Battle in Tokyo

(Ayla's POV)

Tails piloted the helicopter out of a Ring portal & we flew over Tokyo city. He was wearing a pilot helmet, which I found totally adorable*

Tails: Good evening and welcome to Tails' air flight ten-twelve. We're looking at an one-time arrival into Tokyo.

Ayla: You know, I'd always wanted to visit Japan, but this wasn't exactly what I had in mind.

Sonic: Don't worry, sis. Once we wrap this up, we'll do whatever you what.

Ayla: Sound good.

I had a whole list of things I wanted to do here. Try some authentic japanese food (sushi, ramen, takoyaki, sukiyaki, yakisoba, & etc), visit Hokkaido, Kyoto, Shibuya, Akihabara, & Osaka, visit a Japanese shrine, check out an anime cafe & a cat cafe, sing karaoke, visit Himeji Castle, experience a Japanese tea ceremony, watch a sumo & kendo match, try on a kimono, take pictures of Mount Fuji, visit Tokyo Disneyland, & learn to play a Japanese instrument*

Tails: How about we focus on what's going on now before we start planning a vacation?

Ayla: Right. Sorry.

Sonic: Okay, Captain. We've got a rogue alien on the loose. How do we find him?

Suddenly, there was explosion below*

Tails: Uh . . . Start with the giant fireball?

Sonic: I love it! Let's start with the giant fireball!

Ayla: Thank you, Captain Obvious.

Tails got out of the pilot seat & we headed towards Knuckles, who was practicing his punches*

Knuckles*laugh* Finally! Some action!

Tails: Okay, time to hear up! *he reached into his backpack & pulled out a pair of yellow rings* Titanium handcuffs. Completely indestructible.

Ayla: Nice.

Knuckles: I don't need your silly gizmos, fox. And do you know why? Because I am -

Ayla, Sonic, & Tails: One million percent muscle.

I rolled my eyes*

Knuckles: Yes, good. You've been listening.

Ayla*in her mind* How could we not? You tell us that every day.

An alarm went off in the helicopter*

Soldier: We're over the drop zone!

Sonic: Alright. Here we go! Showtime! *the door on the side of the helicopter opened* Now look, we don't know if it's Godzilla or Hello Kitty down there. But as long as we stick together, there is nothing we can't handle.

Ayla: Alright, let's do this.

All four of us placed our fists together*

Sonic: Team Sonic on three. One... Two... Three... Team...

Ayla, Sonic, & Tails: SONIC!

Knuckles: KNUCKLES!

Sonic & I both raised an eyebrow at him. Director Rockwell came up to us with a blank expression*

Sonic: Talk about a low-budget flight. No food or movies? We're out of here!

Ayla: See ya!

Then all four of us jumped out of the helicopter & fell head-first. As we got closer to the ground, Tails spun his tails & grabbed Sonic's hands & Knuckles grabbed his feet. I got out my board & hovered down. We landed on middle of a wrecked Shibuya Crossing. People were screaming & running away. Soldiers were limping away*

Knuckles: What happens here?

Sonic: Looks like G.U.N. got their butts kicked.

Ayla: Watch your backs and be ready for anything.

Sonic: Tails? Anything?

Tails checked his handheld computer & noticed something*

Tails: Whoa. These energy readings are off the chart.

Before any of us could question it, we heard a loud bang & saw a G.U.N. car flying towards us*

Ayla: Look out!

Me, Sonic, & Tails braced for impact, but nothing happened. We looked & saw that Knuckles had caught the G.U.N. car with one hand*

Knuckles: One million percent.

He threw the car away. I was about to say something when I felt something. My fur started to stand on end & I felt a chill down my spine. I turned & saw a shadow coming towards us*

Ayla: Guys. Something's coming.

The guys looked where I was looking & saw a black male hedgehog with crimson stripes, red eyes, tan skin, & wearing gold rings on his wrists & ankles, white gloves with black and red-tongued cuffs, & black, red, & white shoes, coming up from the bottom of a flipped car. The minute I saw him, I felt my heart skip a beat.

Sonic: Whoa. Are you guys seeing this?

Tails: He looks just like you.

Knuckles: Impossible!

Ayla: They don't look that much alike.

Shadow: You're a colorful bunch.

I hearing his voice made my heart pound even more*

Sonic: Um, excuse me? Why do you look like me?

Shadow: I don't look like you. You look like me. Why do you look like me?

Sonic: Hey, you know what? I'll ask the questions, new hedgehog. Who are you? Why do you look like me?

Ayla: Sonic, that's literally what he just asked you.

Shadow: This is a waste of time. Walk away, before you get hurt.

Sonic: Whoa, whoa! Easy, buddy! *he took out the titanium handcuffs* We don't want to fight you.

Ayla: We just want to talk.

Knuckles leaned up to us*

Knuckles: Actually, Sonic, Ayla, I would like to fight.

I pushed his face away, rolling my eyes*

Ayla: Not now, Knuckles.

Knuckles grunted*

Sonic: Why don't you stop throwing cars at us for a second and and come down here for that talk.

Shadow: You jumped out of a G.U.N. helicopter. There's nothing to talk about.

He started to walk away*

Ayla: Hey! Just because we jumped out of one of their helicopters, doesn't mean we're friends with them. If I had my way, we wouldn't go ave anything to do with those jerks in the first place.

Sonic: Ouch, sis. That's harsh.

Ayla: After everything they put us through during Rachel's wedding, I'm surprised you and Tails even agreed to come.

The black hedgehog stopped & turned to me*

Shadow: So, you hate G.U.N. as much as I do?

Ayla: Well . . . I wouldn't say hate. It's more like I can't forgive them for something they did to me, my brother, and our friend.

Shadow: Same thing.

Knuckles: Alright then. Enough!

He ran towards the hedgehog*

Sonic & Ayla: Knuckles, no!

He jumped up with his fist raised*

Knuckles: Let us talk with our fists!

Just then, the hedgehog teleported in front of him. He grabbed his fist & turned it the wrong way, making him scream in pain. Then he kicked Knuckles high into the air & kicked him back & forth until he kicked him into a nearby store*

Ayla, Sonic, & Tails: Knuckles!

We ran to him*

Sonic: Knuckles. Knuckles, are you okay?

Knuckles: No, not really. *we helped him to his feet* Ow! Ow!

The black hedgehog appeared in front of us*

Tails: Who is this guy?

Knuckles: He is much more impressive than the hedgehogs I fought previously.

Sonic: Dude, we're standing right here.

Ayla: And did you forget that I kicked your butt once?

Knuckles: Oh, right.

Sonic: Whatever. Now, come on. He can't take us all at once.

Suddenly, the black hedgehog appeared behind us & kicked Tails away. Then Knuckles. Then he grabbed my brother by the throat & shot up into the air. He let go in mid-air & grabbed my brother again. They shot back into the ground & landed with a crash, kicked up dust*

Ayla: Sonic!

Sonic got up, dizzy*

Sonic: Okay . . . He took us all at once . . .

He fainted*

Shadow: Weakling. *he disappeared again. I got in a battle stance as I looked around, ready for anything. just then, I felt a presence behind me. I quickly spun around, my foot raised for a kick. but the black hedgehog caught my ankle* Impressive. You immediately sensed my presence. Not a lot of people have been able to do that.

I jumped away from him & kept my fighting stance*

Ayla: Yeah, well. I'm not like most people.

Shadow: So it would seem. *he disappeared again & reappeared in front of me. I froze I looked into his eyes. I could see many emotions swirling in them. anger, sadness, hatred, & betrayal* What is your name?

My mind went blank. I couldn't seem to form words. Just then, I felt a jolt from my wristwatch*

Synergy*whispering* Ayla! Say something!

I realized what was happening & silently thanked Synergy as I spoke to the handsomeblack hedgehog*

Ayla: M - My name is Ayla.

Shadow: Ayla. That's a pretty name. *I blushed at that. just he teleported away from me & picked a discarded motorcycle. my brother had just woken up* You can call me Shadow. *he looked at my brother as he kicked up a laser gun, catching it* Don't try to follow me.

He started the bike & took off on it. Sonic, Tails, & Knuckles got up & watched him ride away*

Tails: Sonic, I know that look. Going after him is a bad idea.

Sonic: When has that ever stopped me?

He took off after Shadow. I sighed, knowing this was going to end badly. I got out my hoverboard & got on it*

Tails: Ayla, not you too. It's too dangerous.

Ayla: I know. That's why I'm going to make sure Sonic comes back in one piece.

I took off on my board. I caught up with the guys just as Sonic caught up with Shadow*

Sonic: I gotta ask. One hedgehog to another, who does your highlights?

That's I appeared on Shadow's right side*

Ayla: Sonic! That's got nothing to do with what's going on right now!

Shadow looked at me over his shoulder & looked a little impressed by my hoverboard. Then he fired his laser gun at Sonic. Luckily, me managed to dodge all of the blasts. All three of us weaved around cars that were going in the opposite direction*

Sonic: Hey! Dangerously weaving through traffic is my thing! *all three of us dodged more cars. Sonic curled up into a ball, Shadow teleported, & I moved my board. at one point, Sonic jumped through a truck's front seat.* Coming through! *Shadow appeared above us. we dodged & Sonic grabbed on to his bike, dragging his feet to try & stop him. I got next to Shadow* Why are you running away? We're just getting started!

He made Shadow bump the bike into a bus, scaring the people inside. Then we went into an underground tunnel*

Shadow: The more you talk, the harder I want to hit you!

Ayla: Welcome to my life.

Shadow gave me a little side smirk as he increased the speed on his bike. Just then, we saw a train going over the tracks in front of us. The gate was down*

Sonic & Ayla: Watch out!

Suddenly, Shadow grabbed my arm & teleported all three of us into the air in front of Tokyo Tower*

Sonic: I'm gonna throw up!

Ayla: Just aime away from me, please! This is my favorite sweater!

Shadow suddenly grabbed me again, putting me on his lap as he used his power to super charged the motorcycle & started to drive it up the side of the tower*

Sonic: Whoa, whoa, whoa!

He ran after us, bumping into the motorcycle, while Shadow kept a tight grip on me so I wouldn't fall off. All three of us made it to the top & crashed through the platform. Sonic landed on his stomach hard. I quickly jumped off the motorcycle as Shadow kept going up, skidding along the side of the structure. Then he went really high into air & started sparking red as he jumped off it, falling down really fast. Sonic started sparking blue as he jumped towards Shadow. Their fists collided with each other, sending out a shock wave that knocked out all the power in the city"

Ayla: Deja vu, much. *the power quickly came back on & my eyes went wide when I saw Shadow using Tails' handcuffs to trap my brother on the fence* Hey! *he turned to me* You can't do that to my brother! *I ran towards him & got ready to punch him, but he dodged. I kept trying to hit him, but he kept dodging* Would you hole still!?

I went in for another punch, but he caught my fist*

Shadow: I don't think so. *he threw me into the wall* Stay out of my way if you don't want to get hurt. And believe me. I don't want to hurt you.

He teleported away. That's when Sonic woke up*

Sonic: One point 21 gigawatts. *then he saw his wrist handcuffed to the fence* Oh, you've got a new kidding me.

Ayla: Yeah, Shadow did that while you were passed out.

Sonic: And you didn't stop him, why?

Ayla: The lights had come back on by the time he was done, it was too late by then.

That's when Tails & Knuckles arrived, Tails carrying Knuckles*

Tails: Sonic, Ayla, are you okay?

He went to unlock the handcuffs*

Sonic: We're fine, guys. And before you ask, I handcuffed myself for tactical reasons I do not have time to explain.

Ayla: Actually, Shadow was the one who handcuffed him while he was unconscious.

Sonic: Traitor!

I just stuck my tongue out at him*

Tails: You guys shouldn't have gone off on your own. We're supposed to be a team.

Ayla: I know, I'm sorry.

Sonic: Me too. Still getting used to it being a four-man team.

Knuckles: So now what?

Sonic: Well, I'm not jumping out of anymore helicopters until we get some answers from G.U.N. We need somewhere to regroup.

Tails: I know just the place.

Knuckles: Before we do that, I've got another question. *he turned to me* Who is Shadow?

Ayla: Oh. That's the name of the hedgehog that attacked us.

Sonic: Why would he only tell you his name?

Ayla: I don't know. He was really nice with me for some reason. He was even holding back when we fought.

Tails: That is weird.

Ayla: Yeah. But . . . *I felt cheeks heat up as I remembered being on Shadow's lap & him holding me tight* Also kinda sweet. *then I noticed Tails & Knuckles smirking at me while Sonic was glaring* What?

Tails: Someone's got a crush.

Ayla: What!? I - I do not!

*Knuckles singing*

Ayla and Shadow

Sitting in a tree

K. I. S. S . I. N -

I grabbed him by one of his dreadlocks & pulled him close to my face*

Ayla: You even think about finishing that and I will kill you!

Sonic: Okay, enough! Can we please just go to the regroup place now!

Ayla: Yes, please.

We all started to leave, but I could feel Tails & Knuckles still giving me teasing looks. I just chose to ignore them*