The day was still young as the group made their way back to the Echidna Village. They were in the small stretch of ocean between the mainland and Angel Island, being ferried once again by Shadow's Prototype. Maria and Tikal sat at the base of his neck, while Shadow sat further back, holding one of Tikal's medical Rings.
Shadow was experimenting. Ring in one hand, he slowly filled and drained it of Chaos energy again and again, careful not to fully absorb it. He traced the power along the inner etchings of the Ring, investigating it's secrets.
The minute details of the etchings were remarkable, to say the least, an intricate matrix of twisting and crossing lines. As complex as it seemed, Shadow knew there was something more to be found; he just had to look hard enough. After three hours of study, he was beginning to see it.
There was a pattern associated with the markings. To the untrained eye they looked like a jumbled mess, but the more Shadow stared at it, the clearer and more obvious the pattern became. The lines swelled and shrank in width as one traced along the length of the Ring, the pattern repeating itself until the Ring made one full rotation, where it stopped abruptly. A short distance later, the pattern started again, where it started; one full rotation.
Shadow allowed his power to spill over into the Ring, filling it. He traced his power as it flowed, observing the power traveling along the etchings to their designated endpoints. When the Chaos energy reached an endpoint, it began storing the energy in that one specific spot. Whatever was left continued on the the next endpoint. When the Ring ran out of endpoints and was full to the brim, Shadow could not send any more power into it, despite his numerous efforts to do so. He figured it was likely a built in safeguard, to prevent accidents.
What interested Shadow the most were the points where the lines overlapped. When power passed through these areas, instead of filling normally and continuing to other areas, the amount of Chaos energy in these specific spots was double the amount in the lines before and after it.
In other words, the lines can hold more power than they are allowed to, Shadow surmised. This is likely another safeguard built in to the Rings, to prevent an unintentional power build up.
A second, equally as interesting fact presented itself as Shadow relinquished his flow of power into the Ring. The only parts of the Ring that actually stored Chaos energy were the endpoints of the etchings. In the instant Shadow released his power, the energy flowing through the lines leading to the endpoints withdrew to his hand, leaving the lines themselves void of power.
Yet another safeguard, Shadow thought to himself as he ran his fingers along the inside of the Ring. It makes sense. If the endpoints storing Chaos energy stayed connected all the time, the smallest defect or fluctuation in the stored energy could cause it to destabilize and destroy the Ring. The Echidnas who made these were either incredibly intelligent, or went through a few mishaps when they were designing them. Probably both.
A slight pang at the bridge of his nose caused Shadow to wince. His headaches were returning. There wasn't going to be much time before he and Maria were in the same situation they were before. There had to be a way to solve his power storage problems.
I know the pattern and I understand the basics, Shadow weighed his decision in his head. If I can join the end of the Ring's etchings to the beginning, I may be able to loop my power through it in a never ending circle. It may not be a permanent fix, but it may help me displace some Chaos energy to avoid a disaster like last time.
Tikal breathed in deeply, basking in the sunlight. Maria indulged herself as well, letting the rays warm her while she let her feet cool in the water below. They were over halfway to Angel Island, and neither of them had heard a peep from Shadow since they'd started crossing the water.
Maria glanced back in Shadow's direction. Tikal followed her stare and saw Shadow at the rear, his back turned towards them. Maria tightened her lips and exchanged looks with Tikal, who understood how she felt. They weren't worried, but… it was still suspicious, and both were curious.
"I'll check on him," Tikal whispered. Maria smiled and nodded once in gratitude. Tikal smiled back as she stood to approach Shadow. Inwardly, she enjoyed the fact that she and Maria could exchange so much information with just their eyes and expressions. It wasn't something she was used to doing with her peers in the village, and she'd picked up on it quickly when the visitors arrived. Is this what having a close friend is like?
Halfway between Maria and Shadow, Tikal stopped in her tracks along the lizards leathery back, her last train of thought derailing her until then steady heart. She clutched at her heart as she stopped to gather her breath; a sharp, stinging pain had just pierced straight through it, leaving her confused and winded. After a few moments, the feeling passed. She turned to see if Maria had noticed, and was relieved to see that she was facing forward, still sunbathing without a care in the world.
That… actually hurt, Tikal stood still, disbelieving. She put one foot in front of the other, attempting to ignore what just happened. She knew what it was that had caused the pain, Tikal just couldn't understand why she'd had it, and didn't want to trust it. These two… I cannot let myself forget that these two are after the Master Emerald. I will not!
Despite her denial and the emotional mask she wore on her face to cover it, Tikal could not help but notice the lingering aches in her chest that sprouted from the pain of deceiving someone she considered her true friend. The pain of her own guilt.
Shadow held up the newly modified Ring to the light. Using his own power, he'd chiseled new lines into the empty Ring, connecting the end and beginning. If his theory was right, this method could buy him some time in finding a solution to his own overload problem. Soft footsteps behind him made Shadow glance back towards the front of the Prototype.
"Shadow, are you all right?" Tikal questioned. "You have been awfully quiet all day. Is something wrong?"
"Tikal," Shadow acknowledged. "You're just in time. I was about to try out something."
"Try out what, exactly?" Tikal inquired.
"I need a way to solve my power limit problem, and I think I just figured out a way. I've manipulated the Ring's pattern, and I'm trying it out now." Shadow began filling the Ring with power as he finished his explanation.
"You did what?!" Tikal exclaimed. "No, do not-" Her sentence was cut off as the Ring in Shadow's hand exploded with a loud bang, disintegrating the Ring and sending Shadow soaring through the air.
Tikal didn't have time to think, only to react. In the split second before Shadow reached her, Tikal shrugged off her instincts to duck and braced herself, opening her arms to catch him. The force of the blast launched Shadow into her chest, catapulting them both over Maria and the Prototype's head, and into the water.
As with the pool on the A.R.K., Shadow instantly began to sink like a rock. Tikal, unaware of his inability to swim, kept her arms locked around him, futilely kicking her legs to raise them to the surface. After a few seconds, the water pressure building around her ears alerted her to the fact that they were still dropping.
After his mind recovered from the initial shock of the Ring exploding, Shadow found himself sinking in the ocean, Tikal holding him tightly from behind.
I'm sinking, Shadow quickly realized. Tikal's going to get herself killed if she keeps holding on to me. With a strength much greater than hers, Shadow grabbed Tikal's arms and wrenched them from around his waist before pushing her up and away from him.
At first, Tikal struggled, trying desperately to find Shadow again and haul him to the surface. He was sinking faster than she could pursue him, though.
Maria watched the surface of the water, worried. The Prototype had stopped swimming forward, and burrowed his head beneath the waves, looking and waiting for any sign of the hedgehog or echidna.
The Prototype made a groaning noise and lifted his head from the water. In his mouth, Tikal, wet and coughing, rose from the ocean.
"Tikal!" Maria took her from the lizard's jaws and cradled her on his back. "Are you all right? What in the world happened? Where's Shadow?"
"He pushed… he pushed me away!" Tikal gasped for air as she explained. "I tried to swim with him, but he pushed me up to the surface! Why did he do that?"
Maria knew exactly why. "His body is much denser than yours. He doesn't float. He pushed you away so you wouldn't get dragged down with him."
The echidna continued breathing, processing Maria's explanation. "So… what? What now? What do we do? How do we get him out?"
"I… I don't… know," Maria stammered. "Shadow will just keep sinking… we can't swim down that far."
The Prototype growled again, arresting both of their attentions. About ten feet to the right, the ocean water was bubbling furiously. Sea foam and froth began to form as the water continued to broil. A dark form appeared from beneath the waves, and slowly, Shadow began to emerge from the water. First his head, then his torso and arms swiftly followed, until he was literally standing on top of the water.
Maria, Tikal, and the Prototype looked on in amazement as Shadow took several awkward, unbalanced steps toward them. Sufficiently close, he crouched, then leaped onto the Prototype's back, landing expertly on his feet like an agile cat.
Turning to face everyone, Shadow maintained a stoic expression as he observed the others, all three staring with mouths wide open.
"What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hot water rises," Shadow explained. "If you can make the water hot fast enough, the increased flow carries you upward, provided you don't burn yourself with the superheated vapor."
"So you can walk on water?" Maria asked, thoroughly mystified by Shadow's abilities. Every time he used them, she learned something new. There seemed to be no limit to the practical applications of Chaos energy.
"Provided the water isn't already close to boiling, I can release energy from my feet to keep myself above water."
"All you had to say was 'yes', Shadow," she sighed with a smile on her face, one full of wonder and awe. "I wonder if you could use that same kind of process to walk on air…"
"Not likely," he responded. "Air is a lot less dense than water, not to mention it doesn't transfer heat very well."
"I am more concerned with what you were doing with that Ring," Tikal butted in. "You could have seriously injured yourself! Why did you not ask me about making modifications?"
"I didn't think you knew anything about it. According to you, the Echidnas have been making Rings the exact same way for hundreds of years."
"For good reason, obviously!" Tikal scolded. "Changes to the set blueprints only leads to accidents, injuries, and in the worst cases death." She paused before adding another blurb. "A good friend of mine was a Smithing apprentice… he passed away because there were no doctors skilled enough to treat him."
So that's why she decided to become a doctor, Shadow realized. It explains a lot about her, mainly that she hates losing people she cares about. The realization that he and Maria were likely part of that select group made him fidget. He sat in thought for a moment, then bowed his head in respect. "My apologies," he accepted her reprisal, bowing in a way he'd seen other Echidnas bow when expressing a sincere apology.
Tikal noticed his gesture and chuckled, her frustration momentarily forgotten. "Do not worry about it, it is over now." She made a mental note to help Shadow with his portrayal of Echidna customs later, to keep him from embarrassing himself. Her mind drifted back to the Ring. "What changes were you trying to make? You said it might help your… problem."
"I completed the loop," Shadow explained. "Connecting the beginning of the etchings to the end was simple, and I followed the same pattern that was on the rest of the Ring. Honestly, I don't know what went wrong… it should have worked."
Maria tilted her head. She couldn't even begin to pretend like she understood what Shadow was talking about. It all sounded like gibberish and super science to her. She glanced over at Tikal, who's eyes were wide and bright.
"You wanted to make a Mobius Ring!" something had clicked inside her head, and Tikal was so excited, it was infectious.
"What's a Mobius Ring?" Maria asked. "That's the name of this world, right?"
"It is a special type of Ring," Tikal hopped on the balls of her feet as she talked. "Only a handful were ever made, and their purpose was not exactly clear, so they were handled irresponsibly for the longest time. They do not store energy like a normal Ring does. Their sole purpose is to loop energy through the windings of the Ring as many times as the user can afford to."
"Only a handful were made?" Shadow inquired. "Aren't there blueprints for them?"
She shook her head furiously, a large grin on her face, her excitement still obvious. "Not for these Rings. Eventually we did find a use for them, though. Training in the use of medical arts. The challenge was to see how many times someone could loop energy through the Ring, and then how long they could maintain it afterwards. When the person was finished, or exhausted, all the energy put into the Ring returned to the user, since it is unable to store power on it's own."
"I see," Shadow nodded. "It's a great practical way to teach advanced control of your Chaos energy output, without needing to worry about wasting energy. Tikal, a tool like that is exactly what I've been looking for. How many of these Mobius Rings are there?"
Her countenance fell instantly, and Shadow got the distinct feeling he wasn't going to like what he was about to hear.
"Two," she responded, expression cold. "All the others have either been lost or damaged. One belongs to the Chieftain, my father. The other belongs to the Village as a whole." Tikal looked Shadow directly in the eye. "To use either one, you will need my father's permission."
"Somehow, I doubt he'll let me use them for free," Shadow read her train of thought.
"No, he will likely require you to join the Echidna Clan in order to use them."
"That doesn't sound so bad," Maria jumped into the conversation. "Being a part of the clan is bound to have a few perks, right?"
"There are strings attached," Tikal continued. "The most significant of which being that once you are a member of our clan, you are honor bound by our laws. Anything our Chieftain tells you to do, you must do. No exceptions."
"It looks like we need to have a talk with the Chief then," Shadow stated.
Author's Note: Another chapter arrives, my friends. Do these Mobius Rings work like Shadow expects them to? Will he be able to successfully procure one from the tyrannical Chieftain? Can Tikal protect the Master Emerald from her Village? Her father? Her new friends? And most importantly, how will Shadow and crew find their way home?!
Just to confirm some suspicions that have been floating in the reviews, and to inform those of you who haven't figured it out, the group of animals that managed to escape from the A.R.K.'s Chaos Laboratory are, in fact, the ancestors of all the present day characters everyone knows and loves, including Fred and his trademark smirk. I will likely not touch on the subject of the small animals again, so I wanted to let everyone know before I forgot about it later.