Mobius: The Final Stand Ch. 24
Raymond was desperately trying to make up for lost time. He had long lost track of the Chaotix after his battle against Slash, and was relying on Slash's navigator to maneuver his way around. As he sped by at full speed, planets, stars, and moons rushing by as bright specks of light in the blackness of space, Raymond could only think of how he couldn't lose his only, one lead to his life's mystery in this otherwise vast universe. Throttling the engines and controls at full power, he happened to turn the corner of one planet, and was immediately stunned at what he saw right in front of his unbelieving eyes. There was the Blue Typhoon, a massive aircraft carrier, just as Vector had described. Raymond, realizing he had finally made it, grinned, and started to head towards that direction, cautiously. However, he then noticed a bleeping noise on his front dashboard, warning him of something vital.
Raymond glanced downwards, confused at what it appeared to be telling him. Then, the red fox looked back up. There, a planet dead ahead seemed to be morphing strangely. It seemed to pulsate; growing smaller and smaller, more tightly compressed. As Raymond hovered the spaceship a bit closer to the curious scene, his heart instantly sank. He didn't need to read the flashing warning signs on his monitor to understand what was going on. Apparently, that planet ahead was going to blow up. Instead of trying to escape as quickly as possible, which Raymond knew was impossible, he simply sighed in defeat, accepting his sudden turn of unfortunate fate. Had he journeyed and come all this way in life just to die in some far away part of space? Was everything he had done, all for nothing?
Then, suddenly, a figure appeared to be flying towards the planet. He saw two other hedgehogs stare at it in amazement as it passed straight through the atmosphere, and somehow turn into a magnificent tree, attaching itself. A second passed… a few more…. several…. Raymond sensed something was going on. He put on his headset, and directed his sonar waves towards the Blue Typhoon in an attempt to piece together what was going on. Almost immediately, he wished he hadn't. There, in front of him on the screen, he witnessed Cosmo desperately pleading with Tails to shoot her, but Tails instead insisting that he couldn't. A few more words were exchanged. Then, Tails cried out his love towards Cosmo, and then fired away; the yellow beam from the Blue Typhoon racing out towards the planet and making a gigantic impact, smothering it in heavenly light. Raymond turned off the sonar waves as he saw the planet blow apart, and slumped down in his seat.
"Just like Emily… just like Emily…" Raymond started to mutter to himself quietly. Thanks to that heroic figure, she had saved everyone's life, including his. But at a cost. And what hurt most of all was that the one who loved her had to kill her. Raymond thought back to Emily, how she selflessly sacrificed herself for him. Now, another person had done the same thing…. Raymond didn't notice the Blue Typhoon leaving or the planet eggs flying overhead. He just sat there, in his small space-craft, thinking his entire life over. Was the whole galaxy filled with other people who were willing to do the same thing? Raymond had always thought that after Emily's death that the world was such a cruel place, but now he realized that there were other people doing the exact same thing…. And Tails, who he now remembered to be his cousin, seemed to be so heart-broken… At the loss of whoever that person was…
"Just like Emily…" Raymond quietly stated to himself again, in a trance. He reached out and grabbed the black diamond around his neck, studying it meticulously. He so, very much wanted to use it to bring back Emily, but what about Tails? Raymond grabbed his head and bent over in his seat.
"ARGH! I don't know!… I know I have the power to bring someone back from the dead, and I really want Emily here back with me, but I don't know if I'll be able to get over the guilt if Tails knew I didn't make the choice to bring back his love…" Raymond sighed dejectedly and looked up. "What would you do, Emily? If you can hear me… please help me… I'm lost, and I need your help."
Suddenly, he blacked out. And as he slowly opened his eyes, he found himself sitting on a far away wall, next to the one person he loved most...
"Emily!" Raymond shouted in utter happiness. He hugged her tightly, tears starting to flow down his cheeks and face. She hugged him back in return, smiling sadly.
As the two of them released, Raymond began to study the surroundings more. Besides the wall, everything else; the sky, the ground, and the background, was all a heavenly, shining white.
"Am I dead?" Raymond suddenly asked, as Emily shook her head.
"No, silly!" She giggled, teasing the red fox by gently poking a finger on his muzzle. "You still have so much more to do with your life! So much more people to save and help…Because you're a hero and people need you!"
Raymond, hearing those kind words, slowly shook his head. "No…. you're wrong…" He slowly stated. "I'm not a hero. I never was or will be." Raymond looked up sadly at Emily. "On the outside, I might seem fine and strong. But on the inside, I'm still hurting, trying to hold it all back in. I need you, Emily." As he said that, Raymond took Emily's hands in his own, causing both of them to blush. "Without you, I'm nothing," Raymond further insisted.
Emily smiled warmly. "But look at everything you've done so far, Raymond…" In front of them, blurry images appeared of Raymond battling and beating Luke, Garry, and Slash.
"But still, I'm getting weaker and weaker without you…" Raymond sorrowfully told Emily after the projections had died away.
Emily softly smiled again. "I'm sure, Raymond. And if that's your choice, then I'll definitely be happy with that. But what about Tails? Doesn't he deserve his love back also?" She asked, looking Raymond in the eyes openly.
Raymond sighed miserably. "Well that's the point. I'd love to do anything to help Tails bring her back… but at the same time I know I can't live without you..."
"And yet you have," Emily pointed out. "I know how much you love me, and know that if you choose to help Tails instead, I'll still be happy with your choice."
"But… I don't want to lose you!" Raymond cried out loud. "What if this is the only chance I get? To bring you back? I'd feel so terrible if I knew that I missed out on that!" He couldn't bear the thought of leaving his love forever and ever…
In response, Emily leaned over and kissed Raymond on the cheek tenderly, trying her best to soothe his broken feelings and heart. "Don't feel that way, Raymond. Either way, you'd make someone so happy, whether it be you or Tails. But at the same time, the other person would have to deal without his love…"
Raymond considered for a moment, then another, before starting to speak. "Well…." Tears started to run down his face as time started to move slowly; Emily awaiting Raymond's fateful choice. "But I still don't think I can live life without you Emily…. Whether it's five more minutes or fifty more years, they're both too long to bear while you're not here with me…"
"I'll never leave you Raymond. You know I'll still always love you, and I'll always be right here." Emily answered sympathetically as she placed one hand delicately on Raymond's heart. Raymond felt a warm sensation racing up his body. Suddenly, he didn't feel so terrible anymore…
"Well… what do you want, Emily?" Raymond asked her, wiping the tears off of his face with the back of his arm as he sniffed sorrowfully.
"I want whatever you choose, Raymond." She told him selflessly. "I'll always stand by any decision you make." And with that, Emily kissed him right on the lips, staying there for several seconds as Raymond kissed back, relaxing, as he thought….
That was the last Raymond remembered before he woke up in his space-ship, jumping to a sudden start. Realizing it hadn't been real, he checked the clock: He had been sleeping for about ten minutes. Outside, there wasn't a trace of the Blue Typhoon or the suicidal planet; they had probably left long ago while he was still stuck in the vision. Raymond still remembered his entire conversation crystal clear though, so he wasn't sure if it was really a dream…
Slowly, ever so slowly, Raymond patiently took what Emily had said into consideration, and finally made his decision without any regrets or lingering thoughts; one which would change his life forever. He looked again at the black diamond in the palm of his hand, and clutched it tightly, never letting go of its cold surface; one that had changed the lives of people before, and was about to change his. Then, Raymond looked up, peering straight ahead into the blackness with a determined expression, feeling strong and in control of his life for the first time in a while.
Raymond knew what he was going to do now. Maybe he wasn't a true hero. Not yet, anyways, but he was still going to try his best to help people that were hurting. Emily assured him that no matter what, she was never going to leave him. She was always was going to stay in his heart, watching over him. Emily was perfectly fine now, in heaven. He was still needed on earth to save people, and to comfort them. Raymond gritted his teeth, took a look around one last time, and then entered a destination on his monitor.
DESTINATION: MOBIUS
Raymond hit enter, and as the ship's engines heated up and blasted off, he briefly felt Emily's thoughts inside his head.
"No matter what you think, Raymond, in MY mind, you're a true hero!" And then the sound of Emily giggling echoed inside of his mind.
Raymond smiled warmly as he thought about his one and only love. So maybe he WAS still going to hurt a lot inside about his decision, but he knew that inside, it was the right thing to do. And that along with Emily's encouragement made all the difference. Malcolm could wait. So could war and fighting. He had a mission now, and he was going to complete it. Tails needed him, and he was going to honor that request.
"Mobius, here I come!" Raymond shouted into the darkness as the rockets blasted away.
-THE END OF PART ONE-