Violet Dreams

Chapter 10: Collapse

"An unjust peace is better than a just war."

Location: GUN HQ, Emerald Desert

Howling winds, screaming men and gunfire filled the base. Shadow struggled to stand up, blood splashing to the sandy floor beneath him. His vision remained blurry, and his senses numb. Every sound around him seemed to be drowned out, and the smell of blood and fire mixed into one. Managing to shakily stand up, the GUN Agent scanned the courtyard for any sign of Crush. The soldiers, the robots and the explosions blended into a blurry canvas of color before Shadow as his mind began to fade in and out of consciousness once again. Staggering forward and nearly tripping, the ultimate life form began to call out for the young girl before he fainted again.

A bone crushing blow collided with his torso, effectively sending him rolling along the ground head over heels. After bouncing off the ground and into the barricade around the base, a flash of scarlet launched towardsShadow, claws energized and ready to strike. With gashes and scrapes covering his body, Shadow slowly yanked himself out of the hole his collision created just as the assailant smashed a sparking claw into his gut. Blood splashed out from the impalement, staining the silver claws of Metal Knuckles.

"I've been ordered to bring you back to the Doctor, dead," the monstrosity explained simply, "or alive!"

Ignoring the immense pain in his abdomen, the black hedgehog grappled the scarlet copy's forearm, and began to tighten his grip. Metal Knuckles quickly plunged his claws deeper into the soldier's gut, attempting to stop him from trying to escape, but to no avail. Shadow growled eagerly as his eyesight wavered from clear to blurry. The sound of metal being bent and crushed rang through the air as Shadow screamed and squeezed his hands closed with all his might.

In a mess of wire and titanium armoring, the left arm of Metal Knuckles exploded, leaving two silver claws protruding from the life form's gut. Using the fraction of a second he had, Shadow released a small jolt of chaos energy, pushing the beast away and sliding into the watch tower. Fighting to stay awake, Shadow tore the bloody claws from his torso and warped in front of Metal Knuckles, activating the weapon with his own energy before driving it into the robot's forehead.

Sparks jumped from the head of the mech as its sensors died out, leaving it limp against the tower. Shadow stumbled backwards weakly and collapsed onto his back, his stomach oozing blood.

He couldn't give up now. This wasn't his end.

Shadow rolled over, and as he raised himself to his hands and knees, he saw a bright flash of light in the distance. If he was right, it came from Capital City. In the moment he shifted his attention to the horizon, another powerful blow struck his body, this time colliding with his spine. The battered hedgehog dropped to the sandy ground as the torn up Metal Knuckles loomed over top of him. Using its only remaining arm, Metal Knuckles heaved the now unconscious hedgehog over its shoulder as if he were a pillow and disappeared.

The raging heat of the desert suddenly dropped, and the winds carrying the sandstorm brought a barrage of hail.

Location: Death Egg IV

Standing confidently in front of the laser beams that created Shadow's prison, the Doctor laughed heartily and stood up from his chair. Scowling devilishly, the black hedgehog glared at the old scientist and attempted once more to snap the hand cuffs around his wrists.

"Don't waste your strength, my dear Shadow." Eggman taunted, "I've integrated concentrated Chaos liquid into those handcuffs. The odds of you snapping them are one in a million."

"You had better hope so, filth!" the black hedgehog barked back. "What are you up to this time, huh?"

The rounded man laughed once again, and with a smirk he turned around to face the observatory window behind him. Running along the side panels of the window were numerous status bars and rows of data. Eggman leaned over momentarily and typed in a few words on the screen, triggering a live video feed of the hatching room aboard the Death Egg. Standing alone in the room were the same six pods as before, each emptied of the green fluid which kept the life forms within in a frozen-like state.

"I'm assuming you remember these devices." Eggman marveled, "You must understand that my grandfather was a very bright man, to be able to create you. Regardless of the help he had from an alien race, that man created the most intricate piece of machinery known to this generation."

"I appreciate the compliment," Shadow sneered.

"Yes, yes. Anyway, as I was saying, the blueprints to your creation had never been written down; he kept your design on his mental drawing board. You know what that means right? You can never be duplicated." Eggman took in a breath, seemingly irritated by the last sentence. "Anyhow, it seems he kept a log of your creation in his diary, and trust me Shadow, his process is something not even I can repeat. So I had to improvise and use the best I had – machines."

"What's your point?"

"My point being that you've just volunteered to be my guidebook to creating my own army of super-soldiers. Shadow, you are the key to perfecting Project Rebirth, and the base of my domination!"

"That doesn't explain your attack on innocent cities!" Shadow retorted, thrashing against his restraints even more. "Or you capturing innocent people for something they have no control over!"

"It's all for one, singular goal." Eggman stated, "If I want to create my own empire in the place of the old, I must start fresh. In order to do that, I need a power source unlike any other in existence: Polaris. Echidna legends claim that a once great war leader became power-hungry and sacrificed his own daughter to use the beast to destroy all his enemies. Now it's my turn to taste the forbidden fruit! Ho Ho Ho!" Eggman howled in laughter as he turned back to the black hedgehog.

Horrified, Shadow struggled against the restraints, his wounds bleeding through the bandaging the Doctor provided. "It'll all fall through like every other plan of yours, Doctor," the hedgehog grunted. "Besides, what makes you so sure that you've won? GUN is far from giving up, and we've neutralized your forces in sixty percent of your targets!"

"Dear Shadow, I thought you would have come up with the answer by now!" Eggman chuckled grimly. "You see, I needed a distraction, something to lead everyone away from my precious energy sources! I must admit it was a delightful precaution, but it was merely a side-show!"

"Energy sources?" Repeated the chained super-soldier, "You mean the Chaos Emeralds?"

"Those shiny stones are batteries compared to what I'm researching!" the Doctor retorted. "What I'm after will unleash the very force that exterminated the fourth great civilization of the world! With the keys locked away inside those pieces of trash I've been collecting, I come closer to opening the Twilight Gate! With energy provided by the Eclipse Cannon, I will eradicate Earth, and build over it with machines – turning it into Eggman Land!"

"I can assure you, Doctor, that the moment I get free, you will be stopped."

"Petty threats," Eggman scoffed, unamused. "Tell me Shadow, what are you fighting for?" he questioned venomously.

"I fight for the lives on that planet. The lives of which Maria pleaded me to protect, so they can feel the happiness she never received!"

"So you protect those people, by affiliating yourself with organization that murdered her?"

Shadow fell silent for a moment. The Doctor tapped a button on the side of the prison cell and a purple gas slowly seeped into the small box-like cell, knocking the once powerful soldier unconscious.

Location: Capital City Ruins, United Federation

Tossing an overturned sedan out of the way, Mighty the armadillo sighed and continued in the direction of the blinking dot on his radar. Since the invasion, the world was disgustingly bland now, driving Mighty to hate Doctor Eggman for ruining his home planet. Walking up to a giant slab of fallen concrete, the traveler quickly threw the obstacle across the street and entered the doorway it concealed. The beeping coming from the device in his hand began to pick up, showing that he was nearing his goal. With a sigh, Mighty quickly hopped over the gap in the floor, then made his way up the small wooden stair case. Making his way into the battered upstairs, he noticed the sun peaked through the gaps in the walls. It was nearing dusk, and there was still no sign of the emerald.

"I wonder where it is," Mighty muttered while taking a seat on the edge of the building, facing the setting sun.

The pillars of smoke billowing from the countless shops and buildings of Capital City definitely were a depressing sight. Especially to a traveler like Mighty who lived to see different cities and scenery. The sun slowly began to disappear behind the horizon, leaving a faint outline of yellow and orange to cascade over the destroyed skyscrapers, slowly plunging the city into night. Sighing once more, the armadillo grabbed the radar beside him,then stared at the blinking circle, noticing it was starting to move across the screen.

"Uh oh," he grumbled and quickly bounded out of the house, and onto the street. "This could be bad! If that's Eggman, then..then..shit," Mighty mumbled, and quickly hurried off in the direction of the moving emerald.

Mighty made his way through the battle-scarred city, avoiding rundown vehicles and crumbling buildings in his way. He glanced down at the radar hanging around his neck from a length of leather, and pushed on. After bounding over an over-pass and onto a four-way intersection, Mighty dashed down a final street towards a tunnel system, where a faint glow lit up the inky darkness. However, the light seemed to be getting smaller, as if it was going the opposite direction.

Drawing in another breath of air amidst his panting, Mighty ran off into the tunnels as he began yelling. "Stop!"

The footsteps he had heard down the tunnel ceased, and the wavering of the emerald did as well. Mighty skid to a halt, catching his breath as he allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness.

"Give it up, Doctor Eggman!" Mighty shouted into the darkness, grinning. "That emerald's mine!"

Earning no reply except a quiet snicker, the emerald suddenly dropped to the ground, and onto a mass of exposed electrical wires. Lending the lighting system its energy, the emerald released a surge of power through the wires, and into the lights above, illuminating the entire tunnel way. Standing before him were two mysterious figures, each sporting their own raggedy attire. Standing stoic and confident with the Chaos Emerald in hand was a short, silver furred monkey. His fur had patches of cloud looking black fur along his chest and gust-like patterns by his eyes. On his gloves Mighty noticed a strange green emblem, seeming to be of a cloud exhaling a tornado.

"Doctor Eggman?" the primate repeated in astonishment. "You're comparing us to the man who tore down this precious city?"

"Why are we sticking around, Hurricane?" A deeper, much more gruff voice spoke up, "I thought we were taking that little rock to the power room?"

Standing tall beside the monkey, known as Hurricane, was a very muscular bear. With forest green fur covering his entire body, save for the black triangular patterns in the fur around his neck, the bear seemed relatively normal. However, two features seemed to pop out to Mighty: first of all, the bear's eyes were completely hidden by a layer of fur dangling over his forehead, and second, the large creature had three gems embedded into his wrists.

"Who are you two?" Mighty remarked, holding a curious gaze towards the duo in front of him, "And what power room?"

Grumbling with frustration, and slight annoyance, Hurricane spun around to his partner. "Shut up, Gaia!" he barked harshly. "We were told to keep it a secret!"

Watching the two friends quarrel amongst themselves, Mighty noticed the Chaos Emerald roll out from in between the opposites and come to rest against a slab of broken concrete. Glancing back towards the arguing duo, the black armadillo slowly inched towards the glowing gem. He reached out, ready to snatch up the gem and run, unaware of the chips of rock falling around him. Then, as large cracks began to develop in the crumbling overpass, a torrent of raging energy tore an opening in the concrete, knocking Mighty away. A powerful storm of dust and smoke pushed against the trio, smothering them. As the fourth, unknown figure descended into the tunnel, a vicious whirlwind blew about, pushing away the debris.

The devastating white blades of Metal Knuckles crackled energetically as his thrusters switched off, dropping him to the ground. Unleashing a barrage of high-speed slashes of blinding white-energy from his blades, Mighty yelped in pain as the full force of thirty strikes smashed into his body. The intense heat and power proved too much for even Mighty's shell, and knocked the armadillo against the roof of the tunnel. Swiping his blades through the air over and over, a seemingly unending number of slashes collided with the freedom fighter, throwing the poor traveler against the ground and out onto the street in a battered heap.

Metal Knuckles quickly spun around with the aid of his powerful thrusters, noticing the two thieves running with shining gem. A smirk formed on the engineered mouth of the crimson hunter, and with a powerful shock of light, the mechanical blades-man rocketed towards the fleeing duo, and scooped them up before disappearing into the sky.

Location: Emerald Town, West Coast

A dazzling green and white light ruptured the sky. From it, an elegant and precise trail of turquoise light trailed across the horizon, before it finally disappeared into another flash of green. Rich soil and damp grass fluttered inthe air around the mechanical creature which had just appeared. The gentle breeze from the ocean wafted over the grassy plateau like the breath of an angel, blowing the tall vegetation back and forth. Metal glanced upwards, taking note of the high canyon walls in front of him and beside him, and the sharp drop into the crashing, white capped ocean front to his left. Eighty yards away a single apple tree reached high into the sky,shading the area from the beating sun.

Water rained over the plains seconds after a larger-than-normal wave collided with the cliff side, providing the grass moisture. Metal Sonic walked forwards slowly, scanning the perimeter for every detail possible to ensure his mission's success. He had already deducted five escape routes, two hiding spots for which he could launch a sneak attack and one cave which lead to the forest on the other side of the valley. The plateau was two-hundred and ninety-eight yards in diameter, providing him adequate space for long rage assaults if needed. He also knew of the Chaos Emerald buried beneath the apple tree, providing it with extra life energy to produce larger-than-normal fruit.

There was one thing missing, however. And that was his current target, who was supposed to be situated on the plateau.

Stopping in the middle of the field, Metal Sonic quickly scanned over the canyon walls, finding no possible hiding place. A slight crunch caught the hunter's attention, bringing his optic sensors to the apple tree almost seventy yards away. A screaming charge of white electricity chirped to life within his claw, creating his signature attack: the Vulcan. In the blink of an eye, Metal closed the gap between him and his oblivious target. Zig-zagging cracks in the ground jumped away from the impact of Metal's attack, colliding with the target. Screeching arcs of white-hot lightning erupted from the egg-robot's claw as the attack exploded upwards in an elegant pillar of crackling electricity.

A loud crash filled the canyon walls as Metal's target smashed back to earth, throwing chunks of dirt and rock around the vicinity. Leftover volts of electricity arced across the ground, away from the target. Metal examined the target, taking note of the spiking power levels in his sensors. Floods of data raced past his optical fields, and in a split second his chaos reserves had been rerouted to provide him with enhanced speed and defensive ability.

"Activating diamond shield," the quiet, robotic female voice informed inside Metal's guidance system.

Lighting up like a spinning gemstone, the shield began to rotate around Metal at a fierce velocity, slowly tearing away at the earth beneath him. Crawling out of the small crater like a zombie from a horror film, the target growled in pain. With a final heave, the battered figure pulled himself from the hole in the ground and stood combat ready before Metal.

Brilliant yellow fur seemed to be the most noticeable thing about the lion before him. Black, lightning-shaped patterns of fur wrapped around his arms and neck. The target had a messy hairstyle, with two long bangs framing his face. Metal took note of the electrifying turquoise eyes, which seemed to match the gems in the lion's black gloves. He also wore a military style combat vest, black cargo pants and combat boots.

Rows of data slid across Metal's field of vision, providing him with combat statistics for his target, Surge Fleuret the Lion. This man had been gifted with a natural affinity with lightning, which enhanced his speed and agility. However, this was to the detriment of accuracy and defense. The charts displayed in his stats warned Metal of a powerful attack named Millennium Dragon. Perhaps this one would be a bit more challenging than theother targets.

With a quick strike to the ground, Surge punched the ground with such force that a shock wave burst forth, knocking away the doppelganger. Hurtling through the air at incredible speeds, Metal Sonic quickly jolted up into the sky with a Vulcan charging in each of his claws. Surge, on the other hand, clapped his hands together, emitting a deafening bang, as if thunder had just shook the heavens. As the lion began to pull his hands apart, a powerful band of electricity danced and jumped around his arms, forming into twin orbs of condensed electricity.

"Millennium Dragon!"

Massive charges of lightning spun around the lion as the condensed orbs of energy grew and tumbled in his palms. Metal, however, released his own attack, spun around mid-flight, creating a cloak of flame from histhrusters, and darted down towards Surge in a flaming ball. Growling with ferocity, the electrically-gifted beast performed an elegant back flip, and with the aid of his natural element, the lion warped across the plateau in a flash of golden light, then bounced off the canyon wall. A split second after the high-powered lion launched away from the rock wall, boulders and chunks of broken stone tumbled to the ground from the force. Screaming like a dragon from the heavens, the orbs of lightning surged through the sky as the feline-king smashed them into Metal. A sphere of light wrapped around each fighter, throwing Metal down to the ground in a smoking heap, and sending the Key vessel elegantly through the air and to the ground.

"So who are ya'?" Surge yawned, a lazy expression upon his face as he lingered over Metal, "Some sort of malfunctioned clean up robot from Central?"

Initiating over-drive.

Bursts of orange light began to radiate within Metal, when finally the light spread across the robot like a plague, creating a film of electricity across his armor. The hunter bounded out of the crater, and in a swift movement grasped the lion by the neck and smashed Surge into the ground with a powerful blast of Chaos and Electrical energy, effectively knocking the vessel out all in one fluid motion. Light gleamed through the cracks in the plateau, and from within the split ground, electrical charges jumped upwards from the lingering force of the grapple displayed by Metal Sonic. Slowly, the orange film of energy retreated to the core of the robot, forcing the hunter to discharge his attack.

Slinging the unconscious feline over his shoulder, the mechanized fighter disappeared in the flash of Chaos Control once again, leaving the once beautiful plains of Emerald Town destroyed.

Location: Specimen Containment, Dead Egg IV

Strung up like hopeless animals, Hurricane seethed in pain as the machinery poked and prodded his body, attempting to extract the Twilight Key from within him. It was as though he were a prisoner of war being tortured for ransom, or Intel. Strung up beside him with thick cables was Gaia, who had been knocked unconscious due to the horrendous pain of this extraction the Doctor went on about. His muscles suddenly tensed up, and Hurricane screamed out with all his might, hoping that by some chance he might escape. But no such wish could save him.

Held down with shock-repelling titanium fiber rope, Surge sat quietly while arcs of powerful electricity surged across the floor. He knew he was in trouble, but the fact of the matter was that he had no escape. His bright turquoise eyes watched as the gigantic mineral controlling bear howled and roared with agony before him.

Gaia's vision faded to black, and blood seeped down his stomach and legs from the gaping hole in his chest. Slowly and diligently, a set of smaller robotic hands extended and began stitching up the wound. Being held in a robotic hand was the small orb of light that Hurricane had possessed in his body – the Twilight Key. Only two more and Eggman could unleash his trump card, and begin his reign over the planet earth. Sliding across the room, the robotic arm set the orb in a padded vault with two others like itself, and then locked the vault.

The fluorescent red eyes of Metal Sonic illuminated the inky darkness of the containment area as the next set of coordinates uploaded into its optic sensors. Two more targets, and Metal could claim the life of the only other that rivaled him. He would snatch away the life most precious to the world, and hold it dear whilst smothering it into oblivion.

"Initiating capture of Galaxy the Cat."

Additional details began to scroll down across Metal's optics, warning him to proceed with caution.

"It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle." ~ Nikolai Verruckt, "Ambrosia" Test Subject 002; 1948

To be Continued

Authors Note~ Well, this took long enough... Yes, I know it seems like forever since I've updated. I'm sorry. To those who are still with me, I hope you read and review. I know the pacing in this chapter was very..rushed, and I apologize. But I needed to get through the rest of the captures before Galaxy, because the next chapter needs to tie up the capture segment of the arc, and bring the heroes up to the main conflict, and ultimately, closer to Dusk. I have the next 3 chapters in production, so hopefully it won't be as long. I hope you'll all leave your comments, tips and theories in a review.