Author's Notes: Holy crap! I just realized that one of Hadhod's spirit powers in Lord of the Rings: The Third Age is called 'Flaming Fury.' I didn't know that! (I hadn't played The Third Age in forever…) No, I didn't rip it off; it was a complete and total accident. Anyway, here's Chapter 4.
Flaming Fury
Chapter 4: Room 606
The sound of footsteps came from the hall just outside his door. He looked back and snarled. 'No, not now!' The echidna quickly shut the window and locked it. There'd be no way he'd have enough time to escape, now. He'd just have to suffer.
He had climbed back into the bed just as the handle on the door turned and it slid open. The nurse who had taken care of him walked in. "Hey, how you doing?" She asked.
He sat up, hanging his feet off of the bed. "I'm feeling better." He said.
She smiled. "Alright, then. Well, there are a few detectives here who would like to talk with you. Could you please give them your respect?"
He just nodded, not saying a word.
"Alright, then." She stood up and walked to the door. "I'll be outside if you need me. Call me if you need any help."
He put on a fake smile and nodded.
She left, and he heard more footsteps. Three figures walked in. They consisted of a large, green crocodile, a purple chameleon, and a small bee. They were male, and wore casual clothing. Nothing like the detectives he had been expecting. Either way, there was no way out of it now. He had to talk with these guys. Hey, maybe he could sneak some information about this place while also attempting to answer their questions.
The crocodile smiled. "All right, then, let's begin."
XXXXX
On the bridge of the Babylon Airship, their employer was currently on-screen. Each of them were bruised up and bandaged. Storm's nose was completely covered in gauze. It looked like a large bubble wrapped up in white toilet paper. Wave was covered in bruises, and her left wing was in a sling.
While those two looked bad, Jet was even worse. All over his body, Jet had bandaged cuts. There was a huge swelling above his left eye, and the bottom of his right leg was covered in gauze that stretched from the top of his boots all the way up to just past his knee. His right hand was also bandaged over.
Despite their appearance, Ultima was furious. "How could you have lost?" He asked, angrily.
"They outnumbered us!" Jet blurted.
Storm nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that hedgehog we clobbered…" But before he finished, Wave slapped him across the face using the hand on her good wing.
She turned back to Ultima while Storm rubbed the red mark on his face in the shape of Wave's hand. "They out-strategized us!" She proclaimed boldly.
Jet looked up at her awkwardly. "Is that even a…" But before HE could finish, Wave then slapped him upside the head, too.
Ultima slapped himself in the face. 'How could I have hired such idiots?'
"How could they have 'out-strategized' you, Wave? You're smarter than all three of those knuckleheads put together!" Ultima said, broadly.
Ultima smiled. "I think it's more that YOU screwed up, as opposed to THEM being better."
The Babylonians backed up, surprised. They then realized that their client had realized that they were simply trying to cover up for their own foolishness. Ultima continued.
"What you did was you underestimated your foes. Don't ever do that in a battle. You need to re-think your strategy. My best way to take down a large amount of enemies is to pick them off one at a time. Try and pick them off one at a time." This caught their attention. They watched as Ultima finished his speech. "Separating is the worst idea when fighting against more than one enemy. Take them down one at a time, and do it together. That is the best advice I can give you."
The screen went blank. The three looked at each other, stunned. Jet raised an eyebrow, and showed off a cocky and sarcastic grin as Wave and Storm stared him down. "Hehe, so THAT is why we lost."
XXXXX
Now finally inside, Vector got a better look at the look of the room before him. It looked like any ordinary hospital room—containing square; white, non-wallpapered walls. A TV sat on a stand up in front of the bed in the center of the room. Monitors on the far side of the bed kept track of the patient's health—though they currently were not on.
Upon entering, the entire room was clearly noticeable. Chairs were positioned in the corner towards the door to the right, at the far corner from the door, and just next to the patient's bed to the left of the door. There was a stand, or end table, next to the bed in the left corner of the room, closer to the door. Finally, at the far end of the room, a window looked out to the entire city below.
Espio and Charmy plopped down into the two corner seats, and waited for something to happen. However, Vector decided to instead get a good look of the patient, now. This was his first chance to ever take a good look at the echidna that started the whole mess, and he wasn't going to pass it up.
The echidna was sitting straight along the edge of the bed, watching him closely. Apparently it was trying to examine the figures that had just intruded on its territory, as much as he was examining it. The echidna was male, medium-size, and young. Vector estimated him to be around fourteen, but fifteen tops. His fur was a dark maroon-color.
Despite the similarities in color between Knuckles and this echidna, they looked nothing alike. His six dreadlocks were positioned awkwardly along his head, highly unlike Knuckles' look. The fact that he only has six also complicated things. Vector couldn't help but note the positions of each.
He had three along the top of his head. One hung along the right side of his head (Vector's left), very close to actually being on the side of his head. Another was right in the center, which was long and hung far down. The final was toward the left side of his head, but not nearly as close to the edge of his head as the first.
There were others further down, too. A little ways down, in between the middle and the way right, another one hung down to his shoulder. Slightly lower and to the left of the former one, another one sat, hanging down to just below his shoulders. Right below the third one on the way left side of his head, but more to the right, was where the final one was.
Vector estimated his tail to be about five inches long, but it was only an inch thick at its widest point, the base. Like any ordinary echidna, his hands only contained a thumb and a larger piece that it uses to make a fist. His gloves were a simple white with the two notches for his spiked knuckles. He also noted the absence of any mark on the echidna's chest—nothing was there but maroon colored fur.
His shoes were made of leather, and were strapped together. They were rather ancient looking in style, but clearly the workings of the shoes were fairly new. The styles used to be mended together, the quality of the leather and cloth used—definitely newer. They looked more like moccasins than shoes, though they also resembled what one may see on a pair of sandals, with the obvious exception that they were actually shoes.
He was rather scrawny, not much muscle under all that fur. Mostly just skin and bones. He did have enough muscle to pack a punch, but that was about it. He appeared to be really made for relying on other methods. Vector guessed that it had to do with that sword he kept on-hand, but which now had been sealed away into the CCCL—Central City Crime Lab.
Now getting a good look at the echidna's body, Vector finished his inspection by examining the face of the character before him. His irises were a deep red, like the color of fire. His nose pointed upward from his face, in between his eyes. An area of tan, bare skin surrounded his mouth beneath his eyes.
Now finished with his inspection, Vector grinned slyly. "All right, then." He proclaimed, sitting down in the seat next to the bed. "Let's begin."
XXXXX
Knuckles wandered through the jungle, searching for anything that appeared unusual or out of place. Curiosity had swept over him completely, and now he fully intended on figuring out who this hedgehog was, and what the hell he's up to.
Coming to a small clearing, he stopped and glanced around, taking in the surroundings. A large oak sat off to the left, clearly a rather old tree. Knuckles estimated its trunk to be about five inches in width. Moss had sprouted on his side of the tree. A vine hung from a low branch, but failed to touch the ground.
Behind him, tall grass spread out through the pathway. The trampled down portions marked the way he came, even though he didn't actually do it. He simply followed the path because it looked suspicious.
To the right, a dirt path led through the jungle. Upon reaching this fork, it curved to the right to avoid missing the oak. This was obvious by the fact that it curved from Knuckles' right, into the pathway straight in front of him.
The dirt road looked awkward here, Knuckles decided. It just didn't seem right for something like this to appear in the middle of nowhere. This area wasn't populated to his knowledge, and there were no archeological digs in this area—most of those were up at the ruins higher above, so why would there be a road here?
Knuckles grinned slyly. 'Looks like I'm on the right trail.' He told himself.
Guessing that the right path headed towards civilization, Knuckles took the path in front of him. He was sure that someone must have been living back here somewhere. Maybe it's that mercenary Shadow told him about? There was only one way to find out, and that was to go have a look for himself.
XXXXX
Vector calmly questioned the echidna one by one, to not make him upset or anything. He didn't wish to do any harm, just to figure out what was going on. In fact, he stated this before he even started.
"Listen, kid." He said. "I don't mean to badger you, or upset you in any way. I just want to try and get to the bottom of this whole situation. Is that okay?"
The echidna nodded, and Vector continued. "Before we start, I think there's something else we need to do." He grinned and nodded over at Espio and Charmy. He then turned back to the echidna. "My name is Vector, and I am the leader of the Chaotix Detective Agency."
He motioned over towards Espio, noting exactly whom he was pointing towards. "That purple chameleon over there--this is Espio. He is a skilled ninja, and is the second member of Chaotix." The echidna watched him and nodded.
Vector then he motioned towards Charmy. "That bee over there is Charmy. He's… more of a kid mascot and errand-boy than anything else. He can help from time to time though. He's the one whom found you lying in the forest, and came back to get us."
Finished with introductions, Vector turned back to the echidna. "So, what's your name?" He asked. "If you don't wish to tell, that's fine. We don't need to know, I just thought that we may all feel more comfortable knowing each other better."
For the first time that night, the echidna finally opened his mouth, sighing. "Um… I really don't wish to give out my name just yet." He stated. "However, I will tell you another name my friends refer to me as. You may simply call me 'Flame.'"
Vector smiled at the unusual name. "Alright, then… Flame. Shall we finally begin?"
Flame nodded. "Go ahead. I won't stop you."
The crocodile then asked the first important question of the night. "What did you make of the person you met in the woods?" He casually asked, with no hint of sarcasm.
XXXXX
Shadow and Rouge walked out of the White House in Central City, very surprised at what they had just heard. The large building gleamed ever so magnificently in the sunlight. The clean-cut grass and the accurately designed walkways through the courtyard would stun any passerby whom had never seen such splendid grounds keeping.
The White House had to be restored after the destruction of Central City. Black Doom used the Eclipse Cannon to destroy Central City during the Black Arm invasion, but the people pulled together and help to rebuild the city. The White House wasn't just restored to its former glory, though. It had been re-mastered by the best architects, and the final development was way better than anticipated.
Right in front of the special White House entrance to the President's office was a stone canopy covering over a circular driveway. This section was clearly so that the President and his security wouldn't have to walk through the building to reach his office. Special privilege was only given to alleged persons.
Luckily for Shadow and Rouge, they were two of them. However, despite this, they had walked here. Shadow had absolutely no intention of ever getting a car for driving purposes only. To him, they served merely as weapons. He could run faster than the fastest vehicle on the planet. Even so, he could simply use Chaos Control to take him anywhere he wanted to go so long as he knew where it was.
As for Rouge, she had a car, but only use it for special purposes. Though she couldn't run fast like Shadow, her wings could take her in more places than a car, and was about as fast as one. She, too, hadn't the need. It was mostly for show than anything else.
So, instead they simply walked along the cobblestone sidewalks, thinking over what was said in that meeting. Finally, Rouge spoke up. "So, what do you make of the situation?" She asked.
Shadow shrugged his shoulders. "It's awkward, that's what it is. We have a kid echidna that likes to play 'follow the deadly mercenary.' Then there's the deadly mercenary hedgehog—actually a former GUN agent turned rogue—out to kill the kid echidna that had walked right in front of him when disposing of evidence. Strange pair-up, I'd say."
Rouge yawned and stretched out her arms. She put them back down again and looked up at the sky. It was dark and the moon was out. It was still a ways in the east, but was advancing west. "Well, I think I'd best turn in. You coming?"
Shadow shrugged his shoulders again. "Not sure. It depends on…" A beeping noise stopped him. He quickly swiped out his phone, quickly realizing whom it was. "What turns up." He finished.
He answered the call, and instantly a voice came on. It was William. "Shadow, I have an assignment for you. Fang has escaped from prison again, and is headed towards the Mystic Ruins. You need to go and stop him!"
Shadow nodded. "Yes, commander."
William nodded, also. "Alright then, good work. Rouge is off duty right now, though, so I'm sending in Omega to assist you. He should be there right about now, actually."
Shadow, stunned, spun around and saw Omega approach them. "Looks like I will be assisting you." The battle robot proclaimed. "Activating weapons systems now."
Rouge smiled and walked away. "Have fun, you guys! I'll see you two later." She then flew off.
Shadow rolled his eyes. 'Depends on your definition of 'fun.'' He thought to himself.
XXXXX
Vector continued with his questioning. Again, he tried to be cautious not to alarm Flame or make him upset. Some of Vector's questions irritated him.
For Vector's first question, he could barely speak up. He tried to picture the face of that hedgehog in his head, but he couldn't even remember what color he was.
Flame had actually wanted to say, 'I didn't meet him in the woods, you dinkleberry!' But he kept quite, avoiding arousing suspicions. It was best if they didn't know what really happened.
Vector's second question wasn't so bad. "Where did you get that strange equipment?" He said casually.
Flame smiled. This one would be easy. It was obvious by 'equipment' that he meant his sword, bow, and quiver. Perhaps even his shoes counted as 'equipment.' "My family gave them to me." He said.
Well, it was the truth. His family DID give it to him. Even though it wasn't the whole truth… Vector continued.
"Where do you live?" Vector had asked next.
Flame bit his lip. This one would be rather difficult to say. How could he say that he wasn't even from this time period! By everything he had seen around him, the advanced technology alone told him that he was far in the future.
He half-lied, "I live in a small village in the jungle." He stated.
Well, maybe it was more than half of a lie. Theoretically, he did live in the jungle. He guessed that the mountain where he found the stones hiding in later became an active volcano, which is how he ended up there.
If that was the case, then these 'Mystic Ruins' everyone is talking about, was actually the ruins of his city. So, if that was the case, then he really DID live in a city in the jungle… it just wasn't a small village, and it wasn't even from this time period.
The crocodile's next question bit him hard, though. "How did you manage to find your way to the volcano?" Vector asked.
He bit his lip even harder. Finally, his lip gave way, and trickles of blood dripped into his mouth. So they DID know about the incident in the volcano! He struggled to find a suitable answer.
"Uh… I got lost into the woods, and I thought that was a suitable gave to stay in over night, not evening realizing it was the entrance to a volcano." He said quickly.
Well, he finally did. He actually, fully lied. Even before being the volcano was a volcano, he never got lost in the woods. In fact, he was TOLD to go there, and was TOLD to get the stones from the cave. That damn bastard had sent him to this time period on purpose—this must've been it! He gritted his teeth.
Vector continued, still not commenting on his answers. The crocodile speaking up snapped him back into reality. "Why was their blood on your sword?" Vector asked.
As he struggled with each question, Flame actually forgot about the fact that there were two other persons in the room, in addition to himself and the crocodile. This question was a bit easier, though. "It was a matter of self-defense. He tried killing me, and I fought back. The blood is his." Flame said.
He dropped his head. Despite the fact that the hedgehog attacked him, he felt guilty for that return attack. This is the kind of situation when it's okay to fight back, he knew that, but… it still didn't make him feel any better. What was that guy doing in there, anyway?
Vector seemed to have noticed the change of attitude on the echidna, but he again avoided reacting differently to it. Flame noticed a change of direction in his next question, though. Instead of bringing up comments on how he made it away, or why he was so weak when they found him, he made a startling statement.
"So, Flame," Vector stated, "have you ever heard of the 'Babylon Rogues.'"
Flame looked up, stunned. Yeah, he'd heard of them, but… how could the Babylon Rogues be alive at THIS time? The gods destroyed them years ago. Or perhaps… some living ones were still left?
Though he never knew any individual Babylonian, he carefully decided to fake this question. "Yeah, I heard of them." It was the truth, he had heard of them. It's not like he was old enough to have met any. Not even the elders could have.
Vector grinned, slyly. "Thank you for your time." He said.
Without further comments, Vector stood up. He motioned for the bee and chameleon to follow. They then left, not even looking back. Flame smiled. 'Now's my chance of escape!' He thought.
XXXXX
His feet were in a blur. The landscape was in a blur. Soon that blurred forest turned into city as Sonic the Hedgehog ran out of the surrounding forest and into Central City. The capital city of the United Federation, Central City was the most well known location on the planet. Future City was the second-most, known as the city with the highest technology.
These thoughts were short-lived, though. A strange fiery-red blur passed by him on the left. Sonic raised an eyebrow. He turned his feet sideways, skidding to a stop. Glancing back, he saw the two-story Central City Crime Lab, and it was on fire!
Acting quickly, he rushed back and surveyed the scene. Actually, nothing too bad was caused. There was merely a straight line of flames going through the front door. A few guards were lying on the ground in front of the building; their clothing turned crisp-black.
The sidewalk that led to the front door separated two rectangular, green patches of grass. A couple bushes had grown right next to the front of the building. The sign out front that read 'Central City Crime Lab' was now lying on the right patch of grass, burnt along the edges. Apparently the firefighters working the scene had put it out.
Walking up to a nearby CSI Agent, he asked what had been bugging his mind this whole time. "What the hell happened here!"
XXXXX
It was quickly all over the news about the mysterious attack at the Central City Crime Lab. A mysterious figure with fire-red eyes smashed through the lab, and stole three pieces of evidence in a recent case. The artifacts stolen weren't mentioned.
Accordingly, apparently the person itself was the one whom started the fire, but with his/her own abilities. The current suspect was Blaze the Cat, found wandering near the scene and is known for her abilities to control fire. Reasons for her to attack the crime lab were still under investigation.
Blaze continuously denied even being there—stating that she was merely wandering around and noticed all the action near there. For that reason, she states, is why she was even there in the first place.
Sonic the Hedgehog was also near the scene, attempting to play in her defense. "Blaze is good, she wouldn't do anything like this. She wouldn't even have the reason to. She merely wants to be left alone." He explained boldly.
Vector looked at the empty room and frowned at this news report playing on the TV on the stand above him. The room they were just in earlier was now empty, the window open. Espio looked back at him. "Think that the stolen 'evidence' was the equipment that belonged to Flame?" He asked.
Vector nodded. "That's exactly what I'm thinking."
Suddenly, Charmy butted in. "Hey guys, look!" He called out, pointing towards the television screen.
It took Vector one glance to see what he was referring to. The news broadcast was showing clips of scenes from different angles at the latest crime scene. One particular angle; however, pointed off towards the path that led back into the forest. A black hedgehog and a large, red battle android was running towards the forest.
Vector studied the scene carefully before the short clip switched over to another angle. When it switched, he turned back down towards Charmy and Espio, smiling. "Boys, I think we've just determined our next destination." He looked out the window and looked west towards the forest. "Back to the jungle." He proclaimed.
XXXXX
Flame ducked into an alleyway, freaked beyond his wildest dreams. He looked at his hand. It appeared normal, but he could feel its presence. Something dark was inside of him. He didn't know how it got there, but it did.
Everything seemed to go into slow motion as he leaned up against the side of the building behind him and slid to the ground. The bag he held in his left hand collapsed to the ground, some of the contents spilling out. A few arrows slid out of a quiver, and the tip of a bow revealed itself. The hard wood clacking along the ground as it collided. The clanking of steel came last, as his sword hit home.
'Did I really just do that?' He thought to himself, a look of terror on his face.
XXXXX
As they walked along, Espio thought over everything that had happened. The road ahead of them was still a long way off, and it would probably be midnight by the time they reached the jungle again.
Dark clouds hovered above them, and soon it started raining again. Espio paid no attention to it, though. He merely walked and thought.
'This mystery is getting weirder and weirder with every piece of new info we learn.' He told himself. 'First, a mercenary—probably hired by those Babylon creeps—attacks an echidna. Then, these 'Babylonians' attack us to try and stop us from solving this case.'
Espio then thought of the information given to them. 'Of course, we can't forget the information we heard from Shadow and Rouge, along with Flame. So he lives in a village hidden in the Mystic Ruins? He ran into this mercenary and somehow ended up in a volcano?'
It was logical, but it seemed like something was missing from the picture. Sure, the mercenary could've simply attacked Flame, but how did he end up inside the volcano? Him ending up lying in the jungle was no big mystery—this was easy to figure out.
Then there was the idea that this echidna had some sort of firepower like Blaze. This just didn't add up. He never showed a hint of that before. Maybe Blaze did do it? But she wouldn't do such a thing… would she?
His thoughts were interrupted, though. "Espio, come on!"
Espio quickly looked up, seeing Vector and Charmy a ways ahead of him. In his thoughts he had stopped walking. He shook his head clear. "Roger," he proclaimed. He rushed after them, forgetting his previous thoughts for the moment.