Hello and welcome to the latest of FntS.
I am your host, Corrupt TE. Please hold all projectiles till I've put on my safety helmet.

One thing I like doing in most of my stories, is setting something up in an earlier chapter and returning to it later, after it's developed.
Often gets people thinking and refering back to earlier instalments.
One thing I don't like is having plot holes! So if you find any, let me know and I'll fill 'em in.

Anyway, enough of me talking.
Enjoy.

They slowly walked along the rickety wooden bridge spanning the gap between the island and the mainland. Knuckles couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Angel Island, the floating shrine to the Master and Chaos Emeralds had changed. It was, for the lack of a better word, bigger.

Somehow the island had grown dramatically in size, a thick jungle sprouting up to cover the majority, large mountains rising up to scrape the skyline. There were buildings standing within the foliage and a towering pyramid at the centre, atop which stood the very shrine which the echidna had protected his whole life long.

As their feet stepped onto the soft grass, the sounds of birdsong and wildlife scuffling through the undergrowth filtered through the sound of crashing waves and howling wind.

"I've seen images of Angel Island and read the file, there's nothing about a jungle…" Cassie said, her voice filled with wonder. "Are you sure this is where you parked it?"

"This is Angel Island, I'm sure of it. But it's… different."

A faint humming sound began buzzing in their ears and Knuckles pulled the shrunken, glowing Master Emerald from his quills. Holding it out in the palm of his hand, the green emerald began to glow brighter, floating into the air before them.

Two bright red balls of light emerged and flitted around the two anthro before finally coming to rest and changing. In the blink of an eye the two balls of light had disappeared, and in there places stood a peach furred echidna in a white and green tribal dress, and a strange bipedal being which looked to be entirely composed of water.

"You probably have some questions." Said the echidna sheepishly.

Cassie, who had no idea what was going on, just stood there dumbfounded. Knuckles however crossed his arms and nodded.

"What's going on Tikal? How did this happen?" He sounded unsure of his question even as he asked it. The echidna woman, Tikal shuffled her feet as the blue water creature took on a stance similar to Knuckles.

"We… I… haven't been completely honest with you." Knuckles dropped his semi-defensive stance.

"What do you mean?" He asked. Cassie looked from one echidna to the other, completely lost as to what was happening.

"You… are not, the last echidna. You never were."

"What?" A great silence descended over the group.

Cassie stared at Knuckles, almost willing him to more or say something else. Finally the red echidna broke the unbearable silence.

"What do you mean I was never the last echidna?" Tikal took a deep breath, as if she was readying herself.

"Long ago, when my father, Pachacamac angered Chaos and brought about the Great Calamity, I was afraid that every last living echidna would be wiped from the face of Mobius! I used my connection to the Master Emerald to not only calm Chaos, but to send the remaining echidna's somewhere safe, where they could rebuild." Knuckles' stance changed little as they listened to her explanation.

"With Chaos sealed inside the Master Emerald, I reached out with the powers of a God and sent Albion to another zone, where they would be safe from this world and have a chance to rebuild. Angel Island, the Chaos and Master Emeralds were all that were left." The young echidna continued.

"This didn't come without a price however. It cost me my life, and if Chaos hadn't seen fit to spare me, I would have joined my ancestors that day."

"But why keep this from me?" Snapped the Guardian, causing both females to jump at his outburst.

"Because we couldn't risk you trying to find a way to bring them back! The world was still in turmoil, and the return of the echidna race would've only pushed it to breaking point!" Replied Tikal, tears beginning to glisten in her eyes.

"But it's safe to bring them back now?"

"I did it for you Knuckles!" Shouted the young girl. Tikal collapsed to her knees and sobbed. Knuckles took a concerned step towards her, but the creature Chaos gurgled threateningly.

Cassie ignored the threat and rushed to the echidna's side. Embracing the young echidna, she began to rock her gently back and forth, making reassuring sounds and whispering that it was alright to cry. The hedgehog glared at Knuckles but continued to comfort the sobbing girl in her arms.

"I'm sorry Tikal." He said finally; regret hanging off his every word. "You're like a sister to me, and it wasn't fair for me to shout at you. I just wish you had told me sooner."

"That's in the past now. And we've got bigger things to worry about." Knuckles looked into Cassie's eyes, seeing the seriousness of her voice reflected in those hazel orbs. "It won't be long before someone notices a new landmass off the coast. Let's at least explore and find out what's here before we do anything else."

Knuckles nodded his head in agreement. Cassie helped Tikal to her feet and the four of them set of, both eager and apprehensive as to what they might find.

The green furred rabbit sat in the interrogation chamber. His eyes were closed, his breathing steady. His nose had a clip to keep it straight, the metal tray swung by Sheba having broken it in no less than two places. He also had a black eye and a bandage wrapped around the back of his head where it had smacked against the cold, hard floor.

Menaer was waiting for a pair of visitors. Who wanted to see him was anyone's guess, but he couldn't help but wonder why it was taking so long for the investigating Agents to interview him.

At the sound of the door handle, his eyes slid open. He laid his hands, palms down on the simple metal table before him and waited, staring down the gaps between his fingers, running through the unfortunate events which had ended up with him incarcerated. There was a scrape of chairs and the thump of a suitcase being placed on the table, but still he didn't look up.

"You've got fifteen minutes ma'am." Said a faceless voice, before the door closed once more. Silence followed, punctuated by the sound of the suitcase being opened and paper being rustled.

"I'm very disappointed in you Paul." Said a feminine voice he recognised. His body tensed and his heart suddenly sped up. He finally looked up at the two sat opposite, recognising them both immediately. The purple hedgehog, his Talon Master and best friend and the Grand Talon in charge of their sect herself.

'Paul' inclined his head to her, his mind racing through the various contingency plans they had set up. Finally realising which one they were using, he sighed, resigning himself to the role.

"There's nothing to say Andria." He said quietly.

"I'm just glad mother and father aren't around to see how far you've fallen." The pink furred rabbit opposite him twisted her ring around so the small gem was face down. "You've dug yourself a grave Paul."

Menaer's eyes widened slightly at the utterance of those words. He knew exactly what they mean. 'Andria' reached out her hand which he accepted, his heart heavy, knowing what was coming next.

"I'm sorry Paul." Said the purple hedgehog. "I couldn't find any loophole this time."

The green rabbit smiled sadly at his friend.

"At least you tried Mr. Acklesfield. I never could see when I got in too deep." The hedgehog pulled out a pen and piece of paper from his briefcase.

"I just need you to sign on the line Paul, and we'll do what we can." Menaer nodded and signed the paper with his free hand.

Taking back the paper and pen, the hedgehog put them back into the briefcase and sealed it shut. 'Andria' then laid her other hand on top of Menaer's. He felt the slight prick of the needle, but kept any telling emotion from his face.

"Goodbye Paul." Said the pink rabbit, removing her hands from his and standing with a scrape of her chair. She walked around the table and kissed him on his forehead, before heading towards the door. She knocked twice and the Agent outside opened it.

The purple hedgehog also stood, much slower than the rabbit did. He reached across the tale and took his friends hand in his, shaking it firmly.

"Take care of yourself, you hear?" He said, barely able to keep his voice from cracking.

"You too." Replied Menaer. As the two anthro left him alone, the green rabbit looked down at the back of his hand and the barely visible pinprick.

He sighed and called for the guard to take him back to his cell. He knew he only had a few hours to set up a convincing suicide before the poison took effect.

Shadow tried her phone number again with the same luck as the last three times he had tried. He lowered the phone and looked out of the window at the skyline. It whizzed past as the helicopter powered its way through the air.

He was on his way back to G.U.N headquarters to report directly to the Commander. Something he wasn't looking foreword to at all. What he really wanted to do was sleep. For the first time in a long time he felt exhausted.

But his mind wouldn't stop replaying that moment where he had stared death in the face. It made him realise that life was far too fragile to push everyone away. He had spent his entire life in perpetual misery over the loss of Maria over fifty years ago, dragging everyone he met down into the dark depths of his melancholy.

He was the Ultimate Life-form, created to be the most powerful being in the world, created from alien DNA and fused with the power of Chaos energy. He could do things everyone else could only dream of. He had felt the energy flow of all seven Chaos Emeralds course through his being, granting him the power of ages. He had travelled the world, ran at supersonic speeds and lived a life with few regrets.

But a nagging at the back of his mind kept drawing his thoughts back to that moment, and for some reason, the face of a certain lavender hedgehog soon followed. In his mind she looked concerned, almost fearful, but he couldn't be certain what it meant.

It would take a few more hours for the helicopter to arrive back in Station Square, plenty of time for him to think, and maybe come up with an answer to his many questions.

And done.

Thanks to all those who tried their hand at guessing what happened to Angel Island, Flora 222 and Silhouette the Daemon-Wolf.
Angel Island might not be destoryed, and Eggman might still be out of the picture (for now), but Albion is back!
And with it comes a whole myriad of possibilities.

In the words of Rowan Atkinson: Cluck cluck, gibber gibber, my old man's a mushroom!

This madman is outta here!
-Corrupt TE-