Bitter Brez…
Tails glanced back at Sonic and Sally as he adjusted the controls to make the final approach to the Floating Island. They hadn’t said a word to each other for the entire trip. The little hedgehog had finally bored and curled up to sleep in the co-pilot’s seat. He certainly was cute, Tails mused.
“Aircraft.” A stern voice suddenly broke the silence. “Identify yourself.”
Tails couldn’t help but shake his head. Even after all this time, the echidnas were still untrusting of anything from the outside world.
“Flight 341 from Knothole Village.” Tails said. “We ARE expected.”
“One moment.” The tone of the voice didn’t change. The line was quiet for several moments, then the same voice returned. “You’re clear to land at platform 187. Do not deviate from your current heading.”
“Thank you.” Tails said brightly, hoping in some way to send out some cheerful vibes to the all-business echidna, but he had already signed off. “Friendly as ever, huh?” He said back to the passengers. Neither replied.
The craft’s touchdown awoke the little hedgehog from his impromptu nap and he quickly began leaping about the tiny cabin until Sonic managed to grab him and hold him fast. “This kid certainly is a handful…” He said absently.
Sally threw him an icy look, and unstrapped herself. She was out the hatchway and on the tarmac before Sonic even managed to get out of his seat. He rolled his eyes, threw Tails an exasperated look, and followed, trying to maintain his grip on the struggling toddler who seemed intent on studying everything at once.
It was slightly warmer here he noted as he made his way down the gangplank. Sally was already in conversation with Mighty. The armadillo and the rest of the Chaotix had been sent to greet them.
“Whoa, dude!” Vector grinned when he saw the child in Sonic’s arms. “What HAVE you been up to?”
“Don’t you start…” He grumbled. He glanced at Sally who was continuing to give him the cold shoulder, and a hairy eyeball.
“Everything’s set up as per Doc Quack’s instructions…” Mighty said, ushering them towards a waiting hovercar.
“Good.” Sonic said, leading the way. “The sooner I’m proved innocent, the better.”
Sally snorted her annoyance and disbelief.
“You comin’?” Vector called to Espio who was staring at the craft in a strange way. Tails trailed back to see what the chameleon was looking at.
“I’ll catch up.” He said.
“What is it?” Tails frowned.
“You guy’s run into some trouble?” He asked.
“Whadda ya mean?” Tails asked.
“Take a look at this…” He brushed a hand against a tear in the craft’s hull. It was small, easy enough to miss it, but Espio’s very nature made him notice things that others didn’t. Looking upwards, a series of them could be seen, as if someone had literally torn handholds into the metal. Espio touched the craft’s hull and climbed up it as only he could. Tails spun his namesakes and rose to join him. The pair exchanged a worried glance when they found even more tears in the hull on its roof.
Tails tentatively touched one of the tears. “What could do this?” He wondered out loud.
“Knuckles could.” Espio shrugged.
“Maybe…” Tails acknowledged. “But why would he?”
“I don’t like this…” Espio frowned. “Looks to me like you had a stowaway…of sorts…”
“A very strong one…” Tails added. “To tear these and hang on at Mach 1…”
“We gotta tell Knuckles about this…”
They were so engrossed in their discovery neither noticed the twin shadows moving towards them from the craft’s aft section.
~~~~~~
“So where’s Rad Red?” Sonic asked.
“Hey…he’s a busy dude…” Vector smirked. “He’s the only one of us with a real job.”
“He’s gonna meet us at the clinic.” Mighty added.
The little hedgehog giggled as Ray played a variation on the peek-a-boo game using his tail to hide behind.
“Cute kid…” Vector commented with no real enthusiasm.
Sally just humphed again.
~~~~~~
“So…this is the little tyke who’s been causing all the trouble?” Dr Looney arched a brow at the bright-faced little hedgehog. “Looks pretty innocuous to me…so what’s he in for?”
“DNA test…” Moni-Ca informed him. “There are some questions about his parentage.”
“Right…okay…this way…” The doctor moved off. “Shouldn’t take but a few moments to sort out the kafuffle…”
“You get used to him…” Moni-Ca shrugged as she fell in behind him.
“Wasn’t Knuckles supposed to be meeting us here?” Mighty asked.
“Yeah…well…you know how it is with him…” Moni-Ca sighed. “He’ll be here when he gets here…”
“He’s probably off makin’ goo-goo eyes at his girlfriend or somethin’…” Vector mumbled.
“Actually…I was seeing to a minor dispute in the new housing estate outside town…” Knuckles’ voice came from behind.
“AND making goo-goo eyes at his girlfriend…” Julie-Su added with a smirk.
“You know there were no goo-goo eyes involved.” He said to her flatly.
“That’s right…” Julie-Su nodded. “We’re way past the goo-goo eyes stage…”
“Damn straight!” Knuckles confirmed. “We’re into the good stuff now.”
“Are you two quite finished?” Vector asked.
“Are we?” Knuckles asked.
“For now…” Julie-Su smirked back.
Sonic arched a brow. He’d seen they're playfulness before, but it seemed to be getting more and more serious. Mighty, seeing the expression on the hedgehog’s face leaned towards him. “They just do it to tick of Vector…”
“Okay!” Dr Looney said suddenly. “Who’s for the tissue scrapping?”
“The hedgehogs.” Moni-Ca told him.
“Right…you two with me…” He motioned for them to follow. “The rest of you wait here…” He pointed to the nearby cluster of chairs. He pushed open a pair of double doors marked DNA Testing, holding it open as Sonic, the little hedgehog still clinging to him and Moni-Ca entered.
“Won’t be long…” He said to the others as he closed the door behind him.
“Take a seat.” He gestured towards a pair of rather frightening looking chairs, reminiscent of a dentist’s.
“Will this hurt?” Sonic asked as he pealed the little hedgehog off and placed him in one of the seats.
“Nah…” Looney said as Moni-Ca strapped one of his pudgy arms to the arm of the chair. “Just a little shave of a few dead skin cells…then the computer takes over…” He patted the machine. “And I still get my astronomically high fee…Aurora I love my work…” He moved off and started typing away at a nearby keyboard.
“So…” Sonic leaned towards Moni-Ca. “Just how long does it take to get used to him?”
~~~~~~
“How long has it been?” Sonic asked for the fifth time.
“Five minutes…” Knuckles sighed. “Our technology may be highly advance, Sonic, but it still takes time…”
There was a resounding ping from the nearby equipment.
“Excellent!” Dr Looney said as he walked over to the console.
“Is that the results?” Mighty asked.
“No…” Looney said. “My poptarts are done.” A printer set into the console then began to spit out reams of paper. “THAT would be the results!” He began scanning the printout, chewing on his afore mentioned snack treat. “Interesting…” He mused. “VERY interesting…”
“What’s very interesting?” Sonic demanded.
“Little guy’s definitely got your DNA…”
Sonic’s eyes widened while Sally frowned. Looney arched a brow at their expressions. “Not enough to be the father or anything…I’d say third cousins…tops.” Sonic beamed at Sally who just looked away, feeling more than a little embarrassed.
“But that’s not the really interesting bit…” Looney went on. “This thing…” He patted his computer. “…goes through all the DNA we’ve got on file when we’re doing a match…and Sonic’s isn’t the only match we got.”
“Who else got pinged?” Vector asked.
Looney looked at Knuckles with an arched brow.
“Me?” Knuckles frowned.
“Yep.” Looney confirmed. “We definitely got Guardian DNA in there.”
“How is that possible?” Sally asked.
“Yeah…” Sonic took up the questioning. “Are Knux and I related or something?”
"Maybe he's your shared grandson from the future?" Vector suggested.
"Dude..." Mighty slapped him on the shoulder. "You watch WAAAYYY too many movies..."
“Possibly…” Looney admitted, in answer to Sonic's question. “Though how I don’t exactly know. You see…there’s a reason we echidnas tend to keep to ourselves. Our DNA is very unique…it doesn’t mesh well with others. There are very few recorded cases of an echidna actually managing to create a new life with another species…” He looked at the little hedgehog, who was happily playing on the floor with some brightly coloured baubles he’d found in a box under the magazine table.
“At least not naturally…” He mused. He looked at Julie-Su and Moni-Ca. “Did the Dark Legion ever tinker in genetic engineering by any chance?”
The two young echidnas exchanged a glance.
“I don’t know…” Moni-Ca admitted.
“But we know someone who might…” Julie-Su smiled.
~~~~~~
“Genetic engineering?” Ellie-Za arched a brow. “Yeah…there was this one guy…Bedlam…”
“Bedlam?” Vector queried. “What kinda name is that?”
“You know what ‘vector’ means?” She asked.
“It means carrier…” Looney said. “It used to describe an organism that carries parasites from one creature to another…”
“Euew…” Tails winched.
“I REALLY did not need to know that!” Vector shivered.
“Any way…” Ellie-Za smiled. “Bedlam had this idea about combining the DNA of the greatest Legionnaires…to make this perfect being. Highly intelligent, physically superior to anything that could be produced through cybernetics.”
“He ever actually do it?” Looney asked, highly interested.
“I don’t think so…” She frowned. “There’s no documentation of it. They Grand Masters were never fond of his theories…they favoured technology…”
“Could he be tinkering now?” Sally asked.
“No…he’s been dead for years…” She frowned. “Why do you ask?”
Looney gestured towards the little green hedgehog. “Kid here’s got Sonic and Knuckles’ DNA…”
“WHAT!?” Her eyes widened. “Have you done full blood work? Brain scans? X-Rays?”
“That important?” Looney arched a brow. “We were only asked to do a DNA…”
“Do it NOW!”
“Why?” Knuckles asked growing a little concerned. The statuesque echidna was known for her ability to be calm under pressure. It wasn’t for nothing that Vector called her the Ice Princess…
“You’ve brought him in under our screens…it could be all the Dark Legion need to…”
A nearby explosion blew out the windows and knocked them off their feet.
“You were gonna say ‘launch a surprise attack’, weren’t you?” Vector asked.
“‘Gain access to the Island’, actually…”
Knuckles was already on the window ledge and was about to dive out to investigate the disturbance.
“Hold on, Knux…” Sonic grabbed his arm. “I’ll give you a hand…”
“We brought the kid here…it’s only right we help clean up the mess…”
“Fine…”
~~~~~~
“Whoa…” Vector spun in a tight circle as they hit the street. “This is one righteous mess!”
Sonic’s eyes were flashing back and forth. He was watching something that was moving too fast for the others to see.
“What is it?” Knuckles asked.
“Something moving…” He began to follow it with his finger. “Between the buildings…”
A series of explosions rocked the street in the exact same pattern that Sonic’s finger had just traced. Knuckles frowned.
“Can you catch it?” He asked. “Herd it back this way?”
“Not a problem…” Sonic took off.
“Mighty…Vector…” He addressed the pair without even turning around. “Go check in with Remington…”
“Why?” Vector frowned.
“What, or rather, WHO are the main things the Legion would be after around here?” He asked them.
“Moritori and Kommisar…” Mighty concluded.
Knuckles nodded. “This reeks of diversion…”
~~~~~~
Sonic sped after the fleeting figure he’d spied. He gritted his teeth. This guy was good…but no one was a match for the Blue Blur!
The figure was obviously aware that Sonic was tailing it. It reached up, grabbed a flagpole that jutted from the side of a building, swung around it and suddenly stopped, right in his path. Sonic screeched to a halt scant seconds before he collided with it.
“Hi, there…I’m Brie-Ze.” She smirked at him.
And WHAT a she! A very beautiful female of his species with deep blue eyes and fur that matched the Emerald that kept the Island aloft. Wait a minute! Blue eyes, green fur and super speed? Just like…
She turned her back on him and he noticed that her spines ended strangely, almost like echidna dreads…
She looked back at him over her shoulder, a sultry look in her eyes. “Catch me if you can, big boy!” Then she took off.
With a chuckle, Sonic was right behind her.
~~~~~~
“We’ve got an anomaly at the base of his skull…” Looney said as he held up the x-ray.
“Define anomaly…” Ellie-Za demanded.
“What are you so worried about?” Julie-Su asked.
“Aurora only knows what they’ve been up to…” She folded her arms. “It could be an incineratory device…”
“They’d blow up a little kid?” Moni-Ca asked in shock.
“Or some kind of homing…” She stopped as she felt an arm wrap around her neck. She slammed her foot down on her would be assailant’s, stepped back and flipped her attacker easily over her head.
The obvious Legionnaire hissed as he hit the ground hard. He was a big echidna with jet-black fur and bangs of pure white. He smiled up at her.
“Nice to see you haven’t lost your touch.”
“Havock…” She growled.
Julie-Su reached for her weapon.
“Uh uh uh…” A voice like honey, cooed. “You wouldn’t want me to splatter big red’s marvellous brain all over the wall now would you?” She jabbed Ellie-Za’s temple with a nasty looking pistol to emphasis her point.
“Mai-Em…” It was Julie-Su’s turn to growl. “I should have known…”
“Yes…” She smirked. “You should have.”
“So this is your work?” Ellie-Za jerked her head at the little green hedgehog, and away from the weapon. Unfortunately, Mai-Em was not stupid and quickly wrapped her other arm around Ellie-Za’s neck and pushed the gun into her neck.
“Of course.”
“Following in daddy’s footsteps…”
“My father was a brilliant mind!” She stated. “His ideas were decades ahead of their time! But he was forever overlooked for technocrats like you!”
“Don’t damage the merchandise, dear sister…” Havock remarked as he pulled himself to his feet. “Even if she is a technocrat…she’s a brilliant one…worth far more to our cause alive than dead.”
“Your cause?” Julie-Su questioned.
“We’re rebuilding the Legion.” He smiled. “And of course, you’re all welcome to reenlist…”
“And if we choose not to?” Julie-Su arched a brow.
“Oh…you don’t want to do that…” His ever-present smile turned exceedingly nasty.
~~~~~~
From his perch high atop a nondescript building, Brie-Ze’s silent companion watched her trail of devastation, waiting for the sign that indicated the commencement of his little part in the scenario.
“Okay…” Her voice crackled in his ear. “I’ve got their attention…they should be sending everything they’ve got after me…you ready to go?”
“I’m always ready…” He replied in a soft brogue.
“I think I’ll take a look at the electric company…nothing like a little black out to add to the confusion…check ya later…” She laughed in his ear. She was enjoying this.
He rose gracefully and stepped up onto the ledge that surrounded the building’s roof. He looked down at the street several stories below. He knew what he was contemplating was impossible. He knew he shouldn’t be able to do it. But he also knew that he was fully capable.
He stepped off the ledge and dropped to the ground below, landing in a graceful crouch. He rose slowly, his dark eyes fixed on the massive metal doors of the EST minimum-security prison. He glanced to his left when he saw the street lamps splutter and die.
“Showtime…” He said to himself as he strolled casually across the street, his dark robes swirling around him…