The Warrior of Black Chaos

By: Jon 'Volc' Pereira

Chapter 1: The Scientist and The Magic Stone

The sun was just setting on the Master Emerald Shrine. The wind was slowly whistling through the trees. It was the only sound in the area beside the playful cry of the Chao. Off in the distance, a small thunderstorm could be seen accumulating, the clouds swirling and the lightening viciously bursting through the darkness. Once the sun had set, the only light came from the Master Emerald, shining a glorious green.

In the shadow of the shrine, a young human girl stood. She was wearing all black and a mask shrouded her face from view. She pressed herself stealthily against the wall and slowly slouched up onto the steps. She looked up to see that beside the Master Emerald, a lone, red Chaos Emerald sat on a large stone block. She grinned; it was exactly what she had been looking for. Looking around, she saw that no one was in view, but she wanted to be careful. She quickly ran up the steps to avoid detection; then pressed herself once again against a podium. She squatted down and reached slowly for the emerald and pressed one finger against it. Smiling, she grabbed a hold of it and tugged it over to her body.

"Stop right there!" A light orange globe of light burst out as if from nowhere and floated delicately in front of the girl. Slowly, the sphere began to take form into a young-looking echidna girl. The echidna quickly seized the emerald from the human girl and cautiously took a step away from her. "I, Tikal, guardian of the Master Emerald, can not let you take this. It is far too powerful for mortal use. Using a Chaos Emerald will only lead to mass destruction." The small flowing river surrounding the shrine gurgled as if in agreement.

"I'm sorry," Was the human's response. "But I must have this. I need to study it."

"Study it? What are you intending?"

"I'm a scientist. I'm working on a new form of energy. It will revolutionize Mobius and the way we all live."

"I am happy with the way I live, I can not let you use this!" Tikal screamed. The river seemed to be more and more agitated. It began bubbling and gurgling louder and louder.

"You don't have a choice!" The human lunged for the emerald. The river bubbled and formed into a geyser. It shot into the air and landed directly in front of the human girl. Startled, she jumped back. She stared in amazement as the liquid formed into a strange blue beast. He had eerie green eyes and a figure vaguely similar to that of an echidna's. It was looking to have been made entirely of water. It stretched its arm over and knocked the girl away. "What the hell is that thing?"

"This is my friend, and the guardian of the Chaos Emeralds, Chaos." Tikal smiled, almost hiding behind her blue friend. "He will not let you take our emerald."

"I'm sure we can talk this one out." Replied the girl, a nervous chuckle to her voice. "I just need to study the emerald, then I promise to return it. I have no interest in invoking any hidden power the gem might have." She smiled and slowly inched towards her. "Does that make you trust me any more?"

"The fact that you tried to steal it, then threatened me leaves me with the only choice to not trust you. If, and only if, you return the emerald by the end of the next full moon will we allow you to take this." She slowly extended her hand and placed it onto the human's.

"I promise. I will return this." The human grinned, staring at it's sparkling beauty. She slowly backed up and quickly ran off. Dashing through the trees, she spotted a large blue plane in the distance. Upon reaching this, she quickly boarded the machine and started the engine. She turned around to take one last look at the shrine, and then jetted off into the sky.

Six years later, instead of Tikal and Chaos, a dark red echidna boy sat at the base of the shrine's steps. He let out a small sigh of boredom and lied back, resting his head on an upper step. He took a long gaze and the glorious Master Emerald. A blue hedgehog stood a few feet away stretching his slender legs. He looked over at the echidna.

"Hey, Knuckles, not falling asleep on the job are you?" The hedgehog grinned. He just loved getting in his two cents. The echidna growled and sat up.

"Sonic, you just have to butt in, don't you?" The echidna sat up and cracked the knuckles of one of is spike-covered hands.

"Hey, it's what I do!" Sonic chuckled and set into a small jog around the shrine. A two-tailed fox sat waiting patiently in the cockpit of a large plane. He tapped his fingers and looked back and forth, waiting for Sonic.

"Hey, Sonic! Are we going to investigate that possible Robotnik base establishment?" He yelled to him. The fox had been waiting for quite some time.

"All right, all right," Sonic replied. "You going to join us, Knux?" Sonic questioned.

"Nah," Knuckles responded. "It's way too peaceful of a day." He stared up as a green parrot hovered slowly in the air. Knuckles smiled and extended his arm. The parrot landed on his arm and whistled happily.

"Suit yourself, man" Sonic ran over to Tails' plane and jumped inside of it. "Let's get going!"

"All right!" Tails grinned and flicked a switch to turn over the plane's engine. It let out an intense, powerful roar. Slowly, the plane's wings began to turn and began to roll down a hill. With the flick of one last switch, the plane started to glide into the air. The large propellers began whirring and kept the machine at a steady flight path.

"So where are we headed to, anyways?" Sonic yawned, leaning back in his copilot seat.

"The Higara Grassland." Tails responded. "Our resources tell of a large amount of technology being accumulated in that area. A possibility of a new Robotnik base being built was really large, so I thought we should check it out."

"Works for me, buddy." Sonic smiled. "Wake me when we get there." He slowly closed his eyes and drifted to sleep. Tails' chuckled.

"Like a baby."

After about 20 minutes of flight time, the plane slowly settled on a Higarian hilltop. Tails hopped out and shook Sonic by his shoulder.

"We're here." Tails sighed, continuing to shake his shoulder. Sonic growled and turned over.

"Not yet! Five more minutes!" He roared. He really didn't want to get up.

Tail's sighed and pulled at Sonic's shoulder and tugged him out of the cockpit. The weight of the body was too much for Tails. He lost his balance and fell to the ground with a thud. Sonic slid off the side he was dangling off of and toppled on top of Tails. Tails whimpered and shoved the blue mound off of him.

"Wake up!" Tails turned around and slammed his tails on top of Sonic's face. Sonic coughed and sprung to his feet.

"What the hell was that?" Sonic questioned. "I couldn't breathe there, buddy!"

"You wouldn't wake up," Tails responded. "I had to do what I had to do."

Sonic sighed and took a look around. The land was used for mostly farmland and was absolutely beautiful. The sky was a bright blue, without a cloud in the sky. A flock of sparrows floated carelessly through the air. The ground was covered with lush green foliage. There were very few trees, and those that were in the area were quite small. A small creek gushed through the land. Sonic sighed and sat down at the edge of the hill.

"Hey, who is that?" Tails pointed down at a human boy traveling far in the distance. He was garbed in a ragged brown cloak.

"I have no idea." Sonic sat at the edge of the hill and glanced at the boy as he walked away. He then lay down on the grass and closed his eyes. "Nothing to see here…wake me in 15"

"Not again!"