"Speedy! You're back!"
Metal Sonic observed as Cassia the Pronghorn waved at the avian Islander that was flying towards them with flames erupting from his jetpack. He was wearing an exoskeleton that a quick search through the Doctor's files indicated was an invention from the now deceased Chief Scientist of the Battle Kukku Empire, Doctor Fukurokov. Most of the body was painted white save for the splashes of red on the gauntlets and the red insignia of the Eggman Empire painted on the chest that was only partly hidden by the red neckerchief he wore. His helmet was green with yellow lenses that obscured his eyes, but did not cover his mouth which revealed the slightly scratched yellow beak twisted in a snarl.
"Don't call me that!" The bird islander shouted as he flew closer to the ground and deactivated the jetpack. He landed on his brown boots as the exoskeleton retracted, revealing that he wore a white sleeveless jumpsuit with red stripe patterns on the sides and legs as well as brown gloves to match his boots. "My title is the Great Battle Kukku XVI!"
The bird took off his helmet and Metal Sonic observed the green-feathered avian with interest. His right eye had been replaced by black glass with a red LED pupil, likely in a vain attempt to match his remaining organic one.
Battle scars from his defeat at the hands of Tails?
The bird pointed at himself with his thumb and held up his head in pride. "It was a title passed on to me by the previous Great Battle Kukku, who now flies with our ancestors and watches over us from beyond the clouds! It is an honor that allows me to command my people who remember when we, as an empire, soared above all others before that freak…!"
"Yeah, yeah." Cassia waved her hand. "But I ain't going to keep calling you Great Battle Kukku. It's super pretentious and dumb. Like it or not, Speedy, but we're equals in the eyes of the doctor. And that's below him."
The bird, Speedy, scowled and looked as if he was about to shout something at her before he finally noticed Metal Sonic's presence. The badnik couldn't help but feel a small twinge of satisfaction when the so-called Grand Battle Kukku shrank back slightly in fear before he looked back at Cassia and spat out, "Just don't do it in front of my men."
The bird quickly walked past the younger pronghorn and went into the complex, nearly running into Clove who moved out of his way.
"And discipline your Sub-Boss!" Speedy shouted, not looking back at any of them from within the building. "She should be outside with the rest of your forces, preparing them for the coming battle!"
"Oh great." Clove muttered as she walked towards her sister and made sure not to meet his gaze. "He's back."
"Oh don't mind Speedy." Cassia waved her hand at the door. "He's a jerk, sure, but he's harmless. He just likes to talk big."
"They all like to talk big before they decide to finally start something." The older sister chided with a frown. "What will you do when he finally decides he's sick of you calling him by that nickname? He was part of an empire that made a habit of conquering islands one by one."
Metal Sonic wanted to roll his eyes. As if they could call what the Battle Kukku Empire was an actual empire.
"Please, I could take him!" The younger sister smirked and playfully punched Clove in the arm. "And I bet you could feed him his beak in ten seconds flat!"
"That's not the…" Clove let out another sigh before looking at Metal Sonic. "…Cassia, why is Metal Sonic here?"
"Oh, him?" Cassia looked over to the badnik and nodded. "He seemed bored, so I wanted to give him a tour of the place!"
Metal Sonic couldn't exactly say that the pronghorn was incorrect in her assessment. He had been slowly losing his interest in the compound itself as these so-called servants of Eggman went about their duties and had been growing more fascinated by the recent development in Phage. It was something that the program had been hinting at, but he hadn't expected it to be a radical evolution. Certainly not at this scale.
The doctor had developed Phage with an artificial intelligence so that it could perform its duties as a virus more efficiently while also using its logic code to circumvent firewalls and any anti-virus programs that were sent against it. But as per usual the doctor developed the artificial intelligence too well, mostly because he once again used his brain waves as a base. It was smarter than he had anticipated, and its simple function became an almost all-consuming hunger for data. The doctor had even marked Phage as a failure, but used it as a base for his new SAGE program which he took to the Starfall Islands.
What could an evolved version of that look like?
Unfortunately though, it had been taking a long while and so when Cassia began blabbering on about how she would show him around since Thunderbolt was busy talking with the human named Stone and the water buffalo named Axel he simply followed her.
It was also a rather new experience. Metal Sonic couldn't even recall the doctor showing him around a new base.
It was also… strange… having someone other than the doctor, Orbot, Cubot, the Belle unit, and even his loathsome copy treat him like an individual. One that could even experience boredom.
The badnik didn't really know how to process that.
"Seemed… bored?" Clove grimaced. "Cassia, you should have told me! If you did I could have been with you!"
"Come on, sis! I'm not a little kid and can handle myself!" The younger sister huffed and crossed her arms. "Besides, I've got nothing to worry about! It's Metal Sonic!"
"Yes! Metal Sonic! That's my point! You…!"
The bickering between the two sisters was uninteresting, so Metal Sonic decided to return to his system and observe the progress of Phage.
He found himself, within a millisecond, back on the edge of the lake that the program's egg had been hovering over.
Before, the black data water was up to the edge of the lake shore.
Now, it is practically gone.
What was once a lake was now practically a crater. A small puddle of data, rapidly disappearing, was flowing into the egg where the words hung overhead reading:
PROGRAM: PHAGE
UPDATE STATUS: 99% Complete
It was almost time.
Metal Sonic waited until the puddle was gone before seeing the progress bar turned to 100%. The words and numbers overhead disappeared and a large crack formed in the middle of the egg. Slowly, it opened and white liquid almost like the albumen of an organic egg slowly dribbled onto the center of what was once a lake, with a black figure taking the place of its yolk. It was too solid to be mere water, and both rippled and shook as the egg shells landed to the sides of the black figure.
The badnik observed it.
It was a lynx, but one whose fur was completely black. The biological sex appeared to be female, yet it was lacking in any characteristics. There were no eyes, nose, or even a mouth. Even the ears seemed to lack actual ear canals.
It was like it was a black and completely filled-in three-dimensional outline of Nicole the Holo-Lynx.
Slowly, it twitched.
Then, it began to flail noiselessly with its new limbs, the fingers and claws twisting and unsheathing as if it was unused to even having them.
But as soon as it began, it stopped and then lurched so that it could rest on its belly. It proceeded to begin crawling with shaky limps towards one of the egg shells.
That's when Metal Sonic noticed it.
A line was forming horizontally on the area where its mouth should be, as if a knife had made a clean cut along it. It began to slowly open, and a long black tongue rolled out and began collecting the liquid. It slurped greedily at it, the being drinking it as if it were thirsty like an organic being.
It's crawling slowly began to become more secure and confident. The limbs weren't shaking as it drank more.
Metal Sonic decided he needed a closer look and used his thrusters to slowly fly to the center of the one-time lake, crossing his arms and studying the mockery of a lynx as it got close enough to the egg shell to grab it.
It began to get to its feet. They shook at first, but soon it was balancing itself as it crouched over the egg shell.
Tiny white teeth had formed around its mockery of a mouth, all of them sharp, which made it easier for the lynx to bite down on the shell and chew on it.
It ate the shell greedily, its bite growing faster and faster while white, red, and yellow pixels began to form on its face.
Soon, it formed a familiar mask.
Phage's mask.
When the mask was finished, Phage turned its head to Metal Sonic and looked up at him.
"Greetings, Metal Sonic." The voice was a near perfect copy of Nicole the Holo-Lynx, but with only minor distortion. But it was unmistakably Phage's with its almost infuriating amusement underneath every word. "I am glad/pleased/delighted you are here and have witnessed my upgrade."
Metal Sonic tilted his head. All this from only a bit of Nicole the Holo-Lynx's code?
"Nicole the Holo-Lynx is a truly special/exceptional/remarkable specimen. One whose function I do not believe even she fully comprehends." To his mild surprise she actually giggled. "I wish to tell you, but first…"
The bottom portion of the mask cracked horizontally, the mask breaking in a way where the top and bottom portions of the cracked mask formed the sharp teeth of the makeshift mouth while a black tongue rolled out and began to trace each of their surfaces.
"…I need to finish my meal."
It was as if Sally's cry was the signal for all hell to break loose.
Raiju ninjas launched themselves forward, raising their weapons and already bringing them down. All of them were either sharp with ends that seemed to glitter in the hand light or were blunt enough to bash a person's brain in. They were not physically intimidating, all of them were no taller than the average Mobian.
But they were still frightening in their own unique way to Mina Mongoose.
"Get it together, Mina! You faced off against that badnik in the desert and Metal Sonic, remember?!" She grit her teeth and held onto the neck of the guitar wispon. "Just listen to the beat! Use it!"
She could hear Bowie's notes from within the wispon. It was a song unfamiliar to her, but it was one that she heard while in Studiopolis. It sounded like one of those new ones in this strange new world, one that didn't sound as if it was completely natural. However, the beat was a catchy one. It was raw and angry, and she could hear the real drums and keyboard notes. She could even see the guitar in her head as it strummed along to the electronic cries that only said one thing:
"INVADERS MUST DIE!"
With a scream, she swung her guitar right into the face of one of the Raiju clan members, he spun like a top but floated in place as if he weighed nothing.
"Follow up on it!" Mina ran after the flying ninja, ducking her head to avoid being whacked in the face by a nunchuck before leaping up and hitting the lynx in the right side. "Again!" Then, not letting go of her guitar, she smacked him to the left. "Keep up with the beat!" With a cry, she raised her wispon over her head and smashed it down on the ninja. He let out a cry of pain as his body smacked against the ground and bounced up in time for one final blow against the head that made his sail straight into the crystal wall.
"Holy crap!" The mongoose knew she should be shocked over what she just did. Badniks were one thing but living beings were another. However, she couldn't help but feel… giddy as her feet landed on the ground. "What's gotten into me? Is this adrenaline or something? I can-!"
Her thoughts were cut off when she felt something hard impact against her back and sent her sprawling on the floor. She looked up in time to see another Raiju ninja leaping at her, their right leg raised in preparation for an ax-kick.
But it didn't come down.
Mina instead saw the bolts of cyan energy hit the attacking ninja and caused them to fall several feet behind her. Turning her head, she saw that Whisper was aiming towards her with her wispon raised. The wolf was standing in front of the still unconscious Silver while Tangle was leaping over one of the Royal Knights, her hands on its helmet and kicking at two incoming ninjas while her tail swatted aside a third.
"Focus!" Whisper barked out before turning her attention to her own opponents, shooting down one leaping at her before the gun wispon shifted and turned into a hammer that knocked aside several kunai.
"Right!" The singer hissed and got to her feet, ignoring the pain and only raising the guitar just in time to parry a wooden staff being swung at her.
"My life really has gone completely crazy."
The past few hours were a testament to that. Meeting Sonic's parents had been a huge relief. She had gone to check on them after Geoffrey… Naugus had been crowned king again only to find their home burning down thanks to some of the citizens who had been swept up by their anger and paranoia. She had feared the worst before someone screamed about how they couldn't find the hedgehog and robian, so she took comfort in the idea that they had chosen to hide somewhere.
It gave her some hope that things would be alright.
Returning to New Mobotropolis, however, reminded her how dire things had been when she left. And seeing all those tired, thirsty, and hungry faces made the bubbling feelings of shame and guilt come back with a vengeance.
"I should have told Sonic about us. I shouldn't have run. I should've…!"
No, now wasn't the time for that.
Mina spun on her heel and whacked the Raiju ninja into another one of his companions, knocking them both flat on their backs. However, two more took their place and rushed at her with short swords drawn. Behind them, a member of the Royal Knights was running towards her with their sword raised overhead.
The way the Royal Knights moved wasn't natural, and she had always found them creepy.
And now she knew why.
Naugus… he never died. It was just a lie to make himself look better and to make all those scared and confused people support whatever he said in Geoffrey's body. How long had Naugus been hiding in there? She didn't even want to think about it. It was just too horrible.
"Is Geoffrey even in there anymore?"
Mina grit her teeth and took a step back, spinning the guitar in her hand until she was able to get it in a position that she would play one normally. Tapping her foot to match the beat, she waited until the drop before bringing her right hand down across the strings.
It was as if a bubble of purple light surrounded her before expanding outwards. It hit the ninjas and Royal Knight, making them fly away from her and skipping across the ground as if they were stones on the surface of a lake.
"Nice!" She whispered with a grin on her face. "Good work, Bowie!"
She heard the wisp's chime of thanks for her compliment and looked around.
Whisper and Tangle were still fighting against the ninjas, however Mordred Hood was slinking further to the back and seemingly trying to get out of range from either of them.
She could see Bunnie shooting at Beauregard who was ducking for cover. Meanwhile, Sally was slashing at the Bride of the Conquering Storm who ducked from the assault while at the same time striking her palm at Blaze's midsection.
"You ain't gettin' away!" The Hooligan screamed before flying off after the Grandmaster who was the old version's uncle.
Mina could not even begin to imagine what the poor girl was going through.
"Don't break off!" Sally screamed at the rabbit. "We need to stick to-!"
"Sally, watch out!" Blaze shouted, clutching at her abdomen while skidding to a stop several feet away. "She's…!"
Mina winced as she saw the lynx sweep her left leg on the ground and hit the back of the robian's heels. The princess let out a cry of alarm as she fell back only for the jets underneath her feet to make her fly into the air.
"You will not be fleeing so easily, princess!" The monster masquerading as Geoffrey St. John screamed before aiming his staff at Sally. The air crackled before a burst of purple and magenta energy shot out at the robian.
"Sally! Move!" Mina screamed, and thankfully the princess twisted her body just in time for the blast to instead hit a portion of the ceiling.
"Don't focus on me!" Sally didn't even turn to look at the mongoose, instead continuing to stare at Naugus who was aiming his staff at her. "Just focus on getting out of here, Mina!"
"Easier said than done!" Mina grimaced but held her guitar out, reading to swing again as members of the Raiju clan approached.
A part of her did want to do what Sally was ordering. To run and leave this place, to leave it to the heroes.
But no. She did that before and look where it got her.
Look where it got all of them.
"Max… Sharp… Mach… Ash…"
Her bandmates and boyfriend… They had fought so she could escape this city and get help.
Now they were either wasting away in whatever twisted dungeon that Naugus had created or worse.
Words and songs weren't going to get her out of this situation, and running would just have her leave Sally and the others behind.
She wasn't going to do that. Not again.
This time… she was going to fight.
And, matching the rhythm of the song's beat, Mina let out a cry of "Invaders must die!" before launching herself at her opponents.
Time to show Naugus and the rest of these jerks who the new Mina Mongoose was.
The thief wearing her uncle's skin was in a body approaching its fifties, but he still moved fast.
He moved to the side just before Bunnie could sock him with a right hook. Cursing, the rabbit turned around mid-air before reaching out with her left hand. It extended out towards the fake Uncle Beauregard, intending to grab him by the shoulder.
"Will you stop?!" The faker shouted, moving to the side and grabbing her robotic arm by the wrist with his own artificial hand and pulling. The Hooligan let out a small cry as she was brought towards him before he whipped his arm up and letting go. "Ah don't want to hurt you, girl!"
"Funny way of showin' it!" She shot back as she spun in the air for a few seconds. "Considerin' you wanna get rid of me to bring back that other Bunnie!"
"We're just makin' you remember who you are!"
Bunnie clenched her teeth as she retracted her arm and righted herself. Reaching into her jacket's pockets she brought out several bullets. "That's a load of hogwash!" She opened her arm's bullet compartment and shoved them inside. "If you're really ma uncle, then why do you call Aunt Lulumae 'that woman'?!"
"Because she isn't her! Not really!"
The Holligan took aim and began to fire.
They were shots at the imposter's feet, making him yelp and begin to run away to avoid having holes in them. She didn't want to damage the body. Not anymore than necessary and certainly not to perform more damage to it than these monsters already had. She just needed to incapacitate him so that she could force that crazy hybrid possessing the skunk to change him back.
"And he can do it! He didn't deny it!"
This Naugus, the cause of all this insanity, had merely told her that he had no reason to do so. He didn't say he couldn't. And that was fine. She would give him a reason. The badnik and others didn't have the guts to do it, but she did. She would take down the imposter then move onto the hybrid, and then…
Her plans were put on hold when she felt two feet land onto her back. As a flower of pain blossomed she felt an elbow dig into her shoulder, and Bunnie turned her head to see one of those ninjas who was hanging by the collar of her jacket. "You…!"
Bunnie was interrupted when another body slammed into her side, and her body rocked in the air as more of the ninjas began piling on her. One for each of her robot limbs while the one on her back grabbed her by her right arm and began to pull.
"Don't hurt her!" The imposter screamed. "Ah'm orderin' you not to…!"
"We do not serve you!" One of them hissed out. "We serve the Honored Matron!"
"It don't matter who you take marchin' orders from!" She shot back. "Ah want all of you…!"
Twisting her body, she began to spin while aiming her flight path to the ground. The ninjas let out cries of surprise before, one by one, they were flung off and left only the one clinging onto her jacket like his life depended on it.
Which it probably did.
"…TO GET OFF!"
When the red WARNING message appeared in her eye, Bunnie made sure her back was facing the ground and her hand was holding her hat tightly to her head when she crashed into it. With a single bounce, the ninja let go but not before taking most of the impact and slowing her down considerably. The rabbit felt the ground scraping against her back through her jacket and, as if on instinct, began to mentally calculate how much a new one would cost and how much it would hurt her budget.
"Wait a sec, I can afford it now! What the heck am I worrying about?!"
Shaking her head, the younger rabbit rolled before pushing out with her left arm and getting on her feet just in time to see the imposter rushing at her.
"What do you think you can d-?!"
She received her answer when the imposter whacked her across the face with his cane.
It barely hurt. It was more like a slap than a serious blow In fact, all it did was cause the anger in her to bubble up and shout, "You hit me!"
Uncle Beauregard would never do that.
He would never do anything to hurt her.
That only proved that this monster wasn't her uncle!
She righted herself and punched out with her left arm. The faker responded by lifting his right hand and catching her punch. He pulled while moving to the side, and she stumbled before she felt the cane whack her on her backside.
Honestly, it was the shock of being hit there like some misbehaving child that made her turn around and stare at the thing in her uncle's skin in disbelief rather than continuing her attack.
"Because you won't listen!" The imposter shouted at her, glaring at her now. "Bunnie, ah want you to stop and think! Actually think about what you're doing!"
"Think?! There ain't nothin' to think about! You…!"
"Ah never approved of you bein' with a D'Coolette and servin' the Acorns, but at least you were happy!" He interrupted, pointing at her with his cane. "At least you were loved! Even if ah didn't approve ah could at least be proud you found your happiness! Now look at you! You're fightin', and for what?! Scum like the Hooligans?! To live a life where you don't have a home, a family, or real friends?! You…?!
"Ah am a Hooligan!" Bunnie was so sick and tired of this. Who the heck was this monster to judge her?! "And don't keep yappin' like you know me!"
"But I do know you!" He stepped forward. "Sweetie…"
"You don't know jack!" Bunnie sneered. "You know what? Mah life wasn't perfect but at least it was mah own! You really think ah'm gonna let myself be wiped out by you lot?!"
"It's a better life!" The fake Beauregard protested. "All this will have been like a bad dream!"
"Bad dream this. Useless life that." Bunnie ran forward at the imposter. "You wanna know somethin' you monster?!"
She shot out her right fist and like she predicted he moved to the side to avoid it.
"Mah dream is to get enough money to get out of the islands!"
Before he could whack her with his cane again, she grabbed it with her left hand and tore it from his grasp.
"Ah'm gonna become a hairdresser an' open up mah own shop!"
Bunnie turned towards him and, with a clench of her hand, snapped it into two.
"Ah'm gonna eat all the foods ah couldn't afford and drink all the drinks ah couldn't imagine ever touchin' mah lips!"
The fake Beauregard reached out with his right arm and she kicked out with her left leg, making it shoot up. Bunnie extended her arm and grabbed it before turning around and throwing the imposter to the ground, and he gasped in pain as he bounced on the hard stone floor.
A part of her heart hurt, but she squashed that feeling down.
"This isn't Uncle Beauregard."
"And ah'm gonna live an easy an' comfortable life, with nobody tellin' me what to do!" She leaned down and hissed, "And if that wasn't the life your Bunnie wanted, then too bad. Now you're gonna tell me where the dungeon of this place is so that ah can get mah people outta there an' then…"
"KNEEL!"
Bunnie looked up and wished she hadn't.
The world turned sideways and her vision began to swim as she watched the patterns on the cobra's hood dance. She wanted to throw up. She wanted to close her eyes. But she couldn't do anything but stare…
"Useless… Utterly useless!" Mordred Hood shouted as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. "I can't believe you actually managed to become a Grandmaster on Mobius, Rabbot!"
"S-Shut it…" She heard below her through ears that seemed like they were full of cotton. "Just restrain her…"
"Do you honestly think you can give me, one of royal blood and breeding, orders?" A tired part of Bunnie's brain could see the cobra pointing at her. "Turn your hand into a firearm again."
Even in her current state, she could see where this was going.
"N-No…!" The Hooligan's head felt like it was full of mush. It hurt trying not to do what the cobra said. "N-no…. Won't…"
"Do it now!"
A wave of pain and nausea hit her, and almost involuntarily her left hand transformed into its gun state.
"Hood!" The faker beneath her screamed. "Don't…!"
A sick smirk spread across the cobra's face as he shouted, "Turn it on yourself and…"
"SURPRISE, SUCKAH!"
That scream cut through the air and broke the cobra's spell on her as he turned his head away. The rabbit let out a gasp as she pointed to the empty ground and fired, turning her own head just in time to see her savior.
It was the lemur, Tangle, leaping towards Mordred Hood with her hand covering her closed eyes and her tail stretching forward, its end curled into a fist and racing towards the cobra.
"NOT AGA-!" Was all Mordred could shout before the tail made impact and smashed him through the crystal and stone wall, landing in a pile of rubble into what looked like the castle's restroom face-first in a toilet.
Bunnie hoped it was the men's room.
"T-Thank you…" The imposter muttered as he struggled to his feet. "He was gonna…"
"Don't thank me yet." The lemur's tail shot forward and wrapped around him before throwing the older rabbit through the hole in the wall too. "You're joining him, ya jerk!"
"YOU LITTLE BRAT!"
Mordred Hood's head was just rising from the toilet seat before the fake Uncle Beauregard's head smashed into the back of his own. They both slumped onto the floor of the stall, letting out moans of pain.
Bunnie couldn't help it.
She chuckled a bit as the lemur ran towards her.
"Nice work…"
"Thanks." Tangle looked down at her and extended her hand. "Need help?"
Bunnie couldn't help but look at the hand suspiciously. It was hard not to. This lemur was part of the badnik's group, the one who had treated her like the 'old' Bunnie that the imposter and his group were so desperate to get back.
"But that badnik's also the one who disabled the bomb… who wanted me to be free…"
"I'm not helping you because some old version of you was Sally's friend."
Bunnie blinked and looked up at the lemur, who was simply staring at her with a small frown.
"I've only known you from stories, being part of a gang of jerks who kept messing with Sonic and others. And I only met you yesterday when you tried to kidnap Mina." Tangle's eyes became firm. "But… you were right back there. You are Bunnie Rabbot. You're not their anything, and only you should be able to decide how your life should go. So… I'm helping you to make sure you stay free, and I'll help you free the other Hooligans."
The tomboy Restoration member leaned forward with her hand out.
"But you gotta help us help you."
Bunnie… didn't know what to think.
It was so strange seeing and hearing all this. For the past couple of days, her life had changed drastically. Stuff she thought she knew no longer made sense. A dream she had long since believed to be distant had become a reality.
A person… a badnik no less… she had never met decided to free her from the source of her misery without asking for anything in return.
Now… now one of Sonic's friends was actually being honest with her. Not even saying any cliche stuff like how she sees the good in her or whatever. Just that she was a jerk but she deserved to be free.
It was… honestly refreshing.
"Thanks." Bunnie muttered before taking the hand and allowing herself to be brought to her feet. "You're alright, lemur."
"Yeah, I know that!" Tangle brought up her fists and reading her tail while she glanced to the side. "Now… mind helping me take out these guys?"
The Hooligan turned to see five ninjas and three of the armored knights heading their way, nothing in their eyes indicating that they would treat the two with kid gloves.
"Alright." Bunnie cracked her neck. "But after this, ah want a crack at that hybrid freak."
"Sounds good to me!"
With that, Bunnie's jets came to life and she flew forward while Tangle ran behind her towards their attackers.
"You really do know how to pick your friends, Sugah-Hog."
Sally had only ever met the Bride of the Conquering Storm once.
It was during her trip to the Dragon Kingdom with Sonic and Tails, enacting their plan to turn the clans against the Iron Queen and break apart the Iron Dominion while she was occupied with New Mobotropolis.
The Bride of the Endless Reach, leader of the Gossamer Clan, had been swayed by the promise of peace in spite of the hardship that would be experienced to obtain it. This had only happened thanks to her own words and the vow of her friend Monkey Khan, king of the Free People and someone who she possibly could have grown to love if her heart hadn't been set on Sonic.
The Yagyu Clan lord they encountered agreed to spread the word to his fellow lords to turn their backs on the Iron Dominion, thanks to Khan hinting that he would be too busy with his new duties to focus on the clan of bat thieves.
The Bride of the Constant Vigil, leader of the Shinobi Clan and mother of Espio the Chameleon, had been the easiest to convince. They saw no reason to support the Iron Dominion when its own support system, the Four Houses, was no longer aiding it and without it the Iron Queen's power was greatly diminished. It also helped that her own son showed that acting against the cautious doctrine of the Shinobi Clan was sometimes necessary.
The Bride of the Conquering Storm… was a very different sort of leader.
SALLY, TO YOUR RIGHT! Nicole screamed, giving the robian just enough time to miss another blast from Naugus.
"Your flying won't save you, princess!" The possessed skunk screamed, his teeth grinding as he continued to take aim at her. "Sooner or later, I shall hit you!"
"Not going to happen! Not when Eggman made this body to match Metal Sonic!" She shot back, and a part of her did believe it. As powerful as Naugus was, it wasn't like he could match Sonic's speed.
But it didn't mean he wasn't a threat. Part of the reason why he was one of the Kingdom of Acorn's greatest enemies was because of his wide range of spells.
"But he hasn't been using them. Why?"
PERHAPS HE'S TRYING TO CONSERVE ENERGY? Nicole suggested as she cut off the jets and made them drop to avoid another blast of sickly green energy that encased a portion of the ice pillar in crystal. IT IS LIKELY THAT THE USAGE OF HIS SPELLS DRAINS EVEN MORE OF HIS BODY'S HEALTH.
"Zoom in on him." Sally narrowed her eyes at the mad wizard king. Upon closer inspection it did seem like he was worse for wear. Parts of his fur seemed matted, as if he was now sweating. His grip on his staff was now shaky and he seemed to be swaying from side to side. "Okay. We can use that to our advantage. But…"
She turned her attention on the Bride of the Conquering Storm, who was leaping into the air and delivering a flying kick to Blaze. The otherworldly princess had enough time to raise her arm to block the blow to her head, but she did stagger a few steps as the lynx landed on her left foot while keeping her right leg raised in preparation.
But the leader of the Raiju clan seemed to be… frustrated. The lynx was narrowing her eyes and her face twisted into a scowl.
As if the attack didn't have as much power as she had been anticipating.
"…if we're going to tire him out, we're going to need to take out Conquering Storm!" Sally began running towards the former Grandmaster and yelled, "Princess Blaze, keep Naugus distracted for a while! I'll handle the Bride of the Conquering Storm!"
"Right!" Blaze leapt back and turned, a fireball forming in her left hand as she did so.
"Distracted?! You think you can simply ignore me and…?!" Naugus' screech was interrupted when he had to conjure a wall of ice in front of him to block the fireball that the cat threw at him. An action he had to repeat again and again as more of Blaze's attacks. "Blasted female!"
Despite the situation, it seemed like Nicole couldn't help but ask, …BLASTED FEMALE? REALLY?
"Nicole! Focus!" Sally's hands clenched into fists as the Bride of the Conquering Storm noticed her approach. The lynx began to turn and bent backwards in time to avoid the swing from the robian's right arm. The blade hummed in the air as the lynx slammed her hands on the ground and kicked up with her left foot.
Sally didn't feel anything, but her head snapped upwards and she was now staring at the ceiling.
WARNING!: Minor damage to lower jaw and neck
"If I was in my old body, that could've killed me!" The princess brought her head down and saw that the Bride was once again on her feet, but her balance appeared to be off. She was now grimacing and seemed to be putting more weight on her right leg. "Did she hurt herself to hit me?"
THAT IS ODD. Nicole muttered. REPORTS OF THE BRIDE OF THE CONQUERING STORM'S COMBAT CAPABILITIES INDICATES SHE COULD EASILY DENT OR BREAK STEEL.
"Yeah…" Sally's eyes narrowed. "In her old body."
The Raiju Clan's culture and philosophy revolved around strength, combat, and dominance. A member's worth and rank with the clan revolved around their combat skills and defeating or killing the one who held the position before them. To be defeated is the ultimate dishonor and disgrace to a member of the Raiju Clan. The only three paths one could take in defeat to another member of the clan was either servitude, exile, or death.
And it was the victor who decided which could be granted to the loser.
Sally had read reports on the Bride of the Conquering Storm after the Iron Dominion was expelled from New Mobotropolis. She had been an orphan who had devoted her life to the Raiju Clan's philosophy, strengthening her body until she began to systematically challenging the leaders of her clan until she was eventually elevated to the rank of Bride. A title for which she was recognized as both their leader and greatest warrior.
Love and affection were seen as weaknesses. Ones that could be exploited by potential rivals and enemies, and so they were actively discouraged within the clan.
Lightning Lynx had, apparently, found that the hard way.
Sally remembered how disgusted the woman in front of her looked when the member of the Destructix pleased with her not to exile him because he loved her. To a member of the Raiju Clan, exile was seen as the ultimate disgrace. It meant one was not even worth keeping around as a servant. Even death was preferable, because it meant the victor saw the loser as a worthy opponent.
That plea of love… the Bride of the Conquering Storm told Lightning Lynx not to to disgrace himself even further by finishing his declaration. She seemed more annoyed by his affection and devotion to her, as if the only reason she even kept him around was as a particularly powerful body she could throw at opponents she didn't want to deal with herself. And him both losng to Sonic and becoming emotional about it publicly was as good enough of a reason as any to exile him yet again.
"What's the matter?" Sally asked as she stabbed forward with her left arm, the Bride of the Conquering Storm spinning on her right leg to avoid it before slapping the arm away with her palm. "That body isn't used to fighting?"
The lynx scowled. "Unfortunately, no. Just as you aren't used to fighting in yours."
Honestly, that admission made the horror bubbling within the princess grow even more. By the Bride's very own admission, it was likely that the version of her who lived in this world wasn't even raised in a combat-focused society or environment!
Who had been the person that once lived in the body that the Bride of the Conquering Storm now possessed?
"Then stop fighting!" Sally kicked out with her right leg, managing to score a hit on the woman's thigh. The lynx hissed and stepped back, avoiding the follow up stab from Sally. "You can't win with a body that didn't live the life you had!"
The Bride of the Conquering Storm's eyes were no longer organic. They couldn't display the emotion one could have with normal and natural ones. However, even the chipmunk could feel the anger and hate radiating from them with the simple glare the lynx gave her.
"You're very wrong about that, Princess Sally." The Bride of the Conquering Storm reached for her belt. "This is my body. The fool who occupied it may have been weak and knew not what she possessed, but I know it inside and out."
Cursing, Sally stepped back and swiped with her right blade. But, to her horror, the Bride of the Conquering Storm was not even attempting to move out of its path.
Within nanosecond, the Bride of the Conquering Storm's head would fly from her shoulders.
No, not her head.
The head that belonged to this world's version of the lynx.
"NICOLE! RETRACT THE BLADE!"
WHAT?! BUT SALLY!
"Do it now!"
It had been easy swinging the blades when she saw the Bride of the Conquering Storm as just the Bride of the Conquering Storm. Just a Grandmaster in the Eggman Empire who wasn't even a reluctant one like Bunnie's uncle. She could cut up and even potentially dismember the lynx without losing any sleep over it.
But the reminder that this wasn't the Bride of the Conquering Storm's body… not truly in any case…
Sally's blade retracted back into her right arm, transforming the swipe into a right hook that the leader of the Raiju Clan easily caught in her left hand and leaned away from, going with the momentum of the blow.
The lynx then pulled away from her belt and a small dagger appeared in her right hand, one she quickly stabbed forward with.
Sally heard the tear of fabric and saw the sparks fly as the message appeared in her vision.
WARNING: SEVERE DAMAGE TO RIGHT SHOULDER JOINT!
A cruel smirk formed on the Bride of the Conquering Storm's lips.
"Just as I know your misplaced morals and weakness would prevent you from harming this body." The head of the Raiju Clan mocked before pushing against Sally with her right foot, back flipping onto the pillar of ice and using it as a springboard to launch herself back at the robian. "Your robian body may be stronger than your organic one…" The bride reached into her belt once more and took out a small cylinder, one that grew into a staff with a simple press of a button. "…But it has its own weaknesses!"
The Bride jabbed forward with her staff, impacting against Sally's left eye.
For a split second, Sally's vision was enveloped in static. The robian let out a cry and leapt back just as her vision returned, albeit with the vision of her left eye now showing cracks, before to avoid a second jab that would have made contact with her right.
WARNING: MODERATE DAMAGE TO LEFT EYE!
SALLY, YOU CANNOT TAKE ANY MORE HITS LIKE THAT! Nicole warned in her head. YOUR BODY IS LOSING POWER THANKS TO THE DAMAGE IN YOUR SHOULDER!
Energy: 50%
"Then I need to end this, fast! Retract the left blade!" Sally clenched her teeth as the Bride of the Conquering Storm landed and began to advance on her. "Activate the shield on my mark…"
BUT…!
The Bride swung her staff, aiming for the right side of Sally's head.
"NOW!"
FULL BODY LIGHT SHIELD: ACTIVATED
Her body glowed for a second before the spherical shield surrounded her. The staff was practically cut in half, and Sally ducked just in time for the remains to sail over her head.
The chipmunk smirked as she saw the look of pure disbelief on the Raiju Clan leader's face as she tried to process what was happening.
"Time to end this!"
Sally kicked out and made contact with the inner wall of her shield.
CAPTURE SHIELD: ACTIVATED
The walls passed over her harmlessly before the sphere shot out and surrounded the Bride of the Conquering Storm. The lynx let out a cry of shock before she was thrown back, the shield making contact with the ice pillar before it disappeared and the lynx's head crashed against it. The lynx clutched took off her straw hat as she fell on her backside, hissing in pain and clutching her head while shaking it.
Sally felt a pang of guilt before she closed her eyes and turned her attention back to Naugus and Blaze.
The cat was running around the throne, keeping herself a moving target as crystalline structures formed in the areas she once occupied. The possessed skunk, meanwhile, was now leaning against the crystal throne and breathing heavily. The shaking was growing worse and… something else was happening.
To Sally's horror, Geoffrey's left hand was now forming into a claw. It looked like it belonged to a lobster, but the crustacean surface was not smooth. Rather it seemed to be forming bumps that were sprouting hairs.
His feet were transforming into hooves, ones that belonged to a rhino which matched the horning that was slowly growing over and squashing his nose.
His back, however, was the most horrible part. Something underneath his flesh seemed to be moving, as if it would birth new appendages of some sort.
ENERGY: 35%
"Nicole, activate the laser!"
Nicole seemed appalled by the suggestion, letting out a gasp before shouting, SALLY, IF YOU DO THAT YOU WILL LOSE ALL YOUR POWER!
"This is the only chance we have of taking out Naugus and escaping from here!"
THEN JUST FOCUS ON ESCAPE! THE OTHERS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO LEAVE PROPERLY IF THEY HAVE TO DRAG YOU OUT OF HERE!
Sally grimaced and put her left hand on her damaged shoulder. She knew Nicole was right. She knew that taking out Naugus here and now wasn't the goal.
But…
"Nicole… look what he's doing to Geoffrey's body! Look at it!" Damn it. She was probably crying right now. She didn't want to, but she knew herself enough that it was likely already happening. "He… he's changing it into that… that thing! If Geoffrey's still in there…!"
If he was still in that body, was he feeling the changes?
Was he going through excruciating pain because of Naugus' magic?
How long could he endure?
…I KNOW, SALLY. Tears were forming in Nicole's own eyes, and yet she still shook her head. BUT I WON'T LET YOU AND THE OTHERS BE CAPTURED BY THEM JUST BECAUSE YOU WANT TO END HIS SUFFERING.
"…" Her friend was right, and it didn't make the robian feel any better.
It was never easy, prioritizing what was best for her people over her personal feelings. When Sonic had been roboticized and returned to Knothole as Mecha Sonic to raze it to the ground, her first instinct had been to take him out. She didn't… couldn't allow her personal feelings for Sonic get in the way of the fact that he was now a danger to everyone. She only allowed herself to feel the grief and heartache of potentially losing him when it looked like he was actually going to die.
She couldn't allow her personal feelings to get in the way now.
Not when so much was at stake.
"Right. Team Freedom's retreat takes priority." With a nod, Sally turned on her heel and ran towards Whisper and the still unconscious Silver.
The sniper had been doing an excellent job at holding off the members of the Raiju Clan. All of the ninjas were strewn about nursing wounds or unconscious around blasts from her rockets.
But the Royal Knights were a completely different story.
Five of them were lumbering towards the wolf, each of them with their arms raised and gripping swords. The wolf fired a rocket towards one, knocking if off its feet and denting its armor as it fell on its back. She likely had determined that the small arms fire of her rifle wouldn't do any good, but all it did was knock them back.
Within seconds, the downed knight was getting on its feet. Armor fell off, revealing the crystal body underneath.
The crystal body of Nagus' victims.
"Whisper! We need to retreat now!" Sally skid to a stop and reached down. Grabbing Silver by his midsection, she picked him up easily and held him close. "Aim a rocket at the door!"
"Those sorcerers are probably behind it." Whisper growled in anger, firing another one of her rockets at a knight that was getting too close to comfort. "Waiting for us."
Sally looked at the door and Nicole activated her thermal vision. There was indeed a group of ten bodies on the other side of the doors, their number likely including Rosemary and Ebony.
She didn't want to hurt them.
But her people came first.
"Then blow it out and lay down some covering fire." Sally ordered, her eyes narrowing. "I'll get out first and knock some down on my flight out. Thennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn-"
Sally's eyes widened as her vision began to fill with static. Her eyes… it was as if they were being pulled away from her. She reached out to grab them only for it to feel as if she were moving through sludge.
"Wait, reaching out?" No, she was still holding Silver! Why were her arms…?!
Her arms.
Sally looked down and saw that her arms were now what they were before the robotization. Back when…!
Fear began to grip her heart. "I'm not in control of my body."
Giant red words appeared in front of her, as if to mock her.
BACKDOOR PROTOCOL: ENGAGED
"No…." She muttered, her eyes growing wide in horror. "NonononoNONO!"
Sally ran forward, but her feet found no purchase. She was not on any physical plane. She was now in the system that was once her own mind, now once again a prison.
"Nicole?! Nicole, where are you?! Help me! Help me!"
A prison made by… by who?!
Was it Eggman?!
Was Eggman doing this?!
"Please. Please no. Not again…" Sally was hyperventilating, even though she no longer had any lungs. They had been taken away. This wasn't her body. She was just ones and zeroes again, her real body was now being controlled by the monster. The monster was going to use her to hurt her friends again. He was going to kill them all!
No.
NO!
Not again! She wouldn't just sit here and curl up into a ball while the monster tried to take her body again!
He wouldn't this time.
She wasn't alone! Nicole was here too, and she would help her get out of this just like last time!
But before that happened, she was going to give the monster a piece of her mind!
"Eggman!" The princess screamed, her eyes snapping open and releasing her head. She looked up into the black void. "I know it's you! Come over here and face me, you flabby toad!"
A chuckle echoed through the air.
A nasally and high-pitched cackle, one that didn't sound anything like Robotnik or Eggman.
But…
"Oh princess… I'm almost insulted. Did you really think that gibbering egomaniac was the only one who could access your body's systems?"
"I know that voice…" Sally whispered, her eyes narrowing and her hands clenching into fists. That annoying, needling voice filled with so much arrogance yet also sounded as if it was used to groveling.
Which it used to do.
A lot.
A screen began to replace the giant words, and a face that was different yet familiar appeared.
The five strands of hair were missing and the long reddish-brown beard was new, but she recognized that long nose anywhere.
"Snively!" She screamed in anger. Snively Robotnik, nephew of Ivo Robotnik and the source of so much trials and heartbreak for her and her friends. "You… you're working for Naugus?!"
Snively Robotnik, once Colin Kintobor Jr., was a man who worked with his uncle to conquer Mobius after being driven away from home by his father. He had come expected to be treated like an equal, and yet came to loathe his uncle who treated him little more than a lackey. That hate festered and fermented until he eventually helped to kill Ivo Robotnik with the Ultimate Annihilator.
Snively smirked as he leaned forward, staring down at her as he said, "Why, it is good to see you as well, Princess Sally Acorn. It has been a while, hasn't it?"
The anger in her bubbled. He was just as arrogant as she remembered, especially when he believed he had the upper hand.
"But I can use that to my advantage. He's just like Robotnik and Eggman and loves to gloat. And… I need to keep him occupied." Sally clenched and unclenched her fists. "Nicole is probably trying to find me. I need to stall him."
"Spare me the pleasantries." She growled. "What are you doing here?"
"Why, isn't it obvious?" The nephew of the monster waved his hand. "You, along with your companions, are causing quite a ruckus. Not to mention tiring poor Naugus out! Tut-tut, Princess Sally!" He wagged his finger mockingly. "So, seeing as I am Naugus' partner in this little endeavor…"
"His lackey you mean." Sally narrowed her eyes. "You're like the other Grandmasters, aren't you? He put your consciousness into the Snively of this new world, and now you serve him because…"
She could at least get some satisfaction as Snively's face twisted into a hateful snarl and he slammed his fist onto the desk he was sitting in front of. "I am NOT his lackey! I am no one's lackey, especially not to a wizard falling apart at the seams!"
"He is still a narcissistic little worm…" The princess thought in disgust. "He really hasn't changed."
For all his ego, Snively was not nearly as cunning or driven as his uncle. His attempts at taking over Robotnik's forces or conquering in his absence failed spectacularly. Whatever power he had gained had been fleeting, and soon whatever chance he had disappeared with the arrival of Robo-Robotnik.
For a time, she along with Sonic and the others decided to trust him. When Snively declared that even he was against the monster that was his uncle's alternate self, they believed him. How couldn't they, after hearing what Robo-Robotnik did to his own Zone? But he betrayed them, all because Robo-Robotnik had offered him a chance for power and survival.
She should have known better, before and after that event. No matter what chances Snively had gotten to turn his life around because of her generosity, he would stab them all in the back at the promise of more power.
"We are… equals." Snively was now calming himself, stroking his new beard as if its presence and touch was soothing. "He needs MY genius for our operation to work, and I need him… for now."
So, whatever Naugus had planned… involved technology? It made some sense. If it was only Naugus running the show, the giant Caterkiller wouldn't have been guarding the desert in the first place. The sorcerer had apparently loathed technology, even back when he was serving her father.
"The only reason he has you is because he knows he can keep you under heel." The princess crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "After all, what could you possibly offer that he needs to see you as an equal?"
The stroking stopped and the bald Overlander… human, in this world, was now gripping strands of his beard. "Oh, if only you knew the forces we are playing with, princess. Technology and energy that would make the maw of my warthog of an uncle drool in envy. Even the version of him that exists now only scratched the surface!" Snively threw his head back and laughed. "Half of it was right in front of his face, and yet he ignored it because of his own arrogance and sheer stupidity! Not like me! I studied it! I filed it away for later, and now I will-!"
The blackness around them cracked.
"What?!" Snively's eyes widened as he began to type on his keyboard. "What is this?! What are you…?!"
"Not me." Sally smirked and crossed her arms. "Forgot about someone, didn't you?"
The blackness shattered, and Sally now found herself standing on top of a floor consisting of green blocks, half dark green and the other light green, stretching out into the distance and curving as if she were on top of a sphere.
In front of her was Nicole, her hands on her knees and panting as small replicas of Snively's head were strewn across the ground twitching as they dissolved into pixels.
"S-Sally!" Nicole shouted before leaping up at her and pulling her into a hug. She was crying as she blubbered out, "I'm so sorry I was late! Please! Please forgive me!"
"Nicole! There's nothing to be sorry about!" Sally laughed as she hugged her friend back, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "I knew you'd come and get me! There was never a doubt in my mind!"
And it was true.
Her friend, her closest companion, was amazing in every sense of the world.
She was always there, ever since they found her in that mysterious orb that fell from the stars all those years ago.
Always there to hear her thoughts, to offer advice, and to be a friend when she really needed one.
And when Sally needed her more than ever, when she almost broke down because Silver told her that their world was gone and all their struggles had been for nothing, the Holo-Lynx was there to remind her of what mattered.
Sometimes, Sally wondered what she ever did to deserve someone as wonderful as Nicole.
"How?! How could you have gotten past my defenses?!" Snively screamed, ruining the moment and causing the two of them to turn to him. "I based that code off of the Death Egg's own firewalls! I even improved upon them! You shouldn't have been able to pierce through them!"
Nicole narrowed her eyes. "Snively Robotnik… I have also been studying much about coding and software used in this new world. For instance…" She pointed at the screen. "…Remote access is two-way."
Before the bald man could say anything, something sizzled and popped. He screamed and leapt back as sparks flew from underneath the frame of the screen, singing the hair at the end of his beard.
It took all of Sally's self-control not to laugh.
Instead, she stated a simple fact.
"Snively… even though he couldn't hear it, I promised Eggman I would kill him the moment I was free when he was tearing apart my body." The princess' voice was as cold as ice as she said, "So you better pray that I don't find you when I'm out of here."
The nephew of Robotnik stopped his frantic attempts to stop his beard from catching on fire to just stare at the screen in abject horror and bewilderment.
"No more second chances." She decided to take a page out of Sonic's book and waved. "Bye!"
Nicole snapped her fingers and the screen was gone.
"…Did you really mean that?" The Holo-Lynx asked as she looked into the chipmunk's eyes. "About…?"
"…" Sally couldn't answer that. Not now. Instead, she pulled Nicole into a tighter hug and simply muttered, "Thank you."
Nicole didn't say anything for a second out of genuine confusion before realizing what the princess was talking about and saying, "I promised, didn't I? You will never go through that again. Not when I'm around."
The chipmunk nodded and looked up. "How long until… I get back control?"
"I had to do a full reset. It was the only way to purge Snively's code." Nicole sniffled. "It'll take a few minutes before you can use your body again."
Sally winced. "Damn."
This was bad. This was very bad. The other members of Team Freedom were now without a leader and now had to handle not just one, but two comatose team members they needed to defend.
Would they make the hard choice to leave her if given the opportunity to retreat?
It was what Sally would've done, as hard as it would've been for her.
Whisper, maybe. But the others…
"I'm sorry guys… but if you want to get out of here, you might need to make a tough call."
Sally only hoped that she would come back online before someone like Tangle needed to make that decision.
"Ah crap! What happened to Sally?!"
Blaze glanced back and saw that Tangle was running towards Princess Sally and Whisper with Bunnie just behind her. The robian was now standing completely still, holding Silver's limp body in one arm.
"Did her operatin' system crash?!" The rabbit yelled as she turned around and shot an advancing ninja. "Fine time for that to happen!"
The Princess of the Sol Dimension cursed and looked up at the mad wizard king. Before, he simply looked unwell. Now he was practically loose skin hanging off of a skeleton, and yet that was not the most terrible thing about his new appearance.
She had seen his gradual transformation as the battle continued.
Now, one of his eyes seemed to big for his own skull. His ears had grown pointer than they once were while the horn parted through his snout like a grotesque tumor. His left hand had completely transformed into a red claw that held onto the staff while his hand gripped tightly to his chest.
It was obscene.
"The body is transforming to better match the host mind inside it." Blaze didn't know anything about the Ixis Magicks that this Naugus was the master of, but she knew that possession spells of this nature weren't helpful for the possessor. Sometimes a body is so different from the possessor's own that the longer they remain inside the quicker they break down. Their soul poisoning the body it inhabited, slowly but surely, until its inevitable death.
And it appeared the usage of magic was breaking down Geoffrey's body faster than Naugus had predicted.
The king of New Mobotropolis was now sitting on his throne, breathing heavily with his eyes half-lidded.
"He will die soon." And while she felt pity for the soul that was still trapped inside, she had more important things to attend to. Like her friends' safety, especially when the forces of their enemies were still advancing on them.
Leaping back, but not keeping her eyes off of the king, she asked, "What has happened?"
APOLOGIES! Nicole's voice shouted from the PDA at Tangle's hip. SALLY HAS EXPERIENCED A CYBER ATTACK! HOWEVER, I WAS ABLE TO PURGE SNIVELY ROBOTNIK FROM HER SYSTEM AND…
"Wait, Snively Robotnik?!" Tangle shouted, taking the PDA from her hip and looking at it in amazement. "You mean he's related to…?!"
"Yeah, he's Eggman's nephew!" Mina shouted as she joined their group, smacking away another Royal Knight back with her wispon as she ran towards them. "But that isn't important! Nicole, how long until Sally's back up and running?!"
FIVE MINUTES. AT MINIMUM.
Blaze's hands clenched into fists as she assessed the situation.
"No straightforward escape route. Those other sorcerers are probably behind the doors and our enemies probably have snipers or long-range spellcasters prepared for us outside of the castle walls." She eyes the advancing Royal Knights and the so-called Grandmasters beginning to pick themselves up. The Bride of the Conquering Storms was swatting away a member of her clan that was trying to help her up while Beauregard and Mordred were crawling out of the hole Tangle had put them in. "We are still surrounded by all sides…"
Of all the times to not have the Sol Emeralds…!
And she couldn't just abandon her friends to go and get them! Without Silver or Sally, she was their most powerful comrade right now! If she left, they would be overrun!
"I should've brought them with me!" No, no time for that now. They needed a plan! They needed some way to get out of this! "Rabbot, can you carry Princess Sally?"
"Yeah, but ah ain't exactly confident in gettin' out of here if that Snively fellow can hack into mah limbs." Bunnie fired at a member of the Royal Knights, and the crystallized slave was enveloped in the material that halted Mina in Studiopolis. "He hacks into those and you lot will have to drag me, the hedgehog, an' the badnik out of here."
"Wonderful…" Blaze muttered under her breath.
What were their options here? What could they do? Each possibility seemed to be as bad as the last!
"What can we…?"
Before she could ponder more about a potential plan, a wall suddenly exploded outwards. Crystal and stone turned into rubble as they were flung forward, followed by the blinding rays of the sun. They had spent so long in the room's darkness that Blaze had to blink and shield her eyes as they adjusted to the new light.
"What?!" Naugus croaked as he turned. "Who dares…?"
Blaze was soon able to see the cause of the explosion.
It looked like a hedgehog, but it was entirely mechanical. For a second she mistook it for Metal Sonic, but it's form was too bulky and cumbersome. Its forearms were wide and it appeared to have jets just above the elbows. Its feet were simply red wheels, ones which seemed to be stained by dirt and grime. Its fingers were serrated steel and appeared hollow on the left hand while on the right they were pointed and spinning like drills. It was completely colored in black and gray hues save for its eyes which were yellow and looked more like a bug's own compounded eyes rather than one belonging to its own species.
"What the heck…?" Tangle whispered their collective thoughts before the robot turned its head in their direction.
Within a split second, the wheels screeched before the strange robotic double of Blaze's friend shot towards them. The cat barely had enough time to leap out of the way as the robot stopped just before Sally and wrapped its arms around her waist, lifting her up and hefting the robian over its shoulder.
"WHOAH!" The lemur's tail shot out and caught Silver's body before he fell, much to Blaze's relief. "Okay, what the heck are you?! Let go of Sally, you knockoff…!"
Wait, please! A voice, a male one, shouted from the PDA in Tangle's hand. Do not attack Mach! He's just there to help get Sally out!
"Wait, who are you?!" Bunnie shouted at the PDA. "You don't sound like that lynx!"
"Wait,…" Mina's eyes widened in shock and amazement. "Rotor?!"
Before the voice could confirm or deny, the newly named 'Mach' turned around and raced out towards the hole it created with Sally still in its arms. Several Raiju Clan members attempted to leap after it, but it was simply too fast and leapt out of the hole.
There isn't any time to explain! The voice sounded desperate, and Blaze could hear why. There was the sound of gunfire coming from outside, and it was heard louder through the PDA itself. The Freedom Fighters are out harassing the king's people, so it's now or never! RUN!
"You heard the fella!" Bunnie shouted as her jets activated and she flew towards the hole. "We ain't gettin' a better shot than this!"
"She's right!" Blaze pointed at the hole. "Everyone, this is our chance! We need to withdraw!"
"But…!" Tangle looked back at the lumbering Royal Knights and grimaced. "They…!"
Whisper grabbed her arm and dragged her along.
"We can't help them if we're captured!" The wolf practically screamed as she turned her body to lay down suppressing fire, giving Mina the time to run away and leap out of the hole herself. She screamed, only for Bunnie to catch her with her right arm which the Mongoose held onto for dear life.
Blaze herself followed behind Tangle, Whisper, and her unconscious friend…
…only to be stopped when a blast impacted just to their right, creating spikes of ice that nearly skewered Tangle.
"Going somewhere…?" Naugus cracked, and Blaze turned just as she heard something wet rip.
Naugus was now standing, and a wing was sprouting from his back that was covered in a yellowish-white liquid that the princess didn't want to put a name to. It stretched and flapped as the inflated right eye and the sunken left of the possessed skunk stared down at them.
"You will not escape…" The wizard giggled madly as he held up the staff containing the Enigma Emerald with his claw. "Not while I have this! Not while the body of my foolish apprentice still has some life left in it!"
Blaze narrowed her eyes.
"He really does not care."
He didn't care if Geoffrey's body died. After all, his mentality was likely that he could just possess another one. A healthier one. One that he could use up until there was nothing left before moving onto the next one.
He would not stop, because the body's life was not his own.
The princess' eyes closed.
"However it has to happen."
She opened them and raised her right hand, creating a fireball in its center.
"…Whisper." Blaze commanded in a tone that truly belonged to the princess of a world-spanning empire. "Take Tangle and Silver. I shall deal with this."
"Wait, what?!" Before Tangle could raise any objections, Whisper pulled and they both leapt out of the hole with the lemur's tail still wrapped around her unconscious friend. "BLAZE! NO!"
"…How noble." Naugus sneered. "I will come for them eventually."
"I think not." The cat stepped forward, and a footprint of red hot stone was left in her wake. "Your possession is finally breaking that body apart. You will need a new host soon, and I will make sure that nothing of your soul remains to even attempt that once it leaves."
The possessed skunk smirked. "Is that what you truly think, princess?"
Naugus collapsed back onto the crystal throne and slammed the armrest with his right fist. Something within the crystals moved and she heard gears grinding as the wizard lifted his staff and then slammed the bottom end down.
She heard machines click into place and the hybrid let go of the staff, allowing for it to stand upright.
The Enigma Emerald began to spin, slowly its purple energy began to emanate before it turned white with magenta bolts of energy shooting out.
"What is this?!"
She felt something like this before. Back when…
…back when the Genesis Wave first occurred.
Blaze felt her teeth chatter and her heart almost stopped as she heard the screams from underneath her feet.
"The prisoners…!"
She had to cover her eyes with her arm as the white turned blinding before it slowly faded away.
Blinking, Blaze lowered her arm and looked at Naugus.
What was once a grotesque hybrid now stood a perfectly healthy and fit-looking skunk. One who didn't seem the least bit drained or on the verge of death. One lacking all the extra features of different species that were in no way natural.
Naugus chuckled condescendingly as he gripped his staff and took it out of the mechanism he placed it in.
He waved it in front of him, and a magenta tear in the air formed which he stepped into.
Another tear in space appeared just a few meters away from Blaze, and she felt sick looking at it as the wizard stepped forward and allowed for the tear to close behind him.
Ixis Naugus grinned toothily.
"Ready for the next round, Guardian of the Sol Emeralds?"
"Damn it, again?!"
She could hear them around her, all of them trapped in their hellish prisons. Ones that only allowed the barest room to move around in. All of them were cramped, some standing and hammering on the clear walls while others sat. Some were crying while others were nursing their aching heads from the latest round of 'sacrifice'.
"What the heck is he doing up there?!"
"Shut up! Just shut up and let me think!"
"I don't want to be here! I-I don't want to be in a…a…!"
"If you say that word I'll bust your nose as soon as we're out of here!"
The pleas for release and screams of rage were near torturous.
But not as torturous as the voice from within.
"It hurts…"
"I know." She whispered while clutching her head. "I know. But you have to be strong…"
"How can I be strong if I can't even move and can barely see?! I-I can't feel my arms or legs!"
She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She needed to ignore the pain. Ignore it so that she didn't feel it either. Exercises like this had allowed her to continue, even during the worst of her people's journey and struggles.
"Please. We only need to wait a bit longer." She assured the girl. "Soon we shall be free of this."
"Because Sonic and the Restoration will come, right?"
Tears rolled down her cheeks. "…Yes."
"…You're a terrible liar, you know that?"
"Hey!" She heard a male voice call out from next to her, and she felt something knock against her prison. "Keep it down with your crazy talk! I already got enough of that from Bean, and I'm at my limit dealing with you nuts after just a day!"
She turned to her right and glared at Nack the Weasel, who was clutching his head as he leaned against the wall of his Egg Grape.
Below him, Bean the Dynamite sniffled while sitting on a stool, dabbing his eyes with a napkin. She still had no idea how he got either. "I-I can't believe it! Someone else is driving the boss coo-coo before I could! It's not fair!"
Nack stomped against the bottom of his Egg Grape, knocking against Bean's. "Aw, shaddup ya mook! Anyone would go nuts hearin' crazy people talk to themselves!"
Bark grunted and simply remained seated cross-legged, his meditation broken only just recently. Cracks still lined his Egg Grape indicating his failed attempts at breaking out.
"Stop calling us crazy!"
She looked from across the vineyard and spotted the red-armored armadillo with yellowish-tan skin that had his white gloved hands on the cracked glass of his own Egg Grape. He wore red sneakers with thick white soles and a single white mark on the top of them.
Mighty the Armadillo scowled at the weasel. "You have no idea what we've been through since we got trapped in here, Nack! We're not talking to ourselves just because we enjoy it!"
"M-Mighty!" The yellow-furred flying squirrel wearing blue sneakers with white soles, Ray the Flying Squirrel stuttered out. "C-Calm down! You're r-r-really scaring Other R-R-Ray!"
"Stop callin' me Nack!" Nack responded, shaking his fist at them. "I ditched that fake name ages ago! It's Fang! Fang the Hunter!"
"…I thought you went back to Fang the Sniper?" Bean pointed out. "Y'know, to go with the new gun n' all."
"Shut up, Bean!"
She closed her eyes.
"They are coming, you know." The girl said to her. "Sonic and his friends. They always save the day when things are looking really bad. I-I thought our home was done for when Eggman attacked. He destroyed our ancestor's homes and everything because he wanted to build another freakin' amusement park but then Sonic and Amy came in and kicked him out! And that's not when they've saved the world!"
She didn't even bother to ask about why Princess Sally wasn't mentioned.
The girl didn't know who Princess Sally Acorn was.
She didn't exist.
Just like her love and her children didn't exist.
"Yes… they will come and save all of you." Lupe Wolf, once Grand Chieftain of the Wolf Pack, hugged the knees to the chest of the teenage body she was trapped in. A body that belonged to the child version of her that had once lived in this world. One who aspired to be a hero like Sonic and his friends while also slowly learning the responsibilities of her eventual place as Chieftess of the Wolf Pack.
It was a prison and a punishment, far crueler than anything she could have ever imagined.
She remembered them all.
She remembered her husband, Lobo, and his warm smile that only matched his warm heart as he enveloped her with his huge arms for hugs and kisses.
She remembered Marcos, her son, and his childish troublemaking ways.
She could see Maria, her daughter, chiding Marcos for his minor misdeeds and fighting him should he refuse to apologize.
She remembered Aerial and Athena, the Overlander children she adopted and loved as her own in spite of their species.
She remembered all the members of the Wolf Pack her younger counterpart, Lupe the Wolf, didn't mention.
And Lupe Wolf continued to cry.
"…But what can they possibly do to save us?"
To Be Continued…
Note: Hoo boy, that chapter turned out a long longer than I anticipated. Originally it was going to be the fight AND the escape but then I saw the word count and I was like "Yeah, no."
I think it just shows how difficult it is to convey a lot of action when you're working with just a written medium, while comics and animation have pictures to go along with it and reduce the word bloat.
In any case, hope you enjoyed it. I went through a small bit of writers block with the middle part but I'm glad I was able to get over it and power through to the end.
Next chapter… better be ready to Crush some 40s!
Please make sure you leave a review and add to the TV Tropes page!
Until next time…