Violet Dreams
Part II
Chapter 41: Memento Mori
"A journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step."
Location: Spagonia – 6:45 PM
Lightning flashed across the sky, giving the storm clouds above Spagonia a hellish glow. The thunder that followed each bolt of lightning seemed to shake everything, even slightly disturbing Tails' hold on the Tornado. In the passenger seat, Professor Pickle kept a sturdy hand rested on the top hat keeping his grey hair swept back. Again the thunder cracked amidst the clouds, and Tails fought against the controls of his plane, eagerly trying to bring the biplane to a lower altitude. Below them, sounds of gunfire and cannons accompanied the storm, adding to the chaos found across the planet.
"Any idea where we're going, lad?" the Professor called, glancing at the horde of Dusk beast flying ahead of them. "It seems as though these terrorists have waged war on a worldwide scale! Quite the set of trouble makers, I must admit."
"The journal entry that Doctor Eggman left in his base out at Mazuri said he had kept a stronghold just outside Spagonian city limits. I've scanned the area for heat signatures, and the mountain range to the north came back with the biggest readings," Tails replied, trying to overcome the chaotic noise around them.
"You mustn't forget that two-thirds of Spagonia's major tech facilities are stationed out there. Are you certain you found the correct location?" Pickle called in concern.
"Positive! Doctor Eggman is the only man to use that much Chaos energy in his work," the young fox reassured. "Plus it's underground, meaning he has something to hide."
"Impressive, but you may want to watch out for those beasts flying ahead! They don't look like they're up to any good, lad!"
Glancing ahead, the young fox noticed the swarm of creatures had dipped down from the clouds, and begun swooping down into the mountain range. Curious as to why they were headed the same direction, the young fox dropped altitude and followed behind, his thumbs hovering over the triggers of the Tornado's cannons, just in case. The sounds of war had quickly become more and more distant, soon becoming just a faint echo. But the booming thunder and deafening wind had remained all the same. Watching the creatures swoop down through the trees, Tails pulled the plane upwards, flying overhead. The young fox glanced over the side of the plane, watching them land within the thick forest.
"They've landed near Eggman's base," Tails noted with a suspicious look. "I'm gonna bring the plane down in the field we passed just a second ago. Hold on!"
Pulling back on the controls, the Tornado veered upwards and flew around in a loop. Then, as the young fox righted the biplane, it swung around in a corkscrew, until finally it's main thruster powered off, leaving the propeller to pull the plane. Straightening the plane, Tails eased back on the thrust and then landed, using a parachute to slow the Tornado down faster than the brakes would alone. Once the aircraft had been powered down, Tails grabbed the keys and stuffed them in the vest he usually wore whilst flying, and took his helmet off.
"It's just through those tree's over there, Professor," the young fox informed, pointing to a section where the vegetation had been demolished. "Then there should be a tunnel or something leading down to the base."
"Let's not waste anymore time, then!" With a reassured nod from the Professor, Tails twirled his namesakes and grabbed hold of his comrade, hoisting him into the air.
The grass swayed with each gust of wind, and the rain had all but disappeared by the time they entered the forest. Any animal life that may have existed before had now retreated from the war torn city not too far away, leaving the innards of the forest silent. Before long, the duo had come up to another clearing, where a man clad in a white cloak stood in front of the swarm of creatures. Fortunately, their backs were turned to them – but Tails noticed that the leader was searching for something. Proving his theory correct, the ground began to tremor, and from it an elevator door extended upwards, opening up for the cloaked man.
"I think they're searching for some of Doctor Robotnik's old robots for extra man power..." Tails guessed, growing scared of the possibility of an even greater military force fighting against the world. "We better hurry and find whatever it is Eggman was hiding before they do!"
The duo rushed from their hiding spot the second they realized the swarm of beasts ascended back to the sky, pulling the cloaked figure with them. Noticing the elevator had begun to sink back into the ground, Tails activated his Mach Cannon, allowing him to shoot a pulse of electricity to halt the doors motors. The Professor stumbled into the elevator, while Tails slid in after him, just as the doors slammed to a shut. Before the young fox could regain his footing, the elevator car fell to the depths of the earth. The floor numbers, shaped as Eggman's face, lit up at a rapid pace, when suddenly a ding sounded, and they were let free. Faint lighting lit up the small laboratory, illuminating the scattered notebooks, papers and schematics. Tails looked in awe at the various models of Metal Sonic, Metal Knuckles and his EggMobile hung up around the shop, as well as all the computers. Slowly the duo made their way to the central chair.
"Looks like he spent a lot of time in here," Tails noted. "It's in the same shape as the base we found in Mazuri..."
The young fox yelped, jumping away from a computer as it flashed to life. Rows of code and file names exploded onto the screen in a scrolling fashion, and then turned black. However, four screens fixated on the wall in front of the central chair turned on, revealing, at first, a static ridden image of Doctor Eggman.
"Greetings," he muttered past a cough, sounding sickly. "If you're watching this, I'm long past deceased. These logs are being recorded in order to leave a memento of my genius for you. By now, I'm sure you've found out your purpose, as well as what has happened to me. That blasted hedgehog will have squashed my plans again. He'll have easily destroyed the Death Egg IV faster than I could have initiated it's weapon. Now it's all up to you. There's a panel under my chair that opens up a subterranean pathway. At the end of it, you'll find the machine that was equipped to the Death Egg, but at a much smaller size, and capacity. One Chaos Emerald will be enough to power, allowing it to drain the life of one continent, assuming the Twilight Key has been taken from that area. Once you've accomplished this, I've left another guide in ... Apotos. Yes. There's a map with the Planet Eater. Farewell."
Watching in astonishment, Tails stared at the Egg Insignia for a moment, until finally Professor Pickle laid a hand on his shoulder, breaking him from his trance. "I've found the trigger, lad. I'm no tech-savvy old man, but I do know that if we don't retrieve that machine, we'll have no hope of stopping this war."
"Right, let's go." Tails nodded, and the duo walked into the descending chamber.
As they walked, the steps lit up with alternating red, orange and yellow LED lights. Then, after five minutes of walking, they came to a rectangular room. Which happened to also be empty.
"Wait... there's nothing here!" Tails shouted in frustration. "How did they get down here, and leave, without us seeing?"
"Perhaps whoever those videos were meant for got here long before we did," Professor Pickle suggested, stroking his chin. "It looks like they were here quite awhile ago, too, judging by the amount of dust."
The young fox sunk to his knees, despair falling over him. Slamming his fist against the ground, the fox bit his lip and stared at his communicator, as he awaited Sonic's answer.
Location: Downtown Station Square – 6:45 PM
The cries of fighting soldiers, explosions and gunshots filled the city. Chaos had broken out entirely, quickly consuming the city in it's clutches. Battle equipped machines tore through the streets, crushing vehicles and debris in their way, while combating the demonic creatures sent by Dusk. Ash and dust hung heavy in the sky, allowing little to no sunlight through to the world. Sonic's quills wavered in the gentle gust, as he and Mighty watched Crush approach them. The barrier she had created begun to expand, freezing the ground within. Tears steadily dripped down her cheeks, while her hands lifted out in front of her as she readied herself for battle. Noticing the pained expression on his friend's face, Sonic placed a hand on Mighty's shoulder, attempting to reassure him.
Glancing towards his comrade, Mighty nodded, flashing a smile. "Go and stop that machine up there," the armadillo instructed, turning his attention up to the war torn clock tower. "I have a bad feeling about it! This place doesn't feel as alive as usual..."
"Good luck." Sonic grinned, speeding off towards the clock tower.
White energy slowly started to radiate off of the armadillo's fists. Taking in a deep breath, he shut his eyes and focused on everything around him, trying to push away his uncertainty and sorrow. The white light intensified, when suddenly the earth started to break apart around him, allowing plant life to start seeping through.
"I'll give you one more chance, Mighty," Crush warned, wiping the tears from her eyes.
Taking her friend's silence as the answer, the barrier around the fox suddenly dropped. Water splashed every which way, and Crush dashed towards the traveller. Reeling her fist back, the Dusk agent thrust it forwards, but Mighty stepped to the right, his footstep summoning a vine to wrap around the girl's wrist. With a scowl, Crush quickly froze the plant and broke free, only to swing another fist towards the armadillo. Once more, the traveller stepped back, avoiding the strike. His arms had now risen up to guard his face, giving him the form of a boxer. The young girl roared and thrust another fist towards Mighty, but the armadillo brushed it off with the back off his hand, and then slammed a palm against her stomach. A burst of white light shot out of her back, sending her sliding away.
Crush coughed violently from the hit, holding the place of impact. A blue light surrounded her touch, and the wound disappeared. Mighty gasped, his eyes growing wide in surprise. The fox quickly returned to her assault, but this time much more viciously. The girl stamped her foot on the ground, creating a slicing jet of water. The blade tore apart the cement as it raced towards the armadillo, but Mighty quickly rolled to the left, allowing the attack to collide with a fleet of GUN sentry robots. Crush then swung her arm upwards in a crescent motion, unleashing another sharp blade of water. Mighty grunted and fell to his knees at the sight of the attack, his palm planted firmly on the ground.
"What?"
The young girl growled, watching as a wall of wood thrust upwards from the earth. The water collided with the defensive attack, creating a burst of mist. Mighty then punched through his barrier and leaped towards his former comrade. Vines had begun crawling along the ground, following after the armadillo in close pursuit. Crush quickly swung each of her arms upwards in a fluid motion, creating a geyser from the earth. Mighty yelped and shot up into the sky, twirling in violent circles from the hit. A blast of water exploded beneath Crush, propelling her into the sky after the armadillo, allowing her to grab his ankle. With a quick spin midair, Crush threw her foe into the building closest to her, and then formed a fist and punched the air. From her hand a wave of frozen water splashed out onto Mighty, freezing him to the wall.
"I'm starting to regret something, Mighty," Crush remarked viciously, walking up a staircase of ice panels. "Would you like to know what it is?"
The armadillo grunted, watching her draw closer. "I'll assume it's something to do with me?"
"Ooh, what gave it away?" Crush retorted, pretending to pout. A final platform of ice rose up just in front of Mighty, with Crush standing atop of it. "I'm regretting ever meeting you. I thought you were reliable, and most of all, you had me believing you cared."
Hearing these harsh words, Mighty's grimaced. "But, Crush, I do care. I care enough to know this will only end badly for you! These people are using you as a tool, just to see their goals succeed! Why can't you see that?"
The scowl receded, being replaced with a neutral gaze. Blue eyes scanned her former comrade's face, searching for any hint of truth there may be in his words. Deep down, she knew he was partially right. That she really was just a small segment to the intricate puzzle that Dusk was made up of. She knew that she'd be forgotten in the grand scheme of things. But, she had to try. That's all she could do from here on out – is try. Everyone needed something to believe in; be it a God, family, religion.
Her hope lie in her leader.
"Get away from me," Crush muttered, jumping down from her platform. As her boots touched the ground, the ice turned to water, and the moisture in the area had finally been released from her will.
The young traveller stumbled to the ground, only to lean on his knee while he watched her walk away. "That offer is gonna be up for grabs for as long you need it, Crush."
Stopping momentarily to listen his words, the young girl wiped her eyes and walked through a violet portal. Her tail swished through the rotating light, just as Sonic zipped to his ally's side, helping him to his feet. The concerned words of Sonic simply faded against the thoughts swarming his mind. If he had to, he'd give his life to save her, and that was a promise he was willing to keep. The blue hero hoisted Mighty around his shoulder, glancing at the armadillo wearily.
The sound of static cut through the artillery in the background, and Sonic brought the communicator to his mouth. "Whatsup, Tails?"
"I think we're in a lot of trouble, Sonic," the young fox informed, dread lining his words.
Location: GUN Central Command, Empire City
Both Shadow and Gaia tumbled out of the portal, while the sand that the bear had been controlling washed over them. The dark hedgehog quickly jumped to his feet, and lunged at the slowly recovering Dusk agent. Shadow wrapped his hands around the bear's throat, thrusting the timid man back to the grass, clawing at the hedgehog's grip. Gaia grunted and sputtered, desperately trying to free himself, when, much to his delight, Galaxy appeared before them. Kicking Shadow in the face, Galaxy stepped beside his soldier, watching the black hedgehog writhe in pain from the hit.
"GUN must've really pissed you off, Shadow," the indigo cat remarked, crouching beside the former soldier. "You sure made quick work of those soldiers back in Station Square. What happened to your patriotism? What happened to fighting to protect the innocent? I'm sure those soldiers were just there because it was their job, yet you didn't waste any time murdering them."
"Shut your mouth!" the angry hedgehog barked, swinging his fist up, attempting to hit the cat.
Unfortunately, Galaxy caught the attack with much more ease than the rogue soldier had hoped. "Seems I've struck a chord in you. Since you went to Station Square after leaving GUN, I'm going to take a stab in the dark and assume you were trying to find the Chaos Emeralds? Or, perhaps... it was me you were looking for?"
"You're right, I was looking for you." Shadow scowled dangerously, energy once more smoking off his body. "Only to choke the life out of you and get Rouge back."
"Keh, I never would've expected you to be the heroic type." Galaxy sniggered, walking around the kneeling hedgehog. "I really could benefit from keeping her, but I've also been run thin without Athana. Fine, if you break into the HQ down in the valley and retrieve Athana, I'll trade you. Give me my agent for your girlfriend. Sound fair?"
Glaring up at the cloaked cat, Shadow stood back to his feet, watching as Gaia lumbered through the portal, leaving Galaxy behind. "Athana will teleport you to our base once you've found her. But judging by the Commander's words sent back by Metal Sonic, I doubt she'll last long. You'd best hurry, dear Shadow!"
The dark hedgehog growled and warped away from the grassy hill, and into the base. Two soldiers walked past the crate of ammunition he hid behind, obviously guarding the new shipment of Dragoon rounds the military had been working on. Shadow shut his eyes to concentrate, honing in on the small traces of Chaos Energy within their bodies, allowing him to infuse his own into theirs. In turn, the dark hedgehog pulled his arm back, creating a storm of miniscule Chaos Spears within their bodies. The guards yelped and gasped, blood dripping from their mouths as they dropped to the ground like electrocuted flies. Shadow jumped over the boxes of ammunition and skated towards the doors of the weapons bunker, aware that it led into the main corridors. His ear flickered, hearing the unanswered calls coming from the dead soldiers communicators. As the door slid open, a single GUN beetle hovered past, unaware of Shadow, who pressed up against the wall.
Using the time to escape, the dark hedgehog darted down the corridor, eager to get to his target as soon as possible. Alarms suddenly begun to blare throughout the base, signalling the remaining soldiers within of the intrusion. Shadow realized that the Beetle had surveyed the dead soldiers, and relayed an emergency message back to all the soldiers. Rounding a corner, a group of three men came running towards him, rifles at the ready. But they proved to be no match, as Shadow quickly disposed of them, throwing them brutally against the walls. Bones cracked from the impacts and the dark hedgehog continued forth. Coming to a stop in front of a descending stair case, the dark hedgehog surveyed the troops at the foot of the stairs.
Twenty men, each armed with beefed up armour and speciality rifles, led by a young woman. From what he could make out, she was a dove, with a black beak – unusual for her species. Her stern and serious silver eyes stared up at the rogue soldier. As she unfolded her arms, Shadow noticed the unusual piece of equipment gripped in her black, GUN gloves. Was that a paint brush?
"Surrender to the order of GUN, or extreme force will be induced," the young dove hollered. "You are a suspect under violation of Act 4 of the GUN agent vow. Commander Shrike has ordered for you to be captured dead or alive."
"Seems as though I've pissed him off..." Shadow thought to himself, crimson energy collecting around his fingers.
"You have five seconds!" The sounds of rifles cocking filled the hallway, as twenty laser sights fixated on Shadows body. "Five!"
The energy gathering around the black hedgehog's digits begun to expand, proceeding up his forearm, and then crawling along his bicep.
"Four! Ready your weapons, men!"
Smoking, violet energy rolled off his quills, as he tensed his right arm and folded his hand into a tight fist.
Stepping back in defence, the young captain awaited the onslaught anxiously. "Three!"
Veins bulged around Shadows temples, his eyes starting to glow a hellish red. Energy had begun to steam off of his glowing hand like fire; his attack growing in power.
"Two!" Sweat dripped down her neck, uncertainty filling her thoughts. Fear.
The hallway had now become illuminated by the red glow of Shadow's attack, while the heat and force of the energy pressed against the company below.
"One!" she barked, adding ferocity to her voice to induce fear in the enemy, when in fact she was the one terrified. "Fire!"
Before the soldiers could pull the triggers, the room lit up like an inferno swept through the corridor. Twenty soldiers screamed as they rocketed backwards into the thick, titanium doors housing the hostage. Bones cracked and shattered from the impacts, but that was just the start. Waves of energy pressed the soldiers against the doors, holding them in place while the dark hedgehog walked towards them. Then, in a flash of light, everything ceased for a split second, until Shadow reappeared in front of one of the soldiers, his hand gripped around their throat firmly.
"Chaos...BLAST!"
A concussive force unseen by any of the soldiers rocked the hallway, vaporizing the men in an instant. The burst of crimson and white energy tore apart the corridor, while also throwing the leading woman up the staircase and through a window. Glass surrounded her as she slid into the courtyard, watching the blazing attack rip away at the cement and titanium that made up the base. She could hear the faint screams of her comrades, which brought tears to her eyes. Her heart pounded against her chest, horrified of the sheer power this monster displayed.
Everything then ceased. She scrambled to her feet and bounded through the hole in the hallway to gain a look at what happened. Smoke filtered through the cracks along the walls, while more billowed out of the hole that the doors once occupied. Bolts of crimson electricity jumped across any surface still in tact, while standing amidst the destruction, Shadow the hedgehog turned to face her.
"Get out of here," he murmured, and walked through the gaping hole.
Heeding his terrifying words, the young captain sprinted as fast as possible from the destruction. Panic had grabbed hold of her, and now all she cared about was holding onto the one thing she held most precious – her life.
Location: Ivory Coast, Apotos
A spiralling shaft of light expanded outwards, giving way for a trio of disorientated figures. Vector stumbled out of the dispersing light, holding his gut and trying to keep himself from vomiting. Charmy and Espio each groaned and stumbled to their knees, dizzy and sick as well. However, their rest couldn't last long, and the seismic tremors shaking the earth kept them on their toes. Once they regained their bearings, the trio dashed to the edge of the cliff, taking in the view of the war taking place on the once beautiful beach front of Apotos. GUN soldiers rushed from aquatic machinery and ships, aided by sentry bots equipped with armour to suit all sorts of terrain. Some flew, some rolled on tank-like legs and others walked. Fighter jets swooped from the sky, firing missiles into the opposing forces, creating a fiery explosion in their wake. The eyes of the Chaotix lit up with the horror ensuing below, paralysing them with utter disbelief.
"What happened down here?" Vector muttered, taking the words from his team mates mouths.
"Defeat is never our true failure; the failure of having not tried is the ultimate loss." ~ First Lieutenant Joshua Brubaker - Leader of the ARK Raid, 1956
To Be Continued
Authors Note ~ Lots going on here, I know! But! Next chapter is the start of an epic, two part introduction to the finale! It's gonna be a long one, with more revelations! Leave your theories, comments and tips in a review! Stay Tuned, because chapter 42: Beginning of the End, Part I & II are going to be released at the same time to kick off the ending of Violet Dreams!