The Ragnarok, now blinded, knew full well that its actions would result in suicide. In truth, it cared not. It was dead anyway. Without its sight its ability to hunt was seriously impaired and others of its kind would rip it to pieces for the fresh meet. This way, it could die with a little dignity and obey its master's orders to the last.
It could feel the energy building up within its body, reaching critical mass but still it kept absorbing more from the poor sunlight. The particles streaming in through the gills of its neck were a never ending lake and once they combined then the pain streaming from its ruined eyes would be gone.
If perhaps by some fluke it managed to discharge its weapon, then it would still do its masters bidding as it had pointed itself directly at the stronghold in anticipation of such a possibility.
Thy will be done. Those were the words of its master. The words it would live by till the last.
The smell of a nearby creature reached its nostrils and without stopping the energy absorption process it closed its mouth and turned its head around to face the general direction the scent was coming from.
Standing before it, armed only with a piece of metal she had scrapped up from the rubble was Blaze. Her armour had scorch marks on it, was torn in places from the fighting and she was near the point of collapse due to physical exhaustion.
"Show yourself Dark One." She stated, ignoring the giant lizard before her. "I know you can hear me." The silence endured for a brief moment, before the Ragnarok gagged as if something had seized control of its throat. It shuddered, but the particles kept flooding in through its neck, its wings remaining spread to absorb the sunlight.
"I'd say you were intuitive." A voice echoed from the depths of the dragons mouth, clearly not its own. Instantly she felt an eye on her, a single large eye that was staring at her from beyond her perception of space and time. "But had interference not come from Maginaryworld's errand boy then you would still under the belief you were safe." Blaze's face set itself into a snarl. "Your people have served me enough as test subjects and so my experiment must come to an end. I can not risk exposure to the prying eyes of the gods of the mountain just yet."
"Is that why you plan on destroying us?" She demanded; her full anger in flow. "What did we ever do to you?" The voice from beyond the ether chuckled and Blaze felt her fists tightening at her side by themselves, clenching so hard they almost drew blood.
"Save your breath. Your pleadings mean nothing to me." Through the voice she could almost feel the contempt brewing from its origins. "To me and my brood, you are simply microbes. Life form's we known well enough are there, but care little whether they live or die."
"You and your brood?" Blaze repeated. "Just what manner of creature are you?" Again that laugh, the low chuckle that set her emotions burning. A low rumble that suggested there was a private joke she was not in on.
"Before long neither you nor any other being will need to ask that question." A looming sense of foreboding crept over her at the sound of that. "My preparations are complete and my experiment is over." Blaze said nothing, her face forced into a permanent frown. "The gates will soon be open."
"The very words of your servant." She stated. Suddenly a though ran across her mind, a fleeting question in passing that needed to be asked. "Tell me. Are you the one my people refer to as… Loki?"
"The labels of the lesser are of no concern to me." Was the reply. Blaze tilted her had forward and closed her eyes, a slow grim smile spreading across her face.
"That is all the confirmation I need." She raised her jagged metal weapon in place of her sword; her eyes alight with steadfast determination bred into her from the moment of her birth. "Although with a servant beast called Ragnarok, I might have guessed."
"I have many." The voice replied tartly. "Mortals have labelled them Ymir, Fenrir and Surtur amongst other names."
"You are the Giants." Blaze stated. Now that things were put in her own perspective, it finally made sense. Fear of the unknown melted away as she faced a familiar enemy.
"Again you use labels that mean nothing."
"Once I am done with your beast I am coming for you Giant!" She announced ignoring his words. "Before this day is done I will see you freeze in the depths of Niflheim!" The laugh this time was loud and full of merry, hardly a chuckle; as if her words had amused him.
"Pathetic creature." Sensing the will of its master, the dragon reared its head up and bore its long-sword like teeth. "I'm already there!" She charged first, weapon held high ready to strike. The Ragnarok brought its bared fangs down, preparing to swallow her whole. She brought her weapon up sharply, baring the way of the deadly serrated teeth. "But when the herald stakes its claim to the cosmos, the underworld will not hold us!" The words of the Dark One, or now known to her as Loki, snarled at her through the Dragon one last time before he relented control back to the savage mind of the beast.
Struck hard by a slash from the long tail, Blaze was sent hurtling down to the ground; her weapon spiralling out of her grasp.
She rolled, avoiding a massive foot as it came slamming down trying to crush her into the ground. Grabbing her weapon as she did, she flipped back up to her feet and gripping the metallic shaft in her telekinetic grip; tossed it through the air to slam directly into the Ragnarok's chest as it heaved up. Striking at the scales Knuckles had weakened, the shaft rank deep; the tip pushing through the thick armour and into the soft flesh within.
It wasn't enough to seriously hurt the creature, but it was enough to pause it pain. The tip of the shaft was jabbing at the gland where it stored the massive amount of hyper matter necessary for firing its weapon. Enraged, it slashed at Blaze with its claws. Unable to dodge quickly enough, the feline caught the strike down her size. Her armour was ripped to pieces and her side slashed. Blood sprayed out with her cry and she staggered back against a crumbling wall, holding a hand to her wound; the blood leaking out through her fingers. She had taken worse hits before and devoted some magic to heal the wound; she readied herself as the shadow of Ragnarok fell over her.
She tried to run, but found her legs unable to move. The strike must have done more to injury her than she realized. Unable to do anything, she watched in horror as the dragon lifted its foot up higher.
"You wish!" A voice cried and out of the gloom came a hurtling blue blur, that slammed a kick into the foot and the dragon backed off. Even despite this, it kept charging itself; sunlight energy being pulled down from the wings and charge particles collecting in the throat. "Nice bravado lady, but there ain't no room in this outfit for heroics." Sonic stated; scooping Blaze up before the racing off, avoiding the dragon's tail as it wiped around to try and strike them from above. "That's my job."
Time seemed to stop at the moment as Blaze found herself staring into those large emerald green eyes. Any thoughts devoted to the nagging pain of her injury vanished and so did the pain itself.
As mistress, it had been her task to lead. The thoughts of courtship never even entered her mind. She felt her cheeks growing warm and she struggled out of his arms as he came to a stop.
"Put me down." She argued, turning away to hide her blush. Sonic let her go, sighting the wound in her side.
"You're hurt." He said stating the obvious.
"I've recovered from worse before." She replied and channelled more magic down into the heal process. The blue hedgehog watched as slowly the gap hole began to close; the skin sliding back over the bloodied flesh and the purple tinted fur following close after.
"I've gotta learn how ta do that." Sonic commented putting his hands on his hips with an impressed smile on his face. Void almost seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, coursing through the air before the coming to a sudden stop before them.
"Shadow and Metal Sonic are almost ready." He told the blue hedgehog. "I hope you're up to this, because we're only going to get one chance."
"Before we all go boom." Sonic continued for him with a grim smile. "Hey don't worry, handling last minute chances to save the world is what I do for a living."
"Void, the Dark One…" Blaze began, finding herself slightly out of breath from employing her magic so much. "I… I spoke to him."
"You did?" He asked looking surprised.
"He spoke to me through the beast." She explained. "He is Loki!"
"Loowkey?" Sonic asked mispronounced the word and giving Void a confused side glance.
"'Loki' is a Norse god recognised by the Vikings on your world. A set of believes that has all but vanished from Earth." The small imp like creature explained. "But Nordic beliefs are still widely held in various other dimensional realms." Sonic just nodded, pretending he understood. "The felines share that belief and recognise Loki as a malevolent being, destined to lead the Giants against the gods on the day of Ragnarok." Sonic stood there with a strange look on his face, before he shook his quills irritably.
"Look, this situation is complicated enough without getting mythology riddled up in it." He tensed his legs. "You guys can talk Norse; I've got work to do." With that, he raced off leaving a thick trail of dust in his wake.
"Blaze." Void began. "Tell me everything you know."
-
Tikal stood there not moving a muscle, both hands held out in front of herself; her fingers pressed against one another almost like a prayer; silent incantations playing over her lips. Metal Sonic appeared to be a similar meditative state, both hands held out level in front of his chest; palms flat away from his body. The curved centre of his chest was steady glowing gold.
Shadow glanced down at ring Sonic had handed back. Why was it that despite everything, all the speeches, all the moral decisions; the history of the Professor, or the ARK and Maria kept haunting him ceaselessly?
With a frown he flipped the ring up like a coin into the air with a flick of his thumb. As it spiralled in the air and as it rose it increased in size, spinning wider and wider until it returned to its original size. It floated back down to the ground, gently floating in front of the black and red hedgehog, slowly spinning on an axis.
"It's your show now." He stated, turning to look at Tikal. To his surprise, he found water was seeping out through the cracks in the ground beneath her feet. Oozing up, it rose up her body, swallowing her in a thick pillar of liquid. As if merging with her, it sprouted arms along hers, legs with hers and even a head forged into being. Chaos, with Tikal floating within reared himself up; his large emerald green eyes opening with a wet slap.
"I required energy." Tikal stated, her voice coming out through Chaos' mouth, sounding distorted by the liquid body.
"I can supply that." Metal Sonic stated; the half eclipsed eyes glowing blood red as he drew a single arm back and arched the forward one, palm forward towards the floating ring. The glow from his chest and the Chaos Emerald within sparked wildly, sending the power arching down his arm. It leapt from its palm in the form of a constant lightning bolt and the Giant Ring started glowing an intense gold. Chaos' arms arched forward and gripped the side of the ring at that moment.
Within the space between the ring itself, a spiral of energy began to swirl, twisting within itself down to a point directly in the middle.
Shadow glanced over at the Ragnarok. It was nearly ready to explode. Intense beams of red light were beginning to seep out through the gaps in the scales and through the gills lining its throat. The sky around it was darkening, almost turning raven black.
"Any chance you can speed this up?" He asked.
"I only have one Chaos Emerald." Metal Sonic stated in reply. "It states time to charge up the energy required to break through that kind of armour."
"Well we don't have that time." Shadow snapped, turning around and holding up both hands towards the ring and the vortex in the centre. "Chaos SPEAR!" A bolt of prolonged golden light arched up from his body before being drawn into the ring like water down a plughole. Once it was gone, Shadow fell back into a sitting position now out of breath. The glow around the ring increased.
"I still need more energy than that." Tikal stated. The energy within was going to have to be monumental and controlling it even now was taking a great deal of effort.
"I spent all my life with the Master Emerald." Knuckles said. "Take whatever I've absorbed from it." He did as Shadow had done, holding his arm out towards the ring. Almost immediately a beam of green coursed from his body and was sucked down into the depths of the charging dimensional energy. Feeling more drained then he ever had in his entire life, the echidna fell backwards onto the ground.
"Charging is almost complete." Metal Sonic commented as the rings glow was almost like a second sun.
"This is where I come in!" Sonic proclaimed, sliding to a stop nearby; the shoes screeching across the ground. "Ooo nice set up." He added; glancing around the strange sight of a water demon enclosed around the echidna girl and a giant floating golden ring. "Okay, we all good to go or what?"
"You will only get one shot Sonic." His robotic counterpart reminded him, energy still flowing from his arm down into the vortex. "So I wouldn't be so flippant about it if I were you."
"Ah but you're not me." Sonic replied. If it were at all possible a smile would have crossed Metal Sonic's face.
"No." Was his eventual verdict. "I'm not."
-
"You have served me well my creature." Black Doom whispered across worlds to his beast. "Now, perform this one final task and you will be free from my service." With those final words ringing through its head, the Ragnarok began sucking up nearly every particle it could get. Oceans of red glowing orbs were passing through the gills into the throat, swelling it out wide. The wings were beginning to blister and burn, the skin peeling back under the awful assault of burning energy.
Its bones were breaking and internal organs were beginning to rupture. It did not care. Carrying out its master's orders was the one and only concern going through its brutal mind.
"Let's do this!" Sonic proclaimed and without a second of hesitation he leapt directly into centre of the ring. The golden circle convulsed at the intrusion, the vortex ceasing to swirl; going still before reversing direction and swirling in the opposite direction. His body curved into a spin dash, Sonic began spinning on the spot. Enough energy was present for the transformation and in response his quills changed, becoming jagged and golden.
The ground around them began to spark and shake as static electricity leapt from the ground and the golden ring slowly rotated around to far the near to exploding dragon. Tikal guiding it, Chaos and Metal Sonic lending her their strength, she strained to direct the coming blast in the right direction. Controlling this much energy, especially that of a multi-dimensional nature.
The chemical reaction mere moments away from taking place, the Ragnarok prepared itself for the end; moving its bloated body as close to the feline's fortress as it could. It was so preoccupied with the labour; it didn't notice Blaze running towards it.
In her grasp was the metal war hammer belonging to Amy.
Even with the hedgehog, she knew their combined efforts would not be enough to crack the armoured scales in time. There was only one chance for them to save her people and only she could give it to them. With athletic grace she raced up the Dragons leg as it walked, moving up towards the chest and the piece of metal she had left lodged in the chest.
Reached it, she lashed out and grabbed it for support. There was a sudden tremendous rumbling, climaxing in a boom that shook both the air and the ground. Hearing it, the Ragnarok swung back to listen more intently. Now blind, it could not see the danger hurtling towards it.
Blaze could. A golden bullet, unmistakeably the hedgehog. He and Ragnarok could collide in mere moments.
Blaze had seconds in which to act. Turning, she faced the wound in the chest with the metal sticking out of it. Focusing all her rage and anger on it, she saw that wound as everything that had culminated to make her life a living hell.
The one responsible for the one thing she could never forgive.
"This is for my dad!" She yelled out into the ether, bringing the war hammer up sharply before swinging it down hard on the metal shaft with an ear splitting crack. As if hammering a peg into the ground it sank deep into the flesh, the blow from the hammer shattering the scales. The metal sank deep into the hyper matter producing gland inside began leaking the explosion substance. The Ragnarok cried out in pain, but the cry was instantly silenced as a moment later; a golden hedgehog travelling with tremendous force struck the now unprotected belly.
The forced with which the spin ash struck sent the entire island tipping to the side radically. Ragnarok was consumed in an orb of light that expanded out like an explosion, going faster and faster until half the city vanished in the bright.
Metal Sonic sank his claws into the ground as anchors the moment before a bellow gust of wind struck them. His wings acting like kites, Okida was sent flying up into the air by the sheer force of it. Knuckles and Rouge sheltered themselves behind a shard of rubble.
Shadow grabbed Tikal in one hand, Void in the other and vanished in a Chaos Control warp, teleporting them out of danger as it struck, peeling whatever buildings were left standing were peeled off the ground.
As soon as it started, it stopped; the light fading away and the wind dying down and a silence rolling over the ruined city, only broken when Okida dropped to the ground yelling;
"I regret nothing!"
Blaze hoisted herself out of the rubble, feeling her arm sting with greatly irritating persistence. Glancing down, she saw it twisted at an irregular angle. She tried channelling some magic to heal it, but found she had exhausted it already.
"Do you require assistance mistress?" A familiar voice asked. Glancing up weekly, she saw Jack standing there with his large hand outstretched towards her.
"Hey yo." Another began. Leaning on a piece of rubble nearby casually was Sonic. "I thought I said no heroics?"
"If you don't live by your words, how can you expect others to?" She asked taking Jack's hand. Instantly replenishing magic flowed into her and once enough had accumulated, she healed the arm; the bones snapping back into place and healing. The sound was a horrific grinding that made Sonic's teeth hurt.
"On second thoughts I think I can live without learning that." He added, putting his arms behind his head and leaning back. Pulled to her feet, brick dust trailing out of her fur Blaze looked around at the scene that met her.
Lying nearby, a lifeless huge lump; was the body of Ragnarok. The dragon was lying there completely motionless, a giant hole punched through its chest. Its wings in utter ruin and scorch marks were stretched over the scales like relentless claw marks. The sky around was clearing, becoming its usual orange.
Okida, Knuckles and the others were quickly pulling themselves out of the rubble to join the crowd massing around them. Following Jack out of the fortress were the other felines. Soldiers and the ordinary civilians. The entire fortress had emptied to come out and watch.
Blaze was left standing there dumbstruck at just how few of them there were. Where was everybody else? The question didn't need answering she was quick to release, catching a painful lump in her throat. Even the mighty cheer that went up when they saw the corpse of the dragon did not ease the tears that were forming at the back of her eyes.
"I brought you this." Jack added and handed to her with his other hand, the Arcanum. Taking the jewel, she stared deep into its cut surfaces and frowned. Then without a word she lifted it up for everyone to see. The cheering intensified, then dropped to nothing when she deliberately dropped it on the ground near her feet and pulled Amy's hammer out of the ground nearby.
"It is off no use to anyone." Blaze stated simply, her face a twisted mess of anger. Swiftly she brought the hammer up above her head; before throwing her arms forward and bringing its sheer weight down hard on the crystal. It cracked under the assault before breaking apart in a spray of shards. The felines around her gasped and exclaimed in dismay as the fragments on the ground lost their glow, then their colour and became as fragile as transparent glass, breaking under clumsy footing.
Blaze just hissed through her nose and tossed the hammer over in Amy's direction, who caught it in one hand and balanced it over her shoulder. Slowly the feline turned to face her people. The startled looks she was going to have to dispel. Jack did not look surprised.
"I know that without the Arcanum, this island will fall from the sky." She stated, raising the level of her voice to speak to them all at once. "But what protection could it truly have ever offered us? None. It never did and will not now. As soon as the other dragons know their champion is dead, they'll swoop down on us."
"But this is our home." Someone shouted from the crowd.
"This is a cage." Blaze told them. "A cage we built; walked in and locked the door ourselves. Odin must be disgraced to have people under his wing." A few of them shouted in argument by Jack held up a single large arm to silence them.
"No she's right." He told them. "We must leave, before the other Dragons realize there is no longer any more competition for food."
"Anyone else smell smoke?" Okida asked suddenly irrupting anyone who wanted to argue. Blaze's ears pricked up and she whipped around to face the body of the Ragnarok. Smoke was rising from between the scales of the giant and occasional sparks were travelling up and down its length from its head to its tail.
"High radiation levels detected." Metal Sonic declared. "Explosion imminent."
"Ah crap!" Scales began flaking off the giant corpse and the chemical reaction they'd tried to stop took place inside it. Despite the now still heart within the creature, the energy, charged particles and hyper matter had all come together and was starting to combust. The felines all seemed to hiss as one and backed off, several of them stumbling over each other in the confusion.
"Estimated eighty seconds until critical mass is reached."
"We'll never get away in time."
"Even I can't run that fast."
"Void, can you get us out of here?"
"Not this many!"
Suddenly a colossal shadow fell across the ground, lancing down until it covered them all; the roar of thrusters engines accompanying it. Glancing up, Sonic saw that hovering directly above them was the Egg Carrier.
"Need a lift?" The doctor's projected voice asked and as soon as the ship was close enough to the ground, one of the doors that emptied out into the hanger bay of the Carrier opened up; a metal gang-plank descending down to the ground.
"Eggman's helping us?" Amy began with a confused look on her face.
"We don't have time to look a gift horse in the mouth, let's go!" Okida replied, racing up the plank after Sonic and the panicking felines. Bundled along with them Jailos was trying her best not to drop her packaged equipment. Even before the last of them had cleared the door at the top, the plank rose and the Egg Carrier quickly ascended into the sky.
The body of Ragnarok was now glowing, the muscles pulsating with hyper active spasms, high level energy discharges tearing off limbs and scaring the body from the inside.
Racing to the top of the Egg Carrier, Tikal watched as the body of the dragon was primed close to detonation. There was no way the ship could get out of range of the blast in time and even Sonic and Shadow's combined Chaos Control wouldn't be able to move it.
It was up to her.
Holding the ring tightly in her grasp, he began calling upon the power of chaos left within her; channelling every ounce of it she could muster and into the circle of gold.
"Tikal…" Maria, her friend for some time whispered into her ear. "If you do this, you will be stripped of any and all powers you gained from the Master Emerald." There was a brief pause. "And you will be unable to summon Chaos again." That last past stung like a knife lodged in her heart but Tikal did not waver.
"I know." She replied out load. "But this is the life I've chosen now. This is my decision." Even though she could not see it, the echidna girl could feel Maria's reluctant smile.
"You love him that much?" Tikal did not reply. "I see… then farewell."
The next instant, the floating island of the felines was ripped apart in a dazzling display of light.
---
Shadow glanced around at his surroundings and found there was nothing. Quiet literally, nothing. Nothing but a white void that stretched on forever in every direction. There wasn't even sure he could feel ground beneath his feet or if it was an illusion his brain was giving him. Where was he….
"I'm sorry Shadow." A voice said and the black and red hedgehog shot around, about facing into a fighting stance. "You'll never know how sorry I am." Shadow watched as before him, a familiar image came into being. One that had once given him a great deal of solace, but now only irritated him.
"Dimmitt Gerald!" He snapped as the face of the late professor faced. "Why must I be dogged by you no matter where I go or what I do?" Eggman's grandfather bore a very reluctant expression over his face, the end of his moustache dropping.
"I hesitate to use the word 'destiny' but I think that does suite it best." He replied.
"You told me my life was my own!" He could recall those exact words from the professor from the message he had seen when he found the ring in the first place. The relief that message had given him had been now being cruelly snatched away.
"A song and dance I'm afraid." Was the Professor sickening reply that set Shadow's anger souring to new heights. "Believe me I take no pleasure in putting you through this my son."
"Don't call me that!" Shadow's angry words were laced with venom. "You've been nothing but a burden my entire existence. You used me time and time again to further your own agenda." He set his hard blood red eyes straight against the apparition. "Creating and fathering are two VERY different things." A grim smile passed over Gerald's face. "And just what the hell is all this!" He gestured out wide to the void around them.
"This is a responsive message I laid into the ring." The Professor replied. "To be activated when the ring looses its dimensional properties." His smile widened. "Which I knew it would be when you found it." Shadow ground his teeth.
"Just how much string pulling do you intend to do from beyond the grave?" Gerald just shrugged.
"As much as I need to." He said with a sigh. "This conversation will last as long as the energy discharge from the ring does. That should be about five minutes if my calculations are correct. There are certain things you need to know that I can not tell you any other way than this."
"Why?" Shadow demanded.
"Because, simply put, I'm being watched." That reply was not surprising and Shadow just frowned. "By the Foundation and Krish yes, but not just them." Gerald added and his expression paled. "I hope you try to understand Shadow, I was desperate. I thought I had no other options. Maria was steadily dying and I was almost out of time."
"So you agreed to make a body for Krish." Shadow put in for him. "I know that already."
"But do you know how I did it. Do you?" The hedgehog simply hissed out through his nose and turned away
"Of course I don't." He snapped. "I'm not a scientist." Gerald cleared his throat before continuing.
"To make you I took genetic material from a mobian hedgehog, this you know; but…" The next bit of the sentence he added with a great deal of reluctance. "He was not the only donor." Shadow glanced back over his shoulder. "There was… another source."
"Who?"
"Like I said I was desperate. Maria was slipping away in front of my eyes and Krish was looming like a tsunami on the horizon."
"WHO?"
"I don't know his name, or if he even used one." Gerald stated. "We made an agreement and I signed my name on the dotted line without reading the fine print."
"Just what are you trying to say?" Gerald paused to take a deep breath.
"To stop one evil…" His tone was buried under tones of intense emotion. "I may have made a deal with another, worse one." His faced forged itself into a frown. "But I can't go back on my word, I have a blood debt. That is why I'm so sorry to have to put you through this."
"Put me through what?" Shadow was now getting most impatient.
"The payment." Gerald replied, looking away almost in shame; his glasses sliding down nearly to the tip of his noise. "Go back to the ARK Shadow. You'll be safe there. You won't be able to stop the Confederate attack." The black and red hedgehog just stood there stunned.
"How do you know…" He began with a wide eyed expression.
"Don't ask, you wouldn't be able to understand the answer." Geralds face had transformed into a rock hard expression of determination. "Just… go back to the colony." The world around them started to bend and arch, the void swirling with a sudden mix of colour. "Go home."
---
The felines had no homes, no weapons, no food and no water. They were now, as Void put it, inter-dimensional refugees. Escaping from their own world as their island was ripped apart by the explosion; they had found themselves without even a home planet of their own. Their population had been devastated by the dragon's assault on the city for which they had been completely unprepared. There was now barley even a tenth of their original number. The sheer loss of life was more than evident. Relatives were missing, families ripped apart and some groups even completely gone.
The survivors had created a makeshift camp by setting themselves up in as series of caves they had scouted out deep within the Mystic Ruins. Naturally pack animals, they stuck together in their groups.
The Egg Carrier, the ship they had all escaped on had been set down in a nearby field. Smoke was still rising from it in places and one of the thrusters was on fire. The Doctor's robots were still in the process of putting it out.
"This is the end." Blaze remarked staring out across their camp, her head fur let down out of its pony tail. "It was not the Ragnarok we feared, but our world folded just the same."
"We live beyond it." Jack reminded her. "That is something to thank Odin for."
"Perhaps." She replied. "But if we barely met this test, how will we fare on the true day of Rangarok?" She let the question hang in the air as she walked away. Jack just stood there staring after her.
He maintained the façade to the felines under his command that he was a wall of iron nerves. In truth, he was just as afraid as the rest of them. This day was not Ragnarok, but their world crumbled and succumbed to the Dragon Blood. What kind of devastation could they expect from the real thing?
"So what ya want to do with it?" Sonic asked as he and Shadow glanced over the small ring in his hands. The massive discharge of energy and then the drain had apparently been too much for it and it had shrunk, transforming into a simple golden ring; an energy recharge that the blue hedgehog tended to use so often.
Without a word the black and red hedgehog heaved his arm back before tossing it out over the waters of the lake they were standing on the edge off. It skipped like a thrown stone for a while, before it plunged into the depths and vanished; its glow swallowed up by the dark water. "I could have done with a recharge but there's as good as anyway." Sonic remarked pouting, walking off. Shadow didn't follow him.
He had not spoken to Tikal since she lost her inter-dimensional properties. Giving up the powers she had absorbed from the Master Emerald to help them escape. Now, her ability to summon Chaos had been ripped from her. As her oldest companion, Chaos was like a brother to her. Now, she might never see him again.
He knew what that felt like.
In truth his thoughts were distracted by that image of the Professor he had seen on their way back here. Anger still ran through him at the thought of it.
Go back to the ARK? What lay there for him other than painful memories and empty, haunted corridors?
Precisely just what had been the point of that message anyway? It revealed to him no new information but still, just what was this 'agreement' Gerald had been speaking off? A deal perhaps? A deal between whom and what for?
Each and everyday his world made less and less sense.
Shadow found Tikal in the feline's camp, sitting on her own staring out at the setting sun. Even with his own thoughts chaotic, he would not burden her with his own doubts. Not now.
He stood there at her side for a brief moment of silence before he glanced forward and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Wanna talk?" He asked, looking down at her face. It was then he noticed the red that marked trails of tears running down her cheeks. He tried to move his hand. He stopped him by taking hold of it. Without a word she placed it against the side of her face. He said nothing either, the hedgehog simply stood there and let her almost cradle his arm.
"A dimensional breech of that level going unnoticed?" Lumina Flowlight asked Void sceptically when he made telepathic contact to her to inform Maginaryworld of the events that had taken place. "You had best have proof that all I can say."
"Enough to satisfy the queen." He replied silently, glancing around the camp and the sole survivors of the Feline race. Despite the chaos and change of location Jailos, the Black Arm scientist was still working on the samples of the Dragon Blood she had acquired. While it was too late to save Fellena from that stagnating stranglehold, it wasn't for the recently infected Earth. If a cure could be synthesized in time and disturbed across the planet then it might still be saved.
If this wasn't enough to convince the bureaucratic hardliners of a dimensional incident then nothing was.
"I'll be needed medical supplies as well. I have injured refugees here." He could almost feel her look of disapproval glaring at him across realms. "And don't worry; I'm sure we can interfere this time."
"Well…" She began sounding reluctant. "Alright, they'll be on their way shortly."
No one noticed Metal Sonic leave the camp soon after their arrival. This business had been unprofitable but it had given him incites that he thought might prove useful at a later date.
His data banks contained footage from the battle. Metal Sonic intended to analyse it carefully and see what he could deceiver from it.
"Going somewhere?" A voice asked. The robotic hedgehog glanced back over his shoulder to find his organic opposite leaning against a tree. Shadow was nearby, his arms folded and his usual stern expression over his face.
"I don't do social gatherings." Metal Sonic replied turning his head back to face the setting sun. "I have my own priorities right now. You can look after these people if you want. Make's no difference to me. Oh, and take this." He reached into the hole in his chest and pulled out a Chaos Emerald. He tossed it like it was a baseball and Sonic caught it in the same style. "You'll be needed it more than I do." Before Sonic could say anything more, Metal Sonic bent his legs and the thrusters on the soles of his feat roared to life; propelling him up into the sky and onto the horizon in moments.
"He'll do what he wants to when he wants to." Shadow stated. "You can't ask anything more of him than that." The black and red hedgehog turned and walked away with a flick of his hand in 'washing-his-hands-of-the-matter' expression. "It's what I'd be doing if I were him." The blue hedgehog lifted the emerald to his face, then managed a mocking grumpy face in response.
"I am the only hedgehog that ain't a vengeful, angst-y guy not in touch with his emotional side?"
"What am I chopped liver?" Amy asked, leaning on his shoulder and laying her cheek against his. Sonic tried not to, but ended up laughing anyway. Amy's grin just widened. There seemed to be nothing that could get Sonic down.
Eggman however was not so jolly.
"That's it. I'm taking her right back to the Egg Moon for some proper repair work." He angrily stated, seeing the utter state his Egg Carrier was in. One of the wings had nearly been completely ripped off and was in need of another pain job. All automatic defences were done and the main cannon was going to need a serious overhaul. Perhaps even replacing.
"Looks like I owe you a favour." Sonic remarked. The Doctor looked back at him over his shoulder, a frown etched into his features with the sides of his moustache
"Well save your thanks." The Doctor replied folding his arms in front of himself. "Don't think this makes us the best of chums. I only helped you because I was my only way out of that hell hole." Sonic chuckled and put his hands on his hips.
"The day I start calling anyone 'chum' is the day I hang up my hero's license and start playing golf." Eggman ignored the remark, his eyes catching sight of Shadow. The black and red hedgehog was giving him a stern glare, their unfinished business now needed to be settled.
"And as for that ring of my Grandfathers…" The Doctor began folding his arms and turning to look up at his ship as the robots finished off the patching repairs. "Forgot about the damn thing! If this is the trouble it gets me into then it isn't worth having. Dimension travel… Bah! Who needs it! Come on boys." With that, he walked away with his robots following obediently behind. Gamma glanced briefly at Amy, before sliding after the Doctor.
"Jolly fellow." Okida remarked, brushing some of the head fur out of his face. "Sure we should be letting him go?"
"Hey forget about him." Sonic replied, stretching both his arms up until he heard a snap. "Now this is all over I'm taking a hot bath to forget about all this myself."
"No…" Blaze began with a sigh when they returned to the feline's camp; the dull roar dying down as the Egg Carrier took off into the sky; fading away behind some clouds and vanished completely. Void had been there for a while now, his brains still racked as to how he was going to report all this to Illumina. Tikal had been handing out what food she could. Blaze, when they found her; was sitting on a tree stump with a mug in her hands. "It is not over."
"Whatya mean?" Sonic asked. "Okay fine, we didn't manage to save your home; but heck, at least we got those we could to safety." The feline shook her head.
"It's not that." She stated. "Loki swore to me that even if his servant beast was destroyed, that would not prevent the Ragnarok."
"Say wha?"
"He told me that a herald would come, one who would stake its claim to the cosmos and would signal the opening of Niflheim." Sonic just stood there with a dumfounded look before he about-faced.
"I can't even pronounce half those words, never mind know what they mean." He replied with a shrug of the shoulders.
"Then you don't know your Norse mythology." Amy told him with a superior look on her face. "Niflheim is the Viking name for the underworld; a frozen void where dishonoured sprits dwell for eternity. Think of it as the Norse equivalent of hell."
"Oh." Was all Sonic could think of saying.
"Hey guys, surprise surprise, another doomsday prophecy." Rouge began with a short grin. "Who keeps coming up with all these?"
"Doomsday?" Jack asked of Void, not understanding the word.
"Their phrase for Ragnarok." He replied without looking around. "Blaze, just what did…" He paused for a moment as is unsure of how to ask the next question. "…Loki say?" Blaze was silent looking down at the mug in her hands, before glancing up at their expected faces.
"He told me that he would be freed from the underworld by the herald."
"A herald?" Void repeated. "A herald to Ragnarok…" That phrase struck him as familiar but he could not place where he had heard it before.
"We recognise the herald of this… doomsday … as the dragon Nidhogg." Jack added.
"You mean that thing we just fought?" Knuckles asked.
"No. We called that Ragnarok, naming it after our word for 'doomsday' as to us, that was it represented."
"I'm confused." Sonic admitted.
"You're not the only one." Okida added.
"Ditto." Rouge put in. "Amy, you're the expert on this Viking stuff. I'm havin' difficulty trying to figure out whom this… Loki is supposed to be."
"He's the Nordic god of tricks." The pink hedgehog replied. "I did a course on the Vikings for a while. On Ragnarok, he will lead the Giants against the gods in a final battle."
"Giants in an underworld." Void muttered to himself, pieces together bits of information in his mind trying to make them fit. Suddenly he looked up sharply, the brick of a plunge of realization more then apparent in his eyes. The colour faded from his face and he was left standing there with his mouth hung open.
"What is it Void?" Amy asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost." That cliché statement was perhaps more adept than the pink hedgehog realized.
The Destroyer had been horrific enough, but there was a legend of an evil even greater than him. A legend of a power greater than the god of death Krish Kra Pal. But… that was impossible. Legends were one thing, historical facts were another. But the evidence before him stated otherwise. But still… no it couldn't be; it just couldn't be. Could it?
"Worse than that." He stated. "No ghost can come close to what I think is behind this." He sat down. More accurately put he fell backwards onto his backside and sat there, looking more stunned and awed than ever. "But it can't be. It's just… impossible."
Sonic and Shadow cast each other a side glance.
"Hey don't keep us in suspense like this, what's the deal?" Void was silent for a moment, before he narrowed his eyes and shut his mouth as if he was trying to regain his composure.
"My people tell a similar story, of giants trapped in an underworld." He said slowly. "But we don't call them Giants."
"Then what the heck do you call them?" Amy asked sounding a little impatient. Void simply shook his head.
"The name would mean nothing to you, but they do have a more renowned label in your world."
"Which is?" Sonic demanded as the suspense was killing him. Void was silent long enough to take a long deep breath to steady himself.
"The Titans."
-
With his connection to that dimension shattered with his master beast destroyed, Black Doom opened his large orange third eye; the reptilian pupil directly in the middle narrowing at the sudden intrusion of light.
"Impressive." He admitted out load. He was not afraid to relent the fact they were skilled. Far to the country, he was pleased this was so. The more skilled they were the better. True they had almost ruined the centuries of planning within the space of several days, but nevertheless they had demonstrated surprising intelligence, cunning and skill. Especially Shadow. For this, he was most pleased.
Prof. Gerald's brain child had done exceptionally well.
While he was not grateful for the fact he had been forced to cease his genetics experiment on Fellena, at least everything that would point to his involvement had been reduced to piles of ash. As for the other dragons, or what was left of their population; he was more than certain they would fight amongst themselves until their eventual extinction. While he felt the loss of such a brilliant creation, they had given him all the genetics data he required. Everything was set now.
Even though events were to start in just over a year Black Doom could feel his excitement growing to heights already. What was one year to the thousands he had already endured?
Feeling a pair of eyes on him, Black Doom turned to see his captive staring at him defiantly from behind the thick sheet of glass that former the boundary of her cell.
"Not comfortable my dear?" He asked, narrowing his large third eye at her. "You should not fear me. It is not my desire to do you any harm."
"No, you just want to use me to further your own sick agenda." She replied, her voice muffled by the glass. Black Doom chuckled lightly.
"Oh is that what you think?" He floated closer, gliding across the floor. He had no legs, only a torso, arms and a head made up his body. A long pair of horns curved out either side of his skull, his crown adorned with small thorn like spikes. On the end of each one were red streaks running through jet black skin. His clothes were robe like, dark and almost violet with golden chains hanging around his neck and down the side of his arms. "You will play your part as you are destined to do, whether or not it is by my guidance." He gestured out with a cloven hand and instantly the image of both Sonic and Shadow appeared there, projected in a strange green light. "As will they."
In retaliation, she stood up and thumped her fists on the impenetrable glass barrier.
"You're wrong." She told him, defiance blaring in her eyes. "They are the chosen Speedster and the Shade. They'll be the ones to stop you." She thumped harder but the glass didn't move a muscle. "And Tails will be right there beside them when they take you down." Black Doom let his head role back and he laughed.
"You understand nothing." He told her. "I can not fathom how one so important can be so utterly ignorant." She adopted a confused look. "But you will know better soon enough. Here, in this place." He gestured out to the environment around him. "You will find more out about yourself than anywhere else.
Here you will know from whence you truly came and where your ultimate destination is." The glow in all three eyes increased and she backed away from the glass. "And the day will soon come when all shall know that their time is at an end.
The gates will soon be opened and you…" Black Doom leaned closer to stare at her relentlessly through the glass. "…are going to be the hand on the turning handle." She could not handle the intensity of the glass and looked away, closing her sea blue eyes to avert his. "But do you fear your destiny for you are not the only one to burden it." The illusion in his hand expanded to show not only Sonic and Shadow, but Amy, Okida, Knuckles, Rouge, Doctor Eggman, Chris and even Tails. There were dozens of others as well, many she did not recognise. "As this story plays out on stage, many performers will act their piece; all leading to the final climatic scene as the day of reckoning is unleashed!" He dismissed the image and stared directly at her. She could feel all three eyes on the back of her head. "So you see my little Cosmo, the storm is coming; a storm that will tear the blindfold around the eyes of justice. A storm that will cleanse history of its mistakes." She looked back, her green hair trailing down the sides of her head. "And you will be its eye."
-
Next: epilogue.