Sonic Series Fan Fiction / Sonic X Fan Fiction ❯ The Ultimate Adventure: The Mobius Saga ❯ Mobius, Part II: Angel Island ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

(Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog and all other canon characters are owned by Sega and Archie Comics. Every original character used in “The Mobius Saga” belongs to me. No one is allowed to use them without my permission.)

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The Ultimate Adventure: The Mobius Saga

Mobius, Part II: Angel Island

The wind stilled; the grass swayed. The waterfall dripped; the pond rippled. All the action either stilled or stopped as suspense filled the atmosphere. The Midnight Grove, mostly known for its everlasting beauty and serene tropicality, was becoming more of a general subplot for the entire imbroglio going on from the center of the grove.

Sonic the Hedgehog and Alexander Halbery, two people who just met no more than a few minutes ago, were staring down upon each other, letting their eyes penetrate into one another. Their reasons were the same, but their behavioral patterns contrasted.

For Alexander, he felt very shocked and surprised and his facial expression proved it. His eyes bulged and his breathing nervously quickened. The wonderment ahead of him was very surprising to him.

His expression not only took a toll on his breathing and facial muscles, but it took a toll on his voice, as well.

“Wow,” he wanted to say, but he had either no strength or that he forgot about it. Whatever the case was, he was just too speechless to say anything.

He had seen a hedgehog many times before (in zoos or through magazines), but not one in the wild and certainly not one like what he was seeing in front of him. He was just… amazed and dumbfounded by this accidental discovery as he mentally proclaimed it to be.

Albeit some difficulties, Alex was finally able to relax his eyes and he skimmed through Sonic's casual, yet confident posture. His wavering eyes also inspected Sonic's physical features from his big head, to his slender body, to his long legs.

Sonic's claim was proven evidently; he looked quite a lot like a hedgehog, with the long, sharp quills sticking out from the back of his head and back.

Despite the fascinating configuration and molding of this spectacular blue hedgehog, there was something - or some things, for the matter - to which made the thirteen year-old confused. First off, Sonic was blue all over, followed by his height, which was about three and a half feet. According to the magazines he read, most hedgehogs were pigmy-colored and about the size of an average person's hand, not blue and about the size of most young children before the age of ten.

Conversely, there was one main thing that caught Alexander's attention. One that quirked him with endless confusion. It was the fact that Sonic could talk without any interpretation or animal sounds whatsoever. It was like that he was born to talk. Either that or that he was really a human kid inside a very tight, elastic costume.

On the other hand, maybe it was something else. Perhaps a dimensional warp caused all the oddities around there. Yes, that must have been it; the dimensional warp was possibly the reason why the entire landscape was so quirky and alien.

That could be the case… or could it? That shall be determined later on…

Meanwhile, Sonic surveyed Alexander in about the same way (one with a lot of interest and keen wonderment), but he did it in a bit of a more casual approach rather than what his vice-versa actually did. On the other hand, there was more to which Sonic was seeing than what he observed externally.

In his mind, what he saw was a kid who was confused, dazed, and lost, causing him to feel a slight bit remorseful for the poor child.

However, something was making him both uncomfortable and curious, and it had nothing to do with Alexander's corny behavior.

“There's something about this kid that is bothering me,” thought Sonic as his big green eyes looked down at Alexander, “something that I just can't pinpoint. I wonder what it's all… huh?”

All concentration, however, was rudely interrupted when the cyan gem in Alexander's right hand started to glow a little brighter than usual, forcing Sonic to cut off thinking about Alexander's odd behavior towards him.

Alexander also realized the gem's unexpected actions and stared down upon it. “Huh?” he wondered and brought the gem to his eye level. The gem quickly glowed in a bright blue ball, its light rays spreading out like a bird's wings. Then, much to Alexander's dismay, the glow died, leaving only the gem's own transparent shell.

It would not remain that way, though.

CHOOM!

Suddenly, a huge beam of light shot out from the very top of the jewel and into the aqua sky above.

That tower of light caught quite a lot of attention from all over the area, especially from a seven-haired dreadlocked man in a forest nearby. While gathering some fruit, he heard the humming from afar and looked above. That was when he saw the beam.

He did not have to guess twice; he had a good feeling what it was and where it came from. “I know that light,” he answered to himself, as the bright light became crystal white. Wasting no time, he put all the fruit he scavenged down on a tree stump and ran after the tower of light in the distance.

“I have a very good guess where the light came from,” he told himself as he ran down a dirt pathway, the trees a blur right beside him. “I just hope I'm not too late.” And he ran harder than he usually did, letting the dry dirt from underneath billow into a thick cloud from behind him.

The little man hoped to make it to wherever he was trying to get to on time, but when he looked up again to see if he had not lost track of it, the tower already diminished.

“Darn it!” grumbled the little midget frustratingly as he slowed down; he then collapsed on his left knee, panting loudly from the lack of oxygen in his lungs.

He remained in that position for only a few seconds before getting back up again. “Well, at least I got close to it,” he muttered, already giving up on the trek. However, he would soon get a little moment of good luck as he began hearing a small conversation adjacent from where he was. “Maybe a little too close,” he thought aloud and started walking to where the voices came from.

Meanwhile, back in the Midnight Grove, Alexander watched in awe as the gem's essence escaped and sent silent shockwaves all around the territory. Its glow speared through the sky like a javelin sticking its head in the soft grass. Its rays unleashed all its glory and significance as it shielded the sky with a transparent sparkle.

This feature also caused a stir as far as nature went, from the grass to the water. The whole landscape was interested to this presentation. From the waterfall, to the grass, to the wind, it just seemed attracted by the glow.

It especially attracted something else, but it was not from the grove. It was something a bit… galactic than what was “right on the ground.”

Even so, they were soon going to be disappointed. The main problem was that spectacles like this only lasted for so long. After about five minutes or so, the light diminished, becoming a mere quixotic glow as it penetrated from inside the small gem.

Alexander's eyes nearly popped out from this spectacle as he gazed down upon it. “Whoa!” he quietly gasped to himself.

“Yes, amazing to see one of the seven Chaos Emeralds act like that, huh,” interrupted a voice from afar.

Hearing the voice, Alexander looked up to where it came from, only to notice Sonic the Hedgehog. He had his arms crossed, but with a look of casualness and a voice of calmness and care.

“A what?” Alexander asked.

“A Chaos Emerald,” replied Sonic. “A mystical jewel that holds a lot of power that defies logic and comprehension.”

Alexander gasped and looked at the glazy gem. “So, this gem is filled with mystical powers?”

“Mm-hmm,” nodded Sonic.

Alexander gasped and allowed the brief explanation to sink into his own brain. “So, that's what the gem is called!” he thought. Sure enough, the Chaos Emerald was the jewel's identity as what Sonic informed him, and in the child's own perspective, it looked a lot more complete now that it was euonymus.

“And you said that there are seven of them, Sonic?” he recollected.

“Mm-hmm,” nodded Sonic.

A whistle escaped Alexander as he heard the announcement. Yes, there were more Chaos Emeralds around. He has assumed there was more after reading a newspaper article a couple of days ago. Now, if he only had it to show him…

Well, despite the missing evidence regarding his hypothesis, part of his assumptions was solved. Now, he wanted to know some things that the Chaos Emerald was capable of doing, like how they enacted these unique oddities and why they did them.

And he wasted no time starting his quest on the Chaos Emeralds' mysteries. “Um, Sonic?”

Hearing the voice, Sonic turned his attention from the sky to the small child. “Yes, kid?”

“You know that beam of light that occurred just a few minutes ago - what was that?”

Sonic answered this question right away, as if he knew by heart. “That's usually a sign,” he replied.

“A sign?”

“Mm-hmm,” answered Sonic with a nod. “A Chaos Emerald usually does that when another Chaos Emerald is close by.”

“I see,” said Alexander and gazed at the Chaos Emerald. “That's one more question down,” thought Alexander mischievously. “Now, I need the rest.”

With that, Alexander continued to question the hedgehog. At least, he was about to question him…

SNAP!

…Because suddenly, a sound of a twig snapping was heard, causing both Alex and Sonic to gasp.

“What was that?” wondered Alexander in a panicked tone.

“I don't know,” said Sonic, “but I'm sure it won't be good.”

“Won't be good?” gasped a voice indignantly.

Sonic and the child jumped internally - only Alexander fell into the water.

“You okay, kid?” asked Sonic as walked down the slope and helped Alexander to his feet.

“Yeah, I'll be fine,” the Halbery child groaned. “I've been through worse pain than this.”

Sonic smiled and veered his attention away from the poor child. There, he let his big green eyes gaze the area, in hopes of trying to find the person who roared out into the tranquil scenery. Unfortunately, there was no one in sight.

In mere moments, that would all change.

“Hey, you!” interrogated a deep male voice from the area.

Alexander and Sonic internally jumped again, but the sound was clearer than the last shout-out.

The area became quiet for several moments until Alexander looked up at the cliff and gasped.

“Sonic?” he said slowly.

“Yes, kid?”

“I think we found out who was the one that was shouting at me,” stammered Alexander and pointed up at the top of the cliff with his left hand.

And he was right, too. Sonic looked up and noticed a red echidna glaring darts at the drenched Alexander, his violet eyes glowering and his arms crossed. The echidna had seven red quills that started from the sides of his head all the way to his shortest one perpendicular to his front. He had a beige muzzle along with a small black nose, along with eyes that slit downward crossly. His purple irises within looked so angry it could scare a ghost.

His red physique was slender, but bulky in the chest, containing a pearly white crest that looked a lot like a big grin. The long, body-length arms were crossed stiffly over his chest, but they were not big enough to hide his huge white boxing gloves, which had two sharp knuckles on each hand.

His legs were quite long, almost as long as his arms. His ankles donned hard green anklets that looked like hollow cylinders. Just like his body, his shoes were completely red, along with a yellow center stripe that split the shoes' solid red color. On the top of each shoe, there was a gray metal plate with six bolts on them.

Lastly, on the end of his spine, hiding in the shadows of his dreadlocks, he had a long red tail that that went upward, then jolted downward about halfway like a lightning bolt.

After surveying the area, the echidna jumped up, spreading his body and arms out like a carpet, and glided down.

When he landed on a rock nearby the one Alexander tripped on, he looked down on the boy and glared at him.

“What are you doing here on my island?” the echidna scolded and pointed at him with his right arm.

Alexander, unfortunately, did not hear him and only looked at him with a kind of interest as to who the echidna was. However, the stern look and policing tone gave him a slight shiver, as if his conscience told him to not misjudge this person.

Oh, would he ever be so right; unlike Sonic, the red echidna was not that patient, and if he had patience, he lost it very quickly.

“ANSWER ME, KID!” he barked echoingly.

“Wahh!” cried Alexander and fell into the water once more. This time, he collapsed face-first, chagrining Alexander so much he began spewing out adult-like swearwords. Thankfully, the water - and the fact that his face imprinted the sandy surface - muffled it, making it unintelligible.

“Hey, hey, Knuckles!” called Sonic crossly and walked in front of the red echidna, restraining him from going nearer to the child. “Take it easy on him,” he added, his eyes glaring arrows at his comrade.

“Take it easy on him?” Knuckles barked again, shoving Sonic's weight off him, making the hedgehog hit the pillowed grass with a soft thud. “Do you have any idea why he's here? He can be someone who works for Eggman or some sort.”

Sonic, not believing what he had just heard, jolted his head up quicker than lightning, coughing up the fertilizer-flavored grass that was in his mouth.

“Working for Eggman?” he spluttered indignantly as he got up. “That's baloney. Why would a lonely child like him be working for a fat, bald-headed jerk like him?”

“Who knows?” said Knuckles with a sarcastic shrug, his eyes closed with mock melancholy. “He could've tricked him to coming here.”

“Tricked him, my-”

“Um, guys…”

The two arguing males turned to a confused, cross, and wet Alexander standing in the black pond. “Excuse me for saying this, but what the heck are you two talking about?”

Sonic and Knuckles stared at Alexander blankly and blinked numerous times at the kid, as if they just heard a ghost or if they had forgotten about him. That was when a chill occurred in the wind as the grass wafted in the gust. Other than that, everything soon became very quiet and very eerie, like time had slowed down and everything stood still.

However, after a few minutes of calm serenity, both Sonic and Knuckles returned their attention towards each other and resumed arguing, as if nothing ever happened.

Confused and angry as to what was going on, Alexander sighed disgustedly and grabbed his luggage, which was completely wet of black water from bag to strap. “Oh, well, guess I'm no longer needed here,” he muttered to himself while cursing mentally at the two jabbers. He was about to step out of the pond for the first time in a long time when the Chaos Emerald shot out of his right hand and floated above him.

“What is it?” asked Alexander to the floating Emerald in front of him.

The Emerald was immobile for only a few moments when it suddenly glowed a little more brightly. Then, it gracefully glided past Alexander and floated in front of the waterfall.

As it floated, the luminosity slowly became brighter, and an aura in the shape of a fan formed, splitting the water in half.

When the blue radiance finished expanding, what was behind the water was not solid rock. In fact, there was not anything back there, at all; right behind the waterfall was a very dark cave, but it was not pure black. Some brownish dirt polluted the midnight hole. In addition, some light zinged from inside thanks to the sunshine above as crystallized light broke through the darkness.

Alexander smiled curiously and walked towards the cave, letting the water sponge through his worn-out sneakers. He then peered through it by sticking his head inside, ignoring the small droplets of water that pounded on the top of his scalp. Even though he saw nothing but near-darkness in that very tunnel, he was extremely interested as to what was inside there and where it went.

“What is this place?” he asked himself.

The Chaos Emerald brightened with the words “The Cosmic Cave” coming from within.

“'The Cosmic Cave,'” he reiterated. “Hmm,” he added with a pondering hum as he stared at the Cosmic Cave again.

“I wonder what's in there,” he wondered to himself, but in a low volcality, “and where it leads to.”

That was when he started to half-daydream about the tunnel and its potential destination. “Maybe, it's a way out of this area, or a passageway to another part of the island-” but his daydream ended rather rudely when he shifted his distracted gaze at Knuckles and Sonic, who were still arguing near the shoreline, “-whichever island I'm on, that is,” he finished blankly.

Once he was done with his thoughts, he returned his attention back towards the cave and walked inside, grabbing the Chaos Emerald with his left hand on the way. With that, he disappeared, leaving the brawling duo in his wake.

At the precise moment Alexander disappeared, Sonic and Knuckles heard the quick rush of the waterfall, halting their argument.

“Um,” Sonic slowly quoted as he looked around the Midnight Grove, “is it me or did that child just disappear?”

“Yeah, I think he did,” answered Knuckles, observing the surroundings, as well.

The two critters ultimately forgot that their argument ever existed.

Soon after, all nature coming from the grove returned to normal, as well as the golden moon. The moment Alexander vanished, its bright yellow aura shone brightly and began orbiting the planet again, as if it was disappointed that there was no longer any action coming from there anymore.

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The Cosmic Cave was dark and spooky, but had interesting features and elements in it. The walls were neither perfectly round nor perfectly square, but they were oblong. Several skinny stalactites hung from the high and shadowy ceiling, the marble and zinc reflecting off the Chaos Emerald's fluorescent blue light. Several stalagmites popped out from the ground, looking like they erupted out from a volcano. Unlike the stalactites, the stalagmites looked more like wigwams rather than upside-down icicles, with its round top rather than a needle nose.

There were also several huge craters and indents on both the walls and floor of the cave. Many of the craters on the floor were as wide as a tire of an 18-wheeler truck, while some are smaller than dimes. Quite a lot of the wall craters looked a lot like cracked sinkholes while the rest was more or less like mini-tunnels that protruded into the outside world.

In all, the tunnel acted more like a maze; it was very difficult to maneuver around them. Apparently, the forces of nature - if it can be called that - was the one responsible for the “mess” that resulted from the cave's configuration. It would have been even tougher if Alexander did not have that Chaos Emerald with him, for it acted like a portable chandelier so he can see what was in front of him.

After turning the corner, Alexander slid down a small and steady incline, letting the dirt tumble down with him. He then got up, dusted himself off, and continued walking.

The current stretch of cave was very level and very spacious. The ground was very level and very smooth, with the walls far apart from each other. Still, that did not mean that there were a few oncoming stalagmites or stalactites blocked his way. That was if they could block his way.

“Boy, this cave sure has a lot of quirks in here,” thought Alexander as he sidestepped a stalactite. He then turned left and slid down the hill. After getting up, he continued walking on, passing a termite-infested stalagmite on his right.

Afterwards, he took his attention off the clear road and stared at the Chaos Emerald in his left hand. He watched in mild awe as the bright light from the gemstone radiated from it. Alexander did not realize this, but he was fortunate he found it. Because the natural light from the outside had all but dissipated, the brilliant gem was his most reliable source of light he had.

Well, his concentration on the Chaos Emerald was about to come to an abrupt end as he turned left at the corner…

BONK!

“Ouch!”

…Once he did, he clunked his big, hard head right into an oncoming stalactite, which hung right in the middle of the pathway.

“Man, I'm really starting to hate this,” he muttered crossly and rubbed his sore forehead, contradicting his thoughts from earlier in the day. After giving a small glare at the troublesome structure, Alex walked on.

“And I'm staring to hate this very quickly,” he finished with a hard huff before turning the corner and out of sight.

However, after taking a couple of deep breaths, he regained his composure and continued trekking without holding some silly grudge over some inanimate object. He jumped over a low-risen wall and landed feet-first, but he lost balance and crashed his backside onto the ground.

This time, he would not get flustered. He soon got up, dusted himself off, and continued walking. He skidded down another slope and then climbed a steep but smooth incline.

Afterwards, his trek was just like any type of exploration. He climbed over stalagmites and crawled under stalactites, as well as walking uphill and downhill. He would soon find his way down another smooth and level path of the cave, and feeling alive, he began to run fast and hard…

“Oof!”

…But that opportunity of freedom would literally come to a screeching halt as he bumped into something that blocked the road, leading to him falling flat on his back.

He soon got back to his feet and positioned the Chaos Emerald's light to where he allegedly bumped into. What he saw was some kind of wall. It was black and had several sharp points that penetrated through the hard rock. Small craters encrusted its surface, and huge ledges hung from overhead on the corners of the wall.

It appeared to be a bright spot for Alexander… except there was apparently no way for him to reach the other side.

“Oh, great,” he muttered. “How do I get to the other side now?”

The Chaos Emerald vaguely replied to him by displaying the words “Look up” from within the gem.

“'Look up'?” Alexander echoed and looked up at the blackened ceiling above, which was completed shadowed with a camouflaged shadow. “Hmm, I wonder what that's supposed… to… mean.”

The last three words of his phrase quickly slowed down into several syllables as he received his answer. As he let the Chaos Emerald glisten the ceiling, Alexander quickly gulped upon looking at it. Way above his head was a small, but wide tunnel. It was oblong, with indents and craters all along its interior. Unlike the wall, no sharp, hypodermic-pointed tips were exposed, leaving Alexander some room for error.

That was if he had any; the tunnel was very high up, about 200 feet above the ground.

Alexander's limbs froze at the sight. “Oh, great,” he reiterated in thought. “It looks like I'm in for it now.”

Gulping loudly, he gripped his hands on the wall and muttered to himself, “Well, here it goes.” And he started scaling the wall, trying not to let the Chaos Emerald slip out of his hand. It was no easy task for him, especially since he really had one useful for hand for him to climb.

His climb was difficult right from the start. The craters and indents were very slippery with dirt and dust, and many of them were spaced out. On many occasions, Alexander had to pull himself up with all his strength just to continue climbing. If was especially difficult since he was still holding the cyan Chaos Emerald. Not only did he have to worry from dropping it, he also had to worry about falling on the ground with a gigantic splat.

“Whew! This is tougher than I thought it would be,” panted Alexander as he was only a few feet from the cornered ledges. “But I still have a little bit to climb.” He then continued to climb until he reached the ledges above him. Deciding which cliff he would land on, he went to the left side and tossed the Chaos Emerald and bag to the ledge. After he heard them both land with a soft thud, he pulled himself up to the cliff and let his legs collapse onto it.

“Man… that was tough,” he panted and wiped the sweat off his face. “But I still have quite a bit to climb,” he finished after shining the Chaos Emerald towards the high ceiling.

“But first…” he muttered. Rather than climbing now, he decided to wait for a few minutes in order to regain some of the energy he lost while climbing. With that, he plopped onto the ground, letting his back crash itself onto the hard wall.

“…It's time for a water break,” he stated and rummaged through his bag. “I could've sworn I put one in here while I was packing.”

His search would merely be a brief one.

“Oh, here it is.” He grabbed the clear plastic water bottle from the corner of his bag and took it out. He then unscrewed the cap and took a drink.

“Ahh, much better,” he sighed, feeling the tingling of the water flow down his throat. He continued downing water until he quenched his thirst. All the while, the current relaxation he was in and the water he was drinking was giving him some of the strength that had depleted from him. Even though the water was a little bit lukewarm, he could care less for the time being.

Finally, after 24 minutes, he screwed the cap back on and put the water bottle away. “Looks back it's time to climb some more,” concluded Alexander and got to his feet. He grasped the formations that were within his reach and continued to scale the wall.

The rest of the climb turned out to be easier than predicted. About everywhere he touched was some formation for him to climb. There were also ledges like the first one he crossed early in the climb.

Still the climb was very difficult, for he still had to pull himself up with a lot of might. Sweat was now falling down his face, and he sighed repeatedly, but he still kept on climbing.

Finally, after some strenuous climbing, he was finally able to reach the top of the cave. Taking the Chaos Emerald out from his right pant pocket, he pointed the glow directly towards the tunnel, letting its pollution penetrate it.

“Quite some distance from here,” mumbled Alexander after mentally examining the tunnel's distance. Suddenly, he felt something tingle down his spine. It felt a little weird, but this sensation was apparently nothing that would cause harm, so he ignored it.

On the other hand, he wanted to something that was very tempting but risky, but he held off this hazardous temptation and crawled inside the tunnel instead.

He reached the other end of the tunnel about thirty minutes later and poked his head through the wall. After seeing nothing but total darkness, he took out the Chaos Emerald, letting the glow reflect off both the walls and the ground below him.

He then looked down towards the ground and noticed the formations below him. “Good,” he said to himself and climbed down the wall.

Once he touched down, he shined the Emerald ahead of him and continued walking. The area of the tunnel he was in now had several stalactites hanging overhead. Each one varied in size and height, and they all lined up in a row.

“Man, this tunnel just gets quirkier and quirkier,” thought Alexander while gaping at the stalactites above him.

About ten minutes later, the hanging pieces of nature became smaller and smaller, and they soon camouflaged into the blanket of darkness high above him.

“Yep, this tunnel has gone wacko,” he decided, but he still kept going.

However, just as he reached the empty tunnel, he suddenly stopped walking. In front of him were two tall and wide tunnels; one went right while the other went left.

“Hmm,” he pondered and shifted his attention to one entrance to the other, letting his curiosity and conscience try to tell him where to go.

After a short while, he made his decision. “I'll go this way,” and he walked down to the left corridor.

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The tunnel he was now walking in had the same typical features from all the other areas of the cave. Stalagmites, stalactites, craters, and narrow crevices plagued the cave. However, they were not commonplace; they only showed up every once in a while.

The unique part of this area was that there was life down there. Weeds sprouted from the cracks of the rocks. An occasional tree root from the outside world snaked through the cracks and hung overhead. Minerals glittered of the Emerald's light, making them act a lot like stars; and termite mounds made of the dark crimson dirt on the cave's floor scattered the caves.

Sure, the cave was still like a maze, but at least company awaited him.

Alexander turned right and walked past a stalagmite on his left, then zigzagged and passed a termite mound on his right.

“Maybe this cave's not that dreadful after all,” Alexander whispered to himself as he stared at the top of the mound; the termites crawled from the mounds' several tunnels and glued the dark red dirt onto it.

“I hope the dirt hardens here. It's either too far away or too deep for the sunlight to reach here.

“Not exactly,” went the Chaos Emerald as the signature pierced through the glow.

Alexander looked down upon it. “What d'ya mean?”

“They're called subway termites,” it went. “Once the wet dirt sticks to the dry mound, it quickly hardens.”

“Oh,” acknowledged Alexander. “So, sunlight is not needed to harden the mound.”

The phrase “Exactly!” penetrated the light.

“I see,” acknowledged Alexander with a smile as he walked down the small slope and turned left on the corner.

A couple of hours now passed by and the cave was finally receiving some much-needed sunlight. Some bright sunshine penetrated through the holes of the black ceiling.

“Finally,” thought Alexander exasperatedly. “Sunshine.” He apparently missed the outside world after trekking in the dusty and hot cave for almost half of the day!

Still, everything was quiet, too quiet for Alexander's taste. Everything seemed still and lifeless. From the ceiling, to the walls, to the dusty floor, it paled in comparison to either a spooky and silent forest, or even worse, an underground graveyard.

“After traveling in this cave for several hours, I hope I don't become claustrophobic,” thought Alexander while staring at the Cosmic Cave's walls.

“But still…” he added with a smile, “I'm actually glad that I chose to come here. I discovered places that I've never seen before, and I traveled into what - I assume - is a new dimension. And I like to thank my new friend here,” he finished while staring at the Chaos Emerald in his right hand.

Finally, he spoke aloud. “Ya know, Chaos Emerald, I like to give you my thanks for helping me discover this dimension. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have been here. And I grant you my appreciation.”

The Chaos Emerald glowed extremely brightly, as if it blushed from Alexander's gracious compliments.

“I knew you'd be glad to hear it,” he finished with a grin before looking ahead of him.

However, he was not thinking about what traps the Cosmic Cave was planning; it was something else. It involved something that seemed to aid Alexander in his self-guide tour of the island… whichever island he was on that is.

“I know that the Chaos Emerald has helped me on this journey; and it has also aided me to discovering this world and whatnot. Heck, it also helped me get away from Cardall and Mannato, those two punks.

“In fact, I wonder what would happen if they actually found out about this. They might've either freaked out or try to sell it in the black market. Well, even if they did, Cardall, Mannato, I found it first and there's not a darn thing both of you can do about it.” And he created an imaginary picture with Cardall and Mannato huddling in a corner, begging for the Chaos Emerald's mercy. It was a sure note that Alexander's image was completely opposite of that as the child snickered sinisterly at the thought of it.

“However,” he contradicted himself after leaning on the wall, and sitting down on the ground (right underneath an area where the sunlight broke through the ceiling), thus ending his “fairy-tale” picture, “I'm also curious. Even though I know that this is a Chaos Emerald, and even though I know that there are seven of them out there, I wonder… what are the Emeralds' intentions? Like, how can the Chaos Emerald behave like this and why do they act like actual beings? Furthermore, where are they, where they came from?

“Moreover, I wonder what Sonic meant. `A Chaos Emerald: a mystical jewel that holds a lot of power that defies logic and comprehension.' What does that mean exactly? Could it mean that the Chaos Emerald holds insurmountable powers or is it something else mystic about it?

“They're all huge mysteries to me; and I want, no, have to find out what they actually are and what they're meant to do.”

Afterwards, he sighed loudly and looked down on the Chaos Emerald in his right hand.

“Um, Chaos Emerald?” asked Alexander, beginning the query.

The Emerald radiated sweetly and pleasantly and had the word “Yes?” inside it.

“Well…” began Alexander, trying to format his question, “when Sonic said that you have powers that defied logic and comprehension, um…” he put his free left hand on his chin and started scratching it with his index finger and thumb, “…what was he talkin' about?”

However, he would be shut out; the Chaos Emerald dimmed drastically and remained that way, as if it refused to respond to the question. Alexander had a very bad a feeling about what its intentions were exactly and had a guess what it was. He, nevertheless, remained patient, yet eager.

Seven minutes later, though, the Chaos Emerald's glow slowly enlarged, becoming twice the size of a baseball. Alexander just knew it; this was the decisive moment for him. His questions were about to be answered, and the mysteries of the Chaos Emerald would be solved.

Unfortunately, the glow dimmed again, becoming a soft, but brilliant perspective.

“Darn,” Alexander grumbled disappointingly. “Now, how will I get receive the questions now?” And he sighed disappointedly. Now, he was becoming suspicious of the Emerald's antics, as he believed there might be a reason why it did that.

“Was the Emerald hiding something?” the child thought. “Was this secret so precious that it would do whatever it took to not reveal this hidden cargo?

“Oh, well,” Alexander now thought and got up, “since it's not gonna answer to my questions, I'll just figure them out myself.” Afterwards, he got up, and continued walking.

However, what Alexander did not know was that there was something amiss in this tunnel, something that waited for Alexander when he didn't realize it. It was preparing a plan, a plan to drag Alexander to the surface and face the truth, whether he wanted to or not…

And the perpetrator was not far away; it was just a mere distance away from him. Since Alexander was not concentrating on anything besides the “road ahead of him,” it was ready to carry out its master plan, and it was ready to carry it… right… about… now!

“Alexander Halbery,” a deep but croaked male voice bellowed suddenly as it echoed through the tunnel and ricocheted off the fragile walls.

“Ahh!” Alexander screamed and jumped slightly off the ground, dropping both the Chaos Emerald and his bag in the process.

He looked around the cave as he gazed at the trail behind him and then looked in front of him, feeling very scared as a result to this sudden voiceover. “W-wh-what was that?” he whimpered.

No response; silence dawned the cave.

“Maybe it was the wind that I heard,” he hissed to himself. How wrong he was.

“No, it wasn't the wind you heard,” the voice croaked back, becoming a bit godlier than before.

Alexander gasped and looked behind him to where the voice came from. His breathing became harsh and hoarse as saliva clogged his esophagus.

“Maybe I was wrong about it being the wind,” he choked as his breathing became shallower from the mucous in his throat.

Feeling panic building inside him, he crept backwards along the dark tunnel, hoping that this ghost would not catch him. Then, he jumped and screamed out of fright as he bumped into something from behind.

When he turned around, he realized that he merely bumped into a big and thick stalagmite that stood in the middle of the path.

“Whew!” he sighed. “That's a relief.”

Unfortunately, his troubles were about to come by again.

“It's not as big a relief as you think,” the voice replied.

That was too much for him. He grabbed the Emerald with his right hand and his bag with the other and took off running.

“You can run, Alexander Halbery, but you can't hide,” the voice echoed again and chuckled sinisterly.

But Alexander did not care; he just wanted to get out of there. He wildly passed by several stalagmites and turned right on the corner. He then slid down a small slope and out of sight, not knowing that he dropped the Chaos Emerald on the way.

He kept running until he arrived at an area quite some distance before stopping in another area of the cave. There, in the area he was in now, the dark ceiling glittered with iron and zinc, making the ceiling distinguishable. The walls were oblong and had several cracks and craters on it; and the ground was covered with old dirt, soil, and rock that blended in with the dark crimson dust.

Panting heavily, Alex grasped a nearby stalagmite (as if he was holding on for dear life) and looked up. He tried to distinguish the ceiling's glowing crystal, but his vision was very blurry and he was out of breath. He tried blinking a few times to clarify his vision, but it did no good.

Feeling physically drained and exhausted, he collapsed to his knees and leaned his head on the smooth-textured stalagmite.

“Wh-what's goin' on?” panted Alexander and coughed loudly. “Why can't I breathe?” he wheezed. He then looked down to where he could see his hands, but he was not able to tell due to blurry vision. “And why can't I see?”

“You're tired, Alexander,” the male voice interrupted.

“Huh?” Alexander wondered and looked around, blinking absentmindedly.

“Yes, you're just tired. Maybe you should get some sleep, so you can regain your energy.”

The voice was familiar. One haunted Alexander so far. He knew what it was: it was the voice than drove him to near-insanity.

Now, he did not know what to do. His mind felt like running, but his body was disagreeing with him. This led him to a mind-quarreling dilemma. Should he run or should he sleep? The answer looked so easy, but it was actually not.

The male voice understood what was happening to Alexander and spoke about it. “You're fighting.”

“What d'ya mean I'm fighting?” Alexander asked.

“Your mind is telling you to run, but your body is too tired, too weak,” the voice answered. “That is true, is it not?”

Alexander blinked again and raised his head a little. “Yeah, it's true,” he realized. “But… how did you know that?”

“That is not for you to know,” said the voice sharply. “Right now, you must go and take a nap.”

“But I can't,” he whined. “I have to continue going.” He tried getting back up, but his legs collapsed, and he crashed to the ground again.

That was when he set off a very invisible, but stubborn billow. This billow would make his life miserable, and a billow that would cause him a lot of trouble. The reason for this was that it contained an extremely troublesome element. One that would distract him until it died down: the element of dust!

“Ah-CHHHOOOOO!!!”

As a result from having so much dust in is nose, Alexander sneezed hard, and it was so hard, it concocted a huge cloud of dirt and dust.

“COUGH-CHOUGH-COUGH-COUGH!” coughed Alexander queasily. Even though he couldn't see it, he could feel the cloud, thus making his conscience tell him to shut his eyes.

“Dang it!” he yelled out suddenly and frustratingly through the opaque swirl of troublesome dust.

It would be a while before the cloud subsided, and that was when the voice spoke again.

“The cloud's gone, Alexander,” he said. “So don't get all that panicky anymore.”

Alexander let his eyelids relax, but he still kept them shut. “Finally,” was all he said.

“You should get some sleep,” the voice said persistently. “That way, you'll get your energy back.”

“Yeah,” said Alexander. “You may be right. Maybe a nap will do me good.” And it was proven true when he yawned loudly.

“Then, take a nap,” the voice finished sternly.

“Well… then I will,” Alex said through a stifling yawn and let his tired body fall into a gentle floatation of sleep. His absentminded mumbles, however, still escaped his mouth. “Hopefully, I'll get… back to shape… b-be…fore I…” he yawned again, but this time, he was too lazy to cover his big mouth, “w-w-wake… up.” Afterwards, only his labored breathing disturbed the tunnel.

Once his eyes closed and voice quieted, the sweltering Cosmic Cave became still, hot, and hazy. The minerals zinged through the dark surroundings, and the sounds of rocks faintly collided with one another. But other than that, the cave was silent with a sleeping human child in the middle of the path.

And company was soon heading Alexander's way, and he would have it whether he liked it or not.

A bright light rounded around the bend and crept towards the child. It was so bright, its owner blended within it. Still, the color of the glow was easily distinguished. It was bright blue with the center almost white. It glided towards the child with a glimmer of interest.

“Poor kid,” he mumbled, with the voice of a deep full-grown male. “Maybe it wasn't a good idea playing that joke. But, oh, well. Duty calls.” Suddenly, the glow expanded, and the cave was engulfed into the light.

In Alexander's mind, he felt like he was relaxing on a fluffy cloud, feeling comfortable and satisfied. Despite the dirt and soil that napped all around and on him, it did no effect to disturb him. In fact, it made him more comfortable, since the gravel treated itself like a thin and transparent blanket. The problem was that the hot breeze that wafted past him occasionally made him uncomfortable. Sure, it caused a twinge of discomfort, but it was merely temporary as he sighed and went on to catch a bit more shuteye.

That was he felt until some bright blue light intertwine with his dream… and his vision. Squinting his eyes, Alexander groaned loudly and pushed himself off the wall. “What just happened?” he mumbled, shielding his eyes from the remnants of the bright light.

“You were in the Cosmic Cave and I transported you here,” a male voice said.

Alexander rubbed his eyes as his vision bettered. When his focus returned, he looked around and saw nothing but a bright cyan wall that continued to who knows where. “Where am I?” he gasped.

“You're in my home.”

Alex blinked. “Your home?”

“Yes, my home,” answered the voice. “It's an empty void of space, energy, and power. And you're now in that void.”

“Point taken,” said Alexander confusingly. “This is bewildering,” he thought. “He said that this is the realm, but… where is that realm?”

“You're in that realm,” the voice said sternly, as if he read Alexander's thoughts. Suddenly, a while ball appeared in front of him. Then, when it diminished, the cyan Chaos Emerald floated in its place. “You're inside the realm of the Chaos Emerald.”

Alexander's eyes widened, and he gasped. The pieces were finally coming together. “It was you,” he accused and pointed at the gem with his left hand. “You were the one that haunted me in the Cosmic Cave.”

“Yes, surprising, isn't it?” chuckled the voice, its glow flickering each time he spoke.

“It sure is!” he roared before calming asking, “But why did you do that? Why did you try to drive me crazy like that?”

The Chaos Emerald chuckled and explained, “My apologies, Alexander. I have a tendency to play tricks on others.”

“I CAN TELL!!” he yelled indignantly, his voice echoing throughout the area.

The gem chuckled and continued on. “All joking aside, I have something to say to you. A few days ago, you wished that you can make your future bright again. Am I right?”

Alexander nodded. “Yes. How do you know about this?”

“If there's one thing us seven Chaos Emeralds know, we can recognize any call for help, even if it's not a vocal one.”

Alexander knew what he was talking about right away. Right before he went to sleep on that hot July 1st night, he thought about trying to make his future right again, and he promised to do whatever it took to accomplish that.

Now, he might be getting his chance, and he was not going to let this slide by him. “Yes, I'll help you.”

“Good,” responded the Chaos Emerald. “But you must help us first.”

“What d'ya mean?”

The Chaos Emerald sighed and told him the bombshell. “The thing is this world is in trouble. There's a great evil planning to conquer this dimension, and the Chaos Emeralds are asking for your help.”

“WHAT!?” exclaimed Alexander as his eyes nearly popped out. “Oh, no!” he shouted and started to crawl backwards. “There's no way I'll risk my butt in order to save this world.”

“Well, you'll have to, because this is a lifetime commitment for you.”

“I don't care!” Alexander wailed and pushed himself up to his feet. “There's no WAY I'm gonna do that!”

“Actually,” chuckled the Emerald, “part of your heart does.”

Alexander became flabbergasted at the Chaos Emerald's contradicted statement. “Then, you must be power-hungry!”

The Emerald laughed godly. “And you're not thinking with your brain,” he retorted smugly. “You don't know this, but part of your heart craves in helping others. Also, like I said before, you want to get your life straightened. Is that true?”

Alexander stayed silent but not without growling lowly at him.

“You're way too persistent for your own good,” bribed the Chaos Emerald. “You fear this fate, but you know you want it. It's in your heart, it's your desire.”

Alexander became more frustrated at the Chaos Emerald's wooing. He knew it was starting to break into him and could barely hold on to this denial.

The Chaos Emerald knew it. “I can feel your denial. I can feel your desire. You can't deny it now, because I can see it right through you.”

Alexander growled harder in frustration; he could not be able to keep a straight face anymore. He was losing the battle of egos, and he knew it.

Finally, the Chaos Emerald pulled out the big guns. “C'mon. Admit it! You're not gonna be able to take this beating anymore, so just admit it already!”

Alexander could not hold back his frustration any longed and blurted out from the top of his lungs, “All right, all right, all right! I'll help you! But I'll only do it if you stop PESTERING me!!”

The Chaos Emerald felt satisfied with Alexander's “forced” decision. “It's a deal,” he said, “but that doesn't mean I won't be silent.”

“True,” sighed Alexander begrudgingly.

After a short silence, the Chaos Emerald spoke again. “So, are you ready to get to work?”

Alexander sighed in relief. “Well, it looks like I have no other choice,” he muttered.

“No, you don't,” laughed the Chaos Emerald.

“Okay,” said Alexander and grabbed the Chaos Emerald. “But if I die, I promise you that I'll make your life MISERABLE for you!”

“Cross my heart and hope to shatter,” beamed the Chaos Emerald, even though he knew that Alexander was serious. “Trust me. You won't regret it.”

Suddenly, the bright surroundings of the Chaos Emerald started to vanish and were replaced with a tropical background. Alexander was now standing in the middle of a wide dusty road where slate rocks and coal-colored pebbles rested and eroded in the wind. Along the sides of the path were 200-foot-tall pine trees. From the middle of the tree to the very pointy tip, aqua-colored leaves bore through the branches. Their redwood trunks were very thin and pointy on the top and very fat on the bottom. And the roots of the trees were covered in very moist green moss.

It was also very early in the evening; the top of the sky was dark blue, followed with a layer of red, then orange, and finally bright yellow. The sky also featured some streaky violet clouds. They looked like oversized feathers floating in the wind, with some sunlight highlighting the clouds' bottoms.

One direction of the path went towards the majestic Angel Mountain, its snowy ice cap sparkling from the sunlight; and the other direction showed the bright gold sun, its strong rays dissolving into the evening sky.

Alexander blinked confusingly at the sight. Sure, the view looked beautiful, but…

“Why is it almost night time out here?” he thought aloud. “The last time I saw, the sun was still shining high in the sky.”

“That's because you were in my home,” said the Chaos Emerald. Alexander looked down and brought it to his face. “Whenever you're inside the Chaos Emerald, time travels a little bit faster than normal time.”

“I see,” nodded Alexander. “So…” he added slowly as he looked in both directions, “…which direction do I go?”

He was about to get his answer when the Chaos Emerald broke from Alexander's grip and flew down the path toward Angel Mountain.

“Hey! Wait for me!” Alexander yelled and ran after it.

————— ————— ————— ————— —————

It was early evening to where Alexander was at, but it was already nighttime here. The black sky was clustered with very shiny stars. The constellations were foreign, and some patches were even blacker than space. There was also another moon in the sky, but this one was neither gold nor green. It was a very small white moon. Patches of light grey encrusted the lower right-hand corner with a couple of medium-grey spots along the upper left-hand side. Other than that, the moon was all pearl white, which included a bright silver aura than brightened the dark sky.

The ground was intelligible, but there were tall sliver street lamps that stood along a very fat path that trailed to the middle of nowhere. The lamps had a silver pole, a flat and fat bottom, and a transparent sphere that was striped with six silver lines. Even though it mainly silhouetted in the dark night, the light from the lamps gave the road some description. There was dirt on the path, but there were several steel trap doors in it. Along the sides of the road stood a row of 250-foot tall sequoia trees, but the bark had a greenish tint and the leaves were dirty yellow. They apparently had their fill of rain, because dew dripped off from the tips of the leaves and splashed onto the ground.

Silence blanketed the area, and nothing seemed to disturb this tranquility.

WHOOSH!

That was until some hovercraft zoomed by. It looked like a half-ball, but one about thirty times its size. The hovercraft had three small wings - one on each side and one in the back - and a tall, upside-down cone on the bottom. The front of the hovercraft also flashed a very bright green light along with a transparent baby blue visor.

The hovercraft flew down the path like an ambulance racing towards a hospital when it suddenly slowed down and stopped. It hovered for a few moments when it sank towards the ground, and it continued sinking until it hovered from deep in the ground.

After it stopped, the person inside it climbed out and walked down the path. The path was completely dark except the little specks of light that trailed along the sides. The tunnel's ceiling also had a long, thin white light that beaconed down upon the man. The light might be bright, but it was only strong enough to show the person's bald head.

The man soon stopped walking and pressed a password along the right side of the door's border, forcing the doors to slide open. The room was very dark, no resemblance of light anywhere, but that quickly changed when the man flicked the switch on the right side of the door.

The whole room was very wide and huge. It was about 125 feet in width, 300 feet in height, and 175 feet in length. The walls along the sides were still camouflaged in the darkness, but it was bright enough to distinguish what was there. There seemed to be hundreds of capsules along each side, but they were all draped in a thick black cloth. The ceiling contained lime green lights that shone brightly. The floor had a brass-like color with tiles about the size of a normal door.

The wall opposite the door had a huge grid map. It was black and had white lines on it. The desk was very small, but the buttons were in the hundreds; it also included a huge lever that was steel blue with a red ball on its tip. Finally, looking up upon the grid was a black computer chair. It was very wide on the top, slender in the body, a fat pneumatic cylinder, and a five-prong base.

“Welcome home,” said the man in a high but gruff voice. He then walked towards the chair and plopped onto it, sighing contently. The man had a very small head, but he was unique in many ways. He literally had a very big mouth, covered with a think brown moustache. His eyes were covered with opaque blue glasses, and thick, rubbery goggles donned on his forehead. He also had a nose that was so red and so huge, it looked like he just recovered from a very bad cold.

His body was very oval-like, about the shape of an oversized egg. He wore a huge red coat that had a white square stripe down the middle of his chest and each of his arm-length sleeves. The inside was apparently gold-colored, for the cuffs were gold. The sides of his coat had two stripes that each wrapped around his waists, all containing a gold cube on the ends.

His pants started from the top of his stomach and continued down through his slender legs all the way to his feet. The shoe-part of his pants had a grey heel (one for each foot), seven white squares on the front of his ankle, and four bolt-like buttons - one on each side of his ankles.

A silver button on each frontal side of his body connected his coat and pants; and he wore white cuff-less gloves that had a grey pad on the top of each hand.

“I don't think I ever wanna be out there on such a hot night again,” sighed the egg-shaped man as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with a small handkerchief that he held with his left hand.

“Here's your coconut juice, Dr. Eggman,” said a male robotic voice. It was in the shadows, but its hands were in the lights. They were indigo-colored and had three four-digit fingers. It was also carrying a small brown tray with a glass full of white liquid in it. The straw swirled and was green-colored; and four triangles of a coconut hung from the side.

“Thanks,” said Dr. Eggman and took the drink. Afterwards, the robot vanished in the dark background.

Eggman sipped the juice and sighed. “Much better having the tropical drinks after going around in the hot day,” he said to one in particular. “Ahh, this is the life,” he added as he slumped on his chair.

“Be careful, Dr. Eggman. You don't want the juice to flow in your brain, don't ya?” he suddenly thought.

He continued drinking the juice until he swallowed every single drop of it.

Just as he finished drinking, he turned on the grid and pressed a red button on the upper right-hand corner of the desk, turning it on in the process. The map showed an entire digital map of the world. The map might not be that well organized, but it showed the land, water, altitude, and longitude quite nicely.

“Hmm, quiet out there,” said Eggman, observing the map. “Too quiet for me.” He then grumbled to himself and muttered, “Ahh, for someone who desired to conquer the world, I get very bored easily.”

Another anxious sigh escaped him as he balanced his chubby head with his left hand. There was no action for the great Dr. Eggman? Oh no, where is the world coming to? He always found some action. That was… if he could find a Chaos Emerald.

“Hmm?” Suddenly, he spotted a weird dot in the middle of the screen. The spot was tan, and it flashed vigorously on some formation. The area where the light flashed looked like an amoeba, but with a nearly round shape on it. “That's weird,” he declared. “I haven't seen that on radar before. Well, I'll just see what that's about.” And he started typing on the keyboard, giving the computer instructions as to what the mysterious dot was about.

Unfortunately for Eggman, his luck would run out.

“Information negative,” went the computer. “No knowledge on that anomaly.”

Eggman was floored at the announcement; he certainly did not expect the computer to give him that kind of an answer.

“But that's impossible,” he said as he continued typing. “I have everything in my computer. The population, the land, everything. I've stored it all on memory.”

“Well, I'm sorry, Doctor,” said the computer with no tone, “But I found no known traits on that anomaly.”

Eggman grumbled frustratingly and slapped his right hand on his head. “Duggh,” he sighed. “But can you tell me what's there at least?”

“That I can,” the computer enquired. “There is a Chaos Emerald nearby the anomaly.”

Eggman's glasses widened. Did it just say that a Chaos Emerald was nearby? “That's close enough for me,” he decided, toying his glasses in the process. “Tell me where it's located!”

After some more furious typing, he got his answer. “The unacknowledged anomaly is located in a place called Angel Island.”

Eggman's “eyes” flashed again. “Angel Island, you say?” queried the Doctor and put his right hand under his chin. “That name's familiar to me.” He then put his left hand over his mouth and pondered at the thought and memory of Angel Island, as well as what resided there.

Suddenly, his light bulb of ideas activated over his bald head and gave his thoughts on it… and more. “Apparently, Knuckles found someone astray on the island, and he doesn't know about the Chaos Emerald. Also, there seemed to be someone who didn't live in this world.”

“But do you know who this anomaly is?” asked a female robotic voice.

Eggman shook his head. “Negative, but it's a pretty good idea to check it out.” Suddenly, he furrowed his eyebrows to where it looked like they connected his big nose. “Speaking of traveling there, this looks like a good plan to be put into use here.”

“What are you talking about?” wondered he same indistinct robot that gave Eggman the beverage.

“What I'm saying is that it looks like it's time for me to conquer this planet one again,” he finished and got up. “And this time,” he added with an evil grin and flashing glasses, “no one will stand in my way! No one! Not even Sonic the Hedgehog!” And he pumped his right arm into the air and exited the control room, cackling madly.

Soon after, he climbed into his hovercraft and rose to the surface. “Sonic the Hedgehog…” Eggman said with an evil glitter in his glasses and also sinister touches in his furrowed eyebrows and teeth-baring smile, “you're goin' down and there's NO ONE who can stop me!!” Afterwards, he flew off into the distance, his evil laughter echoing into the night.

————— ————— ————— ————— —————

The cyan Chaos Emerald exited the crowded forest and hovered over the embankment, his glow enchanting the already beautiful evening surroundings.

Alexander, on the other hand, was currently not in the mood. He had to sidestep several blue-leaved pine trees just to find him. Even still, he was tired out, for he had to run with almost no oxygen in his lungs.

The moment he stepped out of the forest, he collapsed onto the muddy embankment, coughing and panting just to regain his breath. “What… do you think… you're doing?!” Alexander exclaimed at the gem after getting back up.

“Sorry, Alexander,” apologized the Chaos Emerald. “It's just that duty calls, remember?”

Alexander blinked blankly. “Oh,” he said uncomfortably and scratched his head with his free left hand. “So,” he said with an inadvertent chuckle, looking up at the lake, “why are we here now?”

“It's part of your duty, Alexander,” replied the gem. “Another Chaos Emerald is around this lake.”

Alexander nodded briskly and gaze at the surroundings. The embankment was wet with rocky dirt, and the aqua redwood trees swayed over the pond. The blue water reflected the early-evening sky, and the ripples made the reflected sky swirled like they intended to blend the colors in.

The other end of the lake was just about the same. The embankment was very brown and muddy, with the blue-leaved pine trees hovering and swaying overhead. However, there was something else there. Along the horizon was a very tall pyramid. It was sand-colored and contained some black and brown spots on it. The top of the pyramid was very sparkly, with the tip golden and shiny, looking like it was recently constructed.

Alexander sighed in awe at the sight. It was like being in a park, but without all the cars around to disturb the peace.

He looked at it for a few moments before asking the gem, “What is this place?”

“This is Azure Lake,” answered the Chaos Emerald, his glow expanding each syllable he spoke.

“Azure Lake,” reiterated Alexander to himself and looked at the body of water again. “This is a pretty nice place here,” he muttered quietly. Then, he looked at the pyramid along the horizon. “And what's that pyramid over there?”

“That's one of the pyramids of Sandopolis,” replied the Chaos Emerald.

“'One of the pyramids'?”

“Yes,”went the Emerald. “Angel Island's the home of many pyramids, and that is one them.”

Alexander looked at the gemstone confusingly. “Angel Island?”

“Yes. You're on Angel Island, an island floating high in the sky.”

The Halbery child gasped. “What?!” he exclaimed. “An island floating in the sky?”

The Emerald sighed irritably, feeling very cross at the child puzzlement and simplemindedness. However, he only let it pass by and said to him, “Yes.”

Alexander whistled long and loud after hearing that. “Whoa!” he shouted and looked at the scenery again. “So that's what the island's called!” he thought, but that thought conflicted with another one. “Plus, I'm on an island floating in the sky!? I sure never depicted that.”

Afterwards, he let his mind wander elsewhere and just concentrated on the beautiful scenery in front of him. So quiet, yet so pretty, it would definitely make one nice vacation spot…

CLUNK!

“Hey!”

…But he was soon cut off when a small pebble hit him in the back of the head, courtesy of the Chaos Emerald.

“You can think about the island and its wonders later,” he interrupted strictly, his aura glowing quite bright in impatience. “But first, you must find the Chaos Emerald.”

“Oh, right,” Alex blinked, still rubbing the back of his head from where the rock hit him. “But how do we track it?” he added after looking from side to side.

“You use me,” the Chaos Emerald answered briskly.

Alexander looked down upon it again, but kept silent so he would not get his friend annoyed with him.

“Whenever I shine brighter than what I do now, it means the Chaos Emerald's close by.”

Alexander nodded. “Got it,” he said.

“Good. Now get to work.” And he went silent, with only the dim glow radiating from it.

“Right,” Alexander responded. Once the gem quieted, he let it hover and moved his right hand from side to side, trying to find the direction to the Chaos Emerald. It didn't work for a couple of moments, but when he positioned it a little towards the left, the glow brightened lightly and hummed softly.

Alexander had a very good feeling what that meant. “I think I'm one step closer to finding our little friend,” he mumbled and began walking left along the embankment.

The embankment was not too smooth at all. Some rocks rested along the incline, waiting to be eroded. Hard, wet sand crumbled as he walked, crunching loudly like a mouth chewing on something crunchy. And the leaves of the huge evergreen trees swayed merrily in the wind, as if it was dancing along with a fine tune.

As Alexander kept walking down the direction to where the Chaos Emerald was supposed to be, the one he had hummed a little louder than before.

“I think I'm getting a little bit closer to the prize,” he mumbled while walking.

And he was right, for the hum gradually became louder. Alexander had a very good feeling that he would potentially find his new friend and hope that he would return this world to normal, if he could know how.

However, as he kept walking, the hum ironically became softer.

“I think I just passed it,” he said and retreated a little bit to where he heard the hum the loudest.

“So, the Chaos Emerald's right around here,” said Alexander. He had just walked one-quarter along the lake's shoreline, and the view was quite different. The pyramid along the horizon had vanished in the canopy of trees; the sky had darkened a little bit (with a dark shade of blue on the top of the sky, blood red halfway, and gold on the shoreline with bright yellow rays shooting from beneath the canopy of trees); and the trees from where he now stood was further inland. Other than that, everything was normal… if it can be called normal.

“The only problem is…” he continued slowly, “…where is it?”

His answer was quickly received when a bright red glow protruded from underneath the water, about forty feet straight ahead from where he was standing.

Alexander blinked. “I gotta go in there?” he asked the gem, pointing at the spot with is free hand.

“No, you don't,” replied the cyan Chaos Emerald, speaking finally, “even though you do need a long bath.”

Alexander looked at himself and realized he was walking all this time covered in dry, bony Cosmic Cave dust from head to toe. “Whoops,” he said shyly, a blush breaking through the dust.

The Chaos Emerald chuckled at Alexander's embarrassment, but continued on. “Well, all that aside, I know another way to getting that Emerald.”

“How?”

“I can do that for you.”

“You can?” wondered Alexander. “How?”

After blurting out his question, the gem shot out from his right hand and hovered above the area where the glow came from.

“I think I'm about to receive that question myself,” he thought.

As he watched, the cyan Chaos Emerald glowed a bright blue aura, making it look a lot like a huge soccer ball. A few minutes later, the red glow returned. Slowly, the water from where the red glow came from humped and out came a red Chaos Emerald.

Then, both Chaos Emeralds hovered and landed softly into Alexander's hands (the red one landed in Alex's left hand while the cyan one landed in the other one) before letting their respective glows die down into soft, quixotic hums.

“Wow!” Alexander mouthed at seeing the red Chaos Emerald.

“I bet you were very surprised seeing me,” said the red Chaos Emerald, but unlike the cyan Chaos Emerald, the voice from the red Chaos Emerald was female, angelic, and polite.

Alexander gasped when he heard the red Chaos Emerald's voice, obviously taken aback from the gem's vocality. “Y-you talk, too?” he stammered at the gem.

“Mm-hmm,” replied the red Chaos Emerald kindly. “All seven of us talk. You just don't know it.”

“Oh,” was all Alexander said.

The cyan Chaos Emerald just about had enough of the little chitchat between the two and forcefully interrupted, “Okay, okay. That's enough talking here. We got more business to attend to.”

“Oh, come on, sir,” said the red Chaos Emerald. “We don't need another mission right now.”

“What are you talking about? Of course, we need to continue this mission now. The whole world's at stake.”

“But it's getting close to nighttime. Do you think our new friend here needs some rest?”

“Rest?” exclaimed the cyan Chaos Emerald and shot out from Alexander's grip. “I've heard nothing of the sort.”

“But you're not human,” argued the red Chaos Emerald and shot out from Alexander's grip, too. “Unlike him, we don't feel pain.”

“That's baloney!! Of course we feel pain!”

“Oh, yeah? When?” the red Chaos Emerald challenged.

“Um…” stammered the cyan Chaos Emerald, apparently lying through his shell. “I forgot when, but I do remember feeling pain.”

“It doesn't really matter anyway,” continued the red Emerald. “Our main priority for us now is to give our lost friend some shelter and food.”

“No. We should continue our mission and beat Dr. Eggman when he's down for the count,” argued the cyan Chaos Emerald.

“Well,” cut in Alexander, “I am a little hungry and tired.”

The cyan Chaos Emerald gasped and yelled, “WHAT?!”

“Yes, I am hungry,” finished Alexander. “We don't need to continue our search right now.”

“But the deal-” pleaded the cyan Chaos Emerald.

“Our search can resume tomorrow,” finished the red Chaos Emerald for him. “Besides, unless Dr. Eggman has all of us, he's practically useless.”

The cyan Chaos Emerald just grumbled and huffed, apparently being too proud for his own good. Finally, he decided and said, “Oh, all right. We'll do it tomorrow.”

Alexander sighed in relief, glad that this predicament was finished, even though he believed it would not be the last time that happened. “Well, now that's over with, let's go get some shelter.” And he was about to head into the forest when he said, “But… I don't know where to find it.”

Both gems “face-faulted” at his carelessness.

“Oy, vey,” grumbled the cyan Chaos Emerald in annoyance and shook his shell back and forth.

“Don't worry, Alexander,” encouraged the red gem as it hovered in front of him. “I'll show you a nice spot for shelter.”

Alexander smiled in delight. “Can you show me where, please?” he pleaded.

“Of course,” she chuckled back politely. “Just follow me.” With that, she slowly drifted away into the thick forest.

Alexander's face drooped as he hung his head, annoyed. “I wish I didn't go back in there,” he muttered, obviously remembering the difficulties from walking through it already.

“Don't worry, Alexander,” said the cyan Chaos Emerald in Alexander's right-hand side. “With both of us around, you're bound to find us sooner or later.”

“Thanks for the encouragement,” said Alexander and rolled his eyes, his voice dripping with minute sarcasm.

“Hey, it's my pleasure,” beamed the cyan gem right back.

“HEY! COME ON, YOU TWO!” shouted the red gem's female voice. “I DON'T WANT BOTH OF YOU TO BE LOST!”

“COMING!” both Alexander and the cyan Chaos Emerald replied and followed the red gem.

————— ————— ————— ————— —————

The sun would set even more as Alexander exited the forest, as the top of the sky now had tints of black, midnight blue, and brown. He caught up with the floating red Chaos Emerald a long time ago and had no problems traveling along with it. The forest looked dark, bleak, and scary; and the trek seemed very long, tiring, and confusing, but the Chaos Emeralds made him feel safe and reassured him that they knew what they were doing. Besides, he trusted them and had no ill will towards them, either. In other words, it was quite a nice travel.

“I think we're back on the path again,” said Alexander as he briefly glanced the area.

“Not really,” contradicted the red Chaos Emerald. “This looks similar to the one you were at earlier, but it really isn't. Take a good look, and you'll see what I mean.”

And that was precisely what he did. As he observed the area, it turned out the Chaos Emerald was right after all. The gravel was covered with the same sienna dirt, but there were areas where ruins of walls were once built. The ruins were in marble bricks, along with some moss hanging over it like a very dusty drape. The pine trees were still in its blue-leaved shading, but they were more crowded and contained more leaves than the ones from Azure Lake. There were even two huge poles covered with thick green moss and ivy in the middle of the road, but there were some parts transparent enough to see the marble bricks off it.

“I think I know what you mean there,” remarked Alexander as he finished glancing the area. “So, where are we now?”

“This is the Marble Garden Ruins,” answered the red Chaos Emerald.

Alexander whistled and glanced at the marble ruins again. “I can see why this place is called that,” he concluded while observing the marble poles and decaying pieces of wall. “From how decayed the old remains of structure are, this whole stretch of land must've belonged to an ancient civilization a long time ago.”

“Exactly,” said the red gem as she floated to where Alexander could see her.“A long time ago, an ancient echidna tribe roamed these lands, but they've long since died. And some of the old ruins of what you see now are some what still remains here.”

“Wow!” gasped Alexander, taken aback by the red jewel's short summary.

“I know,” responded the red jewel. “You know, for someone who's young, battered, bruised, and dirty, you're a pretty smart for a kid.”

Alexander blushed (for both the compliment and the fact that he was both dirty and wounded) and scratched the back of his head with his left hand. “Well, even though I mainly grew up with a couple of sleazy people, I have learned quite a bit.”

“Sleazy people?” queried the red jewel. “What are you talking about?”

“His former guardians named Carddall and Mannato treated him like garbage,” the cyan jewel replied as he hovered next to her.

“WHAT?!” roared the red Chaos Emerald indignantly, her red glow expanding drastically out of rage. “YOU'RE KIDDING ME!”

“Nope. Alexander told me while we were heading to the Midnight Grove.”

The red jewel began growling as her aura flared dangerously. “Whenever I get the chance to see them, they… are… DEAD!!”

Alexander, meanwhile, could not help but laugh at the display of emotion from both gems, namely the red one. “Don't worry about that,” he smirked. “I can assure you I won't be seeing them again for a while.”

“I hope so,” snarled the red jewel crossly. Then, out of nowhere, she calmed down and said, “Now, that's over with, let's find you the shelter.” And she floated away, as if nothing ever happened.

Both Alexander and the cyan Chaos Emerald looked at each other quizzically at the sudden change of emotion from the red Emerald, but kept quiet and followed her.

————— ————— ————— ————— —————

His journey would last for quite some time. The trail led them through the Marble Garden Ruins, past several acres of blue-leaved pine trees, and walked across a little brook that split the forest. The sky got a little bit darker as the three explored the area, too. The top of the sky was now black that followed by streaks of chocolate brown, violet, red, and gold, with some specks of orange coming from the sun's strong aura.

“Are you sure this is the right direction?” asked Alexander to the red Chaos Emerald.

“Positive, Alexander,” replied the red Emerald. “I know this area like a map.”

“I hope you're right, ma'am,” said Alexander doubtfully and looked up at the colorful sky above.

“Believe me, Alexander,” said the cyan Chaos Emerald. “She knows.”

Nothing more would be said for quite some time as they continued to walk along the path that separated the Marble Garden Ruins, but that didn't mean Alexander was going to keep his brain shut as he started to grow very impatient with the Emeralds' slow speeds. “The walk's just lasting forever, especially with how slow the Chaos Emeralds are hovering,” he thought with a grumble. “Are we ever going to find this shelter that they had promised me? If so, when will that be?”

He then turned around to look at where the sun had set. “And it's getting very close to nightfall. I just wish they hurry up and find it already.” He then sighed with a tint of impatience and closed his eyes, hoping that his self-concentration would ultimately calm him down.

“Aah. Here we are!” chortled the red Chaos Emerald.

Alexander snapped his eyes open when he heard its voice and looked up. He was now at the base of Angel Mountain, which the summit glazed in the evening light while looking down upon not only the forest that protected it, but also the three explorers. At Angel Mountain's base was a wide and tall corridor. The bricks were made out of sand, and some fragments of gold and copper reflected off both the sunlight and the Chaos Emeralds' auras.

“Where are we?” Alexander asked.

“This is the passageway to your shelter,” the red jewel replied as it hovered to Alexander's eye level.

“It's about darn time we got there,” Alexander thought crossly and huffed. “So, the way to the shelter is through this doorway?” he asked them while pointing at it with his right hand.

“That's correct, young man,” said the red Chaos Emerald.

Alexander smiled. He was finally going to get some much-needed hospitality that he has yet to receive for almost the entire afternoon. “Ready or not, here I come!” he whooped and ran through the corridor and out of sight.

“Alex, wait for us!” cried the gems and glided hurriedly after the excited teenager, but he was already long gone when they entered.

————— ————— ————— ————— —————

The two Chaos Emeralds quickly reached the other side of the corridor not long after the chase started and looked around. The path was very spacious and was covered with tall three-foot grass, its green tips sparkling in the sunlight as they danced in the soft, mystical breeze.

The left side of the path was covered in nothing but forest. Acres and acres of green-leaved evergreen trees the height of short skyscrapers penetrated into the atmosphere, each tip glowing in the dusk sky. The bark was rough and ragged, but it was smooth enough and crumbly enough for small flocks of pigeons to make the trees their own homes. And the ground was covered with nothing but soft, vivid green grass that swayed in the soft breeze that currently blew.

On the right side of that path, dozens of huge boulders slept, its marble, zinc, and diamond minerals shining in the light. The right side of the path - as well as the corridor - also stood the valley of Angel Mountain. The narrow crevices and eaves above caused a huge shadow that looked a lot like a crescent moon. And the peaks from within the valley high up in the sky glistened with orange light.

The Chaos Emeralds, however, were not there to enjoy the scenery. Alexander was missing.

“Alex!!” called the Chaos Emeralds, but to no avail; Alexander did not respond.

“Where is he?” said the red Chaos Emerald to herself.

“I'm not sure,” replied the cyan one. “But I'm pretty positive he's nearby.” After clearing his… “throat…” he hollered again. “Alexander, where are you?”

“Alexander!!” called the red gem again as it hovered over the tall grass, but he was still nowhere to be found.

“Yo, Alexandeeeerrrr!” hollered the cyan Chaos Emerald again as he entered the forest. “Hey, Alex, where in the world are you!!” he added, saying the last two words with frustrating emphasis.

“Alex, CAN YOU HEAR ME?!” the red gem shouted again, but the voice was so loud, it echoed throughout the whole valley.

After a long time with no response, the two gems rendezvoused at the entrance to the valley; and when they did, they were both very annoyed and very cross.

“Boy, that child can get on my nerves sometimes,” snarled the ruby-shaded Chaos Emerald.

The cerulean jewel huffed crossly and sighed. “Yeah. Me, too.”

“Why did he do that anyway?”

The cyan gem shook his shell. “Dunno,” was his reply.

The red gemstone sighed exasperatedly and continued. “Even though I'm a bit annoyed with him, do you think he's okay?” she wondered concernedly.

“I hope so,” said the other Emerald, feeling some worry from within, as well.

“I'll keep looking for him,” replied the red jewel and floated a little higher above the swaying grass. “I'm very worried and fear his safety.”

“I don't think that will be necessary,” interrupted a mischievous voice suddenly.

The Chaos Emeralds screamed startlingly and twirled high in the air when they heard that. When they were able to regain control of their own shelly selves, they looked down and noticed Alexander's head protruding from the grass, sporting a huge evil grin while trying to suppress his laughter.

“Alex!” shouted the gems. “What the devil WERE YOU THINKING?!!”

“Well, since you decided to haunt me, I decided to do it back to you,” laughed Alexander, his eyes gleaming sinisterly at them.

“What are you talking about?” asked the red Chaos Emerald. “I would do nothing of the sort.”

Alexander's evil glare then gleamed dangerously at the cyan Chaos Emerald. “I know,” he said slowly.

The cyan Chaos Emerald's only response was a sweat-drop that drooped from the right side.

The red Chaos Emerald looked at her companion and flared her aura threateningly at him while Alexander just shook his head, his sinister grin still on his face.

“It doesn't matter to me now,” he laughed. “The thing is now I got my revenge.”

“You think you do?” said the Chaos Emeralds in unison, and before Alexander could respond, the Chaos Emeralds zoomed off again.

Alexander hung his head and groaned loudly. “Me and my big mouth,” he muttered to himself and chased after them.

————— ————— ————— ————— —————

His chase would last a while as he had to keep up with to speeding Chaos Emeralds while not trying to trip over any small rocks that might be hiding from within the tall grass. No such luck.

CRASH!

“Oof!” he reacted when he face-planted into the dirt after tripping over a small rock underneath.

Groaning loudly, he pushed himself up and brushed the grass and its pollen off his bag and himself. “I think I'm getting very tired of playing this game,” he groaned as he held his left shoulder, which was getting very sore from his trip. “I just want this over with so I can find the shelter.” And he started walking through the three-foot grass, but not without tripping over, yet, another rock.

“I guess you now learned something,” chortled the cyan Chaos Emerald as he and the his red comrade glided out of the forest and hovered over Alexander, spinning themselves around and around like a top.

“Yeah,” said Alexander, his annoyed voice muffled by the dirt, “never fool around with the Chaos Emeralds.” And he got back to his feet again, spitting out the dirt with quite a bit of force. “I guess that means we're even then,” he told them as he wiped the grass off his shoulders and his head.

The two Chaos Emeralds glowed and spun around Alexander's head, still feeling very merry after getting some payback on the foolish child.

“Yes,” said the red Chaos Emerald.

“We…” the cyan Emerald replied.

“…Can…”

“…Agree…”

“…On…”

“…That!” both gemstones finished as they hovered at Alex's level of his chest.

“Good,” smiled Alexander, finally glad that their little confrontation ended. “Now, ma'am,” he gestured to the red Emerald on his right, “can you two show me the little hospitality you were talking about?”

“Oh, of course,” realized the red Emerald. “I forgot.” And she began floating away down the path.

Alexander and the cyan gem looked at each other and followed her.

For Alexander, he was getting very excited about this form of shelter that the red Chaos Emerald talked about. He was not sure what it was, but he had a very good feeling that it would be a good one.

Whatever it was, he could not wait.

As for the cyan gem, he had a gut feeling (if it can be called that) where his red partner was going, but he kept quiet so that his human friend would be surprised. Besides, he always loved a good surprise or two.

As for the red jewel, she had everything according to plan. She already knew where the shelter was, and she was going to make sure Alexander would be welcomed. In addition, she trusted her cyan companion into not blowing her cover. So far, it was all going according to plan.

The three-foot grass completely camouflaged the ground to about Alexander's stomach level, and it made it very tough for him to cross. Especially since he does not know when a small rock is nearby, waiting for him to have a nice trip.

And, then… it happened.

CRASH!

Alexander tripped over a rock and crashed face-first into the ground, his face implanting into the dirt below.

The cyan gem shook his shell at Alexander's carelessness (even though he thought it was a little funny), while the red gem resisted herself from laughing her shell off.

“You should be careful whenever crossing this plain here, Alexander,” warned the red Chaos Emerald as she hovered a little bit above the ground, trying to stifle a chuckle.

“Yeah. Thanks for the advice,” grumbled Alexander sarcastically, his voice muffled by the grass. “It sure helps me a lot right now.” Once more, he pushed himself up and stared at the rock with a cross look on his face. Deep within the grass was a small rock. It was wide and flat on the bottom, with a small bump on the top. The sides were covered with white marble with the rest of the body glittered with crystal.

“Stupid rock,” he thought crossly and kicked it with his left foot. Big mistake.

“Yeowch!” he howled and started hopping up and down while clutching his left foot.

The cyan Chaos Emerald could not hold it in much longer and guffawed. “You definitely know how to make a fool of yourself when you're frustrated,” he laughed.

Alexander, still holding onto to his throbbing foot, collapsed on the grass, narrowly missing the rock he kicked by a few inches. “Yeah, yeah. Laugh at me for being such a comedy relief for you two,” he snarled as he put his bag down on his right, parallel to his right leg. He then took off his left shoe (while keeping his white sweat sock on) and messaged it with his hands.

The red gem sadly sighed and hovered to Alexander's face-level, no longer in the mood for laughing. Instead, she became very remorseful and pitied the Halbery child. “You feeling okay, Alex?” she asked while “staring” concernedly at his face.

Alexander looked up at the gem, casting his dark look straight at her. Finally, he sighed and said, “Yeah, I'm alright.” And he continued to rub the top of his foot again.

“Well, you don't seem to be fine,” she responded back.

“Trust me. I'm fine,” said Alexander sternly as he placed his shoe on his foot.

The red Chaos Emerald sighed sadly at Alexander's frustration. It seemed to be a tough road for him, as what she thought. “I'm sorry that you're frustrated, Alexander,” she sighed as she landed on the Halbery child's right shoulder. For some reason, she was able to keep her balance on it; she was an inanimate object, so she should be falling. However, she could float, and balancing was easy for her.

Alexander looked at his red comrade with turquoise eyes that contained frustration, impatience, and anxiety. However, he turned his head away and continued tying his shoe.

The red Chaos Emerald sighed grumblingly and looked at the cyan Chaos Emerald behind her. “Give me some help here,” she whispered and shined her aura at his direction.

He, however, turned his “back” and hovered a little away from her, as if timid of her appearance.

The female-voiced gem grumbled and sarcastically muttered, “Thanks for staying by my side,” before turning to an exasperated Alexander again. “Look, I'm very sorry that this road for you has had many ups and downs, but things will get better. Trust me.”

Alexander finished tying his shoe and gazed at her. That was when a confrontation of thoughts occurred in the middle of his brain.

Sure, he felt all three of them could be partners or teammates for the “upcoming battle,” but the only mention of this bad person was that he or she was named Dr. Eggman (thanks to the little argument between both gems). So, he finally had the name, but who was this person in particular? Furthermore, what was this person capable of?

As for trusting the red Chaos Emerald, he knew he could count on both her and her friend, but frustration was taking over. In conclusion, he did not know what to do. Should he trust her or not? He was just at a confusing standstill.

“To be frank, ma'am,” said Alexander, “I don't know what to think.”

“What do you mean?” the red gem asked.

Alexander sighed and explained. “I don't know. Maybe it's just frustration brewing inside me.”

“What d'ya mean `frustration'?” wondered the cyan Chaos Emerald as he hovered in front of Alexander, but far away enough so the red jewel would not give him a good what-for.

“I'm not quite sure, to be exact,” replied Alexander. “But it seems that my patience is starting to wear.” He then added in thought, “And it's something that I'm trying to curb.”

The red Chaos Emerald did not understand what Alexander meant, but she had a vague guess. “I assume you're mentioning the long day you were in,” she hypothesized.

“Yeah, perhaps,” sighed Alex.

“Don't worry, Alexander,” encouraged the cyan Chaos Emerald. “In mere moments, you'll be relaxing for the rest of the evening.”

“And through the night,” added the red Chaos Emerald as she jumped off Alexander's right shoulder and flew beside her cyan counterpart.

Alexander smiled, but raised his right eyebrow at both of them. “Are you tryin' to spoil me?” he quizzed.

Both Chaos Emeralds glowed a little more brightly, as if blushing from Alexander's quip.

“Sorry, Alexander,” blushed the cyan Chaos Emerald. “We tend to do that sometimes.”

“Don't worry about it,” laughed Alexander and got to his feet. “Right now, let's just go that shelter you two were talking about.”

“Right!” both gems obliged and continued trekking through the grass.

That walk, however, was about to become brisk.

BOOM!

All three froze as a huge explosion rocked the island back and forth.

“What was that?!” cried Alexander upon hearing the explosion.

He would ultimately get his answer when he looked a little bit ahead of him. There, he saw Knuckles (while gliding), Sonic (in a blue supersonic blur), and a big yellow hammer peaking out from within the grass (the hammer was bright yellow, and it had a red middle along the cylinder part of it). There, the two occupants quickly ran from the left side of the forest to the other.

“Where are they going to?” wondered Alexander to himself. Suddenly, he smelled something coming from behind him. It smelled like… smoke. When he looked behind and overhead, he gasped loudly. “I think I found the smoke!” he called and pointed at it with his right index finger.

Both Emeralds looked up, too, and noticed a huge, black mushroom cloud coming from the right side of the forest.

“Uh oh,”whimpered the Chaos Emeralds. “This is not good.”

Then, the red Chaos Emerald looked away from the cloud and to where Alexander was standing. “Alexander, you better run. This place is no-”

WHOOSH!

But she was cut off when Alexander zoomed by them and followed Sonic and the hammer-carrier.

Both gems looked at each other and quickly floated over the grass and to a path that split the forest. The path on the left side went down and went left on the curve while the other side of the path bended around and down towards Angel Mountain.

“Alexander, get back here! It's too dangerous!” hollered the cyan Chaos Emerald toward Alexander's back as he ran hurriedly down the right side of the path.

Unfortunately, Alexander was too far away to hear him.

After nodding to each other, both gems quickly zoomed after the troublesome child. They would soon catch up to him and looked at him both worryingly and angrily.

“What in Mobius are you doing?!” cried the red Chaos Emerald.

“Yeah!” chimed in the cyan one. “You're running into trouble.”

“I know,” said Alexander seriously, “but I'm curious to see what this is all about.” He then quickly added in thought, “And thanks for inadvertently telling me the name of the dimension I'm in now.”

“Even if you do, you'll be killed!” argued the red Chaos Emerald. Neither she nor the cyan jewel read his mind.

“Yeah,” exclaimed the cyan Chaos Emerald. “Then what about the deal between the two of us?”

The red gem groaned disgustedly at her comrade's remarks and shifted her “gaze” towards her friend. “Forget the silly deal. We have a child to protect.”

“I know. That's why I mentioned the deal just moments ago.”

“Who cares?!” barked the red gem shrilly, her aura flaring. “Let's just protect the child here!”

“Gotcha!”the cyan gemstone obliged and made his glow into the form of a salute, but when they returned their attention towards Alexander, he already ran ahead and was far away from them.

“ALEXANDER! WAAAIIT!!!!” they cried out and quickly flew after him.

They would catch up with him in the forest. There, he was hiding behind one of the tall evergreen trees, staring intently at the event in front of him.

“Alexander,” they hissed, “what were you doing?”

“Shh!” hissed Alexander, his left index finger over his mouth. “Look at this.” And he turned to the scene. There, he saw Sonic the Hedgehog on the right; Knuckles the Echidna in the middle; and a pink hedgehog holding the huge hammer on the left.

The pink hedgehog was… well… pink all over her body. She was about as tall as Sonic and she looked fierce. Her face had a beige muzzle with a black nose in the middle; and she had eyes and irises that matched Sonic's. Between her eyes were three tuffs of hair that drooped downward; and on her head were two hedgehog-like ears and a huge red hair braid behind her ears. Hanging on the back of her head were five strands of hair, parallel from each other.

Her chest was covered with a ruby-red dress that expanded into an angular bottom. The rims of both the neck and end of the dress were gray, and they flashed in the light. Her arms were peach and had a golden bracelet on each wrist. Following the bracelets were two white gloves on each hand.

The legs were pink, and the end of her tail protruded from her dress. Her white socks were tight and finely cuffed (not casually like Sonic's), her big red boots had a white stripe along the top that flowed down to the toe, and her soles were grey with a small hump in the heel.

Finally, resting on her left shoulder was a huge hammer. The yellow handle was thin in the end and a little bit fatter toward the head. The head of the mallet was yellow on each side, and the middle of the head was red with four rectangles that were spaced out and wrapped around.

Meanwhile, hovering in the air, in front of the mushroom cloud, was Dr. Eggman in his custom-made hovercraft. It looked like an oversized half-ball, but with many contraptions. There were three wings bordered in grey; one in the back and two on each side. There was a grey chair rest in the cockpit, with a red chair cushion in it (a cushion for Eggman to either sit or lean on). In front was a clear windshield, the border bolted in grey.

The body was also gray. In front was a green laser with the edge bordered in blood red and looking like a magnifying glass. Along each side of the laser are three compartments, each holding missiles. Wrapped around the side and the back are dark gray with a huge stripe containing both black and yellow diagonals.

Finally, on the bottom of the hovercraft was a red upside-down triangle, and it had a small yellow sphere in the middle.

“Eggman,” barked Knuckles, “what are you doing here? There's no business of you invading here in the first place!”

“What are you talking about?” asked Eggman and scratched his head with his right hand, faking confusion.

“So, he's Dr. Eggman,” thought Alexander in the background.

“You know what you're talking about!” shouted Sonic.

“Oh, do I?” mocked Eggman. Then, his smile bared huge white teeth and showed evil eyebrows. “Why, of course, you nitwits! You give me the Chaos Emeralds right now or I will destroy you on the spot!”

The pink hedgehog, named Amy Rose, huffed and tapped the head of her hammer with her left palm. “Like we would,” she said. Her voice was a little bit high-pitched, more resembled as a small eight year-old's tone, but other than that, it was very angelic. “And besides, we don't have any Chaos Emeralds for you to steal!”

Eggman smirked. “You think?” he said evilly. “Well, who cares? Since you won't get out of this battle alive!” And he pressed an unknown button with his left hand.

“Now, what's he up to?” grumbled Knuckles, not taking his attention of Eggman.

“Beats me,” Amy replied.

Meanwhile, Alexander and the two Chaos Emeralds watched from the background.

“What's Eggman up to now, guys?” he asked as he peaked behind him.

“He's calling for reinforcements,” whimpered the red Chaos Emerald.

“What reinforcements?”

“Robots,” she answered back. “Lots of them.”

“And he uses them to help him destruct,”added the cyan Chaos Emerald.

Alexander gulped. “That's not good.”

Both gems glowed a little more brightly in a quick millisecond.

Alexander nodded and looked ahead, watching intently at Eggman's antics. So far, nothing happened, making the scene very traumatizing. While his eyes were on the potential battle, his mid was on something else. Why was he so obsessed with the Chaos Emerald? Why did he want them, and what was he going to do with them?

“Remember earlier this evening when you said that unless Eggman had the Chaos Emeralds, he was a nobody?” After an acknowledgement from the two Emeralds, Alex asked them, “Why does he want them?”

“He wants us for world domination,” said the cyan Chaos Emerald timidly.

Alexander gulped when he heard that. “World domination?”

“Mm-hmm,”he acknowledged. “He wants all seven of us because it will give him greater power and potential on conquering the world.”

Alexander responded with another gulp. “That's not good,” he reiterated.

“No, it ain't,” quivered the cyan gem.

“And you know what that means, Alexander?” asked the red gemstone.

“No, what is that?”

Without saying another word, both Chaos Emeralds magically opened Alexander's travel bag and dove right in it.

“Tell us to come out when the battle's over,” they said meekly and zipped it again, but not without magically locking it in the process.

“Darn it!” Alexander cursed in thought before looking back towards the fight scene.

Back at the fight scene, Sonic, Tails, and Amy waited for Dr. Eggman's diabolical scheme to come into place, but it did not come that quickly. They just waited and waited and waited. It was like time stood still, especially since the purple clouds were swiftly blowing away. The sun was setting, and the wind briskly wafted through the dust like it was in such a hurry.

And so, they just waited and waited. When finally…

“It's show time!” called Eggman.

Suddenly, loud roaring engines echoed the valley, causing the dirt and sand on the track to fly and dance. Everyone, minus Dr. Eggman, closed their eyes and covered their faces to keep their vision safe.

When the wind died down, everyone looked up at the mushroom cloud behind Eggman, and out came a fleet of steel jets. They each looked as small as a quarter from the background from the background, but their actual sizes were much larger, about 100 times larger, to be exact!

The front of the jets were black, and the rest of the body was steel gray. The windshields contained one big white eye, with an antenna as tall as the width as a flat-screen television. Two wings (one on each side) had a sharp point at each end, looking like right triangles; and the bottom of each wing had a small tube connected on it. The back of the jets had two huge engines, one on each side; and the front part of the back wing had the same tube as the ones on the lower front wings.

Finally, the front of each jet had this “mechanism,” something that ordinary machines did not have. The nose of each jet split open…

“GGGGGRRRAAAAAAAWWWWWWRRRRRR!!!!”

…And unleashed an echoing roar.

“AAAHHHHH!!” cried the animals as they all covered their ears.

Eggman laughed. “That's more like it. Now, attack!”

Suddenly, several jets nosedived towards Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy at insurmountable speed.

That was when Sonic made his counterattack as he jumped high in the sky, curled into a ball, and shot at the jets (letting off a bright blue light trail on the way).

Sonic's homing attack hit one of the fighter jets, then ping-ponged to another one next to it, then hit five more planes. All them exploded with a deafening boom the moment Sonic crashed into them.

“Well,” said Sonic as he landed in front of the echidna and girl hedgehog, “that's a few of them we wiped out.”

“I'm aware of that, hedgehog,” yawned Eggman, his right arm on his cheek. “However, you and your friends still have over 400 of them to destroy.” A vile, tooth-baring grin spread across his face. “I like to see you try that.”

“And we will!” shrilled a boy's voice.

Eggman looked up to his left and saw a dark blue plane heading his way. The plane was very small, but it looked like a miniature jet. The front had a transparent yellow cap with a sharp point on the end. The next was a black engine that was about the size as the flat part of the coned tip, but not without expanding a little bit outward.

The body was very wide and round. The top of the body was an open cockpit with a see-trough baby-blue windshield. The bottom was the jet's fuel tank. It was painted black and was about as long as a torpedo, yellow fire shooting from behind. Along the sides of the body were four wings, two on each side. They were covered in blue (with a yellow stripe on the front and a black tip on the end), and they made the shape of a wide “X.” While the top wings really did nothing, the bottom wings had air vents in the front.

After the body came the tail. The tail bent upward and decreased in size, then stretched back a little bit further, and protruding from the top of the tail was a right-triangle-like wing (with one small blue wings coming out from each side of the back wing).

Another part was its decoration. The front of the body had a yellow stripe, with the same yellow shade along the bottom of both the body and the tail. Finally, on each side of the plane's rear wing, two tails curved outward towards the back end of it. The tails were golden yellow and had a puffy white end on each tail.

Inside the cockpit was a golden fox. His muzzle was white (with four tuffs of fur on each end) and had a small black nose in the middle. His eyes were oval-shaped and contained bright blue irises. Between his eyes were four tuffs of gold hair, and the corners of his forehead had huge, fox-shaped ears. Over his eyes were huge goggles. The lenses were circular and had a chocolate brown strap.

His arms were golden and had white gloves on each hand (gloves that were each cuffed and wrapped with a black strap on each wrist. Behind him are two huge, fluffy, tails. Both tails were golden and were white and puffy at each end.

Other than that, the cockpit covered the rest of his body.

Miles “Tails” Prower pressed a button on top of his wheel, and bullets flied out from the top of the black ring.

Before the jets could react, several more of them exploded once the bullets hit them.

Eggman growled and slammed the sides of his fists on the top of his cockpit. “Darn that Tails,” he roared.

Meanwhile, Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles cheered the fox on.

“Way to go, Tails!” called Sonic.

“Keep at `em!” called Amy.

Tails winked at his friends with his right eye. “You think I miss all the fun?” he chortled as he spun around.

“No way,” laughed Sonic, then pumped his right fist. “Now let's scramble this Eggman!”

“Yeah!” the others cheered.

Eggman scowled at Sonic's wisecrack. “You'll pay for that, Sonic,” he growled.

Meanwhile, from the background, Alexander could not help but snicker at the remark.

“FIRE AWAY!” roared Eggman, signaling his jets to attack.

Then, one by one, the planes descended towards Sonic and his gang… again.

“You like to play fire with fire, don't ya?” said Sonic and used the homing attack once again, destroying several fighter jets along the way.

Knuckles bared his eyes up towards two-dozen planes that nosedived in his direction. “My turn,” he growled and flared a bright red aura around him. Suddenly, he jolted towards the jets and gave each of them one gigantic punch with his big fists.

BOOOOMM!!

And once he finished his boxing match, all 24 planes exploded in one go.

“Yo! Don't leave me out of the party!” shouted Amy and made her hammer glow a bright pink aura. Suddenly, her hammer became twice as large. Then, she flicked it like a boomerang at several planes that headed towards her. It tore right through several of the jets' structures, making them explode on impact.

Eggman roared in frustration at seeing all his creations being pummeled to smithereens (“That egghead is about to be scrambled,” thought Alexander from the background). “Grr! That does it!” howled the doctor and pressed another button that hid from everyone's view.

“What Eggman up to now?” wondered Tails after destroying several more jets.

Suddenly, all the fighters glowed a poisonous green glow, a glow that had some demonic chill in it. The chill was so disturbing, even Eggman shivered in fear.

Suddenly, the planes that nosedived towards Amy fired missiles from the tube contraptions from their wings.

“Amy, run!” shouted Tails from high in the sky.

Amy did not have to be told twice and quickly fell back, running as fast as her legs let her. “C'mon, feet,” she thought. “Make me run like the wind.”

Her thoughts would soon end.

BOOM!

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!” Amy yelled as the explosion threw her far away from the area.

“AMY!!” cried Sonic.

“HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!” Eggman laughed evilly at the expense of both Sonic's reaction and his own enjoyment. “You think that's something. Well, you ain't seen nothin' yet!”

“Now, what does he mean by that?” asked Alexander to himself, still peaking out from the forest in the background.

He would soon get his answer when he heard these words from Sonic. “TAILS, BEHIND YOU!”

Alexander then looked up and noticed Tails, in his plane, was being chased by ten of Eggman's flying machines. “This is not good,” Alexander said to himself.

And he was right, for one of the planes fired at Tails.

Tails screamed when he saw the upcoming missile and attempted to pull the plane up higher, so he could dodge it.

It unfortunately failed when the plane's engine suddenly died, courtesy of the fighter's missile.

“Oh, no! I'm hit!” he shouted, and he nosedived into is distance, his screaming echoing throughout the whole valley.

“TAAAAIIIIILLLLSS!!!” Sonic screamed as the plane started falling.

Meanwhile, Tails, in an attempt to break free from disaster, uncoupled his seat belt and twirled his tails counterclockwise, making them spin like helicopter propellers. After spinning his tails, he quickly flew away from the nose-diving plane.

He wound up escaping just in time…

CRASH!

…For the plane crashed into an area near the battle.

Alexander, from the forest, watched Tails's escape and sighed in relief. “That was a close one,” he said as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

“You okay, Tails?” asked Knuckles as the fox touched down.

Now, the rest of Tails's body was exposed. The chest and stomach were slim. The front part of his body was covered in white fur with three tuffs sprouting on each side of his chest. His stubby legs were golden, just like his head, body, and back. On each of his feet were cuffed white socks, a black strap on each ankle, huge sneakers that were half-red along the heel and white towards the feet, and soles that were on the bottom of each shoe.

“Yeah, I'll be okay,” said Tails as he took off his goggles and put them away.

“Good,” said Sonic, who was on Knuckles's left.

“Oh, talk abut a touchy reunion,” said Eggman sarcastically.

All three turned their attention towards the mischievous doctor, who was still floating high in the air.

“Even though you fuzzballs had a tough time dealing with my robots, you still haven't seen its absolute potential.”

“Oh, yeah? And what do you mean by that, Eggman?” huffed Sonic.

“I mean this!” answered Eggman and snapped both his right middle and thumb fingers.

There, all the remaining robots glowed a bright yellow aura, replacing the green aura from moments earlier.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles had no idea what Eggman was planning, but they all knew that it was something troublesome, something vile.

Alexander felt that, too. “I don't know what he's planning, but I'm sure to myself that it ain't good.”

He would soon wish he kept his mouth shut.

When the glowing concluded, what was left of all the jets was a huge torpedo that was 30 feet in length and eight feet in circumference. The body was steel gray; the front tip of the missile was black; and ten small wings connected along its rear.

“Me and my big mouth,” muttered Sonic.

Eggman chortled evilly at both the panic in the three beings and the huge missile floating above. “What's the matter?” he mocked. “Cat got your tongue?”

No response.

That gave Eggman even more confidence. “Well, all I can say now is what are your final words before you go bye-bye.” He said the last two words with a small wave with his right hand and with a baby-like voice.

“How about the moment this comes down, we scramble you!?” retorted Tails.

Dr. Eggman's face drooped frustratingly. “From those snotty words, kid, you and the others just received the death penalty.” And he snapped his fingers with the same hand and the same fingers.

Suddenly, the torpedo started to nosedive towards the three people below.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles watched as the missile dove towards them, wondering what to do and to how to get out of this mess.

As for Alexander, his mind and body only told him one thing: “Run for it!”, and that was exactly what he did. He ran as fast as he could towards the thick pine forest, hoping to get as far away from the missile as he can.

“C'mon, feet! C'mon!” he thought angrily to himself. “Get me away fr-”

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!

“AAHHH!!” cried Alexander as the force of the explosion made him fly into the air and fall face-first into the ground.

The explosion and impact created another huge mushroom cloud. It was not as big as the one from earlier, but still carried a lot of force and power.

Coughing loudly, Alexander pushed himself to his feet and moved his hands back and forth to clear the smoke from his face.

“Talk about a big explosion,” he groaned as he clutched the back of his head with his right hand. He then picked up his bag with his left hand, but not without groaning from a bit of pain in his left shoulder. “I think I bruised it,” he said in a strained voice.

“You can say that again,” interrupted the Chaos Emeralds from within the bag, not daring to come out.

Alexander merely peaked at the bag and started walking again. However, he did not where to go this time. He just wanted to get away from the battle and stay as safe as possible. He also wondered what possible ways he could do to mourn Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, who he assumed died in the blast.

Just as he walked further into the forest, he suddenly tripped over something and fell down into the fading smoke.

“Great, another stupid rock I tripped on,” muttered Alexander frustratingly as he got back up. Then, he started to turn around to where he tripped over the object. “And once I see it's a rock, I'll be tossing it into… the… sea.” He would soon stop talking when he looked further into the object he tripped on.

It was a small treasure chest, about one and three-quarter feet in length, one foot in width, and ten inches in height (minus the top). The top was round, looking like a half-cylinder. The body was covered with brass metal, and the corners, sides, and hinges were bolted in platinum.

Alexander looked down at it with a lot of intent. “Very interesting. I wonder what's inside.” Letting his curiosity conquer his mind, he opened the treasure chest.

Meanwhile, back at the scene of destruction, just moments after the missile hit, Eggman started to laugh maniacally.

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!” laughed Eggman, feeling that his mission was a success. “This has become such a happy evening for me! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! It looks like it's the end of the great Sonic the Hedgehog!” After one more laugh, he got to his feet - while trying to keep his balance - and saluted. “Well, it looks like this war has come to an end. So, I'll just say farewell, my friends.” And for some reason, he started bawling his eyes out, his hot, salty tears falling down his cheeks. Then, still feeling blue, he grabbed a tissue with his left hand and blew his nose hard.

His mourning looked like it was not going to end. Then, through the tissue, his eyebrows furrowed sinisterly again.

“Yeah, right! Like I would pity that slow pipsqueak!” he cackled, feeling all cheery again. “Farewell, my ex-rival. Time for me to continuing the world.” And to add insult to injury, he flashed the bi-da taunt at the cloud's direction.

“Well, well, well. Thank you for the gesture,” said Sonic's sarcastic voice.

Suddenly, a strong wind erupted through the valley, making the mushroom cloud vanish. In its place stood Knuckles and Tails, both not injured and feeling refreshed. In front of them stood Sonic, a bright yellow glow dancing around his blue body.

“You're kidding me!” gasped Eggman, his mouth open so wide, the back of the mouth could be seen.

“Nope, you're looking at the same ol' me!” teased Sonic and tossed a small golden ring in his left hand.

Then, before Eggman could make a rebuttal, Sonic launched a homing attack at Eggman and his cruiser.

Eggman shrilled like a girl as Sonic crashed into Eggman, forcing both the doctor and his vehicle into the dusty ground below.

A few moments later, Sonic returned to normal and walked towards Eggman, who was slumping over the windshield, coughing and wheezing from some of the dust that caught in his throat.

“So, what d'ya have to say for yourself now, Eggy?” taunted Sonic, who was tapping his right foot and had his arms crossed over his chest.

After another sharp cough, Dr. Eggman faced his three foes. “This isn't over, hedgehog. Not even close.”

“Darn right!” shouted a female voice shrilly. Coming down the path towards Eggman was Amy Rose. The rim of her dress was burned, and her footwear was badly ripped. Other than that, she was fine.

She also bore a very angry look in her eyes and mouth as she tapped the head of her mallet threateningly into her open left palm. “Mind if I do the honors?” she asked her group, not taking her eyes of Dr. Eggman.

Everyone obliged and crept away from her.

“That's good,” smiled Amy. She then flashed Eggman with an extremely evil glint in her eyes. “It's payback time.”

Eggman could do nothing but whimper two words, “Uh… oh…”

BAM!

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Eggman screamed as he - and his hovercraft - blasted off over Angel Mountain and into the horizon.

The three males smiled at her handiwork, but Amy was a little disappointed in herself.

“I know I should've worked on my swing earlier today,” the female hedgehog muttered as she put her hammer away.

“But it's still a good one,” smiled Sonic, his right thumb sticking up in the air.

“Yeah, you sure showed him,” laughed Tails, his arms wrapped behind his neck.

“Yeah,” said Knuckles. “You should've seen his reaction when we all escaped his attack. It was like he saw a ghost.”

Sonic laughed. “Yeah, a real, live ghost.” Everyone began laughing from that oxymoron.

“Well, now that's over with, let's get back to the shrine,” said Knuckles, something to which everyone agreed on. Afterwards, they started walking back up the path towards where they came from.

Their concerns were soon about to come up again.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!”

Everyone gasped as a boy's scream echoed throughout the valley. Feeling concerned and scared for this person, they all raced into the forest - where the scream came from.

Everyone was getting very worried at the sudden scream of pain and terror. They had never heard it before, and they had no idea who it was. It was just heart-pounding.

They were able to reach the approximated area from where the scream was located the loudest. There, they began looking high and low to find this mysterious person.

“Where could he be?” wondered Amy worryingly after looking through a small bush.

“I don't know, Amy,” said Sonic, who was a little bit in the background. “But wherever he is, we'll find him.”

“I bet that scream gave you the willies,” said Knuckles as he climbed down the tree and crashed towards the ground.

“You bet it did,” agreed Amy and hugged herself. “And I can still feel it up my spine.”

“Soniiiic!”

Everyone gasped as they heard Tails's cry and quickly ran to where Tails was located. He was crouching behind a small bush, his eyes and ears peaking over it.

“What is it, buddy?” wondered Sonic to the fox.

“I think we found our mysterious guy!” whimpered Tails, his voice a little shaky out of fright. “Look!” And he pointed at it with his right hand.

Everyone looked over the bush and gasped out of shock and fright. In his left hand was his traveling bag, and in his right hand was the mysterious treasure chest. And the one holding it was an unconscious boy. His face, body, and torso were facing the ground; and his legs bent dangerously upward.

Alexander Halbery was lying unconscious on the ground.

To be continued…

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