Knuckles was sitting on the stairs leading to the shrine of the Master Emerald. Behind him, the giant jewel gleamed in its mystical aura. Knuckles felt at peace with himself, with his surroundings. He was doing his job, and as long as no one would be able to steal the emerald, his purpose as a guardian would be served.
Grandfather Hino left the hut and looked at the stars. "Knuckles, I'm going to bed. Looks like Rei is going to be late again. Make sure to guard the shrine until she takes over, okay?"
Knuckles just nodded. He didn't need the guidelines of some old geezer or his violent daughter. He really didn't like it how they settled down on his island as if was theirs. Sure, they were the last echidnas, along with him, but he was the first guardian. Angel Island was and stayed Knuckles' home. He was a little relieved when he found out that he wasn't the last of his tribe, but after he got to know the two of them better, he really wished they had left him alone.
After the old echidna went back into the hut, some time passed. Rei was really late today. After a while, Knuckles' tummy began rumbling.
'Damn,' he thought. 'I'm really hungry.' He stood up. 'Good thing I left some of the fruits we had for lunch today.'
He went down the stairs to fetch his bag. With a full stomach, he would do his job more effeciently.
----
Without being noticed by the guardians of the floating island, an enormous battleship had approached the island from behind. For a ship of its size, the Egg Carrier could fly very stealthy. But they also had the island's mountain as additional protection, so Dr. Eggman really didn't need to be that careful.
The rest of the job lay in the hands of his two new robots. This was their chance to prove their worth to their master.
"All right," the egg-shaped scientist told Beta and Gamma. "Your job will be either to bring me the Master Emerald, or, if that turns out to be impossible, to find a way to release the ancient being trapped inside. And most important, don't let the echidnas find you! Understood?"
The E-Series robots saluted with their weapons. "Affirmative!"
----
As stealthy as two heavy robots could be, Beta and Gamma left the Egg Carrier and walked through the jungle. As this mission required stealth, they didn't fire their weapons.
After some time, they reached the wide clearing with the shrine and the Master Emerald on its top.
Gamma looked out of the bushes. "Scanning for vital signs! Echidna life form detected at eleven o'clock!" ('Let me check if the coast is clear, Artemis! Be careful, there's that red echidna Rei lives with!')
Beta's head spun around to the shrine itself. "Direct approach not recommended! Possible seizure of Master Emerald is most improbable! Suggest destruction by ballistic projectiles!" ('Guess we can't just take it then, huh? Time for plan B: Let's blast that thing to pieces!')
If E-102 had a normal face, the robot would very likely have frowned at its white colleague. "Mission instructions included absolute avoidance of being detected! This is a stealth mission! Ballistic weapons are out of the question!" ('Are you crazy? The old egg-head told us clearly not to make too much noise. We can't let them see us! Shoot one missile up there and I'll kick your metal butt to the moon!')
Then, they saw Knuckles going down the stairs of the shrine. He was heading towards the hut to get some food.
"E-102-Gamma's arguments do not compute! Echidna life form leaving surrounding area! Initiating missile launch!" ('Don't be silly, Luna! This is our big chance! Look, the echidna is going inside. Let's blast that thing!')
Beta raised it's gun arm while Gamma tried to interfere: "E-101-Beta, abort launch!" ('Artemis, you idiot! Stop it!')
The miniature missile flew through the night air and headed straight for the shrine.
And with a loud 'CRASH', it shattered the Master Emerald into dozens of pieces that flew away in every possible direction.
"Mission completed! Suggesting tactical retreat!" ('Easy as pie! Now let's get to that old scientist to report.')
Gamma looked at Beta. "E-101-Beta, your actions are most illogical! After this unit's power source has been removed, prepare for facing the consequences!" ('Artemis, you're the biggest jerk I've ever seen! Once Usagi finds a way to free us, you're going to be in so much trouble...')
And the two robots got ready to return to the Egg Carrier.
----
Knuckles was just reaching for his food bag, when he suddenly heard a big crash coming from outside. "What the..." He hurried outside.
On the top of the shrine, he could find almost no trace of the Master Emerald. Only some green shards were lying on the ground. "Who did this?" he shouted angrily.
Grandfather Hino came running. "Knuckles, what is...? Oh no, what happened to the Master Emerald?"
"I'm not sure, gramps," Knuckles snarled while looking around. "But I fear that whoever did this is still around here somewhere."
Suddenly, they heard a strange noise. Somehow, it sounded like the gurgling of a defect drain.
"W-what's that?" Grandfather shouted in a surprised voice. Knuckles turned around. Behind him, a strange puddle of a gel-like substance was slowly growing into a humanoid shape, until a strange being made entirely of that blue liquid was standing before them. The only thing that didn't look blue or made out of water were its green eyes and the brain that was floating around in its head.
"Who are you?" Knuckles shouted angrily. He gestured towards the remains of the Master Emerald. "Did you do that? Ooooh, I'll get you for that!" And he ran towards the strange water creature to hit it with a powerful smack of his fist. But the creature jumped high into the air, over the heads of the two echidnas. Knuckles punch hit empty air, and the force of his attack made him fall to the ground. "Ooof! Hey, no fair!"
Before he could do anything, the figure slowly seemed to melt back into its original shape of a puddle, before seeping into the ground.
Then it was gone.
Grandfather Hino stared at the place where the creature had vanished. "Gee, I wonder what that was... I've never seen anything like it before in my entire life."
They didn't notice the shining ball of light that was floating away from the shrine...
Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet began shaking. "Oh no, it's starting to happen," Knuckles shouted. "Without the Master Emerald's power, this whole island will fall down into the sea. Brace yourself..."
And then all went down...
----
Rei anxiously turned around on Makoto's couch. The tall rabbit peered into the room. "What's wrong, Rei? Can't sleep?"
"I don't know," the echidna-girl sighed. "I just had a bad feeling, that's all. I wonder if it really was okay for me to stay here for the night. I would have called my grandfather, but on the island, we have no electricity. And I can't afford a cell phone..."
"Don't worry," Makoto said. "Perhaps it's just your imagination. After all, Knuckles is the most experienced guardian of you three, and your grandfather is there as well. I'm sure everything is fine."
"I hope you're right," Rei mumbled while closing her eyes. "Good night, Makoto!"
"Good night, Rei!"
See other episodes by Shritistrang
(Posted Sat, 12 Aug 2006 00:13)
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