Adventures of the Orange Flash
Chapter 60: Bridging Gaps and Healing Scars
"So how is it looking so far?" asked Nico who is currently with Naruto in a small forest clearing, away from both the Freedom Fighters' HQ and New Mobotropolis for safety precautions with what they're doing right now.
Naruto was carefully painting fuinjutsu seals on one of the Warp Rings and making sure that there weren't any ink smudges before drying up "So far so good, from what I know about it. A Warp Ring basically punches a hole through space and forms a gateway from one place to another. It bears some similarities to my dad's Hirashin seal formula but the execution is different with him utilizing customized kunai rapidly and multiple times," he recalled Kakashi telling him how his father improved upon what the Second Hokage created and practically made it into his own.
"From what we have learnt, a normal Warp Ring can only create portals within a dimension except when charged up with Chaos Energy from a Chaos Emerald. But the issue would how we can pinpoint our own dimension over an infinite number of others?" asked Nico.
Naruto smiled in response "That's where fuinjutsu comes into play, I've inscribed a variant of the Hirashin formula onto the Warp Ring then charge it with about a tail's worth of Kurama's chakra into it. This will lock-on to the other Hirashin seals which I placed in our dimension,"
"So will it work?"
"We're about to find out plus I prepared a message for the others back home, if it works then I'll be able to finetune it to the point that we can cross between dimensions freely besides the chakra cost,"
"You're making it sound like I'm a rechargeable battery," Kurama grumbled.
"Chillax buddy, plus you can't deny finding this interesting," thought Naruto, earning a huff from the grumpy fox "Alright then, let's give it a shot and hope for the best,"
In the Freedom Fighters' HQ, Sally and the others were currently in the Command Center trying to find ways to get in contact or least communicate with Naruto and Nicole but to no avail much to their growing disappointment and worry.
"Still nothing on Naruto and Nicole?" asked Sonic who was rapidly tapping a toe on the ground impatiently.
"We're trying everything we can Sonic, but we're coming up with nothing," said Tails, typing away on one of the consoles.
"I sure hope they're okay, Milla, Cream and Wendy are getting more worried," said Lilac, the trio often ask about them every time she and Carol come home.
Suddenly, a large golden ring with a swirling portal of energy appeared from out of nowhere, surprising everyone and putting them on alert as they had seen this before when something fell through the ring and clattered onto the floor before the ring itself disappeared from sight.
Rotor cautiously approached the item which turned out to be a plastic casing containing a CD-ROM with a sticky note on it. He took a lot and gasped upon reading the note before turning to the others "This is from Naruto!"
Everyone perked up upon hearing this with Carol being the most vocal "Well don't leave us in suspense, slip the disc in so we can see what's in it," Rotor was already inserting the disc into a slot and a video began playing with the large monitor displaying Naruto with Nicole in her fairy form sitting on his left shoulder.
[If you guys are playing this recording then it means that the attempt was a success] said Naruto with a smile
"Sounds like he's found a way to get back to us," said Sally thoughtfully.
Nicole spoke up next [We are currently situated in a parallel dimension with several similarities as well as differences…] she went on to talk about the teams' counterparts, the history as well as the recent events which they had gotten themselves involved.
"It doesn't surprise me that there's an Eggman over there, but I'm knocked for a loop that Knuckles got turned into an evil god and it costed heavily to save him," said Sonic, feeling sad for what happened to the counterpart of his good friend.
"Not to mention that things are a bit more serious over there," said Barby with a small frown.
Naruto spoke afterwards [We'll be finetuning the modded Warp Ring to be stable enough for us to come back, until then we'll be helping them out while we're here. Be sure to let everyone know that we're okay and will definitely return. We'll see you guys later] he did a two-finger salute as the recording ended.
Lilac let out a sigh of relief "At least now the girls will be able to calm down upon hearing this message from Naruto,"
"Tell me about it," Carol was in agreement.
Sonic hopped off the chair and stretched his arms out "Well, I'll be going out for a run. Be sure to keep me posted when anything happens,"
The rest of the Freedom Fighters left to take part in different activities with their minds now at ease with the safety of their friends now assured.
Back with Naruto and Nicole, they were analyzing the modded Warp Ring in its default size to check for any kinks after the first successful attempt.
"Not bad for a first try, we need to input a regulator seal to stabilize the portal for a longer duration, not to mention a repel seal to knock back anyone passing through in case the portal begins to destabilize as a safety precaution," said Naruto thoughtfully when he blinked upon memories of his clones transferring into his mind then his ECG-X gloves began beeping to signal a call which he answered "Naruto here,"
[Hey Naruto, it's Tails. We're done with the rebuilding of the base when your clones puffed away but you weren't here] said Tails.
"Nico and I were doing some testing on our modded Warp Rings and got some results," Naruto replied.
[That's good to hear, so what are you up to now?]
Naruto hummed thoughtfully before snapping his fingers in realization before speaking up "If you guys aren't busy right now then let's meet up at the barren area of the Great Forest, there's something I'd like for you guys to see,"
[What is it?] asked Tails curiously.
"It's a surprise and I'm sure it will knock you for a loop and at the same time make you happy,"
[Uh okay, we'll be there soon]
"Cool, see ya," Naruto ended the end and patted the dust off his clothes before turning to Nico and the Chao "Let's go meet up with them.
Nodding in affirmation, Nico settled on Naruto's hair in Faerie Form while Kou and Yoru perched on his shoulders before he took off at highspeed through the forest, weaving around the trees until he reached the end and were in the destroyed area of the Great Forest. Naruto winced inwardly at the sight of the destruction, being a Sage has made him rather sensitive to the state of nature or the flow of life in general.
"It's really sad to see the state of this place, all because of one's greed," said Nico.
"Tell me about it, my old home was within a deep forest and we made do despite not being technologically advanced. A scenery like this makes me feel out of place," said Naruto with a frown.
"Which is why you're about to do something about this," said Kurama with the blonde kitsune nodding in affirmation. They didn't wait too long until Sonic and the other Freedom Fighters showed up to meet with them.
"Hey man, Tails said that you wanted to show us something out here," said Sonic.
Naruto nodded in affirmation "Yeah, it has to do with this place. After learning what Eggman did to your old home, I came to check it out and was really bummed about the aftermath,"
"Tell us about it, I promised myself to smash every single one of his machines," said Amy, her fingers twitching to summon her Piko Piko Hammer.
"The feeling's mutual, anyways I intend to do something about this place,"
"What how exactly are you intending to do that?" asked Sally confusedly.
Naruto smirked in response "You guys are about see,"
He created three shadow clones who went to sit cross-legged on the ground in a triangle facing away from each other with him at the center. It took him some time until he attained Sage Mode, this made the clones activate their Water, Earth and Plant Aspects respectively.
"Alright guys, let's do this!" Naruto called out.
"Roger that boss!" the clones responded in affirmation.
They simultaneously formed handsigns and proceeded to concentrate deeply as their bodies hovered a few meters into the air while enshrouded in auras with colors representing their elemental aspects. The first clone reached into the core of the planet and restored the fertility of the barren area, the second clone transported the moisture from the nearby bodies of water and spread it out evenly, then the third clones rejuvenated the latent plant life lying dormant underground. Naruto sensed the clones were just about done with their roles and prepared to carry out his own role.
"What do you suppose he iz doing?" asked Antoine.
Bunnie shrugged in response "I don't know, but I reckon we're about to find out,"
No sooner did those words leave her lips that the ground began to shake rather intensely, before their very eyes, grass began rapidly growing and spreading throughout the barren land as well as sprouts developing into various kinds of trees all around. This continued for some time until the barren land was completely restored into a forest once more.
Naruto and the clones floated back onto the ground with the former letting out a breath of exhaustion while the clones dispelled into smoke after their roles were done and he deactivated his Sage Mode, looking around the newly rejuvenated forest in satisfaction. He turned to see the looks of shock from the Freedom Fighters as they approached him.
"Did you just regrow an entire forest?" asked Sally with no small amount of disbelief.
Naruto nodded in affirmation "That I did, but a past leader in my old home was able to create a giant forest all by himself compared to me who had to use some clones to utilize the elemental aspects and me using Sage Mode to do so,"
"Whoa, I've never seen anyone do anything like this. I can tell you that," said Rotor.
"I also made sure that the forest would be able to recover should something like this ever happen again,"
"You're really making it even harder for us to find ways to repay you for your aid," said Sally.
Naruto waved it off "There's no need, what even made me do this sooner than planned was hearing from the residents who spoke of their old home with sadness. It reminded me of when my own home was attacked but were able to defend it albeit with some costs,"
"Seriously man, we owe you big for this," Sonic insisted with the others agreeing with him.
"*Sigh* fine, I'll cash in the favor at a later time," Naruto groaned, hoping this will at least appease them.
"So, what will you be doing now?" asked Tails.
"Nothing really comes to mind besides lunch, I'll contact you guys if anything comes up. What about you?"
"Well Rotor and I are going to work on building some SACs for us to use,"
"I'll be returning to New Mobotropolis to give a report on the forest restoration, no doubt they would be confused about this," said Sally.
"I'll be going for a run like always," said Sonic, already taking off before Amy could say or do anything in response.
"I guess I'll be finding something else to do," the pink hedgehog grumbled.
"Antoine and I will be having brunch back in New Mobotropolis," said Bunnie.
"Guess everyone's got something planned for the day, then I won't be holding up you all up any longer. We could chat at a later time," said Naruto, leaning back slightly with arms crossed behind his head.
"Okay then, let's head back to the city," said Sally, receiving nods of affirmation from everyone.
The group made their way back to New Mobotropolis before splitting up to go their own way. Naruto along with Nico and the Chao walked down the streets, waving at the residents who were greeting him. He had certainly made quite the impression with them due to his fight against Enerjak.
"So what now?" Naruto muttered out loud.
"Well we were already aware of the difference between both dimensions but not entirely, perhaps more information could prevent any chances of misconception during our outings here," Nico suggested.
"Books huh…well I don't mind reading, just that seeing large stacks of them makes me feel like I'm going to shave a portion of my lifespan reading them," said Naruto awkwardly.
Nico and the Chao giggled in response "Not to worry, the other Nicole granted me access to the digital archives of the library so you can project Holoscreen and read the digital copies,"
"Thanks Nico-chan, let's go to the park. I can read over there, after getting some food first,"
After passing through a mart to purchase some snacks, Naruto and the others made their way over to the park where they sat on the bench and the blonde kitsune projected a Holoscreen through his ECG-X gloves. He was about to scroll through the listings when Nico sat next to him and leaned onto his chest, much to his growing awkwardness.
"Ummmm, is there something the matter?" asked Naruto nervously.
Nico shook her head in response "Not at all, I figured this to be the best position so we could read together. Am I bothering you?"
Naruto rubbed the back of his head with a tinge of pink on his cheeks "Oh uh…not really, I-I was just wondering is all," Nico smiled inwardly…it was just like what she read online and couldn't help but find Naruto behaving unlike his normal self rather cute.
They went on to read from the digital archives of the Mobotropolis library, they came upon certain interesting facts along the with one example being that Dragon Kingdom was formerly resided by dragons but left upon realizing that their numerous battles had laid waste to the land, Naruto had a feeling that he'll discover certain things once he goes there. Another is the Deerwood Forest which is like the Great Forest but mostly dominated by pine and evergreen trees. After reading about several more interesting locations, they went on to read about the civilizations and ended up finding one which they immediately found disturbing.
"The Felidae are a society of xenophobic cat warriors that reside in the Mysterious Cat Country, they run a monarchy with a Queen as their leader. Clothing is an important cultural aspect, as the tribe uses apparel to define their social standing and identities; even the Queen speaks of herself as a separate entity when not wearing her cloak. That's kinda weird," said Naruto with a quirked eyebrow.
"I see a lot of flaws in this culture of theirs, Identities could be easily stolen and used against the tribe. I fear to think what would happen if an enemy were to steal the queen's robes and use its power against the tribe, they would have no other choice but to listen to the wearer," said Nico with concern.
"That's not the only flaw they have," said Naruto with a frown.
"What is it?"
"Other aspects of their society include rituals, such as eating their young if they 'get out of line', torturing hostages, and fights to the death to solve disputes,"
Nico gasped in shock at what she had just heard "B-But that's…,"
"Immoral? Barbaric? Cruel? Downright inhuman? A lot of words come to mind about this," said Naruto.
"But why do this? It doesn't benefit anyone,"
"We'll come back to this at a later time, though I doubt we would be visiting that place anytime soon,"
Kurama scoffed at that "Knowing your luck, I can see the opposite of that happening,"
They continued with the reading and came upon the lore of the Wolf Pack Tribe who are fierce rivals with the Felidae but are much friendlier compared to them, also the Wolf Pack respect the environment greatly while being technologically advanced which reminded Naruto of how Konoha lived the same way. Next up was the Dingo Regime, they are a militant race who express no small amount of racism towards the echidnas and had attempted to destroy them with nuclear warheads which failed but the result was the mass radiation throughout Angel Island but was later resolved.
"Hmmm, I can tell that there's strong enmity between the Dingoes and the Echidnas. Do you supposed that something might have happened to them while Knuckles was Enerjak?" asked Nicole.
"Could be, Knuckles was under that dude's control so there's a chance he might have done something to the Dingoes before coming to Mobotropolis. But we both know it's kinda a sensitive subject to ask about concerning the Enerjak thing," Naruto pointed out.
"Why not consult that Julie-Su echidna, I'm sure she would be willing to tell us about the Echidnas and their history in this dimension," Kurama suggested.
"I see what you mean, it would be nice to meet the other echidnas here," said Naruto thoughtfully before relaying the statement to Nico.
"Sounds like a pretty good idea, I would be interested in meeting them as well," said Nico.
"Cool, I already got a lock on her aura and she seems to be with the Chaotix so let's head over there,"
Naruto hopped off the park bench and began making his way towards where he's sensing Julie-Su at a jogging pace, they soon located her along with the Chaotix hanging around the marketplace and appear to be packing up provisions for something in mind.
"Hey guys," Naruto called out, waving a hand in greeting to catch their attention.
"Oh hello Naruto and Nico, what brings you all here?" asked Julie-Su curiously.
"We were hoping if you could tell us where we could find the echidnas as we would like to meet them," said Naruto
Julie-Su frowned at the question before speaking "May I ask the reason why?"
"This may be a bitter pill to swallow but, in our dimension, Knuckles is basically the last living echidna and guardian of the Master Emerald," said Naruto, receiving gasps of shock from the members of Chaotix especially Julie-Su.
"Learning that there were other echidnas in this dimension is an opportunity we couldn't pass up," Nico added.
"Your Knuckles has been alone this whole time, what happened?" asked Mighty.
Nico explained "There are some differences in the history but we learnt that his clan was wiped out by Chaos when they tried to harness the powers of the Chaos Emerald and hurt the Chao which incurred its wrath. We didn't hear of any other echidna besides his clan in the lore,"
"Man, I guess some things don't change across dimensions," said Vector.
Julie-Su hummed silently in thought, considering whether or not she should allow Naruto to see the echidnas considering everything that has been happening but then she recalled how Naruto was willing to help save Knuckles when he was Enerjak alongside Sonic while Sally, Locke and the others thought otherwise. She turned to speak with the blonde kitsune.
"Can I have your word that you wouldn't reveal its location to anyone else?" she inquired.
"I will most definitely conceal the whereabouts of the echidnas, I swear on my Nindo," said Naruto with utmost seriousness.
Espio's eyes narrowed upon hearing this "Swearing upon a Nindo makes any promise akin to that of a blood oath, this only raises my suspicions that he is a ninja but the major question being what House the fox represents,"
"You can be rest assured, Naruto treats his promises as blood oaths. He would rather commit seppuku than break them," said Nico.
"…very well then, I take you to Albion," said Julie-Su.
"But I thought we were going to see Knuckles on Angel Island," said Charmy confusedly.
"We can meet up with him at a later…plus I have my reasons for going there as well," said Julie-Su, deep in her heart she wasn't looking forward to what she was going to do once there.
"Well, you're gonna have to wait for a while till Tails is free to give you a ride with the Tornado," said Saffron Bee.
"No need for that, I got my own ride," said Naruto before yelling out "Dragoon!" at his call, a small black hole appeared in the sky and the air glider emerged from it then descended to hover next to him much to the amazement of the others.
"Whoooaaa, that looks so cooool!" said Charmy with his eyes sparkling in awe at the sight of the air glider.
"I didn't know that the Dragoon could cross dimensions," said Nico in shock.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head "I didn't know either and had called for it out of habit, maybe it could be the ticket back home,"
"I would advise against that Naruto; we do not know its true capabilities and limits. It's best that you rather continue working on the Modded Warp Ring for safety," said Kurama.
"You got a point, better safe than sorry. Plus I would ask Tetsuo about what Dragoon can really do besides what I know," thought Naruto before speaking up "Anyways, my Dragoon is one of my fastest means of getting around when I'm not going by foot. It can quite literally 'rip through the sky like knife through butter,"
"I'll send a message to Nicole, letting her and the others know where we're going," said Nico before transferring herself back into the SAC.
"Alright then, let's get going," Naruto hopped lightly onto Dragoon with Julie-Su joining him "We'll see you guys later,"
"Have a nice trip," said Ray.
The duo nodded as the air glider rose into the air then took off at highspeed, leaving behind a sonic boom in its wake much to the amazement of anyone watching. It didn't take them very long till they left the mainland and were now flying above the ocean, Julie-Su served as their navigator with Naruto taking care of the flying, the former saw something ahead and called out to the latter.
"That island over there, that's Albion," said Julie-Su.
"Gotcha, we'll begin making our descent," said Naruto, sending a mental command for the air glider to comply. As they drew closer, Naruto saw something concerning and asked "What happened here, why is the city in ruins?"
"You can thank Dr. Eggman and Finitevus for this, his fleet laid waste to the city and forced the echidnas to flee for safety. Knuckles had told me that he had sent a majority of the echidnas back here when he was Enerjak,"
"He hasn't gone to see them, has he?" asked Naruto.
Julie-Su shook her head "No, no doubt that the guilt has kept him from doing so even though it wasn't his fault to begin with,"
"We'll need to talk to him, I was in the same position as he was where I wasn't able to control a power of mine and went on rampages, not able to differ between friend or foe…ended up hurting some people precious to me," said Naruto, Kurama looked away in slight shame at having been purposely sending Naruto on rampages with his darkened chakra during those times.
They soon reached the shores of the island and got off Dragoon for it to fly away and disappear through a wormhole, several echidnas emerged from the ruins of the city and cautiously approached them with one taking the lead.
He is a brown echidna with dark black/brown hair and slightly bushy eyebrows, he wears a simple green robe with a tan belt, white gloves with green-and-tan cuffs, and a pair of sandals.
"It's good to see you alive and well, Julie-Su. So who's this fellow with you?" asked the echidna, smiling at Julie-Su before turning to Naruto with a calculative look in his eyes.
"It's good to see you too Remington, this is Naruto Uzumaki who's a new friend of mine. He played a vital part in helping us against Enerjak,"
Remington was taken aback upon hearing this with the other echidnas gasping in shock and for good reason as Enerjak is someone to be feared and no one had ever dared to go up against him with the belief that he could be defeated or fought evenly.
"You actually fought against Enerjak?!" asked Remington.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head "Yeah, I pushed him back the first time then later teamed up with Sonic in his Super Form to put a stop to him. We succeeded but it came with a heavy cost,"
"What do you mean?"
"I think it's best that we discuss it behind closed doors and with Lara-Le, what happened is going to be a lot to take," Julie-Su explained, Remington looked at the duo and could tell that certain things must have happened that they haven't heard just yet.
"Very well then, I'll take you to her,"
Naruto and Julie-Su followed Remington with Nico emerging from the SAC in her Faerie Form to perch on the former's whilst the Chao were on his shoulder as always, they took note of the echidnas moving pieces of the buildings while others were pitching up tents amongst other things.
"So how are things here in Albion?" asked Julie-Su.
"It's a work in progress, I am taking lead in the reconstruction efforts of the city to a more livable state for all of us at the moment. It might take a while though," said Remington thoughtfully.
Naruto spoke up "I could help you out if you'd allow me to, some of my Elemental Aspects could be of help,"
"Why do you want to help us?"
"I don't really need a reason, if I can help someone then I will. It's always been that way with me,"
"You're quite interesting,"
Naruto smirked with Yoru grinning as well "You don't know the half of it,"
They arrived at a slightly large tent where a married couple were playing with their child, the female has red hair which is partially tied into braids and wears a yellow robe while the male dons a blue robe with white lining and a blue cord tied around the waist., their child appears to be about a year old and wearing a blue one-piece pajama.
The female looked up and smiled upon seeing Julie-Su "Oh Julie, it's a great relief to see you and who is your friend here?"
"It's good to see you too, allow me to introduce you to each other," Julie-Su gestured to Naruto "He's Naruto Uzumaki, a nine tailed fox but he's not related to Tails though. Naruto, they're Lara-Le, Wynmacher and Knecapeon Mace or you can call him Kneecaps,"
Naruto bowed in greeting "It's a pleasure to meet you all,"
Wynmacher nodding in response "The feeling is mutual, and it appears that Kneecaps has developed a liking to you," the baby echidna was shaking his rattle and giggling happily at the blonde kitsune.
"I'm glad to hear that," Naruto smiled at Kneecaps, making him giggle more
Lara-Le then spoke up "I was worried about you and Knuckles when Enerjak made his appearance. Is he alright?" she noticed the down looks on Naruto and Julie-Su, making her even more worried "Did something happen to Knuckles?"
Julie-Su let out a sigh before steeling herself for what's to come "We have a lot to explain, let's go inside and we'll tell you,"
Everyone went into the tent and Julie-Su proceeded to tell Remington and the family what had happened that day, to say that they were stunned speechless would be an understatement.
"Knuckles was Enerjak and Locke is…," Lara-Le looked down to the ground in sorrow.
Remington gritted his teeth in anger and frustration "Damm that Finitevus; as if destroying Albion wasn't enough, he went and turned Knuckles into his slave,"
"I am truly sorry, Sonic and I should have tried harder to save Knuckles so Locke wouldn't had had to sacrifice his life to free Knuckles from the hex," Naruto bowed his head in apology.
Wynmacher comforted his wife and child then turned to Naruto "You did all that you could and we can't thank you enough for not giving up on saving Knuckles when others did,"
"Where is my son now?" asked Lara-Le sadly.
"He's still on Angel Island, the guilt of everything that happened is getting to him even though he wasn't in control of himself," said Julie-Su.
"And he can't bring himself to come and see us either,"
Naruto spoke up "We'll try to talk to Knuckles, see if we can't get him out of this self-loathing of his when it wasn't his fault to begin with,"
"Given what we know of him, I have a good idea what's going to happen at that time," said Kurama musingly.
Lara-Le smiled gratefully "Thank you, Knuckles needs to know that we aren't upset with him in the least bit,"
Wynmacher nodded in agreement "Indeed, if anyone is to blame then it's Finitevus. He twisted Knuckles' desire to help for his own sick needs. We're truly grateful that you were able to stop him before he had Knuckles do something he would truly regret,"
Naruto nodded in affirmation before standing up "Well since I'm going to be here for a bit, I'll take a walk and see if I can lend a hand here and there,"
Remington stood up as well "I'll be coming along as well,"
The duo exited the tent, leaving Julie-Su to continue the conversation with the family. Along the way, Remington decided to have a small conversation with the blonde kitsune.
"I realized that after everything, I forgot to ask where you came from," said Remington.
"True, we came from another dimension during a scuffle with Scourge the hedgehog and ended up here, right as Enerjak was at New Mobotropolis and you know the rest," said Naruto.
"Hard to say whether it is coincidence or a stroke of good fortune,"
"I'll say a bit of both given everything I've been through since I was younger, so what were you all doing before Julie-Su and I showed up?"
"We were working on removing the debris to make room for rebuilding the destroyed parts of the city,"
"Then let me help speed that up amongst other things," Naruto crossed the middle and index fingers of each hand and called "Multi Shadow Clone jutsu!" there was a large puff of smoke which dissipated to reveal over 100 duplicates of the original Naruto much to Remington's as well as the other echidnas' surprise "Alright guys, you know what to do!"
The clones saluted in affirmation "Roger boss!" they took off in different directions to take on the roles assigned to them.
Naruto turned round and chuckled lightly upon seeing the gobsmacked expressions of the people "I can understand your surprise at seeing my technique, you aren't the first to react like that and definitely won't be the last,"
"It's just that we've never seen anyone capable of such abilities like yours," said Remington.
Naruto shrugged in response "That's true, I've been wanting to ask if you could tell us about the history of the echidnas?"
"Wouldn't the history match that of yours in your dimension?"
Nico shook her head "Our history is severely lacking to the point of hardly knowing explicit details aside from being nearly extinct as a result of Chaos' wrath,"
"Then might as well grab a seat as we're going to be here for a while,"
Naruto activated his Earth Aspect momentarily to create a couple of seats out of the ground for them to sit on before the echidna proceeded to tell the duo about the history of the echidnas with Nico recording as he spoke.
Dating back to a millennia, an alien race known as Xorda who deployed a Gene Bomb onto the planet which triggered a rapid evolution in the animals to become what are known as Mobians but humanity devolved in the process to becoming the four-fingered Overlanders. The Echidnas were the fastest to develop, learn and adapt compared to the other Mobian races. Realizing that their unrivalled rate of development may cause issues, the echidnas isolated themselves from the planet's population with two leaders being Aurora and the First Enerjak.
The two leaders were approached by spiritual beings known as the Ancient Walkers who granted them access to the Chaos Force for their research. However, Enerjak became corrupted from the lust of power, forcing Aurora and the Ancient Walkers to disperse his spirit across the Chaos Force.
When they learnt of Mammoth Mogul having attained the powers of a god due to having a Chaos Emerald embedded in his chest and had formed the Order of Ixis with intentions of world domination, the Albion Knights of Aurora were deployed to oppose him and emerged victorious thanks to their superior technology in what was called the Forgotten Wars. But some of the Albion residents had resorted to despicable means to ensure the victory such as mutating Tasmanian Devils into mindless beast and the rise of the second Enerjak, these culprits were arrested and convicted before putting the priority of the defeating Enerjak to a higher level.
As time went, three factions decided to depart from Albion in search of new adventures and lands to call their own. They encountered the Felidae which resulted in a fight between them, one of the factions opted to relocate but the remaining two factions preferred to continue fighting the Felidae; they were the Knuckles Clan who were later wiped out by Chaos except Knuckles, the other were the Nocturnus Clan who were transported to the Twilight Cage by unknown means and had to rely on their advanced technology to survive there. The remainder settled down at Downunda where they built the second largest city named Echidnapolis. Generations later, the High Council of Echidnapolis used the power of the Chaos Emeralds and assistance from the Fire Ants to lift the city into the sky to avoid destruction by a White Comet falling from space where it would be renamed Angel Island hundreds of years after Angel-La. However, things didn't go all too well as a technocratic organization known as the Dark Legion was formed after the High Council of Echidnapolis placed a ban on excess, resulting in a civil war but were banished to the Twilight Cage only to return many years later.
There was a group of echidnas had departed from Echidnapolis earlier with the intention to reunite with their brethren in Albion but had encountered numerous failures and betrayal with some having been captured and roboticized by Eggman; they were known as the Lost Tribe. Knuckles would later come upon them and acted as their guide to Albion with help from Rob O' Hedge. While in Albion, Knuckles had undergone rapid evolution and became a virtual living Chaos Emerald with limitless powers and abilities known as Chaos Knuckles. The Albion Council saw this as a potential threat to the safety of the planet and decided to drain him of the energy. Dr. Finitevus attempted to drain Knuckles of the vast power with his invention the Chaos Suit but it backfired badly, empowering Knuckles further and him becoming corrupted by the radiation of the Chaos Energy. After another failed attempt, Knuckles left Albion to seek out answers for his evolution.
Due to the exposure of the Chaos Energy and alteration, Finitevus became powerful in the art of Chaos Powers and Magic but his overall personality had been completely changed to the point that he desired to cleanse the world of everything he saw as evil without anyone's regard or opinion. The Albion Council voted for him to be euthanized but the now corrupted scientist escaped with a Warp Ring and couldn't be located. Things took a turn for the worst when Finitevus returned while working with Dr. Eggman, having revealed the city's secret location and sabotaged the defenses which led to its destruction.
"…and you know the rest with Knuckles becoming Enerjak due to Dr. Finitevus' machinations," said Remington.
"Man…that's a lot of info about you guys, but I can't help but feel that some of these problems wouldn't have occurred if the echidnas hadn't pushed so much into them," said Naruto with a small frown.
"Not to mention they can be quite stubborn at times," Kurama pointed out, having been paying attention as well.
Remington nodded solemnly "You're right, even now the remainder of the Dark Legion are likely to have joined Eggman and I fear that they would eventually come after us for 'abandoning' them,"
"Well, since we'll be hanging around here for a while before returning to our own dimension, I'll see about helping you guys out to be ready," Naruto stood up from his seat and patted the dirt off his pants.
"You needn't go so far,"
"I'm already helping you guys out as we speak, a little more won't hurt anybody,"
Naruto gestured for Remington to look around which he did and saw the clones doing various things like clearing the debris, restoring the fertility of the earth for agriculture, healing some of those afflicted with sickness.
"Seeing this reminded me of when my own village was attacked by someone very powerful, him alone was able to inflict devastating damage upon it, kinda like Enerjak but with the belief of bringing peace to the world through any means…even spilling innocent blood," said Naruto, sadly recalling Nagato's past and what drove him to such ideals.
"Were you able to stop him?" asked Remington.
"Barely, I wasn't as strong as I am back then. I personally confronted him and in the end understood where he was coming from. He really desired peace but went about it the wrong way. He sacrificed the remainder of his life to resurrect the villagers who were killed in his assault. Sometimes one must ask themselves how exactly they wish to achieve their goals and if it is the right way," Naruto could hear Nagato's voice echoing in his mind.
"Naruto… I'll be returning to where our master is, so I can see your story…If you ask me… You're the third part that concludes the series…The first part was Jiraiya…He was flawless… But…The second part was me, an almost complete failure…I couldn't even get our master to acknowledge me…Ending the series is the third part…The final work will settle it all! Become such a masterpiece that that failure will be like it was cancelled altogether…Naruto!"
"I hope that I've lived up to the expectations of both you and Pervy-Sage, Nagato," thought Naruto, he was snapped out of his thoughts upon hearing his name being called out and turned to see Julie-Su along with Lara-Le and her family approaching him and Remington.
"There you are, it was pretty difficult trying to find the real you but your clones were nice enough to guide us to you. I wanted to find out if we'll be returning soon," said Julie-Su.
"I can leave my clones here to continue helping, and before I forget," Naruto reached into his ninja pouch and presented a Hirashin Kunai to Remington "I'd like for you to have it,"
Remington took the kunai to look at it curiously "What is it?"
"A Hirashin kunai, enables me to instantly teleport to wherever it is. All you need to do is throw it and I'll be there in a flash," Naruto explained.
Seeing the kunai glint in the sunlight, Kneecaps eagerly reached out for the kunai but Lara-Le pulled him away from it "It's not a toy Kneecaps, you might hurt yourself with it," the baby pouted at being denied a nice-looking toy.
"I'll see about getting a toy for you, just be a little patient okay little guy?" Naruto used one of his tails to tickle the baby before speaking up "We'll be making our way back now, but I'll be sure to visit from time to time,"
"Then we hope to see you again soon, thanks for everything," said Wynmacher.
"Don't mention it…Dragoon!" the air glider appeared with a sonic boom and slowed down to a hover before them for Naruto and Julie-Su to hop on before taking to the skies as they bade farewell to the resident for now.
The group made their way back to the mainland and returned to New Mobotropolis, Naruto had Dragoon land at the park for them to get off before flying away to wait upon his call, then he turned to speak to Julie-Su.
"So what happens now?" asked Naruto, she was about to respond when someone called out to them.
"There you are!" they turned to see Ray running up to them "We were just about to contact you to find out if you were on your way back,"
"What's the matter Ray?" asked Julie-Su.
"We just got a mission from the council for both Chaotix and the Freedom Fighters, even Knuckles is here with us for it too," said Ray.
Julie-Su was taken aback by what she just heard "Knuckles is here?!"
Ray nodded in affirmation "Yeah, we were surprised too. He said that he has another reason to be in this mission, we were planning on having a mission briefing but couldn't do it without you,"
"Then let's get going, no need to delay them any longer," said Julie-Su, she was about to follow after Ray when Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her "What is it, Naruto?"
"I think we shouldn't let Knuckles know where we went just yet," Naruto suggested thoughtfully.
Julie-Su frowned in response "Why is that?"
"I'm not saying that we shouldn't tell him at him at all but rather after the mission, we're already well aware of his current mindset and telling before the mission is likely to cause problems especially in terms of teamwork. You know him better than I do of how he might react. This is merely a suggestion out of concern for him," the blonde kitsune explained.
Julie-Su opened her mouth to refute but paused and thought over what Naruto said, coming to realize the validity in his words. Right now, Knuckles isn't in the best of moods and trying to handle everything by himself and so may lash out at this. She really wants to help him but he's really making it difficult for her and the others to do so.
"I see your point, let's go. I can talk to him after the mission," said Julie-Su.
Naruto nodded in affirmation before they followed after Ray towards where the mission briefing is to be held for the upcoming mission. To the blonde kitsune, it gives a feeling of nostalgia and is looking forward to showing everyone what he along with Nico and the Chao can do.
This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, after finishing the repairs of the FF HQ, Naruto gathered the team to be witness as he restored the destroyed part of the Great Forest much to their surprise due to never having witnessed such a feat before from anyone besides him. Later on, Naruto and Nico went on to read the history of the dimension which they were currently in albeit coming across certain unpleasant things like the culture of the Felidae tribe. The duo went on to seek out Julie-Su to learn about the echidnas and were taken to where they lived, learning more from Remington and informing Knuckles' family of what happened while assuring that they're going to help said echidna much to their relief. Upon returning to New Mobotropolis, they were found by Ray and told to come to the briefing of an upcoming mission involving both the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix with Knuckles taking part as well. The question on their minds is what the mission would entail?
To clarify certain things, Naruto isn't aware of the true power of the Dragoon which will come into play in future arcs and dissuaded due to not knowing everything about it to avoid negative effects. Also, Naruto won't get involved in every single thing and actively seek to help train them as let's be honest, they should have trained more and be better equipped for various scenarios (Naruto is going to point this out to them due to his experience and ninja training). No doubt you can tell that Naruto is going to snap Knuckles out of his funk whether it being through talk or a fistfight though I'll leave it up to your imagination.
This is Hussbek from Ghana.
Signing out and staying alive.