XiNai - Airship - Green Hill
Our perspective shifts back to XiNai, who, while Jaiden and the Resistance were training with new gear, were preparing for their next biggest move. XiNai's Big 3, Tank, Stalker, and Swiftwing, gave Master Zhire as much details and information as possible, from their encounter with Whisper and Tangle to that person who rescued them at the last second and made them retreat. With new intel in play, Zhire poses that the top 3 get newer experimental tools that could assist them in this strange place full of people with wacky powers. This segment is expanded upon in the "Weapon Training" spin-off issue.
It's been two days since the top 3's encounter with Whisper and Tangle. Stalker's injuries, while not completely healed, healed enough to her liking to get her back out on the field. Her, Swiftwing, and Tank were all in the resting room of the Xenician Airship used to hide their presence here on this world. The ship stayed in the air in plain sight, camouflaged so that when people looked up, all they could see was the sky.
AUTHOR'S NOTE #4: The story behind the Big 3's creation takes inspiration from TF 141 from the Call of Duty series. Like their roles, their personalities were made to represent a true rag-tag group of people who just happened to find each other. For clarification on their callsigns, Stalker is Alpha 0-1, Tank is Alpha 0-2, and Swiftwing is Alpha 0-3.
Resting Area - Airship
Stalker rests her back against the grey, cold, metallic wall of the corridor these three were in. Her cloth mask was down, showing her dark-colored muzzle and the two fangs that protruded from her top lip. Her face was cold, yet she still looked to have a lot on her mind. She had her right hand up, unmindfully twirling one of her throwing knives between her fingers. Not too far from her was Swiftwing. The brown falcon was sitting at a table, drinking from a black metallic bottle. As he took his soldiers, he occasionally looked around the room, subtly seeing what everyone was doing. Tank was sitting in a chair to himself, his cloth mask down and showing a scar across his mouth and the single fang protruding from his top lip. He has his weapon, a RAAL MG upright, and the stock against the cold floor below. He was refurbishing it, cleaning the beige-colored metal with a white cloth towel.
The tiger looks up, his blue eyes directed at Swiftwing, his falcon friend sitting at the table across from him. "Swiftwing," he begins. "You'd better not be drinking alcohol at this moment. Zhire only said to wait for few minutes."
"It ain't booze, asswipe," the falcon responds, putting down his bottle for a moment and giving the tiger before him a piercing gaze with his yellow eyes. "It's just a blue sports drink. Alcohol won't do shit for me anyway. It's that one over there that might need a shot or two." He points to Stalker, the leopard still doing the same thing. The boys look over at her, but the female animal is not deterred in the slightest.
"Stalker, you alright, comrade," Tank asks her, ceasing his wiping motions. "Have your wounds not healed up enough?"
"They're fine, trust me," she simply responds, her gaze at the ground never wavering and her hand continuing to twirl her knife. A quick moment of silence passes, Swiftwing and Tank exchanging a glance before they look back at the leopard.
"You're thinking about them, aren't you," the falcon suggests. "Tch. So much for the cold, calculated mind of the all-mighty Stalker." He leans back in his seat, putting his hands behind his head and legs up on the table. At that, Stalker stops the knife in her hand by gripping its handle. Her gaze shifts to him fast, like reality certainly snapped back into place.
"Bitchass fool, I will stick this knife so far up where the sun don't shine and turn yo ass into a kebob," Stalker hisses before she sighs. She puts the knife she was using in a pouch on her vest before boosting herself off the wall and crossing her arms. "But, you ain't wrong."
"They ain't no one special. They just some jits who happened to escape our grasp only because of their goofy-ass abilities," the falcon fusses. Stalker in response, raises a brow.
"You're just saying that because that lemur with the stretchy tail whooped your sorry ass," she teases, making Tank chuckle. Swiftwing smacks his teeth.
"Man, shut that shit up! Since when have we ever taken down targets with stretchy anything," shouts the falcon, sitting up in his chair and putting his feet back down. He mumbles to himself as he aggressively takes another sip from his bottle. "And last I checked, you had the damn concussion. You probably wouldn't have got it had you not played with your food, especially with that wolf."
"Да. I remember her face. She was the one who had those weird alien things trying to protect her. Before I could finish them, that hedgehog came and destroyed favorite Magnum," Tank says. "I've never been niche on names, though."
"The wolf's name is Whisper, remember," Stalker asks. "The lemur, I don't remember, and Zhire identified that hedgehog as Jaiden. Motherfucker is the main reason why the old man wanted us here, along with getting his son's body."
"Tch," Swiftwing simply starts. "I'm failin' to understand why we need the entirety of XiNai for one punk-ass fool. Just snipe his ass and we'll be done here."
"It's never that simple, Swiftwing," the leopard affirms. "We ain't know who Jaiden was till a couple days ago. All we knew was that the old man wanted us hunting a Limnite that killed his boy."
"Well, Jal-xeron pulled off destroying Xevir. We didn't know much about the war between Xenic and Xevir, and why he decided to wipe them out. All we have is our orders and rules of engagement for ONE damned person." Stalker walks over to the table Swiftwing is sitting at. She pulls a chair out, sits, and scoots herself in. Tank brings himself up to the table as well.
"Yeah, and unfortunately I think that's all we are gonna get," the leopard softly adds. She puts both arms down on the table. "All Zhire said was that Jaiden needed to die, because of how dangerous he is. I mean, he does have a point, though. You saw that weird sword thing that boy had made out of pure energy. If those are the abilities Limnites have, then I can see why Zhire finds him a threat."
"Yeah, sure, but all we heard off was stories about those guys. Xenic and Xevir haven't been at it ever since we joined XiNai. Now we skip to a month after we became the top 3, and we are in a whole new world, having to hunt people we don't even know, trying to put the nail in the coffin of people we hardly know anything about, to push a frail old man's vengeful agenda!?"
"Hey, we don't get paid to judge. We do our jobs to make sure we live another day. Not asking questions kept us alive, and helped us move up to top class." Stalker looks at her falcon friend, then at her tiger friend. "Along the way, we'll find our own intel. Trust me on that front, marafiki."
"Well, no matter what happens, know I have both of your sixes," Tank chimes in, with a big, toothy smirk. "The last thing I'll ever do is let anything happen to my comrades. No matter who it is."
"Well, if we getting all mushy mushy, then yeah, I got y'all. We've been at it for a while now, ever since boot camp. We locked in, I know that much," a much softer-sounding Swiftwing says, his beak remaining neutral.
"You two are among the only ones I trust, and the only ones with bullshit I can tolerate… well maybe just you, Tank," Stalker chimes in, looking at Swiftwing purposely with a smirk on her face. The falcon smacks his teeth again and rolls his eyes, flipping off the leopard without even looking at her, his eyes half-lidded.
"Alpha 0-1, 0-2, 0-3," a distorted voice calls out. The three soldiers look toward the voice, and they find an infantry soldier at the doorway. His attire was a black helmet covering his face, a fully black military outfit, and black boots. On his chest, you saw his callsign: Beta 1-4 and toward his backside protruded a dark gray wolfish tail. "You're needed in the armory. Your gear is ready." The top 3 exchange a glance, before they all get up. Beta 1-4 turns and walks off, with the top trio following behind him.
Armory - Airship
Walking into the large corridor, the three see weapons hanging on racks on the walls. Two tables were out in the middle, with guns and removed mags, bullets, and other tactical gear. Next to the table was a dog, specifically a Dalmatian. He had brown eyes, white fur with black spots, and drooping ears. He wore black camouflage military attire and had black glasses. He looks up from the tablet he is using with a stylus, his ears twitching and his expression surprised before a small smile etches his face. He puts the stylus in the gray tablet and sets it on the table. He turns to the four soldiers before him.
"Patch," Beta 1-4 starts, putting his hands behind his back, "As requested I brought the top Alphas." The Dalmatian male nods.
"Thank you, soldier. You're dismissed. Go to your unit and finish preparing for the upcoming operation," his medium-pitched voice says. As per orders, the Beta-ranked soldier nods, then turns and jogs out of the room. The top 3 watch him as he does.
"Right then, Kai," Stalker says, looking at the doorway, then back at the Dalmatian. "What has your smart-ass whipped up for us?" Kai chuckles and walks up to the trio.
"Don't know what makes you talk like that," the dog responds. "Without me, you two would fight wars basically naked, and who said you could use my real name, Alpha 0-1? You don't see me throwing y'alls government around."
"Yeah, and yo ass better not if you know what's good for you," Swiftwing scoffs from the side of his beak, pointing at Kai. The dog closes his eyes and smiles, holding up two hands.
"All I'm saying is that we should refer to one another using callsigns, soldiers. "We should keep this professional and on a need-to-know line of work, wouldn't you agree?" The falcon scoffs off, looking away. "Now, down to business. Based on the intel you three gave us, we didn't know exactly how to create gear that would adjust to a stretchy tail or bullets based on energy with our current resources on the ship. However, we may have some other alternatives that can help with overwhelming offense." Kai walks back to the frontmost table. "But first…" He picks up a plastic black case and walks up to Tank with it in two hands. "This is yours, Tank." The tiger pops the latches and sees a new, shiny Magnum in the case. The grip was matte black with XiNai's insignia in the middle. The cylinder, barrel, and hammer were all metallic silver, so much so that the tiger could see his reflection. In the bottom right of the inside of the case, was an extra cylinder and one .357 bullet. Tank chuckles, his toothy grin being reflected off the gun.
"Черт возьми, да," he shouts. "This is just like my old one!" With a right gloved hand, he picks up the pistol, the weight all too familiar to him, and perhaps… lighter? He presses his thumb against the cylinder release and slings it, releasing the cylinder base. He takes a look at the bullets in each hole, chuckling lightly seeing that they are all full. With his left, he spins it and slings it back into place, before spinning it and putting it into his right hip holster.
"We made it tougher, so it should withstand almost all scenarios," Kai adds, his arms crossed. "But, it most likely won't be able to withstand that sword that the person Zhire says is Jaiden. An energy like that can pretty much cut through any material. Next time you run into them, though, I think someone like you will have a good time with that .357. I added a little more gunpowder to give it a tad bit more stopping power."
"As long as it gets job done, I am satisfied," the tiger responds, crossing his arms. "A bullet to the skull should overpower little blade any day."
"That's if you ever get the shot, friend," Kai simply inputs. "Next, you, Swiftwing." The Dalmation picks up the tablet he was using earlier. "You're the best with technology out of the three, so I entrust this to you." The falcon grabs the device from the dog's hands. The screen was on, the display showed a blue interface. On the rightmost side, showed a map around the area with a compass and exact coordinates. On the left side showed a small menu. It had buttons that led to different displays: Map, Devices, Radar, and Comms. "It's called an XMW, XiNai Manufacturing Weapons, TactiPad. That gives you access to all the tools a soldier will need out on the field. For security measures, it won't respond to fingerprint interactions, so you'll have to use the stylus that's in it." Swiftwing ejects the stylus from the side of the device and presses it against the screen. He moves around the map. It showed an overview of Green Hill, however, as he kept scrolling, the illustration ends.
"The hell," he says. "Why does it cut itself off?"
"That map covers only the parts that the ship picks up. It's about a 300-mile radius for now, but we'll keep expanding," Kai explains. "As you keep exploring the area, the map will adapt." The dog picks up a tablet of his own, and taps on it a few times.
"Hm?" Swiftwing looks at the top left of the screen, seeing a notification: Patch - Waypoint marked. On the map, right near the dot that indicated the Tactipad's current location was an orange waypoint marker.
"Ill also be here to help you out," Kai says. "You'll be able to communicate to and back to HQ."
"Does that mean I can call for air strike and stuff using this thing," the falcon asks, his brow raised.
"Precisely," the dog responds. "Just make sure you check with the Command Board. The tablet will even tell you if you're danger close or if a ship is bingo fuel, and of course, you'll have to follow the rules of engagement set by Zhire."
"Well then. You're smart-ass really did think of everything," scoffs the brown falcon. He slides the stylus into the TactiPad, and presses a button to turn of the display. "So is there a pouch I can put this thing in, or…"
"Yep," the dalmation responds. He turns behind him and grabs a black pouch made from the same material Swiftwing's vest is made from. "Just put this around your waist." The falcon takes the item from the dog, and snaps the buckle around his waist. Once he tightens it, he places the TactiPad snuggly in the pouch area. "You've also got some more smoke grenades I made for you over there." Kai points at the table to his left. The falcon looks, then he walks over to grab them. "Alright then, now you, Stalker." He looks over to the leopard, in which she was standing with her arms crossed, looking at Tank and Swiftwing. At the dalmatian's words, her ears twitch, and then she looks over at him. "From what I understand, you withstood the worst of Whisper and the lemur's onslaught. You're very skilled, however, you're still mortal. Therefor, still frail." Stalker slightly recoils back, and her face has a disgusted look on it.
"Ight, bitch," she hisses. "Aint have to say it like that."
"Aye hol on," Swiftwing shouts out, standing next to Tank in which the two were in a corner off to the side. "The last thing her crazy ass is, is frail. What gives you the right to say that shit, huh, Kai? Last I checked your bitch-ass hung out here all damn day."
"I bet in fight Stalker would lay you out," Tank chimes in, chuckling. Kai crosses his arms and growls lowly, before sighing.
"That's NOT, what I meant," he starts. "I'm saying that at the end of the day, we're all just damn people. We aint superhuman, we weren't the rare species of Xenician that were born with abilities like Zhire or Jacie." The dog opens his eyes and looks at Stalker. "However, I might have developed something that can be a close alternative." He turns behind him, and picks up… a capsule of some kind? Stalker raises a brow, the leopard slightly leaning to see what Kai was getting. The male dog turns back to the female feline with something in his right hand. He opens it and extends it toward her. In his hand was a gray cylindrical capul, with a transparent part in the middle showing mysterious blue fluids. The tip was red, and on the top of this device was a cap. "This is called a 'Stim Shot.' We just recently got done with developing it. If our research was correct, the liquid in it should serve as a pain numbing drug."
"So? I can just take acetaminophen and it'll serve the same damn purpose," Stalker retorts.
"But that isn't all," the dalmation quickly adds. He brings his left hand to the shot and pops off the cap on the top, letting the injection button show. "It also gives you superhuman resistance, speed, and strength for about 3 minutes. It's just like artificial adrenaline, if you will." Kai gives a demonstration. "To use it, just pop off the cap, press the tip against your chest, and press the injection button. A needle will shank you, so it might have a mild pain. The injector will immediately push the fluid in your bloodstream, and the effects will take place instantaneously." The dog puts the top back on and extends it back to Stalker. The leopard looks at it for a moment, then grabs it and places it in an empty side pouch on her vest. She looks back up at the male dog.
"This is a damn cheat code. Shit like this doesn't come without repercussions," she says. "What's the catch?"
"Well, as I said," Kai starts. "It's experimental, so we could only make one, aaaaaaand the side effects that we've seen tested on one of our own back in Xenic is a killer headache and body numbness. He reported that he couldn't feel a bone in his body, and had to take that day off. However, that day, his sector had combat training. Before he did hand-to-hand sparring with his opponent, we instructed him to use the shot. Once he did… well… all it took was one punch to knock out the other, and, his actions appeared no longer his own, as he was blood lusted and tried to continue beating him while he was down. We had to use sedative darts to knock him out." Stalker's eyes widened at that statement, and she looked down at the floor for a moment. "I'd advise using it as a trump card, Alpha 0-1. It won't make you invulnerable, but it will make you a super soldier. Able to turn the tides of battle even for mere moments. Hell, any of you could use it."
"Uh uh, hell nah, I ain't EVER letting Tank's ass shoot this in that meat sack of a body," the leopard shouts, shaking her head. "The only way to stop his ass would be to kill him."
"Yeah, why you so big, bitch," Swiftwing questions Tank.
"Why are you small and puny," Tank retorts. The falcon smacks his teeth.
"Actually, I've been gettin' some muscle growth in," the avian says. He holds up his right arm and bends it, a decently sized hump on his biceps visible. "Ya boy new bench PR just hit 280."
"Ah, that is impressive, Swiftwing," the large feline responds with a smile and closed eyes. "I'm glad you hit lateral warm-up."
"Wh-, THERE IS NO WAY YOUR LAT RAISE WARM-UP IS 280! STOP FUCKING PLAYING WITH ME, BRUH," Swiftwing screams at Tank, his beak in a snarl. The tiger laughs at him in response.
"Aye! You two! Nyamaza," Stalker shouts over her shoulder. "Are you two of the top soldiers or some fuckin' children!?" She looks back at Kai.
"See? That's exactly why you're my favorite, N-" Kai starts before he stops when the leopard before him holds her hand up.
"Shut that noise," she says. She then lowers her hand. "That all you needed to give us?" The Dalmatian sighs.
"Yes. You can restock on your ammo and grab your weapons before you go," he mutters out, visibly more bummed. "You already know your mission."
"And I expect a good outcome from my top 3," a voice calls from the hallway outside. Walking in, was the tall figure of Master Zhire, adoring his same white hooded robe, left open and showing his gray compression undershirt, his gray cotton pants, and white boots. This was his combat attire. As the purple feline approaches the group, his mere presence brings an intimidating tone.
"Master Zhire," Kai says, dropping to a knee and bowing down. However, the Big 3 remained up, just staring at Zhire.
"As you were, Kaiya-Xeron," Zhire says to the dalmatian, the dog rising to his feet. The feline turns to his left, seeing Swiftwing and Tank just looking at him for a bit before he looks back and down at Stalker. "My three best Alpha soldiers. No doubt you lot know your next move, sí?"
"Yeah, but you still left some loose ends in that briefing you did… sir," Stalker responds, crossing her arms with an unamused look on her face.
"I told you, Stalker. That's on a need-to-know basis. You'll find out everything, soon enough," the tall feline responds. "But I didn't come here to play grab-ass. You three need to know that the mission has changed."
"Changed how," Swiftwing questions.
"Well, since that little run-in you three had with Whisper and the lemur girl, we were able to confirm that you all very much did have a run-in with the erizo. However, that insignia at that place told us there was another faction there. Ally or not, they can serve to be an insufficient hurdle for us to irradiate. As much as I want to make a bigger move, for now, we have to keep a low profile and keep the attention on us down until we get better leverage. That's when I advised a plan that we can use to get better Intel on our enemies and get a step closer to ending the Limnite once and for all." The room stayed in silence for a moment.
"So what's the new move," the leopard asks.
"Manipulation will be our ally here. We need to clean this bastard off our board and use someone else to do so. Putting a bullet in his head out of plain sight will start to cause major suspicion. Right now, the last thing I want to do is to have to destroy this entire place, just because some estúpidas poked their head where they ain't belong." Zhire looks up toward Swiftwing and Tank. "Your new mission is to stay in the shadows and get as much Intel as you can about this new faction. You are to keep yourselves concealed and not fire unless absolutely necessary. Only fire on whoever is leading that damned faction and whoever chooses to follow them. Make sure to save some for the cabronas with those goofy-ass powers."
"Great, a whole new mystery target," Swiftwing mummers under his breath, looking down with an annoyed look etched on his face. "Fuckin' love my job." He and Tank then look up at Stalker, waiting for her words. The feline looks down for a moment, pondering this job, and then she looks back up at Zhire.
"Yes sir," she simply says. "We'll keep an eye out." The tall feline master grunts and nods.
"Get yourselves ready. We're deploying you three right under the ship again with the zips. You three had plenty of time to rest up. Do not fail again," Zhire states, before turning and walking off. Stalker looks over at her falcon and tiger friends, the two boys looking right back at her, the trio all sharing the same annoyed look. The feline looks back in front of her, now with a more angry expression. With new orders at hand, she pulls up her cloth mask and conceals the bottom of her face again.
Forest - Outskirts of Seaside City
Our perspective now shifts back to the Resistance heroes, specifically Whisper the Wolf. From the "Weapon Training" spin-off issue, we know that a select few firearm users are still adjusting to this newer version.
"You dialed in yet," a voice says, distorted and sounding like it came from a device. This was the earpiece Whisper had in her right ear. The wolf lay prone in the grass, her dark clothes just barely visible in the rising sun with the rays casting between the tree logs. The wind gently pushed against the leaves and the wolf's fur. In her hands, she held a newer rifle: the SPR-M24. The top had a long scope, and from the side dial, reached 6.6x zoom. The base light was dim, signaling that no wisp power was being used. At the tip of the barrel, a long, tape-wrapped suppressor, the tape had come from Tangle as a gift.
"yes," Whisper says in response, holding her earpiece button down with a gloved finger on her right hand. Once she says this, she presses a small switch to keep her mic open and she brings her hand to the bolt.
"You remember how to use that thing, right? You did really good back at training, so I figured something that needed high accuracy would be good for you," Jaiden's voice echoes through her ear. Whisper pulls the chamber back, seeing the 7.62mm bullet loaded in place.
"you flatter me," the wolf simply whispers. She pushes the bolt back into place, and quickly presses the mag release button, bringing the small 5 bullet cartridge out of the holder. She raised it and emerging behind her was a light blue wisp with two eyes and with a wrapped bandage around one of its tentacles. It floats near the magazine and touches the bullets, causing the tips to glow light blue. Once the magazine light illuminated light blue, she placed it securely back into her rifle. She quickly pulls the bolt back, the normal 7.62 bullet flying out of the chamber before she quickly pushes the bolt back in. The light now illuminated light blue on the gun base.
"It wasn't to flatter you. It's just the honest truth. Glad I had Tails make you a scope along with it. Iron sight sniping can be a pain, although, you passed all the tests with its factory model… with flyin' colors." Jaiden trails off.
"That's just cause she's that amazing," the voice of Tangle booms through, causing Whisper to recoil to the side, gritting her teeth slightly. She chuckles lowly to herself shaking her head.
"Yeah, well, she gon' need it for those long-range targets, especially for this one," Jaiden says. "It's time to get started, Whisper. Aim down your sights, and go up a few clicks till you reach that little hilltop out in front of you." Hesitantly, Whisper obliges. She opens her right eye slightly and leans her head against the stock of her rifle. In her scope, was a large T with smaller lines across them, and a single red dot dead square in the middle. "Look around for a glare." The wolf shifts a tad bit and after a few moments, she winces as the glare shines against her eye. She blinks a few times.
"i… see it," she simply says.
"Good. That's a mirror that Tangle is holdin', so don't fire yet." Slightly zooming out, Whisper saw Tangle waving with her usual bright smile. It made the wolf smile herself, her tail slightly wagging from the resting position it once had over both her legs. "From her spot, shift a good amount of clicks Northwest." Obliging, the wolf adjusts. From a long distance, she sees a speck. She adjusts the zoom on her scope to the max 6.6, spotting a watermelon balancing on a thick tree branch. "I asked Silver to lend me one of the fruits he was growin' in his garden. The range of that ammo you usin' is 1,210 yards. Because of your suppressor, however, I reckon it's about 1,090. You'll experience a drop-off from that range you're at. On top of that, the wind is blowin' toward the east. Time to see if you can lead those shots."
"i won't need to," Whisper whispers.
"What do you mean? Did you switch out for better stopping power? Or did you… ooohh! That's why it took you a little bit to get dialed in. You were using those wisp things."
"Aw yeah, those wisp things are a lot more than just cute show, Jaiden," Tangle says. "Whisper showed me that they are capable of a whole lot. Guess its no different from her other wispon."
"You should tell me about how it worked once this is over," Jaiden suggests. A silence passes, and Whisper doesn't say a word. "Well, you see the watermelon. You know what to do." At those words, Whisper took a breath. Her body tenses for a moment then relaxes as her finger hovers over the trigger. As she begins to squeeze, her mind goes back to that faithful encounter with the Big 3, with Stalker. This was causing her to hesitate again for a moment, thoughts now running rampant through her head filling it with static noises, making her breathing pick up in speed. Suddenly, however, Tangle's voice punches through her thoughts.
"You absolutely got this, I believe in you," she says, which snaps the Wolf out of it. With a breath in, she pulls the trigger lightly, a muffled bang just hardly disturbing the peaceful nature the forest had at the moment. From Jaiden's view, the hedgehog kneeling on the edge of a mountain top that's just as tall as the tree the watermelon was, he sees a light blue tracer fly by, hitting its mark and obliterating the fruit into several pieces.
"Hmm. Nice shot," he mutters out, holding the button in his earpiece.
"See I told you! That's Whisper for ya," shouts Tangle in the comms, followed by excited laughter. Jaiden's eyes go back to where the watermelon once stood, but then, a new voice came through in comms.
"Jaiden," the young voice says. This was Tails.
"Yuh? What's up Tails," questions the hedgehog.
"Head back to HQ. I got something for you to do."
"Ight." Jaiden gets up and dusts his attire off.
"Off already, Jaiden," Tangle asks shouting up. The broad hedgehog looks down, then Lemur just below her.
"Yeah, Tails called me! Don't know what he wants, though," he responds shouting.
"Okay! You should probably go see what he needs! It's pretty much just some science-cy stuff! Me and Whisper will catch up with you later," then Lemur responds.
"Ight! See yall in a bit!" With that, Jaiden turns and runs off. After he leaves, moments pass, before Tangle jumps down the cliffhang she is at. She walks up to Whisper, seeing that the Wolf is just slinging her new weapon over her back.
"Well…? How are you liking that thing," she asks the wolf, nudging her with her elbow.
"its… sufficient," she responds, her eyes staying squinted. Her light blue injured wisp friend floats around her, catching both the girl's attention. Whisper smiles at it. "thanks." She holds up a finger, and the wisp closes its eye and taps it with a tentacle. After pausing for a moment, she lowers her arm and puts it back at her side, her cloak now closed, covering her body in its dark color. The wolf looks down, her frown deepening. Tangle takes note of this, and in compassion for her friend, she places a hand on Whisper's back, making the canine flinch, but relax afterward.
"I know it won't ever replace your old wispon or your mask," the Lemur starts. "It was your way of remembering… them." As she trails off, the wolf habitually brings her hand up to her face, but when she feels nothing there, her frown deepens. Tangle can't help but feel bad for her friend, as she thinks about that faithful night, where she told the lemur everything that happened to her in her past. Whisper momentarily looks down at her hands, her mind recalling what Stalker said to her all those nights ago.
"Usiwe mjinga; you'll always miss 99% of the shots you don't take, pup, and hesitation will always be the death of someone like you and me."
"I remember you telling me why you hesitated in the first place," Tangle starts. "And you didn't aim for Stalker's head, which was very noble of you. As for what happened with Tank, it wss my fault. I should have seen that he was about to get the drop on you."
"no, none of it was on you," the wolf quietly responds. "my hesitation came from my thoughts. stalker… got into my head, but past her irrelevant comments, she had a point about my hesitation."
The wolf clenches her fist and raises her head, her eyes now open slightly, and a more angered look etched on her face.
"i won't ever let it happen again," she says in a low tone. Tangle, still standing next to her, is a little surprised at her friend's sudden change in mood. She knows she was angry, but this was anger she only saw her have with Eggman alone.
'Well, no matter what, you know I have your back," Tangle adds, her bandaged tail wrapping around Whisper's waist. "C'mon, let's go back to Restoration HQ and talk to Jewel." With that, the two girls walked off. However, some distance from them, Jaiden looks back, his hand on his earpiece. Whisper never turned off her open microphone communication. He looks down before he continues jogging off.
Resistance HQ - Outdoors
Jaiden approaches the front entrance of the Resistance HQ building, his hands in his pockets and his eyes looking around. As he gets close, Tails suddenly shouts out to him. The hedgehog looks back to his right, seeing the young fo waving toward him, calling his name.
"Jaiden, over here," he shouts. The broad animal turns to face the orange animal. He looks left and right before he jogs to him.
"You called, Tails," the hedgehog questions, settling in front of him. He crosses his arms as he awaits the young animal's response.
"Yeah. Come over here to the back," he begins, his thumb pointing toward the backside of the Resistance HQ building. "There's something we need to see from you."
As Jaiden and Tails walk to the back, they see an open grassfield, clear of trees and any obstructions. They spot Sonic on the far left side. The animal was stretching his arms, going from the left to the right, then rolling his shoulders back. He looks up to his right, and waves at the two approaching animals.
"Hey, the party's down here," she shouts. They both jog and settle in front of him.
"What's good, Sonic," Jaiden asks, dapping the blue hedgehog up. "Tails called you over, too?"
"Yeah, he did," Sonic responds, his hands now resting on the back of his head. "Once I came, he just told me to stand by until you came over. He did tell you why though, right?"
"Nah." Tails then takes out his tablet device from a pocket of his cloak and holds it in front of him.
"Ever since we met, Jaiden, I was always fascinated by you," he begins. "When I read your chaos energy levels, seeing that it went beyond even Sonic in super form blew me away. From that data, it became clear to me that you must be powerful. However, I was never able to gauge that. When we first met, we thought you were a threat, but of course, you turned out to be an ally. Usually, when we get into battles, I'm able to gauge the battle data on my friends and our enemies, but I still need your data. To get that, you and Sonic will have a small little spar." Jaiden was surprised at this, but he wasn't completely against it. He crosses his arms.
"A spar you say," he questions. "I mean, that doesn't sound too bad, but, are you sure?"
"Don't worry," Sonic adds in. "It'll be small and fast. We're just doing this so that Tails and I can see your skills in action. I won't go all out if you won't." Jaiden pondered for a moment, he was nervous about the blue hedgehog's speed, but at the same time, he wanted to see how he fared against him now that the idea was brought up. Hesitantly, he agrees.
After a few minutes to prepare, the spar was underway. Jaiden pulled his holster from around his waist along with his MP5-W and placed it next to Tails, who was standing on the sidelines, tablet in hand. The hedgehog stood on the far left side of the grassfield, while the other stood parallel.
Sonic stretched his arms, a smug smile on his face as he eyed down Jaiden. Over at Jaiden's side, he cracks his knuckles and spins his neck around.
"Remember guys, this is just for training purposes," the young fox shouts. "Try not to level this place, alright?"
"Tch. These clothes are gonna slow me down some anyway," Sonic says, hopping up and down. Jaiden's face remains neutral, as he tries not to show the blue blur any emotion. He squares his hips and raises his fists. In response, Sonic does the same. Tails looked at them both, but then, his gaze remained fixed on the broad animal's right hand, looking to monitor the chaos emerald inhabiting it.
Sonic smirks a toothy grin, while Jaiden clenches his teeth. A second passes, only the wind, and then suddenly, the blue animal shifts from view. This makes Jaiden gasp, and he starts slowly stepping backward, looking from side to side frantically.
"Where the hell did he…" Jaiden thinks, his eyes batting side to side, but then, he grunts as he feels a strike to his side. With a closed eye, he looks to his left, and sees Sonic himself, kicking him in the side. The force made the light gray animal skid to the right and nearly lose his balance. He catches himself, but as soon as he does, Sonic already closes in. Quick as he can on his feet, Jaiden clenches again and holds his arms up. The blue blur wails on him with a series of fast punches. The strikes shake his body up and cause him to grunt with each blow, slowly having to back up. To get Sonic off of him, Jaiden shoots his arms out, pushing the other hedgehog away. Sonic backflips and lands kneeling, before quickly spinning into a blue ball, his speed rapidly charging. The light gray hedgehog's eyes widen, his pupils shrink, and his mouth goes agape. "What the fuck is that!?" In that moment, all he felt he could do was bring his arms up again. Sonic, in this ball form quickly strikes Jaiden. The force of the blow was heavy, powerful, and fast. The force broke the broad hedgehog's guard instantly, making him stagger backward only a few steps. Sonic lands a few notches back, kneeling with a hand on the ground. He looks up with that same smug look on his face, expecting that this fight would be over, but, seeing that Jaiden was still standing, he was surprised. From Tails' view, he was surprised as well.
"So far, from what I've seen, Jaiden shows a lot of resilience defensively. He doesn't stagger quite easily from normal blows," the young fox starts off thinking. "And just now, he was able to block one of Sonic's spin dashes, even if it was just once, without being knocked on his butt." Looking back at Jaiden, the hedgehog was catching his breath. His body hunched over, the sleeves off his shirt sustaining tears, showing the bruising he sustained from the blue blur's onslaught.
"How, is that motherfucker so strong… The way he looks doesn't match his power at all," Jaiden thinks to himself. He looks up, seeing that Sonic was standing back upright, his face now resting neutral. The broad hedgehog rights himself, holding his fists back up.
"I gotta say, your size does match how sturdy you are," the blue hedgehog says. "There's very few, including Knuckles that are able to just block my spin dash attack. Most others just dodge it completely." Jaiden continues trying to catch his breath, looking at the blue hedgehog in his green eyes. "However, a problem that they all faced mutually…" Sonic's grin returned, and he slowly started to approach Jaiden, and the other hedgehog grunts, stepping back in preparation for what's to come next. "Is that they were too slow!" The blue animal picks up speed, and shifts from view again. This makes Jaiden nervous again, frantically looking around, but then, a memory plays back in his head.
Flashback - Galaxy 007 - Xavier
Back in that training room from before, we see teenage Jaiden with a wooden sword, slashing and clashing with a teenage Shira, with them both having their same training clothes on, but the lady animal has only thickened gloves on. Jaiden swung back and forth at Shira, but the purple hedgehog was easily dodging, stepping backward and sidestepping.
"Not bad, you're getting a little faster," Shira begins as her brother continues swinging. "However…" As another swing came in, she stood up, shifting her weight to her right foot, and holding her hands out. Just as Jaiden is about to make contact with her, she bats the sword away with her left hand, sidesteps to the right as Jaiden staggers, and strikes the young animal with a well-placed sidekick to the side. It launches him into the padded side of the room, leaving him upside down.
"Guh… w-wha…" is all Jaiden could muster out. Shira giggles as she approaches her brother. She helps him upright and helps him out of his daze.
"The biggest thing with combat is that it's just a predictive dance. When you train, you're improving your chances of being able to read and successfully counter your opponent. No matter if your opponent is too fast or strong, there's always a habit they have, something you can exploit. My example is that you were only swinging left and right over and over," the young lady explains. A young Jaiden looks down, visibly bummed out.
"Well that's only cuz you're better than me, Shira," he says. "You're better than the majority of our royal guard. There's no way I'll ever be at your level, better yet, surpass you." Shira's white-gloved hand reaches for her brother's chin, to make him look up at her.
"You can't expect to learn anything right away, lil bro," her soft voice says in response. "Just keep working on it. Eventually, you'll retain it, and it'll be like muscle memory, where you'll do it without even thinking." The lady's brother looks up at her with optimistic eyes.
"Right!" With that, he and Shira get right back to it. However, while he went straight back to swinging, the purple hedgehog turned her head to the entrance, seeing Ronin, the royal guard they knew, looking at her with a worrisome look on his face. Worry stared back as she gazed back at him. After a second, however, she turned her attention back to Jaiden.
End of Flashback - Resistance HQ - Outdoors
Jaiden looks up with clenched teeth and fierce eyes.
"Until I can do it without even thinking, huh," he thinks to himself, stabilizing his breath. He stops looking around frantically and stays steady in place. After a moment, Sonic appears right in his face again like last time, with a high speed. The broad animal flinches, but he regains his composure all at the same moment. "You started your barrage with a left punch last time, so…" A left strike inches toward Jaiden, but as it does, the light gray hedgehog intercepts it with his right arm, making the blue animal widen his eyes in shock. Tails, from his perspective, is shocked at this move also. His mouth was slightly agape, and while his right arm was up, the young fox took the time to look at his hand; no glowing, it's staying dim. As soon as the blue blur's fist made contact, Jaiden seized his chance. He primes his left arm back to counterattack. However, as he swings, Sonic grunts, and quickly retaliates, backflipping just as the broad hedgehog completely swung. The hedgehog lands on his feet, a sweat bead starts to form on his forehead. His smirk was starting to slightly waver now. Tails' face was more serious now, and he looked back at his tablet.
"Looks like during combat, he prefers to predict his opponent's next move," he thinks to himself. "That's kind of how Sonic fights also. I think he sees Jaiden like Knuckles, a big brute who just expects punches to end his fight, but I can see it on his face. He doesn't think that anymore. He's going to have to switch up his approach." Sonic adjusts himself, righting his body as he sees Jaiden do the same.
"I gotta say, you're impressing me here, Jaiden," the blue hedgehog shouts, still keeping his smirk. "Y'know, when we first met, I didn't take you as a guy that would rely on anything other than just his hits. You sure are amazing." The other hedgehog raised his brow, visibly confused, before he shrugged the blue blur's words off.
"Uh huh, you just finna keep glazin' me, or are we gonna keep fightin,'" Jaiden responds, once again squared in his fighting stance. "I hope you didn't expect me to be some kind of pushover. After all, I was trained by the best." Sonic's smirk faded for a moment before it returned, and he stood upright. This confused the broad hedgehog again, and he stood upright as well.
"Well then, guess I won't have to hold back so much after all," he says in a low, intimidating tone. This made Jaiden visibly nervous, his pupils shrunken; he was holding back? This isn't him at full power? The blue animal had a smug, ominous look on his face now. The broad animal's right hand flickered slightly, the dark blue hue just barely visible. Sonic didn't catch it, however, Tails did. From the sidelines, he caught a note of the flicker, and now his face had a worried look etched on it. Back out on the field, Sonic prepares his body for his next move. Jaiden winces and prepares himself for what comes next. In a snap, the blue blur shifts out of view once again.
"Again with this," Jaiden questions in his mind. He squares back into his fighting stance and calmly looks around. Moments go by. Those moments, now seconds. The hedgehog felt the winds change.
"Gotcha," he shouts, turning around, and seeing Sonic's face right in front of him. He swings, but before it lands, the blue animal shifts out of view again in an instant. This caught Jaiden extremely off guard, and he turned his body. He looks side to side but sees absolutely nothing at all. Tails, who worked with Sonic for years now already knew what was coming next, it was a matter of how Jaiden would retaliate. The gray animal continued looking around frantically, but after a mere moment, he grunted, feeling a blow to his back, making him stagger forward. He sends a right haymaker behind him, with no hits. His face was shaken, but his shock was short-lived as he felt another blow to the back. He swings behind him again, no hit. Another blow lands on him, this time on his side. These blows started to speed up, causing Jaiden to be knocked around, and a blue cyclone to slowly start forming around that area. Desperately, Jaiden entered a defensive stance, grunting at the increasingly fast blows coming his away. He clenched his teeth hard, ducking his head into his arms. His frustration was rising, he couldn't process the direction of where these blows were coming from, because Sonic was just… everywhere! Tails still kept his watch, seeing that the broad hedgehog could slowly be faltering under the blue blur's assault.
"I don't think even he'll be able to withstand Sonic's speed barrage," the young fox thinks to himself. "You did good, Jaiden, you're definitely one of our strongest." Tails was about ready for Jaiden to tap out, until he looked a little closer, and saw a faint dark blue hue in the middle of Sonic's cyclone. "Wait…"
In the cyclone, Jaiden clenched himself harder, being knocked around by the force of Sonic's blows. His right hand started to slowly glow a dark blue hue as his breathing started to speed up. The blue blur, even while still running and striking took note of this, grunting quietly. The gray animal was visibly getting angrier, clenching his teeth even harder. After a moment, his hand was glowing brightly, and with a roar, he raised his fist. Sonic's mouth widened in surprise. From the side, Tails got worried. He looked down at his tablet; Jaiden's chaos readings were spiking again.
"Jaiden, wait," he shouted, but his words were drowned by what came next. Jaiden slammed his fists into the ground, creating a devastating dark blue shockwave around his body. The force sent Sonic flying backward, but the blue animal quickly righted himself. Grunting, he looks back up, now seeing Jaiden with his head down, his body lowered and his hands out, standing in the middle of a small crater with dark blue burn marks. His right hand had a brilliant hue on it now. The broad animal was still breathing frantically. "Jaiden, we're done! You guys can stop now!" Tails calls out again, no response from him.
"We'll just call it a draw, dude," Sonic says, doing a "calm down" gesture toward the other hedgehog. No response. A moment passes, then, Jaiden slightly raises his head, his teeth still clenched in sheer rage. The blue animal stepped back in shock, clenching his teeth in worry. Suddenly, that dark blue sword Tails and Sonic saw earlier constructed in his right hand, its blade blazing in dark blue flame.
Jaiden could hear whispers in his head.
"Attack." He puts his left hand on his head, breathing uncontrollably.
"Strike him down. He isn't stronger than you, his speed is his crutch." Jaiden's eyes widen, still breathing uncontrollably.
"No one else will overpower you, never again. You are the dominant force. Show that to them, no matter who or what you have to go through."
"Jaiden, NO," screams Tails, bolting to try and intercept the rageful animal quickly.
"Tails, wait," shouts Sonic in response, moving to get Tails back out of the way.
"Never again," screams an angered Jaiden, jolting at the blue animal with his right arm primed back for a swing. Time seemed to slow as the gray hedgehog was close. Sonic was pushing toward Tails, looking to move him out of the way, and Tails toward Sonic, trying to save him. After the collision, a small, loud explosion broke out, creating a cloud of gray smoke. Hearing the commotion, several figures emerge from Resistance HQ. Out comes Knuckles, Silver, and Amy.
"What in the hell is going on here," shouts Knuckles. They all look towards the smoke, and as it dissipates, they see Sonic kneeling by Tails, the fox lying on the ground. They both were catching their breath, their clothes both dusted as they looked at Jaiden, the hedgehog standing before a gray boulder that was sliced clean in half with faint dark blue burn marks. The hedgehog rights himself and looks to his left to see Sonic and Tails, completely untouched.
"Damn him," Jaiden thinks to himself. "The bastard is just too damn fast."
"It was his adrenaline," that same whisper says.
"Huh," Jaiden looks back down at the sliced boulder.
"He knew he had a split second to react, and his body entered fight-or-flight, to save himself and Tails. He reached speeds that completely go against the laws of inertia, and grabbed that boulder to stop your impact." He looks back at the blue and orange animal, but he notices something, a cut on his right ear, the blood leaking down the side of his face. "You still managed to land a blow. Your speed can match his if you stop holding back." Jaiden looks at his sword, blue veins now outlining his vision, his eyes now visibly bloodshot, except… blue. "The job isn't over yet. Finish what you started. Prove you're not weak."
"Ngh… Bastard," shouts Knuckles, about to run out there to stop Jaiden.
"Knuckles, wait," Sonic calls out, extending his hand, stopping the echidna in place. He then turns to Jaiden, the light gray hedgehog just staring at them with those same uncanny bloodshot eyes. "That was an impressive blow, Jaiden. I gotta say, I'm impressed!" The broad animal animal remains staring at them. The three animals watching from afar have concerned looks.
"What is he doing, Knuckles," Amy questioned.
"I don't know, but he better know what he's doing! I knew Jaiden was a ticking timebomb. All that chaos energy is too much for him," responds the red animal. The two then look to their right, seeing Silver just looking down at the three with a cold look. "You're awfully quiet."
Sonic stands up, leaving Tails still lying on the ground, watching the two with worried looks. "It's over, man. We can just say you won," he calls out. No response from Jaiden, as the hedgehog still stood there, holding his sword.
"He's taunting you," that voice whispers to Jaiden again. "He's still standing, so he won." The hedgehog clenches his teeth again, squaring his hips once more. This makes Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles jump, but Silver remains unfazed, however, his hand starts to glow teal. Sonic clenches his teeth, but, he then stands upright, his gaze unwavering.
"It's okay. You don't have anything to prove to us," the blue blur says in a softer tone. Jaiden's eyes widen, his body language slightly easing. "Gotta say, you have me a real run for my money! There's no way we can afford to lose you to Eggman. That'll spell D-O-O-M right there!" The broad animal's eyes start to slowly clear up.
"Don't buy it. He thinks you're weak. He knows you caused your sister to die," the whisper says once again.
". . .no he doesn't," Jaiden responds to the whisper in his head. His vision is completely cleared, and he takes a large breath in. His sword dissipates, and his emerald dims again. He drops to a knee, coughing, and cackling. Everyone breathed sighs of relief, and Silver, even with how emotionless he'd been, also sighed, and his hand went back to normal. Jaiden, still on the ground, looks up as he notices a shadow cascading over him. Sonic offers his hand to him.
"I, I don't know what that was," the hedgehog says quietly. "I should…"
"Nuh-uh, no more running off," Sonic reassures. "What you're going through can be solved, but we can't do nothin' if we gotta find you everytime." Jaiden stammers, but still frowning, he takes the animal's hand, getting back up on his feet. He looks at Tails, by which Amy and Knuckles are already helping him up.
"Sorry, y'all. Is he okay," Jaiden calls out to the three animals.
"I'm good, I've been through worse," the young fox calls out.
"And you'd better be lucky he is," Amy shouts. "If something would have happened to them, it's lights out, muscle boy!" Knuckles walks up to Jaiden and forcefully pokes his chest.
"Get a grip on yourself, Jaiden, or I'll help you, and I won't be as nice as Sonic is," the echidna coldly says. He then walks to help Tails. Jaiden sighs, which got a pat on the back from Sonic, but then, Silver approaches the two hedgehogs.
"Silver, what's up," Sonic asks. The white hedgehog approaches the broad hedgehog and looks him in the eye.
"How's your head," he asks.
"It's fine. Hurts a little less now," Jaiden responds.
"Good." Silver then leans in slightly, his voice dropping to a more malicious, cold tone. "Let's keep those outbursts down, yeah?" Jaiden clears his throat.
"O-okay, y-yeah," he nods frantically with a sheepish grin in response. Silver turns, not breaking his gaze on Jaiden before he gives Sonic a towel to clean his ear, and then turns and checks on Tails, leaving the two animals by themselves. After a moment of pondering, Sonic looks down, and then at the animal next to him.
"Jaiden," he calls out, getting the light gray animals attention. "While you were… angry, you shouted 'Never Again,' what's up with that?" Jaiden's eyes widen, and he looks down. This outburst warranted some kind of explanation, no matter how painful.
"I-"
"Guys," Tails calls out, up the hill with Knuckles, Amy, and Silver, looking at his tablet. "There's a badnik horde attack in Sunset City, but…"
Sunset City
"...it's being neutralized before any real damage is being done." Amid buildings and retreating people, streaks of purple strike the attacking badniks, splitting them in two instantly. A badnik who was about to rain machine gun fire on a crowd of retreating civilians gets impaled by the head by a mysterious purple blade, and thrown into a group of badniks, blowing them up on contact. The mysterious figure behind the blade which is revealed to be an energy-based scythe was too fast to be seen as it continued striking and slashing away at the bug and android badniks. It slashed and split a droid approaching him, it backflipped and stabbed into a droid's chest, splitting it in two, and finally, it roared a panther-like cry, and pounced on an oncoming bigger droid, grabbing its head and prying it off and throwing it to the side. The horde seemed to stop for now, and it leaped up and landed on a pile of destroyed badniks. A group of civilians emerged from a building, sensing that the chaos died down. They looked at the pile of badniks, their eyes slowly training up to see that mysterious figure, the sun blocking most of their view. All they could see was a long, feline tail idly swaying behind it, and his powerful purple energy scythe behind held at his side.