AN: Finally, another chapter! I plan to address a few things in this chapter, so the true AN will be at the bottom.
Disclaimer: I neither claim nor own anything from Sega, Sonic Team, Sonic '06, Sonic X, or any affiliated companies. The OCs Imperious, Chameleon, Ghost, Samantha, and Cynthia are property of Nobel Six. The OC Thunder is property of Gnat1. Music is only suggested and is owned by its designated composer. Please support the official releases.
Claimer: I claim and own this plot and characters not affiliated with the above mentioned.
Castle Usha
September-27-2506
8:30 Mobius
[Now Playing: "Soldier Side [Intro]" by: System of a Down]
"Again!"
Chameleon panted as they continued their practice session. He heaved his breath again, gathering the strength of his soul. "Yol Tor Shul!" he shouted, blasting a raging inferno from his lips. The blaze easily wiped out targets of hay that were set out for him in the dungeon.
Imperious only gave a sigh in his deep tone. "My disciple, you have much to learn," the dragon said as he walked over to his protégé's side. "You want to focus your energy and expel it to hit your desired target with ferocity, not a simply fire storm." The dragon, being a patient teacher, demonstrated himself as he fired a blaze from his mouth that exploded and put a hole in the wall. "On the adverse, if your goal is to incinerate a large amount of foes, you can continue doing what you're doing now."
Chameleon sighed, resting against the dungeon wall. He had been practicing all that morning on his Thu'um, and he could feel the weariness deep down to his soul. Driven to taciturnity by his tiredness, the Chameleon remained quiet.
"I'll leave you be then. That's enough for today," Imperious said to the youngling Dovahkiin. Even he knew when to give a little lenience for rest. The dragon left the dank dungeon for Chameleon to rest in.
All alone, Chameleon looked at his hand and balled it into a fist. "Not good enough… I'm never good enough," he griped, feeling himself shake. The high standards he had set himself to were clearly showing then. "No one but me… I have to succeed. I have to live up to be the magnificent Dovahkiin that Imperious needs me to be."
Imperious looked back from the hall and smiled slightly with a toothy grin. "Child, you have no idea," he murmured before he continued down the hall.
[Stop Music]
^/\^|v\/v
~ ("Sometimes, it's better to have a benign dictator than a dumb democracy, to be honest."—Serj Tankien) ~
Syaoron the Fox presents
Following the Events of Sonic '06
Accompanied by Various Music and Themes
Remnants of the Past
Chapter 11
Democratic Masquerade
^/\^|v\/v
Square of Heavenly Peace
June-5-1986
12:26 Mobius Time
When the anachronistic fellowship arrived at their next destination, they were surprised to see where they had ended up at. "This is… Soleanna, isn't it?" Silver asked, looking around. People walked by them, as if not having noticed them, which didn't seem very normal at all.
"No, I don't think so," Cynthia said. "The architecture is the same, but Soleanna doesn't have big open spaces like this. Look there, at the sign." The woman pointed up to a large sign in the middle of the central that read Square of Heavenly Peace. "John and I used to live in this town, but the way I remember it, this plaza was destroyed…"
Tails nodded with a frown. "Yeah, I remember that too. Don't you remember that huge revolt that happened here?" he asked. "It was supposed to happen about this time… So why is everything still okay?"
"Maybe we'll just have to see and find out," Ghost said. He sat down on a nearby bench, soon followed by the others. The nearly blank looks on the citizens' faces unnerved everyone there as they observed.
[Now Playing: "Forget Me Knot" by: Serj Tankien]
"Haven't you guys noticed something peculiar?" Thunder asked as he glanced around, frowning at how much organization the crowds seemed to have.
"You mean aside from the mindless crowds?" Knuckles scoffed.
Tails shook his head as he glanced around, his eyes narrowing in speculation. "No, Knuckles, I'm noticing it too," he muttered. "It's all this political advertising."
"And the fact that they only showcase one candidate for election," Thunder finished, gritting his teeth. Something wasn't normal about the populace. Signs and posters hung from all around, but they only benefitted one candidate, someone named Li Peng. Signs of one other candidate were being torn down before the election had even started, and the lion could only catch a glimpse of the letter "z" before the sign was discarded and burnt.
"Hey, aren't you going to vote?"
They looked off to the side and noticed a young boy looking over to them. He seemed to be the most animated of them all. "I'm old enough to vote today, so I'm gonna vote for Zhao Ziyang!"
Thunder perked his ears up and blinked. "Is that who the second candidate is?" he asked the young boy.
"Yeah, sure is!" the boy said. "I think he'll be great! Or at least, better than nasty old Peng. That old geezer has been President for too long!"
Knuckles raised a brow to the child. "Is that so, kid?" he asked.
The young boy seemed to give a pout and nodded. "Yep. Old Peng has been in charge for years, mama tells me. He only does bad things for this country, and I don't know why he keeps getting elected every year! So this year, I'm gonna vote against him."
"Song Xiaoming! What have I told you about blaspheming like that?" a woman scolded him, slapping the boy hard across the cheek.
"But… but mother," Song muttered, feeling his cheek sting from the blow.
"Enough!" the woman said, dragging along the little boy back into the crowd.
Silver blinked as he watched the mother and son fade into the crowd of people. "What just happened?" he muttered, wondering what was going on. "You think he was serious about Peng being in office for a long time?"
"It would definitely explain how he got his roots implanted so deep into society," Ghost responded. "More is happening behind the scenes though. This just reeks of foul play."
Tails stared at the sign over the plaza, watching as numbers for votes on Peng and Ziyang tallied up. He began to believe Ghost's suspicion as he noticed that the votes for Ziyang tallied only one, whereas the votes for Peng were rising exponentially. "Would you look at that?" the kit murmured to his allies. "That doesn't make sense at all."
"Something is clearly rigged about this election," Cynthia grumbled. She casted her analytical gaze over the crowd, trying to discern what was so wrong about them.
It didn't take long for her to notice a group of ornately dressed guards walking toward them. They traipsed over to the anachronistic travelers in such a manner that Cynthia could tell it was forced. The men wanted to appear lax and uncoordinated when they were really powerful officials. "Citizens, you are going to vote, are you not?" the leader, a white male, inquired of them. He came off with a tone suggesting more than simply the rhetoric. "All citizens are required to vote."
Ghost gave a slight nod. "C'mon, everyone," he said to them. "Let's go vote."
The travelers all unanimously stood and walked toward the nearest voting tent. With all they had seen, a silent agreement was held among them to mix up the system and vote for the underdog.
As they entered the tent, they noticed how the voting system was set up. Two corridors were lined up, one for Ziyang and another for Peng. As they figured, people were corralling themselves through Peng's gate. Taking brave steps, the anachronistic group passed through Ziyang's gate. Immediately, heads turned toward them. Whispers passed around, some about why they would vote against Peng, some about how merciful and wonderful Peng was.
The words rang against the halls as they walked on. "The things they say… do you think they're all true?" Tails asked, full of curiosity.
"With all the roots set in and how deeply they believe in their leader, I really doubt it," Thunder mused sourly as they walked through the hall. He blinked and looked back, the entrance no longer visible. "This sure is a large hall, huh?"
"You can say that again," Knuckles mumbled. The echidna looked around, frowning. "Strange. I wonder why it's so long."
"Something's not right here," Silver muttered, looking around. The walls had turned to cold stone rather than fabric of the tent. He had little doubt in his mind that something along the way would contain a trap.
When they exited the corridor into a larger room, they noticed the young boy from earlier, also having ended up in the same room coincidentally. Song looked over to them and gave a large smile. "Hey, you guys voted for Ziyang too?" he asked them gleefully.
"We sure did!" Tails said as he greeted the child. With a sigh though, he remembered what was on the scoreboard the last time he saw it. "I don't think that Ziyang is going to win though…"
The boy nodded and sighed. "Yeah," he mumbled. "It's like that every year."
Noise suddenly crackled in the room, startling everyone. Gates shut in the corridors, preventing any escape. "Ah, I knew this was gonna happen!" Knuckles shouted in frustration.
A screen was lowered from the ceiling, and upon reaching the midpoint of the room the screen blipped on with an image of an elderly raccoon. "That's Peng!" the young boy declared, looking up at the image with rage.
"Greetings, voters," Peng's voice came in through the speakers. "It seems to me that you've been among the few who've decided to vote against me. I'm sorry, but due to my infallibility and my everlasting control over this state, I will have to dispose of you."
"What?!" they shouted simultaneously. Even Song was taken by surprise by despot's serious actions.
"I'm sure by now that you've understood that most of my propaganda is just that," Peng continued with a dark, twisted expression. "I believe that, since I'm about to obliterate you, I should give you the truth. My economical promises were lies. I simply made it appear that way by communicating with other rulers in the area. We're not winning the war, and all that tax money is being funneled to the rest of my family."
"I knew it! You really are a corrupt leader!" Song accused him, even though Peng couldn't hear him.
"And still, I've fooled your idiotic society into believing that I was using tax funds to help our war and to make peace with other countries. You thought I was using your money for good when I've been promoting all sorts of wrong doings with it. I truly would not have been able to stay here if I hadn't been able to binge on your stupidity and gullibility."
Peng drew a breath as he suddenly grinned widely. "Sleep now, miscreants. You will soon be leaving this wretched world." At those words, a noxious gas was released into the chamber.
"It's gotta be some kind of poison," Tails mused, covering his mouth. Everyone else soon followed, hoping they could find some way to get out before poison or suffocation took them.
Things look hopeless, and Thunder sighed. "How're we gonna get out of here?"
[Stop Music]
^/\^|v\/v
[Now Playing: "Aerials" by: System of a Down]
The crowd outside of the large palace was roaring with curiosity. So many things were being discussed. "A record number of people actually voted against Peng this year, did you know?" said those in the crowd to those around them. It was unheard of. Seven people voting against had never happened before. Whispers passed among them. What was going on? Surely those heretical voters knew what it meant to go against Peng.
And then, more whispers arose. What if they're right about Peng? What if he's not really that great being we think he is? "No, surely you don't doubt him too?" would be the response to such suggestions. But as word passed around, people slowly began to grow toward questioning their leader's motives.
Not long after, Peng walked through the gates of his magnificent castle with a large smile on his face. Upon walking out, he stood mighty and tall at a pedestal, clearing his throat as he adjusted the microphone. "Citizens!" he called out to them. "I am proud to announce that I will be this magnificent country's leader yet again!"
Cheers rose up from the roaring crowd to welcome their leader. Enthusiastically, they left behind they're thoughts of heresy and praised President Peng. When the mob finally quieted down, Peng smiled. "Times have been tough for our country," Peng began his speech. It was true; their country was experiencing economic lows, much as they tried to help everything rise. "However, we will pull through! We are a country of survivors, a country of unity; and most importantly, we are a country of honest, faithful, hard-working, and chivalrous men, women, and even children! My people, we will pull through this downturn in times!"
Massive cheers were met with the man as he continued the speech. "We will fight against the oppressive higher powers that threaten our perfect society! We will embrace the greatness of what we will become! My children, you will become the demigods among people of the world!" More cheers swept through the crowd in response to their god's great speech.
Though a swirling tirade of clouds and thunder grumbled above, it did not silence the crowd's cheers. "You may know that others will rise to go against me, but they will never succeed! My children, we will become a great country! I need only for everyone to try their very hardest, and we will have all that we need!"
The great cheers took much time to silence when Peng finally returned to his remarkable palace. So highly decorated was the palace, it could have held the small country's people twice over, yet it was only filled with Peng and his magistrates and servants.
"For yet another four years, I will have fooled the peasants of this silly country," he mused, chuckling as he washed his hands in a small bowl that a servant brought up to him. Keeping his head held high, he walked into an open room with a large balcony. Papers lay scattered over his desk much like pellets from a blast, such was his office and quarters. These were papers that he hadn't read in quite a long time.
Another servant came through the doors to his office, carrying with him a platter with a sandwich and wine. "My lord, you requested lunch?" the stout servant reminded him. Giving a gruff nod, Peng took up the sandwich and bit into it. He hardly gave a nod of approval, but his second bite showed the approval.
Setting down the sandwich, Peng took up the wine and sipped it, much like how a connoisseur would. He widened his eyes in sudden disgust, chucking the glass of distasteful wine out the door the servant had come in. "What is this, sewage juice?" he asked, clearing displaying his dislike for the apparently gross beverage. "I won't take this garbage. I want… a wine with more flavor, more life! Something made from the heart! Get out of my sight!"
The servant, in spite of the outburst, stepped back and cleaned up the mess. He made no noise whatsoever as he wiped up the wine, huffing only slightly as he left the despot to his deeds.
Peng groaned and sighed, massaging his temple as he sat down. "Not even a good year of wine," he muttered to himself as he picked up a phone to call a fellow cohort in his great escapade.
"Yes Huang, everything is going perfectly according to plan. If you have your country subdued, we can begin the merging and create a complete superpower, just like we had always thought of... You have everything under control? Good, I'll get to work on the paperwork then. Very soon, we'll become a mighty power."
Peng shut the phone off and smiled greedily to himself. "And soon, I will have my people believing they are the chosen race of people. Our countries will combine and then, with the complete will of our subjects in the palm of our hands, we will capture other territories, implant new leaders to begin their takeover and to solidify their rule. Yes, everything will soon come full circle."
The elderly raccoon then sat back, chuckling darkly to himself as he held up a bright red gem. "Yes, everything will come full circle."
[Stop Music]
^/\^|v\/v
[Now Playing: "Holy Mountains" by: System of a Down]
The gas continued to close in on our group, but Tails was still calculating. With a snap of his fingers, he smirked. "Knuckles, I'm gonna whir my tails up and make a windstorm. Make a hole in the wall for us to get out," he instructed the echidna as he turned around. His began to gyrate his tails till they buzzed like helicopter blades, clearing a tunnel through the murky mist. "Now!"
Knuckles didn't need to hear much more than that. He rushed ahead and lugged a fist at the wall, smashing through it as though it were glass. Not long after, the others followed from behind. Knuckles hung around till Tails walked through with Song. "Knuckles… we're doing the right thing, right?" Tails asked, still a little confused. "I mean, deposing a ruler is one thing… Should we really kill him?"
The echidna gave a nod. "It has to be done, Tails," he said, sighing as he tried to explain it. "How do I say this without sounding like an insensitive idiot…?"
"Knuckles the Echidna thinking about the words he's going to say?"
"This isn't the time, kid," Knuckles responded swiftly as they ran along the halls. "See… Sometimes, we can't always be the hero. Sometimes we have to do bad things to do the right thing. We have to kill him to make sure something like this never happens again."
Tails frowned. "But, that's still a pretty bad thing. You remember how I am with killing…"
The echidna remembered all too well. The incident with the Metarex and Cosmo had scarred the child for life, and killing was hardly something he wanted to do in the first place. "Then you'll have to look away, Tails. You have to remember that he's killed everyone who's voted against him. We can't allow someone to go on without suffering a penalty."
Tails sighed and nodded, though reluctantly. "Alright, Knuckles," he murmured. "I'm still not okay with this."
Song could only clench his fist. He knew the government was corrupt, but never did he know just to what extent the corruption went. To make use of his own people like pawns, Peng was the worst kind of leader. "You're going to pay for all this," the child muttered.
Having just escaped the room, the gang decided it would be best to rest and recover before heading any further. They stopped off in a room, what appeared to be a meeting hall, and sat down for a moment. They formed small circles, as if to discuss things. Ghost, Cynthia, and Thunder sat off to the side. "How do you think no one's found out about all this deception yet?" Ghost asked, his face contorted in concentration.
"He might just be a really good liar?" Thunder suggested.
"No, there's no way he'd be able to keep everything hidden that well," Ghost muttered.
"Then he must be in cahoots with others," Cynthia said. "If he's really got so much influence, I'll bet he keeps all his international work obscure. A misinformed democracy makes for a bad democracy, you know."
Thunder nodded. "You know, I wouldn't put mind control past a guy like that," he added. "What if he's somehow got a hold on the peoples' minds?"
"That's insane," Ghost groaned. "They don't have that kind of technology yet. Heck, we don't have that kind of technology yet. He'd have to have… a Sol Emerald."
"That's gotta be it," Cynthia nodded in agreement as she brushed back her auburn hair. "I don't think these people would be really that stupid to believe that everything he's doing is true."
"Then I guess we kill two birds in one. Grab the emerald; save the people," Ghost said. "If, of course, it is mind control."
Meanwhile, apart from the discussion on manipulation, Silver, Knuckles, Tails, and Song sat amongst each other. They sat back, not discussing much; rather, they were relaxing before they had to keep on going. Silver flipped a few pebbles around with his psychokinesis to pass the time, sighing slightly. "Why though?" he asked suddenly. "Why do people do things like this? They just want power?"
Knuckles gave a shrug. He brushed back one of his large spines with a sigh. "Sometimes, things just work that way. People feel like they have to control, and these are the measures they go to," he said. It was to his greatest regret that he remembered his own ancestor, the tribe leader Pachacamac who tried to seize the Chaos Emeralds for control over Angel Island. "It happens a lot to people in command."
"Alright," Ghost said as he came over, interrupting them. "C'mon, we gotta get going. You all remember the plan?" With the unanimous nod given, Ghost smiled and led them on. "Let's go then."
It didn't take them long to travel throughout the rest of the grandiose palace. After coming upon a hall, decorated with fascinating paintings of such magnificent structures like Versailles, they were met with large, foreboding doors to the Peng's quarters. "Alright everyone, let's move!" Ghost shouted to them, his commanding voice cutting the air. "We've got to do this fast if we're gonna make it. Knuckles, get in position!"
The echidna gladly took a take-off position before the door while the others lined up along the sides of the wall. Upon receiving a wave to go ahead, the echidna rushed forward and launched a heavy punch at the doors with a war cry.
As they had expected, the guards that they had not seen around the palace were gathered in the large office to defend their superior. Guns blazed as soon as the doors broke down. Silver ducked and rolled out in front of Knuckles, relying on the energy of one of their Chaos Emeralds to create a shield of psychic energy. The wall seemed to bewilder the guards only after they had run out of ammunition to fire at the intruders.
Once they had been shocked, stalling their reloading sequence, the others moved in and made a massacre of them. It didn't take long before every soldier in the room was lying on the floor, dead unless they had been mercifully knocked out by Tails.
Little Song, the boy they thought had been so tame and childlike, was battering one soldier over the head with his small fists. Tails had to pry the child off, seeing his rage. The child felt cheated, that everything he had been told was all a lie.
After seeing the invasion take place, Peng, in his fit of fear, stumbled backward toward the glass doors of the balcony. "What are you people?" he asked in a panic. He immediately silenced himself when he felt cold steel against his neck. The raccoon felt his heart skip a beat when Ghost hovered over him, the stiletto pressed up against him.
"You know, of course, what happens next," the blue-eyed human said as he carried the coon out to the balcony by the scruff of his neck. There, everyone was still gathered and waiting for a speech that would have been given later. Now they saw their leader dangling over the edge of his balcony, fear struck in his eyes.
"This man has been lying to you!" Ghost shouted out. "His lying, cheating, and backdoor swindling must be brought to an end. He has been having dealings with other countries, using you for his own profit! He needs to be brought down!"
Mumblings mused among the crowd. Their leader was a liar and a swindler? He was profiting from them? Suspicions went around as Ghost held his dagger to the false leader's heart, ready to plunge and deal the final blow.
It was with surprise when he felt Song reach up and grab the knife from his hands suddenly. "Boy, I'll need you to give the knife back to me," Ghost ordered. And then he saw something he thought he'd never see.
The boy leaped onto the flat rail for the balcony with ease, brought the knife up. He sliced with a clean cut and Ghost yelped.
The head and torso of Li Peng fell into the crowd as blood rained down, down, down…
[Stop Music]
^/\^|v\/v
[Now Playing: "Lonely Day" by: System of a Down]
"You're sure you're ready for this?"
Song looked up to Ghost, who had become like a role model to him in the short time they had been there. The anachronistic travelers decided that they would stay behind to help the small country get back on its feet. It would be difficult, but it could be done with hard work.
Song and Ghost stood on a small hill near the base of the palace. Most of it was being torn down and sold to raise revenue. The young boy nodded. It would be tough to take up, but their country was simply in too fragile a state for democracy to do any good. "I'm sure I'll be able to do just fine," the boy answered. "Mother always told me I was smarter than most people my age."
Ghost nodded. The young boy was probably one of the first to fight back against Peng's rule. "I once heard something," the older, blonde man said to the young boy. "I heard that sometimes absolute dictatorship is better than a dumb democracy. I don't think you will be ready to handle a democracy for some time to come."
"I'll be able to handle things," Song responded. The child seemed to have grown up in the short time, especially after his bloody execution of Peng. "I have my family who will try their best to help me without bias. I will certainly try to be the best ruler I can be."
"That's about all you can be is your best, kid," Ghost responded. He pulled the red Sol Emerald from his trench coat and sighed. "Get a move on. We've got to be on our way as well." He gave the boy a pat on the back and a confidant smirk. "Just do what you believe is the right thing." The child blinked and then gave an equally confidant smirk as he waved off the older man.
Silver and the others were waiting at the base of the hill. When they noticed their companion hobbling down the hill, Cynthia gave a nod to him. "Are we all set to go?" she asked him. Upon hearing the nod, the woman gave a thumbs-up to Thunder. The lion then began preparing the time rift with the help of Tails.
Silver sighed and looked back over to the hilltop where the child still stood. People began gathering around, looking to him for guidance. "Do you think he'll be alright here?" the hedgehog asked, glancing around.
As they began to disappear into the rift, Silver and Ghost lingered for a few moments. The boy pointed in the air and the crowd roared in applause from a speech they couldn't hear. Ghost laughed as he and Silver finally vanished into the rift. "He'll do just fine."
[Stop Music]
AN: Alright, I hope I managed to address what I planned on addressing. If you managed to listen to the suggested music, you'll notice it is mostly composed by a guy named Serj Tankien who does a lot of political music. If you understand the message and agree, post it in review. If you disagree, go ahead and post that in a review as well. This will probably be my only political chapter. I just wanted to get this idea off my head.