Location - West of Shinolou Volcano, Trinity Islands.
Rouge flew above the land and sea, hidden amongst the clouds that hung in the sky like puffs of cotton candy. In her hand she held the Third Amulet. She was on her way to Robotnik's base to hand over the amulet in exchange for treasure.
Another day, another job. Rouge was turning into a bit of a mercenary. Well, as long as the pay was okay then that was good enough for her.
There was only one thing that really troubled her. It had been nagging at the back of her mind since she left Knuckles on Angel Island the previous day. Why had she gone to visit him? She herself did not understand. Surely it had all just been an act to get him to work for her and save her the trouble of finding the amulets. But there was still a feeling that she could not shake away. How she wanted to tell Knuckles what she really felt for him, how she wanted to throw away her 'fake' life of lies. She wanted to show him that there was more to her than he thought. Could she be....in love?
Yuck! She pushed the thought away. No way! There are far more important things I could be doing than chasing after some knucklehead that doesn't care a bit about me.
The volcano was in sight now. Rouge dived down towards the island swiftly to avoid attention. She went to the secret entrance and breathed on a metal pad. After he DNA had been identified, the secret door slid open and Rouge walked in.
"Dr. Eggman," she called, standing in the wide red-walled hallway. "I have something for you." She held up the amulet on it's thin golden cord. Seconds later, a voice boomed out over the black loudspeakers that hung down the corridors.
"Welcome, Rouge. I see you have found the amulet I require. Come, meet me in my office. Fifteenth floor down, just take the elevator. Then you can claim your prize." Rouge felt a little uncomfortable with the security cameras hooked up everywhere, and with Eggman's voice barking out instructions all around her. No thief liked being under close surveillance.
She reached Eggman's office quickly. The door opened for her and closed abruptly as soon as she was inside.
"Rouge. So nice to see you," said Eggman. He held out a hand, but Rouge ignored it.
"Well, I got what you wanted. But I don't seem to see any treasure anywhere," Rouge said, twirling the amber amulet on it's chain in front of Eggman.
"Patience, patience. You'll get your treasure. But-,"
"I had better get it. You know how hard it was to find that thing?" Rouge snorted. "Men always get women to do their dirty work. You haven't changed a bit since I last saw you, Dr. Eggman." Eggman chuckled evilly at this.
"Ah well, isn't that good to hear. But you must remember that there are two more amulets left." As he said this, Rouge flared. "Of course I don't expect you to go without a reward." Eggman produced a large, glittering ruby from a drawer at his desk. Rouge immediately lost her anger, eyes sparkling as she took the gem. With her eyes still fixed on the gem, she chucked the amulet to Eggman.
"What do I get if I find the other amulets?" she asked after examining the ruby as a child does a new toy. Eggman pressed a button on a remote control and a metal flap in the wall slid up as a trolley rolled forwards to reveal a vast array of gold, silver and various gemstones. Every treasure hunter's dream. Then Eggman pressed the button again and it all rolled back in place.
"Mmm, not bad," Rouge murmured. Those gems were practically hers already.
"Look here..." Eggman pointed to the second of the twelve television screens in front of him. Rouge looked up and saw the still image of a young female fox that looked uncannily like Tails. She had the First Amulet in her hand. "This is Sandi," Eggman explained. "She is in alliance with Tails and is also in possession of the First Amulet." Rouge nodded. She knew what she had to do.
"Is she with Tails now?" Rouge asked.
"Yes. I have a feeling they are related," Eggman said. Rouge smiled. Well obviously they're related, you senile old egg, she thought.
"I'll get the other amulet. Then I'm coming back for my treasure. And next time, I get every single bit of it." Rouge was about to leave when something caught her eye. On one of the t.v. screens was Knuckles. He was running with determination and Rouge spied an odd, menacing look in his eyes.
"Why is Knuckles on t.v.?" Rouge asked incredulously.
"Ah, yes, Knuckles was one of my...experiments...using the Orb. I was just testing the brainwashing capabilities of the Orb, and I must say it's turned out excellently. Knuckles makes a superb undercover spy." Eggman sniggered. "He's on his way right now to report back to me. The Orb keeps track of his activities, as you can see."
"What? You...you brainwashed Knuckles? So now he's just a mindless zombie!" Rouge exploded with rage. There was no point in trying to hide her feelings for Knuckles now, after what Eggman had done to him. "How could you even think of doing that? I'm not working for you any more, you fat egg!" Rouge shouted. She picked up the ruby and tried to grab the amulet too, but Eggman snatched it away.
"Give that back!" Rouge lunged for it, but Eggman held it back.
"Uh-uh. I believe this is mine now. Ha ha ha," Eggman laughed as he took the Hiatus Orb out of the tracking device. The image of Knuckles immediately disappeared as the Orb lost contact with the machinery. Rouge had only a split-second to realise what he was doing before an invisible barrier materialised between her and Eggman. She could not reach him.
'Let me through, dammit!" Rouge battered against the forcefield that the Orb had created.
"My, my, until now I thought you only had eyes for treasure," Eggman commented before disappearing along with the Third Amulet and the Hiatus Orb. Those lands words stung Rouge and she screamed; "You'll regret this!" in the empty office. That was the last time she ever did anything for Eggman.
* * * * *
Location - Parnell Village, Loren's World.
Sonic had just finished dinner with his fairy friends Marinka and Ida. He really liked the food round here. Fruits and delicacies that he had never seen before, delicious sparkling juices that left a sweet tingling aftertaste in the mouth - it was even better than his favourite fast food chain back home, and that was really saying something!
"Ahhhh." Sonic let out a satisfying belch. "That was wonderful. Well, that's me full for today."
"We're glad you like it," Marinka said, while Ida tried to imitate Sonic's burp.
"What is that odd noise you made?" he said. "It's most peculiar...yet enjoyable."
"Oh, that was a burp. I suppose fairies don't burp, then," Sonic said.
"No, we've never heard such a sound."
"Could you do it again?"
"'Course. I'm the master burper," Sonic boasted. He performed three more loud, deep burps that reverberated off the walls of the dining hall, and the fairies faces lit up with joy.
Sonic had become the new celebrity in the village, and not just for his burps. After defeating the giant crab monster he had been taken on a tour around the village, which was called Parnell, and the fairies had even invited him in their sacred Temple, a lesser sector of the great Temple of Light. They had made a great fuss over him and provided him with gifts and presents of all shapes and sizes, luxury foods and a great deal of time to rest and refresh himself. Sonic had spent all day chilling out, but one day was quite enough for him. Something deeper was worrying him. That bad vibe he had picked up when he first found himself in this world was still there. There was something not quite right about this place. The monsters that kept attacking the fairies...that black thing that had brought him here....
It all had something to do with the Amulet, he reckoned. Some sort of dangerous plot had to be at the bottom of this and Sonic was pretty sure that Eggman was a part of it. He had to find out more.
"Ida, what was that monster that attacked you yesterday? Why did it try to kill you?" asked Sonic.
"I was afraid you would bring that subject up," Ida murmured. "You cannot see it, but the fairy race is troubled by an ancient and treacherous darkness, which comes even closer with each passing day."
"I noticed it alright. Something fishy's going on round here, I felt it the instant I came here. Tell me, has this 'ancient darkness' got anything to do with Chaos?"
"He was only a small part of it. Um, I think we had better go and see the Supreme Chancellor about this." Ida sighed.
"Good. I want to find out what's going on," Sonic declared.
So two hours later they found themselves seated in the great Council Hall in Lilensia, the main fairy city. The Chancellor had called all the representatives of the various fairy tribes to an emergency meeting. When the entire party was seated, the Chancellor rose from his elaborate chair and began to speak.
"My respectable fairies, representatives, elders and hedgehog, we are gathered here in the gravest of circumstances. Before I go on, I must explain our case to our new friend Sonic, who, as many of you know, arrived here yesterday and has already gained the trust and respect of all of us." He turned his face with it's solemn expression towards Sonic, who raised a hand and stepped forward.
"I would be....honoured....if you would explain what's happening here." Sonic said, searching for the right words to say. Formalities were not his thing. He remained standing in front of the Chancellor's platform as the Chancellor spoke again.
"We fairies have always guarded the worlds from evil and dangerous forces. The....most powerful of these is the Void. It is an ultimate dark force, far greater than any other. It is pure destruction. Long ago, the fairies found a way to contain this evil. We had far greater magic then, than we do now, and we were able to implode the dark energy in on itself to form a contained space which we called the Hiatus Orb. Then we created three Amulets in the hope that they would safely lock the power up for ever. Only later did we discover that the amulets also served to unlock the power again....
"We knew that the Void could not be contained for ever; there would be certain times when the barriers weakened and if the three Amulets were rejoined at one of these times, they would provide enough energy for the Void to be unleashed. We knew we could never allow this to happen.
"So ever since we contained the Void in the Orb, we have worked hard to keep the amulets hidden, far away from each other and far away from any person who was foolish enough to lust for their power.
"But now our magic has grown weaker and more people from the many parallel worlds are discovering the secrets of this power for themselves. Now, recently, our biggest threat has come. The Orb has been stolen from the sacred Temple of Light by a criminal mastermind from your world, Sonic. When it was stolen, the Militon Roamers appeared. They attack us relentlessly, day and night, tearing down villages and forests, but most especially our sacred places. We are defenceless against them, with nearly all our magic forgotten. You are the first to kill one of these monsters and survive. And so we thank you greatly, Sonic."
Someone in the hall clapped, setting off a chain reaction of cheers and applause which grew steadily louder and louder. Sonic, who would have usually enjoyed such praise, held up both hands for silence.
"I'd like to ask some questions, if you don't mind." Sonic turned back to face the Chancellor. "These special 'times' you were talking about - how long is it exactly until this happens again?"
"The barriers weaken about once every million years, so we have, let me see....nineteen hours until the next time this happens," the Chancellor told him. Sonic gaped. He knew it was Dr. Robotnik who had stolen the Orb; that had to be the thing he used to transport Sonic here. With someone like Robotnik on the opposition, Sonic knew it was serious. Robotnik never gave up once he started, but then neither did Sonic.
"Isn't there any other way we can prevent this?" Sonic asked.
"No, I'm afraid not. Keeping the Amulets safe is our only hope," the Chancellor said sadly.
"But there has to be some other way! Look, I know the guy that took the Orb and I know this isn't gonna be easy. We have to do something about this," Sonic argued.
"There is nothing we can do," the Chancellor replied stolidly. Sonic looked around at the gloomy faces in the Council Hall. He had just about had enough, His old Freedom Fighter nature was re-emerging.
"I'll tell you what we do. We fight! If you rally all your troops and use the last of your fairy magic then we can do it. We can beat the Void. You wanna know what the problem here is? You never do anything active - what you're doing is, is, just sitting here and letting fate decide what happens. Don't just accept it, rise to fight it. If we all believe, we can save both our worlds." Sonic stood there for a couple more seconds to let the words sink in, then he sat down, red-faced.
The fairies in the hall started whispering quietly to each other. It made a low buzz of sound as the Chancellor tried to think this through. After what seemed like ages to Sonic after his outburst, a fairy in a scarlet uniform stood up.
"I agree with Sonic. Chancellor, we were meant to protect the worlds from the Void and I believe that we can complete this task if we try. We have all the magical resources and soldiers that we need. Nineteen hours in plenty of time for my army."
"Thank you, Brigadier Jiila," the Chancellor said, motioning for him to sit down. "It seems as though we have been given new words of hope."
"I call for a vote!" someone shouted from the assembly, interrupting the Chancellor. Others took up the call.
"All right. A vote, then," said the Chancellor sourly, slightly put out by the interruption. "Raise your hands all those in favour of Sonic's plan." Every fairy in the, excepting the Chancellor, put their hands up.
"Well, that's sorted then," Sonic quipped. "Jiila, prepare your troops for assembly at the Temple of Light in two hours. Everyone else, gather what magic you have. We're going to put that Orb outta action for good!" With a swipe of his hand, he banged his fist down on thin air to emphasise his point as the Council Hall exploded with applause. For Sonic, the battle was just beginning.
End of Part Three
* * * * *
Rouge flew above the land and sea, hidden amongst the clouds that hung in the sky like puffs of cotton candy. In her hand she held the Third Amulet. She was on her way to Robotnik's base to hand over the amulet in exchange for treasure.
Another day, another job. Rouge was turning into a bit of a mercenary. Well, as long as the pay was okay then that was good enough for her.
There was only one thing that really troubled her. It had been nagging at the back of her mind since she left Knuckles on Angel Island the previous day. Why had she gone to visit him? She herself did not understand. Surely it had all just been an act to get him to work for her and save her the trouble of finding the amulets. But there was still a feeling that she could not shake away. How she wanted to tell Knuckles what she really felt for him, how she wanted to throw away her 'fake' life of lies. She wanted to show him that there was more to her than he thought. Could she be....in love?
Yuck! She pushed the thought away. No way! There are far more important things I could be doing than chasing after some knucklehead that doesn't care a bit about me.
The volcano was in sight now. Rouge dived down towards the island swiftly to avoid attention. She went to the secret entrance and breathed on a metal pad. After he DNA had been identified, the secret door slid open and Rouge walked in.
"Dr. Eggman," she called, standing in the wide red-walled hallway. "I have something for you." She held up the amulet on it's thin golden cord. Seconds later, a voice boomed out over the black loudspeakers that hung down the corridors.
"Welcome, Rouge. I see you have found the amulet I require. Come, meet me in my office. Fifteenth floor down, just take the elevator. Then you can claim your prize." Rouge felt a little uncomfortable with the security cameras hooked up everywhere, and with Eggman's voice barking out instructions all around her. No thief liked being under close surveillance.
She reached Eggman's office quickly. The door opened for her and closed abruptly as soon as she was inside.
"Rouge. So nice to see you," said Eggman. He held out a hand, but Rouge ignored it.
"Well, I got what you wanted. But I don't seem to see any treasure anywhere," Rouge said, twirling the amber amulet on it's chain in front of Eggman.
"Patience, patience. You'll get your treasure. But-,"
"I had better get it. You know how hard it was to find that thing?" Rouge snorted. "Men always get women to do their dirty work. You haven't changed a bit since I last saw you, Dr. Eggman." Eggman chuckled evilly at this.
"Ah well, isn't that good to hear. But you must remember that there are two more amulets left." As he said this, Rouge flared. "Of course I don't expect you to go without a reward." Eggman produced a large, glittering ruby from a drawer at his desk. Rouge immediately lost her anger, eyes sparkling as she took the gem. With her eyes still fixed on the gem, she chucked the amulet to Eggman.
"What do I get if I find the other amulets?" she asked after examining the ruby as a child does a new toy. Eggman pressed a button on a remote control and a metal flap in the wall slid up as a trolley rolled forwards to reveal a vast array of gold, silver and various gemstones. Every treasure hunter's dream. Then Eggman pressed the button again and it all rolled back in place.
"Mmm, not bad," Rouge murmured. Those gems were practically hers already.
"Look here..." Eggman pointed to the second of the twelve television screens in front of him. Rouge looked up and saw the still image of a young female fox that looked uncannily like Tails. She had the First Amulet in her hand. "This is Sandi," Eggman explained. "She is in alliance with Tails and is also in possession of the First Amulet." Rouge nodded. She knew what she had to do.
"Is she with Tails now?" Rouge asked.
"Yes. I have a feeling they are related," Eggman said. Rouge smiled. Well obviously they're related, you senile old egg, she thought.
"I'll get the other amulet. Then I'm coming back for my treasure. And next time, I get every single bit of it." Rouge was about to leave when something caught her eye. On one of the t.v. screens was Knuckles. He was running with determination and Rouge spied an odd, menacing look in his eyes.
"Why is Knuckles on t.v.?" Rouge asked incredulously.
"Ah, yes, Knuckles was one of my...experiments...using the Orb. I was just testing the brainwashing capabilities of the Orb, and I must say it's turned out excellently. Knuckles makes a superb undercover spy." Eggman sniggered. "He's on his way right now to report back to me. The Orb keeps track of his activities, as you can see."
"What? You...you brainwashed Knuckles? So now he's just a mindless zombie!" Rouge exploded with rage. There was no point in trying to hide her feelings for Knuckles now, after what Eggman had done to him. "How could you even think of doing that? I'm not working for you any more, you fat egg!" Rouge shouted. She picked up the ruby and tried to grab the amulet too, but Eggman snatched it away.
"Give that back!" Rouge lunged for it, but Eggman held it back.
"Uh-uh. I believe this is mine now. Ha ha ha," Eggman laughed as he took the Hiatus Orb out of the tracking device. The image of Knuckles immediately disappeared as the Orb lost contact with the machinery. Rouge had only a split-second to realise what he was doing before an invisible barrier materialised between her and Eggman. She could not reach him.
'Let me through, dammit!" Rouge battered against the forcefield that the Orb had created.
"My, my, until now I thought you only had eyes for treasure," Eggman commented before disappearing along with the Third Amulet and the Hiatus Orb. Those lands words stung Rouge and she screamed; "You'll regret this!" in the empty office. That was the last time she ever did anything for Eggman.
* * * * *
Location - Parnell Village, Loren's World.
Sonic had just finished dinner with his fairy friends Marinka and Ida. He really liked the food round here. Fruits and delicacies that he had never seen before, delicious sparkling juices that left a sweet tingling aftertaste in the mouth - it was even better than his favourite fast food chain back home, and that was really saying something!
"Ahhhh." Sonic let out a satisfying belch. "That was wonderful. Well, that's me full for today."
"We're glad you like it," Marinka said, while Ida tried to imitate Sonic's burp.
"What is that odd noise you made?" he said. "It's most peculiar...yet enjoyable."
"Oh, that was a burp. I suppose fairies don't burp, then," Sonic said.
"No, we've never heard such a sound."
"Could you do it again?"
"'Course. I'm the master burper," Sonic boasted. He performed three more loud, deep burps that reverberated off the walls of the dining hall, and the fairies faces lit up with joy.
Sonic had become the new celebrity in the village, and not just for his burps. After defeating the giant crab monster he had been taken on a tour around the village, which was called Parnell, and the fairies had even invited him in their sacred Temple, a lesser sector of the great Temple of Light. They had made a great fuss over him and provided him with gifts and presents of all shapes and sizes, luxury foods and a great deal of time to rest and refresh himself. Sonic had spent all day chilling out, but one day was quite enough for him. Something deeper was worrying him. That bad vibe he had picked up when he first found himself in this world was still there. There was something not quite right about this place. The monsters that kept attacking the fairies...that black thing that had brought him here....
It all had something to do with the Amulet, he reckoned. Some sort of dangerous plot had to be at the bottom of this and Sonic was pretty sure that Eggman was a part of it. He had to find out more.
"Ida, what was that monster that attacked you yesterday? Why did it try to kill you?" asked Sonic.
"I was afraid you would bring that subject up," Ida murmured. "You cannot see it, but the fairy race is troubled by an ancient and treacherous darkness, which comes even closer with each passing day."
"I noticed it alright. Something fishy's going on round here, I felt it the instant I came here. Tell me, has this 'ancient darkness' got anything to do with Chaos?"
"He was only a small part of it. Um, I think we had better go and see the Supreme Chancellor about this." Ida sighed.
"Good. I want to find out what's going on," Sonic declared.
So two hours later they found themselves seated in the great Council Hall in Lilensia, the main fairy city. The Chancellor had called all the representatives of the various fairy tribes to an emergency meeting. When the entire party was seated, the Chancellor rose from his elaborate chair and began to speak.
"My respectable fairies, representatives, elders and hedgehog, we are gathered here in the gravest of circumstances. Before I go on, I must explain our case to our new friend Sonic, who, as many of you know, arrived here yesterday and has already gained the trust and respect of all of us." He turned his face with it's solemn expression towards Sonic, who raised a hand and stepped forward.
"I would be....honoured....if you would explain what's happening here." Sonic said, searching for the right words to say. Formalities were not his thing. He remained standing in front of the Chancellor's platform as the Chancellor spoke again.
"We fairies have always guarded the worlds from evil and dangerous forces. The....most powerful of these is the Void. It is an ultimate dark force, far greater than any other. It is pure destruction. Long ago, the fairies found a way to contain this evil. We had far greater magic then, than we do now, and we were able to implode the dark energy in on itself to form a contained space which we called the Hiatus Orb. Then we created three Amulets in the hope that they would safely lock the power up for ever. Only later did we discover that the amulets also served to unlock the power again....
"We knew that the Void could not be contained for ever; there would be certain times when the barriers weakened and if the three Amulets were rejoined at one of these times, they would provide enough energy for the Void to be unleashed. We knew we could never allow this to happen.
"So ever since we contained the Void in the Orb, we have worked hard to keep the amulets hidden, far away from each other and far away from any person who was foolish enough to lust for their power.
"But now our magic has grown weaker and more people from the many parallel worlds are discovering the secrets of this power for themselves. Now, recently, our biggest threat has come. The Orb has been stolen from the sacred Temple of Light by a criminal mastermind from your world, Sonic. When it was stolen, the Militon Roamers appeared. They attack us relentlessly, day and night, tearing down villages and forests, but most especially our sacred places. We are defenceless against them, with nearly all our magic forgotten. You are the first to kill one of these monsters and survive. And so we thank you greatly, Sonic."
Someone in the hall clapped, setting off a chain reaction of cheers and applause which grew steadily louder and louder. Sonic, who would have usually enjoyed such praise, held up both hands for silence.
"I'd like to ask some questions, if you don't mind." Sonic turned back to face the Chancellor. "These special 'times' you were talking about - how long is it exactly until this happens again?"
"The barriers weaken about once every million years, so we have, let me see....nineteen hours until the next time this happens," the Chancellor told him. Sonic gaped. He knew it was Dr. Robotnik who had stolen the Orb; that had to be the thing he used to transport Sonic here. With someone like Robotnik on the opposition, Sonic knew it was serious. Robotnik never gave up once he started, but then neither did Sonic.
"Isn't there any other way we can prevent this?" Sonic asked.
"No, I'm afraid not. Keeping the Amulets safe is our only hope," the Chancellor said sadly.
"But there has to be some other way! Look, I know the guy that took the Orb and I know this isn't gonna be easy. We have to do something about this," Sonic argued.
"There is nothing we can do," the Chancellor replied stolidly. Sonic looked around at the gloomy faces in the Council Hall. He had just about had enough, His old Freedom Fighter nature was re-emerging.
"I'll tell you what we do. We fight! If you rally all your troops and use the last of your fairy magic then we can do it. We can beat the Void. You wanna know what the problem here is? You never do anything active - what you're doing is, is, just sitting here and letting fate decide what happens. Don't just accept it, rise to fight it. If we all believe, we can save both our worlds." Sonic stood there for a couple more seconds to let the words sink in, then he sat down, red-faced.
The fairies in the hall started whispering quietly to each other. It made a low buzz of sound as the Chancellor tried to think this through. After what seemed like ages to Sonic after his outburst, a fairy in a scarlet uniform stood up.
"I agree with Sonic. Chancellor, we were meant to protect the worlds from the Void and I believe that we can complete this task if we try. We have all the magical resources and soldiers that we need. Nineteen hours in plenty of time for my army."
"Thank you, Brigadier Jiila," the Chancellor said, motioning for him to sit down. "It seems as though we have been given new words of hope."
"I call for a vote!" someone shouted from the assembly, interrupting the Chancellor. Others took up the call.
"All right. A vote, then," said the Chancellor sourly, slightly put out by the interruption. "Raise your hands all those in favour of Sonic's plan." Every fairy in the, excepting the Chancellor, put their hands up.
"Well, that's sorted then," Sonic quipped. "Jiila, prepare your troops for assembly at the Temple of Light in two hours. Everyone else, gather what magic you have. We're going to put that Orb outta action for good!" With a swipe of his hand, he banged his fist down on thin air to emphasise his point as the Council Hall exploded with applause. For Sonic, the battle was just beginning.
End of Part Three
* * * * *
