#Zepperaith is such a silly yet intimidating antagonist

[moderator-monnie]

The Awakening (A COTH Story)

Eggman suddenly jolted 'awake' or what can be described as awake; his body was sleeping yet he found himself aware of his surroundings. It was like a lucid dream; he knew exactly what he was doing before he got here and how he got here.

The place was a completely black void, and for the most part, it seemed to be covered in a white mist, with a few specs of what looked like stars but not many—not enough to create much light but enough to be seen here and there.

"Truly a marvelous place, though I expected a dream god to have something a bit more... Imaginative, I won't lie, but I digress best not to judge the god before I get to meet it."

He just started to walk through the void, being careful about his steps. The further he walked, the darker it got—darker, darker yet darker—it became more void-like as he went along. At first, he found it interesting, but the further he went, no matter what direction, he wasn't finding anything.

Eggman found himself starting to get annoyed, and when he turned around, the white mist and stars were no longer there, which confused the doctor, but seeing he was making no progress, he huffed and puffed loudly.

"ALRIGHT, WHERE IS THIS DAMNED GOD? THIS PLACE HAS NO VISIBLE LANDMARKS, AND I CAN'T EVEN SEE WHERE I'M GOING. I'M A DOCTOR WHO'S QUITE BUSY! I KNOW I'M WHERE I NEED TO BE, SO WHERE IS ZEPPER-"

Just as he was about to continue shouting, suddenly some torches appeared and a large path was created out of nowhere in front of him. Each torch had coloured fire matching the chaos emerald's colours; there was even a cobblestone path. What made the path interesting was that it was carved to look like each stone was the letter 'Z', and as Eggman could see every few feet, there were eyes on the ground.

The eyes all turned to look at him, and Eggman gulped nervously, following the path, making sure not to step on any of the eyes. After a very long walk and torches continuing to appear and brighten the way, there lay a large throne made of solid gold and two statues of sheep with sleeping caps on their heads.

The sheep turned to look at Eggman and began to drool in a purple liquid that even Eggman could smell at a distance; it appeared to be toxic ... but familiar it seemed to be the liquid Eggman had mass produced in chemical plant zone, and soon enough, with the blink of the doctor's eye, the path he followed was completely gone.

Hundred's of eyes suddenly appeared all around him, all staring at him, and the laughter of everyone Eggman had ever met in his life could be heard around him. Then suddenly they all exploded into confetti, and sitting on the throne was the god of dreams itself.

ZEPPERAITH.

Eggman jumped when Zepperaith's head was suddenly just a few feet before his own, Its massive eye staring directly at him, looking almost like it was examining him.

"WOAH! Look at that! A talking egg! I didn't expect to get some breakfast in bed. Boy do you have any idea how rare it is for me to have a proper meal? I mean, not that I really need to eat like you little creatures do. But sometimes I want to be included!"

Eggman gulped and a bead of sweat dripped down his forehead. As much as he hated jokes because of one blue pest, he hoped that the god was joking. It wasn't going to ….

Then their head pulled away and spun like a ball being tossed, landing on the shoulders of the god who now was sitting on its throne. A leg crossed over the other and its cheek rested in its hand, the other petting the dripping statue of a sheep beside it.

"So what's a guy like you doing here? Been forever since I've seen anyone 'round these parts. Well, been asleep for a good long time, that's probably why."

An intense anxiety fell over the doctor, that anxious feeling he always had when he was having a bad dream, a bad dream about that blue rodent foiling his plans. He hoped a bit that he would suddenly wake up like this was just a bad dream, but he couldn't, as long as the god knew he was there he couldn't wake up. So much happened at once; he just didn't know how to feel.

He exhaled and bowed his head towards them as a sign of respect. He didn't get onto his hands and knees though, he had to much pride in himself to do that.

"Oh, Im quite sorry to disturb your slumber, Zepperaith the-"

"Oh shut up!" Zepperaith said loudly to cut the doctor off. "That stupid hogwash … " It lifted one of their hands, a crude sock puppet of one of the ancients was on it. Zepperaith moved up and down as they spoke in a voice that was vastly different than its own. Mocking the words that it had heard over and over again. "Oh, we love you, Zepperaith. Please give us good dreams! Let us kiss the ground you walk upon!" It groaned and threw the puppet away.

"I know, I'm great." It said softly. "You really don't need to tell me what I already know. What I want to know is … WHY ARE YOU HERE?" It slammed its fist into the armrest of its throne, the impact making a loud bang.

Eggman flinched a bit when the god slammed it's fist down. He kept staring at them with that continuous anxiety, but two new feelings came over him, confusion … and mild annoyance. This god seemed so intimidating at first, but oddly reminded him of …. Sonic.

Of course, that annoying pest always seems to nuzzle his way into every single one of his plans. Even if he wasn't here at the moment.

He cleared his throat and spoke. "Right, we'll, Zepperaith. My name is-"

"I already know your name." Zepperaith rudely cut him off again. "Just get on with it, egghead."

Eggman's eye twitched. He had to grit his teeth to prevent himself from insulting the god who could easily rip him apart. "Yes, we'll, you see, I performed this ritual to meet you and wake you because I want your help, almighty god of the mind."

Zepperaith looked down at Eggman, rubbing their chin with a finger in curiosity. "Help? You want my help? With what exactly?" It bent forward in its chair, it's single eye narrowing at the doctor.

Eggman stood up, pulled at his collar, fixed his clothes, and cleared his throat.

"Oh, we'll discuss the details later. What I need your help with is dealing with a little … problem of mine. You see, my goals are to make the world a better place for everyone alike! But there's this …. Little … idiotic …blue …. PEST! I-" He cut himself off and looked back up at Zepperaith who had a brow raised to him. He needed to contain his emotions before the actual truth slipped, and he would be done for.

He cleared his throat and composed himself. "My point being. I want peace for the world. But there's been a thorn in my side for all too long, a thorn by the name of Sonic the Hedgehog. With him gone. I can finally fulfill my lifelong dream of creating Eggman Land. And bring joy and peace to the world!" He looked back at the god. "That's what you want, right? Peace? Tranquility?"

"Yes."

"Well, there you go! I wake you up, you take care of Sonic. The perfect plan! You can do whatever you want when the deed is done!"

Zepperaith liked the points the doctor had thrown about, after all, its whole deal was to make people happy. Shame that's what caused it to go to sleep all those years ago. People just don't understand the vision.

But the god knew there was something off about what the man said. It could tell his ego was so thick that they could practically feel it in the room, it was near exhausting. And with that ego, it made Zepperaith suspicious. That maybe what he was saying wasn't actually what he really wanted.

An anxiety came over Eggman again and he grinned nervously as he awaited the god to respond. He stood there as he stared into the endless void of its face, its eye had disappeared while it was silently thinking. The silence around them was deafening. He cleared his throat to get his attention again.

"So? Yes or no?"

Zepperaith made a low hum as it tapped the tips of its fingers together in thought, then it's eye reappeared and opened. "Fine. I don't have anything better to do."

Eggman practically bounced as he clapped his hands. "OHOHOHO! Splendid! I promise you won't regret it!"

The God's lower lid of its eye curled up like an invisible smile. "Oh I bet I won't." It stood up from its throne and moved close to the doctor. "But now if we need to get me out of here, I'll need your help in doing so."

"Ah, yes! Of course!" The doctor paused, he couldn't remember if there was anything else to do to bring the god into the waking world. "Er … what is it?"

The god jutted its hand out to him. "Oh, there's many different ways. But just a handshake would do this time. Think of it as to seal the deal of our partnership."

He hesitated, but Eggman grasped the god's hand and shook it firmly. Then everything disappeared, including the god before him.

"Rise and shine, doctor." He heard its voice.

Eggman awoke and saw the blue sky above him. He sat up and yawned out the tired from himself. He felt so refreshed, he hadn't had a good nights sleep like that in ages. Man, it was true, that god really did wonders.

He got up from his sleeping bag and looked around, he didn't see the god yet, it did say it would be awake soon, just how soon he didn't know. He looked at his hands then pinched himself to make sure he wasn't still asleep, nope. He was awake. And he now has the power of a god on his side.

Eggman cackled loudly into the sky. "NYAHAHAHAHAHA! YES! OHOHO! I DID IT!" He grinned madly and rubbed his hands together. "NOW I WILL FINALLY GET RID OF THAT BLUE NUISANCE ONCE AND FOR ALL! AND WITH A GOD ON MY SIDE, NO ONE WOULD DARE TO OPPOSE ME! I WILL FINALLY BUILD EGGMAN LAND AND RULE THE WORLD OF MY DREAMS!"

The doctor cackled again, but this time he was cut off, as the sky began to fade to a dark crimson colour, turning the world into a deep reddish hue. He looked down and saw the ground in the middle of the halo he slept in turn to pitch black. This was it.

He ran from the halo and watched as he saw the god pull itself up from the ground, and oh, it was massive, maybe as big as perfect chaos was, maybe bigger. It took a deep breath in and exhaled out a sigh, looking out to the world before turning its attention to the doctor.

"OHOHO! This is fantastic!" Eggman laughed. "We can get started right away!"

"Right. To get rid of this Sonic the Hedgehog … " Zepperaith nodded then leaned down to the doctor. "And 'rule the world of my dreams' ... " it repeated the doctors words from before.

Eggman's face went as pale as a ghost. He didn't think the god would have heard him before he appeared. "Uh … I-listen … I … uh … " He stammered as he tried to come up with some excuse. But he was grasped by the gods hand and pulled up to be face to face with it.

"I have to say, good Doctor … You are pretty good at swaying others into your favor. And you are right; I do want the world to be happy! But you are forgetting something … " Its grip tightened around the doctor slightly. It didn't want to crush him, no matter how much it would enjoy that. "I can do that just as easily, by myself."

Eggman was practically trembling in the god's hand, though he tried to hide his obvious fear from it. "Oh, but don't worry, doctor! I am Zepperaith the Dreamer, after all! And I'll make sure you'll have such a pleasant dream. Why, even …. The world of your dreams." It's last worlds sounded ominous and threatening.

And before Eggman could say a word of protest, Zepperaith put a finger onto his forehead and he was out cold. Now in a dream of his own. A dream … A dream full of pure, unbridled agony. Whatever dream the god had given him, it was there to punish him.

Perhaps a little intense of a punishment for the doctor, but Zepperaith didn't care. It hated it when people thought they had the right to trick and use them. It wanted to make the world a better place, and it wouldn't be subjected to such selfish idiocy. Speaking of which …

The doctors body had transformed into some wicked puppet, laying still in the gods open palm, eyes pure white and mouth agape in pure agony. Zepperaith picked him up with his other hand by his jacket and pondered what to do with him now. Certainly it didn't want to use his body for whatever it had planned, it didn't want to look at this selfish man anymore.

So, Zepperaith hung the doctor onto some strings that reached down from the abyss of the sky, pulling down on him before letting go and he shot up and disappeared into the sky above. Now, to business'.

It bent down and picked up its halo from the ground, dusting it off before putting it around its own head. Taking a second to adjust it to sit right. It needed to look nice for these people after all.

"Well, looks like I have my work cut out for me if that imbecile was of any note." It snorted. "PAH! Please, if someone like him could cause harm, then these people need my help more than anything."

It laughed to itself in amusement, but then it trailed off when it saw one of the feathers from its wings fall off and disintegrate into mist. It let out a noise of disappointment. "Already? Hmm … guess that took more out of me than I thought … "

It tilted its head, a small city was just barely visible across the horizon. A perfect place to look around and see what has been going on since it was put to rest, as well as find something more suitable for its figure.

And so the god moved. It brought itself out of the crater and into the forest that surrounded it, eyes pinpointed to the city ahead. It's halo gently bouncing against its head with its movements and its wings draped behind it like a large cloak, feathers plucking off every few minutes and turning to mist.

Maybe that Sonic the Hedgehog would be a good help. Yes. It just had to find him first.