Return of Gerlad's Legacy

Chapter 16: Fire in my eyes

Whirl, Storm, Lucas, and Emily could hear a scream pierce the sound of gunfire and blood. They all could distinguish it from all the other shrieks. For one I wasn't in Russian and two, the voice was that of their friend, Shade. They had barley been able to stand the screams of the Russian Contingent but now . . . they heard the voice of their friend and comrade. Emily felt tears in her eyes as she pictured numerous images of Shade in inexplicable pain, blood on the cold concrete of St. Petersburg. And some Black Arms standing over him with a bloody blade or a cooling blaster.

Lucas and his group marched on. Their rifles in hand, they were startled at the slightest sound. Even with the war making some of the loudest sounds they had ever heard, they were still startling. The robotic sentries that were with them were in constant radio communication with the computers of the Russian HQ. They were getting facts about where the Black Arms were striking. At the moment they were forcing a lot of firepower on the old Soviet armories.

Lucas pondered on this as they marched forward in an abandoned section of the city. Why would Umbra use so much useful force for some old AK-47s? There had to be another reason for this. What would Umbra want? He would want the Eclipse Ray online. That would take tremendous power. The only thing that could generate the much power would be a . . . ! A Chaos Emerald! That's what he wanted. There must be one that the Russians hid in the Armories. An Emerald would allow Umbra to be one step closer to get the Eclipse Ray operational. They couldn't let that happen.

"Sergeant!" Lucas called to the GERALD class soldier in front of him.

"Yes, sir?" it replied in its computerized voice.

"Send this message to our new Base: He knows where one is, and send a picture of an emerald. Next, send this message to the Russian Contingent Commanders, He knows it's there."

"Messages Sent."

Lucas told his friends what he had figured out.

"What were thinking though?" urgently whispered Whirl. "Why did you send Uncle Tails and Uncle Shadow that message? I'd rather face Umbra than face Uncle Shadow's and Mom's fury. They'll kill us!"

Storm said the same and Emily nodded along with their argument.

Lucas shook his head. "I know we'll get into trouble, but if Umbra gets his claws on a Chaos Emerald, then we will have no chance as blizzard in Hell. He already is one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Once that Emerald's in his hands, he can kill us all and whip us out. The others had to be alerted."

Something snapped. Even in the sounds of warfare they could hear it. They turned around to see a Black Arms foot Soldier with a large sword in his claws. The creature hissed and spoke in a language uncompressible to them. He raised his sword and charged forward at them. His blade swinging in the air he ran through the darkness.

Thunder crackled through the sky.

Lucas open his eyes to see the Black Arms soldier and the GERALD class robots had been fried to a crisp. He looked up to see lightning crackling above him. He saw that gliding above him and his team was . . . Umbra, his clawed fist sizzling with electricity.

"I apologize," Umbra spoke to them in his cool voice, mocking them, "my army cannot tell between friend or foe when they do not recognize the being."

They could not respond to him. For Lucas and Emily, this was the first time they had ever seen the malevolent Overlord. They were petrified of the creature. Whirl and Storm who had seen the monster transform on screen were even more who now saw his full body. His full magnitude of power and evil.

"Do I frighten you?" his face was completely calm, no smile trickled its way onto his face. "I am terribly sorry." His body began to morph and change. The wings on his back started to come inward inside his body. The face sucked inward and fangs became flat and dull. The crest vanished leaving only a mop of brown hair. The three fingered claws sprouted two more fingers, lost their sharp edges and the scales become pale flesh. The double jointed feet became flat leathered boots. The robe became a black trench coat with a GUN logo on the front of it. And lastly the eyes became brown with little red dots in the center of the pupils. "Is that better?" spoke the voice of Robert Eclipse.

The young Freedom Fighters stood stunned beyond belief. "I am terribly sorry if you are frightened by my abilities. You should be frightened, though."

He walked around them. They were petrified and did nothing. "All of you are your parent's children." He circled them with his human face full of glee. "I rather like that you believe can try and stop my army. I admire bravery in all its aspects. You have shown that you have the guts to take on a power beyond you. That I can admire in you young folk. I, myself am not at all young. In my life I have life 3679 years. Almost each decade I took another planet or system for my father. Once I took an entire galaxy under the guise of a kindly senator who rose into power as Supreme Chancellor. Another time I went under as a being called a Wraith. I took control of one of their Hives and took—was it three or four—oh, I can't remember. I took some planets for the Empire. Unfortunately for the inhabitants their star became a black hole. I lost a lot of soldiers on that colony. But, look at me." All this time the children were visualizing his horrific exploits. Entire civilizations being torched to the ground so they could be made into bioorganic monstrosities. Men, women, and children being forced to face a slaughter house of evil. His request didn't even reach their brains for a minute. They looked into his eyes and all they could see was fire. A black fire that could pierce you to your soul. "Me rambling when my young nephew lies in the streets of St. Petersburg with slice across his arm."

He looked into each of their eyes and he could see anger. Except one. The young bat girl, her eyes were not only filed with anger but with fear. But fear for her own life. Ah. This was once a grand song. But now this was now it was epiphany symphony.

"Yes," he said, making a hissing sound at the end of the s, "you see it as well as I. You see the fire in my eyes and I see it in yours. But your fire is different from mine. Mine is the fire of change that burns away the old ways and ushers in a new era of order under the Great Immortal shall rule. Yours is a fire of anger and protection. Yours is an old flame that has existed since the dawn of time. I am not new or old. I am a grey line. Your flame will perish. Especially when the fact comes around that your guns have been disabled and the fact comes that Shade has been lying unconscious in a warzone for nearly an hour."

Lucas and Emily's eyes grew large as plates. He looked at his watch. It was 9 p.m. They had left the elevator shaft at 7:30. And Shade was somewhere in this hell! "God have mercy!"

Eclipse just laughed. "Sorry, We're all out of mercy, please come at another time, thank you. Oh," his left hand vanished up his sleeve. It returned to it position. Yet it was now no longer human flesh. It was now black and red scales with only three fingers. "enjoy the evening." A burst of energy exploded from his hand. Immediately they all felt very weary. Tired if you will. Their eyes became heavy. And they knew no more.

Sonic and Crystal raced through the streets of St. Petersburg. Why did he do that? Why did he panic? Sonic knew the answer. He knew feeling. It was easy when you had to face robots. They were just programs and oil. But when you hear the sound of flesh ripping apart and blood splattering, something primal will show its horrid head: fear of consequences.

He passed a corner. But then did a step back and saw red and black quills over red and black quills. He saw Shadow the Hedgehog leaning over his son with tears running down his face. Shadow looked up into the stormy and red sky and yelled in anger and defiance. "COME OUT AND FACE ME, MURDERER! MY BOY! SHADE! I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS UMBRA!