-Chapter Three-
Cutting It Fine
The purple hedgehog's glanced shifted from his evil grey rival to the creation in the capsule. It indeed looked powerful, but it was also incomplete. Due to the process, its legs were missing, and short stumps were in the place of where they were. The tubes and wires that fed through the tank pulsated with life, possibly feeding this creature vital energy, which it would need once it finally was complete. BoltStryke clenched his fists tighter, angry that the memory of Shadow had been marred by their evil genetic engineering. Demonis was pure evil- and this evil had been injected into the midnight blue figure, which lay lifeless in the tank. If he had anything to do with this, it was going to stop, and he was going to stop it very quickly.
Demonis and the doctor's laughter died, Eggman aware that Demonis was staring at him in a manner which signalled him to stop. He cocked his head to the side.
"What is it?" He growled, placing the remote back into his pocket.
The grey hedgehog turned away from him, glancing at the grate behind the old table for a split second before turning to the doctor once again, who looked increasingly worried. Demonis minimised the green Chaos Emerald he was still holding, and placed the object within his quills. Dr. Eggman waited in silence as the hedgehog's smile crept into a very long smirk, raising both his hands to his face and placed his palms together, facing the capsule. He eyed the grate slowly, and gave a short laugh.
"Let's just say." he began, interlocking each of his fingers until only his thumbs and index fingers were still placed together. He closed his eyes for a split second, and as he did, a short, blue streak of lightning streaked across his arms and made their way to the point of his index fingers, remaining there as a glittering blue ball, measuring no more than 3 centimetres in size. ".We have a couple of visitors who need taking care of."
Sonic's eyes widened. "Is he. Going to.?" he hissed as quietly as he could, half-glancing in BoltStryke's direction.
"Yes." He replied softly, placing his right foot forward. "But we're not going to get hit. We're both going to Spin dash on the count of three."
Dr.Eggman's face lit up with half surprise, and half shock as more streaks of lightning continued to streak up the grey hedgehog's arms, pulsating before reaching the point of his fingers, the blue orb growing bigger and brighter. He let one hand drop to his side and clench into a fist, now able to swing the orb on the index finger of his right hand. Bringing it behind his head, he swung towards the direction of the grate, and fired the orb, the ball of concentrated electrical and chaotic energy blasting outwardly before stretching out into a thin beam.
Just nanoseconds before the beam slammed into the grate with a massive force, two blurs burst the plating open, breaking away into opposite sides of the room. As the beam made impact, it broke through the room's wall, before denting and buckling the grate, the sheer heat part melting the metal and warping it beyond repair.
Demonis glared at the gaping hole that his attack had created. The two hedgehogs spun to meet each other and broke from their curled stance, leaping into the air and landing neatly on the cold metallic floor. The old table and the grate, now broken and destroyed, crackled with the energy that Demonis' attack had given off, and then became smoking and silent. He turned his head at once, his emerald green eyes piercing into BoltStryke's glowering, golden ones.
Demonis smiled. "Well, if it isn't the hedgehog duo! What a nice surprise!
BoltStryke remained silent for a while, and then advanced forward, much to Sonic's surprise, however, he didn't try to stop him. "Of all the people I didn't expect to see again. But then again, you've not been that much of a rival over the years Demonis, ever since you disappeared from the Emerald Shrine." The purple hedgehog's eyes narrowed. "So I take it this is the beginning of the 'day of reckoning' you spoke of, huh?"
"Exactly right." The grey hedgehog chortled. "Only time has made me realise that if I have allies by my side- valuable allies- I can make my day of reckoning so much more than what I had imagined it to be. With Eggman and Oblivion on my side, there's no way I can lose!" He clenched his right fist and punched the air directly in front of him enthusiastically. "But now that you've brought yourselves here, I can make destroying you two quick work, and your little friends will be easier for me."
"Not if we can help it!" Sonic shouted, stepping forward too. "If it's anything to do with Eggman, we're bound to beat you! But what I don't get is why you're using a military laboratory."
"Allow me to answer that." Eggman said quietly, stepping to Demonis' side. "After the ARK incident I took to finding a place that I could formulate a new plan, a plan to finally defeat you all. But before leaving I found some very useful documents aboard the ARK. I retrieved a hoard of blueprints marking out old laboratories and test sites that belonged to GUN, and had been abandoned many decades ago. I decided to choose this one as it's the perfect place to perform my experiments- There's plenty of Chaos Ore to keep my machines running, and it's depths beneath the ground above made it perfect for me to go about my business for months without being detected at all!" He raised his hand to his mouth and smiled. "After many days locating the Chaos Emeralds, Demonis came to me. Having already found a Chaos Emerald, he offered to help me find the rest. It was only a matter of time before I showed him my plans to create my own Ultimate Lifeform. Using the gene samples that I found in the ARK's cryogenics centre and from Demonis offering his most powerful genes, we were able to create Oblivion! Now with Demonis being born from the pure evil that had been absorbed in the grey Chaos Emerald and Shadow's gene pool, he should be indestructible!"
"Hah!" BoltStryke spat, swinging his right hand across him and then back once again. "Well I would see if this creature lives up to your expectations, but I won't allow this to happen, and I won't allow you to get away with this, Demonis!" He clenched both his fists tightly and advanced forward again. "As the hedgehog born from the Master Emerald, it's not going to happen!"
"Enough talk!" Demonis growled, glowering at the purple hedgehog opposite him. In an instant, he leapt back, tensing his fingers of his right hand as familiar streaks of lightning at once shot up his arm, only this time at a quickened pace, melding together at a point in the middle of his palm. This orb was bigger, and it looked more dangerous. As smaller orbs of light glittered and sparked off this amazing blue and white orb, crackling with lightning, Demonis landed, and thrust the palm with the orb contained within forward. BoltStryke and Sonic both took on defensive stances, watching the evil grey hedgehog's solid green eyes sparkle with hints of blue, glowering at the pair of them. "I'll destroy you both here and now!" he yelled. "And the bulk of my troubles will be over!"
The purple hedgehog suddenly leapt into action, as he slid his left foot forward, he twisted his body across to the right, bring his left hand across also, tightening his fingers and kept the palm open as he did so. Lowering his head, he brought his right hand across so that its palm faced his left one. Keeping his weight more on his left foot rather than on his right, he closed his eyes for a split second, and in an instant, a bright flash of white light burst from the very centre of his palms, and at once swirled inward, hints of fuchsia-coloured light and energy pulling the light together to form an orb in between his palms. As this happened, short yellow streaks of lightning shot from the Bolt gems on his hands and up both of his arms, and across his hands to form part of the ball. The now fuchsia and white orb was now encased in an aura of yellow electric sparks, which crackled loudly. The sharp, intense look on Demonis' face seemed to let up slightly at seeing this. "Trust me." BoltStryke growled. "Whatever you can throw at me, I can do one better."
Dr. Eggman broke in at once. "Stop! The pair of you!" Demonis never shifted his gaze to even glimpse at the doctor. "What?"
"There's a lot of volatile equipment in this lab. If you two unleash any attacks like that, you'll destroy us all, for sure!"
Demonis seemed to hesitate for a few seconds, still watching BoltStryke intensely. ".Hmm. very well." He released the stiffness in his fingers, the orb disappearing in an abrupt flash of white light. In a split second, a smirk came to Demonis' face, and he disappeared from his standing spot in a split second, rushing towards BoltStryke.
"Chaos Blast!" The purple hedgehog yelled, thrusting the orb he was holding forward in a burst of incredible speed. He quickly brought his hands up to shield his face as the orb instantly exploded, throwing the advancing grey hedgehog back the way he came from. As he hit the ground, the slightly charred hedgehog rolled twice, and a glittering object fell away, rolling away to the very end of the room. As it sparkled and rolled, it maximised to its full size. Sonic's eyes widened, and in an instant he rushed across to room to retrieve the fallen Emerald.
Demonis instantly realised the Emerald he was holding was missing, and leapt to his feet the instant that Sonic darted off to retrieve it. He growled and fired a short Chaos Blast in Sonic's direction, who then took off in a sudden burst of speed and dived for the Emerald. As his hands gripped the green gem, he curled himself into a ball and somersaulted just as the blast made impact on the floor behind him. BoltStryke gave a brief smile as he unshielded his face. Though his gloves were slightly singed by his own attack, he was fine. His expression again fell into a serious one as he heard the grey hedgehog growl loudly and throw his hand behind his head once again, preparing another Chaos Blast. Rushing forward in a burst of speed, he called to Sonic. "Use the Chaos Emerald! Get out of here!"
Breaking from his somersault, Sonic looked over at BoltStryke, however remaining cautious of Demonis about to attack. "What the hell do you mean get out of here? What about you?" he called over, jumping just in time as Demonis thrust his hand forward, sending the orb his way. It slammed into the ground at full speed, throwing up huge shards of metal plating, but not causing any more damage than that. "Come on, Sonic! Nothing's gonna happen to me! I'll tackle that bastard and I'll be with you shortly. Just go!"
After a slight sigh, Sonic leapt into the air, clutching the Chaos Emerald tightly. It glittered intensely as he concentrated his energies into it. A green flash instantly burst from it. He swung round in the air twice, as the light around him intensified. "Chaos Control!" The blue hedgehog yelled, and in a flash of green and white light, Sonic was gone.
The grey hedgehog stopped in his tracks and turned to glower at BoltStryke, who crossed his arms and smiled. By this time, Dr.Eggman had backed away into the far corner of the room, to ensure that he didn't get hit by any of the attacks that were flying around.
"You fool!" He shouted, glaring at BoltStryke, his crystalline green eyes slowly turning into a deep red. "How dare you steal my emerald!"
"Just a taste of things to come, Demonis." The purple hedgehog called back. "The emeralds will never be yours, and I'll never let you take over, however hard you try."
Completely enraged, the grey hedgehog thrust his hands forward, and in an instant, a red aura burst around him, scorching through the metallic floor plating and causing that to glow an intense orange hue. A red orb began to form between his open palms at an alarming rate. Dr.Eggman jumped, and began to advance towards Demonis, quite sure at the result of what was about to happen.
"No! Demonis! Stop!" He screamed, wanting to shake the hedgehog, but the aura was too hot, and it was much too late. "Chaos Beam!" Demonis screamed, and at once the whole room became filled with a rich, blinding red light. Another white flash came from across the room as the orb rumbled towards BoltStryke's end.
And for miles around the canyons and sandy valleys, the ground shook and rumbled as a violent explosion rocked the area. A thick red aura burst through the ground and illuminated the sky with a fiery light, smoke and thick ash billowing through the clear day air.
Back upon the main island, Mika screamed and leapt from her seat. Holding the middle of her forehead as it seared with a deep heat. The same fiery scene that she had dreamed before appeared before her eyes in a flash, and disappeared as quick as it had arrived. She lay back on her bed in a cold sweat, staring up at the ceiling, hoping that whatever that was out there would stop, and soon.
The bright morning sky became bathed in a deep crimson light, tons of smoke and dust blocking the suns rays from reaching the canyon for miles around. As the canyon recovered from the massive shockwave that had ripped through it, the rock that had been violently thrown into the air rained down once again as small, fast-moving pebbles and debris. Chunks of metal flew down from the heavens and slammed into some of the softer parts of the rock, splitting open hunks of the canyon, causing that to rain down also.
Pebbles and stones battered the tallest cliffs, which lined the Eastern side of the canyon. A large chunk of it, loosened by the rumbling that had occurred just a few seconds ago, caused a hunk of it to fall off, causing it to tumble down the valley, and smash into a thousand pieces upon the blade-like edges of jagged rock which lay beneath. As the brunt of the damage was beginning to clear, sirens filled the air, intercepted by the purr of a motorcycle's motor, which smoothly slid to a halt on the edge of the canyon wall, trickles of sand and dust skittering down the edge of the cliff's face; It's thick wheels laden with its deep, complex tracks looked as if they could handle the rough terrain that these plains offered, and also looked fairly new. Each wheel was supported by ample suspension, it's huge springs gleaming silver and red in the light of the explosion. The main body of the cycle was aerodynamic, black and smooth, it's main, large headlight filtered a soft blue; three rocket engines, adorned the back of the cycle, one embedded at the back in the very center of the cycle, and two, smaller ones on either side, placed at the bottom of the cycle. Even the smaller ones looked as if they would provide ample thrusting power for the cycle, each having ventilation slots in case either of the boosters temperature rose to the point of overheating and explosion.
As the wheels slowly came to a halt and the purr of the engine had been silenced, the rider placed a boot to the floor, in order to support the stationary cycle underneath. The pink moulded heart, which formed the tip of the white, knee-high boots became sightly encrusted with dirt as she dug the toe of her boot more firmly into the ground. Having now sustained her balance, she gently tilted her green tinted shades down her nose into order for her jade eyes to watch the scene before her. Giving a slight sigh of dismay, she turned her attention back towards the cycle once again, and skimmed her eyes over the array of dials and switches before her on the dashboard, trying to locate the right one. On finding the radio dial, she gave it a quick twist with her elbow-length gloved hands, her large ears pricking up intently as the radio crackled and buzzed wildly, trying to locate a signal as the smoke and dust began to clear. After a slight humming, a voice blurted out a couple of words that she couldn't quite make out, followed by the familiar sound of white noise yet again. Impatiently, her fingers reached to tap a few incandescent blue buttons directly next to the dial, hoping that her efforts would work. Soon enough, the voices came again, the feint buzzing of a helicopter heard between each voice.
"Finally." She sighed, leaning in close to listen to the voices that she had tuned into.
"This is Foxtrot Delta Fifteen. We have located the position of the explosion, and have found its epicentre to be coming from the twenty- seventh sector of the old underground research bases, over."
A three second silence. She waited intently, licking her lips in anticipation, hoping that they hadn't had already picked up on her signal, whilst in her mind, not believing that even in these times, the military were still using analogue radios. She thought it primitive.
"This is Control tower. We read your position and we see that it is not yet clear for you to land in the desired area. We are sending sufficient troops to the area by land in the meantime, over."
"Roger. Our heat sensors detect an alleged suspect fleeing the actual scene at this moment. Its current speed being two hundred and twenty seven miles per hour, over."
She raised her eyebrows. She only knew of three people who were capable of moving so fast.
"I didn't copy that. Did you say two hundred and twenty seven miles per hour, over?"
"Two hundred and twenty seven and rising, sir. Heading in an north-westerly direction, over."
There was a long pause, the girl grew more curious. She jumped slightly as the man that spoke from control tower coughed, clearing his throat, and swallowed before speaking again.
"The radar reads that the area in question is clear for you to land. The only person on our files that matches such a speed is none other than Sonic the Hedgehog. We will send sufficient troops in order to apprehend the suspect and bring him in for questioning. If you find anyone in the vicinities of the accident site, arrest them at once or use appropriate force."
The girl's eyes widened, turning the key in the ignition to turn her engine on at once, however she remained glued to the conversation.
"Copy that. Now proceeding to accident site. Over and out."
Gently pushing her sunglasses back into their correct position, she got herself ready to depart. "I can't believe this! Why would Sonic blow up an old military facility." She trailed off, remaining thoughtful. "There has to be more to this. I better try and catch up to Sonic quickly, before the military does." As she got ready to place her supporting foot back onto her pedal, a flashing dial on her dashboard instantly came to her attention, it's green glow reflecting back into her eyes. They widened further. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, as she hadn't seen it active in months.
A Chaos reading.
* * * * * * * * *
"Oh bloody-diddly hell!" Charmy exclaimed as he stared in horror at the monitors before his eyes that he had been sent to watch for a second. "Tails!"
The orange fox came rushing in at once, looking increasingly worried as he watched the tiny bee clasp his hands over his wide eyes, and his clear wings began to flutter nervously. Pushing the computer chair that Charmy was sitting on clear out of the way, Tails himself stared in horror, with his mouth gaping wide open and the scenes before him. At once, he rushed to the edge of the monitors, twisting the radio dial to the correct frequency. Grabbing the microphone, which stood neatly nearby in its own stand, the fox began frantically talking into it.
"Sonic! Sonic! Can you hear me, over?" He yelled, gripping onto the microphone harder then it was necessary, but he couldn't help it, neither was he aware of how tightly he was holding on it.
A long pause followed. Tails became more frantic. Swallowing heavily in order to clear the dryness in his throat, he shakily raised the microphone to his mouth in order to speak again. As he did so, the speakers nearby crackled and spluttered into life, and the orange fox gave a large sigh of relief.
"Hey Tails! Geesh, no need to panic! I'm out okay! And I managed to get a Chaos Emerald out of it, too!"
Tails smiled, glad that his friend had gotten out unscathed. "And what about BoltStryke? Is he with you?"
Sonic hesitated. "Er. No. He told me to grab the Chaos Emerald and use it to get out. I'm pretty sure that he's just fine." Sonic paused a second, and the radio crackled, as it seemed to lose signal. "I'm telling you Tails, Eggman's planning something pretty serious! He's created an Ultimate Lifeform of his own by teaming up with another evil hedgehog dude! I sure hope that the explosion killed whatever it was, because if that thing gets out, we're for it."
Tails' gaze didn't seem to fix upon anything within those few seconds. Charmy watched him anxiously. Espio, Amy and Mighty, who had popped their heads around the door for a couple of seconds in order to find out what had been going on had now become fixated on the conversation that was happening. "An. Ultimate Lifeform.?" He finally spat.
"Yup." Sonic replied surly. "Another hedgehog too! I've never seen anything like it! Hey, I'll inform you guys fully when I get there. I'm pretty close to base now. Try and check up on BoltStryke form me, and see if he got out okay. Catchya later!" And with that, Sonic's radio became a field of white noise.
Leaping out of the computer chair at once, Charmy pushed the chair (despite the fact that it was nearly twice his size) and managed to get it just underneath the two-tailed fox as he sighed and slumped into it. The others remained silent, not knowing what to say, or where to look.
Lost, Amy finally spoke. "You don't think he means another Shadow do you? Or something worse?" She asked worriedly, looking in the direction of Tails, who currently seemed miles away.
"I don't know Amy." He replied after a long sigh and a pause. "But from the sounds of things, this is worse than Shadow."
* * * * * * * * *
The radar's green flash pulsated faster, glowing from it's bright green to amber, flashing faster still. Her eyes still widened in surprise, she leaned closer still to the radar, it's amber flash moving from it's amber to a bright red, pulsating faster than ever now. Tapping the radar to ensure that it was working, she gave a blink, cocking her head to one side.
"Wow. This is a pretty strong reading. But whatever it is, it is very close- "
The girl let out a startled scream, nearly leaping off her motorcycle as a flash of bright green light appeared before her, smaller orbs of yellowish green and white bursting forth from the very center of it, glittering and sparkling more intensely and grew wider in diameter with each passing second. As the aura that appeared crackled and frazzled loudly, its creator burst from it at a tremendous speed. As he skidded to a halt on the rocky ground, the aura of Chaos Control disappeared into thin air. Catching her breath, the girl glanced over to the right, where the form had appeared from nowhere. He radar had now fallen silent.
"BoltStryke! You gave me a such a scare." She growled, lowering her shades once again.
"Hello to you too, Rouge." BoltStryke replied, smirking, rubbing some of the ash out of his fringe of quills. "Long time no see, huh?"
"Indeed so." She said, trailing off to give him a smile as he walked towards her. Her smile faded at once as she remembered what she had heard just moments ago. "I'd like to catch up on the past with you, but we have to do that some other time. I'm afraid that I have some bad news to give to you."
BoltStryke raised his head towards the heavens, giving a loud sigh as he brushed his right hand through his hair quickly. "Gee! Nobody ever has an ounce of good news to give me these days! What's the problem?"
"I'm instantly assuming that you two hedgehogs had something to do with that blast up ahead, and clearly Chaos Controlled your separate ways or something, it's just that I picked up a radio signal between the military's Control Tower and a nearby helicopter, and it appears that they know Sonic's exact movements. They've sent troops in Sonic's direction, intent on catching him!"
BoltStryke's serious face fell even further as he heard these words. Frowning furiously, he at once turned to the radio strapped to his wrist, flicking the switch onto the on position. However, no white noise came from it to signify that it was working. He tapped it furiously, and gave a sigh as it became apparent that the radio no longer functioned.
"For the love of." The purple hedgehog at once stopped himself and gave a sigh. He turned towards the smoking canyon, and the helicopter buzzing overhead, preparing to land. After a few moments watching he turned to the white bat at his side, and shrugged his shoulders. Rouge returned his shrug with a worried look.
"Are you about to say what I think you're about to say?" She asked with a sigh, lowering her powdered blue eyelids.
"I'm afraid so, Rouge my girl. And I may need your help." BoltStryke replied fairly brightly, though false, raising his eyebrows a little. "If Sonic's going to get out of this mess, we're going to have to get him out ourselves."
Cutting It Fine
The purple hedgehog's glanced shifted from his evil grey rival to the creation in the capsule. It indeed looked powerful, but it was also incomplete. Due to the process, its legs were missing, and short stumps were in the place of where they were. The tubes and wires that fed through the tank pulsated with life, possibly feeding this creature vital energy, which it would need once it finally was complete. BoltStryke clenched his fists tighter, angry that the memory of Shadow had been marred by their evil genetic engineering. Demonis was pure evil- and this evil had been injected into the midnight blue figure, which lay lifeless in the tank. If he had anything to do with this, it was going to stop, and he was going to stop it very quickly.
Demonis and the doctor's laughter died, Eggman aware that Demonis was staring at him in a manner which signalled him to stop. He cocked his head to the side.
"What is it?" He growled, placing the remote back into his pocket.
The grey hedgehog turned away from him, glancing at the grate behind the old table for a split second before turning to the doctor once again, who looked increasingly worried. Demonis minimised the green Chaos Emerald he was still holding, and placed the object within his quills. Dr. Eggman waited in silence as the hedgehog's smile crept into a very long smirk, raising both his hands to his face and placed his palms together, facing the capsule. He eyed the grate slowly, and gave a short laugh.
"Let's just say." he began, interlocking each of his fingers until only his thumbs and index fingers were still placed together. He closed his eyes for a split second, and as he did, a short, blue streak of lightning streaked across his arms and made their way to the point of his index fingers, remaining there as a glittering blue ball, measuring no more than 3 centimetres in size. ".We have a couple of visitors who need taking care of."
Sonic's eyes widened. "Is he. Going to.?" he hissed as quietly as he could, half-glancing in BoltStryke's direction.
"Yes." He replied softly, placing his right foot forward. "But we're not going to get hit. We're both going to Spin dash on the count of three."
Dr.Eggman's face lit up with half surprise, and half shock as more streaks of lightning continued to streak up the grey hedgehog's arms, pulsating before reaching the point of his fingers, the blue orb growing bigger and brighter. He let one hand drop to his side and clench into a fist, now able to swing the orb on the index finger of his right hand. Bringing it behind his head, he swung towards the direction of the grate, and fired the orb, the ball of concentrated electrical and chaotic energy blasting outwardly before stretching out into a thin beam.
Just nanoseconds before the beam slammed into the grate with a massive force, two blurs burst the plating open, breaking away into opposite sides of the room. As the beam made impact, it broke through the room's wall, before denting and buckling the grate, the sheer heat part melting the metal and warping it beyond repair.
Demonis glared at the gaping hole that his attack had created. The two hedgehogs spun to meet each other and broke from their curled stance, leaping into the air and landing neatly on the cold metallic floor. The old table and the grate, now broken and destroyed, crackled with the energy that Demonis' attack had given off, and then became smoking and silent. He turned his head at once, his emerald green eyes piercing into BoltStryke's glowering, golden ones.
Demonis smiled. "Well, if it isn't the hedgehog duo! What a nice surprise!
BoltStryke remained silent for a while, and then advanced forward, much to Sonic's surprise, however, he didn't try to stop him. "Of all the people I didn't expect to see again. But then again, you've not been that much of a rival over the years Demonis, ever since you disappeared from the Emerald Shrine." The purple hedgehog's eyes narrowed. "So I take it this is the beginning of the 'day of reckoning' you spoke of, huh?"
"Exactly right." The grey hedgehog chortled. "Only time has made me realise that if I have allies by my side- valuable allies- I can make my day of reckoning so much more than what I had imagined it to be. With Eggman and Oblivion on my side, there's no way I can lose!" He clenched his right fist and punched the air directly in front of him enthusiastically. "But now that you've brought yourselves here, I can make destroying you two quick work, and your little friends will be easier for me."
"Not if we can help it!" Sonic shouted, stepping forward too. "If it's anything to do with Eggman, we're bound to beat you! But what I don't get is why you're using a military laboratory."
"Allow me to answer that." Eggman said quietly, stepping to Demonis' side. "After the ARK incident I took to finding a place that I could formulate a new plan, a plan to finally defeat you all. But before leaving I found some very useful documents aboard the ARK. I retrieved a hoard of blueprints marking out old laboratories and test sites that belonged to GUN, and had been abandoned many decades ago. I decided to choose this one as it's the perfect place to perform my experiments- There's plenty of Chaos Ore to keep my machines running, and it's depths beneath the ground above made it perfect for me to go about my business for months without being detected at all!" He raised his hand to his mouth and smiled. "After many days locating the Chaos Emeralds, Demonis came to me. Having already found a Chaos Emerald, he offered to help me find the rest. It was only a matter of time before I showed him my plans to create my own Ultimate Lifeform. Using the gene samples that I found in the ARK's cryogenics centre and from Demonis offering his most powerful genes, we were able to create Oblivion! Now with Demonis being born from the pure evil that had been absorbed in the grey Chaos Emerald and Shadow's gene pool, he should be indestructible!"
"Hah!" BoltStryke spat, swinging his right hand across him and then back once again. "Well I would see if this creature lives up to your expectations, but I won't allow this to happen, and I won't allow you to get away with this, Demonis!" He clenched both his fists tightly and advanced forward again. "As the hedgehog born from the Master Emerald, it's not going to happen!"
"Enough talk!" Demonis growled, glowering at the purple hedgehog opposite him. In an instant, he leapt back, tensing his fingers of his right hand as familiar streaks of lightning at once shot up his arm, only this time at a quickened pace, melding together at a point in the middle of his palm. This orb was bigger, and it looked more dangerous. As smaller orbs of light glittered and sparked off this amazing blue and white orb, crackling with lightning, Demonis landed, and thrust the palm with the orb contained within forward. BoltStryke and Sonic both took on defensive stances, watching the evil grey hedgehog's solid green eyes sparkle with hints of blue, glowering at the pair of them. "I'll destroy you both here and now!" he yelled. "And the bulk of my troubles will be over!"
The purple hedgehog suddenly leapt into action, as he slid his left foot forward, he twisted his body across to the right, bring his left hand across also, tightening his fingers and kept the palm open as he did so. Lowering his head, he brought his right hand across so that its palm faced his left one. Keeping his weight more on his left foot rather than on his right, he closed his eyes for a split second, and in an instant, a bright flash of white light burst from the very centre of his palms, and at once swirled inward, hints of fuchsia-coloured light and energy pulling the light together to form an orb in between his palms. As this happened, short yellow streaks of lightning shot from the Bolt gems on his hands and up both of his arms, and across his hands to form part of the ball. The now fuchsia and white orb was now encased in an aura of yellow electric sparks, which crackled loudly. The sharp, intense look on Demonis' face seemed to let up slightly at seeing this. "Trust me." BoltStryke growled. "Whatever you can throw at me, I can do one better."
Dr. Eggman broke in at once. "Stop! The pair of you!" Demonis never shifted his gaze to even glimpse at the doctor. "What?"
"There's a lot of volatile equipment in this lab. If you two unleash any attacks like that, you'll destroy us all, for sure!"
Demonis seemed to hesitate for a few seconds, still watching BoltStryke intensely. ".Hmm. very well." He released the stiffness in his fingers, the orb disappearing in an abrupt flash of white light. In a split second, a smirk came to Demonis' face, and he disappeared from his standing spot in a split second, rushing towards BoltStryke.
"Chaos Blast!" The purple hedgehog yelled, thrusting the orb he was holding forward in a burst of incredible speed. He quickly brought his hands up to shield his face as the orb instantly exploded, throwing the advancing grey hedgehog back the way he came from. As he hit the ground, the slightly charred hedgehog rolled twice, and a glittering object fell away, rolling away to the very end of the room. As it sparkled and rolled, it maximised to its full size. Sonic's eyes widened, and in an instant he rushed across to room to retrieve the fallen Emerald.
Demonis instantly realised the Emerald he was holding was missing, and leapt to his feet the instant that Sonic darted off to retrieve it. He growled and fired a short Chaos Blast in Sonic's direction, who then took off in a sudden burst of speed and dived for the Emerald. As his hands gripped the green gem, he curled himself into a ball and somersaulted just as the blast made impact on the floor behind him. BoltStryke gave a brief smile as he unshielded his face. Though his gloves were slightly singed by his own attack, he was fine. His expression again fell into a serious one as he heard the grey hedgehog growl loudly and throw his hand behind his head once again, preparing another Chaos Blast. Rushing forward in a burst of speed, he called to Sonic. "Use the Chaos Emerald! Get out of here!"
Breaking from his somersault, Sonic looked over at BoltStryke, however remaining cautious of Demonis about to attack. "What the hell do you mean get out of here? What about you?" he called over, jumping just in time as Demonis thrust his hand forward, sending the orb his way. It slammed into the ground at full speed, throwing up huge shards of metal plating, but not causing any more damage than that. "Come on, Sonic! Nothing's gonna happen to me! I'll tackle that bastard and I'll be with you shortly. Just go!"
After a slight sigh, Sonic leapt into the air, clutching the Chaos Emerald tightly. It glittered intensely as he concentrated his energies into it. A green flash instantly burst from it. He swung round in the air twice, as the light around him intensified. "Chaos Control!" The blue hedgehog yelled, and in a flash of green and white light, Sonic was gone.
The grey hedgehog stopped in his tracks and turned to glower at BoltStryke, who crossed his arms and smiled. By this time, Dr.Eggman had backed away into the far corner of the room, to ensure that he didn't get hit by any of the attacks that were flying around.
"You fool!" He shouted, glaring at BoltStryke, his crystalline green eyes slowly turning into a deep red. "How dare you steal my emerald!"
"Just a taste of things to come, Demonis." The purple hedgehog called back. "The emeralds will never be yours, and I'll never let you take over, however hard you try."
Completely enraged, the grey hedgehog thrust his hands forward, and in an instant, a red aura burst around him, scorching through the metallic floor plating and causing that to glow an intense orange hue. A red orb began to form between his open palms at an alarming rate. Dr.Eggman jumped, and began to advance towards Demonis, quite sure at the result of what was about to happen.
"No! Demonis! Stop!" He screamed, wanting to shake the hedgehog, but the aura was too hot, and it was much too late. "Chaos Beam!" Demonis screamed, and at once the whole room became filled with a rich, blinding red light. Another white flash came from across the room as the orb rumbled towards BoltStryke's end.
And for miles around the canyons and sandy valleys, the ground shook and rumbled as a violent explosion rocked the area. A thick red aura burst through the ground and illuminated the sky with a fiery light, smoke and thick ash billowing through the clear day air.
Back upon the main island, Mika screamed and leapt from her seat. Holding the middle of her forehead as it seared with a deep heat. The same fiery scene that she had dreamed before appeared before her eyes in a flash, and disappeared as quick as it had arrived. She lay back on her bed in a cold sweat, staring up at the ceiling, hoping that whatever that was out there would stop, and soon.
The bright morning sky became bathed in a deep crimson light, tons of smoke and dust blocking the suns rays from reaching the canyon for miles around. As the canyon recovered from the massive shockwave that had ripped through it, the rock that had been violently thrown into the air rained down once again as small, fast-moving pebbles and debris. Chunks of metal flew down from the heavens and slammed into some of the softer parts of the rock, splitting open hunks of the canyon, causing that to rain down also.
Pebbles and stones battered the tallest cliffs, which lined the Eastern side of the canyon. A large chunk of it, loosened by the rumbling that had occurred just a few seconds ago, caused a hunk of it to fall off, causing it to tumble down the valley, and smash into a thousand pieces upon the blade-like edges of jagged rock which lay beneath. As the brunt of the damage was beginning to clear, sirens filled the air, intercepted by the purr of a motorcycle's motor, which smoothly slid to a halt on the edge of the canyon wall, trickles of sand and dust skittering down the edge of the cliff's face; It's thick wheels laden with its deep, complex tracks looked as if they could handle the rough terrain that these plains offered, and also looked fairly new. Each wheel was supported by ample suspension, it's huge springs gleaming silver and red in the light of the explosion. The main body of the cycle was aerodynamic, black and smooth, it's main, large headlight filtered a soft blue; three rocket engines, adorned the back of the cycle, one embedded at the back in the very center of the cycle, and two, smaller ones on either side, placed at the bottom of the cycle. Even the smaller ones looked as if they would provide ample thrusting power for the cycle, each having ventilation slots in case either of the boosters temperature rose to the point of overheating and explosion.
As the wheels slowly came to a halt and the purr of the engine had been silenced, the rider placed a boot to the floor, in order to support the stationary cycle underneath. The pink moulded heart, which formed the tip of the white, knee-high boots became sightly encrusted with dirt as she dug the toe of her boot more firmly into the ground. Having now sustained her balance, she gently tilted her green tinted shades down her nose into order for her jade eyes to watch the scene before her. Giving a slight sigh of dismay, she turned her attention back towards the cycle once again, and skimmed her eyes over the array of dials and switches before her on the dashboard, trying to locate the right one. On finding the radio dial, she gave it a quick twist with her elbow-length gloved hands, her large ears pricking up intently as the radio crackled and buzzed wildly, trying to locate a signal as the smoke and dust began to clear. After a slight humming, a voice blurted out a couple of words that she couldn't quite make out, followed by the familiar sound of white noise yet again. Impatiently, her fingers reached to tap a few incandescent blue buttons directly next to the dial, hoping that her efforts would work. Soon enough, the voices came again, the feint buzzing of a helicopter heard between each voice.
"Finally." She sighed, leaning in close to listen to the voices that she had tuned into.
"This is Foxtrot Delta Fifteen. We have located the position of the explosion, and have found its epicentre to be coming from the twenty- seventh sector of the old underground research bases, over."
A three second silence. She waited intently, licking her lips in anticipation, hoping that they hadn't had already picked up on her signal, whilst in her mind, not believing that even in these times, the military were still using analogue radios. She thought it primitive.
"This is Control tower. We read your position and we see that it is not yet clear for you to land in the desired area. We are sending sufficient troops to the area by land in the meantime, over."
"Roger. Our heat sensors detect an alleged suspect fleeing the actual scene at this moment. Its current speed being two hundred and twenty seven miles per hour, over."
She raised her eyebrows. She only knew of three people who were capable of moving so fast.
"I didn't copy that. Did you say two hundred and twenty seven miles per hour, over?"
"Two hundred and twenty seven and rising, sir. Heading in an north-westerly direction, over."
There was a long pause, the girl grew more curious. She jumped slightly as the man that spoke from control tower coughed, clearing his throat, and swallowed before speaking again.
"The radar reads that the area in question is clear for you to land. The only person on our files that matches such a speed is none other than Sonic the Hedgehog. We will send sufficient troops in order to apprehend the suspect and bring him in for questioning. If you find anyone in the vicinities of the accident site, arrest them at once or use appropriate force."
The girl's eyes widened, turning the key in the ignition to turn her engine on at once, however she remained glued to the conversation.
"Copy that. Now proceeding to accident site. Over and out."
Gently pushing her sunglasses back into their correct position, she got herself ready to depart. "I can't believe this! Why would Sonic blow up an old military facility." She trailed off, remaining thoughtful. "There has to be more to this. I better try and catch up to Sonic quickly, before the military does." As she got ready to place her supporting foot back onto her pedal, a flashing dial on her dashboard instantly came to her attention, it's green glow reflecting back into her eyes. They widened further. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, as she hadn't seen it active in months.
A Chaos reading.
* * * * * * * * *
"Oh bloody-diddly hell!" Charmy exclaimed as he stared in horror at the monitors before his eyes that he had been sent to watch for a second. "Tails!"
The orange fox came rushing in at once, looking increasingly worried as he watched the tiny bee clasp his hands over his wide eyes, and his clear wings began to flutter nervously. Pushing the computer chair that Charmy was sitting on clear out of the way, Tails himself stared in horror, with his mouth gaping wide open and the scenes before him. At once, he rushed to the edge of the monitors, twisting the radio dial to the correct frequency. Grabbing the microphone, which stood neatly nearby in its own stand, the fox began frantically talking into it.
"Sonic! Sonic! Can you hear me, over?" He yelled, gripping onto the microphone harder then it was necessary, but he couldn't help it, neither was he aware of how tightly he was holding on it.
A long pause followed. Tails became more frantic. Swallowing heavily in order to clear the dryness in his throat, he shakily raised the microphone to his mouth in order to speak again. As he did so, the speakers nearby crackled and spluttered into life, and the orange fox gave a large sigh of relief.
"Hey Tails! Geesh, no need to panic! I'm out okay! And I managed to get a Chaos Emerald out of it, too!"
Tails smiled, glad that his friend had gotten out unscathed. "And what about BoltStryke? Is he with you?"
Sonic hesitated. "Er. No. He told me to grab the Chaos Emerald and use it to get out. I'm pretty sure that he's just fine." Sonic paused a second, and the radio crackled, as it seemed to lose signal. "I'm telling you Tails, Eggman's planning something pretty serious! He's created an Ultimate Lifeform of his own by teaming up with another evil hedgehog dude! I sure hope that the explosion killed whatever it was, because if that thing gets out, we're for it."
Tails' gaze didn't seem to fix upon anything within those few seconds. Charmy watched him anxiously. Espio, Amy and Mighty, who had popped their heads around the door for a couple of seconds in order to find out what had been going on had now become fixated on the conversation that was happening. "An. Ultimate Lifeform.?" He finally spat.
"Yup." Sonic replied surly. "Another hedgehog too! I've never seen anything like it! Hey, I'll inform you guys fully when I get there. I'm pretty close to base now. Try and check up on BoltStryke form me, and see if he got out okay. Catchya later!" And with that, Sonic's radio became a field of white noise.
Leaping out of the computer chair at once, Charmy pushed the chair (despite the fact that it was nearly twice his size) and managed to get it just underneath the two-tailed fox as he sighed and slumped into it. The others remained silent, not knowing what to say, or where to look.
Lost, Amy finally spoke. "You don't think he means another Shadow do you? Or something worse?" She asked worriedly, looking in the direction of Tails, who currently seemed miles away.
"I don't know Amy." He replied after a long sigh and a pause. "But from the sounds of things, this is worse than Shadow."
* * * * * * * * *
The radar's green flash pulsated faster, glowing from it's bright green to amber, flashing faster still. Her eyes still widened in surprise, she leaned closer still to the radar, it's amber flash moving from it's amber to a bright red, pulsating faster than ever now. Tapping the radar to ensure that it was working, she gave a blink, cocking her head to one side.
"Wow. This is a pretty strong reading. But whatever it is, it is very close- "
The girl let out a startled scream, nearly leaping off her motorcycle as a flash of bright green light appeared before her, smaller orbs of yellowish green and white bursting forth from the very center of it, glittering and sparkling more intensely and grew wider in diameter with each passing second. As the aura that appeared crackled and frazzled loudly, its creator burst from it at a tremendous speed. As he skidded to a halt on the rocky ground, the aura of Chaos Control disappeared into thin air. Catching her breath, the girl glanced over to the right, where the form had appeared from nowhere. He radar had now fallen silent.
"BoltStryke! You gave me a such a scare." She growled, lowering her shades once again.
"Hello to you too, Rouge." BoltStryke replied, smirking, rubbing some of the ash out of his fringe of quills. "Long time no see, huh?"
"Indeed so." She said, trailing off to give him a smile as he walked towards her. Her smile faded at once as she remembered what she had heard just moments ago. "I'd like to catch up on the past with you, but we have to do that some other time. I'm afraid that I have some bad news to give to you."
BoltStryke raised his head towards the heavens, giving a loud sigh as he brushed his right hand through his hair quickly. "Gee! Nobody ever has an ounce of good news to give me these days! What's the problem?"
"I'm instantly assuming that you two hedgehogs had something to do with that blast up ahead, and clearly Chaos Controlled your separate ways or something, it's just that I picked up a radio signal between the military's Control Tower and a nearby helicopter, and it appears that they know Sonic's exact movements. They've sent troops in Sonic's direction, intent on catching him!"
BoltStryke's serious face fell even further as he heard these words. Frowning furiously, he at once turned to the radio strapped to his wrist, flicking the switch onto the on position. However, no white noise came from it to signify that it was working. He tapped it furiously, and gave a sigh as it became apparent that the radio no longer functioned.
"For the love of." The purple hedgehog at once stopped himself and gave a sigh. He turned towards the smoking canyon, and the helicopter buzzing overhead, preparing to land. After a few moments watching he turned to the white bat at his side, and shrugged his shoulders. Rouge returned his shrug with a worried look.
"Are you about to say what I think you're about to say?" She asked with a sigh, lowering her powdered blue eyelids.
"I'm afraid so, Rouge my girl. And I may need your help." BoltStryke replied fairly brightly, though false, raising his eyebrows a little. "If Sonic's going to get out of this mess, we're going to have to get him out ourselves."
