-Chapter 231-

Soldiers, Hunters, and Thieves


Northamer

Across the plains, heading for Crystal Cave, was a GUN off-road vehicle. Shadow was at the wheel, Jewel in the front passenger seat, with Rouge, Hope, Sam, and Omega loaded in the back. Hope had cleaned up, now wearing a blue hoodie and matching jeans. Sam perked, sniffing the air slightly.

"Am I crazy, or do I smell lavender?" he asked.

"Oh yeah," Hope rubbed the back of her neck. "I grabbed Shadow's shampoo by mistake. The smell's a bit strong, but not bad."

"Wait…Shadow uses lavender-scented shampoo?" Sam raised an eyebrow, turning to him. "Buddy, ya just blew your image."

"It reminds me of Maria," Shadow said matter-of-factly. "She used that brand of shampoo and body wash all the time."

Sam winced as Rouge hissed through her teeth.

"How's that foot taste, Sammy-boy?" she asked.

An awkward silence passed before Sam pulled a small book out of his coat pocket

"Okay, we need to lighten the mood. Ready?" he opened the book. "It doesn't matter how much you push an envelope, it'll still be stationary."

"Oh boy…" Hope sighed. "He pulled it out."

She buried her face in the tablet.

Shadow looked over his shoulder, confused. "What is that?"

"My joke book. For long, boring car rides or when I have nothing better to do."

"This should be interesting," Shadow remarked.

"Alright," Sam flipped through the pages. "What do Southern Baronies soldiers use to eat with? Civil-ware!"

"Uh-huh," Hope deadpanned.

"And what did they drink out of? Dixie cups!"

"I would pay good money to hear you tell those jokes to Bunnie," said Rouge.

Shadow smirked. "He'd lose at least three teeth."

Sam scoffed. "I'm smarter than that."

"Debatable," said Omega.

Sam rolled his eyes before going on. "I once knew a guy who was so slimy, his blood type was swamp water."

The only sound he heard was the sound of the engine, and the tapping of Hope's tablet.

"Everybody's a critic…" he muttered.

"For good reason," Shadow deadpanned.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Well, I wouldn't expect you to laugh, Shadow. To put it bluntly, you're a humorless hardass who wouldn't know a good joke if it came up and kicked you in the face."

That got a snort out of Rouge.

"Et tu, Rouge?" Shadow asked, offended.

"What?" Rouge defended. "He's not wrong."

Shadow just scoffed.

"Okay, last one for now," Sam pocketed his book. "What's the difference between Eggman and a pit bull?"

"I give up," said Hope. "What?"

"One will tear your heart out, scare your friends, and wreck your house... and the other is a pit bull."

Rouge cracked, covering her mouth as she snorted again. Shadow let out a noise that sounded like a laugh that he quickly covered with a cough, and Omega let out a strange, mechanized laughter. All eyes turned to him at that.

"What?" the bot asked. "Anything that insults or mocks Eggman is humorous."


Eventually, they came to a cluster of trees, forcing Shadow to pull over.

"End of the road," Jewel said. "We'll have to walk from here."

As they piled out, Rouge sighed, stretching her arms and wings.

"Finally…" she remarked. "That bumpy road was making me queasy. Remind me why we couldn't just use the Warp Rings again?"

"Because whatever this Power Gem is, it's interfering with the signal," Shadow replied. "The best we could manage is to warp to the closest town and drive."

"I have never seen a Warp Ring fizzle like that," Sam recalled. "Tails looked like he was about to have a heart attack when we told him."

"All the more reason for us to find this Power Gem quickly," said Shadow.

They took a moment to admire the peaceful beauty and serenity of the woodlands.

"Wow... don't see stuff like this in Station Square," Sam mused. "Right, Hope?"

But Hope was still buried in her tablet.

"Hope?" Sam snapped his fingers. "Hope!"

Getting no response, he looked over her shoulder, seeing she was looking over similar schematics to what were in her lab.

"Son of a…" he got her attention. "You're still working on the Cyberization angle?!"

"We were stuck in that car for an hour," Hope defended. "What was I supposed to do? Besides, I was only banned from my lab, not from my research."

"Don't get technical with me, young lady," Shadow said sternly. "The entire point of bringing you on this mission was to get you away from the data."

"Again, long drive. And it was just to get me out of the lab. I had to do something to pass the time."

Shadow opened his mouth to refute it, but ultimately couldn't think of anything to say and walked off in a huff.

"If this whole scientist angle doesn't work, maybe you should go into law," Rouge suggested as she followed him, the others joining her.

"My grandpa could definitely use the help with court marshaling rogue agents," Sam mused.

"Your grandpa?" Jewel asked.

"Frederick Baker," Sam explained. "He was one of the few good soldiers in GUN before Tower turned things around. He never had anything against Mobians, and if he'd been around back during Project Shadow's shutdown, he would've done everything in his power to oppose it."

"Tower mentioned him during one of the meetings," Shadow recalled. "He works as a handler for the organization's spec-ops agents, doesn't he? The Hollows?"

Sam nodded. "That's him."

"Well, I was not expecting this," Rouge mused.

Sam turned to her. "What do you mean?"

"Well, aside from you being a military brat and Hope's boyfriend, you never really stood out much. Now, it turns out you're the grandson of one of the biggest names in Mobius."

"Perhaps we should consider recruiting him," Omega mused. "It might benefit Hope's mental and emotional state."

"Possibly," Shadow mused. "But work relationships are never a good thing from what I've heard."

Sam blinked, taking that in.

"Wait, me? Part of Team Dark?!" he shook his head. "Th-That's just crazy! I mean...yeah, I'm a pretty decent fighter...b-but I-I'm nowhere near GUN level! My sister would have a fit if she found out I joined!"

"You have a sister?" Rouge asked.

Sam perked, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Oh yeah. Never really came up. Her name's Leanne. She's around Cream's age."

"And yet, you never brought her up before," Shadow noted.

"Y-You guys never asked!" Sam stammered. "Plus, you haven't exactly been around lately! Gah! Hope, back me up here!"

He turned around, only to see Hope was gone. "Hope?"

Shadow facepalmed. "Aurora, take me now…"

Everyone immediately began looking around, calling for Hope.

"Omega!" Shadow shouted.

"Roger," Omega began looking around. "Beginning area scan."

"Miss Kintobor!" Jewel cried.

Omega turned to Shadow. "No signs detected."

"Damn it!" Shadow swore.

"Now what do we do?!" Sam demanded.

-X-

A few minutes earlier…

As Sam spoke with her teammates, Hope hung at the back of the group, continuing to fiddle with her tablet as she walked.

"Alright, let's see here…" She pondered to herself aloud as she looked over the coding for the Crack Protocol. "Well, I gotta hand it to Eggman, he went all out with this thing. I don't even have the full program and I can already see how complex it is!. Every single string of code is linked to some kind of subroutine, each set to completely terminate the system if activated. I can't even access the weapons or enhancement programs without triggering something," She grimaced at the prospect. "But then how are the Egg Soldiers able to use their implants without frying themselves? Biometric identification? Personalized passcodes? Neural plugs? Aaagh! Dammit, Uncle Julian, why did you have to be so smart!?"

Hope bit her thumb.

"This would be easier if I had access to a real computer!" she thought to herself. "I swear, soon as we get that stupid gem locked up, I'm swiping all the food I can and barricading the lab until I get I've figured out how this thing- Oof!"

She bumped into something, falling back on her butt.

"Ow!" she yelped, rubbing her face before irritably looking up. "Omega, why did you… stop…?"

Instead of Omega, she had just bumped into a tree.

"What the…?" She stood up looking around. "Omega? Jewel? Rouge? Sam? Shadow?"

She began to get nervous. "Hello? Anyone?!"

But there was no response.

"Uh-oh…"

-X-

Back with Team Dark and Jewel, they were in a panic over the missing Hope.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Shadow cursed.

"Mr. Shadow, please calm down!" Jewel pleaded.

"I am not calming down!" Shadow snapped. "My best friend, my daughter, is lost in these woods!"

"Omega is already running a scan," Rouge soothed. "We'll find her."

Sam sniffed the air. "The hell is that?"

"Sam, I swear to Aurora if this is another crack about the lavender-" Shadow began.

"No!" Sam cut in. "I smell something awful!"

The others stopped and smelled… and immediately cringed.

"Ugh!" Rouge cringed. "What is that horrible stink?!"

"It's repulsive!" Jewel cried out.

"It smells like old sneakers, soaked in stink bug juice, mixed with rotten eggs and dead fish with just a touch of skunk fumes!" Sam remarked.

"I lack olfactory sensors," Omega said.

"Lucky you," Rouge deadpanned.

"However, my scanners indicate that there is a high level of N-butyl mercaptan. Colloquially known as 'skunk spray'."

"That is not a skunk!" Shadow insisted. "That is way too powerful to be a regular skunk!"

"Unless it's not..." Sam realized.

"Correct," Omega confirmed. "The levels are akin to a skunk of Mobian proportions."

Shadow shook his head to clear it. " Look, it doesn't matter right now. We need to find Hope!"

He racked his brain for a solution, before perking.

"Of course... the tracker in her com link! I'm a moron."

-X-

"Okay, okay, calm down," Hope said to herself. "Focus, Hope! You can handle this. You've trained with the Freedom Fighters. Your home base in the middle of a forest. Just take a deep breath and…"

She sniffed the air, cringing before coughing and gagging. "Oh Aurora! What the hell is that?!"

"I'm telling you, it's this way!" came a voice.

"And I'm telling you, it's THAT way!" came another one.

"What the?" Hope let out. She followed the voices (and the smell) to a clearing, where she saw a pair of Mobian skunks arguing.

"I told you we should've taken that left turn at Empire City!" the larger, lighter-furred skunk ranted.

"Empire City's in Eurish, you dolt!" said the smaller, darker-furred one.

"No it's not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is NOT!"

"IS. TOO!"

"Gah!" the smaller skunk ranted. "Stupid Hoodsey and his stupid map! Go to Crystal Cave and get me a rock, he says. I'll give you MOOONEY, it'll be EEEEEASY! I swear, next time I see him, I'm gonna kick his-!"

"Hey Rough?" the larger skunk cut in.

"What is it, Tumble?!"

"I think you're holding the map upside-down."

"What the…?" the newly named Rough looked at the map in his hands and flipped it over, before grinning and sweating sheepishly. "Oh yeah, I knew that!"

Hope blinked, not sure what to make of it.

"Who the heck are these idiots?" she asked before perking. "Wait…Rock? The Power Gem! These guys know about the gem! Shit!"

At that very moment, her com went off. Hope gasped, immediately answering it before the noise could give her position away.

"Eep!" she let out before answering. "Hello?"

"Hope? Where are you?!" came Shadow's voice. "I swear to Aurora, young lady, I can't turn my back on you for two seconds without you-!"

"Shadow, keep it down!" Hope hissed. "Listen, I'm in another part of the forest, and there are these Mobian skunks right in the clearing next to me. They're looking for Crystal Cave! They know about the gem!"

"What?!" Jewel shrieked.

"Well, that's not good," Rouge remarked.

"We're on our way," Shadow assured.

"I'm activating my tracking beacon now," Hope assured. "I… YIPES!"

Something grabbed her around the waist and yanked her back, causing her to drop the com. She was reeled toward the skunks, the larger one's tail constricting her.

"I thought I heard somethin'," he mused.

"Well, lookee here," Rough said. "Looks like we got ourselves a little fly on the wall, bro."

"Looks like," Tumble agreed.

"Put me down!" Hope ordered, only for Tumble to tighten his grip. "Ack!"

"Not gonna happen, kid," Tumble boasted.

Rough looked at her, recognition on his face. "Say, haven't I seen you somewhere before?"

He looked her over, recognition dawning.

"Hold the phone… Bro, I think this kid's one of them Freedom Fighters who runs around with that Sonic guy!."

"Aw yeah, she is!" Tumble realized. "What was her name again? Faith? Charity? Mercy? Debbie?"

"It's Hope!" Hope snapped.

"Oh yeah!" Rough declared. "Doc Robotnik's kid."

"No, I'm his niece!"

"Whatever."

"So, what do you think we should do with her, Rough?" Tumble said, tapping his chin in thought.

"My advice?" Hope began. "Let me go, and then go take a bath. It smells like something crawled on you two and died."

That just got her another squeeze from Tumble's tail. "Ouch!"

"Watch it, half-pint!" Tumble hissed.

"Yeah, my bro's tail can rip a guy's arm right out of its socket," Rough boasted. "And he was twice as big as you."

"No, I just broke his arm," Tumble said obliviously.

Rough just elbowed him in the shin. "Get what I'm sayin'?"

"Hope!"

All eyes turned to see Team Dark rush in, Shadow in the lead.

"What in the world?!" Jewel demanded.

"Well, that explains the skunk smell," Rouge deadpanned.

"Whoa…" Tumble's eyes widened as he turned to the bat. "Hey bro, check her out."

Rough grinned at that. "Hey there, hot stuff. What's a good lookin' gal like you doin' in a place like this?"

"Right now, trying not to vomit," Rouge retorted with a grimace.

"Who the hell are these jokers?" Sam asked.

"Ah, sorry," Rough grinned. "Where are our manners? Introductions!"

With that, the skunks turned their backs to the group, then quickly turned around.

"If it smells like there's trouble…!" Rough said.

"It's probably us!" Tumble finished.

"We're makin' it double!"

"And kickin' yer butts!"

"You get in our way!"

"Then get ready to rumble!"

"Yer messin' with the Skunk Brothers!" The two recited together.

"Rough!"

"And Tumble!"

The brothers struck a pose. Rough crossing his arms and making a pair of "metal horns", his tongue hanging out his mouth, while Tumble simply grinned and flexed his muscles. The heroes just looked at them, wondering what the hell they just watched.

"Seriously?" Sam asked, unimpressed. "Team Bullet-style motto (1)? Do you always get your big speeches from Bookeymon episodes?"

"You shut yer damn mouth, ya lil' snot" Rough barked.

"Yeah!" Tumble shot back. "It took us ages to find a cool motto we could rip off!"

"Whatever you say, Billy and Kidd. (2)" Sam rolled his eyes.

"Why you...!" Tumble scowled.

"Arright, enough!" Rough shouted.

He cleared his throat. "Listen, you all seem like...reasonable people. My brother and I are looking for a place called Crystal Cave. We got business there, ya see. Unfortunately, we seems to have gotten lost. You wouldn't happen to be able to point us in the right direction, would you?"

"What do you want with the cave?" Jewel demanded.

"Sorry, but that's confettidential information. Real hush-hush stuff."

"They're after the Power Gem!" Hope shouted.

Tumble squeezed her. "Zip it, kid."

At Hope's pained yelp, Shadow scowled, stepping forward.

"You have ten seconds to take your filthy tail off of her before I start hurting you." he warned.

"Ooh!" Rough shouted in mock fear. "Oh no, Tumble! Shadow the EDGEhog's gonna kick our butts!"

"Ha!" Tumble chuckled. "What's he gonna do, read us some of his emo poetry?"

"Oh. Maria." Rough droned in the worst Shadow-impression ever. "I miss you so much. I am the Ultimate Life-Form. Chaos Control."

Rouge raised an eyebrow at that. Shadow fumed as they went on, before summoning a Chaos Spear and throwing it. The brothers immediately gasped before ducking.

"You're dead," he hissed, deadly calm, before charging at the skunks.

They managed to dodge, but Shadow redirected his momentum and charged at them; only to stop short when Tumble held Hope out like a shield, leaving himself open to a bone-crushing haymaker.

"Shadow!" Hope shouted, before turning her attention to Tumble. "You coward! Fight fair!"

"Please," Tumble scoffed. "You think we're stupid?"

"You really want me to answer that?"

"Why you…Agh!"

Omega promptly hit Tumble in the back with a blaster shot.

"Do not forget," said the Goodnik. "We are still here."

"Aww crud..." Rough cursed.

"Nice one, Omega!" Shadow declared.

While Sam stayed with Jewel, Omega charged at Tumble. He attempted several strikes, but Tumble dodged each one.

"You are outnumbered and outmatched," he warned. "Surrender now and release Hope or you will be terminated!"

"By you and what army!?" Tumble shot back.

Several guns and weapons emerged from Omega's body, all primed and ready to be unleashed. "A one-bot army."

Tumble started to sweat a little, then grinned nervously. "Well, can't argue with that."

Tumble starts to slowly lower his tail, seemingly preparing to let Hope go…

"Think fast!"

Only to promptly fling Hope into the air, catching Omega off guard long enough for Tumble's tail to grab his arms.

"Hands off, robo-wimp!"

With one swift motion, Tumble ripped Omega's arms clean off with his tail.

"Get it?"

"Omega!" Rouge shouted.

"Mr. Omega, no!" Jewel screamed.

"Y-You…" Omega hissed.

"Sorry, were you still using these?" Tumble taunted. "Here…you can have 'em back!"

Tumble threw Omega's arms back at him, launching him into a tree. Once that was done, he used his tail to catch Hope, right as she was about to hit the ground.

"Ha!" Rough chuckled. "Nice one, Tumble!"

Rouge charged in with a kick, but Rough pulled back just in time.

"You…You're going to pay for that, stinkbrain!" Rouge shouted.

Rouge regained her footing and attempted to hit Rough with a series of kicks. Rough barely managed to dodge each of them, only to be hit with a spin kick in the head, followed by a rising axe kick, launching him to the air.

"And now, the finisher!"

Rouge leapt after Rough and prepared to deliver an axe kick to send him into the ground, only for the skunk to suddenly grab her ankle with his tail.

"What the!?"

"Mama didn't name me 'Rough' fer nuthin', toots."

Rough spun in the air and slammed Rouge into the ground with a loud crash. As Rouge got her bearings, her eyes widened at the sight of Rough in the air above her, grinning evilly…his backside facing her and tail lifted.

"Smellogram for Rouge the Bat!" he declared.

"Oh merde (3)…" Rouge let out.

An unmistakable "pbbbbht" sound reached their ears as Rough sprayed Rouge with a noxious green musk.

"Rouge!" Hope screamed.

"Bastards..." Sam spat, disgusted.

"Oh Aurora, I can taste it!" Rouge gasped, hacking and wheezing as Rough planted his boot on her chest.

"Archie's fried okra!" he chuckled. "Never go on a mission without it!"

"Y'know, it's disgusting slobs like you that give Mobian skunks a bad name!" Hope spat in disdain.

That just got her another squeeze from Tumble.

"I told you to zip it!" he snapped.

Sam made to charge at him, but Rough held out a hand.

"Don't even try it!" he warned.

For emphasis, Tumble squeezed even harder, getting a crack and a pained scream from Hope.

"Now boys and girls, here's what's gonna happen," Rough went on. "Either you tell us where Crystal Cave is... or Tumble here is gonna keep squeezing Blondie until he breaks her in two."

"You…" Shadow hissed, fists trembling.

"Come on people, clock's tickin'," Rough said. "What's it gonna be?"

"Stop!" Jewel screamed. "It's not too far from here. Only three miles north! Now please, just let her go!"

"Thank you." Rough grinned mockingly as he high-fived Tumble.

"A hundred thousand smackers, here we come!" the taller skunk cheered.

"Alright, you two got what you wanted," Shadow spat. "Now let Hope go."

"Hmmm…" Rough tapped his chin, thinking for a minute. "Nah! Tumble, do it!"

"You got it, bro!" Tumble declared.

Hope let out an agonized scream as Tumble began squeezing her as hard as he could, her bones loudly cracking.

"What are you doing?!" Jewel demanded. "I told you where the cave was! You said you'd let her go!"

"Yeeeeeeah… I lied," Rough retorted.

"In case you haven't noticed, lady, we're lying, murdering bastards!" Tumble mocked.

"Seriously," Rough said as he shook his head. "Ain't you bigshot GUN-types supposed to be smart or somethin'?"

"No…" Jewel let out.

Tumble looked Hope right in the eye. "So Blondie, any last words before you go snap?"

"Paratonerre!"

Tumble blinked. "Parrot to-what?"

Out of the blue, something sliced Tumble's tail off, leaving nothing but a smoking, cauterized stump. Tumble roared out in pain as Hope fell to the ground.

"TUMBLE!" Rough screamed.

"What the!?" Shadow yelled.

"My...My tail!" Tumble screamed in horror. "My TAAAAAAAAIL!"

"You should be thankful," a cold, feminine voice said. "I considered aiming for your neck."

Tumble turned to see a mysterious figure wielding an energy scythe standing by his severed tail. The figure was a woman in a green, hooded jacket with a cyclone-shaped emblem on the back, as well as black pants, gloves, and boots, the latter being unusually shaped with metal, hoof-like plates on the toes. She wore a bandana over her face, and aviator goggles, obscuring her identity, but the way her face protruded suggested she was a Mobian.

"You bitch!" Tumble roared as he charged at the reaper, only to stumble as she gracefully side-stepped his attack.

"What the?"

"Big, clumsy, and too hot-headed. The figure flipped a switch on her scythe, causing the blade to dissipate, changing it into quarterstaff. She then proceeded to whack Tumble on the head with one end before placing several jabbing thrusts on his torso, finishing with a sleep to the side, laying him out. "Just like your file said."

"Whoa…" Hope said in awe.

"Tumble!" Rough cried out, as he rushed at his brother's assailant. "I'll teach you to hurt my bro, you reaper-ska…!" Before the smaller skunk could finish, he was hit in the side by an energy blast. The others turned to the origin of the shot, and found a second, shorter figure in a similar outfit to the reaper wielding a pair of tonfa, one of which they were holding like a pistol, the end smoking.

"And that'll teach you to call my sister a skank!" the figure said, her voice revealing her as a girl.

"Another one?" Rouge said.

"You…" Rough growled. "Yer dead!"

The skunk charged at the figure and attempted to punch her.

"Evasive action!" the figure called out as she bobbed and weaved out of the way.

"What the…!?"

"And…gut-buster!"

The tonfa-wielder struck Rough right in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. She then proceeded to pound the skunk.

"Face-jab! Body-blow! Cross-chop! 'Nuther face-jab! Suckerpunch!"

All the while calling out her attacks.

"Why you little…" Rough growled as he finally got an opening…

"Aaaaand Moulinet!"

Only for his opponent to start spinning her tonfa around like a pair of noisemakers, smacking him in the chin repeatedly.

"Cass!" the taller sister shouted. "Stop fooling around and finish him already!"

"Awwww, okay!" Cass whined. After stopping her spinning, she pointed her tonfa into Rough's chest, the skunk's eyes widening in fear.

"Bon voyage, Maurice Le Moche (4)!"

Cass pulled the triggers on her tonfa, unleashing a blast of energy that sent Rough flying into a tree.

"Woohoo, yeah!" Cass exclaimed as she jumped up and down in celebration. "Thirty seconds! New record!"

"You could've done it in fifteen if you hadn't wasted time smacking him around." the reaper said.

"Oh come on, sis! I was just having a little fun."

"Hunting down and apprehending dangerous criminals isn't fun, young lady." the reaper scolded. "It's dangerous work, and you need to be quick and attentive at all times. Otherwise, you'll leave yourself and - more importantly - others open to…"

Before she could finish, the sisters were grabbed by their necks by a berserk Tumble. He was panting heavily, his red eyes looking even redder, and absolutely crazed.

"What was that about paying attention?" Cass snarked through strained breaths.

"Now is not the time!"

"DIE BITCHES!" Tumble roared, but before he could do anything, he felt something cold and metallic wrap around him, causing him to drop the sisters.

"What the…!?"

"Over here, ugly!"

Tumble turned around and saw his attacker. He was a giant of a man, roughly the same height as Dr. Robotnik, and was extremely muscular. He was clad in a black and purple biker outfit, his face obscured by his helmet, and wore a pair of tire-like armbands wrapped up in chains, which he'd wrapped around Tumble's torso.

"What the…who the hell are you!?" Tumble demanded.

"I'm the guy who's gonna pound your face in for laying a finger on my girls." the biker replied, his voice cold as ice.

With a mighty pull, the biker dragged Tumble towards him and proceeded to punch him in the face, laying him out for good.

Shadow and the others looked speechless at what they just saw.

"Wh-Who are these people?" Jewel asked, wide-eyed.

"I have no idea." Sam replied.

With the skunks taken care of, the biker walked over to the sisters.

"You two okay?" he asked as he helped them up.

"A bit shaken up, but I'm fine." the reaper replied.

"Better than fine, that was awesome!" Cass exclaimed.

"We nearly got strangled!"

"Eh, we've been through worse." Cass said nonchalantly, only to be startled by Tumble's severed tail twitching. "Oh ewww…that's so nasty!"

"Seriously," the biker said, grimacing beneath his helmet. "Did you really need to do that?"

"He had a girl hostage and was a hair's breadth away from crushing her!" the reaper defended. "I didn't exactly have time to prep a few pillows. Speaking of…" She walked over to Hope, who was still prone on the ground, and extended a helping hand. "Are you alright? Can you stand?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," Hope took her savior's hand and stood up carefully. "I've been through worse."

"Well, that's good. I…hold on…-" the scythe wielder got a good look at her face, gasping. "Hope? Hope Kintobor!?"

"Yeah, that's me." Hope nodded.

"Wait…Hope!?" Cass said, double-taking at the human.

"No way..." the biker said in disbelief.

"I'm sorry, do I know you from somewhere?" Hope raised an eyebrow.

"I'd be confused if they didn't know you, Hope," Sam said matter of factly. "You're kinda famous."

"Well, that and I used to babysit you and your cousin." the scythe wielder explained as she removed her hood, googles, and bandana, revealing her face.

She was a Mobian pronghorn with purple eyes, paris green fur, curved ears, a medium-sized muzzle, four smooth tufts of fur on the back of her head, a short bushy tail, and short, black, two-prong antlers on her forehead. She had white fur on her muzzle and in patches around her eyes,. while the fur on the tips of her ears and the bridge of her nose was dark gray. Hope gasped, her eyes lighting up.

"Clove?!"


Author's Note:

(1): Mobian Team Rocket.

(2): Mobian Jessie and James.

(3): French for "shit."

(4): Mobian Pepé Le Pew.

Yep, the hunters were Clove and Cassia the Pronghorns! But what's their history with Hope? Stay tuned...

Voice cast for this chapter:

* Clove - Lauren Landa (Annie Leonhart from Attack on Titan, female Robin from Fire Emblem, Litchi Faye-Ling from BlazBlue)

* Cassia - Sarah Anne Williams (Peacock from Skullgirls, Lisbeth from Sword Art Online, Sayaka Miki from Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

Please R&R. Until next time!