AP: Hello peoples! I hope you're all enjoying Blood Fire!
Shadow: What exactly are you trying to do with Mari? You're not going to hook me up with her are you?
AP: What is with you and trying to get spoilers? Be a good hedgie and read!
Shadow: XP
AP: Do the disclaimer for me darling
Shadow: Angelic Puppy does not own me or any Sonic the Hedgehog characters; we are copyright to SEGA.
AP: Enjoy chapter five of Blood Fire!
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I didn't understand what was going on. What was Hyper? I had never heard of it before. I didn't even consider that there was anything beyond Super. Whatever it was, Sonic knew and he responded to Knuckles' suggestion quickly.
"Are you serious Knuckles? I haven't gone Hyper in years. Years! You've never gone Hyper. Do the Chaos Emeralds, even if we charge them to the Super Emeralds, really have enough power for all three of us to go Hyper? There's never even been more than two of us Super at the same time, much less Hyper!" Sonic shouted in exasperation.
"Calm down Sonic. I'm a Guardian; I know more about the Chaos Emeralds than anyone else. They'll have enough power. Now, four of the Chaos Emeralds are on Angel Island with the Master Emerald. You all had three, Karo ate one, so the other two are still in Tails' lab. We need someone to go get them. Knuckles said calmly.
"Actually the other two are in the X Tornado, so they're here." Tails said. "I'll go get them now." He left to go get the Chaos Emeralds.
"Sadda, what Chaos Emerald? Is that shiny stone Karo eat?" Karo asked, nudging my hand with his nose.
"Yes Karo, the Chaos Emerald is the stone you ate. But don't worry about it for now, we'll worry about it later. " I said, petting his head.
"Saddo need stone, Karo give. Stone not eat like plant, Karo give." Karo said and with that he promptly upchucked the Chaos Emerald.
Everyone backed away in disgust. The Chaos Emerald was covered in a brown film that concealed its luminance. It was also covered in thick, slimy, drool. I only had one thing to say about it.
"I'm not picking that up."
Rouge and Amy left for Angel Island to get the Master Emerald and the remaining Chaos Emeralds soon after. I wondered about going Hyper. I had no idea what that was or how to go about getting there. It had never occurred to me that there was even a state beyond Super. Sonic was also right in saying that there had never been more than two of us Super at the same time.
"Knuckles what is Hyper? I've never heard of it." I asked.
"That would be a better question to ask Sonic. He's the only one who's ever gone Hyper."
"I don't know how to explain it! All I can really say is that it's nothing like Super. It's beyond anything you've ever felt. Like I said before, I haven't gone Hyper in years and it was only once. I have no doubt that Knuckles could go Hyper, but I'm not even sure if I can again…." Sonic said.
"Nonsense, it's exactly the same as going Super, just with the Super Emeralds instead of the regular Emeralds. Stop being afraid; not to mention, this may be our only shot. I've never seen anything so powerful as that huge dragon." Knuckles said condescendingly.
"Big dragon? Clawrostira maybe?" Karo squeaked.
"Maybe, why, do you know anything about him?" I asked.
"Clawrostira no eat normal power light like others. Clawrostira eat super big power light. Eat planet power light." Karo said.
"He eats a planet's power?" I said with a gulp.
"He only eat every daddy life. Every time planet go 'round star lot's of times, maybe even more than daddy life." Karo said simply.
"Karo that doesn't tell us anything!" Sonic said, exasperated.
"He's right Karo. How old is your father?" Knuckles asked.
"Karo not know, just know daddy older than mommy." Karo said, fear present in his voice. I sighed and patted Karo on the head.
"It's ok, Karo. Don't worry about it. What are we going to do about that anyway?" I said.
"About what?" Sonic and Knuckles answered in unison.
"About a certain high-ranking military officer in our enemy's army. The one that Karo knows exceptionally well." I said while quickly glancing at the confused Karo.
"Oh, that. What are we going to do?" Knuckles said gravely. We couldn't in good conscience kill Karo's father.
We didn't have time to wonder what we could do, because Tails came rushing in at that moment. He had the two Emeralds, but Dr. Eggman was following him. All of us jumped to our feet at the site of him.
"Relax you annoying creatures. I haven't come to fight you! I've come to see what can be done about our predicament. You didn't think that you were the only ones under attack." Dr. Eggman said haughtily.
"Gee Doctor, it's always good to know we can count on you." I said calmly.
Just then, three more people joined us in the room. Two G.U.N. soldiers and the G.U.N. Commander entered the room. The Commander glared daggers at me and I glared back. He had always hated me and the feeling was mutual. Even after so many years of saving the planet and the knowledge of what truly happened on the ARK, he still blamed me for everything. He probably was trying to think of a way to blame me for the invasion of the creatures.
The Commander was about to speak to everyone in the room except me when he saw Karo.
"What is that doing in here? Am I to believe that you are keeping one of these killing monsters as a pet?" The Commander spat in disgust as he pointed at Karo. The poor baby dragon quivered in fear and scrambled onto the floor to stand behind me.
"Maybe I am. He's a baby and perfectly harmless. His father doesn't know where he is so I see no need to panic." I said coldly.
The Commander folded his arms and glared at me. I did the same, refusing to back down. Eggman cleared his throat and began to speak.
"I think we should put all our differences aside in favor of the well being of the populace. Gentlemen, I come here to ask a favor and to offer my assistance. These creatures are just as bad, if not worse than the Black Arms invasion several years ago. The creatures are nimble and are expert hunters. Some fly and some don't, but they never hunt lone. This, I believe, is the secret to their success, their superb ability to work together." Eggman said.
"I could have told you that Doctor. Tell us something new." I said. I curtly turned my head away from the Commander, dismissing him as being unworthy of having a glaring contest with me.
Eggman stroked his mustache.
"I believe we need to follow their example. I have seen them fight, as have you I'm sure. Even if their partner falls, they find another and join them. Their tactics are flawless and innovative. They use everything to their advantage. We are not talking some mindless soldiers who need to be told everything, like the Black Arms; we are talking a race of fighters who are as creative as we are, if not more so." Eggman said matter-of-factly.
He had to be saying this for the benefit of the Commander, because we always knew everything he did about an enemy. Whatever the reason was, the Commander responded.
"Bah! I will believe that when I see it. I don't believe in smart aliens, they're all stupid if you ask me. The fact that they attacked this planet makes them foolish." The Commander said vehemently.
"Yes, these creatures are stupid. The Black Arms actually were stupid and you couldn't drive them out of the city without Sonic, Knuckles, and me. The Black Arms, who were truly stupid, took out the CIA mainframe. These creatures, which are very intelligent, are killing your people faster than you can send them to be killed. Yes, they are the foolish ones indeed. I think you need to rethink your own overpowering stupidity before you force your prejudices on others." I said venomously. This was the reason I hated the Commander.
"Keep your trap shut experiment! You will speak when spoken to!" The Commander shouted.
Karo and I both hissed at the Commander and he took a step back from our viciousness. The two G.U.N. soldiers at his side cocked their weapons and leveled them at us.
"Sad that you need others to guard your cowardice. As condescending of others as you are and as sure as you are of other's inferiority to you, someone would think that you could thoroughly defend yourself." I spat in irritated disgust.
"I don't need to respond to an object." The Commander said simply. I had more to say, but Sonic interrupted.
"What do you want Eggman? You said that you wanted to work together. We already have a plan, but I've learned from Tails that hearing other's ideas can be helpful."
Eggman smirked at the hidden compliment and the plea for help hidden in Sonic's words. He twisted his mustache in his fingers as he thought.
"We need to take out their leader first. Even though they are well organized and are perfectly capable of fighting on their own, they still require some sort of direction. After that, we need to come up with some sort of strategy to defeat their amazing cooperative skills. What do you all have in mind?"
"I think you three have done enough damage! G.U.N. will take care of this threat." The Commander said angrily.
"Oh, you mean like how you handled the Black Arms? Or perhaps you mean that sorry excuse for a defensive attack to drive the creatures away from the city? I would enjoy watching the largest one, that huge creature who burned away a plane with its spit, do the same thing a second time!" Eggman said vehemently.
The Commander was taken aback; he hadn't expected to receive such a reprieve from Eggman. I smirked, highly pleased with Eggman's verbal attack. Karo make a sort of snickering sound and he nosed my leg. Knuckles began explaining our plan to Eggman who was just as unsure about it as the rest of us.
"I know you know more about the Chaos Emeralds than anyone else Knucklehead, but are you sure this will work? I haven't seen you go super, though I know you have."
"It has to work Eggman. It needs to work, otherwise we're all doomed."
We continued discussing plans for a few more minutes before Rouge and Mari came back. Mari was carrying the four remaining Chaos Emeralds while Rouge had the Master Emerald. None of us had much time to consider them, however. We soon heard a crash and gunfire as well as the screeching of the flying creatures. The dinosaur-like screams of the grounded creatures could be heard as well.
"This is not the best time. Knuckles I don't know what you have to do but do it quickly!" I said as a flying creature tried to shatter the windows.
It would be hard-pressed to break them because they were made to resist shattering for the safety of patients, but glass is glass it would break eventually. The glass started to crack, one crack slicing through from corner to corner. I prepared my mind for a close-quarter fight, but the G.U.N. agents fired their guns. The glass shattered and the creature went down, screaming as it went. The Commander smirked haughtily at me, but all I could think of was how foolish that was.
"You idiot! You broke the glass! That was the only thing keeping them out! You can't think more than two seconds ahead, that's why you can't organize a proper counterstrike!" I shouted.
I growled in rage, flinging Karo under the bed, I grabbed one of the soldier's guns and ammo, and I jumped out of the window. I was nearly bitten by an enraged flying creature, who was holding the dead one in its arms. I shot that one dead too. I fired at every creature I could aim at while falling. The hospital was tall, about forty stories, and we had been at the top.
I was suddenly swarmed by a horde of the flying things and I used Chaos Control to slow time. I killed every single one. I used Chaos Control to speed over to a creature who was standing differently than the others. He was standing like a dinosaur rather than on four legs or with their front limbs close to the ground. I was heading for Lirias.
I came out of the "Chaos Realm" as Tails had once dubbed it, and stood in front of Lirias. The sapphire-colored dragon nearly took flight at my sudden appearance. He had to quickly bark out orders in his raptor-like speech to keep the creatures around him from attacking me.
"Hello star creature." Lirias said; his demeanor gave away his unsettled feelings that his voice hid.
"Call your soldiers off." I said. My anger was barely restrained and I couldn't keep it out of my voice completely.
"Why? There is nothing in the rules of engagement that says we cannot attack a military building." Lirias said calmly. His calm demeanor was irritating.
"It's a hospital, that's hardly a military building." I growled through my teeth.
"This is a military city; therefore, it is a military building. We do not have these 'hospitals' on our planet. If a citizen is ill we send him home and hope he recovers." Lirias said coolly.
"Your son is in there." I said coldly. That got his attention.
"What?"
"Your son is in there. You see, hospitals are where we send our ill. In a hospital, people who are hurt or dying are cared for. That's what a hospital is." I said coolly.
Lirias took a step back. I got the feeling that he now believed his son was hurt and that was why he was in the hospital.
"You didn't…you aren't going to kill him…?" Lirias asked, anguished.
"I have no reason to kill him. He is a child and has done me no harm; however, humans are a vengeful sort. I can only protect your child for so long." I said truthfully. I didn't know what the Commander might do to little Karo.
"Give him to me, I want him!" Lirias said angrily. He lunged at me and I dodged.
"Call off your soldiers and I'll talk to the humans. I have no interest in holding a baby hostage, no matter what his parents are doing, but like I said humans are a vengeful bunch." I said, praying that the Commander wouldn't think of holding Karo hostage.
I wasn't sure what the giant Clawrostira would do, but I would surely meet my death by Lirias' jaws if Karo were harmed. Lirias nodded and started calling to his soldiers in that velociraptor bark of his. Many of his soldiers looked at him in surprise, but obeyed, some of them leaving off a meal. Some of his soldiers openly argued, but Lirias was an unforgiving general. He smacked most with his tail and he bit one who continued to argue after the tail smack.
The creatures made an orderly retreat and Lirias came up to me.
"I want to see him. I want to see Karo."
I nodded and turned towards the building. Needless to say, no one was happy to see Lirias.
"What is wrong with you?! Why do you bring this creature in here?!" The Commander shouted in my face.
"Well, I can see that humans don't work very well with others." Lirias said, slightly annoyed.
"It talks?! That thing talks?!" The Commander shouted incredulously.
"It thinks?! That thing thinks?!" Lirias mocked. I couldn't help but snicker.
"I am Lirias. I am a general in my people's army. Who do I have the acquaintance of fighting?" Lirias said calmly.
"Look at that, he's diplomatic. I am the Commander of the Guardian Unit of Nations. What do you want on this planet?"
"Your lives of course, I thought that would be painfully obvious. Our leader, who goes by the name of Clarostra, needs to feed every fifty orbital rotations. In other words, fifty of my planet's years. A baby might say his name Clawrostira, but that is from a poor ability to translate our language into yours." Lirias said with a slightly haughty air.
"What exactly does this Clarostra eat?" Sonic shouted from behind the Commander. I hadn't realized that he'd come all the way downstairs.
"Stars, planets, whatever suits his fancy at the time." Lirias said, that same air of haughty nobility in his voice while he scratched his neck.
"What did you come in here to do, negotiate surrender?" The Commander asked.
"No."
"Well, what did you come here for?" The Commander asked, frustrated and now confused.
"That is between me and your rather short ambassador." Lirias said, glancing at me. My ears flattened in annoyance at the reference to my height, but I said nothing.
"I should like to take him to the room where were before Commander. The top floor. He can leave through the broken window." I said simply.
The Commander glared at me.
"I don't think so. I refuse to let the enemy into my stronghold."
"Sorry to inform you good sir, but you already have." Lirias said calmly. "Shadow."
I looked at Lirias.
"What?"
"Ever rode a dragon before?"
"Never had the pleasure."
"Well, here's your chance." Lirias grabbed me by my quills and flung me onto his back. I grabbed onto his crest of horns as he spread his wings wide. The soldiers around us scrambled away and Lirias ran out of the door with me on his back. Once outside he beat his wings powerfully and in seven beats was halfway to the top of the building. In five more he was flying through the broken window. Everyone inside panicked at the site of Lirias, but they quickly calmed at my words.
"Daddy?" Karo peeked from under one of the bed.
I hopped off Lirias' back as he practically charged to get to Karo. Karo squeaked, peeped, and squawked to his father happily. Lirias gave me a grave and thankful look. I nodded and explained who Lirias was to everyone else.
"You've made things harder you do know that right?" Amy whispered to me. I sighed.
"I know, but I couldn't in good conscience let him go on without knowing if his son was safe."
"Shadow, I must thank you. I was nervous that you would betray me. I must know, what can I do for you?" Lirias said as he nuzzled his son.
"You can stop killing people." Knuckles said.
"I'm afraid I can do nothing about that. Clarostra has his mind set on this planet, I'm afraid I cannot convince him to leave. All I can say is that I would become a traitor if I sanctioned his death." Lirias said.
"What would you do if we did kill him?" I asked.
"Go back to my home and rule in his stead. He has no family and I am his highest-ranking and most favored soldier. Is there anything I can do now? Perhaps bring your…diverse family back with us? Our planet is not unlike yours, albeit cleaner and with less of these buildings."
"I'd much rather stay here than going to a hostile alien planet." Rouge said.
"I cannot do very much or else I would be deemed a traitor and my son exiled. Clarostra will be gravely angry that I am associating with you now, though he will be easier upon hearing the reason. He does not believe in compassion towards any but his own race though. He will spare you-if I ask- but he will not spare the rest."
"Then we'll simply have to kill him." I said, thoughtfully.
"Yes, but I must do all I can to thwart you." Lirias said sadly.
"Daddy, can Karo stay? Why daddy sad?" Karo said. He didn't understand what was happening.
Lirias' expression became stoic and he croaked something to Karo that evidently soothed the baby creature. Lirias walked over to the window and he spread his wings wide. Before he took off he turned to face me.
"We shall meet again Shadow. Next time it will be on the battlefield. A star will die when we meet and the fate of a planet lies in the hands of the winner. What are you willing to sacrifice? Are you ready to give your life? We shall see how deep your mercy and your courage run star creature."
With that he leaped out the window, wings spread wide.
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AP: I hope you all enjoyed chapter 5 of Blood Fire!
Shadow: The plot thickens. What drama! What suspense! –rolls eyes-
AP: Shush Shadow. You're about to get in the fight of your life and I've already got most of the sixth chapter planned out.
Shadow: Crap.
AP: Exactly. Stay tuned for the next installment of Blood Fire!