Section 7: Project: Oblivion
A small log cabin overlooked a still, tranquil lake surrounded by beautiful woodland and countryside; it was a little piece of heaven in a chaotic world. A short boardwalk was built to stem out a few meters over the lake, Tikal and Amy sat at the end of it with their feet dipped in the water reflecting on everything that had happened over the week. "I can't believe they walked over us so easily, almost literally" Amy said as she tilted her head up to look at the crystal clear night sky and glowing full moon "I can't believe that any of this happened at all, how it happened, why it happened and" Tikal paused and took a deep breath "and that I'm responsible for all of it" Amy was shocked to even hear her say something like that "Tikal! Believe me you could not control anything that has happened. Matt made his decisions and when I get hold of him, oh he is going to see my fury at the end of my hammer" Staring into the distant darkness Tikal could not see any light at the end of the tunnel "Not that it matters anymore, he hates me for what happened" "Now come on Tikal, it's clear to see that Shadow was right. That wasn't Matt we saw back there, I don't know what happened to him but from what I've seen over the past years you two were made for each other. I often wished that I and Sonic could someday be a couple like that. Who knows, maybe he just needs reminding of how much you care for each other" With those words Tikal had found a new energy, a new reason to carry on, if there was the chance that something could be salvaged then it was a chance worth taking. The pair stood up "Thank you Amy, I really needed that" Tikal and Amy hugged to push the dark memories to the back of their minds, not that they could escape it for long as Knuckles came running out of the cabin. "Tikal! Amy! Come quick! We've found another transmission!"
For the second time everyone gathered around the television to watch the broadcast to see what was happening. A burning log fire flickered and static lines jumped across the screen from time to time but everyone calmly took a seat to watch. Matt appeared on screen, standing in a darkened room with only a single light shining down upon him. "Hello Station Square. First of all thank you to those of you who remained calmed and did not resist. Thanks to you we can now continue onto the good news. You have all be designated to take part in a very special test of our latest device" The screen suddenly started flashing up blueprints, calculations, obscure photographs and test data in a militaristic fashion "Let me run you through Project: Oblivion. For the main part this will be the first test of our dimension jump mechanism or "Space Ripper", a machine which makes transportation between dimensions possible without the use of chaos emeralds. Now testing what can be transported could take years but we have found a faster alternative. Combined with the quake machine we apprehended from Dr. Eggman, what we are going to do is literally drop you all in it. Basically we are going to open up a super-portal under the city and use the quake machine to crumble you all in" All of the images had finally stopped leaving Matt in full view of the camera "Now the bad news is that this is a one way trip and that we are sending you to a void dimension, lacking any sort of life. This reminds me, you had all better find an oxygen supply pretty quick. But after this we will finally have the data we need to make this revolution available to all. Ill leave you with this...You all deserve this and nobody is going to miss you, you truly are dropping into oblivion" His eyes narrowed and softly grinned sending a chill down everyone's spine "Bye Bye". The screen flickered and went black.
After a long and nervous silence Sonic attempted to break the ice "I guess that's our cue then" "Cue for what?" asked Amy, Sonic flicked his thumb up "Our cue to take him down, that's what we usually do with the bad guys isn't it?" unfortunately his optimism could not be shared by everyone else. Tails gingerly stepped forward "Sonic, I'm not sure we can do anything" Tails wasn't liking the fact that for once he was disagreeing with Sonic "The mansion and all of our stuff is destroyed, we can't get back into the city and last time we fought it was nearly a total wipe out for us" Sonic clearly understood what Tails was saying but gave a reassuring smile "Tails haven't I taught you anything, where there's a will there's a way" "Hmph, this should be good" Said Shadow with a frown "It is" Sonic replied "We don't need any of our stuff, we don't need to get back to the city and we don't need to engage them in combat" "What! Stop Matt without fighting! That's impossible!" Knuckles could not believe what Sonic said "Haven't any of you noticed how poetic this is. Matt is the one who finally defeats Eggman and he ultimately becomes so similar to him. Like Eggman, he is going to pull off this stunt right from the comfort of his own base; all we need to do is sneak in, destroy that space ripper machine for good and sneak out. No weapons, no fighting, no trouble. But your right Tails, I can't do this alone." He chuckled "You'll never let me forget this but...I need you guys...and girls". Silence fell over the room again as everyone thought about Sonic said, but Tikal walked out of the group and stood face to face with Sonic "Sonic..." He stared back "Yes Tikal?" "Is there any chance that we can help him?" "Tikal, I honestly don't know...But we have to try don't we, and didn't I promise that together we would try to get his old self back" Tikal smiled and felt hope in her heart, a feeling she hadn't felt for what seemed like an eternity. She also thought back to the conversation her and Amy had earlier and could see Amy in a reflection in the window giving her an agreeing wink "You sure did Sonic, so lets do it" Still smiling she opened the door and a rush of cold refreshing air filled the room "Anyway, no-one truly knows what is inside Fury. Co, don't the rest of you want to be the first to find out?" With that final sentence everyone's hope and faith was instantly restored and they marched behind Sonic and Tikal back into the forest heading for the base. "I still think this is suicidal" said Shadow.