"Come on, Vector! Please!" Charmy begged his reptilian friend. Vector was attempting to organize some investigation papers in the Chaotix detective agency office while Charmy continued to buzz around the room and irritate him greatly.
"No means no, Charmy!" Vector exclaimed. Charmy always seemed to be bent on owning a different commercial item for the agency every week and would do anything to get it. This week 's fascination was an electric can opener.
"But they're on sale! Don't you know a good deal when you see one?" Charmy protested.
Ya gotta admire his determination, Vector thought. However, Charmy's constant bellyaching always got him nowhere when it came to Vector's management and financial decisions.
"If ya want it that bad, just go out and get it yourself," Vector suggested.
"But I don't have any money!" Charmy whined. "You pay me on commission and in case you haven't noticed, we haven't had a case in weeks!"
Vector chuckled. Although Charmy wasn't exactly a little kid anymore, he still acted like one when he didn't get his way which tended to be quite often. Still, his words did make Vector a little uneasy. The Chaotix would often help Knuckles if Angel Island was in trouble or if something had happened to the master emerald. But, since the master emerald was currently not in Knuckles' care, any chance for that sort of mission was out the window. And since there had been no assignments for detective work recently, Espio had kept himself somewhat occupied by training with Knuckles. As for himself and Charmy, things had become rather boring.
"Hey Charmy, I'm gonna go run some of these papers through the mail," Vector announced. "Back in a bit."
"Fine…why do things have to be so dull around here?" Charmy sulked as he began to buzz upstairs to his room. As Vector moved toward the door, it suddenly flew open with Espio and Knuckles rushing inside. Both looked slightly bruised and were panting heavily. Charmy turned around from the stairs and looked at them wide-eyed. Vector just stared at them with a blank expression.
"What the hell happened to you two?" he asked. "You both look like fought each other tooth and nail to see who could get here first." Knuckles was the first to speak.
"Something…happened at the arena," Knuckles said between breaths. "Something like I've never seen before. And you know I've seen a lot."
"What happened?" Charmy asked eagerly. Knuckles explained about how Rouge found them in the arena, and then the appearance of the sphere.
"Ok wait, you're telling me that the entire roof of the arena has been completely blown off?" Vector half yelled. "Do you know how much money I put into that?"
"There's more," Knuckles continued. "Espio and I managed to avoid the sphere's pull, but Rouge was sucked in."
"Well isn't that good for you?" Charmy asked. "Think of it this way: You'll never have to worry about her stealing from you again!" Both Knuckles and Espio glared at him.
"I think you just feel guilty because you're the one that sent her to the arena in the first place," Espio said. Charmy's expression saddened and he looked to the floor.
"Yeah...I guess you're right," he muttered.
"We need to do something," Espio went on. "Right after Rouge disappeared I saw something…I think whatever is going on here, Eggman is involved. His symbol was in the sphere." Vector's eyed widened at this.
"You're sure you saw it?" he asked. "Espio, if he had anything to do with this then Rouge could be in serious trouble."
"Which is why we can't waste any more time," Knuckles declared. "You and Charmy didn't see this thing, Vector. I have a strong feeling that it was targeting us, which is why I'm not surprised at the idea of Eggman being behind it. Whatever he may be planning, I'm going to stop it."
"We're all with ya, Knux," Vector said in support. "But how can we find out what happened to Rouge or where she went?" Knuckles' turned in the direction of the former site of the master emerald.
"We'll have to visit the Elders," he stated.
According to Knuckles, he could make contact with the Elders by entering the illusion field they had placed where the master emerald had once been. Climbing up the weathered stone steps and to the shrine, Espio immediately sensed something different about the shrine since the last time he was there. It was as if the shrine had been elongated, and somehow the master emerald seemed bigger. He also noticed that the close he got to the supposed emerald, the further it stretched away from him.
"Wait here," Knuckles told the other three. "I'm the only one they'll allow to enter." He walked forward and few steps, and then disappeared through what seemed to be an invisible veil. Espio, Vector, and, surprisingly even Charmy, all waited in silence for a few minutes. Knuckles suddenly appeared again through the veil. "Follow me," he said. "They've allowed me to bring you before them."
The Chaotix members complied without question. As Espio walked through the veil, he felt a slight surge through his body, and he found himself in the middle of the emerald shrine. However, the shrine looked…newer. We're in the past, he thought. Or a memory of it, anyway. Looking around, he saw several more primitive-looking echidnas surrounding them. The Elders.
"Why have you come here, Knuckles?" a large echidna demanded in a booming voice. "And why have you brought these…others," he finished in an icy tone.
"I've come here to discuss the chaos control felt by all of you earlier," Knuckles replied, somewhat nervously. "I wish to know what it was used for." The Elders eyed the four of them suspiciously.
"A portal was opened and closed in a very short time. Portals can be opened and closed using chaos control, as you know, but all portals are stationary. This one was different. It had not existed at all prior to its opening and it appears not to exist now," a frail-looking female echidna said hesitantly. "This ability to create and destroy portals seemingly at will has never been observed by us. No living being has ever had this power. Whoever used chaos control to create this portal would have the capabilities to manipulate space and time to their liking."
So that's what the sphere was, Espio thought. A portal to another world .One created apparently from scratch. No wonder it was so unstable.
"Do you know where this portal lead? And if so…is there any possible way you could take us there?" Knuckles asked the Elders. He looked a bit more confident now.
"Why should we help you?" the large echidna spoke again. "Your incompetence in guarding the master emerald has already caused enough troubles. For us to transport you and your companions would be-"
"We must help them," a new voice interrupted. Espio turned in the direction of the newcomer. A young female echidna wearing a short multi-colored dress, a head-band with a jewel in the center and sandals on her feet stepped out the circle the Elders had formed around them. Tikal. "Their friend was transported through the portal to the other side. She is somewhere where she does not belong. In addition, if they find their friend she may be able to give more information about how this portal was created and how to prevent it from happening again. No living being should be entrusted with this power. It is too much for anyone to contain."
"Why can't you stop it?" Charmy asked curiously. Knuckles close his eyes and made an uncomfortable expression.
"We are not living corporeal beings," Tikal explained. "We cannot physically intervene on the universe's happenings. But if there is anyone who can set this right, I know Knuckles and anyone he trusts can. The master emerald has been stolen or destroyed several times but he has always managed to retrieve it again." Tikal and Knuckles looked at each other with appreciation while the Elders quietly murmured amongst themselves for a moment. Afterward, the older, frail echidna spoke.
"You understand the risks of this undertaking? While we can transport you to where your friend is, we cannot protect you from whatever you may encounter there," she warned. They all replied that they understood. "So be it."
The emerald shrine suddenly began to rapidly dissolve and the Elders disappeared. Espio felt himself being spun and twisted around in a swirl of darkness and light. The last thing he could remember hearing was Tikal's voice faintly.
"Goodbye," she said. "And good luck."