(DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of their characters and props. But I do own my OCs.)
Chapter 10 – Overcoming Darkness
Knux, Amy, and Tails were in the power vault, examining the emeralds.
"Knux, why is the chaos and master emerald dark?" Tails asked.
"I don't know," Knuckles answered as he further examined the chaos emerald. He set in down and rubbed his forehead with his spiked paw. "It doesn't make sense."
"Why don't you ask the Master Emerald?" Amy suggested. "I mean, can't you gain knowledge from it or something?"
Knuckles sighed while responding. "I can try." He walked over to the Master Emerald and raised both paws in the air. "Master Emerald! Please… Show me what's going on!"
All of a sudden, everything around Knuckles turned black. His head snapped in all directions but there was nothing. "Guys?" Knuckles called but the only reply he received was his echo. "What's going on?" Darkness was then replaced with the same flashes Carrie had the other night. Everywhere he turned, he saw laughing figures, barb wires, blood, blurred visions.
"You can make it stop, ya know." A girl's voice spoke from behind him.
Knuckles spun around and stared into the eyes of Carrie… a younger Carrie.
"Carrie?" Knuckles eyes widened. "You're… young."
"Long story. But again, if you command the flashes to stop… they'll stop." She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "Unless you like watching disturbing flashbacks."
Knuckles blinked and then held up his paws once again. "I command the images to STOP!" he bellowed. She was right, they did stop. Now, he and the young Carrie were surrounded by white walls.
"You didn't have to be that dramatic," she commented with a raised eyebrow.
"How am I supposed to know, you brat!" Knuckles's patience was wearing thin with all of this confusion. He didn't need a 9 to 10 year old girl's attitude.
"Sheesh, you have quite the temper," she smirked.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Knuckles crossed his arms.
"Yeah, yeah," she waved at him carelessly. She cleared her throat and began to tell her story. "As you may know, I'm Carrie. Not the one you already know… I'm Carrie when she was younger."
"Are you from the past?"
"Like time-travel? Nah. Too sci-fi."
"Please explain what's going on before I punch something." Knuckles exasperated as he rubbed his forehead again.
"I'm a part of Carrie's personality, her alter-ego almost. But I was pushed to the back of her mind when she was kidnapped."
"Still confusing, but better. Moving on to other issues: what's happening to the emeralds?"
"Darkness has been trapped inside of the emeralds. 6 out of 7 are practically poisoned by evil."
"6 out of 7? What about the last one? What about the Master Emerald?"
"The Master Emerald is being affected by the darkness that is overcoming the chaos emeralds. The one that is not darkened is being held aside for someone else."
"Who?"
The young Carrie looked down with worry and fear. "Carrie."
"What? Why Carrie?" Knuckles furrowed his brow.
"Because the darkness that is taking over the chaos emeralds are the evil spirits of her captors."
"How did they suck into the emeralds?"
"Before Carrie escaped, Justin had a cop locate the chaos emeralds that were planted around the world. He was going to use the emeralds to gain power and torture innocents. But after Carrie escaped, he became infuriated and worried that she'll rat them out. So, Justin killed 5 of his gang members and then himself and then he locked their spirits into the emeralds. But their spirits are no longer human… they're creatures."
"Wait," Knuckles thought for a moment. "Sonic told me that an octopus creature attacked them when they found the chaos emerald!"
Carrie nodded with a sigh. "They may have killed the creature physically, but its spirit still remains in the emerald."
"What do we do?"
"You must gather the chaos emeralds and fight the monsters within them!"
"But doesn't that endanger Carrie?"
"Yes… but if you don't try to fight them… they will forever haunt Carrie. Either way, she's tortured. You might as well try to rid of them and free Carrie's pain."
"But what will happen to Carrie if we don't defeat them?"
The young Carrie's eyes darken with defeat. "Then… she will be turned into a creature and be forever trapped with Justin and his gang. They're goal has always been to ruin Carrie's life. But once they trap Carrie in the 7th emerald, her mind and spirit will be corrupted for eternity. Her pain and sorrow will turn into a blinding hatred and she will turn into them. With so much anger, she could haunt everyone in the world's minds to the point of suicide. Even Chris, you, and the others."
"But… no, she couldn't become evil! Why would she turn into something that she fears and hate?"
"Because with all that negativity, the spirits can make Carrie switch. The only thing that can stop hatred is to-" the girl waved her hand for him to think of the answer. She smiled when she saw the realization on his face.
"Introduce love… but she is loved. Her family loves her, her friends care for her…."
"It needs to be more than that," the small Carrie shook her head. "It needs to be true love, for the only romantic love that she has received was corrupted with lust and evil."
"So," Knuckles raised his eyebrow. "We find Carrie a boyfriend?"
"You make it sound so simple… it's not like you can go on and find her true love!" the girl rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"But wait!" Knuckles snapped his fingers. "There's obviously some chemistry going on between Carrie and Sonic! Maybe we can tell them to-"
"Geez, you think everything is going to fall into place." Carrie shook her head once again. "You can't force them to admit their feelings… they have to do it on their OWN. And with Carrie being nervous with intimacy and affection after what she has been through, it's hard for her heart let its guard down to let Sonic in. She may trust him and care for him, but it doesn't mean she'll let her heart fall for him completely. And by watching Sonic, he doesn't seem like the 'admitting his feeling' type. Besides, we don't know if they are 'destined' to be together. It may just be an infatuation!"
"Can't I tell them what's going on?"
"You can tell them everything but the whole 'Carrie turning into evil because she was deprived of true love and needs it to save the world' thing."
"Why can't I tell Carrie that she needs to find love? It may help her open up considering she knows she's endangering the world if she doesn't." Knuckles pointed out.
"No, she has to do this on her own. She and Sonic can't know anything about them falling for each other. True love comes on its own, not by putting it on a planner."
"Then, what can I do?" Knuckles tapped his foot. "I really don't like the idea of waiting around for two people to realize that they like each other. Not my style. Can't I lock them in the same room or something?"
The young Carrie thought for a moment and nodded. "If they don't find out that you did it on purpose. You would have to make it look like an accident."
"Good, because that's exactly what I'm going to do when I get back." Knuckles put his hands on his hips and smirked. "So, I can't tell them what's going on… but I can push them together. Can't I tell the others the situation?"
She thought for a moment again and then decided. "I guess… as long it doesn't get back to Carrie and Sonic."
"Well," Knuckles sighed in relief. "At least I don't have to do this on my own. I have no idea how to set two people up. But with the help of Chris and the others, we can think of a way for the two to spill."
The young Carrie grinned with amusement. "This is going to be entertaining."
Knuckles raised his brow at her. "You're taking this rather well… aren't you endangered with any of this?"
"Of course, I am!" she lifted her chin in the other direction. "For your information, I completely disappear if Carrie turns!" She looked back Knuckles and added with a smile. "I'm the positive side of Carrie. And for me to stay positive, I laugh at bad situations." She waved her hand to discard the subject. "But anywho, you better get back and find those emeralds."
"Right!" Knuckles nodded. He recited the plan out loud. "Find the chaos emeralds, release the evil spirits, fight the spirits, hook Sonic and Carrie up, and save the world."
With that, the little Carrie waved goodbye and returned Knuckles.
"Knuckles! Knuckles! Wake up you big lug!" a voice called.
Knuckles opened his eyes and saw a familiar pair of mascara eyes. His own eyes widened as he sat up abruptly and glared at the gorgeous bat that sat before him.
"Rouge!" he growled as he pointed at her. "What are you doing here?"
"Aw, is that any way to greet a lady?" Rouge pouted as she stood up from kneeling beside him. Her pout switched to a smirk as she watched Knuckles shake in rage.
"You're no lady!" Knuckles retorted as he too stood up. He quickly regretted the move when his head throbbed in pain. He grasped his head and started to mumble. "Ugh, my head! Are we still in the power vault?"
"No," Amy walked up beside him. "We're in the medical lab. We got worried when you collapsed when talking to the Master Emerald."
Knuckles looked at her and then looked around him. Everyone that was on the ship was there, including Rouge and Shadow. Wait, Shadow? Knuckles shook his head and pointed to the duo. "What are they doing here?"
Tails stepped up to answer. "They showed up about five minutes after you passed out. The engine on Rouge's ship got messed up and luckily for them, they found the Tornado Suite before they crashed."
"Engine got messed up?" Knuckles questioned. "How?"
"Well," Rouge put her hands on her hips and shrugged. "We found a chaos emerald and-"
"YOU FOUND ONE?!" Knuckles jumped at her and grabbed her shoulders. "What creature was there?"
Shadow looked at Knuckles suspiciously. "How did you know about the creature?"
Everyone's eyes were on Knuckles. Knuckles shook his head but repeated his question. "I'll tell you all what's going on if you tell me what the creature looked like."
"Well," Rouge perched her lips as she described what she remembered. "It looked like weird dinosaur bird… it had scales, large pointy beak, horns sticking out of wings… and eerie blue eyes. Blue like the emerald we found. It was most definitely not normal."
"Now," Shadow narrowed his eyes. "You got your answer, now you give us ours."
With a glare, Knuckles told his story about his confrontation of the young Carrie. He told him everything except for the true love part (because Carrie and Sonic were in the room). And the end of his story, everyone looked worried.
"So," Carrie spoke weakly. "We have to let them out and fight them?"
"Unless you want them to haunt you forever, Carrie," Chris answered.
"I don't know about this… I don't want any of you getting hurt because of my past." She looked down with insecurity.
"Carrie," Sonic comforted. "We're not going to let these assholes hurt you anymore."
"But-"
"No buts, Carrie," Knuckles crossed his arms. Everyone snapped their heads in his direction. When he got uncomfortable with the attention, he decided to put forth his plan. He sighed while rubbing his forehead. "Why don't you go to bed, Carrie? This is has been a long day for all of us, especially for you. You go to bed and Sonic, you go with her."
Sonic did a double-take. "W-what?"
"I mean watch her, you oaf," Knuckles rolled his eyes. "You know, in case those things come back and mess with her."
"Uh," Sonic looked confused. He and Carrie exchanged confused glances.
"That isn't necessary," Carrie held up her hands nervously. "I'll call if something is wrong."
"But," Knuckles re-butted quickly. "But the last time those spirits attacked you, they paralyzed you."
"I guess you're right," Carrie seemed uncomfortable.
"Of course I am," Knuckles crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Now, Carrie, go to bed. Sonic, go grab an extra mattress and keep gaurd."
"Mr. Knuckles," Cream spoke up softly. "Me, Rouge and Amy can watch her. It will be like a girl sleepover!" Cream smiled with delight.
"I'm not a let's-braid-each-other's-hair-sleepover type of gal, honey." Rouge crossed her arms as she perched her lips again.
"Yeah," Knuckles quickly jumped in. "And you and Amy shouldn't have to battle evil spirits… leave it to the pros. Leave it to Sonic!"
Everyone did a double take with that one.
"Hahahahaha!!"The young Carrie laughed hysterically in the older Carrie's mind.
What's so funny? The older Carrie asked.
"Oh, nothing…."
"Carrie, Sonic!" Knuckles got fed up with all the questions. "Just GO!"
"Eep!" Carrie jumped with a fright as she ran out.
Sonic glared at Knuckles as he tapped his foot. "I don't know what's gotten into you, Knux, but you don't have to yell at us! You especially don't have to yell at Carrie." With that, Sonic ran out of the room to catch up with her.
Knuckles breathed out a raspberry after the two left. "About time…."
"Knuckles," Chris crossed his arms. "Is there something you're not telling us?"
"Why yes," Knuckles grinned. "Why yes, there is."
"Well," Amy scowled. "Spit it out!"
"I'll go get Sonic and Carrie," Tails said as he was about to walk out.
"No!" Knuckles held out his hand. "They can't know about this one, guys."
"Why not?" Chris asked.
"Well…."
"So, we have to get Sonic and Carrie together or else Carrie will turn evil and haunt the whole world?" Chris blinked at the weird story.
"Yeah, pretty much." Knuckles shrugged.
"But," Amy started while looking quite disappointed. "But you did say that there's a possibility that they're not meant for each other, right?"
"We think that is a small possibility." Knuckles closed his eyes. "But we have no other bachelor!"
"As long as she is introduced to love, I think it will work." Rouge said.
"Knuckles is right," Tails looked down while marinating in the new news. "Sonic definitely likes her and there's a strong chance that it will work."
Shadow huffed with annoyance. "I can't believe that our mission is to hook up the faker with a girl."
"Well," Rouge crossed her arms. "Well, believe it or not, Shaddy, if we don't do this than everyone is in trouble."
"Don't call me that."
"Well," Amy stood up straight. She had determination in her eyes as she smirked. "Let's stop stalling and start getting those two love birds together!"
"Let's leave them alone for tonight," Chris smiled confidently. "Tomorrow, we'll come up with something."
"Knuckles is sure acting strange," Sonic mumbled as he set up the air mattress.
He and Carrie were her room. While Carrie was looking out the window, Sonic was setting up the air mattress for him to sleep in. It was a clear night, the stars were shining bright, and the crescent moon hung in the sky mystically. Carrie was in a daze with its beauty, she didn't hear Sonic talking to her.
"Hello? Earth to Carrie, come in Carrie!" Sonic waved his hand in front of her face (well, he had to stretch to reach Carrie's line of sight). Sonic chuckled as she shook of her daze and blinked at him.
"I'm sorry, Sonic," she smiled apologetically.
"It's ok, Carrie. But I was asking you about your drawing." He smiled as he held up her sketchbook. She blushed when she saw the drawing of him. "When did you do this?"
"Oh," she continued to blush as she looked away. "I, I… I drew it after you made the new cast for me."
"Well," Sonic continued to smile as he again admired the work. It was a simple drawing of him running but the cross-hatching was pleasing to the eye. "I like it… you know, for someone who hasn't drawn in years, you sure do pick it back up quickly."
"Heh heh," she laughed nervously. "It's just a quick sketch, really. It's not really that good… I'm rather rusty. If you want, I can make you one… a better one. It may take a while, though."
Sonic smiled even more as he put the sketchbook back on her desk. "I would love one. But I have one request!" He held up his index finger while he winked playfully.
"What's that?" She blinked at him curiously.
"I want you to draw the both of us. I would ask you to draw all of us, but I don't want you to work too hard over a drawing for me."
"How about this," Carrie smiled as she leaned against the window. "I'll make you both. Then, you get two drawings. But I would have to practice."
"As long you can handle it," Sonic smiled as he plopped on his air mattress. "I'm down with anything."
"Great," Carrie smiled as she crawled in her own bed and snuggled underneath her comforters. "I'll get started ASAP." She turned off her lamp and the room was instantly replaced with darkness. Carrie got a little scared as she whimpered into her pillow.
"You ok, Carrie?" Sonic asked through the dark room.
"Y-yeah…."
Sonic purposely placed the air mattress next to Carrie's bed so he could check on her with ease. He crawled over and reached his arm across to place his hand on her shoulder. She flinched at first but relaxed when she saw Sonic through her adjusting eyes. The moonlight made the room glow with eerie softness. The dimming outline along Sonic's face gave him a mysterious appearance. Carrie completely relaxed when she looked into his vibrant green eyes that seemed to outshine everything in the room.
"Don't worry, Carrie," he whispered. "I'll protect you from the darkness."
"Because you're the hero," she whispered back with a smile.
He closed his eyes and shook his head softly. He smiled gently as he reopened his eyes and touched her cheek like he did before. "No, because you're my friend."
She smiled appreciably as her eyes became heavy. She felt Sonic's thumb caress her cheek until drifted off into a deep slumber.