Don't freak out now! It's just an idea of mine... or some weird fandom. No matter how you call it, it's just an idea that I'm having. So yeah, enjoy.
Ever thought about the shadow that has evolved by taking the shape of Shadow? The mind of a god that has split into two beings? Now forget, what they've told you. And think about this. What if, in the distant past, Mephiles was actually one of the good guys?
Let's begin on his origin. Let us think of something entirely different...
Mephiles was once a normal Nerohog (black hedgehog). He existed in another dimension, far off from what you know as the universe of Sonic and his friends. This dimension already exists for an unmeasureable time lapse, long before the Sonic Universe was created. The Nerohogs existed, with all kinds of hedgehogs that you know, in the world of Xaos. This planet was the origin of unbelievable power. And it holds the ancient origin of all emeralds. The Prime Emerald. This emerald is different from anything, you ever encountered. It is supposed to be indestructible, as it is said to be a paradox. If you would destroy that emerald, the stability of the entire omniverse would be disturbed, thus leading to a recreation of everything that once existed - a whole reset. The Prime Emerald contains different kinds of Chaos energy. The Chaos of Creation, the Chaos of Destruction, the Chaos of Space, the Chaos of Time and also, the Chaos of the 4 Legends.
The Titans were considered to be godlike creatures, but also columns to stabilize the omniverse. These Titans all contain a morphable kind of Titan Chaos energy. There is the Genesis Titan, the Excidio Titan, the Tempus Titan and the Spatium Titan. The Chaos of the Titans was used to create the different dimensions, such as the Sol Dimension, or the Chaos Dimension. (a.k.a. Sonic Universe)
Together, the four Titans resemble the stability of the omniverse by protecting its attributes of creation, destruction, time and space.
But back to Mephiles. We will cover the Chaos of the 4 Legends later. When Mephiles was born, the Prime Emerald began to shine in its full pride. This was a symbol to determine the birth of a new worthy legend to use the Chaos energy that is being provided from the Prime Emerald. But not only the Prime Emerald began to shine. Another energy emerged from another dimension that co-existed with the Prime Dimension. The Nadir Dimension, which was the counterpart of the Prime Dimension, let its Nadir Emerald shine. The power of the Nadir Emerald contains pure darkness - Anti-Chaos. It has the same effects as the Prime Emerald, when it would be destroyed.
This event never occured once again. The next 3 events, when ONLY the Prime Emerald began to shine, the next 3 legends were born. But this took some time, and thus we shall stay with Mephiles. Although, it is worth mentioning that the next legend after Mephiles, was one of his siblings. His younger brother, whom he had to protect for a long time. Not, because someone told him to do so, but because he cared about his brother. They share the same fate. But why did both Emeralds of the Prime and the Nadir Dimension begin to shine when Mephiles was born? Mephiles was the first legend, and the prophecy determines the first legend to be the Prime Guardian. This role will be explained later, as it is an important role. What you should keep in mind for now, is Mephiles' rank as Supreme Legend - the first of the legacy. But there's a problem. Mephiles is not the first son of his parents. The first son is called Tradilux. He became aware of his misfortune, when he became the prince of Xaos. Mephiles and his brother didn't play an important role, yet. Mephiles was still serving his father, the king of their world. He was a kind ruler and showed a huge amount of dignity towards others.
But one day, everything changed. When Mephiles was told by Tradilux that he was supposed to deliver a mission to Mephiles, he was sent to the Duo Link, which is a small connection separated by two portals, one being in the Prime Dimension, and the other one remaining locked in the Nadir Dimension. So Mephiles went to the Duo Link and entered the portal. The Link was dark from the inside. Mephiles was supposed to examine the artifact that kept the Duo Link intact. As he touched the artifact, he suddenly felt a small trembling around himself until a powerful pulse threw him away and pulled him to the artifact. That artifact turns out to be a Nadir relic that contains the dark powers of Anti-Chaos. The relic turned into an aura of darkness that surrounded and infiltrated Mephiles' body. He felt a huge burn, as his own body began changing. His skin became crystalline, amorphous shining crystals began surrounding his limbs and other parts of his body, as his sclera was flooded by an aggressive glowing red, even his green pupils began glowing aswell.
Blackout.
Mephiles regained conciousness after a while. He felt an immense headache, and saw his crystal hand touching his skull. He began to panic, as he ran towards the reflection of a small pool of water. As he saw his new body, he began going crazy. What happened to him, you may ask? His body absorbed the Anti-Chaos of the Nadir Emerald. As this change occured, he began feeling a dark force inside him. He slowly began trying to use it. He quickly moved in a shape of a shadow aura, as if he was jumping from A to B in a quick move. Small teleports, multiple jumps and dashes mid-air. But that's not all. Mephiles could sink himself into the floor and move through the surface in the shape of a shadow. He was scared, but also impressed. He never experienced such powers before.
He went through a portal... however, as he arrived on the other side, he saw a dark realm of ruin. He was in the Nadir Dimension. But even worse, the portal that allows travelling through the dimensions is open. He quickly rushed back through the portal to return back to his own dimension, only to find his planet being turned into a battlefield.
How long has Mephiles been unconcious? It felt like a few hours. But it was more than a month. The menacing creatures from the other dimension have invaded the Prime dimension. But not only that. As Mephiles returned, a group of mechs made their way towards the new subject. They're called "Hedgedrones", as they serve the royal court. They identify Mephiles as a potential threat and start approaching him to arrest him. Mephiles, confused due to this event, snaps and breaks the robots, one by one. He then rushes down the mountain. He realised that he was slighty hovering above the surface, so he was skating down the mountain to make a huge jump on a cliff. He flies straight into the air, only to fall under the rules of gravity. But suddenly, he felt his body rising back up. His legs were flaming, as if he had thrust engines glued to his legs. He flew towards civilization, only to find the entire city to be barricaded and contaminated. He tried to land, which ended in him crashing into a tower and holding onto the wall. He then looked at everything he could see. What he could not see however, was the danger that approached him...
The Nadir monsters sneaked behind Mephiles, but when they were about to attack, Mephiles sensed their presence and fought back. After a battle between him and a bunch of dark invaders, he began to look for his father, the king of Xaos. As he rushed through the kingdom, he found his father, bleeding out on his throne. Alone. He ran over to him as his lip was trembling. His voice breaks down in sadness, as he sobs. He asked what happened, but instead his father told him something else:
"Listen, my son. You might be wondering what happened. You might be worried about me. But don't be. This is my fate. Leaving the fate of Xaos in the hands of you, Mephiles. It's not too late. You're the Supreme Legend. And also... you're the Prime Guardian. So... follow your duty. And save Xaos... please..."
With those words, he stopped breathing. It was over. The king has fallen, in the arms of his son. The drones were rushing in, arresting the mistaken offender. Mephiles shouted after his father... but there was no chance to bring him back... he's gone... forever.
Remaining in a cell as a prisoner, he comes across the young princess of Xaos. Her name was Raami. She was still young, but her mother has raised her to be a powerful lady, though she still seems to show her warm behavior towards the inhabitants of Xaos. She recognized Mephiles back in his normal shape from seeing him with his older sibling Tradilux, who seemed to have disappeared. She was still a young girl and too shy to speak to him. Now, after a few years, she looked at him and asked who he was. The drones consider him to be an immense threat to the Prime Dimension, as he seems to originate from the Nadir Dimension. She looks him straight into his eyes with a strict face... as he stares into hers, her mind flashed.
"Check after the others. I will take of him by myself."
The drones left her alone. She asked for his name. He didn't respond. Stubborn as he is, he won't speak so easily. Maybe he doubts her to believe him. Maybe she has some bad intentions. She began asking him with his name...
"Mephiles...? Is that... you?"
He looked up to her face, surprised and slighty worried. He just sighed and looked away. Silence entered the room.
"Mephiles is gone... now it's just... me... the Dark."
He smirked sarcastically as he spoke those words. She raised her mouth with disappointment. The drones were still gone, so she still had some time to gather some information. Mephiles looked back over to her.
"What happened to our highness? The king of Xaos?"
She couldn't answer. All she knew was that Tradilux was telling her something about him being sick. He needed privacy, so nobody was allowed to talk with the king. If someone tried, the new hedgedrones would have taken action against any foul.
"Hmph... you don't know either... weird, isn't it? The king suddenly becomes sick... out of nowhere. And our fellow prince who now seems to take his place doesn't tell the second fiddle anything about the conditions. No... he just takes his seat on the throne that was meant to be for him..."
She quickly responded to this harsh argument.
"What are you talking about? Your brother is worried about all the events that have been taking place while you were gone. He even asked for you."
"Yeah... what a great brother..."
He looked away again, when he suddenly remembered something important. His eyes turned glassy. He became worried.
"Where is my brother?!"
"I-I don't know where Tradilux-"
"No, the other one! Where is he?!"
Raami got confused. What was Mephiles talking about? She never saw Mephiles with another brother than Tradilux... but he was right... where IS his young sibling?
"Listen, Mephiles... or the Dark, or whatever you're calling yourself. I'm trying to get you out of here, alright? You're making me worry about Tradilux.You need to tell me more, but there's no time for talking."
She opened the cell to get Mephiles out. What she didn't know was the fact that the drones observed the sudden access. They quickly made their way back to the cell to check after the princess. Mephiles was aware of this and roughly grabbed her and skated along the surface with his new abilities of the Nadir relic. When the drones found him, they wanted to bring her back to the kingdom. Mephiles was now a high priority target. But instead of capturing him, they now take lethal action against him. Raami, who is unaware of why they shoot at her and the Nerohog. Plasma bullets fly through the air, as one of the drones aims a missile at them. He shoots it after the couple as Mephiles takes a huge jump to dodge the explosion. Luckily, they manage to escape through a narrow cave.
The drones give up, as another one arrives. This hedgedrone is different. It has a vigorous endoskeleton, covered in silver shining armor. He raised his strong metallic voice. The drones kneel before him.
"The anomaly from the Nadir Dimension managed to escape. He captured the descendant of the royal court."
The big mech lowered his eyes down to the peasant servants.
"You were given an easy opportunity to take down that monster. How could you fail so miserably?"
"He still had the princess with him. If we would have surpassed our bounds, we might have harmed her aswell."
The big mech growled with slight anger. He approached one of the drones and raised his arm. He then grabbed the drone by its face and ripped its head out.
"Pathetic machines. Holding back against the main target... for what? The safety of an unimportant living being?"
He crushed the head of the decapitated robot with his bare hand. He then reports the failure to an unknown source.
"Percussor Rex, report 71: The anomaly has escaped with the subject, codename: Raami. We lost another drone to the anomaly. Requesting to comb out the area."
The source talked back to the leader, Rex.
"Request declined. Return back to alpha. Let the anomaly take his time. I'll take care of everything."
"Master Tradilux, this is an emergency situation. Our kingdom would be endangered."
The source replied aggressively:
"You' ve got your orders, Rex. Return back to the HQ and forget about anything else. Let this one be my concern..."
Tradilux... what do you think he was planning? We'll get to that later.
First, Mephiles escapes with Raami to find shelter in the ruins of the canyons. They find an abandoned hut below the rocks. Nobody seemed to be there, so they were hiding inside. They were resting over the night, until a silver-white hedgehog woke them up.
"Hey... wake up. Who are you?"
The Dark and the princess rised up to look who woke them up. It was an adult runaway from the city. He couldn't believe his own eyes.
"By the Titans... the princess... and... the son of the prince... what are you... w-why?"
Mephiles interrupted the old man with a serious expression.
"I don't think, this is any of your concern. Mind your own business."
"I apologize for my fellow friend. He recently had a bad time. Lots of terrible things happened to him..."
The princess glanced at Mephiles with a burning madness in her eyes. As the silver hedgehog saw deeply into the eyes of the corrupted carrier of the Anti-Chaos, he sat down to talk to him directly.
"I see. He's been cursed... the darkness is inside him..."
He looks deeper into Mephiles' eyes to get a better picture of his troubles.
"You're carrying a Nadir relic inside you... it sealed the light inside you away. You're one of them."
Mephiles jumps back and turns into his crystalline form. He raises his fists against the old silver hedgehog.
"You better take that back, right now... I'm not... one of those... filthy monsters that murdered my father."
"The king's dead?! No... you're... it can't be. You're lying."
Mephiles snaps and attacks the unknown hedgehog. However, he manages to grab Mephiles' hand to control him. He slowly forces him down to his knees. He knows the darkness that flows through the Dark. How can he control it? We'll cover that later...
"What?! Let me go...!"
The Dark struggles, but gives in after a few seconds. Raami is shocked. How can a simple runaway be aware of the Anti-Chaos?
"You know, the royal court isn't all bright as they say... Raami. You probably don't know, do you? No... you can't, how even? The Xaos projects were kept secret. Only the king had access to the knowledge. Let me explain..."
"Hold on... what projects? Who are you?"
Raami was confused. What was going on?
"Rego. Former supreme scientist of the royal court. We've been doing research on the Anti-Chaos from the other side... We've tested the effects on captured test-subjects from the Nadir Dimension."
Mephiles' eyes were rising up.
"You let the creatures into our realm?"
"Not quite... our drones invaded them. They were supposed to examine every aspect of the Nadir Dimension. The power that it keeps, the monsters that live in it... until one day... they were repurposed for no reason."
"I think I know who did that."
Mephiles smirks again. He clenches his fist in rage. The princess interrupts the two.
"But what do they need that knowledge for?"
"Promise me not to tell anyone... alright...? Get this. If you combine the Anti-Chaos with the Chaos energy of any Titan... then you're able to control the power of that Titan. For example... if you combine your darkness with the Chaos of Destruction... you would be able to devastate anything you'd like. This is why the Nadir creatures are invading the Prime Dimension. They want to use the Titans for their own purposes. The Prime Chaos energy corresponds to its counterpart, the Anti-Chaos. That's why they would succeed. And that's what we wanted to reach. The control over the Titans. But we would never have abused it."
The Dark's mind was full of questions. Questioning Rego about the sudden disappearance of Tradilux would seem to be an attempt to gather some information. But yet, he was unsure about this.
"Have you seen our fellow prince anywhere, anytime?"
Rego glanced at the two. He couldn't answer the question either. He only knew what he's been told.
"Tradilux said that he would have to go on an expedition. He also stated that the access to the palace was restricted. He said, his father would have needed some rest. We always had to talk to the drones that talked to him. It was ridiculous."
"Of course it was. That's what Tradilux does... a lot of pathetic things that make no sense, whatsoever... in fact... when was I supposed to get informed about these new drones? Did they come out of nowhere?"
Raami mentioned Mephiles' disappearance that lasted for a month. Rego was astonished. Why did he leave for that long? But that's not any of his concern, as Mephiles mentioned before.
"The drones... they happened some time in the next few days, after your sudden disappearance. Well... actually, the idea came from your father... but it seems that they have always been changed. New perimeters here, new boundaries there... I didn't know where this was going. Although... what I did recognize, was the energy that these robots were running on. It wasn't just all electricity. They had some sort of... generators... Anti-Chaos generators, they-"
"The drones run on Anti-Chaos aswell? Oh, I'm so tempted to find out where this is going."
"Anyway... these are just prototypes. Well... most of them are still a work in progress. Yet, they run on electricity. The Chaos energy is just for their new weapons and-"
"And probably to take advantage of the Titans aswell?"
Mephiles interrupted the wise man once again, when Raami had a flash of insight.
"That's what he meant! The robots are supposed to be our tools to use the Titans."
"But they were repurposed, don't forget that. Also... the distribution has its strict limits. Only 3.6% of the Anti-Chaos were allowed. The other 96.4% were simple electricity. Changing this balance could have unimaginable consequences. Only 10% would result in lethal actions, that cannot be controlled. 25% would lead to an entire system failure, 50% could cause the robots to change dramastically..."
"...And what about 100%?"
"That would be impossible to perform. If the drones ran on pure Anti-Chaos, you wouldn't be able to destroy them anymore. The Anti-Chaos would not only infect the central processing unit... it would... change the entire robot. I... I can't think of anything else. It's just incomprehensible..."
"It would probably make them develop a mind of their own. A mind filled with wrath and darkness..."
Rego smiled and laughed quietly. He then glanced up to the Dark.
"Looks like we have the perfect example of what Anti-Chaos does to you, Mephiles."
"... I guess, you might be right... hey, hold on. Rego!"
The former scientist wonders what Mephiles was up to.
"You might know about what the Anti-Chaos does... but... how were you able to force me down so easily when I attacked...?"
Silence entered the three, as they all looked at each other. Did Mephiles just hit a nerve?
"Before I became a scientist at the royal court, I... well... ever heard of the tranquil warrior?"
Raami looked up with a surprised expression.
"My mother used to tell me stories about him!"
"These stories are true, my dear. The tranquil warrior was a man of wisdom. He had the ability to channel light and darkness. He's not one of the 4 legends... no... he's just an old man who meditates a lot... but all that meditation has a background. He studied the flow of Chaos - both, Prime and Nadir. He was able to balance it. He used that balance in combat, whenever he was attacked. He's special."
Rego began coming closer to Mephiles.
"He can help you."
"Will he?"
"He might."
The Dark and the princess looked at each other.
"Well... guess I might look for that tranquil warrior. Let's just hope that he doesn't mistake me for one of those Nadir pests."
"No, you can't just leave us both alone. What if you get hurt?"
Mephiles wanted to make his way to find the warrior.
"Yeah, like that's gonna happen."
"Who do you think you are to go without even thinking about what could happen to you?!"
"... I'm Mephiles... Mephiles the Hedgehog - the Supreme Legend. I know my fate."
Mephiles slowly continued to walk away, when Rego tried to calm him down.
"Mephiles, as much as I understand your wrath, and your search for venegance... now isn't the time to make sudden decisions."
"And when is there a decision to make?"
"... Patience is the ultimate tactical weapon. It would be foolish to act out of anger without waiting for the right moment."
Mephiles though about the words of Rego... maybe he was right.
"It's what the tranquil warrior told me, when I needed his help the most."
The Dark gave in, and returned to the group. There's always another day. He then began asking him even more questions. He asked about his younger brother. But not even Rego saw him... they forgot about the conversation and made plans for the upcoming day.
With the sun rising up, Mephiles began making plans for returning to the palace. He took one of Rego's coats and hid his face behind the hood. Making his way back to the kingdom, he got inside the city. Raami was following Rego to gather provisions. On the basar, Mephiles noticed the current crisis. Poverty, corruption, a throne without a king. The prince? He faded away.
The Nerohog noticed a small young tramp. His eyes were weak. He could barely see without trying. The young tramp carefully approached the stall, grabbed a loaf of bread and ran away. The salesman shouted after the child, as the drones began pursuing him. The boy tripped over and found himself trapped in an abandoned alley.
"Paragraph 12, attempted theft, you're being arrested. Identify yourself."
The boy couldn't speak. He was too nervous. He was panting and holding his hand onto his knee, which he fell on. The hedgedrone approached the weak tramp.
"Identify yourself, or else drastic action will be taken."
He began crying. His voice was stuttering. He couldn't say a word.
"This is the last warning. Identify yourself!"
The drone aimed his cannon towards the boy. Was he going to shoot him? But luckily, he got help.
"Let him be!"
The mech turned around to see the unknown man behind the hood.
"He's weak. He probably has no money to pay that bread. And I can already tell, that he's sick aswell. And yet you're aiming at him and... did I get it right? You wanted to arrest him?"
The drone ignored his words.
"You're interrupting the procedure of an arrest. In the name of the royal court, leave this area. Now."
Mephiles approached the drone, as if he wouldn't care.
"Tell me... what's your purpose... machine?"
The robot saw his face and began scanning him. It took some time, and as he was almost finished, Mephiles came even closer.
"What's the matter? Shocked to see me?"
"Code Zero! The kidnapper of codename: Raami has-"
Before the drone could finish its call for backup, Mephiles rammed his crystallized fist through the mech's torso, crushing its electronics. The mech falls down, when the Dark is approaching him. He rests his foot onto the metallic skull, before he uses that foot to crush it. With the other drones coming after Mephiles, he stared at the tramp.
"Take what's yours and run! Now!"
The little child didn't think about it for a second, and simply followed the order of his savior. He ran away with the bread, as Mephiles began to flee aswell. The drones didn't take a second to come after the Nerohog. The chase developed to a race between the hunters and the hunted. As other drones attacked from the opposite direction, Mephiles did not hold back and dashed right at them. Right when he hit one of them, he rushed for the next one and punched him multiple times in less than one second. Soon, he stopped. The drones have surrounded him. There was no way out. Mephiles stood there... focusing... breathing. The ground began to shake. And with a huge pulse emerging from the Dark, a huge cloud of dust covered the Nerohog...
As the dust began to settle down, his body was exposed. His amorph limbs, his glowing hair, his crystalline appearance was scaring the bystanders of this fight. When Mephiles opened his eyes to reveal his new "him", he turned into a black shadow-like cloud that vanished. The drones couldn't find him. Without being noticed, Mephiles sneaked through the shadows of the sun, behind one of the drones, only to jump out of its shadow and break the mech into two. He quickly vanished again, before the other mechs could shoot him. Then he repeated this procedure, until the last one was left. But it turns out, that this last drone was bigger, stronger and bulkier than the others.
The big hedgedrone aimed its cannons at the Nerohog and shot a devastating blast wave of Anti-Chaos at him. Thrown away by the blast, he quickly recovered to fight back against the mech. But he did not succeed. The robot resisted with ease and started another attack, which Mephiles dodged with luck. Suddenly, the drone ran right at him, like a mad bull going for the red blanket. Mephiles, paralyzed from the growing size of the approaching mech, was waiting for an opportunity. He then felt his hand throbbing. When the drone was about to hit his head off, Mephiles raised his hand and released a huge ball of Anti-Chaos. The drone was thrown through multiple solid walls before coming to a stop. Recovering himself, the big drone ran at him again, only to face the power of dozens of blasts from the Dark, who just discovered his new powers. Getting tired of this pesticide, the drone rages and shoots its missiles. There were two things about this that were weird though... first... you could say that these machines have some sort of emotions. Mephiles remembers the drones from his escape. They were holding back until they had to give up. This time, the drone goes crazy, as if it was mad. Also, it did not even care a bit about the surroundings, the innocent bystanders that could have been harmed or even killed! All he cared about was ending the anomaly.
Starting another attempt to hit him, the drone ran at Mephiles while shooting his guns at him. Mephiles was skating at the drone aswell, dodging every projectile. He then jumped up to pass the mech from above. But when the drone raised its fist up to hit him directly, the Nerohog quickly turned into a shadow and went below him, only to get back up from behind. However, instead of shooting another projectile at the drone, Mephiles drills the mech's torso with a huge Anti-Chaos lance sticking out of his palm. He slowly pulled it out, only to dash at the drone and slice it into pieces. He stood there, looking around himself. Hundreds of frightened spectators, surrounding him. He didn't dare to say a word... he just stood there for a few seconds, although it could have felt like time would have stopped for a short time period. After this moment, he decided to flee...
Returning to the hut where Raami and Rego were already waiting for Mephiles to arrive, he saw the two and their worried faces.
"So... how was your day?"
Rego glanced at Mephiles, as if he wanted him to say something specific.
"You must have had a great time there. Wrecking a bunch of drones, frightening the people of the city... you seem to be a great Supreme Legend."
Mephiles did not hold back to aim his dark lance at the face of Rego, who seemed to be surprised about how fast the Dark learns about his new techniques.
"Honestly, I'd prefer blowing you up. But appearently something tells me that I'm supposed to use this blade sticking out of my hand... right on your face."
Rego calmed down again, knowing that Mephiles was not ready yet.
"Hey... calm down, champ. You just got your new abilities, and you learned some new techniques. It might take some time until you finally master them. Then you might be able to use the right tool of destruction."
Mephiles knew that he didn't have control over all of his abilities. He couldn't fly properly. Neither could he even land. Choosing his weapons might become important aswell. He gave in and let the blade disappear... Raami glanced at the Nerohog.
"What happened there? What did you do?"
"What did I do? I saved a poor child from getting arrested for stealing a loaf of bread... Also, I had to eliminate a few drones... maybe... I don't know... about 20 of them."
Mephiles didn't take it that serious. For him, the drones were just running targets. But that doesn't mean that he didn't care about the young tramp whose life he saved. Rego wasn't happy about this.
"You can't just jump in and play the hero. In fact, ever thought about the civilians? You're scaring them, damnit."
Mephiles looked him deep into his eyes, before he responded to Rego's words.
"You think they're safe...? Tell me, have you ever thought about their guards and saviors being the ones that enslave them - making them live in a prison they cannot escape...? I don't trust these machines. I'm honestly starting to question who might be the real hero."
"So you're saying that your father did a terrible mistake and that he wants to enslave-"
Mephiles snapped once again and ran at Rego, only to get striked down. He couldn't even turn into a Shadow to escape his grip.
"Ok, fine. I get it. Your father wouldn't do such a thing..."
He lets him go and moves back. Mephiles stands up and turns around to face the wise ex-scientist.
"No... but I know someone who would."
Ok, now I think it's time to hop out and explain a few things. Here's a list of questions that I'm going to cover by now.
- Who is Rex?
- What's the deal with Tradilux?
- What exactly happened when Mephiles was gone?
Rex is a special hedgedrone. He may have been one of the last prototypes, but he was mastered to be the leader of all the drones. Unlike the other drones that have been built on behalf of the king. However, Rex was created behind his back. But aside from that, there's also a dark secret that we will cover later...
Tradilux... he may have lost the trust to his brother after his sudden disappearance. So he decided to take care of him with the new drones that were already built in order to protect the kingdom and its habitants from any danger. But when Mephiles' father, the king became sick, he decided to give his powers to his eldest son. He used that power to create Rex and re-purpose all the drones and give them one mission. Capture Mephiles. And if that wouldn't have worked, a backup program would have been initiated, which seemed to have been triggered. Now they're supposed to eliminate him. He has the control over the entire kingdom now, after his father died. But his true purposes yet remain unknown.
A lot of things were already mentioned. The king's death, the graduation of the prince, the new drone army... but where did the crisis come from? Well, once Tradilux had all the power to control the kingdom, he also carried the responsibility. And guess what? He left them alone. An anarchy that nobody was aware of. Yet there were the drones, but there was no one ruling the kingdom when its citizens needed their king. A series of criminal activities, economic issues and riots against the new mech army ended in a bloodbath. By the way, remember when I mentioned Rex? Let's take a look at the other drones. Even though they seem to be technological masterpieces, their processing speed needed to be improved. They couldn't compress everything they had to use. The global database which includes all information about every person, the mechanics and actions that were saved within the processors... so how do they act so fast without taking minutes to run a program on taking action? Simple, they are not entirely machines. They share their CPU with an organic brain. The brains have been modified to feel less emotions than required. They don't even think this much. They only boost the reactions of the drones. But yet, this concept has not been perfected. The drones still seem to feel a little bit too much emotion and thus they sometimes hold back when it comes to lethal action. Where do you think they got the brains though? Simple. Remember the protests against the machines? The demonstrators? Now the only question is... how did they get to their brains? We'll cover that soon.
Rex, the leader of the Hedgedrones, was walking through the canyons, approaching a wall of stone with ornaments on it... a door. He raised his hand and said something.
...
Suddenly, the wall split open, revealing an entrance to something what looked like an ancient temple. The drone went in, entering a hall within the temple. You could feel the dark energy of the Nadir Chaos throbbing around you, if you were there. In front of Rex, there was a throne in the shadows. On that throne, a shilouette of a hedgehog.
"You know what happened today?"
"I do... It wasn't supposed to happen."
"You know what else wasn't supposed to happen? 26 of our fellow drones, taken down... for what?"
"Master. How was I supposed to know about his arrival?"
"Oh, Rex... Try to remember. I was the one who made you. You have been perfected. And yet, you fail me... How do you explain that?"
"You... did not perfect me."
"Oh... go on then..."
A brief moment of silence. The drone didn't bare to answer.
"The one who built you. The one who gave you life. A reason to exist. I... did not achieve what I wanted? Is that what you're trying to say? I did a mistake?"
The drone looked at the shilouette, standing up from the throne and walking towards him.
"You... are a mistake?"
"What?"
"You heard me. You are a mistake. A failure. You failed me."
"What are you trying to achieve with those words, Tradilux?"
"... It's still Master Tradilux to you, Rex. At least you're not an idiot."
"I wasn't build like the others. That's what I know."
"You're right. You're better than them. Not only, because I am the one who made you... but because you are stronger than them, you are smarter than them. You're not being controlled by someone else, well... at least not like that. You're free. Free from any boundaries."
"So what are we going to do about Mephiles?"
"We're going to be patient. He'll come, eventually."
"And then?"
"Hmph... Allow me to take care of the rest."
Meanwhile, Mephiles sits around a campfire with Raami and Rego. They're having a meal together while enjoying the black sky being illuminated by the stars.
"Hey. Rego. You're full of surprises, aren't you? You got any chili dogs?"
"Do I look like I eat those?"
"I don't know... in fact... I don't think I know anything about you. Do I?"
"What do you want?"
Mephiles stared into the former scientist's eyes.
"Tell us how you met with that tranquil warrior."
He chuckled and looked up to the stars.
"I met him, when I once got attacked by one of the monsters. Before I was a scientist, I went on expeditions. For private research. The thing is, you never know when exactly they strike. Shouldn't have entered the lion's cave, I guess. But it was worth it. I found out some neat stuff about the Nadir creatures, I met the tranquil warrior... and then he even trained me."
"And what did he train you?"
A small moment of silence emerges, as Rego looks over to the Nerohog.
"How do you think I'm able to strike you down?"
The wise hedgehog explained the techniques he learned from the tranquil warrior. He knew how to control the inner chaos energy and weaken any opponent with ease. How did he learn it? He never got told. It just happened. This might explain how the tranquil warrior came to his name. Rego threw another piece of wood into the fire and just enjoyed the movement of the flames. Raami looked up into the sky and then over to the Nerohog.
"Have you ever asked yourself what lies beyond the stars...? Mephiles?"
"What...? I... no, I never asked myself this question."
"Why not?"
"Hmph. Do you think you're ever going to leave this place? Reach out into the darkness to find a light?"
"Oh, stop being so edgy."
"Edgy? Says who?"
"Me."
Mephiles smirked. Of course, he was right about one thing. They won't leave so easily. But Raami made him curious. What is beyond the void? Is there something? He tried to get it out of his head and rested in a tent.
The sky was pitch black. Silence emerged when everyone was sleeping. The only lights came from the kingdom... which was still lacking an official king. Suddenly, a roar could be heard. Mephiles recognized that noise. Monsters from the Nadir Dimension. He looked after Raami and Rego. Raami was still asleep, however... Rego was no where to be seen. He disappeared.
The Dark got up and looked for the source of the grunting noises. Is Rego there, too? And why would he? As Mephiles arrived at the spot, all he saw was multiple Nadir monsters and... a mystical hedgehog. He wore a full armor and a helmet that even covered his hair. Whoever was behind that mask, sure didn't want anyone to know anything about him... or her. Mephiles was confused. What does this hedgehog have to do with the Nadir monsters? Suddenly, one of them jumped right at him, as he blocked the attack and vaporized it with one simple strike. It seemed like it took him zero effort to distinguish that beast! The Nerohog was astonished. Who was that? And how did he do that? The dark remains of the beast were absorbed by the unknown hedgehog, as he goes for the other ones of the group. He defeats each one of them with ease, until he is being surrounded by at least 50 of them. Mephiles was thinking. He won't be able to handle these alone, will he? But the masked fighter concentrated an immense mass of energy. Mephiles could sense it... what was going on there? Suddenly, a humongous flashing ray of light emerges into the dark void of the sky, as all the monsters simply vanish. Mephiles had never seen this before, until this moment. He suddenly recognized that power. It was pure light that originated from the Prime Emerald... and it devastated everything around the masked hedgehog. But it was not the Chaos of Destruction. It was just... light. Mephiles rushed towards the mysterious figure to confront it about the powers it has, when it suddenly aims its hand at him and just stops him. The Dark feels his Anti-Chaos being controlled. He couldn't move at all... as if he was being paralyzed. So this mysterious figure could channel darkness and turn it into light... And yet, it could also control the darkness within the Nerohog. Mephiles only knew one person that could do such things... well, two, to be fair. But he was sure about this one: the tranquil warrior.
"Listen... I know who you are. I met someone who has been taught by you... and he said, you could help me control my powers... I don't want to harm you. But I'm not sure what you want. I just hope we're both able to communicate with each other and... get along with our differences. So, please... teach me."
The tranquil warrior didn't respond. He just looked at the Nerohog who asked him to help out. He raised his hand again and flashed him with another light, only to blind him. When Mephiles could see again, the tranquil warrior disappeared. The only thing that was left, was an unknown relic. It looked like a pocketwatch. The engraving showed an emerald surrounded by light on the upper side, and another emerald being surrounded by a shadow on the lower side. However, Mephiles could not open the pocketwatch for some reason. Yet, he decided to keep it. Maybe Rego could help him out... by the way... where was he? He didn't seem to be there, when Mephiles met the tranquil warrior.
Making his way back to the hideout, he found Rego sitting at the campfire, simply glaring at it.
"Where have you been?"
Rego didn't bother to look at him, when confronting the Nerohog. Mephiles smirked with an ironic expression.
"Good question. I think I should be the one asking you, though."
"Pardon?"
"You see... I happen to wake up in the middle of the night, you were not here... I was looking for you, but I didn't find you... and as I return before dawn... you happen to be back."
Rego didn't seem to be surprised.
"I went for a stroll. Exploring the canyons. Usual stuff."
"Yeah... usual..."
"... You were looking for him... weren't you...?"
"No. But I've met him anyways. Silent type, not the most comfortable person to have a conversation with."
"You know... you don't need words to talk. At least not for every encounter."
"So you're saying, he never spoke at least one word and yet he had no trouble whatsoever to teach you these techniques?"
"Are you doubting something?"
"Maybe."
Raami yawns as both of the hedgehogs look over to the tent.
"Are you done now? I just wanted some sleep, but no... apparently a princess can't have that anymore."
The fire is being blown away by the wind. Raami and Mephiles got ready to enter the kingdom once again.
The sun is rising.
The trio made its way to civilization. A calm morning without any troublemakers. Mephiles started to feel uncomfortable. What if the drones recognized them?
"By the way, I forgot to mention... these drones are constantly being re-developed."
Mephiles looks over to Rego, demanding a further explanation.
"What I'm saying is... if you cause too much trouble, they will learn. They already have an adaptive AI, it's not that. Every week, the results are being collected and enhancements are being made to the design, but more important: their abilities."
"So you're saying that it's just a matter of time until they can see through cloaks, walls and even recognize someone with their thermal vision?"
"You have some nice ideas there... better not share them with the project leaders."
They headed to the urban districts of the kingdom. Modern surroundings, holographic billboards and towers that almost could have been reaching into the sky... one of them did. The shield tower. Its most recognizable feature is the gigantic energy ray which emerges from the tower. Pure chaos energy. It is used to protect the planet from any possible threats. If the shield was not there, the Nadirs would be able to invade Xaos and destroy it in no time.
"So, what are we doing this time?"
Raami looked over to Rego, who lead them deeper and deeper into the district.
"...Where are we going?"
"To a safe place."
Rego stopped in front of a tile with a weird symbol on it. It resembled an exploding sun, surrounded by darkness... as if it purges the darkness and turns it into light. He kneeled and placed his hand onto the symbol, as he mumbled a chant.
...
He then stepped back, as the tile began to glow. He then approached it again, when Mephiles and Raami saw, how Regos body was slowly sinking into the tile with each step he took.
"An illusional path?"
Raami was astonished. An illusion spell in the middle of the city. Where was this leading to? The two of them followed the former ex-scientist... what other associations did he have? Who was he?
"Rego."
"Hm?"
"Explain."
"Oh, that. Well, allow me to welcome you to the Basar of the Broken Light. A rather unorthodox cult, living in the underground, below the main city. A long-abandoned system that was once used to deport unwished habitants of the kingdom."
"Unwished?"
"Let's say, there are many ways to define that term."
"You still didn't explain how you did that. I thought, you were just a scientist."
"A scientist with a sideline..."
"Sideline? Let me guess. Control of Chaos energy?"
"Sort of. There are lots of things you can do."
"Are you hiding something?"
"Oh, you know that better than me, Mephy..."
The three of them walk through the Basar, when Raami asks Rego about who exactly they are looking for.
"There's a... let's not call him a friend, but uhhh... more of a... "business" associate. The one who runs the basar and the quote-on-quote cult which emerged from this place - the Broken Light.
"And then what?"
"Just wait. Be patient."
And so, they arrived at a site, comparable to a small fortress. Guards in front of the entry, a long corridor with torches and something comparable to a throne room. On this very chair, there is another hedgehog. Wrapped in a white gown, half of his face covered with a golden mask, resembling Genesis, the Titan of creation. He was guarded by 2 fully-masked mercenaries, also in white.
"If it isn't my Third Eye. Got enough sunlight for now?"
"Hmph, cheeky as usual. You will never change at all, right Yogen?"
Mephiles was getting a taking a closer look at Yogen. He wanted to step closer, when Rego raised his hand to stop the Nerohog from moving any further.
"Don't worry. I don't mind your fellow friends over here... the princess of the Primes and..."
Yogen silenced. He recognized Mephiles' eyes. The shining flash reflecting from them were easy to notice for him.
"It's him."
"Look, I didn't mean to harm any-"
"The Prime Guardian."
"Uhh... what?"
The Nerohog was confused. Who was this Prime Guardian supposed to be? Rego stepped closer, as he was enlightening the dark fogs.
"Ok, uhh... that came unexpected. Hey, do you both mind if me and Yogen have a talk from scientist to prophet? Which means... could you just leave us for ourselves for a moment?"
Raami slowly moved back, as Mephiles followed her. They both left the hall. Rego went face to face with Yogen and whispered to him.
"I get that you may only see half of the world, but have you lost it?!"
"What?"
"The Prime Guardian, THE legend that is supposed to bring light to this dystopia. Mephiles is NOT that very Prime Guardian!"
"Come now. You can't be doubting this fellow hedgehog. You know just as much as I do that he's-"
"Dangerous. A risk for everyone around us."
Suddenly, another voice emerged from behind. Urfin, the counselor of the Broken Light, functioning as his scout, adviser and representator of the citizens of the Basar. He has a lot of impact on them. And he never has been proven to be wrong about anything. In other words, Urfin was very trustworthy.
"Sir Yogen, I don't want to be a killjoy, once again. But you must know that this one is different. I felt something else trembling inside of him. A certain wrath... that was not the light which you thought, you had seen."
"There is some truth to that. Mephiles is indeed filled with wrath."
"And darkness. How can you trust someone like him? Especially you, Rego. He's the enemy! And you brought him to us!"
"Urfin! Calm yourself! Whether I felt darkness or light, it doesn't matter. You are right... he is different."
"Are you even aware of anything that has been happening the past few weeks? The Drone Revolution? The Prime Kingdom Anarchy? I don't know if you ever looked up into the sky, or if our fellow scout over here hasn't been manipulated. Remember his place. He worked for the kingdom that shoved us out of their world!"
"Hey!"
Mephiles suddenly returned. He was curious about what they were talking about.
"I'm sick and tired of waiting. I'm sure that we came here for a reason."
He approached the group, glancing at Rego for a moment. Mephiles was curious about the whereabouts. He was suspicious of Urfin.
Just for future use, I have to write this down:
"Let the new age arrive. As every day, the light shall thrive. The darkest days have come to us. Resistance shall arise and fight back, thus. The time has come for the light to shine. Open up your spirit to embrace the sign. It shall enlighten your sight, as you walk your path. You shall find a way to face the dark wrath. The Supreme Legend returned to the light from which it came. And now embrace yourself to us. Tell us your name."
TO BE CONTINUED...