A Defender of Another Future; A Lost Defender of Harmony

by SilverOrion

Ecco the Dolphin III: Earth's Final Hope - Opening Sequence

PLATFORM: SEGA GENESIS

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Ecco didn't know what to think.

Actually, he wasn't thinking about much at all. He hadn't been for years. For as long as he could remember, he was trapped in this strange vastness...

He suddenly remembered, but quickly banished the thought. This was all because he had been foolish enough to tamper with the Tides of Time some years ago, and because of it, he was now doomed to wander within the Tides of Time for eternity.

But suddenly, all of this was about to change.

Ecco squinted for the first time in years. A bright light, brighter than he had ever seen in his life, was shattering the void he was trapped in. Ecco heard a piercing, electric scream which tore through his body, shaking every inch of him. He began to feel as if he was being vaporized - becoming less than material. Shouting in mute agony, Ecco began to dissapear into the crackling space beyond the void - bound for another adventure, which could redeem him from this purgatory forever.

- - -

"Is the deed done?"

"Yes, my Queen."

The Queen of the Vortex growled, her hunger for consuming meat becoming more and more voracious by the minute. After a moment of breathing in the contaminated water surrounding her, she sighed, and responded.

"Good. With the Tides of Time interrupted by the Asterite's precious Stone of Disarray, Ecco will be trapped within the Tides of Time for good, without any hope of his escape. Return to Earth. This time... This FINAL TIME... We WILL devour all life on Earth, and we will NOT be mocked by one meddling dolphin."

The Queen's minion saluted, and swam away in the contaminated water of the "machine" as it was called. The minion felt antagonized by the fact that they were being sent to Earth all over again just to devour the creatures there, but the Queen's denial of defeat could not be wavered.

Not only could her will not be wavered, but she would eat anyone alive who disagreed with her.

Reaching the entrance to the Queen's chambers, the minion pressed a button which reversed the current of the water, making it possible to swim through the tunnel ahead. Arriving on the other side of the tunnel, the minion made its way to the control center of the machine, dodging the moving parts of the ship along the way. The machine's mechanism was complex, intricate, and lethal - created in order to make it virtually impossible for intruders to reach the Queen, and it always worked... except, not against Ecco.

Having made it to the control center of the machine, the minion pressed a button changing the current of the tunnel once again, making it possible to swim through. Reaching the control deck, the minion eyed all of the other vortex creatures within the bridge, with those minions mutually eyeing the entering minion back.

"Vortex drones, purify the water as it is stated in the fresh meal preparation guide in paragraph 2b.33, and prepare for descent. The Queen demands her dinner to be served on the double, and with a taste of "Earth"."

- - -

Ecco plummeted into the ocean hard, causing a giant splash in his wake. It was a wake-up call to feel this kind of impact on him, considering how long he had been trapped in the Tides of Time. But now, he was somehow... free.

He didn't understand it. How could he be let out of the Tides of Time? Was it some kind of glitch? Was it something the all knowing Asterite had not told him ages ago?

Beyond the questions racing through Ecco's mind, one thing was for sure: The ocean, seafloor, along with the flora and fauna, was much more colorful than he remembered it. Then again, he had been trapped inside the Tides of Time for a long time.

One thing was for certain - needed to get back to his pod, and fast. If he didn't save his pod from the inevitable attack of the Vortex in his disappearance, then the entire world could be stripped of all life as he knew it. In fact, they may have already done so.

He had to swim. He had to save his pod. His family. His friends.

Everything he knew.