Chapter 14: To Change a Destiny (Last Part)

The heroes talked while they ran towards the village.

Said Silver:

"I think we've better find out the exact reason why the Black Arms never succeeded in conquering Earth before Shadow was created. Something has to have convinced them that locating the Emeralds themselves was impossible. I mean, why bother putting that temple in Glyphic Canyon if they could simply swarm the planet during each 50 year visit until they succesfully rounded up all seven Emeralds?"

Said Pia:

"The Black Arms must've gotten a nasty taste of reality the first time they visisted Earth. I only wish we knew more about the history of the Americas before the settlers arrived. This is the part of the world that the Chaos Emeralds originally came from. SOMETHING created them, and then disappeared without a trace. The Black Arms may have a lot of brute power, but if they had even the faintest idea how to create a Chaos Emerald, they wouldn't need to bother with this war over the millennia."

With their mounting fatigue and the pressing urgency of the situation, neither one got a sentence out that clear. They managed to get the main message across to each other, though.

"You go after Ma'Ik, Pia," said Silver. "I'll do whatever I can to slow the Black Arms down."

"Ma'Ik? Why, what can he do? He should just keep going and get the Chaos Emeralds as far away as possible."

"With our powers and technology, we might be able to stop the Black Arms somehow, but what good will that do? We can't go back here every fifty years until the present. We've got to show Black Doom that the people of this time period can still defend themselves, and the Emeralds are the only way!"

"But that might amount to the same as just handing the Emeralds over... Take a chance, huh?"

Pia had to admit that if it hadn't been for Silver, Black Doom would already have what he sought. It was about time she stopped resenting him for things he hadn't even said or done yet. This wasn't the Silver who yelled at her and got her agent licence revoked for over a year when she tried to make that one tiny little change in the past for her own sake. She couldn't keep up this stupid rebellion against him.

"Fine," said Pia. "We'll try it your way."

The pair split up again. Pia activated her scanners again, this time extending the scan area considerably. Hopefully Ma'Ik was staying put long enough for her to locate the Emeralds' signal.

...once all this was over, Pia intended to have a very long talk with her father. Until then, she may as well appreciate the company of the Silver who wasn't a stubborn old jerk.

-

An accolyte ran up the stone steps to the temple situated at the centre of the village. The human boy was stopped near the entrance the inner temple by a pair of guards with sharp spears.

"What is this? You have no place here, child," said the senior of the guards.

"Demons! The demons are coming!" the terrified youth exclaimed.

"Leave your fantasies in the play pen, child. This is no place for such words. The tribunal is enganged in prayer and will not be disturbed. Leave now, lest you face the judgement of the Five."

"Wait!"

The guards were shocked to hear the voice of High Priest Peloa, youngest and only animaloid member of the Five. Peloa was a raccoon. Her specific species certainly attributed to Ma'Ik's great mistake regarding Pretorious.

"What child would tell such stories on the Day of the Demon? To bring a lie to this place and time would be an act of foolishness so great it could not be done without immesurable bravery and...carelessness. You, guard, go with him and see this claim of demonic invasion for yourself, then return to me. If he is telling the truth, he may be blessed as a saviour. If he is lying, then a soldier's destiny shall be his, as fitting for one so brave."

-

Silver gritted his teeth as he uprooted trees with his psycho-kinetic power in order to reinforce his crude barricade of rocks and dirt. Now he wished he'd held on to that Chaos Emerald. Everything became so much easier with one of those gems.

Would this slow down the Black Arms for even a second? Probably not, but the great big pile of log rollers Silver was preparing should help.

-

Pia didn't have a chance of catching up to the supersonic hedgehog, so she did the next best thing and worked out the most direct route between where her minimap showed him and where the village was located, and positioned herself in clear view.

Sooner than she expected, the blur of speed came into view. As soon as he saw her, Ma'Ik broke off to the right and circled around the cat twice just to be able to slow down from his high speed. Not quite as elegant as Sonic the Hedgehog, no.

"Pia, honoured one, I have done as I was commanded. The Gods will forgive me now, yes?"

Pia opened her mouth to tell the hedgehog that his work wasn't done yet, but instead she said"Why are you so worried about what the Gods think?"

"You test me, I understand. I know well that the true horror is not the demons of this world, but those in the next one. The trials of this world may be painful, but only the worthy may be granted a place in Miklan, the Dead Land. If I am judged to be wanting, then I will not see my wife and child in the next world. I could not bear eternity without them. Oh! Forgive me for wasting your time with my petty concerns, divine one."

Pia felt sick to her stomach. She wasn't an athiest, because that was virtually impossible to be when malevolent gods tried to destroy the world every couple of centuries, and unexplainable mystic energies were a fact of life - but she couldn't stand the way certain religions controlled their followers by making them feel so weak and helpless that they'd never dare to question or violate the religious laws. There were a lot of things she wanted to say to Ma'Ik just then, but she held her tongue. Her main concern now was to make sure his people would have a future in which to learn from their mistakes and hopefully get a better view of the world around them.

"Go back and get the Cha- the magic stones. Circumstances have changed. The demons are coming to destroy your people, and the magic stones are the only way to stop invasion."

I just hope someone in your tribe knows how to use them, Pia thought.

"But...I don't understand, the tribunal... The Gods would not allow the demons to-"

So terrified of saying the wrong thing, making the wrong move, doing anything to hurt his chances of getting into his tribe's version of heaven. Pia let him go on stuttering while she tried to figure out the best way to approach the matter.

Suddenly Pia turned away from the green hedgehog and started talking loudly to empty air.

"You can't understand anything I'm saying, so it really doesn't matter what I say right now! In a minute I'll tell you that I've spoken to the Gods, and have guaranteed you and your family a place in heaven. This is probably really blasphemous and incredibly tasteless, but right now I couldn't give a crap. I'm gonna get you to save the world whether you like it or not, kiddo! Honestly, I hate this religious shite. I really do."

Ma'Ik listened in awe. The language of the Gods was so beautiful...

-

The Black Bull burst through the last barricade. The sharpened sticks Silver had stuck in there barely scratched its thick blubbery exterior. The huge alien inhaled, then spat out a huge fireball aimed directly at the white hedgehog. By accellerating his leap with his telekinesis, Silver barely managed to get away in time. Flames were too intangible for him to be able to catch or deflect with his powers, and any rocks or boulders he tried to throw at the Black Bull merely bounced off its hide.

By the time Silver figured out that he could hurt the monstrosity by damaging its one big eye, it was too late. Hundreds of Black Arms soldiers were flooding over the destroyed barricade. The hedgehog had no choice but to make a run for it.

Silver half-turned his head to see the nearest running soldier aim its laser pistol at him. It missed with the first shot, and never got to fire a second one, as an expertly thrown spear impaled the alien, leaving it to be trampled underneath its fellow soldiers. Now Silver noticed the rows of armed natives standing at the top of the large wooden fence surrounding the village. As he watched, the tribesmen threw their obsidian-tipped spears at the alien army. They'd probably be able to kill off a number of the smaller alien soldiers, but Silver doubted those primitive weapons would be any good once the Black Oak giants reached the perimeter along with the Black Bull that served as a living battering ram for the Black Arms. Not to mention all the winged aliens.

-

Pia didn't object to being carried on Ma'Ik's back as they raced back to the village with the Chaos Emeralds in possession. When they were close enough to see the bright flashes of purple caused by the Black Arms' laser weaponry, the hedgehog slowed down to a halt.

"No...!" Ma'Ik uttered.

Pia strained to see. "They've broken through the fence already? Ma'Ik, there's no time to lose. You can run way faster than the demons can react with their light-shooting weapons."

"But...my...Nole, Ra'Ik. I-I can't let the demons take them!"

Pia waved the sack containing the Emeralds in front of Ma'Ik's face. "We have to get these to someone who can use them first. I'm sorry, but if we don't stop the demons here, they won't give up until they destroy the entire world."

Ma'Ik stared as if hypnotised at the sight of the black aliens pouring through the broken barrier. His house was close to where they'd broken through...

"NO!" the green hedgehog shouted and threw his head back, throwing Pia off.

Once she stopped tumbling, Pia reached for the sack, only for Ma'Ik to grab it and start running towards the village in a blur of speed.

"You idiot! You'll ruin everything!" Pia yelled after him. After a long sigh, she added in a quiet voice "Who am I kidding? I'd have done the exact same thing. You were wrong, Dad. Some things are more important than duty - even the world."

-

Ma'Ik had never practiced the hedgehog spin-attack. Right now it didn't even occur to him to try something like that. Instead he used his speed to tackle any demons that got in his way. He kicked, punched, elbowed and bit with the desperate ferocity of someone who'd never learned how to fight.

He got to his house, saw the door burnt to cinders, saw the Black Oak practically lifting the roof with its massive body, saw his wife cower in the corner with the baby in her arms. And then...

...And then Ma'Ik looked behind him to see the dead giant fall over with a massive hole in its chest. He looked at his trembling family, and then at his fist painted black with alien innards. The magic stones were spilt out all over the floor. It seemed the sack had torn open from sheer pressure.

A Black Arms minion ran over the dead body of its fallen ally and shot the green hedgehog in the back. With a thin plume of smoke rising from the charred wound in Ma'Ik's back, the alien prepared to finish the job with the other two hedgehogs in range of fire...

The purple laser hit a surface glowing with incredible energy. Ma'Ik turned around, and narrowed his eyes in anger.

The projectile was thrown with such force that it toppled a dozen aliens caught in its path, and hit the ground so hard that it was impossible to tell what the black and green splatter had been. Out of the tiny shack that the alien had been thrown from emerged a being that gave the triumphant Black Arms pause, if only for the smallest second, before they all turned their weapons against the golden hedgehog whose spikes stood on end. It had about the same effect as trying to stop an erupting vulcano with a water pistol.

Ma'Ik wasn't thinking anymore. All he knew was that he had to protect his family. He reacted, again and again, tearing through the demon army, destroying every vile creature in sight, killing anything that dared to threaten his loved ones. The Black Bull was one of the last alien creatures left of the invasion force. It breathed a huge flame, which hit Ma'Ik head-on. The Super hedgehog flew straight through the fire and the monster that breathed it as easily as empty air.

-

Pia found Silver lying half-conscious in the bushes near what was left of the great big fence.

"Hey. Hey!" she shouted, giving her friend and father a few friendly slaps to the face. "You don't want to miss this!"

She was right. Watching Ma'Ik, heh, Super Ma'Ik clean up the last of the Black Arms was about the coolest thing Silver had ever seen. He didn't mind saying so out loud, at which Pia laughed.

"We'd better get over there," said Silver. "These people may need a bit of guidance for what's going to happen next."

"Alright," said Pia without hesitation for once.

Ma'Ik descended to the ground in the middle of the village. All around, the entire tribe was watching him from what they judged to be a safe distance. The glow faded from Ma'Ik's fur at the same time as his spikes descended to their normal position. There he stood, looking around somewhat awkwardly at the people he knew so well, who now looked at him with expressions mixed with fear and awe. Not even his own family dared approach him before Silver and Pia caught up with him.

"Pia! Silver! What happend to me? Where are the magic stones?" said Ma'Ik urgently. Pia could tell right away that he was already dreading the consequences of losing the most prized treasures of his people. After a lifetime like his, change didn't come so easily.

"The magic stones are called 'Chaos Emeralds'. No one knows where they came from. For all we know, your Gods really did use them to create the world. Either way, they're gone now. Every time their full power is drawn out, the Emeralds are scattered throughout the world once they return to physical form. Maybe your people can find them again, or maybe not. All you need to know, is that you're not going to need them again. Now that the invaders know that the people of this world are strong enough to protect themselves, they won't dare try to conquer again for a very long time. Trust me."

"I-I lost them? No! I have cursed my-" Ma'Ik began.

"Oh, shut up," said Pia dismissively, then turned her attention towards the important-looking people standing at the entrance to the temple-like structure at the centre of the village. "The Emeralds aren't trophies meant to be hoarded and locked away. They're tools, and Ma'Ik just used them in the best way possible. He just saved your people from certain doom, and if your Gods are really watching you, then I bet they'd be pretty upset if you didn't treat the saviour of all their followers with every bit of gratitude he deserves. Silver, levitate a rock or something. That ought to impress the point on these folks."

"I can do better than that," said Silver, and lifted Ma'Ik up into the air.

On cue, the villagers all fell on their knees and bowed deeply.

"I wonder how badly we just altered history," said Pia.

"As long as Black Doom doesn't get any ideas, and this guy quits grovelling so darn much, it's all good," said Silver.

-

One day later.

"The tracks end here, Lady Pia," said the leader of the hunters, sniffing around beyond the pass at the end of Glyphic Canyon.

When High Priest Ma'Ik wouldn't quit insisting that he should do something to repay the two travellers for all they'd done, Silver suggested that they might as well take advantage of what you didn't need advanced technology to become a master at. Neither of them knew the first thing about following tracks, but the hunters who supplied meat and furs for the village were experts. They followed a trail that seemed invisible to Silver and Pia's eyes, and managed to keep it in sight even through vast stretches of territory that'd been pounded on by massive aliens only a day earlier. Finally, they were here. The precise point where Dr. Pretorious had left this time period.

After the lengthy goodbyes, Silver looked up at the temple structures the Black Arms had been building, and had failed to complete before being interrupted by the possibility of Chaos Emeralds.

"Hmmm. You know, it wasn't that well put together in Shadow's time either, was it? All those walkways leading to gaps of empty space. Buildings that open up to nowhere. Dead ends all over the place. I don't think anyone's gonna notice the difference until Eggman blows up the flying ruins with his fleet."

"I thought it was Shadow who destroyed the power cores in the temples?" said Pia without looking up from her work.

"Ah, I don't remember. Either way, it didn't stay airborne for long. Funny. It's going to sit there for two thousand years only to spend barely a day doing what it was designed for."

"..."

"Pia?"

"Got it!" the orange cat exclaimed. "Dr. Pretorious has gone twelve hundred years further back in time. I guess he's just going further and further back each trip. He probably doesn't even know what he ended up doing to the future."

"Let's go get him, then!"

-

In the next chapter:
- A new episode begins.
- Another familiar setting.
- Let's see what Dr. Pretorious has been up to since last we saw him.