(Little Planet, Distant Future)
Khaldun bin Zaman, better known as "Lord Khaldun" to most or simply "Khal" to those closer to him, was known to be a fair, if sometimes harsh ruler. The irony was not lost on him. When he'd been a mere mortal and not the protege of Shai, the god of time and fate, he recalled his mother being much the same way in how she ran their hyena clan. He'd seen the fear in the eyes of those that were reluctant to make him angry, but at the same time, those same people seemed to appreciate the relatively comfortable atmosphere he could provide them. Given what had happened to certain worlds, the environment of the Special Zone, alien as it was to many, was more homely now than where they'd originally come from. So many backgrounds and conditions that even the spotted herald that could see into their possible futures by the grace of the great prismatic butterfly needed time to process it all.
And yet despite having the concern of so many citizens on his mind, Khal had to deal with a more personal matter at hand. As he sat on the amethyst throne constructed for him in the palatial estate at the center of Stardust Speedway, there were two other Animals with him in the fairly modest chamber. First, and the one he was staring at, was Gunner Green, who knelt before him a few meters away with her head bowed low. Her efforts during the events on Flicky Island were commendable, but hadn't been enough to significantly alter the course of history. Khal didn't hold her failure to eliminate Alexei Fukurokov against her, but it had taken her some time to get over it. At least she'd been willing to talk about it with him to help her along in coming to terms with it.
Second was a figure that stood a little bit higher than Gunner Green did. It had a trim masculine form enveloped in sky blue armor that was similar to but also slightly bulkier than hers, with a matching helmet and yellow visor over the fellow's head and face. He didn't hide his tail, which was a full and fluffy limb that was canid in some fashion as far as shape and volume, and the same blue as his suit except for the white brush-like tip. Numerous round objects were affixed to the belt around his waist, and a rather sizable launcher-type gun was strapped across his back. He was next to the female, doing the same as she was with the addition of one arm crossed over his chest.
"Rise," Khal ordered them. When they did so, the hyena also stood up. "I'd ask why you requested this audience, but I already know the answer. Still, I'd like to hear it in your own words."
Green took a few steps forward. "We want you to send both of us back this time."
"Both of you, hmm?" The spotted warrior shifted his gaze over to the male. "Is that true, Bomber Blue?"
"Yes, sir," the one addressed answered without hesitation, his voice a gentle baritone, "we specifically want you to send us to March of 2009 so that we can assist Miles Prower and his allies during the Cursed Corundum Conflict."
Khal let out a sigh and ran a hand through his long dark brown mane. "Sending the two of you back would potentially help to mitigate the damage that incident caused." He gave them a firm glare. "But you'll have to be even more careful. This'll be far and away a much greater ordeal than Flicky Island or your scouting missions. And given that you'll be going back during a time when Little Planet is in the Special Zone, returning won't be so simple, either."
The two suited individuals looked at each other, then nodded at the hyena and thumped their chests with a fist. They had been training to handle situations like this, and ones even worse still, for a long time. Even if they had to wait for several months in order for Little Planet to appear so that they could come back here, they would. Whatever it took, they would get the job done.
"Alright then." Khal went around behind the throne and retrieved the red Time Stone, gripping it tightly as he once again faced the pair. "I'll see you two soon."
"It won't be so soon for us, sir," Blue replied cheekily, "give our regards to Silver."
Green called over her trusty transforming platform, Nanatsu no Chikara, and hopped aboard. "Tell him he can come along with us next time...well, as long as you're okay with it, sir."
"I'll think about it. Godspeed, Gunner Green and Bomber Blue."
Khal aimed the crimson gem between himself and the two, both the Stone and himself shimmering for a few seconds as he opened a swirling gate into the Time Warp. Blue joined Green atop her ride, which summarily entered the vortex and brought them into the technicolor rift that they'd traveled through several times by then. A few seconds later, they exited and found themselves above a spacious and verdant glade nestled among an expanse of both coniferous and deciduous trees. Not too far away from that was a cozy little village with quaint cottages and houses spread fairly far apart.
"Floral Forest," Green said as she tapped at the back of her helmet, "we're a fair ways from a lot of places, but we should be able to find where we need to go easily enough."
"Already on it," Blue told her as he mimicked her movements, the inside of the visor bringing up a transparent radar display. He zoomed out a couple of times and found something that caught his interest. "I'm picking up five signals on the Emerald Radar. One large one and a smaller one are pretty close together; I'm guessing the former's the Master Emerald. The other three are the same magnitude as the latter, with two of them heading towards the first pair, one at a much more rapid pace. The last one seems to be chasing the slowpoke."
The female nodded in acknowledgment. "That quicker one must belong to Miles and friends. If they're just now heading to Angel Island, then the Conflict hasn't properly kicked off yet."
"We won't make it in time to deny it from happening," the male calculated, "but we might be able to get there just as it starts if we hurry."
"Right then, Mode Change: Washi no Chikara!"
Just as it had during the final battle on Flicky Island, the platform came apart in bits and then reformed around the two Animals as a great bronze eagle with blue detailing. The metallic bird let out a tinny screech and flew off in the direction of the readings, a massive boom resulting from its sheer and sudden acceleration. The commotion had startled many of the people in Floral Forest Village, and three in particular had managed to catch a glimpse of the artificial avian before it had started flying.
"What the heck was that!?" Amy exclaimed, still wide-eyed from seeing it.
Cream shook her head softly. "I don't know, Amy. But I have a sort of...uncomfortable feeling now."
"Like something bad's about to happen?" the hedgehog girl guessed.
"Yes, though I have no idea what that could be exactly or why I'm getting this feeling."
A concerned chirp came from Cheese, which was on a similar wavelength to its friend. They were right to worry, but had no inkling of just what was about to go down then and in the days to come.
(Angel Island)
Knuckles let out a hum after coming out of one of the many Giant Rings scattered around Angel Island. It was the one closest to the beach, inside an unassuming hollow not too far into the jungle. The Echidna pushed aside the boulder he used to block the entrance in case of intruders and made his way out into the dewy green expanse. As he climbed up the local cliffs and made his way to a good vantage point, he reached out with his senses to try and find the signatures he'd felt before.
'They're west of me,' he mused to himself as he pulled himself onto the ledge he'd been looking for, 'five of them. Their Chaos Energy isn't that high, save for one of them. That feels like too much to be natural, though...does that one have a Chaos Emerald?'
There was also the matter of that mysterious energy he'd sensed before, something that definitely didn't feel like that from the Chaos Emeralds or the Master. It was closer, that much he could tell, but the exact spot was difficult to determine. Knuckles wanted to go ahead and check it out, but he'd sworn to wait until Miles and the others arrived to help. That was unless these invaders did something to put the island in danger, assuming they weren't the ones responsible for its fall. At the very least, he wished to get a better look at who'd invited themselves into his territory.
The Echidna ran and went into a glide from the cliff, digging his namesakes into the side of another after a few seconds of airtime. He kept close to the waterfall as he steadily climbed down, now sensing those five people less than what was considered a stone's throw away for him. When he could best see the clearing where he'd first faced off against Miles, he positioned himself so that he'd better blend in with the orange-red rocks of the cliff side.
He was rewarded for his patience when exactly five individuals came out into the open, each of them some manner of canine from what he could tell. While Knuckles wouldn't have known, they were, in fact, different kinds of jackals. One of them was a brown-eyed short fellow with a short and mostly golden cream coat of fur save for his back, which was covered in prominent black fuzz with streaks of silver. He wore brown gloves and leather boots, and toted a rather hefty backpack that jingled each time the ammo belt attached to it shifted and swung. In front of him and flanking each other were two identical females with blue eyes and buff-gray coats that were darker on the back than elsewhere, along with singular white stripes that ran up along the sides of their torsos. They sported black tank tops and camouflage pants, one of them jungle and the other urban, as well as fingerless black gloves and combat boots, and holsters that carried silvery sidearms.
At the front of the pack was a tall and intimidating male with black fur, though his long and stiff dreadlocks, his muzzle, the five tips of his bushy tail, and a pattern on his back resembling a rib cage were all white. He had a white scar across his right blue eye, helping it match the intense aura of ferocity that his left yellow one gave off, and visible fangs protruding from his top lip to complete the look. His attire consisted of black gloves with silver details that left room for his claws to poke out, a white collar around his neck, and pointed black and silver hi-tops with red soles. Last but not least, he had a red "0" emblazoned on the hilt of a nasty crimson scimitar strapped across his back and on the top of his kicks.
A taller and slimmer guy trudged next to him, having two yellow eyes unlike the other, but his fur had a very curious pattern to it. The front of his torso was entirely white except for his left shoulder and arm, where black fur went from there across his whole back, up the rear of his neck, and down his entire right leg. Long white ears stuck out above a wavy medium mane of ghostly hair, while his face was seemingly locked in a piercing gaze behind a black mask of fluff above his porcelain muzzle, his tail dark on the bottom and white on top. He wore opposite colored gloves and boots for each limb: black for his white attributes, and vice versa, and had a variety of sheathed knives hanging on a belt around his waist. He was idly tapping away at something in his hands that the Echidna couldn't see.
'It's him,' Knuckles thought assuredly of the wiry one, 'I can feel one of the Emeralds on him, but I can't see it.'
"It should be in the general vicinity, Zero–ah, Boss," the slender jackal said in a relaxed baritone to the apparent leader.
The one with dreadlocks grunted. "Can't you narrow it down any further?"
"I can't, the machine's at maximum magnification." The tallest one tossed the nondescript gray unit to the black-backed jackal in the rear, then cracked his knuckles. "We may as well start digging."
"Alright." Zero stepped forward and then turned around to face the rest of his group. "Jackal Squad, the treasure we're after is somewhere in this spot!" He unhooked his scimitar and pointed it forward like a commander leading troops into battle. "I don't care if we have to overturn the whole place and salt it afterwards! Find it and we get a king's ransom in Rings!"
The stout jackal dropped his pack to the ground and brought out shovels and pickaxes for each of them, the gang promptly going to work at tearing up the soil. Already, Knuckles was incensed at the blatant disrespect to his home, all for the pursuit of some treasure. And from what he could hear in that guy's attitude, they wouldn't care if they ended up having to destroy the area to find whatever it is they were looking for.
'Hurry, Miles,' he urged the fox internally, 'as Angel Island's sole protector, I cannot stand to see them do this!'
The Echidna was ready to leap from his vantage and dive towards the ground, only to stop when he heard the familiar roar of an engine closing in from further west. The jackals below were too caught up in their activity and a bit of chatter to notice it, which was fortunate for their eavesdropper. Spotting the red form of the Tornado approaching the island, Knuckles was thankful that his friends would soon arrive. Even if it pained him to leave this spot, he felt compelled to go and meet with his comrades. And so, as quietly as he could, he climbed behind the waterfall and glided from there to where the others would certainly arrive. Had he stayed a moment longer, he would have noticed the gang momentarily halting their operations as their ears twitched from the far-off commotion getting closer. Even they couldn't entirely ignore that...
(Near Angel Island)
"There it is!" Sonic yelled up to his partner, "we made it here in record time, Tails!"
"There was no doubt that we would, Sonic," Miles replied with a satisfied smirk, "our modifications to Remi and the Tornado made it possible." His expression shifted to one of mild unease. "I just hope we managed to get here before things could get any worse."
Over in the Sea Fox, Lavender was gazing out at their destination with wonder. It was a bit of a shock to see an island so much larger than the one he knew best, and with such rich geological diversity. Of course, being a fan of J. P. Cross's work, he had pictured the place in his head when he'd read the adaptation of the gang's adventure there. Seeing it in person, however, was a much different story.
"Wow, that's Angel Island, huh?" he murmured in awe.
Gadget nodded and chuckled at the cat's amazement. "Yep. Are you excited?"
"Hell yeah!" the feline practically cheered, only to settle down after a moment, "ah, sorry, but I can't help but be hyped."
Gizmo rolled her eyes. "Remember that we're not here on a picnic, Lav."
"I know! I'm just stoked, that's all." Lavender sat up straighter in his seat and folded his arms, pouting a little bit. "And I was just answering Gad's question."
"Yeah, Sis, give him a break," the vermilion wolf chided his sibling, "besides, don't pretend that you're not a little thrilled to be back in action yourself."
The verdigris female let out a huff, but said nothing back; her brother was right about that. The rest of the trip passed by in silence, which was fortunately not much longer. Within a couple of minutes, the two crafts dipped down and skirted on the surface of the ocean until they pulled up to the sandy shore. Everyone grabbed their gear and hopped out of their respective rides, with the Sea Fox transforming back into Remi's standard Critter form. Gad had his Lightning Baton around his waist, and Gizmo her special escrima sticks, while Lavender held the she-wolf's old laser pistol with the barrel aimed at the ground. Miles had his usual utility belt, while Sonic had donned his newer one and the grappler that the twins had gifted him, the fox having the Pikkon hammer on one hip and the hedgehog sporting the Boomering himself.
"Alright, guys, keep your guard up," Miles advised them all, "we don't yet know who we might be dealing with. I still haven't heard back from Knuckles."
"Don't worry, I'm here," responded a voice that most of them knew well.
The group saw the Echidna emerge from the jungle brush and wave to them, which brought them some relief. It appeared that things hadn't gotten too heated just yet. Knuckles was, however, a little suspicious of the new member of the group, sizing him up a bit with squinted eyes. It made the purplish feline feel a little awkward, much to his friends' amusement.
"Are you a friend of Miles?" he asked the cat.
Lavender smiled and held out a hand. "Yeah. You know Fuchsia, right? I'm her younger brother, Lavender."
"I see," the Echidna said as he shook the offered glove, "nice to meet you, then."
Sonic ran up and gave his red buddy a fist bump. "Good to see ya, Knux! So, what's the scoop on the guys snoopin' around?"
Though he didn't have a lot of details, Knuckles related what he knew to the others. How the strangers have come to the island seeking some sort of treasure, apparently at the behest of some client. And when he described them, he noticed Miles start to puff up, one of his hands balling into a fist. This didn't go noticed by the rest of the group, who all showed varying levels of concern.
"It's those guys," he said venomously.
Gizmo put a hand on his shoulder to try and get him to ease up a little. "Who are they?"
"They sound familiar," Gadget mumbled, "but I can't remember."
"Yeah, I'm kinda lost here," Lavender admitted sheepishly.
Sonic snapped his fingers. "Oh wait, you told me a story about these guys not too long ago!"
"You're right, I did." Miles breathed in deeply and let it out slowly, then gently brushed his sister's hand away. "They're the Jackal Squad."
Except for Sonic and Knuckles, everyone else was taken aback by the revelation.
"That band of thieves and contract killers that often raids others for profit!?" the cat cried out with shock.
The fox nodded in affirmation. "I ran into them a few years ago while exploring the Dazzling Desert. There were more than a few times during our fight where if I'd slipped up, I wouldn't be here right now."
"So they are enemies of yours," Knuckles concluded.
"It's unfortunate, really."
The sound of a new voice in the conversation made everyone turn in its direction, all of them on guard and brandishing their weapons for those that had them. There was the tall and wiry jackal calmly leaning up against a nearby palm tree with both arms folded. Even with the numbers the group had and the dangerous tools they possessed, the lean fellow kept a neutral face, not a hint of fear in his yellow eyes. Now that he had a reference for him compared to the rest, Knuckles could see that he was a tad shorter than the wolves, yet comfortably stood about half a head over most everyone else.
'Blood, I didn't see or hear him approaching at all,' Gizmo thought as she squeezed her weapons.
The monochrome canine's gaze fixated on the fox. "We were told you'd be coming, kid." He showed off a toothy smirk. "I didn't expect you to bring so many friends, though."
Miles stared down the jackal, one hand tightly gripping his hammer. "And I can't say I expected you guys to be the ones causing trouble here, Tao."
"I'm flattered you remember my name," the one called Tao remarked. He stepped away from the palm and stretched his arms above his head before sliding the sleeve of his black glove back to reveal a comm of his own, pressing it summarily. "Boss, the noise we heard was the 'problem' our client warned us about; you know the one. He's listening in right now."
A malicious snarl was projected from the receiver. "The hell, you drop something like that on me and you act like it's no big deal." An audible puff from the other canid's nose could be heard over the connection. "But he can hear me, huh? Well listen up then, fox boy. I'd kill for the chance to rip your tails right from their sockets and take 'em as trophies, but the Squad and I've got a job to do first." There was a dark laugh. "And we've just about finished part of it right after I sent my Number 2 out. Cress, Lana, Shana, load it up and get moving while I cover the rear. Tao, throw them off your tail and regroup at the rendezvous."
"Roger that. I'll cover you while you ship the treasure out."
Knuckles chose that moment to rush forward, one of his arms drawn back for a punch. "Not if I can help it!"
He hit nothing but air as Tao leapt straight up and kicked off the tree towards the jungle. Once he hit the ground, he was enveloped in a yellow aura and went into a sprint, out of the others' sight within seconds as the sound of his footsteps quickly faded as well.
"He's fast!" Lavender said with alarm.
"And he's got Chaos powers!" Sonic pointed out.
"Don't let him get away!" Miles commanded the group, "let's go!"
The trio of the fox, hedgehog, and Echidna became colorful blurs as they sped off after the jackal. Gadget and Gizmo stretched their arms and legs a bit, then the former reached into Remi's storage to fetch a certain something for Lavender. It was an Extreme Gear board with a basic shape that had inward curves around the midsection. It was primarily black with white accents along the edges, and a soft purple with green arrow patterns on the top surface, where there were also two silver circular pads for his feet on the front and back.
"Okay, Lav, time to put what you've practiced to the test," the red wolf said as he handed the Gear to his friend.
Lavender gingerly set it down and got on with his left foot forward. "Not gonna lie, I'm a bit nervous. I haven't ridden this thing anywhere besides around the three islands back home."
"Just think of this place like Guririn Island," Gadget advised him, "it's a similar enough sort of untamed jungle environment, at least on this part of the island."
The cat nodded and swallowed back a lump, bending down to turn it on. He wobbled for a moment as he lifted up into the air, but got it steady after a little balancing act. Seeing as he was ready as he was ever going to be, the twins commanded Remi to assume its "Speed Type" form so that it would be able to run alongside them. Once the robot had assumed that sleek mode, they all went after their friends.
Up ahead, Miles, Sonic, and Knuckles passed the area that the Jackal Squad had dug up, rushing down a hill and gaining air from a small dip. The Echidna took point for a moment to jump up into one of the palms and go from there to a ledge, the fox and hedgehog swiftly following. At the end of the stretch of seemingly suspended land was a primitive pulley that carried the youngest of them past a waterfall while the other two glided and flew in tandem beside him. They built up speed and rode through two loops to the inside of a massive, hollowed out tree, running up along the interior until they came out of a hole near the top. As they ran across the long and flat field they found there, Sonic couldn't help but smile.
"Hey, big guy," he said to the fox, "this is bringing back some good memories."
Miles laughed a little bit. "Yeah, this is pretty much the same path we took all those months ago, and this is close to the spot where Dr. Fukurokov tried to lecture us through that little droid."
"I am sure it's nice to revisit your memories of my home," Knuckles butted in, "but we do have something a little more urgent to deal with."
"Relax, Knux," the spiny kid remarked casually as they came to a couple of familiar large waterfalls, "Tails was able to beat these guys by himself when he was younger, so we'll have no problem!"
The Guardian hummed contemplatively, not so certain himself about it being that easy. After passing through a third loop and arriving at the location the teen had mentioned, the Echidna could sense that their target had already gotten a fair bit ahead of them. Enough, in fact, that attempting to pursue him via the normal route through the jungle would just keep increasing the distance between them.
"Tao's a lot faster than I remember," the fox mumbled, "I can't believe the Emerald's allowed him to keep ahead of us like this."
"Use that Radar you have," he urged the vulpine, "we should be able to track him, right?"
Miles did just that, searching for any signals within range aside from the one he carried. Just as Knuckles had said, there was a blip moving away from them towards the shore on the opposite side of the island. Seeing it for himself, the red monotreme pounded his fists together and backtracked to a huge boulder at the base of the cliff near them. With a powerful punch, a spiderweb of cracks formed on the stone before it collapsed into dust, revealing an alternate route to the one the other two boys had traveled previously.
"If we go this way, we should beat him there," he let the others know.
"Then what're we waitin' for? Let's do it to it!" Sonic urged them as he impulsively dashed ahead.
(Pacific Ocean Airspace)
Speedy had to hand it to his rival's methods. He remembered that speech the fox had given him during the conflict on West Side Island, about how he'd grown a little bit stronger every day due in no small part to his Emerald. Ever since he'd acquired the red one during the Flicky Island Incident, the former prince had been doing much the same, keeping it close and incorporating it into his daily routine. He would have preferred to push himself a lot harder, but he'd learned very quickly that the exhaustion that came as a result of that was not worth the trade-off. Thus, he'd been forced to take it easier so that he could get the most out of it in the long run. There was also the fact that he didn't have quite as much access to it as he would've liked due to G.U.N. regulations. Just an hour a day, sometimes a bit more, and then it either went back into the vault or down to one of the labs for further study.
In any case, it was thanks to his diligence with that–as well as his flight suit–that he was able to keep up the pace as long as he had. He'd closed some of the distance between him and Mecha Miles, but not enough that he'd be able to hit the robot with any competent form of attack. It worked well enough for his purposes anyway, as he was more interested in seeing where the automaton was headed. Even with what he'd overheard from Sonic, Speedy had his doubts about Mecha working alone. Someone had to have repaired it, and thus the artificial fox was indebted to whomever that may be for that much.
During his contemplation, the ace saw something else appear in the corner of his eye. It was just a dot at first, but it rapidly grew larger until Speedy could see that it was a gargantuan vessel, and that Mecha was heading right for it. To be more precise, it was a huge dirigible that was mostly bluish-silver with purple and gold decals for the "balloon" portion. A broad command bridge stuck up from the center and towards the back, while the front was equipped with numerous heavy artillery cannons. Smaller gun batteries were strategically placed along the top of the deck, the back, and the underside, where a few entrances could be spotted that were most likely for aerial units.
He'd been too caught up in checking out the ship to notice that Mecha had turned around and fired an energy ball from one of its arm cannons. Speedy felt himself overcome with searing pain even as his flight suit absorbed the brunt of the damage, causing him to briefly lose control. Not wanting to tumble into the sea, the ace maneuvered himself towards the craft to try and catch the edge of it. Thanks to his skill and a little bit of luck, he touched down on some red scaffolding near the belly of the craft, just out of sight of the guns there.
'Damn it all, he caught me napping,' he berated himself, checking over the status of his armor, 'damage mitigation and flight efficiency have both been significantly reduced. It'd save me more energy to try and navigate on foot, but I have to be careful.'
Speedy started things off by reaching into his pocket and throwing out a tiny device into the open, projecting a holographic image of himself. As he expected, the turrets around the area opened fire on it, and he used that chance to slip by to the nearest ladder. He sprang up near the top and pulled himself the rest of the way, climbing onto one of several catwalks built into the side of the bulky vessel. Seeing a way towards the rear, he made his way over while sliding beneath the shells of a larger gun, throwing a Shocking Blast its way to disable it. The buffeting winds gave him a bit of a lift as he Jumped up to the next level, Dashing out of the way of more fire the moment he landed.
The bird leapt out of it and grabbed the underside of a ledge above him, swinging up and around onto the top side. He sliced through another cannon with an energy blade while he dodged the bullets of smaller defenses, running to the end of the catwalk and kicking off the wall to go higher. He spotted a second ladder hanging from the end of the lower half of the crown of the blimp, noticing it went up into an area located within the divide. A bit of an aerial skip got him up far enough to grab the rungs, clambering up and into a hangar full of single-seat jets, bombers, and strange deep blue metallic orbs. He paid them no mind and he zoomed over to the other side, going into a dive and pivoting away from the mortars of the main guns as he landed on the bow.
Speedy soon found a few of those things from before following him, now showing off their true form. They had a nautiloid shape to their bodies, with four steel plates opening to reveal cameras that were like eyes, with yellow sclera, thin red irises, and greatly dilated black pupils. It was when he was just outside of the bridge that they formed a wide and loose circle around him, a thud filling the air and making part of the deck dent as Mecha made its entrance. To the Ace's dismay, it was no longer holding the Phantom Ruby, meaning the artificial fox had already given it to whomever it was working with.
"Well done, former prince," came a familiar smooth tone from the spheroid units.
Speedy clicked his beak in anger. "Alexei. I had a feeling that we hadn't seen the last of you."
"Naturally. Did you think that after Professor Boobowski had successfully made a working Warp Ring that I would be satisfied with just taking his notes?" He chuckled gloatingly. "No, I had another crafted while watching him at work, to serve mainly as a contingency."
'So, he had just enough strength to use that to get away before Green could finish the job,' the ex-royal put together, 'no doubt I'll see her again before long, then.'
"Speaking of contingencies," the owl went on, "it seems you destroyed the Crown of Delusion with a mind to prevent the Ruby from being properly controlled. Wise foresight, but you have merely delayed my designs."
It didn't surprise Speedy that Alexei was still focused on his plans for the Neo Battle Armada, basically picking up where the Empire left off. Even if he'd seemingly recovered from the madness of the Ruby, there was still that bit of an unhinged mind that seemed to run in his family.
"Still on about that, I see," the ace said dryly, "I'll stop you just as I did before, and I'll make sure that you don't escape this time."
"You are bluffing, Speedy." There was a smug undertone in his voice that grated on the agent's nerves even more than it already did. "You cannot win now that I have the Ruby again, as well as Mecha Miles and more dependable people by my side."
That gave Speedy pause. Alexei wouldn't have brought up that there were additional forces under his wing if it wasn't important in some way.
"What do you mean by that?" he dared to inquire.
Alexei scoffed. "It would be better for you to find out for yourself, and you will in time. But for now, Mecha shall escort you off of my ship."
Speedy didn't like the tone the other bird took with him, nor did he appreciate the cryptic suggestion. He hadn't gone through everything he had at Flicky Island just for Alexei to walk away, or rather, fly away with the gem. Not to mention, he had seen first-hand just what the Ruby was capable of, even in hands that didn't fully understand its power. He wasn't about to let what happened on his last assignment spread to the rest of the world, if he could help it.
But, as much as he wanted to spring into action at that moment, the ace knew what his chances were if he tried. Even if they hadn't been giving it their all, Speedy was still bothered by how easily Mecha had withstood their attacks earlier. True, it had one of the Chaos Emeralds, but so did he, which had him wondering about the robot's armor. It wasn't as though G.U.N. used cheap materials for their robots, so what sort of metals and alloys had Alexei employed with the false fox? Speedy felt that until he knew, he wouldn't be able to bring this imitation of his rival down.
"I can show myself out, thank you very much," he snidely told Alexei as he slowly rose into the air, "but mark my words: this isn't over."
"Quite so, Speedy," Alexei responded with reserved mirth, "this is but a taste of what is to come."
Mecha watched him intently as he flew up and away from the airship, those optics never once letting him out of their sight until the vessel had gone on its way. Speedy cursed himself for allowing them to go after he'd chased them all that way, feeling powerless for the first time in a while. It wasn't long afterwards that he saw Rouge arrive using one of the jet packs that the organization had replicated from the Empire. She didn't need it for speed, but it did allow her to save energy and give her wings a break.
"Ace!" she called out to him, "what's going on?"
He turned around to face her. "That dirigible over there is where Mecha Miles went, and it belongs to someone most people in G.U.N. had written off as dead and gone after our last assignment."
"So, Al's back?" the bat replied, a small smirk crossing her lips, "I can't say I'm surprised. If things are getting more serious, you should do the thing I said you should do earlier."
'You only said "maybe" then,' the bird mentally corrected her as he rolled his eyes.
Still, she had a point. Speedy let out a sigh and with much reluctance, he began adjusting his comm frequency to the one the real two-tailed fox had given him.
(Angel Island Jungle)
Gadget winced as Lavender came out of the tunnel the four of them had Rolled through and smacked into the wall waiting just a few meters from the other end. As if to add insult to injury, the floor beneath them broke away, with all of them landing on a ledge just below except for the cat, who splashed down into a shallow pool. He spat out some water as he surfaced, then pulled himself onto dry ground to shake out the dampness.
"You okay, dude?" the red wolf asked, coming to the feline's side to help him up.
Lavender gratefully accepted. "Yeah, just a bit wet and a little sore from that bump, but I'm alright. I'm still not used to that whole 'Rolling' thing."
"Not to sound harsh, but you're going to have to, sooner rather than later," Gizmo told him bluntly.
The cat grabbed his board back from Remi and got himself settled on it again. "Maybe you can give me some tips, then."
"Perhaps in a bit, when we're not preoccupied with a chase," the she-wolf compromised.
Fair enough. They continued on their way by clearing more shallow water, briefly passing through a fairly dense thicket and coming to a modest lake. The cat skimmed over the surface with his Gear while the twins used their grapplers to swing from tree to tree. Not wanting a repeat of earlier, Lavender opted to take the higher route ahead, ducking low on his ride as he went over a waterfall and into a short cavern. The Wolf siblings kept on his tail while they scaled up another cliff, then shortly after descended back into the jungle. They rode through a couple of loops and went sailing off a natural ramp past a large waterfall, though they didn't get far before seeing they had to scale further up the falls to progress. To the cat's chagrin, they were forced to Roll up to get past the next hurdle, but he was thankful there wasn't a wall on the other side that time.
After emerging from the end of the path, the quartet ran across a lengthy field into a forest, ending up at the biggest waterfall they'd yet seen on the way. On the other side of a bridge built near it, the four of them found the very jackal that their other friends had been chasing. How he'd managed to outpace them and lose them was beyond their guess, but seeing as he was catching his breath, they saw that as a good opportunity to get the jump on him. Just as they got in close, the canine's white ears flicked at the noise they made, wheeling around and regarding them with a tired expression.
"Aw man," he said, a little more relaxed than he probably should have been at seeing the other Animals, "no time to rest, I guess."
Just as he'd been before, Tao was coated in a bright yellow light not long after turning tail and heading off deeper into the jungle. In response, Remi put the figurative pedal to the medal and increased its velocity, zooming off in a metallic amber blur. Gizmo activated her green escrima stick while Gadget "pumped" the tongues of his boots, a mild verdant layer encompassing them both. As they sped after the little robot, Lavender experimentally leaned and tapped at his board, and nearly flew off as he accelerated much faster than he'd intended.
Well, he'd be able to keep up, at any rate!
(Angel Island Jungle Underground, minutes ago...)
"We really are movin'," Sonic commented as he slid down a dark slope, "but I don't get it, Knux. How did ya send the Emeralds all over the island in the time it took us to get from one side of the jungle to the other?"
The Echidna pulled himself up onto the top of a high wall after a brief climb, reaching down to help the kid make it to the top once he got there. "I returned to the Hidden Palace through a nearby Giant Ring, where I then had the Master Emerald scatter them around."
"I figured something like that was the case after our time here," Miles said while he hovered close to the underground cavern's ceiling, "but I have to say, I didn't think there was an extensive network of tunnels like this outside of the ones in Lava Reef. Did you make them?"
"No, that was the work of my forebears. I simply added a few routes here and there and kept up the maintenance." He hummed thoughtfully, with what sounded like a smidgen of shame mixed in. "Even if he was our enemy in the end, Dmitri did help to reinforce these passages, which has made it much easier to keep them from caving in."
The fox clenched his jaw at that. Even after nearly half a year, it was still a tough pill for him to swallow when it came to the fact that he and others used what the Empire had made. He did believe that machines and other inventions weren't evil in and of themselves, save for maybe Mecha Miles. But, something about using the old doctor's tech and leftover renovations for the island just left a bad taste in his muzzle, even if it's for benevolent purposes. He sometimes wondered how his friends and siblings could do so without feeling the same kind of guilt or disgust that he did. Or maybe they did and could put those feelings aside better than he could?
"...Miles, come in," called a certain avian voice he was more than a little familiar with.
Miles briefly switched over to the communications tab on the Electric, seeing that it was Speedy. Curious at what his rival could want, the teen patched him through as they continued to race through the underground.
"I'm here, Speedy," he answered the bird, "and since you're reaching out to me, I'm assuming something big happened."
"That's putting it lightly," Speedy answered with clear irritation, though not directed at the fox, "G.U.N. HQ was infiltrated and the Phantom Ruby has been stolen."
That made Miles and Sonic stop in their tracks, while Knuckles took a moment to do the same once he saw them. The Echidna might not have been on the up and up when it came to certain matters, but he could tell that this was serious with the way his friends reacted.
"Was it Alexei?" the two-tail asked.
"Well, he is alive and he is the one who orchestrated the theft, but not the one to do the dirty work." There was a pregnant pause before the ace went on. "The one responsible for that was your robotic copy."
That definitely got Knuckles' attention. "Mecha again. After what happened on Carnival Island, I knew it was only a matter of time before it showed up again!"
"Ah, that must be the Echidna I've heard about. I suppose we'll meet soon enough at this rate, Guardian." There came a clearing of the throat. "Anyway, we're doing the best we can with the situation, but if worse comes to worst, we may well need your assistance."
"Woo, hear that, Tails?" Sonic said excitedly, "sounds like our biggest adventure yet! And your bird friend is finally coming around!"
"We're not friends!" Miles and Speedy all but shouted simultaneously.
The hedgehog waved them off dismissively. "Pfft, you two are in denial, just like you are about Cream being your girlfriend, big guy."
"That much is obvious," Knuckles agreed.
Miles grinded his teeth, but said nothing to further provoke his friends' japery. He didn't want to give them the satisfaction of a heated reaction, and he could hear Speedy biting back his own response. Instead, he decided to resume their trek through the tunnels and change the momentary subject to get things back on track.
"I'd be willing to help out, but we're currently dealing with a situation of our own, Speedy," the fox explained while he jogged down a slope, "Angel Island's on the Earth's surface again and the Jackal Squad has come here to plunder some sort of treasure."
"The Jackal Squad?" the bird replied curiously, "strange that they'd wander so far from their usual territory. But, given that Alexei told me he had 'more dependable' people by his side now, them being there may not be a coincidence."
The idea was more than a little concerning to Miles. Even if he'd beaten the gang before on his own, they hadn't exactly been pushovers. That had been a few years ago, too, so it was likely that all the jackals had improved since then; Tao certainly had, from what he'd seen. And from what he remembered of Speedy's story, Alexei was aware of the potential of the Emeralds as well. If the two forces really were in cahoots with each other, then that could spell real trouble.
"Anything else?" Miles questioned the ace.
"Alexei has obtained at least one of the Chaos Emeralds," Speedy responded, "the blue one is currently installed in Mecha Miles' core."
Sonic frowned at the news as he leapt over a series of spike-filled pitfalls. "Sounds like getting 'em all's gonna be tough. One of those jackal jerks has got one too."
"I see." Speedy hummed softly. "The Commander would prefer we not have to rely on them, since he's still wary about you losing control, Miles. But, I know that it'll probably come to that anyway. They may be the only way to counter our common foes if they manage to get both the Phantom Ruby and the Shadow Star Sapphire."
True, it was said that one that possessed both of the Cursed Corundums could shape reality to its whims, or at least that's what the fox had heard. And while G.U.N. may not have trusted him, the fear of giving in to what everyone had dubbed "Monster Miles" had lessened significantly since the first instance. It had been a big motivator for him to take up meditation in the first place, so that he'd never have to dread potentially turning on his friends and family. He liked to think he had a handle on it now, though he couldn't speak for the possibility of unexpected events happening. He just hoped that Zero or none of the other members of the Jackal Squad forced his hand in such a way.
"If all goes well, it won't get that far," the fox said with some slight anxiety as he stopped at the top of a hill overlooking three consecutive loops.
"Then let's meet up," the bird suggested, "keep me posted about what you find and I'll do the same until then."
Miles terminated the transmission and switched back to the Emerald Radar not long after that, now more focused on their apparent objective. On the off-chance that the "treasure" was the Sapphire, the Jackal Squad couldn't be allowed to get away. He didn't want to think about the sort of reality that someone like Zero could dream up.
Once they'd gotten through the aforementioned loops, Miles gave Sonic a lift to the top of a sheer cliff while Knuckles climbed up after them. A small burst of speed after that sent them off a natural stony ramp and across a gap, where the Echidna shoved more rocks aside to reveal another route forward. The three Rolled through the twisting length of the passage until they shot straight up out of the end and landed on a similar ledge to the last one they'd come from.
While his friends climbed and made use of the occasional bit of levitating earth, Miles kept track of Tao's progress with the Radar. The jackal had momentarily stopped at some point, then picked up the pace again, moving at a rather blistering pace according to his device. All the same, the subterranean network Knuckles led them through finally came to an end and brought them out above ground once again. And not a moment too soon, for they found the very Animal they'd been chasing practically right beside them.
The lot of them, however, hadn't noticed just how close they were to the shore on which the Jackal Squad landed. Nor had the other members of Tao's lot caught sight of him and his pursuers until they were basically on top of them. With the exception of the Squad leader himself, both the heroic trio and the group of jackals crashed headlong into each other, causing them to crack a rather large stone geode that the latter group had been toting. Despite the damage to the mass of mineral matter, there was one bit of it that popped out and yet appeared to be entirely unscathed. It was a beautiful blue, almost perfectly spherical sapphire roughly the size of a baseball, with an eight-pointed star sitting in its core. Unlike the white or off-white that was typically worn by the namesake of star sapphires, the one within this specimen was a deep black like a starless void.
As for the crash, Miles, Sonic, and Knuckles had all come out of it better than their foes, and had immediately moved to try and apprehend them. Given the dizzying experience they'd just gone through, those three jackals were caught flat-footed by the sudden jumping.
"Oh no!" lamented Lana, one of the side-striped females, as she was restrained by Miles.
"They caught up to us!" shouted Shauna, the other lady, while Sonic kept her from getting back to her feet.
"Quick, Boss, grab the treasure!" cried Cress, the short black-backed male, as Knuckles shoved him into the ground.
Tao drew a knife in each hand and was about to back up his comrades, only to get cut off by an energy beam narrowly missing him. The Wolf Twins, Remi, and Lavender had all just arrived as well, the cat being the one to fire the warning shot.
"Sorry I couldn't lose them, Boss," the oddly patterned jackal apologized to his superior, "but we're not down yet. Remember what our client said."
Zero had nearly been ready to go in swinging his scimitar, but he recalled what his second was talking about. They hadn't merely been retrieving this thing so that it could be put on some fancy display. It was supposed to have some strange powers or whatnot; he didn't remember all of the details, since that's what he had Tao for. He wasn't too fond of the idea of borrowing strength, but that fox kid had some odd abilities because of his own rock, so using this one would just make things even!
Heeding that and the frantic urges of his crew, Zero dashed towards the gemstone and swiftly swept it up. But the moment he touched the sapphire, he almost lost hold of it as his vision shifted and warped. After a moment, the jackal didn't see his Number 2 or the fox and his friends, nor the island around them. Instead, he saw a blasted, ruined landscape that stretched on in every direction, the soil scarred, scorching, and riddled with depressions. Weapons great and small were scattered and broken, as were the unmoving bodies of countless Animals, Critters, and humans. There were living ones in the distance, some fleeing in horror from others that hounded them or continued to spread chaos. All of this fed to his vision as blacks, whites, and shades of gray, as though he was peering into a world of shadows. Or rather, the shadow of a world that had succumbed to complete and total anarchy, where only the strong survived and hunted the weak.
Zero hadn't deeply thought about it until that moment, but it was the sort of world that he'd desired for a long time. As much as he enjoyed the thrills and kills that came with his profession, he'd been going through the motions for many years by then. Even the life of a murderous mercenary thief got dull after a point, especially so when most everyone else around him lived comfortable, pitiful lives. Zero despised such feebleness, but if there was one thing he hated more than weaklings, it was people that struggled on their behalf. Those that weren't so sedentary, yet were fools that fought for "justice" and the privilege for others to be pampered.
His eyes refocused, not even a second having passed in reality by the time he snapped out of his musing and the vision he experienced. To think that all of that had been brought just by merely touching the sapphire; what would happen if one were to actually try doing something with it? Seeing the state that his brethren were in, Zero felt like he had nothing to lose.
"I'm not about to let you humiliate my squad again, you little fuckin' freak!" he swore at Miles as he held the artifact high above his head, "take your stupid band of brats with you and get out of our way!"
As though answering his wishes, the sapphire shined with an otherworldly light, intensifying for a few seconds before ultimately unleashing a pulse of dark energy. A sound unlike anything any of them had ever heard filled the air, and everyone was lifted off of the ground as though gravity no longer influenced them. Furthermore, that same intangible force separated the red, blue, and amber trio from those they'd just been holding down.
"There's some kind of spatial anomaly!" Gadget announced frantically as he checked his comm, helpless to the influence of the shadowy field, "and more energy's building up!"
Although just as mystified, Miles tried to swim through the air to grab onto his friends, the cyan Emerald flashing in one of his belt pouches. "Everyone, hang on!"
It was a struggle, but although he couldn't explain it, his beloved charm allowed him to reach all his friends that were left prone in the air. Immediately after he'd gathered his group together, the fox and all the rest were caught up in a blinding white surge of light and deeply distorted sound. For all intents and purposes, both Miles and Zero's circles had vanished without a trace.
