Part Five
the dead ground was covered with flowers
**She knew what had happened now. It was an accidental thing. They were created out of stars and dust, and brought to life, like planets were. But they weren't intentional.
It had been an accident.
**I should've realized the whole thing on the first planet. We were both drawn to each other! If I hadn't gone to the planet, IT wouldn't of either. And vice versa! We both went at the same time, which is why we were drawn to each other. Why the planet was destroyed. That's why all the other planets were destroyed...because I had visited them...
I know why we were drawn to each other now...
It killed us. It undid the accident...**
But I don't understand. Why am I here? Still here?
Can it be...some part of me was real? Became real?
I loved life. I loved the feel of the worlds I visited. I...I can still feel the breeze. The warmth of a sun.
I don't understand what I am...where I am now...
But I like this...
I am still here...still alive...
Does that mean IT is too?
We were destroyed, yet still exist. Perhaps we always existed. Good and evil? Brought to life as living beings? Maybe not quite. But something like that.**
She seemed to understand now.
**So we dissipated out again. Flowing through all things as it should be.
This is as it should be.***
****
The command room was quiet, except for the tapping of keys.
"Hmmm... maybe a small change...right there..."
Sniv' leaned back in his chair, eyeing the ray-traced drawing that his fat uncle had sketched up in his spare time. It featured a new robot design...a small fast tank-like contraption to patrol the air ducts.
**It's not a bad idea...even coming from *him*...**
He could just imagine a Freedom Fighter crawling through the ducts, coming face to face with this thing. It was equipped with a powerful laser. There'd be furry brains all over the place.
He rotated the 3D image, trying to get a better view of the treads on the machine. They had to be specially designed so they could grip the smooth floor of the ducts, nevermind being able to travel up and down the duct shafts.
He heard footsteps then, and swiveled his chair around. Packbell was standing in the doorway, with a curious expression on his face.
"What's the matter? You didn't get the box?"
Packbell took a few steps into the room. "No." His voice was strangely quiet.
"Aw, did the nasty hedgehog get away?" Snively laughed. "Robotnik's not going to like that."
"The thing in the box is gone. I felt it go...she went too..."
"What's your problem?" Sniv' eyed the android closely. Packbell wasn't usually so...calm. His eyes were half-closed.
Sniv' wasn't sure he liked this... He got out of his chair and approached the 'droid warily. "What happened, Packbell?"
"The thing in the box...it like possessed me...I broke the box..."
Even though Snively had only seen the blackness within the box for a moment, it made him shudder thinking of it loose.
"Then it came after me..." Packbell's voice came out high and frightened, which made Snively jump. The android was NEVER scared.
"But I'm still alive," Packbell smirked a little, but it held none of his old cruel edge.
"What...what happened to that thing?"
"It's dead, I guess. The girl killed it, I think. She's dead too."
"Well, you'd better go tell Robotnik. He's down in his main lab."
"Ok." The android seemed very agreeable. "The time is short...and precious now, it seems. I wonder if that feeling will fade."
Snively frowned. "Since when are you worried about stuff like that?"
"I dunno...I dunno..." The android seemed to shiver inwardly then headed down the hallways, with Sniv' tailing him.
**Something ain't right with that Packbell.**
****
A week had passed.
"Sonic...your knee isn't healed all the way."
"That's ok, Sal, my love."
She rolled her eyes. "What's with all the mushy stuff, lately?"
"I told you."
Sally smiled. "Puh-leese, Sonic? An evil entity that eats souls? A lady made from the stars? That's silly. I think you were out in the sun too long, that's all."
"I know you don't believe me, but it's true! I helped save the entire world!"
She smiled again, and kissed him on the forehead. "I don't believe you, but you'll always be my hero."
"Awwww."
"I just have this feeling, Sal, that if we go there, you'll believe me."
He finally convinced her. They decided to take along a picnic basket so afterwards they could have lunch somewhere in the forest.
"Our hidden place," Sally had said with a wink. They loved to go swimming in a small lake hidden in a deep pocket of the woods.
Sonic had agreed.
Sonic's knee was healed enough for him to run and he carried Sally to the wasteland that lay between Robotropolis and the forest.
"Why are we going here?"
"It's here, I can feel it!"
They got closer to the city, the dead ground sending up clouds of dust under their feet. He halted suddenly.
Sally jumped out of his arms, putting a hand to her mouth. "Wow."
"That's where they fought," said Sonic.
The ground was so tainted and polluted that nothing should've been able to survive. But on the hillside where the battle had been fought, the ground was thick with pink flowers.
The dust they'd kicked up was settling, and they were both shocked to see a figure standing on the other side of the hillside, staring down at the flowers.
"Packbell!"
He looked up, a strange smile on his lips, and his eyes a soft pink like the flowers.
"So that's where she went. But where did the other go?" He kicked at the unnatural shadows the hillside made. "Right there, heh. They won't ever really die, you know."
Sonic nodded.
"Let's get out of here," Sally whispered into his ear. They took off.
"I dunno why," she said as they raced away, "But I think I believe you now."
He laughed.
****
It wasn't so bad...being this way...
She couldn't move, or walk, sure...
But at least the sun was warm on her...
And at least she had her sweet life...her realness.
She could hear the evil. IT was angry. IT couldn't move beyond the hillside.
You will always be there. But you can hurt no more.
But I can bring brightness to this dead space.
When Packbell brought Robotnik and Snively to the dead grounds between the city and the forest, they were shocked to see half the wasteland covered with the flowers.
Robotnik didn't like it.
But no matter how many times he tried to kill the flowers, they always came back.
In the shadows of the hillside, nothing grew ever again. There was empty death, and right beside it, bright life.
Coinciding.
Like it was meant to be.
The End?
the dead ground was covered with flowers
**She knew what had happened now. It was an accidental thing. They were created out of stars and dust, and brought to life, like planets were. But they weren't intentional.
It had been an accident.
**I should've realized the whole thing on the first planet. We were both drawn to each other! If I hadn't gone to the planet, IT wouldn't of either. And vice versa! We both went at the same time, which is why we were drawn to each other. Why the planet was destroyed. That's why all the other planets were destroyed...because I had visited them...
I know why we were drawn to each other now...
It killed us. It undid the accident...**
But I don't understand. Why am I here? Still here?
Can it be...some part of me was real? Became real?
I loved life. I loved the feel of the worlds I visited. I...I can still feel the breeze. The warmth of a sun.
I don't understand what I am...where I am now...
But I like this...
I am still here...still alive...
Does that mean IT is too?
We were destroyed, yet still exist. Perhaps we always existed. Good and evil? Brought to life as living beings? Maybe not quite. But something like that.**
She seemed to understand now.
**So we dissipated out again. Flowing through all things as it should be.
This is as it should be.***
****
The command room was quiet, except for the tapping of keys.
"Hmmm... maybe a small change...right there..."
Sniv' leaned back in his chair, eyeing the ray-traced drawing that his fat uncle had sketched up in his spare time. It featured a new robot design...a small fast tank-like contraption to patrol the air ducts.
**It's not a bad idea...even coming from *him*...**
He could just imagine a Freedom Fighter crawling through the ducts, coming face to face with this thing. It was equipped with a powerful laser. There'd be furry brains all over the place.
He rotated the 3D image, trying to get a better view of the treads on the machine. They had to be specially designed so they could grip the smooth floor of the ducts, nevermind being able to travel up and down the duct shafts.
He heard footsteps then, and swiveled his chair around. Packbell was standing in the doorway, with a curious expression on his face.
"What's the matter? You didn't get the box?"
Packbell took a few steps into the room. "No." His voice was strangely quiet.
"Aw, did the nasty hedgehog get away?" Snively laughed. "Robotnik's not going to like that."
"The thing in the box is gone. I felt it go...she went too..."
"What's your problem?" Sniv' eyed the android closely. Packbell wasn't usually so...calm. His eyes were half-closed.
Sniv' wasn't sure he liked this... He got out of his chair and approached the 'droid warily. "What happened, Packbell?"
"The thing in the box...it like possessed me...I broke the box..."
Even though Snively had only seen the blackness within the box for a moment, it made him shudder thinking of it loose.
"Then it came after me..." Packbell's voice came out high and frightened, which made Snively jump. The android was NEVER scared.
"But I'm still alive," Packbell smirked a little, but it held none of his old cruel edge.
"What...what happened to that thing?"
"It's dead, I guess. The girl killed it, I think. She's dead too."
"Well, you'd better go tell Robotnik. He's down in his main lab."
"Ok." The android seemed very agreeable. "The time is short...and precious now, it seems. I wonder if that feeling will fade."
Snively frowned. "Since when are you worried about stuff like that?"
"I dunno...I dunno..." The android seemed to shiver inwardly then headed down the hallways, with Sniv' tailing him.
**Something ain't right with that Packbell.**
****
A week had passed.
"Sonic...your knee isn't healed all the way."
"That's ok, Sal, my love."
She rolled her eyes. "What's with all the mushy stuff, lately?"
"I told you."
Sally smiled. "Puh-leese, Sonic? An evil entity that eats souls? A lady made from the stars? That's silly. I think you were out in the sun too long, that's all."
"I know you don't believe me, but it's true! I helped save the entire world!"
She smiled again, and kissed him on the forehead. "I don't believe you, but you'll always be my hero."
"Awwww."
"I just have this feeling, Sal, that if we go there, you'll believe me."
He finally convinced her. They decided to take along a picnic basket so afterwards they could have lunch somewhere in the forest.
"Our hidden place," Sally had said with a wink. They loved to go swimming in a small lake hidden in a deep pocket of the woods.
Sonic had agreed.
Sonic's knee was healed enough for him to run and he carried Sally to the wasteland that lay between Robotropolis and the forest.
"Why are we going here?"
"It's here, I can feel it!"
They got closer to the city, the dead ground sending up clouds of dust under their feet. He halted suddenly.
Sally jumped out of his arms, putting a hand to her mouth. "Wow."
"That's where they fought," said Sonic.
The ground was so tainted and polluted that nothing should've been able to survive. But on the hillside where the battle had been fought, the ground was thick with pink flowers.
The dust they'd kicked up was settling, and they were both shocked to see a figure standing on the other side of the hillside, staring down at the flowers.
"Packbell!"
He looked up, a strange smile on his lips, and his eyes a soft pink like the flowers.
"So that's where she went. But where did the other go?" He kicked at the unnatural shadows the hillside made. "Right there, heh. They won't ever really die, you know."
Sonic nodded.
"Let's get out of here," Sally whispered into his ear. They took off.
"I dunno why," she said as they raced away, "But I think I believe you now."
He laughed.
****
It wasn't so bad...being this way...
She couldn't move, or walk, sure...
But at least the sun was warm on her...
And at least she had her sweet life...her realness.
She could hear the evil. IT was angry. IT couldn't move beyond the hillside.
You will always be there. But you can hurt no more.
But I can bring brightness to this dead space.
When Packbell brought Robotnik and Snively to the dead grounds between the city and the forest, they were shocked to see half the wasteland covered with the flowers.
Robotnik didn't like it.
But no matter how many times he tried to kill the flowers, they always came back.
In the shadows of the hillside, nothing grew ever again. There was empty death, and right beside it, bright life.
Coinciding.
Like it was meant to be.
The End?