Chapter 3 A Mutual Vision
The heroes had taken refuge in Cream and her mother Vanilla's cottage in Seaside Hill. They had been carried/flown there by their close allies Rouge, Shadow and The Chaotix detective crew. Shadow with some shakiness in his arms just barely managed to put his inhibitor rings back onto his wrists before practically plopping onto a couch out of exhaustion and his own injuries from the battle next to his much more battered friends. "My, my you boys sure got banged up dealing with that freak today" Rouge remarked with amazement with a little bit of snidely teasing mixed into her voice. "Yeah half of Spagonia was turned into a smoking crater, you guys are lucky to be alive" Vector the Crocodile added expressing his relief over his friend's safety. "Heh heh heh...tell me about it-ow!" Sonic joked half heartedly right as Amy, Charmy The Bee and Vanilla lifted up both of his legs and one of his arms respectively to tend to the numerous deep cuts he sustained. "We would have had the freak our custody had Dr Eggman not come along and snatched him away! Grr! Damn it! I shouldn't have used so much energy with that blast! Maybe then I wouldn't have been as weakened!" Shadow cursed himself harshly making a fist to his face. "Don't put yourself down Shadow, you did what you had to do to stop him" Tails said reassuringly trying to lift the ultimate lifeform out of his funk. "Do we have any idea where Eggman went with this crazed individual?" Espio the Chameleon questioned the group inquisitively. "Who knows, that Egg maniac has I don't know how many bases and secret labs all across the world, since we were unconscious we don't even know what general direction he went" Amy answered despondently looking down onto the floor. "Hey hey, cheer up Amy! We'll find ol egghead and that kid, kick said egghead's butt and figure out what the kid's deal is! Ow!" Sonic declared confidently to encourage and reinvigorate Amy's mood shooting his arm up in excitement only for its soreness and deep skin slash holes to make him wince in pain. Amy looked to Sonic and smiled weakly back at him. "Don't imagine you have any ideas Knuckie" Rouge inquires in a mocking tone turning around to look at Knuckles. The red echidna had been staring out a window on the other side of the room since he regained consciousness not uttering a word. The vision of Tikal had gotten to him and he pondered what it meant. "Uh...hello?" Rouge called out to Knuckles again, confused by his lack of response, he's usually her favorite person to rile up. Again he didn't answer. "Ohhhh Kay...what's up with him?" Rouge questioned turning around again to look back at Sonic and the rest of his friends in a weirded out manner. Everyone in the room looked to Knuckles to see him in his contemplative state, a state they weren't used to seeing from the echidna, making them all perplexed and worried. Sonic's eyes lowered in sadness as he remembered the depression his second oldest friend had been experiencing before the current crisis they were facing started. "He was feeling down about some...stuff when me and Shadow raced on Angel Island earlier before the attack happened" Sonic explained. "About what?" Tails inquired curiously. "Let me guess, because he's away from the Master Emerald and it's "very vulnerable without him" as if it hasn't been stolen at least twice in recent memory under his "watch"" Shadow said sarcastically using his index fingers on both of his hands to illustrate his undermining of Knuckle's beliefs and job. "Hey knock it off Shadow!" Sonic told off his rival in defense of Knuckles's feelings annoyed at the black hedgehog's lack of understanding. "We're dealing with a potentially world ending situation and he's worrying about some dumb guard job that he's not even good at!" Shadow rebutdtaled equally furious. "It's more complicated than that Shadow! That job was given to him by his family! Family that he hasn't seen in years and has learned over all these years that they weren't the noble heroes thought they were! That's a lot to take in for anybody, let alone Knuckles! So of course he's gonna be a little distracted and out of his loop!" Sonic further defended his emotional compromised friend standing up and stomping up to a couple feet from Shadow ignoring his lingering pain. The others except Knuckles either stepped back or shifted uncomfortably in their seats, a little intimidated by Sonic's uncommonly aggressive demeanor and the storm that was brewing between him and the ultimate lifeform. "Oh yes because him guarding the Emerald is such a crucial job, too bad their ain't a way for him to quit and focus on other shit going on while still making sure it's safe, oh wait a second, yes there is! Have Tails store it in one of his chaos energy cloaking storage devices in his lab and be done with it!" Shadow argued back with a mocking tone before finishing in an enraged one. "Umm... to be fair... I don't have one big enough to hold the Master Emerald" Tails chimed in sheepishly to try and support Sonic and Knuckles's point of view. Shadow's eyes dropped almost closing as he turned to stare at the two tailed fox an "you serious?" kind of expression. "How long would it take you to make one?" Shadow asked Tails in a deadpan tone. Tails's face faltered and slumped down realizing how redundant his statement was. "How do you know it'd be any safer that way then the way it is now?!" Sonic countered. "Uhhh cause then it's energy wouldn't be able to be tracked, also how many times has Eggman been to Tail's lab compared to Angel Island? You transfer that oversized gem discreetly enough and the doctor would probably never know!" Shadow retorted knowingly. "Sigh...it's not just the Emerald Shadow...his whole past is getting to him, his family, their actions and everything in between, it's overwhelming him, you of all people should understand what that feels like" Sonic explained further pointing a finger at the black hedgehog recalling Shadow's own family's past. Shadow glared daggers at Sonic at first thinking that the blue blur and cut too deep for his liking but as his mind played the memories of old, he realized he had a point and his eyes darted to the floor in thought. As that was happening Knuckle's mind had also been somewhere else. Only it wasn't a memory, the vision of Tikal and her warning kept rewinding in his head over and over again wondering what it could possibly entail. "What could it mean? Is the deceiver someone I know or is it someone new? Why would they want to deceive me? And how does he or she make that freak not the main threat? Who even is that freak?!" Knuckles screamed furiously in his mind. The red echidna's vision briefly cleared of the Tikal visions so he could look out the window to try and calm himself before he exploded. Seconds later however a sphere of red energy appeared right outside the window. "Huh?" Knuckles exclaimed in surprise, he had witnessed this phenomenon before, when Chaos broke out of the Master Emerald. The red energy sphere was Tikal's spirit manifested into the world. The sphere slowly floated closer and closer to Knuckles at a snail's pace before it suddenly zipped phasing through the window and flashing in Knuckles's eyes blinding him. "Ahhh! Ugh... I did not miss tha-wha?" Knuckles's reaction was cut short when he realized he was not in Cream's house anymore. In fact the red echidna wasn't even in Seaside Hill anymore or anywhere he had ever been to before. The sky was a familiar blue with Sun and the occasional cloud but the buildings were completely unfamiliar to him. Half of them had a strange dome like design. Knuckles himself found that he was standing on the balcony of the by far largest of the dome like buildings. It was lemon yellow colored and near the top of the dome in blue the words "Capsule Corp" were written. "Never heard of that name before, what is this place?" Knuckle's wondered slowly walking around to explore and find answers.
Meanwhile back on Mobius somewhere in a dark laboratory.
The mysterious youth lied unconscious on an metal operating table in a mostly grey laboratory room. His limbs were entrapped in shackles made out of some kind of green energy. Leering over the young man with a malicious grin complimented by glistening blue goggles, Dr Eggman stood over his newest discovery in anticipation. Hovering next to him surrounded by an pixelated aura alternating between deep red and light blue coloring was a little girl with pale white skin, snow white hair, a black dress and eyes that changed into the same colors with her aura, Sage, Eggman's computer AI projection, and his daughter figure. "Oh ho Ho ho! This is magnificent! Once I have full control over this marvelously powerful young lad, I will finally conquer the world! Ha ha ha ha!" Dr Eggman plotted bellowing out in his signature laugh throwing his arms into the air in excitement. "Indeed father, the energy readings were astounding, though I personally am more intrigued by this strange man's origin" Sage agreed while stating her interest. "As am I Sage, that's why I'm giving you the task of getting more info about this unique specimen, his power and how i can harness it for our purposes" Eggman instructed assigning his daughter her job. "Right away father" Sage bowed her head obediently. "That's my girl" Eggman cooed affectionately rubbing his daughter's pixel hair. "I'll check back in for your results in a couple hours, I gonna go fix the AC unit, sigh... Cubot broke it after he started acting like a cowboy again and shot it, now it's sweltering in here!" Eggman complained marching out of the room while taking a rag and wiping the sweat off his head. Sage giggled at the mention of her "brother's" antics. A whimpering sound perked her digital ears. She turned around to see that the whimpering was coming from the man. His eyes were furrowed down, his face was glistening with sweat, teeth gritted and his hands were shaking and clenching onto the sides of the table, with enough force that it was denting slightly. "Hmm subject appears to be in some form of distress, I will need to administer a sedative to ensure that it won't-huh?!" Sage's deduction was cut short when something really strange started happening to the man. With his head having turned in her direction his previously tan colored skin suddenly turned a sickly grey, his still gritted teeth now had four fangs with the rest of his human teeth and one of his eyes had opened and it was constantly changing starting out black with white irises but then they turned grey and the white of the irises literally cracked and faded into black, then turned whiter, then blacker again, it kept going back and forth. Eventually the open eye shut abruptly only for then his head to violently turn onto the other side and the other eye to shoot open and do the same thing the other did before. The youth's whimpering's grew into groans and moans with the occasional painful and fearful sounding yelps. His arms and legs began jerking trying to move but the energy shackles kept him in place. "What is this...?" Sage questioned to herself quietly gaining a sorrowful expression on her face. The youth looked to suffering from either a nightmare and/or some involuntary bodily metamorphosis but she could not see a logical cause for any of it. Nevertheless she felt terrible for the young man, her eyes watering as she listened to his screams and screeches. She leaned forward toward him and grabbed one of his hands. Her contact with the man seemed to do something as his screams ceased and his limbs stopped jerking around. "I'm here, you're ok, steady... and calm down" Sage comforted her subject, hoping to end his episode. This seemed to work as the youth let out a deep relaxed breath, his skin returning to its previous tan coloring, his fangs retracting and both his eyes staying shut and no longer furrowed. Sage let go of the youth's hand breathing her own sigh of relief gaining a small smile. It disappeared she stared at the young man and thought back to his rampage in Spagonia earlier. "Who are you? And why are you in pain?" Sage questioned with a sad curiosity. Suddenly a red light illuminated the room. Sage looked up from the youth to see the same red energy sphere Knuckles was seeing at Cream's house. "Huh?! How did that get in he-woah!" Sage exclaimed in surprise as the sphere rocketed towards her and smacked right into her face blinding her with a bright light.
Back in the Mystery City with Knuckles
Knuckles continued to wander about the balcony of the yellow dome building until he stumbled upon a group of people. Most of them were clearly humans as far as Knuckles could tell the only exceptions being a humanoid dog wearing a purple ninja outfit and what looked like a blue goblin type kid. They all had many varying distinct appearances uncommonly seen in most people from what Knuckles recalled, however one stood out amongst them all. On the opposite side from where Knuckles was standing, he saw a boy, looking to be of about twelve or thirteen years old and he looked exactly like the mass murderer except obviously shorter in stature and instead of his black gi with grey undershirt and red sash, his gi was orange, undershirt was blue and the sash also blue. "It's him..." Knuckles muttered in surprise and slight shock, now fully realizing where he was. Tikal had sent him to learn the past of the mysterious youth much like how she did with Chaos. As he said that however he realized that his muttering was virtually copied and in sync with another female sounding voice speaking the same words. The red echidna turned around and to his further surprise sees Sage floating a few feet away from him staring back at him equally surprised. "You?! What are you doing here?!" Knuckles interrogated the daughter of his greatest enemy aggressively. "I...I don't know! I was examining him in my father's lab when suddenly this red sphere appeared and the next second I was here!" Sage explained exasperated still getting over her recent dealing with the episode with the youth and herself suddenly transported to a time and place she didn't know. "Wait? Tikal sent you here too?" Knuckles asked surprised now a little more calmly. Both looked back at the group of people and the kid version of the killer. Only then did they notice a weird green sphere that was projecting what looked like static like a TV. "We...lost?" The child version of the youth stuttered out of his mouth in an anxious tone. "Lost? Lost what?" Knuckles questioned out loud. Suddenly the sunny blue skies roared with thunder and instantly shifted into what looked like a starless night sky. "What's going on?!" The child cried out in confusion and terror. The rest of the group of people plus Sage and Knuckles themselves were all panicking silently upon the sudden darkening of the skies made worse by an intense wind that started blowing in every direction. Sage looked out the balcony and to her horror he saw all the buildings, houses and roads are start to crack and fall apart into a growing void. This all happened while the terrified citizens of city were consumed by thin white auras before vanishing into nothingness. "Ah! The world! It's like it's-being deleted!" Sage exclaimed in utter disbelief and terror at the apocalyptic scene unfolding before her pixelated eyes. Knuckles briefly turned to look out the balcony also seeing the devastation occurring his eyes widening with horror. "Ahhhh!" A black haired woman wearing a mostly yellow dress screeched in pain as the same white aura of death encased her being. "Mom? Are you ok?" The child asked his apparent mother walking to her. He wouldn't reach her in time as she disappeared in a blink of an eye. "Mom!" The child screamed in despair and agony his mother was gone. One by one the group of people disappeared into the void, each either screaming in denial, hugging their loved ones or simply crying as they each met the same fate as the boy's mom, the city and presumably the entire world. Within less than thirty seconds only one person was left with the child and it was another young boy who appeared around the same age with purple hair who had just lost what looked to be his girlfriend and all that remained of the world was the balcony they stood on. "Our dad's lost...they actually lost!" The purple haired teen screeched out in disbelief. "What the hell did their dad's lose that's causing all this?!" Knuckles screamed himself in angry disbelief wanting to stop whatever was happening despite him knowing it was the past. Regardless of whether he knew the kid or anyone in this world he hated that they were all dying as did Sage who was tearing up in sadness and grief of all the death. The purple haired teen was encased in the white aura turning to look to the spiky haired child in horror. "Goten..." he practically whispered weakly in a defeated tone beginning to cry. "Trunks! No no no!" The child cried out praying that his apparent friend wouldn't leave him too. But he did and the child left all alone as far as he knew, the balcony cracking beneath his feet nearly gone. "No! Gohan! Trunks!, Videl!, Pan!, Come back! Please!" The child wailed tears flowing out of his eyes like rivers. Knuckles stood looking at the child feeling his pain and loss and though his face remained in a mostly stunned state, a couple tears fell from his own eyes. Despite what the child would go on to do he clearly didn't deserve this, no child did. Sage couldn't take it anymore and tried to grab the child and rescue him but to her befuddlement and anguish she found she was unable to, her body simply phasing through the child and the child not even registering her presence let alone her efforts to save him. Abruptly another flash of light erupted in Knuckles and Sage's eyes.
Back at Cream's cottage
"Ahhhh!" Knuckles screamed from where he was standing in the room before his soul now being back in the present knocking himself down to the floor breathing heavily. "What's wrong?!" "Knuckles" What happened?!" Tails, Sonic and Amy asked respectfully while the rest of the crew just gasped and/or widened their eyes in surprise of Knuckles's scream. Sonic along with Espio, Vector and Amy ran over to the red echidna and helping him up. "It-it was him... I saw that guy-as...a kid" Knuckles stuttered out still trying to get over the overwhelming emotions he had just felt while experiencing the vision. "What? How did you see something like that?" Charmy Bee asked in total confusion of Knuckles's claim. "Was it because of Tikal? The four of us have experienced this sorta thing before" Tails inquired gesturing to himself, knuckles, Amy and Sonic remembering their visions of Chaos. "Yes... and..." Knuckles trailed off as his head drooped down to look at the floor and tears start trickling down his eyes unable to hold in his immense sadness and grief over the vision of a world vanishing. The others crowded around him in worry and confusion wondering what it is Knuckles saw when there was a knock on the door. Cream walked over to the door opening it. Standing at the entrance of the house was a green skinned man with a purple outfit and pointy ears, one of which dawned an orange earring. "Can I help you sir?" The little rabbit asked innocently. "I certainly hope so young one, I'm searching for someone...someone very important to me..." the man replied with a quiet kinda British sounding voice his grey eyes narrowing while shaded from the sun by the house with a slightly snarky grin on his face.
Meanwhile at the same time back in Eggman's secret Lab
"Gasp! Ah! I've...returned..." Sage confirmed to herself after getting over her shock and looking around. She looked down at the still sleeping mysterious youth who she now knew was Goten once more. She gained a very sorrowful expression and out of compulsion raced over and hugged Goten's head with her whole body. The moment was interrupted by the door opening yet again but instead of the doctor, it was someone, or something else. "Have you gotten any info for our creator yet Sage?" The visitor spoke robotically with a deep voice. Goten at the sound of the voice stirred awake at last and the first thing his eyes locked onto were the soulless red glowing eyes, of Metal Sonic.