Shadows of the Future
By Chaos Theory T. Echidna
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Okay, before you trash me on this, I have to explain a few things. First of all, while I HAVE played some of the games (the Genesis ones), I have never seen any of the cartoons. So my understanding of things like the Freedom Fighters, what Knothole Village looks like, what kind of technology they have, what does Robotropolis look like, what are SWATbots, etc. is understandably very, very vague. But I do know something about the island. However, you should know ahead of time that I am very selective as to what parts of the Sonic universe I am willing to accept or use. While this story--and my others--use elements of the SatAM cartoon, you will NOT find the comic book plotlines, which are connected to it, used anywhere! (Especially the Knuckles ones. I DON'T like how the echidnas have been brought back in those. Oh, sure, that makes for some good characters and some complex plotlines, but I don't like it 'cos it doesn't fit MY ideas of Knuckles' history. And I've had those ideas for quite a while before I heard about the comics.) You might find the occasional reference to a chili dog and I might feel like using a character such as Geoffrey St. John or Hershey the Cat (not in THIS story, but later, you never know...) other than that, the comic books are OUT. I consider my stories, and, indeed, my entire "Sonic-Universe Outlook" to be basically SegaSonic with just little dashes of other things thrown in for flavour.
I have my own interpretation of how life evolved on Mobius, and I should point out that I wrote this BEFORE I knew the plot of "Sonic Adventure" (specifically, that when the Master Emerald gets DESTROYED Knuckles is fine, and when the Island crashes into the sea, IT'S fine. If that happened in MY version of the universe, Knuckles would have DIED.)
Oh, and you should know that I tend to think of the characters as being a bit closer to their animal roots, and a bit more realistically-proportioned than how they appear. After all, how accurately can a cartoonist from Earth, another entire planet, draw them...?
Now, ON to our STORY!
This story is rated PG/PG-13 for some violent deaths, slight references to sexuality (VERY slight--nothing at all actually HAPPENS; we just get a few deep, long kisses and a description of someone walking around in a really skimpy outfit--but hey, these are FURRIES, since when does THAT matter!), a couple of mild swear words, and at one point a character gets drunk--I SUPPOSE you could call that "drug use" but I wouldn't...especially since he was only trying to be polite at the time...oh, heck, I guess I'll rate it at PG-13 just to make sure I don't get sued by the overprotective parents of the world. Though I really don't think it QUITE deserves it. There IS some violence, though, but it was all necessary for character and plot development. There is absolutely NO gratuitous violence in this story at all.
Oh, and if you're one of those Sega rep type guys, who think that the main characters can never do anything that's "not cool" such as show emotion, then TURN BACK NOW!
CHAPTER ONE
Infection
Knuckles sat up and stretched, blinking sleepily in the dim light that filtered down through the giant treetops of the Mushroom Hills. Made out of gently rolling hillsides, soft grasses, moist vines and mushrooms big enough to make a home under, the jungle was easily one of the lushest places on Mobius--or rather, above it. The land here was so alive that plants grew to their full size in only a day or two. And that was just the undergrowth--the actual tree-tops were so far above they could hardly be seen. The sky was green, not blue--that was the only way you could tell that the trees HAD tops.
Knuckles smiled and strolled over to a nearby vine, picking some grapes off of it. As he munched them, he glanced around happily.
And stopped.
The tree he was leaning against was all covered with wilt. The leaves were spotted, the bark was peeling off in strips. He rubbed his eyes in shock, wondering how he hadn't seen this before. The tree next to it was showing signs of the same sickness. And so was the one next to that--and the one next to THAT--all the trees as far as he could see. He glanced down at the bunch of grapes in his paw and tossed them away in disgust as he noticed that at least half of them were mouldy.
His spines raising slightly in alarm, he worked his way deeper into the jungle, more towards the center of the Island. The blight was even worse the further he went in. Giant mushrooms were broken and fallen, lying limply on their sides. The grass went from green, to brown, to grey. The pools were clogged with mud. His eyes filled with tears and he gasped as he saw something far worse than all the rest--dead ANIMALS. Fish and bugs were floating lifeless in the pools. Fortunately, these were some of the non-intelligent animals, not the Mobian kind, but he shuddered. If this sickness, whatever it was, could cross over from plants to animals, then it could certainly get him and other people, too.
What was HAPPENING to the Island?
What kind of Guardian WAS he?
Just as he couldn't take it anymore, he broke free of the jungle and found himself looking out over the wide, open expanse of the giant Hydrocity Lake. The waters looked so calm and peaceful, TOO peaceful, he thought darkly. Still, he'd take any moment of beauty, however fleeting, that he could get, after the horror of the dying Mushroom Hills.
A loud splashing sounded next to him. "Yo, Knux my man, how's it goin', bro?" came Vector's cheerful voice. The crocodile pulled himself out of the lake with a shake and drew himself up to his impressive full height. His waterproof radio was still going full-blast, as always. But this didn't seem to bother him. He seemed to have worked out some means of understanding people while it was on, somehow, anyway.
Knuckles shook his head sadly, causing his shoulder-length head-quills to fly about. "Not so good. There's something wrong with the Island, Vector. Something very wrong."
Vector went serious for one of the few times in his life. "Oh, you mean it's on the land, too." He sat down on a rock next to the red echidna and went on, "Dead fish, murky water, wilted plants--Hydrocity is falling apart. There's so much gunk in the water that soon the machinery down there won't be able to purify it anymore. Of course, that's hardly an issue, as the machinery itself is breaking down--running out of power."
"But WHAT would affect NON-organic matter the same as living things?" Knuckles wondered in exasperation. "Unless..."
His face went a sickly pinkish colour under the fur. "Vector, call the other Chaotix. Tell Mighty to search the Ice Cap Zone, Espio to search Angel Island, Charmy to search Marble Gardens and you keep searching Hydrocity. I'll be in the Hidden Palace, making a call to the mainland."
"Why the Palace?" asked Vector, adjusting his headphones. "We got transmitters all over the place, man!"
"Because I have a feeling there's something wrong with the Master Emerald."
"No peeking!" laughed Electra, holding her hands over Tails' eyes. The small fox struggled slightly and whined, "Why won't you tell me where we're going, 'Lectra?"
"You'll see," grinned the yellow hedgehog, as she steered him through a door.
"SURPRISE!!!!" yelled everyone as Electra took her paws off Tails' eyes. There stood Sonic, Bunnie, Rotor, Antoine, Dulcy, Jolt, Amy Rose, and Princess Sally, all surrounding a huge birthday cake with ten candles.
"So, what do you think?" asked Electra.
"You're as bad as your brother!" admonished Tails, as she and Sonic both giggled. Tails shook his head and walked over to the cake.
bleepbleepbleep. "Incoming message from Floating Island. Do you wish to accept?" came the voice of Nicole, Sally's small hand-held computer, from the communications panel in the wall.
Instantly the room went silent. Knuckles NEVER called unless it was serious.
"Whah, of co-uss, sugah-deah," drawled Bunnie, who was closest. She pressed the "accept" button with her normal hand. "Hi-yah they-ah, pumpkin," she said as Knuckles' worried red face appeared on the monitor. "Whah ah you up they-ah? Don't you know today is lil' Mahlses' birthday?"
"Oh, is it?" Knuckles looked distracted. Come to think of it, he looked a bit ill. "Give him my wishes and tell him I'll have to give him his present late. Right now we've got problems."
Sonic gently pushed Bunnie aside at the tone in his friendly rival's voice. "What is it?"
"There's something wrong with the Master Emerald," Knuckles told him in that undefinable exotic accent he had. It came from the fact that his people had been cut off from Mobius proper for hundreds of years--Knuckles' version of Mobian was centuries out of date! But it as now two years since the incident with Robotnik and Floating Island's Chaos Emeraldds, which marked the first time he had ever met a Mobian (Robotnik himself, Sonic, and Tails) and he was quickly getting better. "I don't know WHAT'S causing it," he went on, "but the Master Emerald is somehow being DRAINED of its energy--and it's draining the life-force or power source of EVERYTHING that was born, hatched, or made on the Island as well, living or otherwise! Robotnik hasn't been seen in months, but you never know..." He trailed off. "We haven't found any clues yet, but the Chaotix and I are too few to search the entire Island ourselves. Is Princess Sally there?" Sonic deferred to the lovely young squirrel. "Your Highness, I'd like your permission to borrow some of the Freedom Fighters for this task."
"Granted." she nodded.
"Bunnie, you're good with mechanical stuff, I'd like you to search the Launch Base and the Sky Sanctuary." The rabbit nodded.
"Electra, since you're a desert hedgehog and can stand the heat better than I can, I'd like you to search Sandopolis." She nodded.
"And you, Sonic..."
"What? You want me to do somethin' for ya, ya worthless spineless anteater?!" grinned Sonic.
"Grimy hedgehog!" Knuckles shot back, carrying on their favourite game, but it was obvious his heart wasn't in it. "Since heat doesn't bother you, either, I'd like you to search Lava Reef. Me, I'll be in the Hidden Palace, guarding the Emerald. And, please--HURRY." He looked stricken as his face disappeared from the viewer.
"Hey, how come he didn't name ME?" complained Tails. "I'm a good fighter! He knows I am!"
"It's your birthday, Tails," smiled Princess Sally. "No-one should have to do hard work on their own birthday! He was just being polite."
"I guess..."
He sat down reluctantly at the table and took a bite of cake as he watched the others file out. Amy Rose and Jolt joined him after a moment, too.
Princess Sally and the others left to see Sonic, Electra, and Bunnie off, leaving the three younger children alone in the gaily-decorated room.
"You know what? This STINKS!" proclaimed Tails, flinging down his plastic fork. "How could Sonic leave me behind like this? And why would Knuckles pick Bunnie to search the Launch Base when I've got ten TIMES her technical skill and he knows it!"
"Maybe it's really really bad," ventured Amy, her pink spines prickling. "Did you see how sick he looked?"
"Still...." muttered Jolt, flicking her luxurious purple tail back and forth, "they COULD always use a few more hands..."
"And maybe if I helped Sonic he would notice me!" said Amy, going all starry-eyed.
Squirrel and fox glanced at each other skeptically, then at the little hedgehog.
"You still got that bi-plane, Tails?" grinned Jolt.
"Sure do!" he responded. "Let's DO it!"
He grabbed a piece of cake on his way out.
"Hey, Knuckles!" called Espio. "I'll bet I can run up that tree faster than you can!"
The echidna hatchling tossed his short head spines out of his small round face. He was so young they hadn't fully grown out yet. "I'll bet you can't!" They both raced up the tree-trunk, the chameleon using his naturally sticky feet and the echidna using the strange spikes that grew out of the first and fourth knuckles of his hands, from which he got his nickname. Espio won the race due to his much smaller and lighter build.
"No fair!" giggled Knuckles, slapping Espio on the back. "You cheated!"
The two children jumped and climbed through the trees of the beautiful Angel Island area, watching the sun sink slowly lower in the tropical sky.
"You think we should go home?" wondered Espio. "They'll be looking for us."
"Nah, I've always wanted to camp out!" replied Knuckles. "This is the safest place on the Island! Mom and Dad won't mind TOO much."
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Korel; we don't have enough time to search the entire Island." explained the police officer to the distraught lady echidna.
"But the army--it's coming so fast! And my baby Knuckles--I mean, Anansi--is still out there!" she cried, wringing her knee-length head-quills in anguish.
"I know, ma'am, but there's nothing we can do." He felt absolutely terrible, telling her this, but it was true. "He's small, and the army is attacking from the air--chances are, if he's on the ground, they won't even see him." He backed slowly out the door, shaking his head. "The Queen's orders were that the gates of the City of the Sun be closed by nightfall--no sooner. After that, the magical shield will be up and no-one will be able to get in or out."
Lenara Korel put her head in her hands and sobbed. "Oh, my poor baby..." she moaned. "Please, Goddess, let him be all right..."
Knuckles sat on the very edge of the Island, dangled his legs off, exactly the way his parents had told him never to do, and swung his feet as he and Espio watched the sunset. He gazed dreamily down at the huge dim shape of Mobius below. What were the people down there like, he wondered. Were there any echidnas like him? Did they live in great gleaming cities of marble and metal? Did they have beautiful jungles and beaches like this?
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden loud screeching noise. "What was THAT?!" he cried.
BOOM!!
A small explosion rocked the forest near them. Espio's eyes went wide with alarm as he looked up. "It's the army!" he shrieked. "The lions! They're attacking!" He changed colour to match the trees and slipped away.
"The lions?" wondered Knuckles. "Already? But why? I thought the Queen said they didn't hate us anymore!"
BOOM!
"She must have been mistaken!" came Espio's voice from somewhere nearby. The echidna rushed to join his friend in diving under cover and rolled up into a protective bristly ball, waiting for the horrible noises to stop.
With a sigh, Knuckles shook his head and tried to chase away the painful memories. His current situation was depressing enough as it was.
He gazed across the room at the Master Emerald, still seated safely upon its pedestal at the heart of the labyrinthine Hidden Palace. Around it, on similar but smaller pedestals, were the seven Super Emeralds. Above them all hung ancient tapestries, their colours still bright due to the Emerald's preserving magic, showing the great and heroic deeds of the echidnas of long ago. The air in the room was very still yet also clean and pure. No dust marred the smooth, polished marble of the floor. Everything seemed to be just the way it should.
Except that everything was horribly wrong.
The Master Emerald, just as Knuckles had feared, was dying. It was turning a pale, sickly greyish colour, dull and heavy. Its green glow had been reduced to a small, weak core of colour flickering at its heart, shrinking far too fast. So were the Super Emeralds, and even the normal ones, or at least those that came from the Island anyway. He pulled a small orange emerald out of a hidden pocket in his fur and put it back again sadly; even its colour was starting to fade to grey.
And there was something else wrong, something wrong with him. Knuckles hadn't told the others 'cos he wasn't sure how bad it was, or what could be done about it. But the fact remained that he had taken the job of "guarding the Emerald" instead of going out and helping his friends look for clues not so much to actually GUARD the Emerald, but because he felt vaguely sick somehow. It wasn't a physical illness--not yet, anyway. Just a very unsettling feeling that something inside him was...missing, somehow...
The Master Emerald was dying, all right.
And taking everything that was of Floating Island with it.