Heeeeeyyyy! ... Yeah, I know it's been way too long. I am more than aware of that and I have no excuse. I haven't been busy with anything and nothing came up that I would class as important. I'll just be blunt, I'm severely depressed and that has changed me. It stopped me from writing and got me to the point where the thought of doing anything made me want to cry. That's just how it was and still is. Yet somehow, I managed to finish this chapter after starting it months ago. I don't know how, but here it is!
I'm not going to say that I'm back, because that would be a lie. But, I am trying. I hope at least some of you can understand.
Anyway, here's Chapter 9! I hope you enjoy it and I'll hopefully see you soon!
Arby xx
P.S. This chapter gets real science-y, all about the multiverse and so on. I hope that doesn't bother you too much, but there is always Google if you wish to look any of it up.
Despite several heart attacks from the locals, Espio and Charmy entered the underground hideout with no issues. Rouge was pacing back and forth outside of Nocturne's room. The chameleon felt bad while Charmy felt nothing at all. In his eyes, Nocturne was the one who killed his friend and that was not something to be forgiven regardless of what 'world' he was in.
She gave a small nod and a weak smile upon noticing the duo. Espio didn't hesitate as he approached her, while Charmy kept his distance. It made him very uncomfortable to see someone who he thought was dead.
"How is she?" The ninja asked.
"W-well, the Doc managed to stabilise her. It's not just the wound that has the Doc worried, but the burns that came with it." The bat told him. "It's just… not right to see her down like this. She's the strong one… not me." Rouge saddened at the thought, as did Espio.
"You're not alone. You still have the entire resistance." He reassured. "Nocturne will make it." Espio said firmly as if it were a guarantee.
"So, what about you? The other Espio now knows that you're here. Arby does too. That could put you in some serious danger." Espio appreciated the concern, but he knew she just wanted to think of something else. He couldn't blame her. He wasn't sure what he would do if it was Shadow in Nocturne's position.
"I will say that I did notice something odd." Espio began as he put a hand to his chin in thought. "When Arby was being yelled at, she didn't show any emotion at all until Espio gave the order to attack." Rouge tried to remember the same thing, but her mind was still a mess from the incident.
"Do you think that means anything?" She asked, choosing to believe him anyway.
"Perhaps this other Espio has more control over her than I first thought. She doesn't act on raw emotion anymore, only on Espio's commands." He concluded. Charmy was listening to the conversation from the wall he was leaning on.
"He's crazy." The bee thought. He didn't believe any of it. How could anyone have that kind of control over someone else? That simply wasn't possible, at least not in his mind.
"It does make me wonder though." Rouge continued. "What she was like before all of this, both her and Nocturne. I wonder how different or similar they were as opposed to now." She paused awkwardly. "Do you… think maybe she used to be a good person?" This caught Espio by surprise. The Arby he knew was always good, but he couldn't just say 'yes' since he didn't know this version of her. That didn't rule the possibility out though. She could easily have been good and maybe still is. Her flaw is the being that she puts her faith into: him.
"I don't see why not." He answered briefly. It wasn't something he wanted to think about at this moment in time. Charmy burned a glare into the reptilian's back.
Suddenly, the door opened. Doctor Eggman's head poked out with a nervous expression.
"Good, you're here." He spoke directly to Espio, who gave a quick glance to Rouge.
"Uh, yes." Espio stated.
"Nocturne is awake… she would like to speak with you… alone." Eggman told him.
"May I ask why?" Espio questioned.
"She wouldn't say. Come along now." The Doctor moved from the doorway and into the corridor with the others. He gestured for Espio to go inside. "Be sure to shut the door behind you." He reminded. The chameleon nodded.
"I'll be back before you know it." He spoke to Rouge to give her a bit more comfort. She simply nodded at him before he disappeared inside.
His jaw fell the moment he laid eyes on her. Her red scales appeared to be somewhat darker, but her black scales were no longer black. They were nearly white.
"Chaos…" He whispered.
"It… looks worse than it is." She spoke weakly at the sight of his shocked expression. "Take a seat." Espio did as he was told and sat on a simple, wooden chair next to her bed. The leg creaked as his weight was put onto it.
"You wanted to see me?" He reminded her. She gently nodded.
"I don't know how to explain this, so I'll just straight up say it." She took several breaths before continuing. "I saw Nocturne."
…
"What?" Espio thought with bewilderment.
"Your Nocturne." She added.
"What?" He said aloud this time. "H-how? I don't understand."
"I don't understand it either. But I saw her. She was stood close enough for me to see her, but not close enough where I could reach out and touch her." She explained.
"It was probably just a dream." Espio suggested, but Nocturne was adamant.
"I get why you would say that, but I'm telling you, this was no dream. Well, it was in my head, yes, but it was real. We were in this vast expanse of nothingness. It was just me and her. She looked pretty beat up. All of her horns were cracked in some way, she had bruises and cuts all over her body, one of her eyes wasn't even there and she was gritting her teeth as if she was in pain." Espio wasn't sure what to make of everything she was telling him. He simply thought that it was a vivid hallucination from her injury somehow. However, one question needed to be asked.
"How do you know that the Nocturne you saw was the one from my world?"
"Well, I didn't, not at first anyway. Until she said one thing to me." She took a breath. "My sister is gone." Nocturne finished. The ninja felt chills run down his spine. That final sentence shook him to his core.
"Nocturne knocked out the other two and then escaped through the portal over there." She pointed it out to Espio, who got up with haste.
"Damn! We have to go after her!"
"No!" Arby said a bit too quickly, before calming. "We don't. You see… the-the portal malfunctioned as soon as she went through, meaning that she um…"
"Because of that, Nocturne is effectively trapped in the Void with no means of escape." Eggman finished for her.
"… Can I ask you something?" Espio questioned. The downed chameleon nodded. "Do you know what 'The Void' is?"
"I may be the leader here, but all that science stuff isn't my strong point. That's more of a question for the Doc. Why?" Nocturne asked in return.
"I remember the Eggman from my world mentioning it before he was killed." Espio told her.
"Well, don't let me hold you back. I want to see Rouge anyway." The reptilian said with a weak smile.
"I'll send her in." The ninja said before getting up and leaving.
Once back in the corridor, he noticed that no one had moved from their positions. It was unnerving him just a little bit.
"You can go in now, Rouge." He spoke kindly, allowing the bat inside and closing the door for her. "Eggman." The Doctor looked at the chameleon with a raised brow.
"Yes?"
"Have you ever heard of 'The Void' before?" The chameleon asked.
"Ah! I have!" He replied with mild excitement. "Come to my lab. We can all sit in there where it's a bit quieter." Espio nodded and looked to Charmy.
"I'm just gonna get to know the locals." The bee said before walking off, not bothering to look at Espio at all. He sighed before following after the Doctor.
"Make yourself comfortable." The Doctor gestured to an old couch in the corner of the lab. It was green and soft enough for you to sink right into it. Still, it was better than solid wood. "Now then…" Eggman continued as he brought over two cups of tea. "You wanted to know about the Void?" Espio nodded.
"Yes. It was briefly mentioned by the Eggman from my world and now it's come up again. I will go into details later, but for now, I need to know what it is." He explained. The Doctor listened as he drank the hot beverage before telling him what he had researched about it.
"Most of what I know is just theory at this point, but now that we have proof that the multiverse theory is accurate, it wouldn't surprise me if the Void was as well. You see, scientists believe that each universe is completely separate from one another. I personally like to picture a honeycomb, like in a beehive. Each hexagonal section, whilst part of the same hive, is still separated by a thin layer. Let's say that each section is a universe and the entire thing is the multiverse. The 'thin' layer separating them is what I believe to be the Void. It is an area of 'non-existence' that separates each universe." Espio took in every word, even if it wasn't the easiest thing to understand.
"Thank you, Doctor. I have another question." The ninja spoke.
"And that would be?" The Doctor always seemed to brighten up when being asked about science. It was… nice. It felt good to see Eggman as a human being rather than a psychotic doctor that everyone feared.
"Is there any way to get to it?" His question certainly took the Doctor by surprise.
"Well…" He began to think about it. "I'm honestly not sure. It is 'non-existence'. To get there would mean that you have to not exist, as obvious as that is."
"So, I would have to die?" Espio asked.
"You could, but there are no one knows if you will end up in the Void." The Doctor answered bluntly. "And to be quite honest, that risk is simply far too high."
"Ah, I see." But Espio wasn't done yet. "The reason I am asking all of this is because of what Nocturne told me." He paused and thought about how to summarise everything that he had heard. "While she was unconscious, she saw the Nocturne from my world. She was in a place of complete nothingness and was in bad shape. On my world, Nocturne went into a portal that the Doctor had built. However, it had malfunctioned whilst she was in it."
"Ah, I understand now." The Doctor spoke. "That is also another theory, but it does make sense. If that portal was taking her to another universe and something went wrong before she made it to the other side, then she would be in-between universes, thus, in the Void."
"So, she could very well be alive." Espio said aloud, more to himself than Eggman.
"It is strange how she could communicate with her using her dreams. I will have to talk to Nocturne further about that." The Doctor concluded.
"You and me both." Espio added.
Several Hours Later…
Charmy was trying to relax and listen to the calm music of the hideout's live band. His mind however, wouldn't shut up enough to let him rest even a little bit. He just couldn't believe that he was in another world, yet he had seen the proof already. Nocturne was alive, Rouge was alive and apparently, Arby was alive too. He knew at least two of them were dead, but Nocturne he was never told about. Vector was unconscious at the time and Espio had kindly run off without a word. The bee never knew what happened to her.
He was brought from his thoughts when he saw the chameleon himself enter his peripheral vision. He wanted to ask where he'd been, but decided he didn't care and looked away from him.
"Charmy, we need to talk." The ninja began. Charmy turned his head back and glared at him.
"About what? The past ten years of your abrupt holiday? The fact that we aren't at home anymore despite the shit that's flooding from beneath the ground? Or maybe that we have no fucking idea where our friends are or if they're even alive?" Espio was silenced where he stood. The bee was still furious for his decade-long disappearance and now he had all this on top of it.
"He doesn't deserve this." The chameleon thought as he stood there awkwardly.
"I know that forgiveness isn't an option here, but sitting here being angry is no good for either of us. Yes, we need to get back home, but we need to work together." Espio tried to reason with him.
"What do you need me for? You have Nocturne, even if she is in a bad state, and you have Rouge and let us not forget the entire underground! Me being here doesn't make the slightest bit of difference." He argued.
"If you're going sit around and mope then you're right." Espio added, definitely earning himself an icy glare from the teen.
"You know damn well that I have every reason to be mad!" He stood from his seat and yelled in his face, but Espio kept his calm and tried his best to ignore the sudden silence around them.
"Charmy, just calm down. You're making a scene." The chameleon spoke with irritation to his voice, but the teen didn't care. He wanted to make sure he got his point across and he was certainly going to do that.
"Oh? Am I making you uncomfortable? Allow me to remedy that!" Charmy used his wings to propel himself forward, charging head-first into the chameleon and knocking him a few feet away. He landed on his back and hissed at the sudden pain. Regardless, he got to his feet and glared back at the insect. The locals had already fled the room or hid behind the bar, daring to watch as the two fought.
"Charmy, don't push me." He growled. The bee simply laughed.
"Whoops! I already did!"
"That is it!" Espio leapt into the air and threw shuriken stars in Charmy's direction. He was able to dodge with ease. The teen then picked up one of the stars and used it for his own defence. Espio pulled out a kunai for the same reason. He didn't want to hurt Charmy, just put him in his place.
The ninja then closed in and began to fight the bee with hand-to-hand combat. The insect did well to begin with, but he was no match for a master ninja and his reflexes. Espio was able to sweep his leg beneath him, causing the bee to crash onto his back. The chameleon was about to pin him until the teen thought quickly and used his free arms to grab a nearby chair and slam it hard into the reptilian's head.
Espio stumbled back and hissed in pain. He could feel something trickling from his head and down his eye. It didn't take a genius to realise what it was.
While he was distracted with his injury, Charmy used the opportunity to get back up and repeat the process. He picked up the chair from the ground and swung it into him again. Espio was easily on the ground, but Charmy kept going with his assault. A pool of blood soon began to form beneath him as he took each and every hit. The bee had lost control of himself. Tears were running down his face, but he couldn't seem to stop. People were too afraid to interfere in case the teen turned on them, but especially because they knew what his counterpart was capable of.
Thankfully however, help arrived and she was pissed.
Charmy was met with a hard kick to the stomach before being picked up and thrown into the nearest wall. He slid down it and landed hard on the floor before being picked up by the collar and pinned. The furious voice of Nocturne whispered deep into his ear.
"I am so sick of Charmy's bullshit in this world. Do NOT make me sick of you too." The chameleon threw him into the chair he was previously using, causing him and the chair to tip and fall backwards. He stared at the ceiling in shock while Nocturne fell to her knees because of her injury.
"G-get him to the med bay." She stuttered towards Espio, trying to ignore the pain. "A-and get him some fucking handcuffs." She finished before passing out entirely. Rouge wasted no time in getting her back to her room with Eggman following them.
"She's going to get herself killed if she keeps that up." He whispered to himself.
