Disclaimer: ....I'm about to murder somebody....oh well. I don't own any of these guys...'cept the Chao...and I kinda knocked it off...yeah, poor Chao... -sniffle- I feel your pain little Chao...
Shadow: Sure you do....
Quiet. Or I'll put you in the story, despite my previous decision not to. I'm already sorely tempted, you know.
Nameless Muse: Sure took you long enough to get back here....
Oh be quiet, you ungrateful thwarp! I had school and all sorts of other things to do. I can't sit on my butt and write on my computer all the time! I still have to pass classes and junk! Besides, I can update more often now that it's summer! Yay! Summer! The time of warmth and happiness, oyez oyez!! -dances-
Robotnik: Crazy-ass little...
O.o Where'd you hear that?! -shoves soap into his mouth so he can't answer-
Sonic: -sniggers-
You shush, or you're next!!
Chapter Two - An Enemy's Entrance
You don't see
You never have
You never will
What do you believe
These images are unforgiving
Jealousy always running
Through your veins
You cannot breathe
Here's your witness
Everything's not right
- Greenmill, 'Disappear'
The sky seemed to stretch on and on, blacker than it usually was at that time of the day. A storm was coming, that much was obvious. She watched as flashes of blinding lightening danced wildly across the heavens, illuminating the dark clouds above in vivid flashes of unnamed shades of purple, blue, and grayish-black, accompanied by the murderously clamorous applause of the cosmos' thunder, which echoed throughout the land and surrounded the Floating Island with its glorious noise.
Tikal stood alone at the top of the Emerald's temple, bathed not only in the light of the jewels, but also with the searing glow of the natural phenomenon that flitted and pranced high above. Her clothes and dreads were drooping heavily, laden with vast amounts of water, which poured like waterfalls from above.
She flinched as the sky roared above her as though in pain, and the Master Emerald flashed brightly. Her hands flew up to shield her eyes from the glaring light. She felt herself being lifted off the ground and whispers hung in the air around her.
"Emiek……"
"Etihssek nihs za iakamuo……"
"Giaki raikyo……"
"Usti za arahama sema chiiki……"
She twisted in midair, trying to block out the whispered messages, but they wove past her fingers and into her ears, filling them with strange words and phrases that she could not comprehend, from a language dated back father than even the one she and Chaos had spoken in life.
"Leave me alone! Stop!" She wailed, flailing frantically, as though expecting to connect with the disembodied voices' speakers at any moment. She didn't. Instead the words intensified.
"Ravlas za alenitnec……"
She began to fall, but did not hit any bottoms like she'd expected. Instead, she continued to plummet through black nothingness, unable to see, know, or even imagine where she was falling to. Powerless to even halt her plunge into the unknown.
"AAAHHHH!!"
Tikal's eyes shot wide as she jerked awake. She sat up slowly, hardly believing she'd fallen asleep. The ancient princess paused to wonder what she'd been doing before she'd taken her quite unplanned nap. She paused and administered her surroundings.
Tall, thick trees circled the carpet of soft, emerald green moss she was sitting on, shielding the already dark sky from her eyes. The trunks were old, and twisted together, their life-span dating back to before her time. It looked like a clearing in the forest near the Chao lake which she'd visited that afternoon.
Or could it have been yesterday? I'm so confused……I hope I haven't been traveling in my sleep.
" Tikal!"
She turned her head hurried, to see Mighty rushing towards her, looking horridly upset. He stopped beside her and bent over to catch his breath. She pushed herself up to her feet and gingerly placed a hand on the winded armadillo's shoulder.
"Mighty? What's wrong?"
"Knuckles……he sent me to find you……" He gasped out. "Been looking for hours…….something attacked……one of the Chao……"
Tikal stiffened. Something had attacked a Chao? Who would do that? Chao were harmless for the most part. Perhaps an accident?
"I know what you thinking……" Mighty sighed, finally regaining his air supply. "And there's a real good chance it wasn't an accident. Laser gun, straight through the skull." He looked off to the side. "The little guy never even had a chance……"
Tikal's hands flew to her mouth with a terrified gasp. How could a person kill a defenseless creature on purpose?! Why?!
Mighty sighed. "Anyway, Knuckles sent me to find you, and Vector to find Chaos--"
At that moment, a loud roar echoed through the thick morning air, shaking early dew from the branches and causing a multitude of frightened birds to take flight from the presumed safety of the treetops. Tikal flinched and Mighty looked a little pale.
"Well…….I guess Vector found him……."
"We should hurry……" Tikal said, starting in the direction Mighty had come from. "……before Chaos decides the best, and most subtle approach to this incident is ravaging around the island so he can boil the attackers alive……" Mighty nodded and followed.
-0-
Knuckles grimaced slightly at the sound of the bellow, his hand subconsciously starting to rise to the side of his head. Chaos had obviously learned from Vector about the bad news the day's light had shed upon, and now there was the problem of keeping the watery guardian of the sweet Chao from killing everything that moved. Near impossible if the living flood got revved up enough.
He looked down at the murdered Chao lying a few feet away. He had left it to lie where it had fallen, preferring not to touch the small body until Tikal arrived. She'd scold him with old-fashioned superstitions about the Chao's lost soul and such and so on if he moved it or anything. Plus, Chaos might see blood on Knuckles hands and in his rage assume……yeah, that wouldn't be pretty……
Charmy was still sitting as far away from the little body as he could. He had been the one to find the limp creature during the early hours of morning, and hadn't been able to stop shaking and wringing his hands since. Espio, who had been with the young Prince at the time, was still crouched next to the alarmed teen trying to calm him enough to slow his rather rapid breathing rate. They'd kept him from hyperventilating so far, but every time the small bee heard someone say 'Chao' or caught a glimpse of the body, he would go into a whole new fit.
Espio also winced when he heard Chaos's yell. Charmy immediately froze and his eyes grew to a size that would resemble a large dinner plate. He latched onto his chameleon companion in terror, and wailed. The violet reptile sighed and set about calming the bee down, a task that was becoming more trouble than it was worth.
Knuckles shifted his gaze back to the tree-line into which Mighty had disappeared hours before, on a search for Tikal. She had vanished to who knew where yesterday, and Knuckles supposed the last one to have seen her was Chaos. If she was still with the ancient Guardian, than that was an added bonus; she could be calming the watery creature's temper right this moment...
That hope was prematurely squished when Vector bolted out of the forest. He skidded to a halt beside the red echidna, and glared intensely at his comrade with narrowed amber eyes. Knuckles followed his actions, then reverted his gaze back to the trees, a frown etched deep into his muzzle, amethyst trained on the swaying, silent wall of trunks, leaves, and branches.
"Found him?"
"Found him."
That was all that needed to pass between them. Not that there was time for more to be said. On the contrary, seconds after Vector confirmed his search result, a tidal wave practically plowed down the towering trees, and crashed across the short span of unsheltered grass before them. The tsunami crazily spun down into a vast whirlpool that would've been devastating if it hadn't been so well controlled. Finally, the water splashed down into earth, which sucked it up eagerly, to reveal one very pissed looking Chaos.
The luminous green eyes glared at each in turn, falling on the quailing Charmy last, who was staring wide-eyed up at him. Chaos seemed out of breath, his chest heaving, and strange ragged noises echoing, hanging in the air around him, though how he was so winded without any visible lungs was beyond all that were present. That however, wasn't the only thing depicting the former echidna's rage at what had occurred. His hands were clenching and unclenching, and his whole left eye seemed to twitch uncontrollably, similar to the sign of a normal person being on the verge of having a seizure.
For a moment Chaos just stood there, like time had taken a picture and posted it in front of the window to reality. Then, he crouched, growling deeply, as though he was about to pounce at them all. Just as his growls heightened into snarls, a slightly detailed blur of red, black, and orange skidded to a stop just behind Vector and Knuckles, kicking up a small spray of muddy water, since the ground was still fairly soaked from the ancient creature's earlier tantrum.
When the haze of colors cleared, and everyone had wiped the dirty moisture from their eyes, they saw Mighty holding Tikal in his arms, her own looped around his neck. She pushed herself out of his hold and stumbled over to Chaos, still seeming a little dizzy from the rush, since she wasn't used to moving so quickly across any distance. She held her head in one hand for a minute, and waited for the slight ache to subside.
Chaos was as startled and confused as the others, but reached an inevitable conclusion faster than the rest, turning a dangerously murderous gaze onto Mighty, who quickly raised his hands in defense.
"What?! She said we'd get here faster if I carried her!!" Chaos raised a non-existent eyebrow and looked at the still lightheaded Tikal, whom had latched onto his arm in an attempt to steady herself, her eyes carrying a sort of vacant look that came with the vertigo. She looked almost seasick, by all aspects, just without the trademark green tinge.
"Ugh..." She'd regained a small amount of her dignity a second later, and straightened, shaking her head slowly. "Mighty, remind me to never let you do that again...." She mumbled slowly, as though taking the time to carefully pick out her words. She was trembling just barely, and still somewhat clinging to Chaos's arm, while he stared at her, the corner of his mouth seemingly trying to form into a smirk and scowl at the same time.
"Right," Knuckles said, letting the strangeness fade out before calling their attention back to the situation at hand. "I trust Mighty told you what happened, Tikal?" He glanced pointedly in Chaos's direction, since it was obvious from his metaphorical bristling and cracking of knuckles that he knew what was going on all too well, thanks to Vector.
"Yes." Tikal answered, finally releasing Chaos's arm, and straightening her skirt out, almost as though she was trying to redeem herself from the drunken looking stance that had taken place earlier. She looked back at Chaos meaningfully. He grunted and mumbled under his breath, knowing only she and Knuckles knew what colorful phrases he was using. Tikal's eyes narrowed immediately.
Chaos's eyes became slits as well, and for a minute there was literal static going back and forth, which was rather unnerving, by all accounts. However, Chaos's eyes finally dropped with a sigh and another grumble in his ancient language. Knuckles moved to show them both the Chao, which only served to agitate Chaos more, though he wasn't about to go on a rampage while Tikal was around.
Tikal knelt beside the small creature, and examined gently before looking up at Knuckles. "Thank you for not moving him..." Knuckles gave a curt nod, his eyes still somewhat warily trained on Chaos. Tikal ignored them, gently placing one hand over the little body and whispering a half silent chant. The body began to glow and more or less at once semitransparent petal-like covering shot out from under it, forming a Chao egg. She smiled tiredly and turned to Knuckles with a slightly dopey grin.
"He might be a little less energetic the first few days, but don't worry, I think little Malin will be fine." She sighed and pushed herself to herself upward, swaying slightly so that Chaos stopped his incessant glowers long enough to help her keep her feet under her.
While she had healed the Chao and aided its rebirth, the Chaotix, Charmy having calmed down just enough to help by flying overhead, were re-examining the site. They had found most the clues present already, when they'd found the little victim sprawled out on the grass. There had been people on foot here, but there wasn't much else to go off of. It was almost as if they weren't walking anymore....almost as if...
Charmy gave a sudden loud yelp and came crashing to the ground, Vector snatching him by his leg before he hit. The winds had changed drastically, which may have been what had thrown Charmy off, though not so much as the small, smoking, perfect circle in his right wing. But no one was looking at his wing, or thinking about the winds changing, they were all too busy looking up at the monstrous black shape silhouetted against the dark sky.
Yay! I updated! Now, I've finally done my part, so you people go do yours! Hurry up now! Shoo! Shoo! Go on! Review, you know you want to!! I thrive on reviews!
Nameless Muse: She never gives up... -.-
Damn straight! :)
