Chapter 5: Where Angels Tread (Part Two)

Knuckles the gullible echidna. How many times was he tricked by the villain Dr. Eggman? Certainly often enough for his name to become synonymous with habitual dim-wittedness. The Angel Echidnas would never admit any of the failings of their predecessor, however, since Knuckles has been the subject of some rather misguided hero worship on Angel Island ever since his death. Nevertheless, as stubborn to admit the gullibility of their hero as they are, the Angel Echidnas have still learned from it. If I did not have my knowledge of history at my disposal, I suspect I would not have been able to convince Chief Ernak the Echidna that I could be trusted. Aheeheehee. If the Chief's second in command had not been so well informed of current events around the world through television, I suspect even my knowledge would not have saved me.

It cost me two hours of valuable time, but by the end of it, I'd succeeded in getting the echidnas to send out patrols to hunt down and kill my enemies. Unfortunately, managing to convince the Chief to allow me access to the Master Emerald shrine would be far more taxing. I fear I shall have to simply sit and wait until the Chaos Anomaly occurs. In the pandemonium surrounding the event, I should be able to make my way to the shrine before the window of opportunity closes.

(Note to self: Find a spot out in the open before 6:30 PM. The satellite photographs taken after the disaster showed numerous destroyed buildings. High risk of injury indoors or too close to the walls.)

Doctor Trevor K. Pretorious.

-

The lake situated beneath Red Mountain was formed by water flowing from Angel Island's famous glacier. Twin rivers ran from the lake towards the South edge of the floating island, where it flowed as a massive waterfall past the jungle border until it met the outmost edge of the island itself and cascaded down to the ocean below.

Silver wasn't aware that the thick jungle he was making his way through had been burnt down just over a hundred years earlier. Fact of the matter was that the presence of the Master Emerald did more than just keep the island afloat. Few places on Earth were as vibrant with life. Right now Silver could've settled for a lot less vegetation, as the undergrowth he had to force his way through was so thick he could barely see a meter ahead of him.

Unaware that he was walking along the same path Sonic had when he first arrived on Angel Island, Silver found himself standing at the bottom of a gigantic waterfall. He'd always wondered where the expression "sparkling waterfall" came from, and now he knew. Neat. The rock platforms that Sonic had used to scale the cliff were gone now. The new generation of echidnas had absolutely no intention of giving opportunities to potential intruders. If you couldn't climb bare rock as easily and naturally as an echidna, then you weren't supposed to be here.

Near the pool of water at the base of the waterfall, a familiar teal symbol appeared and started to glow. It was the same symbol that could be seen on Silver's gloves, and it meant that the tiny computer in the left glove of the hedgehog from the future had calculated the best point to attempt one of his most useful tricks. Moments later, a series of large boulders erupted from the bottom of the pool and levitated up into the air, one after the other, with just enough increased height between each to form a set of stairs. Silver jumped to the first step, and continued upwards. It didn't matter that there weren't enough steps to reach the top. All Silver had to do was take the bottom step and move it to the top. As long as he repeated that action, he'd never run out of stairs. All of this took a great toll on his mental stamina, but Silver was certain he'd make it. He'd practiced his powers for enough years now to learn his limitations, so although this was the highest climb he'd attempted yet, he was sure he could push himself just that tiny bit further and make it fine.

When a metal spear suddenly shot out from a weapon situated behind the falling water and missed Silver by inches, things got a bit more complicated.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, as he quickly dropped the boulders apart from the one he was standing on in order to grab the next spear before it impaled him.

The top was so close now. He'd have to chance it.

Silver let his levitation carry him straight up while at the same time diverting enough power to catch and throw aside the metal spears that kept being shot at him. It was such a strain that he almost felt like his head was going to explode before he reached safe ground.

Finally, Silver couldn't hang on any longer. His levitation power faded, and he dropped like a rock. Fortunately, he'd just barely made it over the top, and landed on a polished rock at the edge of where the river ran straight down.

Exhausted, Silver took a few steps forward on the wet ground, then put his weight where there was nothing but thin branches and leaves to support it. The hedgehog harnessed the very last drop of psycho-kinetic power to throw himself aside before he fell into the pit lined with sharp spikes.

Yes, DEFINITELY Angel Island, because everyone knew that Angel Echidnas were paranoid beyond all reason when it came to their homeland.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" he exclaimed to the unfair world as a whole, when less than a minute after the last near-death incident, he heard rapid movement coming from the nearby jungle vegetation.

-

The red Chaos Emerald glittered in the sunlight. The Emerald was floating gently through space just barely within the escape velocity of Earth. How it wound up there was anyone's guess. Maybe some renegade scientists were studying the Emerald onboard an orbiting station, and then somehow lost it out of an open airlock - or perhaps it had simply reformed here after the last time all seven Emeralds were brought together and harnessed. Whatever the reason, it was going to play an integral part in an unprecedented disaster on Angel Island.

If Pia had known what date and time she and Silver had arrived at, she would've told him to forget about trying to avoid notice and just focus on finding Pretorious and getting the heck off the island as quickly as possible.

In fact, the time travelling agent, may yet get her Jumpsuit operational in time...

"January thirty-second?" Pia read aloud. "Give me a break."

Maybe not.

-

Dr. Pretorious lay on a flat chair with his coat off and his hat pushed down over his eyes, relaxing in the beautiful weather. Once in a while he reached into his vest and pulled out an old-fashioned pocket watch. Modifying the little gadget to auto-adjust to timezones across history had been a fun distraction, because for all that Nega's time machine could do, it remained a lousy means to tell time.

"Like waiting for a kettle to boil," he said to himself. "Or maybe a child during the night before Christmas. Anticipation always stretches out the hours. sigh"

Should he get back to his notes? No, nothing worth writing down just yet. After the disaster, there'd be plenty of data to collect, but for now there was nothing. The fantastic properties of Angel Island had already been recorded in too many scientific journals to count. No, the next pages of his journal should be reserved wholly for the Chaos Anomaly. Hmmm. In the meantime, he should think up a better name for the event.

-

"Um...hey! Look, I can explain everything!" Silver said to the angry-looking Angel Echidnas closing in on him.

Actually, he couldn't explain anything. Didn't matter, because the guards weren't in any mood to listen. The hedgehog would've put up a much better fight if he hadn't been so tired out already, but it probably still wouldn't have been enough against these guys. Even trying to run wouldn't have worked. They were too cunning when it came to the hunt. While Silver's attention had been focused on the sound coming from the trees, three other echidnas had glided in silently and dropped down around him, blocking off any possibility of escape.

Some help he was. Just three hours or so since Pia sent him to intercept the time-travelling villain, and he'd already failed on every count. Forget trying to avoid changing history - right now Silver was mainly concerned with getting out of this mess alive. At least the echidna guards merely tied him up instead of killing him on the spot. They probably weren't leading him anywhere good, though.

-

In the next chapter:
- Dr. Pretorious reveals his intentions in this time period as the Chaos Anomaly begins.
- Destruction and pandemonium breaks out all over the place.
- Silver has zero likelihood of defeating the villain this early in the story, but good luck to him.