Chapter 26
Saya messages Sophia and waits outside for her. The moon was almost full, it illuminated the entire mountainside and there were little clouds to block the light. She could feel her heart beating rapidly as she heard footsteps behind her. "Hey, your message sounded urgent, is everything alright?" Sophia said, Saya turns towards her holding up her phone as she puts it away in her back pocket. Saya takes a deep breath trying to calm down while not giving into her desire to run away as fast as she can.
"C… Come with me!" Saya said taking Sophia's hand and helping pull her over the wall,
"Where are we going?" Sophia asked sounding suspicious,
"I want to show you something and before you freak out I have my tracking device already." Saya said patting her jackets left pocket with a smile as Sophia lets out a sigh,
"Fine but make it quick it's been a long day and I'd like to get some rest." Sophia said as she follows Saya up to the cliffside, it was blanketed with wildflowers that reflected the glow of the moonlight.
"I… Isn't it beautiful?" Saya said with a smile, then quickly lets go of Sophia's hand before she could feel her shaking. "I… I think it's even prettier at nighttime, it's almost like the flowers are glowing."
"Yeah, it's really nice." Sophia said with a smile. "Is everything okay? You seem off." Saya leans down and picks a flower as she smells it trying to relax. This was more frightening than any enemy she's ever faced.
"I… I've never done this before… honestly I'm still debating jumping off the cliff…" Saya said as Sophia looks at her shocked,
"Did you hit your head or something? Why the hell would you jump off a cliff?" Sophia said crossing her arms, Saya couldn't help but chuckle at how serious she was being.
"Because that's not as scary as saying something you're afraid to say…" Saya said trying to calm hear heart racing again. It felt like her heart was going to burst through her chest.
"Alright, spit it out, we don't have time for this!" Sophia said looking annoyed as Saya holds out the flower towards Sophia with her head down afraid to make eye contact with her,
"Sophia… I… I'm in love with you!"
Alan and Kolt walk into the lounge to see Caroline and Brandy reading a book as they look up to see them, "What are you reading?" Alan asked as he hands Kolt a bottle of water,
"Fantasy mystery," Caroline said,
"Any good?" Kolt asked,
"The main character just realized the one she was looking for was next to her this entire time." Brandy said, "It's a bit anticlimactic."
"Is TK still in the workshop?" Alan asked as they both nod,
"She's been working too hard again; she should really take a break." Kolt said with a sigh,
"Says the one who spends all his free time guarding an Emerald that doesn't need to be guarded." Brandy teased,
"Hey! Eggman tried to take it once before, I'm not taking any chances." Kolt defended,
"Yeah, but he doesn't know where we are now, and it's under a mountain." Caroline said,
"She does have a point," Alan said,
"I don't need you all ganging up on me for doing my job." Kolt crosses his arms, "Besides… I've been feeling a bit unsettled the last few days and being near the Master Emerald relaxes me."
"How come?" Caroline asked,
"Not sure, it's just a feeling I have, like that feeling of the calm before the storm?" Kolt tried to explain as he ponders,
"Your intuition might be correct, I've also been feeling a little unsettled," Brandy said,
"Really?" Caroline asked as Brandy nods,
"I thought it was because of the recent Thunderstorms…" Brandy said, looking a little embarrassed talking about her phobia, "But now that you say that you feel the same Kolt I don't think it's a coincidence."
"I don't like the sound of that…" Alan said crossing his arms,
"Should we keep an eye on Saya?" Caroline asked,
"We should always keep an eye on Saya…" Kolt lets out a light chuckle as he looks around realizing she wasn't there. "Speaking of Saya, where is she?"
"She told us she was turning in early for the evening." Brandy said, "She's been overdoing it with training everyone the last few days."
"We should give her a break," Alan said feeling he might have overdone it with their sparring earlier as they all nod,
"Good, most of you are here." Sophia rushes in as they all looked surprised to see her,
"I thought you would have gone straight to bed." Kolt said,
"I was planning on it after I had some food, but I learned something that I needed you all to hear… at least most of you…" She said as she searches her pockets, "Has anyone seen my cell phone? I thought I left it on the kitchen table…"
Saya stood there with her eyes closed as she trembled, half expecting to be turned down immediately, yelled at, and then either get hit or thrown off the cliff… but nothing happened. She hesitantly opens her eyes as Sophia is looking away, "S… Soph?" Saya called out as she turns back to her,
"Sorry you just took me off guard…The truth is… I feel the same way…" Sophia said looking embarrassed,
"Really?" Saya brightly smiles as she watches Sophia grab the flower from Saya with her right hand. Saya instantly spots the familiar green glimmer from Sophia's Chaos Emerald bracelet as a chill runs down the back of her spine.
"Yeah… To be honest I didn't know if I would be brave enough to tell you." Sophia lightly chuckles as Saya stares at Sophia's wrists.
"Y…your bracelet looks nice on your right arm; I like it better." Saya said,
"Huh? Oh yeah, I thought I'd try something different." Sophia shrugged. Saya's heart sinks as she slowly takes a step back, "Is everything alright?" She tilts her head,
"Who are you?" Saya said,
"What are you talking about? It's me." Sophia said looking confused and insulted,
"If you were really Sophia, you'd know that we can't take these off. It's always been on her left wrist." Saya holds up her bracelet. Sophia pauses for a second looking taken off guard before starting to chuckle as one of the clouds darkens the cliffside for a moment. Within the shadow, Sophia's form changes into a taller alien creature that Saya did not recognize but his appearance reminded her vaguely of Shadow.
"Very observant! I thought my glamor was flawless." Saya hears a deeper voice as he continues to laugh and looked at her with his red glowing eyes, "Hello Saya… or is it Sonic? That still confuses me." He shrugs,
"Who are you? Why were you pretending to be Sophia?" Saya said looking angry,
"My name is Abyss, General of the Dark Arms under the rule of Black Doom" He said with an extravagant bow,
"The Dark Arms… then…" The realization hits her, "What did you do with Sophia?" Saya said getting ready to fight as she reaches in her pocket.
At the same time, Sophia explains to the others about her blood and that the Dark Arms exist in this world. "Wait… so you're saying that those evil aliens who wanted to enslave humanity as food are still around? I thought you wiped them out?" Kolt asked,
"So did I, but apparently a Genesis wave went and rewrote the cosmos again bringing them back." Sophia said pausing for a moment lowering her head, "That's not the worse part…"
"There's a worse part to man eating aliens?" Alan said,
"The Dark Arms have a psychic link that their leader Black Doom uses to give his soldiers orders… One of them has been using that link to get into my head…" Sophia turned her head avoiding eye contact.
"What?" Caroline said looking shocked,
"Damnit Sophia, why didn't you tell us sooner?" Kolt said angrily,
"A part of me didn't want it to be true… I thought it was stress." She said grabbing her head,
"Still, you should have told us. We're a team remember?" Brandy said,
"I know… Guess the old me thought I could handle it until I knew for sure. That's why I'm telling you now… Now that we know there is Dark Arms blood inside me, I'm vulnerable to Black Doom's mind control. If that happens…" She pauses knowing they are not going to like what she says, "I need you to kill me." Sophia said looking back at them.
"What?" Caroline said as they all look at her in complete shock,
"Absolutely not!" Kolt yelled,
"You don't understand, I don't know if I'll be strong enough to break free if he takes control… And right now I haven't fully become the Ultimate lifeform so I can be killed."
"Sophia… this is insane! You can't ask us to do that." Alan said,
"I have to! We're running out of time; I have no clue how much info they have already stolen from me. For all we know they could be on their way here." Sophia argued, "This is to keep the world safe; I refuse to be used as a puppet again."
"TK might be able to find a way to help." Caroline said,
"She could try but in case she can't, or we run out of time I need you to promise me." She grips Kolt by the collar of his shirt, "If they take over, consider me dead and shoot whatever ship they have out of the sky."
"I refuse to do that!" Kolt said pushing her hand off his shirt, "No matter what we're not going to give up just because you have."
"This is worst case scenario Kolt, there's a chance it won't happen… just if it does," Sophia argued,
"I don't care! I won't condemn you." He yelled,
TK was finishing up in the workshop as she locks up the Inhibitor rings and leaves to head to bed. She looked at her phone wondering how it was going for Saya and if everything went smoothly. She stretches opening the door and starts to walk towards the hallway as she hears a strange noise coming from the side. She turns her head towards the noise and sees creatures begin emerging from the cliff opening in the Hanger bay. "We got a problem!" She yells, running towards the hallway as they begin charging towards her.
"Guys stop… Something's wrong…" Caroline got all of their attention as they stop arguing, "I think I just heard TK yell something…" She tries to focus,
"What's she saying?" Alan said as Brandy quickly shushes him,
"She's yelling… We're… We're under attack!" She said, looking worried.
"To the Hangar bay now!" Sophia said as they all transform and run towards the hangar bay.
"Oh, I haven't touched Sophia. I came here to talk to you." Abyss said with a sharp toothed grin. Saya takes a step back as she realizes the distress beacon and her phone were no longer in her pockets. "Are you looking for these?" He holds them out in his hands along with Sophia's phone, "I didn't want us disturbed while we chat." He tosses them aside into the dark.
"Chat huh?" Saya said crossing her arms, trying to scan where her phone landed but the flowers obscured the ground. "Well I don't feel like chatting with a creep who disguised himself as my friend."
"But Sophia and I are practically family! Besides, didn't you just confess your feelings to me?" He continues to grin. Saya's face turns red with anger almost to the point of tears feeling frustrated, he stole her confession that took her days to finally muster up the courage to do.
"I'm going to beat the crap out of you just for that comment, Chaos Control!" She transforms, as his expression changes to surprise,
"You can use Chaos Control? Interesting." He said. Sonic runs up and kicks him as he blocks. "And you're fast! What are you?" She jumps back.
"I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, fastest thing alive and Earth is closed to Aliens!" She said running behind him and kicking him in the back. "Now leave this planet before I make you leave!"
"Oh, I'll leave," He gets back to his feet and rushes in front of her face, "If you'll come with me." Sonic back handsprings kicking him in the chin making him fall back as she creates more distance between them. She doesn't know why he wanted her to go with him, but it was definitely bad news.
"Sorry bud, in case you didn't notice, you're not my type." She said trying to search for her phone in the dark grass, she needed to alert the others but didn't want to run off worried he'll use that glamor trick again to go back into hiding. Abyss stands back up rubbing his jaw,
"You're making this more difficult," He said starting to look annoyed at her resistance,
"Ha! You really don't know me then; I always make things difficult." Sonic taunts.
"Then we'll need to slow you down." He said as he throws something at the ground in front of her feet creating a cloud of smoke in Sonic's face, she coughs for a moment then covers her mouth.
"Man that stinks." She makes a disgusted face, as he looks shocked,
"You should be paralyzed…" Abyss said,
"What? because of your weird smoke? News flash! My speed literally burns energy faster than your poison could affect me." Sonic said running up in the air and striking down on his head,
The others get to the hangar bay where multiple soldiers are engaging with the Dark Arms. One of them dragging TK towards the edge of the hangar bay outer door. "TK!" Shadow yelled as she warps over and strikes the Alien away from her. She picks up TK and runs her back over to the others.
"Is she okay?" Cream asked as Shadow hands her to Cream,
"It looks like they clawed her, their claws have a paralyzing poison. I'll make sure they don't grab anyone else; you all try to stay together and defend the door to make sure more don't get inside the base." Shadow said,
"Wait!" Knuckles tries to stop her but she's already charging at more Dark Arms,
"Cream, give me TK, I'll take her to Dr Q," Amy said holding his hands out, "I'll try to grab Saya on my way back." He said as they nod. He takes TK and runs out of the hangar bay quickly heading to the infirmary,
"Amy, what's going on?" Elias said,
"Aliens are attacking through the hangar bay, TK was paralyzed. I'm taking her to Dr Q." He explained,
"Where are the others?" Sally asked,
"Everyone is already there except for Saya, Shadow is trying to push the Dark Arms out while the rest keep any from trying to get inside," he explained,
"We'll set up a second barricade just in case any get past. Get TK to safety and grab Saya as fast as you can." Elias said as Amy nods running past them.
"Did he say Dark Arms?" Sally asked,
"That's what I heard." Elias said,
"Isn't the Dark Arms the name of the Alien species Sophia explained to us that Shadow was created from?" Sally asked,
"We can ask her about it later. I'm sick of aliens invading our planet." He said as they head to the hangar bay.
Sonic continued to fight with Abyss, but she was starting to notice she was slowing down. That smoke he threw at her affected her more than she was willing to admit but she needed to push through and get rid of this guy. "Had enough yet?" She asked as Abyss laughs,
"You use humor and quips to distract your opponent. But I can tell, you're slowing down." Abyss said,
"Don't need my full speed to beat you." She joked as she runs behind him and roundhouse kicks him only for him to turn and grabbed her by the leg and throw her across the bed of flowers.
"I am impressed that you've fought through the nerve gas. But now that I've slowed you down, I'll ask you again to come with me willingly." Abyss said,
"In your dreams creep! I don't really feel like being abducted by aliens again…" Sonic said with heavy breath. She stands back up and winces in pain as she sees he scratched her leg. Her vision blurs for a moment as she shakes it off. Her body was starting to feel heavy.
"Still you fight?" Abyss said looking partially shocked and annoyed, "Our claws are even poisonous and yet you can still stand?"
"I'm… stubborn like that…" She said.
Shadow strikes down two more Dark arms as they attempt to climb into the base. She knew at some point that they would get overrun if they didn't force them back and get the door shut. "Shadow, we need a hand!" Knuckles called out punching one of the Dark arms away from the door. They were starting to get surrounded,
"Try to hold them off while I get the soldiers in the hallway." Shadow said,
"What's your plan?" Blaze asked blasting one away from Cream,
"I'm going to blast them all away, but I need people out, so I don't have to worry about hitting anyone." She said grabbing two of the soldiers and quickly moving them closer to the door,
"You heard the lady, get out of here." Knuckles yelled and they all nod and start leaving. Cream kicks one of the Dark Arms away from Knuckles. At the same moment one of the flying Dark Arms tries to grab her as Hope flies in and strikes it away.
"Hope?" Cream looked surprised,
"Chao!"
"But it's dangerous! You could get hurt!" Cream said as she kicks down another one.
"Chao!"
"Alright but stay close." She said as Hope nods to her and they all continue to defend the entrance.
Amy rushes into the infirmary as he lays TK on the bed, Dr. Q rushes over and sees TK's arm cut. "I heard there's a commotion, what's going on?" Dr Q asked,
"The Dark Arms are attacking… TK was knocked out with some sort of poison in their claws and the others are defending the hangar bay." He explained,
"The Dark Arms? Are you sure?" She said looking shocked,
"Shadow's pretty sure, I gotta go find Saya." Amy said about to run out,
"Wait, Saya's not with you?" She looked concerned,
"No she went to bed a while ago." He said running out.
"Be careful!" Dr. Q called out to him as she began looking over TK who was still unconscious. Amy quickly turns the corner and runs down the hall as fast as he can. He gets in front of Saya's door and bursts into her room.
"Saya, we got trouble…" But as he stands there catching his breath all he sees is an empty bed. "You have got to be kidding me…" He quickly runs back towards the Hangar bay yelling for Saya and hitting the alarm on the wall to hopefully get her attention.
Sonic knew she couldn't hold out much longer, she needed to get away from this guy before whatever poison going through her body has a chance to give him any more of an advantage. She glances towards the base. If she could just get there and warn the others before he has a chance to slink back into the shadows...
"Thinking about running away?" Abyss said,
"Maybe? Running is what I do best." Sonic said still breathing heavily. Both of them stood there waiting for the other to make a move. She's taken off guard by the sound of the alarms going off as she turns her head towards HQ, "No!" She said turning back towards Abyss, "What did you…" He was no longer there, "Do?" She looks around not able to see him, though she could still feel that he was somewhere nearby. But she didn't have time for that, she needed to get back and make sure the others were okay. Before she could react to his presence, Abyss appears behind her and grabs her by the waist lifting her off the ground. "Hey!" She cried out as he covers her mouth.
"Finally, that was more of a challenge than I expected it to be. I'm impressed that a mere human could hold their own against me for that long." Abyss said as she desperately tried to pull his arms away, but he was much stronger than her, and the poison weakened her enough to prevent her from breaking free of his grapple. Only able to let out muffled protests. "But we have run out of time and my distraction will only last so long with Sophia there." He lets out a heavy sigh, watching Sonic continue to fight, her legs kicking around frantically trying to break free.
"Such a stubborn little creature... I didn't want to do this, but I need to be sure we get back to our ship without you causing an incident." He uses his grip on her face to tilt her head slightly and opens his mouth showing his sharp teeth biting down on Sonic's shoulder. She lets out a muffled scream feeling the venom from his fangs enter her veins. It felt like the bite wound was on fire and the pain rapidly spread through her entire body. The burning pain became a numbing sensation as her arms slump down and her legs stop moving, she was paralyzed. Sonic lets out a final panicked whimper before her vision starts to tunnel and loose consciousness. He removes his hand from her mouth and lifts her up, carrying her motionless form in both arms. "Now then, let's wait for Sophia on our ship."
Shadow finally gets the last soldier out of the hangar bay as the others look around just to make sure, "Alright Shadow that's all of them." Knuckles said,
"Good, now the rest of you get in the hallway and I'll blast them out." Shadow said. Her entire body begins to glow as she charges a Chaos Blast.
"Please be careful!" Cream said as they run inside and Blaze shuts the door behind them,
"Chaos… Blast!" She casts out a wave of raw chaos energy that either destroys any nearby Dark Arms or knocks them out of the Hangar bay door. She then rushed to close the Hangar bay outer door before anymore Dark Arms could get in and catches her breath for a moment as the others open the door.
"Are you okay Shadow?" Blaze asked,
"Just a little tired," Shadow said walking into the hallway with them,
"We did it!" one of the soldiers cheered for Shadow as she slightly smiles,
"We still need to be on high alert," Elias said as all of the other agents not and get back to work, "Nice work Shadow," Shadow nods,
"That was a close one." Knuckles said crossing his arms, "Where the heck are Sonic and Amy?"
"You don't think some of the Dark Arms got in do you?" Caroline asked,
"Chao!" Hope points down the hall as they see Amy running as fast as he could towards them.
"About time you showed up. Where's Sonic?" Knuckles said as he quickly catches his breath. Shadow began to feel the scratching inside her mind causing her to grab her head.
"Shadow? Are you alright?" Cream asked noticing her struggling,
"Saya's… gone… She wasn't… in her room…" Alan said catching his breath.
"What do you mean gone?" Elias said,
"I'll go check her tracking device." Sally said running towards the computer room.
"Hello Sophia, but I guess right now it's Shadow," She heard Abyss' voice in her head, "Did you like my little surprise?"
"Get out of my head…" Shadow said out loud,
"Is it that Psychic link she mentioned before?" Amy asked as Knuckles nods,
"Shadow try to block it out. Don't listen to it." Knuckles said trying to distract her from it,
"I warned you, didn't I? That I'd take your world if I had to? She put up quite the fight." His laughter echoed through her head. She freezes, her face goes pale as she realizes he wasn't talking about earth when he said that… Even if she hadn't say it out loud Abyss figured out that Saya meant the world to her.
"What did you do to her?" Shadow said, her body trembling with rage as they all look at one another,
"You don't think they took Saya do you?" Blaze asked as Cream looks concerned,
"She's safe, for now… Come to our ship. That is if you want her back in one piece." He said as the scratching pain fades and she lets go of her head,
"You okay Shadow?" Knuckles asked as she clenches both hands into fists.
"No… The Dark Arms took Saya… and they want me to go to their ship." Shadow said slamming her fist into the wall. "Damnit!"
"Let's see if Sally can track her," Elias said. They all quickly run to the computer room to see if Sally found the location of Saya's tracking devise.
"Sally, can you find it?" Elias asked as they all run in and look at the large computer screen, she looks at them with a confused look,
"It says she's outside the fence by the cliffside," She said,
"Wait, the flower bed?" Alan looked confused,
"We should go check it out." Shadow said,
"Bring flashlights, it's still pretty dark out there." Elias said tossing her a flashlight, "We'll make sure the rest of the base is secure."
"Right, we should all stick together just in case anymore Dark Arms are hiding around" Knuckles said as they nod,
"Sally… you need to try figuring out how we can go to space." Shadow said, "We're going to need to get up there as soon as possible."
"W…what?" She asked looking confused,
"I'll explain later, just do what she asks for now." Elias said as she starts getting to work.
They all head outside and jump the wall walking towards the cliff side. "Why would her tracker be out here?" Blaze asked as the get to the field of flowers,
"Oh wow it's beautiful!" Cream couldn't help but say as Knuckles points his light at an area where it looks like a part of the flowers were destroyed,
"There definitely was a fight up here." He said,
"I found the tracker and Saya's phone." Amy said,
"Uh, Shadow?" Blaze kneels down and picks something up, "Why is your phone out here?"
"What?" Shadow walks over and grabs it, "That doesn't make any sense. How did it get out here… unless…" She starts thinking back to when she was in the kitchen talking to Dr. Q and felt the scratching in her head, "He must have grabbed it when I was distracted…"
"He?" Cream asked,
"Abyss, he works for Black Doom." She said, "He's the one who keeps getting into my head." She starts opening her phone. And reads her last message that was from Saya,
Saya Hey, could you meet me outside? I need to talk to you.
The message said seen at 9:52, She was walking around looking for the others at that time. "Why did she want to talk out here?" Shadow asked out loud looking confused,
"Who? Saya?" Knuckles asked,
"Yeah, she asked me to meet her out here, it says she needed to talk to me." Shadow closes her phone and places it in her pocket.
"This is strange…" Amy said,
"Guys… I… I found blood…" Cream said shakily, they all walk over to her as Shadow starts inspecting it,
"It's Saya's…" She said as Cream grabs onto Blaze terrified,
"How can you be sure?" Blaze asked,
"Dark Arms blood is a blackish purple." Shadow said,
"Oh…" Cream said sounding disgusted.
"But why take Saya? Aren't they after you?" Knuckles asked as she looks away,
"They took her because of me…" She said,
"What does that mean?" He asked,
"Abyss has been trying to invade my thoughts… he figured out…" Shadows ears lower as she didn't want to say it,
"Figured out what Shadow?" Knuckles grabs the collar of her coat, "If she's in danger because of you we have a right to know why." He yelled.
"Because he knows I'm… in love with her…" Shadow said, Knuckles lets go of her quickly as they all looked at her shocked,
"W… What?" Knuckles asked,
"Oh Shadow…" Cream said looking at her proudly,
"Maybe not the best time Cream." Blaze said patting her head,
"But she's accepted her feelings!" She smiles,
"How's it feel to be the last one to figure it out Knuckles," Amy teased,
"Wait… you all knew?" Knuckles asked looking flustered,
"What?" Shadow's face turns red to hearing that.
"We all figured it out before you did." Cream said sounding guilty, Shadow shakes her head trying to focus,
"Now's not the time to be talking about this!" Shadow said crossing her arms, "We should check and see how TK's feeling, we're going to need her help." She changes the subject,
"What, building a rocket?" Knuckles asked,
"No, you're all going to need some way to breathe on the Dark Arm's ship. It's full of their nerve gas and will paralyze you after some time." She explains,
"Will Saya be okay up there?" Cream asked,
"Luckily Saya's speed should be able to help her burn off the nerve gas but that will only work for so long…" Shadow said as they all head back inside towards the infirmary.
They quickly get to the infirmary room where TK was sitting on the cot as Dr Q was taking her blood pressure, "Hey guys, thanks for the save back there. For a minuet I thought I was a goner." TK said with a tired chuckle as she notices all of their faces, "What's going on?"
"The Dark Arms took Saya…" Alan said,
"What? How?" TK said standing up,
"Don't move too quickly the poison is still in your system," Dr Q said,
"She told me she was waiting outside for you, why weren't you with her?" TK yelled at Sophia,
"Because Abyss intercepted the message and lured her out there…" She said,
"Who's Abyss… It wasn't supposed to be like this…This is so wrong!" TK said as she staggers, and Dr Q helps her back on the bed.
"Rest, you're not going to help anyone like this," Dr. Q said,
"Everyone to the computer room, now!" They hear Elias over the intercom,
"Here, let me help you TK." Kolt said,
"Thanks." She said as they all head to the computer room,
"What is it?" Brandy asked,
"Have a look at this," He points to a camera recording pointing at the entrance of the kitchen, "We were attempting to figure out a timeline for how long Saya was gone when we stumbled on this." He plays the video as they see Sophia enter the kitchen followed by Dr Q a few moments later and then Sophia walks in again,
"What the heck?" Alan said as they all looked shocked, "How are there two Sophia's?"
"One Sophia is plenty." Kolt said crossing his arms,
"But… I never saw," Sophia tries to think back as she remembers feeling that scratching in the back of her head when she was talking to Dr Q as if a static on her vision fades and she remembers seeing her double, grab her phone off the table and walk out, "He… altered my vison…" she said looking shocked, "He made me think I didn't see anything…"
"Wait… he can do that?" Cream asked,
"Black Doom was able to alter my memories when I was vulnerable with amnesia." Sophia said rubbing her temples, "It shouldn't surprise me that he can change my perception…"
"Sophia, I need all the information on the Dark Arms that you can give. If they have this much influence over you, we need to be cautious." Elias said,
"Before I do that, TK, can you make breathing apparatuses for everyone plus Saya?" Sophia asked, "The Dark Arms ship is full of nerve gas similar to the poison that paralyzed you earlier."
"I'll start working on it right away! Alan, could you help me to my workshop?" She asked as he nods to her,
"I got you." He said as they leave,
"No one is allowed to go off on their own." Elias said as they all nod as Sophia starts telling them everything she knows about the Dark Arms.
Saya slowly comes to, her entire body felt like pins and needles as if everything had been asleep for a long time. Her vision comes back as she tries to look around barely able to move her head, the ground was a red earthy color and the walls seemed to be covered in a strange fleshy material. She looks down at her feet to see that same fleshy material was tightly wrapped around her legs up to her knees. She tries to move as she glances up to see her arms restrained above her wrapped to her elbows. "Oh… gross!" She said starting to struggle but the moment she starts to breathe heavy her chest starts to burn as it felt like there wasn't enough air. She began to panic as she had trouble breathing.
"Slow breaths my dear," Abyss walks up to her, "Your weak human body has not adjusted to our ships atmosphere yet,"
"You…" Saya said trying to breathe, "When I… get…" She starts coughing,
"You need to calm down or you'll pass out again." He said lifting her head trying to make it easier for her to breathe, "Though your tenacity continues to impress me."
"Jerk…" She said as he laughs,
"I like you, perhaps we'll keep you. I hear your kind likes to keep pets." He said as she looks at him with disgust,
"My… friends…" She struggles to talk, "Will stop… you…"
"Oh, yes and we'll be waiting for them to arrive. But you should save your strength. You're not leaving any time soon." Abyss said. She had reached her limit as her vision blurred and she loses consciousness.
TK quickly started to work on creating breathing devices that wouldn't inhibit their ability to fight. Alan helped her in any way he could noticing the worry on her face for Saya. "So… you knew that Saya messaged Sophia?" Alan asked,
"I helped Saya plan it… She was going to tell Sophia how she felt." She looks over at Alan remembering who he used to be, "Sorry… Hearing that must have been hard…"
"I knew how she felt…" Alan said looking a little sad, he always knew how Saya felt but hearing it out loud was still hard.
"Still… that was insensitive of me," she said stopping for a moment,
"I've gotten over it, besides, you missed Sophia telling us how she feels back." Alan said,
"Wait Sophia confessed?" TK looks surprised,
"Yeah, she explained that's why Abyss took Saya." Alan said,
"He's using her as bait to lure Sophia to the ship… but why go to all the trouble? Why not just take Sophia?" TK asked a s she's typing on her computer,
"Because I'm immune to their poison. Saya isn't. It's a lot easier to take someone who can't fight back." Sophia said walking in with Caroline, "The Dark Arms will use any underhanded way to get what they want."
"That makes sense…" TK said thinking,
"Are you feeling any better?" Caroline asked,
"Yeah, sorry I yelled at you earlier." TK said to Sophia,
"I'm glad someone did… I'd rather get hit then have to deal with the guilt I'm feeling right now…" She said with a sigh, "Elias wanted to make sure that you had all the info you needed to create the breathers."
"I think this should work, but I need some way to test it before I start building more of them." TK said,
"I can ask Elias if they have any gas we can test." She said
"Thanks Sophia," TK said getting back to work as Sophia leaves with Caroline,
Kolt goes into the Alter room with Brandy to talk to Tikal and see if she can help them pinpoint where Saya is. "Tikal?" Kolt called out as she appears.
"Yes Knuckles?" She asked,
"Would you be able to help searching for Saya?" He asked,
"Now that you have all been in close proximity for such a long time, I have a better connection to the Chaos Emeralds, please give me a bit to pinpoint her location." She said disappearing.
"You doing alright Kolt?" Brandy asked noticing him looking a little distant,
"I just feel a little… oblivious…"
"About Saya and Sophia?" She asked as he nods, "You shouldn't feel bad for not noticing. We've been around them even before we got the Chaos Emeralds. And Alan's just special." She rolls her eyes,
"I guess that's fair… Just feel a little bad for snapping at Sophia." Kolt said,
"You're worried about Saya too. Something we're all bad at is lashing out when were angry…" She said looking down remembering when she yelled as Saya.
"Yeah… We should try to fix that…" He chuckles,
"We're all beyond too stubborn to manage that," she chuckles as well.
"How long do you think it'll be before we have a ship to get up there?" He asked,
"Knowing Elias, as soon as possible. He's probably freaking out about telling Saya's parents." Brandy said,
"Crap… Yeah, they are not going to like hearing about this…" He said, "Her dad scares me…"
"Her dad would fight the moon if it meant keeping her safe." Brandy shakes her head,
"So that's where Saya gets it from." He chuckles, Brandy looks over at the fountain.
"We should try and collect as many rings as possible before we head up there." She said,
"Good idea, we'll come back and grab them after we let Elias know Tikal is attempting to help." Kolt said as they leave and head back to the computer room as Elias and Sally are on the phones.
"I can get a space craft from area 51 but not till tomorrow evening. That's the earliest they can get it here." Sally said getting off the phone,
"Do it, that should give TK enough time to give them a way to breathe up there." Elias said as Sophia and Cream walk in.
"TK needs a way to test the breathing apparatus." Sophia said,
"I'll see if I can get someone to take her some tear gas." Elias said dialing the phone, "Kolt, can Tikal help us?" He asked,
"Yeah, she said she just needs time, but she believes she'll be able to find her." Kolt explained as Elias lets out a light sigh,
"Okay… we can do this." Elias said trying to reassure himself as he begins talking over the phone.
"How are you doing Sophia?" Sally asked,
"Not great but I'm holding in there." She said,
"Is there a way we can prevent the Dark Arms from getting into your head?" Sally asked,
"If there is, I never came across it. But I do remember that Black Doom used one type of Dark Arms that looks like a floating star fish it was an outstretch of his psychic link. If we keep those away, I should be able to fight them off."
"But there's no guarantee…" Brandy said as Sophia shakes her head.
"The deeper within the Dark Arms ship, the stronger the link." She said,
"I'd say that you shouldn't come… but I know you wouldn't allow that, and they may hurt Saya if you don't show up…" Kolt said as they all look at one another concerned,
"There's no way I'm sitting on the sidelines, this is my fault and I need to fix it. I don't have a problem wiping out my entire species again if that means getting Saya back." Sophia said clenching her fist.
Saya starts to wake up again, slightly hoping the situation she woke up to earlier wasn't real. But unfortunately, she was still trapped, and it continued to be hard to breath but not as bad as it was before. She didn't even know how much time has passed. She looks over at her right shoulder at the bite, the venom caused the veins around the bite looked black and sickly still dripping blood and it was healing slower than usual. She could only assume that her Chaos Emerald isn't charging but she couldn't see it to be sure.
"Okay… just gotta… stay calm." She takes a slow deep breath; her body didn't feel as numb and stiff as it did before. She jumped the gun last time when she tried to escape from Eggman. That only made her situation worse. She had to try and be patient, and she knew she wasn't particularly good at that. But if she could gather enough strength and focus on healing, she may be able to break free. "Just need to focus…"
"Are you alright?" She heard Tikal's voice echo in her head as Saya looks around confused,
"Tikal?" She whispered.
"Yes it's me. I'm attempting to find you, but the ship's layout is giving off a strange energy and I'm having trouble pinpointing your location." Tikal said,
"Anyway I can help?" Saya asked looking around trying to make sure she was alone,
"Yes, if you could induce Chaos Control like you did before I should be able to find you." Tikal said,
"I don't know if my Chaos Emerald is charging… If I lose any more energy I can't hear… kinda got hurt." She said,
"You don't have to transform, just recite the incantation." Tikal said, "Similar to when Knuckles meditates."
"I think I can do that…" She looks around again to confirm she was truly alone. "Here goes, the seven servers are the seven Chaos, Chaos if power… power enriched by the heart, the heart is the controller… the controller serves to unify the Chaos… Chaos Control." She feels a surge of energy course through her as she feels Tikal's presence.
"I found you! I will tell the others where you are." Tikal said,
"Can you tell them to… be careful?" Saya asked, her thoughts going to Sophia.
"Of course Sonic. We are on our way soon." Tikal said as Tikal's presence fades. She lets out a sigh as she notices the pain in her shoulder subsided slightly, inducing Chaos Control helped heal her faster.
"Who were you telling to be careful?" Abyss appears in front of her taking her by surprise,
"A… A spirit that resides within Chaos, I can speak to them sometimes." She said, she thought telling half-truths would help keep him from knowing the whole story.
"A spirit you say?" he said looking confused,
"Yeah… being a hostage is kinda boring." She said hoping he buys it,
"You seem to be breathing better." He said as he notices her shoulder, the bleeding had completely stopped and some of the puncture wounds looked almost healed over. "How is this possible? You said you had a fast metabolism, but you can also heal quickly?" he grabbed her by the chin and tilted her head to the side to get a better look at the bite wound, "looks like I'll need to keep my eye on you. If your body is strengthening against our poison this quickly, you'll make things difficult again."
"I told you before, I live to make things difficult." She weakly grins,
"Well, we can't have that then." He grins back as he tilts her head further and leans towards her,
"No… Don't… AH!" She cries out in pain as he bites down on top of the previous bite. She feels the venom enter her system causing her body to shiver.
"There, you shouldn't cause any trouble for a while," He said licking the blood off his lips,
"When I get… out of here…" She starts to feel her body go numb, "I'll…" her eyes darken completely paralyzed as Abyss lightly chuckles,
"You're not getting out of here my dear." Abyss said stroking the back of his fingers against her cheek, a single tear falls hitting his fingers, "And soon Sophia will be ours as well."