(Chapter Twenty-four. How much worse could things get?
A lot worse actually. We'll see why in this chapter!
Also, of course I'm in a bit of a Watership Down mood right now. Why do you ask?)
"This is the tale of a man who continues to search for his own path, even when betrayed by his destiny.
"Two weeks remain until the Moon slams into Möbius's surface.
"To quell the panic of the populace, Silver pursues charges of war crimes against Tails.
"Tails is sentenced to death.
"What does he find waiting for him in the prison he is sent to?"
マーブル刑務所
Shadow smirked slightly. "Oh. I forgot. You're not the Supreme Commander anymore, aren't you? Now you're just a war criminal."
Tails glared at him.
"We still get news from the outside world in here," Shadow continued. "Congratulations on awakening the Anti-Spiral's wrath and activating the Möbiankind Annihilation System, exactly as the Helix King was working to prevent.
"But, it's interesting, isn't it, fox boy? Both the Black Arms rebel and the hero of the Möbian liberation, now imprisoned as equals thanks to those 'trials' of yours. Möbian wisdom certainly has its moments."
Tails laid down on his cot, ignoring Shadow.
He stared at the ceiling intensely, as though hoping his gaze would break through the mile or so of rock overhead to the falling rock in the sky.
"Two more weeks..." he muttered.
月急落
Rotor tapped furiously at the keyboard, keying in the necessary information regarding mass and density, velocity and acceleration, force and resistance. He'd been working at this for eight hours now; a mug of coffee sat beside him on a spiral-decorated coaster.
He clicked the mouse.
The video played before him.
He turned white, sweat beading.
"What... is this...?"
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR:
How Far Does God Intend to Test Us?
All about Möbius, people of every persuasion - human, anthro, and Black Arms - trudged through all manner of landscape - forest, desert, plains, swamp, mountain - to reach the nearest designated shelter. They were told not to trouble themselves with anything more than two weeks' worth of clothing; they would only be out of the stratosphere until such time as it was safe to land after lunar impact.
In the New Supreme Commander's Office at the Parliament Complex - formerly known as the Chief Adviser's Office - Blaze and Ash stood before Silver's desk, the New Supreme Commander's hands folded in front of his mouth and nose, a posture he'd picked up from the chief of Gendo Village some two years after the fall of Greengate. A holographic globe of Möbius hovered over Silver's desk.
"Evacuation percentage of the Pfeffa region is currently at 68%," Blaze said. "Lendri region, 32%. Yona region, 44%. Homba region, 56%. In the remaining six days, eighteen hours before lunar impact, the evacuation will be 98% complete."
"Evacuation of the Sonic City residents aboard the Blue Typhoon is at 28%. It is proceeding smoothly, and should be complete three days before lunar impact," Ash said.
"Good," said Silver. "Try to get it up to speed, and ensure that the projected 2% remaining make it into shelters as well." Unfolding his hands, he tapped a button on his desk. A holographic monolith reading 'ROTOR - SOUND ONLY' in bold red letters appeared in place of the globe. "Rotor, what's the status of the Moon?"
"Falling slowly," said the monolith. "Current calculations show that it will make atmospheric entry in ten days, six hours, and twenty-three minutes."
"The Moon will also begin to affect the surface as it draws closer," said Silver, resuming what had become known as the Gendo pose. "Let's get everyone into their shelters as quickly as possible."
"Yes, sir," said Ash, saluting.
The monolith took on a more light tone.
"You wear the mantle of leader well, Supreme Commander Silver."
"That doesn't matter," Silver replied. "I'm doing what must be done to save Möbius, nothing more."
"That's very mature of you, Silver," said the 'ROTOR' monolith, a smile evident in his tone. "So, what say we meet on a date?"
Silver slipped a little in his spinning chair, his Gendo pose faltering.
"R-Rotor, what about you and Cobar...?"
"Oh, we're fine. I meant, I have something very important to tell you. When can you be at the Science Bureau? I'd like you to see this in person."
"See what?"
"I can't explain here. You'll have to come to my office."
Silver nodded. "Understood. I'll be there in five."
"Okay, I'll be waiting."
The 'ROTOR - SOUND ONLY' monolith disappeared in a whooshing sound.
Several levels below, a 'SUPREME COMMANDER SILVER - SOUND ONLY' monolith disappeared, and Rotor sighed.
"I hope that he doesn't wear himself out," he murmured.
狼が来た!
Murmurs broke out in the Marble Prison cafeteria.
"Even if we eat, isn't the Moon gonna end everything when it hits, right?"
"Yeah, we have some Supreme Commander guy to thank for that."
"I won't turn down the food, though."
"Won't this place make it out okay? We're underground, I mean."
"Dumbass! This place wasn't built to survive something that big hitting overhead."
"I heard there are people up on the surface being evacuated underground, too. Will they die, too?"
"Save us again, O Supreme Commander!"
Tails sat in silence, eating his prison food. It was not terrible, but it was not a five-star meal either.
In any case, if he stayed out of it, they would leave him be...
Was what Tails thought would work.
A passing prisoner, a green hedgehog, accidentally-on-purpose, knocked Tails to the floor.
"Oops! Sorry for knocking you over, Supreme Commander!" sneered the green hedgehog, his grin revealing teeth sharpened to fangs.
A short human man with a needle-like nose and a few strands of hair on his otherwise bald head accidentally-on-purpose knocked Tails's tray all over Tails.
"Oh my! So sorry, Supreme Commander!" he said in an oily tone.
An elderly white echidna who carried himself with a regal air scraped his foot around in the gravy-like sauce of Tails's spilled meal.
"What's wrong? Why aren't you eating, Supreme Commander?" he sneered.
The green hedgehog, grinning again, shoved Tails's face onto the cement floor, smearing his face back and forth in the spilled gravy as the other prisoners laughed uproariously.
Less than an hour later, Tails was in the showers, where, thankfully, people actually left him alone... relatively speaking. He had to endure jeers and verbal abuse aplenty, but he could ignore that.
It happened when he was drying himself off outside the showers.
The sound of a large hand swinging through the air alerted him.
He dodged the avian Black Arms's swipe narrowly.
"What the...?"
"I will avenge General Blacknarcissus's death!" she squawked angrily, hate dancing in her eyes.
"General Blacknarcissus...? One of the Four Helix Generals?"
"Yes, Prower! I was there the day you killed him! You were the one who stole my Gizoid so that your infernal Freedom Emerl could fly! And if you hadn't killed General Blacknarcissus, I would still be flying in the sky right now!" She held up her arms, showing the vestiges of what must have been exquisite black-and-red plumage. "Look what your guards did to me when I came in! They tore my feathers out so I couldn't fly anymore!" Tears appeared in the corners of her eyes. "I'm a disgrace of a Black Arms!" She glared again. "And it's all because of you... PROWER!"
She swiped at him with her talons, Tails dodging swiftly.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
A leg sweep brought Tails down.
A red glint in the Black Arms bird girl's eyes, she raised her right hand, talons glinting dangerously.
"DIE!"
A leg flew in from nowhere, pinning the Black Arms face-first to the wall.
She looked at her assailant.
"Sh-Shadow...?"
"Shut your beak for a while," Shadow said simply.
"You...! Of all people, why are you siding with this turd? And you call yourself a Black Arms?"
"It's because I'm a Black Arms that I can't stand the sight of weak ones like YOU!" Shadow roundhouse-kicked her into the wall. The Black Arms fell to the floor, unconscious.
Shadow turned to Tails, picking himself up.
"Oh, how the mighty two-tailed freak has fallen," he sneered.
"What?" Tails got onto one knee. Tails saw a number of deep scars all across Shadow's torso.
"You've lost Freedom Emerl, you've lost your flower-girl, and you've lost your friends. Now that you're just another dirty animal, you can't even fight?"
"What are you getting at?" Tails growled, balling his fists.
"Even barehanded, the blue hedgehog stood his own against me."
Tails stood up. "Shut up!"
"Oh, is that anger I see in your eyes? If you don't like it, do something about it!"
With a yell, Tails bolted towards Shadow, a fist drawn back...
And Shadow dodged.
Spinning around, Tails brought his other fist around, but had to leap over Shadow to avoid Shadow's right chop.
By this time, the other prisoners had noticed a fight was going on.
"Whoa, a fight!"
"Yeah, a fight!"
"Kill 'im, Shadow!"
"Get 'im!"
Shadow faced Tails again.
"So, you aren't entirely helpless, after all."
The Black Arms bird woke up, spotted Shadow, and leapt up, drawing a clawed hand back.
"He's my prey, so BACK OFF!"
She sliced open Shadow's jugular.
Shadow's eyes widened slightly, green blood spilling down his chest from his neck...
And he grabbed the Black Arms's outstretched arm, brought his leg around again, and sent her beak-first flying into the wall.
Then, not believing what he saw, Tails witnessed the wounds on Shadow's neck seal up almost instantly, without even a scar left.
"That's...?"
"The immortal body given to me by the Helix King, with the order to forever bear witness," Shadow said hoarsely, his voice regaining its original tone after a few seconds. "And after all that, what I have to witness is you, reduced to fighting in a towel in prison?" He scoffed. "This is too much!"
"What do you know about it?" Tails glowered at Shadow. "I'm just doing what I need to do!"
They dived at each other, the fight resuming.
"That's a good one!" Shadow shouted. "So, doing nothing is what you need to do? You've really become the Helix King now!"
"Take that back!"
"Is this the future you Möbians won by defeating us? It's unforgivable!"
"I never asked for your forgiveness!"
The Black Arms bird girl drowsily sat up again, gazing dizzily at the two-tailed fox and the hedgehog-shaped Black Arms leaping away from each other.
Then she glowered.
"Shitheads, blowing me off like I'm nothing...!"
She leapt up.
"Go to hell!" Shadow yelled, throwing a fist forward.
"You first!" Tails returned, intending to match Shadow's move.
"YOU TWO ARE DEAD MEAT!" screeched the Black Arms bird girl.
Both fists met her on either side of the head.
Which was when the prison guards showed up, waving their night-sticks threateningly at the hordes of rowdy inmates.
"NO FIGHTING! NO FIGHTING!"
"WHO STARTED THIS?"
Every hand pointed at Tails and Shadow.
"Those two!"
"They did, sir!"
"They ganged up on that girl there!"
Tails and Shadow gaped.
ラップは漢の魂…だった…よな…
"Look at you," hissed Shadow from his solitary confinement cell, across from Tails's. The two of them had had their hands shackled to the wall behind them, and they would stay like that for a week. "Your woman abandoned you. Your friends abandoned you. Your Möbians abandoned you. How wretched it is to see the man who defeated the Helix King having fallen so far."
"It doesn't matter," the fox boy muttered, and Shadow was stunned to hear the resignation in it. "There's nothing I need to do anymore. I've been replaced. Freedom Emerl has been made obsolete. It's gonna be scrapped. Does that make you happy, Shadow?"
"I'm never happy." Shadow bowed his head. "But... I feel... like I did when the blue hedgehog died."
"You felt bad that Sonic died?"
"No, I didn't! I just... wanted to fight him more than I did. And now... he's gone to where I can't fight him anymore. It was tough, knowing that I would never face him in battle again."
Shadow looked up at the fox boy again.
"So, what do you mean by, 'nothing you need to do anymore'?"
"Silver will take care of the rest," the fox boy said, a vague smile on his face. "He's the kind of leader Möbius needs. The leader it's always needed. I've never fit into this New Government. I've always been a fighter, not a leader. Silver is ready to take Möbius forward. That just leaves me, Miles Prower, Tails The Digger, to climb back into my hole." The fox boy chuckled. "Oh, why am I still calling myself a Digger? I don't have my Core Drill anymore. Nothing to dig for, either.
"Yeah... This place is perfect for me."
コンピュータシミュレーション
"How far does God intend to test us?" Silver breathed. He was almost as white as his own fur. Rotor sat beside him, not looking at him, but looking solemn.
"I can understand if you don't want to believe it," Rotor said lowly. "If you don't want to, don't. It's just a simulation, after all."
"In my position right now, I have no choice but to believe," Silver said, sweating profusely. "Was it wrong? Was it wrong for Möbians to dream of living on the surface, of going to outer space? Are we Möbius so sinful that we don't deserve even that?"
"It's the Anti-Spiral who see things that way," Rotor said. "God's will has nothing to do with it."
ブレイズ
Knuckles was wandering the deck of the Blue Typhoon, aimlessly watching the translucent tubes leading from the ceiling, bringing in steady amounts of citizens and supplies.
He spotted Blaze by one.
"Yo!" he said, waving a mitt in the air.
She didn't turn, keeping her eyes on her clipboard, ticking off boxes as each elevator descended down the tube in front of her.
"So, uhh..." he said, trying not to sound too energetic, in case it irritated Blaze. "How are things going down here?"
"In terms of overall progress," Blaze said levelly, "We are behind by 48%."
Knuckles, deciding that this conversation wouldn't really lead anywhere - Blaze looked really busy - turned to leave.
Two minutes later, he passed another elevator tube, and on the latest descending platform was a cage, and inside it...
Wow, that really takes me back! he thought, smirking. Warble-runners! Geez, I remember Blaze used to be so terrified of riding those things...!
Knuckles watched until the cage of warble-runners descended into the Blue Typhoon, then looked up to the next one.
He started.
Wait, those are... slime-grape hippos! And in the next one down... And... pig-moles? But... it's the people we need to get into the Blue Typhoon, not animals! Something's up, and I don't think Silver's gonna open a zoo in outer space.
Knuckles furrowed his brow, marching off.
He would find out what was happening, by hook or by crook.
メガネで決めよう
The LDH bio-computer had been deactivated and moved from its home in the Parliament Complex to the bridge of the Blue Typhoon, set in a glass jar filled with nutrient fluid atop a pedestal the height of a human of average height.
"Now hooking up the Lucus Darkoak Head," said Chris.
"This was once the Helix King," said Ash, tentatively looking at the head's closed eyes. "Are you certain that this is safe?"
"Even if there is, we don't have much choice," Rotor explained. "The Blue Typhoon will only activate when presented with Darkoak's bio-signature. Like how Emerl will only activate when Tails is in the cockpit and when the Core Drill is inserted."
"Still," Ash tried to mask his concern, "What if the bio-computer develops the Helix King's personality?"
Rotor gave a slightly weary smile.
"You really worry a lot, don't you? If it's such a big deal to you, you can always strap on a bomb and sit next to it."
Ash balked, and walked away.
"If this doesn't work out," Ari said, flicking the glass with a finger as Chris hooked up wires to the Darkoak Head's neck, "It's gonna be more all-nighters for us. And we're on a tight schedule as it is."
"I haven't had a good night's sleep in seven years," grumbled Chris from below the Drakoak Head. After a few moments, he slid back out, wiping sweat from his brow. "Well, that's the last connection."
Rotor looked out across the bridge.
"Alright! Blue Typhoon Spiral Engine! Begin final activation checklist!"
"You got it! Activating!" shouted Bean, pushing a large red button.
The Darkoak Head's eyes snapped open, green light poured from its eyes and mouth as it let out a rising scream.
"You idiot! Not yet!" Rotor yelled.
The main console lit up, showing a spiral gauge, hovering at about half-full.
The Spiral Energy of those on board the Blue Typhoon.
Every console lit up green. Beneath the bridge, the main engine rumbled to life.
The Blue Typhoon had activated.
"Super Spiral Engine, startup complete," said the bio-computer.
Rotor gave an awkward smile, "Well... I guess it worked."
"For me, nothing is impossible," replied the Darkoak Head.
"That's pretty big talk, for someone who's just a head." Rotor addressed the entire bridge. "Well, that's that, everyone!"
High-fives swept the bridge.
"I will go inform Supreme Commander Silver at once," said Ash, a shadow of a smile on his face.
Ash had gotten halfway from the bridge to Supreme Commander Silver's provisional office on the Blue Typhoon, when he met...
"Legal Affairs Bureau Chief Knuckles."
Knuckles nodded, grinned...
And pinned Ash to the wall.
"W-what are you doing?" he asked.
"You're one of Silver's top ass-kissers," Knuckles growled. "You're gonna tell me everything you know, Ash."
"I... don't know what you mean..."
Knuckles forced the mongoose further into the wall.
"Don't be a retard! Why are you guys loading animals onto the Blue Typhoon? A whole lot of 'em, too. That's space we need for people! Why all the animals?"
"I... I don't know."
Knuckles's eyebrows connected. "Y'know, if you got laid, you probably wouldn't be so uptight." He sighed. "Okay. If you won't talk, I'll take a guess, then. Something bad's gonna happen to the surface, isn't it? And that's why our sweet, softhearted Silver is gonna save even the poor, helpless animals, is that it?"
Ash broke into sweat, but didn't contradict Knuckles.
Knuckles let Ash slide back to the floor.
"So I'm right." It wasn't a question. "Now. Start explaining."
Ash looked Knuckles in the eye, holding his throat.
"It's—"
"It's because we will have to live in space, aboard the Blue Typhoon, for a year," explained a voice behind Knuckles.
Knuckles turned and faced Silver. Behind him was Rotor.
"Silver?"
"You are a government official, too," Silver said, his hands behind his back. "If that is how you feel, then shoulder the burden yourself." He beckoned. "Come with me."
絶滅
The computer screen showed a large sphere, a grid of blue squares running across its surface, and a sphere about a third the blue ball's size with a gridwork of white squares. It followed a line around the blue sphere. Then the line disappeared, and the white sphere continued in its orbit, spiraling in towards the blue sphere. Finally, it impacted, and the blue squares on the larger sphere were blasted off, replaced with yellow ones.
Knuckles went pale.
"What... the hell...?"
"This is a simulation of what will happen when the Moon impacts Möbius," Rotor explained in as level a tone as he could muster. "I never rendered anything this big, so it took a while to process it."
Silver began to fiddle with his collar; he looked like he was baking.
"But... this means..." Knuckles next words seemed like as much a realization to himself as a revelation to everyone else. "This means that the whole surface is gonna be wiped out!"
"Not just the surface," Rotor explained. "The underground, too. The entire outer surface of the planet Möbius - all of the crust - will be stripped from the planet by the shock of the Moon's impact. And then, the world will be blanketed in white-hot gases. Everything that wasn't thrown into space by the Moon's impact will be incinerated. After that, Möbius won't be capable of supporting any kind of life for an entire year. And even then the chances of Möbius still being habitable are remote."
"So, what're you saying?" asked Knuckles, rounding on Silver, furious that the white hedgehog was staring at his own feet and not saying a word. "You're just gonna let all the people in the underground shelters die?"
Silver looked up at Knuckles, and Knuckles saw the shadows under Silver's eyes. Silver looked a hundred years old.
"Do you have any other ideas?" he said in a breaking voice. "The Blue Typhoon can't carry three million people!"
Knuckles clenched his large fists, "Then... then why don't we use this thing to destroy the Moon? The Blue Typhoon is huge! There has to be nothing it can't do!"
"We considered that, too," Silver said, "But it's too risky. If we fail, Möbiankind will truly go extinct. Are you ready to bear that responsibility, Knuckles?"
Knuckles grit his teeth, but did not answer. There was nothing he could say. Nothing remotely polite, anyway.
"We will save every life we can. And not just Möbians and Black Arms. The Blue Typhoon will become like the Ark of legend, bearing every creature of the planet while divine wrath ravages the world. What the Blue Typhoon carries within it will become a second Möbius." Silver looked like he was desperate for verification of that thought. "We will take aboard every creature of the earth, sky, and sea, and live in space for a year until Möbius cools down. That's all we can do. Am I wrong?"
Knuckles looked down at his feet. Drips of sweat rolled down his nose, falling to the floor below.
"No... No, you're not wrong."
Knuckles's teeth grinded against each other.
"But that don't mean I gotta like it."
つづく
To be continued...
次回予告
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The leader's role is not to fight.
The leader's role is to make the hard decisions.
And when I make it, we will...
Next time on Tengen Toppa Freedom Emerl: "My Decision Is Made".