Section 5: Dark Potentials
Pipes twisted and threaded across the dark corridors ceiling, the only light coming from flickering ceiling bar lights and multiple security cameras. Sonic walked down this corridor passing empty room after empty room on both sides of the underground maze. He eventually reached a large black mechanical blast door with the words 'HIGH SECURITY: AUTHORISED ACCESS ONLY' written upon it in large orange letters. The doors hissed and slid open as soon as Sonic came near them. He walked through to meet another set of identical doors. He turned around to see the first door close and lock behind him. Sirens began to sound and orange lights flashed "Hey, what's going on?" shouted Sonic "DECONTAMINATION SEQUENCE INITIATED" echoed speakers on the roof "Nobody said anything abou..." his sentence was cut short as gusts of wind and white smoked was fired into the room. Sonic coughed and spluttered but the mist slowly set, the sirens stopped and the second set of doors opened. A security guard walked through "I'm sorry Sonic but we have to do that to everyone" Sonic wiped a bit of spit from his mouth "Well could you maybe just have a shower ready for me next time?" the guard smiled "He's just through here Sonic". Sonic followed the guard a short distance to another set of double doors. "I just need you to say your name to the receiver on the wall" Sonic did as he said and the first set of doors opened. "How long do I have? He asked "Take as long as you want" said the guard who winked his eye indicating that he shouldn't really "Thank you" said sonic. He walked in as the first doors closed and the second set opened.
"Hello Eggman, long time no see" smirked Sonic "Ahh Sonic, so glad you decided to drop by, I'm so bored here I'm happy to even have you for company" He turned around to face Sonic "I thought you would be at the scene of my demise, I was quite disappointed" Sonic shrugged his shoulders "Yeah well, it was out of my control this time, they thought you would be watching every move I make" Eggman chuckled "And you know what, they were right" "What do you mean Eggman?" said a puzzled Sonic "I don't think I can recall a battle that didn't involve you in some way my speedy friend, I've been watching what you have been doing for a long time. Just my luck the only thing I didn't see was your little party with the president" Sonic smiled "Well it looks like someone has finally overcome you Egghead" Eggman let out an even louder laugh "Ha, you mean the head of the company don't you, Matt isn't it. Well let me tell you something Sonic, I agree with you, and I'm glad I'm in this cosy little cell" Sonic was now getting more and more confused with every word Eggman said "What on earth are you on about? What happened to the old you I know and don't love, I rather miss him" "You were right Sonic, but did it occur to you that Matt may be better me in both the good and bad ways. That battle was rather emotional for me, and the sight of its insanity touched me. A word of warning Sonic, don't make a wrong move or utter a wrong word against this guy, because I bet you would end up as road kill in a matter of minutes". With the end of that sentence Sonic slowly backed out the room and left the complex, his mind full of thoughts that were trying to make sense of the insanity he had just heard, even if it was from Eggman. "I'm sure he is just messing with my head" He muttered to himself "I don't believe for one second that Matt could ever be like that".
Back in Station Square, a fierce storm rocked the city in a fashion that hadn't been seen for a number of years. A constant flow of rain tapped on the streets and lightning illuminated the sky every few seconds. At Matt and Tikal's apartment, a celebration party for the victory over Eggman was getting set to die out. The only people in the apartment were Tikal, Knuckles, Chris, Amy and Cream. "Wow, this was such a nice party" said Cream in delight. Cream was the only one who had noticeably changed with age. Her eyes had become a deeper shade of brown, she was beginning to sound more like her mother Vanilla and as she grew taller her beige rabbit ears had grown longer and were now about half way down the orange dress she was wearing "I do hope we can have another one like this soon" "Well Cream, Im sure that if Fury. Co keeps getting called out we will have a party like this each time they get back" said Amy who wanted to give Cream something to look forward to. "Where is Matt anyway? He's been gone an awful long time" Cream still hadn't forgotten how he had helped her when she was Ill "He said he was just going to get some more food for us" said Tikal who was talking to Knuckles on the sofa "Don't worry Cream he will be back soon" she said with a warming smile. Chris then called from another room "Hey Amy, Cream, I've set up the games console. Do you both want to play?" "I will" said Cream "And I will too" said Amy "I won't be very good though, it's been ages since I played on one of those things" Cream and Amy left the room leaving just Tikal and Knuckles. "So, how is the master emerald nowadays?" asked Tikal. Knuckles smiled "All nicely patched up after that incident on the Rapture, no damage done and I think Chaos is still safe inside" "You haven't been too lonely out there have you Knuckles?" "Its nice to have Cream and Cheese there, but I must admit I do miss some other company. But it's my duty to guard the master emerald, and I will see it through no matter what". Tikal could never help but admire Knuckles commitment to his duties and always felt deeply sorry for him that it was a such a solitary place "Well Knuckles you are always welcome to stay here anytime you want" "I may just take you up on that offer" replied Knuckles. "I need to thank you as well. Thank you for catching me when the emerald fractured" said Tikal "No thanks needed, just as long as you're OK is reward enough for me" Knuckles and Tikal both blushed at the comment. "Is that true Knuckles?" asked Tikal who was slightly embarrassed "Yeah" Knuckles moved closer to Tikal "I mean, I don't think I could bear to see you get hurt" "Really?" said Tikal as she started to feel a slight chocking feeling in her throat as they move even closer together, almost face to face "Really. Tikal, I um, I...I think I lo..." Tikal clearly understood what he was trying to say as she pulled him close and kiss him softly on the lips. Knuckles replied in kind, also placing his arm around Tikal as they kissed. The kiss was short live however, as they were both scared out of their skins at the sound of metal tin cans and glass bottles crashing to the ground.
Matt stood in the door, soaking wet, his mouth trembling and tightly shut and his eyes clearly under pressure from tears which he refused to release, his left hand open which had dropped the food and drinks bag while his right hand was grasping a batch of flowers he had just bought for Tikal. His hand quickly started to clench tighter and tighter until he snapped the flowers' stems clean in two and his body shake violently with pure rage. Dropping everything he quickly ran out the room. Unlike Matt, Tikal instantly broke into tears. She jumped up and gave chase "MATT! PLEASE I'M SORRY. MATT! MATT I CAN EXPLAIN". She only managed to catch up to the sight of Matt shutting the lift door. Crying so much that her head hurt she ran back to the apartment window to see Matt climb into a 4x4 car outside, rev the engine and screech away sending a litter bin flying in it's wake. Hearing the commotion Chris, Cream and Amy rushed into the room "What's going on?" shouted Chris "Why are you crying Tikal?" said Amy shaking. Tikal fell to her knees speaking softly "Matt, I'm so sorry. Please Matt, Please...come back" Everyone gathered around her in a vain attempt to comfort her in someway, although Knuckles stood back a bit feeling highly responsible for what had happened.
The sound of the storm was nerve-wracking, but the sound of the 4x4s' screaming engine was terrifying and easily drowned out the storm. The revs the car was building up made it sound like a rampaging beast tearing through the Station Square streets. Matt struggled to keep control of the vehicle as his hands shook and he tried his best to see past the rain on the window and the tears in his eyes, he swung from left to right in the road and even hit the curb a number of times. "Why, WHY CAN'T SOMETHING JUST GO RIGHT FOR ONCE" Matt was trying his best to control himself but could not help but scream out his soul. "What did I do to deserve this? I JUST WANT TO LIVE!" his foot pressed harder on the accelerator every time he yelled. "Come on Matt" he tried to regain his composure "Get a grip, everything will be OK, one way or another, even if I lose Tikal, that's OK, it's OK right?" his breathing slowed down but this only caused his body to shake even more violently as if all the rage had be replaced with fear. Not even a single minute had passed but Matt finally snapped "AAAHHH I CAN'T TAKE IT!!!" He swung the wheel sharply to the left and shot down a side street. Lights flashed by and the rain pounded on the windscreen as he raced out of Station Square and into the desert. The speed of the car created a sandstorm behind it and Matt by now was flooded with tears and flailing in the car, hitting the steering wheel repeatedly with his fist. Ultimately he reached the Fury. Co base which was silent with not a single person present at the complex. Crashing through the security barrier he pulled up outside a large concrete building and ran inside.
The inside of the building consisted of a single room, big enough to hold a large aeroplane which had a number of small consoles located to the sides. In the centre of the room a large pipe stemmed from the floor to the ceiling and just in front of that was a large horizontal bar which hung from a support on the roof which at the end had several sensors and more obviously had multiple wires connected to electrical tazers which surrounded the end or the bar. Finally on the floor was a single standing restraint for one person. Sobbing, Matt typed commands into the closet console "If it never happened, then it can't hurt". Typed in capital letters on the console was "ERASE ALL RECORDS: TOPIC: SONIC TIKAL ETC. PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS". As soon as he hit the execute button amber lights flashed and sirens echoed throughout the room "MEMORY ERASURE IN T-MINUS ONE MINUTE" alerted speakers in the room. Matt ran over to the restraint and locked himself in. When he finished the platform elevated and tilted back slightly, the bar on the ceiling then released and came down with a thud. When it settled the end of the bar, the sensors and the tazers were all squarely pointed at his forehead and started to buzz as it powered up. Wiping the last tear from his eye Matt said calmly "See you in another lifetime". Lights flashed and the machine activated, the sensors detected his brain activity and send the information to the surrounding consoles. Finally electrical sparks jumped from the tazers onto specific spots on Matt's forehead causing him to twitch and jump. After multiple strikes the machine powered down and returned to its original position and the harness released from Matt's body. "MEMORY ERASURE COMPLETE". Dazed and disorientated, he climbed out and stumbled on his feet. After regaining his balance he stood perfectly still. He looked around at his creation and a dark smile slowly formed. Matt started just darkly chuckling but quickly it developed into a menacing laughter. Matt felt unexplainably angry but could not remember any cause for it apart from the solitary and bullied life he led before he met Sonic and the others. But as far as he was concerned, they were just yet another enemy in his life. "Hahaha. HAHAHAHA! Station Square. It's time for you all to pay" He smashed a button on the wall and the entire base burst to life with alert sirens and emergency lights.