D-XXX
Approx 20 years before launch.
Fallen Battlefield.
…
No one truly knows what this part of land looked like before..
Perhaps a lush forest.
Perhaps a desert harsher than the Sahara.
Or perhaps it was a bustling metropolis.
No matter what it was, it's impossible to recognise what it was from what remains of it…
Fire crackling on the barren stone and destroyed turrets and battleships…
Sirens fading in and out of sight and sound….
Muffled explosions was the only ambience that remained…
The smell of dust and death.
…
"Thank you…every…one…I leave it all up to you now…"
…
Shadow's hands fall from his ear to his side. He looks down at the darkened stone ground…his fists shaking in fury. His veins are threatening to explode. He grits his teeth forcefully, small flows of blood leak out of him.
…
Tails: "Sh-Shadow?"
Shadow: "Out of everyone…out of everyone who went here today ready to die…why…why did it have to be him…it's always them…the ones who wouldn't even dare hurt a fly…and yet…I am always the one left here breathing…it isn't fair…it never is…" His eyes glow with a mighty, crimson red.
Seemingly ignoring him, Tails looks away from Shadow. Nothing he could say would make the loss of the world's silver knight sting any less.
Shadow: "...Miles…" Only looks at him after calling his name.
"Y-yes?"
Shadow sighs, and reaches for the golden rings on his wrists…and takes them off as he speaks. "I am not letting this go on any longer…we have lost too much…and it seems clear to me like I have no other option."
The rings clatter on the ground.
"I-I don't-"
Shadow bends down…and begins to use both of his hands to take off the pair of rings surrounding his ankles.
"In case this doesn't work…in case my all-out-plan doesn't succeed, and in case Sonic doesn't pull off one of his miracles in time…I want you to have this."
He rips off the last ring on his left ankle and gives it to Tails.
Shadow: "This specific ring contains a copy of my memories. While I have a brain that can recall information on its own…this existed in case Gerald wanted to look at my memories to verify information…and later used it to manipulate them for his own revenge plans. Back on the ARK, Sonic ripped it off by accident when trying to prevent my fall. It's why I lost my memories so long ago."
Tails: "Y-you don't mean-"
Shadow steps forward, before going on one knee to have level eye contact with the frightened boy.
"Tails. If you see things going bad, you get out of here safely by any means necessary. If the professor figured out how to make me with decade old technology…you can recreate it. Recreate me. This is a last resort, the planet needs a protector if he doesn't pull it off. Do you understand what I am saying?"
Tails takes a moment.
…
He closes his eyes.
…
With an instant, the fear within him evaporated.
"Alright, I got it. Leave it to me, Shadow." A determined look on his face.
Shadow nods, and begins to walk away. His body begins to radiate a golden, transparent aura.
Shadow: "Oh and…in case he hasn't told you already…I want you to send a message to Rose if neither of us make it…"
"What is it?"
"Tell her…that he wanted to name him…
Icarus."
…
Icarus.
Icarus. Icarus. Icarus.
Icarus.
…
"HEY, ICARUS!"
"COSMO, DON'T-"
SPLASH
D-008
Approx 25 Hours since launch.
Planet Seara
"You buffoon, don't throw away our water supply!"
"Well, clearly yelling "Icarus" over and over wasn't helping him!"
"Why do you care about helping him so badly?"
"I…I d-don't care! It's just that…without him, we are stranded, but with his speed, we can scout out!"
Icarus flutters his eyes open. His vision becomes clear as the perfect view of the stars is obscured by Itadori and Cosmo's yelling.
"H-hey…"
Itadori: "Yokatta, you are finally awake."
Icarus sits up straight.
"What…what happened?"
Itadori: "The ship's explosion seems to…what's the expression…done a number on you, I suppose. Luckily, it landed on the beast's head, so it's no longer a concern."
Cosmo: "But now…the ship is broken beyond repair…and we are stranded on an unknown planet…we have resources that might last us a week of Earth days at best and nothing else to our name besides the chaos emerald."
"O-oh, actually, there was this one thing."
Icarus stands up and dusts himself off, before stretching out his arm, fist closed, towards Cosmo.
He then opens it up.
Cosmo sees the seed, and slowly grabs it.
Cosmo: "I…how did you-""
"When the ship was crashing and I was throwing out the supplies, I decided to check everyone's room for anything that might be helpful. I went into yours and…well, you look like a plant…and it looked like a seed…so I figured it might be important."
Cosmo looks down on the seed, staring at it intently.
Icarus is uncharacteristically anxious about Cosmo's reaction to the seed.
Itadori shakes his head with a smug grin.
Itadori: "Iso no awabi…"
Icarus rolls his eyes in annoyance. "Here we go again…if you don't want me to call it gibberish, then stop saying gibberish!"
"It's not gibberish, it's japanese, you dimwit!"
"Who even uses dimwit anymore, you old fossil?!"
Itadori and Icarus' banter fade out as Cosmo grips the seed tightly, before holding it close to her chest with both hands. This…sensation of connection is something she should be quite unfamiliar with, however, it felt natural. As if it was coded in her very being.
She softly calls out.
"Icarus…"
Icarus and Itadori stop their argument and look at Cosmo. A sparkle twinkles in her irises.
Cosmo: "...thank you."
Icarus smiles.
"Anytime, Cosmo."
"Ō, bikkuri da na, ano awabi, tsuini aite mitsuketa ka.."
Icarus waves Itadori off, but Cosmo looks at Itadori deadpanned.
Cosmo: "Fūn, nande anata wa Icarus no ren'ai ni sonna ni nesshin na no? Hazukashikunai no? Anata no ichizoku ga mitara, anata no kawaii Angela-kun ga hahaoya ja nakute chichioya o motteru nante, dō omou ndarou ne~?"
Itadori widens his eyes, before narrowing his eyebrows in anger.
Itadori: "Kono kuso yarō…"
Cosmo: "Hmph…"
Walking past him with a smug look on her face, Itadori can do nothing but look hilariously angry. Icarus could almost swear that he sees smoke coming out of his ears.
He walks close to Icarus, and leans in to whisper.
Icarus: "What on earth did you tell him to make him look this mad?"
Cosmo: "Don't worry about it, Icarus. Consider my debt repaid to you."
Icarus stops as Cosmo keeps walking.
And then keeps walking.
…
Quite impressive that she can walk off that far in a straight line without opening her eyes.
Icarus: "Hey! Where are you going?"
Cosmo pauses as her eyes slam open, she got so full of herself that she straight up forgot they were stranded.
Cosmo: "Uh…n-nowhere in particular, just, you know, s-scouring the place out!"
"You do know I can just run and check, right?"
"O-oh yeah, right!"
She laughs awkwardly as she waves away.
She is about to turn back, but then sees a small silhouette in the distance .
She takes another step forward to get a better look…
The sand feels a lot softer all of a sudden. That's weird.
She glances down at her feet.
A clear border between sickly sand and crimson dust.
She stepped into the crimson territory with her right foot..
The ground beneath her right leg shakes violently.
Before she can step back…
BOOM!
A ginormous, worm-beast erupts from the ground! It's rough skin segmented into thick horizontal, black and red stripes
It launches Cosmo high in the air, sending her hurling back!
Icarus and Itadori turn when they hear the ruckus, with Icarus immediately running in to grab Cosmo.
Cosmo: "Don't worry! I got this!"
She stretches out her hand, and from her gloves come thich, lush green vines aimed at the ground.
However, as soon as they make contact with the green-tinted sand, the vines lose their colour and form, turning them to ash.
Icarus was thankfully still running towards her, and catches her with grace in between his arms, before performing a short hop and braking against the sand.
He stands up straight and looks down at Cosmo.
"Hey…"
They make eye contact for a split second.
…
The wormly beast charges at them!
POW
The creature gets sent backwards from a mighty punch on its head by Itadori.
It groans for a moment, before going back to the crimson dust.
…
The dust settles for a moment, quite literally.
Cosmo clears her throat.
Icarus: "Oh, right…"
He lets her down gently.
Itadori: "This planet seems to be barren. No signs of life anywhere…why would the ship bring us here?"
Icarus: "Look, can't we just use Chaos Control on the ship and then leave? We can come back to this later…maybe the trap was making us stay here."
Cosmo: "Agreed…my powers seem to not operate on this…vomit coloured sand for whatever reason. We do not have any info that lets us defend ourselves."
Itadori: "We know that the Chaos Emeralds' energy can be tracked. With that in mind, using it here on this planet…and considering the fact that Icarus used it on that Blood Star of Planet Foralon, it is a great risk…but-"
"Chaos Emeralds, you say?"
A female voice calls out from behind. A small robotic filter corrupts her soothing tone.
The sound of high heels breaking apart tiny rocks approaches.
The trio turn around to the source of the voice.
Rocking the same purple-tinted black armor that the other Metarix soldier was wearing, the 'woman' slowly steps forward. Her white cape drags across the sand , her shoulder pads pointy and brown. While her figure is clearly feminine, and she was using fists rather than blades for hands…, her helmet is no different than that of the soulless architecture Icarus saw before. On its stomach, a glowing Chaos Emerald emits a pale-green light. Unlike the ones Icarus possesses, white, shiny lines, combined with marks of scratches, cause a disturbance in what is supposed to be a perfect surface.
Cosmo mutters under her breath "That's…Project Duplication?"
Itadori: "So…this trickery is what caused us to be dragged here?"
Icarus ignores this, grits his teeth and steps forward.
"Should have known you Metarix are the ones responsible for this. How did you find us?!"
"You must be Icarus, right, darling? Quite fascinating, you are just as feisty as I was told. Pretty cute, too. That gesture you did at Planet Foralon…quite the charming prince, you are!"
"I have had enough of you, already! Since you pretend to be so knowledgeable of me, you should know that I won't rest till every single one of you soulless freaks quit your ways!"
"Oh? Quite soulless, you say? Then how come I am speaking to you right now?"
Icarus stops walking forward.
Right, the Metarix don't seem to talk like that…"Mechanical Army."...then how…?
Are there warriors willingly joining the Metarix? Surely not-
He feels a grip on his shoulder.
Itadori: "Icarus."
Icarus turns back and sees Itadori was the one behind him. Itadori lets go and walks in front of him.
"Itadori…what are you…I can handle-"
Cosmo: "No, you can't. This is Ivythorn, one of the revered Metarix Thorns. They answer directly to the king…Dark Oak. I was hoping we would be fast enough in our mission to not meet one of them…"
?: "Wow, you have done your homework, Cosmo! What a peculiar set of friends you have made for yourself, too! A runaway child, the failure of the Kujo clan, all alongside the traitor. Quite remarkable. Quite, quite!"
Itadori: "Hmph, insult me all you want. When Angela fulfils her role, all of you will perish in an instant. That being said…I do not mind lifting a weight off her shoulders…"
Icarus: "Wait!"
Itadori stops and looks back.
The robot takes this chance to lunge forward.
Icarus: "It has a chaos emerald! What makes you think you can-"
The robot PUNCHES Itadori right in the jaw!
…
His head only moves an inch. No signs of pain. Small pieces of the armor covering Ivythorn's fist fall on the grains of sand.
…He turns his head back at the robot, before smirking…"Hmmm…now what would be the translation for this…?"
The robot arm shakes. It tries to pull back. Itadori stops it.
" 'Powah Scalo', ka?"
He lets go of the robotic arm.
0.2
0.1
Zero.
Ivythorn gets thrown, without Itadori moving a finger!
The Kujo grabs a small piece of armor stuck to his mouth, and tosses it aside as the robot recovers. A tiny amount of blood drops from his mouth as he begins walking forward.
Icarus: "Power scale-o?"
Cosmo: "He is referring to the universal law of "The Power of Scale"...
The universe operates on three unique sources of energy that work in harmony. These are the constants that bring balance to every single world…or cause its destruction. Each person possesses a core that powers their very being, operated by one of these three…
There is Chaos Energy, a power derived from the uncontrollable and often unpredictable properties of the Chaos Emeralds. Its power is fleeting, and is often spent significantly faster than it is made. A person possessing a Chaos Core cannot naturally sustain themselves…the only living organism who has survived on a Chaos Core is Shadow the Hedgehog."
Ivythorn turns its hand into a set of fans, and causes an enormous gust of sand to surround Itadori, supposedly leaving him vulnerable.
It tries attacking from behind, but then…
Itadori touches the bit of blood that leaked out with the tip of his fingertips, turns swiftly around to face the Metarix soldier, and draws a line in the air, blocking its fist!
0.2
0.1
Zero.
It is flung back once more, this time towards Icarus and Cosmo.
Icarus takes a step to the right, Cosmo takes one to the left, as Itadori gives chase to the robot.
"The second type is Life Energy. This is what sustains most forms of life, and unlike Chaos Energy, it cannot be harnessed or contained naturally outside of a person's core. In fact, this is what 99.99% of living creatures possess for a core. Through mutation, some creatures might have an abnormally high amount of Life Energy, allowing them to do…" Cosmo stretches out her hand, then it gets surrounded by plants, flowers, vines…"...this."
Icarus: "But, how is Itadori doing…"
The machine lands on top of the crimson sand.
The ground shakes.
Ivythorn glances downwards, then leaps off the ground…
GROAR!
The worm from earlier lunges upwards towards the Metarix Commander.
Ivythorn's heels retract, and thrusters come out of them as it pushes itself higher in the sky. Its pointy periproct is finally leaving the dust.
However, the creature is only getting closer!
"Annoying beast! Quite annoying! QUITE ANNOYING!" Ivythorn cusps its hand together, before retracting them as a lime green energy ball, sparking with white crackles…
It holds the ball of energy in its hand, lifts it upwards, and then SLAMS it down, aiming at the creature's open mouth.
Back on the ground, Itadori grabs the creature's peripoct, and with a roar of might, tosses it away from the energy ball.
He looks upwards at the green ball of destruction, and simply lifts his right hand up towards it, in an open palm position. He plants his feet deep in the dust, not planning to move out of the way.
The ball makes contact…
Dust and sand get blown away by the continuing impact. The cackles of the Chaos Energy-powered attack intensify as it tries to resist Itadori's power.
However, soon enough, it dissolves into his arm, the energy quite literally running through his veins.
With a vicious grin, Itadori raises his left hand, aiming at Ivythorn, while also giving the energy a clear path to follow. The ball comes out of the other side in the shape of a powerful beam that causes his feet to drag backwards for a moment.
The commander manages to step to the side, allowing the beam to piece through the harsh clouds.
Icarus: "...that?"
Cosmo: "That brings us to the third type… Angelic Energy… truth be told, no one truly understands where this source of energy comes from…however, the only way to obtain an Angelic core now is to have 2 members possessing Angelic Cores themselves. The Kujo clan is one of the last pieces of society that still have Angelic Cores. The strength of Angelic Energy is specific: It is the water to Chaos' fire. In other words, Angelic Energy's main benefit is complete nullification of Chaos Energy. All it takes is a 0.2 second delay before any and all Chaos techniques are nullified. What separates weaklings of the clan from the powerful, however, is their birth status. Unlike Life Core beings, Angelic Core creatures possess a unique, special technique that works outside of Chaos Energy encounters. Those can range from controlling weather to controlling minds. There is no way to change what Angelic Technique you are born with…"
"So…why did that Metarix scum call Itadori a failure…"
"Well…"
The machine lands back on the ground, facing directly towards Itadori.
The 'emerald' in its stomach begins to glow dimly…before turning into a solid rock.
Ivythorn: "It seems that this copy was already used up…quite a shame…for you, that is."
Itadori stands unfazed.
Ivythorn: "Now, without Chaos energy, you cannot counter the strength of the Metarix. Not with your quite…pathetic technique." It's arms turn into sharp blades.
Itadori: "You greatly underestimate my skills. For what, you will perish."
Itadori raises his finger…and slowly cuts horizontally across his upper chest.
Icarus: "ITADORI! WHAT ARE YOU-"
He is about to run to his aid…but Cosmo stops him.
"This is his technique, Icarus."
Icarus looks forward with a horrified look on his face.
"This-this isn't right, we need to step in-"
"No, what we need to do is use this opening to Chaos Control the ship wreckage and get out of here. He is doing this on purpose…and that is why he is known as the failure of the Kujo clan."
Blood stains the crimson dust as Itadori holds the wound in pain with a smile.
He then stands up straight, and stretches his hand forward.
The blood on his chest goes flowing to his hand, forming a blade.
Cosmo: "His technique is Blood Manipulation. In society where your value is decided by your abilities…a technique where you actively have to either throw away your own life, or someone else's life, to be useful…is the ultimate stamp of uselessness."
Icarus looks back ahead.
Itadori gets in a stance, ready to take on the Metarix commander.
But…
He finds himself lost in thought…
A world where how much you accomplish is purely determined by how you were born…a genetic lottery determining one's fate…
It's just like how the Metarix operate…
And yet, he has to stay behind and not help Itadori in order to fix the ship…
Powerless once more, as someone else determines the rules of right and wrong, the rules of usefulness and uselessness…who are they to say what is wrong and what is right across a global scale? A universal scale even?
Despite all that…he is still powerless to change a damn thing.