BURSTS THROUGH THE DOOR
I'M HERE! WITH A CHAP RIGHT BEFORE FRONTIERS!
Holy crap. I'm not dead.
Howdy, folks it has been an eventful year and I have been through it all. Work has been exhausting, life has been excruciating and add in with some good old fashioned writer's block for Trials of War and you have why this chapter took eleven months to come out with a chapter for this fic. Hoo boy, you gotta love it. So… Yeah. This sat in my drafts for most of that year where I would poke away at it occasionally making not much headway on it. Then slowly from like September, I started getting at it again and just kinda had my eureka moment on it over the last weekend. Crazy right? I'm sorry about that everybody. I had no intention of staying away this long but at least you all know why. I hope the near 10K word chapter will make up for it though.
So… With all of that said what do we have here today? Welp. It'll be a chapter that I have been looking forward to for a very long time now that has grown more and more from the beginning of the story. When it started, it was going to be a lot more simple but after working and writing with these characters and my interpretation of Sonic's world more and more realizations took place into how this chapter would be. I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out, but of course that's up to you all to decide isn't it my faithful readers? So without holding you down with song parodies or explanations or other pre-chapter ramblings, let's get on with the show.
Trials of War: A Sonic Forces Rewrite
Chapter 34-
Hit 'Em Where They Live
While the resistance continued to celebrate the return of the likes of Shadow and Tails, work continued in the medical bay for Cream and Vanilla. Most of the patients were asleep though, leaving the two to tend to the supplies and make sure that everyone would be back to fighting shape. After having welcomed their missing family members back into the fold, they had returned to work as they always had.
To see the likes of Tails and Shadow return along with the young Sonic the Hedgehog made Cream desire to stand alongside them yet again, but she knew that her mother wouldn't have it. Still, she had to try to do something, say something. She wanted to fight like everyone else!
"Mama…" Cream started.
Vanilla looked up from where she was washing a scalpel and smiled. "Yes, dear?"
Cream bit her lip, unsure of where to begin. Lucky for her, Cheese was there to join her offering an encouragement that made her smile, finding the confidence she needed. "Mama, I wanna fight in the war!"
Vanilla put down the medical supplies she was working on and sighed. "Cream, please… We've been over this. It just isn't safe for you to join this conflict."
"But Tails is fighting in the war, mom!" Cream insisted. "He's been travelling all over the world doing things against the Eggman Empire and he's only a few years older than me!"
"Yes, but he's also had a Sonic by his side to help him out." Vanilla insisted.
"And I'd have my friends to help me too!" Cream insisted. "Shadow's back, mom! We have not one, but two Sonics! It's completely safe for me to join the fight!"
"Cream…"
"All these strong people would be there to protect me and I wanna protect them too, Mama! After everything they've done for us, the least I can do is stand by their side as all of this ends!"
"Cream, don't you think we do more than enough helping out here?" Vanilla asked. "Every day we help the wounded to make sure that they're back in fighting condition to go take on Eggman, don't you think that's enough?"
"Mama, I love it here. I love helping people here in the infirmary and helping them get better. But I just think I could be doing more…"
Vanilla crossed over and knelt to her daughter. "Cream, I understand that this is hard and that you just want to go out there with them like you've done many times in the past… But this war, everything that Eggman has done to the world… It's just too dangerous."
"And it was dangerous all the other times too!" Cream insisted. "But we got out alive, we saved you a few times and every time I was so much happier being with them and standing by their side!"
"Cream…"
"Please, mom…" Cream insisted.
Vanilla sighed. "Cream, I'm sorry but it's just not safe. When the world goes back to normal you'll be free to join them again but for now…"
Cream sighed, getting back to work.
Vanilla now bit her lip as well, but slowly got back up to her feet and returned to her work as well. She turned back for a moment, a brief concerned glance flitted across her features before she ultimately went to do the same.
Cheese looked between the two, his eyes softening.
~Trials of War~
Chief Pachacamac was pacing around the room, lecturing his very bored daughter who was doing her best to try and save face and try and look like she was interested. Whether she was succeeding or her father didn't care it was hard to tell, but she had to sit and listen to the last of the lectures she had gotten as punishment for sticking up for refugees so long ago.
"As my daughter, you are well aware that your time will come to rule the Knuckles Clan. It is my hope that I can impart proper wisdom upon you to be the proper leader that I know you can be… But I believe that I have been far too lenient in the way I have allowed you to live lately. Influencing me to allow outsiders onto our land that come and go as they please, allowing that lost one to even touch the Master Emerald and even standing up to me when I am carrying out proper discipline to an outsider? No… No… That is far too much, clearly I have gone wrong somewhere in your upbringing."
Tikal frowned at this but decided not to say anything.
"Perhaps more time spent in prayer with the Master Emerald should steer you in the right direction… Yes, I believe it is outside influences that have steered you off the righteous path of the tribe."
"Father… I have not strayed from the path!" Tikal insisted. "If anything, my faith in Chaos is strong and I follow his teachings, constantly listening to his guidance!"
Pachacamac simply shook his head. "You may think so but I do not believe that to be the case. Let us not forget that your interests lie in others and not that of your brethren."
"Is it not the will of Chaos to help those when we can?" Tikal asked him.
The chief simply shook his head. "Those that we can that are within our tribe."
Tikal frowned.
Pachacamac continued talking. "I thought when I disposed of those silly little animals that dared to desecrate the Master Emerald that so rightfully belongs to our people that you would come to understand."
"When you killed the Chao, it upset Chaos! Everyday, the Master Emerald weeps for its lost children!"
"Bah! Please!" The Chief scoffed. "If that were true then by now the very gods that you wish to please would have done something by now! But look around you, Tikal. This is the way and it is meant to be followed!"
"You're wrong!" Tikal snapped at him.
Both of their eyes immediately widened when she said this and he looked at her.
"Excuse me?!" He roared.
Tikal bowed her head in shamed. "I'm sorry father, I didn't mean to…"
"No. I've heard enough." Pachacamac roared back. "Do whatever it is you like. I will go elsewhere!"
Without another word, he left the room leaving Tikal to her own devices.
~Trials of War~
With reunions out of the way and most of the resistance had taken to resting after everything had gone down, but not the Sonic Heroes.
The Sonic Heroes were still abuzz after their successful missions in both Green Hill Zone and Chemical Plant Zone, discussing what to do next. A few other members of the resistance who could still stand to be there, like the Betas, Celeste, Professor Pickle, Commander Tower, Topaz and others had joined them but for the most part, all had gone to their devices.
Currently, Tails and the younger- or well, as they recently learned, alternate dimension- Sonic were telling their story throughout everything that they had been up to. For Tails' own sake, they decided to leave out the part with Tails' issues when it came to wanting to find Sonic.
Knuckles shook his head. "After all that time, you were running around the world doing your own thing when you could've just come back here?"
"Well… It's not my fault that you guys picked the one place in the world that never stays put for a base."
Commander Tower had a scowl stretched across his face, his arms crossed and let out a groan. "Tell me about it."
Other members of the resistance looked on at the heterochromatic man
Topaz elbowed him at that to which the other members of the resistance gave him the side eye.
Knuckles ignored this though and just let out a hearty laugh. "Well, at the very least you picked up a few extra hands along the way!" He slapped him on the back to which the young boy nearly lost his balance.
Knuckles saw this and looked at Tails to see if he was okay, to which the foxkit gave him a sheepish grin. Once that was assured, Knuckles went back to laughing again.
The young Sonic rolled his eyes. "Man, I'm in another dimension or timeline or whatever and the knucklehead still is all brawn and no brain. We're really trusting him to lead the resistance?"
Amy chuckled. "We're convinced that this happened because Silver happened to land on Angel Island first."
"Best to let Knuckie play the big shot so that he doesn't get too cranky." Rouge smirked at the ehidna.
"Hey! I got us this far, right?" Knuckles asked.
Shadow rolled his eyes. "Only because the doctor is incompetent. If he had simply gotten rid of you lot when he had the chance, we would never have gotten to this point now. Things are only going to get worse and the Doctor is only going to become more dangerous."
Others glared at the Ultimate Lifeform at this.
"Shadow is right." Commander Tower stepped up, after a quick side eye to the hedgehog. "You all have nearly saved this world from the empire, but that only means the Doctor is going to get more and more desperate to keep his control over our world. With him cornered he's going to lash out and we have to be prepared for what's to come."
The older Sonic put his hand to his chin in thought and nodded. "Yeah, Eggy gets totally off his rocker when his plans start falling apart."
Celeste shuddered. "It couldn't be that bad, could it?"
"When the planet broke up and I was putting the last piece back, he sent me and him tumbling down to the center of Mobius and he was still trying to blast me on the way down."
Celeste gulped.
"There's also the matter of that Infinite fellow that the doctor still has under his command." Professor Pickle frowned. "I trust your lot to defeat him, but with his abilities… Even throughout my studies, I have never quite encountered anything like him before. Shadow may have told us of his ability to connect with that of Hyper-go-on energy, but that Ruby…"
The whole room went silent at that.
But it was Tails that spoke up. "We don't have to worry too much about that though… While the rest of you guys have been going around the world liberating territories, Sonic, Blaze, Omega and I have been busy collecting the Emeralds!"
"What?!" A lot of people gasped in the room.
Tails nodded. "Yeah, show 'em, Sonic!"
The stout hedgehog stepped up in front of the group and from him came a radiant glow escaped from his body, it shifted into different hues as the five emeralds floated around him.
Lots of the group gasped at the sight. Many of them had never actually seen the emeralds in person before and were just in awe at the gems calmly circling the little blue hedgehog.
Celeste herself was mesmerized by the sight. Such precious jewels that were capable of so much power were standing in the room before her. This was the type of stuff she saw on TV and read in history books, but to think that she could reach out and touch them was so crazy to think about. They truly were beautiful.
But to some, it was so much more than that as the emeralds let out light pulses of energy that washed over them. Despite the chaotic nature of the gems, a light glint of power coursed through them. Just as quickly as they appeared around him, they got absorbed back into him as if they had never been there before.
Amy put a hand to her chin in thought. "Alright, so we've got five Chaos Emeralds and one angry jackal."
"Shouldn't that be enough to take them down?" Gadget asked. "I mean, I know you need all seven to go super but if we take what we have then maybe-"
The young Sonic shook his head. "No, that won't work... At least, I don't think it will."
"What do you mean?" Amy asked him.
"Before I got here, my Eggman was the one with the Ruby thing. Crazy stuff happened but in the end, me, him and one of his crazy robots ended up playing hot potato with the thing. When I was going in to destroy it, things got weird and well… I ended up here."
Silver's eyes widened. "You mean to say that the Phantom Ruby was able to counter your super form?!"
Sonic nodded. "Yeah."
No one in the room knew what to say to that. If the Ruby really was able to counter chaos energy in such a way then that would mean that they were in a lot of trouble when it came to Infinite. How could they possibly win when the one ace that they seem to have up their sleeves wouldn't be enough for them?
It took the older Sonic stepping up and placing a hand on the other hedgehog's shoulder. "Hey, it's gonna be fine. The Ruby may have been able to handle you on your own, but now we've got me with you and others who can go super and take that masked clown down."
While there was still a stiffness in the air, everyone seemed to be a little more relieved at the hedgehog's words. It was Sonic they were talking about after all and now there was two of him so they had to have it in the bag, right?
Tails put a hand to his chin in thought at the matter himself.
"Well, we do have something at least." Celeste stepped up. "Remember, we finished our missions in Green Hill Zone and I got this!"
She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the flashdrive with the resistance star on it. All of Eggman's data including everything that there was to know about Project Infinite was contained on that tiny drive and thanks to one rookie, it was right back in the hands of the resistance.
Sonic grinned and patted her on the back. "There we go! I'm sure with that and everything Shadow knows we'll be able to figure out a way to take him down with or without the Emeralds and save the day!"
Celeste smiled back at him and the rest of the room seemed to gain a small level of reassurance but still held a bit of worry at the gargantuan task that lied ahead of them.
Amy then took the flashdrive from Celeste and placed it within the computer.
Each of them watched the holographic screen with baited breath only for something unexpected to happen.
"Hohoho!" An evil laugh sounded all around them.
Immediately, everyone got into battle stances. Some pulled out their weapons or fists while others with discernable abilities had their energy flare all around them.
Immediately the coms began to flare to life with the sounds of panicked resistance members shouting all sorts of things over the coms. No one could make out a word of it at all but just as immediately as it started it stopped.
Alarms immediately began to blare and the lines of code that were lining the screen turned to red as the Eggman Empire logo shined menacingly down on them like a blood red moon.
"Everyone outside now!" Knuckles barked.
Nobody needed to be told twice as they all practically trampled over each other to see what could have caused all of this.
Sonic and Shadow were the frontrunners, making it to the outside of the temple in record time only for their eyes to widen in complete shock and surprise at the sight before them.
Hovering above was none other than Doctor Ivo Robotnik himself, with an evil grin plastered upon his face as he continued to chortle at the sight of his enemies' home base finally revealed to him. Next to him in his own miasmic aura was none other than Infinite himself, arms crossed as he looked down upon all of them.
Once Eggman saw that the resistance fighters were outside, he began to speak.
"Now, I must admit… Hiding yourselves away on an island in the sky after I had blown your previous base to smithereens was a truly ingenious plan. Unprecedented even! Constantly avoiding the wrath of my empire by rising back into the clouds out of my reach and out of my sight. Truly, I must commend you on your intelligence in that regard."
Infinite rolled his eyes at this while the fighters continued to watch with baited breath.
"You've made quite an impression on this world. You saved that insufferable hedgehog, liberated people across the globe and managed to get your little gaggle of friends back together…" He put his chin to his hand in thought for a moment before a smirk splayed across his face. "Just in time to reach your inevitable end."
"We're not afraid of you!" Amy snapped at him. "We've made it this far and it doesn't matter that you've found us, we'll stop you now like we stopped you all the other times because we're here together!"
Everyone agreed at that, trying their best to put on brave faces in the sight of their foe, some doing it far more convincingly than others.
But to the shock and surprise of the two parties, another voice interjected. "Yet another outsider daring to disgrace our land! I have had enough of this foolish!"
Everyone turned to find none other than Chief Pachacamac himself being accompanied by a few Echidna guards brandishing spears.
"Your lot has done nothing but disrespect my people and my land. I don't know who this bespectacled human or his lapdog is, but he along with the rest of you need to leave immediately including the lost one!"
"Lapdog?!" Infinite snarled as his entire body flared with energy.
Eggman couldn't help but laugh as he held a hand out to stop Infinite from doing anything. "And we even have an honored guest! Chief Pachacamac, what an honor it is to see you!"
The chief growled at this while the Echidna guards shifted into position and pointed their spears at the doctor. Infinite was on point though, making sure to hover protectively in front of his master.
And that only made Eggman laugh even more. "Clearly history was right about you! Your ruthlessness and cunning is a sight to behold and honestly, it's inspiring! Without civilizations like yours, I'd never have been inspired to conquer the world like I have!"
"History?!" He roared. "The Knuckles clan is here now and will continue to conquer for generations."
Eggman shook his head. "Yeah, about that… You get wiped out thousands upon thousands of years ago. I don't know what it is about the Phantom Ruby that brought you here but we're a bit behind schedule when it comes to the complete destruction of your civilization."
"What?!"
"You must be confused now but not to worry, I am here to set things right and get rid of you. And how about a two for one special? The great Knuckles clan being wiped out completely along with the resistance lead by the last remaining member of your pitiful race! Oooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhh, Chaos!"
The groups looked around confusedly only for the god of destruction to slide up next to Eggman, awaiting his command.
It was the young Sonic that laughed. "That big drip again? Come on, Eggman! Me and Tails took this guy out weeks ago!"
Eggman could only smirk. "You're absolutely right, little one. How could I be so naïve?" He then turned his attention towards the jackal. "Infinite, why don't you level the playing field a bit?"
"Not happening!" The older Sonic shouted. He rushed out towards Infinite, and others were quick to join him with the likes of Shadow, Knuckles, his younger self, Corvin and a mess of other fighters while others still stood guarded or in stunned shock.
Eggman was faster though, he pressed a button on his console and immediately a rocket fired out from the bottom of his Eggmobile, striking the hedgehog and sending him and a lot of the other resistance fighters flying in all sorts of different directions from the resulting explosion.
Infinite couldn't help but chuckle at this as he released an orb of red light from the palm of his hand that flew into Chaos.
For a moment, the light simply absorbed into the water deity and all was calm. It was as if nothing happened and it seemed as if what Infinite had done was completely ineffective.
Then the raging tide came forth.
~Trials of War~
Cream and Vanilla continued working in silence. Vanilla washing some of the medical supplies, while Cream took stock of the things in the closet.
To say that the young girl was hurt by her mother's continued refusal to allow her to fight in the war would've been an understatement. It had been months of standing on the sidelines, cheering friends new and old on as they went to fight, but always facing the constant dread that they may never return. It wasn't fair. She was just as much of a Sonic Hero as all of the others. Sure, she didn't go on all the adventures but she was a part of the team as everyone else.
There had to be something that she could do, right?
For Vanilla, it was hard. She knew that her daughter had helped her friends fight time and time again, having saved her before. But seeing so many patients come in and out of this medical room just told her that she was making the right decision. Sure, a vast majority of the Sonic Heroes, much like her daughter, were children. But they were also a decent bit older than her too.
She could never truly forgive herself if something had happened to her while out there on the field. Things were so much different now in these times than they ever had been before...
So what were the two to do now other than to work in silence? They knew where the other stood on the matter and neither was willing to back down when it came to their stance as to whether or not the young girl would enter the field of battle.
Vanilla turned to look at her daughter, who had preoccupied herself with washing some of the medical supplies while the Chao was resting atop her head. She sighed and looked down at the floor, unsure of what to say. So she focused on her shoes and the water that began to puddle around her feet.
She stopped. Water? Why is there-
She looked up to where Cream was washing medical supplies and saw that it wasn't overflowing or anything like that. What was going on?
"Cream?" She asked.
Cream, still a bit miffed decided to answer her. "Yes, mother?"
"Where is this water coming from?"
Cream turned in her direction, an eyeridge raised in confusion. "What wat…"
She stopped as she heard the sloshing sound with her movement and looked down to see that there was in fact water in the room and it was beginning to rise.
"Mother?"
"Cream?"
The two were unsure of what to do as the water was now up to their ankles.
"We should go..." Cream looks at her.
Vanilla nods at this. Quickly, Cream takes her mother's hand and the two rush out of the medical facility where they are shocked to see that the rest of the base is now filling with rushing water.
Vanilla was immediately taken aback by this. She let out a gasp and put one hand to her chest while another was put protectively in front of her daughter.
"Cream, we need to-"
But Cream was already leaping into action, her ears began to start flapping and she began hovering in the air.
"Mama, you need to grab my hand and hold on tight."
Vanilla looked astonished at her daughter. "Cream what are you-"
"Mother, there is no time!"
"Chao Chao!" Cheese agreed.
Vanilla looked at her determined daughter in wide eyed shock before she nodded, taking the hands outstretched to her and together, the two began to race through the flooding temple.
~Trials of War~
[Play Open Your Heart or an appropriate Forces style Remix]
For the resistance fighters on the outside of the temple, things were much, much worse. Waves upon waves of water were washing them away, scattering them throughout Angel Island and threatening to drag them under to a watery grave.
A lot of fighters panicked. Some were lucky and managed to find common ground among the temples that hadn't been completely drowned out yet. But all of them were in a frenzy as they could only try desperately to find their way amongst it all.
And yet, within the center of the island, while the rest of the water was able to rush out, some of it began to gather and form into something sinister. Many knew of the incident in Station Square many years ago, in which the God of Destruction himself formed into a gigantic snake like being that flooded an entire town and left it in ruins. If only that were the creature that stood before them today…
Standing before them was Perfect Chaos, but not quite as they had remembered him. While he managed to retain the same snake like body that he had before, instead of vicious green eyes were furious red ones that pierced the sky, jutting from his head were long tentacles pulsing with angry red energy from the Phantom Ruby, between those tentacles were frills of roaring, boiling water that flowed into its head. Around its body were horrible messy glitches that crackled violently with they weren't sure was Ruby energy or Chaos' own power.
This was none other than Phantom Chaos.
The pained creature let out a noise so primal, so ethereal that it sent tremors out across the island that was already in so much distress from its appearance. To the untrained, the unknowing, they would have mistaken the noise that had been uttered from the creature's mouth as a guttural roar of fury towards those that stood against the Eggman Empire. But to Chaos, the noise was a cry of anguish, a sorrow that ran so deep within that not many would be able to understand.
For the world of the Sonic Heroes, The Resistance and anyone that was in the right place and time, it was due to both very recent and ancient history. Problems that had long since been resolved thanks to the intervention of one Super Sonic hedgehog.
But to those who had been displaced by history, dragged to the present day and bringing their old problems with them, this was very fresh for them. The slaughtering of an entire race that simply wanted to live in peace, brethren that had been lost for nothing but a dispute of power that simply did not belong to them.
Whether it was ancient history to them or the consequences of sins of their present, this was very real and happening to them now.
And so, Phantom Chaos let out its cry.
They all would pay for what they had done to the Chao.
~Trials of War~
"Woah-ho, looks like that big drip got a huge growth spurt. Are you guys seeing this right now?"
The younger Sonic was running along one of the temples and looked up at the creature that was looming overhead.
Vector and Tangle were running alongside the dimensionally displaced hedgehog, doing their best to keep up the pace while avoiding torrents of water and blasts of energy that were coming from the creature looming above them.
Tangle sprung into the air on her tail to dodge a blast of water that nearly dunked her.
"You're tellin' me, lil guy. We've got enough water here to turn this place into a waterpark."
"I'm more of a rollercoaster guy than a waterslide guy if you catch my drift." Sonic replied to her as he performed a drop dash to get under laser fire.
Vector groaned. "At this rate, you two are both gonna be drowning types of guys if you keep foolin' around!"
"Oh yeah, says who?" Sonic asked. "You and your giant trap? Maybe if we just let you open wide, you can drink everything Chaos throws at us."
Sonic was now smirking back at the Crocodile who now steamed.
"Hey you listen here you little twerp! I outta-"
But both were shocked at what happened next. A stream of water slammed into the crocodile from nowhere and carried him away. He shouted in fear as he desperately tried to reach out for anywhere.
"Vector!" Both Tangle and Sonic shouted as they came to a stop. But they really shouldn't have as that was all that was needed for them to get drowned out by the waves.
~Trials of War~
Tails knew that getting back into the action with the resistance would bring a whole world of excitement back into his life. Heck, far more than even a younger Sonic could bring him on his own. He just never thought that he'd be diving headfirst into all of this so quickly.
But here he was, flying through the skies of Angel Island turned an old Echidna village dodging both blasts of energy and angry red lighting from a corrupted God of Destruction.
Never a dull moment with the Sonic Heroes or the Resistance, that was for sure.
But of course, he knew to get straight into action and was immediately back on the coms.
"Hello, can anyone read me?" He shouted as he held a finger to his ear. But all he got in return was static. He growled at this.
"It's no use, honey." Rouge sighed as she flew next to him. "Chaos here has managed to scramble all communications."
Charmy then flew next to them. "It's hopeless! We're not going to get anywhere like this!"
"Yeah, and just what do you wanna do about it, kid?" Rouge asked. "In case you haven't noticed we're all on our own out here."
"Well, maybe we could just-"
But Charmy too was interrupted by yet another anguished roar by Chaos that sent shockwaves through the air.
Each and every one of the trio were slightly knocked off their flight path, with Rouge nearly taking a dive straight into a temple wall. But she managed to regain her altitude very quickly.
She let out heavy breaths at that. "That- that was a close one."
"Are you okay?" Charmy asked.
She heavily panted again. "I-I'll liv- LOOK OUT!"
Charmy didn't notice the red blast of energy coming in his flight path, but Rouge had already moved before he could react. She shoved the bee out of the way, taking the blast on for herself and was immediately knocked out of the air and into the rising waters below.
"Rouge!" Both of the young boys shouted but it was too late.
Charmy was shaking now as he continued to fly. "She- she…"
Tails looked on in wide eyed shock, but quickly snapped out of it with a shake of the head. "We need to keep moving! If somehow we can hit the weak point on Chaos' head then that should calm it down!"
"Should?!" Charmy shouted.
"I don't know, I've never seen Chaos like this!" Tails groaned as he quickly weaved his way around another blast of red energy. "This isn't like back in Station Square all those years ago or even with the thing on Sonic's last birthday party. This is just… I don't know?!"
The poor fox had his hands pressed to his head as he ran his fingers through tufts of matted fur. To add insult to injury, a crack of red lightning let out next to the foxkit, causing him to jump in fear.
"Tails!" Charmy shouted.
The fox looked over at the bee only for his eyes to widen in shock as the kid was hit with the same lightning that had scared him mere moments ago and now was sent towards the sea.
"Charmy!" He shouted back.
But it was too late as a blast of angry red energy knocked him out of the sky and into the waters that awaited him below.
~Trials of War~
Blaze could not win in this war it seemed. Being sent to this world, there was water. Rejoining the resistance, and of course there was water. At this rate, she expected the entire war to end with water somehow. But for now, she had to settle for doing her best to hop across the tops of buildings with a scared and confused bespectacled wolf in her arms.
The young man had done nothing but shout in fear when he had been washed away by the initial tide and if Blaze hadn't been the one to reach out to him, he surely would've been washed away in the first sweep.
"Why does this sort of thing keep happening to me?!" The poor wolf shouted.
Blaze pursed her lips in respond to the remark, tempted to drop the wolf but opted not to. She clearly wasn't in the best state to really be criticizing anyone's abilities at the moment since the rain left him without much of anything to do right now but run and jump through the tide and hope to the Sol Emeralds that somehow they'd make it out alive.
She at least hoped that Silver was okay through all of this.
~Trials of War~
Silver the Hedgehog was not okay.
As soon as Chaos had been unleashed, he threw up a telekinetic barrier around himself and whoever happened to be closest to him. Three of them happened to be Celeste, Espio and a confused Commander Abraham Tower which wasn't so bad for them.
Unfortunately, one of them, also happened to be Big the Cat, leaving the quartet to be scrunched up against the tiny ball of telekinetic energy as they were swept away, bouncing around the area like a ping pong ball throughout the island being washed away by Chaos. It was fun for no one as the quartet could do nothing but scream and hope to the gods that Silver would maintain enough concentration to keep the field up and not be washed away by the tide.
~Trials of War~
Knuckles the Echidna and Shadow the Hedgehog were quick to rush up the giant stairs that lead to the Emerald altar, jumping over and around blasts of light and strikes of lighting.
The two had come to an unspoken agreement to help each other at all costs during this conflict. Any point where it looked like Knuckles was about to take a hit, a quick Chaos Control would blip them just a few feet out of harms way. When Shadow was nearly about to get hit, a quick shove from a mittened hand would sort him straight. It was bit clumsier and unbefitting of either of their titles but between the Echidna not caring and the hedgehog understanding the greater circumstances of their ordeal, it just didn't really matter.
But they were quick to make their way up the stairs and were stopped dead in their tracks by two spears pointed in their direction.
"Halt! Neither of you shall pass!"
"Are you actually serious right now?! I mean, really?!" Knuckles gestured all around him. As if in agreement, Phantom Chaos let out another deathly cry that nearly knocked all of them off of their feet.
But the guards were persistent. "No outsider is to go near the Master Emerald. Tikal is not here to let you pass lost one."
Shadow pinched his nose in frustration and just sighed. "You know what? We don't have time for this."
"And just what do you plan to do?"
Shadow put a hand on Knuckles shoulder and without so much of a word, he used Chaos Control to disappear in a flash of light.
When they reappeared, they were facing the guard's backs and Shadow nudged his head in the direction of the two.
Knuckles nodded and together with some well-placed kicks and punches, the two were able to dispatch the guards with little to no resistance.
With that, the two turned towards the Master Emerald.
Knuckles was quick on the approach as he rubbed his hands together. "Chaos, I hear your cry, your anguish and I want to help you. But I cannot do that while you're washing us all away. So please, protect us now, CHAOS SHIELD!"
With that, Knuckles thrust his hands on top of the Master Emerald. For a moment, it briefly pulsed with energy and then nothing happened.
Knuckles looked on in wide eyed shock.
"Chaos Shield!" He shouted and thrusted his hands out towards the Emerald again.
But nothing happened.
"Knuckles, what are you doing?!" Shadow snapped at him.
"I'm trying to get the Master Emerald to respond to me, but it looks like it's not working?!" He shouted.
"Of course it isn't working, you idiot!" Shadow shouted at him. "You're scared and confused! You think that the Master Emerald is going to respond to that kind of turmoil!"
"Oh yeah, what about you, Mr. Ultmate Life Form!" He snapped back at him. "If you're so perfect, then you throw up the barrier!"
"Do I look like I have your type of connection to the Master Emerald!"
"My brother in Chaos, you are literally made of Chaos Energy!"
Shadow was about to reply only for Chaos to let out another shriek again, causing the ground to tremble and waves to lap up against the shrine. The two of them barely managed to stay on their feet and looked up at the sky at the monster raging around them.
Shadow looked to Knuckles and Knuckles looked to Shadow.
Knuckles sunk his head down low. "W-we're doomed. After all this time, I- I'm facing the same fate, the same punishment as the rest of them. This is it…"
"Not yet." Shadow insisted as he placed a hand firmly on his shoulder. "We're going to pull through this, Knuckles. I don't know how but we're going-"
Another roar rang out and this time, the two were finally knocked off of their feet and water began pooling around them…
~Trials of War~
Tikal was already rushing out of her room when she was came face to face with none other than her panicked father.
"Tikal!" He shouted.
"Father!" She was surprised. She hadn't expected in this time of utter pandemonium for him to come for her. She was touched.
"What are you doing out of your chambers? It's far too dangerous out there for you!"
She sighed. The moment had passed and she remembered who her father was and what he thought of her way of living. But still she had to stand her ground.
"Father, I am going out there because of what our meddling has wrought upon our people! You decided to harm the Chao and claim the Master Emerald for yourself and look at what it has done! God himself has come to inflict his judgement upon us."
Pachacamac pinched his nose and groaned. "This nonsense again?! Now of all times?! Tikal, we did what was meant to be done as a tribe and conquered as we were supposed to. Those beneath us like those silly Chao were simply standing in the way of our strength! So we eliminated them! Why is that so hard for you to understand?!"
"Where is your power now, father?!" Tikal roared back at him. "If we are truly the strongest then surely we must be able to quell Chaos' temper now. Why don't we use your bravado, your hubris to take Chaos now and put an end to all of this? Go on, father! Do it now!"
Pachacamac can only respond with a snarl. "How dare you-"
But Tikal wasn't having it. "No, how dare you! Defile our beliefs and the teachings of Chaos to slaughter divine beings and take what wasn't yours! What gives you the right to declare me as unjust, to constantly reeducate me and attempt to shape me into your image when that has never been our way, father!"
"You ungrateful child!" Pachacamac roared. "I will not stand here and be insulted like this. You will return to your room at once and let us handle this."
"No!" Tikal shouted. "I am going out there to fix your wrongdoings and you cannot stop me!"
"Guards!"
"Chaos Control!" She shouted back at him. And in a moment she was gone.
Pachacamac and the Guards looked around only to see her further down the hall of the temple, making her way outside to the heavy rain outside.
"Tikal!" Pachacamac shouted as he raced after her.
The two guards stood in stunned shocked for a moment before they were quick to rush after them both. Out into the storm.
~Trials of War~
"Mama, hang on!" Cream shouted as she made her way through the flooding temple.
Vanilla was in shock as she held on for her dear life while her daughter maneuvered her way through the temple. She weaved around torrents of water pouring down from above, she managed to dodge all the falling debris. She was able to do it all and without breaking a sweat, a look of determination on her face as she did her best to get herself, her mother and Cheese out of there.
Is this girl really my daughter? Vanilla wondered.
"Cheese!" Cream shouted out.
The Chao looked from where he was flying next to her.
"Go on ahead! Mama and I will be fine, but I want you to get out now! You're smaller and will be able to find a better exit than we can."
The Chao looked horrified at the suggestion. "Chao Chao Chao Chao!" It cried out.
"I know that you're scared. I am too, but we're gonna make it, okay? I just want to make sure you're safe."
Cheese looked down at the rushing water in sadness but knew that she was right. He flew over and nuzzled her face before flying off somewhere. Using one of the open windows to get out of there.
As for Vanilla, she watched in amazement as Cream tightened her hands around hers and rushed off.
With the water pouring all around them, Vanilla could only watch as the home they had known over the course of the Empire's reign had been destroyed. All those months and it was simply washed away like it was nothing. The temples of the strange amalgam of Angel Island and the Echidna Civilization certainly weren't the most comforting place in the world, but it had been home. Neither she nor her daughter had left the island in the near year that this had all taken place.
Where a pang was sent through her heart at all of this, Cream still continued on as if it was nothing.
Where had the little girl she had so desperately wanted to protect gone? Did she even need protecting? Had she been right this entire time that she should have been on the frontlines with her friends?
Those were the questions that ran through her mind as Cream managed to find an exit and burst out of the Temple.
~Trials of War~
Sonic the Hedgehog knew exactly what he had to do with Chaos. It was just like he had done years ago, both when he made his first real steps into cities like Station Square and during the whole ordeal with the Time Eater. He needed to calm the big drip down and make sure that he wouldn't hurt his friends.
So he ran, pouring Chaos Energy into his legs as the boost aura appeared around him and he dashed across the top of the water, being sure to avoid any blasts of chaotic ruby energy or the flashes of lightning that would appear in front of him.
Despite all the craziness, he was truly in his element.
Chaos let out another deadly roar at the approaching hedgehog and for a moment, his boost aura was cancelled out.
He had nothing but his own legs to carry him across the water for a moment as the monster eyed him with pained fury.
But the world's fastest hedgehog could still hold his own across the water and still was quick to sidestep blasts of energy coming from the monster.
Quickly, he was able to recover, pouring on the boost again, as he now opted to leap from temple wall to temple wall, closing the gap between him and Chaos.
He just had to hit the big dumb bulb on his head and that would do the trick, right?
So he continued to jump and jump and just when he was approaching, ready to give it his all and home in on the thing…
A tentacle appeared from outside of his field of vision.
Sonic didn't even have time to scream as he was sent into the waters below.
So this is how it would end…
~Trials of War~
Cream landed outside the temple and quickly set her mother down.
The two could only stare in wide eyed shock of what the land that had formerly been known as the dwelling place of the Echidna had been near entirely drowned in water while the beast above, roared on. They watched in shock as Sonic had been seemingly smacked out of the air.
"Sonic!" Vanilla cried out in utter horror.
Phantom Chaos let out another deathly roar again.
Cream didn't cry or scream however, but she began to let her ears flutter as she was prepared to go and face the beast.
But Vanilla wouldn't have it. She grabbed Cream's hand and looked up at her. "Where do you think you're going?"
Cream looked down at her mother and saw the look of immense fear in her face, the tears coming out of the corners of her eyes, the absolute pain at the sights before her. It was too much for her.
But Cream simply shook her head. "Mama, I have to go. Chaos- It's… It's hurt. I don't know how to explain it, but I can feel it in my heart. Someone needs to do something!"
"You can't!" Vanilla shouted. "I won't let you fall to that monster, you saw what it did to Sonic just now! You're not strong enough!"
Cream frowned. "Mom… You were the one who taught me that I could do anything that I set my mind to, no matter what the world throws at me. Its lessons like that that helped me on all the adventures that I had with Sonic and everyone else over the years. I know I'm young and I know that you're just worried. But I have to do this, even though you're scared; even though I'm scared. Someone has to do this, someone has to help."
Cream looked down at her mother, and her mother looked up at her. The tension between them was clear as Vanilla looked up at her in desperation, pleading her not to leave. But Cream had that same look to her, that same sparkle in her eye that had been on her face as she flew her out of danger and onto the temple grounds here.
She knew… She had always known, but she had grown too fearful.
Slowly but surely, she let Cream go and hung her head down low.
A heavy sob erupted from the woman's chest as she refused to look at her daughter.
A few tears came from Cream's own face.
"Please be safe…" Vanilla let out within choked sobs. "Please… Come back to me, my darling."
Cream wiped away her own tears and nodded. "I promise."
With that, she began to fly out into the downpour towards one of the tallest buildings here on Angel Island.
She had to do what she had to do.
~Trials of War~
[Play Tikal's Theme: Sonic Adventure]
Amongst the torrential downpour, Tikal was able to shakily climb to the top of one of the highest temples in the tribe. Phantom Chaos was relentless, letting out another cry of anguish that the Echidna heard and could only shake with fear as she felt it to her very core.
She wiped away tears amongst her matted and wetted fur, but stood tall against it all.
"Chaos, I hear your cry! And I know that we have forsaken you! We slaughtered your brethren, we took power that we had no right to claim as our own but was for all across the world!"
Chaos cried out again, this time the shockwave produced was even greater, causing the buildings to shake.
"You have every right to be angry, every right to want to end us all! We are ungrateful, horrible beings who do not deserve your blessings! What we have done is unforgivable, as we have desecrated your divine teachings!"
She hung her head down in shame, but still looked up.
"But I also know you to be a benevolent god, one who is not vengeful or seeks revenge. You have gifted us so many wonderful things like the beloved Master Emerald, which sends energy through our world and into our hearts. Those of us who have been chosen have been touched with your power capable of doing amazing things! It is because of you and your teachings that I stand before you today! We deserve another chance, Chaos!"
Phantom Chaos narrowed its eyes at the girl, but still waited for her to continue.
"I believe that there are still good people in this world, people who can continue to learn from you and save it all. I believe that we can learn and move on from this, please Chaos!"
Chaos let out another anguished cry. What the girl said had meaning, he knew her to be one of the most devote followers but not everyone was like her. Most people ignored him, and wanted to simply take what they could for themselves rather than share his power with the world.
No. He was going to end them. He was going to make them all pay for what had happened to his kind. They all would suffer!
Chaos let out another cry of anguish that reverberated around the entire island and this time sent Tikal off of her feet.
She looked on in horror as Chaos began to lash out at her, an angry tentacle prepared to strike.
She closed her eyes and accepted her fate, knowing that what she had said was not enough to temper the god of destruction.
But then… A piercing sound was heard above. She opened her eyes and looked in stunned shock at what appeared before her.
It was a little rabbit girl, far too young to be experiencing anything like this was flying above her with massive floppy ears. She let out a pained groan as her hands had been outstretched with a green force field of sorts appearing before her.
C-could it be another…? Tikal wondered.
Cream wasn't sure what had happened when she had done that. She just saw the Echidna, Tikal she had remembered, in trouble and reached out her hands only for the barrier to appear.
She landed before the two and looked up at Phantom Chaos, who now looked intrigued.
"Chaos…" She started. "I… I'm sorry! I know that people have hurt you, very mean people! I know that you want to lash out and be angry at everyone around you and I get it. I've been there too. I have felt alone and scared and angry and wanted nothing more than to hurt people around me to hope to feel better. Everyone has felt that way sometimes!"
Chaos growled.
"But you need to know that even though you're scared, even though that you are hurt and confused, there will always be someone out there to help you. Someone who will always be there for you. There are good people in this world, Chaos. People like my friends, people like Tikal here, people like my Mama! I know that there is still good in the world!"
Cream looked down at the floor and sighed. "I've read about what was done to the Chao in the past and I don't understand how someone could do that sort of thing. How someone could be that mean and rude and hurtful to just get rid of our friends the Chao. I don't think any of us really understood how, but that's why you've been so mad… That's why you joined Eggman to take revenge on all of us… That horrible thing that happened, happened to you not that long ago, it happened here and now and you're still hurting from that. You're still ready to wipe out the Echidna…"
"But… Things have changed. Things are different now. Today, people love the Chao, people are friends with them. My oldest friend, my best friend, is a Chao named Cheese and I love him dearly. I would never let anything happen to him or any of your kind and there are many that feel the same, many who would be willing to fight and not let anyone hurt them. Not ever! We have people who look out for the Emeralds and protect them and this world from doing horrible things like that. Yeah, there are still people who are mean. People like Eggman, people like Infinite! But there is still good in the world. Wiping all of us out right now means that you're getting rid of the mean people… But the good too. So please, Chaos! Don't do this!"
Tikal stepped up next to her and smiled at the young girl's words. "You… You're one with Chaos too…?"
For a moment, Cream didn't know what she had meant by that. And then, she recalled reading about the phrase in a book once. It was what they had used to call those who were Chaos Sensitive back in ancient times. People like Sonic and Shadow who could wield raw Chaotic power and become forces of nature capable of defending or destroying the world. She had never really considered that she might be one of those before. She had never considered that she too might have the same power that the strongest of her friends had, how could she? She was like them but she still had a lot of room to grow, a lot to learn.
And that was when Cheese appeared rushing over to her and hugged her tightly. The young Chao, who she could always understand like second nature had told her that he loved her and in that moment, she understood.
"Y-yes. I am."
Tikal nodded. Then come and join me.
With that, Tikal joined her hands with Cream's and together they began. Somehow, the words came to Cream as if she had always been saying them.
"The seven emeralds are the servers…"
Phantom Chaos' eyes widened in shock. It looked at not only the young girl who had proven that there was indeed love for the Chao in the future, but the Echidna pleading of forgiveness for the crimes her people had committed.
"Chaos, it is power enriched and emboldened by the heart…"
Their bodies, their very hearts began to glow with power. Slowly, they began to rise in the air, coming face to face with the beast. They reached out with their hearts, connecting with Chaos' power with their own Chaos Energy.
"The controller, they serve to unify the Chaos!"
At that, down below where Shadow and Knuckles were still standing. The great master began to shine and thrum with power.
The two of them looked on in absolute shock not just at the Emerald but at young Cream and Tikal connecting with Phantom Chaos.
"Chaos, you can change our thoughts into power!"
Somewhere, deep within the raging tide, five emeralds brought by a displaced hedgehog of the past began to shine brightly as well.
Back in Metropolis, Infinite hissed as the Emerald he had taken from Shadow began to shine with power and let out an inverted glow of energy. His Phantom Ruby dulled a bit.
"What is this…?" He groaned.
And in another place within the grand city, was the Princess of Soleanna who looked up at the cage she was in, the Emerald powering it had glowed brightly with power and somehow, that managed to calm her own heart as well.
"And we stand, here unified in past and future, to please stop this at once!"
Chaos closed his angry red eyes, listening to what the two had to say.
"Forgive us for what we have done to you and let us move forward to prove to you that we can be much better!"
Vanilla looked on in wide eyed shock. She really had been wrong about her daughter. She was loving, she was kind, but most importantly of all, she was powerful.
"That we are much better than the sins of our past!
Pachacamac looked up and growled. Despite his ways, every lesson that he tried to impart upon Tikal, she continued to put on this ridiculous display.
"Chaos, we love you and we are sorry!"
At that, Chaos' eyes snapped open and let out one more cry of anguish.
But they were not the same angry red ones, corrupted with bright red ruby energy. No… They were a kind emerald green, that had shone brightly. Not only with power, but… with forgiveness.
Chaos let out a roar yet again as he fought through the miasmic haze brought on by the Phantom Ruby. But most importantly, he remembered all those years ago, the radiant red eyes of a Super Sonic hedgehog who had shown him the error of his ways back then as well.
What… What had happened? How did things come to be like this?
No. He- he needed to stop. He could not destroy again, even if the Ancient Echidna of the past deserved it.
He remembered Tikal, he remembered the kindness. And he had remembered Sonic and his friends.
With a final cry, Chaos let out everything that he had and called it all back. The strange tendrils that had come out of his body, the more grotesque monsterish form. He had called it all back in to become himself again.
Slowly, like his body. The water in the world began to recede and with it, the Resistance and the Echidna had been left behind. All of them were choking and sputtering as they tried their best to regain their bearings.
Chaos had now returned to his zero form and looked up to see Cream and Tikal, hover and land before him.
Tears were in their eyes, but they smiled at Chaos. He was back, right where he was supposed to be.
And with that, they gave him a hug.
All had been forgiven.
It is done. Holy crap, we did it. We actually got through this chapter and we've finally done some of the big reveals. Okay… Things to say about this chapter…
So I mentioned that this chapter had started a lot more simple. It was always going to have the ending of Tikal and Cream talk to Chaos and get the sins of the Echidna forgiven. But then… As the story went on, I began to dive into my own thoughts about how Chaos Powers work and of course, that lead to Chaos Sensitivity. And when thinking about Cream somewhere in between Chapters 10 and maybe like 20ish I realized "Wait. By my own rules, wouldn't Cream be Chaos Sensitive?" while having a conversation with our amazing cover artist Tekina Fiction lol. So… Yeah. I knew I wanted to include that with her character and I knew that that reveal needed to be in this chapter with this moment. We'll elaborate on this a little more next chapter of course. And her sensitivity will be sort of but sort of not important as the story moves on.
But with that said, yeah. This was always going to be the thing that both the present of Tikal and the Echidna was leading up to, to allow them to be punished for slaughtering the Chao centuries ago. Trippy Phantom Ruby stuff, gotta love it. I'll get into the explanation of the why/how this happened later, but I am sure some of you can guess.
But getting back to Cream, her arc with her mother going on on the side here was always meant to end in this chapter as like I said, I always wanted her and Tikal to confront Chaos bringing both the past and the future together. I know during the IDW Zombot arc Sonic makes the comment that the kid was gonna grow up to be something incredible and I agreed. That was one of the reasons why I also decided to make her Chaos Sensitive. But yeah.
With all of that said, before we close it has been a year since I've seen you guys. Thank you all for the continued support and the patience it really does mean the world to me. And happy Frontiers Release Day Eve! I hope you're all just as excited for the game as I am. Without spoiling, lemme know your guys' thoughts on the game and just other Sonic going ons over the year. Did you enjoy Movie 2? I loved it. Movie Knuckles is best Knuckles. Enjoy Sonic Origins? Personally didn't get it due to not agreeing with the price but hey, maybe you guys did. How about Sonic Prime? I'm not vibing with the art style much but it does look interesting to me! I wanna know it all!
But yeah, until next time and hopefully it won't be another year. R&R and now for some review replies.
TheLostEternity:
Haha, I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. I was a bit worried on how people would take it but it seems most of you really enjoyed my reasoning for Shadow.
Yeah, I wanted to go for an emotional response from Shadow that didn't really have to do with Maria. When Infinite became Eggman's Ultimate Life Form and Shadow was on side, this felt like the appropriate arc to me and as I said, I'm glad people liked it. Glad you picked up on Hyper Go-On being involved with him somehow. Yeah, I was very particular about Infinite for this reason. Shadow's all cool and edgy, but he's also a complicated guy who has a heart and cares. I think Shadow seeing himself in a new life form and trying to give him a choice was nice. Poor Shadow though.
Eggman learning about Shadow and not thinking "But what if I made my own?" seems out of character in my opinion haha.
Hooligans round out the cast for this. They were always a fun pick.
True dat became such a meme for this game that when I got here it just felt right to include it haha
Team Dark is back as they should be. I wanted it to be emotional and I'm glad I delivered.
Thank you. If I had more room, I'd have included other concept designs as well. But ah well.
Yeah, Frontiers showed us nothing back then so that was definitely valid.
I'm very glad you enjoyed it all. Thanks!
Guest:
I certainly took a while, but thank you very much.
numberjacksoctonauts:
Shadow just wanted Infinite to choose his own path. Infinite chose Eggman.
Knuckles and Tails having their moment was fun and I greatly enjoyed writing them together.
I ultimately went with Silvaze due to some things in Episode Silver. But I have also had writers block on that story for over a year now too so who knows what'll happen with that lol. It's still something I intend to release it's just not 100% necessary for the story is all. But ultimately, yeah. Silver and Blaze are officially an item within this story and universe.
Family Unit is back and we love to see it.
CVGWJames:
Thank you!
The Sensational SpiderDom321:
Lol. I know I already told you back then but it's fine bro. Considering I took the better part of a year to update, I think you taking a week or two to get to it is all good haha.
I'm glad you had a Merry Christmas man, hopefully the next one is good since we have about a month till then lol.
I'm glad that you think I did really well with this chapter!
Hooligans were always planned as a surprise for Episode Shadow and I'm happy that people enjoyed them. As of now there are no plans for further inclusion, but I guess never say never?
And I'm glad you enjoyed Shadow's story.
Metropolis arc is quick approaching but I guess we already had a Big Wave in this chapter lol.
I'm always happy to have your support, man. Thank you.
SilverNova:
Once again, I'm rolling all three of your reviews here.
"I'm impressed and surprised with how quickly you updated." Lmfao oops. But haha, your timing was perfect and it got a good laugh out of me.
Haha I'm flattered that you think so highly of my Shadow and Infinite backstories. Thank you!
Team Dark's story is one that has always been emotional for me since all three of them ended up on different sides of the war. Rouge with the resistance, Omega with the Classic Quartet and Shadow on Eggman's side. Seeing them all come together after so long was worth it and I really wanted to do them justice. Omega's characterization which I acknowledge is different and a little softer than canon is something I've worked very hard on as well. It was always a careful balance for him and I'm glad you enjoy the way I write him.
"Even if the world turns against you, know that I will always be by your side." While the events of 06 may be wiped, that is something that I believe rings true for the characters. I wanted to make sure their bond was strong, unbreakable.
Silvaze will be interesting but there are greater world reasons as to why I went with them. Someday I will finish the fabled Episode Silver.
Okay, so Rouge knowing was a bit of an oversight on my part tbh. But yes, she was going to ask if he was an Ultimate Life Form. I think at one point when Episodes Omega and Shadow were more far off ideas in my head, I think I had pictured all of Team Dark knowing about Infinite's origins and obviously changed my mind. But that was an intentional hint and you caught onto it, good job!H
Yeah, Infinite being a created being was always what I was going with for him. Of course, he still has a few more secrets, some we'll learn next time but he was always meant to be artificial. You would be correct on the comic origin for the character though. I will say that before the game came out, I was very interested in "Who Infinite used to be?" because of his theme song much like a lot of people. But I think that him being an Ultimate Life Form and a direct response to Shadow and other things at least works better for this story.
Hmmmmmmm did this line up with your theories?
Haha you figured out Chaos and the Echidna. Good work.
Hm, might have to check that fic out at some point.
Everybody's hyped for Metropolis. Not yet, but we're very close. Granted if I don't take another year again lol
Infinite uses Ivory Lightning to short out Omega at the end of Episode Omega. I admittedly just didn't find much use for the ability outside of that scene. It might be somewhere else but yeah. But you actually do make a good point about that scene and if I ever have the time, I think I'll go back and change it to just that, thanks for the tip.
Thank you very much for the continued support.
Until next time, everyone.
R&R!