Roleplay:Secret Discord/Part3

Back to the overview.

Back to Part Two.

The Battle at the Park
A lot of things happened all at once. As Reens and Splice rushed towards Hikari, he stepped back for a moment, before returning to his signature smug smirk. "You think that you can get the drop on me that easily?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. As they moved close enough to strike, he seemingly vanished into thin air, reappearing alongside Fuwa. Kiko had also managed to make his way over there, without making a single sound.

"The real fight begins now!" Fuwa roared, powering up his aura. Him, as well as the two agents, all entered fighting stances. The area around them mysteriously got about ten degrees colder all of a sudden, with the creeping feeling of a hidden presence.

As Splice reached the apex of his jump, he swung his arm and fired a stream of sharp icicles down on the battlefield. They continued to rain down on his foes until he was close to the ground. Once he landed, his left hand burst into flames; he held it behind him as he prepared for his next move.

Reens readied her plasma cannon and fired a series of short bursts of energy, followed by a single large burst of energy. She also allowed the vortex to turn onto its side, sort of like a hurricane. She pushed both hands out in front of her, making sure she pressed as hard as she could. Jumping back, she fidgeted on her feet.

Melissa had summoned shadowy tendrils from the darkness enveloping the group, and attempted to slash and/or impale her opponents with them. They'd be difficult to see, as the area continued getting darker, and could come from almost any direction. The bird herself was completely monochrome, with everything in the area not too far behind.

The three agents each made their way through the barrage in different ways. Fuwa opted to simply expel his own energy to make a barrier whenever an attack got close, Kiko practically danced around the various icicles and energy blasts, and Hikari dashed forwards, seemingly vanishing and reappearing somewhere else whenever an attack got close to him. As they made their way towards the group, each moved to attack a different person: Fuwa dashing towards Smash, readying an energy blast, Hikari running towards Reens with a punch ready, and Kiko attempting to jump kick Static.

"Get ready, you guys! They're gonna hit us head on!" Reens grunted as she tried blocking the punch with one of her own, using her robotic arm as leverage. She then ducked another punch and lifted her right leg, attempting to kick Hikari in the head. "Is that all you have? Punches and kicks? 'Cause if it is you're not making this very fun for me."

Just as Kiko began to breeze by him, Splice turned and thrust his palm forward, unleashing a burst of flames that would blast him off course. His other hand began to catch fire as well.

Meanwhile, Smash beckoned his opponent, gesturing him to "bring it". He could see the energy Fuwa was building up and braced himself for whatever kind of blast he was going up against. He slid his left leg back slightly, getting in position. He was waiting for the right moment to make his move.

Taking advantage of Splice knocking Kiko off course, Static quickly cracks his whip at the fox, wrapping the end around one of his ankles. Static would then send a pulsing electric current through it to shock Kiko while slamming him into the ground. He would then fire a bolt of lightning at Fuwa, hopefully stunning him and create an opening for Smash.

As Reens began to kick Hikari, he grinned. Her foot would end up meeting nothing but air, and Hikari seemingly disappeared upon contact.

"Behind you." Hikari aimed a kick at the center of Reens's back, but before he could hit her, Platinum leaped towards him with a punch, Hikari quickly moving backwards to avoid it.

"Not on my watch, buster!" Still blue-quilled, Platinum followed up by shooting a whiteish energy ball at him, similar to the energy of the crystal. "I think I remember now. About his powers. He can manipulate light, so he can make illusions, as well as turn invisible. But if we stay back to back, he can't get the drop on us!"

Although Kiko was knocked off course by the fire, he seemed to not have been greatly harmed by it. Upon being hit with the electricity he winced in pain, freezing in place for a moment. However, he managed to break out. It was almost like the whip moved by itself. Deciding not to strike yet, Kiko returned to a fighting stance.

Fuwa grinned when Smash beckoned him, placing his palm out. Before he could fire, Static's attack hit him, which did knock him to the side, but seemingly unaffected and annoyed.

"You can all try to hurt me, but you cannot win. Give up before it's too late!" He roared, as a beam of energy shot towards Smash, though it was moreso an unstable mass of color than a straight beam.

"Right," Reens agreed with Platinum. "Thanks for the save!" She readied another series of short energy blasts, followed by a larger blast of energy. "Smash, look out!" She had just noticed the large, unstable mass of color. "Damn, my scanner's going nuts! Do you think they could be using some of the crystals they already have?"

Hikari took advantage of Reens' temporary distraction, dashing towards Melissa. His expression was somewhat strained, as although he disappeared and reappeared when stray attacks flew by, it was moreso a flicker than him actually disappearing.

Well, it would have been an unstable mass of color, if only there was any color left. It was more a mass of white and light-gray light at this point, but it would likely function the same as normal.

While Smash was confident that he could dodge with a mere step to the side, a wall of darkness rose up between him and Fuwa's attack, shielding the echidna from harm. That same wall then began moving towards the abomination of a hedgehog at great speed, and would hit with the force of a truck if it collided. Smash considered chasing after the wall for a follow-up strike, but he held his ground; he intended to observe and learn what his enemy was capable of.

The impact of the wall seemingly destroyed Fuwa, liquefying his entire body. However, the flecks of liquid slowly clumped back together, before fully re-forming into a solid being. He seemed a little bit injured, and a lotta bit angry. Silently, he gathered energy in both of his hands.

"Smash can handle himself for now; focus on the enemy in front!" Splice reminded Reens, placing both of his palms in front of him. Switching back to the icy aura, he suddenly began rapid-firing sharp icicles at Kiko like a minigun.

Reens nodded again. "Right!" She pulled out her sword from the sheath at her side and crossed her arms, slashing an X-shape into the air. She followed that with forming multiple orbs of water and blasting them in the enemies' direction. I just hope the guys at the warehouse and the other building are having good luck with their missions...

Kiko smirked, and seemed to barely move, yet dodge the onslaught of icicles, opting to walk and bend over to get out of the way of the projectiles shooting towards him. On close examination, it seemed that anything that got close to grazing him simply was diverted around him. As he continued to dodge, he grabbed two of the icicles straight out of the air, using them to block the spheres of water, before throwing one at Reens and one at Splice himself, both moving at significantly fast speeds.

Meanwhile, Hikari had gotten close to Melissa, and once he could see her directly, he created a large beam of light and pointed it at her, in an attempt to blind her.

Melissa screamed as she was hit with the blinding light, and the darkness surrounding the area and draining it's color almost instantly disappeared as the avian princess fell to her knees, clutching at her eyes.

Static turned upon hearing Melissa scream to see the princess drop, with Hikari ready to follow up with an attack. Without thinking, Static dashed forward towards Melissa's assailant, slamming into Hikari before he knew what hit him. Despite the distance, Static covered ground almost instantly, like a bolt of lightning, sending both Hikari and himself tumbling several meters from the momentum.

Smash had barely managed to catch wind of what just happened. But Melissa was on her knees, and Static had his hands full. He took a step in her direction, but quickly stopped himself as he noticed the energy building up in Fuwa's hands. "...Platinum, take care of Melissa!" He said hurriedly, keeping his eyes on the angry mess of a man.

"Gotcha!" The now red-quilled echidna said, dashing towards Melissa. "Geez, that was pretty intense. Don't worry, though; I'll keep ya safe until you're back up and at 'em."

"I... I can't..." the avian huffed as she grabbed hold of Platinum. "I can't see..."

Meanwhile, Hikari had just vanished from underneath Static only about a foot away. He was just getting up off the ground, however, and certainly looked quite angry about being hit by Static's attack. Brushing some grass and dirt off his suit and gloves, he returned to a fighting stance.

As soon as Splice saw him catch his icicles, he stopped firing and gave a startled grunt. Now concentrating on the ice in Kiko's hands, Splice kept his hands raised until the two projectiles came back towards them. The ice suddenly exploded into twinkling little particles, evaporating before they came in contact with anything.

"Damn, can't even hit him," Reens mumbled to herself. Then, she created a bubble around herself, shielding her from other attacks for a short while.

"This guy's starting to tick me off!" Splice growled. He then placed his fingers together in front of him as a swirling red aura formed between his hands. "This oughta show em..." After a couple seconds, a large icicle formed in his hands, concealing the red aura inside. "You like playin' catch? Go long!" Splice then hurled the icicle at Kiko like a football.

Fuwa madly grinned at Smash. "It looks like you've run out of other people to defend you... Let's see how you can handle this!" He dashed straight towards him, firing balls of colorful energy from his hands.

"I still got one person left." The echidna quipped as he got back into position. Swaying back and forth, Smash dodged each energy ball with relative ease until he made it to melee range. Just as Fuwa closed in on him, Smash rose his leg and let loose with several kicks in rapid succession to keep him at bay.

Seeing the enormous icicle heading towards him, Kiko quickly placed his hands on the ground before leaping straight towards the icicle. However, he was going slightly above, seemingly sliding across the top of it. "Just give up, and let us take the girl. There is no possibility of--" Suddenly, the icicle burst into steam and flames under him, launching him upward.

"No possibility of what, now?" Splice asked with a cocky grin, twirling a fireball on his fingertip as Kiko hit the ground. "You still think you've already won, don'tcha?"

Reens smirked. "Oh, you'd think so wouldn't you? Well let me remind you that the world is full of endless possibilities!" Crouching down, she coated herself in water and shot herself forward at Kiko, the bubble dissipating. "Take this!"

The assault from Smash pushed Fuwa back, though he seemed mostly unharmed. Growling, he rushed with incredible speed back at Smash, attempting to punch him. It would be clear that although Fuwa posessed an enormous amount of power, his fighting skill was unpolished and sloppy.

The punch was almost too fast for Smash to dodge; he could feel the sting of Fuwa's fist grazing past his cheek as he swiftly ducked to the side. He quickly noted how the mad scientist threw his whole weight into the punch, throwing off his own balance in the process; he was wide open. Smash stood back up to grab his extended arm, and proceeded to hurl Fuwa over his shoulder and slam him against the ground.

A mildly frustrated expression on his face, Kiko pulled himself back up. As he rolled down his suit's sleeves, Splice would notice a familiar design around both of his wrists. The dirt and grime on his suit seemed to fall off of it by itself, and Kiko regained his composure.

"What the--He's got Elemental Rings..!?" Splice lurched back in shock, though speaking more to himself than anyone. "And going by the color, those must be--"

"I don't think you understand." He said. "There really is no possibility of your victory. Give up!" With his shout, he extended his arm towards him, and powerful winds began to blow towards Splice and Reens. "Our powers and skills are unrivaled! The only possible outcome of this fight is our inevitable victory."

"Reens, get behind me and hold on tight!" Splice ordered as he crouched down low. Ice began to spread over his feet and the ground around him as he tried to keep himself grounded by freezing himself to it. It only took a second for the cold winds to reach them. He shielded his eyes with one hand and drove an ice spike into the ground next to him for further support.

"Gyaah!" Reens unrolled, ran to Splice, and jumped onto him, hanging on as tightly as she could to Splice's back without hurting him. "Splice, what the heck is going on?!?" Her answer came as the freezing winds blew over them both. "I s-should have w-worn a j-jacket..."

Static quickly glanced over to see Reens and Splice pinned down by Kiko.

''They need help! He thought urgently But what's-his-name's just gonna teleport again and cut me off! ''Then he gets an idea. ''Unless. . .''

Static extended an arm at each opponent and let forth a bolt of lightning at Hikari and Kiko. The lightning bolt, as expected, would reach it's target almost immediately and inflict a massive shock and knock the target off their feet if it connected. Hikari might evade it preemptively, but Kiko would likely not since he was focused on the two hedgehogs.

As predicted, Hikari flash-stepped away from the bolt, launching himself at Static the moment after. His fist was curled, and he threw a punch directly at Static's chest.

Meanwhile, Kiko didn't have a moment to react to the lightning, the attack startling him out of stopping the winds. "Urgh... That kid packs a punch." He regained his composure, albiet looking slightly scorched. "But it's nothing I can't handle." He decided to wait for the next move of his opponents, needing a moment to catch his breath.

Platinum gave Melissa a pat on the back. "Just take it easy for now. The battle isn't focused over here, so you can rest up for the time being."

"A-alright," Melissa replied, her breathing still a little hard. "Thank you..."

The slam made Fuwa grimace in pain. He was about to fire a ball of energy at Smash in retaliation, but noticed the fight happening by Kiko, and had an idea. "DODGE THIS!" He roared, firing an energy ball directly at Splice and Reens, hoping that they wouldn't have the chance to dodge.

The moment Smash realized he wasn't aiming for him startled him more than how fast he managed to get that attack out. But his loud shouting was enough to catch the attention of the two he was aiming at. As such, Smash quickly returned his own attention back to Fuwa and cocked his fist back, "Eyes up here, slimeball!" He said as he aimed a crushing blow towards his chest.

Lifting her head, Reens saw the energy ball heading at her and Splice. Thinking fast, she got off of Splice's back and formed a barrier again, this time with two orbs instead of the one. I don't know how long I can hold this, she thought, but maybe I can keep it back just long enough for Splice to come up with something.

The energy blast didn't last long against Reens' barrier; it kind of splattered rather than dissipating. "Ol' clayface tried to get the jump on us, huh?" Splice muttered loud enough for her to hear. "If they keep dropping their guards to change targets, we can take advantage of them. But keep your guard up for surprise attacks!" With that, Splice swiftly made his way over to Kiko with ice power building up in his hands. '' ' I gotta get in close if wanna have any chance of taking this guy out! ' ''

After a moment, Kiko had recovered from the shock, and noticed Splice rushing at him. He decided to run towards him as well, but when he started to get close, he dropped his run into a slide, using wind to propel himself forwards in an attempt to slide kick Splice.

As Kiko slid towards him, Splice leapt over him. He aimed a blast of frosty mist downward; there was no time to form any physical ice to attack with, but the wave of subzero fog would have frozen him solid if Kiko had been any slower. He would still be unbearably cold after passing through it.

Static's pupils shrunk upon seeing Hikari quickly teleport and charge at him. "Yikes!" he yelped, quickly flipping over Hikari with a vault, narrowly avoiding the punch. He would then quickly orient himself so he could use the back of Hikari's head as a springboard, launching himself further away from Hikari while hopefully knocking Hikari face-first into the dirt. He would then quickly re-orient himself so he could land in a crouched position, with both feet and one hand on the ground, ready to jump into action or out of the way of an attack.

"Some elite division you are!" he spat. "You're supposed to protect people, and yet you're blowing up buildings for some stupid crystals?! You're hurting the very people you swore to protect!"

Reens nodded and kept the barrier up, thankful that it held. She looked around at the other combatants on the battlefield and walked slowly, making sure to keep alert. Her ears twitched back and forth, noting Static's comment. "Yeah, why do they want those crystals so badly?" she asked herself. "I hope Xavis and the others are hurrying, 'cause we may be in for something huge..."

Hikari seemed to not budge from being kicked in the back of the head whatsoever, turning around towards Static. "Hmph. You're the ones making this so difficult. Hand over the girl and the crystal, and we'll leave you be. We'll even let your friends off the hook for breaking into government property." His gaze turned towards Platinum, who was still kneeling next to Melissa.

Meanwhile, Fuwa was recovering from Smash's punch. It seemed as if the guy just didn't stop getting back up, no matter what. However, it seemed like each blow was slowly chipping away at his stability, seeing as his face got more and more deranged with each re-form. "Just give the girl to me." He calmly said, despite his maniacal appearance.. "And I won't destroy you all."

"No." Smash responded flatly as he aimed yet another crushing blow towards him. He could tell he was doing damage but he was weary of the scientist's sanity. He couldn't let up on someone like this: If given the opportunity, Fuwa could prove to be the most dangerous person on the field. And he was clearly starting to lose it. That's why he had to take him down, right now.

"Why do you want her so badly?" Reens asked out loud, letting down her guard for a minute. "This whole time we've been fighting all you've thought about are the crystals and Platinum. You're supposed to protect everyone but you're focusing efforts on one person! If she's so bad, why is she fighting to do the same thing you're supposed to do?"

"You seriously think we can talk to these guys; tight-lipped rogue military units and a melting mad scientist!?" Smash exclaimed impatiently, "Let's just take them out already! We can ask questions later!"

Reens smirked. "That's what we're counting on, right? Talk them down enough to distract them, then take them out!" She put her guard back up, perking her ears for any attacks.

"I'm at least willing to try!" Static said to Smash before turning to Kiko and Hikari. "What you're doing isn't just terrorism, it's betrayal! You guys took an oath to protect people, and here you are blowing up the city and hurting them for these crystals?! You might just be "following orders", but it's the people you swore to protect that you ultimately answer to!"

Hearing this, Melissa's anger began to grow. She could feel her powers returning to her, slowly.

"You can't possibly comprehend our motives, idiot." Hikari grumbled, folding his arms.

"You already told us your motive; you want control!" Static countered. "You want to control others and make things run your way. And given the fact your'e willing to sacrifice innocent lives to gain control, you're no better than people like Dr. Eggman!"

"Enough! If you really refuse to submit, then you leave us no choice. Prepare to die, fools!" Upon finishing this statement, he began to power himself up, being surrounded in a flamelike aura.

As he was powering up, however, Kiko rushed towards him from the back, aiming a jump kick directly at the back of Hikari's head. He couldn't even notice Kiko coming due to his aura blazing around him.

Static had braced himself for Hikari's attack, but then saw Kiko attempting to attack Hikari. Looks like trying to reason with them did pay off!

The blow hit home- that is, the one Smash launched at Fuwa. He had reformed just in time to see Kiko's sneak attack, and was currently too weak to do anything about it. "Hmph. So we have a little traitor on our hands, hm?" He grumbled, simultaneously preparing an energy blast to fire at Smash, which took only a few seconds to charge and fire.

Time seemed to slow as Kiko was about to collide with Hikari. Before he could make contact, though, two mint-green orbs descended from the sky, one hitting Kiko, the other Hikari. Kiko froze in place, falling on the ground. After a moment, he got up. The two stood facing the group, their eyes now lacking irises and pupils, and they both now had mint-green auras around them. "Destroy Platinum. Get the crystal." Their voices simultaneously sounded, now more akin to an echo than an actual voice.

"What the--...!?" Splice stared in disbelief.

The orange cat's relief quickly turned to disbelief upon seeing Hikari and Kiko affected by the green orbs, transforming them into what essentially looked like mind-controlled puppets.

"Wha- Aw, come on!! Seriously?!" Static shouted in a mix of frustration and surprise.

"Uh, okay, didn't see that coming," Reens replied. "Can we take them out now?" She powered up her cannon and aimed it at the two of them.

"Yes.  Very  Yes!" Splice cried out, aiming his palm at Hikari to fire more icicles at him.

Meanwhile, Smash had just barely dodged the blast after almost being distracted by Fuwa's words. The blast just grazed his cheek, leaving a burn mark in its wake. It was only after dodging it that he noticed the two green orbs, and immediately turned his back on Fuwa. The next few moments nearly floored Smash. "What just--" Before he finished, he remembered what he was doing and turned back to face Fuwa again.

Reens breathed in and out slowly before releasing the pent-up energy blast she had been holding in her cannon. She followed it up with as much water as she could throw at them, using some of Splice's melted icicles as ammo. "You keep dealing with Mr. Inky! We've got these two!" She yelled behind her to Smash, coating both her longsword and herself in water and crouching into a spin-dash, ready to launch herself towards them.

Secrets of the Building
The receptionist flinched when she saw the magatama embedded in the sphere. "Wh-whaaat!? Where did you get that thing from!? I thought Tama was the only one that... Ugh! Nevermind! Listen, I've never seen your stupid mug before, okay? The only reason why I came up here is because you guys looked suspicious!"

 'Is that really the case, though?'  Clock thought.  If I can prove that she followed us up here for a different reason, then maybe I can break one of these locks!'  He turned to Max, realizing that he couldn't see what he saw. Clock's eyes glowed silver for a moment, and Max would see the locks and chains materialize into view.

Max stopped himself from flinching. "Whoa there. What are these?" He felt stupid asking, but he thought it would be vital information worth learning. He inched closer to Clock and whispered, "Are we gonna strangle her or something?"

"Nah, nah." Clock whispered back to Max. "These things are called Psyche-Locks. They're subconscious barriers people put up when they tell a lie, and with this Magatama, I have the power to see them. However, they're mostly useless if I can't break them by exposing the flaws in the lie. If I can, however, I might be able to get her to tell me the truth. I need to prove that she didn't come up here to see us because she thought we were suspicious if I want to make any progress."

Max's eyes opened wide once again and he smirked, impressed by Clock-Watch. ''"Ooh... very nice, Clockwork." He ''gave Clock-Watch a genuine grin before whispering to him again. "Though I'm tempted to ask something stupid you test it out, I'll let you handle this one on your own, Private. But if you need a way to make sure she can trust you..." Max had pickpocketed his identification card from the private investigator long ago, and he had it dangle in his fingers. "I can make up a teenage story sound like a believable story real fast."

Clock chuckled. "It's good to know that I'm not the only good ad-libber here." He gave a sheepish grin. "You'd be surprised how useful bluffing can be in court."

Max gave Clock a chuckle back, shuffling to the clockwork hedgehog for the last time. "I'll leave the rest to you, Clockwork. If you need some help with your accusation, I'll be right over there by the door." Max walked over the wall next to the door and leaned on it, relaxing.

On the other side of the room, Transford stood at the end of the table flipping through the contents of a blank white folder that he'd found under one of the chairs, Occasionally looking back in Clock's direction.

 'Hm...'  Clock thought. '' 'Her reason for following us seems fairly solid, but there's gotta be a hole in it. I haven't been here before, so it should make sense that I would seem suspiciou- Wait! Even if she wanted to follow us, how did she know what floor we went to?' ''

"Are you going to make me stand here all day?" The receptionist asked, disinterestedly looking at Clock. "I have a job to do, you know."

"Before you go, let me ask you one question." Clock said, smirking. He pointed the Magatama at her. "Even if you knew I was a suspicious figure you'd never seen before, how did you know what floor we went to? There aren't any stairs that lead here, and it doesn't display on the first floor elevator!"

Upon finishing his sentence, one of the metaphysical locks rattled, and then shattered into pieces. The receptionist was visibly startled, but she collected herself, and returned to her previous expression.

"There's a panel on my desk, that's all! It tells me the location of all the elevators, and whether they're moving up or down. Upon seeing your destination, I followed. Why wouldn't I? A bunch of people I've never seen going to this room is certainly a cause for suspicion." It was clear she was attempting to regain her composure.

Max heard all of this and walked up to Clock-Watch, extremely suspicious. "Y'know, lady, you seem awfully jitterish if you're really as honest as you're trying to look. We're not going to hurt you if you tell the truth, so c'mon and spill it. It's pretty obvious that you're lying to us, so don't waste our time."

"You can't prove it!" She snapped, folding her arms. "God, I hate losers who always try and find conspiracy when none exists. You just assume that there's some big secret, except I'm just a receptionist and there is nothing to find out."

"Wait, didn't you see Transford come here when he came here earlier?" Clock asked. "And Max actually works for GUN, so you should know him too."

"Grk-" The receptionist's words got caught in her mouth, as another of the locks shattered into pieces. The last one rattled, and began to shatter into-

Suddenly, the lock re-formed, this time tinted green. After a moment, another lock appeared. Then another, and another, until 20-some locks were visible before the group. Clock was visibly startled by this, jumping back a foot.

"Green locks!?" He gasped. "I've never seen anything like this before, I-"

"Silence." The receptionist growled. Her voiced sounded like it was coming from far away, all of a sudden, and her eyes had lost their irises and pupils, and were now simply pure white. "You want to know? I am Kota the Rabbit, third of the Hyper Division's Sensors. You have been all deemed threats to the current operation, and your elimination is necessary to ensure a positive result from the operation. You are all to be disposed of immediately." She got into a fighting stance.

Transford tucked the folder into his jacket and gave a small sigh before speaking, "Can't say that I haven't been waiting for this." In a blur of motion, he had two revolvers aimed on the rabbit.

Max smiled, happy to get some action in what seemed to be the least physical category he could've been put in to. "All right, receptionist lady, let's do some battle!" Not waiting for his teammates' input on the matter, Max dashed toward the receptionist and used Chaos Fist, charging his punch with Chaos Energy, making it glow green.

"Well, it's going to be one of those days, huh." Clock grumbled, forming his arm cannon. "Bring it, receptionist chick!"

Max's punch was stopped short by an invisible barrier of some sort, the receptionist smirking. "I'm afraid no amount of power can pierce my defenses. Prepare to see the might of the Hyper Division!" She returned the favor, throwing a punch right back at Max.

Max was hit square in the nose, and he staggered back a bit, smiling as he looked up at Kota. "KK, Kota, you might be able to defend against one of my more.... direct moves, but can you defend against my...." Max brushed his thumb against his nose and threw a yellow orb into the air. "DISCO DOME?!" The orb was unstable with Chaos Energy, and it shot red, blue, and silver beams at everything, even Max's teammates. Silver beams were more powerful, but slow, red beams were normal, and blue beams were fast but awfully ineffective.

Kota seemed to be able to dodge most of the beams, but a few of the blue ones seemed to break through whatever barrier was protecting her, starling her a little. Besides that, she still seemed fairly collected, her gaze remaining focused and cold.

The sudden attack had startled Clock, who quickly put away his arm cannon, and instead pulled out a large sword from the back of his coat, using it to block one of the silver beams. The impact made him step backwards, but the sword seemed alright. "A little warning would've been alright..." He grumbled. From there, he managed to redirect the beams heading in his direction back towards Kota, seemingly breaking through a little more of her barrier. "It looks like her barrier is weak to energy-based attacks of some sort! Hit her with everything you've got, Transford!"

"With pleasure." The black hedgehog said with a smirk. Electricity began surging through and around his fist as he threw it toward Kota at full force.

In response, Kota quickly placed her hands out, holding back the punch with a continuous stream of green electricity. However, she was visibly straining to hold the direct hit back.

Quickly, Clock re-summoned his arm cannon, and began to charge a blast from it. "We've got her on the ropes! Max, help me hit her as hard as you can! Let's end this fight right here, right now, no nonsense!"

Max put his palm out, straight up, and a red orb started to form in it. "Let's put this nuisance to rest!" He then fired a red energy beam from his arm straight at Kota, forgetting that Transford was right in front of her and he would hit the hedgehog in the process.

Transford, however, turned his head just in time to see the beam and in a sudden flash of light, he was now standing (or rather, he was leaning against a wall) behind the rabbit, leaving Max's attack to hit her.

"You know, you could've given him some warning..." Clock muttered, firing a silvery beam from his now-charged cannon. Combining with Max's, the two attacks hit Kota head-on.

She tried to block with a mint-green energy shield, but it suddenly shattered after briefly resisting the beam, causing her to take the full brunt of the attack. After the smoke cleared, she was lying, unconcious, on the ground. Interestingly enough, it seemed that the room was fairly unharmed from the scuffle.

Transford pressed his foot down on the rabbit's back to make sure that she was out. "So, what's the plan now, kid?" He asked Clock, not even glancing at Max, "Should we do something about her, or do we keep on looking around while our cover probably hasn't been blown yet."

Max glanced around, confused. "Umm.... I say we... um... we need to leave!" Max immediately turned around, beckoning for his teammates to follow him to the exit door. "We shouldn't make a scene, though," he said, taking out his phone and taking a blurry picture of Kota. "Let's ditch her! I have evidence!"

Into the Warehouse
"How would I have known it wasn't locked?" Xavis grumbled under his breath, following Mimic and Jewel inside.

The interior of the warehouse was dimly lit, and containers of unknown substances were stacked in rows that went all the way up to the ceiling, which seemed like it was taller than how it looked outside. Upon entering, Xavis would be alarmed to find that he would no longer be able to sense the direction that the Symphony Crystals were; the energy readings kept shifting location constantly. However, a banging sound was emanating from the back of the warehouse. There wasn't anything specific that someone could put their finger on, but something felt... Off. Anyone with psychic or telepathic powers wouldn't be able to sense if there were any living beings inside; almost as if something was muffling the power they had.

Xavis let out a brief, slightly pained groan as he clutched his forehead. It felt like he had a migraine. He staggered to the side a bit, his luminous eyes (which I don't think has been mentioned) flickering slightly. "Wh...what? No, t-that can't... nhhg..."

Jewel suddenly had a theory why there were no guards outside. There was probably no need. Whatever the warehouse was made of was most likely enough. It probably somehow caused their own powers to reflect back at them and cause them to experience excruciating pain. Which, if powerful enough, could knock them out.

And anyone without powers would remain unaffected. And then the trio would be captured.

Whether or not Jewel's theory was true was uncertain. But she did know she had a splitting headache.

"Anyone else have a sudden migraine?" Jewel asked.

"Me, but that's normal." Mimic responded, referring to his mental companions.

I think she means something else not caused by voices in your head. Tom said.

Mimic looked back to notice Jewel and Xavis' discomfort. "You two okay?" he asked.

Do they look okay? Jerry remarked.

"Sorry, stupid question." Mimic said. "What's wrong?"

"I... I... I-I can't... it just..." Xavis studdered, then taking a deep breath and recomposing himself. "I can't track the crystals. The signal keeps jumping all over the place. And I kinda feel... nauseous? I don't know how to describe it..."

"Other than the headache, I feel okay," Jewel said. "Xavis, maybe you should take a break from using your powers. I'm no doctor, but it might alleviate some of the pain..." Suddenly Jewel felt a little sick herself. "Then again, maybe not."

Hehehe... a voice sounded in Mimic's head. 'Tell your friends that I apologise for the headache. Maybe they should think twice about trespassing. I hope you all stay, though; I'd like to introduce you to some of my friends~'

"What the. . ." Mimic muttered. "Who?" The mockingbird looked around, trying to scan his surroundings for anything out of place.

''Hey, get lost! We're the only disembodied voices around here! ''Jerry yipped.

I don't think that voice is disembodied. Tom said. '''Telepathy? But, I thought we were-'''

"Someone's here." Mimic said. "They're screwing with you're sensory abilities. And apparently, they brought company."

Jewel let out an irritated sigh and shook her head as if to try to rid itself of the pain. "Well if they're gonna mess with our heads, when I get my hands on this guy I'm going to screw with their head!"

"Agreed," Xavis angrily muttered. Having stopped targeting the crystals certainly alleviated most of his migraine, but he still felt a not-quite-nauseous and was quickly getting agitated. "Come out here and face us, cowards!" he yelled, fire erupting up his arms before settling down by his hands.

Oooh, your friends are feisty, Mimic. The voice sounded in his head. It sounded feminine and childlike, but it was clearly malicious. 'You should tell them to be less volatile. They might regret it... I'd tell them, but I knew you would be the one with more experience hearing voices in your head, hehehe~' Growling could be heard in the distance. Whatever it was, it was most certainly not Mobian.

Jewel, being an empath (or partially telepathic), could somewhat sense those malicious emotions, but was unable to figure out where they were coming from. "This is why I loathe the dark..."

Xavis responded to the growl with a snarl of his own, the flames around his hands rising back up his arms and providing a decent amount of light for the trio. Something there was making him unusually aggressive...

"Uh... Xavis..." Jewel was more anxious now.

Mimic smirked. "Enough of the cliche mind games, kid." he said. "So how 'bout you show yourself before we have to call your parents . . . Tama?"

Jewel frowned. "Tama? Who's that?"

'I am NOT a child! You... You..! 'Heavy footsteps could be heard, moving towards the group, and the growling intensified. Something was coming. 'Don't patronize me! Let's see what you think of THIS!'

Xavis' own snarl intensified in response, the flames on his arms growing larger and brighter.

Jewel instinctively let electricity run from her hands, providing extra light.

'''Seems like we hit a nerve. '''Tom observed.

"We gonna get to the action, or is this just gonna be a growling contest?" Mimic asked, somewhat annoyed. "We don't have all night, folks." And I'm not just talking about these two. Mimic mentally adds to you, motioning to Xavis and the approaching threat.

Jewel, despite the pain in her head increasing as the electricity ran from her hands, aimed towards where the growling was coming from and released a ball of possibly deadly electricity.

An animalistic screech could be heard, and from around the corner came what appeared to be some kind of slightly melted beast. It was pure white and walked on four legs, and its head was really just a lump with a melted mouth on it. Sitting on the shoulder of this beast was a minty-green echidna. Upon closer examination, it seemed that the echidna lacked both irises and pupils, her eyes just being pure white. Grinning, she stood up.

"It's feeeeeding time~" She sang. Her voice sounded like it was coming from far away, even though she was standing right there. "Welcome to my playground~"

Jewel frowned and thought, "Playground? Oh... that kind of playground." She asked aloud, "Are you Tama?"

"Of course it is!" Xavis snapped toward Jewel before quickly composing himself. "You two try to find the crystals, I'll deal with this... thing." He ordered with a much calmer, yet still aggressive tone.

Jewel didn't flinch or anything. In fact, she remained expressionless. She simply shrugged and replied, "Whatever. C'mon, Mimic." She started running past Tama, electricity still glowing.

Suddenly, Tama closed her eyes, apparently focusing on something. Her body was glowing slightly green.

Xavis watched Tama carefully, his body stiffening with tension as he awaited her to make the first move.

"You go on ahead." Mimic said. "Xavis might need help with this one."

Well, that's rather noble of you. Tom said. Usually, you're not one to be brave.

 Brave?  Mimic thought. ' Who said anything about being brave? I just wanna pick on Tama some more! ' "Have you no shame?" he taunted  in a patronizing tone, jumping on top of a nearby crate. "It's a school night, and you're out here past your curfew! It's a dangerous city, especially for a little girl like yourself! Your parents must be worried sick!"

Jewel, using her electrokinesis for light, started searching the warehouse. So far nothing... But down the pathway, some mist of some sort could be seen emanating from a container of some sort, like the kind usually carried on trucks. Although it was hard to see, it was made of a strange kind of metal that shimmered in the dark.

"Ooooh!! You- You!!" Tama pouted. "Get both of them!" She shouted at the beast she stood on. With a pained roar, the creature bore its... Claws? Paws? It was hard to tell. Anyways, its appendage glowed with green energy, and after a moment, it swiped at the two with it.

"Swing and a miss!" Mimic shouted, leaping to another container to avoid the swipe while gaining elevation. "What is that thing anyway? Some abstract art project gone wrong? You probably should've mastered finger-painting first."

Xavis rocketed out of the way of the beast's claws, landing atop the containers across from Mimic. "Right, this looks like some sloppy clay model made by a blind person!" he yelled in a harsh, aggressive tone. At this point a thin, red mist had begun to build up around the hedgehog, along with what looked like... television static? It was incredibly difficult to tell, however. He stepped forward to the edge of the container, spreading his arms flaming outward. "So why don't we put it in the kiln!?" He threw his arms forward, spewing a powerful jet of fire from them toward the monster, with enough heat to where the containers around the flames were beginning to melt.

The monster cried in agony from the flames, which seemed to violently react with the beast's amorphous body. "Hey, stop that! He doesn't like your filthy Chaos!" Tama scolded, pointing at Xavis. Suddenly, the flames around the beast had changed color, to a minty green. As Tama closed her hand into a fist, the green flames began pushing back against Xavis' jet. "Here, let me repay the favor~" Tama giggled, a cold smile on her face.

Xavis pushed against the green flames with his own, as hard as he could, his rage growing but his Chaos draining. He wouldn't be able to hold against it for long.

The walls of fire collided into each other with a loud FWOOSH and released an intense wave of heat that could be felt throughout the building.

"Yowza, things are heating up!" Mimic remarked.

'''If they keep throwing fire around, they're going to set the whole place ablaze and bring it crashing down on top of us! '''Tom warned.

"Hey, that gives me an idea." Mimic said.

'''Idea? What are you-?'''

"Didn't your parents warn you not to play with fire, kid?" Mimic shouted to Tama, throwing a smoke bomb at her. He wasn't really expecting it to do anything other than get her attention, maybe obscure her vision if it actually got close. "Let me guess, you were always that one awkward kid that the others made fun of? A total outcast that got picked on for being different?"

'''No, don't do it! '''Tom objected.

"And when along comes G.U.N knocking on your door, offering you a chance to show those other kids how wrong they were, you're pulled in hook, line and sinker. Now here you are, fighting against yet another "ultimate lifeform" knock-off and a world class thief just to guard a few shiny gems. Meanwhile, all the grown-ups are out handling real business. Seems like they view you the same way everyone else does: just as some weird. little. kid."

Yep, he's doing it. Jerry said.

Jewel snooped around behind some crates, and found a small glass vase. It was very dusty and had some cracks, but seemed intact. Looking inside, Jewel found a small cloth bag. She reached in and pulled it out. Opening it, she found the Symphony Crystal.

"Yes!" she said to herself. She looked over at the others and saw what was happening. "Oh no."

Tama indignantly stomped her feet, causing the beast to grumble a bit. "Shut up, shut up, shut up! Stop it!" She glared at Mimic. "I'm going to destroy you, and all of your friends! TAKE THIS!" She fired a jet of green flames directly at him with one hand, and pointed up to the sky with her other hand, sending three strange balls of energy upwards. All three simply phased through the ceiling.

Jewel approached the duo quickly, closing the small bag and stuffing it in her pocket. "I think we've overstayed our welcome. We need to get out of here now!"

With Tama distracted Xavis performed a backflip, breaking free from the firey deadlock and narrowly avoiding the green jet of flames as he disappeared behind the shipping containers he had been standing on. He would need a moment to regain his strength after exerting himself like that, but he had a plan to crush her himself.

"Oh, why do I bother?" Jewel thought. "Guess we stay and fight." She charged up a ball of electricity, getting it ready to launch it at Tama.

Mimic dashed to the side, avoiding the jet of flames as it melted a steel beam to molten metal. The ceiling creaked at the loss of one of it's support beams. In one swift motion, he lept towards another support beam, stretching his arm to grab onto the rafters and grapple himself up.

"I've been in your shoes before, kid!" he continued, his voice shifting into Tama's voice. "They're only interested in seeing what they can get out of you before they decide you're no longer worth their time and money."

Jewel frowned, sensing this change. She dodged the flames then launched the ball of electricity at Tama.