2 – The Twin Dragons and the Six Demons

[Mephiles' Whisper (Extended) – Sonic 2006 soundtrack
/watch?v=WicJrGIPQpc ]

It was a dark, cold, and damp place. In the cell at the end of the room, a man sat curled up, his back up against a corner. He shook and swayed, quietly whimpering. He knew it was coming. Next to his cell were many others forming a corridor. They were all awaiting the same fate. What laid in store for them, they all knew too well. Without warning, that thingwould come. It would drag one of them away. The victim would scream and claw the floor, but the creature would ignore it, continuing its slow path, a path that would end in blood. The prisoners could only wait and pray, pray to live another day, even if it meant living in fear. Anything was better than that beast.

The beast was coming. The man could feel it. And soon, he could hear it. The sound started low and so slowly did it become louder and clearer. Slowly, like the monster's movement. Every step so slow, so far in between, with the occasional sound of puddles being stepped in. Soon, he could see it too. What looked like two purple flames and a pair of blood red eyes in the distance. The figure became larger with time. Soon, its eyes would tower over the squirming shell of a man lying on the floor. Its shape soon became clear as well. The silhouette of a demonic mobian hedgehog. Its ears were pointed like horns. Its spines stood up, floating almost. It had claws for hands and knives for fingers. It had hellfire for feet and it appeared to be composed of constantly moving shadows and black smoke. That was the best that it could be described as. A moving shadow. A livingshadow. The Shadow of Death. The Angel of Death. Hell incarnate.

It waltzed its way to its pray, sliding one of its claws across the bars of the other cells at its side. The bars clanked as sparks flew, the sparks scaring the other prisoners into scurrying to the backs of their cells. That scraping… It continued to come, taking its time. Oh, how it took its time. It said nothing, yet everything. What felt like hours had passed and it was still coming towards the poor soul. It was taunting him. He knew it. Perhaps it was planning. Yes, that had to be it. It was planning, imagining, thinking of every possible way to deliver death. One would think that there are only so many ways to kill a man, but this man and all his fellow captives knew better. Time only seemed to slow more as it drew closer. Until finally, it stood at the cell door. Until finally, it was time…

It spoke. Its voice was the cross of a gentleman's and a monster's. A calm and sophisticated tone paired with raspy words carrying a low growling underneath. It sounded so composed. But perhaps that was because it was pleased. It was known for taking joy in its profession.

"It's time…"
"Please, just one more day! Just one more hour! Anything! Just a little more time to prepare!"
"… Well… since I'm in such a good mood… You have a few more minutes."
"Thank you! Tha-"
"A minute while I get in there, a few more while I drag you out, and then some more while I prepare you."
"No! Please!"

It tore through the cell bars like paper. The man could not press up against the wall any further. The monster stood before him. The man wanted desperately to look away, but he could not remove his eyes from his judge's. Those deep pools of blood. He could see it all. All the blood ever shed by this savage. He could hear the blood. He could hear it crying. The cries of all those victims… The creature breathed out a low chuckle. It grabbed his leg and began to drag him as he panicked and cried. He desperately tried to cling to the floor, his arms in a flurry. It dragged him out of the prison.

Time seemed to stop. All was silent. Everyone simply stared. Stared at the doorway where the animal made its leave though, carrying off its pray. Silence. Enough silence to hear distant water dripping. Enough silence to hear quiet hearts beating and slow, deep breathing.

Then the screaming came. Screams that could drive one to madness with their volume alone. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was the pain. Through the screams, the victim's soul was heard. Through the screams, the people could feelhis pain.

Once, the bell rang.
Mothers grabbed their children and covered their ears.

Twice, the bell rang.
Lovers held each other tightly.

Thrice, the bell rang.
Fathers froze in thought.

Then it stopped. The screams stopped, coming to an abrupt halt as they were overshadowed by the rising sound of tearing, cracking, and gushing. And the bell rang again. It filled the place with its ringing. And time froze once again.

After an eternity, the Living Shadow returned. Laughing. It stared low and became louder and louder until it knew the sound left a permanent mark. "… What… isthat thing?" one young man asked. The poor fool must have been new there. It slowly turned its head to face the captive. Had it bones, its neck would have snapped. Had it a mouth, it surely would have smiled from ear to ear.

"For those of you who have yet to meet me, you may know me by reputation. You may not. Either way, you will all get to know me very well, very soon… I am the inescapable, undeniable plague that lurks in the back of every mind. I am the ever-present dark. I am the cause of so many a deaths. I am the aftermath of chaos. I am the end. I…"
It walked up to the terrified youth.
"… am Sorrow."
It walked away, still looking back for some time, chuckling.

Just before taking its leave, it stopped before the exit.
"… Richard."
It was quiet for a moment before a voice from one of the cells spoke up.
"… Are you finally going to do it?"
Another chuckle.
"… Soon, Richard. Soon. Fortune has favored you for quite some time now… But it cannot harbor you forever… No, Death still awaits you. And he is becoming very impatient."
"If you're trying to scare me, you're failing."
"Scare?" It held back its laughter.
"No, not scare. Warn. I'm coming for you soon. And this time, I can assure you that your fate will not be delayed again."
"We'll see about that."
Its eyes squinted.
"… You'd best watch that arrogance. Let not Fortune's favor kindle your pride, least you believe yourself to be untouchable. If you are blinded by your pride…"
It walked out of the room, its voice still echoing back.
"… then how do you expect to see what pain is coming?"

Silence.


[Chaos Angel: Map (Remastered 2011) – Sonic Advanced 3 soundtrack
/watch/?v=M0ENxeGkLzc ]

Metallix's eyes activated. It made a low growling-sort of noise. It sat on its throne as it stared at the glass wall before it, as it stared at the falling sun and the yellow skies. Perhaps it was dreaming. But could a machine dream?

"… You beckoned?"
Without moving its gaze, it spoke to the creature that hid in the shadows.
"… Yes… Sorrow, my executioner…"
"Need I remind you that I do not work under you? I am your ally, not your slave."
"Need I remind you that if you irritate me enough, I can easily have you removed and replaced and see to it that you never again see another drop of blood?"
Sorrow growled quietly, muttering under his breath.
"Very well then… your… majesty…"
Sorrow held back his anger.
"And why, exactly, have you summoned me?"
"… The Emeralds…"
"What of them?"
"They are being relocated. I cannot allow them to fall into the wrong hands yet again."
"So where are you planning to hide them?"
"Each one will be placed under the protection of a 'Guardian.'"
"… You're not going to keep them all in one place?"
"No. That was an error on my part."
"But how will you power the empire without them? You're trading your prime power source for security."
"The Master Emerald. It alone will power the empire. It should be capable enough to manage. Now that the Resistance knows of its existence, there's no use hiding its energies. We'd best put it to use."
"And who will guard the Master Emerald?"
"I will."
"One last question, then… What role do I play in all this?"
"Why, isn't it obvious?"
Metallix held out a purple Chaos Emerald. Sorrow looked at it, then at Metallix, chuckling.


[Chun-Nan: Map (Night ver.) – Sonic Unleashed soundtrack
/watch/?v=e_e1b17TzRw ]

"There you go, friend."
"Heh ha! Yes! Thanks, man."
"But of course…"
Flame's friend handed him several holographic, glass-sheets. He was a large, beetle-type mobian, covered in wraps and bandages like a mummy and wearing a large, brown trench coat.
"… Ahem…"
Flame was busy staring at the holograms.
"… Ahem…"
"Huh?"
The beetle stuck out his hand.
"… Doh, whoops."
Flame put the holograms into his black sling pack, pulled out some small rings, counted them, and handed them over.
"Thank you, friend."
"Nah, thank you. Seriously, what would we do without you, Cognito?"
The two exchanged small laughs and goodbyes. The beetle passed Flame to take a seat, asking the bartender for the special of the day while Flame stopped before the exit door and starting pressing things on and talking into the ring on his left wrist.

"Yo, bro."
Shadow's voice responded.
"What's the intel?"
"Eh… you're not gonna like it…"
"I won't know until you tell me."
"… Metal's put the Emeralds in the hands of abuncha different 'Guardians.' Getting 'em all won't be as easy as last time."
"It wasn't easy."
"Yea, well, we won't be putting up with abuncha bots this time around."
"I take it these 'Guardians' are experiments of Metallix?"
Flame pulled the holograms out and skimmed through them.
"… Looks like some are… Here's something else you won't like."
"Shoot."
"Dark's one of the Guardians."
"Damn. Of course Metallix would put an Emerald in Sorrow's hands."
"Well, at least we know one of the Guardians. With the others, we have no idea who we're dealing with."
"The devil you know it not always the better. And Sorrow is almost literally a hell-spawn. And with that Chaos Emerald…"
"The guy's gonna breeze through Death row like crazy."
Flame heard Shadow sigh.

"Well… I'll see you back here. Omega's on his way."
"What? What about Gemerl?"
"Under maintenance. Miley said he's overdue."
"Ah well…"
"What's wrong with Omega?"
"I don't think he likes me…"
"… He's a machine, Flame…"
"Gemerl's cool with me. Omega… always looks like he wants to strangle me…"
"… He's a machine, Flame…"
"… Alright, whatever. See ya in abit."
Flame walked out the door.