Post by Control on Oct 27, 2009 9:24:55 GMT -5
("Oblivion" is the second part in the Dark Emerald Fanfic series as I mentioned here wolfdragonofdarkness.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=fanfic&action=display&thread=114
It is an introduction to the characters Radom and Oblivion, events happen not long after 'The Dark Emerald'.)
Sonic The Hedgehog
~Oblivion~
Prolog
Everything was on fire, the trees, the buildings… The people… She watched with horror as her whole village was set alight, even the stone structures were being melted under the pressure of the heat. This flame was not normal… It burned purple in color and would spread over any surface, even the water was alight.
She ran through the village, seeing everyone dead… Everyone was on fire, she wondered if any had escaped the spread of destruction. There hadn’t been anything this catastrophic since… Since… Well since the great Demon Chaos was awakened, if he hadn’t been stopped he would have destroyed the world… Which was exactly what this new threat might very well have in mind…
The village was that of Echidnas, deep in the jungles and not very far off from the Emerald Shrine. Ever since Tikal had sealed away Chaos with herself, this village had made it their duty to be the protectors of the Emeralds, instead of trying to use the power for their own ends. The village had been peaceful since then, they gave up all thoughts of war and conquest, yet still they were able to use the energy of the Emeralds to protect their own tribe. Some blamed this tragedy on the stranger that had wandered upon the village…
Radom knew the truth… She had been the one to take care of the stranger when he came here, half dead and unable to defend himself… She had found him while taking a walk around the jungle, she had found him just outside of the village and brought him back so she could take care of his wounds. She had fed him and watched over to him until he was back to health, he had become her closest friend…
The village had been skeptical of her bringing an outsider to the tribe, he wasn’t even an Echidna but a Hedgehog… But he had been so nice and once he was at health he had pulled his weight by helping the clan with hunting and other activities… He had been very skilled, he had been strong and fast… And possessed strange powers that had not been seen before in the clan. The elders said that his race was naturally in tune with the Chaos Energies that radiated out into the world, and that he was skilled in it even more than others.
She took walks with him often, they became even closer friends, it had been nice but… When they found that cave, she knew it was the real reason all this had happened…
Deep in that cave they had found a tunnel going even further down, it was stairs actually, long ago carved… Carved by hands and not by nature. Down there they had found it, a huge Blood Red stone… Radom could sense the evil energy radiating off of it, but her friend wanted to get a closer look at it.
When he came close the energy of the Gem had struck out at her friend, knocking him down. She rushed over to him to help, but before she reached him the gem struck out at her. She had lost all consciousness, and when she woke up her friend, and the red stone, was gone.
She returned to her tribe to find that the Emerald shrine had been desecrated, the Master Emerald had been shattered and others were searching to find the pieces again. The Chaos Emeralds were gone and they said it was seen that her friend had been the one to do it…
She didn’t want to believe it, she really didn’t, but it was only a day later that he had come back, come back to finish his job…
And that was how the tribe was on fire, and why she was running. He wasn’t chasing her, no, in fact she was chasing after him in a sad attempt to reach him before he could kill the whole clan.
She saw up ahead, about four Echidnas escaping into the jungle, she could also see two more leaving the burning thing that had been their home. They ran towards the jungle, but in a split second their paths were blocked.
It was her friend, he had just came out of thin air… No, he had come down from the sky, he was capable of flight it seemed. He was a hedgehog, his hair spikes pointed up as if the evil energies radiating from him was pushing it upwards. His fur was a deep purple in color, it had been such an odd color Radom had always just been so fascinated looking at it. He had green markings on his head, green markings along his eyes and then a green diamond shaped mark on his forehead… Radom had painted that onto him herself… His shoes were dark blue and his gloves black. He was as she remembered him, yet there was something different… On his face was an evil smirk, he had never looked so evil… He had always been so kind and gentle… What had that red stone done to him!
He laughed and pointed a hand towards the two echidnas, fingers stretched out in a symbol for them to stop. “Where do you think you are going?” He demanded of them, but didn’t wait for an answer. “This is Genocide, don’t you realize? I’ve killed every other clan on the island, I was kind enough to delay yours considering you were so kind in giving me the Chaos Emeralds.” In his hand a spark of the dark flame appeared, slowly growing and burning brighter. “Give my regards to the afterlife.” He laughed as the flame reached the size of his own head.
She couldn’t let him do this, friend as he was there was no way she was going to let him kill all of her tribe. She ran up at him, he turned his head in time to see her charging right at him. She moved back her arm and then punched forward, her fist connected with his jaw and he was sent flying. The Seven chaos emeralds fell to the ground, apparently knocked right out of him.
The pair of her tribe members stood their transfixed, watching her as she examined her own hands. That had been so strange… How easily her punch had knocked him flying. Her race and tribe was strong in arm, but this had been something else entirely… It had almost been like her fists had turn to metal…
She snapped back into reality and turned to the two echidnas still standing transfixed. She pointed towards the jungle. “Don’t just stand there, get out of here! Are you just going to let him kill off our entire race?” She shouted at them, they paused for only a second longer and bolted towards the jungle.
Radom turned to look over at the crumpled burning building, it had completely collapsed when her punch had sent him flying through a wall. The yellow Echidna girl waited, knowing that her friend would still be alive… That he would be fine after that attack, if only more angry. She stood there, trying to keep her wits about her and her resolve as strong as she could… She had to stay strong because she was the only one who could distract him long enough for the others to escape.
The fallen timbers of the burning hut began to shake and were soon pushed aside, her friend climbing out from them. He looked at her with cold eyes, and an evil smirk. He took five steps towards her. “That was foolish of you Radom. I was going to let you life but… Looks like I will be killing your entire race after all.”
“Why, why are you doing this!” She demanded, on the verge of tears. “This is completely unlike you…”
“Exactly!” He shouted, pointing right at her. He was laughing like she had just spoken some great joke. “This is not like me. Not at all. That is because the me you knew is not alive anymore. This is a new me, Radom, and this new me’s name is Oblivion.”
She took a step away, her fists were clenched, it was that evil stone that was controlling him… “Oblivion?”
He nodded, grinning like the maniac he was. “Yes, Oblivion as in… I’m going to blast you into oblivion!” His hands moved to his side, open palmed with sparks of the dark flame growing in them. Radom’s eyes widened and she did the only thing she could do. Run.
Going through the jungle she ran as fast as she could. She could hear Oblivion behind her, she could hear his laugh as he burnt a path of destruction through the jungle behind her. He was playing with her, she knew it, he was making her suffer before he would kill her… She didn’t mind so much though, the longer she distracted him the longer it was that the surviving villagers had to find someplace to hide.
At first she didn’t think she was going anywhere specifically, just in the most direct path away from him. But then she realized that she had been going someplace specific all along, the cave where this had all started. Soon she came to think even as she ran, she had been thinking up a plan this entire time and hadn’t even realized it until now.
She passed into the caves entrance, still going faster towards that stair case leading into the deeper cavern. She heard silence for a moment, indicating that he was hesitating at the entrance to the cave, but then there was the whoosh of him flying into the cave, echoed many times.
She stopped at the deep stair case, it went down very deep and she couldn’t even see the bottom. Was she even really that sure of herself? Would this really work… Or was she just doomed to some horrible fate at Oblivion’s hands? She wondered now whether he would just burn her to a crisp like his other victims… Or if he would make her suffer…
“Look out ahead!” Shouted a voice behind her. She turned around just as Oblivion bumped into her, she fell backwards and was sent into a painful free roll down the stairs.
After much rolling and hitting her head on the stone steps she collapsed in a heap on the cold ground down in the next room. She groaned and sat up, putting a hand to her head. “Ow…” She moaned softly and stood up. That had hurt… She was surprised it hadn’t hurt more.
“Incoming!” Shouted a voice from above her, she looked back up the stairs to see the rolling ball of fire coming down. She jumped out of the way just before it landed where she had been sitting just a moment ago and exploded into a blazing inferno.
Radom backed away from the staircase, leading him just a bit deeper into the cavern. He needed to be deeper in if her plan was to work… She felt her foot get wet and moved it out of the way, she looked down at the ripples in the water of the puddle she had just stepped into. She saw her reflection in the water and was surprised… She looked different, she looked prettier and her fur… It wasn’t just yellow blond… It actually looked gold.
“Pleased with the changes the Tyrant Emerald gave you?” She heard Oblivion’s voice. Radom looked up to see him walking out of the still burning fire towards her. “It blessed you as it did me. It gave me powers beyond anyone’s comprehension. It gave you new powers as well, and even changed your appearance.”
“Tyrant Emerald?” She asked blinking, what was that supposed to be, she had never heard of it.
Oblivion nodded. “Yes, it is the counterpart of the Master Emerald. That Red Stone the first time we came here. It blessed both of us… Though maybe me to a certain extent more. It could sense that my heart was the stronger one.”
Radom growled lowly and clenched her fist. His ego had grown with his transformation… He had never been this cocky about his own abilities, he had always been humble about his powers… There was a sound, like metal sliding across metal, and from the back of her wrist a blade about a foot in length slid out.
Oblivion smirked. “That was part of the ability the Tyrant Emerald gave you Radom. You were chosen by it.” He said softly. A second later he was right in front of her, she gasped as he took her chin in his hand. “It’s not too late to apologize for hitting me. I’ll apologize for pushing you down the stairs if you do.”
She felt only rage, she had no reason to apologize… No reason to apologize to this hedgehog that wasn’t even the man she once knew. She slapped away his hand with strength even he didn’t seem to expect from her. She shouted in anger and stabbed the blade through his shoulder. He shouted out in pain as the clean weapon went though his flesh and blood. Then pulling the weapon free again she kicked at him, pushing him away from her.
Oblivion rolled and came to a stop against the wall opposite of her, he stood up and faced her, rage filling his eyes. She backed away to the other wall and watched as the wound she had just inflicted closed again, leaving not even a scar.
“That was the last chance I was willing to give you.” Oblivion growled, his hands were engulfed with black fire. “You are not worthy of the gifts the Emerald gave you. I will have to take them away. Now watch, watch and see the rest of the abilities that it blessed me with.”
Radom placed a hand on the wall to steady herself, she watched Oblivion as she felt the darkness surrounding his soul begin to grow heavier. And as the darkness came, his features changed as well. From the spots where there was no fur, on his chest, arms and face, his flesh changed in color, or rather lost its color. It shifted into a dark gray, almost looking like it was metal. His eyes changed into shadowy black orbs with only a bit of red marking his pupils. She looked upon him and knew that there was now nothing of the person she once knew… Nothing left of him. The demon had chosen to show its true face and if anything that comforted her. Comforted her on what she was about to do.
Just as Oblivion was about to rush at her, she spun and with both hands together clubbed them into the wall hard. She smashed the stone wall like a hammer, cracks forming in the solid surface. She drew it back again and smashed the same spot, then once more and after that third time the cave didn’t stop shaking.
Oblivion stopped in his tracks and looked up at the ceiling, he saw the stone all around him and above him shake and crumble. He saw large boulders break free and fall to crash to the stone below. He turned to her and looked her strait into the eye. “You’ll never escape the cave yourself, you’re as dead as I am.” His voice was only a bit like it used to be, it was all warped and evil.
She looked at him, straight back in his eyes, no fear was in her eyes and that seemed to startle him. “I know.” She answered simply, though her eyes were very cold. “That was the plan.”
Part 1: Frozen in Gold
“Look, I found it! I found the last one!” Tails shouted as he pulled the glowing Green gem out of a small pool of water that had formed in a ‘bowl’ in the stone of the mountain. Once pulled out into the sunlight of the clear sky it reflected the beams of light all over the place.
It took about half a second for the Blue Blur to zoom past several hundred feet of rocky terrain to reach the two tailed fox boy. It took a bit longer for the red Echidna to get there.
The Blue hedgehog lightly plucked the Green Chaos Emerald that Tails was holding, he examined it in his hands and nodded. “Yeah, this would be it. Hey guys, pull out the other ones, let’s see them altogether.”
The red Echidna pulled out two more emeralds, one Blue and the other a silvery white. The two tailed fox took out the Red chaos emerald, and another Blue Chaos Emerald, though this one was a much lighter tone then the one the Red Echidna held. Lastly Sonic brought out the Golden Yellow Emerald and the deep purple one, putting them with the new Green Emerald. They set the Emeralds down in a circle on the flat ground. Once all Seven were within such a close proximity they all started to glow a little stronger than usual.
Knuckles looked up from the seven Emeralds to Tails and Sonic. “So what now?”
Tails looked up from them himself, the two tails that he was named for were shacking lightly. “This is the first time we’ve ever had all seven Emeralds together like this… You know, without Eggman or someone else in the middle of taking over the world.”
“Yeah, now when Eggman pulls his newest scheme we’ll be ready, we’ll be able to stop it right away.” Sonic explained to Knuckles, sometimes he didn’t understand how Knuckles could be so clueless.
“Well then we should take them back to Angel Island.” Knuckles suggested.
Sonic gave him a dull look. “Why? So Eggman can just trick you into handing them over to him?” Sonic asked. “Let’s face it Knucklehead, we give them to you they may as well just be in his hands.”
Knuckles snarled and took a step towards Sonic, “Why I should just-“
“Hey guys, let’s just calm down okay.” Tails said stepping in between the two before it broke into a brawl. “Maybe Knuckles is right about one thing, we can’t just walk around carrying these things on ourselves. Why don’t we bring them to my workshop? I’ve already got a special defense system set up in there.”
“Hey good idea Tails.” Sonic agreed as he grabbed a few of the Emeralds. “We’ll take the Cyclone back.”
“Hmmph…” Knuckles crossed his arms and looked away. “I still think they’d be safer in my hands. After all I’ve spent my whole life guarding the Master Emerald.”
“Yeah, that reminds me.” Sonic turned back over to Knuckle’s direction. He scratched his ear lightly with a finger. “About the whole Master Emerald thing… Shouldn’t you be, you know, guarding it right now?”
“HEY! I took a break so I could help you two find all the Chaos Emeralds.” Knuckles shouted at him.
Sonic shrugged. “Oh don’t get me wrong, we’re grateful for your help. It’s just that I’m worried it’s gotten swiped by someone like Rouge or Eggman.”
“Guys, can you cut this out?” Tails asked watching the two. Knuckles was about to explode and Sonic wouldn’t stop taunting him… “We can drop you off at Angel Island on the way to the workshop. I’m sure Eggman or anyone else hasn’t taken the Emerald.”
“You know what…” Sonic wondered aloud as he scratched his chin. “It’s been awhile since we saw Eggman. He’s way past due for another world take over attempt, what do you suppose he’s been doing all this time?”
“No, No, No! You buffoons, what do you think you’re doing?” Eggman demanded as he watched a pair of his robots dig away at a part of wall. “The exit to the main hallway is on the south side of the room, not the east!” Eggman came over to the robot and snatched the pickaxe away from him and smacked him upside the head with it. There was a loud ringing sound as metal hit metal. He knew the robot didn’t feel it, but he was getting a point across. “Do I have to hand walk you through everything?”
The scientist was human, though he almost had a cartoony appearance. He was a big man, as in he was a bit over weight. Though the rest of his body didn’t seem to match that general appearance, his arms and legs were decidedly skinny compared to the rest of him. His head also seemed a bit small, he was bald but had a magnificence brown mustache. He wore black pants that joined into a one piece with his boots. His upper body he had an orange jumpsuit like piece of clothing with white going down his chest and from his shoulders down his arms.
“You think it would be simple enough, wouldn’t you? Just build an underground fortress in Angel Island. You know, just as easy to build as any of the other underground fortresses you’ve made. You’ve had fortresses in a pyramid, in ancient ruins. What makes a fortress in a flying island so different? I mean, it’s not like I haven’t had a fortress in this island before!” He was going in on a rant, swinging the pickaxe around wildly, his robots carving the room out into a box like shape were backing away out of range. “But of course it’s always blow up by Sonic and Friends, so I have to make a new one. This should be easy enough except this is the FIFTH TIME YOU PIECES OF SCRAP METAL READ THE DIRECTIONS WRONG!”
The pickaxe got stuck into the nearby wall. Eggman looked over at the wall where the pickaxe was still sticking out of. He looked over at his robots and pointed at the spot, “There, now I’ve marked the spot for you. So dig this way, and don’t screw it up again.” He reached over and grabbed the handle of the pickaxe and pulled. It came out easily enough, put a second later a large section of that wall collapsed.
“Aye… What is this…” Eggman murmured and examined the opening in the wall. The stone had just so easily crumbled out, he took a step closer to look what was inside.
It appeared to be a golden statue of an echidna. A female Echidna wearing a tribal garb, the gold was glinting in the dim light of the lights Eggman had installed in the area. He took a closer look at it. “My goodness, this statue must by ancient… An ancient Echidna relic made of pure gold… I wonder if it’s solid all the way or hollow.”
He tapped the flat of the pick against the forehead of the golden statue. A low ring went though the room, it had a pleasant heavy tone meaning it was in fact not hollow. “Ow.” The statue exclaimed moving a hand up to where Eggman had tapped her on the head.
“AHHHH! The Statue’s possessed!” Eggman shouted and ran out of the caves, way faster than you’d expect such a big man to run. “Why do I always have to have such rotten luck with making bases in haunted places!” His voice could be shouted as he ran back up to outside the caverns, all his robots followed him in a crowd.
Radom rubbed her forehead and stepped out from the rubble filled hole in the wall. As she stepped out her body seemed to change, from hard gold to flesh and fur, with only the fur being golden.
She looked around no recognizing where she was, the cave was much different in shape then it had been before she had caused that collapse of the cave. She looked around seeing what seemed to be discarded weapons. She picked up an odd curved axe ad swung it around a bit. She snorted and put it down again, it was highly unbalanced and was just all together badly designed.
Radom stepped around the room examining it, the room was very different shaped then she remembered… It was smaller and looked like it had been carved by someone instead of naturally made. Sure the stairs had been carved, but the room it led to was natural and more round than cubed…
She looked around again. Perhaps these axes were really digging tools instead of weapons, that would make a lot more sense for the shape of the things. The golden echidna walked up towards the only exit out of the room, it was a gentle slope leading up instead of stairs. She wasn’t completely sure but it seemed to be on the wrong side of the room too…
But it was the only exit and she needed to find out just exactly where she was. Walking up out of the tunnel she came up to the exit, she could see sunlight and fresh air. She smiled happily knowing that she wouldn’t feel so cramped any more… She was just glad to be walking again, she had been a solid statue in that wall for some time. Actually… She came to wonder how long it had really been after all.
The outside was definitely different, since she wasn’t sure how long it had been since she was in there all new sorts of plant growth could have come up. She looked up at the sky and found the position of the sun, she made a judge on what time of day it was and then looked up at the mountain from which the tunnel went into. This entrance was on a different end then the old one had been… But she could still tell which way was which and could tell where the village was from here. She set out towards her home.
Some time later, later than it should have been she was still walking, something was strange… Going by the sun this had to be the right direction… But why was it like this?
She stepped up to the edge of what seemed to be a cliff, looking over the cliff she saw the ocean stretching out far… Except the ocean was also miles beneath her. She looked down the cliff, being careful to not fall over. The island wasn’t even in the water, it was floating high above the water. She put a hand up to her mouth, the island was flying in the air… Had the island turned around? Was that why the sun was leading her the wrong way?
He paused and looked around, she closed her eyes and concentrated, breathing in deeply she knew that the island must have spun around some time when it was in the air… Meaning there was almost no way for her to tell which way the Emerald shrine was from here. She tried to sense the energy of the Master Emerald, wondering why she hadn’t thought of this before. When she closed her eyes she saw the island in a different way, everything was dark… As if nothing existed except for herself, other than her everything was just the shadowy black everywhere. Then something else appeared in the distance of the darkness, a shining Green Gem and Radom knew which way the Emerald was.
Eggman sighed and sat down in the chair of his landed Egg Carrier. He slumped down and put his feet up on his desk, today had been a very hectic day. He looked over his notes on the table and began to think. That statue had been seen leaving the caves and heading out into the jungle, only not a statue anymore… He wondered what that meant but decided that the caves could not be haunted, because ghosts didn’t leave the area they were guarding.
Eggman sat up, not in a decidedly better mood and hit a button on his keyboard. “All of Dig Team Alpha are to prepare themselves, we are returning to the project. I was the Beta combat teams to escourt Dig Team Alpha to the dig and guard them during their work. Metal Sonic is to be activated and he and myself will be joining up with you shortly.” He let go of the button and the intercom shut down, he knew that his soldiers were scrambling to gather weapons and tools.
The door to the room and the Blue Metal Hedgehog stepped in. His glowing red eyes focused on Eggman. His clawed metal hands flexed lightly, and the hole in his chest was glowing brightly from just being activated. “Your orders Master Robotnic?” Metal Sonic asked him.
Eggman stood up and walked over to the metal hedgehog. “Come, I need you incase another ghost comes during the project.” He walked out the door past the Metal Hedgehog.
Metal Sonic paused for a second then shook his head. “Ghosts? The doctor is getting more insane every passing day. I can’t wait until I have my chance to escape his control…”
“There it is, Angel Island.” Tails called back to the two passengers on the plane. Knuckles was in the second seat and Sonic was standing up on the wing of the plane like he insisted. “I’m going to find a clear spot near the Emerald shrine, then we can walk the rest of the way.”
Knuckles nodded, his eyes glued on the flying island that had been his home longer than he could remember. “Okay, remember. If the Master Emerald isn’t where it’s supposed to be then you guys are going to have to help me find it again.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Sonic shrugged.
“What was that?” Knuckles growled trying to look up at the blue Hedgehog.
“Guys, we haven’t even landed yet, can you try not to kill each other until then?” Tails asked them hopefully.
“Hey Knuckles, obviously it’s still there if the island’s still in the sky. Do we really have to walk all the way to the shrine?” Sonic asked rolling his eyes.
“As long as the Emerald’s still on the island, the island will stay in the sky. If someone took the Emerald but hadn’t left the island yet then the Emerald is still here.” He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “And if that is the case then I will need you two to help me find it again.”
Sonic rolled his eyes again and sighed. “Yeah, I guess so… Hey I know! I’ll run up ahead and come back here to tell you whether the Emerald is there or not.” And without a moment’s pause after saying that he was gone.
Both Tails and Knuckles stopped for a moment, the two looked at each other and shrugged, then started walking again.
Then Sonic came back. “Hey Knuckles, you won’t believe this.” He said as he stopped in front of them.
“What, is it still there?” The red echidna asked, fists clenched he seemed ready to bolt off.
“Hmm? Oh yeah, the Emerald. That’s still there, but that’s not what I’m talking about. Follow me.” Sonic ran up ahead, slow enough that they could follow.
Tails and Knuckles ran off after him.
Sonic made a shush sound as he stood behind the ruined rock that was before the Emerald Shrine. He had passed the bridge and waited for them there, now he was ducked behind the rocks. Tails and Knuckles joined him in hiding behind the stone.
“Sonic, why are we whispering?” Tails asked the Blue Hedgehog.
Sonic pointed to the Emerald, “She’s right on the other side of the Emerald.” He whispered.
“What!?” Knuckles exclaimed. Sonic tried to shush him again but the Echidna was already fuming. “Is it Rouge up there? I’m going to kill her if she touched the Emerald!” He jumped up and started running around to the other side of the shrine. Sonic put his forehead in his hands and sighed.
Knuckles ran all the way to the steps and was running half way up when he stopped in mid step. He suddenly realized that wasn’t Rouge, infact it didn’t look like anybody he knew. His eyes widened and saw what she was wearing, an ancient garb like Tikal had worn… Except this Echidna couldn’t be Tikal, her fur was golden.
Knuckles walked slowly towards the Echidna girl sitting on the steps before the Emerald. She was sitting before the huge gem with her legs crossed and her hands in her lap. She hadn’t turned around so Knuckles wondered if she hadn’t heard him, or was sleeping or…
He got up to about 5 feet close to her and her arm snapped out to her side. He stopped immediately and looked at her, still not turning around but with her arm stretched out to the side. A blade seemed to slide out of the back of her wrist, it seemed to slide out of thin air. Knuckles felt a shiver go through his whole body.
“What Tribe do you come from?” The female Echidna asked, he assumed it was directed at him.
Knuckles paused before answering, that was a tough question. “I don’t know the name of my tribe.” He said first, and then. “I know my blood line belongs to one… But the name is forgotten. Who are-“
She turned stood and turned around to look at him, he froze under the harsh glare of her red eyes. “Forgotten your tribe name… How many other Echidna tribes live on this flying island?”
“I…” He paused again. “None, and there aren’t any other Echidna Tribes anywhere. As far as I know the only ones of our clan alive is you, me and one other.” Knuckles recalled Shade. “Unless you belong to a tribe?”
The golden Echidna sighed and leaned against the Master Emerald. Knuckles felt two things, one was to comfort her as she seemed tired and sad, the other was that she was touching the Master Emerald that was his duty to guard. The sword she had kept him from approaching for either.
“No, I think my Tribe is dead too.” She said looked back up at him. “But I’m probably confusing you. My name is Radom, I am an Echidna who has been trapped within the mountain for some time. I just don’t know how long it has been.”
Knuckles blinked and looked up at the mountain. “Well if you were stuck in there it couldn’t have been that long-“
“No.” She interrupted. He saw the Blade slide back into wherever it had come from. “I have powers, strange powers. I turned into solid gold and didn’t have to eat or drink, nor did I have to age… Umm… Oh, do you know how long ago it was when Tikal sealed Chaos away in the Master Emerald?”
“Well Tikal helped but Sonic was the one who defeated…” He paused one more time and blinked, coming into realization. “You mean the first time… But that was over a thousand years ago.”
The golden Echidna gasped and looked up at the sun. Her red eyes seemed filled with fear. “A thousand years… I never could have imagined it could have been that long… You said you were the last Echidna?” She asked glancing at him again.
“Well there’s one other named Shade… Err, I’m Knuckles. But yeah other than us and you… Well there is another tribe of Echidna’s way out, that’s the group Shade is part of. “ The red echidna seemed in a very confused spot. This Echidna came from over a thousand years ago. Frozen in gold or something like that… “Their not so much a tribe as a cult maybe, and they come from a different dimension on a world that was kind of destroyed… So it’s just us and Shade for all we know, in our world at least.”
“So I guess Oblivion got his way after all… Genocide of my race…” She was watching the ground.
“Well, our race isn’t dead yet. After all we’re both alive.” Knuckles said taking a step forward.
The blade snapped out and she turned her gaze back on him. “Are you implying something?”
Knuckles jumped back, shaking his arms and head wildly. “No, no. Of course not. I only mean that as long as one Echidna still stands that the race won’t be… Umm… What was that name you said again?”
“Oblivion.” She answered him, the blade slid away slowly, almost as if she was hesitating to have it leave. “I sealed him and myself in the mountain with an earthquake. My powers saved me from being killed, I don’t know what happened to him.”
“So how did you get out?” Knuckles asked.
“I don’t know, I remember getting hit in the face… And not much more.” She looked up at the large mountains off in the distance. “I think somebody dug me out. There was all these strange digging tools laying around…”
Knuckles followed her gaze to look up at the mountain. “I think I know the only guy who would have an interest digging up the mountain.”
It is an introduction to the characters Radom and Oblivion, events happen not long after 'The Dark Emerald'.)
Sonic The Hedgehog
~Oblivion~
Prolog
Everything was on fire, the trees, the buildings… The people… She watched with horror as her whole village was set alight, even the stone structures were being melted under the pressure of the heat. This flame was not normal… It burned purple in color and would spread over any surface, even the water was alight.
She ran through the village, seeing everyone dead… Everyone was on fire, she wondered if any had escaped the spread of destruction. There hadn’t been anything this catastrophic since… Since… Well since the great Demon Chaos was awakened, if he hadn’t been stopped he would have destroyed the world… Which was exactly what this new threat might very well have in mind…
The village was that of Echidnas, deep in the jungles and not very far off from the Emerald Shrine. Ever since Tikal had sealed away Chaos with herself, this village had made it their duty to be the protectors of the Emeralds, instead of trying to use the power for their own ends. The village had been peaceful since then, they gave up all thoughts of war and conquest, yet still they were able to use the energy of the Emeralds to protect their own tribe. Some blamed this tragedy on the stranger that had wandered upon the village…
Radom knew the truth… She had been the one to take care of the stranger when he came here, half dead and unable to defend himself… She had found him while taking a walk around the jungle, she had found him just outside of the village and brought him back so she could take care of his wounds. She had fed him and watched over to him until he was back to health, he had become her closest friend…
The village had been skeptical of her bringing an outsider to the tribe, he wasn’t even an Echidna but a Hedgehog… But he had been so nice and once he was at health he had pulled his weight by helping the clan with hunting and other activities… He had been very skilled, he had been strong and fast… And possessed strange powers that had not been seen before in the clan. The elders said that his race was naturally in tune with the Chaos Energies that radiated out into the world, and that he was skilled in it even more than others.
She took walks with him often, they became even closer friends, it had been nice but… When they found that cave, she knew it was the real reason all this had happened…
Deep in that cave they had found a tunnel going even further down, it was stairs actually, long ago carved… Carved by hands and not by nature. Down there they had found it, a huge Blood Red stone… Radom could sense the evil energy radiating off of it, but her friend wanted to get a closer look at it.
When he came close the energy of the Gem had struck out at her friend, knocking him down. She rushed over to him to help, but before she reached him the gem struck out at her. She had lost all consciousness, and when she woke up her friend, and the red stone, was gone.
She returned to her tribe to find that the Emerald shrine had been desecrated, the Master Emerald had been shattered and others were searching to find the pieces again. The Chaos Emeralds were gone and they said it was seen that her friend had been the one to do it…
She didn’t want to believe it, she really didn’t, but it was only a day later that he had come back, come back to finish his job…
And that was how the tribe was on fire, and why she was running. He wasn’t chasing her, no, in fact she was chasing after him in a sad attempt to reach him before he could kill the whole clan.
She saw up ahead, about four Echidnas escaping into the jungle, she could also see two more leaving the burning thing that had been their home. They ran towards the jungle, but in a split second their paths were blocked.
It was her friend, he had just came out of thin air… No, he had come down from the sky, he was capable of flight it seemed. He was a hedgehog, his hair spikes pointed up as if the evil energies radiating from him was pushing it upwards. His fur was a deep purple in color, it had been such an odd color Radom had always just been so fascinated looking at it. He had green markings on his head, green markings along his eyes and then a green diamond shaped mark on his forehead… Radom had painted that onto him herself… His shoes were dark blue and his gloves black. He was as she remembered him, yet there was something different… On his face was an evil smirk, he had never looked so evil… He had always been so kind and gentle… What had that red stone done to him!
He laughed and pointed a hand towards the two echidnas, fingers stretched out in a symbol for them to stop. “Where do you think you are going?” He demanded of them, but didn’t wait for an answer. “This is Genocide, don’t you realize? I’ve killed every other clan on the island, I was kind enough to delay yours considering you were so kind in giving me the Chaos Emeralds.” In his hand a spark of the dark flame appeared, slowly growing and burning brighter. “Give my regards to the afterlife.” He laughed as the flame reached the size of his own head.
She couldn’t let him do this, friend as he was there was no way she was going to let him kill all of her tribe. She ran up at him, he turned his head in time to see her charging right at him. She moved back her arm and then punched forward, her fist connected with his jaw and he was sent flying. The Seven chaos emeralds fell to the ground, apparently knocked right out of him.
The pair of her tribe members stood their transfixed, watching her as she examined her own hands. That had been so strange… How easily her punch had knocked him flying. Her race and tribe was strong in arm, but this had been something else entirely… It had almost been like her fists had turn to metal…
She snapped back into reality and turned to the two echidnas still standing transfixed. She pointed towards the jungle. “Don’t just stand there, get out of here! Are you just going to let him kill off our entire race?” She shouted at them, they paused for only a second longer and bolted towards the jungle.
Radom turned to look over at the crumpled burning building, it had completely collapsed when her punch had sent him flying through a wall. The yellow Echidna girl waited, knowing that her friend would still be alive… That he would be fine after that attack, if only more angry. She stood there, trying to keep her wits about her and her resolve as strong as she could… She had to stay strong because she was the only one who could distract him long enough for the others to escape.
The fallen timbers of the burning hut began to shake and were soon pushed aside, her friend climbing out from them. He looked at her with cold eyes, and an evil smirk. He took five steps towards her. “That was foolish of you Radom. I was going to let you life but… Looks like I will be killing your entire race after all.”
“Why, why are you doing this!” She demanded, on the verge of tears. “This is completely unlike you…”
“Exactly!” He shouted, pointing right at her. He was laughing like she had just spoken some great joke. “This is not like me. Not at all. That is because the me you knew is not alive anymore. This is a new me, Radom, and this new me’s name is Oblivion.”
She took a step away, her fists were clenched, it was that evil stone that was controlling him… “Oblivion?”
He nodded, grinning like the maniac he was. “Yes, Oblivion as in… I’m going to blast you into oblivion!” His hands moved to his side, open palmed with sparks of the dark flame growing in them. Radom’s eyes widened and she did the only thing she could do. Run.
Going through the jungle she ran as fast as she could. She could hear Oblivion behind her, she could hear his laugh as he burnt a path of destruction through the jungle behind her. He was playing with her, she knew it, he was making her suffer before he would kill her… She didn’t mind so much though, the longer she distracted him the longer it was that the surviving villagers had to find someplace to hide.
At first she didn’t think she was going anywhere specifically, just in the most direct path away from him. But then she realized that she had been going someplace specific all along, the cave where this had all started. Soon she came to think even as she ran, she had been thinking up a plan this entire time and hadn’t even realized it until now.
She passed into the caves entrance, still going faster towards that stair case leading into the deeper cavern. She heard silence for a moment, indicating that he was hesitating at the entrance to the cave, but then there was the whoosh of him flying into the cave, echoed many times.
She stopped at the deep stair case, it went down very deep and she couldn’t even see the bottom. Was she even really that sure of herself? Would this really work… Or was she just doomed to some horrible fate at Oblivion’s hands? She wondered now whether he would just burn her to a crisp like his other victims… Or if he would make her suffer…
“Look out ahead!” Shouted a voice behind her. She turned around just as Oblivion bumped into her, she fell backwards and was sent into a painful free roll down the stairs.
After much rolling and hitting her head on the stone steps she collapsed in a heap on the cold ground down in the next room. She groaned and sat up, putting a hand to her head. “Ow…” She moaned softly and stood up. That had hurt… She was surprised it hadn’t hurt more.
“Incoming!” Shouted a voice from above her, she looked back up the stairs to see the rolling ball of fire coming down. She jumped out of the way just before it landed where she had been sitting just a moment ago and exploded into a blazing inferno.
Radom backed away from the staircase, leading him just a bit deeper into the cavern. He needed to be deeper in if her plan was to work… She felt her foot get wet and moved it out of the way, she looked down at the ripples in the water of the puddle she had just stepped into. She saw her reflection in the water and was surprised… She looked different, she looked prettier and her fur… It wasn’t just yellow blond… It actually looked gold.
“Pleased with the changes the Tyrant Emerald gave you?” She heard Oblivion’s voice. Radom looked up to see him walking out of the still burning fire towards her. “It blessed you as it did me. It gave me powers beyond anyone’s comprehension. It gave you new powers as well, and even changed your appearance.”
“Tyrant Emerald?” She asked blinking, what was that supposed to be, she had never heard of it.
Oblivion nodded. “Yes, it is the counterpart of the Master Emerald. That Red Stone the first time we came here. It blessed both of us… Though maybe me to a certain extent more. It could sense that my heart was the stronger one.”
Radom growled lowly and clenched her fist. His ego had grown with his transformation… He had never been this cocky about his own abilities, he had always been humble about his powers… There was a sound, like metal sliding across metal, and from the back of her wrist a blade about a foot in length slid out.
Oblivion smirked. “That was part of the ability the Tyrant Emerald gave you Radom. You were chosen by it.” He said softly. A second later he was right in front of her, she gasped as he took her chin in his hand. “It’s not too late to apologize for hitting me. I’ll apologize for pushing you down the stairs if you do.”
She felt only rage, she had no reason to apologize… No reason to apologize to this hedgehog that wasn’t even the man she once knew. She slapped away his hand with strength even he didn’t seem to expect from her. She shouted in anger and stabbed the blade through his shoulder. He shouted out in pain as the clean weapon went though his flesh and blood. Then pulling the weapon free again she kicked at him, pushing him away from her.
Oblivion rolled and came to a stop against the wall opposite of her, he stood up and faced her, rage filling his eyes. She backed away to the other wall and watched as the wound she had just inflicted closed again, leaving not even a scar.
“That was the last chance I was willing to give you.” Oblivion growled, his hands were engulfed with black fire. “You are not worthy of the gifts the Emerald gave you. I will have to take them away. Now watch, watch and see the rest of the abilities that it blessed me with.”
Radom placed a hand on the wall to steady herself, she watched Oblivion as she felt the darkness surrounding his soul begin to grow heavier. And as the darkness came, his features changed as well. From the spots where there was no fur, on his chest, arms and face, his flesh changed in color, or rather lost its color. It shifted into a dark gray, almost looking like it was metal. His eyes changed into shadowy black orbs with only a bit of red marking his pupils. She looked upon him and knew that there was now nothing of the person she once knew… Nothing left of him. The demon had chosen to show its true face and if anything that comforted her. Comforted her on what she was about to do.
Just as Oblivion was about to rush at her, she spun and with both hands together clubbed them into the wall hard. She smashed the stone wall like a hammer, cracks forming in the solid surface. She drew it back again and smashed the same spot, then once more and after that third time the cave didn’t stop shaking.
Oblivion stopped in his tracks and looked up at the ceiling, he saw the stone all around him and above him shake and crumble. He saw large boulders break free and fall to crash to the stone below. He turned to her and looked her strait into the eye. “You’ll never escape the cave yourself, you’re as dead as I am.” His voice was only a bit like it used to be, it was all warped and evil.
She looked at him, straight back in his eyes, no fear was in her eyes and that seemed to startle him. “I know.” She answered simply, though her eyes were very cold. “That was the plan.”
Part 1: Frozen in Gold
“Look, I found it! I found the last one!” Tails shouted as he pulled the glowing Green gem out of a small pool of water that had formed in a ‘bowl’ in the stone of the mountain. Once pulled out into the sunlight of the clear sky it reflected the beams of light all over the place.
It took about half a second for the Blue Blur to zoom past several hundred feet of rocky terrain to reach the two tailed fox boy. It took a bit longer for the red Echidna to get there.
The Blue hedgehog lightly plucked the Green Chaos Emerald that Tails was holding, he examined it in his hands and nodded. “Yeah, this would be it. Hey guys, pull out the other ones, let’s see them altogether.”
The red Echidna pulled out two more emeralds, one Blue and the other a silvery white. The two tailed fox took out the Red chaos emerald, and another Blue Chaos Emerald, though this one was a much lighter tone then the one the Red Echidna held. Lastly Sonic brought out the Golden Yellow Emerald and the deep purple one, putting them with the new Green Emerald. They set the Emeralds down in a circle on the flat ground. Once all Seven were within such a close proximity they all started to glow a little stronger than usual.
Knuckles looked up from the seven Emeralds to Tails and Sonic. “So what now?”
Tails looked up from them himself, the two tails that he was named for were shacking lightly. “This is the first time we’ve ever had all seven Emeralds together like this… You know, without Eggman or someone else in the middle of taking over the world.”
“Yeah, now when Eggman pulls his newest scheme we’ll be ready, we’ll be able to stop it right away.” Sonic explained to Knuckles, sometimes he didn’t understand how Knuckles could be so clueless.
“Well then we should take them back to Angel Island.” Knuckles suggested.
Sonic gave him a dull look. “Why? So Eggman can just trick you into handing them over to him?” Sonic asked. “Let’s face it Knucklehead, we give them to you they may as well just be in his hands.”
Knuckles snarled and took a step towards Sonic, “Why I should just-“
“Hey guys, let’s just calm down okay.” Tails said stepping in between the two before it broke into a brawl. “Maybe Knuckles is right about one thing, we can’t just walk around carrying these things on ourselves. Why don’t we bring them to my workshop? I’ve already got a special defense system set up in there.”
“Hey good idea Tails.” Sonic agreed as he grabbed a few of the Emeralds. “We’ll take the Cyclone back.”
“Hmmph…” Knuckles crossed his arms and looked away. “I still think they’d be safer in my hands. After all I’ve spent my whole life guarding the Master Emerald.”
“Yeah, that reminds me.” Sonic turned back over to Knuckle’s direction. He scratched his ear lightly with a finger. “About the whole Master Emerald thing… Shouldn’t you be, you know, guarding it right now?”
“HEY! I took a break so I could help you two find all the Chaos Emeralds.” Knuckles shouted at him.
Sonic shrugged. “Oh don’t get me wrong, we’re grateful for your help. It’s just that I’m worried it’s gotten swiped by someone like Rouge or Eggman.”
“Guys, can you cut this out?” Tails asked watching the two. Knuckles was about to explode and Sonic wouldn’t stop taunting him… “We can drop you off at Angel Island on the way to the workshop. I’m sure Eggman or anyone else hasn’t taken the Emerald.”
“You know what…” Sonic wondered aloud as he scratched his chin. “It’s been awhile since we saw Eggman. He’s way past due for another world take over attempt, what do you suppose he’s been doing all this time?”
“No, No, No! You buffoons, what do you think you’re doing?” Eggman demanded as he watched a pair of his robots dig away at a part of wall. “The exit to the main hallway is on the south side of the room, not the east!” Eggman came over to the robot and snatched the pickaxe away from him and smacked him upside the head with it. There was a loud ringing sound as metal hit metal. He knew the robot didn’t feel it, but he was getting a point across. “Do I have to hand walk you through everything?”
The scientist was human, though he almost had a cartoony appearance. He was a big man, as in he was a bit over weight. Though the rest of his body didn’t seem to match that general appearance, his arms and legs were decidedly skinny compared to the rest of him. His head also seemed a bit small, he was bald but had a magnificence brown mustache. He wore black pants that joined into a one piece with his boots. His upper body he had an orange jumpsuit like piece of clothing with white going down his chest and from his shoulders down his arms.
“You think it would be simple enough, wouldn’t you? Just build an underground fortress in Angel Island. You know, just as easy to build as any of the other underground fortresses you’ve made. You’ve had fortresses in a pyramid, in ancient ruins. What makes a fortress in a flying island so different? I mean, it’s not like I haven’t had a fortress in this island before!” He was going in on a rant, swinging the pickaxe around wildly, his robots carving the room out into a box like shape were backing away out of range. “But of course it’s always blow up by Sonic and Friends, so I have to make a new one. This should be easy enough except this is the FIFTH TIME YOU PIECES OF SCRAP METAL READ THE DIRECTIONS WRONG!”
The pickaxe got stuck into the nearby wall. Eggman looked over at the wall where the pickaxe was still sticking out of. He looked over at his robots and pointed at the spot, “There, now I’ve marked the spot for you. So dig this way, and don’t screw it up again.” He reached over and grabbed the handle of the pickaxe and pulled. It came out easily enough, put a second later a large section of that wall collapsed.
“Aye… What is this…” Eggman murmured and examined the opening in the wall. The stone had just so easily crumbled out, he took a step closer to look what was inside.
It appeared to be a golden statue of an echidna. A female Echidna wearing a tribal garb, the gold was glinting in the dim light of the lights Eggman had installed in the area. He took a closer look at it. “My goodness, this statue must by ancient… An ancient Echidna relic made of pure gold… I wonder if it’s solid all the way or hollow.”
He tapped the flat of the pick against the forehead of the golden statue. A low ring went though the room, it had a pleasant heavy tone meaning it was in fact not hollow. “Ow.” The statue exclaimed moving a hand up to where Eggman had tapped her on the head.
“AHHHH! The Statue’s possessed!” Eggman shouted and ran out of the caves, way faster than you’d expect such a big man to run. “Why do I always have to have such rotten luck with making bases in haunted places!” His voice could be shouted as he ran back up to outside the caverns, all his robots followed him in a crowd.
Radom rubbed her forehead and stepped out from the rubble filled hole in the wall. As she stepped out her body seemed to change, from hard gold to flesh and fur, with only the fur being golden.
She looked around no recognizing where she was, the cave was much different in shape then it had been before she had caused that collapse of the cave. She looked around seeing what seemed to be discarded weapons. She picked up an odd curved axe ad swung it around a bit. She snorted and put it down again, it was highly unbalanced and was just all together badly designed.
Radom stepped around the room examining it, the room was very different shaped then she remembered… It was smaller and looked like it had been carved by someone instead of naturally made. Sure the stairs had been carved, but the room it led to was natural and more round than cubed…
She looked around again. Perhaps these axes were really digging tools instead of weapons, that would make a lot more sense for the shape of the things. The golden echidna walked up towards the only exit out of the room, it was a gentle slope leading up instead of stairs. She wasn’t completely sure but it seemed to be on the wrong side of the room too…
But it was the only exit and she needed to find out just exactly where she was. Walking up out of the tunnel she came up to the exit, she could see sunlight and fresh air. She smiled happily knowing that she wouldn’t feel so cramped any more… She was just glad to be walking again, she had been a solid statue in that wall for some time. Actually… She came to wonder how long it had really been after all.
The outside was definitely different, since she wasn’t sure how long it had been since she was in there all new sorts of plant growth could have come up. She looked up at the sky and found the position of the sun, she made a judge on what time of day it was and then looked up at the mountain from which the tunnel went into. This entrance was on a different end then the old one had been… But she could still tell which way was which and could tell where the village was from here. She set out towards her home.
Some time later, later than it should have been she was still walking, something was strange… Going by the sun this had to be the right direction… But why was it like this?
She stepped up to the edge of what seemed to be a cliff, looking over the cliff she saw the ocean stretching out far… Except the ocean was also miles beneath her. She looked down the cliff, being careful to not fall over. The island wasn’t even in the water, it was floating high above the water. She put a hand up to her mouth, the island was flying in the air… Had the island turned around? Was that why the sun was leading her the wrong way?
He paused and looked around, she closed her eyes and concentrated, breathing in deeply she knew that the island must have spun around some time when it was in the air… Meaning there was almost no way for her to tell which way the Emerald shrine was from here. She tried to sense the energy of the Master Emerald, wondering why she hadn’t thought of this before. When she closed her eyes she saw the island in a different way, everything was dark… As if nothing existed except for herself, other than her everything was just the shadowy black everywhere. Then something else appeared in the distance of the darkness, a shining Green Gem and Radom knew which way the Emerald was.
Eggman sighed and sat down in the chair of his landed Egg Carrier. He slumped down and put his feet up on his desk, today had been a very hectic day. He looked over his notes on the table and began to think. That statue had been seen leaving the caves and heading out into the jungle, only not a statue anymore… He wondered what that meant but decided that the caves could not be haunted, because ghosts didn’t leave the area they were guarding.
Eggman sat up, not in a decidedly better mood and hit a button on his keyboard. “All of Dig Team Alpha are to prepare themselves, we are returning to the project. I was the Beta combat teams to escourt Dig Team Alpha to the dig and guard them during their work. Metal Sonic is to be activated and he and myself will be joining up with you shortly.” He let go of the button and the intercom shut down, he knew that his soldiers were scrambling to gather weapons and tools.
The door to the room and the Blue Metal Hedgehog stepped in. His glowing red eyes focused on Eggman. His clawed metal hands flexed lightly, and the hole in his chest was glowing brightly from just being activated. “Your orders Master Robotnic?” Metal Sonic asked him.
Eggman stood up and walked over to the metal hedgehog. “Come, I need you incase another ghost comes during the project.” He walked out the door past the Metal Hedgehog.
Metal Sonic paused for a second then shook his head. “Ghosts? The doctor is getting more insane every passing day. I can’t wait until I have my chance to escape his control…”
“There it is, Angel Island.” Tails called back to the two passengers on the plane. Knuckles was in the second seat and Sonic was standing up on the wing of the plane like he insisted. “I’m going to find a clear spot near the Emerald shrine, then we can walk the rest of the way.”
Knuckles nodded, his eyes glued on the flying island that had been his home longer than he could remember. “Okay, remember. If the Master Emerald isn’t where it’s supposed to be then you guys are going to have to help me find it again.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Sonic shrugged.
“What was that?” Knuckles growled trying to look up at the blue Hedgehog.
“Guys, we haven’t even landed yet, can you try not to kill each other until then?” Tails asked them hopefully.
“Hey Knuckles, obviously it’s still there if the island’s still in the sky. Do we really have to walk all the way to the shrine?” Sonic asked rolling his eyes.
“As long as the Emerald’s still on the island, the island will stay in the sky. If someone took the Emerald but hadn’t left the island yet then the Emerald is still here.” He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “And if that is the case then I will need you two to help me find it again.”
Sonic rolled his eyes again and sighed. “Yeah, I guess so… Hey I know! I’ll run up ahead and come back here to tell you whether the Emerald is there or not.” And without a moment’s pause after saying that he was gone.
Both Tails and Knuckles stopped for a moment, the two looked at each other and shrugged, then started walking again.
Then Sonic came back. “Hey Knuckles, you won’t believe this.” He said as he stopped in front of them.
“What, is it still there?” The red echidna asked, fists clenched he seemed ready to bolt off.
“Hmm? Oh yeah, the Emerald. That’s still there, but that’s not what I’m talking about. Follow me.” Sonic ran up ahead, slow enough that they could follow.
Tails and Knuckles ran off after him.
Sonic made a shush sound as he stood behind the ruined rock that was before the Emerald Shrine. He had passed the bridge and waited for them there, now he was ducked behind the rocks. Tails and Knuckles joined him in hiding behind the stone.
“Sonic, why are we whispering?” Tails asked the Blue Hedgehog.
Sonic pointed to the Emerald, “She’s right on the other side of the Emerald.” He whispered.
“What!?” Knuckles exclaimed. Sonic tried to shush him again but the Echidna was already fuming. “Is it Rouge up there? I’m going to kill her if she touched the Emerald!” He jumped up and started running around to the other side of the shrine. Sonic put his forehead in his hands and sighed.
Knuckles ran all the way to the steps and was running half way up when he stopped in mid step. He suddenly realized that wasn’t Rouge, infact it didn’t look like anybody he knew. His eyes widened and saw what she was wearing, an ancient garb like Tikal had worn… Except this Echidna couldn’t be Tikal, her fur was golden.
Knuckles walked slowly towards the Echidna girl sitting on the steps before the Emerald. She was sitting before the huge gem with her legs crossed and her hands in her lap. She hadn’t turned around so Knuckles wondered if she hadn’t heard him, or was sleeping or…
He got up to about 5 feet close to her and her arm snapped out to her side. He stopped immediately and looked at her, still not turning around but with her arm stretched out to the side. A blade seemed to slide out of the back of her wrist, it seemed to slide out of thin air. Knuckles felt a shiver go through his whole body.
“What Tribe do you come from?” The female Echidna asked, he assumed it was directed at him.
Knuckles paused before answering, that was a tough question. “I don’t know the name of my tribe.” He said first, and then. “I know my blood line belongs to one… But the name is forgotten. Who are-“
She turned stood and turned around to look at him, he froze under the harsh glare of her red eyes. “Forgotten your tribe name… How many other Echidna tribes live on this flying island?”
“I…” He paused again. “None, and there aren’t any other Echidna Tribes anywhere. As far as I know the only ones of our clan alive is you, me and one other.” Knuckles recalled Shade. “Unless you belong to a tribe?”
The golden Echidna sighed and leaned against the Master Emerald. Knuckles felt two things, one was to comfort her as she seemed tired and sad, the other was that she was touching the Master Emerald that was his duty to guard. The sword she had kept him from approaching for either.
“No, I think my Tribe is dead too.” She said looked back up at him. “But I’m probably confusing you. My name is Radom, I am an Echidna who has been trapped within the mountain for some time. I just don’t know how long it has been.”
Knuckles blinked and looked up at the mountain. “Well if you were stuck in there it couldn’t have been that long-“
“No.” She interrupted. He saw the Blade slide back into wherever it had come from. “I have powers, strange powers. I turned into solid gold and didn’t have to eat or drink, nor did I have to age… Umm… Oh, do you know how long ago it was when Tikal sealed Chaos away in the Master Emerald?”
“Well Tikal helped but Sonic was the one who defeated…” He paused one more time and blinked, coming into realization. “You mean the first time… But that was over a thousand years ago.”
The golden Echidna gasped and looked up at the sun. Her red eyes seemed filled with fear. “A thousand years… I never could have imagined it could have been that long… You said you were the last Echidna?” She asked glancing at him again.
“Well there’s one other named Shade… Err, I’m Knuckles. But yeah other than us and you… Well there is another tribe of Echidna’s way out, that’s the group Shade is part of. “ The red echidna seemed in a very confused spot. This Echidna came from over a thousand years ago. Frozen in gold or something like that… “Their not so much a tribe as a cult maybe, and they come from a different dimension on a world that was kind of destroyed… So it’s just us and Shade for all we know, in our world at least.”
“So I guess Oblivion got his way after all… Genocide of my race…” She was watching the ground.
“Well, our race isn’t dead yet. After all we’re both alive.” Knuckles said taking a step forward.
The blade snapped out and she turned her gaze back on him. “Are you implying something?”
Knuckles jumped back, shaking his arms and head wildly. “No, no. Of course not. I only mean that as long as one Echidna still stands that the race won’t be… Umm… What was that name you said again?”
“Oblivion.” She answered him, the blade slid away slowly, almost as if she was hesitating to have it leave. “I sealed him and myself in the mountain with an earthquake. My powers saved me from being killed, I don’t know what happened to him.”
“So how did you get out?” Knuckles asked.
“I don’t know, I remember getting hit in the face… And not much more.” She looked up at the large mountains off in the distance. “I think somebody dug me out. There was all these strange digging tools laying around…”
Knuckles followed her gaze to look up at the mountain. “I think I know the only guy who would have an interest digging up the mountain.”