AN: We're close to the end folks here's the 2nd to last chapter of this bad boy! (Also sorry if your inbox is being spammed atm there'll only be one more tonight!)
Sand
Shadow stood at the front of the ship letting the wind blow through his spines. He hadn't spoken to anyone since he apologized for his actions the day before. Mostly it was because he still feared Wave somehow having the power to harm Rouge. Though his apology was hasty yesterday, he genuinely regretted his actions. Shadow was prideful, though. He still wasn't able to put that pride aside and truly show that his intentions were not to hurt anyone. But fortunately, Shadow did not need to.
He heard footsteps announcing his visitors as they made their way up the stairs to the front deck. Shadow looked behind. It was Tails, Cosmo, Cream, and Jet. He returned his gaze forward not having the stomach to look at them. Tails walked forward and to everyone's surprise, he shoved Shadow. The hedgehog swung around wondering what this provocation was for. He did not retaliate.
"We forgive you, you jerk," Tails said folding arms.
Shadow scoffed and turned back around.
"Thanks…" he mumbled.
"What was thaaat? I didn't quite hear you…" Tails teased.
Throwing an arm around Shadow's shoulders and pulling him in close.
"I said thanks, dammit," Shadow said shoving the fox away.
Tails giggled and stood at his side, "I think we have some good news you may want to hear."
Jet walked to the other side of Shadow and nodded in agreement, "Yup. I spoke to Wave about some things. Things about my past, and well…She was lying about Rouge. She has no clue where she is."
Shadow's eyes widened in surprise. He scoffed at his own stupidity. He was disappointed that he didn't call her bluff because his emotions got in the way.
Shadow looked at Tails and raised an eyebrow remembering what Tails had realized when they were locked up.
"Good to know. What…else did you speak about?" Shadow asked prying for details.
"Wave said she slipped up and said too much when she was speaking to you guys, so you may already know this, but apparently I used to be the leader of the Rogues."
Tails and Shadow didn't react, but Cosmo gasped in surprise.
"Judging from your reaction, I guess at least two of you figured it out," Jet said staring at the deck before continuing, "She must have staged my rescue out in the desert to make it seem like I had gotten lost and collapsed. I guess that explains why a group of bandits would bother 'rescuing' someone. They weren't really rescuing me at all."
"So, will you return to your old ways? Threatening, thieving, killing…" Shadow asked bluntly fully understanding that he himself was no saint.
"I…I'll cross that bridge when I get there. For now, I just want this Creeping-Chaos business to be over with."
Another two approached, flooding onto the front deck. It was Sonic and Blaze.
"I hope we aren't interrupting," Sonic began with a friendly smile that quickly disappeared, "But Blaze says that we may have an issue."
"Do you need any help?" Tails offered.
"No, but we appreciate the thought."
The captain reversed the dual fans of the giant airboat to slow their rapid pace. In short time they came to a stop. Blaze glided down from the deck of the airboat on the flames of her heels before touching down on the soft sand. The king jumped down to the sand as well.
They walked forward until Blaze gestured for them to stop. Tails and his group immediately understood why. It was the time fissure. It was still blocking their path. This time, though, there was no crevice accompanying it. They must have gone far enough north to dodge it completely.
From the deck, Shadow could see Blaze look back at them slyly. To him, that looked like a sign of distrust. She pulled something covered in cloth from her pocket and handed it to Sonic. Shadow swore he could see a glint of yellow. The fuzzy air of the time fissure cleared up as soon as the item touched Sonic's hands.
Shadow looked to see if Sonic passed the hidden item back to Blaze before they returned. This time he confirmed it. He definitely saw a yellow wink from whatever they were passing around. Sonic and Blaze promptly returned to the ship.
Tails and Jet looked dumbfounded at how easily they managed to get rid of the time fissure. Their eyes did not catch what Shadow's did.
"Well, that clears that up, huh…" Jet admired.
Recalling from only a few days ago, it was because of that fissure that they ended up detouring farther than initially planned.
As Sonic and Blaze passed Tails' group again, Shadow called out to them.
"How did you do it?" Shadow asked, "How did you clear up the time fissure?"
Blaze gave Shadow the same look she had given him a minute ago, "How do you even know about time fissures, hedgehog?"
"I travel often. I've been to all kinds of different regions and zones. I see them from time to time but can never get past them."
"If you run into them often, but never have the means to get past, then it's probably better it stayed that way," Blaze said before turning away.
Shadow grimaced. She said nothing particularly insulting, but her tone sounded demeaning.
Sonic pulled Blaze along as they made their way into his quarters below the helm. The airboat began moving once again. Now nothing was stopping them from making it to the desert's center.
Tails clicked open his pocket watch. Only a day separated them from the Creeping-Chaos. Before they had traveled two days at this speed and ended up about five days ahead, so that timing was peculiar. A gut-wrenching thought occurred to Tails.
The Creeping-Chaos must be moving faster.
At the snail's pace it usually moved at, Tails figured that they should be at least two days ahead, but the watch said otherwise. As Tails examined the watch, he noticed that it was becoming harder and harder to keep it steady so he could read it. Tails took a look at his hands. The tremors were returning. He quickly closed the pocket watch and balled his hands into fists. He didn't know when this began, but he couldn't wait for it to stop. The shaking. The constant shaking.
The Blue Wind carried its passengers forward toward the center for another quarter of a day. The cream color of the desert sand began to pale until it was a ghostly white. The sight was jarring to the people among them who had never seen snow, the white sand almost blinding those who stared directly at it.
That evening Sonic called for the Blue Wind to come to a stop while they assessed the situation. He consulted for a moment with his men who estimated that they were within five hundred feet of the center of the desert. Sonic figured that if there really was some sanctuary nearby, he'd be able to see it now. At the very least, the strange white sand definitely meant that there was something to be found. He would need to consult Tails. Sonic called on Antoine to seek Tails out on the ship and bring him to the deck. Their next move must be known.
Minutes passed and Sonic felt that Antoine was taking quite long for such a simple task. He headed below himself to figure out the issue. He ran into Blaze along the way and had her accompany him. He heard a commotion, several people in a single room all speaking over one another. When Sonic joined the fray, he was amongst Antoine, Jet, Cosmo, Shadow, and several guards. They argued in Tails' room who looked to be fast asleep.
"What is the meaning of this?" Sonic asked not bothering with any niceties.
"They say that the one who guided us here is asleep and will not wake up," Antoine reported, his hands folded in annoyance, "We are at the mercy of his spotty sources, so the least he could do is be awake at a decent hour!"
Jet grabbed Antoine by his vest, "I've had enough of you! We already told you, he isn't waking up!"
Antoine pushed Jet away from him and the guards raised their weapons. Shadow stepped in front of Cosmo and Tails ready for a fight, but the king wanted no such exchange.
"Don't think I don't remember who my captor was, hawk. I have little patienc—" Antoine seethed before Sonic stepped in.
"Antoine, enough! Guards. Lower your weapons and return to the deck. You are not needed here," Sonic said walking in between the two parties.
The guards dispersed while the king continued speaking, "I understand we are all faced with a difficult situation, but I agree with Antoine. We need Tails awake."
"It isn't that we want Tails to be asleep. He just won't wake up," Shadow clarified, "Did you really think he could sleep through all this arguing, anyway?"
Sonic put a hand to his mouth thinkingly, "Then do any of you have an idea how we should proceed? We've made it to the center of the desert, but it's just as barren now as it was before. The only difference is the sand changed color."
"The sand…changed color?"
They all made their way to the deck and from there Tails' friends could all see that the sand truly had change color. It was a blinding white. Sonic went on speaking about when it all happened with Shadow.
Jet held the sleeping Tails in his arms and placed him down to examine something. Tails' watch was ticking very loudly and very quickly. Jet flicked it open and like before, it was running backward, but much faster than when he was looking for Rotor. The second hand was almost invisible how quickly it was spinning, and the hour hand made a rotation every few seconds.
Jet showed it to Cosmo. She was confused by it too. When Jet suggested that it may be broken, Cosmo disagreed. She noticed that when they traveled, Tails was always looking at his watch. She wondered why he'd keep a watch that seemed to tell time incorrectly unless it wasn't keeping the time at all. While they moved, it looked like it was running normally, if a bit fast. Now that they were stopped, the watch was running backward. While it did so, Cosmo became anxious. There was likely a point where it would stop, and Cosmo was unsure what would take place.
"Your highness!" one of the guards yelled to the king.
They pointed toward the eastern horizon where the sky was darkening rapidly. Sonic checked his own watch. It was only five o'clock. The sky should not be darkening yet and especially not from a single direction. The Creeping-Chaos must be upon them.
"Captain!" Sonic yelled, "Continue west! The Creeping-Chaos is close!"
The engine of the airboat roared and soon they were riding full throttle toward the west. That is when Cosmo made the connection. Tails' watch began to run forward again with the motion, but it ticked slowly.
"Jet, this watch isn't broken! It measures how close the Creeping-Chaos is!"
The hawk's eyes opened in realization. The watch's bizarre behavior made sense now.
"That's great and all, but we can't tell how much time we have, anyway. It's not ticking at the right speed."
"We don't need to know the exact time. We could have used it as a gauge to see how far the Creeping-Chaos was from us. This would have been useful to all of us had we known. Why would Tails not say anything about it?"
They examined the watch again. The second hand ran forward but began to tick slower and slower still. It stopped and began running backward again.
"What? So that means… it's gaining on us?" Jet deduced.
Cosmo and Jet relayed their findings to the king who seemed more worried now that he knew the Creeping-Chaos was now catching up. He suggested all the children should head below deck where they would be most shielded from the Creeping-Chaos. Sally accompanied them below.
"Your highness! The Creeping-Chaos blocks our path to the west!" the Captain called out to Sonic.
"What?" Sonic said in disbelief.
He swiveled his head to the west. The captain's observation was correct. That would mean they are being pinched.
"Head south then! Or to the North!"
The captain steered to the south, but the effort seemed futile. The Creeping-Chaos was closing in on them from either side. As if the odds weren't already against them, the airboat suddenly deflected to the left. They had hit something blocking their path. The front deck shattered, and the air surged with energy, following the arc of a dome. It was some sort of invisible barrier. It had to be the Sanctuary.
Cosmo threw her body on top of Tails' to make sure he didn't fly away during the impact. She closed her eyes when she braced. Once she opened them, she noticed how Tails was beginning to glow. A stream of light stemming from his chest connected him to a light shining within the barrier. She knew what she had to do.
Desperately, Sonic and Shadow began to attack the barrier, hitting it with as many homing attacks as the Creeping-Chaos would allow. Even Jet began firing as many sound bombs as he could manage. None of them could crack the shield, though. They were out of time. The black sand began to work its way up the side of the boat. It corrupted the wooden frame which began to crack beneath its own weight.
"Everyone below deck!" Sonic ordered leading everyone through the hatch.
While the others decided to accept their fate and delay for as long as possible, Cosmo pushed forward toward the barrier pulling Tails along with her. Cosmo was sure she could manage the arduous task with more time, but that was something she was rapidly running out of.
A tendril reached from up from the blackened deck and grabbed her. It overpowered her easily, drawing her into the sand that crawled only a few feet away.
As Jet followed Shadow as the last to head below deck, he heard Cosmo cry out. He spun around and saw the trouble she was in. For some reason, she wasn't headed for the hatch, but for the barrier with Tails. She needed his help. He ran to her aid and with what little strength he could muster, yanked Cosmo free. The Creeping-Chaos would not leave without a victim, though, as it latched on onto Jet next.
"Go!" Jet shouted to Cosmo telling her to leave him.
Cosmo thanked Jet as she continued to drag Tails forward.
Shadow who had already made it below deck was surprised when he saw no one else behind him. He rushed back up to find Jet in a precarious position and Cosmo desperately pulling Tails forward. He saw the light connecting Tails to the inside of the barrier. He was unsure what exactly was going on, but any idiot could see that Cosmo was way ahead of the curve. He raced the Creeping-Chaos to her and beat it by a fraction of a second. He grabbed both Tails and Cosmo and dodged out of the way of a wave of sand looking to devour them.
"There?!" Shadow questioned simply pointing to the light within the barrier.
Cosmo nodded. She was confident they could make it through.
The Creeping-Chaos was already scaling up the invisible barrier to block their path, so Shadow would need height if he wanted them to make it. He crouched down and with a great leap, he launched from the deck which was almost fully covered in darkness. A series of tendrils lashed out, but he maneuvered around them before using them as stepping stools, rocketing them upward. From high above, he could see a portion of the barrier that was not yet covered in the black of the Creeping-Chaos. He spun, first flinging Tails then Cosmo. He watched as they both slid through the barrier undisturbed. A smile worked its way across his face as gravity drew him back towards the dark. Finally, something worked out as planned…
Cosmo landed roughly on the white sand. She was dazed, but it only took a moment for her to recover. She was so grateful for the help from both Jet and Shadow, but she knew what this likely meant for them. She was saddened by the thought, so much so that tears began to cloud her vision as she dragged Tails forward toward the brilliant light. She had to hurry.
The closer she was to the light; the brighter Tails would glow until he shone just as brightly. With one more pull, Cosmo fused Tails with the light, and the barrier expanded outwards and upward. In a dazzling display, the two lights rose high into the sky leaving sparkling trails in their wake.
From above, two powerful voices cried out in unison, "Purify!"
Light filled the sky chasing away the dark.
Until the Next Page…