Violet Dreams
Part II
Chapter 31: Dawn, Part 3
"All men of action are dreamers."
Location: Outskirts of Capital City – 12:25 pm
A jet of water shot across the plateau, ripping apart several trees in the process. Wood and leaves swirled away from each impact, giving Mighty less and less to hide behind. The young traveler quickly bounded behind a boulder and punched his fist forwards, launching the rock across the moist ground and towards the unsuspecting water manipulator. Suddenly a wall of ice shot upwards from the ground, encasing the boulder and freezing it just before it could collide with the female. Using a jet of water to jump into the air, Crush yelled out furiously as she descended over Mighty at a rapid pace. Rock and dirt flew upwards from the ring of water that shot upwards from Crush's impact, forcing Mighty to distance himself from the attack. White energy spun around the armadillo's fist once more as he punched the air in front of him, shooting a spinning sphere of energy hurtling towards the fox. With a growl of annoyance, Crush swung an arm upwards creating a blade of water from ground, slicing through the mass of energy. However using the distraction to his advantage, Mighty jumped through the air, fist reeled backwards ready to strike. A burst of water shot out merely inches away from Crush's face, blocking the blow.
"Just come back to the right side, and all of this will be over!" Mighty reasoned while avoiding two jets of water. "I don't want to fight you anymore!"
"Then stop, and I can bring you with me!" Crush announced with determination. "I'm doing you a favor, Mighty! You've always been soo stubborn!"
A circular wave of crashing water suddenly shot out from around Crush, flooding the entire plateau and sweeping the debris off onto the mountainside. Mighty quickly bounded across floating trees, causing them to bob and bounce in the chaotic currents. As the tides rose and the rushing water grew more hectic, Mighty found it increasingly difficult to keep a foothold on the objects floating in it. Finally, the armadillo jumped from a boulder of which was barely visible, and landed in the small circular area of dryness within the body of water. Biting his lip with regret, Mighty thrust an open palm upwards against Crush's jaw, knocking her up with a burst of transparent energy. The rushing water over the plateau suddenly exploded into a thick mist just as the girl smashed against the wet ground. Mighty trudged over to her through the mud, his shoes squishing in the moist dirt.
With an extended arm, and an open hand, Mighty smiled exhaustedly. "Crush, I'm doing you a favor," he reasoned calmly in between heavy breaths.
Crush groaned in defeat, glaring up at the one person she never wanted to oppose. "I can't go back, Mighty," she explained mournfully. "I want this. If what He says is true, then there'll be no more fighting. No more violence. No more hate."
"You can't be certain of it, Crush," retorted Mighty with determination. "You could just be a pawn in the whole scheme of things!"
Shaking her heard gently, the young girl slowly pulled herself to her feet, ignoring Mighty's urge to help. "You don't understand. Maybe one day you will; and I pray you survive the trials to come so that you do. So that we can be together in that perfect world."
"If it means saving you, then I'll never die," Mighty promised with a stern look. "This isn't like you, Crush."
"Hope really changes a person," she replied quietly, and then jumped back through a purple vortex. "I'll see you around."
"Wait!"
Suddenly the vortex dispersed, leaving the confused armadillo alone.
Location: Memorial Lake, Outside Capital City – 12:25 pm
Within the rock chamber Amy swung her hammer with all her might, only for it to be caught within the bear's fist, which had grown to unnatural sizes. The bear snickered and swung Amy around into the wall, causing it to crack. Amy groaned and rolled along the side of the chamber onto the ground, leaving Cream and Cheese to fight for themselves. A brilliant blue light suddenly wrapped around Cheese, and Cream quickly pointed towards the bear, creating a beam of golden light from her fingertip. Cheese flashed across the chamber, smashing into Gaia like a wrecking ball. Grunting and stumbling, the bear smashed into his own prison, crushing the far wall and allowing the sunlight to beam in. Another beam of light landed on the bear, and once again Cheese smashed into him with even more force than before. Clusters of rock had begun to chip away, revealing his real body. With each destructive hit, Cream walked forwards, pressing the bear out into the light, and eventually close to the waters edge.
"One more hit, Cheese!" she exclaimed with a smile of determination.
The field of light surrounding the small chao suddenly expanded on impact with the bear, throwing him across the lake once again. However this time the field of light around Cheese shot out into a thin, rotating beam of energy after Gaia. As the bear collided with the rock on the opposite end of the lake, the beam of light collided with bear, vaporizing the cliff and pushing the bear through a cluster of pine trees. Wood and rock shot every which way, until finally the blast spun and died out, leaving a trail of steam in its path. With a cheer, Cream hugged her chao to congratulate him, and then ran back to the crumbling rock prison to retrieve Amy.
"C'mon, Amy," Cream pleaded, dragging the rosette hedgehog to her feet. "We can get out of here now, I think that big guy is out for now!"
"Good job, Cream!" Amy smiled, earning a disgruntled chirp from Cheese. "And you too, Cheese!"
As the exhausted friends began to hurriedly move towards the Cliffside, a wall of rock shot upwards in their path. The two stumbled backwards, avoiding two huge arms reaching from the wall, followed by Gaia. He chuckled madly, his cloak completely burnt off, revealing his forest green fur. Along his chest and arms jagged, black markings moved across to his back and neck. His fur on his head dangled over his eyes, keeping them covered, while three glistening gemstones embedded in his forearms began to glow.
Once again Cheese smashed into the bear with a mighty burst of light, knocking the attacker into a rotating portal of purple light which had materialized behind him. As he fell through the rippling vortex, it spun to a close, leaving the two girls in the silence.
"Let's get out of here before ugly comes back!" Amy reasoned with a sigh.
"Grab on, I'll fly up!" Cream explained with a smile, and using her ear she began flying upwards along the Cliffside. "Keep an eye out for Mighty!"
As the duo ascended closer to the edge where the train had toppled over on, they found Mighty rested against a tree, resting his eyes. Water dripped off of every inch of his body, leaving the ground around him completely soaked. As Cream and Amy drew closer, he peered up at his teammates, and jumped to his feet, waving them down.
"Grab my hand, Mighty!" Amy exclaimed, reaching for him.
With a nod, Mighty jumped just in time to grasp the hedgehog's hand, Cream gently bouncing down from the sudden addition, but easily regained altitude and made their way to the city.
Location: Above Capital City – 1:00 pm
Alarms sounded across the entire city, while citizens fled the heart of the metropolis. Cars honked desperately, trying to make their way onto the freeway that led out of the bustling capital. However many times the nation built up their cities, they seemed to be torn down just as quickly. Watching with a heavy heart, Sonic grit his teeth angrily. It looked like the world was ending down there, and he couldn't do anything to help them! His gloves strained from his balled fist as he darted his eyes over to Tails.
"Yo!" he called above the powerful turbulence. "We should split up! It looks like people might need help down there fighting off those ugly monsters! We can't let them win."
With a nod of approval, Tails tossed Sonic the Chaos Emerald from the console of the plane. "Call us just in case you need help! The Chaos Emerald should lead you to the other one if its been taken already!"
Giving a thumb up to signal Tails he had heard everything, the blue blur jumped to his feet, causing the plane to sway gently. Inhaling as much air as possible, he calmed his nerves, allowing the adrenaline to pump through his body, giving him the rush he needed. As he exhaled, Sonic bounded off of the wing and began free falling through the clouds, the wind screaming past him. With the city streets expanding into view at a rapid pace, the blue hero rolled into a homing attack allowing him to bolt from the sky and onto the roof of an office building. Pebbles bounced from his impact on the cement, and then bounced once more from the sheer force of the sonic boom given off by his dash down the side of the building.
His sneakers squeaked against the glass of the building, his surroundings blurring together into a blur of color. As he bounded away from the skyscraper, a horde of the creatures he had encountered before came into view. Smirking with confidence, Sonic heaved his arm back and spread his palm open, once again forming a shifting, spinning ball of energy. A streak of sky blue light filled the air as Sonic shot towards the leader of the group, smashing the vicious attack into its chest. As a rotating, expanding sphere of light erupted from the impact, Sonic bounded upwards from the gust of wind, readying a secondary blow for the hundreds of monsters running towards him.
Had the gates of hell opened?
"Come get some!" Sonic bellowed over their cries, smashing the attack into the pavement within the horde.
A ferocious hemisphere of light shot outwards around Sonic, tearing apart and throwing the beasts. A storm of black sparks spiraled upwards from the sudden destruction of the monsters. Sonic shot from within the dispersing cloud, faced with another group, but this time a larger, more brawny beast trotted behind them. The blue blur skid to a stop, smoke spiraling up behind him from the friction of his shoes on the pavement.
"Woah," he muttered in awe at the sheer size of the new creature.
Its arms resembled hammers, as it had no fingers whatsoever. Its head curved down from a singular horn, while its face resembled a skull with two hollow, glowing purple eyes in the eyeholes. The beast bellowed, its spiked tail swaying behind as it smashed its hammer-like arms against the ground. The cement seemed to tremor and ripple as though it were water, knocking away a cluster of its smaller comrades. Acting like lightning, Sonic rolled to the right, avoiding a vicious beam of light. The beam shot upwards away from the cement, creating a trench down the street. Cars exploded from being hit in the distance, while the beast hollered and began to charge at Sonic.
Darting his green eyes over to the beast, the blue hero cringed at the sight of a large, secondary mouth within its belly, eating up the smaller pawns. However, a purple vortex spun open above a burning eighteen-wheel truck. From within the rippling portal, a cloaked figure stepped out onto the long vehicle, stretching their arms while fire danced at their feet. Recognizing this person near immediately, Sonic bolted from his spot, narrowly avoiding the behemoth's crippling hammer-arm blow. Blue wind spun outwards from Sonic as a wall of fire shot upwards from the two fighters hands colliding in a grappling motion. Sonic could see a playful smirk crawl across Gantz' face within the cloak just before he spun his arms around, throwing Sonic off of the semi. In a dazzling display of flame and acrobatics, Gantz flipped off of the truck and swept his leg downwards, striking only the head of one of his group's pawns.
"You again, eh?" Sonic called out from a couple yards away. "What's with you and your buddies attacking big, unarmed cities, pal?"
"It was bait," Gantz remarked while chuckling, and pulled his hood off. Messy, pale orange fur fluttered on his head, resembling a punkish style look. A pair of goggles fit snug against his forehead, his white tipped ears poking from behind the black goggles. However something frightened Sonic about this man; his deep, ruby eyes lacked all emotion and life. Though brilliantly colored, they seemed dead to compassion, lazy and hollow.
"What do you mean?" Sonic retorted with a frightened tone.
"You know," he replied casually, smirking and bearing his teeth. "A distraction? We knew you'd come if we attacked, and that's precisely what we did. However, this is yet another distraction! Try as you might to flee, I gotta mission. Do you want to know what it is? I'll tell you anyway! It's to keep you here."
The calm, collected voice of the man in front of Sonic slowly began to distort, laughter lacing his words. Sonic backed away from the approaching attacker, his eyes caught by the dead, ruby orbs staring into his soul. If it was a fight he wanted, then it was up to Sonic to suck up his fear and protect the city from anything! It was his duty after all. People depended on him.
"Well I have a mission, too," Sonic retorted, stopping in the middle of a barren four-way intersection. Above him, the swaying traffic light flashed to red. "And that's to protect anyone who needs me! It's people like you who give me work. And as long as there's evil, I'll be there to snuff it out!"
With peaked interest, the tanuki stopped at the line where cars would usually wait for the green light. His thick, red, orange and white tail swayed in thought. "But how do you define evil? We haven't killed anyone directly – and our lackeys simply scare everyone off. It's the panicky actions of fleeing civilians that create casualties, such as accidents and car crashes. After that, our pawns simply feed off the dead. If you call us evil, for simply vacating a metropolis, then what does that make you?"
Growing silent, Sonic found himself short of words.
"If you call yourself a hero," Gantz remarked with a snicker. "Then why are you killing, and fighting? You're no better – if not worse – than us at this point."
With a gentle breeze, the traffic light flickered over to green just as Sonic closed the distance between him and the relaxed figure in the blink of an eye. A powerful gust of wind shot upwards from the sudden movement, blowing the suspended traffic light every which way. Flames once again flickered outward, scorching Sonic's hand mid punch. The blue hero, ignoring the pain, ducked down to avoid a deadly punch. However, as the fist grazed his ears, a pillar of flame exploded around Gantz, throwing the blue hero across the pavement and into an office building down the street.
Fire suddenly shot up into the sky in vortex, as Gantz teleported in a puff of flame in front of the recovering hedgehog. Like a striking snake, Gantz snapped his arm out, grappling the hero's throat within his hand. His hollow eyes locked onto Sonic's pain ridden face as he lifted the struggling hero off the ground.
"Before all this I was a soldier," the tanuki explained, his voice echoing in the silence of the street. Debris crumbled off the cement office building, as the wind blew gently, sweeping his cloak to the side slightly. "I fought for peace, just like you do. I had a family. Friends. I eliminated threats to the free world, and got paid for it. Someone had to do the dirty work. Now, I'm no pacifist, and believe me, I'd smother the life out of you without a second glance, but I do believe the world is in ruins. You may not see it, but there's corruption. It's hiding in the darkness like a predator. We're victim to it, and it exists within the very government you strive to protect. We're the same, Sonic."
A vicious grin spread over his face, his eyes lighting up with a brief spark of life. Sonic sputtered and choked against the fire manipulators vice like grip, prying at the man's hand. "We're nothing alike! You guys are criminals!"
"But are we?" he retorted with a questioning tone. "The Chaos Emeralds don't belong to anyone. They're gifts to those who know how to use them. Our leader - our savior - he has big plans for this world, hedgehog. You can't even begin to comprehend them in your current state of mind. You see, we're all his followers. We're enlightened. Each of us was promised something unique, yet something alike. We'll be his chosen ones amongst the ashes of the old, as he builds up a new, perfect nation under his control."
"Sounds…boring!" Sonic sputtered, energy beginning to rotate within his hand. "I enjoy free will, pal. You have no right…to mess with … it!" Sonic struggled his hand still prying to release his throat.
"But look what free will's brought you," Gantz retorted swiftly. "You have war, terrorists and poverty."
"The world is capable of change without freaks like you!" Sonic hollered, heaving a spinning orb of energy into the tanuki's gut.
The attack rotated and expanded dangerously, sending the cloaked attacker tumbling across the pavement. Sonic dropped to the ground and immediately collapsed to his knees, heaving in air as if it were his last breaths. The blue hero gasped and held his head low, recovering. He darted his eyes across to the tanuki who had stood back up once again. His cloak fluttered in the wind, as a charred hole smoked slightly. Wiping the wound gently, Gantz examined the dried blood on his clothing, dismissing it without a second thought.
"You'll have to do much better than that," he taunted calmly, a wide grin present on his face. "However, we'll meet another day. I've done my job."
"Wait!"
Before Sonic could react, a storming burst of vicious flame detonated like a bomb. Heat, light and power shook five city blocks. As the flame rose and consumed, smoke rose up into the sky, looming over the metropolis like a foreboding sign of destruction. Buildings were ablaze, smoldering and spewing smoke. Cars had exploded from the sheer intensity of the heat that had taken place, while the cement that made up the streets steamed, the temperature below the ground rising to incredible heights as well.
As the blast died out, retreating slowly to the spot Gantz once stood, it revealed lifelessness. Crackling embers lifted into the air from the charred vegetation within the radius of the blast, while vehicles lay overturned and damaged. Windows had been smashed in, while most buildings had been set on fire. Many of the office buildings lining the streets had chunks of vehicles or entire vehicles lodged in the walls. It was starting to look like the end of the world.
Location: The Whitehouse
With the departure of the three, lesser figures, Shadow was left with whom he assumed to be the leader. Something felt familiar about this man, like he had met him before. Shadow prepared a gleaming Chaos Spear in his fist, readying himself for the worst. The leader let out a heavy sigh of delight, laughing quietly behind the darkness of his hood. The cloaked figure strode closer to the military super-team, kicking away the dead bodies that blocked his path in the process. The blatant disrespect this man had for the dead disgusted Shadow. Finally the cloaked figure stood still, facing the trio with a quiet confidence.
Suddenly it Shadow full force. Now he knew whom this person was.
"Galaxy Seiryu?" Shadow muttered under his breath, shocked that such a respected military power would stoop to join the ranks of petty thieves.
An insane, quiet laugh filled the tense air of the office. The President struggled against the ties that bound his hands and legs, screaming behind the tape. "I'm impressed, Shadow," Galaxy snickered. "It seems that ever since you meddled in the affairs of the Seiryu kingdom, you haven't learnt to keep your nose in your own business."
"National security is fully my business," Shadow barked back calmly. "And as an agent of GUN, it's my job to serve and protect!"
Vowing his allegiance to that organization made his stomach churn. Shadow regained his composure, his eyes narrowing with anger.
"Protect what, agent?" Galaxy challenged with peaked interest. He drew closer to Shadow, purple and black specs of light beginning to flutter around the royal soldier. "You know just as well as I do that your government is corrupt. Are you protecting the lies the military and the President have steadily fed the world?"
"I see you, and your lackeys, as a threat," Shadow retorted calmly, Chaos energy building around his body. "Though the government may be corrupt as you suggest, the nation whom it brainwashes are innocent. I made a promise to protect this planet, and I will never break that promise."
"You speak bold words, Shadow," snickered Galaxy, the specs of light pulsing and vibrating around him violently. "But do you have the power to back them up? You're planet was given an era of peace, as a chance to correct its errors. He is coming, and he will bring us salvation, Shadow."
With an uncontained laughter emanating from behind the ominous darkness of the cloak, the specs in the air expanded with such a rapid pace they exploded. The dark hedgehog grunted, and quickly summoned a barrier of Chaos Energy to protect both the vulnerable President, and his oblivious teammates. Violent, clashing waves of dark energy clashed with the dancing, shifting energy of which Shadow generated. The smoke like aura of Galaxy washed across the Chaos Energy barrier, as it swallowed up the entire office like a monster from the depths of hell. Light had been soaked up, and as everything grew still, the blackness swirled outwards in one swift, ferocious movement, the walls of the office blew apart.
Chunks of cement, marble and glass darted from the impact, raining down on the vegetation making up the central garden around the White House. Dark, smoke like energy cascaded over the sides of the building, washing over everything that was alive or had once been. Clouds swirled inwards around the sun, blotting it out in an apocalyptic darkness. Thunder cracked, shaking the foundations of the barely standing White House, as lightning flashed down to the ground. The wind roared, as rain and hail pounded the planet.
"Armageddon isn't set in stone. As a species, we have experienced many encounters with this beast, and have prevailed through bravery and determination of survival." ~ Romulus Errago - Spagonian Philosopher, 16th Century
To Be Continued