Chapter 8- The Art
As I stepped out of the portal, I was greeted with a temperature much warmer than that of the lab. And much brighter too. I blinked as I took in my surroundings. All around me was people talking and laughing with general happiness and jolliness. Women were in dresses much more risqué than mine, so I was thankful I was at least a tad more nicely dressed. The men there were in tuxedos much in the style of Scourge's. The floor was lined with plush red carpet, and there were marble columns all around with gorgeous lights and greenery to accent everything.
"It's so pretty!" I breathed, letting go of Finitevus' hand. There were people giving us some strange looks. I returned some of the stares, as some of the people looking at us had hair the color of fresh cut grass with little plastic fishes intertwined. At least, the one that most caught my attention did.
"Scared yet?" I heard Scourge say into my ear. I jumped away and looked back at him.
"No… Not yet." I answered. Miles and Patches stepped through and the portal closed, leaving a plain wall in its stead.
"Just wait." He said, while winking to a couple of women wearing low cut dresses. I shoved his shoulder. He pushed me back a couple of feet in return.
"You're so rude sometimes, ya know? And your lack of positive thinking is depressing." I said curtly, as he stuck his tongue out at me. I lifted up the end of my skirt and prepared to kick his shin.
"Behave you two."
The both of us stopped, as Scourge was getting ready to make a comeback, Finitevus walked over to us and pointed to a couple of servers and general butlers making their way to us. I stopped and looked at the little contraptions, for that's exactly what they were. The one that most caught my attention was a robotic monkey with a lightbulb type object on the top of his head.
"Zey are just robots, Charolette. Workers for zee Casino. Just act normally." Patches said to me, his medals clanking together as he leaned in.
"Sure, whatever you say Patches." I nodded in response and took a quick glance over at the other three. They seemed perfectly fine with what was occurring.
One more thing to get used to. Automated butlers. Great. As if magic gems, talking animals and portals weren't enough already….
The Monkey and his two accompaniments stopped in front of us and looked us over.
"May I help you?" Asked the monkey skeptically. I could tell he didn't want to be bothered too much by the people that came through the wall.
"I'm Dr. Finitevus. We have an appointment with Mogul." The doctor spoke. The monkey's eyes widened and then trained straight onto me. Never having had a monkey look at me as intently as this one, I stared in return.
"I see. Please, this way." He said with a bow as he turned, quickly averting his eyes and walking deeper into the Casino.
We followed him when one of the other servers stopped Miles. He still had to pay for a ticket.
As we walked into the main part, I saw slot machines, roulette tables, poker tables, bars, dining areas… you think of it, and it was probably there blinking like a Christmas tree on crack. Though… these lights were coordinated at the very least. Butlers were flitting throughout all of this, serving drinks, handling money and such. There were also animals, much like Scourge and Patches and all them, but there were also humans. Some were dressed very strangely, while others looked like something from a normal prom back on Earth. And what seemed to be the vast majority of them were looking at us as we passed.
I then felt an arm slip through mine. I looked and saw Miles to my right.
"Just until we reach Mogul." He said. From the corner of my eye I saw Patches had his hand on his saber.
"Why didn't they take that at the door?" I asked him. He followed my gaze and then looked back at me.
"Because it's mainly for show. Of course, it can be turned lethal in a brief moment as you know." He answered with a sly grin.
"Of course." I said, wrapping my left hand over his forearm.
Up ahead, Scourge and the Doctor were following the Monkey butler. Behind us, I knew Patches was following.
'At least I'm safe…' I thought to myself. 'But, why the need for all the protection? There are regular civilians in here which means that it should be a fairly safe facility. Yet, if they let Patches keep his saber…'
My thoughts were interrupted, however, by a large booming laugh from up ahead. I looked and saw what appeared to be a big white mountain leaning over a pool table. The people around it were all laughing when the Monkey walked up to the mountain and pulled its coattail. The area the mountain was in was dark, so I couldn't see anything definite, but I could see it bend down to the Monkey as it spoke something into its ear.
It slowly stood up and waved his hands to the people at the pool table.
"Mr. Mammoth Mogul." Said the Monkey, as the figure walked towards us and into the light. My jaw dropped, though Miles quickly tucked it back up with a brush of his finger. If the boys were a foot or two taller than me, this guy was easily six. Wearing a lavish white tux, the elephant-or mammoth I suppose- seemed to own the place. Then again, he did, so I suppose that he would have every single right to act as such. I also noticed him holding in one hand, a very elegant walking cane. Mildly odd for an elephant, or mammoth, or…. Let's just go with pachyderm to make it easier. Then again, nothing about this place was normal, so I guess it went along with the territory.
Luckily, Finitevus and Scourge were in front of me, so Mr. Mogul didn't spot me right away. I felt Patches' presence to my left as the great creature walked up to us.
"Welcome, Dr." He said, his voice deep and booming. "I trust you all made it here safely?"
Finitevus grimaced and nodded as he shook his hand in greeting. "And the girl?"
I saw Finitevus sweep his arms back as he relished in his moment of pride. He, Scourge, and Patches backed away, and left me to face Mr. Mogul directly. He took a step forward and looked down at me. I slowly took my arm from Miles.
"So you're Charolette…" He said to himself. And despite the fact that he did indeed say it to himself amongst the roar of people in the background, I still heard what he had said. I looked up at him and saw large blue eyes staring back down at me. He reached out one hand, his other resting on his cane. I lightly rested my hand on top of his and he touched it lightly with the end of his trunk. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"You too. And, thanks so much for the dress." I added, taking my hand away.
"You're welcome." I saw him smile, his eyes twinkling with some sort of twisted sense of humor that was intensified with the lights. He then looked back at the boys. "Why don't we talk over dinner? I trust none of you have eaten?"
Scourge shook his head.
"Neah. The doc likes to starve us all. Don't ya?" He asked, with a sly grin to him. Finitevus grimaced, and his canines showed.
"That is immaterial." He answered, the neon lights bouncing off his white fur.
That's when my stomach growled. Shoot. I hadn't eaten anything at all.
I bit down on my lower lip and looked around. With their keen hearing I was sure that they all… had definitely heard it. I saw Miles looking at me with a concerned look, Patches and Scourge both with one of 'oh shoot', Mogul with one of curiosity, and Finitevus with one of disgust.
"Have you eaten Charolette?" Mogul asked, in his deep voice. I looked over at Finitevus who was giving me the death glare, and then back to Mogul.
"Well, not today no. I've been singing, practicing for tonight. I haven't had time." I replied. I could almost hear Finitevus mentally perform a face-palm.
"Well, in that case…" He pointed to the Monkey. "Have some food prepared immediately."
The Monkey bowed and walked away. "Please, follow me," He said to us, walking the opposite way the Monkey went. I risked another glance over at Finitevus who rolled his eyes, and with a swish of his cape, followed the mammoth. Mr. Happy.
Miles took my arm up once more and we walked again through the crowd.
"Why didn't you eat anything? You know you should with all the training you've been doing." He said in a hushed tone. I leaned closer to him, as my hearing wasn't as good as his in this loud area.
"I just didn't have time." I replied. "This seemed a bit more important than eating anyway."
"Be that as it may, if you don't eat then you'll get sick, and if you get sick you won't be able to train. Not to mention that that Chaos power still takes up some energy if I recall your complaints from earlier this week."
"That's just a slight issue." I answered.
"No, it isn't. And I'd appreciate it if you'd take better care of yourself."
"Oh, I'm fine Miles. Anyway, you all are busy. Just like I am."
"You can still take care of yourself, you do know this, yes?"
"I know. I know. But I just want to go home. If I get sick, it's just a technicality."
I felt Mile's arm twitch slightly.
"Just, take care of yourself."
"Fine, 'mommy'." I retorted playfully.
"Right this way." Said the Monkey. I looked ahead and saw that he was holding open a great door in which the other three hand already entered. Miles and I walked through to see a large oak table with large, tall back, cushioned seats around it. Miles pulled out a chair for me and I sat down, quite thankful when he pushed me in as well. It wasn't until then I noticed Scourge sitting to my immediate left. He smiled at me as Miles walked around to sit at Finitevus' side. Patches sat across from Mogul at the other end of the table.
"So," started Mogul to my immediate right. He must've put his cane against the table to rest, for his hands were now folded in front of him and he leaned forward expectantly. "Tell me what you've learned."
I glanced over at Finitevus who was sitting just across the table from me. He pushed his glasses up with his forefinger and sighed.
"Well, we honestly don't know what we've learned. Just that Charolette has shown incredible capability to harness the Chaos energy in the body. In the past week she's been able to use the energy when she screams mainly, which, in the heat of battle might not be a bad thing. Save the fact that if one of us were to use it we might not necessarily be screaming. "
"In other words, you mean Scourge yes?" Mogul asked.
"Precisely. He'd more than likely be yelling out orders than like a banshee."
"I think he gets it, I yell a lot." I interjected with a sharp look to Finitevus. He gave me a sharp look back.
"But, if she yelled words, wouldn't it simply work the same way? Have you tried that?"
"We've tried doing that, but when she screams the words they just really make things… a mess for lack of a better term." Finitevus said.
"Yeah, like of my ear drums." Scourge said, wiggling his pinky finger in one of his large green ears. I looked over at him.
"You said that you were okay…" I said, quite hurt. He shrugged and then picked up the glass of water in front of him and lazily swirled it around.
"Well, she's a singer, so why not have her sing words? That seemed detrimental to have when you were looking for a subject."
"We have been making her sing," Started Finitevus.
"But all I'm doing is singing." I finished. "There's no energy like when I scream, but I can't control what happens when I do indeed use the power."
"We just need to find zat 'appy medium," Patches plainly put it. "In between zee screaming and zee seenging."
"How, is the only problem." Finitevus added. "If we were to make it so every time she sang she could use the Chaos energy it would not only be beneficial to our ears, but make it easier for us to use it. I just don't know that Scourge would want to be singing every time he had to use it."
"Then what if we at least try to make her sing and be able to use it? From there, some minor adjustments and she should be able to talk and control the energy just as we do when the crystal is outside our bodies." Mogul said.
He then motioned quickly and from out of no where massive plates of food appeared. At least, for me they were massive anyway. The slice of turkey in front of me was about at least as big as my forearm. Which, compared to Mogul was a regular sized portion. But, the potatoes, and the peas and the little cup of sliced fruit all looked and smelled wonderful. Rich and delicious. I picked up a fork and stabbed a little bit of plum from the fruit bowl. I brought it up to my mouth and took a bite.
"Oh my lord, it's delicious." I said, slowly chewing and savoring every morsel of the little fruit. After it was gone my mouth salivated and I ate another piece. And another. I was completely absorbed in eating every single delectable morsel of the content of the cup when I heard Mogul chuckle. I looked up and saw him staring
"Then eat, I'm glad you like it," He said to me. "But what do you think of that Finitevus? Would that be doable?"
The doctor sighed and rubbed his temple.
"I suppose it could be. Though, I honestly have no idea how to go about doing it is the only problem."
"Then why not just have her sing while we fight or something? That usually gets a reaction out of her." Scourge suggested, biting into a large piece of meat from a knife.
"Oui, and zen we can try to make 'er jump off a cleef." Patches said with mild contempt from across the table. I noticed Mogul's eyes slightly widen as he glanced over at me. I nodded and shrugged.
"On that account I definitely agree with Patches. We shouldn't be putting her in any sort of unnecessary danger, Scourge." Miles said. "And don't forget that she was brought here in your care."
"Excuse me for trying to teach her the finer points of an adrenaline rush." Scourge said glaring at the fox across the table form him.
"Adrenaline rush, so that's what you call it."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Only that you-,"
"Shut up, you two!" I shouted. Immediately the room was silenced. The glass on the table vibrated and the silverware shuddered. Scourge's face was contorted into a nasty face for the second time that day, and Miles' ears were on the fritz. Amazing how a couple short sentences could set those two to the edge.
"Fascinating…. Hmm…. Who's listened to her?" Mogul questioned as I slowly took up another piece of fruit, a pineapple, to my mouth. He didn't appear at all fazed by my sudden little outburst.
"The only time any of us has heard her is when she's outside and screaming during her training. Usually much louder and painful. Good to have in a pinch, but not what we're going for. Besides that we've only had her sing in an enclosed area and have been listening to her on recordings." At this, he made a face and bit down hard on his lower lip.
"I want to listen to her, but I'm not sure of the repercussions it might have on anyone else."
"Awww, Doc, I'm touched." Scourge said sarcastically. Finitevus growled.
"Scourge, the only reason this whole experiment is going on is so that you can become King again, so don't act stupid. Finitevus is right, though." Miles said. "If we want this to succeed then we need all of us to be both mentally and physically ready."
"Then how will we know if it has any effect or not? And, who could I sing for? I mean, I don't want to hurt anyone…." I said, setting my now empty fruit glass on the table.
"No one very easily. Considering we don't know what your voice is capable of when put to a test." Finitevus responded. "That factor alone could make you dangerous to anyone who would hear it."
"Quite the humanitarian you've turned out to be… Then it seems like all you need is a controlled experiment." Mogul mused. I looked over to him. His large white-suited figure was leaning casually against the back of his chair. "What would you say to use my night club's stage? The patrons here are expendable for the most part, and you wouldn't be wasting any of your pawns, Finitevus. A bonus if you could look at it that way."
"But the people in your club! They're just civilians!"
"Precisely, Charolette. That's what they are. Just civilians." Mogul answered, his the look in his eyes sending a chill up my spine.
I swallowed.
"Well, I uh…. I suppose…." I stuttered, looking around the table at my escorts. Scourge simply raised his eyebrows, Patches' eyes were closed, Finitevus was staring back at me, and Miles… well, Miles was looking down at his plate of food in deep thought.
'Great, just great. Obviously Finitevus doesn't want me to do this, he doesn't want this guy's help in the first place, let alone his suggestions… Scourge could care less one way or another, he just wants his power based on the information I can give him because of this entire experiment. Patches hasn't said a word which means he's probably against it, and Miles is just…. Miles… As for Mogul he also wants the information this experiment can give. Goodness, why won't they just let me go home?'
"I suppose I could give it a shot." I answered slowly. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Finitevus shake his head in disapproval.
"Wonderful. Then please, finish your meal and we'll begin immediately."
"No!" Finitevus shouted, slamming his hands on the table, quickly standing up and sending the chair he was sitting in flying backwards.
"What seems to be the matter, Doctor?" Mogul calmly asked to the seething echidna. All of us were starting at him. His fur was standing on end, and his eyes were trained to the untouched food on the plate in front of him. It took him a good twenty seconds of deep breathing before he finally answered.
"I don't want anyone to know about her. What if Eggman were to find out and meddle his way in? Then nothing would ever get done!"
"Eggman is a useless dimwit who doesn't know a Chaos Emerald from an Anarchy Beryl, you know this. And besides you and me, I don't know anyone else who would want to use this information to benefit their cause. Your worries are null and void Doctor." Mogul answered.
"Yeah, don't worry Doc. If anything happens, I'll protect her." Scourge said, glancing over at me with the sort of smile he only gives Fiona.
"That's not what I'm afraid of."
"All your other worries are null and void, as I've told you Doctor. Besides, I don't allow Eggman and his thugs to enter here. Bad for business, really."
"Feenitevus, I do believe eet would be fine for Meez Charolette to get sing. What weell zee harm be in trying?" Patches said slowly, softly.
"Something I'm not sure I want to find out." He answered, looking up at me.
"I'll be fine Finitevus. Who even knows if anything will happen anyway?" I said.
"Wonderful." Said Mogul as he stood up from his seat, picking up his cane along the way. He snapped at the Monkey butler who had been standing silently in the corner for the whole time.
"Tell the D.J. to prepare for Charolette to sing."
"Yes, Mr. Mogul." He said, bowing out of the door.
"Hey, your big début." Scourge said as he stood up from his seat. As I prepared to push myself out I felt the chair move with a swiftness from a strength that was not usually my own. Scourge's hand grabbed my own and pulled me out of the seat and into a dip. My head was about halfway to the ground and his was only inches from mine. "You ready?" He looked down at me with his blue eyes. His smiling blue eyes.
I nodded slowly.
Quick footsteps on the carpeted floor slightly alerted me. It wasn't until I felt Miles grab my free hand and pull me up and away from Scourge that I knew what they alerted me to.
"I'll escort you there, Charolette." He said curtly, with a sharp glance at Scourge.
"It's in the main dance floor Miles." Mogul chuckled.
"And come back here when you get her there."
"Yes, Finitevus." Miles answered as we walked out.
"Why do you need to go back?" I asked worriedly as we walked out amongst the other patrons.
"So I can help observe what happens when you sing. You don't want anything to happen to us do you?" Miles questioned.
"No, of course not." I answered. "I just..."
"It's fine."
We walked the rest of the way in silence, and it wasn't until I got to the steps of the stage that I realized a minor part to the role I was about to play as 'singer'.
"Oh, no! What am I going to sing?" I gasped, putting my hands over my mouth.
"Whatever the D.J. plays, alright?" Miles said putting his hands over my own, and pulling them down. "You'll do fine, Charolette. Trust me."
At that, he walked away into the crowd.
"Great."I said to myself as I walked up the small flight of stairs.
The D.J. looked over at me as I neared him. His dark sunglasses, which seemed unneeded in the darkness and multicolored lights, showed did little to show me what race he was.
"So, you're the girl?" He yelled to me over the music. A pop song was booming loudly over the speakers and hundreds of people were dancing on the extensive floor. I nodded and yelled back to him that I was. After a quick glance, back out to the dance I saw the same amount of diverse creatures as before. Would they even listen to me? Crap, what if they boo me off the stage? Maybe, if I sing bad enough, they'll send me home! Maybe-
"-name, kid!"
The D.J. was fervently shaking my shoulder.
"What?" I asked stupidly.
"Your name? So I can tell the people who you are?"
"Oh! It's Charolette!" I said quickly. I could hear the music begin its decent to the finish.
"Charolette?" He affirmed.
"Thompson! Charolette Thompson!"
The music stopped. The D.J. picked up a hand held mic and spoke into it.
"Yo, everyone! We have a very special guest with us tonight. A guest of Mr. Mammoth Mogul's, Charolette Thompson!"
He motioned to me, and out of no where a spotlight blinded my eyes. I swiftly covered them with my arm as a couple hundred voices cheered for me. I wondered if Miles was…
I felt the mic being thrust into my free hand, and the spotlight in front of me switched to one overhead and a light blue wash covered the stage. I faintly saw the sequins on my dress shimmer more than usual.
"Hope you know this one." I heard the D.J. say to me as the music started. Almost a pulsing whine filled the speakers. I faintly recalled the song from back home. I think. I took a quick glance back over to where Finitevus and the others were. The whine made its way into a guitar whine and the drums began. Oh, how very appropriate.
"I am an arms dealer.
Fitting you with weapons in the form of words.
And don't really care which side wins
As long as the room keeps singing
That's just the business I'm in, yeah!
"This ain't a scene, it's a goddamn arms race!
This ain't a scene, it's a goddamn arms race!
This ain't a scene, it's a goddamn arms race!
I'm not a shoulder to cry on,
But I digress."
I sang into the mic. This was what it was like to sing. 'So many people. So many…' I spun around as the drums kicked in.
"I'm a leading girl!
and the lies I weave are, oh so intricate,
Oh so intricate!
"I'm a leading girl!
and the lies I weave are, oh so intricate,
Oh so intricate!"
I walked around towards the D.J. I'd need help with this next bit.
"I wrote the gospel on giving up."
"You look pretty sinking." The D.J. Added.
"But the real bombshells have already sunk.
Prima donnas of the gutter.
At night we're painting your trash gold while you sleep
Crashing not like hips or cars,
No, more like p-p-p-parties.
"This ain't a scene, it's a goddamn arms race!
This ain't a scene, it's a goddamn arms race!
This ain't a scene, it's a goddamn arms race!
This bandwagon's full
Please, catch another
"I'm a leading girl!
and the lies I weave are, oh so intricate,
Oh so intricate!
"I'm a leading girl!
and the lies I weave are, oh so intricate,
Oh so intricate!
"Yeah…
Whoa-oh."
I walked towards the center of the stage, I was smiling like a crazed loon I was just sure of it. It was then, I felt it. The pulse the first time the Emerald went into my body. When I yelled that night at Scourge. That morning… I felt the energy spread throughout me. Slower than usual. That couln't be good. The worst part, I couldn't stop singing.
"All the boys who the dance floor didn't love,
And all the girls whose lips couldn't move fast enough
Sing, until your lungs give out!"
By now, I didn't have control. It was all gone. The Emerald made me hold out my hand to the audience. The audience who complied.
"This ain't a scene, it's a goddamn arms race!
This ain't a scene, it's a goddamn arms race!" They shouted.
"Now you." I said, walking over to the other side of the stage.
"This ain't a scene, it's a goddamn arms race!"
"Wear out the groove!"
"This ain't a scene, it's a goddamn arms race!"
"Sing out loud!" I tapped my foot against the ground to the beat. And at each beat, I felt more energy rush to me. Energy most definitely being taken from the audience. And not just from those on the dance floor in front of me. There was much more than that…
"This ain't a scene, it's a goddamn arms race!"
"Oh, oh!"
"This ain't a scene, it's a goddamn arms race!"
"I'm a leading girl!
and the lies I weave are, oh so intricate,
Oh so intricate
"I'm a leading girl!
and the lies I weave are, oh so intricate,
Oh so intricate!"
I punched my hand up in the air as the last chord of the song was strummed. The cymbols wafted out of existence and I felt the energy. All the energy flowing into me, around me, under me, over me. Everywhere. It felt… amazing.
Slowly, I let my arm fall to my side and I sank to the ground, panting and breathing heavily. I felt as though I could run a couple marathons, but my body said get real.
"Amazing."
I glanced up and saw Mogul, the Doctor, and everyone else standing at the entrance to the dance floor. Wait, I shouldn't be able to see them…
"The people!" I shouted, quickly scrambling to the front of the stage to get a better look. My breath caught. The floor was littered with bodies. Bodies of people, animals, and anything in between. They all were laying comatose on the ground.
"What happened?" I muttered to myself as I sank to the ground.
"That is the power of the Emerald." I heard Mogul say to the doctor.
"Indeed. This opens up a whole new avenue to the experiment."
"Meez Charolette." I looked up and saw Patches in my direct line of vision.
I pulled myself up and fell into his arms. The medals hanging off his jacket were cool against my otherwise warm skin.
"They're all dead." I said. "They're all dead because of me!"
"They aren't dead." I looked past Patches coat and saw Miles stand up from expecting a body.
"They're just passed out." I heaved a sigh of relief. At least I couldn't be called a killer…yet. If I do that again… who knows?
"Well, Charolette, I think we've gotten somewhere tonight." I looked over to see Finitevus walking towards me. He was smiling evily, and the now slow moving lights flickered across his face. For some reason I thought he looked like Jaws, the way he was moving towards me. Like he was going to rip my guts out and eat them for a midnight snack.
"Who knew all she'd need is an audience?" I heard Scourge ask.
"Yeah," I said, looking down at the face of a passed out audience member. "Who knew?"