This is just a cut of the last update to even out the chapters.
In Third Person
Chapter 4: Invasions
The path let out onto an open clearing, which served as the backyard of the large mansion shared by the heroes. Although in view, the house was quite a distance away from the hunter and little red, whom of which were walking the length of the clearing to reach the porch. The hunter sweat dropped, seeing from a distance the extravagance of the party simply from the decorations scattered across the backyard.
From the sparse trees that littered the clearing and framed the large porch area were purple, blue and red lanterns hanging, with white, beady lights falling like ice crystals below them. Wrapped around the base of the trees were red ribbons, tied nicely into decorative bows. The wooden border of the dark brown porch was wrapped with white ribbons and lined with even more lanterns. Below the porch, under and around the trees were tables graced with white table clothes and candles, chairs surrounding each for the leisure of the guests. On the right of the porch were long tables, graced with purple tablecloth, beholding a buffet fit for a king. A roasted pig with an apple along its jaw, ribs, hotdogs, hamburger patties, buns, chilidogs, fries, bowls of assorted chips and pretzels, fruit salads, rice, beans, pork, shrimp, drumsticks, cold vegetables with ranch dip and a table alone dedicated to sweet treats such as donuts, cupcakes, cookies and a few other pastries. Along the same assembly line, near the end, were twelve blue ice chests, each specializing in a specific beverage, ranging from beer to soda to juices to water. The large remainder of the porch was left to be stomped on as the dance floor was set up. How it was created, they were unsure, but it seemed Rouge had gotten color changing tiles that changed as people stepped on them. Bubbles floated about the scene as a small coalition of partiers danced, a disco ball adorned above them, the large stereo system and subwoofers booming with volume and beat to the far left in the corner of the porch, the DJ shrouded in the shadows. The sun was just above the land.
As the couple approached, they took notice of three grills in the far right below the porch, smoke billowing from their exhaust pipes. Before they went up the steps, a voice called to them.
"Look who decided to show? Haven't seen you much, Ames."
Amy squinted between two grills and in the space noticed a green quill. At first she nearly panicked, thinking of the anti-Sonic, but then he showed his face, a grin adorning his cocky face.
"Manic?"
"That's my name, baby. Don't wear it out." He smirked, winking, flipping the spatula in his grasp.
She giggled at his charisma, while the ebony glared lightly.
"It's nice to see you again. You sure have grown. How's palace life?"
Manic had grown to a height nearing Shadow's, his spiky bangs coming farther down his face, quills extending beyond his waist. He wore a simple black, spiky belt with a silver chain hanging low, his shoes black combat boots. He'd gained muscle since last she'd seen him, which was years ago.
"Eh, life is life. The royal palace? Ew, more like a royal pain in my ass." He looked away, flipping a few layers of the meat on the grill closest to him.
"Well, whatever you're cooking smells delightful." She complimented, before turning to walk the remainder of the steps, the ebony following her steps.
Skewed across the porch dance floor were Mobians of every shape and size, some recognizable, others just bystanders. Amy smiled nervously as many of the dancers looked to her general direction, smiling and shouting. She recognized Blaze and Silver standing rather close together, looking to her while lifting their drinks in a cheer. She also saw Marine waving as she danced from side to side, Charmy and Big standing near her as well chattering away about nothing in particular. Much of the crowd was swaying, much less dancing, as they were covered in warm casual attire.
The rose reluctantly made her way through the peoples, making her way to the decorated sliding glass door, opened and covered diagonally by a red curtain beaded with lights. As she lifted the cloth with the back end of her palm, the view was enough to cease her travels. The ebony remained behind her, taking in the site with an expressionless gaze, expecting nothing more nor less.
The large and seemingly endless ceiling reached, speckled with glow in the dark stars and a hanging, dimmed chandelier littered with more hanging white lights set to the lowest setting. Below, the mobians chattered away, loud and predictable as the party continued inside. The wall by the large brown front door was dark, but lightened by the small colorful lights placed across it by Rouge, the winding stairs glittering with red lights wrapped around the stair railing. On the far left, the fireplace roared with life as the flat screen above it displayed lyrics to a song, while the speakers on either side of the fireplace was the essential output, blasting the instrumental. Conducting this karaoke was none other than Mina Mongoose, singing away as she was surrounded by Mighty, Espio and other adoring fans either enjoying the voice or awaiting their turn. Espio had his eyes closed, nodding to the beat while Mighty tapped his foot with a smile. Not to far off, closer to the backyard entrance was a big screen set upon a brown TV stand, displaying the arrowed moves of the game Dance Dance Revolution. In front of the set up, crushing the arrows below their feet were Sonia and Antoine, battling it out as Bunnie stood behind the two, cheering on her mate, telling him make Sonia eat his fancy dust. A crowd had formed around them, saying things like "Sonia is talented rhythmically, too?" and "wow, Antoine has a real strong accent when he's angry," at least of what Amy could hear.
Remaining in the center were the usual stark white couches, the three of them turned toward each other in the large expanse of a room, a table at the center. Adorning the seats were Julie-Su and a few other echidnas from the island, sitting and lightly chatting amongst themselves, Julie-Su specifically, sitting with her legs crossed, a warm cup of something cuddled within her palms. On the far right was the entrance to the large kitchen expanse that was fully lit. From Amy's view, she could see the kitchen table littered with gifts. On the right, along the wall enclosing the kitchen near them were a few dartboards, that in which were surrounded by guests as Tails and Rotor were going at it, sifting through the concepts of precision and accuracy. Cream stood by, giggling and cheering as more fans traveled near, marveling at the two freedom fighting geniuses.
The rose awoke from her stupor, taking a deep breath and continuing through the living area, headed for the kitchen. Looking around to ensure a crowd of fans would not stop him, Shadow followed the tracks of the rose, trying his best to blend in and keep from being subjected to the normal torture he endured during house parties.
On reaching the kitchen, the rose looked back and forth across the rows of cabinets and drawers. By a counter on the left, Vanilla stirred away at a form of batter while speaking lightly with Tikal, whom of which indulged in the cutting of strawberries on the cutting board by Vanilla. Near them, the main kitchen table was stacked with presents galore. On the far right end, by the large window that had the perfect view of the backyard was a tall brown table with tall brown chairs. Sitting atop the chair adorned in balloons was the birthday man himself, Knuckles, siting with a small assortment of cards in his hands and a crown made of real…bacon leaning sideways on his head. He threw down a card as the random mobians around him sweated in anticipation. Knuckles kept on his poker face as the cat across from him muttered the word "bullshit". Knuckles smirked, turning the card over, earning an angered sigh from the cat, as a large pile of cards was shoveled in his general direction.
"Oh yeah, baby! I'm the king tonight!"
Amy shook her head at Knuckles usual party behavior as Shadow crossed his arms in distaste. They could both tell that he was already tipsy.
"He may look like he's had a lot to drink, but trust me, he's only had a sip."
The two looked behind them to acknowledge the entrance of Rouge, who was clad in a white tank with a maroon cardigan and grey scarf for warmth, dark jeans and black knees high boots. She sauntered over to them with a drink in hand and a playful smirk, curves and all, looking to her boyfriend with a carefree essence. She looked to Amy.
"I see the young couple made it! I was afraid you'd holed up in that little home of yours for the winter, hibernating and whatnot."
Amy replied to Rouge's sarcasm with a chuckle and a light tilt of her head.
"Sorry to have worried you. Did you really think we were going to miss one of your parties?"
Rouge sighed, crossing her arms with a pout, as she seemed to be remembering a particular scene.
"Well, I wouldn't be surprised if Shadow had tried to convince you to skip, knowing how he is normally abused during my parties. Last time he was forced into an intense game of spin the bottle with a few drunken females. Honestly I told him it would have been a lot more enjoyable if he'd had a bit to drink himself, but he didn't quite catch on to that fact." Rouge's tone and facial expression turned from that of a pouting child to that of a playful and flirtatious teenager.
Amy's cheeks lit up with color at the thought of Shadow alone, sucking face with a few drunken fan girls, willing to hop into his pants at a moments notice. She shivered at the thought, looking down toward the ground as she rubbed her right arm, embarrassed and minutely… jealous?
Shadow growled a bit, not with a furious anger, but an annoyance of which many were well acquainted.
"Do not speak as if I am not within your presence, Rouge."
She giggled with a smirk as she waved him off.
"What's wrong, Mr. Brooding? Afraid I'll scare our little rose off by telling her of your adventures? Although I'm pretty sure you two have had a few adventures yourselves, if you know what I mean." She concluded her teasing with a wink.
The ebony closed his eyes in annoyance, one brow twitching as he blushed a light sheet, arms crossed. The rose looked confused a bit as she dwelled on the idea of their "adventures," but soon after puffed into a heated blush as she thought of their alone time at her home.
Rouge nodded.
"See? Guilty as charged."
Amy shook her head rapidly from side to side.
"N-no, Rouge! We haven't done what you think we have! At least nothing along the lines of all that is done in spin the bottle." Amy whispered the last portion.
"Don't worry. Your secrets are safe with me."
Amy sighed, exasperated as the ebony's ears perked up and pointed toward the door. Rouge also looked toward the door.
"Hm, looks like the last of our guests have arrived. Fashionably late as always. Or royally late, to be more accurate." Rouge crossed her arms, watching as the front door creaked as it was pushed ajar by the blue blur.
First through the door, Sally walked within the warm home, clad in her traditional blue boots, a pair of grey jeans, a lavender overcoat with black buttons, in which she proceeded to discard, showing her form fitting white sweater accompanied with her gold chain that held her engagement ring at the end. As she set her coat along the coat rack by the door, she looked like her old self, the reliable tactician of the former freedom fighters and respected princess of the days Mobius was in a tattered chaos. She had a friendly smile, one that could warm the chilled of hearts and she looked as if she had no care in the world, none but to please the country in which she was destined to regulate.
Sonic followed her in, shrugging off his on worn winter scarf and placing it in a trustworthy space. He rubbed the princesses arms as she shivered slightly from the draft that followed them in as he closed the door. As soon as he made contact with her fur though, she gave a look of distaste, lightly pulling away from his area, looking around the populated home.
And as soon as she made eye contact with the rose, her face turned sour, upturning into that of a disgusted anger as she puffed and stormed across the entire living expanse, pushing through the curtain to end up right back outside, disappearing within the swaying crowd of dancers. Sonic called after her, but after receiving silence, he scurried after her, excusing himself as he pushed past his fans and friends.
Rouge turned back to the two.
"Jeeze, still don't know what her problem is. Even I would prefer the old Sally than this stuck up, bratty version of herself. I guess she's just going through one of the many Sally phases. Next thing you know she'll be dying her hair brown and her fur grey."
Amy shook her head, looking down to the basket she still clutched in her grasp.
"No. I'm pretty sure she just wishes I'd disappear. I don't know what her issue is with me now, but I hope that she takes my silence as a truce." Amy rubbed her right arm a bit.
Just as their conversation was getting to its climax, the kitsune and his rabbit companion jogged up to them, panting and excited.
"Shadow, you've arrived! Quick, we need you outside!" Tails exclaimed, grabbing Shadow by the arm and pulling him out to the porch area.
"Not again…" Shadow muttered under his breath as he was pulled away.
Cream remained by the girls as they watched the two friends make their escape to the portion of the party that proceeded within the confines of the cold. As they disappeared, Cream turned to Amy, clad in baby blue knitted sweater that looked a bit oversized, white jeans and short grey laced boots. She looked to her with absolute joy.
"Amy, I'm glad you made it! I've missed you!" Cream trotted in front of her and gave her a full on hug. The rose, stunned at first, returned it gladly with warm cheeks.
"It's great to be back, Cream. I don't remember the last time I visited. I'm not sure if this place looks the same or not."
As they released one another, Amy made her way over to the kitchen table filled with gifts. As she set hers down in a feasible spot, Cream and Rouge followed, wanting to make conversation with the long awaited rose hedgie.
"So, how are you and Mr. Shadow doing, Amy?"
Amy looked back to Cream as she was focused on the basket to make sure her gift was still in check. She turned back to fixing her gift, thinking.
"Shadow and I? Well, not much has happened. He just brought me safely home and stayed the night in the guest room. He was hurt, so I aided his wounds. He was there when I awoke and now we're here." As she fixated the gift to perfection, she turned fully to the attention of her friends, feeling suddenly flushed when she came upon Rouge's disbelieving and sassy posture and Cream's worried glance.
"What?" Amy sputtered.
"Amy, you know Shadow has a thing for you, right?" Rouge questioned.
The rose just stared into her face, question marks seeming to appear above her head in droves if they were visible.
Rouge sighed.
"You guys haven't figured this out yet? You two have an obvious attraction, sometimes I just want to tell you two to get a room, I swear." Rouge teased.
Amy looked to Rouge with a sarcastic flare.
"Rouge, I highly doubt it's that serious. We're just close companions, you know, like you, Cream and I. I feel I can tell him anything and he'll give me good advice or support."
Cream swayed from right to left and back to get the rose's attention.
"But Amy, you and Mr. Shadow have this intensity when you're around each other! You look into each other's eyes and you two pass this silent message, a message that both of you can understand. It's like you can't wait to be alone with one another. When I've caught you two, this seems to be the fact." Cream beamed with factual sense.
Amy just stared at her smaller friend, amazed at her description, trying to stomach it a bit. Rouge smirked knowingly.
"See? Even little ol' Cream can see it and she's been with Tails for how long?"
Cream flushed, turning to the bat.
"Rouge, my relationship has nothing to do with this situation."
Rouge picked at her fingernails.
"Oh yes it does, hun. Everything I mention is relevant." The bat topped off her statement with a wink.
Amy shook her head at her friends nonsense chatter, rummaging through her pockets for her phone to check the time. But she froze as her fingertips grazed the surface of a glass like object. She lightly wrapped her fingers around it, pulling it out with a delicate clutch. There, her friends attention was caught at the glow emanating from the deep, red heart charm cradled within the rose's palm.
"A-amy? What is that?" Cream stuttered in awe.
She shrugged lightly.
"I'm…not so sure. I found it in the snow, but it wasn't glowing this much before."
Rouge gasped happily.
"Wait."
The bat rummaged through her pockets on her cardigan, pulling out both a glowing silver emerald shaped charm and a golden star charm. She handed the former to Cream who beamed with remembrance.
"Oh yes! The odd things we found in the trees when we were decorating for the birthday party! I remember now!" Cream exclaimed.
Rouge nodded, presenting hers to Amy.
"Looks like we're matching in some way. What do you think they mean? Another adventure? A cry for help from the forces of the chaos emeralds? A mission exclusively for the females this time?" Rouge continued.
Amy shook her head with a smile at Rouge's quirky questions, as they all held their charms for each to see.
"I don't know, but let's hope we don't get into anything dangerous. I really want to spend more time with you guys. It's been so long," Amy sighed.
Just as the trio began to agree, the remainder of the partiers flowed out the back door, attracted to a loud occurrence happening on the outdoor dance floor. Rouge looked over to the table Knuckles was playing cards at to find the seats vacant. By the looks of it, she could tell the seats had been vacant a while.
"I have a feeling Knuckles is doing something outrageous right now and we should go stop him before he hurts himself," Rouge suggested, placing her charm within her pocket. Her female companions did the same.
"Ooo! I hope it's another dance off! I love watching those things," Cream giggled, leading the way out the back door.
Upon reaching the door, the group of females was stopped by the formed crowd blocking the exit. Rouge tapped at the shoulders of a few to get them out of the way, which allowed all three to take notice of the four familiar Mobians that were having a severe staring competition of some sort. Cream giggled while Rouge raised an eyebrow. Amy looked worried.
"Are they going to fight?" Amy looked to Rouge for answers.
Rouge shook her head slowly.
"Not the kind of fight you're thinking of, hun."
Knuckles was staring straight into Sonic's face, a little too close for comfort, standing a bit taller looking down into his humorous emerald eyes. Shadow stood beside the echidna looking down to Tails without care, arms crossed as the kitsune stood behind the blue blur, scratching his head as he gave his nervous glance to Shadow. Amy looked to the DJ booth, now seeing Vector underneath the contraption as a rather popular human world song (think of Closer by Ne-Yo…) rang through the subwoofers, earning a rather endearing response from the blue hedgehog.
While remaining close to the echidna, the blue blur began to lightly pop his body forward, in a rather aggressive dancing manner, eventually rolling his head back, the remainder of his body following as he executed another move rapidly within the view of his opponent. Knuckles remained unamused, but held a touch of playful within his magenta orbs.
The hedgehog stood, chest out as he hit it with his fist, completing his segment as the song began to pick up and transition into the bridge. The crowd hooted and clapped. The echidna smirked, moving away from his dark companion and into the space left vacant by his challenger.
He began with a few side steps, rolling his body smoothly with each step, abs crunching and flexing as a female whistled at the display. The next two moves where executed with his legs in a squat, his fists moving between the spaces in front and in back of him before he suddenly spun on the floor on his side with the velocity gathered. He stopped his spin with a pose in which he held, giving his disbelieving opponent a wink. Rouge whistled, clapping while roaring "YES BAE," earning a blush from her female counterparts and her red head companion. Sonic blinked and looked over to Tails, whom of which sweat dropped at Knuckle's display. The kitsune swallowed, stepping into the space provided.
With a sigh, the kit snapped four times. After, he performed two sets of three steps, feeling the beat as he spun around and stopping to lightly roll his body with a hand to follow the movement. He cutely pretended to fix an invisible tie with a sheepish grin, stepping side and then back, next side and then back, stomping two times and then snap-pointing to Shadow as Cream clapped while shouting along with the audience. Shadow, who'd been ignoring much of the display, opened his eyes, uncrossed his arms and stepped out into limelight.
As everyone stood deathly quiet, the ebony tapped his foot along with the bass, rolling his shoulders with the rhythm. He stood with his back to the majority of the crowd. With an abrupt movement, the ebony flipped backward, with a twist, landing with a slide on his knees, running his fingers through his quills as he breathed with wet lips. His eyes held a deep, lustrous glint as the females cried bloody murder at the rare action, a few fainting. Amy had been behind one of the fainting few and had seen the display, watching the ebony with extremely heavily flushed cheeks. She had to admit, the look within his orbs had turned her on a bit.
On his knees, the ebony took and eight count to let everyone take a gander, pushing his pelvis forward in a hip thrust move, eventually using the movement to push him backward once again, using his hands to flip him twice, landing on his feet in front of Tails and Sonic as he spun, stopping to roll his body toward them with a smirk and a hand within his tasseled quills.
A scream ripped across the crowd as they had chosen their winners, the echidna and the dark hedgie. Rouge shouted along with them, Cream giggling with a cry excitement. Amy came out of her stupor, clapping and laughing. She'd missed these sorts of interactions. The competition was enough to leave a smile plastered on her face the entirety of the night.
The rose felt a hand grab her wrist. She looked up.
"Come on! We can't let the boys hog the limelight. Let's get in there!" Rouge enticed, pulling her through the crowd and into the circle of space. Cream followed after happily, lifting her arms up about her as she hopped around, dancing. Rouge followed her lead, moving her hips and head side to side as Amy stood within the cheering crowd, legs and arms apart, deer in headlights.
She looked around, seeing the crowd jump with excitement, rotating until she saw the boys who looked to the girls in befuzzled awe. When her eyes came in contact with Sonic's, he shrugged with a smirk and began to dance vigorously. The echidna followed suit, he and the kitsune coming over to dance with their female counterparts. The remainder of the crowd began to dance as well, meshing back into one huge pit of persons, not a single breathable space left between anyone on the dance floor now.
The rose got caught along the wave of moving Mobians, being pushed and shoved until she softly fell into a warm body that held her steadfast. She looked up, flushing. The ebony gave her a nod as he steadied her in front of him. She smiled, yelling over the music.
"You did great!"
The ebony shook his head.
"It was just to entertain the guests, nothing special." His voice penetrated through the noise pollution.
She laughed.
"Want to dance?"
He stood above her, close, warm and protective, a small smirk evident.
"If you'd like."
They swayed side to side quickly with the tempo. Amy took a chance to spin with a giggle, eyes closed, coming closer to the ebony, hopping with the beat. The ebony mirrored her, watching her, being sure to protect her body from the congestion.
As he watched, he noticed the warmth and joy she emitted. His eyes glazed over as she gazed into his eyes, both becoming entranced.
Instinctively, the rose brought her arms to his shoulders slowly, leaning in gently, taken. He lightly grazed her shoulders, bringing his hands to slide up her arms to her wrists, wanting to remain in contact.
If only for a little while…
But with the set of the sun, the close of the day, a fiend was left to enter, uninvited.
Time seemed to slow for the two as a heavy object, lit like a candle hurdled above their heads, about the size of a large aircraft, startling everyone as they unnecessarily ducked and hit the deck. Shadow pulled the rose into his chest as he got down, hearing a deafening thud render the ground beneath them.
Once the chaos had subsided, the blue blur was the first to rise, looking in the direction of the forest ahead that was a large clearing and then a cacophony of trees, rustling and bending as if a windstorm had possessed their branches. Following behind the trees, a tower of smoke materialized, signifying the landing of the odd craft.
"I don't think that's a good sign."
As Shadow rose, with Amy in his grasp, her hands clutching at his shoulders and neck, head tucked into his fur, he followed Knuckles statement to find him standing fully, Rouge beside him, looking toward the remainder of the backyard with distress. He stood to his full height as Tails and Cream stood beside them.
"The aliens… the ones that attacked last night! Do you think that's them?" Cream mentioned suddenly to Tails. He shook his head.
"Not sure. But if it is the same people, bringing reinforcements, this won't be pretty."
The rest of the partiers stood, muttering nervously and slightly panicked. Sonic dashed to the DJ booth, grabbing the microphone.
"I'm sorry guys, but I think we need to officially call the remainder of the party off. Those of you who are not members or close associates of the former Freedom Fighters, please head home immediately. This is for your safety." Sonic ordered.
The guests wasted no time in cramming through the back door, drinks and food in hand, dispersing throughout the large living area to grab their belongings and bolt.
Those that remained were fighters, from Sonia, Manic, Blaze, Silver, the Chaotix to the remaining Sonic heroes, Sally, Rotor, Julie-Su, Mina, Antoine and Bunnie, all quiet, listening. Sonic dashed from the DJ booth, standing in front of the group at the edge of the porch, ears twitching, eyes watching.
Shadow released Amy entirely from his grasp, pushing her back and stepping forward a tad.
"I don't know if you've deduced this yet, faker, but whatever landed is headed toward us. And it's not a robot this time. I sense living forces."
Sonic turned his head with a sigh to acknowledge this piece of information.
"I kinda figured. But what is it this time?"
Tails stepped forward.
"My sensors indicate that this amount of energy moving at such a rate could only be result of about one-hundred and fifty men, running with all they've got." Tails was looking at his wristwatch again.
Knuckles grumbled.
"So, an army of alien men is headed our way. Grand. How are we going to hold that off until all the guests get a chance to get a good enough distance away?" Knuckles cracked his balled fists, already ticked.
Rouge's heels clicked.
"Oh hell no! These losers aren't making it past this porch! We take them all down or die trying! The last thing we need is to have a horde of alien weirdoes running rampant through Mobius, or worse, making a mess of my mansion." Rouge cracked her knuckles, unamused by the situation.
Amy stepped to stand next to Shadow. He looked down to her, but she was staring at Sonic, a look of urgent focus put forth.
"We need a plan, a quick one. I believe we have more than we need to stop this foe; we just need to work together and not be too hasty. What do you propose?" Amy nodded to the blue blur.
Sonic looked to her with an unsure gaze, to the ground and then to the others surrounding him. He shared eye contact with Rotor, Bunnie, Antonie, Espio and then Julie-Su, all prepared, ready to follow his lead. His passing gaze fell upon Sally, arms crossed, a neutral look across her face. She sighed, arms falling before she came to stand at his side, hand on his shoulder, their eye contact remaining. A message passed between the openings to their souls and Sonic found himself looking back at everyone, determination and a rough smirk adorning him.
"Alright, here's how this is going to go. I need a team of brawn at the frontlines with me, to hold and take the larger damage. A little ways behind, I'm going to need a line to hold the ones that get around us, preferably an air and stealth crew," Sonic ordered, looking to all the males, plus Julie-Su and Bunnie.
Tails tapped at his watch.
"Sonic, they're getting closer."
He ignored his two-tailed friend, looking everyone dead in the eye.
"I'll need these two lines to work offensively and strong. Our goal is to not let one pass us up."
A beeping came from Tails' watch, a warning. The kitsune looked up at his friend.
"Sonic."
"And for our last line of defense, our precious cargo," He muttered softly, looking warmly to the gathered females that normally stayed away from the frontlines.
The beeping picked up speed.
"Sonic!"
He smiled.
"We'll rely on you to eliminate the scraps that dare pass us up."
The beeping on Tails' watch became one sustained tone.
With the eerie sound resonating throughout, the group, on edge, awaited their leader's mark.
"Stay together. Don't let anyone fall. Fight like a class A resistance. Let's go!"
Sonic turned and hopped off of the porch, dashing down the clearing.
Right behind him, Knuckles trudged on like a red tank, smashing his feet into the ground as he launched off the porch, stomping through the light snow swiftly, firsts at the ready. Following close behind were Rotor, Bunnie, Mighty, Vector and Manic. Right after, Tails took flight, Charmy and Silver following suit, allowing the kit to lead them into the air. Blaze, Espio, Antoine, Julie-Su and Sonia pursued the flying coup on foot, keeping their position within their vision. Remaining on the porch, positioning themselves at farther distances as to ensure they caught all of the enemies, were Amy, Rouge, Cream, Sally, Mina and… Shadow.
The rose looked into the face of the ebony that remained, glaring at the battle ahead. She grabbed his arm, softly asking for attention.
"Shadow. What's wrong?"
He gave her a fierce gaze, growling with frustration.
"Something is going to go wrong. I cannot deny my intuition; we are going to fail tonight. What is most frustrating is I cannot pinpoint where our error lies to induce this feeling," he harshly muttered to her.
She gave him a hopeful smile, gripping his arm tighter.
"Don't worry, just fight like you have before. Although we rushed into the last battle, we won, right? We're a smart group, and a larger one at the moment. With trustworthy help, I'm sure we can put these guys in their place. Mobius is our home, and we'll do whatever we can to protect it," she encouraged.
He gave her a soft and helpless expression for a fraction of a second; her aura seeming to glow as Maria's did around her; that smile penetrating his soul…
But only doing so much to fill the void defeat had left within him. Despite this, he nodded to her, told her to remain safe and teleported to his position beside Sonic on the battlefront.
~aAa~
Standing at distances in a line on the frontlines, the heroes on the first line of defense waited, the eerie sound of Tails watch the only thing penetrating the silence along with the heavy rustling in the trees. Their quills bristled, every face focused, searching the trees for the oncoming threat. The light snow picked up, sifting through dirt and fur before falling before the three lines of defense.
The rose held her breath, mallet in hand, quills bristling sideways. To her left, Rouge awaited in flight, Cream and Mina at her sides. Sally stood, a calm determination taking over her being.
"Chaos, help us."
The ringing of the watch dropped into silence.
And the sun was beyond set.
Within seconds, silhouettes darker than the night emerged through the brush, stomping across the snow littered clearing. Everyone along the main front tensed, ready for the charging troops.
Sonic dashed forward first, smirking at the first couple of silhouettes now in his line of sight. As he leaped skyward to initiate his homing attack, the moonlight glinted off the first soldier's armor, revealing his smooth helmet, splashed with violet color, his brown muzzle the only thing visible from the under side of his head guard. The soldier glanced heavenward, unsheathing his sword much too late as Sonic came down on his armored figure with a low thud, smashing the man into the snow behind him, hopefully unconscious.
Sonic charged the second, punching as he dashed by, but was taken aback as his hand crashed into a thick breastplate. As he flipped backward to get away from the slightly dazed soldier, he examined his bruised hand with animosity.
"Well, whoever came to play sure knows how to suit up," he muttered with a smirk as Knuckles and Bunnie came running from his flanks.
As ten more soldiers emerged from the brush, Bunnie flew up, aiming her robotized hand in their direction, shooting. Knuckles ran up to a few, crushing his spiked paws into purple armor, growling as he rammed his knees and feet to keep the men from drawing closer to their home.
"I'll be damned if I let these scrubs touch a brick on our home! Raa!" Knuckles growl rang about him as he crushed armor after armor. He dodged swiftly the sharp attacks of their falling swords, grabbing the hilt from one soldier, disarming the fellow before he put him out of commission. But he could not avoid their weaponry; he did his best to remain unscathed as more surrounded him.
The madness escalated as twenty more soldiers smashed through the shrubbery, a low war cry forced from their mouths as they charged forward, dispersing in an effort to evade the frontline of heroes.
Rotor stomped into action, first being passed up by the faster Vector, whom of which ran dead into the larger mass, disappearing from view before many of the solders were knocked off of their feet. Rotor met with the first few, head butting them and punching the next array that came by him. He found vector and stood back to back with him as the horde grew, surrounding them as they marched past.
As thirty more pushed through, Mighty and Manic came running to meet them head on, Manic grabbing a charging soldier by the arms and getting him on the ground. As he tried to knee him, a sharp object sliced at his side from above. He yelped in pain as the soldier threw him off. Manic made to get up as he felt the shadow of his attacker loom over him and was bracing for another slice, when a gust bristled his fur. He looked up to see Mighty with his hand outstretched, a few soldiers about his feet, struggling. He took it willingly with a sheepish grin, rejoining him in the fight.
Shadow remained, glaring at the start of the battle ahead. There had yet to be a soldier that broke free and had come to his position, but it was too early to be hopeful. A little under half had showed their faces at any rate.
As the battle remained in his vision, about seven soldiers were running to get past him, running with their purpled and blacked out armor toward the porch, like robots program to reach a certain destination, that being the mansion. This didn't sit well with the ebony at all.
With bloody intent, the ebony teleported to the closest soldier, using his shoes to smash him in to submission, doing the same as he teleported to each escaping man, dealing the damage as he saw fit.
From the porch, the tense females watched with breaths caught, not sure how to help yet. All they could do was wait. The trouble had not come to them and yet they felt compelled to jump beyond the frontlines and deal with the threat themselves.
As the troops pushed through the first line, Blaze took in a breath and let a blaze her pyromania onto the snow-speckled ground. It took a moment, but she was able to light the remaining grass on fire, creating a flaming barrier between the last two lines of defense and the on coming soldiers. As she glared menacingly through the fire, she noticed the soldiers had stopped abruptly, looking to one another as to gage what to do. Then a soldier, with an intricate design carved though his helmet, stepped forward, looking to her with a growl.
"Return our fugitive princess and we will leave with minimal damage."
Blaze grit her teeth, embers flying from her hands into her barrier, making the flames flicker with malice. The flames lit her eyes demonically as the remainder of her front stood behind her, spread out accordingly.
"I don't think it's in your best interest to be giving orders here, sir," she said regally before she used her craft to open a hole in her pyro-barrier, ordering her friends to run through.
Swiftly running through, Espio dashed past, followed by Antonie, sword in hand, Julie-Su with a gun and Sonia with her fists balled. At their entrance, the few soldiers that had stopped before the barrier charged the new forces as the remainder of their back up flew past the trees behind them, clashing with the first front that struggled to keep their ground.
Amy looked to the flaming wall with adrenaline surging through her veins. Her heart pounded and her breath caught as Blaze hopped through the fire, closing up the space and blocking the remainder of the battle from her view. The girls shifted with anticipation, for all they could hear were clashing, smashing and cries that could be interpreted as either pain or rage.
Beyond the flames, Espio threw numerous ninja stars, confusing the soldiers that were unaccustomed to the stealthy weaponry. In their moment of panic, Espio dashed away, becoming invisible. Julie-Su shot at their armored bods, sliding under a soldier's leg to dodge his attack, getting up and blasting the guy in the back of his helmet. She looked beside her, seeing soldiers coming her way, when two were brought down by Sonia stomping on their heads, seeming to come from the sky. Within seconds, Tails flew overhead, blasting one of his inventions like no tomorrow, knocking out the soldiers that surrounded the girls. Sonia smiled to the echidna, punching a soldier and flipping over his body to confront more enemies. The echidna smirked at her mirth, looking above her as two other figures flew overhead.
Blaze held her ground, the cat in her reacting as she felt light when evading attacks, coming back down with balls of fire. She ended up farther from her flame barrier and in the center of the chaos when she felt the back of Antonie press against hers. Both had gashes from confronting numerous swords. She looked back to him, nodding as he clashed swords with a solider and Blaze conjured two fire whips, doing what she could to sear the armor off of the soldiers flesh. Just as the soldiers were closing in, a tree outlined in blue came swishing through, knocking half of the invaders off their feet. As aged leaves fell about the two, Silver smirked down to them, a sweat forming about his brow as he focused on destroying the menace and keeping his friends from his line of fire. Blaze smiled up to him, hopeful, as Charmy came flying in, stinging the soldiers that dared respond from their unconsciousness.
As it seemed the heroes were managing, the rest of the troops that had yet to show themselves emerged, charging all at once. The fighters beyond the fire, gasping for breath and surrounded by fallen soldiers, went straight for them, each disappearing into a mass of armor and swordplay.
As the noise increased and the night seemed to get darker, Sally stepped forward, at the edge of the porch, eyes squinting.
"There can't possibly be anymore troops than this," she muttered, ready to jump forward and attack herself.
With a courageous leap of faith, Amy stepped to her level, not daring to look at her, but deciding to speak.
"Do you think we'll have to engage in combat tonight?"
Sally was stiff, not sure whether to answer the rose or stay silent. She sighed a bit.
"I'm not sure, Amy, but be prepared, because whatever dares to come through that fire has to answer to us," she atoned with a smile to the battlefield.
The rose nodded, as her female companions readied themselves, joining them at the edge of the porch.
As the flames seemed to remain at their height, a sudden calm rendered the wall of flame straight, not one inch seeming to flicker as if there were no more fighting behind it. This made the females tense even more, standing well into their battle stances.
The wind was a mere whisper.
The moon, a large blip in the sky.
Without repose, masses of soldiers ripped through the fire as if they were fireproof, charging as their armor creaked from the force of their moving limbs.
The first to emerge from her perch was Sally, crying out as she met a soldier head on, grabbing his shoulders and flipping above him, talking him down with her. Rouge flew out like a dart, yelling out with a fit of rage as she stomped with her steel toed boots, flying to evade swords as Cream flew beside her, allowing a soldier to chase her as she lead him to a tree where he ran face first into the bark.
Mina dashed forward next, Amy right behind her. She was like a graceful dancer, seeming to spin to confuse her opponent and then quickly upper cutting him before pushing him to the ground, moving on to the next. Amy ran up to the first soldier in her sight, moving out of the range of his sword and using all of her might to cast her hammer down on his physique. She came up smiling at the satisfying smash that shook the ground about her. Another guy came at her and she took all the time she needed to trick him into coming closer to her, as if she weren't a threat and suddenly flipped out her hammer and smashed him sideways.
Chaos was sure to continue his aiding.
~aAa~
Fierce crimson orbs allowed the battle to play within his eyes as the surrounding soldiers ran about him. They had tried many a time to restrain the ebony, but the chaos powers within him would not have it. Neither would his companions.
Speaking of companions…
Sonic dashed in a circle about him, knocking the soldiers in various directions in an effort to divert them. He stopped next to Shadow, whom of which had a chaos spear within his palm, awaiting the first soldier to stand back up.
"They just won't budge, huh," the blue blur huffed, a sweat forming.
As a soldier clattered to stand on his feet, the ebony effortlessly tossed his spear, severing the head of the troop. The ebony looked to the hedgehog, not a hint of remorse evident.
"We need to attempt to end this battle as soon as possible. I have no positive inclinations with their presence and as long as they are here, we cannot relax," Shadow grumbled, pausing to send a chaos blast in the direction of a few soldiers.
Although they had downed many of the soldiers, it seemed they were easily replaced as more filled in the spaces of their fallen comrades. The ebony looked around as they were surrounded once again.
"Alright, time to finish these guys for good," Sonic ordered, new set of determination taking over.
As Shadow began to pick through the men one by one, he stopped when he felt something wasn't right. Someone was down or somehow out of commission. He instantly struggled through the men, pushing them aside as he dodged their swords, looking for fallen comrades. He just hoped he was in time.
~aAa~
Small patches of fire were still lit about the battle, dwindling with each waking moment, but lasting until the end.
Cream maneuvered around the armored fools with a trained stealth about her, but her stamina was at its wits end. She took a moment to land and instantly a soldier came dashing toward her.
Cream squealed, rolling under the foe before running away from him to a clutter of men.
She flew above their heads as they saw her come to them, panting as she flapped her ears in a panic. The adrenaline in her tiny body surged when she felt a hand on her foot, yanking her down.
"Ahh! No!"
She kicked at the soldier's helmet, coming free, but with a dire consequence.
The bunny lost her flight balance and without warning came crashing down onto the snowy turf. She gasped with breath as the air had been knocked out of her. Just as she opened her eyes from the impact, darkness shed over her vision as a sack muffled her screams.
"No! Please, let me go!"
The fighting team members heard her cry for help, but the first to react without a second thought was the two tailed fox himself. He looked about frantically, searching for her. He took to the air.
"Cream! Where are y-" he called, but was brought down by a soldier that jumped on his back.
Espio was near by and shot a ninja star to take the soldier out, pushing the menace off of Tails, but was ravaged by five more soldiers that surrounded the heroes.
"No! Where is she?" Tails questioned the soldiers as they grabbed at he and the chameleon.
"Tails, snap out of it! We need to eliminate them first before we can help anyone else!" the chameleon hollered as he kicked and struggled through.
Cream struggled to get free, but her air was limited and after a minute, she passed out from the panic and oxygen depletion.
Tails was brought to his senses, only to freak when he heard her screams of white-hot fear render the air about them. And that's when he saw the men, circled around her a distance away, stuffing his precious girlfriend into a brown sack, a larger soldier tossing her over his shoulder and stomping away, back toward the forest area.
"NO! LET HER GO!"
Smashing armor after armor under a heated sweat, Rouge heard the kitsune's strangled cry of agony and turned, distracted, to witness the last of the scene, panicking herself.
"No!" she screamed, headed in her direction to help, but she felt strong arms peel her down to the surface, wrapping around her mouth and shoulders. The spy struggled, but the man was much to heavy to fight off. As he brought her flesh up against him, the bat looked skyward witnessing the aircraft that had landed and allowed for all of this to happen.
The ship could be seen above the treetops, lights shining about it, the front like a curved Viking horn, but with a little more grace. Its presence shook the ground, rattling their ribs and settled as the craft moved above the clearing. Ropes were dispatched and soldiers made their way to the means of escape.
She was snapped from her stupor as the man who held her steadfast hit her in the gut. She growled.
"Hey, let me go, asshole!"
As she made another attempt to escape, her cry was heard across the clearing, but many of the heroes that tried to help her were pushed back by a multitude of men.
But Knuckles wouldn't let that stop him.
When he heard her cry, he charged right through the men with the roar of a lion. He looked to and fro, trying to pinpoint her position.
"Rouge!"
But in his haste, he turned to see a soldier step right into his path and in an instant the man sliced a gash through the echidna's arm. He staggered back, holding his arm.
"Gah!"
Rouge continued to get away as another man charge to help her captor.
"Knuckles!"
But with her cry came a stab from the second soldier with a blunt object that zapped the bat into submission. After the shock, her ears shrunk low, her body went limp and she was shoved into a bag just the same as her rabbit friend.
All the while, the rose fought on.
When she heard her rabbit friend's call for help, she ran to find her. But as she was coming close, men surrounded her once again and she struggled to get away, having no stamina to fight through them. As a soldier grabbed for her, a figure pushed the fiend back. Amy smiled as Sally flipped the man over her shoulder, panting like no tomorrow. Sally looked to her with a nod and they stood back-to-back, sending soldiers into the snow.
When Rouge cried out, both females were distracted, going into a panic, trying to get away from the crowd of men that just wouldn't let up.
"Rouge, hold on!"
Sally ran toward the bats voice, but Amy watched in fright as a soldier got lucky shot at Sally, elbowing her in the back, leaving her there, unconscious.
"Sally!" the rose screamed, but as she ran to help her, a tall soldier stepped into her path, sack in hand. The rose's breath caught in her throat as she was frozen for only a second.
And then his voice pierced her pause.
"Please forgive me, sister."
The sack enveloped her form, eradicating her senses.
~aAa~
The ebony continued to look, still unsure of which of his comrades he was looking to help. Every soldier in his path was sure to be dead; he made sure of it at that moment. But as he accomplished this, it seemed the lasting men were picking up their downed men and running to the falling ropes the ebony had yet to see appear. He gazed heavenward to see the ship that had landed earlier, retaking its troops. But the ebony could still feel the void. Someone was missing. No, more than one.
As the ebony kicked a soldier that was on his way to the ship, his breath caught as his eyes shook with realization.
Rose.
He stood still, focusing at the spaces between the retreating soldiers. Manic was crushing a soldier's head into the ground. Sonic was arm to arm with a man, Knuckles near him in a heap on the ground. Vector hand Rotor by the shoulders, carrying the injured walrus to safety as Mina, Bunnie and Julie-Su surrounded them to keep any men from harming them. Charmy zoomed about, stopping to help Espio and Silver with Sally. Tails was crawling in his direction on his stomach. Shadow made desperate eye contact with his kitsune friend, a message passing through them.
Rouge. Cream. Where are they?!
The ebony twisted around to the ship, as the last of the soldiers climbed aboard the ropes, the ship leaning away, preparing to take off.
No.
The ebony skated with haste to the ship, stopping for nothing.
NO!
Just as a rope was to be grabbed by his hand, the ship zipped from existence just like that, leaving the ebony on his knees in the snow, gazing unknowingly into the star speckled sky. The breeze ruffled his quills and the helmets of deceased soldiers. The flames about them were blown out.
And they were gone.
~aAa~
A/N: Okay, this is in edit in an effort to fix the lengthiness in my chapters. An update will come soon.