Violet Dreams
Part II
Chapter 26: Annihilation, Pt 2
"One murder makes a villain; millions makes a hero."
Location: Station Square
People screamed, fleeing the scene. Fire and smoke shot up into the air from the continuous strikes against the buildings of which surrounded the park. The small stage set up tumbled to the ground in a blazing heap of metal, fabric and wood. The sound of screeching instruments roared through the PA system, until finally the fire engulfed that too. Embers shot up into the sky, while a thick cloud of smoke hung in the air. Violet colored portals appeared within each exit to the park, unleashing hordes of strange creatures from within.
Two more portals opened up on top of the parking garage beside Twinkle Park, allowing two figures to walk out of them and into the open. Their white cloaks flapped in the wind generated from the chaos ensuing the festival. By now, the group of heroes had taken it upon themselves to fight off the creatures. A swift orb of golden energy blasted through a crowd of the monsters. Tails moved his cannon, and spun around to another approaching horde, shooting through them too. The young fox quickly used his name sakes and flew upwards briefly, avoiding an attack by a creature from behind. He swung his cannon down, unleashing a larger sized orb of light. The attack collided with the monster, causing it to explode into a storm of light.
"What are these ugly things?" Amy cried out. "They really need a makeover or something!"
"I really was hoping for some relaxation today," Mighty complained, punching through an attacking creature. "So much for five years of peace!"
Swinging around in a semi circle, Amy smashed her hammer through several creatures. Some flew through the air, while the remaining beasts bounced across the ground, exploding into a flurry of sparkling light after colliding with something. She grunted in pain as a group of the creatures jumped onto her, attempting to break through her hammer, which was being used to fend them off. Suddenly a hot burst of energy collided with the horde, blasting them away from the pink hedgehog.
"Thanks, Tails," she sighed, getting to her feet.
Amidst the chaos, Rouge ran behind Vanilla and Cream, leading them to safety. Buildings had already begun to come down, after four long years of reconstruction. The attacking hordes of monster had smashed through windows, and began eating away at any material or food available. Kicking away a creature, Rouge swung open a door to the roof top of the Emerald Coast Resort. As the three rushed out onto the rooftop, they noticed the ever growing groups of monsters coming from the portals.
"Who are those two?" Cream pointed out, her arm aimed towards the parking garage across from them. "They look really peculiar!"
Moving her eyes towards the spot Cream was looking at, Rouge noticed the two cloaked figures. They didn't move, but simply stood there observing the havoc ensuing below. However, the deadly roars of the invading creatures broke Rouge from her thoughts, and turned her attention towards the doorway. One of the beasts jumped towards her, but a blinding sphere of blue light collided with the creature. The beast roared out and tumbled across the rooftop, only to fall back down to the ground. Cheese floated back to Creams side, the light fading from around the small pet.
"Thanks, Cream," Rouge acknowledged. "I have to get a hold of Shadow, he might know whats going on."
Flames flickered upwards from the destruction on the ground below them, while the sound of screams filled their ears. Their pawns jumped across the wreckage below, fighting against the heroes which fought back so desperately. Standing silent; watchful of everything, the shorter figure standing on the roof top sighed. Though, it wasn't of sadness, nor of disappointment, but of annoyance. He knew of the heroic Sonic the Hedgehog the world swooned over. He knew of everything that hedgehog did to protect a single planet from destruction. Annoyed, simply by the fact that blue hedgehog hadn't shown up. Four separate invasions. Four tasks at hand, and he hadn't shown his wretched face.
"Are you sure he's still even alive?" the second, taller, figure questioned. "It'd be a shame if he was dead. He was a good kid."
"Someone like that doesn't die," the shorter figure retorted, his voice asserting his undoubted dominance. "He killed Doctor Ivo Robotnik not too long ago, there shouldn't be anything on the planet that could have threatened his safety."
"Hmm, maybe he's sleeping or something?"
Continued onslaughts came from each side of the square, the dark beasts attacking with such ferocious intent, the heroes were pushed back to back. They were relentless, and killer. Swinging her hammer firmly, Amy smashed away a group of the monsters, only for them to be replaced by twice the amount she had gotten rid of. They were endless!
As the hordes began to grow, beyond anything the group had ever witnessed in their lives, everything became silent. The crackling fire snuffed out, the horrific growls of the beasts silenced; all replaced by the blowing wind. A tattered brown cloak fluttered through the wind, catching on the scorched branch of a nearby tree. A storm of particles swarmed around the group of heroes, clouding their view of the mysterious figure who had appeared momentarily. However, before they could catch a glimpse at their savior, he was gone.
A streak of blue trailed to the top of the parking garage, followed by a vicious sphere of rotating, cutting cobalt light. Powerful gusts of wind pressed against the park like the pressure of someone stepping on it. As the spherical attack dispersed, the winds calmed. Amy's eyes darted to the top of the structure, finding the only person she knew that represented something so free as the wind.
"Look, it's Sonic!" one man exclaimed from the crowd, which then erupted into a roar of cheers.
Location: Antoni Pedrera Museum, Spagonia – 3:45 am
"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?"
The trio of detectives came to a stop in front of the trio of thieves, each filled with a fire of confidence. Standing ahead of them, each of the trio had a defining set of eyes. Each seemed to represent them in their own, special way. The girl who had spoken had metallic blue eyes, which gave off a look of anger. Vector could tell she wanted revenge on someone, for what he didn't know. The second, quiet figure, had a luminous, almost robotic, crimson eyes. The third figure, who possessed an air of restlessness to him had silvery eyes, as though they didn't have color at all.
"You heard the lady," the silvery eyed figure spoke up. "Where are ya' hidin' the Chaos Emerald!"
"It's none of your beeswax!" Charmy shouted valiantly. "We'll never tell a coupl'a crooks like you where the emerald is!"
"This is taking too long, Crush!" the restless figure whined. "Let me beat it outta them, and then we can get outta here!"
Without any form of agreement from his teammates, the impatient figure of the thieve trio bounded forwards. Suddenly, wind swept through the entire museum, as if picking up in accordance to the figure's actions. Performing a swirl in mid air, the figure lashed out his leg from the spin, aimed at Vector. The crocodile yelped, swinging both his muscular arms up just in time to defend himself. An invisible vortex of air danced upwards from the impact, blowing the figures cloak about around his body.
"You're just bein' stubborn!" the figure cried out with a chuckle, spinning around to snap out his leg for another swift kick.
The boot smashed against Vector's neck, a burst of condensed air adding to the force of the blow and launched the detective across the floor. By now, the remaining two Chaotix members took it upon themselves to defend their partner, only to be thwarted by the impatient attackers comrades.
A raging ball of flame lit up the dark room, hurtling towards the figure who had yet to speak. The great ball of fire grew ever closer, when suddenly figure shot out a fist, electricity sparking around the figures arm. The ball of flame exploded into a storm of embers, sparks dancing within the epicenter of the explosion. However, allowing his opponent no time to recover, Espio swiftly threw five combat knives through the chaos.
"Charmy, watch out!" Vector hollered, blocking another swift, yet powerful kick from his adversary.
The young bee yelped as the knives whizzed past his head. Letting out a sigh of relief, a burst of water suddenly smashed into him, throwing the bee hurtling against the arching doorway of the exhibit. Charmy bounced off the marble, and quickly flew around another torrent of compressed water aimed at him. A cascade of sparkling liquid splashed against the marble floor, causing Vector to slip as he moved backwards from his opponents onslaught.
Espio quickly jumped in between bursts of electrified water from the remaining two figures, his arms becoming blurs as he threw knife after knife at his opponents. A field of black light suddenly expanded around the two elemental fighters, knocking away the knives. Panting, Charmy hovered beside Espio, waiting for his orders.
"That girl is attacking from behind her partners defense," Espio explained to his partner. "If we can separate them, we can use the others lightning to stop the girl, and then we'll have the upper hand!"
"Whatcha need me to do, Espio!" Charmy questioned, almost too excitedly for the occasion.
Avoiding another condensed burst of water from behind the electrical barrier, Espio quickly pulled out a slip of paper from his glove. The burst of electrified water shot across the museum, aimed directly at the duo, causing Charmy to panic. Performing a string of lightning fast hand signs, Espio inhaled a large breath, and then exhaled to release a storming gust of wind. The tornado like gust shot through the water, causing it to explode into a mist.
"Take this explosion tag, and slap it onto the one supplying the shield on my signal," Espio instructed calmly. "As soon as you do, find cover!"
"Right!" Charmy nodded, and flew towards his target, but abruptly stopped. "What's the signal!"
"You'll know it when you see it," Espio called with a groan. "Now hurry up!"
The violet chameleon quickly jumped upwards, avoiding the acrobatic fighter Vector had just thrown across the museum. His amber eyes darted to see a storm of explosive bubbles escape Vectors gaping jaws. Anticipating the coming explosion, Espio threw his arm up, guarding his face from the heat and light of the eruption, while also jumping away from another blast of water.
As the smoke and flames died down from Vectors attack, Espio turned his attention back to Charmy, who had managed to sneak his way above the other two fighters. Espio nodded to his comrade, quickly throwing several knives towards his opponents once more. The knives flew through the air, only to be shot down by small shots of sparkling liquid. Noticing the marked paper now on the back of the electrical type fighter, Espio slapped his hands together.
"Watch out!" Crush exclaimed, jumping away from her partner.
The luminous crimson eyes of the electrical figure darted to his shoulder, attempting to gain sight of what was on him. Suddenly a powerful burst of flame, air and smoke engulfed the two elemental fighters, encasing them in the heat of the attack. Debris and white smoke curled upwards from the red hot flame that had slowly begun to die out from the sudden explosion.
"We did it, we did it, we did it!" Charmy announced, swirling in the air happily.
"Don't celebrate just yet, Charmy!" Vector called, only to receive a vicious kick to his abdominal region, and slide between his partners.
From within the ball of embers and smoke, steam suddenly rolled outwards as a crushing wave expanded and raced across the floor. The water smashed and slid around the trio, carrying them backwards and slamming them against the walls of the exhibit with such force the concrete began to crack. With enough of water to fill a large pool slamming into them, the wall finally broke, creating a funnel for the body of water to sweep them through. Debris and crashing waves smashed into the trio over and over, until finally the liquid spread out into a thin layer across the marble flooring in the foyer.
"The emerald is through here," the female figure, Crush, called out. "Hurry!"
Dashing through the now destroyed wall, the trio of thieves darted across the slippery floor, paying no mind to the downed detectives. However, the quiet figure quickly slid to a stop, generating the same black barrier as before.
"I'll make sure they can't reach you," the figure spoke for the first time, his voice monotone and synthetic.
However, as Vector and Charmy forced themselves up, Espios form exploded into a flurry of leaves. The electrical thieve darted his eyes towards his comrades, finding that the chameleon had made it past him.
"Hey, pal," Vector called with a smirk. "You're fight is with Charmy and I now!"
"..." With a silent stare, the figure quickly released his barrier, allowing it to shoot across the ground, electrifying the ground.
"Yikes! Charmy gimme a lift!" Vector yelped, his body twitching from the electrical current along the water.
Grabbing hold of his younger teammates feet, Charmy quickly ascended a couple feet off the ground, oblivious to the oncoming attacker. Suddenly a flash light split the two detectives, throwing them both in opposite directions. With movements fluid as lightning, the figure veered away from the wall and towards Vector, catching the crocodile by the throat with a steel grip. In fact, his hand was steel!
Vector watched as the figures free arm slung upwards, unleashing a fizzling beam of energy from his palm, and into Charmy like a spear. The beam pulsed and spun, effectively digging further through Charmy's leg, pinning him against the marble walls.
Using his camouflage to his advantage, Espio dashed along the walls after his targets. The light of the moon shone across his body, momentarily illuminating his body to the world, only for it to be swallowed up by the darkness once more. As he raced across the hallways, the windows began to become scarce, the corridors beginning to angle downwards towards a vault. Watching intently, Espio crept behind a statue of a horse, his camouflage dropping.
"Quick, break through the vault door," the male figure demanded impatiently as police sirens rang through the quiet, night air. "Or we'll never get out of here in time!"
"Would you stop your nagging?" Crush snapped, pushing her partner out of the way. "It'll look like those three broke in, and we'll get out without a problem!"
The girl stopped in front of the vault door with a sigh to calm her nerves. Planting both her palms on the surface of the vault door, ice began to spread across it like a plague. The crystal slowly etched its way across the surface of the steel, until finally it was covered with frost and ice.
"Okay, your turn." She nodded.
The unnamed figure chuckled with determination and cockiness, earning a scoff from Crush. The cloaked male quickly found his way directly in front of the vault door, taking up a stance that a kung fu master would use in a martial arts film. Around his raised fist, wind began to collect and spin, compacting into a condensed vortex around his hand. Suddenly he yelled out with a loud battle cry, punching the air in front of him, and thus creating a powerful vortex of air. The vortex shot across the gap between him and the door, breaking it apart like glass.
"I'll stand guard and you go get the emerald," Crush instructed strictly, shoving her teammate towards the foggy opening.
"This is my chance to strike," Espio thought to himself, his camouflage reactivating as he moved towards her.
With movements as quiet as a mouse, Espio neared the oblivious girl. Clutched tightly in his hand, Espio readied himself to throw the explosive ready knife at a seconds notice. Now within a couple feet of the girl, at the worst possible time, he felt it. An itch in his nose. The debris from the door being blown apart was going to make him sneeze!
"Oh my God," He panicked in his thoughts, stopping in his tracks. "Not now! Of all times, not now!"
Fighting back the sneeze with all his might, Espio clutched his face, but to no avail.
"Ahhh-choo!"
Like the flip of a switch, his camouflage dropped, startling the female. However, quickly regaining her bearings she rose her hands upwards, as if conducting an orchestra. Suddenly a geyser of shifting water exploded beneath Espio's feet, launching him up against the roof.
"What're you doing in there, Hurricane!" she hollered, the geyser keeping the purple chameleon suspended against the ceiling, effectively drowning him.
Finally her team mate dashed out of the vault, coins dropping from his pockets. "Just wanted to grab some motivational souvenirs, y'know?"
"Just as long as you have the emerald!" She scolded, running after him, allowing the geyser to disperse.
Groaning and gurgling through water filled lungs, Espio forced himself to go on, but his eyes said otherwise. The lack of air to his brain was catching up to him, and resisting the urge to pass out was beginning to be too much. With a final reach towards the fleeing figures, his world went black.
Location: Angel Island
Electricity fizzled and danced away from the figures form, keeping the inky darkness a lit with a divine light. Bolts of lightning arched upwards through the air, striking the stone pillars surrounding the Master Emerald, turning them blue from being electrified. Knuckles groaned, pulling himself from the ground, and glared up at the laid back figure by his gem. His sides ached from the tumble down the marble stairs, but he could easily ignore it. The figure watched Knuckles quietly, quirking an eyebrow upwards from the guardian's determination.
"You're really going to play the whole hero role, and try to stop me?" the lion asked with a sigh. "You all truly believe you're the good guys, don't you? Let me ask you something, and I expect a good answer."
"Why should I answer anything you ask me?" Knuckles barked back.
Disregarding the echidna's rude reply, the lion began to walk down the steps, his hands dug into the pockets of his cloak. "You and your friends are entitled heroes amongst the world population; you always jump to action whenever something threatens the peace you try to preserve. Sometimes peace comes through war, and war through change. I don't expect you to understand much of what I'm saying right now, but, what do you think is a hero?"
The cloaked figure had now stopped on the third step from the ground, his calm, turquoise eyes still fixated on Knuckles. The echidna stared back, his eyes filled with confusion. The guardian dropped his fists, his head drooping along with them. A sly grin etched its way onto the lips of the figure, watching the turmoil strike Knuckles like a freight train. The electrical figure stepped down in front of Knuckles, a genuine smile finding its way onto his face as he placed a gentle hand on the echidna's shoulder.
"You are all naïve, and blind," he stated.
With two swift punches, the lion launched the echidna upwards into the sky. His cloak fluttered as he dashed towards a tree, using it as a foot hold to launch after the guardian who had just regained his bearings. Knuckles spun around in mid air, flame gathering around his fist. The lion reeled his arm back, and before Knuckles could comprehend what was happening, the lion had disappeared with the crack of thunder and smashed his fist up into Knuckles abdomen. Spitting up saliva and blood from the impact, Knuckles could feel his nerves numbing from the power of the electrical energy racing from his attacker. Suddenly the lion grabbed hold of Knuckles arm, throwing him down to the ground.
"Not to mention weak." The figure scoffed.
A flash of brilliant light followed the lion as he disappeared from the air, smashing his heel into Knuckles a split second before the echidna impacted the hard jungle floor. Rocks darted upwards, surrounded by bolts of lightning in between. Cracks raced across the landscape, tearing apart the bottom half of the shrine in the process. The lion quickly leaped back from the wounded echidna, landing in front of the gem once more. Using whatever strength he had left, Knuckles struggled back to his feet, blood leaking from his mouth.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"You could label me as a monster, if you will," the figure spoke, almost as though it were a chore. "But in fact, I'm exactly like you. Fighting for what I believe, ultimately striving for peace. However, if you must know my name, it's Surge. I have a feeling this isn't the last we'll see of eachother."
Surge quickly jumped back towards the giant gem within the altar, his cloak flapping behind him. A flash of light flashed through the inky darkness of Angel Island, and the Emerald was gone. However, standing at the edge of the rotating portal that swallowed the almighty Master Emerald, Surge waved and walked into the darkness.
"Ciao."
Location: Station Square
Cheers roared from the citizens, new found hope suddenly reignited in everyone's heart. Standing casually across from the two cloak clad figures, Sonic the Hedgehog grinned slightly. The world had become mute, while the wind blew gently through the crowd. Snow continued to fall in gentle, light puffs of crystal, only to melt against the ground. Everyone had now become quiet, awaiting Sonic's next move against the terrorists.
"Sonic, I presume?" the first, shorter, figure spoke up. His cloak had become tattered and torn from the hero's attack, showing dark purple fur with the occasional patch of white. "I've been waiting for you to show up somewhere. I suppose the little holiday is over?"
"Yeah, nutheads just don't go away on their own, y'know," Sonic quipped with a smirk.
"Then you'll be relieved to know we fight for a similar cause," the indigo colored figured explained calmly, the crowd of civilians crowding around the parking blockade for a better sight of the hero confronting the fiends. "Our goal is peace, just as is yours. We want nothing more than to rebuild the world up from the ground into a suiting kingdom for our leader."
"Sounds crazy, if you ask me, pal," the hero retorted. "I'm sure if you asked everyone, they'd say they were happy with the planet as is!"
"Unfortunately, none of you have a choice in this matter," the figure barked.
"Stopping the crook and earning a world-wide congratulations doesn't make you heroic; snuffing out strife and pain, while molding a perfect world does, however." ~ Cervantes Monarcha, Corsucus Movement Leader, 2008
Author Notes~ This took longer to write than usual. Hopefully you are all making the connections as to who these cloaked villains are! I'm trying not to make it too noticeable! Next chapter we see the heroes all reunite, aswell as some details and questions! Please leave your comments, tips and theories in a review!