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Swish. It was the only sound that could be heard. The swaying of the trees. Usually a calming sound in the jungle, no one could guess what it could portend as of late. It had been strange since the "incident". The one known as FAK thought himself Ultimate Life. How could it be known to be true or false? The only certain fact was that he couldn't go down easily. Then why DID he go down easily? It had been a day. He was on edge. He knew that FAK couldn't be dead, killed by the bomb of Himster's. It was hard for him to concentrate. "Hector! What the hell are you doing!?" A voice said from behind the huge squirrel. Turning around, he saw a sleek orange fox with a gun. It could only be indentified as Rico Underwood. "Exactly what it looks like," He responded. "You still can't get over it..." "I was petrified. I couldn't move. I'm weak..." "No way!" A feminine voice from off to Hector's right yelled. Turning around, Hector saw a small red hedgehog girl standing nearby, her hands on her hips. "Sasha! Where the hell did you come from!?" "You know I hate being called that, Hector... and you aren't weak. I saw Mura trying to heal Himster up from that beating that huge FAK guy gave him, and he's still unconscious... "You saw him when he went after everyone else. He hurt all of us, except for me, Mura, and Bune..." Both Hector and Rico knew this well. Rico had been beaten badly, and his ribs still hurt, even after Mura had healed him to the best of her ability. Hector's face had a scar from where FAK had started on him. "You aren't weak. I know that you're sensible. Himster crossed the line between brave and absolutely insane. You... didn't." Hector had seen this insight from Sash only rarely. Rico didn't know about this. They were bith dumbfounded, having expected to hear something shallower. "You... you're right..." 2 “Urrgll...” a tiger groaned, waking. “Himster!” A feminine voice yelped. Himster, upon hearing his name, sat up and looked toward the speaker. It was Mura the Healer, who had obviously been healing him. “You didn’t use any magic on me, did you...?” Himster managed to say. “No, I used some herbs.” “Herbs? From where?” Himster asked. “From,” She started, opening a cabinet nearby; “here.” At last Himster took stock of his surroundings. He was in a small room, mostly brown with the mahogany color taking precedence over the room. A goodly amount of cedar cabinets lay on the wall close to where the selected one that Mura opened. It seemed obviously to Himster where he had been, for it was familiar... “We’re here already... how long have I been out?” “5 days,” Mura replied. “It took that long to get to the sister town.” “...” Himster didn’t reply. His only action in response was turning around and getting out of the bed. Mura didn’t stop him; she didn’t even look, because she was engrossed in a chapter in her White Magic and Healing Herbs book. Himster walked from the hospital harmlessly. “Hey! Hey, Himster!” Turning around, Himster looked and saw Hector. “You’re alright!” “I guess.” Himster scratched the back of his neck. “Why aren’t we goin’ to Station Square? Isn’t that Robotnik dude gonna kill everyone there?” “Err, actually not. Y’see, that evil sniper echidna dude... Jucx, I think... told us that Robotnik’s bots are coming in 5 more days.” “What the f**k!!!?? Where did Jucx come in!!!!???” “I hate him as much as you do. But Sash’s chao, Umbra, can search emotions, usually a dragon trait. He’s not lying. He isn’t evil, either...” “The dude’s a stuck up little bitch... what did Rick say about this?” “Rico wants to kill Jucx. Jucx wants to kill Rico. He may be a stuck up little ass working for Robotnik, but he didn’t want to be the messenger of a massacre.” “...just keep Jucx and Rico away from each other as much as you can,” Himster replied. “or they’ll both prolly end up dead.” “Weird. Someone else can use fire,” Sash said, talking to Paws. “Stealing my originality...” Paws said, half jokingly. “Whatever. But can you make as much of it as I can?” Sash said, shooting a long trail of fire into the air. “Not as much, but can you shoot a damn gun?” Paws said smugly, whipping out her .45 Desert Eagle. “Who needs a gun when you can do this?” Sash said, swiftly melting the Eagle. “You little bitch! You f**king melted my gun!” “Like I care,” the red Hedgehog responded, further infuriating the female fox. Bune looked in from back further, rolling his eyes. “I always wondered what would happen if Sash met Paws and immediately pissed her off. I sometimes wonder if Sash annoys people on purpose.” All of the people nearby, namely Wes, Booker, Ryu, and Todd were laughing at the display. Bune soon joined in. Next day... “We’d better be leaving later today in case Jucx is lying,” Booker explained. “Good idea...” “The only problem is, when we get there, how can we fight a million bots?” Bune asked. Hector stepped forward to give his answer to Bune’s query. “Station Square has an armory. Himster, Rico, Jucx, and everyone else can stock up on ammo and weapons there. Hopefully they’ll have a nice sword for you, Bune, a spear or something for Ryu and some duel claws or whatever for me.” “Will that help much...?” Bune asked. “We’re their only hope,” Sash answered. “It doesn’t matter whether we can or not, we have to try.” “There we go with this f**kin’ “faith” s*** again.” Himster sighed. “Whatever... I’m just doin’ this so I can kick Robotnik’s fat ass,” Rico said. “I just can’t condemn a bunch of people to death...” Mura said. “It isn’t right.” “Well said,” Ryu responded. “Ditto,” Todd said. “What they said,” Wes replied. “Just so this doesn’t get friggin’ boring with all the “well saids” and s***, let me say this,” Paws said. “Let’s beat the s*** outta that Robotnik dick!” “It’s agreed. We’ll move out today,” Hector said. “Let’s get up and get the hell outta here.” The packing went quickly. It only took an hour to get the required things to go to the hidden city, probably because of the first battle with the bots. They’d exhausted their gun supply. Himster was without his .45 Desert Eagle. Sash had melted Paws’s empty one. Rico, however, still had his trademark Mark23 handgun. Jucx was the only one with a loaded gun. Two MiniUzis, to be exact. He had quite a few clips left, but not as many as he was used to. Bune still had his weapon, a large sword. Sash’s and Mura’s weapons were incorporeal; none but a power they had. Hector had no weapon sans his fists. The journey was very strange. They ran into scarce wildlife along the way, and the only wildcats seen were dead already. It seemed probable that Jucx had lied. However, the echidna insisted that his claims were genuine. When they got to Station Square, it was apparent that Jucx had lied. “L-look at this...!” Mura gasped, looking at the town. It was being invaded by the metallic menaces of Robotnik’s possession. Buildings exploded, and the city itself wasn’t clear. It was black and smoky. “Asshole! You f**king lied!” Rico exploded. He dove at the echidna, and hit him with his fist, knocking him down. The sound was a clanking noise, however, as his head hit. “What th-? He’s... he’s being controlled!” Bune said, looking at the back of his hair, seeing the metallic implants on him. “Hi-tech stuff. Robotnik must’ve done it.” “Damn... Umbra must have been checking the real Jucx’s emotions...” Todd said, looking down at the gray heap. “...now...” Jucx uttered, then passed out. “f**k! He must have called ‘bots here!” Himster yelled, looking around shrewdly. “We’d better get th’ hell outta he-” Ryu suddenly stopped. He had been knocked unconscious by a metallic arm. Wes said was sucker-punched by a bot from his blind side. At that moment, the ambush became apparent. Sash whirled around just in time to dodge a bot, but then 5 bots rushed her, sending her crashing into a tree. About 20 came from behind Himster and Hector, overpowering them. Then the 20 came for Mura. She blacked out... Black. All black. It was too dark. Nothing could be seen. The other senses weren’t too appealed. The floor was cold. The rooms smelled of metal. Mura decided that she did not want to open her eyes for fear of where she would be. She fought this urge, and opened her eyes. She was in a room, bodies littered on the floor. The shapes were familiar. “Mura... you’re alright,” Hector’s deep, familiar voice said. “Yeah... where are we?” Mura responded. “Some prison somewhere. Probably a makeshift one in Station Square, if not already on a carrier bound for Robtropolis.” “Where’s everyone?” Mura looked in the room and saw Rico and Hector. Sash, Bune, and everyone else were gone. “Prolly in some other cells. Robotnik wants us to stay here,” Rico answered, then scowled. “Jucx... I’ll beat his ass down if he ever comes around here again...” “Rico. That isn’t Jucx,” Hector said. “He was controlled.” “Forget it... we might as well get some sleep.” Rico rolled over wearily. Mura decided that would be best. She lay down as she had before and soon fell asleep. Mura awoke soon. She did not know how much time had passed, as she had no clock to look at. It was still dark in the cold metallic dungeon. Soon a light turned on in the prison. “Ha ha ha... look who we have here,” a voice said. It was low, dark. The figure, comically set up, emerged from the darkness. Ivo Robotnik! Julian Kintobor! A man of many aliases! “2 foxes and... a squirrel that is the spitting image of Maximillian Acorn. One of the Royal family. Why are you not with your family in knothole with your family? And that fox... he looks similar to Miles “Tails” Prower.” Mura saw Hector and Rico, both awake. Hector’s eyes were ablaze. Rico wearily sat in the corner, not caring about what was said. “And these here... This one is a hedgehog.” A sudden flame sent the force field to guard any matter from leaving the dank sister prison. “A hot little thing, eh? You’ll certainly make a good ‘bot. A tiger? A strong tiger. You’ll also make a good robot... A female fox too. Orange really is the color most foxes are these days, eh? Looks like I have a nice batch of robots this time. I can’t get anything from these Overlanders. They become statues when robotisized.” “Shut up, dick!” Paws screamed from the sister prison. “I’d rather go to hell than be a robot!” “That can be arranged, fox,” Robotnik said coldly. He turned toward a control panel, beeping wildly for some reason. “Eh? Another fox? He has a sword...” (Bune! Mura thought.) “He’s taking down the defenses. Get Jucx out there.” “How can I get out there when I’m here?” “Eh? Jucx? Get out there right now.” Jucx shook his head, his dreadlocks moving in unison with the rest of the hair on his head. An enraged look came onto his face. “Shut the f**k up, you fat little motherf**king bitch!” Jucx drew his guns and jumped at Robotnik. “Give me my family back!!!!!!” “Mutiny. Pity.” Jucx suddenly fell on the floor, hitting a shield protecting Robotnik. “I had high hopes for you...” Robotnik suddenly disappeared. SHADOW-bots took his place. “Jucx...!” the feminine voice of Sash cried. “...help!” Jucx suddenly turned, hearing her voice. He raised his gun and shot. The bullets caused the conduits that held the energy for the force fields. The force fields collapsed upon themselves. “Get the hell outta here!” Without a look back, they ran. However, Rico along with everyone else, was wary of deceit. They burst through the door in the prison. Bune was there, along with the bodies of 6 SHADOW-bots. “Bune! Where is everyone else!?” “They’re finding the other plane! Let’s get outta here!” They ran from the building. It was metallic, glossy against the smoldering buildings. “No bodies... we can still save the humans...!” Bune gasped. “Where are they!?” Hector yelled. “We can’t save them if we can’t find them!” A sound greeted Hector almost like an answer. A ship landed nearby, obviously to stock more Overlanders. Hector nodded and went toward the landing site. Everyone followed. Hector suddenly spoke. “We need the weapons... The armory is close.” The armory turned out to be a large building near the police station. Himster kicked the locked door in. “Hell yeah! I can get another Eagle here!” He cried in joy, picking up a .45 Desert Eagle near a crate. “Rick, there’re some Mark23 clips ‘round over there! This is f**kin’ awesome!” “Look at this thing! Look at the length of this thing!” Bune said, holding up a humongous sword. “Look at the hilt...! It even has its own scabbard!! The blood channel is much bigger than on mine! This thing is MINE!” He took it up, looking at the name. “Flatsword, eh?” “You’re not the only one with a blade now,” Hector said in response. He held up some duel claws that he had. “Tiger Fangs.” “This rod is longer than the one I have. It’s a magic one too,” Mura said. “What about me?” Sash asked. “What could I have?” “These.” Rico handed her some gloves. “Fireproof. They also have some kinda fire power of their own. At least it said that on the crate.” He bestowed them upon Sash, then talked again. “Now that we’re pretty much stocked up,” Rico said, tapping his handgun; “let’s beat the s*** outta the ‘bots!” |