CHAPTER 4 - A crack in time
Some say if one puts a seashell to their ear, they can hear the ocean calling out to them. To others they may find complete silence, as the shell covers the ears of the user to the world around them. But no matter what one does with the shell, the waves will keep moving regardless.
A clock can have the same effect.
The sound the hands make as they tick across the face of the clock, cutting the silence in two. Constantly the hands of a clock continue to move in a fixed path, never stopping until the power moving the hands runs out.
Time itself also follows this example.
For time can only go one way, and can never be changed. Unless...maybe, just maybe. If one were to 'power down' the clock that moves time, perhaps then could the hands of time truly be 'controlled'.
We will just have to wait and see for ourselves as we watch this world slip into madness and infect the next, this is the story about the race against time...or in this case the war for time itself.
Until we meet again under the blanket of darkness
D̸̳̙̉a̷̳̣̻͉̾r̸̳̙͔̫̎̋k̵̛̟̺̣̺ ̴͍̦̮̹̃̍̚G̸̺̥͐̀̀͠.̶͔̐̾̅
.
Sonic was cruising at this point, his brain working overtime as he tried to remember what got him here in the first place. It all started with Metal, they had a fight and then-
"Pain, all my head knows right now is pain...ugh"
Sonic was running through the area, his hands on his head and his focus anywhere but the road in front of him. But even still he makes quick work of any of the lingering traps this place may hold from his last encounter, a spike here, and a spring there. Regardless of these obstacles Sonic kept pushing on, his sole motivation on finding answers to his predicament.
"It's been a while since I've been here, who knows what's changed and what has stayed the same"
Lush green moss seemed to cover the entire terrain, rusted metal seemingly littered everywhere. Old Badniks fallen apart, fused to the planet itself. Flowers sprouting from the remains of the metal left behind, it truly was a Badnik graveyard.
"Man, I did not realize how narrow some of these paths really are. I mean really really narrow, like the opposite of Eggman's gut kind of narrow"
Sonic told himself, curled into a ball while shooting out to the other end of the dirt pipe. His whole mission was finding a way back, not riding a mudslide.
In fact why was he here? And if he's here then where is Metal Sonic, did he land on the opposite side?
What Sonic did not realize amidst his musing was his crash course to the giant gold ring present at the end of the path. Only when he tripped over a root and landed into the ring was when he figured out the amount of trouble he was about to come across.
.
Elemental was seen flying over the Chemical plant, his radar picking up another signal, his HUD indicating that he should land as the layout of the plant is not flight friendly. His jet grinds to a halt and slowly brings him back to earth.
As his jet is starting to cool down he takes in his surroundings, pink water submerging half of the facility, with holes in pipes which spit out steam. The entire area had sustained a heavy beating, but Elemental did not care enough to look into the details, as his primary objective was in the area, not the area itself.
After his thought process was over however, Elemental notices something odd
Why was his jet still warm?
He reaches hand to his back and-
"Ahh! Not the wings, I need those let go!"
In his hands was the same pest from earlier, 'Chip' he called himself. He must have held onto the rear end of the jet, impressive.
"State your Business immediately, stalling will not be tolerated"
"Well, I uh-wanted to help! Y'know do something different"
"Explain"
"Well...things get kinda boring cooped up there and stuff, and when you came along I thought it would be great to see the world again! So uh believe it or not I can help, after all I am Light Gaia"
Elemental still gripped on to his wing, his eyes trailing over his small frame when a peculiar feature of the critter stood out to him.
"That gem; Identify it"
His hand now pointing to the big green sphere embedded into his chest, giving off a faint but noticeable radiation to the robot. Oddly enough the readings show an uncanny resemblance to that of the Master Emerald itself, almost as if it were breathing.
"Oh this? Ah don't worry about this old thing, think of it as my heart. I really can't give it to you even if I wanted too, i'm quite attached to it after all"
He snickered with his hand poorly covering up his laughter
"Is that so?"
Elemental decided he had other ideas, as hand had reached out towards the gem, his servers curious as to how this being fits into the equation of the current situation
"Wait, what are you-"
Suddenly the Power Plant was engulfed in a bright glow, both present shielding their eyes, only for it to fade as quickly as it came. Now the glow resided in Elemental's chest, almost rhythmically to that of a heartbeat.
The Chaos Emerald was glowing, never a good sign
"Wow, it's glowing in tune with my gem. What does that mean?"
Chip replied, starry eyed from the red hue with his hands twitching in anticipation
"Do not touch"
Elemental said, smacking is hands away from his chest, a sign of unease showing from the robot
Suddenly the two gems did something the two would never have thought possible-
A giant ring erected itself into the air, its sudden appearance putting Elemental on guard.
"Scanning: it appears to be be a warp ring, destination unknown"
While Elemental was hesitant, Chip on the other hand…
"Yeah! Now this is what I'm talking about, don't you feel the rush, the tension, THE SUSPENSE!?"
"What are yo-"
Chip practically flew into Elemental's face, His eyes harboring stars
"Elemental right? Think of the fun and excitement this could have, aren't you at the very least 'a little' curious?"
Elemental glanced to the ring, his 'brain' working overtime. It was the most logical, safe, and profitable choice as to NOT go in, but for some odd reason a part of him is starting to agree with the critter. He took another look at Chip before deciding, and for the first time since his rebirth just shrugged his shoulders and jumped, and from that point on 'Elemental' never looked back since.
"Now we're talking!"
Chip grinned a Cheshire grin, and quickly followed the phantom image of the blue blur.
.
"Hmm...It appears worse off than what the initial reports stated"
Below the G.U.N trio was a temporary camp, full to the brim of emergency tents. Patients that are either unconscious or having a seizure could be seen alongside the flustered medics, scrambling from one victim to the next.
"Indeed, my scanner suggests that an approximate 43 patients are being tended to here. A bigger number than the report sent 15 minutes ago"
Shadow grunted, then proceeded to enter one of the larger tents in the middle, with Rouge and Omega following closely behind. His eyes now scanning the area, Omega notices a spike in Chaos energy in between one of the tents.
"I have detected an anomaly, will meet at rendezvous point"
Omega announced to the team, his body now swinging 90 degrees towards the energy
Rouge turned to Shadow, her hand now funneling her voice
"He can handle himself, lets just quickly get the rundown from the Lieutenant"
Shadow nodded his head
"Agreed"
After a couple more minutes of walking the duo found the lieutenant in among the sea of patients, barking orders left and right. His black and white uniform standing out like a sore thumb, while a couple medals adorn his chest complementing his jet black hair and shades.
"Ah, agent Shadow and Rouge, glad you could make it. I assume you know the problem from the Commander?"
"The 'Cracks' in the sky, correct?"
Rouge asked, her expression portraying deep thought
"Correct. Shadow, due to your natural resistance to mental attacks we recommend only you get a close up of the trouble, as evidence of the soldiers around you."
"But do you know what the cause is for these 'Seizures'? I would like to know what im getting into"
Shadow exclaimed, his arms folded and his mouth forming a frown
"No, not yet. That's why we need you to find out, and we can't wait either, as we don't want the 'foundation' to take custody over the situation as well."
After the Lieutenant's spiel
"The 'foundation'?"
"Not important, the point is get in and get out as we need this info"
The two Mobians nodded and was turning to leave when-
BOOM
"What the hell!?"
"What's going on!"
"Was that a tremor?"
Shadow and Rouge immediately spun around, searching for any more potential danger. Their eyes strained looking for anything out of place…
*Crack*
Right in front of the two agents was a crack in the sky, its lines being blurred from the grey skies. But what concerned them wasn't the crack itself, but was slowly leaking out. A black sludge dripping onto the ground, an ink-like puddle slowly expanding and submerging the dirt.
"What the heck is that!?"
A group of soldiers quickly coming up, one already starting to break into a cold sweat.
"That; is trouble. Me and Shadow will be fine here, go help Omega he's by himself as of right now"
"Very well, let us know if you require assistance, ma'am"
The soldiers saluted, then quickly went to find the robot.
Shadow during the whole exchange never took his eyes off the black substance, his body simply refusing otherwise. Slowly Shadow began to unwind only to flinch.
"What is it?" Shadow said nothing, only sparing a glance at the bat. Rouge followed his eyes and saw it. Movement. In the puddle.
"I have a bad feeling about this…"
One second passes
Two seconds passes
Three seconds pass-
"Shadow!"
"Hmph"
In his hands Shadow had a spiked tendril, its path directly heading through the hedgehogs skull. With a little strength, Shadow snapped the black spike from the puddle, his gloves oddly repelling the black ooze from going anywhere else but the ground.
"Rouge call for backup, this thing is aiming to kill. We need to figure out what it is".
Rouge nodded and flew off back to the closest medical tent.
The puddle responds, it starts to tremble. The sludge now slowly rises to form claws, legs, head, torso. The sludge was forming a body and it did not look friendly.
"Why can't my job ever be 'normal' for once"
Shadow said followed with a sigh, his mind already working overtime to work out what this slime monster's strengths and weaknesses are.
Then it screamed
The creature started to swing it's claws, its maw coming right up to his face. Shadow dogged to the right, grabbing its left arm and sweeping its legs from underneath. Shadow not wanting to miss and opportunity followed that with a punch to its jaw, imprinting the creature onto mother earth.
"Disgusting"
Shadow exclaimed, frowning at the now melting heap of black ooze. Shadow started to leave when something very concerning caught his eye
"The cracks...they're letting out more of the substance"
Black liquid dropped from the crack, the puddle becoming even bigger than before, the land surrounding the puddle slowly becoming overgrown and full of life.
"Looks like its coming back for round two"
The puddle once again formed a similar body, but it was bigger and had teeth that were similar to that of its claws; it had a tinge of purple and its face resembling that of a crocodile. The only feature that Shadow could distinguish was the infinity symbol seemingly burned into its face, bright neon purple lighting the symbol.
"I don't have the time for this"