T.U.F.F. Mission X: Saga 2 - Chapter 25

T.U.F.F. Mission X: The T.O.O.R. Saga – Chapter 25

Springing into action!


From the inside of a dark warehouse, a rabbit was running around frantically; looking for notes, stuffing documents into his briefcase, typing away madly at his laptop. His ears stuck up as he heard the sound of screams and blasters. As he kept on rushing around, the noises were becoming louder and closer to where he was.

“Blast…! Of all times to come back to Petropolis to do my research, these nut-jobs decide to attack the city!” growled the rabbit under his breath as he closed over his computer.

It was Jack Rabbit, and he was trying his best to pack up everything he had. He put away his notes, grabbed his briefcase and computer, and ran towards his red convertible, which was parked in the warehouse. As he got into the vehicle, he heard a loud banging from outside the door.

“Hey!” hollered a gruff and deep voice from outside of the opener. “I know you’re in there, Jack! Come on out, or I’ll burn ya alive!”

“Oh, come on… Not him…!” muttered Jack as he started his car.

Before Jack could click the opener to raise it from the ground, it was blown off from a fiery explosion. From the flames and ashes entered a stout yet bulky firebelly newt. His sleek skin was black, while his underbelly was red. He had a wide face with a somewhat short snout and large jaw. He wore an orange helmet, which matched the bulky orange armor on his body, along with silver goggles that had black lens, which covered over his glowing red eyes underneath. Sharp teeth stuck out from his lower jaw, and some parts of his armor had white flame designs on it; notably his helmet, forearm, and leg armor. Attached to his back were two large, silver tanks, which had tubes attached from them to metal pipes on his arms.

Jack glared at him from behind the wheel. “Blaire Newton,” he muttered.

The newt grinned. “You remember my name! Well, too bad. I go by ‘Wildfire’ now, pal!” He took a few steps forward as Jack got the gas ready. “You owe me big time for leaving me and the others behind, Jack! It’s no wonder some of us stopped working with you.”

“Really? So you losers left one Jack just to go work for another crazier Jack?”

Wildfire laughed roughly. “I haven’t seen Ripper Jack in quite some time, but it doesn’t matter. I’m working for T.O.O.R. now. When I saw the want ads posted by Wreckage, I knew I’d have a chance to be part of something greater.”

Jack blinked in surprise. “Want ads?”

“Yeah.”

“He actually posted want ads?”

Wildfire rubbed his thick neck. “Uh… Well, yeah! What of it?”

“…Okay then… Anyway, you traded one insane leader for another loon, eh? Sounds like you’re going in circles to me, Blaire.” Jack softly put his foot on the gas pedal, getting the car ready to ram Wildfire.

Wildfire scoffed as he positioned his arms. “Think whatever you want. I don’t really get his whole ‘destroy everything’ plan, but hell, I ain’t complaining! I get to burn more stuff than ever. And the next thing to be engulfed in flames…” He aimed his right arm at Jack. “…Is you!”

Wildfire emitted a large blast of flames from the pipes on his arms, which acted as a flamethrower. Jack didn’t waste any time. As soon as Wildfire began to use both of his arms to roast Jack, he drove the car at full speed towards Wildfire while trying to avoid the flames.

“I don’t have time for games. Out of my way, pyro!” yelled Jack.

Much to his surprise, Wildfire jumped into the air and spun around, creating a small tornado of fire. Jack had no choice but to spin the car around him. He held onto his laptop with his right arm to make sure that he kept it secure, but as he did so, Wildfire roughly smacked him with his tail while he was spinning. The pain from the burn made Jack fling his right arm into the air, flinging the laptop upward and into the air.

“Damn…!” growled Jack. He managed get away from Wildfire, but he wasn’t keen on leaving behind his laptop. A fair distance ahead of his foe, he focused back on the road as he headed out of Petropolis. “Thankfully I still have my notes, but the last thing I need is for T.O.O.R. using that information I got from Purpose a while back…*”

[*As seen in T.U.F.F. Mission X: The Hatred Saga (Saga 1), Chapter 31.]

Jack tightened his grip on the wheel as he got close to the outskirts of the city. “I knew I should have copied all of that info on a flash drive. Well, hopefully Wreckage won’t understand any of it…”

Back at the warehouse, Wildfire grunted as he walked towards the laptop. “Tch! Coward…” He kneeled down and opened up the computer. As the screen turned on, his eyes widened. “What the…?” After skimming the files for a moment, he then grinned. “Well, now… I have a feeling somebody might be interested in this…”

***

At T.U.F.F. HQ, many of the citizens were running into the building as T.U.F.F. troops and N.E.E.D. soldiers defended them from several T.O.O.R. forces. Many of the people were upstairs in the main control room, looking up through the large window. Everyone was watching the massive T.O.O.R. ship (which is actually called the Life Zapper, by the way) heading towards the building.

“We need to close the barrier!” yelled Keswick in a panic.

“But…the people…” said Kitty in a sad tone.

The Chief shook his head. “We’ve got as much people as we can get for now. Any of our troops and Prospect’s men will be able to keep them safe from T.O.O.R., as long as they follow the instructions I’ve given them.”

“Which was…?” asked Dudley.

“Run for the hills until all of this nonsense has been settled!”

“Oh! Well, that’s the next best thing, I suppose.”

“Alright then…” said Kitty.

The Chief jumped from his portable screen and landed on a large, red button, which actually threw him back, flat on the ground.

“Ah, man…!” he grumbled.

Realizing that the Chief failed to actually press the button, Kitty walked towards it, although she hesitated. Dudley’s ears drooped as he also didn’t want to leave anyone out of the barrier before it closed. It was then that Snaptrap ran towards the control panel and smashed it with the bottom of his fist. Everyone looked at him in surprise.

“Hey, somebody had to do it!” he said with a shrug. “I ain’t getting the stuffing beat out of me by Wreckage!”

As a green web-like energy barrier began to form from around that section of the city, right before T.U.F.F. HQ, the T.O.O.R. ship had gotten rather close to the building. A large screen appeared on the front of the ship. Wreckage then appeared on screen, and his voice was clearly heard from the ship as he spoke into a microphone.

“Citizens of Petropolis…” he said calmly. “…You’re all DEAD MEAT!!! HA HA HA HA HAAA!!!” He quickly calmed down. “That’s all I had to say.” He put his right hand on his side and gave a “V for victory” sign with left hand while winking. “Farewell!” He then turned off the mic and screen.

“Jeez, what kind of villain speech was that?!” questioned Dudley.

“Where was the pizazz?” asked the Chameleon. “Where was the monologue? Where was the passion? Where was the ultimate speech about how weak and pathetic we are compared to him?!”

“Chameleon,” said Kitty sternly.

“Just speaking from a villain standpoint,” he replied with a nervous smile.

A large canon on the Life Zapper began to emit a bright green glow. Everyone who looked at the energy building up felt even more nervous.

“Is he getting ready to blast us with that weapon?” asked Bird Brain fearfully.

“What gives?!” questioned Dudley. “I thought this jerk wanted a challenge against us! Now he’s trying to get rid of us all at once?”

“He must not think we’re threats anymore…” said Prospect quietly, who was resting on a computer chair. Everyone looked at him to see what else he had to say. “Wreckage may fight with honor, but that’s only with opponents that he feels are worth his time. If he thinks his enemies are weak, then he will use any method to exterminate us as if we’re pests…”

“He’s trying to get rid of us with one shot,” said Kitty grimly.

“Don’t worry. The cannon on the Life Zapper; that’s his airship up there; uses blaster-based technology. It’ll only stun us. I suppose he wants to keep us alive to enslave… or torture.”

She rolled her eyes. “So much for his threat earlier…”

Daisy let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank the maker of biscuits! N-Not for the part about the enslavement or torture! That’s awful! It’s just that I thought that the cannon up there was the T.O.O.R. Destroyer.”

Prospect turned to her in shock. “You know about that?!”

“Y-Yes…?” she said in a surprised manner.

On the Life Zapper, Wreckage felt very relaxed and happy. “Ahh… This is the life,” he said cheerfully. “I put T.U.F.F. Puppy in his place, we came to a city to destroy it, Purpose got owned, I got to meet that sweetheart Katty, my daughter’s doing fine at home… Oh, and my son as well, sort of… and I got to best Prospect in a duel. A fantastic day, all in all! And now the rest of T.U.F.F. will kneel before me!”

A T.O.O.R. soldier, who was typing away at a keyboard with several other soldiers, looked up at him. “…Did you… Did you want me to respond to that?”

Wreckage looked down at him, feeling a little annoyed. “Wha- No! I was just…talking about how good this day is! I wasn’t talking to myself, if that’s what you were thinking…” It was then he noticed something on the screen before him. He could see the energy barrier forming around T.U.F.F. HQ. “Hey… What is…?”

The solder swallowed nervously. “It appears to be an energy barrier, sir.”

“What?! Blast it! Blast the barrier!”

On his command, the soldiers fired a large green blast from the cannon. As it hit the barrier that was still forming around T.U.F.F. HQ, the blast zapped away. Both the barrier and building were unaffected! “Oh…” said Wreckage with a surprised look. “…Uh, computer geeks! Fly the ship closer to the building and blast it before the shield goes up!”

The soldier who spoke before typed away, but then turned around nervously toward his superior. “It’s no use, sir! Take thi- I mean… The cannon is still charging, and by the time it’s ready, the barrier will surely be fully up!”

He tightened his fists together. “Bah! If you need something done, you need to do it yourself!” He ran towards a large window. “Pick up some speed! I’ll deal with them myself!” As the ship got closer to the HQ, Wreckage jumped out of the window! He fell several feet until he landed on top of a nearby building, which destroyed much of the roof.

“Right on, sir!” yelled the soldier. “This will end it!”

In the T.U.F.F. HQ, Dudley and the other stared on as Wreckage jumped from building to building, getting closer to them! His eyes burned a fiery red as powerful energy formed from his hands.

“T.U.F.F. PUPPY!!!” yelled the armored barbarian. His voice was very loud, despite the distance between him and the HQ. “This is over! You hear me?!” His speed increased. “You all think you were so clever, getting everyone together in this area so you could protect them without me knowing about that barrier… Well, too bad! Barrier or not, it won’t make a difference!” A red aura burned around him intensely. “Forget making all of you slaves and soldiers of T.O.O.R.! Every single one of you in that building are FINISHED!!!”

At this point, everyone in the HQ were freaking out!

“On NOOOO!!!” panicked Dudley. “We’re all DEAD!!!”

“N-Now just take it easy, Dudley…!” said Kitty, who was trying to speak calmly, but only ended up sounding very nervous. “We can get through this! We always do! There’s more of us in here than just him. We can take him!”

“Are you kidding!?” yelled Snaptrap. “These ain’t no fighters! They’re just some random Joes and Joetes! With this many people crowding up the space, there won’t be any room to fight him!” Snaptrap walked away from her, roughly rubbing his claws through his hair. He felt extremely stressed! “Even if we do gang up and take him down, he’s gonna take so many lives! I’ve seen that look in his eyes before! He’s gonna blast us to Kingdom Come! We’re DOOMED!!!”

Many of the people in the room began to panic and run around frantically! Kitty tried her best to stay calm and got ready to fight Wreckage, while Dudley was running around in circles.

“It’s over!” hollered Dudley. “O-F-E-A-R-E! Over!” As he was running around aimlessly, his foot accidently pressed down on one of the floor tiles. “Huh…?” He stopped and softly lifted his foot off of it. “Hey, wait a second…” As he took his foot off the tile, his expression changed. He went from looking scared to looking quite confident. “Guys! I have an idea!”

As everyone kept running within the room, Dudley grabbed Kitty by the arm. “Whoa! What are you doing?” she asked as he practically dragged her a few feet away from the window.

Wreckage was extremely close at this point. He jumped off of a high up building and into the air. He was in the sky, above the still-forming barrier. “Time to end your lives!” he growled. “You're gonna get blown away from one huge blast!”

As soon as Wreckage jumped into the air, Dudley ran towards the window with Kitty. “Trust me, Kitty!” he said with a grin.

Although she wasn’t sure what he was up to, Kitty nodded. “Of course, Dudley.”

As they ran forward, Kitty’s arm still Dudley’s grasp, he stomped his foot onto the tile that he stepped on earlier. As he did this, the tile sprung up, launching he and Kitty into the air!

“AHHHH!!!” screamed Kitty as they both smashed through the top window of the HQ.

Dudley laughed as he glanced at her. “This is our chance! We gotta hit him down!”

“What? O-Oh! Okay!” she said as she realized the goal of his plan.

Wreckage, who had launched himself towards building, was absolutely shocked from the two of them appearing in the air, charging right for him! “What?! What the HECK?!?!” he yelled as he raised an eyebrow.

Dudley and Kitty were right in front of him at this point. Dudley growled behind his teeth. “You won’t be harming anyone, WRECKAGE!!!”

With mighty force, Dudley collided into Wreckage with a powerful head-butt, while Kitty slammed her shoulder into him, giving him a strong check. Along with him being surprised, both of their attacks were powerful enough to throw him back! He was thrown back a few feet from the collision, falling outside of the energy barrier as it contentiously rose up, away from the HQ!

“NOOOOOO!!!” he yelled intensely as he fell towards the ground.

Dudley laughed. “We did it- Whoa!” He almost forgot that he and Kitty were the next to fall! Unlike Wreckage, they were inside the barrier and closer to the building. “Sorry, Kitty! I didn’t think this thrrrrooooouuuugh!!!”

As they both screamed while dropping like stones in the air, they suddenly stopped falling and slammed into the side of the HQ’s outer wall.

“Ow!” said Kitty, who felt a lot of strain on her somewhat sensitive tail. They both looked up to see that Snaptrap had reached his arm out of the window. It turned out that he had grabbed Kitty’s tail just in time! They smiled at him with relief. “Snaptrap!” she said excitedly. “You…You saved us!”

“Way to go, dude!” said Dudley with a grin.

Snaptrap smiled. “Of course I saved you two! After all, I’m gonna be the one to defeat you guys! Not some anime-wannabe loony-burger!” His arm lowered a little as he grunted. “Now… can somebody please HELP ME LIFT THEM UP?!?!”

As Prospect, Daisy, the Chief, Keswick, the Chameleon, Bird Brain, and Larry helped Snaptrap lift up Dudley and Kitty back into the building, the energy barrier had formed around over the HQ, with the rest of that section of the city being covered by it as well! Everyone in the room cheered for Dudley, Kitty, and even Snaptrap!

“Wow!” said Dudley with a smile. “Look how happy everyone is!”

Before he could react in time, Kitty jumped towards him and gave him a big hug, swinging him around in a circle! “You did it, Dudley!” she said excitedly as she pressed her face against his with her eyes shut. “Your plan worked, and the people here are safe!”

Although he was surprised and felt a little weird from Kitty’s immense hug in front of everyone, he laughed happily. “Ha ha ha! Ah, it was no big deal,” he said with a smile. “I just used the T.U.F.F. Tile that Keswick invented for me so that I could be better at basketball. I remembered stepping on it a couple of days ago by accident,* and it gave me an idea to stop Wreckage just before!” He winked at her. “Besides, we did it, partner!”

[*As seen in T.U.F.F. Mission X: The T.O.O.R. Saga (Saga 2), Chapter 5.]

Kitty smiled at him with an almost teary look. “You're right. We did this together. Thanks, buddy...”

“No prob!”

A large crowd of people ran towards Dudley, Kitty, and Snaptrap, lifting them into the air. “Our heroes!” said a lady in the crowed. Everyone then cheered.

Dudley managed to grab Keswick and lifted him into the top of the crowd that held them up. “Keswick, too!” he said. “He’s the one who invented that springy thing!”

Everyone then cheered for Keswick as well. “Ah, shucks…” he said, blushing a little from the attention.

Snaptrap, however, was not pleased! “Hey! Put me down!” he said in a grumpy tone. “I’m no hero! I’m the great Verminious Snaptrap! Super villain of Petropolis! I didn’t save them to be a goodie-goodie!” The crowed kept on cheering happily. “Are you even listening to me?! Jeez…!”

Among the large piles of people, Daisy stared on at Dudley and Kitty since Kitty hugged him. Although she frowned at first from this, she then formed a small smile.