SonicANIME2010 here, bringing in the second part to the West Side Island arc for Sonic: Wind of the Night Sky. There's a lot of content for this one, so get ready…
[South Island Archipelago: West Side Island]
[Chemical Plant: Clearing]
[Time: 0945]
[BGM: "Eggman Machine" Sonic X OST]
"Behold, my latest creation!"
Eggman's words echoed throughout Team B's collective ears as they felt the rumbling of machinery underfoot and the foul stench of caustic chemicals in the air. The vat of the plant started to bubble and boil as a metallic figure rose from within. Its shape was round, and had decals resembling hazard stripes on the upper half, a red eggman logo in between and a blue bottom. Positioned triangularly on the sphere were three prongs that were blue with trims of yellow. Though its appearance was not as grand as the antlion from Emerald Hill; it presented itself quite threatening as it drew chemicals from the water, which took the shape of spheres which circled the mech.
"What the heck is that thing supposed to be?" questioned Vita somewhat incredulously.
"O~hohohoho!" Eggman's laughter was reminiscent of a noblewoman, "You like? I reformatted one of the cleaning robots from the plant. Added my own personal touch to it, amongst a few other features that I'm sure will be quite entertaining… for me at least."
"If you say so." Signum was unfazed by the new robot's appearance.
"Yes, I do." The doctor pressed a few buttons and his egg-mobile, causing it to turn away from the collective, "Unfortunately I must confess that I will not be able to witness its first test run."
"And where do you think you're going?" the small knight of the hammer questioned.
"I have business elsewhere." The eggmobile began to ascend, "But I'll leave you in the quite capable hands of my Egg-Amoeba."
The doctor flew away shortly afterwards, his final command activated the new robot's protocol. With a rapid, threatening pace, the robot's spheres spun about.
"That old jerk," groaned Amy Rose as she took out her piko-piko hammer, "It's really rude to just walk away like that."
"We will deal with him later," the Blazing General replied, drawing her sword, "Prepare for battle."
There was a collective nod from the rest of the team as they readied their weapons. The foul odor of the chemicals assaulted their noses, and the mechanical whirrs were grating on the ears, but they were not deterred. If Eggman was ready for a battle, they would answer in kind.
[OP: "Bright Stream" Nana Mizuki, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The MOVIE 2nd A's]
Sonic the Hedgehog: Wind of the Night Sky
Chapter 12
West Side Island Phase 2: Conspiracy
[South Island Archipelago: West Side Island]
[Chemical Plant]
[VS Boss: Egg Amoeba]
[BGM: "Eggman Battle" Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit)]
The metallic amoeba initiated the first attack by sending a volley of its chemical orbs at the party with a deceptive amount of aim behind the shots. None of the party was hit, but they were made to split formation in order to avoid the shots. Scalding burn marks appeared on the ground where the spheres landed, indicative of the destructive power behind the weaponized chemicals.
"We can't let that hit us." Nanoha observed, "Those chemicals are like the ones we saw earlier, they will break right through our shielding."
"Scatter!" ordered Signum in response.
Out of chemicals, the robot dove back into the vat and took a few seconds to accumulate its resources. The robot resurfaced once it was done, forming a protective bubble-like barrier from the liquid gathered. Vita and Nanoha attempted to penetrate the shield with a dual-flank combination assault with their respective Swallow Flier and Axel Shooter spells, however it was to no avail. Both girls watched as their rounds were harmlessly dissolved within the bubble.
"The heck!" cursed Vita, "That blasted thing ate our magic."
"We should try to wait for that barrier to go down, before we can strike," Nanoha watched as the bubble started to lose its shape, "It can't hold out forever."
Sure to the girl's prediction, the bubble dissipated into the spheres they saw revolving around the mech earlier. Nanoha was also quick to observe that the mecha only held a finite control over the vat's liquid, it was unable to generate new liquid. After enduring another sphere volley, the mage in white made the first move.
"I'll bind it with Restrict Lock." the girl declared with her device pointed at the mech, "Try to go on the offensive."
With Nanoha's magic taking the form of pink chains that snared the robot, Fate and Signum were the first to launch a strike. The mage and knight hovered in a pincer formation with the robot in between them. Their magic activating, Fate readied a volley of lightning-elemental lancer bolts while Signum ignited her sword aflame.
"Plasma Lancer! Fire~!"
"Shiden Issen!"
Simultaneously, the blonde launched a wave of lancers while the swordswoman lunged with her blade. Both attacks landed at the same time, and were coordinated enough that Signum was not hit by any stray bolts. The machine let out a whirr of pain as both attacks were powerful to cause gaches in the armor. Unfortunately, the attack run had to end as the chains broke from the force of the combined assault, allowing the robot to quickly withdraw to the chemical vat once more.
"Great work." Nanoha smiled, "It's going to resurface, Amy-chan, Vita-chan, you're next."
"Got it!" the hammer-wielding girls confirmed
Once again, the mecha resurfaced with the protective bubble. It tried to hold onto the barrier's shape for much longer, however Nanoha was able to wait it out and snare it once more with her Restrict Lock. Vita converted Eisen into its missile form and slammed into the robot with enough force to shear a massive hole inside. Amy followed up with, surprisingly, a spin-dash attack, utilizing her hedgehog physiognomy to curl up into a ball and dart into the hole that Vita left behind. The pink hedgehog then used a combination of her spin and hammer to leave rather comical dents and holes from within the robot before exiting through a hole she just cut through.
The robot made another series of whirrs and spasms before it exploded, leaving only a capsule of critters in its place. Amy was the one to step on the button to free the creatures this time, letting them storm out en masse.
[Boss Clear]
[Jingle: "Victory" Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit)]
Signum held Laevateinn out to the side and exhaled while Nanoha and Fate were somehow able to coordinate a cute battle pose with a spin of their devices. Amusingly, Amy and Vita held their respective hammers over their shoulder in a coordinated matter,
"Great teamwork everyone!" congratulated Nanoha with a cute smile.
"You were on-point with your callouts as well." Signum returned a compliment, "Impressive, Takamachi."
"Mhmm." Fate nodded in agreement
"Yeah, sure." As did Vita, in her own way.
"Oh be nice, she was really gr-" Amy Rose started to say but found herself cut off by a sudden wince of pain, "Ow!"
Fate immediately lunged at the pink hedgehog as the latter winced in pain. The injury was revealed to be a sizable gash on the hedgehog's back, in between her quills. Likely, it was caused by contact with the sharp metal within the robot, or also by flying shrapnel jettisoned from its explosive demise. Either way, the wound was deep enough to draw blood.
"You should be careful." Fate spoke with caution to the pink hedgehog as she focused her magic to mend the wound, "This could've been worse."
"Sorry, guess I wasn't paying attention." Amy said, rather sheepishly before coming to a realization, "Wait, your magic can heal?!"
"It's a basic healing spell, Pinkie." Vita shrugged, "You really shouldn't be surprised at this point."
"Vita-chan, she's new to this." Nanoha came to the pink hedgehog's defense, "Don't be too hard on her."
"Fine…"the iron knight huffed, "Let's just get going, the others are waiting."
The squad reconvened a little bit further ahead to discuss the battle with the robot. It failed to escape anyone's notice that Eggman had been resourceful enough to harness and weaponize the chemicals from the plant, which were dangerous enough to cancel out magic in some situations. If the doctor was allowed to continue that research, that could be dangerous in the future.
"The admiral must be informed of this." noted Signum in concern.
"We'll take a break and contact her before we start the next zone." Reinforce nodded, "Let's move on."
"Right!" came the collective reply from the group
With the looming question of the Chemical Plant and Eggman's research into it in their minds, the squad moved onto the next zone. Hopefully, what laid next would not have that same foul odor from the plant, they were most eager to escape the smell.
[Uminari City, Japan]
[TSAB Branch Headquarters]
[Time: 0955]
[BGM: "Vow of Unity" Tales of Vesperia OST]
Lindy let out a sigh in deep thought, feeling pensive about certain developments she had received reports on from the Arthra. Within the first hour of her mages' deployment to West Side Island, the ship's scanners picked up two massive spikes of energy consistent with a high ranking Lost Logia. The admiral had almost reached out to one of the teams when the spike was reported but had thought better of it and figured that either they were aware of the spikes, or were involved.
There was something else that also bugged the Admiral the more she thought of it. How was Eggman able to accumulate enough resources for an invasion source of the magnitude displayed on Little Planet and West Side Island. It was a matter that needed to be looked into, and for that reason, she summoned Quint Nakajima into her office.
"Admiral?" The young woman in question addressed Lindy with a salute, "You called for me?"
"Yes, I have a question for you." the admiral queried, "How long would it take for you to travel to South Island?"
"About maybe 30 minutes if I use Wing Road," Quint replied but also with a question of her own, "Why? You're not going to send me to help fight, are you?"
"Unnecessary, I have faith in my mages, they're quite talented." Lindy shook her head as she pulled up a display of South Island itself, "I need you to go to South Island and investigate Doctor Eggman's base of operations there; our hedgehog friend called it "Scrap Brain" if I'm not mistaken."
"Anything in particular you'd like me to search for?" The investigator queried, reasonably curious about the orders she was given.
"I'd like for you to look for anything that would help us figure out how Eggman is able to launch these campaigns. He shouldn't have been able to build up these invasion forces in a short span." the admiral replied once more, "Once you get anything, report back immediately. I don't want you out there too long and run the risk of being discovered."
"Understood." Nakajima confirmed her order with a salute. "I shall depart immediately."
"Be careful."
Lindy let out another sigh as she watched the departing figure of her investigative specialist. The admiral found a retreat in her Japanese style tea to relax her nerves from the stress of her job. As she sat down to refill her cup, her device picking up an incoming call from Reinforce.
[South Island Archipelago: West Side Island]
[Aquatic Ruin: Act 0]
[Time: 1005]
[BGM: "The Young Sorceress' Foul Mood" Tales of Vesperia OST]
"Why…" Sonic's eyes twitched in what could be described as extreme irritation, "Why you do!"
The source of the blue hedgehog's frustration was Aquatic Ruin, the next zone for the squad to liberate from Eggman's mechanical menace. As the name implied, the entirety of the zone were ancient ruins submerged within a lake in the middle of a forest. Aside from the lake, what stood out were the ruins; likely from an ancient civilization.
Whilst the blue hedgehog was getting playfully consoled by Hayate, much to the exasperation and hidden humor of Amy Rose, Reinforce and Signum had opened a communication line with Admiral Harlaown to report on their progress as well as the troubling developments from the Chemical Plant. They made sure that the area was secure before establishing the feed, preventing the risk of eavesdropping robots.
"If I'm hearing right, Eggman's last robot was able to negate magic?" The admiral asked partly out of concern to confirm.
"Just about,"confirmed Signum, "He used the chemicals from the plant as a deterrent. We can't allow him to continue this research."
"I'm sending Nakajima to South Island to investigate Eggman's base of operations there, when she's done, I'll send her to secure the Plant. In the meantime..." Lindy turned her attention towards Amy Rose, "It looks like we're relying on your assistance again, Rose-san."
"Uh, hold on. Can I ask something?" The pink hedgehog felt the need to ask something that she let slide the last time she met the admiral, "How do you know my name?"
"I read the reports on the Little Planet incident, I'm the commanding officer for the group you're assisting," Lindy replied, "Thank you for your assistance."
Once Sonic was finished with his moment with the water, he went over to the call screen with Tails and Hayate in tow. He was just in time as the admiral had one last question to bring up before closing the connection.
"By the way, the Arthra picked up two energy energy readings coming from the island similar to Lost Logia." Lindy turned her attention to the hedgehog, "You wouldn't happen to know about that, would you?"
"Guilty as charged." Sonic chuckled a bit and held out the two Chaos Emeralds, one cyan and the other purple, "I paid a visit to the Special Stages and had to pass a few trials to win these."
"Kinda like those bonus levels you find in video games?" the admiral queried, humor slipping into her tone.
"Yeah kinda like-" the hedgehog cut himself off when he processed the comparison, "Hey! How do you know about those?!"
"You'd be surprised by what you can find in Japanese culture." The admiral's attention now shifted to the little fox sidekick that was making a rather poor attempt of hiding himself, "And who's this cute little furball?"
"Um… my name's Miles Prower." Tails's response was quiet, likely from being put on the spot, "But um, everyone calls me Tails."
"Well, Tails-san. You're being very brave." Lindy smiled warmly, "There aren't too many people who would be able to do what you're doing at your age, your assistance is most appreciated."
"Awe …" a blush found itself on the twin-tailed fox's face, "I'm just doing my best.."
Before she closed the connection, Lindy congratulated the squadson their efforts so far and commended them for securing two of the Chaos Emeralds before they fell into Eggman's clutches. Once the call ended, the squads ended their break and established which routes they would take. The race for Aquatic Ruin was soon underway.
[Aquatic Ruin: Action Stage]
[BGM: "Aquatic Ruin" Sonic the Hedgehog 2]
With the way that the zone was structured, it was virtually impossible to progress through without taking a dip into the lake. Both high and low routes led into the ruins submerged within the lake. Due to this, the teams decided their routes solely off a coin toss; the results of which saw Team A taking the lower path while Team B took the higher.
The only major stage hazards were the old ruins, some of which had started to crack if enough weight was put on them. There were three types of robots to deter the heroes in this zone, Piranha, Handrill and Bun-Bun. Piranhas were similar to the Gabucho's only their bodies were blue and their main method of attack was to charge and bite at interlopers. The Handrill were mole-based robots with a bulky design and drills for arms. For the Bun-bun, they were designed like a flying insect, only this model was designed after a fly and were built primarily for swarming and attack protocols. All together, this zone was much more preferable to the Chemical Plant.
[POV: Team B (Signum, Vita, Nanoha, Fate, Amy)]
Signum led her team through the upper paths of the submerged ruins. Were they in a better position to do so, they might have been able to investigate the ruins further. While underwater breathing was of no issue thanks to the spell that Alicia taught them during Little Planet, the water was still a major deterrent as it limited the spells that the mages could use. Namely, Signum and Fate were locked out due to their mana conversion elements linking to fire and lighting respectively. They were still able to use melee attacks, but had to rely on Vita and Nanoha for the magic output.
Due to the programming of the robots to favor rushes and close quarters, Amy was able to pull her own weight with her hammer and spin attacks, much to the not-well hidden surprise and commendation of Vita. There was one little thing that Amy could not help but notice, and that was the lack of humor. The group was taking the job a bit too seriously.
"Say, uh…" the pink hedgehog questioned, "Have any of you heard any good jokes?"
"Hm?" Nanoha blinked
"Jokes.. uh, punchlines. you know." Amy fiddled with her fingers and words a bit, "No offence, but this group is lacking some fun. I know we're supposed to take this seriously, but if you take it too seriously…"
"Your point is noted, Rose," Signum replied, "However…"
"The boob-monster is just going to throw an "old hand" excuse." Vita huffed, "Don't take it seriously."
"Vita…" the general's expression soured, "would you like to become a stain on Laevateinn?"
The two knights began to bicker about the Blazing General's bust, given Nanoha and Fate's shared expression of exasperation, this seemed to be a recurring issue. With a shared sigh, the two girls calmly escorted the pink hedgehog out of the range of the crossfire. If nothing else, both knights demolished a lot of robots with their arguments.
"Sorry, they tend to get into these arguments," Fate apologized with a little hint of exasperation in her tone, "We are trying to get them to loosen up."
"Though, genuinely, we don't really have the luxury to be able to joke around," Nanoha added to their defense, "This job isn't really one we can play around on. We can play during our off time, but when we're on the clock, we kinda have to be serious about it."
"I see…" Amy nodded, "I mean that's understandable, but you still can loosen up a little bit, it can't be healthy to be too serious."
"We'll keep that in mind," Nanoha gave the pink hedgehog a cute smile that may or may not have a trademark, "Thank you for your concern, Amy-chan."
'Holy crap, that's cute.' The pink hedgehog was unable to restrain herself from blushing, 'I can see why the blonde likes her..'
[POV: Team A (Reinforce, Hayate, Alicia, Sonic, Tails)]
Team A took the lower route and had tried their best to keep out of the water if they could avoid it. Even though Alicia was able to send the data for her patent-pending water-breathing spell to Hayate and Reinforce, the team still tried to avoid the lake to keep Sonic from freaking out too much. Unfortunately this trend ended no more than a quarter into their route, and they found themselves needing to go underwater.
"Welp…." Alicia sighed in a playful show of dramatization, "No way around this, we gotta get wet."
"Way ahead of you." Hayate grinned mischievously.
"Ohmigosh." the small blonde had a matching grin, "Yes!"
"Uh…." Sonic coughed, "That sounded le-"
"I know what I said!" Both girls cut the hedgehog off.
"Um…" Tails lightly poked a blushing Reinforce, "Should I ask?"
"You'll understand when you're older…" The woman simply replied, "Though you may not want to."
The underwater excursion was made significantly easier due Alicia's water spell. Like Tidal Tempest on Little Planet, Sonic was able to use the shield to bounce about like a ball while he was in spin form. Tails also got a fairly good sample of the magic that Hayate and Reinforce could come up with, though Alicia was slightly gimped due to partly sharing Fate's mana conversion element to lightning, but she made up for it with her somehow waterproof paper fan.
Though Tails could not fly underwater, he had a rather unique approach of doggy-paddling to make up for it, but this method was ineffective in combat. Once again, he formed a dangerously competent battery with Sonic on their spin attack combinations, if the hedgehog's spin-dash was unable to destroy a robot on the first go, the fox's follow-up was certainly able to finish the job. Combining that with Reinforce's melee attacks and her being strong enough to throw either hedgehog or fox in spin form at unsuspecting enemies; any robots that they did encounter were quickly made short work of.
They were going so fast that they nearly missed the signpost, which was needed to take Sonic to the third Chaos Emerald trial. Fortunately the team was able to stop on a dime and allow Sonic to travel to undergo the trial.
[Coordinates Unknown]
[Special Stage]
[Time: Unknown]
[BGM: "Special Stage" Sonic the Hedgehog CD (JP/PAL)]
It seemed that Sonic could not escape the water even in the Special Stages. The aesthetic to this stage was almost as if the hedgehog was taken to a power plant several leagues under the sea. Everywhere he looked, there was water as far as the eye could see. He had to admit that even though he was far far from the biggest fan of water, the theme was aesthetically pleasing.
"Wow, definitely cut the designing deities a check, this place is pretty awesome." The hedgehog thought out loud, "Though that does beg the question of who designed these places."
As if on cue to Sonic's question, a familiar red orb descended down and hovered in circles around his head. He would be most disappointed if he had actually expected an answer to his rhetorical question from the voice within the orb, though, as it seemed content to hover about. The hedgehog was undeterred from a token attempt of small talk.
"With the amount of water all around the background hare, I have to wonder if I'm going to get docked time for staring." The hedgehog half-asked, half-stated.
"You won't." The voice chimed in response, "Though if you get too absorbed into the scenery, you may lose your way and find yourself with a quick exit."
"Yes, Of course~!" Sonic shrugged, "Destroy all the UFOs. One question: Why go through all this trouble?"
"Inquisitive, aren't we?" a hint of mirth snuck into the voice's inflection, "Unfortunately, that answer will be revealed at a later time."
"I mean the only way into these gates is for me to access them." countered the hedgehog, "You better not say this is some sort of "Chosen One" thing,"
"Very well, I will not say." the orb quickly took to the sky, "You may begin the trial when you are ready."
"Okay~, that's-." Sonic cut himself off, "Wait a minute!"
The trial started before the hedgehog could continue his line of thought. One of the trickiest obstacles for him this time around was the combination of the UFO placements over the water, as well as the available room he had to run on the paths that made up the zone. Almost every UFO was placed in a way that Sonic had to jump in between paths to break the machines.
Fortunately for the hedgehog, he has great reflex and reaction time to go with his tremendous speed, which enabled him to clear over half of the machines within the first forty seconds. Though the remaining half were placed in less than ideal areas, most likely by design, Sonic had enough time to claim them even if he did make a few errors by landing in the water.
Once the trial was complete, Sonic stood in place and waited as the red Chaos Emerald descended into his outstretched hands. The emerald gave off a light-red glow as the hedgehog held it. Unlike before, the red sphere did not return, instead a pillar of light descended down and spirited him away from the Special Stage and back into reality.
[Non-Administrated Planet #97 "Earth"]
[South Island Archipelago: West Side Island]
[Aquatic Ruin: Race Results]
[Time: 1020]
[No BGM]
The placement for the race came down to a test of speed between Sonic and Fate on the final leg of the course which both routes shared. It nearly ended in a photo finish, but the hedgehog was just barely able to edge out the blonde artificial human to the finish line. Aquatic Ruin's first place bonus belonged to Team A, however there was still the matter of the scoring from the robot eliminations, and like before, the overall round was far from over.
"First Place bonus: 10000 points. Enemy bonus: 35 x100." Lucky Star chimed out as it ran through its tallies, "Final score: 13500 points."
"Second Place bonus: 7500 points. Enemy bonus: 50 x100." Raising Heart replied in return, "Final score: 12500 points."
"Fifty robots?!" Sonic stared at the other team in disbelief, "How did you manage to wreck fifty robots that time?!"
Sonic's answer came in the form of three pointed fingers. All of them were pointing at the guilty party of Signum and Vita. The two had started a rather explosive argument stemming from an innocent question from the pink hedgehog. Fortunately, the only casualties were the inflated robot kill count, which was what made the scoring so close.
"Regardless, this round belongs to our team." Reinforce declared, "We will press on to confront Eggman."
"Be wary." cautioned Signum, "We don't know what he's going to throw at us this time."
"Understood."
Team A pushed forwards through the zone until they reached the usual clearing. Unsurprisingly, Eggman had positioned his Egg-Mobile ahead to intercept. Fairly likely, the scientist had a few questions for the group and he was willing to stage a confrontation to get them answered.
"Ah, Sonic. For once I'm actually glad to see you." The doctor put on a faux show of politeness as he posed his question, "You see, I've been detecting Chaos Emeralds, but my robots haven't been able to locate them. You wouldn't happen to know where they are, would you?"
"Nope." the hedgehog shrugged in dismissal, "And even if I did, I wouldn't tell old, fat geniuses like you."
"For your safety." Eggman's tone turned dangerous, "I suggest you retract that."
"Okay~" Sonic rebutted, "You're not a genius."
"Better." The doctor nodded.
"Wait…" Tails took no more than a few seconds to process the exchange, "Didn't you-"
"Give him a minute." Hayate cut the fox off, barely able to contain her giggles.
A breathless moment passed. The wind whistled through the trees and the half-submerged ruins. Not a word was spoken, outside of a few muffled giggles. Just as things were starting to get awkward and the kid heroes were losing the ability to keep their composure, Eggman voiced his protest as he finally realized what Sonic did.
"That's enough!" The doctor slammed his fist on his egg-mobile for likely the umpteenth time, "I will not have you mock me in such a manner anymore."
"Well, how would you like me to mock you?" Sonic countered with a grin, "I take requests."
Eggman would have no more of the hedgehog's mockery or the peanut gallery of giggles behind him. The time for pleasantries and questions came to an end once the doctor realized that he would fail to get the answers he wanted. As he pushed a series of buttons on his egg-mobile, the ground began to quake.
"Let's see how you handle this."
A hole sprouted from the plains in front of the group and a massive figure emerged from within. The mechanical monstrosity had a mole-like shape, similar to the Handrill mechs from the stage; only this one was at least as tall as a skyscraper. Its armor had a red sheen to it that reflected the sun's light and it had drills for arms and a nose. Its two continuous tank tracks, which served as the legs, rolled in place as the robot revved its drill bits and took an aggressive stance.
"Contrary to popular belief, just because you can supersize something, doesn't mean you should." the hedgehog snarked, "It just makes it look like you're compensating."
"Silence." Eggman tightened the grip on his mobile's handles, "I have other things to do. Egg-Mole. Go get them."
"Lame~!" Sonic shouted to the retreating figure.
If Eggman had anything further to say, he was out of earshot to say so as he left the hedgehog and his companions to deal with his latest creation. The robot's hand-drills spun at a rapid pace as it revved its tires once more to ready for a fight.
[Eyecatch #1: Sonic: Wind of the Night Sky bio card #23: Aria]
Name: Aria Liese
Katakana: リーゼアリア (Rīzearia)
Gender: Female
Master: Gil Graham
Age: Unknown
Height: 167 cm
Weight: 52 kg
Color: Navy Blue
System: Mid-Childa
Rank: AA
Device: None
[Eyecatch #2: Sonic: Wind of the Night Sky bio card #24: Lotte]
Name: Lotte Liese
Katakana: リーゼロッテ (Rīzerotte)
Gender: Female
Master: Gil Graham
Age: Unknown
Height: 167cm
Weight: 52 kg
Color: Navy Blue
System: Mid-Childa
Rank: AA
Device: None
[South Island Archipelago: West-Side Island]
[Aquatic Ruin]
[Vs Boss: Egg-Mole]
[BGM: "Eggman Battle" Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit)]
The mole machine opened the offensive with a powerful headlong rush into the party, forcing them to scatter to dodge. At the end of its rush, the robot singled out the aerial Reinforce and Hayate and tried to fire its drill-bit arms at them, but found its attacks narrowly avoided by the Unison Device and her mistress's reflexes.
Seeing an opening, Sonic attempted to rush at it with a powerful spin-dash attack, but he found himself bouncing almost right off after leaving just a small dent in the armor. The mole attempted to counter with a lunge of its head-drill while the hedgehog was still in position, but Tails was able to swoop in and snag Sonic from its line of fire.
"Thank you~!" said the hedgehog to the fox.
"Uh, no problem." Tails stuttered a bit before turning his attention towards the rest of the party, "That thing's hull is heavily armored. Watch out."
The team still had a few seconds to try to get some spellcasting in on the boss before its drills returned to its arms. Hayate and Alicia pulled off a combination of thunder elemental spells but they were only slightly more effective in leaving a scratch in the armor than the hedgehog's initial attack. By the time Reinforce was able to get an attack off, the drill bits had returned and the woman had to avoid a melee strike.
"It's vulnerable after it attacks." Tails called out, "But we have to make our attacks count if we're going to destroy it."
There were two major attacks that the robot had which could give the heroes trouble. The drills it could launch had some form of guided homing, but they could be avoided if timed properly. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for when it went into ramming speed and attempted an all-out rush attack; not only could it cover a lot of ground, but it was also deceptively fast. Dodging it was no simple matter, but Sonic was able to figure out the timing for it and keep his teammates informed when it would strike again.
Reinforce took the initiative to strike after avoiding the mole machine's charge and drill launch attacks. She charged magic energy into the shield gauntlet on her left wrist. A dark aura enveloped the spearhead of the armlet. Energy began to crackle as the woman took aim at the center core of the robot.
"Pierce..." The woman spoke as the spearhead began to spin, "Gae Bolg!"
Within an instant, she launched the tip from the gauntlet. The spear, somehow, was able to pierce the robot's center and burrow its way inside. Seconds later, a series of spear tips tore through the robot's armor from within. A whirr of pain was emitted from the mole as it staggered under the might of her attack.
"Great work!" Sonic grinned as he turned to his fox companion, "Let's finish it off."
"Right!" The fox nodded.
"Hold it," Hayate called out to the two, as she held her staff up, "Take this before you go."
When the girl lowered her staff, a small ring formed from her mana and landed safely in the palm of the hedgehog. A familiar light-blue aura engulfed Sonic as Tails revved his namesakes and carried him above the head of the robot.
As the fox tried his hardest to throw the hedgehog into the robot, Sonic began to spin, his quills sharpened to their limit once more. In a display of sheer power, he drilled his way into the robot's head and cut straight through its body. Leaving through the hole that Reinforce made, he just barely managed to escape before the robot exploded.
A capsule of critters was jettisoned from the robot's remains, harmlessly opening to let the little animals free. Another one of Eggman's machines was down!
[Boss Clear]
[Jingle: "Victory" Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit)]
There was little fanfare outside of the usual victory poses from the group, but they were at least significantly more coordinated in their efforts. It was the sign of the growing chemistry between the team, and something that Reinforce was glad to see.
"You're weak." said Hayate to the remains of the Egg-mole with a cute giggle.
"You're a hack." Alicia added, just as energetically.
"You're wack." Sonic followed up with a deadpan delivery of his taunt.
Whilst the trio chuckled over their coordination on the taunts, Tails split off to check on Reinforce. THe fox boy's attention was on the gauntlet on the woman's left arm, which was now devoid of the spearhead due to her firing it during her attack spell.
"Are you going to be okay with that?" Tails asked of the woman, "Will you miss that thing?"
"Oh, you don't need to worry about that." The Unison Device replied in return as she focused a bit of her magic to forge another spearhead from the armlet, ready to roll, "See?"
"Amazing…" the fox stared at the display in awe, "Magic is really neat."
The team reconvened with the B squad a few moments later to discuss the last robot for a few moments. It was becoming fairly obvious that Eggman's robots were getting progressively tougher the further they were into their campaign against him. A few ideas floated about, but one stuck the most.
"Eggman must have been gathering data from our last encounrters with him." Nanoha was the one who voiced it first, "His last few robots have been armoured against some of our magic."
"It's also likely that he's getting each of our team's patterns and spells down." Signum added, "He is proving to be a dangerous foe."
"We have to adjust to his adjustments, and soon." Reinforce nodded, "We can't keep using high-powered finisher spells like that and risk him drawing more data of our magic's limits."
"But how…" Nanoha frowned in thought.
Another brief pause occurred as the squad pondered how they were going to deal with the doctor's adjustments to the data from the mage's spells and attacks. The wind breezed through the forest and ruins. After what felt like hours, though it was only a minute or two at best. An idea came to the surface, though it was voiced from the most unlikeliest of sources in Sonic.
"How about we keep feeding him information then?" the hedgehog questioned, a rather genius grin on his face as one could just picture a lightbulb turning on above his head, "The wrong kind of information."
"Pardon?" Signum queried for the hedgehog to make his point.
"Like… Your magic and devices can take different shapes, right?" Sonic rhetorically asked, then made his point after receiving a collective nod, "Then start using it when he sends out those boss mechs. Change up your tactics. He can only adjust to so much at once, so once we start showing different parts of how we can beat him up…"
"Then, he will be left guessing as to what we're going to do.." Nanoha added, "We can leave him with a lingering doubt of whether or not he sent out the right robot. And with that doubt…"
"He'll be more prone to making mistakes!" The hedgehog snapped his fingers, "Yes~!"
There was a brief pause as the group processed the apparent shared idea between the hedgehog and auburn-haired girl. It was as if they were on the exact same wavelength, even the two were briefly surprised by how well they synced up in that process of thought.
"Unorthodox, but I believe it will work." Reinforce approved.
"Seconded," Signum, the other team leader nodded, "Very well, we shall play the game of deception with him."
"It's not going to be easy. Us Belkans don't have as much flexibility in our spell selection..." Vita pointed out rather grumpily, her attention turned towards the three Mid-Childan mages, "Unlike certain others we know."
The Crimson Iron Rider's barb against the Mid-Childans was not received well, especially by Alicia. However, before she could take to the defense and counter back, Signum stepped in and correctly informed her knight that the fault was of their own and the onus was on them to make the proper adjustments.
Any other arguments were diffused in favor of moving on to the next zone. Little did they know, however, that their new plan had already taken effect before they even had brought it up. Eggman, who had been monitoring the fight from a video feed that he had set the Egg-Mole up with the purpose of drawing data, had already been frustrated over his loss in the zone.
[Administrated World #1: "Mid-Childa"]
[Cranagan]
[Time-Space Administration Ground Headquarters]
[BGM: "Vow of Unity" Tales of Vesperia OST]
Ever since Precia was taken into Bureau custody, she had spent a majority of her time alone in her confinement cell. She had only a few visitors, but they were all Bureau officials, ranging form the Enforcer from the Jewel Seed incident, Harlaown if she heard his name correctly, to the legal aid lawyer that she was forced to accept. Even though she was perfectly content to accept the full punishment that the Bureau was going to levy on her for the crimes she committed during the incident, they still saddled her with a fairly decorated defense lawyer with a good track record with those like her. Perhaps, she mused, that was how the justice system was going to work for her here.
That said, the woman had felt like she was in a state of limbo; particularly a legal kind. For all of that, she had been given no word as to when she was due for the trial. Every time she asked, the answers were non-committal or vague. Her stay in the detention center was far from unpleasant, they had kept her fed daily with fairly high-quality food and every so often they would send medical personnel to make sure she was healthy. She was no fool, she could tell that the Bureau was still determining what they were going to do with her, the question of -when- her trial was going to occur had turned into -if-.
Today seemed like it was going to be a rather usual day, breakfast, health checkup, tea, more time in her cell. That all changed when she got a strange visitor in the form of an aging man in a naval Bureau uniform, flanked by his twin catgirl familiars.
"Precia Testarossa," The aging man greeted the woman in a formal tone, "Your reputation precedes you, I've heard much of you from Fate."
"Hmm?" The Testarossa monarch replied with a raised brow, "And who might you be?"
"Gil Graham, formerly an Admiral of the Bureau, however my own actions have led me to take an early retirement at their request." The man replied, gesturing to his cat familiars, "These are Aria and Lotte Liese, my familiars."
"Yo~!" Lotte said with a simple wave.
"Charmed," Precia spoke with little interest, "What brings you to me?"
"I came to talk. Believe it or not, we have a few things in common." Graham replied, pulling up a seat next to the woman's cell, "We've both perpetrated incidentes regarding Lost Logia on a specific planet. The Bureau has been trying to cover up our nonsense. And lastly, we've both had a run-in with a specific blue hedgehog from that planet."
"Heh, I don't know what he's done to you." The woman chuckled, "But all I have is that he instigated a little turnaround for the better in my life."
"I credit him for ruining this old man's plans regarding a Lost Logia on Earth." Gil lightly chuckled in response, "I swear he's likely ruined plans of old folks like us before."
"You don't sound too beaten up over it."
"What he did ended up accomplishing what my actions had intended to do with fewer casualties." The old man sent his catgirl twins a look, "Though I believe my familiars would say otherwise."
"Did he really have to hit us that hard?" Lotte whined on cue
"Again…" Aria sighed, "We instigated the confrontation and underestimated him, it's our own fault."
"Mou~" the other cat pouted.
The banter of the twin familiars, while somewhat entertaining, did little to dissuade the Testarossa monarch from questioning the motive of the retired admiral. She took the time to process the man's words. While a few stood out, there was a specific point that he brought out that served as a vital hint.
"Am I being scouted?" Precia asked out of the blue, "Bringing up similarities between two parties is a common tactic for recruitment."
"Perceptive." the old admiral nodded, "Though I have no power in doing so, I just retired. I came to introduce you to another party."
As the man spoke, the doors to the detention block opened and in walked two women in matching Bureau uniforms. Both of them held the insignias that Precia recognized as the rank of admiralty.
"Good day, Testarossa, I am Midget Crowbel, Bureau Chief of Staff." The older of the two women, spoke, "And I have a proposition for you."
[Non-Administrated Planet #97 "Earth]
[South Island Archipelago: West Side Island]
[Casino Night: Act 0]
[Time: 1030]
[BGM: "Lively Journey" Fate/Grand Order OST]
The next zone on West Side Island was Casino Night, a huge cityscape that held a motif of a casino, reminding Alicia of Little Planet's Collision Chaos, while Sonic drew comparison to South Island's Spring Yard. Though they had arrived in the middle of the day, the magnificence of the environment was undiminished, like entering the Las Vegas strip in the daytime.
"Wow~!" Sonic said with a whistle as he took in the sights of the big city.
"How was this on West Side Island and nobody noticed it?" Nanoha asked, staring in awe.
"Oh, we knew it was there." Amy replied, "The idiots who bullied Tails the other day have been living it up out here for months. This entire city is basically a giant casino. Don't ask me how they made it function, I've never really been here too often."
"Probably is the Island's source of income, which means it's probably fully functional." A small grin appeared on Hayate's face, "Anyone else feeling lucky?"
"Um…" Fate started, "Please don't forget that we're still on the clock."
"Also…" Nanoha added, "I'd like to point out that gambling is illegal in Japan."
"Well, we're technically in South Island territory; the law doesn't exist there." Sonic countered, "So we can have all the fun we want."
"You can have your fun, then." Vita countered, "But we'll just kick your butt in this round."
A brief moment of silence passed as everyone took stock of the road ahead. Most of it looked tricky as both routes led through some of the casino attractions ranging from pinball to slots. It seemed highly unlikely that either team would be able to progress through the zone without engaging in at least one of the attractions.
"This could take some time…" Signum frowned at this.
"We'll do what we can." Reinforce nodded, "Now let's move."
[Casino Night: Action Stage]
[BGM: "Casino Night" Sonic the Hedgehog 2]
The overall design of the zone was erratic and bore a resemblance to an amusement park with the paths adding to this motif. Its structure was built on solid ground, but there were large vertical spaces that cut into it. Pinball tables were often placed in between these spaces, which relied heavily on Sonic, Tails and Amy's spin forms to accommodate the paths. Most tables included slot machines that operated when someone rolled into the conduit. Because of this and the narrow pathways, the taller members of the squad were often put at a disadvantage in their range of movement.
Rings were the currency used and given out for winning any of the slots, but unlike the previous instances; these granted no power boost to Sonic. Instead, the rings were simple powerless tokens used as currency that could be exchanged for yen at a rate similar to how a normal casino exchanges currency, though one would have to be lucky in order to make any sort of profit. Like any casino, the luck was feast or famine; either one could either strike gold with a jackpot or be buried in a mountain of salt.
Though they were also not the only ones at a disadvantage, as Eggman likely also had issues in deploying his robots to the zone. There was only one type of robot in the Casino and it was the Guardon, a crab-based mech with short limbs, a large pincer on one arm and a bumper shield on the other. This shield, as both teams could attest, deflected every type of attack from magical and physical. Attacking the robot from the front, sides or above was out of the question as it could easily move its shield with a wide range of motion. These robots had one major flaw in their rear was completely defenseless, and both teams could take advantage of that.
[POV: Team A (Reinforce, Hayate, Alicia, Sonic, Tails)]
It had become evident early on that Hayate and Alicia were both lucky in the slot machines when they used Sonic or Tails as the means to activate them. Both girls had a fun time of directing the hedgehog and fox in spin form respectively to each machine, much to Reinforce's exasperation. While Tails minded little due to his desire to be useful and helpful, Sonic had found his patience tested after the fourth consecutive round in the same machine. Neither of the girls hit the jackpot, but they never lost any more than they had gained and had accumulated a steady flow of rings.
"Alright~..." Sonic's tone started to shift to one of minor annoyance, "Are you girls done yet?"
"I am." Alicia grinned as she hugged Tails tightly, drawing a cute blush from the fox, "This little guy's been quite the lucky charm."
"One more, Sonic-kun." Hayate replied, "Just one more attempt."
"You said that the last time…" the hedgehog sighed as he folded his arms, "And the time before that, and the time before that too."
"I promise, this will be the last time." The brunette kneeled down and pulled out her ultimate persuasion tactic; the dreaded puppy-dog eye pout, staring into the blue boy's soul, "Please~!"
"Fine..." the hedgehog sighed in defeat, internally grumbling about how unfair that move was, "But I'm cutting you off after this. We still have a race."
Gleefully, Hayate watched as Sonic curled up into his ball form and rolled into the launcher. The brunette then skillfully directed him into the horizontal bars in front of the slots, activating them once more. With bated breath, the team watched as the reels spun. The first reel landed on the emblem of wings with the letters printed spelling Jackpot. Drama slowly unfolded as the second reel landed on the same logo.
"This could be it." Hayate held her hands together, almost pleading as the final reel slowed down.
The others remained silent as they watched as the reel slowed down. Whether it was by destiny or, more likely a stroke of luck, the final reel landed on the Jackpot logo. Loud noises of fanfare rang out through the city's speakers, fireworks exploded from above the slot machine and a mountain of rings descended upon Hayate and the group like a waterfall, over a hundred and fifty in total.
Sonic was freed from the slot machine and found himself uncurling as he dove into the pile of rings. Fortunately he was not harmed in doing so and Alicia was able to supply a protective landing barrier in case it was needed.
"I hope that was worth it." The hedgehog grumbled a bit, slightly too dizzy to notice the rings,
"It was." Hayate nodded, "We hit the jackpot."
"Congratulations~" Even winded, Sonic still mustered a thumbs up, "Now can we go?"
There was no argument from Hayate this time and the team was allowed to progress further so they could locate the gate to the special stage. Sonic had to wonder if he or anyone else had done something to earn the ire of the deities in charge of the Special Stages, because the signpost to enter the fourth stage was placed in a matter that one would have to literally go out of their way to avoid reaching it. Still, the hedgehog undergoing the trial was a perfect time distractor that allowed Hayate and Alicia to cash in their winnings.
[POV: Team B (Signum, Vita, Nanoha, Fate, Amy)]
While Team A's jackpot winnings were heard from across the zone, Signum's squad was not nearly as lucky with the slots on their route. Though they participated in the slots nor more than the minuum that their route required, they either lost rings when Vita participated or gained a minimal amount when Nanoha played. Oddly enough, both girls' winnings were countering one another in that forever how much Vita lost, Nanoha gained back.
Amy Rose decided to cut the two off after their fourth cycle of this pattern for two main reasons. Her first reason was that she had detected something of a rivalry sparking between the two and she would rather not get into the middle of it. Second, and most importantly, she was tiring out from being curled up in her ball form for an extended period of time. Unlike the blue hedgehog, she was not used to being in said form despite it being part of her hedgehog physiognomy.
"No more," the pink hedgehog collapsed from the fatigue, "You two wanna keep at that? Either go find Sonic, Tails or go play in an arcade. I'm done."
"Sorry, Amy-chan." Nanoha bowed politely, "I guess we overdid it."
"Yeah…" the red knight nodded, "We'll stop, I'm getting tired of losing anyways."
"Thank you." Amy let out a sigh as she stretched, "Yikes, I've spent more time in a ball today than I have for most of my life combined."
"Aren't hedgehog's supposed to be able to curl up into balls for defense easily?" Fate queried, "I thought I read that somewhere in a book."
"We are, but unlike Sonic, I haven't had a need to use it as often." The pink hedgehog shrugs, "And I kinda try to avoid it because if I keep doing so, it'll start tearing at my dress."
"Are clothes required?" Nanoha asked, "Because we don't see Sonic or Tails in anything other than shoes or gloves."
"I mean, they're not required, but the boys have a bit more fur to keep them warm." Amy shrugged again in response, "If I wanted to, I could go in nothing but the fur on my back."
There was a brief awkward pause as Amy found herself stared at by everyone, even Signum. Though she had little clue as to why, as an animal, clothes were rather a luxury and only worn for fashion or, in some cases like her, function, as they gave her plenty more warmth to survive in the winter. Still, the silence and staring was getting to be a bit uncomfortable so the hedgehog decided to stop it.
"Yare yare daze~." Amy's face adopted a weird look, "Don't look at me like that. I said -could- not -would-. I wear these clothes for two reasons: I like how they look, they feel comfy, and help keep me warm in the winter when my fur isn't enough."
"That's three?" Nanoha was unable to keep herself from correcting the small hedgehog girl.
"Whatever." Amy turned on her heels and started to walk away, "Are we going or not?"
The awkward moment dissipated as soon as it had arrived and the team progressed through the zone. There was little that could be said after the awkward conversation had left little to add on to for the time being. They had not accumulated much from the slots, but whatever winnings they did secure were quickly cashed in before they hit the final stretch of the race.
[Casino Night: Race Results]
[BGM: "Casino Night (2 Player)" Sonic the Hedgehog 2]
Due to the limited number of robots placed in the zone, both teams had to rely heavily on the race place finishers in order to determine the overall winner of the round. Unfortunately for Team A, they had come in Second Place for the finisher. The reason for their placement was less due to the unspoken quest for the Jackpot and more due to their little sidequest with the Special Stage. Sonic had been given a significantly harder trial than before, but his efforts earned him the pink Chaos Emerald.
"I see your team had a bit of luck today." Signum pointed out dryly, referencing the fairly obvious bag of money in Hayate's possession."
"Yeah," the brunette giggled as she stowed the money away in a pocket dimension spell created by the book, "We might have overdid it."
"You think?" Sonic and Amy said, oddly enough in unison.
"Sorry." Nanoha and Hayate replied in return with a polite bow.
The respective chimes from Raising Heart and Lucky Star indicated to their respective masters that they had tallied up the scores from the battle race. Both teams gathered and waited to hear who would take on Eggman for this zone.
"First Place bonus: 10000 points. Enemy bonus: 15x100." Raising Heart spoke in a neutral tone, "Final score: 11500 points."
"Second Place bonus: 7500. Enemy bonus: 20x100." Lucky Star added in return, "Final Score: 9500 points."
Another round went to Team B, which tied up the score between both teams for the battle race at two. Like previously, this also meant that Signum's squad would be the first to take on Eggman in the casino zone. Reinforce's team pulled to a nearby building in the zone so they could watch from afar.
As the squad approached the clearing in the Casino zone in which they could find Eggman, the doctor was spotted hovering about. His egg-mobile was pacing laps back and forth. His muttering could be heard and it was getting progressively louder the closer they got to him.
"How do they keep beating me?" The doctor asked himself, "That last robot was one of my best, I don't get it."
Signum held Nanoha and the others back from getting the old man's attention. The general was intent on hearing out his rant for the purpose of getting information. So far, all they could discern was the specific additions the doctor made to his mech.
"I armored it against their magics, installed drill launchers with auto-homing and defense piercing capabilities." Eggman's frustration rose as he paced, "I even gave it a high-speed ram attack, and it still failed. Did I send out the wrong mech?"
As the doctor continued to gripe, the team slowly stepped forward intending to engage him. However, it seemed as though Eggman had failed to notice, because he kept his grumbling.
"No, I didn't… There is no way they should have won." The doctor snarled, "Yes! It is absolutely, totally, and in all other ways inconceivable!"
"There he goes with that word again." Nanoha commented before raising her voice to correct the doctor, "Eggman-san, you're using that word incorrectly again. It really doesn't mean what you think it means."
"Huh?!"
Eggman paused in his internal rant once he realized that he had company. He turned to face the source of the voice and found the members of Team B staring at him intently..
"Oh, it's just you kids." The doctor raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you a little too young to be at a casino? This is where the adults play."
"Then what are you doing here?" asked Amy Rose, "You're clearly the youngest here given how much you act like a kid with the temper tantrums and stuff."
"I'm still older than all of you," Eggman countered, "And that's what matters."
"Which is something a child would say." The pink hedgehog fired back with a shrug, "Your case isn't getting any better."
"Oh, really?" The doctor started to press a few buttons on this egg-mobile, "We'll see who's more childish after I bring out my latest creation."
"Again, something a kid would say."
"Shut up!"
Eggman would have no more arguments as he punched in a combination of buttons, causing the ground in the area to quake. The doctor was intent on showing off his latest toy to the heroes and he would stop their insolence there. With caution, the squad waited for their next opponent.
[South Island Archipelago: South Island]
[Scrap Brain Zone]
[Time: 1045]
[No BGM]
What used to be a dystopian factory that served as Eggman's first and most notable base of operations was now mostly a pile of rubble. The base had long been shut down and abandoned since the first incident on South Island, in which Sonic bested the doctor all by himself.
Quint picked up the faint smell of the grime and oil as she slowly skated through the ruins on her mana-driven rollerblades, which were generating a strip of light-blue mana condensed enough to support her weight. Her Barrier Jacket, which she had changed from her Bureau uniform, consisted of a short-sleeved, dark purple jacket and a skin-tight bodysuit of white and purple that flowed from her footwear to her jacket, leaving her arms bare. Revolver Gauntlet, her Armed Device, took the form of a thick pair of gauntlets with spinning gears on the wrists and light-purple gems serving as the interface and cuffs.
Her Wing Road spell was a transportation spell that she had developed to help her maneuver effectively in the field; it was also helpful for apprehending criminals on the run. She had utilized this spell to traverse the ocean between Uminari and South Island; and due to the airborne utility of it, was able to bypass the terrain leading from the first zone to what was left of Eggman's fortress.
The base appeared as though it was untouched for months, but the well-trained eye of the Bureau investigator could still discern the signs of a heated battle. Burn marks, pieces of rubble, oil and shredded remains of over a dozen robots scattered about. Unfortunately for Quint, while these clues confirmed a certain hedgehog's story, the answers she needed for Harlaown were further inside..
"I'll need to be ready for anything." Quint thought to herself as she skated inwards, her attention briefly turned to the gauntlets, "Revolver Gauntlet, keep scanning the area, I have a feeling that we aren't alone here.
"Confirmed!" came the reply from the light-purple gem in the wrist of the gauntlets.
Pushing deeper into the ruined base, the woman took notice that the scenery took a drastic change from the eerie ruined factory to a wall of technology, or what was left of it. The inside of the base was cluttered with remains of gizmos and gears under a dark green backdrop. In its prime, Scrap Brain was Eggman's first and most advanced base operations, but now it was a pile of rubble.
Despite this, the investigator was able to find a clue what she needed. Though ruined and beginning to sink into the ocean, she was able to locate the machine that Eggman had used to create his robots. The machinery was designed to roll critters on the belt and put them into mechanized suits to be used as the power source. These suits were manufactured by the main factory processor using a minimal amount of ore extracted from the mountains and smelted into metal.
"Well, this explains how he was able to run his operations for the South Island campaign." The investigator said out loud so that her device could record it for a report to be filed later, "But it doesn't explain how he was able to launch his campaigns in Little Planet or West Side Island."
"Caution! Three organic lifeforms detected closing in on our location." Revolver Gauntlet alerted its master in the midst of her recording, "Estimated time of arrival is one minute. Contact imminent."
"Ara~?" Quint turned on her wheels and readied herself in a defensive stance
A loud rumbling sound came from the other end of one of the nearby walls. As Nakajima turned to face the source of the activity she found that the wall was quickly broken down with a single blow. The sunlight briefly shined through the hole before it was blocked off by a trio of oddly shaped silhouettes.
All three figures were anthropomorphic of some nature, but that was where the similarities ended. The middle, and most imposing figure was shaped like a thick crocodile. On the right was a horned chameleon with a curved tail and a slimmer build when compared to the middle. The final figure buzzing about to the left of the croc was a small anthropomorphic honeybee. This combination, altogether, appeared very odd to the investigator for a few reasons, but she chose not to voice them.
"Can I help you?" Quint asked, relaxing her posture only a little, keeping her guard up as she watched the trio slowly approach.
"Well, that depends on something, young miss." The croc in the middle spoke with a rough voice yet held a polite, smooth tone, "We have a few questions for you…"
[Ending: "Hikaru Michi (The Shining Road)" Aya Hiroshige]
[End of Chapter 12]
Author's notes: More Sonic 2 action, but I also figure I tease with a few side-story plots and see where they will go.