Sonic the Hedgehog: Solar Tides [IC/Accepting]

[Wind Rider]

Alex looked on as the enormous ball of burning energy collided with Gwynn. Cynthia put on her shades for the coming explosion but Alex looked on without shielding her eyes, the ball of energy soon disappeared into the sky. "We... We actually did it... Gwynn's gone!" Cynthia cheered.

 

Alex was still looking up at the sky even after Blaze had landed back onto the ground. Even while everyone was celebrating, she was still staring at the sky. Embers started falling down to the ground and Alex's eyes widened, from the sky Gwynn could be seen clapping and floating back down. "You seem to have celebrated a little too early, Queen of Dewdrop. Your god still breathes!"

 

"Oh you have to be kidding me! Why can't you just die out like any normal fire!?" Cynthia was getting fed up with this, not only were all her attacks unsuccessful, but even the strongest attack possible had only damaged half of Gwynn's body. Alex was a bit calmer about the situation but the point still stands, Gwynn is still alive.

 

"THIS IS OUR LAST CHANCE! FOR DEWDROP!"

 

Anais was the first to start the final assault on Gwynn and Zane soon followed with a strong, albeit small, blast of ice. Cynthia quickly hopped onto her board and morphed her arm into a sword. "I didn't get a chance to cut Mephiles in half, he's gone now so I guess your the one getting cleaved in two!" she stated. A blast of air was all that was heard as she rocketed at Gwynn with her literal sword arm extended.

 

Alex meanwhile seemed to be at her tipping point just like Zane. They had to put everything they had into this, if they lost that's it, game over. Alex took a knife in her hand and slowly started moving towards Gwynn, invisibility wasn't going to cut it but if Gwynn got distracted by the others she could get a hit in, hopefully anyway.

[King K. Azo]

"You seem to have celebrated a little too early, Queen of Dewdrop.  Your god still breathes!" He laughed triumphantly, crashing with the force of the sun into the center of the entire group.  "Well...I guess it's ten on one?  That hardly seems fair...for you!"  Gwynn rushed Blaze with an outstretched hand, coated in flames, however, Anais made a swift move, kicking Gwynn's arm from beneath, prompting him to lose balance.  
 
"THIS IS OUR LAST CHANCE!" Anais screamed at everyone, before stabbing Gwynn a multitude of times with light from her sword. "FOR DEWDROP!" That battle cry caused only one thought to go through Chimera's head.

Fuck Dewdrop. 

He wasn't doing it for them. No, these people didn't deserve his help. However, the Sun God deserved to die, and if the others attacked him as well, Chimera wouldn't stop them.

Zane blasted the god with his ice, and Cythina going to attack with a sword. There was only one thing Chimera had that would hurt a god of fire. Morphing his arm, he aimed a fired the most powerful blast of water he could. They would end this, here and now.

[Hälō]

 

If he were being honest with himself, it wasn't surprising that the sun god had managed to survive their combined assault. Gwynn's power went beyond anything Axel had every seen before... it was like peering into the face of power itself.  

 

"Brother!" Axel glanced to Ken as he watched everyone in their final offensive against Gwynn. Even if he was as unbeatable as he appeared, they couldn't give up now... 

 

With his energy supply completely drained and the chaos emeralds no longer feeding him energy, Axel was forced to resort to the first technique that Silver had taught the twins so many years ago. "Let's go!" Spinning into a ball, Axel dashed across the ground towards Gwynn, circling around the god's flank to attempt try and force him into the other freedom fighter's attacks with a final spin dash. 

[Mr. Hyde]

 

As his brother, with all of the energy that was left inside of him, spun off in a dash in a desperate attempt to thwart Gwynn.  Ken couldn't help it, but his knees were shaking.  After all that...after all they had done...was it finally over?  His fists tightened, as he shook of his doubts.  He tucked himself over, and started dashing as well, promptly passing up his brother in an instant, hurling himself at sonic speeds towards the fire god.  

 

"Pathetic..."  Gwynn groaned, as a flick of his hands created another sweeping wave of fire.  The fire pushed back against his quills, halting the spindash in it's place.  The water evaporated, and the ice melted.  The final attack had proven meaningless once again.  Ken roared, as he tried to cut through the flames, but he was pushed too far back to even reach Gwynn.  Ken was sent flying back, unfurled from his ball, and careened towards his brother's own attempt to dash, smacking right into Axel.  Anais, and even the royal guard, couldn't stand against the waves.  Instead, Turk grabbed a chunk of earth, and put it in front of his Queen and Princess, and motioned for everyone to join him behind it, if they weren't already burnt to a crisp that was.  

 

The fire died down, and Gwynn stood in the courtyard, a smirk painting his face.  

 

"You see?  Your efforts were futile...just submit to me already, and we can get this Mobius cleanse on with."  

 

Ken punched the ground, smashing it in the process.  His clothes were smoldering, as he made sure that he had protected his brother.  He looked back at Axel, his eyes red from smoke and ash, but watering from either tears or the irritation.

 

"I think I'm about to do something really stupid..." he chuckled.  He could feel the remnants of his power flowing within him.  He was the only one in this fight that had stamina left to go on.  "You all need to get out of here...because I'm not sure if what's about to happen will lead to the destruction of this whole city."  In his body, he could feel the chaos gates in his body flow into one another, releasing simultaneously.  Ken started his walk up to Gwynn.  The tremendous pressure he was facing...something the sol emeralds couldn't even handle...would just the third inhibitor be enough?

 

No...of course it wouldn't...he needed more.

 

Gwynn cocked his head in curiosity.  

 

"My my...you seem to have been pretty threatening after all.  For a Mobian to have such control of their inner chaos gates...I should have killed you first."  A flame lit in the god's hand, before a smile washed away the arrogant smirk.  "This might be fun after all."

 

"1...2...3...4...5...6...7...The last Inhibitor...Relea-"  Ken fell unconscious, as Milo descended from the sky with a swift chop at the base of Ken's neck.  

 

"Sorry kid...this is M'lady's moment."  As he caught the falling Ken, albeit stumbling from Ken's massive body weight, He looked past Gwynn with a chagrin demeanor.  "No need for that maneuver...this is checkmate."

 

"What does that even mean?"  Gwynn growled, angered by the fact that his only challenge was no unconscious.  

 

"It means that this fight is over!"  Blaze shouted, from behind Gwynn.  Her hand thrusted towards him, as she entered her burning state once more.  "God Seal: Sol Secularism!"  A diamond like shape shined around Gwynn, similar to the one she had used before using her Sol Meteor attack to keep him in place.  However, this one was much thicker than her previous prison.  "I had to let the Sol Emeralds recharge...but thanks to a sun god being so close to them, that task was easier than expected."  Gwynn bared his teeth, as he let a fist fly towards his new cell.  It bounced against the wall of the prism with a zapping sound, instantly disintegrating Gwynn's entire right hand.  

 

"You have got to be kidding me!"  Gwynn groaned once more, looking at his newfound stub that emanated flames.  

 

"I'm afraid I'm deathly serious."  Blaze stated, as she fell out of the Burning state.  "This should hold you for some time...I don't know how long, but you won't be moving freely anytime soon."  Gwynn grit his teeth, his eyes searing.  

 

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"  He erupted, as flames shot from every inch of his body, coating the entire inside of the prism in flames.  However, they were held inside, smoldering nothing but the air inside the prison.  Once he had stopped, Gwynn could be seen hovering in the diamond.  "You damned cat..you're delaying the inevitable!  I will be free of this prison, and once I am, I will burn Mobius to the ground!"  A shadowy gate appeared from underneath Gwynn's prison, as a blob like hand took hold of it, sinking the diamond cell into the ground, along with the seething Gwynn.  "I WILL NOT BE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF AGAIN!  THIS WON'T WORK TWICE, YOU HEAR ME?!"  He shouted, before completely disappearing into the void that had grabbed him.  

 

Blaze smiled, as she began to collapse.  Thankfully, Turk swiftly made his way to grab his falling Queen.  Milo laughed, still holding a snoring Ken.  

 

"You know...for a big guy, you move real quick."  

 

"Mind tongue friend...our Queen...she is..."  

 

"Dying..." Blaze said, coughing up a bit of blood, "It was about damn time...I was running on eight lives for a while there."  A slightly battered Anais made her way towards her mother.  

 

"My Quee-...Mother...what was that technique!?  Why are you fading away?!  You can't leave me alone!"  Blaze put a lone finger up to her daughter's lips.  

 

"Too many questions, dear Anais...and not enough time.  Just know...that I always held you dearly.  Turk, please bring me to the throne room."  Turk did as instructed, and carried a withering Blaze into the destroyed castle's throne room.  "Milo..bring her here would you..."  Milo nodded, and teleported away, instantly reappearing with a charred body in his hands.  Turk lay Blaze's body next to the charred remains of what looked to be-.  "Sol Emeralds...grant this queen her dying wish...and bring back the one who was most innocent in all of this."  The Sol Emeralds removed themselves from Blaze's person, as they began to swirl above her.  A small flame withdrew itself from Blaze's torso, and flew to the center of the swirling sol emeralds.  They then moved towards the charred body, and lowered the flame into it's torso, causing a cleansing flame to reveal the slightly burned frame of Tiffany.  The girl took a deep breath, and almost coughed up a lung in the process.  She clutched her chest, where a pink scar now resided.  

 

"W-what is this..."  The girl looked to her side to see Blaze, unresponsive.  "What...what happened..." the girl's voice quivered, as the Royal Guard knelt alongside their previous Queen.  Anais, however, leaped for Tiffany and embraced her.  

 

"Tiff...." She sobbed into the girl's shoulder.  "Tiff!  Tiff!"

 

Like a domino effect, Tiffany started to cry as well.  However, when her tears hit the cold stone of the castle floors, a bright light started to take root from them.  Tiny bubbles, filled with brightness, started to expand, unnoticed by all of those too distracted by the loss and gains that had just happened.  The spheres grew larger, and started to collide with each other, taking shape and producing another large sphere around the city.  A new barrier was resurrected around Dewdrop...but at the cost of it's Queen.  

 

End of Chapter 6

 

 

Chapter 7: Rise

 

In the oncoming days, Dewdrop was in the process of rebuilding.  Countless lives had been lost in the conflict, and morale was at an all time low.  The death of the Queen was known only among the ones that were in her presence when it happened, as to not lose all hope.  

 

Anais was now the crowned ruler of Dewdrop.  She was on the grounds, helping all of those who had lost family and homes.  She would make sure that the castle had plenty of room to house those in these times.

 

Back at the Castle, Milo had rounded up the saviors that had defeated Mephiles and Iblis.  Alongside him were both Tiffany and Turk.

 

"Ken...Axel...Zane...Alex...Cynthia...and Chimera."  He presented them with a golden medallion, much like that which had led them here in the first place.  "I hereby instate all of you into the Royal Guard of Dewdrop.  From this point on, you will be protectors of the city."  Ken eyed the shimmering medallion...it was so tempting to take it.  However, he kindly raised a hand.  

 

"Sorry Milo...but I can't accept that offer.  There's gotta be some way to defeat that so called 'god'."  He turned around to face the door.  "And we sure as hell aren't going to find a way sitting here protecting the city."  He flashed a thumb towards Tiffany.  "Besides...you got the trigg-I mean the barrier up and running.  You don't need a couple of us lousy Defenders of Mobius in your way."

 

Milo sighed.  

 

"I knew you were going to say something like that.  But you sure are a dolt!  This was an honorary title!  I didn't want you to stay here anyways!  You're too destructive with your training!"  

 

Embarrassed, Ken started to walk out of the Dewdrop Citadel.  

 

"Say your goodbyes, Defenders...we set sail in thirty!"  

[Wind Rider]

Alex had blanked out, when she came to her senses she was behind a makeshift cover made by Turk. Cynthia was in the air watching the events take place. Blaze had used what bit of power she had left to seal Gwynn within a temporary cage of energy. But before anything could be done, a dark portal opened up and dragged Gwynn away. "I WILL NOT BE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF AGAIN! THIS WON'T WORK TWICE, YOU HEAR ME?!" Gwynn vanished into the darkness, leaving Blaze in a dying state.

 

With her dying breath, Blaze had revived Tiffany from a sad, charred mess and soon faded away in a spectacle of lights and embers. That was the last thing that Alex saw, tears filled her eyes, the only one that probably understood her the most was gone.

 

A few days later, the city was slowly but surely being repaired under Anais's rule, Alex had remained silent and preferred to stay away from everyone. Milo and the others had gathered everyone up and had rewarded them for there efforts and even gave them the titles of royal guards of Dewdrop. Ken had other ideas though.

 

"Sorry Milo...but I can't accept that offer. There's gotta be some way to defeat that so called 'god'." He turned around to face the door. "And we sure as hell aren't going to find a way sitting here protecting the city." He flashed a thumb towards Tiffany. "Besides...you got the trigg-I mean the barrier up and running. You don't need a couple of us lousy Defenders of Mobius in your way."

 

Ken left for the ship. "Say your goodbyes, Defenders...we set sail in thirty!" Cynthia followed after Ken and wrapped her arm around him. "Gotta hand it to you, you did one heck of a job. I'm almost jealous." she said grinning cheerfully. Alex stood behind in the citadel, she had a blank expression looking at the medal Milo had given her.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

Zane slowly lowered his hands, watching as Gwynn was sealed into a diamond...only to be taken by a void hand...it was probably Mephiles if anyone. There wasn't a chance to get him...not this time. He finally pumped his hands into the air, smiling widely, before finally blacking out.

 

He felt the ground colliding with his back, as well as the voice of Anais...seeming to call out to Blaze and saying the name "Tiff". Zane only knew that everyone would probably catch him up when he recovered... So this was the strength and power of a Dire Wolf...

 

 

Surely as he thought before, everyone did catch him up when he awoke. Queen Blaze sacrificed herself for the good of Dewdrop and not only brought Tiffany back, but also brought back a new barrier for the city. As of this moment, Anais was also put into the position of Queen of Dewdrop. Needless to say, things were quite different now...

 

"Ken...Axel...Zane...Alex...Cynthia...and Chimera. I hereby instate all of you into the Royal Guard of Dewdrop. From this point on, you will be protectors of the city."

 

Zane admired the gold medallion that Milo bestowed on him and the others. A medal...this was something he never even knew he'd ever get in his life. And for doing something that in turn helped save a kingdom from not only a creature of the dark and a demonic flame...BUT a Mobian God! Needless to say, Zane was quite pleased with himself.

 

"Say your goodbyes, Defenders...we set sail in thirty!"

 

"Aye, aye cap'n!" Zane chuckled, before finally approaching Milo with a smile. He extended his hand and nodded at the hedgehog. "Milo. I want to thank you personally. Because of you, I was able to tap into this new reservoir of power."

 

Milo only smiled and met Zane's hand, shaking it, whilst flicking his nose with his thumb. "Well I don't mean to toot my own horn or anything...but making a legend come true...that was pretty neat!"

 

"Hahaha, yeah it was." Zane laughed, nodding with a small smile. "I also want you to know that I plan to take the powers of the Dire Wolf and try to progress further with it, to make it my own and even get my body used to it." he said, recalling the battle against Gwynn and Mephiles. He could recall the pain his body felt as he pushed this to the very limits. Zane definitely needed to make sure that his body was 100% accustom to this newfound strength and power.

 

"It ain't gonna be easy kid...but If there's anybody that stands a chance of doing it, I suppose that'd have to be you.  With that power...who knows how far it can take you." Milo simply said, tossing his hands into his duster's pockets. It was obvious he had complete faith in the arctic wolf.

 

Zane simply nodded, before remembering something as he thought about the battle against Gwynn. A small phrase he heard...

 

"You remind me of someone I used to know...though he is no longer with me."

"I hate the cold....reminds me of space."

 

Why did he say this? Zane thought, suddenly being in deep thought, which caused him to finally turn to Milo. He might know something... "Milo, I have a question for you, regarding Gwynn. Since you know quite a bit, I thought you might be the best person to ask."

 

Upon hearing this, Milo rubbed his chin with a small sigh. "Well...I mean depends on the question I guess.  I don't know the guy personally...all we got is legends. But hey...if the Dire Wolf stood the test of time, maybe there's something in there that can knock Gwynn down a peg."

 

"Alright, perhaps you can make something out of this." Zane said, crossing his arms. "Gwynn...he mentioned that I reminded him of someone he used to know...someone that isn't around him anymore. That and he hated the cold...said it reminded him of space."

 

Silence fell between the arctic wolf and the hedgehog, as Milo thought about this. After a few moments, he finally spoke. "Well...Gwynn wasn't the only old god, you know. Chaos came into being through the elements, and vice versa. If the first sun of Mobius is an Avatar for the son...maybe there is one that represents everything water..."

 

Zane only nodded, understanding somewhat. Not a whole lot, but some. "It makes some sense...guess those from Cha'Aqua may know something more."

[King K. Azo]

Chimera didn't know how he felt.

The past few days had been so surreal to him. First there was a battle with a sun god, and Blaze died not by his own hands, and then they trapped the gods, and Tiff came back to life... it was more than his processors could take for a bit. However, they were finally leaving this place... still, before he left, he should at least talk to the one organic he didn't mind from this city. 

 

Chimera walked over to Tiff, arms folded. "It is... good to see you alive," He stated. He wasn't sure where to take the conversation. He was leaving soon, but he didn't have much to ask besides 'how was it being dead?'. He figured that was a bad thing to talk about though.

 

"Man...you sure like to make girls relive traumatic experiences huh..." she said rubbing her arm.  "Can it even be called living...I caused all of this to happen.  My weakness...it brought upon the ruin of Dewdrop..."

 

Chimera shrugged. "I am bad at conversation," He admitted. He then looked at her. "However, do not blame yourself... it is not your fault. It was my own. I did not perceive the danger, nor did I react in time...,"

 

Tiff smiled.  "It's alright....don't blame yourself."  She patted him on his shoulder.  "So...what will you do now..."

 

"If you blame yourself, I blame myself," He stated before looking over to the group of people he had been traveling with. "I will continue to travel with them, hoping to somehow save the world," He said. "All while trying to figure out what happened to my family,"

 

Tiff looked at the robot with a surprised expression.  "Family?  They're still out there?"

 

"Mecha had been attacking your city in the name of some other city," Chimera stated. "It makes me think the others could be just out there,"

 

"Well...if you don't find them, you'll always have family here in Dewdrop!"  She said clasping her hands in front of her face.  "I'll be waiting to meet your brothers and sisters though, so don't make me wait!"

 

Chimera nodded. "Alright. I'll be sure this is the first place we come to when everything is over. That's a promise," He turned to leave. "Take care of yourself,"

[Hälō]

Opening Theme

 

As the others said their goodbyes, Axel stood to the side with his arms crossed over his chest. So much had happened in such a short time, and now with the revelation that Gwynn was the true threat that they were facing, it had become painfully clear that he and his allies were nowhere near as strong as they needed to be.

 

"The emeralds..." He thought to himself as he watched Ken, Cynthia, Zane and Chimera make their way towards the ship. Having seen the power that Blaze had been granted by the Sol emeralds first hand, the importance of gathering the chaos emeralds was newly restored. 

 

Glancing over to see that Alex was lingering behind, Axel studied her expression before gently nudging past her as he walked towards the exit. "We can't changed what happened here." He said before glancing back over his shoulder to meet her gaze. "But I'm sure she would have wanted you to keep moving forward... just like our master did." He knew what she was going through all too well...

 

Sliding his hands down into his pockets, Axel waited a moment for the cat to follow before continuing towards the ship. His thoughts went to Silver as an image of him and Blaze was casted in the back of his mind.

 

"At least you wont lonely up there, old man..." Axel's lips curled into a sorrowful half smile. It was about time they left this damned city...

 

 

He peered into the smoldering inferno for what felt like an eternity. What was this place? Shielding his eyes from a wall of smoke and ash that suddenly swept over him, Axel coughed violently before stepping forward towards what seemed to be the form of another person within the ocean of flames. 

 

"Hello?" He called out to the figure. Though he would received no response...

 

Taking another step forward, he was promptly greetedwith another wave of heat and smoke. Still unable to settle on details about the mysterious figure, Axel's mind began drawing connections. "Gwynn?!" He hissed before charging forward despite the vicious flames impeding his progress. 

 

As he drew closer, the boy realized that there was actually a second figure standing opposite of the first one, in what seemed to be a face off of some sort. Finally reaching the original figure, Axel grabbed the shadowy form by the shoulder and twisted them around, only to be blinded by an immense light.

 

 

 

Mobian Sea: Egg Carrier

 

 

Awakening with a gasp, Axel sighed as he glanced around the room. "Another premonition..." He mumbled to himself before glancing down at his palms to see that he was sweating profusely. Was the Chaos Force warning him about something, again? 

 

Sighing, the white hedgehog silently slid out of bed and threw on his usual garments, being careful not wake his brother who was sleeping nearby. After taking a final glance at Ken's slumbering form, Axel exited their room and made his way towards the deck. It had been roughly two days since they had departed after from Dewdrop, and though their wounds had healed, a dark cloud seemed to still linger over some of Freedom Fighters. Instead of pursuing their next objective, the team had opted to take time to gather themselves, they had just faced a God after all...

 

"Reef," Axel called as his watched the sun slowly begin to rise. 

 

"You've awoken rather early, Master Axel..." The ship's voice promptly responded. "What can I do for you?" 

 

"I need you to wake up the others in thirty minutes. I'd like to discuss our next move..." He spoke in his usual tone as closed his eyes and began spreading his senses across the horizon.

 

"Very well~"

 

 

 

Upon being awoken by Reef, the freedom fighters would be told to gather in their usual meeting spot. There they would find Axel in the meditative state, with the two chaos emeralds they had gathered floating around him. With his senses stretched far across the sea, Axel would remain dead silent until ever single one of his allies had gathered, and would be completely oblivious to any attempts to converse with him until then. 

 

"We've been licking our wounds for long enough..." In time the prodigy finally addressed all those present. Studying all their faces, he couldn't help but feel a hint of shame, they had never touched on the roll he had played in the Iblis Trigger's demise, and part of him wanted to apologize of contributing to the disaster that followed.  

 

"I've located our next target." Bringing himself to his feet, Axel plucked the two emeralds from the air as he spoke. "It should be about a day's travel from here..." His gaze lingered on Zane for a moment as he struggled to find the appropriate words. "We'll be heading to the Arctic." 

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

Zane stayed in his room, resting a bit for the day as he just returned from training with his new abilities. He really had to hand it to Ken, his little training regiment he had was quite straining... However he could feel little by little his body getting used to the powers of a Dire Wolf. He slowly lifted his hand up and looked at his opened hand.

 

A legendary Dire Wolf...heh...who knew that those stories you told me were true, dad. he thought, before slowly clenching his fist as he sighed. Again, his mind wandered to what occurred when Milo helped him become this legend...that vision or premonition he had. Honestly, that was the first time he had ever had a vision like that...normally in the recent events, Axel seemed the only one with those. Then again, he's always meditating...so that's an obvious one.

 

Zane sighed once more, before sitting up from his bed, just in time to hear that Axel wanted them. "Speak of the hedgehog..." he chuckled, standing up as he tossed his vest on and grabbed his multi-tool. "Better find out what Axel needs. Or better yet where the next emerald might be."

 

 

"I've located our next target. It should be about a day's travel from here...We'll be heading to the Arctic."

 

These words almost had Zane's jaw drop, if it wasn't for the gazing stare Axel gave him. The target was the Arctic...the Northern Tundra. He was headed home!! After Axel said this, there was a bit of silence from Zane, before his ears perked up and a huge smile appeared on his face. He finally howled out in joy, before pumping his fist into the air.

 

"YEEEES!!!" he said happily, before realizing he was making a spectacle of himself. Clearing his throat, Zane rubbed the back of his neck. "S-Sorry about that. Just really been looking forward to heading back there. Especially with the hope I got from becoming a Dire Wolf." Zane said with a smile, staring at Axel. "You told me once that there might've been a possibility that my father is still alive when Charyb attacked." He looked at his hand once more before nodding. "While I was in the process of becoming the Dire Wolf...I had a vision. Milo basically said it could happen...as it was my fears or something. But...with this opportunity, I can make sure everyone is alright...including my father."

[Wind Rider]

"We can't changed what happened here. But I'm sure she would have wanted you to keep moving forward... just like our master did."

 

Alex looked at axel with the same expressionless look she was giving the medal. She looked at the ground and nodded, Blaze wouldn't want her to feel so terrible about what happened, she had to move on. Alex followed the rest of the group and took one last look at the castle, even though it was in bad shape still, it couldn't have been brighter.

 

As usual, Alex spent the most of the day locked in her room, only leaving to stretch her legs or to get something to eat. She had hanged her golden medallion of Dewdrop on the wall close to her bed, far from the little treasure pile at the corner of the room. It didn't belong in junk pile.

 

Reef's announcement to the crew woke Alex up, she got up with a groan and slipped on a worn black shirt. She headed out her room to the deck of the cruiser. Cynthia on the other hand was already up and was actually trying out her ability on the deck. She bounced around like a rubber ball and sent a breeze of air as she punched and kicked. The sound of the announcement took her attention as she morphed her body back to normal.

 

Alex was probably the last one to arrive while Cynthia was probably one of the first to show up. Axel was meditating with both emeralds floating beside him, the air felt heavy near the telekinetic fighter. "We've been licking our wounds for long enough..." He stood up to address the group. "I've located our next target. It should be about a day's travel from here...We'll be heading to the Arctic."

 

Zane let out an excited cheer at the sound of that, Cynthia simply shrugged. "Alright, snow and ice here we come." she said giving a thumbs up. Alex let out a gloomy sigh. "Great... If the heat wasn't enough, now we're gonna freeze our tails off..." she said heading back down to her room.

[Mr. Hyde]

 

"Master Ken?  Your presence is requested in the control room."  A sweet, but rather robotic voice rang out through his room.  Ken tossed around in his bed, a sour taste stirring the same way in his mouth.  He finally decided to sit up, and stretch his arms.  

 

While getting dressed, and putting on his gloves, his curled his fingers into a fist, and stared at it for quite some time.  

 

"They weren't able to reach him..." He stated coldly.  Of course he was talking about their foe, the first Sun of Mobius, Gwynn.  Yet again, they had to be bailed out by someone much stronger than they were...but this time it was his would be adopted mother this time...instead of his adopted father.  It all happened so fast, but it felt like he was losing people he cared about with each new day.  And it seemed that after each new day, he was reciting the same monologue in his head.

 

Why was he so weak?  

 

"Why am I so..."

 

He smacked his head from both sides to get himself out of his somber mood, and launched himself out of his bed.  He made his way to the control room, where everyone had gathered up to circle around Axel.  His brother sat, hovering in the air, a common pose for him, with the emeralds orbiting his body.  

 

"I've located our next target.  It should be about a day's travel from here...We'll be heading to the Arctic."

 

Ken looked over to Zane, to see the look on the wolf's face.  It was a mixture of glee, with a slight undertone of nervousness.  

 

"S-Sorry about that. Just really been looking forward to heading back there. Especially with the hope I got from becoming a Dire Wolf.  You told me once that there might've been a possibility that my father is still alive when Charyb attacked.  While I was in the process of becoming the Dire Wolf...I had a vision. Milo basically said it could happen...as it was my fears or something. But...with this opportunity, I can make sure everyone is alright...including my father."

 

"Well heck, if he's anything like you Zane, I don't think you should be the least bit worried."  Ken stretched out his legs, before flashing the wolf a smile.  "I want to meet the old man too!  I wanna see the look on his face when you tell 'em you became a Dire Wolf!"  Ken smacked Zane on the back, as he chuckled a bit.  "When we get there, we'll have to show it off...you and me, full force!"  Ken threw a couple of mock punches out in front of him.  

[King K. Azo]

Chimera didn't sleep. He did, however, decide today was a good day to enter the standby mode that he explained to Ken all the way back in the forest of ghosts.  His memories were replaying in front of him as they were stored away for back-up. It was the closest thing he had to dreams. Pretty lame compared to what he heard organics could have. He felt like he wanted to stay in this mode for the next few days and just repair slowly but surely. Sadly, that was impossible for the robot to have. Reef woke him, telling him to go to the usual meeting spot so they can have, well... a meeting.

He was his usual grouchy self, sitting in the corner as everyone else spoke. It seemed they were going to the Arctic, something Chimera didn't want. No, he wanted to investigate the city. It didn't matter though. When did his opinion ever matter in this horrible, organic world. As everyone started to spilt up, Chimera suddenly got a private ping from Reef. That didn't happen too often...

 

"Master Chimera, we're und---," Before her sentence could be finished. Chimera did a robotic equivalent of a blink. What was that? Well, time to call her back and---

 

He couldn't reach her. He quickly began to request permission to the ship's computer, only to be denied. Denied? Him? But he had the highest level of access in this whole damn ship! He attempted to remotely access the controls... he couldn't. He could determine though... they weren't moving. They were dead in the air.

"EVERYONE!" He shouted, needing their attention and needing it now. Their hearts and nerves be damned. "We're dead in the air! I can't access anything in the ship! Worst of all, I've lost contact with Reef!" There was only one explanation for all this, but he hated the very idea of this. "Either everything has died at once... or we've been hacked,"

[Hälō]

Mobian Sea - Light Piercer - Meeting Spot

 

 

Axel couldn't help but allow a small smile to form on the side of his mouth as he saw Zane's expression after realizing that he was heading home. So this was what it was like to have friends, huh?

 

His gaze shifted to Alex as she broodingly moved to return to her room, causing the smile to fade. Whilst Zane his brother chatted, the white hedgehog move to follow the thief. Though it seemed there were more urgent matters that needed to be attended to. 

 

"EVERYONE!" Chimera's voice boomed across the area, causing the entire crew to grow silent. "We're dead in the air! I can't access anything in the ship! Worst of all, I've lost contact with Reef!" Axel's eyes narrowed this. "Either everything has died at once... or we've been hacked,"

 

Closing his eyes, Axel began scanning the surrounding area with his senses. "Damn..." He cursed aloud as he registered a large object rapidly approaching the ship. Having been honing in on the energy signatures of the chaos emeralds all day, the boy's powers had failed to register the presence  of an even more imminent threat...

 

"In coming..." Axel growled to his team whilst glancing towards the front of the deck. His fists clenched as a strong gust of wind began blowing eerily over the freedom fighters, and within moments large a figure could soon seen as it broke the clouds towards Light Piercer. 

 

Watching as a wicked looking gold vessel settled itself directly in front of the Light Piercer's nose, Axel glanced over to his brother as two Mobain forms peered over the other ship's spiked railing. 

 

 

BMG

 

"AHOY MATIES AND LADIES!" A small feminine voiced called down to the freedom fighters whilst the two figures leaped from their vessel. 

 

A small rumble of force rippled throughout the Light piercer's deck, as the first of the intruders landed on one knee with whilst placing her fist against the ground and holding her left arm outwards. Her head hung low as the second intruder landed silently at her side without disturbing even a single trace of the air flow around him.

 

"... Why the bloody hell didn't you do the super hero landing like we agreed on?" The female intruder turned and addressed her accomplice as she stood up straight. The white hedgehog spoke in an lilting accent that Axel had never heard before, and as he studied her aura he instantly noticed that it was surprisingly dense despite it's light golden hue.

 

"I remember you saying something like that, but certainly don't recall agreeing to it..."  The grey wolf at her side sighed without looking up from the small square device that he held in his hand. "Anyway, this ship's tech is pretty impressive." Swiping his thumb across the small handheld computer's screen twice, he looked up the freedom fighter's and studied them with a bored expression as he slide the device into one of his many pockets. "I almost had to try for a second there when I broke in..." His is voice was gruff but respectful as he addressed the hedgehog.

 

"That means they probably have some sweet loot then!" The female hedgehog pumped her fist with glee. "Looks like it was worth heading back towards Dewdrop after all, eh?" 

 

"Not if we get pinched..." He sighed again before nodding to the group that stood across the deck. "Let's speed this up, Captain." He urged, causing the hedgehog to roll her eyes.

 

"Fiiiiinneeee." She grumbled, finally turning to inspect the owners of the vessel. The sun continued to rise up above the two ships causing strong glare to shine behind the captain as she greeted the Freedom Fighters with a toothy white grin.

 

"Don't mind him, loves! Blake is just a permanent grump..." Her tone was as bright as the sun that shone behind her, and with every word the girl's smile seemed to grow brighter. "Today is your lucky day though!" The captain threw her arms as up she spoke. "You've been boarded by the great Captain Rox-beard!" Roxie's smile shrunk into a smrk as she studied each of the Freedom Fighter's expressions from across the deck. "Do you guys wanna to just line up all of your valuables on the deck here? Or should we just help ourselves?"

[Wind Rider]

Before Alex could head back down below, a sudden alert by Chimera and Axel caught her attention. The ship had been hacked somehow and another cruiser had parked itself in front of the Light Piercer. A hedgehog, followed by a wolf, jumped down onto the deck and made their intentions very clear. "Today is your lucky day though!" The captain threw her arms as up she spoke. "You've been boarded by the great Captain Rox-beard!" Roxie's smile shrunk into a smrk as she studied each of the Freedom Fighter's expressions from across the deck. "Do you guys wanna to just line up all of your valuables on the deck here? Or should we just help ourselves?"

 

"Heh... Are you serious?" Alex spoke up before anyone else could, these two were full of themselves it seemed. "You really think that we're gonna do what you say?" Alex was obviously not in the mood for this, especially this. The hedgehog looked at her in surprise. "Well that's the gist of a robbery, ain't it?"

 

Alex gave a threatening glare at the hedgehog. "It's two against six, things aren't exactly in your favor. So why don't you take a hike before things get messy." She said in an aggressive tone. The hedgehog still had a cheerful outlook and she seemed to be sizing Alex up, looking for weaknesses no doubt. The wolf then spoke up. "So you six are the ones on board then? Makes sense, you only had six users registered in your system."

 

Alex immediately didn't like this wolf, a know-it-all and a hacker, was there anything more annoying? "You spoke first but I can't tell its not you... Which one of you guys is in charge?" The wolf asked.

 

Embers started to form around Alex's hand, she was getting really ticked off. "I'm really getting sick of you two, especially you hacker boy. Now get lost before I burn you alive..." she said pointing at Roxie. "And smash that tablet of yours on your bloody head." she said turning to Blake.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

"Well heck, if he's anything like you Zane, I don't think you should be the least bit worried. I want to meet the old man too!  I wanna see the look on his face when you tell 'em you became a Dire Wolf! When we get there, we'll have to show it off...you and me, full force!"

 

Zane rubbed the back of his head, chuckling slightly. "Yeesh Ken...full force? I want to impress everyone, not knock them back and possibly scare the daylights out of them." he joked, before shaking his head. "Nah, arctic wolves don't scare that easily."

 

It was obvious that the meeting was finishing up, so now everyone was left to their own devices. Though when Zane turned around, he noticed Chimera seeming a little down. Then again, it was hard to read a robot's expressions. Nevertheless, he decided to check on his metal skinned companion, best to check to see if he was alright.

 

However, before he got to say anything...

 

"EVERYONE! We're dead in the air! I can't access anything in the ship! Worst of all, I've lost contact with Reef! Either everything has died at once... or we've been hacked!"

 

He was just at a loss for words at Chimera's quick statement. As if things weren't bad enough.... Now he turned and saw a gold vessel settling over the Light Piercer and it wasn't what he first thought it was. Originally he thought it was possibly Mephiles making a surprise attack...thankfully it wasn't that bad...but it was still bad.

 

"Don't mind him, loves! Blake is just a permanent grump...Today is your lucky day though!You've been boarded by the great Captain Rox-beard! Do you guys wanna to just line up all of your valuables on the deck here? Or should we just help ourselves?"

 

Pirates...and not just any run of the mill ones...a crew spearheaded by Captain Rox-beard. Even while he was in Metropolis, Zane heard about Rox-beard and her crew causing terror around the skies of Mobius. Fan...freakin'....tastic.... he thought.

 

He was about to speak first, but unfortunately for him...

 

"I'm really getting sick of you two, especially you hacker boy. Now get lost before I burn you alive...And smash that tablet of yours on your bloody head."

 

Oh for the love of Chaos!! Zane thought, hearing Alex threaten them. Though at the same time, he was curious about the one thing here: the grey wolf hacker, Blake. To be honest, Zane hadn't really seen a wolf this tech savvy before. He stared at the wolf for a bit of time, apparently to the point where Blake noticed with a glance, before returning his gaze back towards Alex. It was obvious he needed to do something.

 

From the pair, Rox-beard laughed while her cohort only scoffed. It was obvious the two weren't worried about anything.

 

"How frightening~" Rox-beard said in a very strong sarcastic tone, while Blake only sighed.

 

"Yeah. So...the leader?"

 

Finally the arctic wolf stepped forward and cleared his throat, trying to get the attention of both Blake and Rox-beard. "'Scuse me...but why exactly are you looking for the leader?" he asked. He watched Rox-beard turn towards him to address his existence and most likely answer him, but Zane didn't care about that for the moment. At that moment, he could feel something from her. It was some sort of intensity...a pressure coming from her. Zane didn't know what it was...but he wasn't liking this feeling. Calm down, Zane...just keep calm. he thought.

 

"Well..." the hedgehog pirate captain started. "My crew has brought it to my attention that if we keep sinking the ships before we get the stuff... we don't get stuff. Soooooo...." She continued whilst flexing her hands. "I wanna umm..." It seemed like she was searching for the words to say, but obviously couldn't find them.

 

"Negotiate the terms of your surrender." Blake chimed in.

 

Zane nodded at this. Though as he prepared for his next retort, he made sure to be cautious. This Rox-beard had a nickname and some pretty steep tall tales surrounding her. "I see. Well, if I may...what if we don't have anything valuable to give to you and your crew? Surely the "Pirate Captain Demon of Mobius" has standards. What if all we have is nothing but junk?"

 

"If he may..." Rox-beard whispered, terribly mind you, to Blake.  "I bet this Nancy boy isn't in charge..."

 

....Can still hear you... Zane thought when he heard the hedgehog whisper terribly.

 

"Captain..." Blake replied, sighing some.

 

Rox-beard regained her focus at the wolf's words, clearing her throat slightly. "The Pirate Captain Demon of Mobius needs to keep money in her pockets~"

 

Sure it made sense, but then again, they literally didn't exactly have much of anything that was of worth. Correction, they might...but these two pirates didn't need any of their stuff at all. Though Zane's thoughts of this would immediately subside as now he was on edge. Before this pressure Rox-beard gave off was faint...almost not there. But now, now the pressure was instantly noticeable to him...so much so that he could feel his fur standing on end.

 

"So if I may..." she continued. "The next Nancy that pipes up, who isn't responsible for you lot...will be negotiating the terms of your surrender with my boot up their arse..."

 

Zane clenched his fists slightly, keeping his muzzle shut at this point. He slowly moved back in line with the others. Though on the one hand, he did definitely raise whatever pressure she had around her to a level which was noticeable. And if he noticed it...he was damn sure Axel would too. However, he couldn't help but notice that Rox-beard was once again "whispering"...this time discretely making fun of him...obviously sucking horribly at it.

 

Does she even know what whispering is? Sheesh... he thought, gritting his teeth slightly.

[Mr. Hyde]

 

Ken looked on in anger, as the crew of another ship decided to board the Light Piercer.  

 

"You have got to be kidding me...we don't have time for this!"  Ken growled, as he flared a look towards Axel.  The two of them could finish this situation in a flash.  The whole crew appeared on the front deck, approached by two other Mobians who introduced themselves as Blake, a wolf, and Roxie, a hedgehog.  Zane and Alex were the first to speak up, but were forced down in the presence of this pirate gang.  

 

"So if I may...The next Nancy that pipes up, who isn't responsible for you lot...will be negotiating the terms of your surrender with my boot up their arse..."

 

Ken looked to his brother...which one was even the leader of this group in the first place?  There wasn't really a power play for the position among anyone in the group.  However, when he looked to Axel, his brother glanced at him, and then towards parts of the ship.  Was his brother trying to tell him something?  Were there more people aboard the ship than the two that had shown themselves?  Well...it was no worry for Ken.  If they could handle Mephiles, than a gang of pirates had nothing on them!

 

"And If I may be so bold..."  Ken said, getting into a rather offensive stance, "We can't quite surrender to you lot.  We're on an important world saving mission.  Now how's about you all scram before I reverse that ass-kicking back to ya."

 

Roxie Laughs, whilst Blake sighs and steps forward. "You really don't catch on quickly, huh? We have control of your ship... even if you were capable of fighting back, you still wouldn't be able to go anywhere."

 

Roxie then yawns as if she's getting bored. "We could always just sink 'em anyway..."

 

"This carrier has survived one sinking before...and If it can't this time, we'll just commandeer yours!"  Ken said, before dashing towards Roxie, and throwing a large left swing.  As Ken rapidly approached, he noticed that the girl was still smiling.  Her cocky demeanor made Ken put more force into his swing.  However, at the last second, she threw up the side of her arm, and Ken's punch collided with something harder than he had ever punched.  It almost hurt him more than it appeared to hurt her.  As he recoiled from the blow, the wolf let go of a sphere like object.  After a few moments midair, the sphere detonated, revealing a large flash of light that blinded Ken.  As he tried to reopen his eyes, the forehead of Roxie collided against his own skull.  It was a strong headbutt...stronger than anything he had felt against him so far.  

 

Ken growled, as he rubbed his head.  

 

"Great..."  The wolf sighed, as the attack sweapt him off of his feet.  On the other side of the attack, Roxie laughed, confident in her preparation for the attack.  However, she was clocked straight in the face, and was sent flying back until she caught herself..  She'll be sent flying backwards and tumble for a bit before catching herself.  For a moment, she was stunned, but then laughed the attack off.  A scuff was left on her forehead.  

 

"You've got an arm on ya..."  She stood up, and hesitated her attack.   "So then we're doing this the fun way then ya?" She said, grinning, and spitting on the deck.  

 

"Great...now who's going to scrub the deck this time?"  Ken said, wiping underneath his nose with a thumb.  "I guess I'll mop the floor with you instead!!"  Ken said, before running up towards the hedgehog again, this time jumping into the air, and heading down towards the deck with an axe kick.  "Ken Hammer!"  He roared, before dropping it down towards Roxie.  

[King K. Azo]

Chimera was annoyed. Sky Pirates? Someone had to be kidding him. If Eggman came into power, they wouldn't have to worry about some lowlifes crowding the skies. They'd be part of the robotic army that would keep peace in the world. That would be much better than this standing in front of him.

 

"Do you guys wanna to just line up all of your valuables on the deck here? Or should we just help ourselves?" The apparent captain stated. Chimera shook his head. There was nothing besides the Chaos Emeralds. Stupid pirates. They even started talking about terms of surrender. Did they not realize what they were standing on? Such disgusting organic arrogance. He walked over to the one refereed to as Blake. The wolf simply put in his pocket. A gun? Maybe.

 

"You want to bring in your guy before he gets hurt?" He sigh causally.

 

"Guy as in captain? That's me," he'll respond. "Now what's your deal? You seem intelligent enough to know a two hundred year old ship shouldn't have anything most organics deem valuable," Chimera would ask before crossing his arms.

 

"You'll have to take that up with the boss lady. I'm just following orders..." Blake responded. He then added, "If it were up to her you guys would have been down in the ocean by now."

 

"You act like the might Egg Carrier could be taken down by the tiny peashooters your ships have. Then again," he looked away. "You did take down our firewalls. An oversight on my part. I didn't think anything outside of an exceptional two tailed fox coming back from the dead would crack through the old firewall. I'll have to update them after this," he then looked over back over to Blake. "However, you made one glaring oversight, relying on your sensors to scout out how many people reside on this ship,"

 

Ken suddenly was yanked backwards towards the roof of the ship by an invisible force before he hit Roxie. "Looks like times up..." Blake will sigh again and takes hands out of his pocket. "You've also made an oversight, captain. By assuming we came alone..." 

 

Chimera looked up. "... A pirate crew. Dammit," why didn't he think of that?! Damn, his bluff wasn't going to work so well now. Yeah, he was working on some old parts, making some badniks, but a crew? No, things just got much harder. He turned to Roxie, turning his arm into a laser cannon and fired right away. Take out the leadership first.

 

[Hälō]

Mobian Sea - Light Piercer - Meeting Spot

 

BMG

 

Blake erupted into a burst of movement the moment Chimera fired his shot towards Roxie. Producing a disk-like object, the wolf tossed it to ground near Chimera's feet and watched as the egg robot's arm was violently pulled towards it by a powerful magnetic force, causing Chimera yanked down to the deck. 

 

"It really must be a pain to made of metal..." Blake began whilst reaching towards his belt. "Though I guess you don't have to worry about this hurting." 

 

 

"Three more incoming..." Axel finally said to Zane, Alex, and Cynthia as he sensed the other energy signatures he had picked up on in the area suddenly begin to quickly begin moving. He had attempted to warn his brother about the enemies lingering nearby, but of course Ken decided to rush in without thinking regardless... "The idiot can handle himself." Axel assured himself as the first of the new enemies came into range. 

 

"GOT YA!" A large voice boomed across the deck as a red blur dashed towards the remaining crew's flank. It belonged to a large rooster that boasted a viscous sneer as he closed in on Alex's back with his and extended. It would seem that Axel had found his first target...

 

Pivoting so that his back was against his ally's, Axel grabbed hold of the rooster's wrist, halting the large mobian's advance completely. "The only thing you and your friends have got..." Axel spoke in a low growl before allowing his eyes to shine with a vibrant blue energy. "Is a death wish." The white hedgehog punctuated his statement by swinging his leg up into the roster's side in a swift round house kick.

 

Catching Axel's leg with a grunt, the rooster pirate's lips curled into a smrik. "Alright then tough guy," He began whilst suddenly using his strength to twist and throw Axel across the deck. "I'll play with you then!" The pirate called after his new foe before dashing after him to continue his assault.

 

 

Before Zane and the girls could move to aid their friends the trio was suddenly passed over by a strong wind. "Innie... minnie..." A shadow quickly zipped over them, and for brief moment the freedom fighters would hear a feminine voice call out to them in sultry tone. "Miny..." The strange voice continued followed closely by the flapping of wings.  

 

"Moe!" Without warning Zane was plucked from the group by a blur of purple. As the Dire wolf as dragged across the east deck at high speeds, he would be greeted with the a beautiful young bat as she pulled him by his vest's collar.

 

"Grab a sucker by the throat~" Giggling with glee as she slammed her passenger against the side of his own ship and began pulling him up the wall towards the open sky, the bat glanced down at Zane and smiled. "If he struggles, let him go!"  

 

 

As Cynthia and Alex looked on in shock, Cynthia would soon feel something coil around her leg. Without warning, the yellow hedgehog would be yanked off her feet and dragged over the west side of the deck by what appeared some kind of shelled appendage.

 

Finding herself at the feet of a suited scorpion mobian, the girl would now realize that it was in fact his tail that had grabbed her moments before. Without a word, the man reached for the firearm that was holstered on his hip. Only giving Cynthia mere seconds react, the scorpion drew his gun and pointed it directly at the center of her face before pulling the trigger.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Ken tumbled on to the roof of the Light Piercer with a loud thud. "I know what you were thinking..." A voice greeted him in lazy drawl. ""All I have to do is jump up, and gravity will handle the rest, right?"" It belonged to a monkey who's hair seemed to be completely covering her eyes. "You wouldn't be wrong.That's how gravity works after all."

 

"But what would happen if the rules shifted, and everything fell in a different direction for a moment, instead of towards the center of planet?" She continued with an inquisitive smirk. "I bet now you're thinking... "of course I would end up going that way as well!"" The monkey chirped as she opened her arms as if inviting Ken to attack.

 

 

"Hey!" Roxie yelled towards Chimera after ducking under a the shot he had fired in her direction before Blake moved to take care of him. 

 

With the rest of her crew engaged with their own opponents, Roxie once again set her sights on Alex. Greeting the feline thief will a million dollar smile, she rolled her shoulder whilst studying Alex. "So what can you do?" The pirate captain spoke in cheery tone as the sunlight glared off her metallic hands. 

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

"Three more incoming...The idiot can handle himself."

 

"If you say so." Zane shrugged as he mobilized with Axel and the girls. First Ken struck at Roxie and then Chimera...and now she called in reinforcements from the ship.

 

"Innie... minnie...miny...Moe!"

 

"H-HEY!!" Zane yelped, looking up some to see this bat girl grabbing him by the vest collar and literally dragging him across the deck of the Light Piercer.

 

"Grab a sucker by the throat~ If he struggles, let him go!"

 

The arctic wolf now found himself up in the air, quite a ways up from the ship itself. It was a good thing he really wasn't afraid of heights... However, the more pressing matter at hand right now by this pirate bat girl... She was messing up his vest!! "HEY!!" Zane growled, trying his best to smack her arm off his vest. "WATCH THE VEST!!!"

 

The next sounds he heard was the bat innocently responding to his protests. "Oh I'm sorry~" she said, before grabbing Zane with her other arm and holding him over her head. "I'll put you down..."

 

Oh sheet....

 

Before Zane knew it, he was thrown down towards the ship's deck. "ME AND MY BIG MOUTH!!!" he yelped again, before thinking quickly and causing an ice pillar to form quickly on the deck. Quickly grabbing a hold of it, he slid down the pillar and slid onto the deck, where he quickly dusted himself off and adjusted his vest slightly. Jeez...the heck is wrong with people...messing up a perfectly good vest...

 

"Ya know...my dad said never to hit a woman..." Zane said, finally looking up at the sky. "But I think you're pushing it, missie!!" Unfortunately for him, the bat wasn't in the bantering mood, as she was already in mid dive-bomb...and coming down fast towards him. Holy crap! Move...move...MOOOOOVE!! he thought, as he slid back to his side, before trying to aim at the bat's wings and freeze them. If he could ground her...things maaaaay be a bit easier.

 

The bat, however, dove towards the deck and caught herself with her hands. The moment Zane tried to freeze her wings, she jumped back and began to open her mouth. What came next was worse... From her mouth came a screeching that produced a concussive sound wave.

 

The screech made Zane's ears ring, and the arctic wolf was already holding his ears by the time he saw the sound wave coming right for him. And they were in such close quarters, and with such short time...Zane couldn't dodge and he was knocked back by the sound wave. Zane noticed as he was knocked back, the bat was flying over him and jamming her feet into his chest to slam him on the ground.

 

Zane coughed out, gasping for air as he saw her fly a bit a ways from him. Thankfully his Dire Wolf physique and power was making this all hurt a little less...but still. "J-Jeez...would it kill ya...t-to...to take a chill pill...?" he huffed a bit, trying to catch his breath as he slowly stood up. She did her little attack...now he needed to get serious. He growled a bit, before rushing towards the bat, sending a round-house kick to her head.

[Wind Rider]

Cynthia couldn't believe it, out of the blue a pirate crew had sabotaged the cruiser and were demanding any at all valuables on the ship. Valuables including her Extreme Gear, well there was no way in mobian hell they were taking her board. The rest of the fighters didn't like it either and soon a full scale battle erupted between the two groups. As everyone was taken by a crew member, Cynthia felt something coiling up on her leg. "What the... W-whoa, hey!!"

 

She was dragged to the ground and was immediately face to face with a mean looking scorpion with a gun. "Whoa!" she morphed her arms into metal and covered her face as he pulled the trigger. She spun around on the ground breakdance style to fling the guy off and jumped back onto her feet. But the scorpion wasn't done as three shots rang out, Cynthia was able to block two of the shots but one grazed her cheek.

 

The scorpion then tried to sting her but she quickly side stepped and grabbed his tail. "Heh, I guess your the "actions speak louder" type of guy huh?" she said with a small smile. The scorpion responded with simple "Yes" and Cynthia felt a warm feeling on her arm. "Shoot!!" she flung the scorpion away and looked at her arm, some kind of acid was eating away her metal. "Great... Mental note... Keep away from the tail..."

 

The scorpion unloaded the rest of his clip at Cynthia. "Craaap!" she blocked the shots with her still metal arm and ducked in cover. "Who brings a gun to a fist fight?" she mumbled before taking a quill from her head and morphing it into a metal spear. She rolled out from cover and threw the spear straight at the gunslingin' scorpion.

 

 

Meanwhile, Alex had her hand full dealing with the pirate captain herself. "So what can you do?" Alex was done with this lady's smug attitude. "I'll show you what I can do!" Bearing her fangs, Alex launched a jet of fire at Roxie. She stood completely still, with the same look on her face, and with a simple movement of her hand she killed off the stream of fire in an instant. "What the!? Grrr..." Alex stood silent for a moment, this Roxie person, her hands were almost mechanical. Great, a cyborg pirate, fan-friggen-tastic.

 

She rushed at Roxie with a flaming slash and the hedgehog pirate waited till the last moment again before firing a kick to meet Alex's claws. Metal legs too?! What was this lady?! The resulting collision of attacks created an explosion and smoke clouded the area. Roxie had immediately gotten behind Alex and threw a punch at her, but it seemed slow as she dodged out of the way of it.

 

"I really didn't have a choice in the matter, love... I'm sure you know what that's like." Alex froze up at the pirate's words but shook herself back to her senses. "We're nothing alike... Your just a cold blooded pirate for all I care!" she said tossing a fireball at Roxie, but before the fireball was a foot away from Roxie it imploded on itself causing multiple mini fireballs to shoot out at her. It worked on Cinder, maybe it'll work now.

[Mr. Hyde]

 

Ken was sent across the deck of the Light Piercer by some unknown force.  His eye had a keen sense for combat, and whatever it was that sent him flying was in no way a means of that wolf...hedgehog...thing's combat style.  Instead, the attack had to come from some outside intervention.  

 

"So this is what Axel was eyeing..."  He said, as he rubbed the back of his head.  

 

"I know what you were thinking..." A voice greeted him in lazy drawl. ""All I have to do is jump up, and gravity will handle the rest, right?" But what would happen if the rules shifted, and everything fell in a different direction for a moment, instead of towards the center of planet? I bet now you're thinking... 'of course I would end up going that way as well!'"

 

"What the hell are you yapping on about?"  Ken said, rolling his shoulder as he picked himself up off of the ground.  The monkey was pretty confident in her abilities to walk up to Ken...to reveal her position to the enemy.  If she was that confident, that meant that she had a plan to take him out.  "Are ya some sort of mind reader?  Cause that's not what I'm thinking in the slightest."  He said, before stretching out his legs.  "So you manipulate Gravity huh?"  Ken remembered what little he remembered of his homeschooling from Silver.  Gravity was the force that kept everything pinned down to the ground...or something along those lines.  "You can make me heavier?  Is that your game?"  Ken unlocked his second inhibitor, and prepared a fighting stance.  "Well...I've pushed my body harder than what you can dish out...so enough monkey business."  He said, cocking a smile, before bolting off in her direction.  He sidestepped multiple times, trying to throw her concentration off, before rocketing a punch aimed at her midsection.  This was to test the waters, for the most part, but incapacitating the girl would be fine too.  

 

As the girl's headed tried to follow his almost otherworldly movements, he thought that this attack had a high rate of success.  However, when his fist got closer, he sensed a slight resistnace, but his fist was able to push through.  However, before he reached her body, almost an inch above, his fist felt like it was being repelled...it couldn't move any further.  He could see that the air between them had grown incredibly dense, like the air itself was causing some sort of visual distortion.  So it wasn't just people's gravity she could affect...it was everything's!?  

 

"Whoa..." the girl mumbled, "I didn't think you'd be THAT strong."  The girl started to ignore him, and rather than counter attack, scouted the scene.  

 

"Are....are you ignoring me?!  C'mon, take this fight seriously!"  Ken roared as he launched another fist at her.

 

"Hm?" The girl had finally noticed his attack once again, putting her attention back onto Ken. "Oh!" The wall of wind that had since halted his attack seemed to disappear, but as his attack was about to land, she was dragged by her unseen force, away from him, causing Ken to stumble and fall over flat on his face.  "Sorry... I was just thinking that I haven't ever really met someone who can move and hit like that..."  The girl had gained distance...but it wasn't anything that Ken couldn't close. "Other than the Captain of course." She tilted her head, as she stared forward.  Was she analyzing him?  "Are you like us?"

 

Ken got up yet again, and dusted himself off, almost laughing.  

 

"Like you?  What's that supposed to mean?"  Ken slammed his fist against his hand.  "A bunch of pirates?"  He entered his fighting pose again.  "No...we're heroes!"  He exclaimed.  At this point, he realized he probably didn't need to unlock anything past his second inhibitor...anything more would probably unintentionally kill this girl...and she didn't seem like the totally evil type.  "Now...I'm gonna ask you a last time...gather your buddies, and get off this ship...or else."  Ken said, across from the girl, his eyes fixated on her, in anticipation of her next move.  

 

"Oh yeah...we're fighting right?"  She said it with a tone that seemed as if her mood had shifted to disappointment.  "Well...if hiding on your ship was a trap, does that make this a double trap?"  The girl titled her head in a different direction than what Ken had seen prior...up.

 

"Make what a tra-"  Ken looked to the sky to notice three spherical objects falling straight down towards the ship.  Ken wasn't sure what they were, and he had no idea how to handle them...if he were to attack the girl, who knows what damage those things could cause to the ship.  On the other hand, if he were to jump and try to knock them away, his gravity would be manipulated mid flight.  Ken had to think, and fast...and only one of those things was his forte.  "Looks like I have no choice!"  Ken stated, as he reached his arms up to catch two of the balls, and shooting his leg straight up to hopefully catch the third.  He prepared for the worst, and made sure that his buttocks was ready!  

[King K. Azo]

Chimera grunted as he tried to pull himself off the hull of the ship. The magnet was just way to strong for him to pull himself off with just brute strength alone. Suddenly, a loud crash was heard, causing Chimera to attempt to look up.

"You... meatbags... better not be breaking my ship!!"  He roared as he tried to get up. He was not letting the Egg Carrier go through this damn abuse. First, the unwanted and unwarranted paint job, and now this? He was sick of people trying to destroy this one connection he had to his past, to his family! He changed his arm to laser mode, shooting the magnet, causing it to have a nice clean hole sliced through it. Now that the force was gone, he was able to stand at full height, before seeing Blake reaching for a taser of some sort.
 
"Too slow," the wolf stated before firing. Chimera simply leapt straight up into the air, activating his jet boosters to keep him afloat.

"I was created to kill the fastest thing alive," Chimera commented boastfully. "It is you that is too slow. C'mon, step it up," As Chimera was taunting Blake, he electronically snuck his ways into the systems, seeing Blake's newfound control over the ship. It was frustrating to him, seeing some inferior meatbag take over the Empire's second greatest achievement. He had to admit, Blake had hacked it well, but he didn't know this ship like Chimera did. Blake suddenly threw a disk about five inches thick, attaching itself to the robot's leg. What the hell was this? Before he had time to remove it, he saw Blake reaching for something. Quickly, Chimera fired a bullet at his hand. He would disable him quickly.
 
"sheet," Blake muttered, pivoting to dodge. Chimera quickly switched to his water arm, ready to blast him at max capacity, when suddenly he felt himself being pushed forward by some force. Looking back, he saw a monkey holding her hand out towards him. Chimera decided to fire a laser at her hand. Screw her. At that moment though, Blake threw another disk over the edge, and the disk on his leg started beeping. 

"sheet," Chimera muttered as the disk sent him flying towards the edge. Some sort of tracking device. This Blake was pretty good... however, Chimera was able to liberate a turret, one that unfolded from the deck and began to blast the device Blake threw, shredding it to bits before turning to Blake. Blake rushed over cover as the turret fired at him. The disk on Chimera's leg started to go berserk, however, sending him flying in many different directions. Chimera grunted and sent a karate chop at the disk he only hoped that freed him.

[Hälō]

Mobian Sea - Light Piercer - Meeting Spot

BMG

 

"We're nothing alike... You're just a cold blooded pirate for all I care!" Alex spat as her spread shot attack closed in. 

 

"I'd bet you a barrel filled with gold that you're wrong, love..." Barely batting an eyelash at the impressive display of pyromancy, Roxie cued as she suddenly began spinning at a frightening speed. The girl's form became a twister of movement, and as the micro fireballs collided with the wall of white wind, the dissipated into wisps of smoke.

 

The sounds of battle sounded all across the ship, but as Roxie exited her twirl she raised her hands eloquently as if waiting of applause for her skillful spin. She boasted a million dollar smile, and as she lowered her hands to her side Roxie addressed Alex in a friendly tone...

 

"...

........

............"

 

 

 Bringing himself to a sliding halt, Axel gathered chaos energy in the palms of his hands as he watched the rooster charge straight at him. "Vanish." The white hedgehog sighed before furiously pumping his ams to release a salvo of crackling blue orbs of energy towards his opponent. Though it seemed that the rooster would not be detoured. Watching in shock as his attacks seemed to simply dissipate before coming into contact with their target, Axel found himself with little time to react as rooster moved to grabbed his face. 

 

"Wow!" The rooster grinned. "You're energy is hella potent!" 

 

Dodging his opponents grasp with ease, Axel's eyes began furiously dancing around the rooster's body as the boy continued to duck and weave to avoid the larger mobian's continuous jabs. Something wasn't right...

 

"You're correct." The hedgehog said whilst taking advantage of a brief opening. "Allow me to further demonstrate..." Axel continued before suddenly leaping forward and boosting himself up off the rooster's shoulder to launch himself high into the air. As he ascended the young prodigy molded of a large sphere of energy. "Try this!" He called down just before sending the sphere flying towards the pirate. 

 

"That's what I'm talking about!" The rooster cheered whilst raising his arms up towards the chaos attack. Blue particles of energy began to scatter in the air, as Axel's sphere seemingly started to fall apart without any cause. 

 

"What?!" Axel's gasped in disbelief. With his true sight, the young prodigy could see what was really happening... 

 

"He's.... He's absorbing my attacks..."  Axel barely had time to think to himself. Without hesitation, the rooster sprang up in pursuit of Axel, his hand hungrily extended towards the hedgehog as he barked at him.  "YOU'LL MAKE A DAMN GOOD MEAL!" His voice boomed over a loud metal crash erupted from somewhere else on the ship. 

 

 

 

"Oh." The monkey said almost too casually as she quickly retracted her hand to avoid the laser shot but the enemy robot. Allowing Chimera's shot to fly dangerously close to the back of her head, the spider monkey drearily strode up to the newly formed hole that now decorated the top roof the Light Piercer. If one had a keen eye, they'd notice that it was shaped suspiciously to the dimensions of a certain musclebound hedgehog...

 

Luckily, Benny had no such eye, and took no notice of the Ken shaped hole as she stuck her head through to check on the strange hedgehog that had tried to catch her Crusher Balls with his bare hands.

 

"Nobody has every tried to catch them whilst they were moving full speed like that..." Benny observed as she peered down at Ken as the white hedgehog rested in a large indentation with a black orb sitting atop each his hands, and the third resting in it's own crater between his legs, narrowing avoiding his male anatomy. "It looked like you had it there for a second too..." She continued with a tone that somehow seemed to be both fascinated and unfocused at the same time. "Until the third one hit."

 

Ken would suddenly feel a dramatic increases in the pressure around him as Benny stuck her hand through the hole. "You asked me to make you heavier early, right?" She seemed to genuinely not recall what Ken had said. "Like this?"

 

Her words heralded a grand multiplication of the pressure on top of Ken. The air around the boy seemed to angrily shake and vibrate as the weight of the world suddenly seem to gather itself atop the hedgehog, causing the ship itself to begin teetering from side to side from the new weight that appeared, no longer able to keep itself steady in the air in it's current state. 

 

"Opps!" Having traveled with Roxie for quite some time now, Benny knew what it felt like to be on a sinking airship. Retracting her hand, Benny shifted the gravity around Ken a second time, this time bringing it to what she assumed would be enough to keep him and her Crasher Balls pinned down after seeing what his strength levels were like. "Sorry, I guess using my hand made it too much..." The girl issued her dreary apology, as she began to pull her had back out of the hole.

 

"Oh," Suddenly remembering another snippet of their conversation, Benny briefly returned. "You also wanted know what I meant when I asked if you were like us..." Her voice took on small traces of sadness.

 

"I mean't broken." Benny stated plainly before retracting her head. 

 

 

Alfonso the Scorpion quickly fed another clip into his pistol as he watch his target rolled out of cover and threw a spear his way. Where had she gotten that weapon from? Was it a part of her ability? It seemed to be made of the same material...

 

He analyzed situation silently whilst bringing his gun up and firing to shots towards the spear to knock it off course. As he did so, his tail began extend and snake behind him, stealthily moving through the machinery and cargo on the deck towards Cynthia's flank.

 

With his intent being to keep the hedgehog distracted, Alfonso proceed to fire multiple shots towards the girl's legs before suddenly bringing the pistol up to fire towards her face and arms.

 

As Cynthia dealt with hail of bullets, her opponents tail would suddenly spring from the shadows and and bath her in a cloud of the green liquid, causing her metal armor to quickly melt and become fail. Though she would notice that the metal of her shell would be the only thing effected by the strange substance...

 

 

 

"Damn..." Axel growled through gritted teeth as he struggled to break free from the rooster's grasp as the larger mobian pinned him against one of the ship's walls by his shoulders. This wasn't good at all. The young prodigy could feel his aura being drained by the rooster rather quickly, and if he stayed in his clutches for too much longer, the boy would be bled dry. 

 

He had never encountered an ability such as this, and judging by the fluctuations he felt coming from his friends, and the shaking of the ship, Axel was sure that each of them were also faced with an equally power opponent. 

 

Glancing across the deck to to see Zane send the bat he was facing off with flying upwards with a powerful kick, Axel called out to his ally. "Zane!" Meeting Zane's gaze, Axel hastily warped his own opponent directly into the arctic wolf's attack range. 

 

"Wh-" Completely disorient form his sudden teleportation, Batsu the Rooster could only gasp in shock as he was suddenly face to face with a new enemy combatant.  

 

The moment Axel warped the rooster, Zane smirked. "Hiya. Names Zane..." he said, flipping the rooster off. "And your...."

 

By the time the rooster noticed what he was doing, it was already too late. Zane sent a fierce roundhouse kick to the rooster's gut, sending him reeling back across the deck. 

 

"OUTTA HERE!" he said, finishing his sentence, flicking his nose with his thumb. Now he just needed to wait for Axel to do his part.

 

"Hey!" A female voice called down from the sky. Now brandishing a bruise on the side of her face from where Zane had kicked her, Kiara the Bat angrily screamed down towards the wolf ash she tucked into another dive-bomb despite seeing what had just happened to Batsu. "HOW DARE YOU DAMAGE MY FLAW-" 

 

Suddenly silenced by swift side kick from Axel, Kiara was sent tumbling into Batsu as the white hedgehog landed with his back against Zane. "Not bad..." He offered his friend a rare compliment before extending his hand and gathering chaos energy. "Now let's show them that technique!"  It was clear the rooster could absorb raw chaos energy, but how would he fair against a torrent of cold as well? 

 

"Heh, I've been itching to do this again since Dewdrop!" Zane smirked, manipulating the moisture in the air at his hands, gathering enough as he needed. He fired off a Final Freeze, watching the ivory hedgehog do the same.

 

"ARDENT....GALE!!!!" 

 

As Zane and Axel's energies swirled into massive maw of bone chilling fury, Batsu and Kiara looked on in terror as the combination attack sped across the deck like a force of nature that hungrily froze anything that it touched. Even with his ability, Batsu knew all to well that it would be foolish to step in front of an attack like that, but nonetheless he found himself stealing his gaze and rising to his feet. He would at least try to defend Kiara...

 

"Back up Batsy!" A familiar voice made the rooster halt his advance. Watching as Roxie suddenly appeared between her crew and the Ardent Gale, Batsu and Kiara's face filled with relief.

 

"Rooooxxxxxxxxxx-" The hedgehog growled whilst cocking her right arm backwards. A bright red light began to shine brightly from the cracks in her metallic hand, and two pillars of steam could be seeing billowing out of her wrist and joints as she gathered her strength.

 

As the Ardent Gale closed in, she threw her hand forward in a punch, releasing a massive concussive shockwave that caused the entirety of the ship to shake. "GUN!"

 

Axel watched in disbelief as Roxie's attack met the Ardent Gale head on, quickly causing both techniques and making short work of his and Zane's combined might. 

 

When the dust cleared Roxie could be seen standing casually in front of her two crew members. Flashing Zane and Axel a cheeky grin, the girl raised one of her metal hands up to her lips and issued a strange whistle that sounded across the deck.

 

Knowing what signal that was, Batsu and Kiara quickly got into a ready stance.

 

 

 

"Of course the damn robot could hack remotely..." Blake sighed as he swiped his fingers across his mobile computer twice, causing the turret to suddenly halt it's heavy fire on his position.

 

Peeking out to see Chimera destroy the device attached to his leg with a quick chop, Blake reached for another item on his belt and prepared to make his next move, only to halt himself upon hearing Roxie's whistle.

 

"Should have figure..." He groaned before rolling out from his cover and tossing three flat disks towards Chimera.

 

Catching himself on his hands and knees, Blake moved his finger to his ear and activated his communicator. "You heard the boss. Look's like this just turned into an extraction... the target is obvious. Delta formation. " He relayed his orders to the rest the crew quickly before grabbing the grabbling gun from his hip holster and shooting it towards the upper railing of the Light Piercer and allowing himself to be pulled upwards.

[Wind Rider]

Alex couldn't believe it, this hedgehog spun like a tornado and just brushed off her attack like it was nothing. "I'd bet you a barrel filled with gold that you're wrong, love..." the hedgehog smiled confidently as if she were used to all this. "I can see it in your eyes. You've got sticky fingers. Not just that, I can also see that you've lost damn near everything.... but still keep keeping on out of obligation."

 

Alex glared at the hedgehog, what could she possibly know about her? "You don't know me... What makes you think you do!?" she exclaimed as she prepared a fireball in her hand. Roxie just smiled. "Birds of a feather I guess... Blake says I have a knack for finding people like me... But how could I not? It's so easy to see it in their eyes."

 

Alex kept the fireball in her hand but eyed Roxie as she just showed off her cybernetics. "You know that pain? The one where your arm should be. Even when you know it's not there... that you shouldn't be feeling anything." Her smile will be come melancholic. "Very few people can relate, but even fewer people know what the next levels like..." She lowered her arm. "When something more than just a limb is taken. I home, a friend, whatever it might be... that phantom pain is bloody indescribably!"

 

"Am I right?" Alex didn't want to admit it, but Roxie was right. All that pain, all that loss, it was enough to tear most people apart. The flame in her hand faded away as she lowered it. "Where... Are you even going with this?" she said with the same glare. "I wanna help you!" Roxie stated with the same charismatic smile, but something caught her attention before she could continue. "One sec..."

 

"Wait! What do you mean by... That..." Alex tried calling after the pirate captain and watched as she again brushed off an attack, Zane and Axel's attack no less! What in the world was this girl, and what she going on about? Help? Alex had her hand to her face, all that Roxie said was getting to her.

 

Meanwhile, the scorpion was giving Cynthia a run for her money. He shot down her javelin with ease and then started unloading clips right at her, she had to turn her whole body metal just to block the oncoming bullets. "Sheesh... Someone's getting trigger happy!" she said as she was about to charge at him, when she broke her mental note, 'watch out for the tail.' The scorpion's tail seemed to come out of nowhere and it melted all of Cynthia's armor off.

 

"Crap!! Stupid tail!!" she tried to duck in cover again but a bullet rang past her and got her shoulder. "Agh... Ok... I'm gonna have to get versatile here..." she mumbled. She grabbed a piece of rubber that was in her pocket and morphed her body into it, her whole body turned into a shiny, jet black color as she curled into a ball and spindashed at the scorpion, who was trying to get away.

 

The scorpion saw her coming and released a cloud of gas, but it did nothing to Cynthia much to his surprise. She collided right into the scorpion and sent him skidding across the ground. Cynthia laughed. "How do ya like that? Your acid may melt metal but that's all it's even good for." she said taunting the gunslinger.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

Needless to say, at this point, Zane was not having ANY fun. This bat girl was giving him the worst time. And the roundhouse kick he sent her way, she literally dusted it off...other than the obvious bruise. Jeez...what do I do now? he grumbled, clenching his fists for a moment.

 

"Zane!"

 

The arctic wolf looked over and saw Axel facing off against a rooster. The look in his eye... No way! Is it time already?! he thought, almost jumping for joy, only smirking before nodding at Axel. Things were now about to take a turn for the better now!

 

-BGM-

 

Once they met each other's gaze, Axel hastily warped his own opponent directly into the arctic wolf's attack range.

 

"Wh-"

 

Seems like the rooster was definitely caught off guard, as he watched the pirate now being teleported in front of him. Zane only smirked at this. "Hiya. Names Zane..." he said, flipping the rooster off. "And your...." By the time the rooster noticed what he was doing, it was already too late. Zane sent a fierce roundhouse kick to the rooster's gut, sending him reeling back across the deck. "OUTTA HERE!" he said, finishing his sentence, flicking his nose with his thumb.

 

He sat back and watched Axel take care of the bat, watching both these pirates smack into each other. Now Axel was behind him...oh yeah...this was finally happening!

 

"Not bad...Now let's show them that technique!"

 

Zane grinned a bit as he caught the quick compliment the ivory hedgehog handed out to him. Not everyday would Axel just hand out a compliment...best not say anything to that to ruin the moment. However, the wolf only smirked with a chuckle. "Heh, I've been itching to do this again since Dewdrop!" Zane smirked, manipulating the moisture in the air at his hands, gathering enough as he needed. He fired off a Final Freeze, watching the ivory hedgehog do the same right beside him.

 

Now to say it...oh he'd been waiting to say this!!

 

"ARDENT....GALE!!!!"

 

Oh it felt so good to say the name of this attack. Zane and Axel's attack combination went forth towards the two pirates, and the two Mobians seemed to be in synch with their attacks too. Of course...

 

"Rooooxxxxxxxxxx-GUN!"

 

Unfortunately for him and Axel, Roxie appeared between the other pirates and the Ardent Gale...firing off literally one punch and it's shockwave colliding with their own attack...just watching it dissipate without anything happening. The pirates were still around...and Roxie's power shown off quite well.

 

However, Zane watched as Roxie whistled, it apparently meaning something as the pirates seemed to be on alert...or maybe preparing for something.

 

"Tch...Axel! Any plans of attack on this?" Zane asked, looking at Axel. He was the best tactician the team had...beside the walking robot who was able to calculate things efficiently.

 

"There's no way to tell what they're planning... be on your guard." Axel spoke, watching the three pirates closely, whilst an Chaos Blade forming in his hand. He stepped forward, before speaking again. "Let's keep it tight. Watch each other's backs and use our synergy to compensate for their numbers."

 

The air began to grow tense between the two Freedom Fighters and the three pirates as Zane pulled his multi-tool out of his vest pocket and activated it, before forming the ice blade in his hand. Exhaling slowly, he glanced over at Axel, seeing him glance back. Without anything else said, Zane rushed towards the pirates, an icy floor forming under him as he began to pick up speed to that of a bullet. Following closely behind him, the ivory hedgehog prepared to aid him.

 

For the moment, Zane seemed to be targeting Roxie, though seeing the pirate captain not move...he could see her eyes watching him closely. But there was also a pressure...similar to that of which he felt earlier... But right now it didn't matter...he was already vanishing when he heard her respond: "Hm?"

 

Just like he wanted, Zane was warped by Axel behind Batsu, to which he began his strike. A quick throw of an icicle at Kiara, whilst striking at Batsu's back. However, it was obvious the rooster was already waiting for this.

 

"Fool me once, shame on you!" Batsu turned around quickly, smashing his elbow into the side of Zane's ice blade knocking it away. Before Zane could even bother messing with it, he noticed the rooster throw a jab towards his face. Zane quickly ducked before, pulling back the ice blade from the rooster before jumping back.

 

Slowly looking at Batsu, Zane began to grit his teeth some. He reinforced the ice blade with more ice, before looking over and noticing that his icicle did indeed graze Kiara, and at the moment, she was flying away with Axel clashing with her in the air. Heh...show off. he smirked, before rushing back towards Batsu. Alright...if striking at him normally won't work...let's feint and sweep kick!! he thought, preparing to strike at Batsu with the sword, only to drop down and attempt to sweepkick him.

 

Batsu only smirked before jumping up to avoid the sweep. "You're making this too easy, kid!"

 

Zane growled a little, watching the rooster jump like this out of his attack. Can't say he didn't expect this...but still.

 

-BGM-

 

"ZANE! Eyes up front!"

 

The arctic wolf looked up, seeing Axel throwing something his way. It was a Chaos Blade that was heading straight towards him. He smirked and spun around to grab the blade with his free hand, before turning back to face the rooster. However, the avian Mobian was still in the air and was able to crack his ice blade some. Wait...Axel said before...use the weapon as an extension of yourself...not just as a tool. That I decide how to use it...a weapon only I can wield. he thought. He gripped the hilt of the multi-tool tightly, smirking. All this time...I've been just using you as a blade...but...if that fight with Gwynn showed me...your more than just an ice blade!

 

He had a plan...and it would definitely work. With a smirk, Zane jumped after the rooster, preparing to strike with the ice blade...almost to know that Batsu would dodge. He watched as the cocky rooster dodged and fell for his ruse. The moment he dodged, Zane grinned and had the ice blade shatter...no longer was there a sword...but now a water whip.

 

"Huh?" Batsu exclaimed in shock at seeing the sword break. "You litt-"

 

Zane's plan worked, as now the water whip grabbed Batsu's leg, allowing him to strike down. "Say good night!!" he shouted, swinging the Chaos Blade...only to see it meet resistance in the form of Roxie's palm. "What the-?"

 

"You didn't think I'd just stand there and let you bully my mates ,did ya, Nancy?" Roxie simply said, though from Zane's perspective...she was pissed. Beyond pissed at that. He could sense the bloodlust in her eyes...this strong killer instinct.

 

Zane right now was out of the frying pan...and into the fire.