Disclaimer: I don't own anything as you all have heard so many times from others.
On with the Story!
Knuckles kept looking at Swift with strange looks, Swift couldn't take it anymore.
"What! Stop staring at me Knucklehead!" He cried out, crossing his arms as if he had been insulted. The translator was still working.
"I can't help it! You're almost bite sized!" Knuckles cried, huffing and looking away and out of the window. Swift's eyes were huge as he slowly edged away from the frightening echidna.
Sable snorted from his spot next to Helen. Knuckles spun, a miny fire in his eyes as he bared his teeth.
"What are you laughing at!" He demanded, Sable sighed and looked down at the silently cracking up Chao.
"I'm going to regret this." Shadow groaned quietly, but loud enough for Knuckles to hear.
"Wha?" Knuckles blinked as Sable closed his eyes, clamping his mouth shut.
"Swift." Swift spun without a care in the world, a tear in his eye from laughing. He came, looking right into the eyes of one of the most fearful things in a Chao's life.
A crazed face of a dark Chao.
"WHAAAA!" Swift screamed, falling backward, stunned, onto the ground of the X-Tornado (more like Airplane with the room it had)
Knuckles was dropped jaw, no understanding why Swift just screamed and fell over. Helen was silently shaking with laughter, this had happened to her before.
"What….What did you do?" Knuckles was almost pale, and he looked at the little Chao.
Shadow spun, his normally red eyes were a swirling black and white like he had just been dazed. His normal mouth was exchanged for a large evil grin with many little jagged teeth famous for Dark Chao.
Knuckles didn't fare any better than Swift.
He was gasping in shock at the very frightening stance, the crazed look that said stand-there-and-I'll-eat-you! The quickly rotating emotion sphere added to the demented effect.
"BAH!" Sable cried, watching in slight satisfaction as Knuckles collapsed, fainted from fright.
"I must admit, that's not like you." Helen noted, not at all afraid as he had scared her multiple times like this.
"The morons were annoying me." Sable shifted his jaw, getting his normal mouth back, and blinking away the swirls. His emotion sphere calmed down and lazily drifted above him.
"You have no clue how many times I've wanted to do that my friend." Sable snickered slightly at Tails' words and leaned backwards at ease, looking out of the window.
**********88
"Okay, this is where the scanner led me. The foliage is too thick for the X-Tornado so we'll have to go on foot." Tails landed on a little clearing, the others nodded.
Swift and Knuckles had woken up not long ago, they were still wary of Sable but he ignored it.
"We should be able to sense our bodies, but it would be better if we split up." Sable commanded, looking towards the thick jungle then back at Helen.
Helen smiled, lightly, gently stroking one of his quills. Sable sighed, looking back towards the foliage.
"How do you do that without him biting you?" Amy asked, watching carefully. Sable spat and hissed at Amy who recoiled quickly. Helen smiled and easily calmed him down.
"Sable doesn't get attached to easily. I guess that was the same when you were Shadow wasn't it?" Helen teased and Rouge rolled her eyes, looking at the tiny Chao.
"You were always the grump when we were in business." She grinned and Shadow turned, turning his back towards her.
"The fact I have few attachments is what keeps me alive."
Helen sighed and set Sable onto the ground.
"I'll stay in the plane with Tails. We can scout from the air okay? Go on Sable, find your body." Helen encouraged. A genuine smile on her face.
'So selfless, I'll do it….for her.' Sable didn't wait for the others and he lunged into the underbrush, already speeding away.
***********88
Rouge and Chris followed Sable. He had slowed down a while and was scanning the nearby areas with his eyes closed. Chris came because he promised Helen he would.
Sable felt a slight tingle of Chaos energy, so he made his way towards that. Rouge was easily carrying Chris, after having to carry Topaz, her past team member, around.
Sable paused once again on a vine, Rouge landed easily next to him.
"Are you getting anything?" Rouge asked, tilting her head. Blinking quickly, Sable pulled out a small communicator, he tapped it twice and a strange static filled the silence.
"Sable? Are you there?" Sable lightly ran his little paw over the screen, causing it to light up and show a split screen of Swift and Tails.
"I'm here. The energy if north, that's as much as I can find." Sable looked at Swift who suddenly closed his eyes.
"It's…..It's a few more miles north….wait….there's something else there….."
Swift shrugged and opened his eyes. Sable concentrated, and sure enough, very faintly, there was a trail.
He clicked the communicator shut and bolted off once again, Rouge followed with Chris.
*****************888
Swift walked silently on the ground level.
Well, walking for him was running for Knuckles and Cream. Cheese flew on by with his long fluttery wings.
Swift slid under a collapsed tree and continued 'running' Knuckles smashed it to leave space for Cream and Cheese to move through.
"Do you even know where to go?" Knuckles complained, Swift rolled his eyes and continued on.
"Sable and Tails noticed an energy store up ahead; we just need to continue moving." Swift responded, flipping off of a branch and running north. Cream jumped up and flapped her ears, leaving Knuckles to chop through the vines.
"Ack! Not fair Sonic!" Knuckles called as he was caught in the webbing.
"Slishh!" Knuckles looked up surprised as the vines fell, cut from the tree. Swift stood there, looking down at Knuckles with green eyes.
"I'm Swift while in Chao form, Sonic while I'm back in my body." Swift corrected, already dashing away.
Cheese hovered with Cream, watching the tiny blue spec of speed. Finally Knuckles took the hint and climbed up, hovering just with the two.
"He sure is fast." Cream noted, watching in awe as Sonic easily passed by the obstacles in his path, not breaking a sweat.
"He's Sonic or should I say 'Swift'." Knuckles finished, rolling his eyes. Cheese frowned though, crossing his arms.
"He's changed since being a Chao." Cheese summed it up, gaining the attention of the two mobians.
"Swift wasn't always like this. You should have seen him, always trying to remember and getting mind blanks or flashbacks." Cheese shook his head, smiling softly. Cream looked over with a puzzled look on her face.
"He was always on the roof, one of the earliest memories had something to do with the sky….He matured, and he now knows just what happens when you guys aren't around him." Cheese explained, and Knuckles drifted into silence.
"Guys! I found it! I called Tails and Sable, they're on their way, but we have a problem…"
Knuckles and Cream landed. Cheese's eyes widened from Cream's shoulder.
In the clearing was a little Chao garden, and in the center were two seemingly sleeping hedgehogs. The Chao were different colors, normally exotic bright green or orange.
And a large grey flying Chao held a glittering blue gem in his little paws, a Chaos Emerald.
And it didn't look like he would be giving it up soon.
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