A/N: Wow, over three months since this story was updated. Would have gotten it done sooner, but I've been busy with other things in my life. I'm really hoping that all of you will find the quality and quantity of this chapter well worth the wait.
I'm sure that a good portion (if not all) of you know that aliixo has taken her stories down, and turned off her PM. She left a message on her user page on July 11, 2016 explaining how she's temporarily deleting her account, but then sometime later before I knew it, she had changed her user name to deeeeeleeeeteeedd (no joke). At first, I thought the new user name might have just been a joke, but now I'm beginning to think she might have meant it as way to say she's not coming back. She didn't say anything to me, so I have no idea. I'm bringing this up because she was my collaborator on this story, but we haven't actually PMed each other for a long while now. I guess this means I should start referring to her as my former collaborator from now on.
Also, check out "Ao no Kanata: The wings to fly towards the future" by Shardwing52, please. It would be nice if those of you that do read it could read it all the way through, and then leave a review whether it's positive or negative (if it is negative, it would be preferable if it were constructive criticism).
Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.
Chapter 21: The True Nature of Chaos P15
Miles had returned to the Mystic Ruins after leaving Vanilla's house and saying farewell to everyone, but more begrudgingly so with Gamma. It was past midday, and the young fox was headed to his workshop to study the Chaos Emerald he acquired during his last adventure. After seeing Chaos being able to transform with just one Emerald more than one time, the boy wanted to find out if that particular ability was mimicable or if it was something only the creature itself was capable of. Hopefully, it was the latter because he didn't need nor want to worry about other enemies out there that didn't need all the Chaos Emeralds in order to get stronger with them.
"That was some earthquake, wouldn't you say?" Miles overheard an archeologist say to another.
"Yes, and unexpected too," said the other archeologist, taking no noticed of the boy listening in. "It reminds me of the one that was here several nights ago."
The fox didn't stay to listen anymore; he didn't need to. He had to get going in a matter of urgency. He had to get to Angel Island. The Mystic Ruins never has earthquakes, and the last time that happened a watery monster appeared! Not only that, but he recalled how Knuckles had told him during their last misunderstanding about how Angel Island had fallen.
'It can't be a coincidence,' Miles thought as he kept running. 'The island falling down must have been what caused the earthquake the first time. And if that's true, then that can only mean that it's happened again. I hope you're alright, Knuckles.'
When he finally arrived at his destination, he saw not just the red echidna, but also a very familiar bald-headed human; both laying facedown in the ground. For a brief moment, the idea that Robotnik might have been responsible entered the fox's mind, but seeing the mad doctor in such a condition tossed that suspicion out the window. Soon enough, both parties began to stir and wake up.
Knuckles groaned before rolling over on his back and pushing himself up. "Miles? Wha-what are you doing here?" he said, just before putting his right hand against his aching head. "On second thought, never mind. I think I have a pretty good idea."
"What happened?" said Miles, watching the echidna standing up with his head still resting against his hand. "Why has Angel Island fallen? And why is Robotnik here?"
"Chaos...Chaos is still alive," said Knuckles, shaking himself awake.
"What do you mean?" said Miles, looking around the land in panic. "I thought we took care of him once and for all."
"It would seem he's tricked everyone and decided to go off on his own," growled Robotnik, his fists clenched. "He's not going to get away with it though. NO ONE CROSSES DR. IVO ROBOTNIK AND MAKES A FOOL OUT OF HIM!"
With that, the evil scientist hopped aboard his carrier and took off. Before Miles took even one step to go after him, Knuckles put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. The fox looked at the older male in confusion, who just simply shook his head before removing his hand.
"We should look for Chaos and stop him from getting the last Chaos Emerald," said Knuckles, giving a quick glance at where the other six previously resided. "If he gets that last Chaos Emerald, we're done for!"
"I know that Knuckles, but Robotnik finding Chaos and taking the Emeralds from him isn't exactly ideal either," said Miles, frowning at the thought as his eyes reflected his worry.
"I don't think that's likely to happen," said Knuckles, causing the two tailed lad to go "Huh?" with an eyebrow raised. "Before Chaos took all of the Emeralds from me, I fought him. I fought him and lost before he absorbed even one Chaos Emerald. Do you know what that means?"
Miles' expression went from confusion to realization in mere seconds. "He let us beat him back on the Egg Carrier, so that we would let our guard down around the Emeralds," he said. "He must have figured we would have done something desperate in order to keep the last one from him if he didn't pull something like that," he then put one hand under his chin, while he rested his elbow in his other hand. "There were signs the first night I fought him that he wasn't just some mindless creature. But I didn't think it was to this extent."
The two then saw the pink orb of light floating around them, causing them to groan internally at what was coming next. Unlike the other times either of them were taken somewhere else, however, this time they saw fire in their field of vision surrounding a more new looking and intact version of the altar of the Master Emerald in the middle of the night. Not only that, but it seemed like there was a small squad of echidna warriors being lead by Tikal's father, while Tikal herself stood opposed to them.
"It looks like the alter to the Master Emerald, but different," said Miles, squinting his eyes a little as he focused on the scene before them.
"So, you see it too, huh?" said Knuckles with his arms folded as he too observed the event. "That's good. I was starting to think I might be going crazy...or maybe we've both lost it."
"I think we should get a bit closer and hear what they're saying," said Miles, receiving a questioning look from his ally. "We've obviously been brought here for a reason, just like we were last time, so it's likely that reason has something to do with what's going on right over there."
"Yeah, but the question is why we've been seeing these visions at all," said Knuckles before shaking his head, and sighing before moving closer to the others of his race. "Never mind, we can figure that out later."
The two crept up as close to the group of echidnas as possible without making a sound. Once they had crossed the stone bridge, they hid behind one of the trees as they began to listen in on the father and daughter.
"Get out of my way!" demanded Tikal's father, sounding like he was already losing his patient.
"No way!" said Tikal with her arms spread out on either side of herself in an attempt to protect all of the Chao that were behind her from her father and his soldiers' advances.
"Did you hear what I said?" said Tikal's father, looking like he was about to strike her then and there.
"I won't obey!" said Tikal in way that said she was both firm and desperate on the matter.
"We need those seven Emeralds to give us total power!" said Tikal's father, slamming the butt of his glaive on the ground. "It's power for the people," he then pointed a finger at her accusingly. "And they are you're people too, you know!" the same hand that was pointing then turned into a fist as he brought it closer to himself just below his head. "We must get that Emerald along with the seven as well!"
"Greed is our enemy!" said Tikal as she looked at the reddish-brown echidna in pity. "Once it starts, you will always want more!" her voice soon became more begging-like, and she clasped her hands together in front of herself as though she were praying. "Please don't do this. I beg you!"
"Bah! I don't listen to the words of a child," said Tikal's father, just before he raised his weapon up and pointed it at the altar. "Ready men!" he swung the weapon horizontally before putting it parallel to himself. "Charge!"
The light orange girl tried to plea one more time, but it was too late. The echidna warriors nearly trampled her as they ran passed her and knocked her down. A few of the Chao tried to stand in their way, but were swatted away like insects. Their cries of pain were almost that of infants.
Miles and Knuckles themselves narrowed their eyes at the sight, while their hands clenched the tree they were hiding behind. After they saw the squad of echidna warriors and their leader reached the center of the altar, the two soon heard said leader scream for his life before a flash of light appeared from the same area. If that wasn't enough, they swore they heard a roar; a roar that they wished that they haven't grown used to.
"Was...that Chaos?" said Miles, eyes wide. "Have that what these visions been about this whole time?"
"It sounds like it," said Knuckles, just before his eyes drifted to the girl laying on her stomach. "Miles, look!"
"We need to see if she's okay. Come on!" said Miles, running towards the female echidna with his ally following close behind.
Both guys knew that this was all a vision of the past, and that their actions couldn't change anything, but they couldn't help themselves nonetheless. They had fought so hard within themselves not to help fight off the invading forces in the hope that the vision would end quickly. However, things were starting to take too long for their liking, so they couldn't help but feel the need to interfere.
When they were close enough, Knuckles kneeled down and shook the girl awake. She stirred for but a moment before pushing herself up. Both Miles and Knuckles looked at her with concern as she blinked the rest of herself awake.
"Are you alright?" said Miles.
"I think so," said Tikal as she shook her head a little to get the dizzy feeling out of it. She then looked up towards the altar and gasped. "Oh my gosh! No!...No!...No!"
The light orange echidna then ran as fast as she could to the Master Emerald. Miles and Knuckles looked at each other for a moment, and then nodded before following after her. They stopped once they reached the last step of the stairway, and saw that Tikal was right in front of the Master Emerald itself.
"The seven Emeralds are the servers. Chaos is power, enriched by the heart. The controller serves to unify the chaos," said Tikal in one breath as she desperately tried to find some clue hidden within what she was saying. When she did, she gasped in shock and fear. "The seven Emeralds can change our thoughts into power! If this Emerald controls that power, then please stop him!"
The Master Emerald began to shine brightly before covering everything in its light. When it died down, the guys saw that they were back at the more ancient-looking altar of the Master Emerald that Knuckles guards.
"The Chaos Emeralds turn our thoughts into powers...why didn't I see it before?" said Miles under his breath. He then turned to the Guardian of the Master Emerald, whose eyes were narrowed in thought. "Umm...is something on your mind Knuckles?"
"The first night I fought Chaos was the night the Master Emerald was shattered," said Knuckles, glancing at the giant green gem. "I didn't think of it until now, but he must have tried to destroy the Master Emerald in order to keep it from being used against him."
"Then that means you can use the power of the Master Emerald to stop him right now, right?" said Miles, but received a negative response from the red fellow. "But why not? You're the Guardian, aren't you? I've seen you use its powers years ago."
"There are still things about the Master Emerald that even I don't understand," said Knuckles as he crossed his arms while closing his eyes for a moment. "It's not like I was left with a set of instructions on how to use it. Everything I do know is simply from my own experiences. Maybe if we would have seen exactly what that girl had the Emerald do I could work on doing the same thing."
"Then our only option right now is to get the last Chaos Emerald before Chaos does," said Miles, just before dashing towards the wooden suspension bridge. "It's at my workshop! Come on!"
Once they were back at the Mystic ruins, they made their way to the top of the plateau. However, the sight of Miles' home falling to pieces didn't give the two much hope. Granted, the place wasn't totally destroyed, but it was close enough. The two tailed lad went inside and began to desperately search for the powerful jewel he had hidden away, while Knuckles stood outside and tried to sense the Chaos Emerald. Unfortunately, neither was successful.
"Please tell me you hid it in some sort of container that hides its energy from people and things that can track it," said Knuckles with a sigh. The young fox looked at him remorsefully and shook his head. "That's just great. Now we have to get back all seven!"
"We'll do that in a moment, but first I have to make a call," said Miles, digging through his fur with a look of panic in his eyes.
"What do you mean you have to make a call?" said Knuckles right before he saw the younger boy take out some sort of rectangular-ovalish device that fits in one hand. "What's that?"
Miles didn't answer, for he was too engrossed in pressing the numbers on the cell phone and waiting for the line on the other end to be picked up. "Come on, Amy! Pick up! Please!" he whispered desperately to himself. He heard her voice through the speaker, but it was just part of her voice mail. Oh well, it will have to do. "Amy, it's Miles! I don't have time to explain right now, but I need you to get to higher grounds as soon as possible wherever you are. Hurry as soon as you get this message. It's a matter of life and death!"
"What good is getting to higher grounds going to do anyone?" said Knuckles, watching the yellow-orange fellow put the device back within his fur.
"After I chased Robotnik down after our last fight against Chaos together, I found this old temple in the middle of the jungle of the Mystic Ruins," said Miles, causing the other male to look at him in curiosity. "Anyways, that same orb of light that we just saw led me into and through the temple. I didn't know why at first, but I had a feeling it wanted-no-needed to show me something. What I found was a stone tablet about a monster that nearly ended the word after absorbing all the Chaos Emeralds. It's no mistake; that whole tablet was about Chaos. And one of the things it showed was people drowning in a flood."
"And how long will getting to higher ground get everyone?" said Knuckles, seeing the fox's face turn grim.
"Hopefully long enough," said Miles before running towards the train station of the Mystic Ruins. "Hurry! We got to catch the train before it leaves!"
Later at Station Square: Amy was on the highest bridge that she could find with Gamma standing right next to her. She was looking down at the city's streets, waiting for something to happen, but hoping nothing would. The tone of her friend's voice when he left such a message on her cell phone filled her with so much dread. The last time she remembered him sounding like that was when he fought against Knuckles' hyper form and told her to run.
Somewhere else on that very same bridge, Cream, Vanilla, and Cheese were looking at each other in worry. The mother rabbit had gotten a call awhile back from Amy relaying a message that Miles sent her. The younger rabbit was concerned for the hedgehog, but her mother put her at ease by reminding her how well they saw the pink girl handled herself before. Plus, they were positive that Gamma would be by her side as well to lend her a hand if things started getting too dangerous. The three of them had hoped to spot the hedgehog and the robot close by, but they haven't been able to do so yet.
At another section of the same bridge, Miles and Knuckles had just arrived with anxious looks on their faces. Everything seemed just fine in the city, but they knew well that that was going to change very soon. They were actually surprised that they managed to get this far before Chaos caused any damage. Was the final transformation that time consuming, or did the God of Destruction want them to see what he's about to do?
There was soon a faint cracking sound-no...hundreds or thousands of faint cracking sounds uniting as one. All across Station Square, every window of every building was starting to break. Water was dripping out through the cracks before it all began gushing out like a bunch of waterfalls, shattering every glass. If that wasn't bad enough, the ocean water itself created a large tidal wave and hit the entire city as well.
The sound of citizens drowning and screaming in fear filled everyone that was watching and listening with horror. Some had gotten run over by cars that were pushed by the force of the wave. Some had gotten severe gashes from the falling glass. A number of them were even pushed out of the buildings with only the ones on lower levels having any chance of surviving the impact. When it had finally stopped, the entire city was filled with so much water that it reached just below the second highest bridge, and buried over half of the buildings beneath. The sight of bodies empty of life floating around just made it all the more horrifying.
"To think, Robotnik thought he could control something like that," said Miles, trembling a bit while feeling like he was about to lose his lunch.
"It's not over," said Knuckles with narrowed eyes and a frown on his face. "Take a good look over there."
From one of the taller buildings that were still standing was more water flowing out. Before the falling liquid hit the bottom, however, it stopped itself and began to take shape. It created a long snout for itself, followed by a mouth three times as long with sharp teeth inside, and a dorsal fin on the top with regular ones on either sides of the cheeks. Finally came the eyes that snapped open, showing green with the exception of the pupils that were vertical black lines. Anyone who had seen this kind of thing before knew for certain that the beast was none other than Chaos. After his serpent-like form was completed, the watery being lifted up his head and roared as the building he came out of fell to pieces to reveal the rest of his final form. With the exception of more dorsal-looking fins traveling along his back, the rest of the body was like a long neck connected to the water beneath it. In front of the body, but separate as well, were two watery tentacles that rose up as well.
"It's just like what I saw on the stone tablet," said Miles as he began to breath heavily. He soon took notice of a giant red and gray battleship flying overhead. "Looks like Dr. Robotnik is going to throw everything he's got at Chaos."
"Chaos is powered by all seven Chaos Emeralds," said Knuckles, staring up at the battleship with pity for the scientist inside. "It doesn't matter how much firepower is used against him."
"Chaos!" Robotnik's voice boomed from the intercom of his ship. "You stupid beast. You have defied your master and savior. Such things will not be tolerated! This Egg Carrier 2 was created for the very sole purpose of destroying you because I knew something like this may happen. Now...BE GONE FROM MY SIGHT!"
A swarm of droid jets were sent out to engage, while the turrets from the Egg Carrier 2 shot at the giant foe. Every now and then a droid jet or four would be swatted in half by one of the tentacles as they kept flying around and firing at the creature. The attacks were but a minor annoyance though; comparable to getting poked over and over again. When the last of the droids were destroyed, Robotnik called off his turrets after seeing how inefficient they were being. Some rocket missiles were then fired, and these seemed to have some effect given how Chaos would flinch every time he was hit by one. That didn't last for long, however, once an energy shield got in the way.
After a while, Chaos whipped one of his tentacles at the battleship, causing the flying fortress to spin around several times before stopping in its previous position. The middle of the ship was then wrapped around by both watery appendages. Tighter and tighter they squeezed as the ship began to bend, while the serpent-like creature looked at it and bared his fangs. Moments later, the front of the ship split in two and slid to either side. It quickly gathered energy and released it, hitting its target right at the center, causing the liquid-like being to roar in pain before exploding.
"No way!" said Knuckles with wide eyes. "Did he really just do that?!"
"You knocked me out of my super form when we first met, and you weren't powered by the Chaos Emeralds at the time," said Miles with a shrug, receiving a nod from the echidna as he also remembered that encounter. "And Robotnik once said he found ways to counter against any that would use the power of the Chaos Emeralds against him. Still...that seemed a little too easy."
No sooner than those words left his mouth did Chaos arise once again. In his rage, the God of Destruction started gathering energy within his mouth. Inside the ship, Robotnik was desperately trying to get his canon to gather energy once again, but it was a slow process. Chaos then fired a purple energy blast from his mouth right at the Egg Carrier 2, causing it to fall to pieces and sink in the water below. Before the vessel was completely destroyed, however, Robotnik managed to escape on his hovercraft and fly away a safe distance.
"So, do you got any plans for this?" said Knuckles, gesturing towards the humungous monstrosity in the middle of the flooded city.
"I'm thinking," said Miles, eyes narrowing in thought. He then saw the same pink orb of light from not too long ago floating in front of him. He first expected it to show him another vision of the past, but then a realization came to his mind. "You've been showing us all of these visions in order to warn us. You've been trying to help stop Chaos ever since Robotnik woke him up. No...ever since that one night from all those years ago when you used the Master Emerald to stop him the first time. It's you, isn't it? Tikal?"
The orb of light then flashed and showed its true form being that of the echidna girl. She looked at Miles with sorrow, while Knuckles stared at her in shock. The fox boy himself was simply waiting for the light orange girl to say something by this point.
"Long ago, the Master Emerald sealed both Chaos and I away," said Tikal as she rested her left hand against her heart."Now what was once a kind and loving spirit is filled with anger and sadness. And if this goes on, he'll eventually destroy the world like he would have done before."
Chaos let out a roar, causing everyone to look in his direction. Floating around his head were the seven Chaos Emeralds, their shines beginning to fade. The next thing everyone knew, the gems fell on the same bridge that they were on, and have lost all their color and brilliance.
"Look!" said Tikal in fright. "He's absorbed the Emeralds' power! He must be sealed in the Master Emerald, NOW!"
"You're just going to seal him away for the rest of his life!?" said Amy, causing the echidnas and fox to notice her presence along with that of Cream, Vanilla, Cheese, and Gamma's. "That's terrible!"
"What other choice is there!?" said Tikal in desperation.
"How long have all of you been there for?" said Knuckles with an eyebrow raised in curiosity.
"About the time she said she was sealed in the Master Emerald," said Amy, gesturing towards the light orange echidna.
"You said that he used to be kind and loving," said Cream while looking at the echidna girl. Cheese, floating next to Cream, nodded his little head in agreement. "Maybe if you help him not feel so sad he'll stop doing all of this."
"We don't have time for that!" said Tikal, shaking her head swiftly. "We have to put a stop to this right now!"
"But you said it yourself that that creature, Chaos or whatever, is hurting," said Amy with her right hand resting against her hip, while the other one was stretched out a little in front of her with the palm facing upwards. "He's not doing this to be evil. Does someone like that really deserve such a fate without trying to be reason with first?"
"There is no reasoning with him," said Tikal, mournfully. "Not after what happened all those years ago. I wish there was another way. I really do. But this is the only way to stop him and save the world. Please try to understand."
"Hmmp! what a child," muttered Knuckles with his arms crossed and eyes closed.
"Excuse me?" said Tikal, facing the red echidna.
"I said you're a child," said Knuckles, now eyeing the female of his race. "Not to mention a coward."
"I'm trying to save everyone!" said Tikal, pleadingly. "Why can't you understand that?!"
"I can understand that just fine," said Knuckles as his look became more stern. "But you are being childish and a coward. Do you really think putting him back inside the Master Emerald is going to be a permanent solution? He's just going to get out again eventually. And then the world will just have to deal with an even angrier Chaos than it is right now. All you're doing is trying to look for the easiest solution without any thought to the consequences."
"Knuckles is right," said Miles, causing the echidna girl to whip her head towards him. "We have to put a stop to this. Not just temporary either."
"But how?" said Tikal, dejectedly. "He's absorbed every last drop of the Chaos Emeralds' power."
"He's only used the negative energy though, didn't he?" said Miles, receiving a questioning look from everyone else. "We just have to think positively, and the Emeralds should respond!"
"Hey...that's right!" said Knuckles, a grin growing on his face. "And I'm feeling positive about taking him down right now."
"Then let's do this!" said Miles with a fist raised in the air, while Knuckles nodded in response. "Chaos shouldn't be able to take us both on."
With the Emeralds close by, the two anthropomorphic males then concentrated on drawing out what positive energy that they could from the colorless gems. At the same time, everyone else besides Tikal were trying to send their own thoughts and feelings into the Emeralds by thinking about anyone or anything that they cherish in their life. It seemed like a fool's errand at first, but...
"The Emeralds..." Tikal's breath was almost caught in her throat at the sight of the colors returning to all seven powerful jewels. "Their powers are returning!"
Pretty soon, the Chaos Emeralds glowed brightly until they blended together in one flash of light. Once it died down, the mother and daughter looked on in awe along with the Chao, the robot could find nothing in his data file on what he was seeing, and the hedgehog just let a smile grace her face as she recalled the last time she had seen the very thing they all were staring at now. Miles's fur was now a golden-yellow, while Knuckles' quills were magenta; both radiating so much.
Miles and Knuckles then took to the sky, and zoomed towards Chaos, getting ready to take him out. While everyone else was watching back on the bridge, they heard a few cries for help. Looking below, they saw a few citizens holding onto some makeshift rafts, others had grabbed hold of rails that were barely intact, and some were even on the roofs of some of the buildings that were almost completely submerged in water.
"Should we call Mr. Miles back?" said Cream as she looked down at the people in trouble.
"No," said Amy as she shook her head. "He and Knuckles have their hands full. But that doesn't mean we can't lend a hand ourselves. Now, come on."
"Right!" said Cream with her fists pumped in front of her face as she nodded in determination. She then flapped her ears until she was above the pink girl and picked her up.
"New mission objective: rescue as many civilians as possible," said Gamma, activating his jet booster before jumping off the bridge and hovering down with the girls and Cheese.
"Cream!" Vanilla called out with her hands on either side of her mouth. "Be careful!"
"Can they win?" said Tikal, staring at the fight that was about to take place in the distance.
"We shouldn't ask 'Can they win?' but 'Can they win soon?'," said Vanilla, smiling sadly as she watched her daughter and her daughter's friends saving people and Chao alike. "From what I understand, everyone's best chances are those two right now," she looked at the golden-yellow fox and magenta echidna beginning their brawl with the giant watery creature. "If we think for a single moment that they'll fail, then we've already began to give up all hope."
In the meantime, Miles and Knuckles were taking their fighting stances in the air with the former holding his ring covered in golden flames in one hand. The two stared intensely at the foe before them, who roared with such malice. Then they charged forward moments before the beast unleashed an energy attack, which they dodged along the way. On the creature's right, the fox hurled his ring at him, while Knuckles lunged from the left with a punch. Unfortunately, Chaos slid backwards just enough to avoid the weapon, and had slapped the echidna away before he got too close.
Another tentacle came at the Guardian of the Master Emerald, but was parried away with one of the spiked-fists. A group of tentacles had surrounded the two tailed lad, but were soon cut down by his flaming weapon as he span around in place with the item following his movement. The God of Destruction then unleashed another energy blast; this time hitting his targets and pushing them back. Once the two Chaos powered anthropomorphic allies were done spinning backwards and righted themselves again, they glared at their opponent before glancing at each other.
"I won't lie," said Miles with a frown. "I was kind of hoping this would be easier with the two of us fighting together in our super forms."
"He hasn't won yet," said Knuckles before he dashed back into the fray. "Come on!"
Miles soon followed, while his red ring bracelet converted into an arm cannon. When they were close enough, the young genius fired an energy blast from the weapon, which was supercharged by the power he was emitting at the moment. The attack hit the serpent-like adversary in the nose, causing him to reel back in pain. The attacks didn't stop there either. Shot after shot was fired all over the head, keeping Chaos pinned down as he growled in irritation.
Knuckles had decided to aim low and rammed into the body, pushing the giant watery beast back. He then unleashed a barrage of rapid punches that caused the enemy's entire body to shake like a ripple in a pond. Every time Chaos tried to use one of his appendages to fight back, they would get blasted by the fox and explode. Soon the watery being roared to the sky as spikes emerged from his body and shot out far, keeping the assailants at bay. Before either of the smaller combatants could begin their counterattacks, they were swatted to opposite sides of each other by a few watery appendages that arose from behind them from the water below. Chaos turned his sight towards Miles and was about to strike with another energy attack, but then paused before the gathered energy within his mouth started to diminish until it completely disappeared. As the glowing golden-yellow boy stared in confusion, the liquid-like creature turned around and attacked Knuckles instead.
Unknown to Miles as he flew off to help his Chaos powered ally, Cream was standing behind him on one of the roofs of the many buildings that were mostly flooded. She was tending to a Chao that she found laying facedown, while Cheese watched over her shoulder in concern.
"It's okay, you're safe now," said Cream, smiling down at the Chao she held in her hands. Cheese nodded and smiled down at the other Chao as well as a way to confirm what the little rabbit had just said.
She could hear some rubbles being smashed nearby, and knew it was Amy using her hammer to free anyone that was trapped beneath. The hedgehog had a way with her swings to where a single hit could reduce a boulder to a bunch of pebbles. Of course since these were rubbles with possible civilians under them, she didn't use full force.
"Is everyone alright?" said Amy, watching as a young human man slowly stood up from the wreckage while he coughed. In one of his arms was a little human girl, burying herself into his chest for protection.
"Thank you," said the man before quickly moving along as he continued to cough.
Cream and Cheese turned towards Amy after setting the other Chao down back on his feet alongside his other Chao buddies. "Where's Mr. Gamma? I thought he was helping rescue people," said Cream as her eyes wandered around.
"He is," said Amy, gesturing with her head towards the edge of the roof they stood on. In seconds, the red robot came hovering up from below with four people holding onto him before setting them on the roof. "He's helping to get others to higher grounds."
"Enemy's current tactic analyzed," said Gamma as he deactivated his jet booster and landed on the roof. "Does not make sense. Why call off an attack if success of hitting target is absolute?"
"Maybe he's the kind that likes to mess around with his opponent before he finishes them off," said Amy, receiving a curious look from her metallic friend. "It's something people do when they think they'll win no matter what, just to show how confident they are in order to psych-out their opponent. We'll talk more about it later."
Back at the fight: Miles and Knuckles were flying around Chaos as Miles fired more energy blasts from his arm cannon, while Knuckles made numerous jabs at the foe. Huge watery tentacles would try to swipe at the smaller enemies, but would keep missing by a few inches. It should go without saying that the giant beast was more than aggravated.
The radiating echidna then aimed his fists straight above his own head, and began spinning around so fast that he looked like a drill bit. He then dived straight through the serpent-like being, receiving a roar of pain as a response. As quickly as the hole in the body of the liquid-like being healed up, another one was made thanks to Knuckles continuing to drill with his spiked-fists. This process went on for awhile until Chaos sent out a wave of energy that forced the assailant back.
Miles had dodged the attack and was still firing. The only difference was that an energy shield was now stopping his attacks from hitting his target. He was soon grabbed by a tentacle and slammed into the water below. He could feel himself being squeezed tighter and tighter as he was dragged down further and further. All the while instinctively fighting to hold his breath before realizing his super form made that unnecessary. He released his grip on his ring, letting it slowly fall alongside him in the water before making gestures with his fingers, and thus cutting the giant appendage off of himself with the golden flaming weapon before summoning said weapon back to his hand.
Racing back to the surface, the twin tailed fox could make out Knuckles and the foe attacking one another. Once the young genius was leveled with the enemy's head, he tossed his ring to the right side of the temple, catching Chaos off guard and causing him to roar in pain. After the ring had returned, a few shots from the arm cannon were then fired to add to the pain.
"Knuckles! Move!" said Miles as he attached his ring to the head of his arm cannon.
Once the flying echidna was out of the way, Miles took careful aim before unleashing his attack, and boy did he unleash it. With the Chaos energy the young fox was already emitting through his firearm, the attack from it was magnified as it passed through the flaming weapon on its barrel. Instead of an energy blast, what came out was what could only be described as a massive flame of golden energy that engulfed the watery foe's entire being. After the attack had finally settled, there wasn't much of Chao left, for all that was left of his head was his left eye that was barely intact while his mouth was completely blown off. As for the rest of his body, well...to say it looked like most of it had been burned and shredded would be putting it mildly.
"Quick! Hit him again before he-" before Knuckles could finish his sentence, Chaos had completely healed himself and returned to his previous state. "Never mind."
The next thing the super powered anthropomorphic beings knew, a tornado had appeared out of nowhere and swept them up; courtesy of the God of Destruction himself. Neither one could right themselves long enough to counter against it, so they kept spinning around and around before it disappeared and threw them on top of a building that was almost the same height as Chaos. The two wobbled to their feet and took their fighting stance as they saw their opponent create many energy spears aimed at them. However, instead of firing at them, the energy spears just simply vanished, and the beast gave a low growl. The fox and echidna looked on in confusion, then glanced at each other before looking forward once more. They then heard numerous other sounds around their feet, and looked down to see that there was a bunch of Chao around them.
On a completely different building, Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Gamma had paused in their rescuing to watch Miles and Knuckles literally tackle their adversary together. Once more the mechanical companion analyzed what happened, and once more he had no idea for the reasoning as to why the enemy halted his own attack. The four went back to rescuing as many survivors as they could, looking back at the progression of the fight every now and then. By the sixth time they saw Chaos refrain from attacking, they finally noticed a pattern.
"Is it just me, or is he trying to avoid hurting all the Chao?" said Amy with one eyebrow lowered and the other raised in a quizzical manner.
"Analysis completed," said Gamma, causing the girls and Cheese to look at him. "Attacks are called off whenever a Chao is in the way."
"But why though?" said Amy with her arms crossed in front of her.
"Maybe he has a soft spot for them, or they're his friends and he doesn't want them to get hurt," said Cream, followed by Cheese nodding his little blue head in encouragement at the idea.
Back on the bridge, Tikal was overhearing their conversation due to the building that they were on being so close. 'Could it be?' she thought as she watched the fight with sharper eyes, and then inwardly gasped. 'Why couldn't I see it before. I'm so sorry Chaos.'
The echidna girl raced off to get as close to the fight as possible. Vanilla tried to call out to her, but was ignored. It seemed that everyone was off doing something to get themselves involved, and the mother rabbit could do nothing but wait for it all to unfold and wish them the best.
Eventually, Tikal managed to get herself to the top of one of the highest buildings of what was left of the city. She stared with a painful heart at the scene. All this destruction, the lives lost, her friend's grief; she had helped cause it. Now she has a chance to stop it...the right way.
"CHAOOOOOOOOS!" Tikal's voice echoed throughout the city, putting a pause on the battle that would decide everyone's fate.
Upon hearing her voice, Chaos dissipated within the water before reemerging a feet or two in front of the building the light orange girl was on. He looked at her with anger and sorrow; the wounds still deep from thousands of years ago. The two were being carefully watched from different distances with everyone questioning the sanity of the girl.
"I know you're hurting, but you must stop this, please!" said Tikal with her hands clasped together in front of herself as though she was prayer for him to heed her words. "What my father did-what my people did-what I did-it was all wrong! I knew you were in pain. I've always known. And I did nothing to help ease it. And that pain continued to grow inside you, while I stood by and ignored it for all these years. But I'm here now, and I want to help you. I'll understand if you can't forgive me, but the people of the here and now have done nothing wrong against you. Please, show me that the Chaos that was a kind and gentle spirit still exist within you. Show me-show everyone that you're more than just a God of Destruction."
Though she had met every word of it, and her eyes glistened with unshed tears, it all meant very little to the giant creature. In his rage, he gathered more energy within his mouth than he ever had before. Despite knowing what was coming, she didn't move, nor look away. She had already resigned herself to whatever fate her old friend had made for her. Perhaps it was a foolish of her to think it, but she thought of it as somewhat of a repentance for her actions from long ago.
Before Chaos unleashed his attack on her, Miles had flown to her defense above her head, and once more released a flame of energy from the combined ring and arm cannon he carried. Purple and gold soon clashed against each other; either one pushing the other back. The center of where the two attacks were meeting was building in size, their brightness rivaling that of the sun's. Soon, it could take no more, and exploded in a wave of the unified energy that pushed Chaos back, sent Miles flying backwards, and Tikal to land in the center of the roof on her back in pain.
Knuckles took advantage of the situation and rocketed towards Chaos' head, fists first. Before a counterattack could be made, Miles threw his ring and then shot at the opposite side of the creature's head. The two on one battle raged on, all three combatants growing tired. Spectators all around the ruined city looked on with fear and hope at the sight.
Amy and the others were back on the bridge with Vanilla, silently cheering their friends on. In a matter of time, Chaos began to shrink down in size, while the glow from Miles and Knuckles began to fade. The three fighters landed on a bridge that was lower than the one the others were on with the fox and Echidna's fur and quills back to their original colors, respectively, and Chaos returned to his original state from before having absorbed any Emeralds. However, the liquid-like being was not ready to call it a quits just yet, and was about to strike with his right hand when...
"Stop!" Tikal cried out, getting everyone to notice that she too was on the same bridge as the Guardian, genius, and God. Surrounding her were a bunch of Chao, all of which were staring straight at Chaos. "Please, no more, Chaos! I know that you're still trying to protect them, but look," she gestured to all of the Chao near her. "They're safe now. These Chao live in peace with humans and anthropomorphic alike. Don't let yourself continue to be consume by your negative emotions like my father was. And don't do something that you'll end up regretting like I once did. Please...let's end this here and now."
Chaos kept looking at the light orange echidna and all the Chao around her. His intense solid green eyes soon softened, and he rested his arms to his sides. Everyone but Tikal and the Chao watched in apprehension as he moved closer to her. By the time he was about a foot away, she gave a gentle smile as she watched him rest a hand on the head of one of the Chao and rubbed it with care. Then all of the other Chao started to surround the watery being, making joyful sounds as they did so.
"Looks like Chaos changed for the better this time," said Knuckles as he got out of his battle stance, while Miles put his ring away and converted his arm cannon back into its red ring form.
"It might have something to do with him having depleted all of the negative Chaos energy fueling him during our fight," said Miles, seeing some of the Chao flying around the watery being's head very merrily. "The power of the Chaos Emeralds can only last so long, so his emotions must have become more tamed without the Emeralds powering him with his negative thoughts and feelings. That's probably why he was willing to listen to Tikal this time unlike before."
"Or maybe it's because his emotions has become more tamed that the Emeralds are no longer being powered by his negative emotions," said Knuckles with his arms crossed. "I've never seen anyone use the negative powers of the Emeralds before, so I don't know all of the similarities or differences between their positive and negative energy. For all I know, her words from earlier might have had a bigger effect on him than we thought."
"Either way, I'm just glad he's done attacking," said Miles before letting out a content sigh.
Chaos then carefully grabbed one of Tikal's hands with one of his own before stretching his other one to the ledge of the bridge above them. While Chaos pulled himself and her up by retracting his body towards his stretched out hand, Miles had grabbed a hold of Knuckles' arms and flew them both to the same bridge. When all four made it to the spot at the same time, their friends and acquaintances were right there to greet them.
"You did it!" said Amy as she tackled the fox with a hug, making him lose his balance for a moment.
"Thanks, but Knuckles and Tikal helped too," said Miles, smiling as the hedgehog released him from her embrace.
"So he's nice again?" said Cream as she and Cheese looked at Chaos with curiosity.
"Yes," said Tikal with her eyes briefly closed and a smile on her face. "The fighting's over. Harmony's restored, and life goes on."
"Great philosophy," said Knuckles in an uncaring voice. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going back to Angel Island. I've been away from the Master Emerald for too long."
"And what will you two do now?" said Vanilla, looking at the echidna girl and the watery fellow. "Do you have anywhere to stay."
"Oh! No...I wasn't planning to stay amongst the living much longer to tell the truth," said Tikal, receiving confused and frightened looks from everyone. "My spirit was all that remained in the Master Emerald after all these years. My body ceased to exists long ago...at least, I thought it did."
"What does that mean?" said Amy with an eyebrow arched.
"Recently, I've began to feel things I haven't in a long time," said Tikal, just before spreading her arms out on either side of herself. A gust of wind then blew against her before she put her arms down, and a troubled look showed itself on her face. "Even though my spirit was free from the Master Emerald, I wasn't able to feel any physical contact like that until a short while ago. But now I can feel it all once more. I feel the cool wind blowing against my quills, the warmth of the sun bathing all of us, and I can even feel the surface beneath my feet."
"So you're saying you've been brought back to life?" said Miles, scratching the back of his head as he tilted it to the side.
"No-yes-I-I don't know," said Tikal before sighing from mental exhaustion. "I'm just as confused as the rest of you."
"It probably had something to do with that blast she got caught in," said Knuckles, causing everyone to look his way. Their faces showed clear signs that they were waiting for him to continue, which surprised him a little that they didn't come to the same conclusion as he did yet. "Miles was powered by the positive energy of the Chaos Emeralds. Chaos was powered by the negative energy of the Chaos Emeralds. Tikal has been trapped inside the Master Emerald for thousands of years. Maybe when she got caught in the blast the two different energies created it affected her due to some possible residual energy from the Master Emerald she might have had. The three have never crossed paths before until today, so there might be some feats that are possible when mixing them together."
"That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think?" said Miles, blinking as he frowned.
"Told you there were some things about the Master Emerald that I don't know about," said Knuckles with a shrug of his shoulders. "And the Chaos Emeralds are no different."
"So what will you and Mr. Chaos do, Ms. Tikal?" said Cream as she and Cheese looked with innocent curiosity at said individuals.
"I'm not sure," said Tikal before glancing at Chaos, who just shrugged with his palms out at shoulder level. "This world is much different than we remember. There doesn't seem to be a place left for us anymore."
"Knuckles doesn't know much about the world either," said Miles, gesturing with his head at said person. "You probably already know this, but he does live on Angel Island, which is isolated from the rest of the world. Maybe the two of you can stay there. That is, if it's alright with Knuckles of course."
Then everyone rested their eyes on the red Guardian, waiting for his response. He looked to be in deep thought. On one hand, these are two individuals that are out of their time, have resided in the gem he's been protecting all these years, and they could teach him some things about his ancestry. On the other hand, one of them did try to kill him on multiple occasions, shattered the Master Emerald, and he wasn't too keen on the idea of others living with him.
"As long as they don't cause too much trouble, they can stay," said Knuckles, causing everyone else to smile except for Chaos due to not having a mouth. "Now come on. Let's get back to the island already."
"Right," said Tikal, nodding with a smile. She then looked at everyone excluding Knuckles and Chaos. "Thank you all so much. I won't ever forget this," she and Chaos then followed after the retreating male echidna.
The remainder of the group looked back to what was left of the city, and saw that helicopters and boats filled with rescue teams had finally arrived to pick the survivors up. They would most likely need to be relocated, for their homes and businesses are without a doubt destroyed. It would take at least nearly a year before Station Square was back to normal, and that's if things went well.
"Oh No!" cried Amy, clutching her head as panic began to surface in her mind. "My home! It's gone!"
"Our home is gone too," said Cream with a depressed look, her Chao friend mirroring her expression.
"It's okay Cream. Everything will be alright," said Vanilla, giving her daughter a smile that said things could only get better from here.
"New mission objective: find new residence for friends," said Gamma, receiving a thankful smile from Amy.
"My home isn't gone, but it's not exactly in the best condition right now, or even has that much room," said Miles, rubbing the back of his head a little. "If you want though, you can all stay until you can find a new place."
"That's very wonderful and kind of you," said Vanilla, giving a grateful look.
"Thank you, Mr. Miles," said Cream, while Cheese kept saying "Chao" excitedly.
"You said we can all stay," said Amy before she arched one eyebrow at the fox. "does that include Gamma?"
Miles released a reluctant sigh. "Yes," he said. "Gamma can stay as well."
"You really are the best, Miles!" said Amy as she hugged him with their cheeks rubbing against each other, making a tint of red grow on the boy's fur. The blush got deeper once she kissed his left cheek, which also caused him to go stiff.
'Four years later and I'm still not used to this,' thought Miles, while still feeling his friend hold him close.
A/N: There you have it people. Chaos and Tikal are sticking around.
I did want to throw Big in this chapter for a few laughs, but I just couldn't find the right timing no matter what.