Violet Dreams
Chapter 18: Crisis
"Wisdom is better than the weapons of war."
Location: Outside the Death Egg IV
Eggman's lip twitched up into a dangerous scowl at the sight of the menacing golden hedgehog. They stood at the cross-roads of fate, and unlike before, the road was only big enough for one of them. The rotating golden aura surrounding Sonic shifted and pulsed, like a second heart beat as he stood defiantly in front of the Egg Wyvern. Glistening sparkles of light flickered into the air above him, as the two rivals stood in a silent standoff.
"So this is what it's come down to, huh?" Sonic asked flatly. "This isn't gonna be like the other time's, where I've smashed all your toys, you ran away, and we did it again, is it?"
The quiet hum of the Wyverns powerful thrusters filled the electric air. "No, it will not. You die here, hedgehog," Eggman snarled. "I've left no loop holes for you to escape through this time. This ends today!"
Pulses of vibrant purple energy tore apart at the already crumbling space station, causing Sonic to gaze sorrowfully at the blue planet below. It was a shame, really. He never wanted to see such a rivalry like this end so suddenly. In a way, Sonic saw Eggman as a friendly opponent, who, without each other, lived for nothing. Now it had come down to the time where Sonic was forced to go all out, and finish it once and for all.
"You know, you could still back down, Doctor," the golden warrior explained quietly. "We don't have to do this."
Never had Doctor Eggman seen his rival so serious and grim, it was astonishing in some ways. "Consider yourself an obnoxious child, stomping about, squishing ants," Eggman sneered, his temper beginning to draw shorter. "I'm the colony of ants, who has been squashed and destroyed time and time again. This final confrontation will simply be the end of the line for my mortal efforts. I've made sure that after this, my true plan is unleashed, and trust me hedgehog, none of you worthless bugs on that planet will survive."
Sonic grinned, and chuckled quietly. "You're always goin' on about somethin' aren't you, Egghead?" recalled the blue hero. "I'm not holding anything back this time, and I expect you to do the same."
Then, as if the Gods had heard Sonic's statement, the surface of which the eternal rivals stood on collapsed. Using the infinite power of the emeralds, Sonic shot off through the darkness of space, avoiding perilous blasts from the Wyvern. Using the debris floating around the space station as decoys, Sonic weaved in and out of the chunks of rock, attempting to lose his attacker. The Egg Wyverns wings suddenly lit up like the sun, allowing it to cut through the rock like paper. Within, Eggman laughed insanely as he fired thousands of specially crafted rockets. Sonic glanced behind him at the incoming swarm of explosives, and shot off even faster, swerving in between the Eclipse Cannon II, hoping to lose them.
"You won't be escaping those, hedgehog," Eggman cackled. "They're especially made to track onto chaos energy, and you're loaded with it!"
"Damnit..." Sonic muttered.
A flash of light suddenly erupted around Sonic as he disappeared with the power of Chaos Control. Eggman grinned wide, and using the chaos energy readings in his Egg Wyvern, he shot off towards Sonic a split second after the hedgehog appeared. The two, long, powerful arms of the Wyvern grasped the hedgehog tightly, slamming the golden hedgehog into a massive slab of floating debris. Cracks slithered away from his body, as he groaned in pain. Laughing victoriously within the Wyvern, its thrusters spun around to form a deadly cannon, and Eggman charged the weapon. Sonic grunted, then just as the destructive beam of energy ripped through the rock, the light of Chaos Control wrapped around him like the safe hold of a mothers embrace.
"Gonna have to do better than that!"
"Master, the portal will be open in approximately 3 minutes and 34 seconds," Eve informed within the Wyvern. "Shall I add more power to the weapons systems?"
"No, redirect all power to the thrusters and wings!" Eggman roared. "I'm gonna rip this hedgehog apart at his own game!"
Several rings of light suddenly flickered away from the Wyverns thrusters, as its arms and legs tucked in against its body. Then, in one flash of light the Wyvern shot towards Sonic like a bullet. Thinking fast, Sonic quickly zipped upwards, a vortex of golden light following behind him as he swirled around a runway similar to the Stardust Speedway. Doctor Eggman quickly veered the agile mechanical beast after Sonic, smashing through the runway like glass, and after Sonic. The super charged hedgehog came to an abrupt stop, and then fired off across the top of the Death Egg, causing massive tremors to rip apart at the exterior. As the Wyvern's deathly energy charged wings slid past the outside of the space station, shards of light tore it apart like paper, leaving a trail of explosions in its wake.
Using his size to his advantage, Sonic quickly flew around an over sized antenna in a tight circle, and redirected himself towards the incoming Wyvern. A flaming burst of golden energy wrapped around the hedgehog, as he rocketed towards the mechanical monstrosity. The golden meteor smashed into the torso area of the mech, ripping a chunk of its left leg off, causing the enraged scientist to curse from within the beast. The golden hedgehog then quickly grasped hold of the tip of its tail, and using the mass amounts of Chaos energy at his disposal, Sonic roared and threw the Wyvern down into the Death Egg.
Flame and light jumped upwards from the point of impact, as Sonic dove through the gargantuan hole that had been created, and shot down after Eggman like a beam of light. Tearing apart floor after floor, Eggman screamed in rage, firing every single artillery weapon mounted on the Wyvern – which turned out to be a lot. Sonic's crimson eyes grew wide at the sight of the onslaught of missiles. Thinking fast, Sonic unleashed a spiralling orb of golden light from his palm, blowing apart a wall and allowing him to escape certain death as the chaos seeking rockets exploded upon impact with the wall.
"Where did he go?"
"Order up!"
Sonic grinned wide as he smashed a super charged Sonic Wind against the side of the Wyvern, knocking it through the wall and into to the observatory. Rock and metal rained down into the dark gap that had been previously created, as the Wyvern slid along the debris. The blue hero charged through the gaping hole, a flash of golden light enveloping the entire area as he unleashed a vicious wave of golden energy from his arm. The super powered attack tore through the Wyverns other leg, forcing it to hover above the ground. However in retaliation, Eggman averted all the Wyverns power into its cannons once more, unleashing a larger and more dangerous beam than before. Sonic grunted and conjured up a quick bubble of golden light around his body in the form of a barrier, blocking the brunt of the attack. However, the unrelenting power of the Wyvern shot the hedgehog up through the ceiling, and into the Colosseum area that Mighty had fought in.
The golden warrior shot across the ground, and before impacting the opposite wall, used his arms to flip himself up into the air, a split second before a powerful full-contact slam from the Egg Wyvern. Rock collapsed over top of the high powered mech, as is it unleashed a powerful spherical barrier, in order to vaporize the rock on top of it. Using the short distance to his advantage, Sonic quickly unleashed a Super Sonic Wind, immediately creating a massive golden whirlwind in the centre of the Colosseum. The Wyvern slid along the ground, unable to fight the immense power of the vortex, and became sucked into its centre, giving Sonic the edge. The golden hero grinned, and began swirling around the vortex, becoming one with the golden light as he unleashed blast after blast of yellow light at the Wyvern, effectively destroying several pieces of its armour.
However, unbeknownst to Sonic, Eggman had already started charging an adequate amount of energy within the Wyvern to counter the vortex. A deadly blast of green electromagnetic energy flashed away from the titanium exterior of the Wyvern, dispersing the golden winds, and throwing Sonic into the rock wall.
Rock tumbled to the ground taking Sonic with it. His aura flickered momentarily, before dying out and returning his fur back to the blue. The blur hero groaned, as he pushed himself back to his feet despite the numerous cuts and gashes littering his body. Using a spin dash to avoid the incoming Wyvern, Sonic rebounded off the curved wall of the Colosseum, and shot towards the Egg creation in a hurtling ball of blue light. The blue hero smashed into the mech, knocking it into the wall as he rebounded upwards and in the blink of an eye reactivated his Super form once more and smashed into the Wyvern a second time. A burst of golden light filled the room as a dome of energy wrapped around the two fighters, warping them back out into space.
"Sorry, dude." Sonic smirked, "I didn't wanna endanger my friends!"
Ignoring the hedgehog's remark, the Doctor growled and redirected his mech away from the golden warrior. "Thirty seconds until opening, Master," Eve stated.
"Activate rear Giga Missiles, and turn up thruster levels to 100%," Eggman commanded.
"As you wish."
Blinking with confusion, Sonic noticed the swarm of missiles and quickly unleashed a devastating field of pure, gold energy from his body. Each missile collided with the mass of light, erupting into a fiery blaze before disappearing, allowing Sonic to shoot off after the Wyvern in a hot pursuit towards the portal. The scream in the back of his head returned, and he grunted in pain. The golden colour of his quills faltered, but remained only barely as the golden hero swerved around the massive green blast coming from the Death Egg.
"Just what are you doing Eggman!"
The golden hero could do nothing but watch, as the glass like purple energy disappeared. In return, a powerful shockwave shot through the green laser of the Eclipse Cannon, completely obliterating the front of the Death Egg, as well as throwing Sonic into one of its walls. The blue hero yelled out in fear as an otherworldly roar filled his ear drums and mind all at once. He saw Eggman ease his machine in front of the portal, as another roar echoed.
Sonic could only watch as hell unleashed.
Another divine roar filled the heavens once more, this time shaking the Death Egg so violently it began to come apart. Explosions rocked the entire area as chunks of the space vessel crumbled. However, Sonic noticed two Eggman designed shuttles launch off towards Earth, as well as the Typhoon floating at a safe distance. He could only wonder if Shadow was safe with Tails at this point.
"What..what's going on here," Sonic murmured quietly, and turned back towards the portal.
Words couldn't describe it. His stomach flipped inside his body, and his heart smashed up into his throat. One clawed hand slowly reached out from the portal of darkness, followed by lightning jumping away from within. If Sonic had to guess, the hand alone was about half the size of the moon. As the hand grabbed hold of the white rock surrounding the barrier, Sonic felt the resulting shockwaves. A second hand reached out of the depths, and gripped the edge as if something were pulling itself out of a coffin.
The same otherworldly roar filled his mind.
Then, he witnessed the supernatural. First, it seemed as though it were a bird, but as its head peered through, and continued to rise up out of the portal, it took the form of a dragon. Rows and rows of razor sharp teeth, with digital looking designs along them filled its sleek, metal jaw. Its eyes looked as black as night, with two gold serpentine irises. From the tip of its nose, to the top of its head, multiple black spines lowly rose up from within its skull, and to follow, thousands of black spikes shot out along the side of its long, silver neck. Then, as if it weren't big enough, two silver coloured leathery wings shot out from the depths of the portal. The wings seemed to be a mix of machine, a dove and a bat. The beast roared once more, while shards of indigo light spiralled into one singular mass at the back of its throat.
"Isn't it beautiful, hedgehog," came an all too familiar voice from behind Sonic.
Ignoring the absolutely titanic condensed beam of purple energy being launched from the beast, Sonic spun around to face Eggman in the Wyvern MKII. It hovered gently in front of him, glowing faintly with a dark and gold light.
"What's going on, Eggman!" Sonic belted out, his aura growing around him. "What is that thing!"
"This what I've been after all this time," Eggman explained. "Or rather, one of the things I've been after. You see, Sonic, that is Polaris. A super-ancient being of divine power. The Knuckles tribe called it a god, while others claim it to be a inter-dimensional monster. I call it the key to my victory! Once I confront it, and offer it the seven Twilight Keys, it'll have no choice but to obey my every command!"
"You haven't learned your lesson, have you, Eggman?" Sonic shouted. "After you failed to control Dark Gaia, I'd expect you to give up with super-natural forces and fight me with your own strength!"
"That's where you're wrong!" The doctor hollered, a field of purple energy beginning to form around the Wyvern. "Polaris isn't here to fight you. I'm using it to level out the entire planet in order to build my kingdom, and my empire! However, I gladly accept it's gifts of enhancing the power within my creation, as it is running off the Twilight Keys!"
With another great roar, Polaris unleashed a beam of condensed energy from its gaping mouth. The laser pierced the diamond-like exterior of the Death Egg IV, cutting into it like butter. Fire and explosions shot upwards along the point of impact, and all the way to the end of the canyon the beam had formed in the space station. Sonic's horrified gaze trailed after the Death Egg, as it split in half. The two pieces slowly drifted away from each other, forcing the Eclipse Cannon II to shut off.
Everything grew dead silent.
"Metal, I need you to distract Sonic while I commence with the destruction of planet Earth!"
Like a slave, Metal appeared once more, although significantly repaired from the last time Sonic encountered him. Dazzling electrical energy danced around Metal's body, as he took on the same faint glow that Eggman's Egg Wyvern did. It was as though Polaris was lending its own power to Eggman, specifically to help him take over the world.
"Rip him apart, Metal!" Eggman shouted viciously. "I want him dead!"
With a simple nod, the electrical field around Metal expanded outwards into nothingness, and then his thrusters lit up like an exploding star. Sonic grunted in surprise, and quickly grappled Metal's fist, only to have a powerful orb of electricity contact his abdomen. The orb exploded, and shot the blue hero through space at unbelievable speeds. The stars twinkling in the sky around him seemed like flashes of white light. Suddenly he felt his body halt, thanks to the white hot pain creeping up his leg.
Metal Sonic gripped his ankle with such force, Sonic felt as though it would break. The mechanical warrior quickly pulled the hero backwards, and then punched him downwards. The redirected velocity of the hits left Sonic feeling nauseous. Using the infinite power within him, Sonic unleashed a shockwave of energy behind him, stopping him from moving through the frictionless air. The screaming thrusters fixated on Metal's body filled his ear drums. Sonic created a small ball of light within his open palm and threw it up at Metal like a ball.
Black energy suddenly expanded outwards from Metal's body, guarding him from the sizzling ball of Chaos energy. As the orb came into contact with the shield, it exploded and expanded into a rotating sphere of golden light. Metal's stoic gaze remained the same as he grappled Sonic's throat and heaved the hedgehog upwards with all his might. Sonic felt his body launch upwards with such speed his cheeks seem to press against his bones. Then the walls of the Death Egg stopped him, quite abruptly for his liking too.
The blue hero groaned, noticing Eggman turn off the thrusters to his Wyvern in front of the face of Polaris.
Was he too late?
"What is it you desire, human?"
The booming voice shook the Death Egg, and seemed to echo inside Sonic's head. He couldn't tell if it was telekinesis or just the sheer force of the voice. Painfully the blue hero clutched his head, groaning in pain from the screams within.
Location: Aboard the Typhoon
"What's happening with Sonic?" Knuckles pointed out, a worried expression playing his and Tails' face.
"I don't know, Knuckles," Tails gulped. "He's getting destroyed out there! We have to help him!"
Tails quickly typed in a string of commands, turning the Auto-pilot feature of the craft on, allowing him to race to the doors. Both Mighty and Knuckles grappled him, yanking the young fox back from his certain doom. Tears filled in Tails eyes as he watched a gigantic burst of light erupt around Sonic from Metal's impact.
"We can't do anything, Tails!" Mighty explained. "It's best if we just let him finish this! Besides, I believe he can do it."
"Besides, Tails," Knuckles interjected. "We couldn't keep up with them even if we wanted to. We'd be more of a distraction than a help to him at this point."
"But he can't fight off all three of them!" Tails yelled.
"Tails, you know Sonic never gives up," the travelling armadillo reasoned. "You should know that better than anyone."
"But-"
"Mighty's right," Knuckles agreed. "We just need to have faith in him."
Location: Outside the Death Egg IV
"I said, what is it you desire, human?"
Eggman looked in awe at the brilliant beast before him. It was as if he were in a story book, looking at the great creature that only myths foretold. Air escaped from the enclosed cockpit of the Egg Wyvern, allowing Eggman's Eggmobile, equipped with a glass dome for survival in space, to hover upwards.
"So you exist after-all," Eggman commented in awe. "I can't believe it! I've finally won! I finally did it!"
The beast watched thoughtfully as the fat Doctor cheered at his victory. "I'll ask once more, what is it you desire?"
Eggman quickly cleared his throat, and bowed as though he were part of a monarch. "Greetings, Polaris," the Doctor announced politely. "I am Doctor Ivo Robotnik, and I am the genius who has awaken you from your slumber. As legends state, if the one to awaken you has collected the Twilight Keys, you will grant them one wish. Am I correct?"
"You are correct," Polaris replied in it's booming voice. "However it does not come without sacrifice."
"I am aware," Eggman nodded, as seven compartments opened up within his EggMobile. "In exchange for the Twilight Keys, I want you to exterminate that damned planet!
Seven beams of light rotated from out of the EggMobile, and then shot towards the open mouth of Polaris. The energy from the artifacts seemed to create a shockwave, which expanded outwards from the beast. Eggmans insane laugh echoed through space as his body dematerialized from where he was standing. The mass of sparkles swirled into Polaris in the same way the Twilight Keys had.
Dust and rock rose upwards from Metal Sonic's sudden impact into the border of the portal. A cloud of dust shrouded the mechanical being, as Sonic launched across the white-rock like a rocket. Wielding a pulsating orb of tightly packed Chaos Energy in his palm, Sonic yelled and smashed the attack against Metal's body, creating a thin beam of light on impact, which carried Metal away and smashed him against the Death Egg.
Sonic spun around towards the Egg Wyvern, and oblivious to the fact of Eggman's disappearance, Sonic shot towards the Wyvern in a flash of light, readying the same attack he had done away with Metal.
"Come out, Eggman!"
"Doctor Ivo Robotnik is no more," the booming voice of Polaris shook the Egg Wyvern. "He has offered his existence in order to quench his thirst for world domination."
Sonic reeled around, his eyes met with the gigantic snout of Polaris in his face. "Wh-what do you mean?"
"The fat man is dead."
"The destiny of our reality have been planted throughout the dreams of our generation, which has now led us to our extinction." ~ Cervantes Monarcha, Coruscus Leader, 2008
To be Continued
Authors Note~ A little inspiration for the part with Tails comes from the Sonic OVA when he wants to chase after Sonic and Metal. Fitting, huh? Chapter 19 is already in production! Leave any tips, comments or theories in a review, please!