Chaos: Oh, I completely forgot to upload this last chapter. Anyway… it's done! Complete! Finished! Now we can never speak of it again! Ha, I jest. I'm glad it got finished, even if it's so hideously old that I cringe to read it. Thanks for sticking with it, anybody who's still there!
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
It was midnight when Angel Island drew to a halt over the glow of Station Square. Tails stood at the rocky edge, feeling oddly dizzy at the huge drop, Knuckles and Amy by his side.
"Here we are," Knuckles said with a yawn, "Now get lost. I'm going south and I don't want to hear from any of you for a month at least."
Amy laughed, stuck her tongue out at him, and then hopped into the hastily-repaired Tornado as Tails gently piloted it down to be properly fixed in his lab.
Knuckles waved until they disappeared into the darkness, and then turned for the shrine, setting a southern course and letting the Master Emerald choose the speed. He sighed exhaustion and finally made to the shrine, feet dragging.
He almost didn't notice when he passed the first body. But the green glow from the emerald reflected off the man's glasses and caught his eye.
"What!" he cried in surprise, noting the man's GUN badge. He poked him with his foot and the scientist let out a faint groan. Alive, at least. He looked around, noting several other unconscious bodies.
GUN must have sent up a squad to get the Emerald while he was away, but what had-
"Took your time." A familiar voice murmured from atop one of the broken pillars. Green eyes shone in darkness.
"Rouge!" Knuckles muttered, astonished. She dropped down, wings flaring to a safe landing.
"Well, someone has to keep an eye on the stupid thing, if you won't let me have it." She let out a tinkling laugh, folding wings and crossing arms in the darkness. Knuckles didn't know what to say.
"I...I..."
"How about, 'Thank you, Rouge, I owe you one, etc etc'?" she teased.
"Tha-thanks..."
"Heh. It wouldn't be fun to steal it without you around, echidna...like taking candy from a baby." She grinned, flashing sharp white teeth, before her tone became quieter. "Keep a better eye on it next time. I won't be so negligent in the future. See ya around!"
With an echoing laugh she soared away into the night.
Knuckles was left speechless.
The female newsreader shuffled the papers on her table and began; a small picture of a comet-like streak in the sky on one corner of the television screen.
"Hello, and welcome again to the Station Square 6.00 News!
For six days now the aptly named 'Ultrasound Star' has being cruising the Earth's stratosphere. Scientists are still unable to identify this strange occurrence, but have stemmed it from a root of Chaos Energy - It appears to take a random course, though recently linked to the pattern of Chaos Frequencies.
It once came low over Station Square, the high-frequency sound vibes shattering over ten thousand windows, felling a building and causing nearly a million pounds worth of damage. Thus it was nicknamed the 'Ultrasound Star'.
It is a complete mystery as to where this unknown came from, but theories have suggested an alien spaceship, an unusual meteor, or even a rocket.
However, in new evidence, scientists have managed to trace the energy signals back to New Island, recently a GUN base, but destroyed soon before the star's appearance. The GUN organisation, previously serving under the Military, has disbanded and refuses to give information.
In other news, world-renowned hero Sonic the Hedgehog is still missing, suspected trave-"
Amy Rose clicked off the television with a snort of disgust. "Still haven't made the connection between Sonic and the Ultrastar." she grumbled, reaching for a magazine with a sigh.
Sonic's Chaos Energy would have to run out soon - she had never known it to last nearly so long before. The glossy pages of the magazine held no interest for her, and she tossed it aside with a quiet groan of frustration.
"Don't worry, Amy. I'm sure he'll be fine." Cream spoke by her shoulder, Cheese burbling comfortingly in her ear.
"Yeah, I hope so." Amy sighed again, remembering when - four days before - Tails had tried to rewire the Chaos Locater to drag Hyper Sonic down, and back to normal. The fox had stood atop a skyscraper, holding up the tiny machine, as the far-off 'star' burned past overhead. Hyper Sonic had dipped so low he had almost grazed the tops of the buildings, before he broke away.
The resulting explosion was enough to put Tails, at the centre of it, into hospital. He had been found, miraculously still alive, under tons of rubble from the fallen building he had stood atop, in a kind of daze.
When he had seen her he had only said, with a small smile, "I remember...he showed me. He's...sorry."
Then he had stared into space and not said a word.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
two days later
In the sky, a burning streak had orbited the earth sixteen times. With a howl of Chaos Energy reaching a pinnacle, the streak shot upwards, almost breaking through the atmosphere before-
It finally burned out.
Nobody saw a dark shape plummet down.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The island was small, or at least as small as islands go. It was the width of, perhaps, a few houses in a line and nearly circular. Several trees climbed out of the middle, and a small spring bubbled up into a stream that wound down into the sea. There were no inhabitants, except for small birds and the insects they ate.
All that was about to change.
One such bird landed on the soft grass beside the stream, quick bright eyes darting around for the dragonflies that often hovered over the clear water. Finding none, it spread its wings to try further upstream and-
And then its world ended as a shape fell from above, from the stars.
As it hit, a massive bang shook the island from the centre out, closely followed by a huge white shockwave that burst away and over the sea. When it had faded, the island was no more.
The ground had been burnt down to the ground, coated with grey cinders from what had previously been trees and plants. It was instant destruction; ash ran an inch deep, the entire island dark with it. A sooty cloud hung over, slowly settling and turning the ground from grey to jet-black.
As black as the animal at the centre, cause of the explosion.
Sonic slowly lifted his head, eyes struggling to focus on the sight before him. His fur was burnt black from the upper atmosphere, and he could hardly believe that he'd made it at all. It had been a long and difficult fight against the Emeralds, especially so when he had been pulled down to Station Square.
Then he had fought hard to finally get a chance to speak to Tails, to say sorry, in case he lost after all...
He had suffered for it afterwards.
Slowly he rolled onto his back, energy almost completely spent. The dust cloud settled and blue sky spread above him, sun glinting from the corner of his vision. He grinned lopsidedly and whispered,
"I'm free."
Then his eyes rolled back and his head slumped to the side as he fell unconscious, not noticing the dark shadow that dropped over him.
This is... this is..., but Shadow had no words for the sight before him. The knife in his left hand quivered a little in shock...no, surprise. He was not shocked, but... this should be easy... after what you've done to me, Sonic... what you've put me through... killing you should be easy!
Shadow was shaking slightly, fur shimmering a little as though caught in a breeze, hovering almost an inch off the ground from the long-lasting residual charge of the energy that he had absorbed.
He gritted his teeth and lifted the blade. Sonic's chest rose and fell once, almost undetectable under the black fur that had once been peachy. Shadow's hand quivered again and he felt like kicking himself.
Do it now!, he screamed to himself, but his hand stubbornly refused to obey. He deserves it... he deserves to... for what he did... he... he let out a cry of anger and Sonic's eyelids fluttered a little.
Then a little voice in the back of his mind said, hasn't he suffered enough? The rest of him was far stronger, and screamed, no! ... But his hand still stayed firmly clenched around the handle and refused to budge.
The voice got stronger. Look at him. Look. What do you see? Shadow looked contemptuously down at Sonic and said aloud, "I see a pathetic excuse for a hedgehog."
He sniffed scornfully.
Precisely...look at what he's been reduced to, the voice said stubbornly, killing him would be a release...it would help him. Shadow felt more confused than ever. "Shut up!" he replied angrily, putting a hand to his forehead.
Then he plunged the knife down and spun around, walking away far faster than he would normally have done. Then he turned around for one last look at black hedgehog against black ground, and raised the Chaos Emerald, which sparked briefly, almost angrily.
"Chaos Control!" he called out and the emerald sparked again with power. The scene faded and disappeared as he warped away and growled to himself,
Stupid conscience.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
When Tails brought the Tornado down into a smooth landing, leaping out and closely followed by Amy and Cream, he almost didn't see Sonic against the black ground. The DNA tracker blipped twice in his hand as it traced Sonic's signal.
"He's dead!" Cream squealed as she saw the black hedgehog. Amy dashed forward and crouched for a minute beside him.
"No...still breathing!" she exclaimed, almost laughing from sheer relief. Tails was the only one to notice the knife buried up to its handle in black ashes, not a centimetre from Sonic's right ear.
But he soon forgot it as he steered the Tornado for home, Sonic safe in the back seat and Amy almost crying with the relief that Sonic was alive, and would be ok. Cream was smiling, ears whipping in the wind...
As they flew home.
And all over the world, the Chaos Emeralds glowed and sparked to one another where they had fallen after being forcibly blasted away; shocked at the willpower of the Channeler they had tried to control, shocked into obedience...
For now.
END