Chapter 10 Rapture
Lemon's P.O.V.
"Where are you taking us!?"
I cried out, my throat burning from how much I had been speaking, but it was to no avail. Tears were streaming down my cheeks from the intense fear that I was being consumed with. At this point, I was unsure if I was going to survive, but I held on to the hope that we were going to be saved. I looked at Cryptis, who seemed to be oddly unconcerned about what was going on.
"How could you be like this right now!?"
I practically screamed at him, but he only yawned at my edge, which made me slump back into the corner that I had multiple panic attacks in already.
Where am I and what do these individuals want with me?
I asked myself as I tried looking around, but the area that we were being kept in had minimal light.
"Showing fear only empowers those who want to strike it into you"
He said quietly, as if he was waiting for something or was trying to listen to something. I saw Cryptis stand up in the darkness, but what was odd, was the fact that his eyes didn't glow when they were opened. I wasn't sure if he had his eyes open because of the darkness, but it was odd nonetheless.
"You're asking me to cast off the very thing that drives me?"
I asked incredulously as I saw him curl up next to me on the right side of me.
"I'm not asking you to do that, I'm just causing a suggestion"
He said, looking up at me. With the little light that filtered through the ceiling of this place, I was able to see some fear in his eyes, but it was gone before I could ask him if he was scared.
"What do you suggest that we do?"
I asked him as he looked down at the floor, seemingly defeated by something. He took a deep breath and sighed.
"I have already taken a mental picture of this place, and I'm afraid that our chances of escaping this place are about 8.2%"
He said with his voice trailing off as he finished his sentence. I looked up at the light that filtered into the dusty room.
"How were you able to accomplish all of what you were able to?"
I asked him, looking down at the floor where he was lying.
"I was able to confirm my suspicions when you were crying out for help constantly"
He stated flatly and with a yawn. I twitched in anger for a moment,and then I sighed.
He right; if I spent less time being afraid and actually trying to overcome my problems, I could be better off.
I thought as something started to crackle around us. I was instantly nervous because I had never heard of anything like this in this place before we had been here.
"If you haven't died yet, or have given up, we'd like to ask some questions"
The voice stated. It sounded familiar, but it was barely distinguishable by the crackling that came from the speaker as the voice spoke. Cryptis stood up and brought his face close to mine.
"Don't answer any questions, leave them to me"
He hissed, but I was confused.
"What, wh-"
I started to say, but he covered my mouth with his paw.
"Don't speak, I have A plan"
He said with the same urgency as before as he went to the nearest crackling speaker.
"This is the apprehended Cryptis speaking; what are your questions?"
He asked, and when he said apprehended, I stifled a laugh. Cryptis looked at me for a moment, seemingly irritated with something. I shrugged just as the speaker crackled again.
"Before we ask our questions, it would be wise to note that any untruths that you speak will result in painful consequences"
The voice spoke from the other end, and in response to this, I saw Cryptis shrug.
"The questions will start now, yes?"
He asked, and I stifled another laugh. I liked how Cryptis was trying to make me feel safer, but I was unsure if his actions would help.
"Our first question is this: what are your names?"
The voice asked, it was at this point, I started to get nervous again.
What will he say? What will he do? Will he tell the truth? Was the prior statement just a lie?
These questions flew through my mind as I saw Cryptis scratch his claws on the wall absently.
"I regret to inform you that it is only I that is present; there is no one else with me"
He said into the speaker, giving me a wink. He quickly dashed over to me and motioned for me to put my ear close to his mouth. I did this and he started to whisper something to me.
When they hear this, and if the door opens, play dead, maybe we can get out of here
He whispered to me quickly, and then quickly ran over to the speaker again just as it crackled again.
"Are you trying to say that the other occupant with you has died or is missing?"
The voice asked with interest.
"Yes, unfortunately"
He said as he looked at me. I guess that this was a sort of signal, and I nodded slightly to make sure that Cryptis knew I was ready for the plan to take action. I opened my wrist, which produced a set of small buttons. They glowed slightly in the dark while I searched for the one that would stop my heart, the Perpetual Generator. While this happened, laughter resounded from the speaker in the room.
"I thought it wouldn't be long before she died anyways, much less from a panic attack"
Another familiar voice stated coldly. Suddenly, the room became intensely bright, and at the moment the lights came on, I fainted, but I was able to listen, and that, I thought, would give me an edge in this situation.
I have no idea what Cryptis is trying to do here, but I'm not going to doubt him on this one
I thought as I slumped to the floor at the same moment as the doors opened. I heard footsteps that were heavy and pronounced enter the room. I heard Cryptis growl when the footsteps stopped resounding.
"It was your lack of sanitary observations that contributed to her death"
I heard him seethe, but whoever had entered the room stayed quiet. I heard Cryptis scoff.
"You're not going to say anything?"
He prodded angrily. I knew that this was a ploy, but either he was truthfully upset, or he was good at acting, since the individual who had entered the room had taken a sharp breath. The footsteps resounded again and I could feel the air around me being displaced as this individual stopped near me.
"I find no lack whatsoever, but I will determine if this reptile is to be disposed of"
The individual stated flatly, causing Cryptis to hiss loudly. The individual that was near to me laughed curtly as Cryptis started speaking again.
"How dare you address her like that; she's sentient creature!"
He roared as I heard scratching resound for a moment.
Don't do anything that you would regret Cryptis
I thought mentally, but it was too late; the sound of what seemed to be electronic crackling resounded and I heard a grunt of pain as something impacted the floor. I couldn't physically react, but I wanted to.
I can't react, if I do, our plan would be jeopardized
I said mentally, trying to reassure myself that everything would go fine, but I had trouble convincing myself that it would.
"That's something that I call Shock Therapy; an invention created by the brilliant Doctor Ivo Robotnik!"
The individual crowed as I was lifted off of the floor jerkily.
Great! Now how is Cryptis going to contact me?
I thought as I heard him groan on the floor. Just as Ivo was about to walk out the door with me, the swaying motion stopped and I could feel him turn to face Cryptis.
"You have been shocked with 50,000 volts of electricity this time; next time, I will double the amount, effectively melting your brain!"
Ivo dictated as he turned around and walked out of the room. The doors shut behind us, and the air hit me. It was musty, cold, dry, and heavy. It was like the area had humidity, but I couldn't detect or feel any.
"I wonder what you died from actually"
I heard him mumble as he walked with me down the hallway. It was hard to stay conscious from the swaying motion, but somehow, I was able to. He walked for some time until he stopped again in front of something that made a soft ringing sound.
"Identification"
An electronic voice stated. Ivo cleared his throat.
"The Prestigious Doctor Ivo Robotnik!"
He said, and right after he dictated his words, another soft ringing sound went through the area, and the hydraulic doors opened with a hissing sound. Ivo walked into the room, and the doors shut behind us. The room was dark compared to the hallway, which seemed to be brightly lit.
"So, it seems that Lemon was the first one to die?"
A familiar voice asked as I was dropped unceremoniously onto a table. I heard shuffling in the room, and I felt that I was open and vulnerable.
"It wouldn't surprise me"
Another familiar voice said, and the others in the room laughed. Then, another voice spoke above the laughter, and it chilled me to my structural bones when it spoke.
"Whatever the reason for her death would be, it would be wise to take caution to ensure that this in not a trick for the two to escape"
The voice stated, and as soon as the voice said that, an alarm bell went off. I couldn't see it, but everyone flinched.
"Computer! Status report!"
An individual with a deep and gravelly voice barked.
"Intruder alert, contenders are crossing the main bridge!"
The computer responded, and some gasped while others growled in response to this.
"If they're at the main bridge, we don't have much time!"
One of the voices stated with tension as individuals clamored to their feet, and by the sounds that I heard, I could affirm that they nearly trampled each other to get out of the room. Before everyone left the room, the chilling voice spoke again.
"Ivo?"
It called, causing a wave of cold to go down my body. I heard what seemed to be footwear scraping across a linoleum floor and footsteps that receded quickly to the room that I was in.
"Yes master Shadow Stepper?"
He called back nervously.
"I know that you are not able for this task, so you will stay here and make sure that Lemon stays here, ok?"
The voice dictated to Ivo. I heard him sigh with dejection as the Shadow Stepper walked past me, and as it did, I could feel the magic energy that it exuded. The doors opened, closed, and it was now just Ivo and I in the room. The alarm stopped resounding and silence filled the room. I could hear the steady hum of machinery, and a slight breeze going across my face.
Is there a ventilation shaft above me?
I asked myself as I heard what seemed to be mechanical clanking start in the room, and this time, I flinched.
No! Not here!
I practically screamed in my mind, but I wasn't able to move. I didn't seem to catch Ivo's attention, since the pacing in the room didn't seem to stop when I flinched. I could feel Ivo looking up at the shaft as the clanking got closer, and while the clanking got closer, my tension and fear started to rise. Soon, it was above me, and Ivo had enough of the oddities that were taking place.
"Who dares to trespass on the property of the Shadow Stepper!?"
Ivo asked furiously as the grate exploded and something fell to the floor. It cried out as it fell to the floor, and a wet splatting noise went throughout the room. Whatever fell to the floor resetted its bones with loud cracking noises, and when the sounds stopped, I heard Ivo gasp.
"What...are you?"
He breathed, but whatever fell started to speak.
"I'm a drunk frilled lizard with two tickets to the gun show; I have no idea what it means, but Emperor told me to say that"
It spoke. I imagined that Ivo had a look of confusion in his face, but I was smiling. I knew who this what and what this was capable of.
"I'm here for a Lemon, do you know where I could find one?"
It asked with what seemed to be a slur in its voice as it spoke.
"You're not going to get this one so easily!"
Ivo yelled as I heard the mechanical clicking of what seemed to be a projectile-launching apparatus. Without warning, and at what seemed to be an extremely quick span of time, the apparatus resounded with three quick and sharp loud noises.
"Ow, that hurt!"
Slayer exclaimed. Now, I was upset. Without my body telling it to, my heart, the Perpetual Generator, started to pump an unusually large amount of energy into my body. My eyes snapped open, and I bolted up, getting the attention of Ivo, who looked fearfully up at me.
Wait; I'm suspended in the air!?
I thought as the familiar sensation of wires crawling over my scales became evident in my artificial nerves. He pointed the object's tip at me and loaded four metal projectiles into what seemed to be a loading bay of some sort.
"Oh get out!"
Slayer exclaimed as something impacted him so hard, he slammed into the door that led into wherever this room went out to and landed hard on his back, skidding to a halt on the linoleum floor. He groaned and pain and tried to sit up, but he was unable to.
"Serves him right"
I muttered to myself as I looked at Slayer, who seemed to be preoccupied with drinking a Yellow substance from a glass bottle.
"And drink some more, and drink some more"
He repeated softly to himself as he drank the contents of the bottle. I lowered myself to the floor while watching this interesting phenomenon, but as I was about to ask Slayer what he was drinking, the space in front of me was turned to superheated metal.
"what's -"
I started, but I was cut of by a deep laugh that sent a chill down my spine.
"Ivo may not be that scary, but I believe that I am"
An interesting, but familiar voice said. A metallic clinking sound went through the area, and a sound that was similar to the projectile-launching weapon resounded as well. I looked up from the melting space in the floor to see an individual of my species that held a similar, if not the same weapon that Ivo had used to attempt to hurt me with. He was unusual, with his oily Purple-Black scales that seemed to radiate a small Black aura in the light. The eyepatch over his left eye that shot a ray of light periodically, the large amount of muscle mass that bulged against his scales, and the way that he stood, almost regally, interested me.
"Say, I think that I might've seen you around before"
He said with an evil smile as he snapped the weapon in half with his right hand, using only his fingers to do this as he took three steps towards me. I looked around frantically, searching for where Slayer went, or anyone that could help, but there was nothing that could.
"The Mastermind wants you dead; do you have any last words before I kill you myself?"
He said as he took a giant sword off of his back and pointed at me. It shone a soft Red color, but the tip of the sword glinted Blue.
"How about get lost?"
Another familiar voice said angrily as I saw a Brown boot impact the side of my assailant's head. He was knocked out upon contact, and he crumpled to the floor. I looked in awe at the crumpled body on the floor.
"Who... are you?"
I asked in awe as I looked up slowly at who had used only a simple roundhouse kick to neutralize someone who I knew was very strong. He looked similar to Rojo, but he had less muscle mass, and was hopping around near the door, clutching his foot in what seemed to be pain.
Does it really hurt that much when a kick hits?
I asked myself as I looked around again. This time, I saw a speaker.
"That could be of use!"
I exclaimed softly, getting the attention of the one who had saved me.
"You're telling me that speaker could be of more use than me?"
He growled, but I paid no attention to him.
"You were of use; you saved me!"
I muttered softly as something fell out of the speaker and landed on the floor with a wet squishing sound. I gasped, expecting to see something disgusting, but it was only Slayer.
"Is there something wrong?"
He asked inquisitively, looking up at me oddly.
"Yeah; we're not moving fast enough!"
The Rojo-like figure growled urgently.
"We need to move, now!"
He dictated even more urgently, causing me wonder just how much was at stake here. I grabbed Slayer from the floor, not even checking to see if there were any damages to his body in my haste to get out of the room. The individual who had saved me was nearly at the end of the hallway, but as I was about the leave the room, Slayer wriggled from my grasp and fell the the floor. Unfortunately, I couldn't pick the lizard up in time and I watched as he quickly produced an empty example of the glass that it had used to drink from earlier. Slayer used it to scoop up Ivo and the familiar Purple-Black individual, and to my amazement, they vanished when the lizard scooped them up with the glass. I stared, openmouthed in awe.
"How interesting will this turn out to be?"
I breathed, but that comment was a mistake.
"It'll be as interesting as you make it"
Another familiar voice rasped. I froze in place and fear wrapped itself around me, chilling me to my artificial bones.
"It was tough to fight your rescuers, so I thought I'd take a break for a round two"
The voice said with a chilling laugh. As I was about to face whoever was speaking, the lights went off.
"Having a deja vu moment here?"
The Rojo-like individual asked me, but before I could respond, he started to speak tensely again.
"Only for combat purposes I will tell you that my name is Fuego; get used to me, you'll be seeing a lot of me for the duration of our escape"
He breathed close to where I was standing, and right after that something impacted the wall in front of us so hard, the portion of the wall that was hit exploded into shards, and light spilled into the hallway. I could tell that it was artificial, but it was hard to make out anything since it was so bright.
"I'm not afraid of the dark; it's the opposite when I'm around"
I heard another voice growl. This voice I knew, but it was odd since I felt more fear than relief at the same time.
"Nice to see you here R-"
I started to say as I turned to look at Ruin but he wasn't there. In his place stood a bewildered Fuego, along with an inquisitive Emperor.
"Emperor!"
I cried with tears streaming down my cheeks. I gave him what I thought was a crushing hug, but he shrugged me off like I was a leaf. I staggered backwards and almost tripped, but I was able to keep my balance.
"There's no time for heartfelt feelings; we need to find a way out of here"
He murmured, and at that moment, I remembered something.
"Cryptis!"
I cried, causing Emperor and Fuego flinch. Emperor looked up at me crossly.
"We're working on that right now, but for now, I would suggest looking at what's behind you"
He said with his voice trailing off. I froze again, not wanting to see what he was talking about. Then crackling started all around us and A voice started to speak.
"It has come to my attention that you have something of mine that I want back"
It started to say. I knew this voice well; it was undeniable who it belonged to.
"Gold!"
Emperor, Fuego and Ruin growled at the same time and in response, he laughed over the speakers. It resounded through where we were, which was what seemed to be a loading bay. There were many mechanical objects that I had never seen before. They looked like they were capable of flight but they looked too odd to be of use for that purpose.
"Why are you so apathetic towards me?"
He asked with mock depression, and Ruin stomped his foot so hard, it punched through the metal that we were standing on. While he got unstuck from the floor, two giant monitors appeared; one showing our current position and the other showing Gold holding Cryptis by his neck.
"There's two options that I can take here, but which one I take is up to you"
He said with a sneer that sent anger through me. I balled my hands into fists and looked at the floor. Suddenly, I thought of something.
Cryptis is too smart to be caught, so why would he be caught here?
I thought as Gold continued to give us his cold stare. I could feel the cold going throughout the room. It was stunning to feel it, but interesting at the same time.
"Do you honestly think that your lives are worth more than his?"
He asked with a malicious smile as he shook what looked to me like the body of Cryptis. I wasn't sure that it was him by the way that the scales that lined his neck were not moving.
Either he's not breathing or he's unconscious
I thought as I looked at Emperor, who had blades emerging from the spaces between his fingers. I could tell that he was extremely angry, but I had no idea how he had held himself together for so long. After this this thought, panic set in. Emperor dropped to his knees and started shaking and convulsing in what seemed to be pain.
"Emperor!"
We cried in unison. I looked up at the screens that I had been looking at, but they weren't present. I looked back at Emperor and I could tell that something bad was about to happen.
"I need all of you to go!"
He rasped, still looking at the ground. He was shaking now, and something was sparking and glowing on his upper arm. His scales were starting to become darker in color, muscles were starting to become more evident, cracking sounds started to fill the area around us, and chains of electricity were coursing over his body.
"Are you sure that you will be fine by yourself?"
Ruin asked as he knelt by Emperor.
"Yes, now go!"
Emperor rasped, causing Ruin flinch when he spoke. Ruin got up and looked at me, which caused me to flinch.
"I'm going to leave, but if you wish, you can stay here and watch the very nature of destruction unfold"
He said as he took off running into the hallway that he had come from. I looked back at Emperor, who had wings sprouting from his back. I watched them form; the bones that came from his back, the muscles that made an interesting coating over the bones, and the tendons that went around the muscles and bones, the way his scales continued to darken, and the chains of electricity that continued to course over him. I watched this from a distance away from him, and I was unsure just how bad this was going to get.
"I can sense that you are here Lemon; leave!"
He said with an unusually deep voice that sent chills down my spine as he looked up at me. When he did, I flinched. His eyes were devoid of everything other than two Red pinpoints of light. Blood was leaking from the corners of his eyes, tear ducts, nostrils, ears, and a minute trace of blood was leaking from his mouth, which was ringed with sharp and serrated teeth that sent more chills down my spine.
"I can't hold this back much longer Lemon, leave!"
He rasped, as more blood leaked from his mouth. I watched it fall to the floor and splatter while I thought about what was going on.
"I can't leave you here like this!"
I cried out suddenly, causing whatever Emperor had turned into look at me oddly.
"Since when did you think that you had control?"
It asked me as more cracking sounds started, and when they did, Emperor doubled over in pain as what seemed to be horns started to sprout from the sides of his head. They were a sickly Yellow color, but they were also Black at the tips. I couldn't stand to see Emperor like this, and the chains that snaked over his body didn't help.
"I may or may not come back Lemon; I understand this"
He murmured as he looked back up at me. I opened my mouth to speak, but I was cut off.
"But for the sake of your life, you need to leave!"
He yelled as he rocketed forwards and hit my left shoulder with such a hard punch, I flew backwards across the floor, and burst through a wall from how hard he had hit me; I was travelling at such a fast velocity, I unsure of where I was. From the remaining consciousness I had left, I could hear an abnormal roar come from the complex as a large lightning bolt impacted the building, and after this, an even more intense flash of light filled my vision, blinding me from its brilliance.
He said that he was going to be fine
I thought as a falling sensation came over me.
Will he be though?
