CHAOS RISING PART FOUR All SEGA characters copyrighted by SEGA of America, Inc. Davey Crocket copyrighted by D. Gonterman Sonia da Hedgehog copyrighted by E. Smith Hunter of Souls, Wildfyre, Talos Shou'm, Agamemnon and PROBE created by C. Gast; Mecha Sonic remade by C. Gast Another dingo, now returned to his natural state, fled into the woods. Davey yelled in pain as he felt something sting his arm; as he turned to see what it was, Charmy dove for his neck. Davey knocked Charmy away; he crashed to the ground in a stupor as he began to become normal. His gaze returned to its former position only to see the very jaws of death open up before him as Vector the Crocodile decided to sample fox-flesh. He grabbed Vector's upper and lower jaw, only to find that his super power had finally run out. He wrestled the angry croc, the only thing in his sight being right down Vector's throat. He fell back onto the ground, Vector still trying to close his sharp-fanged death- pit over Davey's head. He kicked Vector in the stomach, sending him flying off. Mecha Sonic locked hands with Mighty the Armadillo, each putting their full efforts into pushing the other down. "At least I am not fighting a weakling!" Mighty snarled. Mecha Sonic strained his organic/metal muscles to their max; then with a burst of adrenaline, shoved Mighty down; Mighty's color began to return to normal. Realizing that his powers were almost gone, Mecha Sonic tackled Vector mid-air as Vector attempted once more to devour Davey. Both fell into a pile of leaves, their colors fading to normal. *********************************** Wildfyre threw Espio off of her back, running to a group of trees she thought might be to her advantage. She was thrown to the ground as the speedy chameleon tripped her. He jumped on top of her as she began to turn over, pinning her hands to the ground. She struggled against him, discovering that somehow his strength matched her own. (Deep corruption!) she thought. (He's got the same strength as a horned wolf!) "Oh, you are hot!" Espio leered lustily. "Perhaps when Hunter corrupts you, he'll give you to me to play with!" "Just TRY it!" Wildfyre growled, bearing canine fangs. "You asked for it, sweetheart!" Espio grinned wickedly, undaunted by her threats. As he moved to reposition her, she quickly kneed him in the groin. He fell off, clutching himself in agony. "I am sorry, friend. I know you are not doing this of your own accord," she apologized, getting up. She began to search the nearby vegetation for her sword, which had been knocked from her hands previously. As she touched its metal hilt, she felt a pair of fangs sink into her neck. "I recover quickly!" Espio snarled. Wildfyre pushed him away as best she could, her vision beginning to fade and her muscles weakening. She fell forward as Espio grabbed her legs. "Come on Espio, we've got what we need," she heard Sonic say. "Just a minute, Sonic. Are we far enough away from them?" Their voices sounded like they were coming out of a tunnel; her vision was gone. "Yeah. Why--Oh, *I* see...." "Care to join me?" "Maybe later. The dingoes need help with that scorpion....." Silence. ***************************************** Davey wiped the sweat from his brow as the last dingo he had rescued fled. Mighty, Charmy and Vector were covered in a thick black tar-like sweat. Mecha Sonic helped Charmy remove the crud from his wings. "Looks like what ever Hunter put into them came back out," he mused. "Aw, geez, my walkman's busted!" Vector lamented. "Always putting things in their proper perspective, eh Vector?" Charmy admonished. "You are a better man than I, Davey," Mighty declared. "If I had been in your shoes, I would have killed my friends in the name of mercy." Charmy and Vector both swallowed nervously. "Sonia, Wildfyre and Talos are all gone, Davey," Mecha Sonic stated. "We can assume the worst--Hunter's got them, and he may even have had them all corrupted by now." Davey felt suddenly crushed. Sonia was gone, and he had done nothing to stop her. "Vector, Mighty, Charmy--make your way to Knothole by any means necessary. You'll be safe there until we get this all taken care of," Mecha Sonic instructed. "Those teleporter icons we gathered earlier will come in handy," Charmy thought aloud. The three left for their stash. Mecha Sonic turned to Davey, who sunk to his knees with shattered hope. "We're going to get them back, David. Sitting here and mourning them as if they were already dead will be of no help to them," Mecha Sonic stated, trying to boost David's spirits. (Yeah, but I doubt he'd want them from me--I get the feeling he doesn't like me very much--although the feeling's mutual.) ************************************ Wildfyre awoke in a dark, wet place she couldn't quite identify. As her eyes began to adjust to the dark, she could make out a semi-lit opening covered with bars. She tried to get up, only to feel suddenly sore. She smiled victoriously. (Espio didn't realize that horned wolves can't be taken without their conscious consent,) she thought. (But -ow!- the little bastich sure did try!) She raised her arm to check the wounds on her neck, she felt a weight on her wrist. Shackles! Wildfyre turned her head as she heard a second set of chains rattling in the dark. "Who's there?" She asked defensively. "It's me Wildfyre--the one you gave your blood-oath to," the figure in the dark replied. "KNUCKLES?" Wildfyre asked incredulously. "In the flesh--and chains," he answered. "I'm sorry I got you into this," she apologized, feeling suddenly guilty. "I didn't come to your aid like I should have." "Hey, it's just as much mine," Knuckles consoled. "I should have used that power icon when I thought about it; I didn't because I though I didn't need your help." Wildfyre sat silent for a minute; then spoke up. "I wonder why I wasn't corrupted when Espio bit me," she said, puzzled. "Well, no matter; in fact, it gives me an idea....." Knuckles moved closer, trying to get as good a look at her as he could...something was strangely different about her....yet strangely familiar. He squinted his eyes.....then he recognized her. She wasn't a white echidna after all! But why had she hidden her true identity from him? Did she think he wouldn't remember? He called her by her secret name--the same one she had told him on the day of their engagement. "Why did you hide yourself from me?" he asked, sounding a little hurt. She moved back into the shadows, not wanting to answer. "Please....talk to me, Wildfyre. Why did you do it?" Wildfyre fought hard against the tears streaming down her cheeks, but lost the battle rapidly. "I left because I though you had found someone else!" she blurted out. "I was so torn up that I left Mobius entirely!" "You thought I was in love with Sally, didn't you?" he asked. "You never bothered to find out that the reason she spent those summers with me was part of her royal training." "I suppose I was a little rash, but when I saw her kiss you, I--I lost my head....I was a lot younger then. A lot more immature." Knuckles sighed. "I did have some feelings for her, I admit it; but I didn't feel the same way about her that I felt about you." With a burst of DREAMTIME strength, Wildfyre ripped her chains from the wall. She walked over to Knuckles, and pulled his chains out as well. He took her into his arms and held her close as they began to remember the feelings they once had for each other. Knuckles wiped the hot tears from her cheeks and looked into her eyes, seeing the sorrow and years of hurt time had scarred her with. He knew what it was like to lose all the family you had ever had; his father passed through the wall of fire into the forbidden zone and never returned. For a few years, they were the only family each other had. "I had hoped you would return one day, that we could set things right again....but you never came back. I gave up on you. It hurt, but it was better than remaining in pain forever....I hope you understand...." Wildfyre sighed. "In your situation, I would have done the same thing." "It's been awhile, but maybe....maybe we can try again?" he asked hopefully. "Only time will tell," she smiled. "For old time's sake!" Knuckles said; he pressed her against himself, parting her lips and kissing her deeply and hungrily; only reluctantly did they release one another. "Now what was this plan?..." She began to change her color into a slick, shiny grey-black; her skin looked like was coated with liquid rubber. She turned glowing gold eyes on Knuckles. He scooted back, the primal fear of prey for predator kicking in as he looked into the fierce gold eyes of a wolf. "Wildfyre?" he swallowed nervously, afraid she had actually been corrupted. "Still me, Knuckles. Like the costume?" He stopped for a minute, taking in her new appearance; she was infinitely dangerous (yet somehow wildly desirable!). She brushed jet black hair from those--glowing?--eyes. "You like torturing men, don't you?" She laughed. "Y'know, I'm going to have to be careful--I could get to like being a bad girl!" she said with sexy smile. *************************************** "Davey--I've got something for you--from your father." David Kintobor turned around in shock and surprise. "How could *you* have anything from him?" Davey asked, annoyed at Mecha Sonic for even daring such a lie. "My "father", or the closest thing to a father I ever had, was friends with your dad before he went bad. In fact" he said, checking the cyberjacks in his palms, "he helped your father develop these files. They were meant for you specifically-- that's why I can't open them." This piqued Davey's curiosity. "How am I supposed to get them?" he asked, stilled irritated. "You have to download them from ME." Davey looked at Mecha Sonic with disgust. It was the most vile thing he could think of, but getting his father's files was more important than his revulsion. "One thing, hair-ball," Mecha Sonic sneered. "To get them, you are going to have to experience everything I have--including what it's like to *die*." Mecha Sonic gave his trademark evil smile. "Think you've got the ball-bearings for it?" "Bring it on, metal-head!" Davey connected his data spear to Mecha Sonic's cyberport. Both began to break out in a sweat as the most painful moments of their lives were being exchanged in order to get to the deeply buried files. At that moment both David Jim Kintobor and Mecha Sonic let out combined scream so powerful it shook the ground for miles. They fell over, stunned with the pain of two lives. Davey disconnected; the file transfer was complete. As he lay there in shock, the files began to open of their own accord. *Hello, my son,* Jullien Kintobor began to speak. *Father?" Davey mentally replied, still weak. *I am assuming that by the time you get these files, my transformation will have already been complete. A friend of the King of Mobius, his name being Agamemnon, helped me develop these files for your benefit, to aid you in stopping me. These files contain a three-dimensional map of the entire planet of Mobius, and the location of all known chaos gems. With them, I will not be able to hide from you. (sighs) I am sorry for what I will become David--sorry for all the pain I know I'll cause you. I have one more message for you my son. In the coming days, the plane of DREAMTIME will be breached, and a whole new world will be open to Mobius. All of its goodness--and badness--will be able to cross over. The carrier of this message is a small example of the technology you will find there. Do not turn away his help; he is an ally more powerful than you might imagine. Good luck my son. God be with you.* With that, the message ended. Davey slowly arose. Mecha Sonic did the same. "I'm glad I never had a father," Mecha Sonic decided. "I don't EVER wanna know what that feels like again." "I've got the files we need," David smiled. "Jullien: bring up MobiMap." A large holographic sphere appeared in mid-air over Davey's arm. "Jullien: Locate: Hunter's Temple The sphere dissolved into a map of Floating Island, then zoomed in on the area they were standing in. The image produced a red line that snaked its way over to a cave and stopped, making a red circle on the entrance. "Bingo." ***********************************************