Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ No One is Invincible ❯ Fragile Dreams ( Chapter 3 )

Fragile Dreams

By Blue Dragon

"How convenient." Shadow walked arrogantly down the city streets. It was early morning, and the day's youth was visible on everyone's faces.

"There just happens to be a jewel store nearby . . . perhaps I can get the chaos emerald from there." He had seen discarded newspapers lying around, stating that there was a chaos emerald newly imported into the city.

As he made his way through the early morning traffic, he realized that this had been the first time he could actually enjoy Earth.

"Strange . . . I always assumed that this planet would be far more advanced than ARK . . ."

He continued to take in the new sights, and of course, stare at the sky and sun from Earth for the first time; and appreciating it that is.

"Now that I have found a way to freely exist on Earth, perhaps I can find answers . . . It is only a shame that I will have to go back up to ARK so soon."

"Hey there, Sonic!"

"Look, it's Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"Can I have your autograph!?"

"Is that a haircut?"

Shadow couldn't figure out why he was getting so much attention, or why people were calling him by someone else's name, but he made up his mind to ignore them. After a few more shouts, he picked up the pace so he wouldn't attract a crowd.

Once he turned a few corners and followed the advertisements, he walked back onto the sidewalk to the window of a jewel shop.

There were many things on display, and the prices appeared very high. Since Shadow didn't have any money, and wasn't really planning on making any, he decided that his only option would be to steal. The store was a small and compact place, and to any robber, didn't even appear to be a place worth robbing. It was an almost perfect cube, lined to the brim with jewels of medium value. It occurred to Shadow that he couldn't see the emerald he was after, but he assumed it was because they weren't displaying it for safety purposes.

"Perfect . . . " Just as he was about to go in, another realization hit him.

"What am I doing? Why would there be a chaos emerald in an ordinary jewel shop? The museum is where I should be headed!"

Ironically, Shadow had passed the museum four times trying to get to the jewel shop, and he could vaguely remember it half a mile back.

"Hmm . . . . I really don't feel like walking . . . . " He cracked both of his knuckles, crouched down, and spun immediately into a ball.

After kicking up a few chunks of the asphalt, he motored off in a precise path, blowing off people's hats as he zoomed by, and flattening the tires of any taxis he rolled too close to.

"It's been a while since I've been for a . . . . spin." It was an awful pun, but he was getting better and laughed in spite of himself.

When he finally halted his rolling, he flew forward from the momentum, leapt over a few cars, and landed on the sidewalk in front of a wide set of stairs.

The stairs and the museum matched in color, and for reasons unknown to Shadow, there didn't appear to be many people milling about.

"How prestigious . . . " They spanned up for a while, and stopped high in front of the white building that looked freshly painted. Five gigantic columns lined themselves an equal distance apart, and made it seem even more of a royal building. The sun was too high in the sky to add anything special to the seemingly perfect portrayal of a prestigious building, but it was at just the height that announced its presence to the world and awarded it with its gleam at the same time.

"I suppose they didn't expect the chaos emerald to be in a building any less gaudy." Shadow thought aloud. As he stared upwards, he noticed that people were beginning to give him looks, so he decided to pick up the pace and start his climb.

::::::::::::::

Knuckles stood adamant a few feet in front of the precious Master Emerald. The wind blew his red locks over his eyes, but he didn't mind, seeing as he was trying to sharpen his other senses. What few took into account was that when Knuckles wasn't out beating the snot out of anything that looked even relatively prone to be the least bit evil, he'd be guarding the Master Emerald.

What few remembered was that he rarely ever left it. And at this time, he stood in front of it atop Angel Island, bored out of his mind. The sand and trees, cloudless sky, and quiet environment had become all too familiar to the guardian, and he couldn't get real training for his ears if it stayed that quiet.

He sighed deeply, again considering why he had chosen this path, and then remembered that he didn't have that much of a say in it to begin with.

From about three hundred feet away, he heard approaching footsteps. One of his eyebrows raised slightly, and he sniffed around in that direction.

"I'm getting rusty . . . I should have heard her miles away. Let's see . . . . female . . . five foot two . . . . green eyes . . . . how the . . . ?"

He could sense the girl approaching quickly.

"Damn it!" Knuckles jumped over the gigantic stone and stood facing the figure in front of it.

After about a minute, she was only a few feet away, and earning suspicious looks from Knuckles.

"What the hell do you want?"

She appeared about thirteen, maybe fourteen years old, and pretty hyper at that. Her bright eyes darted every which way, and she continuously circled the emerald.

"Hey, Knux!"

"How the hell did you get here? This island is in the middle of the ocean . . . forget that, how did you get through forest?"

First off, Knuckles had been particularly bored that day because Rouge had yet to make her weekly attempt to steal his emerald. Not only did the lack of a good fight make him feel rusty, but it also made him angry. Secondly, Knuckles had learned over the years that the defenses of even getting to the Master Emerald should have been more than enough to repel most intruders. So why and how did such a young girl manage to get through?

"What's that?" She asked. She was pointing at the Master Emerald.

"Just back away from that." The echidna warned, following her around the stone.

"Can I touch it?"

"No. And answer my question."

"I love your games!"

"Will you get out of here!? I want to be prepared when a REAL threat arrives!"

She started touching the Master Emerald, and Knuckles went berserk.

"GET OFF OF THAT!" He grabbed her by the back of the shirt and glided away, towards the edge of the alter. He then dropped her from about six feet up, where she mysteriously landed on her feet and ran back to where he stood.

"What's that thingy on your chest?" She was referring to the crest on his chest, the emblem of the guardian of the Master Emerald.

"Please leave a message after the tone."

"Why're you so protective of that jewel?"

"Do you have an off button? Go annoy someone else, will ya?"

She sighed a semi-frustrated sigh and stepped a bit closer to the wary red echidna, who only took a half-defensive stance.

"I'll be back!" She yelled, leaping off of the steps and running off as hyper as ever.

"Not if I can help it . . . " Knuckles dialed a quick number on his phone and then stored it again, taking out his sunglasses and placing them in front of his eyes. Where he actually kept these things on hand at all times was a mystery.

Knuckles began humming "The Entertainer" while he tapped his foot, waiting for the confirmation.

Later, sirens were heard and the sound of screeching tires filled the air, followed by reports of a few firearms, and finally the sound of pursuing vehicles.

"Another fan girl bites the dust." Knuckles laughed.

***

Biolizard walked down and open passageway. It didn't seem to end, all that he could see was a light at the end of it.

"Oh, come on. There has to be some end to this . . . " He began running, but the light remained.

You'll have to run faster than that, if you want to get to the light . . .

"Who the hell . . . ?" The voice echoing in the reptile's head sounded familiar, but he couldn't seem to place it.

If you don't run faster, you'll never get there.

"I'll show you fast . . . " The lizard picked up the pace and started motoring his legs faster, running forwards. He then noticed that the passageway was becoming darker and narrower.

"Give me a break, you're giving me the creeps!"

In the distance, he saw the light get brighter, and then a face appeared.

"Maria!?"

It was Maria, and she stood there, waiting for him. Her hands were stretched out towards him, and she had an enticing smile, something that she didn't usually get when he was around.

"I'm coming! Just give me some time!" He ran faster than ever, and he actually began to get tired. The passageway seemed to be two lanes, which was something he didn't notice before.

"What's going on here? Maria!" She just stood there at the end of the passageway and held out her hand.

I guess I'll just have to step in.

"Who are you!?"

Shadow appeared out of nowhere, and landed on the lane to the left of Biolizard.

"Hello, Bio. I suppose it's my turn to give it a shot."

"Shadow!? How did you get here?"

Suddenly, the lane that Biolizard was on started moving like a conveyer belt, except against him.

"Hey!"

"I'm the only one that can get to Maria. I'm the stronger of us, anyway". Shadow spoke to the reptile as his lane accelerated forwards towards the smiling Maria.

"No! I was here first! I've been trying all this time and you just . . . just . . . NO!"

Shadow somehow approached the light that Biolizard couldn't seem to get any closer to and leapt into her arms, after which the two disappeared as they laughed together.

"N-not again! No!" Biolizard's legs gave out and the belt sped up, and accelerated him away until the light disappeared.

"Maria . . . " He uttered a few more last words as his world became nothing but darkness, destruction, and pain.

***

Shadow jumped up the last of the stairs, and stared forward at the doorway ahead of him. Guarding each side were two FBI agents. They were dressed stereotypically in their black and white uniforms, staring straight ahead with their sunglasses in perfect positions, and earpieces connected.

"Sorry, Sonic, you're just going to have to wait until we've finished security procedures. Until then, no one can see the chaos-" the agent didn't have to finish, as Shadow delivered a kick to his solar plexus that knocked him out cold.

The other soldier panicked and began to back away while fiddling with his earpiece.

"This is Agent Jamison, I need-" Shadow took care of the other agent before he could finish his transmission.

"What's going on, respond!" an unseen commander asked on the other side of the communications. Shadow delivered a punch that broke the doors down, and alarms blared. Down a series of lasers and guard robots, at the very end of the hall, he saw his prize. It was one of the coveted chaos emeralds, this one green.

"Hah! It's time to test some of my true power once more!" Time seemed to slow down for Shadow as he leapt forward and into action. He ran as fast as he could, and jumped over two shots from a couple of the mechs.

These robots appeared differently designed, particularly for guarding. Again, they fired at Shadow, who simply rolled between them. Before they had a chance to turn around, he sped in between them again, and doubled back with his body elongated. He twisted in air, spinning with wild acrobatics, and slashed himself across the two mechs. Illuminating his victory was a series of explosions.

After putting them out of commission with one of his midair spinning attacks, Shadow continued. He spun under a few lasers, and continued forward. An extra group of lasers continued to file vertically and horizontally against the open hallway, but it was only a matter of skill, a height of reflexes, and a bit of luck.

Shadow lacked the latter, but he had enough of the other attributes to get him through and around the nearest corner.

A missile flew towards him, and this one he simply leapt over before using the second one to leap off of.

This flight caused him to land on three more robots, which ended up firing upon a couple of extra cannons.

The lasers somehow targeted Shadow at his high speeds, and began repositioning themselves so that they would surely alert every machine to his exact location every second, but Shadow took care of this with a few targeted midair strikes using his fully-grown spikes.

In a final act, Shadow began spinning, and zoomed around the room at the speed of sound. The high crack of a sonic boom later waved out and began crumbling pillars with the help of Shadow's rushing, and the room was in chaos.

When he was finished, the police were just arriving, and helicopters were approaching overhead. A broadcast news report rang out on one of the barely working televisions that lay sideways amidst the rubble.

" . . . And Sonic the Hedgehog is reported to be the one behind this devastation . . . "

"Hmm. Why don't I let them give me chase for a while before using Chaos Control?" Shadow purposely thought aloud, he wanted to use his voice as much as possible. He grabbed his prize and ran with it. He ducked through the fallen rocks and leapt twice over horizontal pillars before gliding off with his hover-shoes, using them as veritable skates. As he headed for the nearest street westbound, he immediately ran into a police block off.

Two police cars were parked across the street, four police men behind each.

"Freeze, Sonic!"

Shadow shrugged, and took the opportunity to give himself an advantage.

"That is right, I am `Sonic'. Come and get me!" With that, he spun into a ball and zoomed under a few cars, the gunfire far too slow to catch him.

"If I can evade fifty caliber GUN modulated laser fire, then I can surely dodge a few forty-fives!" Shadow laughed as the cop cars eagerly began to pursue him, and he disappeared over a hill.

:::::::::::::

This time, Knuckles managed to hear someone approaching from a mile away, on a bike. It was yet another non-echidna.

He let out a frustrated sigh as he put on his sunglasses.

"At least my day isn't as boring as usual . . . Let's see. Brown-haired kid, male . . . thirteen point five years old. Riding a ten speed bicycle . . . . " He sniffed the air again. "Huffy. I hate Huffy."

After three minutes, the bicycle stopped in front of the alter, and brown-haired boy ran up the steps. He seemed to be continuously announcing his presence with the loud footsteps he produced.

"Let me guess, you want to take a picture with the Emerald?" Knuckles asked, standing adamant.

"So that's what that is? I thought you just did whatever you felt like in your spare time!"

"You don't seem to understand. I have to guard the Master Emerald during my entire spare time, and take it with me when I'm out fighting by either mobilization, or replacement with a temporary generator. A lot of my life revolves around keeping this thing safe."

"Say what?" The boy didn't seem to be listening as he stared at the emerald. "This green rock is pretty, can I have this?"

"Sure! I was waiting to just give it away! I mean, it was so heavy and a hassle to watch, and I've been thinking of going into real estate, anyway. The colors were getting too bright and I was bored out of my mind. Angel Island will just fall to the ground if it doesn't have it, or energy resembling it keeping it floating anyway! I guess I wouldn't mind, so sure, just take it."

"Really?"

"Hell no! Now leave before I get you out of here myself."

" . . . " Sneakily, he made an attempt to sneak around to the other side of the emerald, and when he thought he was clever, began to lift it up. Of course, he wasn't that tough, so he could do no such thing. He stopped trying, expecting to see the open space in front of him when he turned around, but instead met a rather angry Knuckles who was cracking his . . . . well, his knuckles. The last thing the hapless kid saw before unconsciousness was the afterimage of the spiked talons flying into his face.

***

Sonic the hedgehog whistled to himself as he walked down his favorite street, but in the opposite direction of where he usually went.

Chinese men in front of a restaurant had been repeatedly bugging him to buy things, and since he loathed that particular restaurant, it wasn't an option for him. However, those particular salesmen had been persistent and he found himself walking in the opposite direction to avoid them. But there was another reason, as well.

Amy had been watching him walk that particular route. It was kind of funny, because Sonic had always noticed her, but she didn't think he did, and Sonic knew that. So, judging by her predictable habits, Sonic went down that normal route fifteen minutes earlier. After all, after observance for two days Amy always made her move.

She had become particularly annoying that week, but that isn't to say that Sonic had been very fair to her.

In the distance, the hedgehog heard police sirens and the faint familiar sound of military tanks.

"Whoa! Some action! Now this is what I came for!" He noticed that there weren't as many people on the streets as usual, but shrugged it off.

"Oh yeah!" He exercised no moderation in speeding down the street and tearing up the pavement with his shoes, turning perfect corners into what appeared to be a melee. He could have sworn that he caught something black moving quickly out of the corner of his eye, but dismissed it. When he stopped, he found himself being slowly surrounded by police in the middle of the street.

"Hey there, need help . . . ?" He asked.

"That's him! Get him!" A tank fired at him from the pointed turret and Sonic laughed as he dodged to the side.

"What kind of game is this, is that all ya got?" He asked, cackling at the tank commanders.

Another shot was fired, and then gunshots. Sonic shook his head as he ran past them all, and started cackling at the flustered officers again. Pavement was boiled, cracked, and boiled again. It didn't fail to show it, either, as huge chunks of the street were opened up in areas that Sonic had dodged.

"Maybe you need to go back to training school! You pansies couldn't hit the broad side of a barnyard with a tennis racket! Your mothers wear combat boots! No one loves you! Why don't you go eat some doughnuts!? You-" The blue hedgehog was cut off abruptly as a tranquilizer dart embedded itself into his backside, and he fell to the ground snoring loudly.

"That'll teach you to steal chaos emeralds." An officer nodded in satisfaction. "Get this fool out of here, he makes me sick."

With that, Sonic was tied up and thrown into the back of a cargo jet, that later took off and began to fly him to a maximum level security prison at a five hundred thousand yen bail. It wouldn't complete its flight, however, and the following events would shock the world.

::::::::::::::

"Lieutenant?" The underling's voice echoed around the entire complex. The room they were in was a small one, and a very efficient one. Computers and equipment lined the wall, surveillance screens filled the ceiling, and a chorus of beeps and drilling sounds almost drowned out any other.

"What is it? What have you noticed?" The GUN Lieutenant wiped a blond strand of hair away from his face, and stared at the private through his dark eyes. They were the kind of eyes that warned people that he wasn't what he seemed, that he could spring up in a second. Of course, for this high ranking and young officer, such insubordination was never a worry.

"The subject `Shadow' has been released. It also appears that the subject `Biolizard' is growing at an alarming rate. Furthermore, the two of them appear to have neural stimulations in the back of their brain giving way to possible . . . . "

"What . . . ?" The Lieutenant's brow furrowed as he leaned forward in his rolling chair, he back to the sprawling complex.

"It almost seems as if they're rivals . . . but only one wants to do the fighting. I didn't think those two had any kind of relationship."

"Interesting indeed . . . . Ha. From what I gather, things might get interesting. The normal police are capturing the wrong villain, and all the while a small group of people that aren't even human are the ones putting them in danger. Have you heard from Ivo?"

"No, sir, he hasn't given us any contacts since he broke into the base. Are you sure-" The private stopped short and decided he didn't want to anger the lieutenant.

"Keep them guessing." The lieutenant stood up. "And make sure that Shadow is dealt with."