S. Chensu: We're back from camp and ready to put up a new chapter of the STREKS gang just for you!
Luff: We're going on holiday again tomorrow though so there won't be another chapter until next Saturday or Sunday.
S. Chensu: But unlike guide camp I'll have my laptop with me so I can type as I write, meaning I won't have to type it up from my notepad, like I'm doing at the moment.
Luff: We'll try and get the rest of the individual episodes while we're gone so then we can work really hard on the final episodes to make them brilliant, because you're all so brilliant.
S. Chensu: Now she's finished ass kissing, we can get onto reviewer replies:
RichaCo- Thank you for the riddles, sorry we didn't use one last episode but Chen was desperate to use the tree one. We'll use one this episode, promise.
Yugi- Don't be so shocked that we updated! Anyway, guide camp was fun!
Celestial the Hedgrid- Yay, another reviewer! Thank you for the support! And yes, we think the whole "too much Sprite" thing is a bit silly too but Chen kind of thought it might happen too.
RavenGhost- Here is the update for you but the place isn't so spooky this time... There will be another riddle though and hopefully that'll keep you happy.
the funk master- You'll find out what she is going to show them next episode and we can tell you right now that it /isn't/ a monkey! But the thing she's going to show them has been mentioned before. Damn, now we've given it away!
myuutgoi- Here is the update /Yugi/ and it's late because a certain Luff got us blocked for two weeks as her story was deleted.
S. Chensu (a.k.a. Mai)- Will you stop pretending to be Chen, you panicked her again and made her think she'd lost her memory. And Chen loves that song, "I'm a classy honey, kissy huggy, lovey dovey ghetto princess!" As you can tell.
Captain Yasha- We are so so so sorry! Chen has no idea why she put Nasha instead of Yasha. But now we know and it won't happen again! Not sure about the whole Pegasus thing, seeing as he isn't little...
Dragon Master Naya- It's good to know you still have the precious and don't be too paranoid or you might go crazy...
Streek471- We're trying to make the chapters long but it is a bit difficult. They will start getting longer though in a couple of episodes time as they'll all be back together by then. Thank you for the high score though.
Luff: Thank you for all the lovely reviews, they've kept us going! As usual, we don't own Sonic, we just own the usual things.
S. Chensu: Hmm...
Episode twenty-nine: Horror's Summit
Knuckles woke up, staring up at the surprisingly clear sky and then wondered what he was doing on the ground. Then it suddenly hit him: the words and sounds, the feelings and emotions... He wanted to see Rouge again, he needed to talk to her... Sighing, he got up and was surprised when he saw the snow piled up around him, leaving him in a little hollow. The shield became more visible and it shined in the light, making his body shimmer. He stared in wonder at the colour, non-existent but at the same time everything, oozing like oil on top of water.
Looking around, Knuckles saw an ocean far away, twinkling and calm while the mountains he was standing on led downwards to a cliff and something else. It was a building, tall and black and for some strange reason it was the only thing he could clearly see, even the mountains seemed blurry compared to it. It was obviously very important, it was the only structure here and he could sense something else from it too...
He took out the Master Emerald and looked at it, noticing the gap in it and at the same time, that slight itching feeling came back to him. He remembered who had it and suddenly he could see Rouge, standing on the edge of a cliff, staring out across the ocean although he couldn't see what she was looking at. She had the missing piece of the Emerald in her hand and she glanced down at it before the image suddenly disappeared. Knuckles shook his head, not sure what had just happened or what had caused it. At any rate, he didn't have time to think about Rouge, he had to try and get to that building, to find out its importance...
Seeing a line going downwards that had less snow than the rest of the mountains, Knuckles set off along it, careful not to slip. He didn't need to be injured when he found the others and maybe Sonic and Shadow again.
I wonder how everyone is, are they all still here? Where am I anyway? I don't recognise anything like this at all, when I saw Sonic and Shadow there was no vision of this place... Knuckles thought until he was interrupted by the sun appearing from behind a cloud, the light reflected on the snow, causing him to hiss and cover his eyes. He quickly put his sunglasses on, sighing in relief when he could see normally as he continued on his way down.
Knuckles could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rising as he got the sensation of being watched. When he turned around though he couldn't see anything though so he continued on. Every so often he saw something out of the corner of his eye, a brief glimpse of a shadow following him and it made him nervous, what if it was one of those strange creatures he had seen carved into the arch? That was the other odd thing about this place: there was no living organisms in this place apart from him and maybe the others, if they were nearby.
"They are, do not worry." So there /was/ something following him, and it could talk too. He needed to see them, to be reassured that it wasn't someone who wanted to cause him harm. "I'm sorry, but unless you take off your sunglasses, you cannot turn around. I can't risk you seeing me, not until the right time anyway." He had forgotten that the glasses could show invisible things and obviously the person was afraid of being seen in case they were discovered. He risked taking the sunglasses off and was glad that he could see without having to face the glare of the snow.
"Is that better?" He asked and he felt something beside him, soft like feathers and he shivered slightly at the sensation. "Where are you anyway? Are you beside me?"
"I am beside you, yes. I have come to make sure you are ok for you are now nearing the end of your journey and you will have perils to face before you get there." They explained. Knuckles could see a faint outline of a person and was somehow reminded of the figure from before.
"Are you the same person who helped me out of the volcano?"
"No, although I do know who you are talking about. You may see them soon if you make it through." They sounded serious, was his life in danger again?
"What's going to happen? What perils are there?" For a moment there was no response and he turned to look at the person, although he couldn't see them.
"Look behind you..."
Knuckles did so and gasped when he saw the snow flowing down the mountain, feeling the rumbling sensation at the same time. He looked back at the person and now they were more visible as some of the snow started to reach them. He started running as fast as he could, although the thought occurred to him in the back of his mind that the avalanche would eventually catch up. But for the moment, he couldn't feel the snow and was thankful for that. But then he was swept up in it, feeling himself being dragged down by the sheer weight of the snow. It was going everywhere, in his ears and mouth, causing him to choke and he closed his eyes, now only feeling the bumps as his body was knocked from side to side.
"Hold onto me Knuckles..." He heard a soft voice saying as he was pulled through the snow and into the sky. He couldn't open his eyes and merely grabbed blindly for something to hold onto. He found something, not noticing the hiss of pain from the person at the tightness of his grip. They flew higher into the air until they were clear of the snow slide before brushing the snow out of Knuckles' eyes. "Are you ok?"
Knuckles opened his eyes hesitantly and found himself staring into a wispy white face, features indistinguishable although they were there. It was then he noticed the fact he was high up in the air with no obvious means of support.
"Argh, what am I doing up here?" He yelled, causing the figure to tisk and sigh.
"Don't shout please, that was right in my ear." They turned to the side and shook their head. "You are up here because I didn't think you wanted to be down there. However, if you really want to-"
"No, that's quite all right! It's just because I couldn't see you very well. You scared me a bit..." Knuckles said, almost ashamed to admit that he, the guardian of the Master Emerald had been frightened by a shadowy figure. He quickly forgot about this though when the person laughed.
"I can understand why but you have to realise I can't tell you who I am in case someone gets you and you accidentally tell them about me." Knuckles looked down and saw that they were flying over water, the occasional dolphin jumping out and he smiled, feeling happy at their carefree attitude. He wished he could be down there with everyone else, enjoying himself instead of being alone in a place he didn't understand with an unknown person.
"Will you tell me who you are one day?" He asked quietly, feeling his eyes shut. He was so tired...
"Maybe but you can't go to sleep yet Knuckles or you'll get ill. Anyway, you'll be with your friends soon and then some of your questions will be answered." He forced his eyes open again when he heard their words and thought about his friends.
"Will they all be there?" He wanted to see Rouge more than ever now, his words had been so rash and he regretted them now...
"Yes, Rouge will be there and then you two can talk about what has happened. But until then you have one more thing to do before you can see her." Knuckles could see that the sea was getting closer to them and up ahead was some cliffs that looked just like the ones Rouge had been standing on in the vision he had had.
"Has she been here?"
"Yes, not too long ago. Others have passed through here too, people you know..." Knuckles suddenly remembered them: Tails, Marie and Eggman and how he had never said good-bye to them before he left. He had been such an idiot... "Everyone is fine, they are waiting for you and then the last part of your journey will take place."
"Then what do I have to do?" Knuckles said as he was set down on the ground, giving himself a few seconds to stand up properly.
"Get through the door of the building..." They said, turning and pointing to the black temple standing nearby.
Knuckles stared at the black marble construction, gleaming so much it looked new, no chips or knocks at all. There were no curves at all, even the columns were square. Knuckles took a few paces forward and waited for the person to follow and they did so, although they were extremely hesitant. There was no noise and all he could hear was his shoes on the steps and the running of wind over the stone. He got to the top and saw words glowing on the door although he was too far away to read them.
"Is it safe?" He said aloud, more for reassurance than anything else.
"Yes, you will not be harmed by reading them." Was all the figure replied so he stepped forward to read them.
From the beginning of eternity
To the end of time and space
To the beginning of every end
And the end of the place
What am I?
"Are you allowed to help me?" Knuckles inquired, turning back to the figure and they shook their head.
"No but I will say one thing. Look at the words, don't worry about what they're trying to say." And with that they disappeared, leaving Knuckles alone to work out the answer this seemingly impossible riddle. But it couldn't be impossible or they wouldn't have asked him to solve it.
So I just have to look at the words and it will make sense... He read over them again and tried to think about what they were saying. Well eternity has been forever so there couldn't have been a beginning. Maybe that's what the person meant by trying not to think about what they mean.
Knuckles sat down in front of the words and reread the first line. The word eternity began with the letter 'e' and end also began with the letter 'e'...
That's it! /E/ternity, tim/e/, spac/e/, /e/nd, plac/e/. They all have the letter 'e' in them! He stood up and read them once more just to make sure before backing away slightly. "It's the letter 'e'!"
He watched in wonder as the words fell apart forming a pile of sand at his feet and allowing him to see the door. More smooth black marble was briefly seen before it opened, the sand rising into the air and floating away on the wind. By now the door was fully opened and he was finally allowed inside the building. He felt pleased that he had managed to solve the riddle on his own and stood in the doorway for a moment, looking inside. He shivered slightly, suddenly feeling cold again after the adrenalin of winning had disappeared and his head felt all stuffy. He walked towards the ball of light, disappointed when no heat came out of it and merely hoped he would be somewhere warm soon.
S. Chensu: Well that went ok. Anyway, I've just remembered something that I was supposed to ask everyone. I want to go to university next year and am currently filling in my UCAS form, which gets sent to six universities and they look at it. One part is a personal statement and on it I have mentioned the fact that I do writing.
Luff: You all right so far? I'm confused all ready.
S. Chensu: Haha. But the problem is that universities like to see evidence so if I get an interview, they may want to see evidence of my writing. Including reviews. So they can get an idea of what the story is like and what people think of it. So I'm asking if it's ok for me to use some, not everyone's, reviews. I won't use names or e-mail addresses, just the comments. It may seem silly to ask but I thought I had better, just in case. Also, if you'd like to write us a big detailed review at the end of the story, that would be appreciated too. Mention the bad points of the story too, we don't mind. As long as it's balanced.
Luff: So basically she wants to use your reviews and you can write some especially for her.
S. Chensu: Many thankies and we'll see you next Saturday or Sunday for the next chapter.