REVERSE/REBIRTH: ESPIO'S TALE
Chapter Six: Sea of Silence
Last time on Reverse/Rebirth:
Espio had escaped from one trouble and unknowingly walked into another. The Hero of Darkness was greeted by his first opponent of the secret Order, Mewtwo. The Cloned Telepath explained a small fraction of his existence and the secret of Mephiles, but left no descriptive information. A brutal brawl continued between the two warriors of shadows, but Mewtwo seemed to hold the upper hand. Even with the power of Mephiles, Espio only met defeat. It was revealed that Mewtwo was only using Espio to collect data for a future battle against Sonic.
The scene returns to the white halls of Castle Oblivion as Espio made his way up the stairs – he was panting in anticipation. When learning that his best friend was somewhere in the castle, nothing mattered to the chameleon anymore. He had long hoped that his closest friends would accept him back even after betraying them. Unfortunately, his thoughts were no one to his own.
"Aren't we being a bit optimistic?" Mephiles cackled cruelly.
"Mind your own business!" Espio snapped. "I am tired of you always intruding in my mind!"
"We are one and the same." Mephiles stated. "We share the same mind, the same soul, the same heart. It is only a matter of time before you grow to accept the same darkness that binds us. And then, we will be truly perfect."
"If that's what it takes," Espio growled. "Then I don't want to be perfect."
"That's some smart think, kid."
Espio snapped his attention towards the ceiling in shock and happiness. A golden sphere of light descended from the smooth, white walls – Espio could feel Mephiles retreating to the farthest reaches of his mind. The radiant orb hovered over the floor for a moment before erupt with a blinding flash. The dark chameleon was proud to know that the light did not harm him and smiled gratefully as the image of King Jet appeared.
"Hey, it's been a while." Jet waved cheerfully.
"You're majesty." Espio sighed in relief. "You do not know how happy I am to see a friendly face."
"I can imagine." Jet smirked. "Why haven't you called me in a while?" He paused for a moment, but Espio decided to stare at the white pots. "I think I get it now. You ruined my card, didn't you?"
"Not exactly." Espio said hesitantly. "I was fighting a guy called Mewtwo and he kinda tore it to pieces."
"Mewtwo?" Jet repeated dimly, stroking his beak. "Hmm...Where have I heard that name before?"
"Anyway, you won't believe what I just found out!" Espio screamed excitedly. "Sonic and the others are somewhere in Castle Oblivion right now!"
"Sonic?" Jet exclaimed happily. "With him on your side, you should be able to break out of Castle Oblivion and take care of this Mewtwo character. But just as some added insurance, I think I should give you another hand. But be careful, this is the last time I can help you until I reach the castle."
"I'll keep it safe, your majesty." Espio promised.
With a short nod, the Babylonian king faded into a storm of particles that drifted to the ceiling. The yellow particles connected to one another and reshaped their form into a green card, which drifted into the dark chameleon's hand. Espio sighed – he wished he had a partner to travel with instead of an extremely talkative shadow. The Hero of Darkness stepped up to the platform, stood before the blank, and whipped out his remaining cards. He only had two left, which meant his journey must be close to an end. He raised one of the cards to the door and faded into the light.
---Southern Ocean---
Once the light had died down, Espio could feel the cool wind of the air and a spray of water in the atmosphere. For one wild moment, he had dreamed he was back on Destiny Island before opening his eyes. The Hero of Darkness was at the deck of a massive metal ship that drifted along the soothing waves of the ocean. He noticed several gems embroidered into the frame of the ship and the black mast contained the symbol of a white head with an unruly mustache. Espio's heart sank. Next to Hollow Bastion, this was the last place Espio wanted to be.
"Of all the places, why here?" Espio murmured silently.
"You remember this place well, don't you?" Mephiles said pleasingly. "It is difficult to forget your actions. But think of it this way, you finally made a life changing choice."
"Some choice." Espio said stiffly. "I accepted Black Doom's powers on this ship and kidnapped Amy when Sonic was only trying to help her. And to make it worse, I created that shadow now living in Sonic's heart."
"I never said they were good choices." Mephiles chuckled.
"From my previous experience in this castle," Espio said thoughtfully. "I have to face someone who was originally considered the leader of this world like Black Doom and 627." He smirked confidently. "And if I recall correctly, this shouldn't be too difficult."
"Perhaps..." Mephiles agreed, sounding disappointed. "But we can't make things too easy."
Espio had a funny idea what he meant by that and summoned the Soul Eater to his hand. Quick as a flash, the dark chameleon twisted around and cut and unknown Heartless in two – the pieces dropped over the edge of the ship. As the Hero of Darkness drew his blade to eyelevel, a group of Shadows joined with two different types of Heartless. The ones on the ground, Pirate Heartless, appeared like a mixture of parts slapped together with a red bandanna, an eye patch, and carried a large sword. The ones in the air, Air Pirates, appeared like blue soldiers with large purple wings and wore blue/white caps. The mixture of creatures hissed and crawled/floated closer, pushing the chameleon for the edge.
"A little warm-up before the match?" Espio asked mockingly.
"If we can't have a profitable battle, this should make up for it." Mephiles stated.
"Fair point." Espio nodded.
The Shadow and Pirate Heartless were the first to strike while the Air Pirates remained in place. Once on of the foolish Pirates swung their swords, Espio effortlessly rebounded it with his own blade before decapitating the soldier. At the same moment, two Shadows jumped into the air and grappled the Hero of Darkness by his shoulders. While he struggled to throw of his attackers, which were clawing into his scales, he failed to notice another Pirate swinging his sword at the chameleon's back. But the sword-wielding monster accidentally hit a loose floor board, smacking the Heartless in the face. The sudden action caused the Pirate to accidentally toss his sword, which amazingly sliced the Shadow on Espio's right shoulder. With his arm free, Espio cut down the remaining Heartless and twisted backwards to cut down the clumsy Pirate. The group of land Heartless began to fall backwards, disappearing into the darkness.
"What wrong?!" Espio shouted tauntingly. "Don't tell me you're scared!"
"Heartless are never frightened." Mephiles stated. "They can plan ahead and communicate in the silent language."
"And what exactly would they be planning?" Espio questioned disbelievingly.
Next thing he knew, something heavy hit the dark chameleon in the back of the head and flipped him on his back. Groaning loudly, his gaze travel to the mast, where one of the Air Pirates was awaiting the arrival of his partner.
"You were saying?" Mephiles chuckled.
"I was saying that they were going down." Espio glared.
As the flying Heartless dived for another strike, Espio pressed his hands to the deck and flipped backwards. The Air Pirate thrusted his fists into the steel floor, which inadvertently trapped him in place. The Dark Chameleon decided to take this opportunity and jumped forward with his Soul Eater raised outwards. But at the last second, the second Air pirate jumped in between them and kicked at Espio, who used the broadside of the Soul Eater to block. The Hero of Darkness staggered backwards while the intrusive Heartless ripped the floorboard apart to free his partner. Espio edged himself backwards as the twin fighters took to the sky.
"Well, what do you know?" Espio said impressively. "They can plan out after all."
"I warned you." Mephiles informed. "The Air Pirates are an especially nefarious Heartless. They work well in groups and can calculate numerous tactics that rely on their special conditions."
"Any useful advice?" Espio asked sarcastically.
"Yes." Mephiles answered. "Duck!"
The Hero of Darkness was in no mood to argue with the dark demon and dropped forward onto the deck. A moment later, one of the flying Heartless swooped overhead and smacked into the mast of the ship. This was the opportunity he had been waiting for and he wasn't about to pass it up. Espio pushed himself into the air, avoiding the second Air Pirate, and tossed the Soul Eater at its partner. The Air Pirate was dazed from the crash and stood no chance of avoiding the dark blade before the weapon pierced its chest. One Heartless down, one to go. The dark chameleon summoned his weapon back to his hand upon landing and grinned deviously at the remaining shadow. Without its partner, the Air Pirate did not look confident in continuing the battle. The flying Heartless scurried into the sky, but Espio collected three card from his gauntlet and released their energies in the form of the Dark Firaga. The Air Pirate stood no chance of escape and was incinerated into the black flames.
"Well, that wasn't so bad." Espio commented.
"This coming from the lizard that was almost turned to roast." Mephiles said tauntingly.
"Hey, I had everything under control." Espio said certainly.
"Sure, you did." Mephiles replied sarcastically.
Oy, what goes on here?!" A mechanized voice screamed. "Who dares disturb my beauty sleep?!"
Espio rolled his eyes as he turned his attention to the end of the deck, where a door was slammed open to reveal its captain. The man was actually a large and round machine built to resemble a human with a large white mustache and a single neon blue eye. He wore a metallic red cloak that actually moved with the wind, a pair of skull gauntlets above his mechanical fingers, and a red hat with his signature symbol stamped in the center. The robotic rogue stomped across the wooden platform towards Espio until the same floorboard smacked him in the face – Espio stopped himself from laughing.
"Argh, cursed metal plating!" The robot growled, crushing the metallic floorboard into place. "Why did I even invest in a metal ship in the first place! Sure it's flashy, but what good is it when the blasted thing rusts in the ocean!"
"Nice to see you again, Whisker." Espio greeted casually.
"Shiver me timbers!" Whisker screamed; Espio sniggered. "Espio! What brings a landlubber such as you aboard me vessel?"
"Like I had a choice." Espio said, rolling his eyes. "But I'm guessing if I want to get out of this floating disaster, I need to kick your sorry can across the deck." He drew his Soul Eater. "This really shouldn't take more than a few seconds."
"Ye be fast of mouth and small in thought." Whisker taunted lamely. "If ye thinks ye can defeat the ominous Captain Whisker, then ye have another thing coming."
"You know, you're just starting to annoy me." Espio commented. "Oh, and your pirate accent sucks."
"That does it!" Whisker roared furiously. "Ye will walk the plank for that!"
Chrome Captain: Whisker
As the dark chameleon had expected, it was bumbling Whisker who made the first strike in battle. Espio raised his Soul Eater and knew just one swift stab would end the battle. But when he thought about it, it would have preferred to extend the battle for his own amusement. The Hero of Darkness extinguished his chosen weapon in a cloud of black and effortlessly flipped over the pirate captain. While the dark chameleon landed softly behind, the Chrome Captain mindlessly rammed into the mast with his head – the ship shook from the impact. As Whisker staggered around the deck with a dazed look on his face, Espio jumped into the air and thrusted his foot into the machine's face. Captain Whisker, babbling in coherently, toppled sideways into the metal floorboards while Espio landed a short distance away.
"Ok, now this is just sad." Mephiles commented.
"What was Black Doom thinking." Espio laughed amusingly. "Letting this guy join his council must have been the lowest point of his career."
"Ye have not seen what I can do." Whisker groaned, raising his hand pointedly.
"Whatever." Espio rolled his eyes. He then noticed something and picked up the unusual item: Whisker's mustache. "You have got to be kidding me. Not even his facial hair is real."
"Unhand that, ye swine!!" Whisker shouted.
Somehow, Whisker gained a second wind as he jumped thunderously to his feet. It was that apparent that neither Espio nor Mephiles were expecting his comeback when the Chrome Captain starting blowing flames from his mouth. The dark chameleon staggered backwards in shock and thrusted out his palm in reaction. He unintentionally released another Dark Firaga - draining his deck - which collided and exploded with the metal captain's fire. Hidden by the clouds of smoke created by the impact, Whisker held the perfect opportunity to attack and headbutted Espio in the chest. While the Hero of Darkness slammed into the wall, forming a round dent, Whisker grabbed his prized mustache and replaced it on his face.
"There ye go, beautiful." Whisker muttered to his namesake. "No one will harm ye."
"Whoa, what was that?!" Espio exclaimed surprisingly.
"He is obviously obsessed with the false implant." Mephiles stated. "He was clearly furious when see his most prized possession in the hands of someone else."
"This guy has some serious problems." Espio commented.
"I heard that, landlubber!" Whisker screeched, shaking his fist. "Get ready to feel my wrath!"
In another unexpected twist, the Chrome Captain thrusted out his fist and launched his entire forearm. While the hand rocket shot across the deck, Espio summoned his Soul Eater into his hand and forcefully alternated its direction. The dark chameleon was done playing around and raced for the machine before skipping into the air. Unfortunately, he was unable to finalize his attack when Whisker's fist flew into his space and slammed into the side of his face. The attack sent the Hero of Darkness flying awkwardly into the sails and became tangled in the black cloth. He tried to cut himself loose using the Soul Eater, but the flying fist knocked the weapon out of his hand and into the ocean. As the rocket hand soared for another strike, Espio summoned the remains of his deck and formed a miniature version of the Dark Firaga. It wasn't enough to destroy the flying fist, but it did alter its direction
"How can you possibly be losing to this weakling?!" Mephiles yelled angrily.
"How should I know?" Espio answered feebly. "Last time I looked, he was supposed to be weak. Maybe I should call the king for help."
"Do not dare." Mephiles growled. He took temporary control of Espio's arm, which was caught pulling a card from the chameleon's gauntlet. "I will not allow that arrogant king see this embarrassment."
"We – need – his – help." Espio struggled, slowly tugging at the card.
"We – will not!" Mephiles grunted.
Back and forth, the warriors of darkness struggled to obtain full control. However, their momentary bickering was halted when Whisker's rocket hand punched into Espio's face, freeing the chameleon from the sail. But while the Hero of Darkness dropped to the metal floorboard, he did not realize that the card he was holding had escaped his hand. Espio landed with a heavy thud, dropping directly at Whisker's feet.
"Have ye come to surrender?" Whisker cackled.
"I've never really been known to give up." Espio groaned as he pushed himself to his knees; Whisker pushed him back down with his foot. "Man, you heavy!"
"As soon as you give up, I'll let ye be." Whisker said temptingly.
"By the ancestors, your accent is horrible."
Both enemies did a double take when they realized neither of them spoke, especially when it was a woman's voice. The Chrome Captain then noticed a shadow on the deck and hesitantly look backwards to confront the beast. Something silver swiped him into the air. The Hero of Darkness felt relieved to be free of the pressure, but quickly wished Whisker's was back. The card Espio had tossed into the air was a black Enemy Card and he had unconsciously summoned Cynder the Dragon in the middle of the ship.
"Aw, come on." Espio groaned.
"You should be grateful that I rescued you." Cynder sneered. "You are just as disrespectful as that blue hedgehog with the Keyblade."
"You mean Sonic?!" Espio exclaimed shockingly. "You've met him?!"
"He has only recently summoned me." Cynder answered pridefully. "He knows that only I could prove to be a reliable warrior in the face of battle, even if fighting against a mutated beast." She snarled suddenly. "Of course, I'm not very fond of him commanding me. A heart as pure as his does not deserve my services."
"Then what do you have to say about me?" Espio questioned hesitantly.
The dark dragon hanged her snout close to his body, taking in his scent.
"I can smell a great deal of darkness within you." Cynder said, sounding amorous. "I have only felt such a power in the presence of my master." Her eyes gleamed happily. "My loyalty is to the darkness. And as such, my loyalty is to you."
"Wow, that was easy." Espio commented.
A whistling sound could be heard from the sky, signaling the return of Captain Whisker. With a wide grin on her expression, Cynder turned on the spot and whipped her tail into the air. The Chrome Captain dropped into view and Cynder slammed her tail overhead to crush the mechanical pirate into the deck. But the force of the impact not only sent Whisker crashing through the floor, but through the entire ship. In an instant, the metallic ship began sinking to the watery depths below – Espio jumped onto Cynder's back and flew off into the sky. The dark duo watched tediously while the remains of the bejeweled craft sank into the plain of water and vanished from sight. The black card of Whisker emerged from the water and landed into Epsio's hand, which he placed inside his gauntlet.
Whisker: Defeated
"He should have realized he stood no chance against a dragon." Cynder sniggered.
"I don't think he even knew what he was fighting." Espio said.
"Whatever." Cynder growled.
But just when they thought it was over, a fragment of the ship drifted to the surface, carrying a familiar face. Captain Whisker sputter loudly while trying to unclog his arms – his mustache had once again gone missing.
"My ship!!" Whisker screamed horribly, waving a finger to the dark team. "Ye will pay for this!!"
"I think you should be more concerned about the shark." Espio suggested.
"Shark?" Whisker repeated. "What sharks?"
The Chrome Captain turned over his shoulder and spotted a group of ravenous sharks, which had somehow obtained a full set of silverware. Whisker lost all color in his expression and started paddling furiously over the horizon – the school of sharks gave chase immediately. Espio and Cynder shook their heads in embarrassment until they noticed a flashing light hovered over the glassy surface of the water. The blank door of Castle Oblivion glided unsuspended over the water, signaling the end of the memory. With an affectionate pat, Espio commanded the dark dragon to fly next to the door and stopped in front of the door. Happy to finally leave the godforsaken memory, Espio shot open the doors and faded into the light.
The most unexpected challenges comes in all sizes. What next adventure awaits the last card in Espio's deck? Will the Babylonian king arrive in time to help? And what is the secret Order planning during this time? Find out on the next Reverse/Rebirth!
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