Chapter Text
Antoine’s eyes fluttered open. The bed sheets he was under felt silky smooth against his fur. Despite being covered up to his neck, he wasn’t too warm. He began blinking, trying to clear whatever strange image he was seeing above him. After several blinks he was forced to conclude the swirling vortex of pinks and blues was the sky. He sat up, taking in the rest of the empty space.
It looked like a world of glass. Even his bed and chest of drawers appeared sculpted and see-through. He rubbed the reflective, see-through bedsheets between his fingers. Smooth like silk.
Antoine stood up. The floor was cool on his bare feet. He startled backward when he saw the starry night sky beneath the glass floor. Was it even glass? Was that really space? Was any of this real? He gingerly pressed down with his foot. He sighed with relief when nothing happened.
He looked over himself. By overlander standards he was naked, but a mobian’s first layer of modesty was their fur. Even still, he felt underdressed without his royal guardsman uniform. The coyote frowned at the chest of drawers alongside his bed.
Opening the top drawer revealed his uniform, neatly folded. He placed it on with deft hands in seconds. He opened the next drawer, and inside was his sword and boots. When his uniform was complete Antoine squared his shoulders and stood up straighter.
“Greetings, hero.”
Antoine yelped, spun around, and drew his sword. Though his expression was startled, his sword hand and feet were steady. Above him floated the guardian.
“My apologies. I did not mean to startle you,” the guardian said.
Antoine looked her up and down, then around the glassy expanse again. A slow, serious frown crept onto his face. “It… is fine,” he said as he sheathed his sword. His fingers slid limply off the weapon’s handle.
“Madam…” Antoine’s voice trembled. He grit his teeth and swallowed hard. When he looked the guardian in the eye his expression and voice were steady. “Am I dead?”
“No, hero,” the guardian said. “The dead do not enter my realm.”
Antoine let out a breath he’d been holding and swayed on his feet. He shook his head and regained his balance. “Zen what is happening here?”
“I will explain. I am Ariem, Dreamweaver, and Guardian of the Reverie,” the floating mobian said.
“Dreamweaver?” Antoine asked. “Zen… I am asleep after all? But I remember battle… and…” Antoine held his head and winced, “something happened.”
“Yes,” Ariem said. “I do not know the full details. But I have seen your last wakeful moments in your dreams, and I have encountered those like you before. Your mind is… trapped, between life and death.”
The hairs on the back of Antoine’s neck bristled and his mouth became dry. “I see,” he said, “I am like ze king after ze Zone of Silence.”
Antoine’s hands trembled, so he closed one around his sword hilt and made a fist with the other. As he was taking in his current state. He gasped, “My wife! Bunnie D’Coolette. Or perhaps you know her as ze Bunnie Rabbot! She was with us in battle and…!”
“It is alright,” Ariem raised her hands for calm. “I have felt her presence multiple times after your last battle. She comes and goes, which means she’s alive and sleeping normally. All your friends have.”
Antoine heaved a sigh of relief, leaning on his knees. “Thank you, guardian.”
Ariem winced. “I am undeserving of your thanks. It is beyond my powers to heal a mortal body. I’ve come not to offer help, but to ask it.”
Antoine stood up straight again. “You require my help?”
“Yes,” Ariem nodded, “A vile madman is taking over my domain.” She explained Finitevus’ misuse of the Reverie relic, and the kidnapping of Charmy as a conduit.
“I know of zis man,” Antoine said. “He is an enemy of a friend. But guardian, while I am being flattered by your asking, I am thinking bringing Knuckles here would serve you better.”
“Perhaps,” Ariem said, “but that is outside my control. Usually, when a dreamer becomes aware they are in the dreamworld, they awaken instantly, which would make them useless in a fight.” Ariem clasped her hands and spoke hesitantly, “But… with your current condition…”
“I am unable to awaken, which means I am being able to stay,” Antoine finished. He straightened his uniform, clicked his heels together, and stood at attention. “What must I do?”
“I require your heroism and skill to recover the dream orbs.” Ariem held out her hand. A shadowy illusion flickered up from her palm. It showed what looked like a glass ball with a dark red spiral inside. “These contain the power of the reverie and allow me to dreamweave. With enough of them, I can get us through the twisted dreamscapes Dr. Finitevus has constructed.” She closed her fist, and the illusion vanished.
Ariem extended her other hand, out and down. Next to Antoine, another glassy, see-through bed morphed into existence. There was a short flash of light, and then the bed was occupied by Charmy Bee. The Chaotix member looked like he was made of glass too, but his chest rose and fell with soft snoring. Antoine touched the bee’s shoulder, gently nudging, but he didn’t stir.
“With the orbs’ power, I will also be able to awaken Charmy Bee within the dreamworld,” Ariem said. “But until I reconnect with the dream core itself, I cannot free him from Finitevus’ forced slumber in your world.” She added with a softer tone, “I wish I could do the same for you, hero.”
Antoine turned away from Charmy. He looked past Ariem at the giant, swirling blue and red portal behind her. “Is that the way I must go?”
Ariem nodded. “Yes.”
Antoine walked within an inch in front of the portal. “May I be asking what lies beyond?”
Ariem floated down and alongside the coyote. “A dreamscape,” she said, “One manifested by Dr. Finitevus.” Ariem held her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes, focusing. “I can sense he has constructed three of them, but their exact contents are… clouded to me.” Her eyes opened again. “All I know for certain, is that they are his vision for a perfect world.”
Antoine swallowed hard. His hand sweated where he gripped his sword hilt. “Ze perfect world of a madman.” He turned to Ariem. “Will ze danger be real?”
“To your physical health, no. But if Finitevus triumphs and drives me completely from this world. Your mind will be at his mercy, forever.”
Ariem sighed, “Hero,” she floated down to stand alongside Antoine. “If you wish not to go, I will not force you. You have already sacrificed yourself for a noble cause. If you wish, I can return you now to pleasant slumber.”
Antoine stared into the swirling vortex of the portal, then looked back at Charmy. “No. You are needing ze hero.” Antoine squared his shoulders, “And I am him.”
“Thank you.” Ariem nodded.
Antoine turned and faced the glowing vortex. He took a long breath in, and sighed. In soldier lockstep, he marched through the portal.
He was outside now, under a starry night sky. The air was sweltering hot. Ash and smoke choked him. Distant screaming and crying echoed through the sound of crackling flames. He’d appeared in a burning city street. The buildings around him were a mix of eras. There were smooth, rounded structures of faded gold several stories tall, and shorter, older structures of stone, clearly of ancient origin. Antoine recognized the city as Albion; the echidna homeland.
Everywhere green fires raged, inside the buildings and along the ancient stone streets. It spread bizarrely, licking its way across surfaces that shouldn’t have burned. Metal and stone were crawled over by the emerald flames.
A nearby building collapsed in on itself, sending up a plume of green cinders. Antoine ran from the falling debris, his boots pounding on the ancient stone street. He ducked behind a one-story stone building. His breathing became rapid as he listened to the distant screaming. He held his hands over his ears and whispered to himself, “Zey are not real. Zey are not real.” He clenched his fist, slammed it against the wall, then marched back into the street.
Thudding footsteps approached. Antoine gripped his sword hilt. Out of a wall of green fire ahead of him, five figures walked through the flames. They were dressed in black robes with gold trim that trailed the floor and seemed to shield them from the emerald fire. Their hoods hid their faces in a black void, out of which glowing red eyes floated in darkness. They carried shining silver laser rifles that glowed green from the surrounding flames. “Halt, in the name of Enerjak!” the lead figure shouted.
“Enerjak!?” Antoine squeaked.
“Have you not heard our savior’s call?” asked the lead figure.
“I… cannot say that I have,” Antoine said.
The five figures formed into an orderly line, side-by-side. Together they recited in booming voices, “The savior of Mobius has arrived. Just as the prophet foretold. We are his acolytes. We carry his message. He brings peace where there was war. He brings purity where there was corruption. He brings order where there was chaos. Join in his cleansing of Mobius, or perish in his flames!”
“Ah… I see,” Antoine said. He cast a brief glance around the burning wreckage of Albion. “So… how would I be doing ze joining of Enerjak?” If the dreamscape was powered by a dream orb, then perhaps these acolytes could lead him to it.
The five figures threw back their hoods. Antoine stifled a gasp. They were echidnas, but their fur was pure white. He studied their faces, but none of them were Finitevus. Their eyes were replaced with glowing red cybernetics rimmed with gold. The lead acolyte said, “We will take you to safety, brother. Our mission is to bring all who submit to the message of the prophet, and the savior Enerjak.”
Antoine had a feeling he knew who this prophet was. “I am thanking you, err… my new brothers.”
The lead acolyte reached into a pocket of his robe and pulled out a warp ring. He tossed the device, which spun to life and floated in mid-air, opening onto the darkened interior of a massive cavern. Antoine hesitated at the ring’s rim. “Do not be afraid brother. Your rapture is at hand,” the acolyte said.
Antoine gingerly stepped over the ring and through the portal. Only one of the acolytes followed before the ring spun closed.
They were in a massive, echoing cavern of rock. Skyscrapers could’ve fit inside the place. Antoine’s eyes had to adjust to the darkened interior, lit by torches dotted around the walls and placed on metal poles. It was cool here after the inferno of the city. A breeze whistled through stalagmites and stalactites. The entire cavern was a tunnel that gradually sloped upward in front, and down into total darkness at the back.
At the far end of the cavern, high above, stood a massive castle of gleaming silver metal. It was built into the rock itself, with a roof that resembled the Master Emerald Shrine.
“Am I… being on Angel Island?” Antoine asked his guide. The coyote wondered why only one of the acolytes had stayed with him. Didn’t they worry he might be lying? Perhaps it was because they were only dreamed mobians and not real ones. Or maybe Finitevus was so confident in his own powers he didn’t see the need to worry? Antoine hoped it was the latter.
“Indeed,” the acolyte answered. “You have been on the holy island before?”
“Perhaps… once or twice,” Antoine said.
The acolyte turned back to the looming castle. “This is the Hidden Palace Zone, where Enerjak and his prophet share their wise council for the world below.”
“And where ze glowing glass ball of pink is kept by the prophet no?” Antoine added.
The acolyte wheeled around to face Antoine, drawing up his laser rifle. “How did you know of the prophet’s orbs?!”
A blinding flash of silver swiped over the acolyte’s gun. The echidna looked between his raised weapon and Antoine’s drawn sword, confused. The middle of the firearm spit sparks, then its front half slowly slid off and clattered to the ground, sliced clean in two.
Antoine swung his sword again, bringing the tip just in front of the echidna’s throat. “Now zen, you will be telling me where your, prophet, keeps his orbs.”
“Traitor! You spurn the gift of salvation!” the acolyte hissed. “I will never betray my savior!”
Antoine smirked. “Zen it is a good thing you are not being real.” Antoine drew his sword back and slashed through the echidna’s neck. The acolyte’s body dissipated into a pink and blue cloud of smoke that drifted away into nothing. Antoine sheathed his sword and moved on.
The Hidden Palace was atop a large hill, with a twisting staircase that came down to a small arch just in front of Antoine. He could see no other way up, so he began climbing.
Soon the coyote was out of breath but at the top of the stairs. The silver palace loomed before him, cast in fiery red reflections. Antoine peered over the last few steps without revealing himself. The giant, arched palace doors were flanked by two of the black robed acolytes. Antoine slid back down the stairs without being spotted and began climbing the rocky slope to the side of the stairs.
He climbed up to the side of the palace’s hill, searching for another means of entry. There were side doors, but they were all locked and made of reinforced steel. Luckily Antoine had steel of his own.
He drew his sword. Even if this was a dream world, his weapon had kept its properties. With the help of his genius friends, he’d sharpened his sword down to nano thin. The blade could cut through thick metal like butter.
Antoine hesitated to slash the square silver door’s bolted lock. This was an echidna base on Angel Island. If it was anything like the real deal, it would have an alarm. Once he was in, there was no turning back.
Antoine’s hands trembled and his breathing quickened. He looked back down the hill, then at the door. He pictured Charmy, formed of glass and stuck in slumber. His hand tightened on his weapon. He slashed the lock.
No sound came from the lock breaking, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a silent alarm. Antoine didn’t wait to find out. He opened the door and ran inside.
It was cooler inside the palace. Dark purple light played off metal walls with grooved carvings. It was a strange place. The carved walls looked ancient in design, but the purple light came from electronic lighting that was a part of the original structure. Was this a result of Finitevus’ dream, or ancient echidna technology? Antoine whispered to himself, “I will be asking Knuckles once I am being long gone.”
He traveled down a long hallway that led into a bigger one. The bigger room was at least two stories tall and just as wide, lined with columns. He skirted the walls. Ducking behind columns and hiding in their shadows.
Antoine stopped when he heard the stomping of boots running toward him. A voice shouted, “This way! The alarm came from the east side!” A troop of six robed acolytes with drawn laser rifles ran by. Antoine pressed himself against the back side of a column, getting as deep into its shadow as he could. He held his sword flat against his chest to prevent a glint of light.
The stomping acolytes ran closer. They passed close enough that Antoine could hear the rustle of their robes. They moved on. Their steps retreated down the way he’d come. Antoine sighed through his nose and continued.
Before he reached the grand hall’s end, he looked up at a tapestry. It was as wide as a house, carved of red metal. On the left side was a stylized but still very recognizable figure. “Robotneek?” Antoine whispered. On the right was a floating hedgehog with raised quills, and between them, the Master Emerald. Antoine smirked at Sonic’s image and whispered, “As eef his head was not being big enough already.”
He passed the tapestry and came to an arched doorway. Glowing green light came from beyond. It was a cavernous room, the ceiling so high that darkness obscured it, despite the bright green beams of light playing across the walls. A huge shrine, surrounded by six pillars took up the center. Each pillar had a floating orb above it, clear glass with a red swirl within, the dream orbs. But Antoine’s eyes were drawn away from his goal toward the shrine itself. Pyramid shaped and constructed of stone, the shrine’s steps led up to the source of the room’s light, the Master Emerald.
Sitting on the gemstone was an echidna. He sat in a meditating position, clothed in extravagant black and gold robes and a golden mask with one red eye. Twisting tendrils of green electricity crackled up from the Master Emerald into him. Though his face was covered, his slouched posture told Antoine he had his eyes closed. The echidna below him, however, standing in front of the Master Emerald, had his eyes open.
Wearing his usual black and white garb, and his black cape trailing behind him, Finitevus stood watch. Antoine froze at the bottom of the shrine. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the nearest floating dream orb. If he could grab even one, this mission wouldn’t be in vain. But he knew Finitevus’ powers of teleportation. The albino echidna could use warp ring portals in ways no other had managed, and that was just in the real world. Who knew what powers he had in his own dream world.
“Hello, freedom fighter,” Finitevus whispered.
Antoine startled. “You are knowing who I am?”
“Yes,” Finitevus hissed, “After Sonic helped ruin my plans with Enerjak, I made a point to study him, and his friends.” Finitevus began descending the steps of the shrine. “But why you?” He readied a warp ring in both hands. “Why has the guardian sent you, swordsman?”
Antoine shifted backward. Sweat stood out on his forehead. Finitevus stopped halfway down the steps with a calculating look on his face.
Antoine’s mind raced. He couldn’t fight Finitevus head on. Or was that his fear talking? No. The odds were against him. He needed to think. Find another angle. He wished Bunnie was here. She could’ve taken Finitevus or thought of something clever, like back on the Battle Bird’s ship. Antoine wiped sweat from his brow to hide a quick smile.
“I am aware of you as well, Dr. Finitevus,” Antoine’s voice trembled. “I am knowing zat I am being no match for you.”
“Indeed,” Finitevus said in a bored voice. “Now answer my question.”
“Yes, well… you see,” Antoine fidgeted with his uniform’s collar. “I am being in ze coma.”
Finitevus raised an eyebrow. His readied warp rings slid back up onto his wrists with the others. “Fascinating.” He held his chin. “So the guardian was only able to enlist you because your mind cannot leave here.” An oily smile spread across his face. “Hardly seems fair to you. Tell me… what has she promised you in return?”
Antoine let his trembling increase. For once his natural fear was aiding him. “She… has promised me that I will be waking if I am… defeating you,” Antoine lied.
Finitevus’ eyes flashed, and he grinned. “I’m afraid I must disappoint you, swordsman. The guardian lied to you.”
“Wh-What?” Antoine feigned surprise.
“Yes.” Finitevus began descending the steps again. “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but she has lied to you.”
“No,” Antoine trembled, “You are being ze liar. You are ze villain! She… She promised me.”
“I am no liar swordsman. My standing here is proof enough. If the guardian could make a slumbering mobian wake, then why has she not done so with me?” Finitevus asked.
“I… she…” Antoine trailed off.
Finitevus stopped three steps above Antoine. “The guardian has played you for a fool, swordsman.”
Antoine bowed his head, assuming an appalled expression. There was a short silence, interrupted only by the crackling electricity of the Master Emerald and meditating Enerjak.
Antoine whispered, “If zat is true, zen… perhaps you could be offering to me instead.”
Finitevus slowly raised an eyebrow. “What would that detail?”
Antoine began wringing his hands. “I know you are being ze master of cybernetics. Perhaps,” the coyote traced the back of his head. “Perhaps you could be fixing me so zat I may be awakening.”
Finitevus folded his arms. “You would trust me with your surgery?”
“I am thinking, zat if my friends could have awakened me, then I would be awake already. Clearly, zey cannot.” He finally met Finitevus’ eyes. “Zerefore, you are being my only option.”
“Hmm,” Finitevus hummed as he squinted at Antoine. “And what would you offer in return?”
Antoine put one foot up another step, then knelt. He held his sheathed sword out in front of himself. He answered, “Ze head of ze Dreamweaver.”
Finitevus’ eyes widened, becoming black orbs of reflected torch light. Then he squinted. “You would betray her?”
“She lied to me, and has sent me on ze suicide mission,” Antoine hissed. He raised his head to look Finitevus in the eye. “I am wishing to be with my beloved again. I am wishing for ze revenge against Robotneek. You can be giving me both.”
“Well then,” Finitevus walked the last three steps separating them. “We have a deal.”
Finitevus extended his hand. Antoine shook it, then grabbed the echidna’s wrist with both hands. He spun in place and hurled Finitevus down the stairs. Antoine climbed several more steps, just high enough to be above one of the surrounding pillars housing a dream orb. He did not look back to see where Finitevus landed.
The coyote leapt from the stairs, sideways toward the nearest pillar. He landed, wobbling on the edge, flailing his arms for balance. A warp ring portal swirled open in front of him. Finitevus glared through the portal, snarling at the coyote. “Pathetic fool! I will finish what Robotnik could not!”
Finitevus lunged toward the open portal. Antoine yelped and drew his sword. He swung at the portal’s rim. The golden ring sparked and shattered. Below, at the bottom of the shrine, Finitevus dove at empty air as the portal evaporated. Antoine blinked at his sword, shocked that had worked. He shook his head and grabbed the dream orb.
A new portal opened above him, but this one was a swirling blue and pink. Antoine levitated up, sucked into the vortex.
Finitevus watched the freedom fighter’s escape. He dusted himself off and straightened his cape. “Take your meager prize, swordsman.” Finitevus slowly ascended the shrine again. When he reached the top, he opened a warp ring portal. “Lien-Da, how go your modifications?”
A monotone, robotic voice answered, “On schedule.”
“Good. I have met the guardian’s champion.” Finitevus ran his hand over the Master Emerald, letting sparks zap his fingertips. “He will be no match for you.”
Antoine stumbled out of the portal back into the glassy world where he’d started. His boots sent ripples across the floor. Ariem caught him from falling. “Well done hero,” Ariem said.
“Zis had better be enough to wake Charmy,” Antoine panted. “I cannot be facing Finitevus without back-up.”
“It will,” Ariem assured.
She took the orb and floated over to Charmy’s bed. Antoine walked to the opposite side. Ariem hesitated in moving, staring into the dream orb. “I heard what you said to the doctor,” Ariem whispered.
Antoine reached over the bed and placed his hand over Ariem’s. “It was only a trick. I did not mean what I said about you.”
“But it was true.” Ariem said. “What I’m asking of you isn’t fair.”
Antoine frowned at the guardian as he pulled his hand away. He straightened his uniform and said, “Zen how about zis. Once we are finishing with Finitevus and saving ze world, we will work together to be awakening me?”
Ariem looked up from the orb at Antoine’s kind smile. “Yes.” Ariem smiled. “Your friends need you, and you deserve a second chance at life.”
Antoine flashed a suave smile and chuckled, “Well,” he shrugged, “zey are being rather hopeless without me, zere dashing hero.”
Ariem chuckled. She held the dream orb out over Charmy. The orb turned into ribbons of pink and blue, flying down into the bee’s sleeping form. The glassy form of Charmy vanished in a burst of light. In its place was the real thing.
The bee’s eyes fluttered open sleepily, and darted between Ariem, Antoine, and the swirling color scape of the sky. Charmy rubbed his eyes and groaned, “This better not be because of another bad chili dog.”