"Are you aware of the theory of opposites?"

Chris frowned, deep in thoughts. "Everything has a something that is the complete opposite of itself, right?" At that Sonic nodded. "Water and fire, wind and earth? The famous Ying Yang concept." Chris responded, leaning back on the futon he had pulled up next to the couch.

Sonic gave him a small smile. "That concept actually defines this whole situation." The Blue Blur said, ears flicking as he smiled sheepishly.

The human teenager raised an eyebrow at that. "What, are you saying Vicini is your inverse image or something?" He asked, only to glare as the said being let out a loud, mocking. laugh.

The azure hero looked horrified. "Chaos, no." Sonic gave the laughing apricot male a flat, deadpan stare, before looking back at his human friend. "I'm saying that Chaos energy has a opposite force, to keep the balance. Ether."

Interested, Chris leaned in. "An opposite force? Interesting. I've never heard of it, and I went through all of Dr. Robotnick's files on Chaos Theory after the Ark fiasco went down. He was an expert on the subject: he should have had a few notes on the opposite force you describe."

"Usually, yes." Sonic nodded. "But Ether does not act the same way as Chaos energy does. It is extremely hard to detect even with the aid of specialized machines, and as far as I know, the Life Plates never appeared on Earth." A pause. The blue hedgehog's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "At least, not within my predecessor's lifetime, or mine."

"The what?" And what did Sonic mean by predecessor? Chris wasn't going to lie. The young man felt completely and utterly lost at this point. Thankfully for the poor blonde, it was then than the unknown orange hedgehog decided to pipe in for his comfortable spot on the couch.

"Just show em' to him, Sonic. That way we save time." Chris glanced questioningly at the apricot-furred hedgehog, who's pupiless eyes were on Sonic. Looking back at the sapphire speedster, Chris caught the Blue Blur huffing, obviously irritated by the interruption. "Fine." The irritated look slipping off his face, Sonic closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was doing something, that Chris knew, but he was unsure what.

Sonic's chest began glowing.

At first, it was just an off white radiating from his upper torso, but slowly it began to gain colors, from red to green and everything in between, with cyan being the primary color. Chris watched in amazement as objects, solid objects the size of his lower leg slipped one by one out of the azure hedgehog's chest, as easily as if they were emerging from water.

His chest is glowing...like when he turned into that...thing...

The mysterious artifacts fluttered around the concentrating speedster in a perfect circle. There were nine in total, hovering around Sonic. Plates the shape of coffins, with golden skins and markings engraved into their surface. Life Plates. Huh. At least part of their names Chris could understand. It was literal.

Sonic looked up at him, emerald eyes hard and stern, a look that he hadn't often seen on the quilled mobian. "This is my task. My past, my present, my future. This is who I am. I am the Holder of the Life Plates. I am not only guardian. I am them. They are part of my body, mind and soul. I hold the opposite of the Master Emerald inside of me, and only in death will it leave in search of a new host." Jade eyes flashed, and Chris swore he saw iridescent bands dance in between the strands of green.

"Until then, it is my duty to protect them."

Chris gulped. This wasn't like Sonic at all. He looked away from the serious blue hero and back at the glowing objects. Each of them was different, besides the soft gold aura mixing with their individual ones, and their surface had similar golden colors, though iridescent sometimes mixed in, especially around the middle of the Plates. It was quite the sight for him; they were as beautiful as the Chaos Emeralds, and the stones had been the most incredible thing he had seen...that is, until now.

"Are they safe to touch?" Chris paused, knowing it sounded silly...but he was a scientist at heart. His curiosity always go the best of him. It was then he remembered they were part of Sonic; at the very least he should be careful if not respectful of what the Blue Blur guarded. "Can I touch them?"

Sonic's eyes softened, realizing he had been acting out of character and was most likely unnerving his human friend. "Of course." The young mobian nodded firmly. "Since your Chaos energy is next to none-existent, they won't react badly to physical contact."

Chris looked on with wonder; reaching out with his right hand at the softly glowing artifacts, he glanced at his quilled friend, silently asking for permission. Sonic closed his eyes and seemed to be concentrating, before opening them again and nodding yet again at the blond teenager. Reassured, the young Thorndyke let his hand brush against the closest Plate, the one with the dark purple accents.

It was cool at touch; strangely enough despite the engravings it was smooth and had no bumps or fissures as he let his fingers glide over it's surface. It was simply perfect and ethereal, unlike anything he had ever touched. Not even the Chaos Emeralds's electrifying touch felt as strange as theses Life Plates, but they came close.

Violet lights crackled around his hand like miniature thunderbolts, making him jump as they licked against his skin, but to his relief it merely tickled his limb, forcing him to fight to hold back a giggle at the sensation. "That Plate is the Dragon Element." Sonic murmured, amused by his reaction.

"Dragon?"

The sapphire speedster smiled. "As you see each Plates has different colors. They represent the different elements that make up nature...except two, who keep the rest together. You're touching one of the two Binding Elements. The other one-" He pointed a Plate hovering besides the violet one. This one had softer, smoother engravings, and possessed a pale pink aura with white accents. "-is called the Fae Plate."

The blue hedgehog began naming each and every of the nine objects that made up the artifact. The one with sharp, erratic engravings, and a vibrant yellow and dark grey aura was the Electric Plate. The golden Plate with wide, elegant markings and ominous red aura was the Fire Plate. Another was covered in zigzagging marks and a pale blue aura was the Ice Plate. Chris touched it, and chuckled in amusement when he saw snow tickle out between his fingers. He was forced to let go when ice began to form, less he wanted to lose the limbs.

The one with thick, arching lines encased in a pale, forest green light was the Earth Plate. The one with soft curved lines and a dark blue aura was the Water Plate. The floating Plate with thin, almost inexistent engravings and the menacing grey, almost black aura was the Darkness Plate. The last one had a pale aura and thin marks like the Darkness Plate, and was named the Light Plate.

"I have a question."

"Shoot."

"Where does he come in?" Chris pointed at the apricot hedgehog lazing about on the couch. The said humanoid huffed at the Thorndyke and stretched out on the furniture, rumbling like a content feral cat, happy with only listening on the conversation.

"Oh, him." Sonic eyed with distaste the orange imp, annoyed with the lack of help from Vicini's part. "He is, in a few short words, the equivalent of a Chaos Emerald."

At the human's blank stare, he continued. "Vicini is a Element Spirit, one of the thirty or so aspects of the Life Plates. He's far from being as strong as a Chaos Emerald, or the strongest of Spirits in that case." The blue-eyed hedgehog mock glared at his companion. "-but he still is a being made purely out of Ether. As an Element Spirit, he has a Core, an orb that holds his power and the individual piece of Ether he controls. I can absorb that Core, and it resides inside their dimension, the Aether, which is linked to me and is the equivalent of the Chaos Field. This not only strengthens the Spirit's power, but in return, I have access to their true form."

Before the human could ask what he was talking about the Blue Blur's body began to shimmer, forcing Chris to shy away from the light. Only when it faded away did the teenager looked at his companion, only to stare at the tiny orange imp that fluttered in front of him.

The creature gave a few twirls around Christopher before floating in front of him, grinning like a little devil. Chris reached out with his right hand and brushed the two V-shaped horns on top of the animal's head, feeling searing warmth radiating the bone structure.

Wanting to move on, Sonic flew a step away from his human friend before shifting back. Now that he knew what was going to happen Chris didn't turn away, and as such was free to admire the transformation.

For a lack of a better word, Sonic turned liquid. A glowing, shimmering multi-colored liquid that churned, bubbled and danced, ignoring the laws of gravity up until it regained solid form.

That was awesome. Chris didn't bother denying he thought so.

xxxxxxx

In the early hours of the morning, Chris Thorndyke happily snuggled into his pillow with a dopey smile on his face, not yet ready to face the sunny, cloudless day awaiting for him outside. His bed was comfortable and warm, thank you very much, and he decided to snooze a bit more before greeting the outside world.

"Christopher Thorndyke, get down here already!"

It seemed like someone thought otherwise. Groaning, the teenager rested on his back and put his pillow over his head to block out the noise. His spiky fiend of a friend called out to him again from the staircase, but thankfully for the blond it was muffled by the pillow. Now he could continue sleeping for a few more minutes and then he would wake up to Ella's delicious apple pancakes-

"Get up!" A small but noticeable weight suddenly landed on his vulnerable stomach, bringing a strangled gasp out of the young boy as he doubled over in pain.

"Oooof!"

"We are finishing the portal today so get your arse moving already!" Chris moaned in agony, rubbing his sore abdomen and glaring at the young creature sitting in front of him, a small smirk on its face. Sonic looked like he just got out of bed -the roof- and seemed to be just as happy and hyperactive as usual with his quills disheveled, fur ruffled, and emerald eyes almost shining with excitement. Another thing that demonstrated his happiness was the small sparks of iridescent light fizzling around his chest, a sign he had yet to exert full control over what he was carrying.

"Are you coming down now?" Whoever thought Sonic the Hedgehog was an angel should be shot in the face from Chris' opinion. He volunteered to be the executioner."I should get you a louder alarm clock." The grin was terrifying, nightmarish thing that made the blond quake in his pajamas. "You snooze through it like a bear during winter." The human groaned, grabbing the sapphire hedgehog by an arm and promptly throwing him into the bed as he used the leverage to get up.

"Shut up."

A muffled comeback came from the spiky little fiend currently fighting for his life in the sea of pillows and covers. The biggest downside of being a hedgehog: the quills that clung to everything as if he had Velcro on the back of his head.

Chris huffed as he rose from his bed, raising a hand to pull back the dark blond, near red locks of hair that had fallen in front of his face. Whatever curses and maledictions Sonic growled from beneath the covers were easily ignored by Chris, who quickly dressed himself and rushed down the stairs before Sonic could free himself.

It didn't take long for the Blue Blur to tumble out of the bed, out the room and down the stairs, but when he reached the kitchen Chris was already finishing his small breakfast of an apple. The blue hedgehog pouted, and when he spoke, the tone was full of mirth and mischievousness. "Why an apple? With your size I would have pegged you for an entire cow."

Chris rolled his eyes at the childish comment. "It wakes me up." The blond human muttered through the mouthful of delicious fruit. "I don't want to be half-asleep when we punch a hole through reality and straight to Mobius without the need of the Chaos Emeralds."

Sonic huffed -but whatever he was about to say was cut off by an old man with shaggy grey hair bursting into the kitchen like whirlwind of madness. The human looked a bit too eager with a side of sugar high-esque excitement, a combination that was mortifying in the two youngster's eyes.

"What are you two still doing here?!" The Blue Blur yelped as he was picked up by Chuck like a ragdoll and dragged out of the room. He clawed, shrieked, and howled in a attempt to escape the elder's grasp, but Chuck's enthusiasm was almost contagious, and seemed to have given him enough strength to hold even the hero down. "We have physics to break!" The man exclaimed jovially as he left the kitchen, the struggling hedgehog shouting obscenities as he was carried away.

Chris took his time to finish the apple before following.


The number of shenanigans in this chapter is incredible.

Chaos Field is a term inspired of the Chaos Force from the Archie Comics. It is linked to the mortal plane via the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald, like the Aether. But unlike my creation it isn't a solid world, inspired from the fact that Chaos reacts to emotions. Solid objects can be placed in it, but normally it is a vast void of energy, where you can sometime grasps the emotion of people who are round the links (the CEs and ME).

Yes, there are parts inspired of Pokemon. Yes, the form Vicini and Sonic turn into is Victini. This concept was there at the beginning of the draft for the series, and while it's corney as heck, it won't have that much importance besides the form and a few inspired arcs that will NOT be at all resembling the base inspiration of Pokemon.

I should have pulled the forms out and made my own, but the Holder Series kind of grew around the concept of the transformation since I was eleven, until it became it's own separate thing, and I had a dream of Sonic transforming into a Latios -don't ask, dreams are dreams. I won't take that away as a tribute to my younger self, and tipping the hat to the Pokemon series, since I grew up with that stuff.

I was my diapers when I watched the first Pokemon episode.

For those who wonder why I didn't use all the types in Pokemon for the Life Plates, it's because I didn't want too many Plates, and I just kept the most important ones. The Fae Plate is actually the Fairy-type Plate, but I don't like the name of the type, so it's just Fae, which is a kind of fairy. That way the name stays in context. So this is how it goes. The Plates are one big artifact. If separated, it gets unstable and dangerous, especially if one of the Binding Elements are missing.

I made the Life Plates by inspiring myself from Arceus', and the episodes in Sonic X where Knux has to go running around in search of the pieces of the Master Emerald. While the ME is in one big piece, and breaking would not affect it, the Plates are multiple pieces that need to stay together in order to be stable.

So yeah, that's it.