Sonic Legends: Dimensional Destruction.

Chapter XVII: Fearsome Fusion

"Never thought I'd be back here again," the woman whispered to herself as she crept through the air vents of the facility. "Though, I'm not entirely sure how this place still exists! The B.S.L. Station was destroyed; I saw it happen with my own eyes!" The woman was very fit, as her blue, skintight jumpsuit reflected that. She had beautiful, flowing blonde hair, crystal blue eyes, and soft, cream-colored skin. She held a small silver firearm in one hand as she traveled through the ventilation shaft. "I just hope I don't see any more of those X Parasites around here," she muttered angrily. "Those nightmares are the last things the universe needs!" Suddenly, the device on her wrist started beeping. She looked at it, confused about one of the readings, then gasped as she recognized a familiar energy signature. "Thank goodness," she sighed in relief. "I can always rely on that suit to get me out of trouble." She then groaned in irritation. "Nngh... it's locked down. Figures," she huffed. "It's never as simple as that. Story of my life..." She suddenly heard two voices talking from below, so she temporarily stopped crawling and put her ear to the wall to get a better listen.

"Aliens? Is that what we're dealing with?" a sultry female voice could be heard from the other side. "Alien is a relative term, Rouge. The creatures from the Twilight Cage were aliens to you, and you and your friends were aliens to them," another female voice responded, this one slightly younger, like a teenager. "Regardless, these beasts are unlike anything we've faced before. We have to be on our toes out here." "It sure would be easier if we had our stuff," this "Rouge" sighed in exasperation. "My Treasure Scope could find all sorts of hidden secrets!" "This is no time to be thinking about blasted jewels, Rouge!" the other girl muttered, annoyed. "Our friends are counting on us!" "Calm down, Shade. I know that," Rouge replied to her acquaintance. "The Scope can also reveal hidden passageways where assassins could be hiding..." As the human woman took all this in, her wrist device made a beeping sound again, startling her. "Blasted radar," she silently cursed as she fumbled to stop the beeping. "Wait. Did you hear that?" the one called Shade suddenly remarked. "Yeah, I did. It sounds like it's coming from up here..." The woman remained motionless, trying not to make a sound. Suddenly, the air vents started to creak, until...

"AAH!" she cried out as the ventilation shaft collapsed and she fell through, heading towards the ground. Fortunately, she landed gracefully on her feet and not a single bone was broken. "Hey! Watch where you're going, lady!" a voice remarked, alerting the human. She looked to see a humanoid female bat in a black catsuit with a heart-shaped chestplate, flying in midair. Next to the bat was an armored creature of some kind. The human woman couldn't tell what kind of being it was, since the face was covered by a mask, but what she could tell was that this creature was feminine, based on the body shape. She instinctively pulled out her firearm and aimed it at the two strangers. "Stay back!" she warned. "Don't come any closer!" She knew her weapon wasn't meant for combat, only for inflicting partial paralysis, but she was hoping the creatures would be smart enough to stay away. "What's with this chick?" the bat girl asked her acquaintance as she landed on the floor. "She's acting like she hasn't seen animals before." "She probably hasn't seen Mobian animals, Rouge. Remember what I said about perspective," the armored figure replied as she pressed the side of her mask, deactivating it to reveal her face. It was a female Echidna with terra-cotta colored fur and magenta eyes.

"What even are you?" the human asked, still keeping her weapon trained on the pair. "I haven't seen your kind before. Are you with the Galactic Federation or the Space Pirates?" "Wait, who? I thought pirates only attacked on the sea," the bat commented. "Or are you some kind of weird space opera fanatic?" "Knock it off, Rouge!" the Echidna scowled at her teammate, then turned back to the human. "Please excuse my acquaintance; she can be rather rude at times. We don't know of any Space Pirates or Galactic Federation; we don't even know where we are." The woman still kept her gun pointed at them, but after listening to the Echidna girl, she slowly lowered her weapon. "I see. Well, I suppose proper introductions are in order..." she replied as she holstered the gun. "My name is Samus Aran. I'm an intergalactic bounty hunter for the Galactic Federation. Or, at least, I used to work for them." "Name's Rouge. Rouge the Bat," the winged spy smirked with a wink. "World-famous treasure hunter and part-time secret agent." "I am Shade of the Nocturnus Echidna Clan," the Echidna introduced herself. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Aran. Do you know where we are?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. Strangely enough, it's a place that, by all accounts, shouldn't even exist anymore," the human lady began. "This is the Biologic Space Laboratory Station, or B.S.L. Station, for short. It used to be, a space zoo, for lack of a better term." "So there ARE aliens here! We just saw these weird spidery creatures crawling around here," Rouge explained, wiggling her fingers along her own arm to visualize it. "They sure looked creepy, especially with those spikes all over them." "Geemers. They are invasive species that attack and devour anything they get their mandibles on," Samus explained. "However, we have bigger things to worry about than them." "What do you mean?" Shade inquired. "Is something chasing them here?" "No, not exactly. Geemers may be carnivorous, but they don't cause chaos like this. And besides, this place USED to teem with life," the bounty hunter continued. "There may be something else stalking this place. I have dealt with many fearsome organisms before, but none are as terrifying as the--"

Her sentence was interrupted by an ear-splitting screech that made all three ladies hold their heads in discomfort. "Aaagh! Not again!" Rouge howled in pain. "Two migraines in one day is NOT on my to-do list!" "What horrendous sound is that?!" Shade hollered over the screech. "No... it can't be," Samus winced. Her head was aching, but that pain paled in comparison to the fear that struck her. "I stopped them... how can they be back?!" "What is it, Samus?" the Echidna asked as the screeching had since come to a halt. "What's back?" They were given an answer in the form of metallic bangs. "What in the--?! Something's busting down the doors!" the bat exclaimed. "It must be something big! We need to move!" It wasn't long before a metal door came flying towards the three of them. It had been torn off the hinges and thrown with great force at them. Fortunately, Shade and Rouge intercepted the debris, knocking it away with a punch and a kick, respectively. The entity that threw the door suddenly came into view, and they all looked on in shock and horror at the beast before them. "Dear Chaos..." Rouge gasped at this monster. "What IS that?!" "Wait; I saw that thing before," Shade remarked as they all backed away slowly. "It was in that cryo chamber earlier. It must've gotten out! But the device was on!" "The power to that room was cut a while ago. The machine is no longer working; this monster thawed out and is after us," Samus shuddered, standing her ground. "I've dealt with this thing before. It is nothing short of a nightmare, for that... is its name."