1,131Adventures of the Orange Flash
Chapter 77: Jungle Confrontations and Citywide Defense
Inside the command center of GUN HQ, the Commander watches over the activities of his subordinates concerning the matters of the black aliens currently attacking the planet with a scowl on his face when the same GUN soldier from before came inside and saluted him before giving another report.
"Commander! COM Sector B3 are reporting that the Black Aliens have successfully been driven out of Westopolis thanks to the assistance from the Freedom Fighters. We've managed to contain them in the forest and they are completely cut off from the rest of their support," said the soldier.
The Commander nodded in approval "Well done, captain. What about Shadow?"
"Sir, we think that Shadow escaped into the forest with the Black Aliens,"
"…alert all field commanders in Sector B. I'm authorizing full use of all tactical weapons; I want Shadow and the Black Aliens stopped and buried. Failure is not an option!"
"Yes sir!" the soldier saluted before leaving to carry out his orders.
The Commander smiles with confidence "It's over, Shadow. You will finally be exposed and eradicated for the evil that you are,"
High in the skies above the clouds, something could be seen flying at highspeed and we take a closer look to find Naruto riding atop the Dragoon towards a specific destination while he was communicating with Sally through his wireless headphones about his assigned mission.
"So, the Black Aliens have been driven into the jungle and GUN intends to take them all out. Am I right, so far?" Naruto inquires, his hand holding the headphones to prevent them from being blown off by the winds.
{That's right, we received a transmission from them, requesting assistance since we helped them mostly in Westopolis and other cities. We're already spread thin with other members facing the aliens in other areas and also examining the intel obtained from Eggman's servers} Sally explained.
{And we have yet to discover the true purpose of their invasion, there has to be more to this than what we seeing at face value} Nicole added, having stayed behind to help analyze the intel with the other members.
Naruto looked down and noted that he was about to arrive at his destination "Okay then, I'm getting close to the jungle,"
{You need to get in contact with Rouge once you arrive, she'll tell you what's needed of you} said Sally.
"Gotcha, wish me luck,"
{Good luck}
Upon ending the transmission, Naruto stood up with his arms spread out as he leans backwards and falls off Dragoon to go into a freefall towards the jungle below. Upon piercing through the treetops, Naruto released a burst of foxfire from the soles of his feet to launch himself towards the trees as he ricochets himself off them multiple times before landing safely on the ground then surveying the area.
Apparently, there are ancient ruins hidden inside the jungle which has been overgrown with nature's foliage and unfortunately the alien's massive crimson flora as well, much to the kitsune's displeasure for he had sense the natural energy being gradually tainted by the dark influence of the alien invaders.
"These guys are really making themselves at home," Kurama commented.
"Yeah, but they'd better not get too comfortable since they've long since overstayed their welcome," Naruto tapped on his headphones a couple of times to set up a transmission "Rouge, it's Naruto. I've just arrived in the jungle,"
Rouge responded {I was wondering when you were going to get in contact, it's not polite to keep a lady waiting, you know?}
"Sorry about that, care to tell me what's going on?"
{Well, GUN is already in the middle of rounding up the aliens after cornering them to this jungle. You'll need to make your way over to me while dealing with the enemy}
Naruto nodded in affirmation "Noted, see you soon," then he ended the transmission and began bouncing on the tips of his toes "Alright then, let's get to it!" he took off down the pathway to commence with the mission.
Music Start: Shadow the Hedgehog OST; Death Ruins
After running down the sloped pathway and speeding through a downhill loop, Naruto launched off a Jump panel across the air and found himself being rebounded around by these strange orange rubberlike flora which is alien in nature before landing at the entrance leading into the ancient ruins. Naruto didn't need to look far to see that GUN soldiers were engaged with the Black Warriors in a firefight and moved in to assist the former as he leapt into the air whilst unsheathing both Hazy-Moon and Masamune.
"Lunar style: Crescent Strike!" he twirled both blades to hold them in reverse grips as he swoops towards the aliens, landing on the ground right in front of them then performing a 180-degree spin to slash at them before following up with another attack "Nine Bladed Tails!" his tails harden to become bladelike which is then used to slash at his targets, finishing them off.
Naruto turned to the soldiers "Are you guys okay?"
One of the soldiers nodded in affirmation "Yes sir, thanks very much for the assistance,"
"No problem, I'm heading further to help deal with these aliens,"
Naruto jumped to latch on to the wall vertically with his feet before running to the top of the ledge where he found a pulley and grabbed onto to it with one hand before being lifted to the upper level where he saw more aliens boxing the GUN soldiers in.
With his free hand, Naruto took out his Peacekeeper rifle "Chakra Blast Volley!" he charges up the Peacemaker with chakra to the max before taking aim and pulled the trigger for the twin barrels to fire many chakra bullets towards the aliens, quickly taking them all down before swinging off the pulley and continuing on his way past the soldiers.
He bounced off a diagonal spring into the air and slingshots off those alien orange flora to the next section of the ancient ruins where he comes across a giant flower which is far more sentient than any regular flora, judging by how it suddenly 'looks' in his direction and spews flames which the kitsune evades with a back handspring despite the sudden surprise.
"Fire breathing flowers? Ino would have loved to have these if they weren't used by evil aliens," Naruto commented.
"Fortunately, you have some experience with plants since you used to own a garden back in our old world," Kurama pointed.
"Yup…," Naruto readies his Hazy-Moon "Time for some deadheading!" he darts forward whilst evading the incoming flames with quick sidesteps before taking out a Hiraishin kunai "Flying Raijin Slash!" he flung the kunai at the flower before disappearing in a yellow flash then reappearing behind it with both kunai and katana held out as the alien flower fell to pieces from being attacked so many times.
Moving further ahead, Naruto could see more of the aliens influence on the ancient ruins as large red globs could be seen everywhere and those red fruits from before are growing all over the place. Deciding to destroy them from a distance, Naruto channels chakra into the ECG-X gloves to make several energy constructs of shuriken in hand which he flung at the red fruits, destroying them. Then several Black Warriors armed with blasters and protective shields and a giant Black Oak with a massive sword appeared to confront him.
"Heh, they sure grow them big," said Naruto playfully.
"Which makes it more fun to knock them down," Kurama agrees with a grin.
"But let's first deal with the small fry,"
Naruto switched to his Plant Aspect as a green energy construct of a vine appears wrapped loosely around his neck and arms with the ends dangling while flowers grow around his feet "Plant Weed!" he stomps on the ground to summon thorny vines from underneath the ground to constrict his targets, rendering them immobile "Parasitic Seeds!" he clenches his fist for a moment before opening to reveal pale yellow seeds which he throws at the bound aliens, the seeds sprouted leafy vines that latch on to their targets and proceeded to forcefully absorb their energy until they were sucked dry.
The Black Oak manages to break free of the thorny vines with its strength and lunges at Naruto with the sword in hand. Naruto waited until the last moment for it to attack him before he dashed backwards whilst switching to the Earth Aspect with large rocks floating around him.
"Earth Strangle!" he manipulates the rocks to form two large hands from the ground which reached out to grab the large alien's arms restraining it "And now, Bedrock Rhino Rush!" he creates a large rock in the shape of a rhino's head and sends it barreling into the alien and taking it down.
Locating a jump panel nearby, Naruto launches off it whilst catapulting off more of those rubberlike alien plants to land atop one of the long tendrils of the red alien glob which he could use as a grind rail as he slides along it. Looking around, Naruto saw several of the GUN Beetle drones facing a group of Black Wings in the air and took out Kanshou & Bakuya as he proceeds to shoot the flying aliens down. Realizing who was attacking them, the remaining Black Wings swooped towards Naruto to attack
"Back off!" Naruto continues to use Kanshou to shoot whilst wielding Bakuya's bayonet blade to slash at any of the aliens that came too close to him while he grinds along the red tendril.
"You got a couple more aliens on a ledge beneath you," Kurama spoke up to alert his partner.
"I see em, dropping in on them," Naruto somersaulted off the tendril towards the aforementioned ledge where there are Black Warriors as well as a fire-breathing flower are located. A strong gust of wind swirls around Naruto to signify the use of his Air Aspect as he lands before them "Aero Beast Swipe!" wind swirls around one of Naruto's arms to form a large beast paw and swings it at the aliens, blasting them right off the edge to the abyss below.
Naruto took a few steps back for a running start as he leaps off the ledge then uses the Swift release: Shadow Flight to dash in midair while leaving behind a trail of afterimages to land on one of the red tendrils to grind along it to the next section of the ruins.
Making his way through a shallow waterway, Naruto found himself in what appears to be the courtyard of the ancient ruins and was already seeing a large number of Black Warriors, Black Oaks and Black Wings with varying kinds of weapons.
Naruto grinned in anticipation "All this for me? You shouldn't have!"
"Tear it up!" said Kurama eagerly.
"Here I come!"
Naruto leaps into the fray whilst crossing the middle and index fingers of both hands together "Shadow Clone jutsu!" there were puffs of white smoke which dissipated to reveal multiple copies of him as they ran alongside him and split off with their individual targets. The original himself "Foxfire Spinjitzu!" he spun rapidly whilst enshrouding himself in azure flames to form a tornado that moved around and constantly damage the surrounding enemies but then a Black Oak swung its large sword at him "Swift Release: Bladed Shadow Dance!" Naruto began moving along rapidly and lightly around the enemies with his afterimages depicting his actions of attacking with the Hazy-Moon then he skidded backwards with the katana sheathed and having taken an Iai stance "Lunar Style: Glinted Slash!" the kitsune unsheathes the blade in a flash to strike at the speed of light before sheathing it and turning away as the aliens stood still before slashes appears all over their bodies before collapsing to the ground.
"There's more of these guys than I thought," said Naruto.
"Makes it all the more interesting for us, let's go find some more an-," Kurama paused midsentence with a small frown on his face "Hey Naruto, do you sense that?"
"I do, it's been there for a while now," thought Naruto, having chosen to stand and pretend to be distracted.
"What are you going to do about it?"
Naruto proceeded to call out loudly "Come out, I know you're there!"
Hearing a squeak, Naruto turned to the source as they stepped out from behind a stone pillar and he was surprised upon seeing who it is, and for the right reasons. The person is revealed to be a Mobian vixen who is wearing prison clothes albeit being in a tattered state, in spite of the state of clothing amongst other things, Naruto clearly recognizes the vixen.
"It's you…," said the vixen, looking a bit surprised.
"Fiona, what are you doing here and what's with those prison clothes?" asked Naruto confusedly.
"Not to mention that clothes are what the prisoners wear in that No Zone where you and that other Sonic went to drop off Scourge," Kurama pointed out in addition.
"Who are you and how is it that you know me? Is Fiona my name?" asked the vixen in confusion.
"What are you talking about? Of course it's your name, why are you acting like you don't recognize me?" Naruto inquired from her.
"I don't understand either, I keep seeing your face and those two hedgehogs in my mind. I can't seem to remember anything more than that otherwise my head would hurt too much," said Fiona with uncertainty.
"Your head?" Naruto looked closely and noticed a serious bruise on the left side of Fiona's forehead which made him come to a worrying conclusion "Could it be amnesia?"
"Most likely considering that everything she's said so far isn't a lie, whatever happened in that prison must have caused her to suffer a hard blow to the head which must have caused that memory loss," said Kurama.
"Um," Naruto snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Fiona call out to him "I was hoping to ask if you could help me?"
Naruto quirked an eyebrow "Why would you ask me that?"
"I-I'm not sure myself…maybe it's because of your eyes?"
"My eyes?"
"In what I could see from my shattered memories. The angry look on the green hedgehog's face frightens me a lot. And for the blue hedgehog, I can't help but feel guilty like I've done something terrible to him although I don't know exactly what it was that I've done to him with the way he was looking at me…," said Fiona unsurely, then she looked at Naruto "But your eyes speak a different story, you must have known of my wrongdoings and yet is still willing to hear me out. There's something about you that draws me in and as I am now, I don't know who else to turn to for help,"
Kurama scoffed "Hmph, karma hit her pretty hard on this one,"
"Kurama…,"
"You know that I'm not wrong, after everything she had done…,"
"Regardless, the Fiona back then is not the Fiona standing before us right now,"
"*Sigh* You're going to help her, aren't you?"
Naruto smiles in response "You know me too well, Kurama,"
"Unfortunately, I do,"
Naruto turned to a nervous Fiona and gave his response "I'll help you, Fiona. My friends and I will do what we can to help restore your memories,"
"Really?" hearing his answer gave the vixen hope.
"Yeah, but it's up to you whether you want those memories back or not. Stay close to me and watch out for those aliens,"
"I'll be careful, I can even help you fight them," Fiona conjures a spectral arm next to her to prove her point.
"Okay then, let's go!"
The newly formed duo left the courtyard and proceeded to make their way through the ruined path. They had just exited into the next section of the ruins when they heard the flapping of wings and looked up to see Rouge flying down towards them.
"You certainly know how to keep a lady waiting. And who's your new friend? I seriously doubt her current choice of clothing is meant to be her Sunday's best," Rouge commented upon seeing Fiona.
"Her name is Fiona and I met her under certain circumstances, turns out that she lost her memories so I'm having her stay close until I can get her out of the forest after the mission," Naruto explained.
"Well, aren't you the good Samaritan. You're certainly raising your charm points,"
"So, what's the situation?" Naruto inquired, wanting to get back into focus.
"Well, thanks to your help. We're almost done with a few stragglers left to deal with. But I did notice an oddity while I was scouting the ruins," said Rouge with a thoughtful look.
"What is it?"
"I happened to have caught a glimpse of Shadow running through and was about to ask him for help when I noticed that he was being accompanied by one of those black aliens,"
Naruto's eyes narrowed at the information "By any chance, is it a floating eyeball with tentacles?"
"That's the one, why?"
"If that's the case, we need to hurry and catch up with Shadow. I don't feel so comfortable about letting that alien be around him,"
Rouge nodded in affirmation "My thoughts exactly, let's go look for him,"
Venturing further into the ruins, the group found their way inside a temple which has aliens crawling all over the place so they swung into action. Rouge skillfully evaded the incoming attacks from the enemies thanks to her wings helping her be difficult to target then counters by throwing her custom-made bombs at them from a distance. Naruto took out his Peacekeeper rifle and wielding it with one hand to shoot whilst enshrouding his other hand with foxfire to fight the aliens both in close-range and mid-range. The kitsune glanced to see Fiona actually managing to hold her own against the invaders as she would utilize those spectral arms of hers to grapple or strike, it would seem that her body still remembers how to fight in spite of her memory loss.
Going further inside, the group came upon what appears to be the enemy's outpost with the aliens defending it with everything they have.
"This seems to be where the last of the aliens are, now for us to destroy it," said Rouge.
"In that case, I have something in mind so I'd like for you to get your bombs ready," said Naruto.
"Alright then, I'm ready when you are,"
Naruto took a few steps forward whilst accessing his Air Aspect with the winds swirling around him quite strongly "Wind Vortex!" he spun around several times before thrusting both hands forwards to generate a massive tornado which he maintains a mental control of it, he proceeds to make it move around the outpost whilst pulling the aliens and debris within itself until he was able to capture them all "Rouge, you're up!"
"I've a clear idea of what you want me to do!" Rouge began flinging multiple bombs into the tornado before taking out a remote detonator with a mischievous smile "I always enjoy saying this 'Fire in the hole'," she pushed the button and remotely detonates the bombs inside the tornado all at once, destroying the aliens in one fell swoop.
Music End
"Amazing…," Fiona was awed by what she had just witnessed, especially Naruto's prowess.
Naruto stood there for a moment before speaking up "I can sense Shadow's presence close by,"
"Where is he?" asked Rouge.
"This way…,"
Naruto led the others to where he's sensing the black hedgehog and he located him at yet another ancient courtyard with an ellipse-shaped stone ring hovering above it. There they saw Shadow having a conversation with Doom's Eye and decided to listen in on them.
"Having trouble with GUN, I presume?" asked Shadow sarcastically, having so easily avoided them earlier and noted that the Black Arms had been taken out by them.
Black Doom chuckled darkly "What a pitiful bunch…,"
Shadow frowned "What's so funny?"
"We're not here to exterminate these poor creatures, on the contrary…,"
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Rouge confusedly.
"From the way he's talking, it could mean that they aren't here just to take over the planet but more than that," said Naruto with a frown before eavesdropping once more.
"What are you saying?" Shadow wanted to know more, hoping it could give him clues to his past.
"All will be revealed…tomorrow," said Black Doom.
"Tomorrow? What would happen?" asked Fiona.
"I don't know, but I just know that no one will like it in the least," Naruto replied.
"Shadow, you should rest…you need to be ready for tomorrow's ritual," right as Black Doom said that, a rather familiar alien monster appeared and let out a loud roar which caused the entire place to quake…it was another Black Bull as Doom's Eye flew away to who-knows-where as many Black Warriors and Black Oaks also appeared to assist the alien monster.
Shadow glared at the monster "You scum! You're going down!"
"Mind if we cut in?" the black hedgehog turned to the voice and saw Naruto along with Rouge and a female vixen who's unfamiliar to him.
"What are you doing here?" asked Shadow sternly.
"Dealing with the aliens, we can talk more after handling big ugly over here," said Naruto before taking a combat stance.
Rouge looks at Black Bull with disgust "Man, what an ugly beast! Let's finish it off quickly!"
"I'll do what I can!" said Fiona.
"…Hmph," Shadow turned his focus back to Black Bull and prepares to fight.
Music Start: Shadow the Hedgehog OST; Boss: Black Bull
"Quick heads-up; don't bother attacking the body and aim for the eye! That's its weakpoint!" Naruto informed the others.
"You fought one like it before?" asked Rouge.
"Yeah, back in Westopolis. Stay sharp!"
"Hmph, I'm already aware of it," Shadow took notice of several Black Warriors wielding blasters and immediately attacked them with his homing attack then picking up one of the alien firearms to use them as he quickly took aim and shot the Black Bull right in the eye, making it roar out in agony.
"Looks like he's getting into it," Naruto glanced over his shoulder to see a couple of Black Oaks with swords lumbering towards him to attack "Better deal with them before they become too much of distractions from the main target," he dashes forwards whilst creating multiple shadow clones then they all leapt high into the air with rolling somersaults "Clone Spinning Axe Kick!" they all descend towards the targets and consecutively struck with heel drop kicks and flipping backwards to land on all fours "Clone Body Slam!" they all launch themselves to attack with a barrage of flying headbutts, inflicting a lot of damage.
"Hah!" Fiona ran past Naruto and the clones, having conjured both spectral arms and attacked with a powerful double punch to take the Black Oaks out "That should do it!"
"Thanks for the assist!" said Naruto gratefully.
Fiona smiles meekly "It's the least I could do,"
Shadow was quickly darting from side-to-side as he evaded the fireballs being launched towards him by Black Bull and returned fire with the blaster only to be blocked when the alien monster quickly turned to the side to take the hit with its blubbery body. While annoyed by this, Shadow took note of the stone ring hovering above him and got an idea.
"Now to deal with this problem from a different angle," Shadow dashed over to a spring nearby and bounced off it to reach up to the stone ring then proceeded to grind along it whilst firing at the Black Bull's eye to inflict damage upon it.
"I need to restrain its movements," Naruto took out his water pouch to strap to his waist opening the cork before switching to his Water Aspect as water emerged from the pouch and formed a puddle at his feet with bubbles floating around him "Water Snake!" he conjures multiple large snakes made of water that lunge at Black Bull and wrapped themselves all over its body, restraining it. Black Bull refuses to allow itself be restrained and releases a powerful fire breath towards the kitsune "I don't think so, Water Pressure Cannon!" he launched a compressed stream of water towards the flames, instantly dousing it and slamming into the alien's eye, making it roar out in.
"The water is the least of your problems!" Rouge came swooping in with a dive kick which landed right on the Black Bull's eye, inflicting additional agony on it. However, its rage gave it the strength needed to break free from the water bindings and rose back up to the air, at this point it has gone berserk "I believe we made it mad,"
"Good, I know just what to do while it's like that," Naruto put away the water pouch and accessed his Void Aspect as his body is shrouded in a hooded cloak made out of black flickering flames with his eyes glowing ominously from within the hood "Dark Void," he forms a small sphere of dark energy which he launches at the Black Bull, expanding upon impact and trapping it within which renders the alien both blind and deaf "And now; Dark Blaze!" Naruto charges and then unleashes a single ball of dark flames from his free hand as it moves with great speed then splits apart into five smaller fireballs when it drew near the target, striking the eye consecutively.
"Time to end this," Shadow took out one of the Chaos Emeralds and began channeling its energy "Chaos Spear!" Chaos Energy pooled around Shadow's free hand before he swung it to launch an arrow-shaped bolt which flew through the air and pierced right through Black Bull's eye which caused it to seize up before crashing to the ground with a loud quaking thud, signaling the end of the battle.
Music End
"Good work, everyone," said Naruto, seeing the monster defeated as well as the other aliens suffering the same fate.
"It was nothing," said Fiona with a small smile.
Rouge on the other hand was looking at her boots in mild disgust "I'm definitely getting rid of these clothes when everything is over and taking a long vacation afterwards,"
Naruto glanced to see Shadow starting to walk away "Hey Shadow, wait up!"
The black hedgehog turned to see Naruto approach him and asked sternly "What is it you want?"
"I just wanted to know what the deal is with you and that Black Doom guy," Naruto inquired.
"It's none of your business,"
"It kinda does since these guys are attacking the planet which I need to remind you is your home too," Naruto pointed out to him.
Scowling, Shadow turned away from the kitsune "I could care less about any of that, what matters to me is that I find the Chaos Emeralds. They're the only way to find the answers to my past,"
Naruto was confused upon hearing that "Answers to your past? What do you mean?"
"I don't have the time for small talk," Shadow held out the Chaos Emerald "Chaos Control!"
"Shadow, wai-," before Naruto could stop him, Shadow had already warped away in a flash of light "What's that all about?"
"He's making it sound like these aliens have a connection to his past and he wants to find out," said Kurama thoughtfully.
"And him collecting the Chaos Emeralds gives me a bad feeling, especially if he's planning on giving them to the aliens," thought Naruto with a frown on his face "I'd better take Fiona and head back to FF HQ so I can inform them of what I've learned,"
Unbeknownst to him and the others, a GUN Beetle drone had been recording everything that has happened and transmitted to GUN Headquarters.
Meanwhile, the Commander had watched the entire thing on the main monitor and his fist clenched in anger upon seeing Shadow and also saw how Naruto fought alongside in spite of him supposing to be the enemy that should be put down permanently.
"That naïve fox, doesn't he realize that Shadow is the enemy and must be destroyed? I thought he knew better, it just goes to show how inexperienced he is…," the Commander muttered to himself. After a few moments, he pushed a pushed a button on his desk and didn't have to wait long for a GUN soldier.
The soldier saluted before the Commander "Sir, your orders?"
"Let this be known to the forces…,"
"Well, this is unexpected," said Lilac as she along with several others are at the main HQ and sitting around a nervous Fiona who's wearing new clothes consisting of a yellow parka with white accents over a red t-shirt, khaki long pants, and a pair of trainers.
Naruto had informed the team about everything that happened when he returned from the ruins and it went without saying that they were surprised.
"You're telling me, she's a major contrast to the one you and Nicole told us about in the other dimension," Carol commented.
"Indeed…," Nicole looks at Fiona who shrinks back from her stare "She's far different from the one we knew,"
"Um, were the things I did really terrible?" Fiona asked which made everyone look away from her awkwardly, feeling with fear they may not want to help her after all.
"We won't sugarcoat it and say that it was indeed bad, but we're not going to let that stop us from helping you right now," said Sally.
"Really?"
Bunnie spoke up "Of course, you haven't yet given us a reason not to help you right now. It just that we're kinda busy with this whole alien invasion thing going on right now,"
"Um okay, thank you,"
"Don't mention it!"
Sally spoke up again, wanting to get everyone onto the main subject "About this ritual that you spoke which is said to occur tomorrow, I suspect it has to do with the Space Colony Ark that Sonic and the others told us about,"
"Space Colony Ark?" asked Naruto, having not heard about it till now.
Nicole proceeded to explain "It was a space station which was built fifty years ago by Professor Gerald Robotnik who is Eggman's grandfather as a top-secret research center for scientific testing and experiments. Apparently, it's also where Shadow was created,"
"Shadow was created?" Naruto was surprised to hear that, the words 'experiment' always reminds him of Orochimaru and how his madness affected innocent lives.
"Indeed he was and it was his creation amongst other things which led to the military raiding the research center and forcefully shutting everything down, resulting in the deaths of everyone on board; including Gerald's granddaughter Maria Robotnik," Nicole continued.
"Unbelievable…," Lilac was angered at the military's heartless decision to kill everyone in the ARK out of fear and paranoia.
"The foolishness of humans never fails to surprise me," Kurama sneered, Naruto couldn't refute this fact this time.
Nicole went on to tell them about how Maria's death led to Gerald going insane and then sought revenge for the destruction of humanity by using Eclipse Cannon which is a weapon powerful enough to destroy a star or even a planet with the power of the Chaos Emeralds which didn't happen until fifty years later when Eggman awakened Shadow who was captured and imprisoned after the incident. Sonic and co worked together to prevent this with Shadow changing sides, but Gerald had a contingency plan in which he would attempt to make the ARK crash into the planet. However, Sonic and Shadow transformed into their Super Forms with the Chaos Emeralds then used Chaos Control to teleport the space station to a stable orbit around the planet. But this placed a heavy toll on Shadow's strength who then fell to the planet and disappeared with everyone believing him to have died, so it was rather shocking for them to see him again alive and well during the incident with Neo Metal Sonic.
"But if you think about it, Shadow does bear a lot of resemblance to those Black Aliens," Barby pointed out to the group.
"Now that you mention it, he certainly does. There could be a connection between Shadow, the Black Aliens and the Space Colony Ark all those years ago," said Lilac.
"That would explain why Sonic and the others took off like that before I could get them to explain," said Sally.
"Speaking of which, where are they?" asked Naruto, having realized that the Blue Blur is nowhere to be seen.
"Well…,"
Shadow reappeared and landed on the ground before looking around then realizing that he had teleported to one of Eggman's secret bases. He was about to explore the place in search of clues when he hears the sounds of an engine then looks to the side to see a large flying spaceship of Tails' design, and standing atop it was none other than Sonic the Hedgehog himself.
"What's up, Shadow?" Sonic waved a hand in a friendly greeting.
Shadow frowned in response "Not you again,"
"Nice to see you too, looks like most of those black creatures are heading out into space. We're on our way to the ARK, so I guess that means you're going too,"
"ARK…," hearing that name felt familiar to Shadow in spite of the loss of memory. Maybe he could find some answers there.
Sonic beckoned for Shadow to come on board "Come on, let's roll! Next stop, the ARK!"
Not seeing any reason to refuse, Shadow made his decision and got on board the spaceship with Sonic and the others as they began their transit towards the Space Colony ARK.
"I don't know whether it's a good thing or a bad thing for them to leave for the ARK, especially with that talk about a ritual," said Nicole with concern.
"I guess it's up to us to deal with the ones left behind on the planet," said Naruto "There's still much that we don't know about so it won't hurt for some of us to be placed in certain critical positions," he knew this well thanks to his experience during the Fourth Great Ninja War.
"If you say so, I'm gonna go and get myself some R . I'm totally tuckered out," said Carol with a loud yawn.
"I gotta agree with her, we've been fighting these aliens ever since they've showed up and didn't get any proper rest," said Bunnie.
Sally sighed "I'm afraid you're right, it's best that we all rest so that we'll be ready for whatever tomorrow brings,"
"I see what you mean," Naruto nodded reluctantly in agreement "I'll also need to check my gear and refill supplies for the next skirmish," he walked away towards his sleeping quarters with Kou and Yoru flying after. Apparently, he had dropped the Chao off at HQ since the beginning of the invasion for their safety albeit they weren't so happy about that decision.
"Goodnight everyone," Carol headed off to sleep then everyone began to follow suit.
The next day, the President was at his office in the White House, occupied with the matters involving the current state of the country when his answering machine beeped to signal which he immediately answered.
{Mr. President, there is an emergency!}
"What is it now?" the President inquired.
{It seemed as if our ground forces were able to contain the Black Arm, but apparently enemy reinforcements have arrived and Central City is being invaded!"}
The President was shocked to hear such a thing "How…how can this be!?" he got up from his seat to look out the balcony for himself and enough…
Inside the city itself, the Black Arms army has already marched in and laying waste with GUN fighting back with everything they have whilst also protecting the citizens albeit having great difficulty doing both. But they'll be receiving help as the FF Quinjet could be seen flying overhead.
"Darn it, those guys are making a mess of things already," said Naruto with a frown.
"They'd better not wreck my favorite sushi restaurant or they're gonna regret it!" said Carol angrily.
Sally communicated with them from HQ [Stay focused everyone, we need to provide assistance to GUN and drive the alien forces away from the city]
"A similar strategy which was applied in Westopolis," said Bladewolf, having joined the team for the mission.
[Correct, which is why each of you will be dropped off at certain parts of the city. Remember that this mission is critical and we cannot afford to make any mistakes] said Sally.
"Gotcha, then this is my stop," said Naruto while opening the bay door with a push of a button "Keep in touch in case anything comes up,"
Nicole nodded in response "Will do, be careful out there,"
"Sure thing,"
Naruto then jumped out of the Quinjet and went into a freefall towards the city streets, he threw a Hiraishin kunai to the ground then warped to it for a safe landing. Naruto took a look around and could already feel his anger building up at what he's seeing with his own two eyes.
Central City has been turned into a blasted warzone, faring even worse than Westopolis did. Red Fruits dot the landscape and entire districts have been flooded with toxic fluid. GUN helicopters fly between the husks of ruined skyscrapers while military roadblocks litter the streets.
"Those alien scum…," seeing the devastation brought the painful memories of the aftermath of the Hidden Leaf village when Akatsuki attacked it in search of him, he had always blamed himself for not showing up in time to stop it from reaching that point "Each and every one of them are gonna pay for this!"
Hearing sounds of battle, Naruto turned to see several GUN soldiers and Mechs currently having a firefight with a group of Black Warriors and Oaks which he wasted no time in running over and attacking them fiercely, wanting to vent a bit. Unsheathing both Hazy-Moon and Masamune, Naruto performed the Swift Release: Bladed Shadow Dance =as he moved along rapidly and lightly around the aliens with his afterimages depicting his actions of slashing at them with his dual katanas until they were all dealt with.
"*Phew* Now I feel a bit calmer, are you guys oka-," Naruto turned to speak to the soldiers only to find them aiming their guns at him "Uh, what's going on here and why are you aiming your guns at me?"
"Naruto Uzumaki; by the order of the Commander, you are under arrest," said one of the soldiers.
Naruto couldn't believe what he's hearing right now "Me? Under arrest, for what?"
"For fraternizing with the enemy Shadow the Hedgehog, you and your cohorts will be detained for the foreseeable future. Please do not resist,"
"Are you guys serious right now? There's an attack on the city going on right now and you want to arrest me!?" Naruto exclaimed in disbelief.
"Hands on the back of your head and get on your knees, this is your warning else we will use force,"
Frowning at this unexpected situation, Naruto knows that he can't fight GUN but at the same time can't let them arrest him either. All this ultimately led to one decision.
"Sorry, but I can't let you arrest me. Not when the planet is in danger right now,"
Naruto waved his hand to create a large wall of foxfire between himself and the GUN agents before making a quick getaway with Shadow Step to reappear on the roof of a destroyed apartment. He quickly tapped on his ECG-X gloves to contact.
"Sally-chan, we have a serious problem!" said Naruto urgently.
[Let me guess, GUN soldiers tried to arrest you] said Sally with a frown.
Naruto frowned as well "They tried to arrest the others, didn't they?"
[Emphasis on the word 'tried', Lilac and others managed to get away from them too. And it gets worse…]
"Just how bad is the situation?"
[We hacked into GUN communication moments ago and learnt that the Black Arms have planted bombs both large and small throughout the city with intentions for its complete destruction] Sally explained.
"Oh, this just keeps getting better and better," said Kurama sarcastically.
Then they received another transmission and it's coming from Bladewolf [Alert, I may have found a possible solution to the current situation]
[What do you have in mind?] asked Sally.
[I have analyzed that some of the aliens are in possession of weapons capable of vacuuming anything large in size and quantity, such weapons could prove instrumental in defusing the small bombs which are more in number than the large bombs which are currently being secured by GUN] Bladewolf explained.
Sally hummed thoughtfully [That could actually help cut down on the time used to disarm those bombs. I'll relay this to the others. The objectives are simple; use the alien weapons to defuse the bombs, secure the safety of the citizens and defeat the aliens]
"And not get caught by GUN," Naruto added.
*Sigh* That too, I'll have a word with GUN after all this is over] Sally then ended the transmission.
"Alright then, let's get down to business," Naruto created a large group of shadow clones "You guys know what to do!"
"Roger boss!" the clones responded in affirmation before leaping off the roof in all directions. Naruto rolled his shoulders before following suit.
Music Start: Shadow the Hedgehog OST; Central City
Landing back on the streets, Naruto immediately rushed off in such for any of the aliens that were wielding one of those vacuuming weapons for him to acquire.
Along the way, several Black Warriors appeared and began shooting at the kitsune with their blasters which he counters by leaping high into the air and called upon Kanshou & Bakuya before taking aim and pulled the triggers to rapidly fire a barrage of bullets down at his targets, taking down some while others defended themselves with their equipped shields. Upon seeing this, Naruto slammed both bayoneted handguns together to transform into a doubled-bladed melee staff right as he landed on the ground before dashing forward and defeating them with several swift slashes.
With a quick look amongst the downed aliens, Naruto was able to find what he was looking for "Here's one!" Naruto picked up the Vacuum Pod with a smile "Time for a scavenger hunt!" he took off in search for the small bombs.
Zipping past some of the GUN agents that tried and failed to catch him, he found his first three bombs positioned close to several skyscrapers which he immediately uses the Vacuum Pod to suction them into it "Got my first three bombs, off to a good start," suddenly a spotlight shone down on him, making Naruto look up to see a GUN helicopter hovering overhead.
{Drop your weapons and surrender!} said the pilot through the loudspeaker.
Naruto shook his head "You guys have a weird sense of prioritizing, sorry but I gotta go!" he performed a Shadow Step to get away and continue his search for the bombs.
He ran around a corner and skidded to a stop, seeing a destroyed street flooded with some sort of glowing green fluid oozing all over the place. Naruto tapped on his headphones to contact HQ "Sally, I'm looking at some kind of green ooze and it's giving me the creeps,"
[Make sure to avoid it at all costs, Naruto. That fluid is highly toxic and melts anything that comes into contact with it] said Sally with caution.
Naruto kicked a stone into the ooze and saw it melt with a hiss "Yeah, definitely not touching it," he looked further ahead to find some more bombs "Good thing I have additional options," he leapt at one of the tall buildings and latched on to it with his chakra-coated feet then ran along it, leaping from one side of a building to the other in order to reach the bombs and suck them into the Vacuum Pod.
"Check the rooftops, no doubt they planted some bombs there," Kurama suggested.
"Good idea," Naruto immediately run up to the roof of the building he's currently and sure enough, he spotted more bombs placed atop the rooftops not too far from his position but there's also GUN helicopters flying about "Just need to get those bombs quickly and not be bothered by these guys, Swift release: Shadow Flight!" he jumped off the roof and dashes in midair while leaving behind a trail of afterimages, sucking up the bombs along the way before freefalling back down to the streets before the helicopters before the helicopters would notice him.
Naruto repeatedly rebounded off the sides of the surrounding buildings on the way down before landing on the ground and looked around to find himself in a large carpark. His ears picked up the sounds of battle nearby and went over to the source to find some Black Warriors and Black Oaks fighting someone and they're not from GUN but rather familiar to the kitsune.
"Hey, isn't that…," Naruto mutters in surprise as he watches the ongoing battle.
One of the Black Oaks picks up a burning car and throws it at the person only for it to be caught by them and thrown back with twice the force, slamming into the aliens and exploding upon impact. The person rushes forward and begins throwing punches which sends even Black Oaks flying with one hit and crashing into buildings.
"You guys picked the wrong planet to invade!" said the person with a glare.
"Couldn't agree more," Naruto spoke up, causing the person to turn around and be surprised "It's been a while…Mighty,"
Indeed, it was Mighty the Armadillo who was a competitor in the World Fighting Tournament.
"Fancy seeing you here, but I shouldn't be surprised since you won't stand by and let these aliens invade the planet," said Mighty, happy to see a familiar voice when a voice called out from above.
"Mighty, there are more bad aliens from where I came from an- whoa! A yellow Mobian flying squirrel glided down to land next to Mighty. He saw surprised upon seeing Naruto "Hold up, you're the champion! Hello, my name's Ray and you're here to help right?"
Naruto nodded in affirmation "Yeah, but I don't think you'd want to be around me for the meantime,"
"Why's that?" asked Mighty confusedly.
"For some reason, GUN wants to arrest me and my friends due to a misunderstanding. We already have our hands full; fighting the aliens and defusing the bombs all the while avoiding getting caught," Naruto explained.
"You know how to defuse the bombs? We found several but didn't know how to handle them," said Ray worriedly.
Naruto held up the Vacuum Pod for them to see "You can use this to suck in the small bombs, you can get one from the aliens around here,"
"In that case, we can team up and get another one for Ray to use while working together. That should make it much quicker to deal with the bombs," said Mighty.
"But GUN would target you too," Naruto pointed out to the duo.
Mighty frowned in response "It doesn't matter, lives are at stake right now and we can't let that stop us!"
Ray nodded in agreement "That's right!"
Hearing that made Naruto smile at the two "We're going to get along well, you guys are definitely Freedom Fighter material. Let's go then!"
The newly formed trio ran/glided off in direction of where Ray last sighted a group of aliens and soon spotted them. Naruto and Mighty charged in to face them while Ray hung back since he's not exactly a combatant.
Spotting an uprooted streetlight nearby, Mighty picked it to be used as a makeshift club as he proceeded to bludgeon any Black Warriors dumb enough to get close to him. On the other hand, Naruto used his tails to hold the Vacuum Pod in order to free up his hands which ignited with foxfire for an attack "Foxfire Barrage!" he thrusts his hands forward to fire a salvo of azure fireballs, taking down his targeted enemies until none were left standing before the group.
Naruto found another of the Vacuum Pods and picked it up "Here's one, keep it well," he tossed it over to Ray who scrambled to catch it in time "Now let's g-," the kitsune suddenly stiffened as he sensed something familiar "Why is she still here?"
"Beats me," Kurama commented with a shrug.
"Naruto, is there something wrong?" asked Mighty confusedly.
"I sense a friend of mine in danger and need to get over to help," Naruto explained.
"Then go, we'll meet up along way after defusing the bombs we found,"
"Thanks," Naruto turned around and took off at highspeed with afterimages trailing behind him, he zipped past the GUN barricades and took down some aliens along the way without letting himself slow down until he finally located the person he's looking for and sure enough, she's fighting the aliens with all her might.
"I'm not going to let you lay your grubby fingers on my employees!" said the person angrily as she claws and kicks at the approaching aliens fiercely while darting about to make it difficult for the enemy to keep a proper lock on her.
"Honey!" Naruto called out as he accesses his Celestial Aspect with the white halo hovering above his head and starlight sparkling around him "Light Speed Blade!" he conjures a sword made out of light then cuts down the aliens at the speed of light before skidding to a stop next to the fashionista "Are you okay?"
Honey smiles happily upon seeing Naruto show up "Pretty great now that you're here, but now I have to worry about those pinks things they placed around my building,"
Naruto's eyes narrowed upon hearing that "Take me to where they are, those are bombs!"
"What?! I can't let those crazy aliens blow up my building, my employees and I work here! Come on!" Honey guided Naruto to where the bombs were planted and the latter immediately uses the Vacuum Pod to get rid of them.
At that moment, a spotlight shone down on the two and Naruto groaned in annoyance as he knows what's happening yet again "Oh come on, not this again,"
{We have you now, drop your weapons and surrender!} said the pilot onboard the GUN helicopter as several soldiers arrives in jeeps and aim their weapons at the kitsune.
"Did you do something, Naruto?" asked Honey confusedly.
"They're trying to arrest my friends and I due to a misunderstanding," Naruto answered, already getting tired of being chased around unreasonably.
"Do not move or we will use force," one of the GUN soldiers warned them. All of a sudden, something began to shoot down the spotlights on the helicopter and the jeeps, much to the surprise of everyone "Sniper, everyone take cover!"
"Whelp, gotta go!" Naruto immediately scoops Honey into his arm with the Mobian cat letting out a rather cute meow in surprise as he runs off in the midst of the confusion until he has put up a good distance between them and the military "This should be far enough,"
"U-Um, could y-you put me d-down please?" Honey requested with her cheeks flushed pink in embarrassment.
"Oh right, sorry about that," Naruto placed her down with Honey feeling a bit disappointed for not being held for a bit longer "Anyways, I'll have a shadow clone take you to safety while I continue to defuse as many bombs as I can,"
Honey nods in response "Okay, but please be careful,"
Naruto grins "I will, I promise," he creates a shadow clone who immediately warps Honey away via the Hiraishin kunai "Now to meet up with Mighty and Ray," along the way, he contacted Sally for an update "How's things going with everyone?"
[Thanks to Bladewolf's idea, we've defused a large number of the small bombs while GUN has managed to secure the bigger ones. However, there were some oddities] said Sally.
"Would it have anything to do with an unknown sniper?" Naruto inquired.
[You too? Lilac and the others had said the same thing about a sniper taking action whether they were fighting the aliens or being pursued by GUN agents but then they weren't able to locate the person afterwards]
"Strange that my shadow clones haven't found the sniper during their runabout either, but we can't focus on that since the bombs are a higher priority,"
[Unfortunately, you're correct. You need to hurry as a few have already exploded before the others could get to them]
"Roger that, let's step it up!" Naruto ends the transmission as he increases his speed and activates the Aura Sight in order to locate Mighty and Ray, finding them and heading over to where they are "I'm back, how are things?"
"Pretty smooth so far, we were able to defuse a lot of bombs along the way," Mighty responded.
"Yeah, this Vacuum Pod really helps!" said Ray happily.
Naruto smiles in response "That's good to know, we're almost through with the defusing of all the bombs. Just a few more to take care of,"
Mighty nods "Then let's get the rest,"
The trio set out in search of the remaining small bombs, defeating aliens and avoiding GUN along the way. They eventually discover the remaining cluster of small bombs located at the freeway with several Black Warriors, Black Oaks and Black Wings standing around to make sure that they go off.
"Let's keep those guys busy while Ray goes after the last of those bombs," Naruto suggested.
"Sounds like a plan," Mighty agreed.
Ray nods in affirmation "Leave it to me!"
With that, Mighty and Naruto charges in like before to engage the aliens in close combat. Mighty punches the ground to trigger a shockwave which knocks some of the Black Warriors to the ground as he pulls out a large piece of debris which he flings at one of the Black Oaks, causing it to stumble backwards from the damage. Another Black Oak attacks with a powerful punch but the armadillo was able to catch the incoming fist, stopping it cold. Mighty proceeds to lift the heavyset alien off the ground and begins spinning around in circles with increasing speeds all the while using the alien as a makeshift flail to slam into the others aliens before finally flinging the alien far into the distance.
Naruto was already attacking left and right with an onslaught of fierce punches and kicks all around himself, quickly using Shadow Step to evades shots from several Black Warriors with their blasters and reappearing behind them and using Foxfire Kick to strike them down when he heard Ray cry out.
"Guys, I could use some help here!" Ray flew past them with several Black Wings chasing after him.
"Hang on, Will-o-wisp!" Naruto created balls of foxfire which he controls remotely upon launching them, he locked on the pursuing aliens and had the attack take them all down before returning his focus to the rest of the aliens "Time to wrap this up! Foxfire Shot!" he brings out his Star Ball enshrouded in foxfire, taking a few steps back before rushing forward and kicking towards the enemy in a soccer-like fashion as the attack rapidly ricochets the many targets akin to that of a pinball until they were all taken down with none left to oppose them.
Music End
Ray happily ran over to Naruto and Mighty with the Vacuum Pod in hand "I've got them all!"
"Great Job, Ray! I knew I could count on you," Mighty fondly ruffled the hair on the young squirrel's head.
Naruto smiles as well "Thanks for the assistance, the Freedom Fighters and I truly appreciate it,"
"It's not big deal, just being the right thing to do,"
"I hear that," Naruto's ears twitched a bit "I'd better make myself scarce before GUN catches sight of me. Here's my number, keep in touch so I can introduce you to the others. See when I see ya!" he warps away in a yellow flash of light.
"He's pretty cool," Ray commented.
"You can say that again," Mighty was in agreement with his young friend.
From the balcony of the White House, the President watches the chaos and destruction of Central City with his arms crossed behind. Never has he felt so powerless in his entire life, he swore to protect his citizens from anything that threatens the peace and yet here he is, unable to do anything just like that time…
Suddenly the door leading to his office opens, revealing the Commander in the company of his GUN soldiers as they all salute the President.
"Sir, your transport is ready! We must go now!" the Commander saw that the President wasn't reacting "Sir, please!"
"…once again, I have failed my duty to protect our nation," President lowers his head, feeling disappointed in himself.
The Commander narrows his eyes in disagreement "Sir, it's not over! We can continue to fight!" this snapped the President out of his melancholic state "The Black Aliens may have rendered us unable for now but we will rally, sir! You must keep the nation strong and together,"
"Yes, you're right…," the President turns to the Commander "We must keep the nation united no matter what happens, we will never surrender to these creatures," he turns to the picture of Sonic and Shadow on his desk "This much I learnt from them,"
The Commander walks over to him "Sir, please hurry!"
"Okay," the President finally allowed himself to be escorted to the airship for the evacuation.
The Commander looks at the picture on the desk with a scowl "The black creatures will feel their own bloody hell!" then he follows after the others.
The escape pod flies away from the White House towards GUN's massive flying battleship which is currently holding position overhead. Unbeknownst to them, Doom's Eye was watching the whole thing while accompanied by his alien army.
"What a pathetic sight," the alien leader then commands his legion "Follow them, make sure that they understand their situation!" the aliens complied and began the pursuit to attack the president.
What no one knows is that an unknown person whose identity is concealed with a black hooded cloak was observing the entire thing from far away through the telescopic scope of a sniper rifle. Upon seeing the black aliens target the President, the mysterious person put away the sniper rifle then took out their handheld techpad, typing something on it for a few moments before a notification window appears on the screen which says
[Encrypted Message sent]
Seeing that their purpose for being there is finally complete, the mysterious person put away their techpad and holster their sniper rifle to their back before leaving to places unknown to anyone but them.
This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, as it turns out that the Black Arms have been driven to a corner in the forest by GUN who plans to take them all out at once while still targeting Shadow who's on his own mission of finding the remaining Chaos Emeralds. At that time, Naruto had been deployed by Sally to head to the forest and provide assistance to the military and meet up with Rouge.
While venturing through the ancient ruins and defeating any black aliens that he came across. Naruto met someone whom he wasn't expecting to see at all; Fiona Fox who seems to have lost her memory while wearing tattered prison clothes. In spite of their unpleasant past interactions, Naruto decided to help Fiona and together they met up with Rouge who revealed to have seen Shadow being accompanied by Doom's Eye. Suspecting something, the trio went and listened in on their conversation and were wondering about Black Doom's talk about 'ritual' that would take place tomorrow before attacking Shadow by unleashing Black Bull upon him. Naruto and the others immediately went to assist Shadow in defeating the alien monster and confronted him about what happened earlier but were coldly rebuffed by the black hedgehog.
However, all this was seen by the Commander who out of distrust and misunderstanding ordered for the Freedom Fighters to be arrested on sight. Back at the FF HQ, Naruto inquired from the others about Shadow's behavior and soon learnt about his past which earned his empathy but was uncomfortable about him possible giving the Chaos Emeralds to Black Doom. He also learnt that Sonic and the others had taken a spaceship to the ARK and unknowingly Shadow joined along for the ride.
The next day, things took a turn for the worse as the Black Arms attack Central City with the intention to completely destroy it with bombs. The Freedom Fighters swung into action to prevent such a thing from happening but soon learnt that GUN wishes to arrest them, this places the team in the situation of having to defuse the bombs and deal with the aliens while having to avoid getting caught by the military.
Naruto ran into some familiar faces being Mighty the Armadillo with his younger companion Ray the Flying Squirrel and they teamed up to defuse the small bomb since GUN is securing the larger one. He also managed to rescue Honey the Cat who was protecting her employees from the invasion, GUN tried to arrest him yet again but were thwarted by an unknown sniper whom he later learnt had also aided the other Freedom Fighters.
In the end, the attack on the city was thwarted and the citizens were safe. The Commander went to help a disheartened President evacuate to safety with the belief that they can still fight the invaders. Black Doom took note of this and sent his forces after them. The unknown sniper also witnessed this and sent an encrypted message to someone before leaving to who knows where. Just what is going to happen next?
We're drawing close to the end of the Shadow the Hedgehog arc with two to three more chapters to go. I figured that having GUN target the Freedom Fighters out of misconception would make the ending rather interesting when they realize their mistake amongst other things. In the next chapter, I'll be bringing in an OC character which might surprise you guys but then again, it's my job to make things interesting for you all. As for the unknown sniper; all I can tell you is that they're from the IDW comics and leave the rest for you to figure out. But be sure to stay tuned while reading and reviewing like you always do.
This is Hussbek from Ghana.
Signing out and staying alive.