Sonic the Hedgehog: Solar Tides [IC/Accepting]

[Wind Rider]

Alex let out a slight chuckle at Zane's answer to if he was alright. "Your really bad at hiding your feelings you know... Much like how "someone" is terrible at sneaking..." Alex said as the snapping twigs and rustling bushes caught her attention.

 

"Kekekeke... Go away, stupid face!" Stupid face? Well that was rude, especially seeing as how Zane got pushed by an invisible force. "Kekekekekeke!" That laugh was getting annoying.

 

"Alright, whoever's out there... Get out here before I..." A rock suddenly flew out from the bushes and hit her right in the head, knocking her out of the tree. "Torch this whole area..." she said finishing her sentence. Alex formed a fireball in her hand and proceeded to burn the bushes around her. "Unless you wanna burn alive come out!"

[Super Chaos Sonic]

"Kekekeke... Go away, stupid face! Kekekekekeke!"

 

Zane felt the push from behind as he stumbled a bit forward. He turned around, but no one was behind him. Of course, Alex was in the tree...at least she was until he noticed something hitting her in the head, knocking her out of said tree. Now there was rocks being pelted at him and Alex now, as he growled, blocking his face from getting hit.

 

"Tch...I'm not in the mood to be screwed around with!!" Zane snapped back, only to have something snap back.

 

"No one's supposed to be here...leave now!"

 

This voice had a different tone than the one he heard before. So there were more than just one around here. Zane growled as his hand slowly went for his multi-tool. "You guys really picked a FABULOUS day to want to mess with me." he grumbled, holding the multi-tool in his hand and activating it right away. "Now...come out now! I'll promise ya I won't hurt ya if you just come out! Otherwise, be ready to be cut down!!"

[Mr. Hyde]

Ashen Forest

 

As Alex began to burn the brush around her, screams could be heard emanating from the darkness.  

 

"Nooooo!  Not the fire again!  Mommy!  Daddy!  Where are you!?!"  

 

"Get inside children...it'll all be over soon!"

 

"The day of reckoning has washed over us...it is futile to resist brothers!"  

 

"WHAT ARE YOU!  A BUNCH OF COWARDS!?!"  

 

From the flickering flames, the outlines of figures could be seen of all shapes and sizes, their ghastly eyes filled with terror as the flames approached.  Some looked very similar to children whilst some looked more mature.  Their screams kept up, and they began piling on top of one another before until one delicate voice could be heard among the countless others.

 

"Calm down, my dear citizens...you have nothing to fear."  Another figure passed through the flames, seemingly unphased.  It was definitely a feminine apparition, who's features were more defined than those around her.  She looked to Alex and Zane with a fiery glare.  Her eyes might have been hazy, but the sheer flames that shot out of them could roast anything in their vision.  "Cease your fire...immediately...lest you get hurt."  Seeing where the source of the fire was coming from, she sighed.  It wasn't what had caused those flames all so long ago.  "I apologize for the rudeness of the villagers...they don't do well with...fire."  She looked around for a bit before scratching her head.  

 

"Now where is that lazy husband of mine?!"  

[Super Chaos Sonic]

"Nooooo!  Not the fire again!  Mommy!  Daddy!  Where are you!?!"  

"Get inside children...it'll all be over soon!"

"The day of reckoning has washed over us...it is futile to resist brothers!" 

"WHAT ARE YOU!  A BUNCH OF COWARDS!?!"

 

Zane was shocked by these immediate responses to Alex's fire. They were....fearful? And after a faint glance at what these things were...Zane felt worse. They...they looked like ghosts. The arctic wolf lowered the multi-tool slowly, about to turn to Alex to say to kill the fire...but...

 

"Calm down, my dear citizens...you have nothing to fear. Cease your fire...immediately...lest you get hurt. I apologize for the rudeness of the villagers...they don't do well with...fire."

 

Yet another apparition appeared, this one definitely appearing as a female hedgehog. Zane was silent, before finally deactivating the multi-tool before looking at Alex. "Alex...lose the fire..." he said, rubbing the back of his head. "S-Sorry...I-I didn't know you all were..." Zane felt very awkward and terrible about trying to threaten and attack a bunch of ghosts...his ears lowered some as he did his best to apologize. "S-Sorry..."

[Wind Rider]

"Nooooo! Not the fire again! Mommy! Daddy! Where are you!?!"

"Get inside children...it'll all be over soon!"

"The day of reckoning has washed over us...it is futile to resist brothers!"

"WHAT ARE YOU! A BUNCH OF COWARDS!?!"

 

Alex was mortified, those screams, those people running around in fear of her fire, was she killing innocents? But they didn't appear... Alive, more like ghosts, but the feeling was still there.

 

"Calm down, my dear citizens...you have nothing to fear. Cease your fire...immediately...lest you get hurt. I apologize for the rudeness of the villagers...they don't do well with...fire." A figure appeared trying to calm the ghosts, a hedgehog, another ghostly figure at that and she did not have a friendly expression.

 

"Alex...lose the fire..." She turned to see Zane lowering his weapon. The flame in Alex's hand slowly dimmed and faded away. Zane tried to apologize for the misunderstanding, but Alex just stood there horrified. Those screams of terror, just like at Metropolis only... Alex was the one causing fear.

[Hälō]

"Unknown entities attempting to drive us away. Readings inconsistent... probability of being the spirits of the deceased 87.46 percent. Permission to purge?" 

 

"He doesn't seem to have a physical body, Chimera..." Axel addressed his mechanized companion whilst observing the entity that had revealed itself to the group. "Purging him with conventional methods would be impossible." As he spoke, Axel drew the chaos emerald out form his pocket. The man's aura was like a wall of wind that seemed to lazily circle around area. Though it wasn't necessarily imposing, the fact that the man could maintain such a form purely off the sheer amount of energy he possessed definitely made him a threat... But something else was wrong. Why did this man's face and voice... bother him so much?

 

"Identify yourself at once, or suffer the consequences,"

 

Chimera's words prompted Axel to suddenly vanished in a flash light. Reappearing behind the phantom seconds later, he spoke in his usual grim tone. "You're composed exclusively of chaos energy... But that doesn't mean there aren't ways of dealing with you." He punctuated his statement by vanishing again. This time, reappearing at the man's side with his arm raised over the phantom's shoulder so that his palm was level with at his face. "Call off your friends near the cat and wolf, or I'll disrupt your form and absorb whats left of you into the chaos emerald." Axel's glowing gaze shifted off into the direction where Alex and Zane were. There was a large amount of negative emotion, and a powerful presence like the one that was standing here.

 

"Also," Axel's voice grew colder as he glared daggers into the other hedgehog. "You're going to tell me why you know my brother and I's names."

[Blade Mistress]

Cynthia's eyes widened at the sight of the ghostly hedgehog before them, the fact that it seemed to know Axel and Ken made it even creepier. She morphed her arms just in case there was to be any fighting and turned see that Zane and Alex were in a similar situation. Axel had warped right beside the ghost hedgehog and had his palm to the side of the ghost's face. "Call off your friends near the cat and wolf, or I'll disrupt your form and absorb whats left of you into the chaos emerald. Also, You're going to tell me why you know my brother and I's names."

 

​"Yeah, what he said... Explain yourself or this is going to get ugly..." ​Cynthia couldn't think of anything better to say, first that demon hedgehog and now ghosts? This whole saving the world adventure was turning into something you would see in a movie or game.

[Mr. Hyde]

Ashen Forest

 

"S-Sorry...I-I didn't know you all were...S-Sorry..."  The wolf apologized before her, lowering his weapon and his head.  It was rather distasteful.  The other seemed shook up by the fact that what she had done had some sort of consequence that she had yet to realize.  As she looked at them, she sneered. 

 

"Pathetic..."  She walked to the wolf and raised a hand, placing it on his shoulder.  "Truly...pathetic.  Don't apologize to me...apologize to my people.  After all, they are the ones who were affected by your friends fire frenzy."  As she shook her head, she went out to the clearing where another fire was, but this one seemed to be controlled and contained.  "Come with me...the villagers are afraid of you...so I think it's best you leave them alone."

 

 

As the robotic hedgehog raised it's weapons, the ghostly hedgehog perked up a bit.  

 

"Whoah...an old badnik huh?  Haven't seen one of you guys for some time."  He raised his hands and chuckled.  "I would appreciate not being exorcised at this point in time...I've just finally come to terms with the fact that I'm dead.  I'd hate to start from square one on the other side."  Now, the other hedgehog started to dance around in flickers of light, disappearing and reappearing all around him.  He couldn't help but have a sappy smile on his face.  

 

"You're composed exclusively of chaos energy... But that doesn't mean there aren't ways of dealing with you.  Call off your friends near the cat and wolf, or I'll disrupt your form and absorb whats left of you into the chaos emerald.  You're going to tell me why you know my brother and I's names."

 

"Man Ax...you're just like her.  No fun and all business."  He smiled as he shrugged.  "I mean...If I guess you wanna know that badly, you can call me your fa-"

 

"CHAOS WHEEL!"  A spindash connected straight into Axel's side, which sent him careening towards Ken.  Ken caught his brother for the umpteenth time and smiled.  

 

"Man...do you always have to threaten people."  He put Axel down on his feet and smiled.  "Also, you're always leaving yourself wide open.  We gotta work on that bro."  Ken looked to the two ghosts who stood side by side next to each other.  He couldn't place a finger on it but they seemed oh so familiar.  The male hedgehog stared with terrified eyes.  

 

"Babe...you can't just spindash everybody that walks into the village!"  He was smacked upside the head by the female apparition.  

 

"He was threatening your life...Like I was going to take that lightly!"  The male rubbed the back of his head.

 

"Well...I'm Clay...and this is Ava.  Welcome to Ash Village."

 

 

 

Ash Village

 

"Can't say that was the warmest welcome we've ever received.  As a matter of fact...it never usually is."  Ken started to laugh, as he slapped his brother on the back.  Ava stared long and hard at the two hedgehogs standing before them.  It took her a moment, but as soon as she realized, her eyes started to tear up.  

 

"Don't you understand now?"  Clay said with a hushed voice.  Ava clasped her mouth as she shook her head.

 

"No...it's impossible...everyone died that day...how could they..."

 

"It doesn't matter...they're here now."  Clay took the lead, as he held Ava in his arms.  "Uhm...so...could you two tell us of how you're still alive?  Do you recognize us...?"  

 

Ken scratched his head...it was such an odd question.  

 

"Well...the last thing I remember from when I was a kid...was our home up in flames.  Axel and I were out and about, and that's when we met Silver.  He took us away...saved us.  Raised us as his own.  Everything before that is a blur really..."  

 

Clay spoke up.

 

"You mean Silver the Hedgehog?  The time traveler?"  He sighed.  "Guess you two were needed for a bigger cause huh...I'm glad.  Of course you wouldn't remember us...it's been a couple hundred of years."  Suddenly, Ava rushed the two hedgehogs and hugged them tightly around the neck.  Even though you could see right through her, the weight of a real person there was unmistakable.  

 

"Ken....Axel...." she managed to choke out through the tears.  Clay smiled, a single tear rolling down his cheek as well.

 

"Welcome home Ax...Welcome home Ken...Your mom and I missed you."  

[Super Chaos Sonic]

"Pathetic...Truly...pathetic. Don't apologize to me...apologize to my people. After all, they are the ones who were affected by your friends fire frenzy."

 

Zane's fists clenched tightly, hearing this hedgehog say this, only placing a hand on his shoulder. He wanted to strike at her, but the way he was now...it probably wouldn't have done anything. After all, this girl was a ghost...how much damage could he do to an apparition?

 

"I-I'm sorry..." Zane bowed his head slightly, this time talking to the group of ghosts. "W-We meant no harm..."

 

"Come with me...the villagers are afraid of you...so I think it's best you leave them alone."

 

The arctic wolf felt defeated, even worse now than he was before. First Mephiles dropping the literal bomb that his family was slaughtered...and now...feeling terrible for even trying to defend himself against a group of ghosts. ...Today isn't my day...is it? he thought, following after the hedgehog woman, only to see that she made her way to Ken, Axel and the others.

 

However...there came quite the shocking revelation...

 

-BGM-

 

"Ken....Axel...."

"Welcome home Ax...Welcome home Ken...Your mom and I missed you."

 

Zane stood there, in silence as he saw both Ava and Clay talk to Ken and Axel...talking to their sons. The arctic wolf could see things clearly now. Ava acted very cold and quite honestly...reminded him a lot of Axel. Perhaps that's where he got the nature from.

 

Still, Zane remained silent in this little reunion of a family. But...then again, he believe things were coming together on what occurred. Ken mentioned their home being up in flames...the ghostly visitors they had were beyond frightened by the sight of Alex's fire... The wolf could only surmise that this forest was Ken and Axel's home at one point but it was engulfed in flames...then Silver came to save the brothers. But...that would mean...

 

"T-They all burned alive...r-right here in the forest." Zane mumbled softly to himself, shaking his head.

[King K. Azo]

"Welcome home Ax...Welcome home Ken...Your mom and I missed you." Those words made Chimera pause. These ghosts were Axel's and Ken's family? He supposed it made a bit of sense. This is where they lived, before Silver plucked them from the timeline. It was burned down, from what he could gather, but... by what? They knew what Badniks were, that much was certain, but seeing how they didn't fear him, it more than likely wasn't the Eggman army.

 

He folded his arms and looked into the distance, scanning the area. Questions could wait. Right now, he had to deal with some feelings. Those pesky feelings. Was there any left alive? Robots didn't have an afterlife... he wouldn't even be able to find their ghosts if they truly died... Was he the last one functioning now that Mecha was a head and Metal was in a USB?

[Wind Rider]

Alex was still drawing a blank as to what just happen. Though the sound of a ghost village snapped her out of her shocked state a bit.

 

"Well...I'm Clay...and this is Ava. Welcome to Ash Village." the two ghost hedgehogs seemed to be the leaders of this... "Ghost town" and the female one, Ava, seemed to be giving a strange look to Ken and Axel.

 

Suddenly she had wrapped her arms around them, she was also in tears. "Ken....Axel...." she knew them too.

 

"Welcome home Ax...Welcome home Ken...Your mom and I missed you." Mother? Father? Those were things... Alex has never heard in a long time. But if they were ghosts... Killed by a fire according to Zane... A fire similar to Alex's... How could they still be here?

[Hälō]

BMG

 

 

"..." Axel was rendered speechless by his mothers embrace. Having almost dropped the chaos emerald upon hearing the revelation that this ash covered forest was his old home, the white hedgehog's glowing blue gaze peered vacantly forward. Ava's aura was like a roaring fire that engulfed the twins in a sense of comfort despite it's imposing stature. As he stood within the soothing flames of his mother's spiritual presence, Axel knew without question that Ava was powerful. The kind of powerful that Silver was... The kind of powerful that he wanted to be so badly.

 

Tears began to form at the corners of his eyes as the image of his mentor's smiling face suddenly crawled into the back of Axel's mind. Remembering the tears he shed after being cast through the portal that started this adventure, Axel tightened his grip on the Silver's final gift, before forcing the tears back. He wouldn't cry anymore. Not ever again...

 

"Mother..." Though his voice was shaky, Axel found the strength to speak. "I-I'm sorry... I'm sorry couldn't protect you..." He never cursed his powerlessness more than in this moment. If Silver hadn't taken pity on him and Ken, they both would have been lost in the fires that wiped away this village...

 

"But Ken and I have grown strong..." His eyes narrowed slightly as the memories of his old home burning down came flooding in. Mephiles and Iblis had taken so much from him: Silver, Clay, and Ava... between the three of them they two creatures had destroyed his life twice! But by doing so, they had gifted him with something great. They gave him a purpose, a reason for living and the drive keep striding forwards. "Strong enough to destroy Iblis and avenge your death..." He was an avenger. A tool meant only to destroy the two entities that threatened this land... "I'll make sure your name is the last thing the creature ever hears..." The words oozed off of his tongue with a familiar bitterness. 

[Mr. Hyde]

Ash Village

 

At his newfound parent's words, Ken couldn't help but feel slightly confused.  Happy, but still confused.  These two...ghosts...were his parents?  Looking back, he did remember seeing his old village being washed away by flames, but he would never would have realized that this was that same place...and two hundred years?!  Ken knew that they had traveled to the future, but Silver never had discerned how far they had went.  In Ken's pocket, he gripped his own gift from Silver.

 

"Mother...I-I'm sorry... I'm sorry couldn't protect you..." 

 

Ava rubbed her head into her son's shoulder.

 

"You idiot...I was the one protecting you!  You were so young at the time...there was nothing you could have done.  I'm just glad I was able to see you again."  

 

"But Ken and I have grown strong...Strong enough to destroy Iblis and avenge your death..."

 

Ava let go of her sons and wiped her tears.  She put her fists on her hips and smiled.  

 

"I could feel you from a mile away!  You definitely get it from my side!"  With the statement, there was an audible gasp from Clay, as if to imply his wife was being rude.  Ava rolled her eyes with a smile.  "Although...I can't feel Ken emanating the same power as you Axel...so strange."  Ken rubbed the back of his head and avoided his mother's eyes nervously.  

 

"Well...you see...I can't use the Chaos Force..."  He could feel his mother's concerned eyes staring at him.  "B-b-but don't worry!  I've got my own way of doing things without the chaos force!  I'm the muscle of the group!"  Ken started flexing, while simultaneously laughing nervously.  He dropped the facade and put his arms down.  "Although...I don't know if it's going to be enough to beat Iblis.  I mean...it was enough to beat Mephiles but isn't Iblis on a whole other level."  Ava nodded.  

 

"It costed me my life just to try and fend him off...I was only able to evacuate a handful of villagers before having to come face to face with that monster.  But together...I know you two can do it."  Ken pulled the sun medallion out of his pocket.

 

"By the way mom...have you seen this insignia before?"  

 

Ava's eyes were perplexed looking at the medal.  

 

"I believe that's a dewdrop compass...given to only the royal echelon of Dewdrop City.  It is said to shine in the direction of wherever Dewdrop city is when placed in Sunlight...it's the only way to find it's location."  Clay sighed.

 

"Guess Silver gave it to you, huh?  Where is that cheeky time traveler anyways?"  Ken's fist tightened.  

 

"He died...protecting us from Mephiles."  The couple fell silent.  "He was like...our other father.  He trained us well...and we loved him."  Ken put his fist out in front of him.  "But I swear...on Axel's and I's life...we will avenge all of you."  Clay and Ava both nodded, almost tearing up.

 

"You guys are so cool..." Clay said with a sniffle.  "And I'm glad you have friends to help you along the way...you'll need all the help you can get if you're going to face Iblis."  The sun was rising now, and the apparitions were phasing out of view.  When the sunlight reached the Medallion, it shone north, deeper into the forest.  "Well..it'd be nice if you could stay here forever...but that won't turn out to be the case.  You have a mission to complete.  Just know...your mother and I will always be with you."  Clay and Ava both placed a hand on Axel and Ken's chest.  In unison, they both smiled.

 

"We love you!"

 

And just like that, they disappeared as the sunlight broke the horizon.  

 

Ken dropped to his knees.  

 

"There was so much more I wanted to say...So much more I wanted to ask..."  Ken turned back to Axel, with tears soaking his eyes.  "Let's come back someday...okay?"  

 

 

 

Deep Ashen Forest

 

Ken stretched out and yawned.  The night before, he had barely gotten any sleep.  He would've blamed the ghosts, but right now he was way too happy about meeting his parents.  Behind him were his other tired compatriots, besides Chimera of course, marching behind them.  

 

"Alright..Axel said that he felt something deep in the jungle...so we'll keep marching until we find somethin-"

 

Ken's face smacked right into the side of a stone wall, covered in vines and dust.  He fell back and onto his butt.  

 

"What the hell!  I swear this thing came out of nowhere!"

[Blade Mistress]

Who knew that a village, a village of ghosts in fact, was all the way out in the middle of this ash covered forest. The leaders were even Ken and Axel's parents, or were their parents rather, it was confusing Cynthia to no end on how these spirits were still here, especially after 200 years apparently. The now rising sun seemed to be chasing the spirits away, almost as if they could not live in sunlight, fortunately Ken and Axel's parents left them with a farewell before they vanished into thin air, it was really sad to be honest. Cynthia was left speechless from the event.

 

Later that day...

 

The group was heading deeper into the jungle, the trees were really thick, it would've been easy to get lost if the group wasn't sticking as close together.  "Alright..Axel said that he felt something deep in the jungle...so we'll keep marching until we find somethin-" Ken was interrupted as he smacked right into a wall on account of looking back on the group. "What the hell!  I swear this thing came out of nowhere!"

 

Cynthia walked over and helped him up. ​"Come on tough guy... We're not gonna get anywhere if the "muscle" of our group is beaten by a wall." ​Cynthia tried to lighten the mood a little.

[Hälō]

Axel watched with a melancholic expression as his parents expressed their love for the twins one last time before vanishing in the light.  

 

"There was so much more I wanted to say...So much more I wanted to ask..."  Ken spoke next causing Axel to turn and face his brother. "Let's come back someday...okay?" Ken's words drew a small smile from the young prodigy. "Definitely." He assured his twin before helping him to his feet. Turning towards the other freedom fighters, Axel steeled his gaze before taking a step forward towards their next objective

 

"Let's go," His voice oozed with new resolve has he began walking deeper into the forest. "Our business is deeper in..." 

 

 

 

 

Deep Ashen Forest

 

 

"Alright..Axel said that he felt something deep in the jungle...so we'll keep marching until we find somethin-"Axel watched with a blank expression as his brother walked right into the stone wall that stood in his path. "What the hell!  I swear this thing came out of nowhere!"

 

"You just need to start looking where you're going, idiot..." Axel scoffed as Cynthia helped Ken to his, before continuing to inspect the smoothly cut rock. Glancing around the surrounding jungle, he soon realized that it was set there to create a devision in the path. A fork in the road that divided too paths that carved within the jungle... 

 

Though before he could examine the area anymore closely, Axel's eyes widened in shock. "What?!" His eyes began glowing a furious blue as they began frantically darting between the two paths. "Ken, what did you do?!" He growled down to his brother. It couldn't be...

 

"The emeralds energy..." The uncertainty was evident in the white hedgehogs voice. "It split... No. Doubled?!" Axel's slammed his eyes shut as he tried to make certain that his senses were correct. The emeralds energy had moved from the center of the jungle, and now seemed to be racing towards two separate parts of the forest; both of which more or less following the paths divided by the stone that Ken and foolishly tampered with... "Damn it all!" 

 

Reopening his eyes, Axel glanced around the team. "It most be some kind trap set to keep fools away from the Chaos emerald... Silver had said that him and the Old Heroes had hidden them away." His eyes shot back to Ken at the word 'fools'.

 

"One must be a decoy, but I can't seem to tell a single difference in the two energy signatures" Rolling his shoulders in annoyance, Axel glanced towards Chimera. "Chimera, we'll need that thing I asked you to work on for me..." They didn't have time to waste. Not with Mephiles and Iblis still at large... "We're splitting up!" 

 

 

End of Chapter 3

 

Opening Theme 

 

 

Episode 4: New Dawn

 

"They stopped... both energy signatures have stopped moving!" Axel called over his shoulder as he continued stride down the moss covered trail. The trees of the forest had grown quite large since him and his team had sped down the path that forked to the right of the massive rock that Freedom fighters had stopped at only fifteen minutes ago, and with every step they took, the trail seemed to grow smaller and the foliage more green and dense. 

 

On his face sat a device of Chimera's design. Despite the fact that he would ordinary feel uncomfortable having to rely on technology such as this, Axel found that he had grown to trust Chimera and the fact that the robot had made these headsets especially for the team seemed to put him at ease.  

 

"Chimera, how do we work these things? I want to relay this to Ken's group." He glanced back towards Chimera and Zane. Having given the other Freedom Fighters the choice of which brother they followed, he found himself slightly curious as to why Zane had chosen to join him. Truth be told, he had expected to be traveling with Alex instead and was surprised when she opted to go with his brother rather than him...

 

As he waited for his mechanized companion to respond, his attention was caught by sudden movement from above. "Guys," Axel growled before leaping backwards just in time to avoid falling attack from what appeared to be a spider. Blasting the tiny robot away with an energy attack just before it hit the ground, Axel got into a ready stance has he registered many more of them moving around the trees above. 

 

"We have company..." Axel said as he formed a chaos blade in preparation for the rain of enemies from above. 

 

Meanwhile, Ken and the girls were met with drastically different scenery.  As they continued down their path, the forest would proceed to open up until there the trees were yards apart from each other. With every step, the ground would grow moister and moister and small streams of clear water could be seen flowing on either side of the path and were growing deeper with their advance. 

 

Soon they would hear movement from within the water. Suddenly, without warning aquatic creatures would erupt from the stream on either side of the path with their mouths agape in an attempt to snap at the heroes. Their numbers we surprisingly dense, and any who found themselves meeting their razor sharp teeth would be gifted with a painful electrical shock.

 

[spoiler=OOC]

 

Ok guys! I've been planning this mission for a little while now~

 

Though I made the teams before hand to allow for some change up with the interactions, I'd like you guys to come up with a reason that your characters ended choosing to go with Ken or Axel. And in regards to the current enemy encounter: You are permitted to control the actions of your opposition. Their numbers are vast but they're very fragile and lack intelligence. Go nuts~  

 

 

[King K. Azo]

"Alright... Axel said that he felt something deep in the jungle...so we'll keep marching until we find somethin- What the hell!  I swear this thing came out of nowhere!" Chimera was not really paying attention. Something felt off, although he couldn't explain it. And not, it wasn't the ghosts. Ghosts he could handle. He just... felt something in the back of his mind. Like a small prick... through Harmony. 
 
"Ken, what did you do?!" Chimera shot up, and looked to Axel. What was going on? "The emeralds energy... It split... No. Doubled?! Damn it all!" It... doubled? Was there a fake emerald?
 
Reopening his eyes, Axel glanced around the team. "It most be some kind trap set to keep fools away from the Chaos emerald... Silver had said that him and the Old Heroes had hidden them away." His eyes shot back to Ken at the word 'fools'. "One must be a decoy, but I can't seem to tell a single difference in the two energy signatures" Rolling his shoulders in annoyance, Axel glanced towards Chimera. "Chimera, we'll need that thing I asked you to work on for me... We're splitting up!"

 

Chimera nodded, handing over the bag. "Pass it around,"

---

 
"Chimera, how do we work these things? I want to relay this to Ken's group." Axel asked. Chimera turned and motioned to the side of his head.

 

"Right side, there's a button. Let's you open communication channels. Left side, scans robots. Because it can be useful," He stated. But then suddenly a spider-bot came down from the ceiling. But not just any spider robot... those were... Grabbers! Eggman Badniks!! "Wh-what? Have more survived...?" He reached out, trying to speak to them over Harmony... to speak to them again... please let this work...

[Super Chaos Sonic]

As quickly Ken and Axel's parents appeared, the sun rose and with that...they left. But know it made sense. The one who burned this forest...the name was Iblis. It was a name Zane remembered from what Axel and Ken talked about in explaining about Mephiles. So that was the other entity that needed to be one with Mephiles? The arctic wolf shuddered in this thought...

 

 

It wasn't long before the group returned to getting back on track with their mission. Zane did still feel the weight of Mephiles' words about the other wolves in the Northern Tundra, but right now it couldn't stop him. If Ken and Axel could fight the fact that they couldn't get to say everything they wanted to their parents...he had to have the same resolve.

 

"Alright..Axel said that he felt something deep in the jungle...so we'll keep marching until we find somethin- What the hell!  I swear this thing came out of nowhere!"

 

Zane skidded to a halt as he watched Ken running face first into a stone wall that seemed to come out of nowhere. "Walls...huh. Guess that's what stops hedgehogs speed." he said, attempting to joke some, letting a small smile out.

 

"The emeralds energy...It split... No. Doubled?! Damn it all! It most be some kind trap set to keep fools away from the Chaos emerald... Silver had said that him and the Old Heroes had hidden them away."

 

"So wait...does that mean?" Zane started, only to have Axel speak once more.

 

 

"One must be a decoy, but I can't seem to tell a single difference in the two energy signatures. Chimera, we'll need that thing I asked you to work on for me...We're splitting up!"

 

That's what he was fearing. There was a Chaos Emerald here...but apparently there was also a fake one, the decoy. Fake Emeralds...that was something that Zane didn't even think was a possibility...but apparently right now it was. But now, it seemed that they needed to split up into teams, as the team started to pass around a bag with some pretty snazzy and fancy looking...devices? Zane couldn't exactly tell if they were supposed to goggles or glasses...but whatever they were...it was pretty interesting.

 

Now that only left choosing a side. But right now...Zane's eyes went straight for Axel. Sure, to some it wouldn't make sense, due to Ken seeming much stronger of the two. But to the arctic wolf, he saw Ken's strength as physical, brute strength. While Axel...he specialized in utilizing the Chaos energy.

 

"Cryomancy...such a weak form of chaos..."

 

Zane could hear Mephiles' words again, which caused him to tightly clench his fists. He knew that Axel was the best one to watch...to learn from. "Axel! ...I'm coming with you." he said, moving towards the white hedgehog.

 

 

"They stopped... both energy signatures have stopped moving!"

 

"Wait...they just stopped?" Zane said puzzled. "Where exactly did they stop at, Axel?"

 

He was still curious though. What caused the emerald(s) to just begin to move in the first place? Not only that...why would they stop moving suddenly when the two groups would begin their descent through their own path? It was becoming very confusing to the wolf.

 

"Guys. We have company..."

 

Zane looked up and saw it literally raining robot spiders. It would be cool to him, ya know, if it wasn't so terrifying. But regardless, Zane pulled out his multi-tool and activated it, forging his ice blade once more. He was about to strike...however...out of the corner of his eye he saw Chimera seeming to try to communicate with the spider bots.

 

"Wait...Axel." Zane said, keeping his weapon drawn. "Let Chimera do his thing...maybe we could avoid another bot battle..."

[Wind Rider]

Alex remained silent as axel and ken's parents faded away from the light of the morning sun. One last farewell... She tried to shake it off but... She was jealous of ken and axel at this point. They got to see their family again, and maybe they would see them again at night, while alex was stuck with a dead family and a hateful brother that she would more than likely never see again. After a few seconds of thought, the group decided to continue into the forest.

 

 

 

Later...

"Alright..Axel said that he felt something deep in the jungle...so we'll keep marching until we find somethin- What the hell! I swear this thing came out of nowhere!" Alex was lost in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed ken run face first into a wall.

 

"The emeralds energy...It split... No. Doubled?! Damn it all! It most be some kind trap set to keep fools away from the Chaos emerald... Silver had said that him and the Old Heroes had hidden them away. One must be a decoy, but I can't seem to tell a single difference in the two energy signatures. Chimera, we'll need that thing I asked you to work on for me...We're splitting up!" One emerald was fake? Now that was a thief's worst enemy, a fake piece of treasure, and the notion of splitting up, that's one thing you shouldn't do in a large forest like this, if Chimera hadn't handed out an unusual set of goggles for each person.

 

It seemed like zane and chimera were heading out with axel, at this point, alex was... Not necessarily afraid, but cautious around axel after what happened with mephiles. That image of axel with such a blank, creepy look was still burned into alex's mind. "I'll go with ken..." she said in a monotone manner. Splitting up may have been a pleasant idea after all.

 

 

 

Ken's group...

The weird headsets that chimera gave seemed to be a form of communication between the groups, each one made to fit the person. Chimera must've put a bit of time into these, no telling what else they could do.

 

The trees seemed to part from the path, opening up clear streams of water on both sides of the path. It would've been peaceful if not for the fact that there were robo piranhas in the water. There was a large group in each stream and their teeth seemed to have sparks coming from them. "Ok... Don't let them bite you... And don't go in the water... Noted." alex stated as she threw a couple of knives, piercing three or four of the robotic fish. "I'm gonna need more knives for this..."

[Mr. Hyde]

Ken's Group

 

They had followed the path that Axel had said that the emerald's signature had gone down, but so far they hadn't seen much.  All that Ken had noticed was that the forest had opened out, and the floor had grown moist with small flows of water running beside the path.  Looking at it made him shiver, but at least he wouldn't have to swim in a whirlpool again.  

 

Suddenly, the water erupted, and badniks sprouted from the splashes.  Ken smiled as one of the robotic fish breached in his direction, snapping its jaws with killer intent.  

 

"Time for you to sleep with the fishes!"  Ken said as he launched a punch.  The badnik had other plans, seeing as its jaw opened wide and Ken's fist landed squarely into it's embrace.  Ken was shocked to figure out that he had missed, but was also being literally shocked at the same time.  His arm started to jerk, but it didn't stop him from continuing his punch.  The teeth grated against his skin, but somehow Ken managed to shoot his entire fist through the badnik's body.  As the robot erupted into scrap, Ken's arm hung by his side, bloody and steaming.  "Don't underestimate 'em...they sure pack quite the punch!"

As more jumped from the waters, Ken would do the same and meet them in the air.  He spun his heel around to roundhouse multiple fish, this time avoiding their bites.

 

"Taste my Hurriken!"  He said as he kept spinning, creating a trunade of broken badniks in his wake.   

[Blade Mistress]

"The emeralds energy...It split... No. Doubled?! Damn it all! It most be some kind trap set to keep fools away from the Chaos emerald... Silver had said that him and the Old Heroes had hidden them away. One must be a decoy, but I can't seem to tell a single difference in the two energy signatures. Chimera, we'll need that thing I asked you to work on for me...We're splitting up!" ​Splitting up? Well if that meant making sure that the emerald was found instead of the double, it would have to happen. Chimera had also handed out these unusual visors for everyone, were these supposed to be their way of communication? Because Cynthia could get behind it, they looked cool either way.

 

​Zane and Chimera went with Axel, so that just left Cynthia with heading out with Ken and Alex, that seemed fair.

 

​The path that they were following was moist to say the least, but the streams did look pretty. At least they would be if they weren't filled with robotic piranhas. Ken took a punch at one's jaw, but got a quick electrical shock before he destroyed it. "Don't underestimate 'em...they sure pack quite the punch!" ​Noted. Of course, electricity wasn't a problem for Cynthia. "Hey Ken, the one who kills the most is the winner!" ​Cynthia exclaimed as she morphed her arms and smashed a few. A couple bit right into her arms, their teeth did leave a mark but her arms seemed to conduct the electricity. ​"Hmmm... I got an idea... Hey you two! Whatever you do, don't get near the water." ​Cynthia ran towards the edge of the stream the fish were jumping from and dipped her electrically charged arms into the water. She closed her eyes and hoped for the best.

[Hälō]

Axel's group

BMG

 

"Wh-what? Have more survived...?"

 

"Wait...Axel. Let Chimera do his thing...maybe we could avoid another bot battle..."

 

Axel growled in annoyance. These robots were more of Chimera's kin, huh? The memory of the meeting he himself had just been given with his parents gleamed from the back of Axel's mind, halting his attack to allow for Chimera to attempt to communicate with the other robots... Though something told him that he would regret it.

 

Chimera would find that his attempt to reach out to the Grabbers via Harmony would prove futile, and before any of the freedom fighters could moved to stop them, the robots were upon them. Clutching on to anything they could, the Grabbers tightened their grip around the three heroes before releasing a horrible electrical current that sent sparks flying into the air. 

 

"Grrrrhh!" Axel cried out in agony. Every cell in his body felt as if it were on fire from the Grabber's combined attack, and before he knew it, he could feel himself loosing control of his body. "Dammit! That's enough!" Refusing to be brought down by such a simple attack, Axel clenched his fist and gathered as much chaos energy as he could within himself before suddenly tilting his body backwards and releasing it in a large shock wave. The blast was strong enough to send to spiders his general area high into the air in every direction, and to loosen the grips on the stragglers that had managed to remain latched on to his comrades.

 

With his temper now flaring and smoke billowing off of his seared clothing, Axel turned to glare towards Chimera. He wanted nothing more to then to crush every single last one of the Grabbers with his bare hands, but restrained himself nonetheless... Chimera was a trusted ally, and these things were his family. "Warp Fiction..." Axel ripped his gaze from Chimera's before sighing the name of his technique.

 

Suddenly, Axel's image flickered. Seconds later, afterimages of the white hedgehog could be seen dancing around the forest floor, as he rapidly began teleporting around the area. Within in moments, the Grabbers began vanishing in a telling blue light, only to reappear confused and disoriented around a certain arctic wolf. 

 

"Zane," The flickering copies of Axel called in unison as they continued to collect grabbers. "immobilize them!" 

 

 

Ken's group 

 

The aquatic robots faired little chance against Ken and the girls. It only took moments for the ground to become littered crumbled piranha corpses produced by flying knifes, armored punches and a hurriken. Realizing that their ambush was futile, a few of the wiser bots began to retreat down into the stream. Though they didn't anticipate that the water would soon be charged with electricity by Cynthia. 

 

One by one, the piranha bots began to short circuit within the water, creating more electrical charges that began traveling up the stream and destroying the robots that had been laying in wait further up the path. It was quite the spectacle, and within minutes the stream was filled with ruined robots that floated limply at the the surface.

 

Farther down the path, where the streams met with a massive lake that seemed to run further into the forest, Cynthia's current nipped at what lurked beneath the depths. Stirred by the first outside contact it had ever received since it's birth, the entity quickly began to swim to the surface. Breaching through the crystal clear water, it let out a guttural roar that shook the surrounding forest and could be felt and heard all the way down the path. 

 

Satisfied with it's greeting to the world, the entity began slowly circling the water in search of the intruders. It's form barely visible, with it's features masked by the reflected light as it swam just bellow the glimmering surface.  

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Zane and Axel stood their ground as they let Chimera attempt to communicate with these robots...however...in a very shocking twist...the Grabbers tightened their grip on them, releasing a horrible electric current. Zane would let out a pained yelp, as he watched Axel let out a shockwave of chaos energy...it was impressive.

 

-BGM-

 

He moved back some, shaking his head a little. He knew that using the multi-tool right now wouldn't be the smartest thing, especially on family that Chimera had. With that, Zane quickly deactivated the multi-tool and tossed it back in his pocket. Alright Zane...now what do you do? he thought, before seeing Axel out of the corner of his eye.

 

"Warp Fiction..."

 

Damn...even his techniques sound badass... Zane thought, before seeing the white hedgehog starting to flicker before afterimages appeared all over the forest floor. And one by one, the Grabbers were teleported and brought before him. His eyes widened, nodding as he finally understood what the plan was right now.

 

"Zane, immobilize them!"

 

"Done and done, Axel!" Zane smirked, slamming his hands together, feeling the air around him getting colder and more fridged. He slowly began to remove his clasped hands, before slamming them onto the ground. "Heh, Arctic Prison!!" he shouted, as from the ground beneath the Grabbers, erupted a strange prison that formed around them, encasing them in ice.

 

"Heh...yeah, that sounds like a pretty cool move name...Arctic Prison!" he smirked, rubbing under his nose as he admired his work.

[King K. Azo]

Chimera stood quietly, listening through Harmony, waiting for the response. There was no way they wouldn't...

 

"They're not responding...," He mumbled. "Why...?"  The Grabbers latched on to the three and began to electrocute them. Chimera didn't move. He let the electricity course through him, as he hung there, limp. Did someone alter them? Change their programming... make them only tools? He began to shake with rage. No matter how far he went into the future, things never changed... never. No matter what... always tools. 

Axel had began to go around, gathering the Grabbers, placing them around Zane, who began to freeze them solid. They weren't dead... except they were. Not physically, but these robots would never be the ones he knew ever again. They were forced to be something else... more than likely against his will. Unless... Did someone manage to program out Harmony?

That didn't seem possible... so the other option was... these weren't the bots he knew. They were replicas, someone copying Eggman.

That was just as unforgivable. 

Chimera walked down the pathway they were on as Zane and Axel took care of these robots. He would get to the bottom of this, and in the end, heads would roll.

Literally.

[Mr. Hyde]

Ken's Group

 

The robotic fish had retreated back to their streams, but Cynthia's quick wits lead to the destruction of all the badniks.  Ken smiled as he flashed a thumbs up her way.

 

"Nice thinkin' there Cynth!"

 

His celebration would be cut short be a tremendous roar, one that sent ripples down the streams.  Ken looked downstream to realize that the two waterways connected into one giant lake.  Whatever had unleashed that roar was surely in that lake!  With the challenge presented to him, Ken raced off to the water's edge.  

 

As he approached, he could barely see the outline of something swimming on the surface, but the reflection was too much for him to see past.  

 

"Now I'm really excited!"  Ken cracked his knuckles and his neck.  He struck a fighting pose.  "Whatever this thing is, it better not disappoint!"

[Wind Rider]

The robo-fish seemed smarter than they looked as some of them were running(or swimming rather) away. Unfortunately for them, Cynthia had gotten her arms charged by their electricity and had dipped them into the water, sending electricity all through the stream. Alex watched as one by one, destroyed shells of the robots floated to the surface.

 

"Well... Looks like you lost that challenge..." Alex said going back to that little challenge Cynthia had made when the fish started to attack. Though the little victory was short lived, as Cynthia's little idea seemed to have woken up something further ahead. The streams converged into a large lake, a large roar emerged from the waters.

 

"Now I'm really excited! Whatever this thing is,it better no disappoint!" Ken said striking a fighting pose.

 

"Hmph... Whatever it is my fire is still gonna be useless..." Alex let out a sigh. "What do i look like im made of throwing knives?" she said with a shrug. "Whatever... Lets just deal with this so we can catch that emerald..."