(Irony)
"Knife."
".....Knife."
"String."
"....String....."
"Flowers."
"......Flowers....."
With a clean hack, Sonic sliced the tips of the flowers off of the stems.
Carefully, he took a small string and wrapped that around the small bouquet.
"There's five flowers now...."
"Yes. Five."
"And it is today?"
"Today."
It was at this week of the year that Sonic was far gloomier than at any other
time of the year. He wasn't sour by nature, but during this certain month, for
the past five years, he always seemed much more quiet and contemplating to the
young echidna. He had never asked why; he had been told not to ever ask Sonic
by his parents.
"What's today?"
".......An anniversary."
A death. The boy was young, but not a fool. A death of a friend...
"Its really not something you would want to know about, Connor."
Sonic shook his head. "It happened before you were born; it is something
that wouldn't be of interest to you."
"Was it a death?"
Sonic didn't reply; he suddenly seemed lost in thought, saddened. He turned and
walked out the door.
-------------------------
"....And you stick it there?"
"Yeah. Right there." Rotor pointed to the small machine. "And
then you put this here.....and this here..."
The little red echidna simply stared with her mouth open. It was fascinating to
watch Rotor work.
"You're smart."
"Thanks."
"Not as smart as my dad, though."
"I wouldn't think so." Rotor began to sweat.
"My dad is cool." The echidna paused. "Rotor, what's a demon-shin?"
"A.....what?" A....dimension?"
"Yeah......a-" The girl's eyes widened. "I........I read it in a
book my mommy had upstairs!!"
"Oh, really? And...where was this book?"
"I....read a book...." The echidna looked nervous. "....In my
mommy's..........coffee table..."
Rotor shook his head. He knew where that book had been.
"Lara-Su, your parents told you never to go into their basement,
right?"
"Yeah...." Lara-Su looked down in disgrace. "But......but I
wanted to know, and....there was lots of stuff down there...."
"Lara-Su..."
"It's really awesome down there! There's lots of
stuff......and.....and....."
Lara-Su whimpered. Shaking his head, Rotor gave her a look, folding his arms.
"Lara-Su....I won't tell your parents this time.....But next time
I'm going to. You know your mom and dad don't like you going down there. Its
their private place."
"I know...."
Rotor gave a nod as Lara-Su sat back down, her face pouty with guilt. He knew
that she wouldn't go down there for a while. Another day the past, and all that
it held, would be buried.
--------------------------
The small tombstone was shrouded with flowers and trees. Though outside of
Knothole, a mile left of the oak slide which allowed access to Knothole, it was
impossible to see unless you were looking for it. Putting the memorial in such
a peaceful place, where the sun could barely touch it, allowing the stone to
look just as it did when it was cast five years ago, was the least Sonic could
do in memory of a person whose remains were too far scattered to be collected
properly.
"....Here, too..."
Knuckles sat in front of the tombstone, cross-legged. The brown echidna's
red-tinged dreadlocks seemed to twitch at Sonic's arrival.
"Here, too?" Sonic muttered.
"Not for all the reasons you are here." Knuckles stood up. "I
should let you alone now, right?......."
With a nod of his head, Sonic watched as the guardian's body shifted, and then
disappeared from the grave. With a shudder, the hedgehog knelt down at the
grave and gently put the flowers down. After a moment of staring at the marble
rock, he stood up once again, and searched for something to say, as he always
did on this day.
"........Hi...." Sonic's voice cracked. "I know you're somewhere
else, Tails.....not even on this planet.....but I hope you can get this....I'm
sure you can hear me...."
The mark of the phima was on the head of the stone; the mark of a martyr on his
head. The body of Tails Prower was no longer his to give waste to, for all that
had been his body was given to a world in a terrible moment of destiny that
Sonic knew he would never completely get over. For his body was fermented on a
world that was not Mobius.
His remains were upon a planet that no one who knew of its existence told of,
for access to the world was much easier for anyone with the wrong aspirations
than anyone thought. A planet galaxies away; but parallel natural catastrophes
on Mobius and this planet many years ago were so strong it literally ripped the
atomic structures of both planets, creating a large artificial wormhole (for
there was no other word to describe it) which acted as a portal to shuffle
between this world and Mobius. But only those who had experienced the hellish
battle to save both planets knew. Knew of what had happened to the Chosen One.
Five years later, it was still painful, because they knew that no one who knew
the poor fox would ever truly get over his death. The hardest hit was Sonic,
his closest friend. While he was far past the anger, the thoughts of joining
his friend, he still felt choked up sometimes when he was mentioned. It got
better to bear it, but it was hard.
"I.......I was thinking..." Sonic rubbed his head. "I was
thinking......of maybe......of maybe going to talk to someone.......on
Earth......you know....about you. I kind of wonder....how well they are doing
there. I'm sure they're doing well.....and....I thought I could talk to you.
Being that.....you're with Serenity....."
The hedgehog stammered through the rest of his plan. He wished to go to Crystal
Tokyo. He knew Serenity could contact Tails. He didn't care how long Serenity
would let him talk to Tails, if she was even able to resurrect him from within
the Silver Crystal. It was the thought that the possibility to see his friend
was present that enlightened him.
The question, of course, was how to get to Earth without arousing suspicion.
"I know what you're thinking."
As Sonic left the dell, he gave a glare towards Knuckles, who was leaning
against a tree. In his hand was a stick.
"It won't work."
"It's to see-"
"You know Sally won't let you. I don't even think I'll let you."
"Knuckles-"
"You remember our pact with the soldiers." While his voice came out
sharp, Sonic knew that Knuckles wasn't keen on being against the hedgehog.
"Only under extreme circumstances will we use the warp. Seeing Tails isn't
that extreme unless we have to call on his power for some sort of multi-world
power struggle."
"Yeah...."
Sonic sulked as the two began to walk to Knothole. After a moment, he looked at
Knuckles, his face quizzical even in mourning.
"Say.....what are you doing at his tomb?"
"Paying my respects." Knuckles muttered. "I was praying."
"Praying?! You?!"
"Shut up." Knuckles' low reply became gritted. "Yes, praying. I
go to Tails' memorial every time I feel uneasy."
"Why are you uneasy?"
"I don't know...." Knuckles looked towards the great oak slide.
"But when I pray at his memorial, I somehow manage to figure out my
problem. As if, even in death, his power to understand is still unreachable to
our wills."
Knuckles opened his mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by a scream.
"HELP!!!! HELP!!!"
A little badger jumped out of the oak slide, screaming so loud it echoed five
minute afterwards within the hollow bases of the trees. He turned to Knothole's
greatest heroes, his eyes wide and bloodshot.
"There's...there's a...."
"Hmm?" Sonic knelt down. "What's wrong?!"
"......Overlander!!!"
The two heroes looked at one another. It was not unusual for the people of
Knothole to get worked up about Overlanders. Most people still believed that
Overlanders were devil-sent, even now.
"Really?" Sonic looked at the badger. "Where?"
"Down at the castle."
Sonic looked up to see the familiar form of a squirrel over the little badger
boy. From the expression on her face, it was obviously serious.
"Sal...!"
"........Knuckles."
Knuckles felt the feeling he experienced at Tails' shrine return, the feeling
of fear. Sally looked visibly upset.
"There is someone to see you.....a messenger from the planet
Kinmoku....Star Fighter....."
Knuckles felt sick. For he knew already it was a day of death's commemoration
that was passing by.
The perfect time for bad news.
----------------------------------------
Crystal Tokyo was chaotic with shock from the news.
"'Scuse me....out of my way..."
"The Queen wants to see us!" Mercury quickly weaved her way through
the crowd. "Come on!"
"I'm hurrying as fast as I can," Jupiter mumbled.
"We shouldn't have gone out tonight! I just had that feeling, I just knew
it...."
The doors to Serenity's room burst open. Through a set of doors in the closet,
into a simple room, and Mercury could see that everyone - the soldiers, the
ministers, close friends that had not been seen in years - had been called into
meeting, and were sitting down.
"Soldiers...."
"Please, sit...." Serenity motioned towards the empty chairs.
"This is incredibly important...."
.....Almost everyone.
"Highness, Pluto will be late. And we do not have any contact with
Saturn."
"Expected." The queen looked incredibly tired, her words slightly
slurred; it was obvious she had not slept in several days. "Everyone,
please sit down. Close the doors."
The group sat, and Jupiter took her time looking at all of the faces in the
room, cat in a semi-circle in front of the throne. Next to her was someone she
did not know, a woman with long dark blue hair. She wore a band around her
forehead, as well as a blue jumpsuit. Next to this strange woman was Venus,
followed by the other soldiers, and Ne-
Her thoughts were interrupted by the closing of the doors. As this particular
throne room was entered through a small set of ordinary doors, covered by a
closet in Queen Serenity's room (the more public throne room, the one which was
used for more formal events, was much larger and grander than the real throne
room), the sound made a lot of noise in the cavernous, albeit private,
acoustics of the room.
"I apologize for my mood, sailors." Serenity looked visibly upset.
"I have been called away to urgent business in Kinmoku."
"Kinmoku, Usagi?"
"I'm afraid so." Serenity's head went down. "I have been asked
to attend.....a funeral."
Everyone suddenly stopped. They all looked at one another at the mention of the
word. Funeral.
"Oh, Usagi....."
"I just got word from Kakyuu......" Serenity's voice trailed off.
"I guess you know, then, who I'm talking about."
There were several gasps, but for the most part there was calm, there was not
much of a reaction. It was slightly unnerving to Serenity.
".....We thought as much." The first person to speak after the news
was Uranus. "If anyone was to die, it would have been the old man."
"Old man?"
"The people of the planet didn't really take to him, you know."
Uranus mumbled. "They hated him on sight."
"But we don't know if it was murder, Uranus...."
"Yes....." Serenity paused. "Indeed........the details......of
his death.....I think it was murder."
"Did.....Kakyuu tell you?"
"She broke down in the middle of it. All I got was that he was tortured
severely, but before she went into how........I guess it was too much
for her."
There was complete silence in the room. No one spoke for several moments.
".......Usagi...." This time, Venus stood up. "You don't think
that the murder.......of Locke....." Is to get the Emeralds from
Knuckles?...... "Or..."
".....I don't know." Serenity shook her head. "I'll.........I'd
have to see photos of it, see it as it was, in order to know....."
"Locke.......does anyone else know about it?"
"I don't know......but I will make sure that Knuckles knows that his
father is dead..."
Serenity began to walk from the throne, only to stop. She began to rub her
head.
"Mmmmmmmmmmm..."
"Highness?" Mercury stood up.
"No, no, I'm....I'm fine....it'll pass...."
"You don't want to use the warp, do you?"
"I feel....it might be necessary.....and beneficial to what might be happening......"
"The secret of El-Alamein has been kept for thousands of years."
Uranus turned to Serenity. "I don't know if opening it now will be too
beneficial."
"And yet...." Serenity rubbed her head. "Every now and then, for
the past three months, I have been feeling uneasy. Very uneasy. Some terrible
plague is befalling someone, and my power is useless in its wake. It's
like......space is warping somewhere, somehow...."
"Hum? Where?" Jupiter looked confused. "We don't feel anything
is different."
"Indeed," Neptune nodded. "Something violent is going on. I
can't explain it either, though I know I have felt the power that is resulting
from it before...."
"Violent is an understatement."
The new voice boomed into the room, high-pitched and authoritative. The group
turned towards the double doors to see two figures standing. One was Pluto. The
other was a strange, short, pink-haired woman whom none of them had ever seen.
"Pluto?!"
"Forgive me, Queen." Pluto gave a bow. "I had to retrieve this
woman before coming here."
"You obviously knew that something happened to Locke?"
"I also knew your feelings about it."
Serenity stared at the strange woman. She had emerald green eyes, and wore a
style of clothing that was very much alien to Crystal Tokyo.
"Highness, let me introduce you to Washu. I felt her services could be
useful."
"Services?"
"I am a scientist, Highness." Washu bowed, a strange crooked smile on
her face. "I know how heavy the threat may hang. My work puts me in
jeopardy every day."
Serenity looked at the woman, puzzled. Her curiosity arose when the woman next
to Jupiter rose and bowed.
"And you are a scientist?"
"No. A police officer." The woman looked uncomfortably towards the
scientist. "I am an acquaintance of Washu who is working on the job you
have assigned us. My name is Kiyone."
".....I see....."
"Will using the El-Alamein portal be necessary, Miss Washu?" Neptune
asked.
"Hmm?" Washu scratched her head. "I surely wouldn't know what
you would be talking about......but whatever it is, if it is important, it
would be something to investigate."
The group of soldiers looked at each other. They could tell that this new
crisis was going to be very complicated.
----------------------------------
The bag lay on the table as Knuckles, Sonic and Sally walked in.
"Oh, Knuckles...."
Knuckles turned to see Julie-Su, whose face was pale and ashen. The expression
was upon all who were in the room. Rotor, Bunnie, Antoine, even Geoffrey.
"What is this?"
"....Knuckles."
Knuckles saw Star Fighter before him. Her face was solemn, almost reluctant, to
the echidna. With her head down, she began again:
"I.....am here to bear the....body......of your father."
Knuckles shook his head. He knew it was bad, but he did not realize just how
bad it was. On a day of death such as this, it was something he didn't want to
hear.
"Let me see it." There was disbelief in the voice of a creature who
thought he had seen it all. "How is it he died?"
"Knuckles...." Star Fighter looked visibly upset. "Your father's
body is in a terrible condition. The person who killed him-"
Before she could finish, Knuckles threw the bag open. He was met by an
unimaginable stench of decay. A mangled echidna body, one that had no eyes. But
if it did, he knew they would have looked at him for justice.
It made him sick.
"I'm.....I'm sorry, Knuckles...."
Nothing was said for several moments. There was too much horror at beholding
the terrible smell, the decaying, disfigured Guardian body. It was obviously
too much for the day, and Star Fighter knew it. She hated her knowledge of it,
hated that it had even happened. It made no sense.
"............Who was it." Knuckles' voice was so calm it frightened
all who were in the room. "Or....do you not know?"
"We don't." Star Fighter shook her head. "We don't know
anything. All we have......is this."
With that, Fighter handed Knuckles a blood-stained note. Reading it, Knuckles'
eyes seemed to become hard with anger:
The Spectre, upon gazing towards his body, learns the truth as
histeria, in the form of a friend showers his former self.
Oh, LOCKE!
Can ghosts, though dead, feel stabbings of betrayal?
As you did unto me, so now shall be unto you.
"ID"
Knuckles could only stare at the letter, his fury beginning to eat at him. But
he fought it.
".....The soldiers....." Fighter began again. "They.....are
coming to-"
"No." Knuckles' voice was sharp. "I'll go talk to them."
"But-"
"I know why they're coming. I can sense it. I'm going to go see them. Tell
them I'm coming."
Without another word, Knuckles left the room, the piece of paper crumpled up in
his hands.
------------------------
The terrible crime was a sensation around the world the minute word leaked
out that Locke was murdered.
There were those who said that he had had it coming to him, that his union with
the beautiful princess, Kakyuu, was forbidden, unholy. Some felt his gruesome
death was punishment for his audacity, for the fact he had even dared to
approach the royal soldier with his dirty echidna hands.
No matter that those hands were gone, that they would never touch the one
person whose thoughts truly mattered. It was a sin, to most of the citizens of
the kingdom. The poor man had sacrificed his dignity so that he might be with
someone he felt most comfortable with, one who was able to wrest him out of his
introverted shell after almost sixty years of life - twenty years on Kinmoku.
But it was all for naught, and Knuckles would never know why Locke needed to
see him the night he died.
Or would he?
It was more than just the death of a reluctant celebrity to some.
To one, it was the death of a loved one. One that meant so much not just to
her, but to many.
To another, it was the elation of knowing that they were one step closer.
Closer to victory, a victory that would be bittersweet.
But what victory should come from his death?
The dark figure took the knife from their holster. It still glittered with his
blood. The figure sniffed it, taking in the scent, secretly laughing in their
mind. After a moment, the knife went back into its holster, and the figure was
back in flight.
To destroy the next target.
