14.July.06
BEAST WARS REKINDLED
Chapter One: Robot in Disguise
Julie-Su walked through the jungles of Angel Island, looking for Knuckles and the Chaotix. Her friends had reported unusual activity near the ruins of Mount Fate, and had called her in just in case they needed help. She smiled wryly at the thought that Knuckles, a living Chaos Emerald, would need her help in battle. Of course, the two had always worked well together, and these days the Guardian didn't like going into battle without her by his side. Julie-Su felt the same, both of them feeling the magnetism of the Soultouch bringing them together.
The other Chaotix had mixed feelings about this. Espio, Mighty, Ray, and Charmy were all fine with her, and did nothing to dis- or encourage her relationship with Knuckles. Vector, on the other hand, disapproved savagely.
Despite this, the pair paid him no mind.
She was jolted out of her reverie as her Echidna sense of smell— renowned among Mobians— picked up the familiar scents of her friends...as well as the odor of several unfamiliar Echidnas and various fuel-like chemicals.
That could mean only one thing: Dark Legion. Julie hurriedly rushed through the trees, glancing at the tracks she picked up. The Legionnaire tracks were older, and several were deeper than the others. This meant that they had been carrying something heavy. Knuckles' tracks, and those of the Chaotix, were fresher, only a few minutes old.
Speeding up, she came to a stop as the trees ended and a ledge jutted out over a small quarry. On the edge lay her friends. Following their lead, she got on the ground and crawled over to join them.
Knuckles smiled as he turned to look, prompting a returning grin. The others nodded in acknowledgement of her presence, though Vector scowled slightly.
Julie ignored him and turned to look down into the quarry. A small armada of Legionnaire hovercraft were parked down there, along with a strange-looking container. At the moment, most of the Legionnaires were grouped around it, trying to open it with various tools.
"What do you think's in that thing?" Mighty enquired.
"If the hoods want it, it's something powerful," Vector replied.
Knuckles nodded in agreement. "We have to get that thing before they can open it."
Standing up, the friends split up. Knuckles, Ray, and Charmy remained on the ledge, ready to fly down to engage. Espio cloaked and made his way down into the camp, Vector following him and using his green coloring to blend into the surrounding foliage. Mighty and Julie-Su made their way around the other side, until they were in position to strike.
"Cowabunga!" Knuckles shouted as he leaped off the ledge, Ray and Charmy following. Espio, having infiltrated the Legionnaires, began attacking with ninja stars. Vector, taking off his walkman, unleashed powerful sonic booms at the hooded Echidnas as Julie-Su and Mighty fought hand-to-hand.
The Legionnaires, caught completely by surprise, were driven to their hovercraft. Forsaking the container for their own survival, they hopped in and took off. Almost as soon as the battle had started, it was over.
Knuckles, dusting himself off, walked over to the container. A close look revealed more than he'd been able to determine from a distance. The pod was ancient, the strata covering it clearly millions of years old. With a shock, Knuckles realized that it predated the Xorda gene bomb attack, obviously from the period when Mobius was called Earth. Judging by the age, it was ancient even when that event occurred, likely predating history.
Further analysis by the rest of the Chaotix indicated several things. The capsule was sealed, even Mighty's strength was incapable of opening it manually. It was also armoured, so that Knuckles' fists couldn't mark it. It also had some sort of computer device imbedded into the side, but it was without power.
"Maybe we should haul this thing back to Echidnaopolis; they might be able to figure out what this thing is," suggested Julie-Su.
Knuckles shook his head stubbornly. "I want to find out what we're dealing with now, not when it's in the middle of the city. I have an idea: I can use my Chaos powers to recharge this thing, and maybe we can get some answers from that computer."
Without waiting for a reply, Knuckles sent a beam of energy into the pod.
The green light washed over the container, and the Chaotix backed away in astonishment as the machine lit up. The computer console opened up, revealing a keyboard and various other controls. Knuckles grinned and stepped forward, but backed away. As the Chaos light faded, a compartment opened in the computer and a rod with a strange sensor module at the end extended upwards from the device. Lighting up, the module began turning sending out a field of yellow light that passed through everything in the area, scanning for something.
The field passed through Charmy, Espio, Ray, Mighty, Vector, and Julie-Su, but paused when it reached Knuckles. On a small screen imbedded in the computer, red script in an alien language scrolled down rapidly, too quickly for the Chaotix to get a look at the unfamiliar symbols. Suddenly, a mechanical voice emanated from the pod.
"Scan for suitable Beast Mode complete. DNA from host targeted. Beginning scanning and replication."
Knuckles flinched as the field narrowed into a beam of yellow light, which covered him, penetrating every contour of his body. Knuckles was unnerved at the ease with which it passed into his frame, but took some comfort in the fact that it had not activated his body's Chaos immune system, and thus was not dangerous.
Suddenly, the light vanished, the module sinking back into its slot on the pod. Suddenly, a hiss of air signalled the seal on the pod coming undone. The Chaotix tensed, unsure as to what was happening.
All of them were shocked when a long, red, fur covered arm emerged from the pod. Even more shocking was the hand, which was identical to the ones Knuckles had under his gloves, complete with fist spurs. The group backed away as a figure sat up and lifted itself from the pod, turning to face them.
It was an enormous Echidna, twice the height of either Knuckles or Julie-Su. Even more interesting, the creature was identical to Knuckles in every way except two: its size, and its eyes. Rather than Knuckles' violet, these eyes were a deep blue. The only other thing that Knuckles and the creature didn't have in common was their attire: it was clad in nothing but fur, while Knuckles wore mittens and shoes.
The Chaotix paused, unsure what to do. Finally, Julie-Su decided to make the first move. Taking her Taser, she dropped it on the ground, and walked slowly towards the large Echidna, hands raised to show that she was unarmed.
When she spoke, it was in a calm, placating tone. "I don't know who you are, but we're not here to hurt you. We freed you from that pod, and from several bad people who might have harmed you.
"My name is Julie-Su; I'm an Echidna, like you are. My friends here are Vector the Crocodile, Espio the Chameleon, Charmy Bee, Ray the Squirrel, and Knuckles, Guardian of Angel Island and an Echidna as well. Who are you?"
The massive Echidna inclined his head. For a moment Julie-Su wondered if he even spoke the same language. As she turned to speak to the others, the massive Echidna suddenly leaped toward her with impossible speed.
Turning back, Julie-Su's cry of terror was cut off as a red blur shot out from behind her to slam into the Echidna.
The large monotreme staggered back as the blur bounced off his chest. Landing on the ground, the blur turned into Knuckles, an expression of apprehension on his face. He raised his hands, getting into a boxer's stance. With surprise, he watched his opponent do the same. Without a sound the two lunged at each other.
Knuckles soon found himself on the ropes. The silent Echidna was stronger than anyone he had ever encountered, and could move faster than Knuckles, something only Sonic and a few others had ever done before. The creature shared his fighting expertise, and had the advantage of a longer reach.
Knuckles, by contrast, had a lower center of gravity, enabling him to avoid his tall foe. Seeing that he couldn't win this fight the old fashioned way, Knuckles began charging his Chaos powers.
As if it could sense him, the creature stepped back, holding up its hands in a placating gesture. Then, to Knuckles' astonishment, it spoke in a male voice. "Please, forgive me, I meant no harm. I was only trying to confirm that you were not my kind."
Knuckles powered down, looking up at the Echidna in confusion. "Your kind? What do you mean?"
The creature smiled. "Despite my appearance, I am not a biological being like you. Allow me to demonstrate.
"Knucklehead, Maximize!"
With that cry, the creature's form suddenly shifted. The fur on the hands disappeared, the spurs replaced with missiles and the fingers with mechanical digits. The bare feet changed similarly, the fur-covered toes becoming metal claws. Finally, the head split, the top half sliding onto the back so that the dreadlocks stuck out like wings, the bottom half sliding into a compartment that opened on the chest. In its place was a metallic head with a green face, blue eyes dominating and accompanied only by a flattened, human-like nose and lipless mouth.
As the Chaotix gaped, the mouth turned up in a smile. "Beast Mode," Knucklehead intoned, and he reverted back into Echidna form.
He watched the Mobians, waiting for a response. Finally, Knuckles shook off his bewilderment and said, "I think some explanations are in order."
To be continued...