Chapter 11
The Color Emeralds
"I need my mind taken off of all of this curse stuff! I think that I'll go meet the new people! Is it alright if I take a break from Kaira to go meet them?" asked Tails to Cream.
"Sure! Kaira's stable. So, go do what you wish! I'll let you know if there are any changes," answered Cream.
"Chao!" chirped Cheese in agreement.
Tails went to another part of the Blue Typhoon and wasn't sure what to expect due to him not sure of what they were like. He decided to bring Apple along with him so that he can at least know what to expect because of him. Apple took him to where his family was. And boy were there lots of people! There were many hedgehogs and two-tailed foxes. Apple rushed up to them.
"Guys, I can't believe that you're all okay! I've missed you so much!" exclaimed Tails to his siblings and other family members.
"BRO! I haven't seen you in a good long forever! Are you gonna introduce us to your new friends? If they saved us, then they must be pretty nice," said an orange two-tailed fox with red eyes and purple shoes. The tip of his tails were white.
"Sure!"
"Greetings. My name is Tails! I know that you've been on here for a while, but now I wish to welcome you aboard the Blue Typhoon. So, what do you think of the place? Do you like it here?" asked Tails.
"It is indeed a pleasant ship, but I have some recommendations on how to decorate!" said a bright pink hedgehog wearing a white dress. Her fur wasn't as pink as Rabby's, but still pink.
"Yeah, a little boring… What is there to do? Can I run around?" asked a light blue hedgehog. A lighter blue hedgehog than Sonic and with lime green shoes and golden eyes.
"Quit thinking about yourself for a change and focus! We are being welcomed at long last! I hate to have to correct you in public, but you are being rude! Now, apologize," said a neon yellow girl hedgehog shoving the light blue hedgehog forward.
"Sorry, my sister is a real know-it-all I know, but I'm apologizing on her behalf! She needs to really let loose sometimes and get her really big nose out of all of those books and into some sports!" the light blue hedgehog replied.
"That's not what I meant!" screamed the neon yellow hedgehog.
"That's enough! I'm disappointed in the both of you! I become the king of a planet and all of my many children lose their mother because of the metarex and then what happens?! They become spoiled brats and get whatever they want! You two especially!" snapped the golden hedgehog who was slightly taller than the two of them.
"It's fine. My friend Sonic isn't much better and he's still my BFF and Amy likes him just the same," Tails replied.
"Who's Amy?" asked two twin baby brothers at the same time. One was an adorable baby blue and the other was a scarlet red. Sort of like Knuckles only they were two-tailed foxes.
"OH MY GOSH! SONIC, YOU'RE ALIVE! I'M SO HAPPY AND NOW WE HAVE A BRIGHT FUTURE WHERE WE GET MARRIED, HAVE DATES, AND HAVE MANY CHILDREN!" screamed Amy hugging the light blue hedgehog from behind.
"That's Amy…," Tails replied.
"Nope! Not Sonic! Hugging the wrong guy! I'm not Sonic! You can let go any day now!" cried the light blue hedgehog.
"Huh? You look too much like him! How do I know if you're sincere?!" demanded Amy holding up her hammer.
"Um… First, look at my shoes. Aren't they different? Now look at my fur. Is his this light of a color? Finally, look at my eyes the same color as his? What about my voice? Isn't it slightly different?" asked the light blue hedgehog nervously.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen! What's your name?" asked Amy.
"I'm Runner the Hedgehog. Apple is my younger brother you see? Only he was able escape from the metarex because of his remarkable tails. We each have our own special abilities, but they were no use in that situation," Runner replied.
"So, what's your talent?" asked Amy curiously.
"My special power is running extremely fast! It makes me great at sports, but now there's a rule that I can't run faster than ten miles per hour! How mean is that?!" yelled Runner angrily.
"How fast can you run?" asked Amy.
"Just a smidge faster than sound," he replied.
"That-is-so-awesome! He really is almost exactly like Sonic! Sonic, come here!" shouted Amy. Sonic was there in a millisecond.
"Sonic, meet runner. Runner, meet Sonic. You guys must be twins!" exclaimed Amy.
"How fast do you run?"
"Sonic speed!
"Wow! How about we test that theory in a race!" said Sonic challengingly to his new friend and rival.
"Oh yeah, bring it on!" Runner replied. They then both ran off in one direction leaving Amy without one of her two Sonics. She charged after them.
"HEY! WAIT FOR ME! I THOUGHT THAT I WAS GETTING SOMEWHERE WITH RUNNER, BUT I GUESS I WAS WRONG!" screamed Amy.
The others watched her run off after the speedy hedgehogs and they finally looked back at each other. It was just too complicated for everyone now. There were too many foxes and hedgehogs. Tails shook his head.
"We're going to need name tags aren't we?" he said slowly.
"That's not a bad idea. I can't remember any of their names anymore. Well, we should introduce ourselves!" said the gold hedgehog.
"Indeed! We are, after all, very valuable allies to have! We each have different abilities. They could use'em!" said a red hedgehog and a darker blue fox at the same time. They were both wearing navy blue shoes and had yellow eyes. White zig-zagged stripes ran around their wrists.
"I guess they would," replied a jet black male hedgehog with completely black shoes and green eyes. He actually didn't look that much like Shadow if you were wondering.
"There are too many of us! I'll agree on that!" yelled an indigo hedgehog male hedgehog with red shoes.
"Chao!" cried a red, orange, and yellow chao that was floating next to the jet black hedgehog. It looked quite a bit like Cheese.
"He says that he agrees," said a light green female hedgehog. She had a pretty daisy in her hair and had on a light pink dress and white shoes. Her eyes were pink.
"You've already met Runner. I'm Pink the Fair who is his older sister. My special ability is decorating and organizing," said the pink female hedgehog.
"I'm Sunshine, but people usually call me by my nickname Sunny. My ability is being smart I guess," the neon yellow hedgehog said.
"Greetings, I'm Cosmic, Apple's cousin, and I happen to be good at astronomy. I know almost every planet, star, or galaxy by heart and I can be good for navigating the universe," the indigo hedgehog remarked.
"I could use that!" Tails exclaimed and he smiled.
"I'm Orange who is Apple's older brother. I am a great actor if I do say so myself!" Orange said with a clear confident expression.
"My name is Jack. I'll just tell you now that my middle name is Dasiy… I know… A very girly middle name, but I learn to live with it. I happen to be good at dancing and art," the jet black hedgehog said.
"We are the two twins of togetherness! The blue one he is B.T, and the red one here is R.T! We always stick together, and we never ever leave, but when a good friend needs it, we cheer to give them spirit! We always do things together, cause we are bros forever! Whenever you need our help, we'll do it like we would ourselves!" chanted B.T and R.T.
"We have no idea how they are always in sync with each other. It's like their minds are connected! By the way, I'm Daisy! I have the power to always understand what animals are saying. Just like Flamico here for instance. I know everything he says. His nickname is Fury," said the light green hedgehog pointing at the chao.
"Chao!" it replied happily.
"Fury says hi!" Daisy said happily.
"The two baby foxes are Baby Blue and Baby Sharp, but I think that we should start making it a habit of calling them Blue and Sharp," said Pink.
"I'll be sure to remember! I'll go tell all my other friends your names so that we don't have to go through introductions again. Now, let me guess your name… You're the father and a king which means… You're king Gold!" Tails exclaimed.
"I see that you've heard of me. I have the power of wisdom. It's a great quality to have in a king. Blue and Sharp both have different abilities unlike B.T and R.T. Blue can make anyone he chooses sad and Sharp can make his tails extremely Sharp! Hang on a second… Tails, you have two tails, so what's your special ability?" asked Gold.
"I can use my two tails to fly. I'm also an amazing mechanic. I build things from boats to spaceships. I actually made the Blue Typhoon with a little bit of help," Tails replied.
"He's a two-tailed fox, he has special abilities, and he looks so much like all of you other foxes! That can only mean one thing… You must be a part of the family! Same for Rabby! Sonic, I don't think so, but I have heard that in a specific series of Sonic he is a prince. An extremely rude prince, but a prince.
"WOW! Oh, by the way, this is Sonic X. Not Sonic Underground," Tails replied.
"Thank goodness! I thought that Sonic was a little taller, more mature, had a deeper voice, wasn't using slang, wasn't ogling over a chili dog, and was a ton more awesome than the Sonic in Sonic Underground," Gold replied.
"He wouldn't be my friend if he continued like that! Oh wait, I did become his friend in the Sonic SatAM series because of that… I sounded like an unsmart four-year-old!" Tails said getting agitated.
"Well, this is Sonic X! Let's drop the subject! So, what's been happening around here?" asked Gold.
"Um… That could be a bit difficult to do… Uh… Narrator, go catch up with someone else while I explain to them what's been happening. I think that it'll take me a while for me to tell them all this," Tails says to me.
Okay then! With Sonic…
"I finished a millimeter before you did!" snapped Runner.
"Really? What evidence do you have?" asked Sonic with a smirk on his face.
"The narrator is on my side right? Please tell me that I am faster than Sonic!" Runner replied. Sonic had to roll his eyes. Actually, I agree with Sonic on this.
"What's your answer?"
Well, Sonic is supposed to be the main character of this because basically most of the story except for the parts that you don't know about revolve around him. He's saved more planets than you can think of and his name is in the title. It's Sonic X and not Runner X.
"Gee, thanks! I was only asking if I was faster than him," snapped Runner angrily.
"Well, I don't have all day to stand around! I want to do more exploring! I've been laying on a bed recovering for who knows how long! I want to really run! I mean, sound speed running! I can't do that on the Blue Typhoon," Sonic said. He sprang through a window and raced like the wind once he reached the ground.
Huh? Why is the sky red?" asked Sonic.
"Probably because the sun is setting. You should get inside because it might get really cold out there. You can race around tomorrow," said Runner.
"I- but- what? All I did was want to run around and the sun sets! This book must hate me!" whimpered Sonic.
"Who knows? Maybe you'll dream about it," Runner replied half happy that Sonic had to go through the torture of staying on the Blue Typhoon all night. If he couldn't be the fastest, he could be the rival of the fastest.
Meanwhile, Shadow and Rouge were just regaining conscious…
"Shadow, what happened?" asked Rouge groggily standing up. She looked over and Shadow was barely awake. He looked exhausted for some reason. Like, someone had put him through all the Olympic events combined without a break. He stood up next to her.
"I have no idea… Although…, I had this dream… It was about… everything…," Shadow replied. He looked like he also had a headache that was trying to shake apart his head from the inside, but it was somehow holding together. Rouge wanted to do something, but couldn't think of anything that wouldn't make him uncomfortable.
"I think that we're still in the base, but I don't know how we can be. Zaira's gone," Rouge replied to Shadow.
"She is?" he asked, but his mind seemed elsewhere.
Zaira was somewhere else and was fighting back a dark force that was, well, herself. She had a split personality, so things were really complicated.
"I don't want to betray them again! Shadow is mad enough at me already!"
"Make him forget! I can choke you to the point of dying and then you will be forever Shadowless! Don't you dare make me kill you!"
"I-I won't…" she finally replied.
Shadow looked at the hallway and saw Zaira approaching. She looked hesitant… This was unlike her to be slow and unsure about something that she was doing. She stopped when she was close enough to Shadow that she could let him see her remorse in her eyes. He didn't even know why.
"I'm sorry, Shadow the Hedgehog… I want to tell you that I respect you…," Zaira said slowly. She lifted her hand and put Shadow into a bubble of stopped time that would only last for five minutes. Zaira then turned to Rouge.
"May I speak with you?" asked Zaira to Rouge. Rouge nodded and Zaira suddenly felt more hesitant.
"I've got a split personality. There's a good side and an evil side. At the moment, I'm on my good side because I don't want to do what my evil side tells me to, but her threats are growing harsh. If I don't, I may die… I want to tell you this, but I also need to do what she said. She wants me to erase his memory, but not yours. The reason of this is because when Shadow finds out about me again and that you always knew, he'll think that you betrayed him and that the truth that you tell him is only a lie. This is the last thing that I want to do!" Zaira explained.
"That's why you're so hesitant! So, if I don't keep my mouth shut about all of this, your evil side will kill me. Sounds like a plan for her, but what if she gets to you?" asked Rouge.
"I get completely removed from my body because the balance of both personalities gets out of balance. She's stronger than me, so I would be a goner," Zaira replied.
"That's horrible!" exclaimed Rouge.
"Oh man, the spell is ending! We'll finish this later, but I have to do this!" yelled Zaira.
"No, you don't!"
"YES, I DO!"
She cast the forgetting spell and a teleportation spell. They were teleported to Dr. Eggman's ship. Only Rouge and Zaira knew anything of what happened before.
"Where-? Who-? Wha-? What am I doing on Eggman's ship again?!" demanded Shadow when he could finally retrieve words.
Zaira motioned to Rouge about keeping her mouth shut by pretending to zip her lips closed. Rouge stood for a moment and nodded reluctantly.
"Didn't you use chaos control to get us here? Don't tell me that you've lost your memory again!" Rouge snapped at him.
Zaira smiled at Rouge and nodded at her. Sure they threatened each other all the time, but that didn't mean that they couldn't be friends right? Rouge was probably the first person to care about what she ever did which is all she ever wanted. To be liked by someone even if they half hated each other.
The next day with Sonic…
"FINALLY! It's morning and it's so beautiful!" cried Sonic racing out the door and kissing the ground.
"Indeed! Welcome to our home planet!This is Greengate. It broke off from another planet several years ago, but that's the past and now it is beautiful and prosperous once again! I hope that you enjoy it!" Gold the hedgehog told everyone as they walked off the Blue Typhoon.
"THIS IS GREENGATE?! It's so beautiful! The last time I saw it, it was dead! Although, now I see that it's been restored!" exclaimed Cosmo happily.
"The reason for this is because the planet egg was stolen from this planet a long time ago, but four years ago, the planet egg was somehow returned to its home. We discovered it soon after and decided to make this beautiful world our home!" Pink answered.
"I can't believe it! Four years and it's almost back to its original glory!" Cosmo cried.
"Oh? My data scanner is picking up strange energy levels from the sky… Is it the truth telling atmosphere? Hang on…, they're meteors! There should be a meteor shower tonight, but these are no ordinary space rocks… Their power feels like chaos energy. If we had the chaos emeralds, we'd be able to see if they were chaos emeralds. They probably are, but they could be fake. Everyone who knows anything about chaos emeralds know that they are attracted to planets," Tails said looking at a piece of technology that only he knew how to use.
"That should be exciting! A meteor shower! Although, I do have some concerns," Jack said.
"Yeah? Like what?" asked Tails.
"Couldn't the meteor shower just be a way for the metarex or metaltrons that you keep talking about to get power? They are mysterious rocks with something like chaos power, so wouldn't they want to get their hands on them?" asked Jack.
"He could very well be right. They could go after them," Cosmic said.
"Don't worry! They won't get their hands on them as long as I'm around!" Runner said confidently.
"I would say that you were my hero sarcastically, but there's a truth-telling atmosphere. That'll be how I say it," Sunny replied with a smirk.
"Unfortunately, I can't go ha ha. Very funny," Runner snapped back.
"Guys! Enough fighting we need to pay attention to Tails! Since he's a captain, he should have a plan for all of us! Knowing him, it'll be a great plan too!" Daisy yelled at them.
"CHAO!" agreed Fury.
"Thank you, Daisy. Now, Tails, do you have a plan?" asked Gold.
"Sure! We get the stones before they do!" Tails replied.
"What about if they come here?" asked Jack curiously.
"We'll fight them off and if they are chaos emeralds, we'll use them as our power source for the Blue Typhoon.
"Metarex are going down! We will trash them all around! We're gonna fill them up with fear! The point is gonna be crystal clear!" chanted B.T and R.T together.
"How do they do that?" asked Tails curiously.
"Trust me. They don't know either," Pink replied.
Suddenly, there was a giant red object that was falling from the sky and it crashed onto the planet with a loud explosion! It was a spaceship! Three people-I mean, two reptiles and a bumble bee came out. Sonic recognized them instantly.
"This doesn't look like the place that we were told to go to. We were told that we had a case on Talinais. According to this sign, we are on Greengate," said a purple chameleon with gold eyes and a giant horn on his forehead. He also wore white gloves with a gray-black cuff sort of thing around both arms. He also had a curly tail.
"I knew that you were reading the map upside down Charmy!" snapped a green alligator at the bee. The alligator had sharp yellow spike running down his back and wore headphones. He was a lot bigger than the other two. He also wore black shoes and a gold chain around his neck.
"Well, excuse me! I wasn't taught how to read the stupid thing Vector! You should have told Espio to read it!" snapped the bee. He seemed a lot younger and had a higher voice than the other two. He wore some sort of air jacket and helmet along with white and black shoes. The bee wore white gloves as well.
"I was in the middle of my ninja training! I can't skip out on practice. It might save your lives in the future. You need to show more respect to me Charmy," the purple chameleon said cooly.
"OH REALLY?!" demanded the bee, but the alligator stepped between them.
"Quit bickering you guys! We need to find a way back on course, but how do we get off of this planet when our ship is broken!" demanded the alligator.
"I could help fix it! Again…, but how did you get here you guys?" asked Tails with a baffled expression.
"Yeah, why is the Team Chaotix here? Another detective case?" asked Sonic.
"Uh…, could you clue us in? We have no idea who they are," said Cosmic. The Team Chaotix nearly fainted.
"Oh man, they don't know who we are… What are we supposed to do about this? We are going to become the galaxy's greatest detectives, but how can we when we have people who don't pay attention to poor souls like us who are great, but will never be recognized?" asked Vector.
"I know who you are! Vector, the leader, Espio, the ninja, and Charmy, the one there just to irritate you!" said Sonic.
"HEY! I AM NOT IRRITATING!" snapped Charmy angrily.
"Er…, there to help! That's what I meant!" Sonic corrected.
"That's better! So, why are you here? Did you crash here too?" asked Charmy curiously. He rushed up to Sonic and really got in his face. Sonic backed up a bit.
"Yep. It's a long story. Welcome to Greengate! The planet of greenery and the truth-telling atmosphere. Enjoy!" said Sonic with a smirk.
"Truth-telling atmosphere huh? Curious. I've never experienced such a thing before. How did it get here?" asked Vector.
"Magic," Sonic replied.
"I've never found any scientific evidence for the existence of magic! How is this possible!" demanded Vector.
"Believe me Vector, I thought the same thing, but Kaira really proved me wrong," Tails replied with his arms crossed and looking at the ground.
"Interesting. Also, the name Greengate sounds strangely familiar…," Espio commented.
"That's because it's my home planet."
"It can't be… Is it-" Vector shook his head disbelievingly.
"How could it be Cosmo?! Didn't she die Vector? I think that they are stuffing our brains with lies! Let's fight them for lying to us! Nothing can stop us from finding the truth!" Charmy said getting into battle position.
"Cool it Charmy. This is all no trick. They are telling us the truth on the truth-telling atmosphere. The reason I know is because of all of my ninja training. I've become so aware of my surroundings, that I can detect abnormal disturbances around us that most people wouldn't feel. I felt the force of the magic around this planet. It is extremely high, and there's an inescapable force everywhere that connects to your brain so that you can't tell a lie. Whenever you try to, it only replaces that lie with truth whether if it is humiliating or not. Therefore, they can't be lying due to this fact," Espio explained to everyone.
"Impressive Espio! I'm going to start relying on you more! How are you alive Cosmo?! Didn't you sacrifice yourself to save the world?!" Vector demanded.
"Okay, Sonic found a seed that came from me before I was gone and he planted it. When it was fully grown, it was me. I came from a seed, so it made sense that I would return through one. After all, I am a plant," Cosmo answered.
"Remarkable! A seed saves the life of a plant and she comes back to life to her boyfriend! It's the most amazing love story ever!" wept Vector.
"I don't think that it was love Vector. I would think that if it was, they would have sent us invites to their wedding. Don't you think?" asked Espio.
"Espio has a point. They don't exactly look married and I don't see any rings on their ring fingers. It must have been the right growing conditions," Charmy told them.
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! It was love! I'm certain of it!" snapped Vector at his teammates.
"It wasn't! We have no substantial evidence! If we don't have proof, the case isn't closed," Espio shot back.
"Listen to me, and listen well! I am your leader, and I am the one who makes all the decisions, so you don't have any authority to tell me what to do or what to think!" shouted Vector.
"That's got to do a lot of damage on Espio's argument because that is true! Vector is in charge! Let's see how Espio responds folks!" Charmy said sounding like an announcer in a fight.
"However, you must listen to your teammates! They may know more about something than you do, so when you listen, you get more information because you have more information when you have more than one brain!" Espio countered.
"WOW! Espio makes a comeback! It's gonna be tough for Vector to get back into the game now!" Charmy yelled over a microphone.
"ARE YOU SAYING THAT I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING?!" Vector shouted with anger.
"No! I'm saying that you each must learn from each other. Everyone has a different talent, so when people come together, you end up being better than before because you can do more with others than you can on your own," Espio explained calmly.
"Another powerful blow comes from Espio! Wait! Is this it?! Did Espio win?!" Charmy stood up and there was a long silence.
"I guess that you're right Espio. I apologize for what I said. I'll admit it. I don't know if it was love, but I do know that I have way more knowledge than you'll ever have!" Vector replied with a smirk on his face.
"I'd doubt it," Espio said crossing his arms.
"Is there gonna be another battle between them? The crowd is on the edge of their seats!" yelled Charmy.
"How about this. We call ourselves even for now?" asked Vector holding out his hand to Espio. Espio looked at his hand and took it. The deal was sealed.
"Very well. I much prefer us getting along rather than us bickering all the time," Espio replied.
"Well, that's it for our show today folks! Be sure to toon in next time on Arguing With Vector! This is Charmy Bee signing out!" yelled Charmy throwing the microphone to the ground after turning it off. He looked at the others. They gave him an annoyed look.
"Really? The last thing we needed was an announcer," Cosmic mumbled.
"What'd I do?" asked Charmy.
"Let's cut him some slack! At least they stopped fighting! That's good isn't it?" asked Sonic to everyone. They nodded.
"I'm starving! Does anyone know when we can eat? I heard that Cream makes an amazing strawberry shortcake! I could really go for one right now!" Pink exclaimed.
"Indeed. How long must we wait?" asked Jack.
"How about a picnic? I do enjoy a good picnic in a field of flowers!" Amy picked a flower and smelled it. She sighed happily from the amazing scent.
"Well, Kaira still is in some pretty bad shape. You could bring people who want to go on a picnic, but the people who don't will be staying here with me to monitor Kaira and guard the Blue Typhoon. Understood?" asked Tails to everyone.
"Yes, sir!" Runner replied.
They split up everyone into two groups. Amy, Pink, Rabby, Lily, Daisy, Sunny, Cosmo, Runner, and Apple were in the picnic group. Everyone else was left to stay at the Blue Typhoon. Everyone agreed, but Sonic wanted to go out on a run. Tails only agreed to this because he said that he had enough help already. Everyone then got busy.
"I got the food and drinks! Do you have the blankets Pink?" asked Amy. Pink got it out and lay it down on the ground.
"It is indeed a fine day isn't it? Where the sun is high and there're no worries. If only every day were like this. Wouldn't that be amazing?" asked Daisy.
"I wish, but I know that the metarex and metaltrons are still out there and we need to stop them. They destroyed my clan, and I may have stopped them once but I need to again! I only wonder who the leader is and where the leader is right now…," Cosmo mumbled.
Meanwhile…,
"THIS IS DR. EGGMAN'S SHIP?! COOOOOL! Isn't he a scientist with a really high IQ and is really good at making robots?" asked Zaira curiously.
"Indeed. I don't know if his IQ is really that high, however. He fails every time he makes a plan," Rouge told her. Zaira nodded.
"Hey Rouge, I think that someone stole the chaos emerald," Shadow said with his arms crossed.
"Someone did? How would that be possible?" asked Rouge.
"I think that she took it," Shadow said glaring at Zaira. She flinched away from his eyes that were cold and unforgiving.
"How do you know?" asked Rouge. Zaira could tell that she was sticking up for her. They made an agreement to be friends but to also be enemies. That meant they would fight each other and stick with each other through thick and thin. An odd combination but it worked.
"The fact that she swiped it from me the first minute we met. I'll never forget that greedy look. Her eyes were like bottomless pits and begged me for it!" snapped Shadow.
"What else did you see?" asked Zaira.
"I don't think that I'll tell you!" he retorted.
"Okay, what do you see now?" Zaira really wanted to hear his answer. Would he feel different? Would he get a sense of fear from her? Would he see nothing in her? The suspense nearly killed her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could she Rouge mouth the words: The plan! Don't reveal too much! He can't be allowed to see your remorse!
Shadow studied her. She did seem different, but in what way? Was he feeling a force? Deep in her eyes, if he really looked, he'd see a hint of sadness, but he just assumed he imagined it. Confused? Love? Anger? Suddenly it hit him. Envy. He could see envy in her eyes. Why would she envy him if she had the chaos emerald, or was it something else? He couldn't precisely put his finger on it.
"Envy," he replied quietly.
"Why?" asked Zaira.
In his mind, thoughts were whirling around. He was confused. What happened to the annoying Zaira? When did she start giving me that bold look? Is there a part of her I didn't know about?
"Do you envy the emerald or my power?" asked Shadow.
Zaira didn't reply. She only gave him the cold shoulder. If Shadow didn't know better, he would have reached for her, but it was probably a trick he realized. He restrained himself.
"What happened?!" asked Rouge who was thoroughly baffled.
"It seems as though I've made a mistake," Shadow admitted. he crossed his arms.
"About the chaos emeralds?" asked Rouge.
"No. Zaira."
That evening…
"Didn't Tails say that there were going to be shooting stars tonight?" asked Lily curiously. She glanced up at the orange and purple sky imagining what it would look like.
"Oh yeah! I forgot about that! He won't mind if we're a little bit late back to the Blue Typhoon I don't think! I mean really! What's more beautiful than watching a meteor shower in a field of flowers!" demanded Amy standing up and having a flashback of one that she saw three and a half years ago.
"Amy, don't you remember what Tails said?! He told us that the metarex or metaltrons might use the power from the shooting stars to their advantage! It could potentially put us in physical danger! It's not that I don't want to see them here, but it seems too risky! I don't want to get captured by them again!" Runner responded. He was having a flashback too. It was about being behind bars while being tortured. He gulped at the thought.
"Why would the metarex want a bunch of stupid rocks? In my opinion, they would only do such a thing to irritate us! Those things can't possibly have any 'magical powers' of any kind!" Amy retorted.
"I think that Runner has a point! What if they are? I don't even know how many they would send to get this power! I and Lily can't fight off an entire fleet!" Rabby pointed out.
"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK!" Amy snapped. She stormed off and left the rest of them.
"What a drama queen! Come on! If something does happen, we need to be together! Don't want Amy to be their new captive! Sonic would freak!" Runner announced to the group. Each of them scurried after Amy.
Apple looked up at the sky. He saw a green light fly by and it looked like it landed not too far from him. The others didn't seem to notice, so he ran off to find the meteorite. Within five minutes, he found it. It was a green gem that was the same color as his fur.
"That would pretty around my neck. I wonder if it could be turned into a necklace. Pink would love it! I think that it's meant to be mine," Apple whispered as he picked it up. He wasn't sure about why he was whispering. He just felt a force that made him think that he had to whisper. Did it have a special kind of power?
A few minutes later, it was a necklace and Apple wore it. He felt different when he put it on. More brave and courageous. To him, it felt amazing!
"Alright! I need to get back with the group!" Apple ran off for where they were and followed the trail of footsteps in the dirt and trampled grass. He soon caught up. Cosmo was trying to calm down Amy with Lily.
"Okay, we'll see the meteor shower! Whatever you do, don't hurt anybody! That's the last thing we need! As long as we're all together, we should be fine. You going to watch it here?" asked Cosmo.
Amy sighed. "You're right. I shouldn't have ran off, but you know how I get. Sure! I'll watch it right here, but only if you guys are here with me!" Amy smiled at them.
"Glad we got that settled! Now let's enjoy the show!" Runner replied sitting down on the grass. He fixed his eyes on the sky. Apple sat next to them.
"Hey! I think that it's starting! Look at that!" yelled Rabby.
"It's gorgeous! I could watch this for hours!" Daisy said gazing up at the flying lights in the night sky.
"WAIT?! WHAT'S THAT?!" cried Sunny.
"They're metarex! I knew that they would show up! Tails was right about the meteors having lots of power! It looks like it's trying to round them up!" exclaimed Rabby.
"Hang on! Meteors aren't usually that shiny! They don't glow in the dark either! Could it be?! Is the legend coming true?!" shouted Pink in amazement.
"The legend? Of course! Just because this story is fiction, that doesn't mean it always has to have a legend with it! This is so cliche!" Amy replies.
"We'll tell you about it later, but I think that we should do something rather than stand here talking about it," Daisy commented. She got into a battle position.
"She's right as usual. Everyone, prepare to attack!" shouted Runner. He shrank back when everyone glared at him. "What?"
"Who put you in charge? Honestly, Runner, I'd think that you would be a little bit more humble around these guys!" snapped Sunny.
"Oh, whatever! Fine! You all do what you want while I fight the metarex! See you later!" Runner snapped back as he charged the metarex from behind.
Suddenly, a darker blue blur rocketed past him and slammed into the metarex. It yelled in alarm. It was Sonic. He punched, kicked, and wrapped it up with a spin attack. The metarex sizzled on the ground and the emeralds it was going for flopped onto the ground. Runner was dumbfounded.
"How- Wai- Wha-?" was all Runner could say. He stood there with his mouth open. Sonic waved his finger the way he does when he's victorious. Runner was really mad at Sonic for that.
"You're too slow!" Sonic joked.
"You'll pay for that!" Runner finally said in response to Sonic hogging up his spotlight.
"That couldn't possibly have been the only one! If the metarex are after whatever these are, then there must be more than one!" exclaimed Sonic looking around.
"Hang on! The sky is clearing! I think that I see something!" yelled Runner. "Yes! It looks like- Oh snap…"
"What is it?" asked Sonic looking up at the sky.
The clouds cleared away and Sonic could see a large black and silver screen over the sky. At first Sonic wondered why someone would put a screen there, but once he looked closer, he could see that the screen was no screen. It was an entire metarex fleet that was rapidly approaching the planet. Blue Sycamore was leading them. Sonic shuddered. The last time he saw Blue Sycamore, he nearly died. The only thing that saved him was his massive rage. This was going to need more than rage and fighting skills to win.
"Quick! Get the emeralds and run to the underground tunnel! It's an abandoned metarex base, but it's the safest place we've got!" yelled Sonic.
"NO! We've got to go to the basement that only we know about at the bottom of Gold's basement!" yelled Runner in reply.
"He has a basement in a basement?!" demanded Sonic with disbelief.
"He's a wise hedgehog! Come on already!" snapped Runner angrily.
The group ran as fast as they could to the Blue Typhoon. The Blue Typhoon was invisible, but Sonic remembered how to get back and they climbed onto the ship with the emeralds. Tails had his hands full.
"The metarex are here! I knew there was something strange about those meteors! The metarex fleet is coming this way fast! They must be following the energy from the emeralds, The Blue Typhoon isn't going to stay invisible forever and the metarex will find us anyway! What do we do?!" yelled Tails.
"We're going to the basement in Gold's basement! It's the only place where we could be safe in a place like this!" yelled Sonic urgently.
"Why would Gold have a basement in his basement? Isn't that a little…,"
"I know. I said the same thing. Runner says not to question it, but now we need to get there! NOW!" shouted Sonic pushing Tails out of his chair.
"What about the Blue Typhoon?!" demanded Tails pulling Sonic's arm off of his.
"Which is more important?! Life or friends? Friends! Right! Let's go now!" Sonic yelled pulling on Tails's arm even harder and more stubbornly. The image of his last fight with Blue Sycamore flashed into his head. Sonic was petrified. He never again wanted to live through something like that. The curse that surged through his body sending pain off on a mission to eat away his life. He'd never felt anything like it.
"Sonic! Get a grip will you! What's wrong?" asked Tails curiously. He crossed his arms expecting for Sonic to answer with a logical explanation.
"I can't tell a lie… I fear Blue Sycamore… Ever since he got me with that cursed sword, I have been seeing him walking within my nightmares. The sword raised and ready to attack anyone who interferes with his plan. He kills everyone. While he does it, a red glow can be seen in his eye. The same one I saw during the battle. He would take over the universe, but would let me live. He'd only let me live to watch me suffer. The eternal suffering where no one may die. All they can do is remember how the past once was and how great your friends were, but nobody was going to save you. Nobody could because there was no being left alive," Sonic admitted with a shudder from the memory.
"Sonic… Do you suppose that that is what could happen in the future?! What would happen if we didn't save the day?! Sonic, your dream might have been an omen. A sign of what they would do if they gained control. They would kill us all, but let you live just to put you through an eternal torture because of what you did to them. Sonic, we need to get to that basement! You're right. We need to move and fast!" yelled Tails.
Tails ran off with Sonic and announced over the ship's speaker that everyone must report to Gold's basement's basement. Everyone scrambled out the door and bolted as fast as possible to Gold's house. It was rather hard to miss actually. His house was a giant castle and it stretched up to the stars as if it were hoping it could touch the heavens. Sonic's gang stared in wonderment.
"That's your house?! It's so fancy that a queen could live here!" Vector exclaimed.
"A queen does live here. At least, one did…" Gold stared at the ground remembering the wise, powerful, beautiful queen. Rainbowta was the greatest queen who could ever rule a planet.
"Flashback later! Run inside now!" cried Tails.
They nodded in agreement. Gold swiftly led them to the house, but Blue Sycamore dropped out of the sky in front of them. They all jumped back in shock.
Sonic's blood froze. The moonlight reflected his metal armor, and he looked majestically upon them. The blue hedgehog had to shrink away. The leader eyed him with amusement.
"Greetings. I see that you have run out of road. You either face me or them. Please, give me the emeralds. If you don't give them to me, I shall be forced to kill those who go against me. What do you say to that hedgehog? How are you still alive?" asked Blue Sycamore.
"Kaira removed it and now she is in danger all because of you!" Tails snapped back at the leader boldly.
"Kaira? Why, that's the best news I've heard yet! I'd much rather battle Sonic the coward. Kaira was an annoying brat! What about the emeralds? Will you hand them over willingly?" The leader stuck his hand out, but nobody moved. He retracted his hand.
"Is that how you respond? I shall give you one last chance to give me what I want, but you will be my prisoners," Blue Sycamore told them seriously.
"We'll never give you the emeralds!" yelled Pink defiantly.
"How sad… I thought that you were the ones with intelligence. Seems as if Sonic is the smartest one here. Cowering in a corner is he, but you all give me those eyes. The eyes that scream to me that you will go through even the worst of my tortures just to save the universe from me. You all resist, so I will have no choice but to obliterate you. What do you say?" asked Blue Sycamore.
"I don't care what you do to us, but we wouldn't give you the emeralds if you were the only one left in the world! We don't know what they are, but we know that they're important!" Cream retorted angrily.
"CHAO!" Cheese agreed.
"Oh my! A bunny rabbit and a flying pipsqueak is threatening me! Why would you do such a thing to one such as me! I too can't tell a lie, but if I could, I would tell you that I was shaking in my boots!" snapped Blue Sycamore.
"Hey! That's not nice!" cried Cream.
"Too bad! Metarex, destroy them all!" commanded the leader and all of them charged at the helpless gang.
"Nice knowing you…," Jack mumbled.
"Help me! Help me! Not safe you see! As far as the eye can see! Metarex are all around, but we are now the ones who'll be smashed to the ground," rhymed B.T and R.T.
"Time to finish you…," a metarex told them and a few others laughed like one who enjoyed beatings brought upon others would. They raised their weapons ready to attack.
"NO! Color emerald! Grant me your true potential to save us all!" shouted Lily holding up a purple stone. It began to glow in her hand! Her entire body seemed to change and Cosmo had to gasp. She could wield the power of the gem. Not only was it just that, but she wasn't quite hedgehog anymore. Now she was a plant like Cosmo.
"How do you control the power of anything that is a producer? Well, you call upon me!" snapped Lily as she used the plants to wrap the metarex up. They couldn't move. She waved her hand towards the building. They nodded and ran.
Once inside the basement's basement, Sonic looked at Gold and knew that he knew something about all of this.
"Alright Gold, what's going on here? I know that you know, but what are you hiding?" demanded Sonic pointing his finger at Gold.
Gold looked at the ground for a moment. He looked back up at them after a few seconds and sighed. "You deserve to know the truth. There's a prophecy. It's about these gems. It refers to them as 'color emeralds'," Gold replied.
"Could you tell it to us?" asked Amy leaning in close.
"Very well. It goes like this.
'When the danger of sixty years arises, the gems indeed shall too.
When the hero of wind and spirit comes, they will sense his feelings are true.
He and his friends shall face the one whom powers are starting to overcome.
Never will there be a greater night when the darkness falls to let in the light.
However, the words from our tongues may not be so.
All good may be lost to her powers it's shown.
When the color emeralds learn of such defeat, they'll lose their glow and will be beat.
Unless if the hero of wind prevails, the darkness will rule 'till the end of the tale
of life itself that we cherish so.
We may never see it for all we know.
The fourteen emeralds along with the gems of power great,
may save the worlds from such a fate.
This fight could go either way, but only the hero of wind will decide who wins on that day.'"
There was a long silence and all eyes turned to Sonic. He shook his head trying to take it all in, but he knew it was true. Nobody could tell a lie, so he was stuck facing the truth of Gold's words. How long will it take until the final confrontation with the one who has powers that are overcoming something? He wasn't sure what. Himself? Eggman? My couch? He thought about why prophecies had to be not so straightforward.
"What do we do now?" asked Sonic.
"We wait for Lily. If she is not to come, the darkness will rule until the end of the tale of life…,"