The sound of two footsteps rushing down a hallway was barely audible over the blaring alarms. The two children rushed down each hall, their minds focused on one thing: each other.
'Shit!' Lec screamed at himself. He himself had acknowledged that he had grown complacent just a day or two ago, and look where that had gotten him. 'The true trial of my first nightmare has just begun, and my mind isn't even focused on my own safety!'
Glancing back at Maria, Lec couldn't help but curse himself. If he hadn't grown so close to everyone on the Ark, maybe he wouldn't be feeling so conflicted right now, but deep down, he knew that was false. Even if he hadn't bothered himself with getting close to Maria, Gerald, or the Ark's inhabitants, he still would not be able to abandon them in their time of need.
'Damn myself and my altruistic nature...' His thoughts would soon be cut short by Maria tightening her grip on his hand. Turning around, he'd have a hard time keeping up his negative thoughts in the face of such a bright smile. Despite the illusory girl's resemblance to his late sister, Lyra had never smiled like that before; usually, it was the other way around.
"Calm down, Lec, I can tell when you're panicking. I know you're scared, I am too, but..." Her grin widened as she spoke. "We're going the wrong way."
Skidding to a stop, the onyx-haired boy resisted the urge to slap himself. 'Now is not the time to be making stupid mistakes!' Swiftly turning around, Lec observed his surroundings before spotting the correct hallway and dashing towards it, going only slightly faster than the average person.
'It wouldn't be good to be zooming around, we might run into an ambush or something, plus we still don't know anything about the invaders.' Hiding around the corner, Lec almost signaled for Maria to go ahead before quickly stopping her with his hand.
"Is everything okay?"
Shaking his head, he looked around the corner, spotting a heavily armored man. The body suit that he wore closely resembled that of the police officers he knew in the real world, and even closer, the ones that had surrounded him when he surrendered himself for the nightmare spell. 'Am I even in a nightmare?!'
Soon enough, the soldier finished his patrol, clearing the hallway for people. Well, clearly, he was bad at his job. Lec and Maria were still hidden after all. 'Idiot.'
Mocking the man in his mind, Lec gestured for Maria to come out of the spot, as the two kids ran down the now-empty hallway.
'The escape pods are close!'
***
Gerald Robotnik was in a panic, and why wouldn't he be? Every single person on the Ark was now going to die because of him, because he wanted to play god.
Stuffing all of his most important belongings in a large duffel bag, the good doctor was almost ready to evacuate and head to the escape pods. He was still missing one thing, though. He'd wordlessly grab the case containing the chaos emeralds from its open safe. His eyes lingered on it for a few moments before he shook his head. He couldn't possibly do that.
Placing the case gently in the bag along with all of his other important belongings, he'd begin approaching his lab's door only for it to open from the other side. In front of him stood an entire squadron of soldiers, all wearing mostly black and blue, most of them armed with pistols, submachine guns, and assault rifles.
"G.U.N...." Gerald muttered as he slowly backed away, the largest of the men walking forward, an air of authority coming from him.
"Professor Gerald Robotnik, it truly is a pleasure to meet you." The leader spoke in as sincere a voice as he could muster. A cold smile crept onto their face, which the good doctor could only scoff at. "Please, if you wish to kill me, then get it over with."
"Kill you? No, no...at least not now. You will be taken to the world below, where you will be executed. It truly is a shame that the project was deemed a danger to humanity."
Those words caused the doctor's rage to boil over. "You seem to forget that it was your organization that ordered the creation of Project Apotheosis." As he spoke, Gerald inched toward his desk, his hands at the ready for anything.
The squad leader chuckled as he raised his right hand, the squadron behind him raising their weapons in response. "To be honest, I'm not quite sure what's going through the mind of the top brass. Creating a being like that, a being with that much potential, to throw it away, feels like a waste to me. But, alas, what can I say? I am but a simple foot soldier."
Narrowing his eyes, Gerald scowled at the taller man before shooting his hand straight for a button on his metal desk. In that instant, the squad leaders' hands shot forward as well, ordering their squadron to fire, which they did.
Dozens of shots rang out, all of them non-lethal tranquilizers, but before they could reach their target, they were all stopped. A large tendril of water protected the old man, the tranquilizer bullets floating in its liquid form.
Before the G.U.N. soldiers could even react, Gerald's voice rang out. "Restrain them, P-1!"
The water tentacle instantly reacted, lashing out at the entire squadron, and there was absolutely nothing they could do. How were mere humans supposed to defeat a being of chaos?
The tentacle wrapped around the squadron, tightly constricting them. Their once confident leader left, struggling to escape the creature's grasp. Gerald struggled for his breath a little way away. He was so close to having his entire journey end there, everything he had worked so hard for, so hard to achieve. He needed to save Maria...yes, he needed to save Maria.
Turning back to his desk, he'd quickly scan the open security cameras, finding the location of Lec and Maria. A weight lifted from his chest the moment he saw them so close to the escape pods, but it was for naught, as that same weight would come crashing back a thousandfold as he heard a voice coming from behind him.
"Yes, the target is approaching the emergency pods near hall 10-b."
Turning around, he'd instantly spot the culprit. The squadron leader, with a smug smile on his face, pressed his chin down onto a communications device on his neck. And in that moment, the good doctor realized one thing.
He had failed her once more.
***
They were so close, Lec could almost taste the freedom. Perhaps once he and Maria escaped, the nightmare would end. Although that was the last thing on his mind right now.
The duo finally reached the escape pod room, and most of the pods had already been used by the Ark's residents, leaving just a few remaining in their chambers. Maria instantly left his side and rushed to a lone pod, pressing a button that caused the latch to open.
Wasting no time, Lec rushed to her side, ready to enter the pod, but Maria's voice caused him to stop. "W-what about grandfather?"
Lec paused. Gerald had completely slipped his mind, and he did worry for the old man, but some part of him knew that he was fine. That's what he desperately wanted to believe, at least. He didn't have much time for thoughts of the old man to fill his mind; Maria was currently his top priority.
'Guess it's my turn...'
Flashing Maria his widest grin, Lec tried his best to sound comforting. "I'm sure that he'll be okay, he's the world's greatest mind after all. And after you escape in the pod, I promise I'll go right back and find him." The words obviously didn't do much to alleviate the worry that the blond girl was feeling for her grandfather, and adding on Lec's statement to go back and risk his life...
"I can't let you do that!"
Taken aback by the girl's sudden shout, the black-haired boy inadvertently jumps back, a look of surprise on his face. "H-Huh?"
Gritting her teeth, the usually mild-mannered girl seemed to find an inner strength, a look of determination burning in her eyes. "If you go back in there, they'll kill you, or worse! I know you feel like you've failed me, but Lec, you've done more for me than you could ever know..."
She began quieting down, her burning determination dimming yet not disappearing. "I overheard your conversation with your grandfather a few days ago. I heard how you called yourself a failure...and I wanted to tell you that it couldn't be further from the truth. Before I met you, I was lonely. The only person I really felt like talking to was my grandfather, but when you were created, I-I was so happy!" At this point, tears began threatening to burst from her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away before continuing.
"You are my first friend...maybe my only friend. I care about you, so I'm not gonna leave you alone to die!"
Lec remained motionless for a few moments, staring wide-eyed at the taller girl. Although he quickly snapped out of it, trying to look anywhere other than the emotional girl's face. 'DAMN IT, don't cry, don't you dare cry! You've already done that once in this damn nightmare!'
Although before he could get even further into his feelings, the young boy noticed something at the corner of his eye. 'SHIT!'
Rushing forward, he'd instantly push the young girl away, much to her dismay. But before she could even think to ask what it was for, a bullet instantly came flying through where she was just standing.
BANG
Lec instantly turned to the intruder, quickly placing his body between them and Maria. In the emergency room's doorway stood a towering figure, a G.U.N soldier outfitted in the traditional uniform. A pistol was held in their large hand, smoking from the recent shot.
"So this is the target. I expected the ultimate lifeform to be...bigger."
Completely ignoring the encroaching man, Lec's voice instead addressed the girl behind him. "Maria, enter the pod...NOW!" His voice was much more forceful than he intended it to be, but it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was her survival.
Yet, despite the danger she was facing, her answer was still a no. "I don't want to go without you or grandfather. It may sound selfish, but I want you both to survive."
The soldier chuckled a bit at this, his yellowed teeth flashing. "So be it then, I didn't think I'd be killing so many people today, though. Not like that's a bad thing." Lec could only glare at the foot soldier as they began reloading their pistol.
"Oh great, you're insane."
"Among other things..." Flashing a nasty grin, the yellow-toothed soldier finished reloading his pistol.
Lec stared at him with distaste as he began trying to milk the disgruntled man for any information. "Are all your comrades as trashy as you, scum?" The young soldier simply laughed at this, as they raised their handgun, causing Lec to get ready.
"No, I wouldn't say they are. I doubt any of them derive this much enjoyment from killing, let alone playing with their victims. I suppose that's why the higher-ups decided to put me on this task."
"And what is this task?"
"Simple, killing you, along with anyone that knows about you." Lec's heart dropped at that, being filled with a pit of despair, but it was filled up as quickly as it was dug when he felt Maria's hand on his. Whispering to him, she'd provide him with the exact words he needed. "It's not your fault, you didn't ask to be created...so please don't blame yourself again."
Turning his downtrodden gaze to the muzzle of the soldier's handgun, his body would be filled with an energy he couldn't quite explain. No, he could explain it. He knew exactly what it was, and it was always there, lingering. He wasn't sure what had caused him to feel it surging through his body, but...'This feels amazing! Is this the power of chaos!?'
He was already passively enhanced by his body's natural flow of chaos energy, but he had never truly utilized it to actively enhance himself. Perhaps it was the burning desire rising within him that had awakened it, but those thoughts didn't matter right now.
"Hey, piss-mouthed idiot!" A grin spread across his face, the cockiness in his eyes radiating a certain energy. He felt like he could do anything! It was a strange feeling; he had never felt like this before.
He was...strong!