Chapter 17: Maria takes to the battlefield.

Unfortunately, I have no real comments before the story's beginning. Just once again: Special thanks to Momojifan Low Ki, and all the other lovely guests for your incredibly generous and special reviews. You will forever be remembered in my heart as the greatest people who ever lived.

P.s: Here is what I think each animal the humans from Sonic would be if they were turned into animals.

Christopher Thorndyke = Red Fox with one tail. (He's a lot like Tails in how he builds gadgets, and fawns over Sonic.)

Frances Garcia = Red Squirrel. (Her mannerisms and acrobatic abilities remind me a lot of Sally Acorn from Sonic adventures.)

Helen Priestly = Yellow Seedrian. (She also loves plants and flowers, and shares the same voice actress "Amy Birnbuam" with Cosmo. She also suffers from a crippling illness which impedes her ability to help her team.)

Danny Darnell = Dark Brown Echidna (He likes nature, and his one major appearance shows he can fight really well in a wrestling match just like Knuckles. His teenage version also makes him look very jacked and muscular, and he wears a sports top as a teenager too.)

Maria Robotnik = Hedgehog! (Because Maria the hedgehog fanart is very popular, and so Shadow can finally stop being so lonely.)

Maria POV

People occasionally ask me: how was Space Colony ARK even constructed? What was it like before I came onto it? Who built such a marvellous contraption? And why?

A common misconception is that Space Colony ARK was built only when I became sick, and had to be kept in a controlled environment without the dangerous gases in Earth's atmosphere. This is false, it existed since near the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Or to be more precise, year 1769. A very nice year.

A very friendly, generous, kind and altogether compassionate and humane scientist named "Sergei Robotnik" realized that there would soon be increasing amounts of conflict upon the Earth. Nations were fighting each other for supreme dominance, and the kings and queens of various countries began to hate each other with increasing intensity as the techonology race of the age of steam heated up.

So Sergei began construction of Space Colony ARK in a highly secret base. To be more specific, in a secret valley in a remote part of Russia. It took approximately two decades, and a giganitc amount of money that would be worth the approximate equivalent of 10 billion dollars today (so imagine the struggle of building it back then). This money was earned through Sergei's honestly constructed robotic workforce, which were extremely helpful in making it so that the factory workers forced to work for the upper class did not suffer nearly as much as before.

A robot worker didn't need to stop for food and rest nearly as often as a human worker, and Sergei's inventions were both kind and humane. Not a single one of his robots had military applications, these were only constructed by the later Robotniks who would sadly drag his good name through the mud.

Space Colony ARK went up into the sky in a bright blaze of glory. The world governments who learned about it only after its completion, thought it was a beautiful and flawless idea.

Mankind's first major step into Space, the final frontier. The first hesitant tiptoe from the cradle that was Terra. Though its living quarters were relatively simple at first, each generation brought new improvements to ARK which made it the luxury palace it had become by the time I was admitted there.

We Robotniks were not always so violent, concieted, and so thoroughly despicable and disgusting. It was only after grandfather went mad from his time alone in prison, that the first "evil" actions of our once honorable and noble line of geniuses began.

Cousin Ivo learned from his grandfather who he once deeply admired. Grandfather bought him nice presents and took him to fun amusement parks whenever he popped round to Ivo's oppresive household, and was perhaps the one genuinely kind relative in his life apart from me. Damn my illness, for not letting me do more for Ivo.

Sadly, he learned in the wrong way after hearing of Grandfather's Gerald's wrongful arrest, and slid from the slippery slope.

Put in a more simple way, he peered into his own truth too deeply, and was transformed.

It will be difficult for me to forgive Ivo after all his sinister and maniacal plots against my friends. It will be hard to live with a distrustful psycopath who I know would sell me out for two copper pennies. Especially since I've overheard from the two very friendly robots while I was regaining consciousness; that Shadow is still alive and well even after his escape pod crash landed on Earth with a gargantuan force that would kill any ordinairy living creature. But also, that Shadow's done some very twisted and darkly sanguine acts of bloody murder, too heinous to discuss.

"He really lost it on those citizens. Hundreds of pretty women and lovely children dead from his rampage. It's a good thing the doctor got to him first" were the tall yellow robot's exact words in the brief moments before my eyes slid open once again to signal that I had been revived succesfully by the Chaos emerald alongside Helen.

it's not going to be easy going forward for me as one of the three surviving Robotniks (Shadow is also counted as a beloved relative Robotnik). I will have to be like a single Gandhi, while Hitler and Stalin marshal their sinister armies across the globe. Like Martin Luther King, when an angry mob with pitchforks and torches chases him across America for trying to equalize the rights between the races. Like C2 when the forces of Brittania employ Scorched Earth tactics in the name of murdering their own citizens, Lelouch and Nunally Lamperouge included.

But first, I have to deal with G.U.N. The new G.U.N, same as the old.

Tears blur my vision and I moan in pained anguish, as I reflect upon the tragic fact that true to their name G.U.N will not give up without a gunfight. Their lust for power will drive them to do even the most terrible things, and I have no choice but to oblige them with a battle.

One final thing I would say at this moment is that I DO NOT hate my dear, sweet and compassionate Grandfather Gerald. He had his reasons for losing his cool, and it is especially touching that the reason was losing me his granddaughter. I pray that he's in a happy heaven where his good actions are not overshadowed by his few mistakes, since he did only make one real mistake and that was after I was brutally murdered in front of him.

I do forgive him for trying to blow up Earth with ARK. I'm just a little vexed that he chose to do this, even when he knew I dearly loved the Earth and wanted very badly to see it with my own eyes once I got better. Being a little vexed is not the same as being hateful, please do not confuse the two.

Over my many years of watching horrible atrocities committed in the name of knowledge, power, status and money, I can give but one piece of advice for this doomed world which will soon blow itself up without a big wake up call:

Throw away knowledge and wisdom, and everyone will be a hundred times better off.

Throw away profit and greed, and there won't be any more thieves or criminals.

Lastly, throw away righteousness and charity, and people will return to the family ties.

Ivo didn't save me to be kind. Even I know that, naive as I am. He saved me because I was his dear cousin, and the only relative who he felt any emotional connection with. His kind action of sacrificing an emerald to revive both myself and Helen, was entirely selfish. But this does not make the good deed any less meaningful or sweet. It only makes me more grateful to have him by my side than ever before. Since I now know that I'm not a complete orphan yet, especially since the amazing Shadow is also still around.

But back to business. In my final years of life, Grandfather trained me in the use of a Gundam. A Gunnery Rig. A giant mecha. A mechanical combat suit piloted by a human within its armored hull. An Evangelion. A Transformer ala Optimus Prime and Ultimus Prime. Whatever you'd like to call it.

He made these preparations hoping that I'd be able to defend myself in some manner, despite being physically frail and unable to punch or kick very hard. Of course, years of academy training were wasted on the day G.U.N attacked the ARK since they made certain to disable any potentially dangerous device on board the Space Colony that could be utilized as a weapon. Thus, my more combat oriented talents could never be displayed.

I find a large, blue robot inside the armory. It stands at thirty feet tall, and has several very menacing appearing barrels mounted the underside of both its gigantic metal hands. It also has two loaded missile launchers, one mounted on each of its mighty shoulders. As if all this wasn't enough, it's "mouth" is shaped like the end of a spraying system and a cursory look at its "head" reveals that it is capable of spraying both raging flames that can melt metal, and frozen nitrogen that can literally create entire glaciers out of thin air.

There is one little snag. Such a complex system is a two-seater. One pilot makes the deadly automation actually move, while another operates the weapons. It was clearly created for the use of the duo of taller robots that nursed me back to health, and were so supprotive of me during my recovery.

I begin to look crestfallen, until I feel a gentle tap on my shoulder. I turn around cautiously, only for a pleasant warmth to fill my chest instead. Standing before me with a nervous grin, is the yellow robot Decoe. "It's dangerous to go alone, Maria. You're not going alone. Not on my watch" he seriously stated, all humor gone from his normally chipper voice.

My own voice taken away from me by sheer astonishment, I can only gratefully nod as I climb into my chosen compartment while Decoe chooses the other one. Decoe will move the robot back and forth evading enemy attacks, while I operate the weapons system. It would have been easier on me and him if our roles were switched with how much I dislike killing and voilence, but it's my responsibility to bear the blame for my less than savoury decisions. I'm not going to pretend that there was no blood involved, and that I'm wholly infallible and completely perfect unlike Ivo and Shadow. I'm as flawed as them, and the world must know.

We march the Gundam out in short order to confront the battle already underway. Dead soldiers are littering the chamber, their screams echoing through the air. But all the same, I can see that Chris and Frances are rapidly losing ground despite their best efforts, and the aid of the base's automated turrets.

It would be easy for me to make a long and lengthy speech on the wrongness of violence and pointless killing. But both I and Decoe knew this would have no effect whatsoever on a group of heartless psycopaths who cared only about their next paycheque. They didn't listen to me when I tried to escape to Earth with Shadow, and they weren't going to listen now. Any plea for peace I could make would fall on deaf ears.

So instead, I decided to make a great and powerful speech that would place me firmly as one of history's greatest orators next to Mark Antony, John F Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt.

I winked to Decoe briefly, and he winked back. I knew the rules, and so did he.

"Prepare for trouble" I warned the furious soldiers, who had only now turned to stand in awe of one of my cousin's most intricate inventions.

"And make it double" Decoe echoed, as we went on with our introductory speech that would later bring thousands of struggling actors in the film industry from rags to riches. We altered between our lines, so that one of us spoke a line and then the other said the next. It added emphasis, and strengthened our unity.

"To protect the world from devestation"

"To unite all peoples within our nations"

"To denounce the evils of truth and lie"

"To extend our reach to the stars above"

"Maria"

"Decoe"

"Team Robotnik blasts off at the speed of light."

"Please surrender now, or prepare to fight."

"W, what. H, how. B, but I thought. We killed you. We shot you in the chest. You're dead. YOU'RE FLIPPING DEAD! This isn't possible. This ain't." The closest G.U.N man bellowed in utter confusion. He had the appearance of a weary, grizzled veteran long past his prime but determined to spend has entire life fighting with no rest. I remembered him well. He was one of the youngest, least friendly soldiers in the group that ambushed me and Shadow.

I wanted to reply to him with kindness. But in my tragically angry state, I was in no mood for parley and negotiation when he clearly wasn't.

"I always come back" I retorted bluntly, as my hands trembled around the trigger that would blow the enemy platoon before me into Kingdom Come with one delicate press.

But then my resolve quickly faltered as the little shred of humanity left within me reared its head once more. "Just please. Please withdraw." I pled with tears quickly filling my eyes and raining down my cheeks in two torrents. "Please just submit. I will give all of you £250 if you just leave us alone. I can buy each and every one a big house, and a nice car and DVD if you just go home. Now, please. Just surrender. You can't win."

"You go to hell, you little punk. We wanted Shadow, and you stopped us. Now you'll learn what happens when spoiled kids interfere in adult business like ours. You'll die and this time, I'll make it slow and painful." The angry man spat, as he opened fire upon me without warning.

"Evasive manouvres, Decoe" I quickly called.

"Roger" The loyal yellow robot smartly replied, as he set our Gundam in motion so that we narrowly sidestepped the stream of deadly lead now being levelled at us.

I wordlessly tightened my finger around the trigger I had been clutching, and repeatedly pulled it again and again. The time for friendly conversations, was certainly over.

Glowing rays of blue shot out at the soldiers, disintergrating them in a brillitant azure blaze. But I wasn't down yet. I hammered down at a nearby button right next to the trigger with my free hand. A hissing noise sounded as the collection of devestating missiles contained within the Gundam were unleashed upon the enemy, lighting up the room like smoky fireworks.

Chris POV

Until today, I've been such an evil and unsympathetic jerk. I deserved all the worst punishments in the world for my misdeeds and misconduct. I was the world's least friendly friend.

I failed to appreciate my mum and dad and how hard they worked to let me have a fancy mansion and such loyal servants like Mr Tanaka and Ella. But mostly, I nearly abandoned my three original friends just for some alien blue hedgehog I met for a few days.

I could make a case that my parents were unnecessarily busy buying me things I didn't need. I could techincally say that my servants were adults in a different age range from me, and that they might have only been nice to me for my money or rather the money that mum and dad paid them.

But I couldn't make those shoddy excuses for my amazing, spectacular, friendly friends from Station Square primary. Everything Sonic and his team could possible offer me, my three awesome pals already provided oin spades. I was just too blind, conceited and cruel to see it until now. Even if they've forgiven me for how badly I've treated them, I will never forgive myself as long as I shall live. Because until this day, I Christopher Thorndyke had been the world's most insensitive prick worthy of being locked in the darkest prison until I decayed to bones and rags.

I claimed I liked Sonic for his speed. But Frances blazed a trail with her breathtaking running pace, and she could do acrobatic tricks like somersaults and cartwheels too. I adored Knuckles for his ability to smash stone and lift ten tonne robots to stop Dr Eggman from taking over the world. But Danny could pick up a car with one hand, and hurl hulking bullies trying to harass me over the horizon. He could also perform the ultimate wrestling art that Knuckles could never come close to replicating.

The submission hold. In which Danny grabbed the target and dived recklessly for the ground. He used it to effortlessly trounce me at the Chaos emerald fighting tournament, and only let me win because he was truly a selfess Chad whose heart was as large as life.

I wanted to be with Amy because of her appreciation of all the lovely flowers that people laughed at me for when they saw me with them. Yes, I liked flowers despite being a boy. It didn't make me many friends.

But wait, there was a beautifully tended garden that a certain wheelchair bound blonde spent day and night perfecting, specifically because she knew it would make my visits to her house worthwhile. Helen. You truly wonderful gardener. You grew the wilting flower inside my heart, which had been left to rot by my neglectful family and I will never be able to repay your kindness even if I tried.

I liked colors, so I said. Sonic was blue, Tails was yellow, Knuckles was red and Amy was pink.

But my kind friendly friends had colors too. Danny had dark brown, Frances had pale yellow and Helen had bright peach. These were truly eyecatching colors too, but I failed to appreciate them. They also had simply stunning outfits, which were not even their best clothes. If they did don their finest outfits, my nose would soon need a blood transfusion.

Sonic's gang was so appealing to a bored, spoiled and stuck up brat like myself because they each had their own distinguishing quirks, backgrounds and other variations that made no two of them alike. The cool Sonic could never be compared with the hothead Amy, nor the brawny Knuckles with the inquisitive Tails.

There was a Greek, a Mexican and an Ethiopian in my truly awesome posse of pals. They once even spoke with their native accents, before this oppresive Society forced them to conform to its expectations. The haunting image of the beautiful Frances being endlessly insulted for her southern accent when she first started class with me, still brings me to tears when I reflect on just how badly she, Helen and Danny were treated before I came to fix all that.

I threatened to sic my elite guard of servants, and to ring my Uncle Sam to come and arrest every student unless they immediately apologized to Frances for making fun of her accent, Helen for mocking her inability to walk like a healthy person, and Danny: whose truly miserable first days as a transfer student midway through year 2, were concrete evidence that

racism in America sadly did not end with Martin Luther King's speech about having a dream.

I got beaten over the head, socked in the face and kicked in the shin for standing before the legion of often oversized bullies who would take the good name of my friends at school in vain. I counted twenty five trips to matron, five of which ended in an emergency room during the first three terrible years before every offending student was finally properly expelled and our time in school became more tolerable. But it was all worth it. Every hit I took for my friends was one I did not regret in the least, neither now or in the moment.

I laughed when Dennis Mcmenace swung his gigantic fist into my skull, causing a fierce vibration that made me see stars all around me. I grinned when Melvin Mcmurderson smashed his curled knee into my tummy, making me double over as the contents of both my breakfast and school lunch were uncontrollably vomited out onto the playground asphalt. I felt nothing but warmth and contentment when Kira Killgraw gripped me into a headlock, and snatched my high-tech mobile phone which Dad gave me as a special early Christmas present, before smashing it to pieces before my helpless tearful eyes.

In each instance, I had provided the distraction that allowed my friends to go scot free. I had sacrificed something from myself for the welfare of another.

I'm not about to let years of protecting my friends be in vain. Not even if G.U.N packs a nuclear bomb.

I grit my teeth so hard I feel they will break, and toss out another handful of grenades onto the murderous freaks below. It brings me no joy to cause so much pain and sadness, but it's us or them at this stage.

I'm getting tired. My arms are drooping. Soon I will have no strength left to throw, and the tactical advantage will shift to G.U.N.

But then the little black robot messenger who always messes up my day with his exploding messages runs to me. His expression is neither friendly nor unfriendly. Neither happy nor sad. It is impenetrable and sombre, and it scares me.

"Chris. Helen is saved. The Chaos emerald revived her alongside Maria, and she's okay. Completely okay. In fact, the Chaos emerald even healed her legs so she can walk just fine now." He announces, barely able to keep himself from stammering. He meets my gaze with his own unflappable gaze; the first time ever this obnoxious pranskter has ever looked me in the eye. His hands are raised like a hostage, and he's not carrying the bag he normally puts his exploding messages into.

He wants me to know that in this specific instance, he calls a truce. He wants to make it readily apparent that for perhaps the first time in his entire existence, he is being deadly serious and not joking.

I never thought I'd see the day. But I briefly turn away from the battle to unexpectedly embrace the little black robot in a gentle yet intimate hug.

"Th, tha, than..." I find myself trying to speak, but only silent sobs and chokes come out from my failing mouth instead. I eventually manage to convey my message, but only as a river of tears soaks my face and jumper. "Thank you Bokkun. I'm so happy you told me. Maybe you're not so bad after all."

"And I'm sorry I blew up so many messages in your face, and ruined your day so many times" He nervously retorts, breaking free from our embrace and still raising his arms to show he's entirely harmless. He clearly isn't used to such friendly human gestures yet, and is still extremely afraid of me. "I have to go now. Helen needs me. She's...not taking this battle well and I need to be there to make sure she doesn't hurt herself."

"Go Bokkun" I encourage him. I gather up every last ounce of courage remaining in my fear stricken soul, and finish my sentence knowing that this is something I should have announced a very long time ago. It may not make any difference now that I could die at any second, but I feel it needs to be said anyway before my coffin closes over me. "Go, and tell Helen that I love her and always will!"

Even before I've finished speaking, Bokkun's eyes widen and a massive smile spreads over his face. He forcefully claps me on the back, and gives my hand a firm shake. "Chris. If what you just said is really true, you might be the most formidable opponent that Dr Eggman has ever had the pleasure of facing in his entire life. That's worth something. Now. Go get those brainless bozos and show them that you're the GOAT. Show me, show Maria and show all you're friends that the doctor's confidence in you is not wasted. Show us all that you, Christopher Thorndyke, have the strength to protect the weak and helpless and you're not going to hold back from now onwards."

"I WILL HOLD NOTHING BACK!" I shrieked at the top of my lungs, before turning my attention back on the heated combat still well underway.

"Helen. More than anyone else. I do this for you." I yelled, before leaping over the low fencing onto the ground floor below where I know Frances is barely holding out. It's my last grenade, and so I have to make it count.

Helen was the launcher of a thousand ships in the Greek Myths she showed to me. Now I was going to be the next Hercules. The next Odysseus. The next Leonides, King of Sparta. I would shield the maiden who single-handedly alleviated my loneliness and hopelessness in humanity, or happily die trying.

It was nearly time to bust out the wrestling moves that I used to soundly trounce Danny at the Stadium. It was almost time for "Submission".

"No. Aah. Gah. Grr. You let me go. Let me go!" I demanded to no avail. Just great. I get a few feet from the last prison built to hold me, and then I get put in a net just like the one from when I first got to this world. Only this net is made from reinforced materials, and electric. Any sudden movements, and I would be friend to a crisp alongside sweet little Cream trapped in her own net.

At least Butler Tanaka, Ella and Chuck got away by ducking into the bushes.

"You are to be taken to our special base, and experimented on. Resistance is futile" The big, muscular man holding me in the net coldly explained. "The results we will gather from you and your whiny little rabbit friend, will make us unstoppable and allow us to project our military might across the whole globe, and soon the entire galaxy."

Like all bad guys, this one just couldn't resist a good opportunity to gloat in our faces. However unlike the other bad guys I had encountered up to this point, he had ensnared me real good. in a net where the faster I went, the more painfully I was electrocuted. This was not just an unsavoury, unsightly and mean drunken brute (for I could smell his alocholic breath in my face and it made me gag). This was a clever unsavoury, unsightly and mean drunken brute.

"You try it. You just try it. My amazing friend Chris will think of something, and then you'll be sorry you ever signed up for this." I threatened back. "You bit off more than you can chew pal. Mark my words. Your days are numbered. Chris will find some way to lock all of you back in prison."

"Hah. That little pathetic sucker. What's he gonna do? Throw a temper tantrum? Hahaha. Now that's a good one." Another man insulting replied, my threats having clearly split his sides completely.

"Don't you dare talk about Chris and his amazing friends in that mean way. They are unstoppable, and you've just made yourself their first target." Cream tries to assert, sounding even meeker than Tails when I first found him half starved to death in the forest. Cheese was able to beat a hasty escape as Cream was ensnared. A truly fortunate event, for he was deathly afraid of small spaces.

Frances POV

You ever heard of a secret society? A special organisation of people who know more about the world and it's inner workings than any known group of scientists, philosiphers and even the King himself in the earlier days of human history.

Like the cultists in HP Lovecraft's book: who each wear an eye tattoo on their arm and dress in sinister dark robes that cover their faces? Who claim that the great old sleeping one will reawaken one day and destroy all the "non believers"?

Or the Witches and Wizards in some medieval tales, who secretly practice forbidden arts that would get them beheaded if the King found out about what they were doing. People who could heal fatal injures with just a single invocation of a special word, which even the best doctors and medicines at that time period simply could not. People who could change themselves into a bird to fly high up in the sky, a fish to swim the seas with ease or a lion to scare away their adversaries. People like Merlin, Harry Potter or Sailor Moon.

People who belonged to a special, secret gathering of similarly talented individuals who used their power and knowledge to research breathtaking discoveries, or perform seemingly impossible feats that would forever shake the foundations of human knowledge.

Would it surprise you then to hear that I too, am a cultist. A secret agent that has tapped into hidden knowledge that the rest of the world is still completely blind to. An acolyte to an wise and ancient grandmaster who is far older than her appearances might suggest to the casual onlooker, and her legion of devoted fans.

We meet for cult meetings on peaceful days, when Eggman is not attacking, there's no school and Chris is satisfied at home and Sonic is busy running away from Amy rather than towards her. Which is most of the time, meaning more time for secret gatherings on that front at least.

Typically, 12 o clock midnight is the golden standard for when we schedule our gatherings. It's the most suitable time when Chris and Eggman are likely to both be fast asleep in bed, and Sonic is going for a nightly run under the beautifully shining moon. Although recently, there has been increased amounts of time when Sonic really wants nothing to do with Amy, and Eggman seems to be going soft on us for no apparent reason. As well as days when Mr Stewart is "away" for unclear reasons, and we get a surprise "off day" since the school can't muster the budget to hire a substitute teacher.

We each wear a simple, cheap yet effective black cloak, as we make our way to our secret place. A deserted piece of dockland by a Square shaped lake, which was once a water resort of some kind but was clearly overtaken by the unmatched success of the Emerald coast resort.

We secretly enter the former reception area of the yachting and fishing bulding, using a secret padlock code that only we and the other members know. "337118".

Then as the grandmaster lights a fire in the middle of the derelict chamber with the help of a tinderbox and some broken planks of wood, we each remove the hoods of our cloaks to reveal our individual identities.

Myself, Amy, Danny and our omniscient, loving and blazingly zealous grandmaster: Lindsey Thorndyke. Star actress and Chris's hopelessly ineffective mother who is doing all she can to better herself so that she can one day give her offspring all that he really needs to be truly happy.

Helen knows well about these sacred meetings, but is sadly unable to attend on account of her tragically dysfunctional legs. I tell her everyday to have hope that one day the doctor's will find a permanent cure for her condition, and that I will tell her everything that goes on in my special gatherings as well as how every meeting starts with a special prayer in Helen's name. She is touched, but only cries harder at this. It takes me the better part of a half hour to calm her down by letting her sob into my chest each time.

We exchange brief inquiries as to our wellbeings, before beginning to refer to each other by our true names for the duration of the convening. Our true names that Amy was able to discover after being taught an arcane ritual by none other than Shadow the hedgehog. In this way, Amy was able to discover her true name long before any one of us.

Our true names were as follows:

Amy Rose: Lisa Ortiz. (AKA: Psychic Gym Leader Sabrina, of the Saffron city gym)

Myself, Frances Garcia: Kerry Williams. (AKA: Domino "Black tulip". High ranking team rocket special agent)

Danny Darnell: Rachel Lillis. (AKA: Misty Waterflower: Water Gym Leader of the Cerulean city gym)

Grandmaster Lindsey Thorndyke: The legendary Veronica Taylor. (AKA: The Pokemon master himself, Ash Ketchum.)

Our true names were the names of the voice actor or actress chosen by a voice acting studio to provide us each with the dulcet tones we used to communicate with each other, and to the wider audience who were always observing our every movement, from the comfort of their homes behind a digital screen. Usually either a telivision, a cinema screen or a computer.

Our current given names on the other hand, were just one of the many roles that our voice actor was selected for. It was they that gave us life, and they could even choose to voice act for more than a single living being at any given moment.

Such as how our dear friend Helen's voice actress, the truly gorgeous Amy Birnbuam could also tweak up her sweet feminine voice to sound mischevious and far more boyish. To create the voice of the masculine Charmy Bee.

Amy, our cult priestess, performed the ritual that discovered these wonderful things through the use of mirrors and candles. Sit by the mirror while the sacred candles and incense sticks (available downtown near the Chao colony where Chris and I once went with our class on a wonderful camping trip) were all lit up, and reflect deeply upon yourself as the mirror shows you each and every single one of your past lives.

From the earliest to the latest. From ancient past to present day.

It was through this ritual that Amy helped me unveil a great secret. One that seemed wholly irrelevant, but which helped me connect the dots in a way I never believed possible.

It revealed that at one point far back in the sands of time, I, Helen, Amy, Danny and even Chris were all together in one life. A life that took place in a faraway land that placed great emphasis on the afterlife, and the strong belief in immortality. A sandy land, which was now mostly known for its sandy pyramids which were little more than props for the tourists. The land of Pharaohs, Heiroglyphs, and a card game where the fate of the world was decided by the outcome. A land called Ancient Egypt.

A long time ago, there was a proud and mighty Pharaoh whose true name was lost to history and who is now known only as "Atem". Atem had several young princes and princesses from his many beautiful, charming and compassionate wives.

Of these offspring, one was known as princess Tea (pronounced Tay-ah), and another was called Pharaoh knew that he could have just one heir, and that heir would have to be very, very skilled in the card game that was part of their proud Egyptian tradition, if he were to defend that title from the rival nobles.

So he gave all his attention to Yugi, and very little if any to his other kids. Including Tea, and another badly neglected and hardly remembered young princes called Chuma. Especially important here, is how the C and h of Chuma, match those of Chris. Chuma could never beat Yugi in a single card duel, so was passed over in favor of Yugi when Atem was deciding which child to spend most time with. Time training, time praising and time loving for their unique talents.

So Chuma was a very lonely boy growing up in the Egyptian nobility. Very. This loneliness was somewhat made up for by the fact that his half-sister Tea was always there to give him company when his father was not. The palace servants and guards certainly didn't treat him well, and frequently belittled him as a futile waste of space not worth as much as even the reeds on the river Nile.

Princess Tea and prince Chuma were joyful playmates. But eventually, even this final saving grace in Chuma's life was spoiled when a beautiful beggar girl showed up half starved at the palace gates one day. This badly beaten urchin's name was Rebecca, and she was a slave girl who had escaped a cruel master: who was about to whip her to death for not cooking his evening meal perfectly because of how tired all her other work during the day had made her.

Atem ordered the palace guards to clean her, mend her injuries and give her a lovely meal. Then he dressed her in the finest robes, and it was undeniable to any onlooker that she was truly a shining example of true beauty. But then it got worse. She was pitted in a card duel against Yugi, and very nearly came out the victor. The first opponent who gave young crown Prince Yugi a run for his money in all his life.

So then even less time was given to the already grossly neglected Chuma. Even Tea, his solid rock that he felt he could count on no matter what, began to spend more time fawning over the new prodigy who shared her hobbies as fellow females, more than Chuma ever could.

Rebecca was fiercely loyal to her royal saviours, and she was appointed the Crown Prince's personal bodyguard. While her dueling abilities were a step below Yugi's after years being tutored by the finest teachers in the land alongside her charge, she made up for this slight handicap by being incredibly skilled with stabbing and throwing weapons as well.

All good things came to an end. Because three days before Yugi's coronation ceremony, a masked invader broke into the palace with a deck of incredibly overpowered cards that were too strong for any palace guard to handle. This man's real name, was Azur. Another prince that had been driven mad by his years of parental abandonment and who would have his revenge by seizing the throne by force if necessary.

He unleashed his entire army of card creatures upon the Egyptian royalty. Rebecca was first to die guarding the greater nobles, before Chuma's head was impaled on a pike shortly afterwards. Tea was able to get a short distance with Prince Yugi from the palace, and it looked like they would be the sole survivors of their dynasty's tragic fall.

But Azur caught them both, challenged Yugi to a hopeless duel he had no shot of winning with the few very weak cards he had on hand, and then threw both him and Tea into a pit of poisonous scorpions to be eaten alive.

However, there was one slight spot in the sad story that Amy showed us as we all started leaking saltwater from our crimson eyes at the vision in her bright, blue crystal ball.

Atem must have known from his shrewd Oracle, that he and his children were not long in the world. He had access to the most ancient and mysterious relics in all the land. Which included by pure coincidence, some Chaos emeralds. Shortly before the arrival of Azur in his disguised form, Atem had himself and a few of his most precious loved ones undertake a mystical ritual, that would immortalize their souls even with the destruction of their bodies.

Upon death, Chaos power would activate and allow Atem and a few of his most valued children to be reborn in another time and place. In a new body, that might look nothing like their old. Such rebirths could take anywhere between fractions of a second, up to millions of years and it very often did not even place them in the same planet. Such was the unpredictable and volatile nature of Chaos control.

Multiple deities were called upon for this process. Deities whose physical form could never be seen, but whose voices could always be heard. The voice actors and voice actresses, who agreed to Atem's demands that they would allow him and his children to live eternally, with their memories perfectly transferred from one life to the next.

Tea was among the chosen individuals, her peaceful pacifism being the trait that Pharaoh wished to keep alive forever in a warlike world that was endlessly trying to destroy itself pointlessly. While she lacked Yugi's skill with the Yu-Gi-Oh cards, she was extremely knowledgeable in herbs, plant life and medicinal practices through her desire to preserve life rather than take it away. Her death would mean a loss of such valuable life-saving skills, argued Atem as he announced that she would be chosen alongside Yugi to become an immortal.

Rebecca was selected too, being one of Tea and Yugi's closest companions in the years she spent guarding them with her life, first to charge into every battle and always last to flee. She could not only duel almost as well as Yugi, but could also match entire enemy legions on the battlefield with her own sheer combat prowess. All of Pharoahs adversaries feared her, but she feared no one. Not when they threatened the lives of her new adopted family, especially Tea. Tea would need a strong and brave guardian in whatever next life she went to, and Rebecca was chosen solely for this purpose despite not really being of royal blood.

Like the bringer of death, to contrast Tea's role as a provider of life, so to speak.

Chuma was sadly not among the selected individuals, to earn their place in the proverbeal lifeboat of salvation. He was deemed to have no notalbe talent, and his heartfelt concern for others besides himself was sadly ignored. But Tea and Rebecca visited him in the dead of night, and performed the immortalization ritual upon the neglected youngster anyway.

They wanted to show him that he was not ignored by his friends, even if he was neglected by his uncaring family only concerned with cementing their regal status. They wanted to play together in their next life, unconcerned with the burden of running a kingdom that was never happy no matter what its rulers did or didn't do. They wanted to make sure that whatever happiness the two of them recieved alongside the beloved Yugi, Chuma would not be found wanting.

Then they all died in a variety of horrific ways, Egypt fell into ruin under a dark-hearted tyrant, and the cycle of rebirth for me and all the other members of my zealous cult began.

It was possible for a voice actor, or voice actress to voice more than one character at a time. However, this did not mean that the two characters shared the same soul or spirit. A body could after all, usually only contain one soul to give it its own unique and individual identity. Well, unless you were Helen and absolutely wanted to save a dying soul devoid of its own body. Instead, multiple characters sharing a single voice actor meant that the ritual of immortalization was performed twice by different people calling to the same voice actor.

Helen. The more things change, the more they remain the same. Neither your love for the color pink in your clothing, nor your noble desire for world peace and to protect the beauty of nature for the future generations to enjoy has changed in the slightest. My goal to shield you with my own life if necessary, has also remained constant. The night can change, but it can never change me or you or Chris.

I remember just as you do, Helen. Tea. Whatever wonderful name you end up blessed with in whatever existence you find yourself thrust into next.

Chris's future lives were as unlucky as his first. His streak of bad luck seemed to follow him wherever he went. Not long ago in his previous life, he was reborn as another Yu-Gi-Oh duelist in a prestigious dueling academy. His name, or rather her name in that previous life was Jasmine Lossier, and she lost every duel barring the entry exam duel which she only won because the resident badass of the academy Jaden Yuki was her opponent, and he threw the duel purposefully as a gesture of generosity.

Unfortunately our previous reincarnations, who were so lucky as to be given the exact namesakes we started with back in Egypt, were thrust into another part of that world far from Chris, as well as being born several years before Jasmine. We therefore could not track him (her) down and had still not found him when the dark siders hit the fan and ripped our souls from our bodies in their bid for world domination (how original).

Suzanne Goldish, Chris's criminally underrated voice actress, also had far less of a general presence than any of ours. In particular Amy's, since while Lisa Ortiz featured in several interviews and podcasts viewable on the wonderful site of Youtube, Amy Birnbuam only had a few interviews split between her and several other voice actors. Kerry Williams and Suzanne Goldish had no such videos to be remembered by, and not even official websites.

It was over countless lifespans that Chris's utter hopelessness manifested, not just his twelve years of being neglected by his overworking parents. When he wasn't being left alone, he was failing. And he still feels he's failing now, with how he can't do a thing compared with the speedy Sonic, the all-knowing Tails and the incredibly strong Knuckles.

All cults, or secret societies as we called them out of politeness, had a name.

The Hermetic order: founded during the middle ages to make incredible astronomical discoveries despite the iron fist of the Church.

The Knights Templar: a squadron of elite knight's sworn to protect the Kingdom from the invading barbarians, led by the valiant King Arthur.

The Assasains. The Head Hunters of Borneo. The Dark Siders. The Six Gun Gang. MI6 England Branch. House Gryffindor. The Coven of Witches. Just to name a few different societies whose members each wielded unnatural power that ordinary citizens of their day and age simply did not have access to.

We called our Cult "the Symphony of the night". For it described our identity as a group of unheard speakers perfectly. We wore no tattoos, nor any fancy jewelry or a special outfit. For it was not our appearances, but our voices that mattered. A blind man would view us much the same way as the sharp-sighted.

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Especial thanks for reading. Please review if you like this story and want me to continue.