Comment? I don't have any for once. Uhhm...yay for Saturday? Anyway, here's Chapter 8. Hooray!
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The gang made it back to Angel Island, and had currently been there a few hours. Knuckles had left to check up on the Master Emerald, Sonic was having a race with Blaze (with Amy cheering on Sonic), Tails and Cream had gone off to check on his computer, while Rouge was trying to get Shadow to rest.
"Seriously Rouge, it's no big deal," Shadow told her, standing a bit away from the Master Emerald Alter. "I'm feeling fine, and I'll be totally recovered by the time we go after that Chaos Emerald."
"That's what they all say," Rouge replied. "All guys think they can do anything, even when they're too tired to stand. If you trust what they say, they just collapse at the most crucial point in the mission. Trust me, I know." Shadow groaned, but sat down on the grass all the same. Rouge snickered.
"What's so funny?" Shadow asked, looking annoyed. Rouge smirked.
"You never listen to anyone else, do you?" Rouge asked. "If anyone else had asked you to sit down, you'd keep standing. So, why do you listen to me?" Shadow tried to keep a straight face, but the Master Thief beside him could make out a slight blush in his cheeks. She smiled.
"You wouldn't happen to...like me, would you?" Rouge winked at him. The black hedgehog turned his face away as he felt his cheeks warm up. To say the truth, he wasn't sure. True, she was an ally to him. The pair had worked together on quite a few occasions. He was indeed fond of her, but...could he possibly be in love with her? Shadow tried to shake the thought away, turning his attention toward the sound of footsteps.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Sonic said as he ran up to them, Blaze and Amy behind him.
"Nothing," Shadow immediatly replied, causing Rouge to snicker some more. Sonic opened his mouth to say something, when Tails and Cream showed up.
"Is everyone here?" Tails asked, holding a labtop in his hands.
"Knuckles is off with the Master Emerald, but everyone else is present," Blaze answered.
"Good enough," The kitsune replied, "Because I have something important to show you all. I managed to get one of my security cameras to the place where Gemini and Ciel are!"
"So we can see what they're doing?" Sonic asked. "Awesome! How'd you get a camera there without going yourself?"
"He borrowed Cheese," Cream said. "Cheese has a minature comm-link with him, so we told him where to take the camera. He's at Gemini and Ciel's place right now."
"So what you're saying is, we can see excatly what those two are doing?" Shadow asked. Tails nodded.
"Yeah, and from the looks of it, they're already up to something. Give me a minute to set up the computer, and we can all check it out."
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In a small apartment in Station Square, the little chao was hiding inside a vent, a miniature camera and comm-link attached to his bow.
"Tails to Cheese, Tails to Cheese, do you read me?" Cheese heard through his commlink. He chaoed a reply quietly, because he would be noticed if he spoke too loud. "Excellent, Cheese. Okay, move in a little closer, so we can see what they're doing." The chao complied, moving a bit closer to the end of the vent. Through a hole, he could see two black hedgehogs in the room. The room was the living room, and was quite a bit on the messy side. There were quite a few books that were out of their bookshelves, along with a collection of other magical items and ingrediants. Down below, the two hedgehogs were grabbing some of the supplies.
"Gemini, what exactly are we doing again?" asked Ciel, who was trying to grab something that had accidentally been scooted under the couch.
"My god Ciel, how many times do I have to explainn it to you?" Gemini asked in return, looking for something in a pile of books. "That summoning I did earlier sapped most of my Dark Energy, so I have to do an Energy Revival ritual before it goes out completely. After we do that, then we can go for the rest of those Chaos Emeralds. Of course, now we have to grab five of them instead of two, thanks to a certain someone..."
"Sorry Gemini," Ciel apologized, "I didn't mean to lose the two I was supposed to get." His brother sighed.
"I guess it's alright," Gemini said after awhile, "Getting the others back shouldn't be too hard. My only concern is that hedgehog."
"You mean Shadow?" Ciel asked, finally grabbing a vial of something that he had fished out from under the couch. Gemini nodded, pushing his sunglasses back into their normal position on his face.
"Yeah, that one," He admitted. "I'm pretty sure he's Lex, but...he seems so...different. You know what I think, Ciel?"
"No, what do you think?" At this point in the conversation, Cheese went in a bit closer, knowing that the others would probably want to hear this.
"I think that when we go after the Chaos Emerald in the GUN base, we hack into their military computer. Then, we can see what happened to him, and what happened to the Ark." Gemini paused, picking up one of the spellbooks from the pile. "Who knows, we may even find out what happened to everyone there, like Maria. I still miss her sometimes. Wouldn't it be nice to find her?"
"It sure would," Ciel replied happily. "Wouldn't she be happy to see that we're back? From what you said, she really misses us."
"She probably does," Gemini flipped through the book in his hands a little, lost in thought. "Okay, I found the ritual. Hand me that vial over there, will you Ciel?"
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Back on Angel Island, Shadow just stared blankly at the screen. So it was true, the other two hedgehogs did know Maria. It was hard to deny it any longer, those two had been on the Ark. But, seeing as they didn't know Maria was dead, or anything else that had happened on during the Ark's invasion, where had they been?
"Girls," Shadow said, "You said you guys found Ciel, right? Did he say anything about what happened to him or Gemini?"
"A little," Cream replied. "Mr. Ciel said he used to live on the Ark with you guys, but he ended up having to leave, because he got really sick."
"I think I remember hearing about a plauge on the Ark," Shadow murmmured. "But from what I heard, almost everyone who got it died. Did he say anything about Gemini?"
"Ciel said he met up with Gemini later," Rouge confirmed, "but he didn't say how or why. I also heard him mention that he owes his life to Gemini, for some reason." Shadow mused over this for a minute, looking at the screen again. It seemed Gemini had started his ritual already, standing in the middle of the floor with a runic circle drwn in chalk around him. Ciel was nearby, watching while toying with one the purple Chaos Emerald. From what could be seen from the screen, the runic circle was glowing, and Gemini was chanting something.
"I wonder how that magic works," Tails muttered. The young fox grabbed his comm-link again. "Cheese, do you read me? I need you to-"
"GUUUUYYYYYSS!" Everyone was startled by the sudden outburst, with some of the younger characters letting out a shriek in suprise. The source of the outburst was Knuckles, who was running toward them with something in his arms.
"What the hell is it Knuckles?" Shadow snapped.
"Well, you see, I was checking on the Master Emerald, and it began to glow, and then..." Knuckles stopped to show what was in his arms. It was a light orange echidna, wearing a green and white dress. Her eyes were closed, for she was unconcious.
"Tikal?" Sonic asked. "I thought her form here was a hologram."
"Not anymore," Knuckles replied. "I think that Chaos transported her into our time for some reason. Remember how the message she sent us ended early? I think that was because Chaos was going to send her here, and he didn't want us to know yet."
"The problems keep adding up," Rouge muttered. She turned back towards the screen, her eyes widening. "Uhmm, guys? I think we have a situation here."
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Moments before, back at the appartment, Gemini had been starting his ritual. Ciel just stood back by the wall, toying with a Chaos Emerald. However childish the winged hedgehog was, he always remembered to never interrupt his brother with his magic. As he had heard before, even the smallest mistake could throw the whole spell off. Ciel quietly sigehd as he remembered that phrase, for it was indeed true. As a matter of fact, that was why Ciel had sharp teeth and wings in the first place, due to a small accident with a spell.
Suddenly, up in the vent, Cheese heard a loud shriek in the middle of Tail's transmission. It was so sudden, it caused the chao to yell loudly in fright. Ciel, who was standing near the vent, clasped his hands to his ears in reflex to block out the noise. As a result, he accidentally threw the Chaos Emerald, which sailed through the room...and landed right in the middle of Gemini's rune circle, knocking the magician off guard.
"The hell?" was all he could say, as the now ruined spell began it's new effect. The rune circle glowed brightly, enveloping the room in a dark purple light. Everyone watching, even those watching from Angel Island, watched in suprise.
"What the heck's going on?" Shadow asked, back on Angel Island.
"I don't know," Knuckles exclaimed.
"You startling us set off a chain reaction," Tails explained.
"Oh, so now it's my fault?" Knuckles yelled.
"Shush Knuckles, something's happening," Blaze ordered. Back in the room, the runic circle stopped glowing. In the center was Gemini, his fur crackling in black energy. His eyes flared open, revealing a pyschotic look in his eyes.
"Gemini?" Ciel asked cautiously, having never seen his brother this way before.
"Shadow..." Gemini muttered. "I am going to kill him."
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Uh oh, that's not good. I don't have anything to say still, except to be here next chapter to find out what happens next!
