Chapter Eight

Manic led the group through the interconnected underground pipeline system and used his gem's energy to point out explosives planted along the route. Rouge noticed Shadow had the six chaos emeralds slung from a utility belt he'd tightened around his waist, and a new pair of steel toed boots which were gifted to him. Espio definitely had the best suit of armour but Manic's gear collection was a close second.

The green hedgehog followed his phone's GPS to the courtyard just outside Nero's base of operations. "This is as close as we're gonna get, incognito. We'll have to bop our way through whoever is guarding the little Judas."

"Okay, and then what?" Rouge asked.

"We encourage him to shut down his syndicate." Shadow answered. "And if he won't, we ditch politics."

"There's been a lot of killing over the past few days, is this really how we're gonna settle it?"

Espio grasped her shoulder. "Nobody is coming to bring these goons in for justice. This is how they want to end things. After that, everyone will be free from their tyranny."

"I'm not comfortable taking so many lives-"

The black hedgehog started walking. "Then leave that to me."

Manic shrugged and followed close so the chameleon and bat joined. They climbed up a dirt hill that led back to ground level and shielded their eyes while they adjusted to the sunlight.

The wind caused a sandstorm in the background and the temperature was sweltering this morning, yet only Rouge broke a sweat climbing up to the courtyard. Manic and Shadow's enhancements kept them cool, and Espio's advanced suit had been a literal lifesaver, but now the campaign was reaching it's conclusion so the group vowed to end the fight early.

Alastair led his Riotcall squad through the sandstorm and they showed off heavy artillery. Manic sized him up, while Rouge made eye contact with Maggie Bloodmoon as she followed the giant.

Redd teleported to the front line and pointed at Espio. "You cost me $11 million when you handed Dogg over to those satanists!"

"…I enjoyed ridding Mobius of that garbage."

"Yeah, I'm sure you did… it's a good thing your life is worth twice as much as his and Scourge' ever were."

Shadow stepped between them and eye balled the crimson hedgehog. "Dishonourable thief."

She kept her composure but the fear was evident. "Oh hey, you're not dead! How 'bout that."

Espio shot both grappling hooks at Alastair and pulled him toward the dirt hill. As they tumbled down, Manic conjured a jade shield while Shadow fired chaos blasts from above. The bullets flew but did nothing to the trio, and both hedgehogs tore through the first wave. Rouge picked up the rifles that were dropped and fired from her spot.

The chameleon disarmed Al, cut into his armour with the razor hooks and knocked him down, then got full mount. "You're going to tell me what you did to Vector."

"He was the one called Simmons, right?" Alastair asked while trying to push Espio back. "…Nero had his boys lay into him for awhile, then I sent him to the scrap lab."

"What is that?"

Espio was knocked back and both jumped to their feet. "…Robotnik had many facilities around the globe set up, and we put this one to good use. Your buddy is nothing but bolts and wires by now."

The giant fired a fifteen-round capacity sidearm so Espio shielded his head and ran for cover. He counted how many shots Al fired before running at a wall, springing off and kicking him in the throat. Alastair choked for air but blocked the barrage and fought back. Each took a turn bouncing off the walls and ducking under follow up shots.

Above them, Rouge could feel the ground rumble after every punch which was a testament to how much power each blow had. She wanted to break off and engage Bloodmoon but there were still many Chambers' gunmen surrounding them, so she stayed inside Manic's shield for the time being.

Eventually, Espio's hooks tore through Al's suit and blood spilled as the giant fell to one knee. Gaspar kept a fist raised but let his foe speak before he ended the fight.

"Did you believe it'd only be us waiting for you here?"

Very loud rumbling was heard so Espio used his HUD to scan the courtyard. Massive Swatbots branded with The Chambers emblem flew in from a gunship high above the trio. Along with the gatling gun-wielding machines, Slayton watched from the ship as his fleet of shooters entered the battlefield. Manic and Rouge were surprised by the sheer number of killers approaching, while Shadow merely scoffed and clenched two chaos emeralds.

"You can't hold them off forever, deadman. Nero will never stop.. You've only brought more friends here to die alongside you."

While he was one emerald short to turn super, Shadow had enough chaos energy to engage the endless hordes.

"Shield your eyes." He advised.

Manic covered Rouge and heeded the advice given. Redd flew toward the black hedgehog but was too late to stop him from unleashing a tidal wave of energy. The jade shield struggled to stay up and Manic screamed out. The crimson hedgehog flew backward and every Swatbot was knocked down. Some were destroyed but others continued to whirl around.

The LED lights of Espio's metallic helmet glared at Alastair as the tunnel collapsed on them both. Slayton gasped at the carnage unfolding on the ground. He watched other gunships explode and crash into nearby high rises, gunmen catching fire and smoke stain the once blue sky. He grabbed his radio and called his daughter's name but heard nothing.

Redd groaned as she crawled from under a destroyed Swatbot, then a hand grabbed her jacket from behind and flung her across the courtyard. She bounced off a brick wall and landed on her stomach.

Shadow sat her up and swiped the final emerald out of her hand. "You took credit for murdering me-"

He dug his fingers in between her left wrist and the first power ring, then pried it off.

"And you didn't even confirm the kill."

She grasped his hand before he could take the second ring off. "I PUT YOU THROUGH THE PISTON! HOW DID YOU SURVIVE?!"

Shadow's response was pulling away and illuminating his fist with gold energy. Redd's heart began pounding once the realization that this was the end set in,

then Warwick's squad arrived on scene.

Starr pulled Shadow away from the crimson hedgehog with her telekinesis. "That's enough. Leave her alone."

Shadow let out a low growl and turned his head so he could look Starr in the eyes. This allowed Redd to jump up and flee the all powerful hedgehog. She and Starr met eyes for a moment, then Redd was gone.

"Our objective is Gaspar, nothing more." Starr reminded her crew through a comm. "Take him and leave the rest to whatever the hell this is."

Jet, Storm and Wave zoomed past them on their hoverboards and began to search.

Shadow broke free from her grasp. "You will not touch that chameleon."

"You don't owe him anything, so stay out of this."

Shadow's black fur turned gold before her eyes and he slipped the power ring on. "I'm giving you one chance."

"We're not the bad guys, alright, there's no need for us to fight."

"Then leave."

"Not without him."

As the Rogues pushed through the bodies and twisted metal, Shadow fired warning blasts toward them which forced the trio to duck behind cover.

Rouge and Manic crawled over unconscious gunmen not far from them, and loud thudding got the bat's attention.

"Where are you going?" Manic whispered.

Rouge ignored him and crawled to a downed Swatbot, the source of the banging. She used a lock pick to open the chest compartment and was shocked to find the unfortunate victim still breathing.

"Please, lady-"

"Jesus Christ! He's alive!"

Manic opened up two more machines. "…they all are!.."

One by one, they hatched each shell and allowed the victims to breathe in fresh air. Starr and the Rogues looked on, then made calls back to HQ about the development.

The final machine shell was opened and Rouge was shocked at who was inside.

"VECTOR!"

The crocodile was in far worse condition than anyone else. He gasped for air but wasn't breathing properly, so she helped him as much as she could.

A pile of sand and metal began moving and eventually Espio's hand got through. He pulled himself out of the ruble and lowered his helmet, then Rouge called him over. Immediately, he knew his best friend was there but he needed to hurry if he wanted to save his life.

The chameleon ran over, reached into a pouch and loaded a cartridge into a needle. Rouge winced when he plunged the point into the crocodile's chest. Within ten seconds, Vector was stabilized and Espio sighed while his HUD checked his vitals.

CONDITION: STABLE

MEDICAL ATTENTION REQUIRED IMMEDIATELY

"You did it!" Rouge said.

Espio looked into Vector's blackened eyes. "Today is not the day you will die, my brother."

He felt the crocodile squeeze his hand slightly, to let him know he could hear his words.

The moment was soured when an electric tether wrapped tightly around Espio's torso and arms, then began electrocuting him. His suit worked to keep him conscious and endure the voltage.

"What are you doing?! Let him go!"

Wave pulled Rouge away while Jet held the charge on the tether. Espio roared out as he tried standing up. Storm fired another tether and this put him face down in the sand. Shadow didn't want to take his attention off Starr, but finally turned to help his ally. Starr used all of her energy to take him into the sky and far from her partners so they could load up their captive.

"Manic, help him!"

The green hedgehog struggled to get up and once he was upright, Wave knocked him across the courtyard by smashing the tail end of her hoverboard into him.

"I'm sorry," she said to Rouge. "But this is our one chance to mend the truce he broke."

Jet attached the tether to his board, while Storm picked up Vector and flew off first. Wave attached the second, but both were suddenly knocked off their boards.

"Psycho Holiday" by Pantera increased in volume as an armoured car approached.

Bark leaned out the passenger side window and fired rubber non lethal bullets at the Rogues. His girlfriend Nina drove the modified Ford GT and B.B blared his music through the stereo.

Manic heard the music and made his way back to the group. "You guys should know by now, I don't cooperate with authority."

He cut the tethers with his jade energy and Rouge ran over to untie Espio. She received a few shocks but eventually got him loose and helped him to his feet. Jet and Wave glared at Espio intently and he ignored them.

Manic turned to the couple. "This is the part where you get outta here! Go!"

Espio injected a cartridge into his bloodstream and felt the adrenaline kick in, then took Rouge by the waist and fired the first grappling hook. Manic chuckled when he opened the backseat of the car and sat inside.

"I don't know about you, but I'm beat." He said. "…the show ain't over just yet. Are you guys gonna stick around for the big finale?"

"You know everything that happens here will get back to Warwick." Wave said.

"You guys can execute Nero and Slayton now, but you'll have to answer for this one way or another!"

"Me and goldie have a different arrangement going on, I'll have you know. So, run back to your papi and tell him whatever cooked up story you're gonna spin."

The Rogues jumped on their boards and flew off into the yellow, smog filled sky. Bark handed Manic a canned mixed drink and everyone watched Starr and Shadow's silhouettes fire energy from the atmosphere.

It didn't take Espio long to get back to the underground bunker and this time, he was relatively unharmed. He lowered the helmet and Rouge followed him to the common area.

"I knew it. I'd held out hope he was alive, and look at that. I saved him!" Espio exclaimed, genuinely happy at this outcome.

"Look at you, I think that's a smile I see." Rouge said while grasping his shoulder.

He couldn't contain his excitement. "This should change everything. Warwick can get a warrant to seize all tapes they have on their robotization labs, I can take the stand with Vector and flush Nero out of power!… it's gotta be the end of it. Has to be. God, I've got so much built up energy right now, I need to keep moving."

As he paced around the common area, Rouge put a hand on his chest. "I know one way you can use that build up."

He got the hint right away and made the first move. His armour powered down while passionately kissing her and slowly moving down to the bed. The release was not only welcome, but needed for both.

Espio would never forget this day, as the events served to inspire him to keep going.