July 2nd, 2010

Emerald Desert, Outskirts of GUN HQ Domain

Sand and dust blew violently against the moving military vehicle, threatening to throw it into the desert sand. The sun pressed down on the fleet of GUN military vehicles. Its violently beating rays heated up ever vehicle, heating up the insides to temperatures almost hotter than the outside. Waves of heat shimmered along the black-top road, threatening to melt the rubber tires that the vehicles rode upon. If one were to choose a punishment, they'd be best off choosing hell over this desert. The desert seemed to be an oven, slowly baking its inhabitants into nothingness. But, they say from the most horrid things, come the most beautiful.

Mighty the Armadillo couldn't see the beauty in this.

"So, one of you guys have any jokes?" The black armadillo chuckled, attempting to break the silence, "You can't all be boring!"

In response, Mighty gained a cold glare from the guard to his left, and a quick sneer from the female guard to his right. The traveler gulped, and quickly shut up, finally giving up on his attempts at conversation. He was a prisoner after all. Though, he'd never figure out why, he knew he'd been charged. Perhaps for someone else's crime? It didn't really matter at this point, he figured, just as long as he found a way out.

But, that'd make him a fugitive then, wouldn't it?

"Man, whatever I did to end up in this, sure must'a pissed these guys off." Mighty thought to himself with a sigh, "Maybe I'm being rewarded? Yeah, that's probably it. I mean, I didn't do anything against the law!"

A wide grin spread across the armadillo's lips, as he shut his eyes, and leaned back in the three person seat, allowing the dry desert air to blow against his body.

"Wait," He realized, "Why am I in cuffs then?"

With a deep sigh, the armadillo slumped against the seat, and glared out the window. He was being taken to a high security prison out in the middle of the Emerald Desert. All he's ever tried to do was enforce justice, and all of that gave him what, a one way ticket to hell – oh, and countless threats of him being a play toy for some fat guy named Bubbles.

Delightful.

Then, his brain retraced several other possibilities. Sure, he's already theorized about them, but he could always dream. Things such as, this whole thing being a practical joke, or, maybe a super secret birthday celebration?

"Scratch that last one," Mighty groaned to himself, "My birthday was last week..."

Then, the entire vehicle bounced upwards, knocking the two guards to the right, which meant that Mighty was thrown the same direction.

Onto the female soldier.

Against her chest.

Mighty blushed, and slowly turned his attention to the anger filled expression on the face of the soldier he had made his pillow.

"Uhhh...nice day we're havin', huh?" Mighty gulped.

"Stop the vehicle!" Yelled the soldier in the passenger seat, fear lacing his words.

However, before anyone could process what had happened, a storm of flame engulfed the entire SUV. Then, a massive cloud of smoke exploded upwards above the military vehicle, throwing it into the rocky ditch beside the road. The soldiers, and Mighty, were scattered along the dusty desert floor, flaming parts of the vehicle they once occupied, now littered all around them. The remaining vehicles of the military fleet had pulled over to the side of the road, and the soldiers within had now taken position behind cover.

Mighty heard gunfire, and ongoing explosions. But everything was muffled. His eyes fluttered gently, attempting to wash away the darkness, and blurriness from his vision. He could feel sand spraying against his body occasionally, though. Finally, he felt a massive shockwave toss his body against a broken slab of cement, which was sticking out of the desert sand. The blow threatened to shatter the bones in his body. The heroic armadillo groaned in pain, and slowly he came to his senses and sat up, his head still ringing from the explosion.

He could smell smoke. Not the kind of smoke you'd smell at a bond fire – but the kind that came from burning bodies. He saw metallic figures flying through the sky at high speeds, and bursts of electrical energy engulfing soldiers one by one. His eyes flicked to the left, only to witness an entire military vehicle be hoisted into the air by some red ... creature? The vehicle was then thrown into a group of soldiers, crushing them.

Blood began to pool out from under the mess of mechanical parts.

What was going on?

"Shit, I have to get out of here..." Mighty groaned, and began to pull himself to his feet, but instantly stumbling back to the ground, "Ugh, that explosion must've busted my leg..." The armadillo moaned in pain, and dragged his body behind some rubble.

The sounds of screaming soldiers filled the air, mixing in with the deafening cracks of gun fire, and the crackling of electricity.

"Over there!" One soldier screamed, only for his entire body to be split in two by a crimson shockwave.

A swarm of silver gorilla looking creatures closed in on a group of four soldiers, but to their avail, they managed to break through with a grenade launcher. Flaming mechanical parts slid away from the soldiers, mixing in with the severed limbs and decapitated body parts. Blood stained the black top like paint, and the smell of rotting corpses under the heat filled the desert air.

It was uncertain of who attacked them, but they were winning.

A streak of metallic blue shot upwards toward an overhead attack helicopter, electricity swarming its body. Within seconds, the rotors from the aircraft had been thrown into the battlefield below – one had unfortunately skewered a soldier fleeing for his life. Flames licked the air, and crawled along the cockpit of the helicopter, when suddenly a final explosion shot outwards from the tail, a burst of electricity following right after. Standing on the smoking tail end was a navy blue figure, standing about three and a half feet tall. The only detail that could be made out, were the piercing crimson eyes.

Another burst of electricity erupted from the figures body, and finally, the helicopter erupted into a storm of fiery scrap metal that rained down upon the declining number of soldiers.

If one had to guess, there was only about twenty remaining soldiers to fight off whatever had attacked them.

A crimson blur smashed into one of the two combat ready armoured tanks in the fleet, and tossed it away like a rag doll. A blast of flame had been simultaneously released as well, engulfing the entire tank, igniting a gigantic explosion.

Black smoke and orange flames spew high into the sky from the smouldering heap of metal that was once the military tank.

Endless numbers of the gorilla looking creatures, or what had now been confirmed to be robots, slowly marched their way towards the handful of soldiers. The navy blue figure had successfully destroyed the final armoured tank with the help of the crimson figure – most likely it's ally.

Mighty pulled himself up, just enough to gain a look at the destruction before him, and glimpse at what had attacked him and his personal guards. All he could make out were the two high powered red and blue figures, and the silver mechs making their way to the last of the GUN soldiers. The armadillo's eyes focused in on the blue figure, as a surge of yellow and blue sparks lit up its hand.

"No way..." Mighty whispered in disbelief, "It can't be..."

From there on out, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The hand of the blue figure had swiftly smashed into the throat of the leading general of the fleet, severing the muscle and bone material beneath the skin, and propelling it through the sky. The rest of the fleet suffered the same death within the next five seconds. Then, plummeting from the sky in a blooding mess, came the head of the female soldier Mighty had fallen against only ten minutes before.

The fugitive traveller stared at the blank, dead eyes of the lady, and his face grew pale. He had to force himself not to vomit from the stench. Blood seeped into the sand that he had stood on, and as he pushed his body away in fear, the head rolled to the side, the face of the woman now buried in sand, and the blood clotted blonde hair laying flat on the ground.

"Mighty the Armadillo, give yourself up peacefully, and you will not be harmed, orders of Doctor Ivo Robotnik." A deep, somewhat mechanized, voice boomed, "If you fail to comply, you will be sentenced to execution. Choose wisely."

Thoughts seemed to pulverize the hero's brain. He suddenly felt nauseous, light headed, and weak. Never had he expected Doctor Robotnik to actually murder innocent people – let alone fight the military. Seconds began to feel like long, painful hours. The stinging, unbearable pain in his leg seemed to intensify. He couldn't stall for much longer, and sooner or later he'd have to give himself up.

Hey, at least this was better than being a play toy for a fat man named Bubbles. Right?

"Yeah right." Mighty scoffed, actually preferring to be in prison now.

"You have ten seconds." The same voice bellowed.

Mighty took in a deep breath, and thrust his body upwards, ignoring the pain in his beaten up leg.

He expected his body to be penetrated with ammunition. Or maybe his body to be sliced in two, like the soldier he had saw before. His throat seemed to ache at the memory of the final squad of soldier's beheading. Within those couple seconds, the navy figure had closed the distance of fifty meters, and tied up the hero's hands with rope – or was it steel wire?

Relief overcame the armadillo, but only for a few short seconds, when suddenly a powerful blow smashed into his cranium. His vision fell to black, and all the sounds around him turned to fading noise. The scent of burning flesh and rotting bodies faded to nothing, and then finally his consciousness slipped away.

"Squadron Alpha, return with EX001 to base with the first target." The deep voice commanded.

As if on cue, the squad of silver robots marched back a few paces, and then shot off into the sky in a coordinated flight pattern. The crimson figure made its way towards its accomplice, and roughly slung the knocked out Mighty across its shoulder, and shot off after its squad. However, the blue figure turned towards a group of ten remaining mech's, and crossed its arms.

"Squadron Beta, take up camouflage and follow energy readings to GUN HQ." The figure demanded, and then turned to a remaining five unique mechs, "And Squadron Delta, we're set to capture secondary target: Sonic the Hedgehog."

The final two groups of mechanical warriors shot off into the sky, and zipped away to their respective targets, leaving the leading figure alone amongst the massacred soldiers and destroyed military vehicles. A gust of wind blew across the barren desert road, as replaying scenarios of his past defeat played through his brain – or perhaps a better term would be processor.

He would not be defeated again by the hands of his double. This time, he'd see the crimson blood of that worthless blue hedgehog slither down his claw. He'd watch as the hero's eyes rolled to the back of the hedgehog's head. He would finally do away with the only obstacle in his path, and at long last, accomplish his one and only goal.

To kill the world renowned hero, Sonic the Hedgehog.

City Center, Empire City

Everyone within the grand city of the United Federations Capital went on without a worry. Everything was satisfactory. The weather had been perfect for the start of the summer season, bringing a shining sun and a gentle breeze everyday. Rain clouds had been a rarity, and were rarely seen in the city since June.

It only helped that it was Friday; the start of the weekend. Teenagers were running in and out of outdoor shops, and sitting at ice cream shops. Groups walked through the gigantic malls scattered throughout the city, while older civilians enjoyed the summer air with convertible cars, allowing the cool breeze to blow through their vehicles. It was a big weekend for the people of the United Federation, as July 3rd was the country's birthday. Every year, the cities and communities within the Federation put on a beautiful display of fireworks, and bands played a center stage at the City Center for entertainment all day long in a gigantic festival. The entire downtown and uptown areas were decorated for the entire weekend, and parties were very common in the residential areas.

It was essentially a gigantic birthday party.

One specific individual walked along the busy sidewalk of Empire City, carrying multiple bags with designer labels etched into the material. She hummed the latest tune that vacated radio air time, and slightly shook her hips to the beat of the song playing from her iPod that had been tucked away into her purse. Yes, today was a good day for Amy Rose.

She had finished all her shopping perfectly on time, and now she was on her way for lunch with Cream and Vanilla Rabbit, and with luck, possibly run into her all time hero, and heart throb, Sonic.

The bubblegum haired teenager sighed in delight. Just thinking of the blue hero gave her butterflies. Amy quickly turned the corner, and down a small one way street that strongly resembled a quiet shopping neighbourhood in Spagonia. The young hero pulled the earbuds from her ears, and stuffed them away into her purse, taking in the relaxing folk music playing out of many of the shops she passed by. Soon enough, she had reached a small cafe situated in a tiny crescent within the neighbourhood. Flower pots hung from the rooftops, and beautifully cut shrubbery were placed around the entire building. A white tile roof hung low, with a small sign reading, "Luigi's Speciality Pasta" hung from a black rod.

From the distance, Amy could see none other than Cream and Vanilla, and quickly rushed over to them. Unloading her bags with a heavy sigh of relief, the bubblegum haired hedgehog sat down with the two rabbits, and smiled cheerfully.

"Goodmorning Vanilla! And you too Cream!" Amy chirped.

"Chao!"

"And how could I forget about you Cheese?" The pink hedgehog smiled cheerfully, shaking the small chao's hand in her thumb and index finger.

"Why hello, Amy," Vanilla greeted softly, "How has your morning been?"

"Great, miss Vanilla," The bubblegum hedgehog nodded, and took a sip of the tea the waiter had just set down, "I'm a bit concerned about Sonic though, he hasn't made any contact with any of us since Chip disappeared. I can only imagine how much that must have hurt him."

"I'm sure he'll return when the times right, Miss Rose." Vanilla assured, and smiled softly to back her words up, "After all, he's never let us down yet."

"True..." The teenager sighed, and leaned on her palm, staring out at the city streets, "I just wish he'd tell us where he was once in a while."

"Don't worry, Amy!" Cream piped up softy, "I'm sure Mister Sonic is on his way back home right now!"

A gentle breeze stirred the trees that had managed to survive in the low sun area, as leaves blew around the table gently. The quiet music continued on, as the trio began to dig into the bowls of spaghetti the waiter brought them, each of them remembering back to the times Sonic had saved the world from the antics of Doctor Eggman. He had gained celebrity status in his adventures, and Station Square even declared him a Superhero.

A gentle sigh escaped Amy, as the memories of all her friends came back. She hadn't seen Tails or Knuckles in nearly three months, and the Chaotix left for Apotos right after the Dark Gaia incident. Last she heard of them, was that they had started up a small agency to raise enough money to come back. That was two months ago.

As for Shadow and Rouge, she hadn't heard from those two since last Summer. It was if they just dropped off the face of the planet. Of course, she couldn't really expect them to be around much, working for the military and all.

Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the screaming of fleeing citizens. A loud explosion rocked the downtown area of Empire City, shaking the buildings themselves. Smoke billowed upwards from within the safety of the towering buildings. Peace could never remain, especially not with Eggman running about.

Maybe Sonic would return today?

Amy bounded out of her chair, and ran down the cobblestone street, down to the crowd of people at the end of the quiet neighbourhood. Some ran away screaming, while others stood in awe at whatever was wreaking havoc on the capital city. Smaller explosions began to tear apart the shops that lined the downtown area, destroying all the businesses that people depended on. Like a chain reaction, with every shop destroyed, a family was left with no money.

These are the things heroes stood for. To put an end to strife, and to fight for justice.

In the distance, the only visible thing through the clouds of smoke and debris were the piercing sets of red eyes destroying the city. If Sonic were to ever come back, now would be the perfect time.

Almost as if it were a scene from a movie, the gigantic screens on the central radio tower in the City Center lit up with a countdown, which was flashing against a bomb shaped like Eggmans face. The timer read twenty three hours and fifty nine seconds.

Fifty eight.

Fifty seven.

The timer continued to count down, when suddenly a video image of Doctor Robotnik flashed in front of the clock. He seemed happy – not a insane, should be sent to a mental hospital, happy, but a joy that one would find in a man who had just won the lottery.

"Greetings, Planet Earth! I, Doctor Ivo Robotnik, am treating the world known hero, Sonic, to a challenge of a life time." The doctor bellowed, showing a live broadcast of his EggCruiser hovering above the wreckage of downtown Empire City, "Every eight hours, I am going to destroy one of the capital cities of the world, and with it, I'm going to activate my newest, and most dearest creation one chaos emerald at a time."

The people of Empire City gasped. Murmurs erupted through the crowd. Some people speculated on what if Sonic didn't take the challenge, while others remained confident and traded different ideas on how the blue hero would do away with the evil Doctor Eggman this time. But Amy, the only thought in her mind was seeing her one and only hero again, after almost half a year. She watched the broadcast with a stone gaze, her heart slowly increasing its beat.

"If Sonic does not take up my challenge within the next eight hours, I will destroy all of Empire City with my latest series of robot. My dear adversary, it's about time we draw this battle to a close, and I've taken the lead to this war, my friend. If you can here this, blue rat, I suggest you hurry over to Empire City, as we all know when it comes to speed, you're not lacking." Eggman snickered, "Or maybe I need a motivational twist?"

The air fell silent, as the crowds whispering ceased. Maybe Eggman had stepped up his game. Was this the final battle declaration between a rivalry that had lasted for almost fifteen years?

"If you don't find me within thirty minutes, I'll level all of Empire City to the ground. My pawns have secured all roads leading in and out of the city. I suggest you hurry up, because the clock is countin-"

"Hey Egghead!"

The crowd remained silent for a few short moments, and then began to cheer. Some cheered Sonic's name, while others simply screamed out in happiness. The air had been shifted from that of despair to confidence and happiness. It was amazing how one voice could change the fate of an entire city like that. Very few people on the planet had that kind of power.

"I see you've taken my request, hedgehog!"

Amy grew still. Her heart had began beating even heavier against her chest. Her breathing quickened, and she stared at the screen with a new hope, and an overwhelming happiness...completely oblivious to the oncoming streak of metallic blue. Within the blink of an eye, a mechanical figure had swooped along the streets at supersonic speeds, and scooped Amy up.

A stream of powerful energy propelled out of the turbine on the being's back, allowing the metal figure to streak through the air at speeds that no jet fighter could match. Amy could see the smoke of the burning buildings pollute the white clouds, and from her current altitude, she saw the force that was destroying the city – a wave of Eggmans pawns.

Her mind finally jolted back to reality, and she snapped her neck to the side, to the sight of a blue blur running across the roof tops.

"Sonic!"

The long building the blue hero had been running on suddenly collapsed, but the azure hedgehog quickly bounded through the air, aimed at the menace holding Amy Rose.

This was war.

What makes a hero a hero? The ongoing fight for justice, or the ongoing belief of righteousness?

Neither. For the label of hero is earned through the doings of peace. - David Gabriel, President of the United Federation, 1989

To be Continued

Authors Note~ So, this is the glorious return of Violet Dreams. I truly believe this sister story to Congregation of the Damned will easily dwarf my other series in comparison of quality, twists, and storyline epicness. I've planned every arc of this story, and every arc of its sequels. The first five chapters are already written, but still being edited. So expect quick updates. This chapter was essentially going to be the second chapter, but I thought it'd be more suitable for an opener.

Chapter title lesson: Ruination (Roo-uh-ney-shun)–noun; the act or state of ruining or the state of being ruined.

So, I want you guys to tell me, what are you hoping to see in this resurrected series? Please also leave your theories, comments and criticism in a review, along with what you're hoping to see in a review. It's greatly appreciated.

Side notes:

First half of the chapter is loosely based off of Iron Man.

The ending quote is built around the song Hero by Nickelback

This story, and whole series, is a completely separate canon than COTD.

This was rewritten twice.

Elements of both previous versions of the Dusk series will be incorporated, along with the addition of new ideas to make Violet Dreams the story it was meant to be!

PS: Sorry for the long authors note :)