"Where is this place?" Blaze asked, looking around mysteriously.
"Eggman's Base," Shadow replied. "He's as sure as hell gonna see us the speed you're going!"
Blaze ignored this remark. "Just where exactly are we going?" she asked.
"It's not important," Shadow growled. "Come on, before they spot us."
The three darted down the passage, and they came to a large metal hall.
"I don't remember Eggman's base like this," Blaze said.
Shadow ignored her. He looked around warily. "Wait a second. Where the hell are we? This isn't Eggman's base," he said.
He fiddled around with a few buttons on the wall next to him made of polished metal. The door opened sideways at once.
He looked around, and shouted, "Damn Second Chaos Emerald!"
"What did it do?" Blaze asked. "Did it - ?"
"Neither," Shadow said.
"I was gonna say," Blaze said, to be interrupted by the ebony hedgehog.
"I know what you're gonna say. And you're wrong," he said.
"Then what?" the lilac cat questioned.
"Damn emerald sent us forward in time instead of backward," Shadow replied.
"What - how far?" Blaze asked, a little horrified at this remark.
"Fifty years," Shadow said.
"What have you done now?" Blaze asked. "I knew you weren't too be trusted. Hey - if you can travel forward time, then surely you can travel backwards, right?"
"No, I can't," Shadow said. "And don't ask if I can create the universe either. Well, not without the stone, of course."
"What stone?" Blaze asked, in dismay.
"The Flame-stone," Shadow replied.
"The Flame-stone? What do you need it for?" Blaze asked.
"To travel back a hundred years, of course," Shadow explained. "I didn't need the damn thing, until we were whipped over here. It's too far in the future for a Chaos Emerald to travel back alone."
"Hey, but we were looking for it! This whole time before we landed in the middle of nowhere, no thanks to you!" Blaze cried out, aggressively.
"You have the stone? Where is it?" Shadow asked.
"We haven't got it yet," Silver said. "But it doesn't mean we're not looking!"
"Don't touch it," Shadow said. "I need it more than you do."
"Who says?" Blaze asked. "Ah - forget it. But are we gonna do now?"
"Come on, let's just look for it already. Coming, Blaze?" Silver said.
Blaze didn't say anything. She ran ahead, to be followed by Shadow and Silver.
XXX
"That's it, sugar, spice and all things nice. No, that can't be right."
The quivery voice of the speaker obviously belonged to an old man. He was a short, rather thin old man, who had a fierce wrinkled face, and a fiercer look about him. He reached out a bony arm to the shelf next to him, and pulled out a ruined book ripe with age. "Ah! That's it. Snips and snails and puppy dogs tails. I should have known."
From the same shelf, he carefully picked up two small china bowls, with dust inside. One had purple dust and the other was a slimy colour. The wizard emptied the contents of the two bowls into a large cauldron which he was constantly spinning every second.
"And now, me! The Great ME, at last, shall conquer the world," he cried out. His maniacal, evil laughter echoed around the webby corners of the deep dark room.
"Todd," Blaze whispered. "That man is Todd!"
"Todd?" Silver asked. He tried to recall where he had heard that name before. Was it in his dreams? The dream where everything went wrong and dramatic? He shook his head clear of all the memories. But anyhow, he definately heard of Todd, even though he had never seen, heard or known him before.
"I thought he was dead," he whispered back. "And anyway, Todd was never like this. He was a tall FAT man, remember?"
"Well it IS fifty years later. And anyway, I've never actually seen Todd before, though I've heard tales of him," Blaze replied. "And I doubt you have, either."
"But he was there! I'm not sure if it was a dream or not, but I just somehow - know him," Silver argued.
"Shhh! Not so loud," Blaze reminded him. She stretched out from the cupboard they hid behind, and saw Todd chant a mysterious poem, in a different language. Three bright flames as green as grass shot out of the big black cauldron. The whole room reflected on the mysterious magical force around the wizard and his cauldron.
"Do you think we should go out there?" Silver asked. "He might just have the Flame Stone."
"Chances a million to one," Blaze said. "Let's split up. Silver, you search upstairs. Shadow, search downstairs. I'll keep an eye on Todd."
The two hedgehogs went their way after that. Blaze focused her eyes on what the old wizard was doing.
XXX
When Silver had finally finished searching upstairs, he went down and reported the news to Blaze. "Well, there were a good many ingredients for potions, but nothing here. At ALL." he said.
"And what about you, Shadow?" Blaze asked. She turned around to look at where Shadow was standing for the past thirty minutes. "Shadow?" she asked, startled he was gone.
"Shadow!"
"Silver, you check on him."
Silver nodded and went downstairs at once.
XXX
"Stealing what now?"
"The Flame-Stone. A tall transparent stone containing the flame of the High King. Give it to me, and I'll pay you well."
"I'm on it. Where do you find this Flame-Stone?"
"I don't know. But something tells me the baby's in this mansion."
Silver strained his ears to hear what the voices said. One sounded strangely familiar, while the other was a total stranger's to him.
He followed the sound of the voices, as he crept down the staircase.
"Good, I understand. Leave it me, old friend. I'll do just what you tell me to."
When he came to one of the oldest bedrooms, he heard the voices clearer. He saw Shadow, talking to a mysterious black figure wrapped in a black cloak.
"Do what you do best, and I'll pay you handsomely."
"I hear footsteps. Bye, Shadow, I'll return with the Flame-Stone or I'll won't return at all."
The black figure steathily crept out of the room at once.
Silver casually walked into the room, whistling an innocent tune, as if he were innocent, as if he didn't hear anything at all. "Hey Shadow! What's up? What's taking you so long?" he asked.
Shadow didn't answer. "Let's go. I have a feeling it's in this mansion." He ran off to join Blaze.
Silver didn't leave so quickly. He pondered on what he had just heard. Was Shadow bargaining with that thing? Or not? After a while, he forgot about his suspects and returned to Blaze.
XXX
"So - any news?" Blaze asked, when Silver and Shadow finally returned.
"Nope, not one thing to report," Silver lied. He didn't want to mention what he had heard. Maybe - maybe it was just him overreacting.
"And you?" Blaze asked, turning to Shadow.
He didn't answer. He didn't say a thing about the black figure. He just folded his arms and stared at Todd. "What about you?" he gruffed.
"None so far," Blaze replied. She focused her eyes on the cauldron once more. "Well, he's looking for a particular ingredient, but he can't find it."
The old wizard groped around, under books and in cupboards, to find the item. The very SPECIAL item. "Where is it? Where is it? Oh, Todd, you old fool, here it is."
Silver, Blaze and Shadow gaped in awe as he whipped out from a chest - the FlameStone.
To Be Continued...