A/N—Doing something that I've never done before: change the point of view in the middle of the chapter. :O You'll see why later in the chapter.
And yes, I did have to include Silver. :3
"So, what should I do?" I ask myself in a hushed tone. "Should I yell for help and risk being discovered by Eggman (again), or should I try to scale the walls and risk getting caved in?"
Every second makes the first one look like a good option—which is a sad thought.
Okay. Guess I have no choice but to yell.
I cup my hands around my mouth; they're posing as a megaphone—or at least the closest thing I can get to one. Hopefully, this will work.
"HELLO?" I shout to the sky. "IS ANYONE THERE? HELP! PLEASE, SOMEONE ANSWER ME!"
Silence.
"GOD DAMN IT!" I curse to the sky.
Right then, a voice asks, "Is someone there?" I don't know who just said that, but damn, his voice is annoying. Maybe even a little nerdy-ish.
Who cares? I just want to get out of here. "Down here!" I call. "Get me out of here, whoever-you-are!"
All of a sudden, my body begins to glow blue, and I can't move. My first instinct is fear, but that instinct subsides when my body slowly lifts out of the hole. I see the surface, and in front of me is this light silver hedgehog. His quills are sporting some crazy spiked look in front, but they're more like Sonics in back. There's a tuft of white fur on his chest—just below his neck. He's got white gloves with this glowing circle in each palm, and the gloves are cuffed at the wrists with these golden bracelets. He's got black boots with a bold, white stripe down the middle and a turquoise toe box; they, too, are topped with those golden bracelets. For someone whose voice is so freaking annoying, he actually looks pretty...epic, I guess you could say.
He puts me down on the ground surrounding the opposite end of the hole. I end up on my ass. He runs over to help me up, and I tell him with gratitude, "Thanks for that, dude."
He smiles. "No problem," is his response. He gives me this sort of weirded out look—like there's something about me that freaks him out or reminds him of someone...or something.
"Is—is there something wrong with my face?" I ask him. I rub my face with my dirty palms, which only makes the situation worse (for me, that is).
The hedgehog snaps out of his trance. "No," he answers. "It's—nothing." After giving my face another good look—a more genuine one this time—he chuckles. "...But now there's something wrong with it."
I give him a no shit, Sherlock look. Of course I know there's dirt on my face.
He puts his hand out to me and introduces himself. "I'm Silver."
I grab his hand and shake it. "Voca," I introduce myself. "Thanks again for getting me out of there. That was a pretty cool thing you did there."
"Saving you?"
"No, the psychic stuff."
"Oh. Yeah, I guess you could say that." We begin walking through the forest, and Silver asks me, "How did you get down in that hole anyhow?"
"Long story," is my answer. "...But I don't really have anything to do, and I don't know how to get off of this damn island, so I guess I can tell you. Hope you don't mind. This'll take a while."
-x-
We're sitting next to each other on a long, sturdy log when I finish telling him my story.
"...and then I slipped on some disgusting branch and ended up in the hole," I conclude. "The end."
Silver looks somewhat distracted. "Tell me, do you remember exactly what that flute looked like?" he asks without looking at me in the eye.
"Well," I begin, "it was made out of bamboo, and it was tied together with some balsa wood and a long strand of green ribbon. At least, I think it was green. Maybe not. I could've sworn that it was red at one point. I don't really remember much as to what had happened yesterday, so bear with—"
"I think I know what flute you're talking about."
My face shows both enthusiasm and shock. "No way! Do you know where Eggman hid it?"
A beat. "No," he denies. Silver turns his head to me and adds, "But I do know what it can do."
-x-
That flute is the reason I came here.
It seems like every time the future gets screwed up, the source of the devastation comes from this time period. I started noticing minor subtleties just a day or two ago. Sidewalks were cracking. Storms were brewing.
Yesterday's when everything fell apart. It was all because of that flute; a villainous, immortal overlord rose to power within seconds, and it was as if over two hundred years of corrupted history had caught up with the present time—well, my present time, that is. That flute gave the anarchist unlimited power and highly destructive abilities. People tried to fight off the demon, but their attempts were useless. The dictator was guarded by a powerful servant that was virtually unstoppable. The servant was used like a puppet, and he controlled her with the flute. She killed many, but not willingly—not consciously.
The most terrifying part is that I'm sitting next to her right now. But I can't tell her that. At least, not yet.
-x-
Silver tells me this story about a dystopian future caused by that flute. "Eggman," I growl. My finger's pointed at him. I don't even need to question Silver to know it's because of Eggman.
"It very well may be," Silver agrees. "I never got a close enough glimpse of the dictator before I escaped that future. However, the dictator's robot army resembled Eggman's, so it's possible."
I get on my feet. "We need to get that flute back," I say, then sigh and add: "I can't believe I'm saying this, but we need to break into Eggman's base."
