"So what now, Sonic? Are you just gonna leave me over here?"
"Unless you're gonna make the jump, I'm gonna have to."
"Fine, will I just wait then?"
"Yep. It's about time you did what you were told, not what you felt like."
"Jeez, Sonic, you can be an asshole sometimes..." Manic muttered. Sonic just grinned, and continued on his way.
His recent burst of energy had to have been due to the presence of the emerald fragment! It couldn't be too far away. He leapt from surface to surface, and sprinted along any straight section of rock or tree, dead or living, he could find, following the route which made him yet more energetic. He reached the peak of the island, able to see every shore created by the island's semi-buoyancy, a view reserved for the Gods themselves; and almost as quickly, he had left his vantage point. Sliding down the slopes on the far side of the mountain, he twirled to and fro between half-dead vines and half-dead seaweed, and into the valley below. He remembered being here many years ago; it was another time then, he had enthusiasm aplenty, and cared as much about his own enjoyment of the experience than he did of the results of his antics, which most of the time involved saving the world from Robotnik's malevolent clutches. But still, time went on, robots became more advanced, new enemies arrived, and ultimately, the situation became more grave, and adventures like this became increasingly hazardous, and thanks to his own maturing body, impossible. He had not reached speeds like this since the age of seventeen, and had sorely missed them.
Dropping from a high cliff and soaring into the river's creek, he grabbed a vine on his way down to swing round and reverse his fall. Letting go at the sweet spot, he rocketed into the air, and in a disorienting turn of circumstances, he lost his balance in mid-flight, and facing up, the sky fell away from him as he plunged to the unknown behind him. Luck was on his side, as he came to a stop much earlier than he anticipated. The dusty ground was an almost flat-horizontal ledge, allowing him to rise to his feet almost immediately. Surveying his surrounds, he deduced that this surface would be impossible to stand straight on when the island was at a normal orientation, and that his fortunate landing was but a fluke. He investigated the ledge, and in a further turn of fortune, he discovered exactly what he was looking for right in front of him. There, on a pedestal, waiting for him, was a clean-cut quarter of the master emerald, doing its best to hold up the island on its own. It shone faintly, half of it a glint from the bright sunlight.
"Come on! Too easy!" He exclaimed. He grasped the emerald, and was confronted with a sudden surge of power, climbing up his arm, filling him with energy. He buckled to his knees, and was forced to close his eyes with the intensity. He could feel the energy being absorbed within him, and the heat building. He didn't know how long it was like this; it felt like forever.
When the intensity had subsided enough to regain control of his body, he stood up gingerly. He wasn't injured, he knew that much. He inspected himself. He noticed a long, flowing leather coat, sleeveless and open-chested, much in the form of the waistcoat he was wearing prior; that was most definitely not there before. Upon further inspection, a pair of stylish sunglasses was in the pocket. Useful in these conditions, if nothing else. Placing them upon his nose, he wandered up to the edge of the platform. Not much in the way of time had passed. He kicked his new, heavy-duty boots on the nearby rocks. They spun up in the air, much higher than one would normally deem possible. He took hold of the emerald shard, fastening it to his belt, and leapt from the ledge, to resume his connected chain of leaps, sprints and flips. However, rather than plummeting into the gorge below, he sailed straight across making contact with the other side.
"Interesting… I wonder what happens when I do this…" He kicked off the wall, downwards to the gorge below. He drifted down slowly, as if gravity was not an issue. Leaning in the direction of his travel, he was able to control his flight-path and velocity with subtle changes in body movement. Quickly becoming used to his new mode of transport, he gathered speed and control, and was doing laps of the island before he knew it.
"Right! Now I've got work to do!" He explained to himself, and started trying to find the others.
Tikal was speechless. Knuckles was the only one there to comfort her, and still she swayed gently in his arms, muttering in tongues to herself. Clearly traumatised, there was nothing he could do to bring her back to her senses, short of restoring all that was to its previous place. He looked to the path that the others had left by, wondering when they would return. The sooner they left, the better, was his reasoning. He contemplated calling some of the other parties to check on their progress. Tikal shivered again, and this drew his attention back to where it was most needed.
"So Sonic's already gone head, you say?"
"Yes. He's just gone and, left us to mill around while he takes all the glory. Fan-fucking-tastic." Manic kicked back against a dead tree. Sally yawned.
"Well that was always his style. I don't suppose he left us any way to help in his 'noble quest'?"
"Calm yourselves!" Nailei barked. "We all know that he has greater abilities than us. It's not like any of the rest of us can do leaps like that, or run on walls. We will do something when it is needed of us." Silence reigned. The four stood around, not talking, waiting. Nailei surveyed the skies, as if watching for something. Not watching the ground, she idly kicked an anthill, and it spilled its angry inhabitants all over her leg. Jak dropped from the tree to assist her, but was confused, ants being uncommon in his native forest.
"Don't just stand there, do something!" She cried out, as they started to bite. Manic rushed over and started brushing them off her leg, and picking away stray ones.
"Don't worry, they're harmless…" He reassured her, as he picked up a branch and fanned them away. He looked up at her again, having calmed down, she smiled at him. He smiled back, and went to say something before…
With a solid thump and a gust of wind, the blue hedgehog and his flowing leathers landed square in the middle of the clearing, a sense of urgency about him.
"Got the emerald. We're going now."
"And we're getting up there," Sally pointed up, back the way they came; "Just how?" She asked. Sonic abruptly grabbed her by the waist, and in a mighty jump, scaled the entire height, and deposited her on her feet. Before she had a chance to react, Manic was standing next to her, and by the time they had any idea what was going on, Sonic had already ferried all four of them to the path.
"Now come on! Let's go!"
"Easy bro, we can't all fly…" Manic muttered. All four of them sprinted to the shore, while Sonic scouted the way ahead.