Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
I admit this was a long chapter. These first few are going to be filled with backstory and explanations so that you're not lost, but there will be some plot twists and surprises along the way so that it doesn't make things boring! ;)
The Onyx - Book II
2
Craddock slowly opened his eyes, but all was still dark around him. He felt warm despite the strange black void. He reached out, felt nothing. He looked about him, noticing he was lying down, but on what? He reached down to feel what it was he might have been lying on, and his hand simply cascaded down below his leg. He felt his heart start to increase its rate as he tried to fathom just where he was, how he had gotten here, and what, exactly, was "here".
Gingerly, he rose to one knee, still unsure of whether he was floating or on solid ground he couldn't see. Again, he wiped his hand on the faux flooring by his knee, expecting to feel nothing. This time, it felt like something solid, but neither warm or cool to the touch. Slowly, seemingly unbalanced, he rose to his feet, still undeniably perplexed by his newfangled environment, but at least one thing seemed real as soon as he turned his head to see if there was anything around that remotely made sense, immediately feeling the sting in his neck from where he had been stabbed by the syringe.
Great, he mused, rubbing his neck, I think I'm hallucinating. What did those assholes drug me with?
As if on a narrow walkway high up in the air, Craddock wobbily began walking not knowing where he was going, how far he could go, whether or not he could fall to his death with one missed step, or if he was even actually walking a distance at all. He looked down at his bare feet (much to his chagrin), taking notice that they made no noise with each step he took, as well as the same prison garb he had gotten accustomed to.
Well, if I'm dreaming, at least it's not a naked dream.
Each unsure step taken, he would stop, thinking he heard something other than his own breaths or heart rhytmically beating, albeit to a slightly faster rate. He squinted, trying to focus, but knew his eyes were beginning to play tricks on him. He began to drum up scenarios in his mind while plodding forward, or backward, sideways, or even upside-down. Was this purgatory? Was he dead and in some mind-warping waiting room waiting for his judgement? Perhaps this was his judgement: to spend enternity wandering in the dark void.
He suddenly stopped, hearing something faint that was not his breath, nor his heart, and defintely not a case of trapped gas freed by his nervousness. It was voices. But from what direction? He squinted, glancing side to side, trying to focus on just where they were coming from.
He crept forward (or at least the direction that felt like forward), finally spotting what looked like a blurred reflection of himself before him. He reached out, as did his blurred reflective twin, and upon touching what appeared to be his hand, an outline of a door appeared, and he nearly tumbled it as it easily, and swiftly, opened with the slightest touch.
He maintained his balance, but immediately stricken with shock at what he was looking at, for all around him was a shaky array of sketches of various people who could not see him, seated, facing a confused mass of twitching lines before them. Craddock exhaled, wiped his face with his hands.
Oh, God, I AM hallucinating, he concluded, peeking above his hand still on his face to confirm if he was still seeing what he was actually seeing. I'm in the video of that one song. Great. I see it one time in my life, and now I'm stuck here. What next? Jockeys wielding wrenches?
But as he made his way up the aisle, careful not to rouse the squiggly-lined people of his presence that seemed far more focused on what was before them instead of him, the confusing mass begun to take a definitive shape, and with a few more steps, Craddock finally knew where he was at. He sighed, looked to his left, and saw the sketchy form of himself sitting behind a table surrounded by what were likely court-appointed lawyers fresh out of law school since no one ever stepped up to try and defend him as he assumed a military hero should deserve. He had been chained to floor, but his demeanor was stone-faced as could be, despite his impending punishment soon to befall him.
"Louis Craddock!" roared a judge from behind his fortress of justification. "You have disgraced your brothers and sisters of the military with your actions. No longer will you be remembered for your heroic deeds in the wars this country has faced, and no longer will you be remembered for your service of this country. No, you will forever be remembered for the treasonous crimes you committed against your president and the nation you swore to proect. You shall be stripped of all your medals, be dishonorably discharged, and on this same day, I now sentence you to life in a maximum security prison of my choice with no chance ever at parole. May God have mercy on your soul, because no one else here will ever grant you that privilege."
Craddock heard the angry pound of the gavel that cemented his new life, and it stung his ears, making him flinch, but upon opening his eyes again, he was back in the black void. The reflection was gone, as were the restrictive chains. He was not amused, as his emphatic sigh indicated.
Is this what this is all about? Memories? This is my new life - a grand parade of ill memories brought on by whatever the hell type of serum they shot into my veins?
His musings appeared to be accurate, for as he began walking again, not knowing, or really caring at this point, which way he was going, he began seeing multiple blurs manifest around him as more voices began to murmur within the blackness.
"Craddock, it's over!" bellowed an echoing voice, stopping Craddock.
Conrad?
"This thing is way too unstable!" Conrad continued, slowly appearing, though ghostly transparent. I should've pulled the plug on this long ago, but I didn't because I listened to your incessant bullshit!"
Craddock followed the apparition as it began to circle him, a sneer forming as the memory of the event spurring those words began to bleed into his mind.
"I'd as soon throw your ass in prison for you screwing me over, but I'm in it too deep now, too!"
"Bastard! You ended up screwing me over!" yelled Craddock, finally having heard enough and taking a swing at the figure. "You had everything taken from me! My life is fucking ruined because of you!"
He watched as his fist simply swished through the wispy fog, but undaunted, negatively inspired by the words he had heard, Craddock swung again and again, cursing loudly at the ghost before him, all for naught, until he doubled over, gasping for air, more memories flooding into his brain. He slowly looked ahead to find himself back in the courtroom, but no shaky sketches this time, rather, a very vivid display of Conrad on the witness stand, pointing at him, calling him out for the unprovoked attack on the president, claiming that his project was intent on assassination.
"Liar!" growled Craddock, but no one could hear or see him. "You lied! You coward! You threw me under the bus to try and cover your own ass!"
He swung yet again, wildly, so much that he toppled over, landing on the invisible floor that, remarkably, made no sound when his face hit. Cursing, Craddock slowly sat up, rubbing his jaw.
All I wanted was for this nation to be the ultimate superpower in the world. I knew there were dictators out there that not only ruined the lives of their fellow countrymen because of their greed, but would eventually set their goals on destroying my country. I wasn't about to stand for it. I wanted to do something, and I finally had my opportunity until...
"General Louis Johansen Craddock," echoed another familiar voice from behind him, momentarily startling him enough to make him swiftly turn about and see another memory manifested into another recognizable apparition.
Oh, for shit's sake, this guy?
Craddock exhaled loudly, but knew the ghostly figure of warden Oliver Kuhnipple couldn't hear. He watched as the older gentleman bearing the perfect Windsor knot tie in blazing fire truck red thumb through a manila folder stuffed with various papers, all of which Craddock assumed were his records dating back to his first days as an up-and-coming private.
"Impressive. Very impressive, indeeed," Kuhnipple flatly said in mock acknowledgment. "You definitely found your home with the Marines. Too bad you pissed it all away in whatever the hell your stupid plan for world domination was. Did you really think you were going to get away with it? Did you honestly think you were untouchable because of all the fancy-dancy medals and shit? Did you really believe you were untouchable?"
Kuhnipple abruptly closed the file, leaned back in his chair, eyeing Craddock with a persnickety smile glazed with entitlement. "Well, you're wrong there, mister. Your ass now belongs to me, pal. This ain't no country club. No TV, no community area, and no enjoying the outside. You eat when I allow it, you jump when I tell you to, and there will be respect on all levels. I warn you not to test my patience on these simple little commands because you won't like what happens if you get on my bad side. Get to know those walls, Louie, because you're gonna see 'em for an awfully long time. That is, if you make it that long."
He noticed the warden motion to a guard behind him, and before Craddock could mutter a word, darkness enveloped him once again. With a huff of disgust, he jammed his fists into his sides, tired of whatever game he had unwillingly become a part of. "Okay, assholes," he said, now folding his arms, "You made your point loud and clear. Stick another needle in me or whatever so this little charade can end."
Craddock's eye began to twitch when, yet, another familiar voice called out to him. "Oh, come now, Louie! The fun's just begun!"
"Eggman!" Craddock yelled, searching for where the voice had emanated from. "You fucked with the wrong Marine! You hear me?!"
But all that could be heard was Robotnik's maniacal laughter, getting louder, closer. It was all around him. "Goddammit, Eggman! You're gonna-ILK!"
Craddock suddenly doubled over in agonizing pain, clutching his head before falling to one knee, grimacing, grunting as a searing burn began to crawl throughout his body.
What the fuck is going on?!
The burn intensified around his hand and forearm, but when Craddock instinctively grabbed hold of it to try and stop the spread, he watched as purple wisps began to encircle his hand and wrist, tearing the skin away. "Oh my God! What-what's happening to me?!"
In panicking horror, Craddock could only scream in pain as his skin melted away, exposing muscle tissue beneath that began pulsating madly as it began to swell until it, too, began tearing away to unveil metallic talons covered in blood where his fingers once used to be.
"NO!" Craddock cried out, writhing, as the burning sensations shifted to his back. He arched in an unnatural way as he both felt and heard his spine breaking, shifting, and in a lurch accompanied by a gurgling gasp of sheer tortuous pain, two metal wings bathed in blood, skin, and muscle fragments, erupted from where his shoulder blades had once been.
He could feel the burning sensation now snake its way up to his neck and begin tearing at it. He screamed a final plea for mercy, reaching out with his one arm that had not yet been affected from the confusing transformation, begging for anything that would grant it to him.
But he suddenly awakened, panting, his aching head bathed in sweat. Immediately, he began looking at his arms, feeling as best he could along his shoulders for anything out of the ordinary: no torn skin, no metallic wings or talons. A sense of relief washed over him, but it was marginal at best. He took in a long breath, accepting of his conclusion.
Just a dream.
He exhaled slowly and started scanning his surroundings. Instead of the blue concrete brick walls he had grown accustomed to seeing every day in his prison cell, there appeared deep tinted windows that prevented any sort of light from coming in, yet there was soft yellow light emanating from an overhead fixture, illuminating the room he was in, which was a peculiar octagon. He drew back the blanket he was under, impressed that it was actually a blanket and not what appeared to be a quilt likely knitted at an insane asylum. However, his prison garb was still the same.
The hell is this place? Craddock mused, leaning against one of the window panels with cupped hands, trying to focus on the various display of blinking lights and what they might have been, exactly. He could hear a confused chorus of blips, clangs, and brief buzzers within the veil of darkness his eyes couldn't quite see through.
Eventually, Craddock gave up, retreated a few steps, and scratched at an itchy spot behind his ear, immediately feeling something that was definitely not supposed to be there. He gasped, felt the small incision scab, and the small square-shaped bump directly behind it. Panic began to set in as he continued to follow, with his index finger, a circular bump he knew had to have been a wire until it disappeared at the back of his head.
Oh my God! What is this? What's going on?
He felt himself start to sweat, and his stomach began knotting. Panic had definitely set in full force as he tried to fathom what had happened. He felt like he couldn't swallow, began to gag, and staggered toward the silver toilet by his bed, emptying everything he had in his stomach.
But upon flushing, an array of overhead lights suddenly flashed on, startling Craddock from his respectful posture before the royal silver throne. Slowly, he rose, now able to see the vast dashboard of buttons, levers, and lights he couldn't see before, but nothing made sense about it.
"Well, well, well," boomed a familiar voice, "Look who's finally up."
Doctor Eggman sauntered in, his gloved hands behind his back, a mischievous smile that bore his teeth beneath his enormous orange mustache, and the light's reflection gleaming off of his spectacles. "I was beginning to wonder if we maybe overdosed you."
Craddock glared at the portly man, wiping his mouth with his orange sleeve. "Eggman! You'd better start explaining things right fucking now! Where the fuck am I? What the fuck did you implant in my head? What the fuck is going on?!"
Eggman's smile disappeared. "I will never understand what it is with you people on this planet and the use of that word. Do you think it makes you look tough and intimidating? Well, it doesn't! It just makes you look and sound like a complete fool."
He stopped at a trail of paper sticking out of a slot near the middle of the dashboard and examined it. "But fool or not, I do find you to be a very interesting man, general."
"What's that supposed to mean, doctor?" Craddock asked in a mocking tone.
"I admit, you were an accidental genius. You had me, and the whole nation, duped into thinking you were this national hero, and yet, when I decided to foolishly work with you on that failed project, there was something about your demeanor that seemed awfully familiar, as if I had a prior encounter with you before, but I never could put two and two together until I decided to do a little research on you."
Craddock began to laugh curtly. "So that's why you took off and abandoned the project? To do research on me? I should've known than to ever trust a coward like you, Eggman. I had everything under control until you-"
"I'm going to stop you right there, Craddock!" Eggman interrupted, pointing his finger. "Or should I say, Card Passer?"
Craddock immediately became silent, as that was a name he had not heard in a long, long time.
Thank you for reading! Please R/R, and don't forget that I'm open for constructive criticisms and suggestions that usually help with the flow of the story. Watch for Chapter 3!
