CHAOS RISING:
               PART THREE


All DUNE terms and characters copyrighted by Frank Herbert
All Sega characters copyrighted by SEGA of America, inc.
Davey Crocket, Old Man Coyote and Destiny copyrighted by David
Gonterman
Sonia da Hedgehog copyrighted by Emily Smith
Wildfyre, Hunter of Souls, Talos Shou'm, Darkwolves,
Starchildren, Mother Manassai, Agamemnon and Armageddon created
by C. Gast; Origin of Destiny created by C. Gast; Mecha Sonic
remade by C. Gast.


      WARNING!!!! MA-17! For Mature Audiences Only!!!

Scene one: Knothole Village
Setting: Nightfall, outside the Main village.

Davey Crocket and Sonia sat around the fire.  On the other side
could be seen a glowing silver woman and an old white coyote.

"A time of great trouble has come upon the universe, David and
Sonia," Destiny said. "It is the time of the Chaos Rising, the
time when the dark chaos forces will make their great move to
conquer the light."

Old Man Coyote spoke up.

"We have come here together to tell you to story of the Chaos
Rising, and to give you powers to protect yourselves from the
dark forces that will try to steal your souls."

Old Man Coyote spread his hands over the fire, and the smoke
curling up from it began to take on shape, to illustrate his
tale.

"Long ago, before creatures of wisdom walked over Mobius, two
great nations came to be.  One nation was wicked and cruel and
they used the dark Chaos energies to spread misery.  They were
called the Darkwolves, because they hunted in packs and tore
apart their own without mercy. The other nation were beings of
peace and love, and used their Chaos energies to heal the wounds
caused by the Darkwolves. Because they shone like the sun, they
were called Starchildren.  Countless years came and went as they
continued to make war with each other.  The two great chiefs of
these nations changed some of the Chaos energies into talismans
known as the Chaos gems. 
Although war brought much death to both nations, The Great Spirit
saw fit to bring life. A Darkwolf did the forbidden thing and
fell in love with a Starchild, and she loved him in return.  When
the leaders of both nations discovered this love, they set out to
stop it. The chief of the Starchildren sent his disobedient
daughter to Mobius, under the protection of his wife, Manassai.
However, the cruel chief of the Darkwolves killed his son without
remorse."


"He killed his own son??" Sonia asked incredulously.

"They are creatures of evil," Old Man Coyote said. "They have no
pity or love in their hearts."

"I stayed here on Mobius until the time came for me to deliver,"
Destiny continued. "I had a daughter, and I disguised her as an
echidna for her protection. In order to further distance myself
from her and decrease the risk of her discovery, I became sole
guardian of Mobius, keeping out all Darkwolf interference as best
I could, while my mother looked after my child.  But I knew I
could not hold out against the Darkwolves forever, and their
Ruler, Hunter of Souls, broke through my defenses. I fought long
and hard against him, and managed to entrap him in a deeply
hidden temple.  I then moved my daughter to the planet Arrakis,
and seich of Fremen who thought I was the horned goddess of space
raised her in the empire of Paul Maud'dib.
True to the nature of her father, when she turned nineteen, she
demanded to make a stand for herself against Hunter. After she
returned, Robotnik imprisoned her in a Combi catcher, and she was
just recently freed.  It couldn't have come at a better time,
because a tribe of dingoes opened Hunter's temple just a few days
ago."

"What does all this have to do with us?" Davey asked.

Old Man Coyote explained.

"If her soul is darkened by him, all Starchildren will follow,
and darkness will cover the universe.  Already one of your
freedom fighters, Espio, has had the seed of darkness planted
within him and he is seeking his friends to darken them as well."

"Their are three ways Hunter can corrupt you," Destiny explained.
"The first is by contact, and it can be broken by a strong will.
The second is Deep corruption, and only Hunter can reverse it.
The third is Full corruption, and it can never be broken."


Suddenly, a small green triangle appeared on the chests of both
Freedom fighters.

"These are the Chaos seals.  With their protection, you can break
all but Full corruption."

"Please, David, Sonia....save my child."

With her parting words, Destiny and Old Man Coyote vanished.


Just as Davey and Sonia began to stand up, Sonic zipped up to
them.

"We just got a transmission from Floating Island! Something
really bad has happened....I'm not even sure if Knuckles would
still be around to greet us if we jammed right now!"

Davey cocked his gun.

"Then let's get the lead out."


          ***********************************



Hunter smiled broadly as Espio threw Knuckles, bound hand and
foot, in front of him.

"We lost our first blood source," Espio hissed. "I think he will
do fine as a replacement."

"You have done very well, Espio.  All the others, Charmy, Vector,
and Mighty--have been brought to me by you alone," Hunter said,
pleased.  He stood up from his granite throne and snatched
Knuckles up by his dreads.  Knuckles spat in his face. 

"Your will is too strong to contact corrupt you," Hunter mused,
wiping the offending matter from his face. "You will be perfect
for my plans." 

Hunter signalled to his dingo legions, and dropped Knuckles.

"Take him deep within the caverns, and hold him there until it is
time."

Dingoes grabbed Knuckles by his feet and drug him from Hunter's
sight.

"What shall I do now, Dark Lord?" Espio asked.

"Destiny, as foolish as she is, has sent three freedom fighters
to try and stop me.  Prepare the Island for their arrival, and
continue to seek Wildfyre. Oh, and by the way," Hunter stopped
and looked toward a red comet in the east. "Take care of any
guests that fly in."

          ************************************


Davey, Sonia and Sonic jumped off the hoverbike and stepped onto
the island.  They looked around to see something straight out of
their nightmares.

"Oh, David!" Sonia gasped. "Look at what's happened to the
island!"

"Floating Island was already full of traps to keep out
intruders," Davey commented. "Looks like the natives just got
even more unfriendly."

Something like a wave of heat moved down a tree. Sonic stepped
closer to investigate. 

"What is this?" he said staring at the last place he saw
movement.

Quick as lightning the shape screamed inhumanly and locked its
fangs onto Sonic's neck. Sonic fell to the ground, struggling as
a shadow shaped like a chameleon became visible.

"GET OFF OF HIM!!" Davey yelled as he fired shots in front of
them.

Espio snarled and lept into the air, vanishing once again.

Sonia ran over to her fallen brother. 

"Sonic! Sonic, are you OK?" she pleaded. She examined his neck to
find two white fang-marks. Sonic groaned, then slumped over.
"NO! NO, YOU CAN'T BE DEAD! NOOOO!" Sonia screamed in grief and
horror. Sonic's color began to darken, then turn black. His pink
flesh turned death pale. Red slitted eyes turned and met hers. 

"Don't cry little sister.....come join me!" Sonic leered at her,
fangs glistening.  He seized her arms with metal claws and began
to laugh as she struggled.

Davey ran over and grabbed Sonic by his spines and threw him off
of her. He took Sonia and put her over his shoulder and ran as
fast as he could into the forest ahead.

Sonic got up and got ready to pursue them.  Espio appeared behind
him and took hold of his arm.  Sonic turned around.

"Don't bother with them.  They have chaos seals.  We'll leave
them to Hunter."

          ***************************************

Davey stopped when he realized Sonic wasn't in pursuit. He put
Sonia down. 

"They got Sonic!" she sobbed.

Davey looked down.  How were they supposed to fight their
friends?  Even more importantly, how were they supposed to free
them?

"Don't worry about them," a voice from somewhere in front of them
said. "Worry about yourselves.  When Hunter is defeated, they
will return to normal."

Davey used his infra red vision and detected two forms in front
of them.  He readied his rifle.

"Show yourselves!"

A white echidna and a copper scorpion stepped into view.

"Who are you, and you better not try any crap, because I'm just
about to start shooting first and asking questions later!" Davey
growled.

"Wildfyre, Chaos Changeling, and my companion, Talos Shou'm," she
replied unflinchingly and with perfect calm.

"Destiny's daughter?" Sonia asked hopefully.

"Correct," Wildfyre replied.

Davey breathed a sigh of relief and put away his gun.

"If my mother sent you, don't bother.  I can take care of
myself."

Davey quickly calmed the sudden rush of anger within.

"Look, sweetheart, we just lost a friend out there and YOU HAVE
THE NERVE TO SAY DON'T BOTHER????" Davey snapped.

"Yes. Now go home."

"THAT'S IT!" Davey shot his data spear out in an effort to catch
her and drag her to safety, like it or not. With a quick easy
move she stepped aside and let the data spear fly by, then with a
imperceptible slash of her sword, sliced off the end of the data
spear as it retracted.

Davey stood dumbfounded.

Wildfyre picked up the end of the data spear, walked over to
Davey, and positioned it where it would normally be on him.  She
then touched the end of her sword to it, and it repaired
instantly.

"My point is proven.  I don't need your help.  Go."

Abruptly the area around them was filled with light.

"Daughter, you are as stubborn as your father!" Destiny stood
before them in all her radiance, addressing her child.

"Have you looked into time yet?"

Wildfyre folded her arms. "No I haven't; There is no melange
here."

"Then allow me to assist you," Destiny opened her hand, and blew
an orange-red cloud around her daughter.

"Spice-gas!" Wildfyre exclaimed.  She dropped to the ground in a
trance.

"What happened to her?" Talos asked, worried.

"She has entered the spice trance.  It will allow her to see into
the future and show her the error of her ways."

Wildfyre felt herself growing smaller....smaller....until her
consciousness was nothing more than a glimmering mote.  She went
deep inside, and found the plane of realities that stretched out
before her like and endless sea. She followed her time line, past
the moment of now, and into the events of the future, and saw her
fate. *If I do not allow them to help, I will loose it all.*
She followed the infinite branches of possibilities, and found a
path that lead to victory, but it was filled with many
possibilities of her death.  She remembered the teachings of
Maud'dib: The safest path leads into stagnation and death.
This path had much risk...and a metal hedgehog??  She began to
pull away, letting her consciousness settle back into its home.

Wildfyre's eyes began to flutter.

"She's coming to!"

She sat up, and looked at those around. Destiny was gone now.

"I'm sorry David.  I can be, well, very distrustful--and
stubborn.  I apologize."

"Forget about it," Davey sighed. "Right now we've got to get to
someplace safe.  There's no telling what's lurking in the
shadows."

*No telling indeed,* the red-eyed shadow thought.  He moved a few
stray strands of blue/grey spines out of his field of vision.

Wildfyre stood up and walked over to Davey, standing right next
to him. "We have company," she whispered.

Davey readied his favorite gun and scanned the area in infra red.

"I don't see anything!" Davey whispered back.

"And you won't, either," a familiar voice said from out of the
forest.

*Where have I heard that voice bef--no, it can't be!* Davey
suddenly recognized who was out there. 

"I'd put down that gun of yours, Mr. Crocket."

"No phracking way, Mecha Sonic!"

"Ooo... Robot-dick's little boy got smart!"

"Show yourself you tin-can!"

"I don't think so. Mecha don't play that!"

Davey started laying down gunfire in the general direction of
Mecha Sonic's voice.  Trees fell over smoking and dirt flew in
all directions.

A tall, thin, transparent shadow remained standing.

"You missed me, Crock-Pot!"

Davey lost it and began firing at what-ever-it-was that was
standing there.  In a red jet as fast as Sonic ever was, Mecha
Sonic lept over the shots and came into full view, three
tube-shaped prongs on his forearm aimed at Davey's head. Davey
dropped and rolled, soil around him flying into the air as an
unknown type of lightning-like ammo exploded beside him.  Davey
rolled onto his stomach and got a good look at his adversary, who
stood in front of him, smiling. 

"You were always more fun to fight than Sonic," Mecha said,
amused.

Davey was confused; what had happened to Mecha Sonic? He didn't
appear to be a robot, but his body looked like it was made of
metal.  And where did the rocket packs and those arm thingies
come from???

"Look, Davey-boy, I didn't come here to kick your sorry butt.  I
came here because the guy that gave me my wicked new body said
his granddaughter needed help.  So if you have a problem, stow
it for now.  I don't have time to waste on you."

Sonia stepped forward cautiously.  She began to try to use her
powers to see if this new Mecha Sonic had a soul, and if so, what
was in it, but she couldn't!

"Davey, I can't use my spells!"

"That's because of me," Wildfyre answered.  "Magic cannot be used
within proximity of me.  I am anti-magical in nature."

"Just terrific," Davey groaned, getting up. 

Mecha Sonic turned to face Wildfyre.  "You're Agamemnon's grand-
daughter, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am," she answered. "And you must be the protector he
chose for me."

Mecha Sonic bowed deeply. "At your service."

"Look this is all great, but we have bigger problems to deal
with!" Davey snapped, annoyed. "Like....hey, Wildfyre, where'd
your scorpion friend go?"

As if on cue, a black scorpion's tail lashed out and stung
Wildfyre in her side.  She cried out and fell over clutching her
side.  Sonia ran over to her.  Dingo howls began to fill the air.

Mecha Sonic and Davey backed up and positioned themselves around
the two women.

Espio appeared in front of them, along with Sonic, Mighty,
Charmy, and Vector, and now Talos.  Dingoes began to circle them.
Then a sudden cold shiver was felt by the four as blood-colored
dragon wings set a tall being down in front of them.

Mecha Sonic turned to Davey.

"Its all going down NOW." 

 
          *************************************