-Chapter 109-

Shards and Visions

Mystic Ruins

Sonic and Tails hurried into the latter's workshop. Tails looked around the clutter before managing to locate the Miles Electric as Sonic contacted the others.

"Bad news, guys," he began. "Eggman got his hands on one of the Emeralds, and Chaos 0 just became Chaos 1."

"Damn…" Sally cursed.

"Sacre bleu…" Antoine let out. "How could that happen on your watch, Sonic?"

"Hey, it's not like I shoved it down Chaos' throat, Ant!" Sonic defended. "He jumped us from behind!"

"Ease up, Antoine," Sally insisted. "He did everything he could."

"Thanks, Sal," Sonic said gratefully. "Me and Tails are gonna head back out on the hunt."

Tails headed over, the Miles Electric in his hands.

"The radar's picking up an Emerald," he informed them. "Not too far from here, actually. Somewhere in Windy Valley."

"Alright," Sonic nodded. "That's our next stop."

"Good luck," said Sally.

Windy Valley

Sonic and Tails followed the Emerald Radar to Windy Valley, taking in the sights of an abandoned-looking valley with plateau-like rock pillars. At random intervals, the wind blew with tremendous force, nearly blowing them off their feet.

"Man, I forgot why I don't like this Zone," Sonic grumbled.

"And I thought you liked a little thrill seeking," Tails teased.

"I do," Sonic clarified. "What I don't like is super-strong winds blowing me all over the place, threatening to rip the spines off my hide."

"Well, you'll have to deal with it if we want that Chaos Emerald," Tails pointed out.

"I know, I know. Let's get this over with."

They began heading deeper into the valley, keeping their ears perked for the wind. As they continued moving, the winds got stronger and stronger. Sonic stopped as he heard a new sound.

"Tails… do you hear that?" he asked.

"Something like a freight train?" Tails questioned, getting a nod. "Then that means…"

"Tornado!" they both screamed.

Indeed, up ahead was a giant tornado, sucking in everything around it.

"Time to run!" Sonic shouted.

He scooped Tails up and took off. Sonic ran with all his might, only to find himself running in place, before running on air and being pulled backwards.

"Brace yourself!" Tails yelled.

They started tumbling head over heels as the tornado sucked them in, the duo screaming as the winds tossed them around like ragdolls. Eventually, they were launched out of the top of the funnel and landed heavily on the ground. The two laid there for a moment, not moving, before Sonic spoke.

"So... whaddaya say once we find the Emerald, we never come back to Windy Valley?"

"Agreed," Tails nodded.

It was then that the pair got a look at where they had landed.

"Whoa…" Tails let out.

They were standing before an ancient temple, decorated with statues of a female Mobian bird in dark robes.

"Relic would so be geeking out at the sight of this." Sonic mused.

"We'll make sure to tell her about it later," Tails decided.

Sonic perked, sensing something from inside.

"No way…" he said.

"What is it?" Tails asked.

"Call me crazy, but... I think I sense a Chaos Emerald in there."

Tails raised an eyebrow before checking the Miles Electric.

"Huh, you're right. But how'd you-?"

"I'm not sure myself, pal. It's like it was… calling to me."

"Weird."

"You're telling me."

They headed inside, walking slowly and carefully as they headed further in. The interior was creepy and unsettling, making their fur stand on end.

"Nice place," Sonic mused. "Don't you just dig the 'prepare to die' ambiance?"

"Hilarious," Tails deadpanned.

"What?" Sonic defended.

"Let's just get the Emerald and get out of here. I'm not too keen on spending any more time in this creepy place."

Eventually, the Emerald signal led them to a wide open room. They stopped short at the sight of an ancient Soumercan-style sarcophagus, another bird statue at its head.

"Well... that explains the creep factor." Sonic noted.

"It's a tomb," Tails realized. "But who's buried here?"

The fox approached, seeing something written on the statue. He dusted it off to get a better look before reading it aloud.

"'Here likes Ixis Vale, wind mage of the Order of Ixis elite.'" He perked. "Ixis? Uh-oh."

"Yeah, we're definitely not sticking around," Sonic noted.

Tails raised the Miles Electric, scanning around before stopping. "The signal's coming from inside the sarcophagus. She was probably entombed with it."

"Great, so we're basically grave robbers," Sonic sighed. "Guess we can't be the heroes every time."

"Well, be my guest," Tails gestured to the sarcophagus.

Sonic grabbed the lid and threw it off, revealing the skeletal corpse of Ixis Vale, the blue Chaos Emerald clutched in her bony wings. With all the care of a specialist defusing a live bomb, Sonic reached for the Emerald.

"Sonic, it's just an old skeleton." Tails pointed out.

"Which belongs to one of the mages in Naugus' order. For all we know, it's booby trapped or cursed."

"So how do we grab it?"

"Very, very carefully."

Sonic slowly pried away Vale's grip before taking the Emerald. "Soon as we get back to Knothole, I'm washing my hands."

"I have some sanitizer in my jacket if you want?"

"Please and thank you."

He pocketed the Emerald as Tails handed him a bottle of hand sanitizer. He dumped a good dollop into his hands, rubbing vigorously.

"Now, let's get outta here."

The two quickly exited the tomb.

Station Square

Knuckles and Kat were making their way through the casino district, the former talking to Vector on com.

"We've managed to scrounge up a few shards on our end, though more than a few people have snatched them up," the crocodile said. "We're currently uh... 'negotiating' for them."

"Terrific," Knuckles sighed. "Well, keep us posted."

"Will do," Vector assured.

Kat elbowed him. "Knux, check it."

They looked to see Casinopolis, the building damaged and walled off by the police as a Mobian rat in a snazzy blue business suit argued with them.

"Look Renfield, we have our orders." one cop said.

"To hell with your orders!" the rat, Renfield, snapped. "You can't just barge in and block off my building like this! I run a respectable business here!"

"Everything okay, here?" Knuckles asked.

"These overglorified security guards think they can just barge into my establishment just because!" Renfield ranted. "Well I'll have you know that I will be dragging every officer here to court, and-"

"I sense it," Kat cut in.

"Yeah, me too," Knuckles agreed. "A shard, and a big one."

"Shard of what?" Renfield questioned, only to be ignored.

"Do you have any idea what smashed into this building?" Knuckles asked the officer.

"Witnesses say it was a glowing object that fell from the sky," was the answer.

Knuckles and Kat exchanged looks, nodding.

"It's a shard of the Master Emerald," Kat explained. "It belongs to us."

"We're trying to collect them all," Knuckles added. "Let us in and we'll-"

"Hold it!" Renfield shouted, moving to block the door once more. "If it's an Emerald, it's valuable. It's in my casino, so it's my property. Gotta make up for the one Laura Kent won off me in Texas Hold'em."

The two Guardians exchanged looks once more, then Knuckles grabbed the rat by the shirt.

"Hand it over. Now!"

Renfield remained unphased. "Ha, or what?"

Kat then walked in, approaching the first valuable thing she saw, a large painting in a gaudy frame hanging on the wall.

"Oh, this is a nice painting," she remarked as she ripped it off the wall.

"Wait!" Renfield cried out, flailing in Knuckles' grip. "You can't! That's one of a kind!"

"Ooh, sorry," Kat told him in a tone that was anything but apologetic. "Guess I don't know my own strength."

She tossed it aside, the frame cracking hard as she moved on.

"Police!" Renfield screamed. "I demand you arrest this brute and his vandalizing friend!"

"Is that what's going on?" the officer asked innocently.

"I just see a kid looking around," his partner added.

"Hey Renfield! Is this vase breakable?!" they heard a crash from inside. "Never mind."

Renfield gritted his teeth in rage. "You lazy monkeys! I pay my taxes and that pays your salary! Ergo, I'm. Your. Boss! NOW GET IN THERE AND DO YOUR JOB!"

"They seem hard at work to me," Knuckles replied.

"Hey, thanks," the first officer told him.

Knuckles gave them a smile, then returned to scowling at Renfield

"Here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna hand over the shard, or my friend's gonna keep 'looking around'."

"Ooh!" Kat called from inside. "What a beautiful giant statue of Sonic! I wonder, is it solid gold or gold plated?"

Renfield finally caved

"Fine! Fine! Take the blasted thing! It's in my vault! The code is-!"

There was the sound of metallic ripping as Knuckles grinned.

"We're good," he declared, dropping the rat. "Thanks!"

Renfield got up, dusting himself off and scowling. "I'll sue you for this."

"You won't get much," Knuckles retorted. "Unless you want the clothes off my back."

He walked inside, where Kat was standing in the vault, looking at a fairly large chunk of the Master Emerald.

"This thing is almost as big as you are, Knux," she noted.

"Just means the Master Emerald will be back together that much faster," Knuckles replied as they both took hold of it. "Let's warp this back to the island, then keep searching."

Suddenly, a small red ball of light appeared, flying around them. Before they could do more than register it, everything went white…

As the light faded away, the two of them found themselves in unfamiliar surroundings.

"Wha… what the…?" Knuckles let out.

They looked around, confused.

"Where are we?" Kat questioned.

"I don't know," Knuckles answered. "It looks like the Mystic Ruins... but the buildings should be ancient. Why do they look brand new?"

"Father!" a female voice came out.

Both turned towards the sound of a young girl's voice.

"Did you-?" Kat began.

"Yep," Knuckles nodded.

They hurried along, stopping short to see two Echidnas dressed in tribal clothing, one a teenage girl with red-orange fur and blue eyes, the other an old man with reddish-brown fur, purple eyes, and a thick white beard.

"You have to stop the invasion!" the girl pleaded.

"Tikal, you know I must seize those Emeralds for the good of our tribe," the old man replied. "When we have them, we will be strong. It is for the good of the Knuckles Clan."

He moved in closer, but the girl, Tikal, quickly moved into his path, spreading her arms wide to block him.

"I won't let you do this!" she insisted. "The power of the Emeralds will not bring you what you want! All it will do is corrupt you further and bring ruin to all our neighbors!"

Her father stood firm.

"How can I make you understand?! We should not try to help our own kind by bringing harm to someone else. It's wrong!"

"Silence!" her father roared. "As your father, I command you-"

"As your daughter, I beg you!" Tikal had tears in her eyes. "Please don't do this!"

The two stared silently at one another before her father simply turned and walked away. As he left, the girl fell to her knees, sobbing. Knuckles and Kat looked on sympathetically before everything went white again.

They found themselves back in the casino, one of the officers waving a hand in front of their faces.

"Hey, you two alright?"

Both blinked, returning to reality.

"Huh?" Knuckles let out.

"You both were just standing them, not even blinking," the officer explained.

"Yeah… we're fine," Knuckles rubbed his head. "We just zoned out for a minute."

He pulled a Warp Ring from his pocket, giving a toss so the two Guardians could toss the shard through. Once it was taken care of, they walked out, both of them still reeling.

"What the hell was that?" Knuckles wondered.

"I don't know…" Kat mused. "But… I recognized that girl."

"How?" Knuckles asked.

Kat turned to him, looking confused and stunned. "From my dreams."

"What?" Knuckles questioned. "How is that possible?"

"I'm not sure. All I know is that ever since I started living on the island, I've seen here occasionally in my dreams. I thought I'd just created her to cope with everything."

"Kat, that girl…if that vision was right, her name is Tikal. She's the creator of the Guardians' 'Seven Chaos' mantra. Tikal's Prayer."

"I know that now, but to me... she was just a friendly face that would chase away the worst of my nightmares."

Knuckles thought back to all the times the Master Emerald flared while she was in the throws of a nightmare, seemingly calming her.

"She never gave me a name," Kat went on. "Just called herself a friend and would bring me to this garden... an endless field of Emerald grass and a bubbling brook. I just thought she was someone I created to help cope."

"Until now," Knuckles said, shrugging after a minute. "We can make sense of it later. For now, we've got a mission."

As they headed off, Kat turned to him.

"So…" she began, "Knuckles Clan of Echidnas... and your name is Knuckles?"

"Dad's idea," Knuckles explained. "He named me after them as a way of reclaiming our heritage and lost legacy."

"So what does that make me? Kat Winters of the Knuckles Clan? Or that whole House of Edmund thing?"

Knuckles scratched his head. "That's… a good question."

Author's Note:

There we go, off to a good start. And to Void Reader, just be patient; I haven't forgotten Amy. She'll come in later.

Voice cast for this chapter:

* Pachacamac - Lou Diamond Phillips (Victor Delgado from Elena of Avalor, Surak from The Lion Guard, Angel Guzman from Stand and Deliver)

* Tikal - Erika Harlacher (Wakana Nura from Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, Ann Takamaki from Persona 5, Shinobu Kocho from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba)

Please R&R. Until next time!