Chapter 2: Hunts
--
Several frogs were croaking in the swamps around. This was a rather peaceful countryside; swarms of birds settled into the brushes and rose again to fly off again. The crickets composed their consent doleful music, but despite their melancholy symphony that played eternally day after day, week after week, the marshes had a pleasant air floating around. Anyone who lived there would've found this atmosphere uplifting, quite contrary to the doleful atmosphere.
Suddenly, the air changed; something was coming. A purple glow formed over a marsh pond and it slowly expanded. Suddenly, three figures appeared out of thin air. One was a black hedgehog with red highlights along his spines. Another was a white bat wearing a purple tight-suit and wearing two handguns. The last one was the biggest: a large black-and-red robot with large eight-inch claws and red glowing eyes. It was our escapees from Dr. Robotnik's base: Shadow, Rouge and E-123 Omega.
Shadow doubled over when he fully materialized into the swamp air and began breathing hard.
"Shadow, are you all right?" Rouge automatically asked.
"Too...far..." Shadow gasped.
Shadow was still grasping the Purple Emerald, and with its electrical properties, the fur on his arm was standing straight up.
"Where...are...we?" Shadow gasped, lessening some.
"The Frog Forest; an offshoot of the Mystic Ruins Forest," Omega droned.
Rouge propped her arm under her chin in thought. Shadow shakily stood up and turned to Rouge.
"Here, take your Emerald back. If you want me to ever use the Chaos Control again, get me the green one. That purple one's no good." Shadow turned away, crossing his arms.
"Well, that's possible." Rouge whipped out a small gadget the size of a Palm Pilot. "I knew this would come into a good use."
Shadow's ear cocked in Rouge's direction. "What is it?"
"It's a chaos energy tracker. You didn't expect me to have Dr. Robotnik's energy tracker without studying it some, did you? I stole the technology built into it and had another one built. This thing can track an Emerald down within millimeters. It also has a satellite uplink so we can find any Emerald in Möbius."
Rouge typed a few buttons, and on the screen appeared a map of the West Part of Möbius, called West Möbius. Three blips showed up on the screen.
"Ah, we're in luck! The green one is in West Möbius, in the Northern Mountains."
"Too far to teleport." Shadow stated. "We'll have to go by normal means."
"Just a reminder: Dr. Robotnik plans to activate his prime operation to rule the world later this week."
"He is?" Shadow nearly jumped as he spun to face Omega. "When did you hear this?"
"Rouge described the operation to me shortly before we relocated to this location. Dr. Robotnik had bragged to all of the political figureheads of Möbius."
Shadow made a sound like he was disgusted. "Figures. He can't keep a secret, even for...for..." Shadow was concentrating.
"ARK?" Rouge finished.
"Yes...the ARK."
Shadow looked disappointed; Rouge was about to inquire, but decided against it. Shadow straightened up, as if he just realized something. "We must find that Chaos Emerald. And we have only a few days; we must go now. Hope you can keep up."
"Climb up on my back, Rouge. You can't keep up on your own, but I can. Our briskness is imperative."
Rouge climbed up onto Omega's shoulder and grabbed onto a bar that lay on the robot's shoulder. Shadow took off in a skate, and Omega fired up his jetpacks and took off after him. Omega wasn't as fast as Shadow, but Shadow was gracious enough to keep at a pace slow enough for Omega.
He began to think as he glided silently through the marshes, about everything. His memory wasn't gone, but it was fuzzy. He almost forgot the name of the space station, ARK, already, but thanks to Rouge, he was reminded. But why forget in the first place? He lived on the ARK longer then on Möbius; it should've been natural for him to have a harder time to remember Möbius, for he was only on it for a few years, and the ARK for all of the early part of his life...but forget the ARK? Something's wrong.
Shadow saw something bright up ahead and screeched to a halt. Omega came up a half-second later and also stopped. Rouge asked first. "Why the stop?"
Shadow quickly shushed her and was peering at what he saw just a second ago. They were in a marsh, and the trees were so thick above that the sunlight was not able to get through. Shadow opened his hand towards Rouge, and the bat instinctively handed Shadow the Chaos Emerald. Shadow didn't like the Purple Emerald, as earlier stated, but it didn't hurt to have some form of protection.
Shadow grasped the Emerald, and then stepped around a huge plant. What lay before him was strangest thing he ever laid eyes on. It was a huge frog, black with red and blue blotches. The frog was the size of a large retriever.
Ever since the ARK incident, he hated anything that bore a resemblance to that lizard thing he saw a few years earlier, he forgot the name already, reptiles and amphibians and such. That "creature" was his worst nightmare; anything that had a vague resemblance awoke that hatred and fear and made him want to blow it off the face of the earth. He felt like that now.
"What is it, Shadow?" Rouge whispered.
"Sensors detect an amphibian, approximate 10 meters ahead of Shadow. Species unidentified. Unknown specimen. The unknown can be potentially dangerous. Should I eradicate it?"
"Quiet, Omega. It could be just a harmless frog."
Unfortunately, it wasn't so harmless. The frog glanced at Shadow and felt his hatred. It was threatened and needed to protect himself. It opened its mouth and let out a croak that sounded shrill and crackly. The sky darkened and down poured rain. It smelled foul and clung to their fur and clothes.
"Danger! Danger!" Omega suddenly blurted out. "Acid rain alert! Acid rain alert!"
"Acid rain!?" Rouge blanched. "Under this tree, the one with the huge leaves!"
The three dove under the leaves to keep the rain from falling onto their bodies. Shadow shook himself, trying to get rid of the deadly rain off his fur. Rouge did the same, but cringed at the smell of the acid. Omega didn't need to clean off his metallic shell; the acid was too weak to eat away metal.
A little later, the rain stopped, just as quickly as it started.
"What was that?" Shadow asked.
"It was a rain-frog, I believe," Rouge said. "There are a few large frogs that for some strange reason can summon rain. I didn't think they would be anything like that."
"I knew I hated that frog when I laid eyes on it."
"C'mon, Shadow. We must wash off this acid, or we'll get acid burns."
A quick search brought up a marsh with a still pond. Shadow and Rouge quickly washed out their fur, while Omega stood watch. Rouge was embarrassed at the indignity of washing in a foul-smelling pond such as a marsh, being used to high-class bathing that she was bred for.
Shadow got his fur cleaned out first, and sat on the edge of the marsh, waiting. His fur still reeked of the acid, but it was just the smell. Still, it annoyed him and he hoped it would pass soon.
Rouge thought the same, for this was nothing like the 50-dollar-an-ounce perfumes she was used to.
E-123 Omega was looking around, as if searching for something invisible. Omega was feeling a resonance that he never felt before. It felt like there was a charge in the air. It made him uneasy. He considered inquiring Shadow and Rouge, but upon observance, they seemed not to sense it at all.
He had consulted his coordinates, but they were fuzzy; there was some strange magnetic interference in the air.
"Omega?" Rouge noticed the robot's scanning around. "What's wrong?"
"Sensors have picked up a strange magnetic resonance. Unable to identify. It is messing up my coordinate system. Having difficulty obtaining current location."
"So we're lost?"
"Currently. We must clear the electromagnetic disturbance to obtain the location."
Rouge crossed her arms and leaned back her head slightly, as if trying to feel something. She knew that some electromagnetic energy pulses can be felt by organics. Unfortunately, this was not one of those.
Shadow on the other hand DID feel something, and it gave him a strange sense of déjà vu. He had felt this strong feeling before...in some dark cavernous place...where...this creature was...a shiver ran down his spine. It felt oppressive there, but here...he didn't know.
Shadow was still holding the Purple Chaos Emerald, and started stroking it unconsciously. The air changed. Rouge didn't sense anything, but Omega looked around suddenly as if startled.
Clouds began forming above, and Shadow looked upwards at the gathering clouds, still stroking the Emerald. Soon, a rumble of thunder echoed through the trees. Rouge's ear flicked and she looked up and saw the storm clouds.
"Oh, not again!" Rouge dove under the plant. Omega was trying to make sense of the sudden pulse of the strange energy. Shadow remained still, just as the rain began to pour. It was a sweet rain, not like the putrid acid rain several minutes earlier.
"What are you doing, Shadow?" Rouge hissed, obviously seething and surprised at Shadow's unawareness. "That's acid rain!"
"Negative. This rain is the natural rain," Omega stated.
Rouge looked up, but was still unsure. Still, Shadow's fur wasn't eaten off yet, just slicked down. Just as before, the rain clouds dissipated and the air turned fair.
"Why does that always happen?" Rouge spoke everyone's thoughts.
"I can only conclude that the energy pulses are connected to the surprise storms."
Rouge couldn't comprehend Omega's conclusion, but since he sensed something that she couldn't, she couldn't argue.
Shadow seemed oblivious to what just happened. He stared in shock as his memory seemed to toss and turn as a stormy sea would. No...not again...
- - - - -
Deep in the Mystic Ruins, in the dark fortress of Final Egg, Metal-Sonic was viewing progress on a ship being built in a construction bay. Ever since his reformation, he was continually finding out new sensations that he never had as a "robot." He was still a robot technically, but by other technicalities, he was alive, the most life-like robot in all history.
His new bio-metal body had a respiration system, a circulatory system, a complex nervous system, and now had a skeletal frame, made of harder bio-metal, all the bio-nanites fused together tightly, instead of relatively loosely bonded comparing a bone to the intestinal tract.
Another thing that was new to him was toleration to Chaos energy, a sensation that robots would never feel. Chaos energy has electromagnetic properties which would cause severe interference to any electronic impulse, like placing a strong dipole magnet too close to a computer. Now they hardly harmed him at all. Speaking of which, he felt a rush of energy occur as he was inspecting one ship. It felt like a small vacuum which lasted for just a second, then dissipated as if it wasn't anything. He dismissed it as nothing, and got back to the inspection.
What he thought was lacking was that he was indeed still a copy. After years of updating his robot body, he was still a copy.
He fumed at the thought, his new body reflecting his anger, heating up slightly and his eyes narrowing into slits. He peered at his reflection in the viewing window, red eyes peering at red eyes. His spines extended back, marked with white. With a mild astonishment, he found that he looked a little like Shadow now as well as the hedgehog.
Even though he detested being a copy of anything, looking a little Shadow struck him differently then looking like Sonic. He remembered that he drew a blood sample from Shadow while he was in a comatose state in the pod. His lab study showed that it had the blood of a normal Möbian hedgehog, but there was something unidentified mixed within. It matched nothing nor did it resemble anything.
Shadow. He was rumored to be the ultimate life-form...Metal-Sonic had studied into Prof. Gerald's research, at least the shreds that he had robbed the G.U.N. computer from. It was sketchy, but it seemed that the ultimate life-form could be duplicated, but only within a certain limit. The Biolizard was an aquatic form, and was duplicated from a salamander. He even heard of that beast in the Mystic Ruins that Shadow had met. It was a land life-form, and Shadow had to team up with the other hedgehog to fight it, but unfortunately, Shadow took damage, where Mecha found him later.
For the next few months afterwards, he had been extensively studying Shadow's anatomy and had taken quite a few blood samples. Many would've called Metal-Sonic's studies mad, but Mecha saw it as a personal investment. If he could duplicate whatever made Shadow tick, he too could be a life-form of equal quality. Shadow is a match for the blue hedgehog, and if Mecha could duplicate it.
A smile spread across Mecha's visage, and that was one thing that he loved about his new body most of all. No robot ever could ever duplicate the mouth with all its flexibilities and textures, but Mecha seemed to be the exception to every rule. His new visage could mentally disturb even the hedgehog, he was sure of it. That's what he wanted.
He drummed his claws on the board; no more clanging either. Let the hedgehog face him now; there was no going back to Robotnik again for fixing. He can and will destroy that hedgehog, and then HE will be the original!
A beeping from the terminal interrupted his thoughts. He strode towards the computers, his black cape fluttering in his wake. He opened his network port and read the messages that the terminal announced.
It appears that one of the spy-camera robots caught the hedgehog near the Dagro Desert base, but was running past. Curious...thought Mecha. No doubt that two-tailed kitsune is with them, along with those two chao that he saw on the ARK, three years past.
An inkling of an idea came to Mecha. He had observed how one of the chao, the white one, was efficient with the Chaos Emeralds. His research showed that certain chao can wield certain Emeralds, but there are special chao that can wield all seven. They tended to be white or black of color. He never gave much attention to chao abilities, but now that he knew something about the power of Chaos, he found them much more to his use. Unfortunately, no chao would have anything to do with an assassin robot, especially one involved in world domination.
One chao demonstrated exceptional abilities for even a chao. He found that the white chao had a very strong Chaos aura, very strong more specifically and could do things with it like nothing he had ever seen.
Maybe he should study this white chao a bit more thoroughly...
The email that Sonic and Tails received...he remembered that he used a server from another continent in Möbius to send it. No doubt Tails had traced it and Sonic was out to find out what the deal was...Tails also was going with him to, and the two chao also, including...
Perfect.
- - - - -
Knuckles was working on clearing brush from near his house that day. He let it grow a little too long and it finally began to become a real nuisance, and he finally got around to dealing with the overgrown undergrowth, which he figured to be a great irony.
It was hot, clear and a small breeze stirred the wild grass gently. Knuckles enjoyed the peace the Island offered, and preferred that to the noise of Echidnaopolis, closer to the interior of the island. He always observed the grand city from afar, and ventured into the city, but that was seldom, and if he needed certain supplies not naturally supplied by nature, such as a machete that he was currently using to whack away at the grass.
He had always lived alone, which is a common fate for the Guardians of Angel Island, and was used to it, but he always liked the companionship of the Chaotix as well as a girl that lived in Echidnaopolis, Julie-Su.
He stood up, stretched, mildly hearing the popping in his spine, and felt the breeze. Hmm, it's getting close to the time to go south for the winter months. Since half the Island is composed of tropical flora and fauna, they wouldn't enjoy temperatures like a conifer forest would prefer. Good thing he didn't have that on his Island, he thought with a smirk.
He heard footsteps coming towards him, and he naturally turned to see who was coming. It was the Chaotix, coming from obviously the direction of the city.
"Hey, guys..." Knuckles called towards the foursome.
They all acknowledged Knuckles.
"Whatcha doin', Knux?" Vector asked.
"Oh, I finally got sick of this grass growing so much so close to my house and I wanted to clear it out before any rats decided to take refuge. Don't want those vermin here. What're you doing out here in the sticks? How's the agency going?"
"Slow...until about two hours ago." Espio side-eyed the rest of the Chaotix, and saw his face reflected in everyone else's: a slight glint of curiosity and caution in everyone's eyes.
One of Knuckles' eyebrows rose. "Why, what happened?" Knuckles crossed his arms, after laying the machete down beside him.
Mighty repeated the morning delivery and about the mysterious Client, and his charge as well as the generous price offer.
"Sounds like this guy collects antiques or something."
"We thought about that, but we can't base that on anything unless we get those items, which is why we came here. Is it all right if we borrow one of those portable teleporters you have?"
"Ah, you need to get to the mainland, I see..."
"Yep."
Knuckles rubbed his chin, and then shrugged. "Why not? I'll loan one to you..."
"Thanks a bunch, Knux!" Vector said, smiling.
"But on one condition: I go with you."
All the Chaotix looked slightly shock and slightly affronted. "That's all? You make it sound like a bad thing!"
"You break my teleporter and it will be. I went over hill and dale to get the parts for it, and having someone bust it intentionally or accidentally if I can help it is out of the question."
The Chaotix looked at each other, and then Charmy perked up. "Well, you ARE part of the Chaotix after all..."
"By claim only, but it'll count. I'm going to Hidden Palace to get something. Wait at the house; I'll be back."
Knuckles strode towards an old stone hut that was half buried in brush and rock-growing plants. He walked around it and found small opening, only about two feet high. He crawled through on his hands and knees and slid down the small slope inside. Mounted on the floor was a blue disk on five small legs; a teleporter.
Stepping into it, the dark stone hut suddenly changed into the cold blue crystal-laid caverns of Hidden Palace. He didn't have far to walk, for two turns down the path, the glow of eight power gems shone out in the darkness like separates suns. There were seven relatively small gems, the size of desktop computer monitors; each colored differently, all set in a circle. In the center sat a large green gem, the size of a small car, glowed fiercely in the center of Hidden Palace: The Master Emerald.
Knuckles walked to the Master, and stroked it, admiring its green relaxing glow. "Master Emerald? Create Master miniature, please."
A humming sound from the Emerald, and all of the sudden, a flash of light erupted from beside Knuckles and disappeared, revealing a small gem, astonishingly looking like the Master itself, but about the size of a Chaos Emerald.
"There we go. Now were ready to roll."
Knuckles strode for the teleporter, beamed out, then walked back to his house, where the Chaotix were waiting.
"That didn't take too long," Mighty said dryly.
"It's not hard if you know what to do. C'mon, let's get on the road. The sooner we get this done, the better. Where are we going first?"
"Well, the Client said to go to Casino Park, in Santiago City."
"Figures as much; into civilization. Can't stay away from it, I guess," Knuckles said quietly, smirking a little.
"That brings up a song..." Vector stated quietly, who was always into music when he hears it.
"I don't wanna hear it. My ears still ache from that hardcore CD you bought and played at max volume."
A snicker ran through the Chaotix.
"Laugh it up, cold-bloods."
Mighty immediately interjected, "I'm not cold-blooded!"
"Sure you are! Knuckles is the hot-blooded one!" Charmy taunted, dodging a back-handed blow from Knuckles.
"Say that again, bee-boy, and I'll mount your head on my wall."
Charmy laughed sheepishly.
"Now, if you guys had enough with this idle banter, let's get to the city."
Knuckles set up the teleporter and set the coordinates for Santiago City, and let it warm up for a few seconds after he turned it on.
"There we go; should be working like a windup clock."
"One that's running, I hope..." Espio smirked, since he was facing Knuckles' back.
"Keep talking, chameleon; that way I know where to kick."
Espio conveniently stepped back a few paces then remarked. "Whatever you say, echidna."
Knuckles happened to glance back a fraction and noticed that Espio was out of kicking range, and decided not to try, so as not to look stupid.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Vector asked suddenly.
"Nothin', let's go." Mighty stepped onto the glowing hot-blue lens, which flashed blue, enveloping Mighty until he was just a silhouette, then it faded just as fast as it lit up, taking Mighty with it.
The rest stepped on one each at a time, Knuckles being the last. Once he stepped on, the surroundings quickly changed from the greenery of the Marble Gardens to the sidewalk of Bingo Drive, the street that runs along Casino Park.
"Wow! Look at this place!" Charmy exclaimed.
"It's more spectacular at night, I figure," Knuckles said, watching as the portable teleporter flashed into view. (This teleporter had the ability to teleport itself to the set coordinates after a set time, so the one using the teleporter wouldn't be stranded by accident.)
"I could guess so..." Mighty said, staring at the big neon sign at the park entrance.
"Hey, what are we waiting for?" Espio suddenly said. "We need to find ten black poker chips for our Client."
"Ten black poker chips?" Knuckles whistled. "You guys have your work cut out for you. Blue chips pale at black ones."
"We know, we know..." Vector said. "C'mon, we don't have all day."
The five stalked up to the gate, paid the admission, and entered the chaos inside.
"Dang! This is worse then Christmas sales in Hal-Mart!" Mighty said, being careful while bustling through the crowd.
"One side, please!"
"Hey! That's my foot!"
"Ack! You're squashing me!"
"Hey, honk a horn or something! You're like a semi truck!"
"Yuck! I just stepped in some gum! That ain't ever comin' off."
"Yell 'fire' or something so we can get through, would you Knux?"
"Forget it; too many legal entanglements."
"If I get nudged in the stomach again..."
"Whoa, look at that hot chick!"
"Gosh, I'm hungry!"
"You're always hungry, Charmy."
"Nyah!"
This random bantering by the five went on until up to half an hour, right when they found a relatively open space.
"Wow, that's gonna hurt tomorrow..." Vector said, rubbing his foot gingerly. "It must've been stepped on by the whole town!"
"I knew I didn't like crowds, now I have a reason," Knuckles crossed his arms, and looked a little cross.
"Well, you were right, Knuckles. We DO have our work cut out for us..." Espio said dryly.
"Yes, a bit more so, now..." Knuckles mumbled.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm getting bored standing here; I'm going to look for those Poker chips." Espio's skin suddenly blended into the environment, and he was gone.
"Should've told him to bring back a hot dog," Mighty stated flippantly.
"Oh, please, don't mention food." Charmy gripped his stomach.
"There's a food stand right behind you, Holmes..." Mighty said, motioning behind him.
Charmy glanced over his shoulder. "Oh, I thought I smelled cheese fries."
Charmy buzzed away to satisfy his appetite, while the rest were leaning against the wall to avoid potential trampling.
"I see why you prefer solitude, Knux. The only thing that hasn't been tussled in the crowd is my head," Mighty said.
"This better not be a regular event; I can't stand these crowds," Knuckles mumbled.
By now, Charmy had returned with a few hot dogs and some sodas. "I hope you don't mind grape soda, Knux. All the others were sold out currently."
"If it's drinkable, I'll take it."
Knuckles sipped his soda, his frow slightly altering due to reacting to the strength of the soda.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to find those black chips too..." Charmy said, then flew off.
Vector side-eyed Mighty. "Do you have a feeling we'll find him at a slot machine or something?"
"Do you?"
"Nah, I think Charmy can control himself, despite the potential of winning big here..."
Mighty looked away for a second, then back at Vector. "Do you honestly believe that?"
Vector smiled. "Not a word..."
Knuckles chuckled.
- - - - -
Amy and Cream were in the Mystic Ruins. Why there? There were tours of the Mystic Ruins and Amy figured that she'd have to do a research report in school, so she thought the Mystic Ruins would be a great subject. Cream was merely with her because Sally let her, since Amy was now 17 and more mature then before.
"Wow, what a big place!" Cream said in awe.
"Yeah, I was wandering through this place several years ago. Have you ever heard of Chaos?"
"Uh...I think Mr. Sonic said something about him yes. Wasn't he a...monster?"
"Yeah, but I heard that he turned good after Sonic fought him."
Amy never melted at the mere mention of Sonic's name, for her crush over time reformatted into a simple admiration. She still "liked" Sonic, but knew that she had been a pest to him years before, so she thought maybe she was going too strong.
"How can a monster turn good? I thought all monsters are bad..."
"Well..."
While they were waiting for a tour group to assemble, Amy sat down with Cream and told her of Chaos, Tikal and Turos (or Birdy). It may have been over five years before, but it was very fresh in her mind. Again, she was on the Egg Carrier, Final Egg and beating Zero.
"Wow, you had a real adventure..." Cream said adoringly.
"Yes, oh, you were there on the ARK were you?"
"Oh, that big building in space? Yes, it had that black hedgehog in there..."
"Yeah, too bad he died."
"But he didn't! We saw him again, and he was alive!"
Amy couldn't believe it. Shadow? Alive?
"But...how?"
"I don't know...he doesn't like to talk about it much, but earlier clear back when the flowers were coming out, he vanished. We never saw him again...Mr. Sonic doesn't like to talk about that either."
"Disappeared..."
By now, a tour group had been assembled and Amy, Cream and Cheese joined in. They went through the tunnel that led into the forests. The weather was growing humid as the sun rose, but the cave was cool, never exposed to the sun's merciless rays. Cream was a little nervous in the dark, but Cheese tried to comfort her.
A little later found the group exiting out into the humidity of the Mystic Ruins jungle. It was nothing like Cream had ever seen. She had been in a forest before; she lived in one actually, but none as lively as this jungle. There were butterflies, colorful birds and tropical fish in the ponds.
"Wow, it's so pretty..."
Amy agreed. The last time she was here, she was on a mission; not as a tourist. She never had time to look at the majesty and beauty of nature. She watched a flock of rainbow macaws fluttered from the trees. She saw a monkey swinging through the trees, stopping to let out a bellowing cry.
"I never thought it was so beautiful..." Amy said quietly.
"Eww!" Cream leapt back in revulsion. Amy looked and saw that a large snake was slithering across their path, heading towards the water. It disappeared into the water, only concerned about catching a nice fish for dinner.
"Well, that was nice..."
"I hate snakes...they're all slimy and yucky..."
"Hey!" Cheese exclaimed. "What's that!?"
All looked to what Cheese was pointing at. They could see nothing at first, but they didn't have to wait long; out of the river hopped out a large, tropical-green frog as large as a young retriever. It was slender and had big yellow eyes that peered at the three inquisitively.
"It's...a frog!" Amy said.
"A big frog!" Cream said. "Another slimy thing. Take it away!"
Cheese stared back at it in curiosity. He had seen frogs before in the creeks near Knothole, but he had never seen such a huge frog before, let along one native to the tropics, which looked quite different then the earthy-colored frogs of the temperate regions.
"Froggy!" a voice called from far away.
The large frog cocked its head, and hopped away to the voice.
"Hey! Let's follow it!" Amy said.
"Why?" Cream asked.
"If it responded to a call like that, it must be domestic. It has an owner. I want to meet him..." Amy responded. "C'mon!"
Amy grabbed Cream by the hand and walked her along. Cheese fluttered along his mistress' side.
There were several turns in the path, and many a fallen tree branch. Amy received a scrape on her arm and poor Cream on her knee. But when they reached the end of the path, they found what they had been looking for.
They ran into an open place in the forest along a red-rock cliff. On the base was a lowly hut with no walls, except the part where it was built into the tree. The roof was simply large assorted tree leaves.
But it wasn't the hut itself that caught their attention. It was the resident of the hut that did. It was the largest and most certainly the fattest cat that either of the girls had ever seen. It was a purplish color and had a good-manner about it. Despite its homely life, it looked happy and content. It was fishing in a water-hole and looked determined to catch a fish.
The cat looked up and saw the two girls. "Hello. Who are you?"
Amy, being the older of the two, thought it her duty to answer. "Hi. I'm Amy and right here's Cream..."
"Hi!" Cream replied. She at first thought the cat was dangerous, due to its size, but the well-manner it presented changed her mind.
"Hello. I'm Big, and this is Froggy..."
The frog, Froggy, croaked in reply.
"What are you two doing out here in the jungle?" Big asked, letting fly the lure into the water-hole again.
"We were on a tour, and we saw the frog so we followed him here." Amy glanced at the hut. "Do you really live here?"
"Yup," Big nodded. "I built it a long time ago. Took me a long time, but I did it..." Big seemed to beam with pride.
"I like it...reminds me of home..." Cream said.
"You live in a jungle?" Big asked, a little excited. Living in a jungle was lonely, which was why he had Froggy, and was always eager to find out if he wasn't alone.
"Kind of. It's a big forest a long way that way." Cream pointed northwards.
"I never went thataway...there's not enough water for Froggy and I for fishing..."
"There's a nice fishing hole near where I live...we also go swimming and stuff there too..."
As Cream was carrying on a casual conversation with Big, who found it nice to talk to who happened to live in a forest, kind of like himself, Amy had stepped back and was looking at the wildflowers along the road, when the unthinkable happened.
She glanced up again and saw a pair of glowing red eyes peering straight at her.
Amy cried out in surprise, and the other two looked towards her. In a flash, a dark figure sprang out of hiding.
"Watch out!" Amy cried, falling backwards on the pathway.
Big had just stood up, ready to run. The figure raced by him and snatched up Froggy into its clutches. The poor Froggy was too stunned to even struggle. The stranger suddenly ran away into the distance, and was gone almost instantly.
"Quick! Let's follow him!" Amy said, at once on her feet and dawning her ever-present mallet. She ran after the kidnapper, quickly followed by Big and Cream.
Amy didn't even know whom she was chasing, or how dangerous he really was, but when she perceived an injustice, her first reaction was to right the wrong. So she was running as fast as she could down the uneven path.
She mildly wondered how it could run so fast. The only ones that she knew that could run so fast were Sonic and Shadow, but this one looked like neither, as far as she could tell.
She reached a bend, and skidded to a halt. In front of her was a 700-foot cliff that vanished into dense jungle growth below. She squeaked in fright in spite of herself, fell backwards onto her bottom.
The others ran up a few moments later gasping for breath. "Where'd he go?" Big said, tongue hanging out slightly.
"I lost him!" Amy cried out. "He disappeared over the cliff!"
"Oh, Mr. Big. I'm sorry!" Cream said compassionately. She always felt bad of someone lost something dear.
"Poor Froggy. He's had bad luck since I lost my lucky charm..." Big's ears drooped in sadness.
"We'll help you find him!" Cream said. "I'm not afraid!"
"I'll bite him if he comes again!" Cheese said, looking angry.
"Count me in!" Amy said suddenly, her pink spines bristling. "I won't stand for this, taking someone's friend."
"Yes!" Big said. "We'll find Froggy again!"
Amy smiled. "Big, do you know if we can get down from here?"
Big took in the question, scratched his head for a while in thought, then said, "I think there's a long path thataway..." Big pointed to the left of the group, somewhere along the cliffside.
"You lead the way. We're going to get to the bottom of this..." Amy pounded her fist into her palm.
"Ok!" the other three replied.
The four took off along the rim, looking for the path that Big had described.