Violet Dreams
Chapter 17: Horizons
"Experience is the teacher of all things."
Location: The Core, Death Egg IV
With an enthused, surprised cheer, Tails jumped upwards. The young fox quickly dropped the tools he was using and pried off the glass barrier to the hatch that held the emeralds. With each glowing, magical gem that the young mechanic pulled out of the machine, the lights on the Space Station flickered, becoming dim. Knuckles turned his attention towards Tails and retrieved the gems, keeping them safe from any of the violent tremors that threatened to throw the emeralds off the platform they were on.
"Let's start heading back to the Typhoon," Knuckles stated. "We still need to find Mighty."
With a brief nod, Tails began jogging with the emerald guardian. "I hope he's okay..."
The continuous tremors shook the entire station, forcing the two heroes to wonder just how long it would be before the entire place collapsed on itself. With the field of white rock rapidly enlarging, Tails could only guess what the insane doctor was up to now. Although a feeling in his stomach told him that it wasn't going to turn out too well.
Location: Manufacturing Facility, Death Egg IV
Smoke and dust shot up in several places, as a blue streak bounced and rolled across the conveyor belt used to transport Eggman's robotic pawns. The blue hedgehog flipped around once again, smashing against the titanium door painfully and abruptly. Using his powerful thrusters, Metal Sonic closed the gap between the two fighters and shot across the unsteady pathway towards his prey, electricity dancing off his claw as he drew closer.
A sharp pain shot through his body as Sonic spun into a spin dash, and quickly blasted off towards a robotic crane. Using his surroundings to his advantage, Sonic rebounded off the crane, knocking its cargo from the powerful claw and sent it hurdling to the factory conveyor belt. The blue hero quickly spun out of his homing attack, and then with a swift jump off the wall, he sent himself descending like a hawk towards Metal as well.
The viciously powerful Metal Sonic quickly zipped forward in a shell of yellow and black light, as rings of air rippled past him. A thunderous rumbling filled the factory as the cargo box that Sonic had let loose crashed against the conveyor belt. Smoke exploded outwards as the machinery within the contraption ripped apart, splitting the pathway-like device in-two. Chunks of metal gave way, as the rubber-like belt spun off the wheels used to run it. Unshaken by Sonic's feeble attempt at a distraction, Metal Sonic redirected himself upwards, and like a bullet, collided with the descending Sonic.
Yelping in agony, Sonic dismissed the need to vomit from the impact to his gut, and grappled his attackers wrist, hoping to free himself. Metal Sonic unleashed a vicious amount of electricity into his claw, forcing the blue hero through the factory wall, and into a corridor on the other-side. The impact with the wall seemed to shake the entire Death Egg, as the station shook with such ferocity it seemed as though it would collapse at any second.
Metal Sonic threw the weakened hedgehog across the narrow corridor, smashing the hero against the opposite wall. In a flash of light, Metal appeared directly in front of the hedgehog once again with a black barrier pulsating around his body. Suddenly the corridor began to crack from the might of the attacks being thrown, and began to crumble apart. Sonic staggered, and quickly bounded away from the robotic hunter, using the falling debris around him to his aid. Flashes of blue and black descended down into the gigantic main floor below.
Hundreds of inactive robots tumbled and fell to the ground. Some were sent skidding into walls, while others served as a welcoming mat for the falling blue hero.
"So is this what the great Sonic the Hedgehog has become?" Metal Sonic questioned, and walked up to the groaning hero. "It seems you're the weaker copy between us."
Broken pieces of the robots around him shifted and fell as the blue hero stood, and although weak, he still had fight to him. "There's one thing you'll never understand, Metal," Sonic replied with a smile. "I won't give up. And no matter what you do, I'll beat you back into the ground like always!"
"You're as naive as always, hedgehog," Metal retorted harshly. "Once I kill you, I'll be free to go through with my plan of eradicating that foolish Doctor's agenda."
"Ooh, mister rebel's going against Egghead again?"
"Once I've exterminated you, I'll set out to rule that pathetic planet under robotic rule," Metal stated. "With you and your accomplices out of the way, it'll be only a matter of time before the world is mine!"
"Jeez, you're worse than Eggman himself!"
Like a jet accelerating to top speed, Metal Sonic blasted towards Sonic in a flash of light. Feeling the sheer force of the hit rattle his very being, Sonic choked up a mouthful of blood before being sent flipping backwards across the factory floor. Wasting no time, and not allowing Sonic the chance to recover, Metal continued his pursuit. The navy warrior snatched the hedgehogs ankle, and with a fist crackling with energy, the doppelganger delivered a bone shattering punch down into the organic hedgehog's abdomen.
Bursts of air and light spiraled upwards from the attack, as Sonic slammed against the floor. With a painful groan, Sonic coughed again, blood dripping onto the floor once more. The blue hero grunted and pulled himself to his hands and knees attempting to stand, but fell to the floor again. Yelping in pain from a sudden kick to his back, Sonic slumped lifelessly on the floor. Metal stood over the defeated hedgehog, and clamped his foot over top of the hero's neck, a dazzling blue bolt of lightning erupting from his claw as he did so. Sparks fluttered away from the attack, sizzling into particles of light and then disappeared.
"It's over, hedgehog," Metal proclaimed. "After all these years of being damned to being second best, I'll have finally won! Now you are the one on the ground on his death bed!"
"Even if I don't manage to defeat you," Sonic murmured, coughing weakly. "All my friends will be right there behind me to kick your sorry ass!"
"If that's truly what you believe." Metal growled, "Then who am I to deny a dead man's wish?"
With clenched eyes, and balled fists, Sonic bit his lip in anticipation for the coming attack. He felt the heat of the powerful electrical attack at his neck, and he knew he didn't have the strength to fight Metal off this time. He was at the end of his rope, and he had come so far. A tear slid down blood and grit stained cheek, pondering the thought of Amy reacting to the news of his death.
Location: Hibernation Chamber, Death Egg IV
Making his way through the chaos and utter destruction surrounding him, Shadow recounted the Doctor's departing words. Then a swarm of frantic Egg Pawns scurried across the intersection in the corridor, followed by a powerful explosion in tow. Scrap parts from the assembly bay to Shadow's left slid along the ground, as he focused his attention on one of Eggman's newer pawns. The swift, humanoid like beast brought its battle hammer down ferociously, only to have its head torn from it's shoulders by a powerful Chaos Lance. Shadow continued racing down the brilliantly lit corridor, decapitating any Egg Pawn that came in his way. The dreary grey walls of the Death Egg finally switched to an entire hall of glass.
"What the hell is going on out there?" Shadow wondered as he peered to his left at the anomaly surrounding the base.
Pulses of vicious purple energy slithered off the white barrier floating in space, shaking the entire vessel. The obsidian hedgehog sped through to the next area, and into a large hall of sorts. Slowing down to gather his surroundings, he noticed the cold fog snaking around his ankles, and the abnormal chill that hung in the air. It was quiet, despite the destruction taking place outside, and also strangely calming. Shadow slowly walked forwards, coming to the end of the wide walkway, which ended at a drop off allowing all the fog to roll into nothingness.
Looking past the abyss before him, he saw six containment pods suspended in the air. Vine-like tubing curled around each device like snakes, supplying whatever was inside of them oxygen.
"So the doctor wasn't bluffing after all," Shadow muttered in disbelief.
The black hedgehog scanned his surroundings for any sort of lighting and found his way towards a small computer at the far end of the room. Shadow wiped away the dust, and began typing in commands and scrolled through various sequences, each irrelevant to him, until he found an option that read "activate". Using his knowledge of the computer systems aboard the ARK, Shadow entered a string of commands, causing the front most pod to hiss. Then, the powerful hydraulic arm holding it up descended. The arm-like support beam extended across the abyss, and rested gently against the titanium floor, releasing another burst of air. Fog swirled away from the pod, as Shadow made his way back towards his previous position, in front of the tube-like prison.
Shadow watched as the all too familiar green liquid drained from behind the frosted glass. Then, as the liquid disappeared, an ominous creamy light flashed on within the pod, illuminating the figure within.
It hung limp against the restraints tight around its body. The black hedgehog stared at the creatures blank violet eyes, they looked straight ahead, void of emotion – and life. It took the shape of a hedgehog, he noticed. Its snow-white arced quills pushed back up against the padded rear of the pod, showing that the container was cramped. Tribal looking purple stripes slithered up its arms, and circled its chest, where they then arched down towards its waist and faded.
Scanning the entire form of the creature inside, Shadow noticed a small metal plate attached to the front of the containment tube. Kneeling down to get a better look, Shadow wiped the frost off the cold, metal surface and read the engraved words quietly.
"Rebirth through sacrifice," he murmured silently. "The blooming flower of the divine will eat up the beginning."
Then the room began to shake, almost as if on cue from reading the engraved words. Small stones bounced off the ground as they fell from the ceiling, followed by deafening alarms. Shadow turned his attention back to the creature within the tube, as a flood of green liquid filled up the pod once again, before the hydraulic arm returned it back to its place. Shooting his attention to the massive cracks beginning to eat away at the solid ground past the door way, Shadow fired off a fizzling bolt of Chaos Energy. The yellow arrow of light collided with the frame surrounding the entry way he came through, causing the blast door to fall violently to the ground, sealing off the room from the outside world.
"If what the doctor said is true," Shadow pondered, and neared the edge of the floor and stared down into the darkness. "Then..."
Without even blinking, the ultimate lifeform dropped fearlessly into the dark, his hands lighting up with a golden energy to illuminate his descent into the center of the space station.
Location: Manufacturing Facility, Death Egg IV
"Sonic!"
The hero's eyes snapped open the second he heard that all too familiar voice. Feeling the pressure over his neck disappear after a heavy thud Sonic forced himself up, and turned to see Metal sliding across the ground towards the far wall of the facility. Knuckles reeled his fist back swiftly, and then with a powerful punch to the air, spiraling pillars of flame jumped and danced upwards from the ground in a column towards Metal.
Fire and sparks surrounded the mechanical warrior as a final pillar of white hot fire burst upwards beneath Metal. Knuckles quickly spun around to aid Tails in keeping the blue hero on his feet, and together lead him to safety. However something felt strange to Sonic, he felt oddly rejuvenated and refreshed. Allowing the hedgehog to walk on his own, Tails realized he had the chaos Emeralds stowed away in his backpack.
"Look, Sonic," Tails chirped, opening the top of the bag for Sonic to see. "I got the Emeralds! Now we can get out of here!"
Ruffling his little brothers hair, Sonic smiled. "No can do bud."
"What!" Knuckles bellowed, his eyes showing the increasing fury he felt. "What do you mean 'no can do'? We can't afford to stay up here any longer!"
"I came up here to get Shadow back," Sonic stated solemnly. "We have the Chaos Emeralds now, and that's great, but I'm not leaving without Shadow! Besides, I have a feeling Eggman's up to a lot more than we know up here."
The trio diverted their attention to the sudden sound of mechanical clanking, noticing the scorched Metal had finally recovered. Grabbing the backpack firmly, Sonic dumped it upside down, throwing the seven magical jewels onto the ground. The Emerald scattered to the floor, shining their respective colors.
"You guys go on without me," Sonic suggested. "Mighty is still in here somewhere, too! I'm gonna finish up with scrap brain here, find Shadow, and stop Eggman once and for all!"
Glowing like seven stars misplaced from the heavens, the Emeralds began to levitate around Sonic. The blue hero turned his gaze towards the ever-nearing metal hedgehog, the emeralds beginning to look like a rainbow colored ring spinning around him now.
"Don't worry about me guys," Sonic flashed a smile to his two friends. "I won't be long anyway!"
Then a powerful, radiant yellow light slithered up his body and expanded across his body like a sea of gold. Slowly ascending upwards from the sudden exposure of energy, Sonic tucked in his arms and legs, as the light twisted and expanded. Finally the mass exploded outwards in an elegant flash, knocking back clouds of dust and scrap parts of broken robotic pawns. Metal slid back slightly from the sudden release of super charged energy.
Floating only a mere inch above the ground, Sonic's body seemed to pulsate with the powerful aura gifted to him by the emeralds. The fiery, yellow energy cloaking Sonic's body traveled upwards from the ground like an ever growing fire beneath his feet. His blue fur had now been replaced by the same vicious yet calming gold that surrounded him. With clenched fists, Sonic slowly moved his crossed arms away from his face, and down to his side, revealing two red eyes replacing the once easy going grass colored ones.
As the transformation of the world-known hero ended, the air seemed to grow absolutely silent. It was as if the world had muted itself in awe of the dazzling display given by the Chaos Emeralds.
Creeping upon his face, Sonic's usual confident smile found it's way back on his lips.
Blazing orange, yellow and golden energy burst to life throughout the factory, drenching it in a warming light that could only be found in this form of Sonic's. Specs of sparkling glitter-like energy swirled upwards like a tornado, replacing the space Sonic once occupied. Appearing like someone had flicked a light-switch, Sonic smashed his energy infused fist against Metal's torso from point blank. Upon impact, a pulsating, churning orb of rippling golden light erupted between the two fighters, throwing the mechanical copy up towards the hole in the ceiling.
"Go on," Sonic reassured. "I got this covered!"
As another beam of rotating specs of light and pulsating fire-like energy shot upwards from Sonic disappearing, the two other heroes ran through the exit, towards the main hangar.
Location: Observatory Ruins, Death Egg IV
Forcing himself through the falling debris, and using the built up sorrow of his recently deceased best friend, Mighty smashed his way through the corridors of the Death Egg IV. Tears continued to fall from his eyes as he delivered a devastating punch into and through one of Eggman's more advanced mech's battle hammers. As shards of metal slid across the ground, Mighty jumped off of the downed Pawn and continued through the rubble, significantly slowed down due to his wounds from the EX Joker.
"Is that Knuckles and Tails?" he whispered to himself, and came to a stop just before the ground disappeared where the battle with Metal Knuckles took place.
Jumping across the gap in the observatory, Knuckles and Tails landed beside their comrade, waves of mechs falling into the depths of the destroyed dome-shaped room. The sounds of small explosions and metal scraping against metal lingered in the air briefly.
"This place is coming down on itself," Knuckles explained dramatically. "Figures, nothing built by that mad man ever works!"
"What happened to you, Mighty?" Tails asked worriedly.
"I'll explain later," Mighty replied quietly.
With another terrifying tremor from the base, the trio continued on their way towards the Typhoon.
Location: Containment Room, Death Egg IV
Walking slowly through rows of glass tubes, Shadow stared at the lifeless beings within each one of them. Recognizing one as the girl he had tried so desperately to rescue back on Earth before all hell was unleashed. They were all blinded by heavy mechanical helmets, which were attached to glowing tubes that extended into the ceiling. Every time the tubes shone, the Death Egg shook more violently, causing the tremors in the ground to increase in frequency.
Shadow stopped at the end of the room, where a cat hung suspended in the ooze-like liquid. Shadow recognized him as the brother of the war hero of the Seiryu family. He remembered that war all too clearly. Voxili went through a revolution that GUN had codenamed the Millennium War, where three sides battled for supremacy. GUN was there as the foreign force, as he was told. He found it strange that a warrior of the Seiryu caliber had been captured.
"So he has the Twilight Keys extracted after-all," Shadow deducted. "If he's truthful about GUN wanting super soldiers, why did they shut down the project after Gerald succeeded with me? Something doesn't add up."
The obsidian hedgehog scowled, and returned through the doorway of which he came.
Location: Above the Death Egg IV
Debris and the like rotated and shot outwards from the hole that Metal Sonic had come through. Using his thrusters to stabilize himself, Metal Sonic quickly halted in the midst of space, watching and waiting for the supercharged hedgehog to emerge from the wreckage. Another spiraling mass of golden light appeared in front of Metal, however the metallic warrior quickly ducked downwards and smashed his fist into Sonic's abdomen, sending the super powered hedgehog hurtling through the zero-gravity air.
A burst of chaos energy erupted from the hero's body, righting his body and allowing him to fly off towards Metal. Flashing blue and yellow sparks exploded from the robot's thruster, launching at Sonic like a bullet. The blue hero quickly brought his arms up in front of his face, blocking a powerful punch from his metal counterpart. Sonic quickly moved his arms, then threw a powerful chaos energy charged punch at Metal, knocking the doppelganger back. Then, using his unmatched speed, Sonic planted both his palms on Metal, unleashing a violent shock wave which sent Metal flying through space.
Sonic took off like a golden rocket, trailing after Metal only a second behind. Rock and debris floated outwards from Metal smashing into a chunk of rock floating about. Using this as an advantage, Sonic reeled another supercharged punch back, ready to destroy Metal. However the navy-blue doppelganger disappeared in a mass of static electricity, narrowly avoiding the vicious punch from Sonic. A flash of light swallowed the rock up, vaporizing it into dust. Sonic quickly snapped his attention to his right, just in time to face a punch from Metal. Sonic spun backwards uncontrollably, only to find Metal right in front of him with his claw charged with electricity.
Bolts of light darted outwards, as sparks flickered around Sonic. Metal tightened his grip around Sonic, pressing him up against another floating piece of debris.
Struggling against Metal's vice-like grip, Sonic kicked and squirmed to free himself, but to no avail. "You see, Sonic," Metal muttered viciously. "With you transforming into your impressive super form, you've allowed me to feed off the excess energy."
With a triumphant smirk, Sonic's aura jumped up around him, cracking the rock at his back. "You're not gonna win this time, Meta-"
Radio interference buzzed through the silence of space, interrupting Sonic. "Metal! It's time! Get back here!"
"It seems the bumbling Doctor still hasn't realized I'm not on his side," Metal noted to himself. "This isn't over hedgehog."
Disappearing in a flash of light, Metal was gone. But Sonic was left with two options.
Leave Eggman, and go and find Shadow, or stop the maniacal Doctor before he could do anything. The golden hero grunted, and with the power of the Chaos Emeralds within him, disappeared.
Location: Central Command Hub, Death Egg IV
The powerful jet thrusters attached to Eggman's latest creation unleashed a powerful burst of flame, pushing it through the vacuum of space, and towards the very tip of the Death Egg IV. Eggman's eyes watched as the small, almost unnoticeable, dome upon the top of the space station expand into view. The vicious thrust power of the Egg Wyvern Mk II propelled it through space faster than any NASA shuttle could ever achieve, and before he knew it, Eggman was docking his creation in the information hub of his entire scheme. Brilliant lights flashed to life all across the plexiglass dome, lighting up the inside perfectly. Gears turned slowly below Eggman's feet, as the center of the dome rose up several feet.
The doctor chuckled victoriously as a chair extended upwards from the center of the pedestal – like a throne. Then as he sat himself down into the chair, a curved keyboard rotated out from behind the chair, and in front of him a holographic screen lit up in front of his eyes. The doctor's lips were etched into an insatiable grin, his victory drawing near. From the side of the chair, a robotic arm proceeded to extract a small amount of blood from the Doctor's tensed arm, and then disappeared into the ground.
"Activate Project: Dusk," the Doctor snickered as a containment pod rose from the pedestal. "System, if vitals within my Egg Wyvern are terminated, implement DNA patch IRXX2 into Dusk, and terminate all power aboard the Death Egg Mk IV. After Project: Rebirth and Project: Resurrection are evacuated, activate self destruct sequence alpha."
"Yes, Doctor," came the robotic female reply. "Anything else?"
"Power up the Eclipse Cannon Mk II and open up the barrier to my success," Eggman howled hysterically, with insane laughter following close behind.
Location: Outside the Death Egg IV
A streak of brilliant gold energy glistened through the dark of space, as pieces of the Death Egg began to explode and fall apart. Slowly large pieces of metal and rock began their formation into the Eclipse Cannon II, sliding into place like puzzle pieces. Sonic veered through swarms of rock, metal and scrap pawn parts as he flew across a piece of the cannon. Green electricity danced across the inner surface, as connecting hydraulics locked into place, holding the weapon together. Memories of the ARK flooded Sonic's brain, reminding him of the horrible revenge that Doctor Gerald Robotnik wanted on humanity. This reminded him of back then, but much more terrifying.
The golden warrior swiftly teleported away from several gigantic steel beams dislodging from the destruction of the Death Egg. Then, Sonic saw the truth of Eggman's scheme.
Multiple rings of electromagnetic energy slithered down the outer shell of the Eclipse Cannon, as it began to power up. Powerful flares of green energy snaked away from the core of the doomsday machine, when suddenly a powerful beam erupted from within the mouth of the weapon. Flares of light burst away from the tip, as the pulsating beam collided with the rippling field of violet. The purple light within the white rock seemed to freeze, and then solidify as if it were glass, and crack.
He could feel the horror from behind the barrier seeping through already.
Sonic shivered, as he forced himself to ignore the shattering barrier until he had put a stop to Eggman, and rescued Shadow.
But something at the back of his head cried out, pleading to be set free. It wasn't friendly, nor was it pure like the form he had taken on now. It was evil, malicious, and dark. It screamed for power, fighting against the restraints his mind had locked it away with. He felt the rage of every battle begin to boil in his subconsciousness.
Whatever Eggman was unleashing, it attracted the demon within.
Location: Central Command Hub, Death Egg IV
"The time has come for my long awaited victory!"
The pedestal that Eggman sat on sunk back into the ground, allowing the Doctor to stand with ease and make his way back the cockpit of the Egg Wyvern Mk II. He knew that it wouldn't be long before that wretched blue rodent tracked down his whereabouts and attempted to foil his scheme like every time before. This time, however, would be different. Eggman quickly situated himself within the guarded cockpit of the Wyvern and waited as its menacing jaws closed over his protective casing. Several holographic monitors flashed to life within the darkness, as the HUD of the weapon activated.
Beams of flame shot out of the thrusters, as Eggman went through a full system testing before the fated meeting with his life time rival. It wouldn't be long now. The Doctor turned his attention to a portion of the monitor, and zoomed in on the twinkling golden spec in the distance. Eggman's toothy grin disappeared into a scowl of hatred as he plunged his arms through the advanced control mechanisms. The cylindrical cuffs slowly tightened around the Doctor's arms, allowing him full control over the monstrosity. As the thrusters burst to life on the Wyvern, its wings expanded to their full span, shattering the dome into small shards just as a powerful burst of gold enveloped Eggman's monitors.
"What's done is done, but what's to come is another tale." ~ Dimitri Moritory, Echidna Alchemist, 34 BT
Authors Note~ So.. Inspiration from that transformation scene mainly came from a couple songs..Scratch that, the entire battle between Sonic and Metal. Anyway! Song 1: Shoot to Thrill by ACDC (This was my main inspiration for Sonic transforming..fitting isn't it?). Song 2: Morte Et Dabo by Asking Alexandria (EPIC song) :D
If your curious what BT meant, its my own interpretation of the mobian "BC/AD" time periods. BT stands for Before Twilight, as in before the Nocturnus were sucked into the Twilight Cage. So we now see that Eggman truly means business, he's went through every possible loop hole to make sure he gets rid of Sonic, and conquers the planet! He's even made a backup plan in-case he dies!
If you have any comments, theories or tips leave em in a review!