Author's note: A squeeeee (and a big fat thank you) to E-Rank, 000Marie198, and Noonui for their supercalifragilisticexpialidocious support. I'm admittedly getting a little slower with updates, since we're getting near the, eh ... the pinnacle of things, but I do promise to finish. This is what's called second-guessing yourself. Multiple times.
2/17/22: AAAAAAHHHHHH (awesome fanart from E-Rank AKA WhatIsThisDefiance at www dot deviantart dot com /whatisthisdefiance/art/Zenith-Ch-14-Spear-906793475) HHHHHH-
Chapter 14: At the Eleventh Hour
The ARK
He'd already turned Knuckles onto his back, the rigid form of the echidna worryingly dissolving into heavy, boneless limbs. Tails shook the echidna's shoulders again, panic steadily rising as the seconds ticked by. "Knuckles!"
"Kid," Rouge sternly stated, kneeling next to the fox. She paused, studying the Guardian's features, before letting out what Tails swore was a relieved sigh. "He's breathing."
Rapid blinking followed, absently clearing tears he hadn't realized had formed, as the fox tried to focus his attention on the shallow, albeit rhythmically moving chest of his unconscious friend. He too let out a shaky sigh, before quietly responding, "Right."
Another shot of worry plowed its way through, however, and Tails jumped to his feet, startling the bat beside him. "Sonic! We need to make sure they're okay!"
"Hey, wait—!"
Tails had already darted through the remnants of the storage room's wall, turning the corner to head down the hallway. Since the Master Emerald had disappeared—and Chaos 0 had screamed out—there'd been no more flashing lights of negative energy, or Chaos energy, or whatever energy was getting tossed around.
Pausing for only a moment, large ears keenly listening, he realized there were still blasts, but they were far away. Another few precious seconds ticked by as he tried to focus on the location, blindly zeroing in with his vague recollection of the ARK's map he had examined a long time ago.
A gloved hand nabbed Tails' shoulder just as he moved to follow the faint sounds. Rouge was the culprit, but she wasn't looking at him, but rather past him, her own ears twitching and probably capturing far beyond what Tails could.
"They're fine," Rouge said, only then making eye contact with the fox. "It's suicide to follow."
"But what if they're—"
He didn't get a chance to finish, as Rouge had already pulled him through the dilapidated doorway, just as flashes of negative energy started emerging in the distance.
She continued to drag him back to Knuckles' unconscious form and added, "You do realize, kid, that those hedgehogs are currently hopped up on Chaos energy, and have a very large water monster helping them?"
"Technically, I think Chaos is a deity—"
"Look," Rouge said firmly as they stopped where the Master Emerald used to be, "there's a reason they guided the fight away from us. They can handle this." Her gaze travelled down. "Besides, Red here isn't in the best shape to leave alone."
If worry was a freight train, Tails was pretty sure he'd be roadkill by now. "Omichaos, you're right, we have to get out of here!"
"Er, no hon, that's not—"
Now Tails didn't leave her time to finish. He'd done this countless times before—of course, usually his fare was able to grasp his hands and not be dead weight—but that was no matter. Gripping tightly onto Knuckles' wrists, he pulled the unconscious echidna up into the air, his tails whirling and helping him gain ground.
The level above had appeared to be a computer room, or at least the vestige of one. While it probably—no, definitely—wasn't the central station of the ARK, it certainly could possess the intranet capability Tails needed to hack into the system.
The giant hole in the ceiling gave plenty of room to maneuver through, thanks to the earlier battle, and Tails easily flew right between some mangled steel girders. His larger passenger, however, took up a little more space than he realized, and one of Knuckles' dangling feet caught on the edge just as they slipped past.
Grunting at the sudden resistance, Tails nearly lost his grip. He lowered himself to try and give slack, but it appeared that Knuckles' sock had lodged itself onto the sharp corner of one of the joists.
Before he could try and readjust his positioning, Rouge flew up and assisted, yanking the sock free from the metal.
She arched an annoyed brow in Tails' direction, but didn't say anything else as they traversed to the floor above. Setting Knuckles down a decent distance away from the broken floor (with careful leaning against a console to keep him shielded from the doorway), Tails ran up to the nearest computer.
He had to fiddle with some wiring beneath the desk, including stealing a few less-corroded versions from the neighboring stations, but with bated breath he pressed the power button, watching the monitor expectantly.
"Come on, come on … yes!"
The system blinked on, bringing up a simplified command prompt. Tails quickly began typing as Rouge stepped up next to him.
"I hope you know what you're doing, kid," she said, arms crossing over herself. "We don't need to be unleashing Pandora's box, here."
Tails didn't take his eyes off the monitor as he navigated through system files. "If you're referring to the debacle with Biolizard, keep in mind that was Gerald Robotnik's design and his last act of vengeance on humanity. In fact, the ARK is historically one of the most advanced defense systems of its time, but in the way of shields and neutralizers, not weapons of mass destruction. Of course, it has some capability at offensive measures, but they're a last resort.
"There's this really neat thesis I read from one of the top engineers of the ARK's original design team, and—"
"I'm sorry I said anything," Rouge interrupted with an eyeroll. "Just do your thing, fox boy, and let's get off this ghost ship."
Tails diverted his attention enough to give Rouge a decent glare, but returned his focus to the task at hand. He was rapidly sifting through directories, studying naming conventions and modification dates before opening them. Most of the information he was already familiar with, given his rampant research of the space station's longstanding history. He frowned, however, when he opened up one of the folders. "Hang on, there's some new data here."
"Hmm?"
"Here; see?" Tails pointed at the date and time on the screen. "This is from just a couple of weeks ago. There's been a bunch of updates to the programming, and over a dozen new files related to Artificial Chaos."
"Well, Robotnik's been scheming up here, right?" Rouge asked, glancing over the fox's shoulder to see what he was reading. "These are likely his tweaked designs that made the fake Chaos things go on a rampage."
"Yeah, maybe…" Tails' sentence trailed as he continued to investigate. "But this one is from an hour ago."
The G.U.N. agent noticeably stiffened. "He had help?" she asked, warily observing the otherwise empty and broken-down room.
"Maybe," the fox absently replied, continuing to scan the files with a furrowed brow. "Maybe not."
"You sure know how to make a girl feel safe."
"Sorry." Tails clicked open another folder, interest growing when he realized it was an analysis report on the ARK's status dated three days ago. He diligently read through the dossier, his breath hitching as he progressed.
"Oh no."
"Don't say 'oh no'," Rouge hissed, then prompted anyways, "oh no what?"
Tails couldn't respond, unable to stop absorbing the information on the screen. Each subsequent report made his heart drop a little farther into his stomach. He exited out of the file folder he was in and pulled up the ARK's telemetry system. Even after all this time, the sensors continued to function and transfer data into storage. A closer inspection showed they dumped the logs into various G.U.N. ground stations on Mobius, when they were close enough in orbit.
Tails had a feeling the ARK wasn't as dilapidated and abandoned as it was once thought to be. While perhaps no longer manned (especially considering its current disrepair), it was clear the tech had been upgraded at some point, most likely to continue relaying its satellite observations to the military organization.
And this particular information, if true, was absolutely terrifying. Tails gulped heavily, looking at varying resources to verify what he was reading, and hoping there was an error somewhere. Surely this could not be accurate...
Based off the time this new development took place and their current trajectory, it didn't appear that this update had been communicated to G.U.N. headquarters yet.
If it had, pandemonium would have broken out on the planet.
Rouge let out a dramatic sigh. "If your eyes get any bigger, cutie, I'll have some new tableware."
"Why would..." Tails blinked, trying to parse that sentence, then scrunched his nose at her. "Wait, what?"
"Just ... words, dear. Use your words."
"Oh," Tails replied, weirdly noting that was the second time someone said that to him in as many days, and yet when he did use his words... He shook the annoyance away and nodded at the screen. "Um, okay, well, I'm not one-hundred percent sure yet, but..." He'd happened to open one of the security camera video feeds as he'd been talking, but trailed off when something on the screen caught his attention. He inhaled sharply shortly afterwards and finally whispered, "I think we have a problem."
Rouge had been watching with him, also dumbstruck by the captured footage. Her focus stayed on the image as she hesitantly asked, "Is that..?"
"No way," Tails said, shaking his head, "it can't be."
"Are you sure?"
"No."
Tails exited out and pulled up another viewpoint, resulting in no change. Defiant, he exited out of that and pulled up another system altogether. But the data was consistent, and the visual footage irrefutable proof.
He switched gears and started surveying historical logs. If what was in the ship was real, it couldn't have just formed there... could it have? Things were starting to make a whole lot more sense, though, if that were true...
"Wait, open that file," Rouge spoke up from behind him, apparently still analyzing the data from over his shoulder.
"This one?" Tails asked, and complied when Rouge hummed in agreement. "I think this is the same footage from about a week ago, but it doesn't look like anything's changed."
"It is," she agreed, "but check out the size of the file, compared to the other logs. Something happened here."
"Hmm." Tails dutifully played the video, using the associated software to preview what he could. Finding the section that seemed to be the cause of the increase in size, he played it.
Both fox and bat watched with bewilderment, followed by daunting realization.
"Oh ... oh no."
"This bites!"
"No kidding."
"What exactly are we supposed to do?!"
Shadow skidded along the floor, a beam of negative energy narrowly flying above him, his own golden glow crackling as its aura came in brief contact with the other energy. Jumping to his feet, Shadow zipped across the long hallway, watching as Sonic avoided his own beam of negative energy before another wayward ray struck him in the quills.
He fell to the floor instantly, dazed and clearly annoyed. Shadow used those few seconds to dart up next to Sonic, forcing him to his feet. He kept a solid grip on his arm as they rounded the passage and out of sight from the enemies, allowing his rival the precious seconds needed to recover.
"Thanks," Sonic breathed out when they slowed to a stop. Shadow didn't have time to respond, as the tail-end of Sonic's word was drowned out by another blast, one that forced the two hedgehogs to jump in opposite directions.
The energy that the Artificial Chaos shot was no longer debilitating as it had been; at least, not while in Super form. It still managed to neutralize real Chaos energy, though, and was incredibly draining to get hit. Shadow doubted he nor Sonic could withstand multiple shots before completely succumbing to its effects.
Chaos 0 was already useless. It had howled in pain moments ago, collapsing to the ground, and was unable to do much more than be collateral damage in the wake of these enemies. Sonic had pulled the creature into an adjoining room to protect it from the ongoing battle.
That unfortunately left the fight two against three, and the Artificial Chaos seemed to have understood that tactical advantage far too quickly.
If Sonic or he got hit enough, would they be transported to that other dimension? Would they lose the power of Chaos and would the emeralds scatter? Disappear? Be destroyed?
What had happened to cause Chaos 0 to lose its power, anyway? With the Chaos Emeralds under their control, the water Guardian's power probably came from the Master Emerald.
Which would mean something must have happened to it.
But if they led the enemies back to the storage unit, they would be putting the others in danger. While he and Sonic were partially immune to the negative energy, Rouge and Tails were not. It was unlikely Knuckles was in a position to help, either, if he was preoccupied with repairing the Master Emerald.
If the Master Emerald was even around to repair.
Shadow mentally shook the concerns away, and knew better than to voice any of this to Sonic. Top priority needed to be neutralizing the enemy, first and foremost.
He glanced over when he saw a bright yellow flash of light, and watched as Sonic used his own Chaos-powered speed to ram into the monsters. Despite being tangible creatures, however, it seemed the Artificial Chaos had the ability to dematerialize on command, with Sonic barreling through them like they themselves were suddenly made of static.
And Chaos spears did nothing. Shadow had already hit the monsters multiple times, only for the blasts to harmlessly absorb into their bodies with barely a spark.
Nonetheless, it did seem to slow the Artificial Chaos' formation of negative energy, supporting the theory these very different energies somehow counteracted each other. But it wasn't enough to give either hedgehog an advantage. Chaos power was their only defense against these creatures, and if that didn't work … what would?
The three Artificial Chaos hovered down the hall, completely disregarding Chaos 0 in one of the side rooms. Perhaps it was because it no longer harbored the energy they were seeking to capture.
Another three jolts of energy jaggedly fired across the remaining length of the corridor, Sonic and Shadow slamming themselves against respective walls to avoid getting further drained.
Unfortunately, another two beams erupted shortly afterwards. Shadow slid across the floor but felt one of the energies hit him full-force, rocketing him across the passageway and into the intersecting wall.
The wind had been knocked out of him, and his vision danced. Shadow tried to shake the dizziness away and rolled onto his stomach, willing himself to get up.
There wasn't enough time. Another wave of energy hit, his entire body ramming into the wall he had barely pulled away from. Everything blurred.
He blinked to return focus, and saw that the world was the same, but younger. The hallways weren't sparking erratically from damaged lights. Broken pieces of equipment no longer scattered the floor.
The paneling along the walls were pristine, and all the nearby sliding doors were in a functioning, albeit open position.
Bright beams of white lightning had been replaced with flashing red lights.
Alarms were blaring.
"Be careful, Shadow!"
She could barely run. She was so sick, and yet she hurried down the corridor, Shadow grasping her hand and pulling her along. He wanted to speed up, but she would not handle the velocity well.
"Why are they attacking?" he asked instead, turning his head to peer behind her.
She did not answer.
Anger filtered through his veins, and Shadow's eyes shot open, seeing two of the Artificial Chaos down the hall. Sonic had maintained his Super form, darting along the walls and ceiling to distract the creatures.
Where was the third one?
The Chaos energy coursing across his fur spiked stronger at Shadow's movements, having fleetingly faded from the negative energy hits. He pulled himself to his feet, watching the scene ahead to plan his next route. Seeing an opening, his rockets flared and he jetted past Sonic, rounding the corner into a partially-open doorway along the path.
His hunch was spot-on, because in the side room he found a weakened Chaos 0 with the third Artificial Chaos. It was advancing steadily, despite the creatures ignoring its hiding place earlier on.
Slamming to a stop inside of the room, it was the closest Shadow had been able to see an Artificial Chaos since they'd started down this rabbit hole.
Chaos' clone was lanky, far taller than its true counterpart, with a mechanized head that towered over them. Flashes of memories from long ago filtered through, and not much had changed since Shadow's first interactions with them a half century ago.
With one notable exception, however: a white-blue effervescent glow surrounded its liquified form.
The violent versions of Artificial Chaos had been spherical in shape … almost as if they were bloated with energy. Gerald Robotnik had dubbed them P-100s, and the thinner variety P-1.
This mutated creature was neither. Chaos 0 was standing along the far wall of the room, heavily leaning against it and watching emotionlessly as its mechanical doppelganger reached out with a glowing tentacle.
Shadow's unexpected arrival had made the Artificial Chaos pause momentarily, making a point to scrutinize the hedgehog. The fake creature's eyes were more green than yellow, unlike Chaos 0, but even with the alloy helmet that shaped their head, Shadow could see what Maria had seen.
"Their eyes look so … sad."
The stare between monster and hedgehog did not last long. Its focus returned to its primary target, and the Artificial Chaos' ghostly arm resumed its course, liquifying and lengthening towards the Master Emerald's original Guardian.
Something in Shadow hesitated. One foot stepped forward, but his mind instantly clouded with old, haunted memories.
"They're guarding something."
Why hadn't the Artificial Chaos used its negative energy? Chaos 0 had obviously been weakened by something, and yet the fake monster merely reached out, unlike the lightning bolts it had been shooting at the hedgehogs.
Why?
"…someone knew this would all happen…"
"…supposed to be for the betterment of mankind…"
"I'm so sorry this all had to happen…"
"…leave this place for them."
Shadow was inundated with echoes of Maria's voice, talking over one another even though it was the same person. His knees nearly buckled from the mental assault, finding all of his senses overpowered.
This wasn't right. This was her voice, but the words … they were being taken out of order.
Out of context.
"I beg of you…"
"…leave this place for them."
"STOP!" he hollered out, collapsing to the floor. It was the Artificial Chaos, it had to have been. They were manipulating his memories, using her voice to try and deceive him.
The mental imagery of Maria was relentless and had begun to blind Shadow to everything else. It was a thick fog of history that made it hard to see the Artificial Chaos grasping onto Chaos 0, piercing its liquid body with a tentacle appendage.
Chaos 0 stood stoically, gaze never leaving the Artificial Chaos. It fell to its knees moment later.
"You have to protect…"
"…why you were brought into this world…"
"I beg of you…"
Shadow removed his inhibitor rings on his wrists first. Somewhere nearby he heard his name, followed by a "Watch out!", but it was faint and distant.
"I beg of you…"
The Artificial Chaos in front of him paid him no mind, but the other two fake creatures were behind Shadow and closing in. He could hear the negative energy crackling off their form.
"I beg of you…"
Shadow bent down, unclasping the rings around his ankles. The negative energy hit him milliseconds later on his back.
He stood his ground. The golden aura surrounding him flickered, then whitened.
Chaos 0 gazed at Shadow, barely holding itself up from the Artificial Chaos' arm piercing its middle. Incessant blasts erupted behind Shadow, the energy absorbing into him further.
He saw Maria, holding onto the control panel. The thick plexiglass tube stood between them, and he was banging on it uselessly.
She leaned heavily on the console, the life inside her leaving steadily. He couldn't see the gunshot wound from this angle, but he had heard it. He had seen her jolt from its impact.
She had silently implored him with shining eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks. It was the last moment they had ever shared.
And it terrorized him.
"Please Shadow … give them a chance…"
Golden mist had been replaced with bright white-blue sparks, illuminating further with Shadow's anger.
"STOP TWISTING HER WORDS!" he bellowed, spinning around to face the two Artificial Chaos. Negative energy pummeled into him, but it did not drain him like before.
It strengthened him.
He hollered out, arms forward. "CHAOS BLAST!"
The world around him became blinding, a pulse of energy he'd never seen before erupting from his hands, outward and forward like a tidal wave.
And then … nothing.
Shadow sucked in a shaky breath, his chest heaving from the adrenaline rush. The two Artificial Chaos before him were nothing more than charred helmets upon the ground, smoking in the aftermath.
Ground zero lay before him, spikes of ash radiating out like starburst, but only in the direction he was facing. The sounds of grunting and struggling behind him made Shadow whirl around, seeing Super Sonic between Chaos 0 and the last Artificial Chaos. Sonic had broken off the latter's tentacle arm piercing Chaos 0, and was currently holding the appendage in a death grip, fighting it from piercing his own flesh and blood.
"Chaos spear," Shadow raspily said, his energy draining. His white-blue aura had faded considerably, but was still present.
A searing-hot, translucent spear formed in his hand, glittering with negative energy. The energy the Artificial Chaos were made from.
The energy he was made of.
Artificial Chaos' robotic head turned at that moment, facing him. Sonic was struggling to hold the tentacle at bay, but peered over fearfully, as well.
Chaos 0, crumpled on the floor, reached its own tentacle arm out towards Shadow. It was weak, though, and could barely move.
"Everyone's fate … depends on … you…"
Shadow's eyes narrowed, the pang at hearing Maria's voice, her words, being used to try and persuade him … to trick him.
Never again.
He growled and his arm flung the Chaos spear.
Off to the side, he heard a separate cry of, "Shadow, no!"
But it was too late. The spear of energy hit the Artificial Chaos in the head, destroying Gerald Robotnik's design instantly. The charred metal fell to the ground, and the body of the creature—whatever it was—evaporated into the air.
Sonic fell to the ground, the rest of his golden aura fading to cobalt blue. Chaos 0 closed its eyes and lay motionless upon the floor.
The silence was deafening.