Ch.4: Vector Takes A Dive
A lazy afternoon breeze drifted through the air of Angel Island, as Knuckles sat there alone at the altar, baking in the glow of the Master Emerald. Completely unaware of the excitement about to greet his doorstep.
His voilet gaze floated to the sky waiting for Shadow to take his nightly watch, while mind tumbled over these visions that have been occuring. Every one of them the same.
The Master Emerald was going haywire. Sonic and Shadow appeared beaten and lifeless on a cracked ground. And a dark figure floated eeriely in the sky.
Knuckles didn't quite know what these visions meant, but he was pretty sure Shadow was feeling them as well.
"Shadow?" thought Knuckles, looking at the white mark, on his wrist, that bonded him and the hedgehog " what could we be seeing?"
Meanwhile, on another part of Angel Island, Espio, Charmy, and Vector were busy tossing a frisbee back and forth, with Charmy acting like the monkey in the middle.
After minutes of going up and down between throws, Charmy finally managed to catch the frisbee and Espio was out of the game.
As Espio walked over to sit down Vector called out to Charmy.
"Alright Charmy!" yelled Vector " give me a big one!"
"OK," said Charmy, and threw disc, which just kept sailing through the air.
"Ah!" growled Vector, as he ran after the lost frisbee " Charmy you idiot!"
"What?" yelled Charmy " you said to throw a big one,"
Espio just slapped a hand to his forhead.
The embrassing moment was suddenly shattered when a scream of terror shot through the air. Espio and Charmy's bodies were immediately on the alert.
"Vector!" they yelled, and ran where the croc had fled.
When they reached the deep gorge Knuckles had told them about before playing, that's when Charmy noticed their frisbee next to the hole. However, there was no Vector in sight.
"Vec where are you?" shouted Espio.
"Down here what do think!" Vector shouted back from the gorge.
Looking down, Espio and Charmy could clearly see Vector clutching desperately to the side of the cliff.
"Knuckles said there was cracks like this" said Vector " I just wish I paid more attention to where they were,"
"Vector's to heavy for me to fly out of that narrow gorge" said Charmy " I'll go back to see if Knuckles can help,"
With that said the bee flew off to retrieve the Guardian, unaware that three other sets of eyes were watching this strange situation.
"Knuckles" said one invader " so my son is alive after all,"
"In this dimension it appears to be so" said a second invader " though that doesn't mean he's the same master we know,"
"True" said a third invader " if he allows foolish primitives like these to survive,"
"Then we shall make him our master again" said the first invader " and these fools will lead us to him,"
With that said, Locke hopped out of the brush he had been hiding in, with Remington and Specture following behind.
Down in the gorge, Vector could feel his grip begin to slip.
"They'd better get soon or else!" thought Vector, his grip lessening more.
Espio never felt so helpless watching from above. Surely nothing would have taken Charmy and Knuckles this long.
Then, all of the sudden, an unexpected surprise reached out to help, and Espio's mouth went agape.
The chameleon wasn't the only one surprised, Vector got a shock too. Enough so to lose his grip, only to be caught and carried to safety by three mysterious visitors.
It was at that moment that Charmy and Knuckles finally arrived, with a rope tucked in Charmy's right arm. Both stood shocked with fright when they saw the same figures their team mates were seeing.
Three different, impossibly alive echidnas, with crescent marks on their chests, and one whose face was all to familair with Knuckles.
"Hello Knuckles," said Locke.
"Father?" gasped Knuckles.