Chapter 23 – The Flesh is Weak.
A/N: This chapter introduces two new characters; they'll become important in future fics. It also explains how my theory of the Dark Legion and what Dimitri's actual goals are – let me know if they're believable or not. A few words as always:
Gradius the Phoenix (GTP from now on :-)) – Yep, I've got more loose screws than a scrap yard, but Dimitri? – hopefully as this chapter will explain, he's not quite as mad as you think he is; read on and let me know if you think I've made his methods believable.
HHH – Yay, a real fan; hopefully this'll cool your spurs for a few more days while I write up the next chapter. Getting near the end now; hope to see you around in the future fics :-).
TH – Words fail even me sometimes… (Athair says you're welcome by the way!)
"The echidnas of ancient times worshipped it for a while, offering prayers and small bundles of fruit to ensure the Master would never fail, never bring their peaceful haven to rest in the ocean beneath them, for they feared what they would find there", Spectre spoke solemnly, head bowed as he sensed the mixed emotions of his sons, Knuckles included. As he had expected, the current guardian was incredulous and not a little angry; from his point of view, his family had been keeping yet more secrets from him. Well Knuckles, this is the last time this will happen; Spectre swore a binding vow in that instant, the emotions of loss, grief and heartbreak heavy on the air, and knowing it was all the fault of the guardians trying to preserve their history; the legends must be made plain – these here will aid us as they have recently and…
"Hey", the voice broke in on him unkindly, Shadow glaring at him harshly, arms folded in a picture of barely concealed distaste and anger, "get on with it; a history lecture won't help Amy".
"Apologies, lost in thought", the black echidna said quickly before deciding to scrimp on the details to save time, "well, our civilisation advanced quickly, though why is a topic of much historical debate. Some think the Master was involved, others that echidnas simply learn and innovate better than most other races, but either way, the time came when, all other technology exhausted, the only object of study left was the Master Emerald itself".
For a second there was silence; it seemed than none of the guests or his seventh-son could even conceive the idea of someone experimenting with something that powerful, just for something to do.
"So these guys, what they just stuck a couple of electrodes into it and saw what happened?" Vector blustered, jaw hanging open as the seeming idiocy of these ancient Mobians stuck out like a sore thumb.
"No, of course not", Locke broke in, having just returned with a thin roll of parchment, nearly brown with age, tucked reverently under one arm, "the experimentation was done under the strictest control, by the finest minds of the time; no-one could predict the consequences would be so dire".
"My sixth-son is correct", Spectre said quickly, smoothing over the hook Locke had left to snag the others, silencing the mechanic with a dangerous glance before continuing, "the finest minds of the time were chosen to examine this, the heart of Angel Island. The two who were selected were brothers, a pair as close as it was possible to be; the eldest was called Edmund, the younger was Dimitri".
XXX
With the recent emotional trauma and physical pain, Amy simply shut down; her mind retreated into a blank, protective numbness that blocked all emotional input into the situation; she saw and heard everything she was shown and told, and indeed memorised large portions of it, but there was no involvement at any level. She was simply a databank, a faceless computer that trailed in Dimitri's wake simply because there was no reason not to – she couldn't find her way out of this place on her own, so tagging along with him seemed to be the safest option.
XXX
"Follow me"; with that and ensuring the Bloodstone was powering the lighting sufficiently, the echidna span on his heel and slowly led her out of the room they were currently stood in, checking over his shoulder to check she was on his trail. She has been hurt by my actions; Dimitri felt ashamed about his manipulations of her and the pain he'd put her through, but this was a case where the ends had to justify the means; by the suffering of one, he could save thousands of others from death, and that was what mattered. Even so, as he walked, he muttered an almost silent prayer under his breath that, in time, she would heal her sore wounds; that his machinations hadn't destroyed the sweet girl he had seen and grown fond of during his parasitic possession.
Pinpointing his direction, he decided that the best thing to do was to resuscitate the rest of his family; maybe seeing some more faces would bring Amy out of the shell she'd cocooned herself within? That decided, Dimitri strode through the deserted base, going around the long way to avoid the central chamber, until he came into a small room, made unique by the presence of the two twin capsules that lined the back wall.
"My apologies for the dust", Dimitri commented as he brushed the cobwebs off the ancient control panel in front of him with his armoured gauntlet, "I'll have to have a word with the cleaning lady". Her eyes moved; with barely concealed relief, he saw the brief flicker of movement in the reflection of the second capsule; she's not completely gone – if I handle this well and these two behave themselves, I can help heal the harm I caused. A weight removed from his shoulders, he returned to his task; with a flare of energy from his greatest triumph, he pressed his hand to the console and heard the ancient gears hum in response, soaking up the emerald energy like water in a desert. A innovative invention these capsules; he thought to himself, remembering sealing his grandchildren away to await his victory or defeat; they opened to a surge of energy, such as I am providing now, or a wave that would have been released when the Bloodstone was destroyed. He smiled despite himself – he had insured that, regardless of the outcome of his final battle, some of his flesh and blood would remain to carry on his work.
"Amy, come up here a moment", obediently, the pink hedgehog stood next to him, face still blank and emotions repressed behind an iron-barred gate; a typical response to shock – the brain is remarkably adept at shutting out information too unpleasant for it to consider at the current moment; he shook himself as the power expended was sufficient; with a hiss, both capsules began to open, dry smoke whispering out the open cracks as Dimitri gently moved closer to the pink hedgehog, speaking honestly as joy filled him,
"Amy, you have made this possible; for the first time in eons, I have my family back". The last of the smoke was dispersed and, with a pair of groans and clicks of dormant muscles being forced to move, two figures emerged into the light.
XXX
Spectre bowed his head as he came to one of the crunch areas of his recitation; this was going to be hard on all of them, least of all Knuckles. Once more he reassured himself of his promise and then gathered all his remaining courage to speak,
"Their studies were many and intense, lasting many years; each time, the two scientists would compare notes, argue theories and put forwards new studies to a select committee of peers, who would grant or refuse permission to the study".
"Sounds sensible", Tails spoke, though he was well acquainted with this type of talk and, more importantly, what it normally preceded, "so what went wrong?"
"Nothing", Spectre replied instinctively; he caught himself and tried to squirm out of the situation he'd landed himself in, "well, at least not at first", the increase in tension was dramatic, he was surprised the walls weren't starting to buckle under the strain of expectation, "it was their greatest triumph; after years of painstaking trials, sensitive, minute experiments and millions in research money, they unveiled the culmination of their work to the committee they worked for".
"It was a machine", Thunderhawk realised the effort of talking for so long was taking its toll on his father and took over, allowing him to rest a while, "Edmund and his brother had discovered that, on paper at least, they could draw off a part of the power of the Master into another source".
"They what?" Knuckles exploded, looking horrified that anyone, even another echidna, would dare tamper with the Master Emerald in this crude fashion. His lavender sixth-father waved him down, talking urgently as he tried to explain,
"I know, it sounds incredible and foolish now, but at the time it was groundbreaking research. But anyway, the machine was built according to their specifics and eventually ready for action; and before anyone asks, it worked".
"It worked?" Shadow parroted, agog at this news; Spectre, now having recovered his breath, spoke once more,
"Flawlessly by all accounts; the machine was able to draw off tiny silvers of the Master's true power and condense it, into a new form that could be manipulated independently of the parent", the black echidna gave a wan smile as he filled in the first of many unpleasant truths; strange; he mused as he prepared; this isn't quite as difficult as I predicted it would be; "you've already come across these silvers of power; they were named after an ancient joke – apparently Edmund remarked that the Master stood for order, so these other, lesser jewels must stand for the opposite". For a second, infinite and timeless all at once, there was nothing, until a feminine voice, gasping with disbelief and unconcealed awe, spoke out loud the thoughts of all,
"You mean to tell me", Rouge began, mind flooded with images of the seven bright jewels and all the strife they had caused the world, "that these two echidnas, created the Chaos Emeralds?"
"Yes".
XXX
I see two more echidnas; Amy uncaring observed as the new pair of Mobians emerged from their seeming hibernation, her emotions still deadened to the circumstances as the first voices filtered through the air,
"Oww, I'm stiff as Kragok's bed sheets".
"Tidings of love and good cheer to you to Kommissar", the other answered, twisting his neck to emit an unpleasantly loud crunch, "ahh, I hate suspended animation". Dimitri slowly brought a hand to his face and covered his drifting eyes, a light blush diffusing through the skin of his cheeks as he stooped closer to Amy's ear,
"Remind me again; at what point did I think this was a good idea?" There was another flicker of her eyes, as well as tiny twitch of her lips that he took as a sign of improvement; straightening up and remembering that prolonged periods in the type of atmosphere his grandchildren had been preserved in resulted in temporary blindness upon release, he clapped his hands and addressed them as they swung their heads to follow the sound,
"You two, straighten yourselves up, we have company". The reactions were different, Amy decided through the clarity of unfettered logic as she recorded her first impressions of what she were sure were Dimitri's aforementioned great grandchildren.
The first was an echidna female; she had light, almost sky blue eyes, a classically sculpted face and a body that would have reduced most men to gibbering, drooling idiots, even if her hair was untidy at the present moment. She also dressed to compliment the benefits nature had given her; her top was leather, short and both high and low cut, exposing the top half of her figure as much as was possible, while her legs were hugged tightly by thin leather trousers. There was some kind of handgun dangling at the left of her waist belt, and a whip at the right. However, some of her spines were laced with metal and, Amy cocked her head for a slightly different perspective, one or two looked like they'd been completely replaced with metallic counterparts. She didn't have too long to dwell on this though; as Dimitri's voice drifted over, her hands shot up to her cover her mouth in what Amy decided was a mixture of shock and relief as her still-unseeing eyes widened extraordinarily,
"Great-grandfather, by the, is it really you?"
The other capsule disgorged a rather more interesting specimen for her examination; he was slightly shorter than the female, stouter as well. His fur was a slightly lighter shade than Knuckles' and he lacked spurs. But then again; the pink hedgehog mused soundlessly; he's only got one hand, and one eye for that matter. This was certainly true; his left eye was missing, but in its place was something made of metal that must have fitted into the empty socket left by the missing biological organ. Similarly, though rather more disconcertingly, the male echidna's left arm ended at the elbow; where the forearm should have been there was something else entirely. Something mechanical. Something…disturbing.
It was a rod that connected to the elbow joint and must have followed the course of a forearm; it gleamed dully in the dim light. This rod was tipped with what Amy could only accurately describe as a claw; three separate hooked projections flexed like fingers, the tips seemingly blunted, though the pink hedgehog was under no illusion that, should this strange cyborg will it, anything caught in the grip of his claw could very easily be crushed like a grape. His reaction was remarkably different to the female's; the metal on his face suddenly winked into life and a narrow bar of thin red light sliced out of it and settled on the source of the greeting; Amy tilted her head back to see the beam play over Dimitri's face before it shut off and the echidna bowed stiffly from the waist,
"Grandmaster Dimitri; an honour to see you once more".
"Lord Kragok", Dimitri returned the pleasantry with a curt nod before fixing his gaze on the female, "Lady Kommissar; yes it is truly me who has released you – our plans have not quite gone perfectly, but the situation is good. I have the Bloodstone and the guardians are in disarray".
"Then we should press our advantage", Amy heard the younger male, Kragok, speak up, the red beam from his cybernetic eye sweeping the room erratically as his excitement at the news became very apparent, "sweep them aside while we have the chance; soon all Echidnopolis will learn the true ethos of our teachings", it was at this point the red slit passed over Amy; the pink hedgehog had a fleeting notion of being passed under a bar scanner before the roving of the mechanic eye ceased and suddenly swept back, locking onto her, the bale red light reflecting off her unblinking eyes as his voice rose in consternation,
"What; who are you?"
"Who?" Kommissar cut in, her sight not yet returned as Dimitri took a pace forwards, standing just behind Amy; he resisted the urge to place a protective hand on her shoulder on the grounds she might take the wrong end of the stick,
"She is the reason we will not be making any sudden movements", he said sternly, his insouciant pupils tracked by Kragok's steady red laser, "this is Amy Rose; she is an…acquaintance and she's just had a terrible shock. We will attend her and reveal the nature of our divine mission to dispel some of her inherent confusion and try to lessen the impact of her ordeal". There was a snort as Kommissar crossed her arms petulantly,
"We can also wait for my sight to come back – I'd like to be able to see something more than a big patch of white". Amy turned her head as a second, more contemptuous snort filled the air as Kragok snapped his artificial eye on her face,
"Your continued reliance on organics baffles me; as proven by the formation of the legion itself, the true route of salvation is there to be embraced, with those who have the courage to do so".
"I am not afraid Kragok", she barked back hotly before tucking her spines, metal and organic, behind her ears as she tried to straighten some of them to look more presentable, "it's just my eyes are my best feature".
"They're certainly better than your mouth, or your mind for that matter" he replied acidly; as she scowled and made to reply to the taunt, Amy heard a sigh; glancing back to obtain more information, she saw Dimitri flick his eyes down to his wrist as though checking the time,
"Less than two minutes, a new record even for them", he waved his arm at the two squabbling echidnas who were far too wrapped up in their quarrel to pay him any attention, "this is my family Amy".
XXX
"So the Chaos Emeralds, they're synthetic, all of them?"
"Right you are Tails", Locke answered his new partner, leaning the rolled up scroll carefully against a wall to his right as he both answered and continued the story, "the first Chaos Emerald was distilled from the Master, and with its creation, and further manipulations of this new and almost limitless power source, the echidna society bloomed like never before".
"I can imagine", Espio pictured the scene in his trained mind, "that power, made available and for free; it must have been a great triumph, and a great temptation", he finished pointedly; to his well-concealed surprised, Sabre let out a bitter laugh, still recriminating with himself about his role in letting the child of thorns slip through the fingers of the Brotherhood and awaken the slumbering doom,
"Temptation; temptation for whom – who would have stolen it? Once the technique had been perfected and refined, the newly-christened Chaos Siphon was put into full production status – no-one recorded how many Chaos Emeralds were created, but it was more, far more, than the seven that now remain".
Once more the shocked silence descended; that the Chaos Emeralds, with the power to save or damn the world forever, had been created by Mobians was fantastic enough, but to know there had been more, who knew how many more, at some stage, was truly frightening. The Brotherhood joined in the silence, allowing those who had experienced the dreaded jewels as long as they needed to accept this shattering news; in the end, it was the only one in the party who was ignorant to the true strength of the emeralds who breached the silence,
"So", Cream began; she blurted out the rest of her sentence before her nerve failed her completely, "so what happened next?"
"Nothing, not for many years at least", Spectre replied, gathering more momentum as the others began to listen again, "it was a golden age of expansion and advancement; the echidnas of the island rapidly evolved an discovered new technologies, the most important of them being the Silver Sea dam and Echidnopolis itself. However, it was not to last", Spectre sighed heavily; often he had walked the trodden road of history in his mind, seeing the glories of his people and the marvels they created; a fate they did not deserve to be lost as they were; he shook himself before continuing his woeful missive, "During their monitoring of the Master, Edmund and Dimitri were concerned to discover that the drain placed on the Master by the extraction of the Chaos Emeralds was being detected by the instruments they were using to examine it. This worried not only the scientists, but the members of the council as well; there was a certain doom-mongering that led some very influential people to assume the island was about fall into the ocean and drown. The response was immediate and swift; there was a mass public outcry to restore what had been taken and stabilise the Master – after all, the Chaos Emeralds weren't really needed any more. There were other sources of energy now, water-based fission, hydroelectricity from the dam, so there would be no loss on the whole. But, as events unfolded, giving back was much more difficult that taking away; the Chaos Siphon the brothers had created didn't transfer energy from the Chaos Emeralds to the Master very well; it was a very slow process and took a long time".
"So what was the problem – they would have got rid of the emeralds eventually right? Knuckles spread his paws out in confusion; he couldn't see anything wrong with the scenario as it was – it was Vector who saw the tangling of the threads,
"Wait, Spectre; you said there was a public outcry about what was goin' on?"
"Yes, there was…"
"Then that's your problem red", the crocodile turned to the guardian, a tight, toothy smile making his leather lips taut, "the public; when they've got their blood up about something, they expect results yesterday. It's like us three workin' a case; the clients don't care about difficulties or the need to do a proper, thorough investigation; they want an answer and they want it now, no excuses. My guess is that the two boffins had a weight pressed on them by everyone going and it caused them to get a bit reckless, am I right?" He's got sharp wits, whatever else you might say about him; Spectre mentally congratulated the crocodile's ability to see the straight line in the spider's web and nodded,
"That's right; due to pressure and public concerns about the Master, and the potential consequences about what could happen if it failed, Edmund and Dimitri were put under more and more pressure to work faster and harder, to disperse all the Chaos Emeralds they'd created. It took a toll on them; late nights, quarrels and possible addictions to unpleasant chemicals, and eventually caused them to get a bit reckless, as you put it Vector. And when that happened", the black echidna favoured Tails with a basilisk glare that broke the kit out in a cold sweat, "something went very wrong indeed".
XXX
Eventually, once Kommissar had eventually proven her sight had returned by counting how many fingers Kragok had raised (though he had tried to argue she'd got it wrong by pointing out he was using his claw rather than a hand; Dimitri had quashed that argument by a slap to the back of the head, eliciting another almost-smile from Amy), the four Mobians had adjourned to what had at one time been a kitchen or a mess-type area. Dispatching his grandchildren to see what food and drink was available, the eldest echidna slumped down in a chair opposite Amy and sighed,
"It's good to be back".
"Back where?" He started at the voice; it was completely flat, colourless and absolutely devoid of any hint of emotion, but it had definitely been Amy speaking. Thank the spirits – she recovers at once – such fortitude and force of will; after taking a silent second to marvel at the resilience of his former host, Dimitri answered,
"This is, something of a meeting place for me and my followers, though before I say too much, I will have to tell you a little story first". Amy rolled her head around to regard him squarely in the face and curled her lip,
"I'm not in the mood for fantasy at the minute".
"Good, because the story I shall tell you is true, every word of it", Amy heard the footsteps long before they arrived; pulling out chairs to flank both her and their great grandfather, Kragok and Kommissar sat down, steaming mugs of something held in their hands; they passed on to Dimitri, though Amy decline with a raised hand. Dimitri took a swig of the steaming, dark liquid and choked a little,
"Needs a little more sugar, but that is unimportant", he returned his eyes as much as was possible to Amy and his face grew serious, "what is important is that you understand the truth, I owe you that much at least. It began with the Master Emerald, and my work upon it; together with my brother, I laboured on the study of the great green stone; we did great things, he and I. With the aid of our creation, the Chaos Siphon, we managed to control the Master, make it obey our will rather than the other way around. The little ones were created from the Master, the jewels that were to be known as Chaos emeralds, crafted by my hands". So this echidna, he claims to have created the Chaos emeralds; Amy felt a little interest stir at this news – she guessed the Brotherhood would be very interested to know this information as Dimitri continued,
"Yes, the little ones helped us all; they made our civilisation great, yet there was one obstacle that could never be overcome, not even by the Chaos Emeralds, maybe not even by the Master, though it prolonged the onset. It claimed my, our, mother, and our grief was great; I resolved to find a way to defeat this monster, but my direction was pulled in other directions", a sneer of disdain twisted the venerable echidna's lips as he spat the next words, "they wanted me to return my little ones to the Master; they wanted myself and Edmund to sacrifice our creations for the supposed good of all – how blinkered they were to suggest such a thing, and what fools were we to agree to it. Still, the decision was made, however much it hurt us; the Chaos Emeralds were loaded back into the machine that had birthed them, but then destiny called, and my final desire was granted".
XXX
"No accurate recording exists to describe what actually happened; what we have ranges from a mighty bolt of lightning to a bright flash and a crack like a gunshot, followed by a slowly expanding green ball that collapsed in itself", Locke said the words with grim finality; despite trawling the records there had been nothing at all from that period, though he could well understand why – it wasn't exactly a good period of guardian history, "but the root of the matter was that, for some unknown reason, the Chaos Siphon malfunctioned; when the rescue teams arrived, they found Edmund lying comatose on the floor, with the Master on its side almost next to him in the wreckage. He was glowing a green colour, though, according to the few recorded transcripts we have that survived, the glow faded with time. There was no sign of either Dimitri or the remaining Chaos Emeralds".
"So what happened to him; was he killed?"
"Sadly not", Sojourner cut in bitterly, shaking his head as the memories of the past few hours came back to him clearly, "but at the time nothing was known; Edmund was taken as the only survivor and Dimitri mourned as dead. However, once he recovered consciousness, it became clear that whatever had happened with the Chaos Siphon had, quite literally, left a mark on both Edmund's body and his mind", he suddenly rounded on his fifth-son, pointing him out with a finger, face dark and sorrowful, "he grew stronger and aged much less quickly than other echidnas; my apologies for this Knuckles; I wish it could be private, but you and your friends must know now together". Uncomfortable prickles needled the guardians mind; fighting down the apprehension in his voice, he asked the fatal question,
"I must know what?" Locke took a step forwards, popping off the buttons on his lab coat as he moved, letting it fall open and revealing his chest,
"The mark that was made on Edmund, is the same that all his descendents bear; the crest of our ancestry", before the realisation could fully dawn, the father of the current guardian finished, "the mark of the guardians".
XXX
"Oh, it was glorious", Dimitri's face was dreaming, reliving the sweetest memory of his past as Amy watched on, a sliver of interest now possibly apparent on her face, "the power of the little ones, redirected into me through the power of the siphon; such things I saw, such secrets were revealed. My one true desire was revealed, the secret I needed to know more than any other was made plain to me and…"
"What's that?" Kommissar broke in suddenly; she'd heard this story so often in the past it failed to hold her interest, so her eyes had taken to wandering and, like a magpie, had been drawn to the nearest flash of gold; Amy turned her head to regard the female echidna with flinty eyes,
"It's called a piercing; it's fashionable, something I doubt you've ever been". Despite the recent coolness of her heart, the hedgehog was able to soak up a modicum of enjoyment at the way the echidna's nostrils flared and her cheeks coloured in anger.
"Now look here you…"
"No Lien, you look", Dimitri snarled at the interruption, forcing his great granddaughter back into her seat with a touch of his newly rediscovered powers, "she is my guest, here at my invitation, and, as my position within the legion is much stronger than yours, you will be civil to her, is that understood?" He gently twisted the spines held in his telekinetic grip until Kragok, noticing tears starting to form in his comrades eyes, stepped in to pour oil over the troubled waters,
"Forgive me grandfather, but I must confess the implant had attracted my curiosity; you know how Lien lacks the ability to keep her thoughts confined to her head, it was only natural she speak first". There was a very pregnant pause, until with a gasp Kommissar was released from the hold with a stinging rebuke,
"Be grateful to your brother Lien-Da; at least one of you inherited a measure of common sense". There was anger and shame in her return gaze, though this time she wisely held her tongue and merely nodded, dropping her gaze the second Dimitri looked away.
"Your sister?" Amy inquired non-commitally, jerking her head towards the shamed Kommissar as Dimitri nodded, sighing his impatience at his granddaughter's seeming immaturity; I'll increase her training at the next opportunity – for a lady of twenty she shows precious few signs of development – I think it must all have gone to her brother.
"Twins, though you'd never believe it looking at them".
"I see" was the answer he received before Amy nodded in his direction; there's life in her eyes now – she heals so fast…, "please continue".
"Of course; as I said, the siphon directed the energy released from the little ones into me, and the barriers were broken; for an instant, I saw how I could save everyone and conquer the final foe. All I needed was a little time to plan my strategy; some of the little ones were untouched by the siphon, and I gathered them to me. Their power allowed me to retreat to a place of sanctuary, and from there I began to plot the downfall of my greatest, final enemy".
"You mention him often", Amy commented, fixing the ancient echidna with a stern glare as she continued, perhaps, just perhaps, a hint of renewed fire just beginning to heat up in her belly once more as the relative normality of the conversation filtered through to her recently tormented mind, "who is he, and what reason do you have to hate him?"
The response was delayed for a few seconds, as though Dimitri couldn't quite take in what had just been said,
"My enemy, no, not mine, not mine at all", there were a few choked splutters as the ancient one spoke, eventually the laughter became too much and his laughter burst out loud, echoing throughout the hall, his voice joined by Kragok's as the joke seemed to break through to him as well; Amy, who was too confused and uncaring to join in, and Kommissar, who was too embarrassed to find anything funny, held their peace until the others could eventually regain control of themselves,
"Who, what does everyone fear?" Dimitri managed to stutter as the hysterics subsided, "what is the great eventuality for us all; if you need a reason for my loathing, he took my mother from me. Who is the one who comes in the end, when the world darkens, the breath stops and the heart is forever stilled?" Amy knew the answer and it chilled even her frozen heart; he cannot be correct, nothing can stop, it can't be true…
"Death".
"Precisely", Dimitri favoured the wall behind her with a wintry smile, as though daring a hidden horror to strike him down in response to his bold threat, "the powers of the little Chaos Emeralds let me see the way to wedge the jaws of death open forever".
XXX
The light in front of him swayed dangerously; he felt all at once detracted from his body and crushed to the spot, helpless and unable to escape the connect his blood had forged with the past. He was buoyed up by someone as his dry, shocked lips formed words he barely though about before speaking,
"My ancestors… the Chaos Emeralds?"
"Yes Knuckles, it's true", Locke spoke to his son, placing a hand on his shoulder as Charmy and Rouge both supported him, "we are the direct descendents of Edmund, the first guardian; to us has passed his duty and his burden – to guard the Master and protect it from harm. However it's not important under these circumstances; what is important is who he guarded the Master against".
"Who?" An expectant throng of voices chorused; the woeful ballard had gone on too long to be left unconcluded; mustering his last efforts, Spectre filed in the final pieces of the puzzle.
"Dimitri", waiting for the attention to shift back to him, the eldest guardian screwed up his face and exercised the cancer in his family history, "he didn't die when the Chaos Siphon exploded, but he was changed by it. There are theories as to how, but Edmund believed that exposure to such much raw Chaos energy had unhinged his prodigious mind even as it enhanced his natural powers, much as it had Edmunds. He hid for many years in the wilderness, but he eventually returned to seek out Edmund and speak of the things he claimed the Chaos Emeralds had shown him", Spectre remembered his meditations on this text and shuddered at the deep anger and hurt that resonated through the text, "when he returned, the younger brother spoke of a way to cheat death, to live forever; Edmund listened, and what he heard sickened him to his very soul – Dimitri would wilfully give up everything that made him Mobian to achieve nightmarish immortality in a metal shell".
XXX
"You have a way to conquer death?" Amy looked over at her host with a deadpan expression that somehow conveyed the barest hint of sceptism; how many have not believed me in the past? Why do these others not see the way to defeat the inevitable?
"Yes, the path was set before me; I had only to follow it. I began spreading my teachings to the others who would listen and of course, like yourself, there were those who did not believe", for a split-second Amy fancied she could see a hint of wolfish ire rise up in Dimitri's eyes as he grated, "much to my regret and annoyance, one of these was my brother himself – he rejected me, turned me aside and tried to convince me I was sick, that the enlightenment was truly just a mistake. Pah", the echidna slammed a spurred paw onto the table in front of him, making the cups jump, "how can the truth be lies? I know the way to save everyone from death, and I would, will, save them; when they feel the passing of years cease, they will turn to me in blissful gratitude. There has been and will be toil and strife to achieve this goal, there always will be". Amy felt scientific interest pique as he mentioned this potential trouble; from what he's saying, it appears many people resisted his efforts to force them to adhere to these ideas.
"Who fought you?"
"Who else?" Dimitri answered with a snarl, "my fool of a brother, Edmund; he declared me a false prophet, that death was a part of life and could not be destroyed. Idiot; in that instant I lost my respect for him – death is evil, it causes such loss and devastation, it can and must be fought, slain forever. So we quarrelled and fought; as I tried to save the other echidnas, so he threw them uncaringly to the jaws of death. Curse him to hell; may he resent the death he suffered in time forever".
"Why did he fight you; that must be my next question", Amy spoke carefully, realising that, now his gratitude for her releasing him seemed all but spent, she was still in danger and needed to avoid him getting angry for fear he may turn that rage to her, "how did you propose to save everyone?" To her surprise, rather than answer her directly, Dimitri waved a vague hand at Kragok; the younger echidna straightened instantly and once more Amy felt herself under the unremitting glare of that dread eye. Taking a second to see her reaction to his unsettling gaze and feeling mildly cheated when all she did was blink at the sudden light, Kragok spoke the words he had been indoctrinated with almost from birth,
"The flesh is weak, but the spirit is eternal; therefore the answer is simple", he grinned nastily as Amy felt the cold grip of fear once more; she could not have called herself mortal if she hadn't reacted to the dread implications veiled by his words; implications he made plain with his next, last statement, "the flesh must be cut out, replaced with something stronger; thus the spirit will endure until the end of time", the digits on his claw flexed as he withdrew it from under his cloak, the metal unblemished in the light as he finished, "steel endures; we shall emerge in new bodies, forged of steel and these shall blunt the scythe of the Grim Reaper himself".
XXX
"So, Dimitri proposed", Shadow spoke the words thickly, simultaneously nauseated and fascinated by what had been said, "that, in order to prevent death, he would, somehow replace the flesh, with metal implants?"
"That's what is written in our old records, but we can't be perfectly sure", Sojourner agreed, "but, if these writings are to be believed, there was a price to pay for this artificial immortality. Basically Dimitri was right; it is possible to live forever if you replace everything with a metallic prosthetic, but", he said the last word with heavy emphasis, taking time to make sure his point stuck, "though Dimitri was skilled in making these replacements, there was one thing he could never replicate, not even with his newly enhanced Chaos powers". At this point, Athair rose up above the throng, his normally eternally cheerful voice now cast into the pits of mourning as it rose like a banshee's wail.
"Our great-uncle could never duplicate the emotions of a functioning mind; the intricacies of love, joy, hatred and fear were lost forever. Though he tried to preserve them in his creations, he never managed to; they were replaced with computers and microchips. With each new metal bit, another part of the echidna's love died; some of the first echidnas to embrace his teachings were little more than sentient computer; innovation and imagination replaced with logic patterns and artificial technical battle plans. Dimitri swapped one death for another; the swift ceasing of life for eternal entombment within a robotic shell", tears dripped to the floor as the soft-hearted echidna was overcome for the moment, unable to continue. Everyone was consumed with their own point of view, aptly, if unwittingly, summed up by Charmy as the bee shook his head in revulsion,
"I think I'd rather just turn up my toes when the time came; compared to that, death's a mercy".
"But let me guess", Espio continued, his swift analysis of the Brotherhood's reactions allowing him to guess what had happened next, "Dimitri didn't see it that way?"
"He did not; he swore that he would save us all, and he was not alone in this; there were some in Echidnopolis who would listen and take up his offer. With him as their leader, these technocrats left the city and set up their own base of operations, somewhere in the mountains. Dimitri used his chaos powers to ensure this place was never discovered, he blanked the minds of those who found it and let them leave; he never killed if he could help it, such was his abhorrence of death. From here, with the aid of his 'Dark Legion', as those who followed him came to be known, he tried to wrest control of Echidnopolis and commit all within it to an eternity of mechanical perfection".
"Sounds like a right fruitcake", Cream couldn't make sense of this; trying to stop death by something even more horrid, "he wanted to turn everyone into robots to save them from dying?"
"Sadly this was so, and he would have succeeded, save for one thing; Edmund".
"He could stand against the Dark Legion?" Rouge asked, a slight light of hope beginning to flicker in her heart as she envisioned a hero of old holding back the tide of darkness.
"Not alone, but after the council of Echidnopolis realised the motives of the legion and the threat it posed, they unanimously agreed on the formation of the EST, a force designed to resist the legion. So began a game of cat and mouse that was to last for years, generations; waged in every possible field, the families of Edmund and Dimitri waged war on each other, struggling for the very souls of the Angel Island. For most of the time, at least in physical combat, Edmund had a crucial advantage; the Master Emerald itself".
Tails though hard about this statement before snapping his fingers, realising the trump card the first guardian must have held,
"Of course, Dimitri only had the Chaos Emeralds; we all know that they're not as strong as the Master, and now we know why – they're actually all part of it and so weaker alone. If Edmund had the Master Emerald, Dimitri couldn't have hoped to beat him alone with the Chaos Emeralds". Locke let out a slight chuckle at the foxboy's grasp of the situation before turning serious again,
"Quite so; for a long time, Dimitri was held in check by the power of the Master and those blessed with its gifts. It appeared that Edmund's powers were vertically transmitted; his sons and daughters were blessed with the same gifts he was; thus the guardian powers were begun. Edmund was titled guardian by the council for his actions to protect the city, and Haven was built to house the families of the guardians; Edmund ensured it remained secret by removing the location of the base from those who constructed it. Yet, for all this, he knew it was not enough; his unique gift, the first recorded, was that of prophesy, and the knowledge of what was to come frightened him, but he knew he could do nothing to prevent it". Face shrouded by the shadows cast by his robe, Spectre bowed his head, reliving the struggles of his ancestor as he had when his writings had filtered through his mind,
"He knew Dimitri had found a way to rebuilt the Chaos Siphon; Edmund guessed his intention and had his son shield what he thought the target would be with his own unique powers; the shrine of the Master was consecrated with the glyphs of protection you are all immune to. Dimitri was still susceptible to these glyphs, but that did not matter, for Edmund had been mistaken", there was a collection of gasps as the tale reached its end; the black echidna had them all on the hook by now, "Dimitri didn't want to use the Siphon on the Master; he turned its power on his own energy, his own flesh. By sacrificing some of his own absorbed energy and maybe part of his own life as well, he created his ultimate weapon, with power to rival the Master Emerald itself. It was a great red ruby, something more than a mere Chaos Emerald, forged from Dimitri's own body and flesh, and he christened it the Bloodstone".
XXX
Amy felt her mind blank once more at the sheer horror of what she'd done; all those echidnas, all innocent, all at the mercy of this monster and his warped devotion to this creed of robotics. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes as the full impact crashed down on her, and once more all she could do was think of herself,
"So, so what will you do with me? Are you going to…"
"Of course not", Kommissar snapped at her bad-temperedly, though thankfully she managed to salvage the situation before Dimitri could turn his full attention on her, "we give all a choice to accept our ways; they'll come round in time. I take it you're not interested?" Unable to answer, speech robbed from her by mute unfeelingness, the pink hedgehog merely nodded, causing Dimitri to sigh wearily,
"I can't say I am not saddened Amy, but the choice is yours", he brought up one mailed hand and a crimson glow surrounded it, the sheen sinking into Amy's tired eyes as the co-creator of the Chaos Emeralds extended his powers to her, "now sleep and rest; your part in this crusade is played". Helpless, wanting only for the torment to end and the nightmare to cease, there was no resistance, there could be no resistance; almost immediately, Amy was carried away in a cold unconsciousness.
As the pink hedgehog's head sank to the tabletop, Kragok made to rise from his seat, a shark-like smile exposing his uneven teeth,
"So be it grandfather, I shall make the necessary preparations and we shall be ready to move out and crush the guardians at your command".
"You shall do no such thing", Dimitri told him, also rising from his seat as Kragok looked on dismayed,
"But grandmaster, even now we lose time; there…"
"Is time enough Kragok", there was definite challenge in his voice now, his pupils still continued their ceaseless movement but the rest of his face trained on that on his grandsons', "I shall decide when to attack, and I shall be the one to do so; with the Bloodstone in my possession, none of the guardians can oppose me. Besides", there was a slight flick of his gaze to Amy's comatose form and his expression softened, something like concern and affection entering his emotions, "I still have business with Amy and I am bound by a promise I made her".
"You", Kragok stuttered as he tried to take this in; the grandmaster of the Dark Legion, held to oath by an inferior being? "you have promised her what?"
"That is not your concern", Dimitri stated firmly as he reached down and carefully gathered Amy into his arms, issuing his final orders as he did so, "you and Kommissar are to travel to Necronopolis and awaken the rest of the Legion; wait there for further orders once this is completed. Understood?"
"Of course grandmaster", Kragok gave another stiff bow, echoed by his sister's slight curtsy as the younger Mobian finished, "we shall not fail you".
"Good; make it so". With that and a flare of emerald power, Dimitri was gone from the chamber, from the base and from Angel Island itself, leaving his grandchildren to muster the rest of his forces as he waited for his final task to appear.
XXX
"The Bloodstone", Knuckles spoke, the very name conjuring up images of heathen ceremonies and ritual sacrifice, though these were banished as Spectre's voice boomed once more, finally finished the story of the guardians,
"Yes, this great jewel made the contest much more perilous, so Edmund made one final gamble; taking the Master, he issued a challenge to Dimitri directly. A duel to the death, winner take all – the two brothers met for the final time on the ground where it had all begun, the ruins of their scientific lab, the birthplace of such hope, and the graveyard of their dreams. But it was here the salvation of the rest of Angel Island was assured; before the duel began, the brothers made an ancient pact; for the first and last time, the Master Emerald and the Bloodstone were used in concert; the combined energy sealed away the rest of Angel Island; it was move out of phase with the rest of the world, protected from the battle that was to follow".
"It was an exile, not a loss", Shadow's eyes crackled like warm fire as the reason behind the disappearance of the echidna civilisation was made plain, "Edmund and Dimitri banished the echidnas to save them".
"Yes, Dimitri craved a release from mortality, and was sane enough to realise the energy released from the battle would have been great enough to kill a large number of innocents", Thunderhawk broke in to answer, head bowed as the folly of his ancestors was made plain to all, shame whipping at him like a tongue of fire in front of these strangers, "and there was such a war; a clash of titans, Dimitri fighting for warped perfection, Edmund to stop him, and in the end, when the smoke cleared, there was no clear winner".
Speed was essential here; before the questions could flow, Sabre managed to head them off,
"Transcripts from the aftermath are all that remain; Edmund reappeared in Haven, feverish and near death, fragmented prophecies spilling from his lips as he remained in a dream state he never emerged from – death claimed him in the end. His last words were recorded by his great grandchildren, sorrow in their hearts and tears staining the pages as they forced themselves to copy the words the first guardian spoke on his deathbed. It's one of these passages that has concerned us recently; one of them that spoke of Dimitri's eventual return".
"You knew!" Knuckles pointed at his grandfather, fury coursing through his veins as the callousness of their actions bit deeply into him, "the guardians knew he was out there, and they did nothing! Why didn't they go after him, hunt him down…"
"They wanted peace!" The fact it was Athair shouting did more to stop Knuckles' tirade than anything else, the third-father looking stricken through his tears, "the war with Dimitri had raged for many years, at least three or four generations, and that was in guardian years. The EST, the guardians, they just wanted to forget about it, they were sick of the fighting; Dimitri was gone and all they had to predict his return were the ravings of a badly wounded old man. It was a mistake not to chase the serpent when they had the chance we can see that now, but they can't be held responsible, not after all they'd been forced to endure. Can you understand that, all of you; after a war spanning decades, there's a chance for peace, could you honestly turn it down?" There was a moment's silence, then a murmur rippled its way through the crowd, mournful for the suffering of the past,
"No", Cream sniffled at the thoughts of fighting, for that long and without respite, "not after that; they couldn't go on".
"No, they couldn't", Spectre agreed with her, tears of regret now in his own eyes as he realised this was where it would really hurt them, this warning was what had affected them all, "but, the prophecy, had been fulfilled now; Dimitri has returned, and he has the Bloodstone again".
"How do you know that? Can you prove it?" Rouge searched for some loophole that could be used to prove the old guardian wrong, but Sojourner, for once talking to her like she was an equal, shook his head,
"No; I felt his return, and Amy", there was a sudden pricking up of ears as the pink hedgehog's name was mentioned, "Amy was helpless, right in the middle of it; from destiny ascending, the gem of blood calls the child of thorns to release that which was bound and culminate the cataclysm".
As the words echoed through the suddenly still air, Spectre moved his hand and the roll of parchment was pinned against the wall; the ebony echidna suddenly looked and felt his true age as he shuffled forwards, speaking into the silence as he quickly picked out the bit of the map he needed,
"Those were the words left to us by the ancients, but now, too late", he snarled at himself, at his own failings causing this to happen, "we can decipher at least part of it; this map was drawn in the time of Edmund, when the echidnas did have a vague knowledge of some of the surface world, though only specific parts of it", a white gloved finger tapped part of the faded parchment and everyone craned in for a look at the faint, almost illegible words highlighted by his digit. Vector straightened up, for once his eyes mournful as he came to same conclusion Spectre had reached,
"From destiny ascending", he jerked his head at the map, "Mount Fate, the gem of blood, I assume it's the Bloodstone, called Amy Rose to release the rest of Angel Island, bound by both the Master and the Bloodstone, and culminate the cataclysm", as the others took this dreadful news in, the crocodile fixed Spectre with a look, "any idea about the last part?"
"No, and that is what worries me most". It was into a heady, potent mix of anxiety, nervousness and fear that something powerful awoke and took root; like a boiler being lit, life and resolve flooded into one Mobian as the scale of the deception was revealed to him.
"The cataclysm", everyone turned at this new voice; it was the first time Sonic had spoken since the tale had begun; Espio was closest to the blue hedgehog and shrank back in fear as he stepped forwards; his face, he looks ready to kill something, "is what will happen when I get hold of Dimitri and kick his ass so hard all of you lot will feel it", he snarled, indicating the rest of the Brotherhood; Dimitri's ancient descendents the others realised later "no-one messes Amy around like this; not Eggman, not Metal Sonic and certainly not some fanatical freak with a fear of death". The others looked aghast at this; Sonic sounded like he meant every word he said and, more importantly, had the look of someone who could do it too. In fact it was Thunderhawk, his fighting spirit reignited by the hedgehog's harsh words, who recovered the impetuous first,
"Good", the lavender echidna strode forwards and clapped Sonic's shoulder, "that's the spirit we'll need now, because this isn't over yet". There was a flick of bottle green eyes that caused the sixth-father to sigh,
"Spectre's being meditating on this prophesy since we realised what was happening, and, well, I'll let him speak for himself". Taking a cue from his son, the black echidna made plain to all the fruits of his labours,
"By meditating on the prophecy, I managed to discover that Dimitri had been destroyed by the battle with Edmund, but his soul persisted within the Bloodstone itself. Thus he was held in limbo within his final weapon, unable to do anything until he could be released. I also realised that two calls would be made by the Bloodstone and from each of them something would be released; the first, which I believe was when Amy went with you three", he indicated the Chaotix, "to Mount Fate; in answer to this call, the lost city of Echidnopolis was brought back, along with us. However, as well as this, part of Dimitri was released as well. He was weak and helpless, but, and I can't be sure of this, I think he may have existed within Amy's thoughts…"
"He did what!" Sonic's bellow drowned out all other voices, his eyes slitted and spines extended as he realised what Spectre was saying, "you mean that slimy son of a bitch, went into her?"
"Yes; he may have remained there until he had regained the strength to call again; he did that tonight – he was the one who attacked Athair, not Amy". Sonic was done listening by now; he was virtually glowing with rage as the thought of what might be happening to Amy; she doesn't deserve – I should have been faster. Grinding his teeth together, Sonic growled into the silence,
"When I find him, he will pray for death long before he suffers it".
"Got some good news for you then", Spectre smiled sarcastically; this was not the time for empty chest-beating, however well-founded it was, "because Dimitri is going to come here".
XXX
Fortunately, his memory had not failed him; he recognised the surroundings as he rematerialised within them, Amy still held limply in his arms. Away from his grandchildren, he was finally free to express his emotions; he needed to talk to his former host one-on-one, partly to explain a few details he hadn't wanted Kragok and Kommissar to be privy to, and secondly he could still help her. I know you still blame yourself for what happened; Dimitri thought mournfully as he set the pink hedgehog, still clad in the pyjamas supplied to her from the Brotherhood, down in her bed, pulling the covers up to her chin as he brushed a few stray quills back behind her ears; there's no blame for you to shoulder – I will try to show you that when you awaken. Dimitri felt a sad smile spread onto his face as he stood immobile for a second, profound melancholy in his manner as he gazed down upon the sleeping Amy; by the suffering of one I can save thousands, but why was it this one who had to suffer? Curse you Edmund; the grandmaster of the Dark Legion curled his free hand into a fist, silently ranting at is deceased brother as he realised, had Edmund simply seen the truth behind his conviction to crush death forever, all this could have been avoided. Still, there was no point reminiscing about the past; all he could do now was try to pick up the pieces; with that in mind, the echidna softly span around and crept out of Amy's bedroom, leaving her resting, oblivious to what awaited when she regained her senses.
XXX
Spectre had finished his explanations, and the responses were both horrified and shocked; that Amy had been parasitized like this, controlled without her knowledge, was terrible enough, but to know that Dimitri had used her memories to breach the ancient protection of both the guardian's haven and more importantly, the shrine of the Master Emerald, was calamitous – after all, as Tails had pointed out, Amy had used a Chaos Control; where else was there a Chaos Emerald left on Angel Island? Knuckles was almost beside himself knowing that the Master was under threat from a crazed maniac who at the same time was a member of his very extended family.
"But he will come here first", Spectre had said, grim finality in his tone as the other guardians rallied around him, "he knows where we are and he had the Bloodstone; he will think he has a chance to strike at us now while we are divided and finish this battle once and for all".
"Let him come"; now it's the time for chest-beating; Spectre found himself actually relieved to hear Sonic's voice, offering hope in the battle that was sure to be coming, "we're all here and we've all got something to fight for", he turned to face everyone else, his familiar battle grin back on his face, though those who knew the blue hedgehog best may have just seen a hint of worry in the normally fearless expression, "get ready guys; just like old times". There were a few gruff chuckles at this, most of the attention fixed away from Sonic as everyone began to try and prepare for the forthcoming invasion; die to this, no-one saw the flash of pain that lanced through Sonic's expression as he turned away; I failed you Amy, I let you be taken; his lethal spikes bristled as he set his teeth, eyes glittering with concentrated, cold fire again; but I promise you this – when Dimitri arrives here, the last thing he tells me before I put his lights out for good will be what happened to you. And when I know, nothing will stop me coming for you and telling you the truth. Don't let go, you can't – I, I love you.
A/N: The die is cast; can the guardians stop the resurgent Dimitri and the power of the Bloodstone, even with the help of a monumentally hacked-off Sonic and his friends? Can Amy ever forgive herself, and what will Dimitri say to her? Next chapter folks.