Chapter Twelve – Telepathy
Two more explosions and two more messages from the mighty Sorcerer later and the kids were very quickly narrowing down on his location. It was far beyond Station Square and and into Empire City, Max was just about holding himself together. He was using his core physical strength, he'd inherited from his Uncle, to keep the intense pain from the explosions at bay. It worked, and he was able to concentrate more on the message received with each one.
But Max gulped. If he was finding the explosions painful, then how was his father doing? But Sukko had always been exceptionally talented at showing very little on his face, even if he was in the worse pain and discomfort in the world. His core mental strength was unparalleled. He could almost block anything.
But as they raced through Empire City, they avoided the main highway and stuck to the small side streets which they could slip down quickly. None of them desperately wanted a repeat of Station Square, but it still took them several hours to get through the mighty metropolis, without being noticed.
The city was incredible, the most technologically advanced of them all and all four of them, Max, Violet, Pearl and Scarlet, were extremely keen to come back and visit, once their ordeal was over.
Finally, out the other side, they found themselves, in the an abandoned industrial estate that lay beyond the city. It had been originally built by Eggman, but it wasn't dismantled as it was recommissioned by the Mobian Authorities, for manufacturing. But since the arrival of the enormous baby boom, demand far out striped supply so the sight was move to a much larger area, five years ago, leaving the place to rot. Therefore, thankfully, there was no one around, once they all climbed over the barrier fence. Unfortunately, each building almost looked identical to the next. They all gulped.
The Sorcerer's messages definitely pointed here. But which building? It was going to take hours to search, but not having much of a choice, they did. But it was taking too long and time just wasn't on their side. The clock was ticking. But then in quick succession, Max intercepts two more Magic explosions, one almost straight after the other. More subtle, but equally as powerful, Max feels his father's immense Chaos Sorcery on two levels. Through his powerful Telepathy and now finally, in person. Despite the intense numbness and emptiness of the industrial estate, the Sorcerer was definitely here, and Max, now running on pure instinct, runs at full speed immediately to the most northern part of the area. Violet only barely kept up with him but unfortunately, Scarlet and Pearl are left behind, desperately running after them.
Suddenly, all are stunned to a halt by a massive ball of bright white light. A large ball of pure Chaos Energy exploded from the back of the very most northern building of the entire industrial estate. A very large, low lying base, hidden amongst the standard manufacturing buildings. The Orb just disintegrated everything it touched, and went roaring over their heads, and screeching into the skying above them. They all stared in utter astonishment that anyone alive on this planet, could even muster up such power. But they grinned as they all immediately followed Max straight for the source of that might energy blast, and the mighty Blue Hedgehog who wielded it.
The Sorcerer.
Still running through the base, Sukko and the others were making headway, until finally they made it to main cavernous room of the base. This was were most of the activity of the base took place, and where the armoury equipment were located. At one end of the vast cavernous room, there were double garage-type doors, where deliveries took place. Unfortunately, they were locked sealed, and shut.
Relief, a way out. This base, had been such a labyrinth, they were just glad to finally be making progress. But with Dr. Starline himself, in the main cavern, they were all forced to duck for cover and hid. Safe for now, Knuckles set Sukko down on the floor, the mighty Sorcerer was only barely awake. The Echidna shook him. He smiled.
"Hey, stay with us, please." He beamed. Sukko nodded, but as Shadow knelt down next to him, he noticed that the Ultimate Lifeform was bleeding from his upper thigh, nearest to him. Sukko gasped, whimpering hard.
"Stripes. You've been hit." He stammered, the bullet hole in his leg, now very clear to see, but Shadow just shook it off. He smirked.
"I've had worse." He shrugged. That was indeed true. He'd survived having over four hundred bullets pummelled into him but to Sukko, that wasn't the point. He growled, now extremely tired.
"Oh, don't be daft." He spat, and suddenly his eyes glowed blue again, and as everyone watched, as streams of bright blue hue of luminescent vapour exploded from his hand, his fingers slightly clawed, nearest to Shadow, and very quickly, they made a beeline straight for his leg. Immediately, the Magic got to work, repairing the injury. The bullet was pushed out from the wound itself and fell out, as the tissues reformed, muscles melded together and the skin rebuild itself. Everyone watched in utter fascination. Shadow gasped. It wasn't painful at all, and an injury which normally took him a week to heal, was gone in a matter of seconds. He rubbed the area. It was as good as new. Finally, Sukko was done, but he completely passed out. Everyone just stared at him, especially Shadow who was now seriously warming to the Sorcerer and fast. What they had just seen was incredible.
Healing. Technique number five.
Being a Doctor was one thing, but to actually have the power to Heal, was quite another, and was just astonishing and Knuckles just grabbed him and cuddled him hard. It had been twenty-four hours since they had met the true sibling of the Hero of Mobius, but none of them actually truly believed that he could match the incredible power, majesty and true spender of his brother, Sonic The Hedgehog.
Oh yes.
They all found themselves deeply honoured, as Knuckles shook Sukko awake again. It wasn't over yet. But thankfully, Sukko reflexes were as fast as his brother's, and immediately he spotted, despite being extremely dizzy, that their hiding place was about to be walked in on. Sukko's Magic exploded again, and him immediately pulled everyone in close, including Amy, who had been silently following them the entire time, and suddenly, they vanished, just as the guards found them.
But they didn't. They desperately looked around for them, panicking, but after five long tantalising minutes, until they were gone. Rouge noticed a nearby mirror, and knew they should have been seen in it but weren't. She pointed it out to Tails, who blinked, then put up six fingers. Technique number six. He heaved.
"Invisibility." He mouthed, of which she nodded, utterly astonished. She looked back at Sukko. Despite the intense drain of the Magic, the Beta Blockers permanently holding him back, and the excruciating pain, none of it showed on his face. The concentration was epic, as he silently and experted watched the guards come and go, completely unbreakable. He was the King of Stealth, and it showed. Now they understood why no one knew of his existence. If he didn't want to be found, you were never going to find him.
Finally, he dropped the Magic, and Knuckles caught him as he feet gave out from under him. He growled.
"Gotcha." He hissed, but Sukko rounded on him and nodded. He hadn't got much left in the tank, and he knew his Chaos Sorcery wasn't done with him yet. He panted.
"Now where?" He stammered. Everyone just looked at him. With that much power, shouldn't he take the lead, but as Knuckles quickly realised, he never did. Sonic always took charge. Sukko was a power behind the throne like no other, but take it himself. No. He grabbed the Sorcerer, quickly taking over. Still hiding to the side of the large cavernous room, Knuckles looked around for an exit plan. The locked delivery doors was still their only way out. He heaved, rounding on the Sorcerer.
"Do you see those doors over there?" He asked. Sukko looked but his eyes were incredibly blurry. He giggled.
"Er, no." He grinned. "But I believe you." He smiled, cuddling right up to Knuckles, purring. The Echidna just rolled his eyes, but he shook the Sorcerer. He growled.
"Hey, concentrate." He hissed. "Do you have anything in your arsenal that can take out those doors?" He asked, there was a moment's pause, as suddenly, the Sorcerer smirked hard as without warning, the Magic exploded, but this time he was seriously struggling to control it. But somehow, he did, and managed to heavily concentrate it down to just one hand. An almighty ball of light appeared in his clawed fingers, which quickly expanded to fill his entire hand.
Suddenly, he held it aloft and and it elongated into someone long and thin, which was being materialised out of thin air. It solidified into a somewhat short, but incredibly ornate pale blue staff, with a stunning crystal on the end.
Conjuring.
Technique number seven. Immediately, Sukko grabbed it, he eyes still glowing a deep vivid blue, and immediately pointed the crystal of the staff, straight at the general direction of the doors. Then with one arm around Knuckles to keep himself steady, he eyes glowing a deep blue, his teeth gritted, charged up the staff's crystal, with huge amounts of Chaos Sorcery, in the form of bright white light. Suddenly, he let it rip, the staff ricocheting back in his arm, it sending an enormous super-concentrated bright white ball of pure Chaos Energy straight at the doors.
It hit with a bang. There was one almighty explosion. Sukko didn't just blow a hole in the door, he completely disintegrated them to bits, along with several cars, trucks, and pieces of equipment nearby. There was utter silence as the explosion seemed to come completely out of nowhere, and and everyone just stared as the pieces just fell everywhere. but Sukko just giggled, cheering hard.
"Yay, it go boom." He grinned, stating the biggest understatement of the day, the Beta Blockers now really making him feel like he was very drunk indeed. They all gulped.
Wow. Everyone just stared in utter astonishment. That was incredibly powerful, and a manipulation of Chaos Energy that none of them had seen before, but now they understood. Sukko was ruthlessly loyal to Sonic. They could all see it in his eyes, and if he has this kind of power now, what of ten or fifteen years ago, at the height of war against Eggman. Sukko would have done anything Sonic asked of him, and now nobody was surprised at all the twins won the war against Eggman. Sonic, as an expert war strategist, a professional soldier, who would have made the most of his brother's powers, especially those Chaos Energy power shots, and yet absolutely nobody knew. He was that good. But, in hindsight, they all had seen that type of explosion before, just hadn't known the cause until now. That was how come the Sorcerer just did it, without even thinking twice about it, he'd done it before, many times, during the war. Now, everyone heaved as they all realised that even with all this power, Sonic's death couldn't have been avoided. Destiny playing it's part and there was nothing anyone could have done.
Now Sukko, unfortunately, was desperate trouble. Suddenly, he screamed, grabbing his head, in utter agony. Tears streaming down his face. He panted.
"Oh no, not the big one. Not the big one." He stammered. He eyes were still glowing blue, as he was now desperately struggling. The Beta Blockers were exploding out his Magic and now he physically couldn't stop it. Knuckles grabbed him again. He panicked.
"Hey, stay with me." He stammered, but Sukko just screamed again. Unfortunately, he was heard, and finally Tails worked it out. They had seen all the Chaos Sorcery techniques except one they already knew about. He gasped in utter horror. It was indeed big. He screamed, as he grabbed everyone and immediately dived to the floor at Sukko's feet, just as the guards ran in for them. He squealed.
"Telepathy!" He cried. The final technique and everyone, desperately panicking, dived as suddenly the Sorcerer exploded, as a enormous blue horizontal shockwave ricocheted out from him. His body went completely ridged, his arms straight, fingers clawed, a small ball of blue light in each one. He face became emotionless, his bright blue glowing eyes, transfixed ahead of him, but the sparkles behind them were gone.
As the shockwave expanded, enveloping the entire building, everything in the surrounding area just ground to an immediate halt. Every Mobian, every guard, completely frozen, exactly where they stood. It was a though time had stopped for them. Anything organic was caught, everything except those crouching by the Sorcerer's feet, and to whom the shockwave missed, who instantly fell silent. They all looked up horrified. They all knew Sukko had Telepathy but this was ridiculous. This was mental manipulation on a completely different scale. They looked at Sukko. He was glowing completely blue, breathing heavily, growling under his breath, the Magic very much in control. Terrified, they had to snap Sukko out this and fast.
But how?
Unfortunately, it was too late, as suddenly, a bullet was fired, straight at the Sorcerer, from the centre of the room. Dr. Starline. Being mostly robotised meant he was largely immune to the Telepathy, and with the Sorcerer up again the wall, the Platypus saw him as a sitting duck. Shadow gasped. His Chaos Powers, like everyone else's was still numb, and he didn't have the Super-Speed to catch that bullet, not that he'd every tried. But he was willing to take it, saving the Sorcerer. As an immortal, he'd survive that bullet, no matter where it landed. But something got there before him.
Something purple.
He'd exploded through the busted delivery doors of the base, and at speeds, even Shadow himself, didn't believe possible, Max went for that bullet. He ran for his father, and stretching out his hand, he closed it around the projectile, completely enveloping it, and physically stopped it, just millimetres from Sukko's chest. All this happened in nanoseconds, but to the normal eye, Max just literally appeared out of thin air. He heaved, panting.
"Gotcha." He smirked, to the utter shock of everyone, making them all jump. But Shadow was dumbfounded. Max could catch bullets. Sonic could dodge them, sure, but never showed any indication he could have actually have caught one. Now he realised just how powerful the House of Phronshentico really were, and how the Hero of Mobius was so much more then just the Blue Blur.
Dr. Starline just stumbled backwards in shock, proceeded to shoot a second bullet, which Max, turning around to face him, just caught in his other hand, at super-hyper-speeds, without a moment's thought. He throw the bullets to the floor, and glanced back at his father, still in his power Magical trance, and Max's temper just exploded. He knew why his father was like that, and he wasn't very happy about it. The Purple speedster went for him, super spinning so fast in Dr. Starline's direction, that when he charged into him, he just sent the Platypus flying backwards.
But Dr. Starline wasn't done, because as he got up, Max went for him again, and again, until he crashed into a far wall, and fell to the floor unconscious. Finally, the girls, Pearl, Scarlet and Violet, caught up with Max, entering though the massive hole in the door, and despite the unusual situation of frozen people everywhere, they just went straight for their parents, and massive hugs all round. Rouge heaved.
"How did you find us?" She asked her daughter. But the little Bat just grinned, she pointed to Max, now heading towards them. She grinned.
"The Berry Boy. He can feel his father's Magic and with it exploding, it acted as a beacon for us, straight for him." She smiled, indicating Sukko, but she squealed when she saw him. He was still in his massive trance which wasn't leaving anytime soon. With Dr. Starline down, Max ran straight for his father, who still had his back against the wall. He grabbed him, screaming.
"Dad?" He squealed. "DAD?" He cried. "Come on, Dad, wake up." He panicked, shaking him very hard. Nothing. Sukko remained exactly as he was. Max just cried his heart out over his shoulder. "I hate Beta Blockers so much. Those drugs always screw up my Dad up so badly." He sniffed. "This isn't the first time this has happened. Eggman's did it to him in the past, and Uncle Sonic was the one who snapped him out of it. He taught me how, I just need to remember." He hissed. There was silence as he stared into his father's eyes. The Sorcerer was clearly not behind them, but Max knew, his father was definitely still in there, somewhere, he just had to find him.
He desperately dug through his memories, and deep down, from more then ten years ago, he finally found it. It remembered. Suddenly, he grabbed his father's head, placing a hand either side and gentle putting his own forehead against his. He relaxed, closing his eyes, as he let his father's incredible Magic travel from him, through the bloodline, and into Max. He panted hard. He knew his father's Magic was powerful, but not this strong, and it was threatening to overwhelm him. But Max growled. That wasn't happening, as he stubbornly dived through his heavily drugged, extremely confused and very scatty Magic, to his precious father who lay beneath. Max in sheer desperation, feeling him there, just launched himself at him, and to his absolutely delight, someone grabbed him. Then using his enormous physical strength gained from his incredible Uncle Sonic's powers he'd inherited, he punched his way back through the Magic, to bring his father home.
Suddenly, there was a huge snapping sound as the telepathic cast completely collapsed, and Sukko was left panting in his son's arms, completely back to normal, to the utter delight of everyone. Max dived for his arms. He beamed.
"Gotcha." He sighed, then he cried. "Daddy!" He smiled, but the Sorcerer just heaved, panting hard.
"Max. Wow. Er, I thought I was a gonna there." He admitted, but then beamed in pure pride, distinctly remembering Sonic doing that to him. But Max just dived deeper into his chest. He purred, shaking his head.
"No way." He grinned. He dived deep into his quills and pulled a heavily rolled up long, black leather coat. He unfurled it and pulling his father away from the wall slightly, supporting him, he threw it over his shoulders, Sukko putting his arms through it. The mighty Sorcerer was back. Sukko beamed at his son, who cuddling him, he rubbed noses and foreheads with. But Suddenly, Max's name was suddenly screamed, as the guards, now free from their telepathic prisons were now going for them. Violet screamed.
"Max!" She squealed, but suddenly, Sukko outright collapsed, his legs giving way beneath him. Max panicked, only just catching him.
"Dad?" He screamed, but Sukko grabbed him, a serious look on his face. He growled.
"Max. The Magic is crashing, and it's going to knock me out for a while. I'll be fine. I just need to sleep it off. But you need to clear the way out." He ordered, indicating behind him. Suddenly, he grabbed for Knuckles, who just about caught him. He heaved. "Echidna." He gulped. "Please, get me out of here." He breathed, before passing out for the last time. He wasn't going to wake again, not today. The Sorcerer was down but Knuckles just smirked, just picked him up with greatest of ease.
"Yes, sir." He beamed, and immediately Max jumped high in the air, super-span and went for the nearest guard. Violet mimicked him, doing the same, and finally, Shadow's own Beta Blockers had worn off enough for him to punch through them, to get at his Chaos Powers behind. Sukko was right, it was excruciatingly painful, but to fight side-by-side with his own daughter, a super proud father, it was worth it.
Suddenly, all three speedster Hedgehogs were flying all over the cavernous room, Super-speed spinning off walls, then guards and back again. As the guards which came in their droves, they fell as fast as they arrived. Knuckles carrying Sukko, along with Tails, Rouge, Amy, Pearl and Scarlet, they ran for the door. Bullets were flying everywhere, but both Tails and Rouge both found guns and ammo, and began firing back. The guards were desperately trying to block them from leaving, but all the finally fell, they failed.
Though the massive hole in the base, they all ran, home free, and upon seeing this, Shadow ordered Max and Violet to also leave. They both obeyed, no arguments, and vanished though the doors but the Ultimate Lifeform stayed. He still had unfinished business, as Dr. Starline having finally woken up from his battering from Max, was very wobbly got to his feet.
Shadow didn't stand on ceremony at all, as he temper just exploded at the Platypus, as he grabbed him by the throat, pushing against the wall, and lifted him straight off his feet. He was very angry. To see someone so Chaotically powerful and yet suffer, so badly, as Sukko has just done, enraged Shadow beyond belief. He deserved far more respect then that, and therefore without a moment's thought, he just painfully punched through the Beta Blockers to his Super-Strength, and proceeded to crush the Platypus's neck in cold blood. Dr. Starline tried to speak, but Shadow just wasn't interested, nor did he even care. He wanted to make absolutely sure that this Platypus would never go after the mighty Sorcerer again. His full temper just exploded, a red aura all around him, as he squeezed his hand around Dr. Starline's neck so hard, that there was metal creaking, and bones fracturing. Gasping for air, the Platypus desperately pleaded, but no, as Shadow's eyes glowed a deep, blood red, he squeezed the life out him, despite being robotised, and then, finally he let him go, as Dr. Starline fell to the floor, dead.
What was left of his guards, goons and scientists, just fled at the sight of Shadow, who just smirked, and soon the base was silently empty, and finally he left through the battered doors and headed home.