The Underworld...Sounded intimidating enough. I had never heard of the place, to be honest, and it only made me more curious and itching for answers. So, I decided to ask Silver and Scourge. Silver, to both my surprise and dismay, had never even heard of the place, either, but Scourge, on the other hand, was practically a walking encyclopedia of information on the place.
"The Underworld is located to the far, far north of Station Square. It used to be a frequently-used space station, but a while back, it was completely destroyed, being turned into nothing but a bloodstained wasteland. The people of Station Square were just told to completely ignore it, and so, as time went on, it was forgotten and abandoned by humanity. That is, until the sick freaks that run the Underworld got their hands on the place. They turned the entire area into the Underworld, expanding it to the best of their ability and pretty much making it a barren wasteland. And anyone who stepped foot into their playground had to play by their rules. No exceptions, otherwise they were killed. Not beaten in a Netbattle. Killed."
"And this so-called legendary Netbattler is somewhere in the Underworld?"
"That's what I reckon. The Underworld has been moved literally under the world now, because the people who run the place refused to be subject to the rules and regulations of our world. The only way to survive in that place is to go FullSynchro, which means the barrier between Cyberworld and the real world will be broken the entire time you're there. Every hit you take, you'll feel real pain from it. If you die, then you're gone. For good. There's no logging out or pulsing out or anything. You'll be dead."
"So, wait...we're supposed to fight this guy in a place like that?" interrupted Silver, coming up from my left side.
"Yep. Don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds. I used to hang around there, y'know."
"You used to live there?"
"Yep. In fact, that's where I met Fiona. When we got together, we decided that the Underworld, despite it being a pretty cool place, wasn't fitting our style, and so, we moved to Station Square."
"People actually lived in the Underworld?" I continued to question him.
"Uh-huh. Like I said, it's not as bad as it sounds. I mean, yeah, most of the entire Underworld is nothin' but a wasteland, but that's only because they haven't built anything ever since the expansion."
"The expansion? What's that?"
"The Underworld got a helluva lot bigger, and when it did, it turned out that it got big enough to stretch throughout the entire world. So basically, we're going to an entirely different world that's right below ours."
"And people live there?" asked Silver. "That's ridiculous. How could people manage to live under the earth?"
"The only way they COULD manage to live under the earth: by utilizing the gaps and paths we've already established underground, like sewers and tunnels and such. They use all of that for natural light, air, and whatever food they can get their hands on. There's plenty of water under the planet, so there's no need to worry about that."
"Wow...living under the earth sounds pretty damn inconvenient," I replied.
"It does, doesn't it? But Fiona and I managed to do it. And if either one of you tried to, so could you."
"Get real! I can barely manage to live on the surface by myself!"
Scourge busted out into laughter at my comment. Apparently, the fact that my job was the only thing keeping me in a house and home was extremely humorous to him. Silver even decided to join in on the laughter, but not as much as Scourge did; his was a more refined laugh, one that didn't echo through the entire plane. Hey, yeah...Speaking of planes, that Jet guy and his two friends retreated to the first-class section of the plane and haven't even thought of coming out to mingle with us. After all, besides the other three who organized this whole trip, we were the only other people on the plane. All accounted for, there were a total of nine people on this big, empty plane. I guess I didn't really have a say in what they did, so I didn't ponder with it for the rest of the trip. At last, after flying for no short of two hours, we came to our destination.
"What's goin' on here?" I looked around to grasp some surroundings, only to find that there was nothing here. We were standing on a completely deserted plain of sand, almost like a stranded desert. There was no wind where we were standing, and there was nothing here for what must have been miles. I turned to face Manic and the other two. "What's going on, here? All I see is a giant desert. An empty one, at that; there aren't even any cacti here to liven things."
Manic approached me. "Ahh, but you see, that's only because you're not grasping what you're standing on. Sonic, everyone, on the count of three, we're all going to jump into the air and slam back down onto the ground. One...Two..."
We readied ourselves to reply to Manic's request.
"THREE!" We all leapt high into the air and plummeted back down onto the sand, only to discover that we weren't really standing on sand; we were standing on a massive plate of thin bedrock, which crumbled swiftly as soon as we hit the ground again. We all fell down to the darkness below, only to land on what was actual sand. I glanced up from where we fell to witness the ceiling literally closing on us. We were trapped, wherever we were. Not only that, but the entire area was consumed by a blood-red mist; the clouds, the sand beneath our feet, the atmosphere...it was all the color of blood. I took a few steps forward to rejoin my friends, only to hastily stop when I heard the echoing of some very intimidating voices.
"Foolish humans who dare step foot within our bloodstained lands! For what purpose have you come here?"
Jet stepped forward to reply to the voice, to my surprise. "Cut the scary guy act! I'm here to fight that legendary Netbattler!"
The voice laughed hoarsely. "You? Stand before the Underworld Deity? Such ignorance...No one has ever defeated him! Not even our King!"
I felt like being the completely ignorant one by stepping forward. "Hey, uhh...I have a question, mister voice! If this place is under the world we live in...then how do you guys live here?"
The voice chuckled at me. "We are provided with all we need through the influence of our King. His royal presence in this world is what keeps everything alive. Even the outsiders who are stupid enough to tread here."
"Oh...So, your King is magic, then? That's pretty cool! There aren't a lot of people who can use magic in our world anymore!"
My statement apparently intrigued Silver. "Yes...Magic is something very scarce in our world nowadays. The last time I'd ever seen magic was from Chaos and Tikal, but that's only because they were gods, and they manipulated their magic into powerful battlechips."
"That is because battlechips are nothing more than cybernetic magic, compressed into the vessels you humans call Star Carriers."
"So, wait...Star Carriers and battlechips...are magic?" I asked.
"That's a lie. SC's and battlechips were created by the minds and technology at SciLab."
"That is only what we, the Underworld dwellers, have lead your world to believe. The Underworld exists because of the influence of magic. And the technology and science behind SciLab are only because of us...those who have lived from the Super Advance Prehistoric Civilization."
Silver gasped. "The...No...You must be lying! That can't be! You're...from the Super Advance Prehistoric Civilzation?"
I glanced over at Silver. "What's that?"
He looked over at me with a distressed look on his face. "It's an ancient race that lived more than 24,000 years ago. It's sort of like the myth of Atlantis; they possessed technology that far exceeds our own even to this day. Only this was a real civilization, and there are actual records of it existing in the past forgotten. But that would mean you people are tens of thousands of years old...!"
"Precisely. We use the power of magic to operate our advance technology, and thus, we create the science needed for your precious Star Carriers and battlechips. It all traces back to the influence of magic."
"Impossible...!"
"And it is how your world was blessed with the ultimate life form, as well!"
That triggered a huge bell in my mind. "Ultimate life form? What're you talking about?"
"Sonic...?" Silver glanced over at me, concerned.
"You don't mean...Project Shadow...do you?"
The voice laughed once again. "That is what you humans have called it, yes! The ultimate life form was created using data from our ancient race. And since we transfer our magic into every speck of data we possess, magic is imbued within every piece of machinery your world has today."
"So everything we have...is all magic..."
"Correct."
"Baah! I don't care about that! What about Project Shadow?"
"Shadow was created using part of the ultimate program, Eterna. Eterna was the only data we could create before we were wiped out that granted its wielder eternal life and youth. Somehow, the data was carried away to the surface world, and humans discovered it and put it to use with their own experiments."
"Live forever...No wonder he's the ultimate life form!"
"Enough! We grow tired of your pointless questions! You are here to face the legendary Netbattler, yes? Then so be it!"
The skies roared with vicious thunder, and lightning twisted and turned through the distance, crashing down to the ground near us. I covered my eyes from the debris of lightning, and when I finally got the chance to see the distance ahead of me, I saw a man walking towards us. He was obviously wearing a stylish trenchcoat; its tips were dangling ferociously in the wind. I couldn't tell from the distance what color it was, but I could only assume it was a shade of black. After all, I was used to evil people wearing black clothing. That's why I could only guess as much.
The man started getting closer to us, and we all readied our SC's. But before we got the chance to actually pulse in, we all discovered that our SC's were already active. Scourge was right; no matter what would happen, we were stuck in FullSynchro-all of us; the pain we would feel from fighting down here would all be real. Finally, he had approached us, and as he did, the wind died down until there was nothing left. The thunder and lightning seized, and there was absolute silence. Finally, I could see what he looked like, as could everyone else. He was tall, structured, and an overall fearsome sight. His hair was spiked to the sides, completely black with red streaks on the tips. As I thought before, he was garmented in a flashy black trenchcoat, which covered a sleeveless grey shirt underneath it. His pants were as black as his hair, and his eyes-as mysterious as they looked-were tainted with a crimson red. If they were trying to scare us...then it worked; no one had the incentive to take a single step; we were all too terrified that he would kill us all in the blink of an eye.
"Now! Fight the most powerful man in the world! Watch as your efforts are reduced to nothing! Cower in fear at the mere thought of being in his presence! You stand before the greatest of all fighters...the strongest of all living beings!"
Suddenly, the wind became monstrous, and it even ripped some holes in my clothing. It was almost as if though a vicious tornado was about to rain down on us. The entire earth below our feet started to tremble, and the thunder and lightning once again scattered through the bloody mist. I couldn't exactly speak for the others, but...I was terrified. Paralyzed in fear. I knew that, just by looking at him, even I was no match for him. And what the evil voice in the sky said after I acknowledged my fear just made everything worse; it made my fear turn into an absolute feeling of dread and pure horror:
"Shadow! The Ultimate Life Form!"