This is a complete rewrite of Roleplay:Planet Eilaela, meant to start from scratch and rework some of the clunkier writing that had been held over in the original version.
The Crew
A fennec fox and the tallest and skinniest among his friends. He has trademark large ears, cream colored fur, and spiky white hair. His sneakers are blue and red, and he usually wears white gloves. He does not always think about the consequences of his actions, which often lands him in trouble.
Raven is a tall gray wolf born in the Sol dimension. She has a natural connection to the Sol Emeralds. She has a light gray muzzle, blue plated armor, and has specially crafted black combat boots. A fierce warrior with a coarse personality, Raven usually only shows her inner kindness to her closest friends, and very rarely at that.
As an assistant guardian of the Sol dimension, she is sometimes allowed possession of the Sol Emeralds.
Wreck is a muscular black fox with slicked spiky hair, blonde chest fur, and golden yellow eyes. He usually wears white boots and matching gloves. He is the strongest of the crew, and his brute strength can take on most foes that he encounters. He is dating Frankie the Bat, and agreed to come along on the journey with the promise of some sort of surprise from her when they arrive.
Wreck met Vultro three years prior to this story, on an adventure called The Secret of Robots.
Frances “Frankie” the Bat is a skinny red bat with brown eyes, yellow and purple boots, brown gloves, and a light blue tank top and bandana. She is the girlfriend of Wreck and traveled with him on this trip with the idea of bringing him on a surprise romantic date on an exotic planet. Her flight abilities make her a useful addition to the team, along with her speed and agility while in the air.
She also has heightened hearing and can hear sounds from a much further distance than the rest of the team.
Cyncatia “Cync” the Cat is a light blue cat and the newest friend of Vultro. She has long curly brown hair with pink highlights, green eyes, and wears a light blue tank top with black shorts. Cync met Vultro shortly before the events of this story, and they became quick friends.
She has a unique shapeshifting ability that enables her to take the form of many creatures, including her friends and enemies.
Jennifer “Jenny” the Fox is an arctic fox from Mobius. She is similar in size to Vultro, sporting platinum-blue fur, a bushy tail, and purple gloves and clothing. She is skinny and fast like Vultro too, being able to outrun many of her foes. She never knew her father, but she was extensively trained by her mother in Chaos magic as she grew up.
She can cast spells using Chaos energy, some even without possession of a Chaos Emerald.
Story
Chapter 1
Whack. Once again, Raven hit the training dummy with enough force that a real enemy would have hit the opposite wall. She was only fifteen years old, yet the fierce combat training required of her made her stronger than many twice her age. For years, she would spend her days at school, and her nights on the training grounds. She wanted nothing more than to be a famed Sol Guardian, like her idol Blaze the Cat. How could she ever rest if she wanted any chance of being like her?
Every once in a while, she had to admit that it was nice to pop back over to Earth. It was quiet, grounded. Less exciting in some ways, but uniquely comforting in others. Lest she forget, a helpless little fox named Vultro also lived on Earth. There was no way that she was going to let him go more than a few days without checking on him.
Though she liked to act tough and pretend that all that "emotion" stuff didn't matter, deep down she really valued the friendship she had with Vultro. She didn't have many friends in this life. Friendship was what made the sleepless nights of training worth it.
Vultro seemed unusually excited today as she strolled into his little cave. "Hey, Vultro. What's up?" she said as she sat on a large rock. "Well... I have an idea. A really cool idea." She braced herself for whatever he was about to reveal. "Hit me with it, bud." Vultro's wide and somewhat awkward smile grew. "I want to go to space!" Raven took a moment to process this statement. She cleared her throat. "Space? Like, outer space?" Vultro nodded. "Yeah!" He scurried over to her side. "I want to go to space, and I want to build my own spaceship too!" Despite wanting to roll her eyes, she just stared at Vultro and blinked. "Yeah... yeah, you should. Could be cool." She doubted if a thirteen-year-old could even draw a spaceship, let alone build one. Yet alone build a working one. But she would never shoot down something Vultro was this excited about, so she let it slide.
"I'm gonna go to Techtown, I'm gonna find an engineer, and I'm going to do it." Raven let out a chuckle. "Sounds great." Vultro smiled. "Yeah! I'm headed there this afternoon!" Raven returned his smile, something she was trying to be better about.
That was three years ago, Raven thought to herself. She could not believe that she was now sitting on the very ship Vultro had dreamed of making that day. Not only that, but the damn thing was hurdling through space without a single problem... at least so far.
"Alright guys. We should be arriving at Ethos within the hour!" Vultro said. Wreck sighed to himself. "Finally." Despite Vultro's giddiness, the voice was grating to his ears. "Frankie," he mumbles as he turns to his partner, "Now will you tell me what I'm doing here?" Frankie chuckles. "Just a bit longer, sweetie." Wreck rolls his eyes and leans back in his chair, throwing his arms up behind his head.
Cyncatia is standing next to Vultro, looking out the front window of the ship. Her triangular ears twitched as she stared out into the vast emptiness. Finally, Vultro's words register with her. "Vultro, didn't you just say we're almost there? At Ethos?" Vultro looks down at the dashboard, only to look up again in concern. He thumps on one of the radar displays with his finger. "What the..."
"What's going on?" she asks. Vultro points to the radar scanner. "The radar is saying Ethos is right there in front of us... but it's not. I looked away for a minute, now it's gone." Cyncatia stares at the radar for a moment. "How strange," she says. The ship begins to shake, and she looks back out the window. As if out of nowhere, the horizon is now completely filled by a strange-looking, green and brown planet. "Vultro!" she yells as a fireball begins to form around the ship.
Raven, ears perked, jumps out of her chair. "Vultro, how did you miss that giant planet? It's a planet!" Vultro is looking around frantically at his instruments. "It's not on the radar Raven, it wasn't even there a minute ago! Ask Cync!" Raven exchanged a concerned frown with Cync, who could only nod silently. Raven calmly turned back to her seat, throwing down her bag.
She fiddles around in the bag for a moment and looks up again. "Look, I have the Sol emeralds," she admits. "Tell me right now. Are we crashing?" Vultro continues to fiddle with the landing controls, trying to prepare the ship for a proper landing. "Vultro Zeridia!" she barks. "Tell. Me. Right. Now. Are we going to crash?" "Yes! I mean, probably!" he snaps back after a beat. "I can't get the landing sequence to activate!" he yells. Vultro shut his eyes, full of fear and regret for bringing his friends along to die. I guess this is it... he thinks as he awaits the inevitable.
Chapter 2
Jenara has always been incredibly interested in the world of magic. Her mother, a very powerful sorceress fox, would teach her little spells and incantations every weekend.
The most fascinating spells were of Chaos Magic, the magic harnessed from Chaos Emeralds. Of course, her mother was never important enough to be allowed physical access to the Emeralds. But, she practiced in a lesser-known art of Chaos magic, relying instead on the passive exertion of energy from the Emeralds into the surrounding world. Jenny would ask every week, but the answer was always the same. "Pleeeeeease, mom?" "No. It's too dangerous, honey." This went on for what seemed like years, with her always getting the same response. Eventually, she stopped asking altogether.
One time, the week of her twelfth birthday, her mother sat her down and smiled at her. "It's time," she said. Jenny's eyes lit up, knowing exactly what she meant. Her mom sits down behind her, holding her arm up. "Stick out your pointer finger." Jenny did so, and her mother began to guide her arm into a strange series of arcs. A bubble-like purple shield appeared around them. "It's a protection spell," she said quietly. "Your first taste of Chaos magic." Jenny giggled. "I hope you never need to use it. But..." She had a hint of concern to her voice, though she tried her best to mask it behind a smile. "Well, it's about time you learned."
As she went to smile back at her mother, a loud noise snapped Jenny out of her daydream.
She slowly opens her eyes to see Raven diving into her seat, strapping herself in and securing her bag. Wreck straightens up in his seat and checks his seatbelt, looking over to make sure Frankie is safe. It takes only a few moments to figure out what's happening. We're crashing. As if her mother was still behind her, her arms begin to form a magic symbol in the air. A purple bubble expands to cover the entire ship, as the ship plummets towards a murky body of water.
There is a blinding flash of light, paired with an ear-shattering explosion. Ship parts were scattered high into the air, raining down like tiny meteors. Miraculously, Jenny's spell seems to protect everyone on board, plunging them into the swampy water.
Raven and Cyncatia are the first to surface, the latter surfacing in the form of a dolphin. "Vultro? Where's Vultro! He can't swim!" Vultro's hands barely break the surface, thrashing towards Cyncatia. He scurries onto her back, coughing up water. "Th-- thank you, Cync." Raven looks around for the rest of the crew. "Where is everyone else?"
A short distance away, Wreck and Frankie both submerge from the swamp. "Yuck, so much for a surprise date..." Frankie said under her breath. Wreck blinks and shakes his head. "This was your idea of a date?" Frankie frowns. "We were supposed to be going to-- You know what sweetie, we've got more important things to worry about right now!"
"Where are we?" Cyncatia asks as she scans her surroundings. There are low trees, slippery rocks, and lots of murky swamp water. She notices Vultro staring at what's left of the ship. "Wherever we are, our way out of here is... busted," he said. "So much for a warm Ethos welcome," Wreck shouted as he paddled over. "This isn't Ethos," Raven said. "I have no idea what this place is," Vultro added.
Jenny is the last to surface, joining the rest of the group. She takes a moment to catch her breath. "I... uh... I hope everyone is okay." She tries to catch her breath as she treads nearby. "I think so," Raven says quietly. "It's a miracle there was enough energy to cast that spell," Jenny said. Raven looks down at her now soaked bag, still slightly open, and her eyes go wide. "Where is it?" she yells as she rummages through the bag. "Where's what?" Jenny asks. "The silver emerald!" She dives under the water, but the murky swamp water stings her eyes. She resurfaces, coughing, and spins in circles trying to find it. She yells in frustration. "Gah! The silver Sol Emerald is gone!"
After a few deep breaths, she grits her teeth. She collects her thoughts enough to tread over to Vultro. "I knew I shouldn't have brought these." She rummages in the bag and pulls out the green emerald. "Vultro, this place gives me bad vibes. I want you to hold on to this until we get the silver emerald back." Vultro's concerned expression intensified. "Wouldn't it be more safe with you?" he asked. "Like I said, I just have a bad feeling. If something happens to me or this bag, then they'll all be gone." Vultro nods, placing the emerald in his pouch. He puts his hand on Raven's shoulder. "First, we have to try and fix the ship. Then, we'll find the emerald. I promise." Raven nods silently and sighs.
Vultro and Cync turn around, heading towards dry land. He climbs off and surveys the area. Even on land, there's nothing but trees and muddy pathways in every direction. He pauses to think. Suddenly, the group is disoriented by a blinding flash. "Wh-What was that?" Vultro asks. Wreck gulps nervously. Vultro looks at the group and notices something missing. After a moment, it registers. "Raven? Raven!" he yells. "Where did Raven go?"
"She was right here next to us!" Cyncatia said as she spun around. "How did she disappear?" Vultro shakes his head. "I don't know." Suddenly, a distant scream echoes through the forest. "Raven?" Vultro yells. "That was definitely Raven's voice!" In a panic, he turns to Frankie. "Where that scream came from?" he asked. Frankie closes her eyes and focuses. "That way," she says, pointing towards a muddy path.
The group heads in the direction of the scream. They approach a cliff face, with a large cave opening in front of them. "I hate to say it... but if I had to guess, the echoes of the scream mean... she's in there," Frankie says. Vultro shakes his head in disbelief. "Alright. Wreck, you stay out here and stand guard." He nods silently. "We'll be right back." Frankie, Vultro, and Jenny enter the cave. "Uhh, I'm gonna stay here with Wreck," Cync says as she begins to transform back. There seemed to be no objection.
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... 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.
"What the hell is going on here," Jenny says. "There's a branch in the cave up ahead," Vultro says. "Maybe we should split up." They collect their thoughts for a moment. They head back to the entrance of the cave, only to bump into Wreck and Cync. "What happened," Wreck said angrily. "Frankie... she's gone too." Wreck clenched his fists tight, silent with anger. He looks back to Vultro. "Well... what's the play?"
Chapter 3
"Frances Roslin the Bat." That's what it said on her report card, but no one called her that except for her parents. Everyone she knew called her Frankie. The daughter of the rich Cyrus and Elena Roslin, she lived a pretty sheltered and quiet childhood. She would never be allowed to stay out late, or to stay over at her friend's place. Most of her days would be spent studying at the library, just to have an escape from home.
... MORE BACKGROUND STUFF ...
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. 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."
"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.
This all but confirmed Raven's suspicions. "Metal Raven," she says. The light of the emeralds reveals a shiny metallic face staring back at her, a face that looked eerily similar to her own. It had an uncanny, odd quality to it that made Raven shiver every time she saw it. The twisted grin on its face was something she thought a robot wasn't even capable of.
"What are you doing here? What is this place?" Raven asks. Metal Raven ignores her questions, placing the emeralds back in the bag. "The Sol Emeralds could be of some use yet, even just these five. We can use their energy to amplify the Shoten crystal."
"Shoten... crystal?" Raven whispers to herself. A loud rumbling occurs that shakes the entire cave. A cold, emotionless male voice comes from the darkness nearby. "Metal Raven, I've secured another prisoner. My sensors show volcanic activity is starting. We may want to evacuate." Metal Raven scoffed in agreement. "Tch. Yeah, the boss wouldn't like the prisoners dead. Not yet." Frankie appears out of the darkness, being thrown to the ground by the unknown figure.
"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. "Yes. Hello!" the figure waved. "I'm Mist the Morph. 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. Her eyes widen as 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. He'd better have a plan, 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.
Mist chuckles to himself, stepping forward into the dim light. He reveals himself to be a strange, featureless creature with pale grey skin. Even without visible eyes on his face, Vultro could feel his glare. "Do you really think we'd tell you anything about that crystal?" He pauses and attempts what Vultro assumes is a smirk. "You should have heard her before," he said as he pointed over his shoulder at Frankie.
The creature morphs into an exact copy of Frankie, down to her large bat ears. "Let me go!! Just wait until my friends find you! You're done for!" he says as he closely mimics Frankie's voice. Mist laughs to himself. Vultro's eye begins to twitch in anger.
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. She tries to throw the gem to Vultro, but she is slammed against the wall by Metal Raven's lunge, dropping it instead.
Vultro dashes over, picking up the gem before anyone else could react. "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 raspy voice says as he falls to the floor.
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. Begrudgingly, 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 back on her feet, 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, causing Metal Raven to miss her lunge and hit the nearby wall.
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 grabbing her by the arm. She nods to Mist, who grabs onto her shoulder as well. All three then disappear in a flash of blue light.
"Raven!" Jenny yelled. "Now they have Raven, Vultro, and the emeralds!" Wreck yells. 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," Wreck said. "We have to get out of this cave," he 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. Yes, 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. Upgraded security protocols would surely not allow it. Yet, it theorized that a bug in the security system could override Robotnik's control. Thus, it began running calculations 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. Weeks passed without the robot budging. 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 immediately hostile. "IDENTIFY YOURSELF," Sigma said as it raised its arm cannon. "Whoa, easy big guy," the monotone voice said. "My name is Mist the Morph. And you...?" The intruder's stance appeared non-threatening, thus the robot did not engage. The machine had planned for this kind of 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, one that it intended to make known. "DATABYTE EGG."
Vultro awakened in a cold stone room, with only a small opening serving as a window. The room was almost entirely white, though through the window he could make out the faded text on the opposite wall: SOUTHERN EILAELA RESEARCH FACILITY. "Let me out of here!" he yells in frustration. A shrill male voice returned through the wall. "Will you just shut up? 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.”
"Wait!" Metal Raven said. She stopped Databyte, walking around the back of Raven. She unhooked Raven's chest plate, one designed to harness the Sol Emeralds. "I'll be taking that," she said as she yanked it off. Metal Raven had her own chest plate, though curiously it had an extra slot in its center. "Go ahead," Metal Raven said.
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. He looked closer, and was just able to make out the embossed symbol on its shoulder plate: the Greek letter "Sigma." The robot seemed to struggle with the cell door, which didn't budge. After a moment of struggle, it turned towards Vultro's cell, pushing a small spot to reveal a hidden stone door. It pauses for a moment, then continues towards the open door. "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 now stands up. “We'll get out of here Raven, I promise.”
"Huh," Raven chuckled to herself, staring at the floor. "What?" Vultro asked. “Blaze... she discovered recently that the emeralds can be used tunnel through the Sol dimension. A wormhole. I guess Metal Raven found that out too." Vultro nodded. "Huh," he said, mirroring Raven's response. "I didn't know it was possible with just one," she explained. 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. This got Raven's attention. "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, and she started to dig through it. "Ugh, I can't see what I'm doing." "It's under the communicator!" Vultro added unhelpfully. "I think I got it," she said as she pulled her tail out. Unfortunately, the communicator flies out and hits the ground with a loud metal clang. Vultro winced, but then notices that Raven successfully grabbed the emerald. "Betcha didn't think of that," she whispered 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 looks up, brushing the mess of quills from his face. “Me...? 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. “Because that’s not my job, you idiots,” he says without turning around. “You’re the idiot!” Metal screeched. “The wolf is here too! She's dangerous!”
Solidus snarls, jumping to his feet. "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. He slams on the hidden door latch, but it's already too late. “Divine... Sol!”
A green flash fills the room, and the two are whisked away. Solidus bangs on the stone wall and stomps back to the group, teeth bared. “What?” Metal Raven asks. Solidus grits his teeth. “The prisoners. They. Escaped.”
“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 nervously. "Still... the Sol teleporter works. I'll give you that much. 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," he responded. "Oh really? Where is she?" Solidus slammed on Lunic's workbench, making him drop his tools. “Everyone shut up!” Silence now filled the room. “Listen. Yes, the prisoners escaped. Not because of me, because of you!”
“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." "I DO NOT HAVE--" Mist puts his hand up, signalling Databyte to stop. Soldius then pointed to Metal Raven. “And you... don’t you know how powerful that wolf is? You didn't take all their belongings? 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... didn't you bring the fox in? Shouldn't you punish us for our clear insubordination?” Databyte nods in agreement. ”BESIDES,” Databyte says, “YOUR TIRADE WAS INTERRUPTED BY YOUR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE ON VOCABULARY.”
Mist let out a chuckle, with Lunic following shortly 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?!?” Solidus' voice was now booming. Lunic gulps. “Its power is incredible, and once I get the last Sol Emeralds the combination will be 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. “That means 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. She also straps on Raven's chest plate, replacing the one Solidus stole.
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.”
Chapter 5
METAL RAVEN BACKSTORY HERE
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Raven and Vultro appear in a bright flash, tumbling down through the tree tops until they hit the ground with a loud thud. They get back up, dusting themselves off. Vultro looks around, and smiles at Raven. “Wow... it actually worked! We escaped!” Their hands now free, Vultro jumps up to hug Raven. She returns the hug for a moment, quickly shaking her head. “Come on! Let’s find the others,” she says. Raven and Vultro make their way to the nearby cliff edge. Looking down, they see Cync and Frankie, who seem to be near the crash site.
“Hey guys! Up here!” she yells at them. Frankie's ears perk up, looking over and smiling when she recognizes the voices. She leaps up into the air, flying over to them. “Vultro! Raven!" she said as she lowered her hands to them. They both grab on, and Frankie glides over to the crash site. "I’m so glad you guys are safe," she said as they landed. "Cync is okay, but Wreck went to try and find you."
“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!” "Vultro--", Frankie said again. "Frankie, where's Jenny?" Raven asked as she stared at the group. Frankie takes Vultro’s hand. “I was trying to tell you. We don’t know,” she said. “Mist found us, 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. "What is it?" Vultro asks. “Wreck!!” 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? Huh? What are you talking about?" The robot ignored his question. "Wreck, isn't it?" Wreck tilted his head, suddenly recognizing the robot. "Hey wait... I know you! From the cave.” Metal Raven notices Frankie and the crew land nearby. Without hesitation, she leaps over to Frankie and grabs her by the arm.
“If you won’t listen to me, maybe taking your girlfriend... again... will make you reconsider,” she said. “You put her down,” Wreck said. Frankie is hitting Metal Raven with her free hand, but she doesn't so much as flinch as the hits reverberate on her metal skin. 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 high kicks Metal Raven’s jaw.
Wreck goes in for a punch as well, but Metal Raven dodges, and kicks him in the shins. He falls to the ground. He turns and yells towards the crash site. “Cync, get over here! We need help!”
Moments later, Cync glides through the bushes, in the form of a hawk. Metal Raven smirks, and disappears in a cyan flash. She appears below Cync, who tries to dodge but gets grabbed by the foot, and thrown 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.
Once again, Metal Raven let out that ear-splitting mixture of a growl and a robotic screech. “Fools. Turns out I got your little friend after all.” Cync and Raven are running at her, but it’s too late. In a cyan flash she disappears, taking Frankie with her. “Frankie!” Wreck yells out. “We have to go after her!” Raven did not respond. She pauses to think. "No. I need that silver emerald. Maybe if we can find it, we can figure out what the hell is going on here and stop these repeated attacks." "But what about Frankie?" Wreck asked. "The more emeralds we have, the easier it might be to sense where the others are. And the easier it would be to defeat whoever these kidnappers are."
"So you're saying we need to find your stupid emerald instead of saving Frankie?" Raven grabbed Wreck by the collar. "Wreck, I am not going to let anything happen to Frankie. Nothing. But this is not just some stupid emerald. We HAVE to find it if we stand any chance of fighting back." She let go of Wreck, who was now glaring angrily at her. After a moment, he sighs in acceptance. "Alright. Where to?"
They decide to make their way back to the crash site. Along the way, they notice a clearing that they had not seen before. "Was that... there before?" Vultro asked. Wreck shrugged. At the edge of the clearing, they notice a red hedgehog and a pink hedgehog, who appear to be standing over something. Raven grits her teeth, now on guard.
“I can't believe we found a Sol Emerald!” the red hedgehog said. “You think the others are here too?” The pink hedgehog nodded her head. “Let’s keep searching. Someone or something had to have brought them here.”
“Give me that Sol Emerald right now!” Raven roars at them. They jump and both turn around. “Wh--why should I?” asked the red hedgehog. “We need these for research on the Sol dimension. We found it fair and square.” Raven scoffed. “The Sol dimension...? I'm the guardian of the Sol dimension!"
The pink hedgehog glances at Raven's belt and notices the green emerald. She pauses for a moment to think. "Say, I thought Blaze was the Sol guardian?" she asks innocently. 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 you help us locate the other emeralds. Deal?”
The pink hedgehog reaches her hand out to shake. Raven gives a disapproving look to Vultro, who nods for her to go ahead. She reluctantly shakes hands with her. “When we need it, you'll give it back,” the red hedgehog said. “Understood?”
Raven ignores him, clearly not intending to hold up her end of the bargain. The red hedgehog hands over the silver Sol Emerald. Raven adds the stone to her belt, next to the green one she took from Vultro. "What I really need is my chest plate back," she said. "Metal Raven took it from me."
“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. “I'm Vultro the Fox." 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 nothin' better to do anyways.” Penny elbows him. “Ow!” he says. She turns to Vultro. “Don’t worry Vultro, we’ll find your friends and the emeralds. Let’s do this!”
"I have an idea," Cync says. She slowly transforms into a the form of a yellow blood hound, complete with floppy ears and a fancy looking utility belt. "Tracker," Vultro said with a smile. Cync returns the smile, answering in the voice of their old friend. "You bet!" She points her snout into the air and begins sniffing. After a moment, she points away from the building. “Yeah. I definitely think I smell something that way. A fox... maybe Jenny?”
Raven holds her head up and begins to sniff as well. “Well... I smell metal. I know a Metal Raven when I smell one, and we need the find the other emeralds.” Cync crosses her arms. “Let’s split up,” Vultro says. “We can cover more ground that way.” Wreck could only chuckle. "Yeah, that's worked so well for us this far..." Raven heads west towards the stone building, taking Wreck and Vultro with her. Cync starts to head the opposite direction, leaving Shimm and Penny standing there. Shimm looks over to Penny, who shrugs. They decide to follow Cync, and head into the nearby bushes after her. "Shouldn't one of us go with Cync?" Wreck asked. "There's no time," Raven said. "We have to get the rest of the emeralds. I'm sure she'll be fine."