Chapter 14
To Be a Ghost
"You've never known what it's like. Floating around trying to communicate with someone is what you try to do, but who can hear you? All they can feel is a slight change of temperature. A chill runs down their spine making you regret touching them. Also, you can't stop your other self. Your boyfriend is stuck with the most dangerous person alive and you can't stop it. That's what I'm witnessing. Shadow going off to the skyscraper to be fed a bunch of lies."
Zaira was following close behind Shadow with the hope that he'd not listen to her evil self. She wanted him to know the true truth. If she could speak to him, she would. Being a ghost is harder than it seemed. She wasn't dead, yet she wasn't alive either. When you are removed from your body, you can't really be dead. All you can do is hover around and stalk people. This was a thing that only Drayans could do. Nothing else could. The other Drayans were really dead, so she was off on her own on the wrong side of reality.
Shadow mega-jumped to the top of the skyscraper. It took too long to try to find Rouge, so he went by himself Zaira guessed. She flew up through the building to save time. Once she reached the top, her other self was already there waiting.
"Well, you are certainly a very punctual hedgehog. I only wish that I could be able to observe that kind of behavior in you more," said Vivilock.
"Don't stall. Talk," Shadow said impatiently.
"Very well. I come from a race known as the Drayans. Very powerful for sure as you can see. We have powers beyond compare. I've beaten you before. You gave me the chaos emerald. I even took you to the base. I only erased your memory. You can't remember that, but you know who I am already," Vivilock replied smoothly.
"How'd you-"
"You talked with my twin. It makes sense that you'd know actually. Now I have all the chaos emeralds. They're all in this world with me! You can't stop me! My plan is too close to being finished! I just need those color emeralds to disappear!" snapped Vivilock slowly approaching.
"The color emeralds? You mean that black gem that is now within me? A part of me? I feel its power always, but how will you retrieve it?" he asked taking a step backward.
"You'll find out all in good time… After all my love, I do have a crush I you!" said Vivilock coming yet closer and closer with a look of pure evil.
"Why are you telling me this?" asked Shadow now on the edge of the skyscraper. The ground was a long way down…
"Because I tell you this, you have a color emerald. The reason I have you here is to…" She stopped for dramatic effect and looked straight into Shadow's eyes. She smirked. "...kill you," she finished in a whisper. Right as she said that, she shoved him off the roof of the building. 50 floors down was where the ground was.
Shadow was used to falling, but it seemed more alarming to get this from her. He couldn't fly from this high up, Zaira wasn't going to save him, and Rouge wasn't there. A million thoughts raced through his head per second. Each were about how she could possibly do that. Also, it was the fact that when he stared back into her eyes, he saw no envy. He only saw evil. The flames in her eyes engulfing anything that was in its way. He never saw flames before. He could literally feel it burning within him. He could only fall as he thought this.
Ker-pow!
Shadow landed in the middle of the street and lay limp for a second. He finally got himself to move. Everything ached from the impact and his leg was clearly broken. He could survive flying through an atmosphere of a planet, but falling off a skyscraper and landing on a solid surface would put a number on anyone. Besides, he knew that the color emerald works better to defend him when he has his emotions straight. It would control how hard he hit the ground. His emotions were all over the place, so it didn't protect him as well as it should have. Shadow tried to stand up. When he put pressure on his leg, he winced from the extreme pain. He limped to a bench. Shadow had recovered from the shock of the fall, but not the shock of the push. Zaira never would hurt him! Would she?
"What happened to you?" he asked to himself looking up at the skyscraper hoping to get a sight of the rouge Drayan.
Almost in reply, he heard something say to his mind, "I'm sorry Shadow the Hedgehog…"
Zaira was staring out at Shadow leaning on the bench. She told him that she was sorry for what had happened. She knew he couldn't hear her, but she thought she saw him look up in her direction. She wasn't sure.
"At least, he's injured I suppose. I can still finish him off!" Vivilock snapped with a swift flap of her wings. She dove down at Shadow. He noticed, but couldn't move fast enough to dodge. Rouge dove into Vivilock.
"What's gotten into you?! You like Shadow. You told me!" Rouge scolded.
"That was a foolish mistake! I'll kill you for this!" Vivilock yelled at her and grabbed Rouge's neck.
"Vivilock, that's quite enough!" snapped Zaira hovering in front of Vivilock. She knew that Rouge and Shadow couldn't see her, but it didn't matter at that moment. Vivilock glared at her. She spoke to her with telepathy.
Why are you here?! You know I can't finish them off with you in the way! I'm looking like a complete idiot!
"Complete idiot you may be, but you'll never be allowed to even think about touching my friends!" Zaira snapped back.
I don't have time for you!
Vivilock shoved Zaira away somehow. A magical silence came upon Zaira. She couldn't speak. She heard Vivilock send her one last thought.
Let's see how you like what I've been put through for the last thirteen years!
By that time, Rouge was already behind Vivilock. She gave her a kick in the head. Vivilock looked dazed for a moment with stars soaring around her head.
"Let's get back to Tails Shadow!" Rouge said quickly.
"Great… I've got a broken leg, crushed ribs, and a broken arm and I have to walk fast! How is this even going to be possible?" asked Shadow struggling to stand for the first time in his life. Not standing, but struggling to stand.
"Alright, I'll fly you there. Let's go!" Shadow was able to hang on to her back while she flew him back to the Blue Typhoon. Vivilock didn't follow. She didn't recover fast enough. Once she did, everyone was out of sight. Her gaze turned back to Zaira.
"You've ruined it for me! You are such an idiot! Now he knows and is so going to tell!" snapped Vivilock.
Zaira put her hands on her hips and looked skeptical. She was saying that everyone already knew. Vivilock hardly looked surprised.
"NOT THAT I'M EVIL! The color emeralds… They have four… Shadow has one! There's only nine more they need to get! If they find them all, I'll be doomed! Well, there's still no evidence that I'd be doomed even if they have them all, but the chances will take a beating…," Vivilock told her.
Right then, Vivilock got a call. It was from Blue Sycamore. Vivilock picked it up with expectation.
"Master Zaira, I have good news," the metarex leader said.
"You'd better! I don't exactly feel that great today…," Vivilock retorted bitterly.
"I wouldn't call if it weren't important. I just needed to ask if you wanted to show up for the sight of Sonic being destroyed by a giant fan." Blue Sycamore said.
"Ugh! I don't have the time! You can kill him if you want, but I have to get those color emeralds! Only Lily and Shadow have the color emeralds within them so far. I need to swipe the other color emeralds. I don't care if he dies, but keep him from getting his color emerald. Understood?" asked Vivilock.
"Understood."
Vivilock signed out and made her way towards the Blue Typhoon. Zaira was alarmed. She wasn't sure if she should go after Sonic or stop Vivilock? Sonic's health is much better than the color emeralds. Zaira flew towards the metarex base.
Sonic was still hanging on for dear life. The winds from the machine were actually working in reverse. They were trying to suck Sonic into it rather than blow him away. It was rather weird. Then again, the metarex themselves are weird. Everything they make is weird. If not weird, clever. It was sort of like a jet engine.
"Well, hedgehog, any last words?" asked the blue metarex leader.
"I CAN'T HOLD ON!" screamed Sonic.
"Precisely what I wanted to hear," Blue Sycamore answered him. He jumped upwards and a door in the wall opened for him. Sonic knew that it wouldn't work for him. It was only a matter of minutes before he'd have to let go.
"How fast is the fan going?" asked Blue Sycamore.
"Approximately 720 miles per hour," another metarex replied. Blue Sycamore shook his head. That hedgehog could never stop surprising him.
"That hedgehog is too amazing. There's no way to kill him! At least, there is now."
They watched with interest. Sonic finally let go! However, once he did that, the fan stopped! It was as if it was never turned on! Sonic flopped onto the ground panting from the torture of having to continuously hang onto the ledge in the ground just to not get sucked in. Blue Sycamore roared with outrage.
"What happened?! Why did the fan stop?!" demanded Blue Sycamore kicking a chair. It hit a poor metarex in the background. It whimpered in pain.
"Ow," the metarex in the background said.
"I have no idea sir! The fan just stopped for no reason I can't make it work for some reason! The controls simply aren't working! What do we do?! Sonic will escape if we don't do something!"snapped Blue Sycamore bounding his fist onto the board of controls for the machine. It sizzled with electricity. Smoke flooded from it.
"Wait a minute… Get the heat sensors!" yelled Blue Sycamore.
Zaira was the one behind the malfunctioning controls. Sonic busted down the door and raced into the room.
"Sonic, I can't deal with you right now. We have a ghost in here," Blue Sycamore told him. Sonic looked at him sideways.
"Great… First magic, now ghosts. What next?" he asked.
Zaira looked around in alarm. There was at least one way to identify a ghost. The chills that you get when you touch a ghost is terrifying for a reason. There was never a ghost before now, but everyone knows how to find a ghost.
"That's odd. The room is room temperature, but the control board is five degrees less… Now that we know where it is. How do we get rid of it?" asked Blue Sycamore. Sonic only shrugged.
To Zaira, it was rather hilarious to watch Sonic and Blue Sycamore work together to try to remove here from the control board, but they would fail each time. The enemy and hero work together to move a ghost. They're trying to remove something that doesn't physically exist. No matter what they did, they couldn't do it.
Zaira finally decided that she had destroyed the machine enough. She flew away like it was nothing. Blue Sycamore sighed and sat down in exasperation.
"Well, nice helping ya, but I've gotta leave. See ya later!" Sonic said with a swift wave of the hand. He left a millisecond after.
"Why does my life always have to be this complicated…," sighed Blue Sycamore almost in despair.
Sonic ran down the streets of the city looking around trying to pinpoint where he was. He ran past a human to his surprise. Sonic came screeching to a stop.
"Something tells me that I'm not on Mobius anymore…," Sonic said to himself still looking around.
There were humans everywhere he looked. It's been a long time since he'd last been there. Sonic jumped when someone said his name. He didn't know what year it was now, but he knew it was a lot later than in his world. This is why he was so surprised someone knew his name. A month in his world would be a year in this one. It's been years since he'd been there last. He did the math in his head. If he were gone for five years, that would mean that the equation to find out how long he was gone would be five times twelve (twelve is for the twelve months in a year). Five times twelve would be sixty. The year he left was 2007. The year was 2067 then! He had been gone for sixty years! Sonic nearly forgot that someone mentioned his name.
"Sonic? Is it really Sonic?! SONIC!" yelled the person.
Sonic turned around. He didn't recognize the person, but it was a comfort to see that he was still remembered.
"I told you grandpa and grandma weren't crazy! It's a blue hedgehog! That must be the Sonic they were talking about," a boy said pointing to Sonic. He was showing the other guys next to him.
"Nah. That's just a costume. Amazing hedgehog costume dude!" another guy said to Sonic. Sonic looked offended. It has been sixty years. It would make sense that people would think he was a regular person in a costume.
"It is Sonic! I guarantee it is!" cried the boy. He raced over to Sonic as soon as the other boys were gone.
"You are Sonic aren't you?" he asked to Sonic curiously. When Sonic nodded, the boy was beaming from ear to ear.
"I knew it wasn't a myth! Everyone else thinks so! They all say that Sonic the Hedgehog never existed, but here you are!" he exclaimed.
"Uh… I'm a myth? Am I so easily forgotten? That's kind of disappointing…," Sonic said in reply.
"Don't worry! I'm your biggest fan! Never mind… Your only fan…," the boy said looking at the ground.
"Well, popularity doesn't really matter to me at the moment! I have to find my friends! They're probably back at the Blue Typhoon. Of course, it would be great if I knew where it was!" exclaimed Sonic.
"The giant spacecraft that appeared out of nowhere? It was in all of the newspapers! The pictures on the newspaper specifically said and showed us all what happened. The newspaper changes everyday, so we all only need one copy to know the news for the rest of the year," the boy replied.
"Things have changed… Of course… Anyway, did you get the location?" asked Sonic.
"Right down that road," the boy replied.
"Thanks!" Sonic ran off to find the ship. He was at this point desperate to find something he knew. Everything was completely different. The roads were made out of a metal that acts as a magnet. The cars would also be made with a magnet, but they would be facing the wrong directions causing them to push against each other. This caused the cars to hover.
"I wish that Tails gave me a homing device for the Blue Typhoon. If I did, everything would be whole lot easier," said Sonic.
He ran around a corner to find himself face-to-face with the Blue Typhoon. Sonic smiled and hugged the giant machine. He had never been so happy to see the Blue Typhoon in his life.
"Sweet spaceship! Sweet spaceship! I love my sweet spaceship!" cried Sonic. He let go of the Blue Typhoon and went inside. He looked around to find everyone curiously not there. Sonic sped through the ship trying to find someone. He finally saw a fox tail disappear into a doorway in a haste. Sonic swiftly followed with great curiosity.
"Sonic! I thought you were with the metarex!" exclaimed the fox who was Orange the fox.
"Yeah, I'm back. I nearly died! What's going on?!" demanded Sonic. He crossed his arms expectantly.
"Shadow and Rouge are back!" exclaimed Orange once again moving in a large haste down the hallway.
"Wait! What do you mean Shadow and Rouge?! I didn't know they had anything to do with anything! Hang on a second!" yelled Sonic running after him.
Sonic and Orange scurried into a room with everyone else in it trying to hear what happened. Sonic tried to push through the crowd, but couldn't.
"Shadow?! What happened?! You look beat up!" exclaimed Tails in alarm. He tried to help Shadow, but the dark hedgehog only pushed him away. Rouge was flying next to Shadow as he limped over to Tails.
"That amazing, double crossing, backstabber attacked me. She threw me off a building. Broke my arm, leg, and a couple ribs I think. I'll be fine though. I've felt worse," Shadow explained.
"Ouch. How does a hedgehog like you get those kinds of injuries from falling off a building. Sonic can survive falling through the atmosphere of a planet and crash on his head on the ground!" Amy said.
"His color emerald is what determines how strong the outcome of something. The color emerald draws most of its power by emotions and feelings. Shadow's feelings were all messed up, so he had a stronger impact on the ground than normal," Rouge said.
"Of course! The reason those metarex were so easy for me to defeat was because of my emotions. I felt that I had to destroy them all and that I had to bring them to justice. This is why I transformed into my other form and had so much power," Lily said.
"We all must get those color emeralds. They will determine the final battle. They should be in the ship somewhere," said Tails looking back at the Blue Typhoon.
"They won't be there!" Shadow told them. He winced from the pain in his chest from talking. Shadow clutched his chest in pain.
"They're not?" asked Tails.
"Rouge…," said Shadow unable to speak due to his pain. Rouge nodded.
"Zaira said that she needed to get the color emeralds and came flying here automatically. She will probably have them by now," Rouge told them.
"Great… This is a time where I really wish Sonic were here," said Tails looking at the ground.
"Have no fear! Your hero is here!" shouted a voice from behind everyone. Sonic strutted out in front of everyone. They all gasped in delight.
"Sonic! I thought that you were with the metarex!" exclaimed Tails.
"I was. I nearly died over there! They tried to kill me with a giant fan-like thing That would have sucked me into it!" Sonic replied.
"We're sorry that we didn't come to rescue you Sonic, but Shadow came along and told us everything! However, it looks like things are turning out bad for us right now…," Tails sighed.
"Don't worry Tails! We'll just go find all of those color emeralds again! If the legend is true, then the color emeralds should be around on this planet somewhere. Most of us should get a color emerald, so I think that the force from the emeralds will draw us to them," Sonic explained.
Everyone though over Sonic's plan for a minute. Eventually, Apple lifted his head and said he would do it. All the others agreed as well. Sonic smiled happily.
"Well, let's stop wasting time already! Hey Shadow, do you think you'll really be alright?" asked Sonic looking over at Shadow.
Shadow glanced up at him and looked at Rouge again. She nodded.
"Shadow's probably going to need some time to recover. With Dr. Eggman's help, he should be all fixed up in a day," Rouge answered. Shadow nodded approvingly as if she read his mind.
"Okay. Everyone, we'll search tomorrow. It's getting late. Everyone, be up at six a.m. We each will be searching in a different part of this planet. This is why we each must be at our full strength," Sonic said and raced into the Blue Typhoon. The others followed soon to be asleep with dreams of the color emeralds.
Zaira had experienced everything that had happened. Her heart seemed to melt whenever she saw or thought about Shadow in the condition he was in. Vivilock had done more than Zaira expected. She drifted into Dr. Eggman's base. It was about ten p.m, so body was awake. She glided into the room with the capsule. Shadow was recovering within it.
I didn't mean to… It wasn't even me…
She turned around when she heard the door open. Zaira wasn't surprised to see it was Rouge. One of the few people who is nocturnal.
"I never knew about this until now. I swear!" Rouge said.
Shadow opened his eyes for a second and glanced over. He already knew that Rouge had nothing to do with anything.
"I don't know anything anymore…," Shadow said. Everything was all mixed up in his head. Shadow tried to remember everything, but his brain couldn't it seemed.
"I know that feeling all too well. Zaira is just driving us all insane. I have no idea what happened to the girl who feared her other half, but… Hang on! Zaira said that she was being terrorized by a half of herself that she couldn't control? That would explain a lot. It might not even be her doing!" Rouge realized. Shadow still felt too weak to really care.
"I suppose. What real evidence to you have to prove such a statement? If you don't have that, she still might be in control. She could also have lied to the two of us the whole time. She never liked me. I never liked her. That's what everything is for me. A world of isolation…," Shadow said coldly.
"You've never truly been alone. I've always been here," Rouge said.
"You've never felt my pain!" snapped Shadow. His eyes clouded for a moment. They soon cleared.
"You're right about that I guess. What are we going to do? Are we just going to keep fighting her or what?" asked Rouge.
"We may have to."
Zaira was almost terrified. Continue fighting? That could potentially lead them to the path of self-destruction. She glided away with one last glance back at Shadow. If only if she could read his mind…
"I saw something," said Shadow.
Zaira stopped. She turned back around to see what he saw. Was it a dream? Real life? It must have been important if Shadow would actually bring it up like this.
"It was her eyes. They were burning with flames. It was all rage… Her eyes have never lied before. All the other times I've studied her, I only saw envy with love mixed together. She had never been truly mad at anyone. If she had, it was never around me. When I looked into her's at the skyscraper, I saw flames. Bright red flames. I could see my reflection in them. It looked as if I were burning within them. The way she saw me and wanted me to burn was crazy and overwhelming. She now wants me dead. That's enough proof for me to see that she is not Zaira," Shadow replied.
It's true Shadow! It's true! I've always liked you! You know it! I'd never wish for you to burn!
"Should we tell Sonic and his pals?" asked Rouge.
"No. They aren't worthy of this information. Tails would hook me up to a machine of some sort to see if he could get a reading on how much different she is in my brain to compare it to Kaira to see if she really is Zaira. Maybe even try to use me to, well, I don't even want to think about it. Tails would go crazy and Sonic would do something stupid. This is a secret for now," Shadow replied.
Rouge nodded and began to leave. Shadow would need to recover more of his strength. He couldn't do that if he was talking to her.
Zaira's head spinned. What now? Shadow knows it's not her, but what will happen now that he knows? If he got Vivilock got too beat up, her body would be too banged up to ever let Zaira return to her original body. That would mean that she would never be a physical Drayan again. That would only happen if they were to fight.
Her name is Vivilock! I tell you the truth! Can you hear my nonexistent brain?!
"Vivilock?" asked Shadow.
Zaira's heart skipped a beat. He could hear her! Maybe they really did have an invisible connection between them. That, or Shadow is really good at listening to really quiet waves in the air. Maybe there still was some of her left.
Shadow! Can you hear me?!
"Vivilock… I have no idea how that came to me, but it was not by anything normal," Shadow said going back into a trance-like sleep.
Zaira sighed in her mind. She left instantly.
The morning came and Sonic skipped back out of the Blue Typhoon. He stretched for a moment, then got serious.
"Darn it! My chili dog is still in the Blue Typhoon!" he exclaimed irritatedly. He raced back in to get it. He returned two seconds after.
"Alright, everyone who knows who I am approach me!" shouted Sonic.
Everyone slowly came up to Sonic. They were all still only half awake. Shadow wasn't there, but Sonic figured he wouldn't; Rouge was however.
"Now, everyone, we have a big day ahead of us. We each need to find the rest of the color emeralds. We have got two that we don't have to worry about, but there are lots more out there! That is why I am splitting up everyone to go to different continents. There are seven right? North America, South America, Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, and Antarctica are the places that the color emeralds could be. We already know that Zaira has a couple of them. I think she wouldn't leave the continent, so I'll take this one with Tails, Knuckles, and Kaira. What continent are we on anyway?" asked Sonic looking around.
"Considering that Sonic X is originally a Japanese show, I'd say that we're in Japan. However, everyone ironically speaks English! What's up with that?!" asked Amy just realizing that.
"Okay I'm taking Asia then. Amy, Pink, Cosmic, and Apple will go to Europe. Runner, Gold, Orange, and Sunny will go to Africa. Vector, Espio, and Charmy will take Australia. Daisy, R.T, B.T, Baby Blue, Baby Sharp, and Fury will go to South America. Cream, Cheese, Cosmo, Lily, and Rabby, go to North America. Shadow, Rouge, and Jack can go to Antarctica. If you have any spare time, go to check out the oceans. Is that all clear?" asked Sonic. Everyone only groaned in reply.
"It can't be helped. We will go," said Amy.
"Alright! Let's go! Tails, fly everyone to their destinations using the Blue Typhoon!" Sonic said. Tails nodded and scurried into the Blue Typhoon. Everyone except for Knuckles and Kaira followed. Rouge got Shadow who was reluctant to be on the giant ship, but did so anyway. They were all off on their missions. The Blue Typhoon flew away swiftly. Sonic, Knuckles, and Kaira waved to them as they left.
As Kaira waved, a horrible thought crossed her mind. They only have a week and five days to find the color emeralds and get back to their world. If they didn't, the very fabric of the universe would fall apart. The color emeralds could be anywhere. How were they supposed to find ten color emeralds before the second week was up?