Rise of Heroes: The Grand Adventure

Chapter 3: Showdown in Sandopolis

Far off to the west of Central City was a large sandy region with dunes as far as the eye can see. This place was known as Sandopolis, and as the name implies it was covered with sand with the blazing sun baking the sand underneath. While there was a city in the far distance, there were also ancient ruins, pyramids and paths that led the way full of loops.

Outside of the city and just in the desert was devoid of Mobian life. Instead, there were Badniks and Mechs scouting the area. Deployed by Eggman, they would scan and patrol areas as if they were looking for something on his behalf. However, there was some activity happening inward towards some of the ruins, heading out towards the desert.

A dust trail was being kicked up, having two beings creating it as they dashed through the open zone. One was a reddish pink furred female fox flying in the air. It seemed like she was using her tails to fly in the air as she dashed by at high speeds. She had long flowing hair and five bangs that all flew in the wind, her fear showing in her blue eyes as she looked back. Her attire was made up of what seemed to be light adventure gear. She wore a lime green loose shirt, and black tights with a trim, the same color of her shirt. She wore boots containing the same colors with gray metal support. And in one of her hands, wearing gloves and black rings on her wrists, was a yellow glow coming from it.

Looking back, she looked at the other being that was chasing her. For the time, it was hidden by the dust cloud, slowly approaching her. It was speeding up, catching up to her as it reached out towards her. Peeking out from the cloud was a metal arm, bearing sharp fingers as it attempted to swipe and grab her. She yelped, moving her leg to avoid his attempt which the hand missed entirely.

"I can't believe it's still on my tails!" The fox shouted out in disbelief, continuing to get away. "You've got to be kidding me!"

This time, the hand used even more force when reaching for her. This caused the dust to disperse, revealing a mech around the same size as a regular sized mobian. It did look slightly bulky, appearing more robotic rather than Mobian. Its eyes were set on the fox, having no mouth and red glowing eyes on the screen where the eyes would be. What kept it going was the rocket boots it had equipped, slowly approaching her.

She looked back at the mech, gasping out in surprise as she continued to speed up. "All I wanted was the Chaos Emerald! Just one at least! And this is what I get!" She shouted out, veering to the right as hard as she could to get the mech off her trail. She looked back to see if it worked, but to no avail as it was still hot on her trail as it turned with ease.

"A robot chasing after me! Just great!" She continued as she scoffed, looking ahead as she sped up. Using her tails, they would rotate faster as she would try and get away from it.

Once again, the mech reached out towards her but with a twist this time. The hand shifted into a blaster, slowly charging as it hummed with energy inside the cannon. An orange glow began to emit from it, a ball forming within as it grew with strength. The fox's eyes widened, watching it as it fired off at her.

Her fear was expected and granted, unable to dodge or avoid the incoming attack. She braced, but it only did so much as it smashed into her. The blast forced her out of the air, slamming into the sand and flipping a few times on her side. Due to the initial impact, her grip of the emerald was loose which caused it to land a few feet away from her. She slid in the sand after flipping, her hand inches away from the emerald.

She groaned, looking up at the Chaos Emerald as it began glowing with yellow energy. She tried to reach it, but to no avail. However, the mech that was following after her flew above her and landed in front of her and the emerald with its back towards her. She watched in fear, the mech turning around and reaching to pick up the emerald. It went on to scan the emerald, the fox trying to recover and slowly getting back up.