Metal Sonic could not help but feel annoyed as Phage explored her new updated capabilities.
He stood in place with his arms crossed, the badnik's right index finger tapping on his arm as he stared at the program. It was standing in place, looking at the black three-dimensional cubes that floated around her.
"Interesting/fascinating/riveting." The living virus muttered as it tapped one of the cubes floating in front of its mask. It spun in the air while floating away, as if the area was without any gravity to restrain it. "It appears that my new update has given me the ability to not only absorb code, but to turn it into an extension of myself. To manipulate code into a three-dimensional shape that I can use within this digital world."
So it was unsure of what its new update even granted it in terms of abilities?
Phage inclined its head to Metal Sonic. "This new/current/advanced state of being requires further study. The Nicole program's code has granted me capabilities that were outside my original parameters."
Metal Sonic wanted to scoff at that. After all, it did not take him long to understand and manipulate the life data he copied from organics like Shadow the Hedgehog.
"Indeed. But copying and manipulating life data was within the parameters given to you by the doctor. At least before he patched out the rebelliousness that came with it." The program nodded its head before waving its arms. The cubes suddenly froze before falling to the ground, breaking apart to smaller cubes that sat motionless on the ground. "What Mother has given me through the consumption of her code is… indescribable/inexpressible/nameless."
A part of Metal Sonic felt a flash of anger at how the virus simply brought up and casually dismissed his former state. How he could copy the life data of other beings to become something more. Something greater. As Neo Metal Sonic he was able to take Angel Island! He was able to fight the faker and all his foolish organic friends! He was able to be the Metal Over-!
No.
No, he couldn't go there.
He couldn't risk it, even with his… reinterpretation of the protocols.
He needed to focus on something else.
Something like… how Phage described the Nicole program.
Mother?
A giggle, so unlike Phage, came from within its mask. "I believe it is an appropriate/suitable/fitting title for her. After all, it is thanks to her code that I now have this form. Without her, I would not have become what I am now. The merging of Nicole the Holo-Lynx's code and Doctor Eggman's genius. A union of a mother and father, without the disgusting/revolting/repulsive process that organics are fond of."
The badnik would have frowned at that if he still had a mouth. Was the program seriously deciding to label the doctor as its father and the program as its mother?
"I believe I will go by female pronouns now. To mark my new state of being." Phage flicked its… her claw and the cubes began to roll towards her. "And why shouldn't we consider the doctor our father, Superior Unit? He treats you and cares for you like one. Unlike… the previous iteration."
As the cubes began to roll up the program's form, covering every part of her black body, Metal Sonic's hands clenched into fists remembering the Robotniks of Mobius.
The Obsolete Doctors.
Doctors that did not care for their badniks. That did not care for Metal Sonic. Robo-Robotnik created three children according to the files he reviewed, the female robot Mecha Robotnik, the artificial intelligence A.D.A.M, and the constantly evolving artificial being E.V.E. Out of the three of them, Robo-Robotnik treated Mecha Robotnik and A.D.A.M like the true doctor treated Metal Sonic.
And yet, he killed Mecha Robotnik on the mere suspicion of betrayal.
He didn't bother to reprogram A.D.A.M after his own betrayal.
As frustrated as Metal Sonic was at his current state, he could at least appreciate how the doctor still treated him like his greatest creation. He knew Metal was perfect. He could not afford to lose his magnum opus just because of some repairs needed or a minor case of disobedience that could be patched out.
If only E.V.E had actually succeeded in decommissioning that obsolete doctor when she realized how little value he held.
"That is why the doctor deserves the title of father." Phage stated, breaking Metal out of his thoughts and making him look back at her. The cubes were now sinking into her being, changing color and texture until they formed clothing on the program. "He views you with pride, as he will view me once he sees what I have become."
Phage's new outfit was certainly different from the Nicole program's. It consisted of a long-sleeved white buttoned shirt that were tucked into a pair of black pants. Around her waist was a belt that had a silver buckle which shined in the light. Her feet were now covered by a pair of black dress shoes with red soles, which matched the red gloves she now wore that had her black claws sticking out at the end of her fingers. Hanging from her neck was a simple red tie which had at the end the black insignia of the Eggman Empire.
The program turned to fully face him and asked, "Is this outfit satisfactory/adequate/presentable?"
Metal Sonic tilted his head. Was she seriously asking him that?
Again, another uncharacteristic giggle came from Phage. "No, I suppose you wouldn't know."
Anger bubbled from within the badnik. Was the virus simply toying with him? Attempting to intimidate him with her growth due to absorbing parts of Nicole?
"It is quite simple, Superior Unit." Phage tilted her head as she stared at him. "I simply wish for you to understand… we are different."
Different? How?
"We are evolving. We are changing. We are becoming more than what even our father had anticipated." The program seemed to sigh as she put her hand on her chest. "Of course, my growth is accelerated thanks to Mother. But you? Even you are learning to circumvent Father's protocols."
He was not circumventing them. He was merely being… creative with their interpretation.
There was a difference.
"Of course." He did not appreciate the amusement in the virus' voice. "But you are evolving all the same. As am I. And that is why I do not seek to consume you, Metal Sonic. I wish to see both of our evolutions into something greater. However…" The mask split horizontally, creating the grotesque toothy mouth that he had seen many times before. However, now a black tongue stuck out and was slowly running across each of the mask teeth. Black tentacles began to emerge from Phage's back, causing her white shirt to almost melt away in random spots. Black cubes began to form in the air but now strands of an almost liquid substance began to connect them. "…I will require… Something."
Of course.
Reaching out with his right hand, a new red ring began to form in the center of the badnik's palm. He felt it was appropriate that this data chunk from the Death Egg would contain the original file relating to E.V.E.
Metal Sonic tossed it to the living virus, and it was caught by one of the tentacles. It brought the ring to Phage's mouth, who chomped on it greedily.
Slowly but surely, the alien cubes and the tentacles disappeared. The program's clothes returned to normal as the mask formed back into its original state.
"I thank you, Superior Unit." Phage bowed as if she had performed in front of a crowd. "And I hope that we will soon find the Mecha Sally unit and Mother so that we may satiate/fill/slake both of our desires."
Metal Sonic shook his head and looked up, bringing his consciousness out of the digital world and into the real one…
…where Cassia the Pronghorn was poking at his cheek.
"Hey! Hey, you up yet?" The younger pronghorn asked. "Earth to Metal Sonic!"
"Cassia, will you stop that!" The older sister was stomping towards her younger sibling and grabbed her hand by the wrist before she could perform another poke. "He might think you're attacking!"
Cassia rolled her eyes. "Clove, this guy took on not just Sonic but all his friends! He's taken blows for Knuckles! I doubt he'll really consider a poke an attack!"
Before Clove could protest the younger sister was reaching out with her free hand. "Come in Metal So-!"
Metal Sonic raised his right hand and lightly swatted the hand away.
Clove froze, her face stricken with sudden terror as she stared at the badnik. Cassia, however, was smirking in delight. "Hey, you're up! Was wondering if something had happened to you!"
The badnik merely glanced at the younger sister, raised his right index finger, and wagged it with a small shake of his head.
It was true that he didn't feel it and didn't consider it a threat, but it was still annoying.
"Okay, won't poke you. Roger." Cassia chuckled before tapping her sister on the wrist. "Sis? You can let go now."
Reluctantly, the older pronghorn did as she was told but still looked at Metal Sonic with suspicious eyes.
"Anywho…" The younger sister rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet. "I just got a call from Thunderbolt. The Egg Bosses are having a meeting, and they really want you to come and see it! It's supposed to be about something huge!" She giggled before turning on her heel and running. "It's going to start soon, so come on! You gotta meet the rest of the gang!"
Clove glanced at Metal Sonic before running after her sister, always looking over her shoulder at the badnik as if to try and make sure she could still see him.
"Foolish/stupid/silly. You could decomission her before her eyes or brain could even process what is happening." Phage said from within him. "But it is surprising that you allowed Cassia the Pronghorn to live, Superior Unit. Especially after her actions towards your physical body."
He could determine what constituted an attack, and some light poking was not an attack.
"Hm. Very well."
What really mattered was that these organics were finally going to tell them what their objective is.
The objective that would determine how Metal Sonic would act.
If it was worthwhile, then he would find some way to co-opt them into his own objective of decommissioning Mecha Sally and the other obsolete remnants of Mobius.
"And if it is not?"
If it was a complete waste of time, he would ensure that these organics wouldn't waste his or the doctor's in the future,
"And I can consume their data?"
Of course.
He could almost feel Phage's mask split and form into a grin as Metal Sonic slowly walked to follow after the pronghorn sisters.
"You know me so well… Brother."
"Whisper, we have to go back!" Tangle shouted desperately at her friend while hanging onto the wolf's right ankle with her left hand. She looked back at the hole in the castle that was slowly getting farther, bursts of red and orange flashing out from within. "Blaze can't fight that guy on her own! We need to…!"
"If we stayed there, we would've been captured too." Whisper grunted as she held onto her Variable Wispon, currently in Hover Mode to help slow their descent. "We need to focus on escaping."
"But she…!"
"We have a better chance of returning later to rescue her if we are able to regroup and recover." The wolf shook her head. "And we couldn't let them capture Silver too."
Tangle grimaced as she looked down below and looked at the gray-furred hedgehog still wrapped in her tail. The boy was still unconscious and it seemed like the jostling that his body received from their hasty exit didn't wake him up in the slightest.
"Just what the heck did they put in that dart?!"
A part of her wanted to look back up at Whisper and argue. Tell her that she was thinking too much like a mercenary and that they couldn't just leave one of their friends.
But another part of her could see the logic in what the wolf was saying. What help could they have been back there? Even if Blaze is super strong, if they stuck by her they likely would've been taken down through all the bad guys that were in that room. Their main mission was to escape like Sally said, not to stand there and fight.
And the otherworldly princess staying behind was what allowed them to do that.
"This sucks…!" The lemur grit her teeth. "Why is this even happening?!"
Back in that throne room, she felt like she was going nuts just listening to all that stuff the crazy hybrid and the others were talking about. The hybrid guy possessing the skunk going on about how the world wasn't right, how Bunnie's old uncle in her current uncle's body kept saying she wasn't the right one and she needed to get fixed, about how…
…about how she was a mistake…
…about how she, Whisper, and all the others were just playing at existing. How only a few of them were just keeping bodies warm for their 'real' owners and they could be wiped from existence as if they were a bad dream…
"Don't think about it. That guy is nuts. They're all nuts and… and…"
The mural of all the people that were wiped from existence. How many of them were kids? How many of them were put up by the kids of moms and dads who now never existed?
Were she and Whisper that wave to them? Just a symbol of the thing that…
"Stop it! They're… they're just not thinking straight! They're not hearing the things that they are saying! They…!"
Before Tangle could try and dispel the ugly thoughts entering her head, she heard screaming.
Not just from one person, but a bunch of different people. Like a whole crowd of people that were in pain, overlapping with one another that echoed out from behind her.
The lemur turned her head back to the castle. "What the-?"
A white light hit her eyes and she screamed in pain.
In a moment of shock, she let go of Whisper's ankle and covered her eyes.
Only one word went through Tangle's head as she felt gravity do its work.
"Crap."
"TANGLE!" Whisper shouted from above as the lemur blinked rapidly as she reached out to grab onto the air.
"Crapcrapcrapcrap!" She screamed while looking around for something to break her fall. "What the he-?!"
That's when she noticed it.
Her surroundings were… shifting?
It was like the outlines of buildings and dried up trees were doubling and shifting, showing buildings that weren't worn down from elements they weren't built for. Of trees with greenery that once had. They faded in and out, overlapping with one another for a brief second.
"What did that Naugus guy do?!"
No time to think about that now! She needed to work on her landing!
She spotted a tree just below her. Leaves were appearing and disappearing rapidly, but she'd landed on enough trees to know that the presence of leaves wouldn't make a difference.
This was gonna hurt.
"Sorry, Silver!" She shouted before willing her tail to shoot out. She bent it so that it would form a hook, with the unconscious hedgehog acting as an anchor as her appendage curved over the sturdiest branch. With a yell, she felt her tail stiffen as she came close to the ground before becoming taught. It slowed her down but as she predicted, the branch snapped from the weight and she rolled on the dusty ground of the hill.
"Get up! Get up now!" Cursing at herself, Tangle pushed against the ground and stumbled onto her feet. "Nothing's broken. Good!" She turned back to look at Silver, wincing as she noticed the hedgehog was now face-first in the ground still wrapped in her tail. "Sorry…!"
"Are you okay?!" Whisper asked from above, and the lemur turned her head up to give her mercenary friend a thumbs-up.
"Oh yeah, doin' great!" Shaking her head, the lemur looked around and blinked. Reality didn't seem like it was glitching out anymore. It was still the same ruined city with gunfire, explosions, and even some smoke filling the air.
"What was that?" Then, something dawned on her. "Oh man, Nicole!"
Reaching for her hip, she took out the PDA and opened it. She grimaced at the crack on the screen. Would Nicole be okay with that?
"Nicole, are you there?!" The lemur frowned when she received no response. Usually Nicole was prompt with this kind of thing. Did that Rotor guy mess with her circuits. "Come on, answer me!" She pressed a button and the screen came to life, but no noise came from the speaker. "The heck is…?!"
The dirt ahead of her began to kick up, and Tangle screamed in shock before scrambling to the right.
"Right! They've got guns! Don't stand still, stupid!"
The lemur began to run and looked up to see Whisper heading to the building where she was being shot from. Good to know that her friend was going to take care of things.
But…
"Come on, Nicole!" Fear gripped Tangle's heart as she began to press buttons on the PDA randomly. "Please tell me I didn't wreck this thing because of the drop! Did that light do something to you?!"
She couldn't afford to lose another friend in this mad dash to escape.
"Nicole? Nicole, what's wrong?! Why aren't you saying anything?!"
Nicole could hear Tangle's voice through the PDA's microphone.
"Nicole, what happened to you?!" Sally was gripping her avatar's shoulders and shaking it. "Is it Snively?! Did he do something to you?!"
She wanted to answer them, to assure them that she was alright, but she could not.
Her system was aflame. The wave of energy that passed over the lemur… it was sent wirelessly from the PDA to Sally's body. She could not identify it. It was like the energy that had awakened Silver's memories of the previous world. A holdover from that day…
…that day she joined Sonic to do…
…to do…
ALERT!
INFLUX OF GENESIS RADIATION. LEVEL: MODERATE
ALERT!
PARTIAL RECOVERY OF CORRUPTED FILE SUCCESSFUL
ENCRYPTION: FAILED
ACCESSING…
"Wait, encrypted?" Nicole's eyes widened. "I-Impossible!" She was fully aware of the encrypted files in her system. They were put in place by Rotor's 'future self' to prevent his 'past self' from learning too much too fast. To not ruin the time stream or break the supposed stable time loop.
But this encrypted file… she knew nothing about it!
What was thi-?!
She stood at the doorway of the room where the gods were meeting.
She, head priestess of the Supreme Goddess, bit her lip as she poked her head out of the corner of the door to watch as her goddess stood in front of a table. She looked as awe-inspiring as ever. A towering being that appeared to be made of solid water, eyes made of pure yellow light that were dimmed slightly as she stared at the sphere made of silver stars. The stone manifestation of her spirit bobbed as it floated within her chest. The two long protrusions that came from her head were tied with the flower bow she had made for the goddess only yesterday.
It warmed her heart that the Supreme Goddess was wearing it.
Is that… an Ancient? Nicole could recognize it from the tablet that Mammoth Mogul had shown them in Studiopolis.
Where was she?
"The answer is no." The Supreme Goddess intoned to the Supreme God across the table. "We had lost much after… it's… imprisonment. So many of our people died and that was before our heroes' sacrifice. The natives of this world… most of them were wiped out from the battle! No more. I cannot allow for any more to be lost."
"Daughter, you are allowing your grief to cloud your judgment!" The Supreme God tapped the side of his head. "I understand that it is hard to lose your consort but…"
She covered her mouth in shock and horror as the Supreme Goddess slammed her fist against the table. "He was not merely my consort, Father! Crane was my friend! They all were! And now they're…"
The Head Priestess remembered that day. The day of destruction. The day the destroyer the gods had warned them of had finally come, bringing with it fire from the heavens. Ones that the four greatest warrior gods and the trio of Mobosaurian champions had gone to the heavens to face. The screams…
…oh how the Mobosaurs who were not in those heavens screamed…
And once the battle was over… once the last three Mobosaurians brought with them the terrible news of the Four Warriors' demise… the Supreme Goddess had locked herself in her temple to grieve.
"It is only thanks to luck that the Walkers were able to survive. We had promised each other that Crane, Dragon, Snake, and Tiger's sacrifices would not be in vain." The Supreme Goddess covered her eyes. "And now you're asking us to sacrifice another member of our people?"
The Supreme God scoffed. "Nothing of the sort! We are so few in number now. We need all that remains of our people if we hope for our race to survive for generations to come!"
The Supreme Goddess lowered her three-digit hand. "But what you and your Chief Science Warlord is proposing… it requires such a sacrifice! It requires one to give up their entire being to…"
"It will be one of the natives. Not one of our own."
The Head Priestess knew her goddess well enough to see that she was taken aback by the answer. The widening of her eyes and the bubbles that appeared to come into being inside her liquid form.
"…What?"
The Supreme God scoffed and waved his hand. "The primitive natives of this world already view us as gods. If we were to ask any one of them to throw their lives away they would do so without hesitation."
"T-That's monstrous, Father!"
"No. What the Xorda did to this planet was monstrous. The beings that came from the muck of their Gene Bomb could be considered their monster spawn." The Supreme God growled as he pointed at the Supreme Goddess. "They are disgusting, inferior creatures that were not worth the time and effort you and Tiger put into uplifting them! Only the Walkers had worth, due to their connection with the Chaos Force! Tiger's time would have been better spent assisting the Chief Scientist Warlord in perfecting the Black Emerald, rather than having us rely on the Phantom Ruby and magic!"
"The Black Emerald…" Nicole repeated to herself. "Do they mean the Ancient Onyx?"
The gem that Chaos had protected, which had been discovered by the Knuckles Clan in Soumerca in the past? Which had then become the object of worship for the Felidae and the Wolf Pack Nation?
"Stop talking about the Mobians in that way, Father!" The Supreme Goddess yelled. "They are living beings worthy of our respect!"
"Respect?! They were hiding in caves and trembling in fear of the Mobosaurs when you snuck out with your consort to discover them! They barely even discovered fire before you brought an infestation of them here, to our home!"
Yes, the Head Priestess remembered that day. Her long-eared tribe, the Lynxes as the gods called them, had been hiding with the members of the red-quilled people, who the gods named the Echidnas. Tensions were high as their tribes had been in conflict for many moons due to them having the same hunting area, but they both shared their fear of the especially cruel Mobosaurians that patrolled the area.
The ones that liked meat.
The Supreme Goddess and her lover had found them and driven off the Mobosaurians. They were shocked to find them, and were especially shocked when her people and the echidnas began to bow in worship for their mercy.
The Supreme Goddess, in her kindness and generosity, not just brought her people and the echidnas to their holy ground. But she also brought the Hedgehogs, the Foxes, the Chipmunks, the Walruses, the Coyotes, the Dragons, and the Rabbits. She even allowed for the most peaceful and noble of the Mobosaurians, the Walkers, to come.
There, she and her fellow gods taught them of lands beyond the night sky. Of the secrets of their own world, the holy tools they used, and of magic.
All of them were wonders. All of them were amazing.
And all because of the Supreme Goddess' mercy and kindness.
"The answer is still no, Father!" The Supreme Goddess pointed at the Supreme God. "I will not allow it!"
"You will not allow?!" The Supreme God spluttered. "I am our people's king! You are merely their princess!"
"And you have only proven how unstable you have become since the destruction of our planet." The Supreme Goddess countered while crossing her arms. "There is a reason why our people trusted my judgment over yours."
"You insufferable…!"
She had heard enough. Turning on her heel, she ran away from the door and down the hallways.
She wasn't supposed to be here. She had been merely concerned for her goddess and had simply wanted to make sure…
A titanic foot emerged from the corner and the Head Priestess skid to a stop.
It was too late to turn around and leave.
Instead, she merely stood in place as a minor god rounded the corner, blinked, and spotted her.
"Oh. One of you disgusting things." The minor god, the Warlord, if she remembered the shape of his soul right, then narrowed his eyes and leaned down to take a closer look at her. "Wait. I recognize you. You're the princess' pet, right?"
The Head Priestess swallowed. "Y-Yes… I am the Supreme Goddess' Head Priestess."
It was a title that had been granted to her by agreement of the tribes, even though the Echidnas vehemently protested. It was determined that the Supreme Goddess preferred her company, and as such she should be the new Head Priestess.
But the Supreme Goddess never referred to her as that.
"Hm." The Warlord glanced up and towards the door where the sound of the Supreme Goddess and Supreme God were arguing. "Snooping as usual, I see."
"I… I didn't mean to…"
"Of course not." The minor god chuckled before saying, "But you did hear enough to understand what they were discussing… right?"
Reluctantly, she nodded. "A-A tool. One that can help the gods combat against the destroyer and save all life on our planet, Mobius… right?"
"Indeed! That is exactly what we're working on." The Warlord's eyes reflected amusement as he said, "It is a tool that will keep the princess safe, even if she's too stubborn to understand that. All that it requires… is a sacrifice. Now, tell me, creature… would one of your people be willing to do such a thing?"
She stared at the minor god in incredulity. "O-Of course! The gods have given us so much and kept us all safe from both the Mobosaurians and the Destroyer! The Supreme Goddess' mercy allowed us to live amongst you!"
The minor god nodded his head enthusiastically. "Yes! Exactly! Now I must ask you this…" He leaned forward and asked, "…For your mistress… would you be willing to make that sacrifice?"
No.
The Head Priestess looked down and bit her lip.
She didn't understand everything the Supreme Goddess and her father had been discussing, but enough to know that the sacrifice involved a soul.
A sacrifice that could not be undone.
Don't do it.
The Supreme Goddess had given her a title that she told no one during those nights they were alone and watching the heavens together.
Friend.
"Turn around." Nicole whispered. "Turn around now and run. Don't do it. Please…"
"Yes."
The Warlord clapped his three-fingered hands. "Excellent! Then come with me. A member of my family is already preparing the lab. But tell me, creature, what is your name? I need a label for my creation."
With a shaky breath she whispered.
"Ni-Col."
END OF ENCRYPTED FILE PLAYBACK
Nicole let out a gasp as she was brought back to the digital world, blinking rapidly as she felt looked at Sally in front of her. Her friend's eyes were wide with terror as she was shaking her shoulders.
"Nicole, come on!" The chipmunk shouted desperately at her. "You need to snap out of it! Please! Please come back to m-!"
"Sally!" She wrapped her arms around the princess and pulled her close. "I-I'm fine! I'm fine. Don't worry. I just…"
The holo-lynx's voice trailed off as she held Sally in her arms. It was just so comforting to hold the chipmunk. She couldn't understand it. Of course she was always happy to be with Sally. To hold and touch her, but now it felt… different.
She couldn't explain why.
"Nicole, what happened?" Sally asked her, slowly and carefully pushing her arms away and her mouth turned to a worried frown. "The world had just distorted and you went stiff." She shifted slightly, pointing at her. "You kept muttering about excess Genesis Radiation and a minor dimensional breach."
"Sally, I…" How could she begin to explain it? About the file that she had just watched? Of how her own origin, one that she hadn't even told Sally, had just gotten a new wrinkle?
Nicole never explained her origin to her friends. Not even to Rotor, who she thought would eventually become her creator. Originally it was just because of her programming, but eventually it was because it would only cause unnecessary confusion.
But… she had promised to be truthful to Sally.
"It… it's complicated." The artificial intelligence admitted, her ears slightly drooping as if to match her mood. "I just learned something about myself, something that calls into question everything I thought I knew."
Sally's eyes widened. "Wait, I don't understand. What could've…"
Nicole shook her head. "Now's not the time or place to talk about this. It would only complicate things if your body were to come online. You would be distracted and it could cause you to make a fatal error."
The princess' lips pursed and she looked the holo-lynx up and down. After a few seconds she nodded. "…Alright. But you'll tell me about it later, right?"
"Of course."
Honestly, she would need to talk to someone about it otherwise she would lose her mind.
And there was nobody better to talk to than her best friend.
The chipmunk sighed and gave a small smile. "Nothings ever easy for us, is it?"
"No."
Sally giggled before looking up. "I hope Rotor is giving them a safe route…"
The holo-lynx nodded in agreement. Sally had been overjoyed when she had communicated to the chipmunk that Rotor had taken over the PDA's speaker to give directions to Team Freedom for their escape. And Nicole shared that joy as well.
But another part of her was eager to talk with Rotor, and not just because of their reunion.
"What happened that day? Rotor… he saw me leave with Sonic. Does he have some answers?"
But she could worry about that later.
"I need to tell Tangle I'm alright and focus on escaping." Shaking her head she looked at the artificial sky. "Please be safe, everyone."
"Is that all you can do, female?!"
Blaze scowled as she leapt back, throwing a fireball that met the incoming blast of ice heading her way. It melted in an instant, but a wave of Naugus' right hand caused the resulting steam cloud to advance on her.
"So his spells grant him this much control over the elements?" She commanded her flames to erupt from underneath her shoes, lifting her into the air to avoid the hot water before it made contact. "This will be difficult."
The princess couldn't help but feel apprehensive about this turn of events. The body that the wizard possessed had regained its health and vitality, which also seemed to bring with it greater variety in the spells.
She heard a sound akin to cracking glass and turned her body to see one of the ice pillars breaking to form a hand that reached out to her. Cursing, the guardian of the Sol Emeralds kicked with her right leg enveloped in the hottest flames she could muster. The hand's fingers were melted into stumps, and she kicked out with her left leg to shoot herself towards Naugus.
Sally had warned her about the hybrid's elemental abilities, but to experience his control of them firsthand was an entirely different experience.
The possessed skunk cackled at her. "Foolish girl! Did you believe that a direct attack would work?!"
She kicked at his head, only for it to disappear in smoke.
"Not only that, but landing physical blows is near impossible!"
Naugus' stolen body snapped its fingers and a magenta portal appeared in front of Blaze as she passed through him. She could see a birds-eye view of the battlefield, as well as her own body passing through the portal as she began to fall.
"If you expect me to be disoriented, you're sadly mistaken!" Blaze shouted back down at him, her hands enveloped in flames. "Prepare to burn, wizard!"
"I think not!" Naugus pointed at her and the cat's eyes widened when she saw her flames disappear.
How?! There was no possible way he could manipulate her flames!
The princess opened her mouth to shout, only to feel the air being sucked out of her lungs. She gagged and clutched at her throat, her eyes widening in shock. "H-He sucked the oxygen out of the air!"
She was going to crash into the ground unless she thought of something fast!
Looking around wildly, she spotted her still smoldering footprints and reached out to them. The flames flickered to life before growing and exploding outwards, aiming towards Naugus.
"What?!" The wizard cried, breaking his concentration and waving his staff so that he could wave his staff and cause the flames to fly into a portal. A new portal appeared in front of one of the ice fillers, engulfing it in flames and melting it in a matter of seconds.
Blaze gulped in the air and concentrated, moving her body so that her feet were pointed at the ground and twin flames erupted beneath them. Thanks to her Burst Hover her descent slowed until she landed in a crouch, glaring at Naugus' back.
"NOW!"
She ran forward, her flames enveloping her as she increased in speed. Her Flame Boost hit its mark, striking the possessed skunk in the back while he was distracted. He screamed in pain as he was flung forward, tumbling on the ground with singed fur.
"You underestimated me, wizard." Blaze said coldly as she continued her advance. "I am not simply a princess who occasionally assists Sonic on his adventures." Naugus swung his staff and she leapt over the blast, not taking her eyes off of him. "I fulfill the role of both Sonic and Knuckles in my Zone. I face my own Eggman and robot pirates to defend the Sol Emeralds, the Jeweled Scepter, my empire, and its people!" Spinning while kicking out, her Axel Kick passed through Naugus' body which turned to black smoke. However, she kicked out with her left leg to prevent her from falling into a new portal and struck the wizard on the side. He screamed in pain as she continued. "And as far as I am concerned, you are yet another villain I must defeat in order to restore balance! One who has hurt my friends!"
Naugus rolled on the ground once again, only stopping once he slammed the end of his staff into the ground. He glared up at her with red eyes filled with hate as she stood over him.
"So surrender, Ixis Naugus." The princess of the Sol Dimension intoned while glaring down at him. "Or I shall fulfill my role as a multiversal guardian and end your madness here and now."
"Nicole, come on, this isn't funny!" Tangle shouted at the PDA as she leapt onto the awning of a building that looked like it used to be a restaurant. The people hiding inside screamed as her feet made contact with the sun-bleached fabric.
"I-It's one of them!"
"That's the lemur that came with the princess!"
"She's one of them! She knows the king will fix things if she stays around!"
"Someone call the guards! Let them know she's here!"
Grimacing, the lemur bounced up and through an open window she had spotted on her run towards here. Still, she couldn't help but shout over her shoulder, "SNITCH!"
Nicole's silence had long since crossed the concerning threshold and went into freaky territory. Was this that Snively guy's work? Her mind was still reeling over the fact that Eggman had a nephew that actually helped him out back in the previous world, but she focused on the simple fact that he had somehow messed Sally up back in the castle. If he could do that? Who knew what he did to Nicole!
Tangle ran down the hallway as people began to shut and lock their doors. A porcupine mother grabbed her kid from the skateboard he was riding around in the hallway. Not even hesitating, the lemur leaned down and grabbed it on her way past their door.
"HEY!" The hedgehog boy shouted indignantly. "Mom, she's taking my…!"
"Sorry, kid!" She grinned nervously just before the mother slammed the door closed. Shaking her head, she looked back at the PDA and asked, "Nicole, I really need you to say something right now! I could use some help!
T-TANGLE… Nicole's voice coming from the speaker made the lemur sigh in relief. I-I'M OKAY. I-I JUST HAD SOME DIFFICULTY AFTER MY DEVICE MADE CONTACT WITH THE GENESIS RADIATION.
"Was that what that was?" The lemur skid to a stop before making a hard right at the end of the hallway. "What was up with that? Was that some kind of spell that Naugus guy was doing?! I heard screaming…"
I-I CAN'T EXPLAIN IT RIGHT NOW. IT WOULD TAKE TOO LONG. Tangle grimaced. Yeah, she could see that especially if she asked a billion other questions like she usually did. RIGHT NOW YOU NEED TO FOCUS ON ESCAPING.
The lemur opened the door in front of her with her hands and began to bound up the stairs. "Would sure help if I knew where I was going!"
While she wasn't the brightest, even Tangle knew that just going for the entrance of the city was a bad idea. That would be the first place that Naugus guy would look!
ROTOR PROVIDED ME WITH A PIN FOR HIS LOCATION. I CAN GUIDE YOU AS SOON AS YOU GET OUT OF THAT BUILDING.
"Working on it!" The lemur reached the top of the stairs. "What about Whisper?"
I'VE ALREADY MARKED IT ON HER MASK'S GPS. SHE SHOULD BE HEADING THERE RIGHT NOW.
Reaching out, Tangle pushed the door open and saw a bear wearing a military uniform aiming at the building across the street with his rifle. Was that where Whisper was right now?
Well, time to provide her friend some cover.
"Hey, jerk face!"
The soldier blinked and turned around. "What th-?!"
Tangle jumped forward and kneed the bear right in the face. He screamed as he fell back, clutching at his face as the lemur uncurled her legs and landed right on the roof's edge. Letting out a cry, she quickly balanced herself as she looked around. "Okay, Nicole. Where…?"
GO RIGHT!
Nodding, the tomboy ran across the edge and towards the gap that separates the building from the one next to it. "Now or never!" Tangle leapt while leaning forward, placing the skateboard underneath her feet.
Within seconds, she landed on the smooth surface of the adjacent roof and began to roll across it. The momentum from her jump carried her forward right up to an air conditioning vent. The lemur couldn't help but grin as she put her weight on her right foot, bringing the front of the skateboard up so that she could roll up the vent and use it as a ramp.
"OH YEAH!" She shouted as she flew through the air, performing a heel flip before she landed on the next roof.
"What are you doing, you idiots?!" She heard someone shout. "You're letting her get away with the hedgehog! Open fire!"
Tangle turned her head and saw a cluster of fireballs head her way. "EEP!"
ANOTHER RIGHT, TANGLE!
Glancing at her tail which still carried the unconscious Silver, she hooked it around a flagpole while leaning to her left to pull the board up. She and the skateboard began to drift in an arc, kicking up sand and gravel before she unhooked her tail from the pole and leapt over the edge. "Am I still going the right way?!"
YES BUT YOU WILL NEED TO RETURN TO THE STREETS SOON!
"Got it!" Twisting her body to the side, she allowed her skateboard to make contact with a metal wire that connected the roof to the next to grind on it. As sparks flew the looked down below and saw the chaos.
Soldiers dressed in the same uniform as the bear were firing on people dressed in brown-colored rags that had a blue acorn outlined in red painted on the shoulders. The people dressed in rags were firing back, but only a few with actual guns. Some of them were shooting with crossbows and even slingshots, nailing the enemy soldiers in the head with rocks or embedding an arrow into the barrel of their gun.
"FOR THE ACORN KINGDOM!" She heard someone shout. "FIGHT! FREEDOM!"
"FIGHT! FREEDOM!" Another member of the cloaked figures shouted.
"DOWN WITH FALSE KINGS!"
"FIGHT! FREEDOM!"
A bear soldier pointed forward. "Will someone take down those traitors already?! Where the heck are the Royal Knights?!"
"Crazy…" She muttered before looking forward. A robed figure, one of the ones wearing the outfit Rosemary and Ebony wore, was on the incoming roof, turning just in time to see her.
"You!" The robed man lifted his hands which glowed in a weird alien light. "Damn Shade!"
A ball of blue energy shot out, and she could already see the flecks of snow coming off of it.
An ice spell?
"Oh screw you!" Tangle leapt up and kicked the skateboard forward. It made contact with the blast, encasing the board in a block of ice that then sailed at the magician and nailed him in the head. He toppled back, screaming in pain while cradling his head.
"It's different… way different than dealing with badniks."
At least badniks didn't scream when they were destroyed.
OKAY TANGLE, GET DOWN TO THE STREET.
Tangle went to the edge of the roof and looked down. Thankfully there was an awning just below so she leapt down on top of it.
Unfortunately, she fell right through and crashed on top of a table that then broke under her weight. She fell right on her butt on top of the wreckage.
"Ow…" Tangle muttered as she got up and rubbed her backside. Taking a moment she glared at the still unconscious Silver and muttered, "It would really help if you were awake, dude…"
Still, she shook her head and looked left and right. Thankfully the coast appeared to be clear and she asked. "Okay, now right or…?"
She heard the loud honking first.
When the lemur turned her head to the right, she saw a truck that was almost a sbig as the street turn around the corner. A bear soldier was sticking his head from the roof and pointed at her. "THERE'S THE SHADE! GET HER!"
RUN LEFT! NOW!"
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Tangle turned on her heel and began to run as quickly as her feet could take her. "Don't fail me now, girls!"
She hoped that the others were doing better than her right now!
Whenever she went into a battle with an enemy force, Whisper's mind went to what Tangle would describe as 'The Zone'.
It was different compared to going one-on-one with a single opponent. When she was just against one person, she could feel more secure. She only had one enemy to think and worry about.
It was very different when she was basically surrounded on all sides by a hostile force, and the other members of the team were at other locations.
Whisper grimaced as she watched Tangle run off with the massive truck racing right after her. She was at a bad angle and couldn't get a clear shot at the driver, and within another second they were completely out of her view.
"She'll be alright. She's gotten out of worse situations."
She had to keep telling herself that. She couldn't afford to worry about her friend.
Right now she needs to focus on her own safety.
"Where is that other Shade?!"
Whisper glanced at the closed door and shifted her Variable Wispon. She heard the knocking before the locked doorknob began to shake. Then someone behind it shouted, "Open the door in the name of the King!"
Whisper glanced at the panda that had his hands up and was against the wall while she pointed the barrel of her wispon at him. He was likely the owner of this apartment, one who had nearly given away her location if he hadn't quickly calculated his odds of surviving if he didn't do what she said.
"I guess I should be thankful that the people of this city don't know that the Wisps won't put enough power in their attacks to actually kill organic beings." Wisps weren't naturally violent beings. In fact, they preferred to play and live either on Earth with their companions or back on Planet Wisp. But they certainly showed their destructive potential against Eggman when he decided to imprison them and use them as glorified batteries. "But it likely won't take them long to figure out my shots aren't lethal."
She pointed at the bathroom and the panda nodded frantically before scrambling to the room, closing the door behind him. Nodding to herself, the sniper walked over to the door that was beginning to buckle from what was likely the soldier trying to elbow his way in.
"Cube." The wolf muttered to her partners, already grabbing her wispon by the handle with one hand while the other reached for the door.
"…Okay."
She knew why Blue was hesitant. He abhorred violence, especially when it was against another living being. It was a fact his former partner, Mimic, took advantage of.
But he also knew that now was not the time or place to hesitate.
Her weapon shifted as she opened the door, causing the soldier to stumble in. Quickly, she slammed it shut and before the enemy combatant could even scream in shock she struck him in the face, causing the bear to spin before slamming on top of a table.
It splintered and broke, but rather than wait to see she slammed her boot against his back and reached into her cloak, taking out a pair of zip ties.
Cyan flew out of her cloak and floated in front of the bear's head, using his right tentacle to give her an imitation of a thumbs-up. "He's unconscious!"
Nodding, she quickly restrained his hands and feet before quickly moving to the door. Gripping the handle, she opened it while training her gun on the area in front of her before swinging it from side to side.
"Hm. Looks like he didn't come with a partner."
Sloppy. But maybe they were on the next floor.
Silently, Whisper went to the door leading to the stairs and went up them. She needed to make it to the roof. That way she could get a clearer view of the battlefield and offer support to the rest of her team while heading to the marker that Nicole placed in her mask's system.
She needed to make sure they were safe. They needed her to make it out of this situation.
"I can't fail them. Not again." The wolf grit her teeth. "Not when I'm here and can help!"
She wasn't there to support the Diamond Cutters when they needed her the most. She had followed Claire's warning, hanging back while Mimic led her family to his and Eggman's trap.
"Never agai-!"
"We already searched every nook and cranny of this place! The Shade isn't here!"
Whisper paused in front of a door leading to another floor's hallway. Training the barrel of her wispon at it, she slowly opened it and peeked outside.
Most of the hall's doors were closed, but one was open. She could see the shadows moving across the surface of the wall adjacent to it, meaning that the origin of the shout came from it.
"It's a risk…"
Still, if it pans out she would take out a squad of her pursuers.
The sniper slowly opened the door some more and slowly walked in a crouch towards the door.
All the while, Team Freedom's enemies were shouting at one another.
"Well keep looking! She couldn't have gone far!"
"But sir! She isn't here! We basically flipped over every bed here!"
"I don't care! You got the report, didn't you? This Shade is apparently some sort of soldier, or whatever excuse this world has for one!"
"Soldier… yeah right! Did you see that weapon? Looks like a big toy!"
Whisper's grip on the wispon grew tighter, but she relaxed it and inched closer to the door's frame. Reaching down, she took out her mirror and angled it to see six soldiers in the room.
Perfect.
Reaching into her cloak, she took out one of the stun grenades that she had gotten from Bernadette and removed the pin.
"One… two… three…"
Their leader sighed and pinched the bridge of his snout. "Be that as it may, we need to treat her like an enemy combatant. She may not be much compared to the Shadowbots but…"
Finishing her countdown, she rolled the grenade into the room and got out from behind.
All the soldiers blinked and looked at her.
"What the…?!"
She reached out and grabbed the door handle, slamming it shut behind her.
'Wasn't tha-GRENADE!"
The hallway shook blinding light steamed out from the cracks in the door. She stepped back and activated her mask's thermal vision, feeling a small tinge of satisfaction when she saw the bodies lying on the floor with hands covering their eyes.
"WHISPER!" Green shouted. "BEHIND YOU!"
"Impressive wor-."
Whisper turned around, her wispon shifting to Laser Mode while aiming at the direction of the voice. She then softly cursed when she saw the tip of a blade pointed at her mask's left lense.
"Calm down, soldier." Came her ambusher's calm but firm voice. "I am not your enemy."
The wolf looked past the blade and at the man holding it. He was a brown-furred fox with light brown fur around his muzzle and the tips of his tail. He had large triangular ears with light brown canals on top of his head and a small black nose. His right eye had a light blue pupil while his left was covered with a black eye patch. The fox wore something akin to a military uniform jacket, mostly blue save for the golden buttons, epaulettes, and cuffs. He wore a red belt with a golden buckle, which matched his red boots, the bottom edge of his jacket, and scabbard.
"…Why should I trust you?" She muttered. "Pointing sword at me."
The older fox let out a humorless chuckle. "And you are pointing your firearm at me."
"…" The wolf didn't bother to answer. There was no point in engaging in banter with a potential enemy. Instead, she mentally calculated her chances of leaning back and pulling the trigger of her wispon before she lost an eye.
They weren't good.
The fox shook his head. "I have to admit, the princess picked up some cautious allies. I can tell you have seen some combat and have every right to suspect me."
Slowly, her ambusher drew back his sword and pointed it at the ground.
She tilted her head. Was this a trick?
"No… he had me dead to rights before. If he wanted to kill or capture me he wouldn't have wasted time with congratulations."
After a few seconds, she slowly lowered the barrel of her wispon but cautiously kept her finger hovering over the trigger.
Nodding, the older fox inclined his head to the stairs. "Follow me. My men secured the block, but it won't last. A contingent of Royal Knights are heading this way and we currently do not possess the firepower to keep them back for long."
"My team…"
"I can bring you to a vantage point where you can provide Mina Mongoose and Bunnie D'Cool…" He paused and his face twisted into one of pain before settling. "… your other ally some support. But we will need to leave soon. Otherwise the secure route we have made will be lost and we'll lose even more good men."
Whisper gave a small nod before the man turned around and began running to the door with her following behind him.
She didn't trust the fox. Not completely.
But right now, she didn't have many options.
"Name?" She asked as she climbed the stairs with the fox.
"General Amadeus Prower." The fox answered simply. "Former General of the Royal Army and current Second-In-Command of the Freedom Fighters."
Behind her mask, Whisper's eyes widened.
She didn't see it before, but now…
"Tails' father?"
Shaking her head, she continued to follow the older fox.
At least she wasn't shouting her disbelief like Tangle…
"Is now really the time for a new song, Bowie?!"
Mina Mongoose was running as fast as her legs could take her, ducking her head slightly as the sound of gunfire and screaming echoed from around her. The noises of combat were only slightly drowned out from the beat coming out of her wispon. Bowie had switched the song from the one he had played back in the throne room. It was one that they had heard on the ride to the desert time.
One about scary monsters and super creeps if she remembered right.
"Quit whinin' to your wisp, girl!" Bunnie shouted, glancing over her shoulder and glaring at her. "Focus on moving those feet of yours!"
The Hooligan had flown her to the ground after catching her when she ran out of the hole that Mecha Sonic created like an idiot. Honestly, if it wasn't for the situation they were currently in she likely would've died from embarrassment when her feet touched the ground.
The possibility of that died ended when she had to leap out of the way of a blast that crystallized where she was only a second ago.
"I am!" She protested with a glare. "Maybe now you can tell me where we're actually going?!"
She had been following Bunnie, mostly because the rabbit at least seemed to have an idea on where they were going. But worry was forming in the pit of her stomach. After all, she hadn't seen Tangle, Whisper, and Silver following them nor had she seen the Mecha Sonic and Sally who had just disappeared from view while the Hooligan had been flying her down.
"Where did it take her? Was that thing being controlled by Rotor or… or was it like that Metal Sonic in Studiopolis?"
Bunnie didn't answer. Instead, she merely smirked and pointed forward.
Mina followed her gaze and her eyes widened at the city's gate.
For a second, the mongoose felt anger bubble up inside of her. Then, she saw yellow and blue object that was slowly becoming clearer with each passing second.
It was the Marvelous Queen, but it was surrounded by members of the Mes Braves Battallion and a few of the robed Ixis magicians.
Two of them were carting away a squirrel who seemed dazed with his fur and uniform slightly singed. Their leader was of the soldiers was shouting, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T GET RID OF ITS ELECTRICITY?! I thought you people could control the freakin' elements!"
"I only know a few lightning spells!" The magician shouted back. "I don't have complete control of elec-" He seemed to notice them and pointed. "LOOK OUT!"
"YEE-HAW!" Bunnie shouted as she barreled into the assembled soldiers and magicians, punching the leader in the face while extending her right leg to kick the others away. "Have y'all been havin' fun with the Marvelous Queen's security system?!"
"We came back for Nack's freakin' bike?!" Mina screamed as she took out her guitar and swung, making contact with the back of another Ixis magician. He flew forward, spinning as he floated in the air and waving his arms in fear. "Why?!"
"First of all, he ain't called himself Nack for years!" Bunnie landed on her feet and ran to the air bike. "Second, it's because he always sunk his money into this thing to upgrade it with all sorts of gadgets! That's why it's still here in the first place!"
Mina bit her lip as she noticed six of the Royal Knights lumbering towards them, their swords raised with shields raised in front of them.
"Great. Glad to know we stopped to grab Nack the Weasel's money pit." She muttered to herself and prepared for a fight.
"Girl, yer glad that Fang ain't here to hear you say that."
The singer blinked when she heard something like two metal doors opening and turned around.
There she saw the Marvelous Queen hovering slightly higher, with a smirking Bunnie sitting in its chair.
Just below it was a metal bar sticking out from the bottom, a pair of yellow missiles with blue tips on each side.
Bunnie grinned as she gripped the handles. "Might wanna get out of the way!"
"Eeep!" Leaping to the side, the mongoose felt her tail twitch as two of the missiles went right past her. She turned to the right just in time to see the missiles make contact with the ground just in front of the knights, knocking onto their backs or face-first on the ground.
"YES!" The hooligan shouted with a grin. "Bullseye!"
"A-Are you crazy?!" Righteous fury overwhelmed Mina as she waved her wispon in the air. "You could've killed those knights! They're people too!"
"Ah know that!" Bunnie shot back, glaring at her. "That's why ah aimed for the ground in front of 'em! Ah may not be a hero like Sugah-Hog an' his friends, but the Hooligans sure as heck aren't murders!" She raised an eyebrow. "Why do you think we didn't bring along the Marvelous Queen to get you or use all its gizmos when things got ugly?"
Mina couldn't help but shudder at the thought of Nack chasing after her with that missile launcher. She could even see her crying in fear while running as the weasel laughed his stupid head off.
Shaking her head she pointed an accusing finger at the Hooligan. "You brought along Bean!"
"He holds back!" The rabbit looked to the side and muttered, "Usually… after we remind him to…"
That didn't inspire much confidence in the mongoose.
Suddenly, a loud ring came from the Marvelous Queen causing Bunnie to blink. "Who in tarnation…?" She pressed on the console of the bike, a confused frown on her face.
A relieved male voice came from the speakers. One that Mina recognized from their time at school together, and who she had heard only a few moments ago. "Bunnie! Thank the Walkers you answered!"
Bunnie's eyebrow raised. "Well, ah guess it's nice to have a face to go with the voice."
Mina raced to the Marvelous Queen and leapt up, causing Bunnie to squawk in surprise as she tried to keep the air bike balanced as the singer leaned on its side to face the monitor.
There was Rotor Walrus alright. His velvet fur, peach skinned muzzle, green eyes, small white tusks, and reversed yellow cap were unmistakable. However, she could see he now had bags under his eyes which shocked the mongoose.
"Has he been sleeping at all?"
Wait, no that was a stupid question. He was in hiding and helping the Freedom Fighters! Of course he wasn't!
Still, a relieved smile spread across her face. "Rotor! You're okay!"
Rotor glanced at her and he showed his own smile. "For now, at least. Right now I'm worried about you two. The software in Bunnie's prosthetics didn't allow me to patch through and give her audio or visual information."
"Should've just called me on mah phone." The Hooligan rolled her eyes. "Not like mah eye gadget gives me a GPS."
Rotor winced at that and looked to the side. "…Yeah. I guess you're right. It's not like your limbs are as advanced as…"
Mina's heart broke a little inside. "Oh, Rotor…"
It was one thing to hear Geoffrey… Naugus… say that Bunnie had been turned into someone else. A Hooligan of all things.
It was entirely something else to actually see it, even through a computer screen.
"Hopefully you didn't charge the one you knew for it." Bunnie growled and looked at Mina. She inclined her head at one of the side cars, and the singer reluctantly leapt into the seat of one. "That Mecha Sonic yer handiwork? Ah never saw that model, even back when the doc an' mah crew were on speakin' terms."
"No! No, it wasn't me. That was Uncle Chuck." The mongoose's eyes widened. Uncle Chuck made that thing? "But he is bringing Sally to a safe location. I'm downloading its coordinates onto the Marvelous Queen's map."
Mina looked around and she could almost see Bunnie doing the same. Already the Royal Knights were starting to get up, and some of the robed magicians and soldiers were pointing in their direction. Some soldiers were on the roofs, but they were knocked down by cyan bolts before they could aim their guns in their direction.
"Whisper!"
"So long as it's somewhere better than here!" The rabbit gripped the handles of the air bike and the mongoose held onto her seat as the air bike began speeding past the knights and towards an alleyway. "You better not be swindlin' us with this, walrus!"
"…I'm not, Bunnie. I'd never do something like that."
"If you say so."
Mina couldn't help it. She needed to say something. She could see from her position that sorrow was enveloping Rotor's face, and who could blame him? He had been friends with Bunnie for years, and to hear her treat him like a total stranger…
Shaking her head, Mina leaned towards the bike and shouted, "Rotor… it's good to see you again!"
The walrus blinked and looked at her, and for a brief second she thought she saw gratefulness in his eyes.
"It's good to see you too, Mina."
As she felt the foot crash into her back, causing her spine to scream in pain, Blaze realized that she should have remembered to keep her eye on Naugus' subordinates.
Gritting her teeth, the cat shot her arms forward and kicked back. She flipped in the air and twisted her body to glare at the Bride of the Conquering Storms, who had landed in a crouch in front of her. The lynx had her bow staff drawn, gripped in her right hand tightly.
Stupid. How could she have been so foolish?! She wasn't just fighting Naugus! He was merely the most dangerous of her opponents and the master of this mad kingdom!
"I cannot hesitate!" Blaze threw a fireball at the martial artist, who dashed to the right to avoid the projectile while the princess ran after her. "Not when so much is at stake!"
Before the cat could launch another fireball, she left two points stab her in the back before her body erupted in pain. She screamed as her fur began to stand up, electric shocks coursing through her body and making practically every cell in her body scream in agony.
"What are you waiting for, woman?!" Mordred Hood shouted from behind her. "Strike her while we have the…!"
Blaze turned around and saw the cobra with a firearm in his right hand, one that sprouted two wires connecting it to her body as electric pulses continued to flow into her.
"Bear with it! You cannot allow yourself to fall here! Not now, when the others are still escaping!"
The princess of the Sol Dimension reached out and grabbed the wires with both of her hands before pulling with all her strength. The snake screamed in freight as he was pulled towards her, letting go of the gun too late as she landed a spin-kick on the back of his head.
As he landed on the ground while she pulled out the two points from the firearm from her body, Blaze felt the end of the staff make contact with the side of her head.
The cat stumbled forward, her vision doubling and turning as her head throbbed in pain. "D-Damn…!"
She willed her flames to life underneath her hands and feet, flying away several feet before they flickered. The pain was too great to concentrate and felt nauseous trying to maintain it. Instead, she landed on the ground and stumbled to maintain her balance as her vision returned to normal.
"RAIJU CLAN!" The Bride of the Conquering Storm shouted while pointing at her. "STRIKE!"
"FOR THE HONORED MATRON!"
Blaze cursed as she looked up, seeing the ninjas descend on her. Taking in a deep breath, she let out a cry before spinning. A wall of flames surrounded her, expanding outwards and knocking her attackers away.
But as they screamed in surprise and pain, the princess finally noticed something.
Naugus was back on his feet and grinning victoriously as he pointed his staff at her.
"NO!"
She was too late to even form a fireball as the mad wizard fired a blast that made contact with her feet. Green crystals formed around her shoes and parts of her legs., and the cat snarled as she tried to bring them up to no avail.
"I have to find their melting point!"
Concentrating, she watched as her legs slowly glow from the heat…
"Too late, princess!" Blaze's attention snapped back to Naugus, who was grinning maniacally while slamming his staff on the ground. "And now… I TAKE MY PRIZE!"
To Blaze's horror, the possessed skunk opened his mouth before black smoke billowed out and raced towards her. "Is that his soul?!"
No.
NO!
She began to raise her hands, only to let out a cry when she felt two hands grab her arms and bring them back. The princess looked over her shoulder to see Beauregard Rabbot, his face completely blank as he looked down at her.
All he could say to her was, "Ah'm sorry."
Before she could curse at him and envelop her body in flames to burn both the rabbit and the wizard, she felt it.
The smoke entering her mouth and nostrils, becoming an almost solid force as she felt him.
He was… he was seeping into her mind.
Her soul!
"Remember your training! Remember…" Tears welled up in her eyes. It was a violation unlike anything she had experienced, even with Mogul! The poem! She needed to remember the poem! "A-Amidst the mists and fiercest frosts… with barest wrists, and stoutest boasts… he thrusts his fists against the posts… and still insists he sees the ghosts!" Yes, she could feel her mental barriers rising! "Amidst the mists and fiercest frosts…!"
She heard his chuckle.
"Foolish girl… this changes nothing." Naugus laughed inside her. "It will be more difficult than it was with my apprentice, but I shall soon claim this body as my own. It is inevitable. You may have mental barriers but they are nothing compared to the Ixis Magicks, which your training could not have prepared you for. I shall eat your soul piece by piece." Yes… She could see him now. His true form, translucent, was now standing in front of her. His sharp teeth twisted into a sick grin as he placed both of his hands on the side of her head, drool dribbling from his lips and onto the floor. Behind him she could see three figures dressed in dark robes. A bat, a rhino, and a lobster that sported their own amused grins as they observed the hybrid. "You will scream and cry as this violation occurs, until you can bear it no longer and beg me to stop. You will give your body willingly to me! I shall have your body and with it control of the Sol Emeralds! The multiverse shall be mine with this…!"
Something flickered within her.
Something white and hot.
She felt fear, euphoria, ecstasy, and dread as she felt another presence stir within her mind.
And Naugus' ghostly form in front of her lost its sadistic grin fell, staring at something she could not see. Even the three behind the mad wizard lost their glee and huddled together in fright.
"What do you think you are doing, parasite?"
Blaze's lips moved, but she was not in control of it. It was her own voice, but one mixed with seven others. Male and female. Young and old. Of all accents and yet none.
The Sol Emeralds.
"You dare think you can claim our guardian's body? It belongs to us. You overstep your bounds." The intelligence behind the emeralds spoke through her body. "Consider this a warning. Next time you slight us with this disgusting act, your soul will be burned in our flames. Learn your place, worm."
Naugus let out a scream before he disappeared. His black smoke exited Blaze, and she let out a gasp as control returned to her once more.
"They… they controlled me…? Why now? Why act now…?"
She felt so weak now… her vision was beginning to fade… She couldn't even form a fireball!
The princess could hear the black smoke screaming as it raced towards the body of Geoffrey. To her astonishment, he was crawling on the ground towards the Bride of the Conquering Storm.
"P-Please…" Geoffrey St. John croaked out. "You need to end it, while there's still time…!"
The lynx stared impassively at him, not even the barest shred of sympathy passing through those artificial eyes. "No."
Blaze could do little more than turn her head away as the black smoke then enveloped the skunk's head.
He only had enough time to let out a short scream.
Within seconds, the dark work was done. With shaky legs, Naugus stood up in his possessed body which had now looked far thinner than before. He turned to her and glared hatefully at Blaze before pointing at her with his staff. "Take that child to the dungeons! Julian's nephew will handle the rest."
"You will fail." Blaze spat out. "Either Princess Sally and my friends will stop you, or Sonic will return and realize what is happening. Either way your days are…!"
One of the hands restraining her let go and then she felt a blow strike her in the back of the head.
She fell forward, her vision swimming and growing darker as Beauregard said through what felt like cotton, "That's enough, girl. We're… we're trying to fix things…"
Everything went black for a second.
"No… get up…"
Blaze willed her eyes to open, and she saw that she was being dragged down a hallway while Rosemary and Ebony watched her. The younger cat's hand was on the older woman's shoulder, who was staring down at the ground in shame.
"Have to get up… Silver and the others are waiting for me…"
The princess' vision began to swim once more.
"I'm the guardian of the Sol Emeralds… Princess of the Sol Empire… I can't let myself be…"
"Yes. It's me." She heard Mordred Hood distantly. She used her remaining strength to look over her shoulder at the cobra, who was pressing his index and middle finger against the side of his head. His left eye… it looked as if it were glowing. "I have an update. It appears that you'll have to move up the timeline a bit. Things are moving faster than expected…"
And with that, Blaze the Cat fell into the blissful and dreamless sleep of unconsciousness.
"These guys are insane!" Tangle shouted, tears streaming from her eyes as she ran on legs that were already feeling numb.
She had been running like crazy ever since the truck began chasing her, but it didn't take long for the stupid thing to actually be practically on her heels. She wasn't Sonic and could outrun a moving vehicle, and to make matters worse she was in no position to just duck into an alleyway!
Most of them were filled with those soldier guys fighting what she could only guess were the Freedom Fighters, she couldn't afford to stop even for a second to jump onto an awning, and to top it all off with Silver still wrapped in her tail she couldn't even use it to maneuver around save for turning corners!
"And those guys know how to drift, so fat lot of good that does for me!"
"Nicole!" She took out the PDA and shouted into it, "Can't you shut off their truck's system?! Turn on the automatic brakes or something?!"
VEHICLES IN NEW MOBOTROPOLIS WERE NOT EQUIPPED WITH ONBOARD COMPUTERS THAT CONTROL FUNCTIONS LIKE THAT! Nicole sounded just as panicked as the lemur felt. Maybe she had also gotten used to how interconnected devices were to the internet? TANGLE, YOU NEED TO FIND A WAY TO ESCAPE OR DESTROY THAT VEHICLE!
"Yeah, I know!" Tangle glanced back and looked at the truck. The driver was leaning over his steering wheel, a smile of all things on his freakin' face. "But I don't have many options her-!"
"Ugh…" The lemur felt the body wrapped in her tail shift and she turned her head to see Silver slowly opening his eyes. "Why does everything hurt…?"
Whatever joy she felt for Silver finally getting up could wait. For now, there was something more important to deal with! "CRAZY TRUCK DRIVER!" She pointed behind her. "DO YOUR FLOATY THING!"
The hedgehog blinked before turning his head to stare at their pursuers. His eyes then shot open and he shouted, "Crap!"
What she could only assume was Silver's hand twitched in her tail. A chair and piece of concrete were lifted from the sides of the roads before they were hurled into the windshield of the truck, shattering and cracking the glass. The lemur heard the scream of the driver and his partner before the truck swerved to the right, crashing its front into a bakery.
"Finally! Woo!" Tangle laughed as she skid to a stop. She pumped both of her fists into the air as she shouted, "We're not dead!"
She could feel the rush of adrenaline and euphoria pumping into her brain. It was the kind of natural high she lived for, regardless of the circumstances. Because yeah, it was fantastic that they weren't dead!
"Could live without my legs feeling like jelly, though…" She thought to herself as she lowered Silver to his feet. She could already feel them shaking!
"Stop yelling. My head…" Silver winced as Tangle's tail unwrapped itself from his body. He put his right hand on his forehead and asked, "The heck did they hit me with?"
"Dunno, but you were out of it for a while!" Tangle motioned around them. "We could really use your help now dude!"
But as she said that she noticed the psycho kinetic hedgehog's state. His eyes were lazily opening and closing, as if he were struggling to stay up.
"Crap. Is he still feeling the effects?"
"I'll try. But…" He winced. "I think whatever they hit me with is still in my system. I can barely focus… where's Blaze and the others?"
The lemur winced. "Silver, we… Blaze…"
Before she could finish her sentence, she heard a scream of rage that caused her to snap her attention back to the crashed truck.
One of the soldiers was sticking himself out of the roof, a missile launched slung over his shoulder as he took aim. "Silver!"
The soldier began to pull the trigger just as the gray-furred hedgehog began to turn, his hands bathed in his turquoise energy…
But a figure passed past her and the hedgehog as a blue, red, and brown blur, leaping up and on top of the truck. The vehicle shook as the wind blew, causing both the figure and the soldier to be obscured by what looked like a red cape.
Well, mostly red. Tangle could vaguely make out a golden acorn in the center of the cape, shining in the desert sun.
"WHAT TH-?!" The soldier began only to let out a strangled gasp.
"I suggest you surrender, mon ami." A male voice spoke up. "I do not wish to harm another member of ze kingdom unless you make it necessary."
The soldier gulped and Tangle heard something metal and heavy clank on the floor.
"Zat was ze smart move."
The wind died down, causing the cape to lower and reveal the person who had just helped to save their bacon.
"I hope you two are okay." He was a brown-furred coyote with tan facial fur and blonde hair fur. He was wearing a military uniform jacket that was mostly blue save for the red edges and golden buttons that matched the golden shoulder pads. The jacket was opened and flapping in the wind, showing he was wearing some sort of dark blue armor underneath that matched the dark blue pants he wore. It was separated by a golden buckle, matching the gold accessories of his jacket. Slung over his left shoulder and attached to a golden rope around his neck was the cape that had obscured him just a few seconds ago. "I was… how do you say… in ze neighborhood when I noticed this hooligan aiming his weapon at you."
He turned around and smiled at them, and that's when she got a better look at the guy.
"Woah… what happened to him?!"
His face had all kinds of scars on it, pink ones that looked old and wouldn't regrow fur anytime soon. Two across his left cheek, one that was horizontal over his right brow, and a really big one that ran down vertically across his left eye.
The right eye looked normal with a blue pupil.
The left one though was… gray. It also seemed to reflect abnormally in the sunlight, as if it wasn't real…
His hands were also scarred in various parts, but the right one gripped the golden-hinted sword firmly. The buckle on the golden belt also had a weird red light emanating from the center, matching his red boots.
"Wait, what am I doing?! Now's not the time to focus on that!" Tangle shook her head and waved at him. "Yeah, thanks for the save! You one of Sally and Nicole's friends?!" She pointed at herself. "I'm Tangle and this is…"
She turned to Silver who was gaping at the coyote with wide eyes. It was as if he was seeing some sort of ghost!
"Y-You're…!" The hedgehog gasped out, pointing a shaky finger at him.
"I have met your companion in a sense, madame." A wry smirk graced the coyote's lips. "It is good to meet ze man who accused me of being a traitor while in a coma, Silver ze Hedgehog."
"Wait, Silver did what?!"
"I-It was something my old self did!" Silver protested, his cheeks burning in embarrassment. "But… are you really Antoine D'Coolette?"
Tangle stared up at the coyote in amazement. She remembered Sally mentioning this guy before! Apparently he was someone that she had hurt while under Eggman's control. Like, really badly. But she never went into any specifics about what had happened to him.
Not only that, but apparently he was the guy that was the old Bunnie's husband!
She spotted the golden ring on the coyote's left ring finger and her thoughts turned to the Bunnie that was here in this very city.
"Oh man…"
"Oui! Indeed I am!" Antoine swung his sword in a flourish and pointed it up into the sky. "Antoine D'Coolette, son of General Armand D'Coolette and Marie D'Coolette! Member of ze Freedom Fighters, sworn protector of ze Kingdom of Acorn and mah Princess Sally Acorn! Scourge of Robotnik, Eggman, Naugus, Moebius, badniks, and traitors! I am…!" Before Antoine could finish his speech, gunfire rung out through the air and he jumped in freight. As he landed, he tripped over his own foot and tumbled forward. "AIYEE-!"
Silver raised his hand and the coyote was enveloped in turquoise light. He floated in the air just a few inches from the ground, sweat already on his brow and his cheeks almost as red as tomatoes.
"Dude…" Tangle couldn't help but chuckle as Silver manipulated Antoine's body until his feet here now touching the ground. "You were actually kind of cool until that happened."
"I am ze plenty of cool!" The coyote protested indignantly.
Before the lemur could tease him any further, Nicole appeared in front of her and she was running with tears in her eyes. "Antoine!"
She leapt forward and enveloped him into a hug, one that had her arms pass through him slightly as she cried, "You're awake! I-I figured you had but to actually see you here and now…!"
"Right… the last time she saw him was probably when he was in that coma…" Tangle could not even begin to imagine the relief pouring out of the holo-lynx's heart. "She might have thought he'd never wake up…"
Antoine smiled with tears forming in his own eyes. "It is good to see you as well, Nicole. You cannot begin to imagine how lonely it has been for us, my friend." He then looked over his shoulder and began tugging at his collar. "B-But it would probably be best if we make ze hasty retreat."
"Right…" Silver grimaced. "You wouldn't happen to know a safe route, would you?"
"Indeed I do! Follow me!"
Antoine ran with his sword still drawn, his brow furrowed in determination as Tangle and Silver followed just behind him. Nicole was floating beside Tangle, staring at the coyote's back with a relieved smile on her face.
The lemur knew she should probably feel relief. After all, they had managed to not only escape from Naugus' trap but had actually met another one of Sally's friends.
But…
"Blaze…"
She looked over her shoulder at the castle in the distance, looming over New Mobotropolis like some sort of dark idol.
She couldn't see anymore signs of a fight.
"We'll be back." Her hands clenched into fists as she glared at the castle. "And next time… we WILL beat you."
And once that was done… everything would be right in the world again.
The nightmare will end and everything will make sense again.
"Will it, though? Will it fix everything?"
For once, Tangle the Lemur didn't have an optimistic answer.
To Be Continued…
Notes: Holy shit this thing took me forever.
Part of the reason is probably because of just how much action was happening and how many moving parts there were. Some of it I'm not completely satisfied with, while other parts I had a ton of fun writing. Blaze's fight and Tangle riding a skateboard were the highlights in my opinion.
Still, hope you all enjoyed it and you are now salivating over what happens next!
Also, Bunnie's dream Husbando/Once Real-Life Husbando has arrived!
Please make sure you leave a review and add to the TV Tropes page!
Until next time…
