Hi! It's been a while! I'd recommend re-reading the chapters 'Unworthy' and 'Reunited in Dreams' so you're caught up for the story of the OG cast! But if you're already caught up, let's get on with the show after all this time!
Finding someone in a fragmented world was no easy task. Metal Sonic found his internal navigator to be useless.
Tikal kept insisting that she could, in some way, sense her father's location. She felt it in her heart. She kept saying that – and to Metal's frustration, it wasn't a claim that he could refute.
He had followed her intuition aimlessly through winding paths obscured by prickly vines that scratched the paint work off of his body, revealing the grey metal shell underneath.
Now, they left that part of the journey behind to make a steep incline up a grassy hill. Red poppies and yellow daffodils were scattered among the scenery as the soft yellow sun made the horizon glow.
"This field reminds me of some of the plains on Angel Island…" Tikal spoke, holding her palm up into the air – allowing a stray petal to nestle itself in her hand.
She had filled their travels with these occasional and largely pointless observations. Metal didn't care for her words, but he didn't find them annoying either. All he could think about was their objective, and the little progress they seemed to be making towards it. Was he really willing to put all this trust into Tikal's supposed heart?
Metal needed a way to convey these questions to her somehow, so he stopped abruptly. It took Tikal a long moment before she realised her companion was no longer beside her.
She turned around with a surprised face, tilting her head at Metal. "Are you admiring the field, Metal?" she asked, looking around them.
No, he wasn't. This had nothing to do with aesthetics.
He shook his head to show his disagreement and folded his arms.
Finally, she seemed to take the hint.
"Metal, I understand that you may doubt whether we're going the right way, or even if we're doing the right thing… but I am certain of the path we are taking. It will lead us to my father and will allow us to end everything once and for all…" She then smiled softly.
"You just have to trust… and follow me, okay?"
It was a task easier said than done, especially when Metal Sonic suddenly heard a rustling in the grass.
The robot tensed, readying his claws for whatever was lying in wait.
There was a smash, followed by a crackle of electricity.
"RUNNING DIAGNOSTICS. DAMAGE TO VITAL CIRCUITRY. L-LOCATION: BACK OF H-H-H-HEAD-"
"Metal!" Tikal yelled.
Tikal found her feet rooted to the ground, paralyzed in fear as electricity spurted from Metal Sonic's head. She began to pant, eyes darting around. Why could she not see the attacker?!
"You're alright now, ma'am! We got ya!"
Tikal let out a gasp as she felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her. She got pulled towards their body, and she could only manage to squirm. "What are you-? Stop!"
"You have a lot of nerve… causing trouble as the world falls apart." A deep voice scoffed. From behind Metal, a figure suddenly faded into view – a purple chameleon with amber eyes that was glaring at the robot.
Stunned, she stared. Yet another one of Knuckles' friends.
Holding a kunai blade, Espio pulled his arm back – ready to pierce through Metal Sonic to finish the job.
"Stop, stop, STOP!" she pleaded, which caused Espio to halt in confusion. "He's not an ENEMY!" she shouted, looking back over her shoulder and seeing that Vector was the one holding her in his grasp.
"Wait… huh?" Vector blinked. "So, you're not a hostage-?"
"D-do I look like a hostage?! Was he attacking me?!"
All three of them stopped to stare at Metal Sonic as he was struggling to remain standing. His eyes flashed as his limbs jerked in uncontrollable movements.
"Well… no-" Vector admitted.
"He was with me! We were working together!"
"Working together…?" Espio repeated with disbelief. Vector finally let go of Tikal, and the echidna looked between them with a look of anguish at the state of her ally.
"Well, haha- I think there's been a bit of a misunderstanding… because Metal uh, that guy is usually never up to any good-" Vector tried to explain.
"Is that Metal Sonic?!" Another, much younger voice, yelled out. With a battle cry, a young bee flew through the air towards the robot.
"No, we're not doing that-" Espio sighed, catching the bee's leg before he could kick Metal Sonic.
"What? Why not-?" The bee, Tikal recognised, was Charmy. With a pout, Charmy stood on the ground as soon as Espio let go. "And why- why is there an echidna…?" He tilted his head at Tikal.
Espio and Vector both immediately looked at her with wide eyes, as if they had only just now noticed that Tikal was an echidna.
"Wait- that- that don't make sense-! I thought Knux was the last-!" Vector gawked.
"Has… any of this made sense recently?" Espio pointed out.
"So, what's your deal? Are you a ghost or what?" Charmy asked with folded arms, clearly trying to look tough as he stared down Tikal.
"I… somewhat- I don't have too much time for introductions, I'm so sorry-" as she spoke, she kept glancing at Metal as he was breaking. "My name is Tikal, a spirit with… close ties to the Master Emerald, and I already know who all of you are- so please… do you know of any place I can get Metal fixed up?"
The Chaotix all exchanged bewildered looks, but eventually – Vector nodded. "I- I think we can get to someone who can…"
"Right, the plan sounds simple on paper – but it all comes down to the execution here. When it comes to echidna faux Gods, we don't really know what we're dealing with – so we need to keep our guards up."
Rouge had laid out the plans for the team to take in and understand. She and Nakum had discussed how they were going to enter the castle through one of the less guarded entrances, making their way underground to the vault that Nakum was sure contained the emeralds.
However, the echidnas weren't stupid. Following their abysmal meeting, it was highly likely they were already expecting an attempt at a heist.
Therefore, a distraction was necessary – one that had to attract the attention of all the echidnas.
…
"And what brings you back to us?" Viracocha asked with glaring eyes.
Shadow stood before all the Guardians. All of them towered over him on their dark thrones. Nakum lingered a distance behind the hedgehog, struggling to hide a smirk from forming on his face.
Slowly, Shadow dipped his head. "I have come to you with a decision… I am ready to accept your offer."
The Guardians looked between themselves in shock before Shadow spoke again.
"I will become your new Guardian."
…
Rouge could immediately see why this entrance wasn't guarded. Who in their right mind would enter here? Rounding the back of the castle, it revealed the fact that the castle was literally sat right on the edge of a cloud. There was barely any place to stand on the cloud to open the door, but luckily for Rouge that wasn't much of a concern. She could fly, after all.
The other, perhaps more annoying obstacle though, was the fact that the door was small. To enter, it required people to crouch. This wasn't a problem for anyone else… besides Omega.
"IF I BLAST DOWN THE WALL, WILL IT ATTRACT TOO MUCH ATTENTION?" Omega asked.
"Obviously." Rouge responded. "Missiles are loud."
"What if I broke the wall with my hammer to make a bigger entrance?" Amy suggested, bringing up her hand to her chin.
"A… quieter entrance… and I think that throne room is far enough away where they won't be able to hear it… you think you can do it?" Rouge asked.
Amy smiled, bringing her hammer over her shoulder to prepare her strike. "Have some faith!"
"Watch your step!" Blaze cautioned, due to the very small amount of cloud they all had to stand on.
However, Amy had already swung. Effortlessly, she brought down chunks of the stone brick wall and had created a large gap in the wall as their new entrance.
Unfortunately, Amy's foot had slipped behind her – but Tails stepped in quickly to hold her arm and bring both her feet back on the cloud, steadying her.
"One problem down…" Rouge whispered.
"I DON'T SEE WHY I COULDN'T HAVE DONE THAT." Omega argued.
"Because a missile would have been much louder." Rouge said tiredly, knowing that no matter how many times she tried to explain that – Omega would remain stubborn.
"YOU JUST WANT TO RUIN MY FUN."
"Uh-huh, now look – let's get moving and not waste time-" Rouge had entered a state of sheer focus, stepping up as the role of leader on this mission. For whatever reason, Amy grinned slightly at Rouge's words before following her inside. The rest of the group made their way in, while Omega was last – having to be extra careful not to fall off the cloud with his bulkier frame.
"Follow me." Rouge began walking down a dark passage. The lack of light didn't bother her, but the same couldn't be said for her companions. She realized this when Blaze lit up a ball of flame in her hand for the sake of everyone else.
After this, Blaze quickened her pace until she was beside Rouge.
"Are you sure that this was the best plan…?" Blaze spoke with concern in her voice, much to Rouge's surprise.
The bat squinted at her. "If you don't like it, you're more than welcome to join Knuckles' brooding session back at the mansion."
"I don't mean that-" the cat quickly clarified, "I'm referring to the fact that… are you sure relying on Shadow to be the distraction was the best idea here? He's a respectable fighter, and I presume he has many worthwhile attributes… but his interpersonal skills are… um-"
"- lacking. I know." To Blaze's surprise, Rouge finished off her sentence. The bat then sighed. "But I went through my options. Shadow is the only one they're willing to listen to for some reason, they wouldn't even give you the time of day. So, that's why I've chosen him – and he's got Nakum as backup if he really needs it." Rouge explained. "Even if it's not exactly his area of expertise, I at least know that when he has a mission – he doesn't slack on it. I know he's got this. He won't let me down."
Blaze nodded slowly, before giving her a small smile. "You… have a lot of faith in him. Your relationship is admirable."
Rouge continued to walk silently beside her, thinking for a moment before her brow furrowed. "… Relationship…?"
"Yes, you two are very close to one another… I don't think I've ever witnessed such a deep connection between a couple before."
Rouge stopped in her tracks, her cheeks flushing pink. "What-? Couple?! No, no, no – you've got us very wrong…"
"Wait… you're not together?" Blaze asked her in confusion. "I could have sworn… this is quite shocking. I swear I always see you two together-"
"That doesn't mean I'm dating him." she huffed. "You spend a lot of time with Silver and I'm not accusing you of dating him!"
"Well… we don't exactly see each other much due to our circumstances. But I got the impression that you and Shadow were still together outside of our big gatherings… you two are teammates, are you not?"
"We are close friends." she emphasized. "Nothing more." She held up her nose higher in the air, picking up her pace. "Now – stop talking to me-!"
"Huh...?" Blaze stared after her as she was left behind. She then let out a sigh of disappointment as her shoulders slumped. Why was it so hard to get to know Sonic's other friends better…? Oh well, at least she tried.
She hung back and joined the others.
"Oh, hey Blaze!" Silver smiled and greeted her, but in doing so – he must have tripped over a crack in the ground because he landed with his face planting into the stone.
"Ow…"
…
"Why the sudden change, pipsqueak? You taking us for fools?!" Inti immediately growled as she stood. Evidently, she didn't trust Shadow's intentions. During the meeting, she had been the one in most disagreement of having Shadow become the Guardian.
"Sit down." Viracocha raised his voice slightly as he looked to her.
Despite being much larger than Viracocha, looking as though she had squash him like a fly under one of her fists – she begrudgingly ended up sitting back down with a scowl on her face.
Everyone on The Council respected Viracocha as their leader, that much was evident. Since Shadow also knew too much about echidna history now, he also knew Inti was his daughter.
"Allow me to rephrase in a more civil manner," Ceibal cleared his throat, "You made your displeasure at the idea of taking the role from Knuckles quite clear. You even said that if you did claim that position, you'd intend to purposefully destroy the things we set out our lives to protect." He looked down on him with a haughtiness in his eyes that made Shadow want to punch him.
"So, what's with the change of mind? Why so adamant to claim the powers now?"
"I understand that my words may seem contradictory." Shadow was annoyed, first and foremost. He didn't like The Council, and he still had no interest in taking Knuckles' title away from him. "But ultimately, my priority is to save the world. For that, I need the emeralds – and if the only way I can get the emeralds is to become the Guardian – then so be it."
This was all for the sake of the plan. This was just to waste time while the team grabbed the emeralds. He had no intentions of taking the powers – so if they were going to spend all this time arguing back and forth like this – that worked for him.
Once again, The Council exchanged looks as if to see if anyone else shared their own opinions. Inti was still not buying any of it – but some, such as Misti and Paniri, smiled at Shadow – as if pleased with his change of mind.
Ampato, with a more hesitant face, then spoke up. "And you understand what you are opening yourself up to once you claim your powers – yet you are choosing to do so anyway…?"
This caused Shadow to glare. "Isn't this what you wanted me to do?" He asked them, his fur prickling.
"Well, yes-" Ampato stuttered, so Ceibal took over again.
"Shadow, we did not show you visions of what our lives were like for fun. We showed them to you so that we could make sure you understand the life that you are about to step into. Being the Guardian is a responsibility greater than any other, one that involves sacrifice… it is a job that will put you at risk of losing even yourself."
"Corruption first started out as an illness," Misti decided to add onto Ceibal's words. "Guardians, at some point, became unable to handle the power that was bestowed on them. It eroded their bodies… but as the powers passed from generation to generation – the effects of the powers stopped manifesting as a physical illness – and instead, a mental one…"
After saying this, she looked over to Kilya – expecting her to add something. Kilya had been preoccupied with staring at Shadow so didn't notice the fact Misti was eyeing her.
Ampato spoke up again. "It manifests as voices. There are many of them – and they are loud. They never stop, they never leave you alone- they will drive you crazy and force you to-!" The white echidna clutched the sides of his head with shaky hands.
"You know, I don't think talking like this is entirely helpful…" Paniri pointed out awkwardly, possibly managing to interrupt Ampato from having an actual breakdown.
"We have to be honest with the risks." Misti insisted. "We must be sure that Shadow isn't feeling pressured into this role – we want it to be his choice."
"Correction: you want there to be an illusion of choice." Nakum spoke from the side of the room with an unimpressed sigh.
"No one told you to speak, Nakum!" Amaryllis spat at him.
Immaturely, Nakum stuck out his tongue before looking away with a groan and an eye roll.
"I have seen what it's done." Shadow said to them, looking over to Kilya. "I saw what happened to your brother." He then addressed all of the echidnas. "But I have lived with Chaos Energy coursing through my veins all my life. I have no fear of this corruption ever befalling me."
"Well then… you're certainly more confident than me…" Ampato admitted with a quivering breath, dipping his head.
Shadow carefully tried to read the faces of all the Guardians. Surprisingly, he was met with mostly a sea of pleased, even satisfied expressions. Ceibal even nodded in approval, which struck Shadow as odd. He had expected the old man to be one of the most difficult to convince, but maybe that had been presumptuous. He just had an unfortunate, sour face.
Strangely, Kilya's brow was creased – not in anger, but some sort of apprehension – not quite fear, but definitely concern. Yet, she was quick to conceal her emotions behind a thin lipped, stern gaze.
"So… we're really doing this?" Inti sighed loudly.
"Well, it would seem that you are the only one in disagreement, Inti." Viracocha said with irritation.
"And can you really blame me?!" Underneath that anger, there was a desperation in Inti's voice as she chose to stand again. "Apparently, I'm the only one in the room that seems to understand what a Guardian is! You can't just pick anyone to be a Guardian just because they can throw a punch! A Guardian is supposed to be the strongest. Knuckles failed to meet that expectation, and we rightfully cast him aside! But the thing is… Shadow is just as unworthy as Knuckles!"
"Inti-" Misti pleaded softly, but she was interrupted.
"We all know that the strongest warrior alive right now is Sonic. And I'm not going to sit around and watch while you all grant the powers to the second best," she said with disgust.
In a flash, it was though a fire had been lit inside Shadow's chest.
"Say that again." he growled.
…
"I really was expecting more resistance…" Rouge remarked quietly. "Maybe I'm just used to automated security systems, and lingering badniks guarding safes…" she began to ramble slightly as they entered the vault.
"Try not to jynx it-" Tails pleaded. No doubt, he spoke from a place of experience – likely Sonic often getting ahead of himself and declaring victories too soon. "We don't know what these echidnas have access to…"
"Well, if they do have defences – they aren't exactly visible." Silver pointed out as he indicated to the path ahead. There was a small passageway – and at the end of it were seven pillars forming a tight circle. A chaos emerald was placed carefully on top of each pillar.
It was so easy to get to. Rouge frowned.
"Omega, scan the area," she said.
"SCANNING… NO INDICATIONS OF TRAPS. THE PATH IS CLEAR. PROCEED." Omega said once he had finished surveying the area.
"Hm," she shrugged in surprise. "Let's walk slow, just in case…"
They nodded in acknowledgement of her order and approached the emeralds cautiously. Eventually, their slow approach would end up with each of them taking a place beside each pillar. Since there was only six of them currently, Rouge would grab two of the emeralds.
"In case the guardians are somehow alerted, we must be ready to run once we have the emeralds. So, let's do this together… on three." she said.
"One… two… three!"
Simultaneously, they all reached out for the emeralds – but before they could even lay a finger on the gems, they would suddenly start to glow.
They rose above the pillars slowly, causing everyone to stare in confusion.
At high speeds, they then shot through the air past the heroes. They disappeared into the dark passages, all scattering in different directions.
"Wh-what-?" Amy let out.
"They… flew away…?" Silver's eyes narrowed.
"They're not supposed to do that-" Tails added weakly.
"There's always something…" Rouge groaned in annoyance. "Damnit… this isn't going to be a heist anymore, is it?"
"It's going to be a chase…" Blaze said dimly.
"Then we can't let the emeralds get a head start!" Amy raised her voice as she addressed the group. "Let's split up!"
"Right!" The group said in unison.
But their plan fell apart almost immediately. With no explainable reason, the ground beneath Tails' feet suddenly opened up – causing the fox to scream as he swallowed by the darkness. The ground immediately closed up again.
"Tails!" Amy shouted in alarm. "Wh-where did you-?!"
"There's… not a whole lot we can do about that right now-" Rouge's heart raced. "But we can still go after the emeralds."
Amy looked at Rouge as though she was crazy, but solemnly lowered her head as she realised that they still needed to focus on their goal. Tails… Tails would be fine. He was more than capable.
Finally, the group ran off in different directions towards numerous small and dark passageways – trying to remember where the emeralds had gone.
…
Inti's laughter bellowed and echoed throughout the throne room. "Don't act like you're stupid. You know that Sonic has always been more… impressive… competent." By the way she smirks down at him, it's almost as though she's enjoying seeing Shadow get riled up.
Shadow balled up his fists at his sides, scoffing loudly.
"What's the matter? Do you disagree?" Inti taunted him, letting out a dark chuckle.
"Inti… please stop this." Viracocha groaned, dragging his palm down his face. "You're making this more difficult than it needs to be. Everyone else agrees that we should get this power transfer underway-"
"I'm worthy enough for any power." Shadow scowled, staring Inti down. "You're a fool for thinking otherwise."
"And you think you can actually back up those words, pipsqueak?" Inti grinned, showing off her sharp teeth. "Then I invite you to prove it to me."
Inti took a mighty leap out of her throne into the air. She landed down a few feet in front of Shadow, and the ground rumbled upon the impact. Shadow stared as he was met with a crazed, erratic grin – her sharp teeth gleaming in the light.
"Fight me… if you dare."
Shadow would not be deterred, if anything – he stood taller, and glared at his opponent.
"Fine."
"Woah, woah, woah!" Nakum's voice snapped Shadow from the heat of the moment. The echidna had come up from behind, addressing everyone in the room. "Let's not get hasty. Is it not proper etiquette to… I don't know – warm up… before a fight? Yes! So, let's take a five minute… recess… if you will-"
Nakum grabbed Shadow's arm and pulled him backwards. In their haste, they ended up tripping over each other slightly in confusion before Nakum shut the doors behind them.
The hallway they stood in was spacious and silent. Nakum huffed a breath out of his nose, looking down for a moment before meeting Shadow's eyes. "What… are you doing?!"
"What?" Shadow asked incredulously. "It's my job to be distracting The Council right now, and that is what I'm doing."
"Did you have to agree to fight a demigod though?! No! I understand you have some sort of an inferiority complex going on, but it's really not worth-!"
"What does it even matter to you? You've been disinterested in everything since the moment we met you." Shadow pointed out with annoyance, folding his arms.
"Listen, you only need to keep them distracted for the amount of time your friends need to grab the emeralds – so who's going to have to bail you out of there once they've got the emeralds? I am!" Nakum exclaimed. "And the last thing I want to do is get in Inti's way when she's on a bloodthirsty rampage! Seriously, that woman has thousands of years' worth of pent-up aggression…" he shuddered.
"If that is your only concern, you are wasting your time with this conversation. I am more than capable of looking after myself." Shadow said.
"Mhm, are you really though? Because picking a fight with the Guardian of Battle isn't a good showcase of your self-preservation skills. Listen, listen – I'll contact Rouge through this weird earpiece thing and figure out where the others are at. You may not even have to fight Inti-"
Nakum raised his finger up to the side of his head. Miraculously, before heading outside to complete their plan – Tails had picked up various materials from throughout the mansion and had built a functioning earpiece. Apparently, this wasn't even all that unusual for him – he'd once even made a TV out of paper clips.
"Hello, Rouge? What's the progress?"
Nakum's question was met with silence.
"Rouge? Ma'am? … Woman? Hello?"
Nakum and Shadow eyed each other in confusion. Shadow's ears twitched when he heard static come through the earpiece.
"Can't talk skzt … now! …. Trouble skzt… running … skzt emeralds!"
"Didn't understand a word of that." Nakum said.
Shadow frowned. "Nakum – go. Find out what's going on. I'll take care of things here."
"Ugh, alright… although must I really-?"
"Go! Stop wasting time!" Shadow suddenly yelled. Nakum was taken aback by his urgency.
"Jeeze! Alright! I'll save your girlfriend-!"
With Shadow glaring after him, Nakum began running off in the direction that would lead him to the dungeons.
When he turned the corner, Nakum was already panting. He slowed down, gripping his side. "Gah… why do I have a stitch-? I'm literally a ghost…"
…
Shadow swung the doors back open, immediately seeing Inti standing and lying in wait for him. She smirked upon his return.
"Aha! You know, I was starting to wonder if you had some last-minute cowardice…"
"Never." Shadow shook his head. "Let's get this over with now, shall we?"
"Couldn't agree more." Her smile was wide as she licked her lips in anticipation. Most of The Council sat on their thrones with wide, enticed grins. After all, they were warriors. Naturally, they loved a good fight. Only Viracocha seemed disinterested… and there was an odd look on Kilya's face that he couldn't quite place.
"Let the battle begin."
Chaos Energy crackled from her hands, and the energy formed the shape of an oversized axe. In response, Shadow summoned his own weapon – his signature Chaos Spear.
Shadow blasted forwards towards her as he threw his spear. She used the blade of her axe to block it. Now that Shadow was close, she attempted to crush him by swinging her axe down.
However, Shadow was faster. He rolled to the side as the axe made contact with the ground and left a crater in the floor.
Instantly, Shadow leapt up to kick her on the back of the head. To her credit though, her reaction time was a lot faster than he thought it'd be.
She managed to turn around and swing her axe at him, which sent him flying back.
Not wasting a second, he used the rockets on his shoes to keep him upright and balanced. He rolled into a ball, launching a series of rapid homing attacks.
Back and forth. Back and forth. His assault was unending.
Inti grunted every time she was hit, and eventually she snarled. She was well aware that Shadow was trying to wear her down, and he was about to get a nasty surprise.
She crossed her arms in front of her face as a barrier of chaos energy formed a bubble around her. Shadow bounced off of it, and while he was being sent back – the bubble burst.
Shadow gasped in pain as the shockwave of energy hit him and knocked him down to the ground.
Inti smirked, smugly holding her axe over her shoulder. She appeared to be waiting for Shadow to rise again.
To be fair, she didn't end up being disappointed.
Shadow vanished from sight, and she already whipped around expecting an attack from behind. However, she would soon find Shadow shooting down above her head – stomping on her before leaping away and firing a chaos spear her way.
The spear collided with her chest, causing her to growl yet again. She skidded back just slightly as her eyes seemed to flash.
Shadow seemed to think she was dazed. Shadow suddenly appeared in front of her, ready to uppercut her jaw.
Inti caught his arm. She tossed him into the air and as he began his descent, she abruptly grabbed his face and slammed him down into the floor.
The floor cracked. Everything seemed to be spinning in Shadow's eyes, but he still managed to roll to the side as Inti tried to punch him while he was already down.
Shadow quickly stood. She was strong – he'd give her that. Her large and muscular stature should have been a giveaway though.
"I can't help but think you're still taking me for a fool." Inti frowned at Shadow. "I know there's more to you than that!"
The fight had barely begun, of course Shadow hadn't revealed all his tricks. He didn't understand her accusing tone.
"Let's not waste time… I want to fight you while you're at your best."
Then, Inti suddenly slammed the end of the handle of her hammer down on the ground. Energy sparked off it wildly.
Gradually, Shadow would begin to feel heat build-up around his wrists. He winced as he tried to figure out what was happening.
There was a snap.
Shadow looked towards his wrist again… and his eyes widened at the white cracks forming across his inhibitor rings.
Then the cracks disappeared, but Shadow's heart was pounding.
An uncomfortable pit of dread formed in the bottom of his chest. He could already feel the energy burning and bubbling underneath his skin… the energy that his rings were supposed to contain.
His limiters weren't working anymore.
"There… much better." Inti smiled in satisfaction.
How was he-? Aghast, he stared at his wrists – twisting them around, as if he couldn't quite believe that his rings were no longer doing their job.
He was on a time limit now.
…
Amy skidded around a bend, leading into her a new dark passageway as she sprinted after the teal Chaos Emerald. The light from the glow of the emerald was the only thing helping guide her.
Gradually, she felt her feet beginning to slip. Not being able to figure out why, she gasped as she fought to keep herself upright.
However, her efforts were in vain as she slipped over on her side – in fact, her whole body was now sliding across the floor, and there was little she could do to stop it.
"H-huh-?" she immediately looked around, and a paling face – she finally noticed that the whole passage was spinning.
It was only gaining speed.
Amy grunted in pain as her body was flung, and she slammed into the wall – only to hit the stone again as the world spun and spun.
…
Blaze raced after the red Chaos Emerald. It was just an inch away from her fingertips when she outstretched her hand.
Cracks began to form in the ground, forcing Blaze to skid to a halt. Her eyes widened as she witnessed the floor start to fall away.
Hearing rumbles from behind her, she turned her head and saw the stone around her tumble away.
Soon enough, it was just her – standing alone on a stone platform towering above a dark abyss.
The emerald hovered over the darkness, and then it suddenly dropped – disappearing into the shadows.
"No!" Blaze exclaimed, instinctively running towards the edge of her small platform.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she barely managed to stop herself falling off the edge. Her stomach already started to squirm as she stared helplessly below.
Slowly, she lit a fire in her hand to see if she could see if there was at least a floor down there… but she saw nothing except a void of emptiness. Where had the emerald vanished to down there-?
Blaze's breath hitched.
Just… how high up was she-?
…
The clear Chaos Emerald was in Omega's sights, and he couldn't help but be satisfied when he saw the emerald heading towards a wall. There would be nowhere for it to escape to – a dead end.
Omega drew closer at high speeds, and then the tip of his claw scraped against the emerald.
He was so close that he didn't care that a wall had suddenly descended behind him, shutting him inside an enclosed space.
Whatever. He could blast out of it.
He attempted to grab the emerald, but before his fingers could wrap around him –the walls, floor, and ceiling suddenly began closing in around him.
He had to quickly hold his arms out to prevent himself from being crushed.
"I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED BY A COMPACTOR-" the robot said, his arms shaking as he held the walls apart.
…
Silver stumbled upon a room that made him tilt his head in confusion. He was staring down a towering pile consisting entirely of blue Chaos Emeralds.
That… didn't make sense. They all had to be fake, right? Or was the real one hidden among the pile somewhere?
Closing his eyes, he attempted to concentrate on the pull of Chaos Energy that had become more and more familiar to him.
Something strange was going on. They were all giving off an energy signature, but that couldn't be right.
They couldn't all be real!
Silver kneeled beside the pile of Chaos Emeralds desperately, picking one of them up in one hand – and then another in his other hand, looking between them and desperately searching for differences.
How was he supposed to figure out which one was real…?
…
With a face full of fury, Rouge followed the purple Chaos Emerald as it led her into a small passage. She wasn't about to let her plan fall apart like this!
She smirked as she saw the emerald run into a wall. It couldn't escape now…
The bat ran towards it, closing the distance between herself and the gem-
Then she was suddenly forced back by an invisible force – back to the start of the passageway.
"What-?"
Rouge ran ahead again but found herself appearing once more at the starting line… for no reason.
"Why can't I-? Get to it-?!"
She tried again, but it was the same result.
"Argh-! What's- happening-?!"
No matter how many times she attempted to move forward, she would always end up right back where she started.
Something flickered in the corner of her eye, and Rouge turned her attention towards it. High up on the wall, a message was displayed in purple light.
Ran for too long.
"What the fuck…?" She breathed out. Furrowing her brows, she began to walk slowly towards the emerald instead.
She was teleported back to the start again, and her head whipped around to see a new message was being displayed.
Walked for too long.
"What do you MEAN I walked for too long?!"
…
Shadow and Inti's bodies were alight with flaming energy. Their weapons clashed. Shadow's spear sliced through the handle of Inti's hammer, but it didn't matter – as she able to quickly reform it.
She attempted a large swing, but Shadow slid underneath it and appeared behind her – piercing a large Chaos Spear into her back.
The woman didn't even flinch – she just growled in annoyance as she turned herself around and trying to hit Shadow's head.
The hedgehog quickly warped away, but so did she – almost predicting where Shadow would reappear again.
The two locked themselves in a pattern of slashing, disappearing, and then slashing at each other with energy again.
Shadow broke their rhythm first, bursting a wave of energy from his body to knock Inti backwards. While she was away from him, he made sure to expand the size of his Chaos Spear and took a slice at her with his newly charged, large attack.
Inti grinned, because despite the size of the spear – Inti blocked it with her hand, holding it still and barely breaking a sweat.
With her spare hand, she shot a beam at Shadow's stomach.
Shadow flew back and while he was helpless in the air – Inti shot towards him and attacked him with a barrage of brutal punches, ending it all with a kick sending him back down onto the ground.
Shadow made a hard impact with the floor – but all he could feel was the immeasurable amount of energy pulsing through his veins. He pulled himself back to his feet, his eyes flashing with energy – watching his opponent.
Inti lowered herself down to the ground, landing with surprising elegance.
"You're doing better than I thought you would…" Inti complimented him out of the blue. "But I can tell you're not used to actually wielding your full power… got too comfortable with those limiters, yes? Out of fear, perhaps?" She was annoyingly smug.
Shadow growled in annoyance. It was a health thing, first and foremost.
"Cut the chatter." Shadow told her. His aura of Chaos Energy flared up again as he glared at her.
Inti chuckled quietly. "Another round?" The energy around her was crackling madly. "If you insist…~"
…
Nakum felt ready to cough up his lungs by the time he reached the dungeons. Seriously, he knew he was unfit when he was alive – but how was he still like that in the afterlife?
He groaned, but there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
At the entrance of the dungeon, he saw the green Chaos Emerald hurtling towards him. "O-okay! Slow down! Why are you moving on your own-?!"
His eyes glowed green. The emerald then gently floated towards him and nestled in his hand.
"Viracocha…" Nakum grumbled, "… what are you doing-?"
It was still quite hard for him to believe that Vira and the other Guardians were being so uncooperative when the world was at stake. Why couldn't they just put their pride and cautions aside already?
They were supposed to be good guys, weren't they?
He made his way down the dungeon steps quickly, tightening his grip on the emerald. When dying, the Guardians had lost quite a lot of the connection to the emeralds that they once had, with only a slight influence remaining.
Viracocha was a different case. The emeralds still listened to his will, even as a dead man.
Why? Nakum could only assume it was because Viracocha was the first – not because of any actual worthiness.
He didn't want to spend much longer thinking about The Council – so he made his way deeper into the dungeon's passages. Immediately, he came across Rouge as she was standing completely still – staring at the purple Chaos Emerald blanky.]
Nakum sighed and tapped her repeatedly on the shoulder. "Snap out of it."
Rouge blinked, and she was brought back into reality. She gasped and realised the emerald was right in front of her face, and quickly snatched it up.
"Mind tricks, yeah?" Nakum asked to clarify.
"I… I guess so. I saw the emerald on the other side of the hall, and I couldn't move forward no matter what I did."
"Bummer. Oh well, you've got it now. I'm assuming your friends went after the other emeralds?"
Rouge nodded. "Do you think they're going through something similar?"
"Most likely. Don't worry – even just a tap on the shoulder will set them right again."
"Cool. Let's move."
The two ran in different directions, ready to snap the others out of their dazes.
…
Shadow used all of his energy to propel himself forward and slam Inti against the wall, but she recovered easily from the pain. She punched him brutally in the gut, but Shadow gritted his teeth. Nothing was going to stop him now, no matter how injured he got.
He grabbed hold of her dreadlocks and pulled her to the side before flipping around and kicking her in the back of her head.
Inti stumbled, but summoned her axe again and used it to stabilize herself from falling over.
Shadow attempted to kick her down again, but she emitted a blast of energy from her body that kept Shadow back.
With a furious yell, he charged at full speed towards her.
Inti lifted her axe up and pulled her arm back as far as she could. When Shadow was close enough, she swung underarm. The weapon hit Shadow's stomach and caused a shockwave to ripple through the throne room.
Shadow's body was flung in the air, and it crashed through the ceiling. She looked up and saw his form just getting smaller and smaller in the sky, until he was nothing more than a twinkle that disappeared.
The echidna panted, but a chuckle escaped her lips. She shook her head. "He thought he could take on a God…"
…
Everyone had managed to regroup in the dungeons with the emeralds in their hands. Blaze was still shaken up from her particular mind trap, her legs wobbling. Amy's legs wobbled, but not out of fear, she knelt down and gagged.
"There… there," Silver said awkwardly as she vomited, patting her on the back. "Just let it all out-"
"We only have six of the emeralds… and Tails is still missing." Rouge said. "Nakum, do you have any idea of where Tails could be? Or where the last emerald went?"
"How am I supposed to know? I wasn't even here when they disappeared in the first place!"
They all suddenly heard a faint scream above their heads. They looked up and saw Tails in the air and plummeting down towards them. Omega reached out his arms so Tails was able to comfortably land in them.
Thankfully, the fox held the yellow Chaos Emerald in his hands.
"Tails!" Rouge exclaimed in relief. "How did you-?"
"I have seen things… that no man is supposed to see," Tails responded faintly, his pupils dilated.
"Uh…" Silver blinked, "… but at least you're okay now!"
"Depends on your definition."
"Why are we still standing around? We've got the emeralds now!" Rouge grinned. "We did it! The only thing left for us now is to get out of here while Shadow is still buying us time!"
But they wouldn't get the opportunity to move.
They all suddenly disappeared into thin air.
…
"He… he did manage to do quite a number on you though." Misti told her gently with concern.
Scoffing, Inti dusted off her shoulders. "Please! I was going easy on him. He barely made a scratch on me until I switched off his limiters for him anyway."
"Was… was that fight supposed to convince us he's unworthy of the powers? Because if anything, I feel the exact opposite way. His fighting was insane!" Paniri exclaimed.
"You can't be serious – he just lost!" Inti snapped. "Vira…?" She turned to him. "Dad, please tell me you have some sense!"
Viracocha's thoughts had seemingly drifted elsewhere. "The emeralds…" he spoke quietly, "… something doesn't feel right."
"Viracocha." Kilya suddenly said his name sharply, causing him and everyone else to look at her.
"Yes, Kilya-?"
She was looking above her head towards the whole in the ceiling. The other echidnas followed her gaze and saw what she was seeing. Golden balls of lights were heading right towards the throne room like missiles.
"Take cover!" Viracocha yelled, and the rest of the echidnas all hid behind their thrones. All except for Inti as she was still open in the middle of the room. Her eyes were wide in dread, and she quickly put up an energy forcefield above her head.
The energy balls were large and barrelled through the roof – causing the rubble to collapse in the room. The force of all of them caused Inti's forcefield to crack.
It wasn't the end.
The largest explosion of energy had yet to hit, but it was hurtling straight down at a tremendous speed.
It landed. It burst. The entire room was white.
It took a few seconds for the light to die down, and The Council members peered around their thrones and saw Shadow – panting and grinning as he held Inti's body against the ground.
"Unworthy, huh?"
None of them were able to comprehend what had just occurred. No one could have predicted Shadow would make such a comeback.
"This fight is over." Viracocha said loudly. "Shadow, let her go. You have made your point quite clear."
Shadow did as instructed, stepping away from Inti. However, she was so injured that she wasn't currently able to stand.
Then, Viracocha gave a small smile. "Well done. I think now that is safe to say-"
He was cut off when Nakum, Rouge, Blaze, Silver, Omega, Amy, and Tails suddenly blinked into the middle of the room – each holding a Chaos Emerald.
"What-?"
"I feel the need to clarify that we did not intend to warp here-" Nakum quickly said. "Or even warp at all, really-"
Shadow's mouth hung open slightly before he facepalmed and groaned, realising his distraction had now all been for nought.
Viracocha's eye twitched. Snapping his fingers, the emeralds soon disappeared from the hands of the heroes, and they ended up circling around his body.
"So… this was your masterplan, huh? You seriously thought you could get away with it? With such deceit? You're all just a useless sack of thieves…" His words were dripping with disdain. "You mortals are not worthy of the power of the emeralds!"
"We are TRYING to save the world!" Silver suddenly exclaimed, his body shaking in anger. "Everything is FALLING APART! And if no one does anything – then everything will be DESTROYED! So, we aren't going to just sit around and let that happen due to some arbitrary rules!"
"ENOUGH!" Viracocha's voice bellowed. "You all have crossed a line that never should be crossed. And you all are going to pay for that..." A green aura began to surround Viracocha's body.
"NOPE! Nope, we are not dealing with that-" Nakum activated one of his portals and swallowed up the heroes before anything could happen.
They reappeared – standing in the middle of the mansion's foyer. They stood huddled together in a bewildered silence. Rouge scowled, lamenting at how her plan had fell apart at the last possible second. It had all been going so well until then!
At the worst possible time, they heard footsteps as Knuckles was making his way down the stairs. He stopped for a moment, looking down with a vaguely disappointed and annoyed look on his face.
"Don't. Don't even think about it." Rouge spoke angrily before Knuckles could say anything.
"Well now… back to square one." Nakum remarked nonchalantly, stretching his arms and yawning.
"I don't-! Ugh! I don't get it!" Rouge snapped. "We tried the nice approach; we tried the dirty approach – what else is there?!"
"THE VIOLENT APPROACH. MURDER." Omega suggested, whether that was helpful or not.
"This… this is just a setback. I'm sure we'll figure something out." Silver tried to be a calmer voice of reason.
"You know, if you guys didn't immediately jump to trying to steal the emeralds – then peaceful communication would likely still be on the table as an option. But no, you guys messed that up."
Knuckles spoke with such a level of disdain and superiority that was so out of character of him that it made bile rise up in the back of Tails' throat.
"Maybe YOU shouldn't talk at all considering how UNHELPFUL you've been lately-!" Rouge yelled, ready to make her way towards the steps until Shadow stopped her by silently putting an arm around her shoulders.
"Everyone. Cut it out." He told them sharply. "Just… let's take some time apart. Breathe for a moment. We'll reconvene when we can be more productive."
Shadow gently began to escort Rouge towards the kitchen, and gradually everyone else began to filter out in their own directions. Rolling his eyes, Knuckles headed back up the stairs – but he had someone else on his tail.
…
After making it up a few flights of stairs, Knuckles had enough and whipped around. "Why are you following me, Nakum?"
"How could I not? You keep getting more and more interesting the more time I spend around you…" Nakum inspected him with his eyes.
"What does that even mean-?"
"Well, you must understand I have an interest in you since we share plenty in common. We're the two that were disgraced from our family legacy-"
"I am nothing like you!"
"Perhaps not in personality, but certainly in circumstance… listen, I don't really care for other people that much but seeing you so hung up over your ancestors' opinions of you really makes me sad… they are not worth the turmoil."
"What would you know? You don't care about anything."
"That is where you are wrong." Nakum made his way up a couple of steps so that he was standing on the same one as Knuckles. "I do care about stuff – I just care about things that are different than what most other people care about."
"Well… you don't care about anything useful, so-"
"Once again, I'd beg to differ. But no matter. As I was saying, I am saddened by your current state of mind. And I think it's about time you understand the truth behind your scum of a bloodline."
"They aren't scum!"
"Oh, but they are. They really are…"
"What truth could you possibly have to tell me?!"
"You want to know about your father, don't you?"
Just like that, the anger on Knuckles' face melted away – giving way to sadness and dread. His head lowered. "I… you know?"
"Of course, I know, I'm the Guardian of Knowledge." Nakum couldn't help but reply with a smug air. He looked Knuckles up and down again. "You know…"
"You really are your mother's son."
It's uh- been a while, huh? AAAA Hope you enjoyed this one regardless! It was a fun chapter to write, all things considered.
Why was I gone for so long? Life got busy (I'm now at uni, yay!), I kind of wrote myself into a corner, I lost motivation due to various factors, and I also just didn't really like some of the previous writing decisions I made - feeling like a lot of them were a bit too edgy.
But over time, I've gradually learned to accept that this is my goofy aaah self indulgent fic where people are gay and there is a war and there is a way overcomplicated lore and there is fuck tons of angst. And you know what? That's okay. I'm happy with that. And I'm gonna share my self indulgent fic and hope that others can continue to enjoy it too! I now know where I want to go with this story, and I'm back baby! But I'm... I'm not going to promise any sort of coherent release schedule. Sowwyyy.
But seriously - thank ya'll for your support and patience!
So what happened this time around? Well - Tikal and Metal have ran into The OG Chaotix! Nice to know they're still alive. Shadow fought a demigod which one might consider a stupid move = but hey, he did actually win. Meanwhile Rouge and her friends experienced wacky hallucinations as they fought to get the emeralds. The plan only failed because Viracocha is OP. And where did we end off? Nakum seems to know the story behind what happened to Knuckles' dad...
NOTE FOR FFN EXCLUSIVE READERS: Due to various factors, I might be deleting my account soon due to not really liking this site. However, this fic is cross posted on Ao3 (Archive of Our Own) so if this account does disappear - you can read the fic there! And you don't even need an account :)