(I do not own Sonic X…)
S.O.N.I.C GO!
S.O.N.I.C GO!
GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!
Episode 7: The Tribunal of Illumina
"This had better be good." Shadow snapped arriving at Void's orbiting crystallised device out of Chaos Control. The interior of the device reminded him very much of the layout of Radiant Emerald with columns of emerald like pillars stretching up towards a very high ceiling. Exactly what it did and what it was for were a complete mystery to Shadow. This was a strange form of technology that he was not familiar with. Void however seemed to understand it well enough.
"Good depends completely on your definition." Void replied flatly, hovering over a strange outcrop of claw like shards, controlling the device with his very willpower it seemed. His hands outstretched over the crystals, a pale green glow pulsating between them. "So far my plans are working perfectly. My enemy's army has been routed and my own forces are driving them back. Soon she will have no choice but to leave her home dimension to fight herself."
"That still doesn't explain why you wanted me here." Shadow stated impatiently tapping his fingers along his arm. Void managed a smile.
"Just one last thing needs to be taken care of, and then it becomes a waiting game." He hovered aside to reveal the centre of the device, a large pillar of pale white light that lanced from the floor to the ceiling. Several claw like arches ran around the outside edge of the floor all curved inwards. Floating directly in the centre of the light was a Chaos Emerald; glowing a pale grey light. "The Chaos Emerald can keep my device operating, but to unlock the energy I require I'll be needing it's power completely unleashed; I think a small Chaos Control should do it." Shadow scowled as him as walked forward, holding an arm out in front of himself as his own energy connected with the emerald. His entire hand glowed bright green for an instant and with a quick flash chaos energy erupted forth from the emerald and began lancing up the entire device to the high ceiling, quietly burning a pale grey.
"There done." Shadow muttered. "Favour returned." He added sharply with a side glance at Void before turning back the way he'd come.
"Not staying for the show?" The small creature asked with folded arms, a smug smile on his face.
"I already told you I couldn't care less who wins what." Void just sighed shaking his head.
"You might as well stick around and enjoy the performance. If my calculations are correct, she should be emerging in this dimension any minute…" He paused in mid sentence looking up towards the ceiling with piercing eyes. ."Now."
The light came like a second sun, burning brighter than any star as the porthole opened. The two of them looked up, watching the light through the near transparent walls of Void's device.
Shadow shielded his eyes with his hand, staring up at the light with curiosity.
"What is that?" He asked. Void rubbed his hands together.
"That's the signal for the show to begin." Shadow blinked and looked up again. The light was dying away now an the edges of a round hole in space itself could be see and emerging through that hole came a blurred shape. Then as time passed the shape became humanoid, then feminine with several pairs of angel likes wings sprouting out it's back. Then finally she emerged, ruler of Maginary World. Queen Illumina herself. Shadow's jaw dropped and he staggered backwards. Even Void's descriptions had not prepared him for anything quite like this.
Illumina was gigantic, even rivalling the Egg Carrier in size. Her eyes were a bright sea blue and sparked with a millions stars within. Her flawless skin was faint purple, line blue lines running down her arms and legs like tattoos. Her face was very much like Void's, rounded with no nose and large oval eyes. Her hair was a pale brown and lowed behind her like a private waterfall, all her wings gently folded behind her. The Angel's entire presence was engulfed in power the likes of which Shadow had never felt before. Only Nazo came close to rivalling the energy he could feel radiating away from this giant.
"I don't think you can defeat something like that." The black and red hedgehog commented turning back to Void.
"If things go according to plan I won't need to." Was the small creatures reply. Shadow raised en eyebrow questioningly. It was about then he realized that Void had told him very little to his actual plans. "Don't worry about it, I'll be fine. You have done all I require of you, the rest is up to me and me alone. Go, get to ARK. If things go wrong at least you won't be within firing range." Shadow hesitated, before nodding and disappearing in a faint green mist as Chaos Control took him away.
"What on earth is that?" Eggman demanded, jabbing a finger at the giant angel now directly in the centre of the battlefield. The Egg Carrier had pulled away from the fighting so it could attack from a distance and now his sensors were showing this latest introduction to the chaos encircling the colony.
"I don't know Doctor, the sensors register the power reading from it as off the scale." Becoe replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Best not get to close, I'll pull us away." Decoe added, his mechanical hands running over the controls.
"That's a negative." Eggman stated, narrowing his eyes. "Take us in closer. I want to know exactly what that is!" On his command the Egg Carrier's engines blared into life and the giant battleship began to fly closer, using it's sheer bulk to barge it's way through towards the Angel. Illumina herself however seen to have other ideas; her blue eyes began to glow bright blue before two beams of energy leapt forwards coursing through space to collide with devastating force against the side of the Egg Carrier, carving a large hole down the side of the ship. Molten fragments of metal blasted off the side.
"Woah momma!" Sonic and Knuckles exclaimed at the same time as they watched from the ARK as the Egg Carrier began falling towards the Earth, smoke leaking out into space as it descended, settling into a lower orbit around the planet.
"Ok, now this is just getting weird." Sonic commented, staring up at the giant angel above them. Her glow bathing the entire colony in a white light.
"That must be Illumina." Knuckles began in awe, his arms dropping to his sides.
"Illumin…who?" Sonic asked, but it was about then that his brain started working again and he remembered the name. Illumina was the angel Void had been fighting a civil war with in his home dimension. Tikal had not exactly described her in great detail.
At this display of power, the angels loyal to her escaped their fighting with the rebels and flew to gather around their mistress, feeling safe in her presence.
Shadow emerged out of Chaos Control directly on the top of the ARK. Now was the moment of truth for the. If Void's plan, whatever it was, worked then this madness could end right here and now.
"That's Illumina?" Tails began in utter disbelief. Lumina nodded; a worried look on her face. If her mistress had left Maginary world that could only mean one thing, that she intended to end this matter herself once and for all. Void may be a rebel, but he was still her friend -maybe more than that- and she didn't want to she him hurt, or worse.
"Get me a damage report!" Eggman screamed, desperately trying to regain control of the situation, wild sparks flying around the control room of the Egg Carrier. The red alert alarm blaring across the entire ship, half the decks sealed off as many of the ships robotic crew had been sucked out through the gaping hole in the side of one of their wings.
"Propulsion out, weapons out, life support at 50 percent and falling." Becoe replied, desperately trying to wrest control of the ship back from the chaos.
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It soon became obvious that taking the tank in further into the city would not be possible, not if they wanted to remain undiscovered. Ditching the vehicle in a back alley, Bean and Dynamite Duck, Bark the Polar Bear and Hare proceeded on foot to the high security area surrounding the tower they were here to demolish. Standing like a titan out of the Thames River was the towering metallic monstrosity that served as Eggman's four point's artillery. At the top of the tower were four cannons on each side of a cube, capable of firing large artillery shells in four directions at once. It was this defensive system that was keeping an invasion of the nation from being successful. It was their mission to take it out so the forces waiting in France could make a start.
Unfortunately, sneaking into the high security section looked near impossible. A large gate with a metal grating door stood directly in the middle of the street, two large Dreadnaughts standing to attention outside. From the shadows, Bark watched a truck approach the door. Two sets of light lanced out from the Dreadnaughts, highlighting the vehicle as it stopped and the driver handed a clip board with his creditable to a Badnik standing by. The android scanned the documentation, before gesturing to the larger robots, two shuffled to each side as the door swung open.
Briefly the idea of climbing over the roof tops passed through his mind, but that was quickly dismissed when he saw the large manned machine gun turrets standing on the roofs of either building on either side. Sneaking around the gate was out as well. They'd managed to erect a twenty floor tall with barbed wire running around the top. Any attempt to scale that wall would be disastrous.
"We were only here about a week ago." Hare began in a mixture of awe and disgust. "How did they get this city to change this much?" Bark put his fore finger and thumb to his chin.
"Remember the hole in the moon after the Eclipse Cannon? Eggman managed to patch it up in just over ten minutes. He must be used some form of nano-technolgy we haven't seen yet."
"Nano...?" Bean began with a raised eyebrow.
"Microscopic robots that all work together." Hare explained. "Working like a colony of ants, nano-bots can theoretically build anything in less then have the time it would take to do without them." Bean's questioning expression didn't change.
"Look, let's save the theories for later." Bark added; turning back as the large gate closed after the truck, the two robots standing back in their earlier positions. "Right now let's just concentrate on getting through that checkpoint."
"I could distract the guard with one of these." Bean suggesting, holding up on of his old fashioned round explosives with a large grin. Hare rolled his eyes.
"It amazes me how you keep coming up with new ways to get us killed." The duck looked puzzled.
"We don't want any explosives to go off until we reach the tower." Bark reminded him. "We start blowing things up left right and centre, we risk revealing to the entire city that we're here." Bean quickly stuffed the explosive back into his bag.
"The tank won't fit down the street." Hare commented, noting that the size of the road was a great dealer smaller than the others. That was partly the reason they left it to proceed on foot. "So I think we're just going to have to drive in there in another vehicle." Bark shook his head.
"That driver in the truck showed paperwork to that badnik, and we don't have the time or the means to acquire either the real thing or a copy."
"Alright fine, so how the hell do we get in then?"
"Give me a minute." Bark began sharply, tapping his foot as he ran several ideas through his head. It occurred to Hare that Bark had always been the brains of the Duck and Polar Bear duo. Bark was cautious and calculating while Bean was trigger happy and ever so slightly dense. Hare considered himself to be somewhere in the middle of the two.
"Sewers again?" The rabbit like mobian queried with a sigh. Bark looked around expecting to find some man hole cover by which to gain entry, only to find that the only one close had been completely sealed up. "Oh well so much for that." Suddenly there was a loud roaring sound and another jeep, obviously with some sort of engine trouble came around the corner towards the gate. Halfway there, it broke down with a loud puff of black smoke rising from the engine.
"God damn it, of all the times…" The driver cursed angrily, climbing out of the front and talking off his helmet as he lifted up the bonnet. "Get out the back and give me a hand Joe, the radiator packed up again." Another human in a black uniform climbed out the back, leaving his laser rifle behind.
"Thank you god." Bark said quietly, rubbing his hands together.
Getting around the vehicle without being see was not overly difficult and soon all three of them had scrambled into the back, finding several wooden crates marked with the Eggman Empire symbol which they could hide behind. "Oh this is too perfect." Bark remarked as they took up separate positions in the shadows.
"Bloody thing, when we get back to the garrison I'm going to have it scrapped." A voice stated, before 'Joe' climbed back in to a seat near the entrance, grumbling loudly to himself. With a few sudden jerks forward the truck began to go forward again, its engines hollering in reluctance.
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"This madness end here." The angels booming voice echoed across the reaches of space, silencing everyone who stood within her tremendous ear shot, the span of her giant wings rivalling the ARK itself in width. "Void's rebellion is over." Her angel roared a giant war cry, holding their weapons up high in salute. Void himself however had other ideas, this was the most crucial and perilous part of his plans and nothing should interfere.
Once everything at the device was ready, he left it's relative safety and ventured out into space, flying towards the giant Angel in the confines of the shield that protected him from the vacuum.
"You where my Friend Void, don't force me to fight you." Lumina Flowlight began forcefully as the small creature hovering Void's way, blocking his path with her silver staff. Her large blue eyes narrowed with defiance but a with a hint of reluctance far at the back.
"I'm not the one forcing you to fight." Was his flat reply. He could not allow even she to get in the way at this point. "I have no interest in hurting you or anyone else. My quarrel is with Illumina. It's her that puts you and the rest of her army in harms way." The defiance in her eyes lessened. "I promise you that if a non violent solution is available I will take. You and I are friends…maybe more." That put her off guard. Her determined face melted away to be replaced by shock and confusion, but to Void's delight, a faint blush on her cheeks. "And I suppose this comes down to this question. Do you trust me?"
She was silent, indecision plain on her face. Void didn't wait for an answer. He didn't have time for it. He simply shot past her and carried on towards Illumina.
"Illumina, I call you on charges of a Tribunal!" He shouted up to her in a piercing voice that seemed to radiate across most of the space all the way to the ARK. The giant angel heard it and turned, her massive blue eyes fixed in his general directions.
"Who demands of me?" She asked, her army around her growing silent within moments.
"I do." Void declared floating forward. "I demand a tribunal!"
"Void, you have stepped over the line now." Lumina told him sharply, flying up to his side. "Demanding a Tribunal of our mistress?" Void ignored her and carried only, floating up towards the giant angel's face, steadfast defiance set into his features. "I'm here." Void stated, floating forward. Illumina was many times bigger than he was and the light radiating from her body dwarfed him. The angel turned, his gaze locked only on him.
"You requested a tribunal, so here I am." She began, her wings spreading out, more rays of light lancing away from her. From earth she looked as bright as a second sun. Entire cities just stopped to stare in a mix of wonder and curiosity. Even Eggman, still trying to keep the Egg Carrier from crashing into the ARK could not help but stop and stare from his ship. Despite her beauty and ominous power, Void did not looked overly impressed.
"This time you won't be silencing me." He told her angrily. "Forty years you kept me inside Radiant Emerald just for speaking out against you, torturing me with a near impossible way out." Illumina remained perfectly still, her large blue eyes hardly even blinking. "What gives you the right to threat people like that?" Void demanded.
"You were a distraction." Was her eventual reply, her voice radiating all the way to ARK. All those on the colony could hear the conversation between them. But that was not of her own doing, the construct Void had built in orbit around the Earth was an amplifier, radiating their voices to all those present. "You were diverting my people from the light with your words."
"What, because I chose my own way instead of yours?" Void began again.
"The minds of all should be filled with light, unhindered by the influence of evil." She replied. Void hovered up to be level with her face, staring at her defiantly.
"And forever vacant of choice." He told her. "When people can not choose between good and evil they have no free will."
"If left up to people, they would always choose the hypnotising pull of darkness. Their willpower is not strong enough to resist it. They can not be trusted with their own souls." The entire army of angel she had brought to this dimension looked shock by her words; clearly this was something she had not shared with them. Lumina just stood there with a dumfound look on her face. They had all thought Illumina something close to a god, a compassionate being of mercy and compassion. And Void had just exposed her for what she really was. Just another being with flaws just like anyone else. Shadow watched from the top of the ARK with a wide smile on his face. It seemed like Void had just accomplished his mission.
"The light must be chosen, not forced upon." Void replied. "You, nor anyone else has the right to make that choice for them." He pointed a finger directly at her, declaring one that effort at defiance. "I say you are wrong Illumina."
"Then you shall be destroyed." Her eyes began to glow bright blue as she gathered energy preparing to fire a blast straight at him. Before she could do so however, Lumina darted forward and put herself between Void and Illumina, acting as a barrier.
"No, don't!" He began, visibly shaking as if even she could not believe her actions. Seeing her most loyal warrior step forward to protect Void, Illumina stopped her attack; mostly in shock than anything else. "Please don't mistress."
Sonic watched from the observation decks of the ARK, now more confused than anything else. Things were just out of control around here, so much for a simple hunting Eggman mission.
"You stand with this traitor Lumina?" The giant angel demanded, a definite hint frustration in her voice.
"No, but I can not let you destroy him." Was her unsteady reply. Void put a hand on her shoulder.
"Stay out of this Lumina, I undertook this campaign myself I accept the consequence." He could see tears wheeling up in Lumina's eyes. "If Illumina wants to destroy me, then she can do so; proving to all those present that her words are flawed and not to be trusted." Illumina's eyes widened as she suddenly realized what was going on. Void had been broadcasting their conversation to her entire army and even from here she could hear their subversive mutterings, the utter feeling of anger and betrayal that her own words had given them. She had fallen directly into Void's trap. She could see the smug smile on his face. He knew he had her exactly where he wanted her.
"Very well Void." Se began with more than a hint of an edge to her voice. "You believe you have me in your fingers, state your demands." Void was silent. In this moment, he could demand absolutely anything from her and she would have no choice but to deliver. She couldn't destroy him now. That would only prove him right and her forces would be rebellion before she would have time to blink. He had had exactly where he wanted her and with this trap, he could order her to give him the Maginary Imperial throne. He could have all the power and influence she had and he would be lying if he said that the prospect was less than tempting.
But he had not gone to all this trouble just to waste his one and only shot with petty ambition.
"All I want is for you to let people make the choice by themselves." He told her sharply. "The Light should remain a choice." Illumina set her eyes steely against him.
"Nothing else?" She asked after a moment. Void shook his head, a small smirk spreading over his face. She had been expecting him to be ever so slightly selfish and this had taken her off guard. "You put yourself through imprisonment in Radiant Emerald, ran the risk of loosing a civil war and put yourself in harms way before me just for that?" Void feigned a hurt look.
"What? You didn't think I was in this for power did you?" To his delight, Illumina actually looked stunned. For the first time in hours, Lumina Flowlight breathed a deep sigh of relief, before a stunned awkwardness took hold.
"You planned all this from the beginning?" She asked Void, she floated there with a proud smile and his arms behind his back. "Right from the first moment you rebelled."
"Of course I did." Was his flat reply. "I realized very quickly my strength was nothing compared to hers. If I wanted to beat Illumina, I would have to out smart her." She coughed, then looked up towards Illumina again. "Do I have your word, an oath taken before all those present that you will leave free will alone? Let sentience take its true course." The giant angel paused and looked out across the mixture of her army and Void's, all watching her with puzzled and confused expressions.
"Very well, you have my word." The small creature rubbed his hands together with relish.
"Alright, enough." Eggman sneered, his anger already plain on his face. The ends of each hair in his moustache curling in frustration and his fingers clenched around the arm rests of his metallic throne. "Is the cannon working?"
"Yes Doctor, it's one of the few systems still operational." Becoe replied, still desperately trying to restore control to the bridge.
"Give me control." Eggman demanded, flipping a few switches on his throne before a large periscope like device descended from the ceiling. Taking hold of it with both hands he put on eyes to the lens. Through this he could remotely control the ship's cannon tracking system and his target at this point was Illumina herself.
"Beginning energy built up." Decoe added as the two doors at the front of the Egg Carrier opened up again and the giant needle inside was exposed, red lightning already dancing angrily across its length. The engines at the back of the ship died down and their engines was channelled directly towards the front of the ship instead as the gauge in front of Eggman slowly rose from fifty to sixty percent.
Sonic watched from the colony as the Egg Carrier began the familiar procedures of firing its destructive main gun. He knew from long experience that anything caught in that would not survive and Illumina couldn't even see it. She was too busy with Void to even notice.
The Egg Carrier was out of range; even Chaos Control would not be able to carry him there so that first plan went straight out the window.
"I'll be right back." He told the others before he disappeared in a flash of green light. Warping across space with Chaos Control, he exited the warp on an asteroid orbiting the ARK as near to Illumina as he possibly could. Right now, she and Void were outside the colony's own thin atmosphere. Any further and he'd be exposed to the vacuum of space.
A pulsating red glow began to emerge within the Egg Carrier's cannon as it reached its final stages of preparation. Right now, Eggman was ready an eighty eight percent read out. Within five seconds the cannon would be ready to fire.
"Hey, you over there, incoming!" Sonic tried to shout over to them but he was too far away and Illumina's own voice drowned his out.
"Need a hand?" A voice beside him asked. Looking back, he saw Shadow emerge out of hisown Chaos Control. The black and Red Hedgehog had a rare smile on his face. Sonic nodded.
"Took you long enough to start being a good guy again." Sonic commented dryly. Shadow just shrugged.
"Never really stopped. Void isn't really all that evil. But can we save this discussion for another time?" One Chaos Control warp was a powerful thing, but two used at exactly the same time in exactly the same place was over ten times stronger. But the aim of this warp was not translocation like the others were often used for. This one was a bright white instead of the usual green. The light from this burned so bright that it even got Illumina's attention. Looking back, she saw the asteroid break apart and burn like a second sun was Nazo.
Flip card 1:
Name: Nazo
Sex: Male
Species: Hedgehog
Description: The merged form of Sonic and Shadow.