HEBM - PART VIII
REMEMBRANCE
Within the afternoon in the Floating Island's Chaos Chamber, three figures woke up in an eerie daze. They gazed around at each other and saw that the Master Emerald was back where it was supposed to be. Seconds later, after finally getting a grasp on what and where they were it, clicked for Knuckles.
"YES! WE DID IT! WE GOT THE MASTER EMERALD BACK!" Knuckles said raising a fist into the air enthusiastically.
"YAY!"
"WE SUCCEDED!"
"Yeah… this is great. We accomplished everything we needed to accomplish." Knuckles joyfully replied.
"We got the Master Emerald and we got the Sword of-*" At that moment, another emotion clicked, this time for Sonic. No, they hadn't retrieved the Sword Of Acorn.
"Oh no… Sally specifically wanted both objects back and to top it off, I promised her I'd get it back because of her father dying."
"You tried your best."
"Yeah. It's not like we can do anything about it now and besides, remember Nicole's calculations of us retrieving BOTH objects alive?"
"Yeah, but still… Sally counted on me."
"Well I'm sure now Sally is doing nothing but worrying about you, Tails' and my safety. She doesn't know we're back. As for the sword, something tells me there'll be another time and in that other time."
"Oh no! That reminds me! Rotor was to send out the SOS pod so we could return."
"No need for that now."
"True but Rotor is going to be seriously bummed when he finds out he did all that work preparing it for nothing."
"You worry too much!"
"I know."
"Sonic, how are we supposed to get back to Knothole?" Tails queried.
"I'll just radio them. They'll pick up my signal and send a transport." Knuckles answered.
Knux then lead Sonic and Tails to a small building equipped with an antenna that had to be at least 20 feet high. From within the building they could see all sorts of equipment that appeared to be stolen from Robotnik ages ago. They had not been in here before.
"This is Knuckles to Knothole…" Within seconds a female voice with a southern accent picked up.
"Yello?"
"Bunnie? Is that you?"
"Yah. Knuckles? Y'all back?!"
"Yea! Sonic and Tails need a ride home."
"That's impossible! Sonic is already here. He don't look like he's in good shape and we have no idea how he got here. How did you all get back?" All three wide eyed. The ominous question 'What was going on?' rang through their heads. Sonic then took hold the microphone. It took several moments until he spoke.
"Bunnie. That's not me. I am with Knuckles and Tails here on the Floating Isle. Whom you see there must be Evil Sonic!"
"Are you shuh? He wasn't dressed in that leather clothin'."
"He's probably planning a sneak attack."
"That doesn't make any sense. His wounds were real. Even according to Dr Quack, DNA structure and everything depicted it was indeed you." Sonic was now terrified. Even Evil Sonic wasn't composed of the exact same DNA as he. But who could? Sonic knew he had no twins or siblings. It would have to be some clone. Then it clicked. LighgreSonic.
"Bunnie… Take my word and trust me that whomever lies in that infirmary bed as my look-a-like is not me. It must be none other than LighgreSonic." Bunnie, now making sense of it all did what was told and organized a transport to the Floating Island.
It didn't take long. The transport arrived and returned back to Knothole with Sonic and Tails. Once they arrived, they saw security teams swarming over the infirmary. Sally was among the first to welcome them back. From the look of it, it appeared that she had no concern over the Sword of Acorns but instead their safety. This relieved Sonic especially yet still in his mind he vowed to return it once again.
"It feels great to be back but… there's still something wrong."
"Yes. We know. Bunnie informed us of Lighgresonic. He's currently still inside there in room 22."
"I'm going in there!"
"No, wait Sonic!" It was too late. As usual, Sonic ignored Sally's request and found himself within the infirmary. Upon arrival of room 22, he slowly opened the door… to find no one. He was gone. Sonic checked high and low to see if he had hidden himself but no avail. He then ran back to Sally and company.
"He's not there!"
"He's got to be!"
"I just checked. He wasn't there!"
"That's impossible we have cameras set up all around the vicinity. We would have seen him escape."
"Yea, well, did you forget that he can move at the speed of light when in his energy form? I doubt that could be detected that easily."
"Anyhow Sonic, how do you plan to beat him?"
"I'll have to go super."
From the top of a nearby cliff, LighgreSonic perched himself and gazed where Sonic stood. With a clenched fist, the clone whispered, "Today, my brethren you will die." In an instant, he was gone.
* * *
That evening, Sonic and Tails wanted to do nothing but relax. They had spend the past week onboard the RSupremor and much of Knothole was curious what they had to share. A campfire was arranged and almost all of Knothole took part in the event.
"So how did your mission go? We want details!" Sally eager asked and demanded.
"Yea and how did you manage to get back here without a ship?" Rotor queried.
"Well, it's a long story really. Once we got to the thing we ran into snags with security almost getting fried by laser beams and green walls of doom." Tails answered.
"Yep. That pretty much sums up the beginnings of it. Later on, we then found the Master Emerald within a huge room except by this time, it was far too hot to bear. Lighthead then offered us a choice. He said that the Star X Conquerors, a race capable of….
Sonic explains their story of the Star X Conquerors and such for the next hour and how they were key to saving the planet as well as the solar system…
"Wow. So you guys weren't able to return with the sword?"
"Afraid not…"
"Don't worry about it. I'm just greatful you're all still alive."
Rotor then began to speak. "Those Star X Conquerors had to be one fearsome race then. Capable of manipulating dimensions like you said. Sounds like one serious trait."
"Tells us about it. They were ugly and we found it very hard to find their weakness with the leader guy able to cloak himself and teleport."
"I'm anxious about their technology."
"I figured that, Rote."
Sally then cut in. "We had problems here as well. For some reason, Rotor is still trying to figure it out. Terrebots like of those we met when we went to assess Robotropolis a month ago came from Robotropolis and attacked Knothole. We did have some warning so we were able to give a decent fight once they came. Unfortunately we did sustain major loss but not within the core group."
"I don't get it. Then how were you able to destroy them all?"
"Well, about half way through, we had some help from someone who calls themselves Trevor. He was human and weld a sword and was able to cast white magic on the terrebots."
"Where is he now?"
"No clue. He came out of nowhere and left the same way. I offered him to join but he declined."
"So Trevor was able to take care of the remaining terrebots?"
"No.I came up with a great plan. We all met at the original Supremor. As it turns out, it had collecting power ever since it crashed and Rotor was able to activate the terminal underneath capable of immense destruction. So we led the terrebots to the site, went inside and unleashed its fury. The rest were toast." Rotor explained.
"I guess we all had quite the week but how were you able to get back exactly?"
"We were able to transport ourselves just by all touching the Master Enerald."
"So that's how you managed to get back. Interesting. I had no clue the Master Emerald was capable of that."
"We didn't know it either. Knuckles decided to test out a theory I guess. Its a good thing it was right."
"That's good to hear." Sally spoke. "That emerald has a lot of history behind it. This is all history that my dad told me of.
Long ago there was a man by the name of Nate Morgan who had forseen of terrible events ahead. Events that would change Earth forever. No one believed him and so he prepared himself by going underground. As it turned out, he was right. These events included a war over Mars and the development of a new super bomb, the chaos bomb. When the war over Mars finally ended in 3012, Mobius was just beginning to take form but it wasn't until 3104 until this planet we're on now was officially named Mobius instead of Earth because of the crash of Mars and its moon, Phobos. Mobos sounded stupid so hence Mobius."
"I remember that. Uncle Chuck explained that but who actually renamed the planet exactly?"
"We did. We evolved from the war. It wasn't the humans. By this time there were very little humans left on the planet. We, being the anthropomorphs had an eager need to get off the planet and goto Mars, the neighboring planet. Earth was its name a thousand years ago."
"So where does the Master Emerald come into all this?"
"Well, as I said, the humans spend decades developing chaos bombs by harnessing emeralds within the Earth's liquid core. What they didn't know was that every fragment they took of was part of a much larger jewel. The Master Emerald."
"So the Master Emerald was originally at the core of Mobius?"
"Yes. It wasn't until around a couple hundred or so years ago that it was removed and taken to the surface. Before, they were worried to remove it because it seemed to create balance on Mobius or gravity. After further study it was determined to be an energy source. Nearly infinite. Because of its unknown properties, it was then incubated on its own separate continent. Otherwise known as Downunda. But after 50 years, strange things began to occur. The ground all around it within a radius of 4 and a half miles began to shift and move. Then, without warning, it uplifted into the air becoming what we know as the Floating Island. Seven shards, in equal size also broke off and were found around the site."
"Ah.. what became the chaos emeralds. So Knuckles knows this?"
"Of course! The succession of guardians integrates shortly after these events. The start of the echidna civilization believed it due to a deity and began to protect the island from whomever trespassed. However, the religion was replaced with fact after each guardian so that's why you don't see Knuckles worshipping anything but he still keeps so that the emerald is not stolen. He's always acted like its capable more than it seems."
"Oh! That's right! On our mission to recover it, the Star X Leader guy said that it was earlier version of the Eraos Emerald, which is what its supposed to evolve into in 30 some billion years."
"Eraos Emerald? Never heard of that. Knux didn't know of the term?"
"Nope."
"And they know of this because they've seen it in the future?"
"I suppose."
"Interesting. I hope they don't find their way here then."
"They better not. We'll be ready if they do."
"I certainly hope not. They're very evil looking. I never ever want to see them again. Oh no! They're still maybe on that ship and preparing to takeover the sun!"
"No, we're safe Tails. The leader was the only one still left on the ship. The Chaos Bomb was able to destroy most of the fleet. He knew that he wouldn't be able to use the sun's power so he went after the Master Emerald."
"So Sonic, you say you already knew some of this information?"
"I remember about the history. I explained some of it when I explained about how I got my speed. In some ways, I'm over 200 years old!"
"Oh yeah. ARC. You said before (HEBM III) you were part of Nate's collection of hedgehogs which were blasted off the planet."
"Yup. According to Uncle Chuck, it was the year right before the war began, 2999. I drifted in space for 3 years before coming back. The chaos radiation made us both blue."
"Did you ever figure who could have sabotaged the ship?" Rotor asked.
"No. My guess is someone who hated Nate with a passion. No clue who. Couldn't of been Buttnik. I'm sure he wasn't around that long ago."
Sally then stepped in, "Robotnik wasn't born until 3187 according to those logs. Anyhow, I'm sure they had villains just as evil as Robotnik was during then."
"Oh? Who back then were capable of building bots to take over the world?"
"I'm not saying by building robots, Sonic but by other means. Chaos Bombs were a big factor back then."
"Yeah, we experienced what exactly they could do up in space."
"Thank goodness we don't have to deal with all blubber bolts anymore." Sonic said.
"Indeed. I never would forgive him for the acts of exiling my father into the Zone of Silence just like that creep, Gore."
"Speaking of Gore, I still assure you that the Sword will be returned. The next time I come across him, I'll will get it back."
"Thank you, Sonic. That sword is the only thing I have left of daddy."
"Huh? I'm confused. I thought you also had pictures and other souvenirs from the past."
"I do but the Sword of Acorns has been passed down our for at least 9 generations. That ninth generation of mine created that sword by merging with the source of all and transforming it into a physical form. He used it in battle in the Great War over Mars battling for our cause. However, he was killed by his appearance. Back then, the mutation due to the chaos bombs was horrendous in appearance because of the lack of predictability and adaptability. By now, it has reached a plateau and we're able to live on with our changes with ease."
"Is that how it got its mystical powers?"
"I actually have no clue."
At that moment, everyone suddenly realized the lateness in the evening. The campfire was extinguished and the fatigued freedom fighters made their way back to their huts. Sally took out Nicole to see what the time was and had a slight shock to see it was past 1:00 am. They had spent nearly five hours discussing past events. Yet something not mentioned at all seemed to be forgotten. Not something from the past but the present rather. Something that was the case that day and it lurked about the village looking for its duplicate.
Upon seeing Sonic about to enter his hut alongside with Tails following a couple footsteps behind from a nearby tree, Lighresonic hopped down, and engaged. To Tails surprise, in less that one nanosecond, his beloved idle was gone. He wasn't in front of him at all or to be seen anywhere around. At first he thought it was just the sleepiness, kicking in playing tricks on his mind but then remembering that a sonic boom was required if Sonic were to suddenly disappear within that single time frame, jarred Tails awake.
"AUNT SALLY! SONIC JUST DISAPPEARED!" Sally quickly ran over to where Tails was not because of impending danger but…
"TAILS! Quiet down! No one is in the mood to be riled up. Anyhow, what happened?"
"Sonic just disappeared! He was walking right in front of me when suddenly the next thing I know, he's gone!" Tails could tell Sally wasn't in the mood for something like this either of course no one really was. Sally pondered whether to just dismiss it decided not to and to press on.
"Was there a sonic boom?"
"Nope."
"Great. OK… I'll see if I can get a search party organized."
Just as the next thing Tails knew Sonic was gone, the next thing Sonic knew was finding himself souring in the air at great speeds parallel to the ground about to smack into a tree. Seeing this, he curled into a ball and braced for impact. If he had not curled into a ball the severity of impact would've been much greater. After hitting the tree, the got himself together and stood upright, gazing his surroundings.
"Lighgresonic…" he whispered. "I know that was you." An instant later came a punch straight on, knocking him back but not over. Sonic quickly turned around but didn't see anything. He was moving too fast.
"He must be in his light form." Sonic thought to himself. "Hmm… now if he's a clone of me, he must know everything I'm capable of. Therefore I must be able to know what he is. The only problem is this ability of him." Sonic then suffered a punch to the side, sending him sprawling.
"But if he has the same characteristics of me… Of course! He'll attack my right side next. Just as I would in battle." Assuming this, Sonic suddenly held out his right hand, balled into a fist with stunning results. The light form of Lighgresonic became visible with a transparent yellow hue and dropped to the ground. Sonic realized that he was not restricted to just the left hand to harm Lighgresonic because of lighrecization he had even though the Master Emerald restored him to normal.
Lighgresonic (LS) then picked himself up and reverted to his physical form. Hand to hand combat then engaged. After a few more punches were thrown, LS drilled underground. Sonic knew what to expect. He jumped into the air ready for him to come back up. Once he did, Sonic spin dashed into him, sending LS back to the ground, eating dirt. LS, beginning to get up, appeared very angry. With a smirk on his face, he disappeared and reappeared behind Sonic and rammed him, using as much force as possible with both fists clenched together. This disoriented Sonic, sending him at least 80 ft.
"This is just great. I can't beat him like this." Sonic began to get up and noticed lights and noises overhead. "It's the others! They knew I was missing. That's good." Sonic saw Rotor's SOS pod with Tails, Rotor and Sally. Sonic then made every effort to get there. Yet so did LS except he wasn't after escaping. Instead he saw the shiny light spectrum jewels known as the chaos emeralds.
"Here he comes, Tails. Once Sonic gets here, give him the chaos emeralds."
"Huh? I see Sonic coming from over here though!" Tails said pointing out the window opposite from where the door had opened.
"Oh no! Which one is which!" It was too late. LS got there first and took hold of the emeralds.
"Sonic, is that you?"
No answer.
"If it is, use those to transform and defeat LS!" After a little while nothing happened. LS stood there dumbfounded that he was not able to transform. Everyone then knew that was the cloned imposter.
A revving up noise could be heard from in front of the craft.
"Sonic!"
After a few seconds, LS turned to see his mirror image collide into him. This caused him to drop all of the emeralds but scattered all around. Even without them, he went off to do battle once again. LS, still recovering, was shocked to see his foe so quickly. LS revved up in place this time, building up speed in his light form. At this rate, he would go even faster than 3x the speed of light. In a desperate need to stop LS, Sonic saw the green chaos emerald by his foot. Just when he thought LS was finished, he grabbed hold, summoned a chaos control and transported to where the others were, The action appeared instantaneous. LS had intended to knock Sonic into space but missed, sending himself. After gathering the other emeralds, Sonic and company went to gain some long awaited sleep.
