Path of the Hunters [PART 5] (NSFW)

"I do have back-ups, but Damien is still touchy about risking me. Though you need to let him out of the ship. I know him, he won't hand me over to anyone."

Shadow frowned, eyes going to Cross. "Is he trustworthy?"

Cross nodded. "He'll trust me. I'm the one that brought this whole thing up to him; he probably would never had made it this far, if not for me."

"I hope you're right. I'm tired of starin' at this damn screen."

"Sol," Cross spoke into his com unit. "Flag down Damien, and bring him in. The body's ready; we need Katherine's core."

"10-4!" came Sol's voice back. "We'll be there in a minute!"

*

She went on swimming, actually swimming. She was amazed at how easy it all was. "Wow!" She giggled. "This is so much fun!"

*

Nova stood with her. "Well, looks like it's showtime."

Damien was already dropping down from the phantom. "Let's get moving."

Shadow slipped out of the room, met them before Damien even finished that sentence. "Leave the weaponry."

*

Sunny sighed. "So you excited about this, Katherine?"

*

Trip smiled. He'd actually showed her how. "You're smart."

*

"Oui."

"No, you're just a good teacher." She smiled at him.

*

The others stood as well, Aurore looking at her watch. "'E should be on 'is way to the main site."

He glanced over at the hedgehog, a scowl on his face hidden under the polarized faceplate. He complied, grudgingly removing his weapons and tossing them into the grav-lift, but keeping the ones in the hidden in his armor. He trusted the hedgehog as much the hedgehog trusted Damien.

---

"Excitement doesn't begin to cover it. It's been far too long..."

Sol looked between the two, smiled sheepishly. "Uh, let's just get going."

*

"Not much longer, now," Cross said.

"Not if this blows up in our faces," Briggs pointed out.

"Doesn't matter. Then we just try again."

"No." He was gazing menacingly at the human. "That isn't all of them. You will not bring more weapons into the ARK or I will personally destroy the body Cross built."

*

"Yeah..." Sunny sighed, a crack showing in her usually impenetrable forces.

*

He blushed. "Thanks..."

*

"Bonne. Do we 'ave a plan or do we just go up and grab 'im?"

"Shove it up your ass. I trust you as much as you trust me, but I'll comply, I have more important things to worry about than my pride." It took him nearly a minute to empty the armor of weaponwry and load it into the phantom.

Sol shrugged. "So serious... Now?"

*

Briggs blinked. "Hey, Sunny. You not lookin' so hot, over there."

*

She giggled, splashed some water on him.

*

"'e's the only one that goes inside the site," Aurore explained. "In short, the outside is guarded, but not the inside."

"So we gotta get inside before the fact," Nova deduced. "Well, it's safe to say that Kane and I're outta the question for that."

"Yes." The hedgehog stood back. "You first."

*

"I'm fine," she muttered.

*

He splashed her back, laughing.

*

"Then we will go inside and take 'im from there."

Note to self, throw in a couple near-misses on the MACs after leaving. He walked out in front, not saying a word.

Sol sighed, walking by the ebony hedgehog. He'd never pick a fight with him; he couldn't understand why Damien would want to pick one with the guy that's providing the means to bring back his wife. He tried not to stereotype, but he sure was proving some of them right...

*

"Not from what I'm seein'."

*

She laughed, splashed him again. "Catch me if ya can!" She took off into the water, swimming away.

*

"D'accord," both Aurore and Crescent agreed.

"Okay. We'll be close by to bail you girls out."

Shadow walked alongside Sol, frowning slightly. Helping an idiot human...

*

She shrugged. "Ain't a big deal."

*

He blinked and was quick to follow her. She was a really fast learner! Much faster than he'd been.

*

Aurélie nodded. "Bonne. Aurore, lead the way."

Sol tried distracting himself from the tension in front of him... and ended up thinking of Cross. He hoped things turned out okay. On the plus side, Mani was right there to put him down, if need be.

*

"Ain't a big deal?"

"Relax, Briggs," Cross said, trying to relax in a chair. "She's just exhausted; we all are... Agh!" He clutched his shoulder, which sparked with electricity. "I'm running out of time..."

*

The collie led the group from their hidden station, to a single-floor building in the middle of an empty lot. "This is it."

Shadow's frown deepened slightly. He could feel the pulsations; they were affecting the ARK. "Move faster. Cross doesn't have much time left."

*

"Yeah..." Exhausted... "Just hang in there, Cross."

*

"I see... Let's meet 'im inside."

Sol picked up the pace. Now that he thought about it, chances are this was one of those especially dangerous flare-ups, where Cross would have to be brought down by force...

*

"Trying..." Panting, he got up from his seat, made for the door. "Briggs, you can handle the rest, right?"

"Dude, the flare-up's gonna be that bad?"

"Can I trust you?"

The wolf hesitated for a moment. It wasn't often that Cross looked to him for trust, and those were some pretty heavy situations. "...Damn straight."

*

It was tricky-she had to spit up water a couple of times-but it was actually kinda easy. It was so much fun having someone to play with, especially someone like Trip.

*

"Wait," Kane halted them. "Weapon policy: you 'ave to remove the blades."

"We'll keep an eye on 'em," Nova said.

"Mani, how long are those sedatives gonna knock him out?"

*

He managed to nab her, but didn't dunk her. Rather, he held her close. "Gotcha!"

*

"We are going to capture an Elder. Do we really need to follow such a thing...?"

The hedgefox went through the stock of medications under her jacket. "Well, judging by the intensity of this flare-up, The one that's sure to work will leave him-"

"No!" Cross said firmly. "No more sedatives. It's about time I took Nova's advice."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm gonna knuckle down, and fight it with my own will... I need some air."

"What!?" Briggs shot out of his seat. "You're bailin' when it's almost over!? Have you forgotten that you're the only one that human trusts?"

"I'm not going to make it in time! If I don't fight this now, I'll put the entire operation at risk, and we'll have to wait another day to try again!"

"And if you fuck up, you could take out half the colony!"

"...Then I'd better not fuck up, huh?" Without another word, he walked off, the door closing behind him.

*

She giggled. "Yeah, you did! Good job!"

*

"We can't risk alerting everyone," Nova said. "These guys take the rules very seriously; not even he carries inside. Besides, he may be an Elder, but he's still a Baudoin. He doesn't have the skills that you or Crescent have. That, and age is against him, no matter how fit he stays."

Sunny stared after him, mouth agape. "Fucking idiot! What is he thinking?! He's tired enough - does he really think he'll be able to do this crap right now?!"

*

He smiled, hugging her. "Thanks."

*

"This is true..." She sighed, passing over the Tuefel blade. "As much as I 'ave on me, 'owever, it would take some time to 'and it all over..."

"Seriously! What the hell is going through that guy's head!?"

"He'll be fine," Mani said calmly. The wolf rounded on her, waiting for an explanation. "Did you look in his eyes? They had a special kind of shine to them. That's a special determination that rarely sparks in him, and he never fails when it does."

"...How rare're we talkin'?"

"I've only seen it twice: When we escaped from Eggman's clutches, and when he saved Sol's life from certain death." She smiled. "He won't fail. I'm definite of it."

Briggs sighed, sank back into his seat. "You damn well better be right..."

*

She hugged back, blushed. It just registered to her that their tummies were touching.

*

"Then it's okay." He stowed the bronze blade away. "They probably won't detect the others."

"With the five Kane blades together again, that may 'appen," Kane pointed out. "Those, as well."

Crescent passed over her two to her uncle, Aurore parting with her personal dagger.

"Seriously..."

*

He blushed, too, but didn't let her go.

*

"Bonne. If they 'ave any suspicions, I will absorb them. Now... allez."

Briggs sighed. "Well, on the bright side, we can relax a little longer."

"Briggs, you've done nothing but stare at that screen, the whole time," Mani mused.

"Hey, this ain't as easy as it looks. I might not know mechanics like Cross, but there ain't no one who can program like me. And doin' this body's worth a century's pay, tax free."

*

She looked into his eyes, which seemed to reflect hers. "...Wow. You're eyes are so shiny. It's like looking in a mirror."

*

Aurore nodded, led the girls to the building.

"Without Katherine and Damien, we'd be dead. That's a hell of a lot of payment where I'm standin'."

*

He blushed. "Really...?"

*

Aurélie followed, sighing. As they neared the building, she frowned. "Just what is this place?"