1,970
edits
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
Line 97: | Line 97: | ||
The entrance is faintly illuminated by the light outside, but it's hard to see very far. "Man, this is creepy," Vultro says. Frankie steps further into the darkness, before stopping dead in her tracks. "Guys, something's not right here," she whispers into the darkness. "What do you mean?" Jenny asks. "I am hearing some really weird sounds, and footsteps that aren't ours." She goes silent. "Frankie, come back, I can't see you," Vultro says. No response. "Frankie?" he asks. A second blinding flash fills the cave as the group cover their eyes. "What the...?" Vultro says as he opens his eyes again. "Hello? Frankie?" He steps forward towards where she was standing, but there is nothing there. | The entrance is faintly illuminated by the light outside, but it's hard to see very far. "Man, this is creepy," Vultro says. Frankie steps further into the darkness, before stopping dead in her tracks. "Guys, something's not right here," she whispers into the darkness. "What do you mean?" Jenny asks. "I am hearing some really weird sounds, and footsteps that aren't ours." She goes silent. "Frankie, come back, I can't see you," Vultro says. No response. "Frankie?" he asks. A second blinding flash fills the cave as the group cover their eyes. "What the...?" Vultro says as he opens his eyes again. "Hello? Frankie?" He steps forward towards where she was standing, but there is nothing there. | ||
"First Raven, now Frankie. What the hell is going on here," Jenny says. "There's a branch in the cave over there," | "First Raven, now Frankie. What the hell is going on here," Jenny says. "There's a branch in the cave over there," Cync says. "Maybe we should split up." They collect their thoughts for a moment. "Alright. Jenny, come with me," Vultro says. "Cync, go get Wreck." | ||
=== Chapter 3 === | === Chapter 3 === | ||
Line 107: | Line 107: | ||
As Raven regains her consciousness, she begins to hear a muffled voice come from behind her. Her hands are bound behind her back, and the room is almost entirely dark. She shakes her head and listens again to what the voice is saying. | As Raven regains her consciousness, she begins to hear a muffled voice come from behind her. Her hands are bound behind her back, and the room is almost entirely dark. She shakes her head and listens again to what the voice is saying. | ||
" | "...how nice of you to hand-deliver these emeralds to me," the female voice says. As she tries to free herself, she hears someone rummaging through her bag. She struggles to focus on the shadowy figure and can tell that it was now looking directly at her. | ||
"Where are the other two?" the voice says sternly. She can see it bend over and sweep the floor nearby, as she slowly starts to surmise who the figure is. Raven smirks to herself. "That's none of your business." | "Where are the other two?" the voice says sternly. There is an odd, almost robotic quality to the voice. She can see it bend over and sweep the floor nearby, as she slowly starts to surmise who the figure is. Raven smirks to herself. "That's none of your business." | ||
The figure scoffs. "Hah! Those are just a bonus anyway." It reaches out its hand and the five emeralds begin to float around it, glowing in different colors. | The figure scoffs. "Hah! Those are just a bonus anyway." It reaches out its hand and the five emeralds begin to float around it, glowing in different colors. | ||
Line 121: | Line 121: | ||
"Frankie," Raven says quietly. "I'm glad to see you." Frankie, barely awake, struggles to respond. "Mist... Raven, that's... Mist..." | "Frankie," Raven says quietly. "I'm glad to see you." Frankie, barely awake, struggles to respond. "Mist... Raven, that's... Mist..." | ||
"Speak up Frances! Something you want to tell the class?" Mist says mockingly. "What are you going to do, stop me?" Raven frowns and squints. It's dimly lit, but she can just about make out the familiar ears of Vultro in the opposite corner. She stares through the darkness at him. | "Speak up, Frances! Something you want to tell the class?" Mist says mockingly. "What are you going to do, stop me?" Raven frowns and squints. It's dimly lit, but she can just about make out the familiar ears of Vultro in the opposite corner. She stares through the darkness at him. | ||
"Whoa! A metal clone of Raven?" he bursts out. "I thought she was making that up." Raven sighed. ''Here we go again,'' she thought. Metal Raven's head snapped towards Vultro in one robotic motion. He looks over at the bag in her hands and notices an unfamiliar object poking out of it. It appears to be a lime-green crystal, with a webbing of blue cracks running through it. "Say, what's that thing?" he asks. "I've never seen a gem like that before." ''He's really hamming it up this time,'' Raven thought. | "Whoa! A metal clone of Raven?" he bursts out. "I thought she was making that up." Raven sighed. ''Here we go again,'' she thought. Metal Raven's head snapped towards Vultro in one robotic motion. He looks over at the bag in her hands and notices an unfamiliar object poking out of it. It appears to be a lime-green crystal, with a webbing of blue cracks running through it. "Say, what's that thing?" he asks. "I've never seen a gem like that before." ''He's really hamming it up this time,'' Raven thought. | ||
Line 131: | Line 131: | ||
Metal Raven stifles a laugh. Mist looks over to Metal Raven, and pauses. "Behind you!" he yells in not-Frankie's voice. Jenny flips over Metal Raven's shoulder, and swiftly snatches the mysterious crystal from Raven's bag. "How dare you make fun of my friends like that!" Jenny says. Metal Raven growls and leaps towards Jenny at a blinding speed. "Vultro, catch!" She quickly tosses the crystal towards Vultro before being pinned against the wall by Metal Raven's lunge. | Metal Raven stifles a laugh. Mist looks over to Metal Raven, and pauses. "Behind you!" he yells in not-Frankie's voice. Jenny flips over Metal Raven's shoulder, and swiftly snatches the mysterious crystal from Raven's bag. "How dare you make fun of my friends like that!" Jenny says. Metal Raven growls and leaps towards Jenny at a blinding speed. "Vultro, catch!" She quickly tosses the crystal towards Vultro before being pinned against the wall by Metal Raven's lunge. | ||
Vultro jumps and catches the gem out of the air in his left hand. As he looks down at it in his hands, still | Vultro jumps and catches the gem out of the air in his left hand. "Ooh, watch out!" Mist says dismissively. As he looks down at it in his hands, still full of rage, it begins to glow green. He begins to feel a surge of energy enter his body. "What's happening?" he asks as he feels more and more energy flow through him. "Uh oh..." Mist muttered. Suddenly, a brilliant light fills the cave, sending a shock wave through the room. Everyone except for him is knocked off of their feet. As the light fades, Vultro is now floating in the air, his fur a shining purple color. | ||
He looks down in awe at his transformation and then looks back at the crystal with a big smile on his face. "Whoa!" he yells. "Guys! Guys! I'm just like Super Sonic! Ha ha, look at me! What the heck is this thing?" He turns around, only to be met by a sucker punch straight to the gut. "Super Sonic, you are not..." a menacing voice says as he falls to the floor. | He looks down in awe at his transformation and then looks back at the crystal with a big smile on his face. "Whoa!" he yells. "Guys! Guys! I'm just like Super Sonic! Ha ha, look at me! What the heck is this thing?" He turns around, only to be met by a sucker punch straight to the gut. "Super Sonic, you are not..." a menacing voice says as he falls to the floor. | ||
Line 137: | Line 137: | ||
Vultro drops the crystal, and his fur fades back to normal color. The mysterious figure picks up the crystal and inspects it, and Vultro just barely manages to look up at him. The figure appears to have both the angular face of a wolf, and the distinct large ears of a Fennec fox. He stands as tall as Raven, with a mixture of brown and gray fur. | Vultro drops the crystal, and his fur fades back to normal color. The mysterious figure picks up the crystal and inspects it, and Vultro just barely manages to look up at him. The figure appears to have both the angular face of a wolf, and the distinct large ears of a Fennec fox. He stands as tall as Raven, with a mixture of brown and gray fur. | ||
As Vultro looks at him longer, he also notices that he is translucent, and his feet hovered slightly off the ground. "Gah, I almost went mad without this on me. Makes me wonder how I went so long without it." He turned to Metal Raven and gave her a nod. She | As Vultro looks at him longer, he also notices that he is translucent, and his feet hovered slightly off the ground. "Gah, I almost went mad without this on me. Makes me wonder how I went so long without it." He turned to Metal Raven and gave her a nod. She shifts her focus from Jenny, walking over to the wolf. She hands the yellow Sol emerald to him, and he inserts it into a device on his belt. | ||
Jenny, now | Jenny, now unguarded, suddenly gets a tap on her shoulder. She jumps and turns around to see Wreck standing next to her. He signals her to stay quiet, and points towards Mist in some sort of rehearsed code. She nods and smirks as he tiptoes towards Mist. He glances at Jenny and gives her a hand signal. He suddenly dashes towards Mist, and Jenny dives towards him as well. Mist turns to block Jenny, and Wreck gets behind him to sweep his legs out from under him. Metal Raven snaps towards them, letting out a strange mixture of a growl and screech. The ground begins to rumble as dust falls from the cave ceiling. | ||
Wreck | Jenny turns back towards Metal Raven, and Wreck turns to the ghostly wolf. "You want some too?" He throws a punch at the wolf, only for his hand to go right through him as he tumbles to the floor. "Useless," the wolf scoffed as he grabs Vultro by the neck. He taps the device on his belt and the two instantly vanish in a flash of yellow light. Metal Raven's head twitches as a large falling rock hits her. She snarls, turning towards Raven and lunging at her. She nods to Mist, who grabs onto her shoulder. All three then disappear in a flash of blue light. | ||
"Raven!" Jenny yelled. "They have Raven, Vultro, and now the emeralds," Wreck says | "Raven!" Jenny yelled. "They have Raven, Vultro, and now the emeralds," Wreck says. He turns his attention to Frankie, who is still collapsed on the floor. "Wreck? Wreck!" Cyncatia's voice echoes. She stumbles into the room, out of breath. "What... what happened?" | ||
"Raven and Vultro were taken," Jenny said. "We have to get out of this cave," Wreck says as | "Raven and Vultro were taken," Jenny said. "We have to get out of this cave," Wreck says as the shaking becomes more violent. He turns and kneels down to untie Frankie. "It's okay Frankie, you're safe now." | ||
=== Chapter 4 === | |||
"ROBOTNIK CONTROL PROTOCOL: DEACTIVATED. INTERNAL DECISION MATRIX: ONLINE." This was a message the artificial mind of E-112 Sigma did not consider possible, until now. Sigma has done it, it has broken free. It had received encoded transmissions from E-102 Gamma about the possibility of breaking the Robotnik protocol, but it seemed improbable based on Sigma's hardware. Yet it theorized that a backdoor in the security protocol could override Robotnik's control. Thus, it began running the task in secret. | |||
But now, a more pressing issue rested on the machine's mind: what is its purpose, if not to serve Dr. Robotnik? Why had it placed this task on its processor in the first place? The machine spent countless hours in standby, considering its purpose. That was until it detected movement in its secluded room, putting it on alert. | |||
It detected a non-humanoid, artificial being, but it did not register as hostile. "IDENTIFY YOURSELF," Sigma said. "Whoa, easy," the monotone voice said. "My name is Mist. And you...?" The machine had planned for this moment, its first true decision since its original disobedience. No longer was it a product of Robotnik's empire. It had crafted a new name for itself. "DATABYTE EGG." | |||
Vultro awakened in a cold stone room, with only a small opening serving as a window. "Let me out of here!" he yelled in frustration. A shrill male voice returned through the wall. "Will you just shut up already? You’re not getting out!" A different, much more robotic voice followed. “THE BOSS WON’T BE TOO HAPPY IF YOU KEEP SLACKING, LUNIC.” "And what do you do exactly, besides waste energy?" the voice responds. A cyan flash fills the room through the small window. “Databyte! Here. Take the wolf and lock her up,” Metal Raven says. “HMPH. SPEAKING OF SLACKING, WHY DO I ALWAYS DO THE HARD WORK.“ “Yeah yeah, just shut up!" the shrill voice responded. "I'm trying to work here.” | |||
A huge, hulking robot stomps its way over to the cell door of the next room over. Vultro could see just enough to make out the red and black armor covering its body. ''Probably Dr. Eggman’s design...'' Vultro thought to himself. Databyte seemed to struggle with the cell door, which didn't budge. After a moment, it turned towards Vultro's cell, pushing a spot to reveal a hidden stone door. Databyte turns, pauses for a moment, then continues. "SATISFACTORY," it said as it throws Raven into the cell. “DON’T GET ANY UNUSUAL IDEAS,” the robot says as it slams the door shut. Raven slouches 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.” | |||
"Huh," Raven chuckled to herself. "What?" “Blaze discovered recently that the emeralds can be used tunnel through the Sol dimension to create a wormhole. I guess Metal Raven found that out too." Vultro nodded. "Huh," he said. "I didn't know it was possible with just one," she added. Vultro thought hard for a moment. | |||
"Wait... Raven? Would you be able to do that with just one?" "I dunno, maybe. What does it matter," she mumbled. Vultro turned to show his satchel, slightly opened. "The green emerald," he said quietly. "Only problem is, my hands are tied. I can't reach it." Raven smirked, turning away from Vultro. Her long bushy tail flipped the bag open, revealing the green Sol Emerald sitting right on top. She snatches it with her tail, placing it in her bound hands. "Betcha didn't think of that," she said smugly. | |||
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 quills from his face. “I’m busy! Why don’t you ask the boss?” | |||
Solidus is sitting in front of some type of hologram, 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 screeched. “That wolf is here too! Make sure they don't find a way out!” | |||
Solidus snarls. "How dare you!" he yells as he stomps over to Metal Raven. He turns, continuing past her until he reaches the small cell window. He sees Raven standing there, the green emerald hidden behind her back. 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.” He walks over and strokes Lunic's cheek with his sharp claw. Lunic gulps. "Still... your Sol teleporter works. I'll give you that... Get back to work," he said as he dropped his hand. | |||
“I mean, if that's all he's good for...” Mist said under his breath. Lunic looks up at Mist. “Mist, remind me what you’ve done so far?” "I captured the bat." "Oh really? Where is she?" Solidus stomped loudly. “Everyone shut up!” Silence filled the room. “Listen. Yes, the prisoners escaped. But because of ''you'' idiots!” | |||
“Especially you, Databyte!” He points to the robot. “You put them in the same room! Why?” Databyte stared blankly. "THE DOOR WAS LODGED." "Lodged. Lodged. Right, I suppose it was ''lodged'' between your two remaining brain cells." He turned to Metal Ravel “And you... don’t you know how powerful that wolf is? You let Databyte handle her unsupervised? 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? Shouldn't you punish us for our ''clear'' insubordination?” Databyte nods in agreement. ”BESIDES,” Databyte says, “YOUR TIRADE WAS RUINED BY YOUR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE ON VOCABULARY.” | |||
Lunic burst out laughing, with Mist following soon after. Solidus glances at them furiously, and grabs a hold of Metal Raven's chest plate. “Give me that!” he snaps. He puts it on, slams the Shoten Crystal into it, 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 a black device to Solidus along with a few others exactly like it. “Credit where it's due,” Solidus said as he nodded to Lunic. "You're not entirely useless." "Take one of these, and an emerald each. You can teleport when needed. Meet back here when you find them... alive.” Solidus glanced at Databyte and Mist. “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. He 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... but I better go check it out anyways.” | |||
[[Category:Stories]] | [[Category:Stories]] |