CHAPTER 20: Failure
It is the end of all hope
To lose the child, the faith
To end all the innocence
To be someone like me
This is the birth of all hope
To have what I once had
This life unforgiven
It will end with a birth
"End of All Hope" – Nightwish © 2002
Sonic, Silver and Blaze looked over the grand view of Kingdom Valley, a rocky valley impregnated by a city and castle long abandoned and left to rot. The sides of the valley were steep cliffs of rock and roots, impossible to climb. There were only one way in and out of Kingdom Valley, and the three were standing in front of it, a narrow gorge that lead into the heart of Kingdom Valley. Doubtless, this made this former city a formidable fortress, and one could wonder why it was finally abandoned.
"So, we have to go through there?" Silver said.
"Yep," Sonic said, feeling fidgety. "Apparently, Kinty flies over the end of Kingdom Valley frequently. At the end is a high castle. If we time it right, I can use it to launch myself directly at the EG-Carrier as it passes by!"
"You can do that?" Blaze asked. "You would have to be travelling at a considerable amount of speed.
Sonic felt his ego bulge. "Blaze, that's why I'm the fastest thing alive!"
"Even then," Silver said. "Kintobor's battleship must be thousands of feet into the air. Even if you were blasting at the speed of sound, you still might not make it."
"That's where you come in, Silver," Sonic said.
"Me?" Silver exclaimed.
"Yep! You can use that freaky power of yours to build an apparatus of platforms for me to leap off of. With my speed, I can launch myself from one platform to another, gaining height each time! I should be able to build enough momentum to soar on up there!"
"There's like a million-to-one chance of success," Blaze pointed out severely.
"Not with this hedgehog!" Sonic glibly said, then more somberly reiterated. "I know Blaze, but it's the best shot we got."
Silver and Blaze regarded each other briefly, then turned back to Sonic and nodded.
"How are we going to get there?" Blaze inquired.
"That might be the hard part," Sonic said.
This time, Silver had an idea. "I can go along the bottom surface. I know it's mostly water, but it's a shortcut for me. I can use my power to make platforms on the water, and using those, I can cut the time for me to travel to the end significantly. I'm the slowest, but I'm sure I can keep up with you guys if I go to the ground. Sonic, Blaze, you two are the swiftest. Finding running platforms and roads higher up shouldn't be a problem."
"That's using your head, Silv," Sonic said. He didn't say so, but he figured that he was going to like this kid; he kind of reminded the blue hedgehog of Tails.
"Then we must get a move on," Blaze said. "I sense we have very little time."
"Say no more, Blaze," Sonic said. "Let's juice!"
- - - - -
The sun began its descent towards the west, but it would still provide sunlight for the next few hours, even though the sky was already chancing from blue to yellow. Here, the sun rained down her majestic rays on a barren wasteland of sand, rocks and gravel. The arid desert was a punishing place to those alien to it, and those who would survive trekking through it were brazen with the will to conquer the harshest conditions.
The new challengers to the desert's challenge were already one step ahead. These four veterans of war and conflict were already brazened with enough will to face anything that would choose to confront them, and win.
Shadow, Viper, Metal-Sonic and Rouge had just trailed many miles without rest to the heart of the desert, and when they climbed the dunes, they saw an expansive ruin, an old city left to bake in the sun's fury.
"I have tracked Mephiles to this location, the old desert ruins. Currently, Mephiles seems to be loitering in this area, although his exact coordinates appear to be constantly changing. Despite that, he is remaining in the ruins."
"I wonder why," Shadow thought outloud.
"There isn't anything out here that I can see…" Viper said.
Rouge scoped the ruins. "These ruins are unusual. There is a dominant structure right in the middle of the ruin. Kingdom Valley was built differently, where the castle was at one end instead of the middle."
"Different terrain," Viper said plainly. "Kingdom Valley was built in a place where it was strategic. Out here, you can't establish that strategy nearly so well, so you put the castle in the middle. Sacrifice the commons to preserve the castle."
"Maybe," Rouge conceded. "but there's something about it that is bugging me." Rouge stretched her wings. "Maybe an aerial view will provide answers." Without another word, Rouge flew straight upwards into the sky.
"Now where is she off to?" Viper asked while he watched Rouge drift away.
Neither Mecha nor Shadow could answer. Rouge was a peculiar woman. There were times where she spoke her mind, while other times she would rarely speak. The latter times usually were because her mind was preoccupied.
Mecha watched her ascend, and suddenly discovered that her curiosity had also bitten him. His relatively new nanotech supercomputer "brain" had been developing many unforeseen pathways that he was still trying to discover, especially during and since Operation Firestorm. It seems that his N.S.C.—or brain as many would call it—would never cease to amaze him. Feeling more curious, he located Dr. Kintobor's private satellite in geosynchronous orbit over Soleanna and the surrounding lands. The signal was weaker then he liked, but it was working. He queried the network about the desert ruins, and what was housed there.
When the results came, Mecha only had to look for a few seconds. Unnoticed by him, Rouge made a quick dive back to the group.
"The ruin in the middle was a temple!" Both Mecha and Rouge explained simultaneously.
Viper's and Shadow's attention focused immediately on the android and the bat. The latter two looked at each other. Rouge crossed her arms and started tapping her foot. "Oh, I see how it is. I leave to check out something and the android here gets all the glory for finding the same thing. Men, I tell you, so typical…"
"I do not see how gender stereotypes have any bearing on this conversation, nor do I see a reason for your outrage for obtaining the same result through different means," Mecha argued.
"Whatever," Rouge shrugged, but quickly redoubled on Mecha, "so then, did you find out what the temple contains?"
Mecha had not scanned the readouts from the satellite completely, so therefore did not know. "No, I did not," Mecha replied. "but I perceive that you have discovered it."
Rouge's mood morphed back to her usual. "Oh, then that means I still have something juicy to tell after all. I guess it's not a total loss then?"
Viper finally had enough. "Cut the crap, Rouge, and get on with it," he snapped.
Rouge regarded Viper, and then showed her Chaos-energy tracker proudly, as if it was an Olympic gold medal recently won. "Look right here…"
Viper, Shadow and later Mecha checked out the small screen. Sure enough, in the center of the ruins, a signal was detected, consistent with a Chaos Emerald.
"It seems Mephiles came here for one of those Talismans of Essence," Rouge said.
Shadow looked to the ruins. "That doesn't surprise me. Mephiles is a part of Solaris, and to rejoin with Iblis, he will need all of the Talismans."
"Yet, even with them," Viper said. "He still needs to release Iblis from where-ever he is."
Shadow turned to Viper. "He rests in the soul of the Princess of Soleanna."
Viper looked at Shadow, his eyes dilating slightly. Similar reactions mirrored on Rouge's and Mecha's face. "Iblis rests within the Princess?" Rouge exclaimed.
"With that knowledge," Mecha surmised. "it is easily seen why Dr. Kintobor has such a keen interested in the Princess."
"Yes, although I do not know how Mephiles plans to release Iblis," Shadow continued.
Viper said morbidly, "Possibly by killing her."
All looked at Viper, but they had to concede that was certainly one possibility.
"But let Sonic take care of that," Viper continued. "Hell, he's been doing a decent job so far. We will deal with Mephiles."
"That's what I was about to say," Shadow said, looking at Viper briefly, then looked back at the ruins. "This is where we make our stand. We must not fail here."
Viper, Rouge and Mecha nodded. Without another word, they marched towards the ruined temple.
- - - - -
Sonic didn't expect more resistance here, but Kintobor was intent on slowing him down one way or another. Lining each runway, buttress or other ruin formation were countless robots. Sonic wasn't intimidated, but he was irritated. Any delay increased the chance of failure, and the chance for success was slim enough. The ever crumbling ruins were also a danger. Time had eaten away many of the supports for the old bridges, and Sonic found this out quickly as he raced across one. Quickly, one end crumbled—the end he was approaching—and rocks rained down from the shock of the crash above. Sonic had to jump and race away again to avoid being squashed.
Blaze suddenly appeared at Sonic's side. "Sonic, have you seen the pedestals with the green orbs on them?" she asked as she ran along side of him.
"A couple," Sonic answered. "Why?"
"They're some part of a transportation system. Touch one, and you can slide down the air currents!" With that, Blaze leaped upwards to another bridge and ran off. Sonic had to admire her vertical.
A transportation system, huh? I wonder what she meant, Sonic thought. Looking forward, he saw one of the previously named pedestals up ahead. Sonic slapped it as he screeched to a halt. Immediately, something that looked like a road made of win appeared on the side, blowing away from him. Sonic leaped on and jetted forward in a grind. "Radical!"
Sonic grinded down the "wind" and indeed it really was faster. Sonic couldn't help but wonder how it worked and how was it used. He could just see Tails begging to take one of the pedestals apart to see how it worked. Sonic then looked forward and saw that robots were trying to get him. Sonic smiled in spite of himself. Leaping up in a spin, he smacked into one robot and into the next like a pinball.
Sonic landed back on the wind rail and continued on. He didn't dare look at the watch communicator, because one thing he always hated…was countdowns…and he seemed to run into them a lot in the last several years.
Up ahead the rail ended, over a bridge. Leaping off of it, he barely even landed before he took off again. The old castle was still a ways away, and he hoped Silver hadn't fallen behind.
Silver in fact was ahead of Sonic. He met minimal resistance along the riverside, and any robots he ran into were easily dispatched by his power of psychokinesis. The ones that were a headache were gold-plated robots that hovered just offshore. Unlike the other robots, with one rocket launcher and machine gun built on the arms, the gold-plated ones had two homing missile launchers. Because of this, the robots were considerably larger…and more deadly. Silver found that catching their missiles was risky because the missiles were sensitive to jostling, and often exploded on contact with another missile. Only by throwing debris to expend the missiles, then grabbing the robots themselves, then hurling them into the water would Silver defeat them.
Getting over the waterways was no problem. All Silver needed was a large enough piece of debris—preferably wooden—and all he had to do was float it down the river. If he wanted to go faster or make a sudden turn, all he had to do was use his power to make it accelerate or change direction. It really does pay to move mountains sometimes…
Blaze was encountering less trouble then Sonic, for the robots did not recognize her as a threat, but they were still in her way so she took them out quickly. Now the robots were alerted to a new enemy reading, in the form of Blaze. Blaze turned out to be very effective in dealing with the robots. A spinning kick in the right area of the legs immediately maimed the legs, and any of her fiery attacks cooked the robots from the inside, melting the silicon in the circuitry.
Also, her ability to jump gave her a nearly superfluous advantage to reach heights that Sonic couldn't hope to achieve in a single bound. Therefore, she was keeping up with Sonic despite his superior speed by merely being a superior bounder.
Sonic kept running down each bridge he came to as well as through any robot squadron in his path, and was at it for around a half-hour now. All the while, he could hear the incoming EG-Carrier coming closer. Somehow, his heart felt like refusing to work as a growing pain in his chest was distracting, but whatever it was…it was worrying him…or was the worry causing it?
- - - - -
Onboard the EG-Carrier bridge, the situation was quickly descending to pandemonium. Systems were flashing red with multiple system failure, and the alarms were going haywire.
"Why is this happening!?" Dr. Kintobor would say over and over, although he knew full well the reason. Apparently an armored panel had come loose near the starboard engine sometime during takeoff earlier that day, exposing parts of the engine nearby. When the EG-Carrier came too close to the atmospheric phenomenon merely an hour before, the armor kept most of the ship from its electromagnetic interference…except the part of the engine now exposed. Systemically, the engine started failing through the flight, and now it was on the verge of complete failure, where only thirty percent of the thrusters were still online, and the port engine was now in the red because of carrying on the work of two engines.
The computer was constantly reporting systems failures as they became realized. "Engine 2 thrusters operation at 30% and falling. WARNING: Engine failure imminent! Engine 1 thrusters operating at 80%. WARNING! Thrusters detected at critical! Shutdown imminent!"
Soon the warnings started getting garbled; a power failure was imminent. And when that happens, doom was certain.
Kintobor was pounding his fist on the control panel, desperate for some sort of escape. Hissing expletives like a sailor, he ran back and forth from computer panel to panel to see what could be done. Each attempt ended in failure.
Meanwhile, Elise sat in the seat back. Her heart began to race as the situation intensified. She would die on this craft, and against all reason…she was satisfied. Her parents were dead, but that's not why she was content with dying…it was because Kintobor would not get the secret from her that she was apparently hiding…and better yet…Kintobor would die with her, and thus her people would be saved from the Flames of Solaris.
As she leaned back and committed her soul to Him, the lights went out.
- - - - -
Sonic saw that the EG-Carrier was coming over the valley, and a steady stream of smoke in one of the endings confirmed his suspicions. The EG-Carrier was going to crash.
Silver signaled up to Sonic by hurling down a piece of wooden debris at Sonic to get his attention. Had it not nearly hit Sonic, the blue hedgehog might have not been so curtly with his response. "Watch it, kid!" he called up.
"Sorry!" Sonic could hear Silver's response.
Sonic ran straight up the castle walls, booking it to reach the top. In his peripheral vision, he could see Blaze bounding up on the buttresses to reach the top. Finally, all three were standing near the tower of the castle, scanning the skies for the EG-Carrier. It didn't take long, and to their alarm, the starboard side was aflame. The EG-Carrier was going down fast.
Sonic swore loudly, which made Silver and Blaze jump. Looking up again, he said "We need to get up there now!"
Silver nodded. "Stand back," he said, and clapped his hands together. Sonic and Blaze obeyed, but the former didn't know why.
Silver slapped his hands against the building side. Blue bolts of lightning erupted from the structure, and before Sonic's and Blaze's eyes, a blue outline of an archaic circle shown on the stones. There were two circles: one slightly smaller and inside the larger. Circumscribed in the smaller circle was an equilateral triangle, and a larger similar triangle, points bursting through the parameters of the larger circle was the most dominating feature of the circle. The circle flashed once, and suddenly, the tower dissolved in an outward explosion away from them. Sonic and Blaze coughed as the dust blinded them, but quickly the dust settled, and both saw an unbelievable thing!
Silver had dissolved the building into a floating mass of brick and roofing!
Not looking at Sonic, Silver said, "Is this enough?"
Sonic smirked. "Plenty!"
Without another word, Sonic dived into the valley, running at nearly 400 mph. A minute later, a sonic boom shook the valley. Silver and Blaze could feel the vibrations under their feet. Seconds later, Sonic appeared in a blur. Suddenly, he leaped off the cliff-sides and hopped onto the nearest floating platform. Again and again he leaped from platform to platform, like a kangaroo rat in a mill. Several seconds later, he reached the top of the floating mass and gave a might bound. At his momentum, he soared into the sky towards the underside of the EG-Carrier. He was sure he had the momentum needed, for it was fast approaching. He would laugh at himself later, but he hoped there was a Sky Deck like the last one.
He was getting closer...just a little more...hold on, Elise...just a little more...
A rattling explosion to his left shook him to the core, and before he could see it, a large piece of debris struck him beside the head. All he felt was the impact, and he blacked out.
Being a cat, Blaze had sharp eyes; thus did she see Sonic get caught in the explosion, and the resulting fall. "Oh no!" she exclaimed. "Sonic's been hurt!"
Silver, dropping the stones because he lost the concentration, scanned the skies for the body of Sonic the Hedgehog. "Where is he?"
Blaze looked again. The explosion masked Sonic for some time, but then she saw something falling back into the valley. There was no denying it. "There he is!" She pointed him out.
Silver saw Sonic, and without a seconds hesitation, he ran to the edge of the dismantled tower and leaped off.
"Silver!" Blaze called out, but it was too late.
Silver dived towards Sonic in free-fall. Soon, his fur ignited in blue, and he flew towards Sonic as fast as he could. Sonic kept falling faster and faster, and Silver had to keep adjusting his flight path for the intercept. Sonic was only a hundred feet towards the river's surface, and Silver had no idea how deep nor shallow it was, nor did he wish to take the chance. Silver was close now, Sonic was almost within reach...a little closer...
Silver grabbed Sonic's hand within 10 feet of the river surface, and quickly, he yanked up Sonic and flew him towards the valley wall top.
Blaze watched from afar and saw everything. Silver carried the unconscious Sonic to the valley heights. Blaze mustered up all speed to catch up with them.
Silver carried Sonic all the way to the cliff-tops overlooking Kingdom Valley. Here in the plains, he laid Sonic down and proceeded to see what was wrong with him. There was an ugly gash on the side of his head, but it wasn't deep. It just looked worse then it really was. The actual hit from the debris was probably the thing to worry about. There was a chance that Sonic could develop a concussion, but there was no telling. Cranial injuries were tricky.
Sonic moaned. Silver breathed a sigh of relief; looks like he's going to be okay.
Blaze showed up just as soon as Sonic opened his eyes. "What happened?" Sonic managed to say. "Oh, I feel like someone smacked me over the head with a two-by-four."
Silver and Blaze glanced at each other. Sonic wasn't too far off.
Sonic looked at Silver. "Silver? What happened?"
Silver looked up at the EG-Carrier, beginning to sink towards the horizon. It wouldn't be long now. "Sonic...you didn't make it."
"Didn't make--" Sonic's eyes widened. "You mean--" Sonic snapped on his feet, and looked at the EG-Carrier, now wreathed in flames. "NO!" Sonic ran for it.
"Sonic!" Blaze cried out after him.
Silver's heart sank. He knew what was about to happen, and there was no way to stop it now. Silver got up. "Come on, Blaze. He's going to need us in a second."
Sonic only ran another hundred feet, when the EG-Carrier struck the earth. There was a colossal explosion, and a great fireball lit up the sky in a hellish-orange. It was almost too bright to watch...but not for one person.
"ELIIIIISSEEEEEE!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Sonic screamed out in anguish, reaching out for the fireball, although he knew it was in vain. He was too late...Elise was dead. He had failed.
Sonic dropped to his knees, just as Silver and Blaze came up from behind. They watched the fireball rage fiercely where the EG-Carrier had fell. They just stood there speechless. Elise was gone...and Iblis had likely escaped. They had failed as well. Silver felt his eyes suddenly get wet, and he looked down, stricken with grief. He failed everyone. Blaze heaved a sigh, and felt cold. Cold made her uncomfortable, but it was a sign that her flames had cooled...because she was under the torment of anguish.
Sonic sank to his hands and knees, and cried silently. He had failed to protect her...and he had promised her that he would...and he didn't keep his word. Sonic pounded a fist into the earth...again and again...but it didn't help the hurt. Deep down, he now knew what grief Shadow bore...and he resented Shadow for it. That jerk could kill his emotions...and Sonic was jealous for it right now.
Silver watched Sonic torment himself, and he wanted to help him, but what was the use? Now the Princess Elise was gone, the Flames of Disaster would be unleashed any time now...and his time would be just as it was...desolation.
Silver suddenly had an idea. Whether it was given by the Divine One or not, Silver's face lit up. "Wait...it's not too late!"
Blaze looked at Silver, but Sonic didn't stir, but one of his ears perked up high.
"Blaze, we came back in this time so we can fix a problem. Why can't we do the same thing again? We'll use Chaos Control!"
Sonic turned his head to Silver, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
"If we go back into an earlier point in time, we can try a different way to save her. We know that she is on the EG-Carrier, so we can go back in time, find the battleship, then board it before it takes off!"
Sonic let Silver's idea sink in. Looking down again at the tear-stained earth, he nodded. He wouldn't fail this time. This was a second chance...and he would take it. Sonic stood up and said bravely, "Let's do it."
Silver pulled out the Talisman of Light, and Sonic the Talisman of Water. Sonic nodded, as did Silver. "Chaos Control!" both commanded in unison.
There was a sharp ring, then beside them opened a portal. Sonic walked towards the portal. Silver made as if to follow behind, but Sonic suddenly turned around and tossed the Talisman at Silver.
"I can do this alone, Silver..." Sonic said. "Besides, don't you need to fix your own problem?"
Silver stood agape. Blaze pulled up beside Silver and looked at Sonic.
"If I go back to today around noon-time, my past self should be at the train station in New Town, trying to find Elise. I shouldn't be seen by any of my pals or anyone I know. When I get there, I'll go find the EG-Carrier--"
"Do you know where it is?" Silver asked.
Sonic looked Silver in the eye and nodded. "In the old labs underneath Soleanna. Kinty's been camping down there for a while, so a certain chameleon tells me. Long story."
Silver's eyes dilated slightly. Unknown to Sonic, Silver had been in those same labs only hours ago; just in a different time. Sonic didn't appear to notice.
"I'll storm the labs and find the EG-Carrier and stowaway on it. I'll be waiting for a while on there, but it will be worth it."
Blaze stepped forward. "It will be your only chance..."
Sonic nodded, and looked at the portal. "I'll make sure to change Elise's fate here...and that means it should change your future too." Sonic turned to Silver. "But if I fail again, listen closely: when you get back to your time, find the seven Chaos Emeralds. When I was stuck in the future, Shadow and I used the Emeralds to get back. Find all seven of the Chaos Emeralds. With them, you can destroy Iblis once and for all."
"All seven? How are we going to do that?" Blaze said.
"If you find one of them, you can use something called Chaos Summon. Knuckles told me about it. Only the strongest willed ones can pull it off he told me, but Silver, you can use your power to boost your chances. Find one and summon the other Chaos Emeralds. There should be at least one in the city.
"When you find all of them, go look for a big black gate in the wilds. That leads to Iblis' lair. Take the fight to him."
Silver looked at Blaze, then back at Sonic and nodded.
Sonic flashed a thumbs up. "Good luck, Silver. Blaze...and thank you so much. I owe you big time."
Silver nodded. "Please save her...and not just for the future."
Sonic looked at Silver, and they understood each other. "I will, Silver. I hope to see you again. Good luck!" With that, Sonic leaped into the portal.
Silver and Blaze stepped forward into the portal.
Silver had to swallow. This was it; no turning back, but now...they had a solution. There was hope after all. At the end of all hope, there was rebirth of it. "Let's go," Silver managed to say.
"Yes," said Blaze.
Both leaped through the portal, leaving the past behind them.
END OF PART 2
