I do not own Sonic X, R…etc.)
S.O.N.I.C GO!
S.O.N.I.C GO!
GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!
Episode 19: Enter the Void
The roars of the crowd filled their ears as the two teams approached each other from opposite sides of the stadium. The air was full of snow and balloons rising from the stands. After tolerating several intrusions made by Dr, Eggman, precautions were beginning taken to ensure that this time; the Doctor would not interfere with the races. Stationed around the stadium and track itself was an entire regiment of G.U.N walkers. Chaotix; now finished in third with a heap full of money sat in the stands next to Chris and Chuck. Espio had wanted to finish the finical arrangements, but after he spent four fours straight finalising some tedious thing, Vector insisted he got a life.
"Metal Knuckles." Sonic began as the two of them approached each other to line up directly with the finish line. "I'm going to chew you up and spit you out."
"You'll have to catch me first."
"Well it's finally here." Scarlet began to the enthusiastic crowd. "The finals of the Emerald Grand Prix are moments away from starting." It had already been agree by the others that Sonic was to race in the finals. The blue hedgehog was insisted that he be the one to take down Metal Knuckles, as a smatter of principle. Shadow could see the conviction in his eyes and didn't argue.
Dr. Eggman himself was watching on the sports channel, drumming his fingers nervously. His mind was full of doubts, his faith in his elite team shaken and his patience beginning to thin. This was the last race that determined whether he won the chaos Emerald and humiliated Sonic like he originally set out to do, or lost everything. It was a 50/50 chance either way, even with those enhancements he had provided Metal Knuckles with. Eggman hated those kind of odds and was beginning to think of different ways of snatching a victory if things should do wrong.
"As the two team captains approach the start, let's remember that this entire tournament has been leading up to this moment." Stuart added. "Whoever wins this goes home tonight with the Chaos Emerald and is announced the fastest thing on this planet."
"That titles mine." Sonic stated, giving Metal Knuckles a side glance.
"Keep it." The robot replied sourly. "All I want is the Chaos Emerald."
Chuck, Chris and Helen had been watching from the stands. Chris was confident that Sonic would win, although he was sure Metal Knuckles would use some kind of dirty trick to win like he did in his race with Knuckles. Sonic was expecting something like that; Metal Knuckles was nothing like his predecessor Metal Sonic, who preferred to win on his own terms. This robotic Echidna was a simple stooge to Eggman.
"The two team Captains are ready to race, so let's get this race underway." The crowd's cheers intensified, burning in their ears.
"On your marks." Someone announced. The two of them turns, ready to run. The roar of the crowd seem to die down in anticipation as the green flag was held high in the pair, almost reluctant to let itself fall. Amy's throat went dry during those few second as the eyes of everyone within five hundred feet were locked onto the falling flag, going down in slow motion. Sonic's went dry, before finally the flag descended completely to the ground.
"GO!"
Void's eyes widened and a sadistic smile spread over his face, now was the time. His arms flew out and he called on the immense power of the Radiant Emerald to allow him intervention in the mortal world. The crystals around him vibrated in song, their power merging with his, allowing his influence to reach across the divide. Sonic and Metal Knuckles were hardly away from the start when it happened. The entire sky went bright white, like the whole planet had been engulfed by a giant Chaos Control warp. The whole thing only took two minutes to complete itself as the six people Void needed were snatched one by one from their places in reality. Sonic was the first to disappear, vanishing in a white haze, followed almost imminently by Shadow, Metal Knuckles spun around trying to figure out what was going on before he too completely disappeared. Eggman had just enough time to get several curses in as the Egg Carrier 3 was engulfed by the light as he was chosen; plunked up from his seat. Chuck was pulled violently from his seat, vanishing like he'd never been there at all. Tails tried to escape the light, but in the end it swallowed him up as well. With a sudden flare it was over and millions of people all over the world were left staring around in utter confusion.
"What the hell just happened?" Amy demanded, staring around with her mouth hung open.
"Grandpa?!" Chris demanded of the empty space where his grandfather had been sitting only moments before.
Void collapsed to the ground, his arms hardly able to support his own weight. It took tremendous amounts of strength to brink someone to his realm. Void lacked the necessary power to propel someone the other way, but that would soon change. Despite his heavy breathing, he laughed. Illumina's hold over him was about to shatter. Struggling to his feet, Void looked out across the great expanse of radiant Emerald. He couldn't see them all directly but their life force signals were easily detectable. Six was a large number, but he needed all of them here if his plan was to work. He paused to gather himself again.
It would be impolite as a host if he kept his guests waiting.
The world around him blurred and suddenly Sonic was within a new location. The race track he had been set on had disappeared and replaced with towering emerald like structures. One minute in one location and the next in another, no explanation provided for this strange occurrence. Even Shadow, who had seen some strange things in his life time stood there stunned into silence, his mouth hung open.
The trip had not been so gentle on Eggman, who lay on the ground, rubbing the back of his head, groaning. Chuck was there was well, looking from side to side with a puzzled expression on his face rather than shock. Very little could shock the scientist, it was his nature to look at things from a scientific point of view instead of a hysterical one. Tails was trying to get his bearings, appearing utterly confused, trying to make sense of his news surrounds, failing miserably. Metal Knuckles; not prone to fits of hysteria, he simply stood perfectly still, scanning the surrounding environment for any data as to his present location. Slowly as the silence amongst them persisted, someone gathered up the nerve to say something.
"Fascinating." Chuck breathed, looking around him. Eggman pulled himself to his feet unsteadily.
"Fascinating?!" He repeated, looking perplexed. "Just where the hell are we?"
"Why don't you tell us Eggman?" Sonic demanded angrily. "What did you do?" Eggman stared back, matching his angry stare.
"Don't look at me Hedgehog. I'm just as confused as the rest of you." Chuck ignored them all, studying this new place with great interest. While he did not know precisely where they were or how or why they had gotten here, he intended to make the best of it and study this curious scientific phenomenon. Appearance wise, this place seemed to resemble a Chaos Emerald's exterior, each surface glistening with a polished surfaces, all different coloured, constantly changing from one to the other. A strange, musical notation hung in the air that's pitch seemed to correspond to what coloured streamed through the walls and floors. Looking up, Chuck studying the new sky above him and the others. It appeared to be like a night sky with twinkling stars, but it curved, the light radiating from the emeralds around them show that, enclosing whatever location they were in, in a bubble. This place defied all scientific knowledge and the human scientist was hard pressed to even come up with a working theory for its existence.
"Look for the last time; I didn't have anything to do with it!" Eggman snapped brushing Sonic's accusations away. "I don't even know where we are so I could hardly come up with a way to get here."
"Don't waste your time Sonic." Shadow sighed, looking around them. "He doesn't know anything." Sonic sighed angrily and sat down on the floor, looking frustrated.
"Just what is this place?" He asked himself.
"I have the answer you seek." A voice that seemed to lot with the musical hum stated. Everyone blinked and looked up to see a small creature floating in the air above their heads. It was only which the size of a mobian with a slender blue body and tanned head, strange mint green hair that glowed brightly with the light from the crystal structures. Its eyes were a strange mixture of black and blue, curved outwards. Slowly, it floated down and hung directly in front of them.
"Just who are you!" Shadow asked in exclamation.
"My name is Void." The creature replied as he floated down to the ground, his arms crossed. His large blue eyes staring directly at them, thousands of stars seemed to twinkle in their depths. "The six of you are trespassers in my realm. Why have you come here?" They were all silent, none of them quite sure what to say, to put into any reply that made the slightest bit of sense. His patience warring thin, Eggman stormed to the front.
"Now listen here, whatever you are, just where are we?" He demanded, waving a fist angrily in Void's direction.
"Radiant Emerald, end of all places." Void's reply was so swift and full of finality that Eggman's curse ridden reply was stilled in his throat.
"This is incredible." Chuck said to himself, standing a little further away from the group, studying the towering crystallized structures all around them and the glittering emerald sky with a thousand stars sparkling like jewels. This place was like nothing he had ever seen before. He looked down through the floor and found it slightly transparent and what lay below it seemed to be a void of darkness, glittering stars swarm in a bleak sea far below. The emeralds around them the only source of light in this place, utter darkness hung on the borders ready to swallow them up.
"It's like we're inside a giant Chaos Emerald." Shadow remarked, looking around for himself. A short smile crossed Void's face.
"That statement may be more adept than you realize." He said quietly to himself, before turning back. "If you have any thoughts of leaving here, then I must warn you, removing yourselves from this dimensions is a risky and dangerous procedure."
"But it can be done?" Sonic asked. Void nodded reluctantly, before he let a arm trail out towards his left, pointing directly at a gigantic tower made completely out of emerald shards, emitting alight that changed colour softly, morphing from a blazing green, to a blood red and then back again. It towered over the rest of the structures like a lighthouse, its glow lighting the entire sky. It was like then glow they'd seen when they first arrived came directly from this place.
"That tower is the only connection between this secluded pocket realm and all others. If you wish to return to your world, you will have to travel up to its spire." There were was complete silence amongst their group, broken only by the soft musical hum that seemed to radiate from all around them.
"Something tells me that isn't as easy as it sounds." Shadow replied, narrowing an eye. Void nodded in agreement.
"The spire's energies are not always constant, energy changes around it, causing warps of space and time that defy the laws of physics, even more so than the entire dimension itself. Get trapped in one of those, and you cease to exist." A horrified look came over Eggman's face as a terrifying picture flashed itself into his head.
"Exactly how long have you been here?" Sonic asked, folding his arms. Void paused, rolling his eyes as he searched his memory.
"Here time is one with space, one moment no different from the other, so I couldn't tell you how long in your years." He put a fore finger and thumb to his chin. "But if I have to guess, I'd say forty years."
"And you haven't tried to escape in all that time?"
"Escape?" Void repeated, looking down at them with a puzzled expression. "Why would I want to? The energy of this place sustains me far beyond my years, while I stay here, I am immortal." They all cast each other puzzled looks. "I know not how you arrived in his world, but if you wish, I can help you return from wince you came."
"I don't trust him." Shadow muttered to Sonic as Chuck began asking Void lots of questions about this strange dimension they'd blundered into. "Don't you think its odd we suddenly arrived here and then he conveniently shows up to help us?" Sonic didn't reply. He had his own suspicions about this strange being, but he supposed he couldn't voice them until he could be absolutely sure about it. The last thing Sonic wanted to do was offend the one person who might be able to get them out of his crazy place.
Chuck was scribbling down as many notes as he could, so fast that eventually he busted his pencil in the process. Eggman, while a curios scientist like Chuck, did not find this place as amusing at all. Quite frankly he didn't care how or why they were here. All he wanted to do was get out as quickly and as painlessly as possible.
The next half an hour was spent listening to Void as he described the spire and the various anomalies that floated around, portraying in great detail the fate of those who wandered into them. The silver lining to the cloud however was that these warps were usually in fixed positions, so they could be easily avoided. At the tip of the spire the energy converged in on itself to create a warp similar to that involved in Chaos Control. If someone were to race up the tower fast enough, shattering the sound barrier as soon as he hit the warp then the gateway would be opened.
"You must be precise." He stated. If you are even a millisecond off, the portal will not open and you will be sent flying into the air, for a very long fall down."
"Sonic, a word please." Shadow said quietly, tapping the blue hedgehog shoulder, gesturing to an outcrop of emerald towers. Sonic followed him behind them. The black hedgehog looked extremely agitated. "I've tried, but it just doesn't work here." Sonic blinked in confusion.
"What doesn't?" He asked.
"Chaos Control." Shadow continued. "I've been trying, but something about this place won't let me do it." Sonic blinked and turned his energies inward, attempting a Chaos Control teleportation for himself. He managed to gather the energy for it, but when he actually attempted the transport; it was as if he came up against an unrelenting brick wall. He tried again and once more he failed.
"I can't either." He admitted sourly. Shadow began uncharacteristically twiddling with his thumbs.
"I have to get out of here Sonic…He said in a pained voice. The blue hedgehog raised an eyebrow at him sceptically. "I've never; not, been able to use Chaos Control before." He looked around at the emerald sky above him. "It feels…unnatural."
"We'll be out of here soon enough." Sonic replied. "That is if this, Void, is any help." They both turned to look back at the strange, petite creature floating in the air.
"You don't trust him then?"
"Not as far as I can throw him."
"Then we agree on something. Whatever his motives are, he's a very good liar. Had me going for a moment too," A smile stiffened on the black and red Hedgehog's face."Or perhaps it's just the two of us have been through enough to afford outright paranoia." The two of them exchanged a friendly glance.
"I'll keep an eye on him." Sonic added. "If he tries anything, a spin attack will be the least of his worries."
"And I'll watch Eggman."
"And don't forget that Metal Knuckles either." To be truthful, given the strangeness of their situation, Shadow had nearly forgotten about the robotic Echidna, standing to attention beside his master. "That guy's more likely to sucker punch us than Void."
Flip Card 1:
Name: Radiant Emerald
Job description: A sub dimension that has served as Void's prison for over four decades.
(R&R)