Violet Dreams

Part II

Chapter 33: Massacre

"He who lives by darkness, becomes darkness."

Location: GUN Central HQ, United Federations

Four soldiers ran through the red flashing hallway, their rifles ready for anything that came their way. Down the corridor they could hear their comrades being murdered. Their screams were horrific. One by one, they counted as a whole squad became bloodied corpses. The group of soldiers crouched down behind the scrap parts of several sentry bots, their rifles at the ready. The commanding officer took in a deep breath, the quiet click of the intruders boots bouncing off the walls. Signalling his men to move forwards to additional cover, ready to attack, Commanding Officer Garcia inhaled once again and moved to the edge of his cover. Counting down from ten, images of his wife and child flashed through his mind as tears dripped down his cheeks.

His countdown reached one, and the four soldiers popped up from behind their cover. Bullets sprayed and ricocheted off the white-titanium walls, while two of Garcia's soldiers toppled backwards. Sparing just a glance to note their causes of death, his stomach churned at the sight. Two wooden beams had severed each of their heads, leaving them decapitated. Forcing the nausea from his focus, he continued to fire off his ammunition. Finally he and the remaining soldier ducked down, just in time to avoid the flaming parts of GUN Beetles flying their way. Reloading his assault rifle, Garcia quickly unclasped a frag grenade from his vest, and pulled the pin. Signalling to his remaining soldier to beware, he tossed the grenade over the cover. He quickly ducked back down, awaiting the explosion.

Five seconds passed, and nothing came.

Then, a portal opened up in the space between the two soldiers, and from within two tendrils of black energy whipped through. Wide, brown eyes watched as the first tendril shot through his torso, pinning his body up against the wall. Across from him, his partner had already had his limbs pulled from his body which was then pulled into the portal. Saying his last goodbyes, Garcia closed his eyes, whispering his love towards his family. A flash of light surrounded him, and an agonizing burst of pain ensued.

Galaxy appeared from the portal as the tendril sucked the limbless body of Garcia through. Blood splashed across his face, his smirk gleaming in the red flash of the warning lights in the building. The royal soldier continued up towards the exit to the outside grounds of the base, where he suspected there to be an entire fleet ready to stop him.

Well, try.

"Is this the best they can do?" Galaxy asked aloud, laughing afterwards.

Six, swaying black tendrils of energy floated upwards from his back, ready to kill anything in his way. Indigo eyes scanned across the first gate, noticing the fleet of soldiers behind the many bunkers that had been set up. A devious smirk crawled across his lips, as the tendrils dispersed into a cloud of sparkling black specs of light. The luminescent lights in the large entrance gate suddenly flashed off, as glass fell to the ground. Muzzle flashes lit up through the darkness, as panicked soldiers fired their weapons in hopes to kill the cat. Bullets sailed through the air towards and around him, arms of black energy swatted at the ammunition, either catching it or knocking it away.

"Ready Dragoon rounds," one soldier shouted, and a heavy stomp of soldiers drew closer to Galaxy.

Turning his attention towards the group of six that had moved up, Galaxy outstretched his hand, commanding the storm of black specs crawling across the ground to explode upwards. Like bugs, the specs swarmed up the legs of the soldiers, eventually over taking their entire bodies. An insane laughter echoed throughout the hangar like entryway, and Galaxy clasped his hand into a tight fist, motioning for the specs of dark energy to crush his victims. Blood splattered into pools on the ground, as the waves of soldiers moved back, firing off heavier rounds.

"Having fun yet?" Galaxy shouted, dark energy spreading along the ground like water.

Suddenly the young leader shot both his hands up into the air, and spread them apart. Before him, and moving along with his actions, the storm of black specs covered the troops and smashed them against the wall. Screams of pain and fear echoed throughout the room, as guns dropped to the ground. Galaxy simply laughed as he asserted pressure to the bodies on the walls, crushing them down to a molecular level. Blood splashed along the white walls, as he walked down the centre and up to the gate.

On the outside he could hear tanks and heavily armoured vehicles being mobilized, as well as more of GUN's powerful sentry robots. Galaxy smirked viciously and walked forwards, his body phasing through the thick, titanium blast gate as a portal of violet opened up on the other side, allowing him to walk through.

"Target spotted," a soldier within a heavily armoured tank informed through the com system. "Engaging target now!"

Galaxy turned his attention towards the group of five tanks, each locking their cannons onto him. His smirk grew, and as the explosive ammunition erupted around him, the royal soldier jumped through the destruction. His cloak fluttered from the chaos surrounding him, and while he neared the first tank, a gigantic pillar of swarming dark particles erupted beneath it. The vehicle of war launched upwards, and Galaxy heaved his arm upwards, a spiralling, black hammer materializing off his fist. The hammer grew to the double the size of his target, and with a swift downwards motion, Galaxy brought the mallet down on the vehicle, crushing it into the ground. Fire and smoke erupted upwards from the impact, causing the hammer to disperse in a storm of particles once again.

Performing a series of flips, Galaxy jumped in between many of the attacking sentry robots, easily destroying them with single punches. His laughter grew more frequent, and as a fleet of Big Foot mechs marched towards the battle, the criminal leader howled out in laughter, as he swung his arms upwards. Waves of dark particles rippled in a circle, his body the epicentre. The waves grew more violent, until finally the particles washed across everything around him, allowing him to crush the troops like he did within the base. Blood stained the cement and dirt like dye, as parts of human and robotic bodies lay strewn across the battlefield.

Turning his attention towards the central tower, Galaxy could see the faint flare of crimson emanating from the fifth storey balcony, and he suspected Shadow had come out to play. A wide, fanged grinned spread across his face, and Galaxy lunged forwards through a portal. As he exited through the other side, the royal soldier spun around as he ducked beneath an energy sword wielding mech. The blade sliced through the ground, creating a line of flame and smouldering rock. Galaxy quickly cartwheeled out of the spin, and jumped into the air, unleashing a shock wave of dark energy from his body. As the burst of energy impacted the mech, its joints sparked, and it crumbled to the ground, the force of the blow flattening it under a layer of black particles.

Quickly twirling around as he touched ground once more, Galaxy grinned upwards at the stoic hedgehog. "I never break my promises, Shadow," he called out, laughing afterwards. "You're so convinced of the strength of the military, but look at it now? Nothing more than a few red stains and flaming parts of metal! Now why don't you surrender the Emeralds before you get hurt."

"Those Emeralds aren't of your concern," the dark hero replied casually. "Now if you don't give yourself up, I'll be forced to play rough."

"Is that a threat?" Galaxy retorted playfully, snickering as well. "Do you really think I'm afraid of you, Shadow?"

Remaining absolute and quiet, Shadow unfolded his arms. He moved his arms from a folded position, crimson and violet energy spun off his quills like fire. His eyes had begun to glow, and as the Green Chaos Emerald materialized in his hand, he disappeared in a flash of white light.

Galaxy smirked and threw his arms up to defend himself from Shadow, whom reappeared a split second later, his hand grappling around the cat's throat. Another flash of light whisked the two away, and in the distance a brilliant, crimson explosion tore apart the mountainside. From anyone looking on from the base, the blast seemed to be about the size of the moon if looking at it from the earth, but once close up, it was easily four hundred yards across. Chaos energy spun and churned, tearing apart at the rock and vegetation along the valley, with Galaxy and Shadow inside.

"Chaos..." Shadow growled, the red dome growing brighter. "Blast!"

With his final roar, the dome expanded wider, until finally collapsing into a powerful nuclear explosion. Chaos energy ripped apart a gaping hole in the side of the mountain and along the ground, as steam rose upwards from the sheer heat of the attack. The light suddenly died out, and the world became quiet from the rumbling explosion.

Standing quietly in the centre of the gigantic mark of destruction, Shadow watched the twitching body of Galaxy in front of him. The royal cat lay on the ground, arms and legs scorched off, bone and flesh sticking out from the wounds. Cries of agony echoed throughout the valley, and Shadow knew now victory was his.

However, a sickening laughter howled all around him, the body laying on the ground sinking into the dirt into a mound of black and purple particles. Shadow grunted in surprise, quickly regaining his composure just as Galaxy materialized out of the ground, a compact sphere of dark energy clutched in his palm. With a shrill scream of joy, Galaxy thrust the orb into Shadow, which in turn unleashed a vicious beam of purple light no thicker than a pop can.

The beam tore through the rocky and mountainous terrain, carrying Shadow with it. Finally it expanded outwards, just as the attack collided with the central tower of the base. The beam quickly dispersed, leaving Shadow in a crater embedded in the side of the building, but Galaxy hadn't let up quite yet. The moment the beam died out, the cat had materialized in front of Shadow, his right hand gripped around the hedgehogs throat, while another deadly sphere of black energy spun to life in his free hand. With widened eyes of delight, Galaxy cackled and thrust the orb down into Shadow. This time however, the orb simply exploded outwards in a shock-wave, levelling out the entire ten storey tower. A cloud of debris and rubble shot outwards in all directions, shrouding the base in a storm of smoke and dust.

Wind sailed across the devastated metropolis, slowly pushing the cloud of debris to the valley. Shadow lay in a small crater where the central tower once stood, a titanium chest laying half visible through the rubble. Galaxy clawed his way free from beneath a pile of boards and cement. Blood dripped from the numerous wounds across his chest and face, but he paid no mind to them. The dark cat stumbled through the wreckage towards the chest, and smashed it open. From within it, the Chaos Emerald rolled along the ground briefly before Galaxy claimed it as his.

Shadow stirred, his body feeling dead from the last attack. He groaned heavily, and clutched his chest. He had never felt this degree of pain before. Blood seeped past his fingers, and clotted his white chest fur. Despite his heavy injury, Shadow had a duty to carry through with. The dark hedgehog forced himself to his feet, dancing bolts of golden Chaos Energy appearing around his hand as he stumbled towards the oblivious Galaxy.

"Finally, I've won!" Galaxy shouted to the heavens, clutching the second Emerald as well. "No one on this planet can stop me now!"

Grunting and limping through the wreckage, Shadow raised his hand up towards Galaxy, the dancing energy intensifying and moving down to his hand.

"This marks the age of a new world!" Galaxy declared, his tail swaying in delight.

A flash of white light covered Shadow, and in the blink of an eye, his hand had shot through Galaxy's abdomen. Indigo eyes widened in disbelief and pain, as blood spilled onto the cement and dirt. Golden Chaos Energy danced across Shadow's arm briefly, until finally he ripped free of the intruder. Shadow stumbled briefly, and then toppled backgrounds onto the ground, losing consciousness. Galaxy staggered, pain ripping through his body like a knife.

He really had underestimated that one.

No matter. With the Emeralds in his possession, it was time to move onto the second part of Phase 1.

Galaxy spat up a mouthful of blood and saliva, and stumbled into a portal after one last glance at the hedgehog on the ground. Blood continued to drip in small puddles, until finally the cat disappeared, moments before reinforcements arrived at the obliterated base.

Location: Capital Mountain Range, Outside Capital City

From the sky, Tails descended down into the clearing with the Tornado transformed into its walker mode. Beside him, Amy, Cream and Mighty dropped down into the fight as well. Then, a brisk whirlwind spun throughout the trees. The wind picked up gradually, until finally Sonic appeared, Professor Pickle in hand as well. The blue warrior quickly jumped onto the Tornado, buckling the shocked Professor in, and resumed his position beside Knuckles.

"Nice to see you, Tails!" Pickle exclaimed in delight. "You wouldn't believe the treatment those hooligans had for me."

"Don't worry, Professor," Tails called out with a smile. "We'll get you back to the Workshop right away!"

"Go on ahead, bro," Sonic reassured with a thumbs up. "Knux and I will clean up here, then get the Master Emerald!"

"But, Sonic we came to help!" Amy piped up angrily.

Turning his attention towards Amy with a warm smile, Sonic winked playfully. "We got this. You three make sure Tails gets the Professor back to the Workship in one piece, alright?"

Sighing, Amy gave a forced nod and together with Cream and Mighty resumed her spot on the Tornado as it flew off into the sky. The group of the cloaked figures watched as their hostage escaped, but paid no mind to it. From within the group, Surge stepped forwards, clapping.

"I see you've taken our bait," he remarked, just as two portals opened up behind Sonic and Knuckles.

From within the swirling portals two tendrils of energy slung around their bodies, and tugged them backwards. The portals quickly swirled inwards, swallowing the two heroes up, also allowing the five cloaked figures to disappear in the same portals.

Location: Unknown

Darkness surrounded them whichever way they looked. Each of them fought against the tight restraints binding their bodies to the wall. Everything was painfully quiet, and there was nothing around them providing any hopes of escape. The duo sighed in unison, each giving up with their struggles to free themselves of their bound arms and legs. They had been in this chamber, or what they guessed to be, for only God knew how long. Sonic had lost track of time long ago, but it felt like just moments ago since they were pulled into that strange gateway. He could hear Knuckles grunting and snorts of anger beside him, but tried to pay no attention to it. Wherever they were, they weren't getting out anytime soon. Or that's what he felt anyway. The blue hero sighed, and shut his eyes, finding it pointless to have them open when he couldn't see anything regardless. But then a faint light caught his attention in the distance, and judging from the echo of the footsteps, Sonic guessed they were in a cave or prison of some sort. His ear twitched at the sound of water dripping onto the rock floor, creating an echo along with the footsteps.

He attempted to talk, but nothing came out. What was going on?

The breathing of which he assumed to be Knuckles shifted in front of him, and suddenly two purple orbs of vision appeared in the dark. Startled, the blue hero jumped against the restraints.

He recognized those eyes.

Two, faintly glowing horns formed slightly above and beside the two eyes, and from then on Sonic knew where he was. Sort of. He didn't quite know where he was, but he had been here before. The blue hero struggled against the bindings on his wrists, as the heavy breathing turned to laughter. The horn sliced through the surface behind Sonic's head, making him wonder whether this beast was very powerful, or the surface behind him was very fragile. He guessed it was the first option, much to his displeasure.

The beast laughed once more, two hands gripping his shoulders like a vicegrip.

"It's been a long time, Sonic," the beast remarked quietly. "Remember me?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. It's hard to forget an ugly thing such as yourself," Sonic quipped, earning a snarl of annoyance.

"Cocky as usual, I see," it noted. "Why do you insist on locking me away? Tell me, do you really believe you can win alone?"

"I do, actually," Sonic snorted. "I've been learning to rely more on my own abilities since you killed Eggman, and I've come a long way. But what makes me curious, is why you've come back?"

The beast snickered deviously, its voice echoing in the cavern. "Because I felt that familiar presence."

"What?"

"Of Polaris, it awakened me last time," it recalled, chuckling gently. "I wasn't sure if someone had awakened that ugly bastard again, or if I was being fooled."

"Well, in case you didn't know, ol' bird brains got fried on the sun." Sonic smirked.

"You know nothing, boy," the beast snarled, grasping Sonic's throat tightly. "I can feel that presence grow, and grow. In time I'll awaken in you again, but no longer will I be defiled by you."

Then, everything flashed a brilliant gold, and Sonic's vision turned to white. His senses became numb, and the world faded to a dull grey. All around him, torches briefly lit up a small cavern. Water dripped from the ceiling, and beside him Knuckles had taken it upon himself to try and wake the blue hedgehog by shaking him. Slowly he came to his senses, and the blue hero groaned, shaking his head. The blue blur sat up, rubbing his forehead.

"What happened back there?" he groaned in confusion.

"I'm not sure, Sonic," Knuckles explained, turning his attention to the opening in the cave. "But we should get moving. Something tells me we shouldn't spend too much time in here."

"An age of war can be used to create peace, assuming the right circumstances have taken place. A leader controls the outcome, be it through bloodshed or love." ~ Xander Voltaire – Coruscus Movement Follower, 2008

To Be Continued