Giser turned to face King Pochamac, and Princes' Brightstarr and Knuckles, and then bowed. He looked up at Pochamac. "Milord, I give to you the Echidna that will get for you... the Master Emerald!"
Braven Rain, Pochamac's personal bodyguard, stared at the assembled Echidna, and at Giser. "Are you crazy, Giser? The Master Emerald is spoken of only in legend. It doesn't actually exist! If it did we would have known." Braven said, turning to look at the King.
"Only legend! You of all people should believe in a legends, Braven. Do you not have within three of the five Scrolls of Madness? These where only talked of in legend before you and your wife found out that they were very real." Giser said, staring up at Braven. He then got up off his knee. "I hate to disagree, my friend, but the Master Emerald does exist, for I have seen it myself with my own eyes. And how amazing it does look."
Pochamac sat on the thrown for a while, and then raised his hand up to his chin. "And how is this, Giser?" The King said. "My family has the power to see the future Giser, and yet I have not seen the Master Emerald anywhere in it. How is it that you have seen the Master Emerald?"
The Echidna behind Giser begun to stand up. "That is because you have always looked to the future, but you have never looked at the present."
Prince Brightstarr's eyes lit up. "You mean it is here?"
Giser nodded. "Have you ever wondered why energy - Chaos energy - leaks from the Shrine in the Chao's Sanctuary, and how you, my Prince, was touched by it and changed to how you are now?"
"You cannot be serious! Are you suggesting that the Master Emerald is within the Chao Shrine?" Knuckles spat. "Have you not heard the legends about what guards the Chao?"
"Of course he hasn't!" Came a voice from the doorway of the Thrown Room. "And their I was thinking that he was supposed to be the smartest one here."
Everyone turned to see Princess Tikal, the King's only surviving offspring, standing in the doorway. She stood there, sometimes spinning her small staff.
Tikal didn't look as if she was in the mood to joke around.
"What gives you the right to talk of Giser as you have, my daughter?" King Pochamac said, staring at Tikal.
"Because he has no brain in his head!" She snapped back. "Do you want me too tell you what guards the Chao father? Chaos, the God of Destruction! He is what guards the Chao, and it is said that if you tamper with the Chao's happiness his wrath will be unforgiving!" Tikal stood there, then began to walk into the room, but stopped halfway.
"And what about you, father. You know of Chaos. You and I have both seen him in are visions of the future. He is coming, but we don't have to play it that way. We can change the future, father. All we have to do is leave the Master Emerald alone." Tikal said.
She glanced at everyone in the room. "You should also know that these powers you are trying so desperately to control are far beyond your power to tame. The Chaos Emeralds cannot stay here. They will only cause more pain as time goes by."
Pochamac took hold of his own staff that had been leaning against this thrown, and pulled himself to the end of his chair. "Yes, my daughter, I know of Chaos. Do you think I will intentionally release such a demon?" He said, staring her dead in the eye. His face then turned into a face of mild annoyance. "But he is coming, we have both seen it. We cannot change the future as it is already written. To change what is written is to face the wrath of the Gods themselves. And what do you suggest that I do with the Chaos Emerald? Have them destroyed?" asked the King.
"Destroying the Emeralds would not prove wise." Giser said, butting in. "The Drakon have managed to entrap six demons within the Emeralds. They act as a fail safe device. They're basically their to make sure that no one attempts to destroy them." Giser glanced round at the King. "And to destroy them if they do!"
The King frowned, then stared at his daughter. "Do you here?" He said.
Tikal sighed. "I am merely suggesting that we should get rid of the Emeralds." She said, choosing to ignore her father's question. "Throw them into some portal were they cannot be retrieved from. The Gods know that we know enough dimensions were we could do such a thing!"
"We cannot just through away such power!" said Prince Brightstarr.
Tikal turned her attention to her young nephew. There was something wrong about the way in which he spoke. As if something spoke through him.
She turned her attention back to her father. "They're to much trouble to keep, you can all see that, I know you can. We can not keep them!"
There was an awkward silence as the royal family just stared at each other. Finally, King Pochamac spoke up. "Giser."
"Yes Lord!"
"Carry on with your work. I will join you myself later at the Chao Sanctuary. First I must meet up with Dr Zachary."
"Yes Lord!" Giser repeated, and then indicated to the Echidna group to follow him as he left the room. The Echidna turned and followed him out walking past Princess Tikal.
Tikal flared a look at her father, and then turned and stormed out of the room.
Knuckles turned around to his grandfather. "I will lead the expedition to the emerald mine." He said.
"And I shall accompany you, brother." Brightstarr said.
Knuckles looked at Brightstarr and sighed. He then nodded and turned and walked out of the Thrown Room. Brightstarr looked at his grandfather, bowed softly, and the followed his brother out.
King Pochamac sat in silence for a while before he got up. Braven instantly came to his side to help, but the old Echidna shrugged him off in a kind way. As he walked down the stairs leading down from the thrown, Braven and Yin watched him.
Extending his hand before him, Braven's Lance, the Lance of Longimus, appeared and he grasped it. He and Yin the walked down the stairs behind Pochamac.
As he reached the bottom he supported himself on his staff as he caught his breath. He then smiled. "And now to Zachary." He said more to himself, than to his bodyguards. With that, the King walked out of the Thrown Room and headed in the direction of Dr Zachary's chambers, with Braven and Yin following.
The Echidna Guard were the most elite warriors of all the fighters in the Echidna Empire. Made up mostly of Echidna, the Guard served as the Kings main protection against anything that opposed him. And, even though he tried to be a peaceful King, there were many who would call themselves his enemies.
The Special Zone, nick-named The Nightmare Country by the Echidna, held most of their enemies. Especially since life on Planet Mobius was very primitive except for a small handful of races.
The Special Zone was home to the Echidnas very violent enemies the Wasp's, as well as a very troublesome race of Chameleons. One of the oldest, and most dangerous, of their enemies also resided within The Special Zone. That was the former rulers of Mobius, the ancient Dragon's of Mobius.
All of them, at one time or another, had faced the Echidna Guard and lost. Well all except the Dragon's of Mobius. But that's another story.
One of the most unusual members of the Guard was surprisingly a robot. Well actually, it was two robots that worked together, in a complicated kind of symbiosis, as if they were one robot.
The first of the two robots, was one of the Echidna's own Guardian Robots, that had been tinkered with by Giser and Dr Zachary, and given a conscience. But, unlike normal Guardian Robots that had big domed heads, were a passenger could climb inside to control the robot, the top of its head was opened up. It still had the place for a driver, but in the case of this Guardian Robot, it was the second robot that took up this space.
The second robot wasn't made by the Echidna, to tell the truth it wasn't even made in this time period, but actually in the distant future.
The robot was a Metallix MK III, and had apparently been sent back into the past during a fight it endured in the future. Upon its arrival it instantly tried to destroy everything it came into contact with, but eventually Giser was able to shut it down and reprogram the robot to serve the Echidna.
No one could understand why it looked just like an Echidna, and many were sceptical of it being allowed to become part of the Guard, but in time it proved its worth as a valid member of the Echidna's most elite of groups.
Guardian, which is what the Metallix had taken to calling itself (the guardian robot simply called itself Robot), stood in front of the Mobius Ring, an ancient device that had been stolen from the Drakon by Prince Brightstarr and Knuckles when they had returned from their quest into the Drakon homeworld.
It was this device that allowed the Drakon to come to Mobius in the first place, and it was the only way the Drakon could travel from their world to Mobius. Because of this, it was now being guarded at all times, as no one knew when the Drakon in their dimension may try to use it again.
Perhaps brining it back to Megaopolis wasn't such a good idea, but there was no turning back now. Besides, at least this way the Echidna had some small advantage over the Drakon Empire.
Guardian had been left alone, only for a while, as the remaining members of the Guard went and stretched their legs.
Guardian, being a robot, couldn't see why they would have to do such a thing. After all, he had never needed to stretch his own legs. Maybe it was a biological trait.
Guardian turned around, aware that something had come into the room, only to see his counterpart Robot.
"The other members of the Guard are returning." Robot said. "They were coming upon my departure." Robot walked up to Guardian and stood in front of him. He then lowered his head to the ground so that Guardian could climb in.
"Understood." Guardian said, as he climbed in. "We shall continue are watch until they return. At this moment their assistance is not needed."
Robot raised his head back up, as Guardian begun to plug himself into Robot's mainframe. They both just stood there in silence. Being robot's they didn't really have a need for asking questions, as everything to them was arranged into a list of logical answers, and so they rarely engaged in conversation. But, it looked like this time they wouldn't have to try.
Guardians sensors suddenly became active as they began to record data.
"Query." He said. "Sensors indicate that the energy discharge of the Mobius Ring has pivoted. Its power level is increasing."
"Logical answer would be that the Mobius Ring is in activation." Robot agreed.
"But another query." Guardian began. "The Mobius Ring has not been active since the Prince Brightstarr and Prince Knuckles returned from the homeworld of the Drakon Empire." Guardian then became more alert. "Possibility of Drakon invasion very high."
Robot's sensors then suddenly picked up something else. "Something is coming through." He said.
Guardian and Robot, both turned in sequence towards the Mobius Ring, and watched as the Mobius Ring began to increase in size.
"Query." Guardian began again. "Why must the Mobius Ring increase in size? During access to the Ring at earlier date, the Ring did not change its diameter! Why must it do so now?"
But Guardian did not get an answer, not a verbal one from Robot anyway, as at that moment something stepped through. Then a second creature followed behind it, and was also followed by two more.
Guardian charged up his chest cannon, but while it charged he scanned the creatures that had come through.
"Scanning for accurate matches on species." He said, gaining the three intruders attention.
"Possible match acquired." said Robot.
"Intruders are of Drakon species. One Drakon Sentinel and three Drakon Prosecutors. All Drakon are a threat to Echidna Empire."
Robot's eye laser sparked into life. "Must destroy all such threats at any cost." He added.
Guardians chest cannon finished charging and locked onto the closet Drakon. "New Objective: Eliminate Drakon Threats!"
And with that said, both Guardian and Robot fired!
King Pochamac reached Dr Zachary's chambers and entered. Even though the place was supposedly his chambers, it was set out more like a small laboratory.
Zachary emerged from behind some very fragile looking bottles. "Ah, my King, I am graced by your presence. What may I do for you?" Zachary had been alive as long as Pochamac but he some how appeared to be more worn out. As if something had drained him. But then there was a good reason for this as Zachary had spent almost a year imprisoned by the Drakon. The only reason he stood here now was because Brightstarr and Knuckles had been lucky enough to stumble across him and rescued him from his captors when they had retrieved the Chaos Emeralds.
Zachary stood smaller than Pochamac, and wore an old white tunic. He also had the knuckles, as had his father before him. This is what had gained him his place in the Empire.
"Zachary I cannot begin to imagine what you must have been put through during the last year, and even though you have only just returned, I must ask a favor of you, my old friend." Pochamac said.
"Ask it my King." He said, fiddling with something that he had been holding when Pochamac had come in. "It is my will to always serve you."
"When the Drakon first appeared on Mobius, before they made their plans clear, you were sent there as ambassador to are race." Pochamac paused momentarily. He then continued. "You were also abducted by them, and have spent the latter part of the last year in their dimension. So you know what they're like. What their capable of. You've had an inside view and you may know something's we could use in our fight against them."
Zachary gave a vague smile. "A view from behind enemy lines, in a way!"
"Yes. Exactly." Pochamac said. "Will you provide me with information?"
Zachary frowned, no one knew what he really went through when he was with the Drakon in their dimension, but here he was standing before the King. He had to know something.
But now he was being asked to spill the beans on the Drakon, and something deep down, something he only knew about, was telling him not to.
Braven Rain stared at the old Echidna as he leaned on his lance. Something about Zachary wasn't right, he could tell. Zachary had been acting differently the moment he had returned.
Braven glanced at Yin, who nodded, then stood upright. Zachary would have to be watched.
"I will help you, my King." He said eventually, putting whatever it was he was holding down on a work surface.
"Good. Begin a full report on them as soon as possible. I expect to have it in my hands by tonight."
Zachary stood there for a while, and then very slowly nodded his head. "Yes, my King."
King Pochamac smiled, then turned. But his smile disappeared as he stared at Zachary only momentarily. He then turned and left Zachary's room, Yin following close behind.
Hearing the door shut, as the King left, Zachary looked up only to be met by Braven's stare.
"Is there something else, Prince Braven?" Dr Zachary said coldly.
Braven's eyes narrowed. "I'm watching you, Zachary. Watching you closely." He said. He then turned and walked out, closing the door behind him.
Dr Zachary stared at the closed door for a long while. Then his face screwed up with anger. His fists tightened as he wrestled with his own rage. Lucky for him he had mastered this along time ago, and he calmed himself back down.
Zachary had apparently been alone in his chambers, but it was now clear that he wasn't.
A black furred Echidna stepped out of the shadows behind him, with its arms folded. The Echidna wore a matching black tunic, that had gold symbols embroiled onto it. Compared to Zachary's old white fur, the Echidna's black fur looked dark and evil.
Zachary didn't even look round at him. "You saw and heard everything I presume, Midnight?"
The black Echidna called Midnight smiled. "Why would I not?"
Dr Zachary frowned. The blasted Echidna never gave him a straight answer. "I'm not sure if the King, or his bodyguard, Braven, trust me anymore. The war has made them weary." He said.
"War effects different people in different ways." Midnight said. "As for not trusting you, I think he has good reason not to, wouldn't you say? You have spent a lot of time with a race that is the enemies of the Echidna." Midnight smiled. "I wouldn't trust you."
Zachary seemed to completely ignore what Midnight had just said, and continued along his own trail of thought. "And now I have been asked to do something that I simply cannot. The Drakon do not look kindly upon betrayers."
"No. They do not." Midnight said.
Zachary stood there for a while. He then added. "If I go down, Midnight. So do you."
He waited for a response, but wasn't to surprised when he didn't get one. Turning around, Zachary found that the Echidna called Midnight had once again disappeared. "Blasted Shadow!" he said.
He stood by himself for a while, and then grabbed his medallion around his neck. Pushing one of the two secret switches he designed into it, it began to beep. It carried on doing so for a while, then stopped. "Well, it looks like they're already coming for me. No turning back now." He said to himself.
He then pressed another hidden switch on the medallion, causing it to glow red. Almost instantly a Guardian Robot came lumbering over. Zachary held his medallion up to the Robots head and it opened.
He then packed some stuff he would need into the available space inside the robots cockpit, and when he had done so he climbed in. The top closed down on him, and he took control. Setting in some co-ordinates, Zachary sighed to himself. He had searched deep inside himself and found his loyalty. But, it was no longer to the Echidna.
Dr Zachary's Guardian Robot took off and began to float above the ground. The head then tilted upwards as the eye laser activated itself. It then fired!
When the dust had settled, Zachary's Guardian Robot flew out of the newly made hole, and on into the evening sky.
Within a few minutes it could no longer be seen. Dr Zachary probably wouldn't be seen again.
The room fell silent as the black Echidna, called Midnight, stepped back out of the shadows. He looked up into the sky, in the general direction Zachary had flown, and smiled. Menacingly.
The dinosaurs Prince's Brightstarr and Knuckles were riding slowed as they reached the emerald mine. Some other Echidna, that were riding on flying dinosaurs, circled a few times before landing. There were many types of dinosaurs on Angel Island, strangely enough, they couldn't be found anywhere else on Mobius.
One such race was the Kohenyu. They had been around since before the Echidna, and had been hunted by the Echidna as a food source for many years now. But no one knew why they could always be found here, at the emerald mine. It was as if something drew them here.
Brightstarr got off his dinosaur and looked over to where the entrance to the emerald mine had been. Staring at the Kohenyu that grazed all around it. Strangely they stared right back. He sighed. "It is as I feared, brother. This will not be easy. They will not be moved with ease."
Knuckles looked around. Then smiled. "Oh, I don't know about that Brightstarr. You just take a few Echidna and find somewhere to sit tight for a while. I'll take care of this." Knuckles then turned in his saddle. "Okay!" He shouted. "Who's up for a little hunt?"
The remaining Echidna cheered, raising their spears and nets into the air.
Knuckles turned back to Brightstarr and grinned. "See you in a bit, bro."
Brightstarr smiled back. "Don't have to much fun, okay."
With that Knuckles' dinosaur reared up. He then raised his spear into the air. "All right. Charge!"
Knuckles' dinosaur then charged at the Kohenyu, followed by all the Echidna that where not staying behind with Brightstarr. They charged at the Kohenyu in perfect formation. It took the Kohenyu a moment or two to react, but as soon as a few did, it didn't take long for the rest to follow. And before you knew it, the hunt was on.
The Kohenyu began to stampede. Knuckles and the other hunting Echidna followed after them. As they got further away, all that could be heard above the distant rumble of the ground, was the excited cheers of the Echidna.
Brightstarr watched them go, and smiled. "Some people get all the fun." He muttered to himself. He then turned to the Echidna that had remained behind. "Well, lets see what we can do with this mine shall we."
The Echidna Empire was a strong empire. And being such a strong empire it had its fair share of enemies, as has already been stated. However, what had not been stated was its various allies.
The Echidna had almost as many allies as it did enemies. They generally were weaker than the enemies. But then, every now and then, the Echidna made an allie that was unbelievably powerful. These were rare, but when they came they were rarely let go.
The creature known as Devil of the Fallen sat meditating in its chambers. He was member of the Echidna Guard and had been for almost a year now. He was strongly loyal to the Echidna and took their side against anything that opposed them.
He had been meditating, in his chambers, for quite sometime. It was how he spent most of his time. Meditating was how he made peace with his surrounding's, opening his eyes up to things that normally couldn't been seen.
Devil sat unflinching as candles burned in his chambers, giving out their soothing aromas. But they did little to soothe his conscience.
Devil's face screwed up as a vision he saw began to trouble him.
What he saw was nothing but dead bodies as far as the eye could see. Hundreds of Echidna, as well as the Drakon and the Dragon's, lay dead in a giant mound reaching upwards into the sky. And, standing on top of them, blotting out the Sun, was Chaos the God of Destruction.
Devil awoke from his meditation, beads of sweat rolling down his head. His eyes searched around, only momentarily, trying to tell if he was awake or still dreaming.
He raised his hand to his head and calmed himself.
"A vision?" he asked himself. The silence of the room grew as he sat there, recollecting on what he had just saw. "No! A premonition."
Devil sat there for a while, and then slowly stood up. As he did so, his wings unfolded to give himself added balance.
Devil was the last of winged race known as the Cherub. He had wings, just as all his race had, which were angelic in posture. Nothing on Mobius had wings like him anymore. Nothing ever would again. He was the last of his kind, as his race was wiped out by a more powerful race of creatures known only as the Tantaragor.
Though Devil resembled an angel, he was anything but an angel anymore. He wasn't even close.
His feathers had turned from their brilliant white, to a washed out grey. They looked almost dead.
His head was domed and black, except for the lower part of his face, which was a light brown. His body was also pure black, again except for a quiff of white fur that sprouted from his chest. He had a golden symbol on his forehead of wings, and brilliant yellow eyes. They radiated with a power forever lost with the death of his race.
Not many knew where he came from anymore, and not many inquired about it. His past had been left to him and the Echidna that did know rarely reminded him of it. So it was not told.
Devil opened the door to his chambers and instantly spread his wings and took flight. It wasn't that far a flight to Megopolis City from his home on Sky Sanctuary, which was a small island just off the coast of the main island. He was sure his premonition meant something, and he had to share it with someone, preferably Giser. But as he glided through the air, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was already to late.
The Echidna called together by Giser stood in the Chao Sanctuary, located in the Angel Zone, which resided almost in the centre of Angel Island. It was the home of the Chao, a race that was even older than the Echidna themselves. The Shrine supposedly contained all the power that would ever be needed to protect the Chao.
Giser looked up at the top of the Shrine, completely oblivious to King Pochamac, Braven and Yin who had walked up beside him.
"So it has been under are noses all this time then?" Pochamac said.
Giser was noticeably startled by the Kings appearance, but the look of shock only stayed on his face for a while. "Yes. Milord. It has."
The King looked behind him at the Echidna that Giser had assembled. There had to be more than two dozen present at least. He smiled. But it didn't stay for long as behind the assembled Echidna, his daughter Tikal came into view.
Tikal looked around, until she found her father and walked over to him. "Father. Thank the Gods I found you before you went through with your foolish quest!"
"Foolish?" said the King.
"You must see that the Master Emerald must not be tampered with. It represents all that is peaceful. It represents the Chao." She said, looking down at the idol Chao as they carried on their lives.
The Chao were rarely around anything other than their own kind, so paid anything else any interest.
Tikal crouched, stroking an idle Chao. "If you destroy the peace, the only thing left will be chaos."
King Pochamac stared at his daughter, and smiled. "You are wise beyond your years, my daughter." He said, stroking her face. "You shall be an excellent Guardian to the Master Emerald."
"You what?"
"Such wisdom should be used accurately after all. You will guard the Master Emerald. Only one such as you can." Pochamac said. He then turned back to Giser.
"Your still going through with this?" Tikal shouted.
"Believe me, my child. If there was another way I would take it. But we must have this power if we are to defeat the Drakon. It is essential."
"But father!" She started.
The King turned to his daughter and his eyes burned with anger. "Look, daughter, you will do as I tell you. I am the King of the Echidna Empire, an Empire that has fought long and hard to achieve goals most other Empires can only dream of. But, my people will always want more. And with this Master Emerald I will be able to give it to them."
Tikal stood back from her father. Her shocked expression faded as she to became angry. "Is this about your peoples needs, father. Or about your wants?"
King Pochamac's anger grew even more. "Are you accusing me of greed?"
"I am accusing you of nothing." She replied smoothly. "You are the one who brought it up."
The King turned away from Tikal, and back to Giser. "Ready your Echidna, Giser. We take the Master Emerald now!"
Tikal reached out and held her fathers arm. "Father, greed is our enemy! Once it starts you will always want more!" She said.
"SILENCE!" The King shouted, pulling his arm free. "I need this power so that I can provide for my people! And they are your people too, you know! Will you turn your back on them?"
The Echidna came together at the foot of the Shrine. Giser stood in front of them and awaited the Kings orders.
The King began to make his way to the front of the Echidna.
"Father, I beg you! Please stop. Please listen to me." Came one last cry from Tikal.
Pochamac turned to face her, his eyes full of anger. "Pah! I don't listen to the words of a child." He then turned back around and walked to the front of the Echidna crowd. "Ready men? Charge!" With that the King ran up the Shrines stairs. The gathered Echidna, Braven, Yin and Giser, all ran up behind him.
As they reached half way all the Chao in the sanctuary turned to watch them. And then, one by one, they all began to cover their eyes with their little paws.
Tikal looked up at the Shrine. Filled with a sudden fear, she turned and ran.
Pochamac and the Echidna were almost at the top now. All the Chao turned away, unable to look at them.
As Tikal ran, she knew that from now on nothing was ever going to be the same again. But then, there was still one last thing she could try. She increased her speed. There wasn't much time now. Not much time at all.
The Echidnas charged up the Shrine. Yelling as they went. Finally they reached the top of the steps and froze...