Chapter 34 - Sight of Phantom Weights
"..." Chiara reacted with silence. It had been a long moment since the ghost said anything from its long winded groan.
'What the hell is this...thing...talking about,' she thought in tension and pent up aggrivation. 'The fallen? Died for not?'
'Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait,' the stoat rapidly stated in her head. 'I just need to...calm...the hell down...and think a-'
"...aaaalllll...pppeeeerrriiiisssshhhheeeddd...mmmmuuurrrrddddeeerrrrreeeedddd..." the phantom spoke again after doing an airy, nasally inhale.
"Mmmmmmmmm!" Chiara groaned ambivalently. Scrunching her lips inward and pressing them together in fear, she glared and grunted at the spirit in anger. As much as she wanted to push mind over matter, the supernatural being kept dismantling the mindset. It was like clearing a wound from any containments only to get dashed with salt or alcohol.
"...tttthhhhheeeee llllooonnnnnggggg wwwaaarrrrr...nnnnnoooo rrrreeessspppppeeeeccctttttt...tttooooowwwwaaarrrdddsss lllliiifffeee..." it said moving its arms up a little. Stopping, it gave the gesture of openness towards her.
"...shut...the...freakin'...hell...UUUPPP!" the female growled through clenched teeth.
"...fffllleeeessshhh...hhhaaaddd...nnnnoooo mmmeeaannniiinnnggg...ttttooo...vvviiisssooonnnaaarrriiieeesss...oooffff ssssccciiieeennnccceee..."
'When I find that barbaric spiky asshole,' Chiara stated in her head with frustration. About to continue to vent, she blinked. Something clicked in her mind quickly.
'Wait a minute...if I just close my healed right eye,' Chiara thought. Closing the eyelid of the indicated organ, the ghost vanished from sight. As if it turned into water vapor and became one with the air. Waiting for several seconds, the being never came into existence with her right eye closed.
'...that...was so freakin' weird,' she said in her mind with relief.
Getting out of her defensive stance and trying to relax, she minded herself to keep her supernatural sight shut. Turning around and crouching again, she recollected herself. Breathing in and out slowly, the fowl stench in the air made her re-focus. Looking back at the street with the city patrollers, the woman observed. Not much changed other than where the enforcement people were now positioned. Glancing at the burned to the ground pub/brothel/black market building, the floating silhouettes were not there. The aspect that they were gone gave her much more ease.
'...alright...back to this hell hole situation,' the stout pondered.
Looking for where the female captain of the OHP was, she spotted her again. Thinking about how to go to her, a small amount of paranoia came over her. Darting her head to look behind her, she looked at the radio antenna. Seeing that no ghost was there, a ponder about opening her closed eye came. She immediately shook her head to no one.
'Screw that. I'm getting out of here and confront that cat woman,' she reasoned with herself.
Moving and going to the storm drain gutter, she looked over the edge. Seeing no one down below, she went over and grabbed onto the vertical pipe. Climbing down it to the ground, she walked quietly to the corner of the alleyway. Looking around and seeing that the coast was clear, she gingerly opened her right eye. Darting in all directions to see if any supernatural beings were coming at her, there was none. Sighing out loud, she turned back to the street. Walking out to the sidewalk and dashing left, she went behind a parked vehicle.
Crouching and peering around the car, she began to look for the next place to find cover. In doing so, her mind began making up a pathway to get to her intended target. Ignoring the mass of ghosts at the destruction site, her tail proceeded to sway back and forth in her mental processing. The aspect of going against the martial law and defying authority always seemed to give her a thrill. Regardless of getting into to trouble, making it apparent to law enforcement that they don't scare her was rewarding. As if she subconsciously got a kick out of it.
Shaking her head again and finalizing what she was going to do, she took one more look of her surroundings. Seeing things and people were not moving from their spots, she got out of hiding. Doing short fast sprints to each cover point, she got closer and closer to the makeshift camp of the OHP. At the same time, the scent of death, burnt materials, and smoke slowly increased. From getting small hints through her clothed mask, it became close to being unbearable. Almost like blood saturating the mask to where it morphed to only be that iron-enriched smell.
Getting to the side of the camp and stopping, Chiara put a firm hand over where her mouth would be. Pressing hard to push the cloth against her mouth and nose, it helped block the rancid aroma of outside. Suppressing herself from wanting to cough and gag, she bit down on her tongue. Feeling a bit more focused, she slowly began to walk the perimeter of the large tent. Spotting where the policewoman was, she was at the front side of the makeshift establishment. Hearing her giving orders to coworkers, they saluted and headed off to the blast site.
'Now or never,' the female stout thought with squinting eyes.
'Ugh,' Darcia grumbled in her mind. Putting her hands on her hips, she stared through her full helmet gas mask visor at the rubble of the notorious establishment.
'As much as I appreciate the place imploding on itself and ridding of the criminals inside, the question of why it happened still remains,' she wondered blinking. 'Did someone do this as a vendetta? To get back on some of the gang members inside? Maybe someone got sour from a bad deal from the black-market trade in there?'
'All that can be somewhat explained once there are some identifications of the dead bodies and their criminal history...but,' the woman continued then grimaced at the memory of taking a whiff before putting her mask on.
'...why does it still smell like a toxic death pool still? It is like hundreds of bodies and unknown chemicals were boiled together.'
"...?" Darcia reacted to muted footsteps. Turning around, she stared wide eye at seeing a civilian approach her. However from staring a little more, the aspect of who it was not surprising.
"I see ya havin' the time of ya life out here!" Chiara spoke louder than normal. With her hand pressed against her mouth and nose area of her jury-rigged cover, her voice was audible though muffled.
[What the hell are you doing here!?] the feline shouted. Her voice sounded like it was reverberating through a large hollow canister followed by robotic air intake and exhale.
"Seein' what's all the fun out here!" she replied then pointed pass her with her free arm. "What happened?"
[You are going indoors! We have established martial law over everyone until this hazardous situation is resolved!] Darcia ordered then pointed to the closest building. [Don't make me use force! Go!]
"..." the female stout reacted with a hidden sneer. Giving her the bird, she began walking backwards.
[I'm warning you!] the cat officer shouted irritated. Pulling out her projectile weapon, she pointed it at the ground.
"HA! Ya don't even know what shit went down there!" Chiara spoke loudly dropping her left hand. Removing her other hand that covered her mouth, she was immediately hit with pungent odor of roasted decay. Clenching her teeth hard to resist regurgitating, she focused on her mocking stance and smugness.
"An underground cult! Illegal organ butchery and black-market trading! Trapping, torturing, and murdering losers within that hub of sluts and alcohol!" she yelled and threw her arms out. "It's fucking hell down there!"
[...!?] responded with surprise. Reminding herself of who was talking, she dropped her expression to have an unamused one.
[...Chiara...I'm giving you one last chance...get into a building right now!]
"Here's the best part copper!" she continued and leaned forward a little. "Our mutual buddy, the one-arm hedgehog, was a prisoner there in the past!"
[...] Darcia acted with raising her weapon to the air. Firing off a shot, it blasted and echoed through the streets. Seeing it not affect the intended person at all, she lost sight of the female stout as she dashed behind the police tent. Sighing in frustration, she saw other officers come out.
[Man your stations! I'm going after a rogue citizen that is breaking the shutdown order!] she shouted and ran off. Going around the camp and seeing a nearby alleyway, she entered it. Seeing the trailing figure of the other woman, she rushed down the passageway to chase her.
'...I...hear voices...' Sonic thought breathing hard still.
Knowing that he was winded, it felt worse than he remembered from past experiences. Part of the people speaking were both muted and far away while one seemed close. Trying to open his eyes, he couldn't. It was as if all his strength vanished to the point where all he could do was breathe. Moving his limbs were a monumental task as if they were incapacitated. Hearing the voices continue and seemingly having an argument amongst each other, paranoia began to seep into the boy's mind.
Breathing a little faster and feeling slightly able to do something, the hedgehog planned on which inhale to speak. Only able to let out weak sounding whispers, he's ears picked up how out breath he was. His lungs still gave the cold burn sensation from intaking and exhaling air. Focusing his mind back to what was around him, the people speaking had stopped. Not able to determine if they left or not, he slowly felt three presences closing in on him.
'...they...don't feel...friendly...' the child pondered with trepidation.
Anxiety of unknown beings next to him and hovering around washed over him. Struggling to move or even open his eyes, his fatigue was still overwhelmingly present. Trying to think of what to do, a sensation was felt. A vague but eerie object slowly closed around his neck. Slowly getting squeezed, drawing in oxygen became more and more difficult.
Feeling fear course through his body, spurts of adrenaline began to pump through his system. Lethargically curling his fingers into the ground, Sonic struggled to open his eyes. Seeing everything blurry, there were three silhouettes in front of him. Two he did not recognize. The one in the middle that seemed to extend itself to him, had crimson red orbs staring down at him. Immediately having a vivid flashback of the nightmarish metal head clone, his eyes popped open.
"...!?" the blue hedgehog reacted with fright. Seeing that it was Speed that had put his hand around his throat, his face was stoic. Feeling his mildly firm grip lessen and retract his arm, the boy mentally sighed with relief seeing only one cybernetic red eye.
"...hello..." the amputee spoke with his right eye blinking. "...you are...alive...yes?"
"..." Sonic replied with just breathing deeply still.
Struggling to do a slow head nod, his eyes began to wonder. To the child's left, there was a female canine breed. Seeing how rather thin she was, she seemed more concerned than the other. Moving his sight to the left of Speed, his blood grew cold. Seeing the bat woman with black skin, her piercing yellow eyes made his fur stand on end. As if his senses were heightened, he smelled blood near him. Looking back at Speed, his crimson ring of sight and a couple of body parts seemed to ooze out red iron smelling liquid.
"...h-hey...back off a little," the female dog woman stated. "You're scaring him."
"So you can give off a primal aura at will," Malaria mentioned while standing up. Seeing Speed stand up as well, he took a step back to give space. Looking back at the child, he was being helped by Triselle.
"Can you sit up?" she asked the boy in a soft tone. Seeing him struggle with a semi-focused expression, she placed her hand on his left shoulder.
"It's okay. Take your time," the canine spoke. Moving to be kneeling near the top of the child's head, she reached under to grasp the back of the head and neck.
"I'm going to move your head up so you can breathe a bit easier. Okay?"
"..." Sonic responded with just looking up at her.
Seeing her look at him with a tired smile, the looking like a rail appearance on her seemed to be more distracting. Nodding a little, he felt her help him recline upward. Hearing her shuffle a little closer, his head went back down. Resting on what felt like thighs, his airways to his lungs seemed a bit more opened. Breathing became easier to which made him begin to calm down a smidge.
"How's that? Better? Worse?"
"...it's...better...thank you..." the blue hedgehog replied quietly. Giving a tight smile, it did not diffuse the awkward aspect of a tortured prisoner helping him. Focusing back at the two individuals in front of him, both were staring at him. Neither wore a friendly face. As much as he wanted to be near Speed to feel secure, the sight of the bat woman kept him from wanting to try to move.
"We found you collapsed here and out of breath...how come?"
"..." Sonic answered with only looking at the gray ash hedgehog. Not sure how to answer that, Speed did not give any response and continued to stare back. Feeling his mind bend a bit from the awkwardness, the tallest person opened her mouth.
"You said he went through a trial Vermilion," Malaria commented then turned her head to the cloaked person. "If he ended up here...there must be caves nearby."
"...there are several caves...that hollow out both...mountains," the amputee spoke then pointed in a direction. "...one passageway...side of hill...has a silver natatorium...I placed the boy...there."
"Okay...but...why put him there?" Triselle asked confused. The boy blinked in surprise that Speed put him in the shallow murky pool. At the same time, his gut began to tighten. The aspect of the one armed man knowing there was the creature in the cave made him fear he was trying to get rid of him.
"...last memory of being awake...was in that cave...several years ago," Speed explained. Walking forward to the edge of the flat rock platform they were on, he looked to his left. Hearing the bat woman walk to where he was and looked, she blinked from seeing where the cave entrance was.
"...being in the gray pool...gave odd visions...no answers to what...they meant or represented."
"...the liquid metal pond...also gave...odd properties...benefits...curses..."
"You make it sound as if it is an elixir of some sorts."
"Vermilion...the slope and distance from here to the cave entrance...is not something a normal child can do," Malaria remarked. "This pool...you put the child in it?"
"...along with placing Sonic...in the opaque water...there is the watcher...that lives inside the cave," he continued. Hearing a small amount of movement behind, Speed turned around and saw the wide eye look on the child's face.
"...if you did not obtain...a means to escape it...you would have failed..." the amputee explained with a stoic expression.
"..." both women reacted confused. Looking at the child and seeing him a little pale, possibilities of what the watcher was entered their minds. Only Triselle reacted the most distraught while Malaria seemed to have a look of approval.
"Y-You placed a defenseless child in a predator's territory!?" the female canine stated shocked. Looking at him as if he was unbelievable, he just stared at her hard. Not knowing if he was going to say something, the black skinned woman turned to her and gave a sneer.
"Speak for yourself lost soul...his action was no better than your choice."
"Hold on! It was my choice to go to that hell hole," the dog breed corrected. Looking irritated at the two, she gently placed her hands on the boy's shoulders.
"You sent a kid to his death. He didn't make that choice. You-"
"...heh heh heh..." Speed chuckled. His facial expression never dropped nor did his boring stare at her. It made him seem more mechanical and detached from aspects of preserving life. If he was trying to scare her, he was successful.
"...Sonic..."
"...y-yes?" the child answered quietly.
"...tell again...your...dream..." the older hedgehog spoke. Moving the hoodie down, it gave the child a sight that made him look grueling. Seeing his left arm move, he pointed the limb at him with an open palm claw.
"...tell again...what...you want...to achieve..."
"...um..." Sonic began and blinked a couple of times. "Y-You mean...s-super speed?"
"...is that...your desire?" he asked without blinking or moving.
"...Y-Y...yes?"
"...how did you cross...the side of the mountain?" Speed asked only changing his mouth to a small smile.
The continued hard stare of his eyes made him look threatening despite the mild expression change. Looking at the other two women, the smaller hedgehog saw both were looking at him as well. The one acting like a nurse to him seemed curious to know despite being afraid. Malaria gave him her full attention while seemingly looking less scary than when in the dungeon prison. Swallowing and still feeling his nerves on edge, he slowly answered.
"I...uh...ran faster than before."
"...by...what...means...?" the amputee questioned evenly.
Moving to be in front of the boy's feet, he squatted down. Hearing another pair of feet coming near, it was the female Chirotepia. Instead of kneeling or getting lower, she continued to stand and crossed her arms under her chest. Seeing her to be intimidating and imposing, the child's eyes shifted to Speed's. Trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach, the adult male opened his mouth to continue. Never dropping the small smile and almost primal stare, goosebumps began building on the boy's arms.
"...was there...a spark...to focus on?"
"...!?" Sonic reacted with surprise. Quicky thinking about what the question implied, it seemed to reenforce the concentration aspect in his trippy dream and escape from the creature. Feeling a surge of enthusiasm from the implication, it helped pushed down the fear inside and all the aches and pains. Sitting up slowly caught Triselle with mild astonishment. Looking with hope and a smile on his face, he stared at the blood-stained hedgehog.
"Y-You mean!? I can do super speed now!?"
"...what do you think?" he replied. Not taken by surprise, the child grabbed his hand with both of his and began shaking it.
"For reals!? I can go as fast as you can!?" the youngin spoke excited and seemingly hypered.
"...now...no...in time...possibly..." he answered and relaxed his expression.
"For reals for reals!?" he stated almost overbearing. Letting go of the man's hand, he did two fist pumps while smiling wider.
"This is so freakin' awesome! I can't wait! Teach me Speed how...to..." Sonic rapidly spoke before running out of breath. Wheezing and feeling weak, he couldn't stop himself from falling backwards. Plopping back to the ground, his quills cushioned the fall and landed back on the canine's thighs. Panicking from the sudden lost of strength, his scared eyes looked back at the squatting individual.
"...you are...overspent..." Speed remarked and slowly stood up. Retracting his arm back to his side, he continued.
"...you gained an ability...and exhausted it...forces body to immobile state...to recover."
"So this unyielding power has limitations," Malaria commented then looked at him. "It seems to be as much a gift as is a curse."
"How come...you aren't affected with what you pulled off in the main lobby?" Triselle asked seeing how out of breath and lost strength the child was.
"...usage in short bursts...built endurance...trained over years...do not use it...regularly..." Speed explained then took a short step back. Turning a little to the left, he kept looking at the child.
"...Sonic...what do you wish...to eat...and drink...?"
"..." the boy responded with just breathing. Trying to think was hard in his current state. Just recalling memories was taxing leaving his subconscious mind's eye blurry at best. Looking back at him, a remembrance of the last thing he ate came to him.
"...chili dogs...and...soda..." the child mustered followed by breathing heavily. Seeing the amputee nod, his eyes looked up.
"...what do you wish...Triselle...?"
"...oh...um...I guess the same thing if you are offering," she replied with a semi-surprised face.
'Almost seems like his demeanor changed because of what the child achieved,' she thought. 'Wonder if that means he was lonely from being the only one that had super speed.'
"...since you feasted Malaria..." Speed continued. Turning his head left a little, he saw the bat woman stare back at him.
"...do you want...more to feast...or no?"
"..." she replied with nothing. Blinking, she turned her body to face him.
"I don't need substances...for now. But where will you traverse to get supplies?"
"...Oatsial Harbor..."
"That is...the city that was above the dungeon. Right?" the female hound wondered. Seeing the one arm male nodded, Malaria took a step closer.
"I am not staying here with those two...you will take me there to see the surface," she demanded in a normal tone. Thinking he would respond with a descending answer, he just offered his hand.
"...fine...keep your mouth...closed...narrow your eyes," he spoke. Seeing her narrow her eyes, she walked to his other side. Uncrossing her arms under her chest, she lifted her left hand. Reaching and grabbing his hand, it felt rough like hers. Watching him to see if he reacted in some way, he blinked then looked back at the other two.
"...won't...be long..."
"G-Gotcha...no worries. I'll keep him company until you get back," Triselle stated patting the blue hedgehog's head.
"..." Speed nodded then turned to the bat woman. "...ready?"
"Yes," Malaria answered with tensing up every muscles.
Feeling a strange surging current go through her hand and arm, it weakly spread throughout her entire body. By the time she recognized it, she saw that his image vibrated a little. Clenching her teeth and neck muscles hard, he bolted quickly down the mountain. Getting pulled off her feet from the instant acceleration from a standstill, she snatched her right hand onto his left shoulder. Not slowing down, his velocity crescendo rapidly. Seeing only images of their surroundings blur passed her and light struggling to bend made her mind turn.
'GGGGAAAHHHH! WHY WOULD ANY CREATURE HAVE THIS UNGODLY ABILITY TO BEGIN WITH!?' she shouted in her mind. Trying to comprehend how one could survive wielding this power, the thought was lost from being unable to process it in this quickened state.
Passing through the alleyway she ran down, Chiara came upon the next street. Deserted compared to the previous one, it showed the back end of the burnt down pub. The intensity of the putrid air was just as strong in the past road. Glancing in the opposite direction, the vacant road only showed buildings and minimal vehicles. Running that way, she reasoned that there probably were officials all around the destroyed building. Hearing quick footsteps far behind her, she glanced back to see if it was Darcia.
[HALT CHIARA!] the cat woman yelled without stopping her running.
'Hmph. At least she can run,' the female stoat thought.
Looking forward, she tried to find a pathway to get off the street. Figuring one out and about to execute it, she noticed something up ahead. About a block away, something strange was occurring. Not stopping her legs, she saw something rapidly coming into view. In a couple of seconds, the object slowed down tremendously. So much so, rubber screeches echoed down the street.
"...!?" she reacted with shock. Slowing down to a stop and watching, the object was two people. One had a ratty and bloody cape on. The other was a taller black skinned individual who was flying in tow a second ago. Dropping her feet to the asphalt and holding onto the man's arm, her boots began to scrape against the street.
[...what the...] the policewoman muttered slowing down. Stopping a couple yards away from Chiara, she watched the incoming two individuals decelerate to a stop. After a short pause, a breeze wind blew from the direction they came from. It aided with pushing the fowl scented air away from them a little bit.
"...such...a strange sensation Vermilion..." Malaria commented. Feeling stable, she let go of his hand and shoulder. Rubbing her eyes a little, she began to look around. Immediately hit with the intense aroma, she turned to the destroyed structure further down the road.
"..." Speed blinked with a neutral face. Turning his left eye towards the clothed wrapped head woman, the right looked at the gas masked one. Narrowing his right eye to focus, the pungent air made him wince.
"...h...o...l...y..." Chiara whispered in disturbance. With right eye opened, the sight around the two figures made her take a slow step back.
"...s...h...i...t..."
Hovering around the amputee and the torturer, an abundant of phantoms levitated around them. All of them were overlapping one another and surrounded each of them. It looked like a densely packed city street in a bustling afternoon or a jammed pack trading stall market. The sheer amount of ghosts was well over the hundreds. In contrast to where Malaria's victims were levitating, Speed's specters were at least double the amount or more.