-Chapter 208-
Awakening
Angel Island
It was a new day on Angel Island, and Echidnaopolis was packed full of visitors. The Freedom Fighters had all been laid out across beds in the biggest house on the island, and many parents and guardians had been called. Lindsey was practically beside herself, and Laura wasn't much better.
"Oh Chris…" Lindsey wept. "This isn't fair…"
"I don't even know how... how to help," Laura choked out. "Magic is... beyond my understanding."
Ebony looked over all of them, clenching her fists as she sighed.
"They need to hurry and fix this…" she said. "We're running out of time."
Shadow turned to her. "What do you mean?"
"I don't wish to alarm you further, but... you all have the right to know," Ebony remarked.
Jules and Bernie looked up from Sonic's bedside.
"What aren't you telling us?" Jules demanded. "What's going to happen to our children?"
"It's part of the Endless Dream," Ebony turned to them. "The mind and soul aren't supposed to be separated from the body for too long. If Sonic and the others are asleep for too much longer, even if the curse is lifted... they may never regain consciousness."
There was the sound of shattered glass, and everyone turned to see Lara-Le standing in the doorway. A tray of coffee mugs was now scattered across the floor.
"No…" she let out.
Vector was on his feet in an instant. "Why didn't you explain this to Sal and the others before you knocked them out and this happened?!"
"I... I didn't think... I never imagined…" Ebony dropped to her knees. "I am so sorry. I never wanted this... you have to believe me."
"Vector, calm yourself," Espio ordered. "Getting angry at Ebony for something she couldn't have predicted won't help Kat and the others."
Charmy and Cream began carefully adjusting blankets, various Chao settling with their people.
"They have to wake up…" Shadow insisted, clutching onto Hope's hand. "They have to…"
Cream wiped her eyes, sniffling. Vanilla placed a hand on her daughter's head, Coco scooping her up.
"Don't cry, Creampuff," Coco soothed. "Sonic always finds a way. He'll pull through."
While everyone was distracted in one way or another, Sticks began to slink through the window. She had fireworks in one hand, and a match in the other. As she approached one of the beds, she prepared to light it, but the hum of a cannon stopped her.
"Cease and desist, or be eradicated," Omega ordered.
Sticks turned, seeing Omega holding her at gunpoint.
"I'm just trying to-"
At the sound of his gun cocking, Sticks obediently dropped the matches and fireworks. The others turned, seeing what was going on, several sighing in annoyance.
"You never learn, do you?" Julie-Su asked.
"How did-?" Locke stammered. "You were locked in the cells!"
"Dirt floors." Sticks said simply.
Locke's eye twitched at that.
-X-
Some time later…
Sticks was locked in an iron cage, hung over Azure Lake. They were about to go when Omega, not even turning around, aimed his gun behind him and fired. They all turned, seeing he had shot a set of bagpipes Sticks had somehow gotten, which were now deflating and hissing like a balloon.
"Where do you keep getting all this stuff?!" Saffron demanded.
"Trade secret!" Sticks shot back.
"As if we don't have enough problems to deal with," Mighty remarked.
"Just how many times do we have to lock her up for this crap before she realizes that nothing she does is gonna wake them up?" Ray asked.
"Better question…" Mighty began, "will they wake up?"
Riot Train
Meanwhile, in Maginaryworld, the Freedom Fighters exited the portal to find themselves atop a moving train.
"What is this?" Johnny asked.
"The Riot Train," Lumina said. "Born from the dreams of those who seek the thrill of adventure."
"Sweet!" Sonic cheered. "Finally, a realm just my style."
"But Void's influence has thrown the train off-course," Lumina added.
"Let me guess," Knuckles said. "We're on a runaway train, headed for a broken track off a deadly cliff?"
Lumina raised an eyebrow. "How did you know?"
"I've seen more than my fair share of Westerns."
Hope pointed. "Speaking of Westerns, look!"
On either side of the train were Voidlings, all of them following a Wild West theme. They consisted of a woman in a colorful saloon girl dress with a whip in each hand, a cowboy in a jumpsuit bearing Void's mark with dual revolvers, and a green horse riding inside a covered wagon with Void's insignia on the side.
"Right, hijackers," Sonic nodded. "Sally, call it."
Sally quickly took charge.
"Team Sonic will head for the engine car, try and find a way to stop the train. Shooters, you're on the windows. Keep those Voidlings away from us. Rotor, Shorty, Kat, go with Team Sonic, just in case brute force is necessary. The rest of us will hold the line."
Everyone immediately got to work, Team Sonic hurrying to the engine car and stopping short at the sight before them: a mechanical monster made up of various parts of a train, with a cowcatcher and wheels, headlights for eyes, a pressure gauge and lever on the top of its head, and chimneys on its back. The Precioustone fragment was in the middle of its face as a nose or mouth, and many parts of its body were covered in Void's marks.
"Please don't tell me that thing is the brake," Tails pleaded.
"Sorry, but it is," Rotor nodded.
"Right, so we're gonna have to do this the hard way then," Shorty remarked.
"Whatever we're gonna do, do it fast!" Knuckles pointed, and everyone gasped to see the end of the track and cliff approaching. On instinct, Sonic jumped to the front of the train.
"Tell everyone to hang on!" he shouted.
"What're you gonna do?!" Kat demanded.
She got her answer as Sonic knelt as low as he could, bracing himself on the edge of the train before putting his foot down on the tracks to generate friction, trying to brute force it. He groaned in pain as his sneaker tore through the train's ties, not slowing down a bit, before popping back up, clutching his sore leg.
"Okay…" he winced, "not one of my better plans."
"That wasn't even a plan!" Rotor snapped. "Anyone with a basic knowledge of physics would know that wouldn't work!"
"Not with your strength!" Knuckles exclaimed.
"We're about to go off a damn cliff!" Sonic argued, throwing his hands in the air. "I was pulling things out of my ass here!"
"Hold on!" Kat interjected. "Sonic may not be strong enough, but all of us together just might be!
"Is it worth a shot?" Shorty questioned.
"Anything's worth a shot!" Tails declared.
"Tails, you and Sonic try to pull the break!" Knuckles commanded. "The four of us will try to buy you some time, but hurry!"
They all jumped out, charging to the front of the train. Sonic wrestled with the brake monster as Tails jumped on its head, grabbing the lever. He planted his feet, pulling with all his might. As this went on, Knuckles, Kat, Shorty, and Rotor braced themselves against the train, pushing with all their might. They planted their feet, Shorty and Rotor setting their boosters to max. It seemed to be working slightly, the train slowing down just a bit.
"C'mon!" Knuckles shouted. "We've got this!"
Try as he might, Tails could barely budge the brake. He felt something grab his tails, turning back to see Sonic had done so, the brake monster's arms disabled.
"Alright, buddy! On three! One, two, THREE!"
They yanked, and with the screeching sound of rusted metal, they managed to pull the brake. It seemed to be too late, however; despite their best efforts, the train careened off the tracks.
"Game over, man!" Shorty screamed. "GAME OVER!"
However, the Precioustone popped out of the brake, and the effect was instantaneous. The train shifted, becoming a metallic silver as it sprouted wings. It took off into the sky, sailing through the clouds like it was always meant to. A loud whistle rang through the air, and a cloud of steam came billowing through the windows. On the cloud were the four who had been clinging to the front. They were deposited safely on the ground as another whistle pierced through the air.
"Uh… you're welcome?" Rotor remarked.
Sonic and Tails picked themselves up off the ground, picking up the fragment.
"That was a close one…" Sonic remarked.
The engine doors opened, allowing everyone to come in.
"Did you get it?" Sally asked.
Tails held it up. "The last fragment."
"All that's left is to get to the Temple of Light so I can repair it," said Lumina. "We have to hurry. This world is on the brink of collapse."
"Then let's get moving," said Sonic. "Nights, lead the way."
"Happily," Nights agreed. "It's time to end this."
Lumina opened another portal, and they hurried through.
Fourth Dimension
They arrived before the Temple of Light, seeing the starry environment around them.
"What you see before you is the Fourth Dimension," Lumina explained. "This is the nexus from which all realms and Zones of Maginaryworld spring."
They looked, seeing the worlds they had traveled through before depicted like projections on a screen.
"Now this is strange," Bunnie mused.
"Where to, Milady?" Antoine asked.
Lumina motioned for them to follow. "This way."
They headed into the temple, only to be accosted by more Voidlings, these ones abstract and geometrical in form.
"No…" Nights let out. "To think Void's corruption has even reached this sacred place…"
"His vile depravity knows no bounds." Lumina spat.
As they fought off the Voidlings, Lumina headed for the heart of the temple. Setting out the Precioustone fragments on the pedestal in the center, she focused with all her might. One by one, the shards began to glow, floating up off the pedestal before putting themselves back together. A bright flash appeared, and when it faded, the group found themselves standing before a large, completely clear and round cut crystal. Much to their surprise, however, it was dull and lifeless, like a drained Chaos Emerald.
"No..." Lumina gasped. "No, no, NO!"
"What's wrong?" Sally demanded.
"It looks… dead," Knuckles mused.
"Because it is…" Nicole held up her handheld. "I'm detecting no energy from the stone."
"How is this happening?" Lumina shrieked. "Why doesn't the light return to the Precioustone? Why doesn't Lady Illumina return?!"
"Because you're a fool."
They all spun to see Void stroll in. At the sight of him, the Voidlings all recoiled.
"I warned you that the only way for you to save this world, to save every Dreamer in our care, was to do as I say," Void sighed, shaking his head. "But you refused to listen."
"Why are you doing this, Void?" Lumina demanded. "Why destroy the Precioustone? Why destroy everyone's dreams?!"
"Are you truly this foolish, Lumina? Do you truly not see what is right in front of your eyes?" Void smirked. "You and I, we're the same... sister."
Lumina recoiled at that and the Freedom Fighters were left reeling. Nights just nodded mournfully.
"What?!" the fairy gasped. "No…"
Void strolled forward, grabbing her by the shoulders. They began glowing, Lumina screaming in horror as his hands began to phase into his body, seemingly absorbing her. "I will be whole!" Void screamed. "I won't be alone anymore!"
On instinct, Sonic darted forward, plowing him aside with a Spin Attack and knocking Lumina free. Void roared in anger, spinning on him.
"You stupid blue rat!" he shouted. "Are you just as blind to the facts as she is? Have you not figured it out yet?!"
"I've figured out that you're trying to hurt her!" Sonic shot back. "And I won't let you!"
Void stood up, darkness swirling around him as he began to grow. "We will be as one again, Lumina... one way or another."
He was surrounded by a blinding flash. When the light cleared, he had become a giant dark blue humanoid creature with a wide upper torso with three yellow eyes with black sclera and half-sealed mouth on his chest. He had no head, instead having a thick neck with a yellow orb floating above, and instead of an abdomen he had an empty space with a yellow orb in the middle. He also gains thick arms with thin joints and no fingers, thorns on his shoulders, wide U-shaped wings on his back and disproportionate legs with thin joints. Additionally, he has cyan-colored lightning-like markings across his body. Everyone gasped at that, especially when Void smashed one of the columns mere inches from Lumina's head. She yelped and tried to flee, prompting Void to give chase. Much to everyone's shock, he didn't seem to be paying any attention to the Dreamers, or Nights.
"'As one'..." Tails muttered. "'Whole again'..."
"'Sister'..." Chris added.
Hope perked. "It... it can't be... can it?"
Nights crossed his arms. "It seems you're piecing it together. What happened to Lady Illumina."
"Hold the phone," Johnny cut in. "Are you saying one of them has been Illumina the whole time?"
"No," Nights shook his head. "They both are."
They all turned to Void and Lumina, watching the two clash.
"Illumina is balance, both light and dark. And while she ruled there was harmony. I don't know exactly how it happened, but I do know that Lumina and Void first appeared shortly after she vanished. Her lightness and purity became Lumina… and her darkness became Void. His shattering the Precioustone happened because he couldn't control his destructive nature."
The realization hit them immediately.
"Of course!" Rotor exclaimed. "It all makes sense now! If he wanted to destroy everything, why ensure the heroes would be trapped? He'd want them to wake up."
"He trapped us here to motivate Lumina, and to ensure the stone would be repaired." Knuckles realized.
"And the safe zone... he purposely left it untouched so we could get help," Tails added.
It hit them all.
"He's like Chaos," Hope deduced. "He can't control himself. He's all negativity, and he needs Lumina to balance him."
With that realization, Sonic ran forward, darting between Void and Lumina just as he had her cornered.
"It's alright!" he shouted. "Void, you can stop now! We know the truth!"
Void was snarling and breathing heavily, but he did not advance further.
"What are you doing?!" Lumina demanded.
"Lumina, you have to listen," Sonic turned to her. "Nights filled in the blanks. Illumina vanished... because she split into the two of you."
"No…" Lumina shook her head. "No! That's not true! That's impossible!"
"It's entirely possible," Nights chimed in. "You both represent the halves of Lady Illumina's nature. Everything Void has done was in order for you two to reunite."
"Think about everything he's done, everything he's said," Sonic added. "He's done the bare minimum to stop us from fixing the Precioustone. And even though he's cursed us, he's never once laid a finger on us! The curse was to motivate you, not hurt us! You have to merge with him to fix this mess!"
"What?!" Lumina shrieked. "But he's-"
"Yes, he's darkness," Bunnie cut in. "But that's not necessarily a bad thing."
"People need darkness to get stronger," Kat added. "We need to fall so we can learn to pick ourselves up."
"There can't be light without darkness, and there can't be darkness without light," Antoine included. "Surely you've felt it yourself, like a piece of you is missing. That's why you're so weak."
Lumina was silent as they went on.
"Anger. Sadness. Despair. Emptiness…" Chris said. "Aren't dreams born because everyone has these feelings? Don't these feelings make our dreams even stronger?"
"You need to be together, Lumina," Keith insisted. "Otherwise... what's the point of dreaming?"
"Can't you accept Void for what he is?" Tails questioned. "Dreams probably can't exist without it... It's the same with me. When I'm down and I feel I can't go on any more... that's when I know I have to try harder! Because I have my own dreams!"
"It's a dream because it hasn't been fulfilled yet... But one day you'll make it come true," Amy added. "You can live through each day because you have dreams! No matter how small they are."
"Dreams don't betray us," Knuckles concluded. "When we lose ourselves... that's when we lose our dreams. It's not that dreams don't come true. We just give up on them. We know that... and you should know it better than us."
Lumina considered their words, seeing the truth. She slowly stood up.
"Maybe... maybe I'm the one who has lost myself in my dark feelings…"
She flitted over to Void. His monstrous demeanor remained, but his hostility was gone. He held out a hand, offering her a perch. She landed tentatively, nervous, but accepting.
"I only saw the negative side of things, the destruction you wrought," she confessed. "But you... you were just following your nature. Maginaryworld needs you and what you represent. And so do I."
Void slowly shrunk down into his normal form. Lumina gave him a gentle smile, offering a hand.
"You win, Void. Come home."
"Finally…" Void smiled, a single tear running down his cheek. "Thank you…"
The two embraced, light and darkness swirling around them both. As it faded, what stood in their place was a tall woman with pink hair and blue eyes. She was donned in a pink dress and lavender shirt with long sleeves, two tails and a pair of cyan wings on the shoulders.
"Welcome back to us, Lady Illumina," Nights greeted, bowing respectfully.
Illumina smiled, nodding in his direction.
"Ma'am…" Sonic began. "How did this happen?"
Illumina sighed, turning away slightly.
"I wanted to make this world a beautiful utopia, a world filled with light," she confessed. "But I lost sight of my dream... and myself. My mind fractured, creating Lumina and Void. Lumina, so innocent, so pure, and yet so lost. And Void, darkness incarnate longing for the balancing light. I could not exist until they were both willing to accept the other."
"I am just happy to have you back, Milady," Nights noted.
"So you called us here to help out, repair the Precioustone and pull you together," Sonic deduced.
"Indeed," Illumina confirmed. "I have seen you through the dreams of those you've saved. I have witnessed your heroism, your strength of will, and your understanding heart. I knew you would be able to see past Void's darkness, and bear witness to the truth of his character."
She looked over the Precioustone, now glowing with what looked like yellow flames burning in its center. "Maginaryworld and people's emotions are fragile. It doesn't take much to crush them... Even the strongest of people have dark emotions in their hearts, and I allowed mine to consume me."
"Happens to the best of us," Sonic noted.
"Now, I do believe all of you have been asleep long enough." Illumina waved her hand, and one by one, the curse marks on their chests faded away. "Until we meet again, fair heroes."
She clapped her hands twice, and everything went white…
Angel Island
Back in the real world, there was a gasp from Bernie when she saw the curse mark vanish.
"Everyone!" she cried. "The marks! They're disappearing!"
One by one, the curse marks vanished. Sonic twitched before letting out a violent gasp, sitting upright and looking around.
"Sonic?" Jules let out.
"Dad?" Sonic blinked. "What... what are you-?"
Both of his parents hugged him tightly. All over the house, the other cursed Freedom Fighters were stirring and having similar reunions. Tears were everywhere as parents, guardians, and friends all shared relieved hugs.
"You all did it," Ebony sighed. "I should have had more faith."
"Eh, that's how things work," Sonic remarked. "It always seems bad at first, but we find a way."
They all headed out of the room, looking up to see Sticks still in lockdown above the lake.
"Sonic, hey! Welcome back!" She greeted casually. "Now, I know you guys have been through a lot... but when you find the time, I'd rather not spend the rest of the week LOCKED IN THIS FREAKING CAGE!"
"...Do I even want to know?" Sonic asked.
"She kept trying to wake you, and got more and more violent each time," Shadow explained.
"And the cage over the lake?" Tails questioned.
"She dug out of the cells at the prison," Lara-Le replied.
Sally sighed. "Of course she did…"
They lowered the cage, opening the door. Sticks jumped out, hissing like a feral badger.
"No more cages!" she insisted. "Got it?!"
"As long as you behave yourself," Sally said matter-of-factly.
"C'mon guys, let's all go home," Sonic decided. "And frankly, I don't think I'll be sleeping for a while."
Murmurs of agreement sounded as the crowd dispersed.
Temple of Light
Back in Maginaryworld, Illumina sat before the Precioustone, playing a peaceful melody on a harp. The dream incarnations of Shard and Nicole sat nearby, eyes closed as they listened to the song. When it concluded, Illumina looked up at the Precioustone, smiling.
"Thank you for everything... Sonic the Hedgehog."
Author's Note:
There we have it. The end of the Maginaryworld arc.
Next chapter will be some nice, harmless Halloween filler. As for what happens after that... wait and see.
Voice cast for this chapter:
* Illumina - Nicole Balick (Yelena from Fire Emblem Warriors, Rondo from Eternal Sonata, Tear Grants from Tales of the Abyss)
Please R&R. Until next time!