Sonic the Hedgehog: Solar Tides [IC/Accepting]

[Hälō]

BGM

 

Roxie let out a small grunt as her back collided with the wall, damaging the screen displaying Ken and Benny's fight. Though before she could even try to imagine what Blake was going to say about it when he got back from scrapping the robot man downstairs, she was confronted by a sudden blast of heat, followed by Alex's voice. 

 

 "Dragon Fire!!!"

 

The pirate captain's eyes widened from both shock and excitement as the massive torrent of flame burst forth towards her. The air bended and crackled from the immense heat of the technique. And moments before the pyre reached its target, it's flames seemed to twist and shape themselves into a large maw that threatened to hungrily consume Roxie.

 

This was true pyromancer's attack. One that was completely incomparable to the flames that the feline thief had been tossing around during her time in metropolis... 

 

And though Roxie had never been there to see how Alex had started out, she was gleefully aware of the fact that in this moment she was faced with the attack of a fellow warrior.    

 

"HOT DOOGGGGG!" Roxie screamed as she met the maw of flames head on. Attempting to grab the burning jaws with both hands, she struggled against their might for a long moment, seemingly attempting to force them back with brute force before suddenly being consumed by a burst of fire causing several screens to shatter.

 

Alex's attack was a burning beacon of the progress she had mad. Fiery proof of the fruits of her training with Blaze an-

 

"ROX-GUN!" The dense cloud of smoke that filled the room parted like a curtain as the large shockwave crossed the room and barreled into Alex, sending her reeling into far wall. There on the opposite side of the tunnel cut through the smoke, stood Roxie with her metal hand extended as if she had just thrown a punch.

 

Her clothes were in tatters and her fur seemed to be charred all around. It was a rare sight to see Roxie injured, and it didn't take long for her to burst out laughing as if she too were aware of this...

 

"You really got me good, love..." She called over to Alex as the smoke began to clear. Upon seeing feline's now battered form pressed neatly in the center of a large dent formed in the machinery, the captain smirked triumphantly.

 

"So I figured we'd have a trade! It was all I could think of when I was trying not to get barbecued!" As Roxie spoke, Alex slid down the wall on her back before falling to her knees. Her body felt as if it had just been thrown through a tornado, and though Roxie's skill assured that the attack wouldn't kill her, the force from the Rox-gun was enough to render her unable to fight. 

 

"So how about you say uncle so we can get ya patched up?" There was hint of concern in her voice as she stepped forward. "If we hurry we can still catch the end of the rest of the fights!" Roxie turned to the monitors, her gaze falling on the battle between Axel and Batsu on a whim. 

 

"Hm, well maybe not that one... " She laughed. "Batsu looks like he's about to wrap it up."  

 

 

BGM

 

Though Batsu wasn't the only pirate who was moments away from victory. In the silent darkness that had swallowed up the battlefield, Kiara circled the room like a vulture. 

 

"I almost feel sorry for you..." She hummed before swooping down and slamming her knee into Zane's gut, causing him to stumble backwards. "Almost." She giggled before flying forward and slicing the wolf's left shoulder with her wing as she dashed past him. 

 

"Who knows..." Kiara continued taunting her opponent despite the fact she was well aware that he couldn't hear her. "Maybe I would have given you a fair fight if you didn't walk in here attacking like a hotshot, frosty." She twirled through the air with grace as she sensually began to glide inches from Zane's body. 

 

With a smirk she gently planted a kiss on his cheek before kicking him to the side with a brutal sidekick to the ribs. As the freedom fighter tumbled away, Kiara began focusing her energy towards her vocal cords whilst opening her mouth wide. 

 

"SIREN'S DIRGE!" 

 

Kiara's weaponized voice shook the room as the invisible wave of sound took hold of Zane and began to shake him to his very core whilst lifting him a foot into the air. It was as if he were being crushed by the grasp of an angry giant and when the onslaught finally subsided, Zane found himself on his hands and knees in the darkness.

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Cynthia seemed to be fairing much better in her pantry brawl. The sound of a cracking exoskeleton filled the room as Cynthia did her best to remove Alfonso's tail with her impressive strength. 

 

"This thing has caused me enough problems, get ready to say goodbye to it!"

 

Having dropped his pistol after suffering her surprise attack, Alfonso was forced to relay on his ability to defend himself.

 

"...get... off... me..." He rasped before suddenly spitting a jet of green liquid into the hedgehog's face. Now blinded by the strange substance, Cynthia's grip loosened just enough for Alfonso to yank his tail from her grasp. 

 

Desperate and with out his weapon, the scorpion growled before tackling Cynthia to the ground. Attempting to pin her down by sitting on her low body, he reared his damaged tail back and prepared to deliver a deadly sting. 

 

 

 

"I don't want to fight anymore..." Benny's eyes were filled with visible sadness as she peered at Ken through her murky green aura. "I don't want everyone to get hurt because of me..." The girl's power had seemingly reached the peak of what her body could physically handle, and now it was evident that it was starting have both physical and mental drawbacks on the already battered spider monkey. "But I don't want you to take Alex away..." She groaned before lowering the hand that had been molding the attack which could have possible destroyed the ship.

 

The sphere of energy dissipated instantly, leaving a flash of purple in it's wake.  

 

"Y-You're... Alex's friend too... right?" Benny tried to look up at Ken but found her self shutting her eyes in a sudden seizure of power that caused her to take a knee and grab her head with both hands. "So then... S-She'd be sad if I hurt you." The air around her suddenly began to vibrate, causing Benny to cry out in a voice that reverberated with raw energy.  "NO NO NO NO!"  Benny's aura was now bubbling furiously as a large sphere of gravitational energy formed around the girl and began slowly closing in on her . 

 

Silver and Axel had always said that there was power in emotions. This was perfect testament to how dangerous that power could be. 

 

"Captain...Guys... Alex.. help..."

 

Tears ran down Benny's face as she limply floated in the center of her singularity. Her body and mind finally giving into the stress from both her rapidly adapting aura and severe injuries, leaving her unable to keep herself from being completly compressed by her own power.

 

 

 

"B-Brother..." Axel groaned as he struggled to bring himself to his feet. Having been serving as Batsu's punching bag for quite some time, Axel looked quite worse for wear. Drained of most of his chaos energy the boy's gaze was dim as he looked towards the direction of massive aura that seemed to be facing off with Ken. 

 

"Hey, If you're so interested in the other fights..." Batsu rolled his shoulders and took a step forward. With only a few minor injuries from moments where his opponent had gotten creative, and more than half of Axel's massive chaos energy pool now inside him, the rooster was practically glowing. "I'll finish you off and let you watch from the bench like the other losers!"

 

Turning his attention back to the battle at hand, Axel growled. It wasn't just his brother... Chimera, Zane and even Alex's auras also seemed to indicate that they were in trouble. His mind was racing. He needed to go help the others, but what could he do against an opponent that made all of his strongest attacks useless?!

 

"This a battle is better suited for a muscle bound idiot like Ken..." Axel thought with a sigh. "... what would you do, brother?" He pictured his twin in his mind's eye and used his true sight to sharpen the image.

 

"I'd kick his ass!" Axel said in Ken's voice as he watched the image of his brother preforming a quick punching combo. "So what if you can't beat him with a light show? You've still got hands right?!" The mental image of Ken threw a round house kick identical to how the real one would and Axel couldn't help but note that it was a perfect recreation. The prodigy had seen his brother preform his moves so many times that most of them were committed to memory.

 

"..."

 

Suddenly Axel eyes widened in realization. A new vigor flowed through him as he began focusing his remaining chaos energy. It wasn't concrete, and in actuality there was a good chance that he'd end up damaging himself in the process...

 

But it was a plan.

 

"I'd tell you to give up now, but I wouldn't let you go anyway..." Axel glared at his opposition, causing Batsu to loose a laugh that seemed to shake the room. "Not after you kidnapped Alex." Unfazed by the rooster's mockery Axel took a step forward before shooting towards Batsu in a burst of natural speed.

 

"Oh yea?" Batsu jeered as he followed Axel's movements easily. "I'm petrified!" The rooster's mouth curled into a toothy grin as he threw a punch right towards Axel's face. However, before his fist could connect, the hedgehog pivoted his body to the right and cocked his own fist back as it became enveloped in hazy blue aura. "Hah!" Axel grunted before pivoting his entire body a second time, slamming heavy punch directly into Batsu's face and sending him skidding back a great distance. 

 

"W-What in the hell?!" Batsu growled in outrage as he cupped his hands over his bleeding beak. "How?! You're punches were nothing like that a few minutes ago..." Spitting blood down by his feet, the pirate took up a fighting stance and eyed Axel cautiously as he awaited an explanation for his sudden increase in martial skill. 

 

"hmm, so that's what it feels like..." Ignoring Batsu's question, Axel rolled his shoulder and flexed the hand he had used to throw the punch; blatantly aware the soreness that had already begun to blossom from his unique movements. "It's bearable. But I shouldn't push it with the injuries I've already sustained..." 

 

"HEY ANSWER ME!"  Batsu's scream bounced off the walls of the room, stealing Axel's attention away his analysis. "How did yu-" He began again only to be silenced upon seeing Axel produce the purple chaos emerald. "No way... thats..."

 

"A jewel containing the ultimate power..." Axel smirked before tossing the emerald up into the air. "I've already decided that I'll do whatever it takes to bring Alex back," Catching the chaos emerald behind his back, Axel's eyes glowed brilliant blue as he shifted his posture to mimic the stance he had seen so many times before. "I'll save her with these hands... Even if I have to tear my own body apart!"

[Wind Rider]

Alex thought she had her, she thought her Dragon Fire had actually stopped Roxie. But she knew in the back of her head that that wasn't enough, and it became apparent when a Rox Gun was sent straight at her. The impact caused her to fly into a dent wall behind her, she looked towards the smoke to see Roxie, wounded, but still standing nonetheless. Alex groaned in pain and disappointment, her energy was sapped when she used her strongest attack, Roxie's attack however is what finished her.

 

She slid down the wall and fell to her knees, that was that, she lost. At least... That's what Roxie thought. Alex looked up at the monitors that were still online and gritted her teeth. "N-no... I'm not... Done yet..." she tried to pick herself back up but it was pointless, her strength was all but drained. It seemed like she lost, but something started to happen, a burning sensation started to take over her body. It was like the inside of her chest was burning up, the pain was so great that she closed her eyes, but when she opened them, she was greeted by an entirely knew scene.

 

A home... Her old home... Burning away in a blazing fire, with a figure that Alex recognized as herself... Her old self... Standing in front of her. "T-this place..." alex was speechless for a moment and after seeing her old self she turned away slightly. "I left this place long ago... Nothing but grief... And loss..." the loss of her home... The loss of her parents... And the loss of a brother who had disowned her. "Was this... Really my fault?" she said sadly.

 

“Yea…” The other Alex finally spoke. Her voice was a lot more rough than Alex's… that had long since lost the edge which came from being alone all the time. “All our power does is destroy…”

 

Those words reminded Alex of what Blaze had told her, it made her think of the family and friends she had now. "No..." alex turned to her old self. "This power... Doesn't only destroy... It can help... Heal..." she clenched her fist. "And I'm not alone... Not anymore... My brother be damned for leaving me alone... I have a new family and friends!" she exclaimed, but her old self looked at her as if she were stupid.

 

“Why are you fighting Roxie!? She’s strong… you heard her, she fought the shades before, her and the others can keep us safe!” Her expression was almost pleading, she looked scared. “We can just fly around the world… let the others worry about Gwynn! No more pain… It was never even our job in the first place…”

 

Alex looked at her copy as if she was stupid. "You expect me to hide? I've been hiding for half my life!" she yelled. "But not now... I'm not gonna hide in the skies and wait for the apocalypse to happen... Gwynn and Mephiles made this personal when they attacked my city... When they attacked Dewdrop... I am not hiding... I am gonna fight!" the fires engulfed the house and within seconds, the two Alex's were standing in an inferno.

 

“B-But…” Alex's copy looked back at her with tears forming in her eyes. She’s afraid of the pain the future might bring, of being alone, of death.

 

Alex sighed and walked towards her copy. "We can't live past... We can't let it haunt us forever... But no matter what... Events like this will stay with us forever..." she put a hand on the copy's shoulder. "We have to look towards the future... And we have to make sure... That our future is a good one... For everyone..." she said with a slight smile.

[Mr. Hyde]

 

 

"I don't want to fight anymore...I don't want everyone to get hurt because of me...But I don't want you to take Alex away...Y-You're... Alex's friend too... right?"  Ken was caught off by the sudden glimpse of power that rushed out of the girl.  She fell to her knees, clasping her chest.  "So then... S-She'd be sad if I hurt you." The air around her suddenly began to vibrate, causing Benny to cry out in a voice that reverberated with raw energy.  "NO NO NO NO!"  Benny's aura was now bubbling furiously as a large sphere of gravitational energy formed around the girl and began slowly closing in on her.  "Captain...Guys... Alex.. help..."

 

The girls' pleas shuck him to his core, as did the shock waves that the girl was spilling into the air around them.  It was obvious that this girl was harboring too much power to bare, and now they were rising to the surface, like some kind of chaotic volcano.  Ken's fists curled up tighter than before, perhaps because he wouldn't be able to at all seeing as the gravity between the two was intensifying beyond comprehension.  It reminded Ken a bit of himself...when he had become so reckless with his newfound abilities that he had ravaged his body to ruin.  But this girl wasn't like him...she'd probably had these kinds of powers her whole life...something so volatile wrapped up in a bow.  This must've been the last string holding that package together.  With all the might of the Third Inhibitor rushing through his body, Ken took a couple steps forward through the intense force.

 

"Yeah...I'm Alex's friend."  Ken's face muscles worked at one-hundred and twenty percent just to show off a smile.  "But to me...to the team...she's more than that."  Ken had finally made it to the condense shell of energy that encapsulated the girl, ripping his hands into it so that he could force open a hole.  His muscles were spazzing out on him.  He could feel the sinew rip and tear, asunder.  Making a hole big enough for him to step through, he did just that, placing his hands on the girl's shoulders.  "She's our precious ally."  With a look of reassurance on his face, Ken lifted a hand off her shoulder, straightening it out.  "I'll make this as painless as possible."  He said, a tear dropping down his face faster than it had been created.  In an instant, Ken brought a swift and mighty chop down on the girl's neck, hitting a specific nerve that would knock the girl out cold.  As the consciousness faded away from her body, the gravity in the room returned to normal.  Ironically, in that instant, Ken felt the heaviest he had been at this point, and collapsed, with Benny falling right beside him.

 

"Guess this makes you our extended family huh?"  Ken said, breathing heavily.  "Probably...long lost cousins?  Nah...I'll just ask you...when we wake up."  Ken looked to the side and smiled at the unconscious girl.  "I mean...if we wake up, am I right?  Heh...hehe...heh."  With that, Ken took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.  

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

-BGM-

 

Blow after blow...strike after strike...Zane was being tortured within the darkness that surrounded him, brought forth by Kiara. The silence, the darkness...it hindered the arctic wolf in the worst possible way. After each attack on him, he stumbled around the dark, trying his best to strike back at the bat, but only connecting with air...then proceeding to get struck again.

 

G-Grrrr....DAMNIT!! Zane thought, growling all the while. This was going no where. No sign at all where the damned bat was and she had hindered him to this extent. Not able to hear too well, not able to see her within this darkness, how was he even supposed to beat her.

 

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to think much more, as he felt a kiss on his cheek and his fur stood on end. He tried to strike, but missed once more, only to be met with a brutal kick to the ribs. With an out of breath gasp being forced from his mouth, he felt himself tumbling away from the spot he was standing. But this was just the start...as he tumbled away, Zane felt himself being shook to his very core and being lifted off the ground.

 

N-Ngh...w-what...what's going on?! he thought. He wanted to struggle, but it felt like he was being crushed by the weight of some angry giant or some massive Mobian. He let out a howl of pain, though it most likely was deafened because of this silence and he felt himself finally being dropped onto the ground. There Zane stood...on his hands and knees in the darkness.

 

D-Damnit...t-t-this can't be the end of the road. Zane thought, his breathing becoming heavy as he tried to breathe.

 

This was the end of the road...he was alone right now and this bat was doing nothing but torturing him like this. Apparently not even the power of a Dire Wolf was able to help him now. With a defeated sigh, Zane closed his eyes to accept his defeat. Hopefully the others would be able to get farther than he did...

 

Suddenly, the arctic wolf saw something. Small flickers around him. They seemed to be pink in color and looked like it was mass-less and formless. But when the wolf opened his eyes, the flickers were gone. What in the...? he thought, before closing his eyes again and once more seeing the flickers of pink. What...what are these flickering pink lights...?

 

However, what Zane saw, these flickers...they brought back something that Axel brought up during one of his training sessions with the ivory hedgehog.

 

 

-BGM-

 

It was right around dusk on the deck of the Light Piercer. The training had just finished and Zane found himself leaning over the railing of the ship, and surprisingly, Axel was as well.

 

"Jeez...today's training...seemed a lot more intense than the other day's, Axel." Zane yawned, letting out a slight chuckle. "Been up since dawn...ya really know how to wear an arctic wolf out."

 

“There is no way to know the next time we’ll be faced with those two again...” Axel peered off into the stars. “We need to be ready. If we fall, it will spell the end. Of not just our lives, everything...”

 

"Yeah I get ya...though..." Zane nodded, before moving away from the railings. "I am extremely curious why you wanted me to try and fight you blindfolded. I mean, I'm legit curious on why that was even a thought for this training."

 

“Hm...” Axel seemed to be in thought when Zane said this. Not too long after this being mentioned, he turned towards the arctic wolf and had a hint of sadness in his expression. “Your eyes are sharp but...yet you still see so little. Silver used to say that to me..”

 

This sounded more like some sort of riddle being told to him, but Zane only shrugged a bit. "Okay...but I'm exactly on the same level as you. So I'm not exactly understanding. What does that mean?"

 

“The old man wouldn’t be happy to know know I’m giving away the answers to his cryptic ramblings...” Axel smirked and looked off into the distance again. “Do you know how my True Sight works, Zane?”

 

Zane thought for a moment, before scratching his head some. "I...actually don't have the foggiest idea, Axel. Aren't you just sensing the Chaos Energy in a Mobian? Least that's what I've been thinking it just was."

 

“Not exactly...” Axel sighed then began to laugh. “I guess I want to see if you can sense chaos energy... With Silver gone I’m in charge of passing on his teachings.” Zane looked at Axel as the ivory hedgehog stared at him and his smile started to fade. “To be blunt... You’re the only student I intend on taking. So you have no choice but to learn the secrets of the Chaos Force..”

 

Zane started to chuckle lightly at this comment. "Heh, well I guess I'm honored for that little fact." he said, before seeing Axel now throw him a blindfold.

 

“You’ll either learn to sense me without your eyes or die... which will it be, Zane?” Axel spoke, drawing forth a Chaos Blade.

 

The arctic wolf did his best to quickly put the blindfold on before pulling his multi-tool out and creating his ice blade. He heard Axel moving towards him, and just like the last couple of times this happened, he was struck down quite a few times. Zane groaned as he was pretty much down. This sudden assault, plus the ones earlier in the day were putting a number on him. Even as a Dire Wolf, this was insane. However, as he heard Axel move towards him to strike the final blow, Zane could see a small flicker of a bright blue before him, least for a brief moment he did. He wasn't sure what it was...but right now, on instinct, he moved to the right and dodged Axel's strike.

 

 

That day, Zane thought that flicker of bright blue was something he was imagining. But no, if this was the case, then that blue flicker was Axel. And that would mean...

 

That's...the bat. he thought, before slowly getting up. His fists began to clench tightly as he stood firm and exhaled slowly. Alright then. Try and concentrate, Zane...concentrate.

 

Zane wouldn't see anything at the moment, as Kiara was walking up behind him. But just because he couldn't immediately find the bat, he knew he would. He slowly started to turn, seeing if he could find any sign of the pink flicker that he saw before.

 

On the other hand, Kiara was quite startled at seeing the arctic wolf turning. Jumping slightly, she started to shake her head before proceeding to circle around the poor defenseless and handicapped wolf.

 

Zane just remained as concentrated as he could, before finally started to "see" a hazy figure made of pink energy. It was more than just seeing...it was like he could feel it. What was more, he had a steady read on it.

 

-BGM-

 

THERE!! Zane thought, before creating an icicle and immediately throwing it in front of Kiara.

 

"What?!" Kiara narrowly dodged the icicle, causing her now to be off balance.

 

This was the moment he was hoping for. Zane now went into a full sprint towards Kiara, before delivering a strong kick to the bat's side. The kick connected with her and he watched the hazy pink energy figure tumble away. It worked! This was a hit!!

 

“Alright... what’s the deal?!” Kiara growled, trying to pick herself up off the ground. “There is no way you should be able to track my movements!”

 

"I shouldn't...if I was using my eyes." Zane spoke, moving in her direction. "But...thankfully you caused me to not use them."

 

Kiara huffed and rolled her eyes. "Tch, whatever that’s supposed mean..." she said, before letting out a loud shriek towards Zane, sending out a sound wave.

 

Zane, however, through his senses could now see this sound wave coming at him. A blur of a massive pink energy, quite erratic from the looks of it. I can see it...I can see it clearly! he thought, before quickly stepping to his left to dodge the attack, as he proceeded to throw two more icicles at the bat.

 

Kiara barely dodge the two icicles, only getting more and more off balance. She growled some more, before stomping her foot on the ground. "N-No one's ever been able to beat me like this! What makes you so different!!"

 

"I think you know that reason." Zane spoke, slowly making his way towards the bat. "I had a hell of a teacher for one. And for another..." he said with a slight chuckle. "I'm fighting to get my friend back. So I'll break through whatever adversity I come across! That's what wolves do! We strike back with everything we got!!"

 

"T-Tch...big talk from such a mangy mutt!"

 

"Maybe..." Zane smirked, his stance shifting slightly, his cryomantic energy starting to gather in his hands. "But...at the same time, I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is. Can you do the same, Scream Queen?"

 

Kiara looked at Zane, before smirking slightly, laughing. "I think that might honestly be the best comeback you've had yet." she laughed. "Fine Frosty, I'll indulge you! This is what happens when you mess with us! Alex is ours...and she's staying here forever!!" The bat inhaled greatly, before letting loose a loud shriek. "MAXIMUM BANSHEE!!!!!" From the bat came forth a huge pink shock wave, that was aimed directly at the arctic wolf.

 

A huge grin began to creep onto the arctic wolf's face, as he slowly placed his hands together in front of him, his cryomantic energy growing more within his hands. "FINAL.....FREEZE!!!" he shouted, firing off his icy blast at the shock wave, it apparently clashing with it, as both attacks were struggling hard for supremacy. "Hehe...sorry to say, but it's the end of the line. I can see it from here..."

 

"What are you babbling about?!"

 

"You're out of juice..." Zane flatly stated, sensing the sheer difference in power now. "You used up all the power trying to keep me in the dark. But guess what: you didn't take into account that I can see you without my eyes!!" He took a step forward, still firing off his Final Freeze. "You think that separating us will stop us. The divide and conquer plan. But it hasn't! Even now my friends are doing their best to bring Alex back! THAT'S where our strength lies! IT'S OUR BONDS!!!"

 

Kiara did her best to hold back the Final Freeze, but her Maximum Banshee was all but beginning to fizzle out. "N-NO! C-Captain!! Roxie help!!!" she yelled, but finally, her yells were silenced as she began to become encased with ice.

 

Zane lowered his hands, letting out a deep breath before falling back on his tail and sitting down for a moment. The whole fight and ordeal did a number on him. Thankfully, he was able to finally get what Axel was teaching him...and it was all thanks to this frozen pirate bat.

[Wind Rider]

Cynthia was surprised by the scorpion's sudden maneuver and quickly found herself on her back with Alfonzo about to deliver a sting with his damaged tail. "Whoa!" she quickly grabbed the tail before it could sting her, sweat dripping from her head, she delivered a punch to the scorpion's head, knocking him off her.

 

"That's it, I had it!" she switched positions, with her being on top of Alfonzo now and delivered consecutive punches to his head before slamming both fists on his face. Finishing her onslaught, she breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed that she had knocked Alfonzo completely unconscious. "Good... Riddance..." she muttered as she stood up.

 

She stumbled back though and fell back against the wall. Breathing heavily, she slid down the wall and sat against it. "*pant, pant* I have had... Just about enough of this..." she said taking a breather before staggering back to her feet.

[King K. Azo]

The two metal titans charged at each other, each determined to overpower the other. However, what Blake didn't realize was how much of a boost V Maximum Drive gave the robotic fusion, and as soon as the two collided, the force Metal Chimera exerted caused Blake fly back into the wall, the armor cracking, but still holding up. Metal looked at the arm of the body he was inhabiting, seeing the limb trembling under the golden aura his body was emitting.

"I didn't consider the fact your body wasn't made to handle the V Maximum Overdrive...," Metal Sonic commented to Chimera. "I apologize,"

"It's alright brother, it's just another thing to upgrade," Chimera stated inside their combined mind. "Now, let me finish this fight off,"

"Heh, you got it...," Metal Sonic commented before Chimera's eyes flashed back to red. With Chimera back in control, he tested his hands before curling them up into fists. He could be like a hero, have a witty comment, talk about how you didn't hurt his crew, any number of things. But Metal Sonic himself mentioned it earlier.

 

That just wasn't his style.

Quickly, Chimera dashed forwards, using his clawed hand to grip Blake's helmet, the armor cracking further as he applied force. "This will end it," Chimera stated as he drew back his other arm, the golden aura gathering into his arm, glowing much brighter than when it was spread across his body. "V Maximum Hell Knuckle!" Chimera called out as he threw his fist forward, the arm burying itself into the armor, shattering it, and letting out a large booming noise as the force of the fist threw Blake through the wall, and skidding across the floor of the next room. Chimera walked over, the aura dying around him as he stood over the unconscious body of Blake. "You almost did me in... truly, you're as fearsome of an inventor as Eggman," That was not something Chimera would say lightly. With that, the robot began to stumble deeper into the ship.

That V Maximum Overdrive did a number on him...

[Hälō]

Alex sighed and walked towards her copy. "We can't live in the past... We can't let it haunt us forever... But no matter what... Events like this will stay with us forever..." she put a hand on the copy's shoulder. "We have to look towards the future... And we have to make sure... That our future is a good one... For everyone..." she said with a slight smile.

 

The copy continued to cry whilst it looking up into Alex's eyes, seemingly surprised by the sudden embrace. As it did so, it's form began to lose stability, and soon started to flowing into the real Alex's body in what resembled a cloud of embers...

 

 

"Huh?"

 

In the outside world, Roxie halted her approach. Peering forward towards Alex she watched with fascination as the feline continue to struggle to get to her feet. Though it wasn't Alex's will to fight that had peaked her interest...

 

"This heat..." Roxie mumbled to herself as she squinted her eyes at the sudden wave of hot air that had begun to wash over the room. It was a solemn kind of hotness, rarely found in nature. Thick. Unmoving, almost as if she were standing in an oven... 

 

Unsure of what to make of this development, Roxie quickly shielded her face with her hand before taking another step towards Alex.

 

 

 

 

"A jewel containing the ultimate power..." Axel smirked before tossing the emerald up into the air. "I've already decided that I'll do whatever it takes to bring Alex back," Catching the chaos emerald behind his back, Axel's eyes glowed brilliant blue as he shifted his posture to mimic the stance he had seen so many times before. "I'll save her with these hands... Even if I have to tear my own body apart!"

 

Clearly unnerved, Batsu spat towards the ground. "Don't worry, I'll be doing the tearing." The rooster growled with malice as he watched Axel shoot forward in a blur of movement. Narrowing his eyes, Batsu cursed with annoyance upon realizing that hedgehog was now even running differently from before... 

 

Closing the distance in only a few seconds, Axel continued to mimic the image Ken in his mind's eye; smoothly dodging under the first of Batsu's strikes before quickly jerking his own body around in a rapid spinning motion.

 

"Reverse... Hurri-Ken!"

 

He roared the name of the attack, the words tasting sour as his leg collided with Batsu's at high speed, sweeping the larger mobian off balance and knocking him into the air with surprising force. A bright blue aura trailed behind Axel's heel, quickly dissipating has he stopped his spin with by slamming his free hand firmly on the ground.

 

Though he wasn't nearly as strong as his brother, by using the chaos emerald's power to distort space, the prodigy could still pack quite the physical punch when channeling it properly. "I need... to finish this quickly..." Axel's grit his teeth as his body screamed in agony from the strain of preforming one of Ken's techniques. 

 

The bright blue aura gathered itself around Axel's hand as pushed of the ground, springing towards Batsu with his fist cocked and the purple chaos emerald floating close behind him.

 

"Shhhho-" His voice was followed by the sound of impact as the hedgehog's fist slammed into the rooster's gut at full force, sending him higher into the air. "RYU-" Axel's muscles once again cried out in misery has he continued to copy his brother, drawing from the memory of when he was first hit with this cursed technique and following his last punch with a second even stronger blow right above Batsu's solar plexus.

 

Seeing the light quickly fading from his foe's eyes after the two devastating blows to his vital areas, Axel gritted his teeth once more whilst cocking his fist back a final time. "KEN!" Axel's voice boomed throughout the room as his fist crashed under Batsu's chin, causing a shockwave to blossom from the impact, separating the two.

 

With in moment's both figures came tumbling down to the ground. Though when the dust cleared, only one found themselves with the strength to get up. 

 

 

 

"Must that idiot put his name in every blasted attack?" Axel panted as he looked over to the now unconscious Batsu. Barely able to move his arms now, he gingerly plucked the chaos emerald from the air before allow his limbs to hang limply at his side.

 

BGM

 

Though before he could turn to continue his advance further into the ship, his eyes widened in shock upon sensing a large energy building up somewhere close by. This sudden burst of power was massive, and boasted a heat so severe, that it made the young prodigy suddenly breakout into a sweat, despite his distance from the actual source... 

 

 

"N-No Way..." He gasped, whilst turning towards the direction of the energy signature.   

 

What was truly frightening about the aura was not it's size nor it's proximity to him...  But the fact that it felt so familiar.

 

 

 

"Still got some spunk left in ya, huh?" Roxie halted her approach once more as Alex suddenly began rise to her feet. The hedgehog's smirk flicked slightly, as the air rapidly began to bend and twist from another sudden spike in the temperature around the pair. It was beginning to make it hard to breath...

 

"..."

 

Alex remained dead silent when finally managed to stand upright. Flames had began to dance around her form, and were quickly increasing in intensity. They hugged her body with each passing moment, wrapping around her arms and legs before seemingly densifying into a molten aura that dripped down to the metal floor, causing it to slowly melt. 

 

Nonetheless, Alex remained motionless. Glaring forward towards Roxie with pupils hat had faded to leave her eyes completely white and empty, yet somehow primally fierce. When the molten aura finally began to creep over her face and body, Alex was replaced by what appeared to feline that had be molded from bright red magma. 

 

Seeing this, Roxie grinned madly before retaking her fighting stance. "Oh Oh Oh! I Know what this is... ALEX, YOU'RE DOING ONE OF THOSE SUPER ANIME-STYLE POWER UPS!" A third gust of hot air blasted Roxie, causing her already tattered clothes to blow franticly. Alex had begun her approach now, and with ever step forward the feline left a melting foot print in her wake...

 

"..."

 

 

"Alright, let's back to it then..." Alex's eyes told Roxie everything she needed. No words necessary. Tilting forward, she vanished in a burst of speed just as she had done many times before. However this time, Alex vanished as well... 

 

 

 

 

 

"It's coming this way!" Axel spat in surprise and confusion as two massive auras began rapidly approaching from across the ship. They were fighting, and one of them was definitely Roxie's...

 

There is no way thats...

 

"Sh-" The prodigy began before he was suddenly cut off by a massive crash from the room's south wall. Flames shot past his face in that same instant. Causing the white hedgehog to hop backwards just as two figures came flying through the red hot whole that had been melted through the ship's haul. 

 

"Alex?!" 

 

The site of Alex's molten form sliding past him on melting metal, actually caused Axel to drop his chaos emerald. Utterly shocked, he could do nothing but stand watch as the fiery thief quickly regained he balance, seconds before Roxie crashed into her with another savage kick. The two furiously exchanged blows for a moment, moving at speeds that even Axel had trouble following. 

 

The two were ignoring him. Choosing to focus everything they had into this confrontation.

 

Gaining the upper hand for a moment, Alex swung her hand forward and released a massive wave of flame that swallowed Roxie whole. Taking advantage of this opening, the molten figure then proceeded to shoot forward, smashing Roxie through another wall and leaving Axel speechless for a moment. 

 

"s***." Pulling himself together, Axel closed is eyes and began to follow the pair's movements with his senses.

 

It was as he suspected... 

 

"They're heading right for Ken..." His brother's aura indicated that he had managed to finish his own fight as well, but in the condition his twin appeared to be in, Axel knew he would be nothing but the collateral damage if he got caught up in Alex and Roxie's battle. Grabbing his emerald up off the ground, Axel focused on his brother's location whilst calling on the gem's power.

 

"Chaos Control!"

 

 

 

Reappearing in a flash of light, Axel landed hastily at his brothers side, still panting from the strain he had put on his body during the fight with Batsu. The boy took a moment to glance around the room, and sighed. It looked exactly like what one would have expected of a battle between two monsters... 

 

When did Ken become so powerful...

 

And in the center of all the rubble and destruction laid Ken, and his opponent. Both alive somehow. Sleeping next to each other as they had been friends all a long. To fight at this level without causality. Axel scoffed, that was something only his softhearted brother could manage...    

 

!!!

 

His eyes sudden shot to the space between the two unconscious mobians upon sensing Alex and Cynthia's fight quickly approaching. The pairs aura hadn't stopped moving since they begun, and had broken through multiple rooms of the pirates ship in the short time it took Axel to locate and teleport to his brother. 

 

"Do those two intend to destroy the entire ship?!" Axel said through gritted teeth as the floor began to shake and the ground around them began to heat up, rapidly glowing a bright orange as the metal start going through the melting process.

 

"No time to save both..." The decision didn't even take consideration. Grabbing Ken's shoulder, Axel grunted with effort before once again vanishing in his trademark flash. Seconds later the spot they had been previously occupying gave way to a torrent of flame that kissed the roof the hanger before dissipating. 

 

As he reappeared a safe distance away, Axel exhaled and began to cough from exertion of teleporting more weight than he expected. Glancing down to see why his brother had become so heavy, Axel sighed in annoyance.

 

"If knew you were going to pretend to be asleep, I would have left you there." Axel gaze hung on Ken's hand, which was gripped loosely around Benny's arm so that she was also teleported. Though before he could say anything else, Alex and Roxie made there entrance.

 

Leaping through the hole in the ground the two broke from their grapple and brought themselves to a skidding halt in the center of room. Roxie's clothes were nearly all burned away, but despite her battered form she wore a toothy grin as she hunched over slightly and caught here breath. 

 

And though Alex's feature's were hidden by her molten aura, it was clear the she too was taking a moment to regain her composure- if she ever had it in the first place.

 

"What happened to you Alex..." Finally able to study the thieves evolution, Axel activated his true sight as he peered into burning shell that had formed around Alex. He needed to know where all this power was coming from...

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

Zane was still doing his best to catch his breath and to recover from his fight with the banshee bat, Kiara, his ears began to twitch slightly. There was a commotion a bit outside of the room they were in. And from the sounds of it...it didn't sound 100% good.

 

W-What the heck? he thought, before slowly getting up and then when he did...

 

A huge crash from the wall happened and it was like a pretty huge explosion that emerged. "JEEZ!!! What the hell was that?!" Zane shouted, trying his best to brace himself and to find cover. Debris was flying and not only that, the combatants from this little scrap were now clear as day to the arctic wolf. It was Roxie...and...

 

"Alex?" Zane muttered, completely in awe from what he was watching. This was...Alex? And she was going full force against Captain Roxie of all people! The cat was fighting the Pirate Captain Demon of Mobius...AND holding her own!! W-Where the hell did all this power come from? I-Is this really Alex? he thought, watching Alex hurling a fireball at Roxie...who had deflected without another word.

 

Unfortunately, for Zane, it was heading towards him and Kiara. sheet! he thought, before grabbing the frozen prison of the bat and proceeded to dodge the fireball. He was barely able to dodge because of the block of ice that was Kiara, but the attack missed nonetheless. With a small sigh escaping his lips, Zane looked over at the icy bat. The prison was just starting to melt, obviously due to the heat.

 

"J-Jeez" he muttered, quickly starting to reinforce the icy prison, all while watching the fight with bated breath.

 

Wasn't long until you watched Roxie grab Alex and then overhand slam her through the ground. "HELL YEAH!!! NOW WE'RE TALKIN'!!" she cackled, jumping in after the cat.

 

"Gave me a new exit..." Zane muttered, about to head over towards the direction Roxie and Alex went, but stopped. He turned back over towards Kiara's icy prison and sighed a bit. She might've been fighting against him and did all this, but just to leave her here wasn't something he thought was good. With a sigh, Zane headed back towards Kiara, grabbed her and then headed off to follow the destruction caused by Alex and Roxie.

 

This was something interesting...and to be honest, Zane really didn't want to miss it!!

 

 

Zane made it to the floor that Alex and Roxie arrived at, before seeing a familiar figure off some ways: it was Axel. On the floor next to him, Ken and the monkey that was part of the pirate crew. Both looked like they were passed out...must've been some brawl.

 

"AXEL!!" Zane shouted, waving his hand some before sliding Kiara's frozen prison off some ways away from them as he stood beside the ivory hedgehog. "Tell me you just saw that!!"

 

Zane noticed Axel only glancing at him, before returning his gaze to Roxie and Alex. Both girls were just there, trying to regain their breath after all that. "It's like a cocoon..." the arctic wolf heard Axel finally say.

 

"You talkin' about the thing with Alex?"

 

Axel only nodded. "Her aura...it's wrapped itself around her to form that shell." he explained, slowly closing his eyes, looking a bit frustrated. "Try to sense her energy..."

 

Zane did just that, turning to look at the two combatants as he slowly closed his eyes and began to sense the two energies that laid in front of him. Roxie's, it was massive and overbearing...almost like what he felt when he met her for the first time. At the same time, however, it was also somewhat...whimsical and pleasant. But his attention turned towards Alex, and it wasn't what he was expecting. It was hot and it wasn't just Chaos Energy he could sense, no...it was much more. This energy felt like it had...emotion. A raw emotion that swirled around inside the shell of magma. But it was too much for him...and Zane finally snapped back and was taken back, holding his head. That energy...that power...it forced him out.

 

"J-Jeez...t-that's...is it really Alex?" Zane asked, dumbfounded as he looked over at Axel, though all the while noticing that the shell beginning to harden around Alex, glowing faintly.

 

"Yes it's her..." Axel finally spoke, with quite the troubled expression creeping over his face. "I had originally thought she had tapped into a new level of the Chaos Force. But this is different...Whatever is happening to her...it's from the inside."

 

Zane nodded, looking at Axel then back at the two girls. "Well...whatever this is...I'm hoping its something that'll help her. Cause I don't think Roxie is even close to giving up..."

[King K. Azo]

Chimera watched his arm as his self repair nanites did their thing, fixing him up slowly but surely. He stood up to move, only to have... something break through the wall. It seemed to be Roxie and... Alex covered in a molten aura? What was going on? What did that organic do? What did all of them do?! Chimera went to take a step, but a wall of fire was headed his way, and he had to move to avoid it.

However, it headed to where Blake was. Looking over his shoulder, Chimera tried to see if Blake was cooked alive... to see instead he was gone. So that crafty wolf just played dead, huh? Well, it didn't matter now, did it. The two kept fighting, and Chimera went to join his teammates. There was only one person left to take down...

[Hälō]

 

Pirate Ship - Recked Hanger 

BGM

 

 

“Wow…” Roxie cooed between rugged breaths as she studied her opponent. Her metal hands glowed with hea from her constant exchange with Alex, and though she still brandished her usual grin, it was clear that the pirate captain was on her last legs. “So this is what it feels like to be backed in corner, huh?”

 

“...” Alex remained silent. Seemingly unable to speak through her molten shell, she slowly began trudge towards Roxie with her fists clenched. However something was amiss... 

 

Having been watching the scene closely from the sidelines, Axel eyes narrowed slightly upon noticing the intensity of Alex’s aura was quickly dropping. “That isn’t good…” The prodigy growled just as the glow surrounding Alex seemed to started to dim. 

 

The molten energy around the thief was beginning to cool, and now clung to her body as black rock, slowing her down considerable with every passing moment.

 

Seeing this, Roxie sighed. “But it doesn’t look like you can keep that fancy new form up forever, Alex.” She didn’t have the energy to fire off another Rox-Gun, but that wouldn’t stop her. With a grunt, Roxie righted her position and cocked her first backwards in preparation to throw her last punch. 

 

“What do you say we settle this right now?”

 

She received no refute from Alex, who continued to march forward. With every step, her shell grew more solid, cracking and crumbling as she fought with all of her strength to keep moving. 

 

The feline was in a dreamstate of sorts. Only marginally aware of her surroundings outside of combat, her body was driven by a single desire now, and would do whatever it took to achieve it whilst she still had the power. 

 

“The last one on their feet after this trade is the winner!” Roxie called once the other girl was only a few steps away. 

 

“...” 

 

“Atta girl!” She watched as Alex’s arm trembled against its shell, which was now almost completely solid. Shards of black stone began to break off and tumble to the ground as Alex forced her arm upwards in preparation for her own attack. 

 

This prompted Roxie step forward, before lunging towards Alex with the very last of her strength. “Here we go!” Roxie’s eyes burned with excitement as threw her fist forward just as Alex did the same. However just as the two were about to meet, a flash of movement appeared to her right.

 

Striking Roxie at the base of her neck, Blake quickly pivoted to the left to avoid Alex’s punch whilst grabbing Roxie’s shoulder and moving her to the side with the same hand he used to strike her.

 

Allowing Roxie to tumble to the floor, Blake turned to Alex who stood with her fist still extended. Small wafts of steam billowed of the girl’s outer layer and a cracking sound could be heard, signaling the final stages of her auras solidification process. The light where her eyes had been had all but faded, leaving what appeared to be an Alex shaped statue crafted from obsidian. 

 

“Welp, look at that…” As he turned face the rest of the group, it would be clear that Blake had undergone some hasty first-aid. However that fact was probably overlooked when those present set their eyes on the what he held on his right hand.

 

“I guess that means Alex is the winner.” 

 

[spoiler=OOC]

 

I'm back baby. Thank you for the wait guys... I love you all so much for trusting in my word. As you can see, the battle with the pirates as reached it's end! Though it seems like we still have a bit of business here, huh? I'd recommend rereading the last few posts to get yourselves up to speed before we hop back in!

 

Don't worry, the arc is just about over lol. We'll wrap this up now with a series of collabs, followed by a final GM post by yours truly~ (Don't worry, it won't take two months this time -w-) 

 

 

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

The fight between Roxie and Alex was intense, even more intense than Zane was ever expecting, as the strong pressure between both of these combatants even felt like it was pushing him back...but he was standing perfectly still. This was on a WHOLE 'nother level than what he was on...even as a Legendary Dire Wolf.

 

His fists clenched a bit and trembled...not in fear but in excitement. Unsure why, it was excitement. A small smirk appeared on his face as he saw Alex and Roxie make their move some. "...COME ON, ALEX!!!!" he shouted, trying to cheer his teammate on.

 

They clashed...at least it looked like it. Apparently Blake himself appeared and stepped in between both combatants and then Roxie collapsed on the floor. ...What was even going on?!

 

“Welp, look at that…I guess that means Alex is the winner.”

 

“A Chaos Emerald!” Axel said quickly, seeing the red gem in Blake's hand and started darting towards Blake and the girls. However, Zane noticed the hedgehog went in the direction of Alex instead.

 

"A-Axel!!! Jeez...wait up!!" Zane shouted, following after the ivory hedgehog.

 

“Her aura is faint...” Axel said in a sort of frantic manner, beginning to dig Alex out of this shell with energy from his finger tips. “We need to get her out of there!”

 

Blake stared at the two near Alex's statue-like casing for a bit of time, before finally sighing. "If you guys want her so badly...keep her."

 

"Hey!! Blake what are you doing..." Roxie started to protest from the ground, hearing Blake simply say this.

 

She wasn't the only one who was thinking this way. Zane was also thinking this exact thing, as his gaze turned from Axel trying to dig out Alex, to Blake. "I'm sorry...we can..." he turned and crossed his arms. "No offense...but aren't you working for the Demon Pirate Captain there? Ya know, the reason we're even trying to rescue Alex?? And now you're just gonna GIVE her to us?!"

 

"EXACTLY!!!" Roxie shouted, struggling to get up. However, her injuries were a bit too much to where Blake was easily able to nudge her back down. "Blake..."

 

"Apparently our friend Alex here has more important business to handle..." Blake spoke, closely studying the group.

 

About this time, Zane glanced back to see Axel being able to free Alex's head and upper body. She looked normal, but at the same time incredibly drained. The arctic wolf let a small sigh of relief as he was happy to see that through that entire ordeal, Alex was alright.

 

"Besides...take a look Captain." Blake said, motioning around the wrecked ship. "We lost. Fair and square. Anymore fighting is just needless damage to my ship."

 

Zane sighed before turning his attention back to Blake and Roxie. "...he does have a point..." he said, pointing at the hole that was made during the battle. "You and Alex did do quite the bit of damage there..."

 

Roxie could only laugh at this. “You bet your arse, Nancy! My girl Alex is a really monster!”

 

“You’re all monsters, and I want you off my ship right away before you break anymore of my sheet...” Blake scoffed, before tossing the Chaos Emerald at Axel, apparently catching it in a confused manner. “Consider that your prize for defeating the mighty Demon Captain- or whatever they call Roxie.” he turned to Alex and smiled warmly. “And a gift from us.”

 

"WHAT?!?!" Roxie surged up, only to be caught under Blake's heel.

 

“From what I can tell... you’re gonna need it down the road.”

 

"So...what sparked this change of heart?" Zane inquired of Blake.

 

"You guys hopped right into the frying pan to come save her..." Blake spoke, but from what Zane could tell, his tone and general vibe was a lot less threatening than it had been before. At the same time, Zane could also see Roxie sulking as she laid on the ground. “We could have killed you. You made out... that means I can trust you to have Alex’s back.”

 

Zane nodded, sighing some before shrugging. "I mean, to be frank...Scream Queen over there was PRETTY close to it." he said with a small smile. "Either way, from wolf to wolf...I get ya."

 

"The fact that you managed to neutralize Kiara in that environment was pretty impressive, arctic wolf..." Blake chuckled.

 

"What can I say...I had one hell of a teacher." Zane glanced over at Axel at this, giving him a thumbs up. Then he saw Blake leaning in.

 

“By the way, wolf to wolf... you should phone home some time, kid.” he spoke to where Zane could hear.

 

Zane nodded and responded in the same manner. "To be honest...that's where we were headed before this whole ordeal went down."

 

“Good. We’re not welcome there, but I know a lot of good people back at the village.” Blake backed away before throwing Roxie on his shoulder, who proceeded to stick her tongue out at the arctic wolf.

 

"Yeah...maybe I'll find a way to put in a good word for you..." Zane shrugged, as Blake backed away. As they left, he only blinked a bit at seeing Roxie behaving quite childish with the tongue stuck out. And she's the Demon Pirate Captain? Jeez...

[Wind Rider]

What had happened in the fight against Roxie was a blur to Alex, as was everything at the moment. Time seemed to stand still, it was hard to breath, and all of her energy was drained. Alex couldn't move an inch, until she finally saw light again as the sound of stone cracking and falling apart awoke her from her trance. She practically breathed out steam as she was released from her stony form by Axel. "Ugh... That was... A rush..." she said in an exhausted tone.

 

“You put on quite the show...” Axel said as he study Alex and her newly acquired arm. “I don’t suppose you know how you took on that form, right?” Before she could answer, he shook his head to dismiss it. “It doesn’t matter. The only thing that is important is that your safe.” he said before looking after a moment of gazing at her.

 

"Thank you..." she said as her thoughts trailed off for a moment. Her hand wandered into her pocket and she shook herself to reality upon realizing something. She still had something important on her. "Here... I think this belongs to you..." she said as she pulled the chaos emerald out and showed it to Axel.

 

He gave a warm smile as he gently took the emerald from her hand. He looked like he was about to say something before a familiar voice cut him off. “Right here is fine, Blake!”

 

Blake sat Roxie beside Alex and walked off towards Chimera, a feeling of tension seemed to come over Axel but Alex calmed him. "It's fine... No more fighting..." she said. Content with her statement, Axel let her go and walked away to check on Ken, leaving the now former pirate cat alone with the captain.

 

She smiled at Alex in her usual manner. “So you’re really leaving?”

 

This question made Alex think for a minute, the past few days she was with Roxie's crew started out rough, but turned into some of the best days she has ever had in her life. This was surprisingly difficult to do, to say goodbye.

 

"Well... I'm needed elsewhere, Roxie... Things are... Difficult right now." she started as she looked at her metal arm. "I... Won't forget what you... All of you... Did for me... You're all like a family to me. And I'm proud to say I was a part of the Dread Pirate, Roxie's crew." she said looking at Roxie with a slight smile.

[King K. Azo]

It didn't take long for Alex to stand victorious over Roxie, something that Chimera had no doubt would be the final result. Well, he was 90% sure... 70%... 30...? Okay, he thought all the meatbags would kill each other off, but hey, they made it through, and that was what counted. The genius wolf tossed Axel a Chaos Emerald, which was good. They were about halfway down looking for these things. Then the genius wolf turned to Chimera, and tossed something at him. The robot caught it and looked down at it.

A flash drive?

"I'm not sticking this in me," Chimera stated deadpanned. Blake scoffed in response.

 

“Alex’s arm. I figured since she won’t be sticking around, you’ll have to be the one to run maintenance...” He explained. Chimera nodded as he turned his gaze back to the flash drive.

 

"Right. I'll get these files downloaded, hell, probably can make improvements when the ship is fully operational again," The robot said, the slight boast not going unnoticed by Blake, who let out a genuine laugh.

 

“I doubt it... I’ve been working on the Arondite project since I was pup!” In a flash, the wolf got serious again. “I’m handing over my life’s work to you. Make sure you use it well, Captain.” Chimera looked up at Blake when he was called Captain. If the robot could smile, he probably would. That... that was the first time in a while Chimera was treated as an equal by an organic not of this group. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. Almost made him feel bad for what will happen in the future.

Almost.

 

"Right. It won't be wasted," He said as he slipped the drive into a compartment in his undamaged arm.

 

“I also threw in a gift for you in there... the specs are pretty complicated but I’m sure you’ll be able to pull it off." Blake extended his hand as if going for a handshake. Chimera nodded as he looked at the hand, before slowly reaching out to grasp it.

 

"I'll make good use of it,"

 

“I’ll hold you to it...” He smiled. “Now get your men the hell off my ship, Captain. Last I checked you had a world to save.” Chimera nodded and turned, raising a finger and twirling it in a circle.

"Let's pack it up, crew. We need to get to the Arctic as soon as possible," With that, he walked off, headed back to the Egg Carrier. Time to save the world.

[Hälō]

Pirate Ship - Recked Hanger 

BGM

 

"Hey Hey Hey!" Roxie vibrated in Blake's grasp, prompting him to release her. Barely able to move with her injuries, Roxie stumbled forward and tackled Alex in a sloppy hug. "What's with all the past tense, love?! Just because I'm giving you some leave, doesn't mean you're getting away from me forever..." Her tone was soft as she held Alex in what she knew to be their bit of time together for quite some time. 

 

After a long moment, Roxie pulled back and shakily tried to balance on her own two feet. Barely pulling it off, she flashed Alex her trademark smile just as Chimera beckoned the Freedom Fighters to make their departure. "When you're done saving the world, you best believe that I'm coming to steal you back!"

 

As Roxie spoke, Axel approached with Ken hung heavily on his back. 

 

"Everyone grab hold of me..." With all three of the chaos emeralds swirling around him, Axel placed a hand on Alex's shoulder whilst waiting for the others to join them. Once the crew had been assembled, the young prodigy closed his eyes and begun focusing on their destination. 

 

"You can bet that shiny new arm on it, Alex!" Roxie called out to Alex just before the Freedom Fighters vanished in a brilliant flash of light.

 

 

Mobian Sea - Light Piercer - Meeting Spot

 

Roughly twenty minutes after their clash with Roxie and her crew, the team found themselves right back were it had all started. Though they all sustained no small amount of wounds in their fight for Alex, rather than rush off to the ship's medical wing, the Freedom Fighters sat scattered across the top deck to rest together in the last traces of the setting sun. 

 

Having propped his brother against the railing by his feet, Axel peered off into the slowly moving horizon as the Light Piercer chugged drearily through the air. 

 

"I think it goes without saying that our next stop will be the arctic..." As he spoke, the prodigy turned to glance at the faces of his companions. They had come so far since the day fate had thrown them all together. "We'll regain our strength, and repair Light Piercer as we travel." Axel's eyes narrowed a bit upon catching himself calling the vessel by Ken's idiotic name for it. Things really were changing...

 

I wonder... are you smiling right now, Silver?

 

Glancing over to Chimera in embarrassment, Axel couldn't help but notice that the robot seemed to have smug air about him as peered back towards where they had left the pirate ship. Arching an eyebrow, the white hedgehog turned so that he were looking in the same direction.

 

"You seem rather pleased." He scoffed whilst idly studying the shape of the view of the pirate vessel as they drew further and further away. 

 

[spoiler=OOC]

 

Mission Complete! Welp, it's been quite the ride... I'm sorry it took so long, but I'm glad the arc came out the way it did! Wrap it up with your characters closing post, and be sure to let me know what you guys thought/give me any critique you may have so that me and Hyde can keep making our content better and better~

 

 

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

Zane watched the pirate vessel drawing further away from them, as he watched the sun set like this. He could feel the nice cool breeze against his fur as he closed his eyes slowly. Just sitting there, it felt like nothing else in the world mattered. Before opening his eyes, he could see the faint colors of the other's auras...their Chaos Energy. With a small sigh, Zane opened his eyes and saw those around him.

 

If someone told me...that I'd be thrown together with a group of hedgehogs, a cat, and a bot...to save the world, I would've told them they were absolutely insane. he thought, smiling to himself. Then again...out of all the possible outcomes this whole scenario could've gone...I'm glad it happened this way.

 

The arctic wolf was actually glad that he met these Mobians. Alex was a fiery thief turned ally, Ken was a hard-hitting hedgehog who was an amazing sparring partner...especially with him being a Dire Wolf now, Axel was the calm collected hedgehog who was proving to be an amazing teacher, and Chimera a Eggbot that was actually proving to be a hell of an ally with all his technical know-how and even being able to navigate and pilot this whole ship. It was just a good team to end up on...

 

However...right now Zane's thoughts were on something else:

 

"I think it goes without saying that our next stop will be the arctic..."

 

Thinking more about it, his fists started to clench tightly. All he could think about was the different things regarding the Arctic and the Northern Tundra. Mephiles' little stunt...the possibility that those with the Chaos Force were all eliminated...and that vision he had during his obtaining of the Dire Wolf power. It all made him worry immensely...and he hoped he'd get all the answers he needed when they arrived...when he finally returned home.

[King K. Azo]

Chimera was quiet as the Egg Carrier flew through the air. It was a slower pace, not the blistering speed this might fortress was capable of... but it would do. The Eggman Robot waited until they were a good distance away before he popped opened a panel on his arm, typing away at it. It wasn't a complicated command, and was something he could probably do without the need of a keyboard... 

 

But dramatic timing was too tempting, especially for a villainous robot.
 
"I think it goes without saying that our next stop will be the arctic... We'll regain our strength, and repair Light Piercer as we travel." Axel's eyes narrowed a bit upon catching himself calling the vessel by Ken's name for it. Joy, now all the organics called it that. The last thing he wanted was the damnable name attached to the Egg Carrier, erasing it from history... Like he was sure the organics tried to do with his kind.

 

"I did say we were going to do that, yes," Chimera commented. "Thank you for being my echo," 
 
"You seem rather pleased." Axel scoffed whilst idly studying the shape of the view of the pirate vessel as they drew further and further away. 

"... You could say that," Chimera said, grinning with his non-existent mouth as he closed the panel on his arm.

 

---

 

Roxie's merry band of pirates watched as the heroes of the story fly away on the Light Carrier, before they went back to their own positions in the ship. Blake was quiet as he sat in the pilot seat as Roxie sat in her captain seat. 

"Alright, Blakie, take us away, full speed ahead!" Roxie called out excitedly, obviously wanting to make a cool exit. Blake nodded, starting the engines... however, unknown to them, Chimera snapped the panel shut. At the exact moment he did, all the bombs he planted throughout the ship went off, shaking the ship and sending the ship crashing into the ocean water below. The ship itself was fine, but the engines were destroyed in the explosion. Blake cursed a bit under his breath as it happened. 

"He touched my ship again...," He muttered. Roxie however, was laughing.

"Man, they sure got us good, didn't they?" She managed to get out. Blake looked up, shaking his head, but a small smile was on his face as he did.

"Right, let's clean this mess up,"

[Wind Rider]

Alex looked back at the pirate cruiser until it vanished over the horizon. She looked down at her new arm with a sad look in her eyes before giving a small smile. "Heh... I'll come back alive, don't you worry about that..." she mumbled quietly.

 

Axel glanced over his shoulder, seemingly meeting her gaze. Though before he says anything, his eyes narrowed and his stare shifted behind her. “There you are...” A certain Cat was standing in the doorway leading inside the ship.

 

"Who?" alex looked behind her and her eyes widened in shock. "Y-you... Where did you..." He walked up without saying a word before grabbing her in a strong embrace.

 

"Alex... I'm sorry..." he said.

 

Her brother... All this time... How did he even get on the ship? She didn't say a word but pushed him off her. "Really?" she clenched her fist. "After what you said... After all these years trying to fend for myself... You expect me just to forgive you!" she said angrily. He had a very sad expression.

 

“No... I didn’t come all this way for forgiveness. I came because I’m your brother!” He exclaimed whilst slamming his fist against his chest. “I-I failed you... and I don’t think I’ll ever even be able to forgive myself, let alone even think about asking for your forgiveness.” he stated.

 

"Tch..." she faced away from him. "Why did you have to ruin the mood?" she mumbled. "Next stop... I want you off this ship... And I never want to see you again..." she said looking down.

 

“I thought you might say that...” He also looked down whilst reaching into his pocket. “You know, half the reason I was so desperate to find you, was because it looks like the world is going to sheet.” He’ll scoff a little. “I figured I’d make up for it all by coming to your rescue ... atone for my sins by keeping you safe.” he looked around. "But look at you now... What you did in Dewdrop was nuts, but that was just the beginning isn’t? You and your friends... you’re heroes!”

 

"A lot of good you did with that..." she mumbled. "But no... Dewdrop wasn't the beginning... For me anyway... It started with the attack on the city, before I was transported into this mess... Speaking of which..." she glanced at him. "How did you survive?" she asked.

 

“Oh? That’s simple...” He suddenly appeared to have a powerful aura about him as he straightened up and smirked. “I ran like hell.” he chuckled before continuing as normal. “I’m still not much a fighter, but if it meant protecting the little sister I abandoned... I’d take on anyone!”

 

Axel interjected. “You were up here whilst we were fighting the pirates...”

 

"Someone had to watch the ship." the feline waved him off.

 

"You ran and hid... Of course you did... But just so you know..." fire flared up from under her. "I don't need protection... Especially from you..." she stated with a fierce look.

 

“I hear that hot stuff...” He smiled but it’s clear there was a lot of sadness there. “I may not be able to fight like you guys, but there is a way I can help.” He approached Alex again and put his hand on her shoulder. “I’m going to spread the word. You and you’re friends are the only ones out here trying to make a difference... but I’m sure if more people knew, they’d start hopping again!” He pulled a small device from his pocket that resembles a fish. It was a communicator of sorts. “Here. I’m not asking for a call every day, but I want you to keep this with you so at the very least I don’t have to go running around looking for you again.”

 

"Tch..." alex was tempted to crush the communicator right then and there, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

 

“You’ve grown up so much...” A tear slid down his cheek as he studied her. “Mom would be proud.” He hugged her again. “Take care of yourself, Alex...” Before she could say or do anything, he darted to the railing using his electrical powers. He fell back off the edge of the ship.

 

"What the!?" she ran to edge and looked down to see her brother flying away on a weird motorcycle-like craft. Alex gripped the railing before walking away and into the cruiser, she headed to her room without so much as a word.

[Hälō]

 

"..."

 

Axel watched silently as Alex passed him on the way to the ship's interior. His brow furrowed slightly, but he held himself from going after her. There wasn't anything he could say to fix this, Alex had been through so much in such a short period of time.

 

Sighing, Axel reached down and grabbed Ken by the collar before turning towards the other freedom fighters. "Alex can tend to our wounds tomorrow. I'm going to let Reef take a look at my brother..." As he spoke Axel began dragging Ken forward to the ship's entrance, whilst glancing back over his shoulder. "We did it." His words heralded a flash of light as he and Ken vanished from the meeting spot.

 

With the meeting over, the remaining freedom fighters also begun heading to their respective rooms for some well needed rest...

[Hälō]

Helio Temple

BGM

As the last traces of the setting sun bounced around the mirrors that surrounded the marble throne, Gwynn sat completely motionless, with his gaze set somewhere of the horizon. Though he had free'd himself from Blaze's prison quite some time ago, the Sun God still seemed to be recovering from the battle, with his right arm still slowly reforming from embers up to the wrist. Nonetheless, Gwynn seem to have an amused smirk painted across his face, he sat with his hand to his chin like a statue.

"Forgive me master..." Appearing me from the shadows of the temple, Mephiles quickly took a knee before peering up at the true lord of this realm. "But does something trouble you?" His tone was quite soft, which seemed rather strange coming from the crystalline demon.

There was a tense silence in the room for what felt like eternity. Trembling ever so slightly Mephiles begun to speak again, but was silence when Gwynn's gaze suddenly shifted towards him, causing the a familiar sensation of warmth. Gwynn continued to stare down at his creation for a moment, before smiling yet again.

"On the contrary, my servant. It seems that three of the Chaos Emeralds have been brought together..." Gwynn purred before glancing back over towards the horizon.

"That pack of mortals..." Mephiles growled, clenching his fist at the memory of his last confrontation with the freedom fighters. "I'll deal with them at once." Raising to his feet, Mephiles prepared to take a step back into the darkness, but was quickly halted by a stray ray of sunlight that seemed to bend to block his path.

"You'll do no such thing." Without ripping his gaze away from the horizon, Gwynn slowly slid off his thrown and began moving towards one the temples openings. "That boy... the ivory hedgehog. He usually hides the chaos energy of his ilk, and the emeralds they have in their possession as well." Smirking in an amused manner, Gwynn stepped out onto the ledge and peered into the dark orange sky.

"If you recall, I've decided to allow these heretics to undertake the task of gather my emeralds for me whilst a regain my strength." As he spoke, Gwynn raised his good hand high above his head. "But to leave himself exposed in such manner... could it be that they have grown comfortable?" Flame began to gather in his palms before forming into what appeared to be a large javelin of holy fire

"I will not allow it!" In an instant, Gwynn's amused expression twisted in one of rage. "Such hubris should be punished..." Scowling Gwynn drew his arm backwards before sending his javelin soaring up high into the sky. "Those who defy the gods shall know the wrath of the sun."

Axel sighed, as he and the other freedom fighters began to leave the meeting area. He was completely drained both physically and emotionally, and wanted nothing more but to bring Ken to the medical bay so that they both could get some rest.

However it seemed that the day would have one more hurtle for the group to face...

!!!

"What?!" Without warning his senses exploded like Chimera's missiles. With all his hair's standing on edge, Axel spun around and looked towards the horizon, causing the other freedom fighters to also stop in their tracks. Quickly handing Ken off to Zane, Axel darted towards the edge of the deck, his eyes scanning the sea anything that could be giving him such a sensation. Something was approaching. Something faster than he thought possible...

The young prodigy continued to peer out into the night sky for a few moments. However by the time he noticed that the clouds above the ship had parted with a menacing red glow, it was too late. "GET DOWN!" Spinning around Axel frantically tried to call out to the others, but before anyone else could make a move, a javelin of divine flame came crashing down upon them.

The impact was great, rocking the entire ship sending Zane, Chimera and Ken flying. An immense wave of heat washed over the deck, and when the dust cleared, Cynthia could be seen with the projectile through her chest, pinning her to the ground. Her eyes were wide with shock and though she tried to speak, her words were dry and raspy from otherworldly flame.

"N-No..." Taking a step forward, Axel shakily reached out towards the other hedgehog, but before he could do anything to help Cynthia, Gwynn's javelin erupted into a pillar of flame that reached out to the heavens, searing the deck and leaving nothing but ash in it's wake...

END OF CHAPTER 6

[Mr. Hyde]

Chapter 7: Refraction

 

 

It had been some days since Ken had woken up.  However, he couldn't bare to get out of bed.  It's not as if every muscle in his body screamed every time he made some slight adjustment...no he could get past that pain...but the news he had received.  The news about Cynthia.  Going from one of the team to nothing more than ashes in mere seconds.  He wasn't there to help.  Instead, he lie there unconscious...his body limiting him, and not being able to protect his friends.  

 

"Pathetic..."  He growled, crashing his hand on the bedside, leaving a dent in it.  "If I can't get this under control...I'm no use to any of them..."  

 

A familiar ringing could be heard from above, as the speakers started up.  A solemn voice spoke to everyone on board.

 

"Good Morning Everyone."  Reef said, with a damper to her voice. 

 

"IT'S NOT EVERYONE!"  Ken roared from his bed, hauling over with his fists over his knees.

 

"Uhm...not everyone...I mean...I didn't mean..."  The voice quivered before it continued.  "We've arrived at our next destination."  

 

Ken sat up straight to look out of the porthole of his room.  Outside, the sun shone on ice, reflecting the rays back towards the sky.  Ken stared at it for a long while.  He wasn't sure how to feel.  He could see the denizens of the rather large village stop in their tracks to look at the scene above them.  He could see a small group scuttle out towards the gates, but they were soon out of view as the ship began to land.  

 

"Warning!  We are under attack!"  Reef said, sounding the alarm.  Ken rose from his bed and hobbled out the door, his fist clenched.  

 

 

"C'mon men!  Do ya wanna live forever!?"  A wolf could be heard shouting from the small battalion that headed towards the ship.  He materialized a spear of ice in his hand, and threw it at the Sky Piercer, where it shattered upon impact, causing minimal damage.  The wolf growled, but materialized another spear.  The ship lowered it's door, revealing Ken.  He made a mad dash for the wolf, bringing his fist back for a punch.  The pain was enough to make him drop his arm completely, letting the wolf in front of him clothesline the hedgehog.  The hit was enough to send Ken into a fit of extreme pain, making him fly forward, and skate on his back across the frozen tundra for a large distance.  

 

"Is that the best you invaders got?!  Bring out your real fighters!!!  We won't be as easy as last time!"  

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

What seemed like a few days ago, felt like it happened only yesterday. A sun javelin...sent by who else but the bastard they met in Dewdrop, struck Cynthia and she was nothing but ashes now. While Zane didn't get to know Cynthia all too well, she was still a member of this crew, and that's all that mattered. Right now, it just felt like they had won one battle...but ended up just losing another.

 

An endless cycle of winning and losing...

 

Damn... he thought, staring at the ceiling from his bed. There wasn't much anyone could do when it happened. No one expected it, not even Axel. There wasn't really anyone to get upset with. But even still... I feel...like I could've done something. I'm a Dire Wolf...and yet I couldn't do anything to help her.

 

"Good Morning Everyone. We've arrived at our next destination."

 

Zane sat up from his bed and made his way to the window. Sure enough, he saw the snowy atmosphere that he had known for all his life. They had indeed made it to the Northern Tundra. He moved and tossed his vest on, letting a sigh escape his lips. Please...everyone...be alright. he thought, before Reef spoke again.

 

"Warning! We are under attack!"

 

Under attack? Zane thought as he heard the alarm. He cursed under his breath and quickly made it out of his room, running towards where the bay door was located, quickly tossing his goggles on. sheet...they might not know we're friendly.

 

 

"Is that the best you invaders got?! Bring out your real fighters!!! We won't be as easy as last time!"

 

Zane quickly made it to the bay doors and saw that Ken was knocked back quite far by an arctic wolf. Unfortunately, he didn't recognize him at all...however...perhaps they'd recognize him. "H-Hey! Cool your jets guys! We aren't here to fight!" he shouted, sliding down the lowered bay door.

 

"Well well well!  Looks like they have an ambassador on board!  Identify yourself immediately, or we'll fire upon your vessel again!"

 

Zane felt the familiar crunch of snow under his feet as he sighed and lifted up his goggles from his eyes, before looking at the wolf. "My name is Zane, son of the Arctic Freedom Fighter leader Fang." he said. "No one is here to harm anyone."

 

"Zane huh?  The Zane we all knew left 5 years ago...tried to find a life style different from the Arctic Wolves...A lot's happened since then...So how do I know it's the real Zane, and not some imposter trying to finish the Freedom Fighters off once and for all?!"

 

"How do I...jeez, I would've immediately thought my bad puns would've given that away. Man that's just cold..." Zane sighed, scratched the back of his neck a bit. "Then again..." he said, his hand now pointing at the vest. "Would some imposter actually be able to copy the look of this vest? My father handed me this when I left. If you look closely, you'll see it resembles Guntiver's vest."

 

"You think some flimsy piece of Fabric is gonna prove anythi-"

 

"Fenrir! What's going on here!?"  A voice shouted from behind the small battalion, only to have it's originator shove through in an instant. A large wolf with a scar over his right eye looked upon the ship, and it's inhabitants.  "Zane...is that you?" The wolf placed his fists on his hips. "I had a dream you'd be comin' back here some time ago...but now you're here in the flesh! Welcome back, my son!"

 

To the side, Fenrir looked a bit miffed, but bowed in the presence of their leader's son.

 

Zane stood frozen for a moment, seeing his father right there in front of him. He didn't do much, until he finally made a move and ran towards Fang, hugging him. "Dad..." he finally mustered out, trying to keep from breaking. "...I-I'm glad your okay..."

 

Fang returned the hug, smacking Zane on the back as he did so. "It's gonna take a lot more than an army of ink blots to beat your old man!  But they sure did put a number on us! HAHAHA!"  The wolf laughed heartily, before looking past his son. "So what's goin' on here? You come on some sorta sky vessel and ain't gonna explain?!"

 

"Heh...yeah..." Zane rubbed the back of his head with a small smile, before nodding. "Yeah, it's sort of a long story. Well, a very long story. But we can explain...one sec." he said, moving away from the wolves, back towards the Light Piercer. "HEY!! Don't worry, everything's under control now guys!"

[Wind Rider]

It had been a few days since the incident with Roxie and her crew, Alex wasn't too torn up about Cynthia's death at the hands of a sun javelin. Though, if Alex was her old self, she would've just shrugged it off completely, but now it just felt like a friend had just passed.

 

"Good Morning Everyone. We've arrived at our next destination."

 

Alex looked up at the ceiling of her room for a good moment before sighing and getting up. She threw some boots on and wrapped her scarf around her neck, she may have had her fire, but that didn't mean that it wouldn't be chilly. She had just left her room when Reef came back on the intercom.

 

"Warning! We are under attack!"

 

Alex sighed. "Great... First few seconds here and we're already in trouble... What else is new?" Alex mumbled to herself as she ran out with fire in her hands. When she got outside, it looked like the fighting had already started, with Ken already flat on his back on the ice. Alex grumbled to herself, she wasn't surprised that Ken was the first to fight, but she figured he would take things a bit slow due to him still being sore.

 

As she was about to jump into the fray, Zane stepped in and tried to make peace. It didn't seem like it was gonna end in peace until the apparent leader of the village made himself known. "Zane...is that you?" The wolf placed his fists on his hips. "I had a dream you'd be comin' back here some time ago...but now you're here in the flesh! Welcome back, my son!"

 

Son? Well... Doesn't that make things easier. Alex glanced at the others before putting out the flames in her hands and sitting back from the reunion.

[Hälō]

 

Whilst Zane spoke with his father, and gave the freedom fighters the signal that they were cleared to enter his home, Ken's slide was brought to halt by his brother's boot.

 

Peering down at his twin with a look of concern, Axel sighed before helping Ken to his feet. 

 

"You're embarrassing us in front of the wolfs, loser."  His tone was soft but stern. "You're still recovering. So act like it..."

 

Guilt over Cynthia's death wasn't the only thing that Axel had been forced to wrestle with as of late. Even with Alex's healing flame, Ken's Chaos Inhibitor technique had still put quite some strain on the boy's body, and though Silver wasn't here to say it, Axel knew all to well that his brother ran the risk of ruining his body permanently if he kept pushing himself beyond what it can currently handle. 

 

Studying the flow of Ken's aura with a frown, Axel glanced back over to where the others were. "Come'on, it looks like we're going on ahead." 

[King K. Azo]

Chimera wasn't sure how to comfort the organics, but he knew it was best not to try to comfort them. He was sorry, but he was not built to comfort. So he spent the time repairing the ship, patching up the holes and working to get the weapons back online. The constant fights did create a giant list of things he needed to do to get the ship back in order. The first thing he needed though was actual competent helpers.

He had explored the very edges of the ship, finding a lot of broken robots, mostly Egg Pawns and Camerons. There was no way that he could fix any one of them, not with the supplies he had, but maybe... if he combined parts... instead of multiple robots, he would have two. And two was better than none. 

It took nearly a day, but using the ship's computer to look up blueprints and taking parts from the robots to build new ones from scratch. He was really lucky they were the Egg Pawn and Cameron models, as if they were anything older, he'd have to find some woodland animals to power them, which he knew his crew would disagree with. No, these things were powered by one of three colored cores made from residual energy of Chaos Emeralds or Power Gems. He didn't have any Power Gems, nor did he think he would find any, and Chaos Emeralds were superior to those anyways. 

He had named them Remade Eggman Bot-000A and Remade Eggman Bot-000B or REB-000A and REB-000B for short. Because he had to repair them manually and use multiple body parts, they had new base programming, the experiences of their past lives wiped away. Chimera personally didn't like that, but none of the bots had their I.C. chip preserved like Metal Sonic did, so he couldn't save them. These two were essentially blank slates, absorbing all their experiences to form their personalities. Despite barely being functional for a week, they were very helpful, with REB-000B carrying the tools on its robotic shell as REB-000A did simple commands that Chimera instructed them. Thankfully, thanks to the Eggman Pecking Order, they naturally deferred to him.

He didn't tell the rest of the crew, as they were too busy mourning the loss of Cynthia. Instead, he focused on fixing the ship, disappearing for hours at a time and working long into the night to get the ship back up to par. During this time, he had transferred Metal Sonic's data into a local computer he had found in his room. While their pair up technique was useful, both agreed that they didn't want to do that again, and they would keep Metal there until a new body could be made. Metal Sonic did help him learn about the V Maximum Overdrive and how to better use it. 
 
In his free time, he had been studying the schematics that Blake had given him, realizing that the Arondite Project was indeed something far more advanced than he ever imagined. Honestly, he was impressed. It took him and Metal Sonic several hours to even understand the most complex parts of the project, but they soon figured it out well enough to help Alex. The surprise that the wolf had thrown in was the electric claws that was used against Chimera early, and after an all nighter, had installed it into Chimera's repertoire of weapons. All in all, it was a very productive few days.
 

---

 
"Warning! We are under attack!"
 
Not even a week. They didn't even have a week before the Egg Carrier was under attack again. Oh well, he supposed that was the life of a traveler in these dark times. 
 
"Is that the best you invaders got?! Bring out your real fighters!!! We won't be as easy as last time!" One of the wolves called out as they threw ice at the Egg Carrier. Chimera shook his head as he finished applying antifreeze to his body, and storing some extra bottles on his body. Sure, he didn't really did it, like how an organic didn't need to apply sunscreen, but it saved him so much pain later.
 
"The tiny group of wolves believe they can combat us. Logging this under 'hilarious'," Chimera commented as he walked out with the others, switching one of his arms to gun mode, ready to finally, finally, mow down some organics in a storm of bullets and lasers.

Sadly, it seemed they knew Zane, so things ended peacefully. Regrettable.
 
"Heh...yeah... yeah, it's sort of a long story. Well, a very long story. But we can explain...one sec." he said, moving away from the wolves, back towards the Light Piercer. "HEY!! Don't worry, everything's under control now guys!"

 

"Joy," Chimera said quietly. "Zane. Attempt to bargain with your family units. Information for the Chaos Emerald,"

[Mr. Hyde]

 

"You're embarrassing us in front of the wolfs, loser."  Axel was now picking him up off the ground quite gingerly.  "You're still recovering. So act like it..."  

 

"Whatever...I haven't punched something in ages.  I was just getting antsy is all."  Ken said, choosing to look away from his brother.  The guards grabbed a hold of there weapons upon seeing Chimera come out of the ship.  

 

"They have an Eggbot with them!  They're with the enemy!"  Fenrir shouted, prompting even Zane's father to look back and give a strange look.  

 

"He's with us..."  Ken groaned.  Fenrir growled, while Fang smiled.  

 

"Good!  Any companion to Zane is welcome in the Arctic!  Now let's get you all inside...I'm sure you guys aren't used to this cold weather!  Hohoho!"  Fang wrangled an arm around Zane's neck and prompted everyone to follow.  

 

"Come'on, it looks like we're going on ahead." 

 

Ken gave off a bit of a grunt, as he let Axel carry him towards the village.  As they walked towards the gate, inching closer, Chimera interjected.  

 

"Zane. Attempt to bargain with your family units. Information for the Chaos Emerald,"

 

Fenrir spun around on a dime, and rushed the eggbot.  

 

"What do you know about the Chaos Emeralds?!"  He questioned rather harshly, looking for something to grip onto Chimera, but ultimately restraining himself.  "Those are sacred items...not to be uttered by such machinery such as yourself!"  

 

"Fenrir, stand down or I'll have you isolated for the rest of the day!  These are our guests, and I will not have you threatening them.  We will answer their inquiries at a later time!"  With that Fenrir stared down Chimera for a while, looking into his lifeless eyes.  If Chimera noticed, Fenrir's eyes looked almost identical to his own glare.  Fenrir rushed back to Fang's side, opposite Zane, as they walked towards the village.  

 

 

The gates closed behind them, throwing up sparkling snow into the air.  Most of the buildings were shaped like Igloos, but there were more complicated structures made out of fine ice.  However, some of the buildings were broken, and shattered, as ice was scattered about the ground, freezing to the snow.  

 

"This is the Arctic, home of the Wolves and Freedom Fighters.  Recently, we were attacked by an army of shadowy demons looking to wipe out our people...especially those who were gifted, like Fenrir."  He looked to Zane and put a hand on his shoulder.  "When I thought about what happened here, I was worried for your life.  You are one of the gifted as well...I just hoped they hadn't hunted you down."  He then took his hand off Zane's shoulder, and used it to sock him in the arm.  "But I see your old man didn't raise a fool!  You probably handled those demons with ease!"  Fenrir crossed his arms.  

 

"Surely easier than us.  Many of our comrades died.  If you had been here..." He snarled. 

 

"Fenrir..."  Fang bit back.  "There's nothing that would've changed.  You and I are just as capable, and we failed protecting our people."  He pinched the wrinkle in his brow, and sighed.  "I didn't want your return to be met with such melancholy...so let's celebrate instead!  Tonight we shall hold a feast!  My son has returned!"  Fang let out a loud howl.  The citizens of the Arctic slowly started to come out of their houses, with smiles about their faces.  

 

"Zane's back!"  A young wolf could be heard yelling in the distance.  Soon he would be swarmed with many small pups who wagged their tails.  "Wow!  It's the real Zane!  He's alive!"

 

"How are you not dead!?  Did you fight those scary guys?!" 

 

A smaller crowd separated from Zane to the rest of the group.  Two started to crawl all over Chimera's frame.

 

"Wow!  A robot!  I've never seen a Robot!"

 

"What's your name?!  Do you have a name?!  My name is Nail!"

 

The rest gathered around Alex, Axel, and Ken.

 

"Outsiders?!  Where are you from?!"  

 

"You're warmer than the others, can I cuddle up next to you?"  One said, gripping onto Alex's hand.  

 

A small crowd of wolves had gathered around them, nervously laughing at the children's vigor, but still wary of the outsiders.  

 

"Do as you wish until the feast!  Our home is yours as well!"  Fang said to the group, still swarmed with young ones.