Mystic Ruins

Tails' Laboratory

Tails works away at the console of the machine that had been examining the Moonstone, apparently still having more data to analyze. Suddenly, his communicator beeps. "Tails, this is Sonic! We've been captured, we need help! We're at a base built inside of a mountain outside of Station Square! Bring backup!"

His hand springs to the device to respond, "Sonic, I hear you, is everything alright!? Are you hurt?" He waits a moment. "Sonic, respond!" He growls at the lack of response. Then he gets moving, sprinting away at his top speed. But he skids to a stop as he passes a storage container. He frantically opens a drawer and pulls a box out of it. He takes the lid off of the box to check on the four fake yellow Emeralds still inside. Then he shuts the box and runs off with it.

He quickly arrives at his underground hangar, and powers on the old, flickering lights. He runs around the Tornado to the front propellor, and begins unscrewing the cap. Once it's off, he removes an Emerald from the box, and places it into the plane's newly-revealed compartment. He screws the cap back on, and swings around into the pilot's seat in one fluid motion. He reaches down for a pair of goggles, which he puts on. He presses a button to ignite the plane's engine. "I'm coming, Sonic."

Sonic the Hedgehog: The Chaos Project

Season 0, Episode 22

Dawn of Chaos, Part 3: Day and Night

Written by ChaosProjectAuthor

Mt. Lux

Eggman's Secret Base

Lumis has been once again tied down to his chair, while Sonic and Amy have each been bound, standing, to opposite walls. Lumis seems to be in the middle of ranting to them, "I hope you are both quite happy with yourselves! Now we're all stuck here."

Sonic doesn't seem particularly happy. "Remind me why I rescued you again?"

"You call that a rescue? I could have broken myself free with more success."

"Oh really? Then please, be my guest. No one's stopping you."

"Unfortunately, you are the reason I need to be in this realm in the first place. Really, I was expecting more out of the Controller."

"Well, since you seem to know so much about me already, why don't you tell us who in the world you are already!?"

"Very well, very well. You can call me…Doctor Lumis."

Amy questions with extreme doubt, "Doctor?"

"…Forgive me, this body has a surprising effect on my way of thinking."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

"Hmm…perhaps I should start from the beginning. As you know, this realm is overseen by the beings known as the Lords of Chaos."

Sonic nods. "That's right. What about them?"

"Some time ago, the Lords discovered a sort of…aberration, in the natural course of events."

"Aberration? What does that mean?"

"Simply that the future has been altered in a manner which could not originally be accounted for. A new series of events which will eventually send the entire world spiraling into Darkness. Events including your own death."

"How do you know all of this?"

"In order to prevent this catastrophe, the Lords of Chaos agreed that an intervention had to be made. A single voice was selected to do so."

"You're saying that you…"

"I am a Lord of Chaos."

—–—

Angel Island

Knuckles looks up as the Tornado descends down to the stretch of land in front of the shrine. "Two visitors in one day? So much for a secluded hiding spot."

Tails hops out of the plane. "Knuckles, get in! Sonic's in trouble!"

"Get in? Tails, I can't just leave the Master Emerald here unguarded!"

"Then take it with you, come on! We have to hurry!"

"I…you…argh, fine!"

While Knuckles retrieves the Master Emerald, Tails pulls out the Emerald case, as well as another device. He opens a panel on the device, and loads the second fake Emerald inside, as it becomes clear what the device is.

"A gun?" Knuckles stands ready, holding the shrunken Master Emerald in his hands. "Isn't that a little…I don't know, not your style?"

"Now's not the time to worry about 'style'. Besides…" Tails suddenly aims the weapon at Knuckles' chest and fires.

"Ah!" The energy blast hits him, but dissolves harmlessly into sparks. "Hey!"

"…This EMP Blaster only affects robots. Now come on!" Tail swings back into the pilot's seat, and puts the goggles back down. Knuckles hops up onto the wing, and the plane takes off.

—–—

"Rargh!" The red-furred Moonstone hedgehog tries to rip free of the shackles binding him to the examination table as Dr. Eggman draws near.

"My, feisty one, aren't you?"

"Grr!" He tugs again.

Eggman leans in over the hedgehog's chest. "That's quite an interesting gem you have there. Mind if I take a look?" He reaches a hand for the Moonstone. The moment he does, the hedgehog starts to writhe and flail as much as his bindings will allow, enough to scare Eggman back a step. "Fine, fine, I'll just observe. Orbot!"

From a nearby console, the robotic servant answers, "Yes sir?"

"What do the readings say?

"Energy output is at least twice as high as a normal Chaos Emerald, sir. But I'm having trouble getting a read on the material. However, I am reading an odd pattern in the energy output."

"Odd? What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know, sir."

Eggman tugs on his mustache in curiosity. "Hmm…. Perhaps there was some element of truth to what that Lumis character said."

—–—

Sonic asks, "If you're a Lord of Chaos, what does that make the other guy? Why was he after you?"

Lumis answers, "A fair question, I suppose." He stops to think for a while. "Ten millennia ago…there was a voice, which attempted to subvert the collective will of the others. This Outlaw was punished through silence."

"Silence?"

"Think about it. A being who once existed solely as a voice among a chorus; his voice taken away from him. Forced to be present for every word, every moment, without ever being able to prove that he even exists. For ten thousand years. It is the worst punishment that a being such as I could possibly endure."

"So you're saying that this…Outlaw…"

"When the chosen voice was sent to this realm, it left an opening for the Outlaw to follow. And so he did."

Amy's voice suddenly outbursts, "No! I won't believe that!"

"Excuse me!?"

"I won't believe that he's a criminal! He's lost, and confused, and alone, and he doesn't even know who he is!"

"Well, ten millennia spent as prisoner in one's own mind will do that to someone. Quite frankly, I don't care what happens to him. There are far more important concerns to deal with."

—–—

The Tornado soars through the developing cloud cover that shades the ground below from the intense summer heat. Tails glances over at Knuckles, still crouched on the wing, before returning his attention to piloting. After a few moments, he glances over again.

"Would you quit staring at me like that!?"

"Sorry…" Tails tightens his grip on the controls, and locks his gaze forwards. But after another few moments, he steals another glance.

"Alright, you haven't been able to keep your eyes off of me this whole trip. What's up!?"

"It's just…that's where Sonic usually flies."

"Well, Sonic isn't here, is he?"

"That's the problem!"

"What, I'm not good enough company for you!?"

"Well, maybe you aren't!" Both drop into silence as they take in what was just said.

Slowly, Knuckles climbs down sideways into the back seat, relaxing with his head and feet still well outside of the vehicle. "Let's just get this over with."

Tails stares ahead at the mountain peak in view up ahead, sticking up above the clouds. "We're getting close. Preparing to descend."

"Yeah, whatever."

Tails dips the plane down into the clouds. After a few moments of flying blind through a thick fog, they come out on the other side, in full view of the mountain. "There it is. Now I just need to find a place to land, and–" Several small sections of the mountain face suddenly begin sliding away, revealing large defense turrets, which immediately open fire. "We're under fire, hold on tight!"

Knuckles doesn't open his eyes. "What's the big–"

"Taking evasive action!" Tails throws the Tornado into a wide barrel roll, narrowly avoiding the first laser blast, and causing Knuckles to flail as he nearly falls out of the plane.

As Knuckles climbs back the proper way into his seat, he shouts, "You call that flying!? Are you trying to get me launched out!?"

"The mountain has a powerful defense system! It's all I can do to keep us from getting shot out of the sky!" Tails pulls the plane into a tight somersault, barely avoiding another blast. "Firing back, now!" He unleashes a volley of laser fire of his own, strafing the side of the mountain and destroying a turret in its path. "Yeah, I got one!"

Knuckles shouts back sarcastically, "Only a dozen more to go! Tails, you–" He gets interrupted as another tight roll pins him to his seat. He resumes, "You can't destroy them all! You have to find a place to land before we get shot down!"

"There's no way I can land with so many of them targeting us! We have to take them out first, before–" A turret blast shreds through the left wing, leaving it barely hanging on to the rest of the plane. Immediately, the plane begins losing altitude, and starts to dip towards the ground.

"We're hit, we're hit!"

"Don't worry, I can still make an emergency landing!"

'Landing!? Tails, we're heading straight for ground and gaining speed! If you don't want to go splat on the ground down there, you have to eject, now!"

"I can do it! I can!"

"I'm not dying with you here, Tails." Knuckles climbs up to the edge of the tailspinning plane, and dives out, gently gliding towards the mountainside, leaving Tails completely alone.

"Knuckles…" Tails tightens his grip, and stares defiantly at the ground. But then, he falters. He lets go of the controls, unbuckles his safety belt, and reaches down for his blaster and Emerald case. Then he jumps out as well, twirling his tails to remain aloft above the spot where the Tornado crashes into the ground in a fiery explosion. A light drizzle starts to fall from the clouds.

—–—

Tails and Knuckles walk in silence along the side of the mountain, drenched by the increasing strength of the summer rainstorm. Tails starts to speak up, "Knuckles…I…"

"Let's just find Sonic and get this over with, alright?"

"Yeah…" They continue to walk for a while. They come to a stop at an unhinged metal door lying on the ground, with a massive dent in the middle. They look to the mountain beside them to see the entrance it had been covering. "Well, I guess this is where we go in." Knuckles nods, and they continue inside.

On the other side, they are met by a swarm of Egg Pawns, all weapons pointed at them. Tails shouts, "It's an ambush!" Both heroes dive back to the outside, taking cover on either side of the entryway, narrowly avoiding the first wave of weapon fire. As soon as the fire lets up, Tails leans in and fires his own blaster back, each blast completely disabling any robot it contacts, before being forced to take cover again. "There's too many of them!"

Knuckles starts to crack his fists. "No problem." He charges back into the base, arms up and ready to fight.

"Knuckles, no!" Tails reluctantly runs in after him, skillfully shooting the blaster as he moves.

Happier in the heat of the action, Knuckles goes to work taking out as many robots as he can, as quickly as possible, showing off his strength and expert fighting style. One robot points a weapon at his back.

"Knuckles, look out!" Tails blasts the robot just before it gets its own chance to fire.

Knuckles looks back at Tails just long enough to acknowledge that he was saved, then moves back into the fight.

—–—

Sonic, Amy, and Lumis wait around in silence.

Finally, Amy starts, "You know, Sonic…it's been a long time since we've spent so much time together."

Sonic groans loudly. "Amy, is now really the best time?"

Lumis comments, "Ah, young love. A great source of Light in the Balance…assuming it goes well. To be honest, I can't say that the future I foresee between the two of you is a very happy one."

For entirely different reasons, both Sonic and Amy shout, "Hey!"

"Never mind, never mind, just forget what I said. Please, go back to what you were doing before."

Sonic groans again, but the groan is interrupted by a loud bang.

Amy questions, "What was that?"

Sonic smirks. "That's our backup."

With another loud bang, the newly-replaced door to the room is once again torn from its hinges, sent clattering to the floor. Knuckles stands with a raised fist on the other side. "Someone call for a rescue?"

Tails runs in past him. "Sonic!"

"Tails!" The fox immediately begins work on Sonic's bindings. "How'd you know we were in here?"

Knuckles, in the process of freeing Amy, responds, "Well, uh, I definitely didn't knock down three other doors in the same way as this one. Definitely not."

Tails continues, "This place is crawling with robots, we don't have much time."

Amy, freed and stepping away from her wall, asks, "How do we get out of here if there are so many?"

Sonic has been freed as well. "I could get us all out with Chaos Control, but Eggman took all of our Emeralds."

Tails takes another fake yellow Emerald out of his case and drops it into Sonic's hand. "Not a problem."

"Tails, how did you…" Sonic stares at the dull yellow gem for a moment. "It's a fake. Tails, I thought we–"

"We can talk about it later, right now we need to get out of here!"

"Wait, what about the Tornado?"

Tails closes his eyes and shakes his head.

Knuckles interjects, "So who's this guy supposed to be?" He points a thumb at Lumis, still tied in the center of the room.

Lumis responds, "This guy has a name, you know. It's Lumis."

Sonic answers to Knuckles as Amy unties Lumis, "Don't worry, he's a…an ally."

Once again, Lumis gets up and starts to brush himself off, as if dirtied by the ropes. "Now, can we please get out of here? I don't want to spend another second in this rathole."

Amy shouts back, "No way! We have save Emmy!"

Sonic questions with confusion, "Emmy?"

"Well, we have to call him something. There's an Emerald in his chest, isn't there?"

Tails interjects, "Technically, it's a Moonstone."

Knuckles objects, "I thought you said you were the one who named it that! There's nothing technical about it!"

This time, it is Lumis who groans. "Controller, could you, perhaps, convince your little friends to stop babbling so we can leave?"

Sonic answers, "We're not going anywhere until everyone is safe. If you don't want to come with us, you can stay right here." He continues in a mocking tone, "Quite frankly, I don't care what you do."

Lumis sighs. "Given the options, I'll go."

"Good. Then let's get moving, everyone. And Amy…we are not calling him Emmy."

Lumis adds, "I remind you all, he is the Outlaw."

Amy responds to both of them with a "Hmph," as the group progresses out of the room.

—–—

As the group moves through the base, Tails runs a bit to catch up with Knuckles. "Knuckles…I wanted to apologize for what I said before. I don't know what came over me, I guess I was just really worried about Sonic."

Knuckles shakes his head. "No, I'm the one who should be sorry. What was I doing, yelling at a kid like that? I was trying to look cool is what I was doing, and I made a complete fool of myself doing it."

Tails offers his hand. "Still friends?"

Knuckles gladly accepts it, and they shake. "Still friends."

Sonic looks back at them. "Did I miss something?"

The two both chuckle a bit. Tails answers, "Nothing much."

Amy questions, "Sonic, how do you know where we're going? We've passed a lot of doors already."

"I know that he's this way. I can feel it."

Tails, Amy, and Knuckles all give Sonic a confused look. Lumis adds, "He is correct. I feel it as well." They shrug it off.

After a while, Knuckles comments, "You know, this place's been strangely–" He is cut off as an entire floor panel for some distance in front of them slides open, and a platform crammed full of robots is raised from underneath. "…quiet." Tails glares at Knuckles angrily, as if he had jinxed it.

Sonic quickly has the situation analyzed. "Eggman's trying to beat us out with numbers, but we'll show him! We've got to work together on this one. Tails, let's give 'em a Blue Bomber!"

Clearly understanding the lingo, Tails answers, "Right!" Immediately, he rises into the air a few feet, before flying over Sonic, grabbing his arm along the way. He carries Sonic higher, then flips through the air, throwing Sonic down as he goes. Sonic curls into a Spin Attack as he's launched right into the horde of robots, taking out at least half a dozen of them in one blow, and bouncing right back into the air.

Sonic uncurls just long enough to shout, "Knuckles, spike me!" Sonic curls right back up, just as Knuckles leaps up to smack him back down at full force. Another large cluster of robots is taken out.

This time, Sonic lands back on the ground in a crouch. "Amy, Fastball!" He starts to rev up a Spindash.

"You got it!" Amy draws her hammer back as she runs up to Sonic, then swings at him with all of her might. Sonic is sent flying, ricocheting through the hallway, taking out scores of robots in his path. Knuckles and Tails quickly take out the last few stragglers.

As the last robot goes down, Amy cheers, "Yeah, we did it!" Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all join in the celebration. Sonic and Tails fist bump, while Knuckles and Amy high-five.

Lumis applauds slowly. "Yes, yes, marvelous teamwork and all that. Now let's not waste any more time, shall we?"

Amy starts to mutter, "That guy is really starting to–"

Sonic interrupts, "It's okay, Amy." He walks up to a door, and places a hand on it. "He's in here." He steps aside. "Knuckles, if you wouldn't mind?"

Knuckles readies a fist to knock the door. "Got it."

Just as Knuckles is about to punch, Tails shouts, "Wait!" Knuckles nearly trips over himself. Tails hovers his hand around a control panel for a moment, then presses a single button. The door slides right open. "See? Much easier."

Knuckles makes his way in first, muttering, "Show-off…" The rest follow in.

In the room waits the Moonstone hedgehog, still bound to the examination table, his fur a soft, snowy white. Amy pushes past everyone else to run up to him. "Are you alright!? Did Eggman hurt you?"

The hedgehog slowly stirs into consciousness. Laying eyes on Amy, his fur shifts to bright cyan-blue, as a smile lights up his face. Then he lays eyes on Lumis behind her, and his happiness changes to fiery red rage.

Amy tries to sooth him. "Please, calm down, we're here to help you." Her words relax him slightly, though his fur remains red.

Sonic notices something on a table near the wall. "Well, would you look at that?" He walks over to the table and scoops up the purple Chaos Emerald. "Eggman left me a little Birthday present. What a sweet guy." Since Lumis is the closest, Sonic holds the Emerald out to him. "Hold this for a sec, would you?"

Lumis recoils back. "I'm not touching that thing!"

"Oookay…? I guess I'll just hold it." He walks around to the opposite side of the examination table from Amy, and they go to work on the hedgehog's bindings. Once he is freed, and starts to sit up, Sonic looks him in the eyes. "I want to help you, I'm going to get you out of here. But you have to trust me." After a moment, the hedgehog nods, as his fur fades back to its calm white. "Good. Everyone, circle up." The six individuals all gather into one spot. Sonic closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath.

Lumis questions with irritation, "Is something the matter?"

Sonic hesitates for a moment. "It's just that…I've never transported so many people before." The Moonstone hedgehog, standing next to him, gently grabs his hand.

Sonic looks up to the other hedgehog to see him smiling, his fur returned to its light aqua blue color. He tries to speak again. "Hhhhhelp…yooou…" At that moment, the Moonstone in his chest begins to glow brilliantly.

Sonic almost instantly seems to relax. "Chaos…Control!" All six disappear in a bright flash of blue.

Eggman watches it all happen on security feed, displayed on a small monitor. "That's right, hedgehog. Enjoy your little Birthday present. Orbot!"

Cubot's voice answers from another room, "Yes, Doctor?"

"Shut up, Cubot. I called for the competent one. Relatively competent, anyways."

"Uh…Orbot's not here right now, please leave a message after the beep. Uh…beep?"

Eggman groans and buries his face in one hand. He doesn't even bother asking. "Is the device secure?"

"Yes, sir. Location data is coming in."

"Very good. I expect both of you to be operational and prepared to work before I leave this room."

Cubot can be heard gulping in nervousness.

—–—

Sonic, Knuckles, and Lumis appear in Tails' living room. Lumis immediately begins to stretch out and relax. "Ah, finally out of that putrid place." Not bothering to make any requests, he takes a seat by a window, where the last of the evening sunlight floods in.

Sonic doesn't get quite so comfortable. "Alright, I want answers. You've spoken in nothing but riddles since the moment we met. You might be a Lord of Chaos, you might be a doctor, and you might know who I am. So let's get everything straight. Who are you, and what do you want? Lumis, is it?"

Lumis reclines back. "Yes, that's right. And I assure you, I am a Lord of Chaos."

"That covers the who. Now the what."

"Hmm…how to best explain it? I imagine you've never heard of the Ritual of Illumination?" Sonic shakes his head. "That is sensible. It has only ever been attempted once in your history, and unsuccessfully at that. You do understand, of course, that your duty as Controller is to protect the world from Darkness, correct?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

"Well, imagine that, instead of working towards that goal that has been mandated for you every day for the rest of your life, never truly accomplishing anything, you could, tomorrow, protect the planet from Darkness for the rest of time, all in one single action, leaving you free to live out the rest of your life as you please."
Sonic scratches his head. "The mandate, and the…Darkness…and what now?" Knuckles looks equally confused.

Lumis sighs. "It's simple. Through the Ritual of Illumination, you can simply eradicate all traces of Darkness from this planet. Your duty will be done, and the world will be filled with Light. That is why I am here. To help you through the Ritual."

—–—

Tails and Amy appear outside of the thick window looking down on the examination room, in which the Moonstone hedgehog appears. Almost immediately, he recognizes the room, and his fear at being re-imprisoned manifests in his sickly green fur. Amy speaks into a microphone connected to speakers in the room, "Please, don't be afraid. We just want to keep you safe." As usual, her words are enough to relax him slightly.

Tails takes out the last of the four fake Emeralds, and walks up to the microphone. Something seems to be weighing on his mind, and he addresses it immediately. "Last time you were here, this is what freaked you out so much, right?" He holds the gem up to the glass for the hedgehog to see. The hedgehog tenses up at the sight of it. "I saw you look right at them, you knew they were there, even through the walls and containers. It was the very first thing you felt, and you hated it."

The hedgehog answers back, with more understanding than anger, "Hhhate… Balance…"

Tails looks to Amy with confusion. "Balance? When did he learn that word?" Amy shrugs in equal confusion. Tails shakes his head and returns to the microphone. "Well…I don't want you to hate. So…" After looking down at the gem for a moment, he hurls it at the ground, and it shatters like glass on impact. "Do you…feel better now?"

"…Better…"

"You see? We just want to help you. But first, you have to help us. Who are you? We have to know."

The hedgehog closes his eyes and shakes his head fervently. He shouts angrily, "Who!"

Amy translates, "He doesn't remember, Tails. He doesn't know who he is any more than we do."

Tails answers back to the Moonstone hedgehog, "Please, you have to try and remember."

The hedgehog clutches at his head. "Remember…" He clenches his eyes shut, and clutches even harder. "Remember… Remember…"

"Let's try to start with a name. What is it that we should call you?" Tails puts a hand on his own chest. "I'm Miles, but my friends call me Tails. You can call me Tails, if you want."

"Miles…"

"Well, that's not really what I–"

"I am…I am…" The hedgehog growls as he struggles with the memory. "I am…Chaos!"

Tails and Amy's faces both light up. "So, your name is Chaos? We used to know someone else named Chaos. He couldn't talk like you can."

Chaos the Hedgehog doesn't seem to care about that statement, struggling to remember more. "I have to…"

"What is it? What do you have to do?"

"I have to… I have to… Arrgh!"

"That's alright, Chaos. You don't have to remember everything right now. But please, keep trying." Tails looks over to Amy. "Could you keep an eye on him for a while?" She smiles and nods, so Tails quickly leaves the room.

—–—

Sonic ponders for quite a while. "One ritual…and my job as Controller will be finished? Just like that?"

Lumis answers, "That is correct. Just think about it. Ever since you learned who you are, you've been struggling to find a direction, have you not?"

Knuckles concurs, "That's pretty much what you told me."

Lumis continues, "This is not only your direction, but your destination as well. Once this is done, your life will be yours again. No more responsibility, no more petty mandates by those…by…we Lords of Chaos."

At that moment, Tails enters the room. Sonic looks over at him. "Tails, there you are. I think we were going to have a talk about this?" Sonic holds up the fake Emerald that Tails had given to him.

Lumis doesn't much seem to mind the distraction, as it gives him more time to relax in the sunlight.

"Sonic…I have something to–"

Sonic continues, "We talked about this, Tails. A long time ago. The Chaos Emeralds aren't something you should be messing around with.

"Sonic, I–"

"I trust you to be able to handle it, but can you imagine what would happen if Eggman got his hands on one of these? We can't just–"

"Sonic I crashed your plane!"

"W…what?"

"Its engine was being powered by one of the fake Emeralds, and…"

Knuckles finishes, "And we crashed it right in front of Eggman's base."

Sonic questions, "We?"

Knuckles answers, "I wasn't exactly helping."

Sonic sighs, and buries his face in one hand. "Oh…Tails…"

Tails mutters back, "I'm sorry…"

"I don't care about the plane, Tails. When was the last time I actually piloted that thing?"

"Well…uh…"

"Exactly. I don't remember it either. The Tornado was more yours than it was mine. But you dropped a chance to create infinite power right into Eggman's hands!"

Knuckles questions, "Tails, didn't you say those things were supposed to be pretty fragile? What are the odds that it actually survived a plane crash?"

Sonic answers back, "I hope you're right. There's not a lot we can do about it at this point. After what we just pulled, that place is going to be even better defended than it was before, and we barely made it out, let alone getting back in and back out."

Lumis chimes in, "I'm certainly not going back to that place."

Sonic looks back to Tails. "Tails, I'm glad that you didn't get hurt. I'll be glad to help you build a new plane. But I specifically told you not to make any more fake Emeralds. Why'd you do it without even telling me?"

"Well…I remembered what you said, but I thought…now that you're using Chaos Control again, I'd give you the real Chaos Emerald first…and then, when it eventually goes away like it always does, I'd give you a fake one, and it would totally sell you on the idea of having access to it whenever you want. But it all needed to be a surprise to work."

Sonic seems impressed. "Tails, have you ever considered a career in advertising? With a strategy like that, I think anyone would buy your product." Even the depressed Tails can't help but laugh. "Tails, I appreciate the thought. I really do. But from now on, for something this big, I need to know. Alright?"

"Alright."

"Wait…did you say you had one powering the Tornado's engines? Weren't those things prone to…you know, blow up any machine that tries to draw power from them?"

"That was true with the old model, yeah. But I finally got it to work with these ones."

"One more problem with Eggman getting his hands on them." He sighs. "Anyways, any progress with the other guy?"

"Actually, yeah. His–"

Knuckles suddenly shouts, "What the heck is happening to your arm!?"

Just about everyone in the room lets out a yell at the sight of Lumis' arm, which, at at least twice its expected length, wriggles and writhes around like a tentacle made of a thick golden fluid, stretching out towards Knuckles. Lumis quickly clenches the hand at the end of the arm into a fist, and the arm resolidifies into its normal shape. "I'm…sorry you had to see that. This form is…not easy to maintain."

At that moment, Amy pops her head into the room. "Guys, you might want to come see this. I think something's happening!" She retreats back to where she came from.

Tails starts to go after her, but stops as he realizes that no one is following him. Sonic says, "Tell her we'll be there when we're finished out here. I think we still have a few things to talk about." Tails nods and leaves.

Knuckles still stares at Lumis' arm suspectingly. "That looked…just like the stuff that's been attacking us."

Sonic continues, "I think you have a bit more explaining to do."

—–—

Amy and Tails re-enter the examination room. On the other side of the glass, the white-furred Chaos the Hedgehog sits cross-legged on the ground, his fingertips brought together in front of his closed eyes. The Moonstone glows brilliantly. Amy asks to Tails, "What do the readings say?"

Tails looks over all of the data that's available, but doesn't seem to find anything. "There aren't any readings beyond the normal for him. It's just…glowing."

"Where's Sonic?"

"He said he'd be here in a minute."

"What do you think Chaos is doing down there?"

"I…don't really know. It looks like he's…meditating?"

"Look, he's moving!" As she says, Chaos begins to stir.

Suddenly, the eyes of Chaos shoot open, as his fur becomes a brilliant, shining yellow. "I must intervene. I must intervene!"

—–—

Lumis nods slowly. "Yes…of course. You see…the creatures to which you refer…were me. Parts of me, anyways."

"So you did try to attack us."

Knuckles adds, "Yeah, and you tried to steal the Master Emerald, too."

"The Master Emerald…so that's what you're holding. And no, not exactly. You see, the consciousness of the Lords of Chaos is…much different from this corporeal consciousness that you understand. When we speak, it is more like thought. When we think, it is more like drawing information from the universe itself. The transition process was…more confusing than I was prepared for. Parts of me escaped, mindlessly seeking large sources of power, such as the Master Emerald, or the Outlaw's…what did you call it? Moonstone? Only my core being retained enough intelligence to remain behind, seeking a mind and body from which to duplicate a proper corporeal form."

"So what did you need the power sources for?"

"For the Ritual, of course. Ideally, if performed on the Solstice, it would require only the seven Emeralds. However, we are a bit late for that, so more power is required to compensate. If I could, perhaps, take a look at the Master Emerald…?"

Knuckles takes the shrunken gem out, but doesn't show any sign of handing it over. "Ha. Not happening."

"Well…no matter. During your conversation with the fox boy, I came up with a different plan. May I see that…fake Emerald?"

Sonic gives Lumis a confused look. "Didn't you call fake Emeralds…'repulsive'?"

"No, no, that was just the purple one. So negative. I much prefer yours. Please?"

"Uh…sure." Sonic hands over the gem.

The moment Lumis touches it, his whole body begins to glow momentarily. He starts to stretch his muscles. "Ah. This will do quite nicely. Once you make a few more, we can–"

"Not happening."

"I'm…sorry? What exactly do you mean?"

"We're not making any more Emeralds, losing one was bad enough."

"Well…heh heh…" Lumis chuckles nervously as he looks back and forth from Sonic to Knuckles. "…you two aren't leaving me with very many options, are you?"

—–—

"I must intervene! I must intervene!" Chaos shouts over and over again at the glass, as he pounds a fist on the whitewashed wall.

Tails shouts back,"Please, slow down! We don't know what you're talking about! Please, explain!"

Chaos backs off, growling loudly. "I must… I…I can't! I don't know…the word!"

"What word? What are you trying to say?"

"The…the…the…" His mouth goes wide as he is struck by the word. "The Outlaw… The Outlaw!"

—–—

Lumis sighs. "Luckily…we do have one other option, though I find it distasteful. The Moonstone."

"You mean the one that's stuck to a person right now? How do you suppose we use that?"

"Either it helps us willingly, which is practically impossible, or we destroy its corporeal form, forcing its consciousness and powers to recede back into the Moonstone."

"You call that an option? You want us to kill him?"

"Well, I'd be glad to take care of–"

"No."

"Well…the Ritual must proceed in some way."

"Maybe it doesn't. Maybe you should forget about this Ritual, and get out of here before you offend us any more than you already have."

"Hold on, hold on, let's not be hasty here." He looks over to Knuckles. "Are you certain that I can't just…take a closer look at the Master Emerald for a moment?" Knuckles merely shakes his head. "Hmmm. I was sincerely hoping that it wouldn't come to this…but I do have one last resort prepared. Though I get the feeling you won't like it much."

—–—

Chaos continues to shout, "The Outlaw! The Outlaw!"

Tails looks over to Amy. "The Outlaw, isn't that what Lumis called him?"

"Yeah, but we already know that isn't his name. I think he's trying to tell us something else."

Chaos growls loudly as he tries to explain. "I must…I have to…have to…stop the Outlaw!"

Amy takes the microphone. "Is that why you're here? To stop the Outlaw?"

"No, no, no no no. Not 'why'. 'Because'! The Outlaw…here, because I am here! I must stop the Outlaw!"

"Do you think you know where to find this Outlaw?"

"No, you don't…you don't understand! The Outlaw, out there!" He points to the only exit to room he's trapped in.

"Are you talking about Eggman? Is that why you went after his base?"

"No, no, no! You don't understand! Your friends…in danger! His name…his name…Lumis!" The eyes of Amy and Tails go wide. "Lumis is the Outlaw!"

—–—

Sonic nods. "I'll bite. What's this 'last resort'?"

"Allow me to show you." Lumis stares deeply into the fake Emerald he still holds. It starts to glow, as his opposite arm morphs into a liquid state once again. It begins to resolidify into a much larger shape than his original arm. The new arm, completely gold in color, appears almost crystalline in structure, covered in smooth, flat surfaces and sharp edges, ending in a group of long, extremely sharp claws. The claws, like the Emerald, begin to glow. "My last resort…is to take what's mine by force!" Lumis lunges at Knuckles with his lethal claws.

To be Continued…