Chapter 7
Space is Warped and Time is Bendable
As I entered the structure, I found myself in what appeared to be the ruins of an ancient castle. Walking forward, I saw giant eagles flying in the air and paths literally made of compressed air. "Where am I?", I asked, confused. Getting no response, I ran forward as fast as I could, literally grinding on the paths of compressed air and then finding myself skating down the roofs of one of the mini fortresses that comprised the castle. Landing on solid ground, I then noticed a strange red portal appear in front of me, with Black Doom's hologram appearing. "What? You don't remember Kingdom Valley either? This will not do.", he said as I ran forward. Wondering what he meant, I then saw the castle ruins twist and warp into Radical Highway yet again, albeit now fused with the castle ruins. "Huh?", I thought. "That's right, I can create Doom Zones wherever I can. You probably thought this was going to be a straight adaptation of Shadow Generations, but psych!", Black Doom's voice said as I ran down an electronic billboard advertising the film Chao In Space; then, I found myself in the claws of an eagle, with it carrying me away as the Doom Zone disappeared.
Landing on a solid patch of grass, I then saw a river that looked outright unavoidable. Gritting my teeth, I jumped off the grass and landed on the water, only for the Doom Surf to automatically manifest beneath my feet. "Huh. Good to know.", I thought as I used the black manta ray created by the Doom Surf power to cross the water. As I did so, I then saw a giant tidal wave appear carrying what seemed to be a Goal Plate with Eggman's face on it, a Goal Ring, a car, a bag of cement and a toy flying saucer. "Huh?", I thought, now very confused. Surfing up the tidal wave, I then saw what appeared to be a white dragon with a split nose inside it; the vision of it vanished just as quickly as it appeared. I then landed on a stone pathway, causing the black manta ray to vanish without a trace. Undeterred, I then ran forward, finding myself in what seemed to be an ethereal realm of marble, stone and bricks, seeing a black and dark purple portal spewing dark blue electricity in the distance. Wondering where I was, I kept running forward only to find myself back in White Space. Noticing colour partly returning to Kingdom Valley's structure, I looked up into the sky only to see strange battleships manifesting. Preparing to reenter Kingdom Valley, I heard a voice behind me say, "I wouldn't do that if I were you.". Turning around apprehensively, I saw a man with medium length bluish-dark grey hair and grey eyes wearing a black longcoat, a black turtleneck, a pair of dark grey trousers and grey boots.
"Who are you?", I asked the man. "And I thought you really were starting to remember. Well, my name is Faldeus Dioland.", the man said. Feeling a strange sensation in my left arm, I asked, "Well, Faldeus, why don't you want me to enter Kingdom Valley?". "That's simple. I suspect that your new 'friend' Black Doom may want to possess your body. After all, he attempted to do so to his son Shadow but failed; given your circumstances, I believe you may be his next best vessel. That is why he's having you unlock Doom Powers- to ripen you for possession. That's why the Chosen are also so adamant in you becoming the Sovereign as well- only the Sovereign has the power to decide Aionios's fate and Black Doom is hoping to have you as his vessel so he can Aionios vicariously.", Faldeus said. "Regardless, I need to escape White Space and entering Kingdom Valley and the next 3 stages is the only way for me to do so.", I said. "Can't you just use Rift Slip, being Odin's Dominant and all?", Faldeus asked. "I have reason to suspect that White Space is outright removed from the regular laws of time so I think that using Rift Slip might not work.", I said before Faldeus suddenly vanished before my eyes. "Weird.", I said, reentering Kingdom Valley.
Speeding down a stone pathway, I came across a mural depicting a strange phoenix that seemed to be fused with the other 8 Eikons as well as Ifrit. "What's this then?", I asked, wondering if it had anything to do with YHVH's endgame. Continuing on, I came across a veritable army of Egg Pawns that I skewered with a volley of Doom Spears before ploughing through them with a Doom Blast. I then surfed across a lake that the Egg Pawns appeared to be guarding with the Doom Surf. As I surfed across the water, I came across a whirlpool that I jumped down. Finding myself in a strange underground chamber, I saw a mural depicting various failed Sovereigns in the service of the Spirit Channelling Ceremony- among them included Gilgamesh, Jin, Yuito, Lindow, Haseo, Goku, Law, Dohalim, Sonic, Geralt and many others. As I walked up to the mural, I then found myself back in White Space. Watching the colour return to Kingdom Valley, I then saw another chalky white structure resembling a war-torn city and walked up to it. Sensing a strange presence behind me, I turned around to see that no-one was there, only to see a strange note that crumbled into dust. Shrugging, I then entered the chalky white structure only to find myself in a besieged and war-torn city shrouded in what seemed to be a perpetual clouded sunset. Looking at a dilapidated sign, I saw that it read, "Welcome to Sunset Heights.". "Sunset Heights? Is that what this place is called?", I thought. Hearing a strange explosion, I saw a giant grey robot with a glowing red eye unleashing a violent payload of missiles.
Rushing forward, I noticed what appeared to be mediaeval soldiers fighting back against literal armies of robotic soldiers. Speeding through the robots, I then found myself running up a ruined skyscraper only to continue on. Jumping across the town's rooftops, I fought my way through the robot army, ploughing through them with Doom Blasts aplenty. Unleashing the power of the Azure Grimoire, I then unleashed a blast of darkness in the shape of the Black Beast's head that vaporised several red and green bomber planes. I then continued running only to see several more copies of the giant grey robot I saw, with the robots unleashing giant red beams from their red mechanical eyes. Undeterred, I sped forward, grinding down one of the giant robot's arms before propelling my way forward with the power of the Negative Speed Force. Covered in a crimson cocoon of lightning, I ran down an unused maintenance tunnel only to see Black Doom's hologram yet again. "Oh, I'm not going away until you awaken as the Sovereign, boyo.", he said as I saw the tunnel warp and twist into Radical Highway again, this time fused with the ruined Sunset Heights. Running past a missile, I then saw several twisted grind rails that looked like they had been formed from a twisted red plant. Grinding down the rails, I saw another giant grey robot with a glowing red eye unleash a thin red laser that I narrowly dodged. As giant mechanical hands burst forth from the ground, I then saw the Doom Zone mysteriously vanish, causing Sunset Heights to return to "normal". Surfing down a lake of water, I then found myself back in White Space, with colour partly returning to Sunset Heights's structure. "So, you're here too, huh?", a voice said behind me. Turning around, I saw a young girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes wearing a long and puffy black dress, black high-heeled shoes and a black hat. "And you are…?", I asked, causing the girl to pout. "It's just like Faldeus said! You've forgotten me too. Well, my name is Abigail Williams but you can call me Abby.", the girl said. Noticing a nauseously bright aura around her, I then asked Abigail, "Did the Silent Core corrupt you as well?". "The Silent Core doesn't corrupt. It protects and purifies people! How can you be so ignorant?", Abigail said as the aura around her grew brighter and brighter. "I thought the Infinity Core purifies, though.", I said. "If you want to know the truth, beat Sunset Heights and face Lord Naga.", Abigail said before vanishing suddenly.
As I wondered what she meant by the 'truth', I heard a strange earthquake. Reentering Sunset Heights's structure, I saw the Blood Moon in the sky, painting the town in an ominous red glow. Running forward, I then saw very strange meteors falling down, spawning strange black and dark red monsters from them. Speeding down an alleyway, I saw several Gloom-corrupted Egg Pawns standing in place and staring into space. Carving my way through them, I saw a strange alien with black and dark red skin also staring into space. Shrugging, I raced forward, only for the town to strangely glitch out, launching me into the air and causing me to run across several missiles. Landing on a rooftop, I then saw a strange missile fly towards me, only to find myself in White Space with Sunset Heights's colour fully restored. "Weird.", I said only to find myself by a dark purple portal. Walking through it, I found myself by the ruins of a giant battleship in a river. All of a sudden, I then saw a giant white dragon with a split nose, a purple gem in his chest and black scleras with red pinprick eyes fly by only for him to turn around and look at me. "The time has come, Jack Sebastian Arnold! You shall awaken and rule Aionios as the Sovereign!", the dragon bellowed. "I'm sorry, who are you again?", I asked. "Insolent fool! I am Naga, one of the White Ones and the host of the Silent Core!", the dragon screamed. "OK, OK, maybe use your inside voice next time.", I said. "I have no need for an inside voice!", Naga shouted. "Like I was saying.", I said before jumping into the water, causing the Doom Surf to appear beneath my feet, prompting Naga to fly away and me to chase after him.
Chasing after Naga, I skilfully dodged the dragon's many black and dark purple projectiles, even spinning the Doom Surf to clear away the rubble created by the aforementioned projectiles, sending them back at the dragon. Undeterred, Naga unleashed a giant black and dark purple fireball that I jumped over, only for him to unleash even more fireballs. "Maybe you won't be like Drago after all.", Naga said only for me to unleash a volley of Doom Spears that pierced through the fireballs. "Crazy blighter, ain'tcha?", Naga said only for me to then catch up to him and unleash a giant volley of dark energy blasts that easily pierced through the defences that Naga had tried so hard to establish. "Why you little-!", Naga said before I summoned Gram to my right hand and encased it within a dark red aura, promptly unleashing a razor sharp beam of darkness that pierced through Naga and caused him to strangely glitch out and disappear. "Huh?", I asked before a giant explosion sounded, covering me.
The story continues in the next chapter.