Welcome to the debut of my fanfic, The Riddle of the Rings! I have to say some stuff before I begin, but once I finish this, you can read your head off. Anyway, Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles, Eggman, Tails, and any other Sega character I use are © Sega. Duel, Star, Aaron, Solidorn, Neo Metal Sonic, and mainly anyone else I use that isn't © Sega is © me, other than Edge, Sariah, and Swift, who are © Edge, and I use with permission of Edge. Please do not use any of my or Edge's characters without our permission. And don't sue me, Sega, cuz I'm not making ANY money off this ^_^O.
With no further adieu, I present to you my fanfiction, The Riddle of the Rings! Enjoy!
The Riddle of the Rings
Chapter 1
Discovery…
"What?"
"You heard me."
"No I didn't."
"Sure. I said that, inscribed here, is a picture of the chaos emeralds, a power stone, and one ring. Below it says, loosely translated, Solve the Riddle and unlock the key to lock all into one. Then, all will exist in black or white."
"…what?"
One day earlier.
The sun rose to the sound of heavy breathing and a blade slicing the air. Some nonexistent opponent taunted the blade wielder, dodging the chaotic streaks of lightning and blue. The attacker, a teal figure with blazing golden eyes, decided to change strategies. After yet another dodged swipe, he kicked at his opponent's feet, tripping him forward, and thrust his sword forcefully at the chest of his foe.
The imaginary being somehow managed to flip over his thrust, landing a few feet behind him. An agile opponent. Golden eyes glinted, a mouth curved up in a smirk. The blue blade began to glow faintly. Electricity flickered around the sword as the glow progressed into a shining light.
Swish swish…
The shining blade sliced twice through the air, forming a neat X. As the air cut through his chest, the agile opponent crumbled to the ground, disappearing from the teal figure's imagination. Twenty feet behind the disappearing foe, two gashes opened on a tree in the X shape that had ripped through the imaginary opponent. The teal figure sheathed his sword, and began to walk out of his training area.
Duel Sentinel smiled. There was something about using his Friction Wind that almost made the past night's insomnia worth it. He felt invigorated by the night's training, and even knowing how exhausted he'd be that night couldn't bring him down. He drunk in the morning air, letting it fill him with energy. He loved this peace, life to the fullest, with no cares or worries. He closed his eyes and sighed. He stepped out into the sunlight.
As the bright sun of Windy Valley enveloped him, his features became visible. Duel was a teal colored hedgehog with a wide grin on his face, standing in a confident and yet relaxed position on the ledge opening. His trademark golden eyes glinted in the morning sunlight, and his spines hung down behind him, normal size, but fell downwards more than your average hedgehog's spikes. They blew in the breeze peacefully, swaying in an intricate dance. He wore a belt around his waist, a simple leather strap with a buckle, attached to his sword sheath, which held his magical blade, Tempest. The blue blade was forged from the Chaos Emerald of Windy Valley, and only given to the guardian of this gusty zone. Electricity flickered around it even while in its sheath, teasing the surrounding air. His white shoes had light blue wave-like patterns symbolizing the wind, and a buckle on top.
He was a warrior, a fitting title for a guardian, and loved training on his own. He could be both talkative and intrapersonal, sometimes spending hours in a secret place of his own training. But then again, sometimes he drove others mad babbling incessantly about stuff. Duel sometimes was known for worrying and beating himself up mentally, but his rock-hard determination to do what he set out to do made up for it. He was dead serious in times of battle, and though he had a lack of common sense most of the time, he was quite intelligent.
Duel jumped down from the ledge and landed on the metal highways below. He had no idea how they had been constructed, but didn't really care. There was a lot about this place's history that he didn't know. There was a lot about his own history that he didn't know. Just thinking that brought back bad memories. Duel tried to stop the memories before they started, shaking his head. But here they came.
Flashes of light in the darkness, his father, Raven, screaming in agony. Being huddled into his mother's frightened body, her screams of fright. And then, it all ended, and he woke up the next morning, lost and afraid, with no trace of his parents. Only he and his brother, Edge, a nine and ten year old, having to survive on their own. There was no one else in the zone.
Duel was awakened from his horrible nightmare by little fists punching him lightly in the back and a little voice laughing. He turned around, and smiled at the young hedgehog behind him. Star, his little brother, was doing what he did best: punching Duel lightly and laughing. Blonde hair hung over his innocent blue eyes, short light green spines went back behind him. He wore oversized gloves and pants, ones that he wouldn't grow into until he was at least Duel's age of 16. He had been born on that fateful day that had just recapped in Duel's mind, and he and Edge had raised him, and still were, almost like parents to him at the age of 7.
"Couldn't sleep again, could ya?" A voice said behind Duel.
Duel turned to face Edge. "Nope." He shrugged. "Got in a good night's training, though."
Edge just grinned his big grin. Though he was a year older than Duel, they were as close as twins were. He sat on the ledge of one of the many little floating islands, grinning at Duel, a grin you didn't see often from him in the morning. His brown eyes were lively with energy, also unusual for him in the morning. He was not usually a morning person. His black spikes stuck straight back behind him, and even a little upward, as if he was always using gel, which he never touched, or so he claimed. He wore a leather strap across his chest and leather gloves, with blue shoes. His large battleaxe, Goliath Thunder, also a Chaos Emerald-forged guardian blade, lay beside him in the grass.
Both Duel and Edge were guardians of Windy Valley, and both equally skilled warriors in battle. They often sparred, and were best friends as well as brothers. They were also practically opposites in many ways. Edge was an optimist, always joking, and most of the time needed to be with someone to keep himself busy. Training wasn't exactly his top priority, as for what his top priority was, we'll get to that soon. He would sometimes even crack jokes in battle, gleefully defeating his enemies, avoiding killing them. He was the common sense of the lot, and also stubborn, one of his few shared features with Duel. But as they say, opposites attract, so Duel and Edge got along fine, unless Duel got into one of his babbling marathons again.
Duel wondered why Edge was so cheery, but then saw why. Edge's top priority came walking from behind him, and explained the grin easily. Sariah, the fox Edge has had his eyes on for months, with a smirk and an internal grin you could see in her eyes, has obviously been a victim of Edge's flirting. Duel had no question as to why Edge had had his eyes on her for so long, though. Sariah was one foxy fox, her luscious curves making for a drop-you-dead-in-an-instant body, enough to, at first, transform Edge into a raving, drooling, hyperactive, and, well, blushing beast. He still hadn't lost his blush, as it appeared, as Sariah sat next to him in her sexy vest.
Of course, Edge wasn't only after her for her sex appeal. She was a very nice girl, smart and independent. And Duel wasn't that sure that she didn't have as much of a crush on Edge as he did her.
"Heya, Duel!" She said cheerfully. From Duel's experience, she wasn't usually this cheery in the morning either. "Hi, Star!"
"Hello." Star said in his little adorable voice. He looked at Edge for a second, thoughtfully, and opened his mouth curiously. "'dge, why's your face so red?"
Edge just gritted his teeth as his face got redder. Sariah giggled, and Duel tried to stop himself from laughing uproariously. Duel grinned, and whispered in Star's ear, and they walked towards their hut for breakfast.
****
The sound of voices laughing and feet dangling surrounded the pedestal for Windy Valley's chaos emerald. Edge and Sariah were having the time of their lives, just talking, but doing so much more at the same time. Though both were spending the entire time worrying in their mind whether they were making fools of themselves, and whether their feeling was mutual, not even that could destroy the moment. Talking can sometimes be the best link between two people, the most shining memory. And a memory was being forged that both would treasure for a long while.
Edge laughed at himself, carelessly, freely, like the birds in the sky above. They had been playing footsie over the cliff, and Edge had made another of his "unintended" puns, making Sariah laugh. Edge just laughed because, well, laughing was contagious at this moment.
At least SOMEONE likes my jokes…Edge thought to himself. Sariah, while they were laughing, had put her soft hand on Edge's shoulder, and as Edge realized this, he tightened up, trying to "stay cool." The feeling of her hand on his shoulder, it was so wonde--this was no time to get poetic. He had to STAY COOL, not freak out because the girl he liked insanely might like him too.
In his distraction, Edge's little game of footsie went awry, as he banged his heel into the cliff face. It took a second for the pain to register in his head, and then he got up, trying to suppress his un-manly yelps of agony. Grabbing his foot, he made quite a show, being incredible entertainment for Sariah, who was laughing at Edge's predicament quite joyously. Edge, still grabbing his foot, lost his balance and toppled onto the side of the little platform holding the blue chaos emerald of Windy Valley. The sound of cracking rock was heard as Sariah's laughter turned into utter silence. Edge got up, rubbing his sore butt, and turned around to look at the damage. His face froze as his jaw went slack.
The rock he had broken had been covering something of importance beyond his current comprehension. Something that might change his life forever. So Edge went straight to action.
He grabbed his sore heel and started howling again.
****
"Mmmm!!! Gotta love this bagel!" Duel said happily as he chomped down on the crispy, cream cheese covered breakfast item. Duel was not the best of cooks, but he loved food. All he could make was a bagel, a sandwich with too much mayonnaise, and overcooked pasta, in fact. Luckily, those were some of his favorite meals. Star, on the other hand, felt otherwise. He looked at the bagel in front of him in disgust.
"Uhh…I don' think I want this anymore…" Star said. Duel looked up from stuffing his face for an instant.
"Whaddya dalkin' aboot? Do 'aid dat doo wanded it!" Duel managed to say between bites, with food stuffed in his mouth. He'd never been tops on table manners, as Star had never been tops on flexibility with eating. Duel knew this, sighed, and made a great sacrifice on his part, eating Star's bagel for him quickly.
"Guy?" Star had developed this nickname for Duel, and now talked as if Duel was "Guy's" nickname instead of the other way around.
"Wat?" Duel said, the last bite of Star's bagel still in his mouth.
"Umm…I was wondering if, well, you and I could fight like you and Edge do?"
Duel looked up, having finished his meal, eyes wide open. His surprised face curled into a chuckling, happy face.
"Star, I couldn't! I might hurt you if I sparred with you!"
Star just looked down, utterly disappointed. His lower lip began to tremble precariously. Duel's grin disappeared, as he realized that this wasn't Star pouting, he was very truly disappointed. Star had gotten out of the pouting-to-get-what-he-wanted phase a long time ago anyway, when he'd discovered that it didn't work on Duel or Edge anymore. Duel sighed, he couldn't let the little guy down like this…
"Fine…I'll have to be careful with ya, though."
Star's face lit up like a spotlight. He grinned the widest grin Duel had seen since the last time he'd let him have ice cream, which was yesterday.
"YAY!! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" Star leapt up into Duel's arms.
"Oof! You're heavier every day, kid!" Duel set Star down and walked out of the hut, gesturing to Star to follow. Star ran after him happily, laughing at his luck. Duel and Star ran across the metal roads that twisted through the breeze to come to a large, open area of grass. Duel slowed to a walk and stopped at the entrance. Star came running past, laughing, to the other side of the field and skidded to a stop. The breeze and sun were perfect, not too hot, not too cold, and the clouds were gone from the clear, open sky. The blue stretched from horizon to horizon, in an endless span of mightiness. Lost in his thoughts, Duel barely heard Star call.
"Can we start now?" Star cried eagerly. Duel simply nodded. Star broke into a sprint at Duel, hands in perfect fighting position. As he came to Duel, he leaped up and kicked at Duel's face. Duel, completely unprepared for Star's skill, barely managed to dodge it. He decided to take a risk, and threw a punch at Star's face. Star caught Duel's fist in his little hand, and tried a punch of his own. Duel caught Star's fist, and with a smirk, broke apart from Star and both began in a fast flurry of punches and kicks, neither hitting the other. Duel began to find it challenging to keep up with Star's speed, and realized that he hadn't hit Star yet. He must've learned much more from watching Edge and I spar than I'd thought. Duel thought to himself.
Finally, Duel landed a kick on Star's face that made him stumble backwards, but to Duel's surprise, did not make him fall. Star wiped off the small trail of blood from his lip, and grimaced, something Duel hadn't ever seen him do. For some reason, it was a scary thing to Duel. Duel flipped backwards several times, landing in a fighting stance. He had put at least twenty-five feet between him and Star. Star, that frightening grimace never leaving his face, began to run at Duel, closing the gap between them.
20 feet…
15 feet…Duel began to notice something that he sensed that wasn't usually there.
10 feet…
He saw a faint blue glow around Star form.5 feet…As the glow brightened, Duel staggered, realizing what it was that he sensed.
0 feet…Duel felt a little fist hit him in the face like a brick hurled at him at over one hundred miles per hour, and went flying through a tree behind him.
Star gasped, the blue aura disappearing as he ran towards the limp figure of Duel, apologizing the whole way. He jumped over the fallen tree and ran more to Duel, inches away from the edge of the area. He kneeled down and shook Duel, who half-opened one eye.
"GUY! Are you 'kay? I'm so sorry!" Star cried apologetically.
All Duel could manage to mutter before the world shut off in his head was,
"Wha…how…?"
****
As the shadows of the clouds rolled under his feet, and his still-aching heel, Edge peered at the inscriptions he had uncovered on accident. They were odd, not outstandingly strange, but in a language he wasn't sure existed anymore. But they had a very distinctive similarity to English letters and words, so he thought he could figure them out. But there was something that added to his confidence within, something that he couldn't pinpoint. The language was familiar, in the way that something you have very little, blurred memories of can be familiar. Something stuck in the back of his head said in a quiet, high-pitched voice, I know this!
Sariah, on the other hand, could not make any sense of it at all.
"What's all this gibberish? Makes no sense to me!"
Edge looked scholarly for a second, a very rare thing for Edge to look. But it was interrupted by a simple word.
"Umm…"
"You don't know, do ya?"
"Actually, I think I have an idea." The scholarliness half-heartedly returned to his face. He pointed to the symbols above what were the words. "I can already see what these are. In the middle is a power stone, those are rare, mysterious things. I doubt anyone really has half an idea of their power. Around that is a ring, you see those all the time here, and in all zones like ours. I've been told that they have a way of harnessing the power of the Chaos Emeralds, into a more portable, more easily made space. And the outside circle…" He drew a circle with his finger. "Are the seven Chaos Emeralds. We've got one of 'em right here, but most of the others are more scattered. Only emeralds I know of with a more mysterious history are the Master Emerald and Ice Cap's emerald. From what I've heard, Ice Cap has quite the history surrounding its Chaos Emerald, but so does Windy Valley."
"Oh…" Sariah said in a voice that told Edge she was trying to understand, but giving it a few seconds to sort itself out in her brain. So Edge paused for her to do just that, and he saw when her distant stare into the emerald disappeared that he should continue.
"So I think that these words down here have to do with these three, so it's probably somewhat important. Anything having to do with these things usually is. I gotta go tell Duel about this before I try to translate anything else."
With a sigh, Edge started walking the path back to the hut, saying a quick goodbye to Sariah. She had never had much experience with Chaos Emeralds and the like other than knowing they were around, so it was hard to explain to her that this was important, since Windy Valley's Chaos Emerald seemed to her nothing but a fancy decoration everyone made a fuss about. Edge had had enough experience to know better, but he didn't blame Sariah for it. Edge personally wished he didn't have to not think of it as a fancy decoration, remembering the struggles that had led him to this knowledge.
Something told him in his gut that he'd have another of those struggles. Edge shook his head, and tried to convince himself that he was being paranoid to the rhythm of his feet against the metal. But deeper in his gut, he knew that his gut was rarely wrong.
****
The soft snow fluttered down from the air, each flake like a dove in the clear sky. But they shied away from the spot they were usually drawn to, the gleaming green gem on a small altar. This was known to sentient beings as a Chaos Emerald, but to the snowflakes it was just somewhere they liked falling on. But now there was something blazing, something too hot to be described on the outside, but ice cold on the inside, too close to the spot that they liked to land. They would disintegrate on impact if they neared the blazing being, whose green face had curled up into a smirk. He chuckled to himself, and raised his glowing hand, pointing out a finger right below the shining Chaos Emerald. A slate of rock on the side of the platform seeped green light from its cracks, and exploded, rock shards going everywhere. Some of the rock shards flew into the character, but were incinerated as if they were snowflakes. And as he looked at the engravings behind the slate, oblivious to the flying debris, he let himself laugh out loud, in a voice similar to the sound of nails scratching a blackboard.
He had found what he wanted. He knew what he had wanted to know. And his attacker falling towards him, yelling a battle cry, was too late. This attacker, the boiling figure noticed, was a bat who had spent his life near the shining emerald. He was of a light blue color, with large green snow boots, his face only showing rage as he raised the colossal ice pick he wielded above his head. He was still ten feet above the green being, who was still laughing. The green figure raised his other hand, palm up, and the bat stopped his fall inches away from his hand, frozen like the home he lived in.
"Aaron the Bat. Self-appointed Guardian of Ice Cap. Do you know why I'm not going to kill you right now?"
Aaron grunted from the pain of being so close to the hot hand, and spat in the speaker's face.
"Don't worry, I haven't done anything to your precious emerald, just uncovered some ancient history. I've always enjoyed history." The green figure grinned wider. "Anyway, back to business. I'm not going to kill you because I wouldn't want anything to happen to my little emerald over there, and I think you do your job in guarding it. Guard it well, Guardian, I'll come and take it off of your hands after I study a bit more history. The past can be sooo interesting." The figure's grin curled from one nonexistant ear to the other, his shining green teeth making Aaron squint, as fire built in between the hand and the bat. Aaron's eyes opened wide as he realized what was happening, as the fireball grew, and launched him into the distance, as the grinning figure whispered quietly,
"Thanks for the history lesson."
The snow was glad to find its way back to the emerald, as an injured bat stumbled in the same direction, coughing, and collapsing onto the bright gem.
****
"What the hey?" Edge ran up to the unconscious body of Duel, utterly shocked. Star kneeled next to him, tears in his eyes.
"Star, what happened?"
"I-I, I di-didn't m-mean to…d-do anything!" Edge heard a quiet sob as Star tried to stop the tears flowing down his cheeks. "I-I just w-wanted to…well…f-fight like you and G-guy do! And now Guy's HURT!" Star stopped resisting and bawled his eyes out. "I'M SO SORRY!!!!"
Edge leaned over to comfort the little guy, who was both terrified of Duel being hurt and getting in serious trouble. He hugged him and patted his back, whispering reassuringly,
"Everything's ok, Star. You're not in trouble. Everything's ok." Duel's right eye opened half the way, and though Edge wasn't sure whether he was conscious or just doing that in his sleep, which, as Edge had learned over the years, was one of the least strange things he did in his sleep, he said, "Look, Star! He's waking up!"
A weak voice muttered, "Anyone…get…the number on…that bus?" Duel's mouth shakily formed an excuse for a grin.
"You're OK!!!" Star said joyfully, jumping on top of Duel and squeezing him much harder than was in Duel's comfort zone at the moment. Duel wheezed as his eyes popped open from Star's squeeze. Edge chuckled, and pulled Star off of Duel.
"Yeah, I think. That's…" Duel stopped trying to get up and plopped back to the ground again in surrender. "One HECK of a wallop you carry there, Star!"
Star grinned at the compliment, not realizing that Duel had truly understated the point. Edge chuckled again, and outstretched his hand to Duel, offering him a hand up. Duel accepted, and stood up, his legs like teal Jell-O. He grinned another shaky grin, and stretched, trying to get back into a functioning state. Star started bouncing around him, he couldn't believe his luck, not getting in trouble AND Duel not being hurt! As he bounced happily, he pondered something over, and turned to ask Duel.
"Can we fight again?"
Duel did a double take at this, and then tried to smile. "Sure, but some other time. I'm too tired now."
This just caused Star to bounce around faster, laughing. Edge laughed "with" the boy, and turned to him, squatting down.
"Hey, Star, can you go back to the hut for a while? I need to show Duel something."
Star was too happy to ponder tagging along. "Sure!" He said cheerfully, and proceeded to bounce his way to the hut they called home. Edge and Duel quickly made their ways out of sight. Once they were sure Star wasn't following them, Edge asked the question.
"So what REALLY happened?"
Duel sighed. "I…don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"Well, Star was desperate to spar with me, so I let him…it turns out he's a much better fighter than I'd expected. But that wasn't what drove me through that tree."
"Then what did?"
"This is the confusing part. I punched him, and his whole expression changed, from joyful, to determined and even…" Duel paused for an aching moment. "Angry. There was this grimace on his face, and I flipped back to put some distance between us, hoping he'd cool off before attacking me. No such luck, as he charged at me, and I felt this incredible energy coming from him! It was unbelievable, he was about as powerful as our Super forms! And he began to glow blue, and before I knew it, his fist collided with my face harder than I've ever been hit, as his power peaked. I don't think he remembers what happened to him, but I think he's got a power that punch was only a taste of inside."
Edge paused for a second. "You're exaggerating, still dazed from blacking out. Once I show you this, you oughta go to bed. You need rest."
Duel sighed, and decided not to protest, knowing Edge would stick to his opinion. He knew comparing Star to their Super forms was a seemingly impossible thing to happen, so Edge would have to feel it for himself. He would eventually, until then, Duel would have to work with Star on his own to unlock this. But he agreed with Edge that he needed rest. He felt like a truck ran over him, and though what had happened to him could be compared to that, that was a regular feeling for the night after insomnia.
Duel and Edge turned the last corner, coming to the pedestal of the Chaos Emerald. Edge jogged up and ran to the other side, squatting in front of it. Duel walked over there--he didn't think he could manage to run right now—and turned around the side to see what Edge was so fascinated in.
"Well, what do you make of it?" Edge said excitedly.
"Old engravings, most likely saying something that will supposedly change our lives. Yay." Duel said in a voice that communicated that he was obviously NOT in the mood for this.
Edge narrowed his eyes at him, then cheered up. "I'd forgotten how much of a zombie you are when you're tired." He said, grinning.
Duel would have whacked Edge over the head, but didn't have the energy. "I'm sorry, you're right. I need sleep, I'll look at whatever-it-is tomorrow."
As Edge sat down, obviously intending to spend a while working on translating the engravings, Duel made his way slowly back home. When he got there, even with the afternoon sun shining and the sounds of Star having another one of his imaginary adventures ringing through the hut, Duel was asleep, literally, before his head hit the pillow.
Edge worked hard, making no immediate progress, but intending to stay at the altar until he had figured out the engravings. As the sun set and he had only figured out one letter, he stubbornly sat, ignoring his heel's dull pain, and worked off the blue light given off by the Chaos Emerald. His history lesson would take longer, much longer, but change his life just as dramatically.
--------
Don't worry, people, you'll see Sonic, Tails, and company next chapter, and I won't leave you hanging on what Edge will find…for long. ^_^ Join me in Chapter 2, Changes, as Sonic finds a new ally in an old enemy, but will it be enough to face what's ahead?