Chapter 12: Drown in Darkness
Eggman's Lab
The preparations were almost complete. The Time Eater was now fully implemented into the Egg Mobile. It was strapped cheaply together and hooked up with a few molded cords. It wasn't as glamorous as before when he used it, but Eggman would take anything to regain his footing in the fight. Having the Time Eater back under his control was a game-changer. No more did he have to cower beneath the threat of Infinite. He could end him right now if he had him in sight. All that was left to do was head out to Westopolis, where the Time Eater's looming voice guided him. Suddenly, a small text appears on one of the small monitors in the base. Eggman rushes over and wipes off the dust from the screen. It reads: 'Destroy Time'. It was the message sent by Sage, but Eggman had no indication that it was from her, or what it meant. "Destroy Time?" He began to ponder what to make out of it. Was the isolation finally getting to his mind? Was he just seeing things now? But before he could connect the dots, the Time Eater's disembodied voice beckons to him once more.
"A sign… An initiative… Use us to reshape everything… Become the destroyer of time…" Eggman allowed his mind to be manipulated. The disappearance of his daughter left ambition to creep into his being. He subconsciously tried to fight it, begging to see the reason and rationality of where he was being directed, but he was losing everything, and he caved into the urges. He hopped aboard the Egg Mobile and flew through the blast doors and out of the forest. His sight was set on the city ahead.
Westopolis
"I can sense him here," Cain stated. He and the other apostles stood on the outskirts of town, gawking at the destruction and desolation that befell. It was a beautiful sight for Elvira, who could barely contain her joy. "The master must be in the city. Come, we shall return to him." The apostles start to walk forward and navigate into the debris-ridden streets. Already, bodies lay motionless and scattered throughout. The culling has traveled to the far edges of the city, and they expected to find more remnants of it soon. Cain and Blair both hold one Chaos Emerald each, keeping it safe with them until they reach their master. Elvira, on the other hand, wastes no time to use her powers to raise the dead, amassing an army with every step.
As they walk further, a croaking voice calls to them from a broken-down building. "Over here." The apostles look and see Infinite, limping himself out of the rubble. "You have to stop him."
"Who?" Blair asked.
"Shadow. He's going to kill the master."
Elsewhere, closer to the center of the city, Silver searches a wrecked house in hopes of finding survivors, but he only stumbles upon the dead. A family of four, with the father and mother covering their children in their last moments before the rubble crushed them. Silver felt sick, but couldn't vomit. He wanted to look away, but he kept his gaze. The futures that were wiped into oblivion were nothing like this: The gathering storm that swept away life now visible to the time traveler's eyes. He hated this, but he didn't hate it as much as he hated himself right now. He finally accepted that this was all his fault. He didn't muster the courage to take the lives that needed to be taken. If only he hadn't hesitated, Infinite wouldn't be capable of stealing the emerald from Shadow and reuniting the two dark fragments. He failed his duty as the guardian of the future.
He laid next to the family, holding his hands to his face, trying not to let his emotions burst out. He still had to be strong for those who were still alive, but he couldn't find reason to keep going, not after all that he failed to do. All the lives that he thought he saved today, were taken away so swiftly. "You will get nothing done if you just sit there the rest of the day." Omega followed Silver inside. His towering shadow blocks all the light that was sprinkled on Silver. "You are not responsible for these deaths. You have only followed your principles."
"If I had just broken them one time– one time only. Maybe this wouldn't have happened."
"Do you really believe that?" Silver lifted his head off the ground and looked at Omega with a mixture of confusion and outrage. "Do you really believe that Infinite would just let you kill him? He is the most vile of scum, only caring for himself. He wouldn't allow that risk."
"That doesn't matter. I should've at least done something." Silver sighs. "Even if we survive today, how am I going to live with myself knowing I didn't try?"
"I understand where you come from. What happened to Rouge, I can't get it out of my mainframe. I mean that literally, it is impossible to expunge that data without clearance. Not a second goes by that I don't think what I could've done differently to save her. I am a cold, calculated machine that doesn't make second guessings, but then, I froze." Silver's face mellows and he listens closer. "I can't detect any damage in my subroutines, so I should've been able to act without a second to lose, but I didn't. I don't know why. Maybe I am more than a machine, but regardless of what I am, Rouge made her decisions. You made your decisions. The only difference is that you have more to make. So what are you going to do?"
Silver thought long and hard. What was he to do? Was he going to give up and become a mesh of self-loathing disdain? Or will he accept what has come to pass and bite the bullet? It was intimidating to stand back up when he knew that showing his face again would get him in trouble. But there was more to do, more time to fix everything, more reason to pick himself up and prove to Infinite that he was more than he was made out to be. He was not a messenger, a craven, or a fraud. He stands to his feet, more eager than ever to keep going. "I'm going back out there. I will not waste what Rouge did for us."
Meanwhile, Shadow had the Crusader exactly where he wanted it. Immobilized and pinned by the golden lances that protruded from the ground. He walked over, holding a volatile chaos spear, and aimed its point at the Crusader's neck. "What does this accomplish, Shadow? Kill me, and you'll live to regret it."
Shadow slowly plunges the spear into its neck, searing and cauterizing the armor and wound instantly. "Do you think begging can save you?" Shadow growled as he gripped the spear tighter, twisting it further into its neck.
"I'm not lying." The Crusader responded. "She'll be gone forever. No one can bring her back. Unless you release me and allow my ascension. I can break fate and return her." Shadow hesitates to drive the spear more, but he keeps the same anger in his eyes.
"Why would I believe you?"
"The visions you've been getting, I can create a more vivid image of them. If you would allow me to, I can prove that her return will be as easy as closing your eyes." Everything in Shadow was screaming at him to say no! This was just a ploy to buy itself enough time to escape. But… the thought of her gone forever, will leave similar wounds from when he lost Maria all those years ago. Could he live through that pain again? Would he lose himself again? He was scared to find out, more than his overwhelming anger towards the Crusader. He couldn't believe himself after he accepted. But he wasn't going to give that monster much leeway to move. All he did was to vanish the lance keeping its head still and allow the monster to stare into his eyes.
Instantly, Shadow saw the visions again. He got a better glimpse of the dark figure he had seen before. It was him, or some distorted version of him, all greyed out and hollow. It looked nothing like the Crusader, but it emitted the same aura. "This was another life." The Crusader explained to Shadow. "A life where you had your happy endings." Shadow looks around and sees Rouge and Omega standing beside him like nothing had ever happened to them. "You all forgot. I remembered. I can restore light through the darkness. I can shred time and sew it back into something better." A flash of white light blinds Shadow as he sees the Crusader's true form. An angelic figure radiating through a blank and dark void. And just like that, the visions were stripped away. Shadow returned to reality and looked at the Crusader with shock. "I am not of this timeline. I am not of any timeline. But I can make it so that you and your friends can live on eternally. No more death, no more threat of an end. Just release me, and your gratitude shall be rewarded."
Shadow grits his teeth out of frustration. He was tempted by its offer. He would give up anything to see her again. But…the better part of himself knew that those moments were gone forever, and whatever deal this monster had to offer would be pale and shallow. There would be strings attached for sure. "That's absurd," Shadow responded. "After all you have done, all of this destruction, I see nothing in you but a hunger for suffering. Well no more. You die today!" Shadow raises his spear, not holding back, and ready to plunge it fully through the Crusader's head. In response, the Crusader laughed, like it had won.
"Oh, I think you are far too late now." Suddenly, a black lightning bolt strikes Shadow's chest, launching him back into a rock, where a string of vines wraps around him and throws him into the ground repeatedly. Shadow uses his overpowering energy to burn away the vines, but as he gets up he is instantly swarmed by a hoard of frostbitten undead. While he is preoccupied, Infinite and the apostles make themselves present and destroy the lances holding the Crusader in place. "My apostles, I am glad that you've returned. Did you succeed in your mission?" Cain and Blair hold up the two emeralds and hand them over to the Crusader. "Very good, well done. Now we wait until my final brother arrives.
"Arrives?" Elvira asks. "He's meeting us here?"
"It wasn't my initial plan, but an unforeseen circumstance has brought him back into our world. Hold off Shadow and all else while I prepare for his approach."
Shadow erupts in a surge of pure chaos energy, melting the undead into nothing. He looks on with anger as Infinite and the apostles block his path to the Crusader. "None of you are to be spared now."
"Well he's just a ball of sunshine," Elvira commented. "I like him." She rubs her hands together to build up her necrotic powers. Her pupils narrow and her breathing increases as she rushes in. Shadow throws the chaos spear he had at her, but she leaps into the air and spins her body around to avoid it as it barely misses her back. Shadow sidesteps her claws as she plummets down to swipe at him. His plate is getting more and more full as attacks as the others enter the fray. Infinite shifts the ground, making Shadow's footing unstable, leaving him open from another lightning strike from Cain. Shadow sees the bolt just in time, as he uses chaos control to teleport in front of it and close the distance between him and Cain. Blair uses a wall of vines to shield Cain, but Shadow punches straight through it and nails Cain right in the face, sending him flying across the ground.
Infinite and Blair both dive in and hold Shadow by the arms, trying to restrain him, but Shadow quickly breaks off from their grip and kicks Infinite right into Blair, knocking them away. Shadow then sees Elvira charging at him again. Now having a plan to deal with her, Shadow drives his heel into the ground and kicks up a chunk of cement. He then jumps up and boosts his foot into the chunk, launching it forward and clipping Elvira in her head. As Infinite and the apostles regain their composure and surround Shadow, the ebony hedgehog powers himself. "Chaos…" Infinite's heart sank, he did not want to be on the receiving end of that move again. He retreats behind cover, indicating to the apostles that they stood no chance of whatever Shadow was about to do. "Blast!"
A red shockwave explodes out of Shadow's body, disintegrating anything that is in range. The apostles quickly run away and find cover behind a pile of destroyed GUN vehicles. The destructive blast eviscerates almost everything, as the cover Infinite and the Apostles took was sturdy enough to keep them safe for now. "We're supposed to be the ones holding him off?!" Blair yelled from the confines of his cover.
Infinite rose from his barricade, aggravated by the apostles for not doing the same to support him. "Where is your pride?" The jackal called out the three apostles. "We're more than enough to take him-" Infinite ate his words soon enough, as Shadow blitzed through the air and grabbed Infinite by the throat. He used Infinite's body as a cushion as he smashed into the stone side of a building, then used his rocket shoes to boost into the air and drag Infinite's body through the wall. As they pass the roof, Shadow chucks Infinite back down to the ground at an intense speed, where he crumbles into a crater next to the apostles. As Elvira, Cain, and Blair readied themselves against Shadow descent, they were met with a barrage of chaos spears that struck the ground around them, forming a smoke screen to obscure their vision.
"Where did he go?" Elvira's voice echoed through the dust, but before she could clear the smoke from her lungs, Shadow teleported right behind her and kicked her onto the pavement. Cain tries again with his lightning bolt, but as it is launched, Shadow manifests a chaos spear and absorbs the bolt with it, enhancing its charge as he hurls the spear at Cain. The deer is sent spiraling away at the sheer force of the spear's explosion, leaving only Blair to defend himself. Shadow makes quick work of him by diving in and unleashing a flurry of punches all around Blair's body.
"Enough!" Suddenly, the floor around Shadow started to wobble and crack, and the sky around him blackened. The pavement below him became weightless and floaty as he was suspended in a place without gravity. He saw Infinite above him, concentrating all of his power. This must've been an illusion placed under Infinite. Shadow dashed through the thinned air in an attempt to break Infinite's concentration, but he was under the jackal's domain now. He could easily direct the cement chunks with a swipe of his finger. They were flung around in an effort to crush Shadow, but even though the hedgehog was able to dodge them, they created a tight environment for him to maneuver. This illusion was constantly being augmented by Infinite with more and more weapons: Flak cannons and laser turrets. Shadow, however, persevered and overcame the onslaught despite the odds. As he held out his hand, Infinite focused on his palm, creating a fiery ball of yellow flame. He was giving one of his oldest tricks a new twist:: Accumulating the power of the Phantom Ruby into a star and concentrating it into the size of a baseball, in contrast to when he used it against the resistance.
Shadow was too preoccupied with avoiding the lasers and cannon shells to notice what Infinite was up to, and once he did, there was no time left to avoid what was coming. He widened his eyes as he saw Infinite smile. The jackal ever so effortlessly pushes his hand forward and sends out the ball of chaos. It graciously floats through the pocket dimension until it reaches a close enough distance to Shadow, who had used the seconds he had to boost away and reinforce his body with chaos energy. The little star condenses and then abruptly implodes, shaking the integrity of the dimension itself. Shadow was caught in the explosion but luckily endured no real injuries except for ringing ears. The deafening pierces into his brain and his vision becomes blurry and frantic. He scans around to see if he spots Infinite, and without much delay, he sees him where he was before, conjuring another sun into his hand. That was it, he didn't have time to close the gap before he sent out another mini-star.
A final needling, "Farewell, Shadow the Hedgehog", was spewed by Infinite. As he pushes forward the ball of cinder, a boom in the air slightly breaks the walls of the illusion, growing louder and louder like something was rapidly approaching. It was enough for Infinite to peer out of the illusion's barrier while keeping concentration up to contain Shadow. He looked to the sky and saw a blue dot growing in size, surrounded by translucent rings that erupt and fade almost instantaneously. Whatever that blip in the sky was, it was breaking the sound barrier constantly. Infinite's expression quickly turned to horror as he realized that the blue object was picking up speed and would inevitably impact the area.
Infinite breaks total concentration on the illusion, handing Shadow the means to escape. He too sees the blip in the sky and concludes that staying put would almost certainly mean death. They both scatter and watch as the blip plummets into the ground, forming a massive crater and sending forth a wave of force that pushes away anything unfortunate enough to be in range. Shadow braces himself from the shockwave and tries to see through the dust that enveloped the streets from the impact. He saw a figure stand up from the crater, having distinctive features similar to his own. As the grey screen of smoke settled, Shadow couldn't believe his eyes. "You've got to be-"
"Hey, Shadow!" The voice belonging to the figure irked Shadow's ears. He watched as Sonic brushed off himself from the rubble and dust. "I know I'm exceptionally late this time around, but I've been a bit busy."
"What could you possibly have been wrapped up in that disregards this!?" Shadow waved his hand to emphasize the destroyed city. "People are dying, Sonic, and you weren't here to help."
"I didn't-... Fine, you're right. I should've been here sooner, but I had a lot going on too." Shadow was still furious at Sonic, but he knew that now wasn't the time to chat. He dismisses his anger and motions to Sonic to follow.
"At this point, I don't care where you've been. Hurry up and help me take care of these vermin." Shadow races forward in search of Infinite, with Sonic following close behind. As they run side by side, Sage manifests from out of the drive Sonic was carrying and greets Shadow.
"A pleasure to finally meet you, Shadow the Hedgehog."
"You must be the AI that Eggman created. If you're here, then where is he?" Shadow inquired.
"I'm trying to triangulate his position as we speak, but it is important that when we find him, our priority must change to stop him."
"My priority is placing that monster's head on a pike. If you don't like it, then try and stop me." Shadow increased his speed and left Sonic and Sage in the dust. Sonic tries keeping pace and tries to further convince Shadow to listen.
"We can deal with those fragments later." Shadow turned to Sonic, baffled as to how he knew what he had been dealing with. "Sage is right. If Eggman is left unchecked, he'll return the last fragment without knowing what trouble it'll bring. If that happens, kiss this universe goodbye."
"Oh no!" Sage exclaimed out of nowhere. "He's here! He's already in the city!" Things were going from bad to worse. Scratch that, this was the worst-case scenario.
"Guide us where he is. We have to get to him before the others do." Sonic proclaimed and waited for Sage to point out the direction in which Eggman was. He shifted his course and darted across the street along with Sage. Shadow, while initially hesitant to give up his chase for the Crusader, follows Sonic as he recognizes that there is a greater threat approaching and that his revenge would have to wait.
Meanwhile, Eggman was observing the desolate city from above in his Egg Mobile, curious as to how this devastation came to pass. But right now, that didn't matter to him, as all he saw now was a chance to lay down his wrath against those who wronged him. He descended while flipping a few switches on the control panel of the Egg Mobile, recalibrating the Time Eater's capsule, making sure it was running optimally. The energy transferred from the Time Eater rests in a coiled particle cannon that extends from the bottom of the vehicle. The coils flare with purple light as it indicates a full charge. "Now, where is that traitor and those pesky heroes," Eggman spoke to himself as he looked across the broken city. In the middle of the street, he saw a ghastly knight sitting by itself, almost like it was in a meditative state. It was none other than the Crusader, and it was waiting for Eggman. "You there!" Eggman shouted towards it. "Get out of my way or witness my triumphed return and all its might."
The Crusader stood up and gazed past Eggman, focusing on the Time Eater locked away in the vehicle's chambers. "Do you feel accomplished? Do you feel superior after you hooked your mouth around bait? You've been caught, but I might consider letting you go if your next decision fills my need."
"I don't meet demands, but I have a few of my own for you. Your choices are to either die, die, or die!" The Crusader's fingers twitched, its grip around its sword tightened hard enough to wane the hilt's leather. Its eye salivated with glutton and desire as Eggman's words were but numb noises. Its attention did not involve the doctor. It couldn't contain itself anymore and it sprinted down the street like a furious beast. Eggman smirks as he fires a shot from his newly powered cannon. The bolt of dark purple energy grazes the path that Crusader gallops through, causing the cement to disintegrate. That smile Eggman brandished soon washed away, as with another shot from the cannon, the Crusader simply reached its hand forward to shield itself, showing that the laser bolt did not affect it.
Eggman started to panic as fired more and more in quick succession, which the Crusader further showed its immunity to the attacks. It was furious that Eggman thought that it could hurt it with something that was once a part of it. Eggman was on the verge of losing everything again, just when he thought he got back on his feet. He wasn't going to back down now and let all his efforts go to waste. He scrambled through his control panel and turned some knobs to overload the Time Eater's power. He would need all of it if he was going to make this work. It was an entity of time, after all, surely it was the right moment to manipulate it to his advantage.
With the final press of a button, a translucent bronze cog with clock hands forms in front of the Egg Mobile. A diluted wave passes through the city, greying out the little colors left through the dying town. Time was frozen, the Crusader was frozen, but Eggman was not. He cackled as if he had won the war, and he was partly justified for thinking so, as he once again held time at his fingertips. His own laughter masked the cracking from the street, as the once perceived frozen Crusader, showed a tremor in its finger. The tremors spread through the rest of its body until it was fully animate. Eggman finally realized far too late that his fanfare was to be cut short. "Impossible. What are you?" He quivered into the back of his seat.
The Crusader chuckled as it clapped its hands together and shattered the stillness of time, returning the flow to normal. With nothing left up Eggman's sleeve, the Crusader resumed its chase and leaped into the air, as it readied its sword to plunge it into Eggman. The pitiful doctor closed his eyes and awaited the end. No regrets about his evilness, but one sorrow plagues his mind the most: His daughter. He should've never given up on finding her. Before the Crusader could finish the job, a blue blur strikes the side of the blade and knocks the knight off course, saving Eggman's skin. Both the Crusader and Eggman look in astonishment as Sonic stands between them. "You have to get the Time Eater out of here!" Sonic yelled at Eggman. "Now!"
"Sonic?" Eggman, flooded with questions, was about to pry Sonic for more information until Sage manifested in front of the doctor.
"Please listen to him," Sage said. "If we lose the Time Eater, we lose everything."
"Sage…" Eggman said with bewilderment. He would've never expected to see her again, not with where he last saw her. "I thought I lost you." Eggman reached his hand out and touched her cheek, which his hand passed right through, but a flicker in Sage's body in response to the gesture was enough confirmation that he wasn't hallucinating.
"I'm here," Sage reassured him. "But we need to go-" Out of nowhere, a decaying slash travels through the air, cutting the Egg Mobile in half and narrowly missing the rest of Eggman's body. Sonic gasps as he turns around and sees the Crusader, already in pursuit of the Time Eater's capsule that fell to the ground.
"You think your affirmations are enough to stop me!" The Crusader bellowed deep from its gut. Sonic quickly intercepted the Crusader, but he was unprepared for what the knight pulled out: Four Chaos Emeralds, hovering close beside the monster. It absorbs their power for a small boost in its body, and with a harrowing release of force from the edge of its blade, Sonic had no choice but to back up and avoid the catastrophic blast that collided with the ground. The crusader once again darted for the capsule, ignoring Sonic as it passed by him. Eggman quickly took hold of the Timer Eater's capsule and made a run for it, with Sage close behind. Annoyed by their pesky fleeing, the Crusader stuck its sword into the ground and emitted a pulse of dark radiance that broke apart the streets and knocked Eggman to the ground where he lost his grip on the capsule.
As the Crusader inched further on, he was halted by another hedgehog, Shadow, who kicked its leg in as to knock it off balance. Shadow used his advantageous position to flurry his fists across the Crusader's hardened body. "Enough!" Suddenly, Shadow was knocked away by a concussive blast. His head hits against the pavement and his ears start to ring. He looks back up to see Infinite and the apostles rejoining the fight. It gave the Crusader another opportunity to resume its chase. Now that Sonic and Shadow were caught between Infinite and the apostles, they were about to have a lot less breathing room. Infinite decided that now was the perfect time to try out that move again. He curled his fingers and concentrated heat into his palm, where he formed yet another small star. Not giving the hedgehogs a chance, Infinite immediately tosses the star in hopes of disintegrating them instantly.
However, a blue aura encompasses the star and it is tossed into the air as it implodes. Infinite growls as he watches Silver and Omega descend from the air and get in their way. "Hurry!" Silver shouted at Sonic and Shadow. "We can hold them off." Sonic and Shadow turned back to see where the Crusader was, but terror met their eyes, as the monster just finished tossing aside Sage into the ground, causing her body to flicker with instability. Eggman cowers in a ditch, holding the Time Eater's capsule within the center of his round body. The crusader chuckles as it uses the tip of its sword to tap the glass of the capsule, causing a small crack to web out and shatter the whole thing to pieces.
"Finally," The Crusader muttered. It conjured the Chaos Emeralds around itself and formed a dome shield around it to protect itself from Sonic and Shadow, who had both tried to intervene but were too late as they smacked against the dome. The Crusader beckoned the Time Eater to flow into its palm, where it gingerly shaped it into a ball. It brings the Time Eater to its head, inhaling its hazy fumes through its helmet. The Chaos Emeralds vibrate erratically as the Crusader convulses and hunches over in pain, to which it starts to laugh at the feeling. "Wait patiently, Iblis, I will be joining you soon." Suddenly, the Crusader's body was enveloped by a shell of dark purple and pale crystals. It went stiff as a whirring of power rose within, and later exploded into a field of wither. The wave knocked Sonic, Shadow, and Eggman away, as the rest nearby were astonished by the unveiling of volatile power.
When the fumes settled and the dust breezed away, the wind in the air petrified and became still. An eerie dread shrouded across as all eyes watched in anticipation. The figure that the Crusader once was, changed form. It was smaller, gaunt, and slouched. It was a hedgehog and not just any hedgehog, but it was Shadow. Not entirely him, however, as its quills were greyed out, its face was mouthless and it held a pair of green reptilian eyes. It straightened its posture as it stared ominously at Sonic and Shadow. "Born again, at the hour of reckoning." It spoke in a deep, menacing, yet soothing voice. "Here I remain, at the universe's final day." It cackled with delight as it raised its arms into the air to bask in the rising sun. The return of the dark one has been fulfilled. Mephiles the Dark is reborn.
To be continued…
Up Next: The Unraveling!