Sorry for lack of updates. This one's a bit harder to write than the last one. But here's another chapter, longer than the last one. And I also would like anime artists for this one as well (I see your hand, Raye, don't worry). You know my address by now.
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Chapter 4
All Those People
The doctors began to load an unconscious and bloody RaGiff into the ambulance parked just outside his lab. Sonic had gotten there over an hour ago, just as Cassie was hanging up the phone from calling 911. Tails showed up a few minutes afterwards and examined the lab.
Well, "examined" was probably the wrong word.
"Look at this place!" he exclaimed when he walked in. "This stuff…it's decades ahead of anything on Earth! Look at this security system! It's got robotic snipers all over the place, and it can be set to stun, burn, kill…and he's got security cameras for nearly every square inch of this place! And that's some sound system he's…"
"Tails, concentrate!" Sonic shouted.
"All right, all right!" He looked around the lab for some blind spot in the security that the intruder could have snuck in through. He tapped away at the keyboard like it was second nature, then went to that particular area of the room to survey it. Finally, after nearly a half hour or 45 minutes, Tails returned to Sonic and Cassie.
"Nothing."
"Nothing what?" Sonic asked.
"No way anyone could have gotten in here undetected.
"But I got in no problem," Cassie contradicted.
"Hold on, let me see that again," Tails said. He went back to the keyboard and looked around for some kind of mistake he may have made. "Nope, there is no…Wait, hold on! The system isn't on."
"Say what?" Cassie and Sonic shouted together.
"He turned off the security system. Anyone could've walked in."
"What was he, crazy?" replied Sonic.
"It was probably to let Cassie in," Tails explained.
Cassie's hands flew to her mouth in realization. "Oh God...I did it…"
"Cassie, it wasn't your fault, there's no fault here…"
But Tails' reassurance wasn't enough. She almost began to cry, but Sonic stopped her. "Why exactly were you here anyway?"
Her eyes slowly met Tails'. "Well, I was lonely because Leo left and I called RaGiff-"
"Wait-Leo's gone?" Sonic asked incredulously.
"Yes…You heard about that thing on Earth with the Affinity?"
"Oh God…" Sonic moaned. "Don't tell me…"
"He went to help."
Sonic sighed and put one hand over his face. "The guy's insane."
"I know."
"Can you do anything?" Tails asked Sonic.
"Oh no, man. Leo wanna go kill himself, he can do it. I'm not chasing after him."
"But Sonic-"
"Sorry Cassie. I just can't do it." He sighed. "My heart goes out to him, but I wanna relax for now. He'll do fine."
He turned and walked away. "I'm gonna go visit RaGiff." He walked out the door and ran in the direction the ambulance had taken a half hour ago.
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"You know Leo??" Tikal asked after the meeting.
"Yeah, he helped save the planet!" Knuckles hissed.
Lianne covered her mouth. "He's the one who everyone says is dangerous??"
"Apparently…"
"You'll have to look into that when you go back down," Tikal told him.
"Wait-how exactly am I supposed to find a successor this quickly?"
"I don't know. It's your job. I have to stay here."
"Can't Chaos do it?"
"Only while you search for a replacement," she explained. "He is the labyrinth guardian now and can't stay away for too long. Good luck, Knuckles. You'll need all the time in the world."
Chaos appeared once again, rising slowly from a sapphire puddle. It pulled its arms behind it and jumped into Knuckles.
The next thing Knuckles knew, he was back on Angel Island. It was still nighttime. It seemed as if nothing had happened since he left, but he knew he had been gone for at least a couple of hours. Then he saw the tiniest ray of sunlight showing over the horizon. It must be dawn.
Knuckles was about to turn to ask Chaos to guard the Emerald when he saw it standing guard already by the shrine. Knuckles nodded towards it, and Chaos nodded back.
The echidna looked down below Angel Island. It was time to find a replacement.
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"You don't understand, man," Sonic pleaded with one of the doctors. "This is one of my best friends we're talking about."
"I'm sorry, but we can't let you in now," explained one of the nurses. "Visiting hours are over. You may come tomorrow."
"WHAT? It's 5:00 in the afternoon! What kind of visiting hours do you idiots have??"
"Mr. Sonic, I'm afraid I will have to call security if you don't leave now."
Sonic was about to protest, but thought better of it. No need to get himself in trouble here, too.
"All right then. See ya tomorrow." He plodded down through the hallway, took the elevator, walked out of the building, and began running home.
He got home and began explaining things to Amy, but apparently, Cassie had already called her. The two hugged and Amy reassured Sonic things would turn out okay Sonic responded by telling her he would be going to bed early that night-more specifically, he was going now.
"But what about dinner?"
"Not hungry. I don't mean to blow you off like this Amy, but it's just…RaGiff saved my ass big time back on Earth. We'd probably still be stuck there, and I'd be on death row, if he hadn't helped out. To see him like that…and to not be able to do anything about it…I'm sorry. I'll see you tomorrow."
He walked upstairs and fell right asleep.
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Sonic woke up on Wednesday late. It was 10:00 when he finally got out of bed and got something to eat.
"I'm going over to the hospital to check on RaGiff," Sonic told Amy that morning, crunching on an apple.
"I thought you went last night," she replied, pouring a glass of orange juice for herself.
"Nope, wouldn't let me in. You wanna come?" He took another bite and tossed it towards the trash can. It bounced off the refrigerator side and in.
"I'll meet you over there, okay?"
"Okay. Love you." He kissed her quickly and sped out the door to the hospital. He was running through the woods and turned a corner when…
"OOMF!"
Sonic and Knuckles rammed into each other and fell backwards.
"Ugh…This is why I tell you to slow down sometimes," Knuckles groaned once he got up.
"Sorry man, I'm in a hurry."
"Where you goin'? Last time I checked you wanted to live a carefree life of responsibility free pleasure."
"You know what happens whenever I try that. RaGiff's in the hospital, and they don't know if he's gonna make it."
"For real? Aw man, this just makes my day. I needed to tell you something anyway."
"Follow me and tell me on the way."
"Not right now, I'm goin to visit Mighty and the crew. It's a long story. I'll just tell you tomorrow if you're in a hurry."
"Okay then. Keep in touch, man." The two ran off.
"I'm glad you made it," Cassie said when Sonic arrived. The two hugged. "Tails and Sandrine are going to be here soon."
"Sandrine?" Sonic asked. "Who the…Aw man, he told me he had someone, that must be them."
Cassie nodded with a slight smile. "They've been going out for a month or two now." She nodded to RaGiff. "He almost got up a while ago, but he hasn't spoken a word yet."
"You got in touch with my man Leo yet?"
"No, not yet. All I get is a message that says his mailbox hasn't been set up yet."
"Lazy little…"
"Hey," whispered a soft voice by the door.
"Tails!" Sonic responded. Next to Sonic's fox friend was a dark violet echidna.
"This is Sandrine," Tails explained after he slapped Sonic five.
"Nice to meet you," Sandrine said a bit timidly. "I've heard so much about you…You're like a living legend."
"What?...Oh, c'mon, I'm not that great." Sonic had rarely experienced someone who treated him like some big-shot celebrity. It was kind of odd.
"This is Cassie," Tails said, holding one hand on Sandrine's shoulder and holding another in Cassie's direction. Cassie waved back.
"Whoa!" someone shouted from outside. "What the hell?"
Tails looked out the door. "There's something on TV," he observed. "Looks like some special news report. I'll go check it out. Maybe it's more on that attack."
Tails quickly ducked out of the room. He was gone for a good few minutes. Sonic talked with Sandrine, getting to know her. For an echidna, she was pretty cool-and hot too. Naturally, he couldn't tell Amy that, but Tails had made a good pick.
As if on cue, just as Sonic thought of his fox friend, he walked back into the room, a sour look on his face.
"What's up?" Sonic asked flippantly.
Tails' face slowly rose. "The Earth…has been destroyed."
Cassie's hands flung to her mouth. Tails continued. "The Eclipse Cannon was fired. It hit the south pole. If it didn't shatter the earth on impact, the flooding would've killed everyone anyway."
"Oh god," Cassie sobbed, her hands now covering her whole face.. Sonic moved to comfort her. He turned back. "Tails?"
The fox flipped his arms up and sighed. "It's gone."
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Chapter 4
All Those People
The doctors began to load an unconscious and bloody RaGiff into the ambulance parked just outside his lab. Sonic had gotten there over an hour ago, just as Cassie was hanging up the phone from calling 911. Tails showed up a few minutes afterwards and examined the lab.
Well, "examined" was probably the wrong word.
"Look at this place!" he exclaimed when he walked in. "This stuff…it's decades ahead of anything on Earth! Look at this security system! It's got robotic snipers all over the place, and it can be set to stun, burn, kill…and he's got security cameras for nearly every square inch of this place! And that's some sound system he's…"
"Tails, concentrate!" Sonic shouted.
"All right, all right!" He looked around the lab for some blind spot in the security that the intruder could have snuck in through. He tapped away at the keyboard like it was second nature, then went to that particular area of the room to survey it. Finally, after nearly a half hour or 45 minutes, Tails returned to Sonic and Cassie.
"Nothing."
"Nothing what?" Sonic asked.
"No way anyone could have gotten in here undetected.
"But I got in no problem," Cassie contradicted.
"Hold on, let me see that again," Tails said. He went back to the keyboard and looked around for some kind of mistake he may have made. "Nope, there is no…Wait, hold on! The system isn't on."
"Say what?" Cassie and Sonic shouted together.
"He turned off the security system. Anyone could've walked in."
"What was he, crazy?" replied Sonic.
"It was probably to let Cassie in," Tails explained.
Cassie's hands flew to her mouth in realization. "Oh God...I did it…"
"Cassie, it wasn't your fault, there's no fault here…"
But Tails' reassurance wasn't enough. She almost began to cry, but Sonic stopped her. "Why exactly were you here anyway?"
Her eyes slowly met Tails'. "Well, I was lonely because Leo left and I called RaGiff-"
"Wait-Leo's gone?" Sonic asked incredulously.
"Yes…You heard about that thing on Earth with the Affinity?"
"Oh God…" Sonic moaned. "Don't tell me…"
"He went to help."
Sonic sighed and put one hand over his face. "The guy's insane."
"I know."
"Can you do anything?" Tails asked Sonic.
"Oh no, man. Leo wanna go kill himself, he can do it. I'm not chasing after him."
"But Sonic-"
"Sorry Cassie. I just can't do it." He sighed. "My heart goes out to him, but I wanna relax for now. He'll do fine."
He turned and walked away. "I'm gonna go visit RaGiff." He walked out the door and ran in the direction the ambulance had taken a half hour ago.
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"You know Leo??" Tikal asked after the meeting.
"Yeah, he helped save the planet!" Knuckles hissed.
Lianne covered her mouth. "He's the one who everyone says is dangerous??"
"Apparently…"
"You'll have to look into that when you go back down," Tikal told him.
"Wait-how exactly am I supposed to find a successor this quickly?"
"I don't know. It's your job. I have to stay here."
"Can't Chaos do it?"
"Only while you search for a replacement," she explained. "He is the labyrinth guardian now and can't stay away for too long. Good luck, Knuckles. You'll need all the time in the world."
Chaos appeared once again, rising slowly from a sapphire puddle. It pulled its arms behind it and jumped into Knuckles.
The next thing Knuckles knew, he was back on Angel Island. It was still nighttime. It seemed as if nothing had happened since he left, but he knew he had been gone for at least a couple of hours. Then he saw the tiniest ray of sunlight showing over the horizon. It must be dawn.
Knuckles was about to turn to ask Chaos to guard the Emerald when he saw it standing guard already by the shrine. Knuckles nodded towards it, and Chaos nodded back.
The echidna looked down below Angel Island. It was time to find a replacement.
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"You don't understand, man," Sonic pleaded with one of the doctors. "This is one of my best friends we're talking about."
"I'm sorry, but we can't let you in now," explained one of the nurses. "Visiting hours are over. You may come tomorrow."
"WHAT? It's 5:00 in the afternoon! What kind of visiting hours do you idiots have??"
"Mr. Sonic, I'm afraid I will have to call security if you don't leave now."
Sonic was about to protest, but thought better of it. No need to get himself in trouble here, too.
"All right then. See ya tomorrow." He plodded down through the hallway, took the elevator, walked out of the building, and began running home.
He got home and began explaining things to Amy, but apparently, Cassie had already called her. The two hugged and Amy reassured Sonic things would turn out okay Sonic responded by telling her he would be going to bed early that night-more specifically, he was going now.
"But what about dinner?"
"Not hungry. I don't mean to blow you off like this Amy, but it's just…RaGiff saved my ass big time back on Earth. We'd probably still be stuck there, and I'd be on death row, if he hadn't helped out. To see him like that…and to not be able to do anything about it…I'm sorry. I'll see you tomorrow."
He walked upstairs and fell right asleep.
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Sonic woke up on Wednesday late. It was 10:00 when he finally got out of bed and got something to eat.
"I'm going over to the hospital to check on RaGiff," Sonic told Amy that morning, crunching on an apple.
"I thought you went last night," she replied, pouring a glass of orange juice for herself.
"Nope, wouldn't let me in. You wanna come?" He took another bite and tossed it towards the trash can. It bounced off the refrigerator side and in.
"I'll meet you over there, okay?"
"Okay. Love you." He kissed her quickly and sped out the door to the hospital. He was running through the woods and turned a corner when…
"OOMF!"
Sonic and Knuckles rammed into each other and fell backwards.
"Ugh…This is why I tell you to slow down sometimes," Knuckles groaned once he got up.
"Sorry man, I'm in a hurry."
"Where you goin'? Last time I checked you wanted to live a carefree life of responsibility free pleasure."
"You know what happens whenever I try that. RaGiff's in the hospital, and they don't know if he's gonna make it."
"For real? Aw man, this just makes my day. I needed to tell you something anyway."
"Follow me and tell me on the way."
"Not right now, I'm goin to visit Mighty and the crew. It's a long story. I'll just tell you tomorrow if you're in a hurry."
"Okay then. Keep in touch, man." The two ran off.
"I'm glad you made it," Cassie said when Sonic arrived. The two hugged. "Tails and Sandrine are going to be here soon."
"Sandrine?" Sonic asked. "Who the…Aw man, he told me he had someone, that must be them."
Cassie nodded with a slight smile. "They've been going out for a month or two now." She nodded to RaGiff. "He almost got up a while ago, but he hasn't spoken a word yet."
"You got in touch with my man Leo yet?"
"No, not yet. All I get is a message that says his mailbox hasn't been set up yet."
"Lazy little…"
"Hey," whispered a soft voice by the door.
"Tails!" Sonic responded. Next to Sonic's fox friend was a dark violet echidna.
"This is Sandrine," Tails explained after he slapped Sonic five.
"Nice to meet you," Sandrine said a bit timidly. "I've heard so much about you…You're like a living legend."
"What?...Oh, c'mon, I'm not that great." Sonic had rarely experienced someone who treated him like some big-shot celebrity. It was kind of odd.
"This is Cassie," Tails said, holding one hand on Sandrine's shoulder and holding another in Cassie's direction. Cassie waved back.
"Whoa!" someone shouted from outside. "What the hell?"
Tails looked out the door. "There's something on TV," he observed. "Looks like some special news report. I'll go check it out. Maybe it's more on that attack."
Tails quickly ducked out of the room. He was gone for a good few minutes. Sonic talked with Sandrine, getting to know her. For an echidna, she was pretty cool-and hot too. Naturally, he couldn't tell Amy that, but Tails had made a good pick.
As if on cue, just as Sonic thought of his fox friend, he walked back into the room, a sour look on his face.
"What's up?" Sonic asked flippantly.
Tails' face slowly rose. "The Earth…has been destroyed."
Cassie's hands flung to her mouth. Tails continued. "The Eclipse Cannon was fired. It hit the south pole. If it didn't shatter the earth on impact, the flooding would've killed everyone anyway."
"Oh god," Cassie sobbed, her hands now covering her whole face.. Sonic moved to comfort her. He turned back. "Tails?"
The fox flipped his arms up and sighed. "It's gone."
