Emerald Madness
Part 1 of 3
A Grave Mistake
By K. M. Hollar
Sonic, Knuckles, Sally, etc. copyrighted by Sega and Archie comics. Slasher, Serena, Jay, Robin, Jason, Simoon, Nash, Zephyer and the rest of the gang copyrighted by K. M. Hollar. Spark Hedgehog copyrighted by Ace Castle. Used with permission.
The fox was running through the forest in terror, fur plastered to his body with sweat. He carried a knapsack over one shoulder, from which came a dull greenish glow.
He stumbled over a root and hit the mud face-first. He was up again almost instantly, mud adding to his grimy complexion. He only resumed running, wiping the muck from his eyes and re-shouldering his pack.
A strange sound floated through the dark rainforest--a deep- throated trumpet blast, almost a conch-shell sound. He looked back but could see nothing. The note died away and total silence resumed ... an unnatural silence.
Light ahead. Perhaps he was nearing the edge of the forest. He tried to increase his speed through the swampy terrain.
Another low trumpet blast. The fox's breath was coming shorter and shorter, a painful stitch developing in his side. It seemed his heart would burst from his body, but the light ahead kept him going. He was almost there. He could almost see the awaiting team of horses--just a few more yards--
He leaped into the open and saw the entire forest spread out below him, stretching for miles in every direction, shot through with silver rivers.
Then he began dropping and realized his mistake. He was completely turned around--this was the five-hundred foot cliff on the other side of the jungle. He had made a wrong turn.
His body struck a protruding tree branch, knocking the breath from him and wreaking havoc on his torso. The knapsack was torn from his hand with the impact, and the two continued to fall unchecked all the way to the stony ground below. Instant death was inevitable.
Ten minutes later another figure stepped from the trees and approached the fallen fox. Gingerly it knelt and lifted the knapsack with a thumb and forefinger, turned it over and dumped its contents on the ground. His eyes went immediately to the yellow-green stone, perhaps as big as a peach-pit, but glowing like fire. The figure reached into its pocket and pulled out a small grey box and a cloth. He edged the stone into the box with the rag, careful not to touch the gem directly. He snapped the box's lid shut, twirled the locks, then pulled out a strange gun and fired it at the foot of the cliffs. A glowing blue slit appeared and a cold wind whipped out of it. The figure hurled the little box into it, then shot his gun at the rip again to close it. "There," he said, "now nobody in the entire history of Mobius knows the cursed thing's location."
"He turned and vanished, never to be seen again," Knuckles said, the firelight shining in his eyes. "And to this day, nobody knows where the eighth chaos emerald is. It's smaller than any of the others, but if you have it, you can control the seven completely."
The Freedom Fighters sat back, eyes fixed on the echidna. He was staring into the flames, reliving the story as his father had related it to him.
After a few minutes Tails broke the spell with a question. "Is that true?"
Knux jumped a little and looked at him. "Huh? Is what true?"
"That. That story you just told."
He shrugged. "Dad said it was. It's just a legend. That's the thing about legends--they might be true or they might not be."
The bunch watched the dancing golden flames in silence. The darkness to their backs held the nip of early autumn; a few weeks more and it would be too cold to sit outside and tell stories.
Tails was leaning against Serena, the violet hedgehog, for warmth, his double tails draped across his legs for warmth. Slasher was crouched nearby, Sally and Bunnie Rabbot reclining against her side. All were relaxed and pondering in one way or another the legend Knuckles had just told.
Suddenly there came a strange sound, loud and out of place. Everyone turned with a gasp. A tree trunk twenty feet away seemed to have split in two, the interior glowing a rich blue. Two figures appeared, flying out of the expanse and landing on their feet. One came forward without hesitation, but the other remained behind, standing with one foot on solid ground and the other inside the time rip to hold it open. Neither appeared to be Time Rippers, for they lacked the customary equipment.
The one who had come forward stopped and lifted one hand. The hand was clenched tightly around what looked like a metal shoebox. "I--we come in peace," it said. "This object I carry must be given to Sonic Hedgehog and Knuckles Echidna."
The two named leaped to their feet and stood at attention. The others did the same and watched without a word.
The figure looked at Sonic and Knuckles with surprise. They could not see him very well, as they had been staring into the fire and their eyes were dazzled. Knuckles held out a hand, palm upward. "What is it?"
To their surprise the stranger bowed his head and moved back a few steps. "I can't do it," they heard him mumble. He looked over his shoulder at his companion. "I can't do it!"
"You have to!" the other called. "It'll undo everything you did!"
Sonic squinted at the silhouette against the blue rip. He was almost certain it was a hedgehog--
The other figure moved forward again and thrust the little box into Knuckles's hands. As he did, Knuckles realized why he hadn't been able to identify his species. It was a dark red echidna, but the whole right side of his face had been burned past all recognition. His right eye and that side of his mouth appeared to have been erased by the injury, but his hair had grown back, showing it had been that way for years.
Knuckles drew back in shock, staring. The dark echidna automatically turned so only the left side of his face was visible. His good eye gazed at Knuckles's face with a strange expression ... longing? Fear? Desperation? Perhaps all three, and with an odd sort of recognition.
The stranger began to tremble. "Whatever you do, don't open the box. Destroy it as soon as possible. If you open it--" His hand strayed up and touched his scarred face. "Everything depends on you. I--" He stopped and looked down.
Sonic jumped on the opportunity. "Who are you? Did the Time Rippers send you?"
The echidna looked at him; he seemed about to faint. "We can't tell you who we are ... it would ruin everything ... no, we never met the Time Rippers. Please, don't open the box. If you do--"
He was interrupted by the hedgehog standing in the rip, who yelled, "Hurry up! It's starting to close!"
The echidna ran to him, paused and looked back. "The future depends on you!" Then the two plunged into the blue light and were gone, the rip closing an instant later. The only evidence of the visit was the five-by-three box Knuckles was clutching with both hands.
"It was the weirdest thing," Sonic said.
He, Serena and Tails were sitting in the sun on a log, idly watching Knothole Village go about its business. It was one of those bright, hazy fall days when a mist seems suspended in the air. The trees were beginning to lose their leaves, turning maroon, red, orange and yellow in the process.
The three were waiting for Sally to finish testing the mysterious box. It was hope that Nichole, the little computer, would be able to identify its contents.
Sonic yawned with boredom. "Did you two see that echidna's face? Looked like one half got burned off."
Serena and Tails nodded. Then Tails said, "You know, I never saw an orange hedgehog before."
Sonic looked at him with a little interest. "Huh?"
"That hedgehog in the rip," the fox explained. "He was orange."
"Real orange," Serena added. "I noticed that too, Tails." She reached down and picked up a leaf. "Almost this color."
Before Sonic could comment, the door of the hut across from them opened and Sally stepped out, a disgusted look on her face. She saw them and walked over. Her movements spoke of her discouragement. She sat down beside Sonic and sighed.
"Well?" the blue hedgehog asked, although he could see things had not gone well.
The squirrel looked at him and brushed her brown hair out of her face. "The outside of the box is aluminum, but the inside is lined with a substance scanners can't penetrate. I got a picture of a box inside the box." She sounded tired and frustrated. She folded her hands and looked down at them. "The best I could do was pick up a reading on some sort of energy inside. It must be pretty powerful to penetrate the insulation or whatever. But that's ALL."
"I don't think that means we should open it," Serena said, thinking of the disfigured echidna's warning.
Sally shook her head. "You can't just pop it open. It's got a combination lock like on a suitcase, and we don't have the combination. You'd have to break it open, and who knows what rough handling would trigger."
Tails poked Serena in the ribs. "What if it were terbium?"
The hedgehog looked at her brother and Sally. "Could it?"
Sally shook her head. "Nah. Terbium produces radiation, but not that much."
Terbium was a mildly radioactive element with strange atomic properties. It also grew and reproduced in an oddly plant-like fashion. It had effectively destroyed Robotropolis and all it contained before being stopped. Unfortunately, Robotnik, Metal Sonic and Robo Knuckles had made good their escape beforehand. But it had resulted in one good thing; blueprints for a de-robotizer had been secured, and the machine was operating in Knothole's spare village of Eagles' Nest, ten miles to the south.
But their enemies being routed did not mean less work for the Freedom Fighters. There were the several thousand robotized animals, rescued from destruction by Sonic's Uncle Chuck, who inhabited Eagles Nest and were de-robotized day by day.
"Where's the box now?" Sonic asked Sally.
She shrugged. "Slasher's trying a few things. It worried her that that guy gave it to you and Knux." She cracked a smile. "I'm not surprised. You two get into more trouble ..."
By this she meant the adventure Sonic, Serena, Knuckles and Slasher had had when they flew out to investigate a mysterious island that had appeared out of nowhere. As it had turned out, the island was populated wit dinosaurs, who protected the flickies that inhabited it. Metal Sonic, however, had come up with a blood-thirsty scheme that would exterminate the little birds. The Freedom Fighters, along with an partially robotized echidna named Zephyer, had trashed Mecha's operation and run him off. But Zephyer had drowned protecting them from one of Mecha's henchmen, giving a rather sad ending to that particular episode.
Sonic glanced at his sister. She too had though of their brief acquaintance, for she was gazing at the ground with a mournful expression on her face.
Sally and Tails didn't notice, for Sally's hut had opened and Slasher had stepped into the mild sunshine. She was holding the little grey box in one clawed hand. After a second she spotted them and approached. Sonic stood and took the box from her. "Find anything?"
"Nope," the big velociraptor replied. "Nothing I did could penetrate the inner layer. But you're right, Sally--there IS some sort of energy getting through." She folded her arms and shifted her weight to one foot. "You should probably do what those two characters wanted you to do--destroy it."
Sonic looked down and touched the box thoughtfully. "How?"
Slasher was quiet a moment, then said, "Knuckles is going out to the Floating Island in a few days--gonna spend a couple weeks out there. How about you go with him and dunk this thing in the lava in Lava Reef?"
Sonic shrugged. "That'd pry work. Think he'd mind if I went?"
"Nah. You're a big hit with the Chaotix, and he needs every extra pair of hands he can get."
"I'll ask him next time I se him." Sonic handed the box to the raptor. "Can you put this away somewhere? It's be a real bummer if somebody opened it."
"Okay."
And that seemed to be the end of that.
But it was only the beginning.
Sonic and Knuckles were not perfect. There was a constant curiosity in the back of their minds, fed by the strange clues. Why had they been warned not to open the box? Was whatever was inside the reason for the strange echidna's disfigurement? What could be small enough to fit inside that box and yet be powerful enough to penetrate the insulation? Who the heck WERE those two strangers?
Neither said a word to the other about their questions and wild theories. Perhaps things would have turned out differently if they had.
The day of Sonic and Knuckles's departure dawned bright and clear. It had frosted lightly overnight, sucking most of the moisture from the air. Everything had a blue tinge to it, as if the air were extra-clean.
The hedgehog and echidna both wore jackets against the cool of the morning. Sonic carried a backpack, which contained the mystery box and a few other things. He had carefully donned his emerald belt, just in case. He was aware of its solid clasp about his waist as they waved goodbye and set off down the wide trail that led out of Knothole.
As soon as they were out of sight of the village, Knuckles asked, "Gotcha belt?
"Yup. I wished for it on Flicky Island--I ain't forgetten' it again." Sonic adjusted the backpack on his shoulders.
The two walked in silence for a few moments, matching strides.
Knuckles spoke. "I wish I knew what was in that box."
Sonic glanced at him, wondering if they had been thinking the same things. "Why don't we open it? You know, out in the sticks, where it wouldn't hurt anybody."
Knuckles shot him a sharp glance. "I hope you don't mean on the island. It hasn't even recovered from the terbium."
Sonic looked up at the clear sky innocently. "We could be good and melt the thing like those guys wanted."
He sneaked a glance at his companion. Knux seemed to be weakening. He wanted to see the contents of the box as badly as Sonic did, but his sense of responsibility was strong. He stalled. "Well, we can't right now. We gonna try your little stunt?"
Sonic looked around at the forest. "Looks like we'd have enough room if we stuck to the trail. Once we hit the plains it'll be no big deal. Want me to 'come hyper?"
"Naw. You can run fast enough normal."
The echidna stepped behind the hedgehog and grasped his upper arms. Sonic helped him get positioned, then crouched and dug his toes into the dirt, creating temporary starting blocks. "One, two, three!" and he leaped into a run.
Knuckles ran with him a little at first, but once the hedgehog topped seventy miles per hour he let his feet fly out behind. Sonic changed when he began to really run--every muscle tensed and his body became streamlined, his eyes shining with his love of speed. Trees whipped by on either hand and the dirt road became a blur. The cold wind bit sharply into Knuckles' eyes, but he didn't care. There were times he loved this as much as Sonic did.
Abruptly the trees fell away and the morning sun shown down on them. They had entered the five miles of open space that separated the Great Forest from Robotropolis. The two planned to gain as much speed as possible during these five miles, then Knuckles would take over and glide, carrying Sonic. Theoretically they would be able to cross the entire city without touching down once.
"Hang on," Sonic called to Knuckles, "we're shifting into second gear!" According to Sonic, he had three gears and referred to them as 'Fast, Really Fast and What Was That?'.
Knux watched the ground, trying to estimate their speed. When he guessed he called, "How fast?" Each word was torn from his mouth by the sharp wind, but Sonic heard him and yelled back, "Bullet!" Knux had been way off and made note of it.
A grey smudge appeared on the horizon, growing rapidly and spreading out to either side; the remains of Robotropolis. "Get ready!" the hedgehog shouted. Knuckles did, preparing for liftoff by stiffening his body and turning his head so his dreadlocks spread out in the wind. A few seconds later Sonic yelled, "Go!" and leaped into the air. Knux's hair was like a hang glider; it caught the air and sent them hurling upward. Sonic locked wrists with his friend and pulled up his feet, trying to balance. They were really moving and steadily gaining altitude. The grey debris of the city spread out below them like a monstrous junkyard. "Can we make it?" Sonic called.
"I don't know yet," Knuckles replied, banking this way and that to climb into the sky. "Think so, but I don't know how the high-altitude winds're blowing today."
There were several minutes of carefree flight before they hit the wind. Unfortunately that day it was against them, slowing them down.
"Aw heck," Knuckles said, panting a little. "We're not gonna make it. Look for a place to land."
Sonic was just as disappointed. "Darn it, we're never gonna find out if this works." He watched the distant ground and said after a moment, "There's a flat wall. We could land there--it makes kind of a platform."
Knuckles gazed around until he spotted it. "That'll work. Going down."
They zigzagged, dropped and finally landed on the strip of fallen wall. Knuckles dusted his hands off against his jacket. "Light as a feather."
Sonic picked himself up and glared at the echidna. "Did you hafta drop me like that?"
"Sorry."
The two looked around. They were surrounded for miles in every direction with the rotting debris of the dead city. Knuckles put his hands on his hips. "Wow. I haven't been here since before the terbium got it. Leveled it, didn't it?"
Sonic began to pick his way westward. "Sure enough. C'mon. Man, this is gonna take all day!"
They two began to work their way across the rubble. "You mean you can't run across this?" Knux asked his companion. Sonic looked at him. "Could you?"
"Uh ... no."
"They only way I could run here is if I paid no attention to what happened to my feet and legs," Sonic explained.
"What about your belt?"
"Then you'd be the one with the injuries. I'd go so fast, I'd slam you into everything."
They walked along in silence for a few moments. Suddenly Sonic stopped and looked at Knuckles. "Let's open the box."
"You're crazy, man."
"No, I want to do it here, now. It won't hurt anything in this junkyard. Nobody'll ever know."
Knuckles knew that, but the warning of the strange echidna was still fresh on his mind. He threw up his last argument. "Remember what Sally said about the lock?"
Sonic grinned. "I have the combination."
"No you don't."
"Yes I do. Eight sixty-three. I ran a sneak-check with Nichole the other night."
Knuckles stared at him in disbelief. "You didn't."
The hedgehog nodded proudly. "Yep. Any other objections?"
"Well," said the echidna weakly, "they SAID not to open it ..."
Sonic had convinced himself it would do no harm. "But it was just advice, wasn't it? And you don't HAVE to follow advice ..."
Knux recalled the terror on the stranger's disfigured face. "Sonic, we really shouldn't ..."
The hedgehog already had his pack off and opened. He pulled out the box and looked at it. "C'mon, Knux."
If the echidna had put his foot down and staunchly refused, Sonic would not have opened the box and the dreadful things which followed would not have been. But Knuckles gave in, making it as much his fault as Sonic's.
"Well, just a crack," the echidna said. "And be careful it doesn't burn you or something."
Sonic excitedly turned each dial on the lock, forming the number 863. But as the last number snapped into place the unexpected happened. The lid flew open and Sonic was hit in the face with a bright green light and the heat of a blast furnace. He threw the box down and reeled backward, arms over his face. Knuckles felt the heatwave pass over him-- it was pouring out of the little box like nuclear fission. An object inside was glowing like the sun, too brilliant to see. In an instant Knuckles knew what it was; the mystical eighth chaos emerald.
Knux moved behind the box, sprang at it, clapped the lid shut and twirled the locks. The heat and power were gone in a second, again contained. He absently shoved the box under an up-ended slab of cement and dashed to Sonic, who was doubled up on the ground, hiding his face.
"Sonic!"
The hedgehog was rocking back and forth in agonized silence. Knuckles knelt beside him. "Sonic! Can you hear me?"
"Yes," Sonic whimpered.
Knuckles tried to pry his arms away from his face. Sonic, I've gotta see how bad the burn is. C'mon Sonic, let me see--" In his head he envisioned the raw burned flesh, Sonic's eyes burned out of his head, the blood--"
But when Sonic finally finally relented and lowered his arms, Knuckles was even more shocked than he had imagined.
Sonic's face was completely unharmed.
He was trembling as he looked up at his friend. "How--how bad is it?"
Knux stared at him. "Didn't it hit you in the face?"
"Yeah--it is bad? Do I look like that kid?"
"No ... Sonic, you don't even have a scratch."
Sonic gingerly felt his face, relieved. "Oh, it didn't burn me after all. I could have sworn it did." He climbed to his feet, looking around warily. "What happened to the box?"
"I shut it. It's under a slab over there." Knux jerked a thumb over his shoulder.
"Did you see what was in it?"
"Didn't you?"
Sonic shook his head. "All I saw was the light. What was it?"
Without thinking, Knuckles said, "The eighth chaos emerald."
In a flash Sonic attacked him. His blows were calculated and accurate, and Knuckles could barely block them. "Sonic!" Knux yelled in alarm. "Sonic, what's wrong with you?"
"Stay back," the hedgehog snarled. "I want that emerald and nobody's gonna stop me."
Knuckles held up his hands. "Okay okay, I'm not gonna fight you!"
Sonic stopped immediately and stood still, panting. His face had changed so much he was hardly recognizable; he appeared insane. He whirled and dashed to the spot Knuckles had indicated, his movements jerky and unnatural.
Knux realized Sonic hadn't quite seen where he had pointed--he was trying to dig under a half-buried wall. This was a good thing-- Sonic dug with all his frenzied strength. As he wasn't used to that kind of exercise, he soon tired and had to rest. Knuckles watched him like a hawk, hoping desperately Sonic wouldn't remember his emerald belt.
But as Sonic sat there the crazy look left his eyes and he appeared himself again. He shook his head and looked around. "Gosh, what happened?"
Knuckles was wary. "Sonic, are you for real?"
The hedgehog climbed to his feet. "Whaddya mean? What happened? Did I go hyper or something?" He looked around suspiciously. "What happened to the box? Did you see what was in it?"
Knuckles felt sick. "I just told you and you went berserk."
Sonic gazed at him, thinking hard. "Wait. I know what it was. The 8CE?" Eighth chaos emerald. Knux nodded.
Sonic shuddered. "Don't say it. If you do it'll get me again. It wants me--it nailed me when it blasted my face."
Knuckles looked at him with grave concern. "Should we go back to Knothole?"
"No, I'm okay. Let's go on out to the island. Just don't mention IT."
Meanwhile, fifteen years in the future ...
The cougar stood before the hedgehog, hands folded behind his back and legs braced. "What did you do with the emerald?"
The hedgehog stared at the floor and would not answer.
There was a hint of a growl in the cougar's voice. "I will ask you again, Jason. What--did--you--do--with--it?"
The hedgehog didn't stir.
The tip of the big cat's tail twitched once. He glowered down at the hedgehog with a fury that surpassed Dr. Robotnik's. "Very well," he said, his smooth voice like ice. "You will never see your parents again."
The hedgehog looked up in horror. "No sir, please--" He was cut off by a slap from a huge paw that sent him flying. As he picked himself up, his ringing ears made out the cougar's command to one of the nearby soldiers. "Take him to social services and put him in foster care, along with his two sisters. I will see to his parents myself."
The orange hedgehog tried to fight the guards who grabbed him, but they were too strong. As they dragged him from the room, he yelled defiantly, "I'll never tell you where the emerald is! Never never never!"
As the door closed behind him, the cougar fingered his long whiskers and said to his henchman (a lynx), "Bring in the little echidna. If Jason will not talk, Simoon certainly will."
"Yes sir, Commander Nash," the lynx replied.
It took several hours for Sonic and Knuckles to get out of Robotropolis. Sonic acted normally, but got a little jumpy at any mention of the number eight.
As they entered the low coastal mountains and began to run again, Sonic said guardedly, "Knux, can you research IT for me? It grabbed my mind just like the sword did. I'll bet there's a connection."
The red echidna nodded. "Okay. I hope there isn't ..."
Sonic looked at him. "Yeah, I know. If so I've been exposed to its power before."
The sword they spoke of had been found in the depths of the Sandopolis pyramid. The blade was made of pure emerald, and had the power to control the mind of whoever wielded it. Sonic was the only one in history ever to break free of the mind-control on his own, but somehow, being opened to it once left him vulnerable for more of the same, and found it harder and harder to free himself.
Nothing worth mentioning happened until they reached the teleporter on the coast and warped out to the Floating Island.
Sonic had not been to the island since his quest for the terbium antidote during the summer. This he noticed immediately that the forests were beginning to regrow.
Knuckles noticed his examination of the grass underfoot. "It's not what it looks like," he said with a wry grin. "We've had to totally reseed the grass and tear out lots and lots of trees. I'll be providing firewood for Knothole for about ten years."
Sonic stared at him. "That much? Just you and the Chaotix?"
Knux nodded. "Yeah, technically. See, I've taught Mighty, Vector and Espio how to use the super emeralds. We get a collective charge for a couple hours and work as fast as we can. We can knock out about four acres a day."
Sonic looked back at the mainland, a faint shadow along the horizon, and drew a deep breath. "It sure doesn't smell anything like it did."
The echidna sniffed. "No, I guess it doesn't. Ha, you should have been here when we had to tear out the rotting pods. I've never smelled anything so bad in my life! Not even the flies could stand it."
They began to walk along one of the sandy paths. Here and there were clumps of grass, some of which were sheltered from the frost and brilliant green. Everywhere there were bare, naked trees, like a forest of telephone poles. Knuckles pointed out certain ones with big green stripes painted on their trunks. "Those are the ones that survived and aren't to be cut down under any circumstances. I'm surprised any lived at all." His eyes darkened as he recalled how far the terbium had advanced before being stopped.
"How long before it looks like it did before?" Sonic asked.
Knuckles looked at him. "Well, our most conservative estimate is: Not until my kids are in charge, give or take fifty years."
"Oh."
"Yeah. Tell me about it."
They walked along in silence. Sonic sensed that this was not a good subject to talk about and changed the subject. "Where's the Chaotix?"
Knux shrugged. "They're around here somewhere. We'll check Chaotix Central first, though. Somebody'll be there."
After ten minutes' walk, Knuckles turned left and led Sonic into the barren forest. Here and there were big hole dug in the ground where terbium pods had been removed. Knuckles seemed to read Sonic's thoughts. "We dug out a bunch of 'em, then realized we could burn 'em out with no trouble. So the rest of 'em look like bar-B-Q pits."
They stepped into what had been a big clearing, but now looked more like a gap in the mutilated woods. Grass did its best to cover the bare ground, but there were many large brown patches. Knuckles gazed around. "I think Espio's here," he murmured. He called, "Espio, come on out! It's just me'n Sonic!"
"Duh, I can see that," came a voice off to their right. Sonic looked, but could see no one.
"Es, knock it off," Knuckles said, folding his arms. "Be polite."
Again the voice from nowhere, but now behind them. "Why? It's just Sonic."
The two turned, but still could see no one. Sonic looked at Knuckles. "Slasher could find him."
"Yeah, but she ain't here. I can find him, anyhow ..." Knux turned slowly to the right, eyes locked on what seemed to be empty space. "I can see you, chameleon. Want me to catch you myself?"
Suddenly Espio's familiar shape faded into sight. He was a solid green--his default color on certain days. He was a skinny lizard with a long tail, big tennis shoes and a spike on his snout. He was smirking. "Forget it, Knux. I don't care to have my head smashed in again." He thrust out a hand to Sonic. "Hey Sonic. How ya doin'?"
"Okay I guess." Sonic shook his hand.
"Where's the other guys?" Knuckles asked, unzipping his jacket a few inches.
Espio pointed into the bare forest. "Mighty's cleaning the south- west canal--brush got washed in and clogged it up. Vector and Charmy're trying to cut down those trees you wanted out. Heh, you ever seen Vector use an axe? He's not gonna have any limbs left, pun intended."
Knuckles nodded. "Sounds okay ... but your four should have had those trees out days ago. You forget or something?"
Espio clasped his hands behind his back and rocked up on his toes. "Well ... yeah, you could say we forgot."
Knux looked at him narrowly. "Uh-huh, as in, 'didn't remember until this morning'?"
"Yap."
"Thought so. Well, c'mon Sonic, Espio, might as well lend 'em a hand."
Up until this time the eighth chaos emerald had been the farthest thing from Sonic's thoughts. Thus his red flag was slow in going up when Espio said, "Hey Knux, can you finish that story you were telling before you left?"
"Which one?"
"The one about where the eighth chaos emerald came fro--"
In the space of half a second Sonic went insane.
Before anyone had time to realize the slip, the hedgehog had attacked the chameleon. Knuckles froze in his tracks, bewildered mind making the connection. Espio was trying to defend himself and failing. He was yelling, "Sonic, what're you DOING? You're nuts! Leggo, you idiot! You trying to kill me or somethin'?" Sonic made no sound, but his teeth were bared in a wild-beast snarl.
Knuckles sprang into the fray and grabbed the hedgehog from behind--a bad choice. Sonic threw himself backward, driving his sharp quills into the echidna's chest and neck. Knux let go and jumped away. Sonic leaped up and whirled to face him, back arched and poised for battle. "Stay away," he hissed. "I want that emerald, and nobody, least of all you, are gonna stop me!" He turned and raced down the trail as only he could, vanishing almost at once.
Espio scrambled to his feet and brushed himself off. Knuckles had several cuts on his neck and rips in his coat from Sonic's spikes and was raging mad. "C'mon, Es," he said, breaking into a run in the direction the hedgehog had gone, "we've gotta stop him before he does serious damage to somebody else!"
Meanwhile, two and a half thousand years in the past ...
The Floating Island was a busy place. The so-called ancient civilizations (of which there were ruins in Sonic and Knuckles's time) were just getting started. In reality, the guardian of that time had invited the echidna clan to come live there, and they were in the process of building and zoning.
A single echidna beamed down in the teleporter station. (It was still a rather new technology.) He stepped off the glass stand (crystal farming had not yet become popular), shook his head and walked outside to get his bearings. He was lightly built and walked with a spring in his step. He wore an instrument-laden belt around his wait and had two strange-looking contraptions strapped to his wrists. His color was bright red. His hair was cropped short, and his eyes burned with a fiery enthusiasm for life.
Spontaneously he burst into a run and fled down the paved road. He had important news for the Guardian of the Floating Island that would not wait.
After a few minutes he came to a row of low, comfortable houses. He turned at the biggest one, ran up to the front door and knocked loudly. A few seconds later it was opened and a female echidna looked out at him. "Jay! What're you doing here?"
He ignored the question. "Is Robin here, Jessie?"
"Yes. Come on in." She opened the screen door and Jay stepped inside. His eyes swept the dim room. "Where's Rob?"
"Right here." The echidna named Robin stepped into the room. He was a raspberry red and wore a purple headband. "What do you need, Jay?"
Jay dug a crumpled scrap of paper out of his pocket and handed it to his brother. Robin read the few lines, then read it again. "Jay," he said slowly, "is this some sort of joke?"
Jay shook his head. "I wish it was. Dad told me specifically to get you."
Robin turned away and crumpled the note in one hand, exasperated. He looked at his younger brother. "Jay, this is ridiculous. I've been retired from the Time Rippers for six years now! I haven't been in the Time Stream in as long. My licence is expired, I've got a whole island to run, and a wife to look after." He cast a glance at the nearby female echidna, who was listening intently. "Get dad and Philip to go. I can't ..."
Jay drooped and looked at the floor a moment. He had one more ace up his sleeve. He stood, looked his brother in the eye and said, "Rob, those kinds messed up Sonic Hedgehog's time."
Robin whirled and gaped at him. "Sonic's? But that would mean--"
"--they broke one of the main laws of time travel," Jay finished for him.
Robin was trapped. He stood still, looking from his brother to his wife and back again, an agony of indecision written across his face. Finally he gave a deep sigh and looked at his wife. "Jess ..." His tone pled forgiveness for his choice. She nodded. "Go ahead, Rob. I'll take care of things until you get back."
Jay perked up. "You mean you'll do it? You'll come?"
Robin rolled his eyes in disgust that was only half pretend. "Yes, I'll do it. Meet you at mom and dad's in--" he checked his watch "--fifteen minutes.
"Still have all your gear? Remember how to put it on?"
"YES, I remember how to use it. Get lost, Jay. I'll be along pretty soon."
"All right!" Jay hit the door running and was gone.
Robin turned and walked to his bedroom. "I can't believe I'm doing this," he muttered as he opened a little locked chest by the door. He pulled out his belt and electronic gear, dusty from long disuse. He buckled them on a bit clumsily; his hands had forgotten all the motions.
Jessie Echidna walked in to help him get things balanced. "You never said much about being a Time Ripper," she said.
He nodded. "I know. Did it for years."
"Who is 'Sonic Hedgehog'?"
Robin smiled a little at the memory. "Oh, nobody special. He only saved Little Planet twice. I haven't seen him in years."
"I'll say; if he's from the future you won't see him for a long time yet."
Robin reached into the bottom of the chest and pulled out a bulky object wrapped in brown paper. He unwrapped it carefully, revealing an thing that resembled a souped-up hairdryer: his personal time-gun. His fingers caressed the barrel lovingly for a moment--it brought back a flood of memories. He thrust it into the holster at his hip and glanced at his watch. "Oh gosh, Jess, I've gotta run." He gave his wife a brief kiss and bolted for the door.
"Will you be in time?" she called, pursuing him as far as the front door.
He paused on the porch. "Jess, TIME is now the name of the game."
Knuckles had tracks the crazed Sonic across the Floating Island for hours. The hedgehog appeared to be running with no purpose or direction--simply running. Espio had left Knuckles to gather the rest of the Chaotix; they had regrouped on the edge of the river.
"Can you tell where he's headed?" Vector the crocodile asked. For once he had removed his headphones and was awaiting instructions with all his attention.
Knuckles shrugged despairingly. "No, and I don't think he knows, either."
"What happened to him, anyway?" Mighty the armadillo questioned, hands on his hips.
"Long story," Knuckles replied, flipping his dreadlocks out of his eyes. "The gist of it is that--well--we discovered a chaos emerald and it did something to his mind. Mention it and he goes berserk."
"Which emerald?" Charmy Bee asked from nearby.
Knuckles sideyed him. "It's green. Anyway, we'd better get a move on. Charmy, you fly high and see if you can spot him. Mighty, cut across the center of the island and see if you can intercept his path. Vector, circle back and make sure he doesn't come up behind us, and Espio'll come with me."
The Chaotix gave their leader a thumbs-up and scattered in four directions.
At that moment two blue time rips formed in two different locations. One opened in the heart of Robotropolis and the other on a gigantic boulder on the Floating Island.
The echidna who stepped onto the island was Robin. He had been nominated to scope out the situation there, being its guardian in his time. His first reaction as he closed the rip and looked around was shock. The forest had been almost completely destroyed! A fire? No, the trees were not burned. It looked more like a fatal disease had swept through. He moved into the open, gazing around in horror. If this was the future of his island, then he would have to have a word with the present guardian ...
A beep from his wrist computer drew him back to reality. Robin punched a button and spoke. "Jay, you there?"
"Yeah."
"I made it to the island and it's a wreck. Where are you?"
Jay's face appeared on the screen. "I'm in what used to be Robotropolis, but it's been completely leveled. Looks like a nuke went off."
"Are the radiation levels stable?"
"Yeah--my gear's not picking up anything. Are we in the right time?"
"My computer claims we are."
"Well, letcha know if I find anything, Rob," Jay said. "See ya in time."
"Right."
The two broke off radio contact and began exploring.
Robin took a few more minutes to stare around at the devastated island, then dug out his area scanner. It was not as slick as the ones in this particular time zone, but it could tell him the exact location of anyone within a ten mile radius. He flicked it on. After a moment the little green screen lit up, showing him as a green dot and his surroundings in lighter green. All other life forms were marked in various shades of red. There were not many--a bird here and there. Robin began walking.
Knuckles and Espio were hiking along, eyes on the ground. Espio could see nothing of interest, but Knux seemed to be able to see every step Sonic had taken.
A voice from the air stopped them. "Knux, Knux!" Charmy. The two looked up.
"You find him?" Knuckles asked eagerly.
The honeybee shook his head. "No, but there's somebody else here. An echidna with a bunch of weird gear on him."
The question leaped out before Knuckles could stop it. "Robotized?"
He kicked himself mentally as Charmy replied, "No, just carrying a bunch of stuff."
He and Espio looked at Knuckles curiously. "Why would he be robotized?" Espio asked.
Knux shrugged, feeling his face grow hot with embarrassment. "I donno. C'mon. I don't like strangers on my island, even if they ARE echidnas." He had never told his friends of Zephyer, and knowing her to be dead, figured he never would. Besides, he thought Charmy must be mistaken.
Robin was picking his way through the dead forest, his mind everywhere but on what he had come for. Thus it was a shock when his scanner beeped; it only did so when a sentient life form was within three hundred feet. He checked--a red blip was coming up on him from the north, and fast. It would cross paths with him directly.
Footsteps, ragged panting. Robin turned and gazed toward it. He was startled to see Sonic Hedgehog stumble into view, eyes wide and staring, gasping so hard he was nearly wheezing.
"Sonic!" Robin said, lifting a hand.
The hedgehog stopped and looked at him, stooped like an old man. His eyes, although open, did not seem to grasp what was before him. Robin immediately sensed something was wrong, but stood his ground. "Sonic, it's Robin. Remember me?"
For a long moment Sonic stared at him, body rocking slightly with each breath. Then he murmured faintly, "Robin Echidna?" As if the effort had been too much, he sank to the ground and lay still.
Robin knelt beside him, concerned but not particularly worried. He rolled the hedgehog over on his back and looked at his pale face. Sonic's eyes were closed, but his mouth was open and panting.
"You okay?" the echidna asked quietly.
Sonic nodded slightly and murmured, "I will be."
A few moments passed as Robin let him rest. "What happened?"
Sonic didn't stir. "I was running."
"Since when do you run yourself into the ground?"
"I didn't mean to." Sonic opened his eyes and say up slowly. His lungs were on fire and his legs felt like limp noodles. For the first time he realized who he was talking to and his eyes widened. "R-Robin? Is that you?"
"The one and only."
"What're YOU doing here? Is Jay here, too?"
"Uh-huh." Robin brushed a hand through his hair. "As for why we're here, well, we heard some kids dropped off an ... unconventional item."
A look of fear passed over Sonic's face. "Don't say it, please. Anytime anybody mentions it I go nuts. Call it the 8CE."
"Is that why you were running hell-bent for leather?"
"Uh, yeah, whatever." Sonic carefully picked himself up and leaned against a nearby tree.
Robin gazed at him. "It shouldn't do that."
"Yeah, well ..." Sonic looked away in regret. "I opened the box and got a power surge in the face. Now it's got it in for me.
The Time Ripper drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. "That's not good, Sonic. In fact it's probably a lot worse than you realize."
"How's that?"
"Because--" The beep of the scanner interrupted him. Robin lifted it and glanced at the screen. "Three people coming from that way. Hope you know 'em."
In a few seconds Charmy, Espio and Knuckles came into view. All three looked up at the same time, saw Sonic and Robin and stopped in their tracks. Knuckles's face turned chalk-white at the sight of another echidna, then his eyes rolled back and he fainted dead away.
Knux was only out for a few minutes. When he awoke and was introduced he was so excited he had to track down the rest of the Chaotix and have them meet the Time Ripper. Knuckles and Robin hit it off, and talked for a long time about the time stream, alternate dimensions, physics and the power emeralds.
It was not until that evening that the reason for Sonic's insanity was explained.
That night, as they sat around the bonfire in Chaotix Central, Sonic and Knuckles told about the eighth chaos emerald and its deadly effect upon Sonic. Sonic finished pleadingly, "Is there anything I can do to stop it?"
Robin said quietly, "There are only two ways, Sonic, and neither are easy."
"What?"
Robin stared down at his hands in his lap. "To break it's spell, you have to either destroy it ... or its victim."
Everyone sat in shocked silence for a long moment. Then Sonic blurted, "You mean I'd have to DIE to get out of this? That's not fair!" The group erupted into talking. Robin finally hushed them by standing up, lifting his beeping scanner and saying, "Somebody's coming!"
Abruptly the quieted and gazed in the indicated direction. After a few tense seconds, A large shape stepped out of the trees and moved into the light. Slasher. Robin's brother was sitting on her back, balanced easily and looked relaxed. "Hey Jay," Sonic spoke up, "I didn't know you could ride!"
Jay dismounted and grinned. "'course I can. I ride Syd bareback all the time at home."
"And quite well," Slasher added, who seemed to know. They both sobered and took their seats beside the fire. "Jay filled me in on your problem, Sonic," Slasher said, gazing at the hedgehog, who looked away guiltily. "And we heard a bit as we walked up." The big raptor looked at Jay, transferring attention to him.
Jay looked at Sonic and said, "I called up Dad, and he said that it IS true that the only cures are your death or the emerald's. But--" Here Sonic (and everyone else) looked at him with complete attention. Jay spoke deliberately. "--Slasher told me about your past adventures. And it seemed to Dad that, because you were exposed to this kind of power before and pulled out of it, you could again."
Silence reigned for a moment as the group digested that information.
"What's the catch?" Sonic queried at last. "There's always some sort of catch with the emeralds."
Slasher spoke, the firelight making her eyes shine like moonstones. "The catch, Sonic, is that you must leave everything and travel five hundred miles or more away from the emerald's location. The minimum time requirement is four to six months."
Sonic stared into the fire as this soaked in, a rock forming in the pit of his stomach. "Leave ...?" he murmured, eyes glazing slightly. "You mean like on my own and can't come back?"
"But how could that work?" Vector protested. "What would we DO without Sonic for six months?"
"Why couldn't he stay here, on the island?" Knuckles suggested, alarmed at the prospect of his friend's exile. "I mean, you can live here for ages and never see a soul ..."
"Too close to the other emeralds," Robin said firmly. "It's like UV light rays. You don't see or feel them, but they're there and they effect you. He has to get out of range to recover."
"What'll happen if I stay here?" Sonic asked, daring to hope he could stick it out.
Robin shook his head. "We've seen the results of this before. You would go crazy more and more, until you wouldn't come out of it at all. You would become the most evil being Mobius has ever seen. It's like tooth decay. The longer it goes the worse it gets until all your teeth fall out. Besides, exile is a lot more hospitable than solitary confinement, which is your other option. When your time's up you get to come home."
Silence a few minutes. Then Sonic wailed, "But where would I GO?"
This sensible question resulted in an atlas being brought out and a circle of 500 miles drawn around Knothole and the Floating Island. The western edge extended out into the ocean. The northern edge cut through the mountainous country of what was known collectively as North Mobius. The eastern edge cut through two valleys and three mountain ridges-- rough, unpopulated country. The south end arched down toward the equator and the more densely populated areas.
At one point someone asked why they couldn't take the emerald someplace 500 miles away and let Sonic stay in Knothole. Knuckles explained with exaggerated patience that there was nowhere they could hide it without risking someone finding it, thereby setting the whole loop off again. At least it was reasonably safe here. "But what do we do with it, ultimately?" Slasher inquired. "Somebody will always find it, in a manner of speaking."
"Well," said Robin, "after this little episode, we Time Rippers will probable drop it into the Void or the Interweb."
"Why not now?"
"Because it has to register that Sonic is no longer requiring its power flow. If we did it now, it would never pick up and would aim its power at him as long as he lives."
Sonic was the quietest one present. He was weary from his double madness bouts that day, and was none too happy at the thought of living alone for half a year. On the other hand, his friends were having a grand time planning places for him to go.
"Look," said Jay, tapping a page in the atlas, "this place called 'Riverbase'. It's built right where our town is, Rob! Do you think ...?"
"Probably. Lots of things happen in two and a half millennium."
"Cool. Hey Sonic, you could head south and have plenty places to buy food and stuff."
"Yeah," Mighty put in, "but steer clear of Diablo, down here. It means Devil, and it's one of the worst places for crime there is. You get that, Sonic? Yo, you listening?"
Sonic was curled up on the grass, fast asleep.
The following day the group went back to Knothole and explained the situation. The reactions were mixed. Some were horrified, others angry, still others felt betrayed. Sonic, sick of the question, "But why did you open the box?", fled for the solitude of the woods.
Spark found him an hour later, standing on the riverbank, throwing rocks into the water.
Sonic whirled and glared at his older brother as he approached. "Whaddya want? Gonna rip me for my stupidity?"
The green hedgehog smiled and pushed his crimson headband higher on his forehead. "I didn't intend to."
Sonic threw a stone halfway across the river. "You might as well. Everybody else has taken a shot at me."
Spark selected a flat rock and skipped it four times across the water's surface. "You scared?"
Sonic viciously hurled a large pebble into the water, creating a large splash. "Scared? What's to be scared of? Who'd be afraid to live on their own for months with no contact with their family? Not me!"
"You're scared."
"So? What do you care? You wanted me dead last winter."
"That was last winter, Sonic. It's different now."
The threw rocks in tandem for a few minutes, not speaking. Sonic's eyes were still clouded. "Since when are you so high and mighty, Spark? A lot you know about emerald madness."
"Actually ..." there was a fine edge in the older hedgehog's voice. "... you forget. Why do I have black around my eyes? Why do I pack my knife? Why DID I want to kill you?"
No answer.
"That's why I came out here, bro. I was berserk for ten years. I know how it feels. I was in a sort of exile, myself."
Still no answer. Sonic's face was like stone.
"At least you won't be mad ALL the time."
Sonic skipped a rock twice. "Doggone it, how do you skip a rock like that?"
"Like this." Spark demonstrated. "You have to make the rock spin, like a frisbee."
It was quiet a moment as Sonic practiced. Finally he muttered, "I'm so scared I'm sick."
"You'll get over it."
"Yeah right."
"Gimme a break, Sonic." Spark stopped and gazed directly at his younger brother. "Stop thinking of it as an exile. Think of it as a vacation. After all, what do you do on a vacation? You leave your home and go someplace different and see new things! It's not really so horrible. You and Slasher went on that big trip a while back to pull Mobius out of the other continuum. Weren't you an awful long way from Knothole then?"
Sonic succeeded in skipping a rock three times. "I was with my friends. I've almost always been with my friends. The only time I wasn't was when I went to Little Planet, and then I made friends with A.P. I'm going to be all by myself this time. I can't call home at all and I can't take my belt. What could be worse?"
"Zucchini."
Sonic raised an eyebrow and peered at his brother. "Huh?"
Spark shrugged. "I'd rather be exiled than eat zucchini any day. Or eggplant. Eggplant has got to be the lowest form of food there is, excluding algae and vegetable casseroles."
"You're weird."
"No more than you."
"What does food have to do with exile?" Sonic questioned, some of his ferocity returning. He tossed a rock from hand to hand, then chunked it as far as he could. "I'm gonna be scared stiff no matter what."
"One more thing," Spark said, glancing at his watch, "and I'm outta here. How fast is the speed of sound?"
"Seven hundred miles an hour, give or take."
"If you travelled at the speed of sound, which you do regularly, you'd only be forty-five minutes from home."
Sonic stared at him. "What a good idea! Why didn't I think of that?"
"Because it was a good idea," Spark smirked. "I'm headin' back. You coming?"
"I guess."
As the hedgehogs walked back to Knothole, Sonic remarked that it might not be as bad as he thought. His brother had given him a ray of hope to cling to, and his spirits began to lift. Spark told him that the Time Rippers had departed shortly before he had come to find Sonic. Jay had told them he had hidden the box with the emerald in it, and did not tell them where he put it. "It's just as well," Sonic said. "All you need is somebody else going nuts on you." He sighed. "I wish I could take my belt, though."
"Why can't you take your belt?" Spark asked, pushing his forelock out of his eyes.
Sonic shook his head. "I can't be exposed to any emerald power at all. Jay and Robin said I'll have one chance at this, and if I blow it I'll basically lose my mind." He looked down. "The stinking emeralds ... wish I'd never heard of them." Abruptly he stopped, gasped and pressed a hand to his forehead.
"What's wrong?" Spark asked.
Sonic blinked and shook his head rapidly. "I donno ... I feel really weird all of a sudden--" Suddenly he recognized it and yelled frantically, "Spark, get out of here! Get away from me!"
"Why? I don't--"
The madness took full hold. Sonic charged at his brother like a rabid beast, knocked him sprawling and took off into the forest.
It was hours before Sonic returned to his senses. As the haze and crazy colors faded from his mind, he realized he had once again run himself into the ground. He opened his eyes. He was lying on his back somewhere in the woods. Trees arched over him into the dull grey sky. It hadn't been cloudy that morning--it must be late afternoon.
Gingerly he moved his arms and legs. Nothing broken, but his left leg ached terribly. He sat up and saw it was bruised, as if he had cracked his shin against something. He was exhausted and wanted only to go back to sleep, but first he had to get back to Knothole and apologize to Spark--find out if he had done any damage to anyone else.
He climbed to his feet and began to limp through the trees, looking for a landmark of some kind. He had no idea where he was.
Ten minutes later he still had no idea where he was. He stopped, sat down on a log and blew his sliver whistle once. Sitting still felt good; his body ached in every joint. Maybe he SHOULD do this exile thing--he would end up killing himself before long. Boy, his leg hurt--
A low chirr overhead. He looked up and saw Slasher's winged shape soaring above the treetops. She was calling him in her own language. He waved. "Slash, down here." She flew by again, then dropped and landed before him. She knew at a glance that he was sane again. She sighed and crouched. He clumsily mounted her, his bruised leg hurting and stiff.
"I'm lost," he said as she stood. "Where are we?"
"The south end of the Great Forest," Slasher replied quietly, breaking into a long lope. "You ran like a madman. I assume you don't remember anything."
"No. I sure am beat up, though."
The big raptor ran in silence for a moment, then said, "Well, nobody'll object to kicking you out now."
"Why? Did I hurt Spark?"
"Er ... no ... you circled back through Knothole."
"Oh," Sonic gulped, feeling a cold dread knot his stomach. "What-- what did I do?"
Slasher did not relish the list. "Mowed down three people, smashed several huts, assaulted Knuckles, then me when I interfered."
"_I_ attacked YOU?"
"I didn't want to hurt you," Slasher said apologetically, "but you would have killed Knux, so I kick-boxed you a little."
Sonic swallowed--he was lucky to be in one piece. "Is that how my leg got so beat up?"
"Yeah."
"Did you fight me off?"
"Yeah."
Silence but for the thud-thud of Slasher's feet.
"How long was I crazy?"
"About six hours. It doubled from last time. The first time you were only nuts a few minutes. The next time, about three hours. This, about six. Next time it will be twelve hours, then twenty-four, then forty-eight ..."
She felt a tremor run through the hedgehog. "Slash, I'd better get out of here."
"Yes, and before it's too late."
It was to be the following day.
Everything was happening too fast. In only a few day's time Sonic had encountered the eighth chaos emerald, been cursed with a madness and had the cure pronounced by echidnas from the past. It seemed only yesterday that his life had been normal--now everything was topsy-turvy.
He felt detached from the whirlwind of events, as if they were happening to someone else. He sat at a table with his friends while they plotted his course on a map, but his heart was not in it. Was this really happening to him?
He packed and repacked his backpack in a daze. What should he take that he would need for six months? He found he found himself repeating motions over and over, such as picking something up, setting it down, picking it up again, setting it down again ... It was a relief when his sister came in and helped him pack, although he remembered it little afterward.
Tails gave him a compass that velcroed to his wrist like watch and waterproof. Rotor gave him a tiny pocket scanner, the construction of which he had only just finished. Sally gave him a computer like Nichole that connected directly to Knothole's system, and had an electronic mail network set up.
There were more gifts as well, but the haze in Sonic's head had increased so much by that time that he barely acknowledged them.
Then it was morning and he was saying goodbye to the Freedom Fighter. There was a heavy fog and visibility was perhaps ten feet. It was bitterly cold. Sonic turned up the collar on his jacket, hugged his brother and sister goodbye, waved to the others and walked out into the mist.
A week dragged by, then two. The weather grew colder and colder, and finally, in the middle of brown November, Knothole was transformed by a light snowfall. But even in the midst of the resulting play, Sonic's absence was felt. The blue hedgehog was not there to start snowball fights, then tear away at sixty miles an hour, laughing.
Sally had checked Nichole's email box several times a day at first, but as time went on, less and less often. Perhaps Sonic couldn't figure out the program. Maybe he lost the computer. At any rate she despaired of ever hearing from him.
But the first day it snowed, Sally was startled to see that Nichole had a 'message waiting' box on the screen. She opened it and read the few lines. "I'm in town called Xixa. Everything is fine. It's cold here. How're the freedom fighters doin'? I will write more tomorrow. Sonic."
The Freedom Fighters were overjoyed. While Sally and Slasher composed a reply, Knuckles and Spark dug out a dusty atlas and looked up 'Xixa'. At last they located it. It was roughly 550 miles from Knothole, located in the mountains and had a population of 75.
The correspondence flew thick and fast for several days. Sonic reported that his madness bouts had grown worse, but came and went, giving him weeks of total sanity. This was one of those weeks and he was terrible homesick. He said that he would keep moving southeast, if only so he had something to do.
Abruptly the letters petered out, and again several weeks went by with no word from the lonely hedgehog. It was December before he wrote again.
This time he was in a city by the name of Ironhedge, some 900 miles southeast. He commented that it was really hot and the city was busy. The tone of his letters was different, somehow. It came across that he was miserably depressed and didn't know why. He said that his illness (as he called it) hadn't changed much. The only difference was that he could tell when a fit was coming on, like a headache. He had taken to handcuffing himself to a tree somewhere where he could rage and storm and fight without hurting anyone, and would awaken in the same spot. His last note mentioned that he wished there was a letup in this darn thing so he could come home for Christmas. But there wasn't, and he didn't.
January came, and so did the coldest days of winter. The temperature lowered until the mercury was hovering just over the bottom of the thermometer. The coldsnap hung on for two weeks--something blown down from the northern wilds. Sonic only wrote once during that month. He spoke of something funny going on, and that he would be heading across country to a little town called Joston.
This was the last letter they received from him. January dragged by, and February came and went with no word. But as March started with a thaw, spirits revived and they began to look for a letter.
In the first week of March, a stranger came to Knothole.
He was a great tawny cougar with eyes like sulfur. He wore a midnight blue cape, a violet uniform, and heavy black boots for trudging through the slush. He was six feet tall--an imposing figure.
He demanded to see the leader of the Freedom Fighters. Sally and Slasher came out to meet him. Sally was struck by the impulse to hide from his probing eyes, but Slasher, as tall as he was, looked him straight in the face and was not cowed.
The cougar spoke to Slasher with a flash of long fangs, cold hatred in his eyes. "I am Commander Nash. I have heard that this village shelters the eighth chaos emerald."
Silence descended over the gathered crowd. Nash gazed at Slasher, trying to stare her down. She did not flinch, but folded her forearms. "What of it?"
"You have it?"
"You seem to think so."
The cougar's whiskers twitched and his cold eyes shifted to Sally. All there saw the faint flicker of recognition in his face. His lips curled in a sort of savage smile. "Hello, princess. Will you tell your bodyguard that I wish to take the emerald?"
Sally's voice caught in her throat. The big cat's gaze terrified her. He was evil and she could not answer him.
Slasher's voice was nearly a growl. "The emerald is not up for grabs. It is hidden and will remain so for another two and a half months."
Nash looked at her with pure loathing. "There is no reason for that, raptor. I have exterminated the reason and here is my proof."
He reached into a sort of pack on his back, under the cape, and pulled out--something. It appeared to be a lump of ragged fabric, stained and shredded. In case they couldn't tell what it was, Nash told them.
"It is Sonic Hedgehog's pack."
Slasher took it and held it up gingerly. Yes, it WAS Sonic's pack, but appeared to have been put through a meat grinder. It was stained with mud and bore large, rust-colored patches; dried blood.
The cougar saw the shock on their faces and approved. "The hedgehog is dead. The emerald is no longer taken up with him, and I wish to have it."
Slasher regained her composure and said quietly, "Leave the village, now. Come back in a week and maybe we'll discuss this."
Nash nodded and departed.
End of part 1