Violet Dreams
Chapter 16: Dying World, Part 2
"Those who stand for nothing fall for anything."
Location: Data Runway, Death Egg IV
Sonic stared at Metal Sonic with confidence. In pain from the previous injuries he had taken on, his breaths were choppy. Sparks scattered across the ground, jumping from the torn wires in the ceiling. Amidst the powerful turquoise glow that had expanded throughout the entire room, Sonic could see the menacing red eyes of his rival peering down at him from the massive chunk of white rock that had been overturned from the impact of their fight.
"Don't lie to me, hedgehog. My sensors are the most advanced of Doctor Robotnik's technology," Metal retorted. "I can see the energy readings on your body."
Smirking slightly, Sonic shrugged. "Then I guess I musta broke something when I wiped the floor with your metallic ass."
Earning a silence from his comment, Sonic snickered and braced himself as Metal Sonic cut through the air like a hot knife through butter, and closed the gap. Jumping back a split second before the lightning fast Metal impacted the ground, Sonic curled up into a homing attack and rocketed towards his titanium counterpart with such ferocity the ground cracked under the pressure of the sonic boom that had been created. A quick burst of blue light erupted from the collision between the twins, and a sparking mass of energy shot upwards into the already cracking ceiling. Rubble rained over top of the two combatants just as Metal unleashed a powerful barrier of black energy, knocking Sonic back and sending him sliding across the ground. Metal chased after his organic counterpart, diving through the falling rubble.
Extending down from his wrist, a vicious blade of fierce electrical energy shot to life. Then, as Metal's afterburners ignited, the ground gave out from the sudden shockwave that followed. Sonic quickly bounded off the ground with lightning reflexes, and into the air, where he used falling slabs of concrete as footholds. Like a cat chasing a mouse, Metal slashed through each segment of falling concrete like butter, closely pursuing his prey. Sonic then quickly swirled around, and in one motion spun into a ball momentarily and released a wave of blue and white energy. The swiveling gust of chaos energy crashed into Metal Sonic like a falcon, throwing him downwards only slightly, but giving Sonic the opportunity to bound away from the cracking ceiling and redirect his momentum back down towards his enemy. Curling back up into his homing attack, a shell of brilliant light hugged the hero's form as he slammed against Metal Sonic. Due to the sheer force of the hit, Metal was hurled down into the darkness that opened up from the collapsing floor, with Sonic free falling over head.
Using the powerful thrusters upon his back, Metal Sonic quickly zipped away from the ground before colliding with the metal flooring. The blue hero smashed the swirling mass of blue energy into the ground, creating a brief tremor, and then stumbled to his knees. Blood began to drip from the wound he had acquired from his previous encounter with the mechanical beast. Sonic gripped the bandages in pain and slowly stood back up, unaware of the massive computer sliding across the ground towards him. Using whatever ounce of energy he had left, Sonic rolled away, only for Metal to pin him up against a wall.
Cracks slithered around Sonic's body as the mechanical doppelganger pushed the hedgehog upwards.
"Now I have you cornered, hedgehog," Metal sneered. "It's been a long rivalry, but now I'm truly the more powerful Sonic."
"You really think you're good enough to be my equal, bucket-head?" Sonic mocked painfully. "I have someone to save, and I'm not about to let you get in my way!"
Metal's eyes seemed to glow in fury as he smashed the blue hero back against the wall, but this time pushing him through. Using the powerful thrusters on his back, Metal shot through the wall with Sonic, and into the core computer room.
Meanwhile...
Location: The Core, Death Egg IV
Suddenly rock and debris fell down past the single pathway that led to the main power processor of the entire space station. Knuckles swung his head around, preparing for another wave of robotic pawns, despite still being weak from his encounter with Metal Knuckles. However, falling along with the rubble, he could spot two bluish figures. Tails quickly covered his face as the rock and metal fragments fell against the titanium bridge, causing it to shake dangerously. Through the dust, Knuckles could see a set of vicious crimson eyes, and then a powerful gust of wind swept the dust from the air, shooting Metal Sonic into the far wall of the cylindrical room, narrowly avoiding the core computer.
Sonic collapsed to his hands and knees, heaving in air as blood pooled beneath him, staining his white gloves red. In panic, both Knuckles and Tails rushed to their ally's side, aiding him back to his feet.
"Are you okay, Sonic?" Tails asked quickly.
"No time to talk! You two need to find Shadow before this place falls apart!"
Sonic grunted and quickly spun into a spin dash, before shooting across the pathway and into the recovering Metal. The entire room shook, as the two fighters descended into the abyss below
"He can handle Metal, Tails," Knuckles reassured. "We need to focus on getting the Chaos Emeralds out of that thing, so Eggman has no energy source. That way we don't have to worry about anything getting in our way from finding Shadow."
"You're right. I just have to bypass the main firewall, and we should be able to open up the containment hatch and get the Emeralds out of it."
"Just do it quick, Tails," Knuckles replied with an uneasy look in his eyes. "Something big is happening out there, I can feel it."
"What do you think it could be?" Tails asked simply, as he worked on getting the Emeralds.
"I don't know," the echidna explained. "But I get the feeling it isn't going to be friendly."
Suddenly, the bright LED lights flickered, and died out as the entire space station momentarily powered down. Then, as soon as the lights turned off, everything flashed back to life, followed by a powerful tremor that shook the entire base. They could only wonder what Eggman was unleashing right now. And something told them they didn't want to find out either.
Using the new found eagerness to shut down the Death Egg, Tails rushed back to the machine before him and continued typing in rows of commands into the computer he had hooked up beforehand.
Location: Containment Cells 10-20, Death Egg IV
Putting every ounce of power he could possibly muster into one punch, Mighty threw his fist forwards into the torso of the oncoming EX Joker. Ribbons of green and white energy swirled around Mighty's arm as his knuckles made contact with the reinforced body of his pursuer. Feeling the powerful armor of his foe crunch and twist under his blow, Mighty quickly smashed his left hand into the EX Joker, stopping its speeding pursuit in a split second, and knocking it back across the ground.
As the mechanical warrior bounced across the ground, and rolled into the bars of an empty prison cell, Mighty rushed towards Ray and with an unrealistically powerful punch, blew open the gate and proceeded to help his long time friend up to his feet.
"I'm so glad you came, Mighty!" Ray blubbered, tears rolling down his cheeks.
"After that job in Spagonia, I lost sight of you, and GUN arrested me and tried to take me to be locked up. Otherwise I woulda found you earlier bud," Mighty reassured. "What'd he do to you up here?"
The two friends staggered out of the wreckage, and hurriedly up the stair case towards the main hangar where they had entered. Between uneven breaths and piercing zaps of pain from their wounds, the duo continued on their way towards the vessel Mighty had come in.
"I was his personal experiment. Something to do with the ARK and Shadow," Ray murmured. "I didn't quite understand what all he said, but I remember him saying I was going to be a stepping stone towards a better world."
"I didn't mean for you to get taken, Ray," Mighty murmured to himself, and looked at his feet. "I remember back when we did our first mission together how you jumped in the way of that car trying to escape."
Laughing weakly, Ray began to cough up small amounts of blood, but shook it off, and smiled gently. The two partners continued down through the space station, moving slowly so that Ray could keep up.
"I remember that," the young squirrel smiled. "Good thing he was too afraid to actually kill someone."
"Hey, Ray," Mighty replied quietly. "I'm sorry I couldn't come back and get you in Spagonia. If I would've had the chance, I would've made sure you were safe. I wish I would have been in your position instead."
"Mighty, it's fine." Ray reassured with a smile. "What matters is that we're escaping now, right?"
With a confident nod, Mighty grinned and the two friends continued through to the loading bay, where the Typhoon waited patiently for the heroes return.
Location: Main Headquarters, Death Egg IV
The sounds of gadgets and machinery hummed in the quiet air of the control room that Doctor Eggman sat in. Rings of light descended rhythmically from the floating chair he sat upon, tweaking at his orange mustache. The doctor's penetrating gaze watched the quiet figure on the floor in the small prison cell before him. Hate-filled crimson orbs glared back at the doctor, as Shadow snarled.
"What the hell makes you think I should trust you of all people, Doctor?" the dark hedgehog sneered.
The pulsating energy from the high-tech handcuffs around his wrists had quickly begun to get on his nerves, throwing his anger overboard. Eggman chuckled in amusement, watching his hostage pry at the device holding the hedgehog's hands together. Then, with great effort due to his ever declining physical fitness, the Doctor eased himself out of the floating chair, and walked towards a large monitor mounted on the far wall, nearest the window overlooking earth.
"You see, Shadow," Eggman mused. "I'm the last one you can trust, because let's face the facts, we are family."
Violent ripples of crimson light began to curl off of Shadow's body, his muscles tensing due to the sudden spike of energy in his body. The hedgehog gritted his teeth, and pulled at the cuffs around his hands, attempting to rip them apart, but to no avail.
"We are nothing alike, you piece of shit," Shadow barked.
"You surely haven't lost your temper since we last met, Shadow," Eggman remarked, and grinned widely. "Listen close, Shadow, and listen well. Gerald was my grandfather, and the secrets that he left behind on the ARK are astonishing. His work, if it had reached society, would have altered the world we know today. Do you know how you were created, Shadow? Now, I don't mean the Ultimate Lifeform title and so on and so forth, but how you were truly conceived?"
A toothy grin spread across the Doctor's lips, and his voice wavered between cackles and a quiet tone as the rounded man attempted to retain his sanity. Surely he was loosing his mind. Shadow simply watched from behind the reinforced steel bars, the energy rolling off his body growing in size. Doctor Eggman slowly moved towards the prison cell, and then fell back onto his hovering chair which had followed.
"You don't need to restate something I already know, fat-man," Shadow growled. "Out of anyone on this planet, I knew Gerald best. I know the experiments he conducted, and the marvels he created."
Eggman snickered delightfully and sighed. "You see, Shadow, you and I have a connection unlike any other. We are bound by the genius of my grandfather – your creator – and we cannot change that. You are his legacy and his greatest creation, but do you really think he's the only one capable? The technology used to create you existed nearly 60 years ago."
Narrowing his eyes, Shadow glared at Eggman viciously. "What's your point, Doctor?"
Noticing the malice in Shadow's eyes, Eggman gulped. "What I'm trying to say is, with the diary my grandfather left behind, I intend to recreate his masterpiece, create something that is ultimately...pure of this world's tainted blood. It'll grow, like a child, into the truth of my existence, Shadow."
A wicked smirk curved onto the hedgehog's lips, as a quiet laugh left his lips. "You mean tyranny and mindless rampage? If that's what this child is going to acquire through you, then I'm sure Gerald would be roll in his grave!"
"Such a naïve one you are, my dear Shadow." Eggman sighed, and activated a screen, showing off a series of images all foreign to Shadow. "It's true I've won the war this time, nothing can erase that fact. It may not happen now, but it's the destiny of this world. You were created by the combined effort of the Chaos Emeralds and Black Doom's blood, making you extremely unique. However, when I was going through my grandfather's notes, do you want to know what I found?"
"If it'll save me the lengthy speech," Shadow sneered.
Ignoring the insult, Eggman continued tapping a button on his chair, which in turn moved through the various images on the screen. Finally, he stopped on a picture of a diagram of a humanoid hedgehog – like Shadow – with two different objects on either side of it.
"The Chaos Emeralds weren't the only treasures of the Echidna Empire. There were artifacts known as Twilight Keys, which held the secret to opening up the pathway to brilliance, as it's described in the words of the prophecies of Dimitri. These keys were left within the bodies of the holders, and passed down every generation to the next set of chosen individuals. But there were two sides, the seven keys of Polaris, and the five cores of the Gods created to combat Polaris, the ancient God of the Twilight Gate. Have I lost you yet?" Eggman snickered.
"What exactly are you getting at?"
"My point is, Gerald Robotnik, my grandfather, studied these objects and used their energies like he did the Chaos Emeralds. You remember the massacre that took Maria's life, I presume?" Eggman chuckled, noticing the hint of pain in Shadow's look. "Well, the secrets I've uncovered are absolutely astonishing. Gerald was signed to a contract, and assigned Project: Resurrection. You were only the beginning, the prototype of something far, far greater. My grandfather was given the task of reviving the very Gods that created the keys to nullify Polaris."
"Are you always latched onto some lore of the Echidna, Doctor?" Shadow scowled. "You're starting to bore me."
"The Ark was shut down because of the very chaos that project created. Mankind had become terrified of the power my grandfather was manufacturing. GUN grew scared of his dying loyalty, and shut down the entire project before it could truly bloom. All that's left of the project is you, and the DNA my grandfather created with Black Doom. That DNA was used to create you, and it was going to be used to build a precise group of super-beings such as yourself. But before Gerald could succeed, everything was taken from him. He left his final revenge in the programming of the Biolizard, and infused the abilities of the Chaos Emeralds with it, and you."
"So, what you're trying to say is, Gerald had created more like me? But GUN killed them as well?" Shadow retorted with confusion.
With a great sigh of annoyance, Eggman turned off the monitors. "No, but he was on the path to doing so. I'm simply going to finish his work, and when I'm finished, the world will bow down to me as their new King!"
"What makes you think you'll achieve that goal, Doctor?" the black hedgehog replied. "It took Gerald years to create me. You don't have near enough time to even -"
Laughing heartily and loudly, Eggman grinned and walked towards the exit. "That's where you're wrong, Shadow. The flowers of my victory have already bloomed, and when the time is right, they'll be released on the world, and bring me brilliance! With the vessels of the Twilight Keys in my hold, and the very power used to seal the Twilight Gate, I'll awaken Polaris and use the gifts of the Chaos Emeralds and the Keys to bring the world to its knees!"
With growing flares of scarlet and violet energy, Shadow growled and pulled apart the handcuffs binding his wrists together. Screaming in terror, Eggman staggered against the wall as a brilliant flash of light filled the room briefly. Shadow reappeared in front of the insane Doctor, energy continuing to billow off his body. Suddenly alarms began to sound in sync with flashing red lights all along the halls of the space vessel. Shadow grunted, his attention being split from his target and the sudden change around him.
"Hohoho! It's finally time!" Eggman bellowed, and jumped back to his feet just as fleet of his pawns stormed the room. "Swell effort, my dear Shadow, but it wasn't quite enough!"
Shadow unleashed a menacing burst of energy from his body to incinerate the incoming robotic troops, sending smoking and twisted pieces of metal across the floor. The black hedgehog quickly brought forth a powerful mass of sparking yellow energy within his palm, and threw it forwards to destroy the doorway blocking his path. Smoke and debris erupted through to the other side. The black hedgehog continued through, and into the winding corridor leading up to the main hangar, where he was near certain Eggman had headed.
Charging through the troops of robotic pawns, Shadow unleashed a powerful flurry of yellow bolts of energy, obliterating anything in his path as he ascended the corridor. Past the windows lining the hallway, Shadow could see chunks of white rock coming together in front of the main cannon fixated on the Death Egg, and past that he noticed a shift in the vacuum of space. Specs of silver swirled around the white rock, when suddenly a field of purple light expanded against the border of rock. Ignoring the abnormal sight, Shadow came to a sudden stop in front of another door.
His upper lip twitched into a sneer, while a powerful dancing mass of violet energy exploded to life within his hand. The black hedgehog smashed the pulsating orb of power against the titanium door, causing it to explode in a burst of light, smoke and fire.
"If you know so much about Gerald's creations, and notes, then I want some answers Doctor!" Shadow hollered viciously.
Steam exploded out of several connecting joints of the gargantuan, mechanical dragon that Eggman had already made his way into. Green lights flashed to life along the length of its serpentine body, as two powerful mechanical wings expanded outwards. With the aid of four powerful thrusters, the orange-red beast began to give flight, its mechanical jaws open to reveal the cockpit where Eggman sat.
"I'll make you a deal, hedgehog," Eggman negotiated, his laughter looming in the air. "Join me, and with the power of the Twilight Keys, you'll see you're precious Maria again!"
"I didn't ask for bribery! I asked for answers!" Shadow barked back. "Why did Gerald accept the project? He had already gotten the key to immortality through me, and that was more than enough to save her, so why didn't he leave it at that?"
"That I cannot answer, Shadow," Eggman replied honestly. "However, if you want the answers for yourself, join me and you'll have them and more."
Shadow grew quiet, his rage-filled eyes growing calm as he stared at the ground, pondering the rewards he could achieve. Eggman cackled and asserted power to the thrusters of the mechanical monstrosity, as it curled and winded down an opening in the floor of the hangar.
Location: Containment Cells 10-20, Death Egg IV
Beneath the rubble, the Ex Joker shone a brilliant turquoise, and unleashed a terrifying blast of energy. The sudden attack vaporized all the debris ontop of it, turning it into nothing more than a pile of dust and ashes. Using its powerful thrusters, the mechanical warrior shot upwards and back to its feet. Its' scanners gazed over the room, searching for his target, and then finally shot up through the corridors leading out of the prison like area.
Location: Boarding Bay, Death Egg IV
"I don't know if this will make any sense, but," Ray began. "I saw what Eggman was trying to do."
With a look of shock and curiosity, Mighty turned to his friend. "What do you mean?"
"It didn't look natural, at all," the young hero explained, shuddering at the thought. "Eggman dissected his prisoners like frogs, looking for something that he called the Twilight Keys. I don't if he knew what he was doing or not, but he tried cutting me open too, and kinda got me too. Mighty, you have to stop him. Those things he's creating are evil!"
Suddenly Ray stumbled to the ground, coughing madly and hacking up blood onto the polished floor. The black armadillo quickly knelt beside his friend, worried sick about his friends condition, and only now noticing the numerous scars across Ray's back. Mighty wrapped an arm around his best friend in order to help him, oblivious to the blue light to his left until it was too late.
"Duck!" Mighty yelled frantically.
A storm of debris and falling rubble mixed in with slabs of steel suddenly fell down in front of the pair. Covering their eyes from the smoke and dust, the duo failed to notice the glowing turquoise blade coming towards them.
"Mighty, watch out!"
Turning his head just in time to see the Ex Joker charge towards him, Mighty's body ceased in fear. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, until finally Mighty felt the tug of Ray pushing him out of the way. Colors flashed by his eyes, and then a splash of warm liquid covered his face as he rolled along the ground, free of danger. Shaking away the fatigue, Mighty quickly scurried to his feet, noticing the sizzling blade of energy firmly wedged through Ray's ribcage, and penetrating through to the other side.
Tears poured down from Mighty's eyes as he summoned all the strength he possibly could to smash his fist into the head of the Ex Joker, effectively smashing it to pieces. The lifeless, headless body of the warrior slumped over as the blade of energy fizzled away into specs of light. Using the momentum from his attack, Mighty slid just in time to catch Ray as he toppled forwards, his eyes glazed over and lifeless.
"Are you alright, Mighty?" Ray whimpered in between coughs filled with blood.
"Why'd you do that? I should have taken that hit, and you could have gotten away!" The armadillo murmured through tears.
With cold, blue eyes, Ray grinned amidst his choking. "I wouldn't have made it. The torture Eggman's put me through, it was too much. I was just glad that you actually came back for me, Mighty."
"Just hold on! I'll get you somewhere safe, and I'll get you fixed -"
"I don't wanna suffer anymore. Remember what we promised each other?"
"Peace before sadness," They recited in sync.
Mighty's tears dripped sorrowfully against Ray's jacket, watching as his best friend slipped beyond the realm of the living. With Ray's final breath gone from his lungs, Mighty plunged his face into his best friend's chest, weeping for his loss.
"Peace is only possible when there's nobody left on the battlefield left to kill." ~ Gerald Robotnik, World Renowned Scientist, 1949
To Be Continued