That night was soon forgotten; the man's warning meant nothing to Fang. Two weeks passed before something actually intrigued him.
He had been walking around through the streets of Station Square on a particularly sunny day, window-browsing. A favorite thing he liked to do, for sometimes there would be valuables displayed in the shop windows; just one more thing Fang could try and get his hands on. Silver watches, priceless gemstones, quality guns…all looking back at him from behind a glass wall.
After finding nothing of interest, Fang walked past an electronics store, almost completely unaware that it even existed. Suddenly, the many televisions in the window turned on, and a lady in a blue dress appeared, sitting behind what looked to be a news counter.
"Huh?" Fang backtracked his steps, and stared at the television in confusion. The woman on the screen coughed and sat up straight in a professional pose. Three bold red words flashed across the screen, and a little news ditty started up.
'Special News Bulletin; Chaos Emerald Found!'
"Hello citizens of Station Square. I'm Linda Taylor from Channel 5 News. Earlier today, there was a report of an alleged Chaos Emerald somewhere deep within the Mystic Ruins. One visitor to the park claimed to have seen a faint red glow as he was hiking the paths. He took a quick glance, and described the gem as 'a large jewel that resembled a cut ruby.' I have this visitor here with me today to tell about his experience."
As the screen cut, Fang was glued to the window; wanting to hear more about a potential heist. "An emerald, you say? Hmm…" His voice had a hint of curiosity.
A man appeared back on the screen after a few seconds. His face was blotted out by a black square, but his blonde hair was visible. Weird. It seemed so strangely familiar….
Fang missed the entire interview, eager to get to the Mystic Ruins as soon as he could. He started running toward the train station with only one thing on his mind; that Chaos Emerald was going to be his for the taking! Not even paying attention to the afternoon traffic, he weaved through the streets as countless numbers of people rolled down their windows and shouted insults at him.
Finally, he arrived at the entrance to the station, and threw open the doors. "Oh dammit! I'm going to miss the train!" Fang stared at the clock, which read 1:30. Without even caring who was in his way, the weasel climbed the steps to the platform, where a conductor was just climbing into the train. The door was starting to shut when Fang leaped into the cabin, almost having his tail crushed in the process.
"Whew…that was a close call…" Fang breathed a sigh of relief, and looked around as the train chugged along.
There was nobody else on the train except for himself, and a tall man with his face buried in a newspaper. He was reading contently, with a brown boot tapping on the ground. He failed to look up as Fang walked over and sat down on the seat across from him. Something about this guy is weird….why does he have his face buried in a newspaper like that? Is he hiding something? Fang thought, and tried to catch a quick glimpse of the man. Just then, the train shook a little, knocking Fang off balance. He fell back in his seat, and decided it would be best to wait until the man got off at the Ruins.
They said nothing the entire ride. As the train slowed to a stop, the conductor opened up the door, letting Fang jump out. The little wooden station was nothing like the one at Station Square; it was made of logs and had stairs that looked like they could collapse with a single step.
Before the train pulled out of the station, Fang turned to look back into the cabin. The man was gone…
"Eh. Maybe he's further back in the cabin than I thought…" Without a second to contemplate, Fang descended the stairs. When he reached the bottom, he stared out at the vast plain. A large waterfall was flowing ahead of him, and beyond that, a rickety old mine cart leading into a cave. "Something's telling me to follow the cart. I'll bet that that's where the emerald is…" Fang made up his mind, and walked over to the cart. He climbed in, and the cart rolled on into the cave. It was pitch black, without even a single lantern to light the way. Something clunked behind him, and Fang held a hand on his pistol, just in case that something was to attack him. "Damn bats…" He growled as the cave's tunnel ended, and the cart halted. Fang jumped out, and stared down at the forest below. In the distance, a little red glow caught his eye. "The emerald!" He cried out, and jumped from the ledge, not even bothering to use the ladder that was propped up against the cliff.
Yeah, he almost broke his leg, but nothing
got in the way of Fang and a valuable. Never.
When he reached the
ground, he started running off in the direction of the glow. Keep
your eyes on the prize, and don't look back.
After stumbling through countless foliage, Fang came to a clearing with a single bush in its center. It was almost too good to be true; a bright red gem was cradled in the leaves, without a single scratch from the twigs.
The Chaos emerald.
Fang delicately picked up the emerald, holding it in his hands. "I can't believe it…this easy?" He smirked, and inspected the emerald with a careful eye.
Wait a second…
The emerald was too light-weight to be real, and it had a switch at the bottom that shut the glow on and off.
This was no Chaos emerald; this was a plastic copy!
"What!" Fang dropped the emerald in disgust. "A FAKE! I traveled all the way down here to find a child's toy?"
Before he could turn back and head out of the clearing, he felt a sharp prick on his shoulder. Fang winced, and tugged at his back, grabbing something in his hands. He pulled it out, and found himself looking at a little blue dart when his vision became suddenly blurry. A large thunk came from behind him, and Fang whirled around.
A man had fallen out of a tree, and in his
hands was a gun; a tranquilizer gun.
As the man started to walk
toward him, Fang could barely make out his shape.
He was tall, and
had shaven blonde hair…
The glint of the silver necklace gave
the man away.
"It's…it's you!" Fang cried out, and
started to back up as the man came closer; a wide grin on his
face.
That was the last thing Fang said before he blacked out.
