We now go back to Resistance HQ, where Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Rouge, and Belle are conversing about the new hedgehog that just potentially gave them a major edge in this Fallout. Tails already gave them the information he gained on Jaiden and spoke more about the new technology they gained through the purple hedgehog known as Shira.
Resistance HQ - Inside
Rouge stood beside Tails at his computer, while the fox scrolled through the many blueprints and tech available now at his disposal. The bat stood with her weight shifted on one hip, her arms crossed, and her eyes half-lidded, showing her black eye shadows while looking up at the screen. All the while, Amy was talking with Knuckles and Belle, seemingly waiting for everyone else to show up to formally welcome Jaiden.
"These new, er… 'wispons' don't seem very… how do I put it, age-appropriate," the bat says to the young fox, analyzing the vulgar weapons. Tails, never straying far from the point, chuckles.
"Well yeah, they obviously don't fit the ideal design," he adds, chuckling. "But the power and versatility they hold is too much to pass up. Their designs are much more fluid and compact than our traditional wispons. The only thing they lack is the transformation, and I'm not so sure how the power of the wisps can be incorporated into the weapon itself." The two ponder that question, then, Rouge's eyes wander to a section that explains the ammunition. From 5.56 NATO to 9mm, she read the functionalities and felt quite a sense of familiar nature. The bat then catches a box full of text.
"Our team has manufactured the ammo to function normally, but as well as gain access to different functionalities depending on the source. For example, from our research, if a red wisp were to meld to the tips of the bullets, it would become a 'flame tip.' As so from the name, on impact with a surface, a thermite effect will take place, leaving a small burn. Unfortunately, we still have yet to gain access to actual wisps." After Rouge reads this, she turns to Tails. To her surprise, Tails' face looks as if he read it while she did.
"So they are made to only shoot differently based on the type of wisp power, not meld into tools," he observes, already writing information down on a notepad. Rouge chuckles, this fox always had a knack for analyzing everything, quickly at that. That's always been his knack, and it's always been a good one, too. "I'd say that's losing functionality, if you ask me."
"Well, the functionality depends on who you give the tool to," Rouge responds. "I'm sure we have some resourceful people on the Resistance fronts. They'll figure it out." Tails puts his hand on his chin, scratching it as he thinks.
"Hmm, I guess you're right," he says, "But for sure, we'll have to train them with this stuff, since it's outside what we're used to."
"Sector Sierra-7 will handle training the rest," the feminine bat says, looking at the young fox. "'Mirage' just recently took over as commanding officer. She's a tough nut, that's for sure. I've seen how, resourceful she is." Tails then looks back up at the screen, using his mouse to continue skimming about, before Amy's voice pierces through.
"Guys," she shouts while at the door, "We got more company!" The lady hedgehog opens the door and comes walking a white-quilled hedgehog, known as Silver. He walks through the doorway, a warm smile on his face.
"Amy, always a pleasure," he says, closing his eyes and waving politely. In response, Amy waves back. The white hedgehog then walks into the main room. "Good to see you, Knuckles, Belle, Tails, Rouge. How are you guys?"
"We're fine, thanks," Knuckles replies, his commanding voice resonating through everyone's ears. "How about you, Silver?" The hedgehog walks up to Knuckles, his yellow eyes locking onto the echidna's purple ones, before hovering next to him.
"It's been, a lot, to say the least," he starts, his face contemplative. "I've seen that a lot is coming in the future, some good, some bad, some very bad." At these words, the whole team looks up at him, worried expressions crossing their features. Silver is the sightseer, and these words definitely don't make the future seem brighter.
"Well, mind elaborating," Rouge asks after the passing moments, shifting her weight to her left side, her left hand covering her hip, "The tension is truly killing me."
"Well, all I can say is this," the white hedgehog starts, looking around at everyone. "We're gonna face threats like we've never seen before, with intentions that go beyond what we could comprehend, and believe it or not, Eggman is gonna be a dead man." Several gasps are heard around the room.
"What," shouts Tails, hovering to Silver with his two tails, and landing right in front of him. "But, Eggman is too smart to let anything happen to him. He's literally untouchable in that sense!" Knuckles, still with a puzzled look on his face, asks the question everyone has to be thinking at this moment.
"Well, what kills him," he questions, crossing his arms, his spiked gloves resting on them. "Because I still don't think anything would be able to kill that madman." The white hedgehog looks down, his face mixed with confusion and regret.
"That's the thing," he starts with, his voice laced with seriousness and puzzle, "I, don't know. All I know is that, his body ends up floating into outer space."
"Well if that's the case," Rouge cuts in, "Then shouldn't that solve our problems? Without Eggman, Starline and the rest of the bad guys should be a breeze to take out."
"I wouldn't jump to conclusions, Rouge," Silver adds, "The threats I speak of go far beyond Eggman, Starline, or any others. I don't know much about it, because there's only so much I can remember before I begin to forget, but all I know is that you all better heed my warning." The whole room goes quiet, but everyone's thoughts are loud nonetheless. Seconds tick by, then, the white male animal cuts the silence again. He floats to where Tails and Rouge are, smiling at the screen.
"Is this the tech Jaiden introduced to us," he questions. Amy and Tails raise an eyebrow in confusion, but then, they sigh as they realize that Silver resonates in the future, so he must have already met Jaiden.
"Yeah," the young fox responds, walking and standing at the floating hedgehog's side. "It's all from this weird USB that he gave us. It kinda dissipated itself into the computer." Silver chuckles at this comment.
"You're good at working with the unnatural, Tails," he says, looking at the fox's blue eyes. "Trust me when I say, that these tools will be essential. It's important that you make them carefully. I've seen a lot of them during my time in the future, and they do pack a serious punch."
"That's good to know," the young fox responds, a smile on his face. Rouge turns to him, a smug smile on her face.
"Figured they would," she said, with her green eyes reflecting in the light. "This would have helped us during the fight in Angel Island, though, had we gotten this a little earlier."
"Not to mention the virus," the red echidna adds, his eyes half-lidded.
"How about the war period," Amy inputs, standing next to Knuckles.
"A shame this Jaiden guy came in the picture so late," the bat scoffs, shaking her head from side to side, crossing her arms. Silver, who hovers back to the middle of the room, grabs everyone's attention.
"I know his appearance might seem random," he starts, extending his hands out, and looking around at everyone. "But trust me when I say, that Jaiden offers way more than what he seems." Knuckles scoffs, his arrogance evident.
"And what makes him so special," he says, "I haven't even met the guy, and my head already hurts from hearing so much about him."
"Because the power he has, and what he is, has more to offer all of us than we could ever imagine." The room goes silent. "Jaiden is the key-" Before he could say anything else, Rouge's voice echoes through the room. The bat has two fingers over her right, bat-like ear, seemingly holding down an earpiece.
"Yes," she starts. "Vanil-, yes, yes it's me. Hey, hey, calm down, I can barely hear y-, w-wha- WHAT!? Sh-" Everyone's eyes widened in shock, freezing in place. Moments pass, and finally, the bat continues speaking. "Okay, okay we're on it!" Rouge's face goes from content to serious, as she stands tall in front of everyone. "Seems like this little welcome party for our new friend has gotta wait."
"Why, what's going on," questions Amy with a puzzled look on her face. Rouge immediately makes her way to the door.
"Eggman sent a badnik towards Vanilla's house, and Cream is still there. There's reason to believe it has her hostage." The pink hedgehog gasps and then jogs off to another room. Seconds later, she comes back out, wielding a large yellow and red hammer.
"Then there's no time to lose," she shouts, running out of HQ. Knuckles follows behind closely, followed by Silver. Tails wastes no time typing a message on his computer.
"I'll send a message out to the others, stat," he shouts.
"No," the bat shouts, extending her hand. Tails turn to her and questionably sighs. "There's no time. Let's move, Tails." The young fox hesitates, looking at the screen, then at Rouge, then back at the screen, before having a determined look etched on his face. He quickly runs toward the front of HQ to grab The Tornado. Before opening the front garage door, Belle adds her input.
"Wait, Tails," she says, a worried look crossing her features. "I want to help too." Tails holds up his fist, before replying.
"By staying here, you're helping, Belle," he says, "We'll be back before you know it." With that, the fox opens the door and closes it behind him. Belle looks at the door momentarily and takes in the complete silence. She sighs and walks over to the computer. She opens the tab that contains all the blueprints and scrolls through it. Squinting her eyes, she carefully gazes at the manufacturing and structure of each weapon. A faint smile crosses her wooden lips as she starts to put several pieces together in her mind.
Resistance HQ - Outside
With a hastened pace, Rouge uses her wings to fly through the air. In her grasp, she carried Amy, while Silver flew in a teal aura, along with Knuckles gliding beside them. The clock is ticking, and the life of Cream, the young bunny hangs in balance.
Holding on to Amy with her left hand, her right hand accompanied her earpiece.
"Vector, this Rouge," she says, her voice sounding urgent and commanding. She gets a response, and wastes no time in explaining the situation. "Vanilla just called, Cream is being held captive in Floral Forest. Get your asses there asap!" As she says this, she brings her right hand back down to grip Amy's arm.
"Shouldn't Gemerl be there for her," Amy questions, her Piko Piko hammer resting on her back. Rouge looks to the side, thinking.
"Good point. That bot relentlessly protects her and her choas. It's not like it to just, let this happen. Not without a hell of a fight." Tails, who slowly joins the pursuit line, chimes in, riding the Tornado.
"Whatever it is, it isn't right. We need to get there! Let's go, Resistance!" He says, speeding along, with the rest of his allies hot on his trail.
Floral Forest Village - Cream's House
The usually quiet, peaceful trails of Floral Hill were a little too quiet. Outside a small single-family house, laid knocked out bodies of residents, all with makeshift weapons, like rakes, brooms, baseball bats, and even pans. The house itself had broken glass, and the door was wide open and broken. Inside, you could hear worried sobs and whimpers. Stepping in, you saw a black robot with yellow accents, sitting down, with its chest taken clean out. Oil slightly stained the floor beneath it. Signs of a fight, a struggle, a desperation. Stepping into the kitchen, you see a big black badnik with red accents. The end of its right arm was metallic fingers, its left in the form of a machine gun. The base was bulky and brawned, but dented and damaged, with oil stains that looked like bloodstains, with the sigil of Eggman on the chest. Those bright red, creepy eyes stared at a young bunny, who was down on the floor, in tears. Faint red marks stained her frame, signs of a fight, a struggle, a desperation. Beside her lay the knocked-out bodies of two choas, one a light blue color, the other brown. Black marks stained their tiny frames, signs of a fight, a struggle, a desperation. The badnik, as cold as its frame, stood and held the child at gunpoint.
Cream stayed there, visibly shaking, her golden brown eyes shrunken in fear. "W-what do you want," she says faintly, trying to catch her breath. The badnik only stands there, its frame shining faintly in the lights of the kitchen, before replying.
"EGGMAN REQUIRES A SUBJECT TO ATTRACT THE MEANS OF AN UNIDENTIFIED LIFEFORM," it says in a deep, cold, robotic voice. "YOU ARE TO COMPLY, OTHERWISE, I HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO EXECUTE YOU." Metallic fingers reached for Cream before everything went black for her.
Seaside City - Oshima Street - Mere minutes before the call
Vector, Charmy, and Sonic had successfully found the young raccoon, Strikes. The kid thankfully had no marks, no injuries, or anything. And courtesy of Vector, he was licking on an ice cream as he returned to his mother, a young adult dark red-furred raccoon. She adorned black eye shadow, yellow eyes, gray sweats, a white tank top, white shoes, and a fluffy ringed raccoon tail.
The young mother had a look of complete relief in her eyes, bending down and hugging her kid close, tears rolling down her cheeks. Strikes embraced the hug back, holding his mint chocolate chip ice cream in his right hand. Looking up from the hug, the mother smiles.
"Thank you," she says, her eyes darting between the three of them. Vector stood out in the middle, with Sonic close to his right, and Charmy at his left. "Thank you for bringing my son back to me. I thought I'd never see him again." Sonic winks and puts his thumb up, Charmy nervously starches the back of his head, and Vector crosses his arms, closing his eyes in contentment.
"Not a problem, ma'am," the crocodile says, his voice warm, "You ever need anything else, you have our number." With that, the mother picks up her child, and holds him over her shoulder, while he licks his ice cream, savoring the minty, chocolaty taste. Contented with a job well done, Vector opens the case file, stamps it as "RESOLVED," and the three set off to find Espio and Jaiden, to tell them that the job is done, and the case is complete. As they walk, Sonic has his hands behind his head, Charmy flies by with a faint buzzing noise, and Vector walks tall, a smile on his face.
"Well that didn't take too long," the blue hedgehog says, his eyes half-lidded, a contented smile on his peach-colored muzzle. "We got lucky at the fact he was just in an alleyway not too deep into the central city." Vector sighs.
"Tell me about it," the crocodile says, turning his long muzzle to the blue blur, "I was expecting it to be a little harder, but hey, I guess they get easier as they come."
"You can say that again," Charmy adds, his voice full of optimism. "I think after that we deserve a nice break, you know?" The two older animals chuckle and shake their heads at the young bee's comment.
"Work doesn't rest, Charmy," the green crocodile says, gesturing his right hand to a lecturing point. "We still have plenty of cases to get through, and I still never got my order." The three chuckle, and make their way down the street with a solid pace. As they walk, Vector's face slowly gets more serious. He starts to ponder back to Jaiden's weird reaction to the case file picture of Strike. "Sonic, you mind telling me about that whole thing with Jaiden earlier?" Sonic looks up at Vector, with a questioning look on his face, before it becomes serious again. Sonic thinks back to that reaction Jaiden had, even though he can't wrap his head around the context of it.
"If I had to put my money on it, Vec," the blue animal starts, his voice contemplative and thoughtful. "I'd say that Jaiden is hiding a little more than he lets on." Sonic's gaze lingers down. "He looked like he was deep in his thoughts, like, very deep. No one has a reaction like that to something as small as a case picture. It just seems like mentally, he's hiding a lot. Whisper is like that in a way though, but something tells me that our boy went through something more." Vector and Charmy both had turned their heads to Sonic as he spoke. They exchange glances, then, they gaze back at the road ahead.
"Well, I'm just glad he wasn't being creepy," chuckled Vector. "But man, I could just imagine whatever he went through if the picture of a child triggered him that way." Charmy, scratching his chin, adds his input.
"Maybe… he lost someone close to him," the young animal says.
"Maybe so, Charmy," the blue animal says, "But it's none of my business to evade his privacy like that, so for now, I leave him alone about it." Sonic visibly looks at an unease. Vector wraps his arm around Sonic.
"Hey, we'll help you with him," he says, his voice sounding confident. "Personally, I like his vibe, so maybe he'll be easy to get through to." Sonic gets cheered up at the crocodile's words. It makes him lightly chuckle.
"His vibe does seem pretty good," he says. "I just want to make sure I don't put anyone in danger though. Everyone has been through a lot, and I know that the fight is far from done."
"We-" Before Vector could say a word, the three stopped in their tracks when the crocodile heard static coming from his right ear, where an earpiece lay to rest. The big animal brings his right hand up to tap it, and out comes the voice of Rouge. As the bat relayed the message, Vector's pupils visibly shrank in shock, and his large muzzle went agape. Seconds pass, before Charmy chimes in.
"Vector, what's wrong," the bee questions. Vector snaps out of his daze, and looks at the kid with a teeth-gritted frown, his sharp teeth shown on full display.
"Eggman has a badnik that took Cream hostage," he starts. "We need to move, now!" Sonic, a serious look crossing his features, nods, and Charmy also nods. The three take off running toward Floral Hill. As they run, Vector presses his earpiece again. "Espio, this is Vector. No time to explain, get to Cream's house! It's a major emergency, and time is of the essence!" With that, the trio hustle through the woods, to make their way to the young bunny.
Outskirts of Seaside City - East - Mere minutes before the call
Jaiden and Espio went looking throughout the outer areas of town for Strikes. Espio, ever the calm composed figure, walked and watched Jaiden at his side, who looked to be checking everywhere, leaving no corner unseen, and no building checked behind. The purple chameleon had sensed that something was giving the hedgehog unease, and he presumed it had something to do with something he lost, seeing how much effort he was giving the search.
"I must say," Espio chuckles, "You're giving this a lot of effort, Jaiden." The chameleon continues his walk next to the built hedgehog, his gaze never leaving him as the animal looks everywhere. Jaiden chuckles lightly, scratching the back of his head, below his "dreadlocks."
"Oh, my fault if I ain't makin' conversation," he murmurs. "It's just that kid deserves to be back with his family. No one that young should go through some stuff like that." As Jaiden says that, he continues looking through many alleyways, over to the trees on the other side, and even occasionally asked around to some citizens if they seen a young raccoon. It's obvious to Espio that the hedgehog's intentions were pure, but he's just certain that there's so much more to him. I mean, it's clear as day from the way he reacted to Strikes' picture.
"Jaiden," he calls out.
"Hm?" the hedgehog responds, turning his head to the purple animal.
"About what happened earlier, while we were back at the agency, what was that exactly? You looked tense, you were sweating, and it was like you were somewhere else entirely." Jaiden scoffs, his tongue making a "tch" sound, before looking at Espio with annoyance.
"I told you it's nothing, Espio," he says, extending his hand in a tense manner. "What I went through and what's happening to me should be none of your concern, ight?" At these words, Espio's eyes widen. He's slightly offended by this reaction, however, he understands.
"Alright, fair. My apologies," he responds, looking to the side, and crossing his arms. Instant guilt spread throughout Jaiden, and he sighed deeply.
"Aye, listen man, I-" the hedgehog is cut off by the chameleon's piercing words.
"But hiding trauma is not good for you at all, Jaiden. Don't think of it as some 'feat' that makes you stand out. I'm not saying that what you went through wasn't traumatic, but getting it off your chest and telling someone or something is better than harboring it alone. Bad things happen from that, and from that chaos emerald in your hand that glowed when you had that reaction, it could be worse coming from you, and you're in a place that has all my friends. I suggest you keep yourself in check." All Jaiden could do was look down at the ground. He ain't like the fact that a person who didn't know a damn thing about him or what he's been through is telling him to "keep himself in check," but he has a point. As Jaiden raises his right hand to gaze at his shimmering emerald, he thinks back to his final encounter with his adopted brother, Jacie the Cat. At that moment, all he felt was rage, seeing that moments before, he held his older sister, Shira the Hedgehog in his arms for the last time, as she died and faded away. Even though Jacie was a formidable fighter, and would have killed Jaiden, at that moment, his emerald allowed him to manifest that blue energy blade that pierced the feline's body. This was the same blade that appeared when Sonic and Tails tried approaching the light-grey hedgehog when he was feeling… anxious. A revelation played in Jaiden's head, in a moment that seemed so random as looking for a kid. From the whispers that were in his head when he ran through the forest, to the moment he destroyed that badnik with an energy strike he never knew he had, all to the moment of that energy blade, Jaiden started to realize, that his powers were controlled by his emotions, since it is still new to him.
"Well shit, ain't that a damn main character problem cliché," Jaiden thought to himself.
"I don't mean any disrespect by it," Espio sputters out, looking the hedgehog directly in the eye as they keep walking. "But, some crazy stuff happened to us before you got here, I just don't want any of that to happen again." The light-gray animal knew just by listening to this chameleon, that he was just genuinely trying to make sure everything stayed in order, and those around him were safe. He already knew some of the things these guys went through just by Sonic's stories, and even then that wasn't all they've been through.
Jaiden looks Espio dead in his yellow eyes, a look of understanding etching his face. "Hey, I get it, homie. You just looking out for your people," he starts. "Can't do nothing but respect you for it, though. I'll make sure I keep myself in check, ight? You ain't gotta worry about me going out of control, or whatever you're insinuating." In a sign of building trust, the hedgehog extends his fist, wanting Espio to bump it. The purple animal hesitates for a moment, but then, he scoffs softly, a smile crossing his lips as he closes his eyes, and connects his gloved fist with Jaiden. Just as that happens, Espio hears static in his ear, which is his earpiece. The purple creature puts his hand to it, and just before he can say something, Vector's voice cuts in. The message he receives makes him gasp, his pupils shrinking. The chameleon then wastes no time in taking off running.
"Huh," Jaiden says gasping. "Man, what's will y'all and taking off running like this?" The light-gray animal takes off behind Espio, until finally running at his side through the woods. "What's going on? Why'd you take off like that, Espio?" asks the hedgehog.
"Cream, a young bunny is in trouble," he quickly says. "There's no time to lose." Jaiden looks shocked, but it's replaced with a focused gaze immediately. He looks at the terrain ahead of him; if this is a chance to save someone, then he won't be on standby.
Not anymore. Never again.
Floral Forest Village
Espio and Jaiden arrive in the quiet, seemingly peaceful village of Floral Forest, which was thankfully close by. As they step toward Cream's house, they both mutually gasp at all the unconscious people that lay before the house. The purple chameleon kneels next to an injured blue badger lying on his back, wearing a cloth neck scarf, lying next to a bag with apples inside.
Espio gently lifts the blue animal's head, and as he does, the animal's green eyes slowly blink open. He winces in pain, holding a minor cut on his stomach, blood faintly staining his white accented fur.
"Are you okay," he asks, his voice and face evidently showing his worry and concern. "What happened?" The badger grunts, and grips the purple animal's shoulder, gritting his teeth.
"A… badnik… attacked out of nowhere," he starts, his voice low and begrudged. "The way it was made was too much for us to handle… it was like… it was made stronger than normal… with better armor." Espio, visibly confused and aggravated, grunts furiously.
"The hell," he starts, "Why would that pathetic excuse of a man send such a robot to a village like this? What is he on about now?" All the while this was happening, Jaiden was slowly walking past the laying bodies. His mouth was agape as he started to breathe heavily. As he looked he had sudden flashbacks of seeing dead bodies back in Xevir, women, children, and men, all motionless, lying in a pool of red liquid. As he continued walking, he started to hear echoing screams and explosions, which made him start to sweat and labor his breathing. The hedgehog felt as if he was gonna suffocate, even when the people of Floral Forest were only unconscious, it didn't matter in the slightest. The hedgehog's walk took him to the ruins that was Cream's cottage. His gaze lingered there for a moment, as he started to see it as his destroyed palace. Moments passed, and he could hear a little girl's scream. Even though he heard it, no one else did, seeing the fact Espio or anyone else didn't come running. It pierced his eardrums, making his flashbacks stop and keeping him focused on the cottage. Without even a second to think, Jaiden runs into the cottage. Over back with Espio and the badger, the chameleon got the intel he needed from him. He instructs the animal to assist the other townsfolk.
"Alright Jaiden, we need to-," Before the ninja chameleon could say anything else, he spots Jaiden running into the cottage. He quickly runs after him. "Jaiden, wait!" he shouts. He stopped in his tracks when to his side, arrived some members of the Resistance: Rouge, Amy, Knuckles, and Silver. They land right next to him. Shortly following suit Tails landed the Tornado nearby.
"Espio," Rouge cries out, jogging to the chameleon alongside the rest of her allies. "Where's the rest, and didn't you say Sonic was helping you guys out?" Just as she says that, emerging from the many trees was a distressed Vector, Charmy, and Sonic.
"Right, everyone's here," Knuckles says, a frown on his face. "Now, let's go handle business." He smacks his fists together, creating a mini red shockwave, and walks toward the cottage. Before he could step any closer to it, Sonic chimes in, looking around.
"This isn't everyone," he starts. "Where's Jaiden?" Espio, concern etching his voice, responds.
"He went in without any sort of plan," he says. "He didn't even think twice about it." The red echidna grunts angrily.
"Didn't even meet the guy and he's already being reckless," the red animal scoffs.
"Damn it," Rouge shouts. "He doesn't know what he's doing! He'll get her hurt!" The bat runs toward the cottage, but before she can step in, Sonic dashes to her and stops her with an arm. "Sonic, what are you…"
"Wait," the hedgehog says. "We didn't tell you, but Jaiden had an encounter with a badnik when he came to this world. The scrapbrain didn't even have a trace left of it. What the dude's doing is reckless for sure, but, I think he'll be okay."
"How can you be sure," the red echidna shouts. "This guy is still a gray for all of us." Amy, standing with her Piko Piko hammer over her shoulder, flashbacks to the events that happened way earlier: When Sonic and Tails were surrounding Jaiden concerning the chaos emerald in his hand, his reaction certainly revealed that he has power that goes beyond what even she can understand. That blade, the way the gem was glowing, how Jaiden looked, it spoked power, but, uncontrolled power.
"Sonic's right, Knuckles," she murmurs to the echidna. "But we'll all have to provide backup. It's better not to escalate things as is, and Jaiden's power does seem a bit, uncontrolled, like he doesn't have a hand on it just yet."
"Right then," Knuckles starts, looking around at everyone.
"Form a perimeter around the house, everyone," the bat and echidna shout simultaneously. They give each other a glace, before shaking their heads off it. The group of heroes form a semi-circle around the cottage, where Jaiden, Cream, and the unknown threat dwell.
Cream's House
Jaiden strides into the small, humble cottage that is Cream's house. He looks around, and first sees the done-in body of a black and yellow robot, Gemerl. For a moment, his vision flashed, and that body turned into the body of a Limnite resident. At this point, the gray hedgehog's breathing sped up drastically. At that moment, he heard the sound of footsteps, coming from the room across him: the kitchen. He quickly jogs to it, and amidst the destruction of kitchen appliances, laid two, small, alien things? These two were unknown to Jaiden, but one was blue, the other brown. The hedgehog finally looks to his left, and there lies a sight he can never shake off, ever again.
There lay the sight of a black and red badnik, slightly tainted like a fight was put on, holding a young bunny in its right arm, covering her mouth. The young child's eyes were filled with tears, and her face was pure fear and confusion. Jaiden's eyes widened, and he stared for a moment. The quick silence was replaced by robotic words.
"UNKNOWN LIFEFORM," it starts. "BY AUTHORITY OF EGGMAN, YOU ARE REQUIRED TO COME WITH ME FOR FURTHER STUDYING AND ANALYSIS, OTHERWISE I AM PROGRAMMED TO TAKE PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES TO MAKE YOU COMPLY." As he says this, he puts his machine gun arm on the young child's head, making her let out a muffled scream in his hand that keeps a grip on her. The droid kept speaking, but it was being muffled in Jaiden's ear. His face kept a scared look like he wasn't gonna do a thing like he was completely frozen, but then, his vision showed him a picture he wasn't remotely ready to see. That badnik blurred, and there laid the sight of Jacie, the young adult hedgehog's deceased traitorous stepbrother. The feline was taunting the hedgehog, pressing the machine gun in Cream's face. Jaiden started breathing faster, his chest rising and falling in sync with the rising tempo of his heartbeat. His vision narrows, and everything else around these two went red. The hedgehog grits his teeth hard with so much force, that a wet squelching noise echos through the air, and red blood starts to stain his once-white teeth. Cream, the young captive looks down at this new hedgehog's right hand, seeing a blue light emit brightly. A faint moment passes, then…
"RRRAAHHHHH!"
A blue streak followed by a piercing "SHING!" sound dominates the current action, and just like that, the badnik is silenced. Jaiden stood at the other side, catching his breath, holding a bright dark blue blade in his right hand. The bulky badnik's halves slowly slide down one another, before splitting apart completely. Its grip around the young rabbit gives out, and she quickly maneuvers out its cold feeling. She stands there, her face mixed with relief and shock, tears still glistening in her eyes. Jaiden straightens his back and turns to the young rabbit as his blade dissipates into the air with tiny blue flares. They stared at each other for a couple of moments, before Cream started to cry softly, before running to the hedgehog, jumping into his arms and breaking down. The buff hedgehog was stiff and shocked at this sudden move, and staggers back slightly. His arms were still open, but then, he imagined this hug, this embrace, was coming from that same Limnite child that he failed to save. He looks down at her and sees his face, hears his voice, like a haunting simulation that refuses to stop. Tears swelled in the corner of his eyes before he softly whimpered, then, he tightened his arms around the rabbit, before breaking down himself. His crying was loud, and he kept his now faintly red-stained teeth clenched. This made Cream's cry lower in volume before she stopped completely. She sensed the hardship and the sorrow in this stranger's soul, it was only right that she tried to make sure she helped him feel better. She closes her eyes, and keeps Jaiden close, as the hedgehog continues to sob.
Emerging from the other room, came Amy armed with her Piko Piko hammer, Rouge, and Sonic. You can understand their surprise when they see a badnik split clean in half, with faint burning blue marks next to a wailing Jaiden, with Cream tight in his arms. Amy drops her hammer immediately and runs to the two animals before her, while Rouge looks completely astonished by the sight before her.
"Wow," she says in her usual tone. "Gotta say, this is the last thing I expected to see." She looks at the pink hedgehog, who is hugging Cream, while Jaiden tries to pull it together, wiping his eyes and sniffing in. The first detail on Jaiden the bat and blue blur catch is the blood that stains the light gray hedgehog's teeth.
"Wait, why is he bleeding from the mouth," asks Rouge. "He doesn't look like there were any signs of struggle from him."
"That's because he didn't struggle at all," a voice says emerging behind the white bat and Sonic. They turn and see Silver approaching. The white hedgehog walks up before them and points at Jaiden's right hand. "Because of that thing right there." Sonic looks at the sliced badnik as Silver says this, and realizes something.
"That energy blade of his put this tin can out of commission," he exclaims, walking to the scrap heap. He kneels next to it, seeing the flaming groves of the slice spot. "I knew he was tough, but to beat something like this without a scratch on him." He looks up at the two animals before him. "This guy really isn't any other somebody at all." The bat crosses her arms, before reaching up for her earpiece. She presses down on it.
"Yeah, Vanilla," she starts. "Yeah, she's safe. Just a couple of scratches, but nothing else." She looks at Cream, who is with Amy, caring for the young rabbit's two choas, Cheese and Chacola. "Her choas must have been trying to defend her, and Germerl is done in poor thing. What baffles me is that this madman sent a brawny badnik to a young girl's house. I know he's up to something, he always is. Mmhm. Yeah. Oh no, it wasn't me or Sonic this time." The bat looks at Jaiden, who is looking down at his hands before he walks out, the bat's eyes tracking him as he goes. "You might want to meet us at Resistance HQ so you can thank your hero, not a scratch on him. It must have been a breeze. His name?" Cream and Amy approach the group, with the two choas resting on the pink hedgehog. Rouge looks around until her eyes meet Sonic. "Jaiden," she finally mutters out.
"Um, Ms. Rouge," Cream says to the bat.
"Hm," she responds.
"Will I be able to… see, Mr. Jaiden again? I never got to thank him for saving me before he left, but I think he's sad and needs someone, kind of like Ms. Whisper. I was crying a lot, but yet, when I hugged him, he was crying more than me. It made me stop and made me want to comfort him. I, hope he's alright." As she says this, she winces in pain, holding a scratch on her arm, where blood faintly stains it. Rouge kneels to the bunny's height.
"Hey, you'll get to see him again, right now, your safety is our top priority," she says with a faint smile. Amy chimes in, concern etched on her face.
"We should get Cheese and Chocola to HQ stat, they're hanging in there, but they are really hurt," she says as she holds the two in her arms.
"Please make sure to give Gemerl help too," Cream says worryingly. "He, warned me about the attack, but I didn't listen. You see, my mom went to the store for groceries when that badnik attacked."
Flashback - Hours earlier
"I had asked her to visit Mr. Sonic and the rest of you back at HQ. I wanted to pay you all a visit." Cream was about to head out the front door, Cheese and Chocola fluttering at her shoulders. Her brown eyes glimmered excitedly as she dusted off her orange dress and adjusted the blue ribbon at her neck. Just as she was about to go, Gemerl emerged from the adjacent room across from the young rabbit. "Gemerl," Cream shouts, "I was just about to come get you! You ready to go?"
"CERTAINLY," responds the metallic robot. As he approached, his metal coat glimmered in the light of the living area, shining off the corners of his figure. Cream opened the door, and just as she was about to take a step, the black robot halted her.
"He just stopped me, I didn't know why. He was looking around as if he sensed something." Gemerl walks around the room, trying to figure out what's going on and how to prevent it from hurting Cream or her choas. After all, that's his prime directive. His blue eyes glowed, and a blue, grid-like beam shot out.
"I DETECTED A PRESENCE OF EGGMAN'S BADNIKS," the robot inputs. "I ADVISE FOR YOU AND YOUR CHOAS TO STAY HERE." Cream closes the door and looks back at Gemerl with a confused look, etching her features.
"He said he sensed a badnik, but you guys had already recently defeated him, so I didn't think he'd be striking so soon." Cream smiles at the black droid. "C'mon, Germel, Eggman wouldn't attack us so soon. I'm sure he's planning on how to get Mr. Sonic and mess with the rest of us, but he'll never succeed! That's why I'll keep this smile because no matter what, I know he and his friends will protect us!" Gemerl finishes his scan, but nothing. However, there was something in his mainframe he just couldn't shake.
"I, REMEMBER WHEN I WAS STILL WORKING FOR EGGMAN. I REMEMBER JUST BEING A FIGHTING AND DESTROYING MACHINE, ALL BEFORE I MET YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS, ALL BEFORE I BECAME YOUR SOLE PROTECTOR. IF MY DIRECTIVES TELL ME ANYTHING ABOUT EGGMAN, IS THAT HE WOULDN'T STRAY AWAY FROM SURPRISE ATTACKS, ESPECIALLY IF IT GIVES HIM AN ADVANTAGE." Cream shakes her head and walks and stands before an anxious Gemerl.
"You're being paranoid, Gemerl. See? It's a beautiful day, and besides, we're only going to visit Mr. Sonic. We haven't seen them in a bit!" she responds enthusiastically. There's a faint silence for a few moments, with them only looking at each other dead in the eye, before Gemerl finally breaks.
"VERY… WELL," says the protective droid. As he says this, though, the four hear robotic noises and thumping. Cream wastes no time in running and opening the door to see what is going on.
"CREAM," Gemerl shouts, rocket thrusting over to her and standing before her.
"What we saw out there, made no sense to me. It was a badnik, a huge one, but it didn't attack anyone else. No houses were destroyed or anything. Yet, it was making its way here, like it was programmed just to come here."
"Some nearby townsfolk saw what was going on. They grabbed what they could, tools, bags, and even sticks, and made their way over to it. All the while, Gemerl told me to hide." The people of Floral Forest all rallied to attack the oncoming badnik threat, but their efforts were proven futile as the droid tanked every blow, retaliating with swift, hard blows. The swings hit their mark, knocking people out left and right, even leaving some people incapacitated with broken limbs.
"I don't remember much after that. All I do remember is hearing the loud sounds while I was in the kitchen cabinet. I peeked to see what was going on, and first, I saw Gemerl or what was left of him. It made me gasp, and I guess I was too loud because next thing you know, two red eyes were staring right at me. Cheese and Chacola tried to defend me, but it knocked them away like they were just… things. The last thing I recall was trying to fight back before I blacked out."
End of Flashback - Floral Forest Village - Cream's House
After hearing Cream's story, everyone was visibly getting agitated, but it was especially the case for Sonic. Why would this madman send a war machine to a little kid's house? What the hell was he trying to achieve exactly?
"That's dirty, Egg-head," the blue blur blurts out. Rouge looked around for a bit, her face showing how confused yet angry she was.
"I don't understand," the bat says. "Sending a massive robot here of all places? After a child!? What is this madman thinking? And why leave the rest of the village untouched?" Before someone could try and come up with an analogy, Cream, the young rabbit chimes in.
"Oh, I should mention that when Mr. Jaiden came, it, said something about him being an 'Unknown Lifeform,' and to come with him for studying." At this, Sonic, Silver, and Amy's faces lit up with a quick realization.
"So he's already after him," the white hedgehog says, crossing his arms.
"Eggman probably gained knowledge about him when he fought that badnik at that town earlier," the blue animal says. The whole group turns to the main room when they hear approaching footsteps. It was Vector and Knuckles.
"Hey, we saw Jaiden walking off. Didn't even say a word," the green crocodile starts. "What gives?" As he says that, he and Knuckles gasp as they look around the place, seeing the destruction. Amy walks and stands at the kitchen doorway, still carrying Cream's choas.
"We'll explain it later," she says, stern and commanding. "Right now, you two grab Gemerl and get back to HQ."
"Right," responds Vector.
"Okay," responds Knuckles. The two team up and grab the remains of Gemerl. With that, the whole team made their way outside. The crocodile and echidna load up the broken droid on The Tornado, in which Tails was waiting in the driver's seat, using his phone-like device to pick up any readings of trouble nearby. As he sees the group walk out, he jumps out and uses his two tails to hover down on the ground. He immediately assists Amy with Cream, helping the young girl in a seat of the Tornado.
"C-Cream," the young fox shouted, "W-What happened!? Why is she hurt and," he looked at the remains of Gemerl. "What the heck went down here…?" Rouge snaps to get Tails' attention.
"To make a long story short: Eggman, and he's after Jaiden," the bat says, crossing her arms as she looks at Tails. "He's likely after that power Silver mentioned. It must be worth it, seeing the state the guy left it in. Sliced clean in half."
"Sliced," Tails questions, putting his hand on his chin. "He has chaos energy readings… is it possible that his power…"
"Yo, Tails," Sonic's voice cuts through. The young fox looks up and sees Sonic standing on the front wing of the Tornado in his usual spot. "You usually get good ideas from your little monologues, but right now we need to get Cream and Gemerl back to HQ to patch them up, then we gotta go find Jaiden. We can't let him wander around alone."
"Especially since now we know the extent he'll go to get whatever power he has," Espio adds. Tails start the engine of the Tornado, the front propeller twirling faster and faster as the seconds pass. Amy gets in the backseat with Cream.
"You guys go on ahead," Rouge says. "Me, Silver, and the Chaotix will help the civilians." With a nod from Sonic, the red plane starts to take off, while the grounded group runs to the injured people lying in front of Cream's now-destroyed home.
As the Tornado soars through the air, Amy has her arms wrapped around Cream, while the young bunny sheds a tear.
Resistance HQ - Outside
From outside the Headquarters of the Resistance, a distraught Vanilla was walking back and forth, with Belle waiting by the door, her hands out in front of her. As the sound of the Tornado comes closer and closer, the bunny looks up, seeing Sonic, Tails, Amy, and the sight that finally made her breathe Cream. The young orange fox lands his plane in front of the building of the HQ and kills the engine. The group of animals gets out of the plane, and the first thing Cream does, of course, is run to her mother.
"Oh my goodness, Cream," Vanilla shouts, before tightly embracing her daughter, while crying tears of joy to see her again.
"Her injuries aren't bad enough to be serious, but she will need some patching up," Amy says, standing before the older bunny. "Chocola and Cheese are unconscious, but their injuries also aren't too serious, but Gemerl…" The pink hedgehog looks at Sonic and Tails, who are both getting the remains of Gemerl off the Tornado. As she looks, Vanilla's voice, usually soft and motherly, takes on a much different tone.
"Amy," the mother says, her tone, much darker, the unease evident. The pink animal looks at Vanilla and is surprised when the mother's eyes are full of hatred. "That madman did this, didn't he?"
"Yeah, Gemerl sensed it," Amy responded, looking the mature bunny in her eyes. "The reason why he did it isn't so clear, but we assume it's because he wants to go after Jaiden's power. He has a high chaos energy reading, higher than the readings Sonic gets when he goes Super Sonic. His engagement with the badnik that held Cream captive probably solidified his will for him, it was sliced clean in half."
"Rouge mentioned that name," Vanilla says, standing up with Cream standing at her side. "Can I meet him?" Just as Amy was about to muster up a response, Sonic chimes in.
"Not now," the blue hedgehog starts. "He ran off before anyone could say anything to him." He drops off Gemerl next to the garage door after assisting him along with Tails. A moment of silence passes before the blue blur breaks it. "I'm going to look for him. A moment of him being alone with all that power is passing moments that Eggman can use to find him, and use him."
"I'll come with you, Sonic, I'll help," the young orange fox announces, still holding Gemerl.
"Nah Tails, you gotta stay here," the blue animal responds, crossing his arms. "You gotta patch up Gemerl, and sort out the new technology Jaiden's sister Shira gave us." Sonic gives his fox friend a smile and a wink, holding his thumb up. "Be back in a flash!" With that, the hedgehog blasts off in a blue streak, everyone holding themselves as the wind he left behind blows. As the hedgehog takes off at the speed of sound, he can't help but think to himself.
'Damn it. Eggman is playing dirty, likely because he knows if he gets a hold of Jaiden and that uncanny power he has, he can unleash an apocalypse like he did with Infinite. I gotta find Jaiden as soon as possible, I can't risk letting him wander alone.'
Back with Vanilla, Cream, Amy, Tails, Gemerl, Chacola, Belle, and Cheese, the mother bunny takes her daughter and her two choas inside, with Amy following behind them. Tails walks over to Gemerl's remains, grunting as he drags him inside. As he got in and closed the garage door behind him, the Tinkerer before him got his attention.
Resistance HQ - Inside
"Tails," she begins, a hint of a smile on her face.
"Yeah, Belle," the young fox responds, wiping sweat from his brow as he sets Gemerl on the table next to his computer for analysis.
"There's something I want to show you. Come to the back room." Curiosity peaked, the young genius followed the wooden doll. She opens the door, and they enter a workplace room, adorned with a workbench, computer, blueprints, and much more.
Resistance HQ - Workplace
"So what's going on? Is there somet-" The fox is cut off by the sight of what was on the table. It had a chamber, a gray and beige metallic body, and a grey clip sitting next to it. She had done it, she figured out Shira's blueprints and created a wispon.
"B-Belle," Tails manages to stutter out finally, quickly running to the table to examine the weapon up close. "You managed to figure out her technology!?"
"Well, yeah," the wooden doll replies, a sheepish smile on her face. "It took a minute, but I combined the knowledge I know from Eggman, together with the knowledge I learned from you and it helped me figure out how she did her blueprints. I took some parts from other wispons the Resistance had, and I did a little bit of manipulation. There were a lot of screws and springs needed, but I say it worked out!" Belle hands Tails the paper she did her sketches on the wispon. "This wispon is called an 'M4A1-W,' an 'Assault Rifle Wispon.'"
"So this one takes '5.56 NATO' ammunition," the orange fox observes.
"I didn't get to making that yet, but it should be easy enough."
"You're right, however, Shira did have some kind of way we could combine the bullets with wisp power, so when we make them, we have to use that and gunpowder." Tails thinks for a moment, taking in all the details before a triumphant smile crosses his lips.
"I've got an idea, and if we work fast enough, we'll have this done and Gemerl brought back before Sonic even gets back!"
With a new technological breakthrough underway, Cream and her choas recovering, Gemerl needing repairs, the Chaotix, Knuckles, Silver, and Rouge assisting Floral Forest Village, and Sonic's search for Jaiden, a mystery arises. What if Eggman gets a hold of Jaiden and this power that he wields? What about Dr. Starline, who still didn't pose a big enough threat to hit the radar yet?
The story will continue in Jaiden the Hedgehog #3 - The Wolven Angel