I'm so sorry about the late update, but I have a lot to do nowadays. Just like every school year, really... I rarely even get to read my friend's stories, and they are all really good stories!! I wish I could... Well, I think I am going to change the rating to R within the next three chapters, but I was curious about your guys' opinions. The thing with Rouge was pretty basic really, compared to some of the other things I might have him do... I might save some gory stuff for the sequels, if I ever have the time to get to them. Hence my predicament. What do you guys think? Kinda gory now, or the possibility of it being gorier at a later date?
Shadow; I'm not reading another goddamn disclaimer. Everything that applies to the other chapters applies here too.
Recap; "Ten…? No, eight should do just fine!" His hand pulled away, clutching eight ten-inch-long nails. Rouge quivered at the sight of them, sending more arcs of pain down her spine as she hung helplessly. "Oh… you're going to tell me everything…" He smiled quietly, standing up and turning towards her, nails in hand. The vision of him standing there, dimly illuminated by the fire, that horrible, horrible look on his face… It was burnt into her mind for all eternity. "We're going to have some fun, you and I." Her screams echoed through the room, not escaping the thick stone walls.
Tails wandered the halls of the massive stone building, occasionally stopping and leaning against a wall to admire the architecture or feel the fabric of a particularly comfortable looking chair. Well, that's what it looked like to anyone who might be watching. Every time Tails touched something he was leaving a near-microscopic pulse-sonar device on whatever it was, firmly attached to whatever he touched because of a thin jell the small machine would release upon leaving his hand. To the uninterested eye, it might look like a stain or a crumb from some food, as each one was about four times the size of a period. Even the most attentive of eyes would overlook it unless they knew what to look for. Sonic had split the group up to search the place. Sonic was circling the perimeter of the massive building, Knuckles was somewhere underground inspecting the foundation, Omega was scanning the rooftops, documenting as much as he could about the creatures still working on the roof, and Shadow was doing the same thing Tails was doing. They figured from the building's size that they could practically have the blueprints in an hour if they moved quickly. Tails had already covered two of the six floors that were completed. It really was going to be a massive place. He didn't even know what all those rooms were for. All of the rooms above the first two floors were empty. Even so, they may be filled eventually, so he had put plenty of his "bugs" on the walls just in case. Tails made sure to do a good job. After all, Sonic was counting on him. Tails smiled a little. He was so cool… Sonic was the kind of guy Tails aspired to be when he was older. Sonic was the best role model a kid his age could have. Tails may have the mind and maturity of one far beyond his years, but he was still only eight and Sonic was the only "family" he had ever known. In Tail's eyes, Sonic was the cooler older brother he had never had. This was the first time in a long time that Sonic had trusted him in such a potentially dangerous situation, and he wasn't going to fail him now.
Tails realized that while he was reminiscing, he had continued to wander, putting his "bugs" down almost automatically, and had no idea where he was. Well, all I have to do is get some bearings from outside… He looked around, and saw a window. After pushing the hinged window open, he climbed onto the windowsill and started to climb out of the window. With a small hop, he took flight and took a quick glance around. From the outside, he could see almost the entire island. It really did look beautiful without the concrete. The grass was lush, and trees were starting to sprout every here and there. The sun had already set of course, but the moon was bright and gave the landscape a distant, idyllic appearance. Yeah right… who'd have thought that this place housed someone with eyes like Mor'gul's…? Tails looked down, and realized that he was right above the front door, which was mysteriously ajar. "Oh… That's convenient. I guess I can just go through and wait for everyone in the lobby." Tails just barely started to lower his altitude when he heard a scratching noise behind him. He curiously circled around- and found a pair of white, pupil-less eyes staring back at him. He pulled back quickly. "Ah!" The eyes belonged to a deformed, ape-like creature perched on the overhang of the window that had a boar snout and tusks, not to mention six spiraled horns growing from its head. It tilted its head to the side, a wide, sharp toothed smile spreading across its snout.
Gor'nok ro ke-narat… Its voice was screeching, yet strangely guttural at the same time. bṝokhat de-shier, ze? Tails hesitantly started to fly backwards, watching the creature cautiously. Suddenly, with a joyous screech, it jumped from the rooftop towards Tails. With a frantic gasp, Tails dive-bombed towards the ground, the creature falling behind him. He was only six stories up, so this dive took only about half a second before he pulled up abruptly, the creature flying by him in its downward decent. Tails watched as it twisted around to face him, a long, reptilian tongue licking the sides of its snout before it hit the ground with a sickening splat. The body remained in its twisted, broken position for a few moments, but suddenly seemed to melt and steam away leaving nothing behind. Tails gaped.
What the heck was that thing? He hesitantly landed, slowly walking over to the area the body had disappeared in. The ground was even dry. He slowly looked around, cautious for any more demons. After a few seconds of nervous glancing, Tails walked back in through the front doors. Everyone else was waiting for him, done with their respective tasks. Sonic looked at him curiously.
"Hey Tails. Are you okay? You look a little startled." Tails shook his head, composing himself.
"No… I just met one of the things that are building the roof, that's all…" Omega's empty eyes focused on Tails, seeming to scan him.
"INJURIES; MINIMAL. HEART RATE; 70/60. CONDITIONS OPTIMAL, NO CONTAMINANTS DETECTED."His eyes flashed for a second, and returned to their empty stare on the opposing wall. Shadow leaned against the robot's leg, Omega not seeming to notice.
"Well, I placed all of my sonar receivers. You, Tails?" Tails nodded.
"Most of them. How did everyone else do?" Sonic shrugged.
"Eh, nothing to see outside. The place is pretty wide around though. I didn't see any trace of where that "well of chaos energy" or whatever Omega mentioned was coming from, though."
Knuckles, still a bit dirty, brushed a bit of dust off of his shoulder and began his account.
"Well, his foundation was well done and placed conveniently on a sheet of bedrock a few feet below ground level. No real weaknesses there unless we were to place a few explosives near all of the woodwork." Shadow looked up.
"Did you happen to smell sulfur down there?" Knuckles looked at Shadow curiously.
"Uh, no… why?"
"I smelled some as we entered the building before." Tails looked at Shadow, curious at his statement.
"Where could it have been coming from?" Shadow shook his head, signaling that he didn't know. They all turned to Omega. "What about you, Omega?"
"THE ROOFTOP WAS APPROXIMATELY 64 PERCENT COMPLETE, GOING AT APPROXIMATELY 2 PERCENT AN HOUR TILL COMPLETION. SOME AREAS WERE LEFT BARE, AS IF TO ADD TOWERS OR PARAPETS AT A LATER DATE. THE ROOFTOP WAS INHABITED WITH APPROXIMATELY 674 DEMONIC FIGURES OF VARIOUS SHAPES AND SIZES." Sonic bowed his head.
"Well, I guess we shouldn't try anything here unless Mor'gul starts it. Don't wanna bring that lot down on us." Shadow looked outside.
"…Speaking of trying something… I think it is time to start making our way to the dining room." He rolled his eyes irritably, his voice dripping with sarcasm in his next statement. "We wouldn't want to disappoint our gracious host." Sonic pointed at the doors that Mor'gul had gone through before.
"Maybe it's through there?" They walked over, pushing the doors open. They were in a large, grand room, with a staircase leading to the second floor across from them and a red carpet leading to it from the door they just entered. Tails looked up and saw a gorgeous chandelier, as well. After a moment, he also noticed a delicious aroma drifting from one of the many doors on the sides of this "lobby". Following his nose, he found himself in front of a large pair of mahogany doors.
"Hey guys, I think this is the dining room or the kitchen or something." The rest of them walked over, going through the doors, while Tails took a last quick glance over the lobby. He saw a speck on a wall near a pair of doors on the opposite side of the room, and went to investigate. Upon much closer inspection, it was one of his pulse-sonar receivers. Well, Shadow came through here. That's good. He just started to turn away, when he heard something and turned around again. There was a noise… coming from the other side of the door… Tails couldn't quite pin what it was. He looked the full height of the door, and noticed a speck of something on the floor. Leaning down, he touched it, rubbing his fingers together.
Blood? He looked at the door nervously. What is behind this door…? Suddenly, a hand grasped his shoulder tightly. He tried to turn around, but was pinned in place by the painful grip. He felt something brush his ear, and heard a hoarse whisper inches away from his ear.
"Ah, blood… doesn't it feel so warm between your fingers?" Tails felt hot breath on his neck as the voice chuckled. "It's almost comforting… isn't it?" The grip loosened ever so slightly, and Tails used it as an opportunity to tear the hand away and turn quickly. He looked around frantically, but the room was empty. Another deep chuckle resounded around the room. "Aren't your friends waiting for you…?" Tails looked around nervously one last time before walking back to the door the others had gone through.
I've heard that chuckle before… he pushed the door open slowly. Before him was a sprawling table, stretching across the entire room in front of him. The room itself was very well lit, and was fairly narrow but very long to accommodate the table, which would probably sit about thirty people. The members of Sonicteam sat at one side, except for Shadow, who chose to sit on the end closest to Tails. The humans sat at the other. At the end farthest from Tails, Jair stood behind the chair there. Mor'gul sat in the chair Jair stood over. Tails gaped. That chuckle… that was Mor'gul, so how is he here…? Mor'gul put his chin in his hands, which were propped up on his elbows on the table.
"Well, it would seem we are all here. Well, while we waited for you child, it was decided that we would get to negotiations before eating. Get the business out of the way." He smiled one of those friendly, close-eyed smiles and tilted his head downwards. "Now, who wishes to begin?" There was a moment of silence, and then the president leaned forward.
"…What exactly do you want…?" Mor'gul chuckled.
"What do villains usually want? Submission. Be it death or enslavement, all they ever want is a form of submission." He tapped his claw on the table nonchalantly. "I do not want you all to die. I simply wish for submission." He slumped in his chair slightly, leaning on his armrest with one hand and calmly making slow, circular hand motions. "Your governments will remain in place, simply answering by me. Well, people under my control. I will most likely return to the Valley of Chaos when this is all over. The point is everything will run exactly as it does now, just under my watchful eye. " Seeing the surprise on their faces, he leaned forward again. "You wonder why I wish control over you?" He chuckled. "Well, let me give you a few hints. I do not care about your money, or your influence. I also do not care about the power I would acquire from owning a country. I have plenty of my own." The president looked at him curiously.
"You… you do not want anything that comes from submission, just submission itself? Why?" Mor'gul smiled slyly.
"Well if I told you, it would spoil the surprise wouldn't it?" The president's eyes hardened.
"You are simply obsessed with control, then." Mor'gul cackled.
"Close, but a little off the mark!" He straightened, improving his posture. "The question is… will you accept?" The president stood up slowly.
"…And if we don't…?" Mor'gul's previously, calm, kind eyes and light demeanor were suddenly gone. The well lit room suddenly seemed as dark as night. His eyes now seemed to glow with a dark, unquenchable bloodlust, consuming everything around them. A wide, evil smile split across his face.
"Well, you'll all just have to die." The president's nerve was rattled as he stared into Mor'gul's eyes, and he slowly sat down. As soon as he did, everything seemed to fade away. Mor'gul's look of fatherly kindness returned to his face, and he sat back into his chair. "…Well?" Sonic and Shadow exchanged glances, and stood up slowly. Tails couldn't help but wonder what exactly they were going to say. He knew they would deny the offer, of course, but how would they word it… Mor'gul seemed… unstable. Sonic nodded to Shadow, and turned to Mor'gul.
"Y'know, we've never been the type to give in to requests from psychos like you." Shadow nodded, his own deeper voice adding to the conversation.
"We do not know what you would do to this planet with a position in it as strong as America's. Even if we did… we would never give in to a twisted mind like you." He locked eyes with Mor'gul, a bold move since that gleefully dangerous look had returned in them. "As representatives of Sonicteam, we declare war on your terrorist actions." Mor'gul said nothing, but looked to the humans. The man on the left of the president whispered something frantically to him, but was silenced with the wave of a hand. Tails squinted at the man.
…That's… the Secretary of Defense! THAT'S who Skaar said was crooked! The president nodded to himself.
"We decline your attempt of occupation." Mor'gul smiled.
"So… you have chosen the hard way! Good. I was hoping you would. I believe that puts us at war, and as such, you are no longer welcome in my home. I ask you to leave as soon as you can." He looked at their curious faces and smiled. "Did you think I would kill you if you declined me?" He chuckled yet again. That was becoming an annoying habit of his. "Oh no, that would make things too easy! Go on, go build up your defenses! Prepare your attacks! You will find them all useless." The man from the viewing of the tape with Mor'gul on it stood up, indignant.
"Do you have any idea what powers we possess, you idiot?!" Tails could see the president trying not to shake his head in annoyance. The man continued.
"We will simply blow this island away! Leave no land left! What is it with you animal-hybrid things? You all are so confident that your primitive methods can beat sheer firepower!" Mor'gul's face had been hidden in shadow this entire time. After a few moments, a quiet chuckle escaped his lips. This chuckle grew, Mor'gul breaking into full out laughter. He stood up violently, turning his back to the table and stepping away from everyone else. He put his hands on his head, squeezing as if trying to hold it together while it tried to explode. Everyone was taken aback by this insane outburst, and slowly got up as if to leave. Mor'gul's laughter quickly subsided, and he turned around, wiping tears from his eyes as he sighed.
"Ohh… I am sorry…" He kind of laughed again, rubbing his face. "It is just so… hilarious of you to say such things!" He leaned against a wall, trying to quell his crazed laughter. "You really don't understand, do you?!" He regained his composure, still panting quietly to recover from his laughing fit. "Did you know that my underlings call me "The Bloodtaker"? I doubt it." He covered his mouth to stifle his laughter. "They are justified to do so after all, since that is roughly what my name means in this language!" Mor'gul turned on the wall he was leaning on, leaning on his back so that his right side was much more visible than his left. "I am not some evil despot, hiding behind my invincible armies. I am not a villain like the ones you read about in books, driven by greed or hate." He laughed once, covering the left side of his face with one hand. "And I am certainly not a villain like that fool Eggman, who helps you all save the world in times of crisis, and occasionally shows pity to women and children!" He cackled again, leaving Tails to contemplate how he knew about Eggman for a few moments. "Oh, you poor, poor infants…" Mor'gul calmed down eventually, and the widest, scariest smile Tails had ever seen crossed his face as he looked towards them from the angle he was standing at, only the right side of his face visible. His eyes widened as well and just looking at them made Tails feel as if he would never be happy again. "I'm the monster your Mommy and Daddy would tell you scary stories about to scare you into going to bed on time!" He turned away, cackling madly. "You get in that bed young man, or Mor'gul the bloodtaker will visit you in your sleep!" He staggered to the door on the other side of the room, Jair opening it for him. "If you don't finish those vegetables, I'll have Mor'gul the bloodtaker come and flay you!" The door closed, but his roaring laughter still echoed through the building terrifyingly. Mor'gul the bloodtaker is coming to get you!"
There you go, and it's a page longer than the last chapter.
Skaar(OC); So it's two pages longer than it usually is. why didn't you just say that, you great fool?
Skaar; Uh... Heh. Oh, and one more thing I want your opinion on, I'm thinking that I will take a page out of the book of my friend Darkspinesilver92 and start writing smaller, but faster and better chapters. I hate having to come back and keep writing from my old place, so I think I would be more likely to work on the story if it only took say a half hour to hour to write out chapters for. I'll have a lot more chapters, but the story will progress faster and hopefully better. I'm only doing five page updates as it is, what do you think I should do? go for faster or longer chapters? (Who knows, I might be able to update three times a week or more!)