-Chapter 295-

GUN Control, Part 4

Training Grounds

"Dammit!" Sperry cursed as she ran outside. "This is not good! Of all the rotten, lousy...!"

She gasped, stopping dead in her tracks at the sight of the training yard which now lay in ruins. The obstacle courses had been reduced to rubble. The ropes and walls were sliced and smashed to ribbons and bits. Not even the track was spared, at least half of it being covered in craters.

"Sweet, mother of kibble..." Sperry uttered.

It was then that Tangle and the others finally managed to catch up.

"Holy..." Chris let out. "It looks like a meteor struck!"

They were snapped out of their shock by a soft, muffled groan. Immediately, Tangle turned to toward the source and saw her father lying prone, face down on the ground.

"DAD!"

Tangle immediately rushed to his side, much to Sonic's horror.

"Tangle, wait!" Sonic shouted.

She didn't listen, too afraid of what might have happened to her father. Once she reached him, she carefully turned him over. She was horrified at the state he was in, his face looking like it had been slammed repeatedly into the pavement.

"Oh Aurora… Dad, are you alright!?" She shook him desperately. "Say some...!"

The colonel slowly opened his eyes as he turned to face his daughter.

"Tan...gle..."

"Scrape!" Sperry called out as she ran to his side, the others following.

As soon as they arrived, Keith immediately dug out Power Rings, pressing them to Scrape's chest.

"C'mon, Colonel, stay with us," he pleaded.

Golden light washed over Scrape's injuries, healing them somewhat and allowing him to regain much of his bearings.

"C'mon, Colonel, don't you die on me…" Sperry ordered.

"G-General..."

Scrape attempted to sit up, but Keith stopped him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa...Stay still, sir. The rings are healing you, but you're still in no condition to move."

"Of all the days not to have an Emerald…" Kat groused.

"Guys!"

The others turned toward the exit to see two more familiar faces rushing out.

"Hope! Shard!" Sonic called, waving them over.

"You two okay?" Knuckles asked.

"I was gonna ask you that," Hope replied.

"We were talking with Dr. Bennett when the alarms started going off," Shard explained.

It was then that he and Hope noticed Scrape.

Hope gasped. "Colonel Lemur! Is he…?"

"He's out of the danger zone, but he's still in bad shape," Tails explained.

"What happened to him!?" Shard questioned. "He looks like he got run over by a train!"

"Shears..." Everyone turned to Scrape, Tangle's eyes widening.

"Rory? Dad, what are you...?" Before she could finish, Scrape grabbed her shirt and looked at her desperately.

"Tangle...run...get out of here! He's gone rabid!"

"Dad, slow down! What are you...?"

"Get down!" Sonic shouted, tackling Tangle to the ground just in time to avoid a fast-moving object that flew by where her neck was.

By the Ancients! Kat shrieked.

"What was that!?" Knuckles exclaimed.

"A knife," Sonic explained, pointing to said knife, which was now embedded in the ground.

"Whoa..." Chris let out. "What kind of knife is that?"

Indeed, the knife looked strange. It was twisted, warped, and carved from what appeared to be some kind of bone…except it was black and shiny, like polished obsidian.

"Rory..." Tangle gasped. "That's one of Rory's 'special knives'. But, he said he only brings out those when he...kills people."

Just then, the group was startled by a loud, wheezing noise. They looked to see where it came from and found a figure standing in the yard.

"Rory?" Tangled asked in cautious optimism.

"Agent Shears, what is the meaning of this!? What the hell have you done!?" Sperry demanded.

Shears said nothing. He just stood there, his head bowed down, seemingly ignoring her; something Sperry did not take kindly to.

"Shears, are you listening!? I–"

Kat started moving, realizing what was about to happen. She got between Shears and Sperry, raising her bracers just in time for another 'special knife' to hit them. The carvings on the gold were badly nicked, but no blood was shed as the knife clattered to the ground.

"Phew…" Kat let out. "That was a close one…"

"Look!" Chris pointed to Shears, whose hand was extended as if he had just thrown something. It didn't take much to figure out what.

"The hell!?" Hope shouted. "Shears, what are you doing!?"

Shears said nothing, as he lowered his hand. He just stood there, silently. Until five seconds later…

"Coff.."

Hope blinked. "'What?"

"Coocococococoococoocooocococococo…!"

Shears' fingers began to twitch frantically, all the while he was babbling nonsensical gibberish.

"Cooofofoffeffoefoefoeofefcococoefoefofoof…!"

Every few seconds, the babbling and twitching grew louder and more erratic, as even more of his body began to spasm and flail about.

"Coooofefefefefeffeefeffefffefefefeee! Coooofefefefefefefefffefe!"

"Ro...ry...?" Tangle asked.

"Coffee..Coffee so...Coffee so...so...sooo... SOOOOO GOOOOOD BAYBEEEEH!"

Suddenly, Shears and Tangle vanished, then reappeared by the wall behind Sonic and the others. Shears had slammed Tangle against the wall, holding her by the neck.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeey Stripeeeeeeey!" he greeted manically. "How's my favorite non-ape/monkey/gorilla primate doin' huuuuuuuuuuh?"

Tangle opened her eyes, allowing her to finally see Shears' face, an action she immediately regretted.

Shears' face could only be described as the stuff of nightmares. His eyes were pink and so bloodshot, they looked like they were about to burst open. But, the most terrifying part had to be his smile, which could only be described as "homicidal clown" meets "radio demon". His teeth even looked longer and sharper.

"What…what happened to you?" Tangle repeated in terror.

"Whatsamatter?" the redhead sked, holding a knife to his neck. "Don'tcha wanna play with your old Uncle Rory? Huh!? Do ya? Do ya!? DO YA?!"

"Get off of her!"

Shears turned just in time to see Sonic Spin Dashing towards him, only to step to the side just in time to dodge.

"What the…!?" the hedgehog demanded incredulously.

"Uh-uh! Not your turn!"

Shears kicked Sonic into the gut, sending him flying into the opposite wall, leaving a hedgehog-shaped imprint in the stone.

"Sonic!" the others cried out.

"Awwww man…" the hedgehog groaned as he climbed out of the rock. "What just happened?"

Shears was suddenly in his face, having left Tangle behind.

"Heeeeey buddy!" Shears greeted. "You don't get to play today! It's not your turn! You gotta wait your turn! You know what happens to naughty hedgies who don't wait their turn!? Hmmm? Hmmmm!? HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!?"

Sonic's eyes darted about as he tried to think of a response to give the demented hellspawn standing before him.

"Uhhh...they get a time out?" he replied.

"Right!" Shears grabbed Sonic by the face, holding his knife millimeters from his cheek. "Now… Be a good hedgie and gimme your skin! I'm huuuuuuuuuuuuuungry!"

Sonic's pupils shrank as Shears' grin stretched out even further and he licked his lips with a tongue that suddenly seemed too long and yellow for to belong to a human being.

"Okay, no."

Sonic lifted his leg up, kicking Shears in the face and causing him to lose his grip on him. Shears stumbled backward, clutching his chin in pain as he muttered what could only be a string of expletives.

"You...you kicked my chin!" he let out. "Okay hedgie… You wanna be like that..."

He shifted his wrists, causing several black knives to slide out of his sleeves and into the spaces between his fingers.

"Let's be like that!"

Shears swung his arms about, flinging the ebony blades right at Sonic.

"Whoa!"

Sonic bolted off, letting the knives get stuck in the wall. Unfortunately, Shears was keeping more knives hidden away in his jacket. Not only that, he was throwing them all over the place! Realizing the severity of the situation, Hope quickly activated her Shield Module, surrounding herself in a protective, green bubble.

"Guys! Over here!" she called out, motioning for the others to hurry over.

Sperry and the others dived for the shield, Tangle dragging her father into it.

"Damn...that was close!" Shard let out, wiping the "sweat" from his brow.

"What the hell's going on!?" Sally demanded. "He's lost his mind!"

"Somebody gave him coffee," Sperry explained. "Whenever Shears gets it, he becomes completely manic!"

"MANIC?!" Kat gestured wildly with both arms. "That's not manic! That's… I can't even begin to describe it! It's like he's not even human! For crying out loud, he's keeping up with Sonic!"

"Worse…" Keith let out in horror. "He's overtaking Sonic!"

"What!?" Tangle exclaimed.

"Edgey hedgey fedgey wedgey ledgey reggie pledgey medgie Neji Tedgie zedgie bedgey veggie beeeeeeeeeeeeeeear!"

Shears joyfully sang his demented tune, all while bombarding Sonic with wave after wave of knives.

"Okay, you got serious issues, man!" the hedgehog shouted, ducking in time to avoid getting stabbed in the head.

"Two hundred ninety, two hundred sixty, and sixty-nine!" Shears exclaimed. "Not counting spin-offs and online fan continuations!"

"What!?"

Before Sonic could figure out what he was talking about, Shears materialized in front of him, grabbing him by the neck and pinning him to the ground.

"Hey!" Shears shouted. "Hey Sonic! Hey Sonic! Hey Sonic, hey! Hey Sonic! Sonic! Hey! Sonic!"

"What!?" Sonic replied loudly, only to freeze when Shears pulled out another…

"Knife!"

Shears brought his knife down, seemingly to stab Sonic in the heart…only to shift and slice his bag of Warp Rings from his belt, which he grabbed in one, swift motion.

"What? That's not what I was aiming for," he said as he opened up the bag and dumped out its contents. "Oooooh! Shiny!"

He held up the rings, ogling in awe at them. "What's this thing do?"

Shears casually flicked it, causing a portal to open up.

"Ooh! Bonus Stage!" he cried out eagerly as he lifted Sonic up. "Time to get that damned Chaos Emerald! In ya go!"

With that, Shears threw Sonic into the portal.

"NO!" the others cried out.

"Victory for Rory!" Shears cackled. Now…"

He turned to the others.

"Your turn!"

Shears ran over, knives drawn and ready to slice them all open…

CLUNK!

…only to crash right into the shield.

"Dat hurt mah faesch..." he let out as he peeled himself off the green force sphere. "Alright, tryin' again!"

He ran backward, then charged at it again…with the same result. He repeated this process several times; afterwards, the group stopped fearing for their lives and started questioning the mad agent's intelligence.

"Okay, what...is he doing?" Chris asked.

"Trying to break the shield," Scrape replied as Shears crashed into said shield again. "One good thing about Rory when he gets like this, he becomes a complete moron."

He winced as Shears crashed into it again.

"Well, more of a moron," the colonel added.

"Small problem," Hope began, holding up her module, which was currently at 52%. "The shield can't hold out forever. And he's got the same strength as a pissed off Kat, so…"

He crashed into it again, reducing it to 43%.

"Then I'll hold him off," Sperry declared. "The rest of you get inside and get the other agents."

"Uh-uh!" Shears shouted, then skidded across to the door, crushing the knob. "No cheating! You wanna stop me? You gotta fight me! Yoooou!"

He started frantically stabbing the air with his knives, wildly hooting and hollering all the while.

"Damn it… What is his deal?!" Knuckles demanded.

"I told you, Rory's the craziest guy in GUN!" Tangle reminded them. "And his brain's hyped up on bean juice. Whatever sense he had's taking a lunch break."

"Hey! Quit your bobble-bubble-babblin' and fight me already! I'm booooorrrrrreeed!"

"Oh, you want a fight?" the echidna began. "I'll give you a-"

"Not you!" Shears pointed a knife at Team Thorndyke and Tangle. "Them."

"Like hell you are! You psycho!" Sperry barked.

Scrape nodded. "If you think we're going to let you do this, you're…!"

"Blah blah blah blah! Nag nag nag! Complain! Complain! COMPLAIN!" Shears screamed. "You're wasting your time! You're wasting my time! And you're wasting pages! Now, shut down yer shield, shut down yer mouths, and lemme beat you kids! With my knife!"

Shears dashed over to the shield and began frantically stabbing at it, chipping it away one percent at a time.

"Right, I think it's time to put crazy in his place! Shard!"

"Right!"

Knuckles and Shard charged out of the shield, only to be tripped and sent falling into a new Warp Ring.

"Have a nice trip, see you next fall!"

"Knuckles! Shard!" Kat cried out.

Suddenly, Shears thrusts his knife into the barrier, causing it to crack.

"No more playing!" he shouted as he pulled his weapon out, causing it to fall apart. With nothing protecting them, Shears grabbed Sally and Tails. He threw them down the Warp Ring hole, then smashed it beneath his foot, causing the portal to fizzle out.

"There we go.' Shears dusted his hands off. "Your heavy hitters are gone, and Scrape and Sperry are too beat up to fight back. What a pity."

"The hell I am!" Sperry snapped back, only for her to end up with several, high-speed knives lodged into her shoulders and legs.

"Whaaaat a pity," Shears repeated before turning to his desired opponents. "Okay kiddies, you know what to do. Form a nice, neat, single-file line, and hold still while I suck your brains out your ears!"

The kids watched as Shears began air-stabbing again.

"Right...Plan?" Kat asked desperately.

"We need to subdue him," Chris began. "He's not thinking straight."

"Whatever coffee brew he drank that put him in this state has to have a time limit," Keith added.

"One we need to stall out," Hope finished.

"Well, we can't just talk him out," Tangle said. "He's way too...nutty. If only we had something to trap..."

Just then, the lemur got an idea.

"I got it! Chris, you still have any of those fancy rings from earlier?"

"Which ones do you need?" he asked.

"I've got a whole assortment of them," Keith added.

"We'll need all of them, especially the Water Ring."

Tangle motioned for them to come close. As they huddled up, Shears watched them, twitching around like a maniac.

"What are they doing? Brain, what are they doing?"

His eyes unfocused as he began talking in a low, dopey voice. "Duuuuuhhhh… Rabble-flabble...fruits and peas..."

"GAH!" Shears screamed, regaining his regular insanity. "Dammit brain, I can't rely on you for anything!"

Meanwhile, the kids and Tangle had finished going over their plan.

"Tangle, that just might work!" Hope said.

"It better," Chris said. "It's our only shot."

"It will," Tangle assured. "Just gimme a shield for Sperry and my dad. We can't let them get caught in this."

Hope handed Tangle a Barrier Ring, which she placed on her father.

"Tangle, what are you…?"

"Sorry, Dad." She activated the ring, trapping the two inside the barrier. "I promise, I'll be okay this time."

Scrape and Sperry watched as Tangle and the kids stepped forward, preparing to fight the crazy Shears.

"Tangle? TANGLE!" the colonel cried out.

"Alright guys," Tangle began. "Sonic and the others aren't here, so it's up to us to save the day and stop Rory."

"I'll keep him occupied," Kat punched her fists together. "Get him in place."

Tangled nodded. "Good. The rest of you, get in position and be ready to strike on my signal. Got it?"

"Right!" the others declared.

"You wanted a fight, Rory?" the lemur began. "Then get ready…cuz it's time to tangle!"

Kat slipped off her bracers as the teens split off.

"Alright crazy pants," she said. "You wanna dance? Let's dance!"

Kat charged at Shears, who grinned wickedly.

"Finally!"

Shears drew two more knives from his sleeves as he darted at Kat. He swung at her, but she managed to block his knives with her bat. Shockingly, he left small gouges in the metal.

By the Ancients... she let out. "What are those things made of?"

Shears grinned. "My knives are made from the blackened bones of a demon from the fourth circle of Hell and sharpened by the unrelenting force of my own, indomitable will!"

He cackled maniacally as he continued his onslaught, though it did little to impress, let alone terrify his opponent.

"Okay fine, don't tell me!"

She shoved him back and the fight continued.

From behind the shield, Sperry and Scrape watched with gaping mouths.

"What in the...is Winters actually holding off Shears!?" the Doberman uttered in disbelief.

"She...She is…" Scrape confirmed.

"C'mon Kitty-Kat!" Shears screamed as he tried to stab at her. "It's gonna take more than a tricked-out ball-bat to roll over Rory!"

Kat kept up the assault, watching her friends from the corner of her eye.

"Kat!" Tangle called out. "You're not getting any ground! Turn up the heat!"

"Right!"

Her body began to glow, rainbow flames sprouting across her arms, back, and hair.

"Ohhhh...preeetttyyyyy..."Shears let out in awe as massive wings grew from her back and danced along her bat.

"Think you can take the heat, Spears?" Kat asked smugly.

"It's Shears!"

Shears dashed forward, thrusting both his hands at Kat, only to recoil in pain as the flames burned him.

"YEOWCH! That's hot!"

He waved his hands around, dropping his knives, which burned away to ash in a way that was distinctly not like metal.

"Huh," Kat let out. "Guess they were bone."

"My hands!"

Shears looked down at his hands, which had been blackened and badly burned.

"Oh buddy, just wait for phase two," Kat warned.

"Phase 2?"

Suddenly, Kat tackled the agent, getting him into a grapple.

"She's got him!" Tangle shouted. "Chris, Keith, put her out!"

Kat braced herself as Chris and Keith slammed Water Rings into their gloves, Hope doing the same with her Omochao Gun.

"WATER IN THE HOLE!"

They all fired at Kat, and the resulting steam explosion utterly vaporized everything and knocked Shears back.

"Damn…" he groaned as he got up. "What the hell was…?"

He looked around, only to find the area completely covered in steam.

"H-Hey! What's goin' on!? I can't see!"

Just then, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey," Keith said coolly as electricity shot through Shears' body, causing him to twitch and spasm violently.

"Lightning Ring works!" he said as he ran off, holding up a power ring with a purple, lightning bolt-shaped gem.

"Uuugh…" Shears groaned. "What hit me?"

Suddenly, he was hit by a powerful energy blast.

"Blast Ring too!" Chris called out, his own Glove wearing a power ring with an orange starburst-shaped gem. "Hope, try the Bomb Ring!"

"On it!"

Hope placed a power ring with a black, bomb-shaped crystal in her Omochao Gun. She pulled the trigger, sending out several energy spheres bouncing toward Shears. The agent blinked blearily as he watched them bounce and roll closer to him, flashing repeatedly as they did.

"Mother…" Shears whispered, right as the spheres blew up, launching him into the air.

"Ohhh man…that smarts," he groaned as he reached peak height, then plummeted back to the ground, where Kat was waiting for him, bat out and wound up to strike.

"Batter up!"

As soon as his head came into range, she struck with every ounce of strength she had, sending him flying toward the other side of the yard, where Tangle was waiting, her tail wrapped around one of the intact training posts and stretched out into a rope. Shears flew into her tail, stretching out elastic appendage several yards before the recoil launched him back like a slingshot.

"Hope!" Tangle called out.

"On it!"

Hope jumped right into Shears' flight path, charging up her Omochao Gun.

"Sorry, Shears!"

She pulled the trigger, blasting Shears with a powerful laser, launching him back into Tangle's tail.

"Keith, our turn!" Chris called out.

"Right!"

The boys charged up their Nitro Gloves, creating a pair of Nitro Balls. But instead of throwing them, they put the two together, forming one, big ball.

"Nitro Ball Ultra!"

The two geniuses charged forward as Shears was launched a second time, then slammed the large energy sphere right into him, blasting him back the way he came.

"Now, it's my turn!" Tangle declared.

Once again, Shears was caught by Tangle's tail, but instead of letting him be slingshot again, she unwound her tail and wrapped it around him, pulling him in close.

"Uuuuuugh…Stripesssss?" Shears moaned blearily.

"Hey Rory," Tangle said sympathetically, gently patting his bruised and singed cheek. "I'm really sorry about this."

Before Shears could question, Tangle began slamming him around back and forth, apologizing all the while. This continued for about several seconds, until finally, she gently set Shears down on his back, the agent too tired and injured to move.

"Alright," Tangle said. "We got him. We got him, right?"

"Omochao?" Hope asked.

Omochao reverted to his regular form and flew over to Shears, his eyes glowing as he did a bio-scan.

"Pulse is dropping within acceptable parameters. Breathing is leveling out. Brain activity...still highly active."

"We got him!" Tangle pumped her fist. "Good work, team!"

"Now, how are we going to get the others back?" Kat asked.

Suddenly, the doors burst open, revealing Stone and Vellum.

"Nobody move!" Vellum yelled.

"Where is he!?" Stone demanded.

That's when they take full stock of the area.

"What the...?" Vellum let out, lowering his sunglasses to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

"Hello? Rory?" Stone asked.

"Over here..."

The agents turned to where the kids were to see Shears weakly holding up a hand.

"Awww hell..."

The two ran over, Vellum muttering angrily under his breath the entire time.

"Aurora-dammit, Rory, what the fugg did you do!?" the bald agent demanded.

Shears chuckled. "I proved my point. I haven't lost a fight that bad since... Ever! Not since Abey… Abey… Uuuuugh..."

And with that, passed out.

"Shit! Robert, call a medic!"

Stone nodded. "On it!"

"Call one for my Dad and General Doberman too!" Tangle piped up, pointing to the two.

Vellum couldn't believe what he was seeing. "What the..."

"Sir? Ma'am? What happened!?" Stone asked.

"We..." Sperry began.

"Were forced to eat out words, Agent," Scrape confessed.

"Scrape!"

"Sperry, you saw that." Scrape gestured to the kids. "They just took on a rampaging Shears and won! And you know Shears doesn't pull punches when he gets like that."

The kids shared small smiles and fist bumps.

"Dad," Tangle let out. "Does that mean...?"

Scrape sighed. "Yes, Entanglina...You all can stay with the Freedom Fighters. If this is any sign of what you can do now, I can only imagine what you could do with more experience." He turned to his superior. "Right, Sperry?"

Sperry paused, looking at Shears, then the kids. She bit her lower lip in frustration, then sighed.

"Yes. Good work, you all."

Hope nodded. "Well then, once we figure out where Shears dropped Sonic and co., we'll see of we can't re-discuss the team up with more negotiable terms."

"Well…" Keith thought aloud. "Maybe if we focus on the person rather than the destination…"

He picked up a Warp Ring, closed his eyes, and threw it. From it, all five of the missing members came flying out, landing in a massive dogpile.

"We have been falling... for thirty minutes!" Knuckles shouted.

"It was only...five, Knucklehead," Sonic pointed out.

"Please get off my tails, Sally," Tails requested.

"Trying…" Sally winced. "Ow…"

"Beeeeeep boo-boo boo bop bop boo boo bop…" Shard let out.

"Holy cow, that worked!" Keith said in genuine shock.

"Nice thinking!" Chris said, giving him a thumb's up.

Sonic shook his head as he finally realized where they were. "Guys? What happened?'

"The adults ate crow while Shears ate pavement," Kat explained.

"What the...?"

They then turned to see Shears lying on the ground. Sonic was especially surprised.

"Holy! How the heck did you…?"

"The power of teamwork, thermodynamics, and a lot of rings," Hope replied.

"Alright!" Sonic smirked. "Still think they don't got what it takes now, General?

"Sonic..." Sally sighed.

Sonic winced. "Right, sorry."

Later...

The Freedom Fighters and Tower had once again gathered in the meeting room, where they were signing some important papers.

"Alright..." Tower said as he finished writing his signature. "And with that, it's done!"

Sally nodded as she finished writing her own. "We look forward to a fruitful alliance, Commander."

"Likewise, Your Highness. And I apologize again on behalf of my subordinates. While I disagree with them, they were only looking out for the children's well-being."

"Hey, we get it. They had every right to be scared. Especially after finding out about..." Sonic grimaced. "Anyway, we get it. But we don't abandon each other. If things get too bad, we'll be sure to keep them out of danger… But kicking them out entirely?" He shook his head. "Sorry, no dice."

"Very well," Tower said. "In that case, we'd best let you go. You've had a very busy day and we still need to put together a roster for F-Troop."

"Not to mention a better name," Chris chimed in.

Tower blushed slightly. "That too."

"By the way," Tangle cut in. "How's Rory?"

"Agent Shears is doing well. We estimate he'll make a full recovery in a few days, thanks to the Power Rings you supplied."

Tangle sighed in relief. "Thank Aurora..."

"Well, we'd best be on our way," Hope said. "Thank you again for everything, Commander."

"Let us know if you need help with your new team!" Knuckles said.

And with that, the Freedom Fighters left.

"Well, that was...something," Sonic commented.

"No kidding," Knuckles replied.

Kat yawned, stretching her arms. "I am exhausted…"

"Ditto," Chris chimed in.

"Physically, mentally, emotionally..." Keith added.

"All of the above," Hope remarked.

"Well, at least that's the last of it," Shard concluded.

"Ahem!"

"Spoke too soon."

The group stopped as Sperry and Scrape walked toward them, both looking serious and, surprisingly, fairly chastised.

"Dad? General?" Tangle asked.

"At ease, dear," Scrape said. "We're not here to make trouble."

"Quite the opposite." Sperry cleared her throat. "Princess Sally, Mr. Hedgehog, on behalf of GUN, Caucasus Troop, and all of Chamber-1, we wish to formally apologize for what transpired today. As well as provide reassurance that we will not be taking any further action against your team or any of its younger members. You have our word."

"We appreciate that," Sally replied. "However, Sonic and I aren't the ones you should be apologizing to."

"Yes, of course." Sperry turned to the kids. "Thorndyke, Kent, Winters, Agent Kintobor..." All four of them stepped up. "I'm going to be honest, I'm not happy with this. I can't deny what I've witnessed today… But even so...this feels wrong. But, a deal is a deal. You have shown that you are capable of handling yourselves."

The kids exchanged looks.

"And, though I still wish you would reconsider, I respect your decision to fight. And apologize for attempting to force the issue."

"Y'know, there were a few files in that Project Popgun thing involving young puppies," Hope held them out.

"It's a longshot, but they may be your kids."

Sperry froze. "My… You..." She looked at the documents. "These files are mostly incomplete..."

"Well luckily, Dr. Bennett saved them from being destroyed," Hope told her. "So you at least have somewhere to start."

"Yes… That's...that's better than nothing. Thank you." Sperry sniffled before pulling herself together, clearing her throat. "Now then, if you'll excuse me… I have work to do."

Sperry walked off, leaving Scrape behind.

"C'mon guys," Sonic said. "I think this one is all Tangle."

The others headed off, leaving the two lemurs alone.

"Dad..."

"Entanglina..."

Scrape took a breath, fidgeting nervously. "Aurora, dammit...where do I even start?"

"How about...by apologizing for using General Doberman's plan to try and get me kicked off the Freedom Fighters?" Tangle suggested heatedly.

Scrape sighed. "Yeah...I'm sorry..."

"And for all those times you hardly ever called or visited, leaving me alone at the house, because you were too busy working?"

"Yeah, that was a really stupid thing to..."

"Or maybe leaving me on my own in an empty house the day after... after Mom's funeral."

Scrape flinched. "Yeah...that was...good goddess...that was awful… I guess I do deserve some of those negative impressions..."

"Ya think?"

"Tangle...I… I'm sorry… For everything… Especially for what happened today. I thought that I was trying to keep you safe. Instead, I just kept pushing you away. But, I want you to know, the way you handled yourself and the kids out there… That was amazing."

Tangle looked at her father, then slowly stepped over and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you…" she said. "I know you wanted to keep me out of this, but…"

Scrape didn't let her finish, he just hugged her back, gripping her tightly like she was about to float away if he let go. The two hugged it out for a good minute, tails curling around each other, before finally letting go.

"Remember to follow Princess Sally's orders and don't just charge into things like you always do, I mean it, young lady."

"Considering the last time I ignored orders had me doing time in a Viking POW camp, no argument here."

"Tangle..." Scrape sighed.

"I promise, Dad." She gave her father a serious look. "I mean it."

"Good girl." He gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Now, you'd better get going with your friends. We're both gonna be pretty busy in the next few weeks, and they could use all the help they can get."

"Yes, sir!" Tangle said, saluting energetically before running off to join her friends.

Scrape watched her go, letting out a sigh. Then, from under his uniform, he pulled a small golden locket shaped like a heart.

"She's so much like you, Braid," he whispered, shedding a single tear. "I wish you could have been here to see her. You would have been so proud."

-X-

Tangle managed to catch up with the others, who were waiting for her outside of the main entrance.

"Sorry I'm late!" she called out. "Hope you guys weren't waiting too long."

"Not at all," Tails replied.

It was then that Tangle noticed him and Hope were looking over something on the Miles Electric.

"Whatcha guys lookin' at?" she asked.

"Some data from Shears' medical exam," Hope replied.

"Right, we banged him up from pretty bad," Tangle's face scrunched in confusion. "Or…good? A-Anyway, what's up with Rory's bod?"

"A lot of things," Hope replied. "For starters, that coffee he drank. Apparently, it's something called Mean Bean No. 18."

Tangle perked. "Oh yeah, that's one of Bob's special blends!"

"Is that like your mixture of Espresso with Blue Cow and 5-Hour Energy?" Tails asked.

"More like that mixed with cocaine, a mill of sugar, and a twenty ounce bottle of pure adrenaline."

Everyone gaped.

"He…He should be dead," Chris insisted. "How is he not dead!?"

"Something doesn't feel right…" Kat said. "I can't tell you what, but my sus meter is telling me something's amiss here."

"With Shears or the coffee?" Knuckles asked.

"Both? Maybe?"

"Maybe we should ask Commander Tower the next time we're here," Shard suggested.

"I'll make sure to ask," Hope said. "Honestly, the fact that he even got that brew in the first place is nuts."

"For now, let's head back home." Sonic decided. "Cream's probably worried sick about us."

He pulled out a Warp Ring and opened a portal. As everyone entered, Tangle took one last look at the base.

"Rory…" she whispered. "Just what are you?"

"Tangle!" Sally called out.

"Coming!"

Up on the roof, Special Agent Rory Shears watched as Tangle followed her friends through the portal back to Knothole before it vanished. He sighed in relief that she didn't see him, or at least kept quiet if she did. It had been a crazy day, and he wasn't in the mood to explain how he survived drinking a pitcher of coffee that could give fatal heart attacks to twenty men, suffering third-degree burns on his hands, getting beaten enough times to break every bone in his body at least seven times over…only to come back completely unscathed after only an hour later, as if it had never happened.

Taking a moment to thank Aurora for small mercies, he smiled as he thought back to the spunky, little lemur girl he'd befriended all those years ago and how she'd managed to kick his ass today.

"Good job, Stripes," he said, looking up at the blue skies. "You too, kids."

His smile then vanished as he slipped another of his 'special knives' out of his sleeve and threw it at the door to the stairwell.

"You come on out now, Mistah Baristah," he ordered, prompting a nervous Agent Stone to meekly open the door.

"H-Hey there, Rory," he greeted, pulling the knife out of both the door and his necktie. "You feelin' better?"

"Sure am…" The redheaded agent turned to him, his expression cold as ice. "No thanks to you."

Stone blinked. "Wh-What are you...?"

"Cut the crap, Robert, " Shears spat. "You know damn well I'm talking about that jug of radioactive septic fluid you gave me."

To his credit, Stone maintained a glorious poker face, looking genuinely exasperated as he spoke. "Rory, I warned you, that stuff is crazy!"

"Yeah..." Shears got right in Stone's face, a knife to his neck. "Especially when you spike it!"

"Spike? I gave you the blend you asked for! I mean, I added a little caramel but I hardly think-" Stone was cut off when Shears applied more pressure with the knife.

"I'm a lot of things, Bob. A loose cannon, a wild card, a knife-wielding maniac. But stupid ain't one of them. I don't know what you did or how you did it, and I can't prove a thing. But I know you put something in that coffee that made me crazy. And Tangle and the kids almost died because of it. They were strong enough to stop me, thank Aurora, but if they hadn't been, or if I hadn't had enough willpower to stick to my plan…"

"Now now, Rory, let's be reasonable here," Stone pleaded. "Just put the knife down and we can talk about this like civilized men-"

"Oh Bobby boy," Shears snarled as his hand suddenly turned blue, tipped with black claws. "You and I both know I ain't no man." His eyes turned yellow and slitted, his teeth sharpening. "I'm a fugg-muthering DEVIL! And if you EVER! EVER! Pull something like that again… I suggest you take a gun and use it on yourself before I get my hands on you." He then placed his claw around his victim's head, applying the slightest pressure. "Am. I. CLEAR?!"

"Crystal clear! Perfectly clear! Now please calm down!"

A tense moment passed before Shears withdrew the knife and backed off, his features shifting back to normal.

"And don't think this is over. I've got my eye on you now."

He held two fingers to his eyes, then pointed them straight at Stone. Then, maintaining eye contact, he backed away, vanishing from sight and leaving Stone in shock.

"Ulp..." he let out before activating his comm.

"What is it?" a voice asked on the other end.

"Sir, it's me… The plan failed. Worse, Shears is suspicious."

The voice sighed. " I warned you not to underestimate those brats."

"It won't happen again, sir. I promise you that."

"I know you won't. If anything, I'm more worried about Shears. I thought you said he was a 'stab-happy idiot'."

"He is. But as he so eloquently put it, he's no fool."

"In that case, we'll need to put our plans for GUN on hold. For now, continue to play the part of the lovably pathetic coffee jockey. I'll give you further orders later."

"Yes, sir."

"Good. In the meantime, see if you can dig up anything useful on Shears. If he's this sharp, I'll need to prepare the proper contingencies."

"Understood, Doctor. Stone, out," Stone hung up, turning toward the direction Shears disappeared to. "Watch me all you want, Rory. It won't matter. After all...in Roshambo," he grinned maliciously. "Rock smashes scissors."

Author's Note:

Uh-oh...something's up with Agent Stone. And what's up with Shears? What is he? Stay tuned...

And that concludes the first story in our little anthology! We hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it!

Don't forget to R&R. Until next time!