Disclaimer: Sonic and co. © Sega
Egglings © Blank the Nobody
Chapter Sixteen
Reproduction
1 Month, 1 Day and 14 Hours before Black Egg Armageddon
The circle of life, one that involves life, death and birth. And one that allows even the most vilest of creatures to survive
Days went by, and the missing persons list grew larger and larger. Still, no one cared, as long as it wasn't them, the only thing that they saw stapled to the boards were nothing but trash. No attacks were launched, no plans were revealed and everyone felt safe yet again, even though they knew that something bad was going to come sooner or later. A warm breeze flew through the city and lifted some of the torn down missing persons posters off the ground. People chatted and walked on the sidewalks, some carefree and some afraid of walking into the dark alleyways. Police were still stationed throughout the city, they stayed just in case an Eggling would pop up and thankfully none did. Even with the monsters gone, the scent of blood and gunpowder lingered around in the air, making some hack and cough at the odor.
Ms. Vanilla stayed in her daughters hospital room, making sure that she was safe at all times. After Cream had come back, Tails' self-esteem fell, but instead of moping around yet again, like Sonic, the young fox continued to work. Instead of thinking about Cream and her condition, Tails just stuck to the thought that she was back home and the possibility of her waking up in time. Shadow was nowhere to be found, that was normal, but Sonic did have some important questions for the ebony hedgehog. Team Chaotix was getting back to work, Espio still as calm and collected as normal, Charmy not as hyperactive because of Cream and Vector trying to lift Ms. Vanilla's spirits by taking her out. Knuckles on the other hand, had disappeared off the face of the planet.
Sonic was worried about Knuckles and he hoped that his red friend wasn't doing something reckless. The blue hedgehog walked through the streets calmly, instead of running by at his usual pace. Today was one of those gloomy days, the ones where clouds covered the beautiful blue sky in its entirety and where cold gales of wind randomly blew by, chilling the civilians to their very core. People wearing moderately thick coats walked through the sidewalks, passing the hero without giving the hedgehog a second glance.
The cobalt hero continued to walk through the chilly sidewalks, a somewhat calm look on his face. The fact that Eggman hadn't attacked yet didn't sit well with Sonic. But it did make sense, because great power always needs a good plan in order for it to work properly. Instead of snooping around in one of Eggman's lairs to find out what his new plan might be, Sonic stayed back in the city,so he could get his thoughts straightened out. Right now, his thoughts, ideas, memories and fears were all in a messy jumble like puzzle pieces dumped onto the ground.
Another chilled breeze slowly flew by; bringing in yet another lungful of air that was contaminated with the scent of blood. By now Sonic was used to the ungodly smell, but it did bring back memories. Ahead of him was an intersection, the left turn blocked off by orange cones and large construction vehicles, the place where Rouge died. Sonic ignored it and kept walking, he turned right, following the concrete sidewalk that lay before him. A couple blocks away another travesty, the place where Cream was kidnapped. It was as if horrible memories were scattered throughout the city and every turn he took he would discover yet another.
He ignored the scene and took another turn and luckily, there was no horror before him. Sonic exhaled a relieved sigh at the pleasant sight and continued his stroll through the city. A couple more blocks of walking did prove helpful for the hedgehog. He was able to organize most of his thoughts and think about the future. He continued to walk through the streets that were covered in a gray color from the sun's dampened rays. Using his peripheral vision, Sonic could see a red blot in the corner of his eye. Sonic turned, and to his surprise he found a familiar face standing in the middle of an alley staring right at him.
"Knuckles?" whispered Sonic to himself in a shocked tone, as if doubting his own sight.
Sonic then ran over into the alleyway to talk to his friend. Once there, he noticed that Knuckles was striking some sort of superior pose and was using a somewhat cold expression. There was nothing different with the red echidna other then that, but Sonic did notice the stronger scent of blood emanating from the echidna. Whatever he was doing the days before definitely wasn't good.
"Where have you been?" asked Sonic in a worried tone.
Knuckles remained calm and collected as if Sonic's question was a stupid one. "I've been around town and I need your help with something." said Knuckles in a stern tone.
The cobalt hedgehog raised an eyebrow at the request. "Sure, what is it?" asked Sonic.
Knuckles chuckled at the question and knew that even if he had told him what he wanted, Sonic would either not believe him or not do it. "Follow me." said Knuckles before turning around and running in the opposite direction. Sonic shrugged and followed the red echidna.
Sonic knew that it wasn't going to be good, but it was a good opportunity to talk to Knuckles after such a long time.
Minutes passed by and Knuckles had lead Sonic into the dark, dirty, less inhabited part of Station Square. This part of the great city was where the gangsters were born and where the illegal weapons were sold. Every city needs a bad neighborhood and this was it. Sonic kept at a slower pace then his normal speed, so he could follow Knuckles to wherever he was leading him. Posters filled with meaningless news and underground events covered the walls of the alleyway and some of them fell off of their weak staples and fluttered around on the ground as both of them passed. Accompanying the posters on the wall was graffiti the size of a truck that spelled out some foreign profanity that marked the area, making the alleyway the territory of some street gang. The scent of blood got stronger and it mixed in with the smell of spray paint, making a hideous odor float around in the air, almost making Sonic vomit from the unholy smell.
Sonic didn't like it. Wherever Knuckles was leading him, was probably something important if he had to take Sonic to the slums of Station Square. Knuckles continued to lead the way, but after crossing another empty road, the echidna took a more sneaky approach. Every corner he stopped at and looked around, as if making sure that no one was following him. After sneaking around the dank alleyways, Knuckles lead Sonic into a broken down factory. There was nothing special in the factory, but that wasn't what Knuckles wanted to show Sonic. The echidna ducked under a window and pulled Sonic down with him. The echidna's breath was shallow and sweat was starting to form on his brow making Sonic curious. The hedgehog slowly poked his head out and looked out the window and his jaw dropped open at the horrific sight.
Outside of the factory, in the middle of some destroyed children's playground stood a large fleshy dome the size of an auditorium. It looked as if the planet had some sort of disgusting untreated pimple and it throbbed as if it were some sort of heart. The walls of the disgusting boil were red and fleshy like raw skin and the top of its dome was almost like some transparent covering that looked as if it was ready to pop. Even the floor surrounding it was cracked and covered with disgusting patches that looked like they were compromised of blood and vomit, but seemed to have flesh-like spikes growing out of them. In front of the dome was an odd arch, that was actually a door.
The blue hedgehog dropped back down to Knuckles' level, the same shocked and scared expression on his face, while Knuckles withheld his stone cold one. Sonic's heart was racing, before he thought what disgusting was, now this thing tops everything. Before Sonic could get a word out of his mouth a rebellious roar erupted into the air. Sonic almost jumped onto his feet from the otherworldly sound but was able to keep himself seated.
Both Sonic and Knuckles poked their heads up to see what was happening. In an alleyway across from them, four Egglings slowly strode out of the darkness, each of them dragging two unconscious civilians in each hand. Two of the Egglings barked and growled at each other, as if arguing in their own language, while the other two continued to drag their prizes. Sonic and Knuckles watched as the Egglings walked up to the fleshy dome, the door sliding open with a bloody squelch and walked in.
Sonic hid under the window once again, Sonic's heart still racing. Knuckles on the other hand was on his feet and busy stretching his muscles, in preparation for battle.
"Come on, we need to destroy that thing." said Knuckles in a nonchalant tone, as he continued to stretch his arms.
"What!? Are you crazy?" asked Sonic in a nervous tone. "Do you even know how to take that thing down?"
Knuckles scoffed at the question and smiled for once. "It's easy, you destroy its main organ, it looks like a heart so it's easy to find." said the red echidna normally.
His words confused Sonic greatly and that was a first because this was Knuckles he was talking to. "How'd you know that?"
"I've done this before, did you seriously think I was moping around the city the whole time?" asked Knuckles with a chuckle.
"If you've done this before, then why do you need me!?" asked the panicked hedgehog as he got to his feet and stared into Knuckles' eyes.
Knuckles took a step forward and looked at the disgusting structure. He closed his eyes and exhaled an irritated sigh. "Because the ones I destroyed before were only the size of a shed, this is the first time I've ever seen one this big." He said before turning back around to face Sonic.
The news was shocking for Sonic. If these monstrosities grew from the size of a shed to the size of an auditorium, then there was definitely something wrong. There was no way Sonic was going to do it, but knowing Knuckles, the echidna wouldn't let him off that easily. The cobalt hedgehog let go a depressed sigh and looked back at Knuckles, he was going to help him.
"Are you sure we just can't call the army about this?" asked the hedgehog as he got up and stared at the ugly dome.
In preparation for the attack, the red echidna cracked his knuckles. "After this, if we don't get rid of this thing now, it might get bigger." said the echidna in a serious tone.
No escaping it now, Sonic would definitely have to help Knuckles this time. The blue hero got to his feet and held his very own battle ready expression. He knew that it was his duty to help the planet no matter what the cost. Now he would push the fears and regrets back and use what little bravery he had left to destroy the huge pimple-like structure in the ground. Knuckles looked at the blue hedgehog and grinned.
"Let's get started then." said the eased echidna before a loud stomach churning roar filled the air. Knuckles looked out the window to see four Egglings standing in a group, looking right at him. "They've got out scent, let's go." said the echidna before diving through the window, shattering the glass with a cloud crack.
Right on cue, the four Egglings charged the echidna while Sonic remained in the destroyed structure he hid in. One Eggling took a swing at Knuckles, but the red echidna easily dodged it, the claws barely grazing his fur. Knuckles then unleashed a flurry of punches upon one Eggling, his spikes fists digging deep into the Egglings, creating large holes that leaked ounces of blood that coated both Knuckles' and the Eggling's fur. It looked as if Knuckles was in his element, as if he had killed so brutally before. One Eggling fell to Knuckles' wrath and then the echidna directed his attack to another, while Sonic watched in pure awe.
Another Eggling charged and swung its clawed arm in a wide haymaker-like swing, but it was too slow. The red echidna caught its arm before it hit him and he pulled the Eggling toward him like some, professional street fighter. Knuckles drew his arm back and launched it forward at the incoming Eggling. With the speed and power of a high-powered piston, Knuckles' fist smashed into the Eggling's face, the sound of bones cracking rising into the air. Seconds after the punch, the Eggling slid a couple feet backwards before falling on its back like a sack of potatoes, red viscous liquid leaking from the new gash in its face.
The once white fists were now covered in blood and the red echidna was even redder. Knuckles didn't care though, it was like he'd done this so many times before. Knuckles then turned around to face Sonic. Red blood on red fur, making Knuckles' entire body a color shade of reds that shifted from his normal lighter color to the dark recognizable color of blood.
"What are you waiting for? An Invite?" he asked jokingly.
Sonic stopped watching Knuckles and he jumped through the broken window, the two remaining Egglings, roaring in defiance at the two. He wasn't going to let Knuckles have all the fun. Before the Egglings could even react to Sonic jumping into the battle, the blue hero was already charging at them. In a split nanosecond, Sonic curled into his Spin Dash position and rammed into one of the Egglings, driving it backwards as fast as a roller coaster. His rapid spinning movement cut large gashes into the Eggling's flesh and it released a pained roar. After hearing the dying roar coming from the monster, Sonic screeched to a halt, launching the beast off of him and onto the ground with a large gash in its chest. Not even a droplet of blood covered Sonic though and the hedgehog was thankful for that. He looked at the Eggling he had just killed, a horrified face portraying how it died as more blood leaked into a pool under it.
This was one of those times where Sonic tried to forgive himself for actually killing someone. He rarely did this because most of his enemies were thoughtless robots, or alien beings born with no remorse trying to destroy the world, this was different, this thing used to have a family and friends that loved and cared. A sorrowful looked swept into Sonic's look as he took a split second to think about his actions. The moment of silence was lost as the remaining Eggling jumped up behind him, claw above his head ready to swing it down on the cobalt speedster's head. Sonic looked over his shoulder, mouth open in shock as he tried to jump out of the way, but he knew that he wouldn't make it.
Right before the Eggling's claws could touch a single strand of fur on Sonic's body, a large blood fist crashed into its head, sending it flying to the side. Luckily for Sonic, he had Knuckles to watch his back and the echidna grinned at his own handiwork. He then turned to Sonic and the grin grew wider.
"Heh, you usually get more kills then I do." chuckled the echidna.
The term 'kills' irritated Sonic mildly, but he knew that Knuckles meant no harm. Sonic smiled back and stood back up, taking his courageous stance like the many battles before. He set his stare onto the large, disgusting structure before him and yet again forced himself to not throw up. It only left Sonic wondering how Knuckles could take down so many ugly things without having some sort of mental scar inflicted to him. Sonic gulped loudly showing how nervous he was. He pushed the horrible and disturbing thoughts into the back of his head and forged on.
"You go first, you've done this before." Sonic couldn't do it. He couldn't just rush into deadly places like before. There were things at stake this time and besides, even if he did just rush in, he would have no idea what to do.
A chuckle escaped the echidna's lips. "It's not like you, but alright." He shrugged before charging toward the fleshy doors and Sonic followed suit.
Knuckles charged furiously, his body poised like a tackling football player as he smashed into the doors. The sound of bones snapping filled the air as the doors were smashed open, letting the hedgehog and echidna into the ugly structure. Once inside of the dome Sonic looked around, his mouth open in shock. Lining the walls were countless fleshy pods with transparent shells allowing them to see the Mobians floating around in the unknown substance that surrounded them. All of the civilians were unconscious but some looked direly wounded. Thumping could be heard from within the dome, no, not thumping, beating, like a heart amplified through a large bass player.
Sonic looked around, recognizing some of the people from the missing persons posters that were scattered through the city. He walked up to one of the pods where an unconscious teenage girl floated. The blue hero could see the obvious mutation that was happening to the innocent girl. Instead of normal fingers, claws starting to grow and along her forearm and back, Sonic could barely see the stumps that would turn into large spikes sooner or later. Sonic could tell that this wasn't Eggman, this was the circle of life going around. Animals survive, and reproduce, everyone knows that.
"Yo, get over here. I want you to see this so you know what to do next time you find one of these things." said Knuckles from behind Sonic.
The cobalt hedgehog turned around and found Knuckles standing next to a tall pillar-like structure in the middle of the dome. He strode towards it and found that the pillar was made up of long, red, fleshy, tentacles that wound together and touched the top of the dome. In the middle of the pillar was an oddly shaped object that connected to the pillar. It was like a an orb with a large bump on the upper left and a smaller bump on the bottom right. The odd organ-like object thumped like an actual heart making Sonic cringe at the sight.
"This is it, the Heart of the Eggdome." said Knuckles proudly as he gestured over at the Heart.
"Eggdome?" questioned Sonic as he looked at Knuckles with a grin.
"Yeah, that's what I call 'em." said the echidna normally, with a shrug.
He didn't want to question Knuckles anymore, and he simply went with it. Sonic then turned his attention back on the Heart. It continued to beat rhythmically, fueling the Eggdome with its sinister energy. Was it pumping blood like a normal heart? Or was it actually creating the energy that fed it? Sonic didn't care, he just wanted to get rid of it.
"So what? You just destroy it?" asked Sonic as he looked at the Heart, a curious look on him.
"Pretty much. Stab it, crush it, blow it up, as long as it's destroyed in the end." answered the echidna.
Sonic shrugged, understanding the echidna. "Alright." He said plainly before drawing his arm back in preparation for the punch.
Knuckles smiled as Sonic threw his punch at the Heart, crushing it and creating an ugly gap in it. The beating stopped, and the whole Eggdome seemed to emit a bright light. Neither of the two needed a warning, they knew what was happening. Both of them ran for the door and jumped through the door before the explosion rang throughout the city. A large plume of smoke and fire was coughed into the air as the Eggdome seemingly collapsed into himself. The dust surrounded the duo as they lay on their stomachs, shielding their heads from any shrapnel that might come their way. Nothing hit them other then small pebbles and dust.
After a couple of minutes the dust settled, leaving the hedgehog and echidna covered in a light coat of dust. The area where the Eggdome once occupied, was a large crater with small fires lit within it. It was surprising, it was nostalgic. Sonic remembered all of the times when he ran out of buildings seconds before they exploded. In a matter of fact, Sonic found it cliché. An important building exploding, trying to engulf the hero in flames was something they would use in video games, but Sonic was alright with it.
Both of them got to their feet and tried to wipe some of the dust off. His legs were shaking from the blast, but for some odd reason he wasn't scared anymore. Sonic then turned to face Knuckles and looked at him blankly. "Now we tell the army."