Well, it's 2015.
2014 was a year of adjustment for me. Losing my apartment, getting two new jobs, resuming my therapy, accepting how non-existent my social life is and will continue to be for quite some time, accepting that Sonic will never be as respected as he once was, etc. Coming to grips with it all, has been a pain, and a constant writer's block for me not just for this story, but for other projects I'm supposed to be working on.
I actually had to take a break from being a Sonic fan for a while (for reasons you can discover if you look around the 'Net for me). But, I'm back now, with two new chapters, the other of which I'll be posting later on. Here, you'll see that I'm adding another element to the mix, one y'all won't see coming until it's too late.
All characters within are owned by Service Games (SEGA).
"…and that's the situation, Commander Tower," Shadow finished as he hovered before the G.U.N. leader in his private office. He didn't have to hover, of course, but chose to anyway in order to remain at eye level; he called this his way of speaking to humans as an equal. Abraham sat like a stone in his seat, unmoving as he took it all in. 'I see… Dr. Eggman is making another play at world domination and has gone so far as to eliminate his threats with manipulation, subterfuge and outright violence… This can't be ignored.'
"All right, Shadow. I'll mobilize the troops and resume sweeps across the globe. This is a good opportunity to test out our new robotic creations, anyway. When we find him, he'll find himself sorely outclassed." The hedgehog narrowed his eyes and he rubbed his right shoulder. "Don't underestimate him, Commander. As I said, the Doctor has stepped up his game. We need to do the same if he is going to pay for his crimes." Abraham nodded and replied, "Of course. You are dismissed, Shadow."
Shadow nodded and left. Once he did, Commander Tower switched on his base-wide intercom and announced, "Attention all soldiers, agents, and scientists! This is a Priority One alert! I have just received word that Dr. Ivo Robotnik, alias Dr. Eggman, has chosen to continue his strikes against the people of the world in another attempt at global domination. He has already threatened many lives since his attack on Central City and according to Team Dark's intelligence, he has escalated his robotic prowess and displays of power, and resorted to psychological warfare for his ends. This cannot continue! Each and every one of you who are not already on assignment are to drop whatever you are doing and dedicate your resources to locating Dr. Eggman and bringing him to justice! I don't care what you have to do, just get that megalomaniac! Tower out!"
His announcement concluded, Abraham switched the intercom off and leaned back in his chair, already thinking up a strategy. Before he got very far, however, the phone on his left rang. Glancing, he saw it was his private line. He blinked. That line was reserved for Black Ops reports and the President himself. Knowing it had to be important, he activated the soundproofing protocol for his office, picked up the receiver and said, "Commander Tower, private channel. Go ahead."
"Good afternoon, Commander. How are you?" He nearly dropped the phone upon hearing a voice of a woman, one that he hoped he'd never have to hear again. Telling himself he was imagining things, he shook off his fear and said, "I am fine. Who is this? This line is a restricted number." The voice spoke again, remaining calm, cool and collected sounding, yet having a smooth, seductive and absolutely firm tone that hinted towards indescribable pain if defied. "Do not play dumb with me, Abraham. You know perfectly well who this is." The G.U.N. Commander willed his right hand to stop shaking and replied, "I'm afraid I don't, madam. Since you know me, you must also know that I'm a busy man, so I suggest you hang up and go try your luck with someone else." The woman continued, "Your stalling will do you no good, Abraham. You know that. Right now, your right hand is shaking uncontrollably, even though you did your best to make it stop a few moments ago." He refused to look at his hand. "Also, your vision is beginning to blur slightly in response to your fear. In addition, the wound you suffered in the war is acting up. Do I need to go on?"
Tower growled and barked, "Enough!" Regaining control of his faculties with his outburst, he said, "Very well, madam, let's say that, for the sake of argument, that I do know who you are. You are a supposed to be a myth, a ghost story told by our drill sergeants to keep our rookies in line. That was the agreement for your retirement, right? In that respect, you are not supposed to have this number, as it is randomly changed every quarter." The woman scoffed. "You underestimate me, Abraham. Something like that is nothing for me. If I wanted, I could just as easily infect cyberspace, or wipe out the stock exchange, or perhaps, kill all the troops you are sending after Dr. Eggman." Tower's breath hitched at that. "How do you-"
"How do I know Shadow the Hedgehog sent you a warning about Dr. Eggman's plans? Or are you possibly referring to how I know that the President himself ordered you to investigate the Oboro clan last week for possible espionage collaboration, but you haven't done so because they're, quote, 'Not worth all your resources'? Or perhaps you want to know how I learned that you've been secretly reverse engineering Eggman's technology for your military use, from blueprints to experimental roboticization?"
Tower was shaking again and his breathing was starting to become labored. "Th-That is c-c-c-lassified information, m-madam. What's to stop me from tracing this call and taking you down?" The other end of the line immediately screamed to life with the sounds of bone-chilling shrieks of agony. It went on for about a minute before going silent. Then, the woman returned. "I would say the fact that your team assigned to such a task has been rendered unable to so."
He was beginning to panic now. If this woman was truly who she claimed to be, then he was not safe. None of them were. His right hand shot for the intercom, but at that moment, the power suddenly went out. Nothing was on. Not the phone, not the lights, not the intercom, nothing. Now sitting in pitch black darkness, Tower froze in terror and whispered to himself, "How in the hell…?"
"You know how, Commander," said a now familiar voice from directly behind him. He quickly reached for the pistol in his drawer, but what felt like a knife to his throat stopped him cold. "You also know me, don't you? Be honest, now…" Tower swallowed hard and answered, "G.U.N.'s most efficient and d-d-dangerous operative. 700,000 m-missions executed f-f-flawlessly since your career debut at age 15. Capable o-of feats ranging from r-reality bending and flight to space-time manipulation and a-a-abnormal ph-physical strength. Highest… *gulp* Highest body count…in military history."
"Mmhm…" the woman confirmed, pressing the blade harder. "Go on."
"Your reputation for performing the impossible with n-nightmarish results earned you multiple monikers in the countries we sent you to. Pajitnov called you 'Ved'ma Krolik'. In Chun-Nan, you were 'Wupo Yah Toi'. Reimei, 'Majo Usagi', San Ronaldo, 'Conejo Demonio'. Here, you're known as…" He couldn't say it. If he did, he would be admitting his powerlessness, and he could not bear to do that. The couple of centimeters of skin on his neck that the woman's knife suddenly cut forced the issue. "The C-C-Ca-Calamity Baroness!" The woman chuckled softly in his ear, taking sadistic pleasure in watching the "Stone Heart" of G.U.N. crumble before her. "That's right, Abraham," she spoke, her sensually vicious voice seeming to crawl into his head and spread throughout his entire body, filling it with dread, "And I am here to issue a warning of my own. You and your men have done a piss poor job of protecting the peace in my absence. You spent millions of dollars and destroyed acres upon acres of city property to capture the wrong suspect, you allowed your need for revenge on the right suspect to cloud your judgment, and your forces have been ineffective in capturing Dr. Eggman all this time, after all the terrible things he done on and to this planet. Hell, you fools do a better job wrecking the planet than he does from time to time. This is unacceptable, Abraham, and you know it."
Not wanting to give up completely, he said, "Y-Y-You can't blame me for any of that. Our forces c-can't respond to every-" Another lost millimeter of skin silenced him. "Don't give me any of that crap. You're the Guardian Units of the Nation. You protect the United Federation and its allies from threats. The military I left did just that, but with honor, dignity and class. They did not resort to collateral damage, cover ups or crude machines." Still feeling indignant, he spat, "Big words coming from a ghost in early retirement. Did you get bored sitting on your ass?"
The moment he finished that statement, an audible snap was heard as the Commander's arms and legs suddenly twisted and broke. As he screamed in pain and agony, his larynx was then crushed, reducing his screams to nothing. After that, his mouth simply disappeared as his head was forcibly twisted to the left, and he saw a pair of large, demonic, and livid looking eyes with black sclera. "Still feeling ignorant of your place? No? Good, because I'd rather not replace your blood with motor oil. Now, I am visiting you because I am growing tired of the incompetence of your leadership. So far, I have forced myself to stand on the sidelines, not using one ounce of my powers for anything because I swore I would not interfere in the world's affairs anymore. I could have stopped Eggman, Chaos, Shadow, the Black Arms and many, MANY other crises myself if I wanted to, but for the sake of my family, I remained true to my word, no matter how agonizingly difficult it was.
"You have no idea how much I am enjoying using my powers again, how much pleasure I am experiencing right now. Back then, it was like this all the time, you know?" The Baroness seemed to grin at the twisted memories that were no doubt playing in her head. Visions of destruction, torture, and outright insanity flashed in her mind. "As I use them, though, I always feel my sanity slipping, little by little. For my loved ones, I have gone out of my way to avoid losing myself. But, my patience is wearing thin. If you and your men do not get your act together, if I am forced to end my retirement and clean up your mess, Commander Tower, then there will be pain, calamity and true chaos, the likes of which have never been witnessed. And may God have mercy on this planet, for there will be none from ME."
With that, everything was suddenly back to normal. The power was on, the phone was operational and, even more shocking, the injuries inflicted upon the Commander were non-existent. Heck, even the old war wound in his leg was gone. Plus, the Baroness was nowhere to be seen. Upon realizing this, the gravity of everything that had just happened hit him all at once, and he fainted from the shock. One word repeated itself over and over again as his consciousness faded.
'Calamity…'
Creepy chick, right? I had many mature, badass, powerful and/or somewhat unstable women in mind when I was writing her, though you probably won't notice every influence right off the bat in this immediate chapter or even later on:
Wanda "Scarlet Witch" Maximoff (Marvel: The Avengers/X-Men)
GLaDOS (Portal)
Mei Terumi (Naruto: Shippuden)
Melinda May (Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)
Millia Rage (Guilty Gear)
Lucy Liu
Nina Williams (Tekken)
Colonel Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Marvel: The Avengers)
Hawkgirl (DC: Justice League)
Maya/Crimson Viper (Street Fighter)
Lulu (Final Fantasy)
Maleficent (Disney)
Samus Aran (Metroid)
Airachnid (Transformers Prime)
Rachel (Ninja Gaiden)
Livewire (DC)
Bayonetta
Tia Harribel (Bleach)
Parasoul (Skullgirls)
Sephiria Arks (Black Cat)
Jun Kazama/Unknown (Tekken)
Orochi Shermie (The King of Fighters)
Akasha Bloodriver (Rosario + Vampire)
Jean Grey-Summers/Dark Phoenix (Marvel)
The Calamity Baroness is still a work in progress, mind you, so I haven't found the right mix of these women for her. Just keep them in mind the next time you read this chapter and when she shows up much later on in the story. The next chapter will be released when this one has been around long enough.
As always, thank you for your patience.
