Sonic woke to the sound of ropes unfurling from the sky. They snapped in the wind like whips, and Sonic's own eyes snapped open to see where the sharp sounds from. Barely visible in the clouds above the island, large metal structures hovered in the sky, buzzing and growing louder. The Taken, he thought. Did I lead them here? But all of the ones on the ground were passed out! He scrambled to his feet by rolling back over his shoulder, feeling himself tap the Master Emerald with his foot. Grabbing his journal, he called out for Knuckles at the top of his lungs. The sounds of the aircraft were growing stronger, and soon he couldn't hear even his own voice.
Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot! Sonic thought to himself in a continuous loop. His stomach dropped as he saw the structures break through the clouds - mostly wooden helicopters flying above the island, with lines for rappelling covering the sky like a web. Dozens… no, hundreds of The Taken were coming down, flooding the pristine landscape and ruining one of the few untouched places left.
Angel Island was under siege.
Sonic broke into a sprint, unsure of what else to do other than find a hiding place. What tipped them off to come here? Was it just because their digging for minerals got interrupted? Or did they know free thinking people were here? That he was here? Sonic shook his head. Of course they knew he was here. All of them thought exactly the same things, had the same memories, had the same knowledge. The second one of them saw him near Angel Island, fighting with Knuckles, it was all over. Stupid, stupid, stupid! He thought. If I didn't come here, if I didn't jump out from behind those rocks-
He shook his head and took a deep breath, forcing himself to think straight. If I didn't come out there, Knuckles would have been taken by those things, and Angel Island would have been lost anyway. At least we bought ourselves some time. He clenched his fists, dodging handing roots and jumping over traps. The Master Emerald… they wouldn't be interested in it. There's no way they'd know what to do with it. No, they were just interested in the two of them, and they were interested in metals deep in the soil. And the fact that Knuckles wasn't immediately at the stone's side the second he saw the helicopters made him suspect the worst. Of course, it was entirely possible that he was safe somewhere… come to think of it, he had no idea where the echidna slept, or ate, or did anything other than guard that giant stone. He could be huddled up somewhere.
Or he could be unaware entirely, and about to fall directly into the enemy's hands.
He left the ruins and stopped, ducking into a dark corner so he could think. He didn't have a lot of options, as he saw it. He could literally run off the island and just let himself fall… but it was at least a mile's fall to the ground, if the island was close to land. If it was over water… well, he still couldn't swim, so that wasn't much better. He could try to send out some kind of SOS to Shadow, but there was no guarantee Shadow was there, that he would get the message, and that he'd be able to get here in time. And even if he did, what would Shadow do other than maybe Chaos Control him away? He couldn't Chaos Control off; you just couldn't do that with the Master Emerald. It didn't work that way, Knuckles said. Something about not being able to throw things off balance intentionally. And as far as he could tell, there weren't any Chaos Emeralds on the island he could use for that either. And then there was the missing Knuckles. He had to find him and save him from this enemy he didn't know. But how would we find him?
Sonic shook his head, then looked at the sky. One of the Taken was starting to rappel down the rope. An idea - a crazy, stupid idea - sprang to mind as he saw the lingering helicopters in the sky. Yep. That'll work.
Skidding to a stop, Sonic ran in the opposite direction as before. He started looking for any way he could get some height - the trees just weren't going to cut it. He'd need to go in the air to pull this off, just barely more than he could manage alone by jumping. Something that could propel him upwards….
As he got close to the Master again, he saw it. It was covered in vines and dirt, dust revealing how little it was actually used, but it was unmistakable and definitely good enough. "A spring trap," Sonic muttered to himself, then grinned. He ran outside and, seeing the helicopters, began to yell. "Hey! Hey you robot heads! I'm right over here, just waiting for you."
Not seeing a response, he waved his arms over his head, dancing back and forth on his two feet. "I'm waiting!" he said, his voice reaching a nasally quality that he hadn't hit in years. "Come on, you gonna leave me bored here? I want to fight you, or whatever! Don't you want me to know The Purpose, or whatever it is you're always on about? I'm a sitting 'hog!"
It appeared that this finally worked. Some of the helicopters were moving closer, two or three people waiting in each one to descend and convert him to the cause. "Now come on, guys, I only need one!" Sonic said then, as the craft approached and their occupants began to rappel down, he ran for the spring. He flew in the air, and after so long without doing this, he almost got caught off guard by the jolt of his stomach dropping down. He reached the top height, flying above the tops of the trees, and just before he could fall down, he started to spin. Come on, come on, get in place… Sonic thought. One of the invaders moved into just the right position, and he grinned. Perfect.
Like a shattering glass, the homing attack made a sound that reverberated through the air. Sonic kicked the descendant in the stomach and, before he could move too far, grabbed the rope with his bare hands. It stung, fibers digging into his hand, and he regretted never putting his second glove back on. "Hey, can I have your equipment?" Sonic asked the still recovering intruder. She didn't reply, instead making gurgling noises with her mouth. "Oh. Right. You want me to become a mind controlled nanite thing. Yeah, no thanks."
Sonic dodged to the left as she tried launching the black mess at him, and it fell through the air to the ground. "Well, as long as we understand each other," Sonic said. He gripped the rope with both hands and, swinging his body around, wrapped his legs around her from behind. He hit her wrists with his elbows - not long enough to make her lose her grip and fall completely, but enough for him to grab her right glove from her hand. He tried pushing his hand into it, only to find that his fingers wouldn't quite fit. "You know," he told her, "I've never been known for having dainty hands, I guess."
"You are known for protecting," she replied, her voice just as gravelly as the others. "You used to keep the world safe. Why do you fight us now?"
Sonic tossed her glove aside and, with a shimmy, jumped slightly up the rope and put his feet on the intruder's shoulders. "Safety without freedom isn't something I'd ever want," he replied. Shoving himself upward, he launched himself up, using the intruder as leverage. She began to fall down, but after doing some quick mental calculations, he figured out that they weren't terribly far from the ground. She might get some bruises and sprains, but she'll be fine, he thought, climbing up the rope. The other rappeller came down, but he jumped up over him and kicked his shoulder on the way, sending him down after his companion. You know, for a half baked plan I came up with in a desperate frenzy, this is working out pretty well-
His thoughts were cut off by the sound of something small whizzing through the air. He looked down and saw a small dart stuck in the journal's binding, with a small piece of black material inside of it. He ripped it out of the book and whipped it down, but not before he could hear more coming. "Oh, come on!" he said aloud. "It took you this long to figure out the poison dart thing? That's existed since, well, since the echidnas were still around!"
His reply came in the form of more darts, and Sonic found himself squirming on the rope in order to avoid them. His hands hurt like wild, and he could practically feel the fibers digging into his hands. I'm just a sitting duck staying here. Better get moving.
Pushing himself further, Sonic rushed up the rope. For a short time, he thought of using the book as a shield, but stopped himself. He needed both hands to move as quickly as possible.
At the top, the helicopter pilot was waiting for him. His mouth was wide open, hanging over the side of the craft with black dripping from between his teeth. The expression on his face… no matter how much time passed, Sonic thought he'd always be unsettled by it. His eyes were half lidded and fogged over, like he was living in an endless dream. Honestly, that wasn't too far from the truth, either; they always described being taken as being peaceful, connected, calm….
Heck, he could see why that might be tempting for some people. But, no thanks. He was a true blue independent thinker.
With one final lunge, he tackled the pilot out of his chair. The black goop flew everywhere, and Sonic had a moment of panic when he thought some may have landed on his spines. It didn't though, and he sighed in relief before finding some cord in the back of the craft and tying up the pilot with it. Putting a clip on the front, Sonic saw his red and slightly bloody hands shaking. "Sorry, buddy," he said to the uncaring pilot. "Nothing personal, but I'm kind of going to send you to the ground so I can get out of here. No hard feelings, right?"
The pilot didn't reply, instead staring at him with the same blank, glazed over eyes. Sonic clipped him to the rappelling rope and, with as gentle a shove as he could muster, shoved him down. Some other assailants were trying to climb the rope, but the falling body slammed into them and made them fall off in a heap. The resulting pile would have been funny to look at, had they not been innocents brainwashed into a robot hoard's scheme to take over the world.
The helicopter was starting to spin, with nobody at the steering controls, and Sonic began to move more frantically. Lacking scissors or anything else, he pulled up the rope and, using his own sharp spines, cut it off from the craft. He reached for the steering levers again, urgently trying to level out the rapidly spinning craft. Please work, he thought to himself. Please please please….
And with that, it finally did. Gripping the steering levers, Sonic looked for his friend. And unfortunately, he found him.
Knuckles, tied up and held down by a swarm of endless blank, satisfied faces.
Knuckles, writhing and screaming as they leaned in close to him, something black falling on his face.
Knuckles, becoming eerily silent and calm.
And then… Knuckles, like so many others, was gone.
Sonic felt it like a punch to the gut, and tightened his grip on the steering apparatus. He felt the fabric of his remaining glove stick to his hand, blood starting to harden and flake. "I'm sorry," he said, mostly to himself. How many times had he seen this happen now? And yet, it was still hard every single time. If he had looked for him more before taking to the sky, or not gone up here in the first place….
Before he could spend too much time, he heard the whirring of more small darts hitting the air craft. He couldn't stay here and spiral… literally or figuratively. If he stayed, he'd only join them. Taking that as his cue, he flew off, looking for landmarks to guide his way onward. Before he could forget, he pounded his fist into the center console. The tracking system fizzled out in a sea of sparks, and though the shock burned his already injured hand, he was glad for it. As long as he was smart about it, his pursuers couldn't follow him. And eventually, when he found Shadow, they could make a plan to save them.
From the ground, the newest of The Taken blinked, bending and straightening his massively strong arms. Glancing around, he saw row after row of carved stones, depicting forms that looked like this body. He didn't care about the artistic integrity of it or its historical implications - those rarely meant much in trying to get more resources or more bodies of blood. Hidden memories crept to the surface as he saw them. One reached for a large crystal of some kind, and that puzzled him. Crystals weren't durable. They had monetary value in the way the world Used to be, but now, they were recognized for what they were; overvalued pieces of rock. So what was special about this one?
The others left as the knowledge the island was otherwise inhabited came through, but the newest one stayed. He walked through the buildings, looking for more clues and hidden memories of the carvings, when he saw a large carved gem. It was green and, most strangely, it glowed. He walked to it and touched it with his hand. A rush of energy coursed through him, and he knew that this was Very, Very Good. When he withdrew, he could feel that The Purpose inside him had grown nearly twice as large, just from the contact with the light. Chaos, came a hidden whisper in the back of his mind. He didn't know why, or how, but he didn't concern himself with those kinds of questions. What mattered was the end result, and how it could help The Purpose.
In his mind, where he could see every other mind, he knew the flying objects with more Bodies were returning back for further study. He smiled, putting both his hands and his forehead against the stone and feeling The Purpose grow, and grow, and grow. This was an oversight, but now they knew. They could Read. They could Learn. And using this new power, they can finish making The Vessels. They would be Perfect. They would be Forever.
((AN: I think the weirdest reaction I've gotten to any of these chapters so far has been from a friend of mine, reading one of the earlier chapters where you get into the head of a character taken by the parasites. She said that she almost wished she could be part of something like that, since people would actually realize how interconnected they really were and make a better world - that she wouldn't have to worry about competition or loneliness. That in turn got me to thinking of why Sonic would be fighting against something that would arguably be doing a lot of good in the world. I think this chapter helps sum some of that at, and hopefully makes the story a little less dialogue heavy. Let me know what you think, if you have time.))