"Well this looks... chaotic."
Knuckles was commenting on the all-out war between Eggman's robots and the Vex. They had run for nearly the whole day, and were now standing atop a wooded hill overlooking a valley. The sun was setting over Eggman's base, which apparently guarded the Nexus. The Vex, evidently, hadn't taken this lightly, and were attacking relentlessly. Entire armies of Harpies, Minotaurs, and Goblins, covered by Hobgoblins and Hydras, threw themselves at the front lines, only to be destroyed and replaced by even more. Sonic watched with a sinister sense of satisfaction.
He almost looks like Shadow. Better not to say that out loud.
"You want to get caught in the middle of this?" asked Knuckles.
Sonic contemplated it for a moment. "We're here for Eggman. We've got a distraction, its the perfect opportunity to get in undetected. Most of the defenders are dealing with the Vex, so we should go in through another side-"
"No," interrupted Knuckles. "Too many guns." The base was walled in, and a number of automated turrets lined the walls. The Vex were only attacking from one side. "They're not distracted by anything, they'll tear us apart."
"Maybe you will. I can get past them and try to disable them from the inside."
"So I just stand here while you get all the action?"
Sonic was already gone, sprinting down the hill at top speed. A pair of machine guns had already begun tracking him and opened fire. The hedgehog began sporadically dashing side to side to throw off their targeting. As soon as he was close enough to the wall, he jumped. The turrets continued to track. If I timed this up right, they should hit each other right as I-
He reached the peak of his arc between them, and they temporarily stopped firing. Eggman had programmed them specifically to not hit each other. Darn.
Sonic hit the ground and started running again, the gun's bullets trailing just behind him. His maneuvering options were limited, so he quickly spin-dashed through a fortified door, leading into the base's main building. The interior wasn't so well guarded.
He ran down the metal hallways, searching for anything that could control the defenses. After several minutes and several downwards flights of stairs, he came across a red reinforced blast door. One failed spin dash later, he eyed a keypad built into the wall next to it and frantically began punching in random combinations of numbers.
"Not working out for you, hon?" Sonic turned around. "Just needs a woman's touch..."
Outside, the turrets that Knuckles was watching shut down. Seizing the opportunity, he ran in used his shovel claws to climb over the wall. He quickly ran to the door Sonic had opened.
"Oh no..."
"Hey there, sweetie," greeted Rouge. "Long time no see."
"Why is she here?" Knuckles turned to Sonic, ignoring her.
"Same reason as us," he replied. "Eggman."
"You're that interested in the Vex?" he asked Rouge.
"You mean those tin cans fighting the rust buckets outside?" She crossed her arms. "No. Eggman knows something else I want to. What that is, is my business."
I think I've got an idea.
"So do you know where he is?" asked Knuckles.
"She got into the security cameras, and Eggman's in a panic room further down," Sonic answered.
"Then lets not waste any time," replied Knuckles. "Lead the way."
Sapphire slowly pulled her hands away from the sniper and laid face-down on the ground.
"Answer the question. Who are you?"
"I work for the Vanguard, I'm just a scout-"
"So what makes me worth following?" He pressed the gun deeper into her helmet.
"For the record, you were following me first-"
*click*
"No. We ended up in the same place. I left, you followed. Why?"
Is this guy the Black Guardian?
"5 seconds."
Lie. Now.
No. Better plan. I think...
He pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the ground. Sapphire had blinked forward, reappeared in mid-air several meters ahead of the rock face and tumbled downwards. She fired her boots' thrusters to reorient before she hit the ground. The Black Guardian had his sights on her again immediately, and Sapphire dashed for cover. His hand cannon was loaded with explosive rounds, which tore at the ground and staggered her movements. One final round caught her in the back, knocking off her scout rifle and causing her to trip and roll on the ground before coming to rest behind a stone column, shaken, but still in fighting condition. She took a hit of vaporized adrenaline to numb the pain and sharpen her focus.
"You could've at least told him something!" her Ghost yelled at her.
"Not now! Get me my Devils!" Her scout rifle had been knocked off her back and her sniper rifle well away from her, she needed a backup... or two.
Ghost materialised a pair of hand cannons before her, one engraved on its barrel with the name 'The Devil You Know,' and the other, 'The Devil You Don't.' She only ever used them for Crucible exercises. They were meant for killing Guardians. One in each hand, she cloaked and wheeled out of cover.
One eye on her radar, she did a visual sweep of the area. The Black Guardian had leapt down from his perch. No signatures in range. Yet.
Suddenly, the edge of her radar flashed red, and Sapphire barely made out a distortion of movement. She wildly fired in its general direction, which at the very least threw off his charge. A bullet grazed his shoulder, and his camouflage failed, staggering him and forcing him into an accidental shoulder charge. The Hunters collided and both tumbled to the ground, knocking 'The Devil You Don't' out of Sapphire's right hand. She rolled over and got back up, training her remaining firearm on the Guardian- but for a moment, she hesitated. It was brief, but long enough for him to get the message.
Which he apparently didn't. Or he didn't care. He leapt into the air and thrust his hand foreword-
-and a split second later, a forceful kick met the back of Sapphires helmet, making her lose 'The Devil You Know.' She clambered for it, but his boot came down on her wrist. Sapphire reacted by grabbing his ankle and triggering her boot thrusters, launching them both forward, hard.
Reacting quickly mid-thrust, Sapphire caught the ground and did a full somersault. The Black Guardian had been thrown to the ground and recovered a split-second after her. His grip was much better than Sapphire's and he still held his gun. Seizing her brief advantage, Sapphire drew a knife and threw it at his wrist. It didn't fully pierce, but it was enough to make him drop the gun .
He retaliated by drawing his own blade, and it flashed blue as it charged with Arc Light. Sapphire's guns were scattered- ballistic ones, anyways.
So thats how its gonna be...
He leapt through the air and Sapphire caught him around his blade arm, barely managing to lock him, with a Golden Gun aimed straight up under his chin, and forced her other arm to his off-hand.
"KNOCK IT OFF, BOTH OF YOU!"
A pair of Ghosts had appeared in the narrow space between their faces, facing their respective Guardians. The other spoke with a distinctly female voice.
"Save it for the Crucible!"
"PLEASE LET US BACK IN DOCTOR EGGMAN! WE'RE NOT BUILT FOR COMBAT!"
"For the last time, NO!" the Doctor yelled back into the radio. "You say out with the rest until the Vex are gone!" And with that, he shut down the radio, cutting off Deccoe's annoying voice. He groaned and rubbed between his eyes as he slouched down in a nearby chair. Weeks of Vex-induced nightmares had worn thin on him. Studying them was a mistake.
He almost felt guilty, if his actions had lured the Vex to him. So much destruction, and to him, it was all pointless. People had almost forgotten about him when the Vex invaded. It was admirable, in a dark way. If his estimations were correct, the body count made by the Vex was in the high thousands by now. At least one major population center was burned to the ground- yet the Vex had spared so many who lived there. Even he couldn't match their brutal efficiency, at least not without some Chaos-powered WMD. And these ones aren't even...
The door behind him crashed open. "I knew it was only a matter of time until you showed up," he said to Sonic without turning.
"Eggman..." he began.
"Oh, would you just save it?" The doctor snapped, wheeling about to face him and standing up. "I have enough problems with the Vex without you getting in the middle of it!"
"Bringing them here doesn't seem like such a good idea now, does it?" growled his nemesis.
"I assume you know everything by now," he said, sitting back down. "And you still think I'm responsible for all of this."
"Get in with an evil power you can't possibly hope to control?" Sonic approached Eggman. "Sounds like typical Egghead stuff to me."
In an instant, Sonic leapt up, grabbed Eggman by his collar and forced him out of his chair and against the control panels behind him.
"But this time... you've gone too far."
Knuckles watched the whole encounter. Too far? He's destroyed cities. Threatened to blow up planets. How is this, of all things, "too far?" Not that he felt any sympathy for Eggman.
Eggman barely reacted to the assault. "What are you going to do, kill me?" It would be a relief at this point. Sonic tightened his grip. "We both know you need me alive if you want to stop the Vex." If they can even be stopped.
"Let him go, Sonic," interjected Rouge. "We need him alive."
"Remember what I told you when you became... corrupted? What would happen if you let your anger control you?" asked Eggman. Sonic remembered all too well. But this was different. He had bigger concerns than becoming like Shadow. "I've learned alot about these things. You've never faced anything like them. You can fight them forever. You can destroy every construct that comes to our world, and you'll never win."
This only infuriated Sonic even more. "Then how do we win?"
"The Vex network is spreading through our planet's crust, like a disease. Turning into a giant machine." Everyone else's heart skipped a beat. "These Vex are called the 'Scisix Inquisitive.' The Nexus, as you know, is beneath our feet at this moment. This machine, before I contained it, is what's making the networks expand. I suspect its what controls all of the Vex here. An Inquisitive Mind-"
Sonic threw Eggman to the ground and darted out of the room. "C'mon, Knuckles," he yelled. "He's told us everything we need to know." Knuckles followed without protest.
"WAIT! STOP! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE DOING!" He stood up to chase after them, but Rouge blocked his path.
Sonic and Knuckles only stopped for a minute. "Start running now, Eggman. Once I'm done with the Vex... I'm coming for you." Then they were gone.
He turned to Rouge, who was still in the room. "Rouge! Please!" he begged. "You have to stop them! If they destroy The Nexus, then-"
"On one condition," said Rouge.
"Anything! I'll do anything, just please help me!"
"Where's Shadow? What happened to him?"
Eggman froze for a second. It seemed like such an odd request at this time. Last time they met, she said she didn't care about Shadow.
"I hate to break this to you, but for all intents and purposes... Shadow is dead."
"I don't believe you," Rouge shot back, crossing her arms. "Where is he?"
"I have no way of knowing for sure. All I know is that he stopped time in the center of the galaxy. He spent the last of his energy. In the most likely scenario, he's Lost In Time. Even if he's still alive, he has no power. He's gone to us, forever."
Rouge turned around and closed her eyes. He's right. All that waiting, all that hope... for nothing.
"There. I'm sorry." He handed her a wrist communicator. "Now hold up your end of the bargain."
Rouge put the device on and ran out of the room, towards the Nexus. He might still be alive... somewhere...
Eggman's words echoed in her head. He's Lost In Time...
Sapphire let her visor de-tint, allowing the other Guardian to see her glaring eyes. Her magic handgun burned in her hand, and he held his crackling Arc Blade to her throat. One pull of the trigger, or a slide of the blade, would consume one of them in a torrent of Solar or Arc light.
But they stayed, locked together, staring, their Ghosts nervously waiting to attempt to revive them. After a few agonizing seconds, their Light weapons faded. The Black Guardian held an ordinary knife, and Sapphire held thin air.
Sapphire gave way first, letting go of his off-hand and slowly sliding out of his grip. The Black Guardian sheathed his knife.
If Ghosts had lungs, they'd breath a sigh of relief. "Can I have a moment?" asked the female Ghost.
"Don't go anywhere," Sapphire muttered and turned away, walking to her dropped firearms. Her Ghost trailed behind.
"Well, that went smoothly," he said, with more than a hint of sarcasm. "You just can't let this go, can you? What are you going to tell him?"
"How do you think he'll react?" Sapphire picked up 'The Devil You Know' and her thrown knife.
"Ok, I'll bite with this ridiculous 'Black Guardian' business. Worst case scenario, he's evil, offs you, and takes me before I can revive you."
"He's got a Ghost," she suggested. Ghosts never stayed with fallen Guardians.
"Then he'll just think you're crazy."
"So don't tell him the truth." She retrieved her other gun. "We were going to the same place. He's the one who freaked out."
"You watched him through the scope of a high-powered sniper rifle, what did you expect?"
"Speaking of which, can you go get that for me?" Ghost quickly floated up to her sniper perch while Sapphire holstered her handguns on her utility belt and picked up her scout rifle. She briefly glanced at the Black Guardian, who was speaking with his Ghost. He was facing away from her, giving a clear view of the red symbol on his black cloak. It was some type of swirl, with spine-like arcs jutting out of it.
"Ghost?" she quietly asked, once he was within hearing distance. "Can you image that symbol on his cloak for me?"
He turned to face the Black Guardian, focusing in on his cloak. "Done. I'll cross-reference with the Cryptarch's records for anything once we get out of the dark zone."
I know what you're doing.
Never seen anything like it before. I don't blame her, especially after that scrap they just got into. I tried to talk her down.
Same here. It seems like he never listens to me. He just drew the symbol himself, its nothing special.
Is he... special in any way?
Best not to talk about it. I know he's going to lie.
So will she.
They at least won't kill each other. Let them talk. Maybe they can work something out.
"Hey," Sapphire said. The other Guardian turned to face her. She bit her lip and pulled off her helmet. "Sorry about that whole thing. Lets start from square one, okay?"
"Fine." They approached each other.
"My name's Sapphire. I'm a scout for the Vanguard. I was tasked with scouting Vex territory on Venus, mainly looking for the Vault of Glass. Thats where I met you. You ran off, and I got... curious. I'll admit, the rifle probably wasn't my best surveillance tool." She looked him straight in the visor, only seeing her own, obscured reflection. "So thats me."
He stared back at her for a few seconds. For a supposedly legendary Guardian, he's pretty short...
"Let me get a few things straight," he said. "I don't give a damn who you are. I don't trust you. I distanced myself from the Vanguard long ago."
"Your choice or theirs?"
"Mine." He paused for a moment. "But my Ghost trusts you, and I trust her judgement. So if you want to work together... then fine."
"Great. So what are you up to?"
"Same thing as you: Investigating the Vault of Glass. Do you know how the Vex work?"
"They're some sort of hive-mind, and they're robots. Do I look like a Warlock?"
"More of a Titan," he continued. He started walking past her, and Sapphire followed. "Now shut up and pay attention. Its true, the Vex are like a hive mind, a vast network of intelligence, but this network is connected." After walking a ways, they were confronted by a small squad of Goblins. He drew his handgun and downed the first, and Sapphire followed suit with one of hers. The whole group was destroyed before any of them could get an accurate shot.
"And thats what happens when you sever that connection." Just past them, up on a platform built into the Citadel, was a square, white column, a Conflux of Vex data streams. "You see, all Vex respond to different directives. The Hezen Protective and Corrective, Aphix Invasive, so on and so forth."
"Get to the point." They stopped by the Conflux, and he let his Ghost begin scanning it.
"Don't talk when I am," he interjected. "These programmings are centralized by a Vex Axis Mind. I assume you've been tasked with killing them before?"
"I've been told to kill some big Vex in the past, I never bothered asking what they do." He turned away, and his hand met his face. "And don't call me a Titan again."
"The Axis Minds," he continued, "concentrate and process data from all Vex in its network. They compute all relevant data and plot out the local network's course of action, letting more of the individual unit's computing power go towards its own tasks."
"So you kill the Axis minds..."
"And the network is forced to divide all of its processes amongst available units, slowing down their coordination."
"And if we kill them all, they're weak enough to destroy."
"Exactly. For years, I've studied and hunted the Vex. Confluxes like this one let us into the network. My Ghost managed to lure out the Protective Mind, a Cyclops."
Sapphire thought back to her earlier fight, before finding the Vault.
"Before I could find it, someone- and I guess you- killed it. That crippled the Hezen Protective. And thats why we could get here. If this goes well, we'll be able to lure out the Invasive and Corrective minds. And once they're killed-"
"-we get into the Vault of Glass," she finished. There was a flash of light, and the Conflux dissolved.
"What happened?" asked the Guardian.
"I don't know," responded his Ghost. "It just... vanished. I'm sorry, I couldn't get anything relevant."
"They know what you're up to," said Sapphire. "Now what?"
The Black Guardian thought for a moment. "We find another Conflux. I already know where one is."
"No," said his Ghost. "Even with the Hezen Protective weakened, we're not going to the Terminus."
"Before you ask," cut in Sapphire's Ghost, "its the center of the Vex Citadel." Sapphire smiled and put on her helmet. "I regret telling you that already."
"Fight our way through an army of murderous robots into the very heart of their power? Sounds like fun."
"You have a strange definition of the word 'fun.'"
"So," she turned to the Black Guardian. "Need a hand with that?"
"I could use a bullet shield." The Ghosts merged with their Guardians. He jumped up, and thrusters in his boots carried him up to a bridge leading to the Citadel. Sapphire followed suit. It was strange that his boots were just like hers. Most Hunter gear had mechanisms built in to redirect kinetic energy for a quick burst of movement. Retro rockets weren't common, but allowed for greater maneuverability and lift, if built right. If not, say goodbye to your legs.
"Hey, before we begin," Sapphire interrupted. He turned around to face her. "I didn't catch your name."
He paused for a moment.
"No, you didn't. Try and keep up." He took off, apparently using his boots as some sort of skates.
So thats how he moves so fast. I wonder...
Sapphire got into a sprint, triggered one of her thrusters, and immediately flipped head-over-heels and slammed into the ground.
"Ok, he's got practice," she groaned, standing up and taking off after him into the Heart of the Citadel.
Well, at least this one didn't take 3 months. I actually had the majority of it written 2 weeks after the last chapter, I just kinda stalled on it (its hard to write Destiny fanfiction and not get sidetracked by Destiny. I do still play Sonic, just not as much as Destiny...)
Thanks to The Joining for their review. It REALLY helped out. I've done quite a bit of tweaking to the story, and it now has at least 5 more chapters to it. It still ends the same, predictable way, but takes a different path to get there. Sonic's awkwardly-short story is getting some more weight to it, which adds a bit more to the Destiny side (more on that in future chapters). So if you like this story (or don't like it, but want to), go ahead and leave a review. I always appreciate feedback, even if its not entirely positive.
Edited for a bunch of formatting errors that weren't imported. Sorry for whoever read this story within 8 hours of it being published.
Edited again to say this: This story isn't that great. I realize that. I appreciate The Joining's reviews, and I'm not going to say that I'm backing up at the slightest sign of criticism, but this chapter basically was a wake-up call for me on 2 things: First, I bit off more than I could chew for my first story, and second, that I'm not taking enough pride in my work. Chapter 2 and 3 were "do it and get it done," and in retrospect, it worked out for the last chapter, but not this one. This is a serious low point in my writing. I pretty much knew everything that would be said in this chapter's review before it was said (IE, Rouge doing nothing, Sonic going too far down the dark path, and obvious foreshadowing), and that's a serious problem, especially since I have 10 chapters left. I'm working on chapter 4, but I'm kinda unsure on where to take it. So here's the deal: This story's going on the back burner for a little bit. I want to try one or two smaller stories before diving back into this. I want to say it won't be a serious delay (only 1-2 months), but if I kept to my promises, chapter 3 would've been better and chapter 4 would be out within 2 weeks. Don't think it ends here, though. I've seen too many fics die before their time. By me making this edit, consider it a promise: this story WILL continue, and it WILL get better from here on out.