"What is this place, Cream?" Miles asked as they came to an opening in the forest and arrived at the edge of the ruined castle they'd spotted earlier, "I didn't visit it the last time I came through your neck of the woods."
The rabbit followed him at a brisk, but not too rushed pace while they flew across a couple of gaps in the architecture. In just a few moments, they arrived at a blue wheel that was halfway lodged in the ground. It reminded the fox of the devices he'd seen in what he learned was called the Marble Garden, the area with the abundant fruiting plants and well-preserved ruins on Angel Island. With that in mind, he used a Spin Dash to turn it, and after a number of rotations too fast to count, the wall in front of them slid open and revealed a path of ledges they could jump up.
"This is Sylvania Castle," Cream answered, rising together with him and landing atop a looping structure, "there's a story that said the royals that once lived here had a responsibility to protect Never Lake from those who would harm Little Planet. It's not a well-known story, from what Mother told me."
"I'd have to agree with her, since it's the first time I've ever heard anything about it," the fox remarked as they flew to an identical loop. They shot over the gap past that one as well before he took a moment to look around. "How long ago was this place abandoned? Sure, it's not exactly in the best shape, but it's fairly intact."
The bunny scratched under her chin as she thought. "Well, I don't know when exactly, but our local historian said that it's probably been at least a few hundred years since anyone lived here."
Certainly a lot less time than Angel Island had been floating in the sky, or since the Emerald Archipelago split up, according to the legends of the Chaos Emeralds. But then, that made him wonder when the castle was first built, not to mention bring up several other questions. For instance, if it had been built with Little Planet in mind, then how did the settlers first come to learn about it and Never Lake? The mortal dream to control time and destiny had been around since the inception of Animals and Humans, but most myths surrounding that goal had nothing to do with the Time Stones or their resting place.
Or...did they? He supposed that was a question best saved for when they had the chance to properly answer it.
"Well, whatever they were doing here, we'll have to make our way through," he said, starting to move again, "so if there are any restless spirits around, please excuse us."
'And please don't show yourselves,' he added in his head, feeling a shiver run down his back.
Seeing that the path ahead went into a steep decline, he lightly twirled his two tails together to give himself a little extra boost in acceleration. Cream followed as they rocketed down the slope and entered another section of the castle, where it leveled out into a flooded passage. Thanks to their speed, they were able to run across the surface of the water and jump to a bit of land just above it. Without stopping, they continued through the rest of the ruined hall and vaulted up above a ledge just outside of the other end.
The pair ran uphill, going through an arch studded with vines and then Rolling into a couple of loops. Traveling into the next portion of the old stronghold, they made use of their flight to avoid a sudden drop into more water. They ran into a second of those blue wheels, with the way forward made available after activating it. A few more figurative steps brought them to a ledge overlooking one of the main buildings that made up the massive castle. From there, they slowly descended to the route below, running through a couple of hollowed out logs that served as makeshift bridges.
Upon coming out of the second one, Miles swore that he felt something clip him in the side, but it had been so brief and light, he figured he was imagining things. At least, that was until the colors in the environment seemed a bit more saturated all of a sudden. The fox peered down at himself to see that his body was wrapped in a starry white glow, and when he looked over at Cream and Cheese, they were much the same. But, rather than stop in fright from whatever was happening, Miles grabbed her hand and started to run faster.
"Miles, what's happening to us?" she asked him worriedly, the Chao with her letting out a concerned chirp as well.
"I don't know, Cream," he answered honestly, his feet continuing to build up speed, "but something inside of me is telling me we have to keep moving! Hold on!"
They barreled down the next hill, their forms soon enveloped to the point they were just vague shapes of themselves made of light. And after entering the next part of Sylvania Castle, just as they reached the bottom of the slope, there was a deafening boom as the trio appeared to blink out of existence.
In reality, Miles, Cream, and Cheese found themselves hurtling through a sparkling space that oscillated between pink, blue, green, and white. All of them were spinning so quickly that their arms were pinned to their sides and their legs were pressed together, unable to do more than squint into the vibrant void. It lasted for several more seconds before everything became too bright for them to see.
Once he regained his vision, Miles immediately realized that he was underwater. A big cloud of bubbles came out as he yelped in surprise at this development, then used his two tails to help swim to where there was the most light. A few seconds later, he broke the surface and gasped as he took in a big breath of air, glancing around once he steadied his breathing.
"Cream? Cheese?" he called out while he tread water, shuddering as he only now noticed it was a bit filmy, "where are you?"
"Over here, Miles!" he heard the bunny answer.
The fox spotted her and the Chao standing on an outcropping that was just barely above the flood. He sprang out of the tepid water and used his tails to fly on over, then gave them some space as he shook himself off.
"Well, that happened," he said while wringing his tails to get the last bit of moisture out, "are you two okay?"
"We're fine," Cream replied, though her expression indicated she only meant that in the physical sense.
And once he'd examined the area around them a bit more, the fox could see why she was disturbed. They were still in Sylvania Castle, but the place had become even more decrepit in the brief amount of time they'd passed through that strange dimension. The vegetation that had been coiling about the towers and crenelations had rotted away, which had crumbled away to a fraction of what they'd just been. The water he'd emerged from was a sickly green that appeared darker due to the ambient light in the passage. Through the holes in the castle walls, they could see that the sky was almost completely obscured by dark storm clouds, only a minimal amount of sunlight managing to shine through. The forested area was now composed of nothing more than gray-brown husks of tree trunks and soggy black soil with scarce patches of fungi.
"It's awfully chilly all of a sudden," he heard Cream mumble as she pulled out a long vermilion coat and buttoned herself up nice and snug. Cheese nestled itself between the two white pom poms on the front of it, and the bunny girl was quick to bundle it up more with her sleeves. "What...what happened, Miles?"
The teen rubbed at his arms a little bit as he gazed off in the direction they'd seen Little Planet go, discovering to his horror that it was nowhere to be found.
"I don't know, but I have a really bad feeling about this," he responded warily.
He fetched the Miles Electric from its respective pouch and brought up the communications tab. One after the other, he tried to reach out to his siblings, Sonic, Knuckles, and anyone else he'd given a comm or his contact frequency. All of them came up with the same fatal error, stating that the registrations were no longer in service. In order for that to happen, their devices would have to have either been deactivated or destroyed, and he knew that couldn't have been the case. He'd just done a tune-up the other day on the ones Gadget, Gizmo, and Sonic had, and he'd given the Chaotix brand new ones before they left Cocoa Island!
"Cream, Cheese," he said in an unsettled tone, "I think we somehow traveled through time and ended up in the future. And whatever happened, it turned out very badly..."
The commotion had certainly given Amy and Khal a big enough hint where the others had gone, but when they arrived close to the spot, the hedgehog was confused by what they found. There was a trail of dying flames that led back to a tall and thin yellow post with a long gray rod sticking out of the top of it. Attached to the end of it was a black sign with yellow letters that read "Future" in a cartoonish font. Even more bizarre, it was flipped around so that the text was backwards.
"We can't catch up to them now," the hyena said with a note of concern, "but even more troubling is the presence of this object."
Amy hopped off of his back and walked up to the sign to get a better look at it. "What is it, Khal?"
"A Time Post," he explained as he shifted back to his bipedal state. His pants, gloves and boots also reappeared, which momentarily bewildered the young hedgehog. "Anyone that touches one temporarily gains the ability to enter the Time Warp, which is the realm through which one can travel to the past or the future. You have to be capable of reaching and maintaining a certain speed to get in successfully."
The girl hummed at the explanation. "So someone fast like Miles could do it."
"And he did." Khal folded his muscular arms. "The problem is that these are supposed to exist solely on Little Planet, mainly due to the Time Stones. Fortunately, they only affect the local region they're in as far as space-time is concerned; don't ask me how that works, it just does." He let out a sigh. "But, if these have started appearing on Earth itself, then the situation has become truly dire."
Amy knew that she didn't have to be a genius to figure out what the consequences of time travel, limited though it was, could entail. But, if the means of accessing it had started to show up in the rest of the world...
"Does that mean the Time Stones aren't on Little Planet anymore?" she asked him.
"At the very least, not all of them are still there," Khal replied, looking ahead to the next stretch of the castle, "but even if only one made it to Earth, that still has potential to bring about catastrophe."
The hedgehog girl puffed out her cheeks and raised her fists in a spirited manner. "Well, I like the world the way it is! And I bet Miles has already figured it all out and is thinking of a way to save the day, because he's smart like that! Still, we have to help him and Cream!"
"Agreed," the hyena concurred, once again returning to his more feral, quadrupedal form, "if we can get to an inactivated Future Post, we might be able to follow them. We could also attempt to locate a Past Post and try to find the Time Stone ourselves. In either case, we could return with them to the present, though the second option would be easier."
"Then let's go with that!" Amy exclaimed as she once again hopped aboard the spotted guy's back. A dreamy look briefly crossed her eyes. "Oh, imagine how beautiful this place used to be. If that's what we get to see when we go back in time, I can hardly wait!"
Khal simply grunted, neither openly liking nor disliking the idea. He hunched down like before, then dashed into the flooded passage ahead with the hoglet holding on tight. As fast as they were, they'd left a little too late to escape the notice of three pairs of eyes from overhead.
"Those two seemed really weird," Carrotia commented in a sing-song tone, "do you think they're the foxy's friends?"
"We don't got time to be chasing after some little girl and her bodyguard," Bearenger growled, "that two-tailed runt's gotta be around here somewhere!"
Focke-Wulf chuckled and started to dip towards the tunnel the two Animals below had gone into. "I think you're onto something there, 'Tia." His manic grin split even wider. "Let me follow Pinky and Spots, see if they know where our dear old boy is. And if not?" The wolf's giggles darkened as he audibly popped the kinks in his neck. "At least I don't have to go far to file a complaint!"
He didn't wait for them to give their approval, not that he needed it, nor did they care enough. Bearenger got easily ticked, but with a target to focus that rage on, at least it wouldn't come his way. And Carrotia was almost always in her own little world, so it would probably slip her mind at some point that he separated from them, at least until he got back.
The blue wolf sped down the slope on his board, then held tight to the front of it as he dove into the water at the bottom. A cloud of bubbles billowed out of the thrusters in the back, propelling him through the flooded passage faster than he could hope to swim on his own. Several vaguely humanoid reliefs revealed themselves to be traps and fired upon him, but the crazed lupine rider was too unpredictable for them to hit. This was already proving a lot more fun than just flying along like he had been a few minutes ago.
Focke-Wulf navigated the dangers and the labyrinthine corridors until he could finally burst out of the water and skim across the surface while he caught his breath. There was a point where he briefly found himself outside of the castle walls, and it was there that he saw the two from earlier. He cackled and cranked up the acceleration, blasting across the area towards the next section of the ruins that the hyena and the hedgehog had just entered into. The former of the two seemed to notice him, as he suddenly plunged into the depths along with the girl, who hadn't been so prepared. Rather than pursue, the wolf pulled his board up and decided to take the high path, briefly exiting the structure once more. The two surfaced from the pool he found there, and a part of him reveled in the fright of the girl when she spotted him.
"Khal, there's some weirdo following us!" Amy cried out.
"I know," he told her as he carried on, soon leaping from ledge to ledge deeper into the catacombs, "I'm going to try and lose him."
Once they reached the bottom of the shaft they'd gone down, Khal snapped to his upright self and let Amy piggyback on his shoulders. No sooner had they done so when one of the walls burst open, a cascade of water rushing into the passage. With each pump of his strong legs, and the grip of his claws, the hyena helped them keep ahead of the impending flood by climbing the walls and jumping up to various overhangs. In time, they exited the top of a hollowed out fortification, landing on a grass-covered rooftop with a few flower patches. And to their luck, close to the end of the path, they saw an identical signpost to the one they found earlier, only with "Past" written on it, and with the letters in a proper left-to-right order.
Amy felt excitement well up in her. They would get to see Sylvania Castle back when it was in its prime, and possibly meet people of the past. She wondered for a moment if that would mess anything up, but she then figured that as long as they change anything too much, it would turn out okay. And once they found the Time Stone in the region, they could bring everyone back to the present. With all of them working together, they'd surely have no trouble bringing down whoever or whatever was responsible for the mess in the first place.
"Hey now, what's the hurry?" came an unstable voice from behind them, followed by an equally deranged laugh, "I just have some questions for you-hew-hoo!"
The girl's confidence took a bit of a dip at that, slowly turning around to see the red-nosed wolf from before, now hovering only a couple meters away from them. His smile was just as jagged as her spotted acquaintance, but somehow, his didn't make her feel nearly as uncomfortable as this guy was managing to.
"You sure are persistent," Khal remarked as he readjusted his footing to face the wolf, "ask, then, so we can be on our way."
Focke-Wulf snickered, straddling the tip of his board and holding it with one hand while he propped his other elbow against his lap, leaning one cheek against his fist.
"I'm looking for a fox," he explained, raising his ride to about one-and-one-third meters off the ground, "about ye high, with blue eyes, and he has white, yellow, and brown fur. Sounds pretty plain, right?" He stuck out two fingers from his fist and let them slide up his grinning face. "Except for the two tails, which he can fly with. Sounds crazy, but trust me, I know what's crazy!" The wolf giggled in a way that reminded the hyena of how his kind would, which was a little unnerving. "Have you seen anyone like that?"
Khal knew better than to give this guy what he wanted. After all, he'd been eavesdropping on their group when they'd quite vocally expressed their desire to make Miles suffer. And telling him the truth about the fox's whereabouts was even more dangerous, since a Past Post was right there. If he were so inclined, this kooky wolf could use it with the aid of that device, given how easily he was able to keep up with them.
However, while he knew of the wiser and more logical approach, his young charge was not so experienced.
"He's my friend!" Amy proclaimed boldly, "and I don't think he'd like how you're being all creepy, following us like that!"
Focke-Wulf cackled in delight, swinging his legs up so that he was standing upright on his board again. "Oh ho, so he's your friend? How swell to hear!" His laughter suddenly dropped in pitch as his eyes narrowed and his permanent grin widened. "That means he'll come running if you get yourself into trouble, doesn't it?"
Now the hedgehog was starting to get frightened. This guy obviously knew who Miles was, given the description he'd laid out. The fact that he wasn't intimidated by the threat of the fox coming to her rescue said a lot about him. Was he formidable enough to take on the hero himself, or was he just so crazy that he was incapable of being afraid? Given his behavior so far, she was leaning towards it being the latter, though it made the wolf no less disturbing.
"We have no personal beef with you, wolf," Khal growled at him.
Focke-Wulf cocked his head, eyes crossed as they focused on the hyena. "Doesn't matter to me, Spots. If you two are pals with the two-tail, that's good enough for me!" He rolled his fists together and cracked his knuckles, chuckling maliciously as his tongue swept across his fangs. "I've been thirsty for a good, bloody fight all day, and if fox boy is gonna make me wait, then you'll have to satisfy me until he shows up!"
"We don't have time for this," the hyena decided, quickly turning around and starting to run, "close your eyes and hold on as tight as you can, Amy!"
Khal went into a full-on gallop, heading straight for the Past Post and smacking the edge of the sign with his flank. Excited to resume the chase, Focke-Wulf engaged his board's booster and rocketed forward as twin columns of blue fire spewed from the rear thrusters. They had pulled ahead at first, but he was soon bearing down on them, one hand outstretched for them. Stars began trailing from the hyena, and soon both he and Amy were wrapped in prismatic light. Strange as it was, the wolf was unphased by the light show and kept up the pace, determined to catch them and have some fun.
He laughed as he felt his fingers grasp the back of the girl's shirt, and was even more satisfied when she peered back at him with fear in those green eyes. Amy let out a scream right as everything went white, her cry overpowered by the boom that resulted from all three of them entering the Time Warp.
'What could have happened to make the future like this?' Miles wondered as he and Cream touched down on dry land, doing their best to avoid the grimy water, 'and how far into the future did we go?'
The air was chilly and thin, but still breathable, and there were some signs of life. The castle had remained standing, even if there was less than half of what had just been there. As for the sun and the clouds, it could have just been a bad winter, but with the environment in the state it was, it might have been something far worse. Perhaps some kind of global cooling event, or another sort of phenomenon? In any case, with everything he could observe, the fox estimated that they had jumped at least a couple of centuries forward, if not even further.
'We can figure that out later,' he told himself internally, 'we need to find a way back to the present first.'
The three of them ascended to an outcropping where they found two halves of a stone bridge teetering on what was left of their foundations. Miles went first, placing his weight on the side he was approaching from so that it started to tilt down and make the rest rise up. As it did, he went into a Spin Dash and cleared the end of it like a ramp, landing on more secure footing once he was past the bridge. The stone swung back and clipped the other half, causing them both to crash and tumble into the water below, leaving Cream and Cheese with no choice but to fly over to the fox. They went on to find a broad column blocking their path, which the older teen was able to knock over easily enough with a good smack from the Pikkon Hammer.
Part of the roof they were on collapsed, nearly causing them to fall into the nasty flood below, but the trio were able to react quickly enough to avoid that. Past that, a more significant barrier stood in their way, one that wouldn't take a normal Spin Dash to overcome. Miles reached into his utility belt to retrieve the cyan Chaos Emerald, only to stop when he remembered that he'd left it behind with his adopted father. However, he remembered that even without one of the smaller gems, and even when he was far from the Master Emerald, Knuckles was able to use Chaos Energy-based techniques. It shouldn't be too hard to call on his own reserves for something like this, right?
Miles searched himself for that same sensation he got whenever he called upon his charm. It took a little longer than it would have if he'd brought it with him, but sure enough, he felt power welling up within him. Cream and Cheese briefly saw his eyes take on a crackling electric blue glow, then watched as he went into another Spin Dash, this one coated in a cyan aura. With a mighty burst of speed, the amber sphere barreled into the thick stone wall, smashing through it like it was made of paper. He continued rolling over several gaps until he forced himself to stop, letting the others catch up before they went on.
They flew upward and came to another of those loops, though it clearly wasn't safe enough to travel through the curve. Cream proved this when even her dainty weight caused the stone to buckle and give way, forcing her to jump to the next bridge across the swampy chasm. When that, too, collapsed beneath her, Miles was there to catch her and carry them both to the nearest bit of stable ground.
"It used to be so beautiful, and now it's all...dead and cold," the rabbit whimpered, a bit saddened at the state of the region's future, "I hope we can get home soon, Miles."
"Me too, Cream," he said, feeling the melancholic atmosphere starting to seep into him as well, "just keep your eyes open for anything out of place."
As though he'd been tempting fate with that bit of advice, something strange appeared the moment they stepped into a long and narrow hall. Torches were lit on both sides, though with almost malevolent purple flames, and despite how bright they appeared to be, they didn't cast much light. Behind them, a low and dull whump rang in their ears, which confused the bunny girl and the Chao. The fox, on the other hand, felt his blood freeze, as the noise was all too familiar to him after his latest adventure.
Miles nervously turned around to face the source, and his stomach dropped. A ghost much like the ones he'd seen in the Sandopolis pyramid was floating there, but it was taller and wider, giving it a more humanoid appearance. The spikes on its head were also more dangerous and menacing, and those coal black eyes certainly didn't look any friendlier than the rest.
"Chao!" Cheese squealed in fright, quickly ducking behind Cream's head.
"It's okay, Cheese, Miles will protect us," she told her little friend, though she didn't sound very confident herself, "he can fight off that mean ghost, right?"
Instead of seeing the fox bravely stepping in between them and the ghost, she instead saw his pupils shrunken to pinpricks. He promptly turned around and grabbed her in both arms, putting her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. Miles then reached up and tucked Cheese under his other arm, who momentarily protested at being handled this way.
"Nope, we're running!" he yelled as he took off faster than Cream had yet seen him run.
The spirit was in hot pursuit, but with Miles using his two tails, a gap soon formed between them. Seeing that the path sloped down a good way, he tucked his friends in close and went into a Rolling Attack, letting the momentum carry them until they hit an upward curve. They went flying up several tens of meters, where the fox uncurled and flew to the closest outcropping he could find. Not far beyond the holes in the structure, he could see that they were coming close to the other end of Sylvania Castle, though what awaited them beyond the borders was anyone's guess.
He wasn't given long to ponder, feeling his fur spike up as the ghost reappeared in front of him. It charged forward at him, but Miles managed to dodge to the side, then kept on hoofing it down the hall with his friends in tow. They dropped down a series of access shafts, maneuvering out of the way whenever the spook reemerged and attacked again. It may have looked a little different from the ones he recalled, but the fox could tell that it was just as persistent, if not more.
Eventually, they came to a more open area with a pair of stone loops, which they used to build up speed so they could make it over the next gap in the rooftops. When they glanced back to see if the ghost was still after them, they saw that it wasn't there. The trio sat still for a few minutes, waiting and watching for anything that might jump out at them. But when nothing did so, they relaxed their guard and decided on a quick breather.
"Ugh, that sucked," Miles groaned, slapping one palm against his face in embarrassment, "I'm sorry you had to see that, Cream."
The bunny girl shook her head dismissively. "It's okay, Miles, I won't judge. Everyone is afraid of something, after all, and you managed to get us away from it. It was a little bit of a rough ride, but I'm okay."
"Oh, well, I'm glad you're not hurt," the fox mumbled, rubbing the back of his head bashfully.
She did let out a small giggle, however. "I'm just a little surprised that with everything you've gone up against, you have a fear of ghosts."
"Hey, Gad and Giselle scared me really badly when I was a young kit!" he barked defensively, turning his eyes away, "and I still haven't fully gotten over it..."
"Aww, I'm sorry." She took one of his hands in both of her own, giving it a squeeze. "I hope I didn't offend you."
Miles appreciated what she was doing, but it still made him feel all the more abashed. "No, it's just...I hate it. I wish I wasn't afraid of ghosts when I've faced many things that are more terrifying, you know?"
Cream wasn't really sure what to say, since she didn't quite understand his feelings. She'd never been in that position herself, but at least she could be empathetic.
"Well, you managed to overcome them," she said in a supportive tone, "so I believe that you can get through this phobia, too." She tilted her head curiously. "Have you ever been afraid of something else like you are with ghosts, Miles?"
The fox didn't answer her at first, simply bringing them both to stand. He gestured to keep on moving, using his two tails to fly over a rickety bridge rather than chance it, while she did the same with her ears.
"I used to be astraphobic," Miles admitted, rubbing his arms together a bit to stave off the chill, "I was terrified of thunder and lightning, from the time I was very young until I was about eleven years old." His ears drooped. "There's...a lot of emotional baggage attached to that former fear, and it still bothers me even though I'm no longer afraid of thunder and lightning."
Cream nodded, wondering to herself what lingered even after getting over that fear. "I won't ask out of respect, but I do believe if you were able to come to terms with that, you can beat your fear of ghosts."
"Thanks, Cream," he replied kindly, flashing her an appreciative smile, "I feel a little better. Now, let's use that positive attitude to find a way back!"
The two of them, plus Cheese, nodded to one another, then made the end of their trek through Sylvania Castle. They passed over another swampy area before coming to a hallway with more of the same ominous torches. They made their way through as quickly as possible, hurrying across a crumbling bridge over a chasm into the acrid depths. When given the choice to go along a rooftop or traverse an enclosed stretch, the group went with the former option, not wanting to deal with any more ghosts.
Soon, after making their way through one last tunnel and leaping from the top of a tower, they crossed one final gap and left the mired area. They were finally glad to be on solid ground again, only to be immediately put off by how hard it felt despite its mushy appearance. If the soil wasn't visible beneath them, they would have sworn they were walking on brittle glass from how loudly it crunched and groaned beneath their feet. How anything could grow in such ground was a mystery. Not even a hundred meters away from the site, however, the ground began to rumble behind them. Miles put himself between Cream and whatever was coming, both fists clenched and his tails poised to take flight at any moment. Dark ice erupted from the land, the earth splitting open and bone white dust swirling up along with it. A horrid cacophony like a hundred voices screaming in unison assaulted their ears, causing the trio to cover their ears. The roar of a mighty blizzard followed, and a black-gray cloud formed where the ice broke away, and it began to meld with the ashes into a vague shape. After several more seconds, the fog-enveloped figure crashed to the ground with a thunderous boom, then rose up to a height that gave the teen pause.
Leering down at them was the face of a dragon, or rather, some horrible facsimile of one. Its blackish-blue head was bigger than both of them put together, sporting numerous broad and jagged frills and fins, a single icy horn that curved near the very tip, a lower jaw studded with many spiky icicles of varying size, and two piercing red eyes with a yellow-white tinge where the pupils would be. It was all attached to a long, serpentine body that appeared to be coming from the earth itself, its form a wicked amalgamation of scales, bone, and frost. The abomination unhinged its jaw, showing off that its maw was much like its eyes, save for the rows upon rows of mismatched and nightmarish teeth that were more akin to knives, needles, and swords in appearance.
"You know, I've seen a lot of strange and unusual things in my short life," Miles remarked as he stared the thing down, "but this just about beats all of them."
The frost dragon reared itself back and struck at them like a snake, the group thankfully scattering before it came close to hitting them. It proceeded to gnash at the fox with its teeth, but despite how surprisingly quick it was for its size, the teen was a smaller, more agile target, and was able to keep out of reach. He leapt high just as its jaws snapped shut and pulled out the Pikkon Hammer mid-jump, coming down on the ridge of its snout with the weapon. His arms shook and ached from delivering the blow, making him realize how hard the scales were. But the dragon reeled momentarily as well, letting out a hiss that sounded like ice floes grinding together. It lunged in again, only to eat a handful of mini bombs that the fox had tossed from one of his pouches. Chunks of the beast were blown off by the explosions, but it soon willed more ice and soil to replace what it lost.
Seeing that his tools and weapons weren't going to be enough to do the job, Miles began trying to call upon more of his latent Chaos Energy. While it didn't come as readily without an Emerald on hand, the seriousness of the situation worked as a good enough substitute. The ends of his two tails shimmered in the faint sunlight like they were steel, and with a pin-point Double Tail Attack, he cleaved several of its frills off, as well as a significant chunk of its neck. The dragon writhed and rumbled, its vocalizations like a booming avalanche, and while it did heal these injuries as well, Miles noticed it took significantly longer to do so.
'A weakness to Chaos Energy?' he theorized, lighting up one hand with more of that cyan glow, 'let's see how you like what I can do with it!'
The fox stuck that same glove forward with its palm up, the faint shape of an arm cannon forming around it. When the drake came in low for a chomp, he let loose a concentrated blast that went sailing through the back of its mouth and out the other side, causing it to slam into the soil. But to the fox's surprise, it kept going, burrowing into the hard, dead dirt like it was mud. Not wanting to give away his position in the event it could sense tremors in the earth, Miles took to the air and kept his hammer at the ready.
"Fly up, guys!" he called over to his friends, "it might get confused if we're not on the ground!"
The rabbit and the Chao both heeded his advice, using their respective means to ascend several meters into the air. Miles' assessment of the beast's actions turned out to be correct, as after several seconds, it resurfaced from the black soil. Seeing his chance to strike, the fox channeled more of his power into the Pikkon Hammer and came down on its head as hard as his arm could manage. It screeched as a spider web of cracks formed in its head, and scant seconds later, it shattered into thousands of pieces. The remainder of its body fell limp to the ground, crumbling into nothing more than the ashes and frost that had initially composed it.
Miles panted a bit as he came back down and collected himself, searching around to see if the threat was really over. As if to taunt him, two more of the same creature manifested from the earth, both letting out a low roar at the trio.
'Give me a break,' he thought with much exasperation, 'I just wanted a nice little vacation during a friend's birthday...'
When Amy could see again, she found herself starry-eyed at the sight that awaited her. They were within Sylvania Castle's main courtyard, with the entire place wholly intact and more colossal than in any storybook she'd read about it. The crenelations were decorated with royal purple shield emblems that bore a lion's head on them. Torches were lit in many different sections to offset the dwindling light from the now fading day. The forest was lively and almost entirely wild, aside from the land cleared for the castle, with no signs of any rampant flooding. A contingent of guards and soldiers in iron plate and chain mail were performing sweeps of the perimeter, now obviously alerted to her sudden entrance along with Khal and that one stranger.
Speaking of said stranger, Focke-Wulf had lost his grip on his quarry and was holding his head as he recovered from the daze of the Time Warp. The surroundings were strange and different from what he'd just seen, but his primary concern was the hedgehog girl and the hyena. Fortunately for him, they weren't far away, but soon, he could see that he had more than just those two to contend with.
Several armored troops bearing swords, shields, spears, and a few with bows and arrows surrounded the group, their weapons at the ready and trained on the intruders. The apparent captain, a blue-eyed skunk, drew out a hand crossbow and aimed it at the board-riding wolf. Focke-Wulf didn't flinch at the action, but rather, his grin merely widened.
"Hold, you suspicious lot!" he demanded, "dismount the beast and cease your witchcraft!"
Amy meekly put her hands up in surrender, while Khal pretended to be little more than her beast of burden, letting her down on the ground. Focke-Wulf, though, wasn't so compliant. His laughter suddenly deepened, and his seemingly eternal grin almost audibly stretched from ear to ear. For the girl, this was even more disturbing than what she'd already seen from him so far.
"Nice toys, but isn't it a little early for the Ren Fest, Musko?" he asked facetiously, snickering as he hovered closer to the guards without a hint of fear, causing them to reflexively take a step back. The leader fired a bolt his way, which he swiftly deflected with the edge of his board. "Oh ho, be careful where you're aiming that thing!"
Irritated with this brazen behavior, the knight captain reloaded and once more aimed his hand crossbow at the crazed wolf. The moment his finger started to squeeze at the release, the giggling maniac jetted forth and grabbed the skunk's wrist. The sudden and violent jerking motion resulted in a horrible snap that caused the mephit to cry out in pain and reflexively press down on the crossbow's trigger. The poor fellow realized too late that the bolt he'd prepared was aimed right at one eye due to the wolf's action. Khal raised a paw to shield Amy's eyes, but he couldn't block out the sickening thunk from her ears. The skunk fell slack in Focke-Wulf's grip, who then let him fall to the ground, a pool of crimson forming beneath his shuddering body, which soon stopped moving entirely.
"You might put someone's eye out!" Focke-Wulf quipped, howling with depraved laughter.
Though the rest of the knights were aghast at the untimely demise of their commanding officer, they quickly changed it to righteous fury. The whole squad rushed at the wolf, ready to make him pay for his murderous defiance. This had the benefit of taking their attention away from Khal and Amy, who used the opportunity to sneak away from the impending battle. And even more fortunately, it seemed as though Focke-Wulf hadn't noticed them attempting to slink off, likely caught up in the thrill of having a chance to sate his blood lust.
The pair of them busted through a large set of double doors that led them through the catacombs under the castle. They rushed on by some confused guards as they navigated the winding passages, eventually coming out of the top of one of the small towers around the stronghold. Crossing over the bridge, the two heard several bells ringing throughout the area, alerting everyone to the presence of the three uninvited guests. Not wanting to get caught up in any more trouble, they made haste into the next section of the castle and charged up the stairs.
A trio of soldiers met them near the top, ready to apprehend them with force if necessary. Khal mumbled a quick apology, both to Amy and the fellows just doing their duty, as he shrugged his passenger off and transformed into his bipedal state. This startled the superstitious guards just long enough for him to weave in and slam a fist into the unprotected neck of a raccoon, dropping him instantly. A jaguar swung at him with a short sword, only to get caught in the hyena's jaws by the flat side. Khal promptly snapped it, then grabbed the feline's head and rammed his face into a rising knee, leaving him down for the count. The last of them, a caiman, tried his luck in smashing the hyena's face in with a mace. His wrist was twisted hard enough to make him drop the weapon, then he received a nearly skull-cracking headbutt from the spotted mammal that made him see stars and promptly conk out.
With that over, Khal swiped the third fellow's weapon and handed it over to Amy. When she looked up at him in confusion, he shrugged his shoulders and gestured a little more insistently.
"Take it for when that wolf comes back," he told her, "because I have a feeling he will be after us again before long. And those guards here won't be friendly when trying to apprehend us, I hate to say."
The prospect of that creep catching up to them again was motivation enough for the girl to accept the mace, cradling it in both hands. She gave it a few experimental swings like a hammer, which was somewhat fitting given that it was relatively large for her size and age. It didn't seem to cause her any issues, though, whether it be the weight or the length, which her companion thought was a good sign.
The two of them carried on, with Khal choosing to forgo shifting back to his feral state due to the amount of resistance they would likely face. He was soon proven right when they were forced to bust open another set of doors, the hyena clothes-lining a pair of soldiers that were on the other side. He swiftly knocked the wind out of each of them, while a third one tried to get a hit in. Khal slipped to the side and was about to retaliate, but Amy beat him to the punch, leaping up high so she could clock the guy's helmet with her mace. He gave a nod of approval as the warrior fell to the ground unconscious, letting them continue.
After repeating this a couple more times, the two arrived outside again, where they ducked behind some greenery to stay out of sight. A few handfuls of troops rushed past their hiding place to where they had come from, completely ignorant of the fact two of the trespassers were right there. Once the coast was clear, they made a dash for the other side, sticking to the high road of bridges and rooftop runs across the crenelations. This kept up until they were left with no choice but to enter the next tower.
While they ventured onward, Focke-Wulf faced down each and every fighter that came his way. A pheasant charged him with a spear, which he easily avoided by kicking off his board, and while he was still airborne, slashed the guy across the jugular with his sharp black claws sticking out from his glove. The avian warrior gargled wetly and collapsed in a heap, leaving the wolf free to dive down and scoop up the weapon from its expired owner. He flipped it around to block an oncoming sword swing from a horse, then shrugged him off and subsequently stabbed the equine's blade hand. The wolf left the spear in place as he snatched the sword his foe was forced to drop, then drove its tip into a gap in the guy's chest plate, proceeding to twist it with a terrible schluck.
The guard bled out within seconds, and the wolf unceremoniously shoved him off of his own sword. Seeing how dangerous their foe was turning out to be, the other knights were hesitant to engage him like their fallen brethren had done. Focke-Wulf could only laugh even more at their dampened spirits.
"Come on, fellas, isn't this fun?" he proclaimed, "it's a regular corpse party, so live it up a little, just go nuts!"
He traced one claw along the sharp edge of the sword while he ran his tongue over the blunt side to lick off the blood of its previous owner, drawing looks of disgust. Focke-Wulf then grabbed the hilt with both hands and held the sword out to one side as his feet dug into his hoverboard. He shut his eyes and chuckled, his ride beginning to spin like a top, going slowly at first, but soon picking up the pace to where he was little more than a blur. The expressions on those around shifted to horror as they realized what wielding such a weapon at that velocity was capable of.
"After all, you can't spell 'slaughter' without 'laughter'!" he cackled as he shot towards the crowd, "slice and dice, curry and rice! All I'm missing is the meat, so it's a good thing there's plenty to go around right here! Haa-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
The screams that rang throughout the courtyard brought chills to those that weren't directly in the path of the carnage, although they soon joined the bloodcurdling choir. It didn't matter how thick their armor was when his speed could let him cleave through it like butter. When all the noise had stopped, Focke-Wulf brought himself to a stop and opened his eyes, which crossed for a good short while due to the dizziness from it all. But when he could see straight again, he was rather happy with what he found.
"See what a little red paint can do for all this green? It's looking more like Christmas already!" he yipped to no one in particular, hovering over to some bushes with remnants of his work, "my, these ornaments really help bring out that holiday spirit. And 'Tia says I don't have a talent for decoration! Hah, shows what that air-headed head case knows." He tapped at his chin with his claws as he peered about, spreading a bit of blood on his fleshy muzzle. "Now where did those two run off to?"
With a shrug, he tossed the sword to the side and rocketed forward on his board in the direction that the knights had been coming from. The wolf was pleased to see that many of the obstacles had already been taken care of, passing over unconscious bodies and flying through open doorways. He brought one hand close to his nose and took in a deep whiff. Beneath the acrid stench of blood and gore, he could pick out that hedgehog girl's scent, and it was telling him he was headed in the right direction.
"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Amy wondered as she followed Khal into a passage that seemed to dip under the moat on the back side of the castle, "how do you know the Time Stone is even here in the past?"
The hyena had one hand pressed to his forehead, keeping his eyes half-lidded as he seemed to aimlessly search around. "Long-term exposure to their energy made me sensitive to it, and it pervades any region they're in. It grew stronger once we arrived here, even more so after we got this far and started going down these stairs."
The girl looked at him funny, but said nothing. After all, Miles had told her something similar about that Emerald he liked to carry around. If it was similar enough in that regard, then she supposed she could trust him on this.
It was kind of funny when she really considered it. This was the sort of guy that, as far as appearance, would set off a lot of red flags, or at least that's what her mom told her. But Khal hadn't bothered her beyond keeping her out of harm's way, which he'd done a pretty good job of so far. There was also the fact that he'd offered to essentially be her horse so that she could catch up with her friends. That was pretty weird, but she hadn't sensed anything malicious from him, and even now, she still couldn't discern any negativity from his intentions. Quite the opposite, really, and she liked to think that she was a good judge of character.
'Now that I think about it,' she wondered, 'Mom's fortune did say something about meeting a 'benevolent stranger' the next time I went out into the world. Maybe Khal is the one she means, like how Miles turned out to be the guy in her other prediction!"
Before long, they arrived at a huge open space with a tall iron door that was barred, chained, and locked shut with more security measures than the hoglet had ever seen. Her companion strode up to the imposing gate and placed his free hand on it, nodding confidently after a few seconds. It appeared that their target was on the other side of that hunk of cold metal. Amy wondered how they were possibly going to get it open, or even just get past it period, but Khal didn't seem to be worried in the slightest.
He snapped one hand to the side as if reaching for a weapon, and in a flash of swirling silver light, a steel gray khopesh with a black and silver handle and electrum inlay manifested in his grasp. With one quick motion, he slashed the sharp side of the curved blade through the links of the thick chains closest to the frame of the door, letting them clang and clatter noisily to the stony ground. With his other arm, he hefted the horizontal bar out of its holding prongs and shoved it to one side, then grabbed hold of one of the huge handles on the door itself. Khal grunted as he pulled with notable effort, hearing the door creak in protest. But no matter how much he tried, even after digging his heels into the ground, it simply wouldn't budge any further than a few centimeters before a thud rang out.
"Locked up tight," he mused as he dismissing his weapon in the same manner he'd summoned it, then popped his neck, "I might not have a key, but I do have plenty of time to spare."
Khal put his hands together and started to rub the palms together slowly, mumbling in a language that Amy couldn't compare to any she'd heard or read. The same gray luminescence that preceded his khopesh appearing began to light up the hyena's paws, growing more intense until their shape was vague beneath the shimmering. With a grunt, he spread his arms wide and slapped his hands onto the iron, moving them in broad semi circles around the center of the door. Each time his hands touched at the top and bottom points, the places they brushed against grew rustier and more worn down, until there was a solid red-brown ring surrounding an otherwise untouched patch that included the handle he'd tried before. With a comparatively effortless yank, he tore the chunk of metal clean from the border he'd created and chucked it away.
'Well, I guess that works,' Amy thought, having expected an approach with more finesse.
She helped herself inside first, and it became apparent why the Time Stone would be here. It was none other than the royal treasury, with chests, coffers, and caskets of gold, silver, and copper coins, jewelry and gemstones. Stone-studded weapons and armor, pure silk tapestries with real gold embroidery, and paintings of what she assumed were the previous lords and ladies of Sylvania. Sitting at the center of it all on a white marble pedestal was a green stone in a half dutch rose cut that was roughly the size of a baseball. Even though it had been quite some time since she had last seen them, the young hedgehog recognized that crystal straight away.
"You were right! One of the Time Stones is here!" she exclaimed, pointing it out for her companion to see.
Khal stepped in after her and wasted no time in running over to grab the gem. "Let's hurry back to the present and then bring your friends home from the future." He was ready to use the gem's powers, only to frown and hold off on doing so. "Much as I wish we could leave him stranded, we can't abandon that wolf here."
"Aww, Spots, I'm touched!" came a grating giggle he'd grown more familiar with than he'd ever care to.
Khal turned back to see Focke-Wulf hover into the chamber, straddling his board like he had been when he first ran into them. The only difference this time was that he had splotches of blood staining his blue fur, along with what he assumed were small bits of viscera, and he reeked of the stench of both. The smile on his muzzle, malicious yet content, was all the hyena needed to know what had happened to those that had tried to apprehend him.
'Yet another tragedy to avert once all seven Stones are gathered,' he thought glumly, 'for now, all we can do is move on, then dispose of this demon in a wolf's guise the first chance I get.'
"It's not for your sake," he growled at the rider, "it's so you can't kill anyone else here."
The wolf kicked his feet as he hummed in much the same way that he laughed. "Ah well. It was fun while it lasted, but not at all challenging." He laid on his back and folded his arms behind his head. "So hurry up and use your weird hyena magic to make it so I can fight the fox boy!"
Khal ignored the barbs in the wolf's words, then aimed the green Stone up near the top of the treasury. The core of it lit up, the radiance spreading throughout the whole of the gem until it condensed in the center. A beam of light shot forth from the tip, stopping at an invisible "wall" just before it reached the ceiling of the chamber and spreading out from there. A rift in space with a white border opened to about the diameter of a typical car, the shifting colors of the Time Warp visible on the other side. Focke-Wulf took that as his cue to get going, firing up his board's thrusters and blasting off into the portal.
"Come on!" Amy exclaimed in a rush as she hopped up to hold onto his shoulders, "let's go help Miles and Cream before that guy causes any more trouble!"
On that, they were in agreement. The hyena morphed into his quadrupedal state, taking the green Time Stone into his maw and bracing his haunches. With a great leap, he hurtled himself and his passenger back into the Time Warp, bound for the present time.
Miles panted and kept his guard up even as the last of those creatures crumbled into frozen dust. He glanced back at Cream and Cheese, offering them as nice of a smile as he could manage after such exertion.
"Are you guys alright?" he asked tiredly.
The rabbit and the Chao nodded, keeping close to him both for safety and warmth. "Cheese and I are okay, yes. That was pretty scary, Miles, but you managed to keep us safe, so thank you!"
"I-it's no problem," he replied modestly, rubbing at the back of his head as he felt his cheeks heat up. He cleared his throat and put on a more serious face. "Though maybe you should save the thanks for when I actually find us a way back."
As if to answer their prayers, a swirling vortex tore a space open but a few meters away. Given the sudden convenience, Miles was suspicious of this development, but Cream was willing to throw caution to the wind. Before he could get a word out, she shouted for him to follow and ran right on through, leaving him with one hand outstretched ineffectively. He supposed he couldn't blame her, though; there were many places that would be better to frequent than this cold, arid wasteland.
"Wait for me!" he shouted as he hurried after them.
Once again, they found themselves flying through the vibrant tunnel that had brought them to the future, and before long, they came out the other side. All three were relieved to see that they had arrived back in the present, though the afternoon was already growing long. Miles scanned about to see if anyone or anything was nearby, if only to determine where this gateway had spawned from. He was cut off by a pink blur tackling him and knocking him to the ground in a hug, knocking the wind out of him.
"Yay, they're okay!" a familiar voice rang in his ears.
The fox did a double take as he realized who it was that had knocked him flat. "Amy?"
"What are you doing here?" Cream demanded in a more stern voice than Miles had ever heard her use, "I told you the trip between Miles and I was a private affair."
The hedgehog girl got up off of the older teen and gave the rabbit a worried expression. "Well, I wanted to do my own reading, so I borrowed Mom's deck of cards. After that, I thought it'd be neat to see what I'd come up with for the two of you." She hesitated for a moment. "The cards said that both of you would face danger, and I didn't want to just sit around, so I came after the two of you." The hedgehog perked up and then gestured to a tall and strong spotted hyena that they'd only now noticed, who bobbed his head in a light nod. "Then I met Khal here, and he helped me catch up with you guys. Oh, and he also brought you both back from the future, thanks to the Time Stone."
Khal held up the green gem for them to see, which stunned both Miles and Cream. The former of the two held up his hands in a halting motion, then ran one through his bangs.
"Okay, a lot is happening," he said calmly, taking in a deep breath, "and has happened, and I've not quite processed everything yet. I need a moment here, and then we can discuss things in more detail."
His ears stood tall as crazed cackling reached them, one that he hadn't heard in a few years. Miles wheeled about to see none other than Focke-Wulf hovering a handful of meters away atop some sort of board that matched his gloves and boots.
"Remember me, kiddo?" he asked the fox as he got up to stand tall on his ride, cracking his knuckles.
The younger canid immediately raised his fists and fixed an aggressive glare on the older one. "Hard to forget someone like you, FW."
"How that warms the cockles of my heart," the wolf snickered in an almost sarcastic tone, clasping his hands together, "but you know what will make me feel even fuzzier inside?" He audibly grinded his teeth as he grinned from ear to ear. "Getting you back for what you did to me, 'Tia, and Bearenger!"
So, that's what this was about, was it? Miles simply shook his head and prepared to fight against another of his old nemeses, a part of him wondering where the other two members of the group were. He saw Khal about to step in to aid him, but he shot the hyena a look that silently conveyed that this was his fight to settle. The spotted guy seemed to get the message, stopping himself and taking a step back.
"You might have a new means of transport, FW," Miles said, flashing his own smirk at the demented wolf, "but I'm way beyond the little fox you fought back then!"
Amber vulpine and cornflower blue lupine both took a second to stare one another down, then reacted in kind. The former revved up a Spin Dash, while the latter pumped the engines of his hoverboard. After a few seconds, the two old enemies rushed at each other, both of them eager to put a quick end to this feud.