Author's note: Sonic Riders rocks. That's all I have to say.
Segment 3: Echidna Not
Chapter 5: 2nd Black Emerald
(Leo)
YEOW! I woke with a start. I was lying in a river for some reason. Apparently, someone had just thrown me in. Kim was standing on the shore, and giggled a bit.
The river's flow was not very strong, so it was no challenge to get out and shake myself dry. "Kim," I finally asked my sister, "what happened?"
Taking a deep breath, Kim told me everything that'd happened since I'd blacked out while facing D-Knuckles. Apparently, that blast of energy had infused me with dark energy, turning me evil. Kim had knocked me out and brought me back to Knuckles, who had cured me.
"I couldn't actually remove the dark energy, Leo," Knuckles added once Kim was done. "Instead, I sealed it away within your body, where it will do no more harm. Remember that it is still there, though."
It was then that Kim held up the second Black Emerald, proof that we had been to the settlement and back. Knuckles nearly lost his balance upon recognizing it.
"You two," he said to us, "that is one of the seven Black Emeralds. They are very powerful, and they could cause a catastrophe if they all fell into the wrong-"
"Hate to interrupt, K-boy," I cut in, "but we already knew all that."
Knuckles was a little mad at getting interrupted that way, but he shrugged it off. We said our goodbyes, and Kim and I began the hike back to Emerald Town.
Tails was waiting outside his lab. "Leo! Kim!" he greeted us. "Did you get the Black Emerald?"
"Oh yes we did," I confirmed. "Show 'im, Kim."
In response, Kim raised the evil gem in the air. Tails snatched it from Kim's hand as if he were afraid it would bite her.
"So we've got two now," Kim figured. "That leaves just five left. At our current rate, we should have all this done in no time."
Tails nodded. "I do hope you'll collect the rest of them as quickly as possible. The fate of the world depends on it!" He was so anxious, it was a little odd, but I shrugged it off.
While we were here, I decided to strike up a conversation with Tails. "Say, Tails, you said you were a Fox Scout when you were younger, right? What was that like?"
"It was pretty interesting," Tails explained. "Once, I was lost in the forest with my partner, a grey fox named Drive. He was a little older and more experienced than I was, so he felt like he had every right to take charge."
Kim and I listened intently as Tails continued. "When a big bear showed up, we were both scared. It was then that Drive had a curious idea for scaring the bear away. Curious as it was, it worked."
"What was it?" Kim asked, inevitably.
"I was just about to get to that," Tails replied. "Drive and I stood back-to-back and put our feet together, like this. Then, we joined hands and spun around like a big top. The way we whirled confused the bear, and he ran off. Now how about that?"
"Sounds interesting," I commented.
"Well, it worked, and that's what mattered. Drive later christened the move the 'Drive Spin'. I didn't mind him naming it after himself, since it sounded pretty cool." Tails seemed pretty proud of his own story.
"That's a pretty good story," Kim told Tails once he'd finished. "But we'd better get a move on. Maybe you can tell us more some other time."
The three of us said our goodbyes, and Kim and I left to check on Amy.
When we visited Amy, she was in the middle of doing some push-ups. When she was us, she got to her feet. "Hi, guys," she greeted us. "Did you meet Knuckles?"
"Yeah, we met him," Kim responded, "and you were right. He does have a bit of a short fuse. The excursion was successful, though, and we came out with what we were looking for. We'll go on our next trip tomorrow."
"That's good, I guess," Amy commented. "Where are you going tomorrow?"
I could not respond. "We actually haven't decided yet, but we'll show you the map."
Saying this, I put the map of Emerald County on the nearby table, and erased the Echidna Fields mark. The three of us looked at the map in silence for a moment.
"I'd take this one," Amy finally said, pointing at one mark. "That's the site of Babylon Palace, a small temple that's said to contain all kinds of treasure. There's a bus from Emerald Town that goes directly there. I'll buy a bus pass for you first thing tomorrow morning."
This sounded good to us, so Kim and I said thanks to Amy, and we left the apartment building. Since it was getting a little late, we decided to retire for the day. Another day of adventure would surely await us tomorrow!
END OF SEGMENT
All right, that's three segments. The length of each segment can vary. I'll go for nine segments.
Side note to Nail Strafer: I'd like to point out that Leo and Kim did NOT ask Tails to teach them the Drive Spin. That would just be ridiculous; I am writing a fic, not a video game. (Even though I have always wanted to write a video game.)