Warning: Multiple and gruesome suicide attempt mentions.
50 - Use Blood For Ink
The red echidna turned and looked downwards at the small fox. "And you're sure about this?"
Tails nodded rapidly with great impatience. "Yes, yes yes! This could work!" He exclaimed. "If we manage to get that phone to Sonic over in Moebius that connects with our wifi, we might be able to talk to him!" He was nearly hopping up and down from how excited he sounded.
It was more than likely midnight again today, wasn't this kid tired still? Did he even get any hours of sleep today? Wait what fucking day was it again? Knuckles just sighed and hovered his hands over the gigantic green gem once more. A few minutes ago, right when he was about to head back inside of the bunker to rest for the night, the vulpine suddenly busted out of the bunker and sprinted to him with his laptop in hand. He started going on about some plan that 'another Shadow' from No Zone told him about. He seemed excited and confident that whatever this plan was could work. So, Knuckles was no one to deny him of this one chance to help Sonic.
He closed his purple eyes to concentrate, focusing his energy into calling forth Tikal once more. He hoped she wasn't too spooked by the Divine Spirits to come and speak with him again, he had to try to get through to her. "Tikal, come on. We need you again." He mumbled. "I call onto you for help, help that can get Sonic out of his situation. I know the spirits want him to be rescued, so don't be afraid to come back and talk to us." He said. "Please, Tikal."
Tails stared intensely at the large gem sitting on the alter of the island, his laptop firmly in his hands as he stood a few feet away. It's eminent verdant glow radiated through the bloody night sky. The red Mobian became silent, using all of his mental power to get the spirits from within M.E. to reveal themselves to them.
And then, their wishes were reluctantly granted.
"Why..." A frightened voice spoke from the emerald. "Why have you called to me again?"
Knuckles released a huge breath of relief. That was a lot of brain power he used up just then. "Thank goodness," He muttered before turning from behind to glance at Tails. "Hurry up. Something tells me she can't stay out for long." Those deities are probably still trying to make sure she doesn't reveal any crucial information. For all they know, they could be breathing down her and Chaos' necks.
Tails nodded and jogged up the steps with the laptop, before looking up at the emerald while standing beside Knuckles. "Uh," He stammered. "H-Hello, Tikal." He had never spoken to the spirit before, he only knew of her through Sonic and Knuckles. He did however, recognize her voice very well. "Um, I have a plan to help Sonic. So, you don't have to be scared of the deities. If they know that you're trying to help him, they can't hurt you."
"..." Tikal didn't answer back immediately. "And what plan is this?"
Good, she was willing to at least listen. "I need you to connect the Master Emerald's power over to No Zone." That was a very far away place, but with M.E.'s power, it just might be able to reach. "Can you do that?"
There was some silence again, until she finally replied with a little more vigor. "I, I think I may be able to do that." This made Tails smile. "However," It faltered. "Please understand that the Master Emerald can do but so much right now without the other emeralds present. There are still with Sonic in another reality, I can just barely feel their wavelengths."
Tails didn't lose hope. "True, but the universal wifi is really strong. It's held up by the deities themselves. If you could connect M.E. with it, that might give you just enough power to reach No Zone."
"Okay," She said softly. "I shall try my best. Now please, be patient as I channel it's energy. Knuckles?" Upon hearing his name from the gem, Knuckles flinched. "I will need your help to guide me in the right direction. Please make sure that I do not lose my way while channeling. This is a very distant realm, and I fear the emerald's power will be lost along the way if there are any mistakes. Chaos will also be assisting me, and we'd like your hand so there can be no errors. We have only one chance at this."
Knuckles shoved his fist into his palm with a determined grunt. "No problem, let's do this." He exclaimed. He gestured for Tails to make some room, before holding ups his hands high to the emerald. "Alright, we're gonna have to give everything we have to make this work! Tails," He addressed while simultaneously beginning to focus his energy back to Tikal once more. The fox listened attentively to the guardian's wishes. "Check in with Zhadow and make sure we start connecting."
"Right!" Tails said before looking down at the laptop's screen and taking some steps back. "Zhadow, Knuckles did it. He got in contact with Tikal and Chaos, and now they're trying to get to the universal wifi."
The ebony red striped hedgehog nodded on the other end. "Good. Once they get connected, I'll get an alert saying that an unknown source is trying to connect. I'll give them permission, and once that happens, they may be able to use their powers from here." He explained. "Do you have the slightest idea of how long this may take?"
Tails frowned and shook his head. "No, I have no idea. They're trying their hardest right now."
"That's fine. I'll stay online with you, just keep me updated."
"Of course."
Every reading slide after slide, Shadow couldn't find anything else of interest.
It was just more depressing diary logs of Scourge's royal life. And, it got disturbing very quickly. The poems he wrote, Shadow just realized they were describing the abuse and self harm the anti-Sonic was put through. He made multiple suicide attempts, and every single one was detailed. Shadow couldn't remember the number of times he tried that was written on the slides. He stopped counting after thirty. In one paragraph, the anti-Sonic detailed how he went in a bathtub and slit his wrists as deeply as he could cut before he sat in some warm water to bleed out. He passed out, but he just woke up later in the local hospital with his father glaring at him.
The next attempt, he crawled out of his bedroom window, walking along the ledges of one of the tallest towers of the castle. He threw himself off the ledge, fell and landed on the ground in the courtyard. His head busted open, blood and brains were splattered. It startled everyone near the area, and screamed in horror. Everyone was sure the prince had died, until he woke up in a hospital bed a few hours later right as rain. By the time doctors got ready to come together and save his life through an operation, the boy had already miraculously healed.
The anti-Sonic tried again, by shooting himself in the face. Didn't work. He tried again by hanging himself, but it didn't work. He tried once more by drowning himself, but it didn't work. He tried over and over again, each death being more horrific than the last. But alas, nothing would work. He couldn't die. Now reading upon this, Shadow almost thought that this was where his immortality ability kicked in. However, this was not the case. This was all before Scourge had a power up from the shrines on his nineteenth birthday, the boy was a young teenager in these diary logs. He couldn't have had that power, then.
April 9th (?)
My first attempt.
I failed.
After all that planning two months ago, I failed. I was really going to do it.
Damn it...
May 16th (?)
Second attempt: Similar results.
I failed again.
God fucking damn it, why can't I get it right!?
And why do I keep healing so damn fast?!
Upon further inspection of the logs, Shadow read that the anti-Sonic realized he couldn't die because they didn't want him to. "T-They don't want me to die, yet. I haven't lost my virginity, I haven't reproduced yet. The need my share of reproduction so they can move on with the eventual annihilation of my world." This was why he begged Zonic to kill him when he was finally arrested in No Zone for the first time, because he tried all this time and failed. Okay, so that flashback Scourge gave them back then truly made sense, now. But, God. He's never seen someone who tried that hard to off himself.
Eventually, Shadow came to a slide that told of the anti-Sonic giving up and trying to find a better solution if he couldn't just off himself.
May 25th (?)
Even if I did kill myself, what good would that do? They'd just respawn me and put me back. And they'd still get their meal. No, I need to find a way to make this permanent. But first, I need to put a little roadblock into their plans. Make it so that they can't eat anymore from my realm for a while. I...I have an idea. I-It's horrible and wrong but, I almost don't care. This is madness, there's no way out. Everyone will suffer if I don't do this. I love them all, I don't want them to be eaten, and live out the rest of their existences as souls stuck in limbo within the bellies of monstrous deities. It's a better way out than that, that's for sure.
...
I'm going crazy.
I'm going crazy, I-I don't know what I'm doing anymore.
I want help, someone help me, please.
I can't go to anyone, I'll be punished if I do.
I...
Someone's here.
And then, the entry just...Stops.
Then another one is made on a different day. And he sounded, angrier. He sounded irate, absolutely livid.
Then, there was another poem. The poem was interrupted half way through with actual text, and it sounded panicked.
June 23th (?)
I haven't written a poem in forever. Oh well, here goes nothing.
...
I
Shit.
Damn it, I can't continue. He's banging on my door right now. He wants something. The hell does he want now? Probably this stupid speech. I thought the ruler had to write it himself. Whatever, like I care. I'm not even done. Maybe I can jot down a few more words and let him do whatever he wants.
...
Alright, that's all he wanted.
Now I can go back to what I was doing.
He was way too merciful this time. Maybe he'll come back at night and do something to me. I'll just pretend to sleep or hide somewhere. Wait, I hear footsteps. Damn it, he's coming back!
...
I'm, being rewarded?
He's letting me eat? He's letting me go outside? He was actually proud of me! Oh my God, I...I don't know how to feel about this! Maybe, maybe my view of life was all wrong. Maybe, maybe he's not a bad person. Maybe he really does...I, I can't help but feel happy. I've never been happy before! I should go out and do something! Maybe I can sit in a park or watch the sunset.
Yeah! That's what I'll do!
Today is mine!
This world is mine!
But...
There was another part to this entry.
Oh God, it's happening. They're all turning! They're becoming mindless, emotionless toys! They're doing it! Everyone's going crazy! For the first time in my life when I'm allowed to leave the castle grounds, this is what I get to see!? Oh God, they're all falling on their knees. Their bodies, they're so weak. A-And, I can feel it...It's all coming to me. It's all rushing inside.
No! I refuse!
I can't keep living like this, I can't watch them turn into these...These things!
Damn it, dad is pounding on the door. He's so angry, but I don't care. He needs to...
...
He'll be first.
Hopefully, this will put me in prison, and maybe they'll execute me after all of this. And if they still fail, I'll come up with a plan by then.
I won't be able to write in prison, I'll have to memorize everything.
Shadow's eyes widened.
This was beginning to match up with the date he flipped through in the book from before. This slide wheel was a compilation of every single diary entry in the actual book, meaning, the answer must have been towards the end of the diary! Somewhere after their birthday, the answer was there! And he was so close, too! All he had to do was move onto the next one. Let's see-Aha! There it was, June 24th, the fateful day. This had to have been the date of the end of the mass genocide. The one where the anti-Sonic said the answer was 'Ch'.
They slowly rose their eyes to the wall, and began to read one final time.
Shadow read aloud. "'It's been done. Everyone is dead,'" He whispered. "'I killed my mother, I killed my father. I thought I was too weak to but, in reality, they were on their last leg too. Everyone was, because I took everything away. I went into town, and killed everyone there. Everyone was already starting to become slaves to me, so they were mentally vulnerable enough to take advantage of. I manipulated Dr. Kintobor into killing himself, so I wouldn't have to do it. He was so emotionless, so brain dead. It was too easy. Of all the deaths I've caused, that one was one of the worst.'" Shadow cleared his throat and steadied his voice. He could feel it, something bad was going to happen once he read this last paragraph. "'When I finally returned home to clean the blood off, I connected to the universal wifi to contact No Zone police on myself. They'll be here in just a few minutes, I don't have much time left. I know without a doubt that I'll completely lose myself in prison if they can't kill me. Even now, I'm slowly losing my mind. I can't remember certain things...'"
June 24th, (?)
I know I said I wouldn't keep this in my diary, but I promise I'll stop writing after this. I'll manage to find my way back home if I don't die, eventually. Maybe the Grand Overseer can talk the deities into ending my life for being so rebellious. If not, the least I can do is be useful in my sad pathetic life to innocent people. I need to return. Even if I end up forgetting everything, my intelligence, even if I lose myself, a part of me will remember this if I stash the answer here in the royal study:
Christmas Island is part of the answer.
But the main part of that answer, is our old ancestor.
The original Chaos Born.
He'll be ravenous by the time I return, but at least he won't starve if he's here.
But I should only use this when all else fails.
"'...I will find him there, and hide him in that place.'"
Shadow found himself slowly decreasing his vocals.
Let's think for a second, here.
Waaaay in the beginning when all of this started, Sonic said he went back to his home island. Scourge first captured him there, and that was one of the first things he did the instant he got out of prison for the second time. This was the actual plan against the Divine Beings the anti-Sonic made before being arrested the first time. This means, that if Shadow's calculations were correct, Scourge must have already acted out this part of the plan, too. Scourge wasn't just there to steal Sonic away, that's why he tasked his ex-girlfriend to take Sonic to their castle instead of doing it himself. He still had other matters to attend to, such as:
Finding their old ancestor after kidnapping Sonic.
And he stashed that very person-
...Where exactly?
Where the hell was it? It didn't say where it was! Damn it, this must have been enough code for Scourge to understand what his original anti-self meant. Damn it, damn it, damn it! Sigh. Okay, okay. No matter, he could figure this out when they came across said anti-spirit. Fine, he could wait on it. After all, he had to find Sonic over anything anyway. His fingers trembled, and slowly pulled them away from the projection machine. He turned towards Maria, who seemed deep in thought after looking over what they just read. They knew what the answer consisted of, they just didn't know exactly what it was. Damn, still no luck. But, they did what they were told. They found all that they could find in these slides, they were done here.
"Maria," Shadow softly called. "Let's go and find that kitchen."
They didn't bother turning the projector off, they just took the slide, left the rest of the wheel inside and climbed out of the secret room. Once Shadow stepped out, Maria's guard instantly went up. Why? Because every single bookcase that was in the study, was now in front of the trap door of the secret room. They had cornered them while they were inside, on every side to trap them. All they could see was the large looming shadows towering over them as the seemingly still book cases stood there, making the small trap door entry seem like a mere spec in such a large room. Maria scowled and slowly rose her leg. Shadow blinked and glanced over to see that her hair was raising, and her eyes were beginning to gleam that amber color. She stomped her foot down, and an eruption of golden aura blasted throughout the room.
The bookcases shot off in different parts of the room, and the damages were catastrophic. Nearly every single case destroyed upon impact, books tossing and flying with pages scattering. They could both see the eerie presence of something otherworldly floating away from the objects they inhabited, too intimidated and perhaps even frightened at the sight of a human girl wielding Divine Spirit powers. With a sucking of the teeth, she furrowed her brows and crossed her arms as her power resided. She then looked down over at Shadow with a soft smile, and began to float on ahead towards the direction of the entrance of the study. Shadow could only watch her go in amazement, and then once again, pride.
Exiting the study seemed like a tiresome task, what with the endless amounts of spirits they may encounter along the way. However, no one was around. Strangely enough, the halls were...Calm. There wasn't a spec of ectoplasm in sight, and no moaning or screams of the damned. Maria, acting strictly as Shadow's bodyguard, always took charge first. Walking ahead, phasing her head through walls and floors to make sure no one would try and grab him from a blind spot. She was close by, her gentle but striking blue eyes sharply surveying every square inch of the corridors like a hawk.
As Maria would take the lead, phasing her body parts through ceilings and walls helped her understand some of the lay out of the castle. After a few more minutes of walking nonstop, she found a quicker way to get to the kitchen. The kitchen was usually on a lower floor, but as she kept poking her face through random walls, she saw a stove before something obscured her vision. Did someone walk in front of it? As she looked through the wall, Shadow just squinted his tired eyes at her as her bosom was nearly disappearing. Almost only her legs were left as she pulled herself farther through while going "Ooooh!" He rose a brow and crossed his arms.
She pulled her head out and turned to Shadow with a bright expression. "Shadow! I know where the kitchen is! All we have to do is a find a set of stairs that goes down, and I can lead you from there." She turned and pointed towards the corner of the current corridor they were walking down. "All we have to do is make a few rights and a left, then go down a staircase." She lowered her gaze back to him. "You still have that slide?"
Shadow nodded back with a sharper gaze.
She smirked and pumped up a fist. "Alright, no more time to waste. Let's go."
As she floated ahead of him to guide him once more, Shadow began to think as he took some steps. Where would that damn old ancestor be? Where was it hidden? How was it hidden? Was it inside of some old ancient artifact or something? Perhaps it was near Scourge's throne? He wasn't sure. He thought a little bit about what he read in the slides. There was purging, cannibalism, murder, suicide, genocide-Jesus, maybe he shouldn't be thinking about-
A...About...
Oh God.
Shadow's pupils became shriveled up dots as he instantly halted his movements.
'He'll be ravenous by the time I return, but at least he won't starve.'
The fucking kitchen!
The anti-Sonic wrote that it wouldn't starve if he put it in a certain place, meaning the fucking kitchen! Any Chaos Born regained energy by eating food, right? Who's to say the same couldn't be said for a weakened Divine Spirit in it's raw form? Shadow whipped his head at Maria with an urgent expression. "Maria, when you saw the kitchen, did you see anyone there? Or sense any other presences?"
Maria blinked a few times, before nodding her head quickly. "Yes, I felt other figures in the room. They didn't feel hostile, and it didn't feel like Scourge's wavelength. It felt like normal people. I think someone walked in front of my vision when I was looking through. I phased through pretty deep, but only my eye was able to get through to the other side."
"Did you feel anything otherworldly? Something powerful hidden away?"
She shook her head. "No, but..." She closed her eyes for a moment. "I...I do feel something, something that feels like Sonic. It's not him but, it feels like it's him, if that makes any sense. Nothing too big, nothing too small. But, it feels off. Maybe it's the anti-Sonic...?"
Shadow felt a boost of hope rise into his chest. Yes, they were nearly there! The key was just right there, right in their grasp! "Maria, the key to that slide is in the kitchen. We need to get there ASAP. I can't run, but I can at least speedwalk. Don't move slow for my sake, go as quickly as you can so we can reach that room."
With a new found plan in place, Maria made a confident expression and nodded. "Right!"
She swiftly turned and floated at a much faster pace, and Shadow pushed himself to keep up with her.
Hold on Sonic, He thought.
I'm almost there.
Finally.
Tikal and Chaos did it, they established a connection to No Zone's reality. Knuckles could feel it. However, it wasn't very strong and they could probably hold this up but for so long. If they were gonna do this, they had to do this quickly while it was still active. The large gem glowed, but not as brightly as it should have. Damn, that wasn't good, but this was for Sonic. They had to try. "Alright." The red echidna looked over at the vulpine whom had the laptop in his hands still. "Tails, we're good to go but we don't have much time."
The fox wasn't daunted, and nodded in affirmation. "Officer Zhadow said to keep it up for a few minutes, he's got the object in place." The fox looked back down at the laptop. "Commander, is the power going through on your side?" After waiting a couple seconds for a response, the hedgehog gave Tails great news.
"Indeed, and it's powerful. It's starting to short circuit some of the other monitors, but that's good."
Tails rose a brow. That was good? What was his plan here? "Sir, if I may, what are you trying to do with all this? Even if Sonic gets that phone, it's not like he can call us for help."
"Miles prime, you're thinking too literally." The officer lightly scolded, making the fox blink. "If that large gem is able to chaos control any kind of object over to a place that's surrounded in chaotic corruption, that means it'll be able to break through and destroy it."
And what better way to try and disrupt a field of energy than by using- "-Chaotic electricity. That's why we need to chaos control a phone, a device that holds electricity!" The preteen mentally smacked himself in the face for not picking up on that sooner. For weeks, Scourge had both No Zone and Mobius prime underneath his foot all thanks to his power of hacking and corrupting energy through chaotic electricity. All they had to do is use that same kind of force against him.
The No Zone lieutenant general nodded his head. "Precisely," His tone sounded while dry, satisfied and almost relieved that the child understood what they needed to do. "And once that force field is down, either Sonic or Shadow prime should be able to find each other or escape if necessary-"
"We've got a problem over here!" Tails overheard Knuckles grunt. He turned over to see scarlet red energy sparking out throughout the large gem. It was even flashing red as well, as if the stone itself was becoming corrupted. Wind began to blow harshly and-Woah, was the damn ground shaking? Shit, that wasn't good-Oh. In the back of Tails' peripheral vision, he could see red flashing. He looked back at the laptop screen and saw that Zhadow seemed to be in distress as well. The room on his side of the video chat was constantly flashing red, and he could see scarlet sparks in the background as well. Uh oh, that really wasn't good..! "Tails, it's too much! They can't do it!"
No, they had to do it! It was the only way they could help Sonic and Shadow! Becoming desperate while panic flooded his mind, Tails frantically looked back at the laptop to see if the commander could give him any advice. However, he no longer saw him in view, and the entire room was glowing red with those sparks. He could even see the other monitors in the background going insane, static everywhere while some TV's just straight up died out with cracked screens. This was a chaotic reaction, a bad one. Tails squeezed his fingers into the portable computer with a clenching of teeth. "Damn it..!" He cursed. What could they do? They had no other way, and now they could lose the Master Emerald.
But...
Just as Tails was about to close his eyes to try and think of a way out of this, he felt extremely heavy footsteps walk from behind him. Slowly, Tails took his eyes away from the laptop screen and raised both them and his head upwards at the tall shadow covering his form. His pupils shook, it was the anti-Omega. "Y-You, you're active. You're online again." He nearly whispered.
"You look like you need assistance, so I shall aid you." The droid replied. It then moved it's head in the guardian's direction, and began to march forward near the now corrupting Master Emerald. "Dealing with corrupted chaotic energies can be extremely dangerous," It began to advise as it raised it's metallic hand. "Unless you have an outlet to disrupt it, and allow everything else to flow naturally." Cyan colored energy abruptly surrounded it's limb, and it planted it onto Knuckles' spiked glove against the large gem. The echidna's dreadlocks were flying all over the place from the harsh winds of the corrupted power, but through squinting eyes, he watched in astonishment as the robot's power began to surge throughout M.E.
That cyan color merged with red, and like acid, ate through it. Those red sparks died down, and the winds began to calm themselves. With Tails, he could see that the room Zhadow was residing in was no longer flashing red with those sparks either. No way, did the anti-Omega really safely disrupt it without any trouble? How? And how so easily? Tails frowned. Damn it, none of this felt right. The cyan glow on the emerald gently faded away along with the toxic red, and M.E was finally able to regain it's natural emerald color. Knuckles' dreadlocks settled down, and his purple eyes shut closed in relief. Tikal and Chaos' wavelengths were resonating again, nothing was out of control anymore. The robot took it's hand away, and turned it's head in Tails' direction. In other words, things should be good now.
With an uneasy swallow, Tails tried to speak to the commander even though he could no longer see him in the room. "S...Sir?" He softly called out. "Are you, are you still there?" He asked.
A black hand with rose onto the screen, and the camera shook a bit. With some grunting and panting, the camera readjusted once more and Tails could see the commander again. However, he was no longer in front of the monitors, he was a few feet away from it. But in the background, he could see that many of the screens shattered. Not to mention Zhadow looked a little winded as well. But then, the commander smirked and made a small but dark chuckle. He didn't even need to look up at the monitor to check and see, he knew for sure that it worked. He could feel it-
Tails' eyes lit up at M.E's glow.
-They did it.
The smart phone he had with him, was gone from his presence.
The anti-Omega stood there with an unknown aura. "In twenty nanoseconds, this energy will penetrate the skies above and reach beyond time and space. It is severing through to reach anti-Mobius." It took it's blunted clawed fingers off of the gem, and readjusted it's metallic wrist. Cyan embers dispersed from within, before spreading out into the open air. They drifted away, and burned out quickly. Both Knuckles and Tails caught this with dilating eyes. That was for sure chaos energy, but very selective beings besides Chaos Born could use it. Hell, despite how close the echidnas were to the emeralds, none of them could measure up to an actual Chaos Born.
So what the hell was this thing?
Or rather...
...Who?
Focus, breathe.
Focus...Breathe.
Focus...'Breathe...
Focus...
Focus...
...
...
...
'Come on Hyper...
I know you're in my head somewhere.
It takes a whole lot more than that to get you down, I know you're okay.
Come out already! I need your help! I need your power, I need energy! I have the seven emeralds with me, and they're still at full power thanks to you! My power isn't drained anymore, and I didn't touch the emeralds just in case we needed to use them as a backup. That time is now! Come on, give me your strength! Fuse with me!
Get me out of here!'
Lime green eyes snapped open as he felt something approaching. Something big, something huge, something powerful. Something-
"...!"
What the hell..?
In a flash of cyan light, the glow hovered in front of Sonic's face, illuminating the entire room in it's essence. It's aura was surging slowly, almost painfully, as if something was holding it back from releasing it's true power. That's when Sonic saw the scarlet red corruption fighting back against it. Whatever this power is was attempting to seep through the perverted force field of this castle and settle itself inside of this room right in front of him. Sonic didn't move, as he felt that if he did, he could perhaps cause some kind of chaotic reaction. Because that's what this power was, it was chaos energy without a doubt. However, who's was it? A blood red was Shadow's, scarlet red was Fleetway, blue was his own, royal blue was Zonic's...But, cyan? He didn't know anyone with that kind of color code.
God it even sounded like the energy was literally trying to tear through, Sonic could actually hear ripping sounds. That cyan aura was starting to bounce back, as the flow of it's essence was resonating faster. The corruption was weakening, the hero could both see and feel it himself. With an otherworldly sound of something ripping asunder, Sonic looked away quickly as that cyan aura brightened into a white light that engulfed the entire room, or perhaps even the castle itself. The corruption faded away into scarlet red embers, while the white light devoured it whole.
In seconds, the light faded away.
Sonic slowly opened his eyes once more to see that while everything looked exactly the same...
...He, felt different.
No, the entire room felt different. The atmosphere, his body, his head, hell the very oxygen he was breathing even felt better. The corruption, was it all gone? Sonic slowly stood up from the bed, and gradually turned his head towards the doors that led to the exit of the bedroom. Could he, open-
A thump.
With a blink, he looked down at his feet.
Holy-Was that a smart phone? Sonic tilted his head and bent down to pick it up in his glove. He looked over it, to see that there was still some corrupted energy lingering on it, but it was going away. Why the hell was this here? Did it even work-? No, wait. That cyan light, the flashes-Was that supposed to be an attempt of chaos control? Then again, that wasn't an attempt because it actually worked. Who the hell had the power to chaos control this here? Whenever Shadow chaos control, he always used the green emerald, and there would be a green flash or crimson red embers at least. Besides, he'd be able to feel his wavelength after the corruption got destroyed. No, this was someone else's idea, but who's? And how were they strong enough to cut through Scourge's defenses like this?
No matter, this was Sonic's chance.
All he'd have to do is regain all of his strength, and get the hell out of this room so he could find Shadow. He realized now that the phone wasn't the main idea here, but merely a catalyst that would help destroy the very thing that was keeping him away from finding his lover. He stashed the useless device in his quills, and exhaled deeply. No doubt Scourge would feel that his power was abruptly shut down, and he'd probably come storming into the room to secure Sonic's captivity. There was no time, he'd have to just run out, find a room to hide in and try and awake Hyper from there.
He grasped his glove and pulled it down to tighten it's fitting on his hand with a sharpened gaze, glaring at those doors.
Alright then, time to move.
Wow.
Never in his life, will he ever take food for granted again.
Food has never tasted so damn good before, sweet God in heaven. Shadow couldn't stop stuffing his face, having his energy restored never felt so damn satisfying before. He and Maria managed to find the kitchen at last, and didn't waste anytime snatching food. Or rather, Shadow didn't. Like Maria mentioned before, there were indeed others in this room, but they were all mind slaves of Scourge's. They didn't even know what was happening. Maria growled and kept the mindless bastards at bay by putting them in a chaos bind. She watched them with stubborn eyes with her arms crossed, while Shadow snatched as many meals and snacks as he could scarf down.
Now of course, the process of gaining energy through food wasn't instantaneous. However, eating so much at once would still force a faster process. Eat, chew, sallow. Eat, chew, swallow. Do it for Sonic, do it for Sonic, do it for Sonic. He couldn't stop until his stomach burst, and even then, he'd still have to keep going. As his jaw constantly moved up and down to chew, his muzzle paused it's movements for a brief second. Both he and Maria flinched, they felt something. Their heads immediately turned to a peculiar cabinet down below near the floor, underneath one of the sinks. What was that?
It's energy, it felt...Strange. Maria held up her hand, volunteering to investigate.
"Keep eating until you can't anymore." She instructed. Ha, giving him orders? He was honored. Shadow nodded quickly and kept eating. The young lady drifted to the other side of the room, and crouched down below the sink. Instead of trying to grasp the handle and open said cabinet, she just moved forward and phased her head right through. Her blue transparent irises moved back and forth, scanning the small area carefully. Hmm, she could feel that faint source of energy getting stronger, but she couldn't see anything. There was nothing in here besides regular cleaning products for the kitchen and-Wait, she squinted her eyes. The hell was that smell? It was rancid. She then began to cough and grit her teeth. Gross, what the hell was that? And how was it so repulsive that a spirit could smell it?
Her eyes widened when they finally landed on the strange visible aroma smoking from a certain object. Then she gasped, upon seeing an ancient unfinished plate of food. But, God, the contents of this plate were so old that it had long since molded and deteriorated long ago. Perhaps years. There were bite marks on it too. But, it was giving off a smell that she could see, why? No, this had to be aura of some kind. Was it chaos aura? And underneath that plate was something red. She carefully phased her hand through the cabinet doors, and slowly moved to grasp the red object underneath the plate. Her eyes shuddered again, she was able to touch it! Why? She should have phased through it.
She gripped the red object before pulling her face and arm out of underneath the sink. She held the object up, and examined it. It was some kind of old scarf. She raised a brow, a scarf? And that faint energy, she could feel it even more in this thing. This was the source of it? How and why? Before she could call to Shadow for assistance, she heard a small belch and instantly turned to the right. The red striped hedgehog looked her way with a rather sheepish expression as his hand covered his mouth. He mumbled a, "Pardon me, Maria," and plucked his muzzle of any crumbs. "What is that?" He asked as he stepped forward. Then, his eyes narrowed with a frown. "I can feel it, that strange power is in there."
That strange visible chaotic aroma was still drifting from this scarf, too. Maria tightened her grip on it as she tried to figure out just what this was. "There was old food in there, along with this scarf. Someone was eating in there, and for some reason, I'm able to hold and pick this up."
"Is it a spirit's? Do you think that's the ancient ancestor?"
"I'm not sure, it's energy is so cryptic that I can't really tell what it is at all, or who's energy it belongs to." She made a worried face. "It's not even evil, nor pure. It just feels, neutral."
Shadow tried to think, but of what? He had no idea what that scarf was, who it belonged to, or what it was even doing here. Could this had belonged to the old ancestor that they were searching for? And is that where the anti-Sonic hid him? Hey, but here's a better question. If their ancestor was hidden in this kitchen, why the hell was it so easy to access? And an even better question, why didn't either Sonic nor Shadow sense this strange energy the first time they were here when they raided the kitchen? Something felt fishy, very suspicious. But, they found it...Maybe? They still weren't sure, but something told Shadow that they should hang onto this.
Welp, he was full, he felt recharged and he was ready to move-
"Woah..!" Maria gasped as she felt the entire castle shake.
Shadow nearly lost his balance, and held onto a nearby island counter as he scowled and looked up at the ceiling. The chandelier from above was swinging back and forth, but there weren't any spirits around. What was happening? That's when his ear flicked at the sound of pained moaning and groaning. He looked over to where Maria bound the mindless Moebians, only to see that they were no longer under Scourge's spell. They were looking around, dazed and confused. And suddenly, it felt as if the air in the room felt a lot fresher.
Maria's eyes began to rattle as she stared at the scarf. "W-What the...?"
What was this writing on it's fabric? Was this chaotic corrupted code?
The scarlet one is vindictive and snake-like, they will betray their siblings in an instant. but they are also, above all else:
A liar.
What?
What the hell did that mean-
"S-Shadow...!" He heard Maria cry. He whipped his head towards her, only to see that she too was losing her balance despite her feet not touching the floor. She was being pulled in his direction. With the scarf in hand, she tried to plant her feet down so she wouldn't get sucked in.
The hedgehog held onto the counter tighter, as the castle was rattling even more. "Maria, what's wrong!?"
"S-Something happened," She spoke frantically. "Something caused a rift in the atmosphere!" The atmosphere? "The reaction is pulling me towards you, it's forcing me to fuse with you again!" Shadow flinched. What!? No! He needed her! He just got to see her again, he didn't want to separate from her now! No, he refused to let that happen! That scarf that Maria was holding onto, began to morph into her palm. She looked down at it with bewildered eyes, it was fusing into her! Before she knew it, that scarf had phased through her body, never to be seen again. She gasped in pain, grasping her stomach and hunching over while still trying to keep her feet planted.
"Maria!" Shadow yelled for her.
Steadily, she lifted her arms away from her abdomen.
There was no use fighting it, it was time.
It was...Nice while it lasted.
The blonde girl made a sad smile, before slowly looking up to meet the hedgehog's ruby gaze. Her voluminous hair violently blew was her body gradually kept unwillingly moving towards Shadow. This was it, this was goodbye. Whatever this force was that was bringing them together, and whatever reaction that caused it, must have been some kind of twist of fate. She should have known this wouldn't have lasted long. After all, she was dead, and the dead couldn't come back. No matter how hard you tried. Her smile brightened considerably, and she fully turned to Shadow while extending her arms. Tears twinkled in in the corners of her eyes as they became amber, a beautiful golden aura surrounding her delicate figure as her hair raised.
Shadow began to slowly shake his head, while attempting to back away without losing his balance. "N-No," He stammered. "No!" He hollered. "I'm not losing you again!"
"Silly," She chuckled. "I'll still be with you, just like before. I never left, and I won't leave you now."
"That's not the point!" He growled while slamming his fist down. "Y-You," He clenched his teeth. "You were here, with me! Talking to me! Being with me again," He furrowed his brows and looked down while fighting off the tears that threatened to appear. "Maria," He whispered. "I love you. You were my everything." His body trembled. "What am I supposed to do without you here with me, by my side? You made me move forward, you didn't let me fall into despair. It doesn't matter that you're always with me if I can never speak or talk to you again. I...I just want you to come back."
Maria smirked. "I was your everything."
"...What?"
"Shadow," She said gently. "You moved on. I may be your power, but you never needed me to be strong enough to walk away. You fought the Final Hazard, you destroyed Black Doom, you turned away from your past all on your own. Sure you had help, and a little extra push from Sonic, but ultimately, you were in control. You're the one who chose to be better. Not me, not Sonic, not grandfather, but you." She stepped closer. "You found happiness, you found love, you became someone that you were actually proud of." She momentarily wiped her eyes as tears dropped into embers. She grinned. "Don't you get it, dummy? You've already got someone else to be there for you! And you have no one but yourself to blame for it. And I'm so proud of you." She made a fist and pumped it in the air with a more confident expression. "Besides, I'll still be there to root for you both every step of the way, so what are you upset for? This is great! You'll finally have your power back, you'll be able to fight Scourge side by side!" She spread out her arms again. "So come on,"
Tears dripped from his tan muzzle.
"Let's do this, together. Let's save Sonic together! Get over here," She tilted her head as it pulled her even closer. "Give me a hug before I go."
He sniffed, and bolted from the counter to rush up and tackle the human girl with a strong hug. Though she was a spirit, and though she was supposed to be incorporeal, they were able to embrace perfectly. He felt her warmth, her pure essence, and most importantly-
"Maria..."
Her love.
She wrapped her soft arms around him and nuzzled her face against his head while giggling. Her tears still fell, but they were out of joy. He hid his face against her chest, feeling her aura wrap around him and surge through his body once more. "I love you, you big ol' dummy."
He stiffened, and squeezed his eyes shut even tighter. "I...Love you, too."
A golden light filled the entire room.
"And remember," She whispered.
"...?"
"I'll still be here, I never left. I'm a part of you, and I love being you."
"..."
Sayonara...
...For now.
END - 50
I wonder how Sonic's doing...
...And for that matter, I wonder how Scourge is doing.