Chapter 21: Sonic Boom
Meanwhile, Sonic and the others were heading for the first Chaos Crystal. They looked around but didn't see anything. Soon, the crystal started to glow, and Tails pulled it out of his pocket.
I feel one nearby, it said. It's in a temple. Follow me.
It floated off, and they all followed it. Soon, they came to a small temple. They smiled, and walked inside. The Chaos Crystal hovered in the air as it led them deeper into the temple. Soon, they saw a faint glow in the distance.
It is a Chaos Crystal, the crystal said, and transformed into Knuckles.
Knuckles tried to grab the crystal but it groaned in pain as it reacted with the other.
"What's wrong?" Sonic asked.
It looked at him. "I guess I can't grab another crystal."
Tails could tell he was lying. "You're lying," he said. "Tell us the truth."
Knuckles sighed. It sighed and stood, then began to turn into Chaos as it looked at them. "I'm not lying, I just exaggerated. Crystals can't react with each other. If they do for long periods of time, a wave of energy is sent out, and anything in field is wiped out."
The Ancients nodded. Chaos groaned as it continued to transform. Its body was becoming liquid.
"What's happening to you?" Sonic asked.
"I'm transforming into my other form, Chaos. I'm not sure why it's taking so long."
They nodded and watched Knuckles transform. Soon, the transformation ended, and he was Chaos. Shadow smirked, and grabbed the crystal. The Ancient then groaned in pain as the crystal's power went into him.
"What's happening to me?" He asked Chaos. It looked at him.
"You are becoming like me. Exept, what you become varies per crystal. Right now, you should be transforming into the crystal, or the other form."
Shadow groaned in pain and transformed. His body changed shape, as his fur turned to scales. His face changed, forming into a snout, and slit crimson eyes. His ears and quills flattened, as his back quills formed into wings. His organs shifted, and bones cracked, making him growl in pain, and forcing him to the ground. His tail grew longer, forming a spear shape at the end, as his hands and feet grew claws. When the finishing touches were done, a small, mostly red and black dragon stood in Shadow's place.
It looked at itself. Interesting, it said, and looked at Chaos. Why did I transform? How could touching the crystal have caused this?
"On both questions, I'm not very sure, because I transformed into Chaos before even coming close to the crystal."
The dragon nodded. It groaned and shrank. Before long, it was a baby dragon. It tried to talk, but a little grumble came out. Then, he spoke telepathically. Chaos, what happened to me?
The water creature thought about it and spoke. "You might have changed more, because you have Chaos Energy already inside of you."
The baby dragon nodded. It looked around and squeaked, wondering where its parents were. It was alone with these strangers, and backed away. Tails walked towards it, and it backed away more. "Chaos, is it going through a mental change?"
"That's what it seems like." it replied.
"Why is its mind changing?" Sonic asked.
"It may be a side effect to the extra Chaos Energy inside of him."
"What's going to happen to it?"
Chaos thought, then spoke. "We probably need two of you to become adult dragons for temporary time limits, so we can keep Shadow safe."
Amy and Tails nodded. "We'll do it. How long?" Tails asked.
"Maybe about two hours, then fake the transformation back. Act like you don't know what's going on."
Sonic nodded and started to transform. When it finished, a blue and black dragon stood. It smiled, and turned to Amy. Chaos cast a spell on Amy, who began to transform also. When hers finished, a pink and red dragon stood next to Sonic. They smiled at each other. Shadow saw them and smiled. It walked up to its parents.
Hi! The small dragon said, filled with joy.
Sonic smiled. Hello, son, it said.
I'm glad I finally found you guys! I was starting to get worried. The adult dragon smiled. Amy came up next to Sonic, smiling at the two. The young dragon looked at its parents and smiled. What now? It asked them.
We should probably find a new home. Sonic said.
Amy nodded and looked around. We could live here.
Yes, we could. What do you think, son?
It's nice, the young dragon said.
The two adult dragons smiled, and started to make themselves comfortable with the new home.
Can you make these transformations permanent? Sonic asked Chaos.
It nodded. "But my concern is, that I suggest you still have the other form. Would you like me to change it to a free will transformation instead?"
Is Shadow's transformation permanent? Sonic asked it.
"No," It said. "He's a living crystal now, remember?"
All right. Have us change at will.
Chaos nodded as he cast a spell on the dragons. They turned back into hedgehogs. Shadow looked around worriedly, his parents had just disappeared. The two hedgehogs were hiding in the bushes beside the clearing. They walked out and looked at him. He saw them and smiled. It walked up to them, cautious about what could happen.
"Mom, dad? What happened to us?" It asked.
Sonic looked at Shadow. He looked confused, trying to fool the young hedgehog also coming up with a plan. "I'm not sure, son. This has happened for awhile now, and I don't know how to stop it."
Shadow smiled and nodded. Suddenly, Shadow's stomach growled. "I'm hungry."
They smiled. "We'll get you something to eat."
"We should probably find the others, also." Sonic whispered to Amy.
Amy nodded, and they walked off. Sonic picked Shadow up, who smiled. They walked around for a while before heading back to the temple. Once there, Chaos was waiting for them.
"Hello, Chaos."
"Hello," it said. "We found the Crystal while you three were away."
It brought out the crystal and gave it to them. Sonic smiled. "Thank you, Chaos. How many do we have left to get?"
"We have four left. We already found three: me, Shadow, and the one you're holding."
"Sorry, I got confused."
Chaos smiled. It nodded, and became a Chaos Crystal. Shadow groaned in pain and began to turn into one also. When they finished, Sonic picked them up, and looked at Amy.
"Three down, four to go," he said, smiling. "Let's head out."
Amy and Tails looked at Sonic and smiled. They took the crystals and walked out of the temple. Tails got in the cockpit of the Tornado as the others got in, and they took off. The rise of Lyric had begun, but the Sonic Boom team knew they had to stop him once and for all.