Chapter 3.2
Failing Hearts [part two]
Author's Notes:
WARNING: Chapter three is currently at the top of the list of the longest planned chapters in Colors Fade history – peaking at over 30,000 words. Due to this, chapter three will be split into three parts – you are currently reading part two. Enjoy!
Hi there, everybody! : D How's everyone? I'm a bit late on updating, about two months tardy, heh heh. ^^"
Today marks three months since my last update! I hope everyone's had a fantastic summer, and hopefully this story can get back rolling! I had a bit of a setback with my original work, which I'll have to take a hiatus to work on again near the end of the year, but we've got a bit of spare time left before then. I DEARLY HOPE MY STORY HASN'T TURNED INTO AN EXAMPLE OF THE HORRIBLE PHENOMENON OF LOSING ALL OF ITS READERS DUE TO INACTIVITY ~
So, let's move onto this chapter, shall we?! Being part two of chapter three, this chapter starts off right where we left it – and I hope the beginning is exciting! BEFORE ANYONE GETS EXCITED, we won't be finding out the proposition today; just some intriguing information. MY APOLOGIES~ To avoid any spoilers, this chapter starts off with action, while the majority is filled with stale humor and boring stuff, and then ends with more action. xD Telling the truth, this chapter has a lot of character information, kind of like a 'reference chapter'. THAT WAY, if anyone wants to know about the main characters, I can just tell them to go read this chapter and then they'd get everything they needed to know. I'm not as happy with this chapter as I am with Chapter 3.3, but I think it's pretty good around the beginning and at the end! I had quite a time wrestling with it, revising it multiple times and proofing it at least three times – and still, I'm not all that satisfied. If I didn't want to update today, I would have just scrapped the whole thing and re-revised it all over again; in the end, I reminded myself that this was just for fun, that it doesn't need to be perfect, and that a bit of repetition and typos don't matter all of that much. As long you guys think it's a-okay, I'll be fine! At certain parts, I used a few words that aren't real words, but sounded like they fit, such as 'sparklings' and 'gradienting'. By the way, this has been sitting here since March-May, so I apologize for it seeming a little dated. xD Part of my problem, as well, was properly adapting it to a new writing style that I'm trying out~ ALSO, I GRACIOUSLY THANK MY FELLOW WRITERS FOR HELPING ME OUT WITH THIS, DURING REVISIONS AND PROOFING, AND FOR ALWAYS CHEERING ME ON! Blitz, Zel, Comrade, you guys are so freaking awesome; I don't think I would've been able to do it without you all! Happy birthday to ALL THREE OF YOU, as well! HOPE THEY WERE AWESOME! u Also, happy early birthday to Caniko, one of my funnest reviewers! And happy birthday to anyone who's had a birthday since my last update, or between this one and my next – hope it's spectacular. :,)
Thank you everybody for the reviews – they pushed me so hard, reminded me to keep on writing, and I'm so grateful! Every review brings a smile to my face, and no matter what, I'll keep working on this fanfic! Anonymous reviews will be responded to in the Extra Notes, and I'll try to be more on time with responding to User reviews via PM this time around; thanks for reviewing, and I look forward to many more! Arigato, see you guys in the Extra Notes! Enjoy!
-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
1…2…3… Resume.
SS Glassworks
Saki let out a little squeal of excitement, which was followed by a cautious look around herself and a disclaimer shouted into the air which muttered that her blatant show of delight was 'just to lighten the mood'. She winked, however, and that was chilling – her smile was oddly knowing, surreptitious.
Sky giggled as well, though it cut through the air like thin, willowy blades, and Kiya felt her head become insubstantial with fear once more – somehow, she had been stabbed and snappishly teleported to this beyond-strange office crafted from glass, had been told that she was a hero, and now, the two Mobians who were supposed to deliver an explanation seemed to be suddenly more sinister. What was going on?
Saki stood up on the cobalt chair, her diminutive feet sinking into the soft fabric, and she let out another darkened glance towards the others, anticipation making her shift from foot to foot, almost causing her to topple off of the wheeled seat. She put her gloved fingers to work at a pushpin, slowly withdrawing it and letting the calendar that it held up fall to the ground in a crumpled mess. In the area behind where the calendar used to be, there was a small metal panel, and Saki put her hand down her own shirt, withdrawing an infinitesimal key from who-knows-where, glancing at Sky for a moment. The aqua rabbit nodded, and Saki lifted up the petite bit of carved metal, her hands shaking from the tenseness and pending explosions (figurative, of course). The little hedgehog pulled off one of her gloves a tad bit, just enough so that she would reveal her fingertips, but nevertheless also be easy to put back on, and turned back around, inserting the key into a barely visible keyhole, twisting a little before using her now-exposed claws to pry the small metal door open. Behind the paper-thin flap were many colorful controls of various sizes, and Saki beheld up at Sky again, which was returned with a quick, rushed hand gesture. The pinkish-purple Mobian inhaled, as if she didn't want to proceed, but she inclined onward and began pressing multiple buttons, too fast for the combination to be read or deciphered, and soon, she needed to use both hands, executing an intricate technique of pulling levers, disconnecting and routing certain wires, all while pressing the buttons swiftly. Suddenly she froze, her fingers lingering. Her wrist was pressed on a single lever, tangles of wires around her digits which were positioned over a button, marbled with green and red. She breathed in, and used the last of her energy to rip the lever downwards, a single spark being emitted as she connected the final two wires and pressed the button. Almost immediately, not even waiting to see if the machine read the process that she went through, she sank back into the chair, seeming to wait to curl up in a ball with exhaustion.
Bright, unnatural lights began to flash from the section in the glass wall, sending sparklings of energy coruscating through the bluish material. A mellifluous whizzing filled the air, and a loading sign appeared on a digital screen embedded in the metal panel, followed by a robotic voice that stung the air like a scorpion. The ground seemed to give in, the air getting icier with foreboding. "Loading." The voice said. "Pending." The voice said. "Prepare to boot." The voice said.
"Start." That wasn't the robotic voice – it was Sky.
There was the jolt. A rippling sensation; the glass floor shifted fluidly, flowing off to the side as if it had somehow disconnected itself from the entire building. A few incensed grunts were uttered as they all were tossed to their knees – however, the room straightened itself. The heroes as well as the bosses remained silent, leaving the air eerily thick.
LL panicked, even more so due to the fact that he knew exactly what they were using. It was a defense mechanism – developed by himself, nonetheless. Saki was one of the only Mobians in existence who had the ability to input the byzantine and otherwise impossible amalgamation of concealed levers, colored buttons, and entangled wires, but LL had been specially trained in how to create these kinds of codes. If it was done flawlessly, or at least correctly, it would trigger two things to happen – disconnect the room from the rest of the building, causing it to be held in place by a limited amount of glass plates, and then cloud over the walls of the room with a blackened darkness that would make the super-strength glass almost impenetrable. But… why were they setting off the defenses, and where was the darkness?
It started off with the ground. Blossoms of shadows began to spread across the glass – at first, they were just curious petals, but as Blitz bent downwards to touch at one, it flared to life. It wasn't on the glass – it was in the glass. The golden female hurdled backwards as tentacles and strings of blackness darkened the scintillating walls, little crystal-drops of sunlight beginning to disappear behind the fog. LL could do nothing but look with horror as the device's chemicals spread across the cagey surfaces – Kiya had sank to her knees once again, bruising them slightly before pulling them to her chest fearfully, curling herself into a ball. Blitz growled insultingly; quickly, she leapt for the doorway, but the opening disappeared the instant her fierce blue eyes blinked – the lightlessness had even overridden the areas that did not have glass, spurting out and creating black barriers. Her foot lashed out as she kicked it, fire blazing in her heart as her foot was set aflame by the metal sole of her shoe, but nothing could shatter the fortification. She collided with it again, the stray sparks emitted like futile fireflies, using her fists as well this time, screaming out in anger. Sayo scrutinized around at what was happening, his nebulous eyes losing all illumination as the night-like obscurities fell into the world – except, in this synthesized dusk, there were not (and would never be) stars. It was not the inky, deadly colors that he was so accustomed to fighting with and against – but whatever Saki had been told to turn on, it was certainly ominous.
"Settle down, this is all merely for your protection and safety," Sky instructed imperturbably, still speaking rather strangely, but there were hints of amusement glimmering through the murkiness.
Blitz sank to the ground, her nails scratching against the surface, her knees smashing into the clouded glass with exhaustion. The blackness seemed to take its time, working methodically to fill in every little space of light, dimming the room until nothing at all could be seen. They were left in the dark, figuratively and literally; the only remnant of incandescence that lingered was the metallic, cold, unfeeling glow from the machine in the wall that had been used to trigger those same mechanisms. Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, like the sun cutting through a morose mist, Saki's words echoed around, all the previous fatigue leaving her stature. "Success!"
"Wha?" Blitz heard herself crackle out, but nothing followed, except the unobtrusive pants of Kiya, distilled by fear.
Then, Sky's giggles came, the mocking, tsk-tsking sound of laughter. She was entertained. When she spoke again, the tone was lightened, though still ridiculing. "The process of triggering the shadow walls is frightening in general by itself, so Saki and I decided to have a little fun!" The sound of flesh meeting flesh resounded through the ambience, a slapping high-five which ended in a disgruntled hiss from Saki – presumably, Sky had hit too hard.
Blitz let out a puff of relief in spite of herself, before mumbling under her breath, "More like losing any strands of trust we had for you two." She heard a quiet squeal of agreement from Kiya, but that was all; they were abandoned in the sightless silence.
Sky tittered again, Saki laughing with her as well this time; the two of them created a jubilee of chortles that were even freakier in the world that was completely shrouded by darkness. By now, the others' eyes had adjusted a little bit, and they were beginning to see faint outlines – however, mostly nothing was perceptible, and none of the heroes seemed to care enough to shed some light. Sky had to wait for a few moments to grasp onto her senses before she could finish her avowal, and when her voice did echo around the isolated room, it was much calmer. "Regardless of what happens in this room today, we will all be faced with a moment where we're trapped by an invisible force without any escape, sometime soon. Think of it as a test."
Her tone dropped lower, almost disappointed. "You have much to learn." There was an unnerving quality to it, as if she felt sorry for them. It was slightly as if she knew something that she shouldn't, as if she was predicting that there was something to come, something unimaginable. Foreboding.
Nervous shuffles were all that responded to her statement, except for a murmur uttered by Kiya – surprisingly –, which simply whispered, "Learn… about the proposition?"
"Oh!" Saki precipitously exclaimed, and in the feeble shadows, Kiya thought that she could see the two bosses exchange embarrassed, slightly panicked glances – then they abruptly leaned backwards and scratched their heads with confusion, as if they had already forgotten about what they were about to propose… again.
Instantly, Saki scrambled back up onto the chair, bending over this time so that she could squint into the panel far enough. Unexpectedly, she spat out a curse and stuffed her entire arm into the space in the wall, her fingers shuffling around. After a moment, she yanked something out, and withdrew what looked like a broken wire in the obscurity, almost falling off the chair with the force of her tug. She looked at it in her hand, shook her head pointlessly, and threw it to the ground with a disassembled "Ooops!". She went back into the metallic section, putting both of her arms and her head in this time, which was a wonder since the panel seemed to be flat – many wouldn't even expect her to fit a finger into the dark space. After a moment, she let out an expression of hysterics and a coaxing, "There we go!" – a thousand vivid glows filled the metal panel, illuminating the room with multicolored fireflies of enlightenment. Frighteningly, the besmirched walls almost took a… scarlet hue. The eyes of each of the Mobians glistened with emotions and luminosity – the black of Sayo's emotionlessness seemed to dance with that invisible indigo fire; Blitz's hostile azure gaze was dubious; the ruby red of Kiya was still apprehensive; the pools of LL's aquamarine were tainted with confusion. Sky's vermillion orbs glittered with cold deviance – the champagne gold of Saki's were dancing with defiance.
The blue rabbit reached over to the side, her grin becoming focused like a camera zooming in and wobbling – the soft feeling of her gloved hand met the edge of a map that was taped to the wall behind the desk. It was a regular, innocent map that most offices had – nothing worth mentioning… until now. Sky's water powers had been triggered, and now, the crystal-clear liquid raced along the surface, destroying the map. Ink ran down the sides of the fragile paper, which, with a tough rip from Saki, was scattered through the sky like white butterflies. Blitz caught one of the wet paper shards in her palms; however, she didn't have time to examine it, her attention pulled upwards once again. There was something behind the map.
The bright, blinding LED lights of a flat-screen television, previously concealed by the friable map, added even more unnatural color to the atmosphere – Blitz felt herself, as well as the others around her, flinch at the sudden, flashing change of ignition; not even her strict self-control training could obstruct her natural reflexes. Shielding her eyes, she met the intense gazes of Sky and Saki, which, she had noticed, were wild with excitement, gleefully enjoying the sight that played out before them. She slowly rose to her feet, her pupils constricting as Sky's lips began to move again.
"For the last several months, Saki and I have been stalking each of you carefully. One presented themself promptly and gave us the actual idea of watching the others–" she moved her eyes discreetly over to Sayo, who shivered as if she had frozen him, "—another was quite easy to take notes on due to their sheer nearness." This time, she looked at LL, and almost smiled mischievously. The golden hedgehog seemed to squirm, and then appeared to be cursing himself for not noticing the peculiar involvement that Saki and Sky (despite always being sister-like towards him) had recently instilled in his life.
"Others were more difficult!" Saki declared proudly, as if she were happy that there had been a challenge. Her golden eyes wandered onto Kiya. "For one, we had to send out Turqui—I mean, superior employees – to stal—I mean, gather the information through the precise art of espionage – that specific Mobian. For another…" Saki's countenance grew garnet with rage, and Sky looked at her, both of them sputtering out the words simultaneously:
"It was so hard! Not even the finest records could be found – all we had to work with was a small folder of information that we had collected beforehand; everything else was left in the dark."
There was no doubt that they were talking about Blitz – she shuffled a little, relaxing and blushing a tad bit at their outrage that she had destroyed every trace of herself that ever existed. She giggled nervously, concurrently slightly embarrassed that she'd forgotten to get rid of that small document that the bosses had of her back when they were planning to work together.
Recovering quickly, as they always did, the two Mobians grinned and announced, "With the information we gathered, we managed to compile a large database full of things about each of you, including medical records, personal information, travel archives, and even shopping receipts as well as calling logs. After the transposing stage, we managed to condense the material into short summaries. This information is merely for you to learn more about each other, before we describe why you need to know this."
Saki twittered, reaching forwards and running her fingers sinuously across the surface of the television screen. The image on it changed abruptly from the generic SS Glassworks logo directly into a picture of Sayo, with thousands of utterances zipping across the page. Numbers. Words. They were the records that Sky had just mentioned – and then, after a moment of blinding text in alternating fonts, the summaries appeared. The four 'heroes' glanced at each other out of the corners of their contemplations, waiting for what would happen next (of course, since this vacillating room and this particular day had been shown to be fickle), before they all fell hushed and moved their scrutiny onto the white rabbit, then to the glowing screen.
S-A-Y-O [THE] R.A.B.B.I.T.
*Physical Description –
Sayo the Rabbit is a rabbit, of course, with snowy white fur that is silken and seemingly pure. Pristine. Absolutely smooth, his pelt flows with his movements, being abundantly furry in certain places, such as his chest. There is a small blade of fur at the top of his head which he often tries to slick downwards or backwards to hide, making it often seem not to be there at all; his ears, however, tell a different story than the rest of his lightly colored fur. Scattered with ash-like specks of black, his ears declare that nothing in the world is truly pure, that everything is tainted to some point. At the same time, there could be a variety of meanings for the obscure droplets on his fur, almost as if he were sending a message with his ears. It's up to you to interpret this message, however.
His eyes are a deep, inky black that seems to be layered and very easy to get lost and trapped in – a small indigo fire blazes in the center depending on the angle that you view him from. The fire seems to get darker and deeper (but also lighter and more transparent at times) depending on his mood, which has been said to be difficult to read. Speaking of angles and eyes, the shape of his eyes also seem to be different depending on how you view him, making Sayo a Mobian of many faces.
Almost always, his wears a pair of dark charcoal gloves, adorned with his silver cuffs that are studded with amethyst shards. Apparently, he cannot remove these cuffs for some reason – the reason is left unstated, but strange things have been reported if you stare at the gems for too long; people state that they emit an indigo aura, to which Sayo simply smiles. Most of the time, but not always, he wears shadowy boots with gleaming silver buckles – it can also be noted that he is on the shorter (but muscular) side.
Saki immediately paused the scrolling screen, her expression alerted, and she expeditiously pulled out a small keyboard from a drawer in the wooden desk, slamming the poor electronic device onto the smooth surface and beginning to type away. Quickly, she edited the section about Sayo's eyes, changing the beginning of the first sentence to "His eyes are a sexy, deep inky black," and adding at the end of the selection: "Fantasize about him smiling a hot side smirk while coolly winking – it'll make your day."
Sayo's expression was priceless, his irises becoming pinpricks and his emotionless mouth seeming to be confused. LL let out a small howl of agreement – Kiya giggled, and Blitz spat out a few things to add to Saki's commentary. Apparently, now we know what Saki really thinks about Sayo; the white rabbit felt something scarlet run across his muzzle, but it was not blood – it was a blush. A twisted, somewhat odd feeling in the pits of his stomach which forced out a few empty laughs took hold of him; it was embarrassment, something he had only a sample of once. Sky smiled good-naturedly, however, moving her hand out of sight, she grasped the back of Saki's suit jacket and tugged backwards a little, pulling the undersized pinkish-purple hedgehog away from the keyboard and back to the side of the television.
– Personality*
It can easily be said that Sayo doesn't have a personality – but truly, he does. A few words that may be used to describe him are mysterious, laconic, and stubborn. He's quite unreadable, and has his share of flaws – mild awkwardness, quite clumsy despite seeming graceful, not very good at giving in, and closed off. His greatest flaw, however, may be his apparent inability to grasp emotions and hold them. You see, this male rabbit doesn't understand the world very well, and he is literally emotionless – he is still learning to feel, to understand feelings. Each experience of emotions is vital to him, and as he learns more feelings, he'll slowly be able to be understood, as well.
But here we are – back at those three words. Mysterious: Sayo seems to have many secrets, layers, and untold stories, and one almost wonders what's going on in his head. However, in order to be mysterious, you must be unyielding, and it's disputed over Sayo's levels of rigidity. Laconic explains itself – Sayo doesn't speak often, choosing his words carefully when he does, and hoping that each time his voice is used, that he says something meaningful. Words are somewhat useless to him. And of course, stubborn. If Sayo believes in something, he will not give up, which, all in all, is a very good trait. Cracking his feeling-less shell can gain you a companion forever – I, Sky, and my co-author of these summaries understand this first-hand.
Sky and Saki gave cheesy smiles when they were revealed to be the authors, which wasn't much of a surprise – however, after a moment, they realized that they had uncovered too much information about the rabbit when he shuffled uncomfortably. The others seemed grateful for the data, but Sky began to feel guilty about telling so many details. She whispered to Saki to quickly switch the screen to the next field.
*History—
? ? ?
UNKNOWN
Saki and Sky immediately leapt forwards – the image of a question mark on the screen was flickering with information that Sayo didn't want revealed; they moved hastily, however, and the 'Unknown' symbol returned. However, Kiya felt a thrill run down her spine. Out of the crook of her eye, she had caught a small glimpse of the screen, which had described something about… crystalline sparks of light materializing on grass.
"Haha!" The two Mobians giggled, muttering something about their mistakes, and they noticed Sayo's shoulders relaxing – his section was done.
A picture of Blitz appeared on the screen, and the audience of three grew intrigued again: this time, the eyes of Sayo, LL, and Kiya were all trailing with anticipation on Blitz, who chewed on the insides of her cheeks, hoping that they did well on describing her.
B-L-I-T-Z [THE] H.E.D.G.E.H.O.G.
*Physical Description –
Blitz the Hedgehog has brilliant golden fur, gradienting between dark and light in some parts, seeming quite radiant like the sun; like a flame. Her hair and quills are streaked with aquamarine that can only be seen from certain angles – small sparkles shimmer across the strands. How? Blitz fills and covers her quills with blue glitter, which she has explained is a very good defense mechanism. She wears them in a variety of styles, although she is usually seen with a neat ponytail, with side-sweeping bangs and a quill trailing down either side of her face.
Her blue eyes are bright and curious, confident and flowing, like water, but also metallic and strong, blazing like – for the lack of a better word – an azure fire. One can only imagine how beautiful these eyes are, captivating but also having that dangerous quality which is a Blitz trademark. Clear and attractive, these orbs are a pair of diamonds that you won't be able to steal.
A small, paper-thin metal panel finds its way on one of her thighs – if you open up this panel, you will find a huge array of red spheres. Scarlet marbles, vermillion pebbles, crimson gemstones; you name it: if it's circular, red, and small, it will be in this panel. Each of these little orbs can be transformed into a certain flaming weapon, which is something that Blitz is quite famous for. Agile and lithe, Blitz is a force to be reckoned with.
Saki snickered, and Blitz felt her brows furrow – they described her well, but how did they know all that? Then, suddenly, she realized that in some small period of time, the two bosses had finished most of her descriptions when she was actually in the room. Gazing upwards, she looked in awe at the section which she believed was created on the fly.
"You're so pretty," Kiya murmured into Blitz's ear, and she heard the two boys nod in agreement – the golden female said a bashful thank you before turning her attention back to the luminous screen.
– Personality*
Blitz is strong, aggressive, a true warrior (and all the traits that come with it), while still managing to have grace, elegance, and solidity. She understands how the world works, being quite well versed in the dangers and pleasures of life, and she knows how to learn from mistakes (but not always, of course). At the same time, just like Sayo, she is quite stubborn, and will not give up; nobody can call her a quitter, and she's a fighter until the end. Some who do not know her so well might think that she is somewhat defiant, and although that might be partly true, she is very loyal and trustworthy. She is also shown to be very gentle when necessary, and has a somewhat innocent aura around her, that kind of image of a beautiful, helpless girl. She uses this to her complete advantage.
She's also quite a joker, with a great sense of humor, and will always make you smile, always cheer you up. Also, if you're having trouble with anyone in your life, she'll probably readily offer to incinerate them. Long story short, Blitz will kick your ass, with or without your permission – so please, be careful around this pretty blond girl with a fire-lit heart.
"That's right!" Blitz hollered, and met the eyes of Sayo, the two of them locking gazes for a moment. There was something… missing. Pondering on it, her head began to hurt, and she turned her face towards LL, who seemed to look like her more and more every second. A chill slithered through her spine once again as she remembered that old legend of the Mobians; that they may be twins in a different realm – and that they would always have a connection, no matter if they weren't truly related anywhere but in that dimension.
*History—
Little is known about Blitz the Hedgehog, due to her scorched records – however, it is well known that she was extremely famous, making headline news multiple times – not all for crimes, either. Inventor of the spectacular flaming weapons, Blitz had done something that nobody had ever managed to do before, and they were absolutely dazzling, even though they were never marketed.
Everybody knew her – she was kind, helpful, and lived multiple lives, pleasing everybody and fighting for all sides if a conflict arose. An utter badass, nobody dared to touch her, and therefore, without the ability to injure her, people were forced to see into her heart and learn that she was friendly; that, perhaps, was her greatest strength. She was known everywhere: on the streets, to little children watching television, to the elderly in hospitals (admittedly, some of whom she was responsible for putting there due to her heart-racing stunts that she enjoyed pulling off in the middle of the city). The thing, however, feasibly, that she was best known for was perhaps her darkest.
A world-known thief is a dangerous thing, yet nobody ever came for her, for some reason. Partnered with Rouge the Bat, who is still a rogue to this date, they were two very, very skilled thieves, unbeatable, and uncatchable. They stole for different reasons, despite being partners – Rouge stole for greed, Blitz stole somewhat like a Robin Hood, giving a bit to the poor, but also only taking what she needed.
Then one day, it all ended. Something; a deadly threat escaped and led the way towards Blitz, giving her a near-fatal experience. She packed her bags, and with a single lit match (well, more than just one), they were incinerated. They? Every record of Blitz the Hedgehog was gone. She had disappeared from sight, and soon, after a while, she disappeared from people's memories as well – her burnt records shed light on the concept that she had never existed before in the first place. Living in a cabin in a secluded forest, she fell off the face of the world. Many believed that she would never reappear… until today.
It can be noted that Blitz used to own a motorcycle named Death Wish, as well as having another friend of which she led destructive escapades on the universe alongside.
There were hushed murmurs of recognition about Blitz between the three others (more so, Kiya and LL, as Sayo was still looking lost, almost as if he didn't understand the perception of time), and the two hedgehogs both looked with admiration at her once they knew about her past and who she had been. Shyly scratching her head, she modestly responded to their looks with a ticklish wave of her hands, "I'm really not all that famous anymore; what matters is who I am now, right?"
"That's right," Sky murmured coolly, and turned her turmoil of a gaze over and over the group, smiling that thin, knowing smile once again, "Soon, all of you will even surpass that level of recognition. Each of you will find new things about yourselves – a journey of emotions many of you forgot how to feel. Or, in Sayo's case, emotions that you haven't felt yet."
Before the circumspection could return – that is, before they had the chance to ponder on her words –, Saki glanced down at her watch, the little numbers only faintly visible by the metallic television, and she let out a pint-sized shriek, showing her wrist to Sky to reveal the time. The blue rabbit, just like the short hedgehog, looked utterly horrified at the number – apparently it had gotten to early-afternoon, but nobody had noticed the flow of time after the run-in with Amy; the blackened walls also made it easy to lose track of oneself due to not being able to test the light from outside. Immediately, the little hedgehog jumped forwards, inputting a fonting code which immediately caused the pixels on the television screen to distort. Abruptly, it flipped to a blended photo – LL on one side, Kiya on the other. Then it registered in their minds; the remaining two heroes would be presented simultaneously to save time.
Blitz and Sayo both looked at each other and had to stifle gurgles at Kiya and LL's befuddled looks, their heads turned to the side; Sky looked utterly annoyed by now, feeling constrained for time like grapes in a juice-press. She flourished her wrist commandingly in a signal for them to rise to their feet – it took them a moment to realize what she wanted, but they rapidly jumped upwards, standing tall.
LL winked, whispering into Kiya's ear, "Let's see what they think of us," and the blue female nodded, seeming to begin to be more comfortable around the anomalous group.
There was a bit of static popping, and then the words began scrolling, the margins and columns set to narrow so that the words flowed alongside their respective pictures.
K-I-Y-A-&-L-L [THE] H.E.D.G.E.H.O.G.S.
*Physical Description –
{[K I Y A]}
Bright blue fur makes her shine like a star – with a full name of Kiya Magara Esme Celi Samia Zalika Alika Sleoi Dama Alfieri, one can only guess that she is quite grand. Calm and peaceful, Kiya's facial expressions are full of solitude and respect – her wispy blue hair trails all the way to her knees, cascading around her body as if she was swallowed by an azure waterfall, curling, waving, dancing. Her side-sweeping bangs are neatly tucked at the side of her face, and she adorns her hair with many different accessories. These quills are beautiful, and flowing, just like Kiya.
Her eyes, a lustful scarlet, take on a gradient of ruby and garnet, glittering like a thousand hidden gems. If Kiya's hair is a waterfall, then her eyes are the gemstones that are in a concealed cave behind the waterfall –they sparkle for eternity, with an almost liquid quality to them. No emotion of fear, negativity, or sadness can diminish this shimmer; it is there, and will always be there, no matter what.
A thin, black cord is bound against her neck as a necklace, the pendant being enveloped and held by the string – a red, crystal/stone shard, carved expertly into the shape of a distorted crescent moon. Like her eyes, this stone also glitters everlastingly – there is some kind of energetic movement from within the pendant, making many to believe that it's hollow, holding countless mysterious secrets and magic within its reddened arms.
{[ L L ]}
Is LL from a dream? Many state that he's too good to be true. Tall and well-built, Leonardo Linnattan has bright gold fur, ruffled slightly and very intriguing when caught by the light – he's a completely handsome hedgehog, inside and out. A few stray, darker gold stripes flutter along his quills, along with a few unique markings – many scars litter his chest, arms, and a few on his legs, for some reason. His smile can melt you, and he's quite sexy to some others (no matter what the two of us – Sky and Saki – think!)
Leo's aquamarine eyes are easily described as pools, dancing with the shadows of yesterday and glowing the light of tomorrow – they emanate an unearthly luminosity, almost as if they are concealing a hidden, ghostly power. Is it possible to drown in the light blueness of his watery, sky-like orbs? Only one who has swum the waters of his complex soul can answer that.
LL's chest is actually quite furry, with pure white tufts that he enjoys to showcase by often leaving the first few buttons of his shirt unbuttoned. He enjoys himself – but more so, he enjoys others to enjoy him, too. With a seductive, welcoming grin – who can resist?! (Saki can! –Saki)
Kiya blushed at the details they gave of her – it was like receiving numerous compliments at once! She suppressed a few giggles at LL's section, with the little commentaries by his two bosses; she was feeling less afraid by the second. These Mobians… all five of them… seemed like they would be good friends. She was getting to know them, and she knew that when her guard was penetrated, she would finally open up to them and befriend them.
She glanced over to LL, though, and her thoughts were shattered, to be replaced by worry – the golden hedgehog was clutching his head, panting a little, muttering something to himself under his breath. Reaching over, Kiya wrapped her fingers around his arm, giving him a little squeeze, softly asking, "Are you okay?"
LL looked up, realizing that he had forgotten that Kiya was standing next to him; to tell the truth, Sorai had escaped for a moment once again, giving his lungs quite the scare, and bringing his shocking headache to a pinnacle. However, he waved it off, ignoring the lancing pain in his head and smiling graciously at Kiya, simply replying with, "I'm wonderful, thank you for asking."
The blue female seemed to relax, and she released his hand, turning her attention back to the television, where the personality sections had appeared a second before.
– Personality*
{[K I Y A]}
Calm, gentle, demure Kiya – one wonders how a Mobain like Kiya can keep her cool and sweetness, even in the harshest of situations. Quite easy to love, Kiya also finds that it's easy to love others – she doesn't like war or strife, and tries to avoid any kinds of enemies. Many could say that she's a natural-born healer, one who nourishes those that she cares about, one who is careful and precise. Others can say that she's a quiet storm, due to her multiple powers that she can control.
Water, Earth, Air, and Fire – she has not mastered any of them, but she is continually learning. Water is the easiest to control for her, fueled by emotions, feelings, and calmness – with Earth and Air tying for second on the list (Earth requires strength, stamina, along with a bit of mental grounding, and Air requires stability, concentration, and tranquility). Each of the elements intertwine, with the required sentiments, building on each other and creating something beautiful. Fire, however, is a completely different story – it takes each of the feelings of the other three, incinerates them, and transforms them. It can be noted that Kiya always wears a red ribbon or necktie; this is a fire stabilizer. When she uses a fire attack, the red fabric will transition to blue, and her clothing will flipside to the inverted color (since she usually wears white, the clothes turn black – however, if she wears a color like magenta, it will turn green, and so on. This works for patterns, as well – all of the colors change to their inverse when her fire powers are activated).
Kiya also has the profound ability to understand things 'beyond' – she can see things others cannot, hear things from the past, future, and locations (including alternate worlds) miles away during the present. However, this ability is extremely uncultivated, underdeveloped, and otherwise utterly weak, making it essentially powerless. Basically, one could say that Kiya is still learning, so with time, she may be able to master it and wield it with strength.
At the moment, her primary focus, however, is pushing herself extremely hard, breaking her limits and reaching new horizons to find two new powers hidden within her heart – the shadows of Shadow the Hedgehog, and the telekinesis of Silver the Hedgehog; both of her teachers, both who believe she has the potential to wield their magic and become a brilliant force of nature. As we continually state, time will tell.
As we've spent a long time describing her abilities, let's go back to her actual personality, shall we? Kiya is arguably timid – some say it's just cautiousness – and somewhat wary, being guarded and closed off, reserved only for those who can find the hidden key to her mind, unlock it, and convince her that they mean no harm.
Do you mean harm, or are you a friend?
{[ L L ]}
What is a flirt, is a flirt, is a– (I can't be a poet to save my life! –Sky)
Anyhow, LL is a flirt, which is ironic since he attains lovers but never keeps any as a steady source of love (Saki says this in the least perverted way possible… -Saki). It can be easily be said that he's willfully hard to tie down, and honestly, one can imagine someone as good looking as him wouldn't have a single lover. At the same time, it's quite surprising that he has no one steady. We have tried to pry it out of him what the reason for that is, however, each time, he gets a very strange fit of wheezing and choking. We move onto his health, yes?
Leonardo – as strange as this might sound – is a sickly seducer. Seriously, he's a magnet, and he has difficulty breathing. What is that even—(Please get ahold of yourself, Saki. O~O -Sky) (OH, so we've moved onto the smiley face phase, HAVE WE? –Saki) (You've apparently moved onto seizing caps lock phase… -Sky)
Ahem. Continuing on, we must admit, LL has a bit of heart problems, and constantly has fits of fatigue, as well as somewhat of a difficulty doing physical things, more than once needing to be guided down the flights of the SS Glassworks stairs by a customer or coworker. However, he remains optimistic, and is quite intelligent, naturally being able to do wonderful things and thinking of things others' minds wouldn't even touch on at first. So, despite being mostly brains and less brawn, Leonardo is well balanced with his flaws.
Selfless and loving to make others happy, extremely flirtatious, seductive, charming, magnetic – who wouldn't want him? He'll do almost anything you ask him to do; not because he's gullible, but because he wants to please you. In a way, LL can be considered a perfect Mobian in the eyes of others who disregard his medical problems, but he brushes it away, stating that he knows himself and that he's chock full with flaws. (He'd be even better if he had a significant other! –Saki & Sky)
Finally, the lengthy section ended. Kiya and LL exchanged satisfied and honored glances at the special attention their personality sections received due to her powers and his illness – they both knew that it was to make up for their histories, which they knew (or, at least, hoped) would not be too revealing. Unlike Blitz, who had received the exceptional thoughtfulness on her history category, the two other hedgehogs were cognizant that they were not very interesting, and if they had anything worth mentioning, they would probably like to keep it private. After the months of stalking that the two bosses had explicitly explained that they had put into action, Kiya and LL were sure they knew what needed to be exposed, and what didn't. Still, though, there was something to ponder on – Sayo's descriptions were quite brief, seeming to scarcely be the default requirements for the form's fields (three paragraphs on the physical description section, two paragraphs on the personality portion, and a miscellaneous length on the history – actually, he had nothing in the history fields at all!).
All miens were trailing across the alabaster rabbit, who, despite Saki and Sky's attempts to get everyone to know things about each other, remained ambiguous; they felt they knew nothing about him. However, the mysterious rabbit simply met their eyes with a feeling-less, empty attempt at a warm smile, and they all almost felt the vacancy in their own souls afterwards.
However, the Personality fragment was still straggling on the screen, Saki and Sky too kept up in their own thoughts to change it. "That was bloodcurdling," was all Sky could say to the LL slice, like any big sister would say to her 'nuisance' of a brother – although not related, one could imagine how awkward it would've been for those two to attempt to personify sexy LL.
Blitz suddenly began to giggle – she lifted herself up, slipping a red coin out of her metal panel discreetly, tiptoeing around the desk until she was the on the opposite side, next to Sky – abruptly, she slid behind the pale azure rabbit without her noticing, the aureolin female now standing in the middle of the two bosses, obscuring the television screen. Sky and Saki both gasped when they noticed that Blitz had sneaked in between them – they panted again and leapt at her when they realized just what she was doing.
Taking the red coin, she chortled again, ejecting her foot and other hand to block Sky and Saki both from getting to her, snickering, "There are so much things wrong with LL's part!" She pressed the red coin against the surface of the television, pulling abruptly downwards, leaving a crayon-like marking on the screen. She was writing on the screen, the coin being made of some kind of chalk-like substance. Saki and Sky wheezed again as Blitz began making circles around bits of words, worried for their precious television's sake. The eyes of LL and Kiya also became extremely wide, but not because Blitz was getting red circles all over the surface of the glass screen – the golden hedgehog was not making corrections, as would be expected: she was encircling statements, which, if read alone, would sound extremely perverted. Sayo wrenched his head backwards, and, reading one of the outlined statements, tersely looked away, not wanting to feel that awkward discomfiture anymore. But, subsequently, Kiya and LL began laughing, and he let out a few soft chuckles too.
After a few moments, Blitz was finished, still pushing Sky and Saki back with one leg and her spare arm – she turned around and cheerfully looked at the three others, expecting mildly disturbed expressions. Letting it sink in, she giggled again, right before rotating back around and digging her nails into the softened red penny. A few small sparks trailed out of the disk, and she quickly hurled it at the television behind her.
The coin, and the television as well, burst into flames. Sky and Saki brusquely stopped trying to get past her, both of their eyes becoming platter-sized, their jaws falling so slack that one would expect it to dismantle from their mouths and clatter to the ground. Amber flames shed beautiful light throughout the darkened room for a small number of minutes – a few seconds passed, and the fire was suddenly gone. The blinding glow of the TV was still present, and now, looking at it, it was unharmed – the only difference was that the red circles were gone.
"Wha—whaaa?!" Saki screeched, looking even more shocked than she had been at Blitz attempting to destroy the beloved device. Sky leaned forward, her insipid cerulean ears swishing, pressing her index finger against the glass surface and realizing there wasn't even a trace of soot on it.
"Ink that can only be erased by flames… Flames that can only erase the ink," Sky murmured softly, narrowing her cerise eyes, "Well-played, Blitz, at getting back at Saki and I, giving us a heart-attack." There was a bit of venom in her voice, but it was quick and good natured.
Saki let out a grunting sound, staring up at Blitz with awed, admiring eyes. "DO IT AGAIN!"
"Alri—" Blitz began, pleased that she had accomplished to give Sky a scare and make Saki become amazed; however, before she could even finish agreeing to do an encore, she felt something wet wrap around her wrists. Tentacles of water, caused by Sky's liquid powers, bound her wrists and lifted the golden female off her feet with some difficulty, right using the same control to throw Blitz back over to the other side of the desk. Falling at Kiya and LL's feet with a hostile growl, she gingerly peered upwards with her cyan eyes, meeting the identical aquamarine orbs of Leonardo and the vibrant ruby of Kiya. "Why hello there," she said with joking seductiveness.
Kiya and LL laughed again, but there was a harsh crack in the air, and they looked up to see that Saki had broken the keyboard that she was using to navigate the information on the television in half. Frustratedly, she hurled the keyboard across the room, another snap resounding in the atmosphere as it hit the glass wall and screeched downwards onto the ground, falling with a thump onto a fat book with a leather-red cover, imprinted with the words "Immortal Harem" – the book had been thrown at the wall in the same fashion just a few hours prior. Sayo, who had gotten weary from standing so long, had sat himself gently on the side of the desk, and scooted to the side so that he didn't impede the television. There came a beeping sound from the keyboard, and finally, the History sections became visible.
*History—
{[K I Y A]}
Early History:
HIDDEN | N/A
Recent History:
Over the past years, Kiya has worked to perfect the skills that she already had, the interesting four elements, and the many things that can be controlled along with them – lightning with fire, most liquids with water, the ground and natural things with earth, and many, many things with air. But recently, she embarked on a new journey – not on the path of developing her potential 'beyond' abilities (she works on these through meditation, alone), but rather to learn two new types of powers. And who owns these powers? Her teachers. And who are her teachers? Gruff and troubled Shadow the Hedgehog, and somewhat dependent Silver the Hedgehog.
Kiya became their student a few days after meeting them, seeming to emit a presence around both of them that pulled them in like a calming aroma and whispered in their ears a seductive secret that Kiya could very well learn to master their powers and become a brilliant force of nature. They must have agreed to the secret that Kiya's aura told them, since they've been training with her every morning since then, slowly but surely guiding her into the mysteries of shadows, chaos control, and telekinesis. And more than anything, Kiya has been a wonderful student.
We were a bit scatterbrained and forgot to mention Kiya's apparent intelligence in the Personality section – Kiya is extremely smart, and also incredibly strong, both mentally and physically. She thinks of complicated concepts quickly, and also manages to execute them beautifully – something extremely (in)credible. These traits must make it quite fun, easy and interesting to teach her the art of magic – Shadow and Silver rarely have difficulty instructing her. They do, however, have difficulty staying on their feet when she's their opponent!
What is in store for Kiya is unknown – as long as she continues going to her lessons, she might become something spectacular, transforming into something new like a blossoming flower.
There was a pause, and impulsively, each of the Mobians realized that only Kiya's data and image had appeared on the screen; their eyebrows arched, expecting an explanation. Saki and Sky peered at each other, realizing that the broken keyboard had caused a glitch, and with a bored, exasperation-laced sigh, Saki raised a single hand. Blitz recognized the signal, and crawled over to the keyboard on the floor, lifting it up and chucking it back at the little pink-purple hedgehog. It soared through the sky, sliding into her extended palm easily – however, one side, which was lolling adjacently due to being wrecked in half, swung around and banged her forehead. Groaning, Sky inclined onward and rubbed Saki's head while the petite creature slammed the keyboard down and began to type multiple things on the shattered inputs. The screen turned a bright blue, causing each of the others to squint as if their eyes would fall out – then, an extremely large amount of binary numbers began to file across the screen, and Blitz tilted her head to the side curiously. Then, like a slap, color whizzed through the electronic device, the picture of LL appearing (though now, it was somewhat pixelated). Then the text came, distorted, and dozens of medical records screamed across the screen. What was this about a heart–? It would probably not be revealed today, for Saki and Sky seemed like they definitely did not want that information disclosed, instantaneously diving in front of the screen, waving their arms around, demurely pretending that they were doing innocent jumping jacks. Quickly, Saki slanted headlong and inputted an immensely hard code into the keyboard (even more difficult with the smashed keys), and, sputtering a tad, she sought the letter 'L'. When her golden eyes fluttered onto it, nothing could stop her – she let out an uncontrolled giggle and gingerly grasped the key with her index finger and thumb, prying her nail underneath, and then angrily pulling up. The 'L' key was disconnected, flying into the air and thumping metallically to the ground, sliding across the glass floor into some shadowy corner. Suddenly, the television was fixed; Sky slyly slid aside, and the colors restored, LL's depiction becoming clear. The only words, however, visible, were these:
{[ L L ]}
? ? ?
HIDDEN
There was an utterly unamused ripple that passed through the other heroes – all of that just for it to be shown that his history was hidden? LL, however, let out a puff of relief, grasping his shirt near his heart, using his other hand to file through his golden quills in an attempt to soothe his pounding head. He happily sunk back to the rigid ground, no longer required to stand, and he smiled as he felt Kiya's touch gently help him downwards. The cerulean hedgehog remained upright, and she already seemed a little bit more confident. Suddenly, though, she shrank back downwards – Saki had called out her name accusingly, the little hedgehog evidently reading some of the confidential records from Kiya's early past.
"Y-you! You were childhood friends with… with that toaster licker?!" Her finger waggled, her idyllic eyes like little sparkling pinpricks of burning fire.
"A-Amy and I always used to play together! Elle, too!" Kiya cowered – not realizing that the small Mobian probably didn't know who in the world Elle was – deciding that sitting was a good idea, she sank to the ground next to LL.
The yellow male chuckled, and leaned forward, his warm breath resting on her ear as he whispered, "Don't mind Saki; she almost always talks like that, so just brush her away. She says whatever comes to her mind, so even though she'll offer the rawest, hardest honesty you'll ever know, it's better to not pay too much attention to her words."
Kiya laughed delicately too, once again finding comfort in LL's words.
"Elle…? We have a meeting with her this afternoon," Sky susurrated, tilting her head to the side, awed once again by the coincidence.
"Had," Saki corrected Sky once more, noting the obvious time that had elapsed since morning. "We had a meeting with her this afternoon." Sky said nothing, simply peering at her partner from under lowered eyelids.
"You've shown us information about each other," Blitz began, before the two could begin bickering again, "But we hardly know much about you two – with the exception of LL, who's worked here, of course."
Saki looked somewhat insulted, as if the flaxen female was asking an extremely personal question. The only thing she hissed out was in a harsh breath, almost comical: "All you need to know about Saki is that she waves with her legs!"
Sky opened her crimson eyes widely, gazing at the third-person-speaking creature, flabbergasted. "You wave with your legs?" Her tone was shocked, as if it was new information to her.
"Of course!" Saki said proudly, jutting her thumb towards her chest confidently, "Want to see?!" She began to lift one leg, excitement glittering in her eyes.
"N-no!" Sky stimulated forwards and hastily pushed Saki's limb back downwards, smiling lightly with forced embarrassment, "Not now – you can show me in private when… when there isn't anyone around to see... Or maybe when you're actually wearing pants." The pastel cobalt rabbit let out sigh of exasperation, and although Saki pouted, the hedgehog agreed that she wasn't dressed appropriately to demonstrate.
"Can Saki go get pants, then?"
"No."
"Toaster licker."
"You didn't answer my question!" Blitz called out quickly again, this time directed towards Sky, once again attempting to stop a foolish argument.
"Um…" Sky inhaled heavily, trying to find the best way to explain it. "You'll learn about us," she said simply, but then a hesitation, as if she wanted to say something that she couldn't, "—later."
Blitz exhaled noisily, feeling that it was somewhat unfair that they should be left in the dark about the two girls, but not saying anything – she somewhat expected an answer like that.
"Please," Kiya murmured mellifluously, "Please tell us about the proposition?" Her voice was almost begging, wanting to know. It seemed like it had been hours since it had been announced about Sayo's proposition, and now, the suspense seemed to be growing somewhat murderous.
Sky clasped her hands together, shutting down her eyelids, as if she were uncertain. She bit her lip, and looked up, ruby eyes taking on that odd glint again, her mouth quirking up in the strange smile. "A single string will change everything – a string of inky black perfection."
Saki leaned forwards. "Every time a perfect 'character' is created, the flaws that person was supposed to have are transferred to another being, piled up and shed until they can fully create the new creature – an imperfect character. Lost, unknowing, utterly flawed, these beings have to cope with an extremely hard reality – but many find themselves and embrace their mistakes, becoming just right." The little hedgehog made a few cute little gestures with her fingers.
Sky continued on from Saki's explanation: "But one day, too many flaws were packed into a being, cancelling each other out and creating another perfect character. It wasn't simple, like 'careless klutz' cancelling out 'obsessive perfectionist' – but more complicated, ones that cannot be described, but rather, are felt."
Saki seemed to close her eyes to block out some kind of dark memory. "That perfect being, crafted from flaws, is a female, named Perfect Darkness. She states that she is not out to destroy us – instead, her goal is to add 'character development'. What in the world that means… is beyond all of us."
"However, every perfect being sheds some flaws. P.D.'s flaws were concentrated to create one more being, someone named Imperfect Light. Quite unoriginal names, but it made sense, all while being ironic since I.L. used to be the antagonist and P.D. the hero when they used to play games. There was a strange occurrence one day, a final battle, a massive explosion, causing them both to melt away into nothingness. A supple evening, though, they materialized. One was P.D., perfection. One was I.L., emotionlessness. They could not exist without each other, yet they were pitted against one another to destroy each other." Sky's voice became monotone, and the television screen dimmed from not having been used for a few minutes – the light was slowly slipping away, yet even in the shadows, they could all see her ruby eyes slip over to Sayo. A soft sound began to slowly dance through the air, unidentifiable.
Suddenly, the television blazed back to life, and Saki and Sky both made a gesticulation to the image on the screen, a digital map of every nook and cranny of Mobius. "Mobius!" they both exclaimed, with a trademark wink which was strangely unfitting for the previous tenor of voice that they had used.
Then the monotone quiver returned, and Sky resumed: "There are three worlds that this perfection will slither through. The first, with blackened silhouettes of dozens of Mobians who wish to fight for their lives, illuminated by the scarlet sunrise and sunset, is Mobius. We are all in danger." The thrill of the unknown sound continued to murmur like a fly buzzing around.
Sky continued, finishing her statement, "When we said that you were the heroes, we truly didn't mean or mind that you were singled out by the darkness. Someday, all of us will be targeted – the four of you were simply chosen to defend Mobius, P.D.'s own dummies before she moves onto the other worlds. But it makes an interesting story if these dummies fight back, yes? You will not fight alone – there are many people that will help you on your journey, all also targeted by the darkness. This is the fight of our world. We are all heroes."
"Saki is afraid that we're unaware of what the other two worlds are…" The toaster-lover said cautiously, fiddling with her digits. The sound grew louder.
"But," Sky said slowly, stepping backwards so that her spine could press against the glowing television screen. "We believe that each of you have visited at least one of them, in your dreams."
There was a hushed ripple spreading through the room. The four others shuffled; that would surely explain the abnormal dreams, visiting different worlds, making subconscious enemies, seeing visions of each other. Everything was pointing towards them with a shaking finger, the signs forcing them to believe that they were, in fact, P.D.'s stuffed toys that she intended to rip to pieces, as if she were playing hide and seek alone (an extremely violent and frightening game involving replacing a doll's insides with rice, stabbing it, bathing it in salt water, and also burning it afterwards). The dreams… the visions, the coincidences… They were there. It had to be – they had to be.
Suddenly, the silence was broken, the metallic noise cutting through it like a thousand knives being hurled through heavy rain. "What is that?" Sky finally said impatiently, looking around with enragement. Kiya felt herself leap back to her feet – she recognized it. No. No. No.
"No!" she screamed, and at that timely moment of recognition, the world tumbled, the sound weaving into their minds, drilling deep into their bodies. A sharp, unnatural wind ripped through the room, the ground shaking more roughly than if there was an earthquake, the screech even stronger than the loudest screams. Screams. That was what it was, a metallic scream, or something of the sort. Everything had a wobbly outline, the sound like a million stabbing switchblades trying to immobilize them. Blitz stumbled to the ground, LL was left panting, Kiya sank to her knees and screamed with pain. Sayo felt his insides turn over, as if someone had just punched him, leaving him breathless, falling face first onto the ground. Sky and Saki looked around, unsure of what was happening, but when the sound came, they both fell to the floor, taking a flurry of important papers along with them. The television switched off, and the blackness returned, before the equally dark clasp of unconsciousness offered to relieve the wrenching, unidentifiable sound. They opened their hands, and grabbed it.
The blackness of nothingness almost had an ethereal, inky quality to it.
?
To be continued…
-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
Extra Notes: DUN DUN DUN! ^w^ I hope that was good – I wanted to illustrate a lot of things in demure ways, like a sinister (still comical, though, humorously dark) undertone for Sky and Saki, an example that there are many shades of darkness, not all being supernaturally produced by P.D. (xD), and the evident high-tech-ness of the entire company. Many other things were hinted at, and explained, such as Kiya's powers, and Blitz's fame – in the last sentence of Blitz's part, I slightly paralleled the life of Blitz (the character) with my friendship towards Blitz (the author), ahaha! Also, Saki's third-person-speaking has its limits, haha, as you guys can see by her use of 'I mean' instead of 'Saki means'. IT MUST BE HARD TO TRAIN YOURSELF TO SPEAK IN THIRD-PERSON! Many people will wonder what role the database will play in future chapters, and all I can say is that it's just a record of personal information of characters. I might have Saki program some other supporting characters into it, like, perhaps, Turquoise or Elle, but other than it, it's basically just… there. KIYA DOES HAVE A RUN-IN WITH IT AGAIN IN A LATER CHAPTER, THOUGH, SO WATCH FOR THAT! : D I had quite a bit of fun reading along and isolating certain statements that sound funny when read alone, which inspired that Blitz scene. How many of you scrolled back up and tried to re-read LL's section after Blitz used her imagination to encircle certain statements?! Also, did anyone recognize the unidentifiable sound from chapter two? I just realized that Sayo has only, like, two or three speaking parts so far in the story! He'll get some much-needed attention next update, I promise! On that topic, the next update will hopefully be within the month, since I already have it written and just have to revise and proof now. I'm going to try to do it all on my own this time around (even though I'd love to enlist in the help of my friends!) since I want it to be a surprise. ^^ All I'm going to tell you guys is that it's very… supernatural. owo And pretty! We're also going to visit a THIRD world in it, a foggy kingdom, which has only been briefly mentioned in a single sentence. You guys won't catch the mention until waaaaaay later on since the mention is the root of an unexpected twist, but we'll touch on that world next time around. I'll explain it next time, too! I'm also about to start writing chapter four's intro, so if I work on multiple updates at once, we should get on a good schedule. Ahhh, I know I had to say something else here, but I'm just going to finish up by responding to anonymous reviews! A last note on this chapter, there's a ton of heavy foreshadowing, so please, analyze it and tell me your ideas. It's a wonder how many things you can find by digging through my overt-descriptiveness and my excessive humour. ^^
Hegfox: Hi there! I squealed a little when I got your review, my first anonymous review (my two others were from people that I know, haha, one from Caniko and one from a friend from another website) and I'm glad to see that you seem to like the story! I'd love to hear your feedback. UPON YOUR REQUEST, I'm afraid we don't have any more openings at the moment for main characters, since my cast is already pretty huge, but there's always room for supporting and minor characters – or, as Saki would call them, comedy outlets. ;w; Ummm, I can fit Corey in with some humorous mentions (he sounds like a fantastic character!), in chapter four, and then in a later chapter, and you never know what route the story will go, so maybe he'll get an appearance! What do you think of him being the SS Glassworks coffee guy? Thanks for your review! I look forward to your response! Have an awesome day~
Thanks everybody, see you next time! I giggle manically every time I get a review, then I treasure it forever and ever and read it when I have writer's block or a lack of motivation, and feel excited to write all over again. So, thank you! Have a wonderful week, everyone, read away, hope you enjoyed! Bye bye, talk to you later!
SEGA owns the universe, all official Sonic characters, Mobius, and almost everything to do with this fandom.
SunnyAirisu222 owns Sayo the Rabbit, the main antagonist, the story, the plot, and any added elements, buildings, and background characters.
Zelzaina and Lina owns Kiya the Hedgehog, and most of her design.
Blitz the Hedgehog owns Blitz the Hedgehog, and most of her design.
Comrade Athelwine owns Leonardo Linnattan, and most of his design.
DazzleFox (on Deviantart) owns Saki the Hedgehog and Sky the Rabbit, and most of their designs.
Mecha bot 0.4 owns Ace the Hedgehog, and most of his design.
canikostar99 owns Turquoise Stone and most of her design.
Kyoru-Sonamy Fan owns Elle the Hedgehog, and most of her design.
Thanks for everything, guys! See you soon!