Violet Dreams

Chapter 13: Moments in Oblivion

"War is where anarchy is born."

Location: Aboard the Typhoon

Time until Arrival: 00:01

"Do you think he's gonna just let us waltz right in?" Mighty pondered, watching as the guard robots continued on their duties.

"It sure seems like it," came Sonic's astounded reply. "That's a first."

Scanning the outer walls of the space colony, Tails navigated the Typhoon around the outer edge of the structure slowly and carefully. Finally as they rounded to the northern half of the Death Egg, the young fox noticed a large hatch slide open, almost as if it were welcoming the heroes into a banquet of some sort. Lights flashed and waved through the dark abyss of space, as shiny and most likely toxic liquids floated through the small creases of the colony like rivers. Slowly the young fox steered the high powered space craft into the hangar that the hatch had exposed, and landed the craft on the docking bay as the holograms aligned on the decks instructed.

"Wow, Eggman sure went overboard this time," Knuckles mumbled in awe at the technology.

Within the fortress itself, fountains and gigantic statues had been erected, and sure enough they were all of the Doctor. More streams of the strange green liquid snaked around the hangar room, and into the only doorway that had been constructed at the far end of the warehouse. Tails tapped a button on the Typhoons interface, which brought down the main loading bay. From within the space ship, the group made their way into the hangar, looking around suspiciously. Finally a recording began to boom through the hangar.

"Welcome you insolent pests," Eggman snickered over the intercom. "As you can see, this is the fruit of all my investments and work! I welcome you four to the Death Egg IV! Now if you'd please continue onwards through the doorway before you, and we'll get this show on the road."

Tails sighed. "I think our best bet is to head that way and hope for the best guys."

"Something's telling me Shadow is here," Sonic explained. "We just have to beat our way up there and we're home free."

"And somethin's tellin' me, that this is crazy," Knuckles complained.

"Why does this place smell like french fries and motor oil?" Mighty wondered out loud, as he ran behind the rest of the group into the doorway.

Entering the darkness of the corridor, it was instantly lit up by the overpowering light of the strange radioactive liquid snaking through the walls beside them. Occasionally a window would reveal itself, allowing the heroes to see a glance at the beautiful planet that the Death Egg orbited. It all seemed so surreal. Back on the Ark, neither of the heroes had the chance to stop and sight see, but now that they were up in space again, it was almost impossible not to sneak a look at the beautiful marble hung lifelessly in the vacuum of space. Suddenly the long window disappeared, and the heroes made their way into a short corridor filled with lights and crystal, and finally into a room lined with windows.

Each of them looked around in awe, as they witnessed shooting stars fly all around them like balls of fire. The dome like room had to be at least forty feet high and a hundred feet across, leaving plenty of room for whatever Eggman had planned. The four heroes came to a stop in the center of the dome, awaiting the definite appearance of Eggman. He wouldn't just let them come right to his front door without some kind of challenge.

Would he?

Finally, a hatch in the floor slung open like a fly swatter, and smashed against the tile flooring like a giant slamming its foot on the ground. The windows lining the entire dome shook lightly from the impact, and then settled as the smoke and mist eased out of the hole that the hatch had concealed. Over the loud speakers a circus like drum roll began to play as the lights suddenly cut out. Two spot lights rolled over the floor like the opening act to a stage performance and finally landed on the hole as a platform raised up from the depths. Standing quietly and perfectly still on the elevator was Metal Knuckles. For now he remained deactivated and lifeless, but they were sure that would change soon.

"Now if Knuckles could wait here, and the rest of you three continue on," Eggman's voice explained over the loud speakers. "That would be perfect! You wouldn't wanna miss your chance to save Shadow, would you dear Sonic? Besides, I'm near positive that with the wounds Metal left you with, you won't be very eager to fight. I simply want to talk to you alone, hedgehog. Just me and you, old adversary."

"Go ahead guys," Knuckles grinned and pounded his namesakes together pridefully. "I'll smash up Eggman's toy and catch up with you."

"Don't let this hunk of metal push you around, Knucklehead!" the blue hero exclaimed and disappeared down the next pathway with the others.

The scarlet echidna grunted with annoyance, and walked up to the unmoving machine, and inspected it. He had to give props to the old doctor for getting the robot looking so close to him. If it weren't for the titanium exterior, someone could easily mistaken it for him. However, the two blades protruding from its fists might set someone off first. Growing impatient, the crimson guardian roared and reeled his fist back, eager to get the fight over with. However, a split second before the echidna's spiked fist clobbered the piece of machinery, Metal Knuckles easily ducked down and smashed its mighty fist into the guardians stomach, knocking him backwards.

"About time!" he snickered, and cracked his neck. "You were starting to bore me!"

"Doctor Eggman's orders are to hold you off," the android spoke, its mechanical mouth forming into a sick grin. "But I haven't been able to push my new upgrades yet!"

"I'm not holding back," Knuckles announced, and rotated his arms to warm up. "So if you're just another pawn of the Doctor's, back off!"

"We'll keep it our little secret then," Metal Knuckles grinned maliciously. "I won't hold back either!"

Knowing full well he had to catch up with the others, Knuckles quickly rushed towards the mechanical atrocity, and threw his fist forwards with all his might. The android quickly skidded backwards with the aid of its thrusters, oblivious to the miniscule explosions erupting from the echidna's fist. Within the blink of an eye a massive ball of flame swallowed the hunter. The crimson guardian quickly jumped through the flame of his attack, and as it settled, the smoke curled up against the glass interior. The mechanized rival slashed its claw through the ground, effectively rotating its body around and onto its feet. Sparks jumped up from the titanium along the hunters feet scraping a long the metal flooring.

Using the velocity of the treasure hunter's attack, Metal Knuckles quickly lunged to the right and ignited its thrusters to full power. A burst of bright white energy shot the android away from the glass wall behind him, and zipping along the perimeter like a hawk circling its prey. A deafening crack pounded against the barrier keeping the fighters from the deathly vacuum of space, showing that Metal Knuckles was now moving faster than sound. Knuckles growled with agitation as his eyes darted across the edge of the dome, only catching a glimpse of the white flash that his opponent turned into. With each passing of a tile of glass, the entire dome rattled as if it were about to shatter. Finally, the android slid to a brief stop, allowing a rip tide to smash against the walls in front of it as it reignited its thrusters and headed straight towards an oblivious Knuckles.

The powerful hunter quickly slashed its claws through the air like a hot knife in butter, creating a multitude of white bursts of energy. The screaming flashes of light tore across the ground, and finally collided with Knuckles as one. Hitting him with such force, Knuckles yelped in pain as he flew upwards and smashed into the dome. Cracks slithered away from the point of impact as Metal Knuckles quickly darted away from the ground like a missile. Reacting almost instantaneously, the crimson guardian quickly smashed his namesakes into the glass and swung himself around and delivered a crushing punch into Metal Knuckles shoulder. A shockwave exploded outwards from the punch, creating even more cracks in the dome. Metal Knuckles spun away from the guardian, and smashed into the ground in a smoking heap as the violet eyed echidna roared and jumped away from the wall and descended upon the vicious creation.

"If I can land this hit perfectly, then I can catch up with the others," Knuckles thought.

With his fist drawn back, and ready to strike, the smoke on the ground began to swirl away from Metal Knuckles like a tornado. White energy radiated away from the edges of the androids claws as it crouched down ready to strike Knuckles like a samurai. A sudden flash of turquoise erupted across the floor of the dome as the ruby doppelganger launched off the tiled ground, effectively tearing it apart in the process. Knuckles roared and drove his fist forward, as small orbs of flame fizzled away from his glove. When his fist contacted the androids chest, a series of powerful eruptions once again shook the dome, knocking the Egg-creation back. As each of the fighters neared the ground, Knuckles dove closer to the android, and delivered another explosive punch into his doppelgangers chest a split second before the mech collided with the ground. An enormous ball of flame shot upwards, as full panels of glass fell to the ground and shattered around the battling hunters.

Electricity danced across the dome, as the images of shootings stars and the planet earth faded. The holograms disappeared, showing the numerous holes that were now present in the black and green walls. Knuckles sighed and stood up from the wreckage of his attack, and wiped the sweat from his brow.

"That coulda been close," he murmured.

Suddenly a flash of brilliant light captured the echidna's attention just before a storm of white-hot slashes tore at him from every angle.

Location: Preservation Chamber, Death Egg IV

Having slowed down to a steady walk, the remaining three heroes made their way down the long winding corridors, and up another flight of stairs. Within the stairs, lime green liquid seemed to trail down into the core of the vessel like blood. Tails had explained earlier that it might have been the energy source that powered the entire structure. As they made their way past a labeled doorway, Mighty whimpered with fear. Everything seemed like a horror movie, and it felt like any moment now something would pop out and carry them off to its layer. Tails kept telling him that his imagination was just going crazy because of the stress. Sonic on the other hand remained quiet and determined to get to the Doctor. Slowly they turned another corner, but stopped dead in their tracks.

Two rows of large glass cylinders extended up to the ceiling of the narrow pathway. Each container had been constructed to preserve a body, each of which floated lifelessly within thick green liquid. The heroes gulped with fear, but also disgust. Eggman was really turning into a serious threat. Were these prisoners, or some messed up new experiment of his?

Sonic walked up to the vessel closest to him, and looked inside at the young girl inside. He seemed almost entranced by the ice blue fur over her body. But he was mostly curious with the steel device wrapped around her head. It looked like binoculars, but clamped around her face and to the back of her head and down her neck. The blue hero turned around to look at the many other bodies, finding four other individuals with the same contraption over their heads. It looked like they were all dead.

Suddenly everything began to shake an opening across from the fifth in the line of cylinders opened up. Another container slid down gently, with another body within it swaying in the liquid lifelessly.

"We better hurry, Sonic," Tails informed, earning a nod of agreement from his older brother.

"Shouldn't we try and free them?" questioned Mighty with a concerned look on his face.

"By the looks of it, there's not much we can do for them right now," Tails sighed with regret. "It's a bit late for that."

With an apologetic look, Mighty turned to the vessels once more before rushing out of the next doorway behind Sonic. Dust and pebbles clattered to the floor within the preservation chamber, as a vicious rumble shook the entire northern section of the Death Egg. Lights suddenly flashed brighter, as they hummed louder against the quiet of the base. Arcs of electricity leaped away from each light fixture, as if arms eager to reach out and grab a hostage. Then, as soon as the power surge had come, it disappeared, leaving the lights to power down to their dimly lit states.

Location: Observatory, Death Egg IV

Metal Knuckles flew across the floor in a burst of ivory, as its two claws lit up once again, ready to strike. Metal Knuckles thrust its blades forwards, intent on severing the treasure hunter's head on impact, but came up short as the crimson echidna grappled the white-hot blades tightly, and despite the fabric of his gloves burning away, and the claws sinking into his skin, Knuckles threw the android into the far wall.

Dust and debris shot out from the point of collision, shrouding the hole that the mech had created. Another bright flash of light beamed out of the hole, as another swarm of white arcs slide across the ground and towards Knuckles. With a grunt of surprise, Knuckles jumped upwards to avoid the first batch of slashes and then thrust his fist forwards to release a string of explosions from his punch. The slashes collided with the ball of energy, creating an even greater explosion. Falling through the smoke, Knuckles noticed the emerald eyes of his doppelganger and drew his fist back as he descended over top of Metal Knuckles. The clawed echidna smashed his powerful fist into the torso of the ruby mech, driving its body into the ground with an explosive punch. The direct force of the hit blew away every shard of glass into the titanium walls, shattering them into bits.

Kicking the Guardian away into the air, Metal Knuckles quickly popped back up to its feet and caught the echidna's ankle. The doppelganger ignited its thrusters and spun around all within a split second of catching its opponent, and then threw Knuckles across the dome like a rock, whom bounced off the ground once, creating a crater, and smashed into the dome's wall.

A shaft of brilliant white energy shot upwards and into the highest part of the observatory, and then twisted into nothingness. Using the release of light as a distraction, Metal Knuckles released a relentless barrage of white slashes from its claws. Knuckles grunted heavily and pulled his arms up in front of his face just before the robot's attack sent him bouncing across the ground into the far wall of the dome. Glass shattered around him, as smoke rolled upwards away from the scorch marks on his forearms. Groaning and biting his lip in pain, Knuckles forced himself back up a split second before the crimson doppelganger appeared in front of him and ready to attack. Metal Knuckles swung its arm downwards, leaving a blurs of white light behind as its claws sunk into Knuckles' left shoulder.

"You're pretty damn stubborn, y'know!" Knuckles grumbled through gasps of pain.

"What makes you say that, fleshbag?"

"If you were a good copy of me, then you'd know that I'll win no matter what," Knuckles remarked. "After-all, it's in my blood!"

The stench of burning flesh suddenly wafted through the air as Knuckles roared and grabbed the white-hot weapons of his adversary. The fabric of his gloves burnt up and fell to the ground in pieces as the Guardian heaved the weapon out of his body and slammed his usable arm into the mechanical copy. Bursts of fire swallowed Metal Knuckles up as he slid backwards from the force of the hit. Blood dripped to the ground and formed a puddle under Knuckles feet, but he refused to back down. The scarlet echidna dashed towards the battered doppelganger, his fist glowing with flames. With the aid of its thrusters, Metal Knuckles spun back around to face its opponent just as Knuckles drove his fist into the robot's core area. A powerful eruption of fire and energy burst forth from the impact, throwing the Egg-creation into a wall.

Allowing no time for the mechanized fighter to recover, Knuckles mustered up all the energy he could and jumped towards Metal Knuckles, his fist once again drawn back and ready to strike. Anticipating the attack, however, Metal Knuckles unleashed a powerful burst of energy from his thrusters, shooting him away from the wall and towards the Guardian. A collection of powerful embers began to flicker away from Knuckles fist , as he threw his fist forward like a meteor. The doppelganger quickly evaded the attack and slashed its claws through Knuckles' torso, slicing through his flesh as if it were paper. The blood staining Metal Knuckles claws quickly evaporated, causing steam to cloud the Guardian's vision. With a vicious punch to Knuckles' torso, the mech swiped its arm through the air, creating a hellish swarm of white streaks of light. The swarm of energy collided with Knuckles, pushing him to the ground fast and harder.

Cracks jumped away from the impact of the echidna, as his head slammed back into the solid ground a split before it crumbled and fell inwards with him. Not expecting the sudden collapse of the dome, Metal Knuckles became caught in a falling piece of metal and cement, as it pulled Metal Knuckles down into the dark abyss below the observatory.

Falling flat on the tiled floor below, Knuckles howled out in pain as his arm became twisted around his torso. A loud snap echoed throughout the laboratory he had fallen into. Next, Knuckles screams of fiery agony filled the room, as the white-hot pain of his arm being broken filling his nervous system.

Unaware of the mass amounts of debris falling down around him and burying Metal Knuckles, the Emerald Guardian began to bite his lip and attempt to squirm his way free of the steel girders around him. His violet eyes darted around to find a safe way out, as he took note of the falling slabs of cement angled up against the hole in the observatory. The scarlet echidna clamped his eyes shot from the pain in his arm as he stood up, the pure, white bone protruding out of his bicep. The echidna fighter grunted and forced himself to climb out of the wreckage, but failed to see the quivering bits of debris behind him. Then, like a demon emerging from hell, Metal Knuckles jumped through the fallen cement and metal. Knuckles instantly spun around just in time for the doppelganger to pin Knuckles to a chunk of cement.

Chunks of the doppelgangers armor had by now been either cracked or torn entirely off. It looked like Frankenstein to Knuckles. The circuitry beneath the titanium plating of its outer layers shone a brilliant green every so often, as lime-green liquid dripped down over its exposed engine work and AI computer.

"You lose," Metal Knuckles scowled. "There's no way of escaping without tearing apart the muscle in your right arm."

"Then kill me, you abomination!" howled Knuckles, as electricity began to dance around his hand, causing the blood dripping down his arm to boil and turn to steam.

"As you wish," the crimson doppelganger acknowledged, and readied its other arm to strike. "You've been the first to push me to 80% of my capacity."

"Then allow me to be the last as well!"

Using his usable arm to drill a punch directly through the arm that had wedged itself in his shoulder, Knuckles smashed the joints to Metal Knuckles entire limb. The crimson echidna quickly delivered another punch into its torso, sending it flying into the air. As the doppelganger descended to the ground with the aid of its thrusters, Knuckles grunted in severe pain as he pulled the sparking blades from his shoulder, allowing the blood to spill onto the steel floor beneath him. The young echidna grinned painfully and threw the limb into the darkness of the laboratory turned battlefield. Sneering with disgust, Metal Knuckles jolted forwards in a flash of light, and readied its claws for one final attack.

Slinging his arm up to guard himself, Metal Knuckles claws slid across his shoulder, slicing deep into the flesh. Knuckles clenched an eye shut in pain, but forced himself to drive his spiked namesakes forcefully into the doppelganger's chest, throwing it to the ground. From the sheer power and force of the blow, Metal Knuckles bounced off the ground, and back up into the air giving Knuckles the chance to swing another punch into its already shattered armor, launching the doppelganger into a slab of concrete on the opposite side of the room.

Knuckles raised his burnt hand up above his head, as electricity surged up his arm, and around his palm. Golden light suddenly flashed to life within the echidna's open hand, as a continuous flow of dancing power swiveled around his arm and collected into a shimmering mass of energy. The echidna roared with eagerness, watching as the crimson hunter grew closer. Finally, from within the mass of uncontainable electrical energy, erupted a shaft of fizzling yellow light. Steam billowed away from Knuckles hand, as the white fabric of his glove tore apart and melted away from the sheer heat of his attack.

Heaving his entire being forward, and releasing the arrow of pure lightning, Knuckles roared out one final time. The shaft of energy zipped away from his palm. The crimson android attempted to redirect his thrusters but it was simply too late. No matter how hard it tried, it could never match the speed of lightning, and it met the attack head on. As the raging shaft of energy tore across the darkness, it exploded outwards in a vicious storm of blue and yellow electricity. The voltage of the attack kick started every electronic device in the observatory, powering up every single light and computer. As each light flashed on, the crack of thunder echoed through the entire room, shattering the remaining glass panels into small shards. The pebbles floated upwards from the sheer magnetic force, as the dust spiraled away from the glowing shaft now implanted in the mechs central AI computer.

As quick as it had struck, the shaft of light disappeared. With it, all the lights and computers faded out as well, allowing the sparking heap of destroyed technology that was once Metal Knuckles to fall to the ground. Smoking from every single joint and part, the computers within ceased function.

"And that was the power of the blood running through my veins," Knuckles mumbled victoriously. "I also like to call that my Thunder Arrow."

"Curse...Curse...Curse...Curse," the word seemed loop on forever from the robot, until finally it sputtered the final word. "Yoooou..."

With fading vision, Knuckles staggered slightly and then stumbled to the ground onto his back. The echidna heaved in heavy breaths of air, as his good arm wrapped itself around the deep cut on his abdomen.

Location: Core of the Death Egg

Walking along a narrow pathway, which was suspended over a circular pit which led to the masses of toxic green liquid, Eggman grinned as he held a glowing crystal sphere in his hand. The sphere seemed to radiate flares of purple as sparkling rings of black and white light wrapped around it periodically. The sphere was only about the size of a tennis ball, but through extensive research, Eggman knew that this small crystal was the key to his success. These small orbs were the key to the ancient Echidna rulers military power.

Constructed like the Cannons Core room aboard the Ark, Eggman walked up to the center panel of the computer. The pathway he had walked over slowly retreated back to the main platform, as three panels of crystal infused titanium swung around the backside of the control panel, enclosing the doctor in with the machine. The old doctor tapped a series of buttons, which revealed a hidden compartment with seven separate creases, six of which were occupied by similar spheres. The doctor set the sphere inside its own spot gently, watching as the artifact shone with an almost heavenly light. Finally a piece of metal slid back over the compartment, as a seventh light over top of the panel lit up, making a ding in the process.

"With the final Twilight Key, I'll be able to rip open the portal to the Gate," he murmured to himself amidst his quick typing. "Then I'll finally have the weapon the precursor's locked away, and bring the world to its knees!"

"Take delight in these cities, my friends. Because when the claws of the end tear us apart, we'll lose it all." ~ Lincoln McHolm , President of the United Federation, 2008

Authors Note~ Sorry for the incredibly long wait everyone! I've been really busy with school, work and in general, life! I hope you're all still followin' me! If you have any theories, comments or tips, leave 'em in a review! :D