Chapter Eleven
Josh: Where have you been?!
Sorry, I've been super busy for the past couple of days!
Josh: Excuses Excuses! So, what, only two chapters this week?!
...yeah.
Josh: Figures. Will you write over the weekend?
No. I'll be gone. And weekends are me time remember.
Josh: Yeah, and so are the other six days of the week apparently.
...Oooh, what's this shiny "backspace" button do to the word "Josh?"
Josh: O.o
Hey guys, this is Entry 2. It's been awhile since the first one, but it's been pretty crazy. I haven't really been able to pick this up for a while. Let's start from where we left off...
So, after me and Sonic got home, I had a really nice night. I thought that the anniversary would be really sad... but it made me realize how great my new friends are. I woke up the next morning feeling great. I went downstairs. Sonic and Tails were at the table talking, and Amy was making breakfast. I sniffed the air. Mmmm... pancakes.
"Smells great Amy!" I said as I walked in.
"Oh, good morning Josh!" Amy said. I made my way to the table. Sonic grabbed my shoulder and looked me in the eye.
"You okay?" He asked me quietly.
"Thanks to you guys." I said nodding. Sonic smiled and mussed up my hair a bit.
…...
"Mmm... Amy, you've done it again!" I said, taking another delicious mouthful of breakfast.
"Don't I always?" She said, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Plenty more if you want em!"
"Sonic, aren't you eating?" I asked. The hedgehog sat back in his chair and put his hands behind his head.
"I already ate." He replied.
"He really doesn't have a set 'eating' schedule." Amy explained.
"Oh yeah, I remember reading about that somewhere." I thought back to my Earth days. "...Maybe Jacob told me... Eh, I'll remember later." I went back to my breakfast.
"Are you sure you don't want some Sonic?" Tails asked. "They're really good."
"...Maybe one." Sonic reached over, grabbed a pancake, and started eating.
"Sonic! At least use a fork or something!" Amy said, somewhat disgusted. I laughed as I took my plate to the sink. Sonic finished off his second breakfast, then stood up.
"Come on Josh, you're coming with me today." Sonic said.
"Uh, okay. Like, now?" I asked, putting on a pair of shoes.
"Now." Sonic was already walking out the door.
"Oh, now, okay, bye guys!" I said, rushing to catch up to Sonic.
Amy and Tails didn't have time to react before Sonic pulled me out the door and sped off with me in tow.
…...
"S-s-o-o-o-o-n-n-i-i-i-i-c-c! S-s-l-l-o-o-o-o-w-w d-d-o-o-o-o-w-w-w-w-n-n!" We were whipping through the forest at what I assumed to be the speed of sound. Seriously, better than any roller coaster, ever. I felt like my cheeks were stretching to my ears! I had never felt G-Force quite that powerful before!
"What's that? You want me to go faster?" Sonic yelled back, smirking at me. He had a firm grip on my wrist, and was tugging me along. I was trying hard to have my feet make some contact with the ground. Not very easy to do.
We finally came to a stop in a flowery meadow. I would have made a witty remark about how I never saw Sonic as a marigold kind of guy, but I really couldn't feel my face yet.
"Cream, ya here!?" Sonic yelled into the meadow!
"Over here Mr. Sonic!" A small voice called from the distance.
"Come on Josh!" Sonic grabbed my wrist once again, and ran off with me in tow... again.
We quickly found the small bunny and her blue Chao.
"S...Sonic... why are we here?" I said, somewhat slurred, because my face was still trying to recover.
"Just a quick stop. Cream said she had something to tell you." Sonic stood off to the side, as Cream ran up to me.
"Hello there!" Cream smiled, as Cheese... I dunno, made Cheese noises.
"Oh, hi there!" I said, just noticing the small rabbit. My eyes were a little weak too. It happens when you have a strong wind in your face. She was pretty small. The size of a six year old maybe.
"Um... are you feeling okay?" Cream looked at me with a concerned face.
"Yeah, I'm fine, why?"
"Your face..."
"Oh, don't mind it. It happens the first time you decide to go for a run with him." I said, jerking my thumb towards Sonic. ...What did my face look like? It must have been pretty weird if the polite bunny needed to point it out.
"I see. Well, when your face is normal, it looks nice!" She smiled again, putting her hands behind her back. "Sorry if this is bothering you, but I just had something I wanted to give you."
"For me? Cream, you don't have to do that." I said, smiling at the bunny.
"Actually, I think I do. It'll help you find your brother."
"Pardon me?" I said, somewhat surprised. Sonic looked equally surprised, and came closer to see what Cream had to say.
"I found it yesterday. I was planning to give it to you, but you were gone. I thought this meadow would be a safe place to hide it." Cream slowly reached into the flowers. She held in her hands something glowing. Something green.
"A Chaos Emerald? Why didn't you tell us?" Sonic asked her.
"She told me not to." Cream said matter-of-factly, as she stared at the glowing green gem in her hand. "She was afraid someone else would find her before you did."
"She?" Sonic looked a bit concerned. I, on the other hand, was distracted by the pulsating Green Emerald.
"Josh." Cream said, bringing me back into focus. "You need to take care of her. She's scared. But she wants to help you find your brother." She held out the Emerald to me.
"Cream... are you talking about the Emerald?" I asked. She nodded. After a moment of hesitation, I reached out to take it.
The Master Emerald's gift, the clear ring, suddenly started glowing a bright green. The Emerald jumped to my hand. Then it bathed the world in a blinding green light.
The glow slowly dimmed down. When it cleared, I saw I wasn't in the meadow anymore. In fact, I wasn't sure I was anywhere anymore. All I could see was white.
"Are you the one they call Josh?" A voice asked nervously from behind me. I turned to see a white fox with long black hair and a green dress. Her blue eyes barely met mine, as if she were nervous.
"Yes. Who are you. Where am I?" I asked her.
"That is of no importance."
"I think it is. Please tell me."
"..." The girl considered her options for a moment before talking. "I am the spirit of the Green Chaos Emerald. You are currently residing in my realm."
"Your realm? It's so... empty." I said, taking a look around.
"The world is a scary place. My realm is nothing, so nothing will scare me."
"Geez, were you always this timid?" I asked her, trying not to laugh at her logic. She slowly shook her head no.
"On the day me and my siblings were taken by the one you call Eggman, I became extremely afraid. But I also developed the desire to help you. When I saw you pleading to the Master, how you only cared for your brother's safety, I did the only thing I could to save you. You are a very controlled human for one so young and inexperienced with no experience in Chaos Power."
"I know why you became so afraid. Eggman was using pure emotion to power you up. Since you seem to be the embodiment of fear, Eggman channeled a strong source of fear into you, to make your power stronger." I stopped and thought of something. "Do you know why he would do that?" She shook her head no again. "Well, is there anything I can do to make you feel more at ease?"
"Yes. If you find my siblings, we will be able to safely channel our powers through someone who is strong enough. We have done this many times before with the one you call Sonic, as well as his darker counterpart Shadow. That should bring my emotions back to normal. You must hurry. The Eggman is searching for my siblings as we speak. You must not let him gather us all. The results would be grave." As she finished, she stretched out her hand. The world faded into green, then black.
"...osh...Josh...Josh! Wake up man!" I slowly opened my eyes to see Sonic gently shaking me. I sat up. The back of my head was throbbing. I reached back to rub it and felt a bump.
"What happened?" I asked, slightly dazed.
"You touched the Chaos Emerald and just passed out!" Sonic helped me up. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." I brushed myself off a bit. "Cream was right, someone wants to help us."
"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.
"I just met the spirit of the Chaos Emerald. She wants to help me find my brother... Where is the Chaos Emerald anyways?" Sonic shrugged. Then, a glow from my ring caught our attention. Now, resting in the middle of the ring, was a small green gem. "...Do you think this is it?"
"I don't see why not." Sonic came over and studied the small gem. I nodded.
"Anyways, we need to act fast, Eggman's after the other Emeralds right now."
"Then there's no time to waste, is there?" Sonic's trademark smirk spread across his face. He quickly grabbed my wrist, and we were off once again.
…...
"Seriously Sonic, can't you go any slower?!" I yelled, trying to make my voice heard over the wind.
"Wow, aren't you a speed demon! Faster it is!" Sonic whooped, as he sped up.
"You know I didn't say that!" I yelled angrily. Sonic laughed and slowed down to a walk. He let go of my sore wrist, as I rubbed the pain away. "There has got to be an easier way." I said. "There is no way I can last a whole trip being dragged around like that. Can't we take one of Tail's planes or something?"
"If Eggman's after the Emeralds, he'll be patrolling the sky as well. We can't risk being seen by him, especially you. He may still have plans for you, not to mention you have one of the Chaos Emeralds." Sonic motioned towards my ring.
"Speaking of, how would we get it off?" I wondered, trying to pull the small gem out. "If we're going to use it to get me and my brother home, they wouldn't be of much use as it is now..." I tried to dig a fingernail underneath the gem, but it was stuck in there in such a way that there were no cracks to put a nail in. The Green Spirit's voice suddenly spoke to me.
"Hold your hand above me." I nodded and obeyed her command.
"Uh... what are you doing?" Sonic looked at me, confused.
"The Spirit told me to do this. Didn't you hear her?" I asked him. Sonic shook his head no.
"Now clear your head and think of the Emerald you want." The Spirit continued. I closed my eyes and thought of nothing but the Green Chaos Emerald. I felt something materialize in my palm. I opened my eyes and found the Emerald resting in my hand.
"Cool, I did it!" I said.
"Now how do you put it back?" Sonic asked. "It's a good place to hide the Emeralds. No one would think to check a ring."
"Use some of my power." The spirit said.
"For what?" I asked out loud.
"Weren't you looking for a way to run faster?" The Spirit asked. I thought for a moment.
"So... if I use your power, wouldn't that just bring you back to normal?" I didn't say it out loud this time, I tried saying it in my head.
"No. I would eventually recharge. What you require would cost me little power. I would regain it very quickly." The Spirit said sadly.
"You know what I want?" I thought.
"Well, I have a good guess."
"Okay, let's make it happen. What do I do?"
"Pray to the Master, like you did when I saved you." I nodded, and closed my eyes.
"Oh Master Emerald..." I thought. I paused. I had originally wished to fly, so that I could keep up with Sonic, but I then had a different idea. "Oh Master Emerald, show me my brother."
"Are you sure that is what you wish? My power will only allow you to see him and hear him. He won't see you, and he won't hear you." The Spirit's voice sounded cautionary. "You may witness something horrible, and you won't be able to stop it."
"I'm sure. Show me." I urged. I suddenly felt like I was floating away. When I opened my eyes, I was flying above Jacob once again.
…...
"Wow, finding that was pretty easy." Jacob said, admiring a sparkling red gem he had on a small ring. Apparently he got one too.
"Let me see." Blaze said, as she gently took his hand. She studied the gem for a moment.
"That ring made things a lot easier." Silver said as he put his hands behind his head. "Where's the next one?"
"Um..." Jacob held his fist out and moved it around. "The Dark Blue Emerald seems pretty close. It's thataway!" Jacob pointed towards a forest.
"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go find it!" Silver grabbed Jacob's wrist and started to speed off.
"Silver, wait!" Blaze called out. Silver stopped and walked back.
"Aaaaw, come on Blaze! I like to go fast!" Jacob looked sad. Funny, I never felt quite the same way about being dragged at a million miles an hour.
"What's wrong?" Silver asked, letting go of Jacob's wrist.
"How do we get the Sol Emeralds out of the ring? They're useless as they are now!" Blaze looked a bit worried.
"...Okay, like this?" Jacob put his hand over his ring.
"Is the Spirit talking to you?" Silver asked. Jacob nodded, and closed his eyes. After a small, red flash, the Sol Emerald appeared in his hand, full size, just like when I made the Chaos Emerald appear.
"A wish? Really?" Jacob opened his eyes and looked excited. "Well, I don't know what to wish for! ...Yeah, seeing my brother would be nice. Could I talk to him?" Jacob listened for a bit, and looked disheartened. "Well I would like to talk to him." Jacob listened for a bit more, then looked around. "Uh, hi Josh, wherever you are!" I was a bit shocked, until I realized that the Emerald's spirit probably told him I was watching. "I'm doing fine over on my end. I have so much to tell you, but I don't really have time! Just work really hard to find the Chaos Emeralds." He laughed a bit. "I betcha I can get them first!" I smiled and shook my head. "...So I can't see him right now, because he's seeing me? ...Okay, then I know what else I want!" Jacob closed his eyes once more. He was suddenly bathed in red light. The light grew brighter, until it became blinding! When it died down, Jacob was gone! A red cat stood in his place. The cat had a few strands of hair coming off of his head, much like Tails'. He had on a pair of white gloves, and red and white shoes, both of which looked quite a bit like Sonic's. He wore a pair of blue jeans and a black shirt, as well as a pair of black sunglasses.
"Uh...Jacob?" Blaze looked as shocked as I was.
"Yep! Although, you can call me Rocket!" Jacob added with a wink.
"Rocket?" Silver didn't look as shocked as you would have thought. He looked more excited.
"Yeah, it's a character I made. Whaddaya think, pretty neat huh?" Jacob asked, turning around to examine himself. He saw that he had a feline tail, and moved it around with precision. "Sweet." Jacob said. "One last test!" Jacob then started running... very fast. He came back to the group with huge eyes. "I can keep up with you guys now!" He gushed.
"Good, I was getting tired of carrying you." Silver joked.
"Why did you turn into a cat?" Blaze asked. "Didn't you like being human?"
"Well, yeah, but I've always wanted to be Rocket. Plus, now I can defend myself! Or at least help you guys defend me." He said. "Why, do you not like it?" Blaze smiled.
"No, I do. I think it's a fun wish. It's something you wanted. I'm just proud that you thought of your brother first." Blaze said.
"Thanks!" Jacob replied.
"But I'm not going to call you Rocket." Blaze added as she walked off towards the forest.
"Aw, what?" Jacob said as he chased off after her.
"Yeah, me neither." Silver said as he caught up to the group.
"Why not?!" Jacob asked, obviously getting flustered.
"It's a weird name!" Blaze replied. "And that's coming from the girl who's named after a fire!"
"It's not weird!" Jacob shot back.
"Is too." Blaze teased.
"Is not!" Jacob said, getting a bit angry.
"We'll give you a better name later!" Silver laughed.
"Personally, I like Jacob." Blaze said. As the group got farther and farther away, the vision dissolved.
…...
I opened my eyes once again. The Chaos Emerald went back to being a gem on my ring. Sonic was sitting on a rock, apparently waiting for me to come to. I was still standing this time, luckily.
"I'm back." I announced. Sonic turned in my direction and smiled.
"What's up?" He asked, standing and walking towards me.
"My brother's fine. He turned himself into a cat, but he's fine."
"A cat?" Sonic cocked his head to the side.
"He made a wish to turn into a person he made named Rocket." I replied. "And now, we're not only racing Eggman, but also him. He said he could find his set of Emeralds first, but I doubt that. Not with the fastest thing alive on my side." I said, holding out my arm. "Come on! We're burning daylight! We need to go find those Emeralds!"
"Well, I like the enthusiasm," Sonic said as he grabbed my wrist, "But we need to go back to base first and pick up some things. Plus, I'm starving." My own stomach growled when he said that.
"...Man, I must have some problems or something, my stomach's been growling like crazy!" I said, rubbing my gut. Sonic smiled and sped off.
…...
"Can you go any faster?!" I shouted over the wind.
"Haha, now you're speaking my language!" Sonic shouted back. "Get ready for a boost!" Sonic suddenly sprinted forward, breaking the sound barrier.
"T-t-t-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o f-a-a-a-a-a-a-s-t!"
Holy cow that was long!
Josh: How'd you do?
I don't know. ...It wasn't my best. But I promise I can do better! This was just one of those in between chapters, not really and action chapter.
Josh: If you say so. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm about to be dragged off aga-
...Josh? Jooooosh? Huh, Sonic must have got him. Well, don't forget to review guys! Thanks for reading!
