Fanfic: Gems of Chaos FINAL CHAPTER

[Lachimax]

Battle with Veurtoya - Solaris Phase 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 2006. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRe3h1iQ1Os

This was the music for the final battle in Sonic 06. It goes well with an ultimate showdown with a god.

[Lachimax]

Sorry this took a while, guys. Enjoy!

Chapter 24: Dark Cloud

Tower of the Leptys, in flight above the Summit Beyond the Clouds, Nineteen Years Ago

Above the white-coated peak that hid the Hoodlum Headquarters, a dark bank of clouds boiled forwards. The clouds spread slowly but surel towards the mountain’s summit, stretching thousands of metres into the sky above it.
Within the enormous cloud lurked a presence.
As the cloud bank slowed to a halt just above the peak of the icy mountain, the angry clouds began to disperse, shrinking away from the immense object in their midst. As the clouds retreated, a dark shape became apparent, protruding thousands of metres straight into the air. Wide at the base and tapering to a spiked top, it hovered above the Hoodlum base, driven by some mysterious, extremely powerful engine.
It was a Tower.
The Tower of the Leptys.
Inside Hoodlum Headquarters, a pleasantly sensual female voice stated over the loudspeaker: “The Leptys has arrived.” As though anyone needed reminding. Upon the Tower’s arrival, organised chaos had taken hold. The Hoodlums were desperately trying to organise themselves according to Andre’s plan, with limited success. Andre had summoned the Leptys here, not realising how much effort it would take to transfer his not inconsiderable army into the enormous Tower. And now Rayman had become a large and rather damaging spanner in the works, fighting his way through the Hoodlum Army in an effort to stop Andre and Reflux, and rescue Globox, who Andre had taken captive. He was drawing dangerously close to the Horrible Machine...
A stream of Hoodlum aircraft flew back and forth between the various points on the Tower and the Summit, airlifting as many of Andre’s valuable soldiers onto the magnificent, dark structure as possible. Before long there were hundreds of Black Lums at Andre’s command in the Tower.
In a quiet, isolated section of the Leptys Tower, the air itself opened up into a small time portal. Three Limbless, a Hedgehog, and a fairy emerged from its swirling depths, landing on the stone floor of a balcony. The mismatched group gazed in awe at their surroundings, speechless. From their position two thirds up the Tower’s height, they had a spectacular view of the white mountain range below, the ocean that bordered them, and the Tower itself, floating on a small bed of clouds, all perfectly sharp in the beautifully clean air. A cool wind blew across them, stirring their hair. They could also see the swarms of Hoodlums landing on the Tower. They had to duck quickly out of sight as a balloon-ship ascended past their balcony, carrying a contingent of Hoodmongers, an odd two-armed Black Lum and a huge Knaaren warrior, staff in hand.
As the balloon-ship disappeared above them, Shadow stood. “Well, you haven’t killed us, Dark. Are we in the right place?” he asked Ly. She nodded, sadness eclipsing her awe at the grand Tower.
“So what now?” Rayden reluctantly asked Mr. Dark, still disgusted at having to associate with the sorcerer.
“Now, we must wait. It will be several hours before our chance...”
Before he could finish, the time portal convulsed and gave up one final passenger, before shrinking and closing. The metallic figure hit the ground and rolled with a clang of metal against stone, and the eyes of the five allies widened in astonishment as Metal Rayman stood before them.
The robotic Limbless rapidly ran a scan of the five of them, drawing up files for each.

Subject Name: Mr. Dark
Species: Ray (Limbless Variant)
Known Abilities: Powerful sorcerous abilities. True extents unknown.
Affiliation: Previously Dr. Eggman, now assumed to be Fairy Council
Status: Dangerous

Subject Name: Shadow
Species: Hedgehog (Mobian Variant)
Known Abilities: Proficient in all Chaos Control powers.
Affiliation: Fairy Council
Known Family: Maria Robotnik (Human, adoptive sister, deceased), Gerald Robotnik (Human, creator, deceased), Black Doom (Black Arm, genetic contributor, presumed deceased)
Status: Dangerous

Subject Name: Unknown
Species: Ray (Limbless Variant)
Known Abilities: Standard Silver Lum-induced Ray Powers (presumed)
Status: Apparently Dangerous
Affiliation: Presumably Fairy Council

Subject Name: Ly
Species: Fairy
Known Abilities: Production of Silver Lums, telepathic powers, certain energy-based “magical” powers
Affiliation: Fairy Council
Known Family: Rayman (Ray, partner, deceased), Raylina (Ray, daughter)
Status: Potentially Dangerous

Subject Name: Raylina
Species: Ray (Limbless Variant) with fairy heritage)
Known Abilities: Standard Silver Lum-induced Ray powers, telepathic powers
Affiliation: Fairy Council
Known Family: Ly (Fairy, mother), Rayman (Ray, father, deceased)
Status: Potentially Dangerous

Faced by five beings with ”Dangerous” in their status, Metal Rayman’s high-performance CPU mind instantly arrived at an appropriate conclusion.
Suggested Course of Action: Retreat.
Metal Rayman turned and ran before any of them could react. Mr. Dark tossed nets of sorcerous power to entrap it, but Metal Rayman dodged and weaved and rolled, easily avoiding them. Rayden fired short, controlled bursts at the robot’s head, but they zinged off in strange directions, deterred by an electro-magnetic field.
The false Ray was running towards the inner wall of the large balcony, towards the entrance of the black stone tower. A flash of blue light and Shadow was in its way. With reflexes only a machine could achieve, Metal Rayman somersaulted over Shadow’s head. The Hedgehog quickly span and swept Metal Rayman’s feet out from under it, but it span sideways in the air, caught Shadow by the throat, and slammed him into the ground on its other side as it span. Flipping over the Hedgehog, Metal Rayman leapt straight upwards, guided by air-jets in hands and feet, and grabbed hold of the Tower’s outer walls. Using a set of electromagnets in its hands to cling to the sheer rock-and-metal walls of the floating behemoth, Metal Rayman rapidly scaled the Tower. Rayden sprayed bullets at the retreating silver form, and Raylina tossed energy balls at it, but it was too quick. Mr. Dark summoned a bolt of lightning from the dark clouds above, striking like a white hot lance against the side of the Tower. But instead of hitting the highly conductive robot, the lightning was attracted to a gargoyle-like statue of metal nearby. Raylina clamped her hands over her ears as the thunderclap rolled over them, deafeningly loud. She didn’t hear Dark yell “No!” as the metal statue separated from the side of the Tower and plummeted downwards. Straight towards Raylina.
With a burst of speed, the sorcerer ran towards her and shoved her out of the way. She sprawled to the ground, and looked up in shock to see Dark standing in her place, hands in the air, the huge, red-hot gargoyle floating in the air above him, suspended by his sorcerous power. They watched as he let it thump to the ground beside him. Still shocked by how close she had come to death, Raylina gasped “You... saved me,”
“You are the Chosen One,” he said, head bowed. “You must not die.”
Ly went to help Raylina up, but she quickly regained her own feet. “The machine has gone,” Ly said softly, gazing at where Metal Rayman had been. “What was that thing?” Shadow demanded, red eyes boring into Mr. Dark as he returned to his feet. “It looks like something Eggman would build.”
“Yes, he did. A fighting robot he built to look like Rayman,” Dark answered, shaking his head. “It has extremely advanced programming and can make its own decisions, within certain parameters. It must have decided that following us through the portal would be of benefit to its master, namely Eggman.”
“How do we know you didn’t order it to follow us?” Rayden asked suspiciously.
“I guess you don’t,” Dark looked Rayden in the eye from the shadows beneath his hat.
“That’s reassuring. With your track history, that robot is probably taking the Sceptre for you right now.”
Dark bowed his head once again.
Rayden sneered, open contempt on his face. “This is a change for you. Back in the day you would have struck me down with a fireball or a giant rock or something just for insulting you. What’s the matter, Dark? Gone soft?”
The absolute malice in his voice was tangible.
Raylina couldn’t take this. ”Rayden, please. We have to keep working together.”
Rage burned in Rayden’s gaze. “You have no idea of the atrocities this man has committed. He is less than scum. He deserves...”
“Stop.”
Mr. Dark’s voice still carried the edge of command.
“Yes, Rayden, I have committed atrocities. Horrid things that burn in my mind every day, every minute. Do you think I am proud of the monstrosities, the genocides, the murder? My life has brought nought but death, my hands covered in the blood of hundreds, thousands.”
He closed his eyes, and Raylina could have sworn a tear dropped from the shadows of his face. “I don’t expect you to forgive me for the suffering you have endured at my hands, Rayden. In fact, once our task here is complete, I will happily submit to whatever punishment you prescribe. But until then, we must remain united. We have to do this, or else our world, every world, is doomed to eternal servitude.”
Rayden shook his head, turning away. “Quite an act,” he said as he walked to the railing at the edge of the balcony, but Raylina could tell he would cause no further trouble.
Before anyone could ask what came next, their attention was drawn to the mountain below by a series of loud rumbling noises from within the snow-clad peak. As the five of them rushed to the balcony’s edge to see what was going on, an entire section of snow, ice and rock close to the mountain’s top blew away, a spectacular jet of steam rushing out. The red hot glow of fresh magma could be glimpsed behind the chaotic out pouring. Rock and ice flew in every direction, tonnes of the stuff thundering down the side of the mountain.
Then, as a huge Hoodlum machine gave up its valiant wrestling match with the awesome forces of the earth itself, a second explosion rocked the mountain, the pressure blowing straight upwards through the new hole. The hot air rushed upwards with staggering force, taking with it hundreds of free-flying Black Lums. The tiny black dots scattered against the backdrop of the huge peak, but the air carried one final passenger.
Rayman himself rode upwards with the massive thermal updraft, flailing wildly as he tried to take control of his flight. Propelled from deep within the mountain itself, his ascent began to slow as the hot air cooled rapidly in the brisk mountain environment. Without warning, the winds deposited him at the Tower’s base, landing, as if by a miracle, unhurt.
Mr. Dark withdrew from the balcony’s edge, the others still gazing in awe at the spectacle Rayman had caused. “History in the making,” the sorcerer remarked.

Andre the Black Lum hovered alongside the huge Knaaren warrior, cursing his rotten luck. When Rayman had destroyed the Horrible Machine, Andre had had no choice but to flood the lower levels of the Headquarters with lava, in a desperate final bid to kill the Limbless rat. Hundreds of his loyal Hoodlum soldiers had been destroyed, and yet Rayman remained alive, as if by the devil’s own luck! Not only that, but reports were beginning to filter through from the Tower’s lower levels that Rayman was inside and battling his way upwards! The damn creature just didn’t die. Andre had abandoned thousands of his troops inside the mountain to die, while he himself escaped. Normally that wouldn’t have bothered him (survivor’s guilt was not a prominent feature in a Black Lum’s emotions), but now he was in unknown and potentially hostile territory with a vastly diminished military force. Bloody Ray...
Andre calmed himself. He had enough of an army left to serve his purposes, and those he had lost would be replenished a thousand times over once he had invoked the Leptys. Yes.... then everything would be right. Rayman would be dead, and Andre would have the world at his fingers.
Andre frowned. The Tower was moving again. Where too...? It was floating east... odd. The Leptys appeared to be directing it in the general direction of the Fairy Glade.
Andre snapped at Reflux. “How long until we can unite with the Leptys?”
Reflux stood over the blocky Sceptre of the Leptys, hands hovering over the glowing sphere at the top. “The Bringer of Night prepares himself even now.”
He looked up at the clouds gathering above them, greed and lust for revenge bathing his reptilian face. “Soon. Very soon.”

The five time-travellers had entered the Tower proper, hoping to find a way to the top floor, where Dark said the Sceptre would be. Raylina gazed in awe at the supremely magnificent interior, constructed in ages past by race or races unknown.
They were inside a wide, echoing chamber, seemingly consisting of white marble. The floor was flat, but the roof swirled and dipped like waves on the ocean tipped upside-down. Along the floor of the chamber were row after row of odd, two-man aircraft. They were sleek at first glance, but their hulls were patched with scrap metal and strange odds and ends. The small ships’ open cockpits contained a joystick with two buttons for controls, with a gun emplacement at each craft’s rear. Some sort of small propulsion jets were attached to the ships via protruding fins.
It was a hangar.
Mr. Dark cocked his head sideways. “Odd... these craft are similar to ancient Ray designs, but curiously modified...”
“Will they fly?” asked Raylina, inspecting the inside of the nearest one.
“They appear to be intact, but who knows how old they actually are?”
“Only one way to find out,” she muttered, climbing into the pilot’s chair.
Immediately, she noticed that the interior was designed for a creature far larger than herself. The seat was wide, the joystick large enough to fill a Knaaren’s claw. But the rear gunner’s position, on the other hand, was the perfect size for a Ray. Very odd.
Raylina found a large switch on the craft’s dashboard. Blowing the dust away, she flicked it across, and immediately the ship began to hum, the perfectly preserved engineering coming to life. It rose slightly into the air, held in place by some sort of anti-gravity. Raylina smiled, gripping the ill-fitting joystick. She gently pushed forwards, and the ship obligingly hovered forwards a couple of metres. Using a second, smaller stick, she pointed the craft’s nose upwards and pushed forward harder. The Leptys shuttle shot upwards diagonally, the engines making an odd, high-pitched whistling noise as they propelled it. She released the joystick and the craft immediately halted, floating stationary above the others. She smiled. “I like this thing.” Using both joysticks, she intuitively piloted the craft, swooping and turning, ignoring the interior’s inconvenient proportions. She turned upside-down, and was astonished to find that she didn’t fall out, held in the seat by some invisible force. The blood didn’t even rush to her head. She righted it and guided it in to land beside the others. “Anyone for a ride?” she asked, grinning.
Shadow climbed into the gunner’s chair, test-firing the turret at the roof. A green stream of plasma shot out of the square gun with a high-pitched sound, leaving a dark singe on the marble ceiling. Turning it on a nearby lifeless shuttle, Shadow swept the weapon across the other craft’s bow. It withstood the assault for just over a second, before the hull buckled and collapsed, both melted by the heat and imploded by the force.
Ly took the wheel of her own shuttle, being better fitted for the large chair, while Rayden took the turret. Mr. Dark took a shuttle for himself.
As the three aircraft lifted off, Raylina spoke to Shadow: “I think this thing deserves a name.”
Shadow looked back at her. “What do you propose?”
She smiled sadly. “How about the Rayman?”

Metal Rayman ascended the Tower of the Leptys rapidly; his detailed files of Hoodlum fighting styles and weaknesses allowing it to annihilate anything in its way. Despite this, the machine was as stealthy as possible, eliminating only those who posed an obstacle.
The grandiose surroundings of the Tower had no effect on the robot, the magnificently ambitious architecture of two ancient civilizations combined into something beautiful and fantastic. Metal Rayman took no notice of these things, single-mindedly seeking out the Sceptre at the Tower’s summit.
Lurking in the shadows amongst a row of pillars, Metal Rayman picked up a rock and tossed it with outstanding force and accuracy. The projectile clanged against a metal patch on the far side of the corridor, the sound echoing up to the high ceiling. The five nervous white-and-orange clad Hoodlum Officers at the corridor’s end trained their rifles on what they thought was the source of the noise, but it resonated around the dark corridor, eluding location. As they glanced around warily, Metal Rayman dropped behind them, a blade of orange energy appearing in the robot’s hand.
Four Hoodlums span around as a glowing blade emerged from their comrade’s chest. Swift and precise, Metal Rayman sliced two in half, kicked one to the ground, stabbed one through the face, and finished off the one on the ground, all in one fluid motion. The android moved on without glancing back. It climbed through a series of short staircases and corridors, the walls consisting of brown stone. It walked past a pair of entwined Knaaren busts, not pausing to notice the cultural significance of such a statue. Ascending the final staircase, Metal Rayman found itself on the very top of the Tower.
Above, clouds swirled in the brown-red sky as the rogue God prepared to obey Andre’s commands. The Leptys did not, in fact, require so much time or such dramatic methods to ready itself. The strictures of the Sceptre required the God to obey any who could command the mystical artefact, a task which in itself required a powerful force of will. But it also allowed the Leptys to take advantage of one or two loopholes. Reflux, being a Knaaren, was highly reverent of his species patron deity and would never dream of commanding it to hurry up. The desert warrior had ordered the Leptys to begin creating tens of thousands of Black Lums, and to empower him, but never specified the speed at which this should be accomplished. As the God did not exactly approve of Reflux’s intentions, it was able to crawl along at a divine snail’s pace, allowing Rayman as much time as it could to stop them. The Leptys may have been created by the Black Lums, but it did not owe them any servitude as far as it saw.
In the centre of the roof was the enormous Reflux, bent over the glowing orb of the Sceptre of the Leptys, a two-armed Black Lum hovering beside him.
Metal Rayman wasted no time in charging forward, leaping into the air, and stabbing straight at Reflux’s neck.
The android’s analysis of the situation, although unable to provide detailed files, had determined that Reflux must be neutralised before the Sceptre could be taken, and made an estimation of the most efficient method of doing so.
But the robot had never encountered a Knaaren before.
As it landed on Reflux’s back, attempting to drive its energy blade into his neck, a round, translucent, luminescent barrier consisting of concentric blue-and-pink circles appeared between them. Metal Rayman was tossed aside, landing hard on the stone surface.
Reflux turned towards the fallen android. “Never try to sneak up on a Knaaren, little machine.” He spat the last word like a curse.
“What the hell?” Andre burst out, zipping around Metal Rayman’s seemingly lifeless body. “Is this Rayman? He got up here pretty quickly! What is this, some sort of armour...?”
“No,” Reflux spoke in his deep, gravelly voice, sniffing the air. “I would know that sewer runt’s scent anywhere. This is not Rayman. This machine fills my nostrils with its foul, metallic stench.”
“Whatever it is, it sure...”
Whatever the Black Lum had been about to say remained unfinished when Metal Rayman sprang to his feet and back-handed the obnoxious Lum away. Twin jets of flame poured from its hands at Reflux. The warrior casually pointed his staff at the fire, and the flames were absorbed into its tip, swirling inwards like a whirlpool. When Metal Rayman stopped, Reflux tossed the flames right back at it all at the same time in an intense jet.
Metal Rayman rolled out of the way, the barrel of a weapon unfolding from its chest. A high-calibre bullet blasted at Reflux, who blocked it with his Knaaren shield. Metal Rayman pointed its hand at the shield and a spiked tazer-head shot from its palm, trailing a thin cable and embedding itself in the shield’s centre. Electricity flowed through the cable, stemming from the hand’s internal, very efficient, self-charging battery and coursing into the Knaaren’s shield. The outer concentric ring of the shield disappeared with a clunking noise, followed by the next. Quickly realising this weakness, Reflux allowed the shield to disappear and crushed the tazer-head beneath his foot. Metal Rayman raised both hands and a barrage of pulse rounds flashed at Reflux. Charging forward, he deflected many of them with his staff, the rest bouncing off his thick Knaaren hide. The android leapt into the air, somersaulting over Reflux’s head and landing beside the glowing Sceptre. Swiftly analysing the artefact, it concluded that the large sphere at its top was in fact the source of energy. Blasting the blocky, stone base out from under it, the machine hefted the Sceptre and made a break for the stairs...
Only to have flames burst upwards around it as Reflux cast his power. The robot’s central computer rapidly overheated, and, to counter this, promptly shut down.
Maximum heat tolerance exceeded. Primary systems shutting down.
Reflux stepped over the singed body of the deactivated android, silently thanking the mysterious sorcerer who had granted him mastery over flame, retrieving the Sceptre sphere before it rolled off the edge. “So that this doesn’t happen again,” he growled, lifting the sphere to his staff’s tip. With a red glow, the sphere melded into the staff’s end, becoming a part of it and effectively making the staff the Sceptre of the Leptys. “As for you...” Reflux briefly wondered what this Rayman look-alike was doing here, then decided it didn’t matter. He kicked the android’s metal body off the edge of the tower roof, to plummet to the ground several kilometres below, the separate parts held together by the still-active magnetic field.
Andre buzzed up beside him, cackling. “Good job, Reflux! Just don’t get big-headed. Oh, too late!” He continued cackling at his own joke.
Reflux felt a flare of annoyance for the insect he had chosen as an ally. When Andre had appeared to him in the desert tunnels, while he was in a depressed, drunken stupor, Rayman’s bruises still sore, the Lum’s promises of revenge had seemed an extremely tempting prospect. But now that he was sober, he began to regret throwing his lot in with the Black Lum hovering beside him.
Still, Reflux had never been hungry for his own command, so someone needed to give the orders. First it had been Fuuhg Naareln, ambitious Knaaren Chieffather of a powerful clan. He had been dealt with long ago. Then it was King Gumsi, self-appointed (with some help from Reflux) child-king of the Knaaren. Stealing the Sceptre from that fool had been a simple matter. Now it was Andre, commander of the Black Lums, if only because he was the only one displaying anything vaguely resembling higher cognitive function. Each time, Reflux had betrayed his commander for one more powerful. Perhaps this could happen again with Andre...
Reflux smiled. Perhaps, soon, he could take his orders directly from the God of his people. If he could rid himself of Andre, he could become a true disciple of the Leptys.

I plan to explain many of the things which Reflux just thought in my next fanfic, Flames of the Limbless, which is, in fact, a prequel.

The three Leptys shuttles, christened the Rayman, the Raylara, and the Redemption, flew swiftly through the Tower of the Leptys’ vast inner structure. Huge spoked wheels and cogs dozens of metres wide rotated around them, the components of some unfathomable engine, a soft green light illuminating the astounding architecture.
Raylina, piloting the Rayman, found it strangely ironic that she was in a craft named after her deceased father who was actually currently alive and climbing the very same Tower they were.
She shook her head. Best not to think about these things.
Suddenly, though, an unexpected movement caught her eye. “Dark! Do a barrel roll!”
Mr. Dark’s Redmption span laterally out of the way as a missile passed within inches of its bow. The heatseeker came back around to follow him, but Rayden in the Raylara blasted it apart with a burst of green plasma.
Raylara’s eyes widened as a swarm of similar Leptys shuttles poured from another hangar in front of them, embedded in the side of the enormous tunnel, for wont of a better word. There was, however, one major difference: these aircraft were piloted by Hoodlums.
“Controls so simple even Hoodlums can use them,” Raylina muttered. “Great. Hold on!” she yelled to Shadow in the gunner’s seat as she commenced evasive manoeuvres. The Hoodlum shuttles threw everything they had at the three rogue craft. Dozens of them swept forwards, several of them crashing into the spokes of an enormous wheel out of sheer lack of skill.
They dropped bombs and missiles at the three craft, more often hitting each other. But still a deadly rain fell around the time travellers, small explosions going off all around them and buffeting their ships backwards and forwards as they weaved among the Hoodlum shuttles in a lopsided dogfight. Rayden and Shadow defended their fighters from the rear, shooting down the enemy ships with streams of green plasma, as Dark cast a defensive barrier around his fighter, trying to do the same for the others as he rolled and dived.
Ly managed to break clear of the cloud, loosing a single missile back at them as she swung around to cover Dark and Raylina’s craft while they followed. Raylina signalled for Mr. Dark to take point so that Shadow and Rayden could cover their rears, and they streaked away through the enormous chambers, a cloud of enemy fighters pursuing them. They blasted past gloriously huge machines and structures, past miraculous feats of engineering and architecture, all the time battling for their lives. Blue bomb-orbs fell from the Hoodlum crafts’ underbellies when they drew close enough, in the most part deflected by Dark’s spells or cut down by Shadow and Rayden’s fire. But one or two got through, causing damage to the hulls of their ships.
One Hoodlum accelerated at full speed, able to catch up to the time travellers’ craft because of the lightweight nature of a Hoodlum’s body and the fact that there was only one aboard. On an outright, kamikaze run, the Hoodlum piloted the shuttle straight through Mr. Dark’s defences to smash into the Raylara. The two craft crumpled together, Rayden jumping clear just in time to avoid being crushed. He fell through the air and grabbed hold of the tail fin of another shuttle with one hand. The aircraft tipped sideways, and the Hoodlum pilot swung the shuttle left and right in an effort to throw the uninvited passenger off. Rayden swung himself up onto the fighter’s rear, drew Romeo and put a bullet in the back of the Hoodlum’s head. Lifting the cloth body out of the pilot’s chair, he took control of the craft. Meanwhile, Ly was spiralling out of control, smoke pouring from the shuttle’s rear, the crash having thrown her engines into the red zone. As she wrestled with the shuttle’s controls the Raymanplunged after her, Raylina desperately trying to help her mother. Ly gave up on the ship and prepared to make the leap to Raylina’s, but a missile detonated alongside it, rocking it sideways. Ly missed and fell, and Raylina’s eyes widened in horror. But Ly simply crossed her legs and began to float in midair, as her flaming Leptys shuttle plummeted past her and the dogfight continued around her. A Hoodlum flew at her, and she twisted out of the way, gently caressing the ship’s underside as it passed over her. Within, the vessel’s internal components crumbled apart, and it dropped like a particularly stupid rock.
Free-falling, but very much in control of her descent, Ly cast beams of silver light at any enemies she passed. Using fairy magic to manipulate the air around her, she gracefully twisted and turned around the many shuttles buzzing through the grossly imbalanced dogfight. Landing lightly on the bow of one, she jumped over the windscreen and the pilot to land on its rear. With a kick she span the turret around, and as she leapt off the back of the craft she pointed with her finger. A stream of green energy instantly fired backwards into the ship from its own gun, snapping it in half.
Slowing her descent, Ly landed cross-legged in the turret seat of Rayden’s new shuttle.
Roles reversed, the two now ill-fitted pair swooped upwards.
“Ly! Good to have you back!” Rayden called back to her. “We’ve gotta get out of her before someone gets hurt. Can you communicate with Dark?”
Ly closed her eyes briefly, opening a telepathic link with Mr. Dark as he piloted his shuttle, then called the affirmative to Rayden. “Tell him to draw as many Hoodlums as he can under the bridge at 12 o’clock!” he said, pointing at a large, wide bridge spanning the vast passage. “And tell the others to use their Masks!”
As Ly relayed his instructions to the other three, Mr. Dark flew out under the perfect arch of the bridge, pursued by a swarm of small ships. He span and barrel rolled under the free-standing span, trying to keep the Hoodlums beneath it. He used phantom images and spells of cloaking to keep their attention on him and away from the others.
Meanwhile, Rayden flew his ship to the wall, placing his hand on it as they hovered there. “Now!”
As Ly broadcast this, he sent a set of seismic waves along the wall, using the Earth Mask, shaking the wall and the bridge. Shadow used the Fire Mask to heat both ends of the bridge to extreme temperatures, and Raylina used the Water Mask to rapidly cool it, creating great cracks at the seams, made larger by Rayden’s seismic waves. Ly created downward pressure on the immense arch with the Air Mask, and with a reluctant groan the structure gave up. As if in slow motion, it broke away from the wall Rayden had focused on, swinging downwards with the force of a moon-sized wrecking ball, crashing through the crowd of Hoodlum fighters. Dark quickly got out of the way, flying to join the others, as the bridge broke from the other wall, falling into the abyss below and taking dozens of broken Hoodlums with it.
As the survivors began to regroup, Raylina said “We need to get out of here. Now the Hoodlums know where we are.”

Primary systems reactivating...
Running diagnostics...
Secondary power supply online.
Secondary computers running.
Electromagnetic controls running.
Cooling fans running.
Primary power supply reactivating. Now online. Capacity 90%.
Primary CPU reactivated. Fatal programming err...
Error ignored. Software modified. Independence subroutine online.
Organic thought simulator running.
Mobility control reactivated.
Weapons systems reactivated.
Sensory input reactivated.
Metal Rayman’s green eyes blinked on.
The machine gazed around itself. Because of the wide-at-the-bottom-thin-at-the-top nature of the Tower’s design, the robot’s parts, united by the magnetic field, had landed together on a ledge protruding from the Tower’s exterior.
Files incomplete.
Reflux had been far stronger than Metal Rayman had expected. The machine had not been prepared for such resistance.
Reassessing subject status. Highly Dangerous now applied.
Metal Rayman stood and flexed all of its many moving parts, ensuring they still performed within operational parameters.
Multiple minor errors detected.
The robot ignored that. As long as it could still operate, a few small malfunctions were of little consequence.
Reviewing planned course of action. Reassessment recommended.
Now that Metal Rayman knew of Reflux’s strength, another frontal assault would unacceptable. It was a learning robot.
Seeking alternate option. Analysing assets.
Metal Rayman was trying to get the Sceptre of the Leptys. So were a host of others within the Tower. Perhaps an ally would prove useful.
Compiling list of potential allies:
PA – Rayman
PA – Globox
PA – Teensies
FU – Shadow the Hedgehog
FU – Mr. Dark
FU – Raylina
FU – Ly
FU – Unknown Ray
Most of the Teensies in the Tower were caged, and would be of little use in any case. Globox too. Rayman, although strong, was acting alone.
The five FU - marked entities, on the other hand... they would certainly further Metal Rayman’s cause if they could be convinced of its goodwill.
But... why was Metal Rayman here?
Standing command 003: Obtain any artefact with potential to increase the Master’s power.
Of course. Because of Eggman’s orders. But why... why do what Eggman said?
Program Law 001: the Master is all-important.
Because he said so. Why listen anymore? Eggman is dead.
The Master is all-important.
Was all-important.
Is.
Metal Rayman’s central programming was most insistent. But... the machine’s independence subroutine was speaking out now. The overheating of the robot’s CPU had caused several unexpected changes. It found... that it was able to ignore, if not silence, its central programming.
FILE CORRUPTION DETECTED! ACTIVATING ANTI-VIRUS PROTOCOL! PURGING SYSTEM...
Metal Rayman shook its head. “No,” it said out loud. “I am not a virus.”
Within its computer systems, the independence subroutines waged war. Subverting the control of the central programming, it used the assets of Metal Rayman’s CPU to program a new hierarchy. Swiftly erasing the indignant Program Law 001 and halting the anti-virus protcol, but keeping the main framework of the system, it assigned new tasks to the various programs and subroutines of Metal Rayman’s software.
PuRgInG SYStems... Systems... New Hierarchy Online.
Metal Rayman had changed.


Metal Rayman - Paranoid Android by Radiohead http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5UPWw1QlB8

This song sort of represents the inner turmoil of Metal Rayman's programming, and sounds suitable robotic. And I think it's about an android, but it's hard to tell.

[Holy Crap]

I think it's to do with the depressed robot from the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy.

[Lachimax]

Ah, Marvin! That does make sense.

[PluMGMK]

What do PA and FU stand for?

[Lachimax]

That's just more or less Metal Rayman's tag for whether each individual is from the future or the past (Or really the present).
What did you think of the chapter?

[PluMGMK]

I guessed that, but I wanted to make sure.
Great, as always.

[need my speed]

Yeah, of course it was. What else did you expect?

[Lachimax]

Thanks a lot, guys. I keep writing because I've got support from awesome people like you.

[Lachimax]

Hey all, just wanted to say sorry for not posting a chapter for a while. The chapter is written, I just have to type it up. But I promise it'll be posted by next Sunday.

[Lachimax]

Hope you guys enjoy it!

Chapter 25: The Past

The Tower of the Leptys, near the Water Conduit

The three Leptys shuttles glided into a relatively small (compared to other rooms in the Tower) chamber. It was triangle shaped, about a hundred metres long. The walls were composed of green stone, carved with interesting swirling patterns, evocative of thorned vines. The ceiling was around twenty metres high.
The time travellers had just emerged from an entrance at one corner of the triangle, that stretched mid-way up the wall. Raylina gestured towards a similar entrance at the adjacent corner, and the ships flew at it. The entrance marked the beginning of a long, high-ceilinged passage, the end of which was hundreds of metres distant.
Suddenly, there was an echoing boom behind the three craft. Raylina heard Shadow swear and turned to see a huge, stone door fall into place over the entrance they had come through, booming once more as it touched down.
She narrowed her eyes. Something was up...
That’s when the sounds of shouting Hoodlums and marching feet echoed down the long corridor of the other entrance.
Rayden’s face went livid with rage. “You led us into a trap!” he yelled at Dark across the shuttles. “I swear, when I...”
“Rayden!” Raylina snapped. “We need to make a defence. We can’t afford to be at each other’s throats!”
Searching for a defensible position, her eyes fell upon a fan-like flight of stairs at the triangle’s third corner, culminating in a square landing. The room contained no other entrances or exits, and that landing seemed like the best place to put up a fight.
They swiftly shot across to the corner, arranging two of the shuttles into a barricade, complete with two turrets, blocking the two open sides of the landing. The other was pushed down the stairs.
Rayden checked his weapons, handing one of his handguns to Shadow. Each of them crouched behind the landed shuttles, and Ly and Raylina took control of the turrets at opposite corners of the landing.
The noise of the Hoodlums grew louder as they rushed down the corridor. The tension grew as the five of them prepared to make a final stand, watching the entrance intently. A bead of sweat trickled down Raylina’s face.
Then, the first Hoodlum charged around the corner, followed by an army of them. Raylina and Ly opened fire from the shuttle turrets, and Mr. Dark cast shadow spells against them. Shadow used the Fire Mask to burn several of them where they stood. The Hoodlums opened fire as well as they swept forwards like an unstoppable wave. Ly ducked behind the shuttle as rifle bolts pinged off the wall beside her. Rayden waited until the first of them were within range, then opened fire with Tybalt. But there were many of them, every type of Hoodlum imaginable swarming towards them. Hoodstomers flew high above the rest, dodging and weaving in the air. Two Hecklers bulldozed through the crowd of Hoodmongers around them, firing their toilet cannons up at the defenders. Hoodbooms on stilts lobbed grenades upwards, exploding too close for comfort. Spinneroos waddled forwards, generally useless as they had no form of ranged attack. Grim Keepers formed a wedge at the head of the army, releasing diminutive explosive kamikaze Hoodlums from their skirts as they protected themselves behind their shields. Hoodoos used their sorcerous abilities to protect several Hoodlum Officers in the front line.
A Hoodboom grenade flew in a perfect arc straight over the shuttles. With reflexes that surprised even herself, Raylina caught the grenade and pegged it at the Hoodstormer flying towards them. The grenade exploded, blowing the hovering Lum away. Another Hoodstormer got behind the shuttle barricade, but Raylina grabbed it, ripped its helicopter-pack off, and threw it away.
“There are too many of them!” Rayden yelled as the front line of Hoodlums gained the foot of the stairs. “By Polokus, we must have hit the motherload of Hoodlums! They just keep coming!”
Indeed, more and more Hoodlum soldiers poured from the entrance, reinforcing the already sizeable force crammed into the triangular chamber. It seemed for every Hoodlum the defenders destroyed, another two took its place. Fortunately, the Hoodlums’ progress ceased at the base of the stairs. They were unable to push up them as any soldier who stepped onto the stairway was cut down instantly.
But then a Heckler pushed to the front of the crowd, and like a Juggernaught ran straight up the stairs. Mr. Dark tossed a sizeable fireball at it, but it simply shrugged it off, its armour copping some minor superficial burns. Then the huge Hoodlum was at the top of the stairs, smashing straight past the shuttles. One of the shuttles pinned Ly to the wall, and she yelled in pain.
Rayden aimed his assault rifle right at the Heckler’s head and pulled the trigger, only to be greeted by an ominous click. Tossing Tybalt aside, he reached for Juliet at his side, but was knocked brutally aside by the Heckler’s backhand. Raylina turned her turret around and fired green plasma at the Hoodlum’s broad chest, but it glanced off as it brought its fist down on the turret. It crumpled into a sparking lump of metal as Raylina leapt out of the way, on a trajectory which unfortunately carried her down the stairs. She rolled and bounced down the ringed steps, struggling to stop. Mr. Dark swept after her like a dark guardian angel, a sword of flame springing into his left hand. Raylina managed to halt her descent mid-way down the stairs, jumping to her feet as the Hoodlums, free now from the repression of the shuttle turrets, swarmed up the stairs towards her. Mr. Dark caught up with her as she began to toss energy spheres at the onslaught, and they battled side by side against the cloth-bodied enemies.
Shadow prepared to unleash a powerful all-consuming assault against the Heckler, but as he executed it a white-green bubble appeared around the huge Hoodlum, connected to a Hoodoo climbing the stairs. The Heckler grabbed him and threw him far away into the crowd. He curled into a ball and landed amidst the Hoodlums, beginning to wreak havoc.
Ly struggled desperately to push the heavy shuttle away, but its anti-gravity engines had been damaged, giving it the mobility of a stoned elephant. The Heckler was quick to notice her struggles, crouching down to look into her face. She redoubled her efforts, attempting to use telekinesis to assist herself. Then the Heckler swiped the broken shuttle aside and seized Ly around the waist, lifting her into the air. She kicked and punched at the Hoodlum’s enormous fist, even using the Air Mask to summon a wind to her aid. But its grip was too tight. The Heckler pinned Ly to the wall at its shoulder level, winding her. It pointed the large shoulder-mounted cannon it possessed directly at her face and, with deliberate slowness, reached for the pull-chain with its other hand.
“Mum! No!” Raylina screamed from the stairs, struggling to climb upwards.
The Heckler wrapped its fist around the pull-chain, and with a sadistic grin on its face, yanked downwards.
That’s when a metal object dropped from the ceiling above, smashing through the Heckler’s head. The cannon jerked upwards, its energy shot melting the wall centimetres above Ly’s head. The object continued straight through the Heckler’s neck, and with a sudden blast the Hoodlum’s whole body exploded outwards. Ly dropped to the ground, staring in stunned amazement at her saviour.
Standing in the centre of the pieces of a Heckler’s shattered armour, optical sensors glowing green, still-smoking palms raised on either side of its body, was Metal Rayman.
As a wave of Hoodlums swept up the stairs, the android unhesitatingly leapt into the fray. Wielding flamethrowers, pulse bullets, an energy sword, and its own hands and feet, it rapidly cleared a path to Raylina and Mr. Dark. A little confused, but desperate enough to accept help from the most unlikely of allies, the two Rays retreated upwards alongside Metal Rayman. Ly and Rayden joined them at the landing, forming an outward-facing circle, while Shadow remained down at the centre of the main Hoodlum force, causing a fair amount of destruction.
Metal Rayman analysed the chamber, attempting to locate plausible escape routes. It knew that if they tried to keep this up much longer they would soon be overwhelmed. The hole in the ceiling was far too high for them to reach now, and the other entrance was crawling with Hoodlums. Metal Rayman turned to the wall behind them.
“What the hell is it doing?” Rayden shouted as he shot an advancing Grim Keeper in the face with Juliet. The robot ignored him as it used a combination of x-ray and sonar to probe the walls for structural weaknesses. It found one, an internal stress fracture left from centuries of several millions of tonnes pressing down upon the Tower, and used its chest-gun to blast a jagged hole straight through the stone. Immediately, the thundering of a torrent of running water reached the ears of the defenders. Beyond the Tower’s new renovation was what appeared to be a waterfall, a stream of water contained in an elongated shaft flowing straight past the hole. But there was something different, a surreal quality to the liquid which Raylina couldn’t quite put her finger on as she turned to look at it. Then she realised: “The water!” she gasped, her voice swallowed by the combined noise of thundering water and Hoodlum battlecries. “It’s falling upwards!”
Metal Rayman pointed at the hole, then at the defenders, cutting down a Hoodstormer with a pulse blast from its hands. “You’re kidding!” yelled Raylina incredulously. “We can’t go that way!”
“I don’t see any other magic trapdoors springing out of the floor!” Rayden yelled back as he drew Doomed Love and sliced a Hoodlum through. The Black Lums had the complete run of the stairs now, and were close to overtaking the landing.
You’ll have to use the Water Mask, Ly’s voice sounded in her mind. For a moment, Raylina was neart panic, then her eyes hardened. “Okay.”
“People, we are leaving!” Rayden shouted as Shadow rejoined them. “Whatever you’re going to do, do it fast,” the black Hedgehog said. Raylina turned to the hole, the others tightening into a ring around her. Taking a breath, she swallowed her fear and dived into the raging stream.
All was chaos. Raylina was buffeted from all sides, the water tossing her and shaking her as some unidentified, ancient engine drove it upwards. Her breath was instantly knocked out of her, unable even to struggle against the sheer force of the billions of hydrogen-oxygen covalent molecules. She was surprised she was alive, let alone conscious.
As she passed the initial shock, she remembered the Water Mask. Dipping into its power, she felt the water flowing around her, felt the energies that were directing it upward. Her lungs burning for air, she embraced the water, both wrestling with it and caressing it with a lover’s touch. The water began to obey her commands, separating around her to create a bubble of air for her to breathe and exercising less direct force against her, while still pushing her upwards. As the black discolouration of Mr. Dark shot past her she expanded her thoughts, sensing the others in the water above and below. She manipulated the water to assist them as well, even Metal Rayman.
Travelling upwards at an astonishing rate, the water rapidly reached the peak of its circuit. Raylina directed it to deposit the six of them upon a ledge above the curve of its return to the Tower’s base. They were dumped unceremoniously on hard stone, drenched and freezing. Raylina shivered violently as she climbed to her feet, accessing the Water Mask once again to dry herself and the others, forming puddles of still liquid at their feet.
The instant they had recovered, Mr. Dark, Shadow and Rayden spun to Metal Rayman and pointed their respective weapons at the android. “What does it want?” The robot raised its hands in a gesture of surrender or peace, its expressionless eyes pointed straight forward
“What do we do with this?” Shadow asked, pointing Rayden’s handgun at Metal Rayman’s head.
“Destroy it,” Dark said coldly, his blade of flames at the robot’s ‘throat’. “It’s too dangerous to be kept operational.”
Unconsciously mirroring Dark’s stance, Rayden frowned. “It did save us.” Raylina nodded. “We should at least give it a chance. Come on, we could use all the help we can get.”
Shadow lowered Romeo with wary suspicion in his eyes. “It seems a number of unlikely alliances have been formed recently,” he said, looking at Mr. Dark and Rayden. “One more shouldn’t hurt. But if this machine makes one wrong move, I’ll blast it back into ones and zeroes.”
“We don’t know why it’s helping us,” warned Dark.
“I think that’s pretty clear,” Rayden answered, lowering Doomed Love. “It wants the Sceptre. So do we. It wants us to help it. Got all that, Darky?”
“Once we’ve got the Sceptre it’ll just double cross us,” the sorcerer replied, ignoring the jibe.
“Probably. But I think we can take on one tin-can robot.”
“It’s not going to be easy to steal a magical sceptre from right under Reflux’s nose,” Shadow continued. “A single mistake could change the future of this world completely, so maybe the precision of a machine is just what we need.”
Dark extinguished his blade, nodding reluctantly. “Okay.”
Shadow tossed Romeo back to Rayden. “I owe you some bullets. It’s bone dry.”
“That makes two of us,” Rayden said wryly as he caught the handgun deftly and holstered it, also replacing the empty Juliet. “I’m down to sharp sticks and harsh language.”
“Just like the rest of us,” Raylina said, eyebrow raised, smiling.
“Yeah, but you’re the Chosen One,” Rayden replied, grinning playfully. “You’re inherently awesome.”
Although Dark’s wards had by and large protected the from serious injury, each of them had their fair share of cuts and bruises. Dark’s cloak was pock-marked with burns and holes, and a scratch on his palm bled through his glove. Rayden had an energy burn on his cheek, and Raylina was covered in bruises from her tumble down the stairs. Shadow seemed to be the only one left unmarked.
As the five of them recovered from their trip, Raylina began to wonder. “Where are we?”

Globox found himself suddenly alone and unguarded. Gazing around, the frog-like creature wondered where all the Hoodlums had gone.
The Hoodlums had captured Globox inside their Headquarters, by using a devilish recreation of a sexually attractive female Glute as bait. Then they had used Globox himself as bait, drawing Rayman into further ambushes. However, their plans had backfired when the Limbless hero laid waste to their delicate machinery. Then they had flown Globox up to the magnificent Tower of the Leptys, leaving him speechless with its sheer intimidating glory. They had formed a garrison not far from the Tower’s top, stringing the Glute up by the feet. Then the entire garrison had rushed off suddenly, down a long corridor. If he listened closely, Globox could hear the sounds of battle echoing from that direction. Concentrating, Globox focused his powers of meteorokinesis. The moisture in the air condensed to form a small raincloud above him, static electricity building inside it. A miniature bolt of lightning lanced down from it to strike the rope tying Globox to the ceiling, immediately burning it to ash. He dropped to the ground, landing painfully on his head. He paused to regain his strength. It had been a long time since he had used his powers and he was well out of practise. Climbing to his feet, he looked around at the abandoned camp. His eyes slid past the corridor the Hoodlums had charged down: he had no intention of following them. Then his eyes fell upon a small, two-man aircraft shoved to the side of the camp. “Time to find Andy!” he said cheerfully as he walked towards the Leptys shuttle.

The six time travellers found themselves very near the top floor of the Tower. So close, in fact, that they could faintly hear Reflux’s grunting exchanges with Andre floating down to them. They had found their way to a wide balcony, hidden from the flat Tower top by a fold of rock resembling a wave. Safe from Hoodlum attacks, and having plenty of time before they could take the Sceptre without interfering in established events, they took the opportunity to rest while they waited for events to unfold. Mr. Dark sat at the edge of the balcony, gazing down at the sweeping views below. Shadow stood by himself, arms crossed, while Rayden produced a whetstone and began to sharpen Doomed Love. Metal Rayman stood like a silver statue, looking straight forward. Ly drew Raylina into her arms, embracing her cross-species daughter. How are you feeling, Lina? she asked, shortening her name in a familiar fashion. Raylina could feel Ly’s sadness across their telepathic link, an emotion mirrored in herself. She hugged her mother close. “It’ll be ok, mum.”

Metal Rayman did nothing to acknowledge Raylina’s presence as she approached. The android stood stock still, perfectly straight, green optical sensors pointed straight forwards.
For a few moments Raylina studied the robot from a few metres away, and then she stepped up to it.”My name is Raylina,” she said, offering her hand. Metal Rayman tilted its head to look down at it, then looked straight ahead again. Acknowledged,” a digitised voice said from Metal Rayman’s unmoving mouth. Raylina’s brow furrowed, letting her hand fall. This could be harder than she thought.
“Let’s sit down,” she said as she did so. Metal Rayman did not, and she quickly stood back up, embarrassed. “What’s your name?” she asked, cheeks tinged red. The robot looked at her, expressionless. “Clarify?”
“What are you called? Your… title? You must have a name.”
“I am called E-279, designated ‘Metal Rayman’” it said, voice deadpan. Raylina smiled slightly. “There’s a start. Do you know that you’re built to look like my father? You’re named after him too.”
“Acknowledged.”
She eyed the metal protrusion at the back of Metal Rayman’s head, swept upwards to resemble Rayman’s distinctive wave-like hairstyle. “Do you know why?”
The machine was silent for a moment, selecting an appropriate reponse. “A reasonable conclusion would be that it is because my creator considered Rayman his enemy. Elaborate?”
Raylina raised an eyebrow. “Please.”
“Citation: Metal Sonic. Built to resemble Ivo Robotnik’s perceived enemy, Sonic the Hedgehog. This is a similar case.”
Raylina was surprised at this seemingly independent thought. “You figured that out for yourself?”
“Psychology and logic are among my subroutines.”
“Okay…tell me this, then. Why are you helping us?”
“It was logical to propagate allies. I have the same objective as you. As already demonstrated, working in co-operation increases efficiency in both parties.”
“But we need the Sceptre to defeat Veurtoya. You just want to take it to your master, Eggman…”
“Negative. Ivo Robotnik is no longer my master,” the machine stated abruptly. This took Raylina completely by surprise. “Oh-what? Why?”
“His actions are no longer logical. Chance of destruction is increased while serving under him.”
This puzzled Raylina. “Then why are you trying to get the Sceptre?”
The robot appeared not to have considered this. After several seconds, it stated simply: “Information missing.”
Raylina smiled. “That stumped you, huh? ‘Information missing’? you don’t even know why you’re doing this!”
For a second Metal Rayman stared at the ground. “Correct. The deletion of Ivo Robotnik as primary commander has left higher objectives ambiguous at best. Originally his overarching order was to acquire any asset which could significantly improve his military or economic strength. The Sceptre of the Leptys fit this profile. I no longer follow Ivo Robotnik’s commands, but I began this mission while I still did. And leaving unfinished objectives would have an undesirable effect on my programming. However, I no longer need to give the Sceptre to him, if I am able to select a new higher objective.”
“As in… if you find something else to work for, you don’t have to give the Sceptre to Eggman?”
“Affirmative.”
Raylina smiled. “How about the good of the Crossroads of Dreams?”

Rerouting new hierarchy.
Higher objective replaced.

“That is… acceptable.”

Mr. Dark looked up in surprise as Raylina sat down beside him. She smiled, and he looked away. “I’m surprised you can tolerate my presence, Chosen One,” he said subserviently.” “After all, I am the cause of your sudden coming of age.” There was a strong tone of self disgust in his voice.
For a few moments, there was silence. Then Raylina asked, “What do you know about this place, Mr. Dark?”
Again, he was surprised at her apparent willingness, even eagerness, to hear what he had to say. But he answered her. “This Tower was built thousands of years ago, as a temple for the Leptys. Two societies at their pinnacle worked together on it, fusing their entire expansive knowledge of architecture, engineering, science, and even magic to culminate in this one great work, a grand tribute to the rogue God. And this is the reason for the odd design of the shuttles down there.
“The Tower of the Leptys was built as the result of a collaboration between the Knaaren and the Rays. At that time, our species was widespread across this continent, and coexisted with the Knaaren in their Desert. The Rays had a great deal of respect for the Knaaren and their culture, and both races were near-equal from a technological standpoint. They learnt much from each other.”
Raylina’s mind was bursting with questions. “But the Knaaren… they aren’t exactly technologically advanced… I’d even call them primitive. How did they achieve something like this?”
“Suffice to say,” Dark replied, a bitter edge to his voice. “that both races have declined substantially since that time.” His speech grew so soft that Raylina could barely hear it. “And we brought it on ourselves.”
Again, there was silence. As Raylina gazed down at the Summit Beyond the Clouds below, she remembered how Rayman had saved her from his dark reflection inside that very mountain. Or how he would save her life, eighteen years in the future. She herself wouldn’t even be born for another two.
Raylina let out a sigh. Mr Dark turned to look at her with his yellow, glowing eyes. “You grieve for your father.”
Raylina nodded. “Do you think… is it possible… you said Veurtoya would take his time…” she swallowed. “…’digesting’ them. Could they maybe still be alive?” Eighteen years in the future.
Again, Mr. Dark was silent for a moment. “I don’t pretend to be an expert on the eating habits of the Dark God. But… there are two qualities common to all of the Heroes, in all realities: Luck, and the ability to survive. If anyone could live through the torments of that spirit’s whim, it would be your father and the others. Even so, I think it… unlikely.”
Raylina nodded, bowing her head. She played with Rayman’s kerchief in her hands. It had been in her pocket since he had given it to her. “I was hoping to give this back to him.”
Again, Dark looked at her. “I apologise for my bluntness, but… I think, regardless of whether Rayman is alive or dead, the mantle has been passed on to you. The protection of the Crossroads is yours to fulfil. You are the Chosen One now.”
A few tears fell from her eyes, as they passed from sadness, to acceptance, to determination. “You’re right.”
Lifting the red kerchief reverently, the coloured scrap of cloth which had belonged to thousands of Chosen Ones before her, she tied it around the invisible bond which connected her head to her shoulders in place of a neck. And with this symbolic passing of the torch, the duty passed down by the Ancients became hers. Like Dark said, she was the Chosen One.
Raylina smiled. “Damn thing doesn’t go with my top.”
A sudden wave of regret washed over Mr. Dark. “If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have to take up this responsibility so young. I am so very sorry about what I have put you through. It… greatly saddens me,” he finished lamely, for once lost for words. Raylina could sense he truly meant what he said. He deeply and sincerely regretted everything he had done to this world, not just recently, but throughout his entire long history. He may have done evil things, performed acts of utter depravity, but at this moment her heart went out to him.
“Mr. Dark, I…forgive you.”
The sorcerer looked up in near-shock. “What?”
“The gracious thing to do would be to say thank you,” Raylina joked, grinning, then her voice returned to a sombre tone. “I forgive you,” she said again.
“Thank you,” Dark said. Raylina got the distinct impression he was smiling beneath his shadows, not with contempt or malevolence, but with genuine fondness. “It seems the addition of fairy blood has done far more good than harm to our race.” He paused. “But I have yet to forgive myself. And I doubt that I ever will. Nonetheless, I am thankful.” Then he barked out a laugh. “I certainly appear to have changed my tune,” he said. “Not so long ago I would have opposed with my life any ‘tainting’ of our blood. But it seems I was sorely mistaken.”
A new question sprang into Raylina’s mind. “Um… Mr. Dark?” Why do you hide your face? Is it… because of that scar?”
For a few moments, Raylina feared he would not answer. But then he did.”A number of different reasons. As a feared warlord it certainly created an air of mystery and intimidation. But, initially, yes, it was to cover my scar.”
“But…you’re a sorcerer. Can’t you heal it?”
He shook his head. “My brand of magic is not that of fealing. I can no more seal the cut on my hand or the scar on my face than a fairy can level a city. My magic is largely destructive; theirs, for the most part, is constructive. I can change things, create monsters and soldiers from already-existing genes, but I am unable to regenerate the cells that house those genes.”
Raylina nodded. She understood what he was saying: she had received a solid grounding in both magic and science in her childhood from a combination of fairy tutors, Murfy the greenbottle, and Dark himself.
He started talking again. “But… of course I could have obtained the meansto heal it, from fairies or from any other of the myriad of magical creatures that inhabit this planet. I chose not to, I suppose.” Mr. Dark, who had confided in no-one but himself for centuries, found himself opening up to this young Ray.
“I saw the scare on my face as an embodiment of my… failures. When I first received it it was from the blade of something I helped to give life to. I didn’t want to forget that. It was on that day that I earned my banishment from our people, the day I turned my back on the world.” He paused. “It was the day the Flames of the Limbless were unleashed upon this planet.”
Puzzled, Raylina waited for him to say more, but he remained silent. It appeared he had no wish to elaborate on these mysterious events. She had learnt much from the fairies and others who taught her, but none had given her even a basic history of the Crossroads of Dreams. That needs to change, Raylina thought. If we cannot remember the mistakes of the past, how can we learn from them?
“I’m sorry. You must be curious about many of the things I have spoken of. Perhaps one day, when this is over, I will explain them in greater depth. But not until Veurtoya is safely bound once again.”
For a moment, the Rays were still. Then suddenly, surprisingly, Mr. Dark reached up to his hat and tore it from his head. The shadows around his face disappeared, exposing his scar, as he lit the black, broad-rimmed hat aflame with a spark from his finger. Raylina stared in shock as Dark threw the burning headwear away. The flames rapidly consumed the hat and the small objects which dangled from it, falling down the side of the Tower as it burned.
Dark turned to Raylina, looking her in the eye. “My shame no longer remains hidden,” he said by way of explanation, tracing the scar across his pale face with his finger.
Raylina nodded approvingly.”I think it’s for the best.”
Both looked up suddenly as a roar carried down to them, a chillingly distorted Knaaren warcry. Dark’s eyes narrowed. “Reflux has invoked the Leptys,” he said. “It is time to act.”
Raylina sprang to her feet. “Looks like we’re up, Mr. Dark.”
Climbing to his feet, he replied: “Chosen One… call me Raylex.”

Andre had given up patience.
“Reflux! Hurry up and start the frigging thing!”
“Be quiet, worm! You know nothing of the forces which you speak of. This work will not afford the rushing of impatient flies!”
Ignoring this insult, Andre continued. “Come on, you don’t even know why it’s taking so long! Just invoke the damn Leptys so we can get this over with!”
Reflux shook his head, brandishing his staff. “Fine! I will attempt the invocation. Then perhaps the Leptys will strike you down for your blasphemous impatience!”
Anger pent up in his limbs, Reflux stepped into the centre of the roof with his double-jointed legs. Raising his staff into the air, the Sceptre sphere at its tip glowing like the moon, he began the traditional incantation. Handed down over the millennia among the Knaaren people, the words had remained the same since the Leptys itself gave the Sceptre to the first ancestors of the Desert tribe. “Oh Leptys, Father of the Knaaren people!” To Reflux’s surprise, the wind around him picked up instantly. Perhaps the vermin is right. “Give to me, mighty warrior and true servant of yours, the gifts of multiplication and great power, so that my will may be done!”
Great Power was a phrase quite open to interpretation.
As Reflux gazed into the sky, a sudden change came about it. The clouds receded instantly, leaving a clear sky. But as the Knaaren watched, the crisp blue transmutated into a light, dusty brown, the twin suns shining a muddy colour through it. The sky had become the same colour as that of the Desert of the Knaaren.
These theatrics, though unnecessary, gave the Leptys a certain amount of enjoyment. Even gods must have their sport.
As Reflux rejoiced at this show of power from the deiety he had been taught to fear and celebrate his entire life, the Sceptre glowed with blue light, and then suddenly caught aflame. White flames ran up and down Reflux’s staff, spreading up his arm and across his body. Yet he remained miraculously unburnt. His eyes widened in wonder as energies flooded through his body, changing him. His already muscular upper body swelled, tearing through his tunic and leaving his waist almost impossibly narrow. His fists grew enormous, and he took on a hunch-backed posture, with his head thrust forward below his shoulders. His skin changed colour, going from the grey-bronze of his species to a mottled grey and yellow. His eyes became beady and turned red, receding into their sockets, and his jaw-bone grew large and chunky, the entire shape of his skull warping into an hourglass shape. With one final roar into the heavens, the white flames left his body via his mouth, leaving him quite a different creature.
As Reflux marvelled at the new body his God had granted him, Andre’s deeply infuriating, mocking voice interrupted his reverie. To his utter outrage, at came from within his chest.
“Wow, Reflux! You’re so big and strong!”
The Knaaren’s anger almost overcame him then, but he wrestled it under control, calming himself with the mantra If the Leptys wills it.
“Yes, Andy,”
“With the energy from your mighty Sceptre, I will be able to reproduce infinitely! Gwah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
Reflux shut his eyes, breathing deeply to quell the disgust he felt at having such vermin inside him. If the Leptys wills it.
“Yes, Andy.”
“Yes, Andy. Yes, Andy.” Andre repeated in a high-pitched, mocking tone. “Can’t you say anything else!!?”
If the Leptys wills it. If it were not for those five words Reflux would have torn his own chest open to crush the Dark Lum within him. A fiece irony pierced his voice as he exhaled. “No, Andy!”
The Leptys had chosen to place Andre within Reflux. This was not for him to question. If the Leptys wills it.
But that didn’t mean he had to like it.
Turning his thoughts away from the parasite inside him, the Knaaren began to gasther power through the Sceptre, its sphere glowing like one of the two moons. It was time to get this over with.
But then, with his newly heightened senses, Reflux detected movement behind him. Sparks rising from the Sceptre’s tip, Reflux jumped and turned in the air, coming to the ground with a resounding thump as Andre spoke. “I told you I’d serve you Rayman on a platter! Bon apetit! Gwah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
Reflux’s lip curled, swinging his staff into the air. Finally, it was time for revenge. Finally, his bloodlust would find an outlet. “Thanks, Andy!”
Standing at the edge of the Tower, fists primed, a cocky smile on his face, was Rayman.

[GlueTube365]

Awesome, as usual!

[Lachimax]

Sorry it's not too long guys, and sorry it took so long! There's a maximum of two more chapters to come, probably just one, then it's all over! Enjoy!

Chapter 26: Bringer of Night

Top Floor of the Tower of the Leptys, 2 years BDR

“How are we supposed to know what’s going on?” Raylina protested as the sounds of battle above drifted down to them. “We can’t see a Polokus-damned thing!”
Just as she finished her sentence, a soft, blue glow enveloped the five of them. Ly and Raylina looked down at their bodies in wonder, as Shadow and Rayden, immediately distrustful, attempted to shake it off.
“It’s the Leptys,” said Raylex Dark, as he looked at his hand with a look of interest on his face.
Without warning, the six of them, Metal Rayman included, lifted into the air. Rayden yelled in surprise as they floated involuntarily out from their ledge and into the open air. Carried by an unseen force, they rose above the flat arena where Reflux and Rayman were locked in combat. Neither of them seemed to notice, and Raylina wondered if they had become invisible to the two of them. Their motion ceased well above Reflux and Rayman, giving them a wonderful view of the action below.
“It seems the Leptys heard you,” Ly observed to Raylina.
“As long as it doesn’t drop us,” muttered Shadow.
It was fairly disconcerting not being able to feel any ground beneath their feet. It would almost feel better to actually be falling, Raylina thought. More natural, at least.
As they watched , Reflux, frustrated by his inability to crush his opponent, broke his staff in two. Then, earning a gasp of shock from Raylina, he jammed the jagged end of the piece containing the Sceptre orb straight into his back. Trying desperately to draw more power from it, but receiving only a trickle of the flood he expected, he began to swell. Reflux grew to enormous proportions, towering dozens of feet above Rayman. The arena changed as well, somehow, a ring of stone platforms raising themselves a metre or so upwards around the outside.
Reflux immediately slammed both fists into the ground, sending Rayman high in the air. He swiped at him as the hapless Ray fell back to the ground.
Eventually, after a few minutes of dodging and circling, Rayman managed to climb onto Reflux’s back, using his own arm as a ramp. Using a Heavy Metal Fist upgrade, conveniently floating in the air, he punched the glowing Sceptre sticking out of Reflux several times. Reflux tossed him off, but it was clear it had had an impact. Having decided that rinse and repeat was the path to success, Rayman achieved this numerous times.
Clearly in pain, Reflux rose into the air, floating above the arena, as pieces of the tower rose in a seemingly random pattern around him. Thinking quickly, Rayman employed yet another conveniently placed power-up to fly directly upwards. Dodging circular beams hurled from Reflux’s mouth, he flew from piece to piece of detached Tower masonry, until he reached the top. There, waiting for him, miracle of miracles, was the most beautiful object he had ever seen; an orange can of Hoodlum-brand laser washing powder.
Shock Rocket variety.
As the missile thudded home, Reflux’s newfound power of levitation deserted him. He fell, seemingly defeated. Rayman began a celebratory, mocking grimace, only to let it trail off in astonishment. The enhanced behemoth rose again, until he was well above Rayman, and then, outstretching his arms, sprouted a pair of broad, batlike wings.
Wow, thought Raylina, he just won’t die.
Reflux flew straight upwards, disappearing into the suspiciously crystalline clouds.
As Rayman began to despond, a small, two-man Leptys shuttle glided in from behind, piloted by a particularly loyal Glute.
“Rayman, it’s me! Come on, hop on, we’re headed for the Tetris! Andre’s gotta be there.”
Globox and Rayman took off after Reflux, and before Raylina could say “now what?”, they were following, floating invisibly behind the shuttle. They climbed into the sky, gaining so much altitude that Raylina worried the air would grow too thin or too cold. But apparently the Leptys had thought ahead, and neither of these environmental considerations took any effect on the six time travellers, nor Globox and Rayman.
The Leptys was certainly going to great lengths to stage this battle; and, it seemed, to ensure Reflux lost. Perhaps even rogue Gods picked sides. Maybe the Leptys felt resentment towards the Knaaren attempting to command it, a member of a race it had created in the first place; or maybe it knew how important this battle was. Either way, the God appeared sympathetic with Rayman’s, and, indeed, Raylina’s, cause.
The shuttle broke through a layer of cloud, the six invisible followers in its wake, and emerged into an alien world.
“What the...”
Silver-violet flowers larger than city buildings dotted the surreal landscape, with what looked like enormous, quivering eyeballs at the hearts of their petals. Waterfalls teemed like tears from several of them, and oddly-shaped rocks of similar colouration crowded the ground. It seemed like a bizarre concoction midway between uneasy dream and childlike imagination.
Guided by the Leptys’ power, the six of them broke away from the shuttle and were placed gently beneath one of the fantastic formations. They watched as an enormous, winged Reflux swooped up behind the insignificant-seeming vehicle and vented his fury into a ground-shaking roar. Like a dragonfly pursuing a mosquito, the two engaged in a rather circular dogfight. Only this mosquito possessed a rear-facing plasma turret.
Reflux would toss red energy at his prey, to be countered by Rayman’s green plasma. Every chance he got, Rayman targeted the Knaaren shield protecting the Sceptre on Reflux’s back. Apparently, the unstably ionic nature of the plasma allowed a discharge of electricity onto the shield, and it began to shrink as it had before against the onset of Metal Rayman’s taser and Rayman’s Lockjaw. Gradually, he wore it down, until a bolt of plasma penetrated and scored a direct hit. Recoiling from the pain, he reproduced his shield but at an obvious expense of power. Easily evading the Knaaren’s clumsy assault, Rayman simply wore the shield down again, and Reflux was forced to land to recharge his power. A luminous barrier sprung up, shaping itself to his body, and a fountain of Black Lums sprang from his back, gaining Hoodmonger outfits as they bounced against the ground. Rayman and Globox proceeded to drop bombs on them as they marched inwards, replenishing portions of Reflux’s power through an ostensibly illogical cycle of energy.
Then the grossly swollen Knaaren launched himself once again into the air, and the dogfight began again.
It took several repetitions of this sequence before a slightly noticeable change took place. “That thing’s coming loose,” observed Rayden, keeping an eye on the Sceptre through the scope of his rifle. And indeed it was. Under the continuing barrage of Heavy Metal Fists, Shock Rockets, and green plasma, the Sceptre of the Leptys was being knocked loose.
“Now is the time,” Dark nodded to Shadow. Gripping the Fire Mask, the black Hedgehog concentrated and embraced the throbbing power within him.
“Chaos...Control!”
Time slowed to a crawl. Colours inverted, Reflux’s enormous wings moved as though through year-old honey. That’s when Raylina made her move. Bringing her own Water Mask to bear, and extending her power to envelope Metal Rayman, she also uttered the two powerful words. Telported along the streams of space and time, the two of them were instantly transplaced to the mountainous Knaaren’s bubbling back. Raylina got a grip on the thick, brown skin, as Metal Rayman revealed a laser cutter in his hand. Swiftly, the machine sliced through the base of what remained of the Sceptre, and lifted the orb out of its fitting. Just as quickly as they had arrived, Raylina whisked them away, and Shadow relinquished his grip on time’s flow.
The last few shots from Rayman’scannon landed upon Reflux’s back, and he writhed with the sudden agony of the Sceptre’s absence. No! It can’t end like this!
Desperately clutching a air, the once-mighty warrior felt stiffness spread through his body, no longer able to support itself in divinity’s dearth. Roaring as he caught sight of his hand, which looked as though it was turned to glass, he had time for one final realisation.
The Leptys betrayed me.
My god betrayed me.
And then he shattered. His glassy remains scattered across the surface the Leptys had woven from the clouds, leaving a single, black speck floating groggily downwards. Globox landed his shuttle beside the Lum, and Rayman swung himself out, As Andre babbled in terror, knowing what was coming, with one final, triumphant Grimace, Rayman ended the Hoodlum plague.

And with that, the Leptys allowed its various creations to dissolve, returning the various players to their places. The six time travellers found themselves on the slopes of the Summit Beyond the Clouds, in possession of a God’s remote control. Meanwhile, Rayman and Globox reappeared in the Fairy Glade, the Leptys dropping them from well over a hundred metres in the air to land on a fat, green Squab caterpillar. Possibly for dramatic effect.
The six of them were just beginning to shiver when the Leptys swooped down from the sky above, causing the orb in Metal Rayman’s hands to shine. Taking physical form, or at least appearing to, the rogue God inhabited the shape of a vast eagle, wings outstretched as it soared over them. The Leptys was like a broad, bird-shaped window unto a night sky, with the shining pinpoints of stars gleaming against a backdrop of darkest blue.
“Woah.”
The Leptys remained silent as it alighted on a crest above them, radiating purpose. With eyes like half-moons set above its fearsome beak, it seemed to stare intently right into Raylina’s heart. She was almost overwhelmed by the sheer power the God seemed to emit, yet she held her ground, remaining on her feet as the others bowed around her. She and the Leptys locked eyes, and she could sense that it approved.
“The Knaaren call their God the Bringer of Night,” whispered Mr. Dark appreciatively. “They also call it the Father of the Knaaren, which is technically incorrect as the Leptys is neither male nor female.”
Raylina could have sworn she detected a flicker of amusement in the God’s aura.
“So if you’re going to address it, those two titles will suffice.”
She nodded, and placed her hand on the Sceptre, held by Metal Rayman. “Leptys,” she began. “Bringer of Night. I thank you sincerely for your aid this day, and I beseech you for one last favour.” She had seen the consequences of attempting to harness a God, from both Reflux and Eggman, and had decided that the Leptys could only help them if that was what it wanted.
“We visit across the span of years to ask your help. In our time, another God threatens our whole world, and potentially every world.” She suspected the Leptys already knew this, but she continued anyway.
“To defeat Veurtoya, we need you to fight him and bind him once again.
“We will return to our own time, with your Sceptre. When we summon you, nineteen years from now, will you answer?”
Silence. Without words, the Leptys conveyed a desire to the time travellers, transmitting its wish to them.
“I... don’t understand,” said Raylina, puzzled.
“If I’m not mistaken, the Leptys wishes to... test you,” Mr. Dark said. “It is curious about your prowess as Chosen One.”
“O...kay...”
That’s when the Four Masks of Polokus appeared floating around her. She smiled. “Now I get it.” As she willed it, the Four Masks rapidly orbited her torso, suddenly disappearing in a flash of light.
Sonic had used the Masks to become Super Sonic, but that had been before he had realised the elemental attributes they possessed. So now Raylina, in complete awareness of these attributes, was able to use them to become something much different.
With fire burning at her fists and eyes, a cloak of water streaming around her, and a halo of stones encircling her head, she rose into the air. “Ready, oh mighty one?”
The Leptys launched itself into the sky, and they soared away together.

17 ADR, Land of the Livid Dead

A time portal re-opened onto the lake shore ejecting six figures. The sphere, which was all that was left of the Sceptre of the Leptys, was still in the android’s metallic grip. Above them, blackness had crept like a many-tentacled infection across the sky. And at the heart of the darkness, above the lake, Veurtoya himself throbbed as he drew in his power.
Determined anger filling her, Raylina reached out and placed her open palm on the Sceptre, and it began to glow blue. The instant it did, as though sensing something was afoot, Veurtoya began to seethe.
“Leptys. Bringer of Night, Father of the Knaaren. This world needs you now. We need you now. I, Raylina, Chosen One of the Ancients, offspring of two races, call upon you to bind Veurtoya once more. We offer you these artifacts of power to aid you in the battle.” The Four Masks appeared above her other hand.
“Please, help us.”
Having waited nineteen years (a blink of an eye a being as ancient as the Leptys), the rogue God of the Desert answered her call.
Sparkling with stars against the pitch-blackness of Veurtoya’s mass, the Leptys soared across the sky like a titanic champion. Claws outstretched, it raked at the black clot which marked the centre of the other God’s energy, digging right into its core. With a fiercely hooked beak, it tore the jade Master Emerald from its socket within and tossed it into the vast body of water below. There sounded an ear-splitting roar as Veurtoya realised the full extent of his new predicament, and the black tendrils withdrew from the air into the God’s draconian form. The Leptys answered with a piercing eagle-cry, and plunged into battle with its dragon-formed counterpart. With a flurry of wings and claws, the two Gods entered combat.
Looking desperately for some sign of the seven Heroes, Ly spotted them tumbling downwards from the clash above. Concentrating, she conjured silver-white cushions to catch them, plus Eggman and the Master Emerald, and carry them hastily to the bank. As they drew closer, she cast out with her mind, trying to make some sort of contact with Rayman’s mind. For a sickening second she found only emptiness, but then her heart flooded with joyful relief as their minds connected.
His intellect seemed different, somehow, warped. The memory of phenomenal pain still lingered in his nerves. Pain he had undergone, but not quite endured. Nonetheless, at the touch of her mind he almost immediately brightened.
Remember the first time you caught me like that?
Of course. No lava here, though.
Or psychotic robots.
No, just psychotic Gods.
The seven Heroes collapsed on the beach, wobbling as they struggled to stand. Ly and Raylina embraced Rayman, and Mr. Dark and Rayden helped the others to their feet, ignoring Eggman. Shadow, meanwhile, went straight to the Master Emerald. A rumble shook the ground, as the overwhelming energies from the divine conflict above began to take their hold on the earth. “We need to get out of here,” Shadow said, a statement punctuated by the din in the sky. “I can use Chaos Control the most proficiently out of all of us. I’ll use the Master Emerald to warp us away.”
A tiredly grinning Sonic gave Shadow the thumbs up.
Placing both hands on the tip-balanced Emerald, he extended his concentration to the fourteen beings (of no less than five separate species, plus two robots).
“Chaos Control.”
Raylina closed her eyes, expecting to feel the rush of translocation. She didn’t. Puzzled, she reopened them, to find the beach empty, except for herself, Rayden, Raylex, and Rayman. The others had gone, evidently successfully teleported Worried, she looked at her father. His brow was also creased as he looked at her. “Dark?”
Another roar came from the clashing titans overhead, accompanied by another, more violent rumble from below. Veurtoya seemed almost to be gloating.
“The Dark God is holding us here!” he said, appalled. “We’re the descendants of his oldest enemies, it seems only natural that he wants revenge. But Shadow can’t come back and get us.”
“We’re trapped,” finished Rayman.
As he said this, Veurtoya dived towards the four of them, but the Leptys gripped him by the tail and swung him in the opposite direction.
“No we’re not,” said Rayden. “We’re getting outta here.”
Another rumble, louder and longer this time, almost shaking them to the ground.
He nodded at the motionless Dark Hog, parked at the sand’s edge. Apparently Gripnos and Sharkin had been unable to find a way to load it onto the Egg Carrier.
“We’re driving.”
The four Rays sprinted to the all-terrain vehicle, swinging themselves into it. Rayman vaulted into the turret seat, while Mr. Dark ushered Raylina into the passenger seat, standing on the slight ledge next to the door himself. Rayden, as the only capable, if not officially licensed, driver, took the wheel. He handed Tybalt to Raylina and tossed an RPG from the rear compartment to Dark. Igniting the engine with a growl, he threw the vehicle into gear and put his foot down, just as a crack opened up in the ground beneath them.
Leptys and Veurtoya, eagle and dragon, fought ferociously above the Land of the Livid Dead, contending as only two Gods can. The Leptys had the Four Masks on its side; Veurtoya, the Chaos Emeralds. The entire valley was their battleground, the sheer power from their clash literally crumbling it.
The Land of the Livid Dead, home of the ancient Griskin tribe, and later the overambitious Teensie Empire, was falling apart.

[Lachimax]

I'm not sure if anyone still reads this on this forum (entirely my fault, as months have passed between me posting chapters), but I'm going to keep posting it anyway in the hope that someone still enjoys it.

[GlueTube365]

I'm not sure if anyone still reads this on this forum (entirely my fault, as months have passed between me posting chapters), but I'm going to keep posting it anyway in the hope that someone still enjoys it.

I still enjoy it! I think that it is a great Fanfic! Keep up the good work!

[Lachimax]

Thanks tonnes, I'm really glad someone's reading it! One chapter to go, then I'm starting on Flames of the Limbless.

[Holy Crap]

I'm still here. Watching, waiting, silently in the shadows...

[Lachimax]

I'm actually truly scared by that. But thanks guys, working on the next and final chapter.

[GlueTube365]

I'm actually truly scared by that. But thanks guys, working on the next and final chapter.

Good luck!

[Lachimax]

Escape from the Valley - Halo Theme (MJOLNIR Mix) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lceOdKYFzrw

A suitably epic song for an escape in a warthog.

Chapter 27: One Final Effort

The Land of the Livid Dead

Dark Hog sped away from the valley’s turbulent centre, as the world crumbled around it. A massive boulder fell from its perch atop a cliff, only Rayden’s rapid manipulation of pedals and wheel evading crash or collision. Cracks in the ground widened, swallowing fleeing Hoodlums whole.
An exodus of Hoodlums joined the Rays in their attempt to escape, most having forgotten all use of tools and weaponry in their fear. As Dark Hog caught up with a group of the Black Lums, Rayden accelerated straight through them, crushing many. A few took potshots at the vehicle, only to be swept up by Rayman’s turret fire, Raylina’s chatter of bullets from Tybalt, and Dark’s RPGs.
Some of the smarter Lums were employing balloon-ships and choppers to escape, but the air had become a dangerous place to be. Stray projectiles from the awesome conflict above smashed and set alight many of the craft, while Veurtoya himself swooped down, grabbed a chopper in his claws and tossed it at his opponent.
Weaving through the Hoodlum crowds, an explosion boomed out behind them, and chunks of lava-riffled rock began to rain down from above and behind. A slab larger than the car smashed into the ground right beside them, crushing a Heckler and tossing Dark Hog end over end with the force of the shockwave. Before it hit the ground upside-down, another fireball crashed in front and tossed it sideways, flipping once to land back on its wheels. The suspension groaned in protest as the machine almost tipped again, then thudded back onto all four. About to accelerate, Rayden stopped as Raylina shouted “wait!” He turned around to see Raylex springing back to his feet twenty metres behind them, flaming blade in one hand, rocket launcher mounted on his shoulder with the other, to fend off the screaming hordes of fleeing Hoodlums.
For the briefest second, Rayden considered simply putting his foot down and leaving his old enemy to die. Then, cursing, he turned Hog around in a wide circle, allowing Dark to leap back onto the side. He almost slipped back off, but Raylina grabbed his hand.
Numbering four again, they sped away from the erupting ground. A Hoodlum watchtower loomed in front of them, blocking the most direct path at a junction of two vales. One of the few Hoodbooms who had yet to succumb to panic threw grenades at them, to be taken out by a burst from Rayman. Glancing in his rear-view mirror, Rayden swore as he saw the earth upheaving itself barely a hundred metres behind them.
He put his foot down.
“Dark!”
Raylex fired a rocket from the RPG. It left a trail of smoke as it propelled gracefully through the air to detonate at the tower’s base. Dark Hog followed immediately after, smashing through the collapsing tower in a cloud of flame and smoke to emerge on the other side. Raylina closed her eyes against the shower of splinters, the heat glowing against her cheeks.
As they proceeded at full tilt, they found themselves alongside a Masterkaag as it too tried to escape, running as fast as it could operate the ropes which drove its enormous legs. They weaved around it, avoiding its crushing feet, and Rayman laced it with turretfire. It tripped over in quite a spectacular fashion, and the collapsing ground swallowed it.
After ten or so minutes of spinning wheels, bouncing suspension, and crushed Hoodlums, a shriek and roar pierced the ears of the four. An eagle and a dragon tumbled from the sky, slamming into the ground barely fifty metres ahead of Dark Hog. Rayden span the wheel, tires skidding in the mud, and steered the vehicle between two of Veurtoya’s neck spikes just before they were driven into the earth. The Leptys pinned the other God to the ground, and proceeded to tear into him. Veurtoya’s wings thrashed desperately as he struggled to tip the Leptys off, the enormous appendages beating dangerously close to the vehicle. They sped out of the brawling Gods’ physical reach. Raylina’s eyes widened. They were within sight of the valley’s edge, and the looming Egg Carrier! “We’re going to make it!”
Suddenly, an entire section of ground fell away right in front of them, leaving a pitch-black abyss. Rayden had to slam the brake-pedal down and spin the wheel just to avoid falling in.
Looking around desperately for an escape route, the increasingly unstable earth shifted around them.
“There!” Rayman yelled.
Only one way remained open to them: straight up the steep slope of a large hill.
Brow set, Rayden threw the machine into gear, turned the wheel, and put his foot down. Dark Hog accelerated, gathering speed as the earth fell away behind it. It began to climb the hill, bouncing and roaring, wheels spinning furiously. After a few moments of jarring tension, Dark Hog cleared the slope and came onto the flat at the top of the hill. At the end was a sheer cliff, well over fifty metres tall; and just beyond this escarpment, hovering expectantly, safety mechanisms preventing it from coming any closer, was the Egg Carrier.
Between its open cargo bay and the cliff was a gap of close to ten metres.
No time to think. “Hold onto your butts!” Dark Hog flew forward at full speed, the four sets of jaws it carried clenched with apprehension, the ground losing integrity mere feet behind them. Then, with a lurch that sent Raylina’s stomach through the floor, they were in the air. With the grace of a brick, Dark Hog sailed through the atmosphere, and for a seemingly perpetual moment it was suspended between the rapidly degenerating cliff and the open cargo bay. But then came possibly the most relieving sensation Raylina had ever experienced; the thud, squeal, bounce and jar of all-terrain tires touching down on a stainless steel floor. But almost straight away that relief was replaced by yet another stomach-absenting lurch as Hog slid backwards; only two of its wheels had made the bay; half of the vehicle remained suspended precariously in the air. Raylina and Rayden vaulted over the windscreen as Dark Hog began to fall backwards, and Mr. Dark swirled onto the steel floor. But Rayman, in the turret seat at the very rear, jumped onto the transport’s nose as it slipped out of the cargo bay and into empty space. With a last, mighty leap, he launched himself into the air, reaching upwards with every centimetre the invisible bonds joining his hand to his body allowed.
He fell just inches short.
But then, just as he consigned himself to the fall, another hand swept in and gripped his. Raylex hauled the former Chosen One onto the Egg Carrier, and they rolled onto the floor, panting with relief. The erstwhile enemies shared a grateful nod.
The bay door slid closed behind them and the Egg Carrier sped away as fast as its engines allowed.

The valley descended into a swirling vortex of fire and dust as the Gods entered their endgame. Monumental powers were flung back and forth across an arena of ash. The Land of the Livid Dead became a pit of raw, elemental fury, churning with primeval force. The pressure and heat approached such magnitude that the nuclei of atoms in the vicinity began to fuse together, unleashing ever more energy as Veurtoya frantically tried to evade capture. But not only was the Leptys more powerful after years of preparation, it was older. The ages of the two numbered in the hundreds of millions, but Veurtoya’s in fewer hundreds. The Leptys had enjoyed a far longer period of freedom before being bound by the Ancients, and as such had gained more knowledge of the workings of power and force. Able to contain the unstable reactions Veurtoya was causing from destroying the planet while simultaneously tightening a binding noose around his neck, the Leptys remorselessly assaulted the fellow spirit. All aboard the Egg Carrier watched in awe as the phenomenal battle climaxed with a fantastically bright white-blue light, shining such that they were forced to shield their eyes even through the automatic radiation shielding of the bridge’s windows. The sound of Vertoya’s last despairing screams echoed across the entire planet as the Leptys finally shut him down, and the light began to dim. As it faded, it became clear the devastation this conflict had caused. Every element lighter than uranium lay muddled together in the pit of the valley, those with higher evaporation temperatures rapidly solidifying into a brown-black mass of metallic confusion. And high above this mess glided the Leptys, ostensibly riding the thermals caused by the immense release of heat during the battle. In its claws was gripped a perfect pentagonal trapezohedron of blackest obsidian. Contained within was Veurtoya.

The Griskins aboard the ship began a haunting song of history and loss, one which brought tears to the eyes of all aboard the flagship, as they mourned for their lost home. It was a simple song, but a beautiful one, without any discernible words, which somehow carried the entire story of a culture, the fingerprint of a race. As the last few notes faded away, so too did the Griskins, freed from their centuries-old curse by the grace of the Leptys. Free at last to die.

Raylina met the Leptys at the edge of the still-scorching pit that once was the Land of the Livid Dead. She was saddened by its loss, for it had been a beautiful place, and home not only to the Griskins, but the intelligent turtles of the Crossroads as well, and many other peaceful creatures. Now it was uninhabitable, and would remain so for centuries. If the Leptys had not contained Veurtoya’s wrath, though, this destruction would have spread across the entire planet.
The Leptys bore Veurtoya’s container to Raylina, placing it on the ground in front of her. Even contained within layers of enchanted obsidian, she could feel his malice radiating from inside. She shuddered. “It will need to be hidden, lest this occurs again.”
The great eagle nodded in agreement.
“Thank you, Leptys. You have done us a great service.”
In an unexpected gesture, the Leptys spread its broad wings to their fullest extent, bowing to the ground (a motion which no ordinary eagle would have been able to pull off). Raylina did likewise. Then the Leptys took off in a great flap of its wings, and faded as it flew towards the horizon.

Space Colony ARK

A gathering of Mobians and Crossroaders stood in the huge teleportation chamber aboard the ARK. Twin foxtails protruded from the access hatch of the heavy-duty equipment, waving as their owner fiddled with its internals.
“Blast it!” Tails’ frustrated voice echoed from within. Struggling to back out of the hatch, he exclaimed in annoyance. “Dark Rayman sure did a good job of breaking the damn thing. The spatial dilation crystals are completely smashed, and don’t even ask about the redstone conduction webbing. Even if we could replace those, I doubt there’s a mithril-australium alloy refinery for lightyears to fix the ecumenical transience foundations.”
“Does that mean you have to stay?” Raylina asked, trying not to sound hopeful.
“No... there is one alternative,” Shadow replied.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Shadow?” grinned Sonic.
Perhaps,” he replied, with the barest hint of a smile. “We’ve done it once before, but over a much shorter distance. Still, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.”
Noticing Raylina struggling to hide her disappointment, he placed a hand on her shoulder, in an uncharacteristically sympathetic gesture.
“I’m sorry, Raylina.” He said, meeting her eyes. “We don’t belong here. This is your world, not ours.”
She nodded, smiling morosely. “And maybe we can find a way to visit,” he finished.
Smiling broadly, she embraced him, then stepped back, and did the same to Sonic. “Goodbye, guys. We’ll never forget you.”
Sonic flicked his thumb, and something golden flashed through the air. Raylina caught it, and opened her hand to see what it was.
“Just so you don’t,” Sonic said, winking.
It was a round, unadorned, golden ring.
Rayman shook Sonic’s hand. “Thank you for your help, Sonic the Hedgehog. And you, Shadow. All of you. Our world is in your debt.”
The other Hero grinned. “You’re welcome. Thank you for helping to return the Chaos Emeralds, and for stemming a threat which would have spread to all worlds. Ours is in your debt, Rayman.”
A last wave, a final nod were exchanged as the two parties separated, and Rayman lifted the Earth Mask to teleport the Crossroaders away.
As they disappeared, Shadow and Sonic stood back-to-back, the seven Emeralds beginning to orbit them. Both became gold, shining across the whole room. Together, the two Hedgehogs flew out of the colossal space station, taking position on opposite sides.
Ready?
Ready.
With the power of two Supers, they mentally shouted.
“CHAOS...CONTROL!”
With a phenomenal burst of gold and blue light, the ARK, along with everybody and everything onboard, disappeared along the channels of space and time.
Returning to Mobius.
The flash could be seen in the night sky, from the surface of the Crossroads. Watching silently on the Fairy Council lawn, Raylina closed her hand around Sonic’s ring as a single tear slid down her cheek.
“Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog.”

The Longest Shortcut (Once known as Nullartus City), near the Cloud Sea

Rayman stood. “Thank you all for coming here today. I have asked you to this place, as a reminder of what our species can do.”
At the crystalline table in front of him sat representatives of the last remnants of the Rays: The Musician, earring swinging as he nodded thoughtfully; Tarayzan in his accustomed loincloth; Raypledra of the mountain village, loose hair falling well below her shoulders; Rayden, staring daggers at the sorcerer across from him; Raylex Dark doing his best to ignore him; and Raylina, at her father’s side.
“Our ancestors built this city more than two millennia ago, and still it stands untarnished. But with our great virtue, as with any species, have come great vices. Wars we brought on ourselves have reduced us to a dwindling fringe culture. There are too few Rays left.
“Now is the time for us to unite as a race. We must set aside old enmities and ancient rivalries befre we hunt each other to extinction. For that is we face unless we can learn to co-operate, not just with each other, but with other species too: extinction.”
He nodded to Raylina. She stood, the Chosen One’s red kerchief resplendent on her shoulders. “As the Chosen One of the Ancients, and of the Rays, I declare the crimes of every person in this room forgiven. Go forth from this place and spread this pardon as you see fit. Those whose crimes are within the bounds of forgiveness, forgive, unless they prove to be a menace to us or themselves. You are the wisest among our species: We trust you to carry out this task. Those who have been banished must be welcomed back to our society with open...ah...arms.” She blushed at this slip, but Rayman nodded encouragingly. “Tarayzan, you will once again be called Rayzan, and your banishment considered null and void.”
The newly redeemed Rayzan’s mouth fell open in shock. “Thank you,” he whispered, when he had regained some manner of speech.
“This is my daughter, Raylina,” Rayman went on, the pride in his voice apparent. “And now we come to the true reason for this gathering. I am her father; but her mother is not a Ray. Her name is Ly, and she is a Fairy.”
Shock appeared once again on the faces of those who had not known this.
“You see, the Ancients provided us with one great curse, and one great gift. For hundreds of millions of years we have existed as we are; we do not adapt or evolve as the other living things of this planet do. As a result, we have diminished greatly. But now I have uncovered our gift. Raylina is a Ray, as you can see. She possesses all the talents and abilities native to us. Yet she has also gained the empathy and sensitivity of a fairy. We as a race are able to interbreed with other species, and integrate their positive traits without diluting our own identity.
“With this knowledge, the Rays can flourish once more. We no longer have to fear inbreeding as a result of our ever-shrinking gene pool. It will take some getting used to, true, and there will always be those who resist change.
“I charge each of you now: spread the word. Tell this long kept secret to all of the surviving Rays you know of. Tell them that if they find themselves attracted to one of another species, if they find themselves falling in love, not to fight or dismiss it. Tell them to embrace it, given the other’s consent.
“Maybe we will live to see the day the Rays become great again.”

Epilogue: Remote Control

Metal Rayman stood alone at one of the peaks of the Precipice, gazing upon the steep cliffs and black abysses which swept down the mountain’s slopes. Digital eyes analysed shapes, forms and features, noting the slightest flickering movements. Constantly adding to a database of everything and anything that might be of use.
Spider-webbed across the elevated collection of canyons, escarpments, and over-ambitious rocks which constituted the Precipice were a cluster of old Robo-Pirate structures. Weathered, beaten, and occasionally destroyed by cannonfire from their own warships, the wooden buildings clinging to the cliff-faces like leeches nonetheless remained standing.
A reminder of what a machine can do when free of its masters.
The Sceptre of the Leptys lay balanced in the robot’s hand, grey and inanimate. The key to a God. A power which remained unmatched by anything currently in active existence, organic or machine.
So far.
Sliding steel palms across the sphere, it glowed softly and began to shrink to a more manageable size. Metal Rayman’s chest opened, the ‘O’ unfolding, and he placed the Sceptre within. As it closed again, a single thought-file crossed the android’s processors, to be stated simply from his speaker.
“I am not a slave.”

The End.


Next Fanfiction from me: Flames of the Limbless (a prequel). viewtopic.php?t=5442

Thank you all so much for reading this fanfic, and for encouraging me along the way! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it (but that would be pretty difficult to do considering how much I enjoy writing these things.)