Woot! Triple digits! XD

Since I posted last...it seems the world is ending. I'm going on unemployment insurance to stay home, so I'll be fine, but still...fuckin' hell. I hope all y'all have prepared for this to last a while. Do your best to keep busy to ward off cabin fever. XoX

I'll have enough time to get this story finished, at least. o.O

Please stay home unless necessary. Wash yer hands(or sanitize) often anytime you go out. Remember social distancing.

This is a scary time for all of us. Stay safe.

Peace out, everyone. ^.^


-Chapter 100: Tell Me More-


Sonic opened his eyes to a strange sight. An empty, hazy, pinkish void sat in front of him instead of Knuckles and Julie-Su's living room. A single other being floated there with him. They looked like something from a dream. "Chaos," he said with certainty.

They opened their eyes and stared him down with the two large, slanted oval orbs. Upon the back of their head were two fins that fell like a double kerchief. "Yes," it said with fatigue. Their lanky arms and legs hung downward, with three pointed fingers and two pointed toes a piece. It's body was cyan with blue tones and looked like a seething, flowing liquid. Light from behind them shined through and illuminated their presence as they floated closer. "It's about time you got in contact. Would you mind explaining what's going on?"

Sonic was shocked. "Holy crap, is that a brain?" he said and took stock of a pink sphere in behind their pupiless, lime-green eyes.

Chaos snapped their fingers and got his attention. "Listen to me. I need to know why you're mixing up my energies like this? I kept the emeralds separate for a reason. I even made them different colours for you flesh beings to comprehend easier."

"What?" Sonic was at a loss for words.

They drew a hand from the top to bottom of their face so rough, the fins on the back of their head waggled. Suddenly, Chaos's right arm flared white and grew ten times larger. Four additional clawed fingers sprouted forth and extended their reach upwards. Chaos struggled but managed to wrangle the energy. They went back to normal seconds later. "This energy here," it said and made a tight fist, "It belongs in the gem your big red friend has. There was a bit of another one floating around here earlier, but that seems to have vanished. I don't know what you're trying to accomplish, but you best cut it out."

Sonic, shocked by what he'd just witnessed, decided to let what happened in front of him to be something, somewhat, normal. He tried to float closer. He flailed slightly but successfully moved forward. "I didn't mix up the energies. We found an abandoned science laboratory with a container of Cha-your energy. I ended up getting contaminated with some when the container busted on me. The scientists aren't around anymore, we can't ask them what their intentions were; I do know it was for a good cause though...if that helps any."

"It doesn't, unfortunately," Chaos sighed. "The road to hell is paid with good intentions. My emeralds are the very reason that saying exists." Chaos gave another, more exhausted, sigh. "I'll keep it simple for you. Essentially, these 'scientists' are 'chef's'. They threw ingredients into a pot without reading any labels, had no clue what they were cooking with, or how to cook it properly, then they burned it, and you ended up eating it anyway. Make sense now?"

"More or less," Sonic nodded. "How can we fix this?"

"Fix? Easy: Put it back where it's supposed to be; or pass it on to an unused gem."

Sonic showed empty palms in a shrug. "Where do we find an unused gem?"

"I make one for you."

"How long will that take?"

"A few hundred years. You may want to try your first option of putting it back," they emphasized. "And maybe, let others know to not tamper with powers beyond their reasoning from here on out."

Sonic was put off by Chaos's bitterness. He understood circumstances probably led to Chaos's jilted demeanor and snide attitude. "I'm not able to wield magic like that; I don't know how to put it back."

Chaos looked thoughtful. "Without being a part of the physical world, I can't do much. What about Shadow? He seems adept with wielding my powers."

"I'm not sure."

Chaos floated backwards and pondered with lightly folded arms. "Certain terrestrial gems and or electrical devices can channel my energy. Quartz is a common catalyst."

Sonic lightened up. "Catalyst?" He quickly recalled Tails machine and how it read Knuckles gem's energy right away. "That's right. We can use our electronics to transfer it's energy."

Chaos looked frustrated. "That's how we got into this mess in the first place. Don't do random experiments to stumble on results; this is less of a penicillin scenario, more of a thorium reactor ordeal." Chaos crossed their legs beneath them in half lotus style. "I'm going to tell you what you have to do. There are two options. The first: A green Chaos Emerald, from a separate dimension, sitting in Dr. Eggman's lair. It's somewhat depleted and has room to store this excess energy." Chaos held their arm once again as it threatened to grow out of control from the shoulder downward. "The second option is: Osmosis. You don't have to do anything. You place it on a large enough conductive crystal and the energy will even itself out in a few days."

"That's it? That's all we need to do to lift the curse?"

Chaos raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Curse? There's no curse."

Sonic too looked confused. "Then why do I keep changing at night?"

Chaos thought on the matter more. "That extra bit of energy I sensed earlier may have been what you're talking about. Either that or this energy imbalance is causing you problems too." Chaos's leg bulked out and their two toed foot looked to have eight large clawed blue talons on it. Chaos rubbed the leg as though they had a charlie-horse.

Sonic looked on with concern, unable to offer help, "You okay?"

Chaos composed themselves once again, this time, slightly out of breath. "What happens to you during the evening?"

"I turn into a sort of 'were' creature at night and an even bigger, uncontrollable one during rage or exposure to a red mineral, yet to be named."

Chaos controlled the leg flare up and chuckled. "'Were'? As in 'werewolf'?"

Sonic nodded. "We call it 'werehog' because, you know, I'm a hedgehog."

Chaos laughed. "You don't say? The prefix 'were' means 'human', you know, right?"

He hesitated, "I-I do now."

"Calling it 'werehog' means you've been calling yourself, 'manpig'?"

"I-" Chaos cut him off with laughter. "Can you help any more than that? Not really keen on getting laughed at, here."

Chaos blotted a fake tear away, "You mortals never cease to give me endless hours of entertainment." They looked serious once again. "The 'nighttime wolf' transformation is definitely the mark of 'Gaia'. A being of fire and rage, but also rebirth. The 'big scary one' is this excess Chaos energy playing off of Gaia's form. Which is why they both look 'werewolfy'."

Sonic absorbed the information. "If the energy from the Green Gem leaves, then the big transformation won't happen anymore?"

"Correct."

"What about the nighttime one?"

Chaos shrugged. "You're going to have to get in touch with Gaia's 'go-between'. I believe the Gogo'Ba tribe have him as one of their deities. To, again, simplify for your mortal mind: He's a small, unnamed red being that ushers in the 'rebirth portion' of Gaia's 'death portion'. The Gogo'Ba's should be able to tell you where he is. You can summon him at the appropriate temple, but that's as much as I know. Gaia and I aren't on the best of terms. We haven't had any interaction in thousands of years."

Sonic thought about the buried village they stumbled upon. "The village we found should work as a good bargaining chip." He nodded his head deeply. "Thank you, Chaos. I'm going to correct the problem as soon as I get back. I'm really sorry to have put you through this. We borrow your power so frequently but don't realize you have a consciousness. I'll tell the rest of the team to be more thoughtful of your presence from now on."

Chaos folded their arms and gave a smile. "Much appreciated."

They floated there in awkward silence. "Uh..."

"You don't know how to leave, do you?"

Sonic smiled and blushed a bit as he rubbed the back of his head, "If you could give me a hand."

"Take care, Manpig," Chaos said and ended their moment in a bright white flash.

Sonic took a sharp, inward breath and shocked the room he was in.

Shadow, Rouge and Mina looked at him with surprise.

"How much did you accomplish in," Shadow looked skeptically at his watch, "Less than five minutes."

Sonic gave a thumbs up and a wide smile, "I got it all figured out."

They all sighed in relief.


Occam's razor doth apply.