Science centers around explaining how the world works in terms that all can find common.
Faith is about explaining WHY the world works in terms one cannot ignore.
The two are rarely compatible. And Magic's foundation is found in faith. The elements of the world, the manipulation of time and space, the healing of any and all wounds, these are possible with magic, as long as you remember...
All magic has a price.
Nothing...is free...
Episode Thirty-Three:
計画は、一緒に来る!
The Plan Comes Together!
"Alright, let me see if I can fully understand all you've explained..." Emerl told Big the Cat, arms folded as the chao henchmen of Bean remained tied up in the corner, surrounded by guards, with Amy, Sonic and Tails standing by Marine and Big, with Omega also tied up. "You're CERTAIN you can decipher all the research?"
"Yes, but we can't do it here. And we certainly can't just leave Mr. Omega here either." Big added.
"Also, we need to get your girlfriend out of this hostage-" Emerl began again.
"She's NOT my girlfriend!" Sonic insisted. "She's a friend! Who's a girl!"
Everyone rolled their eyes at this, save for Amy, who blushed at Sonic, making HIM blush in return. "Anyhow, I am also to escort Marine back to Nocturne. The best bet would be to go to Nocturne in one big group and hide there."
"Woah, woah, woah!" Sonic said, making the "time out" gesture. "Hold on! You SERIOUSLY wanna take 'mega-pain-in-the-ass along with us?"
"Mr. Omega's not a bad guy!" Marine insisted, giving Sonic a good kick in the shin, making him bound up and down in pain as Omega looked on, amused at Sonic's pain.
"What about these two clowns?" One guard inquired, gesturing at the two chao as they glared over at the others.
"Kill 'em." Emerl said calmly, waving his hand in a dismissive fashion.
"Bum-bum-bum-YOU'RE AS COLD AS ICE!" Sonic sang out.
"What?" Emerl snapped.
"We can't just KILL them!" Tails insisted, quickly rushing in front of the two chao, arms held up protectively.
"Don't turn us into your charity cases." The foxy chao named Johnny mumbled, shaking his head.
"Yeah, screw you. Killin' a man ain't no big deal. Just put the gun to their head...POW." Ewan remarked coldly. "Not like we got any other choice but to accept this. Nobody's waiting for us cuz nobody knows we're still alive."
"Don't you have family? Loved ones?" Tails wanted to know, turning around to face them, looking clearly hurt by their words. Sonic knew what was happening and sighed, looking away.
"Of course. But we "died in a car accident" according to the official reports. We can't ever see them again."
"Then you don't want to go back to normal."
Well, THAT did it. The two chao gave Tails a furious, baleful look, their fur bristling like they were cats being startled. "ARE YOU HIGH?" They shouted.
"Of COURSE we wanna go back to normal!" Johnny snarled.
"Why would we NOT wanna go back to normal?" Ewan snapped.
Tails promptly poked Johnny in the forehead. BINK.
"There's your answer. Don't just give up hope simply because it's "too hard" or because it seems impossible. No matter how long it might take, no matter how many twists and turns the road you're on will throw at you, don't..."
He poked Johnny again. BINK.
"Give..."
BINK.
"Up."
BINK.
"...wh-what the hell would you know anyhow?" Johnny mumbled. "These bodies-"
"I know all too well. Look." Tails said, slipping his rings off, exposing his true, doll-esque form as the chao gaped in surprise, along with Marine. Emerl sighed in a fashion that seemed almost sad as Big shook his head mournfully.
Then Marine promptly GLOMPED Tails hard and hugged him tightly. "You! Are! So! CUUUTE!" She cooed happily. "Oooh, ya smell like oranges!" She laughed happily. "BONZAH! Why didn't you take those things off sooner, mate?"
"See? Look what I've turned into. But I'm not giving up hope because I have people who care about me and who don't mind what I look like. I'm still me underneath it all, and my feelings remain the same." Tails told them as Marine proceeded to "bong" the hanging gem atop of Tails's head, making it bob up and down like a lure.
"...well, I think we've all learned a LOT today." Nack said, clapping his hands together and giving them a sort of smarmy smile. "But we need to get going. Like, NOW."
"How? In case you've forgotten, Bean and his other cronies are still outside. And I don't think Bark can keep him occupied forever. He only has so much booze." Emerl insisted.
"Nobody knooooo-HIC!" Bean and Bark had their arms slung over each other's shoulders and were dancing on top of one of the cars, holding up "Jagermeisters" and singing raucously...and very, very off-key. "How dry I yam! How-dry-I-yaaaaam!"
"From what I've been following of your conversation, there are tunnels all through Mobius that are meant to form some kind of big circle that some creep named Void wants set up. What do you think the odds are that there's a tunnel entrance right beneath this old base?" Nack inquired.
SFX: Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
"I KNEW there was a reason we kept you around!" Omega commented happily.
"That's BRILLIANT!" Marine agreed.
"Let's see that map. From the direction the tunnel beneath Nocturne went in...yes...yes, following that path it DOES go right under this old base! In fact, we're standing right over it right now! And if it keeps going in a straight line, it'll lead us right back to Briggs!" Emerl said, looking over a map, quite pleased with this new turn of events.
"But what to do about our dear friends and their friend who happens to be a girl?" Big wanted to know, gesturing at Sonic, Tails and Amy.
"Yeah, Bean's a lot of things. He has an explosive personality-"
"Don't. Just...don't." Omega requested of Nack.
"...he isn't STUPID. He gets one whiff of us trying to pull one over on him, our ass is grass." Nack explained, shaking his head.
"I have an idea. What if Omega took me as a hostage, ran off with me, and you guys all ran off after him to try and stop him?" Amy suggested, holding a finger up in the air.
"Y-you wanna...Ames, we can't let you DO that!" Sonic insisted, grabbing ahold of Amy's shoulders. "You could get really-"
SLAP!
A sharp slap across the face and Sonic was now holding a sore cheek as Amy lowered her hand. "Say that again and I'll give you another "present". Sonic, I'm involved in this, whether you like it or NOT. So stop trying to save your damsel in distress and let me handle this." She admonished him.
"...god...damn it." Sonic mumbled, going over to Omega and quickly breaking the bonds off of him. "You try anything funny and I'll put my foot so far up your metallic ass your breath will smell like SNEAKER."
"I don't BREATHE."
"Stop ruinin' my threats with your logic!" Sonic snapped.
"Let us help too." Ewan spoke up. "Frankly, you guys are much nicer than Bean. And...well, we think he'd blow us up for funsies if he ever got the inkling."
"...can't argue with that." Emerl remarked.
...
...
...
... "Have you been DRINKIN'?" Sonic asked Bean as he leaned against a nearby car, Bark nonchalantly scratching his beer gut, downing another Jagermeister.
"...I'm not DRUNK." Bean mumbled, scratching his head, letting out a liquidy burp.
"You...IDIOT!" Sonic snapped, grabbing him by the arms and shaking him rapidly. "How could you let this happen?"
"Let what happen?" Bean inquired, looking confused.
A moment later the top of the building that Sonic and the others had been in promptly EXPLODED in a powerful blaze of black/purple energy, a tower of smoke rising up into the sky to envelop everything as Omega's form appeared silhouetted against the smoke...Amy hanging limply over his shoulder.
"LET THAT HAPPEN!" Sonic roared as Tails approached as well, giving Bean a furious glare. Maybe it was the fact that it was getting hotter and hotter outside or maybe it was the idea of leaving Amy in the hands of Omega, but he wasn't truly acting...his anger was genuine.
Tails shoved Bean hard in the chest. "You were supposed to keep an eye on her and keep an eye out for Omega, and you failed! GLORIOUSLY!"
"Feeling nostalgic, Bean the Dynamite?" Omega called out, a vaguely contemptuous tone lingering in the air. "It was the other way around when we first me. Oh how time flies..."
"...don't...you...look...down...on me." Bean hissed furiously, a dark, snarling glint entering his eyes. He held one hand up, but Emerl quickly grabbed it. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Shanazaran?"
"Are you insane? You can't blow up that girl just to get at Omega!" Emerl admonished him.
"You try that and I'll punch your beak in." Sonic promised, holding up his fist, electrical energy sparkling around it as Bean gave him a glare.
The Dynamite Metallurgist quickly turned to his guards, giving them a "get a move on" look as he held his head, shaking it back and forth, trying to regain his bearings as Omega quickly leapt through the air, aiming to land on another roof...letting his hand shoot towards them for a moment.
THUDDA-BWOOOOOM! An enormous blast of dark energy obstructed their view. Obstructed it long enough for Omega to be long gone by the time the dark smoke cleared, leaving a fuming mad Bean standing in the middle...
Now very, very sober.
...
...
...
... "It shouldn't take us long to reach the exit if we follow this tunnel." Nack said, leading them all down the enormous underground hallway, Omega's distraction having done it's job. He felt very, very smug right now: HE'D come up with the way to escape when nobody else had known what to do.
Amy, Big and Marine were all together, Marine's pet koala sitting atop her head as Omega stood nearby with the two chao, a visibly saddened look on Marine's face. Big, seeing her unhappy expression, turned to gently pat her atop her head. "Marine, what's wrong?" He asked gently.
"It's...I've been away from home for so long...and I don't know if I'll ever be able to get back." She mumbled. "And I feel ashamed that I was even THINKING about making a Chaos Emerald. I...I couldn't sacrifice an innocent person for something like that, it wouldn't be right..." She murmured, head lowered in shame. "And even if I did bring one back, it would be made from innocent souls. The Metatron would be DISGUSTED with such a thing if he knew what went int making one."
"Yes, it would be an awful 'gift'." Amy admitted. "But don't worry. Like Tails said, don't give up."
"Yes, we'll keep movin' forward and find another way." Big agreed. "The research notes that Omega's brother Gamma wrote about are filled with all sorts of new knowledge. I can't wait to get crackin', see what's inside!"
Elsewhere, Sonic, Tails, Emerl and Bark were holed up with Bean and his other cronies inside of an abandoned lounge room that was connected to an old command center of the base as the sun began to beam down overhead, a sizzling noise filling the air as the temperature began to slowly rise higher and higher. The two other odd guards that he had were talking with each other about Johnny and Ewan's disappearance.
"How come they haven't reported in?"
"I don't know, Leigh. Did you try their cell phone?" The lion asked.
The elephant sighed and rolled his eyes. "I didn't forget to call their cell phones, Shiki-"
Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got! I'm still-I'm still Jenny from the block!
The elephant blinked stupidly, picking up his cell phone from his pants. "...oh. Speaking of calls, you guys have a call from Nocturne." He said, handing his cell phone to Emerl as Bean sat in a chair nearby, fuming furiously, drawing a picture of Omega.
"Quick question. Does Napalm come out of the BACK of a plane or the bottom?" He asked Shiki.
"...uhhhhh..."
Emerl took the cell phone in his hands. "Hello? Yes...WHAT?" He gasped. He quickly turned the cell phone off, taking Sonic and Tails into the next room "Listen." He whispered quietly. "Shade was just called off to Central, and a large number of Central troops just arrived at Nocturne. Most likely this means that the others will sneak into Nocturne and find themselves caught by one of Dr. Eggman's flunkies."
"We've got to get out there and warn them!" Sonic insisted.
"How? Does your cell phone have any reception?" Emerl inquired.
Sonic checked his phone. Nope. Tails checked HIS phone. Nope.
"Dammit. Dollars to doughnuts, that stupid elephant's got the ONE working cell phone down here, and if we try to use that, Bean will get suspicious." Emerl mumbled. "And worse still, look outside."
They looked out the window at the baking heat as Emerl shook his head. "I would go out to intercept them if I could, but I can't bring myself to abandon my men here to...to that PERSON. And I use the term "person" loosely." Emerl added softly. "And I KNOW what you're thinking." He added, holding up his hands as Sonic began to open his mouth. "But you'd be baked alive out there. The weather up here is unforgiving be it rain or shine, and when it gets this hot, any sapient who doesn't go out there with SPF 1 Million is going to get turned into a crispy critter."
"Well, I don't get sunburned." Tails spoke up nervously. "...I could go." He offered.
And so, Tails was soon sneaking out the window, slinking from building to building to avoid being seen, crawling on his belly like a snake before he finally reached the edge of the base. Then he ran as fast as he could, his tails acting as a kind of gigantic fan that propelled him across the ground. He had to get to Nocturne before they did...
Rolling hills repeatedly passed by him as he raced up towards Nocturne, the sun continuing to beat down on him. He was glad he couldn't get sunburnt or really harmed by such a thing, but it was so hot he almost DID feel-
The sun...it was so...so bright...so-
He looked into it and suddenly he was no longer in the mountains near Nocturne. He was surrounded on all sides by brilliant, calming white light which filled his vision, and his body was not standing on a mountain but standing before an enormous door with beautiful, ornate designs on the front. There were dozens of languages written on the bottom that seemed to repeat a single phrase: "I am All, All are One".
And there was somebody there. . A very gaunt-looking, emaciated, bad-smelling form with unkempt fur and beautiful blue eyes...his true body was staring right at him, reaching out...
Tails tried to take it's hand...
And suddenly he was aware that he was lying on the ground, nearly unconscious. Letting out a small groan, he tried to stand back up, rubbing his head. What had happened?
Scylla sat near her old body, which appeared to be unconscious...or worse. Rouge looked the scene over, looking rather surprised...and disgusted at the foul smell the body was giving off.
"Look how decayed my old form's gotten. The simple truth is this: it's just plain impossible to permanently stick a soul into a body that doesn't belong to it. They'll repel each other like magnets." Scylla spoke solemnly.
He'd almost forgotten. The body he was in wasn't a natural one. One day he would just...poof.
And that day was coming soon, apparently. So soon that his true body was actually calling out from "beyond the grave" to reach his soul. How existential!
...how frightening.
He had to hurry.
...
...
...
...meanwhile, Void was at an artist's easel, calmly painting something onto an enormous canvas as a certain snake sapient who wasn't quite a snake sapient sat nearby, balancing a scimitar on one finger. The former divine being calmly whistled as his paintbrush made broad, powerful strokes on the canvas, color splashed on the page in brilliant hues.
"Little Olgilvie...young Miles...my "sister", NiGHTS...then there's their teacher, Tikal Nuahatl, she's got the "right stuff". Hmm."
Void stepped away from the picture, looking it over as it showed all of the foursome chained to a giant Stonehenge-esque structure that seemed to be rising into the sky...with room for one more clearly visible on said structure as Void's presence lingered overhead, so enormously huge that he looked like he was the universe himself.
"...I need one more." Void whispered quietly, rubbing his chin. "I must find somebody..."
Elsewhere, Sonic was listening to Bark talk about Bean. "Am knowing how his Metallurgy works, is not using specific element so much as MUTATING elements around him. He is changing the composition of the environment into explosive devices like namesake, eh?"
"So we just need to break his rings." Sonic said. "...or rather, that would be what I'd NORMALLY do, but he ALSO has a friggin' Chaos Emerald with him, the one he tempted me with earlier at the base." The hedgehog added, shaking his head.
"So we gotta get that rock away from him."
"It's not always in a "rock" form." Sonic admitted. "It could be a liquid, or some kind of powder...point is, you're right, we DO need to steal it away and fast. It's large enough to fit in your hand, but big enough, usually, to be visible if it was in his pocket or-"
Sonic scrunched his nose up. "Don't tell me he's keeping it in his..."
They thought about it. Really thought about it.
"EWWWWWWWW!"
...
...
...
...
"Why, Major Shade, what's your plan? What brings you here to Central?" Shadow inquired as he stood in the doorway of the main entrance to Central HQ , seeing Shade being escorted up the steps.
Shade snorted. "I'm surprised you're surprised. I'm here on my talent, Burning Metallurgist." She informed him, giving him a proud smile.
"The same goes for me." Shadow added, visibly arching towards her, a glint entering his eyes. "I didn't pull a single string. I'm just that good."
"Oh yeah?" She said.
"Oh YEAH." said he.
"Oh yeah?" She said.
"Oh YEAH." said he.
"Oh yeah?"
"Oh YEAH!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Oh YEAH!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Oh YEAH!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Oh YEAH!"
These two always had such intelligent conversations. ^_^
"Anyhow..." Shadow went on, walking alongside her as they headed through Central towards Dr. Eggman's main office. "Perhaps you'd like me to drop off a giftbasket for you? A welcoming present since you're so new to Central?"
"...since you're payin'..." Shade commented, waving her hand dismissively, though she had a feeling this 'gift basket' had more than one purpose. Shadow turned a corner, heading off in a new direction as Shade was led to Dr. Eggman's door. She calmly strode in, closing the door behind her as the autocrat folded his hands together, his goggles glittering in the dimly lit room.
"Soooo..." He whispered. "Would you be so kind, Major General Shade, as to tell me what happened to General Speedy Kukku?"
Shade could tell that the autocrat wouldn't buy any stupid excuse on how the general had had an "accident". "Well, sir, that's simple. I did some thinking and I decided that you really didn't need another kiss-ass yes man on your team. You don't make peace with a pest. You eliminate them."
"And you gave the order?"
"Oh, I did more than gave the order. I kicked him into a pit full of cement. He's roughly...oh..." Shade waved her hand in the air in a "This and that" fashion. "20 feet below under 2 tons of hard-drying cement."
"And what, pray tell, did the General tell you?"
"Everything." Shade said simply. "All about the Golems, all about the "immortal army", about the future of the country, even your true identity. And he did it with RELISH."
"And yet you stand before me unafraid. You have nerve. And GIRL BALLS." He added, with a dark, evil grin. "I LIKE that." He told her.
"I want his seat as General." Shade said simply. "Gimme."
"...heh-heh-heh-heh...MWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" Dr. Eggman threw his head back, laughing uproariously as he stood up, rubbing his gloved hands together. "Excellent, EXCELLENT! You may have your seat, Shade. In exchange, you will give me complete control of Nocturne. "Equivalent Exchange", correct?"
"Right answer." Shade said. "My men are more than capable of following your commands. They're, quite simply, the best."
"That too is the right answer." Dr. Eggman said, walking over to the echidna, putting one hand on her shoulder, removing his goggles with the other to reveal his inhuman eyes. "I think you and I are going to be very...close...friends."
As for Shadow, he was sitting in the cafeteria with Rouge, talking about his progress in chaos energy.
"You seem to be quite proficient now." Rouge noticed as Shadow made a tiny spark of chaos energy dance around his palm in a circle. "I'm very h-happy for you." She mumbled.
Shadow instantly picked up on this. "What happened?" He asked quietly. "Something wrong?"
"...nah. Ain't nothin' big." Rouge insisted. "Just life, y'know?" She added, shrugging slightly before she lifted up her cup of coffee to her lips, taking a long, deep slurp. "How have you been doing on your paperwork?"
"...I hate it. Immensely." Shadow admitted, holding up a large, thick manila folder and slamming it down onto the table. "Now that I've not got as many subordinates, this means I have to waste a good three hours of my night doing THESE." He muttered hatefully, flipping the folder open and gesturing at the papers.
"I have much to do now myself. Luckily, since Dr. Eggman never leaves work early and always works so hard, he's usually of great help. A real professional. Whodathunkit?"
"...is that a crack at ME?" Shadow wanted to know.
Rouge gave him a playful smile. "Maaaaybe." She commented, rolling her eyes suggestively. "You're a clever boy, you can see the double meaning in every double entendre I give."
Shadow saw something in her eyes in that instant and took out a pen, putting one of the papers on it's back side so he could write. "I'm flattered you think so highly of me."
"You know, I've been following a lot of gossip." Rouge added. "Cream's supposedly taking dance lessons. Ballet. And so is Hector from accounting, and Ethel and Earl are finally dating. And so are Simon and Elly."
"Oh, really?" Shadow commented.
"And Isabella and Sandy have planned their wedding in the Fall...or rather, that WAS the plan, but Anna's pissed off. She said it'll take attention away from hers."
"Hmm...poor thing."
"Yes, she's marrying Gary the janitor. Don't know what he sees in him. But Olie and Lena, our foreign exchange colonels are doing well in their positions and they sent me fruitbaskets, and Erin and Meredith are really helping me with what gruntwork I can't figure out on my own." Rouge added with a cheerful smile. "I should buy them something nice."
"Well, I'd better let you get BACK to that work." Shadow said, nodding firmly and leaving the cafeteria with his paperwork, heading for the bathroom and rushing into a stall, looking down at the letters he had just written on the paper.
All those names had been part of a code. Put them in order...
C-H-E-E-S-E...then I-S-A...then G-O-L-E-M.
"Cheese is a Golem?" Shadow thought to himself, his eyes wide with surprise before he quickly ripped the paper to shreds and flushed the remains down the toilet. Well, well. Wasn't THIS an interesting turn of events...
Meanwhile, a certain lizard-like chao was watching some of Dr. Eggman's goons speak with an assistant to Ms. Tikal Nuahatl. "I don't know where they went, sir. She and her father went on vacation. Ms. Nuahatl said she was taking her father to the Swiss Alps "for the air"."
"You're positive? Dr. Eggman would be very...displeased...if you were lying." One of the men told the assistant.
"Egghead." Dodger the chao growled. "That monster practically SLAUGHTERED Mr. White...if I follow them..." He thought to himself.
Speaking of Mr. White, King/White was watching Void lie fast asleep at his desk, loudly snoring as Cheese stood nearby, smiling. "Awwww, he looks so CUTE when he's asleep." Cheese told King/White as the newest of all the Golems nodded, the snake's once-blue hair now turned a very strong white. "What do you think he's a-dreamin' about?"
"I wonder..." Cheese commented, rubbing his chin, an amused expression coming across his features.