And One Shall Live: Trial and Error Cher Echidna awoke to some annoying sound. "UUUUURRRRPPPP!!!!" "What the heck was that!?" Cher asked out loud. "ME!" Chaos said popping from beneath the shadows. "What do you say after you burp?" Cher asked. "Uh… I could've done better?" Chaos joked. "CHAOS! It's 3 A.M. in the morning! Can you PLEASE go to SLEEP!" "No can do," Chaos said, "I had a Pepsi." "CHAOS!" Cher screamed. Chaos's ears hung low, "I sorries…" Then Chaos went to bed. Cher fluffed her pillow. "I cannot take this anymore!" Cher said to herself as she turned out the light. "To the left, to the left. To the right, to the right…" Cher was singing as she skipped to the REC room. When she went in, she saw Azrael flipping pancakes. As a pancake fell down, Psycho yelled, "DON"T MESS UP AZRAEL!" Azrael turned around and the pancake went splat on the floor. Psycho clicked his tongue, "Look what you did!" Azrael kicked Psycho in the shin. "OW! That hurt!" "Well, that's what you get for messin' up my pancake! Now it's yours!!" Azrael screamed as she picked up and threw it at him. He ducked and the pancake hit Inferno. "Hey! Fast food!" Inferno yelled as he shoved it in his mouth. "Ew!" Azrael scoffed. "Come on! When will the pancakes be ready?" Derek asked as he swiftly lunged through the door. Azrael glared at Psycho. Then Alpha came flying in with Chaos on her back. "Fly like an e-gal, to the sea. Fly like an e-gal let the spir-its carry me…" Chaos sang. Alpha landed. "I've got some real bad news for y'all." She said as she grabbed for a pancake. "It's best we wait for Kristy and Kelly first." ********************************************************************************* Everyone was seated at the breakfast table. Kristy and Kelly sat at the far end. Alpha rose up from her wooden seat to speak, "We have had a tragic loss in the tight group of Freedom Fighters." Kristy's face seemed to grow pale. "Katichina van Tiger is history." Alpha cried looking downward. Kelly slammed her head onto the table, and then started sobbing. "No! We just couldn't lose Kat!" Kristy screamed with tears rolling down her face. "We're extremely sorry, Kristy." Alpha said. "She was the best on the team!" Kelly sobbed. "We know. But she is no more. You'll just have to except that." Alpha said. No one said anything after that. "Whhhheeeeee!!!!!" Blaze screamed as he zoomed past Hope. "You clocked in at 2.7 seconds Blaze!" Hope said. "But you still haven't beaten Sonic's record of 1.3 seconds." "Oh well!" Blaze assured, "There's always tomorrow!" Hope was a light brown fox with dark brown hair. She had bluish eyes that were somewhat green. She wore a white tank-top with denim wide legged pants and black boots. She also had two hoops and one stud in both ears. Her hair was secured back in a ponytail. Chaos came running up to Blaze and Hope. "Hiyas peoples!" "Hi Chaos!" Blaze said, "Whuz new?" "Katichina van Tiger died in the battle!" Chaos cried. "Oh no." Hope murmured. "How is Kristy gonna handle this?" Kristy was Hope's best friend. They were interrupted by a bright green light. A loud ear-piercing hum came from above them. And then the light died down. "You all are comin' with me!" A rough female voice snarled. "Who?" Hope asked. She wasn't the only one that was surprised. She looked around. Chaos and Blaze were just as surprised as Hope was. "Guess what fellas… I'm back!" Cher was placing up her room, deciding what goes where. "The CD player needs to go… hmm… beside the bed… yeah…" "CHER!" Someone rushed into her room. It was Kelly, trying to catch her breath. "Cher! Thank God I found you!" "Why?" Cher asked while fiddling with a pen. "Have you seen Chaos, Blaze, or Hope?" "No… not since breakfast. Why?" Cher dropped the pen on the dresser. "They're gone!" Kelly screamed. "Oh man! Not again! This can't be happening again!!" Cher groaned. "Well it is…" Kelly said. "I'm getting to the bottom of this, once and for all!" Kelly, Cher, Spotsy, and Kristy searched the Great Forest for clues, but found nothing. Alpha, Geoff, Derek, Azrael, Psycho, and Inferno searched Knothole. They also found nothing. Out of nowhere, Cher tripped on something. "OW!" Cher landed with a loud thud. Kristy helped her up. "You okay?" Kristy asked. "What does it look like!?" Cher snarled. "Sorry! I'm not a good observer y'know." "Look at this!" Kelly exclaimed while picking up a silver bullet. "Yeah…" Spotsy said, "What's so great 'bout a simple bullet?" "You don't understand!" Kelly screamed. Then she looked at Kristy. "Kat always used silver bullets from her 9mm. She said it was better than the original bullets you get from some manly gun store." "But it can't be." Kristy said. "Kat's dead! Capital D-E-D!" "Hmm…" Cher thought to herself. Why would someone be using Kat's gun? Cher's thoughts were interrupted by the yelling of the other team. "Hey guys! Find anything yet?" Alpha asked. "Yeah, this!" Kelly said while handing them the silver bullet. "Well, it certainty did come from a 9mm…" Geoff observed. "This is just way out of wack the way it is!" Azrael scoffed. "Hey!" Psycho bellowed. "Kat could still be alive! She just could've called a taxi!" "Psycho! No time for nonsense!" Alpha snapped. Thunder clouds started to huddle together above. It looked like rain would follow soon. "I think everybody should go to their quarters immediately!" Alpha yelled above the commotion. KKKRAAAA-KKKRRROOOMMM!!! The thunder sounded as Cher and the others were playing a game of Monopoly. Derek rolled the die and he moved six places; and landed on Psycho's property. "Ha ha!" Psycho snickered, "Let's see… I gots two houses on Kentucky Ave. So that'll be $250! Pay up sucker!" Psycho said while reaching for Derek's money. "Here!" Derek groaned as he shoved the money into Psycho's greedy hands. "We're in ta money!" Psycho sang as he flipped the dollars back and forth in his hands. Psycho rolled and landed on Cher's property. "Boy oh boy!" Cher said. "Boardwalk is everybody's favorite…let's see… $500 dollars!" "I don't wanna play any more!" Psycho whined. "Sore loser!" Azrael teased. "Behave you two!" Spotsy snapped as she grabbed the die. "Well, I didn't get to be the boot! Azrael got the boot!" Psycho pouted. "Well, Inferno got to be the cowboy, but I wanted to be the cowboy!" Azrael complained. "I wanted to be the car but Derek got the car!" Inferno hollered. "This is getting NOWHERE!" Cher screamed. "Sorry Cher…" Azrael said solemnly. Geoff burst through the door in a black rain coat that was soaked with rain. "Guys…" He paused, catching his breath. "Whuz up?" Inferno asked. "I saw a portal open again… then I saw…" "WHO!?" Azrael screeched. "Kat!" "Nyah-nyah Azrael!" Psycho said, "Told ya so!" Azrael glared at Psycho. "What was she doin'?" Kelly asked, "She's supposed to be with us!" "I don't know…" Geoff shrugged. "She probably captured them!" Cher said. "But why?" Psycho said. "She didn't even have a motive. Y'know… motives… like clue and Agatha Cristie and…" "We don't know Psycho…" Spotsy said. "I think I know…" Kristy announced from being silent for all this time. "What's your side of the story, Kristy?" Inferno questioned. Kristy cleared her throat, "Kat could have survived by Demitri. See Demitri could've helped Kat and escaped through the portal. In exchange, she could've made Kat become a traitor and capture us…" "Okies… now… what do we do about it?" Cher asked. "We can raid Robotropolis…" Kristy said. Then she suddenly had an evil grin across her face. "Are you all up to it?" Cher stood up, "Count me in!" All the others agreed. Cher, Psycho, and Derek ducked behind a building. Psycho was playing with the radio. "Houston, come in!" Cher took the radio away. "Give me that!" She said sarcastically. "Just havin' a little fun…" Psycho whined. "We can have fun later." Cher said. The radio blasted with a weak signal. "Derek… Psycho… Cher… come in!" It sounded like Geoff. Derek snatched the radio from Cher. "Yeah, we're here!" Derek said. "Are you… at your… post?" Geoff's voice was really faint. The radio was about to give out. "Yeah." "Good! Meet… us… at… sector…" Then the line was dead. "Give it!" Psycho grabbed it and flipped through stations. It kept on picking up Spanish and Dutch music. But then it picked up a valuable signal. "You'll never get away with this Demitri!" A scream rang out through the radio. "That sounds like Hope!" Cher whispered. "Shut up!" A scruffy female voice replied. "Or else I'll blast your brains out towards the sky!" "I think that's Kat…" Cher said. "My dear Hope, no one will find us in Sector X-78! No one knows were here!" Demitri snickered. "Hop on my back guys!" Psycho yelled, "We're outta here!" Then he zoomed towards Sector X-78 in a flash. They arrived at the steps of the forbidden run-down sector. Rats were skittering up the drains and squeaking at the unwelcome visitors. The cobwebs were scattered by the tons, and trash gave out a reeking stench. Cher screamed when she heard a voice. "What are you guys doing here!?" A scorpion asked suddenly. "We're here to rescue our friends… y'know… I'm really getting sick of runnin' into people…" Psycho groaned. "My name is Scorp." The scorpion replied. "Nice to meet ya…" Cher said. Psycho tried to open the door. He groaned, "Stuck…" "Allow me…" Scorp said. His tail raised and shot clear acid. The door disenigrated and melted. "Whoa…" Derek uttered. "I could've done that!" Psycho scoffed. "Guys, let's go…" Cher said as she silently swept into the sector. They arrived at an air vent. "Not again!" Cher cried. "It's the only way, Cher." Derek said while taking out a pocketknife. He flipped it around till there was a screwdriver. He twisted the screws around and around. Finally the vent came loose. They all scurried into the air vents trying not to be noticed. They kept on going till they heard voices. Cher and Psycho looked out through the vent door. They saw Hope struggling and Blaze asleep and Chaos crying. Psycho seemed angry. "Until we get our revenge," Demitri spoke, "We hold you prisoner for eternity!" "Your little friends will want to come and rescue you, but the can't get past Kat… they wouldn't want to hurt their friend now would they?" Denisie added. Cher could hear Psycho curse under his breath. He balled up his fists trying not to jump in on things. "Psy…" Cher couldn't finish. Psycho went in a sonic-spin and had burst through the vent and hopped on the ground. Cher followed after, then Scorp, then Derek. "This time Demitri you have gone too far!" Psycho warned. His eyes began to swirl around and around. Cher was untying her friends. Derek and Scorp were fighting SWATBots. Demitri cooed, "Oooo, whatcha gonna do?" "That's it!!!!!" Psycho screamed, "I'm goin' P-P-Psycho!" Sparks of electricity shot everywhere. Psycho began to glow. He turned into a Psycho-spin and jumped for Demitri. "Whatever!" Demitri snickered. She opened up the portal. Denisie, Kat and Demitri jumped in. "I'll be back… with a vengeance." Then, the disappeared into thin air. Psycho stopped glowing and fell to the floor. "Oh… my head…" "Finally we found you guys!" Alpha said while Geoff, Inferno, and Spotsy said while coming up from the door. Hope spoke up, "Could we please get back to Knothole… I have this major rope burn around my wrists." Blaze woke up, "What happened?" "It's a long story, Blaze…" Cher sighed, "Long story…" Kori "Cher" Wells '97