Sonic the Hedgehog: Solar Tides [IC/Accepting]

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

"Zane. Attempt to bargain with your family units. Information for the Chaos Emerald."

"What do you know about the Chaos Emeralds?! Those are sacred items...not to be uttered by such machinery such as yourself!"

 

Smooth Chimera...icy smooth... Zane thought, shaking his head slightly. The Eggbot did still need to work on his timing on questions. Nevertheless, he was happy that there wasn't an all out brawl right now.

 

"Fenrir, stand down or I'll have you isolated for the rest of the day! These are our guests, and I will not have you threatening them. We will answer their inquiries at a later time!"

 

Zane let out a small sigh of relief, seeing Fenrir stand opposite of him on Fang's side and the group made their way to the village. It was almost surreal that he was here right now...he was back home. And his father was still alright. I'm glad...

 

 

Seeing his home like in the current state it was, was certainly new for Zane. When he left it, it wasn't too much in shambles, but now? Buildings were broken and shattered, it's debris basically freezing to the snow. It hurt him greatly just to see this.

 

"This is the Arctic, home of the Wolves and Freedom Fighters. Recently, we were attacked by an army of shadowy demons looking to wipe out our people...especially those who were gifted, like Fenrir. When I thought about what happened here, I was worried for your life. You are one of the gifted as well...I just hoped they hadn't hunted you down. But I see your old man didn't raise a fool! You probably handled those demons with ease!"

 

After his father spoke, Zane was about to respond to it as he rubbed his shoulder after Fang hit it. However, Fenrir was the one to bring the mood back down.

 

"Surely easier than us. Many of our comrades died. If you had been here..."

 

His fists clenched tightly, as the arctic wolf thought about what Fenrir was basically implying. Then again, he had been fighting that exact thought ever since his vision back in Dewdrop during the Dire Wolf ritual. And unfortunately, it was one phrase that had always kept him awake at night.

 

"This is your fault Zane..."

 

But before he could bite back at the wolf, Fang stepped in, and he was glad he did. Otherwise, he most likely would've just let this guy have it.

 

"I didn't want your return to be met with such melancholy...so let's celebrate instead! Tonight we shall hold a feast! My son has returned!"

 

"H-Heh...jeez dad...it's not that big of a deal." Zane chuckled, knowing good and well it was, provided what happened with him and everyone. Nevertheless, he now was approached by a few of the younger wolf pups.

 

"Zane's back! Wow! It's the real Zane! He's alive!"

"How are you not dead!? Did you fight those scary guys?!"

 

Zane chuckled a bit, kneeling down and giving a few of the pups a high-five before smiling. "Hehe, sure did. And you can't take me down that easily!" he said, giving the pups a thumbs up and a smile. "Besides, these guys I've been traveling with are wicked cool!"

 

He glanced up, noticing firstly that Fenrir had wandered off. Good...one more word out of him and I might've decked him. he thought, noticing also that Fang was still close by him. Zane did really need to talk to him...even before the feast and what not.

 

"Hey...dad? Can...can we talk?" Zane asked, standing up from his knelt position. "Just...there's so much I wanna tell you. And not sure where to start...where to finish...and what we can save for the feast."

 

Fang looked to his son with an understanding, but concerned, face. "Of course, Zane. Let's walk and talk. I'll give you a tour since you haven't been here since the...Renovations? Heh."

 

"Heh, renovations...yeah that's a good way to put it." Zane chuckled, before turning around to look at the group. "Ken, Axel...guys I'll be back. And Chimera...just keep everything on Safe Mode...please?" With a quick bow, he turned back around to walk with Fang. "Jeez...where do I even start?"

 

"You can start off when you left the village. Not a single letter, Zane? Your old man might be tough, but he's gotta soft spot for his spawn!"

 

Zane sighed, shaking his head. "Yeah, knew that was coming..." he said, before placing his hands together and smiling sheepishly. "Okay I can explain dad..." he started, before sighing again, lowering his arms and head. "...okay maybe I can't. Don't get me wrong, I was wanting to write to you all...it's just...after I told you I was leaving the village, even though you gave me this vest as a parting gift, I...I actually thought I upset you."

 

"Well after giving your old Popsicle the Cold Shoulder, why would you have a thought like that? HOHOHOHO!" Fang slapped Zane's back. "Seriously...I'm just glad you're safe. What happened outside of these gates?"

 

Zane looked at Fang, shaking his head, being immediately reminded where he got his habit of cold puns from. He smiled and nodded. "Thanks...well, after being in Metropolis for a while, the attack happened. Mephiles, the creepy and inky lookin' guy, started his thing...Dad it wasn't pretty...after that I met Silver's students back there, Ken and Axel."

 

"Mephiles huh? I had my suspicions..." Fang looked back to where they had started to see the two he was referring to. "They look kinda...lanky? So where's Silver then?"

 

He looked at his father and just slowly shook his head slightly. "From what Ken told me, Silver sent them to where we found Chimera, the Eggbot back there, and he remained...Axel has even said he's passed on."

 

Fang rubbed the underside of his chin. "That's pretty heavy...Silver was always a force to be reckoned with back in the day...course he was older...Geez that's some rough news." Fang sighed. "But Mephiles was beaten down once...I'm sure we can beat him down again, EVEN IF IT'S JUST US WOLVES!"

 

"Heh...yeah." Zane nodded. He debated whether or not to tell his father about the reason that Mephiles attacked everyone, but he figured Axel might be the better way to explain it. "Oh...right. Dad, you won't believe this either. But, when we visited Dewdrop, heh...I met someone who had some extensive knowledge about something...dad...I'm a Dire Wolf now!"

 

"Dewdrop? Dire...what now?"

[Wind Rider]

It seemed like everything had calmed down, and the group was welcomed into the village with open arms, with only a few of the villagers still keeping their suspicion towards them. The village looked relatively peaceful, save for a few destroyed ice buildings, Mephiles was definitely behind this destruction but, unlike Metropolis, the place wasn't blood soaked and riddled with bodies. Alex didn't know what to think about this. Why was this cold, icy village still standing while Metropolis was half ruined with most of its populace slaughtered?

 

She shook the thought out of her head for the time being, she and the others were currently being swarmed by a bunch of young villagers.

 

"Outsiders?! Where are you from?!"

 

"You're warmer than the others, can I cuddle up next to you?" One said, gripping onto Alex's hand.

 

"U-uh..." this kind of attention wasn't new to Alex, but she wasn't used to physical contact. She wasn't too fond of it, but she also thought it wouldn't do well if she made a bad impression, especially since she could easily melt the whole village. "Uh... Go ahead..." she told the young wolf holding her hand.

[King K. Azo]

"What do you know about the Chaos Emeralds?!" Fenrir questioned rather harshly, looking for something to grip onto Chimera, but ultimately restraining himself.  "Those are sacred items...not to be uttered by such machinery such as yourself!"  Chimera stared for a few seconds, obviously baffled. 

"What does an Eggbot...? What does an Eggbot---?!" He placed a hand over his head, muttering to himself before looking up. "Okay, I can see that I will have to teach you about history," 

 

 

"The Chaos Emeralds are seven gems of immeasurable power," he explained. "Each one contains nearly unlimited energy, which can do mundane things like powering a robot to blowing up the Moon, the Earth, and a meteor containing a race of aliens that wanted to eat all organic life on Earth," He knew that sounded ridiculous, but hey, they were fighting a sun god that had a minion that could make shadow minions. They better learn to believe. "Needless to say, a genius that made machines to use that power, and had enemies with access to the Emeralds' power, well, the first thing he would do is research, learn about, and collect the Chaos Emeralds as soon as possible, and pass all his knowledge of the emeralds to us so we knew what they were capable of and what to do with them," 

 

He paused to give a nonexistent smug look. "In conclusion, I know much more about the Chaos Emeralds than you organics," Before the argument between the two could escalate farther, Zane's father forced them to stand down, and they kept heading to the village.It didn't take them long, and soon they were there. The Igloo structures were... expected and yet surprising. It was odd. There was a crowd of wolves... and two came over to him, crawling all over him.

 

"Wow!  A robot!  I've never seen a Robot!"

 

"What's your name?!  Do you have a name?!  My name is Nail!" The two kids seemed excited... Chimera recalled Charyb and how he handled the small children that surrounded and spoke to him. He was... gentle? Could Chimera even be gentle?

"My full name is MS-11 Chimera... but I'm referred to as Chimera," The robot replied. Was he doing this right?

[Hälō]

 

Axel watched the small crowd young villagers form with a slight glare. Still holding his brother, the white hedgehog took a defensive step back as the gathering of children grew dense between Chimera and Alex.

 

"Ugh," Pups generally made the prodigy uncomfortable. Their auras were unrefined, their bodies fragile, and their minds underdeveloped. Luckily the only times he ever had to deal with them were on his outings with Silver... 

 

"..." Axel expression sunk slightly at the thought of his master. "We're wasting time." Shaking his head, Axel closed his eyes and begun to spread his senses across the village. "We don't need them to tell us the emerald's location..." The air around him begun to bend and shift as he combed the land for the energy signature that had led them here. 

[Mr. Hyde]

 

"We're wasting time.  We don't need them to tell us the emerald's location..."  Ken could feel his brother's quick temper rise up, and he had seen that face before.  He may have been right, but they needed to take their time here.  Ken jabbed his brother in the side to interrupt his concentration, but also to get his attention.  

 

"Cool your jets, Axe."  Ken said, almost struggling to find the words.  "I know you know that the emerald is here, but it's pointless trying to get our way to it.  Are you just gonna ignore Zane's feelings...he just got home man."  Ken looked at his brother.  "Besides...I don't think they'd like you barging in and just taking what you want, even if you're the Leader's Son's friend...and I wouldn't be able to back you up if that ended up happening.  So for once, take it easy bro."  Ken held his side in pain.  Saying so many words was enough to take it out of him.  "I'm mad too, but I'm not just gonna tear up the place 'cause of it.  Take a lesson for me!  Heh!"  

 

The locals had noticed Ken's tired body, as an elderly female wolf came to his side.

 

"Your friend looks like he may need rest.  There is an inn close by.  It'll be free of charge, of course.  Anything for the new face of the next few Freedom Fighters."  She hurried off and motioned for them to follow.  The building was a mixture of Ice and Stone, but there was an odd warmth to the place.  Their room would be down a hallway and on the left.  It had two small beds and cozy looking furniture.  "It's not very lavish, but it's near the Chief's home!  Enjoy your stay in the arctic."  With that, she left the brothers alone.  

 

 

"My full name is MS-11 Chimera... but I'm referred to as Chimera,"

 

All of the small wolves looked on at him in awe, with a glimmer in all of their small eyes.  

 

"Chimera?!  That's so cool!  Hey, hey!  Aren't there supposed to be real cool monster's called Chimera's?!" 

 

"Don't be stupid, Nail!  Those guys are just fairy tales!"  

 

"But a living fairy tale is standing right in front of us!  Real chimera's can exist too, probably!"  

 

They all started to bicker noisily, still swinging from all the parts of Chimera that were available to be swung from. 

 

"I have an idea!"  One of them shouted, swinging off of his arm into a triple front flip, and landing onto the icy ground with grace.  "Let's play Freeze Tag with this guy!  If he's as cool as we think he is, then he might have a chance of winning!"  The rest of the small wolves detached themselves from Chimera, only to meet with the one who suggested the idea. 

 

"Good idea, Flash!"  Nail said, wagging his tail. 

 

"What do you say, Niblis!"  Another one nodded. 

 

"Yeah, let's do it Huey!"  Niblis replied.  Flash then stomped a foot forward, and leaned into it, cockily. 

 

"You know how to play Freeze Tag, right Chimera?  Even babies can do it!" 

 

"Whoever's it, has to touch someone who's running away!  Any touch will do!  And whoever you tag get's frozen!  When all of the other players are frozen, you win!  Doesn't that sound fun?!"  Nail explained, motioning with his hands by almost touching Huey with them. 

 

"I guess you already know who's it then..."  Flash said, grinning.  They all howled in unison. 

 

"YOU'RE IT!"  Before they scampered off as fast as little devils.  The only one to stay was Nail.  Chimera hadn't accepted yet, so he stood there and waited. 

 

"I'll let you decide if you wanna play...if not we can do somethin' else.  But I figured I'd give you a fair shot at catching me first."  He stretched a bit before laughing.  "After all, I'm the fastest of the wolves!  You better believe it!"  

 

In the background, if Chimera noticed, Fenrir watched him like a hawk.  His claws tapped against his crossed arms in annoyance.  

 

 

"Uh... Go ahead..."

 

The young wolf snuggled her face into Alex's hand.  

 

"I haven't been this warm in ages...it reminds me of mama."  She said, closing her eyes as she seemed to reminisce.  "Can we walk together...while holding hands?"  The young wolf whimpered, as she looked into Alex's eyes with big bulging iris'.

 

 

"Now you're telling me, that you're this thing called a Dire Wolf?"  Fang said, bewildered.  He pondered for a moment, scratching the top of his nose rather coarsely.  "Where have I heard that phrase before....Dire Wolf?  Dire wOLF?  DIRE WOLF!"  Fang's eyes then lit up, as he rushed towards the rather large temple in the middle of the city.  As Zane followed, he would be met with a large hall, that led to a rather large door, also made of ice.  Fang pushed the doors with ease, as they entered the Chief's Hall.  The room was round, and contained very little but Fang's living area.  Carved into the ice were large bookshelves that housed many books and scrolls, lazily put there in any order deemed fit.  However, near the back of the room was a pedestal that displayed nothing but some snow that had dropped onto it.  "Here is where an ancient book used to dwell...that was until some punk robbed the place a couple generations back.  The only thing missing from the logs was a book about Ancient Arctic Myths.  That must've been where you got this whole Dire Wolf nonsense from!"  Fang rushed up to his boy, and rattled him for a second.  "You dingo!  Why didn't you grab that book and bring it back!"  

 

He sighed, before taking a seat at his desk, and spinning around in it.  

 

"Ah whatever.  That book wasn't anything special.  The only thing the wolves got is the Alpha Wolf.  The Apex Wolf Form given to those who are deemed worthy enough.  Ain't nothin' tougher than that.  Trust me, I've tussled with Fenrir too many times to know it."  He then looked to Zane.  "I don't like being made a fool of Zane.  So don't go around tellin' lies like you're a so called 'Dire Wolf'...people around here are lookin' for anything that'll give them an ounce of hope.  I don't need them grasping at straws that ain't there."  He then placed his head into one hand, and leaned to the side of his chair, before muttering to himself.  "Dire Wolf...who does he take me for?  A runt?" 

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

"Now you're telling me, that you're this thing called a Dire Wolf?"

 

Something told Zane that his father didn't quite believe him. What was more, he was then trying to follow his father towards a large temple in the middle of the city. He knew the place well, this was pretty much the place where the pack's chief, as well as the Arctic Freedom Fighter's leader would conduct business...as well as having a small living area if the work got too straining. Zane remembered quite a few nights where his father would actually be working that midnight oil just doing his job. Still, what perplexed him more was that Fang seemed to not exactly remember telling him stories about the legends when he was a pup.

 

However, he was shown something that he hadn't seen before. A pedestal in the back of the room that displayed nothing but some snow that had dropped onto it.

 

"Here is where an ancient book used to dwell...that was until some punk robbed the place a couple generations back. The only thing missing from the logs was a book about Ancient Arctic Myths. That must've been where you got this whole Dire Wolf nonsense from! You dingo! Why didn't you grab that book and bring it back!"

 

Zane was shook by Fang for a few moments, being rattled in the process. "T-That's my bad...I-I didn't know...The Legend Hidden in Snow and Ice...sorry dad...!" he said, before watching Fang moving back towards his chair. "I can probably find a way to get it back...Milo probably wouldn't mind if I did that."

 

"Ah whatever. That book wasn't anything special. The only thing the wolves got is the Alpha Wolf. The Apex Wolf Form given to those who are deemed worthy enough. Ain't nothin' tougher than that. Trust me, I've tussled with Fenrir too many times to know it. I don't like being made a fool of Zane. So don't go around tellin' lies like you're a so called 'Dire Wolf'...people around here are lookin' for anything that'll give them an ounce of hope. I don't need them grasping at straws that ain't there. Dire Wolf...who does he take me for? A runt?"

 

And there it was...his father didn't believe him. Zane let out a sigh, shaking his head some. "Dad, I'm not lying...a-and I'm not trying to make a fool of you." he said. "...what do I have to do to get you to believe me?"

 

"Zane...It's like asking me to believe in Santa Claws. There's no way you would be able to convince me, unless you showed your old man proof."

 

Zane was unamused at the Santa Claws mention, as he did remember how that was something he was always told before when he was a pup. Plus that phrase...it was something he liked to use. "Then...I can show you proof. Give me the opportunity to demonstrate what I can do." he said sternly, clearing his throat in the process.

 

"Oh?" His father said, scratching his chin. "And what do you have in mind?"

 

"Let me...and I can't believe I'm going to say this..." Zane said, muttering the last part. "Let me spar with someone. I can show you the proof and results fully with that."

 

"A little homecoming sparring session? That'll surely rouse everyone's spirits!" His father slammed the desk excitedly. "The Chief's son v.s. the Strongest Wolf in the Village! I love it!"

 

"I figured that would both boost the people's morale...plus show you what I've learned." Zane smiled. Plus show you I'm not lying... he thought, crossing his arms. "So, who will I be up against?"

 

"Isn't that obvious?" Fang smirked. "You'll be fighting Fenrir, the Alpha Wolf of the Arctic!"

 

"Alpha Wolf? Huh, didn't exactly peg him for an alpha...still, guess I'm still in the mindset that your chief and alpha, dad." Zane nodded with a slight shrug. "Still, this gives me a chance to possibly see what else these guys have."

 

"I wouldn't take him lightly Zane." His father said, folding his arms. "That boy's been training in the ways of the warrior for as long as you know. He's not some inexperienced guy you'd find on the streets. Not to mention, you've been gone for so long on that 'radical' journey of yours that you've been slacking off." Fang pinched the bridge of his nose. "Serves me right for letting you go."

 

"Trust me, dad." Zane said with a small smirk of confidence. "I may've slacked off at the beginning of that journey...but since running up with these guys, I've pretty much been training non-stop."

[Wind Rider]

Alex felt her heart skip a beat at how cute the little wolf was, the expression she gave her had a feeling of sadness and want to it. "I... Don't see why not..." she said giving a defeated sigh.

 

"Ahah!" The little girl said with glee. She started to skip, dragging along Alex with her as she did. As they passed a large building in the center of town, she exclaimed. "That's Big Chief Fang's house! He's so cool! He protects all of us, along with Fenrir!" They kept going, as her grip grew tight. They passed a large clump of ice. "That used to be my house...let's keep going!"

 

"Used to be?" alex mumbled under her breath. "Uh... What happened to your house?" she asked without thinking. She didn't realize at first that her question may have been a rough one.

 

The girl's clench loosened, as she looked away from Alex. "That bad guy...the gloopy one...he broke a lot of stuff" Mephiles. Alex gritted her teeth at the thought of him. She remember what he had done, a mass genocide of anyone who had some connection to the Chaos Force, a means getting rid of any threats to his... No... His master's plans.

 

She calmed herself and gave the girl a more relaxed expression. "He... Made a mess of my home too... But I'm gonna make him regret it..." she stated.

 

The girl looked up to Alex with a glimmer in her eyes. "WOW, sis! Are you strong?!" Sis? Was this little girl really getting that attached to her?

 

"Yeah... I'm strong... I don't know if you've heard of her, but I've trained with Blaze." she stated.

 

"Blaze? Is she that one lady that Fang won't stop talking about?? I heard she's really pretty!" Alex's gaze wandered off, the thought of Blaze's sacrifice popped in her head before she looked back at the girl.

 

"Y-yeah... She was..." alex mumbled quietly. "A-anyways, I assure you I'm really strong. If that gloopy bad guy shows his face, I'll burn a hole straight through him!" she said giving a confident smile. (Geez... I sound like Ken...) she thought.

 

"WOW! You outsiders sure sound tough!" She looked down at the ground to kick up some snow. "I sure hope you don't have'ta."

 

Alex gave the wolf girl a curious look. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.

[King K. Azo]

Chimera had never dealt with children before. He had dealt with child-like robots before (Tails Doll came to mind) but it seemed actual children were more easily impressed by the simplest things. 

 

"Chimera?!  That's so cool!  Hey, hey!  Aren't there supposed to be real cool monster's called Chimera's?!" 

 

"Don't be stupid, Nail!  Those guys are just fairy tales!"  

 

"But a living fairy tale is standing right in front of us!  Real chimera's can exist too, probably!"  A fairy tail? That made no sense to Chimera. Perhaps later he would inquire what the small mammals meant by that. 

 

"I have an idea!"  One of them shouted, swinging off of his arm into a triple front flip, and landing onto the icy ground with grace.  "Let's play Freeze Tag with this guy!  If he's as cool as we think he is, then he might have a chance of winning!"

 

"Good idea, Flash!"  Nail said, wagging his tail. 

 

"What do you say, Niblis!"  Another one nodded. 

 

"Yeah, let's do it Huey!"  Niblis replied.  Flash then stomped a foot forward, and leaned into it, cockily. 

 

"You know how to play Freeze Tag, right Chimera?  Even babies can do it!" 

 

"Whoever's it, has to touch someone who's running away!  Any touch will do!  And whoever you tag get's frozen!  When all of the other players are frozen, you win!  Doesn't that sound fun?!"  Nail explained, motioning with his hands by almost touching Huey with them. 

 

"I guess you already know who's it then..."  Flash said, grinning.  They all howled in unison. 

 

"YOU'RE IT!"  Before they scampered off as fast as little devils. The only one to stay was Nail.

 

"I'll let you decide if you wanna play...if not we can do somethin' else.  But I figured I'd give you a fair shot at catching me first."  He stretched a bit before laughing.  "After all, I'm the fastest of the wolves!  You better believe it!"  Chimera let out a noise that sounded like a chuckle. 

"Interesting claim," He commented before thinking to himself. "So it's almost like training... I suppose I'm game for this. I need to practice running in the snow," He began to run a systems check before looking around. "So which one to go after first...?"  Not Nail, he was standing right next to him, and that would take away some of the sport of it. "With a name like Flash...," a humming could be heard as Chimera warmed himself up. He took off, doing his best to catch the one known as Flash. There was no way an Eggman robot would lose!

 

[Hälō]

"..." Axel peered into Ken's face for a long while before sighing into the cold air. His brother was right. As much as it pained him to admit it, Zane was one of his trusted comrades, and he owed it to him to honor his wishes and his people. "Whatever." It was the closest the young prodigy would go to verbally conceding to his twin, but it was enough to remove the tension.

Following the locals to the inn, Axel thanked the inn keeper with a nod before slipping into their room and shutting the door. Gently placing Ken one of the beds, Axel rolled his shoulder before moving towards the window. "Friends, huh? You must be having a blast..." He scoffed at his brother whilst studying the humble village. Despite the fact that it was clear Mephiles's attack had taken large toll on them, the wolfs seemed to be doing their best to keep up the status quo. Though Axel could still feel the negative emotion that hung in the air...

"Don't forget yourself, brother. This is all to avenge Silver..."

[Mr. Hyde]

 

"Don't forget yourself, brother. This is all to avenge, Silver..." 

 

Ken winced at the mention of the word.  All over his body was sore, but the single name could do more damage than his inhibitors ever could.  His fists curled up, as he looked away from Axel for a second.  

 

"You don't think I know that, Axe?"  He questioned his brother.  "You don't think there's not a day that goes by when I don't miss him?  His food?  His teachings?  Hell...I even miss his scoldings from time to time." Thinking of that swarm of Mephiles gathering in their home...overpowering his mentor...his adopted Father.  "I knew it from the day we stepped foot outside of those mountains that this was all for Silver.  This is what he was training us for!"  His grip loosened a bit, as he sighed.  "But at the same time...stepping outside of home...we've met so many people that I want to protect."  Ken looked to Axel, with a hopeful glimmer in his eye.  "This has become more than just a mission for revenge.  We're going to save the whole world!"  Ken jostled his quills and laughed.  "And you know...fighting for those I want to protect...it sure does help me out when I'm running low on fumes.  But when I think of Silver...I just get mad."  He stretched his hands as he looked down on them.  "I don't like being mad."  

 

 

"Trust me, dad." Zane said with a small smirk of confidence. "I may've slacked off at the beginning of that journey...but since running up with these guys, I've pretty much been training non-stop."

 

"I don't doubt it for a minute, son."  The chief said, with a look of pride about his snout.  "But at the same time, the gap is extremely wide.  Fenrir's a pure genius when it comes to battle."  He laughed as he pointed to his son.  "And don't think I'm gonna give you any tips on how to beat him either.  You'll beat him as a wolf...fair and square."  His eyes then sharpened.  "Now...why does your group need the Chaos Emerald?"  

 

 

"What do you mean by that?"

 

"That's what all the grown-up's said when they fought 'em."  She said, rather nonchalantly.  "But none of 'em came back."  She looked to see as a pack of young wolves started sprinting all over the village.  One passed her by stuck his tongue out at her.  

 

"Hey, Hail!  Gotta new friend?!  Hope they don't disappear like your parents!!"  He snickered, as he ran past in a flash.  Hail flinched back a bit, as she started to sob.  

 

"Those boys are so mean...they don't have parent's anymore either...so why do they have ta make fun of me..." 

 

 

Flash looked behind him to see nothing.  He laughed, as he knew Nail had stayed back to see if Chimera was worth the time.  However, after a moment, some strange noise could be coming up from behind him.  He looked back to see the mechanical amalgamation catching up to him with insane speed.  

 

"W-w-w-wait just o a second!"  Flash begged, only to turn his worried smile into a sly grin.  "Psyche!  You're never catching me, you bucket of bolts!"  Flash's extremely white fur shined in the sun, bouncing off of all the ice, and refracting it around the city.  "Usually, wolves name their kids after a sweet ability we get when we're young!  Every wolf is unique too!  And they call me flash for a reason!"  As the light shone throughout the village, it collected against Flash's fur, causing it to illuminate with an insane intensity.  "Take this on for size, rust head!  Arctic Summer!"  Flash's fur shot out rays of intense light in all directions.  Some of the light shone against piles of snow, causing it to melt at a fast pace.  Flash smirked as the flash caused an uproar of peeved adults who weren't prepared to look away.  

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

"I don't doubt it for a minute, son. But at the same time, the gap is extremely wide.  Fenrir's a pure genius when it comes to battle. And don't think I'm gonna give you any tips on how to beat him either.  You'll beat him as a wolf...fair and square. Now...why does your group need the Chaos Emerald?"

 

A genius? obviously he hasn't met Axel... "Not surprising...then again, I wouldn't think it fair if you did tell try to tell me how to beat Fenrir." Zane chuckled, before taking into consideration what Fang had just asked him. He took a deep breath, doing his best to gather his thoughts. "Axel told us, that we needed to get the seven Chaos Emeralds first, to keep them out of Mephiles' hands. He also said if anything, he'll want to get Iblis to free him. Seal two birds with seven stones, so to speak..." However, Zane had something else flash up in his mind: Gwynn. "...not only that...if Mephiles gets a hold of the emeralds...the master he's working for...Gwynn...will get his body back. We're trying to keep that from happening."

 

Fang scratched his snout in confusion. "You're tellin' me that Mephiles is taking orders from someone?"

 

"Yeah. And from what Milo said, this Gwynn guy is the First Son of Mobius..." Zane explained to the best of his ability. "...either son or sun...still unclear on which one."

 

"And I thought Iblis was trouble..." Fang said, with a defeated sigh. "Milo?" He finally shook his head. "Is that the punk who has our book?!" He asked, as if he was trying to forget the bleakness of the situation.

 

"I don't think he took the book per-say..." Zane chuckled lightly, putting his hands up in defense. "I think he more or less had the book come into his possession or something."

 

Fang grumbled. "So what? You don't think we're worthy of protecting an emerald?!" His voice grew rough and annoyed. "Are you looking down on the Arctic Wolf Clan?! We've fended off Mephiles once now, we can surely do it again!"

 

"Dad...I never..." Zane started, as he slowly lowered his head slightly. He clenched his fists tightly, to the point where they were shaking. "...I never said that..." he spoke up once more, his head still low. "I never once said that. I know...wolves strike back at adversity with everything they had...I know you guys can do it...but..." Zane lifted up his head, showing some tears in his eyes. As he glanced at Fang, he saw small flashes of the vision he saw in Dewdrop. "...I can't risk losing you...not again..."

 

"Dammit Zane..." Fang said, trying to get the crying face of his son out of his mind, "You're gonna have to get over that sooner or later, don't you know!? I'm not immortal." He took a deep breath and looked Zane in the eye. "Wipe those puppy pellets off your face...it's not becoming of a Wolf to cry." He closed his eyes, and nodded his head from side to side for a moment. "Tell you what...if you can best Fenrir in that little fight...I'll see about getting you that emerald."

 

Zane did his best to clear the tears from his eyes, hearing his father's proposal. "Y-Yes sir..." he responded, nodding as he kept his gaze away from Fang. Right now, he couldn't stand to look at him like this. He didn't want to truly admit to him his reasoning for feeling this way...of that vision that he had in Dewdrop. "...sorry."

 

"And quit apologizing too!" Fang roared, finally calming down once again. He took Zane by the shoulders, and quickly brought him in for an embrace, only to push him off a second later. "You said you were a Dire Wolf, not a Crier Wolf! AWOOOHOHOHOHOHO!!"

 

Zane couldn't help but laugh at his father's attempt at a pun, as he shook his head slightly. "...h-heh, bit forced...but that was pretty funny." he chuckled.