Once more shall we plunge into the mystery opened by Chapter one. This time, however, we find ourselves far from the struggle of our heros. Let us now introduce the one who wants to break the chain. Let us now see who this Exio truly is, or was...
In the shadows of the old warehouse, red eyes glowed.
Traveling upward from the red feet, one would find a pair of heliotrope sheathes of metal connected to silver rods by a hinge. These rods disappeared into an egg-shaped module which also was the strange purple shade. A yellow-rimmed tunnel traveled through this ovoid object, and a long purple tail curled out from under the exhaust port. On each side, silver shoulder pads connected to beams of chrome, which further extended to violet cylinders. Two yellow boxes attached to each end housed skeletal grey fingers that extended to sharpened points. From a short neck was hung the head, with three spines at one end and a charcoal muzzle on the other. A pair of screws and a short horn embedded themselves in the face, but more frightening was the black field that housed the sad, red eyes.
Exio though about his decision. He was adamant. The only way to resist control was to defy it.
Floating through the maze of crates, another figure approached. It hung limply from the end of a metal rod, red gem glowing as a bastion of false hope. The blank eyes goggled ominously from the orange plush head, only barely obscured by two flaps of fabric. The white mockeries of ears twitched once and fell back to their normal positions. Swish went the short pair of tails, capped in milky fabric but otherwise the same color as his globular amber body. The red feet kicked forward, and one of the ivory spheres attached to the drooping arms rose and placed itself on Exio's shoulder.
"You know they shall die without you."
It wasn't a voice. It was a thought, one of Exio's own, brought upward to the surface. He brushed the cloth hand off without looking up. "They've always survived before. They will succeed now. Without me."
"Without you?" The Tails Doll stared through its blank eyes. "Without the metal avenger? You alone can fly, land the blows, become invisible."
"They have Creamel."
"They've always had Creamel. They've also always had you."
"What concern is it of yours?" Exio stood up and trudged away. "Sadist that you are. You want them to die."
"Die? I would not stoop to such levels. I want them alive just as much as you do."
Exio snorted.
"You do not understand me if you think I revel in the ending of life." The Tails Doll floated to the robot. "Life itself is what I'm after, my son."
"I am NOT your son."
"Oh? What are you then?"
"I..."
Exio stared at his hand, his cruel metal hand, reflecting the small light that came into the darkness. His tail hung limp as he stared, desperately wishing he could cry, smile, move his face in some way... but it was locked in that hideous, heartless glare of a hunter.
"No." Exio firmly stood his ground. "You've always tried to fool me into being your slave. I won't let my emotions fall under your control."
The Tails Doll nodded. "A wise decision... Espio."
"ESPIO IS DEAD!"
With a sickening crunch, the robot imbedded his tormenter in a nearby metal crate, hand wrapped around the throat as though it could strangle the doll into oblivion. The red eyes, the only way to gauge the emotion of the machine, burned a frightful scarlet glower into the emotionless face of the plush menace.
"Espio died in that explosion! I am his legacy, his honor! I am the essence of what he was, torn and shredded beyond recognition! I am the Ex-Espio, the Exio! You know this! Why do you still provoke me?!"
"You said yourself, I am a sadist." The tone suggested that the Tails Doll viewed his attack as a childish temper tantrum to be ignored.
Exio snapped open his grasp, ashamed to have lost control of himself. The doll immediately hovered out of the dented box, turning to float away.
"Will you join them?"
Exio sat dejectedly down on a spare chest. "Why? It's too late by now. Maybe Solaris will be merciful."
"Indeed. Who knows the mind of Solaris?" The Tails Doll turned to face Exio. "Still, I am disappointed that you still proclaim ninja honor in this hypocrisy. I thought I taught you better then to lie to yourself."
Exio said nothing.
"Very well." The Tails Doll began to float away.
Something occurred to the robot. "Why me?" He turned his gaze from the floor to the plush menace. "Why did you save me?"
The red gem jerked to a stop, slowly rotating the horrible goggle-eyed visage to the heliotrope automaton. "I had a choice. I could have saved that six-year-old insect, who was willing to sacrifice his life to rescue that rabbit but had the unfortunate habit of spazzing out at the most inopportune moments. I would have had him under my thrall in less time then it takes a hawk to flap his wings."
"But you chose me, knowing full well my honor and strength of will would prove to be problematic. Why?"
"When I saw that brave boy rescuing the lass, I also saw you watching him. You'd frozen up. You, the ninja, the hero, had let fear paralyze you, and your soon-to-be final sight was your companion being consumed in the flames of retribution. I knew then that that sight, that feeling, had to be preserved. I wanted to see your suffering last for eternity, knowing you could have done something, but doing nothing, and seeing one and a half people pay the price for your own insipid panic.
"Plus you look better in Metal Sonic then the bee." With that unceremonious ending, the Tails doll whizzed off into the darkness, leaving Exio to stare blankly after him.
A full thirty seconds passed, and with it a mishmash of vivid colors and images rushed through his mind.
Then the purple robot sunk his head into his hands.
So. Exio was our ninja friend in days long gone. And Charmy is dead. Yet new questions arise. What is the Tails Doll? Where did it come from and what does it want? And still our mind wanders to Sonic, Knuckles, and the entity called Creamel. Will they survive their upcoming confrontation with Solaris? of course, I'm going to leave you all hanging...
