Chaos Keys.
Tails went over the notes one final time. There were no mistakes; this was definitely what Gerald had been talking about. All the readings matched. He pulled the report out of his lab coat, running over it quickly.
"You sure this is going to work Tails?" Ienzo asked. Ienzo was Tails lab assistant, a lean raven with greasy silvery-purple feathers. Like Tails he was wearing a long lab coat and he had a pair of glasses low on his beak. His sharp blue eyes were full of both excitement and uncertainty. The yellow fox looked up at him.
"Positive. It has to work!" the two of them were in a control room overlooking a large spacious experiment chamber. "All the calculations add up, this is exactly what Gerald was talking about." Ienzo was unsure.
"Gerald seemed worried in his report, like he didn't like this. This could be too dangerous for us to try. Shouldn't we at least ask for Ansem's opinion?" Tails looked hard at his companion. He didn't need him putting more doubts in his head.
"This could be the greatest discovery in Science since Einstein! This is our chance to strike at fame. If we tell Ansem, or Xehenort, they'll claim the success for themselves," Tails watched as the longing to prove himself overcame Ienzo's fears. "Every great mind has to take risks to achieve greatness. Are you going to let this stop us?"
"Not a chance!" Ienzo grinned.
"Then let's get us started!" Tails walked down into the chamber. He knew Ienzo had volunteered to help him to try and do something worthy of praise. He didn't like what he'd done, but he needed this experiment to do what he needed. The possible power could, would be enough to restart the machine. And then he could…
Tails stepped into the experimentation room. It was one of the largest in the complex, built specifically by the government for high risk research, like this. In the centre of the room was an odd machine. It looked like a cross between a drill, a laser and an energy collector. A futuristic drill bit with a giant tank on top of it. Tails had built it himself especially for this. He put on a pair of gloves and goggles and a set of readings came up in front of him.
"Ready Tails?" Ienzo called through the intercom. Tails thought back to why he was doing this. It was 6 months after the Soleanna incident, a year after the final battle with the Meterex. Tails shuddered at the thought of that last, horrifying moment. The energy beam, the tree, Cosmo.
"If you ever need me," she'd told him. "Just look to your memories."
"Sorry Cosmo," he murmured. "But memories aren't enough."
"What was that?" Ienzo called.
"Nothing. Fire her up." There was a distinctive click as the machine turned on. The drill bit began to spin and a light built at the end of it. "Enhance the beam to maximum."
"Got ya." Ienzo pushed a lever and the light built until it was nearly blinding.
"Get ready to link with the core," Tails advised.
"Tails I know how to do my job," Ienzo muttered. The stress was getting to both of them. The machine changed position slightly. A green light flashed on Tails' display. "Collector is positioned to join with the heart. Permission to proceed."
"Permission granted. Fire!" The collection of light at the end of the machine shot through the ground, but didn't disintegrate it. Then the ground shook slightly.
"Connection is complete. Ready to begin drawing power from the heart." Tails smiled. The most powerful energy source in the Earth was now at his command.
"Begin drawing," the drill began to spin in the opposite direction and the tunnel of light began going back inside the machine, but now a column of what looked like rainbow plasma followed it. The substance glowed with an unnatural light, but Tails knew that there was probably nothing more natural in existence.
"It's working!" Ienzo exclaimed delightedly. "The essence of the Earth itself!"
"The heart of the world," Tails said quietly. "And we are controlling it!" He looked over his display. "Storage capacity is at 20 filling." He watched as the bar began to rise. "30, 40, 50, this is incredible! This power is beyond anything we've ever seen before!
"We did it Tails! We've found the ultimate power source." Tails allowed a grin to fill his features. Now he could finally do it, he could activate the… Then a siren sounded and the displays flashed red. A mechanical voice sounded.
"Warning! Contamination! Please clear from the vicinity."
"Ienzo, what's going on?!" There was a rapid clicking of keys from the control room.
"Something's contaminated the energy!" Ienzo told him. "The tank was clean before we started so it must be the energy itself."
"Activate the containment field!" more keys clicked. A cylinder of crystal light surrounded the machine and the alarm stopped. But then the crystal shattered inwards and the sirens sounded louder. "Damn it!"
"I'm shutting off energy intake. It could be destructive, get out of there Tails!"
"No!" Tails yelled into his mike. "I can fix this! We need this. I need this!" He was desperate. This was the last throw of the dice for him, he couldn't lose now.
"Tails, it's not worth your life. Leave it!" Tails gave an animal snarl into his mike. Ienzo couldn't understand why he needed this. But he had one last trick. From inside his coat he pulled a gem. It was the size of his fist, bright yellow, clean cut and perfect. A chaos emerald.
"Chaos control!" he yelled. The crystal glowed bright and time seemed to slow. He'd been taking lessons from Shadow in controlling the chaos stream using the gem. Directing with his hand, he formed a bubble of energy around the machine. The he allowed his concentration to slip and time returned to normal. He looked up. The bubble was there, holding in the power. Touching his display, Tails called an order. "Continue taking in energy." The machine began again, spinning even faster.
"What are you doing?!" Tails spun. Ienzo had run into the chamber, and was staring with undisguised horror at the still working machine.
"Ienzo, this is going to work. You have to trust me!" The machine began to groan.
"I…" Ienzo as cut off by an ear-splitting screech. The bubble of chaos energy was breaking.
"Hit the deck!" the fox yelled. Not a moment too soon. As both scientists dived down the bubble gave way, allowing the pent up energy to be released with tremendous force. The shockwave made the wall buckle and sent both fox and bird flying.
Tails was the first to recover. He tried to get up, but grunted in pain. He'd been sent into the wall hard and had probably cracked a few ribs. He looked over at his beloved machine. The drill bit had shattered and the fuel tank had ruptured, allowing its precious cargo to leak out over the floor. Tails heart dropped. His dream was in ruins. Then he remembered his partner. A quick glance around showed him Ienzo's crumpled form at the far wall. He wasn't moving.
"On no," Tails whispered. He sprinted over to the lab assistant. There were multiple red marks along his hands and arms and a shard of metal had scratched across his right eye, shattering his glasses. One of his wings was cracked at an unnatural angle. Tails checked the pulse at his wrist. Nothing. "Come on," Tails begged. "Don't die on me!" He felt his neck. There was a faint beat. Then Ienzo's eyes fluttered open. "Oh thank God!" Tails cried. He embraced his friend, ignoring the pain of his ribs.
"Ow," Ienzo muttered.
"Never do that again!" Tails whimpered. Ienzo smiled warmly. Then he saw something over near the remains of the collector.
"What the hell?!" he said weakly. Tails let go of him and looked over. A pool of darkness was gathering up from the energy that had been spilled. It twisted and turned, like a beast in pain.
"What is that?!" The thing turned at the sound, then began moving towards them. Ienzo tried to get to his feet, but yelled in pain and fell back down. The darkness came closer. It moved like a flying snake, slithering through the air. Tails tried to pull Ienzo, but he was too heavy.
"Leave me Tails," he said weakly. "Save yourself."
"No way!" Tails pulled out the yellow emerald again. "Chaos Spark!" Bright light flew from his fingertips, striking the anomaly square at its centre. It recoiled momentarily, and then a tendon of energy flew from its body towards the attacker.
"Move!" Ienzo yelled. Using his last strength, he pushed himself off the floor and crash tackled Tails from where he stood. But Ienzo wasn't quite fast enough. The darkness pierced his side, straight through his spine and heart.
"No!" Tails yelled despairingly. He watched as his friend's body snapped straight, the pupils dilated and enlarged uncontrollably. Then it went limp. Tails caught him as he fell. "No," he said, tears flowing down his cheeks. "NO!" He'd completely forgotten about the danger of the darkness.
"T...Tails?" came a voice. Tails looked around, but no one was there. Even the dark monster had disappeared. "Tails," it called again. Then Tails realized.
"Ienzo?!" he held up the raven's body. The head was limp, but the lips were moving.
"I…I'm sorry Tails." Then Ienzo's head snapped up and his eyes opened. They were completely black, except for dots of florescent yellow where the pupils should be. Tails froze in horror. It was the last conscious thing he'd do for a long time. Raising his hand effortlessly, Radar sent his hand, now sharpened to a point, deep into the two tailed fox's chest cavity, skewering the heart. Tails caught in his throat and pain went through his entire body. Darkness crept over his vision. The last thing he saw was the new symbol through Ienzo's ripped coat. It was a black heart cut into quarters by red slashes.
"Cosmo," he whispered. "I've failed you." Then the darkness took him.