November 30th
Central Freedom HQ, New Mobotropolis
Afternoon
"...According to intelligence we received and by Nicole's estimation, the last whereabouts of these thieves suggests they have headed to the Great Jungle."
"Been meaning to head down there to check up on it."
"Sonic. You already have the ability to do so but I digress."
Sally held a meeting in the Briefing Room with a number of the team present and available. Behind her is a holoscreen projection created by Nicole and displaying a geographical map of Northamer with the Great Jungle being highlighted in purple.
"By our guessing, they should be somewhere in the Great Jungle right about here based on the direction they'd have been heading from prior which would have been Westopolis and the route they'd be taking."
Sally points to a portion of the zoomed in map of the Great Jungle, said portion of the map being highlighted in gold to draw their attention to. "The Gorilla Village would be within travel distance for them, assuming they need to make a stop there for whatever reason. If not, then they're likely hiding out in one of the caves."
"Ze natural guess to zheir being in ze Great Jungle after traveling from Westopolis is to a-weight for zheir extinction." Antoine puts in his own two-cents. His friends looked to his wife Bunnie D'Coolette.
"Await for their extraction." She translated for her husband, smiling at the coyote. Him nodded in appreciation for her save; knowing he's still trying to improve his English along with his French but still prone to using the wrong words from time to time.
"It would make sense as they would have to travel through the sea border between Northamer and Eurish with the Great Jungle an ideal place for them to be picked up discreetly from without much notice. Less likely to be tracked down by G.U.N's agents that way." Rotor chimed in, using his brains. "Still a mystery as to what or who would want to steal that energy container and their use for it."
"Maybe they're coming up short on paying the electric bills for their refrigerators and wanting to keep their milks cold?" Sonic suggested lightheartedly. Hands behind his head and feet up on the table.
"Zhat would be a very excessive solution to ze problem if zhat's ze case."
"It's not like we know these blokes off the streets. Could be faces we've seen already or some no-named schmoes who's mums wouldn't recognise them from their own brothers Charlie." The blue blur quipped back to Antoine. "What would you do with the container anyways?"
"Power cities. Power vessels. Power spacecrafts. Power robots." Tails educated the blue hedgehog with his knowledge on energy power. "This new cold fusion energy could be used to generate power cleanly and efficiently without any radioactive materials. Could last forever. In theory."
"In theory?" Gadget cocked a brow. Having rudimentary knowledge on science like most of the people in the room and knowing a bit about the theory of cold fusion as a concept.
"For as long it has existed as an idea, the scientific community largely dismissed cold fusion as an improbable alternative to nuclear energy and as a crackpot theory by credible experts. Looked down on as a scam." Nicole explains to the confused members of the table on Tails' behalf. "Appears that somebody has managed to figure out how to make it a reality."
Rotor tutted, skeptical of the information. "That's if it is cold fusion that they have stolen and made off with. Sally, you mentioned that there's scarce details surrounding the project itself and that includes the identity of the people involved. Correct?"
"Yes. When it was brought to my attention, I wasn't given a whole lot of information on the case other than that it's a newly created form of energy, how a fair amount of funding went into its' research and how a group of thieves managed to make off with not just the container but also the research notes for said project." Sally Acorn nodded. "I had to enlist the help of a few people to gather more information on the case to give us a better picture of what's actually going on."
"So it's a hush hush one, huh?" Bunnie remarks. Tipping her hat back.
"That's what it appears to look like. We'll know more as we look into this one."
"Then it's up to us to retrieve the container and catch the thieves."
"More or less."
"Looks like we'll be entering December while on duty if we don't get this one out of the way soon..." Sonic clicks his tongue with a little annoyed sigh. "Have they no consideration for poor us? Was looking forward to this time of year."
"Nothing we can do about it. Whatever they've taken, it's too great to ignore it and Team Dark are too busy elsewhere to take on this one." Sally looks at the whole group. "Plus they're willing to pay us with presents in return as compensation. Any gifts you weren't able to get during your shopping, you'll have a chance of getting them through their request forums and they'll get them for you free of charge."
'Note to self to order those chips he was looking at in that tech catalog…' Bunnie glances a look at Tails, the kitsune too busy thinking of what to put down on the forums to notice. The room glowed with infectious enthusiasm.
"Any other news to share with us?" Johnny asks. Leaning back in his chair.
"Radical City has recently completed construction of their new factory and they'll be holding a grand opening day for it soon." Nicole said while showing recent news articles regarding Radical City's new factory with her holo screens. "Mayor Speechley had reached out to us just the other day. They're hoping we could attend the ceremony with Sonic here earmarked to be the one to cut the ribbon."
"Are we heading down to ze event?"
"I'm afraid we'll have to hold the thought for now and maybe decline the invitation depending on where this theft case takes us. If it's a relatively simple matter to deal with, then we can head to the opening ceremony and witness the launch of the city's technological step into the future."
"Been a while since I headed down to Resort Island. Wonder how it's been doing nowadays…" Sonic murmured to himself, then looked over to Sally. "How soon do we head off to go find these grinchy schmoes?"
"Tonight. The F.F.S Mark III should be ready by then and cleared for use; currently under last minute inspection before it's due to launch." Sally told him. "You, Antoine, Johnny, Rotor and the Sprout Sisters are to head down to the Great Jungle. I suggest you bring along the tools necessary for tracking their movements and some weapons too."
"Are these thieves really that dangerous?" Johnny cocked an eyebrow.
"Based on what I can glean from the report: I expect these individuals to be armed with offensive weapons against their pursuers and the jungle environment they're currently in. It'd be wise to come prepared just in case.
"Do we know who these people are?"
"Not much other than that one of their members might be Jason Stanley, the boyfriend of Lindsey 'Honey Bunny' Yardly due to someone giving a description of a man bearing his likeness seen in the day before the theft." Sally directed her eyes towards a mugshot of a brown-haired stubble human male with a vertical scar on the bridge of his nose and a scar on the left cheek. "If he's involved, then she's involved in it too along with the rest of her gang."
A second mugshot of a red-headed human woman with a bang on the right side of her face and freckles on the cheeks appeared on the hologram alongside the mugshots of the rest of her gang.
"A heist of this level would fit their MO based on their criminal histories. The deaths of three people at the facility during the cold fusion theft is most certainly something Lindsey would do given her past fatalities."
"Once we nab these people and bring them in, there'll be no more dying to her when she's behind bars." Sonic said confidently, undeterred by the woman's dangerous streak. "It'll be a piece of cake for us."
"Let's hope you're right on that front." Sally smiles, clearing her throat. "You're all dismissed. For the search party, I expect you all to be ready for departure by then."
"What will you be doing?" Sonic asks. Getting up from his seat.
"I'll be looking into this case further. See what else is there about it." Sally replied, the group departing from the room with just her and Sonic left in it. "Call it a hunch."
"Your hunch never led us astray." The blue blur smiled. "But with me on the team, we'll have this one done in no time."
"Don't be too overconfident while you're at it. Not everyone has your abilities." The chipmunk reminded him. "Just be careful out there, okay?"
"I'll keep that in mind Sal."
"That's all I ask. It only takes a lucky moment for someone to get the upper hand, even a small-fry to put you in a precarious spot if you get careless."
"If they're lucky enough."
"If they're lucky enough." Sally repeated. "I'd hate for Christmas this year to start with you all bruised up."
"I'm too handsome to be damaged by any slowpokes!" The hedgehog proclaims before taking his leave.
Sally shook her head and laughed at his jest, never a dull moment with him and knowing he needs something like this for his sake.
The Great Jungle, South of Northamer
Evening
"...Uggggh! I hate this stupid jungle and these stupid animals!"
"Quit your moaning Jason. I really don't need to be hearing it on top of all this." A red-headed woman told off her boyfriend and accomplice in irritation. Swatting away the flies hovering around her that didn't help with her surly mood either.
Jason and his crew wandered through the swamps of the Great Jungle. Their boots were dirty and soaked by the waters they had to go travel through. All of them carrying weapons on their persons.
"We went out of our way to steal from that laboratory, fled from Westopolis before anyone noticed it was gone and now we're expected to get through this godforsaken jungle on foot just to get to our spot while we're carrying this and that stupid container around."
Jason points to the container being carried by two of their henchmen with the briefcase in his hand. "I don't see why we couldn't just turn around and sell all this stuff off for a bigger payday ourselves."
"In case you're having a bout of amnesia right now; they sent out their insurance policy with us to make sure we have it delivered to our client." Lindsey points at a cloaked-hooded figure leading their group, their physical presence giving off an intimidating aura to the rest of them. "We try anything funny and that fella will kill all of us to shreds in seconds. Even with the gear we have."
"Don't see why he needed us for the job when he can have his guy here do all the work for him…"
"If you wanna ask him about it, then be my guest because he's gonna have to pay us for both the service..." She says, glancing at the hooded figure. "And our time getting the stuff taken to him."
"It better be worth skipping out on that other job offer..." Jason grumbles. Thinking they should have taken that job in Soleanna that pays well.
The group followed their client's envoy through the swamps and silence accompanied them until one of their men suddenly got attacked by a crocodile that blended in with the green scenery; the unlucky man letting out a loud cry as the reptile's teeth tore through his flesh.
Before any of them could respond, the crocodile that attacked the man became a corpse moments later while the hooded figure stood over it; staring down at the deceased animal with a cold, inhuman look. Blood dripped from the fingers of the outheld hand that had ended the creature's life in seconds.
The crocodile's victim on the other hand groaned and wailed weakly in agony. Jason could tell from looking at him that he's been wounded badly from the attack plus the exposure of the wounds to the swamp's waters might have lowered his chances of living past this point. Too far from any ER location and too close to a hazard area to get him treated.
"He is a liability." The client's insurance policy booms to the gang. Heading off without as much as a look at the wounded man.
"Come on. Before it gets dark." Lindsey says to her group, following their guide's lead. "Butch. Take care of him."
With him assigned the morbid task, he stayed behind to handle his wounded colleague while the others went on. "Sorry man. I have my orders."
Taking out his gun; the man below him weakly grabs his leg. Butch knows his days are numbered and only one option exists for him now. He took aim at his head, squeezing on the trigger until it discharged a lethal shot…
Frederick Airport, New Mobotropolis
Night
"...Anything new came up?"
"Only that they had some kind of inside help. They're still working on identifying who their inside man is and if they're still hanging around in Westopolis to be taken in for questioning."
"He mustn't be in a hurry to haul his butt out of there when they're out looking for him."
"Or her." Sally responds back to him, the blue hedgehog shrugging as he finishes drinking his Choa Cola and tossing it into a bin with spot-on accuracy. "They're not telling us the whole story."
"Eh. That's G.U.N for ya; never one for open conversations unless you force them to spill or they have a reason to talk. Rather like Rouge herself." Sonic looks at his non-existent watch. "Man, those two are taking ages to get here and I'm ten years older now."
"You know they're on their way. You're just being impatient again."
"Is it a crime to act that way? We got thieves to catch and they're taking their sweet time coming here."
"You never complain when I do it."
"You're different."
"Oh? Different how?" Sally playfully quizzed the blue speedster on that one. "Is it because I'm the king's daughter and it's fine for me to make you wait?"
"It's not like that. You're methodical and measured in everything you do."
"I take as much time as everyone else but since you're okay about me doing it, I'm going to take my sweet time for future reference."
"Then I'll have to get you from point A to point B myself."
A pair of hedgehogs came into the hanger bay through a door with both carrying gym bags in hand. Sally followed where his gaze went and turns around to see the two as well. The Sprout Sisters.
"Hey. Sorry we're late, Monica here was being real slow in getting dressed for our mission." Said a magenta hedgehog with wild bangs and loud fashion sense, pointing a thumb at her twin sister Monica; an exact mirror of her except for the neat hair and more subdued threads. "Hope we're not interrupting your little Everybody Comes to Rick's moment there."
"No Isabelle and I'm surprised you even know something older than your own lifespan. Something prehistoric by your own standards." Sonic snarked at Isabelle, arms crossed. More than fit to handle her smart mouth.
"Speak for yourself Mr. Hedgehog." Isabelle chortled before getting onto the F.F.S Mark III's boarding ramp. "Come on Monica!"
"How do you put up with her at home?" Sally asked the calmer Sprout Sister. Monica blowing at her own hair.
"I just tune her out whenever I can and focus on writing my articles unless she's being a pain." The studious hedgehog replied with a sigh, rolling her eyes. "There's times where I wish she'd leave me alone and be quiet. You're lucky your brother gives you space."
"Family is family."
"Yeah. Still, I'd be crushed if anything bad happened to her."
"Geez Monica, get a move on!" Isabelle called out from inside the aircraft. Prompting Monica to hurry on and get onto the plane.
"We'll keep you in the know." Sonic says to Sally, walking up the boarding ramp. Looking back over his shoulder.
"Good luck. All of you and stay safe." The chipmunk princess tells him. Watching the blue blur disappear into the craft and the boarding ramp retracting til it's gone; the engines humming to life moments later.
She watches the circular platform the F.F.S is on rise up to the top surface of the hanger field and the sounds of its propulsion system heating up til she hears it take off a minute later. Off on a new mission over in the Great Jungle.
There was a funny feeling about the whole case but she's casted the thought aside for now; thinking it's probably nothing and just being concerned for her teammates.
The last time she was indisposed, Antoine ended up nearly being killed before going into a coma, Bunnie going MIA, the team being broken up into two groups, the throne being hijacked by a treacherous member of the royal court and all that unpleasant business before things were made right again some time later.
She does not want to see her loved ones go through another ugly saga like that and neither would Sonic with all he's experienced personally. Not after being out of action for most of the war.
Part of her feels they let him down by not coming to his rescue much sooner.
Since the present matters more than memories of dark days, she heads off to go and check on the new recruit to see how he's doing so far. She knows a few have voiced their opinions on his inclusion to the team but she tells them the same thing; give the new guy a chance.
Central Freedom HQ, New Mobotropolis
Night
Sally would find the red wolf at the workshop. Seeing him lending a hand to Tails in reassembling his beloved Whirlwind S7; a car that was high on his list of things to do before the war put a halt to it and had the new components brought over to the base to be assembled together while the fox gives the newbie an education on car mechanics.
The same time the car was being put together with newer parts, the computer system for it is being redone to update the software.
"...Depending on the chassis' build and structural integrity, the car engine would have to be calibrated accordingly. If you stuck this engine in a common car chassis, it would tear the whole vehicle apart at full speed because the frame isn't designed to withstand the full power of it."
Tails was in the middle of giving the listening wolf a lecture on car engine types when he noticed Sally coming into the workshop. "Hi Sally. Anything you need?"
"I'm just having a look in." The chipmunk replied, looking at the mostly assembled Whirlwind S7; not having seen the car in a long time. "Looking promising so far. How's your new friend been doing?"
"Well, I did have to give him the basics at the start but he's learning as we're going along with this rebuild and he even helped with updating the on-board software." The twin-tailed genius smiled, pointing to a standing monitor displaying the car's software with his wrench. "He's doing great!"
"I only know what I'm doing with your car here because you're around to help me through it..." Gadget scratches his neck with a bashful look, somehow making Tails look like the confident one between them. "I'm more knowledgeable in computers, software and programming than anything mechanical…"
"You're willing to learn new skills and you are receiving lessons from the best young mind around today." Sally told the wolf and Tails giggled a bit from her praise. "A tutor that's in with the young crowd as they say. Have you applied for a new job yet?"
"No. I'm holding off on it until I get settled in." Gadget answered with a head shake, scratching his cheek. "I also need time to draw up a new CV after losing my last one…"
"You prefer to take it methodically at a time. A little like myself." Sally looks at the monitor, seeing the user interface layout. "Tell me a bit about yourself."
"Anything in particular you want to know about me? I'm not... That interesting myself compared to the rest of you here."
"The boastful proclaim interesting tall tales, the humble speak little of their real epics."
"Prahb-Jo's dialogue to Arakkis in a debate about the virtues of personality and motivations. Recorded a decade prior to the White Comet's discovery and the subsequent Great Ascension."
Gadget's response had both the chipmunk and the fox look at him in surprise with him able to identify the source of the quote.
"Is philosophy one of your fields of study?" Sally asks with interest. Impressed by his knowledge.
"It is an interest of mine, yes but not a subject I studied in school and more of something I dabble in on the side." The red wolf admitted with a sheepishly smile. "Only recently have I taken up reading on the philosophers of Echidnaopolis and their writings that I can find. Mostly because of Knuckles."
"Then what subjects did you study in school? I'm told you used to be from Golden Bay City before you moved to Sunset Heights."
"Correct. As for subjects I studied while in school… Computer science, mathematics, history, business studies, home economics, drama and literacy. Uh, those are the main ones I did. My parents wanted me to be well-educated and versatile. Says it'd increase my chances of getting employment..." The wolf listed off before adding; "I also practice taekwondo outside of that. Third Kup to be exact."
"Two ranks from reaching First Dan." Sally nodded knowingly. "Me and a few others here had taken some lessons in the form here or there for self-defense training."
"Is there a dojang here in this city I can go to? Continue my lessons and graduate to Second Kup if I can."
"There's one near the Civic Center and the Myriad Den is the name of it. Hasn't been reopened yet but should be available to the public soon." Tails told him. "Good luck on reaching your next Kup rank."
Gadget smiled and nodded. Sally is glad to have Tails about to help the new guy feel accepted here; make his change of residence feel less stressful for him and it helps that Tails can relate to him easily.
"How are your parents doing by the way?" The chipmunk princess asks him, hands resting on the hips. "Have you told them about the news yet?"
"They're both alive and well thankfully over the border after losing contact with them for several months. Only just got back in touch with them not too long ago and told them a little bit about what happened with me; telling them I got to fight alongside Sonic but haven't told them about this yet..."
The gadgeteer runs the fingers through his red hair with a relieved sigh. "I was just happy to be reunited with them after no word from them the whole time that war was going on and they were relieved I came back alive."
"I know the feeling…" Tails murmurs. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
The innocuous question blindsided the glasses-wearing lupine and his shoulders slumped a bit when he went to answer it. "...I did have an older brother but he was gone before I ever got to know him. He was one of the many who were conscripted to fight in the Great War… He's also one of the many that's been listed as M.I.A and with how long it's been, he's still missing… Probably deceased… Maybe buried in an unmarked grave somewhere…"
"I'm sorry to hear that… And I'm sorry if that upset you." Tails said a little guiltily. Gadget shook his head.
"It's alright Tails. You didn't know and you were only asking me a simple question. It's more painful for my parents than it is for me." The wolf took off the glasses to rub his eyes. "Maybe he's still alive somewhere out there wherever he is."
"If he is alive and we can find him, I know he'll be proud of what his little brother has accomplished." Sally spoke from personal experience. "Same for when you tell your family you're one of us now."
Checking the time on her watch. "Tails. I know you want to work on this car here all night but it's starting to get a little late and you need to head home soon."
"But Aunt Sally, I'm good to take on the whole night and I need to keep showing him the ropes!"
"Even geniuses need a goodnight's rest and you can pick up where you left off as you were in the morning. I'm sure Amamiya here would want to head home too." The auburn chipmunk gestures to the wolf before adding; "Plus your mother thinks you're in need of a normal sleep routine and has asked us to make sure you don't work overtime while you're with us. Understand she's just looking out for your health as a parent."
Tails sighs, knowing she's got a point. "...I just want to have my dear S7 be on the roads again while I get to teach someone about mechanical engineering and help them out."
"You're helping out plenty enough already. I'm already learning a lot about engineering in a few hours I didn't know before thanks to you and you've been more than patient with me to guide me through all of this at a time." Gadget humbly tells him with an appreciative nod and a bow. "We can keep going tomorrow when we're both wide awake and full in the tank as one would say."
"If you say so. I think we'll call it a night."
Tails goes and pulls a tarp over the mostly assembled car with the wolf lending a hand before putting a sheet over the uninstalled components that sit next to the Whirlwind S7. The tools were put back into the red toolbox and the monitor switched off. The fox put a sign at the front that tells anyone passing through the workshop at night or in the morning not to disturb his project before bidding Sally and Gadget goodnight as he heads off for home.
"...I know it's a little premature of me to ask this only three days in but you getting on alright here?" Sally suddenly asks the wolf right when he was about to take his leave for the night. Gadget stops and turns around to his superior.
"Uh, well your highness… I've managed okay. Making some new friends, learning new skills and meeting more of the team around here…" Gadget rubbed his neck. "I assume that I'll be on the field soon after I'm settled in?"
"Sally will do. I'm not crazy about formalities like that when we're both on the same team and working together." The wolf's superior said. "You'll be called to action if I believe you're more than ready for deployment and acquainted with the rest of the team."
"Understood."
"You're a fast learner and it appears you're getting on well with the others; I'm confident you'll get this one down." Sally smiled, hands in her pockets. "I look forward to seeing you in action. I'll see you tomorrow and a pleasant night to you."
"You too." Gadget nodded and headed out of the workshop.
Although she was just trying to be friendly to him, he let his own anxieties twist the intent of her encouraging words into words of expectation. They may see him as a new friend but he sees them as people to impress since he got the membership over other probably more deserving candidates because of Sonic's endorsement.
An easy ticket to the top the critical voice would say.
Freedom Fighter Special Mark III, Great Jungle
Night
"...Who won that race?"
"Obviously me of course."
"Really? I heard Tails, Knuckles, Amy or even Eggman won it."
"You heard wrong."
Sonic corrected Johnny on that, seated next to him while reminiscing about his time in Radical City. "In a race featuring yours truly, it's clear I won it before it even started."
"Yeah right." Isabelle said with a smirk. "The organizers might say otherwise. Doubt they'd allow you to have an unfair advantage in the competition."
"Well, why am I allowed to partake in the Extreme Gear tournaments and other competitive leagues?"
"For motorsports, you need a car under legal rules. For EX, you need the legal gear. Whole different ball park compared to racing on foot."
"Even with slow shoes, I can still outpace the rest of the competition."
"Until you're beaten fair and square."
"We all have our off days."
"Yep. Like when Antoine beat your evil twin from Moebius."
"He got lucky."
"I most certainly did." Antoine interjects with a smirk, manning the pilot controls and having his eyes on the console. Monica went over to his side.
"How much longer until we're at our spot?"
"We'll be zhere in five minutes."
"I never imagined someone would actually solve the problem surrounding cold fusion and make it scientifically possible. Disgraced experts would take it seriously while everyone else dismisses it as an impossibility." Rotor says to Sonic, thinking of the stolen cold fusion and messing with a tracker device to get it to be able to track the stolen container somehow. "If G.U.N are being secretive about this one, then it must be something big."
"How big?" Isabelle asked curiously. "We do have other cleaner alternatives to nuclear energy before we cracked the code on cold fusion."
"What makes it different from those alternatives is that they have a finite amount of energy to expend before they deplete while cold fusion can theoretically generate limitless energy as long the casing for it can last. Stick it in the Tornado and it can fly effectively forever until the world goes or the casing goes." Rotor drawls before adding; "Imagine that but as a weapon. Imagine entire fleets of warships and nuclear missiles with that as their power source. Imagine Robotnik's Death Egg being powered by it. You'd bypass the need to find a fuel resource because cold fusion can provide you with all of that and possibly circumvent part of the laws of thermodynamics."
"Chaos Energy can do the same thing."
"Except Chaos Energy is dangerous to extract from the Chaos Emeralds, said emeralds have to be hunted for to get samples off them and they have to get power off from the Master Emerald since they need to have a source to generate their energies. Sonic can tell you that. With cold fusion, you just need the equipment, the ideal lab conditions, the formula and the ingredients to produce new nuclear energy."
"But if it's that great, why hadn't it already been cracked by Sir Charles or other geniuses of our time? For that matter, how come we're hearing about it now?" Johnny questions. "You'd think something like this would get Egghead's attention for its potential value to his empire, especially during wartime where it could effectively give him the ultimate advantage in the war of attrition or something that could be a threat to him."
"If Dokter Mad Sun wasn't so enamored with the Phantom Ruby and depended his success on it, he probably would have given it his time of day…" Sonic said with a whistle.
"If he was smart as his own reported IQ points, he'd have thought of it." Isabelle scoffs. "Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Guy's got such an ego that it's a jok—"
"Despite everything I've said and done to him, Ivo is no joke." Sonic tells her in a more serious tone. "I made that mistake before and paid for it. He's shown more than once how dangerous he can really be when you back him into a corner; what measures he'll take the moment he senses things aren't going his way. His brother Julian might be dangerous but he's even more dangerous because you never know what his bite is going to be. He can be harmlessly running around as a pro wrestler on one end to someone who'll destroy the world in his madness on the other."
Silence hung in the air after Sonic said that. The two sisters got fact-checked by the one person who knows Doctor Eggman best. To them, Eggman is the arch-enemy of Sonic and a mad evil scientist with a massive ego. The other veterans present know better than the pair do; it comes with the territory.
Sensing the awkward air lingering around, the blue blur quips. "...Having said that though, he's definitely the kind of guy you can wind up easily if you know which button to press and watch him rage out; never gets old seeing him throw a temper tantrum when he's losing. Makes for great popcorn entertainment."
"That I concur." Johnny chuckles as did Isabelle and Rotor. "And some of his inventions can be absolutely daft at times. Real stinkers for the ages."
"Remember the Pest Maker that Julian made?" Rotor recalls one of the less impressive inventions of the Robotnik Empire. "Sure it can robotize its victims when they're vacuumed into it..."
"But only if you're anything smaller than Muttski or the size of a small spider." Sonic adds before laughing. "Talk about catching bugs. If I stuck my finger in it, that'd be more at risk of becoming his slave than me. I've seen some rubbish evil inventions but that's one of the dumbest I had encountered and only because we were shrunk down for size was that dangerous to us."
"It must have sounded like absolute wild times for you back in the day." Isabelle commented on the more lighthearted tales of the First Robotnik War. "What I'd give to see some of those stories as they were happening."
"The fun stuff didn't come too often but when they did, we cherished those moments no matter how ludicrous or stupid they were looking back on it." Rotor says to the female hedgehog, speaking from personal experience. "Made getting through the war against Julian all the more bearable when we had that type of levity in between the heavy ones. It's different now going from fighting ancient deities, saving the universe and uncovering the secrets of Mobius to us just doing hit and runs against a despot."
"When you put it that way mate, things were a lot more low-key and small in scope then. No Project: Shadow, no Sol Dimension, no Wolf Pack Nation, no Dark Legion, no Metarexs… It was just us, him, his empire of robots and a Roboticizer to mostly worry about when we thought we were the only form of resistance against him around for a long time." Johnny muses with a slight fondness for the old days, looking over to Sonic. "To think there was a time where Team Dark, Blaze and everyone else we've come to know weren't even known to our younger selves."
"We sure came a long way since we all began." Sonic nodded with a fond smile. "If I could meet young me now, I'd ask him why he couldn't do a Spin Dash at the start or taunt him about how slow he is compared to me."
"While he calls you absolute cringe or makes comments about you being more busy playing a romantic lead zhan a hedgehog with attitude." Antoine comes in with his remark. "Ze zwo of you zogether would be like zwo whirlwinds in a china shop; you're both going to get on each other's nerves after ze admiration fest ends."
"Nah. I would get along with me just great and hit it off like a barn on fire."
Rotor and Johnny looked to one another with knowing faces. Both knowing of the idiom 'Likes Repel, Opposites Attract' when two similar personalities meet each other.
The aircraft would reach its destination before Antoine located an open ground space within the vast jungle to park the vessel at; lowering the loading ramp once they made touchdown. Equipment and gear being grabbed for the field mission.
"...Everyone remembers where we've parked our wheels at." Sonic quips to his group while coming down the ramp with the others following suit. "And know your insurance policy if anything happens to our ride here."
"Corny as always." Isabelle rolled her eyes. Slinging a capture claw rifle over her shoulder and having her lamplight pinned to her top.
"Never got a written complaint for it."
"You'll start getting them if you don't come up with better material than that."
"Don't worry. They're just cooking in the oven." Sonic turns around to his team while the ramp retracts back up into the aircraft. "Ready guys?"
"Ready when you are." Monica nodded, one hand grasping the right strap of her backpack filled with items for their mission. Taking up the role of pack mule for her team.
"Let's see… Based on distance divided by time…" Rotor murmurs while taking a check of his configured handheld device displaying a map of the Great Jungle Nicole provided to him and working out an estimation of the thieves' general vicinity; pointing his teammates to a section of the map he's looking towards. "They should be around this part of the map and with this gadget of mine set to track elements not commonly found in jungles; we'll be able to pick up their trail."
"Nothing that our own intuition can't find. We just sniff for it and we're on it." Isabelle boasted while Monica sighs at her showboating.
"Let's get going." Johnny says with the whole team heading off from the parked F.F.S to begin their hunt for the thieves in the vast greenery of the Great Jungle. "The plonkers' be hiding in the trees and expecting some John Laws their way…"
Into the dusk of the wilderness, Sonic holds his head high and ready for the dangers coming his way. He was just having some off days but he's back baby; prepared to rip loose and taking names sent his way...
Author's Notes: If you read the Sonic 2 Pre-Quill comic, then you're already familiar with who Lindsey and Jason are. Why I included them here? Figured I'd go with someone who's not Fang or any of the other well-known mercenary characters from the series and thought I'd do something with them.
As for the Sprout Sisters, they're from the cancelled Super Sonic Sisters series that DiC had planned but never fully realised and I suspect there's a connection with the cancelled Sister Sonic localisation of Popful Mail for Sega CD considering the 1993 timeframe both projects would have been pitched. What are the odds?
And then you have your obligatory references. Nothing more to be said.
Leave your thoughts on this chapter in the reviews and I'll see you all another time.