Under cover of darkness, a trio of figures concealed in shadow approach a shrine on the center of Angel Island. The air was filled with a dead silence as they approached a large green emerald surrounded by a rippling pool of blue water. Three echidnas walked into the light from the many torches that surrounded the massive gem, they were the council elders that ruled the island.
"Are you sure that this is necessary?" Kyiel said stepping into the light his muscular stature being silhouetted against the light
"Positive, we must call upon its power to stop him." Rhiel said stepping up as well into the light
"How can you be sure he is one of the Ancients that once dwelt upon the island all those ages ago?" Kyiel's voice hinted a tiny bit of concern as he saw the gem begin to pulse steadily at their presence
"He's right, none of us has ever seen one of them before." Opya said as she came up behind Kyiel nearly startling him
"True, but the old texts describe them clearly enough to figure out what they looked like." Rhiel said circling the emerald gazing into its polished surface at his reflection
"Then let's summon the guardian at get this over with." Opya said taking a stand across the emerald from Rhiel with Kyiel following suit
"Ancient guardian we command you! come forth!" They all chanted in sync, their voices echoing into the night. The master emerald began pulsing rapidly, and released a quick earsplitting shriek as the water surrounding it bubbled fiercely as if boiling, and then it spilled over and flowed to the bottom of the steps and began to take form.
The figure shaped itself into a somewhat bipedal form, that although its body seemed slightly shapeless, it was quite functional. It was a blue skinned creature with bright, glowing, jade colored eyes, it turned and faced it's would be masters and glared at them coldly with its faceless features.
"You are needed to perform a task that hasn't been necessary for hundreds of upon hundreds of years." Rhiel said walking towards the steps, stopping safely at the top of them only about a dozen or so from the strange being. The creature simply turned its back on him and gazed absentmindedly at the surrounding shrine.
"I see you've noticed that your emeralds are missing." Opya said walking forward a bit, as they all watched the blue form pacing slowly around the shrine, "Well we're also missing something, for you see, the princess is gone as well." She said
The creature stopped, and turned to look over its shoulder at her, listening more intently.
"I thought you'd like to know that she's been kidnapped by possibly the last remaining of the demons that you had fought against in the ancient wars; after all, you were pretty close friends...Chaos."
The last comment seemed to have made him angry, especially since his closest friend had been kidnapped by one of his most hated enemies.
"So are you going to go after them? I'm sure that the emeralds will turn up in your quest since he was the one that forced the princess to take the emeralds from the sacred shrine without anyone noticing."
Chaos stood still for a moment and then turned quickly and headed off to bring back the princess and the chaos emeralds, all that could be seen was a small flood of water heading of noisily through the forest, crashing through the underbrush and knocking over some of the more flimsy trees.
"Rhiel do you think it is wise to have told him such lies just to infuriate him?" Opya asked only to get a small chuckle in return.
"Of course it was," he walked down the rest of the steps, "His blind wrath will ensure that we get efficient results; Phoenix will be killed, the emeralds will be returned, and the princess..."
"What about her?" Kyiel asked confused about the sudden silence
"The princess needs to be replaced by someone more responsible and more in control." Opya said walking up behind Rhiel and placing her arms around him, "I think I would be better suited for the position don't you?" she whispered in his ear, "Or better yet, queen." She said seductively
"The princess will be dealt with 'properly' when she is returned, and Angel Island will have its queen for the coming take over once Robotnik is killed when out plan is executed."
"Rhiel, if we were going to do something about Robotnik why didn't we just listen to the princess in the first place?" Kyiel asked as he watched the two flirting, "She seems to have had some idea about what's going on down on the ground." He continued
"Because...we're in charge not her, I hope you realize that and will be taking part in the plan."
"...I see; I will be present for your little plan." Kyiel said walking off towards the palace, "I hope you two are happy with yourselves." He whispered as he left
"I don't think he can be trusted." Opya said
"If the need should arise we shall deal with him as well." Rhiel said sinisterly
Back in Casinopolis outside of a rather sleazy looking bar, Shadow trails his two targets at every step they take. He had been slipping through the dense crowds, much to his displeasure, to keep from being noticed; but had nearly lost track of Phoenix and Tik'al when they walked into a bar.
"I'd better contact Rouge and let her know she's got company." He said turning a corner and walking into a dark ally and turning on his small handheld radio "Rouge are you there?"
"Yeah, what's going on?" she said over the other end
"I hate to tell you this, but they just went into a bar."
"What's so bad about that? Just follow them."
"Well I would, but I thought I'd give you a chance to do it yourself."
"You know I can't do that, I'm undercover right now working in a bar myself."
"Well that's what I meant."
"I think you lost me right there."
"Well let's just say that you've got some new customers."
"They're in here?"
"Yup, and they're you're problem now."
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Taking a break, see you later." Shadow said as he clicked off the radio and walked off, "Think I'll get a drink." He said laughing
Back inside of the bar, Phoenix and Tik'al were exploring city life. The smells of smoke and alcohol permeated the air, and the thick haze of white made it hard to see.
"What is this place?" Tik'al asked as she gazed around the room at all the unfamiliar scenes and disturbing acts
"Well it reminds me of a bar I was in earlier, before I met you." I said as she continued clinging to my arm
"I can't believe you've been to a place like this before, why didn't you tell me what this place was?"
"Well you picked it out." I glanced around the room looking at all the 'exotic' dancers and such, while I was looking I eyed the sign and saw the name of the place, 'hmm, Devil's Den, that's an interesting name for a club I suppose.'
"You know I've never been out like this before, anyway stop staring so hard at everyone."
"Huh? Stop doing what?" I said playing dumb
"You heard me."
"Can we sit down while you're yelling at me about this?" I said walking towards an empty table
"I'm not yelling." She said raising her voice slightly
"I'm sitting down, you can finish talking to me over here." I said sitting down at a booth in a darker corner of the club to avoid the blinding strobe lights
"Why don't we leave and go someplace a little more.... pleasant?"
"I would but this is most likely a place where we could find some important information."
"Like what?"
"Just relax, I'm looking around to see if I see anyone who might know something."
"If by that you mean staring at women, then that's what it looks like you're doing."
"Now that's not fair, you just assume because I'm looking around it means that I'm looking at them."
"Aren't you?"
"Well...hey wait a minute, why do you even care anyway? Are you jealous or something because I'm not looking at you that way?"
"...I think you've missed the point."
"No I think I'm pretty close to it, you're just jealous." I said as I looked toward the bar and saw a white bat woman working the counter
"I'm not jealous, I just think you should be paying attention to something other than women." Tik'al said crossing her arms angrily
'Hmm, I wonder who that is? She doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the people in this club, it's like an ocean in the desert, it doesn't make sense.' I thought as I began running through all the files in my head, only to come up empty
"Anyway who could you possibly know here that has any useful information?" Tik'al asked
"Well I'm not sure," I said trying to scan the room for anything strange when I detected a strange signal being transmitted from the counter, or more specifically that women that was there, "I'm sure something will turn up though, just be ready to leave, in a real hurry if need be."
"What for?"
"I can't exactly say yet, but just to be on the safe side you should be ready for anything." I said noticing that she was looking right towards the table
"I'm not a soldier or something, I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to be expecting like you are."
"A soldier? Hmm." I thought about what she said for a moment and had another strange vision; it was of a battlefield with soldiers covering it and the sound of combat could be heard echoing through the air. I saw a blinding flash of light and saw myself, I was fighting with what looked like the warriors from Angel Island; in fact it was on an island. I saw the edge of the island where the water meets the land and noticed we weren't in Angel Island, but some other strange place. The perspective changed again and I was standing among the warriors on the ground, surrounded by the dead and dying. I looked towards the distance and saw the temple from some of the other visions I've had, and then I saw an explosion of black light flow from the temple, streams of black energy tore through the waves of soldiers, piercing their bodies and burning them alive. After seeing that I had the urge to run towards the temple, I wasn't sure why, but I just ran, and saw another flash of light and then the vision faded.
"Phoenix!"
"Who's that?" I said hazily, rubbing my eyes to clear my vision
"What do you mean, who's that?" I heard a familiar voice say
"Tik'al?"
"Who else?"
"What happened to me?"
"I don't know, but someone is coming this way, you need to wake up already." She said as I focused on a form walking towards the table, "and besides, you're not very intimidating in your sleep."
My eyes adjusted and I saw the woman from the bar taking a seat in a chair across the table from us. She placed three glasses on the table, possibly something alcoholic, and picked up one of the glasses for herself and took a sip from it.
"So what brings you two here?" she said with a rather saucy voice
"I could ask you the same question, seeing as how you picked this table out of all others to come to." I said gesturing towards the rest of the building.
"Well neither of you look like you're from around here, so I thought you two might like a drink."
"I don't exactly care for the stuff," I said remember that fact that I can't really taste anything anyway, "but thanks all the same."
"What about your little girlfriend there, hmm?"
"I think you're confused, she's just my friend." I said stressing the last word
"Well if you're not going to drink yours I'll just drink mine then." Tik'al said picking up one of the tall, slender crystal glasses and cautiously taking a small sip from it.
"Don't drink that!" I said surprised at how careless she was being, "it could have poison in it or something."
"Well it doesn't, so don't worry." The strange woman said leaning forward on her hand and looking me over
"What's your name anyway?" I asked watching her carefully
"Rogue, what about the two of you?"
"That's not really that important is it?" I said thinking that we should try and keep a low profile
"You're rather secretive, must be because you're criminals or something dangerous like that? Maybe you're with the freedom fighters or something like that?" she said smiling
"Of course not." I said confidently
"Well then why not tell me what your name is, hmm?"
"It's none of anyone's business."
"How about I take a guess then?" she finished off the rest of her drink and leaned forward a bit, "Maybe your name starts with the letter...p?"
"Stop doing that."
"Ah, so I'm getting somewhere." She said giggling a bit
"Just luck."
"Hmm, what about the next letters; h...o...e..."
"What do you want?"
"n...i...x..."
I remained silent for a moment wondering on how she would even know something like that.
"You work for Robotnik don't you?" Tik'al said speaking up
"Your little friend's a smart girl."
"Yeah, she is." I said looking around the room to see if anyone else was watching us, "but that's besides the point, do you work for Robotnik?"
"What if I did?"
"Well if you know my name then you must know who she is then."
"Princess Tik'al." she said quietly, just enough for us to hear
"Then you know that I'm very dangerous."
"Oh really?"
"I might have to ensure that our presence isn't made know as much as possible." I said holding up my left hand near her face and unsheathing my claws, "If you know what I mean."
"Attacking me would only make you that much more obvious, not exactly a smart idea."
"I'm not one for bright ideas, I'm more about rash actions and such." I said putting my hand down
"Apparently you're just the muscle and she's the brains, am I right?"
"Looks like she got us figured." Tik'al said laughing a bit
"You're not getting drunk, are you?"
"I'm not even sure." She said laughing a bit more
"I guess that's a yes." Rogue said
"Poor girl, can't exactly hold her liquor now can she?"
"I think you should stop drinking that." I said reaching for the glass she was holding
"I'm fine." She said pulling the glass out of my grasp, "and I'm not drunk, just a little dizzy."
"Whatever."
"You're very protective of her, aren't you?" Rogue said
"Of course."
"That's real chivalrous of you."
"I still don't know exactly who you are."
"Well if you must know," She said reaching out and pulling my face closer to hers, "I'm a spy; but not for Robotnik, I'm actually spying on him and I've got some connections within his 'inner circle' in a matter of speaking."
"Is that so?"
"I've heard quite a bit about you, maybe you could use some help."
"Why should we trust you?"
"Phoenix." Tik'al said leaning over and wrapping her arms around me, "you shouldn't be so suspicious of everyone, besides we need all the help we can get."
I heard Rogue laughing a bit and turned to see why.
"What's so funny?"
"That looks like a bit more than just friends to me, don't you think?"
"Anyway," I said becoming slightly embarrassed from the comment, "I'll need some sort of proof that you're even trustworthy."
"Hmm, well that is a problem isn't it?" she leaned back for a moment and seemed to be thinking, "Well how about you take this key and head over to the nearest hotel and I'll meet you there later to discuss some things." She said taking out a small, silver key with a tag on it and sliding it across the table toward me
"How do I know that's not a trap?" I said leaning back, "What if a bunch of those mechanical soldiers is here waiting for me and you're just trying to lead them to me; after all I did see a few other airships here."
"Why would I do that? I could just have had this place surrounded while talking to you...that is if I were working to do such a thing,"
"She has a point you know." Tik'al said, still under the affects of whatever it was she had drank
"You're not in your right mind at the moment, so..."
"Is that supposed to mean my opinion doesn't matter or something?" Tik'al interrupted
"Only when you're drunk; besides, this is a complex situation." I said, feeling like we were being watched again like in the forest
"Well if you're done arguing, I'll be going back undercover now," Rouge said getting up from the table, "But when you get the chance, make sure you stop by the address on that key." She said as she walked off into the crowd and back to the bar
"So what are we going to do now?" Tik'al said nudging me in the side with her elbow
"Why ask me? You're the one that said I shouldn't be so suspicious of people."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well I'm sure that you wanted to go and see what she wanted to talk to us before we do anything else." Holding up the key
"Of course I do, but that doesn't mean I don't think you should be on your guard like you always are."
"But you just said earlier about me being so suspicious of people, that's really how I stay alert you know."
"Well don't make it so obvious then." Standing up, wobbling a bit from the drink
"Whatever, let's go before you pass out on the ground and I have to carry you around town." I said standing up and taking her hand as I headed for the door
"I'm not a child, you don't have to walk me around like this." Tik'al said pulling her hand away from mine
"Yeah, why not let the little lady alone?" said a rather gruff voice from behind me
"Right, we'll be takin' real good care of her for ya'." Another voice said
I turned and saw two mobians had snuck up behind me in the bad lighting and loud music, my eyes adjusted a bit to reveal that they were both wolves. The larger one of them walked past me and began circling Tik'al, eyeing her while the other gave me a shove towards the exit.
"Why don't you forget about that guy and come with the two of us, huh sweetie?"
"I'd rather not." Tik'al said trying to walk away from him only to be pulled back roughly
"I don't think so," he pulled her closer to him, "I think you'll be coming with us and showing me and my friend here a good time." He said reaching out his other hand and brushing it against her chest
"Phoenix, help me!" Tik'al said
"Let go of her." I said stepping towards the wolf that was grabbing Tik'al only to be blocked by the other one
"Where do you think you're going?" he said showing his teeth and popping his knuckles
"Right through you if you don't stand aside." Bracing myself for an attack of some sort
"I'd like to see you try it!" he said growling loudly enough to get the attention of the majority of the other customers dancing and mingling around us
"I intend to." I said clenching my fists as a large crowd of spectators began to surround us, egging my opponent on with random taunts and whistles
"Let's go then!" he said taking a swing at me, only to have his jaw meet with the end of my fist as I moved to the side. He was knocked back a few steps and left a bit staggered with a thin trail of blood trickling from his mouth
"Care for another? Or have I made my point?" I said unsheathing my claws
"Don't tell me you need help taking down this weakling?" the larger wolf said, as he managed to pull himself away from Tik'al
"I don't need your help! He jus' caught me off guard." He said looking over his shoulder
"Sounds like a good idea." I said lifting him up before he turned around and throwing him into the crowd, knocking over several of them and breaking a table, "Looks like your friend isn't going to be needing you help after all." I said grinning a bit, somewhat enjoying the fight for some reason
"You're going to be needing help after I get through with you!" he said charging me snarling
"Damn." I tried to move but his shoulder drove into my ribs and sent the both of us to the ground, much to the amusement of the growing crowd
"Now I got you!" the wolf said reaching out trying to choke me
"Get off me!" I said grabbing his wrists and kicking him off of me, and then I rolled over and slashed him across the throat and chest with my claws, cutting deep trenches in his flesh leaving bloody trails
The crowd backed away very quickly after such a sight; I stood up and glanced over at the other wolf that I threw earlier and saw that he was headed right for me in a blind rage, just as the other one had.
'Too easy.' I thought as I kicked out my foot and made him loose his footing and stumble forward enough for me to rake both sets of claws across his back, the sound of flesh being torn and muscle tearing could be heard as the razor-sharp points dragged down spraying blood onto the floor 'Maybe I should just kill the both of them...' I looked at the both of them, they were both sprawled out onto the floor with their blood pooling around their bodies, "T-They're already dead..." I whispered under my breath as I backed away from the corpses, feeling slightly disgusted with myself.
"Phoenix." I turned hearing Tik'al say my name; her face was a mixture of fear, sorrow, and confusion. I turned and walked toward the door, the crowd quickly and quietly parting as I left back into the deafening sound of the city
As I walked down the sidewalk I had become aware of the fact that I left Tik'al, or so I had thought as I looked over my shoulder and saw her walking up behind me.
"Phoenix." She said gently
"...Yeah." I wanted to just ignore her, mostly because I already knew what she was going to ask me
"Why did..."
"Don't." I cut her off
"But..."
"Just don't, alright." I said walking a bit faster
"You don't even know what I was going to say." She said matching my pace
"I have a pretty good idea." I said looking at an upcoming sign, the burning neon light making me squint
"Do you have an answer to go with it?"
I walked for a few more steps and stopped to lean against the wall of the building the sign was attached to, "No," I sighed deeply, "But you know what?" I said clenching my fists; the blood on my hands was already beginning to dry in the slightly brisk air
"What?"
"Doing that felt...right for some reason; I'm not sure if I was trying to protect you or if I was just doing that just because back there."
"You seem to act more on instinct than anything."
"True." I leaned my head back and looked at the sky, from here I couldn't even see it's true color, all I could see was a blackish red-orange from the combination of smoke and city lights, "Something about it though, it just seemed like the right thing to do."
"Everyone has their faults." She said joining me in looking up at the sky, "Yours are just a little bit...well; I really don't know what to say to something like that really."
"I don't either."
"You know, with you thinking about things out loud like this, having a enlightened moment of thought and all, it makes me feel uncomfortable."
"Why's that?"
"I liked it better when you made silly jokes and comments, they put me at ease and really give me a sense of security, like everything's going to be all right as long as you're not being to serious about it."
"Hmm, sense of security, huh?" I smiled and looked back down on her, "You're just saying that because you've sobered up a bit, aren't you?" I said continuing down the sidewalk with Tik'al following right beside me
So how's that for a new chapter? Not sure how good it is if at all, besides the things I feel are wrong with it...oh well read and review.