Cross Collision
Author's Note: For those wondering when I'll be uploading the next part, the only answer I can really give is Soon. I've been incredibly busy since I uploaded this part, and I have more things planned to do but I'll try my best. Just please don't rush me, as I have difficulty concentrating when I'm rushed and you don't want me to upload a substandard story, do you? Don't worry, this fanfic IS still in progress; if you want to notified as soon as I update it, log in and add it to your story alerts, so you get an email when the chapter is uploaded. Thanks for following it so far!
Part 6: Hunted
The Ghost Zone was silent. Not that anyone really spoke loudly outside of realms for fear of rousing the less pleasant creatures that floated in the green miasma between them. But no, this time, it was too quiet. There was no sound at all. The usual screams and groans prevalent in the world weren't to be heard anywhere.
Skulker scowled out at the silent zone, scanning it for any sign of potential prey, threats, or, for that matter, anything. But it seemed that everyone was hiding within their own respective realms, though from what, the hunter couldn't say. Though it was the same reason he was taking refuge in his own lair, he supposed, not that he was able to explain to himself why, either. Giving a disgruntled snort, he turned around and headed back into the skull shaped mountain that served as his abode.
Several technical devices lay around it; some designed for tracking, some designed for capture, and others designed for much less pleasant activities. Well, he thought with a smirk, less pleasant for his prey, anyway. He wandered over to one of the tracking devices, and started it up. It was a radar-like machine that was designed to scan the Ghost Zone for entities, though it wasn't very specific. Right that moment though, Skulker simply wanted to find out where everyone was. Without having to leave the safety of his own realm, of course.
While it scanned, he walked back over to one of the openings that made up the 'eyes' of his home, and resumed looking out towards the vast space beyond his forested island. A pair of binoculars emerged from the shoulder of his armour to aid him in his view, but they didn't bring anyone out into his line of sight. The machine behind him beeped, and he floated to it to see what it said.
"Odd..." The robotic ghost tapped the display, watching it with a confused scowl. "That shouldn't be there..."
Skulker extended his wings, and flew out of his lair, hovering above the mountain while he turned to look in the direction of the anomaly. The time for hiding, he decided, was past. He was going to hunt, and if he so happened to find that the confusion was being caused by something he could skin and mount on his wall, that would make it worth it. Knowledge was power, in the Ghost Zone, and that was enough to set him off looking for it.
"Now let's go see what-" Green eyes narrowed as they watched the bright light expand; a glance through the binoculars that emerged from his shoulder told him that it seemed to be emanating from the Ghost Portal that Plasmius owned. "It's growing at an alarming rate... Hmm." The binoculars slid away again. "Well, that can't be good... Maybe staying inside is a good idea after all."
There was a snap of a scream, or, to be precise, three, which interrupted Skulker from his retreat. The sounds were familiar to him, and he turned back to the light, which was far closer than it had been before, and expanding rapidly.
"I know those screams, why am I not the one causing them?!" He shouted at the anomaly, indignantly, before deciding that at the rate it was growing it wasn't best to remain floating where he was. "... It can wait."
He dived back down into his lair just as the light washed across it. It dimmed again soon afterwards, to the familiar dull ambience the Ghost Zone usually held, but Skulker waited a while before he decided to emerge. His trackers were showing nothing but static, which pretty much forced him to go outside again. As he flew up above his forest, he frowned at the realm around him. A few ghosts had also decided to brave the miasma once more, and he exchanged a puzzled glance with the nearest one.
The Ghost Zone looked... different...
Skulker scowled as he shot a net at the unfortunate ghost nearby, reeling it in while he looked around.
"What is going on here..."
"Yikes!"
Sonic yelled as he jumped into the air, avoiding the blast that hit the ground where he'd been standing a moment before. He had only been running back to find Tails and their new friends, when a high pitched whine alerted him to the attack moments before he'd moved. He turned to face the source of the fire, before back-pedalling from another energy bolt and deciding avoidance was the best policy.
"Oh come on! I bet Tails is eating my ice cream, will you back off- whoa!"
The blue ball of spikes tumbled across the ground as he found himself bundled in a strange net, which closed tightly around him and made it difficult to move. An indignant shout escaped the hedgehog; anyone who had the nerve to trap him instantly put themselves on his mental list of jerks. And any robot who did it were straight on the 'smash it' list. Sonic glared at the owner of the net.
"Yep, you're going on the smashing it list."
"A nice thought, but I don't think so. You're unique, and I'm thinking about branching out."
"Oh COME ON! What the heck are YOU doing here?!"
"Oh, hi Danny, you come to join the party?" Sonic grinned at the humans and Tails, who was burying his face in his palm. "Oh stop that bro, I don't end up in nets that often, let the dude have his fun."
"Ahh, whelp! Such a surprise to see you here!"
"Drop it, Skulker. You already knew I was here, didn't you?"
"Actually, not until you showed up just now. I was following this interesting creature here."
"Uh, I'm right here dudes. You can take this net off me any time now."
"Coming, Sonic!" Tails darted over to him, while Skulker drifted across to Danny, Sam and Tucker.
"How did you all come to be here?"
"None of your business, tin head. What about you?"
"Nothing you'd care about, child."
"Try us." Sam butted in, whilst Tucker waved his PDA threateningly.
"Fine. I don't know."
"... what?"
"I told you, whelp, I do not KNOW how I got here." Skulker scowled at the trio, then over at Sonic, who was half untangled from the net now. "I do not particularly care either. A hunt is a hunt."
"Wait, what? Hunt?" Sonic raised an eyebrow, and laughed as he freed his legs from the net, while Tails started to bundle it up. "Dude, hunting's illegal here. Especially hunting people."
"Do you really think I care?"
"Uh, Sonic, don't provoke him. The guy's got some nasty weapons."
"And I've faced down Chaos itself. C'mon metal-head, bring it on."
"Tails, quick, come here, we got a way with this guy."
Tails groaned as Sonic made a rude gesture at the floating machine, giving him enough time to examine it, before he smiled, catching onto the plan as Tucker explained it quickly. He turned the technogeek's PDA down, in favour of the Miles-Electric, and instantly started typing on the surface while Tucker crawled over to whisper with Sam and Danny.
"Guys, do you really think we should let Sonic fight Skulker?"
"The guy's a super fast hedgehog, do you really think we could stop him if we tried?"
"Good point, but still, we should warn him..." Danny agreed with Tucker, thoughtfully.
"True, but didn't the guy say he deals with deadly robots all the time?" Sam pointed out.
"I guess... The guy just gives me the creeps though, how do you think Sonic'll react if Skulker starts claiming he wants his pelt on a wall?"
"Sonic would probably just laugh." Tails piped up, walking across to them. "You know that thing, yes? It doesn't look like any of Eggman's machines, so it came from your world, didn't it?"
"Yeah, his name is Skulker, he's another ghost so, uh, guess you better warn Sonic that he might have trouble hitting him." Danny watched as Sonic sidestepped several shots from the hunter. "What's he doing?"
"Looks like he's trying to wear the guy out." Tucker pointed out. "Though I dunno if he can outlast Skulker. Did you beam that over to him, by the way, Tails?"
"Yup! A nice little virus that should send his systems haywire. Of course, it would've helped if you'd told me what he could do properly so I could tailor it better."
"It's fine, you just need to knock his robot suit out, after that he's pretty weak."
"AGHH!"
A steaming Sonic hit Danny in the face as he was blasted over into their hiding place by a lucky shot. The hedgehog sat up quickly and, with a quick apology, charged straight back at the ghost, smiling slightly less now. Danny sat up far slower, plucking a quill from his arm, and looked annoyed. He looked over at Sam, who shook her head, and frowned. A few seconds later, Skulker crashed into the spot where he'd been sitting; sending a cloud of dust and gravel into the air as his heavy body shattered the concrete. Tails gave a startled yelp and looked over at Sonic, who was dusting his hands off nearby.
"Sonic! Watch where you throw things!"
"Sorry, are you all okay?"
"YEAH I'm FINE, thanks!" Danny stood up from the dust cloud, holding a small green blob in one hand. "I just love having robots land on me."
"Nice one! Is that the dude in the suit?" Sonic grinned, walking over to them all and leaning close to inspect it. "Ahahah, he's smaller than a Chao, that's adorable."
"BE SILENT! RELEASE ME, WHELP!"Skulker shrieked as he swung his fists at Danny.
"Yeah yeah, you're lucky I don't have the Thermos with me, jerk." Danny lifted Skulker close to his face and grinned. "How well do you fly, by the way?"
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Wanna try me?" As the halfa moved the hand holding the ghost backwards, as if to throw him, he stopped when Skulker phased through his hand. "I thought not. Leave us alone, tin head."
"Hmph! I will have your pelt on my wall, child, but I will concede defeat. For now." Skulker said, climbing back into his suit.
"Did he... uh... just-" Sonic began, twirling a finger in the direction of the hunter's shaky suit as it slowly, and noisily, sat up again.
"-threaten to skin me? Ah, I don't think he really means it." Danny shot a glare at the ghost, who growled under his breath. "ESPECIALLY if he wants us to let him know when we find a way back."
"Fine. But I am not staying around here..." Skulker shot a predatory glare towards Sonic, who bristled visibly at him. "... Maybe I can skin the blue creature instead?" He asked hopefully, as if in a mocking compromise.
"Try it and I'll smash ya for sure, spooky." Sonic grinned back at him.
"Skulker."
"Fine child, I'm gone. But perhaps you should see if you can repair the damage to the Ghost Zone while you find a way back. It looks horrible."
"It always looks horrible!"
Sonic glanced at Tails, as Sam shouted the final remark into the sky after the hunter ghost. The hedgehog shrugged, and surveyed the damaged with an amused whistle. There was a significant dent in the pathway, where Skulker's armour had crashed into it after Sonic had kicked him, and the dust had scattered quite a bit to the sides. He looked towards the nearby buildings and breathed a relieved sigh, glad that his friends had started to head out of the town before he'd inadvertently brought the ghost towards it. Someone could've got hurt.
As he thought about it, a shadow of a frown floated across his face. Only Tails saw it; the humans having started muttering amongst themselves again. The fox shook his head at them, and tugged Sonic's arm, getting the hedgehog to perk an ear in his direction while he whispered at him. Sonic only smiled and shrugged at the comment Tails made, before strolling over towards the humans, apparently more determined now.
He rudely bushed into the centre of their group, grinning wickedly as his green eyes darted around the trio. Clapping his hands together loudly, Sonic laughed.
"So!" he shouted. "Who's up for the hedgehog back ride this time?!"
"He is." Danny and Sam said in chorus, pointing at Tucker, who was standing between them. Tucker, however, had pointed at Danny, but it didn't take him a moment to realise he was outnumbered.
"Well then, Tucker! We're going to the next town over, and you get a free ride, how great is that?!"
"I'll pass." Tucker raised his hand dismissively, but Sonic grabbed his wrist. "N-no it's quite alright! AHHHHHH!"
"Guess we gotta carry his stuff now." Sam kicked Tucker's bag as he was dragged off by Sonic in a cloud of dust. Danny chuckled.
"I guess it's only fair." He said, picking the mentioned bag up and slinging it over his shoulders alongside his own. "So where are we going now Tails?"
"Like Sonic said, we're going to the next town. We know you guys can't really keep up with us, so we need a place to stay soon as-" Tails pointed at the sky "-it'll be dark soon."
"Night?" Danny frowned at the familiar, yet somewhat strange sun, a hand shielding his eyes from the glare. "Oh yeah. Wow I wouldn't have guessed, does it always stay so bright here as the sun goes down?"
"Yeah, but when it gets closer to night you get some pretty cool sunsets!" Tails smiled. "What's it like in your world?"
"Lots of light pollution at night, lots of regular pollution in the day." Sam answered, and Danny shrugged as he passed Sam her spider backpack. "But otherwise it isn't much different."
"Cool. Come on, we should catch up with Sonic."
Tails whirled his tails and took off, flying just overhead, and Danny sighed as he watched the fox fly in front of them for a bit. Sam put her hand on his shoulder reassuringly, knowing he was thinking about joining Tails in the air, but at the same time it was a reminder that he shouldn't risk it for the time being. Danny pouted, but nodded, and the duo walked along behind Tails as he led the way.
Danny sighed as he perched atop a tree, looking around the expansive landscape for signs of wherever they were going. He didn't want to stop overnight, instead wanting to keep going so they could get home quicker, but he did see the logic when Sam mentioned that they wanted to be rested just in case it wasn't as much of a breeze as Sonic implied it would be. Besides, Tucker had fallen asleep almost instantly, beaten only by the hedgehog.
The ghost boy chuckled lightly, mentally wondering if Sonic simply had to be first at everything he did. Sam and Tails had dozed off soon afterwards, leaving just Danny awake. Normally he'd have fallen asleep first, needing to recover his energy after a fight. Not having actually done any of the fighting and only having to use his powers to turn himself intangible to avoid being hurt when Skulker fell on him, he was still buzzing with energy. So once everyone had fallen asleep, he shifted into his ghost form and flew through the roof of the house that they were staying in for the night.
After a brief flight, he had found the tree and stood on it, balancing as if the height and the wind weren't a problem; well, they weren't for someone who could fly anyway. His mood fell slightly as he couldn't see any sign of where they'd be heading next. The landscape was beautiful, he admitted that, and it was better when he finally got his airborne view, but it was really difficult to tell where anything was.
He hoped it was close anyway.
Danny lay back across the broad leaves of the tree, folding his arms behind his head as he watched the stars shining brightly in the sky. A pang of homesickness hit him as he tried to recognise the constellations, but found none that were even remotely familiar. It only emphasised just how far away from home they really were. Raising a white gloved hand to the sky, he trailed his fingers across it, drawing the familiar constellations where they should have been, and trying to compare them to the wide expanse above him.
He sighed, and took off from the tree, flying in an arc through the air before phasing back through the roof and into the room that the others were sleeping in. Shifting back into his human form with a flash, he yawned and dropped into the hammock between Sam and Tucker, before falling asleep.
Sonic, however, propped his head up on a chin, and raised an eyebrow, before glancing over at the nearby clock. The hedgehog stretched and rolled over in his own hammock, dropping back into his usual light sleep...
TBC