Sonic, tails, and all other characters belong to sega. I think.
Serena and slasher belong to Netraptor.
Both new creatures belong to me, Destro.
Please ask before using them.
Darkness Rising
Chapter 1:
And so it begins.
The air was crisp and fresh in Knothole. It was Christmas eve and winter storm had just blown over, leaving the ground blanketed with white and the tree limbs heavy with the weight of frozen water.
Nothing moved in the light of early morning. Each hut looked identical, except for which side the snow was piled highest on. Then, on the edge of town, a door creaked open. The figure at the door opened it wider and peered out. Satisfied that nothing was wrong, she walked out.
She looked around again and reached down to pick up snow. A sharp CRACK sounded in the air as a tree limb broke. The figure, suddenly aware of what had happened, tried to run. Before she got two steps, a mound of snow had fallen. She was unfortunate to be directly under it when it hit the ground.
From another hut close by, another, smaller figure, opened the door. He stifled a laugh before yelling, "Hey Slash, you okay?"
"Just peachy Sonic." She yelled back. "Now come over here and help me out."
The dark blue hedgehog disappeared for a moment before reappearing with a pair of snowshoes in his hands. Sonic sat down on his doorstep and lazily donned his snowshoes.
"Hey! I'm waiting!" Slasher called out, still under the snow.
"I'll be there in two seconds!" Sonic called back.
From across the small village a door opened and closed. A young, slightly high pitched voice called, "I'll help you Slash. You don't have to wait on that SLOWPOKE to help."
Sonic, finishing up, quickly shouted back, "Hey! I heard that Tails. If I'm so slow, then why am I already there helping."
"But your not even-" Tails began.
In a blur Sonic appeared at Slashers side with a shovel. He quickly proceeded to dig her out while Tails hurried to help.
After a few seconds the big velociraptor pushed herself to her feet and shook. Snow flew in all directions, consequently covering both of her little helpers with powdery white dust.
Sonic jumped back three feet. "Watch it Slash, your going to bury us if your not careful. He glanced at Tails and a immediately fell backwards laughing.
"What!" Tails exclaimed, planting both hands on his hips and causing his fur to puff out slightly.
Sonic just pointed at him from the ground, still In a laughing fit.
The young fox looked down at himself. From head to toe he was covered in snow. His fur had become pure white and he looked like a snowperson.
Sonic finally got himself under enough control to stand back up. "If I didn't know it was you Tails, I would probably try to melt you.
Tails shook the snow off of himself and the trio happily ran to each hut, banging on the door and practically pulling or shoving each occupant out into the beautiful morning.
Another day at the Freedom Fighter village had begun.
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Many miles away, the Floating Island hovered over the ocean. Knuckles the Echidna, named Knuckles for the two spikes protruding from the top of his hand, woke up to a typical morning on his island.
He sat up out of his bed and rubbed his eyes. The warm breeze off of the ocean was blowing straight through the window of his hut and directly into his face. Knuckles breathed in deep.
"The air is invigorating here!" Knuckles thought to himself. He had always enjoyed winter near the equator. The warm air kept both his island and himself from freezing.
Knuckles jumped out of bed and pushed his dreadlocks out of his eyes. He opened the door of his small hut and walked outside, expecting be pounced on by one of the Chaotix. He looked around for a moment before he remembered. His friends had gone skiing at the Ice Cap ski resort. They, unlike Knuckles, enjoyed a bit of cold weather. Especially when you where blazing down a hill at sixty miles per hour.
Knuckles quickly grabbed an apple out of the meal hut he and the chaotix had built, and started his rounds. As guardian, it was his job to make sure that everything on the island was in order.
He finished his apple on the way to the thick jungle area where Sonic and Tails had landed a few years back. This was also the area burnt by Robotnik. His chemical warheads, had almost completely destroyed the area. Knuckles himself had almost lost his life in the flames.
He wondered the jungle for over an hour, checking the plant growth, water supply, and chemical quantity in the dirt. He was just about finished when he heard the sonic boom. He immediately looked up at the sky, alert and ready for anything.
After nothing appeared for over fifteen seconds, Knuckles high tailed it to the beach, the direction the sound came from. He arrived less than two minutes later, for he was fairly close to begin with. He reached the edge of his island and skidded to a stop.
His eyes searched the sky, looking for anything out of place or moving. He stood there looking for a minute before he noticed the vapor trail. It had been blown by the wind, dispersing it and making it hard to see.
Knuckles followed it from the point where he could first see it, towards his island, then curving over the beach, and disappearing over the canopy of the jungle towards the mountains in the center of his island.
The guardian stood gaping for a moment before he shook his head and raced off into the jungle. He had to make sure everything was all right.
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His diagnostic system screamed at him. Warning indicators and damage displays filled his vision. He was running dangerously low on fuel. His battery supply was out and only a few quick modifications, and an extremely rare gem, had allowed him to reach this far.
He had spent many weeks coming here. Damaged systems had reduced the burn time of his single engine to a mere thirteen minutes before it overheated. Even less if he punched it all the way.
The engine on his back screamed and rattled from the supersonic speed it was producing. It would fall apart in minutes if he didn't stop. But he couldn't stop. He had to find it before the guardian stopped him. Right now he had no hope if the guardian showed up. He was too damaged to even put up a good fight.
The canopy of trees below him suddenly thinned out as their altitude increased. In a few moments the tree line appeared.
"Yes!" he said to himself. "I'm almost there. Only a few more minutes.
Looking around the rocks, he quickly found the spot he was looking for.
His engine cut out on command and he dropped like a rock. He was rapidly nearing the deadly rock. Five seconds away. He angled himself so that his feet pointed down and slightly forward.
Four.
Three. He tried unsuccessfully to avoid cringing.
Two. A clicking sound from the bottom of his feet sounded.
One. A bright burst of flame appeared as the air around his engine superheated. The air around literally burned from the engine going from zero output to maximum in a millisecond.
Zero. He hit the ground feet first. The "shock absorbers", as he called them, absorbed the sudden shock that was applied to them, saving their wearer from two broken and shattered legs.
A damage indicator suddenly flared to life in his vision. "ENGINE MALFUNCTION"
"Crud." He said out loud. Shouldn't have done that.
He stood up from his crouch and looked towards the wall. Seconds later he was crawling headfirst down the small passageway towards the heat below him.
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Knuckles raced towards the nearest teleporter ring. In his hand lie a small gray stone. On closer inspection, one would notice that this was no ordinary stone. It was delicately cut and partially clear. Had this been normal circumstances, the stone would have glowed green.
Knuckles felt the island shift beneath him and faltered, losing his pace and tripping over a small stone in the ground. His head landed on another small rock, leaving a large knot in it.
He lie on the ground a few moments before staggering to his feet. His head swam and he felt like he had been in a fifteen round boxing match, and ended up the loser.
He held his head for a moment before remembering about the island. With tears in his eyes, Knuckles continued on. He wasn't far from the nearest teleporter.
A few minutes later he arrived a large tree. He raced to it and kicked open a hidden door near the base of the tree. Knuckles dived in and looked up at the glowing ring before him. Without a second thought, he jumped into the ring and disappeared in blaze of light.
When he reappeared he was standing just inside Hidden Palace. For some reason the teleporter had brought him to one of the outer teleporter receivers instead of the one near the master emerald.
Knuckles stepped off and ran down the glittering hallway. Delicate crystals glowed and pulsated everywhere. Had this not been an emergency, he might have stopped to look at a few newly grown ones.
The guardian tore through a thin wall hiding the master emerald chamber from the rest of hidden palace. He raced in and stopped cold, staring up at the master emerald.
The emerald was glowing dimly, its power being used incredibly fast. The super emeralds, each atop its own pillar, glowed brightly, transferring their power to the island to keep it from falling.
However, Knuckles was not looking at any of this. Instead, he was staring at what was atop the master emerald.
At first he thought it was a robot fox. However, a double take at this revealed that the face was real. Brown fur, turned a sick green by the power of the emerald, covered the face. White fur covered the muzzle and one ear.
From the neck down, one could barely distinguish the fox from a robot. Battered armor covered the body. Only a small glimpse of fur was visible underneath a few spots where the armor was breached.
On the back was what looked like a jetpack. It was fairly rectangular, with the height being slightly more than the length from the left to the right. It was extremely compact in width, as it only stuck out a few inches from the rest of the back.
Metal gloves and boots finished the suit on the hands and feet. The only visible weapons were a fairly long sword hanging from the left side in its scabbard and some kind of rifle strapped over the engine. A high tech helmet lie at his feet on the master emerald.
The fox was kneeling down on one knee on the emerald. Hands palm flat against it and head tilted back. Green energy sparked and crackled from the emerald to the fox.
Knuckles was appalled. How dare he invade his island.!
"Hey!" Knuckles called," "Get down from their now!"
The fox showed no sign of hearing.
Knuckles ran forward and jumped atop the master emerald pedestal. He leaped upon the emerald and landed a solid punch straight in the strangers face.
The fox fell back and rolled off the master emerald. He landed on the ground below with a thump.
For the first time the fox spoke. "Do not mess with me guardian. I am not as damaged as I was when I first arrived."
Knuckles jumped down and turned to look at the fox. "Don't order me around! You have invade MY island and messed with MY emerald. Prepare to be evicted!"
With that, Knuckles surged forward, driven by anger and a will to protect his island. He swung at the fox and hit air. Knuckles swung again and again. Each time the fox dodged the blow as if it were moving in slow motion.
On the next swing, the fox dodged the blow, dashed forward, and landed a punch into Knuckles midsection. Knuckles doubled over and the fox stuck a foot out and pushed Knuckles over it.
Knuckles tripped and fell flat on his face. He flipped over and was on his feet a second later. His last remaining image before he blacked out was of a silver hand coming towards his face.
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The fox climbed back on top the master emerald. The fight with the guardian was brief. He hadn't wanted to hurt him, but he was left with no choice. The energy from the master emerald had allowed his self-repair system to operate at tenfold its normal speed. Over half of his damage had been repaired.
He knelt down again and felt the energy flow into him. It felt like nothing he had ever experienced before. It felt like every nerve in his body lit up at once. His skin crawled and his shuddered every few moments. It was by no means painful, however. He could feel himself energize and his wounds heal.
In a few minutes he was done. He retrieved his helmet and stood, his armor gleaming like it had just been built. All damage indicators had disappeared and he was feeling much better.
With a full charge on all his batteries and his power core funning again, the fox activated the teleporter and teleported back to the outside. Once there, he donned his helmet, ignited his engine, and blasted off into the sky.
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Midday in Knothole was even better than morning. Tails and Sonic had built a snow fortress and were defending it from Slasher and Rotor. Slasher faked a brutal wound and limped around. Rotor had been beaten back under a severe volley while Slasher was down. Serena, Sally, and Bunnie were watching from a nearby hut. Every few minutes the laughed uncontrollably as one of the "soldiers" was beaten down by snow.
Finally the attackers demolished the fort and succeeded in capturing the defenders. All four were covered in snow and sent back to their huts to dry off. Serena headed off toward the stream to see if it was iced over. Sally and Bunnie walked through the snow to the main hut.
A few minutes later, the four snow soldiers joined Sally and Bunnie there. The look on Sally's faces instantly darkened their mood.
Sally stood their a moment before talking. "Knuckles just called in. He was attacked earlier this morning."
Sonic looked at Slasher and then back at Sally before replying. "How bad is he? Was he hurt?"
"Not badly, only a few bruises and a bloody nose." Sally stated, "However, he was extremely worried about what the attacker did to the master emerald."
"Whoa! Did he attack it to?" Sonic asked.
"Knuckles doesn't think so. He thinks he was somehow absorbing the energy of the master emerald." Sally said.
Tails cut in a moment later. "Wow, I didn't think anyone could do that, huh Sonic."
Sonic pulled a chair out from a nearby table and sat down. Slasher, who had remained silent for the conversation, suddenly spoke. "Did Knuckles give a description of his attacker?"
Sally turned to look at the large raptor. "He said it looked like a fox with armor on." She thought for a moment before continuing. "He said to think of a swatbot, square off the armor below the knees and elbows, and add a jetpack to the back."
Rotor suddenly piped up. "Wow. Id love to get a look at that armor."
Sally turned to Rotor, "You might get to Rotor."
"Oh," he replied, his face scrunching into a confused shape, "how's that Sally?"
"Knuckles thinks that the attacker is heading our way." She paused for a moment before she continued. "He says that he can FEEL him. Or rather the energy he possesses."
Sonic stood up. "Yeah, I can believe that. He can do awesome stuff with his emerald."
"Even so, if this fox can absorb the emeralds power, then he's very dangerous." She pushed a strand of hair from her eyes and continued. "Sonic, I think you should go check the radar stations in the Great Forest."
"You got it Sal." Sonic quickly said before running out the door and blasting towards the nearest trail.
"Sally," Slasher said softly, "I'm going to patrol the air for a bit. If anybody finds the attacker try to be peaceful."
Tails looked to her and spoke up. "But Slasher, he attacked knuckles!"
The raptor turned to look at the young fox. "I know, but he could have done much worse. As I see it, he caused no permanent damage." She reached out and scratched behind his ear. "Now, I bet you could catch up to Sonic if you left now"
The fox turned wide eyed and excitedly replied, "Really!"
"Sure, but you gotta leave now."
With that, Tails ran out of the hut and immediately began tracking his hero's path through the woods.
Slasher walked out onto the snow and unfolded her wings. Sally walked out behind her headed towards her hut.
Slasher turned as if she suddenly remembered something. "Sally! Don't forget about dinner!" The raptor smiled and lept into the air, wings beating as she quickly gained altitude.
Sally stood for a moment smiling. She knew she could trust Slasher, but she could not get used to Slasher's personality. It seemed to defy everything sometimes.
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A few hours later found Slasher high over the great forest, sharp eyes looking down for anything out of the ordinary. The sky was overcast and a cold wind had begun an hour earlier. It was beginning to numb her toes and wings, while her eyes watered from the air constantly hitting them.
She flew for a few more minutes before suddenly turning. She was going to drop from the sky if she stayed to much longer. She finished her turn and was headed back when something caught her eye. She reacted and turned to face the area of the disturbance.
After looking for several minutes, she decided it was nothing. She had just returned to her original path back to Knothole when laser fire suddenly sounded in her ears. She looked in the direction of the sound and could just make out the laser blasts between the white treetops.
Slasher nose dived and headed toward the battle, dodging the occasional glancing shot. She shot through the treetops and landed fifty yards from the fight. Slasher quietly and quickly leaped from tree to tree, hiding her from anyone in the battle.
She moved a branch from in front of her eyes and gazed upon the fight before her. The snow was pitted with many laser marks and an equal number of footsteps. She could make out over a dozen swatbots, four ultra- swatbots, and something else. The "something else" seemed to be just a blur. It blazed past a bot and the bots head suddenly fell from its shoulders. All the swatbots seemed to be having trouble keeping up with the blur.
Slasher ducked out of the way as the swatbots turned toward her, following the figure speeding by them. When she turned back four more swatbots and an ultra-swatbot were down. The rest, seeing that they couldn't hope to win, turned and fled. The swatbots broke into a run while the ultras ignited their jets and took off.
The blur suddenly stopped. Slasher could see the back of the creature standing before her. Armor covered it from head to toe. A tail, armored in a multi-joint part, stuck from its lower back and nearly reached the ground. Two ears, also armored in the same joint like armor, swiveled left and right through the helmet he wore.
Slasher knew instantly that this was Knuckles attacker. He relaxed and put up his sword, wiping away oil and coolant off of it. Slasher stepped out and began to speak. "Hello, my name is Sla-"
She was cut off as the fox whirled around and leaped at her. She stepped back and put her hands out, catching the fox by one arm and sending him flying face first into the snow.
The fox returned to his feet instantly and bared his teeth. He leaped right, quicker than Slasher could follow. She turned and felt a blow fall on the right side of her face. Her head whipped to the side and she immediately felt another blow land on her ribs. A soft cracking sound accompanied the blow.
Slasher's yell of echoed through the forest, sending birds and other non intelligent life forms fleeing. Slasher fell to one side as her left foot was kicked out from under her.
She opened her eyes and stared at the point of a sword. Her eyes travelled from the tip, to the black gripped hilt, and up the metal hand that gripped it. Her eyes finally met his through the transparent material covering his face. His eyes were like ice. A cool blue, with intricate shapes and shades making up the iris. His pupils seemed to be endless pits of nothing. An empty void inside a living creature.
The fox shifted his left hand from his side to double grip the sword. Neither moved for several moments. If someone would have passed they would have thought them to be statues. A large velociraptor, lying in a broken heap on the ground. Her legs underneath one side and her head and chin up, gazing at her attacker. The fox, standing straight up, tip of his sword nearly between her eyes.
Both creatures waited for the other to make the first move. It was the fox that did. He pulled his sword back and inch or two and spoke. "Give me one good reason I should not kill you right this moment."
Slasher thought for a second before answering. "I can give you no reason."
"Then prepare to die, demon. You have one minute for any last words." With that the fox lifted his left arm up and removed the helmet.
Slasher, knowing she was doomed, looked into his eyes and did the last thing he expected. She bowed her head and prayed. The foxes mouth hung open as she prayed to her maker, telling her lord to prepare to receive her soul and have mercy upon his. His grip on his sword loosened until the sword fell from his hands into the snow.
He stood until Slasher had finished, then kneeled down on one knee and reached for his sword. He pulled his sword up and put it back up in the scabbard hanging from the left side of his waist.
His metal clad hands reached up and under the armor at his neck. From it he pulled a necklace. Slasher looked and realized this was no ordinary necklace. Hanging from a simple chain was a gold cross. A single green stone sat inside the center.
He kissed the cross and closed his eyes. His mouth muttered something in a language Slasher did not understand. He sat muttering for several minutes.
When he finished, he tucked the cross back under his armor and stood up. He looked down on the injured raptor and unlatched his left glove. He reached down to take her claw. "I am sorry for the pain I have caused you. I will never harm you again."
With that, he grabbed her claw. Her eyes instantly widened as the energy flowed into her. The last thing the saw was the armored fox standing over her, a single scarred hand still holding hers. Then her vision faded into blackness, the kind his eyes were made of.
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Slasher awakened back in her hut. She groaned and rolled over on the floor. Her head was stuffy and her vision was blurry. She lie on the floor for a few minutes before getting up. Her head and vision were sufficiently cleared to walk around again.
Her memory suddenly returned and she reached down to her chest. Nothing. No pain. She reached up to fell her cheek. Again, nothing. Not even a bruise.
Amazed, she opened the door and stepped out into the snow.
"Hey Slash! Finally got back I see." A certain blue figure yelled from another hut.
"Yeah Sonic. Umm, have you seen Sally?" Slasher glanced around, looking for the princess.
Sonic leaped down into the snow ran over to her. "Yeah I have, she cooking in the main hut." He looked up at her, puzzled by her lack of interest in him. "Is something wrong Slash? Cuz it would be real uncool to keep it to yourself." Sonic said, a slight smirk forming on his face.
Slasher ignored him and raced to the main hut. She opened the door and went inside. Sonic stood where he was and scratched his head. "Hey Sonic!" Sonic looked over to see Tails standing just outside the village. "Me and Serena made a snow ramp! Wanna come check it out? I bet I can shoot higher than you!"
Sonic, forgetting Slasher, yelled back. "No way Tails. I am up, over, and gone!" With that he blasted past Tails and off into the woods.
Slasher found Sally in the back of the hut, just putting their dinner in the "oven". The mobian tradition was that christmas dinner was actually held on christmas eve. Other than that, man things were the same as the human christmas. The oven was more like a metal box, sitting on a metal heating coil. It wasn't the best thing, and any food cooked in it had to be watched closely, but it was the best they had.
Slasher waited a moment while Sally added the final seasoning to the mobian equivalent to a turkey. The princess turned and took off her cooking mitts. She turned her head and glanced at Slasher. The look on the raptors face told her something was very wrong.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
Slasher looked to Sally and motion for her to sit at the nearest table. Once seated, Slasher told her what had happened while she was out on patrol. About the fight and the way the fox spared her.
When she finished, Sally just stared up at her. Slasher sniffed the air and looked back at Sally. "Is something burning?"
"Our dinner!" Sally rushed to the oven and opened it. She reached in and pulled the "turkey" out, burning herself no less than three times. A light layer of black crust had developed on the top.
Sally peeled it off and looked at the rest of their dinner. "Well, I think its still edible. Just needs a few more hours of cooking." She put the turkey back in the over and turned the coil down. This time she remembered to put on her mitts.
Sally turned back to Slasher and spoke quietly. "I don't think we should tell anyone about this until after tomorrow. No sense in spoiling christmas."
Slasher nodded her head in agreement. "I agree, I don't think he will bother anyone here."
With that, slasher walked out of the hut and into the snow again. She followed the path Sonic had made and soon found two hedgehogs and a fox rolling down a hill, onto a ramp, and flying through the air before landing in a pile of snow. She climbed into a tree and shook the snow from a low branch. Once clear, she lie their on the branch, legs hanging down, watching the trio have fun. All the while she kept her ears open for any more trouble.
The rest of the day passed uneventful. The freedom fighters enjoyed a nice dinner and went to bed slightly early. Each wanted to get up early for their presents. That is, all except one. Slasher tossed and turned all night. No matter how hard she tried, she could not get to sleep.
Once, about two in the mourning, she thought she saw a shadow pass her window. She raced to the door and flung it open, finding no one. Not even footprints. She returned to he spot and lie back down. She was awake for another hour before finally falling asleep.
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End chapter 1
Serena and slasher belong to Netraptor.
Both new creatures belong to me, Destro.
Please ask before using them.
Darkness Rising
Chapter 1:
And so it begins.
The air was crisp and fresh in Knothole. It was Christmas eve and winter storm had just blown over, leaving the ground blanketed with white and the tree limbs heavy with the weight of frozen water.
Nothing moved in the light of early morning. Each hut looked identical, except for which side the snow was piled highest on. Then, on the edge of town, a door creaked open. The figure at the door opened it wider and peered out. Satisfied that nothing was wrong, she walked out.
She looked around again and reached down to pick up snow. A sharp CRACK sounded in the air as a tree limb broke. The figure, suddenly aware of what had happened, tried to run. Before she got two steps, a mound of snow had fallen. She was unfortunate to be directly under it when it hit the ground.
From another hut close by, another, smaller figure, opened the door. He stifled a laugh before yelling, "Hey Slash, you okay?"
"Just peachy Sonic." She yelled back. "Now come over here and help me out."
The dark blue hedgehog disappeared for a moment before reappearing with a pair of snowshoes in his hands. Sonic sat down on his doorstep and lazily donned his snowshoes.
"Hey! I'm waiting!" Slasher called out, still under the snow.
"I'll be there in two seconds!" Sonic called back.
From across the small village a door opened and closed. A young, slightly high pitched voice called, "I'll help you Slash. You don't have to wait on that SLOWPOKE to help."
Sonic, finishing up, quickly shouted back, "Hey! I heard that Tails. If I'm so slow, then why am I already there helping."
"But your not even-" Tails began.
In a blur Sonic appeared at Slashers side with a shovel. He quickly proceeded to dig her out while Tails hurried to help.
After a few seconds the big velociraptor pushed herself to her feet and shook. Snow flew in all directions, consequently covering both of her little helpers with powdery white dust.
Sonic jumped back three feet. "Watch it Slash, your going to bury us if your not careful. He glanced at Tails and a immediately fell backwards laughing.
"What!" Tails exclaimed, planting both hands on his hips and causing his fur to puff out slightly.
Sonic just pointed at him from the ground, still In a laughing fit.
The young fox looked down at himself. From head to toe he was covered in snow. His fur had become pure white and he looked like a snowperson.
Sonic finally got himself under enough control to stand back up. "If I didn't know it was you Tails, I would probably try to melt you.
Tails shook the snow off of himself and the trio happily ran to each hut, banging on the door and practically pulling or shoving each occupant out into the beautiful morning.
Another day at the Freedom Fighter village had begun.
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Many miles away, the Floating Island hovered over the ocean. Knuckles the Echidna, named Knuckles for the two spikes protruding from the top of his hand, woke up to a typical morning on his island.
He sat up out of his bed and rubbed his eyes. The warm breeze off of the ocean was blowing straight through the window of his hut and directly into his face. Knuckles breathed in deep.
"The air is invigorating here!" Knuckles thought to himself. He had always enjoyed winter near the equator. The warm air kept both his island and himself from freezing.
Knuckles jumped out of bed and pushed his dreadlocks out of his eyes. He opened the door of his small hut and walked outside, expecting be pounced on by one of the Chaotix. He looked around for a moment before he remembered. His friends had gone skiing at the Ice Cap ski resort. They, unlike Knuckles, enjoyed a bit of cold weather. Especially when you where blazing down a hill at sixty miles per hour.
Knuckles quickly grabbed an apple out of the meal hut he and the chaotix had built, and started his rounds. As guardian, it was his job to make sure that everything on the island was in order.
He finished his apple on the way to the thick jungle area where Sonic and Tails had landed a few years back. This was also the area burnt by Robotnik. His chemical warheads, had almost completely destroyed the area. Knuckles himself had almost lost his life in the flames.
He wondered the jungle for over an hour, checking the plant growth, water supply, and chemical quantity in the dirt. He was just about finished when he heard the sonic boom. He immediately looked up at the sky, alert and ready for anything.
After nothing appeared for over fifteen seconds, Knuckles high tailed it to the beach, the direction the sound came from. He arrived less than two minutes later, for he was fairly close to begin with. He reached the edge of his island and skidded to a stop.
His eyes searched the sky, looking for anything out of place or moving. He stood there looking for a minute before he noticed the vapor trail. It had been blown by the wind, dispersing it and making it hard to see.
Knuckles followed it from the point where he could first see it, towards his island, then curving over the beach, and disappearing over the canopy of the jungle towards the mountains in the center of his island.
The guardian stood gaping for a moment before he shook his head and raced off into the jungle. He had to make sure everything was all right.
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His diagnostic system screamed at him. Warning indicators and damage displays filled his vision. He was running dangerously low on fuel. His battery supply was out and only a few quick modifications, and an extremely rare gem, had allowed him to reach this far.
He had spent many weeks coming here. Damaged systems had reduced the burn time of his single engine to a mere thirteen minutes before it overheated. Even less if he punched it all the way.
The engine on his back screamed and rattled from the supersonic speed it was producing. It would fall apart in minutes if he didn't stop. But he couldn't stop. He had to find it before the guardian stopped him. Right now he had no hope if the guardian showed up. He was too damaged to even put up a good fight.
The canopy of trees below him suddenly thinned out as their altitude increased. In a few moments the tree line appeared.
"Yes!" he said to himself. "I'm almost there. Only a few more minutes.
Looking around the rocks, he quickly found the spot he was looking for.
His engine cut out on command and he dropped like a rock. He was rapidly nearing the deadly rock. Five seconds away. He angled himself so that his feet pointed down and slightly forward.
Four.
Three. He tried unsuccessfully to avoid cringing.
Two. A clicking sound from the bottom of his feet sounded.
One. A bright burst of flame appeared as the air around his engine superheated. The air around literally burned from the engine going from zero output to maximum in a millisecond.
Zero. He hit the ground feet first. The "shock absorbers", as he called them, absorbed the sudden shock that was applied to them, saving their wearer from two broken and shattered legs.
A damage indicator suddenly flared to life in his vision. "ENGINE MALFUNCTION"
"Crud." He said out loud. Shouldn't have done that.
He stood up from his crouch and looked towards the wall. Seconds later he was crawling headfirst down the small passageway towards the heat below him.
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Knuckles raced towards the nearest teleporter ring. In his hand lie a small gray stone. On closer inspection, one would notice that this was no ordinary stone. It was delicately cut and partially clear. Had this been normal circumstances, the stone would have glowed green.
Knuckles felt the island shift beneath him and faltered, losing his pace and tripping over a small stone in the ground. His head landed on another small rock, leaving a large knot in it.
He lie on the ground a few moments before staggering to his feet. His head swam and he felt like he had been in a fifteen round boxing match, and ended up the loser.
He held his head for a moment before remembering about the island. With tears in his eyes, Knuckles continued on. He wasn't far from the nearest teleporter.
A few minutes later he arrived a large tree. He raced to it and kicked open a hidden door near the base of the tree. Knuckles dived in and looked up at the glowing ring before him. Without a second thought, he jumped into the ring and disappeared in blaze of light.
When he reappeared he was standing just inside Hidden Palace. For some reason the teleporter had brought him to one of the outer teleporter receivers instead of the one near the master emerald.
Knuckles stepped off and ran down the glittering hallway. Delicate crystals glowed and pulsated everywhere. Had this not been an emergency, he might have stopped to look at a few newly grown ones.
The guardian tore through a thin wall hiding the master emerald chamber from the rest of hidden palace. He raced in and stopped cold, staring up at the master emerald.
The emerald was glowing dimly, its power being used incredibly fast. The super emeralds, each atop its own pillar, glowed brightly, transferring their power to the island to keep it from falling.
However, Knuckles was not looking at any of this. Instead, he was staring at what was atop the master emerald.
At first he thought it was a robot fox. However, a double take at this revealed that the face was real. Brown fur, turned a sick green by the power of the emerald, covered the face. White fur covered the muzzle and one ear.
From the neck down, one could barely distinguish the fox from a robot. Battered armor covered the body. Only a small glimpse of fur was visible underneath a few spots where the armor was breached.
On the back was what looked like a jetpack. It was fairly rectangular, with the height being slightly more than the length from the left to the right. It was extremely compact in width, as it only stuck out a few inches from the rest of the back.
Metal gloves and boots finished the suit on the hands and feet. The only visible weapons were a fairly long sword hanging from the left side in its scabbard and some kind of rifle strapped over the engine. A high tech helmet lie at his feet on the master emerald.
The fox was kneeling down on one knee on the emerald. Hands palm flat against it and head tilted back. Green energy sparked and crackled from the emerald to the fox.
Knuckles was appalled. How dare he invade his island.!
"Hey!" Knuckles called," "Get down from their now!"
The fox showed no sign of hearing.
Knuckles ran forward and jumped atop the master emerald pedestal. He leaped upon the emerald and landed a solid punch straight in the strangers face.
The fox fell back and rolled off the master emerald. He landed on the ground below with a thump.
For the first time the fox spoke. "Do not mess with me guardian. I am not as damaged as I was when I first arrived."
Knuckles jumped down and turned to look at the fox. "Don't order me around! You have invade MY island and messed with MY emerald. Prepare to be evicted!"
With that, Knuckles surged forward, driven by anger and a will to protect his island. He swung at the fox and hit air. Knuckles swung again and again. Each time the fox dodged the blow as if it were moving in slow motion.
On the next swing, the fox dodged the blow, dashed forward, and landed a punch into Knuckles midsection. Knuckles doubled over and the fox stuck a foot out and pushed Knuckles over it.
Knuckles tripped and fell flat on his face. He flipped over and was on his feet a second later. His last remaining image before he blacked out was of a silver hand coming towards his face.
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The fox climbed back on top the master emerald. The fight with the guardian was brief. He hadn't wanted to hurt him, but he was left with no choice. The energy from the master emerald had allowed his self-repair system to operate at tenfold its normal speed. Over half of his damage had been repaired.
He knelt down again and felt the energy flow into him. It felt like nothing he had ever experienced before. It felt like every nerve in his body lit up at once. His skin crawled and his shuddered every few moments. It was by no means painful, however. He could feel himself energize and his wounds heal.
In a few minutes he was done. He retrieved his helmet and stood, his armor gleaming like it had just been built. All damage indicators had disappeared and he was feeling much better.
With a full charge on all his batteries and his power core funning again, the fox activated the teleporter and teleported back to the outside. Once there, he donned his helmet, ignited his engine, and blasted off into the sky.
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Midday in Knothole was even better than morning. Tails and Sonic had built a snow fortress and were defending it from Slasher and Rotor. Slasher faked a brutal wound and limped around. Rotor had been beaten back under a severe volley while Slasher was down. Serena, Sally, and Bunnie were watching from a nearby hut. Every few minutes the laughed uncontrollably as one of the "soldiers" was beaten down by snow.
Finally the attackers demolished the fort and succeeded in capturing the defenders. All four were covered in snow and sent back to their huts to dry off. Serena headed off toward the stream to see if it was iced over. Sally and Bunnie walked through the snow to the main hut.
A few minutes later, the four snow soldiers joined Sally and Bunnie there. The look on Sally's faces instantly darkened their mood.
Sally stood their a moment before talking. "Knuckles just called in. He was attacked earlier this morning."
Sonic looked at Slasher and then back at Sally before replying. "How bad is he? Was he hurt?"
"Not badly, only a few bruises and a bloody nose." Sally stated, "However, he was extremely worried about what the attacker did to the master emerald."
"Whoa! Did he attack it to?" Sonic asked.
"Knuckles doesn't think so. He thinks he was somehow absorbing the energy of the master emerald." Sally said.
Tails cut in a moment later. "Wow, I didn't think anyone could do that, huh Sonic."
Sonic pulled a chair out from a nearby table and sat down. Slasher, who had remained silent for the conversation, suddenly spoke. "Did Knuckles give a description of his attacker?"
Sally turned to look at the large raptor. "He said it looked like a fox with armor on." She thought for a moment before continuing. "He said to think of a swatbot, square off the armor below the knees and elbows, and add a jetpack to the back."
Rotor suddenly piped up. "Wow. Id love to get a look at that armor."
Sally turned to Rotor, "You might get to Rotor."
"Oh," he replied, his face scrunching into a confused shape, "how's that Sally?"
"Knuckles thinks that the attacker is heading our way." She paused for a moment before she continued. "He says that he can FEEL him. Or rather the energy he possesses."
Sonic stood up. "Yeah, I can believe that. He can do awesome stuff with his emerald."
"Even so, if this fox can absorb the emeralds power, then he's very dangerous." She pushed a strand of hair from her eyes and continued. "Sonic, I think you should go check the radar stations in the Great Forest."
"You got it Sal." Sonic quickly said before running out the door and blasting towards the nearest trail.
"Sally," Slasher said softly, "I'm going to patrol the air for a bit. If anybody finds the attacker try to be peaceful."
Tails looked to her and spoke up. "But Slasher, he attacked knuckles!"
The raptor turned to look at the young fox. "I know, but he could have done much worse. As I see it, he caused no permanent damage." She reached out and scratched behind his ear. "Now, I bet you could catch up to Sonic if you left now"
The fox turned wide eyed and excitedly replied, "Really!"
"Sure, but you gotta leave now."
With that, Tails ran out of the hut and immediately began tracking his hero's path through the woods.
Slasher walked out onto the snow and unfolded her wings. Sally walked out behind her headed towards her hut.
Slasher turned as if she suddenly remembered something. "Sally! Don't forget about dinner!" The raptor smiled and lept into the air, wings beating as she quickly gained altitude.
Sally stood for a moment smiling. She knew she could trust Slasher, but she could not get used to Slasher's personality. It seemed to defy everything sometimes.
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A few hours later found Slasher high over the great forest, sharp eyes looking down for anything out of the ordinary. The sky was overcast and a cold wind had begun an hour earlier. It was beginning to numb her toes and wings, while her eyes watered from the air constantly hitting them.
She flew for a few more minutes before suddenly turning. She was going to drop from the sky if she stayed to much longer. She finished her turn and was headed back when something caught her eye. She reacted and turned to face the area of the disturbance.
After looking for several minutes, she decided it was nothing. She had just returned to her original path back to Knothole when laser fire suddenly sounded in her ears. She looked in the direction of the sound and could just make out the laser blasts between the white treetops.
Slasher nose dived and headed toward the battle, dodging the occasional glancing shot. She shot through the treetops and landed fifty yards from the fight. Slasher quietly and quickly leaped from tree to tree, hiding her from anyone in the battle.
She moved a branch from in front of her eyes and gazed upon the fight before her. The snow was pitted with many laser marks and an equal number of footsteps. She could make out over a dozen swatbots, four ultra- swatbots, and something else. The "something else" seemed to be just a blur. It blazed past a bot and the bots head suddenly fell from its shoulders. All the swatbots seemed to be having trouble keeping up with the blur.
Slasher ducked out of the way as the swatbots turned toward her, following the figure speeding by them. When she turned back four more swatbots and an ultra-swatbot were down. The rest, seeing that they couldn't hope to win, turned and fled. The swatbots broke into a run while the ultras ignited their jets and took off.
The blur suddenly stopped. Slasher could see the back of the creature standing before her. Armor covered it from head to toe. A tail, armored in a multi-joint part, stuck from its lower back and nearly reached the ground. Two ears, also armored in the same joint like armor, swiveled left and right through the helmet he wore.
Slasher knew instantly that this was Knuckles attacker. He relaxed and put up his sword, wiping away oil and coolant off of it. Slasher stepped out and began to speak. "Hello, my name is Sla-"
She was cut off as the fox whirled around and leaped at her. She stepped back and put her hands out, catching the fox by one arm and sending him flying face first into the snow.
The fox returned to his feet instantly and bared his teeth. He leaped right, quicker than Slasher could follow. She turned and felt a blow fall on the right side of her face. Her head whipped to the side and she immediately felt another blow land on her ribs. A soft cracking sound accompanied the blow.
Slasher's yell of echoed through the forest, sending birds and other non intelligent life forms fleeing. Slasher fell to one side as her left foot was kicked out from under her.
She opened her eyes and stared at the point of a sword. Her eyes travelled from the tip, to the black gripped hilt, and up the metal hand that gripped it. Her eyes finally met his through the transparent material covering his face. His eyes were like ice. A cool blue, with intricate shapes and shades making up the iris. His pupils seemed to be endless pits of nothing. An empty void inside a living creature.
The fox shifted his left hand from his side to double grip the sword. Neither moved for several moments. If someone would have passed they would have thought them to be statues. A large velociraptor, lying in a broken heap on the ground. Her legs underneath one side and her head and chin up, gazing at her attacker. The fox, standing straight up, tip of his sword nearly between her eyes.
Both creatures waited for the other to make the first move. It was the fox that did. He pulled his sword back and inch or two and spoke. "Give me one good reason I should not kill you right this moment."
Slasher thought for a second before answering. "I can give you no reason."
"Then prepare to die, demon. You have one minute for any last words." With that the fox lifted his left arm up and removed the helmet.
Slasher, knowing she was doomed, looked into his eyes and did the last thing he expected. She bowed her head and prayed. The foxes mouth hung open as she prayed to her maker, telling her lord to prepare to receive her soul and have mercy upon his. His grip on his sword loosened until the sword fell from his hands into the snow.
He stood until Slasher had finished, then kneeled down on one knee and reached for his sword. He pulled his sword up and put it back up in the scabbard hanging from the left side of his waist.
His metal clad hands reached up and under the armor at his neck. From it he pulled a necklace. Slasher looked and realized this was no ordinary necklace. Hanging from a simple chain was a gold cross. A single green stone sat inside the center.
He kissed the cross and closed his eyes. His mouth muttered something in a language Slasher did not understand. He sat muttering for several minutes.
When he finished, he tucked the cross back under his armor and stood up. He looked down on the injured raptor and unlatched his left glove. He reached down to take her claw. "I am sorry for the pain I have caused you. I will never harm you again."
With that, he grabbed her claw. Her eyes instantly widened as the energy flowed into her. The last thing the saw was the armored fox standing over her, a single scarred hand still holding hers. Then her vision faded into blackness, the kind his eyes were made of.
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Slasher awakened back in her hut. She groaned and rolled over on the floor. Her head was stuffy and her vision was blurry. She lie on the floor for a few minutes before getting up. Her head and vision were sufficiently cleared to walk around again.
Her memory suddenly returned and she reached down to her chest. Nothing. No pain. She reached up to fell her cheek. Again, nothing. Not even a bruise.
Amazed, she opened the door and stepped out into the snow.
"Hey Slash! Finally got back I see." A certain blue figure yelled from another hut.
"Yeah Sonic. Umm, have you seen Sally?" Slasher glanced around, looking for the princess.
Sonic leaped down into the snow ran over to her. "Yeah I have, she cooking in the main hut." He looked up at her, puzzled by her lack of interest in him. "Is something wrong Slash? Cuz it would be real uncool to keep it to yourself." Sonic said, a slight smirk forming on his face.
Slasher ignored him and raced to the main hut. She opened the door and went inside. Sonic stood where he was and scratched his head. "Hey Sonic!" Sonic looked over to see Tails standing just outside the village. "Me and Serena made a snow ramp! Wanna come check it out? I bet I can shoot higher than you!"
Sonic, forgetting Slasher, yelled back. "No way Tails. I am up, over, and gone!" With that he blasted past Tails and off into the woods.
Slasher found Sally in the back of the hut, just putting their dinner in the "oven". The mobian tradition was that christmas dinner was actually held on christmas eve. Other than that, man things were the same as the human christmas. The oven was more like a metal box, sitting on a metal heating coil. It wasn't the best thing, and any food cooked in it had to be watched closely, but it was the best they had.
Slasher waited a moment while Sally added the final seasoning to the mobian equivalent to a turkey. The princess turned and took off her cooking mitts. She turned her head and glanced at Slasher. The look on the raptors face told her something was very wrong.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
Slasher looked to Sally and motion for her to sit at the nearest table. Once seated, Slasher told her what had happened while she was out on patrol. About the fight and the way the fox spared her.
When she finished, Sally just stared up at her. Slasher sniffed the air and looked back at Sally. "Is something burning?"
"Our dinner!" Sally rushed to the oven and opened it. She reached in and pulled the "turkey" out, burning herself no less than three times. A light layer of black crust had developed on the top.
Sally peeled it off and looked at the rest of their dinner. "Well, I think its still edible. Just needs a few more hours of cooking." She put the turkey back in the over and turned the coil down. This time she remembered to put on her mitts.
Sally turned back to Slasher and spoke quietly. "I don't think we should tell anyone about this until after tomorrow. No sense in spoiling christmas."
Slasher nodded her head in agreement. "I agree, I don't think he will bother anyone here."
With that, slasher walked out of the hut and into the snow again. She followed the path Sonic had made and soon found two hedgehogs and a fox rolling down a hill, onto a ramp, and flying through the air before landing in a pile of snow. She climbed into a tree and shook the snow from a low branch. Once clear, she lie their on the branch, legs hanging down, watching the trio have fun. All the while she kept her ears open for any more trouble.
The rest of the day passed uneventful. The freedom fighters enjoyed a nice dinner and went to bed slightly early. Each wanted to get up early for their presents. That is, all except one. Slasher tossed and turned all night. No matter how hard she tried, she could not get to sleep.
Once, about two in the mourning, she thought she saw a shadow pass her window. She raced to the door and flung it open, finding no one. Not even footprints. She returned to he spot and lie back down. She was awake for another hour before finally falling asleep.
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End chapter 1
