AN: Wow, it's been a long time! It's nice to finally be able to post something again! I hope this meets your expectations!
Disclaimer: I neither claim nor own anything from Sega, Sonic Team, Sonic X, or Sonic '06. Imperious, Chameleon, Ghost, Samantha, and Cynthia (wow, long list) all belong respectfully to Nobel Six. Thunder is property of Gnat1. All music is merely suggested and owned by the corresponding artist. Please support the official releases.
Claimer: I own this plot and all characters not affiliated with the above mentioned.
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September-22-2506
8:47 Mobius Time
[Now Playing: "So What I Lied" by: Sick Puppies]
Maybe things would've turned out differently if things didn't happen the way they did. Now that I think about it, I know in my heart that John would never have succumbed that easily… But what I saw overrode those thoughts.
The entire apartment building was burning rubble, but I remember everything as it happened. "Cynthia, get out!" John yelled at me, and I noticed that he was trying to defuse a couple bombs in our small apartment. I could see a layer of sweat on him as he nervously tried to defuse them.
"B-big brother?" I stuttered as I looked at the bombs, ready and waiting to explode. My young eyes quivered at the sight as I backed away. "But, what about you?"
"That doesn't matter right now!" he yelled at me as he reached for his hip holster. From it he pulled one of his polished black pistols that he always kept with him: a Jericho 941. He then tossed it to me with the holster and I blinked.
He would always tell me about that gun; so often that I had its specs memorized—9x19 Parabellum rounds, 15 rounds per mag, short recoil action, semi-auto, 112 millimeter barrel, 150 millimeter sight-line radius. I was about to ask him why he gave it to me before he yelled at me to get out. Without further questioning, I proceeded to run out of the apartment building.
It wasn't long afterward that the entire building was engulfed in flames, crashing to the ground in a monstrous dust cloud. All that was left was burning rubble in the place of the home I once had. With my brother most likely killed in the explosion—and if not that, then crushed by the debris—my teary eyes let loose their weeping and I knelt in my sorrow.
…
In her dank barracks of Imperious' domain, a young woman sighed softly, polishing her pistol. Her mocha-brown eyes glistened in the firelight as she brushed aside the brown hair from her eyes. "Jericho 941," she recited to herself as she polished it, passing the time. "9x19 Parabellum rounds, 15 rounds per mag, short recoil action, semi-auto, 112 millimeter barrel, 150 millimeter sight-line…"
"Cynthia!" Her name was called and she snapped her head up, sitting straight as Chameleon strode through her doors. "Imperious wants you on guard duty for the new prisoner."
She raised her brow, holstering her pistol as she stood up and stretched her limbs. "New prisoner?" Cynthia asked as she gathered her belongings. "I was… unaware that we had a new prisoner."
"Well, looks like you're aware now, aren't you?" Chameleon mused with a chuckle at his own joke. Cynthia, however, was not amused and the ninja could see it on her face. He coughed, clearing his throat. "Seriously though, Imperious wants you to report to the holding cell immediately."
Cynthia rolled her eyes and shook her head, briskly walking out the entrance, bumping against Chameleon on the way out. She always got an odd feeling from that reptile; one that she didn't quite understand. Perhaps it was similar to the eeriness she felt when she walked along the blue torch-lit halls, but she disregarded that for the time being.
As she entered the dungeon-like prison area, she began to feel the confining uneasiness that she assumed kept many prisoners from sleeping. Maybe some of them got used to it, but the new prisoner would probably be wide awake and terrified.
As she had guessed, she found the blonde-haired woman chained to a wall, her eyes pried open with fear and her body covered in burns. Sometimes Cynthia questioned Imperious' treating of the prisoners, but she disregarded it as something that wasn't her business. "Hey, you there," she said, trying to rouse the prisoner. "You the new girl?"
The woman raised her head only enough to nod. Cynthia smiled softly and said, "I'm Cynthia; your new guard. You can relax though. I won't hurt you."
The chained woman smiled lightly, almost forced. "I'm Samantha," she responded meekly, almost afraid.
Cynthia frowned at the mention of her name. "Funny," she said as she observed Samantha. "I used to have a friend named Samantha."
Samantha noticed the hint of regret—it seemed to be—in her voice and she sighed. "Did something happen to her?" she asked, attempting to forward the conversation.
A huff was all that was elicited from Cynthia, turning away at the thought. "Not that I know of; it's been so long since I've seen her," she said. "I would've liked to see her one last time though. I wonder sometimes if she ever found out that my brother died."
"Were they close? Your brother and your friend, I mean."
Cynthia narrowed her eyes a bit in Samantha's direction. "You ask a lot of questions," she pointed out disapprovingly. "Not many of which I will further answer."
"What about your brother's name?" The blonde prisoner asked, thoroughly intrigued. "What time did this happen? Were they betrothed?"
Cynthia only glared at her, remaining silent and stoic as she turned around, disregarding the prisoner. "That's… That's personal…" she answered, looking away as she casually unloaded and reloaded her pistol. With the prisoner of many questions in this eerie dungeon, she knew that—for her at least—it was going to be a long day.
[Stop Music]
^/\^|v\/v
~ ("When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap."—Cynthia Heimel) ~
Syaoron the Fox presents
Following the Events of Sonic '06
Accompanied by Various Music and Themes
Remnants of the Past
Chapter 6
It's Dangerous to Go Alone
^/\^|v\/v
Koran Federation
April-15-2499
18:27 Mobius Time
Later in the day, with explanations given and stomachs empty, the coagulation of anachronisms were led by their new ally—Katsuyo Masayoshi; the leader of the scarf gang—to a nearby café to meet the needs of their body. They noted that many of the staff there wore strange scarfs, which Katsuyo had soon explained.
"This restaurant is run by my gang," he said to them. Many of the staff gave greetings to their leader as they served drinks. "Everything here is on the house for you guys."
The smell of roasting coffee wafted through the small café, prompting the time-travelers to get a cup each for themselves. Upon obtaining the brew, settling down so that things may be clarified, Ghost raised a brow to Katsuyo in question. "So let me get this straight," he said. "Your group secretly supports Inri?"
The lupine Masayoshi nodded and leant on the table, his hands clasped in a cold and calculating manner. "That's the gist of it," he said. "We support Inri by fighting against the bandana gang, keeping them from obtaining the Artifact before we decide what to do with it."
Silver, with the image of a Sol Emerald held clearly in his mind, forwarded the question, "What exactly is this artifact?" he asked. It was an understandable question, as this mysterious power source was always solely referred to as the unidentified artifact. "What does it look like? Do you know its origin?"
Katsuyo shrugged as he thought deeply on the question. "Only Inri could tell you exactly what it is," he said. "No one really knows its origin, its shape, its appearance… For all we know, it could be anything. If anyone knows anything about the Artifact, it's Inri. He seems to have a knack for the unorthodox and obscure things."
Knuckles frowned and scratched his head. "He did seem to have some finite control over that chaos fire he made," he mused as he reminisced on the dove's characteristic flame. "He looked to me like he had been training with chaos powers for years with that kind of expert control."
Katsuyo shook his head almost immediately. "Impossible," he claimed. "The power source has only been around for little less than a year, and even I still don't have complete control over the advanced things. I've not once seen Inri practice with chaos energy on a daily basis, so I wouldn't expect him to have this expert control that you describe."
"Then it seems we have an inconsistency in our observations," Tails clarified while delightfully sipping his coffee. He slipped a small herb—a mint leaf—into the coffee and let it simmer as he continued. "Inri isn't letting onto something… and I don't like it."
At the subtle suggestion, Katsuyo narrowed his gaze at the young kitsune. "Are you suggesting that Inri is lying or keeping secrets?" He asked in a threatening tone.
Not wanting to beget another conflict, Tails raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, I never said anything about lying," he said. "But think about this for a moment. Everyone keeps secrets. I keep secrets, you keep secrets; everyone has some part of their life that they cut off from others. It's a perfectly logical suggestion that Inri is keeping a personal secret."
"But… but…" Katsuyo muttered under his breath, unable to come up with a suitable comeback. He thusly quieted himself with a sigh and swirled around the coffee in his cup. Succumbing to the present suggestion, he asked, "What do you think Inri is hiding?"
Thunder shook his head with a slight hum. "No, not hiding," he said. "No, it's just a secret. Not something that could possibly be malevolent. I think that Inri has a special trait that he keeps under wraps, just waiting for the most opportune time to utilize it."
Figuring that the dove's secret wasn't instilled with malcontent, Katsuyo smiled and scratched between his ears. "Well, that's comforting at least," he murmured. As he stretched his limb, he stood from the table and pushed away his coffee. "I believe I'm finished here," he said to them. "You're welcome to come with me. We'll be launching the final attack to drive back the bandana gang today. Maybe after they're gone, you'll find what you're looking for."
With only a mere nod to his companions, Silver smirked and offered his hand forward for a shake. "You've got a deal, Katsuyo."
The wolf, gazing into the firm blue eyes of the hedgehog, nodded and grasped his hand firmly. "I'll look forward to fighting alongside you."
^/\^|v\/v
April-16-2499
11:28 Mobius Time
[Now Playing: "The Requiem" by: Linkin Park]
Away in his gang's hideout, away from the rest of the world, Inri meditated before a small pool of water. He prayed in a long-forgotten language as he washed his hands in the water constantly. It was a small practice that he did every now and again to keep himself morally and spiritually clean.
To his gang staff, it seemed to be something that the youthful dove did all too often. Praying for hours on end, as Judas once remarked with a scoff, brought them no closer to their goal of obtaining the Artifact.
Yet, regardless of their constant complaints, rebuttals, or objections, the young Inri continued to pray. It seemed to be something that was drilled into him from a young age, kept part of his daily protocol before meals and other instances of the day.
At this particular moment, Inri prayed for many things. He was well aware that his newfound friends were preparing for combat, lest they already be engaged in it, and he wished for their wellbeing. Often enough, he gave a benediction for his friends; for the poor, suffering, and lame. His prayer extended far beyond his inner circle, to even those he had never seen before. He frowned as he felt a pang in his chest and he heaved a cough. "There's been a great disturbance…" he mused shortly.
Upon finishing his extensive prayer, the dove's eyes were teary and he washed his hands in the pool. Sighing, he remained kneeled on the stone floor, breathing cold air as he felt the tip of a blade poking against the back of his neck. "So, you are the one father said would betray me?" Inri noted as he looked at his apprehender's appearance in the reflection of the pool, his gaze passing sadly over the piercing eyes of a falcon. "Are you not, Judas?"
Many Mobians flooded into the dank chamber, their hands teeming with chaos energy as they took aim at the dove. Even with the expression of a traitor written upon his face, Judas couldn't stop the tears of remorse from welling in his eyes. "It was meant to be, Inri," he said almost defensively. "Even you know that."
Inri was restrained by a few of the members and led out of his chamber, when young Peter from Inri's group of disciples barged through the doors, crying hysterically. "How could you, Judas?!" he screamed as he aimed his hand forward in rage, firing a blast of concentrated chaos energy that sliced right through one of the gangsters.
As they all rose their hands in retaliation, Inri shouted to them, "Wait, stop!" Upon this order, Judas ordered them to lower their hands and allow the two some space. Inri walked over to the shot man who was wailing from the pain and clutching his shoulder, trying to muffle his noises. Inri laid his hand over the wound and it instantly healed.
Gasps of awe went around the room as Inri knelt before Peter. "No Peter, what did I tell you?" he scolded the young child.
Peter looked away, feeling abashed for his rash behavior. "You told me not to use my powers…" he said, reluctantly adding, "Not even on my enemies."
Inri nodded to him and pulled the youngling into his arms, a tight embrace holding them together. "My time has come, Peter," he addressed him. "It's my time to fulfill my purpose. No need to fret, little one. I will always be here." As if to assure the young swallow, Inri poked Peter's left breast; right over his heart.
With the small moment between them wrapped up, Judas nodded to his band of infiltrators and said, "Take him away." The dove then went without a word while Peter cried without a sound.
[Stop Music]
^/\^|v\/v
[Now Playing: "War" by: Sick Puppies]
"Damn, get down!"
Another devastating explosion erupted from the ground as Ghost dove behind the cover of some building ruins. Beside him were his companions and he huffed, somewhat scared. "Did you know they had mortars?!" he shouted to them over the noise of lobbing chaos spears.
Silver shook his head and jumped out into the open as another mortar was fired against them. A green glow warped around him and he stopped the mortar in its tracks. With a slightly pained expression, he fired the mortar back at the sender using his psychokinesis. "Great work, Silver!" Knuckles said as he patted the silver hedgehog's shoulder.
In the midst of the battlefield, it was all-out combat, a place that Knuckles found most comfortable as he launched himself forward into a few bandana-sporting enemies, rendering them unconscious. A few fellow Scarfs cheered as they took their hand in lobbying chaos attacks and physical combating.
"You guys aren't so bad," the echidna complimented them as he crashed his fist into the ground, erupting a quake from the ground and throwing about up parts of the earth that bashed into their enemy.
"We've got to get on the offensive, guys!" Tails ordered as he flew up, diving down and into the heat of battle, whipping around a fierce kick that knocked a few of the bandana gangsters on their backs. The young kit back-flipped to avoid an incoming chaos spear, gritting his teeth when he was blindsided by another chaos spear that exploded in his back. He rolled to the side, through a destroyed market and groaned from the pain.
As he looked around in the small market, he noted that it dealt in arms and he took a small Hi-Point pistol. He also retrieved a few .45 ACP magazines for the pistol and he aimed around the corner, firing and putting a hole in the heart of one of the Bandanas. It almost hurt him to put a bullet in the gangster, but he disregarded his remorseful feelings as he fired off more rounds into their enemies, placing accurate hits on his targets.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and he gyrated on the spot, pointing his pistol at the perpetrator when he saw Thunder. "Take a breather, pal," the lion spoke to young Tails as he grabbed Tails' hands and lowered them. The kit was heaving heavy breaths, bags under his eyes, and Thunder sighed, realizing that the kit hadn't gotten any sleep the night before. "Let me handle this."
The lion, with superiorly trained speed, rushed out into the ruinous battlefield, claws extended. With graceful yet fierce twirls and slashes, Thunder let the blood of their enemies flow and trail around him. He tackled a nearby enemy who had a mind to punch the lion, and the lion's claws sank into the Bandana's skull. He dragged the body and tossed it amidst other Bandana's distracting them long enough for him to cut threw though with ease.
"Throwing a kid into war like this," Thunder mused with a shake of his head, looking toward Ghost with a frown. "It's not right."
Ghost merely shook his head and crouched behind cover, peering over to get a clear shot with his pistol. It had been a bother for all of them, letting young Tails participate in war like this. Knuckles, of course, vouched for the kit, having seen the young fox in action himself. It meant little when comparing Tails' battle experience to his wrenching disgust of witnessing death.
"You have to realize, Thunder," the human said as he cracked his knuckles. Peering over cover again, he noticed a bandana gangster mere inches from his and he cracked a few quick punches into the enemy mouse. "In this line of work, not everything we do will be morally right. Heck, most of the things we do will probably break major laws. Few people will believe our time-travel story. This is just the kind of life we'll be leading."
Thunder nodded with a sigh, understanding that the hardened man was probably right, and he ducked behind cover with him. Soon after, Katsuyo dove behind the cracked wall with them. He peered around at the ravaged streets for a moment before asking them, "Alright, you remember that falcon from a few days ago? The one leading the bandanas?" A nod of confirmation was all the wolf needed as his green scarf whipped in the wind. "His name is Hideki Hayabusa. If we're going to win this gang war, it's absolutely necessary that we take him out. Lethal or non-lethal, we can always deal with him later. As long as he's not standing on that battlefield, we've got a chance."
Ghost grunted in the affirmative, chucking a grenade from his belt over the wall, with screams of pain being heard from the other side. He peered through a small hole in the wall, just large enough for him to see the entire battlefield.
Many mangled and destroyed buildings lay in their path, but atop a small hill, he could still see Hideki ordering around his gang members, and he knew that it would be easy pickings from this position. He pulled out his pistol slowly, holding his breath as he aimed through the small hole, lining up his sights with the falcon's head.
As he was about to pull the trigger, an explosion sounded and the wall they had been using was blown to smithereens, causing the three to stumble back to avoid the stony shrapnel and other flying debris. "I had a clear shot on him too," Ghost groaned with slight remorse.
Katsuyo nodded and waved his hand forward to his fellow gangsters and allies. "Push 'em back! Get up that hill!" he shouted in order as his gang began to swarm the battlefield, as if a reservoir had blown and the Scarfs flooded into the field. Flying lights flew overhead as chaos spears rained down on the Bandanas, pushing them back up the hill.
"This is how it's done, comrades!" Katsuyo yelled in succession as they charged at them. Shouts could be heard from both sides of the battlefield, both with the same intensity.
Knuckles strode over to Tails, who was still shaking behind cover and he offered the kit his hand. Tails looked up and smiled to his echidna elder, taking the hand and standing up. "Onward to victory, right Tails?" Knuckles reminded him, causing the kit to chuckle.
"Onward indeed, Knuckles," he replied as he reloaded his pistol. "Let's go get them."
They could see Hideki's forces being whittled away as they charged up the hill, and it wasn't long before the bandana gang was little but a small platoon against a vast army that surrounded them. Katsuyo walked forward to them, crossing his arms as he came face to face with Hideki. "What do you have now, Hideki?" He asked the falcon. "You're forces are all but gone. You're followers are whittling thin. What do you have now?"
The red falcon leader of the bandana gang smirked. "I have this," he said as two other Bandana's lead a bound dove out from the midst of their group. Inri looked up at them with nearly empty eyes, a sort of almost hopelessness entering them.
[Stop Music]
Away from the rest of the group, Judas could be seen averting his eyes. Tails looked over to Judas and immediately saw the remorse in his eyes. "Judas?" He asked. "How could you?"
Hideki answered that for them as he punched his fellow falcon in the arm, though Judas didn't exactly seem to appreciate it. "Judas here is my little bro," he claimed as he smirked in response to Katsuyo's glare, seeing that he had gained the upper hand easily. "I've had him as a sleeper agent in Inri's little group for quite some time."
"Let the kid go, Hideki," Katsuyo said threateningly. He had developed a special bond with the small dove, and he didn't want to see it ruined at the hands of his enemy. "He doesn't have to be dragged into this. Inri has nothing to do with it. Let him go."
Hideki only smirked. "I'll let the kid go, sure," he said. "I have a condition. I want you to surrender your gang, and allow me to take the Artifact."
Katsuyo backed away slightly, an important decision now resting on his shoulders. This dilemma had him a bit muddled as he wondered what to do. To have the life of his friend and risk the safety of the city, or lose him to obtain the ultimate power?
"Don't do it, Katsuyo," Inri said, a sudden smirk appearing on the dove's face, as though the expression of hopelessness from before was only a mere façade. Then, redirecting his speech to Hideki, he glared a warning, "If you kill me, I will become far more powerful than anything you've ever dreamed of."
Hideki only glared down at the dove. "Quite the threat, coming from someone like you," he said as he pulled a knife from his belt and positioned it Inri's heart.
Katsuyo felt something in his young friend's reassurance that put power into him and he cracked his knuckles, walking back toward Hideki. Even though his young friend was at deaths door, he had a feeling that he could trust him. "I'm not letting you have the Artifact, Hideki," he said.
The falcon's expression turned sour as he tightened his grip on the knife. "Then I'm not letting you have your friend," he said spitefully as he plunged the knife into Inri's chest.
Everyone gasped for a moment, tears in the eyes of a few as they saw the child's eyes widen. As Inri tried calming himself, he looked back up to Hideki and smirked weakly. "So, this is how you end, huh?"
Hideki was about to ask about why he hadn't died immediately before white flashed, blinding all of them.
I am Lord of all! The Savior that has been called upon by the scriptures! And I have come to purge you of your sins!
AN: You've been patient enough, so I've decided that you shall be awarded with one explanation for the plot:
Inri: "Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum." It literally translates into "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews."