Winds of Freedom

Chapter 64: Snake Attack

Chapter 64: Snake Attack

Dreadnought's Crashsite – Team Sonic

Explosions thundered through the vast, industrial chamber, with flashes of orange and gold. Missiles soared across, gleaming with lethal intent as they homed in on their targets.

At the heart of it all, high above the snowy metallic ground, hovered the menacing form of the Snake-Gunner, the mechanized ship wrapped in glistening gold plating and studded with launchers. Inside the cockpit, nestled behind the green tinted glass, sat General Serpentine, his hands dancing over the controls with venomous delight.

"Tsyhahahaha! How about that, hedgehog?!" he cackled, the cockpit shaking with his shouts. Golden missiles streaked from their ports, slicing through the smoke as they rained upon Team Sonic.

Tails soared upwards, he twisted and ducked mid-air, narrowly evading a missile that blazed past him. "Yikes!" he yelped, just barely escaping the blast as it detonated behind him.

Down below, Knuckles stood firm, teeth bared. Where others would dodge, he defied. With fists like piledrivers, the red echidna met each missile head-on, slamming them aside with powerful punches.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Missiles exploded in succession, the resulting fire washing harmlessly over his frame. Even when a few struck close enough to make him flinch, Knuckles shook off the impact, his glare locked onto the airborne Snake-Gunner.

Meanwhile, Sonic was a blur of motion, with a cocky grin, he darted between explosions, leaping off debris and careening toward his target.

"Let's crank it up!" he laughed, flipping through the air, bouncing off a missile as though it were a stepping stone, then launching into another midair spin to hurl himself closer to the cockpit.

Inside the Snake-Gunner, Serpentine's grin faltered. "Huh?!" His pupils shrank. Sonic was closing in fast. A flicker of panic crossed his face. "Tsk! No you don't! S-stay away from me!" he growled, frantically redirecting all remaining missiles toward the hedgehog.

But Sonic was ready.

As with a final twist, he snatched one of the missiles mid-flight. "Return to sender!" he shouted, and with a burst of momentum, he flung the missile back toward the Snake-Gunner.

CRACK!

The missile smashed into the cockpit window, rattling the entire machine. The glass fractured in a spiderweb pattern as Serpentine recoiled in his seat.

"Tsya!" he snarled, slamming a clawed fist into the console. "What are you doing?! It's supposed to hit you, not me!" His voice quivered with rage.

Sonic landed smoothly on the floor, his arms crossed and a smirk spread across his muzzle. "Huh? Really?" he mockingly gasped. "I didn't know! We should totally redo it again. Come on more missiles!"

"Grrrr!" Serpentine's face twisted with fury. "How about this instead?" he roared, jamming his fist down on a control panel.

Mechanical legs erupted from the Snake-Gunner as its engines shifted pitch. The flying monstrosity slammed back down to the floor, pistons fired with a hiss of steam as it reconfigured into a quadrupedal tank-beast.

"Let's see you dodge this in land mode, creature!" Serpentine shouted, his eyes ablaze with violent glee as the machine charged towards him.

"Whoa-ho!" Sonic yelped in surprise, backflipping out of the way just in time. The Snake-Gunner skidded past, its claws tearing deep gouges into the floor.