Charmy: Trapped in this frail form. My story's latest chapter polluted by lazy effort. Gaining a strange urge to play kiddy electronic games. When will the agony end?
Knuckles: I just made a two new discoveries about my condition!
Charmy: ? Well don't just sit there like the incompetent fool you are; share with the class.
Knuckles: I found out that echidna dreads are totally immune to poofing and fluffing…and that my life still stinks.
Charmy: …I don't know whether to kill you or commit you to a masculinity-crisis ward. Either way I'd still have to see that ugly face of yours weekly, so I guess there's no point *Sighs*
PoC: *Excited* Hey! Hey HEY! PenFullofChaos819 respects and acknowledges all Sega copyrighted material within his story. No infringement intended.
Silver: PoC? Is that really you…? *Looks twice* Yay! You're back to normal!
PoC: Don't sell yourself short *Holds up a mirror*
Silver: ! I-I'm…WOO-HOO! I'm fluffy again! Fan-girls never fear, your beautiful Silver is here!
PoC: Uh…yeah I'm real happy for ya pal…
Charmy: Tell me Pen: Has your worm-like, fat-coated CPU gone numb? No? Then I STRONGLY recommend that you get me fixed up NOW!
PoC: *Groans* How many times do I have to…? Look first of all, that's CNS not CPU. And second…I believe you forgot to say 'please' *Evil grin*
Charmy: You…want to run that by me…ONE MORE TIME?
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When Chaos Collides
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Finding the prison took some doing without having a guide, though by some good fortune he had eventually stumbled upon the right place. Tails' luck was better still for, compared to modern day examples, the block couldn't have been smaller or easier to navigate. Granted the cold blue lighting was still itching at his eyes, but this didn't bother him much for the actual cells were lit up with regular white luminescence. With this contrast greatly speeding up his search, the fox bounded and hovered from one chamber to another until finally, after searching the tenth cell, he heard a moan of pain. Immediately, Tails flew in the sound's direction.
Peering inside the cramped holding space, the vulpine could see a heavy man wearing a red vest over a black bodysuit with multiple white-strapped yellow buttons to fasten the red garment around the human's egg-shaped belly.
"Robotnik…" he muttered in a blend of irritation and sympathy. No he had not been expecting/wanting to see the doctor here, but at least now he could rule the tubby fellow out as the prime suspect. Hoping he still had his equipment on him, which he did, Tails got to work on the door's locking mechanism. It was fairly complex compared to his 'touch-pad' door (the one he had poked at like a curious child), due mostly to the fact that it's power source was not electric. Seeing no time to run any tests, the fox pried the locking pin open, disabling the door's energy supply. Stepping inside, he could see that the doctor was afflicted with a number of cuts and burns, as if he had been in some sort of accident. Tails hefted his pack off his shoulders and knelt next to the injured man.
Just as he was about to get out his medical supplies, the doctor regained his consciousness and let out a yell. Tails, concerned that he might've startled the older human with his sudden arrival, worked to ease the scientist's nerves "Dr. Robotnik, please calm down! It's me, Miles!"
The fearful doctor stopped resisting and gave the yellow-orange mobian a better look "Miles…? Why are you here? And what is that mask you're wearing?"
The fox cocked his head in a lack of understanding "Mask? What mask?" a second later the fox's hands reached for his own face, trying to locate the previously unnoticed face-guard. However, it was a bad move. Upon laying a single finger on the wicked device, the fox felt his head swim and his consciousness grow fuzzy
Fighting hard to stay awake the vulpine groggily said "Not…now…so close…Son…ic…Ame…th…yst…"
A minute passed… Tails now lay utterly comatose, his vision enveloped in total darkness.
"Perfect…a complete success wouldn't you say doctor? Oh please don't be modest; you and 'Tikal' were most helpful. Now for the next test… I need this boy ready for our special visitor. Mmm…yes, I must reunite Sonic with his dear 'friend'.
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*With Sonic's Team*
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There was no mistake. The warning practically jumped off the screen, so that no one, not even those with a shortage of mechanical knowledge, could happen to miss it. Any doubts concerning the machine's accuracy led Amethyst to zero in on each and every hot-spot, all of which read as: ENERGY SOURCE MAIN COMPOSITION VERIFIED: Be3Al2(SiO3)6. The vixen followed this description up by revealing each of the sources' mineral contents to be equivalent to that of emeralds. To compound any feelings of unrest, the fox-girl continued to pick up more readings as they moved further in. On her last reading, Amethyst stated the stone count was now above thirty-five.
"Over five times the normal seven emeralds? I don't know about you guys, but I smell a filthy rat." The team agent and treasure huntress spoke with great mistrust "As a connoisseur of only the finest gems, I KNOW for a fact that there are no emeralds anywhere in the world exactly like the powerful and beautiful Seven Chaos." Her longing, almost amorous, admiration for the gems painted a huge grin on Sonic's face, but drew a long series of groaning sighs from the rest of the group.
She did have a point though. No technology yet seen, not even in Sonic's universe, was capable of replicating Chaos Emeralds perfectly. Yet, as Amethyst claimed, these emeralds all contained adequate amounts of both positive and negative chaos energy, while any fakes only ever harbored trace negative charges. Also according to her calculations, these gems were fully activated, meaning currently expelling their power, 'pure' copies of the Chaos Emeralds. If that was true, then their group should have suffered a few adverse effects by now. She then listed several key symptoms that occur in the presence of high-density chaos energy, chiefly of the negative sort; such as mood disorders, lack of personal/social inhibitions, hallucinations, and even cognitive dissonance. Hearing her go into more exhaustive detail was clearly not mitigating the terror she'd helped create.
"Okay ease up on the campfire stories Ame." Sonic hinted in response to his companion's running mouth "I don't think any of us are close to dropping our guard, so no need to use the scare tactic." The hero inwardly wondered how she had discovered all these 'side-effects' of chaos energy. However, after taking into account the gory tidbits he'd heard already, he decided that asking would not be pleasant for his appetite.
"These 'campfire stories', as you call them, represent years of dedicated research." She grunted reproachfully, not liking how resistant the team was to science. Shrugging her distaste off, Amethyst settled on her own 'shortened version' "Well to drive a finer point home, this place is a spawning vat for chaos made real. As such, we'll need a rude type of barometer with which we can accurately gauge/measure the environment's shifting levels of mental erosion, assuming we don't let our exponents of progress fall static."
Aside from her headache-inducing assessment, Sonic felt relief to know that he wasn't the only one profoundly stupefied by the vixen's sudden outburst of dreaded, but toned down, 'techno-babble'. What proved to more be intriguing than their anticipated confusion was Amethyst's reaction to her own words "From where did I devise that lingual complex?" she shut herself up for another passing moment before completing her thought "I…decisively do not intend for these expressions to escape, yet I cannot seem to exchange my current vernacular for more understandable argot." Stunned by her own ridiculous speech pattern, the vixen's mouth seemingly closed and locked itself, while her tail shot up to conceal her embarrassment.
Unsure of whether to try some mild teasing to improve her mood, or ask her a simple 'where did that come from', Sonic wisely held his tongue. Given her intense humiliation, there was little chance that she'd been intending to speak the way she had. He, for a fleeting second, hoped that she was just using that big brain of hers to pull a cruel prank on all of them. Upsetting as a practical joke would be, it would still be better than seeing those medical nightmares she'd mentioned come true.
"Chaos-induced illness be damned! We would have found this madman by now if YOU weren't so busy PLAYING with that useless machine!" Shadow exploded his unbridled anger on the vixen, eventually losing control to the point of launching a Chaos Spear into a miscellaneous portion of the shaft while shouting "URRRRGH! WHERE ARE YOU? Come and face me, the beast that broke free from your chains! Face me so that I might GUT YOU MYSELF!"
The hero would've stepped in, but he had been beaten to the punch, literally, by a furious Espio that had laid the black and red hedgehog out on his back "Who do you think you're shouting at, you uncivilized scum! Amethyst is the only one even attempting to reach a solution while you stand by offering useless threats and complaints! Perhaps it'd be better if you were still fastened to that demon's leash, dishonorable filth!" The chameleon paid for his spiteful accusations with a solid kick from a downed Shadow. When the latter rose, both were ready to square off, apparently forgetting altogether about the mission.
Sonic found himself overrun by this slew of sudden alterations his companions were undergoing. The stress that had his brain pounding with anxiety only worsened when he noticed a shivering Rouge huddled up against the nearby wall. Any attempt on his part to approach her resulted in an ear-piercing scream. When he asked what was wrong, the bat only replied "He's here…he's going to cut me, bind me, torture me! *Sniff* Can't you see him smiling?" her arm rattled as she pointed her outstretched finger towards a dark, but otherwise empty, corner of the shaft.
He didn't have time to comfort her; for Sonic let another sight and sound nab his attention. Amethyst, though originally stricken only by heavy embarrassment, was now on her knees crying uncontrollably saying "My parents hated it whenever I articulated myself in this manner! Even the children at elementary class would berate, abuse, and despise me for my nonsensical verbiage and atypical aptitude! And now…now I've lost the single individual that verily understood me!"
Taking in everything at once was too much. Closing his eyes, Sonic could hear the vicious snarls from Shadow and Espio's brawl, the garbled whimpers from Rouge's vision, and the mournful sobs from Amethyst's flashback.
The situation, the atmosphere…it was infused with chaos, pure chaos, as if the spirit of disorder itself had descended upon them and begun to wreak havoc.
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*With Amy*
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Resting her head on the warmth of a soft couch in the Tactichaos's boring living room, Amy sighed to herself. Was it worth coming all this way just to be useless to everyone? Her antics of running away from home and convincing the other girls to hitch a ride over to a wellspring of trouble were really beginning to look like a stupid move. Sure, it was nice to see her idol again, even though everyone kept saying he's NOT the same Sonic she worshipped, but it didn't alleviate her nightmares or premonitions merely by being closer to the action.
"What can a bratty kid like me do?" She insulted herself crudely, thinking that at least Maria was a great help to the clumsy Vector and the scatterbrained Charmy when it came to managing the ship, and that her crab-robot made an excellent guard. The pink girl had so far only made her hero worry, upset the blond Robotnik with her dreams, and scared the daylights out of her loving parents. Some help she was…
"I thought that if I did something that didn't happen in my dreams, everything would be alright." She mused about her original reason for setting off on her small adventure "When I was sure that something bad was going to happen to Sonic, even if he's not MY Sonic, I just didn't want to be useless. I wanted to help him, but now I…"
She set her forlorn stare out one of the dirt-tinted windows. To think that pretty soon all that wonderful greenery was going to be swallowed in a big black hole of goodness-knows-what, with only a faint white light left, had her more than depressed. But having seen the vision over and over resulted in her becoming desensitized to the coming darkness. Just like the dream about Tails, she would never be able to stop it from coming true. What has happened will happen again, the only difference being that she'll get a sneak-peak of every awful unfolding.
"Amy, don't despair…"
The pink girl leapt up in surprise. Someone had talked to her? Into her mind directly? Far back as she could recall, none of her visions ever had audio before this one. Knowing that she couldn't avoid it, Amy put her mind and ease, and prepared to receive the new premonition.
"I am not a being of tomorrow, but of today. At this moment, your friends are in dire need."
Not a being of…tomorrow? So, this voice wasn't part of a future event? That relaxed the Sonic-fangirl somewhat; however, hearing the thing about her friends being 'in dire need' was far from putting a smile on her face. Amy lessened her active imagination so that she could properly comprehend the rest of the speaker's warning. Afterwards, she would make a mad dash for Vector's cockpit to tell them how to help.
"No dear one, they cannot help Sonic in his plight. I need you to focus now. I only hope your abilities are developed enough to handle this."
Anything beat daydreaming again, but did this voice know who it was talking to? She was ten-years old for crying out loud! What could she do to help the great Sonic the Hedgehog? And her abilities, what abilities? Amy sincerely doubted that her, figuratively speaking, bed-wetting stories were going to do her hero much good.
"You must know Amy; you have psychic potential dormant inside you. And this is your role to play, your reason for joining the others. Now listen carefully, I need you to clear your mind of all other thoughts, except Sonic."
Either this voice was crazier than her visions, or this person was prophetic like her. How else could this voice know about her 'special power'? And why did she talk about her being here like it was all part of some big plan? The more she thought, the less it all made sense. Still, what the voice had requested was in no way unreasonable. Focusing on Sonic was what she did best!
Squeezing her eyes shut as tightly as possible, Amy let her mind recollect everything she knew about Sonic; from the time she first met him, back when he seemed to be only a few years older than her, to the moment when he came back from the dead, looking much bigger and bluer than before. Before long, it was insane how vivid the mental pictures of him had become, almost as if she could reach out and touch the real thing.
"Good Amy, good! Now, I need you to call out to him. Think of the image in your mind as the real Sonic."
The pink hedge-girl didn't see any point in questioning the voice now, so while retaining her concentration, she mentally shouted the cobalt mobian's name.
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*Back with Sonic*
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"Sonic!"
Oh great, now HE was starting to be affected too! Trying his best to close off the malevolent intrusion, Sonic desperately attempted to push the voice out of his mind.
"Hey stop that! It's really me, Amy! I-Oh crap, NOW what should I tell him?"
Sonic knew this world's pressures had taken their toll on him, but this…this was getting out of hand. While his teammates were having breakdowns and inner warfare that fit each of them, he was the single nutter that dreamt he was hearing a voice asking someone else what it should tell him. Maybe he had a junior-class mind-tormentor on his hands? No, that didn't make sense.
"I umm, okay I'll try that. Uh…Sonic! Some person named Tikal told me to tell you something! Something that'll uh, that'll get everyone back to normal! Did I say that right? Huh? You mean he can hear me talking to you too?"
Sonic's brain was melting now, he was sure of it. As his friends continually grew more chaotic and destructive, he apparently had the voice of Amy struggling to deliver a message from Tikal. Why would that be necessary, seeing how Tikal could materialize anywhere she pleased? And even if something was keeping her 'physically' away, couldn't she have at least been the one to send him her message instead of Amy? And how was Amy communicating with him in the first place?
Certain now that he was going crazy, or at least desperate for a way to help his suffering team, Sonic yielded to the voice's pestering and said "Alright Amy, ask Tikal what I should do, and make it fast!"
"Okay, okay! Sheesh! Um…um…A-Alright! She's says that you need to draw in all the positive energy you can from where you are, and then you can…cenz? No, 'cleanse'! You can 'cleanse' your friends of the negative chaos. I…have no idea what she's talking about."
Draw in positive energy? Like he normally does with the Chaos Emeralds? But how? Normally whenever he touched the emeralds, their power would transfer to him all on it's own. Yeah, he always felt a rush of positive thoughts and energy fill him up, but that didn't mean he could just request the power any time he felt like it. Unsure of what to do, he asked again "How can I do that? I don't have all seven emeralds on me…and I can't feel their energy either."
"She says that if you can't reach the energy, you can make the energy come to you! Just like bad thoughts are a magnet for negative chaos, good thoughts will attract the positive! Sorry if she makes no freaking sense! …What? Well you don't!
"Think good thoughts? Now? You've got to be kidding…" To say this was an inopportune moment for that kind of advice was putting it lightly. Sweat rolled off his brow as he watched Shadow, Espio, Amethyst, and Rouge all sinking deeper into the depths of madness. Coming within a foot of them made his skin sting with the acidic burn of dark chaos. If he waited any longer he wouldn't have a team left to save…
Wrapping his mind around good thoughts was all but useless now… Sonic just couldn't think 'happy' while watching his friends in agony, even if doing so might save them. He only wished he could remove, lessen, or even share their pain; anything to get them back to normal, to get them back to saving Tails.
That's when he recalled his lost brother, the joy he'd received the day the fox welcomed him in for who he was, and not under some false pretext. Despite having gone over it for the eighth time (he'd actually lost count), the memory still warmed his heart. Tails was, and always would be, the greatest friend he'd ever had. And even in the wake of his sacrifice, the vulpine's loving friendship had already rekindled the fire of Sonic's old confidence, allowing the hedgehog to forge new bonds within this world, bonds that reminded him of his other team waiting for him in his world. And now here he was, about lose the last few people that kept him anchored in reality; that kept him strong even when his spirit was close to shattering.
No…he wouldn't let it happen…not now that they were so close!
"ARRRRGH!" despite being still void of any 'real' emeralds, Sonic's mighty shout and thoughts had summoned a visible stream of misty, multi-colored light that seeped its way into his skin. Once this absorption was complete, the cerulean hedgehog sent out a positively-charged wave. This shimmering wave spread through and dissipated each and every drop of the evil energy that plagued his allies.
One by one, his dear friends recovered, some confused by the sweat and tears that stained their bodies and faces. However, their perplexed expressions quickly altered into ones of astonishment as they stood in the presence of a now, not blue, but golden hedgehog with shining red irises. From this being flowed a benevolent, but ethereal aura of peerless strength.
The being examined them all carefully as he spoke "Stay close to me. I'll prevent you guys from getting corrupted again." Having said this, the glowing being turned towards the long passageway and whispered "Almost there bro. Just wait for me a little bit longer…"
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End of Chapter Thirty-eight
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WEDNESDAY TWICE IN A ROW! I think I'm getting the hang of this…again! XD
Don't think that just because SS is here that it's all over for our villain (you didn't really think it would be that easy, did you? XD). As for the big boss's identity, NO it is not Mephiles (though I do like him somewhat) or any other kind of evil hedgehog. As for those two reviewers (you know who you are ;) ) that offered Big the Cat guesses…well, just wait and see!
DanceDream: Thanks for your review on Rise! I hope you like this latest chapter as well!
Ghostkid33: Man you don't have to tell me twice about that 'backed up with college work' part. These finishing weeks have been nothing but murder in every sense of the word. DBZ eh? No problem, I hope it's been fun for you (no sarcasm, for real :) )! To tell you the truth, writing this fic had made me like Sonic sooo much more than I used to. He's just got that great, dynamic personality that you could see as both annoying, charming, and heartwarming all at the same time. Yeah, it seems a bit random, but if you recall he always has shown her a great deal more respect/tolerance (cheek-pinching much). Plus it makes it easier to see why he has issues with Tails. My only regret is that didn't have time to flesh it out more :\. Tails and Tikal…better not get too attached to that scene. Stuff is about to get ugly (and you thought I was vicious before XD).
Serenity/ravenclaww: Please tell me you're just busy, and that I DIDN'T lose ANOTHER review! DXX Whatever you do, don't coddle me with a duplicate, just ask ravenclaww to confirm via PM that you did in fact send me your comment so I can scour EVERY inch of my inbox for it! I don't like making a habit of this, but I hope you both accept my apologies.
Infamousplot: Chapter twenty-eight is what you're up to now, right? I hope you catch up soon (really, you can just read and skip commenting until the latest chapter. I never expect anyone to review EACH chapter they miss).
Kindra Mckleen: The voice inside his head is just one of the many problems foxy has right now :\. Now he's getting put though some kind of weird testing on creepy's part (oh whatever could I be planning in my fevered brain? XD). Sonic actually broke the fourth wall there for a second, citing how cliché it is to have everything important surface right near the final climax of a story (bad Sonic!). I liked that scene, but I felt that Sonic was getting to out of character, so I shoved the 'spying' part in. Yup, and so Sonic finally begins to fulfill his 'Reason for-
Metal: If you make one more reference to your silly title I'll-
PoC: Right, right, maim me, shoot me, and grind me, the works. Crystal clear.
knight of the windZ10Z: Shadow is more…passive-aggressive in this world, but being upset and near all that negative chaos really set him off. Considering that Espio's the most reserved out of all of them, I'd say he has pretty powerful feelings for her (especially if you take into account how emotionally charged his speech was). XD You've got to admit, Sonic is such a lovable fool sometimes! Whether he's making Shadow uncomfortable, or just picking on Espio. The crab will return…and it shall rule them all when it does! XD Peace out knight!
Sierra Zanimalini14: Dang it! Dang it all to heck! Did I delete your review TOO? Arrgh! I'm so mad at myself right now! Listen, if you did comment, know that I really appreciate it but I just can't seem to find your review anywhere! DX As with Kindra (earlier) and Super, I'm really sorry and will work hard to find it and answer you appropriately. I apologize again…
Super Shadix 520: Did you comment on chapter thirty-seven? Crud, I hope didn't accidentally erase it from my inbox DXX. Sorry if I did because I saw your comments about the previous chaps so I know you still follow this. Darn it, just like with Kindra if I should find your review I will immediately replace this mumbo-jumbo with proper comments. So sorry about that :(
Sparkling-nexis137: XD Sympathy accepted I guess, but I know you're all going through tough times while I just whine so…yeah I'm actually sorry for bugging everyone. I think I answered part of your review already, so I'll just skip to the last paragraph. Shadow was not himself right then. His old 'moodiness' was being amplified by the sinister chaos energy (much like everyone else…except Sonic…hmm why would that be? XD). And as you can see, there are WAY too many emerald 'readings' floating about. Hopefully our new buddy Super Sonic can do something about them (or CAN he? *wicked grin*).
prowerboy: I know what I insinuated when I said 'it was fun to do that scene between them' or something to that effect, but in this story I'm not that kind to Tails or Tikal XD. Sorry it took all your time to catch up (me and my jumbo-sized chapters -_-'). Espio is another excellent character to use. He's not in the 'brooding tough-guy' class, nor is he one of the 'bungling straight-shooter' types. I thought it would be bizarre to see the ninja lizard square off with the most unlikely person (Tails) and by jove it was! XD
draco'sfairmaiden: Thanks! It is odd to see Shadow so worked about helping others, but his anger was, as you can see, just a side-effect of too much chaos (hence why he went a little psycho in this chapter XD). Don't worry about it. College before FFN always! Good luck on your exams (mine start the second week of May).
Cut Productions: I'll be patient, for both your comments and update XD!
KillingKathy: I hope you'll drop me a message sometime, at least to let me know that you still read this (though I'm almost certain you're just busy, so no pressure).
Until next time!