AN: With this, things will start coming together after a confusing first chapter. The story will progress slower than my others, but please bear with.
Disclaimer: I neither claim nor own anything from Sega or Sonic '06. Chameleon is property of Nobel Six.
Claimer: I own this plot and all characters not affiliated with the above mentioned.
Wave Ocean
September-19-2506
6:54 Mobius Time
[Now Playing: "Imagine" by: John Lennon]
It was early in the morning the next day when we could find the white hedgehog sitting on the seaside of the Wave Ocean. The waves softly caressed the shore nearby and broke lightly against the miscellaneous rocks and miniature islands out in the bay. He took the wind in with a sigh as he reminisced on times he spent with Blaze…
It was here, by the dock, where they'd finally regrouped after being separated for so long by a mishap in time travel. He chuckled softly as he remembered all the times he was without her. Every single time they were separated, it felt like he couldn't do anything right. She was always his guiding light to him; his northern star. Without her, he felt lost. Maybe the term that he was looking for was incompetent, but he knew that wasn't what he was. He had at least some competence.
No, it was the term that Blaze had always used… naïve: showing lack of experience, wisdom, or judgment. The other definition though was something that he wondered if Blaze would use to describe him also; to be natural or unaffected; innocent, one might say. What if… maybe she'd liked him all along, and calling him naïve was just a way of expressing it?
He sighed, realizing that he'd let his chance with her slip away. He then balled a fist in determination, determined to get her back. He'd find the Sol Emeralds and bring her back from the other dimension. He swore this as the sun began to slowly rise… but it was easier said than done.
He hadn't a clue where to find the first Sol Emerald. He had no tracking devices and no capabilities to detect their energies. He hadn't even a lead to start off with. At this, he hung his head. He wasn't prepared for this. It was a journey in which he could scrounge the entire world and not find anything. What he needed was help.
But, who would help him? Sonic was more than less likely to be somewhere on the other side of the world, so he wouldn't be helping him any time soon. As for Shadow… he was just too busy to even care. He marked off the list of people who couldn't help him, fishing out only one person who was possibly willing enough to help him and had the capability to do so.
He always heard that Tails had a radar of sorts that helped him find the emeralds. The Chaos Emeralds of course, but the signature of chaos energy was what was really detected. Perhaps Tails was the only being on this planet that could help him. He took a look back, noting that Soleanna wasn't as far as most people make it out to be from the ocean. He thusly stood up and began to glow with turquoise wisps of energy.
It was his psychokinetic abilities that enabled him to lift and move many things, including himself. With a resolve to find his two tailed companion, he floated off in the direction of Soleanna, hoping he would get a lead to the kit's position.
[Stop Music]
^/\^|v\/v
~ ("I guess by now I should know enough about loss to realize that you never really stop missing someone-you just learn to live around the huge gaping hole of their absence."–Alyson Noel) ~
Syaoron the Fox presents
Following the Events of Sonic '06
Accompanied by Various Music and Themes
Remnants of the Past
Chapter 2
Abduction
^/\^|v\/v
Angel Island
September-19-2506
9:52 Mobius Time
It had taken Chameleon much of the waking hours to cross the vast landscape of Angel Island. He never knew that the floating isle could possibly be so huge. Then again, that was the magnificent power of the Master Emerald. Not only did the large green jewel keep the Chaos Emeralds' power in check, it also kept the island afloat as long as it was directly connected to the island.
As he ventured from the far side of the island, he finally managed to scale the top of the mountain. He shivered slightly as snow and wind blew in the air. Not only was the floating island large, it had a wide variety of climates and environments, from tropical forests to these cold, barren mountains. The diversity of the area was nearly incomprehensible and it made Chameleon wonder how much the climate relied on this elevation.
He shook his head as he began to make his way down the mountain with a swift run. Climbing up was the hard part, and it was all downhill from there on out. With his quick reactions and steady foot placement, the simple dash down the mountain would only take about ten minutes, a great difference from the one and a half hours it took to scale it.
He felt the brisk air soon dissipate, giving way to much warmer climates. The scenery soon became less rock and snow as trees and grass soon entered the scene. While he experienced the changes in temperature and surrounding, Chameleon's thoughts were hardly on the topic of climate.
He wondered how good of a challenge the echidna would be if he was as strong of an opponent as his master had claimed him to be. He was told that the emerald guardian had trained for years to perform the task of protecting the Master Emerald. He shook his head as he drew on all the possible factors of his personality. He was easily enraged lived alone on this island, with rarely anyone to test his strength. He was probably a confident person… maybe too confident for his own good. He smirked with a toothy smile as he saw that this would work to his advantage.
As he walked through the forests, he sniffed in the jungle air and breathed a sigh of content. It was calming for the time being, allowing him to fully release all his anxiety. While he wasn't too anxious, he knew it had to be released anyway. He didn't want to get carried away after all. His master preferred his captives alive.
He brushed aside a few bushes to reveal small clearing where the Master Emerald's alter lay. He looked upon the temple-like structure with utmost interest, impressed by the architectural design of it. Chameleon then looked to its highest point and noted the red sleeping figure that was his target. With narrowed eyes, he approached silently…
^/\^|v\/v
Soleanna Castle Town
September-19-2506
10:00 Mobius Time
In the early rise of Soleanna's people, a dark skinned human walked to the locked door of his mechanical parts shop. He gave a lazy yawn as he let himself in and flipped the sign on the front to 'open'. As he set up for today's operations, he put a small CD into a nearby stereo system and let the good times roll.
[Now Playing: "Paint it Black" by: Rolling Stones]
Normally, people didn't pass through his shop very often. Often enough, if they wanted something fixed, they wouldn't come here to get the materials to repair it themselves. No, they'd go to the big name repair shops and get their help there. With a smirk though, he reminded himself that those big name repair shops had to get their materials from somewhere.
As was shown to all his customers, he guaranteed quality materials and quality parts. It was this service that drew a lot of the most popular mechanics in town to his mere shop. He remembered once upon a time when he serviced a blue hedgehog who wanted different gems for his shoes. He had no use for them of course, so he would often sell those things to the hedgehog.
Now that he thought of it, he'd sold a lot of strange things to that trio of hedgehogs. They sure did ask a lot of questions around town too. The clerk was drawn from his thoughts as he heard a bell jingle, signaling that a customer had just come in. When he looked up from across the counter, he saw a short, two tailed fox stride in through the double doors. With glee, he spoke up, "It's been a while since you've been here, Tails. Is your mechanic business running slow, or have you been on a big project?"
The kit smiled as he mentioned the business. Over the past few days, the kit had settled in and even opened up a mechanic shop for repairing and crafting. Once word got around about his talents, he soon became one of the most popular mechanics in the town, and people from all over were coming for commissions and advice. "Neither, Drake," the fox merely answered as he surveyed the shop for materials he might need. "I just need to restock on materials before I head out."
Drake raised a brow at that. "Heading out?" he asked. "As in, out of town? Why would you do that? You're having great business!"
Tails waved his hand, as if dismissing that. "I may be having good business, but I'm searching for someone who may or may not be messing with the balance of chaos energy," he excused himself as he loaded his pack with materials and parts. "Something's going on, and I don't like it. Whatever's going on, I need to talk to him."
"Well, what's he look like?" Drake asked while checking off the materials by their barcodes. "Maybe, if he comes by, I can point him to you."
Tails chuckled lightly. Silver wasn't the kind of guy who would drop by a mechanical parts shop… in fact, he tried to seclude himself from crowds and the public in general. It was actually kind of sad. "Well, you may know him," the kit explained. "He's a white hedgehog; maybe a bit taller than me. The spines on his head flare out in almost all directions."
Drake snapped his fingers and exclaimed, "Oh, that guy! Yeah, he used to come around every now and then and ask for these bracelets that were supposed to enhance psychokinetic powers. I even gave him a discount when he showed me his powers. I'll make sure to send him by your workshop if he comes by."
"Alright, thanks Drake," Tails spoke as he stashed away the parts. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I really must be going."
"See ya around, Tails!" Drake bid him farewell while setting up for the rest of the day.
Just before exiting however, Tails turned around and asked the black man, "You like listening to the Rolling Stones, Drake?"
The human responded by pulling out the 'Forty Licks' album case. "Every day, all the time," he merely remarked while cleaning up.
With that, the kit exited the store and headed down the street to his workshop, properly entitled in his name. As he entered the store, which was previously unlocked, he noticed a figure in the back of the room. Though he was hidden in the shadows, Tails could tell by his silhouette who he was. He thusly placed his stuff down and asked, "I've been looking for you, Silver. What are you doing here?"
"I've actually been looking for you too, Tails," the hedgehog said while stepping into the light. "Should I ask my questions first, or are you going to start it off?"
Though skeptical, Tails fired off the first question. "I felt a use of chaos energy yesterday and I'm assuming it was you since you're here in my locked workshop," he began, trying to hint to his point. "What's the rush?"
"I'm looking for something, which brings me to my first question," Silver responded while tapping his toe against the floor. "I'm looking for the Sol Emeralds, and I was wondering if your emerald radar can detect both Chaos and Sol Emeralds."
Before the kit answered, he heard the bell jingle at the front door, signifying a customer. "Just a minute," he told the grey wolf. "Well Silver, that works in theory since they give off similar energy signatures. But, if all you want is a Sol Emerald, why don't you just ask Knuckles? I'm sure he's got one on his hands. But for now, I've got customers to serve, so you'll have to go, I'm sorry."
"One more thing!" he said to Tails. "Where is Angel Island this time of year? You know, so I can chaos control there."
At that thought, Tails had a hearty laugh. When he saw Silver's confused face, he instructed him, "You're better off not teleporting to Angel Island. If you're not too experienced with this stuff, you're gonna teleport your molecules into a solid mountain, and then someone will have to pull you out with a long distance chaos control, and those are hard to perform. I should know; I had to pull Sonic out of a rock once because he chaos controlled too carelessly. You're better off getting there by other means."
This jogged up a thought for the white hedgehog. He wondered for a moment what it would be like to be integrated into rock… and he shivered at the thought. "Well, thanks for the advice Tails!" he shouted to him as he ran out, accidentally bumping into someone on the way out and promptly asking for forgiveness. The kit only shook his head.
Once Silver was out of earshot, the grey wolf from earlier came up to the counter and asked, "What's with him?"
"I don't know, man," Tails simply said quietly. "I don't know."
[Stop Music]
^/\^|v\/v
Angel Island
September-19-2506
10:02 Mobius Time
Though it was painstaking, Chameleon had to force himself not to go into an all-out attack. He didn't want to wake his target; just keep him in a state of deep unconsciousness. After he snuck around the altar to the rear of it, he slowly scaled it, making sure his feet made nary a sound against the marble structure. Approaching the top, he could see the green glimmer of the Master Emerald and the dull red fur of the sleeping guardian.
He brought out a small needle, filled to the brim with a powerful dissociative anesthesia. With the guardian asleep, all he had to do was administer the liquid, and the rest would take care of its self. He was about to stick Knuckles with it until the echidna rolled out of the way and spun around to strike a kick to the intruder. "So, you think you can come and steal my Master Emerald, huh? Or, are you the one that wants the Sol Emerald?" he accused of Chameleon while landing in a fighting stance.
The assailant raised his brow with a smirk as he heard this. "You really suspect me of wanting to steal your pitiful Master Emerald?" he objected with a scoff of sorts. "No, and I'm not even here for the Sol Emerald, though that makes a nice bonus. Rather, I am here for you, Knuckles."
What's your motive? The echidna thought while flexing his forefingers, goading his opponent on. "Well then, c'mon," taunted the echidna. "Let's see what you got!"
[Now Playing: "This Moment" by: Disturbed]
Chameleon thusly charged at Knuckles, ready to take the echidna out. He retrieved a small, elegant dagger from his belt and thrust a stab at the echidna, even though he swiftly dodged to the side. Knuckles then spun into the parry and swung a backhand at the reptile, though he ducked under the strike.
"At least you're not completely incompetent," Chameleon mused while kicking back up and knocking Knuckles off of the entire structure. As the echidna flew through the air, Chameleon followed after him with a jump. He launched a punch toward Knuckles, but the echidna grabbed his arm in midair and threw him harshly toward the ground. The chameleon would've suffered severe injury had he not flipped and cushioned his blow properly.
"Maybe I'm more competent than you think!" Knuckles shouted while striking a punch to the ground that caused fissures to rise up and approach Chameleon. With a smirk, the reptile jumped back, but not before dropping a couple small spheres in the fissures' path. With the correct timing, the small black spheres flipped off of the cracking ground and before Knuckles' feet. He only had to see them flash red once to know that they were bombs, but he only had the time to cover up his face from the explosion as it blew him backward.
The echidna rolled onto his feet, watching carefully as Chameleon threw small metal discs at him. While Knuckles dodged most of them, he was unable to catch the one that flew in the shadow of the others and it was stuck in his left arm. He plucked it from his skin and let the blood drip, looking at the four-spoke weapon. "A shuriken?" he mused while throwing it right back at the chameleon. "I haven't fought a ninja for a long time."
He saw the chameleon huff a sigh as he spoke those words and he decided to take advantage. With quick rush, he managed to get in a combination of punches and kicks that ultimately knocked the reptile on the ground. Knuckles smirked as he raised his foot to crush the intruder, but Chameleon rolled to the side and sliced at the echidna with his dagger, drawing blood and leaving a harsh cut over the echidna's crescent birth mark.
Chameleon quickly rose to his feet and whipped around a sharp kick to the echidna's abdomen. Knuckles stumbled slightly at the blow, but still managed to block an oncoming punch and push his opponent back. As he slid back, Chameleon reached into his belt and retrieved two knuckle duster blades and fitted them onto his hands. Knuckles swore he caught a green glint of light off of the weapons while the reptile dashed back at him.
The echidna easily dodged two swings of the bladed fists and kicked low, hoping to catch Chameleon off balance. However, instead of tripping, Chameleon simply jumped over the strike and dove down take another stab at Knuckles. The echidna rolled to the side of the slicing motion and struck another kick to the reptile's back, sending him into the ground.
When Chameleon rolled back onto his feet, he threw the two knuckle duster blades off of his hands and at the unsuspecting echidna. While one missed him to the side, the other landed a clean slice to his right arm as it skinned right by him. He grunted as he felt the slice and gave a glare to the chameleon, rushing over and attempting to strike at him with a quick punch, but the reptile simply jumped into the air to avoid it.
As Chameleon had expected, Knuckles jumped and charged right at him with another punch. In response, the reptile spun and dodged to the side while sending a crushing heel kick into the echidna's stomach. As Knuckles was sent careening to the ground, Chameleon dived after him and threw a couple of kunai knives at him. Knuckles landed on the ground first however, and he dodged to the side, allowing the kunai to plant themselves in the ground harmlessly.
The echidna grunted as he stood in the area where chameleon would be coming, preparing a hefty punch for his assailant. When Chameleon was in range, Knuckles lunged up with a powerful punch. However, as the reptile neared it, he swiped the arm aside with a block and kicked Knuckles in the back of the head, launching him against the ground and creating a small crater.
When Knuckles stumbled back to his feet from the blow, he felt… unusually lethargic. What's going on? He pondered; I normally don't feel like this in a fight. He shook thought away as he dodged another wave of shuriken, though he got nicked by several of them. What's the matter with me? It's like I'm moving through molasses!
"Having problems, echidna?" Chameleon goaded him while charging at Knuckles. The statement angered the echidna, and he charged back, fueled by rage at his insulting assailant. When the two met, Chameleon didn't even try to put up a block as Knuckles lunged for a punch… he couldn't even lift up his arm.
"What's going on?" the echidna wondered as he tried lifting his left arm, finding that he couldn't. He then turned his head back to the reptile who was laughing his head. With slight fear, the echidna backed off. It was futile though, as Chameleon ran at him, drawing one of his katanas from his back and lunging toward Knuckles' shoulder with the blade. The echidna couldn't even put up his right arm to block it. He felt the stinging pain as he shouted, "What did you do to me?"
"It's a powerful anesthetic, foolish echidna," Chameleon said with disgust. As he slowly retrieved his bloody blade from the Knuckles' shoulder letting the blood pour from the wound.
Knuckles quivered as he slowly backed away and fell to his knees. How did it happen? He hadn't been stuck with the needle that Chameleon had been sneaking up on him with, so what happened? "When did you–"
"It was from the very first injury you took," Chameleon spoke as he walked off a short distance and picked up one of his thrown shuriken. One of its spokes was covered in the guardian's blood. "Do you remember this?"
Knuckles widened his eyes as he recalled it. "That's the first shuriken that hit me," he realized aloud and gave a fearful glance to the reptile. "Are you saying that the anesthetic's been in me since the very beginning?"
"Indeed it has," Chameleon admitted as he neared the echidna with a hypodermic needle, filled to the brim with a green liquid. "While it was in small amounts, my special anesthetic has been in your body since the beginning. Sadly, I'll have to use it all up to put you down, so my next target will be a bit more difficult."
"A bit more difficult, eh?" the echidna asked in curiosity. He continued as Chameleon stuck him with the needle, "More difficult than me? Who is it? Who on Mobius to you think could possibly best me?"
"You see echidna, my next target is missing one thing that you have," the reptile explained as he filled the echidna with the liquid. "He doesn't have your overconfidence. You're too cocky and you put too much reliance in your strength. Take that away, and you're just a broken rodent. You have no form, and you are solitary, having little trust in what real friends you do have. You were no match for me from the very beginning."
The echidna glared at his captor, but was able to do little more than that as he fell into a dark sleep.
[Stop Music]
^/\^|v\/v
14:16 Mobius Time
When Silver finally arrived to the clearing where the Master Emerald's altar was, he was immediately skeptical. He surveyed the area and immediately noticed that things were clean… too clean. It wasn't that he thought Knuckles was uncleanly, it was just unnaturally clean. The grass seemed to have a sort of sheen to it that made it look orderly, and there weren't even any leaves blown in the area. He ignored this though since it wasn't too windy that day. Maybe Knuckles decided to do some spring cleaning… in autumn.
Whatever the case may be, he was clueless still when Knuckles hadn't come down to greet him. Well, an excuse for that would be simple. He and Knuckles never really hit it off as good friends. They never saw each other much, so maybe a greeting wasn't to be expected. Still though, he imagined that the echidna would at least come and inspect him to see if he was a threat to the Master Emerald… no, something was definitely wrong. "Hey Knuckles, are you here?" He shouted across the plane, hoping to get a response from the red echidna.
After a few moments of listening, he heard nothing and thought that he might've been asleep. He fell to sleep often while guarding the Master Emerald, even though his reaction timing was still perfect… even in his sleep. However, with no respect for the echidna's privacy and a strong resolve to get that Sol Emerald, he climbed the stairs to greet the guardian.
He was sorely disappointed when Knuckles wasn't even at his post, with the Master Emerald out in the open. Now he knew something was wrong. Knuckles never left his post; not even if he needed to go get food from the local market. He always chose to send others to the market for him. It would take a dying friend, a war, or Eggman to make Knuckles leave the Master Emerald, and none of those were currently happening.
With his resolve failed, he rushed away to find Tails. He would need to know about this.