Planet Eilaela (story)

For the rewrite of this story, see Planet Eilaela Retold. For the planet the story is named after, see Eilaela.

News

It's time for this story to finally enter story lock. Not sure if that's a real term, but what I mean is, it's about time I stop editing this original version. Any further edits will be to correct spelling and grammatical errors.

I have decided to start working on a complete rewrite/re-telling of the story, which you can follow on Planet Eilaela Retold.

~ LeifEricson, 11/3/2021

Teaser

Vultro and seven of his friends embark on an adventure to a nearby planet called Ethos. But when their spaceship malfuctions, they crash land on an uncharted planet. Priorty one: figure out how to rebuild the spaceship. Priority two: figure out what else is going on on this planet?

Character Bios

Please add your character under your desired side below. Please add their main ability and a short bio to keep continuity straight. Based on Vultro's relative age at this time, this takes place 8 years after the events of Sonic Mania'.

Crew

1. Vultro the Fox (Speed, Er1c1996)

Vultro the Fox is a tall, skinny fennec fox and a master of speed. He has very large ears, light brown fur, and white spiky hair. He also wears a pair of blue sneakers and white gloves. He does not always think about the consequences of his actions, which often lands him in trouble. He constructed the spaceship set to land on Ethos, proving he can be very resourceful.

2. Raven the Gray Wolf (Magic/Strength, StarryOni)

Raven the Wolf is a grey wolf born in the Sol dimension. She has gray fur, usually sports a ponytail, and wears purple armor and grey combat boots. A fierce warrior with a coarse personality, Raven very rarely shows her kindness to anyone but Vultro, and her partner Lightning. A guardian-in-training of the Sol dimension, she is sometimes allowed possession of the Sol Emeralds, under the careful watch of the current guardian Blaze the Cat.

3. Wreck the Fox (Strength, The Evilbreaker)

Wreck the Fox is a fox with black fur, white chest fur, golden eyes, and orange boots. He is very strong and his brute strength is usually his greatest advantage. For reasons unknown to him, he is imbued with certain Sol powers. Even without knowing it, the Sol Emeralds strengthen him, giving him enhanced strength and stamina in battle.

4. Frankie the Bat (Flight/Hearing, The Evilbreaker)

Frances “Frankie” the Bat is a skinny red bat with brown eyes, yellow and purple boots, black shorts, brown gloves, and a light blue tank top. She is Wreck's partner and traveled with him on this trip with the idea of having a surprise romantic date on an exotic planet. Her flight abilities make her a useful addition to the team, with amazing speed and agility while in the air. She also has heightened hearing and is able to hear sounds from a much further distance than the rest of the team.

5. Tracker the Dog (Technology/Smell, The Evilbreaker)

Tracker the Dog is a bloodhound from the city of Techtown, a cyber city famous for its technology and unique regional accent. The son of Leon, the leader of the original Techtown Freedom Fighters, Tracker was chosen to embark a mission to South Island. It is here that he meets Vultro, and comes to learn of his plans to travel to Ethos. Wanting a short break from the usual, he agrees to come along. He has an incredible sense of smell that allows him to track a scent for miles.

6. Cync the Cat (Shapeshifting, User:Er1c1996)

Cyncatia “Cync” the Cat is a wildcat has a unique shapeshifting ability that enables her to take the form of many natural creatures, including her friends and foes. 

7. Jenny the Fox (Magic, The Evilbreaker)

Jennifer "Jenny" the Fox is an arctic fox from Mobius. She is similar in size to Vultro, with bright white fur, flowing hair, a bushy tail, a purple dress, and purple boots. She never knew her father, but she was extensively trained by her mother in Chaos magic. She can cast spells using Chaos energy, some even without possession of an Emerald.

Met on the Planet

1. Shimm the Hedgehog (Pyrokinesis, Maria1234567890)

Shimmer "Shimm" Hedgehog is a red and gold hedgehog. WIP

2. Penny the Hedgehog (Telekinesis, Maria1234567890)

Penelope "Penny" the Hedgehog is a pink hedgehog. WIP

3. Mackenzie the Tiger (Electrokinesis, MaxIrvaron)

Mackenzie "Mac" Hartley is a tiger with electrokinesis, having honed the skill since he was a child. He has brown fur, hazel eyes, and wears a white, short-sleeved shirt with a yellow lightning bolt on it along with jean shorts, along with black and white shoes. At the time of this story, Mac is a 16 year old mercenary-in-training, having already gone through many adventures with his friends. He has a cocky and flirty personality, and is always looking for some fun. He is determined to complete a mission assigned to him by Master Aorki, who is responsible for sending him to Eilaela. Mac has two guns, Zip and Zap, and two golden bracelets that can turn into the Flash Gauntlets, capable of firing ergokinetic and eletrokinetic energy.

Villains

1. Databyte Egg (Strength/Weapons, The Evilbreaker)

Databyte Egg is an E-Series robot designed by Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Like many others in the E-Series, gained sentience and turned against its orders. His official model number is E-112 Sigma. Unlike other Eggman's robots that seek revenge against Eggman, it developed its own evil agenda. After encountering Mist the Morph and receiving a targeting upgrade from him, the two joined forces in a quest to take over the galaxy. Databyte has a superior targeting and ammunition system that makes him deadly to any foe that crosses him. Unlike Mist, who has an advanced speech synthesizer, Databyte's voice is monotone and robotic.

2. Mist the Morph (Shapeshifting, The Evilbreaker)

Mist is an artificial intelligence created in Techtown. Having been programmed with shapeshifting abilities, it initially always preferred to take the form of some object around it. Eventually, the AI developed what it beleives to be a "natural" form: a faceless, dark grey, featureless hedgehog. It has no spikes, clothing, nose or pupils. He has learned to accurately mimic human speech and emotion patterns, developing a human, though cold personality. After meeting Databyte and pitying its inferior design, he upgraded its targeting computer, becoming the closest thing to a friend that a robot could have. Though originally designed to take down the Techtown Freedom Fighters, he has also had a run in with Wreck and Frankie before this story.

3. Metal Raven (Magic/Strength, StarryOni)

4. Lunic the Hedgehog (Technology, The Evilbreaker)

Lunic the Hedehog is a hedgehog from the future. His fur is blue, he has tangled quills, and his eyes are naturally red. He also has a purple scar on his left leg, the origins of which are unknown. After traveling through time as a teenager and seeing the "bad futures" Dr. Eggman was capable of creating, he decided to become a villain of his own "just to be cool." He is very handy with electronics, always tinkering and creating devices useful to him and his allies.

5. Solidus the Werefox (Magic, User:Er1c1996)

Solidus is a wolf that is the evil alter ego of Obelus the Fox, Vultro's father. Initially being a fox turned wolf, he considers himself a "werefox." He seperated himself from the original Obelus, killing him in the process. Possessing no body, he appears as a ghostly spirit, requiring the Shoten crystal to remain in existence. He has fennec fox-like ears and fur, but wolf-like fangs and claws. He is desperately searching for a way to create a physical form, which is why he is searching for other powerful gemstones. Though he tends to try and be the mastermind of most operations, he has an extremely short temper and does not like to admit to mistakes. His major downfall, like his son, is that he can be very short-sighted and arrogant.

6. Crys the Hedgehog (Cryokinesis, MaxIrvaron)

Crys Wynter is a blue Hedgehog with droopy quills, two of which point sideways. He wears a dark blue and white shirt, along with jeans with a golden lining. Crys holds a grudge against his sister Alexia, whom he is always trying to kill. Using magic gifted to him by Tikal the Echnidna, Crys came to Elilaela to ravage its resources, and ultimately to take it over. Crys can harness the moisture in bodies of water, and even out of the air, in order to create ice at will. Using his most powerful magic, he is also capable of ferrokinesis, forming a metal-ice hybrid. Due to the effort it takes to create said ice, he avoids using it unless absolutely necessary. Crys is a very cold person, very off-putting and usually a lone wolf. He also appears to be selfish, not caring for others. He is however extremely driven, and will not stop until he achieves his goals.

Story

Chapter 1

Despite the mess of parts strewn about the ship, Vultro the Fox is quite happily sitting at the helm. He turns his head and yells to the crew. “Alright guys, we should be arriving on Ethos any minute now!”

Wreck, a black fox, looks over at him in annoyance. He then looks over to his girlfriend, Frankie the Bat. “I’m still not sure why we’re going to this planet, Frankie.” he says. “I told you, it's a surprise!” Frankie says cheerfully. “Don't you worry!” Wreck rolls his eyes and leans back in his chair.

Cync is standing next to Vultro, looking out of the windshield of the ship. Her cat ears twitch as she looks into the emptiness. “Hey Vultro, didn’t you just say we’re almost there?” Vultro looks down at the dashboard, and thumps on one of the displays.

“What's going on?” Cync asks. Vultro points to a radar scanner. “Ethos should be right here… and it’s not.” They both look up only to see an unfamiliar looking planet barreling towards them. A red-hot fireball forms around the entire ship as it enters the planet’s atmosphere.

This causes Raven, a menacing grey wolf adorned with heavy armor, to stand up. “Vultro, how did you miss that giant planet? It’s a planet!” Vultro looks up at her. “It’s not on the radar! It wasn’t even there a minute ago!”

Raven pulls out a red gemstone from her bag. “I snuck the Sol Emeralds with me. Tell me right now, are we going to crash?” “What?” Vultro yells as he tries to pull the ship up. “Vultro, are we going to crash!?” she repeats. “Yes, yes! Brace for impact!” Raven notices the ground quickly approaching and puts the emerald back in her bag and straps into her seat. Wreck and Frankie do the same. Tracker, who had been asleep up until now, is jolted awake as Cync helps him strap in.

Thankfully Jenny, a blue arctic fox who had been watching the commotion from her seat, juts out her hands and creates a magic shield around the ship.

There is a loud crash, and the spaceship lands in a swampy bog. Despite the shield, exploded ship parts started to rain down like meteors. Raven is the first to surface from the murky water.

“Everyone alright? Anyone that can't swim?” she calls out. Cync surfaces nearby in the form of a dolphin. “Vultro can’t! Where is he?” Vultro barely breaks the surface, thrashing towards Cync. He scurries frantically onto her back. “Thank you, Cync,” Vultro said. “Where'd everyone else go?”

A short distance away, Wreck and Frankie submerge from the swamp. “So much for a nice date…” Frankie says under her breath. “This was your idea of a date?” Wreck asks. Frankie rolls her eyes. “Ugh, forget it! Come on, let's get over to the group.” Wreck and Frankie swim over to the rest of the group, who continue to surface one by one.

“Where are we?” Cync asks. Vultro looks at what is left of his ship and frowns. “Wherever we are, that spaceship was our only way out of here,” he says. Tracker suddenly pops up from under the water, flailing around until he reaches a fallen tree to stand on. His bloodhound ears are sopping wet, but he shakes himself off. “This is Ethos?” he asks. “No. We have no idea what this place is,” Vultro says.

He sees Jenny wading nearby. “Jenny, do you know any spells that can freeze over the swamp or get rid of the water?” he calls out to her. “So we don't have to swim?” She shakes her head. “Umm… umm…” she pauses and takes a deep breath. “No. No, not really Vultro.”

Raven looks down at her chest plate and her eyes open wide. “Where is it?” she yells. “Where’s what?” Wreck asks. “The silver Sol emerald!” She tries to dive under the water, but the murky water stings her eyes. It is impossible to see anything. She resurfaces, spinning in circles trying to find it. She yells out in frustration.

After a few deep breaths, she swims over to Vultro, and takes out the green emerald. “In case we get split up, I can't afford to lose any more of these. I’m already in big trouble.” Vultro takes the emerald, placing it on his belt. He nods in agreement. “First, we need to fix the spaceship. Then, we’ll find that emerald. Promise.”

Cync and Vultro turn around and head for nearby land. Vultro climbs off and surveys the surrounding area. Nothing but swamp, trees, and muddy pathways in every direction. He sighs and pauses to think. Suddenly, a loud voice echoes through the trees. “HELP!!” “Wh- What was that?” Vultro asks. “Haven’t the foggiest, was it one of us?” Tracker yells out. Vultro spins around and checks if anyone is missing from the group. “Wait, where’s Raven? That must have been her!” “How did someone get her?” Cync asked. “She was right here with us…” Vultro shakes his head. “I don’t know. Frankie, could you tell where it came from?” Frankie perks her ears, and nods. “Follow me, guys.”

The group heads in the direction of the scream. “Hey look! It's a cave!” Frankie yells as she points towards an opening in the hill side. “That might be where the scream came from,” Wreck says. “Tracker, stay here. We’ll be right back,” Vultro says. Tracker nods and steps over to the side. The rest of the group enters the cave.

The entrance is faintly illuminated by the sunlight outside, but it's hard to see very far. “Man, this is creepy,” Wreck says. Frankie stops in her tracks. “Something's not right here,” she almost whispered to the group. “We'll be in deep trouble if we're not—” She suddenly goes silent. “Frankie?” Wreck asks. “Hello? Frankie?” No answer. “She must have been captured too!” Tracker says. Wreck grits his teeth. “How did she disappear so quietly? Just like Raven.” He shakes his head. “I would really like to find out what’s going on here.”

Vultro nods. “Me too. There’s a branch in the cave here. Let's split up. Jenny, come with me. Cync, go with Wreck.”

Chapter 2

Raven is tied up in a corner of a dimly lit cavern, struggling to free her hands from the rope. The mysterious figure is standing over her. “Now I'll just be taking these Sol Emeralds, thank you!” The figure plucks the five Sol Emeralds out of the chest plate of Raven.

The figure pauses. “Wait... where are the other two?” It looks around on the floor nearby to no avail. Raven looks closely at the figure but is still unable to make out who is talking to her. The robotic voice sounds somewhat familiar, but she is still disoriented from being knocked out. “Lets... let's just say they’re with a good friend of mine,” she manages to say.

The figure scoffs. “Hah! With the other crystal in our possession, each one of these Sol Emeralds are just a bonus anyways.” It outstretches its hand, and the Emeralds begin to float, glowing in different colors.

“How are you doing that? The emeralds shouldn’t react to anyone not from the Sol Dimension!” Then, it suddenly hits her. Her voice came out weakly. “Metal... Raven?” The light of the Emeralds reveals a spitting image of Raven standing before her. There is a metallic sheen and visible seams across her smirking face. “Took you long enough.” Raven shakes her head in disbelief. “What are you doing here Metal. Where even are we?”

Metal Raven ignores her, placing the five emeralds into the special slots on her own chest plate. “The Sol Emeralds could be of some use, even just these five. We can use their energy to amplify the effects of the Shoten crystal!”

“Shoten… crystal?” A loud rumbling occurs that shakes the entire cave. A cold, less robotic voice comes from the darkness. “Metal, I’ve got another prisoner. But there seems to be some volcanic activity going on. We might want to leave soon.” The figure throws Frankie to the ground next to Raven.

“Frankie,” Raven says. “I’m glad you’re okay.” Frankie, barely awake, whispers back to her. “It’s Mist, Raven… he must be stopped…”

“Oh no, little Frankie wants to stop me!” Mist says mockingly. “I would shut up before we make you.” Vultro and Jenny sneak into the room, ducking behind some stalagmites. In a robotic fashion, Metal Raven’s ears perk up and she snaps her head towards them. She stares directly through the darkness into Vultro’s eyes. “Looks like we have company, Mist.”

“Whoa! A metal clone of Raven?” Vultro says in disbelief. He looks down at Metal Raven's chest plate, in which she has placed the Sol Emeralds. The center is studded with a mysterious, lime-green crystal with a web of blue cracks running throughout it. “What’s that thing she's got on her chest? It looks like some sort of gemstone, but I've never seen one like that before.”

“Heh heh!” Mist laughs. He steps forward into the light, revealing himself to be a strange, featureless creature with pale grey skin. Even without visible eyes on his smooth face, Vultro could tell he was looking at him. “You think we can’t hear you? We’re not telling you a thing about that crystal.” Mist smiles. “Oh, and you should have heard your friend outside.” Mist suddenly transforms into an exact copy of Tracker. "Gimme our bloody friends back before I get rate maaaad!" Mist says, poorly mimicking his accent.

Metal Raven tries to stifle a laugh. Mist looks up at Metal Raven, and his eyes widen. “Metal! Behind you!” Vultro has snuck up behind Metal Raven's shoulder, and swiftly snatches the crystal from her chest plate, jumping back. “No!!” Metal Raven yells. “Don’t you dare make fun of my friend like that,” he said. He looks down at the crystal in his hand.

The crystal starts glowing, and Vultro feels a surge of energy entering his body. Suddenly, a brilliant flash of blinding white light fills the cave, along with a shock wave that knocks everyone in the cave off of their feet. As it fades, Vultro is now floating in the air, his fur standing on end. He has taken on a glowing bright purple color.

Vultro gasps as he looks down at himself in awe. “Guys! Guys! I'm just like Super Sonic! Ha ha, look at me! I look awesome!” Vultro spins around, only to be greeted by a fist directly to the face. A deep, menacing voice comes from his direction. “Not quite like Super Sonic, foolish child.”

Vultro falls to the floor unconscious, dropping the crystal. His fur fades back to normal color. The mysterious figure picks up the crystal. He appears to have features of both a fox and a wolf, having large fennec ears but sharp wolf fangs, and stands as menacingly tall as Raven. He has light brown fur, though he is also transparent and ghostly. “Gah, I almost went mad without this on me. Metal Raven, please give me one of the emeralds.” Metal Raven removes the yellow Sol emerald from her chest plate and hands it to the wolf. He places it into a small black device on his belt.

Jenny looks over to see Wreck enter the room behind Mist and the strange wolf. She signals him to be quiet, and nods towards them. Wreck nods in agreement. Wreck dashes towards Mist, and Jenny kicks his shins as hard as she can. Wreck comes up behind him and sweeps his legs out from under him.

Wreck then looks over to the wolf. “And you too, huh?” He throws a punch at him, but his fist goes straight through. Wreck tumbles to the ground. He smirks. “No use.” He grabs Vultro and vanishes in a yellow flash, only to appear behind Mist. He grabs Mist too, and they vanish. Metal Raven grabs Raven by the collar, and they also disappear.

“They got Raven!” Jenny yelled. “And they have the emeralds!” Wreck gets back up on his feet. “Yeah, they took Vultro too…”

“Wreck, wait up!” Cync calls out, out of breath. “What’s going on?”

“Raven and Vultro were taken. Maybe Tracker too, I don’t know. We have to get out of this cave,” Wreck said. He gets up and walks over to Frankie to begin untying her. “It’s okay, Frankie. You’re safe now.”

Chapter 3

Vultro is thrown in a small room, with bare walls and only a tiny opening serving as a window. The wolf disappears again. “Let me out of here!” he yells in frustration.

An unfamiliar voice comes from through the wall. “Will you just shut up already? You’re not getting out!” A different, more robotic voice also comes from through the wall. “THE BOSS WON’T BE TOO HAPPY IF YOU KEEP SLACKING, LUNIC.” A cyan flash fills the room. “Ah, Databyte! Here. Take the wolf and lock her up,” Metal Raven says. Databyte scoffs. “HMPH. SPEAKING OF SLACKING, WHY DO I ALWAYS DO THE HARD WORK.“ “Yeah yeah, just shut up! I'm trying to work here,” the first voice said.

A huge, hulking robot stomps its way over to the cell door. The red and black armor covering its body indicate that it’s probably of Dr. Eggman’s design. Don’t tell me he’s involved in this too, Vultro thought to himself. Raven in thrown into the cell. “DON’T GET ANY FUNNY IDEAS,” the robot says as he slams the door shut. Raven sits against the wall with a defeated look on her face, as Vultro paces back and forth. “We'll get out of here Raven, I promise.”

“Actually,” Raven said, “Blaze discovered recently that they can be used tunnel through the Sol dimension to create a wormhole. I guess Metal Raven found that out too. I’ve never tried with just one though.”

“Even if it would work, my hands are tied,” Vultro said. “I can't reach it!” Raven thinks for a moment, then smirks. She walks over to Vultro, and uses her tail to reach his belt and grab the green emerald. “Bet you didn’t think of that,” she said. “I have no idea what is going to happen, but we at least have to try.”

Raven plants her feet, and slots the emerald into her chest plate with her tail. She takes a deep breath, and grabs onto Vultro with her tail.

On the other side of the wall, a skinny blue hedgehog is tinkering with a small black box. It has a gemstone-shaped slot in it, and wires are protruding out. Metal Raven is sitting nearby, and her ears perk up when she hears a metal clang from the other side of the wall. “What was that noise? Go check on the prisoners, Lunic.” Lunic looks up, brushing the mess of hair from his face. “I’m busy! Why don’t you ask the boss?”

Solidus is sitting in front of some type of computer, studying a map of the surrounding area carefully. “Because that’s not my job, you idiots,” he says over his shoulder. “You’re the idiot!” Metal yelled. “That wolf is here too! Make sure they don't find a way out!”

Solidus snarls. He stands and walks around the corner to the cell door, and notices Raven standing there, the green emerald in her chest plate. He makes eye contact with her, who smirks at him smugly. “Divine... Sol!”

A green flash fills the room, and the two are whisked away. Solidus bangs on the bars and stomps back to the group, growling viciously. “What?” Metal Raven asks. Solidus grits his teeth. “The prisoners. They. Escaped.”

“Ha. Well… you guys have fun finding them,” Lunic said. “I am doing my job, like you remind me to do so often!” Solidus scoffs. “You? You’re the laziest hedgehog I've ever met.”

“I mean, he did make us those Sol devices right?” Mist asked. Lunic looks up at Mist. “Mist, remind me what you’ve done so far?” Solidus stomped loudly. “Everyone shut up!” Silence filled the room. “Listen. Yes, they escaped. But because of you idiots!”

“Especially you, Databyte!” He points to the robot. “You put them in the same room! Why?” Databyte had no response. “And you Metal Raven, don’t you know how powerful the wolf is? Am I the only sens-- oh, what's the word... sensible? sensible! Am I the only sensible villain here?”

Lunic rolls his eyes. “Yeesh. Someone doesn't like to admit to their own mistakes... aren’t you supposed to be in charge of us? Telling us what to do and not do?” Databyte nods in agreement. ”BESIDES,” Databyte says, “YOUR RANT WAS RUINED WHEN YOU FORGOT THE WORD ‘SENSIBLE.’”

Lunic bursts out laughing. Solidus glances at him furiously, and grabs a hold of Metal Raven's chest plate. “Give me that!” he snaps. He puts it on, and suddenly a blinding flash fills the room. He emerges surrounded by a rainbow-colored aura, his fur a bright purple.

“Without me, you wouldn't have this Shoten crystal, would you?!?” Lunic gulps. “Its power is incredible, and once I get the last Sol Emeralds the combination will be nearly unstoppable! You all better watch what you say around here before I leave you all out in the swamp!”

Solidus transforms back, taking a deep breath to calm himself. Lunic is staring at Solidus, wide-eyed. “Lunic! The devices,” Solidus said.

Lunic snaps out of it, and hands over the black device to Solidus along with a few others exactly like it. “The test device worked when I brought the fox here. Nice work, Lunic,” Solidus said. “Take one of these, and an emerald each. You can teleport when needed. Meet back here when you find them.” Solidus glanced at Databyte and Mist. “I want them alive and unharmed. Understood?”

Lunic, Databyte, and Mist each take an emerald from Solidus, placing it into the special devices. As they place them in, each one glows and beeps. Metal Raven, not needing such a device, puts an emerald directly on her belt.

Solidus takes the last emerald, the two extra devices, and Metal Raven's chest plate with him, and storms off.

Outside, a shadowy figure is climbing the nearby tree tops. It stops and looks up at the hill. “Seems like that energy spike came from around here,” it exclaimed. “Could it be…” it pauses, and shakes its head. “Nah. Guess I better go check it out anyways.”

Chapter 4

Raven and Vultro land in a tree, and they both tumble down to the ground. They get back up, and Vultro smiles at Raven. “Wow... it actually worked! You even teleported us out of those ropes!” Vultro jumps up to hug Raven. She returns the hug for a moment, but quickly shakes her head and pushes Vultro off. “Ugh, come on. Let’s find the others,” she says. Raven looks down the nearby cliff and sees Tracker, Cync, and Frankie, who are at the crash site.

“Hey guys! Up here!” she yells at them. Frankie hears the call, looking up and smiling when she recognizes them. She flies up to the two. “I’m so glad you guys are safe. Tracker is okay, but Wreck went off without me. Oh, and Vultro—"

“That's Wreck for you,” Vultro said, “always getting into trouble.” “Vultro—” Frankie tries to interrupt. He continues. “Listen, guys. That wolf took the crystal back from me. If we can manage to take it again, maybe we can stop them!”

“The only problem is, they have the Sol emeralds,” Raven said. “And it’s a major problem. I don't need Blaze on my tail about them when I get home.” Vultro stopped listening, instead looking down to the crash site. “Frankie, where’s Jenny?” he asks. Frankie takes Vultro’s hand. “We don’t know,” she said. “Mist came back, and they got her… We tried to stop him.” Vultro frowns. “Great…”

Suddenly, Frankie’s ears perk up. She hears a voice echo from far away. “Easy now, robot! Hey, let go! Help!” “Wreck, no!” Frankie yells. “Guys, grab on! Wreck sounds like he’s in trouble!” Raven and Vultro grab on to Frankie, who flies them towards Wreck's voice.

Frankie lands in a small clearing, where Metal Raven has her arms around Wreck's neck. “Your connection with the Sol is strong, fox,” Metal Raven said. “Stronger than any Mobian I've ever seen.” Wreck breaks free of the hold, and steps back. “Sol? What are you talking about? Hey wait… I know you! From the cave!” Metal Raven notices Frankie and the crew land nearby. Without hesitation, she runs over to Frankie and grabs her by the arm.

“If you won’t listen to me, maybe taking your girlfriend will make you think again!” Metal Raven yelled. “Tch, just when I thought the gang was getting back together,” Wreck said. Raven turns and dashes towards Metal Raven, kicking her directly in the stomach. Metal Raven is knocked back, and let go of Frankie. Frankie turns and uppercuts Metal Raven’s jaw.

Wreck goes in for a punch, but Metal Raven dodges and kicks him in the shins. He falls to the ground. Getting back up to his feet, he yells towards the crash site. “Tracker, Cync, get over here! We need help!”

Moments later, Tracker appears out of the nearby bushes, growling. Cync follows closely behind, her sickle drawn. Metal Raven smirks, and disappears in a cyan flash. She appears in front of Tracker, who tries to dodge but gets shoved to the ground. Metal Raven disappears, only to appear behind Frankie. Frankie notices and jumps up into the air, starting to fly. She lands on Metal Raven’s shoulders and begins covering her eyes. “Now’s your chance, everyone!” she yells.

“Ha,” Metal Raven laughs to herself. “Turns out I got your little girlfriend after all.” Cync and Raven are running at her, but it’s too late. “Divine Sol!” In a cyan flash she disappears, taking Frankie with her. “Frankie!” Wreck yells out. “We have to go after her!” Raven nods. She pauses to think. “Let’s try that building back there where Vultro and I were held at.” Vultro nods. “Should we teleport?” “No,” Raven says. “I still need to find the silver emerald, so let’s walk.”

They head back towards the direction of the building. Along the way, they come to a clearing. There is a red hedgehog and a pink hedgehog, who appear to be standing over something.

“I can't believe we found a Sol Emerald!” the red hedgehog said. “If one is here, maybe the other 6 are too!” The pink hedgehog nodded her head. “Let’s keep searching. Someone or something had to have brought it here!”

“Give me that Sol Emerald right now!” Raven roars at them. They jump and both turn around. “Why should I?” asked the red hedgehog. “We need these for research on the Sol dimension. Besides, we found it fair and square.” Raven scoffed. “The Sol dimension…? I'm a guardian of the Sol dimension! You want me to tell Blaze you stole them?”

The pink hedgehog glances at Raven's chest plate and notices the green emerald embedded into it as well as the slots for the others. She pauses for a moment to think. Blaze, huh? She must know where the rest are, she thinks. She smirks as she looks back up at Raven.

“First of all, Shimm didn't steal it,” she said, “he found it. Aaaand, we can loan it to you, if we team up to get the rest of the emeralds. Deal?”

The pink hedgehog reaches her hand out to shake. Raven hesitates, but reluctantly shakes hands with her. “When we need it, you'll give it back,” the red hedgehog said. “Understood?”

Raven ignores him. The red hedgehog hands over the silver Sol Emerald. Raven then embeds the stone into her chest plate, next to the green one she took from Vultro.

The pink hedgehog turns around to the red hedgehog. “Well, what now?” The red hedgehog shrugs. “Let’s follow them?” The pink hedgehog nods. “Who are you two anyways?” Cync finally asks. “I'm Shimmer the Hedgehog,” says the red hedgehog. “But you can call me Shimm.” The pink hedgehog smiles. “And I'm Penelope, or Penny! And we just made a deal with you, so now we're a part of your team!! Right?” Raven rolls her eyes. Cync waves at the two. “Um… Cool. I'm Cync.”

“Nice to meet you Cync!” said Penny. “And I'm Vultro the Fox. Penelope, Shimmer, nice to meet you.” Vultro shakes both of their hands. Penny giggles. “Hi Vultro!”

“We've lost our friends, a bat named Frankie and a fox named Jenny, to a bunch of villains,” Vultro said. “We could really use your help.” Shimm nods. “I’ll help you guys, but only to get those emeralds. I got nothing better to do anyways.” Penny elbows him. “Ow!” he says. She turns to Vultro. “Don’t worry Vultro, we’ll find your friends first. Let’s do this!”

“So, should we keep heading towards the building?” Vultro asked. “Wait. I think I smell something,” Cync said. Cync transforms into a blood hound, mimicking the appearance of Tracker. She points her snout into the air and begins sniffing. Tracker scoffs. “Coulda just done that myself, mate,” he mumbles under his breath. After a moment, she points away from the building. “Yeah. I definitely think I smell something important that way.”

Raven holds her head up and begins to sniff as well. “Well I smell a fox, it has to be Jenny. It’s coming from the direction of the building.” She crosses her arms. “Let’s split up,” Vultro says. “We can cover more ground that way.” Vultro heads west towards the building, taking Wreck and Raven with him. Tracker, Penelope, and Shimmer follow Cync to the east.

Chapter 5

“What are ya smellin' now?” Wreck asks. “I’m not exactly sure anymore,” Raven says. “But it’s definitely not normal.” Wreck rolls his eyes. “What happened to being able to make out a fox just by smell?” Raven grits her teeth, clearly annoyed. “Just shut up. I’m working on it.” “Yeesh, sorry...” Wreck says.

Suddenly, Raven notices a blue flash in the distance. And then another one. And another. “Do you see that?” she says. The flashes are bouncing around in her field of view, getting closer and closer each time. Finally, the flash stops, and a blue hedgehog lands on the ground in front of them.

“Long time no see!” the hedgehog said. “Wait. I recognize your voice… Lunic,” Raven says. “Do you now? Well if you’re so good at eavesdropping,” Lunic said as he vanished and then reappeared behind the group, “maybe you’ll remember me talking about this fancy device here on my belt.” Lunic does a sweeping kick and takes down Wreck. He vanishes, then reappears in front of Vultro.

Lunic tries to kick Vultro, but Vultro dodges out of the way. Vultro jumps up onto Lunic’s back, his arms around his neck. “Not… cool!” Lunic chokes out. He grabs Vultro and throws him off onto the ground. He turns around and lifts up his foot as if he was about to stomp on Vultro. Raven lunges at him and grabs him out from under Lunic, just narrowly avoiding his stomp.

Wreck is back on his feet now, and tackles Lunic to the ground, pinning him face down.

Raven bends down next to them. “Where are the rest of the emeralds?” she yells at him. “Tch. Like I’d tell you,” he said. She grabs him by his tangled hair and makes him look at her. “You’re going to tell us what we need to know, or I’m going to show you just what I can do with these Sol emeralds.”

Lunic gulps. “Okay… okay. I’ll tell you.” He pauses for a moment and looks down. Suddenly, he forces Wreck off of his back, and flips back onto his feet. “Can’t believe you fell for that!” He goes to reach for his Sol device, but Vultro has already snatched the blue Emerald out of it. “Gah!” In frustration, he rips the device from his belt and chucks it at Raven. It hits her square in the chest plate, smashing into pieces and causing a massive spark and flash. Raven, Vultro, and Lunic vanish.

“Raven? Vultro?” Wreck asked as he looked around the clearing. He stared at the pile of smoldering electronics now on the floor. “What just happened…” The rustling of leaves from the trees behind suddenly grabs Wreck’s attention. “Uh, hello?” Out of nowhere, a freezing cold beam hits Wreck’s foot. It freezes into a chunk of ice.

“Don't struggle,” a menacing voice echoes from the trees, “if you value your life at all.” Wreck forcefully breaks his leg out of the ice and looks around for the source of the sound. Wreck looks over his shoulder, and a tall slender figure is now standing in the shadows, a rapier drawn. Wreck shakes his head. “I’m no coward, but I’ve had enough fighting for one day!" he yells out.

"I don't need more nuisances getting in my way," he yells back. "Don't make this any more difficult that it needs to me. Either give me everything you possess or die."

"Tch. Like I said, I've had enough for today. Later!" Wreck runs into the bushes, leaving the figure behind.

Chapter 6

“Where are we?” Vultro asked as he stumbled back onto his feet. There is nothing but sand as far as the eye can see. It’s dark out, and there is a chill in the air. Vultro looks up at the sky. Instead of a moon, he is greeted by the strange planet that got them into this whole mess in the first place. “Are we… on another planet?” he asked. Nearby, Lunic rolls over and gets on his feet. He looks at the sky. “We’re on Eilaela’s moon, one of them anyways,” Lunic said. “By the looks of it, this is the desert moon Xola. There’s really not much of anything up here. But at least there’s an atmosphere.” Lunic dusts off the sand from his clothes.

“So… what should we do now?” Vultro asked. Raven sat up, her hand on her head. “We’ve got to get back to Eilaela, obviously,” she said after a moment. “Okay, but what about him?” “Who cares about him! He could have damaged the emeralds with a stunt like that.” Vultro frowns. “But what if he knows where Jenny and Frankie are? Or where the rest of the emeralds are?”

Lunic shakes his head slowly. “First of all, I’m right here guys. And second of all, you’re my only ticket out of here. I don’t really have much choice but to talk.” He sits down on a large rock. “Better start from the top,” Raven said. Lunic sighed. “Solidus is the boss around here; he’s that werewolf-fox looking dude. He came to Eilaela looking for more gemstones that might help turn him from a ghost back to a real fox… wolf thing. I came along to help him with the promise of being treated well when he’s all powerful and stuff.”

“And what does he want with our friends?” Vultro asked. “He doesn’t want them,” Lunic said. “What he really wants are the rest of the Sol Emeralds. Taking them is just an attempt of luring you guys so he can steal the rest of them back. Once he has those, in combination with the Shoten crystal he’s apparently unstoppable.” “The Shoten crystal?” Vultro asked. “That lime green crystal he keeps on his chest plate,” Lunic explained. “He can’t harness the power of the Sol Emeralds directly, but that crystal channels the power and allows him to wield them.” Raven grabs Lunic by the collar and stares him in the eyes. “He’s not getting those emeralds. Mark my words. Where are the rest of them?”

“The rest of the Emeralds are scattered among us. Databyte, Mist, Metal Raven, and Solidus all have one.” Lunic looked up at Eilaela. “And as for your friends, I honestly don’t know where they are. Solidus won’t tell me anything since you guys escaped the first time. He’s so arrogant sometimes.”

“Why are you even on his side?” Raven asked as she let go of his collar. “He seems really powerful,” Lunic said, standing up. “Plus, evil will always be cooler. And I wanna be cool.” Vultro rolled his eyes. “Although,” Lunic said with uncertainty, “now that I think about it it’s really cruel to be holding people hostage just over some stupid stones. I don’t really like Solidus to be honest.”

Raven smirked slightly. Lunic was clearly on the fence. “Well,” she said, “you don’t have to be on Solidus’ side to be evil.” “Tch, you guys are clearly the good guys, I wouldn’t want to be on your side either,” Lunic said. “You don’t have to be on our side. Or any side. Why don’t you just do your own thing and help us both out,” Raven said. Lunic pondered this for a moment.

“Yeah… I mean I guess you’re right. I don’t need him.” He kicked a pebble across the sand. “Alright, look. I installed tracking beacons on those Sol devices. I can tell you where the rest of them are. But not because I want to help you. I just want to stick it to Solidus, okay?” Vultro and Raven both nod. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go then.” Raven grabs both of their hands. “Divine Sol!” In a flash, the group disappears.

Chapter 7

Wreck stumbles through the bushes, looking over his shoulder to make sure he has escaped the figure. He stops to catch his breath. Suddenly a tall, slim tiger rushes out of the bushes and crashes straight into Wreck, falling to the ground. “Ow! Hey, watch where you’re going!” Wreck said. “Sorry pal!” the tiger said as he got up and dusted off his clothes. “I’m kinda in a rush. I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m tracking something pretty big right now.” The tiger flashed a quick smile, then started running the way Wreck came from. “Sorry again!” he yelled as he disappeared into the bushes.

Wreck scratches his head. “Huh. That was weird.” Wreck looks around and notices the familiar hill nearby. "Hey, there's that building from earlier! Surely they wouldn't be that dumb to come back here…?"

Wreck climbs up to the top of the hill and notices the front door is wide open. “That tiger was looking for something,” he said to himself as he entered the dilapidated stone building. Inside he is greeted by a cold narrow hallway, with small cells on either side. “Hello?” he yells out. No answer.

He stops to think, only to hear a deep, muffled voice coming from underneath him. Wreck spins around, looking for some sort of trap door or staircase. He notices out of the corner of his eye a small square cutout in the floor. He walks over to it and tugs on the handle, but it seems to be locked from the inside.

He shakes his head, takes a deep breath, and stomps on the trapdoor as hard as he can, causing it to break open. He jumps down the hole, and lands in a room directly in front of a large, menacing robot. “INTRUDER!” the robot says.

Wreck notices Mist in the corner of the room, struggling to get Frankie to move somewhere. “Frankie! I’m here to save you!” Wreck yells out. Frankie raises her head, smiling. “You’re not going anywhere,” Mist said, dropping Frankie to the ground. “Databyte, destroy him.”

Databyte lifts up his arm cannon and aims directly at Wreck. Wreck puts up his arms, blocking the first shot. He then dashes towards Frankie, sliding under a second shot. He slides straight into Mist, trying to knock him over. Mist only stumbles back. Wreck gets back on his feet, only to be punched by Mist. He goes to punch back, but Mist dodges it, landing another punch to his jaw. Wreck grits his teeth, and kicks Mist square in the stomach, knocking him onto the floor. “So much for no more fighting today.”

He turns to Frankie, and in one swift motion snaps the metal cuffs off of her. “Huh. I’m never usually this strong,” he says to himself. “Wreck sweetie, stay focused!” Frankie yells. “Jenny is over there in the other corner, you have to get her. I’ll hold off the robot!” She jumps up into the air, flying over Databyte’s head. Conflicted, Databyte turns to aim at Frankie instead.

Wreck turns towards Jenny, only to be greeted by another punch by Mist. He staggers back briefly. They exchange a few more blows. Mist goes for another punch, but Wreck stops his fist mid-punch, flipping Mist onto his back. “Huh!” Wreck said as he admired his sudden increase in strength. He runs to Jenny, breaking off her cuffs as well. “I’m so glad you’re here, Wreck,” Jenny says.

Frankie flies over Databyte’s shots, before landing just close enough to him to snatch the Sol device from his belt. She slaps it onto her own belt, and presses the button. In a purple flash, Frankie disappears, only to now appear next to Wreck and Jenny. “Grab on!” she yells out. The two grab her arms, and she teleports outside onto the grass.

“I’ll be right back,” she said as she disappeared once more. “What is she doing?” Wreck yelled. Within seconds, she returns in another flash, this time holding a second device with a red emerald in it. She tosses the device to Wreck. “Thought you might want this,” she said cheerfully. Wreck smiled and put the device on his belt.

“You two are cute,” Jenny says, “but what now?” They look back up at the top of the hill to see Databyte and Mist sprint out of the front door. They look around and quickly spot the group standing near the bottom of the hill.

“Guess we just keep fighting,” Wreck said. Jenny nods, and aims her hands at Mist. A bubble of energy appears around him, creating a barrier that traps him in place. Databyte turns to aim at Jenny. Wreck appears to the left of Databyte, and Frankie to the right. Wreck and Frankie alternate punches as they teleport in circles around him, leaving him unable to aim long enough to shoot. Frankie teleports over his head to distract him, and Wreck reaches inside his chest machinery, tearing out a huge chunk of electronics and wires. “Really? You fell for that twice?” Wreck asks. Databyte’s eyes flicker. “SYSTEMS CRITICAL. PERFORMING… EMERGENCY… SHUTDOWN…” He collapses to the ground.

“Databyte!” Mist yells. Mist begins to shapeshift and grow larger, pushing against the edges of the forcefield as he grows into some gigantic creature. The force breaks him free, and he now towers over Wreck and Frankie. “Forget Solidus. I’m going to kill you both.”

“We got this sweetie,” Frankie says. Wreck gulps. “Yep… sure we do.”

Chapter 8

“We’ve been going in circles for almost an hour,” Shimm said. Cync stopped and sat down, defeated. Penny puts her hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay Cync, you’re doing great!” Cync shakes her head, but suddenly starts to sniff frantically. “Wait, Tracker, do you smell that? What is that?” Tracker sniffs around a few times before his nose scrunches up. “Ugh, I know that smell too well. It smells of burning electronics. Pretty common in Techtown, but out here…?” “It smells like it's coming from straight ahead,” Cync said.

The group continues on into a small clearing, where they see a pile of what appear to be scorched electronics smoldering. Strangely, the scrap pile is surrounded by frost and ice. “How is there even ice like that in a climate like this!?” Penny asks.

Cync transforms back into her natural form. Suddenly, they notice a figure standing about 20 feet away, who is facing away from them. It appears to have droopy, sideways quills. “Hey!” Cync yells out. “Did you do all this?”

The figure turns around, revealing itself to be a tall blue hedgehog. There is rage in his eyes, and his piercing glance is palpable from all the way across the field. "Hand over all of your materials," he says, his hands at his sheath, which seems to be holding a rapier. "Or I'll have to take them more forcefully."

Shimm rolls his eyes. "Hey buddy, we don't have anything worth taking! Relax." Cync takes a step forward towards the hedgehog, and puts her hand out in front of Shimm. "Don't listen to him. We don't want any more trouble. It's been a long day for all of us..." she explains.

"You think a long day is a good enough an excuse to satisfy me? You are not the only troubled ones. Hand me your supplies and materials, or I will resort to more brute-like manners." He pulled out a silver rapier. "This is your final warning."

Shimm scoffs. "Yeah, right. Penny, come on. Let's show this clown who's boss." Shimm shoves past Cync, and Penny follows somewhat hesitantly. Cync sighs, and then draws her sickle. Shimm jumps up, and goes for a high kick at the blue hedgehog.

As Shimm jumps through the air, he feels his leg suddenly stop-- the hedgehog’s arm has turned into ice, which has also encased Shimm's foot. The ice begins to travel up Shimm's body, freezing him in midair. He falls to the ground, frozen solid. Scoffing at the boy, the hedgehog stabbed his rapier into the ground. Ice spikes rose out of the ground, surrounding the rest of the crew.

"Who are you and what do you want with us?" Penny yells out. "We crashed here, we really do have nothing!" Cync adds. "Well then, you'll tell me what I need and where there are more useful places that can be raided," the hedgehog said. "Unless you don't value life."

Tracker looks down at the scrap pile again and studies it for a moment. He recognizes the circuitry as well as the Emerald shaped slot in the plastic. "Are you after the Sol emeralds...?"

"I'm not looking for those worthless trinkets, child," the hedgehog responded. "I'm here... for reasons that don't concern you. Quit the foolishness and tell me where I need to go. I needn't waste my time with the likes of you."

Penny has finally had enough, and snaps at the hedgehog. "How are we supposed to know where you need to go!?" Penny yells out in frustration. "You don't want the emeralds, you don't want us, and we already told you we crash landed here. Leave us alone and go bother someone else!" She clenches her fists tightly. "There's a prison up on the hill about a mile back where our friends were held hostage. Maybe you can go find some stupid supplies up there!! And another thing, why do you have to be so condescending and pessimistic! We don't deserve to be treated like children. All I've got from you are vague threats and stupid party tricks! Why don't you--"

Tracker wonders if Penny is having some sort of mental breakdown. But then, he notices the steam rising up from behind the hedgehog. Moments later, Shimm rises up, sopping wet from the melted ice.

"Really? You've repeated this same point several times. Either you're stalling, or you're a flat-out idiot – and I wouldn’t put either one past you. Don't get in my way again." Shimm goes for a kick to the back of the hedgehog's knees, but he doesn't as much as flinch. He turns around. "Useless. I'll let you go, for now. Cross me again and I won't be as merciful. Consider yourself lucky that I'm not killing nuisances like you." Putting his rapier away, the hedgehog starts to run away.

"Sheesh, what a jerk,” Shimm says. He walks back over to the group, the water now evaporating off of him in a flash of steam. “You like it? It's pyrokinesis. I'm able to heat up my entire body at any time," he says smugly. “I wonder what that dude is looking for?"

"These scraps look like they were some sort of device for harnessing the Sol Emeralds," Tracker said. "He's either lying about the emeralds, or he had a run in with one of the villains that took our friends.”

Suddenly, a young voice yelled, "Hey, didja say somethin' 'bout emeralds?" Electricity began to crackle across the tree tops, and they notice a black figure in the branches.

"I am so done with surprise guests today!" Cync yelled out. "If you're gonna try to threaten us, just leave us alone already, okay!"

"Or, maybe, you can tell me what you were doin' with that freak," the figure yelled. "If you have bad plans with 'em, prepare to meet the Blue Thunder."

"We were looking for our friends," Penny yelled back. "Yeah, that clown of a hedgehog threatened us about wanting to raid supplies or something,” Shimm yelled. “He wouldn't shut up about it! Good thing I was there to protect all of us," he added smugly. Penny rolled her eyes. "Could you just tell us who you are, and who he is?" Cync asked. "I'm tired of not knowing what's going on."

"He," the figure started, swinging down from the tree, "Is a freak who attacks people out of nowhere.” The figure revealed itself to be a young, brown-furred tiger wearing a short-sleeved white shirt, jean shorts, and a belt with two guns on it. “He did the same thing to me - just froze me and asked not-so-nicely where he could find supplies. I managed to convince him into going… here, apparently, but he's a creep, and I want to make sure he didn't say anything too convincing to you." The tiger didn't seem threatened at all— he was keeping his hands in his pockets.

"Well, our friends were captured and were held in some building up in the hills back there, so Penny told him to go find it," said Cync. "To tell you the truth, we're just trying to find the rest of our friends and get out of here." The tiger smirked. “A building on a hill, huh? I felt some strange energy coming from a building like that a little while ago. Couldn’ta been a coincidence.” He pauses for a moment, remembering the black fox he ran into earlier. “Wait, did you say your friends are missing?”

"Hey listen pal. You seem like my kind of cat," Shimm said, stepping in front of Cync and sticking out his hand. "How about you just tell us what's going on here so we can get on with our lives?"

"The name's Mac," he said, smiling and returning the hand shake. "Trust me, if what you say is true, then that creep is gonna be the least of your problems right now. His name is Crys, but don’t ever call him that to his face. Anyways, I've been sent on a mission to gather info about this planet, where apparently some Mobians crash landed. But I got a little sidetracked when I sensed some weird energy spikes. And ran into Crys. But, yeah, if you could help me find them, I could help you guys with whatever you guys need."

"Nice to meet ya, Mac! I'm Shimm. As a matter of fact, these guys are with the group that crashed here. We ran into them when Penny and I found one of the Sol Emeralds. All seven are on the planet, and we're trying to find them!" Penny nudges him, giving him a disapproving look. "Aaand find their friends," he added somewhat dismissively.

"Oh.... well, looks like I'm as lucky as a ladybug," said Mac grinning. "So there are more of them missing, right? I guess if you still need some help, then I'll help you."

"Excellent!" says Cync. Tracker sniffs the melted plastic and circuit boards, but is unable to pick up a scent. “That’s odd… I’m not getting anything. It’s like whatever was here just vanished into thin air.”

In a large flash, Vultro, Raven, and Lunic appear behind the group. Mac spins around and points his weapons at them. “Whoa whoa!” yells Cync. “They’re with us! Vultro, Raven! You’re safe!” Mac puts his arms down and sighs. “And who’s that?” asked Mac, pointing to Lunic.

“That’s Lunic. He’s technically one of the bad guys, but he’s going to help us out,“ Vultro said. “This is Mac,” Cync said. “He’s going to help us too.” “Great!” said Vultro. “Lunic, why don’t you tell us where the nearest Emerald is?”

Lunic pulls out a small device and tinkers with it for a moment. “Actually, it looks like Databyte and Mist are both near the base right now. Figures, they’re always hanging out when the boss’ not around.” Raven looks over his shoulder. “Where’s Metal Raven. I can take her myself.” Lunic scratches his head. “Oh yeah! She doesn’t need a device so she didn’t take one. I can’t track her with this.” Raven crosses her arms and sighs.

"Sorry. Quick question,” Mac said. “What is your plan here? To save your friends first, or to find these emerald things?” Vultro frowns. "The end goal is to get off this planet," he said. "To do that though, first we have to both save our friends and find the rest of the Sol Emeralds. Right now it's Jenny the Fox and Frankie the Bat that's missing.” Cync interjected. “What about Wreck?” Vultro stopped and turned around in confusion. “He was here when we left,” Raven said. “Well, looks like he’s missing too. As for the emeralds, Raven is one of the guardians of the Sol dimension so her not having them is really bad."

"Ah, I see. That makes sense..." Mac stared off into space for a little before pushing some of his brown hair back. "So another question... can any of you guys sense energy, or Chaos Energy, or Sol Energy or whatever?"

" Lunic has a tracker but it doesn’t work for all of them," Vultro said.

"Well, isn't today your lucky day," Mac said with a wink. He twirled around before flashing a smile. "I've been training with my master Aorki and some of my buds. Like I said, I can sense energy signatures. I can track these Emeralds down easy! Sure, all of your own energy signatures will probably get in the way a little bit, but hey, no pain, no gain, am I right?"

"Wow that's awesome!" said Cync. "So you can find Metal Raven for us then?” Vultro asked. “Absolutely!” Mac said. His eyebrow raised. “Err.. Metal who now?” Lunic’s device starts beeping and flashing. “Uh, guys…”

In a cyan flash, Solidus and Metal Raven appear behind the group. "Well if it isn’t Vultro and the gang. Ah, and Lunic too! Pathetic. My team has failed to collect the emeralds. But it doesn't matter," he said. "I will just have to take them back myself.”

Solidus is wearing the chest plate Metal Raven wore earlier, the Shoten crystal resting in its own slot in the center. Around it are the cyan and yellow Sol emeralds.

Mac tilts his head to the side. “Those energy signatures…” he says. “You’re the dude that stole the emeralds?” Solidus laughs to himself. “Your new friend needs to try to keep up, Vultro.” Vultro scowls at him. “Shut up and give us back those emeralds.” Solidus smirks. “I’m afraid that’s not going to happen.”

Chapter 9

Mist cracks his knuckles, looking down on them like they are ants. Out of nowhere, an icy beam hits him, freezing him solid. He falls over to his side. “Well that was convenient,” Jenny said. Wreck gulps. “No it’s not…” he says as his eyes widen. “What? What’s going on?” Jenny asked. Wreck turns around to see a tall blue hedgehog, recognizing the shape as the figure he encountered earlier.

“You…” Crys says, eyes twitching with rage. He closes his eyes, and two very sharp looking metallic icicles materialize in his hands. “I sorta ran into this guy a little while ago,” Wreck said, “and he was not very friendly.” Crys remains silent, and begins to sprint towards them.

Crys tosses the icicles like daggers, aiming for Wreck and Frankie. Jenny puts up her hands and blocks the icicles with her magic. Crys draws his rapier, creating another icicle in his free hand. Out of patience, the hedgehog started yelling. “I am finished explaining myself!”

Jenny uses her magic to lift the icicles Crys threw, bringing them to Wreck and Frankie. They each grab one and start running towards Crys. He stabs his rapier in the ground and creates a series of ice spikes around Jenny. Wreck and Frankie both stab at him, but he parries both with his two weapons. Wreck reaches out and grabs the icicle in Crys’ hand, but it is incredibly cold and freezes his hand to it instantly. He pulls as hard as he can, but neither Crys nor the ice lets go. Wreck stops pulling, and instead he tries to bend the icicle. It snaps like a twig.

Crys’s eyebrows raise. “What..??” he says in disbelief. Frankie stabs him in the arm while he is distracted, but this only seems to make him angrier. The icicle reforms from its broken half, and he stabs Wreck in the shoulder. He sheathes his rapier, encases both of his hands in ice, and punches Wreck and Frankie off of their feet into the mud. He plunges his hands into the mud, freezing the water within it and trapping Wreck and Frankie in the ground.

Crys kneels down in front of Wreck, holding his icicle like a knife. “Only cowards run from a fight. There’s no running now, is there?” He lifts up his arm up, and Wreck closes his eyes.

Jenny leaps onto his shoulders, and puts her glowing hands on his temples. Crys lifts his head, but before he can react his eyes gloss over. He drops the icicle, and instead smashes the ice, setting them free. “He’s very strong, quick! Teleport us into the jail cell!” she yells to Frankie. She grabs onto him, and teleports them into a cell, locking him in.

Frankie turns his head towards her. “Where are our friends?” “I… left… them…” he manages to say. “Where!?” Crys’ face is twitching, he is still trying to resist the control. “They… were… useless.” She slaps him across the face. “Directions. Coordinates. Now.” Not even he could resist the magic spell. “Clearing. Half… mile… north west,” he mumbles. “That’s enough,” Frankie said. “Let’s go.” Jenny jumps off, and the two teleport back outside. They take a moment to catch their breath.

Wreck gets up slowly. “I’m alright guys, thanks for asking!” Frankie puts her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry sweetie. That was a little too intense for me... How’s your shoulder?” “It’s not really bleeding, so it’s not too bad. Jenny, I had no idea you could do that!”

“His mind was very dark, it was tough,” she said, “But I’ve been practicing that move for years.”

Suddenly, the doors of the building swing open in a flurry of wind and ice. Crys walks out with both hands clenched. “Did you honestly think a jail cell would be enough to contain me?” he yells down at them in rage. “You’re going to pay for that ridiculous mind trick.” He freezes a slick path down the side of the hill and comes sliding down at them.

“Guys, let’s get out of here,” Frankie says. They grab on to Frankie, and she reaches to press the button on the device. Her entire arm freezes in place before she can do so, the ice spreading to Jenny and Wreck’s hands as well. Crys is standing right in front of them, and snatches the device from Frankie’s belt. “Hm. So this is what those idiots were talking about earlier,” he says as he inspects the device.

“I have an idea,” Wreck says. He reaches out with his free hand and grabs Crys’ arm. “What are you doing,” Crys asks sternly. “Probably making a very bad decision.” Wreck elbows his device, and in a red flash they disappear.

Chapter 10

“I think it’s time we stop with these games and hand over the emeralds,” Solidus says. “I see you’ve collected a few of them for me already.” Raven growls. “They don’t belong to you. They really don’t even belong to me.” “It’s okay, he’s outnumbered,” Vultro says. “And he only has two emeralds, we have three.”

In a red flash, Wreck, Frankie, Jenny, and Crys appear just feet away from the group. “Wreck!” Vultro yells out. “Crys…” Mac mumbles. “Now this is going to be interesting,” Solidus says.

“We’re going to need to team up against Solidus if we’re going to stand any chance. We need to—” Vultro freezes mid-sentence as he and the entire group become encased in ice. Crys has his hands out and looks over at Solidus. Solidus smiles. “Ah! Impressive. Metal Raven, please take care of our new friend.” Metal Raven begins to run at Crys, and Crys shoots an ice beam at her. She seems entirely unaffected and continues to run at him. He scoffs and draws his rapier.

Solidus walks up to the frozen Raven and his ghostly hand goes straight through the ice, reaching to her chest plate. One by one, he plucks out the green, silver, and blue emeralds and transfers them to his own chest plate. He looks up, only to see Shimm melting the ice around the others. He quickly turns to Wreck and pulls the red emerald out of his device as well.

Mac becomes freed from the ice, and shakes his hair dry. He looks over and sees Crys fighting with Metal Raven, and pulls out his two guns. Then he notices the last emerald in his hand, sensing its energy signature. “Oh boy,” he says. “I’m really gonna hate myself for this.” He turns and aims at Metal Raven instead. He hits her with two electric beams, shocking her and sending her to her knees. Crys kicks her to the ground, and creates ice spikes to hold her in place. “Listen, I know you hate me,” says Mac, “but if that guy gets that emerald from you we’re ALL toast.” Crys pauses, then sighs. “This changes nothing.” He turns and fires an ice beam at Solidus. Shimm turns and shoots a beam of fire. Jenny uses her magic to fire an energy beam.

Everyone gives him all that they got, but the beams just pass through him. Solidus begins to walk towards Crys. Jenny stops firing and turns to create a barrier around Crys. Solidus passes straight through it. “Press the button on the device!” Wreck yells. He looks down at the device, presses the button and disappears. Solidus also disappears in a cyan flash.

There is silence on the battlefield. Vultro looks around, and they wait for something to happen. After what seems like an eternity Solidus reappears, holding the purple emerald in his hand. “Teleporting was a bad move,” Solidus said. “I can track those devices and teleport to them instantly. Your friend is now stranded.” “He’s not our friend, dude,” Shimm says.

”No matter.” Solidus inserts the last emerald into his chest plate. There is a bright flash, and he begins to glow the colors of the seven emeralds. He begins to maniacally laugh. He slowly begins to become less and less transparent. “It’s working!” he yells. He closes his eyes and feels the energy coursing through him. Suddenly, Wreck lands a punch to his jaw. “That’s payback for earlier,” he says. Solidus turns his head back, realizing that he can be touched again. He grabs Wreck by the arm, and flips him onto his back. He turns back forward, only to be met by Raven’s fist.

Raven lands a few good punches, including an uppercut that causes Solidus to stumble back. Solidus juts his hand out and fires a rainbow-colored beam at Raven, sending her flying across the field. Raven flips over. Solidus is nearly solid now. She looks up and sees Vultro, Cync, and Wreck running at him. She gets an idea.

Raven gets back on her feet, and runs towards Solidus. She dodges another beam, and a punch as she gets close enough. She jumps up onto Solidus, gripping onto his chest plate. “Guys! Grab his arms!” she yells. Wreck grabs his left arm, and Cync and Lunic grab his right. Solidus is yelling in rage, struggling to break free. “Vultro, the chest plate!”

Vultro gets behind Solidus, jumps up, and unhooks the chest plate. Raven kicks with both feet into Solidus’ stomach, tearing off the chest plate. Soldius snarls and breaks his right hand free, yanking the Shoten crystal from the plate. He throws Wreck off of his left hand and goes for Raven. He punches her with the Shoten crystal, sending a surge of energy into her that once again knocks her off her feet. Vultro and Jenny grab his ankles and pull hard, slowing him down. He begins to turn transparent again, and the foxes lose their grip as they phase through him.

Solidus looks down at his hands and yells out in rage. “Noooo! You pests are ruining my work!” In a blinding flash, Solidus transforms. He is now floating, his fur a transparent violet color. “Now you will all truly see what this crystal is capable of.”

He flies towards Vultro and grabs him by the throat, lifting him up into the air. Vultro stares into his eyes as he struggles to break free, feeling some strange sense of familiarity that he can’t place. Did he know him somehow?

Solidus is suddenly hit with some sort of taser, stunning him and sending him down onto his knees. They look over at Tracker, who is pointing a taser device at Solidus. Vultro falls to the ground. “Not like Super Sonic, remember? So he’s not invincible,” Tracker said smugly.

“Okay then,” Vultro says as he rubs his throat. He snatches the Shoten crystal from Solidus’ hand, and everyone backs away. Solidus’ fur reverts back to its normal color. Raven gets up, takes off her own chest plate, and puts on the new one from Solidus. “She has the chest plate,” Vultro said to Jenny. “Now’s our only chance.”

As Solidus continues to revert to his ghostly form, the taser darts drop off of him. “I admire your determination,” he says as he gets back to his feet. He turns to look at Raven. “It’s a shame all three of my children will have to die.” Raven’s eyebrows raise. “What are you talking about?” Solidus chuckles. “You.” Raven clenches her fists. “My father was a grey wolf killed by Ix, you monster,” she says. “Your father,” said Solidus, “was a pathetic fennec fox who wanted nothing but to hide his precious children from each other.” Raven’s eyes are twitching with rage.

“Did you ever wonder why he would disappear for weeks on end? He was a werewolf. He had your mother convinced he was someone he was not, only to flee when he reverted to his pitiful self. Ix was only there to help me destroy that part of me. Raven, Jenny, Vultro. My children. Thanks to my teleportation of your ship to Eilaela, I finally have all of you right where I want you.”

Jenny and Vultro look at each other in disbelief. Raven can only stare blankly as she grits her teeth. “That’s. Not. True.” Solidus smirks. “You know it’s true.” Raven forcefully closes her eyes. Images of her father keep entering her mind. Him playing games with her. Teaching her to fight, how to defend herself. Him disappearing for no reason. And his face. His face! The exact face that is standing before her. How could she forget?

Vultro reaches out and touches her shoulder. She shakes her head and snaps out of it. Vultro holds out the Shoten crystal. “He’s desperate, playing with your emotions. You can do this,” he says reassuringly. He steps back and grabs Jenny’s hand. Raven smiles, the first time she has done so in a long time. She takes it and brings it near the plate. It begins to glow, pulling itself in until it forcefully snaps into place in the very center with a loud clink. There is a bright flash. The chest plate begins to spark as the colors of the emeralds begin to course through her veins. Raven falls to her knees, wincing.

“Raven!!” Vultro yells out. The energy is now coursing through her entire body, and she is barely able to take it. Slowly, she raises her head, and looks back up at Solidus. Her face is twitching. “You… will never… be… our father.” She transforms, taking on a blazing red aura and turning her fur a similar shade.

Vultro’s eyes widen. “Her Fuzion form!” he says in disbelief. Solidus’ eyes widen. “Nothing can destroy me!” he says with a hint of uncertainty in his voice. “We’ll see about that.” Raven juts her hands out, and a rainbow-colored beam shoots into Vultro and Jenny. There is an explosion of light and energy, knocking up a cloud of dust. As the dust settles, Vultro and Jenny are now flashing like a bright rainbow, their fur violet purple.

Raven winces. “This—this hurts, Vultro. I don't know how long I can hold it.” “Don't worry, this shouldn't take long!” Vultro yells back. “Oh my god! Look at us, Vultro!” Jenny says. “Raven must be channeling the Shoten crystal,” Vultro says, “Now we’re even more powerful!” Jenny smiles. “What do we do now?” “Go straight for his chest.”

Solidus snarls and looks over at Raven. He pulls out a large dagger turns to throw it at her.

As the two foxes start to move towards Solidus, time appears to slow to a near halt around them. Solidus has his hand outstretched, his blade seeming to defy gravity as it floats halfway in between him and Raven. Raven's energy beam is moving at a snail's pace toward them, and it appears as if she is very slowly turning the beam towards the blade. Wreck is for some reason on his knees, an expression of pain on his face. He notices an after image of them being left behind as they fly through the air, realizing they must be traveling at an incredible speed.

Vultro looks at Jenny, and sees she is intensely focused, her eyes locked ahead of her. He turns back forward. As they reach Solidus’ chest, it appears that they pass right through him, as others had before. Vultro and Jenny land on the ground behind Solidus, as the dirt ever so slowly begins to explode upwards from the impact. Vultro turns around to see how he possibly could have dodged the blow. As he turns to face him, however, he notices a hole in Solidus's chest, as a series of cracks beginning to very slowly web out into his body. There are shards suspended in the air behind him, slowly moving towards them.

Raven's beam is moving toward the blade, but not nearly fast enough. Vultro lets go of Jenny and starts to run towards the blade, but it is too late. The beam disconnects from them and in an instant, time reverts back to normal. Solidus suddenly shatters as if made of glass, scattering into a million tiny shards. The ground explodes into a crater where the two had landed. Raven is hit directly in the stomach by the blade. There is an explosion of energy that forcefully ejects the crystals across the battlefield, knocking her onto her back. Her aura disappears.

“Raven!!” Vultro yells out. The two foxes dart over, Wreck still on his knees nearby. Tracker gulps. “This is not what I signed up for, mate...”

The energy blast shatters the ice spikes holding Metal Raven down. She gets up, clenching her fists, and reluctantly turns to run away.

“What do we do, guys?” Jenny asks. “Whatever you do, don't remove that blade,” Vultro says. “It'll only make the bleeding worse. Wreck... are you okay?”

Wreck stands back up. “I... I... when Raven was all powered up like that, I couldn't move. It felt like my insides were being ripped out.” Vultro's ponders this for a moment, when he suddenly remembers back to Wreck's earlier encounter with Metal Raven. “Your connection with the Sol is strong, fox. Stronger than any Mobian I've ever seen.”

Vultro's eyes light up with excitement. “Wreck, that's it! Remember what Metal Raven said? About you having a connection with the Sol?” Wreck raises his eyebrows. “Yeah...?”

“Well... maybe you are somehow connected to the Sol dimension, like Raven is? It would explain why you both felt pain.” Wreck turns the opposite way. “That's insane, Vultro.” Vultro darts over in front of him.

“Wreck, don't you get what this means? If you're Sol, then maybe you can get us out of here! You could have all seven emeralds right on your chest. Surely if you have a connection, it would be worth a try?” Wreck is conflicted, his eyes still fixed into the distance. “Wreck, look at Raven... come on.”

Wreck turns around and sees Raven, passed out, the knife still embedded in her stomach. He nods his head slowly. “You're right, you're right. So what do I do?” Vultro goes over to Raven and ever so gently unhooks the charred and cracked chest plate from her. “Put this on. I’ll get the emeralds.”

Wreck reluctantly puts on the chest plate, though it is quite hot and doesn’t fit right. He sees Vultro darting back and forth, picking up the gemstones that were scattered about. Vultro hands them to Wreck one by one, and he slots them into the chest plate. He begins to feel an unusual sensation coursing through his body, as if something was flowing through it in every direction. “I don’t know if I will be strong enough,” Wreck says.

He darts back to Wreck. “If anyone besides Raven is strong enough, it’s you,” he says as he places the last emerald in Wreck’s hand. Wreck takes a deep breath and slots it in. Vultro grabs on to Raven’s hand, reaching out to Jenny with his other hand. Jenny grabs on, as does Cync, Tracker, and Frankie. Frankie reaches out to Wreck, and he grabs her hand too.

Wreck closes his eyes and focuses hard. He remembers the words Raven had said and shouts them out. “Divine Sol!” The emeralds glow faintly, repeatedly flashing as if they were a sputtering engine. The crew remains where they are.

He tries a bit louder. “Divine... Sol!” The emeralds are flashing brighter now, but nothing is happening. “It’s too far away, or I’m just too weak, I don’t know,” Wreck said in a defeated tone. Vultro’s eyebrows raise. “Wait!” he yells.

“I’ll be right back!” He darts over to the crater he created, jumps down inside for a moment, and pops back up with something in his hands. “Wreck, the Shoten Crystal! It might just give you enough power!”

Vultro darts back over to Wreck. “Tch, yeah. Maybe a little too much power. You saw what it did to Raven,” Wreck said. Frankie walks up to Wreck and turns his head towards her, smiling. “You can do it sweetie, I believe in you. You’re strong enough.” He pauses, and nods slowly. He grabs the crystal and brings it towards its slot, and just like before it snaps forcefully into place. In a bright flash, it begins to spark. Wreck’s veins begin to glow, and he falls to his knees. “It’s… it’s so hot…” he says weakly.

“Take it off, take it off!” Frankie yelled out. “Wait!” Vultro said. “Wreck, are you okay?” Wreck’s entire chest has become charred as the energy continues to course through him. His entire body is now glowing the colors of the emeralds. With great struggle, Wreck stops yelling and grits his teeth. “Yes… I’m okay. What… What do I do now.” Vulto’s eyes are wide. ”Just-- just picture where you want us to go and say the words! Just like before!”

Everyone holds hands again, and Frankie reaches out and grabs Wreck’s arm. Wreck focuses, and gets back onto his feet.

He pictures the rolling hills of South Island back on Mobius. He opens his eyes one more time to look at Frankie, and smiles. Closing his eyes again, he yells out the words with all his strength: “DIVINE... SOL!”

Suddenly, silence. Thinking he must have failed again, Wreck opens his eyes. He instead realizes they are back on Mobius. He looks around, and everyone made it with him. He looks down at his arms and his fur is a glowing white, his feet hovering slightly above the ground. His eyes roll back, and he collapses. “Wreck!” Frankie yells out. She quickly bends down, unhooks the smoldering chest plate, and throws it to the side.

Vultro is still clutching on to Raven, trying to get her to wake up when he notices they are back on Mobius. “Ha! Wreck did it!” Vultro yells out. Cync smiles. “Did you see him? He transformed! And so did you guys, that was amazing!” “It's not over yet,” Vultro says. “They are both seriously hurt.”

Suddenly a familiar, smug voice comes from behind them. "Did'ja forget about us?" Vultro looks over towards the voice. Shimmer and Penelope are standing a few feet away from the crew, smirking. "Shimm? Penny? What are you doing here?" Vultro asks. "How did you know where we were going?"

"We were right there with you, Vultro. We tracked the energy signature when Wreck teleported," Penny said. She walks over to Raven and inspects the wound. "I think I can use my power to remove the blade. Don’t know if that’s a good idea though.”

"Well maybe I can stop the bleeding using pyrokinesis. It might keep her alive long enough to get help," Shimm said. He kneels next to Raven, his hands beginning to smoke.

Penny nods and closes her eyes. She lays one of her hands flat, and then swiftly motions up with the other. Like magic, the blade flies straight upwards from Raven's body. Shimm then takes his glowing hands and places them onto the wound for a second. The two both step back.

"That should just about do it," Penny said. Shimm nods, and turns to Vultro, a big smile on his face. “You? Smiling? And doing something nice?” Vultro asks. “Yeah, well… Turns out you guys aren’t so bad after all,” Shimm says. “Let’s get Raven and Wreck to someone that can take care of them. They have some pretty nasty burns.”

Jenny walks up to Vultro and helps him onto his feet. “So… we’re brother and sister?” Vultro nods. “I can’t believe it. And Raven is our sister, too. All this time I thought I was an only child.” Jenny smiles and hugs Vultro. “Thanks for bringing me along. Being all powered up like that was so cool.”

Suddenly, a device on Tracker’s belt begins to beep and vibrate. “Ah!” he says as he picks it up. “I finally have reception again. Well lads I don’t mean to ditch you all, but it looks like Raven and Wreck are in safe hands now. Terry needs me back in Techtown urgently,” Tracker said. “It’s been quite the adventure!” he adds. He shakes Vultro’s hand and looks down at his homing device. “Till next time.” He heads off towards his own ship.

“Where’s the nearest hospital?” asked Jenny. “I know where, not far,” Vultro said. Shimm nods and helps pick up Raven. “Then there’s no time to waste.” Cync picks up the chest plate. The rest of the group picks up Wreck carefully, and they walk off towards the hospital.

On a nearby hill, Metal Raven is watching. She puts a finger on the communicator in her ear. “Mist, the emeralds are on Mobius. South Island. Meet me here immediately.” She smiles at them.

THE END… FOR NOW

Gallery

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  Vultro and Raven around the time of this story.

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  Vultro and Jenny at the time of this story.

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  Mac at the time of this story.