Violet Dreams
Chapter 4: War, Part 3
War is eternity jammed into frantic minutes that will fill a lifetime with dreams and nightmares.
Location: Inside Mazuri Savannah Volcano
Electricity flickered through the sky, followed quickly by a massive cloud of black smoke. Scraps of silver and white metal rocketed down into the mouth of the volcano, and tumbled into the pools of magma within the rock caverns. In the sky, an azure streak of light zipped through the landscape, smashing into countless mechanical guards along his path to the titanium bridge closing the gap of the volcano.
Storms of gun fire sailed through the air around, and past Sonic, kicking up dirt and steam behind him. A trade mark grin slithered up his mouth, and he accelerated towards the ten foot tall mechanical guards. A blue whirlwind erupted in his wake, and propelled the mechs behind him into the air, while the guards in front of him stabbed their energy lances at him in attempts to stop his intrusion.
"Haha!" Sonic chuckled, "Better luck next time!"
A sonic boom echoed through the quiet and desolate area, when finally a loud whistle of air shot past the guard robots, throwing them in opposite directions. One mech slid down the inclined walls of the volcano and tumbled to its destruction – a fiery chaos of molten rock and darkness. The remaining mech slid off the side of the gigantic mountain, and into the jungle below, crushing tree's under its eight ton body construction. Sparks jumped away from its dislocated limbs, and its severed head, setting fire to the shrubbery.
Blue and white erupted around Sonic like a shell of light, shooting him faster down the runway Eggman had prepared for his new base. He looked like a shooting star descending down into the pits of hell. If he timed everything right, he'd reach the front gates to the doctor's hide out just as Eggman blocked the doorway. A wide grin spread across the blue hedgehog's face, and he sped up, his form looking like nothing more than a streak of blue to all who saw him. Colours flashed by him like a pallet of washed away paint, and light began to seep away from his vision – he was getting close.
Without not so much as a warning, the run way suddenly straightened out, and lead across a gigantic bridge across a lake of magma, and into the heart of the volcano. Massive statues had been erected on each side along the bridge, making the hide out seem more like a royal kingdom, rather than a mad man's base. Elegant spot lights shone across the bridge, lighting up the run way with an assortment of neon colours, spinning around to form Eggman's insignia. Decorated stone pillars began to replace the statues of Eggman, as the path closed off into a single strip of concrete, leading directly to the closed gateway to Eggmans base – but something was descending in front of Sonic, aimed at the doors.
The blue hero skid to a stop, and glanced upwards at the falling crimson meteor.
Who was that?
Balls of red and orange flame rocketed down from the sky, raining down inside the base, until finally a flash of scarlet shot down from the sky. Dust and smoke shot up into the air, blanketing the entire area within a thick coat of debris. Static shot off the outside of the cloud of debris, until finally a sudden gale force wind blew it away, revealing the crimson guardian, Knuckles the Echidna.
The Master Emerald guardian sneered in disgust and pulled his twin-spiked fist from the obliterated head of a Egg-Sentry guard. Flames had been alit all around him due to his previous attack, and threatened to melt down the watch towers lining the front gates. Sonic chuckled with glee and skid to a stop beside his long time friend, spraying the crimson echidna with dirt.
"Hey Knux!" Sonic chirped, patting the fuming echidna on the back, "long time no see, eh?"
With a sigh of frustration, the guardian began to stomp towards the gate of the base, "I can't believe the old maniac is at it again!" He barked, "Can't he just leave the Master Emerald and I out of it?" Knuckles growled and bashed his fists together, ready to pummel the doctor.
"You never change, huh?" Sonic moaned, rubbing his head, "Always something to do with that big rock."
"That big rock your talking about has saved your blue ass countless times!" Knuckles snapped in reply whilst gritting his teeth together, "Now stop your whining and help me open this door, would'ya?"
"Let's a try a good ol' shot gun!" Sonic exclaimed, and bounded to Knuckles side, "What do you think?"
Nodding in agreement, the emerald guardian began to condense a huge amount of Chaos Energy into his fists, causing them to glow a vicious purple tinge. Sonic smirked in compliance, and then jumped high into the air, causing a slight whirlwind to blow across the ground. As he ascended, the blue hero quickly spun into a ball, as cerulean light wrapped around his form.
Just like old times.
A vortex of blue light engulfed the blue hero as he descended down towards the attack ready echidna. Wind began to swirl around the ball form of Sonic, until finally it looked as if a tornado had swallowed him up. Seconds began to slow down, as life seemed to run in slow motion. Sonic's heart beat began to feel like a bass drum smashing against his chest. His blinking seemed to feel like hours of darkness with each passing second.
Then, several rings of blue and red energy erupted around Knuckles' fist, and the spinning form of Sonic.
Ribbons of red, gold and blue energy wrapped around Sonic, and within a split second, the blue hero had been smashed into the thick titanium gate, and through to the other side. The tornado that had engulfed the hero beforehand suddenly dispersed around Knuckles the moment Sonic had come into contact with the guardian's fist. A gaping hole could now be seen in the front gates of the base, as smoke and steam trailed away from the singed metal edges.
Sonic bounced across the metal panelled flooring countless times before uncurling from his ball form, and sliding on his feet. The blue hero smirked and rubbed his head, before signalling for the echidna to follow him.
Hell was about to be unleashed on the doctor's base, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Not if Sonic and Knuckles had anything to say about it.
Alarms began to sound throughout the entire base, sending a wave of panic through the duo, it was as if they were in a famous action movie, and they were the stars. However, this was all too real for them. It was if it was their day job.
"If Eggman is the same ol' crazy scientist, then he's sure to send his lackey's after us any second now, Knucklehead." Sonic explained, beginning to speed up, "I'm gonna go catch the attention of the scraps while you find a way in!"
"Wait, Sonic!" Knuckles hollered, noticing the shadow of a gigantic mech descending upon them, "Something's coming!"
"Huh?"
A seismic tremor rippled through the ground just as a massive Egg-Sentry landed on the ground in front of the blue hero. The ground seemed to shake as if a giant had jumped on the ground. The earth began to split, as slabs of rock and metal shot upwards from the sudden disruption. Sonic yelped and tumbled through the air and slid back to Knuckles, looking as if he had just been thrown away by the Gods. The blue hedgehog quickly scampered to his feet once more, ready to take down the threat before him.
Perhaps Eggman actually meant to kill this time?
"So Egghead's got some new toys, huh?" the blue hero snickered in excitement, "Let's try 'em out, Knux!"
"I'll take care of this thing," Knuckles smirked, and cracked his neck while rotating his arms, "I haven't had a good fight lately! It's been boring while you've been gone!"
"Whatever you say, Knucklehead!" Sonic grinned, and sped off down the lit up run way, towards the gigantic entry way shaped like Eggman, "Just don't get yourself killed!" The blue hero joked, picking up speed and disappearing into the madness of the base.
"Alright, you big hunk of metal," The Emerald Guardian smirked, "Let's see what ya' got!"
The moment the words left Knuckles' mouth, the massive sentry robot had rushed forwards, pulling a battle hammer sized to its body height out and heaved it high into the air. The mech quickly threw down the mallet, attempting to crush the echidna beneath it, however, the powerful guardian quickly threw a vicious uppercut at the base of the hammer.
Sparks shot outwards from the impact, as a powerful crack shot out along the ground from the power of the collision. Static slowly crackled around the joints of the sentry robot, the tremor's created by the hit knocking out its movement systems momentarily, giving Knuckles the upper hand. Acting quickly, the crimson warrior quickly smashed his namesakes into the steel face of the hammer, and propelled himself upwards into the air above the sentry, readying a condensed amount of Chaos Energy into his fist.
As quick as the sentry possibly could manage, it swung its hammer around in order to squash Knuckles, however the crimson echidna was already in striking range.
"Dynamic Impact!"
A sudden, brutalizing force of energy erupted from Knuckles fist, and shot through the body of the sentry. A powerful explosion tore through the insides of the guard robot, only to tear it up from within, and scatter the parts of the former sentry mech along the ground.
Knuckles landed amongst the destruction, his gloves sporting small tears from the power of his attack.
"Robotnik is really losing his touch!" The Echidna mused at his strength, "That or I'm getting better!" Knuckles snickered, and made his way towards the entrance.
However, a troop of several more Egg Sentries stopped him in his tracks.
"Damn."
That was just a warm up.
Location: Inside Main Base
Explosions rocked the entire base, filling the massive corridors with black smoke and powerful flames. The bright neon lights flashed joyously against the blue hero's skin as he dashed down the long hallways the base provided. Long, winding guard rails lined the stair cases, allowing Sonic to grind along them, and then bound into the sky and smash into the attacking flight gifted guard robots. Scrap metal rained down on the marble stone run way, littering it with a display of destruction.
"Come out and play, Eggman!" Sonic called out, smiling, "Or are ya' scared?"
The blue hero swerved around a spiralling staircase, making his way towards the scientists main room of operations. The ceiling had opened up to a sky view, allowing the hot air of the volcano to seep in.
It was a wonder how the doctor could survive in there.
Or anyone for that matter.
Blue ribbons of light curled off the hero's body, his shell of protective cerulean energy slowly tightening around his body, and sped up, only moments of entering the final corridor. Marble pillars – each at least ten feet around – lined both sides of the corridor leading to the room at the end of the tunnel. The pillars blurred past Sonic, as he began to slow down in front of the door way ahead.
"What good would knocking do?" Sonic grinned, and gained speed once more.
A deafening crack bounced off the rock walls. Sonic had accelerated past the speed of sound and smashed the wide steel gates in his ball form, blowing them open with enough force to actually knock one off its hinges half way. The blue hero skid to a stop, allowing a gust of wind to blow about the room.
"Yo, Eggman!" Sonic called out, "Is this how you greet your visitors?"
"Hohoho!" The genius scientist cackled, "So you've come to me!"
"Nice observation, doctor." Sonic joked, "They don't call you a genius for nothin', do they?" The blue hero chuckled, and stopped in front of the scientists hovering Eggmobile.
"Silence, you pest!" Eggman snarled, "You're too late anyway! I've already configured my final project's release for ten minutes!"
"You know I can stop it by then -"
"Fool! This base was only a decoy!" The Doctor cackled, the blue hero's expression growing serious, "I've set up my launch base at the Ruin Beach in the United Federation! There's no possible way you can reach it now!"
"Why don't you just give it up, Egghead!" Sonic retorted, "I'm just gonna go and wreck your new toy anyway!"
"Oh, Sonic, Sonic." The genius scientist sighed, a wide grin on his face, "I've already won!"
A tremor shook the entire room, which shattered the windows and split the walls. Two, wide metal gates slung open against the far wall of the room, allowing two spotlights to flash on against the darkness. The Egg Insignia lights danced across the room, as Eggman turned on a loud speaker from within his Eggmobile. Smoke slowly seeped out of the open doorway, as a drum roll began to play.
The blue hero turned to gain a look at what the doctor was revealing and took a battle ready stance.
"I now introduce to you," Eggman exclaimed, laughing in his pauses, "My break through with EX technology! The next line up of Egg-Warriors!"
Two, green flashes lit up within the darkness, which was quickly followed by the lighting up of what seemed to be a circuit system of the same colour.
"Reveal yourself!" The doctor yelled viciously, "And destroy Sonic!"
"My, my, Doctor," Sonic snickered, "Turning into a big time villain now, huh?"
From the darkness crept a slim line, yet heavily armoured figure. It's head was a simple oval shape, with a crown with an ace of spades cast in gold stuck into it. Emerald green gems lined the golden head piece, accompanying the golden armour along it's head.
A medieval looking helmet formed around the figure's head, as slowly golden armour slid into place along the being's chest, legs and shoulders. It's body still retaining the stream line form. Suddenly, two powerful torrents of blue energy erupted from the figure's arm's, slicing open the ground slightly.
Next, twin bursts of turquoise energy exploded from two thrusters on its back, forming a pair of rippling energy formed wings.
An orange light lit up within the window like helmet, as the entire circuit lighting turned orange as well.
"Dispose of this pest, EX Ace!"
"Damn."
Location: Holding Quarters, Below Eggman's Base
Knuckles quickly traversed the winding paths beneath the base. Occasionally, he had to smash through waves of simple Egg-pawns, which didn't even require him to slow down. However, as Knuckles reached the next opening, he noticed a larger wave of mechs within, some large like the one he had faced outside. The echidna growled and slid through the opening, only to be surrounded by a group of four giant Egg-Sentry bots.
However, they were all sparking, and suddenly, each of them toppled over. It almost like someone had purposely destroyed them. The baffled Echidna searched the room, finding nothing but a few holding cells – one of which had an occupant.
"Mighty?" Knuckles called out, running up to the cell's bars, "What're you doing in here?"
The black armadillo blinked, and turned around in the bed he was provided. Quickly, the traveller jumped to the prison cell's steel bars, and smiled.
"Knuckles! Long time no see!" He exclaimed happily, "What brings you here?"
"Duty calls, I guess." The echidna explained, taking notice to the wounds scattered along the armadillo's body, "What happened to you?"
"Long story short, Eggman attacked me and some GUN soldi-"
Before Mighty could finish his sentence, a burst of energy smashed into the cement wall beside the cell bars, melting the rock slightly. Knuckles quickly spun around, finding a strange figure in the opening he came through.
"Surrender, and pain can be avoided."
"Who do you think you are, huh?" Knuckles barked.
Slowly, the being stepped forward.
The air grew tense.
It had the same basic black structure of the EX Ace, but more bulky and defence orientated. Heavy golden plate armour lined the droid's body, while the same combat helmet had been positioned over its head. Sitting on top of its helmet was a crown similar to the EX Ace's, but resembled that of a King. The final touch to the mech were the two massive energy cannons resting on its shoulders, one smoking from being used.
Along its arms, legs and torso, a intricate system of blue neon lighting to match the energy being expelled from its back thruster.
"I am the EX King." The Egg-Warrior greeted, almost politely, "And I've been ordered to exterminate all intruders!"
"Don't act tough, you heap of metal!" Knuckles grunted, "I'm gonna make quick work of you!"
"Wait! Knuckles! Free me first!"
And with that, a powerful beam of condensed blue energy tore along the dirt floor, nearly splitting it and revealing hell itself. Knuckles bounded off the wall behind him, and latched onto the wall to his right, avoiding the attack – Mighty dove to his bed and screamed in fear. Preparing a Deep Impact, the Emerald Guardian jumped away from the wall, purple energy spewing from his fist.
However, the EX King quickly slid backwards with a quick burst of energy, and blasted Knuckles into the ceiling.
"We, as a nation, have managed to survive two wars. Now, we'll face the eyes of yet another, and take victory as the heroes we are meant to be!" ~ Robert McDonald, President of the United Federation, 1939
To be Continued
Authors Note~ This actually just the start of what's to come! Once Eggman unleashes the fruits of his technology, the heroes will be out for a wild ride! I hope the quality in these chapters haven't faded in comparison to chapter 1! Please tell me if it has! Also, since I have the entire story planned out, I'll be updating fast like this quite a lot! The Dusk series will finally live up to it's glory!
Please leave your thoughts, tips, theories and comments in a review!