SONIC HEROES: THE SERIES
Tomo © Kiba Sniper
LoS © Krome Studios
Chapter Fifty-Two: Eye of Evil
The scene opens up at night in Emerald City. The scene is taken directly to a museum which contained many ancient relics of the past. The one most focused upon was a golden arm-band with a red jewel in the center. With the black line going down the center, the jewel looked eerily like a demons eyes. The museum was silent and undisturbed until two figures made their appearance before the object. Both of them were recognized as Nack the Weasel and Tomo the Chameleon.
"God, why do they always have to make it so dark?" Tomo shivered.
"Ah, the little lizard scared?" Nack said mockingly.
"I am an S-rank criminal ninja!" Tomo exclaimed. "I fear nothing!"
But that was a lie. If anything, Tomo had two great weaknesses. The first was her inability to perform or repel a genjutsu, opposite of her brother. The second was her extreme fear of dark places. It's a wonder how she lasted this long in the Dark Ruler's castle. The two settled their argument and walked up to the golden band.
"Finally, the Eye of Malefor." Tomo said pleasingly. "It's even more beautiful than I thought."
"And I bet it's worth a ton of cash." Nack smiled greedily. Tomo whacked him over the head. "What was that for?!"
"We're not here to satisfy you greed." Tomo sneered. "If Lord Nazo is correct, the Eye will grant us great power."
Nack, however, merely rolled his eyes. Tomo was threatened to stab the weasel with a kunai, but prevented herself from doing so. The Eye of Malefor was contained inside a glass case, which was no doubt guarded by special security. This was one of the times Tomo was grateful to have Nack around. With his magic touch, Nack shut down the security within seconds. Once she was in the clear, Tomo smashed the glass case with her fist. She grabbed the Eye of Malefor and raised it in victory.
"Lord Nazo will praise us highly for this capture." Tomo smirked.
Suddenly, a kunai flew out of the shadows and pinned the Eye of Malefor to the wall.
"Didn't see that coming." Nack commented.
"By order of G.U.N., you two are under arrest of attempted theft."
Tomo and Nack looked over and found Espio deactivating his camouflage technique. Vector and Charmy also appeared from the shadows, but Vector tripped on his own two feet and crushed the small bee under him. Espio groaned at his teammates.
"That could have gone better." Vector groaned.
"You actually expect to beat us with such a feeble team, little brother?" Tomo grinned. "Even someone as pathetic as Nack could whip those two nimrods.
"Yeah." Nack nodded before he realized. "Hey!"
"Vector, Charmy, you take care of the Weasel." Espio instructed. "I'm the only one who stands a chance against my sister, so I'll take her."
"Hey, I'm the one giving orders around here!" Vector shouted. "Charmy, you're with me. Espio, take out your sister."
"Great plan, boss." Charmy saluted.
"Why is by brother working for this idiot?" Tomo thought disapprovingly.
Charmy held out his stinger and made a dive for the unbalance weasel. But Nack, surprisingly smarter than the bee, merely sidestepped to the left. Charmy had unwittingly got his stinger caught in the wall. Nack grinned sadistically as he pulled out his rifle and aimed it at Charmy's forehead. He was ready to pull the trigger when Vector suddenly tackled him to the other side of the museum. Nack was found in a crumpled heap on the floor, cross-eyed. Vector traced back and pulled Charmy out of the wall.
"Wicked tackled!" Charmy cheered.
"Those six years of football training finally paid off." Vector said proudly.
"But you never played football." Charmy stated
"Shut up!" Vector snapped.
Back with Espio and Tomo. Espio had drawn an enlarged shuriken while his sister unsheathed her katana. Espio tried swift and easy blow, but Tomo was already one step ahead of him. Her katana followed in every direction Espio's shuriken went, blocking each and every one of his attacks. But Espio wasn't worried. The main purpose for his assault was to get a clear view of Tomo's eye to activate his genjustu. But the more he attacked, the closer he realized a fatal flaw in his plan: Her eyes were closed. Tomo heard Espio's footsteps and swung her katana downwards. Espio raised his shuriken and halted the blade before it touched down to his horn.
"I see your taking precautions." Espio smirked, pushing against the shuriken.
"Even I am wise enough admit my weaknesses." Tomo said; her eyes still closed. "I am not falling for the same trick twice."
"Why don't you save yourself the trouble and just give up now?" Espio said.
"Forget it, little brother." Tomo growled. "I was superior when we were children and I am superior now!"
Tomo pushed her brother as hard as she could and unlocked the weapons from each other. Before he brother could stop her, Tomo swung around and landed her foot in his face. Espio staggered back for a moment before Tomo came back again with a swift right hook. Espio slammed into the wall. Unknowingly, the shock dislodged the kunai from the wall and the Eye of Malefor settled itself...on Espio's wrist.
"What the?" Espio questioned. He tugged at the band, but it refused to budge. "This thing, it's stuck."
"Damn it!" Tomo swore loudly. She flipped back and landed next to Nack, performing a series of hand signs. "You may have won this battle, but the war is far from over. Ninja Art: Space-Time Jutsu!"
At that point, Tomo and Nack disappeared from sight.
"Why'd they leave?" Charmy asked oddly.
"Who knows?" Vector shrugged. He walked over to Espio, who was still tugging at the Eye of Malefor. "Hey, Espio, stop fooling around. We need to put that back before we get in trouble."
"I would gladly like to get rid of it, but the thing's stuck." Espio growled.
Vector rolled his eyes and grabbed the Eye of Malefor. Vector gave one mighty tug, sending Espio flying to the other side of the museum. Charmy attempted to pry off the Eye using his stinger, but Espio pulled his arm back, fearing the young bee's lack of coordination. Team Chaotix went on all night, using everything from butter to medieval torture devices. But their efforts proved to be in vain as the Eye of Malefor remained in place.
"Man, that things stuck good." Vector scratched his head.
"Let's try surgery next!" Charmy said cheerfully, pulling a saw out of nowhere.
"Hell no!" Espio screamed. "Listen, why don't we take it to Tails and see if he can figure a way to get this thing off."
Vector nodded at the suggestion, but Charmy was a little disappointed. As the three detectives traveled back to the Sonic Heroes base, none of them noticed that the gem on Eye of Malefor began to glow ominously.
The scene changes to daytime in Emerald City. After going through several tests in Tails' workshop, the young genius found himself incapable of removing the Eyes of Malefor. It was as if the arm-band was glued together by magic. Since Jet was the only member of team that could understand magic, they were forced to wait until he returned from his mission in India. After receiving a legal warrant, Espio was not allowed to leave Emerald City until the Eye had been returned to the museum. So, Team Chaotix was spending the rest of the day, exploring the city.
"Well, we're stuck here until Tails get rid of that thing." Vector said out loud. "What'd ya guys wanna do?"
"Let go to Disney Land!" Charmy shouted, earning a few odd looks from the patrons.
"That's seven hundred miles away from this city." Espio stated.
"Maybe we can call Vanilla and see if she'll answer this time." Vector said hopefully.
"If she hasn't answered the first three hundred and eighty-two times," Espio said. "I doubt she'll answer any time soon."
"Ok, Mr. Negative..." Vector frowned. "What do you think we should do?"
Just as he was about to answer, an alarm rang down the street. Being crime fighting detectives, they could distinguish the tones of alarm...well, Espio could at least. It was the alarm bell for a robbery. After telling this to his teammates, Espio charged down the street with Charmy and Vector in tow. The turned the corner where they found two masked humans trying to make a get away with a bag of jewels.
"Criminals are not very subtle these days." Espio commented.
"Hey, you wanted something to do." Vector nodded. "Well, he's your chance."
"Yay!" Charmy cheered. "Time to beat the bad guys!"
Just as the thieves were about to enter their getaway vehicle, Vector ran up and slammed his fist through the car hood. He pulled his hand back, tearing the engine from its base. Even thieves from a small place as Emerald City recognized the Team Chaotix. They dropped their stolen goods and made a run for it. Charmy grinned mischievously as he pointed his stinger to one of the runners. A moment later, the criminal was sent flying with his hands on his rear from where Charmy stung him. Vector caught him as he dropped back down to Earth.
"Nice job, Charmy." Vector complimented. It was a moment later that he realized something was missing. "Hey, where'd the other guy go?"
"Espio's disappeared, too." Charmy noted.
While Charmy and Vector took care of his partner, the other criminal dashed around the corner of the block. He only stuck around long enough to watch his former partner get captured by Team Chaotix.
"I feel bad for him." The criminal said. "But I'm getting thrown in the slammer for him."
"Not a very honorable friend, are you?" The criminal turned wildly and found Espio with a kunai pointed between his eyes. "Maybe you'll have time to think it over later."
"Please, don't kill me." The thief begged.
"I would never do such a thing." Espio stated in surprise.
"Or would you?"
All of sudden, the jewel on the Eye of Malefor gave off a devilish glow. Espio could feel a new sensation flowing through his veins...and he liked it. His eyes became red and slitted, his scales became darker, and his horn became sharper and grey. He stared down at the thief, who was shaking from Espio's sudden change. An evil grin formed around his face to match his new persona. In one ravage swing, the dark chameleon cut his kunai through the man's throat. Vector and Charmy had arrived on the scene just in time to witness Espio's ruthless act of murder.
"What'd ya do that for?" Vector gaped. "That's not like you."
"What the hell would you know what I'm like?" Espio growled.
"He's scary." Charmy shuddered behind Vector. "Make him change back."
"Hey, Espio, what's with the new look?" Vector said. "Get rid of it, it doesn't really suit you."
"Forget it." Espio sniggered "After seven thousand years, there is no way I'm going back in that cursed stone."
"Huh?" Charmy stared.
"Think he got conked in the head?" Vector whispered.
Espio unexpectedly performed a series of hand signs that Vector and Charmy recognized from their trip to Espio's village. The dark chameleon took in a deep breath and coughed out a large fireball. Vector stood there like an idiot, but Charmy shockingly took action. He grabbed Vector by the tail and, much to Espio's surprise, lifted Vector a few inches above the fireball. Charmy set the croc down, panting, after the fireball had passed. Espio smirked, prepping up for another jutsu, when the air was filled with sirens. With a robbery in progress, it was obvious that the police would get involved.
"Looks like our little play session will have to continue some other time." Espio smirked. "Farewell."
In a cloud of smoke, Espio vanished without a trace.
"Espio, wait!" Charmy cried.
"What's gotten into that guy?" Vector shrugged.
At that moment, an annoying buzzing sound came into play. Vector whacked Charmy over the head for no apparent reason. It was only when the buzzing didn't stop that Vector realized that it wasn't coming from Charmy. The green crocodile reached behind his back and opened the Sonic Heroes communicator. Tails was on the other side of the line.
"Vector, I've been trying to reach you all day." Tails stated. "What have you been all day?"
"Things have been a little weird over here." Vector said uncomfortably.
"What's up?!" Charmy cut in.
"There's something I found on the Eye of Malefor that you might want to hear." Tails said. "There is a legend that dates back seven thousand years. Apparently, the Eye was a real eye to an evil dragon named Malefor."
"Dragons..." Charmy said eagerly. "Cool!"
"This was an evil dragon, Charmy!" Tails shouted over the communicator. "Anyway, he nearly conquered the world when another dragon stopped him for good. Before he died, he swore that he would return. According to legend, anyone who puts on the Eye will be controlled by the spirit of this evil dragon. But that's only a legend, right?"
"I don't know, kid." Vector said. "The Espio we just saw now didn't act anything like the one we know."
"Then I guess the legend is true." Tails mumbled over the communicator.
"What do we do?!" Charmy screamed; he started attracting a crowd.
"There's got to be a way to stop him." Vector said, pulling Charmy away from the drawing crowd.
"There is one, but it's not easy." Tails explained. "The only way to break someone of being cursed is to destroy the Eye of Malefor itself."
"We're doomed!" Charmy cried. "We'll never see Espio again and I'll never get my gummy candy again!"
"Charmy, calm – You get gummy candy!" Vector roared. "Espio said he didn't have anymore! Oh, when I get my hands on him I'll...!"
"I think we're getting a little off track." Tails said over the communicator.
"Right, back to the problem." Vector nodded. The crocodile scratched his head, trying to think of a new plan. I'll bet you anything he lost several brain cells from the strain. Suddenly, he had something. "Hey, I got an idea!"
"No, seriously." Tails and Charmy said skeptically.
"Everyone's a critic." Vector mumbled.
Though Vector said he had a plan, Charmy didn't seem so sure without Espio to supervise. But the main part of the plan was actually finding the corrupted chameleon. But that was actually the easy part. Unlike Tomo, Malefor wasn't one to hide his evil deeds. All Vector and Charmy had to do was follow the trail of deaths all around town. The trail somehow separated the duo and Vector was wondering aimlessly around the forest outside the city. It was dusk and the trail of blood left behind ended in the middle of an open field.
"All right, Espio, come out!" Vector shouted. "I know you're here!"
But the only sound that came was a small breeze passing through the tree leaves. But suddenly, the breeze kicked up to a rabid gust, nearly knocking Vector off his feet. When the wind died down, Espio was found standing across from the green croc.
"I didn't think you would come." Espio sniggered. "That's good. It only makes things that much easier for me."
"Come off it!" Vector snapped. "I don't know what you did to Espio, but your going down, Malbery."
The corrupted chameleon facefaulted.
"It's Malefor, you brainless twit!" Malefor snapped, pushing himself back to his feet. "Geez, Espio was right about you from the beginning."
"What are you talking about?" Vector growled.
"If you live, I might be persuaded to tell you." Malefor grinned.
"Bring it on!" Vector challenged.
Espio leapt forward and took a swing at Vector with his foot. But the giant crocodile easily blocked it with his forearm. That was the major flaw in Malefor's control. The former dragon was used to have supreme strength and could not recognize that, in his current body, Vector was clearly stronger. Vector grabbed Malefor by the ankle and tossed him towards the nearest tree. The measure of strength Vector used caused Malefor to fly not through one, but five tree trunks. There was a deafening boom that could be heard all the way back to Emerald City. Vector scratched his head with an uncertain look.
"Uh...I think I killed him." Vector muttered. "Oh boy, I'm gonna get an earful from Espio's mother."
"Wind Style: Air Bullet Jutsu!"
All of a sudden, three orbs of wind erupted from the spot where Malefor crashed and collided with Vector. The first hit him in the snout, the second hit him in the chest, and the last hit him where no man wants to be hit. Vector cried in a high-pitched tone before falling backwards. Vector barely had time to regain his composure as Malefor jumped high into the air and drew a shuriken from Espio's compartment. Unfortunately for him, dragons have terrible aim with weapons and missed by a mile wide. Espio landed as Vector stood back up.
"Cursed thing!" Malefor roared. "How does one work with such a complicated contraption!"
"And you call me the brainless twit." Vector chuckled.
"Laugh while you can." Malefor growled, starting to form a pattern of hand signs with Espio's body. "But this is where our battle ends. Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
If there was anything a dragon specialized at, it was fire. Malefor, using Espio's body, took in a deep breath and blew out a massive fireball twice the size Tomo could ever perform. That's really saying something since she mastered all five elements. It was too big to dodge, so Vector searched deep down inside himself and found the fire within. He ended up regurgitating back out of his mouth. The two flaming attacks collided, radiating their heat to the nearby surroundings. Water dried up, plant life wilted, and the two combatants were sweating bullets. The two flames continued to push against each other until they suddenly exploded down the middle. The blast sent Vector and Malefor rocketing away from each other.
"Ugh, that hurt." Vector groaned.
You filthy reptile!" Vector sat up to find Malefor standing over him. "I have had enough of you! Once I put you out of your misery, you will burden the both of us no more!"
"What do you mean 'the both of us'?" Vector asked.
"Since it will soon be over, I guess you deserve to know." Malefor said, like any idiotic villain. Vector looked out of the corner of his eye and saw something yellow. "You see, I may control this creature's mind, but I can't control his anger and frustration towards you."
"Ok, now you lost me." Vector said. "Why would Espio be angry at me?"
"The creature you call 'Espio' has served you loyally for three years." Malefor explained. "When he first joined your clan, he looked to you as a leader. But the more he began to know you, the more he began to realize his mistake for joining. Espio would have left ages if he had not been worried for the young one's safety."
"But, Espio always said..." Vector said slowly.
"This creature is tired of you, filth." Malefor continued. "He is tired of correcting your failures and fighting all your battles." He began forming another series of hand signs. "And so it ends. Any last words before you perish?"
"Just a few." Vector smirked. "Charmy! Now!"
"Cannonball!"
In an unexpected turn of events, Charmy jumped out of the remains of the hollow trees and jumped on Malefor. The hyperactive bee clutched his hands over the corrupted chameleon's eyes, blinding him.
"Unhand me, you wretched insect!" Malefor roared, trying to snatch the bee off.
"You didn't say please." Charmy said playfully.
"Keep a hold, Charmy!" Vector instructed. "Now's my turn!"
While Malefor flailed Espio's arms around, Vector snapped his jaw onto one of them, directly over the Eye of Malefor. Since the crocodile's jaws were one of the strongest limbs, the dark jewel stood no chance and shattered. Vector and Charmy were blown away when a sudden wave of darkness erupted around Espio's body. The darkness took the form of a dragon momentarily before vanishing from existence. Now free of the dragon's curse, Espio collapsed to the ground. Vector and Charmy moved in closer, still worried if Espio was still under control.
"You think he's ok?" Charmy asked worriedly.
"He should be." Vector said. He grasped the Eye of Malefor and shattered its remains. "There, now no one can use our buddy again."
"What do we do now?" Charmy asked.
"Take Espio back to the base." Vector instructed. "If Kumori's still up, she should be able to patch him right up."
"Yes, sir!" Charmy saluted.
The young bee, with some effort, placed Espio's arm over his shoulder and dragged him away. As he watched his two friends leave, Vector began to think over Malefor's words. Is that really how Espio felt about him? The green croc did have to admit that he made a lot of mistakes in the past. It was usually Espio who cleaned them up. There were many fights that Vector was incapable of winning, but Espio always saved them. The more he began to think about it, the more he found Malefor to be right. But despite all this, Espio never spoke a word against him. He was a real friend.
"I guess I don't really have much to worry about him." Vector said to himself. "Who knows, maybe I'll end up calling him boss one day."
Vector smiled at himself and followed his friends out of the chared remains of the forest. But unknown to them, a cloud of darkness hid behind the trees, watching them leaving with its bloody red eyes.
A true friend is loyal to the end. Will Vector one day step down and make Espio leader? Is this truly the last time we've seen the evil dragon? Find out on the next Sonic Heroes!
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