Chapter 82; Sonic heroes
WARNING; CHAPTER CONTAINS REFERENCE TO SUICIDE, READER DISCRETION ADVISED
Time stopped across Johto as everyone witnessed the outburst of energy from the radio tower in the form of electricity crawling down it's walls.
"Ahahaha! This time, Sonic the hedgehog truly perished! You may beat us but team rocket still wins fox!" Ariana mocked Tails.
Tails didn't even care about the taunt. He was only beginning to process what had just happened.
Before he could actually process, his earphone went on.
"Be honest, did it look cool?" Sonic's voice came out of Tails' earphone.
"Sonic?!" Tails exclaimed.
"Impossible!" Ariana uttered in disbelief. How had the hedgehog survived that?
In the radio broadcast room, Archer slammed his first on the desk in rage. Connection to the Atachi satellite was lost.
At this point there was only one card left to play. And it wasn't the surrender card.
He went on air.
"This is Archer, admin of team rocket. We are in control of Goldenrod city and our return to power is just beginning. The return of team Sonic and their attempt to stop us means nothing. It has begun. No one can stop us".
He took a deep breath. He had to be listening. Else this was all for nothing.
"Sonic he's broadcasting!" Tails warned his friend.
"Did we fail?" Knuckles asked through his earphone.
"Didn't we break connection to the satellite?" Sonic asked in confusion.
"We did but he is still broadcasting just limited to Johto".
Sonic smiled.
"No worries. He is trying to spread fear huh? Then let's fix that. Let him finish then hack into the signal so I can give a statement of my own".
Tails smiled upon hearing this. He just loved when Sonic didn't rush into things and chose another way instead.
Ariana could hear the broadcast and so could Petrel. Every radio in Goldenrod was speaking with Archer's voice.
"Evil always wins at the end hero" Petrel mocked Knuckles, still laying on Suicune's back, bound by rope.
Tails and Raikou alongside the captured Ariana arrived in that very moment. The look of calmness on Tails' face was enough for Knuckles to refrain from answering while also filling Petrel with doubt.
Archer continued his monologue about the return of team rocket for about a minute before getting to the actual important part.
"Boss Giovanni. If you can hear me we're all still with you. Team rocket still stands strong. Wherever you are, give us a sign so that we can all join together and…"
The signal was cut, bringing his speech to a sudden and anticlimactic end.
And the next moment, Sonic's voice took over the broadcast.
"Great speech, admin Archer. Pity it's only the words of a desperate fool not knowing when he's beaten. But I think it's time you wake up and smell the coffee. Your grunts are falling like dominos, be it against us or the invading police. Your two fellow admins are in our custody. And soon enough you'll be joining them. I'm not really big on speeches so I'll stop here and let hope take over following your team's fall and your last desperate attempt to keep the fear going. What I will do however is leave you with one parting message".
Pause for a few seconds.
"Checkmate" Sonic's sarcastic final word shattered the last bit of Archer's final stand before Tails cut the connection completely locking Archer out of the frequency.
And so the team rocket admin was left alone in the radio room, headphones on, eyes wide with shock, his ears buzzing, the reality of the matter closing in around him as if it was the room's walls.
Team rocket had failed.
Just as he completed this thought, the phone rang.
Someone was calling the tower.
Archer picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hehehe" a small laugh reeking pure evil, foretelling a world of pain for every breath that came out of the mouth that voice belonged to filled Archer's entire being.
"An amusing stunt, Archer. You always had such grand visions for team Rocket".
"Boss?!" Archer said with disbelief turning to hope.
"In the flesh, or more accurately on the line".
"I knew it boss! I knew you would be back! Tell me, what's the plan?! Where do we meet?!"
Another evil, calm laugh.
"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. Former team Rocket admin".
"F-former?" Archer stuttered.
"Did you seriously believe this pathetic stunt would get me to return to lead you again?" Giovanni's voice said before he laughed again "Ah, you were always so gullible".
"B-boss what are you talking about?"
"What doesn't your innocent, weak little mind don't understand Archer? I'm not coming back to you failures. I never planned to".
"But boss… we're all still loyal. We did this all for you!"
"Loyalty is for fools like you. Honestly I'm surprised neither you nor Ariana were able up figure out you were all nothing more than worthless pawns in my plans of domination. Foolish, worthless pawns who have long outlived their usefulness to me".
Archer took the words of the man he looked up to for years, feeling each one stabbing him like a blade of fire.
"I believe there's nothing else to talk about here. Have a nice incarceration, former admin" Giovanni mocked him one more time before hanging up.
And Archer was left in the room alone in total silence, his whole world having crumbled in seconds.
He had spent years of his life for Giovanni, proving his loyalty, sacrificing so much for team rocket and was discarded like a broken tool.
His mind subconsciously played a memory that seemed to come from another life, despite the actual instance being mere weeks ago, right after the slowpoke well.
His meeting with Sonic on camera.
He remembered the words spoken to him by team rocket's worst enemy.
"You and the rest of your team were nothing more than his useless pawns".
Those words had been true all along. All their clashes with team Sonic, all the fear, all the planning.
Everything he and the rest of team had built in the last few months and the perseverance they showed was for nothing.
His existential crisis was halted by loud bangs on the door before an iron tail brought it down.
Sonic and Raichu walked in. The former took a moment to study Archer's expression.
Once he noticed the phone having been moved from its base he put two and two together.
"So he did hear you. And from your look I take it I was correct in my assumption?"
"After everything we did for him, after everything we risked going up against you… he abandoned us…"
"Well. Can't say I didn't warn you".
Sonic then moved to apprehend Archer but the admin tried to attack the hedgehog.
Sonic dodged the attack, giving Archer the time to flee to the balcony.
"Just give up already Archer. There's nowhere to go".
To his shock Archer climbed over the railing.
"Woah! What are you doing?!"
"Everything I worked for, everything I cherished was taken from me! I gave up everything for the cause of team rocket! I have planned and carried out unspeakable things. So you're wrong hedgehog. There's two ways out. Either jail or this. And I sure as hell, am not going to jail!"
"Just calm down. Don't do this! It's not worth it" Sonic pleaded.
Archer looked down, hesitating for a second before giving Sonic one last look of determination.
"Team rocket forever" he saluted before letting go of the rail.
Sonic's mouth slightly opened, in shock at the lengths of Archer's action.
"What a moron" he sighed "you got him?" he spoke to the earphone.
Angry grunts reached his ear as Tails lifted Archer back towards the balcony.
"No! Let me go!" Archer demanded.
"As you wish" Tails obliged throwing him back on the balcony.
The admin rolled on the floor for a moment before Sonic immobilized him.
"Game over. We win" he teased Archer.
The door to the broadcast room opened.
Sonic and Tails turned to face whoever entered. Tails even raised his stun gun instinctively.
"Woah, woah. No friendly fire".
"Detective Morrison!" Tails exclaimed, glad to finally see a friendly face.
"I'm so glad you three are safe. After Mahogany I thought…"
"You were not the only one we fooled like that detective. Sorry for that by the way".
Morrison nodded, letting them know there were no hard feelings.
He then looked down at the captured Archer.
"That's the final admin, right?"
"Yes. Knuckles is on the ground floor, guarding Ariana and Petrel".
"Then it's done. You did it. Team rocket is finally, permanently out of the picture".
Sonic allowed the situation to sip in.
Morrison was right.
They had done it. What they had come to Johto for was accomplished.
"Yes. Yes it is" Sonic said feeling a sincere peace, as if Jolty's memory was once again honored by their victory.
The two friends, Sonic's raichu and detective Morrison then began making their way down, Morrison dragging the handcuffed Archer along.
"How are things outside?" Sonic inquired.
"The hostages fought back against the grunts with bravery, breaking their formations and allowing our forces to enter the city. A few grunts managed to escape but this time I do not believe there will possibly be any way for them to cause trouble".
Reaching the ground floor, they found Knuckles at the lobby, Petrel and Ariana on the floor with their backs against the wall, under the watchful eye
Once Knuckles saw the captured Archer, a huge smile was etched upon his face.
The three trainers hugged each other as hard as they could. Their bond had prevailed over their enemies. They had won and they had done it together.
Morrison was proud of them. They had seen through what the police struggled with for months.
After the three friends broke their hug, they heard cheering coming from outside as Morrison opened the door, revealing a huge crowd had assembled on the street leading to the north entrance of the city.
"What's happening?" Sonic asked Morrison.
The latter didn't immediately reply as he was talking to an officer Jenny. After they finished their talk he turned back to the three heroes.
"The chief has told me that a police van is waiting on the northern entrance of the city. And he wants you three to escort our three friends here with me to the van".
"Us?" Sonic was taken aback.
Morrison also pointed outside to the cheering.
"I tend to agree with him on this. The people want to see their heroes".
Sonic didn't know how to react to that. This wasn't anything like the glorious exit after the whirl islands battle. It was a whole lot more.
Tails and Knuckles on the other hand were much more open to the idea.
"I say we do it. Others would beg to be in our position right now".
"I'm ok with it so long as the beasts walk with us" Knuckles shrugged.
Morrison took one look at the majestic trio of beasts and nodded.
"I think the people of Johto need this. It will be a message of hope in more than one ways".
Sonic was now the lone holdout.
"Oh what the hell. Let's do it".
"Good" Morrison turned and walked outside.
"People of Goldenrod city. I give you team…"
He was pulled back in by Sonic before he could finish the sentence.
"Wait, wait. Let's discuss this a bit. I don't think we should be addressed as team Sonic".
His two friends were dumbfounded.
"Why not? That's what the people of Johto know us as" Tails questioned his friend.
"I know it's just… team Sonic… gives too much credit to me. But you guys were with me all the way. Without you two by my side, I don't think I would have been able to see this mission through. You are each just as much of a hero as I am… even though I was only doing what I thought was right" he quickly added at the end.
"Wait so you want us to get a new team name now?" Knuckles asked for clarification.
"Yes. Even if it's just for the occasion… I want a name that shows all of ours' bravery. You deserve it" Sonic ended his explanation.
Tails and Knuckles looked at each other for a moment and smiled, getting the exact same idea.
"Detective Morrison" Tails spoke first and nodded to Knuckles to finish it.
"We are the Sonic heroes" Knuckles said with pride.
Sonic facepalmed laughing.
"Seriously?" he asked them still laughing.
"Yup. And that name is final" Tails declared.
Morrison grinned and turned back to the crowd as the three team rocket admins were forced on their feet.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you… the Sonic heroes!"
Cheers became even louder. Sonic tapped Morrison on the shoulder as the admins began walking towards the door, pushed by a growling Raikou.
"Why the introduction though?"
"Setting the stage for a heroes parade of course" Morrison cheerfully explained.
The celebration of the end of the terror of team rocker was glorious. A hundred times more glorious than the aftermath of the whirl islands.
As the three admins of team rocket walked in the lead, their gazes fixed on the ground in frustration, disappointment, shame and defeat, and in Archer's case, total loss, detective Morrison followed with his gun out just in case the admins tried anything funny.
And lastly behind him, the Sonic heroes followed with pride, their lineup being from left to right, Tails Sonic and Knuckles, waving at the crowd, cheering in their own way and accepting the applause.
"Go Sonic heroes!"
"We love you Sonic heroes!"
"All hail the Sonic heroes!"
"They love us" Tails innocently said.
"What gave it away? The loud cheers or the parade?" Sonic jabbed him playfully as they laughed about it.
Behind them the legendary beasts followed proudly, their manes billowing majestically. Raikou had the same reaction to the crowd as Tails.
"They love us. Can you believe it? They really love us" it spoke to Entei and Suicune.
"After saving their city it was the least they could do".
"Hey we wouldn't leave them hanging would we?" Raikou asked referring to the Sonic heroes.
Entei took a long look at the three trainers.
"No. Maybe we never met them in person before our reawakening but no. We wouldn't".
"See Suicune? Everything turned out as we saw" Raikou cheered the weirdly quiet Suicune.
But as it looked at its brother it could see why.
Suicune's face was reflecting its inability to react in such a situation.
"After all this time…" it spoke as if it was trying to process the parade "we are finally no longer treated as monsters for them to hunt".
"That was then brother. It's over now. They no longer have reason to fear us. We and our new allies showed the people what true monsters really look like" Entei spoke with confidence and a reassuring tone.
Suicune's lip edges moved slightly upward.
"You're right. We did. And you are right too Raikou. We didn't know enough about the future to actually cause a significant change".
"Exactly" Raikou looked at Tails as he remembered his earlier exchange with Sonic "it's a leap of faith".
With the parade slowly reaching its finale as the northern entrance to the town in sight, Sonic spotted the chief of police waiting in front of the armored van that would take the three admins, a sincere look of gratitude on his face.
Not ten steps to go however, more police cars arrived along with another armored van.
"Huh. A little bit of overkill but with their history it actually makes sense" Sonic shrugged.
As the newly arrived officers exited their cars, a barrage of gunshots was fired, causing the celebration to come to an abrupt stop as screams of panic could be heard.
The three friends, Morrison and the admins all knelt in reaction. The beasts took a predator stance and roared.
Sonic looked up to see none other than…
"Looker. Of course".
The detective was aiming his gun at them.
"Sorry to rain on your parade. Team Sonic you are under arrest".
"Are you kidding me?!" Tails burst out "after literally coming to the city's aid, you're still going to arrest us?!"
"You are under arrest on command of the international police's director, for vigilantism, for destruction of public property, for instigating a public fight…"
"Looker you're losing it" Morrison tried to reason with him "don't do anything rush. Just put the gun down so we can talk this through".
"You too have the right to remain silent former detective Jake Morrison for theft of police evidence and for obstruction of justice".
"Hey man back off!" the same teenager that got beat up by team rocket, a stain of blood on his forehead due to the beating "the criminals are right in front of you, captured by the ones you're trying to arrest!"
Looker aimed his gun at the youngster.
"Stay out of this kid".
That was a big mistake.
The people of Goldenrod, already disgusted by Looker's actions throughout the last few weeks, wouldn't stand for Looker now threatening them the same way he threatened the heroes.
Out of nowhere an all-out riot broke out, with the residents of the city trying to get Looker, while the police got in the way resulting in a huge brawl.
The Sonic heroes were left with jaws hanging.
"We got to stop this" Tails went to intervene, but was stopped by Morrison.
"No. What you need to do is get out of here! Now!"
"Leave?! But how are we going to solve this misunderstanding if we run?!"
"You three can't. But I can".
"How?" Sonic asked him.
"I'm going to let myself get arrested then confront Looker with the truth".
"Are you out of your mind?! Looker won't even bother to listen!"
"He will, if he thinks I know where you're going".
The three friends looked at each other.
"But where would we go?" Knuckles inquired.
"Where the events of today started" Sonic declared as his eyes darted towards the peak of mount Tensei.
Morrison, narrowing his eyes tried to guess the rest.
"So all I know is you're heading where your mission began correct?"
"Exactly" Sonic nodded.
"Stop them!" Looker's voice was heard from the crowd approaching.
"Go!" Morrison urged the three trainers.
"This is crazy we can't leave you here!" Tails tried to object.
"Stop in the name of the law!" Looker's voice sounded like he was about to emerge from the fighting crowd.
Sonic didn't need more convincing.
Harnessing his bond with Raichu, he jumped backwards very high, landing on Entei's back.
Tails and Knuckles followed suit riding Raikou and Suicune.
"Don't let them get away!" Looker screamed. But it was too late.
Hopping across rooftops the legendary beasts carrying the heroes escaped the city and into the fields.
"Get a bird on the air! Follow them to the fie…!" Looker barked in his phone before being tackled to the ground by Morrison who smashed the phone.
Looker, fuming with rage, tackled Morrison back, sending him tumbling to the ground.
With lightning quick moves, he handcuffed Morrison, whilst shoving him to the ground.
"Idiot" he told Morrison who didn't reply.
The chopper took off minutes after Looker gave the command, flying towards the fields, easily spotting the three fleeing beasts with their riders.
"Sonic we have a chopper on our tail!" Tails warned him upon spotting it.
Sonic looked over his shoulder, having heard the sound of the chopper's blades himself.
"Crap. He just doesn't quit".
"Talk about deja vu" Knuckles commented, remembering the last time when the beasts saved them.
Sonic considered their options before deciding.
"Split up!"
"What?!"
"Looker wants me not you! Go hide at Cosmo's house or Jaz's gym, preferably both! One beast will go unnoticed much easier".
"But won't that get heat on Jaz and Cosmo?!"
Sonic bit his lip.
"Reverse psychology! Looker thinks he's got my number, he will believe we're going into hiding again away from others. 99% he won't see this coming!"
"Are you sure about this?!" Tails asked him, not liking the thought of splitting again.
"It's going to be ok! Entei and I will lose the heat then meet at the agreed location when I call you ok?!"
"Is it really safe to open our phones?!"
"A small calculated risk! I need to let you know somehow!"
"… alright! See you soon!" Tails wished his friends luck and took off, splitting and heading towards Azalea town.
"Stay safe Sonic! See you soon!" Knuckles too split, with Suicune doing a slow 180 degree turn so they could head for Olivine city.
Sonic watched his two friends bitterly as his plan worked; the chopper didn't alter its course. He was the target.
Tails and Raikou raced through the fields, entering Ilex forest but not going too deep, remaining near the edge of the woods.
Finally arriving he recalled Raikou and stealthily made his way around Cosmo's house, looking for a way in, hoping Cosmo wouldn't be too crept out.
Spotting her in her living room watching the news of Goldenrod unfolding live, with the riot still going strong, he tapped the window.
Turning her head she saw him and her face lit as she opened the window for him to enter.
"We saw everything! You guys were amazing!" she said, closing the window before grabbing his hand and pulling him closer.
"You were amazing" she whispered as she kissed him again.
But something was different.
"What is it?" she asked him holding his hand.
"I split from my friends to lose the heat. Sonic is somewhere out there right now, with Entei, being chased by the police. He said once he is safe he will calls us and we will meet at the top of mount Tensei where today started. Is it ok if I… stayed here until that time comes?"
Cosmo smiled. Tails was just a keeper. The fact that he cared about his friends like that always melted her heart.
"As long as you need. And even more than that".
"Thanks" Tails gratefully said before leaning in for another kiss. After a few seconds he broke it.
"Are you absolutely sure? It's not just me, it's my pokemon too. And it could be a few hours to a few days. I don't wanna be a burden if it comes to that?"
"It may be an hour?"
"Yeah".
"Alright then no time to waste" she gave him a mischievous look before pulling him in again. Tails was on cloud nine.
He allowed himself to get lost in the eternity of their kiss, forgetting about the uncertain future that awaited them now that their mission was over.