Violet Dreams
Part II
Chapter 49: Bloodlust
"The selfish desire of wanting to maintain peace causes strife, and from that hatred is born to protect love."
Location: Station Square
The city nestled up against the ocean once stood proud, strong and beautiful. Now, it was but a shell of it's former glory. Buildings had been set ablaze from the war, and while some managed to stand despite the damage, many were strewn across the streets in a despicable mess.
People screamed, fleeing from the creatures now freely roaming the streets, which had become a battleground. Dead bodies could be seen through the rubble, but the beasts that had taken charge of the city didn't care.
A zombie like creature stumbled lazily through the wreckage, the blade stitched to it's arms dripping with blood from the group of GUN soldiers laying lifelessly down the street. The beast growled to itself, then craned it's head to get a look at the sudden disturbance it had sensed.
Purple and black energy convulsed and spun around itself, then expanded outwards to create a portal, throwing the heroes to the ground. However a storm of debris followed the group, killing the beast in the process.
Sonic, Amy, Cream, Knuckles and Shadow each stumbled to their feet from the disorienting means of travel. However a scream in the sky caught their attention, and collectively they looked up to see the monstrosity Galaxy had released looming above them in the sky, the clouds becoming dark and charged with power from it's influence.
"So...now what?" Amy wondered out loud. "Where did the others end up?"
The pink hedgehog turned to see her hero sitting quietly on the sidewalk, his face emotionless. Walking quietly over to the blue blur, she could hear the quiet sobs coming from him.
"What's the matter, Mister Sonic?" Cream asked curiously, somewhat afraid of the answer.
By now, the other two had taken it upon themselves to gather around the blue hero. His eyes seemed blank, and it only made them more curious what could've happened to him. Amy noticed his wounds, and sat beside the hero.
"What happened?" She asked quietly.
"Tails..." Sonic replied, his body shaking. "He was killed, Amy."
Silence lingered in the air, and even Shadow was slightly taken back by the revelation. A pang of sadness hit everyone in some form. Cream fought back a cascade of tears, her two Chao hugging her in hopes to be of some comfort. Knuckles looked at the ground, holding his wounded right arm.
Suddenly, Shadow's communicator buzzed to life. A voice spoke through the static, heavily distorted. The group looked up to the Ultimate Lifeform, who had taken it upon himself to respond into the device.
"Who is this?" He replied quickly, hoping it was one of their own.
"I'm...Station Square..." The device continued crackling in and out of the signal, until finally the static cleared. "Guys, I have the Chaos Emeralds, and I'm with the Chaotix..."
Sonic's eyes darted up to Shadow, and he quickly jumped to his feet and ripped the communicator away from the former GUN agent. "Tails! Is that you?!"
"Um...yeah, what's going on, Sonic?" Came the confused reply of the young fox.
Tears had begun flowing down Sonic's face more so at this point, but in utter happiness rather than pain. "I saw the Tornado get shot down when I was fighting one of those cloaked freaks...boy am I glad to hear your voice, buddy."
"So that's what happened to it..." Tails said with a sigh. "I had turned auto pilot on in my new Tornado model so that we could meet up. But I guess it was destroyed. Who's with you?"
"Shadow, Amy, Cream and Knuckles," Sonic replied, looking over the group of wounded and exhausted heroes.
"Any sign of Mighty?"
"No, I thought he woulda been with you..." the blue blur responded worriedly. "I'm sure he's fine. He probably got sent somewhere else in the city. What happened back there?"
"I think Galaxy split us up to buy time for that creature in the sky. And by the looks of things, he managed to stall us long enough. I've been waiting in Station Square for about two hours now. Any sign of Dusk over there?"
The city shook as the beast in the sky grew closer, demolishing the buildings in the horizon as it did so. Worry became mutual amongst the heroes, and Sonic could tell that the others with Tails were seeing the same thing.
"None. I killed one of them..." Sonic answered with remorse.
"We finished another off as well," Amy piped up, pain lining her words at the memory of the cryptic encounter her and Cream had.
"So did I," Knuckles said with an exasperated sigh.
"We found that crazy monkey, but Shrike killed him," Vector informed from the other side of the communicator, sending Shadow on edge from the mention of his former commander. "So that should mean only the leader is left?"
"Seems like it," Tails agreed. "I think we should focus on regrouping for now. We're with Rouge at a GUN stronghold near the south end of the city. We're about two blocks from the hotel."
"Good to know, because that's where we are." Sonic sighed in relief, and led the group in the direction of the others. "We'll see you soon. Keep us updated if you find Mighty."
"Roger that."
Location: Adabat
Water splashed against the shore, carrying lonely chunks of melting ice into the sand. Another wave lapped up, carrying two bodies with it. The first body was of a girl, and the second was Mighty. The duo rolled onto shore, blood leaking from their wounds, but yet they each continued breathing.
Mighty's eyes fluttered open against the light in the sky, and slowly he forced himself to stand up. His eyes wandered down to the stump where his hand used to be, and the pain quickly resurfaced. The armadillo grimaced, and gripped the bloody end with his hand. A light shone from it, slowly sealing up the wound with new skin cells. Once the wound had been sealed, Mighty sighed and struggled to his knees to look at Crush.
Her chest rose and fell in a slow motion, causing him to smile weakly. The young traveller crawled over to her, and grasped her hand tightly, beginning to heal her wounds like he had done with his own.
Slowly the gashes and impalements strewn across her body closed up thanks to Mighty, and with time, they were all gone. The hero groaned and flopped back into the sand beside her, despite the pool of blood surrounding them.
"I told you I was going to save you, Crush," he whispered.
Beside him, she stirred and a weak groan escaped her lips. The armadillo sprung to a seated position and looked at his comrade, who had begun to come to.
"Where am I...what happened?" she asked simply, rubbing her head as she sat up in the sand.
"I kept my promise; that's what happened." Mighty replied with a tired smirk.
Crush turned to stare at the armadillo with weak eyes, a flood of different emotions filling her. She felt angry, sad, happy and relieved all at the same time. Yet, she didn't feel close to how she felt earlier during their battle.
She felt...free of something.
"How did you...we were both dead, Mighty. How did you manage to revive us?"
Looking down at his hands, the young armadillo shrugged his shoulders. "Y'know...I don't have an answer for that. I kind of just acted out of instinct. How do you feel, by the way? Can you walk?"
Slowly the duo stood up with the help they provided each other.
"Now what do we do?" she asked curiously, staring at the beast in the sky. "I can't go back to them...or I'll be killed for failing. But...in all honesty, I don't want to go back there. I wasn't myself, Mighty. Eggman did something to me when he captured me. I think you knocked me out of it, somehow."
"Whatever it was, it's done with now. I'll get ahold of the others and see if they're okay – maybe Tails will be able to come get us."
"Right." Crush nodded, and the duo walked through the jungle to a clearing.
Location: Station Square
Sonic led his group down the barren streets, a feeling of uneasiness within him. He felt a presence clawing at his subconsciousness, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to hold it at bay. Sonic rubbed his head tiredly, and continued walking despite the wounds over his body.
Coming to a blocked off tunnel that they had needed to go through, the group sighed in unison. "Now what?" Knuckles grumbled.
"There's a street that heads toward the other's location just past this freeway," Shadow informed, and jumped up onto the overpass that ran past their route. "But, it looks like GUN is fighting off more of those creatures that way."
"We could always just break through into the tunnel," Sonic interjected. "You don't seem so beat up like the rest of us."
"That's because I didn't encounter Dusk when I was sucked through that Portal," Shadow replied, and jumped back down to the group, a rippling orb of yellow energy fizzling to life in his palm. "Stand back."
Heading the dark hedgehog's advice, the group took shelter behind an overturned bus just as he heaved the orb forwards. The sphere expanded into a rippling spear of chaos energy, and smashed into the rubble that had blocked the entrance to the tunnel off. A flash of light erupted in the area, and the debris shot across the ground. Smoke billowed upwards from the point of impact, and where the attack had struck an entrance could now be found.
However, from within the tunnel, a collection of dark spears of energy burst through into the street, just barely skimming past Shadow. The dark hero threw his arms up to defend against a shockwave of energy, which blew away most of the debris and overturned vehicles in the area. The group taking shelter scrambled to safety behind Shadow, and then another blast of power ripped at the ground.
Slabs of concrete cracked and rose up from the ground, as the streets ripped apart from the energy coming from within the tunnel.
"So it seems you're all still alive." The figure from within cackled, creating spires of dark energy to rip apart at the tunnel, causing it to crumble down. "I'm assuming my followers are dead as well?"
"And it didn't take much to take care of their sorry asses, either!" Sonic quipped angrily, darting past Shadow with a balled fist.
The hero threw his fist forward, blue energy collecting around it in a fearsome display of power. Galaxy ducked to the left, allowing the attack to slip past him, giving him the opportunity to send his elbow bolting into Sonic's chin. The blue hero yelped, spitting up a mouthful of blood as he stumbled backwards. However, Shadow appeared in a flash of light in between them, his entire body glowing with ferocious crimson and violet energy.
In one swift motion, the dark hedgehog shoved Sonic backwards, warping him away to the others. Then Shadow spun on his heel and delivered an uppercut into Galaxy, catching him off guard. The cat staggered back in shock, but Shadow had already charged another attack in his fist, and slammed each of his palms against the cat, unleashing a vicious dome of light.
The ground beneath the fighters smoked and boiled from the Chaos Energy, and the remaining heroes grunted, protecting their eyes with their arms in order to avoid being blinded. They could feel the intense heat of the blast even at a distance of thirty yards.
Suddenly the attack died out, and spun upwards into a shaft of light, and disappeared. Shadow remained in a crater formed from his attack, heaving in deep breaths of air.
"Where'd he go?" Sonic mumbled, unable to see their enemy through the debris. "He disappeared..."
Galaxy snickered, materializing through the concrete behind Sonic. A firm hand gripped his ankle, and then the maniacal cat heaved a surprised Sonic through a warp hole. The group yelled and lunged to save their comrade, but Galaxy reappeared, knocking them back with a wave of black particles. However, Shadow leaped above, a Chaos Spear ready in his hand.
"Not so fast..." Galaxy sneered, then flipped backwards to avoid the attack.
A charged burst of Chaos Energy tore apart the street, but Galaxy grasped at the dark hedgehog once again, yanking him through the same portal he had sent Sonic.
"Don't let him escape!" Knuckles howled, dashing to jump through the warp tunnel as well, but came up short.
"Now what do we do..." Amy asked in fear. "We have to find them! They could be killed...Sonic isn't in any condition to fight, not with wounds like that!"
"Sir Shadow will protect Sonic, I'm sure of it!" Cream exclaimed with a smile, Thorn and Cheese chirping reassuringly at her side. "Let's go find Tails and the others, he most likely has a plan. He always knows what to do!"
"Right, let's go," Amy nodded after taking in a deep breath. "Can you make it, Knuckles?"
"Yeah, I have some spunk left in me. I can make it to the others." He nodded and followed the girls into the tunnel just as the earth shook once more from the beast in the sky.
Location: Voxili
Both Shadow and Sonic tumbled out of the warp hole they had been sent through, and rolled through the dirt. High above in the sky, they could see the faint outline of the beast Polaris in the sky, but, that was the least of their concerns at the moment. Shadow grunted and scanned the area for their opponent, but found only the battered remains of a once great nation.
"It's been awhile since I've been here," he commented solemnly. "Their entire city was nearly flattened in the Millennium War. Hard to believe it's still around."
"I've heard you mention that war quite a bit...what exactly happened?" Sonic asked curiously, wiping the dust from himself.
"Long story short, a man posing as a GUN Scientist and Black Ops squadron leader was conspiring behind the scenes to create a war between GUN and Voxili. He staged the death of the royal family's son, and used the conflict to bring his genetic weapon into the fray. Essentially, that man was why the President is so against the concept of human experimentation. Believe it or not, he almost gained control of GUN after he killed Commander Towers."
"However, someone working with GUN's Apotos dispatch managed to kill him. He reminded me a lot of you, now that I think of it. Same cockiness and arrogance that you have – albeit a bit brighter."
Sonic groaned at the sudden insult. "You're so sweet."
"Be quiet...I hear someone," Shadow barked.
Another portal opened up, this time it's power wrapped across the courtyard of the church they had landed in. Black particles jumped upwards, creating walls and spires of darkness. In a matter of seconds, the energy had created a Colosseum in the church courtyard, the walls lined with sparking spears of energy. The heroes watched as the ground shook and morphed, letting loose a horde of beasts. Behind them, Galaxy appeared, darkness lurching at his feet.
"Since you two are the biggest threats to my domination...I'll kill you both here. This is the end of the road, you rodents."
"Heh, you sure are cocky, Galaxy!" Sonic retorted with a smirk, ignoring the heavy injuries across his body. "Shad's and I are gonna kick your ass and stop this here!"
"Fat chance, hedgehog," the cat quipped with a vicious sneer.
Once again, the earth trembled, and in the sky a portal opened up, much bigger than the others they had been seeing. Sonic gulped, a chill racing down his spine, while Shadow stood stoic and motionless, though obviously concerned about what was about to happen.
From within the portal, a terrifying sight emerged. The gaping, fanged jaws of Polaris pushed through, it's roar shaking the kingdom of Voxili with little effort. Buildings crumbled from the power, and soon, a gust of wind from the booming howl of the beast ripped past Sonic and Shadow. The duo grunted and guarded their faces, unable to see the beast as it descended down on the duo, it's wings ripping apart at the city.
"I didn't bring you two here to fight you myself," Galaxy informed with a sadistic smile. "In fact, I'm not even going to bother sticking around. I wouldn't want to get any of your blood on myself."
Shadow and Sonic took a step back to avoid Polaris as it's gigantic hand struck the ground outside the Colosseum. The earth trembled and quaked, causing the buildings to crumble around the structure containing the hedgehog duo.
"The way I see it... if we defeat that thing, then Galaxy has no trump card," Shadow suggested quickly, analyzing Polaris for any signs of a weak spot. "It looks like the only place it's armour lets up is near it's head. I'll hold Galaxy off here while you make your up its body. Hurry!"
"Right!"
In a burst of blue energy, Sonic shot up the arm of the beast before it lurched out of the ground. The blue hero yelped, staggering from the sudden movement and latched onto a spiked protrusion in it's arm for dear life.
The hedgehog weaved in and out of the many spikes erupting along the surface of the beast and continued his assault up to the beasts head. However, a group of zombie like creatures clawed out of the armour of Polaris, the blades stitched to their arms glowing with power.
Sonic snickered, an orb of blue wind erupting to life in his palm. "You guys sure are ugly. But, unfortunately for you, I don't have time to waste! Now clear the way asshats!"
Screeches of disapproval escaped the horde of creatures, and they lunged towards the blue hero. Sonic quickly rolled beneath three of them, and then slammed his attack into the chest of another, which carried it away into the sky along with four more. The trio he had avoided whirled around and attacked as he landed back on Polaris.
"Nice try!" Sonic howled and swept his arm through the air, firing off blades of blue wind which severed the creature's bodies in half.
Wiping the sweat that had collected on his brow, Sonic sighed. "Whew... these guys have a lot more fire power than any of Eggman's schemes. I guess I could use the work out..."
The blue hero rocketed back up the beast, turning into a comet of blue energy.
Below, Shadow rolled backwards to avoid a trail of black spears racing towards him. The dark hedgehog unleashed a barrage of Chaos powered pellets, shattering through the attack in a storm of yellow light.
Galaxy snarled, and jumped towards Shadow, his arm heaved back and gathering a mass of black and violet particles to his fingers.
"Lupus!"
The cat swung his arm, sending a wave of violet energy racing across the ground towards Shadow. The black hedgehog grunted and rolled away from the particles, watching as they collided with a Dusk beast standing nearby. The particles suddenly engulfed the beast, eating away its body with the vicious attack.
"Heh, nice job evading that," Galaxy remarked dangerously, his gloves glowing an eerie navy colour. "But, don't start feeling too confident yet!"
Galaxy slammed his palms into the ground, causing the ground to glow and churn. Then, the earth itself turned a mixture of black, blue and violet from Galaxy's influence. The cat quickly heaved his hands upwards, creating a flurry of orbs which floated around him.
"Hyrdra!" He bellowed, and swung his arms forwards.
From the eight orbs of energy, long, winding tendril like arms shot forward, reaching out to Shadow. The dark hedgehog rolled to avoid the first, and then delivered a punch infused with a massive amount of Chaos Energy to another. The attack erupted with a crimson flash, destroying the arm like it were paper. However, it recovered, but split up into two separate tendrils. The vines lashed out towards Shadow once again.
One of the arms wrapped around Shadow, and Galaxy heaved his arm back, which in turn caused the tendril of energy to whip Shadow in the air. The dark hedgehog grunted in desperation, creating a blade of Chaos Energy at his wrist. Swiping downwards, the hedgehog cut through the tendrils holding his body, and warped behind Galaxy.
"Nice try," Shadow sneered and grappled the cat, his body smoking with energy.
"You're daring, for a military dropout."
A concussive blast of Chaos Energy churned around the duo, until finally the attacked erupted upwards, ripping apart the colosseum in a flash of power.
Sonic swung around another group of the beasts, and jumped up into the air. The hedgehog glanced down at the dome of light back on the ground, finding that it had destroyed everything in its path, leaving no signs of survivors. Sonic gulped, swallowing the lump in his throat and landed on the head of the beast with a sigh. The blue hero hunched over, resting his hands on his knees to take a break.
"These guys sure do mean business..." Sonic murmured exhaustedly. "I hope Shadow is okay down there. Then again he's much too stubborn to die...but where could he have gone?"
Another portal opened up in front of Sonic, revealing the comrade in question being held by his throat. Galaxy stepped through, and dropped to the ground – rather, Polaris' head. Which was the same thing, considering the size of the beast. The cat tossed Shadow to Sonic's feet, and snickered, the Twilight Keys gathering at his body.
"I suppose it's about time to stop playing...huh?" Galaxy snorted angrily, as the keys plunged themselves into his body. "You've wasted enough of my time, hedgehog."
Wind swept across the top of the beast, bringing a powerful storm cloud with it. Lightning glistened across the sky, and a heavy downpour followed. Suddenly, wave of brilliant light escaped Galaxy, engulfing Polaris, and the two heroes looking on in shock. They felt their bodies distort, and in a split second, the light died out.
Location: Above Station Square
Station Square's horizon emerged, and the beast they were atop of descended down into the street, crushing the buildings beneath it. Sonic growled and darted his attention to Galaxy, finding he had been wrapped up with dark vines extending from Polaris. Energy pulsed down the vines like blood through veins, and the beast unleashed a mighty roar, which created a devastating shockwave to level out a portion of the city. From within his cocoon, Galaxy laughed insanely, then walked through the the vines. His body had now been marked with strange, hellish markings that shone with such brilliance, one would mistaken him for a star. The cat tensed his arms, his muscles bulging from the power up Polaris had given him. Then, Galaxy smirked and unleashed a burst of energy, shooting the duo down into the streets.
Another flash of light engulfed the city, creating earthquakes and deadly thunder storms. Twisters struck the ground, creating a hellish apocalypse around Station Square. The heroes glanced up at Galaxy, only for the blinding energy to increase, swallowing the broken metropolis up.
"Our desire for peace is sometimes clouded with the underlying scars dealt to us by pain. Using our pain as a motivation for peace will only end in war." ~ Xanthos Itnemeles, GUN Spec Ops Commander, 1999
To be Continued