Chapter 2
Cliff reveals the deadly secrets of Lyric!
Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy all crash landed on hard ground at the start of a small canyon of land after Lyric caused boulders to fall. Earlier in the day they chased after the evil serpent that they accidentally set free, they fell because of a big snake Mobian cyborg calling himself Lyric, they escaped from Lyric's Tomb and encountered the being along one of the highways built by the Ancients. Lyric claimed he was the last of the Ancients and he seemed to be familiar with Sonic even though Sonic had never even heard of Lyric before. What's more Lyric claimed that Sonic was an heir to Mach the Champion of the Ancients. While the heroes chased Lyric he caused boulders to fall on the highway of the Ancients, they then went flying into the sky as a result of one of the roads breaking, thankfully they stocked up on Rings while exploring Lyric's Tomb and survived the fall when they landed.
Amy had spent some time looking over maps with her older sister Amelia prior to the group chasing after Dr. Eggman who now seemed to be the least of their worries. As a result of looking over a lot of maps of the area Amy knew where they landed. She knew that they needed to get to Cliff at his Excavation Site and get some answers regarding a member of the Ancients known as Lyric. As the group explored the area they met a turtle who was a farmer and learned that his farmland wasn't doing well because of a mistake his great-grandfather made a thousand years ago when he worked with the Ancients, the turtle's great-grandfather was working on a miracle fertilizer but accidentally got it mixed up with a lethal poison, he hoped there could've been some way to just fix what happened a thousand years ago but it didn't seem possible.
The heroes felt sorry for the turtle and hoped they could find out a way to help him out someday. For now they had to get to Cliff and explain to him what happened. They made it across one of the bridges made by the Ancients and used it in order to get to Cliff's Excavation Site. The group was glad to see that the excavation site was alright, especially after the trouble caused by Dr. Eggman a few days ago when his special bandwidth signal reactivated one of the Destruction Troops that the excavation team recovered and tried to study before it attacked Cliff and Green. Cliff was in one of the lower levels of the excavation site on the surface that wasn't too far from the docks, the heroes were glad to see him, especially Amy. "Cliff! Thank goodness we found you." Cliff decided to joke in response to Amy's words. "I didn't know I was missin' my friends." He said with a grin as a robot floated down to his right, the robot was one of the ones he found long ago while at the excavation site. Amy shook her head for a moment before she asked, "What do you know about an ancient tomb with a giant snake in it?" Cliff tilted his head and said. "I don't know anything about a tomb with a giant snake." He then moved his right hand under his chin while thinking carefully. "However I do know about an ancient prison with a giant snake." He then gestured them over to his table, he then opened up a book from the Ancients. "The snake's name is Lyric, and he is to date the last of the Ancients who inhabited Bygone Island and the surrounding islands. He was locked away to prevent him from destroying all life." He said as he turned open the book to the beginning. "The Ancients as we all know are now long lost. They gathered all the energy they needed from crystals… According to some texts about a thousand years before the fall of the echidnas of the Mystic Ruins, which would be five thousand years ago. The Ancients gathered all the energy they needed with a giant Crystal but Lyric tried to misuse it and they shattered it… According to one of the texts we think we translated right… However they had gathered up eight Crystals that were somehow related to the giant Crystal and used the energy from those crystals as well, some texts suggest that the giant Crystal which is now called the Lost Crystal was what the other Crystals were based off of… Or vice versa… Other translations of the texts suggest that all eight of the Crystals and the Lost Crystal are all from beyond the stars. Regardless of what's been translated properly from their texts one thing is certain, the Ancients lived in perfect harmony with nature in spite of their advanced technology that surpasses most of the technology we have today. Lyric was the only exception, he schemed to use the eight Crystals that were at the pinnacle of the Ancient's civilization. His plans were to gather the crystals and use them to power up an army of machines and destroy all life as we know it! He's a bitter merciless, ruthless, remorseless, dangerous monster!" Cliff said as he explained everything he currently knew on Lyric, he then took a deep breath and said. "It's a good thing Lyric is locked up in his prison located deep in one of the forests of the islands."
Sonic's friends looked at each other, Sonic then said. "Um… I might've by accident released Lyric upon the world." Upon saying this Cliff and his robot helper had their jaws hang open in disbelief. Cliff then closed his mouth and shook his head and narrowed his eyes as he said. "Not cool Sonic." He then quickly thought up of an idea. "But we might be able to stop Lyric! He still needs those Crystals to power and reboot his army. His first move will be to go after them." Cliff said as he turned to a page showing images of the crystals. "If we can get the Crystals first then we can stop Lyric from ever starting his Dark Rise to power from being complete." Amy walked up and looked over the book pages that were open. "How can we find the Crystals?" She asked. Cliff then said after scratching his head for a moment. "I know from this book that if that prison is still operating then there's surely a Crystal somewhere on this island, possibly deeper in the Excavation Site?" He then gestured to his robot helper. "If you need any more help my friend Q-N-C will be glad to help." Q-N-C then stopped floating for a moment. He then looked at Cliff, "what if I need help?" He asked, and of course the heroes offered help if he needed any. Cliff then said before everyone left, "I'll use my A.V.A to contact Amelia and her team and tell them to look into the Lost Crystal on one of the other islands. I'm confident that she can find it since the records we've recovered suggest it's around where she was last seen." Cliff said as he took out his A.V.A in order to get in contact with Amelia while Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy took off with Q-N-C towards the nearby mines of the excavation site.
Q-N-C led the heroes to the nearby mines so they could get the first of the Crystals. Q-N-C helped guide them into the mines and helped them recover more ancient chests and crowns and they helped repair one of the relics at the Excavation Site which was the remains of a giant robot. Once it had become salvageable the robot dropped down an A.V.A and it looked as if it were brand new. "I think that the Ancients left the Shock Crystal to power Lyric's Tomb, it's a blue Crystal that resembles three pillars of rocks on one foot. You can use the A.V.A in order to locate where in these mines the Shock Crystal is being kept." Q-N-C said as he handed the heroes the A.V.A and remembered the Crystal that the Ancients left in this general area. "Are you one of the robots made by the Ancients?" Knuckles asked Q-N-C and the robot nodded yes. "That explains a lot, and it'll make you a big help for the team." The red echidna said as Sonic suddenly Spin Dashed at a wall and broke through it, he used the A.V.A to locate a path to the Shock Crystal and led the group towards it.
The group worked together to overcome some simple obstacles they eventually got the Shock Crystal, Sonic and Tails were eager to find the next Crystal but Knuckles and Amy spotted Foreman Fred and checked on him. He explained to them that a collapse happened in the mine and some of his workers were trapped, the two heroes agreed to help and quickly got to the mining elevator and took it to the mines in order to get the miners out of the mines, Amy would use her Piko Piko Hammer in order to clear rock and Knuckles could use his strength in order to help dig them out. They found some ancient treasure chests and crowns and made sure all of the miners got out safely. Foreman Fred was relieved that his people were safe and said that he was in debt to Knuckles and Amy for saving his people. However just as the heroes were about to leave the mines, Destruction Troops ambushed the two but thanks to their combined might the Destruction Troops were destroyed. Foreman Fred was more than grateful that they saved him and his workers, as a memento of their thanks they decided to give the two heroes an artifact they found in the mines called a Power Glyph. This Power Glyph empowered the heroes by making them faster and it was called by Sonic the Fastball Special because it increased damage they could do while using the Enerbeam.
The group met up at Cliff's tent and he said. "Your next bet for finding another Crystal would be in the Abandoned Research Facility that the Ancients created long ago." Cliff said as he gave them a map to the location. Q-N-C then said, "That's where the Sun Crystal is. It's a yellow Crystal shaped like an octagonal star with four points." The robot said as he helped point the heroes into the general direction to head for. The heroes decided to help out the workers at the Excavation Site by using the robot parts they had in order to get stuff working again and to use it as a form of currency. They also explored some nearby areas in order to recover more of the crowns left behind by the Ancients. Tails wasn't sure why, but he felt that the crowns that the Ancients left behind were important apart from the fact Cliff collected them for research. The group later went to the direction Q-N-C pointed towards. They were surprised that the Crystal they found unlocked the giant door they passed earlier today. They put the Shock Crystal into a lock on the door, and then the door opened they then found a pathway needed to get to the Abandoned Research Facility and soon would head down one of the highways created by the Ancients.
"Wow! Look at that view!" Sonic shouted out as they ran down the highway and got a good coastal view. Tails was thinking as he flew down the highway behind Sonic. "Guys… I've been thinking… Q-N-C knew exactly which Crystal we'd find and what it looked like before anyone else saw it. And he recently told us what this next Crystal we'll find will be like…" Tails said as he was thinking. "Tails he probably was made to catalog the Crystals for the Ancients." Amy suggested. Knuckles however thought about what Tails was getting at, "And those Destruction Troops appeared after we found the Shock Crystal. Tails are you suggesting that Q-N-C is not what he seems?" The echidna said with some anger in his tone. "We can't assume anything right now, but I'm just saying we should keep an eye out on Q-N-C just in case something bad happens." Tails said with caution as they left the highway via a Boost Ring and landed in front of the Abandoned Research Facility.
Whoa! Lyric really is the Last Ancient! And now we know about some powerful Crystals that seem to be a source of power just like the Chaos Emeralds! What's Dr. Eggman up to while this is all going on? And what secrets await in the Abandoned Research Facility? Find out as the adventures continue!