We've concluded the prelude to the series, and now we've entered the main conflict. I hope you're all ready! Things will be much more explained than before, such as Polaris, the Twilight Keys and the lore built up in the Introductory chapter. We'll see a lot of familiar faces, and some new ones as well! Enjoy!
Violet Dreams
Part II
Chapter 24: Du Fehlst Mir
"Words build bridges into unexplored regions."
December 31st, 2015
Location: Station Square
Foot prints left in the snow trailed behind a walking figure. Puffs of ice continued to fall gently from the sky, coming from the thick clouds which covered the sun. Everything was bright, however. Whatever light that did pierce the veil of clouds reflected off the sheet of snow covering the still recovering city. Though significantly repaired, there were still things destroyed and sections of the city left barren since Eggman's chaotic invasion across the planet. Heavy machinery stood idle in various work sites across the blooming city, the holiday spirit still looming around the city. It had been such a long time since his death, that it seemed nobody could remember the Doctor anymore. Though his plans always devastating to the environment around him, he was soon forgotten.
It had been six years since hundreds of thousands of lives were lost.
It had been six years since the world had been crippled and faced extinction.
Stopping in front of the harbor, the figure turned towards the sea. Their cloak kept snug around their body to protect them from the brisk winter air. They sighed gently, watching the sun descend past the horizon. The ocean lapped against the stone walls, ships and docks, creating a calming pattern of moving water. Eying the cold water below, the figure continued through the city, and to the outskirts of the place everyone worked so hard to protect.
It was the last day of the fifth year since the collapse of planet Earth, and fourth year of recovery.
Everyone would be celebrating today, not only for the longest state of peace the planet has ever seen, but for the coming New Year.
The figure continued their way through the city, passing by the rare civilian carrying bags of supplies for their end of the year party. Green eyes noticed remarkable decorations across the center of the city, which was first restored. With the restoration of Earth, came an alarming growth in technology thanks to the boy known as Miles "Tails" Prower – one of the most advanced minds on the planet, even though he was only fifteen. Tails, the younger adoptive brother of the world hero, Sonic, had made astonishing leaps in technology over the last couple years. He had successfully set up the first city-wide AI system, which had been used for navigation, tourist aid and many other uses.
Sonic smiled to himself, proud of his younger brother for the many accomplishments he had achieved. Though he felt a pang of guilt almost immediately after. He had put his best friend through so much in such a short time, and even now he continued to do so. He remembered how hard Tails had took his departure five months ago. Urging to travel, explore and be free, Sonic needed to leave again. However, it seemed as though Tails had been better off. With Sonic no longer around to focus on, he devoted his time to inventing and creating.
The blue wonder made his way through the crowds of people all gathered at city center. A live band had been set up twenty minutes ago, and were currently putting on a concert. The instruments and vocals of the band drifted through Sonic's mind like the fuzz of a TV without a signal. People staggered out of his way absentmindedly, entranced with the talent of the group on stage.
In the distance, sitting around a small wooden table, Sonic noticed a couple of the people he had grown close to over his lifetime. Amy, Tails, Vanilla, Cream and Cheese, Rouge and Mighty.
He'd find the time to see them again, but not yet. After being gone for so long, it was strange to be here after all. Giving one last glance towards the group, he continued through a back alley, and made his way towards a steel stairwell leading up to the roof top of a cafe. Climbing diligently and quickly, Sonic made it the top and walked to the edge, where he sat down and listened to the music hum through the air. In all honesty, he had grown bored. Without Eggman around, there was nothing to do.
Was he the only one who remembered the Doctor nowadays?
Location: Antoni Pedrera Museum, Spagonia – 3:39 am
Casting a small, dull light, a TV roughly the size of a basketball flashed colors against three faces. Its bent antenna taped up against one of many marble columns within the lobby of the museum. The windows along the ceiling of the extravagant cathedral styled building let in only the smallest amount of light given by the stars and moon. Gathered around the information kiosk, and the TV, Team Chaotix let out a sigh all together.
"I bet everyone else back home is having a blast celebrating," Vector moaned, his stomach grumbling. "Here we are stuck guardin' a gem for a chump paranoid about burglars!"
"Vectoooorr!" Charmy whined, fluttering gently above the ground. "I'm bored, when can we go party with everyone else! I wanna go have some cake!"
"The party will be over by the time we get home, bud," Vector sighed, watching the President give his speech.
Espio gave a dull glance towards his team mates, preparing and making sure all his equipment was ready for anything. Though his friends may goof around and slack off, he saw himself as the leader of the team at times – he was the only one with any sense of organization, after all. Crickets chirped in the quiet, humid air outside, keeping them company and ensuring the trio they weren't the only ones alone on such an important night.
"What time is it?" Charmy asked, yawning loudly and floating down onto the ground tiredly. "I don't wanna stay up anymore!"
"If the dude who hired us sees us sleeping on the job we won't get paid," Vector scolded, yawning himself. "We're already late on two months rent," he finished with a heavy sigh.
The muffled sound of shattering glass suddenly caught the young bee's attention, causing him to hover upwards quickly. His eyes darted every which way suspiciously. Fluttering over towards the entrance to an exhibit, Charmy peered down through the darkness of the many different artifacts and showcases. Everything was quiet again, but he didn't feel right with it. The young bee fluttered over to his tired team mates quickly.
"Guys, guys, guys, guys!" he hollered. "I think someone just broke into the museum!"
Vector groaned, rolling his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous, Charmy!" he snorted. "The alarms would have went off if anyone came in but us!"
"The power line was cut," Espio informed, noticing anything electronic had been shut down.
"I'll just prove to ya' no one's in here, then!" Vector mumbled, stomping out into the foyer.
Charmy hovered nervously behind Vector's broad shoulders, while Espio walked silently behind them both, scanning the cases as they walked down the first exhibit. Sure enough, it had to be ancient Egyptian. The ghoul like faces of the mummies and ancient pharaohs stared at Charmy, sending chills down his spine. The trip through the exhibit lasted only a short minute, and they were onto the next section.
Sure enough, shattered glass sprinkled the floor, reflecting the light from the sky above. The three detectives glanced upwards, trying to figure out what had come through the ceiling windows.
"Maybe it was a bird, or something," Vector stammered nervously.
"Y-yeah," Charmy agreed. "A bird, or, s-somethin'."
Another crash of glass echoed throughout the museum, and this time every single light in the building flashed on, followed by the alarm systems. The trio each gave one another a look of nervousness and confidence, then ran towards the source of the noise. The spinning, flashing red warning lights began to streak into brief flashes as they moved into the marine themed exhibit, which had been stripped of any power, thus keeping it dark. However as they reached the entrance, Vector noticed three figures running along the hallway, and quickly blew out a flurry of exploding bubbles.
The sticky, explosive masses of gum bounced off of large, replicated whales. Fire and smoke rose up from each explosion, causing the articles to fall off of their only suspension and clatter to the floor. The mysterious trio ahead quickly jumped out of the way of three gobs of explosive gum, each disappearing as if they were ghosts. As the explosion died down across from the Chaotix, a laugh caught their attention behind them, and they spun around to find the trio standing at the entrance.
"You guys are slooow," the first figure, whom was shorter than other two laughed. It was without a doubt a girl. "Be sweethearts and tell us where the Chaos Emerald is?"
Location: Empire City – 11:39 pm
Crowds of people surged and bumped together, desperate to get a better look at the gigantic stage set up in the city center. Like everywhere else all around the world, Empire City had put on a massive celebration to commemorate five years of uninterrupted peace. Four video screens hung from the steel rafters of the stage, two on each side of the center podium. Gigantic banners with Sonic's face hung from the top of the stage, with blue, red and white spot lights dancing across the crowd and stage. Music consisting of trumpets, drum rolls and catchy guitar riffs blared from the high tech speakers, as a single man made his way onto the stage.
Watching quietly from the adjacent rooftop, Shadow the hedgehog zoomed in with the high powered sniper rifle he had been equipped with. A black GUN winter jacket clung to his form, as he moved the dials on the scope through thick gloves. He could see his breath rise upwards with each exhale. His heart pounded gently against his chest, keeping slow and steady beats. Crackles echoed from the microphone as the president cleared his throat, the music suddenly dying down and the spot lights coming to a rest on top of him.
Shadow watched on, calmly and intently.
"It's been five years of unity, strength and perseverance for us as a nation," he began. "We've endured one of the most crushing and devastating invasions since the Black Arms nearly twelve years ago. We've rebuilt our precious country back up to it's former glory – if not more so. We have progressed passed the limitations placed upon us in 2010, and have grown to something unseen by previous generations. Our safety is all thanks to the brilliant, and brave troops who make up the Guardian Units of Nations, or otherwise, GUN. With the death of Abraham Towers, former GUN Supreme Commander, in 2008, I'm proud to say, his successor Shrike Errgon has done a marvelous job of leading our brothers in arms."
A roar of applauds and cheers howled through the city. With a sigh of annoyance, Shadow scanned the upper most levels of the towering buildings surrounding the stage. Ever since his reunion with Sonic and his friends, Shadow had been performing gopher duty for Shrike, helping with the growth and reconstruction of countless cities across the eastern seaboard. Moving the scope down once more to have the President in the cross hairs, the cheering died out.
"However, they are to thank for the safety of our planet during one of the most spectacular acts of heroism we've seen to date. Our beloved hero, Sonic the Hedgehog, fought valiantly against the nefarious Doctor Ivo Robotnik in space. Sonic destroyed both the dooms day weapon Ivo had constructed, and the beast which that madman undoubtedly released! Though we'd like to pay our respects to our world hero in person, Sonic cannot be here with us today. We can only assume he's somewhere near, keeping an eye on the nation whom so dearly loves him."
Another roaring cheer came from the audience – which Shadow had to guess exceeded over five thousand people.
Meanwhile...
Location: Station Square – 11:39 pm
"Wow, Tails!" Cream swooned. "You really built that?"
On the table, standing amidst their food, a small creature formed of what seemed to be white liquid stood. Currently it had taken on the form of Cheese, its golden eyes blinking back at the confused Chao occasionally. Tails tapped a button on his watch, shutting down the creations power, causing it to retreat back to a lifeless orb of white goo.
"I sure did," Tails nodded, his voice now noticeably deeper, though still scratchy due to puberty. "I call it the Liquid Intelligence Neutron Companion; or L.I.N.C for short."
"What's it used for, Miles?" Vanilla asked politely.
"Originally I constructed it to be used as a robot of sorts," Tails explained, the blob of liquid disappearing into his backpack. "To do tasks and such that we can't do ourselves, you know?"
"Seems like you've been quite the help to GUN lately, little man," Rouge winked, taking a drink of her wine.
"It's starting!" Cream called excitedly.
Suddenly the crowd fell silent, as the many screens lined along the upper walls of the surrounding buildings flashed to life. First going through static, and then bearing the United Federations crest. Another wave of static filled the monitors, and finally they turned to show the President. Powerful spot lights rested on him, lighting up the massive stage set up in Empire City, where the main festival was being held.
"I heard six thousand people were attending it there!" Mighty whispered in glee to Amy, whom replied with a gentle nod.
Her gentle green eyes watched the screen hollowly. Ever since Sonic left she went back to feeling alone, unsafe and ultimately sad. She didn't like it when he left like that, and even though there was nothing left to threaten the world, she felt much safer with him around. It was as if her entire sense of security disappeared when he left to travel the planet. A strong gust suddenly caught her attention on the roof top, and if it wasn't just her mind playing tricks, she could have sworn she saw someone...
"I miss you," she whispered.
"...Sonic destroyed both the dooms day weapon Ivo had constructed, and the beast which that madman undoubtedly released! Though we'd like to pay our respects to our world hero in person, Sonic cannot be here with us today. We can only assume he's somewhere near, keeping an eye on the nation whom so dearly loves him."
Then the screen flashed to static again, earning a roaring boo from the crowd. However, just as quickly as the static came, it was replaced by the one thing the entire planet had hoped to never see again in their lives. Orange, yellow and red filled the screen briefly, before being replaced by a golden Eggman insignia against a black back drop. Then it flashed, and there he was...
"Greetings, you filthy race," the old, crazy scientist bellowed. "If by any chance you're watching this little recording I've set up for you, then my plans have been successful. I've anticipated the destruction of my space vessel, as well as my death. Listen up you putrid hedgehog, if you can hear me right now, you had better be ready. Though I may be dead, this war is far from over!"
People gasped, a tension unlike any other filling the air. A gust of wind occasionally sweeping through the city center.
"You're world has become mine. It took little time, and not much skill," he cackled with a wicked grin. "I know you must be off traveling once again, and I anticipate your return, for which I am prepared! It's not a matter of when because I know you are not afraid! Moreover, it's a matter of how you will respond. I've grown bored, old friend," he concluded calmly, a devious smirk playing his lips.
"Great liars, are also great magicians." Adolf Hitler, Fuhrer of Germany, 1934-1945
To be Continued
Authors Note~ Some fun facts about the chapter title; it means "I Miss You" in german – and it's the chapter title for one reason alone! Thumbs up if you know what it is. I hope I haven't disappointed any of you with this chapter! Eggman just doesn't go away, does he? Hehe ;] Leave your comments, theories and tips in a review! Hope you enjoyed!