Butting Heads (BlisteredBlood + me)

Sonic was rather caught off guard by this sudden burst of speed from Lawrence, causing him to up the ante as well. Once more, the two engaged in another high-speed bout, each one throwing an even vicious strings of attacks before Lawrence got the upper hand on the blue hedgehog, catching him strongly in the stomach with a stiff body shot, a left hook to the jaw, a kick to the side of his body and ended with a rising uppercut under Sonic's chin.

Sonic would then be sent flying across the room, crashing hard into the wall with his eyes shut tightly in pain, grunting loudly when his back came into hard contact into the wall then slid down, clearly dazed from the assault.

But Lawrence wasn't even close to being done with him. Pouncing on Sonic's dizziness and not allowing him to put up and sort of defense or offense, Lawrence was on him almost instantly, sending the blue hedgehog flying across the room once again with a spinning back kick.

Sil was unconscious for a little bit longer, but she slowly came to again. The doctor had left, mostly due to the fact that anything not bolted down was beginning to do strange things, a result of the Fox's powers going haywire. She looked around, her vision slowly clearing. And here she thought she'd won. She sat up, and was rewarded with a dizzy spell and a massive, painful headache, the combo making her nauseous as she slumped onto her back again. That single strike had really done a number on her. Then again, she was lucky to even be conscious at the time. She lay still, trying to refocus herself so she didn't hurt herself, something which had a bad habit of happening when she was like this. Slowly, her eyes lost focus. She was barely awake enough to see a short, orange and white shape come into view with a taller, red shape. She didn't understand the words, but Tails' tone was not happy.

Sonic was now struggling to get up, reeling from the assault that Lawrence was putting on him. However, a well placed kick to the stomach prevented this.

"You and your pals are gonna fucking PAY for this!" Lawrence snarled as continued advancing on Sonic's battered form, this time stomping on Sonic's hand to prevent him from getting up a second time.

After spitting out what appeared to be blood, Sonic glanced up to his opponent then spoke. "You don't... have any idea what... those things are capable of...!" Sonic seethed in pain, speaking in between ragged breaths.

"Shut it! I know FULL well what they're capable of doing!" Lawrence snarled again, shoving Sonic to the ground one more time. "Now tell me... Where did they take her?!" He demanded.

"I'm... not - ...!" Sonic was caught hard in the stomach again before giving Lawrence a negative reply.

"Wrong answer!" Lawrence answered. "Now where did they take her, you blue fuck! TELL ME before I decide to put an end to your miserable life!"

"Look, it was either her or you, Tails. I don't pull punches when it comes to that." Knuckles replied.

"Yeah, and you could have killed her! Look, she's barely conscious as it is, and she's been throwing things about at random." Tails replied. "She's so tied in to her mental facilities that when they go out, her ability goes berserk, and her body gets weak!" He explained.

Knuckles sighed. "Okay, fine. Maybe I shouldn't have hit her so hard, but it was adrenaline."

Sil groaned, trying to force herself up again, and failing once more, falling off the bed and landing in a crumpled heap on the floor, now even more miserable. "Lawr... rence..." She groaned softly, her body shivering. "Please be okay, Lawrence..." She thought to herself.

Both watched her, frowning. Perhaps it had been a bit of overkill. They should have caught her and somehow kept her lucid enough to question. As it was, they wouldn't get anything out of her. She looked almost pathetic, both physically and mentally weak at the time. It would take a bit of recovery for her. She passed out, her powers giving a last powerful thrust, tweaking a few bars, before going back to random weak bursts.

"Not...! UMPH!" Sonic was once again caught guard, but this time recieving a stomp to the back.

"Say what?" Lawrence demanded.
"Go to hell!" Sonic fired back, this time getting another hard kick to the back from Lawrence.
"Been there, done that, got the t-shirt." Lawrence spoke, shaking his head in a sort of whatever manner. "Now where is she? Where did you and your pals take her?!"

"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT!" Sonic shouted. "She's probably held in one of our jail cells. Besides... Stealing something from here is a pretty harsh crime to commit, don't ya think...?" He explained.

"Stealing? Oh no. This ain't theft, pal. You of all people should know that theft is only part of the job description." Lawrence answered. "And by the way, thanks for the info. Now tell me how to get there."

"It's in Megaopolis City. You'll know it by the skyscrapers." Sonic explained again.

"Once again, thanks for the info." Lawrence answered as he would pick up Sonic by his head then slammed it to the floor, knocking the blue hedgehog out cold. "Enjoy your nap, pal. You're gonna need it." He added as he left Sonic's battered form there while he headed out.



Lawrence would then stop by the jail that Sonic had pointed out, looking from side to side as he entered the complex, checking for any signs that Sil might have been here. Come on... Where are you, Sil? Please, give me something. Anything! He thought as he continued searching around.

Sil was unaware of Lawrence's presence. Luckily, Tails and Knuckles had left to do something else. From her cell, the light in particular was odd, turning on and off and swinging at random, not to mention small bits of paper around and outside her cell fluttering. Of course, the bars were also bent slightly outwards as a result of her passing out, which would make it stand out even more.

As it was, though, Sil was still out, though she was slowly regaining enough control that it could be called sleeping instead. Her nose twitched, and her tail swished absently as she dreamed of trivial things. She was still in a rather uncomfortable position on the floor, and this caused her to sift slightly, though not enough to meaningfully change her position to a more comfortable one.

Lawrence continued to glance around, trying to find any semblance whatsoever that Silva was here. After a few more minutes of frantic searching, he would soon come upon her when she was lying on the floor in one particular room. Moving to her slowly, the red hedgehog knelt down beside Silva's form then carefully lifted her head up and rested it into his lap. He could tell that she was sleeping rather fitfully and also noticed a rather fairly sized knot on the back of her head.

Upon feeling this knot and lifting her back up onto the bed she was assumed to have been on, Lawrence trained his brown irises on Silva then offered a small sigh at her. "You didn't deserve that... But I do have some good news." He whispered quietly. "You know that blue pain you mentioned? He won't be bothering any one of us for a while." He added, keeping that same quietness in his voice as he rested a hand on Silva's stomach while gazing at her with a gentle look in his eyes.

The feeling of being picked up was one of the first things she noticed when she started to wake. At first, she thought it was the doctor, then as color came to her eyes she thought it was Knuckles, but the voice blew those thoughts away. She managed a small smile. "Lawrence..." She said softly, snuggling up to him a little bit. He made her feel safe, whether by the sound of his voice or the gentle hand rested on her stomach, it didn't matter. Slowly, her vision cleared, and she saw him. "You came... for me?" She asked softly. She wasn't sure if she could sit up now, but she tried anyhow, making it up this time without her body rebelling against her.

She looked around, now realizing the amount of damage she'd caused to the bars. At least enough for him to slip through, anyhow. She looked at him. "Can we leave?" She asked, her voice gentle. She was still a little out of it, but she thought she'd be able to at least move.

"Yeah... I came back for you." Lawrence answered with a nod. "Didn't know where you were, though." He added, laughing more to himself for that small misstep. There was no doubt in his mind that Silva was in pretty rough shape, but getting her out of here and to somewhere safe was a main priority. Maybe once she was out of harm's way, maybe he could go after the emerald that was lost in that scuffle.

"Yeah. We gotta make it quick, though. Besides, if there's anyone coming around, we can't afford to get caught here." Lawrence spoke again, this time lifting Silva into his arms one more time. "And fortunately, you're traveling with someone who knows how to make it quick." He added, smirking a little.

She nodded, and was about to try standing, but instead found herself in Lawrence's arms again. She didn't resist, instead staying still for him to make it as easy as possible. Even though she was light, she didn't want to be more of a burden to him than she already was. She mindlinked with him again, and smiled. "Let me know if you need any help..." She said, bending the bars a little more so the two of them could go through comfortably.

"And yes... show me how fast you've gotten..." She said, a smile coming to her. This reminded her of those years ago when they'd been partners... and in all truth, she didn't mind at this point. As long as she could be with her friend.

Lawrence glanced over to where he heard metal groaning, seeing that the bars were bending a little more to allow both him and Silva to get out of the room safely. He smiled once again as he felt that mental connection between the two of them once again then began to saunter out of the room slowly and eventually, out of the jail itself.

Once outside, Lawrence glanced from side to side, wondering where he could possibly find some shelter until the heat dies down. At that moment, he remembered that he had a safhouse towards the outskirts of Megaopolis, heading towards the eastern section of the city. With a smirk, he glanced down to Sil who was seated rather comfortably in his arms.

"This is your captain speaking on the Lawrence Accelerated Speed System, telling all passengers to please keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times until this ride has come to a complete and full stop." He joked before lifting one leg up then began to run at a normal clip.

"Full throttle acceleration in 10, 9, 8, 7. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" Lawrence then counted. After ten seconds, the speed he was using then started picking up dramatically, until the entire cityscape started blowing past them in a blur.

Silva had exerted most of her remaining power to bend the bars, so she felt like dead weight at the moment, aside from the fact that she could at least hold on to Lawrence. She got comfortable in his arms, and smiled as he simply walked out. No guards, it seemed, which was odd, but not unwelcome at all.

She giggled a bit at what he said, keeping herself just where she was for him. She watched the cityscape go by, but her ears perked a bit as he started speaking again. Full throttle? She wasn't honestly sure if her body would be able to handle it. However, she wasn't going to stop him. As soon as he started off at full speed, she closed her eyes, and her ears laid flat against her head. She didn't want to get dizzy, and the wind bugged her ears. She felt her insides lurch a moment, but she did pretty decently for net being used to the speed he was moving at. Small blips of faint fear and a little discomfort went through their mindlink, but they weren't bad.

As Lawrence continued to move at the clip he was current;y moving at, he could sense a small trace of fear coming from Silva due to the fact that she wasn't exactly used to moving at such a high rate of speed. Well, what can one expect from someone like him? A stroll in the park? Not for him, thank you. But at least he was getting something done in regards to getting the both of them out of that place.

Looking ahead, Lawrence saw rush hour traffic in the form of numerous cars at an intersection. A wild grin smeared itself on his face as he continued to charge headlong into the intersection then literally flew across it in one huge leap. Once they were back on the ground about several seconds later, Lawrence conitnued to keep the gas floored as he sped through the downtown district.

Silva remained pressed up against him, keeping herself still and hopefully in a state where she would be fine afterwards. She rested her head against him, trying her best to relax with the mass of wind flowing by her, chilling her body. She then felt something odd. Upward motion? He'd JUMPED?! She was afraid to know what that would entail, and she simply clung to him, her paws holding him tightly. Eventually, she managed enough focus to make a small barrier ahead of them, keeping the wind off her, and making less wind resistance for him, letting him speed up.

Lawrence soon felt the presence of a barrier (or at least part of it) being put up to act as an aerodynamic shield to lessen the amount of wind resistance that was rushing by them. Once this was established, Lawrence took an even tighter hold of Silva and began pushing harder through the city at speeds that were faster than most people could blink.

Through the midtown district, a thunderous roar surged past a busy street and caused the surrounding area to quiver slightly. It was as if a jet shattered the sound barrier not once, but three times!

Silva's mannerisms and mental mood slowly became more stable and quiet as the wind stopped bothering her as much. She let out a soft sigh, and curled up against him more. The shield was straining her mental facilities in her current state, and was resulting in a headache, but she kept it up for his sake. Besides, it was hard to be in worse shape than she was, and she'd recover in a short time anyhow... well, hopefully. Her paws gripped him a little tighter as she shook a bit from the strain.

After a few more minutes of traveling, the duo had finally reached the outskirts of Megaopilis City. It was at this point that Lawrence decided to slow down carefully so as not to put even further strain on Silva's body. Besides, it was bad enough he was traveling at speeds of up to Mach 3 with Silva's barrier put up.

Lawrence would eventually slow to a stop once he found the correct safehouse. In truth, it looked more like a Victorian townhouse than any ramshackle dump he had occupied in recent memory. But then again, it came with all of the creature comforts of home, so he wasn't one to complain about it. Upon stepping inside of the safehouse, Lawrence looked around for someplace to lay Silva down on, soon coming upon a couch in the living room.

"Here we are... Safe and sound." Lawrence announced quietly as he placed Silva down on the couch. "Anything you need, just ask me, OK?" He asked before extending a hand out to her and gently patted her head.

As he slowed down, Silva's barrier faltered. It was only a few seconds later that it fell completely, her head throbbing painfully, causing a groan of pain from the fox. She opened her eyes a little, but soon closed them as the light hurt her eyes. She stayed still, until she felt herself being put down onto a couch.

She let out a soft sigh and listened to him. "I'm going to need aspirin..." She said softly. She was also a bit disoriented form the slowdown, which didn't help. Her head felt ready to explode. This was something that had happened more than a few times in the time that they worked together. When she strained her power, she always got the mother of all headaches, which often didn't last too long, but they made her absolutely miserable. "Thank you Lawrence..." She added softly.

"No kidding. I dunno what caused you to get that kinda knot in your head, but it's getting taken care of right now." Lawrence answered as he looked over Silva's form with a considerate look. "In the meantime, just relax for a little bit while I get you an ice pack and some aspirin." He added as he slowly stood up onto his feet than walked to the bathroom first to get a bottle of Tylenol then headed over to the kitchen to get the ice pack.

With these two items in hand, Lawrence headed back over to Silva and tucked the ice pack under her head then gave her two Tylenol tablets. "Here ya go..." He said softly.

She sighed. "It was the damn Echidna..." She muttered, not sounding pleased with that fact at all. She shivered a bit, but tried her best to relax. She heard him coming close again, and leaned her head forwards to let the ice pack rest under her head. She took the tylenol, and then sighed. "It seems that I owe you my life again..." She said softly. She'd trained two years to avoid this situation again, and yet here she was again. It felt strange. She tried to relax herself, and managed.

It was a few minutes before she even opened her eyes a little, letting them slowly adjust to the light. She was feeling better as the tylenol and the ice pack numbed her. She smiled, her tail swishing about a little. "I haven't been to this house in a long time..." She commented to herself.

"Hmmph. I'm guessing Knuckles? Besides, he's the only one that can land a shot like that." Lawrence huffed, sounding none too pleased himself. "Oh well. He'll get his for this." He added, half wanting to find that echidna and beat him within an inch of his life.

"It may be a while for you, but for me, this is home." Lawrence added. "Besides, where else can I find this kinda real estate? Ever, for that matter." He concluded with a shrug of his shoulders.

She nodded. "Yeah... him." She replied. She sighed softly. "No warpaths for now... from what you said... Sonic's probably been beaten within an inch of his life..." She said. That wasn't exactly unheard of from her. She stretched out, and smiled. "well, at least you put the place to use... it does smell a lot more like you..." She said, smiling. She could detect his scent rather easily in here, while before it was more of a mix of her own and his.

She let out a soft yawn, and finally sat up, stretching herself out a bit. "mmm, that feels much better..."

"Yeah, I put a lotta work into this place. I figured if I was gonna be living here for a while, I might as well make it look liveable. Besides, it's a lot better than some of those dumps I usually hang out in." Lawrence said with a shrug of his shoulders before looking about.

After a moment, the red hedgehog cracked his knuckles in thought before he spoke. "Yeah... That was how I managed to find you. I guess I snapped when I felt that mindlink you and I had was ripped out by something. My guess it was that echidna knocked you out." He explained before he lowered his hands to his sides. "And lemme tell you this, Sil. When I find that echidna, he's gonna get it just as bad as that blue pain in the ass." He concluded, folding his arms across his chest thoughtfully.

Sil nodded. "You of all people would know what a violent severance of my mindlink feels like..." She said, looking down at her fox feet. She sighed, and stepped forwards, hugging him. "Thanks for everything Lawrence." She said gently, her tail swishing happily. She let him go after a few moments, unsure if he was uncomfortable with her hugging him like that.

She giggled a bit at what he said about Knuckles. "Well, let me have the first round, okay?" She asked rather cheerfully. "I do have to repay him the kindness of a concussion, and then some" She added. "After that's done, you can do as you want." She said. She seemed almost sadistic when she said that, and her cheerfulness as she said these things might have been taken as a slight mental instability, but it was normal for her. She looked up at the ceiling. "so, are we going to team up to get the gem back again, or what?" She asked.

"Sounds good to me. Besides, I think that together, not only can we get that Chaos Emerald back, we can put a beating on anyone that thinks they can top us." Lawrence smirked wildly as he spoke after he received the hug from Silva.

"So how about it, eh? One last time for the Emerald?" Lawrence then asked, holding his hand out to her with a trusting smile.