The cloaked figure finally began to move. He positioned himself right in front of the ancient container. He remained motionless for a few seconds, until he spoke once again. "They're here…"
ZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAPPP! And with a sudden flash, Sonic and Tails appeared right before him! Then, fell to the ground. THUD! "OWWW-THATHURT!" Sonic screamed as he landed. Sonic and Tails slowly opened their eyes, and couldn't believe where they were. "Uh, Sonic?" Tails asked nervously, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't we just in your living room?" "Yeah, exactly! We were about to watch the movie, and!" Sonic stared at his empty hand. "WHERE'S MY CHILI DOG! I JUST HAD IT! NOOOOOOOOO! IT'S GOOOONE! I NEVER GOT TO TASTE MY SPECIAL SAUCE!" Tails finally spoke again. "Uh, Sonic? As much as I'd like to join you in mourning, we're not alone in here." "Say wha?" Sonic and Tails finally noticed the cloaked man standing before them. All they could see within his hood were his glowing blue eyes staring straight at them.
"Greetings. I've been expecting you." "Now Sonic was focused. "Alright Mr…..Mysteryman. Who are you, and why are we here?" "Mr. Mysteryman?" Tails whispered. "It's all I could think of, give me a break." The man raised his hand, in a 'halt' motion. "Patience, young one. We must wait for the others to arrive, first." Tails looked confused. "What others?" "Observe…" he replied. Two more bright flashes filled the room! And by the time they cleared, two more figures took their place. Sonic recognized them immediately. "Knuckles! Amy!" Amy looked dizzy. "Ooooooh…that felt to weird for me…" Then she turned her head. "Wha-SONIC! Yaaaaaaaay!" Before Sonic could react, Amy had already grabbed hold of him in a tight hug. "Oh, Sonic. I knew that last Tarot card would bring us together, I just knew it! Please say that you're happy to see me for once! Please!" Sonic could barely speak. "Uh, Amy?" Tails interrupted, "He probably would, if you weren't squeezing him to tight…" "Huh? Oops!" Amy finally let go, allowing Sonic to get some air. "GASP…Amy, if I say I'm happy to see you, would you please not hold me THAT tightly again. I wouldn't want to suffocate in your arms, y'know." Amy blushed in embarrassment. "Heh, heh, sorry"
Tails then looked towards Knuckles. "Hey Knucks! Why are you here, too?" "How should I know!" he said angrily, "I was just about to finish the best date me and Julie-Su had ever been on, and I'm suddenly zapped to this creepy place." Amy finally got herself together. "Hey, yeah! You, the guy in the robe. What's going on?" The man stepped down towards them. "Patience, miss. All will be answered soon enough…" Sonic began to look annoyed. "Again with the patience talk, pal? Don't you know patients are for hospitals?" Knuckles sweat dropped, looking embarrassed. "Nice comeback, Sonic." Tails felt the same way. "Really, who invented puns, anyway." "Oh come on, guys" Sonic replied, "That was a good one." Just then, another flash appeared and vanished, with another figure in it's place.
Knuckles recognized who it was as soon as the light around her faded. "Rouge! What are YOU doing here!" he shouted in anger. Rouge tuned around. "Oh, it's you. To what do I own this sudden reunion? And why am I not still in the Quartz Quadrant Zone?" That last statement got Sonic's attention. "Waitaminute! You were in a Zone! But you'd have to be on Mobius Z to be in a Zone!" Rouge didn't look surprised. "Exactly. I had finally gotten my hands on a mini-shuttle rocket from Station Square's military, allowing me to get to Mobius Z. I was in the middle of collecting the biggest haul of gemstones I've ever swiped in Quartz Quadrant, but now I'm here with, you people." "Hey, don't blame us!" Knuckles replied defensively. "It's that dark weirdo that pulled us all here." Before anyone could speak again, two more flashes filled the cavern room, and left two more figures. (Note: these are the LAST two to arrive. About time, eh?)
Everyone looked to see the last two to appear. "Vector, and Espio!" Espio took a look at his new surroundings. "Well, this is new…" "Tell me about it!" Vector replied. "Weren't we just in the arcade?" Vector then spotted Knuckles standing among the crowd. "HEY YOU! What's the big idea beating all my high scores?" Vector ran up and gave Knuckles a cold stare. "It took me forever to get those scores on all the games! Now, it'll take me forever to get them back again, all because of you and your girlfriend!" Sonic seemed a little annoyed. "Calm down, Vec! They're just games, sheesh." Then Amy butted in. "Oh really Sonic? You didn't take it so well when I beat YOUR high score in 'Columns'" Now Sonic was angry. "Hey, that score took me at least TWO HOURS non-stop to get!" "SHUUUUUUUUT UUUUUUUUUUUP!"
Everyone stopped arguing, and looked at Tails. "That's enough, you guys. If I recall correctly, I believe the seven of us would like an explanation as to WHY we all are here in the first place." Everyone finally remembered, and focused their attention back at the mysterious spectre still standing before them. "Finally. I was wondering when you all would stop bickering." At this point, Sonic was finally more calm. "Okay, now that you have our attention, would you PLEASE tell us what's going on?" The dark man finally felt ready. "I'd be glad to. First of all, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Necronos. I am a master of sorcery and purity magic. I used my powers to teleport you all here into this cavern. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Rouge, Vector, and Espio. What I'm about to tell you now doesn't just involve all of you, but also about what used to be in this container behind me. And what happened long before your existence." "Ooooooh, now I'm interested." Knuckles said. The spectre spoke again. "I know you all have faced many great villains and evil forces that have put your world in danger time and time again. But what you may face soon, is much more evil, and more powerful than you can ever imagine." He paused for a moment. "The legend behind it is all that is known about it." Sonic was curious, now. "Well, I'm sure we'd all like to hear it, right guys?" Everyone nodded 'yes'. "Very well…" he answered.
"6000 years ago, in a time when peace was present all over Mobius, a terrible and destructive demon known as Catalyst, was born from darkness by a group of evil warlocks who dedicated their lives to the study of the Dark Arts. The warlocks created him in hopes that they could use him to take over the entire world. But Catalyst obeyed no orders but his own. And one by one, he destroyed the warlocks with his powers of darkness, and absorbed all their magical powers. With his new control over dark magic, he began his reign of terror upon the inhabitants of Mobius. His evil spread across the planet like wildfire. With the magic he accumulated from the warlocks, he could make it so he could control reality itself. Not one area of Mobius was safe from his rapidly growing conquest. The world was on the brink of apocalypse."
"Hey buddy! This is becoming too depressing for me!" Amy interrupted. "Oh, be quiet." Rouge said back. "You're always so sensitive." "Hey! Watch it, sister. If I feel uncomfortable, I have a right to say so!" "Girls, PLEASE!" Sonic shouted. The two stopped arguing. "Sorry, Necronos. Please continue." Sonic said. Vector spoke up. "Yeah. I'm in suspense!" "Right then…" Necronos replied.
"One day, on what could've been the eve of destruction, a wizard appeared from nowhere, and challenged Catalyst. The two fought a battle that seemed it would have no end, for not one of them had a full advantage against the other. It was a prime example of light verses darkness. But as the battle raged on, the wizard began to succumb to his lack of being able to hold his strength. Unfortunately, Catalyst's power continued to grow, and soon would be unstoppable. However, the wizard had one last resort. He summoned whatever strength he had left in his heavily weakened body, and casted a submission spell. The spell caused Catalyst split apart, into seven smaller, weaker entities."
"Now hold up!" Espio interrupted. "Your saying this big evil dude changed from one to seven? How the heck does THAT help?" "Ugh. Am I EVER going to finish this story" Necronos said to himself. "Let him finish." said Tails. "Thank you" Necronos replied. "Although Catalyst split into seven spiritual forms, his defeat became much more guaranteed." "How so?" Amy asked curiously. "What happened to him?"
"The wizards seven apprentices, young warriors like yourselves, rose up against the seven spirits to avenge their fallen master. Using each of their unique magical powers combined as one, the spirits were defeated one by one. To make sure their reign of darkness would never plague Mobius again, the young warriors used one final spell, and sealed the spirits away in a large gemstone, which they had dubbed, The Cataclysmic Emerald. And they locked the emerald in this container behind me, where it has remained, for 6000 years." Necronos paused for a moment. "But now as you can see, the container has been accidentally discovered and opened. Whoever uncovered it and found the emerald has most likely shattered it, and the seven spirits have been set free upon Mobius once again…"
For a moment, everyone was speechless. Until Vector spoke up. "So, what do these spirits have to do with all of us?" "Isn't it obvious, Vec?" Espio asked. "I'll spell it out for you," Necronos said. "You all are destined to search for the spirits, and defeat them just as the ancient ones did long ago." "Say WHAT!" Amy shouted at the top of her lungs. Sonic looked surprised. "Whoa. Your serious about that?" Before he could say anymore, Amy had grabbed hold of him in a tight squeeze again. "AAAAAHHH, Sonic! Please don't let this guy make me fight! You know I'm no good when it comes to ghosts and things. I'm too sensitive!" Rouge couldn't help but laugh. "So, you're actually admitting it this time." "Hey, wait a second!" Knuckles finally spoke. "How do you know we're 'destined' as you say, to fight these ghostly guys, anyway?" "Hey, yeah. I'm sure we'd all like to know that!" Sonic agreed. Necronos then made a few wavy gestures with his hands, and right before everyone's eyes, a stone tablet appeared in front of them from nowhere! "This is an ancient mural showing what the wizard's seven apprentices looked like." Everyone moved close together to look, and couldn't believe what they saw.
"They-they look just like all of us!" Tails said in amazement. "Yeah, only with a flashier wardrobe and some cool looking armor." Espio noticed. "Wow. I look so cute!" Amy observed. "But… but how is this so?" Sonic wondered. "I believe," Necronos explained, "that it is possible that you all WERE the magical warriors, in past lives." "Whoa, now that's far out!" Sonic and Knuckles said in unison. "If this is so," Necronos continued, "then it is highly possible for me to bestow upon all of you, the same magical powers that the ancient warriors once possessed, giving you the strength needed to stand up against the spirits, before they try to conquer the world again. What say, you all?"
Sonic stood silent for a moment. This was all probably too much of a shock for him and the others. But eventually, he spoke. "Whatever it takes to save the world, I'll do it! I'm in, Necronos!" Sonic then glanced at Tails. "OK! I'm with ya, Sonic!" "If they're in, I'm in!" answered Amy. "Well, I need some kind of excuse to tell Julie-Su" Knuckles realized. "Count me in, too!" "Why not?" said Rouge. "I was looking for some excitement anyway!" Sonic looked behind him. "Vector? Espio?" "Well, we've got nothing better to do." Espio answered. "Yeah! I'll go with it!" Vector agreed. Sonic stepped forward. "Then it's settled. Those creeps won't stand a chance against all of us! Am I right?" "RIGHT!" everyone shouted. "Thank you." Necornos said. "With your help, the ancient warriors will finally be reunited, and the darkness that once covered this world shall be banished once again."
Until next time, readers! R&R please.