Disclaimer: I own nothing here but the plot, the rest belongs to and is copyright to Sega.
Chapter 14: Infiltrate
Vanilla, having made it home quickly made, made her way to her bedroom, leaving Gemerl to wait in the living room. The mother rabbit approached and reached underneath her bed, pulling out a large silver lock box. Gripping the handles of it she hoisted it up onto her bed then started to flick the combination lock on each side. Once she had the numbers in the proper order she opened it up and glanced at the contents inside. Inside was an outfit but the most important thing she was after sat in the center of it. The mother rabbit grabbed the stacked up outfit and laid it on her bed then moved the object in the center, lifting it gently up as if it were delicate.
"Never thought I would again see the day," she mused to it.
The item in her hand was a black scabbard with a multicolored strap that reflected the colors of the Chaos Emeralds. Vanilla gripped the hilt of the sword housed inside and drew it. The sword was in over all length and design similar to a long a sword. The blade of the sword itself was multicolored as well, similar to the strap attached to the scabbard, reflecting the colors of the seven Chaos Emeralds itself. At the bottom of the blade on both sides was an engraving of the Master Emerald. The hand guard was golden in color and extended out before curving up slightly, the tips being smoothed ends. The hilt of the blade itself was solid black in color with the bottom of it being designed like it was resting atop a Chaos Emerald.
"The Chaos Sword, blessed blade gifted to me by the Master Emerald. What things have come to pass that you're needed once more," the older rabbit stated with a sigh as she replaced the sword into its scabbard.
Vanilla sat the gifted sword to the side and quickly started to undress. She tossed her dress, vest, ascot, gloves, and shoes onto the bed then moved to the outfit she had set aside earlier. The mother rabbit quickly got dressed in the new clothes and looked herself over in the mirror. She was now wearing a lavender colored tank top, white pants with orange colored tribal print down the sides of the legs, black boots, basic gloves similar to what Sonic and the others wore which were more suited for combat than her dress gloves, an orange scarf wrapped around her neck and crossed with the ends flowing behind her. She also now wore a lavender belt with a silver Chaos Emerald shaped belt buckle with seven gem stones adorning it once more reflecting the colors of the seven emeralds. Strapped to her back now with the multicolored strap coming over her right shoulder, down her torso, then back to her back to hold the scabbard in place was the Chaos Sword. The mother rabbits face was one of mixed emotions seeing herself dressed in a way she hadn't been in so many years.
"It's just a good thing I bought larger sized clothes. I would hate to see how my original outfit would have fit me today," Vanilla mused to herself trying to cheer herself up some with a bit of humor.
Unfortunately though she was out of time, she had told Shadow she would meet him in the Fountain Square in thirty minutes and it was almost that time. The now dressed for combat mother stepped out of her bedroom and into the living room, glancing over to Gemerl who stood there waiting for her patiently.
"You ready?" she inquired.
The robot simply nodded his reply. With the Chaos Sword once more generating chaos energy to her Vanilla held out her right hand.
"Chaos Control!" she shouted.
In a bright flash Vanilla and Gemerl disappeared from her home and instantly reappeared at the Fountain Square, right in front of Shadow who leaped back ready for a fight. The older rabbit spotted the black hedgehog and couldn't help but smile seeing him there ready to fight. After a moment of studying who had just shown up his face turned to a look of total confusion.
"That was you?!" he loudly, total disbelief in his in tone.
"Yes Shadow sweety, that was indeed me," Vanilla replied.
"That's... Impossible. I sense a large concentration of chaos energy from you now," Shadow stated, unsure whether to believe his own senses at the moment.
He was the Ultimate Life Form and needed a Chaos Emerald to perform Chaos Control and since those were currently missing, it didn't add up. The amount of energy he was also sensing, the only time he had felt so much in one spot was when the seven Chaos Emeralds were all together at once.
"I told you, my mastery of chaos energy is one that exceeds even yours or Sonic's capabilities though it has been long since I last used it," Vanilla said.
"Where are you getting such an abundance of it though without the Chaos Emeralds?" Shadow asked.
"We don't have time for this right now. We have more important business to attend to," the mother rabbit stated firmly.
The black hedgehog glared at the woman, getting fed up with how she was treating him.
"Do you have Eggman's location? Or are we searching blindly?" Vanilla asked ignoring the glare she was getting from him.
"Yeah, I have it. Just before the Chaos Emerald energy suddenly vanished I was able to trace its location," the Ultimate Life Form replied.
Vanilla knew more than likely that Mujorah was the one behind what had happened with the Chaos Emeralds suddenly just disappearing entirely mixed with the sickness and pain felt when it had happened. The emperor god at this point would need to be stopped once and for all this time, no two ways about it.
"Alright, just focus on the location, keep full concentration on it and I can get us there," the older rabbit said.
Shadow just couldn't believe any of this, it was starting to become just absurd but he did as she said. This would be as good a chance as any to observe her power. She could even be more of a threat than anyone had ever realized, especially to himself. With the black hedgehog now focusing Vanilla herself started to focus, making a connection to Shadow using chaos energy. Once the connection was made she threw out both of her arms.
"Chaos Control!" she called out once more.
In the blink of an eye the trio vanished in a bright light.
Eggman's Base: Death Egg Mark Two Underground Construction Zone
The three travelers appeared in a mountainous region where the wind was blowing strong. Embedded into a nearby cliff face was a metal door marked with Eggman's face in the center.
"Allow me," Shadow said.
The dark hedgehog pulled his fist back and slammed it hard into the door causing it to dent inwards then fall off down backwards off its gears and hinges, landing with a loud clang against the metal floor.
"I typically prefer subterfuge but we have to be quick about this," the Ultimate Life Form said.
As much as Vanilla would have preferred going stealthily as well she knew it wouldn't matter, Mujorah probably knew they were already there anyway the moment she had brought them here with Chaos Control. With the door no longer in their way Shadow took the lead and ran inside. The mother rabbit nodded to Gemerl and took off after him with the black and gold robot bringing up the rear.
"I am coming for you Mujorah, this time I won't make the same mistake," Vanilla stated firmly to herself, reinforcing her conviction about all of this.
Had she known back then all of this would happen now, she wouldn't have shown mercy to the creature. Now though would be a different story. With what he had done to Sonic, probably done to the Chaos Emeralds, and what he probably planned to do going forward, he had to be stopped entirely. This time in a way that no one could ever bring him back. Which once more led her to the thoughts of why Ivo had done this to start with. Even having turned evil later on after it all happened, as smart as he was he knew bringing Mujorah back was a terrible idea. She would have to ask him about it herself when they finally found him.
Meanwhile in another part of the base Majorah was pacing the floors. He knew of the intruders that were now making their away through his base. The bad part of it was the fact one of the intruders gave off a familiar feeling and energy that made even him extremely nervous. It should have been impossible that it would still exist in this day and age.
"It would seem we have intruders my lord," Eggman stated entering the room, acting the part currently of loyal subject.
What the doctor couldn't figure out was why exactly the base was being laid siege too already, he hadn't contacted them. Despite it though, Eggman knew watching through his computer monitors what was heading this way might actually stand a chance. He also never thought he would again see the day where Vanilla the Rabbit, former comrade of his before he turned to villainy would once again return to the field of battle. This was the very same Vanilla that also held a mastery of chaos energy that no one has before or since been able to achieve. With her was also the Ultimate Life Form Shadow and the combat gizoid Gemerl. All in all, a pretty deadly trio, though Vanilla alone made up for several Shadow's and Gemerl's, and that was under estimating her. Perhaps this could be ended in a swifter manner than even had hoped. Eggman watched as Mujorah paced the floor, could it be he sensed what was coming? He hoped so, he enjoyed seeing the emperor god nervous for everything he had done. The doctor also wanted to almost just rub it in his face but he knew better for the time being. Better to simply observe in case things went wrong, he could not compromise himself for a simple maybe, even knowing Vanilla's capabilities. It was sure to be an intense battle that was for sure.
Vanilla, Shadow, and Gemerl was met, surprisingly to them with no resistance. More so the Ultimate Life Form than the mother because she knew the emperor would be too confident in his own abilities to handle this himself. Gemerl was indifferent to the entire situation, only being there because Vanilla had told him to be. The trio reached some double doors and Vanilla ran ahead of the group.
"Allow me this time," the older rabbit said.
In the blink of an eye, too quick for even Shadow of all people to see, Vanilla had drawn the Chaos Sword, reached the door, sliced through it, and returned the sword to its scabbard. Shadow, despite his disbelief at the moment caught up and kicked the door, watching it fly apart and go soaring into the next room in two separate pieces. Just what exactly was that sword? The black hedgehog still couldn't believe everything happening up to this point. It felt impossible but yet here he was witnessing it. It stirred inside of him a desire however to get even stronger. It was already bad enough he had an equal in that fake blue hedgehog, but he absolutely would not stand for someone being above and beyond him though in any way. After all, he was the Ultimate Life Form. Once inside the room there became an overwhelming sense of power and despair. Pacing the room before them was Emperor Mujorah and standing near his side was Eggman. The emperor glanced over to the trio and his eyes raged to life, glowing fiercer than the doctor thought possible as they landed on Vanilla.
"It is you! How is this even possible?! Our encounter took place over one thousand years ago! How are you still alive?!" Mujorah raged, clearly highly unsettled at the appearance of the mother rabbit, a definite unexpected turn of events for the emperor.
"Hello again... Mujorah," Vanilla said with a low growl before turning her gaze to Eggman, "Ivo, once I finish here we need to have some words," Vanilla said, speaking in a low obvious angry tone that made him cringe.
~AN~
And things move along with chapter 14! Seems like even more is coming to light about Vanilla, what more is there to her? Well, you'll have to stick around to find out. On a different note, the official fanfiction profile for Sonic Overdrive has officially launched. You can find a link to it on my profile. It will be there where my coming collab End Game with Taurus Pixie will be uploaded so make sure to keep your eye out. As always R&R no matter what you have to say, good or bad it all helps. Till next time my peeps!