See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer
Chapter 20: The Isle of the Wyverns
The next morning, back on Bygone Island, the kids were on the beach making sand castles; Tails was busy repairing their ship, Knuckles was working out nearby and Sonic and Amy were in town doing some shopping, so Sticks was left to look after the kids. Right now, she held SJ in her arms, bottle feeding him while watching the others playing in the sand.
"I dubbed this the Castle of the Two Speedsters! Marvel at its greatness!", said Turbo as he and Speedy put the finishing touches on their sand castle. Maria smirked, "That's not nearly as impressive as my castle, the Palace of the Chaos Princess. I've got actual people in my castle", she said as she gestured to the miniature sand people around her castle. "Yeah but does your castle have a fire breathing dragon to protect it from invaders?", asked Finn as he gestured to the mini dragon he created with his powers.
They all laughed before looking towards Ruby to see what she made, they all frowned when they saw the sad look on her face; she made a sand sculpture of Angel Island, complete with a miniature version of the Master Emerald and her parents. "Ruby, what's the matter?", asked Finn. "I miss my Mom and Dad, I miss them so much. I mean, the other Knuckles is fun to play with but he's not my Dad. Also...I'm a little scared that without my Dad around, I won't be able to get a better handle of my Chaos powers. I mean sure, I did get us here but that was just a fluke. Pure luck, what if something bad happens and I can't use my powers to help us?", she said.
Her friends all looked at each other, not knowing what to say; they were all children and didn't fully understand her struggles, but that's not to say they didn't feel sorry for her. Maria walked over to Ruby and sat next to her, "Well...I don't have any advice I can give you since I don't fully understand the problem but I want you to know that we're still here for you", she said as she placed her hand on her shoulder.
Ruby looked at her friends and smiled, "Thanks you guys, I'm glad to have such good friends like you", she said. As the kids were about to go back to making sandcastles, Finn looked up and noticed something bobbing up and down in the sky above the ocean. "Hey guys, what's that? It looks like a seagull", he said as he squinted his eyes to try and see it better. The others looked up to see what he was talking about and then noticed the orange blur weaving lazily through the air.
Just then, Sonic and Amy had returned from shopping and approached the part of the beach where they left Sticks, Knuckles and the kids. "Hey kiddos, Ames and me bought you guys some food. We figured you'd be hungry...hey what are you all looking at?", said Sonic. "I think there's an injured bird trying to stay in the air, it looks like its gonna fall into the ocean", said Maria.
Sonic and Amy looked up to see what she was talking about, they could see the orange blur wobbling until it finally fell into the water a few feet away from the shoreline; Speedy and Turbo ran to the shoreline and jumped into the water, swimming to the poor animal. Sonic had an incredulous look on his face, "Wow...just wow...my kids from another dimension can swim...", he said dumbfounded. "Yeah, auntie Amy decided to pay for swimming lessons for them at the community pool so they'd know how to swim since uncle Sonic couldn't", said Finn.
"Guys! It's not a bird, it's a Mobian!", shouted Speedy. "And a really weird looking one at that", said Turbo. The twins wadded back to the shoreline, carrying the mysterious Mobian in their arms; when they got to the shore, they gently placed the Mobian onto the sand. The others walked over to them to see that the mysterious Mobian was a young boy with dark purple hair and orange fur, wearing white gloves and dark green boots; he also had insect antennae, dragonfly esque wings and a pair of spindly insect arms sticking out of his abdomen beneath his normal arms.
The young boy looked almost dead as he was breathing heavily, his limbs twitched, his body was shaking uncontrollably and there were dark bags under his eyes. "What kind of monster is that? I'll bet it's one of the aliens here to spy on us and that's why it's taken a form similar to us", said Sticks as she held SJ to her body defensively. "Sticks, now's not the time for your conspiracy theories! This poor kid needs help, we've got to take him to a doctor!", said Sonic.
He then carefully lifted the boy onto his back and carried him to the hospital with everyone following behind him. When they got to the hospital, the boy was lying on a bed as the doctor examined him, "How is he, doc? Will he be okay?", asked Sonic. The doctor turned to him, "I'm surprised this boy is still alive, he's beyond exhausted! Its almost like he went two whole days without eating or sleeping and his muscles are severely overworked which is why he was twitching uncontrollably. Right now, he needs plenty of rest and fluids", he said.
The doctor then attached an I.V. drip to the boy's left arm and an oxygen mask over his muzzle, and then draped a blanket over his body. "I advise that you all go home for now, I'll let you know if his condition improves so you can ask him how he ended up in this condition", said the doctor. Sonic nodded as he led everyone out of the hospital back to his house, though Ruby couldn't help but look back at the boy, curious about his physical appearance.
The next morning, Sonic and Amy went to the hospital to check on the mysterious Mobian, with the kids tagging along as they were curious about the strange boy; when they went to his room, they saw that he was wide awake and sitting on the window sill. "Hey there, little fella. You feeling okay? The doctor said you were half dead basically but you look pretty good", said Sonic.
The boy turned around to look upon his visitors, "Yes I've made a full recovery due to my high endurance level. You look like my mother's prisoners...but I can tell by your scent that you are not and that means that perhaps you can help me", he said. That's when the kids perked up, "You know our Mom and Dad?! Where are they? Are they alright? And what did you mean "your mother's prisoners"?", asked Speedy.
"Let me explain: my name is Fluke, I am the sole heir to her majesty, Queen Vespa's, throne. She is the ruler of the Insectoid Kingdom, which is located on an island about 200 miles from this island, where she's enslaved the lower class members of our kingdom as well as a race of creatures called Hobidons. She has a plan for domination over this dimension and your home dimension, and your parents are a necessary part of it.
"I refused to be a part of my mother's plans of supreme domination, so I betrayed her by trying to help a red echidna escape but he told me to flee and find help. I didn't want to leave him but my mother's soldiers were approaching and I had to leave quickly, so I pushed myself to fly over miles of open ocean for two days straight to find help. That's when I passed out when I approached this island", he said.
Ruby quickly approached him, "You helped my Dad! Guys, we have to go to this island and help our parents! And Fluke here is going to help us get there!", she said in determination.
Everyone regrouped at Tails' workshop a few minutes later to discuss what to do next. "I managed to repair the kids' ship so we can probably use it and the Tornado to fly to this island", said Tails. "Wait a minute Tails...I think it'd be best if the kids stay here with someone watching them while the rest of us save their parents", said Amy.
"NOOOO!"
They were all taken aback by the abruptly angry yell given off by the kids, "We came here to save our parents and you guys can either help us or back off! With the exception of SJ, none of us are babies! If we're all smart enough to fly a ship, then we can save our parents! And we know we're outnumbered, so help us and stop belittling us!", shouted Ruby. Then they noticed that her fur was beginning to shift from pink to magenta, and her eyes turning red.
The others all rushed to her side and hugged her tightly, "Ruby calm down! It's okay, we're here!", said Maria. Ruby took deep breaths as she felt herself relax, her fur and eyes returning to their normal colors. "Um...what the Heck was that?", asked Sticks. "Ruby has chaos powers just like Maria, but she can't really control them. Uncle Knuckles was supposed to show her how to control them properly", said Finn. "But I don't know anything about that...oh wait, you meant the other me...okay nevermind", said Knuckles.
That was when Fluke stepped forward, "I hate to interrupt your conversation but it is imperative that we leave now. Every minute we waste chattering is a minute my mother's plans are closer to completion", he said. So with that being said, Tails jumped into the Tornado with Sonic climbing into the backseat; Amy, Knuckles and Sticks climbed into the kids' ship along with the children, the three robots were at the control panel activating the engine.
"What direction to we head in, Fluke?", asked Tails as he used his communicator to access the intercom on the kids' ship. "The island is located northwest of here", Fluke responded. Tails then began flying northwest with the kids' ship following close behind.
On the kids' ship, Ruby was sitting by the Master Emerald, her left hand stroking the surface of it; that was when Knuckles came by and sat next to her, "Hey you feeling okay, kiddo? You've been quiet since we got inside the ship", he said. Ruby sighed, "I'm just...scared. I didn't mean to get so mad at you guys, but I did and I almost lost it again!", she said. "Wait...again? What...did this happen before?", asked Knuckles.
Ruby sighed again, "Well...you see, my Dad gave me a Chao egg as a birthday present, but it wasn't just meant to be my future pet but also a way to train me to guard the Master Emerald. I was so excited to because guarding it is a big responsibility and if I could protect my egg then I could protect the emerald. But then, a bully at school got mad at me because...his parents weren't as popular as mine or something...I don't know and I honestly didn't care, and then he smashed my egg, causing me to flip out on him.
"I felt so bad after it was over because I let myself lose control of my temper and my powers, and I don't ever want that to happen again. My Dad was supposed to teach me how to control my powers...until he got taken by bug soldiers, and now I'm scared that I'll either lose control and hurt someone or I won't be able to use them when I need them most", she said. Knuckles smiled at her as he carefully draped his muscular arm around her shoulders, "Don't worry about it too much, we're gonna help you save your parents before any of that happens", he said.
Ruby smiled back as she gave him a hug, "Thanks, Mr. Knuckles. You know, you may not be my Dad but you sure do remind me of him a lot and that's a good thing because that makes it seem like he's still here beside me", she said. This made Knuckles smile as he returned the hug.
Outside, Tails was continuing to fly northwest until suddenly a light misty fog began to blanket the sky. "What the...? Where'd this fog come from? I can still see through it but this is just so...random", he said. Sonic looked around the plane, "Maybe it...was blown...in from..."
That was when he trailed off and suddenly fell silent, Tails took a quick look behind him to check on him and found that Sonic had passed out. "What the...! Sonic are you okay?", he asked. Back on the ship, the others had seen the fog too, but then were unaware that the mist was filtering in through the ventilation system. Suddenly they heard a thumping sound and saw that Finn had fallen unconscious and fell onto the floor; Maria rushed to his side to see if he was okay, but then she passed out and fell on top of him.
"What's going on?", asked Amy. "I bet it's the aliens! They're pumping a gas into the vents to knock us out so they can abduct us!", shouted Sticks. Amy then faceplamed but before she could respond, she looked outside the ship's dashboard window to see the Tornado take a sudden nosedive before what looked like a pair of giant claws reached out through the fog and pulled the plane away. Amy gasped at this before she felt something yank on her dress, she turned to see it was Sticks who was trying hard not to pass out.
"I...told...you...so...", she stammered before she slowly slid to the floor with SJ still clutched in her arms. He too had passed out in her arms, calmly sucking his left thumb while his right hand clutched Sticks' top; nearby, Speedy and Turbo had also fallen unconscious while leaning against each other, and over by the Master Emerald, Ruby and Knuckles had passed out in each other's embrace. Fluke laid off to the side as he struggled to keep himself awake, but it ultimately proved to be a futile effort as he too finally lost consciousness. Amy then turned to the three robots, "Orbot, Cubot, Metal Sonic! What is going on here?", she asked.
"Beats me!", shouted Cubot. "What he meant to say is that we don't know what's going on. This fog is some form of anomaly that just appeared out of nowhere", said Orbot. Just then, the three of them heard a thump and turned to see that Amy had finally succumbed to whatever it was that made everyone else lose consciousness and collapsed onto the floor out cold.
Then the three robots were jolted out of their seats as something had suddenly grabbed the ship and began pulling it away into a different direction. "Boy, I sure hope these aliens are friendly", Cubot said with a nervous chuckle while Orbot and Metal Sonic simply facepalmed.
Meanwhile over on Insectoid Island, Knuckles was roused from his slumber by a hand lightly slapping his face. He slowly opened his eyes to see a group of guards standing before him, four of whom held what looked like cleaning utensils. "What's going on? What happened to Queen Vespa?", he asked as he tried to regain his senses. "Her majesty was becoming bored whilst torturing you and then you, in her own words, had a rather disgustingly revolting reaction to it that she decided to take several hours of leisure time in the castle spa to forget what she saw.
"In the meantime, she's ordered us to escort you to one of the castle's bathhouses so you can cleanse yourself. Then once these other guards have cleaned the prisoner hold, we'll bring you back here and then give you food", said the lead guard. The guards stepped forward to unlock Knuckles from the stockade and that's when he saw what they were talking about: there was a dried white substance stuck to the floor as well as his inner thighs.
Seeing the substance made Knuckles blush in embarrassment but then he thought about what the guard had said about how Queen Vespa reacted and it made him chuckle to himself. Glad I was able to give her some torment in return, he thought as the guards led him through the castle until they came upon a large set of double doors. "All the cleansing materials you need can be found inside, take as long as you need to and don't think about escaping. That room has no windows", said the guard as he pushed Knuckles into the bathhouse before closing and locking the door.
The inside of the room was warm and steamy, there were a few shelves on the walls that held various types of strange bath products and the actual tub was as big as a backyard swimming pool and took up most of the space in the room. Knuckles walked over to one of the shelves and grabbed a bottle of fruit scented body wash before walking over to the edge of the tub; he proceeded to remove his gloves and shoes when he suddenly heard a strange noise, it sounded like two people kissing.
He walked around the edge of the tub to find...
"Silver?! Shadow?!"
As it turned out, Knuckles wasn't the only one inside the bathhouse. Silver and Shadow were there as well, and since they were all alone in the room before Knuckles showed up, they decided to have a passionate make-out session in the privacy of the bathhouse. But their kissing was interrupted when Knuckles had caught them, "Oh, um...hi Knuckles", Silver said with a nervous smile. Shadow slowly pulled away from his husband, "Well...this is awkward...and the mood has been ruined. So...what are you doing here", he said.
"I'm here because "her majesty" says I need a bath. Apparently she got bored while torturing me and decided to take some downtime", said Knuckles as he stepped into the water. "Speaking of which, are you okay? We've all been worried about you, Rouge especially", said Silver. Knuckles sighed, "Yes I'm fine, I've been through worst. How have you guys been doing?", he asked as he began to scrub the body wash into his fur.
"We're fine. The queen is making sure we're all healthy so whatever plans she got cooking up in her head can succeed, almost makes me want to get sick on purpose just to spite her", said Shadow as he scrubbed Silver's back. "And that's not all. Turns out that half of the slave population believe we're going to bring freedom to all of them but the other half hates us for being the queen's pets, so much so that a small group of them have formed a death cult!
"This morning, Sonic told us that last night when he got up to use the bathroom, he heard a noise somewhere in the mines. He followed it and found a small chamber where a group of slaves were cutting and electrocuting themselves while screaming for this death God to free them from their pain. The guards don't seem to know about it, but...it scares me to think that this has become so bad for these slaves that some of them believe offering themselves as sacrifices to this God will free them from enslavement", Silver said as a chill ran down his spine despite being submerged up to his waist in warm water.
He then turned around to hug Shadow, "Also...I miss Maria. I can't imagine how she must've felt then night we were taken or what she's doing right now. She must be so scared", he said sadly. Shadow held his husband close to him, placing a gentle kiss on his face. "I miss her too, but hopefully she told Tails and the others what happened and they're working on a way to free us all", he said. As he sat there cleaning himself, Knuckles couldn't help but think of his own daughter and how she might've felt about all this.
Ruby...my little gem...I hope you're doing okay, he thought.
Meanwhile in...somewhere...
"Mm...Daddy...? Where...where are you...?"
"Shh...calm yourself, little one. You're safe".
Ruby slowly opened her eyes to see a mysterious figure wearing a hooded cloak standing before, rubbing a wet washcloth against her forehead. It was then that she realized she was lying on a bed inside what appeared to be a hit made out of thick logs. "Tell me, child...does anything ache?", the figure asked in a soothing female voice. Ruby groaned, "Ugh...my head kinda hurts a little...", she croaked. The figure then handed her a cup of what appeared to be tea, "Here, drink this but do so slowly. You lack strength but it will return to you with time", she said.
"Where am I? How did I get here? And how long was I out?", asked Ruby. "You are in a village on a place called "The Isle of the Wyverns". For an hour you have been unconscious, child and it was the guardian creatures that safely brought you here", said the figure. Ruby then took a sip of the tea, enjoying its sweet taste, "Who are you, ma'am? And where are my friends?", she asked. The figure turned around to face her, slowly pulling down her hood to reveal her face, which caused Ruby to gasp in shock. "My name is Meeru, child. And your friends are being tended to by the other village healers", she said.
Ruby's eyes were wide and her was agape: the figure that stood before her was a tall, female echidna with bright blue fur, peach colored skin on her muzzle and deep purple eyes; she removed the cloak to reveal that she was wearing a green and purple sleeveless tunic with golden bands around her wrists and a golden belt around her waist. "You...you're...you're...", Ruby stammered as she couldn't find her words.
Meeru smiled as she slowly approached her, "An echidna. Just like you, child. Come with me, there are some individuals you must meet", she said as she held her blue hand out. Ruby hesitantly took hold of her hand as Meeru led her outside; when they stepped out into the sunlight, Ruby couldn't believe what she was seeing. What stood before her was an large village of log huts spread out everywhere, there were more of those blue echidnas standing around talking or doing tasks or, in the case of the children, running around and playing.
Overlooking the eastern side of the village was a large plateau and upon it sat what looked like Dragons with their wings attached directly to their forearms, and overlooking the western side of the village was a temple perched at the top of a tall staircase. Meeru led Ruby up the stairs to the temple, where inside she saw five more blue echidnas standing around a large hovering purple crystal. The first echidna turned around to reveal himself as an old man with a semi-long beard on his face, he wore a green and purple sleeveless tunic with golden bands around his wrists and in his right hand he held a purple scepter with gold accents.
"Elder Poturik, I've brought you the child you wished to speak to", said Meeru as she showed him Ruby who stood close to her nervously. The Elder's eyes widened as he gazed upon Ruby's face, "My word...so it's true! Child...you're the spitting image of Locke!", he said. This made Ruby do a double take, "Wait a minute...Locke? That's the name of my Dad's dad! How do you know my grandfather's name? Who are you guys?", she asked.
Elder Poturik nodded, "I expected you would want an explanation. Firstly, we are the Blue Furred Echidnas. We got our name specifically because of our blue fur, which we got when we ate these strange mushrooms that began growing around our village. You see, in the beginning our people had red or orange fur, but when we began to eat these strange blue mushrooms, they had turned our fur blue. And then when had children, they were born with this bright blue fur, and from then on, we referred to ourselves as the Blue Furred Echidnas", he said.
"Okay...that explains who you all are, but that doesn't answer my question of how you know my grandfather. And how are you even here? Dad told me that before I was born, he was the only echidna left on Mobius", said Ruby. Elder Poturik nodded sadly, "That, child, is a long and sorrowful story. You see, the clan of Echidnas that your father and grandfather came from was not the only one to exist, and the dimension you call home was not they're first home.
"About 100 years ago, Locke's great grandfather and his tribe had resided here on The Isle of the Wyverns along with us. We were all one tribe and lived together in peace, until one day when the Master Emerald was created by the gods and bestowed upon Locke's great grandfather to guard and protect. Suddenly, he held the Master Emerald in high regard over the Cadium Crystal, which was first bestowed to us by our goddess, Radia the Goddess Of Blessings.
"He claimed that we should put our faith into the Master Emerald, something we knew nothing about and which could very well have brought misfortune upon us all; he claimed that the chaos God within the Emerald could be trusted more over some flying beast, which we have always held in high regard since the beginning. My great grandfather and Locke's had gotten into a heated dispute over the matter, which ended in Locke's great grandfather using the Master Emerald to open a portal to another dimension, taking it and those who followed him with him.
"Years later, the Cadium Crystal had given my grandfather visions of the terrible fates that had befallen Locke's tribe, leading up to his son Knuckles being the last of his kind. But what your father did not know was that he was not the last of his kind, rather he was simply the sole survivor of his tribe. And we have watched him through the Cadium Crystal for all these years, seeing his many heroic achievements and most importantly, we saw you...the birth of the future guardian of the Master Emerald.
"Back then, we didn't understand the importance of it or the Chaos Emeralds, but after seeing all that your father and his friends have done, we see their value, we just don't hold them in such high reverance. Recently, the Cadium Crystal showed me a vision of the power that lies dormant within you, child, and that you have trouble controlling them, but if you'll allow me, I'd like to train you", he said.
Ruby took a moment to process all the information that had told to her, "I...I need some time think. This is all...so much to take in", she said. Elder Poturik nodded, "I understand, child. Take all the time you need, in the meantime, Meeru will take you to see your friends", he said. Meeru led Ruby back outside to the village where she saw everyone else sitting together, eating and talking. "Hey Ruby, you're okay!", said Finn. "Yeah I'm okay...and boy, do I have a lot to tell you guys", Ruby said.
She then sat down and began telling them the same story Elder Poturik had told her, needless to say after she finished, they were all shocked. "That's great! You and your dad aren't the only echidnas left anymore, that sounds pretty sweet", said Turbo. Ruby looked down, "Yeah we're not, but...I don't know what to think about all of this. I have so many questions about well...everything! I'm just...so confused", she said.
"Well, this is all confusing for me too. I don't even know if I'm really related to these guys or not", said Knuckles. "Whatever happens, Ruby, know that it's your choice. Only you hve the ability to choose what you do", said Amy. Ruby took that information to heart as she thought about what to do next.
That night, she went wandering around the village until she came upon a fountain; perched on top of it was the Master Emerald and the seven Chaos Emeralds were all placed into small holes around it. "I placed them here for safekeeping and told one of our guardian creatures to watch over them", said Elder Poturik as he walked up to Ruby. He then gestured to one of the surrounding trees to reveal a Wyvern sitting on the highest branch, looking down on the Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds.
"Um...Elder Poturik, sir, can I ask you a few questions?", asked Ruby. "Yes you may, child", he responded. "Well first, why did we all pass out when entering that fog?", she asked. "That is something created by the Wyverns of our village, it is 'The Slumbering Mists'. When any living being enters the mist, they slowly fall into a deep slumber, the mist surrounds the part of the sky around the isle, protecting us from those who wish to do us harm", said Elder Poturik.
Ruby nodded, "Okay, so...why did you bring me and my friends to the village? How did you know we could be trusted?", she asked. "Because the Cadium Crystal informed me of your arrival by giving me a vision of your aircrafts flying near the isle. Using the crystal's power, I could sense that your intentions were pure but we needed to save you before you all plummeted into the ocean. I can tell that you have one more question for me", said Elder Poturik.
Ruby sighed, "Yes I do. That crystal can show you anything, so...can it show me my parents? Please? I wanna see if they're okay", she said. Elder Poturik nodded as he led her back to the temple, they stood before the Cadium Crystal as he tapped it with the end of his scepter. "Now child, ask it whatever you please but remember that you must proceed the request by saying 'oh great Cadium Crystal, forged from the scale of the goddess Radia'. That let's it know you hold it in high respect", he said
Ruby looked at the hovering gem before her, "Oh great Cadium Crystal, forged from the scale of the goddess Radia, can you please show me my parents? Their names are Knuckles the Echidna and Rouge the Bat", she said. The crystal glowed for a moment before displaying an image: it was of Knuckles sitting all alone in the prisoner hold, shivering from the cold; then the crystal glowed and showed another image: it was of Rouge lying in the cubbie, looking sad and lonely as she tried to get some sleep.
Ruby rushed to the crystal but when her hand came in contact with its surface, the images faded. "Mommy! Daddy!", she cried out. She then slid to her knees and began crying, she cried because her heart ached for the perilous situation her parents were in and because she couldn't do anything about it. She then looked up at the old Blue Furred Echidna that stood behind her, "Elder Poturik, sir, I wanna do it!", she said.
Elder Poturik was taken by surprise, "What do you mean, my dear child?", he said. Ruby stood up and looked at him, an expression of pure determination graced her features. "I want you to train me! I want to learn how to hone my chaos powers, I want to be able to rein them in and control them so that when the time comes...I can save my parents!", said Ruby.
Author's Note: That's it for Chapter 20, and I am back baby! I'm sorry for the long hiatus but now I have returned! I can't guarantee that I'll update frequently especially since I just started my third year of college, but I will continue to write until I've finished this story. I won't give up on it. So come back next time for Chapter 21; until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!