Chapter Eleven – Double Trouble
The victory celebrations, lasted for days, right across the Sol Empire but no sign of a Blue Hedgehog. Either of them. Sonic was still sleeping, being regularly monitored, but Sukko had just vanished. A kingdom wide search found nothing. Blaze sighed. Knowing he was alive was one thing, but now, as the days, turned into weeks, into months and still no sign, She just wanted the Sorcerer to come home. Yes, now the Sol Empire was his home. He'd saved it from destruction. Loosing to Riverton wasn't an option, and he'd definitely earned his visa to stay. But where was he?
Blaze was stood in the courtyard, a cold but dry winter's day, in her warm coat and hat. Her breath visible in the chilly air. Everglade came out to join her. He'd come with the morning report from Sonic's room. Still no change. She sighed, looking out over her Palace and it's grounds. It was mid-winter, and snow had just fallen and it was bitterly cold. It looked beautiful and clean, her kingdom back to being peaceful and prosperous again, but also feeling very empty. Suddenly, there was a blinding flash at light, near some trees towards the edge of the Palace grounds, and suddenly people appeared out of nowhere. Everglade growled.
"Arthur, with me." He shouted, of which the Wolf pup immediately followed. They ran down from the courtyard and down to the intruders, who'd began running up towards the Palace. They met, head on, Everglade and Arthur immediately challenging them, the both of them activating their Magic. They had been working together, the Wizard and the Apprentice Sorcerer, since the Fire Golem, to improve their Magic. It was something Sukko seemed to encourage and in his honour, they did it. Something they hoped he'd be proud of. Both were now significantly better, but both had a lot to learn to even come close to the might of the Blue Hedgehog. Everglade growled.
"Who goes there?" He hissed, as the bright yellow Magic swirled around him, and the bright emerald green of luminescent vaporous hue of pure Chaos Sorcery swirled around Arthur. Neither has seen the two intruders before, as immediately they backed off, in absolute terror. Both of them deeply frightened of the Magic. So scared, that Arthur and Everglade just stared. Suddenly, Blaze joined them, her eyes widening as she recognised the intruders. Trebling, were Tails and Knuckles. The Fox cowering in the Echidna's arms, who just growled at Blaze's arrival.
"What evil is this?" He stammered indicating the Magic users. Blaze raised her hand, sighing deeply.
"Stand down, I know them." He ordered and Arthur and Everglade backed down, somewhat confused. Their Magic dissipating away. Knuckles watched in horror and gulped. Tails still frightened in his arms. He heaved.
"You keep those demons here?" He spat. But Blaze growled, her eyes flaring bright orange, her hands exploding in deep orange flames. That she found deeply offensive. She roared.
"Chaos Sorcery is legal in 'my' kingdom." She heaved. "If you don't like it, then leave." She spat. But she was very unimpressed at their sudden arrival. A warning would have been polite, though she was beginning to wonder how they got here from Mobius. Suddenly, a tiny voice spoke up from behind Knuckle's dreadlocks. He whimpered, horrendously.
"Where's Sonic?" He asked, and Blaze's heart fell. That was Tails. Immediately Everglade and Arthur looked at her as the Princess gulped. But the Fox spotted the recognition and hesitations. He exploded. "Wait. He's here, isn't he? I knew it." He spat. "When Sonic vanished, I saw the Jewelled Scepter. I recognised it from my last visit." He stammered, but then Knuckles cut across him. He growled, the ground almost shaking beneath his feet.
"I swear if that Echidna has hurt him, he shall feel my wrath." He growled, to the complete confusion of everyone. Everglade frowned.
"What Echidna?" He shrugged. "There's no Echidna in the Sol Empire. The only one here is you." He spat. But Knuckles stormed forward, glaring at the Skunk.
"You lie. Demon, I saw him with my own eyes. He stole the Blue Blur from us." He growled. But Everglade just hissed back at the Echidna.
"I'm not a Demon, I'm a Wizard." He growled. "Sonic wasn't stolen, he was rescued, and it wasn't by an Echidna, it was by..." He added, only to cut across by the Princess. She sighed.
"Sukko." She heaved, with a smiled, now fully understanding how Sukko's long quills could have him easily mistaken for an Echidna. Immediately, they was silence. Suddenly, Tails and Knuckles just looked at each other.
"Who?" They all asked together, to the complete shock of everyone there. Blaze's jaw dropped. She suspected the twins had kept it a secret but to keep it completely and utterly from the Blue Blur's closet friends, including Tails, was gobsmacking. They had no idea. But Tails panicked.
"What's happened?" He sighed, seeing the look of slight panic on Blaze's face. Everyone looked at her, as she deeply sighed.
"Follow me." She ordered, of which everyone obeyed but she outright refused to answer anymore questions the new arrivals threw at her. Blaze walked them all up through the grounds, up to the courtyard, and then the Palace. Through the entrance foyer and down several corridors, Blaze smiled. It was so nice to see her Palace teeming with life again, as her staff, guards and visitors went around their business. She hadn't enjoyed it as all, when it was so cold, dark and empty. The turned around another corner, to the plain white door, with it's precious contents. She opened it, to find the Blue Blur...gone. She outright panicked.
"Everglade, where is he?" She squealed, and the Skunk peered around her, seeing the empty bed for himself. He swore very loudly.
"Princess, he was here this morning, I assure you. I personally checked him myself." He stammered. Then he looked up at the candle. Sukko's blue flame which had been there for months, everyday since the incident, and was also gone.
Suddenly, they was an enormous almighty explosion coming from the just outside the Palace, and someone came screaming straight towards them, from high above, right for their window. She crashed straight though it, sending glass shards everywhere, only to, thankfully, safely land on the empty bed. She was panicking, but seemed to be alright. A few cuts and bruises. She made absolutely everyone jump. Blaze gasped, in shock.
"Marine?" She stammered. But the Raccoon just wave happily. She grinned, still panting heavily.
"Ahoy. Your highness." She giggled, to confused looks, and then she raised both her hands. "I swear, it wasn't me." She defended. As she was about to be asked, what, there was another mighty explosion, and something went flying right across the window behind her, landing in the Palace grounds with an enormous bang. Tails, getting his confidence back, immediately span up both his tails, flew up right over Marine, to the broken window, and looked out. He gasped.
"Whoa. That was a boat." He stammered, blinking in astonishment. They all looked at each other. Everglade gulped.
"Er. Boats don't fly." He stammered, as Blaze, growling heavily, ran from the room, back across the Palace and outside again. Whomever was disturbing the peace, they'd better have a good reason for it. She ran out across the courtyard, down the roof walkway, and down into the Palace ground, where she was greeted by the most bizarre sight she ever seen. In front of her, was indeed a boat, but it had crashed landed with both a skid and a creator, and was partially sticking up at one end. It was a very large, bright red, metallic pirate ship, with a raised bow deck and stern deck. It was slightly tilled to his side, with his mast towards them and crane sticking out of the back. The spiked cabin was located on the main deck of the ship had been smashed to pieces, and there huge holes dotted throughout the ship. It crashed further, until it completely fell over onto it's side. Blaze looked at Marine completely bewildered. She pointed at the boat.
"That's Captain Whisker's ship." She stammered. Marine nodded, grinning inanely.
"Yep. I saw it flying over my ship. So I tried to intervene but ended up getting dragged along for the ride." She smiled. "But I'm alright." She added. Blaze nodded, but Knuckles was dumbfounded. He frowned.
"But who?" He asked, but only to immediately be interrupted by a large, ugly looking robot, looking uncannily like Eggman. He was very tall, but spherical in shape, with large arms, legs and head. He had a red pirate hat and coat, and black eyes, only one of which was working. He wore a large brown belt across his shoulder and around in his middle, meeting with a beautiful gold circular buckle. He had big red and gold boots, dark grey gloves and a bright white, very lengthy moustache. He ran out to Blaze. But before she could do anything, he felt to his knees at her feet. He grabbed her hands.
"Help me." He panicked. "He's crazy." He squealed, desperately looking behind him. Everyone was confused as to who, until suddenly, the very tell tale sound of an almighty powerful Spin-Dash revving up, from within the ship, gave him away. Curled up in an mighty ball, the Blue Blur burst though the ship into the air, only to land a top of it, with both absolute joy and delight. He squealed.
"Now that's the way to do it. By taking a metallic ship and an active volcano equals one flying vessel. A excellent way to travel." He giggled, then his spotted Captain Whisker's cowering on the ground. He jumped down, his temper flaring, growling at the robot. He stormed towards them, pointing at him. "And next time you decide to pick a fight with me. Don't." He spat, of which Caption Whisker's shook his head furiously. Sonic, now satisfied, back away heaving, noticing the robotic crew of the pirate ship, all huddled together, hiding behind their crashed vessel, terrified. The Blue Blur, his temper still flaring, had just had enough. He growled. "Sukko." He screamed. "Get them out of here." He ordered, of which he was immediately obliged.
Streams of bright blue luminescent vaporous hue swirled tightly around the crashed pirate ship, easily lifting it off the ground. Further streams exploded out from the ships, gathering up the pirates and Captain Whisker's himself. He screamed. They were lifted higher and higher, until suddenly, to everyone horror, except the Blur Blur's of course, the entire ship and its crew, exploded in to thousands of beautiful bright white Orbs, to be teleported away. They vanished. Soon the dust settled.
Blaze was amazed, the mighty Sorcerer was still here, but she looked around, he was nowhere to be seen. Now it seemed only the Blue Blur had the answers she sought, though she was glad he was alright. He had her worried there, but then again, sneaking off was very much his thing, and clashing with Captain Whiskers, also yes. Soon all eyes were on him. Sonic was still panting, but his eyes were fixed on Knuckles and Tails with a cold stare, and backed away, behind Blaze as she approached him. He hissed.
"What are they doing here?" He spat, extremely coldly. But his two friends were very shocked. Knuckles was dumbfounded. What was happening? He gulped.
"We're come to take you home." He stammered, of which the Blue Blur just exploded. He growled.
"What, so Amy can completely control my life again, no way." He spat. Blaze looked confused, so Sonic calmed himself. The Princess had been very accommodating, so she, at least, deserved an explanation. He sighed. "I always believed that once Eggman was gone, and we'd won, that I get more freedom to explore." He heaved. "Not less. The destruction of Eggman caused an enormous clean up job, and Amy completely took over. Ok, fine, she had the best organising skills out of all of us, but she wouldn't let me do anything. I had to do whatever she said, whenever she asked it for, and if I didn't, I'd get her Pika Pika Hammer to my back. Which happened several times." He sniffed. "She said it was training for our marriage, but all I saw was a cage, the bars of which was getting stronger and harder by the day." He stammered, Blaze looking horrified. Sonic cried. "I'm glad my cover got blown." He admitted. "I don't think I could have taken any more, and." He growled, staring down his so-called friends. "You were letting her." He snarled, pointing at the two of them. They just stared. "You were encouraging her, constantly saying she was a good match for me, but I didn't want it, but none of you were listening to me." He added, now with tears in his eyes, turning his back on them.
Everglade and Arthur looked at each other. That explained the deep sadness they'd felt on Sonic, during their last encounter. His freedom was slowly being striped from him. But Tails just looked up and cried, tears down his face. The young, Fox cub with a unique mutation of two tails instead of one. He had mostly yellow-orange fur with white fur around his muzzle, front torso, and the tips of his tails. He had blue eyes. He wore white gloves and red shoes with white toes. He ran for the Blue Blur, but he moved again, out of reach. He whimpered.
"I swear, I didn't know it had gotten that bad." He begged. "Please come home." He pleaded. Sonic looked back at him and gritted his teeth.
"No." He spat, and that was the end of it. But Knuckles was staring at Sonic, looking terrified. The Echidna had red fur that covers most of his body, peach skin on his muzzle, a white crescent-shaped patch of fur on his chest, and purple eyes. He had seven deadlock-like spines around the sides and back of his head and a medium-sized, tri-crooked tail. Knuckles wore red and yellow shoes, each with green cuffs and a grey, sextuple-bolted plate on top. He wore large, white, mitten-like gloves with sock-like cuffs and two spiked knuckles on each hand. He gulped.
"I know why you don't want to do back. You have Magic, don't you. That's what you meant when you said that your cover got blown." He stammered. But Sonic turned round and grinned inanely, holding up both his hands, fingers out splayed, giggling.
"Surprise!" He laughed, finally admitting to it. Here, he was safe, and didn't have to hide it anymore. But Knuckles's eyes filled with tears. He sniffed.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, only for the Blue Blur to round on him growled.
"What, for you get killed as well. No way." He said, again. "You know that having Magic on Mobius immediately gets you the death penality, no trail, nothing. Even knowing about it was enough to get you into serious trouble. I didn't want to force you to choose between my life and your own skin." He hissed, but Tails was just about to intervene, but the Blue Blur got there first, saying a sentence that would instantly change everything. He sighed. "It was bad enough for me and my brother." He added. Suddenly, silence. Everyone and everything suddenly stopped within earshot of Sonic, at the mention of his twin. Knuckles and Tails just stared absolutely gobsmacked.
What brother?
Sonic just smiled, as he was being stared at by everyone, desperate to know. He sighed.
"Ah, yes. Sukko. I've heard of what happened here, and yes, I'm spitting feathers." He growled, not happy at all. "My brother went Super and I didn't see it. Dam. That's twice now, he's done that to me." He heaved, but Blaze raised an eyebrow. She smirked.
"Twice?" She asked, but then Sonic apologised. He grinned.
"Sorry, yeah, you wouldn't know. It was a long time ago, back when we were kids and the very first time I went Super myself. I was young and stupid." He sighed. "Very stupid, and a little kid with as much power as I did, yeah, it had gone straight to my head. I believed I could do anything, where truthfully, I couldn't, and I had idiotically let a fight against Eggman slide to a ridiculously high stake battle. If I lost, he won, everything. But I'd got all seven Chaos Emeralds, so all cool, right?" He asked, but then he shook his head. "Wrong. I completely underestimated the power management needed on the Chaos Emeralds in Super Form, and I crashed and burned. Leaving Eggman still standing." He heaved, to the complete and utter horror of everyone. He sighed. "Sukko was with me at the time. It was back when he followed me around everywhere and hadn't applied to become a Doctor yet. He saw Eggman's triumphant over me and not willing to let it stand, he took the Human on himself, with nothing more then his own powers." He smiled. But Blaze gasped.
"He went into Super Form?" She asked. Sonic frantically nodded. He grinned.
"Yes, with nothing but Chaos Sorcery. No Emeralds or Power Stones of any kind. I didn't even believe it possible and he completely kicked Eggman's butt. I mean, outright destroyed him, and when I finally came too, I was the one being given the full credit for the victory, of which I was stunned at and my brother had just completely disappeared." He sniffed. Suddenly Blaze looked intensely worried, but Sonic just smiled. "Sukko's not dead. He still here, it's just you can't find him. To be honest, he doesn't want to be found. He's the King of Stealth, remember, and that's the reason why the Mobius Authorities have never caught him, despite the fact that he's the real Sorcerer they've been chasing, all these years. He doesn't like parties, that all. Or crowds, and I think going Super Form really takes it out of him, and he just takes it out on himself." He added, but Blaze gasped in terror. But Sonic just giggled.
"Blaze, it's not that bad. He just had a full blown rebellion. When do you think he got the dragon? When I finally saw him again, after that first Super Form outing, the Goth had well and truly been born." He smiled, but then Blaze rolled his eyes. She smirked.
"Let me guess, he's having another rebellion." She asked, but Sonic just sighed in frustration. He growled.
"Oh yeah, but he's really grumpy with it to. But what actually happened here, I don't know as Sukko's not telling me the full story. In fact, getting him to talk at all, has been a real challenge. I think fighting off that corruption really got to him more then the Super Form did." He heaved, to the shock of everyone. "I had to run in and help. I couldn't just leave him, even if there was a dimension between us. Sukko is of the opinion that any Sorcerer or Wizard must be willing to die if faced with corruption. That's the deal for using Magic. He'd absolutely do it himself. He instinctively screamed for me when the corruption took hold, and the two of us worked together to successfully fight it off. However, if we had failed, then Sukko was utterly willing to turn his own Magic on himself, and with the incredible power he has, that meant only one thing. Suicide. To not let the corruption take him. It came so incredibly close, with seconds of him actually doing it and if I hadn't have ran in, down the Psychic Link and saved his life, he would have. It severely shook up the both of us to be honest." He heaved looking at Blaze. He smiled. "Your idea of using Jewelled Scepter to activate and use Sukko's power of healing was a stroke of pure genius, and it saved both our lives. Well worth blowing my cover for." He added, of which Blaze walks up the him and gives the biggest hug. A deep embrace he desperately needed.
Tails and Knuckles just looked at each other. Both of them had no idea of any of this and hadn't realised the enormous and deep intense suffering, anguish, pain and sacrifice Sonic had endured over it. That was the real reason why he wasn't coming home, his brother was here, and if he was the true Sorcerer the Mobian Authorities was really after, then he wasn't leaving the Sol Empire either. He wasn't exactly welcome back on Mobius anymore.
Both Tails and Knuckles had to decide there and then, to stand with the Blue Blur or walk away. But the look in his eyes, as he cried into Blaze's shoulder said it all, the tears streaming again, that they both decided, they were going nowhere. They understood why Sonic did what he did, even if they both felt betrayed, but family was family, and friends never ranked higher. But Knuckles sighed.
"So where is this brother then?" He asked, to Sonic's absolute astonishment. He sniffed.
"What?" He asked. But Knuckles walking up to him, Sonic finally letting him. He sighed.
"I'm not forgiving you for this, but I understand why you did what you did. You were just protecting everyone." He smiled. "So where is he?" He asked again, now rather keen. He'd been put through hell over this Sorcerer, time for the Echidna to meet him. Tails gulped, still somewhat apprehensive. Sonic smiled and was about to answer, but got cut across by Arthur. He squealed in delight.
"Hey. He's there." He giggled, pointing happily. Finally, the King of Stealth showed his face. Absolutely pristine, immaculate and unscathed. He was stood some distance away, his shoulder leaning against the wall of the Palace, his back to them, his long black coat, swaying in the wind. It was of a very different style. Instead of the thin black woollen coat he had, which had vaporised in the fight, this one was now leather. A completely jet black, long, ankle length, collared, single breasted coat, with buttons down one side. It was fully lined and made with the finest leather money could by. It was expensive. The best in the Sol Empire, but Sonic knew that Sukko could afford it, and his tattoos. He was extremely well paid as a Doctor and Sonic knew it saved a huge amount of money to use at times like this, especially nearing the end of the war against Eggman. Sukko always shared his money, so Sonic never felt left out.
His long blue quills were still there, have grown a little, and tied up, not with a band, but with a long black ribbon tied multiple times in a bow so they flowed beautifully down his back. His arms were folded and now, he looked somewhat different, significantly more Gothic then before. People all around them got very excited but Sonic put his hand up for calm, and with Blaze's help, he got it. He gulped, slowing walking across the grass, alone, to lean against the wall, behind him. He heaved. This was the first time he's seen his brother since his rescue to the Sol Empire, and he had indeed changed. They had talked at length down the Psychic Link but that was it, Sukko never showing himself, until now. He sighed.
"Hi." He smiled, still in earshot of everyone. Sukko looked up, and breathed.
"Hi." He replied, very emotionless. Sonic, giggled to himself, trying and failing to stay calm. He grinned.
"How's the rebellion?" He asked. Sukko sighed again, and rubbed his face, finally turning round, placing his back against the wall. He smirked.
"It's burned out. I'm done." He heaved, honestly. But Sonic just smiled, relieved to finally hear warmth and happiness back in his voice again. He despised hearing his brother suffer. But the Blue Blur just giggled.
"Pleased with the end results?" He asked, eyeing up the changes on his twin. Suddenly Sukko himself giggled. He smiled.
"Well, I'd better be. It is, kind-of, permanent." He laughed, and turned to face to face his brother, and lifted up one side of his coat to reveal an absolutely enormous jet black tattoo of a phoenix running from the entire length of left hand side of his body. The phoenix had a side profile, with the head, body and tail in a curving arc formation. The head was across the front of his shoulder, with the sharp curved beak pointing down, with one wing spread out across his chest, and the other pointing backwards down his left arm, along with the long head feathers.
The black phoenix's body curved round the front, left half of his torso and until the talons of the birds appeared at his lower ribs. Then came to tail, which was so long that it curved around his hip and then beautifully finished down his leg at the the knee. The entire bird was surrounded by deep rich black flames, which is what gave it away as a phoenix, and the skin beneath it was vivid bright red, as it was very freshly done. The quality of the work was exquisite, and Sonic got the impression that one, there was hours of work there, extremely painful, and two, it was the biggest tattoo the artist had ever done. Sonic gasped. His jaw dropped.
"Whoa! That was one hell of a rebellion." He stammered. But Sukko just giggled.
"Yeah. Forty-six hours worth." He shrugged, but not really caring at that very moment. He been severely mentally broken the last few months, and Sonic had been exactly right. It was fighting off the corruption that had really got to him, not going Super, though that had triggered the rebellion, and getting the phoenix had significantly helped him to cope. He liked it's symbolism, and the irony of it, considering how he defeated the Dark Fire Golem. But suddenly, he was staring at the new arrivals, his powerful Telepathic mind now slowing kicking back in, reading it on both Knuckles and Tails. He frowned.
"There's trouble back on Mobius." He growled, and suddenly, without another word, he exploded into bright white Orbs and teleported right back to where Blaze and the others were standing. Sonic gasped.
"What?" He panted. "Hey, Sukko, wait." He hollowed and immediately initiated his own Chaos Sorcery teleport, which wasn't as well practiced as Sukko's, and with the blinding flash of blue light, he landed, only to misjudge it completely and fall flat his face, much to the amusement of his twin. Sonic surprised everyone that he could even do this, but under the circumstances, not really. Sukko smiled, helping his brother to his feet, but then as Sukko spied the residents of the Sol Empires, he immediately folded his ears back, feeling incredibly guilty. He hadn't meant to walk out in them, but quite simply, alone was how he dealt with trauma.
Knuckles and Tails just stared at Sukko then at each other. As the brother of the Blue Blur, they were not expecting Sukko, identical none the less, and yet so different. Now seeing him with his ears back, with his highly unusual long blue quills, Knuckles fully understood how he mistook him as an Echidna. Now he felt guilty, calling these people demons. They were good people and didn't deserve it. Different dimension, different rules, but it was so odd to see Chaos Sorcery embraced here. He could feel the immense power on Sukko, he was indeed the Sorcerer, and fully understood why he took refuge here. But from what he could gather, he saved the people here, from what sounded like, an evil as bad as Eggman. Tails too felt the same, equally as shocked as Sukko's appearance. But suddenly, Sonic rounded on the two of them. He heaved.
"Guys, what's going on? Sukko says there trouble back on Mobius." He spat. But Tails squealed, but Knuckles growled at the Sorcerer.
"Hey, how do you know?" He spat, rather defensively. But Sukko gritted his teeth, but Sonic got between him and the Echidna, instantly calming his brother. He instantly backed away, such was trust between them. He heaved.
"Sukko is Telepathic, so there's no secrets when he's around. That is." He giggled. "If he decides to divulge, which most of the time, he doesn't." He sniggered, to a small smile on the Sorcerer. Blaze had been watching him, along with Arthur and Everglade, and they were all heartbroken. In the days, leading up the fight with the Dark Fire Golem, he'd come out of his shell a lot, but now, he was so closed off, so reserved, having retreated right back into it, that they would have to start over. The intense discomfort could clearly be seen in his eyes of being in amongst this crowd, but as Blaze realised, he was there for one simple reason. Because Sonic had asked him too, and she also knew that if anyone get Sukko back out of his shell again, he could. Such was the bond between them. That was how much the Blue Blur meant to him, and the very hard look he was giving Knuckles and Tails, clearly said that his precious brother was going nowhere.
They gulped. The twins were so different, that they were struggling to get their heads around it, but as they looked at Blaze and the rest of the Sol Empire, they realised they weren't the only ones. But Sonic was standing so strongly with his sibling, that they decided to finally oblige the Blue Blur. Knuckles heaved, somewhat frightened, to intense nodding from Tails.
"It has been hell at home since you left Mobius. The Mobian Authorities must have suspecting something because when you exploded with all that Magic, one, it caused absolute panic, and two, they were on top of us within minutes. They had clearly been watching you. I'm glad you got out when you did, because you would almost certainly have been killed, and as for us, we all got arrested. Everyone. Amy, Cream and Vanilla, the Chaotix, Silver. Even Rouge and Shadow, didn't even escape their wrath. We call got taken to the Westnorth Maximum Security Prison just outside Empire City, without trail, where they locked us up and tortured us, desperate for information, about you. Or more specifically, the Magic." He heaved, with the Fox agreeing, tears in his eyes. Sonic was horrified, feeling incredibly guilty, but Knuckles calmed him. He smiled. "But you were exactly right. The fact that we all knew nothing because you'd kept it so well hidden, pretty much saved our lives. They couldn't prove anything." He sighed, the Fox again nodded. But Sonic frowned.
"So they let you go?" He asked, but Tail violently shook his head. He cried.
"No, we escaped. Shadow broke us out, and then gave himself up, to let us escape. I dread to think what they are doing to him. He told us to find you, as I knew where you were. I didn't have any Chaos Emeralds so I created fake ones, you know, the ones that were seriously annoying years ago, and used them to build a inter-dimensional portal generator to get us here." He sniffed. It was seriously impressive. "Unfortunately, it was single use only. It's already dead." He added, desperately hoping the Sol Empire had means to get back to Mobius. but Knuckles cut across him. He growled, grabbing the Blue Blur. Him now looking terrified.
"Sonic, the Mobian Authorities have seen the Magic as an excuse to go on the war path. They are not only going after us, but anyone with any level of Chaos Power. Anything. Hundreds of people are now being rounded up. It's like the purge all over again, when all of the Sorcerers were murdered on Mobius. They are desperate for the Magic. To use it for what, I don't know, but we need to get them out. The Mobian Authorities is now badly corrupted." He spat, referring to their friends still left behind. But Sonic panicked.
"Yes and we both know from experience that Magic and corruption don't mix." He shuddered, of which Sukko move up towards him silently, and comforted him. The Echidna then paced around, letting go of Sonic. He heaved.
"They're desperate for you." He gulped, indicating Sukko, who looked up. "And they will never stop hunting you, even if you flee here. The people of Mobius will suffer. Silver has said this has already changed the future on Mobius, where Chaos Powers no longer exist. It is a very deprived future, where all the incredible technology derived from Chaos that they had there, never happened, because the people with the Chaos Powers weren't there to invent it." He stammered, but Sonic gasped.
"I know that the people with Chaos Powers, Chaos Creatures, aren't prevalent on Mobius. Only one or two percent of the population, but out of billions, that's thousands of people being slaughtered." He cried. Both Knuckles and Tails nodded. There was silence. They all knew why the Mobian Authorities were doing this. Control. Ultimate control. For years, they have struggling to keep a lid on the Chaos Creatures on Mobius, them using their powers to fight back, forcing the Mobian Authorities to compromise. Without them, there would be no one left to fight back, and the Mobian Authorities would be free to do with the planet as it wished, even at the cost of it's own people. Corruption at it's best.
No one knew how fix this, except Sukko, who had an idea. One that could cost him everything. But after what he'd recently endured, he didn't really care. He smirked, speaking for the first time since his conversation started. He leered, somewhat emotionless.
"If the Mobian Authorities want a Sorcerer, then let's give them one. I can get your friends out." He hissed, rather coldly, to the stunned look of everyone, of which Sonic just rounded on him, desperate. He cried.
"Sukko, no. If you go back to Mobius, they'll kill you or worse, corrupt you. It's suicide." He whimpered, but Sukko just pushed him back. He growled, the extremely short fuse on his temper flaring.
"And how is that any different to you fighting an greatest evil tyrant ever, or me, the worse Black Magic in the entire Sol Empire. Risking our lives, is what we do." He smirked, winking. Sonic sighed, nodding, as everyone just looked on amazed. They were beginning to understand that Sukko was the rock solid foundation of what made Sonic the Hero of Mobius. Gave the encouragement he needed, the shoulder to cry on. Sonic couldn't be the hero with him. But the Blur Blue rounded on him. He heaved.
"Fine. But I'm coming with you." He growled. Sukko sighed, looking somber, careful to neither agree nor disagree with his brother's insistence. His idea to fix Mobius had nothing to do with his friends. He was just obliging Sonic, but it was going to involve a serious amount of Magic in a cast that he knew the Blue Blur would seriously object too. Almost to the point of Sonic potentially stopping him, of which the Sorcerer just couldn't afford. To cast Magic like that on Mobius, was incredibly dangerous, and he'd be killed, if caught. But to stop the persecution, it was worth it, even if one of them had to die. Sonic had done his bit for Mobius, it was his turn now. But he wasn't happy about it, but needs must, at times like this. He sighed. Time for a distraction. He smirked, it quickly broadening, to a full on grin. There was far too much tension on this crowd, it was driving his Telepathy bonkers. He knew the situation was dire, but a calmer and more relaxed approached would be better, which meant time to break the tension, by poking a little fun. He giggled.
"Sonikku." He heaved under his breath, but he got ignored, his brother was so wound up with the tension. He sniggered. "Sonikku." He hissed, a little louder, but still ignored. Suddenly, people catching on began to giggle. Then Sukko just outright sighed, and shouted at him. "Sonikku!" He bellowed, practically in his face. Sonic's temper flared, him struggling with the high emotions. He growled.
"What?" He spat, throughly unimpressed. Sukko grinned, pretending to look out into the distance. Sonic frowned. Suddenly, the Sorcerer smirked, throwing out his arms.
"Ball!" He squealed at the top of his voiced, and Sonic just exploded. In absolute joy, laugher and huge quantities of Static Electricity, the emotions were running that high. He squealed in pure delight.
"Where?" He squealed, and before anyone could say anything, he immediately took off, the sound barrier breaking right behind him, in a matter of seconds. The enormous roar of sound behind him. Sukko was left howling with laughter, to the bemused look of everyone. It was very funny, but in the circumstances, not exactly appropriate. They all stared at the Sorcerer, who just giggled.
"I can't believe that actually still works." He grinned and they faced everyone looking at him. "Oh, where's you sense of humour. I know, I'm so bad, but I can't go on a mission with Sonikku that wound up." He sniggered, of which he did have a point. He began to turn away. "Oh, and what's even funnier, is the fact that he'll run a hundred miles before realising there isn't one." He sniggered, and then if on cue, there was another bang in the distance. He glared in the direction of the sound. "Here he comes back, for my behind, probably." He smiled, then he began counting down, despite the fact there was nothing to see. "Five, four, three, two, one." He hissed, and expertly dodged out of the way as Sonic charged in out of nowhere, missed him and immediately started running down his brother down, which stunned everyone. No one could ever dodge one of the Blue Blur's charges, but it did prove one thing. They were indeed bothers. No one knows you better then a sibling. He roared in frustration.
"Sukko, you git, that wasn't funny." He grilled, but his twin just giggled.
"Yes it was, Sonikku." He giggled, of which the Blue Blur himself just laughed. Sukko smiled. "But it has successfully calmed you down." He added, of which Sonic just suddenly stopped, thought about it for a couple of seconds and then beamed.
"Thanks. Sukko." He smiled. Despite everything, his twin had his back and still knew what was best for him. He was a significantly better Hero and warrior when he was more relaxed. His brother just winked at him. He smiled.
"Pleasure." He sighed, but then he deeply frowned, turning to both Knuckles and Tails. "I'm not diving into this prison without knowing what I'm dealing with." He added, of which his twin just droned, on pure annoyance. He sighed heavily, his voice long and whiny.
"Sukko." He heaved. "Not planning. You know none of your plans ever work." He sighed, of which Sukko just grinned. The more the twins talked, the more the Sorcerer was coming out of his shell. It was delightful to watch, especially for Blaze. He giggled.
"Well, shock horror, Sonikku, I've actually had a plan go without a hitch." He grinned, of which Sonic gasped.
"What?" He grinned, but Sukko just sniggered.
"I know." He shrugged. "I was actually surprised myself." He giggled of which Arthur and Everglade just laughed. They knew which plan they were talking about. The exquisitely executed destruction of the Order of Elden using the Maze of Mirrors. It was beautifully done. But Sukko heaved. "Regardless, Sonikku, i'm not going into this prison blind." He heaved, looking back at Knuckles and Tails. "They have been in there. I should be able to pull and construct a map, from between them, from that they've seen." He added, to the somewhat terrified look of the Fox and the Echidna. That was seriously powerful Magic, if Sukko could do it at all. Which, of course, he could. Sonic heaved.
"Ok, fine." He spat, and looked over to his friends, who backed away. He sighed. "Look, trust me. If you want our help, then you have to trust Sukko and his excellent grasp of the Magic. He is extremely powerful, yes, but also the best in the business. Corruption tried to take him, but it failed." He smiled, incredibly proud. "That how pure of heart he is. He is my brother, after all." He added, causing Sukko's cheeks to go scarlet. He shuffled, extremely humbled, mortally embarrassed. He sighed.
"Sonikku." He heaved. But the Blue Blur cut right across him. He beamed.
"No, Sukko. You deserve it. You saved the Sol Empire, your a true Hero." He smiled. "And my equal." He added, to Sukko's enormous gulp, and suddenly the twins embraced, like there was not a care in the world. "I'm proud of you." He whispered into his brother's ear, and finally Sukko just cried, letting out the last of his mental anguish. Finally, he done it. Matched the Hero of Mobius, to be finally seen as he equal. He looked around the to cheering of absolutely everyone in the Sol Empire. Blaze was grinned, also incredibly proud. Suddenly, Sonic piped up within the embrace as Sukko wasn't letting him go. He was pleased but he was still very somber about what he was planning. Sonic frowned.
"Er, Sukko. My friends?" He sniggered, of which Sukko immediately let go of him, again embarrassed. He heaved, brushing himself off.
"Yeah, sorry." He giggled.
Time to get to work.