Sega owns Sonic and ARC. Drake and Ruth are mine. Let's cut to the chase.
I won't waste time with any explanation.
Thanks to those that reviewed. I admit, this story was written a year ago, and it isn't my best work. I tried to make it seem more like the cut scenes of a game, so that element kind of suppressed my creativity. Please bear with it. I'm working on a sort-of sequel to this story, which so far has been much better.
Chapter 15: Attack of Proto II
The deformed, grayish blob in the tube was beginning to grow as it absorbed the power of the Chaos Medallions. It grew a long neck with a round head on top, and long, pointed ears protruding from the sides. Its arms grew in sharp claw-like talons, and it developed powerful back forelegs like a rabbit. Long bat wings folded over its back. The creature finally opened its red slit eyes and bared pointed red teeth.
"Ah ha!" Eggman cackled. "Proto II is about to be unleashed!" He looked up at the tube. "I am your creator's grandson and your master. Come and we will rule the…aaaaugh!"
The creature broke the glass of its tube and knocked Eggman to the ground with one mighty swing of a talon. Proto II stepped out of the container and advanced towards Eggman in vengeance. The frightened evil scientist ran from the room yelling, "No! Don't hurt me!"
There was a minute of complete silence after Eggman left. Drake, still on the floor, held his breath in terror. Slowly, Proto II turned its head and chose its next target- Sonic and his friends!
A powerful blast erupted from the creature's eyes. Sonic and Amy just barely got away in time.
"What are we going to do?" Tails cried, clutching Sonic's spines in fear.
Knuckles ran forward in determination. "I'll tell ya what we're gonna do," he said. "You stay here. I'll get rid of this guy."
Rouge looked worried. "Are you sure, Knuckles? That guy looks really powerful. You could get hurt…"
Knuckles nodded. "Aw, he ain't that strong. I'll get rid of it, just like that." He stepped up to the monster, ready for battle. "Alright," he whispered, "Let's see what you can do."
Proto II swiped at Knuckles with its talon, but he was too fast and easily dodged it. In mid-air, the red echidna dove towards the monster, driving the spikes of his knuckles into the creature's flesh.
It stretched, just like rubber, and flung him backwards. Proto II didn't seem fazed a bit. It bared its teeth and growled, as if it were laughing at him.
Knuckles grew frustrated and enraged. He unloaded a flurry of punches on Proto II, but still didn't do any good. The monster swiped him away and the battle continued.
As the attacks persisted, Drake got up off the floor and quietly made his way around to where Sonic and crew were standing. He sighed as he watched Knuckles trying to fight off Proto II.
Look at him, he thought. That should be me. I'm such a terrible keeper; this is all my fault! Here I am, just standing here. I just wish there were some way to make up for it…
By now, Knuckles was getting visibly tired. He huffed and puffed, but still glared up at Proto II with determination.
Sonic called out to him to stop and that he would never beat the monster alone, but Knuckles was too stubborn to listen. He wanted to prove to them that he could handle a monster this size.
Proto II had just about had it with fighting with this fierce little creature and planned to get rid of him right now. It unleashed another one of those powerful blasts from its mouth.
Knuckles wasn't expecting this. He lunged to the side to try to avoid the explosion, but half of it hit his legs, and he crumpled to the ground as pain shot through his body. Knuckles kneeled on the floor and tried to stand up, but his damaged legs just collapsed again. As he struggled, Proto II formed another blast.
The moment seemed to pass in slow motion. The blast shot out towards Knuckles.
Sonic's eyes widened. "Knuckles, look out!" he yelled.
Rouge shrieked and covered her eyes.
Knuckles looked up, but it was too late and the blast was nearly upon him.
Drake's blue eyes glittered. A black streak zoomed up just in front of the blast. The bright light of the explosion blinded Knuckles for a moment. Drake's body rocketed backwards and fell just at his feet.
Proto II closed its mouth, turned around, and flew up out of the building, off to destroy the rest of the city.
"Oh my God!" Tails cried. "Drake…!"
Knuckles caught his breath again and pulled Drake's body towards him. The black echidna's eyes were closed and a huge, bleeding gash ripped across his chest. Knuckles gently nudged him. "Drake? Are…are you alive? Can you hear me?"
Drake's eyes opened just a tiny bit and his face twisted in a pained expression. Knuckles looked in confusion and fascination. "Wha…Why did you save my life like that? I was mad at you before."
Drake slowly smiled. "Y-You may not understand what I'm saying, b-but… If I can't be a good keeper myself, the least I could do was protect the life of a good keeper, so he can continue to defend the worlds…" Drake's eyes closed again, and his head fell back against Knuckles' chest.
Knuckles reached forward and pressed his hands against his wound, trying to slow the bleeding, not caring if his gloves got stained with blood.
Slowly, Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Rouge stepped up next to them. "Is he going to be okay?" Tails asked, fearfully.
"I'm not sure," Knuckles said. "This wound is pretty bad. We should take him to a hospital."
Sonic shook his head, sadly. "Now that Proto II is loose, he's destroying everything. There probably aren't any hospitals left standing." There was period of solemn silence.
Drake's face grew pale and Knuckles felt his breath weaken. Knuckles held his breath. C'mon, Drake, he thought. Don't die; please don't die. You can make it. Slowly, Knuckles began to shake and the shining Master Emerald lifted from his body. This is no good, he thought. The Master Emerald can't heal him.
As he looked down at Drake's body, he was surprised to see the green light emanating from him. The light grew brighter and brighter. Knuckles closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he gasped.
Sonic, Amy, Tails, and Rouge gasped. "Ch-Chaos Medallion?" Sonic said.
A gigantic green medallion hung in the air. It shined with intensity greater than the other Chaos Medallions. The green light from the Master Emerald joined with the light of the medallion. The light washed over Drake's body.
Knuckles' purple eyes widened. Slowly, he removed his hands to find that the wound on Drake's chest had completely closed up, not even leaving a scar. Color filtered back into Drake's face. His eyes fluttered and then opened halfway, but that was perfectly normal for him.
"Drake!" Tails cried. "You're okay!"
Drake slowly sat up and looked around. "I don't believe it…" he whispered. He stood up and looked over at the floating medallion, then down at Knuckles' bloodstained gloves, and finally up at the floating Master Emerald. A little smile formed on his face. "Is that the Great Emerald?"
Knuckles stood up next to him. "No, it's the Master Emerald. I've been guarding it my entire life, I guess. It can control the powers of the Chaos Emeralds."
Drake continued to smile. He stepped up to the green medallion. "This is the Great Medallion. I've been guarding it my entire life. It can control the powers of the Chaos Medallions."
Sonic nodded. "I get it now. The Chaos Medallions are like counterparts of the Chaos Emeralds. But, how could they have healed you like that?"
"The Master Emerald and Great Medallion were meant to keep the peace and control the other emeralds and medallions so they didn't get out of control. You don't see the word "chaos" in their names, do you? They must have had some reason for saving my life. If I wasn't a good keeper, they would've let me die." Drake sighed. "I would explain, but we don't have much time. Proto II is out there destroying the city."
"What can we do?" Tails asked. He looked around. "Oh!" The little fox lit up with an idea and ran over to the broken tube in the center of the room. He pulled a Chaos Emerald out of its groove. "Proto II only absorbed the emeralds' power for a while. Their power is starting to come back now." He ran around the tube, plucking the emeralds out. "Sonic, you can transform into Super Sonic and defeat that beast!"
Sonic looked down at the Chaos Emeralds. "But, Tails…do you think I stand a chance? I won't be as strong with the Chaos Emeralds at only a fraction of full power."
Tails looked worried. "I know, but this is our only chance. You have to try it."
Sonic picked up the Chaos Emeralds and they began to spin around him. In a brilliant display of light, his skin turned bright golden yellow, his eyes glowed red, and his quills pointed up at the ends with the ultimate power of the Chaos Emeralds. He had become Super Sonic once again. Super Sonic was about to fly out to see if he could defeat Proto II, when a voice stopped him.
"Hey wait a sec," Amy said. She stepped up to the monitor with the slots and pulled the seven Chaos Medallions out. "What about the Chaos Medallions? If they're the counterparts of the Chaos Emeralds, wouldn't they also make someone turn super?"
Super Sonic came back down and hovered in the air.
"I never thought of that…" Tails admitted.
Drake stepped up beside Amy. "The answer is sort of yes. I need to see those for a moment…"
Amy handed the medallions to Drake and they began to make a circle around him, like they had before. He began his incantation, calling out their names, and then saying, "Supreme morphing power forged by the great wizards of Angel Island, lend me your assistance! To keep the peace in our worlds, grant me your utmost strength!"
A brilliant light surrounded Drake, the Chaos Medallions spun around, and in a shower of sparkles, he transformed. His skin had turned shiny silver, his eyes were aqua green, and his dreadlocks curled up at the ends. Both his dreadlocks and the white crescent on his chest were accented by black streaks.
Tails gasped. "It's Super Drake!"
The transformed Drake hovered up to him and shook his head. "No. I'm Ultra Drake. A transformation using the Chaos Emeralds is a Super transformation. A transformation using the Chaos Medallions is an Ultra transformation."
Super Sonic looked over him. "So, Ultra Drake, what do you say we get rid of this destructive monster, Proto II."
Ultra Drake smiled. "The worlds don't have to end, we can do this!" The two transformed friends flew up into the sky, and out of the building.
Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Rouge all watched them as they went. "Well," Knuckles said, "It's all up to them now."