A Dangerous Weapon
(part 5)
The Chaotix had arrived at Flower Floral Village, it too having been attacked by Infinite’s merciless rampage. Vector sighed somberly, seeing the once lush and beautiful neighborhood turned inside out like that: houses reduced to rubble, trees and bushes uprooted and thrown everywhere and scores of wounded Mobians riddling the street, wandering around to look for survivors or laying on the sidewalk, weakly calling for help.
“...A’ight, boys, ya know what to do! It’s Chaotix Time!” Vector proclaimed, shaking off the dread and putting on a brave facade for his teammates.
“...You know that war cry is never going to catch on, right?” Espio grunted softly, rolling his eyes as he folded his arms.
“I like it!” Charmy replied, a big grin plastered on his face as per usual.
“Figures…” huffed the ninja chameleon. The Chaotix descended on the street, each doing their part to help out. Charmy buzzed around the village, seeing who was in most need for support and guiding Espio, who with his speed could easily leap from place to place and bring out first aid kits. Vector helped guide those who could walk towards safety and personally assisted anyone who was too injured or too old to move. The trio worked in sync, managing to clear the road for the first rescue to arrive. As they took control of the rescue operation, however, an agent came by.
“Sir, we have an issue with one of the survivors.” “
“What is it?” asked Vector, after helping out a kid who had his kitten stuck on a tree and being rewarded with a lemon lollipop.
“They refuse to leave their house and are chasing away any agent who’s trying to help. We need to extract her, the building she’s in is very unsafe.” said the agent.
“Ugh… Okay, agent. Donì’t worry, I’ll take care of that old woman.” said Vector, cracking his knuckles.
“Uh, sir..?” muttered the agent.
“Wha? …O-Oh, relax, I won’t hurt her. I’ll just talk to that sweet elderly lady and convince her to follow us.” Vector chuckled nervously, having to specify that he wasn’t gonna do anything drastic. Alas, the cons of being a crocodile.
“N-No, sir, it’s not that… It’s uh… It’s not an old lady… It’s a kid…” said the agent, pointing Vector towards a very familiar house.
Vector’s smile faded as he saw what remained of Vanilla’s house: nothing more than four walls barely hanging onto the basement of the house. The ceiling had been completely destroyed and there were no signs left of any glass on the windows.
“...I’ll handle this one.” Vector proclaimed, heading for the porch of the house. It really twisted his scaly heart into a knot seeing it like that, considering how many visits he paid to miss Vanilla. To say that he had a crush on her would be a mild oversimplification. He was head over heels for her and, while it was never clear whether she reciprocated his feelings, she did seem to enjoy having him around and preparing him her world-wide famous carrot cake. But, instead of that familiar smell, all he could sense was the stench of smoke and burnt grass. Espio and Charmy were quick to join his sides as they carefully stepped past the entrance door… or the frame of it, at the very least. The moment their shoes creaked on the burnt wooden floor of the , however, they were soon attacked by something. Something small and fast, fast enough that not even Espio could truly pinpoint what it was. However, trusting his instincts, Espio threw a stake at the wall, and the small thing slammed onto it, falling on the floor.
“Urgh… Good work, Espio!” Vector said, rubbing his snout.
“Nothing special.” Espio replied, putting his hands behind his back.
“Ooow… Oh, hey, it’s Cheese!” said Charmy, now getting to look at their attacker.
It was indeed Cheese, Cream’s best friend and pet Chao whom she had raised from an egg. Cheese was covered in small bruises and his little bowtie was almost torn apart, but he quickly got back up to resume his attack on the intruders, only to freeze when he saw who it was.
“Hey there, lil fella! Packing quite a punch for somethin’ so small.” said Vector, going on one knee.
“I assume Cream told you to defend the house from any stranger, huh?” he asked politely.
Cheese quickly sized Vector up and down, as if he was pondering whether to answer or not, but ultimately he nodded.
“Heh, it doesn't take a detective to get that. Well, we’re no strangers, right? We know each other. How many times have I taken strolls with you and Cream whenever I was here babysittin’?” the crocodile asked again, and once more Cheese nodded.
“Sweet! Then, ya mind takin’ us to Cream? We’re very worried about her. Ain’t we, boys?” Vector asked his comrades next.
“Worried sick!” Charmy quickly and energetically nodded.
“The thought of her alone in this place deeply concerns me.” Espio nodded as well. Cheese raised a brow, but took flight and nodded at them to follow him. The trio walked past the ruined remains of Vanilla’s house, all three of them somberly looking around as they had spent a long time in that house, especially to help Vanilla with various tasks, which she always graciously rewarded with both money and food. A salvation, considering none of them could cook. As they thought that, they got a glimpse of her kitchen, now reduced to ashes, and their hearts tightened a bit. Nevertheless, they stopped in the middle of what used to be Vanilla’s living room, now torn asunder. The only things remaining intact were the walls, the fireplace and one lonely armchair, turned away from them so no one could see her.
“Kid…” Vector whispered, truly something rare to witness from the rambunctious croc gumshoe.
“...Go away…” Cream’s once cheery, bubbly voice was uncharacteristically and almost ominously pitched down and sounding colder and duller than ever, enough that it sent a shiver down Espio’s spine. Cheese dejectedly floated to Cream and chirped something to her before grabbing the arm chair and turning it, making the others gasp quietly as they saw her. She looked like she hadn’t slept in days, with eyebags drooping from her once cute hazel eyes, her fur was matted and even blackened by soot in a few places, and her gaze… They had seen colder and emptier gazes from adults, but never from a kid, especially one they knew and held so dearly.
“C-Cream…” Charmy gulped, having never seen her like this.
“...Mr Vector, Mr Espio, Mr Charmy…” She slowly and coldly acknowledged everyone in front of her, unmoving from the armchair.
“What… happened here?” Espio asked, looking around at all that devastation.
“Dunno. Happened too fast. Couldn’t see anything, apart from smoke and fire.” Cream shrugged slightly as she spoke. From her tone she sounded like a completely different person, speaking so bluntly and almost rudely to faces she knew.
“Cream… We have to move ya out of here… This place is about to come down on our noggings!” said Vector, pointing at the walls very clearly about to crash on them.
“...No.” Cream replied coldly and looked away.
“Cream, please, this is no time to play.” Espio walked forward, trying to reason with her.
“Do I look like I’m playing, to you?” she replied, almost with a growl, as she clenched the armrests hard.
“I dunno, but you’re kinda scaring me right now…” Charmy whimpered slightly. To that, Cream laughed. Or rather, she chuckled ominously.
“Oh, you think you’re scared, Charmy? You don’t know fear. You’ve never experienced it. Not the way I have.” she said, still chuckling creepily.
“Cream… What happened here?” asked Vector, getting more concerned about her.
“...He got her…”
“What? Who?”
“The masked figure. He got her… He got… mom…” as soon as she mentioned her mom, her eyes started to well up and the smallest shiver of her lower lip could be seen.
“Oh no…” Vector gasped quietly. If Infinite had gotten Vanilla, then did that mean that she…?
“S-So… So, u-until she c-comes back, I’ll be a g-good girl and s-stay at home… J-Just like she t-taught me… And-And if you don’t like it… W-Well then, you can SHOVE IT!!” she shouted and slammed her fist on the armrest, making the others gasp again: that was the closest thing to a curse word they had ever heard leave Cream’s lips. That meant that this was serious.
After a moment of silence, broken only by Cream’s small sobs and pants after shouting like that, Vector moved closer. One step after the other, the wooden floor creaking under his feet.
Cream’s ears parked up seeing him move towards her.
“Cheese! Stop him!” she barked.
Cheese whimpered and stood still, not wanting to harm Vector and being scared by Cream’s tone.
“CHEESE, DO WHAT I SAY, OR I’LL LOSE…!!” Cream’s angry yell was interrupted as Vector picked her up and hugged her. A simple, small and warm hug to comfort a sad kid who just lost her mom. Cream shrieked and squirmed in Vector’s grasp, yelling and begging to be let go, to be left in her home and wait for her mom to be back, to walk from that door as she always did whenever she got back from grocery shopping.
“...Yer not going to lose anyone else, Cream. And Sonic is already on the case, stoppin’ Eggman as we speak. I may not know how at the moment, but I know you’ll get your mother back.” he said calmly and sweetly as he cradled her, just like he had seen Vanilla do many times to put her to sleep.
Eventually, Cream’s rage waned completely and all that was left was a deep profound sadness and fear. She broke crying on Vector’s welcoming shoulder, begging for forgiveness for having treated them so rudely.
“I-I JUST… I’M S-SO SCARED!! P-Please, Mr. Vector, don’t leave me!” she cried out.
“Kid, I swear on my bubblegum wrapper collection, neither me nor the rest of my team are gonna leave ya-” Vector said, smiling warmly.
“Never…” Charmy said, joining in on the hug with Cheese.
“You have my word.” said Espio, completing the hug. the five of them stood like that for a few more seconds, then Vector walked out of the house with Cream, passed out from exhaustion, in his arms.
“...Boys, I may not know much, but I know one thing: we ain’t restin’ ‘til we bring that creep down!” Vector snarled, furious for what Infinite had done to Vanilla and Cream.
“Seconded!” Charmy exclaimed with determination.
“His evil won’t go unpunished.” Espio said with a nod and a scowl. Vector scoffed in determination as he and his friends walked away from the hood with Cream and Cheese, bringing her back to the HQ.
Meanwhile, Sonic zoomed around the dilapidated remains of the Chemical Plant zone. From the surroundings the whole area was filled with leaking oil spills around the surrounding water, toxic wastes circulating and being moved around in conveyor belts and dolleys, and the oppressive stench of smog and fumes that made inhaling the air have a sting to it just from inhaling through your nostrils. Sonic hated being here the most. With the war going on, this already perverse zone somehow looked worse than ever and it made Sonic’s hands instinctively have a firmer grip as he zoomed around navigating for the chaos emerald.
Sonic got on the comms with Knuckles, “Yo Knux, I’m at the coordinates but I don’t see any Emerald.”
“Silver mentioned that the radar isn’t an exact science. Soon as we have an Emerald or two to spare, he can upgrade it to be more accurate. Till then you’ll have to comb the place until you find it. And hurry, Eggman is bound to have a robot lying around this place the second he knows there’s one there.”, Knuckles warned.
Sonic sped around the pipes just over the tainted waters. Searching the place side as fast and efficiently as he could. Suddenly he was caught off guard by the sounds of falling debris right behind him. The pipes were being demolished like something was coming out of them. Unsure of what it was, Sonic still couldn’t resist pulling a playful smirk seeing that now it was getting interesting and propelled himself ahead.
Rising out of the pipes was Metal Sonic, Sonic's robotic rival.
“Oh hey Metal, long time no see. Did I wake you from your oil bath or something?”, Sonic cracked.
Metal Sonic retorted by charging a powerful laser beam from his turbine chest. Sonic mocked Metal, “Oooo, charging up an attack. Hope you don’t miss. After all, I have only so much space to run before you get a chance to fire.”
Metal blasted his beam, but to Sonic’s surprise he didn’t aim it at him. Instead hitting a cluster of explosives down at the base of one of the structures of the plant. The explosion was massive, the shockwaves forcing Sonic to stumble as he continued to run forward. The tower began to fall, and it would soon begin to crash along the pathway Sonic was running along. Sonic could tell if he didn’t outrun the tower colliding with the pipeline and find a safe place to get off it, it would collapse and he would fall into the water that, with the oil spills, were now set ablaze overtop now.
“Give ya points for strategy, Metal. But if we're talking speed, you’re still going to come up short.”
“Then it’s a good thing I upgraded my height.”
Suddenly Sonic heard a voice from down in front of him and was met with a metallic fist clotheslining him. It hit Sonic hard enough he did a full flip and he needed a moment to recover.
“Owww, cheap shot! Neo Metal…”
“Hehehe. I’ll give you a choice, hedgehog: burn by sea, or choke by my hand.”
It was Neo Metal Sonic, an upgraded version of Metal with a sleeker and profoundly smarter model. The typical model that Sonic had behind him must’ve been a backup model.
“How about I go with option C? I speed on out of here and have you get fried from the explosion.”, Sonic jested as he began running ahead with trepidation.
Neo Metal along with the other model of himself began using their speed turbines to match pace with the blue blur. Sonic knew that Metal wouldn’t make it easy for him so he had to rely on watching out for what he heard behind him and the collapsing tower ahead of him. All while everything falling apart was falling down around him.
Neo shot out fire from his hands, creating a wall of fire to block Sonic’s path. Sonic looked around to see if there was anything nearby he could use. He saw some falling debris about to land on top of him. But Sonic smirked, seeing it as the perfect means to get through.
Sonic curled up into his signature spinball move, and around a curved spot along the pipeline, launched himself upward. Upon colliding with the metal debris, the momentum catapulted himself just above the wall of fire that Neo conjured.
“HA! Ya know Metal, are you just obsessed with fire today? Because, I gotta tell ya: the theming is very clever and all given the setting. But if you don’t light a fire under those lead shoes of yours, you won’t come up with more original ideas to catch me!”
Neo took the moment to capitalize on the moment and fired a bolt of lighting to electrify the pipes that were coated with conductive lining around them. As Sonic was landing down on them, he could see that there were spaces where the electricity was flowing. He could see the conductive lining wasn’t entirely all encompassing.
Sonic looked for the nearest no electric spot and landed firmly with a heavy stomp then, quickly rushing ahead. Soon as Sonic saw the first electrified panel, he leapt over to the nearest safe space along the pipeline.
“Ok, lightning is a nice touch, but did Eggman give you a minimal budget? I mean if you couldn’t get the whole thing to be electrified? Why waste it on a half-finished job?”
“So that everywhere you move and hop around, I’ll know where you’ll go.”
“Uh-oh.”
The Metal doppleganger hit Sonic with a psychic knife attack, ripped right out of Silver’s playbook, hitting Sonic midair.
Sonic managed to catch himself and rolled back into his momentum speeding along. Metal was having Sonic trapped where the path ahead was thoroughly thought out and thus Sonic had to think unpredictably in order to make it ahead.
Sonic could see the tower would collide with the pipeline in less than a minute. Sonic needed to pick up speed, but the fastest way to outrun the tower’s collision was a straight run ahead using his boost.
Sonic revved up his feet trying to see if he could generate some static electricity to help absorb some that he'd inevitably pass through. As he was, Neo Metal was alarmed by this and accelerated closer to Sonic. Sonic appeared to be slowing down but was actually building up towards a powerful charging boost that would have him move faster for a brief period of time.
Neo Metal grabbed Sonic by his arm, grasping at it tightly, but the moment he did, Sonic bolted forward like a rail gun. The sudden boost in acceleration overwhelmed Neo Metal’s systems, failing to acclimate to this new burst of speed.
He tried to move his other arm to try and grab at Sonic but the G-forces were so great that Metal’s grasp completely came undone. His metal fingers flew off as they could no longer hold onto Sonic’s arm. As he rolled around decelerating, he picked himself up, only to be perfectly smack dab in the middle of the collapsing tower where it fell right on top of him.
Sonic then found a monorail of cargo being transported as soon as he boosted past the tower, and leapt off the collapsing pipeline onto the top of the cargo train.
Sonic looked over back and had a look that read, ‘I doubt he was destroyed from that, but I hope he got really damaged from it at least’.
Sonic then noticed his fur getting very staticy from all the electricity he’d cumulated making himself a bit too fuzzy. He then called up Knuckles, “Hey Knux, tell Silver that radar needs working cuz I couldn’t find any emeralds here. Had a run in with Neo Metal Sonic, tho.”
“Huh, so who won the fight then?”
“Very funny, Knucklehead.” Sonic scoffed and went his way.
Back over the destruction, amidst the fires and superheated metal sinking into the waters, a fist emerges outward filled with an anger that burns hotter than the fires surrounding it…
To be continued…
