26.Aug.06
BEAST WARS REKINDLED
Chapter Three: Alliances
A massive Hedgehog, twice the
height of any being present, emerged from the pod. He was the image of Shadow
the Hedgehog, except that he was larger and wore no clothing of any kind. He
gazed around, staring disinterestedly at the fearful scientists. Then, with a
voice that rang with insane bloodlust, he shouted.
"Deathstreak,
Terrorize!"
His head split down the
middle, each half sliding out to his shoulders and clamping down to form armor
that had spikes running backward. His legs became metallic, and his feet altered
to become identical to Shadow's shoes. The fur on his hips retracted, revealing
two metal compartments built in. His chest fur retracted, revealing a powerfully
built chest similar to that of a human bodybuilder, only made of metal. Finally,
a robotic head emerged from his torso and slide into place. It had a black face,
with the rest of the head a blood red color. His eyes were an angry violet, and
he had no nose. In its place, he had a large mouth with fang like teeth.
Roaring, Deathstreak opened
his hip compartments and pulled out two pistols, similar in appearance to the
one Shadow used. However, these weapons had a machine gun firing rate and
seemingly unlimited ammo as the insane Transformer let loose on the lab.
Fortunately, Dimitri had been
prepared. A large red force field shaped like a pillar descended from the
ceiling, trapping Deathstreak. The insane Predacon soon realized that he was
trapped. Lowering his guns, he glared at his captors.
Moritori was the first to
recover. "He's certainly...excitable."
Dimitri smiled faintly at his
grandson's observation. "Let's see if his logic circuits have warmed up
yet." Activating a communication device, he sent a transmission into
Deathstreak's built in comlink. "Attention, Deathstreak, allow me to
welcome you to the Dark Legion. My name is Dimitri, and I am the Legion’s
Grand Master.”
"Put down this force
field and face me, rodent!"
Dimitri chuckled. "Oh, I
would, but for fear of my life. You see, I know that a Predacon warrior is an
unstoppable force when angered. I also know that it would benefit us both
greatly to talk."
Deathstreak switched to Beast
Mode and raised an eyebrow. "What about?"
Dimitri smiled, knowing that
he had things in hand. "The goals that my kind and yours share, Deathstreak:
domination. Conquest. Destruction of our enemies. The Dark Legion and the
Predacons are very alike, and I believe that we should have an alliance."
Deathstreak thought, then
queried, "What's in this for me?"
"Power. Infamy. The
satisfaction of destroying those who oppose our goals. I'll even share the
planet with you, if you so desire."
Deathstreak smiled.
"Destruction is always a good thing. You know, Dimitri, I don't know you
too well yet. But I like your style. Where do I sign?"
"Just a moment. I want
you to do something for me first."
"Why?"
"Think of it as a way of
sealing our alliance and paying off your debt. You see, you owe me for giving
you new life and a Beast Mode, and for the destruction you've caused to my
laboratory. But if you do this for me, then I'll consider us even."
"What's the job?"
Dimitri told him. Deathstreak's smile was terrifying. "Sweet, I'm in."
Lowering the force field,
Dimitri walked up to his new ally, and they shook hands. Dimitri then turned to
Kommisar. "Give our new friend whatever he needs, and then have a transport
take him to the approximate coordinates of Knothole City."
Sonic the Hedgehog stretched
and yawned. Things had been quiet in Knothole lately. Eggman hadn't made a peep,
the Dark Legion hadn't made any appearances, and everyone else was nowhere to be
found. Sonic was bored, wanting some action.
Thoughts of the Dark Legion
made him thank about Knuckles. He wished that the Echidna could come and visit,
for the Guardian always managed to keep Sonic wide awake. If it wasn't arguing,
it was sparring, and if it wasn't sparring, it was talking about past
adventures.
"What're you thinking
about, blue-boy?"
Sonic smiled as he turned to
face Sally Acorn. The two were childhood friends, and in recent years their
relationship had taken a romantic turn.
"Nothin' much to think
about, Sal. I was just wondering when Rad Red and the Chaotix were gonna drop by
for a visit. It's gettin' boring around her without them."
Sally sighed in agreement. She
two wanted to see the group again. Knuckles was her best male friend next to
Sonic, the two having met when they were children. She was also friends with
Julie-Su, both of them having gone through hard times, the similar experiences
bringing them together. As for the other Chaotix, they were okay, though Vector
was obnoxious.
Suddenly, Rotor the walrus and
Miles "Tails" Prower came running from their shared lab towards Sonic
and Sally. The Freedom Fighters' resident "geeks" Rotor and Tails
would only come out of their lab this fast for two reasons: something major
going on or to eat.
"Hey Sonic, hey
Sal!"
"Hi Sonic, hi Aunt
Sally!"
The two replied, then Sally
spoke. "What's the rush, guys? Lunch isn't for another hour."
"Rotor and I picked up
somethin' on the radar comin' towards Knothole!"
"It doesn't match the
conformations of any friendlies or unfriendlies we know and it's movin'
fast!"
"How fast?" Sonic
queried.
"Fast enough to give you
a run for your money!"
Sonic was stunned. There were
only a few individuals he knew of who could come close to his speed. However, he
had not seen any of them recently and Rotor had said that the figure was
unfamiliar.
Sally took over. "Where's
it headed?"
Rotor pointed and began
running in that direction. "From the direction of the Floating
Island!"
Sonic groaned. "It had to
come on a day when Antoine's guarding that entrance!"
Tails chuckled slightly.
"At least Bunnie's with him."
"Probably too busy
smoochin' to pay attention to anything comin' in!" Sonic muttered.
Sally shook her head, then
began running after Rotor. Sonic ran past her, followed closely by Tails.
Deathstreak moved like a
bullet through the forest, dodging trees and smashing anything he didn't feel
like avoiding. He grinned, his lust for combat flared up in anticipation.
Dimitri's task for him was simple: take out the Freedom Fighters. Dimitri knew
that Knuckles' power would be too much for his new ally, and he didn't want
Knuckles getting any backup from the blue Hedgehog or the Chosen One.
Deathstreak shrugged, not
thinking of any of them as a real threat. He slowed little by little as the
hidden entrance to Knothole that faced the direction of the Floating Island came
into view. He noticed, with some amusement, that the door was shut and locked.
'Might as well be open with a welcome mat' he thought.
Bunnie and Antoine had, in
fact, been too busy "smoochin'" to notice that something was coming.
However, the radar built into Bunnie's arm went off, and they quickly reverted
to business mode. They shut and barred the entrance, waiting for reinforcements
to show up. Sonic, Sally, Tails, and Rotor had just entered the small
clearing behind the entrance when the door was smashed open.
Before anyone could react, a
black blur leaped through the doorway at impossible speed and slammed into
Antoine, sending him flying. The other Freedom Fighters stood stunned at the
appearance of their assailant. He resembled Shadow, but he was twice the height
of the black Hedgehog. Also, there was a gleeful madness in his eyes, which
Shadow had never possessed, not even during his brief attempt to destroy the
world.
For a moment, they all stood
there. Then Bunnie, enraged at the attack on her love, shot forward, her
metallic hand balled into a fist as she flew at top speed towards Deathstreak.
Without any effort, he grabbed her arm, spinning around at high speed before
sending her flying. However, he had not actually intended to let her go at that
point: the elbow joint of her mechanical arm, unable to take the strain, had
snapped. Staring at the metallic lower arm in his hand, Deathstreak snorted in
contempt and hurled it at Bunnie with such force and speed that it stabbed
through what was left of the arm, pinning her to a tree.
Enraged at what had happened
to his friends, Rotor yanked out a tube that expanded into a bazooka. Taking
aim, he fired. Deathstreak, seeing it, disappeared, reappearing right in front
of Rotor. The walrus stared in disbelief. The creature had teleported! Before he
could reflect further, a powerful kick slammed into his considerable girth,
knocking him away. Taking the bazooka, Deathstreak broke it in half with his
bare hands.
Teleporting, Deathstreak
slammed a fist down on Tails' head, knocking the young two tailed fox
unconscious. Before Sally could scream, she received a kick to the face,
knocking her senseless. Sonic, enraged, leaped at his adversary.
The contest was short.
Deathstreak, with his higher speed, easily evaded Sonic's spin dash. He then
used his superior strength to send Sonic into a wall, where he slumped to the
ground in pain. Finally, Deathstreak transformed, pulling out his pistols and
teleporting over to Sonic putting them to his head. As Sonic closed his eyes in
anticipation of the end, his foe spoke. "Feel honored, puny rodent, that
you are to be slain by Deathstreak, Predacon warrior!"
Sonic's eyes snapped open as a
whistling sound came through the air. With it came a quartet of missiles,
slamming into Deathstreak. Before either could react, Knucklehead, in robot
mode, smashed through the wall, barely missing Sonic, and slammed into his
Predacon nemesis.
Deathstreak found himself
matched. He was faster, but Knucklehead was still fast enough to dodge his
attacks. Plus, the Maximal had greater strength. Deathstreak tried to bring his
pistols to bear, but his opponent was too fast and was in too close for
Deathstreak to get a decent hit.
The appearance of the Chaotix
through the hole in the wall provoked Deathstreak into retreat. Teleporting, he
switched to Beast Mode and ran out to where his transport was waiting.
Knucklehead watched him go,
then switched to Beast Mode. Sonic, already shocked by the ease with which he
and his friends had been defeated, fainted at the sight of an enormous Knuckles.
Knucklehead looked around in concern. "We need to get them medical
attention."
Knuckles carefully lifted
Sonic, not wanting to aggravate any injuries he might have. Julie-Su did
likewise with Sally, while Ray picked up Tails. Charmy helped Antoine while
Mighty supported Bunnie, whilst Vector carried an unconscious Rotor.
Knucklehead turned to his
friends. "I think it best that I remain out of sight until we can get them
back in proper order."
The others nodded, and
Knucklehead disappeared into the forest.
Deathstreak entered Dimitri's
control center in a fit of rage. Grabbing the command chair, he spun it until it
faced him. Dimitri stared unperturbed at the angry Predacon. "Yes?"
"Why didn't you tell me
that there was another Transformer?" Deathstreak growled.
Dimitri shrugged. "I did
not assume that those who took it from my...inept troops to be able to activate
it, let alone get it to work with them. But now that we know this to not be the
case, we must tip the scales in our favor."
"How?"
Dimitri smiled. "If two
protoforms survived, then others must have as well."
Sonic woke up in a hospital
bed. Looking around, he saw Antoine, Bunnie, Tails, Rotor, and Sally in similar
beds. They were all unconscious, but their monitors showed that everything was
normal.
Suddenly a voice spoke out.
"Good, you're awake."
Sonic turned to see Knuckles
and the Chaotix flood into the room. Their appearance brought back what had
happened to Sonic, and his eyes widened. "Did that evil robot get away?
What about the other one? Why does he look like Knuckles?"
Knuckles raised his hands in a
placating gesture. "Easy, Sonic. The robot who attacked you is named
Deathstreak, and yes, he got away. The other guy's name is Knucklehead, and
you'll find out why he looks like me when we take you and the others to meet
him."
"Meet whom?" Sally
enquired, sitting up.
It wasn't long before all the
Freedom Fighters were conscious. None of them had suffered any major injuries,
though Bunnie would have to get her arm repaired. They were all given a short
briefing, then got the doctor to release them.
Walking out to the damaged
entrance, they went out into the forest. Sonic looked around. "So where is
this guy?"
"I've been waiting for
someone to ask." said a voice by his ear.
Sonic jumped in astonishment,
blushing as the others laughed. He turned around to find himself facing
Knucklehead. The large Echidna smiled warmly, and the Freedom Fighters could
sense that he was friendly. Introductions were made, and Knucklehead told his
story.
"So, how can we help
y'all?" Bunnie enquired.
"Knucklehead wants to go
home to Cybertron, but he has no way to get there. We figure that if we use his
pod, which we brought in our ship, we can create a transmitter to contact his
friends."
"But why did you come to
us? Why not go to ze Echidnas?" Antoine asked.
Knuckles' expression darkened.
"First, the people of Echidnaopolis would want to lock it away in some
vault. Second, the Brotherhood would want to dissect it, and Knucklehead too.
Third, no way I can take it to the Dark Legion, and fourth, I'll stick my head
in a Roboticizer before I take it to Albion!"
"So how can we
help?" Tails asked.
"I've got a plan: first,
we use the pod to send the message in the right language and to get the right
frequency. We can use Vector's walkman as a broadcaster, and Nicole can feed a
message into the pod that we wanna send."
"Sounds feasible."
Rotor said.
"Then let's do it!"
Knucklehead said.
To be continued...