Sonic Dimensions (ON HIATUS)

Chapter 9

"BASTARD!!!!"

The world shook around him, his emotions creating a sudden wave of sound, blasting the things around him into walls. The beds broke, the furniture broke, the windows shattered, and Elise and Starline were flung back. Outside trees had broken from their roots, collapsing to the ground. Mountains cracked, causing mass rock falls. The cliff that Elise had fallen off of and met Blaze and Silver for the first time broke off and fell to the fate she would have had to face if nobody was there to save her. Silver clung to the ground, his anger and guilt taking over him and making his body emit a blue light and his eyes spark yellow.

Starline managed to stand and seemed impressed.
"Wow, you really have outdone yourself!" he applauded, "Mental powers suit you, little hedgehog."
"SHUT UP!" Silver yelled, and Starline got pushed against the wall.

"So you're just going to kill me? Is that it?" the platypus asked, Silver finally looking at him, "You really are no different from me. I lost my opportunities and I snapped. Though killing the doctor only rid me of the sanity I already had..." Silver's eyes opened wider, and the glow around him seemed to relax. Starline continued. "It's torture, having to relive the memories of the deed, having to experience their final moments over and over again when you sleep. Or if you sleep that is."

The white hedgehog stared at him, then as the body of Blaze. He cowered, lowering his hand and the energy coming from him fading. Starline fell to the floor, laughing. A rift then opened underneath him, and the platypus was gone. Silver's head fell back to the floor and he wept. Agony filled his sobs as he cried desperately.

Elise didn't know what to do, as she wasn't sure how it felt to lose someone so important. So she just watched him cry. It seemed more like distressed screaming than it did crying, but tears fell from his eyes like rain regardless. The night sky was peppered with stars, and Elise looked out at them. It seemed like their future was being lit up for them, a silver lining regardless of what had happened. But she listened to the hedgehog's sobs and dismissed the thought. Nothing could make this better...

{~-~}{~-~}{~-~}{~-~}

The final bit of dirt landed on top of the makeshift grave, and Silver sighed in exhaustion. He stabbed the shovel he took into the ground and sat down in front of the grave in silence. Elise looked at him and just sat next to him. She would have helped, but I can't imagine that it would be easy. None of them spoke for a long time, and there wasn't really anything to say either. They just looked at the dirt in front of them, remembering the person who was buried underneath. They had buried her outside of the Sol kingdom, as the rifts had disappeared along with Doctor Starline. So it was a rather peaceful service, if you'd even call it one. Silver had managed to keep himself from crying, which was probably not a good idea, poor guy. He finally found his words after what felt like hours.

"I failed her..."
"Huh?" Elise looked over at him.
"I didn't keep the emeralds safe. I was so blinded with grief that I..." he paused, "...I lost them." He didn't look up from the dirt on the ground. It was like if he looked away, the memory of Blaze would be lost. Her death replayed over and over in his mind, yet he didn't cry. He couldn't cry, he had to be strong for her.

A ring portal opened up in the sky in front of what used to be the Sol kingdom. Sonic jumped out of the portal, along with Lancelot, Terra, Jet, Storm and Wave.
"Alright," Sonic exclaimed, "Let's go and find this gu—" he stopped. He had only just noticed the destroyed kingdom in front of him. "Oh..." Lancelot took Sonic's hand and he looked at them, nervously smiling. "I-I'm sure they're still alive somewhere!" Terra stood in front of the group and signed.
'You look for the person you need, we'll search the kingdom for the Sol emeralds.'
"They said—" Jet was about to translate, but Sonic interrupted by putting his thumbs up.
"Okay!" Jet felt embarrassed. Of course Sonic understood sign language. The hedgehog and his knight started to search around the perimeter of the land, and the babylons entered the kingdom in search for the emeralds.

It didn't take long for Sonic to notice a white hedgehog and a girl sitting on the ground in front of a shovel. It was Silver and Elise. He ran over, Lancelot following behind.
"Hey, guys! What's going o— OH LIGHT GAIA!" he cried out as he saw what had happened to Elise's arm. He backed up, feeling sick and retreating into Lancelot's arms. The knight held him close to comfort him, and he was shaking like mad. Sonic wasn't good around wounds like that. "S-Sorry..." he muttered, "But what even happened to you? And where's Blaze?"

Silver looked at him, so did Elise. Elise felt too ashamed to tell him, and the white hedgehog couldn't fight back his tears anymore. His sobs started quiet, but as everything flooded through his head, he began to cry even harder. "W-Woah buddy!" Sonic panicked, horrible at comforting crying people, "What's happening?!"
"S-She's gone..." Silver choked, "Blaze is gone..."
"What do you—"

"She's dead!" the hedgehog cried. Sonic stood there in silence. He was too late. And if she was dead, that meant the Sol emeralds were...
"They're gone," Storm spoke as the rogues approached, "That guy already has them."
"That 'guy' is Doctor Starline," Elise spoke, getting their attention, "and he's a girl, not a guy."
"Huh." Storm looked at Wave. Wave shrugged.
"It's possible. Pronouns don't mean your gender. Neither does your appearance."

Lancelot's foot was tapping, and Sonic hugged him tight in order to calm them down. It seemed to work, as their foot slowed down.
"Well, everyone's together now..." Sonic sighed, standing up straight, "I suppose it's time to find a way there. Without getting anyone else hurt..."
"You have the rings?" Jet spoke.
"Mhm," Sonic nodded, looking at his hand, "But against his power, we might need more people." He stood quiet for a moment, before looking at the group. "Guys, we're going on a road trip."

{~-~}{~-~}{~-~}{~-~}

Starline placed the warp topaz in the machine, the whirring of it activating filling the woman's ears and making his mouth curl into a sadistic smile.
"Finally... now to see where my power goes to next." The ground around him shook, and the air in front of him ripped and tore apart, the force causing him to be blasted back. He crashed to the floor, his pained groans transitioning into maniacal laughter, as someone he had been waiting for stepped through the new rift. He had managed to willingly create an opening between universes, now unleashing a powerful evil...

...who took the form of that blue hedgehog. He frowned. "Huh. Not what I was expecting." The creature looked at the girl with an unamused expression.
"And for what reason did you bring me here?" it growled, "It better be a good one, little boy."
"Oh trust me, my lord, it is," Starline responded, standing up and walking up to him, "And you can call me ma'am from now on, thank you. I am the one who freed you from that void after all..." The entity grit their teeth as the platypus traced the scarring on their chest. A large X. "...Exie"

Later on, Starline had made both of them mugs of tea. The woman was casually sipping his, his feet up on the table. Exie just stared at their mug, confused.
"What is this strange hot liquid you have offered me, ma'am?" they asked. Starline furrowed his eyes.
"Never had tea, my lord?" he was taken aback slightly, but he smirked, "As expected. Just try it."

"I prefer the taste of souls," it remarked before taking a sip. Its face seemed to relax a little. "It's alright. Though it does not quench my hunger."
"Oh I'm so sorry, my lord," Starline chuckled, "I didn't know you were so picky. Here."
An arm was thrown onto the table. It was a few days old, though in good enough shape. A female arm, with pale skin. "I heard you also like the taste of dead flesh." Exie gazed upon the arm in interest. He slammed the mug down onto the table, smashing it into pieces, then grabbed the arm and began tearing into its flesh. Starline grinned. "I saved it especially for your arrival, my lord. Just a little harvest." Exie ate until only the bone was left, and threw the bones aside, them scattering across the ground. He let out a bellow of laughter.

"I already feel my power coming back to me. I must congratulate you, ma'am, on freeing me after all these years."
"Oh it was a breeze really," the woman crossed his arms, recollecting, "All I had to do was break a girl's finger and kill a princess. Even a baby could do it."
"Child's play."
"Indeed it was, my lord." He placed his cup down. "Now, what do you say to my offer?" Exie furrowed their eyes.

"I am not one to be manipulated into doing others' deeds, I do things as I please. There are no people who can control me, as I control them myself."
"Hm." Starline crossed his arms, but Exie was not finished.
"However, I do feel rather famished after staying in that waste of space for so long. I'll come with you, but only because of my needs, not yours. Do not expect me to help you." The platypus nodded with a smile. And that smile turned into laughter. His insanity was contagious, and Exie soon laughed along with him. Two beings of devastation in one place, what will they do? And most importantly, who shall fall to their feet?