Chapter 1


Not only was it starting to rain heavily, the red echidna could hear a faint, distant sound of thunder, rumbling beneath the grey clouds right after a quick flash that was formed at the dark sky above. The speed of the winds grew. And the white mists thickened. So thick, he could barely see what was in front of him. Things were definitely not good... The whole situation was already in mayhem. Trees swayed to and fro. Animals cried. Fishes struggled against the rushing rivers and streams.

He ran and stopped in front of a rushing river. Knuckles gritted his teeth. How was he going to get across? The water current was too strong for him. And it would be a foolish act to try and get across by swimming. It would be like suicide! He looked around. There must be some other way...

His lilac eyes lit up. To his right, only a few feet away was a broken raft. The red echidna ran to get to the transport, half-hoping that he could use it to get across. Two oars were left unattended on the broken raft, both were covered with green shrubs, and ants were crawling all over them. The red guardian picked one of the oars up and mercilessly swished the unfortunate ants off from the oar, while at the same time made a very disgusted face. The sense of touch at the moisten oar was indeed unpleasant. It was both icky and revolting. Knuckles didn't really have the time to think about it though as he knew that time was wearing thin. Any second now, the main dam at the southern part of his island would burst and it could cause a major flood at the lower part of Angle Isle. If Knuckles ever wanted to see his island back in its peaceful form, he would have to get down to the main switch and fast.

The guardian did some necessary checking on the small raft, making sure that it was safe enough for him to use it. He went and tapped onto the logs. A soft hollow noise was made. What the...? It seemed that the logs were concaved from inside out. This might just help to keep the raft afloat rather easily. The strings were still strong, strong enough to withstand the terrible waves of the river for a good several minutes. And hopefully, be able to bring him ashore at the other side of the rushing river. One end of the raft was totally wrecked out though, as if something big had attacked it, something that was so big that it scared the previous owner, who had happened to make this raft and possibly used it to get across the river. Whoever made this must have abandoned it. But overall, the raft was still usable.

All this time, Tikal could do nothing but watched him worked. The spirit flew and floated around him, without uttering a single word, half-afraid that she might distract him and cause the echidna to slow down at what he was doing.

With all his might that he could muster, Knuckles pushed the heavy raft away from the trees and tried getting it onto the river. Despite the fact that he was a powerful warrior, even he was having a hard time trying to move it. Cold sweats were starting to pour in. It was a non-easy task. I can assure you.

Slowly, very slowly, the raft was moved.

Knuckles gritted his teeth as he panted. That push was definitely taking the most out of him. And the red echidna was starting to feel tired. It was even harder than he had intended. And the rain wasn't helping either. The wet floor was slippery and a couple of times, it nearly caused the red echidna to slip and fall.

With a final push, the small raft stumbled and it fell right into the flowing water. He waited.

A moment later, the broken raft emerged itself to the surface. And he immediately leaped onto the wrecked transport, with his right hand holding onto an oar, before it virtually floated away.

He gave a triumph smirk to himself and looked at Tikal with a small smile plastered on his tired face, indicating her that he had succeeded.

"Knuckles! Look out for that giant rock!" cried out the small pink ball of light as she floated right next to the red echidna. "Steer right!"

With a small, quiet nod, the red guardian did like what he was told. He steered the small raft to the right, barely dodging death, with his confidence for survival dropped tremendously, despite the fact that Knuckles was still able to keep a rather calm look on his face. He gritted his teeth and panted. Sweats were starting to form on the guardian's head, mixing in with the raindrops that mercilessly continued to fall, washing away the mud that had stubbornly stayed onto the echidna's fur for a short period of time.

Knuckles felt hot in the inside as anxiousness grew. While at the same time, felt cold due to the chilly winds that Mother Nature was giving. Things were indeed unforgivable. And the echidna was... afraid. Never in his life had he seen such a terrible storm. Even Perfect Chaos, the God of Destruction, was unable to summon such havoc with its power limited when compared to Mother Nature. Let alone a mortal to try and challenge the storm.

The raft continued to float in a zigzag pattern as it danced about wherever the river took it, with its user clinging onto the wooden transport for dear life, wishing that the nightmare would soon end. He had little control over the small raft and the oar that he had with him proved to be almost useless.

With every gulp of air that he inhaled, nervousness grew.

It was a one bumpy ride. And it was making him sick. Kayaking just wasn't the guardian's taste. Giddiness was starting to kick in.

Fortunately, the water current was coming to a slow halt as the raft continued to float downstream, relieving the user as well as his company. It was a miracle to know that the wrecked transport was still in tact, even after what it had gone through earlier.

The location at where the two were was a gigantic marshy area. Tall mangrove trees grew at this not-so-pleasant place with green soggy vines tangled among the thick branches of the trees. The river was somewhat wider than it had earlier been. If not, shallower. Little ferns grew at the side of the river. And huge lotus plants were growing on the seemingly calm surface of the water, floating majestically downstream.

Safe at last, that was what the two had thought. But the quietness, save for the rain with its constant dripping noise, didn't last.

A faint, chilling sound of a cruel roar was heard from a distance, alarming both of the creatures. None of them had a thing to say, both were frozen with fear, petrified. What was that? The two looked around, wanting to know the answer rather desperately. It was hard to see things in this terrible mist though. The scene was nothing more but pure white. Nothing. They could see nothing. No other living creatures were in sight, beside themselves, in this marshy area. However, there was a strong sense of feeling that they were being watched, with the fact that they were followed. The force was unknown though. They would have to stay cautious.

Tikal continued to look around. Her anxiousness grew at every passing minute. The seemingly quietness in that particular place was starting to scare her.

Just then, a small splash was heard. And then, something green swam passed them. The moment when she saw it, the thousand-year-old spirit shouted as fright overtook her mind, calling for the guardian's name.

"Tikal, what is it?" the red echidna asked as he turned his head to look at his company. Though faceless, he could tell that she was afraid. Something big must have scared her. But, what? What was that 'thing'? What did she see?

Knuckles wasn't able to finish his thoughts though. A low, hissing noise was heard.

(Hisssssssss…)

The red guardian froze. He turned to look at where the noise had came from. Unfortunately, Knuckles could barely see anything.

(Hisssssssss…)

This time though, the disturbing noise was louder. Not to mention, nearer. He grabbed hold onto his oar and looked down at the murky water.

A dark figure was seen... It was long, slender and awesomely huge.

What was that? It didn't seem to be moving though. But the red echidna remained cautious.

Like an ancient warrior, who was getting ready to attack his prey, Knuckles, carefully and slowly, approached the monstrous shadow, with his oar being held tightly in his own two bulky fists, fearing for whatever outcome that might befall on him. But, he was still able to keep a rather composed look on his face. Without uttering a single word nor did he turn his head to look at Tikal, Knuckles raised a hand up and had it placed behind him, giving her the hint to stay back. Tikal backed away the moment she saw the hint without any hesitation at all. She was worried for the guardian though and she advised him to be careful, who in response nodded in a word of 'yes'.

The red echidna got his face hardened.

He drew nearer to the snake-like figure with his heart thumping rather uneasily. Just what was this thing? It couldn't be a gigantic snake, could it?

Knuckles didn't bother to think any further though, as his mind already told him to get right into the action. Like a native hunter, who would throw a spear at his soon-to-be food, the red echidna flung his oar towards the dreaded 'prey', hitting its head right on target. For a moment there, there was nothing but a mere silence. He stood still at where he was and continued to gaze on the surface of the cold, silent water. It annoyed him though. Just why wasn't that thing moving?

"Come on..." the echidna whispered as he held onto his breathe without moving an inch. A second later, he shouted, wanting to get whatever the thing was moved.

There was an awkward of silence the moment he did that though. The whole atmosphere... It didn't feel right at all.

But then, the short moment of the quietness was disrupted with the constant noise of what sounded like a rattle. Curious, the red guardian turned to look at where the noise had came from. The pointy tail belonging to the monstrous shadow was gone. And the red echidna panicked. Where had it gone to?

Before he could think any further, Knuckles heard a cry from Tikal, who was shouting fearfully for his name. Quickly, he turned his head, only to find a giant head of what looked like a green serpent coming towards at him with its mouth widely opened, threatening to swallow him whole and end the guardian's life instantly. The red echidna was dismayed. Fortunately though, he wasn't at all that petrified. The green, giant serpent dived in to attack its prey but Knuckles was able to dodge the attack in time by rolling away to the other end of the raft, safe for a good, several seconds. The wrecked transport rocked, up and down rather uneasily.

Several pieces of chips were scrapped off from the bended logs as the green serpent made a u-turn to eye as its victim, who in turn was staring at the beast with a pair of cold, purple eyes. There was no way in the world was he ever going to let himself be swallowed by a monstrous beast like this. To his ancestors, his people, and Knuckles himself, their thoughts about getting swallowed by a wild beast was nothing but a cheap and dishonour way of dying. An echidna warrior's way of life was to conquer fears, to rule over all of the wild beasts living in the jungles and to bring honour to himself as well as his own clan, ancestors, ruler, family and friends. The bigger the beast an echidna defeated, the bigger the honour was. However, this wasn't an exact case for Knuckles. He wasn't at all fighting for honour. Right there and then, his life was more of an important issue...

A quick flash of lightning was formed, followed by a loud thunder that boomed throughout the whole city, scaring the people with many petrified in fear. High up at the sky above, a head of a living, breathing creature was seen, staring oh so intently at the weak mortals below who were all struggling to stay alive. Some had made it to the higher grounds, safe from the terrible flood that was created, while others, who failed to save their own skins, were drowned. The young children were crying. A few hid themselves under the arms of their parents, refusing to face reality, terrified beyond anything, while the adults wiped, quietly and bitterly, for their lost homes, family members and friends. Some were even afraid to look at the terrible scene while others were totally lost for words.

Buildings of what used to be majestic, tall skyscrapers that once stood rather proudly on the city ground were now nothing but memorable ruins. Fancy restaurants, huge cinemas, and beautiful parks and gardens. They were all gone... Years of hard work and patience to build wonders such as these vanished in just a blink of an eye.

He looked around and murmured, "This can't be happening..." It was unbelievable. Through all of the hard experiences and adventures that he had been through, he had seen nothing like this. The hedgehog stood on one of the many wrecked buildings, and cast down his eyes, looking down at one of the most dreadful scenes that he had ever seen in his entire life. There were a lot of people who wiped. And he himself felt like he was about to break down as well. A great sense of immense pity washed over him as he watched the people suffered. They all could do nothing to counteract the mayhem. They were powerless and were extremely incapable of defending themselves.

Even he felt helpless... True, he was indeed a hero, a saviour, who had saved the world countless times. But, what could his status do to help them in a situation like this? His chance of winning was a zero to one as Gods, such as the creature here, are known to be immortal. They are eternal, which means, they are forever unbeatable. He glanced up at the sky and saw the creature's ferocious eyes that had no mercy, no compassion, and no sympathy in it. It was cold. Yellow, ruthless, and cold.

Perfect Chaos...

The God of Destruction...

Its mammoth anger...

All of the weak mortals below were standing fearfully under the God's fury...

Chaos roared as it unleashed its anger, petrifying everybody who was witnessing the terrible scene. The noise was indeed loud and thunderous. Being a hedgehog, the blue speedster had a great sense of hearing. Thus, it was a pain to him the moment he heard the awful roar. He covered his pointy ears with his two hands, closed his eyes and winced. It felt like he was pressurized, and he could do nothing to stop the pain.

And then, the unpredictable happened...

A tentacle of what seemed to be made out of water sprung out from the creature's body and it landed ferociously on one of the many ruins, killing tens of people who had happened to be standing there. Rocks and stones flew at all directions. And blood was mixed with the cold water that flooded the whole city. Screams and shouts could be heard all over the place. All of the other survivors could do nothing but to gasp in fear, eyes widened with shock. Some were even afraid to take a look at the scene that was in front of them as it was too gruesome for them to take. Had it had no mercy? It was hard to believe that there was such creature that could be this heartless.

Wincing, the blue hedgehog looked up, face hardened, fists balled.

Anger and rage bubbled within the blue hedgehog. He was angry at Chaos, for just about everything regarding the mayhem. The hopes, the dreams and the happiness of the people living here were destroyed. How could it do such a thing? Just what did these people do to deserve such fate? They knew nothing about the horrible incident that happened long ago. And neither did they have anything to do with it.

As if it knew what the blue speedster was thinking, Chaos tilted its head and looked down at him. It snarled at him, giving him the hint that he should just stay out of the way. And that there was nothing he could do to help. This human civilization was indeed fated to come to its doom.

...