Red One1223: Although, I do believe I wrote that Sonic got the Emerald back.
Faermage-KH Junkie: Ohh, it was exiting, but err, I think he got it back...
The Conflicted Writer: Thanks, I think the possession was one of my more smarter ideas.
Northern_Megas: Oops... I meant to write two, anyway I changed it so no harm right? Yes, after this chapter I will do my best to stop making the chapters rushed.
Chapter 17: Chaos and Gaia.
I stared back at the three in silence… I wasn't going to be the first to talk.
The green cloaked man spoke.
"What do you know about the seven guardians?"
I shook my head. "Nothing, except that that you guard your god till he awakens, and that you make soldiers to try to put peace into the world."
"That's all?" The red cloaked man asked in surprise.
I nodded and both of them sighed.
"There is more." the green cloaked man said, pulling me to my feet. "I am surprised Tikal never filled you in. We will show you."
He held up his hand and a bright green light glowed, covering all of us. When the light ended, I looked around. We were back in the village.
"You guys have to teach me how you do that," I grinned, but they didn't respond.
The three of them walked ahead of me as the green cloaked man spoke, "Once he went into the sleep we were placed in charge of another duty. That duty was to find a young boy or girl whose blood was already blessed with the power of the emeralds. Once we do, we must teach the boy or girl how to fight, use their powers, and how to use an even greater power."
I didn't speak, wondering what he meant by all this. I was afraid to find out more.
He kept on going, "About 80 years ago, we found a boy about your age. His parents were killed in a bombing on a harbor."
Harbor? Could it have been Pearl Harbor? I really need to get my history right.
"This boy was also in the bombing, but he survived it. He was right where the bombs hit, and he survived. We watched him for awhile till he started showing more signs. By then, our god fell into his sleep and our people were out of control… they needed hope. They needed him."
"That boy?" I finally asked.
The red cloaked man explained now, "Yes that boy. We brought him here, and the people looked up to him as a leader; someone who could save the world. So we trained him."
He waved his hand and another light appeared, covering them.
When it cleared, it seemed we were still in the same place but there were six people who looked like the guardians sitting down, waiting for someone.
"Don't speak," the green cloaked man said, "we are only viewing a memory."
I nodded and watched, then my eyes widened. A boy, who looked about my age, came running down the dirt path. But he didn't just look my age… he looked just like me! Okay, maybe cut my hair shorter and give me some really old clothes, but still! It was like looking in a mirror.
"Sorry I'm late," he sighed, sitting next to the six guardians, "has she come yet?"
His question was answered when a young woman in a blue cloak walked up. When I got a good look at her face I froze.
"Tikal…?" I asked myself, watching the memory.
The boy stood up, rubbed the back of his head and then said, "Hey, Tikal."
"What!?" I yelled out in surprise, looking at the Tikal who was right next to me. "Please tell me that's not you!"
She didn't respond. I shook my head at the thought, and stared back at the memory.
"Hello, Andrew," she said, looking down with a small smile on her face.
The silver cloaked man stepped up to Andrew, "It is time we start your training."
The boy looked at his elder," Right I'm ready."
The sliver cloaked man slipped a silver emerald out of his pocket and put it into his opposite hand.
"Every other emerald you have used does not have the same intense power as this one. I'd be surprised if you could use it."
Andrew smiled, flipping the emerald into the air, "It'll be easy."
"Follow me then," the man said turning and leading the way to the forest that surrounded the village.
I turned to the real red cloak man, "Who... who is he?"
"He was our hero," he answered, then the green man shook his head.
"Let me show you another memory."
He waved his hand again the light covered us again, then when it was over I looked around. Everything appeared to be in ruins. The sky was dark, building were in wreck, people lay dead everywhere.
"Where are we?" I asked, then seeing a flag attach to a building. I gasped.
It was red with a white almost star in the middle circled by a small ring. I recognized this as the Nazi flag.
"We are in a city up in the mountains," the green cloaked man explained, "it is called Stalingrad."
"Stalingrad... that's not even in America," I said to myself before hearing voices. "Someone's coming." I hissed.
I ducked behind some rubber, though everyone else stood their ground. I'd forgotten it was a memory.
The noise was coming from a bunch of Germans who seemed to be chasing someone. The person ran into a house, and the men stopped and drew their guns. They started to shoot into the house. They stopped thinking. Shooting until they figured nobody could be alive, they turned to leave. Then, something fast burst out of the house hitting both men, then flipped into the air, a bright light around it. It landed and the light ended. It was that boy.
"I thought we were going to try to get in here without causing an uproar." A voice came as Tikal stepped out from the shadows.
"Sorry, Tikal," he apologized, "I just couldn't stand watching them execute that man,"
"It's fine. We have to get going they're waiting for us," she answered, leading him down the burnt streets.
Everything looked awful, from the buildings to the air and the blood staining the streets red. If I had been able to smell or feel anything in this memory I was sure I would throw up from the stench. The two entered a building that seemed to be in good shape other then some few holes.
There, waiting in the house, were the other six guardians. The green one noticed the pair come in.
"About time." He shook his head, walking to the back door. "We don't have much more time left."
The others nodded, exiting the door. We were right behind them.
"What are they doing?" I asked, keeping my eyes on the shooter squad that was across the street.
"Everything couple billion years a great power tries to awake. Another power then puts it to sleep. But the problem is, it's being awoken before its time." Tikal explained as the group made its way to a heavily guarded town square.
The group ducked behind a heap of destroyed rubble and watched everyone in the square. I guessed they were looking for a way inside.
"What are they waiting for?" I asked counting more than ten openings.
"You'll see," Tikal answered.
I looked back at the guards and noticed something. They were guarding a man. A man who was setting up a devices that didn't look of the time.
I couldn't understand what they were saying, but I didn't care... well, not really. Okay, I did a bit, but it was no use since I couldn't understand them anyways.
I looked back to the group of the guardians, and saw the silver man slipped out a communicator.
"Commence the attack," he said.
A minute later, bullets ranged down on the Germans, a yell coming from around them as soldiers in black armor came running down.
The guardians stood up, changing their forms, then rush at the enemies, finishing them off easily.
The past Tikal grabbed the arm of Andrew, "Andrew, stop that weapon!"
He nodded, jumping out of cover and running to the weapon as bullets shot around him.
He slid down next to the weapon and ran his hands threw his hair. He paused, then started to take apart the weapon, snapping certain wires as the soldiers cleared up their enemies.
After a minute, the soldiers gathered around the boy and I got a look at three white letters printed on their armor: G.U.N.
I gasped, looking at the soldiers. But what happened next made me gasp… again.
"I can't stop it!" Andrew yelled as the ground beneath him started to crack. Everyone fell to the ground as a large creature started to come out.
"Oh god, it's Dark Gaia!" Andrew yelled as the monster rose above them.
It was large with black spikes from its back. It had two claws, and its body was snake-like. The seven guardians got up while Tikal pulled Andrew to his feet.
"Andrew, get out of here!" she yelled as the other six tried to fight it.
Dark Gaia swung its fist hitting the Green Dragon back into the building, then swung its tale, sweeping away the G.U.N. soldiers.
"No, Tikal! I can do this!" He broke away from her, closing his eyes and started to glow bright yellow. Suddenly, the seven emeralds started to fly around him, going faster and faster.
"No!" Tikal yelled in horror as Andrew let out a bloody scream causing everyone to look in his direction.
Then, I was shocked to see when his scream turned into a crackling laugh, "Ahhhhh- Hahahahaha!"
The light ended, and standing there was Andrew. But something was wrong. He was glowing with darkness, and his eyes had taken on a shape of a cat's, while his teeth had sharpened almost to razors. In his hand was a lance of sorts, though misshaped.
He laughed, looking at Dark Gaia. "You think just because you're big you have the upper hand? Well, you're wrong!"
He jumped out to Dark Gaia, swing his lance and hitting it straight through a building. He landed on his feet and, with his other hand, charged a ball that glowed with the colors of the Emeralds. He then threw it right at Dark Gaia.
Dark Gaia charged its own ball, firing it back. It slammed into Andrew's ball, and a massive wave of energy forced both back.
Andrew was on his knees, still laughing despite his wounds. He stood up using his lance to hold him. They both started to charge their balls again, but this time Andrew combined it with his lance, making it long and thin: a super charge spear.
"This is the ultimate power!" Dark Gaia charged a ball the size of a skyscraper, and shot it.
Everyone threw up their hands in defense, except Andrew, who still wore his evil smile. The two weapons collided, and I prepared to hear bloody screams. After that, what I saw was amazing. The small spear forced its way through the giant ball and straight into Dark Gaia, sending him flying to the ground.
Andrew stepped up to Dark Gaia, who was fading away.
"If I'd known you would be that easy, I would have waited for you to become full," he said as Dark Gaia faded to small little orbs that flew into the sky.
The seven guardians couldn't help but stare at the boy who had saved them. He turned to them, taking a step forward. The darkness parted from him, entering the Emeralds. He fell to the floor.
They ran to him, though the power had left his body shimmering all the colors.
I may have forgotten that I was in the memory, but I also ran over to see if he was okay.
"What was that!?" I yelled out, turning to the real Tikal.
She looked down to the floor.
"He used all seven of the emeralds, but he didn't use them right…"
"What?" I stuttered, "What do you mean by that?"
"When he used the power," she explained, "he used the chaos in the emeralds, and his rage tainted the emeralds. So the transformation backfired. It was like injecting poison into your body."
"So he killed himself!?" I asked standing up.
"No, he did a lot worse," she motioned back down to his body.
It started to change form, his once normal blue eyes turning bright yellow. His body melted down to a blue puddle.
"Andrew?" The silver guardian asked, taking a step back.
The puddle then changed form into what I recognized as the creature which had taken over Miles and Albert.
"It's that thing!" I exclaimed, also taking a step back.
It walked over, throwing two of the guardians aside. It then picked up all seven emeralds, and was clearly about to do something with them when the green cloaked man stopped the memory.
"This is enough for you to get the point," he said as everything went white again, putting us back to my living room.
It took a minute to get used to my surroundings, then I finally asked.
"So, what happened next?"
"He used the seven emeralds to mutate himself into a much stronger beast." Tikal explained. "It took all of us to seal him away…"
"But he was your friend, why didn't you try to help him?" I asked, feeling a small bit of rage inside me.
The red cloaked man stepped up, grabbing me by my shirt collar and slamming me to the wall, "We tried! He didn't remember anything. He was killing everyone he saw. So don't say we didn't try!"
I didn't respond, and he let me go, stepping behind the other two.
"Another thing…" I added, "why does that boy look like me?" that was something which had been bothering me since I'd fist seen him, so I thought I might have well ask.
"He's not related to you in anyway," the green cloaked man answered, "the only thing about you two is that you both have the same duty."
I waved my hand. "I know, I know, help end the chaos."
I rolled my eyes at the thought.
"No, you both were born with the power, you will lead this world into a new era." Tikal smiled and my eyes widened.
Makes sense… I don't remember ever getting in contact with the emeralds.
"So I was picked out just like Andrew?" I asked, trying to get as much info out as possible. "What makes me so special other then the fact that I was born with the powers?"
"You, unlike most people, can use the power of the emeralds. You have already used one of them," I then remember back to when I used the blue emerald but then Tikal stopped herself,
"But…"
"But what?" I asked.
"But you were not the one we've been looking for. You were a replacement."
"A replacement?"
"Yes, Sonic. We wanted your brother," she answered and thoughts rushed into my head.
"I see…" Those were the only words that I could speak; my mind was so full of thoughts.
I guess it was because of my silence that Tikal asked me something.
"Sonic, are you okay?"
I looked at her and put on a weak smile.
"I'm fine… You know, finding out that I'm meant for something greater, and that I was a replacement for my long dead brother happens to everyone."
She paused at my response then changed the subject.
"Now that you know how powerful the emeralds are, I say we should start looking for them. After all, now that Andrew knows we are with you, he will also be looking for the emeralds."
I looked up at her and nodded, "I agree…"
"Why don't you go back to Miles' house, and we'll get started there," she said as I put on my backpack and started to walk to the door.
I stopped and turned to them, "Hey, how did Andrew break free from the seal?"
She sighed, "G.U.N. They went against the treaty and rampaged through our shrines, opened the seal, and took him."
I nodded turning to the door.
Thoughts filled my head. I wanted to get this over with, but I also wanted something more: I wanted another shot at Andrew. I wasn't prepared the last time, but next time I would be.
Okay, that took a long time for me to finish. Sorry about that.