Gamer the great is back and ready for another exciting chapter of Espio's Little Sister! Don't forget to check out me and Skye's newest Sonic joint fic! As usual… Sega owns Sonic, Tails, Knux and everyone else… not Gamer… Skye owns Espirit, Phantom, Firethroat, and Bluebell… not Gamer… I own the compy I'm typing this on… but that's about it…
Chapter 4:
The Seer, Phantom
Quiet weeping was the only sound heard inside Eggman's dark and gloomy dungeon. Espirit was locked inside a small cage, clutching her new friend, Bluebell close.
"I'm scared, Bluebell…" Espirit sobbed. "I wish my brother was here…"
"It's okay Espirit…" Bluebell said in a calming voice. "We'll get out of here… somehow…"
The bars of the cage where made of titanium and were too close together for Bluebell to squeeze though. All hope seemed lost for the two. Suddenly, Eggman slammed the door to the dark room open and walked in.
"Oh-no…" Espirit whispered to Bluebell. "It's that dumb fat man… hurry and…" She looked around her cage, Bluebell was already gone. "Hide?"
"Well now…" Eggman said as he looked into the cage. "How a little brat like you can summon the most powerful monsters in the world is beyond me." Espirit stuck her tongue out at him and blew a raspberry. Eggman's smile dropped. "Why you little…" Just as he was about to finish his statement, he noticed that the little blue fairy was gone. "Alright, runt. Where is she?"
"Who?" Espirit asked innocently.
"Don't play dumb! Where's the Chaos Beast?"
"Not here!" Espirit shrugged her shoulders.
"Grrrr…" Eggman got frustrated and kicked the cage, causing it to tip over, along with Espirit.
"Whoa!" She squealed. When the cage hit the ground, she groaned in pain. "Ouch… you're mean!" She started to cry very loudly. "Wahhhhhhhh!"
Eggman quickly covered his ears. "Shut up, you little crybaby!" Just like that, Espirit stopped crying and pouted angrily. Eggman saw the other thing in the cage. Espirit's toy dog, Pudgy. "Ahh! She's hiding in that toy!"
Espirit grabbed Pudgy and clutched it tight in her arms. "No! You're not taking Pudgy!"
"Give it here!" Eggman opened the cage and tried to snatch Pudgy away. But Espirit kept a tight grip and wouldn't let go. After a few moments of struggling between the two, the toy's seems started to come apart, exposing a pair of small wings among the cotton inside. "Aha!" Eggman reached inside and grabbed the little fairy in a tight grip, almost squeezing her.
"Let her go!" Espirit screamed. She pulled Eggman's arm inside the cage and bit it.
"YEOOOOW!!!" Eggman dropped the toy and Bluebell. Bluebell then flew as fast as she could out of the room.
"Be careful Bluebell!!!" Espirit shouted before Eggman shut her cage and locked it.
"When I find that fairy…" Eggman said angrily. "You two are going to be in so much trouble!" He then walked out of the room and sealed the door shut.
Espirit felt more worry about her little friend. "Please be careful.…"
Back in the jungle, Sonic, Knux, Tails, Vector and Charmy were going from tree to ditch looking for Espirit. Espio, however, was still angry with her, so he just stuck around the plane. Suddenly, Vector barged in, nearly smashing the wall with the door.
"Okay, Mr. Detective!" Vector said glaring at him. "Why not make yourself useful and help us look for her?"
"You're wasting your time…" Espio said. "She's probably hiding somewhere in the plane, trying to get attention."
"What if she's not!?" Knux walked in. "What if she's lost in the jungle? What if she's in trouble? Why not act like a big brother and find her?"
Espio didn't budge. Even though he seemed uncaring for her, in his mind and heart, he was deeply concerned. After a while of searching the jungle as thoroughly as possible, his friends returned to the plane, their search in vain.
"What if she's not even on the island anymore?" Tails said worriedly.
"I don't think she'd get too far without a plane or boat." Sonic explained. "But what if she's hurt somewhere?"
"Espio's no help…" Charmy said. "He won't even move!"
"He chose a good time to be a jacka…" Before he could finish, the manic laughter of a familiar foe interrupted him. Suddenly, a little flying creature carrying a TV monitor flew up to Espio. It was Eggman's messenger, Bokkun.
"Hey there, Espio!" Bokkun hovered in front of him. "Special message from Eggman!"
"Eggman?!" His name was shouted by everyone in that room, except Bokkun and Espio, who stared at the blank screen with determination.
Suddenly, the screen blinked on, showing Eggman's face on it. "Hope you're getting this, Espio…" He grinned evilly. "If I'm not mistaken, you're looking for someone, aren't you? Think I forgot about the little Chameleon who got away those years ago? Well guess what… I found her!" Eggman took a step to the left, showing what was behind him.
"Espirit!" Espio shouted out loud. Espirit was on screen, locked in a small glass chamber. She was trembling with fright.
"This little girl is your sister…" Eggman laughed sinisterly. "And if you ever want to see her again, alive… you and your idiotic friends will surrender to me every Chaos Emerald you have! If you refuse… then I'm afraid it'll be the end for her!" Eggman laughed more as he shut off the screen.
"Bye bye!" Bokkun laughed as the TV blew up in Espio's face. He quickly flew out of the plane and back towards Eggman's base.
Espio sat there, covered in black soot, and burning with anger. He got up and ran out of the plane at full speed. He was determined to reach Espirit in time.
Charmy looked at Vector with a smirk. "Looks like he does care about her…" Vector looked surprised. "I guess I owe ya 5 bucks…"
All of Eggman's robots were on alert to patrol the base for the missing Chaos Beast, Bluebell. The little fairy had been successful in evading capture for some time now, but she's already had too many close calls.
Her little blue eyes looked all over the base, until she saw a door that looked like it led to the outside. "Don't worry, Espirit!" She thought to herself. "I'll find someone to help!"
She fluttered her little wings and flew towards the door. But her flight was cut off when she crashed into the head of a robot. After regaining flight, she saw the robot turn and stare at her.
"TARGET…SIGHTED…" The robot pointed it's guns at Bluebell.
The fairy quickly flew out of range. She turned down several corridors and hallways. When she turned to see if the robot was still chasing her, she saw that 4 more robots had joined the pursuit. The fired their guns at her. A flood of ammo and fire surrounded Bluebell, threatening to shoot her down.
After a while of chasing, the robots lost sight of her. She was too fast for them and had escaped. Bluebell saw that the door to freedom was just ahead. She fluttered her wings even faster. But just as she got to the door, a bullet from nowhere hit her in the side.
"AHHH!" She crashed on the hard, cold floor. She tried hard to fly back up, but her wings refused to move. She looked up and saw one of Eggman's robots, as well as Eggman standing next to it.
Eggman laughed evilly as he grabbed the fairy in his hand and held her in a tight grip. "Going somewhere little Chaos Beast?"
"Let me go!" Bluebell tried to pry herself free, but Eggman's grip was too tight. "The other Chaos Beasts will stop you! Just wait!"
Eggman laughed at her. "Why would they? Soon, they'll all be under my control!" Eggman walked down the hall with Bluebell in hand. "Remember!" He shouted to the robot. "When you see Espio and his friends enter, destroy all of them!"
Meanwhile, Espio was leading his friends through the many twists and turns of the White Jungle. He was running at full speed, plus more. He was even out running Sonic. Determined to find his sister, he ran deeper into the jungle.
"Can't believe Eggman would hold a little girl hostage!" Tails said as he used his two tails to fly in the sky.
"He's reached a new low!" Sonic said. "But he ain't gonna have her for long!"
"Yo Espio!" Vector shouted as he tried to keep up with everyone. "Any idea where you think Eggman's base is?!"
"We'll find it!" Espio shouted back. "No matter how long it takes!" Espio used his impressive ninja skills to jump to a branch. He jumped from branch to branch until he was at the top. He scouted around and saw off to the distance. "I can see it." He saw a huge metal base that was surrounded by guns and robots. It was miles away and looked as though it would take a while to get to. "We need to keep going!" Espio jumped from the treetop and landed on his feet when he reached the ground. He started running again with his friends close behind.
After a while of running, the group reached a rickety old, rope bridge suspended over a deep drop. It looked like it wouldn't be able to hold even one person. Tails and Charmy both grabbed Vector and Sonic by the arms and flew them across the gap. Knuckles simply glided across and made it. Espio, however, didn't want to wait for Tails or Charmy, and ran across as fast as he could.
"Go back Espio!!" Charmy shouted. The ropes started to snap and break.
Espio ran faster as the bridge started to fall behind him. Just as he reached the end, the other side snapped and the bridge, along with Espio, fell into the deep drop.
"AHHHH!!!" Espio shouted as he fell. But suddenly, he stopped falling and hung in the air, as if someone had caught him. "Huh?" He looked up but saw no one around.
"Wow!" Charmy exclaimed. "Espio's flying!" He and everyone else could see Espio floating back to the ledge and landed on his feet in front of them. "How'd ya do that?"
"Why didn't ya tell us you could do that?!" Vector complained.
"I don't know what happened." Espio explained to his friends. "I just hung in mid air and floated back up here."
"That's because I helped you." A voice from nowhere was heard. They all looked around for the one talking.
"Where are you?" Sonic demanded. "Show yourself!"
"Sure." The voice said again. "Now you don't see me…" Slowly, a white echidna materialized in front of the group. "And now you do!"
"Whoa!" Vector fell back when the echidna appeared. "Who or what are you?!"
"The name is Phantom…" Phantom smiled and nodded. "And I'm a Seer. Nice to meet you."
Tails' PDA started beeping. "Hey guys!" Tails pulled it out and saw the blip on the green screen. "There's a Chaos Emerald around here!"
"You mean this." Phantom pulled out his red emerald and held it out for all to see.
"Whoa!" Sonic said. "Where did ya find this?"
"It belongs to me. I've had it for a long time. Sure I lose it sometimes, but it always comes back." Phantom remembered when the events of the A.R.K occurred just last year. After the Chaos Emeralds were pulled out of the A.R.K, the red emerald shot into the sky and returned to his hands.
Espio called for his friends. "We must hurry and save Espirit!"
"The little chameleon girl?" Phantom asked.
"How do you know?"
"That little girl is in more danger than you think! You see, she's has found what belongs to her, the blue Chaos Emerald!"
"Belongs to her?" Knux asked. "Why would the emerald belong to a little girl?"
"Because she, like myself, is a seer!" Phantom told them, and put them in shock. "And she has the power to summon from inside the emeralds powerful creatures called Chaos Beasts."
"Chaos Beasts?" Vector walked up to Phantom. "You mean to tell me there are animals in those little gems? I'll believe it when I see you!"
"You got it!" Phantom took a few steps back and held the emerald in both hands. "They want proof! C'mon out, Firethroat!" The red emerald began to glow. The aura surrounding it became brighter.
"I don't like this, guys…" Charmy said as he backed away.
After a few moments, a loud roaring erupted as the giant serpent dragon flew out of the Emerald and hovered around Phantom. The group was so in shock that they couldn't even move.
"You called for me, master?" The dragon said as he looked at the Sonic and his friends.
"Well get a good look, guys." Phantom said with a smirk. "Still don't believe me?" The answer was obvious. They believed every word he had to say now.
"If we're going to save your sister…" Phantom started to explain while he and others raced towards Eggman's base.. After proving the existence of Chaos Beasts, he decided to help Espio and the others find Espirit. "We need to do it fast. If that fat madman finds out how to use her powers, he'll be unstoppable. I've seen the horrors of those emeralds. My entire tribe was destroyed because of them and the race of echidnas known as the Knuckles Tribe!"
Knux suddenly stopped running, bringing a halt to everyone else. "That's a lie! My ancestors suffered in the hands of you Seers! It was your greed for the emeralds that destroyed our lives!"
Phantom started arguing back. "Your tribesmen were all the same! They craved the power the emeralds had and used them to nearly wipe all the Seers out. They were threatened by our power to call forth the Chaos Beasts!"
"If we haven't kept the emeralds out of your reach, you Seers could have destroyed the world!"
"If the Knuckle Tribe didn't what world domination, the Seers would still be alive!" Phantom and Knuckles growled angrily at each other as they both prepared to fight each other.
"Hey guys!" Sonic approached the two violent echidnas. "This isn't anything to fight about now!"
"BUTT OUT!!!" Both Phantom and Knux shouted at Sonic, making him back away nervously.
"Okay children!" Vector shouted at the echidnas in a mock angry mother's voice. "As much as I enjoy a good brawl, we got other things to worry about!"
"Have you two forgotten about Espirit?!" Espio shouted at them. Their foolishness was trying his last nerve.
"Fine…" Knuckles said. "But no tricks, Seer."
"Tch!" Phantom scoffed at Knux and began running after Espio. In moments, everyone began running towards the base again. Their kidnapped friend was just feet away…
Eggman's base had several robots guarding the entrance. As of Eggman's orders, security was increased and tightened. Two robots marched back and froth in front of the only way inside.
"Looks like the area is all clear." One robot said to the other.
"Perhaps Eggman was wrong and they won't bother to come." The other replied.
"Think again!" A voice came from nowhere.
"Who's there?!" The robots armed their guns, but suddenly, one began to act strangely. "Uh!?"
"What's the matter?" Before the robot could get an answer, the other robot aimed its gun at it. "Ahh! Treachery! Warning! Assistance!" With ons shot, the robot was totaled.
"Huh?" The shooter looked around. "What has happened?" A spirit flew out of the robot and turned solid. It was Phantom. In his hands were several wires and parts. "Hey! Those parts are mi…" The robot gave off one last lone drone and shut off. Without it's wires and parts, it couldn't function any longer.
"Nice job Phantom!" Tails commented as he and others joined the Seer in front of the entrance.
"Huh." Phantom threw the wires away. "If that's the best Eggman has to offer… this is gonna be easy."
The group of heroes ran, flew, and glided into the base. Cutting through the large numbers of robots was easy, until several alarms went off all at once.
"Hold on!" Phantom stopped running and turned transparent. He flew into the wall and came back out with the wires of the alarms. Slowly, they all stopped.
"Let's go!" Espio ran further down the hall until a giant Eggbot stopped him in his tracks. Using its massive arms and claws, he grabbed Espio and put him in a tight grip. "I can't move!"
Sonic used his homing attacks, teamed with Knux and Vector's punches to knock down the giant robot. But it was ineffective.
Phantom was about to turn transparent again, when the robot swung it claw at him and knocked him away. It then started to stomp on the ground and knock Sonic, Vector, and Knux off balance. Tails and Charmy flew up to Espio and pulled him free, but the robot thrust forward and used its body to knock the three back down on the ground.
"C'mon guys!" Sonic leap to his feet and prepared to use more homing attacks. "If we all attack at once, we'll take 'im down!"
Phantom floated back on his feet, but was shocked by what he saw just on the other side of the hall. "Yeah. But what do we do about the other 3?"
Tails and Knux turned and saw what Phantom was talking about. 3 more of the giant robots were marching towards them, ready for a fight. With both sides of escape blocked, the heroes had no choice but to engage in battle. Even if this battle seemed hopeless for them…
Gotta put a stop right there! I know it's right in the middle of an about-to-be intense battle, but I gotta give ya sumthin' that'll bring ya back for more. It's a cliffie! But don't worry… the battle, and dramatic conclusion is just a wait away. Seeya next time when I bring to you the most exciting, and the final chapter of this story.