Chapter Eighteen – The Master King
Upon entering the city, Sukko was greeted with nothing but pure bright white light. He put up his hands. It was blinding, until finally, with an intense flash, he was stood in a square chamber, with a black and yellow tiled floor, dark red walls, and an incredibly high ceiling. Which seemed to reach the very stars themselves. In the centre, there is a golden, ornate, extremely wide throne, with someone sat upon it. Alone. The creature was a humanoid being with a long body that seem to be made out of some sort of liquid. He had claw-like hands with three fingers on each one, and two fingers on each foot.
He had protrusions on the top of his head, shoulders and hips, and two glowing eyes. He eyed up Sukko, extremely pleased, to finally have the mighty Sorcerer in his midst. Suddenly, he spoke, in a completely otherworldly, somewhat alien language, but to Sukko, it was as clear as a bell, him perfectly understanding. The Sorcerer suspected the influence of the Cyber Space itself, playing a significant factor. But the king smirked, as he glared the newcomer.
[Welcome, Sorcerer. You have to done well, to make it this far.] He hissed, rather coldly. But Sukko folded his arms. He could feel the corruption, through the Psychic Link, on his twin. Time for idol chat, was something he just didn't have. He growled.
"What do you want?" He blasted back, equally as icy, much to the shock of the Ancient. He was seeing his brother on the Sorcerer, and he'd expected the same heroic and warm nature from him. But he was wrongly making, like always, the assumption that just because the twins were identical, that they were the same. No, they, were much, weren't. He gulped, stammering hard, as he immediately got down to business.
[I am the Ancients's great leader, the Master King, also known to some as the Instructor King Koco, and we need your help. We are a race of extraordinarily advanced aliens that existed in prehistoric times. We originally come from a distant planet, but we were attacked by a The End, who destroyed it. So we fled, and arrived on Earth and sought refuge on Starfall Islands and settled there. However, ours settlements on the islands was short-lived because the threat that destroyed our planet followed us, until we were wiped out from the Earth by the End, forcing us to flee here, to Cyber Space, and our safe-haven.] He explained. But Sukko just smirked.
"Yes, but the Starfall Islands not longer exist. They aren't on any maps and were destroyed in that original battle that killed your people. You recreated them, through Cyber Space, to lure my brother there." He sniggered. The Master King blinked, surprised, but then nodded.
[Very perceptive, Sorcerer. Yes, we did, but we didn't have a choice. Getting originally hacked by that Human, with that girl, was not our intension. We were fine alone. The Human sort our knowledge, which I doubt he could even have comprehended. But the girl, Sage, took control of everything in Cyber Space, including our Titans, leaving us incredibly vulnerable. Thankfully, she never found our safe-haven until recently, and reverse hacking her, we gained access to the Human's records, and found your brother. The Blue Speedster saved us once, but the Human and that idiotic girl are back, and she has brought the corruption to our doors. Now we need the help form the other Blue Hedgehog. You.] He demanded.
But Sukko heaved, now getting rather inpatient. But as he stared at the alien, he suspected he knew what this was really about. He was a Sorcerer, so why pick him over his twin brother? The real Hero, who'd saved them once. What did Sukko have, that Sonic didn't? Suddenly, the Sorcerer smirked. One thing.
Magic.
He seen this coming, long before they'd even arrived in Cyber Space, back when the mighty Sorcerer set his plan in motion. Sukko growled, bearing on the Master King.
"So what do you really want from me?" He hissed, getting to the point. The Master King nodded. Alright, if that was how the Sorcerer wanted to play it. He smirked.
[We need a personal sacrifice to save our safe-haven.] He spat, harshly. [Then we'll have the ability to permanently leave Cyber Space, and walk on land again, organic, and ruling the whole planet, removing all those who already live there.] He announced. But Sukko growled.
"The Mobians?" He hissed, of which the Master Kings nodded. "So a massive genocidal Life-For-Life cast." He blasted. So it was the Chaos Sorcery the Ancients were after. He was correct. With his death, here in this space, they'd gain access to it, and then do untold damage. It is entirely possible to create life using Magic, but the price-tag is a ruthlessly high one. You must take a life, first. They planned to sacrifice the lives of the entire population of Mobius, then transfer the life-forces over, so that their own people could walk and live again. It was a cast, unfortunately, that was known to the Sorcerer. But Sukko growled as he stood the ground against the king.
"No!" He spat. But the King Master, growled in pure anger.
[It is our right. We have the knowledge. We have the technology. We deserve the chance.] He roared. But Sukko growled.
"According to whom?" He hissed, but the Master King just smirked.
[You don't have a choice, Sorcerer. If the corruption hits, you'll die here anyway. Your Magic will be ours.] He added, but as he did, this entire chamber quaked and warped, shaking hard, from side-by-side as an almighty earthquake rolled through. The Master King outright panicked, but the Sorcerer was dangerously calm. Frighteningly so. Suddenly, he smirked, pointing to the floor.
"You don't know what that is, do you?" He hissed, reading the reaction of the king, indicating the earthquakes themselves that had being ripping across the whole of Cyber Space itself, as everything settled again. The Master King gulped, as Sukko smirked. "Er, have you tried accessing the world outside, through one of your portals?" He wondered, shrugging hard. Suddenly, the Master King made the order, which very quickly came back negative. None of the access portals to the outside world were now working. They were trapped. He growled.
[What did you do, Sorcerer?] He demanded, in temper. But Sukko smirked, as he folded his arms.
"My name is Sukko." He growled. "And this was your idea, actually. To base this place entirely on family. Which I agree, is important. It was me and Sonikku as brothers, twins, by blood, that brought us to this safe-haven. Love is the one singular thing, powerful enough, that will grant us the access codes, to the kernel to reset this entire system, which will remove the corruption from inside Cyber Space. But there is another definition of family. The intense love of soulmate, as well as the love of kin. The causes of the intense glitching of the whole Cyber Space, was actually Shadow on the Starfall Islands themselves, moving from one island to the next, physically destroying all entrance points and portals to Cyber Space. He's the Ultimate Lifeform, he has the power. With every destruction, Cyber Space itself dangerously quaked, and now, with the job done, your locked in. But I know, you saw him, in me, but dismissed him, due to his gender. A very old fashioned, point of view. Coming to Starfall Islands, for Stripes, was incredibly dangerous for him, but he did it, anyway, because of his love for me." He beamed, incredible proud, but also very true, as suddenly, he snapped his finger. Suddenly, a large, deep crimson red medallion, Doom's Emblem, and the same symbol Shadow himself, used as his own call-sign, appeared, again. The Sorcerer hovered it in his hand, it representing this time, a completely different meaning. Sukko smirked, and hard.
"The intense incredible bond of love between Stripes and myself, I formally agree to the you, Master King, and your terms. You will get your sacrifice, you people will be saved, but it is not my life that will be given. But you can't deny me. The deep love of my own husband and his utterly willingness to give his own life-force for you, is the definition of family. Even your own technology can't fault that." He hissed, finding the loop hole in the system. But the Master Kings squealed, in pure frustration, as he objected hard.
[But you can't. We need you. We sent for you. We left a path for you. You are our saviour, otherwise my people will be trapped here, forever.] He desperately begged. But Sukko just outright smirked, with Shadow's callsign still hovering in hand.
"That's the idea." He hissed, rather coldly, having very little sympathy for a race of people planning mass genocide. But the Master King growled.
[Your plan will fail you. You will be captured also.] He hissed, as he desperately fought back. But it was in vain, as he was about to be outsmarted by the greatest Sorcerer in the galaxy. But Sukko just looked at the Master King, dead in the face, as his smirked.
"You think Magic is all I have." He sneered. "I can Orb." He declared, as the Master King squealed in fright, moving backwards within his own throne. He gulped, and hard.
[White-Lighter!] He stammered, having heard of the guardian angels of old for themselves, and marvelled in the powers they processed. Orbing was the ultimate form of teleportation, and even though it couldn't move between dimensions within a real Multiverse, it could travel anywhere within one, instantly reveal the truth from lies, and slice straight through anything manufactured, such as Cyber Space. The Sorcerer could get out, the Ancients, no, and before the Master King could stop him, Sukko suddenly performed the sacrifice, offering Shadow's own life-force, fulfilling the terms of the request.
Under the Ancients own rules, the intense love, and bond of marriage, between the Sorcerer and the Ultimate Lifeform was indeed accepted as family, as Sukko suspected it would be, and with a snap of the fingers, on the other hand, there was a blinding flash of intense crimson red light. Finally, the sacrifice was done, as Shadow's call-sign expanded out, across the whole of Cyber Space, healing it from within. The Ultimate Lifeform then saved the Ancients's city safe-haven and removed all corruption, to back outside again. Sukko then orbs away, grabbing his own twin in the process, as the entire system reset itself, the orb sliced straight through it, to freedom.
Suddenly, the volcano on Chaos Island erupted, spouting red hot lava and rock everywhere, as the whole Starfall Island system, started glitching itself out of existence. Waves of thousands of interwoven red and pink triangles, flickered all over them, as all five of the islands intensely twist and warp, and suddenly, they vanished into thin air, taking both the whole of Cyber Space, and the Ancients's with them.
They were gone, never to return
Suddenly, a perfectly fine Sonic appeared, with an explosion of hundreds of bright white orbs, his hand healed, glove replaced, and the corruption gone. To his utter astonishment, a very unconscious Shadow, was also falling fast, next to him, towards the water. The both of them seemed to have emerged, out of thin air, high in the sky, but they are suddenly caught by a certain flying Sorcerer, by the wrists. He stopped, as the Blue Blur looked up at him, beaming for being rescued and for succeeding, as they floated in mid-air. But unfortunately, they all began sinking fast due to the Ultimate Lifeform's immense weight. Sukko growled hard, desperately struggling.
"Chaos hell, Stripes, your heavy." He hissed, repeating the constant comment Shadow always received about his physique. Suddenly, Sonic looked over, grabbing his fellow speedster, only to find his body extremely cool, still and lifeless, his eyes closed, with no pulse. He squealed.
"What the...?" He cried. Not only had Shadow turned up, out of nowhere, but he was dead? But Sukko growled, rolling his eyes at his twin, but unable to keep the three of them airborne, the Sorcerer had no choice but to bail out of there. He orbs teleports everyone out to the nearest coastline at Apotos.
Inside the beautiful white walls of the town, along the cliff, Sukko landed with a bang, panting hard. He collapsed onto the floor, now exhausted, but Sonic squealed, terrified for Shadow, as he crouched next to him. But Sukko just giggled.
"Sonikku, calm down. He'll be fine." He beamed. But Sonic blinked, not believing anything at that moment. He had no idea out he got out of Cyber Space. One minute, he was waiting outside the city, with Sage, in agony from the corruption, borderline ready to die, to the next, with an enormous flash of bright red light, he found himself falling, completely healed, towards the open ocean. He gulped at his twin.
"What?" He stammered, not understanding anything. But Sukko heaved.
"When I went into the city, I met the Master King, whom I'll assume, you know." He wondered. Sonic nodded.
"Yeah, I do. He's the leader of the Ancients, and not nice." He hissed, but Sukko nodded.
"Agreed. No, he wasn't. He wanted my sacrifice to save his people, but I refused." He explained. Sonic gulped, but Sukko smirked, pointing at Shadow. "But this is where Stripes comes in. He destroyed all the portals on the Starfall Islands, and then sacrificed his own life to save the Ancients while permanently trapping within their own Cyber Space, the system accepting our bond of marriage as family. That's why we appeared above open ocean, they took the Starfall Islands with them." He paused, smiling hard at his beloved husband. "But the Ancients had no concept idea that immortality and regeneration even existed, and that Stripes's sacrifice wasn't everything he had, and that he's not dead. The Ultimate Lifeform was so strong that part of his life-force was enough, rather then all of it. Enough to just simply push him into a regeneration. He'll be fine." He smiled, repeating himself slightly. Sukko then grabbed his brother hand, and placed it in on Shadow's chest, just above his long white fur. "There was an intensely warm spot, in amongst the much more cooler body, and yes, he is indeed coming back." He added.
Sonic had heard of this, but had never seen it for himself, and now knew, that within a few days, despite the fact that Shadow's heart had completely stopped, soon, he'll be back on his feet. But it left him, famously grumpy, as Sonic had heard that regenerating was excruciatingly painful, and that he detested doing it, with a passion, somewhat openly vocal about it. So much so, that Sonic just frowned.
"But why would Shads even do this, if he hates regenerating so much?" He puzzled. But Sukko heaved, looking at his beautiful husband. There was one simple answer.
"Because I asked him to."
Sonic outright gasped, mainly at the incredible love between his brother and his old rival, and Shadow's utter willingness to do anything for the Sorcerer. Suddenly, Sonic finally realised the sheer scale of what his incredible twin had just achieved. He gulped and hard.
"Sukko, you outplayed the Ancients at their own game, and won." He praised, as Sukko just sighed, as he stroked Shadow on the side of his face.
"Yes, I guess, I did." He smiled, but then he rounded on his twin. "But Sonikku, you asked me to work it out." He giggled, but Sonic just heaved, rolling his eyes, his brother making the biggest understatement of the century. Was Sukko more intelligent then Tails?
Definitely yes.
Suddenly, a low rumbling, propeller sound was heard in the distance, as a very familiar, bright red bi-plane, was heading directly for them. Sonic stood up and heaved, leaving his twin brother on the ground, with Shadow, as he looked over the white wall, towards his best friend. The Blue Blur heaved.
"It's Tails. He must have spotted the Starfall Islands glitched out of existence, with his handheld. He's been constantly monitoring the place since he left, but because our adventure was inside Cyber Space. But I don't think his computer picked anything up until after we got out, as the islands disappeared. Him heading in this direction is entirely coincidentally. The range on that plane isn't great, and we came to Apotos to refuel the last time we explored Starfall." He explained. But as Sukko grabbed Shadow by the wrist, he smiled, looking up at the Blue Blur.
"So what's your plan? I'm taking Shadow home, back to the Penthouse. I'll allow the regeneration to happen, and then ease his pain, by having him sleep it off. Are you going to greet the Fox, come with us, or go your own way?" He wondered. But Sonic giggled.
"What, your going to knock Shads out?" He grinned. Sukko smirked, raising an eyebrow.
"Effective yes. Aside from childbirth, Stripes's regeneration migraines, are the most painful things anyone can endure. No injury he's ever received from anyone had ever given him worser pain then those. They were caused by the fact that the regeneration process completely renews every cell in his body, a process that should be extremely painful. But because he's unconscious and needs to be, for it to work, the combination of which results in regeneration migraines at the end. He normally had the world strongest pain-killers (not legal) on hand, on the Ark for this. But if I use my Magic, to ease his pain, and then let him sleep, he'll be alright." He added.
Sonic nodded. He should, from now on, afford Shadow more respect that he'd given. The great war against Eggman and the Phantom Ruby, changed things between them, for the better, but Sonic knew his own rival now deserved more.
He deeply sighed, very tired. He undid his knives and swords, including their harness, and gave them to his brother, to take back to the Penthouse. Eventually, he'd tell Tails, but not right now. As the incredible Blue Hedgehog twins, nodded at each other, the Sorcerer, along with Shadow, and the harness, exploded into hundreds of bright white pearly orbs, which all ascended upwards, as they teleported home. Sonic smiled, his brother was right. In his care, the Ultimate Lifeform would indeed be fine, the Blue Blur certain he'd see the mighty Black Hedgehog again.
As to his own predicament, Sonic faced towards Tails, over the white wall, out towards the ocean, as he plane slowly came towards him, trying to decide his next move. To stay or to leave. Regardless, no one was knowing the truth, no matter who asked after the Starfall Islands. He could claim ignorance over this one, and no one would ever know. But that was point. That was the power of his identical twin brother, Sukko The Hedgehog, the King of Stealth. An expert in moving in the shadows. No one was ever meant to know.
Suddenly, Tails flies in, over the town of Apotos, towards the small airport and airstrip. He perfectly lands but he didn't notice the Blue Blur had decided to stay and wait for him. Unfortunately, the Fox had his nose heavily buried in his handheld. Having picked up something from Starfall, he'd travelled straight there. Only to find the islands were completely gone. Just nothing but bare ocean. Deeply frowning, he couldn't understand why. He growled into his handheld, as he got out of his plane.
"That's doesn't make any sense." He hissed. "Those islands were there before." He muttered to himself, as the Blue Blur giggled, sneaking up on him, as he stood by his plane.
"What islands is that, Tails?" He asked, knowing exactly what he was talking about, but played completely dumb. Suddenly, the Fox squealed, swirling around at the Blue Hedgehog, and jumped on him, for a hug. After the massive embrace, he went rather red, and put the handheld behind his back, gulping hard.
"Er, nothing." He stammered, not wanting his best friend to know, that he'd stupidly been chasing ghosts. It looked as though the Starfall Islands were gone, permanently, and not coming back. So therefore, continuing to fuss over them, wouldn't achieve anything. He heaved, as he switched off his handheld, as he, suddenly, gave the Blue Blur the side eye.
"What are you doing here? We're you following me, because I thought, you agreed, that this adventure was for me, alone." He growled. Sonic immediately shook his head, with the both his hands up. He gulped.
"No, I swear." He admitted, telling the truth. "I was travelling through Apotos, when I heard your biplane, out in the distant ocean, and knowing you refuel here, I thought I'd stop and say hi." He paused. "Er, that's it." He nodded, rather sheepishly, but Tails stared at him, unfortunately, knowing the Blue Blur a little to well. Not the whole truth was being spoken there. His tone of voice giving him away, as well as his body language. He growled.
"Really?" He hissed. But Sonic heaved, somewhat defeated.
"Does it matter." He snapped. "We're both fine, and the world is safe. Do you need to know more?" He spat. Tails heaved, as he looked his plane, as the airport staff began refuelling it, and then around Apotos itself. No, there wasn't. But something was going on, or more accurately, an event had happened, specifically to the Blue Blur, but whatever it was, for some reason, Sonic wasn't divulging. He heaved, and after much thought, Tails decided to drop it. It was useless to push it. Sonic could be very stubborn sometimes, which often lead to arguments, and the Fox didn't fancy that right now. Regardless, the Blue Blur looked tired and worn. He smiled.
"Hey, there's a wonderful restaurant here, in Apotos, called 'The White Tower'. Care to join me for lunch, before we go our separate ways." He beamed. Sonic exploded with pure delight, and practically jumped on the Fox. He squealed.
"Oh, yes please." He gasped, utterly relieved, having not eaten since before he'd entered Cyber Space, with his twin. He had no idea how long he was stuck in that digital realm. Regardless, he was starving, as he rounded the Fox. "And you can tell me about your adventures. Where have you been since you left?"
Tails heaved. Alright, Hero, you win. Whatever you've been doing, whomever you been saving the world with, thank you, as the Fox now suspected, a certain Sorcerer uncle of his, like always, was there by his side. The twins did a lot together. Hence why the Blue Blur was keeping so quiet.
Regardless, whatever happened, Mobius will always be forever grateful, even if the Sorcerer was never welcome. But Tails heaved, as he looked through the town, back out towards the open ocean, before heading off.
One day, Uncle Sukko, one day.
You will come out of the shadows.