The Floating Island Is No Longer A Legend A Sonic the Hedgehog story By: Cassie Echidna PLEASE STAND BY. PAUSE FOR COPYRIGHT CRUD: The Freedom Fighters and the Chaotix are copyrighted to Sega, Archie Comics, and/or DIC. All of the named are copyrighted to me and/or book author Clare Bell. This story is copyright of its author (ME) and may not be altered in any way. You may copy it if you wish, but don't try to pass it off as yours. This story is not to be distributed for any commercial means. In other words, don't try to sell it. This story is dedicated to: Clare Bell, Naoko Takeuchi, and Tamora Pierce- two incredibly talented authors whose stories about triumph and tragedy have given me inspiration, Cene Catlow and Trixi Bigfoot- two amazing artists who have given me encouragement about my own art, And last, but definitely not least, to my RL friends and family who have somehow managed to put up with my obsession of the imaginary and the unreal. God bless you all. TIME: July 7, 3232 0500 hours PLACE: Robotropolis, Mobius *************************************************************** "Yo, Unc. What's up with that message we got?" "Oui. What is being 'zo eemportant that we are to be getting up at 'zis 'ours?" Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Antoine, and Bunnie were all inside the hideout that Uncle Chuck called home. He had sent an urgent letter, saying he needed to see them immediately. He led them over to a screen and flipped it on. "You're about to see what's up, Sonie." A video began to play. "I taped one of Robotnik's conversations. This one concerns something called a Chaos Emerald. I don't know that much about it, only that it's a very powerful energy source." (This next part is from Uncle Chuck's spy video) "Snively, what happened to the Dynamics that I sent to find, and gather, the Chaos Emeralds?" "Uh, well, um, they were destroyed, sir." "WHAT!? How?" "They were ambushed by a group of Mobians and.." "Never mind! Just replay the surveillance tape. I want to see this for myself." Snively walked over to the computer and pressed some buttons. An image came on screen, revealing the robots flying toward the origin of the radiating energy. Suddenly, a strange sight loomed ahead. An island, flying in the air! ("Whoa! What is that?" gasped Rotor. "Wait and see," was Chuck's reply.) The robots landed and began searching for something. Then, the camera picked up on life-forms nearby. The vision changed revealing a chameleon, watching the robots. The creature suddenly turned and dashed off. The spy orb followed. The chase continued for a few seconds before the Mobian burst through the trees, arriving at a clearing where there were several other animals. One of them turned to the creature. "Yo, Esp, what's shakin'? You look more down than usual." "Three I-don't-know-whats just landed on the island. I'm not sure what they're up to, but it don't look good." "I know where they're headed," spoke up a fire-ant, appearing on a branch. "They're looking for our Chaos Emerald." "Are you sure, Archy? How would they be able to find it?" asked a weird-looking animal. "The Fire-Ant be a-speakin' th' truth, lad. Those beings are a-headed directly for the Chaos Chamber," chimed in two rabbits, who suddenly appeared beside him. He whirled around in surprise, but quickly regained his composure. "Ancients, do you always have to do that? Anyway, I still find it hard to swallow." The sisters held up their hands in defeat. "Be believin' what ye want, echidna." "C'mon, bro. When have the Weird Sisters here ever lied?" "Good point." The echidna, as they called him, spun around, addressing the rest of the group, "Okay, guys, listen up. If those whatever-they-ares dig up our Emerald, this island is going to drop into the sea like a stone!" An armadillo clenched his fists and growled, "There ain't no way we're gonna let that happen!" The group sneaked toward the place where the robots had been sighted. On the way, the echidna explained the battle plan. When they reached the area, he turned to his companions. "Everybody know what to do?" "Got it," they all replied in unison. "Good. CHARGE!" Scant minutes, the battle was over. "All right! Game, set, and match to the Chaotix!" shouted the croc. "Hold on a sec, Vector. Do you guys get the feeling you were being watched?" asked the bee. "Yeah, Charmy, I do," replied the chameleon, who immediately turned and threw a rock at the spy orb, hitting it dead on. He had known about it the whole time! "That's when we lost the signal, sir," squeaked Snively. "Well, well. A flying island, guarded by Mobians with incredible skills and abilities." Robotnik turned to the SWATbot that was standing behind him. "Send for Commander Packbell. I believe we'll be paying a visit to this 'floating island.' They don't know it yet, but those 'Chaotix' are going to help me destroy the Freedom Fighters." As Robotnik's evil laughter echoed through the room, the video cut off. Uncle Chuck said nothing as he pulled the tape out of the monitor. Sonic and the others all stared at each other, dumbfounded. Finally, Sonic spoke up. "How could the ten of them beat all of the Freedom Fighters?" No one answered. Sally turned to him. "You saw them, Sonic. Anybody who can fight and overpower three Dynamics can definitely take us on." The six of them walked outside, where Dulcy was waiting. She knew by the looks on their faces that what they had found out was bad. Without a word, the five Freedom Fighters climbed on her back. The ride back to Knothole was silent. When they arrived, Tails and Rosie came out to greet them. "Hi, guys. What's up?" called Tails. "Plenty," replied Sally, "And none of it's good." The next morning, when the kids went into the mess hall for classes, Julayla handed them a large book. "What the hoo-ha is this for?" "Look inside, Mistress Bunnie. I believe there is some information that will help you understand a little bit more about the Floating Island. It was written by a scientist who claimed to have traveled to this island and observed its inhabitants." Rotor eagerly opened the huge testament and began to read. "According to the book, the island was kept afloat by 12 Chaos Emeralds that were hidden inside the Crystal Caverns. It also says that the emeralds had been put there by the Echidnas, who were hoping to use their power to save their city from being crushed by a comet. Later, when some of their own kind destroyed 11 of the emeralds, the Echidnas chose a volunteer to guard the last emerald (and the island) from harm. This duty had been passed on from generation to generation for many centuries. The Fire-Ants did the same thing, choosing someone to teach each guardian how to do their job. "Unknown to either group, there were others who helped out from behind the scenes. The Named tribe had been living inside the island since before it was formed. They had little to do with the 'Topworlders,' and were, therefore considered to be but legends by both the inhabitants of the Floating Island and the citizens of the rest of Mobius. But when the island was in danger, they would lend a helping hand." The book proceeded to tell the story of the island's history and that of all of the groups that lived on it. After finishing, the Freedom Fighters were more disenheartened than ever. "Far as I can tell, the Master Emerald and those Soluna Stones are the most powerful sources of magic energy known to Mobius," sighed Rotor. "Yeah, and if ol' Bullethead catches those dudes that are guardin' em', we're toast," added Sonic. "All I know to do is keep an eye on Robotnik, at least until we find out what he's up to," spoke up Sally. Meanwhile, Packbell was having troubles of his own. He had landed on the Floating Island but, so far, he had found neither hide nor hair of the creatures he had been sent to look for. He really hated it when Robotnik sent him on these demeaning field assignments. He also hated playing second fiddle to an egg-bellied numskull who always got beaten by that smart-mouthed, blue pincushion, Sonic. Packbell consoled himself with the thought that one day he would oust Robotnik, get rid of annoying pest, Snively, and gain control of Robotropolis. He would only have to be patient. Packbell was shaken out of his thoughts by a rustling noise coming from the bushes that lined the path. Without warning, the echidna he saw on the tape burst from his hiding place. The chameleon came out of camouflage and attacked. The bee appeared, airlifting the croc. The armadillo jumped out from behind a tree. The twin rabbit/mages leaped down from the branches of the same tree, with the two cats clinging to their shoulders. "Well, well. It's about time they showed themselves," thought Packbell. He aimed his laser rifle at the nearest creature, the blond rabbit. Without a word, she pointed her finger at him, then swung her hand in a wide arc. Packbell gasped in surprise as his weapon flew from his hands, and into a rock. This was the distraction the armadillo needed. Before Packbell could recover, he was tackled to the ground. He kicked off the Mobian, pulled another gun, and fired. "Mighty, get out of the way!" shouted the chameleon, but the armadillo was knocked out by the shot. The rest of the group continued battling SWATbots, while the bee got his friend out of the fight. The bee and the fire-ant were easily taken down. "Three down, seven to go." The cats proved to be a harder challenge, but they bit the dust too. The blond twin aimed a lightning spell at Packbell. It managed to seriously damage one of his arms. However, the unexpected backlash threw her to the ground. Her sister slashed at the android with her katana, but he dodged and slammed her into a tree with a laser blast. Now, there were only the echidna, the chameleon, and the crocodile to deal with. One of the SWATbots hit the croc with a blindside shot, adding him to the list of captured. The chameleon attempted a sneak attack, but was caught. Seeing his best buddies in trouble, the echidna surrendered. Sally was looking at a holographic map of the city, when Julayla came in for bed-check. Julayla said nothing, but merely sat down on the stool between the girls' beds. "Would you two like to tell me what's wrong? None of you have said that much today." "Ah guess we all's just worried about what we saw. What if ol' Botnik does catch them Chaotix?" "I s'pose we may never know. Sally, would you like to tell me why you've been so quiet?" "I'm scared about the same thing, but there's something else. If the Floating Island existed all this time, why didn't we know about it?" "I really can't say, but I'm sure that whatever the reason was, it must have been a good one. Good night, girls." "Night, Mizz Julayla." "Good night, Mistress Julayla." After the adult had gone, Bunnie leaned over to Sally and asked her what she was doing. Sally explained that she had been trying to figure out where prisoners were held before they were roboticized. When Bunnie asked why, Sally said that they were going to sneak into the city one night, after the grown-ups were asleep, and bust free as many of them as they could find. Sally had resumed her work, when NICOLE started picking up trace of a faint signal. Sally intercepted it and decoded it. When she realized what it said, she told Bunnie to wake up the boys, fast. Bunnie didn't understand why, but she went anyway. The message was: SEARCH AND CAPTURE MISSION SUCCESSFUL. HAVE APPREHENDED THE FOLLOWING: 1 ARMADILLO 1 BEE 1 CHAMELEON 1 CROCODILE 1 ECHIDNA 1 FIRE- ANT 2 RABBIT/MAGES 2 WINGED CATS ARE ENROUTE BACK TO ROBOTROPOLIS WITH PRISONERS. AWAITING FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS. PACKBELL When the guys arrived, after slipping past Rosie and Julayla, Sally showed them the message. Tails started whimpering and hid behind Sonic. Rotor's mouth dropped open in shock. Antoine started mumbling nonsense to himself. Bunnie started shaking in fear. Sonic somehow managed to stay calm, as did Sally. "Well, there's only one thing to do now," she said, still staring at NICOLE's screen. "Be praying for 'zee 'elping us to zave our zkins?" asked Antoine, who was nervously twisting his coat. "No, we've gotta go in there and bust those guys free," snapped Sonic. Tails stopped whimpering and looked at him incredulously. "How're we gonna do that without being caught by Aunt Julayla and Aunt Rosie? If we bring the prisoners back here, they're gonna know we left." "I guess we just tell them what we're going to do." "But, Sal, if we do they won't let us go." "They haven't said anything about the last few times we went." "Okay, we'll tell em'. But then we had better juice before Buttnik roboticizes those guys." So, after letting the adults know what they were up to, the group of kids headed for Robotropolis. When they go there, they immediately went to Uncle Chuck's spy home to see if the Mobians had been brought in yet. "No, I haven't seen any new prisoners come in today," was Sir Charles's answer. But then, as if on cue, they heard the arrival of Packbell's fleet. Sonic peeked outside to get a closer look. The doors to one of the hovercrafts opened and Packbell came out. The Mobians also filed out, each one in double restraints and followed by two SWATbots with laser rifles. Sonic gave a low whistle. Packbell must have been pretty paranoid to put them under that much security. None of the prisoners looked like they had given up easily. They were pretty banged up. Sonic inched closer to see where they were going. They were headed for the control center. When one of the sisters slowed down, the SWATbot hit her in the back with its rifle. She started to turn and face him, but the armadillo stopped her. "Chill, Kat. Remember, you and Cathleen may be immortal, but the rest of us ain't." Packbell stalked over, lifted her up by the collar, slapped her across the face then dropped her on the ground. "Don't pull something stupid like that. Next time, I might not be in this good of a mood," he snapped. Now the girl was ticked. "My, my, my, aren't ye a brave one, hittin' someone who can't fight back! Anyhow, ye ain't got th' guts t' take me on inna fair fight," she hissed threateningly. Packbell gave a snort of contempt and went back to the head of the line. As he passed them, the cats bared their teeth and hissed. The chameleon clenched his fists. The armadillo made a face. The crocodile growled low in his throat. The echidna was standing right behind Packbell, so when he was passed, the echidna lunged, only to be thrown back into the SWATbot behind him by the barrel of a blaster that cracked solidly against his ribs. "If you want to see your next birthday, I advise that you don't try that again." When Sonic reported back to the others, he told them what he saw. Sally decided they should try and figure out what Robotnik's plans were. After getting the okay from Sir Charles, the group climbed into the air ducts and started winding their way towards the command area. When they arrived, they saw the group being herded into the room. Packbell left the SWATbots to guard the Mobians and went over to the computer console. As he was typing at the keys, the echidna started to speak. "So, you're the head honcho that sent those whatchamacalits to steal our emerald?" "To answer your question, no I did not send them. And I am not the leader, I am the second in command. You will address me as Commander Packbell, echidna." "The name's Knuckles, Commander," snapped Knuckles sarcastically. "And anyway, if you're not the leader where is he? Is he too chicken to fight, so he makes his homies do all the work?" asked the crocodile. Before Packbell could answer, a door opened and a human the size of a large boulder with a huge orange mustache walked in. Knuckles and his friends snickered at the guy's looks. "That's the guy in charge?" "You have got to be kiddin' me." "The gods must enjoy tricks like this." "After all, they tell so many stories about them." The stranger said nothing, but sat down in a large chair, facing away from them. A small, needle-nosed fellow came into the room after him. The prisoners laughed even harder at him. How could such a comical-looking pair be the cause of all this trouble? The midget gave them a haughty glare. The big guy turned to Packbell. "You have done well, Commander. It would be so nice if I could promote you higher, but seeing as you are already promoted to the highest level, without becoming leader, you'll have to keep on with the same wonderful job you've been doing." The Chaotix shut up. It appeared that this tub of lard was the one in charge after all. Packbell left, kicking the small man aside and giving the group a cold, evil smile as he went. Then the chubby guy turned to the group. "Well, well, now where to begin? I know. How about by you telling me where I can find the Master Emerald and the Soluna Power Stones?" "Go jump inna lava pit, fat boy. I ain't tellin' you squat," snarled Knuckles. The Overlander turned a furious shade of red before recovering his dignity. (As if he had any. *snort*) "We have ways of making you talk," he said slowly, trying to control his temper. "How many cheesy spy movies have you seen, 'Buttnik? You sure love t' quote 'em a lot," came a sarcastic voice from a nearby vent. A blue hedgehog leaped from the grating, followed by a squirrel, a cy-bunny, a walrus, a kitsune, and a fox. The group proceeded to pulverize the SWATbots that were in the area. When the prisoners got over their surprise, the echidna and the armadillo busted the chains that held them. The twins incinerated the rest. Then they joined the battle, not willing to let these new people have all the fun. Sonic thrashed a few more bots, then ran at the big guy. He shoved the human into his chair. "Have a seat, Chubsy!" Taking hold of one of the chair's arms, he started running in a circle. "It's spin and win time, Tubbo!" The chair kept spinning long after he let go. "And you LOSE!" Sonic dashed by, catching the one called Knuckles by the arm. Each of the Freedom Fighters grabbed hold of one of the strangers, then hung on to Sonic. He sped towards the spy room as fast as he could go. When they arrived, Sir Charles was waiting for them. "Looks as though you were successful, Sonie. I just got a message from Julayla wondering when you'll be coming back. You children had better split for Knothole." As soon as he finished saying this, Sonic and the others were headed out the door before their new passengers could even recover from the wild ride Sonic had just taken them on. Upon their arrival to Knothole, the group was met by Rosie and Julayla. They said their greetings, then everyone turned to the newcomers who were trying to stay on their feet after the trip. Well, some of them were. The sisters and their familiars watched their friends stumble around, not bothering to hide their amusement. The girls covered their grins with the backs of their hands as they chuckled at the others' plight. The cats' shoulders shook with suppressed laughter as they looked on. They were used to going at high speeds, unlike their friends. After waiting until the strangers were able to stand without stumbling, Julayla asked them their names. The group remained silent. Then the armadillo spoke up, "How do we know we can trust you? I mean, sure you saved our tails, but that could have been an act." The Freedom Fighters all looked at each other, then back at the other group. The echidna and the others all glared back. The fire-ant chose this time to speak, "Katrina, Cathleen, why don't you help us out here?" The two rabbits nodded, then stepped toward Rosie and Julayla, stopping when their noses were just inches from those of the two women. As they stared them straight in the eyes, a cloud of colorful fire surrounded the four for a few seconds. From Julayla and Rosie's points of view, it almost appeared that the others eyes flashed through every color they had ever heard of before retaining their normal hues of jade and gray. Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Antoine, Tails, and Bunnie all looked on entranced. The twins broke the gaze and spun around to rejoin their group. " 'Tis all right. They can be trusted." When they said this, it was as though a spell had been lifted from the Freedom Fighters. Julayla again asked the newcomers their names. This time they were willing to comply. "I'm Knuckles Echidna, and this here's Charmy Bee, Vector Crocodile, Mighty Armadillo, Espio Chameleon, and Archimedes Fire-Ant. We're called the Chaotix. These are our 'friends' Cathleen Tirragen, Katrina Tirragen, Helios, and Sol." Julayla noticed that he sort of faltered on the word "friends." When questioned about this, Helios replied that they used to be enemies, until a truce of some sorts had been called. The Freedom Fighters all introduced themselves and then invited the Chaotix to stay in Knothole for awhile. When Mighty asked why, Julayla explained that the Floating Island would be the first place Robotnik would start looking for them. It would be safer for them to stay in Knothole. After Robotnik had gotten over his dizziness, and Snively had picked himself up off of the floor, he called for Packbell to come back in. The android walked back in, knocking Snively back to the ground as he passed. "You wanted to see me, sir?" "Yes. Commander, the prisoners you brought me have escaped, thanks to that rotten hedgehog and his friends. I want you to send teams of SWATBots throughout the Great Forest and the Floating Island. Those Mobians must be found!" Packbell turned to leave, rolling his eyes as he went. He knew he wasn't going to like this job. Meanwhile, the Freedom Fighters were beginning to see their new comrades' personalities show through as they adapted to life in Knothole. "OW! That was my arm, you blue bozo!" "Well, if you'da kept it outta my way, I wouldn't a stepped on it, now would I?!" "Ye two lads shut up and go t' sleep, before I singe yer fur!" "Rotair, will you pleas to be not messing up zee 'ut! I was just feenished cleening eet." "SHUT UP, ANTOINE!" "Yeah, what they said!"