Chapter Eight – Mischief Managed
Dimension – 151105 – When The God Of The Cosmos Finally Shows
Shads, Saffie, Sukko, and Manic. They were all gone and there were no Hedgehog children, in sight either, and Stripes, could have just cried. In fact, he did, much to the surprise of many. But Blaze grabbed him. She knew Sukko, and how stubborn he could be. If anyone could get them out, he could.
But Blaze looked around, her home, the Sol Empire. Her palace grounds were littered with people everywhere, both refugees from Sukko's dimension, and her own people, helping out as much as possible. She was intensely proud. She'd made the call, they had answered, in earnest, with food, water, blankets, medical supplies, and clothing. But she was intensely worried, but as she looked around, someone in amongst the crowd, stood out.
The tone of voice, the intense professionalism. It had an air of familiarity about it, but Blaze didn't know the individual. He was a Bear, quite tall and slender, with big blue eyes, rushing around, grabbing medical supplies, treating as many people as possible. He wore a long white coat, like all doctors in the hospital, but with full set of light to mid blue scrubs on beneath, and white gloves. He wore grey shoes, and permanently had a stethoscope hung around his neck. Blaze was seriously with impressed with his skill, but what really caught her attention was the fact that the Bear, looking extremely worried, periodically stopped, grabbed a communication device, from the inside pocket of his coat. He called someone, putting it to his ear. When he'd had his memories wiped, the Bear still had the communications device on him, but couldn't remember why, and yet, getting rid of it, just instinctively felt too painful, so he'd kept it on his person the entire time. Now he remembered. It was his direct line to his best friend, of which the pair had spend hours talking down, both professionally and leisurely.
But the Bear heaved, no answer. Upset but not disheartened, he just carried on treating people. But it was when he muttered the Sorcerer's name in earshot of Blaze, that he finally caught her attention. Blaze walked up behind him, and tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped a mile. He turned and apologised, panting hard.
"Hello." He squealed. "And sorry." He nodded, then he bowed. "Thank you, your Highness, for taking us into your kingdom. We are grateful." He added, having being told, almost immediately on arrival, where he was and who was in charge. But Blaze frowned, pointing at the communication device.
"What's that?" She wondered. But the Bear smiled.
"It's my direct line to Sukko. My name's Dr. Frank, Consultant Surgeon, and Chief Commissioner of Robotropolis County General Hospital. Or I was, before it blew up. The Sorcerer used to work for me, as a Senior Emergency Medical Physician, in our Emergency Room. Yes, he is a qualified Doctor, and a dam good one, even without the Magic." He heaved, heavily missing those days. Seeing him flee from the Mobian Authorities and handing in his resignation, was heartbreaking. "I've known the Blue Hedgehog all his life, not that he actually remembers. I first met the family when they were toddlers, looking for help. Then I found Sukko again, when I was working for the Restoration, in my dimension, in their sickbay, before he became a Doctor. Then when he qualified, he came to work for me in my hospital." He heaved and then smiled. "If I can tell you anything, one planetary disaster, is nowhere near enough, to take out that Sorcerer. He's as tough as they come. I've seen it." He announced. Everyone within earshot just stared in utter astonishment, included Blaze. But Frank immediately grabbed the device again, and called the Sorcerer. It rang. "Come on, Sukko, pick up, pick up." He pleaded, as it put on speakerphone, as allow everyone to hear. The ringing filled the air. Suddenly, there was an almighty thud, then a voice rang from the device, to the utter delight, and then deep groan from the Bear. It heaved.
"Unless, your a gorgeous looking guy that I can take to my bed, this evening, I'm hanging up." It spat, to a shock of everyone. Except Stripes, whom upon hearing his beloved voice, immediately ran over, beaming. He smirked hard, at the comment, knowing it was meant for him. Upon seeing the Black Hedgehog, he rolled his eyes. But the Bear growled.
"Sukko, your a pain in the backside." He grilled, but the Sorcerer's just giggled, dancing slightly, down the device.
"Tell me something, Frank, I don't know." He chimed, down the communicator. But Frank, getting frustrated, just panicked down the device. He squealed, as his and Stripes eyes met.
"Please, tell me you got them?" He pleaded, referencing the kids. Sorcerer's own six children. But Sukko just laughed.
"What do you think? Behind you, on your left." He announced, as suddenly, three enormous deep purple, inter-dimensional portals opened, in a line, exactly were they Sorcerer said they would, through which walked a Titan, each carrying two children. Shads and Kee Kee, had Violet and Raven, Manic had Jade and Crystal and Saffie had Max and Sapphire. The disintegrating dimension behind them, of Sukko's home world, appeared temporally frozen in time behind them. They all successfully landed in the Sol Empire and to safety, but they all collapse with exhaustion. The entire Sol Empire immediately helps, bringing in food and water. Shads is wary but is quickly calmed. The Sapphire Dragon fascinated everybody, considering he was a Blue Blur, and Manic just gets on with it.
Suddenly, there is an enormous flash blinding flash of light behind everyone, as the Sorcerer himself lands, floating in the skies above them, with huge quantities of Magic streaming from his hands, his black coat glowing silver. He controlled the closing of the three inter-dimensional portals, and the Genesis Wave behind them. He couldn't stop it, but he had slowed it down enough to get his family out.
But he was on the verge of tears. He didn't get everyone out. His dimension's Manic, also called Manikkos, his younger brother, along with Victor the Crocodile, his best friend, and his son, Dexter. The three of them had chosen to stay. Manikkos, like all version of the mighty Earth Bender, was Chi, neither Chaos nor Sol. Chi was the energy of a planet itself, coming in four types, Earth, Air, Fire and Water, and he believed he could survive the Genesis Wave. There was a significant chance of that, as the Genesis Wave, was entire Chaos in origin, especially this one, which had been caused by Magic. Victor, knowing his chances, stayed with Manikkos. He knew he'd get deleted, and there was a possibility, he'd get reborn, and even though he knew he wouldn't remember the Earth Bender, he made Manikkos promise to find him again, and start their friendship over.
Sukko leaving Manikkos behind was extremely hard, but the Sorcerer promised the Earth Bender that they would find each other again, after the rebirth. With Manikkos at the heart of the Genesis Wave, it was going to change it forever. It was burning up all the Chaos Energy, the planet had to offer, leaving nothing but Manikkos's Chi remaining, with the rebirth, it just exploded.
The Earth Bender, twisted and shaped the planet, creating something entirely new. The land moved, continents shifted, oceans dried up, new ones grew, as the dimension severed itself off from the main Multiverse, now no longer a Mobius. It was now a land where Chi ruled, where the Benders could call home.
A new Chi Home World.
But the planet began drifting across the cosmos, a certain God Of The Cosmos, caught it and gentle drifted it towards another planet, and locked it orbit, next door, around it's sun, and safety. A planet of which Sukko was extremely fond.
The Sol Empire.
But Sukko heaved. But as he returned back to Blaze's dimension, a mixture of exhaustion, and intense guilt just overwhelmed him, as he now finally realised he had been the cause of the Genesis Wave. As he landed, Sukko was left hovering above the Sol Empire. As he closed the portals behind the other Titans, and then floated down, everyone was in utter awe of him. The God Of The Cosmos had arrived, but Sukko just didn't care.
He saw his best friend below him, as Frank had dropped everything, and had put his arms out, ready to catch him. His eyes were streaming with tears, as Sukko had desperately missed the Bear, and realised that maybe wiping his memories wasn't the best of ideas. He loved the Sol Empire, and the friends he's made here, but Sukko had always had an enormous soft spot for Frank, and realised that he just do this anymore without the Bear. But the Sorcerer wasn't perfect. He was a Blue Hedgehog, he made mistakes. Mistakes that were costing entire planets. But regardless, seeing Frank, now, still here for him, after all these years, despite everything, meant the world to Sukko, as he dived for him arms, as he landed, and cried his heart out on his shoulder. Frank just grabbed him.
"Shh, I've got you, I've got you." He comforted. Immediately, Sukko was surrounded, by his family, as Stripes and the children all ran in, and cuddled the Sorcerer. Everyone was just stunned. Especially the Titans, especially upon finding the children and realising whom they were looking at. For Shads, he was still desperately trying to process it. That a version of himself, had managed to somehow father children. He knew Raven and Violet were his, as soon as he'd found them. Their scents just blew him over, and then hearing Sukko's call to get them out, Shads had done as he was asked. All the Titans had.
But Stripes and the children didn't hang around for long. After hugs all around, the Ultimate Lifeform had promptly teleported them away. They already had a home set up here, with Sonikku and his family, and that was where he immediately took the children. Into deep hiding, Stripes knew that would be safe there. He just had a hunch something was coming, and didn't take any chances. The Sorcerer, however, Stripes knew he could handle anything, so didn't worry. Due to Sukko's powerful telepathic influences, Stripes and the children promptly got forgotten about. The only person outside of the family, who remembered, was Frank. He'd personally delivered four, out of the six kids, and Lisa, who also knew, regularly babysat. Both Bears had given Sukko a vow of silence, that no matter what happened, they could never mention his children, outside of the family home.
Unfortunately, there was a problem. Winter was coming in the Sol Empire, and it was dropping very cold, extremely quickly. After his kids left, Sukko collapsed, in a really bad way, and everyone was exhausted. Blaze quickly realised that it was going to take days, to get everyone rested and then moved into new homes, and there now too many people to accommodate inside her palace.
So a temporally makeshift camp was setup, in the grounds, and her people, of who Blaze was intensely proud, came out in their droves, to help, in any way they could. But as the temperatures plummeted, there was a desperate shortage of warmth and hot food. Frank, as a professional Doctor, himself, had been treating Sukko. Everyone seemed worried, but Sukko wasn't. He knew exactly what he and it involved the Sapphire Dragon.
Saffie was nervous upon officially meeting his twin, but the Blue Dragon was just fascinated and Sukko vice-versa. Away from everyone, they talked, at length, and Saffie though frightened, agreed to help. But the Sorcerer blinked. Having not realised there were two versions of the Blue Blur on the main timeline, he'd mistook the the twin calling him, in the Greater Cosmos, for the wrong one. It had been Saffie, not Sonic. Now he was deeply fascinated in the Blue Dragon. So Frank, not convinced that what the Sorcerer was doing the right thing, but didn't argue, sits Sukko up, with Saffie sat beside him, and the twins close their eyes, and touch foreheads and noses. Suddenly, the Magic exploded as both the twins shine in a beautiful pale blue, both their eyes glowing hard, as they snapped open, and the power fully restores the Sorcerer. With minutes, it was over, the Magic dissipates, and all the quiet. Suddenly, Saffie topples backwards, to be immediately caught by Frank and Sukko, whom was now fine.
The mighty Sapphire Dragon was shaking, hard. Frank held him strong. He smiled.
"Easy, Big Guy. You'll be alright." He comforted. But Sukko smiled.
"Shh, this is a big change for you, and your going to need time to process it. I'll leave you peace, and when your ready, you come and find me, alright." He beamed.
Saffie nodded. He wasn't in any pain, the whole thing hadn't hurt him, at all, but wow, did it feel weird. His mind was left spinning, and decided to spend some time alone, just to get his head around it. That and the fact, he was fed up of being stared at. Being a enormous, bright blue, Hedgehog / Dragon hybrid, with big wings and a large tail, does make you stand out somewhat, even if he wasn't a monster.
Sukko shuddered in the cold. Thanks to the Sapphire Dragon, now, he'd be fine, and as for him, he'll come round. He just needed time. He looked around the makeshift camp, and spotted a certain Princess, trying to make as many fires as she could, to keep everyone warm. Sonic and Tails were helping as best as they could. Sukko silently slide right to the Cat, and smirked in her.
"Hello, stranger!" He sniggered. Blaze jumped and then rounded on him. Suddenly, she stared.
"Sukko?" She blinked. "Your alright?" She asked, somewhat surprised. The Sorcerer nodded.
"Yes, I had a little help from a friend." He smiled, then he smirked, hard, pointing at the fires. "Wouldn't two pyromaniacs doing that, be more effective then one?" He giggled, pure sass in his voice. But that hit a nerve, as Blaze's anger suddenly exploded, as she rounded on the Sorcerer, and hard. She growled at him.
"You mention a swimming pool, and your dead." She growled. Both Sonic and Tails, as well as several others just stared, confused. Sukko, rather mockingly, looked rather shocked. He smirked.
"Excuse me. I wouldn't do such as thing." He sniggered, extremely sarcastically, then he walk right up to the Princess, and glared down at her, almost nose-to-nose. He hissed, rather coldly, his eyes narrowing right at the Princess. "I'd like to see you try." He leered, and suddenly, he puts up his right hand and snaps his fingers, with a rather loud crack. Suddenly, bright blue fire, the fabled Blue Flames of Chaos Sorcery, exploded everywhere, lighting all the fires, and criss-crossing along the ground, until the entire camp was bathed in it's beautiful warm. Thankfully, it wasn't going to rain that night.
Blaze stared, but Sonic and Tails were downright gobsmacked. The Blue Blur gasped.
"Whoa!" He praised. He heard of Magic, in his travels, especially inter-dimensionally, but never that powerful. It was stunning. The Princess suddenly giggled.
"Sukko, your a git." She blasted, but she also nodded her thanks. The Sorcerer giggled hard. Yes, he was.
Suddenly, the Princess was called from behind. A huge crowd of people had come to the palace grounds, with a very large quantity of boxes. Blaze opened one. She frowned.
"Apples?" She asked. She looked all around. All the boxes were full of apples. He frowned deepened. "But who ordered..." She wondered, letting the sentence hang, until her eyes fell on the heavily smirking Sorcerer. Then she rolled her eyes. "Sukko?" She growled. But Sukko just giggled.
"What? I like apples." He shrugged, then he heaved. "You guys need hot food, so I'm was thinking of baking them." He giggled. But Sonic frowned.
"Baked apples?" He asked, but Sukko just laughed, rounding on the Princess.
"Well..." He grinned, as he was about to explain, but got prompt cut across by Blaze, who was now fuming. She growled.
"I know how to do a baked apple, Sukko, thank you." She hissed, to much giggling from the Sorcerer. He was winding her up, and Blaze knew it, and was determined not to give that Hedgehog an inch. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed one of the apples, in her hand. She throws it up into the air, then activates her beautiful yellow and red fire, in the hand, and cooks the apple in the flames, rolling it over and over, until after a few minutes, it was done. She then blasted the apple into the air, where it was caught by Tails, who then squealing slightly, because it was hot, took a huge bite out of it. He nodded, it was really good.
Blaze smirked. Not bad Sorcerer, as ideas go, this was a good one. A quick and efficient way of feeding everyone. By this point a crowd began to gather, include Everglade and Arthur, who were thrilled to see the Sorcerer again. But Sukko, folded his arms and downright huffed, hard.
"That's not a baked apple." He spat. Blaze growled hard, as several people including Frank, Everglade, and Arthur began to giggle. Blaze was desperately trying not to loose her temper with the Hedgehog, and give him the win. Blaze scowled, as she decided to push him.
"Yes, it is." She spat. But Sukko smirked.
"No, it's not." He giggled, and suddenly, he wondered over to one of the boxes, he grabbed a apple. He grinned. "'This' is a baked apple." He hissed, and throw the fruit high in the air.
Suddenly, he took an enormous intake of breath, and with his eyes glowing a vivid blue, he looked upwards, his nose pointing skywards, below the falling apple. Sukko, then opened his mouth, and blowing hard, and to everyone's utter surprise, fire exploded from Sorcerer's mouth. The bright blue flames expanded high, upwards and wrapped themselves around the falling apple, cooking it in seconds. Sukko, pushed the apple upwards, and sent it flying into the air, only to be caught by Sonic, this time. Again, it tasted good.
Blaze gasped, and was about to brand Sukko a 'show off' but as she stared at the Sorcerer, she then giggled as she saw the Sorcerer, silently complaining, in a lot of discomfort. She frowned.
"Hey, you alright?" She asked, but Sukko heaved.
"Yeah. I, unlike you, Blaze, am not immune to my own fire. That was hot. Ow!" He whined, holding his hand. Suddenly, several people screamed as the almighty Blue Sapphire Dragon, flew in, from above and landed right in amongst them. Several people backed away. But Saffie gulped, standing still, right were he landed.
"Er, Sorry." He stammered. But Sukko smiled.
"What's up, Saffie?" He asked, trying to put people as ease. The Sapphire Dragon had been watching proceedings from a distance, in amongst some trees, his head still spinning. But when he saw the Sorcerer breathed fire, all thoughts of the current weirdness of his mind, just instantly vanished, as he realised something, and immediately few in to join them, wanting to help. He smiled, pointing at Sukko.
"Breathing fire! I can do that to." He announced, and then looked rather sheepish. He smiled. "Er, well, I am a Dragon." He added. He grabbed one of the apples, and repeating the exact some movements as Sukko, but without the eyes glowing, he blew intensely hot, bright yellow flames around the falling apple, cooking it instantly. He threw and this time Arthur caught it. It tasted epic, and this time, no harm done to Saffie. As a Dragon, he was built to breath fire.
This broke the ice between the Sapphire Dragon and the people of the Sol Empire, as he, Sukko and Blaze, worked together, using their flames, to bake all the apples and hand them out to everyone. Manic also helped as best he could, building earth tents and easily moving the fires around. Nothing appeared to hurt him, as he just got on and helped anyone he could.
But Shads found himself, smirking hard. He kept himself out of the way, with Kee Keep close to him. The people here were struggling enough, accepting the Sapphire Dragon. A ghost as well, Shads suspected, would be just too much, certainly for now. He liked this dimension, however, as well as the other Titans. They were fine. He got on well enough with all of them. But to the Sorcerer himself, he just stared at. Suddenly, their eyes met, and Shads felt his heartstrings get seriously plucked. He heaved, panting hard, as Sukko just waved at him and giggled. But right now, everyone needed rest and sleep.
Blaze smiled. Her kingdom was indeed a safe haven. It was needed, in the greater scheme of things, to help and house those caught in the middle of the Multiverse. But it wasn't long before it all kicked off, as within a few days, both Sukko and Shads would found missing. Kee Kee the ghost, was flying all around the palace grounds, in utter panic, desperately looking for the Ultimate Lifeform Titan. As he flew around, people screamed running away from him, himself causing panic. But Frank just smirked, as he grabbed the ghost by the tail and yanked him to a stop. He knew exactly who Shads was, as he'd seem him arrive with the ghost. But regardless, he stared. Seeing a version of the Blue Blur was a ghost was bizarre, but he was getting used to all of the weird and wonderful things that tended to happen around the Sorcerer. He hissed at Kee Kee.
"Calm yourself, Ghost. I know where they are." He spat. But the ghost wasn't convinced as Frank ran up to join them, along with Blaze and Everglade. But Everglade, stopped still somewhat wary of the ghost, but tried to ignore it. Both Blaze just gulped, frightened of Kee Kee but seeing Frank in charge, did ease things hugely. Everglade, panting hard, heaved.
"What's the problem?" He asked. But Kee Kee was still panicking. He sniffed.
"Shads and the Sorcerer are missing." He squealed. But Frank just growled.
"No they're not, Ghost." He hissed. "They're in bed together. I saw this one coming." He smirked. "It seems that every version of the Ultimate Lifeform is destined to fall in love with that Sorcerer. I doubt Stripes will even care. He'd be honoured in fact, that Sukko love them all so much, especially if it means a version of himself out there, in the Greater Cosmos, watching over him." He added, to the utter stunned looks over everyone. Blaze just growled, very angry, feeling like her kingdom was being taken advantage of. She would be having words later. He could asked first, though Frank wasn't that surprised. Kee Kee just frowned, floating in mid-air. He was very disgusted by the thought, though somewhat confused.
"But why?" He asked. But Stripes just smirked, as the pain finally stopped, and righted himself.
"Because Sukko is the God Of The Cosmos." He declared, to the shock of everyone, though Frank just sniggered. "Yes, I heard you all talking about it, when he arrived here, and yes, your right. But if you ask him directly, he'll deny it, but he is. Putting himself a pistole like that, is not him, neither is showing off, either. I don't know the true extent of his powers, I don't think anyone does. But it is because of Sukko, that the all four of the Titans, are all members of the same family. The Sorcerer, the Twin, the Brother, and The Lover. Sukko would literally go to the ends of the cosmos and back, to protect his family. He literally just did, with that Genesis Wave. Giving up is not the Blue Hedgehog way." He smiled. "For either of the twins." He added as he looked at Kee Kee, realised that he too was once a Blue Blur. "But I'm guessing you died a little too young to fully understand that, and the true nature of relationships." He wondered.
The ghost stared and then nodded. That was true. He never really got anywhere, relationship wise, back when he was alive, and truthfully, he didn't really understand it. He thought he did but no. Suddenly, there was intense giggling, as both Saffie and Manic walked upwards them, howling with laughter. The two of them had now seriously bonded as brothers, though Manic was very tall himself, his eyeline to that of Saffie's shoulder, he wasn't that much shorter then Saffie. The stares from everyone, finally got them to explain. Saffie, still in full Sapphire Dragon mode, just giggled.
"We're just seen Shads and Sukko." He grinned. "Er, I think they were doing the deed, but the Sorcerer won because Shads is really looking worse for ware." He smiled. But Manic rounded on him.
"No, Bro. He's not worse for ware, he's in a big heap on the floor." He grinned. But then Saffie got serious giggly.
"Yeah, but then Sukko completely forgets about that massive Axe of Shads..." He smiled, of which Manic cuts across him. He frowned.
"You mean Storm-breaker?" He wondered. Saffie nodded.
"Yeah, Sukko completely forgets it's next to Shads, leaning against a tree and when he checks to him to see if he's ok, the axe lands on Sukko, smacking him in the head." He gulped. There was rippled of sympathy everywhere. Manic gulped.
"Ow." He gasped. "That thing is heavy." He breathed. "I can barely lift it, even for me. I seen Shads wielding the thing, in practice. He's throwing it around, like it's nothing more then a plastic toy hammer." He stammered, but then he looked intensely worried. "Will he be alright?" He wondered. But Saffie just rolled his eyes and nodded.
"Who, Sukko? Yeah, he'll be fine, but just don't go back that way." He informed, pointed behind him. "The language is really bad." He grinned but then he growled. "I can hear it in my head." He added, somewhat huffed. But Frank looked up, straight at the Sapphire Dragon.
"The Psychic Link?" He gasped, amazed. Saffie nodded.
"Yeah, I'm the new 'Sonic' he's telepathically bonded with. The Blue Blur from his dimension, Sonikku, wasn't even on the planet when the Genesis Wave hit. Apparently he's been in hiding for some time, somewhere else in the cosmos, though the Sorcerer won't say where. They two of them have gone their separate ways. Even though Sukko can telepathically see, every 'Sonic' in the Multiverse, he needs one of us, to fully establish the Psychic Link with, otherwise he wouldn't survive. That partially why he was in a bad way when he arrived here, he'd cut ties with Sonikku, during the Genesis Wave." He explained. But Manic stared.
"Wow, Bro. So he asked you?" He gasped. Saffie nodded.
"Yes, but I wasn't convinced at first, though I wanted to help. Him, choosing me, did make sense, as a fellow Titan. I wasn't exactly sure if it would work with me being a Cyborg, but as it turns out, Magic and machines can indeed co-exist." He grinned but then heaved. "But it's weird though." He added. "I can feel Sukko there, always in the back of my mind, and probably vice-versa, and we can talk to each other, inside each other's minds. He makes it look easy, I'm struggling with it, to be honest." He admitted. "But I hadn't realised how intensely alone I'd been all my life." He cried. "It was only when Sukko entered my mind, did I finally felt whole again." He added, almost in tears, to a massive hug from Manic.
It was at that point when everyone realised the enormous sacrifices that had been made because of the Multiverse, and the loss of the Sorcerer, from every dimension, except one. For the twin that got left behind, he was still suffering hugely for it. At least that wasn't Saffie anymore.
Suddenly, the Sapphire Dragon felt and heard a voice, beautifully flow right across his mind. It smiled.
{Hey, you'll be alright. I'm here now.} It smiled. Saffie bounced and closed his eyes and tried to respond. It was very clunky.
{Sukko...I...Er...} He stammered, then he huffed. {This is hard.} He heaved, then he took a deep breath. (Are...you...alright?} He slowly stuttered. But Sukko just outright giggled.
{Sonikku, your thinking about this way to hard. Yes, I'll be fine. I'll just have an extremely sore head for a while.} He informed, then he growled. {Stupid axe.} He spat. But Saffie tried to respond but failed and get very frustrated, but Sukko, feeling this, just smiled. {Don't try and force the words in the mind, just say them, like it is your own voice, I'll hear them.} He encouraged. Saffie heaved, still cuddling Manic.
{Like this.} He asked, to much nodded from Sukko, which weirdly, he could feel. Suddenly, he understood, as he finally relaxed into it. But then he frowned. {That name you called me. I haven't heard that in years. You said it before, but I wasn't really listening. My Uncle Chuck called me that, when I was a very small child.} He added. Sukko grinned, as he slowly headed towards where Saffie and Manic were, still talking along the way.
{It is your true name, Sonikku.} He nodded. {It means 'Miracle'. It is what 'Sonic' is short for.} He informed, but then he frowned. {Would you like me to change it?} He asked.
Saffie immediately bit his lip. There was something deeply fundamentally special about that name, especially when Sukko used it. It hit him, very lovingly, in the heart, every time, and Saffie didn't want it to stop. He squealed.
{No, please don't.} He admitted, as Sukko finally joined them, in front of the palace, nodding at Saffie. But for the Sorcerer, it was weird being back in the Sol Empire. The place felt so different now. He knew why. His entire family was here. But Manikkos wasn't there. But as Sukko saw, he'd happily survived the Genesis Wave and doing well on his own.
Finally, Shads staggered into the palace grounds, dragging Storm-breaker behind him, as he come up to join them, to much giggling of everyone, rather embarrassingly for him. He was another huge Hedgehog, the same height as Manic, but not as tall as the mighty Sapphire Dragon. Sukko, being the size of the normal Mobian, just looked over at his three fellow Titans, and rather comedically, blew his gasket. He huffed and hard.
"Oh, no, that is not 'on'." He squealed. "Four Titans, and I'm the short bum." He roared, the sarcasm thick, as the other three, all stood head and shoulders above him. Sukko didn't need to be told he was a Titan. He already knew. His telepathy had already told him everything, and had brought him perfectly up to speed, with what exactly was going on.
There was howls with laughter all around, as it was now time to go. It was decided to move the Titan mission, from the Sol Empire, to the main timeline, and leave Blaze's dimension as a safe haven, for refugees and emergencies only. The Princess was happy with that, as all the refugees, spread out across her kingdom, finding new homes and livelihoods, but she couldn't help get the feeling that the Titans were going to need all they help they could get.
Stripes decided to stay in the Sol Empire, he was still a legal guardian to Sukko's six children and he made it his mission to look after them. Frank, however, agreed to go with the Titans, suspecting they were going to need him. For two reasons. One as a Doctor, and two, to keep the Sorcerer in check.
He was right.
But Sukko, before he left the Sol Empire, had a deep, cold foreboding feeling about what the future had store for him. He suspected he needed backup, beyond the Titans, and then when he saw them together, Everglade and Frank happily chatting, obviously trading stories about him, Sukko had an idea.
His two mentors. One was coming back to the main timeline with him, and the other was staying. He could create a direct line to Everglade, and potentially call home, from anywhere, whenever he needed it. A point of contact.
So in the dead of night, Sukko Orbed right into the Skunk's sleeping champers. Suddenly, hundred of bright white orbs appeared in the darken room, temporally lighting the place up, before descending down, and solidifying into the mighty Sorcerer. Silently, Sukko held his breath, as Everglade stirred slightly before settling back to sleep again. In the bed opposite, Arthur was also fast asleep, and hadn't moved a muscle. Sukko wasn't surprised. The Wolf pup, had grown a lot since Sukko last saw him. He had mostly dark grey fur with light grey around his long muzzle, front torso, and the light grey stripe running the entire length of the underside of his long bushy tail. He had a black nose, triangular ears and blue eyes. He wore white gloves with bright red ties, white socks and dark brown shoes with black laces.
Arthur was indeed a Sorcerer, but in training, with bright emerald-green Magic. The Sol Empire's only home-grown true born Sorcerer. But being a Sorcerer, makes you sleep. The resulting drain from casting Magic, gave a Sorcerer horrendous fatigue. Sukko knew this all to well, as he sidled up to Everglade, smiling hard.
Growing up himself, he remembered spending large chunks of his childhood sleeping, as a literal direct result of casting Magic. He was significantly better now, able to cast any Magic almost indefinitely. Infinite stamina. Sukko had to be pushed far beyond his limit now, to crash. Unfortunately, it was still possible. But as moved up Everglade, who was lying on his back, his hands across his chest. Sukko heaved as he used his Telekinesis, to gentle lift Everglade's hand up, and suddenly, he grabbed it. His hands clasped around it, top and bottom. Sukko heaved, in his mind.
{Sorry, Everglade, but I need to borrow the ring.} He hissed. Everglade had a ring of power of his finger, an extremely Sorcerer's Relic that was created, a some time ago, by Sukko himself. It had a simple design, in silver, and a large leaf shaped crystal in the centre, which glowed yellow, and was to Everglade, his most prized procession. But now, Sukko had other plans for it, bracing himself and desperately hoping the light wouldn't wake the Skunk. Sukko concentrated hard.
The Sorcerer's eyes glowed a deep intense blue, as Sukko sent the powerful Magic down both his arms to his hands and into Everglade's and the ring. He gritted his teeth, groaning hard, under his breath, as he pushed the extremely high-level Magic cast hard, as it changed the dynamics and altered the structure of the Everglade's ring of power, then create an identical copy around his own finger. Twin Sorcerer's Relics, able to talk to one another.
Squealing with the drain, the cast was finally done. The Magic instantly dissipated and Sukko place Everglade's hand back before collapsing to the floor, silently in the darkness, panting. Creating a Sorcerer's Relic was scratch was relatively easy, and straightforwards. But changing an existing Sorcerer's Relic in any way, was incredible difficult, as the Magic within fought it back and hard, even of it was a relic the Sorcerer had created himself.
In fact, the cast was so difficult, that Sukko wasn't even sure, it would work. It had only been successfully done before only a handful of times, according to the Sorcerer's Guild, the Wizards of the Sol Empire now. Though, the cast wasn't advised. Sukko smirked. He was the God Of The Cosmos. Normal rules didn't apply to him, but as Everglade began to stir again, the Sorcerer immediately vanished behind a cloud of orbs ascending upwards and away. He smiled.
He doubted Everglade would even notice the difference, but unfortunately, he was seen as the Skunk awoke just as the Sorcerer's light vanished from the room. He blinked looking around, feeling nothing. But he frowned, however, recognising the light.
"Sukko?" He whispered. Seeing and hearing nothing in reply, he just shrugged, and went back to sleep, thinking the Sorcerer was just pranking him.
Sukko saw and heaved with relief. Thankfully, his plan had worked and was now in motion.
Time to move on.