Chapter 37

Me: Time for a bit of a surprise, all.

-- -- -- -- -- --

"Gawd, I can't get enough of your voice, Kande!" Violet squealed after the hyena had finished singing another song, accompanied by a guitar. "Sing me another one!"

"I'm sorry, Vee, but I'm tired now," Kande answered, using a pet name for Violet as he put down the instrument. "You should get some rest…the big mission is happening tomorrow." The hedgehog got up and pecked the hyena on the cheek.

"Okay," she said lovingly, "G'night; See you tomorrow." With that, she walked out of the room, but not before shaking her well-toned rear a bit and giving a seductive glance to Kande. With Violet gone, the hyena lied back on his bed, and smiled big as he remembered how this whole thing began…

The muffled sound of sobbing from Violet's chamber was constant and annoying. Ever since she learned that she was nothing but a clone, the hedgehog was a total wreck. She refused to eat or speak with anyone, even Tahra, the one she was cloned from.

Kande felt the hedgehog's pain quite acutely; Even though he was one of the leaders of the rebellion, he never felt like he belonged. The society he lived in condemning him to be an ignored outsider at best, all because his kind took sides with evil long ago. They were both outsiders in a way, and besides, he was always enthralled by her distinctive and beautiful form every time he watched ProwerCorp's scientists mess with her genes, and now he was drawn to her by a mutual need for comforting their souls.

As he stood outside her door, he could also hear a radio playing. He noted that when a specific band started playing a song, Violet's wailing would subside to weak, barely audible whines. Concluding that somehow this music calmed her down, he would try to duplicate it as best as he could.

And so it went. Kande picked one song by that band and began to practice it whenever he could, until he could play it without missing a beat, and make his voice sound like the lead singer's. But though he did not realize it, his voice was a thing of beauty and power; a few of the female resistance soldiers called him "The Orpheus of New Sylvania". His only critic was his old boss Ravana, whose ears throbbed with pain at the sound of sweet music.

When all was ready, he got out his guitar and approached Violet's room. The radio was off and she was sobbing like always. The hyena, sitting up against the wall opposite the door to the hedgehog's room, tuned his guitar for a bit, and after clearing his throat, began to sing the ballad that he had practiced…

From underneath the trees, we watch the sky
Confusing stars for satellites
I never dreamed that you'd be mine
But here we are, we're here tonight

Singing Amen, I, I'm alive
Singing Amen, I, I'm alive

The sound of Kande's sweet voice reached Violet's ears, and suddenly her sobbing ceased. Realizing that it was working, the hyena redoubled his efforts, and now put his heart into it...

If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we'd see the day when nobody died

And I'm singing

Amen I, Amen I, I'm alive
Amen I, Amen I, Amen I, I'm alive

As he got through the chorus, he could hear getting out of her bed.

And in the air the fireflies
Our only light in paradise
We'll show the world they were wrong
And teach them all to sing along

Singing Amen, I, I'm alive
Singing Amen, I, I'm alive
(I'm alive)

Now a small crowd of other resistance members were gathering from a nearby corner, flabbergasted to hear Kande, a hyena, one of that people supposedly cursed by the gods, to have such a beautiful singing voice. But the hyena was too caught up in the melody and lyrics to notice them. After belting out the chorus twice more, he saw Violet standing in front of him, tears still welling up in her eyes. As Kande began to sing the next part, he looked straight at the hedgehog, who was mouthing the words.

And as we lie beneath the stars
We realize how small we are
If they could love like you and me
Imagine what the world could be

But before Kande could finish the song, Violet started singing the chorus once last time, and finished the song for him.Smiling, but still crying, she started to talk with him.

"I…I really like your singing voice."

"…Really?" Kande exclaimed. "I never thought I was all that good."

"You were wonderful…and it's my favorite song too."

"Uh…thanks," the hyena replied awkwardly. "But you should go eat. You haven't eaten anything in a week." Violet nodded weakly and walked slowly toward the kitchen.

That was almost six months ago. Though Violet had initially fallen in love with his voice, she soon found that the whole package was good too…

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

The desert air was as clear and crisp as ever as Locke and Lillith gazed up at the massive but compact palace suspending hundreds of feet up. Though they knew a great evil lurked within, the structure itself was a thing of beauty. It glowed with a soft lavender light, its white towers and golden roofs showing through in splendor.

"I'll give Erazor some credit," Lillith quipped. "At least his fortress is nice to look at…but it's so high up. There's no way I could fly up there, let alone carrying you as well." Of course, Locke knew of someone who could get them up there, but he wasn't sure it was a good idea to reveal that someone. After thinking of every other option, he knew he had no other choice.

The hedgehog began to rub the golden ring on his finger, and Shahra appeared once again in a puff of smoke. The smoke temporarily impaired Lillith's vision; and she began coughing and trying to fan it away with her hands. Locke wasted no time.

"I wish we were at the front entrance to Erazor's palace." Shahra nodded, and with a quick gesture, the trio was warped up to the great structure. The hedgebat, suddenly noticing the change in surroundings, looked around, confused, until her eyes finally fell on Shahra.

"Locke…is that…"

"Yeah," Locke sighed. "It's a genie."

Lillith bowed respectfully. "It's nice to meet you…um…"

"Shahra will do," the genie replied. "But we must not waste time!"

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Well, so much for the mighty Robo Knuckles!" Scratch clucked when he heard the news of the robotic echidna's long disappearance. It had been over six hours since his signal had been lost, and finally Metal Sonic had given up on trying to contact him.

"I knew he wasn't so tough!" Grounder added with a chuckle. "He was all bark and no bite! Now WE get a chance again!"

"Yeah!" Scratch cheered. The two robots started to dance around chanting "We get another cha-ance, we get another cha-ance!" repeatedly before Metal Sonic burst into the room, his posture suggesting his usual annoyance at his less-than-competent minions.

"Cease your idiotic dancing and be silent! I have made a discovery within the confines of where you were kept."

"What is it, your Blueness?" Scratch asked as he stood to attention.

Metal Sonic marched up to the nearby console, placed in a data disk, and a wireframe map of Dr. Eggman's base appeared. "Our digger drones have found, underneath the scrap in the room where you were found, a chamber that contains three large stasis tubes, each capable of holding a single Mobian in stasis." As he said this, an image of three empty stasis tubes, the clear parts shattered, was displayed onscreen.

"What would Dr. Robotnik need with…um…" Grounder started to ask.

"Stasis tubes, idiot!" Scratch retorted as he smacked his partner on the back of the head.

"In his last days," Metal Sonic continued, "our creator began to dabble in genetic engineering, in hopes of duplicating his grandfather's work. He obviously succeeded…but never got a chance to awaken his creations."

"But they couldn't have just walked out on their own…" Grounder then said throughtfully.

"You're actually correct for once, Grounder," Metal Sonic replied with a nod. "The scans of the floor, ceiling and walls reveal puddles of congealed body fluids, broken hyperglass, and a rotting skeleton or two, which are signs of a deadly struggle, as well as the presence of a large, raiding force. Obviously our creator's greatest achievements (besides me, of course) were forcibly captured and taken to another location. If we could get them onto OUR side, this world would bow to us!

"Lemme guess," Scratch groaned, "you want Grounder and I to find them."

"As appealing as that sounds, I've already sent a few microdrones to do that. You two would stand out like rusty bolts on a new car."

"Awwwwww!" the two robots whined.

"However…" Metal Sonic began.

"What is it, oh shiny one?" Grounder asked, both he and Scratch wearing hopeful expressions.

"I will give you a chance to prove your worth fully. Our stealth microdrones have been spying on our Sonic look-alike over the past year. At last report he has headed to the desert in pursuit of a kidnapped princess. I want you to make sure he survives, even if it means lending him aid."

"But don't you…" Scratch began.

"LET ME FINISH!" Metal Sonic roared before continuing in his relative monotone. "Now, he will surely be greatly weakened. It is then you secure him and bring him to me ALIVE. I will not allow anyone else the glory of wiping out the bloodline of Sonic the Hedgehog once and for all! I want to do it with my own two hands."

"We'll get right on it, Metal Sonic!" Grounder said with a salute, but whacked himself in the head.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

If one at the equator, out at sea, were to look up at the sky that dark night, a whitish-blue twinkle would be clearly seen. Though it would seem as a star, it was not. Hovering there, far beyond the reach of even the highest flying of airships was a lone, shining figure. Its body, tall, lithe, and almost human, seemed to be made of liquid, constantly flowing, though never losing its shape. There was no face, claws, or tail, though three pairs of curved blades serving as wings jutted from its back, spreading out a dozen feet, giving off the image of a liquid-blue angel.

It eyed the world, then turned its gaze to the horizon, to the floating crystal castle that hovered there, its dark lord watching the world as well, but completely unaware that a rival for control had arrived. This being, if anyone were to meet it, would simply know it as the harbinger of the corrupting planet…and it had its own ideas for what could be done with Mobius.