It had been really nice to have that break…and, yeah, though I didn’t entirely want to admit it, it had been really good to have that time to just ‘hang out’, ‘chill’, or whatever it was with Rouge. I didn’t know how things were going to work out in the future, or what might even be possible with what I had to do, but if it went along the path our recent encounter seemed to say it could...I don’t think I would mind if Rouge actually turned out to be my ‘friend’. And, the fact that I could almost ‘see’ the image of Maria smiling when I made that decision had nothing to do with it.
Still, it was back to 'work'…and I couldn’t say I didn’t find it ‘relaxing’ (or at least ‘cathartic’) in its own way.
A spin dash reduced another four G.U.N. drones to scrap and a punch blew out the leg of some mecha armor, sending it and its G.U.N. operator falling over with a shout of surprise….Eh, he’d be fine (mostly). It was why I only targeted the leg rather than the cockpit after all.
Still, the action did seem to frighten the remaining four G.U.N. agents quite a bit, or it could be, you know, that I seemed to have been laughing while I did all of this….I’m not crazy…I think….
Actually, now that I thought about it, a lot of their reaction probably had to do with the fact that my eyes likely looked like glowing pits of purple fire right now, while my body was giving off random black and purple sparks (a consequence of how emotional I was feeling and how much Chaos energy I was drawing on)....Let’s just say it was that.
Anyways, when I gave the remaining four a glare, their courage finally broke and they took off while calling for a general retreat. The fifth one also made it out of his now useless mecha armor and joined them shortly thereafter (See, I said he would be fine).
Hmm, well, my work here was pretty much done anyways, and while I could probably have just run off a little earlier, these last drones and set of mecha armor had been more about a little ‘stress relief’ than anything else. I’d actually been a bit surprised that Sonic and his friends hadn’t shown up yet (I was sure they had to be aware of the fact that I’d struck another base by now) and had a lot of trouble believing that they really were going to listen to my plea to stay out of it.
So, I really wasn’t that surprised when I’d only just exited the base to see him, Tails, Knuckles…and Amy(?!) waiting for me….I guess I should have been aware of them before then…but I’d been kind of…distracted…earlier.
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“We really just want to talk, Shade.”
“Hah, you insignificant blue rat, as if my ‘friend’ Shade had anything to.…”
“Shut it. You can recall your drones now. I’ll take care of this and then meet you back at the base.”
I doubt it comes as a surprise to anyone that the less than civil response to Sonic had come from my lardy ‘friend’ via one of his accompanying drones. However, I didn’t need his commentary or his drones present for what came next (or really trusted him with it), or really with anything that had happened today. Still, he’d insisted that he send some along as a ‘precaution’, and while I still needed his help, I couldn’t afford to risk alienating him too much.
A sputter of indignation came through one of the drone's speakers before, surprisingly, he agreed (I suppose since he was also aware of just how much he needed my cooperation at the moment as well).
“Fine. It would be a waste of my valuable time to repair or replace them anyways if the blue rat or any of his imbecilic friends managed to damage them.”
With that, the drones blasted off without Sonic or his friends making a move to stop them. I suppose they really were trying for the ‘peaceful’ approach; though, honestly, I was half-tempted to spin dash one or both of the drones out of existence myself, but again that would be too soon. I still needed the doctor…for now.
For a moment after they left, we watched each other warily. I assumed, on their part, they were probably wondering what exactly I might have meant when I said I would ‘take care of this’ and, on my own, I was wondering just what point this ‘talk’ could possibly have….I really didn’t have high hopes.
Still, when I didn’t make any immediate moves to attack, I could see they began to relax…a little.
“Shade, we…”
I held up my hand to cut him off.
“Not here. G.U.N. reinforcements will probably arrive before too much longer. I’ll meet you on an island about fifty miles from here in that direction.” I pointed to our west. “I’m sure you’ll be able to find it…without too much trouble.”
I may have smirked a bit as I said this, because, despite the actual necessity of meeting them elsewhere due to the probable imminent arrival of G.U.N. reinforcements, there was likely something in me that enjoyed messing with Sonic and his friends a little.
And, before they had time to raise any objections:
“CHAOS CONTROL!!!”
I was gone.