CHAPTER 17: A Challenge
"Hello!" Blah made his presence known to the three familiar faces. "You must be Sonic, Tails, and Amy!"
"Hah... more fans," Sonic guessed, grateful for the distraction. "Yep, that's us!"
Tails put down his milkshake after a long sip and waved. "Hi!" He went right back to drinking.
Amy reluctantly glanced over at the trio, looked them up and down, and said, "This better be quick, we're in the middle of something important."
"Oh ho ho, I'm afraid you guys are stuck with us for a while," Blah laughed, taking a seat in an adjacent table. Hailstorm and Seraphina hesitantly followed suit. "My name's Blahsadfeguie, and these are my homeboys, Hailstorm and Seraphina." Hail raised an eyebrow. "We're travelers, and we've just come from Metropolis..."
"Metropolis?" Tails asked, putting down the milkshake. "What were you doing there? Dr. Eggman doesn't take kindly to trespassers..."
"We were giving him a ride," Blah answered nonchalantly. "Anyway, we saw this strange girl who... kinda looked like me, actually, only younger and obviously female. She had a curious futuristic suit as well as a sort of scythe-spear, and she had apparently just stolen some rocket parts from Eggman. Any idea who or where she is?"
"Oh yeah," Sonic affirmed. "Come to think of it, Eggman came to us last week, believe it or not, asking if we had anything to do with her." He shrugged. "Nobody we've heard of."
"But why were you helping Eggman of all people?" Tails asked. "You know he's evil, right?"
"Of course," Blah replied. "But he got stranded in the middle of a dangerous monster-filled forest with no transportation or protection, so I saved his life-"
"We saved his life," Sera corrected.
"...we saved his life, and decided it would be wrong to leave even an evil man in the middle of nowhere, so we brought him back to Metropolis."
"Uh-huh," grunted Sonic, now a little skeptical himself. "So what was he doing there in the first place? What were you doing there in the first place?"
"Eggman thought he detected a Chaos Emerald there, but his tracking thing had actually picked up a false positive on another artifact of even greater importance, which we were after."
"More important than a Chaos Emerald?" asked Amy, even herself intrigued. "What could that be?"
"You know," said Tails, pulling out a radar-like device, "I was wondering why I was picking up fifteen readings rather than just seven..."
"...How long has that been happening, Tails?" Sonic turned towards his two-tailed friend.
"It started a little over a week ago, but I thought it was just a glitch," Tails explained.
"I'd very much like to get on with telling you what they are," Blah cut in impatiently.
"Oh, sorry, go ahead," said Tails.
Blah began filling Sonic and company in on the collision of the universes, the Jewels, and their reasons for pursuing them. In the middle of the explanation, Joe had their order ready, so Sera collected it for them. Hailstorm listened with just as much interest, as he hadn't heard the full story himself yet either. However, when his food came, his attention was suddenly divided as he gleefully indulged himself.
"So yeah," concluded Blah, leaning back and pretending not to be disturbed by Hail's eating habits. "All we gotta do is find those jewels and break 'em."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," interrupted Sonic. "It'd be one thing if you guys were collecting them, but you want to destroy them?! That sounds too risky! I think I'd prefer just dealing with the effects of the collision... if anything you're saying is true to begin with!"
"How did you learn about this again?" Tails asked.
"From a magical unicorn," said Blah with a straight face.
Sonic and Tails exchanged narrowed glances. Amy just stared.
Hailstorm took a long sip of his shake and cleared his throat. "You know, there's already a magical pegasus sitting right in front of you..."
"Oh, sure," Amy said mockingly, "and I bet you live in some magical pony kingdom ruled by a magical unicorn princess who magically raises the sun every morning with her magical magic!"
It took significant effort for Hail to retain his patience. "She's an alicorn, but yeah pretty much that."
"Don't be ridiculous, magic doesn't exist!" Tails laughed. "Magic is just a term that primitive beings use to explain things they don't understand, like science and physics! Either that or it's just an illusion made to look like magic, but there's always some logical explanation behind it. Those wings, for instance, are probably vestigial; they're much too small to lift a creature of your size."
"Speaking of physics and flying..." Blah began, looking over at Tails' two tails.
"I'll show you who's a primitive being..." Hail ignored Blah, getting up from his seat. Effortlessly, he kicked off the ground and began to hover just under the ceiling.
"Probably some ultra-thin strings holding him up," Tails confidently appraised.
Hail began to fly around the room, ultimately heading for the door due to the limited space inside the building. He began to fly around in the air, showing off with a loop-de-loop and a barrel roll or two right outside the window.
Tails was certainly impressed by this point. He attempted to come up with an explanation in his mind, but Blah patted him on the back. "Don't worry, bro. Not many would believe that those tails of yours could carry you either."
"Well, that's different!" Tails defended. "I can spin them fast enough to generate enough lift to fly, like a helicopter... but there's no logical way that your friend could keep himself airborne with those wings..."
"There's no logical way that you can spin those tails without them getting tangled at some point," Sera refuted.
"What the..." Tails looked around the room frantically. "Who said that?"
Blah merely pointed to Sera. "Let's just say that there are a lot of things you didn't think were possible... that are possible. Magic is real, and it comes in many flavors. Functional pegasus, telepathic fox. GG, no rematch."
"Ok, ok, magic is real, we get it," Sonic spoke to cover the speechless Tails, as Hail walked back into the restaurant triumphantly. "And I guess that means we kinda have no choice but to believe you about the Jewels of Universe."
"So there really is a world full of magic ponies..." Amy said wistfully. She noticed everyone was staring at her now. "...What? So I think ponies are sorta cute, is that so wrong for a girl?"
"Depends WHICH girl," Sonic chuckled.
Amy had her hammer out in a flash. "Go ahead. Make fun of me for liking ponies. I DARE YOU!"
Sonic backed off. Blah could tell that the scene had cheered up Tails as well, though he didn't dare show anything more than a sheepish smile.
Hail was a little confused. "Why is the issue of liking ponies such a big deal, anyway?"
"You know, I really don't know that myself," Blah lied. He hadn't the heart to tell him that ponies were, in most cultures, often associated with little girls. "ANYWAY, back to the matter at hand. Me and my posse are trying to track down each of the aforementioned jewels and break them so we can restore normality. The only problem is, they're all heavily guarded by extreme conditions such as powerful monsters. There's no way just the three of us can do this ourselves."
"Ok, one more thing before we make any promises," Sonic said. "If you come from a different universe, how did you know about us?"
"You're all fictional characters where I'm from," Blah simplified. "In fact, all of the worlds I've encountered so far happen to be different works of fiction in my home dimension... it's uncanny, really."
"Incredible!" remarked Tails. "So our universe happens to be a perfect match to something thought up by individuals in yours? If the multiverse consists of infinite possibilities, what are the chances of-"
"Yeah, yeah, that's exactly what I said," halted Blah. "The chances of me ending up in this particular universe are infinitely low, if we're assuming they are coincidences, especially when you consider the fact that I have also encountered characters that I have come up with myself. In fact, every character I have met so far is either part of the original fiction, or someone I created. Even Hailstorm is one of my characters."
"Wait, what?" Hail looked at Blah incredulously. "You never mentioned that before..."
"I forgot," Blah shrugged.
"What about Eggman?" said Tails. "He still thinks they're Chaos Emeralds, so he's going to try and take them... and we don't even know what all the Jewels are capable of..."
"Neither do I, but the unicorn I told you about is learning as much as she can about them, and will report to me if she finds anything. Whatever it is, though, we definitely don't want Eggman utilizing it..."
"True, true... ok, we'll help," Sonic decided. "I'm also kinda interested in checking out what those other worlds have to offer. More worlds means more space to run around in, after all!"
"Sweet." Blah glanced at Tails. "So, where's the closest reading to here? ...That isn't in a forest?" he added, not too enthusiastic about the thought of returning to the Everfree Forest.
"Uh..." Tails studied his radar. "One of them's coming from Angel Island... about where the Master Emerald is..."
There was a moment of silence, followed by Blah erupting into a fit of brief laughter. "I, uh... I think that's the Master Emerald," he stated, feeling the stares of everyone in the restaurant, let alone the table.
"That's the thing," Tails continued. "I have the Master Emerald filtered out on my radar. The signal has to belong to something else."
"Oh boy." Sonic crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat. "How much you wanna bet Knuckles won't let us touch anything?"
Blah shrugged. "Eh. Even if he gets in our way, he can't be too difficult for the six of us to take on, right?"
"How could you even think that?!" protested Amy. "Knuckles is our friend, stubborn as he is, and we're not going to go against his wishes. That island's the last thing his people has, why do you think he's guarding it all the time?"
"She's right," Sonic agreed, "Knuckles knows more about that place than any of us do, and if he doesn't give us permission to mess with it, then it's a no-go!"
"Yeah!" added Tails. "And magic may be real, but you still haven't proved that we need to destroy those jewels to restore the universes to normal! For all we know, it could shatter reality itself!"
'Wow, you say one wrong thing and suddenly you're the bad guy again...' Blah thought. "Ok, look, can we at least go talk to Knuckles about this? And if he turns us away, then we'll stay the heck away. That is a promise."
"You'll stay away from all of the jewels?" Sonic prompted with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes... all of them," Blah sighed. 'I'm even starting to doubt myself, now... I hope Twilight was right about all this.'
Blah, Hail, and Sera finished their meals in silence.
"Whoa, I never would've thought you could fly both of your friends as well as yourself..."
"And I never would've thought you could keep your balance on that wing. Guess we just can't stop impressing each other!"
Hail and Sonic conversed over the roar of the wind as the two followed their course for Angel Island. The setup was anything but normal - Amy was riding with Tails in his airplane, the Tornado, with Sonic hanging out on the wing. Both Blah and Sera were perched atop Hailstorm as if they were riding a flying motorcycle.
Blah had no idea what direction his relations with Sonic's gang were going - one second, they were suspicious of him, and the next, they were open and friendly. In the latter case, they probably still didn't trust him, but...
Blah's thoughts were cut short as the massive floating Angel Island came into view. The island was covered in trees, and he could just make out the Emerald Shrine in the center, where Knuckles likely spent most of his days. It suddenly occurred to Blah how lonely he must've been...
"Whoa..." Hail exclaimed as they approached the island. "I'm no expert on magic, but to keep something as big as that in the air... that has to take almost alicorn-levels of power..."
"The Master Emerald exudes enough chaos energy to rival that of all seven Chaos Emeralds," Tails explained. "Keeping the island afloat is a simple matter."
"But it's still not magic, right?" Blah quipped smugly.
"It's... well... it's complicated," stammered Tails, realizing he had only dug a deeper hole for himself. "Alright, I'm bringing us down!" he shouted, before anyone else could make any snide remarks.
Hail and Tails moved in for a landing, bringing down their respective passengers onto solid hover-ground. But no sooner did Blah set foot on the island than he felt the sharp glares of dozens of angry echidnas carrying equally sharp spears, and pointing them threateningly at the entire group. The echidnas looked as though they had come straight from ancient Mesoamerica.
"What the... I thought the echidnas had all died out a long time ago..." Blah remarked, his hands raised in surrender.
"We thought the same thing..." Sonic echoed.
"Intruders... you are trespassing on sacred ground," one of the echidnas spoke. "Leave now or we will be forced to exterminate you."
"H-hey... Chill out, guys, we're friends of Knuckles..." Sonic attempted. "We just wanna talk to him for a second, and then we'll be out of your hair."
The spear-echidnas did not budge. "We're the only friends Knuckles has, and the only ones he needs. Go."
'Ok, I'm at a loss here...' thought Blah to Sera. 'Got any plans?'
"I will attempt to alert Knuckles himself," she replied. "Stall for time while I mentally search for him."
Blah took in a deep breath. "So... what exactly makes this ground sacred, anyway?''
"Gee, I dunno," cut in Amy sarcastically, "You think it could be because of the giant shrine in the center with an ancient gem that keeps the entire island suspended in midair?"
The echidnas tensed their spears. "How do you know about that?!"
"Good one," muttered Blah.
"I TOLD you," Sonic said, rolling with it, "We've known Knuckles for quite a while, he's always been here, guarding the Master Emerald..."
"Your tale is fascinating, stranger," the unfazed echidna responded, "but we cannot take any cha-"
"Sonic?!"
The echidna crowd parted immediately following the gruff voice, making way for another echidna of a deep red hue.
"Knuckles!" exclaimed Tails.
"You know these strangers...?" the other echidna asked Knuckles.
"Of course, these are my friends!" Knuckles confirmed, approaching the group. "...well, half of them anyway."
"This is Blah, Hail, and Sera," introduced Sonic. "They're travelers from another dimension... or something... was that right? Whatever, listen to him, he'll explain it better."
"Right..." Blah took the floor. "I'll give you the short version - basically, eight universes, including yours and mine, combined recently, last week or so seems to be the consensus. Each one contained a Jewel of Universe which acts pretty much like the heart of the universe, and of course this one has 8 of them now. We located one such jewel on Angel Island."
"Huh... Funny coincidence..." Knuckles glanced back at the shrine, the top of which was poking visibly through the trees. "Just a week ago, the Master Emerald turned a sort of... reddish color. I thought something was up, but soon after, these echidnas showed up." He indicated the tribe, who had lowered their spears curiously. "They explained that the Emerald's change of color meant that the remnants of the entire echidna clan had finally awoken from their thousand-year hibernation, ready to assist me in protecting the Emerald and rebuilding our civilization!"
"Iiiinteresting..." Blah mumbled. Knuckles had a wide grin on his face, completely unlike any expression he had ever seen him portrayed with. "...Can we see the new and improved Master Emerald?"
"Sure," said Knuckles. "Follow me." He started to turn, but then noticed that his kin were still holding their spears and watching the strangers suspiciously. "At ease, fellas, these guys are harmless."
"Something doesn't smell right," Amy whispered to Sonic. "Knuckles' story sounds a little too convenient."
Sonic shrugged. "We'll just have to see what happens next... when Blah tells him why he's really here." He shot a dark glare in Blah's direction, which went unnoticed by the aloof human.
The Master Emerald was indeed red as an apple. A red apple, that is.
The shrine itself was surrounded by eight echidnas, each equipped with a spear and standing stiff as a board. Blah was reminded of those British guards that never move a muscle no matter what happens in front of them as long as it is within the law. However, in this case, he didn't want to try anything lest he come off as hostile.
"Yep... it's right here," Knuckles introduced proudly. "Now I can finally rest easy knowing the Emerald is in good, loyal hands."
Blah stared at the Emerald. "Is this what your radar picked up, Tails?" he asked.
Tails checked the device. "Yep..." he affirmed nervously.
'Sera, is this one of the Jewels?' Blah mentally questioned.
"Yes. This is precisely what I detected," Sera answered.
As Blah continued to watch the jewel, he could feel a pulse resounding in his mind - like a pounding headache, intensifying with every pump. And yet, he couldn't look away. The red Emerald drew him in, and Blah's head was filled with uncomfortable thoughts. It was a voice that was not his own, nor Sera's... but it was familiar all the same.
[You are nothing. Talentless, powerless, friendless. Look around you, these people have everything and you have nothing. Why does anyone even bother talking to you? Because they pity you. You wouldn't last 10 seconds on your own.]
"Uh... Blah?" Sonic called to the fixated human, waving his arm in front of his face... but to no avail.
[This does not have to be your reality. Wake up, take a stand, show the world that you don't need them, that you alone can become more powerful than anyone could ever hope to be. Then... strip them of their power. Show them what it's like to be worthless and pitiful. Make them understand.]
"Make them understand..." Blah muttered.
"Understand what...?" Hail asked shakily.
"I cannot get through to him..." Sera announced. "There seems to be some sort of psychic barrier."
Blah's head raised, a new look in his eyes. One of hatred, of spite. Blah reached for his lance and pointed it straight at Knuckles. "You. I wish to challenge you, for control of the Emerald and this island."
The echidna guards mobilized, surrounding Blah with their spears poised.
"I knew he was up to no good..." sighed Sonic, getting into a battle-ready stance.
"Blah... what are you doing...?" wondered Sera, trying desperately to get into Blah's head, only to be inexplicably blocked off.
Knuckles met Blah's glare with one of his own. "A challenge? You want to challenge me? Are you kidding? I could wipe the floor with you all by myself."
"Why don't you put your money where your mouth is?" Blah taunted. "You and me, one on one. If I win, you submit control of Angel Island and everything on it."
"And if I win?" Knuckles instigated, arms crossed.
"I will leave this place and never bother you, your island, or any of your friends ever again."
"Yeah... never going to happen," declined Knuckles. "It's just a waste of my time. Guards, you know what to do."
"Ha, employing others to fight his own battles?" Blah sneered with confidence as the guards closed in on him. "That's the mentality of a coward!"
Knuckles' eyes widened. He clenched his fists. "What did you just call me...?"
"A coward! Hiding behind your bodyguards, afraid of being shown up by some dark and mysterious stranger who came out of nowhere! You may keep your island, but you will be forever known as the one who ran away from his problems, rather than facing them like a man!"
"What... Knuckles, don't listen to him!" Sonic exclaimed. "He's just trying to-"
"Shut up!" Knuckles yelled, rage reaching its peak. "Ok, fine, you overgrown chimpanzee! You've got your fight! I'll show you who the coward is!" He glanced at the worried and shocked expressions of Sonic, Tails, and Amy, as well as those of his echidna bretheren. "...but on one condition. Only 'cowards' hide behind tools such as that lance of yours, or that hammer strapped to your back. If you're going to talk the talk, then throw away your weapons and walk the walk!"
Knuckles' smug grin was cut short by Blah discarding all of his weapons without a second thought, and his armor to boot. "No shields, no utensils, just pure unadulterated fisticuffs. I am not afraid of you. Now, come at me bro."
The red echidna scowled, leaping off of the shrine and on the other side of Blah, where the clearing granted proper fighting room.
"We can't let this happen... this isn't right at all!" protested Hail in the newly formed crowd of spectators.
"It is... a questionable strategy, but if Blah wins, he will be able to break the Jewel without any further obstructions," Sera explained. "He most likely blocked me out because he knew we would object to this... but I am certain that Blah knows what he is doing."
"No, this is exactly like before!" Hail argued. "He's taking the selfish route, without any regard for the wishes of others. I knew he hadn't changed!" He spread his wings in preparation for taking Blah down before he followed through with his 'strategy.'
"Some things are bigger than pride," defended Sera. "Destroying the jewel is paramount to saving the multiverse, and this concept is hard to grasp for most. It is not likely that we would have convinced Knuckles to comply peacefully."
Hail's tension gradually faded as he processed the idea. Finally, he folded his wings with a sigh. "I guess you're right..." he surrendered. "I just hope this doesn't end badly... I haven't seen Blah fight without weapons before..."