The Beginning of the End - A Sonic Fan Fiction for the Foxes and Sorcery Series ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Written by Aaron Lye (prower@pacific.net.sg or 9501870A@student.tp.ac.sg) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEGAL STUFF Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters used within this fanfiction are the sole property of one of the following: Sega of America, Sega Enterprises (Japan), DiC. Other characters used in this fanfiction are the property of their respective authors. Using this work for financial gain, monetary or otherwise, is strictly prohibited, and it must be distributed in it's original, unedited form. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OTHER STUFF Fellow authors of fanfiction are welcome to use any characters developed by me (ie Tasha, Tayla) in their respective works of fanfiction. Changes to these characters (if any) made by other authors, however, will not be reflected in this or any other series written by me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please remember that this story is -entirely fictional-. Any similarities with real people are entirely coincidental. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The main characters in this story are Sonic Tails and supported by the Knothole Freedom Fighters Bookshire Draftwood - created by Bookshire Draftwood Professor Richards Caxor - created by moi :) and several others ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TIMELINE: 15th February 3240 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sally made her way through Knothole, soon reaching a small clearing near the power ring pool. There, she watched as Sonic tried to teach Antoine the 'subtle nuances' of one of the sports he had recently picked up. He passed the large orange ball to Antoine, saying, "Give it a shot." Antoine stared at the sphere for a second, then proceeded to run, while semi-successfully bouncing the ball on the ground, towards a structure composed of two long poles, attached to a large wooden board near the top. Affixed to the board was a circular hoop with a net hanging down. Just before he jumped, attempting to throw the ball through the hoop, a blue blur intercepted him, and the ball vanished from beneath his paws. A second later, the ball had gone through the hoop attached to the structure on the opposite side. Sonic landed deftly below the hoop, and stood in a stance that literally screamed for attention. As he walked back to Antoine, he grinned, saying, "Was that cool, or was that -cool- ?", to which the fox snorted. Antoine muttered, "What is the point of zis game anyhow? Everytime I is persuaded to take part in zis tombfoolery, I end up with ze throbbly head ache." Sonic smirked, and patted, whacked actually, Antoine on the back, "You'll get it someday. Soon, hopefully." Antoine seemed to turn crimson, either from the ache that was now slowly making it's way up his spine. or from the pun, Sonic didn't notice, as he had just spotted Sally standing at the edge of the clearing. He called to her, "Yo, Sal! What's up?" Sally took the cue, and walked up to the hedgehog, "There've been more reports, Sonic. A lot more. I've convened a meeting." Sonic nodded, "Well then, let's get moving..", and sped off, followed by the other two. ***** The atmosphere inside the newly-built conference room was quiet, to say the least, as everyone present listened intently to what Sally had to mention. Using Nicole as a presentation device, projecting statistical information on the nearby screen, she highlighted what she needed to convey. "As you all know, Snively appears to have stepped up the number of recon flights made by his Stealthbots during the last two days. Another anomaly is that they appear to be ignoring us, even when they have had clear view of a Freedom Fighter, or of one of our other outposts on the Rim... The only sign of offense on the part of the Stealthbots was when one unit appeared to fire on a uninhabited part of the Great Forest, at low altitude." Bunnie murmured to herself, "Maybe he's gone batty or somethin'.." Sally continued, "At first, we saw no threat in that, until we got these from one of our Rim outposts." She depressed a button on Nicole, and a chart appeared on the screen. "Seven Freedom Fighters have come down with an illness none of their doctors can even diagnose. The symptoms appear to be a high fever and convulsions, followed by coma in advanced stages." She looked down, "Three of those seven died within twenty four hours of contracting the illness. The rest have already entered the advanced stages." Bookshire was listening intently, clearly interested once the topic had shifted to medicine, "I'd like to see the notes gathered by their doctors." Sally nodded, and passed a small datacrystal over to him, "Everything we have is in there. Do what you can with it, Bookshire." The raccoon nodded, then politely excused himself to begin analyzing the notes. Tayla offered, "You think those Stealthbots have something to do with it." Sally nodded, "I see no other explanation for their weird behavior. They could easily cover the entire Great Forest, and they did start their increased patrols in that area where the first cases appeared." She turned to look at everyone in the room, then said, "Bookshire's a great doctor... but I don't think that even he can do anything about this illness. Those at the Rim outpost were nearly as qualified as he.. I don't think they'd have missed out anything..." She slumped in her seat, "If the problem should reach Knothole..." Tasha interrupted, "Shush, dear. No point in worrying ya'self 'bout it, now is there? Not as if worryin' will prevent it." Sonic, who had been quiet since the meeting started, suddenly spoke up, "Tell ya what, guys, I'll go scout round Robotropolis, see what I can dig up on Shorty's operations.." Sally considered this for a moment, then nodded, "Just don't take unnecessary risks, Sonic." Sonic smirked, faking an innocent look, "Me? Take risks? Nah.." He punctuated that sentence with a casual, dismissing wave of his paw. Sally released a worried sigh as the blue hedgehog made his way out of the room. She shrugged. No point in worrying as Tasha said. After all, Sonic could look after himself. She turned back to the rest gathered around the table, "We'll wait and see what Sonic manages to bring back. This meeting is adjourned." ***** The sky around Robotropolis always managed to look darker, even in bright daylight. At least, that was what Sonic told himself, as he sped towards the city, deftly making his way past the unsuspecting SWATbots on perimeter duty, SWATbots with optical sensors not advanced enough to notice he had come and gone right under their noses. Something was happening lately, in Robotropolis. The SWATbots produced these days were nowhere near the caliber of the ones constructed during the Robotnik era. In fact, the quality of the SWATbots were steadily dropping, a sign that all was not going well for Snively. What repercussions this would have were still unknown, but the Freedom Fighters had never had it this easy before. The only real menace these days were SYNTHbots, the shinier war robot armed with an area effect sound weapon. Those new bots posed no real threat to Sonic, since at full speed, the sound wave emitted by the weapon wouldn't be able to catch up with him. And with a power ring, they had even less of a chance. That is, if the fragment of Chaos Emerald in him let him use it. However, the fragment of emerald energy was becoming more controllable. Ever since the time that Tails had been captured by the creature controlled by Angela and the Chaos Emerald had stored itself inside Sonic, Sonic had learnt more about these Emeralds, and how to keep them under control. Unlike commonly believed, they weren't actually 'magic'. The Emeralds were, in fact, something like a large battery, containing vast amounts of replenishable energy. Those with two tails, and Sonic, who had been conditioned to use this form of energy through his use of the power rings, could channel that energy from the emeralds, use themselves as a 'lightning rod', and discharge the energy through a convenient outlet, usually the paws. Before discharging, the energy could be manipulated, taking different forms, such as an energy wave or arc, as a 'holographic' screen of invisiblity, as transportation energy and so on. It was similar to how the body conducted static electricity, in how scuffing your feet on a carpet gathered electrons, and reaching out to a metallic object discharged those electrons in a miniature bolt of static electricity. Sonic smiled at the actual simplicity of something that had once seemed unbelievable and complex. Before long, he reached a convenient location from which he could begin his work. Hiding in a quiet alley, standing next to a communications port used by the drones and workerbots to report their work, the hedgehog took out a small computer, modelled after Nicole. Using a high-density fiber optic cable to connect the computer to the communications port, he whispered, "Do your stuff, Natalie." The small computer beeped quietly, then said, "Working, Sonic." "Gained access to Robotropolis Central Database. Searching for required information." Sonic whispered, "Make it quick, Nat. We only have a few minutes before Shorty gets his bots here.." Natalie synthesized, letting a touch of rebuke enter the voice, "I know, Sonic. I'm doing what I can." "Required information downloaded. We have what we need." "Way past, Nat! Let's get outta here.. a SWATbot party ain't the kind I wanna get invited to.." Several seconds later, the SWATbots on perimeter guard noticed a bluish streak go by, out towards the Great Forest. ***** The squirrel wearily made her way through the dense undergrowth inherent in any tropical rainforest, occasionally brushing her dishevelled, matted black fur, in a vain attempt at keeping the bloodsucking insects off her. She had managed to flee the cont inent, and had also managed to obtain a ride on a decent-sized boat that plied between the two landmasses. Now, bitten in numerous places by insects, with the heat of the Mobian sun beating with full force down on her, she wondered if it would have been a better idea to stay captive at home. She glanced up at the sky, and sighed as she noticed that the white puffs of cloud seemed to have conspired to disperse from the region, leaving the sky an unmarred azure blue, disturbed only where a ball of yellow denoted the part of the sky the Mobian sun claimed as its own, the same sun that was unrelentlessly raining heat down on the surface. As she made her way through the jungle, she heard sounds of activity coming from not too far away. Hoping to find shelter, she walked toward the sounds. Before long, the dense flora parted, and an average-sized clearing sprang up to greet her, a clearing dotted with thatch huts. She wandered into the makeshift village, calling out to attract some attention. She succeeded. Before long, she saw heads popping out from behind doors, windows, and even from the bushes. One distinguishing trait she noticed: every Mobian in this village was a fox, a light-orange, fox-eared vulpine. They stared wide-eyed at the newcomer... and screamed. Several fled back into the security of their homes, while others, presumably the defenders of this community, charged out at her with lightning speed and precision. They had her immobilized within seconds, thrown into a small hut and shut in. Yeah, nice meeting you too, she thought to herself. She slowly propped herself up on one elbow, and sighed. ***** Tails stood at the outskirts of Knothole, waiting for Sonic to return. The two-tailed fifteen-year old had not changed much in outward appearance in the ten years he had been with Sally and Sonic, apart from growing taller, of course, but his character and personality had grown much, from that of a small kit, to that of a mature, bright and intelligent young fox. He started walking a bit, strolling to kill some time. The Great Forest was nice all year round, but spring always seemed to lend the forest a fair deal of vibrance and freshness, some qualities that made walking and living here seem near perfect. Tails smiled a little, as he listened to the sounds of a forest alive and content, small animals calling, insects buzzing. Except today, an extra sound was heard. And this sound was far from content. Tails flew in the direction the noise was coming from, and halted abruptly as he approached a cave. Apparently, something had triggered a rockslide, and the entrance of the cave had been sealed off. At this distance, there was no doubt as to where the cries for help were coming from. Someone was trapped inside, or worse still, underneath, that mass of rocks. The fox quickly brought to bear some energy from the Chaos Emerald, and was about to blast the rocks to shreds, when he stopped himself. Whoever was in there could easily be pierced to death by the fragments of rock that would be the result of blasting the boulders. Instead, he used the energy of the Emerald, to slowly, from the top, remove each rock carefully, from the pile, and place it elsewhere. Once the task was complete, he ventured in to see who, or what awaited him within. He was greeted by a middle-aged raccoon, wearing a now dusty white labcoat. He smiled at Tails, "Hello there, young fellow. Nice of you to lend me a hand. Though I do wonder how a small chap like you managed to move those nasty rocks..." Tails nodded, and asked, "You okay?" The raccoon smiled, "Apart from the dust, I seem to be in one piece. Nothing a good bath can't handle." He extended a paw, "I am Professor Richards. Ex-professor, actually." Tails took it, "Tails." he replied. The two stood quietly for a moment, before Tails spoke up, "Well, since you're ok, I'd better head back home. They'll be wondering where I've been." The raccoon nodded hastily, "Then you'd better leave. Hurry along now. Thanks again." He started to turn back into the cave, to complete whatever it was he was engrossed with, but first faced the fox and asked, "By the way, young fellow, where are you from?" "Knothole." The raccoon nodded, "Ah. All right then.". The raccoon walked back into the darkness of the cave. Tails watched the raccoon for several seconds, then left. Making certain that the strange two-tailed fox had indeed left the area, the raccoon diverted his attention back to the job at hand. He had seen the strange way the rocks had been removed from the cavern's entrance, had seen the glow of energy surroundin g the boulders. And knew what caused it. Chaos Emeralds. The fox was a Guardian. He activated the laser drill once again, and the intense beam of light began slicing through the back of the cave, until it finally struck gold. Carefully putting down the device, ex-professor Richards reached into the crevice made by the drill with a paw, and pulled out a sparkling gray gem. It was a nearly eerie crystal, not clear like most others, but a swirling cloudy gray, as though a turbulent storm was taking place within it's diamond-like facets. The raccoon smiled, and gazed into the gem. ***** Sonic made his way deep into the Great Forest before he stopped to check what he had taken from the Robotropolis database. Taking out Natalie, he activated the computer. "OK, Nat. Let's see what ya got." With the information projected on a holographic screen, Sonic read what he had risked entering Robotropolis to get. When he had finished glancing through, he nearly yelled at the computer, "NAT! You screwed up! I asked for reports on what those Stealthbots were carrying in their cargo and weapons sections! These are search patterns and mission objective reports!" Natalie beeped, "I know what you asked for, Sonic. All Stealthbot cargo holds were empty, save for one which was holding repair equipment. They also had standard weaponry, one laser cannon." The computer continued, "However, if you would take a look at the mission objectives..." Sonic did as he was asked, and frowned in thought at what he saw... ***** "Did you say Professor -Richards-?" Sally questioned Tails when he returned to Knothole. The two-tailed fox nodded, "Uh huh. At least, that's who he said he was." Sally Acorn frowned, "That name... it seems almost familiar. I remember.. dad mentioning it a few times...". The squirrel fished Nicole out of a pocket, and activated her. "Nicole, access the old Mobian Central Database. Search for any information regarding a raccoon with the designation Professor Richards." As a afterthought, she added, "And while you're at it, see if you can locate Sonic." "Processing, Sally." ***** A blue blur made its way through the Great Forest, streaking deftly past the trees and shrub. "I hope ya're right about this, Nat... it'll be one -major- disappointment if ya aren't...." Natalie probably would have frowned at the hedgehog if she had a face, "Have I been wrong before?" Sonic grinned, "I don't know... have you?" Natalie made an indignant sound, "You're possibly the most difficult person I've -EVER- been assigned to work with--." The hedgehog patted the computer as though placating it, "Chill out, Nat. There's no harm in a li'l friendly teasin'. Since when did ya get so grumpy?" Natalie beeped, "Since I was assigned to -you-, that's when." "Oh." The blue blur continued streaking through the forest, heading towards some unknown destination. ***** "Professor Richards Caxor, age 49 Mobian standard years, University of Mobotropolis, Department of Geology, Science and Physical Geography. He was dismissed from his position after he spurred students to cause unrest within the city. Professor Richards has been a long time opponent of the Acorns, and is believed to have been involved in the initiation of the Second Great War. His current whereabouts are unknown, as he has not registered himself with any Freedom Fighter outpost. He is presumed dead or roboticized. Before the Robotnik era, it was speculated that Richards Caxor would attempt some form of coup to overthrow the house of Acorn." Nicole synthesized. Sally looked grim, "No wonder that name sounded familiar..." The computer continued, "Sonic is currently heading away from the direction of Robotropolis, Sally." Sally smiled at the mention of the blue hedgehog, "Is he heading back here?" "Negative, Sally. His destination is unknown, heading northwest.", came the reply, to which the squirrel frowned, "What is he up to now..?" Tails immediately offered, "I could go check...", but Sally declined, "Not just yet, Tails. Sonic wouldn't be too happy if he knew I was sending people to 'look after him'. You know how he is.." The two-tailed fox nodded glumly. ***** Professor Richards watched from behind the dense bush that served as cover, watched as the two-tailed fox talked to the ground squirrel. Somehow, she looked familiar, but he couldn't match a name to the face. No matter though, she was not what he was after. He waited till the squirrel left, but before he could do anything, a rabbit in a white cloak approached the fox, starting up yet another conversation with the fox. Richards tried to hear what they were speaking about, but the distance between him and the fox was too great, making it impossible to hear anything other than the sounds of the forest around him. However, it seemed like the rabbit was teaching the fox something or other, from her gesturing and such. The fox nodded occasionally, and after several minutes, the rabbit disappeared in a flash of white transportation energy. Richards' eyes widened. -Two- Guardians, in the same village! This could be a problem... yet it possessed a lot of potential. ***** "Ya sure this's the place, Nat?" A chilling silence replied, and Sonic hastily added, "Okay, bad question." He ventured tentatively into the steeply sloping cavern, using Natalie's screen as a source of illumination. After walking for what seemed like ages, the small cave opened up into a huge cavern. Sonic looked around cautiously, not knowing what to expect. He took another step, and without warning, the entire cavern was lit up by some unknown source of artificial illumination and the hedgehog jumped, startled. He looked around the cavern, and saw several display screens, and a huge blue crystal sitting partially embedded into one of the walls. Sonic headed towards the crystal, and tapped it slightly. Nothing happened. "What do ya make of it, Nat?" Sonic whispered. The small computer replied, "The internal structure of the crystal is somewhat complex. I can detect logic pathways, memory circuits, storage..." "Back up, Nat. Are ya telling me that this crystal's a computer?" "Yes, Sonic. And an old one at that. However, despite it's age, it would appear to be quite a sophisticated piece of technology, unlike any we have encountered. The information stored within could prove useful, if we could access it." The hedgehog agreed, "Yeah, it could.. no wonder shorty sent his bots in search of this place. I wonder how he found out about it in the first place..." Natalie synthesized, "I have located it's input interface. If you would be so kind as to place me on the crystal.." Sonic smiled, "My pleasure, Nat." He did as the computer asked, then watched as the small device did it's job. True enough, the crystal started pulsing with a blue light, and Natalie reported, "Terminal has been activated. It is now loading the operating system. You may sever the contact between the crystal and me." Sonic obliged, patting the computer fondly in the process, "Nice job, Nat." "I know." came the quiet reply. After several more seconds of pulsing the computer emitted a flash of light, which coverged to form a large holographic display screen. An unknown language began to scroll across the screen, accompanied by a loud male voice which the computer synthesized, "Rrewo asdlkw Wfdsdlj sda, eldvk." Sonic blinked, "Say what?" Again, the computer synthesized, "Rrewo asdlkx Wfdsdlj sda, eldvk!!" It seemed a little louder this time. Sonic whispered to his computer, "Nat, something tells me ya better have a translation for whatever it's saying.." Natalie beeped, "Working, Sonic. Don't rush me. You do realize I always work at optimum speed." Sonic smirked, "Well, ya can't be working on that at optimum speed if ya're using some brain power to speak to me..." He added, "But then, I've always said ya don't think before ya speak." The hedgehog grinned. Natalie practically glowered as best a computer could, and the hedgehog chuckled, "Just kidding, Nat. Chill out." It was then that the crystal synthesized, "Fgiorgh, dsgjw orw!", whined, and sent a bright blue electrical charge streaking towards Sonic. The hedgehog quicked leaped to the side, out of the way, and commented, "Just my luck... I get stuck with -two- grumpy computers. One talks back, the other tries to fry me." Sonic side-stepped deftly as the crystal sent yet another blast his way. Sonic frowned at the crystal, "Look, man, I don't wanna get barbecued. Us hedgehogs just don't taste nice that way.." An other bright blue bolt shattered a rock behind where Sonic had been an instant ago, and Nat observed quietly, "I think it's telling you to leave..." Sonic stared at Natalie a moment, then ducked behind a rock as a blast passed overhead. "You -think-?" he uttered sarcastically. The rock shattered as the computer pumped an energy discharge into it, leaving the hedgehog without cover. The computer repeated, "Fgiorgh, dsgjw orw!". Sonic stood up slowly, "Okay, okay, I'm going..." He walked slowly towards the entrance, not making any sudden moves so as not to alarm the computer unnecessarily. The hedgehog made it to the entrance, picked up speed, and raced a distance away. When they were a reasonable distance away, Natalie spoke up, "I have deciphered the language used by the crystal computer. It appears to be a variant of Mobian recorded within the Ghylcanan Archives. Tasha would probably know more." "Great news, Nat. Let's head back to Knothole." ***** "It sounds a lot like ancient echidna Mobian, if ya ask me.." Tasha commented as Natalie played back a recording of the crystal computer's demands. She added, "Ah mahself am not too familiar with the language, so Ah don s'pose Ah'd be of any help there. . ya could ask an echidna, though.." "An echidna? But they've been gone for thousands of years.." Sonic remarked. "Have they now? If Ah remember correctly, there's still one left on the Floating Island..." Tasha smiled. "Ya've mentioned him before... the one who protested daily about the Ghylcanan outpost on his island before Angela trashed it... what was his name...? Elbow or somethin'.." Sonic mused. "Knuckles." Tasha corrected. "Yeah, that's right. Knuckles. Knew that all along." Sonic shot back. ***** Finally, the two-tailed fox was alone. Professor Richards Caxor emerged from the bushes that provided cover, the crystal gem firmly grasped within his paws, and approached the young fox. "Tails." He called out. The fox called Tails turned around, and saw Richards. A little too late. Richards Caxor brought to bear the gem held in his paws, and a near-invisible gray beam lanced out of the gem, striking the young fox. Tails blinked, a little startled, not so much at the sudden appearance of the ex-professor, but at the fact that the g rey beam appeared to have no ill effects, even while it was striking him square on the chest. The young fox brought up his paws, simultaneously drawing energy from the Chaos Emerald, and sent a dazzling multi-color streaked white pulse shooting towards the professor. The pulse streaked towards the professor, when suddenly, it changed vector and trajectory, slamming with full force into the grey beam connecting the fox to the gem. The area of impact shimmered with Chaos Emerald white for several second s, then returned to it's normal color. The energy had been totally absorbed. Desperate, Tails made another attempt. Before he could get off another shot, he began to notice a wave of exhaustion overcoming him. It did not feel like p!! hysical exhaustion, and to his horror, he saw that the grey beam was now pulsing with another color. Color-streaked white. The gem Caxor was holding too, began pulsing with the same color, and the fox realized what was happening. That crystal was litera lly sucking the chaos emerald energy out of him. Out of the corner of his eye, Tails noticed Sonic streaking away, out towards the Great Forest. With frustration, he wondered how the hedgehog could possibly have passed them by without seeing what was ha ppening around him. He heard a gasp from behind, followed by "Oh mah stars..". He turned around, trying to warn Tasha, but again, it was too late. The two-tailed rabbit had already channeled energy from her own emerald, sending a red arc of energy streaking towards the professor. The raccoon didn't even bother to sidestep, and as before, the energy was sucked into the grey beam. The moment that happened, the beam split into two, the second one focusing on Tasha. However, the reaction to the rabbit was different. The instant the beam impacted on the rabbit, the beam diverted and struck the location of her control emerald instead. The same energy drain occurred, and a tinge of red now marred the white/grey surface. The beam striking Tasha's emerald then cut off, followed soon after by the other. The professor smirked at the two, and held the crystal a little further out, and a white-red pulse of energy shot out of the crystal, split into two, and struck both Tails and Tasha. Both fell to the ground, stunned, and rushed off into the shadows... Tails was in shock, never having experienced anything like that, and only seemed to break out of it after Tasha recovered, crossed over and placed a supportive paw on his shoulder. He whispered weakly, "What.. what was that?" The rabbit looked grim, and sighed, "Come along now. Ah'll tell ya all 'bout it at mah place.." ***** "A -what- crystal?" Tails blinked. "Negation. A negation crystal, Tails. A crystal made for a benign purpose, but turned into a weapon by that ol' raccoon. A long time back, the Mobians who held the CaribStones started to attack the Guardians of the Chaos Emeralds. This was, of course, before Zoreth got to them. The Guardians had no choice but to retaliate, but most times the fights were long, and many were injured in the process. The council back then, sat down with the echidnas, to construct a device that could get around this problem. They came up with the negation crystal. Using their experience with technology, the echidnas built these crystals, and supplied them to the Guardians." The rabbit paused for breath, "The crystals negate the immediate effects of the energy, and transfer it to the negation crystal itself, so that it could be released or used at a later time, either directly from the crystal as a weapon, or into an energy store. Many were made, and distributed to whichever Guardians required them. With the crystals, the Guardians now had a quick and efficient way to disable the CaribStones, and the threat passed. Over time, some Guardians got lax when it came to safeguarding the crystals they held, and some were lost. I think Richards just found one of them, and worked out what purpose it served." Tails looked at his paws, and asked, "What can we do to get back our emeralds?" Tasha looked at the fox, and replied, "Ah don't know, sugah. The owners of the CaribStones never found anything ta counter it, and we sure don't have anything either... " At that moment, a figure appeared at the door. ***** Using the directions provided by Tasha, Sonic made his way to a location deep in the forest. There, he waited patiently, listening to the sounds around him. Before long, a figure in a forest cloak approached. The figure lowered the hood, revealing a kindly looking old fox. She smiled at the hedgehog, and spoke, "I've been expecting you." She tapped a small comunit like device. "Tasha called me a moment ago." The hedgehog nodded, and said, "Then you know where I'm going..." She smiled, "Follow me." The fox led him to a small white building several meters away. She stood in front of the door, and keyed in something on a numeric pad fixed to the wall. A green light flashed, and the door opened. She motioned for the hedgehog to enter, and followed him in. Sonic looked around the small house, it was a decent place, well-furnished, and it was obvious this fox lived here. The owner of the building walked into a side room, and Sonic followed. In the middle of the room sat a round purple-red sphere and the fox motioned for Sonic to step onto the sphere, then asked, "Ready?", to which the hedgehog nodded. She walked to a wall, and depressed a button. The lights in the room immediately dimmed, and the sphere started glowing. The sphere suddenly flared up, illuminating the entire room, and Sonic felt a floating-like sensation. The illumination died down a second later, and Sonic had disappeared from the room. ***** The hedgehog reappeared in a quiet clearing with few trees, a lot of open land covered with lush grass and orderly bushes, laden with berries, among other fruits. In the distance, he heard the sound of water gushing, and he spotted a waterfall, flowing down a steep mountainside into a large lake filled with azure blue water. "Man... ain't this a beautiful sight..." he marvelled. Sonic gazed around, admiring the view, when he was unceremoniously, and suddenly, dropped to the ground by a massive blow to the back of his head. Reeling from the punch, the hedgehog lay dazed on the ground, when he felt himself being hoisted up off the ground several centimeters by two rather large paws. He heard a slight grunt from directly in front of him, followed by a comment about how heavy these intruders were. The hedgehog opened his eyes, willing them to focus, and looked at his attacker. He was a bright red echidna, sporting close to shoulder length dreadlocks that looked nearly as sharp as his own quills. The echidna was colored red all over, except for a crescent shaped patch of white on his chest. Sonic also noticed the echidna had rather bad taste when it came to shoes, preferring to wear studded green and yellow.. things, rather than sneakers. The echidna stated briskly, "Who are you and what are you doing here?" Sonic hmmphed, "Ya should've asked that -before- ya hit me." That response earned the hedgehog a brisk shaking, "Don't smart-talk, hedgehog. Tell me who you are and what you're doing on my island." "I.. I was sent by Tasha." The echidna grunted, and threw the hedgehog down, "So, you're a Guardian's errand boy. What does she want?" Sonic picked himself off the ground, rubbing the sore spot where Knuckles had hit him, and glared at the echidna, "Na much, throwing yourself off a cliff would probably satisfy her." The echidna glared back, and swung a fist at the hedgehog again. This time, Sonic was ready, and leaped up, over and behind the echidna long before Knuckle's fist reached anywhere near the hedgehog's previous position. Sonic shook a disapproving finger at the echidna, "Look, pal, you're -not- hitting this face. I have my looks to worry about!" The hedgehog grinned with that statement, and watched the now snickering echidna. Knuckles turned to face him, and said simply , "I don't like smart talkers." Sonic hmmphed, "Well, the feeling's mutual, I'll tell ya that. But, I'm here for a reason, so what say we call a truce for now?" He held out a paw. The echidna considered this, then firmly grasped the proferred paw, "Deal." Knuckles continued, "Now tell me what you want, and I'll consider it." The hedgehog briefly outlined to the echidna what he had discovered, and the ensuing conversation with the crystal computer. The more he spoke, the more intent Knuckles seemed. When Sonic finished, Knuckles said quietly, "I never expected any of the ground installations to even still be intact after all this time, let alone be in operational condition." He looked at the hedgehog, "I would like to see this for myself.", to which Sonic nodded. ***** "Nicholas! What are ya doing here?" Tasha exclaimed. The Guardian of the first Emerald of Control walked in, a little dazed and a little injured. "Someone..someone's been using a negation crystal... I was on my way here, when I bumped into this raccoon. The crystal automatically drained the emerald.., then the raccoon used the gem to attack me.." Tasha helped him over to a chair, "Here, sugah, sit down. You look exhausted.." She then related their own experience with the crystal. Nicholas shuddered, "Every Guardian he meets will have their emeralds stolen. None have ever had experience fighting such an enemy... I can now fully understand why the earlier Guardians chose those crystals as their defense against the CaribStones." Tasha looked grim, "He has to be stopped.. Ah'll try to contact a few Guardians, get them to lure him back here. Ah'm kinda sure Ah can persuade Sally to get a reception ready for him." ***** The duo walked tentatively into the cavern housing the crystal computer. The crystal was pulsing with the same blue light, indicating it's operational status. The moment the two entered, the crystal synthesized, "Rrewo asdlkw Wfdsdlj sda, eldvks." Knuckles glanced down at a small handheld crystal computer of his own, smiled, and replied, "Rrojsd, dfwoj arq Knuckles." The large crystal beeped several times, and the holographic screen stopped flashing the red of the security screen, and began displaying a menu interface. The echidna walked over to the crystal, simultaneously saying to Sonic, "It was asking for a name and password." Sonic smirked, "Like I didn't know that." Knuckles tapped the surface of the crystal, and the menu adjusted according to his commands. He sighed, "The memory core is damaged. Less than twenty percent can be accessed. And, the diagnostic is reporting a rupture in a storage tank near the surface. Apparently it contained biohazardous material.. after all, this was a weapons installation." He glanced at the screen, "The tank stored viral weapons..something, an energy blast, appears to have damaged the storage tank's structure." The mention of a viral weapon suddenly reminded Sonic of what had sent him to Robotropolis in the first place. He spoke with a renewed urgency, " -Please- tell me you have a counteragent to that weapon. One of Snively's Stealthbots must've fired at that thing without knowing, and the Great Forest is now teeming with that virus...some of our freedom fighters are mondo sick with it!" The echidna glanced back at the menu, and smiled, "You're in luck. There is one, and it's stored in a still functional area of the memory core. I'll download the information to your handheld." Sonic handed Natalie to the echidna who proceeded to do as h e said. When he was done, Knuckles gave the computer back to Sonic, "There, that should be all you'll ever need...." The echidna quirked a faint smile. Sonic nodded, "I owe ya one, Knucks." At that moment, Knuckles beeped. Or more likely, something on him beeped. The echidna fished out a communications unit, and activated the device. A hedgehog appeared on the small display screen, and Knuckles nodded in greeting, "Susan. What is it?" The hedgehog named Susan replied without preamble, "I've got word from Nicholas that some guy's found a negation crystal. At last count, he's used it to absorb close to fifteen emeralds. He's still within the Great Forest region, and they're using some Guardians to lure him into a trap. We may need your help there..." Knuckles shrugged, "I suppose I have the time. Where should I be?" "Knothole. Nicholas says the Freedom Fighters are organizing a counterstrike." Knuckles nodded, and deactivated the unit. He turned to the hedgehog, "Well, it seems like we'll be together for a little longer... where's Knothole?" Sonic pointed in the direction of the town, but mentioned, "We can't just leave this here.. Sal might want ta have a look at it, and she won't be able to if we invite shorty to take it by leaving it here unguarded..." Knuckles walked over to the crystal without a word, placed the handheld crystal on it and depressed a button. Both crystals shimmered out of existence, whisked away elsewhere. "Somehow, I don't think...Sal... would be interested in seeing that crystal." countered the echidna. Before Sonic could reply, the echidna revved up, and raced off in the direction the blue hedgehog had pointed. Sonic watched the echidna speed away faster than he expected, and remarked, "Not bad for an anteater..", before giving chase. ***** A breathless Guardian rushed into Knothole, "He's coming..". True enough, Richards Caxor appeared, walking slowly towards the village, holding the previously grey gem that was now a swirling myriad of colors. One of the Guardians tried to stop him from approaching, but the crystal seemed to automatically fire a beam of energy at the Guardian, incapacitating, and somewhat severely injuring the Mobian. Another Mobian quickly raced over to render aid. At that point, Sally shouted, "Fire!", and Dulcy, Bunnie, Antoine and Tasha, who had been under the cover of the bushes, leapt up, and fired with several lasers that had been scrounged up from fallen SWATbots. The four beams converged, but just before they struck the raccoon, the beams were attracted to the gem, and absorbed. Richards Caxor retaliated, and three pulses exploded forth from the crystal... all converging and striking Tasha. The rabbit doubled over with a painful groan, and fell to the ground, bleeding rather severely from the abdominal region. Dulcy rushed over, and began an attempt to stop the bleeding. Bunnie's eyes flared with anger, flinging the laser rifle to the ground, and charged at the raccoon, fist clenched, robotic arm drawn back and ready to lash out. She yelled, "Nobody..., and that includes you, Richards Caxor, hurts mah Aunt Tasha and gets away with it in one piece!", and slammed the fist straight into the raccoon's abdomen. Sally instinctively winced, turned her head away and closed her eyes. She'd seen Bunnie do that to a SWATbot once, and the fist had pierced the full machine right through to it's back. Whatever Richards Caxor looked like now, it probably wasn't pretty. Sally listened with her ears, and to her surprise, did not hear the sound of Antoine gagging at a horrid sight, but rather, she heard several astonished gasps. She opened her eyes, and she gasped too. Richards was unfazed by the punch, and it was then she realized why. The crystal absorbed energy, and the damaging factor of a punch was it's kinetic energy. The crystal had intercepted and absorbed Bunnie's attack. She noticed that a stunned Bunnie now lay several feet away, apparently shaking off the effects of a subdued energy blast. At that point, Sally heard a boom of sound, the type usually coupled with Sonic's arrival. She turned behind, and saw a red echidna looking back at her. The echidna nodded briefly, then assessed the situation. Several seconds later, another boom was heard, and this time, a familiar bluestreak entered the town. The echidna watched as the crystal robbed yet another Guardian of his emerald, then whispered something to Sonic. Sally tried to listen in, and heard Sonic reply, "What makes ya think it can't be done?" "Because all the Guardians are in front of him.. otherwise, it pretty much would." "Trust me. It'll work." Sonic scanned the area, looking for Tails. He soon spotted the two-tailed fox, and signalled him with a special sequence of handsigns they had developed recently. The exchange went on for several seconds, after which Tails walked over and spoke to Antoine, Rotor and Dulcy, whose immediate attention had probably saved Tasha's life. After that, Tails picked up Bunnie's rifle off the ground and primed it, the weapon emitting an audible whine. He nodded to Sonic. As if on cue, the four freedom fighters pressed the triggers of their respective rifles, and four searing continous blasts of laser energy were fired at the raccoon. As before, the crystal intercepted and neutralized the energy. Taking the opportunity, Sonic raced behind the raccoon, pulled a power ring out of his backpack, and the area was bathed in a blinding golden light for a second as the energy in the ring transferred into Sonic. The hedgehog channelled all the power ring energy, and used the emerald fragment to send a burst of electrical energy into Professor Richards Caxor. Surprisingly, the raccoon dropped to the ground, stunned by the electrical discharge. Knuckles commented to no one in general, as several Guardians grabbed hold of the raccoon, "The crystal has a rather short detection range. A little technical flaw my ancestors failed to mention.. Attacking from the back, while creating a diversion from the front worked.. as you saw." He walked over, picked up the negation crystal, and muttered, "Now let me see if I remember how to jettison the energy..." He depressed a button, and without warning, streaks of energy started lancing out of the crystal. One struck Tails, another Tasha, and the like. However, everyone observed as five streams of energy lanced out wildly, streaking away into the distance. Knuckles watched, puzzled, as did everyone else. Each Guardian present checked their emeralds, and it soon became clear that five emeralds were still dull grey. Something had gone awry with the jettison, and the streams of energy were misdirected.. Nicholas reassured the Guardians, "We'll locate the missing streams. Everyone go back to Ghylcana and get some rest. You've all earned it." As the Guardians began to disperse, some taking Richards Caxor with them, Sally walked over to Sonic, and held him in a hug, "That was pretty nice work, Sonic Hedgehog. I'm proud of you." The squirrel kissed him, and Sonic returned it. Out of the corner of his eye, the hedgehog noticed Knuckles watching them. And smirking. After Sally had walked off, helping Tasha to get to Bookshire's infirmary, the hedgehog crossed over to the echidna. The echidna half-grinned, half-frowned, "So, we finally part ways. I'll be glad to be rid of you and your smart talking." Sonic smirked, and retaliated, "Hey, being around you ain't no party, either.." The echidna continued smiling, nodded, and started walking away. Sonic watched him walk several steps, then called out, "Knuckles.", before moving to catch up. The echidna turned to face Sonic, and raised a palm just in time to catch a high-five sent his way by the hedgehog. Sonic grinned, "You're okay with me, Knucks." The echidna nodded, and high-fived the hedgehog in return, "You too, Sonic. Stay cool.". With that, both turned and headed their own ways. ***** Sally transferred the data stored within Natalie to a desktop unit and glanced through the information, Rotor, Bookshire and Sonic standing beside her. As she read, she provided a commentary for the others who could not see the screen. "Well, the viral counteragent seems to be valid." She handed a small datacrystal to Bookshire, "Start work on creating some batches of the stuff. Have it distributed to the affected outposts." Bookshire nodded, "With pleasure, Princess." and walked out of the room. The squirrel scrolled down the list, and frowned, "Rotor, come take a look at this, and tell me what you make of it." She moved out of the way, letting Rotor view the screen. The walrus glanced at the schematics displayed on the screen, his eyes wide. "I.. don't really know.. it looks like a weapon of some kind. Pretty advanced stuff, technologically speaking, that is. I'll need more time to study it.." "Do so, Rotor. If we can build these things, we might be able to gain the advantage we need to overthrow Snively once and for all.." Sally said quietly, then added, "Knuckles may just have given us the means to finally win back our world.." At that, Sonic smiled and thought back to what Knuckles had said to him earlier. **"There, that should be all you'll ever need."** ***** The squirrel was woken up abruptly by the crashing noise that came from the roof. She glanced up, and saw two medium sized holes, burning slightly at the edges. She glanced around the room, and her attention was drawn to a small pile of rocks she hadn't noticed earlier that shared the small hut with her. Two of those rocks were now glowing with color, one blue, the other red. Somehow, they reminded her of...chaos emeralds. She blinked, trying to clear her vision. They couldn't be... could they? Tentatively, she reached out and picked up the two rocks, and the minute she held them, she was sure they were what she thought the rocks were. She held the two rocks tightly, as though she would never let go, filled with rage against those who called themselves Guardians of the Chaos Emeralds, rage against her current captors, her eyes flaring a bright horrendous red, as the emerald energy stored temporarily in the rocks began to transfer to the more suitable host. The squirrel. As the energy flowed into her, something seemed to happen, and she let out an ear-shattering, primal, nightmarish howl. And changed. Changed into something far deadlier than Angela the renegade squirrel Guardian. The one who once was Angela growled, sending an arc of reddish energy fanning out into her surroundings, and watched, laughed, with insane glee as everything around was engulfed in fire.... (C) 1997 Aaron Lye. prower@pacific.net.sg