Elias Acorn, Casino Night Zone After a long battle in the streets, Elias now found himself up against his best friend who was turned into a robot. "Doug, if you're in there, you've gotta snap out of it!" Elias attempted to call to him, but there was no response. He was devoid of emotions and swung and chased after Elias like a lifeless husk. Elias couldn't bear to hurt him, so he only used his sword in defense by blocking and deflecting attacks. Unfortunately he was already worn out from the previous battles. "I can't keep going on like this… I need to get away!" Left with little options, Elias decided to cripple the robot by taking out one of it's legs. It swung in a huge overhead smash downward toward Elias. He noticed the wind-up attack and dodged by rolling around to the back of the bot, then did an upward slash on it's right leg. The robot couldn't support its weight on one leg and toppled over. All it could do was swing it's arms around and stare at Elias. "I… I'm sorry… my friend." "You did what you had to." A voice came from behind Elias. He quickly spun around with his sword and stopped just shy of the voice's neck. "Do not fear." He said with his hands up. "I am not an enemy." The deep voice came from a slender black wolf, dressed in a black cloak with deep gray minor highlights. Armed with a sword of his own and other hidden weapons. "No, but you don't hesitate to kill, Semileph." "I completed my bounties as instructed however the methods were never specified, Elias." "Sure… I bet those innocents you murdered felt different." He said as he lowered his sword. "I could not have any witnesses. Regardless of how you think of me, we must escape." "No! We need to help those people in the streets! Get them to safety!" "There is no one left! After you were separated from your group, they fell apart one by one. Not even I could help them without risking myself to those infernal machines." "Wha- but… no…" Elias staggered backwards with the shock of so many people lost in a matter of minutes. A clanking march was heard in the distance. "They are coming for us. We must leave now." "R-right… there's a secret passage out of the city that I know of. Just in that building." He pointed to what was left of 'Doug's Digs'. "Excellent, we must go." With that, they headed inside the building's ruins. As they entered, an old radio Doug had on a countertop was playing a message... -------------------- Chuck and Josh, Knothole "Uncle Chuck, do you possibly have any other 'toys' around here?" Josh hinted at Chuck. "Nothing special really, at least anything that you would be interested in." Suddenly, an old CB radio activates and starts playing a message. "Urgent communique from his majesty's secure frequency to any and all agents and allies of The Kingdom of Acorn. New Mobotropolis is under siege. I repeat, New Mobotropolis is under siege. An overwhelmingly large force that has invaded Casino Night Zone and other locations has invaded here as well. The king has called for an evacuation of the city. The status of the princess is safe for now. Nearby units are requested to aid the citizens in evacuation or shelter. Repeat message." The radio then begins to replay the message. "Hmm, that happened a lot faster than I'd hoped. Josh, I don't think we'll be able to finish our journey to Downunda." "D-do you think we're safe here?" "For now, I believe so." "Wait, what about Larry and Ian? Would they be safe?" "I doubt Ian took Larry anywhere near the city. They should be okay as well. Fortunately this place is too small to be of any tactical importance. I doubt anyone could even see it with how thick the brush is here." "Right…" "What's up, kiddo?" "It's just… maybe we should go and help them? Or maybe try to get people to safety?" "That's a big risk we'd be taking, there's no telling what danger lay in store for us if we get into the fray." "Yes but… I'd feel terrible if I knew there was something I could do to help but I just stayed back and left them on their own." "Now you sound just like your father! Well if you really want to, I suppose they probably need all the help they can get. Problem is, I'm no fighter. I wouldn't be much help at all. But you can make a difference. I should see if I can contact Ian first so we're all in the know." Chuck grabs the long range walkie talkie and then begins sending a message. "Charles to Ian, we've received a signal from the Kingdom of Acorn. They're preparing for a siege from this army that attacked Casino Night Zone. We are going to the city to help in any way we can. I'm not sure if you'll get this, but stay safe. Charles out." -------------------- Shard, New Mobotropolis Finally arrived at the city. And it's a good thing there's plenty of cover because holy smokes, that's a huge invasion force! Looks like they're almost here... It appears people are evacuating the city, and the guardsmen are setting up positions. Waitasec, the database identifies that chipmunk as Princess Sally Acorn. Seems like she's being escorted out as well. Well hopefully she makes it to safety because this is going to be an interesting battle… -------------------- Elias and Semileph, Casino Night Zone "...repeat message." The old CB radio on the countertop begins replaying the same message sent out by the Kingdom of Acorn. "So now the Kingdom is next… I wonder how a radio like this managed to pick up a secret frequency such as this. Unless your friend knew more than you thought." Speculated Semileph. "Oh shut up. Right now we need to escape, right?" Retorted Elias. "Well, what do you have in mind?" "I don't know… maybe we should go help them. If there's anything we can do to prevent something like what happened here…" "You mean YOU can help them. It would be for the better if I did not show my face there again. Not after the last time I did a job in the capital." "What possibly compels you to be so heartless and cold? For someone like you, I'm sure they'd pay you to help and not come back." "I do not work for money, boy. I live for the hunt." "Whatever, you cold-blooded monster. I'm going to see what I can do for the greater good. I don't expect you to understand what that could possibly mean." With that, Elias grabs the radio and some gear, and makes his way to the back of the counter through a secret passage out the city. "What a jerk… thinking only about himself. I swear he lives only to kill. Well, I guess now's a good time to see if Doug's brother George might actually be in Knothole like Doug said…" --------------------