A Dangerous Weapon part 6


A scorching sun shone its relentless light down upon the deserted, rocky plains of Mirage Saloon Zone. It was midday, and not a soul was outside during the hottest hours of the day. Well, except for a certain triad of detectives fighting for their life against a platoon of Egg Pawns. Team Chaotix, in the middle of their jog around the world to recruit people for the war, had stumbled upon a small Western-styled settlement called Sandy Gulch, also known as The Gem of the Desert. It was a small village, one that Eggman’s forces would have no problem crushing during the mad doctor’s conquest of the world. Unfortunately for the doctor, the Chaotix were more than well equipped to take care of the regular Pawns, what with Vector’s superbe strength, Espio’s quickness and ninja techniques and Charmy’s chaotic unpredictability. Even more unfortunately for Eggman, the village’s people had called for extra help. Mowing down robots as if they were nothing more than bugs, was a highly trained scorpion mercenary called Hemlock. He used his nigh-indestructible carapace to get closer to the bots before smashing them with his retractable claws or his elongable tail, completed with a stinger that could deliver a highly-acidic venom into the robots, melting them with ease.

“Behind ya!” Vector roared and lunged at a robot trying to sneak attack Hemlock, trapping it in his powerful jaws and crunching it as if it was a cookie.


“I had that under control… but thanks.” Hemlock scoffed, he didn’t ask for their help but if it helped protect the city and help him do his job better then he couldn’t exactly complain. Hemlock finished suplexing one of the bots, then
rushed to help Espio, who had gotten swarmed and cornered by a few bots. Hemlock ran up to them and launched a piercing attack with his tail, spearing one of the robots and using it as a club to break down the others. Finally able to take a breather, Espio quickly joined in, being back to back with Hemlock and tossing a few of his kunais, which had been treated by the scorpion himself with his acidic poison before, at the bots, damaging and melting them.


“Impressive aim, ninja.” said Hemlock, kicking a bot straight in its face.


“This concoction of yours makes wonders.” Espio nodded before parting from Hemlock and fighting off a few other bots. 


“Yeah!” Charmy chimed in, buzzing by at high speed and using his stinger to pierce through the bots, it too had been tampered with by Hemlock.
“My stinger has never been more powerful! Thanks for the upgrade, mister!” giggled Charmy as he flew by. Hemlock couldn’t help but chuckle at that as he defeated the final bot and huffed, watching over a huge pile of scrapped metal.


“Huff… and that’s that.” said the scorpion, patting his hands.


“WOOO!! Take THAT, ya hunka junk! No one messes with Team Chaotix!” Vector proclaimed rambunctiously, puffing up his chest proudly.


“Eh-Ehm…” Espio cleared his throat, glancing at Hemlock who simply folded his arms.

“...Oh! And, uh, of course, their new recruit,. Hemlock the Scorpion!” Vector added, smiling embarrassedly. Hemlock just sighed a little, while Charmy giggled.

A slow clap could be heard behind them as a balding grey elephant dressed way too nicely for the place made his triumphant appearance, getting out of his fancy limo.


“What a wonderful job, Team Chaotix!” said the elephant, smiling almost paternalistically to the three detectives, while seemingly ignoring the scorpion.


“Thanks, Mayor Kato! As I toldya, there ain’t nothing Team Chaotix can’t fix!” Vector said with a big wide grin.

“Indeed! I had total faith in the notable Team Chaotix!” Kato said with a wide grin.
“I must say though, I am rather perplexed by your choice of taking lower class volunteers into your ranks…” he then said while glancing at Hemlock, his voice changing ever so slightly to show off his annoyance at the scorpion’s presence. “But I digress! Come, I’ll give you all a ride back into town! The defeat of those evil robots must be celebrated!” he then said, going back to his usual jovial tones and walking with them back to his car. Kato let them all in, but almost purposefully slammed the door in Hemlock’s face before being reminded by Vector that he was there to help. Kato grumbled some fake excuses and opened the door, allowing the scorpion to hop on, as the car finally drove back to the village. Inside, Charmy zipped and zoomed around, in awe at how big the car was. It was big enough that Vector himself could stand straight in it, and it had a fridge bar and some snacks for them. Kato smiled and let them all enjoy their treats, although he did squint his eyes at Hemlock who mainly grabbed a bottle of water.

“Do you HAVE to be so noisy with that thing?! All that crumpling and gurgling… It’s very annoying.” he grunted. Hemlock huffed back but didn’t say much else.


“Woooow, sir, you must be loaded! This car has everything, even a music player! It’s so cool!!” Charmy asked giggling.

“Heh, all perks of being the mayor, kiddo!” Kato chuckled, seemingly recovering his good humor and completely ignoring Hemlock, who just shrugged and went back drinking. Espio scooched closer.

“Why does he treat you like this? Do you know him?” he asked, raising a brow.

“Never seen him in my life.” Hemlock replied grumbling.
“Apparently, he has a problem with the city having to call for a mercenary to help them fend off Badniks…” explained the scorpion, setting down the water bottle and daring to get himself comfy.

“GET THOSE NASTY FEET OFF MY SEATS!” Kato trumpeted, his eyes flaring on with rage and indignation. Espio himself winced at that, while Hemlock simply put his feet down, glancing at Vector and Charmy doing the same but of course Kato wasn’t bringing that up to them. The elephant calmed down as they arrived in the village, letting the detectives and the mercenary out and going to the main plaza, where everyone gathered around to listen to his speech.


“My friends, my dear citizens” he said “as I said, I promised you I would find a GOOD solution to deal with the terrible threat of Eggman’s robots. And these three bold individuals, the well-renowned Team Chaotix, happened to stumble upon us at the right time. And, with the minuscule help from that ragtag mercenary you all called upon…” he stopped to scoff at Hemlock, who merely folded his arms and looked away “they were able to eliminate the threat! For this, I say we throw them a party and repay them generously for their efforts!” he concluded, to which the people all cheered and smiled at the Chaotix. Only a lonely shrew called Sybil, the bartender who requested Hemlock himself, went to him and offered him what she promised him, plus a piece of her famous cherry pie, which Hemlock accepted with a small smile. 


However, as they were celebrating, a few loud bangs pierced the air. Espio turned his head to catch where they’d come from while the mayor was already ducking down to avoid getting shot. Everyone looked over and saw a dog dressed in black, a cigarette in his mouth and two guns in his hands, walking closer.


“Howdy, fellas. Sorry to crash the party, but ah’ll need y’all to step aside from the bug man.” he said with a cocky grin. The people, terrified, obeyed the mysterious newcomer, except for the Chaotix who sided with Hemlock.

“Who the heck are you?!” Vector shouted.

“Name’s Clint, leatherface. And ah’m gonna need ya to step aside.” said the dog, twirling his guns and pointing them at Vector.

“What do you want, villain?!” Espio proclaimed, kunais in hands and ready to fight.

“From y’all jokers? I don’t want diddly squat. But from him?” Clint grinned and pointed his gun at Hemlock.
“There’s a big-ass ransom on yer head, bug. With a lot o’ them zeroes. Enough t’let a guy like me retire permanently from the job.” he added, still smirking.

“Tch, another mercenary? You think you can kill me?” Hemlock snarled, getting in a fighting position.
“You’re welcome to try. And I’m not a bug, I’m a scorpion.”

“All o’ youse freaks look the same to me, bug. And a’hmma do more than just try…” Clint scoffed, guns in hand as they stared down at each other. Meanwhile, the Chaotix had helped the other civilians get to safety, but they were unable to find the mayor. Espio looked around trying to search where he’d seen Kato last. He noticed his mayoral sash was caught against the corner of the stage.


“Hey, Vector. It’s the sash the mayor was wearing.”. said the chameleon. In the back, the two mercenaries had started fighting each other.


“Huh? Interesting.” Vector mused, as bullets and shurikens flew behind them.


“You think it snagged and he just left it in a hurry?”, Espio asked, dodging a flying shuriken without even looking.


“Could be. But with how much he loves to flaunt his authority, I figure there’s more to this than meets the eye.” thought the crocodile. Meanwhile Hemlock tried to use his tail as a whip to hit Clint, who dodged it gracefully and shot at the scorpion, not denting his super strong carapace.


Vector then pressed something on the stage, revealing a latch under the stage.


“Just as I thought. Men like Kato usually like to hide away.” chuckled the crocodile, pulling Charmy away from a loose bullet ricocheting off of the stone fountain in the plaza.


“A secret passage. But to where?”


“My guess, it’d probably lead back to his office. But we could make better time if we headed there now since I doubt having a passage under all that sand is sturdy or spacious. Let’s go fellas.”, Vector gestured to his team. The three ventured inside while Hemlock and Clint continued their brawl, each one’s abilities on par with the other’s. However, Hemlock did notice that Clint was trying to not hurt other civilians, so maybe he had some form of honor.


The trio of detectives found themselves inside Kato’s office, although there was no sign of him anywhere. Shrugging, Vector thought they could just check the place for clues. Both Charmy and Espio didn’t seem to pick up on anything major. Vector however, noticed the sheen of the mayor's desk compared to everything else inside the room. The tables were old and used. Cheap branded coasters on top. The seats were aged from years of use from previous owners. But that desk had a distinctive fresh sheen that made it stand out from everything else. 


Vector asked, “Hey, Espio, did you notice anything strange about the mayor today?”


Espio recalled back to when that bounty hunter dog attacked.


“Now that you bring it up, he was already ducking from the gunfire as soon as I heard the shots.”
Vector’s eyes widened. He turned to see Charmy looking at a picture of Kato on the shelf.


“Hey look, it's the mayor with the key to the city! Man, anyone tell him he takes UUUUUgly pictures hahahahahaha!”


Vector also noticed a car behind him. A rustic one made for the desert and not the same limo he owned before.


“Fellas, I think I cracked us a conspiracy.”


Espio looked at Vector, looking like he was piecing together the same things his fellow leader was. And Charmy just looked on with excitement but his eyes read he was simply unaware how it all connected.

Outside, the fight had raged on for a good half an hour. Both fighters were tired, and honestly kinda impressed by the other’s abilities, but both refused to let the other win. Suddenly a shriek could be heard. A girl who had leaned from the balcony a little too much to watch the fight had lost her balance and was about to fall off the ledge. Both mercenaries’ eyes went wide as they both rushed, to the surprise of each other, to the girl’s aid. The ledge crumbled and she fell down, screaming, but was quickly caught by the two mercenaries.

“Got you!” said Hemlock, setting her down.

“Ya good, kiddo?” asked Clint, dusting her off. The girl nodded, thanked both and went back inside.

“...Why did you save that girl?” asked Hemlock, squinting at Clint.

“Ah could ask ya the same thang. Ah’ve never seen one of Egg Breath’s pawns bein’ so carin’ for the life of others…” Clint scoffed back, already having his hands back on his gun holsters.

“Me, working for Eggman?! Are you crazy?! He murdered my entire family!” Hemlock snapped at him.

“Psht, yeah right… Ya think ah’m that stupid to fall for that trick?” Clint scoffed and shook his head.

Vector burst out the front door and called out to both mercenaries, “JUST HOLD UP THERE, GUNSLINGERS!”


The two ceased fire, locking eyes with the crocodile.


“Seems that you two were being played. And it all ties back to one person.”


“THE MAYOR!”, Charmy yelled out.


“Charmy! I WANTED TO GIVE THE BIG REVEAL!”


“What? No, I just figured out who it was. Did you learn it earlier?”


“YES!” said both Espio and Vector

“Then WHY didn’t you tell me earlier?! Why do you always gotta make me look stupid?!” Charmy grunted and pouted.

“The mayor? Nah nah, he called me to kill bugboi here cuz he works for Eggman.” Clint said, pointing his gun at Hemlock.

“First of all, I’m not a bug. I’m an arachnid. Second of all, like I said before, I would NEVER work for Eggman! He exterminated my entire clan! I became a mercenary to find him and have my revenge!!” Hemlock snapped again and this time, now that he was calm, Clint could tell he was sincere.

“...Wait, so he called me to kill you… But why?” asked the dog.

“Why don’t we ask that to... THE MAYOR HIMSELF?!” Vector proclaimed theatrically and pointed at the major, trying pathetically to sneak away but failing due to his size.

“HUH?! W-Whatever do you mean, Mr Vector?!” asked Kato, standing straight and looking rather embarrassed and uneasy.


“You gave Eggman all the intel on this place in exchange for money, which you used for the fancy car and desk. And when Hemlock was locking the place down before we arrived here, you put a feeler to any hunters on his bounty, thinking you could make him the scapegoat for your collusions.”


"T-that's! UTTERLY! Unfounded—- I’d nev– y-you can’t prove!”


“You underestimating our detective agency was your biggest mistake of your career.”, Vector replied.


“But waitaminute, Vector. How did you know he was working with Eggman? I mean, doesn’t he usually use people for their services, then run before paying them. Ya know, like with us?”, Charmy asked.


“I would’ve thought the same thing. Except that the stage he used to get away during the gunfight, was an Eggman-branded design. The switch I used to open the latch had a distinct mechanical sound when I clicked the button. I figure if we were to get someone here to authenticate it, it’ll probably have a classic Eggman logo somewhere in its construction.”


“G-g-g-go on. Bring someone here. I had it shipped from Grand Metropolis after all.”


Everyone’s faces melted into scowls of anger once Kato spoke.


“That’s one of Eggman’s factories, ya idjit!”, Clint growled.


Kato immediately stopped talking, but at this point the damage was done.

“You work for Eggman?! How could you?!” said Sybil, indignated beyond measure and holding a rolling pin.

“L-Look, friends, i-it was just a m-moment of weakness, is all…!!” Kato groaned and giggled nervously, backing away from the increasingly mad mob forming.

“DOWN WITH THE MAYOR!! DOWN WITH THE MAYOR!!” the citizens all screamed and chased him, throwing objects at him and making him flee, screaming in fear.

“Serves you right, you ugly creep!” Charmy boasted.

“Ugh, ah’ve been workin’ for Eggman… Ah feel so dirty…” Clint groaned and shuddered.

“Ey, we’ve all been there.” Vector chuckled, patting his shoulder.

“I haven’t.” Hemlock scoffed, but then he patted Clint’s arm
“But I can tell you didn’t mean it. And hey, you’re a more capable fighter than I expected. Very few people made me sweat like you just did.” he said smiling at Clint, who chuckled back.

“Heh, Thanks, bugbo- ah mean, Hemlock.” Clint corrected himself, as Vector and Charmy laughed.

“You know, we could use the both of you on our side. We’re about to go to war and we could use your abilities. What do you say?” asked Espio to Hemlock and Clint.

“Ah’d ask what’s the pay, but screw it. This one’s on the house!” Clint boasted.

“I’m in, too. Like I said, I have a score to settle with Eggman.” said Hemlock, nodding.

“Good! We saved the day, ended a conspiracy, recruited two new people AND we got paid handsomely! Life’s really lookin’ out for us!” Vector chuckled as he and his friends, both old and new, began their walk back home.

Sonic ran around searching for any blip on the Emerald Radar. Going by several zones, the chaos going on from the war made his usual hunting for them more difficult to find. With each zone filled with either a garrison of robot forces or giant Death Egg robots, Sonic’s quest to locate the emeralds was more tedious than anticipated. 


Sonic called up the resistance comms, “Sigh, I don’t normally ask for hints when it comes to Emerald hunting, but could somebody please give me a reading for one? I’ve been searching through zones for like 20 minutes. Which is 20 hours in super speedy hedgehog years.”


Silver got a hold of Sonic replying, “Well, you’re in luck, Sonic. The long range radar just got a pulse of two Chaos Emeralds located around Sunset Heights.”


“Chaos Emeralds, here I come!” Sonic zoomed over to the location right away.


(3 Super Speedy Hedgehog Hours later…)


Sonic arrived back at Sunset Heights, the epicenter of when the war had begun. Sonic took a moment to reflect on the city, still wartorn and multiple buildings partially or completely demolished. Death Egg robots in the distance were still stomping and crushing structures and shaking the mountainous regions bit by bit. Sonic had a look of quiet determination. He had almost a sense of comfort that the place where he was taken off guard by Eggman’s latest scheme, finding the first Chaos Emeralds here would be the first step in renewing hope for everyone. That it’d begin here felt poetic. Sonic managed to crack a smile, and using his radar raced along the damaged city searching for the emeralds.


Minutes passed, but Sonic found the 2 mystical gems. But for some reason, they were perfectly side by side, levitating together. They were right out in the middle of the streets. Not a hint of concealing them. Sonic could tell right away that this had all evidence of this being a trap. 


“Heh, c’mon, are they even going to try and hide them from me? C'mon out whoever’s next. Metal, if it’s you then I gotta say I’m not impressed by your latest scheme. Cuz I can easily- YOINK!”, Sonic mocked before using his speed to grab the gems.


Before he could however, he was interrupted by someone of equal speed, shoving him away from the Emeralds.


“Ugh. Cheap shot. But I least give you marks for landing a… what the?!”


Sonic took a moment to analyze who it was. To his shock, it was none other than his longtime rival, Shadow the Hedgehog.


“Shadow?! What are you doing here? Don’t tell me you’re swiping the Emeralds from me to Hedge-hog all the glory, huh?”


“...”


“C’mon, I know the pun wasn’t my best, but the least you can do is give me your trademarked ‘hmph’ of disapproval. At least then, I’d know I’m annoying you.”


Shadow remained silent, his eyes unblinking and fixated on the blue blur.


“Ok well if you’re not talking, I’ll just grab-”


Shadow grabbed Sonic by the wrist and flung him into the side of a building.


“Ouch! Ok Shadow, what’s your angle? Something you mind sharing with me or are we just duking it out?” Sonic asked, holding his fists up ready to brawl.


Shadow then sped up, with clear intentions of attacking Sonic again. This time Sonic managed to dodge out of his path while Shadow slammed against the building.


“Alright, fighting it is then!”, Sonic replied with an excitable glint in his tone.


Sonic ran up along the city’s buildings while Shadow gave chase. Shadow locked onto Sonic and threw out a Chaos Spear, a beam of chaos energy, right at the blue hedgehog. Sonic jumped out of its path, while leaping over a few buildings. Sonic shrugged it off, thinking this was a warm-up. Sonic chuckled as he ran over to Shadow and shoulder bumped him. Shadow fell down into the city streets, presumably like he was taken off guard by that attack.


Sonic kept moving but was genuinely shocked he landed such a strong hit on Shadow.


“Huh, come on Shadow. I assumed you were more observant.” 


Sonic slowed down and turned around to see where Shadow landed. As Sonic rotated his gaze to find him, he suddenly got caught in a blast from one of the Death Egg robot’s massive laser beams.


Sonic was merely a few millimeters off from taking a full hit, which would have utterly disintegrated him had it been a direct hit. But fortune smiled on him as the margin for error on that robot’s aim was enough to keep Sonic breathing.


“Ugh, ok, forgot for a second this is a warzone. Ok Shadow, where’d you land. Cuz right now we gotta put this petty- WHOA!”


Shadow then came out of nowhere and with another Chaos Spear was ready to stab Sonic right in the face. Sonic managed to evade him before he could land the attack.


“Shadow! Have you lost your mind?! Eggman’s tearing the whole place down. What are you doing trying to help him?”


Shadow didn’t respond, only throwing the Chaos Spear at Sonic’s feet, deliberately making a cloud of smoke to disorient and distract him.


Sonic cleared the smoke, but suddenly felt Shadow’s hands around his neck and head. He was going to straight up snap his neck! Sonic wrestled with the black hedgehog and got out of the death grip. Sonic couldn’t believe Shadow would try something like this. But Sonic noticed something.


Shadow’s eyes gave off a pinkish, illuminated light. And Sonic noticed his eyes had a glassy, almost zombie-looking stare.


“Oh no, Shadow… Eggman must’ve used some kind of mind control on you. But that’s ok. If it means I have to beat you up so you can be a good guy again, means I don’t have to hold back too much on you.”, Sonic clamped his fists and started sending a super fast flurry of haymakers on Shadow.


Shadow blocked some of them, but wasn’t able to deflect all of them. Sonic wailed on Shadow and kicked him in the gut, making Shadow then fall below the city’s water mains.


Sonic jumped down to make sure he didn’t slip away and went down to continue their fight. Soon as Sonic landed down he couldn’t see any initial trace of Shadow.


But then he heard something, the sounds of a valve being rotated, and from the long drawn out strain of it, meant it was holding back a lot of pressure on something.


Sonic turned around to see Shadow opening a large water main valve with Sonic in position to be washed away.


“Ooooookay. Ya know something, I already took a bath before coming here.”, Sonic joked before the pressure of the water flooded out of the giant pipe. A rushing wave of water quickly flooded the underground system, with Sonic outrunning the ensuing wave.


Dodging collapsed debris that’d landed down there, half stable structures barely holding the place together, and scaffolding that was heavily damaged from blaster fire, Sonic managed to make it all so easy to navigate while his back was being sprayed by the drops of splashing water racing after him.


Sonic managed to find an emergency pulley, and grabbed it just before hitting a dead end. Soon as he turned his head down to see the waters flooding the room below he smugged, “Well the bright side is, at the end of the war, they’ll have one heck of a pool.”


Sonic got himself back up to see Shadow lying face down on the ground.


“What? Shadow was just down there a moment ago.”


Before Sonic could reach out to check on him, Shadow faded away. Not in the traditional Chaos Control that he was known for. It was like he was dissolving from reality itself. That same pinkish color in his eyes was the color of the phasing energy left behind. Sonic couldn’t exactly figure out what that all meant. But at least, he was able to run back and grab the two Chaos Emeralds.


Wasting no time, Sonic grabbed the two gems before the retrieval unit in Eggman’s command could intercept them. Sonic left the city with the two gems in tow, and had a renewed sense of optimism hit him now that the quest to get the other Chaos Emeralds was underway.
To Be Continued…