Chapter 2: The Curtain Has Risen
Sonic walked out of the hospital room their new visitor was resting, cupping his chin in thought. 'A new enemy siding with Eggman. What's more, this guy Shahkor seems like bad news. I wonder if the guy who got on the Death Egg is the same guy.'
This enemy wasn't known to the hedgehog for even two hours and already a few things have happened. With allegations of an unknown visitor that could have probed the city of valuable information being of concern – not just in New Mobotropolis but at allied settlements, too – Nicole was brought back in secret to find some way to see if there was any further evidence in the integrated systems of the city.
Meanwhile, from another standpoint, Merlin Prower was going to hopefully arrive to see if there was evidence of such probing afoot. There was a time when Tails, Mighty and Mina were under Mammoth Mogul's influence and Merlin exorcised it from them, so maybe…
"I wonder if Tails got to him yet." He wondered. Shaking his head almost immediately after thought, he came to the conclusion that his best friend was more than capable of reaching him, since Sonic knew diddly of most magic he came to know of over the years. Plus, being blood relatives, Tails probably had a better chance than the hedgehog, in addition to being the 'Chosen One' once upon a time.
"I guess I could check on Bunnie. Wonder if she's home." With that, Sonic rushed out of the hospital and ran to the D'Coolette house, hopefully able to find Bunnie there.
Director Who re-read the message Nicole sent him a second time, deep in thought. 'Someone was staying around at Freedom HQ and was brought to the hospital. This person – a human magic-user, apparently - warned Sonic about an attack of some kind on New Mobotropolis. But why did he run at the time? Perhaps he was afraid of ambush? This requires more investigation.'
At this point, Chuck and Silver came through a sliding door, attaining the owl's attention. "Ah, just who I was expecting."
"So you got the message, too?", Chuck asked. "I find it a bit surprising myself; it almost seems like there's some motive to having been perched there."
"But what could this guy have wanted? I mean, if this guy was trying to warn us about something, why run?", Silver asked aloud. "Maybe he's shy or something?"
"It's too early to place our bets, Silver. But I do agree that this man's visit seemed oddly timed; it's possible he knows something about a possible attack on the city, one that could be linked to the news about the Eggman Empire. Still, it's too early to make such a decision. We should wait until we know more of our visitor."
"I could go, if you want.", Silver interjected. Who smiled. "I appreciate the sentiment but sending you may arouse suspicion; it would seem there are some people who are eyeballing you."
Silver blinked. "Like Naugus? Well, it was weird I was invited to the meeting, yeah, but-"
Who rose his hand. "I was referring to Sonic; seems the lad's catching on. Perhaps the last bit was a bit much." "Last bit…?"
Who sighed. "I saw that you two made a hasty 'introduction' to each other in front of him. If I didn't know better, I daresay it was like dangling bait before a hungry beast."
Chuck cupped his face with one hand. "That's on me, I suppose. Can't really blame me, though; Sonic's always had his form of curiosity. Whatever catches his eye will certainly make him want to know, in his own way."
Who cupped his hands. "True, but Sonic isn't a major concern, so long as he's geared for whatever 'attack' may be beyond the horizon. That's why, Chuck, I think it's best you see this lad. I'll hack into the hospital mainframe and see if I can't cover you."
"Me?", Chuck asked flabbergast, pointing at himself. "Of course, you, Chuck. After all, you are still a member of the Council; I suppose this acts as the cover you need to not look suspicious. A councilman speaking to him on such a subject shouldn't be too odd. What better a cover than a man in charge taking it upon himself to act?"
Silver placed a finger to his mouth. "Y'know, that could work… I mean, it does make sense…"
Chuck heaved a sigh. "If you say so. I just wish this was timed better; I'm supposed to assist Geoffrey monitor Nicole's actions so that Naugus doesn't flip a lid or arouse the people's suspicions. And I can't be in two places at once, y'know."
"I never said to do it right away. I suppose you could do it after the fact; this gives you the ability to observe Geoffrey as well. After the fight in the cavern I'd like to keep an eye on Naugus' apprentice.", Who admitted.
A message appeared on screen; it was from Nicole.
"Hm.", Who hummed as he skimmed the message. "It seems she's gone ahead and activated a search program – if she finds anything related to a hack, she'll find it. You know what that means?"
Chuck's mouth drooped. "You lucked out." Silver could only blink. The elder hedgehog cranked his neck in one hand, sighing submissively. "Fine, I'll go check on him. But you think I should change into something casual? I wouldn't want to intimidate our visitor."
"Why not?", Who hummed. "It would certainly benefit by not looking like we're imposing."
Chuck nodded and headed for the door. "I'm off then. Hold the fort, will ya?" Who chuckled. "Of course."
As Chuck disappeared behind the sliding door, Who faced Silver. "I know what you're thinking, my boy. You want to be helpful too, don't you?"
"I just feel that doing nothing isn't my thing, Who. I didn't come from my time to just dawdle.", Silver huffed. "I want to be helpful too. If there's gonna be an attack we should all be ready, right? There's gotta be something I can do…"
Who nodded, understanding the psychic's plight; the boy was eager to help, that much was true. "Why not hop into the training simulator? It'd be best to keep your skills sharp."
"I guess…", Silver sighed, rubbing his upper arm. "I just feel like I'm a third wheel. And after Sonic nearly going to town on me after mentioning a traitor to the Freedom Fighters, I'm just so frustrated, y'know?"
Who arched his head down slightly. True, Sonic did almost wail on him over that, and he supposed it was partially due to him being so emotionally raw at the time. Then again Who did feel that Silver's story felt somewhat fabricated at least once, seeing that a Freedom Fighter betraying the cause seemed so unlikely.
"The time will come when you can help, Silver. For now, let the pieces rest where they lay.", Who finally said.
"You positive, Nicole?", Chuck asked aloud as he walked from the family home in his casual clothes. He wore a small transceiver in his ear so that Nicole didn't have to make herself known.
"Yes, Chuck. I've checked the systems four times now. There's no sign of hacking or any unauthorized access to the systems. It's clean as a whistle.", Nicole responded over the private line. "That just leaves seeing if there was magic afoot; Tails should have gotten a hold of Merlin by now, I hope."
"Yeah, me too. The very thought of an unseen enemy being able to sneak in the city and steal secrets from people… it's terrifying.", Chuck said heaving a deep breath.
Chuck found himself at the entrance to the hospital, where he caught sight of Dr. Quack. "How's our visitor doing?"
Quack noticed Chuck's presence and face him. "He's a quiet one. After applying medicine and bandages to his bruises he's been asleep mostly. He's sustained some wounds from before Sonic and Geoffrey found him, I can say that much. As for what he got it from, though…"
"Is he awake now?", Chuck asked. "I'm here on council business." "He should be, I suppose. He's on the top floor, last room on the right facing the city." Chuck nodded and proceeded into the hospital. 'Let's see if I can't make heads of tails of this…'
Tails and Amadeus, Tails' father stood outside the city gate before a forming swirl of green chaos energy, where Merlin stepped out majestically, arms folded in his signature navy cloak. Tails immediately hugged the fox. "It's so good to see you, Uncle Merlin!", the boy mused, his embrace tight around the elderly fox's waist.
"It good to see you too, my nephew. It's been a while, too, brother.", Merlin smiled.
"I just wish we'd be able to get together on a better note, brother.", Amadeus admitted with a tone of sadness. "I wouldn't have called for you if it wasn't an emergency. I know how busy you are."
Merlin merely shook his head. "Yes, well, when I heard of the news I knew something was up; it'd be best to ascertain what's going on, and to make sure dark magic isn't afoot, not since the Chaos Force has been acting up."
Tails' ears perked. "Acting up?" "The Chaos Force has been experiencing some odd shifts as of late. Neither Aurora, Athiar nor myself can explain it. It doesn't seem malignant as of yet, but this is indeed unusual. In all my years I've never seen the Chaos Force acting so strangely."
"Define 'strange'.", Amadeus requested, the one-eyed Prower not following.
"Well, picture the Chaos Force like a magnet; the currents have been acting oddly, causing certain checks and balances to shift. It won't be long before it starts affecting the world. It would be slow at first, but over time it would be a concern…"
"You don't think the Chaos Force is being reactive to dark magic, do you? Like Finitevus?", Tails pondered.
"I wouldn't be so sure. True, he haven't heard from that one in some time, but he's always tried to control it. This shift is acting like a disruption in the force, which would be as harmful to his goals as it would us Neo Walkers. I'd have to investigate further, perhaps with Knuckles help… Now, what was the full story again?", Merlin asked.
"According to Rosemary, there was a report from a double agent within the Eggman Empire's ranks about a mysterious new ally who came in the form of a human sorcerer. It's said he demonstrated himself by sneaking onto the Death Egg mid-flight, dispatching a group of robots single-handedly and presented information on Freedom Fighter sects to the enemy, earning their favor."
Amadeus' expression hardened. "The double agent can verify that the information on his team is accurate. He claims that this sorcerer has an ally that can become air and lift information from a person's mind."
"And that's where I come in, I suppose.", Merlin surmised. "Truthfully, I've heard of many forms of wind magic and mind probing techniques, but this is definitely new."
"Can you check if anyone was a target or was probed, brother?", Amadeus asked. The Neo Walker placed a hand to his chin.
"I suppose it's not impossible. All probing magic leaves behind a sort of trace behind, unless the user was very skilled. Even so, I could always check for anything out of the ordinary. Tails, do you mind if you're first?"
"Sure, Uncle Merlin. What should I do?" Merlin knelt to the younger fox's level, placing his left thumb, pointer and index fingers on Tails' forehead, and placing the right set of fingers on his own. He began to mutter a chant in an incomprehensible tongue.
His hands began to illuminate with a soft green glow, the fur on their foreheads rustling slightly. After about twenty seconds, Merlin ceased the incantation, an annoyed look on his face. "Strange. I find nothing wrong with you, my boy. No sign of being possessed, probed or infiltrated. It could be your body disposed of the residual effects already, but that doesn't prove anything either way."
"Try me.", Amadeus asked of Merlin. "I'm the head of the army, so I'd imagine I'd be targeted for just a good reason as my son."
The Neo Walker nodded and followed suit. Repeating the actions, he ended up with the same result. Merlin placed a hand on his chin, an odd frown on his muzzle.
"I just don't get it. Not even Mogul was good enough to hide traces of his influence. If someone was able to probe you and leave no trace they must have had a lot of practice. Possession techniques take a lot of skill and precision, but usage is always evident."
"So you're saying you can't tell?", Tails asked, worried. "Then again, we in particular may have never been targets, so we could be a red herring…"
"Then the question remains: who was targeted, if anyone?", Merlin pondered. "We should probably gather the Freedom Fighters and anyone of interest; I'll discern if anyone was probed all at once."
"Can you do that, Uncle Merlin?", Tails asked in slight bewilderment. Merlin crossed his arms and smirked. "Who do you think you're talking to, boy? I am a Neo Walker, lest we forget."
Tails blushed sheepishly and shuffled his foot a bit. "Oops. Forgot."
"I suggest we hurry, then; time's of the essence.", urged Amadeus. The three Prowers headed into the city's confines. Little did they know that there was something nearby watching them…
High in the treetops some ample distance away from that spot, a floating eyeball roughly the size of a fist bobbed gingerly in midair surrounded by the veiling shrub of the treetops, immersed in the shade.
Dispersing into light particles the eye vanished, where the scene transmits to an unknown location, where the man in the orange cloak from earlier removed a hand from the left side of his face and opening his closed eye, letting a low grunt.
"So, they've sent for a helping hand, I see.", the unnamed man grunted, clearly annoyed. "Someone real high up the chain."
Shakhor, the young man having been with him merely sighed playfully, running a hand through the fringe of hair at his face level. "Can't really blame 'em, Har. I guess after a long war with Eggman they choose to pull out one of the big guns. A Neo Walker in their corner is nothing to sneer at."
"True, but I always thought that the Ancient Walkers were mediators in the grand scheme; for them to take a side is unheard of.", the olive skinned man retorted, his pale green eyes locking with the other human.
"You forget, one of the Walker's relatives was the 'Chosen One', once upon a time. I doubt he wouldn't forget about his precious nephew that easily.", Shakhor replied dismissively. "Still, you make a good point. Why would he show up now?"
"My Chazon (Hebrew for 'vision') only saw them outside the city talking; the Walker seemed to be invoking a spell on the other two and headed into the city." "And you didn't catch what they were saying?", Shakhor asked.
Har's eyes narrowed. "Chazon doesn't pick up sound, if you recall. Besides, you know I was always the worst of us at reading lips."
The shorter, thinner man in casual wear chuckled. "Yeah, I know.", He then placed a hand on his chin, thinking. 'Why would a member of the higher powers suddenly show up out of the blue? Perhaps something is going on in the city that we're not seeing?' He shook his head. 'No, there's obviously something that would warrant his attention or he wouldn't show. And an incantation on the Prower boy and his father… was there something afoot that required it…?'
"I suppose it's a start, knowing Merlin Prower is in this plane of existence at the moment."
Har nodded. "There's something else. Before I left my post I saw some Mobians carting someone from south of the city. It would seem Lavi has returned."
Shahkor's eyes grew in size at that. "Lavi?! Are you positive?!", he asked with urgency. Har nodded curtly. "I used Paras Kippah (Hebrew for 'reaching branch') for a better look. The bandaging on his face and wily hair were unmistakable."
Shakhor was silent. He seemed to be reflecting on this new nugget of intel, hand pinching his nose. Regaining composure, he muttered something under his breath.
Har was able to hear "You've gotta be kidding…" despite the other young man craning his head away.
"What do you plan to do, Shakhor? We can't just leave things as they are.", the giant noted.
"Shit, looks like there's no choice.", Shahkor sighed, although it almost sounded like it was a whine. "Guess we're gonna have to get rid of him or he'll probably spill everything."
"And how do you propose we do that? Getting to close to the city will definitely raise awareness. Plus with the Neo Walker around, he could detect our advance in ways their technology can't.", Har also noted. Shakhor pondered for a moment, and entered a devilish sneer.
"That, old friend, is why we have 'backup'."
Chuck found himself outside the room where the city's mysterious visitor lay in bed to heal from Sonic spin dashing into the guy. Chuck felt a bit nervous at first, but swallowed his emotions and proceeded to slowly open the door the room.
To his surprise, the young man, Lavi, was sitting up in his bed, lap under the covers, head turned to stare out the window. He seemed to be absorbed in the scenery of the city actively going on its business, Mobians all walking the streets on their own schedules.
"I see you're up.", Chuck called out. Lavi turned to see the hedgehog, though the left side of his face was still bandaged. "I wasn't expecting a visitor."
Chuck smiled weakly. "I'm from the council; sort of like the government around here. I was hoping to check up on you to see if my nephew didn't get you too bad."
A moment of silence. "You're Sonic the Hedgehog's uncle?" Chuck rubbed his nose sheepishly. "If you want to be matter-of-factly about it…" Surprisingly, the human grinned slightly, making a scoffing sound.
"I see the resemblance." Chuck sat himself in the chair next to the bed taking the moment to observe the bedridden man. The bandages aside, he appeared to be very young, and his face and skin free of unsightly blemishes. His shirt was on, but Chuck could tell he was relatively lean, his arms implying he exercised regularly.
"It's impolite to stare, you know.", was the line that got Chuck's attention. The councilman and aid to the Secret Freedom Fighters sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, sorry. Force of habit. I just noticed that you looked fairly fit. It's easier to tell that with humans than Mobians."
The man in bed smiled lightly at that. "I suppose so. I'm sorry, but I never caught your name."
"It's Charles, but everyone calls me Uncle Chuck." The human blinked. "Uncle Chuck? You're that popular, huh?" Chuck grinned sheepishly. "In a matter of speaking. So what's your name?"
"It's Lavi." "Well, it's nice to meet you, Lavi." The two shook hands. Chuck noted the strong grip he had; he was recovering pretty fast from that hit, which was surprising.
"I hope you don't mind, but there's a couple of questions that I hope you don't mind answering."
A pause. Lavi's expression was flat for a moment, his gaze on Chuck unwavering. "Is this for the council? …Or is there more to it?"
Huh? Did Chuck here him right? "I'm… I'm sorry?"
Lavi sat up. "I asked if this was for just the council, or if there was another party involved. Perhaps one you don't want most people to be privy of." Chuck's eyes flew open.
"I'm right, aren't I?", Lavi asked. Chuck was surprised to say the least. "How… how did you…?"
"It's a gift of mine. I can tell when people are lying or hiding things from me. It's… kind of like a 'tell' people have.", Lavi admitted, his voice ringing with a curious pang of what sounded like guilt. "Expression, nervous habits, vocal cues… I pick up on them."
"My 'tell'?", Chuck asked, astounded. Lavi locked eyes with the hedgehog. "It was very faint but I saw you tense your cheekbones when you said 'a couple of questions'."
Chuck looked over his shoulder at the door leading out of the room. It was still closed, the 'do not disturb' sign Quack left still there, flipped outward for any passerby to see. The fogged glass showed no sign of someone trying to peer in. Lightly jogging to the door and opening it a bit to let his head out, he checked both directions; the hall was empty save for a pair of orderlies at the center desk and a nurse doing paperwork.
Chuck closed the door. "You're pretty good." Chuck walked over to Lavi's bed and sat down. "It's a long story. First off, you know who the current one in power is?"
Lavi rose a brow. "It's not Elias Acorn?" 'So he didn't know…', Chuck thought.
"You see, Lavi…", Chuck began. "Due to a… crazy chain of events, Elias had to step down, and along came a wizard name Naugus to take his seat on the throne. I don't know how he did it, but he got a good amount of the city on his side, and got a lot of good people the short end of the stick. It got worse when Princess Sally got roboticized to disarm a fatal weapon Eggman planned to use on the city and another Freedom Fighter, Antione , was hospitalized trying to help Elias' family escape the city to prevent Eggman from assassinating him. Of course, that's the official story."
Lavi took a minute to let that all sink in. "Are you saying Elias didn't leave?" Chuck, once again was astounded. This time, the video camera behind him was focusing on the conversation, where Who was listening intently.
"As an end result. He was brought back in secret and became a member of a group dedicated to exposing Naugus for the bad king he is and return Elias to the throne, whereas Sonic and the others cannot touch him."
"…Why are you telling me this?", Lavi asked intensely. "Surely you can't afford to just share this information with anyone. Why me?"
"We… have come to understand that you may have inside understanding of this new group Eggman has allied with, one that seems to have gotten inside information on all of our most important individuals and affiliates around the globe. As a federation trying to end Eggman's tyranny, you can understand how crippling that could be."
A pause. "And then, you relay that same conclusion after coming here. If our hunch is correct, then we have to be very careful in treating information so that there is no leak back to Eggman, Walkers forbid."
"… So you're telling this to someone you think hasn't been affected by this 'leak', thinking the secret's safe. Considering you're speaking to a stranger, much less a human, that's quite a gamble.", Lavi concluded. "Yes. I understand we are grasping at straws here but we could be facing a very real threat that could tip this war over. We can't afford to lose after all the sacrifices made."
Lavi nodded once. "I understand. You're in luck, because I know the person who may have worked their magic and how it works."
"You do?!", Chuck nearly shouted before Lavi shushed him loudly. "Not so loud!", he whispered. "What happened to 'secret'?"
"I-I'm sorry. Just got excited…", Chuck mumbled. Lavi gestured with his hand for Chuck to come closer. He leaned in and Lavi placed his right index and middle fingers on the center of Chuck's forehead. Before he could question it, Lavi chanted something under his breath.
"Mezuzot." (Hebrew for 'Doorposts')
Chuck felt an odd sensation flood his body. It was like being splashed with cool water on his face and the feeling being spread over the rest of his body like a blanket.
Words in a strange writing began to flood his thoughts, images that he never saw before painting themselves before his mind's eye. He could see it as strange writing transmogrifying into words he could understand.
Suddenly Chuck started to feel dizzy, as the words stopped coming and the sensation ending he cupped his head in his hands, woozily moaning a bit.
"Being dizzy is common for first timers.", Lavi admitted. Chuck was speechless for a moment. "What did you do…? And what's with all this information in my head?"
"I respected your need for secrecy, so I directly gave you the information with a spell called 'Mezuzot'; it allows two minds to directly exchange information by touch. The person who came here and took the information they wanted used a far more advanced version to do the deed."
"So you did the same thing they did?", Chuck asked. Lavi shook his head. "They're similar, but fundamentally speaking they're different. One example is that for Mezuzot to work, two people have to be willingly touching each other and make eye contact. What the other person did was different, as they never approached the targets physically, and took the information by force. That magic takes years of practice, and needs strong affinity to wind, water and earth to pull it off."
"…I see.", Chuck said in silence. Chuck had even more questions now. He breathed in and out slightly. "First off, this group. Who are they?"
Lavi gave a far-off look. "They're people I used to know. People who used to be my friends." Chuck and Who were slightly surprised by this. "That was, until they nearly killed me because I wouldn't follow in their plan."
"Their… plan?", Chuck inquired. Lavi's expression hardened in pain, as if recalling it was painful to him. "Shahkor and the others… want to do the unthinkable. They want to enact Mobian genocide and return this world to the humans."
The air was grim at that precise moment, like all the color in the world was drained. Chuck found himself shaking. "G-genocide…?!"
Lavi's singular eye winced. His seemingly level air shook like a frail leaf in the wind. "I tried to stop them from getting to Eggman. I didn't want them to sell their souls to the devil. I alone was against this act and…" Lavi smashed his fist into the mattress.
Chuck's expression softened into one of sadness and sympathy. "I'm so sorry. Is… that how you got that injury…?", he asked softly.
Lavi relaxed graudually. His green right eye looked at Chuck with an unreadable expression. "N-no. I've always had this. It's not something I like to talk about."
In the back of his mind, Chuck fostered a moment of curiosity, but given the timing and gravity of the situation chose to ignore it for now. "I see. I know this sounds a bit… sudden, but I was hoping that you would stand before the council when you got better. Not that I'm rushing you or anything…"
Lavi nodded. "You're worried about when they'll strike. As am I." Lavi looked towards the window, viewing the sky lightly adorned with clouds. "I hope Shahkor hasn't made his move yet. With what he has to offer, Eggman couldn't refuse such a powerful asset."
"So this magic – the one used to steal secrets… it's real?", Chuck asked with pangs of both bracing for the worst and fear in his voice. Lavi sighed. "I'm afraid so. However, you should know only one of them has that power; her name is Alam (Hebrew for 'whisper' or 'mute'), and she's crafty."
Chuck placed a hand to his chin. "Is there a way to tell if someone's been a target or victim of her spell?" To his surprise, Lavi nodded. "There is. However, it can only be detected by those who are well-versed in magic. Signs are near-impossible to pick up on by the untrained eye."
"Such as?", Chuck inquired. Lavi looked to the side. "Well for one, they…" Lavi didn't finish his sentence as a faint rumbling sound was heard. Chuck looked at Lavi with an odd face. I didn't know you were hungry; you should have asked."
"Um… that wasn't my stomach…" Lavi replied. The rumbling was slowly getting louder. "What the…" Chuck muttered as he walked over to the windowsill. After looking outside, he paled. "Oh no…"
Lavi crawled out of bed to look in the direction Chuck was, also begun to pale. "Oh dear God, no…"
Closing in on the outskirts of the southeastern edge of the city wall were a small handful Dark Egg Legion airships and land cruisers, closing in fast. Without warning they launched a volley of laser fire at the wall, activating the proximity alarms and gradually sending the citizens in the streets into a state of frenzy.
Lavi and Chuck could only watch as the Royal Army filing from the castle and army's HQ and attempting to get all wayward Mobians back into their homes. Among them, to Chuck's surprise, was Sonic, who was zooming through the town square to get to the exit leading to the direction of the incoming enemies.
"That's Sonic!", Chuck said aloud. He began to run for the door. "I have to go for now. Please try to get better. I need to help with the defenses." Lavi looked flabbergast.
"I can't just sit back while there's a good chance Shahkor or any of the others may be among them. If by any chance one of them shows up, Sonic and the others won't be prepared for them! It'd be a suicide mission, especially against Shakhor!"
Chuck sharply turned. "At the moment, you being here is a secret from the public and you're still under some suspicion by the council. I didn't want to have to tell you that but with things as they are, having an outsider roam free would only complicate matters and make you look even more suspicious. And with someone like Naugus in power, that's a really bad move."
Lavi grunted. "But still…!" "No buts, Lavi! I can't help you if you leave this room!" "Then what about your 'friend'? Surely they have some way I can keep Sonic and the others from getting slaughtered!"
A moment of silence. "…Are these people really that dangerous?", Chuck finally asked. Lavi's gaze was stern. "They would gladly make mincemeat out of your nephew just to satisfy their destructive urges. Sonic isn't ready to face them, not blindly. Please."
Chuck grit his teeth, weighing his options. Then, as if out of nowhere, a static-like voice emitted from the communicator wristwatch Chuck was wearing. "I believe I can be of some help here."
"Who!", Chuck gasped suddenly. "Are you sure you should be-" "It's fine, Charles, I heard everything. And I believe I have a solution to your problem. But first, I need to make a call."
Sonic has just exited the city wall, having intersected with Tails and the Chaotix on the way there. Amy was assisting Team Freedom with getting citizens into safe areas and helping the Royal Army prepare for countermeasures on the advancing forces; this included Geoffrey and Bunnie, who were both a bit out of place given their circumstances but didn't have time to complain.
Even with Bunnie flesh and blood again and still depressed from Antoine's injuries, she was still a Freedom Fighter and felt a need to fill the part. Amadeus and Merlin were also doing their part, leading the Royal Army and keeping watch over the young heroes from afar, praying for their safe victory. Merlin was not to interfere unless it was absolutely necessary, as a Neo Walker joining the fray could have adverse effects.
"This is out of the blue for Eggman. Wonder what he's got cooked up this time?" Sonic questioned aloud, being snarky as usual. "It's Eggman, Blue; nothing's out of the blue with him.", Knuckles chided as he pounded his fists.
"What's say we just dust 'em now and send them packing?", Mighty asked as he hopped in place, fists up "I dunno; something feels odd.", Julie-Su said warily as she cocked her blaster.
"Aww, you're just worrying about it too hard, Su! Let's just cut loose like always!", Vector said grinning. Espio readied his kunai and shuriken and Charmy jabbed at the air. Ray and Saffron merely adopted fighting stances.
Tails was flying above them to scour the enemy numbers, a pair of binoculars in his hand. "Just a bunch of troop vessels. Must be a diversion." He looked around in his peripheral vision. 'Which means there may be a second attack. Better keep our eyes peeled.'
"How it looking, Tails!?" the fox could hear Sonic bellow from below. "Anything else we should know about?!"
"We're good or now, Sonic!", Tails called out as he descended to terra firma. "There's about 200 soldiers total given the number of vehicles. Not too bad, but there's probably a secondary attack lying in wait."
"You got it bud.", Sonic acknowledged. "Alright, guys, let's bring to 'em!" With that, they all charged to intercept the oncoming forces, unaware that there were eyes on the battlefield.
Some distance behind the oncoming numbers, shrouded in the trove of tall trees at the edge of the Great Forest, Shakhor was watching the whole thing, with Har by his side. Har had a hand on one eye, deep in concentration. The olive skinned man wasn't wearing his orange cloak this time, revealing his attire of a white polo shirt with dark blue jeans and brown docksider shoes.
Removing his hand Har grunted. "They took the bait. Just like you said." Shakhor grinned, the scar on his left cheek distorting a bit. "They're so predictable. They have no idea what will hit them." "So shall we join the fray?"
Shakhor shook his head. "Let the grunts have a little fun first. As they wear down the Freedom Fighters, we'll strike when they least expect it. I promised Eggman a show, and I'm a man of my word."
"And what of the Neo Walker?", Har asked curtly. Shakhor merely craned his neck, as if stretching. "I have a plan for the old fox, trust me. Just worry about moping the floor with those loser 'heroes'." "And Lavi?"
Shakhor was silent. A few seconds pass until Shakhor turned to make eye contact with his taller comrade. "Lavi is dead to us. He'll get his soon enough." Har merely nodded.
"Speaking of which, we need to make sure there are no screw ups; we can't afford to make fools of ourselves during our 'debut'.", the pale-brunette noted. "That's why Shira (Hebrew for 'song') already worked her magic. Giving the soldiers a little 'boost' never hurt anyone." Har chuckled. "Except their victims."
"They'll get theirs soon enough. Just keep an eye on them, Har. Our curtain call is just around the corner."
Lavi grimaced as he watched the battle outside ensue. The single-eyed young man gripped the edge of the windowsill tightly, clearly on edge. "Damn it…" He turned to Chuck. "How much longer will your friend take?"
"Who probably already sent for someone to get here. It's just a matter of not being seen." Chuck replied. "With the city in a state of emergency and most of the citizens in their homes or shelters, it should be fairly easy."
Lavi sighed. "If I knew this city better we could have taken my scenic route." "Scenic route?" Lavi's right hand glowed as he 'drew' a line in midair, with opened into a circular portal of swirling whites, blacks blues and purples. Chuck gasped.
"I can create portals to travel. The catch, however, it that I have to know where I'm going, or risk being stuck in limbo. That's never fun."
Chuck placed a hand on his chin. "What if another person knew where to go? Say, behind the hospital, where no one would see?"
Lavi paused. "I… suppose it's worth a shot." Chuck walked over and was gestured by Lavi to go in first. A bit hesitant at first, Chuck swallowed and walked in, followed by Lavi. The portal 'zipped up' and dispersed soon after.
A few seconds later, behind the hospital, Chuck and Lavi exited the portal, which ended up behind the windowless area of the back side of the building, just in time for Silver and Larry Lynx to turn up, both in Secret Freedom Fighter uniform and falling on their behinds from seeing the sudden portal. "What the… Chuck!", Silver said loudly.
Chuck was a bit woozy from being in the dimension of the portal, wobbling a bit. "That was a doozy." "You'll get used to it.", Lavi said assuredly. "It happens to everyone."
"Chuck! How did you—I mean, you just-", Larry blabbered before noticed Lavi. "Oh. Heya. You're the guy Who talked about right?"
"Name's Lavi. Right now we need to get to where Sonic and the others are. They're in danger!" Silver and Larry gasped before adopting odd expressions. "But Sonic and the others are more than capable of handling the Dark Egg goons, right?" Lavi shook his head. "It's not them I'm worried about; it's who's probably with them. If my hunch is right, they're in serious danger!"
"You mean that Shakhor guy?", Silver asked. Lavi looked at Silver. "So you know.", the human concluded before wincing. He quickly placed his hands on the sore spot at the base of his spine. "Shit. Not fully healed, huh?"
"Whoa, are you okay? That…?!", Silver began before gasping. The Mobian trio gawked as Lavi's right hand began to glow an emerald hue before placing it over his sore spot.
"Shikekh." (Hebrew for 'soothing'), he said in a commanding tone, and the hue ignited into a small green glow that spread along his palm before rubbing it on the bruise. Larry could only blink in wonder. "You're a magician…!"
"Sorcerer.", Lavi corrected. "There's a difference." Lavi lifted his green shirt and turned his back to Chuck. "How's it look?"
Chuck fixed his pince-nez glasses in wonder. "Well the color's almost completely faded. I didn't know you could heal injuries." "I've never been good at it." The human remarked. "At the very least I removed the internal bruising, but it'll still be sore for a while."
"That was pretty cool." Larry said under his breath. Silver hummed. "Well, we gotta get going. We can't be seen."
"Right.", Chuck agreed. The foursome proceeded to take the back roads towards the east end of the city, where the Secret Freedom Fighter's HQ was waiting.
Back at the battlefield, Vector had just finished socking a poor DEL grunt in the kisser and throwing him into an oncoming duo. A taller cloaked grunt was taking aim at the croc's back, only for the end of his rifle to be sawed off by one of Espio's well-aimed shuriken, followed by the chameleon landing an uppercut under his chin. Mighty had just slammed a pair of grunt's skulls together, knocking them unconscious.
Tails, Ray, Charmy and Saffron were flying about, dodging projectile fire and luring soldiers into a state of frenzy for Knuckles and Julie-Su to pick them off. Sonic was racing about in wild patterns, knocking enemies into each other and making them waste precious ammunition.
"This is too easy!", Sonic jeered. "At least make it a challenge, guys!" he said to the fallen grunts,
"I'll say!", Knuckles grinned as he slugged a grunt attempting to charge him with the butt of his rifle.
"I still think there's something more to this.", Julie muttered as she tripped another charging soldier and placed them in a headlock. "I haven't seen a higher-up Legionnaire yet. I got a bad feeling about this."
Tails drop-kicked a third grunt that attempted to sneak up on them from above. "I know what you mean. I think they're up to something. If Nicole were still here, we'd be able to better check."
"Sadly, we can't, thanks to Naugus.", Espio exasperated, kicking the rifle out of a hooded soldier's hands and proceeded to a spinning roundhouse kick. Charmy stung a running grunt of the rump, prompting them to scream in pain.
"It's all right, guys!", the young bee cheered. "We got it covered! These guys won't be getting into the city while we're around, right Saffron?" Saffron nodded fiercely.
'I'm not so sure.', Tails thought to himself. 'I mean, there are at least some inkling of a battle plan for these guys for us to figure, but so far they haven't advanced on the city yet. Amy, Dad and the others have the citizens safe for now, but something tells me there's more to this… Question is what?'
"Charmy's right, guys! And since we've got a hang of this, why don't we turn the tables and see if we can get a lead on where Sally is?", Sonic cheered. Knuckles grinned.
"I think that Sally's been under their thumb for too long! Let's see if any of the bigwigs are in the ships.", the Guardian said excitedly.
Espio nodded. "I'll go check." After that, he turned invisible and proceeded to close in on the transport vessels.
It was when Espio got about fifty fret from the group that a shot of white lightning-like energy shot out of the forest's borderline and struck the invisible chameleon in mid-step, who shouted in midstep and fell backwards.
"Espio!", Knuckles cried as he ran for his injured fellow Chaotix. "Espio, are you alright?!"
As he got to him, he noticed Espio's skin was slightly burnt at the spot he was struck, a circular mark just above the stomach.
"…That wasn't a laser shot…" the Guardian said under his breath. Instinctively he grabbed Espio and jumped to the left, narrowly being hit on the leg by a second bolt.
The Freedom Fighters and Chaotix looked towards the source of the shots, and saw a tall figure in a black cloak covered in white pentacles, its right arm and hand extended and ring and pinky fingers tucked in. The hand sparked slightly with small bursts of static. "Not bad for a bunch of children. Let's see how you fare when I kick it up a notch."
He thrust his left arm out, fingers extended and unleashed five 'slashes' of lightning that carved the earth as they tread towards the main group. The Dark Egg Legionnaires screamed as they ran and ducked in cover.
"Scatter!", Tails shouted as the conglomerate group dodged the shots as they passed, each lightning strike passing by at different timings.
Sonic shot at the attacker, running at full speed. "Why you-!" The attacker shot his left as up as if hoisting an object underhandedly. "Nishbar!" (Hebrew for 'Snapping (verb)'
Roots shot out of the ground and ensnared the hedgehog's ankles, causing him to fall on his face. "Sonic!", Tails cried before he tried flying over to him, only for a pair of roots to ensnare his waist and arms, forcing him to the ground.
"Dance, worms, dance!", the figure cried out as he began waving his arms as if conducting.
Julie and the others began dodging more roots that began to whip at them, and ended up being huddled close together. As soon as they huddled too close, however, numerous thicker roots shot from the earth and ensnared them in a reinforced cage-like entanglement, reinforced by several roots sprouting extending spilt ends that wrapped around horizontally like hoops.
"Oh no!", Knuckles gasped as he saw the others getting swallowed by the cage. With Espio over his shoulder he headed to run over to the group, but saw the new attacker stamp a foot on Sonic's cranium.
"Sonic!", Knuckles yelled. His expression contorted in anger. "Stay away from my friend!"
The cloaked man grinned. "And if I were… to decline?"
Tails, Mighty and Vector viciously tried to rip the roots apart but they were too thick to tear. Vector tried biting a large toot but began spitting with disgusted noises. "Blech! They taste awful!"
"Stand back!", Julie shouted as she pointed her firearm at the roots in front of her and fired. Her expression turned to horror to see that the blast didn't even scratch as them, nor did it show signs of being burned from the laser fire. "Now way…!"
Sonic struggled to break free of his earthy bonds but only succeeded at scratching the roots against his skin. The magic user pulled off his hood to reveal Shakhor, who merely sneered at the hedgehog.
"I thought you'd be a bigger challenge, but you were so easy to subdue. I expected more of you, Sonic the Hedgehog.", the human sorcerer said with mocking jest. Sonic, despite his situation, grinned snidely.
"I see my reputation proceeds me. So what are you, a new Egg Boss or something?" Shakhor feigned a thinking face, then grinned.
"You could say that. But I see myself with a slightly different position. You see…", he trailed as he lifted Sonic's chin with his foot. "I'm your worst nightmare. You and the rest of your precious resistance."
"Like I haven't heard that one before. So what makes you special? I can see you use magic. You some kind of wizard? Cuz I've seen plenty." Sonic chuckled. Shakhor sharply pressed his foot into Sonic's chin.
"I prefer 'sorcerer', thank you. I'm not like softies like Naugus and the Iron Queen. You'd find that I can be very… unforgiving." "Preaching to the choir on that one, buddy. So why are you here? In case you didn't get the memo, Eggman just tried attacking here a couple of times and failed to beat us at each turn."
"But not before your princess became a robot slave and your friends started falling one by one. First your bunny friend's wings were clipped, then her hubby was nearly blasted to bits, your king got overthrown by a power-hungry fool and your precious city is in a state of chaos. Yeah, seems real peachy to me."
Sonic began to grit his teeth before he came to a realization. "How… how did you know all that?"
Shakhor towered over the hedgehog with a sly look, pointing a lone finger to his temple. "You learn things quickly in my profession. You'd have to in order to stay in the game." His grin widened. "Oh, and there's also the fact that we've had eyes and ears on all of you schmucks for some time now. New Mobotropolis, the United Federation, GUN, and your other Freedom Fighter pals… it was too easy."
"Eyes and ears…", Tails muttered, before he came to a realization. "Sonic! This guy is-!" Sonic's eyes grew to the size of saucers. So Bill's intel was right! There were people who probed the good guys of Mobius right under their noses. Not to mention this guy had single-handedly trapped most of the group and subdued Sonic with relative ease.
"Who… are you?", Sonic asked meekly. Shakhor grinned. "I thought you'd never ask. Name's Shakhor, hedgehog. Remember it." Sonic' pupils shrank. "Shakhor? Then you're the guy Lavi was…!"
Shakhor smirked. "So he is here. Figured that traitor would try and get here before me. Guess I'll finish him after I finish you."
This was bad. Really bad. Everyone was tense, especially Knuckles, who was the only able-bodied fighter they had other than a recovering Espio, who wasn't trapped in the cage of roots and vines. Those in the cage were still trying to get out of the cage, but the roots were as strong as solid stone.
The soldiers in the background began murmuring to themselves excitedly.
"Didja see that? The new guy has them all tied down!" "And by himself!" "Glad he's on our side!"
Aw, great. Now the enemy has more morale. Shakhor bent down slightly, eyeing the hedgehog. "I believe you said something about seeing plenty of magic-users. So tell me, have any of them done this?"
He slowly reached out to plant his right thumb, pointer and index fingers firmly on Sonic's forehead. Sonic tried squirming, but the roots merely tightened, restraining him further.
"Get away from him!", Knuckles yelled. He wanted to charge Shakhor, but Espio was still singed badly from that lightning bolt. And with this guy being as unpredictable as he was, the Guardian dare not risk Espio's well-being by leaving his side.
Shakhor stared at the echidna, amused by his demand. "And if I were… to refuse?", he said chillingly; his right hand began to crackle with black flame-like light. "Why, I haven't even started the best part."
Meanwhile Chuck's group was still sneaking by the majority of the city still in panic mode. Luckily, most of the citizens were tucked away in their shelters and guards were pretty much tethered to those sights, so they were virtually in the clear.
Unfortunately the last stretch before making it to the Secret Freedom Fighter HQ was going near the exit leading to the fight outside. As they began to hook around the curve of the wall, Lavi stiffened. He stood perfectly still, which caught Silver's attention.
"Hey are you alright? We're almost there – it's just a little ways away from here.", Silver said. Chuck then noticed Lavi's expression; it was pale, a look of terror slowly forming in his eyes as he creaked his neck towards the exit.
"No… he wouldn't…!" He began to dart for the door. Gasping, Silver tried to run after him. "Wait! You can't go out there!" Lavi didn't listen. Instinctively, Silver used his psychokinesis to keep Lavi in place; he was still squirming viciously, which surprised Silver – no one was ever able to really move while in his grip before.
"You're… making… a mistake! Let go!", Lavi cried out. "If you don't there's a good chance your friends will die!" "Sonic and the others are more than capable of handling themselves. Now, please! We have to go now, while the streets are clear!"
"Dammit, don't you care about your friends?!", Lavi yelled. "Shakhor will kill them if we don't stop them!" Larry began to nudge Chuck. "Um, I think maybe he could be right, guys."
Silver looked surprised. "But Larry, Sonic and the others beat Eggman's goons many times. And we can't just compromise our positions like that; Who would have a cow!" Chuck felt conflicted at both sides by this. On one hand, Sonic and the others could really be in danger, and that they had to act. On the other, revealing themselves would easily reveal themselves to Naugus, which would be a seriously bad move. Chuck grimaced, weighing his options.
"Guys, I think that we should-" "PAROKETH!" (Hebrew for 'curtain, veil or shroud) The three Mobians turned in surprise to see Lavi's body flicker slightly, which allowed him to somehow faze out of Silver's grip, the recoil of Silver pulling him causing Lavi to hop a bit to catch his footing and for Silver to land on his back.
'H-how did he…?!', Silver asked himself. Before the Secret Freedom Fighter could get up, Lavi began to dart for the exit at surprising speed for his injury.
'I won't let you kill anyone, Shakhor! Not while I'm around!' Silver tried to grab Lavi again, but Lavi dodged the psychic blast by sidestepping, not once losing pace. Silver was surprised to say the least. "Wait! Come back! Please!"
"It's useless just standing here, boys. I don't know about you but I'm going after him.", Chuck said as he ran after the human magic-user. Silver and Larry looed at each other and grimaced. "Who's not gonna like this…", Larry whined.
Nevertheless, the two nodded and ran after Chuck and Lavi, the lattermost of whom turned the corner out of the exit.
"The best part?", Knuckles asked warily. "The hell do you mean by that?! And what with your hand?!" Shakhor's smirk never faded once.
"Oh, so you wanna know, do you? Well, who am I to deny one's request for knowledge. Without warning his legs gave way so that his hand covered in the black flame-like light was firmly planted on Sonic's forehead. The hedgehog was fiercely squirming to shake the hand off but it wasn't working.
The brunette human's smirk widened to a devilish grin, an almost psychotic one at that. "Chavom!" (Hebrew for 'nightmare') Upon uttering that word, Sonic's eyes began to shrink and glow with a reddish outline. His breath became rapid and labored. His squirming began to become violent as the binding roots began to scrape and chafe his wrists and ankles.
"Aaa...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" It was a truly frightening scream, one of pure fear. Tails and the others cringed at the sound. "Sonic!", the young fox cried. "Sonic!"
"He can't hear you, boy. Not while my Chavom is in effect.", Shakhor announced triumphantly over Sonic's screaming. "With it, my victims experience a nightmarish hell unlike anything you can imagine! The closer the proximity, the more vicious the nightmare. Now scream for me my little prisioner! I want to hear you SCREAM!"
The fire in his hand flared more intensely, causing Sonic's green eyes to turn red and his screaming to intensify. Tails and the Chaotix were viciously trying to rip free of the root cage, only for the areas they rip apart to grow back. "DAMN IT!", Vector screamed.
Knuckles, in the heat fo the moment, put Espio down and began charging at Shakhor, fist raised. "LET HIM GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
He was stopped in midstep as a Har appeared before the echidna and proceeded to smashing his right fist into the Guardian's exposed stomach, robbing him of his breath. "KNUCKLES!", Julie cried in anguish.
"You want him that badly? Take him." Lightly tossing him up upwards Har reared his left arm back and smashed his fest into the Guardian's stomach again, sending him flying at the cage of roots, colliding with a harsh THUD and toppling over, Knuckles barely conscious after that.
"KNUCKLES!", cried Julie harder. At this point, she began to sob. "Dude! You gotta get up!" Vector yelled, practically begging. Saffron and Ray's faces were buried in Charmy and Mighty's chests, clearly frightened.
"One down.", Har said coldly. "Shall I… exterminate the rest?" Shakhor paused for a moment. "I promised Eggman Sonic stayed alive, but the others… well, if they can't bust through my cage of roots then they're not worth my time."
Shakhor's expression grew twisted. "Execute them." Har reared back as if he were going to charge them. "As you wish."
"No…!", Espio grunted before his burns began to flare up, causing the ninja to fall back down. "It can't… end like this…!" Knuckles was trying desperately to catch his breath and Sonic was still screaming, his voice beginning to grow hoarse and his eyes watering pretty bad.
"Somebody… HEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!", Tails cried out.
Suddenly a large lime green lightning bolt darted past the root cage from behind, arched around Har and stabbed Shakhor in the left shoulder. He jerked back violently from the pain as electric currents pulsated into his body. Instinctively he ceased Chavom and sliced through the lightning with his hand, thus obstructing the blast and allowing a gush of blood to escape the wound. Because of that, Sonic's nightmare had ceased and he slipped into unconsciousness.
The Dark Egg Legionnaires stared in shock. They began to panic as the attack had just come without warning and with frightening speed.
"SHAKHOR!", came a loud yell, coming form the dome-like entryway of the city. Shakhor turned to the source of the voice and grimaced.
Standing there a ways from the door was Lavi, arms outstretched and crackling with green lightning, his expression from his bandaged face contorting with anger.
"This ends now!", he shouted again as he stabbed his arm into the soil and sent a pulsing wave of magic towards the cage of roots, which caused the roots to crumble and decay, allowing its prisoners to bust out their cages.
"I don't know what's going on, but what's say we mount a counterattack, guys?!", Julie declared.
Meanwhile back at the doorway, Chuck, Silver and Larry watched the events unfold, leading Chuck to sigh a bit. "This is not going to end well, is it?", he found himself asking.
And that's Chapter 2, folks. I'm not the best at Hebrew, so a lot of the words are approximated, and could easily be the wrong synonym. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
