Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ For Love Of The Hunt ❯ Escape ( Chapter 1 )

Legal Stuff:

I don't own any of the characters in this story. They are the properties of their respective owners.

Author's Notes:

I'm writing this one based on some odd ideas that came to me. Hopefully it'll work…

For Love Of The Hunt

Chapter 1: Escape

The location was the executive boardroom of Advanced Biological Technologies, Inc., located somewhere in New York. There was a meeting happening at the moment, and the topic was a very delicate one. All those in attendance had argued various solutions for a problem that had come up. The company had secretly been developing weapons for some time now, weapons that required a test `pilot', if you will. The board was trying to find a way to obtain a pilot without anyone finding out about the weapons program. The president of the company was the only one standing, and he looked angrily out at the others.

President: I'm telling you, this is the only way!

Board member 1: You'd be making a serious mistake if you went along with it. These people have unstable minds!

President: That hasn't been proven and you know it!

Board member 2: But the possibility exists, sir. We can't ignore it.

President: So what? If they get rowdy, we'll kill them!

Board member 3: You can't just do that!

President: They'd be condemned to death even if we didn't use them.

Board member 4: He's got a point. At least this way, we'd be saving resources.

President: That's right. We could all save money if we went with this.

Board member 2: Hmm…Well, I guess I see what you mean. I'm in favor.

Board member 4: Me, too.

President: Anyone else?

Board member 1: As long as we have plenty of security, I'll go along with it. I just don't want to lose my fortune if the cat gets out of the bag.

Board member 3: You're right. I'm in favor, on the condition that the containment is stepped up.

President: Then we're all in agreement. I'll have my people contact the prison and get it set up.

They all got up and left, their meeting complete. A few days later, in the afternoon, in a prison not far from New York, one of the inmates on death row watched as an officer unlocked her cell. She was already in cuffs, and was ready to go. The officer led the green hedgehog out of the cell, and toward an exit of the compound. They walked outside, and the hedgehog was immediately placed into the back of a large, black, armored van. An officer in the back secured the hedgehog's cuffs to the wall after she sat down. She was a green hedgehog with black hair, cut short because of the special regulations placed on her. She wore an orange inmate uniform, labeled only with a number. She had many names in the prison, but was known on the outside as Ivy. The officer spoke to her in a harsh voice, and she appeared to pay him no attention.

Officer: So, you agreed to these crazy tests, eh?

Ivy: It was the only way I could stay alive…what'd you expect?

Officer: You know there's a chance you'll still be killed.

Ivy: And there's a chance I won't. Now leave me alone, and let me try to enjoy this ride in peace.

Some time later, the van arrived at a large complex of buildings outside the city, which was partly visible on the horizon. The vehicle pulled into a garage, the door of which closed after it. It came to a stop next to a loading platform, and one of the security personnel waiting there opened the van's door. Inside, the officer detached Ivy from the wall, and they led her deeper into the complex. Back in the city, at the refuge base of Sonic the Hedgehog and team, a green hedgehog by the name of Scotty was asleep in bed. He had been very tired by a recent mission, and had collapsed onto the bed, falling asleep before his head hit the pillow. Scotty's sleep was troubled, though, as he had a nightmare.

It appeared as flashes of scenes rather than a continuous sequence of events. They were confusing, and appeared rapidly, each a strange image of pain or loss, a feeling of being chased was met with one of confusion as the images grew more intense. Scotty stirred in bed, grabbing his pillow as he moved around. The pictures flashed faster and faster, growing closer each time. They kept coming, each more violent than the last, until the intense feelings caused Scotty to snap awake, sweating. He breathed heavily as his eyes searched the room. After a few moments, Scotty began to calm down. He eventually relaxed back on the pillow, and began to wonder what the nightmare meant. In the past, he'd learned, such things were usually a signal of trouble to come. But then again, trouble was always around. Perhaps what bothered him most was the fact that it was all so unclear. He stuffed his face into the pillow, and talked to himself.

Scotty: Oh, what does it all mean?!

Scotty was a bit startled by a soft voice that spoke to him from the door. It was Keylo, Tails's twin sister. The brown fox leaned against the doorframe as she spoke.

Keylo: Hey, Scott, dinner's ready.

Scotty turned his head to face her. Sleepily, he spoke.

Scotty: Already? I thought it was just past lunch…

Keylo: No, silly, you've been asleep for the past few hours.

Scotty looked up at a nearby clock, and found out that she spoke the truth. He turned back to face the fox, who chuckled.

Scotty: I'll be there in a minute or two.

Keylo: Okay, just make sure you don't wait too long. It'll get cold!

Keylo trotted off, leaving Scotty to face the decision of whether to get up just yet. He wasn't a lazy hedgehog by nature, but his whole body was sore after he and Sonic had returned, and the nightmare had worn him out. His stomach growled, and so Scotty slowly sat up, and walked into the kitchen to get his food, waking up a little more with each step. When he made it to the room, he was fully awake, and saw Metal-2, the robot hedgehog, standing at the stove. When Scotty approached the robot, he was handed a plate of spaghetti.

Scotty: Thanks, Metal.

Scotty walked past the robot, headed for the table, but stopped a second or two later. He turned to face Metal-2 with a look of confusion on his face.

Scotty: Hey, Metal, uh…Why are you serving the food?

Metal-2 faced him, almost with an annoyed appearance.

Metal-2: I'm the robot. I don't eat. So I get to be the slave.

Scotty: Oh…

If anything, Scotty was now more confused as he made his way to the table where the others were. He was the last to sit down, and Metal-2 soon entered the room. Metal-2 was a little disappointed that his joke hadn't made Scotty laugh. He shrugged it off as he watched the others eat. Amy looked up at him, and sighed. It was because Metal-2 was going without food again. Even though he was a robot, and incapable of eating, she still felt guilty for not sharing any with him. After a moment, Amy turned back to her spaghetti and continued eating. After a while, they finished, and went to the lounge to rest. Billy had barely sat down when the phone rang. He volunteered to answer it, and sure enough, it was for him. The echidna was in the other room talking as everyone else watched TV.

Sonic: So Tails, you got any new inventions up your sleeve?

The question was a little out of nowhere, and a confused Tails turned to face Sonic.

Tails: Not right now…and besides, I don't have sleeves.

Sonic: Just trying to make conversation…

They heard Billy shout something from the other room, followed by the sound of a phone being slammed down.

Scotty: Looks like we might have a conversation topic…

Billy walked into the room, tense at whatever had just happened. He did his best to hide it, but everyone knew he was upset. It was Knuckles that first asked what everyone wanted to know.

Knuckles: Who was on the phone?

Billy: Uh…no one…

Knuckles: I don't quite believe you.

Sally: Come on, you can tell us.

Billy: <sigh> Very well. It was one of the head researchers of ABT incorporated. They wanted me to help develop something for them.

Tails: And that something would be?

Billy: I'm not supposed to tell you, but…

There was a long pause as Billy gathered the courage to speak again. They all leaned toward him, listening intently. Finally, the echidna told them.

Billy: …Weapons.

Tails: Weapons? I didn't think ABT made weapons.

Billy: They don't, officially. To think that they wanted ME to help them make such devices…

Metal-2: Just what kind of devices are we talking about?

Billy: A special exo-suit. From what he told me, it's basically a mobile frame worn by the user, and it has special motors to help the pilot move and lift the heavy weapons that are attached to it.

Scotty: Sounds dangerous…no wonder you turned them down…you…did turn them down, right?

Billy: Of course I did. I won't have such a project on my record.

Scotty: We're all proud of you, Bill.

Meanwhile, miles away, in an enclosed testing facility, Ivy was wearing a pilot's suit, and was about to step into one of the exo-suits that the company was developing. Security teams were all around, and one of the scientists helped Ivy strap herself into the machine.

Scientist: Now remember, you'll be testing two TFW-1000s. They have live ammo, so be careful and-

Ivy: --And use the targeting system, yes I know. You guys pounded all the safety junk into my head so many times, it's practically all I know.

When she was in the suit, it powered up. A translucent orange visor lowered down over Ivy's face. The small metal ring it was attached to wrapped around her head, and was connected by a thick metal cable to a suit of large armor plates that wrapped around her body. From the back of the suit, near the bottom, two metal legs extended down, with the knees just behind Ivy's. They connected to sandal-like platform shoes at the bottom. There were two large guns attached by robotic arms to the back of the suit. Each gun had three different barrels that connected to three different weapons. The top was a cannon which fired orbs of plasma energy, the middle was a grenade launcher, and the bottom one fired small missiles. There were three triggers on a joystick-like device mounted on the side of the gun that faced the pilot. At the moment, the guns were held back in a retracted position, pointed toward the ground.

Scientist: Okay, everything's set. You may begin the tests.

The scientist ran behind a protective barrier, and began to watch some monitors that tracked Ivy's status. The exo-skeleton was potentially deadly to the pilot, since it was in part controlled by the pilot's brainwaves. It also fed information into the brain along these same waves, but this technology was still in its infancy. So, they used death row convicts as pilots. There had already been a few casualties before Ivy, and the bodies had been quietly disposed of. Ivy stepped forward, and faced out across the target range within the building.

Ivy: Okay, let's do this…

She reached behind her with both hands, and grabbed the joysticks. They were attached to the guns at the top and bottom, and were therefore immobile. The robotic arms that supported the guns moved them at Ivy's command, letting her move the weapons with ease. She pulled them to her sides, in a firing position. Taking aim at one of the targets, Ivy pulled the top triggers. Two plasma shots fired from the top barrels of the guns, and destroyed the target. Moving on, Ivy used the visor to locate a second target. It would require a bounce shot, so she aimed carefully and pulled the middle triggers. Two grenades were launched, and they rebounded off of a wall and into the target.

Ivy: Hah hah…I could get used to this…

She eyed another target, and pressed the bottom triggers. Two small missiles erupted from the barrels, and struck the target far downrange. Seeing all this power, Ivy had an idea. She turned to face the scientist behind her.

Ivy: Sorry, pal, but I'm outta here!

She fired a missile into the roof, and the security teams began shooting at her. Most of their shots missed as two powerful jet engines fired from the feet of the exo-suit. The other shots bounced off the tough armor. Ivy took off into the air, flying through the hole in the ceiling.

Security officer 1: <using radio> Subject is escaping! Arm anti-air forces!

There were gun placements along the complex, and they began to move on their own, pointing at Ivy. They fired, but she was already out of range. Using the stolen exo-suit, Ivy headed off toward New York…

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And this is just the beginning…

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