Epilogue 2: Far From Over

Not much time had passed after the Time Blotter had been defeated. Sonic was running around at a casual 200mph, taking in the sights. Rolling along the grass on Angel Island, he was grinning.

"Ah, this is the life… Running around, protecting the Master Emerald for ol' Knux… I mean, it's not a bad way to spend the day." Admittedly, he was really bored, but if anyone tried to take the giant gem, they'd have him to answer to. Heh. Like they'd stand a chance against the fastest thing alive.

He'd been running around the island for a good hour, just exploring. It seemed like there were multiple things that had happened to the island when their worlds mixed together, as there were weird pieces of… well that was just it. He wasn't sure what they were. As he was running around the back of the floating rock, structures of rock with weird black decor striped through then were visible.

Staring at them, the blue blur wondered what these were, before slamming his face into something hard, causing him to drop a few rings. The classic sound effect played from who knows where, as Sonic rubbed his head. "Urgh… what is that?"

A small structure similar to the ones he was looking at earlier stood tall in front of him… but this one looked closer to a stony throne. Grey rock made up the armrest, but a slick black panel with thin, neon lines running through made the body. It seemed like it was meant to glow, but currently it was dull and blank. The top of this throne seemed to reach high into the sky, were it not for the clouds dodging the tip by centimetres. A stone circle seemed to be carves at the top, and the black panel also seemed to have a circular panel. It looked like a gear could fit inside it.

"Huh… I wonder what this is. (chuckles) I bet Knuckles doesn't know about this. But maybe Tails does. Seems strangely familiar…" Sonic brushed his hand on the panel shaped like a gear again, half-expecting something to happen. "I remember something big happened long ago, something linked to this…"

Staring at the top, he wondered what would happen if he tried to jump for it. Maybe it was like a Warp Ring?... made of stone. Yeah, probably not.

Ready to continue rushing, the hedgehog took a running stance, before dashing off, ready to return to the front of Angel Island and check on the Emerald. Halfway there, he was once again interrupted by a bright flash that took him by surprise. Temporarily blinded, he nearly crashed into a tree, were it not for a rock nearby that tripped him up first.

"Argh!" Crashing headfirst into the dry mud, the blue blur groaned. What was up with his luck today? He shook it off and tried to find the light in the sky again, to no avail. Shrugging it off, he gave a cocky grin and rushed back over to the Emerald, trying not to worry about what just happened. There wasn't anything to worry about.

"I mean, bright flashes in the sky don't necessarily equal danger. But if they do, I'll just kick their butt and send them packing! Danger is no match for me!" He sped back off in the direction of the Master Emerald, this time without any more strange interruptions.

A dark gem tumbled from the sky, twirling in the air like ballerina dancing. Ever so slowly, it hit the peak of the castle, and rolled down the rooftop. It didn't seem to be anything special, and looked similar to any sort of ruby or emerald. But there was something off about it; it had an aura of danger and mystery that, had anyone seen it, would have made them uncomfortable.

Jumping off the castle, it fell gracefully, and rolled down into a small street that many knew as Mean Street. It had landed in the one lonely part of town known as Wasteland, where people were far too busy to notice something like this.

Clattering amongst the sidewalk, it nearly rolled into the gutters, before a child tripped over it. Landing a scratch on the poor kid, it ran off, leaving the child with a thin sharp cut on it's hand. Wailing, she ran back to her parents, who barely paid any attention.

Up at the centre of Mean Street was their leader, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who was giving an apology speech of sorts. It wasn't one the city needed desperately, for they were already wrapped up in the sheer excitement of just seeing him again; but they did accept his speech wholeheartedly, not being the type to linger on old matters. Well, they were, but not in a jealous way.

However, the dark jewel didn't stop moving, and hitting a small crack in the pavement, it jumped. Surprisingly, it jumped a magnificent height, hitting the paper screen of a projector. If it wasn't magical, it would definitely have ripped apart, but it just took it through a short level, which the jewel cartoonishly managed to traverse (it's better not to think about it. Cartoon physics and all that.)

Upon arrival, it landed in a nearby sewer. From the gutters, the gem slowly rolled, dodging all the little obstacles in its way until it slammed into a small rat. It was finally at a halt. The rat, irritated, kicked the gem, making it roll ever so slowly towards an open vent, where it was launched out into the air.

Catapulted, it landed into another small vent next to an unused train, and clattered loudly within it, until it reached a yard filled with all sorts of abandoned props, and broke out of the vent. Metallic contraptions of evil hid behind the masks all sorts of cartoon figures and designs, with many of them looking worn out. Some were cracked and splintered, giving them an eerie, creepy atmosphere.

Tumbling through the open air, the gem was starting to reach the edge of the cliff it was balanced on. The jewel started its descent in the air, when a black gloved hand caught it tightly.

The shadowy figure looked at it through its hooded face. The jewel glinted in the sunlight, reflecting his dark black eyes. His whole body was cloaked in black, but you could see some white clothes peeking out from his legs. The owner's boots were perfectly clean, despite the dusty landscape the figure was in. Slowly turning over the gem in its hand, it grinned, letting out a rough, accented chuckle

"What have we here?" It rasped, with an uneven, dry voice. Silence rang around, making the figure aware that it was alone.

It thought quietly for a moment, inspecting the jewel. It felt… powerful. Like there was a power within it, a power to achieve anything. It felt rejuvenating. Powerfully rejuvenating. Slowly, the man started thinking about what it was, when he was interrupted by a gentle starting to blow in his direction.

He groaned, "Not another sandstorm. I hate it when that happens." His "w's" sounded sharp enough to almost sound like a "v".

Internally, he was quietly willing the wind to stop, only wearing two layers of thin clothes. If it was blown off him, it would be beyond annoying. But unbeknownst to him, the dark gem started gloving ever so slightly, and all of a sudden, the wind completely stopped.

Silence.

The man looked back at the gem, emanating a dark glow. He gave a mischievous smile. "Hmm… I know exactly what I'll do with you!" Chuckling to himself, he trotted off in the direction of a large volcano, his mind moving at a million miles per hour. Nobody knew what was going to follow… Stooping right in front of a projector screen, he thought something else, before jumping through the portal.

Sparks flew, as the screen stuttered and shook, before it abruptly shut behind him, and fell to the floor, broken. Permanently.

A/N: I wonder what I'm possibly referencing here... ;) But you see? I do plan to make a part 2 soon!

I've rewritten this chapter because of how the original seemed to look. You didn't see it, I know, but it was a lot shorter. Heh. Still, I hope you like it!

Oh, and if any of you think I should rewrite a few of these chapters, please, by all means, ask! This was a trial story for me, and my first, so I don't expect it to be the best. I'll probably publish it as a separate story though.

Catch ya later!