Two hours before Amy and Cream met...
A figure moves like a snake through the crowd. Their pace is fast and steady, they only stops from time to time to look at thei surroundings and to apologize if they pushed someone by mistake. They moves in the direction of a neighborhood with gray houses. They weaves through the lonely alleys as if knowing where they should be and when. They bursts through the back door of a half-built house but stops in the middle of the living room. They are thinking: Should I go to the basement? It's the safest place I can think of. But would the signal get there? I doubt it. does this place even have a basement? I think I saw an Attic before I went in. Either that or I'm hallucinating.
A rumbling sound starts to sound from the bag on their strap.
"[Hello! This is Omochao! You are receiving a transmission! You are receiving a transmission! You are receiving a transmission! You are receiving a transmission! You are receiving a transmission!]"
"Shoot!" the person began impatiently, looking up and down indecisively.
[You're receiving a transmission! You're receiving a transmission! You're-!]
"I know, Omo-dumb! Shut up!".
Going as fast as they could, the person explored the entire house until they found a staircase leading to an attic. When they was able to enter and took position, they removed the hood that covered them, revealing the pink quills in her hair, and took a deep breath to regain his composure.
"Okay, Omo-bother. Accept the transmission."
[You are reci-! Initiating transmission...!]
Silence fell over the place, until a new voice emerged from the Omochao:
[Maurice...]
"Needlemouse," Amy replied.
Omochao made a strange sound before he began to emit light from his eyes.
[G.I.R.L. Is that a long skirt?]
"What? does it look terrible on me!?" asked Amy in utter terror.
[What are you talking about? It looks FABULOUS on you! It makes you look so mature.]
"Thanks to Gaia," sighed the hedgehog in relief. "Do you know how hard it is to maintain style without a single mirror handy? Just puddles and ponds every lustrum."
[Oh no, it sounds like hell!]
"You have no idea. I started wearing long skirts because I was getting sick of the sand getting between my legs."
[And why not wear pants?]
"In that heat? For that I'd better get into an oven at full power".
[Oh, you're right. Good choice, girl1 Although, with your body type, anything looks good on you. You're a REINA (queen)]
"Oh... Thank you...," Amy replied as she covered her face to cover her embarrassment.
[Anyway, we're digressing, girl!]
"Yea yea. Okay, tell me what you have."
[Ok. First of all: It seems that Shadow and the Freedom Fighters already know of my existence].
"Did they manage to identify you?".
[Not yet, but they know there is fleeting].
"Then you should be more cautious."
[Don't worry about me, girl. I have my "guardian angels" always on my side].
"I'm glad. And what will the FF do about the fleeting?"
[They will make the population police itself. Our illustrious Intergalactic Commander, Shads, said at the ministers' meeting that "These are complicated times" and that a tougher hand will be needed].
"It sounds worse and worse every day."
[Oh, he is not the only one. The lout of the minister of economy, you know, the same of the Ghettos, proposed that the "rat" was among the refugees, and that they should lock them up and make an inspection with the military force].
"Holy Gaia. And Jewel is going to listen to him?"
[Of course not. The poor creature looks like the only sane one in a room full of crazies. She put the idiot in his place, telling him not to stick his nose where it doesn't belong. But with the other ministers giving that idiot props...]
"... And what did Sally say?"
[The queen, as usual, did not show up for the meeting. She seems to want nothing to do with the government. She left poor Jewel to her fate.]
Amy was silent for a long moment, resting her hand on the base of her neck.
[Anyway, Rein. That's not the most interesting thing that was discussed at the meeting.]
"What else do you have?"
[Apparently, you, blue and I are not the only threats Shads has his eye on. Have you heard of a "Red Beast"?].
"Red Beast...?", Amy kept pondering for a few seconds. The only things that came to her mind at the thought of a red-colored beast were Zavok and... "Is it Knu-!?"
[Hey! Not so fast. Not much is known yet, just rumors. According to reports, there have been attacks in several areas to the East, all perpetrated by the same person who people started calling "Red Beast". Those same areas have in common that they have registered a high level of chaos energy in them. It was concluded that whoever is carrying out the attacks is hunting for that energy].
"And why is it a threat?".
[Two reasons. The first is the most obvious: they fear he's going to attack the kingdom eventually, and according to reports, he's not going to be easy to stop. The second reason is perhaps the most interesting: The kingdom is also hunting for the source of these energy spikes].
"Hmmm," Amy thought for a few seconds. "The only thing that could be emitting that kind of energy right now are the Sol Emeralds? Do they want to take them over?"
[Bingo]
"Why? isn't the energy they already have enough?".
[Those who have more generally want more. Life lesson].
"Sonic is not going to like knowing this at all."
[Even I don't like it, Reina. That's why we are here].
"Thank you for helping us. I wish we could repay you in some way."
[G.I.R.L. I already have it all! What could you give me beyond the satisfaction of helping a truly just cause? If you want to thank me, go get that "Red Beast" and consign the Sol Emeralds before Shads]
"That we will do."
[I know, Reina. Well, I'll be going now. Take care! - Transmission completed! Self-destruct sequence initiated! T minus 10, 9, 8...]
"Shoot!", Amy reacted quickly to take distance and cover.
[... 3, 2, 1 Goodbye!]
And suddenly, the Omochao began to falter and make convulsive movements until the light left his eyes and smoke came out of his mouth.
"Oh... I thought... Great, now I feel silly."
Now
In the shelter of a handful of lonely rocks under an unusually overcast sky, Sonic and Amy were chatting about Amy's meeting with her informant while their escorts were resting around them. Suddenly Sonic was bursting into laughter as Amy looked on in exasperation, arms folded and red-faced with embarrassment.
"It's not even that funny, you idiot!", Amy yelled at him.
"Did you really expect it to blow up like a spy movie? What would be the point of all the secrecy, then? Imagine going through all that and then, bang! an explosion with a 30 ft. high smoke plume. For that you'd better go straight to The Faker and tell him Hey, Shads! I'm going to be plotting against your kingdom at this exact place at this exact time! I expect to see you there! There'll be cookies and coffee beans for you!," Sonic replied with laughter.
"I don't sound like that!" retorted Amy as she pouted.
"In fact, he nail it a little," added the hare escort who was sitting on a nearby rock.
Amy immediately summoned her Piko hammer while out of the corner of her eye she glared at the hare, who began to swallow saliva.
"I told you, if you see the hedgehogs arguing, keep your nose out," the antelope companion whispered to the hare.
"As cool as Miss Rose normally is, I sometimes forget that she's capable of winning in a fight 20 to one," replied the hare.
"Now that you've had all the laughs you wanted," Amy said turning to Sonic. "The Sol Emeralds..."
"Oh yea...," said the blue hedgehog, drastically changing his jovial expression to a much more somber one. "Well, no surprise there."
"What should we do?" asked Amy.
Sonic stared at his companion. In his mind he had two conflicting ideas, and as he pondered which one he thought was more important, a voice echoed inside his head.
Come on, be honest and admit that you want to seek power, and the voice began to laugh.
Sonic frowned, shook his head a little and then replied:
"I think the best thing for now is to stay out of trouble, there are more important things to do."
Suddenly an intermittent beeping began to sound.
"Oh, looks like they're already here," said the antelope escort as he pulled out of his back pocket a metal cylinder that emitted light as well as the beeping sound.
All the people present raised their eyes up and witnessed a gigantic flying craft slowly piercing the wall of clouds in the sky. The airship levitated gracefully over the surrounding rocks as it searched for the right place to land. The sound it emitted was almost imperceptible, just a low whisper easily mistaken for the wind, only when it was a handful of feet from the ground did its engines start to run with greater power. When the cabin touched the ground, a light curtain of sand rose and was carried away by the breeze, then the main door opened and from it came out a giant gray albatross welcoming.
"Anyone wanted a ride?" asked Storm jokingly before letting out a laugh.
All the escorts accompanying Sonic and Amy ran enthusiastic to the huge bird, some simply greeted him in a brotherly way before entering the ship, others hugged him as if he were their father. When Sonic and Amy approached they did the same, Amy hugged him while Sonic gave him a handshake.
"I see you brought all the boys in one piece," expressed the huge bird.
"They are very capable, and as promised, we didn't get them into serious trouble," Amy replied with a smile.
"Oh, that's too bad. They need their butts kicked every now and then to build character," Storm joked before letting out another laugh.
When everyone was inside the ship, it started its engines again and began to soar to the sky, disappearing completely into the clouds.
Above the Stratocumulus, the sky was clear and bright. The midday sun remained at the top of the firmament, illuminating and whitening the cumulus clouds that the airship crossed like a sea of cotton. To the west, a tiny dot could be seen, which, as the craft drew closer, increased in size until it revealed itself as the gigantic and complex levitating mega-structure that it was. A construction more like a building than a ship, supported by several hot air balloons arranged irregularly around it, it gave the impression of having been built with pieces of other structures put together in such a way that, in spite of everything, it looked rigid and imperturbable. It also had several ships around it, similar to Storm's but smaller, attached to dock-like structures, giving the impression that they were flying boats. The place was full of life, you could easily see the hundreds of people living inside, going from one side to the other, living together and working to make the structure even bigger by adding more pieces to it.
When Storm's ship was close enough, the people who could see it started waving and some ran in the direction of the dock where it was going to land. When there were only a couple of meters between the ship and the dock, a handful of the escorts jumped out of the vehicle holding the lines, the people on the dock helped them land safely and then joined in their effort to pull the lines to get the ship as close to the dock as they could and then secure it. Upon exiting the ship, Storm personally escorted Sonic and Amy to the main hall. On the way all the people they encountered, mostly young people and children, were waving and catching the guests' attention. Storm would try to shoo them back to their chores, but Sonic and Amy remained receptive to their merriment and waved back.
At the heart of the structure, behind a large steel door with ornate decorations, was the main room. Storm opened the door and let the guests in before closing it behind them. In the center of the room was a large ebony table on a crimson carpet; surrounding the table was two large pieces of wooden furniture, also ebony, and with golden and very plush-looking cushions; on one wall were shelves filled with relics, jewelry and other treasures, as well as presumably very expensive paintings; on the other wall was a gigantic world map that appeared to have been modified to erase almost all traces of the seas and vegetation, leaving in their place huge sand-colored patches, with green and blue in particular spots. At the back of the room, facing a large window overlooking the sea of clouds outside, was a disproportionately and comically large desk, also made of ebony, with elaborate and confusing ornaments in each corner, and behind the desk, an equally large chair, or rather throne, with its back to the guests.
"I see you're still alive, you pair of lovebirds," the voice behind the chair said as he let his hand show from the side.
"Did you think we'd bite the dust so easily?" asked Sonic as he took a seat on one of the furnitures.
"Feet off the cushions," the voice replied as it snapped its fingers.
Sonic remained in the same position, undeterred. After several seconds, the throne did a 180-degree turn, revealing an angry Jet.
"Get your dirty paws off the cushions! You'll get them dirty!" exclaimed the Hawk as he pounded on the desk.
"Sonic, please," Amy insisted as she sat down on the other furniture.
Sonic gave a smile and obeyed, to which Jet began to rummage around under the desk while grumbling. He finally pulled out a feather duster, got up from his throne and went over to the furniture to shake the dirt off.
"Do you know how much this furniture cost me, rodent?" said Jet angrily.
"Aren't they stolen?" asked Amy innocently.
"Do you know how much it cost me to STEAL this furniture, rodent?".
"Was it you or your boys?" asked Sonic sarcastically.
"I am my boys and my boys are me!" replied Jet pointing the duster at Sonic. "If I suffer, they suffer, and if they suffer I suffer."
"Sorry if I find that a little hard to believe," Sonic exclaimed.
"Believe whatever you want".
When he had finished shaking the dust, Jet sat back down on his throne. It looked comically small in comparison to the seat and desk. Despite all, he kept acting as if both pieces of furniture had been custom made for him.
"So... I see you went back to Babylon's Nest with all my boys in one piece."
"Just as we promised. Thank you for lending them to us to protect the nomads," Amy replied with a smile.
"Didn't you meet the FFs?" asked Jet.
"Yeah, but we could handle them," Sonic replied with a shrug.
"And how come they didn't follow you?".
"We were able to throw them off and send them south. They won't be a problem."
"South? You sent them to The Crystal Queen's territory?".
"The Crystal what?" asked Amy.
She didn't notice, but Sonic swallowed saliva at that moment.
"That's what they call the crazed cat friend of you who controls the fire."
"¿... Blaze?" exclaimed Amy in confusion before bursting out in anger at Sonic. "You sent them with Blaze!?"
"Amy, calm down...," Sonic tried to reason.
"Sonic! She's going to kill them!".
"Oh yeah, definitely," added Jet.
"Jet...!" exclaimed Sonic glaring angrily at the hawk, who did nothing but stifle a laugh.
"If anything happens to them, I swear-!".
"Nothing will happen to them! Calm down, Ames. The only way they'll run into Blaze is if she's looking for them. And even if it were to happen, they're competent enough to defend themselves or run away if necessary."
"Blue, no one runs from the Crystal Queen," Jet sentenced, to which Sonic looked back at him with murderous intent.
"For heaven's sake...," Amy exclaimed before collapsing defeated onto the furniture and covering her face.
"Nothing will happen to them, Ames. I swear on my life," Sonic said trying to calm the situation. Though he only got his partner's murderous stare in response.
"By all these, Why do they call Blaze The Crystal Queen?", Amy asked Jet.
"They say the flames that constantly surround her are so strong, she leaves a trail of sand turned to glass wherever she goes. You know She's coming when you hear the glass shattering in the distance."
"By Gaia, Sonic!" said Amy returning with her anger.
"We have other business to attend to! Yes?", Sonic said looking at Jet angrily. "Yeah?" he repeated as he looked at Amy pleadingly.
"Okay, okay. Let's change the subject. What did you want to see me about, then?" conceded Jet.
Sonic gestured toward Amy, who looked back at him but with murderous intent, until, after letting out a sigh of exasperation, she began to tell the story.
Both the green hawk and the blue hedgehog were rolling with laughter as Amy, arms folded, watched them, perhaps pondering the best way to kill them both.
"I mean, did you really expect that thing to blow up? What was the point of all the secrecy, then? For that you might as well go to the Acorn Queen in person and tell her: Hi, Girl-friend! Look, I'm going to be conspiring against you in this place at this time!, if you're interested in joining us for a chat", mocked Jet.
"That's what I told her!" replied Sonic with a chuckle.
"You know what? We're pretty high and it wouldn't pose any problem for me to break that window and throw somthing or someone out of it," the pink hedgehog said crisply. "And the room is soundproofed, Wave explained to me. So no one would know... It would just be an Unfortunate Accident!," concluded the girl with a beaming smile.
Suddenly the two boys' giggling stopped. Jet cleared his throat before continuing to speak.
"Yea, well... ah, the point...", the hawk was silent for a moment as he thought. "What was the point?".
"THE RED BEAST," Amy said rather emphatically but still maintaining the eerie smile.
"Of course of course of course! Yes, I've heard something about that. Yes Sir...", Jet started rummaging through his desk drawers until he emerged with a remote control in his hand.
Pressing a button in the direction of the world map, it began to rise and disappear behind the wall, revealing a large television screen. After turning on the TV and browsing through the files stored in the memory, a video that appeared to be coming from a body-cam was played.
"My boys have a rule to carry a spy camera when they go to trade with new suppliers. It's to see with our eyes if they are legit or not, if they make any weird moves, we have it on tape. This happened to the east, somewhere in Mazuri."
The video was recorded at chest level, so the face of the cameraman's interlocutor could not be seen. Their clothing was peculiar, but in keeping with the idea that they were in Mazuri. There was no audio, so you couldn't tell what they were talking about.
"Why the silent movie?" asked Sonic.
"It's none of your business," Jet responded crisply.
At one point in the recording, the cameraman turned to his right. It was barely visible, as he had not turned his whole body, but then there was a jolt and the cameraman turned completely around, revealing a burning building. Out of it came a bunch of people running, from behind them a hooded figure was slowly chasing them. Not much more could be seen of that moment because the cameraman moved from where he was to hide. For a long time only a wooden wall 2 inches from the camera could be seen, until the cameraman moved again, showing the same hooded figure from before putting on a peculiar hat and riding a Moto-type Xtreme-gear with a female companion. At that moment Jet stopped the recording.
"That's the Red Beast. After the commotion, the boy who recorded asked who it was and was told that, that this guy has been roaming all over the place, destroying everything and breaking the bones of whoever tries to stop him."
"I'd recognize that hat anywhere, it's definitely Knuckles," Amy exclaimed.
"Who's the Girl with him?" asked Sonic.
"No idea, but by all accounts she was a very rare badger," Jet replied.
"Sticks?" wondered Amy as she looked at Sonic. "I haven't heard from her since before The Union, could be...".
"And you don't know why he attacked that place?" the blue hedgehog asked Jet.
He folded his arms and looked away. Sonic gave a half-smile, though he was far from cheerful.
"What? does it have something to do with your business? Well I'm sorry to tell you (not really), but it's already our business too. So spit it out."
"Are you going to talk to me like that in my own home, rodent?" the hawk was saying as he gritted his teeth.
"Jet," Amy said plaintively, "What was in that place?".
For a few seconds Jet was reluctant to speak, shifting uncomfortably on his throne. But when he realized that neither of the two hedgehogs would take their eyes off him, he gave a sigh and began to speak:
"You two are a pain in the ass... We've discovered that the Acorn Kingdom isn't the only place with Meta-quartz."
"No Way," Sonic exclaimed incredulously.
"Don't even think of asking the locations! I won't tell you! This exchange, which by the way that red idiot interrupted, was to get some Meta-Quartz ores so Wave could analyze them, process them and create our own Meta-Quartz weapons."
"What a pity. It would be great to wear Meta-Quartz again. I lost my bracelet in The Union," Sonic related.
"First: who asked you? Second: Who told you I would give you anything?" refuted Jet.
"Why would Knuckles attack a Meta-Quartz mine?" asked Amy.
"Ah, that's a scientific thing that I neither know, nor care to know. Wait a sec." Jet pressed a button on the desk. "Wave, get over here right away!".
"[I'm busy]," was heard over the megaphones surrounding the room.
"Then un-busy quick and come," Jet retorted.
"[What if you better get out of that cave for once in your life? You've been cooped up for so long, I'm sure you're missing the sun]."
"What the heck are you talking about!? Enough sunshine comes through the window!".
"[Don't lie, I know you keep your blinds closed all day, and you only opened them today so Sonic and Amy don't think you went from being a hawk to an owl]."
"Will you stop making a fool of me and come the hell over here!?".
"[Ok, ok...]"
After a couple of minutes, the large steel door was opened by Storm, letting in Wave, who was covered in motor oil and was wiping her hands with a towel.
"Hi Blue, hi Pink. I've already serviced your Gears, I think I took about a pound of sand out of each one," the swallow greeted the two hedgehogs. "Look at the looks you're forcing me to come and see our guests with!" she complained to Jet before throwing the towel in his face.
"Hey, watch out! You'll stain the desk!" the hawk shouted as he kept the towel from touching the furniture and, holding it with two fingers, carried it to the trash can.
"Anyway, what did you want me to come for?".
"Explain to those two idiots all that stuff about Chaos Energy, Meta-Quartz and all that boring mumbo-jumbo."
"Huh?" confused, Wave turned to look at the screen. "Oh! Okay, you see: Meta-Quartz is a quartz mineral, that is, a silica mineral that possesses piezoelectric properties-".
"Wave," Amy interrupted, a little uncomfortably. "We already know about the Meta-Quartz. What we want to know is why Knuckles or the Red Beast, who as far as we know only chases large amounts of chaos energy, is attacking a Meta-Quartz mine."
"Oh, but you guys already know that, don't you?", Wave lingered for a moment waiting for an answer. When she didn't get one, she continued, "Well, but it's very simple: when the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald were destroyed, all the chaos energy they possessed was spread throughout the world. Meta-Quartz not only emits energy, it can also store it, and is especially effective at storing chaos energy."
Sonic sat up and paid a little more attention to the explanation.
"Much of that energy was locked up in the Mines within the Acorn Kingdom, as they have the largest reserve of Meta-Quartz; the remainder was spread throughout the rest of the world. My theory is that Knuckles possesses some sort of sixth sense that leads him to those places where chaos energy is abundant."
"Yes, that's right. That's what he used when he had to search for the Master Emerald fragments... twice," Amy added. "He must think it's still the same now, but..."
"How did you discover that there were more Meta-Quartz?", Sonic asked the two birds.
"Don't even think we're going to say-"
"Following energy spikes and doing reconnaissance," Wave interrupted Jet.
"Wave! learn to keep your beak shut!".
"Look who's talking! Sir I claim to myself the achievements of others".
"What's your next stop?" the blue hedgehog asked again.
"Not this tim-!"
"We're on our way there."
"Wave!" the hawk was shaking with frustration. "You're tearing me apart, Wave!".
"Oh, don't be melodramatic, sir I can't eat broccoli for lunch because it gives me heartburn for the rest of the day"
"Stop Wave... Just stop, please..."
In the east wing of the Babylon Nest were the boys' quarters. Wave ordered them to prepare one so that the guests would be comfortable on the trip to the next point of interest. They were given a bunk bed, as that was the only type of bed they had. Amy was a little disappointed, but Sonic was quick to take the top bunk as if he was competing for it, although Amy planned to sleep in the bottom bunk anyway. After eating their dinner and getting cleaned up, the two hedgehogs were ready for bed.
By the light of a waning moon and radiant stars, Amy was brooding in her bed, unable to fall asleep. She rummaged under her sheets until she reached for something, pulling out a small transparent sphere that seemed to emit a faint pink light, inside of which rested a vigorous Indigo Orchid. A slight smile appeared on her lips as she ran her fingers over the surface of the sphere.
"Are you sure it's Knuckles?" she heard the blue hedgehog ask.
"Why wouldn't it be?" she replied.
"Someone could have stolen the hat."
"Please, you don't believe that. The only thing harder than his head is his fists Remember?".
"The desert is capable of breaking even the strongest, Ames. You know that."
"Not to him," the hedgehog replied as she rolled the orb on the tip of her index finger. "Before he left, he made me a promise and he told me that a proud Echidna warrior always keeps his promises... And I believe him."
Somewhere...
Two figures ride through the desert on a motorcycle-like X-Gear. The moon watches them on their journey as the vehicle levitates over the sandy blanket and blows the sand behind it. The figure in the passenger seat, wrapped in a cloak to cover themselves from the sand, crouches behind the driver's back, only moving occasionally to see their surroundings. The driver is also almost completely covered by a cloak on his body and a hat with several emblems on the crown, only exposing his gloves with pointed knuckles and his violet eyes, full of rage.
Random Trivia: The First Version of the Mavericks - Babylon Rogues
At first I had planned to portray Jet and the Babylons as a sort of reformed Anti-Heroes who now, instead of stealing for greed, did it for altruism (Robin Hood style) and also wanted to help orphans and all that. But in the end I found it too boring, so I preferred to present the usual Babylons but more exaggerated and leaving the part of the orphans.
If you're wondering why Jet suddenly started adopting orphans, let's say he got bitten by the same mosquito as Bruno Bucciarati (Jojo's Bizarre Adventures: Vento Aureo).