destroyed. I might even destroy it with my Torn Sky Blast to set them free," said the Kasumi.
Just the words of these two lone caught the attention of everyone else who had calmed down after realizing that there's a chance that Axel may had survived the situation.
"You mean, he's alive but trapped within building's rubble? How are you sure that's even possible?" said the curious Yazuka member.
"I just have senses that are beyond that of a regular human, which a specialty of anyone from the Mugen Tenshin Clan. Also, Akira's intuition had also given me a reason to pay close attention to the building's ruins before making any final judgments of his fate," she replied.
"Ain't that something? So the cool dude's alive after all. Now all we have to do is set him free since I can tell that he might be tired after all that fallin' and the crashin'," said the optimistic taxi driver.
"Instead of sittin' here and chattin' about it, why not let that blue ninja girl do her stuff? After all, I can tell that he might want to kick that yellow guy's caboose after we tell him what happened," said the tall red thief.
"Robo is right, I need some room in order for me to carefully pull this off," Kasumi demanded.
Everyone had backed up to give the blue kunoichi the room she had needed to help free their trapped ally. Honey had wiped her tears and focused on what her rival was doing next to much of Ryo's gladness. She got into a fighting stance and slowly started to charge up a large amount of blue aura. As she had charges, she did a holding gesture to channel a majority of the aura in between the hands at her side. She kept her eyes focused on the massive pile of rubble ahead of her and looked at it intensely like any other skilled ninja. Akira watched her real closely to see if she were to do this carefully without accidentally harming Axel in his rocky prison.
"Torn Sky Blaaaaaaassst!" she shouts before firing all of her concentrated aura into a power blue blast.
The blast had eventually made its way towards the rubble pile and destroyed it with relative ease, making Akira nod in agreement since the plan had worked. The massive amount of smoke spreads from the rubble's destruction, everyone else ran towards it see if the plan had successfully worked. They waited patiently with the anticipation of hope until some grunts could be heard inside of it. Big's ears had twitched as he listens, the sounds came from more than just one individual within that smoke based on his superior hearing.
"I think that there are three people that we've managed to uncover instead of just Axel," he said.
"A….A…Axel? How did you …., know my … name?" said a stressed out voice from within the smoke.
Beat smirked like everyone else since hearing his voice was enough to prove that he's alive. Kazuma walked even closer to the smoke and wafts it away with his left arm despite being choked by the dusty air.
"Because we've came here to find you and the next Master Emerald Shard in Wood Oak City. Is there anyone else that had survived with you?" he yelled after coughing from the smoke.
Another voice could be heard and it was a familiar voice that made everyone grow cautious due to who it came from.
"Yeah, me and … Electra had …. survived along with Axel. Don't worry about the…. Master Emerald shard since Axel has it …. within good hands. Mind telling me where the …. hell is the fat bastard that … nearly killed us!" said the more aggressive voice.
Ryo walked to Kiryu's side with the bad feeling that he should trust an enemy that tried to stop them earlier.
"And what makes you think that we'll tell you anything after what you've done. We are glad that you've told us about the shard being safe, but we know better than to fall for the likes of you!" he yells.
Honey grabbed Ryo by his hand tightly, which prompted him to look her in her dark eyes and calm down. She looked back at him with a very concerned look and a sad face on par with a puppy's to the boot.
"Ryo, he's most likely changed since his own partner betrayed him and you really need to trust him. Maybe, he might be useful looking for Mr. X or even the location of the next Master Emerald shard," she said with a sincere tone.
A feminine voice was eventually heard from the smoke and it grew loader as the unseen speaker suddenly approaches the three fighters after that last statement.
"There's no need to lash at us like we're your victims. We are on your side now since that psychotic glutton made us reconsider our association with the Legion of Subspace. I highly doubt Mr. X would even care since he barely approaches us anymore," the voice said.
Electra herself had finally come into their view with the same seductive appearance, but a different aura to her unlike how sadistic she was the last time. She silently walks pass them without a word as they gaze at her in suspicion. Then, Axel and Shiva are seen walking out together with their arms over their bodies since they were in the most pain from the fall unlike Electra. Axel was still out of breath from his escape and looked at the group of people who crowded him, including his old opponent from the last fighting tournament. Shiva was more concerned about looking for Zomom since he's scowling unlike how arrogantly smug he was since the last time he had seen him. Akira was the first one to confront the blonde cop and his rival since he was concerned for him the most during the situation.
"Is it true that you've managed to keep the emerald shard safe, Axel? Either way, it's a pleasure to see that you've manage to survive that glutton's wrath and managed to get some help despite them being your enemies," he said.
"I wouldn't really call them enemies anymore since they've changed sides like Ellie had said earlier. You can get some information if you want some answers from Mr. X's right hand man to the right of me," the cop remarked while taking a quick glance at Shiva.
"There's no needed to flatter yourself Axel, so you better be lucky that we still aren't enemies. If anything, I'd rather answer questions later since I do have a bone to pick with that traitor!" the dark hair man remarked coldly.
While Toejam lovingly glances at the beautiful whip wielding woman, she notices something wearing a red cap inside of the globular object in his hand. This caused her to give a sarcastic face since she recognizes that red cap anywhere as she crossed her arms.
"If I were you, I'd free Ash from your uncomfortable prison if you know what's good for you. We might be needed him on our way to the Chaos Emerald's next location," she said in a deadpan manner.
"Did you say a Chaos Emerald? You already know the whereabouts of the next one?" Earl asked.
This managed to catch the attention of Beat's entire group as they looked at the blue dominatrix cautiously.
"Yeah, and I won't be telling you guys anything unless you free him at once," Electra replied.
The New GG's glared at Toejam intensely, which spooked out the red alien to the point of him sweat drop ironically.
"A'ight, I'll set your funky friend out for a damn good looking girl like you," Toejam replied.
"Just as a friendly reminder, I belong to nobody but Shiva since we had pretty close ties in the past. But I do appreciate the complement however, Little Red," she said before laughing.
Everyone else started to laugh along with her to much of the jammin' alien's embarrassment. He took a deep sigh and tossed the Trap-O-Matic jar against the ground to get this painful experience over with. The muscle-bound, campy criminal was eventually revealed as he looked back at Toejam in an intimidating manner. This even made Beat grow cautious considering everything this guy done when they've first met. Toejam's eyes had widened in horror as the scantly clad man towered above him in hopes that he wouldn't get his ass handed to him. The next situation had turned from frightening to hilarious in which Ash started to hug Toejam tightly while shedding manly tears. Earl started to feel sorry for the poor guy considering that this is the same crook that glanced at every male's ass while circling them hours ago.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I was so scared of being in that horrid prison since I am afraid of all closed spaces including closets! I wish I could kiss you real good to show some form of gratitude!" he rants while squeezing his small victim even tighter over time.
This then caused everyone in Beat's group including Electra and Jacky to laugh at this humorous situation, which eventually caught the attention of the others who were negotiating with Shiva at first. Toejam's eyes popped out comically and spew tears of fear and embarrassment as the burly man kept hugging him.
"Can you please get the hell off of me? I would rather have my own personal space invaded by a girl, thank you!" he yelled!
"Ash, that's enough! Let go of him and I'll let you know that we are no longer associated with the Legion or Mr. X," he said loud and clear.
This caused the mustachioed man to stop hugging Toejam and turn to his fellow Syndicate member, who was no behind him and ready to kick some ass.
"No longer working for Mr. X? But … but what if he tries to kill us for turning against him?" he said in a frightened manner while clasping his hands on his macho face.
"Don't worry, I can tell that he'll eventually be killed by whoever's after the next emerald anyway since I've heard news about some guy called Shadow who've not only managed to kill two members, but retrieved the next emerald before Reala could do a thing. In the end, it doesn't matter anymore and we can make our own decisions now after realizing how pointless this whole wild emerald goose chase was in the first place," said the Koppou practitioner.
This caused Ash to slowly nod his head in agreement and put his hands on his hips in an arrogant manner.
"Good to hear that we are free, Shiva! Because this beauty queen would rather fight for the strongest side, even if it's someone who fights for justice like our ex-nemesis Axel," he said extravagantly.
Shiva smirks and got into his trademark pose when he notices something flying right at them. The object itself was burning so bright, that everyone else had turned towards the sky to acknowledge its unexpected appearance. It was none other than Knuckles, who is ramming against Zomom's bulbous body with a Flaming Headbutt that would send them to the ground like a meteor. He turns backwards to the falling fighters in a glimpse of second, followed by a very fast down-headed turn, and then projects himself upwards with one leg extended and foot in flames. He successfully hits Zomom in his already burning back in an uppercut-like motion, which knocked the red echidna off of him due to the sheer force. It was a good thing that Knuckles was strong enough to reposition himself and land onto the dusty earth like a pro, but the same thing couldn't be said for his fat opponent.
Zomom was knocked onto the ground face down from that last attack with his dazed face slobbering on the ground like a dying possum. Axel and Akira were quite amazed that he was able to stop something that was clearly moving at the speed of a meteor with just one powerful kick. But it wasn't over yet since the dark haired man still approaches his defeated target and stopped on his back as any other delinquent would do to their victim. Zomom coughed hardly from the force and slowly turned to the aggressive fighter that dominated over him.
"You really had the nerve to do such a heinous act. You tried to destroy the Master Emerald shard, destroyed Mr. X's old headquarters, burned the plans for the Chaos Emerald's next location, and tried to kill a member of your own group! Do have anything to say for yourself now, lardass?" he said angrily.
"I really wanted to showcase my true power to that red echidna, even if it meant risking attacking my own members. I would least care when it comes to humans or animals, but it would be different story with my real allies," Zomom said frantically.
"Real friends? Pathetic! I had a bad feeling about you and those Deadly Six freaks ever since you even joined the Legion recently and that's the best excuse you can come up with? Then you can feel free to be my enemy along with the rest of the subspace fools that even trusted the likes of you, even my own boss!" Shiva said.
Just the tone in his voice alone in that statement have gotten the tired out Knuckles interested in what was going on. The red echidna was about to interrupt the conversation until he saw Axel alive and well watching with Akira. The blonde cop gave him a confident smile to let him know that surviving was a peace of cake despite the hell he had been through this day. Knuckles then walks to him while sarcastically whistling to tease the yellow Zeti that is being bullied.
"OK, ok, I get it that you aren't working with us anymore! Can you please let me go so that I wouldn't starve to death?" he begged.
Shiva scoffed while slowly lifting his foot to see his defeated victim free. Zomom slowly got back to his feet and turns back to his foe to listen for his final words.
"Now get out of my face and never come back unless you bring any other members for me to defeat! And don't forget to tell everyone, including our former boss, about our dissolution from this silly group!" he remarked.
After this, the obese Zeti turned away and hops away from the scene like a scared toad. Shiva kept watching to whole time to make sure that he doesn't disobey his cold words at all. Knuckles listened to everything that Axel had told him about the plans of the emerald's location and how they managed to survive the building's aftermath. He nodded in approvable during the entire conversation with his arms crossed like the typical loner he was.
"Ah, so you guys managed to think of such a plan in so little time to save yourselves. Well that's what I'd expected from an intelligent cop like you working with a crime boss's fanboy and his Rogue-esque partner," he said before blushing, "Why did I have to mention her of all people."
Axel chuckled slightly at Knuckles last remark along with Akira and Jacky since they heard the red echidna's last words as he started to get redder.
"Alright, that's enough embarrassment for the day. It's good to hear that you managed to kick that freak's butt for us, even if you've had little hope left that we and the shard didn't survive," he said.
Knuckles shook his head since keeping his cool was something he had to do since he'd rather not think about Rouge's business or "annoying" appearances.
"Other than that, it's good to see you after everything we've been though getting here. The roads were pretty rough as if they never bothered fixing them. I would introduce you to the gang, but we are better off heading for the next destination for the other shards since I'd doubt we would find anymore here," he said.
Suddenly, a rumbling noise beamed from the cop's right pants pocket that prompts him to answer it. He holds the cellular device to his head and waits for the line to pick up since he knew it had to do with his partners. Ash was already apologizing to Ryo earlier for his sexual harassment in the beginning since he was a man of his word and had to make amends in order for himself to be trusted. Honey kept holding her beloved boyfriend tightly since she wanted to hear his answer clearly.
"Alright, apology accepted and I'll treat you as an ally for now. I can understand that your tastes swing "elsewhere", but you have to know how to control yourself when around other men," he replied with a grin.
"Thanks, sweetie. To be fair, I like intimidate my foes so that they could take me serious at any means. But despite what the others say, I'm actually a pretty sweet guy," Ash said before putting his hand on his chest.
Both Ryo and Honey laughed together due to how flamboyant this criminal turned ally was, which made him smile since he has some new friends. Big was sighs in a relaxed state as Electra was rubbing his furry purple back, which ironically she is quite the cat lover. This caused Toejam to complain out of jealousy since Big was lucky to be adored by such a lovely lady.
"It's hard to believe that this big purple fool gets some lovin' since he's a funking cat!" he shouts.
"Uh TJ, its more 'bout the fact that he's a cat and she did say that she belong to Shiva anyway," Earl said before whispering in his friend's ear, "Besides, wouldn't Latisha be pissed about you being with another lady?"
Toejam looked at his larger friend with an annoyed look since he'd rather not have him mention her around him at this time.
"You do realize that she is already pissed about me being on this planet too long anyway! It's a good thing that girl didn't think about calling any of us …. yet," the red alien yelled.
Shiva slowly walked pass the two of them to their surprise and confronts Axel after he had put his cell phone away.
"Do you know where else to go, Axel? I did see that you've just got done answering a call," he said.
"Yeah, Blaze and the others just informed me that they've managed to find a few gems scattered throughout the city. After telling them about the Master Emerald, they did inform me that the green gems that were found may be what we're looking for," he said in a serious manner.
"More Master Emerald shards in this one city? Wahooooo, this is getting easier by the moment unless Shadow did a poor job at scattering these shards!" said the excited echidna.
"Yeah, they want us to meet them at the Amusement Park so that we can get all four of them. Now that you mention it, I would like you to tell me why Shadow separated these shards in the first place," said the curious cop.
"I would tell you, but I'd rather not since "he" might show his mechanical face here to cause trouble or steal the shards from us. At least that should let you know why Shadow did so in the first place. But enough about that, we should really head to the park to get these shards," Knuckles replied.
"Shouldn't we be more concerned about the Chaos Emerald in Outrun Bay first? After all, that's where the boss is heading at the moment and the Legion does have one emerald in their possession," Shiva said cautiously.
"Chaos Emerald hunting is more Sonic's thing since I'm more concerned about recollecting the pieces of the Master Emerald. It's no biggie if they have one since Sonic may have a few of his own while the New GG's have one too," Knuckles said.
"According some reports from the Legion, some guy called Shadow attacked their camp and managed to snag an emerald from Hell's Cavern. If we do the math, then there are two emeralds left and we only know the location of one so far," said the ex-right hand man.
"Then we shouldn't worry about the Chaos Emeralds at all since I can tell that Sonic or any of the racers from the last few tournaments might find them and meet up with us in the end. Either way, we should be more focused on getting the rest of these shards since the Master is always the higher priority," Beat suggested.
"You guys are going to a theme park? Can me and Ryo have a date since we should be properly getting to know each other while we're out!" exclaimed Honey as she walked with Ryo and Ash towards the huddled group.
"Dating? We should be more concerned about more important things like getting these shards and leaving if we don't want to get caught. Since I can tell that fat crybaby might beg for backup soon," Electra said while walking back with Big and the funky aliens.
"Chillax, fellas! I'm sure that some of us can steal …. errrr have some fun in the park while Knuckles and Axel could find these guys and nab the shards. We do have to at least have one break after all this "Nab the shards!" fiasco anyway," said the sly Robo.
Knuckles looks at everyone that surrounded him and thought deeply about how he wanted this to work out. Deep down, he was still concerned about Metal Sonic since he might have been hunting him down since their last encounter. Honey eagerly waited for an answer since this was something she wanted to do with Ryo ever since their chat during the ride here. Shiva still waited patiently for a decision to be made since he can tell that several enemies might show their faces if they stay here all day. Both of the Bonanza Bros. whispered into each others ears about the many things he wanted to do soon as they get to the park with all the valuable things to steal. Knuckles then felt that he should consider what his allies want to do instead of thinking of his responsibility all of the time.
"Alright, we'll go to the Amusement Park and anyone is free to do what they want. For some of you that want to have fun, go ahead and knock yourselves out. For those of you who would rather get the gems and meet Axel's police group, you can feel free to follow me and him at all times," the red echidna declared.
Ryo looked at his cheerful girlfriend and said, "You hear that Honey, we can have our first date and relax in the park together."
"Yaaaaayyyy! We can go on the roller coaster, have a walk in the park, and have a romantic dinner together!" she said happily while clinging to his body.
"The last time I've been to a park was to find Froggy. Maybe I could find him there if I look around," said Big with hope.
"I might see if there are some broken rides that I could mark with my spray paint. If only the other GG's could be here to see this," said the excited rudie.
"That's the spirit, Beat! I would like to have some fun for once instead of breaking a sweat for some rude customers like those subspace chumps," said B.D. Joe.
Everyone still conversed about the things they would do at the park while the concerned Knuckles still had a bad feeling about what would happen when we get there.
I still don't know about this fun at the park since there's still "him" to worry about. Oh well, I don't think anything bad would happen since the city is most likely criminal free if what Axel said back there on his cell phone was true.
"Then that settles it everyone, let's head north right now and we'll be there in no time. You do want to be there early if you don't want the park to close on us as we stand here!" Axel exclaimed before walking away.
Everyone including the ex-Syndicate Members moved out towards the famous park that awaits them. Back towards the outskirts of the city, large gelatinous figure appears and transforms into a semi-humanoid form within seconds. It holds out a three fingered hand to observe the five green gems that seeped out of it. Its large yellow eyes studied these gems and squints slightly in anticipation. The creature eventually transformed back into a spherical shape and seeps into the ground to find its next destination. This wasn't the only suspicious character following the heroes since a winged woman wearing a skimpy outfit is hovering in the air. She had long claws, black lipstick, pale eyes, black wings, curved horns, her own flock of vicious bats, and an "awesome rack" on her. She did a suggestive giggle while putting her hand over her mouth since she was up to no good.
"Vell vell, vat do we have here? A group of guys and girls going to have some fun in zee park? How unfortunate," said the vile vampiress.
Zomom's defeated at the hands of Knuckles and Shiva and was scared off by the latter after he declared his dissolution from the Legion. That's right, fan favorite Syndicate members Shiva, Ash, and Ellie (aka Electra) will be joining Knuckles on his quest for the shards. Not to mention that everyone will be meeting Axel's police squad at the park to receive even more pieces of the Master Emerald. Several members will also plan on having some fun for once in a while instead of fighting bad guys or looking for shards all the time, a well deserved break indeed. But things aren't over yet while Knuckles get the suspicions of Metal Sonic showing his ugly mug while two mysterious foes (one from MadWorld and another from Sonic) are after them as well. I'll see you guys next time when I'm ready with this fun, action packed, and romantic chapter of Sonic Sega All Stars: Subspace Unleashed! ;)
