Chapter 12
Evil Finally Shows its Wingspan
The gang probably waited all night before the fighting stopped. At dusk, they looked through a window and noticed that Lily was gone. The metarex were gone too. It was really odd because they didn't know who won. Also, why would the metarex and their metal bodies be gone?
"What?" Amy shook her head trying to believe what she was seeing, but she couldn't. She was thinking about whether if none of the metarex were destroyed and Lily was the only thing destroyed. It was a possibility.
Out of nowhere, a plant person punched through the window! They all yelled in alarm, but it turned out to be Lily.
"Cool off! I wasn't doing anything! I was just too excited to use the door!" Lily told them.
"What happened to the metarex?!" demanded Rabby hugging Lily.
"After I destroyed half their army in twenty minutes, they retreated. I spent the rest of the night cleaning up all of their bodies all over the place!" she replied.
"That's what all those fighting noises were that we were hearing! Where did you put them all?" asked Tails.
"Over there!" Lily pointed at a giant hole in the ground with all the disassembled robot parts in it. She dumped the leftover dust that Sonic got onto them, and they all melted.
"Effective way to dispose of them!" Tails remarked.
"Indeed! I also made sure that they didn't do a thing to the Blue Typhoon! It should still be working!" chirped Lily happily.
"That's great! We can all leave to battle the metarex and metaltrons!" Cream cheered.
"Chao! Chao!" Cheese said in agreement.
"Hey Sonic, isn't this good? Sonic? Sonic?! Where are you?!" demanded Tails searching around franticly. He only found a note on the ground.
'Sorry about your friend, but bring the emeralds. Only then will I let him go.
-Blue Sycamore
"He's got some nerve stealing Sonic like that! That's it! It's time we fight back! We'll break into their base and rescue Sonic!" yelled Tails.
"Um… one problem. We have absolutely no idea where they are. If we don't know where they are, we can't rescue him," Sunny replied.
"Ugh! If only Kaira were still awake! She'd be able to tell us where to go to reach them! However, she's cursed with a curse of death. Thankfully, she's extremely powerful, so she will survive, but it'll take half of forever for her to recover," Tails remembered.
"Did we leave her there?" asked Amy.
Long silence.
"What good friends we are…," Rabby said.
"Okay… what do we do now?"
Meanwhile,
"Shadow! How and when did you get here?! Don't you know how to knock?!" demanded Dr. Eggman.
"I'm afraid that I've never heard of the concept. Will you explain it to me?" asked Shadow sacrastly.
"Ha ha. Hilarious. Sarcasm is the best thing ever. Who's that next to Rouge?" asked Eggman.
"Her? Oh, that's Zaira. She has lots of personality changes I've learned. Half the time she's annoying, the other half she spends staring off into space," Shadow replied.
"Sounds like you two have a lot in common. I won't be surprised if you start dating. Anyway, Shadow, I've-"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN DATING! THE TWO OF US ARE NOT IN- GAH! I can't even say the stupid words!" yelled Shadow with his fur glowing red.
"If you get this bent out of shape, then I'm certain that you'll start dating… Can I have a word with her?" asked Dr. Eggman.
"Go ahead! I'll be relieved if she starts tackling you!" snapped Shadow storming off.
"Look Zaira! Shadow likes you! He never gives me that much of a reaction," Rouge told Zaira trying to cheer her up.
"Yeah. He gets nervous. I've seen that little gleam in his eyes. He likes you," Zaira replied crossing her arms.
"It doesn't surprise me, but I think that he's only liking Rouge to shove out all thoughts of liking you," Eggman told her.
"You made him right? What you said, THAT was encouraging. What is it you want to speak to me about?" asked Zaira.
"You're not as annoying as he made you sound! Listen, I am turning Shadow into a super weapon. Otherwise, I'd be attacking Sonic at the moment. I've been hearing rumors that Sonic has been battling the metarex and these metaltrons on a planet called Greengate. Shadow has been there, and due to the three of you being such good pals, I guess, I was going to ask if you could go attack Sonic for me. If you see him or him and his pals in space, destroy them. You can do this when I'm done working on Shadow. So, What do you think?" asked Eggman to Zaira. She actually had to think a minute.
"I guess I could destroy Sonic for you, but what are you going to do to Shadow?" asked Zaira curiously.
"I'm going to boost up his power levels that can go further than any form Sonic's ever gotten. I'll only help Shadow realize his true potential! I might also be able to harness his power also if I put a little neural bypass switch in his brain. I'd be able to destroy cities! All I have to do is put him to sleep and work on him in the capsule," Eggman explained.
"Wait! Neural bypass switch?! Don't you dare think that I'm dumb! You're going to put a mind control device in his brain! Not only that, but then you'll use his power to destroy cities! The citizens will think that Shadow's doing it by his own free will and not you! I'm afraid I can't let you do such a thing!" Zaira snapped in reply and gave Eggman a glare.
"Ah! You are smarter than you look! Don't worry. I was only testing your knowledge. I'm going to use Shadow to defeat Sonic of course, but that plan is a secret. I'm not going to hurt him, but it will be successful this time! Nice talking with you!" Eggman said and then left.
"What's the plan?" asked Rouge knowing that Zaira was reading his mind.
"I don't know… I couldn't get directly into his thoughts. There was too much on his mind!" exclaimed Zaira.
"That's kind of funny considering he's a bald guy. He's got nothing on his mind!" joked Rouge.
"What do you suppose he's doing?" asked Zaira.
"I don't know, but it won't be good…"
Back with Shadow.
He was standing in a hardly lit room. It was empty except for a capsule on one wall. He stood next to it trying to remember more. This was where he was first awoken. His first mission was made right here at this capsule. On Prison Island at where this capsule once lay, he was assigned to do something. Assigned to destroy the world. Shadow closed his eyes and lowered his head. Something in the doorway interrupted his thoughts. It was Zaira.
"What do you want?!" demanded Shadow.
Zaira didn't reply. She only walked up next to him. Her eyes were glued to the capsule as if it were a tourist attraction with real value to only her as it did to him. Although, how could it have value to her? She doesn't know anything about it.
"This is where it started… The whole thing…," she said.
"What?" asked Shadow.
"This is nothing ordinary. I know, and I feel this feeling of importance almost more than you do… Shadow… I know what this is…," she told him.
"How could you possibly know? You've never been here! You don't even know who I am. I should be the last person you want to remember, but why do you follow me around despite what I tell you?" Shadow asked.
"There's more to me than meets the eye."
Zaira knew he was still wondering about how she knew that this place was important. She would have to think up a lie. She hated to do it. It would really ruin the moment.
"So, how do you know?"
"Dr. Eggman told me… I didn't know until just now when he spoke to me," Zaira replied.
"Figures," Shadow turned his attention away from her and became lost in thought. If she didn't know anything about Shadow, she would've thought he was asleep. He was clearly lost in his past. It was something that becomes a pastime for him. To remember.
There was a long silence between them. Zaira wondered if she should read his mind, but it would be cruel to do that again. It would be like going freely into a restricted zone. Minds were sealed off to people for a reason. All she did was turn around and begin to leave. As she walked off, a vision flew through her head. It wasn't her's, but she knew that it was sent to her by someone. It was two seconds long.
The room was gone in a flash. It was replaced by a completely black surrounding. It felt like walking in a dream. Zaira couldn't have been not surprised by the sudden event. A voice spoke to her out of nowhere. She couldn't recognize it at all. Rough like gravel road, yet soothing like a bird's song.
"Who are you…?" it seemed to say. It faded in an instant.
"I-I… don't know…," she replied. It was true after all that she didn't know who she was. It's not like amnesia. It was more like not knowing what you really want anymore. Do you want to destroy the universe? Do you want to join the good side even if it puts your life in danger? Who was she before she was evil? What did she want? Did she want revenge or to be free?
Right as she said that, the vision disappeared. Who was the voice? Could it have been Shadow who sent her the message? He hadn't moved an inch. Had she spoken the words out loud? If she had, wouldn't Shadow be standing there with a baffled look on his face?
"Who are you…?" Shadow asked finally looking back at her.
With Dr. Eggman.
He walked down the hallways and turned at the corner. He was looking for Shadow. His plan was evil and it would give him the power to beat Sonic. However, it would work if he could find him.
"Blast Shadow! Why do you have to be known for appearing without a reason and then disappearing without a trace?! I suppose that there's one place that I haven't checked…," he said to himself.
Eggman walked further down the hallway and noticed a door open. Once he reached it, he saw Shadow and Zaira standing there in silence. It was like a staring contest, but it didn't feel like it. The intensity was overwhelming. Shadow acknowledged his presence by swiftly glancing over then back at Zaira. They were both waiting for something.
"Are you not going to give me a straight answer? I already know that you are not an annoying brat on the inside! Why are you hiding yourself? Why are you making guess?! WHO ARE YOU?!" Shadow yelled at her.
Again she had no answer and Shadow finally faced Eggman and gave him a glare.
"Why are you here? I don't have any use for you unless if you can tell me who she really is," Shadow told him.
"I need to chat!" Eggman said putting his hands up.
"I'll talk when you tell me! Who is she?!" Shadow repeated.
"I might have an idea, but I can't tell you now. I might anger her. If she keeps one of the most important secrets in the universe from you, then she probably doesn't want you to know," Dr. Eggman replied.
"I have to wait?! I've spent my whole life trying to find answers, and nobody will give it to me straight! I can't take this anymore!" Shadow once again stormed out of the room. Dr. Eggman followed with a smirk on his face. It was done.
A really long ways away…,
"You'd better let me go or else!" shouted Sonic at the jail guard who was a metarex. He'd just woken up from a deep sleep and appeared here somehow. He didn't know where he was, but he knew however, he was in trouble.
"I am strictly forbidden to release you Sonic the Hedgehog. I remember what happened last time. I shall not fail Blue Sycamore this time," the metarex replied to Sonic.
"Blue Sycamore! I should have known! I really want to rip out his memory and watch him go crazy because he can't remember nothing!" retorted Sonic.
The two of them sat/stood silently for another few moments. Sonic tried to remember what happened. He was walking out of the building with his friends when a metarex got to him. Everything was a blur after that. Sonic guessed that the metarex conked him in the head to keep him quiet. The story at least made sense to him.
"Where do we go from here?" questioned Sonic. He had to get every little piece of info. If he didn't, he wouldn't know what to expect.
"We destroy your friends," it replied coldly.
"Sheesh! Don't you guys ever take a break? I mean, it must get sort of repetitive. How about you let me go, I spice things up for you, and we all live happily ever after?" asked Sonic.
"Life doesn't work that way," said the guard with its bronze armor gleaming in the dimly lit room. Its red eyes lit up at him.
"Okay! Okay! I didn't say anything! I thought that the leader would kill me. Blue Sycamore was it?" asked Sonic acting if he wasn't sure.
"I know that you know of him, but you know nothing of her, She's the reason you've been having trouble lately. All these plans that we make up to get rid of you or your friends are hers. You don't stand a chance. None of us do… She is the one who'll kill you once you see the destruction of your precious universe. Nothing lasts forever. All she wants to do is end it all sooner!" snapped the metarex.
"My job is to use each second of my life to make sure that this doesn't happen! Wouldn't the destruction of the universe mean the destruction of you too?" asked Sonic.
The guard's eyes dimmed. Almost as if it were going pale. It had never thought of that before. It stared at the ground. Finally, it lit up again and looked at Sonic.
"How dare you challenge her tactics! For this you shall be punished!" it retorted. Sonic had to roll his eyes when he heard this.
Another metarex approached and glanced at the two of them. It shook its head. It walked up to the guard and they nodded in agreement about something.
"It seems that the plans have changed. You will be removed from the dungeons for now. What happens to you in the future depends on your actions. You could ruin everything for you. However, you could get out alive. This is going to be your test. To see if you really are the hero of wind and spirit."
"Yaaaaay…," Sonic whimpered for an answer.
He began to walk down the hallways. It was going to be a long time before he got out he knew, but once again, it was an 'if he gets out' sort of thing…
They soon let Sonic go, and he walked down the hallway wondering why they would do this. He came to a crossroad. Left, right, or forward should he go? He went left. After a few minutes of continuing left, he came to a room outside! How could he have made it out already?!
"What is this?! Let me guess, a test. What awaits me?" asked Sonic to himself as he proceeded. He walked towards the light. It suddenly occurred to him that he was in space and was stuck. It was a trap. He turned around and went down the right route. Hopefully he'd get out soon…
Once again with Shadow. Can I stop jumping around now?
"Why hide?! Why do anything?! Why follow me?! What secret!?" yelled Shadow to his reflection in a mirror.
"Shadow?" asked Rouge walking up to him. "You okay? What happened?"
"Nothing happened… This should be none of your concern," Shadow replied finally regaining his cool.
"I don't think that nothing gets you worked up. Tell me the truth," Rouge told him.
"Fine… Zaira walked into the room that I was in. The one with the capsule. She was looking at it as if it actually had value to her. The same kind of value as to me. I demanded to know her purpose for being there, but she wouldn't tell me why… She wasn't annoying or anything… Only…, mysterious… I've never felt anything from her like this… It was as if she were scared to admit something. She was about to leave when a dark vision flew through my head. It was as if my brain were asking 'Who are you'? I could hear her reply. She said she didn't know. Once it was gone, there was a long silence between us. This goes back to that question. Who is she!?" Shadow yelled again at the window.
"Did anything else happen?" asked Rouge.
"Eggman came. I asked him if he knew. He knows everything about her. He won't tell me anything. I left. What do you think I should do?" asked Shadow giving Rouge another unreadable expression that she couldn't understand. Was it the first real expression of curiosity from him? If so, Rouge made the discovery of the century.
"You should re-talk to her about. Not now. Later. She'll tell you everything in time I'm sure, but pushing her to tell you will only make it worse. I suggest a day or so. That should be good," Rouge answered.
"I don't really have a choice… I don't get it. Nobody's ever gotten me like this. Not even Maria. I don't know what to think… You at least don't keep secrets from me. I know nothing about Zaira! Not as much as you anyway…," Shadow told her. He noticed that she was quite surprised from his words. Another discovery of the century. Shadow can be a nice guy with real emotions.
"I didn't- What are you saying?" asked Rouge looking into his eyes hopefully.
"I'm saying… I apologize. For everything that went wrong between us. Zaira has shown me one thing. You are lucky to have friends that really understand you. Not friends that don't. If they don't, things can get… you could say it's a living torture chamber that'll follow you around wherever you go," Shadow replied.
Shadow's sorry?! The third discovery of the century! How many of those will there be?!
"That's how you would describe Zaira?" she asked.
"No. Not anymore. Now, she's a living, breathing question mark!" Shadow exclaimed. He once again began to wonder about who she really was. Rouge broke his concentration.
"That makes sense, but I still think that you should talk to her. She's more than you might think Shadow. Maybe even something that'll get you interested," Rouge replied.
"Are you implying that I might have feelings for her?! You've got a lot of nerve!" he retorted bitterly. It was not something he wanted to discuss. They were the last two who would get together. Rouge shook her head. Shadow realized she was talking about friendship kind of relationship. Shadow relaxed a little.
"I was just saying that you might be interested by what you don't know about her. I'm not saying you should become a couple. That'd actually be very scary. Sort of like those ShadAmy fans!" Rouge replied.
"DON'T GET ME STARTED! Alright, I might take your advice under consideration. However, I do believe that something wrong is going on. She's either really interesting, or really evil. Maybe even both. The only way we'd ever become even friends is if she completely changed everything about her annoying self over night!" Shadow replied.
"You two can only be unfortunate acquaintances if you want. I was only making a suggestion!" Rouge defended.
"Yeah. Anyways, I've got one other thing to look into. Once I do that, we should be good to go. See you later."
Once again she was alone and looking out a window out at the endless sea of of stars. Something approached her. It wasn't happy…
Earlier.
"Oh, do I have such power! It's amazing! I, Dr. Eggman, am controlling everything that Shadow says! I'm the greatest evil genius ever! I can do whatever I want! Having Shadow insult Zaira in front of Rouge is the best thing ever for a test! I know that they are friends, but he'd actually thank me for this. Whatever! I control Shadow!" Eggman laughed victoriously.
"So that's what happened… Are you still in the process of doing so?" asked a voice from behind him.
"What?! How'd you get in here?! I thought that I locked the door! Zaira! I thought it was you! What do you want?!" demanded Dr. Eggman.
"I want you to stop messing with Shadow. He's almost the most important thing in the world to me. Almost. Where are you keeping him hostage? He can't access his color emerald if you do this. That's even more powerful than the chaos emeralds. Also, if you don't release him, you'll have to fight me," Zaira said giving him a slightly sly look.
"Color emerald you say? Hmmm… Interesting! How do you know of such a thing?" he asked with interest.
"You know what I am. I need you to tell me who I am!" she yelled at him. He looked confused.
"Why do you need me to explain it to you? How could you not know? According to the research that I do in my spare time, you are extinct. Your kind is gone and you are the last. That is, unless if one other escaped the disaster," Eggman told her.
"Yes. Kaira. There are no more of us than me and her," Zaira replied. Eggman nodded.
"Sure. However, the main part is what the two of you were supposed to be. For you to be in your twenties already must've meant that you were still in an eggshell! The explosion occurred twenty years ago after all. You are the last of the most powerful race in the universe," said Dr. Eggman.
"I am? I don't feel like it anymore…"
"Of course you are! You are a Drayan!" he yelled at her.
Drayan? Thousands of things flocked into her head. Spellcasters, Attackers, and Defenders. Magic, monarchy, battles! Unicorns, nymphs, water sprites too. Not to mention, the dragons with the rage and fires that forever burn. The princes would vanquish them all if they could. The Drayan Empire practically invented all the stories with all the mythical creatures used in fiction stories today.
"There were three kinds. What kind they were depended on the wings. However, yours are a combination of all of them! That means two things. One, you are the most powerful out of all of them. Two, you are royalty," Eggman told her.
"Royalty?" she asked looking at her wings.
"What do you expect?! All princes and princesses have them! Only a few get the privilege of having wings like that!" Dr. Eggman said.
Oh my goodness… If that's true… Me and Kaira… We're twins," Zaira said looking down at her hands.
Zaira and Kaira were one of the same person. Split in two, and meant to be rulers. Their blood ran through each other's veins. It was tough to take in. She also heard that Kaira was in a terrible state due to her wanting to save Sonic.
"There! Now that you know the truth, go away!" snapped Eggman.
"Shadow."
"NEVER! If you don't I'll find a way to take over his color emerald!" he retorted.
"You can only do that if he loves you, and I seriously doubt that," Zaira told him.
"Interesting! Although, do you think that he would use it to save you?" asked Eggman knowing that Zaira would flinch.
Her heart froze. Would he? He doesn't even know. Who am I? His voice echoed through her head. 'Are you not going to give me a straight answer? Who are you?!' 'She's more like a living, breathing question mark.' 'I don't know what to think…'
"No," she admitted.
"Wha-? You think-? Actually, I get it. You try to have a conversation with him and he pushes you away. I can see that you love him, but he'll never love you," Eggman told her. He then handed the remote to her. The remote that controlled Shadow.
"Take it. You win. There are lots of other chances for me to take over Shadow. You make me sympathize for you too much… I have enough data anyway…" he walked off.
Zaira released Shadow from Eggman's control. She then went to find Rouge. She wasn't going to be happy.
"Zaira?" asked Rouge looking back fearfully at her.
"Hi Rouge. Have a nice chat?" she asked.
"I'm sorry! I didn't even mean to! I only wanted to help and it became- Ugh! Be sure to go easy on me!" Rouge pleaded.
"This remote was controlling Shadow. Dr. Eggman was the one doing it. You weren't talking to Shadow," Zaira told her with a smile.
"I'm relieved!"
"Now, I need to go find Tails. The metarex are holding Sonic prisoner. I only have to destroy the rest of his friends. They found some of the color emeralds…," said Zaira bitterly.
"Isn't that the Blue Typhoon over there?" asked Rouge.
Back with Tails, they had finally made it to outer space. Within a few minutes, Tails detected something on his radar. It wasn't a metarex base however.
"Is that Dr. Eggman's ship?" asked Tails squinting at the ship.
"It sure seems so. Hold on… Why is Kaira over at that ship? Isn't she passed out on this one?" asked Espio.
"That's not Kaira…" Tails said slowly.
The other Drayan with black hair and emerald green wings flew out of the ship and smirked at them. A glowing ball of magic appeared in her hand. The ball grew into a portal and ate everything around them. It was pure chaos! Five minutes later, they were on land! Guess what they saw outside the ship. Humans.