While not a KateStory per se (this being the only thing in this collection that maintains a sense of purpose, which is why Brent, when I gave him a copy for a preview, told me to cut this part), this epic tale, begun by Jess "Amaroq" Rhodes, was written by numerous people, so I figure it belongs.
RPG? Let's start one, people...use your Sonic '95 character or continue the one I'm writing.
Amaroq slung the backpack over his shoulder and stepped out of his cabin and into the sunlight of Pride Lake. Looking at the sky, he set off on his journey. It would be long and hard, but with help, he could get it over with.
His first destination was to get the full story -- to travel clean across the Mirage Desert to the Shrine of the Dragon. Surely the dragon there could help him.
On his door the day before, he had found a note, stuck with tree sap. It read:
Help me please...the end is near...the master of the Mountain Castle has demolished our village...we need help...
The problem was that Amaroq had no idea which town this kid was referring to. That was when he decided to see the Dragon's help...or anyone else who had knowledge of this catastrophe.
Cont'd?
- Amaroq
Oh, goody. I'm in it. Let me think of something!!!!
Amaroq continued walking to the Shrine of the Dragon. But before he managed to leave Pride Lake, an old friend stopped him.
"Hey Amaroq! Where you headed?"
Amaroq glances over his shoulder at his best friend -- the cougar, Mantal.
"You're going somewhere?" Mantal asks.
"Yes," Amaroq replies. "Everyone on this continent got a letter from some crackpot who says his village is destroyed. I have a feeling I'm not the only one searching for this thing. I'm headed to the Dragon's shrine. Care to come?"
"Sure!" Mantal agrees happily. The cougar and the wolf begin walking to the Shrine, unaware of the danger they and many others would face.
- The Dragon
Yippee! Fun!
As Mantal and Amaroq head across the empty plains towards the great Dragon, they soon come across a small shack.
"What do you think is in there?" Amaroq turns to Mantal, who was busy fiddling around with a Rubik's Cube.
"Maybe treasure or a rat or something. Yes! One more color to go and..."
Amaroq steals the cube from Mantal and throws it on the ground. "Stop goofing off and get to work."
Mantal thought questioningly, Maybe that kid who wrote the note or something...?
They both walked inside the shack, both their expectations crushed.
Inside was that master of mayhem, the earl of evil, the king of crime, Havoc. He was leaning back in his chair throwing playing cards into a hat. Havoc saw something shuffle. He turned to see his nemesis Amaroq <chuckle chuckle> and some cougar-looking thing.
"Who's that with you, you little !@#^*((^Y%##%* wolf?" Havoc got out of his chair, teeth clenched and fist in front of him.
"Calm down. I didn't know you lived here." Amaroq started to slowly back out of the doorway. "To show there's no hard feelings, I'll slowly...
"...kick your butt, steal your cards, and then leave!" Amaroq leaped towards Havoc, teeth first. A fight ensued, leaving dust and blood flying everywhere.
"Stop this at once!" Havoc had his arms around Amaroq's neck, while Amaroq had his foot in Havoc's face.
"Amaroq, this isn't a time for rivalry. This person who wrote the note is in trouble. So get with it!!!!" Mantal grabbed Amaroq by the tail.
"Wait!" Havoc, still trying to recuperate, halts the two adventurers. "I got that same stupid letter. Maybe that weirdo has a reward for his rescue. In that case, I'm game!!!! Uh, where we headed anyway?"
- Havoc the Hedgehog
Amaroq looked at Havoc and cocked his head. "I dunno..."
"C'mon, wolf-boy," Havoc grinned. "Where we headed?"
"To the Shrine of the Dragon," Mantal finally said. "The dragon there knows...a lot, so...damn, I don't know what I'm talking about. Amaroq?"
"Shut-up and come on," Amaroq sighed. "Havoc, you're coming. Let's just make our way to the desert."
The three walked out of the shack, Havoc playing with his cards. Obviously he was the Setzer of the group. They traveled miles and miles, until they reached a town..
Cont'd?
- Amaroq
I'll just add another story stream to this little game...hee hee hee...
Hedgehog X got up late that day. He knew there was nothing to do, or at least he thought so.
He went outside and let the air flow through his quills, and finally he could see clearly. He remembered he had some gum in his mouth from the night before. He spit it out in the wastebasket near the tree and noticed a note in it.
"Well, if it's not a love letter it's something truly insane that could be worth a laugh," he thought, and smiled.
HX took out the note and read it.
"Yes...this is insane all right. But not funny at all."
He clenched his fist, and when he let go of the note, it dropped in the wastebasket, burning to cinders.
"I'm going to have to talk to my friend in the mountain..."
- Hedgehog X
Pinky on the Brain...
Xavier teleported to the inside of the Great Volcano, in which the Hidden Palace was located. "X?!" he shouted. "Bookshire!"
Hedgehog X knew that all but two Freedom Fighters had gone on a training mission for Kain, their new friend.
"What's up, Hedgie?" came a voice from around the corner.
HX moved into the room and found X and the aging raccoon, Bookshire, working on some experiment that I'm not about to describe but that I'll keep in the back of my mind in case it's important later.
"I thought you went off with Amaroq to look for Maxl!" X said.
"Did," HX said, "but he disappeared in the middle of the night for some reason. This note I found when I woke up must have been his reason for going."
Bookshire glared at X. "Shoot," the robot said. "I got a note like that this morning, but I thought it was more hate mail from Robotnik."
"Hoo boy," HX said. "Well, we'd better get moving. Bookshire, hack ol' Robuttnik's records to see if he has anything to do with this."
"Will do," Bookshire said.
- X
A small hedgehog looked around a sand dune, dart gun in her bag, and bow and arrow in her hand. "Robotnik," she said through clenched teeth.
She slowly raised her bow, aiming at Amaroq. Tears flooded her eyes.
"Nooooooooo!!!" she screamed as she let go of the arrow. She gasped as the arrow headed straight towards Amaroq's head.
"Ho, look, a sand dime!" Amaroq said, bending over to pick it up. The arrow sped right over him.
She sighed, relieved. Not good, Speed, a voice said in her head.
"Why can't you leave me alone?! Get out of my head!" Speed whispered.
Now Speed, get your dart gun! the voice commanded.
She reached in to her bag, and pulled out a dart gun. It was painted in bright colors. She pulled a small feathered dart out of the leather bag. She slid the dart in a small hole in the dart gun. She brushed a strand of hair out of her face. Pushing her bracelet up, she lifted the blow gun to her lips.
She blew hard. It sped towards Amaroq, and landed in his arm...
Speed gasped in horror as the sleeping poison made him fall to the ground.
Hee hee.
- Speed
Well, that will keep Bookshire busy for a while, thought HX in a stream of other things, But what about X? He can tell when I'm keeping a secret in a heartbeat.
Maybe he's got a built-in lie detector, he thought, and giggled.
"HX?"
"Oh, I was just thinking about a toaster oven," replied HX.
X looked at him sternly and said, "Hope you like it crispy."
HX chuckled and shook his head, trying to clear up his thinking. Can I take him with me? He's a robot, isn't he? He'll be reasonable...
HX then thought of the Lord of the Mountain, the tiny mite, laughing his head off. He laughed quite a lot. HX knew X wouldn't like him; no one would. And then he thought of other times X was provoked, and he thought he smelled the aftermath of X's tantrums.
Then he looked around and saw very burnt toast.
"Um, HX, is something wrong?" X asked. HX was for some reason not laughing maniacally. In fact, he was looking at the toast with some kind of horror.
"I...I think I'd better find Amaroq."
"Good idea. I'll check out the village the note was..."
"No!" HX yelled, and then drew back. "I...I mean, we'd better have some more people before we do anything rash."
"Okay," answered X, a bit confused. HX left.
Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuzz! went something in X's head.
Oh, shut up! thought X. I'd better remove this lie detector enhancement before it drives me batty!
- Hedgehog X
When in doubt, put him out...or something.
You sick, demented little...
[Editor's Note: Speed, not Brent. Though it would fit either. ;D Hey, that smiley looks really kewl in this font! ;D ;D ;D ;D]
"Amaroq!" Mantal screams, running toward the fallen wolf. "AQ, ol' buddy, you okay?!"
[Editor's Note: I thought you said only you were nicknamed "AQ", not the character...]
"Who shot that?!" the wolf growled angrily, holding his arm.
Mantal spun around. "I don't know. But...this is odd. It's a poison dart. Looks like it came out of a blow gun of some sort. Who still uses those things?"
"Only one," Havoc said, "a hedgehog named Speed."
"Speed..." Amaroq spun his memory. "Haven't the foggiest.
"Tal, get that healing junk outta my backpack."
Mantal obeyed. The cougar pulled out a small stone from the pack and put it on Amaroq's arm. The wolf stood up, then flipped on his walkman. The Moon Gems flew to his hands, then he drew his dagger. He looked in the direction in which the dart had come. He saw a young girl hedgehog.
"Shut up!" she growled. "Don't you ever stop?!"
"Talking to herself," Amaroq muttered. He whipped out the Gem of Power and fried the bush the girl was behind. A shrill scream mixed harmoniously with the crackling fire.
"I want mine medium-well," Mantal said, laughing.
"I'll show you medium-well!" The girl hedgehog leapt on Amaroq's back.
Amaroq growled deep in his throat, grabbed the girl by the shoulders, and flung her over his head and into Mantal, who delivered a high kick.
The girl lay sprawled on the ground, that is, until Amaroq grabbed her by the neck and picked her up.
"Now," he hissed, "what was that?"
- Amaroq
Accident or no accident, no one messes with Amaroq Kapugen!
"The skirt is just jealous." Havoc, in a cool attitude, continued, "She's jealous because she is not around me. Every dame can't resist a debonair hedgehog like me.
"Want to go out for pizza?" Havoc started combing his spines. Speed looked at him...and kicked him in the shin.
Havoc, in a rage, lunged towards Speed. Mantal blocked Havoc by jumping in front of him. The two collided, and lay unconscious on the ground.
Amaroq kicked the unconscious form of Havoc, causing him to hit a tree.
Mantal, regaining consciousness, kicked Havoc again.
"Now," Amaroq still had Speed in his grip, "back to the matter at hand..."
- The unconscious Havoc
HX slit his eyes. He was running as fast as he could...pretty fast, it had to be noted, because of the Emeralds' gift of sonic speed. He looked down from the hill and saw a flaming bush in the distance.
"'Ello?" said HX to himself. "A flaming bush, eh? Those are rare these days."
He went down to investigate, and saw Amaroq holding a female hedgehog by the neck. By him was Mantal and an unconscious, scruffy-looking hedgehog.
"Havoc," he mumbled. "Probably ticked off the dame. And who is she? If there's one thing more rare than burning bushes, it's females."
HX listened...
- Hedgehog X
Your friendly neighborhood spy...
"Why did ya shoot the arrow?" Amaroq growled to Speed.
"Accident, I swear," Speed replied. "Didn't you hear my scream, fool? Didn't you?"
"I don't listen for that kind o' stuff, kid. Someone shoots, accident or not, they pay th' price. And raise your voice...huh. I'm an FF, I won't kill ya', but I'm going to make sure you never do that sort o' thing again."
Mantal grabbed the ticked-off wolf by the arm. "Don't."
"I don't put up with this," Amaroq replied.
"Ya will now!" a voice screamed. Amaroq dropped Speed and whirled around to see a purple hedgehog coming at him.
"Hedgehog X!" Amaroq shouted.
"That's m' name, don't wear it out," HX grunted, and he pulled out the Emeralds. "Amaroq, you've really got it bad. Hurting another FF ain't gonna get you anywhere."
"'Nother...FF...?" Amaroq's hand dropped beside his waist. "This kid's an FF?"
HX hit the side of his head. "Well duh!"
Amaroq looked over his shoulder at Speed, who was rubbing her head. He then looked at Mantal, who shrugged, and finally at the fallen Havoc. An FF? Mantal wasn't one, that's for sure, and this kid had an attitude similar to the cougar's. Impossible, he thought.
But, since HX had a ranking higher than his, he didn't argue. "Ah, jeeeeez..." he muttered. "Sure thing, Hedgie X...well, can I at least scratch her?"
"You don't have poison claws anymore, remember?" HX caught on quickly to the wolf's idea.
"Fine, fine, fine," Amaroq muttered, "I'll leave the girl alone."
"First things first," Mantal interrupted, "we have a hedgehog here that needs some help."
- Amaroq
Eeee-ha!
Havoc awoke from his deep sleep. "What in all of the flaming bushes is an FF? It isn't like I never lived here, oh no! I came here from a universe that had me as Mr. Evil!!!! I accidentally slip through a portal and end up in FF village!!!! No one ever gave me a book about dimensional travel!
"And who's this purple goon?! Some reject from a horror flick?! Why, I feel like kicking someone's sorry little *%#^&%^ into @#%(&#^& oblivion! I'll start with the FF!!!!"
Everyone turned, especially Hedgehog X. They all spit on him, and got back to their business.
"Well soooorrrrryyyyy! I didn't think you losers were so wimpy! I think I have an idea: I leave you guys here to rot, while I go and grab a soda."
Havoc walked off. Mantal called to him. "Havoc! I know you have good in you! Let's talk over some tea and crumpets and tell me your feelings! You'll feel a lot better!"
Havoc turned, ignoring Mantal's sick little joke, and saw a horrible sight. His group of bandits from his universe somehow followed him! There was the defective Sonic clone, Nerd, who, instead of speed, had the genius of 1,000,000 people. Static, the electric demon, spawned from the cloning machine that made Nerd, was pure electricity. And finally, Mecha Sonic, prototype a of a new line of metal hedgehogs.
Havoc, shocked, ran. He would normally have beat them over the head with a baseball bat, but this time they had plasma rifles and were shooting at him. He ran towards the group of heroes.
"Amaroq! You, the cougar guy and the purple thing! Anyone got an extra plasma rifle I could use?"
- Havoc
[Editor's Note: The Median Effect begins anew.]
"You will all tell me what's going on," came a voice. "Now." To emphasize that the speaker meant business, several deadly rays zinged over the Freedom Fighters' heads.
"X?!" gasped Havoc, who had realized it's very hard to remain unconscious when your life is threatened. "How'd you know where we were?!"
"I've got all o' your genetic imprints in my databanks," the robot replied. "I could've followed HX easily enough, but I figured he must have a reason for keeping things from me. So I went down to where he told me he found the note. What I saw there was not pretty."
"Do tell," said Speed.
"Sure," X said. "Just remember that while Kate and Sonic are gone, I'm your leader, and to disobey me is extremely stupid."
- X
[Editor's Note: The Median Effect shifts into full swing.]
Hedgehog X nodded. "Sure thing, Havoc. I believe we have a few back at the HQ -- Knothole, that is. But before we do that, let's get one thing straight..."
"Make up your freakin' mind!" Amaroq snapped to the hedgehog. "Havoc, ya stayin' or not?"
"Anything! Anything! Just get me the rifles!" Havoc pointed over the horizon to where HX had spotted the burning bush. There stood the hedgehog's enemies: Nerd, Static, and the Metal Sonic.
"A defective Sonic clone?" Mantal asked, looking at Nerd.
"Oh please," HX held his stomach. "Don't talk about defective Sonic clones around me."
"Huh?"
"It's a loooooong story," was all Amaroq said to the confused Mantal. "Let's just get that rifle!"
HX used the Emeralds' powers to zip back to Knothole, get the rifle, and zip back in less than two seconds.
Havoc grinned evilly and cocked the rifle, then screamed at the top of his lungs, "Charge!"
The FF (Freedom Fighters) each drew their weapons and ran at the not-so-hot villains. Amaroq, using the Moon Gems, cast a Crimson Wave (water version of the Sorcerer's Crimson Bolt) at the bad guys, stunning them.
Mantal fought with Thai-Style Kick-Boxing, and easily disposed of Nerd, who wasn't much of a fighter and spent most of his time trying to calculate the radius of Mantal's approaching foot, which was 3.0 centimeters away from his ugly mug.
[Editor's Note: Ummmm...the radius of his foot...?]
Havoc did the Hula to distract Static, then fired at him with his plasma rifle. Simple, he thought. That is, until Static caught his shot and flung it back at him.
Fortunately, the wily hedgehog's dancing caused the plasma shot to miss.
HX took the Red Emerald and created a huge fireball, then practiced his bowling techniques. It bowled over the Metal Sonic in the blink of an eye.
"Not too shabby, if I say so myself," Mantal said, staring down at the fallen villains.
"Not too shabby..." a voice growled. A red laser shot the Fantastic Four and caused them to fall to the ground.
"Metal Sonic!" Amaroq screamed. "But we saw you..."
"Holograms, my boy, holograms."
"Holograms..." Amaroq held his head as he remembered the ever-aggravating holograms from the brawl in TGRL a few months back.
"I'd advise that you'd stay back," another voice said, "or pay the price."
The five turned around to see...
- Amaroq
Katamandu? Al'Falqa? Kapu? Sorcerer?
"Hoo boy! Here we go again..."
- Havoc
...X, who had suddenly appeared out of seemingly nowhere.
"Median Effect," he explained, referring to what happens when two people post a different continuation at the same time.
"These fools have ignored one thing," he added. "Holograms can't draw homing weapons!" With that he began firing Homing Torpedoes, which he'd gotten earlier from Launch Octopus. The enemies disappeared; whether they beamed-out or got killed wasn't clear.
"So what do we do now?" X asked. "Go see some dragon who doesn't even like The Simpsons or FF3?"
"How did you..."
"Median Effect."
- X
"Hee, hee..." HX giggled, "Sis sure made a mess of things when she did that!" Saying this, he pulled out the Emeralds. "Now these babies are in crazier hands!"
"HX," X said, "do you know something we don't?"
"Yeah," said HX, "I ain't telling ya, but at least I like pizza and The Simpsons."
"Hmm," X said, "right now we need information more than good taste."
"Too bad," HX said, "Bye now."
"Where are you going?" Amaroq asked.
"To the mountain."
"Which one?!"
"That's just it. I'm not going to tell you."
"HX, please tell us..."
"Do Coman Pirus, Sindarin Galan, or Eldar Photus mean anything to you?"
Amaroq stared at HX, "Gibberish?"
"Then I must leave!" HX held up the Emeralds and disappeared.
- Hedgehog X "Gandalf the purple..."
"I'd best go my way too," Speed said. "Amaroq, I'm sorry I shot at you. I wasn't myself," she added, rolling her eyes.
"Where you going?" Mantal asked.
"Lets just say I have some unfinished business on the mountain." And with that she held up a small pendant that was attached to a gold necklace. There was a bright flash of light, the FF blocked their eyes.
When the light was gone, so was Speed, all that was left was one of her darts...
- Speed
X reached down to where the darts were, and absorbed their imprint. "This new weapon should help," he said. "I can just use the clone of how they work that I have in my weapon systems; you guys split up the originals however you want. Me, I'm goin' after Hedgie." Before the two could protest, X beamed out.
"What the..." Hedgehog X said as he suddenly found his path blocked by a friend of his who, at the moment, didn't look too friendly.
"Stop playing games with me, Xavier," Mega Man X said in a threatening whisper. "You know I have the medal of leadership when your sister's gone...don't make me force control of the Emeralds away from you."
"Fine," HX said. "I'll tell you, just don't go using my powers against me."
"I won't if I don't have to," X replied. "Besides, I'll wager that if what you tell me isn't the whole truth, HZ will give me the low-down, and on the up-and-up, too."
- X
"What in my uncle's shoe was that?!? First, I get mauled by my former allies (not friends), then this Mega Man-lookin' dude appears, and that chick disappears? What does this stupid note mean anyway?!?" Havoc frantically jumped up and down, and cursed a lot.
Amaroq punched him in the face. "If you want to come with us, stop acting like a loser and get your butt in gear! It seems you brought those goons upon us, so how do we know you're not a double agent?"
Mantal nodded. "Prove to us that we can trust you. If you can, you can accompany us."
Havoc looked around for something to prove he was trustworthy. While looking 25 of those notes fell out of his backpack.
"You! You made those notes! I oughta kill you!" Amaroq lunged towards Havoc.
Being taken by surprise, he fell quickly to defeat. The FF's (I fill sew stoopid) took Havoc back to Knothole to put him a prison room thingy.
I have to stop writing! I'm tired! I laugh at "thingy". I need sleep!
How can Havoc prove his innocence? Find out when someone else figures it out and finishes the story! Goodnight.
- Havo...Zzzzzzz
X sort-of sat there bored, because his other personality had opted not to include him in this part, and muttered something about, "It was bad enough he's not going to include me in The Hunt Begins, and I won't be in Ignition Factor until the third or fourth book!"
Havoc was being interrogated by Knuckles, who had a knack for getting people to talk. However, it seemed that in this case the Freedom Fighters had made a wrong choice in their interrogator.
"So, do you admit to having played a joke on that sorry excuse for a loser rookie Freedom Fighter and his pal here?"
Havoc giggled. "Yup," he said. "You should've seen the look on his face!"
"Wait a minute!" Bookshire spoke up. "He played the trick on Hedgehog X, as well!"
"Do you admit to messing with Hedgie?" Knuckles asked.
"See previous answer," Havoc said, giggling some more.
Knuckles punched him into a wall. "Messing with Am-a-rock is one thing," he said, purposely mispronouncing the wolf's name, "but no-one messes with Hedgie without getting the Knuckles treatment!"
"Where is he now?" Kain spoke up.
- X
"Ow! I was kidding! Sheez, ya don't have to throw me against the wall."
Havoc, rubbing his head, got up and jumped Knuckles. Being the wuss that Knuckles is, Havoc beat him three swift punches to the kidney and an uppercut.
Havoc started to escape from his cell, when...
- Havoc
...there was a flash of light. Too late, Havoc realized Knuckles had called upon the power of the Super Emeralds...too late, as in a week later when he got out of his coma.
By then, of course, Amaroq had long since left with Mantal, Kabuki, and Sir Kain (who really seemed to want to go, in part because he could use some field testing, and in part because he seemed to be beginning to like Kabuki's company, but mostly because I want to develop his character some) to look for Xavier Chaos and Mega Man X.
"Messing with Hedgie is worth getting shaken," Knuckles told him later, "but hitting me when I'm not expecting it means you have a death wish."
- X
Amaroq, Mantal, Kabuki, and Sir Kain continued their walking. It was evening now, and shadows had swallowed half of the desert.
"We should stop here for the night," Amaroq said, turning to the others.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Amaroq, and the 'cool' FF's," a voice floated out of the shadows near them.
Amaroq knew the voice at once. "You!" he said.
"Yes...me," The voice answered. Suddenly a dart came at top speed and landed in a tree right over Mantal's head. "You remember me?"
"How could I forget?" Amaroq growled.
A hedgehog leapt out of a tall tree, spinning in the air, and landed on its feet in front of Amaroq, barely making a sound. "I know where you're headed," she whispered, "and I know who's responsible for it. All I have to say is...it wasn't Havoc. "
- Speed
Amaroq threw himself down on the ground.
"I don't blame you," Mantal said. "It's been days since I've gotten any rest. Your bunch -- the Freedom Fighters -- how d'ya put up with them?"
"I don't," Amaroq replied. "Cockiness helps ignorance."
"Shut up and help with the tent," Kabuki growled. "Just because you're tired doesn't mean you're going to get out of this!"
Sir Kain's face lit up. "I'll help!"
"I thought I was a flirt..." Amaroq groaned.
"Oh shut up! I didn't mean..."
"Cockiness helps ignorance. Get over it...Cat."
A scream interrupted Kain and Amaroq's argument. The two spun around to see something grab Mantal, who was clawing.
"Pity me," Amaroq begged Sir Kain. "Mantal's a cat too."
Sir Kain rolled his eyes and drew his sword (or whatever weapon he has...I forget) while Amaroq and Kabuki drew their own -- poison claws (they're ba-ack!) and staff.
Amaroq lunged at the huge thing that now had made his cougar friend vanish, and stuck his claws down into it.
"What the..?!" the wolf said in surprise as he looked down at his hands. "I'm being...absorbed into this thing! What the h -- augh!"
The wolf disappeared.
Sir Kain, however, wasn't scared a bit. In a chance to impress another of his kind -- except the fact that she was female -- he charged at the wolf/cougar eater.
"You're a fool!" Kabuki screamed, watching Sir Kain. "That thing's gonna...Kain!"
Sir Kain, also, was sucked into the "thing".
"Oh, this is sooooo nice," Kabuki muttered. "I'm the only one left. Amaroq, Mantal, Kain...you're all idiots."
"Correction," a voice said. "There's two to fight the creature."
Kabuki looked over her shoulder. An echidna lit his cigarette.
"You again..."
Not Knuckles. You don't know who he is, don't continue it!
- Amaroq
I'm getting carried away with the Kain/Kabuki thing?
Meanwhile...
Knuckles tipped his chair back.
"You're likely to fall, you know." Havoc, chained to the wall, continued, "I shouldn't have done what I did, huh? I feel really bad, considering I hurt a lot of your feelings, being beaten by me and all." Havoc struggled from his chains, schmoozing all the way.
Knuckles ignored the ignorant hedgie, but continued to watch over him.
"Hey Havoc ol' buddy o' mine!" A mysterious figure appeared in front of Havoc. Havoc's chains broke, and the two disappeared.
Knuckles fell back in his chair.
The stranger, who was an ape, teleported Havoc into a room with dim lights and lots of space. "I rescued you. Now you must do me a favor: I want you to destroy my nemesis. I will take you to him if you will help me kill him."
The ape turned his back on Havoc waiting for a reply.
"Who the..."
Before Havoc could finish, he was teleported to where the smoking echidna stood...
I'm back! Oh goody!
- Havoc
"Havoc!" Kabuki said in delight. "At least there's a...more familiar face here!"
Havoc ignored the cat's welcome and gazed up at the echidna, who blew smoke in his face. The young hedgehog coughed and growled.
"Who're you?" he asked.
"The name," the echidna said, "is Krash. Krash Echiza."
Havoc pondered what his ape friend had said. Krash was who he had to kill? He decided it was time for a little Q&A.
"I know you," Krash said before the hedgehog could say anything. "You're that ape's little stooge. Yup...I figured you'd show your mug 'round here..."
Havoc cocked his head. "I could make an exception...say, Amaroq, Mantal, Buki, what's this guy like?"
"Amaroq and Mantal...uhh..." Kabuki tried to find the words as to what happened to the wolf and the cougar.
"Vanished?"
Havoc whirled around and stared Krash straight in the eye. "My fr -- er, allies! You did it! I know it!!"
"Kid!" Krash yelled. "I ain't do jack!"
Havoc aimed his plasma rifle at Krash's head.
The echidna did the same. "I got those too. Now, do ya believe me or not?"
"Havoc, knock it off!" Kabuki said. "Krash is on our side...I think."
Havoc...
- Amaroq
Whoops! Sir Kain was in it too! My bad...
[Editor's Note: Continuing his own?! No fair!]
Meanwhile...
"Unnhh..." Amaroq came to in a prison cell. "That was a helluva roller-coaster...where the hell am I?"
He looked around. It sure wasn't the Shrine of the Dragon, that's for sure. He noticed Mantal locked in a cell at the other end of the room.
"Hey, AQ," Mantal said, "you're finally awake. You'll like all the familiar faces here."
Amaroq didn't respond. Listening to his friend's remark, he gazed around the room. His mouth dropped open in shock. There was everything...a slashed picture of his father, Kapugen, a dartboard with Amaroq's face on it, and what mainly caught his eye -- the rose that the Sorcerer had made which represented Amaroq's life. It had only a few petals missing...the wolf was only sixteen.
"Probably Knuckles' house," Amaroq groaned at the thought of the echidna he so despised.
"Not quite, young sir," a familiar voice said. "I loathe you, but I am not the Guardian of the Floating Island..."
Amaroq growled deep in his throat and gnashed his teeth. "Mandor!!" (No, not Modnar as in Elijah Modnar, Mandor, as in Amaroq's enemy.)
"Very good, young Kapugen. Ah yes, and Mantal..."
"How...how..." Amaroq stuttered. "When I became Protector...I flung you into the Lake so I could regain the Gems...you can't swim...Mandor, you lousy..."
Mandor grabbed Amaroq by the shirt, causing the young wolf's face to smash into the bars of his cell. "Yes, but that doesn't matter! I have you where I want you! Now, hand over the Moon Gems, or die."
Both Amaroq and Mantal gasped at the sight of zombies which formed from the floor.
Amaroq...
Which to continue?
- Amaroq
Havoc said, "I am a free agent."
Havoc stared at the large rifle that Krash had. "I don't know who or what sent me to kill you. But if it was fate a-callin', you ain't getting out of this one alive."
Krash shifted a little, a part of his mind reminded him that it was either him or the red guy.
"I can strike a deal with you." Krash dropped his rifle. "You help me put all this together, and I'll help you drop kick monkey man to Mars. Deal?"
Havoc stared at Krash, and dropped his gun. "Who is this monkey/ape/whatever that sent me here?!"
Krash didn't answer.
"Listen, uh, Havoc, you can help us get your frien...uh, allies back. Do you trust me?"
Havoc stirred. "About as far as I can throw you, but I must prove that I can be an FF."
Krash laughed. "You?! FF?! Ha! Why would you want to do something like that?"
Havoc grinned. "At Blaster's Arcade there's an FF discount: half off of any game."
* Havoc joins the party.
"Sorry 'bout that, Krash. It's not everyday you get asked to kill someone that a big ape told you to kill. This is only the second time!!!"
- Havoc
Okay, but Krash and his sister lost P* on the 13th of October.
Amaroq was in total pain. His head had been slammed up against heavy bars by Mandor, who was powerful for an old geezer. Mantal couldn't do anything but watch, since he had no weapon and was locked in a cell. Mandor laughed.
"I shall dispose of you, young Kapugen," he chuckled.
"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Sir Kain jumped through the air and landed on Mandor's back.
The timberwolf began trying to fling the cat over his back. Amaroq, who was pulled up six feet because of Mandor's height (uh, six feet) went crashing to the floor. He pushed his hair out of his face and shut his eyes.
Sir Kain, however, was having the time of his life. Riding on Mandor's back, he grabbed hold of the lever which opened Mantal's cell. The cougar burst into a smile and ran out of the cell. He looked around wildly and noticed a spear lying in the corner. He picked it up and joined Kain.
"Get off my back!!" Mandor screamed. Finally, once Kain was in a position suited to his advantage, Mandor flung the cat over his shoulder and into the wall. "Black cats bring bad luck."
"I don't recall cougars being that way," Mantal grunted, and charged at the evil mastermind. Unfortunately, Mantal wasn't much of a fighter, he was just the Protector of Pride Lake's advisor, and Mandor threw him back into a cell.
Amaroq opened one eye and tried to get up. But the force of the fall he had taken made it too hard. He finally shut his eyes again. With Mantal locked up, Sir Kain unconscious against the wall, and himself locked up and injured made it hopeless. He had given up -- Mandor had won.
Or had he?
My head! God, what the hell is wrong with me?! It's forcing tears out of my eyes...and I can hardly see the screen...
- Amaroq
"Stay away from Amaroq's cage!!!!" someone screamed.
"Who is it?" Modnar asked.
A red fox and a black panther, both armed with katanas, were standing in the doorway. It was Kapu Shai-Tai and Hilo, his best friend.
"Don't go near our friends," Hilo ordered.
"Kapu!" Amaroq said "You're back!"
"You bet your momma's shiny pearl necklace I am," Kapu said. "I been thinkin' after what happen' after I made X so mad."
"Stop this!" Modnar said. "No-one is supposed to rescue the wolf and the cougar! You're not even a Freedom Fighter!"
"I am so, I just got suspended," Kapu growled, and pulled out his katana.
Then Hilo made a lasso with the rope he carries. Kapu locked swords with Mandor. Then Hilo tripped Modnar with his rope.
"Let Amaroq and Mantal out!" Hilo said. "I'll get Sir Kain!"
Kapu opened Amaroq's cage and looked down. Amaroq smiled. "Been awhile, little buddy."
Mantal threw Sir Kain over his shoulder, and they ran out. Amaroq then remembered something. "My rose..."
What is the Shrine of the Dragon? I never heard of that.
- Kapu Shai-Tai
I finally learned the proper way to write!
It's not "Modnar" as in SNATCHER, but "Mandor". No, I didn't get it from the game...I don't believe ol' Elijah was around back in '90...
"Your rose...?" Mantal asked Amaroq, who was gazing at the mystical (and artificial) rose The Sorcerer had made. It represented Amaroq's life. It lasted anywhere from 80-100 years, unless the Protector died before then.
"Wait, no..." Amaroq suddenly realized something. "Mine can't have five petals missing. I'm only sixteen! It can't be Mandor's, he's God knows how old."
"Then whose is it?" Kapu asked, scratching his head. "I don't believe Pride Lake has any more Kings besides you."
Amaroq's mouth dropped down, as did his gaze. Once he picked them both back up, he said almost in a whisper, "I...I think...it's Kapugen's..."
"But you're Kapugen," Hilo remarked.
"Wrong," Mantal corrected, "King Kapugen was Amaroq's predecessor."
"But if Amaroq's last name is Kapugen, then..."
"My father," Amaroq said, head hanging. He remembered how Mandor had killed his father, then...(well, I won't spoil that, if you want to know, I won't tell you how many chances you've had to read The Full Moon.)
"Why does he have King Kapugen's rose?" Kapu asked.
Amaroq growled. "Whatever it was, it couldn't be for good. This is going to be the hardest thing I ever did..."
Before he hit the rose and its glass cage clean off the table, he realized something.
The Sorcerer had destroyed Kapugen's rose when he died.
"No...it's not my father's," Amaroq said, "Twilight -- The Sorcerer, and the village wise man -- destroyed it long ago."
"The Sorcerer?" Kapu asked. "That guy is the Pride Lake wise man?"
Mantal spoke up. "Get the rose. We'll bring it to the Shrine, if we ever get there. Surely the Dragon will know who it's for."
"Or if we meet up with the Sorcerer," Hilo said.
"You need yer head examined. He ain't worth the effort."
They set off...
- Amaroq
...with some guy/girl(?) in robes following after them.
As to who it is, well, think about how insane I've gone tying a certain game in with Sonic, and think of a character who shows up when the companions are "sucked in" by an enemy.
"Xavier!" X shouted. "I don't think I can do this much longer!"
"Agreed," Hedgehog X replied, beginning to slump over while fighting the enemies.
"We shouldn't have listened to that friend of yours," X growled.
"Maybe so," Hedgehog X affirmed. "I didn't anticipate this cave he was sending us to would be full of these nasty critters."
X had long since exhausted all of his weapon systems with the exception of his plasma, and he was weakened greatly. As one of the indescribable little demon things leapt on his back, he lost all his power and fell to the floor in the robot equivalent of a coma.
"Joy of joys," Hedgehog X muttered, sawing through his enemies without much enthusiasm, knowing that he, too, would soon lay there with his friend.
Suddenly, there was a blinding white light. Xavier hung his head, realizing that X had exploded and caused the light. But no! When his vision cleared, all the little nasties were gone, and X was raising his head, dazedly, looking at the young girl in the center of the light...
"Kate...?"
- X
All the critters lay on the floor, and HX simply stared at his sister.
"Finally!!! Where've you been?"
Kate cocked her head and smiled, "Oh, around and about! Here, I'll take those."
"Uh, okay," said HX, handing her the Emeralds.
"Are you sure that's not just some illusion that wants the Emeralds?"
"Trust me. I can sense she's a real Chaos Child, right Kate? Kate? !@#$%^&*"
"Eh heh, sure."
"I swear it. What the..."
"Aaaaaarrgghh! There's only one person who can do something like that..."
"Time?"
HX paused. "Only one person who would do something like that."
"And that is...?"
"Why, the rather insane Lord of the Mountain of course!"
"Um...HX?"
"Yeah?"
"I've been meaning to tell you...that note was a fake. Havoc played a trick on us."
"Then why'd the K...ahem, why'd my little friend take the Emeralds?"
"Like I know..."
HX thought for a moment. "X, do you have enough energy to teleport back to Knothole?"
"Yes, but on one condition..."
"Hoo boy..."
"You tell me what the !@#$%^&* you're hiding!"
HX paused. "Agreed. Now do it!"
- Hedgehog X Hide! Hide! My nerves are shot!
"Good," X muttered, "I got it all on tape."
"Say what?!" HX asked.
"Nice ploy, eh, bro?" said a feminine voice.
"D'oh!!!" HX shouted. "That really was you!"
"Yup. Trying to get you to tell us what you've been hiding."
"Where have you been, Kate?" HX inquired.
"Mission of self-discovery and what-not," she said nonchalantly. "'Wanderlust', the kender call it."
"Kender?"
"You should know what they are," X replied in irritation. "You were one for a while."
HX looked at him questioningly.
"Something having to do with mess-ups in this reality," Kate explained. "Either that hasn't happened yet in this reality, it never will happen, or something's happened to wipe it from your memory."
Before HX could ask why it hadn't been wiped from their memories, X muttered, "Median effect."
"Natch," HX replied sheepishly. "I should have guessed." Then, taking a look at his sister, he asked, "What the..."
"Heck?" Kate said helpfully, mirroring certain behavior of HX's in the aforementioned story.
HX rolled his eyes. "Yeah. What the heck happened to your right hand?!" He glanced at the aura of green flame now surrounding the limb.
"Long story," Kate muttered. "I'll explain later. For now, we've got to go see the Lord of the Mountain."
HX grinned as he saw X blink. "Now who's the one who doesn't know what's going on?!"
- X
"Well, I might as well answer your annoying little question and get on with it, but I need to ask Kate one question."
"Which is...?"
"How the !@#$%^&* [writer's note: it's baaaaack!] do you know the Kiffi?!"
"Xavier, you should know the link between us..."
"Why is everybody calling me Xavier?"
"'Cause it annoys you," X answered, grinning sadistically.
"Fair enough. Go on."
"I know all you know. For example, you have a pet cat named..."
"Krantizemin. Everyone knows that."
"And it's a..."
"You can stop now!!! Leave some for Da Story!"
"Okay."
"Well, maybe you'd like to explain to X the Kiffi."
"Why," butted in X, "are you so intent on not telling me?"
"Ask Kate," HX said harshly, and slumped into the corner.
Kate giggled.
- Hedgehog X
Green Eggs and Spam...
Shut up with that damn Krantizemin! (There, why don't we give Catacomb angel wings and the Emeralds, and name him Total Chaos as well!!)
Holy skazz-oly, you name a stupid cat after a German term which I discovered?! Mainly, one of my own moves?!
- Amaroq
Riquen zi manzal (pain in the butt) = Krantizemin (Total Chaos) = Hedgehog Xavier Chaos!
Krash, Kabuki, and Havoc (after their little, uh, game) set out to look for Amaroq and co. After searching where they had disappeared for an hour, they gave up. Or at least Havoc did.
"Where in the dimensional time stream could they be?"
Krash socked Havoc in the stomach. "Don't be saying stupid 'Where in the' phrases. This is serious. If we don't find them, either: A, they all perish at the hands of evil, B, they get lunch without us, or C, I will personally rip your spine out for not looking! Get to work!"
Havoc stared blankly at the echidna.
"Look!" Kabuki pointed towards the horizon. "Something's coming!"
- Havoc
Motownville and back again...with a little East Coast slang...
"What is it?" Havoc asked.
Atop the hill, blocking part of the sunset stood a man with a red robe and hood. He carried a staff. On his shoulder was a raven. He wasn't looking at the threesome. He gazed out over the treetops.
"I know him," Kabuki and Krash said in unison.
The other side of the hill...
Amaroq, Kapu, Mantal, Hilo, and Sir Kain (who had awakened, but was as weak as a kitten...heh. Bad joke) were looking at the same thing their comrades were: The mysterious man atop the hill.
Editor's Note: Awww, no Gogo?]
"Well shuck that corn and call me southern," Amaroq muttered, grinning. "It's him."
Mantal smiled broadly. "Twilight..."
"I told you we'd find him," Hilo smirked.
Amaroq ran up the hill as fast as he could, with Mantal not far behind. Twilight didn't even turn around.
"The King of Pride Lake has returned," he said. "King Amaroq Kapugen, of the Moon Gems. Ah yes, and Mantal. I sense that you have met up with...Sir Mandor again? He will never stop. Amazing how you can kill someone so many times, and yet they still return."
"It's Amaroq!" Havoc said in delight. "He's up there with that goofy-lookin' dude! C'mon! C'mon!"
Havoc, Krash, and Kabuki ran up the hill and startled the three.
"Havoc! Kabuki!...and Krash?" Amaroq looked at the echidna, who reminded him of the one he despised so much. "Krash Echiza! Been awhile."
"AQ," was all Krash said.
Sir Kain came limping up the hill with Hilo and Kapu's aid. Once the cat got to a point where he could sit, he did.
He had to regain his strength. Kapu looked up at Twilight, his teacher.
"Young Kapu Shai-Tai," Twilight remarked. "My old student. Passed the wisdom test like a shot. Amazing student."
"The Sorcerer of the Twilight," Kapu said.
The Sorcerer (Twilight's nickname) gazed out over the treetops. He didn't know Havoc, Kabuki, and Krash too well, so he didn't say much.
"Sorcerer," Amaroq said, "we have something that you made. But...who's it for?" Amaroq pulled out the rose.
"A Mystic Rose," The Sorcerer mused. "Hmm. It appears that this person is rather old. In his forties, or so. It cannot be you, Amaroq, nor Mantal."
"Why would I have a rose anyway?" Mantal asked. "I'm not a Protector!"
The Sorcerer ignored the cougar's remark. "It is not of Mandor. In fact...what? It...it...it..."
"What?" Amaroq asked.
"It's...King Kapugen..."
Amaroq's eyes got wide. "M-my father...? But how?! His died when...that...happened!"
"King Kapugen's rose is alive. Thus, so is he."
"My father...alive? But, when Mandor killed him, the rose wilted and died! This is impossible! Unless..."
Kabuki's eyes narrowed. "I have a feeling a demon may be involved. Nothing except that and the Emeralds...and Sorcerer here can do that."
"Hedgehog X, nor Kate would do that," Amaroq said.
"Neither would Twilight," Mantal added.
"Unless...Knuckles! Knuckles! That has to be it! First stop: Knuckles the Echidna's home! I'm ready for this! No one but ol' Knux would pull a prank like this on me! This can't be real!"
- Amaroq
I've got a story idea here. Lemme continue this just one more time...
"Knuckles?" Kabuki asked. "I don't think so."
Amaroq growled deep in his throat. "Well I do. Who's with me?"
Kapu, Krash, and Havoc stepped forward. "The others can handle things 'round here," Krash said.
Amaroq nodded. "Contact us ASAP if anything comes up." With that, he and the other two took off running toward the Floating Island, home of Knuckles. It wasn't very far from where the three were now, and once there, they gazed up at the amazing chunk of rock.
"How do we get up?" Havoc asked.
"That's simple," Amaroq replied. He pulled out the Green Gem, grabbed the two by the arm, and jumped upward with a burst of power. They alighted atop a huge mushroom.
"Now we find the echidna with the problem," Krash growled. "Whether I look like him or not."
Amaroq led them to a small cabin in the section called "Angel Island". He kicked open the door to see Knuckles unconscious on the floor, and Mandor fiddling around with what appeared to be the Chaos Emeralds.
"Mandor!!" Amaroq yelled. "I just can't get rid of you! And...Knuckles! You killed him! That was my job!" He drew his dagger, while Krash and Havoc drew their weapons.
"Wait! Amaroq! No!" Mandor waved his hands. "Don't! It's..."
Krash shoved his plasma gun in the timberwolf's face.
"Cut to th' chase. We know about th' rose. Now, spill it."
"But...but...but..." Mandor tried to say something. "I..."
"Time's up!" Krash dropped Mandor and aimed his gun at him. Havoc fired plasma blasts all around the wolf to scare him a little, then Amaroq punched him across the face once he tried to get up.
"Keep him down," Havoc commanded. The hedgehog ran over to the fallen Knuckles, and tried to take a pulse. But within a few feet of the echidna, he was shocked and knocked backwards.
"A force field," Amaroq mused. "I guess if Mandor can't have the Gems, he has to have the Emeralds. Let's save Kate the trouble, and..."
Before the wolf could finish, Krash pulled the trigger on his rifle. It hit Mandor right smack in the lower shoulder. "A slow, suffering death."
Amaroq lifted up the bloody Mandor by the neck.
"AQ...stop..." Mandor gasped.
Amaroq's eyes got wide. "Mandor doesn't call me..."
The fallen Knuckles on the ground began to glow, and out of it came the real Mandor. The Mandor Amaroq was holding reverted to Knuckles, and the "Emeralds" on the table vanished.
"Amaroq..." Knuckles moaned.
"You fools!" Mandor laughed. "You killed Knuckles! Ha ha ha!!"
- Amaroq
Amaroq was shocked. (A little happy, but shocked.)
"You %#$*))&^@#$@%! No one gets away with murder when I'm around!" Amaroq charged towards Mandor.
Havoc pulled him back. "Don't kill him! I know Mandor! He's my father!"
After some dramatic music, Havoc finally admits that he's not Mandor's son, but knew him from long ago. After everyone sighed with relief, Havoc pulled out his plasma rifle and aimed it at Amaroq.
"Get down." He whispered the words so Mandor couldn't hear. Amaroq did as he was told, and Havoc shot a blast from the gun.
Mandor didn't flinch.
"I never said I liked him," Havoc proclaimed.
- Havoc
Meanwhile, X was wondering why the description of the Sorcerer sounded so much like Raistlin. On the other hand, he realized, Raistlin had gold skin and eyes with hourglass-shaped pupils, and had changed from the red robes to the black.
Anyway, X was also wondering how he had managed to forget what HX had told him earlier and why his recording was gone.
- X
Why do you always think I steal people's ideas?!
Little did Amaroq, Havoc, Krash, and Mandor know, but someone was watching all of the action. She wasn't even in the home. Her powers allowed her to see right through the home without trouble.
There was Amaroq, flashing red and black because of the Moon Gems' power, and Havoc, laughing like crazy and obviously trigger happy, mainly because what he shot was everything else but Mandor.
And Krash fought rather slowly, she noticed, until Mandor focused his attention on him for a moment. Then the echidna began shooting rapid fire and acting like the true maniac that he was.
But the spectator saw far more in Mandor. He was fighting far below he level that she sensed. He was merely wearing down his opponents, she noticed, so when he let forth his real strength that they wouldn't stand a chance.
This was something she wouldn't let happen. She knew Amaroq, but Amaroq didn't know her. She had to help.
A bolt of lightning crashed through the roof of Knuckles' house, startling the combat four.
"Franklin, we have a problem," Amaroq said.
A young girl in mauve robes came out of the bolt. She had long hair the same color.
"Schwingg," Amaroq grinned. "Boing, ka-blam, schwingg!"
"Amaroq," the girl said, "you and your friends stand back! Leave this mess to the powers of Mirage!"
"Too good to be a mirage, kiddo."
- Amaroq
Hint: Marvin and I changed her name due to your request.
[Editor's Note: Meaning mine; her name was originally Jade, and, well...it just don't woik to have two Jades.]
Kapu and Hilo, who walked away from the Sorcerer and his group, saw the bolt hit the Floating Island.
"What could that be?" Hilo asked. "A lighting bolt just hit the Floating Island!"
"Let's go check it out Hilo!" Kapu shouted. "Amaroq could be in trouble!"
Kapu and Hilo ran as fast as they could across the open field and to the Floating Island. But there was one problem.
"How do we reach it?" Kapu asked.
"That's easy." Hilo said pulling out his rope. He made a lasso and grabbed one of the big mushrooms with it.
Kapu and Hilo climbed the rope and stood behind the big mushroom. They could see Knuckles' house. It had a huge hole in the roof.
They pulled out their katanas and opened the door.
"Kapu! Hilo!" Amaroq said. "What are you doing here?"
"It is my father's student," Mirage said, "Kapu Shai-Tai."
"Who are you?" Hilo asked.
"You are Hilo?" Mirage asked. "The enemy of Yale?"
"Yes," Hilo said. "But who are you?"
"I am Mirage," Mirage said, "the Sorcerer's daughter."
- Kapu Shai-Tai
Ain't I smart?
[Editor's Note: Uh-oh. Median Effect. Again.]
"Shut up," she growled. "I'm here because you are friends, not for you to drool over me."
"Right," Amaroq replied, nonplussed.
Mirage seemed about to do something to Mandor, when suddenly the wall next to her inconveniently exploded.
"I know you!" were the girl's words just before she got trapped under some rubble.
"Everyone on Mobius knows us!" snapped the human female with the green flame surrounding her right hand, as she entered with her two comrades.
"What'd you do with the Lord of the Mountain?!" a purple hedgehog asked Mandor as an artificial man pinned him to the ground.
- X
[Editor's Note: Responding to Ryan, not me.]
Heh. So Marvin told you.
"The Sorcerer's daughter?!" Amaroq asked. "That old coot has a kid?!"
"I'm afraid I'm old, too..." Mirage replied. "My father is ten thousand...and I'm seven thousand."
Amaroq's mouth dropped open. "Seven thousand?!? You look like you're about seventeen."
Mirage ignored Amaroq and spun around, looking at Mandor. "Interfering again, are we, outcast?"
"Twilight always did this..." Mandor growled. "And so did that miserable Kapugen!"
Amaroq growled loudly and lunged at Mandor, sinking his claws into his shoulder. Mandor screamed in pain.
"My father was one of the finest to walk on this earth," Amaroq hissed. "When you killed him, Twilight took that spot. You, however, you are several...no, scratch that...hundreds of slots below that. You killed my father...out of jealousy. You killed my mother...because she tried to save Pride Lake."
"Lies," Mandor growled.
"I sat there and watched, both times! Whaddaya mean lies?! You want a lie? Do ya? Here's one: 'Amaroq...I don't believe you failed your father like that.'"
Mandor reversed the pin and knocked Amaroq to the ground, then sent a bolt to freeze the others. He let out his claws and pulled his arm back to send his claws right across Amaroq's face.
Suddenly, something punched Mandor upside the head. The wolf fell to the ground.
"My duties usually would come before you, you miserable excuse for a Protector," Knuckles grinned, "but this was an exception. You owe me."
"Knuckles?!" Amaroq asked in shock. "But how...?"
"This is the first and last time I save your skin, wolf."
Standing in the doorway were the Sorcerer and the others. "Didn't think that we'd let you kill Knuckles, did you?"
Havoc stood up. "Cool. You followed Kapu and Hilo."
"King Amaroq, your...who...? Is it...Mirage?" The Sorcerer broke off at the sight of his long-lost daughter.
"Father," Mirage said with a smile.
- Amaroq
This was sort of a "clip" or something from The Full Moon...
[Editor's Note: Wow, he's trying to fix the Effect. And it's working. Pretty well actually.]
"I'm right here," Knuckles replied, "if you're talking about me."
"Who are you?!" Mandor screamed to the purple hedgehog and the girl.
"That's for me to know, and you to find out," the hedgehog replied as he spun around and looked at Amaroq.
"You?? You saved Knuckles?! Oh m'God, the world's gonna end..."
Amaroq snarled and folded his arms. He looked around at the gang. Havoc, Krash, Mirage, the Sorcerer, Kabuki, Kapu, Hilo, Mantal, Knuckles, and the purple hedgehog and the girl...who were undoubtedly -- well, he had no doubt, he knew for a fact -- Hedgehog X and his sister Kate. He wished he wouldn't've gotten into such a mess and tangle of people.
"I've heard a lot about you," Kate said to Mandor.
"Who hasn't..." Knuckles groaned, turning back to the personality -- the normal personality -- where he despised Amaroq. (And vice-versa.)
"I sense an immense power inside of Mandor," Mirage remarked. "It's far beyond the method he was using against King Amaroq."
Amaroq waved his hand. "Please...drop the 'King' stuff, okay?" He flashed a grin at Mirage, who elbowed him right in the stomach. The wolf doubled over.
"I won't kill you," Hedgehog X said to Mandor.
"Won't do any good, anyway," Mantal sighed, "he's been killed God knows how many times. He's an immortal or something. Might be all those zombies he controls."
Kabuki's eyes narrowed. "Zombies? Demons?"
"Uh...what's the difference?"
"I dunno. Just curious."
"Curious, yeah," Amaroq growled. "Cat."
Mirage grabbed Amaroq by the arm. "I suggest you change your attitude. Or we might run into some problems, no?"
Hedgehog X grabbed Mandor by the shirt and lifted him up. "Now that we've wasted this time chatting...I've got a question, Mandor..."
- Amaroq
"Ugh. I feel sick." - Random Hajile
"What did you do with the Lord of the Mountain?!" Hedgehog X repeated as his comrade, the forgotten artificial man who had kindly kept Mandor from escaping this whole time, slapped the wolf upside the head with his metal hand as a warning.
"I don't know who you're talking about!" Mandor exclaimed.
"Wrong answer." The artificial man punched Mandor across the room, where he was caught by Kate. "I've been playing this game with Hedgie, and I don't like it too much. Tell me what your game is."
"This is the home of the Lord of the Mountain," Kate said coolly. "Tell me where he is or I'll show you the uses of my -- ahem -- green thumb, to say nothing of the rest of my hand."
As the strange green fire that surrounded Kate's right hand drew towards Mandor's throat, he realized that this death could easily be much more painful than any he'd endured, so he decided he may as well talk. "If you must know," he spat, "I have used this place to try and rise to full power! Unknown to the foolish Lord, I have sent him on a quest that will allow me to become the most powerful being in the universe...and there's no way you can stop me!"
Kate jerked him. "How?!"
"Oh, please," Mandor sneered, "you obviously know of the Dragonlance Legends."
Kate paled. The artificial human across the room would have paled, too, except that wasn't a function he had. Instead, he just sort of looked surprised.
"In English?!" demanded a chorus of all the voices who didn't know what was going on.
"The Dragonlance Saga," X explained, "was a record of events that happened on an alternate version of Earth, a medieval-type realm known as Krynn. The Saga was divided mostly into trilogies. One of those trilogies was the Legends Trilogy.
"In the Legends Trilogy," X said softly, "a very powerful and very evil mage known as Raistlin attempted to rise to the power of a god. To do so, he traveled back in time."
"This place," Kate put in, "in addition to being the Lord of the Mountain's home, is Knuckles' vacation area -- the place he spends his time when he's just relaxing. As such, he also has a bond with the Emeralds here...but that's not the whole story, is it, Xavier?!"
Hedgehog X glared at her angrily. "Fine!" he said. "I'll tell if I must! But on one condition: stop calling me that!"
"Keep your end of the deal first, Xavier," Amaroq sneered.
"Fine. Knuckles had a Ring set up so that if the need arose, he could teleport right back to the HPZ. However, in my spare time, I messed with the ring and made it do other things, such as...such as have a connection with some of the other Stones of Mobius..."
"So this is what you haven't been telling me!!" the mechanical man burst out. "You had it linked with the Time Stones!"
"I thought we could retrieve the Life Jades, X!" Xavier said defensively.
"You just wanted it to have fun with," X replied angrily. "Oh well...your stupidity is not going to doom the world. We're going after the Lord of the Mountain to stop him at all costs. Kate and I are going for sure, since we know Krynn's lore."
"Who else is with us?" Kate asked.
- X
I've been reading Time of the Twins, obviously.
"La la la la la la..." a pint-sized man sang as he trotted through the ruins of a village, "de de de de, ha ha ha ha ha!"
"But we aren't...demons..." said an aged man, who passed away a moment later.
"You're right, you're not!" the mite said. "But you're magical. Been a while since I drank. Mandor's going to love this."
"Bzzzt! Wrong!" said a hedgehog-like voice. "Mandor's going to use ya."
"Hedgie? What are you doing here, Xavier?"
"Grrrrt!" HX choked, "Listen! Some of my friends are coming to have a talk with you. One's my sister. The other's got a hand that works like a futuristic toaster. Following me?"
"No," the mite said.
"Kiffi! I just wanted to tell you that if you act annoying as usual, you'll end up like...well...toast. Explain what you were doing for Mandor. They'll understand."
"No, they're goody-two-shoes..."
"But you were tricked."
"What?!" The Kiffi screamed, but when he tried to talk again, HX was replaced by Kate and X.
"Say," X said, "are you the Lord of the Mountain?"
- Me
"I am what I am..."
Uh, since I have no idea who the hell Kiffi is, I'll find something else to keep myself occupied...
- Amaroq
It's the Lord of the Mountain. Did you think it was some kind of exclamation I made up? No one makes up exclamations. Blasphemer! Okay, one.
"Nope," said Kiffi (the Kiffi really, but since he is the only one of that race, his name is Kiffi!)
"Oh," said X, "Do you know where he is?"
Kiffi pointed in a random direction, in which X and Kate went. When they were gone, HX came out of hiding.
"Handled that pretty well, eh?" said Kiffi.
"Look, I'd tell them who you are but they're not supposed to know I'm here. So make it easy and tell them yourself."
"And if I don't?"
"Sin...dar...in..."
"Aagghh! I forgot about that!"
"Pi..."
"Okay, I'll tell them!"
"Good. I really hate flambés."
The Kiffi mumbled to himself something about magic and smacking off HX's head, but HX obviously had the upper hand. Kiffi chased after X and Kate.
C'mon, write!
- Hedgehog X "G-g-g-genie! Genie pet!"
"What the hey?!" X shouted.
"This is definitely not Krynn!" Kate exclaimed.
"Stupid Par-Salian!" X yelled at the top of his lungs. "Or maybe Fistandantilus is behind this!!!! Loser magic-users! I hate magic-users!!!!!!" At a dirty look from Kate, he amended, "Well, not all magic-users. I mean, Schala and Marle are magic-users...mmmmmmmmm, Schala and Marle..."
A whole bunch of drool came out of X's mouth, which is strange because robots typically don't have bodily fluids.
[Editor's Note: Yes, I did have a sick infatuation with Schala and Marle for a time. A rather long time actually. Do I still have such now, you ask? Ummmm...ask me again tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man!]
Kate promptly kicked him in the head, and she did so really hard, because X flew back, and no normal life-form could do that to him.
"Get your mind off Chrono Trigger for two seconds!" Kate exclaimed. "Besides, Schala is the older sister of one of your personalities' worst enemy, in spite of the fact that she's younger!"
"But this is a reply to Brent!" X protested. "I have to mention CT!"
Kate shot X a threatening look.
"All right," X muttered. "I wish we weren't alone, though. I mean, it'd be nice to have some of the other Freedom Fighters, like maybe Sally. Mmmmm...http://rat.org/pub/sonic/pictures/drawn/bikini.jpg!"
Again, X started drooling. Kate rolled her eyes. "Men," she sighed. "Even artificial ones. Oh well, I guess I'll just scout around on my own."
[Editor's Note: I try to avoid getting too enveloped in Princess Sally, I really do...it's just that some people are such good artists...]
- X
I swear, you have to get on the Web and check out that picture of Sally. Schwing! Awooga! Awooga! Boing-boing kablam!!!! And this from someone who normally scoffs at the idea of drooling over furries! Jeez, Sally in a blue bikini...seeeexy. Simon "Ablater" Howes' greatest invention since his satire story!
<Laughing hysterically> Ah-ha ha! (I don't even care if that's spelled right, my face is streaked with tears.)
You think that was sexy?! Try imagining Schala in that gig! Schwingg! Boing! Ka-blam!!! Ah, damn! (Hey -- that rhymes!)
- Amaroq
"Stop drooling on me!" - That girl on the Talkboy commercial
Stop drooling over fictitious characters. (Especially Sally, being an animal.) I feel so gross just typing this to you sick puppies. Sally's a dog (or squirrel) anyway. So just enter your padded cell where you belong.
Later that evening, Havoc was found outside of a Toys "R" Us holding a Barbie doll in the air and shouting, "Why can't there be only one of you!? My heart has been torn into 578+ parts!"
- Havoc (chuckle chuckle) the Hedgehog
Okay, since it's been forever since anybody posted something on-topic here, I must proceed...
[Editor's Note: A bunch of other side conversations developed; I'll not get into them here.]
X hardly noticed Kate was gone. For hours he sat there, just drooling as the perfect image of Schala formed in his extremely powerful mind. Then, finally, something happened.
"X!!!!" shouted a voice. "We've gotta do something!!!"
"'Bout what?!" X asked, suddenly aware of his surroundings.
"We've got some death sentences to deliver," the wolf snarled.
"Gotcha, AQ," X replied. "Let's go!"
The Moon Gems appeared, and the two teleported to where there was a very large group of creatures. At their head was a young fox.
"Frog's theme sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he shouted.
"Does it, little one?" X replied, his voice cold, hard, and dangerous as the steel from which really big knives are made. "Let us see what...sucks."
Frog's theme started playing in the background. Suddenly, X morphed into Sabin, his other personality, and whistled. A very large thing came out of the ground, and proceeded to suck the fox into Gogoland.
But it didn't stop at Gogoland. As the fox fell down a hole, a sudden gust of wind blew it off another ledge, and it fell to the center of whatever planet they were on.
"Welcome to hell, Kapu," said a voice.
A whole bunch of Evil the Cats started appearing at the same time and shooting blow darts into Kapu. He found his skin rotting from his bones, his flesh searing from the poison with which he'd been blasted.
Above the surface, a hedgehog was insulting Marle and Schala.
"Big mistake," Sabin said very, very angrily.
Suddenly, he morphed into a green-haired human with a very big sword, which he threw into one of Hedgehog X's eyes. Then, Amaroq used the Moon Gems to open some sort of time portal thingy, through which a young maiden passed.
[Editor's Note: Please please please please please don't read the rest of this chapter. It involves bizarre fantasies (no pun intended) about SquareSoft characters. Oh, my reputation tarnished...]
"Marle," HX said warmly. "I've just been waiting to see you...to tell you how ugly you are!!!"
There was a glint in Marle's alluring, green eyes. "You must be Xavier," she said. "I've been waiting to meet you." She walked up and gave the hedgehog a full kiss on the lips, and then encased him in a block of ice up to his head.
As another, even prettier maiden stepped through the Time Gate, Hedgehog X muttered, "Nice head."
"Wish I could say the same for yours," she replied softly. "Of course, the reason I'm so well-covered is that I come from an Ice Age...you must know the feeling, right?"
As Xavier started to be in visible pain from frostbite, Schala smiled, and said, "You poor dear. Let me warm you up."
Hedgehog X's tongue lolled out of his mouth at this prospect, but he was very surprised to find Schala chanting a fireball spell. He tried to counter it, but he couldn't reach his spell components, and so went from the cold extreme to the heat extreme.
Schala, warming herself by the fire, said, "There, that's much better. I won't be needing this anymore." She tossed her heavy coat aside, revealing beneath it such a skimpy bikini that even Ayla would turn scarlet at the sight of it.
"Mine!" shouted a voice from somewhere deep underground.
"Shutteth up," Glenn said. He lit himself from Xavier's fire and cast Frog Squash down to where Kapu was, then cast Water to put himself out.
[Editor's Note: For those readers who don't know, the damage done by Frog's Frog Squash attack is inversely proportional to the amount of hit points he has.]
- Sir Glenn
Learneth thine lesson.
"I didn't say anything about Schala! Your mistake buddy!"
"You shouldn't talk so soon, you might cause a..."
"Who cares?" HX screamed. "Full retaliation! Nice knowing you!"
HX turned into Christopher Blackstar (as to be revealed in The White Circle) and threw up the Dark Stones.
"Pitana! Aqutana! Gitana! Oxtana! Eltana! These I place before me to punish those who don't know what they're talking about. Attack!"
Once the 5 Elemental Katanas (also to be explained in The White Circle) became animated, Chris smirked. "Ciao!"
- Hedgehog X "Chaos is stronger than light..."
Created 04.03.28