Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Alliance for Ages ❯ The Quests Continue ( Chapter 11 )

Chapter 11

The Quests Continue…

Sonic returned to the base to find it devoid of all but the team's support troops. He hurried to the Med wing, fearing the worst. He confronted the nearest personnel. "Harrison!" he called. "Get over here. Come on, move soldier."

"Yes, sir! Lieutenant Knuckles wanted me to tell you he was leaving. He wouldn't explain why. He merely said he had a `Feeling'."

Sonic thought for a moment. Then, Harrison remembered something else. "Oh, yeah. After Knuckles left, everyone else followed not long after, all leaving in their own directions."

"Well, that settles it. They were also members of the Seven. They must be." Sonic felt for the heavy blade slung from his back.

Harrison looked quizzical. "What's that sword for, Sir? And who, may I ask are the `Seven'?"

"Well, kid, this is, I think, what's called the Phoenix Blade. And the Seven are, supposedly, legendary warriors chosen every so often to balance out the forces of the Earth. It's complicated, so I won't go into detail."

"Well, I guess I won't ask any more. Thanks for trying, though, sir."

"Yeah, thanks Harrison." He turned and began walking to the command tower. "Now, let's find out where Shadow's hiding."

Knuckles stood at the small opening in the canyon's floor, peering into the darkness. "I hope I don't get lost down there. Well, here goes nothing!" He slid down the steep - sloped tunnel. As he went faster and faster, he noticed that strange, pulling feeling grow stronger. I wonder if this is the feeling that drew Sonic away. I have to stay on my toes. Something about this doesn't feel right… he thought. At the bottom of the slope, Knuckles found himself in a huge, well - lit chamber. "This definitely doesn't feel right. Why would there be so much light in here?" He looked around him, but found no torches or artificial light sources anywhere. As he walked down the corridor before him, he found that the next chamber was even brighter. Only this time, he wasn't alone.

Two large stone statues stood before him. One looked like a human with a spear, the other, a huge humanoid serpent. The snake statue appeared to be a central snake body with other snakes as its arms and legs. Taking no further notice, Knuckles walked farther into the room, scanning the walls and floor. Several large stone columns held up the ceiling. Just then, he noticed something strange. A single panel in the center of the room seemed to be darker in color than the others. He walked over to inspect it, but thought better and began to search for a stone. He found a fairly large one lying by one of the columns. He picked it up, walked over close to the square and tossed it down, testing for a trap. Nothing happened. "Well," Knuckles said to no one. "That's… unexpected. But… convenient all the same." Knuckles stepped cautiously closer to the dark square. He then felt a tiny, familiar alarm go off in the back of his head.

"Treasure - hunter sense is tingling! That thing must be down there." He also noticed that the pulling sensation had increased greatly and seemed to beckon him toward the entrance to the hole. Or, what he expected to be a hole. Knuckles dropped to his knees and began to pry open the panel with his shovel claws. He got the square off and found that it hid a long, wide shaft that plunged into darkness for what seemed like forever. "Man, not another steep drop into total darkness. I'm beginning to hate this exploration crap. Now, how am I gonna shed some light onto the situation?" He finally took a glance at the ceiling of the cavern, where he found his answer, and the source of the mysterious light. Thousands of bats crowded the ceiling, their eyes giving off a bright, bioluminescent glow. Knuckles grabbed another rock off the floor, chucking it toward the ceiling. A large number of the bats detached and flew down at him. Concentrating, he quickly threw out a hand and caught one of the bats. The rest flew on, down one of the side corridors. He held the bat in his right hand and used a Thai-Chi technique to calm it down. He then began climbing down the shaft, noting that the shaft blocks were the same, dark color as the panel cover. Several minutes of climbing downward led him into a small hallway, leading toward a door. The door had an engraving of two intertwined serpents with huge fangs. Knuckles was about to push the door open, when it disappeared, almost as if it was never really there.

Knuckles found himself in another huge room. There were no bats down here, so the room was dark and he was glad that he had brought one with him. Suddenly, the floor began to rumble and dust fell from the ceiling. He noticed, then, that there was a square hole in the center of the room.

"Oh, no. NOOOOO! No more holes! I am sick of these frickin' holes!" But Knuckles never had to go down this hole. From below, a column came up to the surface of the room. On top of it, sat two objects resembling the claws he had on his hands. These claws, though, were curved like fangs. Knuckles walked over to the podium and picked up the claws. They were heavy, made of some very strong metal. Titanium, I hope, Knuckles thought. He quickly removed his shovel claws and slipped the new fangs on his hands. They fit perfectly.

"All right, lets get back home. It looked like these are what I was looking for." Knuckles ran back to the base of the shaft he had come down through and scrambled back up, trying to get used to hooking the scythed fangs into the block walls. It wasn't easy. By the time Knuckles reached the top, his adversaries were well in place. He let the bat go and put his claw over the edge, pulling himself up. Just then, he was hit with what felt like a sack of bricks. He nearly slammed head on into the far wall, but stopped himself with his gliding technique. He turned quickly and spotted his enemies. The two statues had come to life as soon as Knuckles picked up the claws. He shook off the blow and concentrated on the battle. The human statue was charging now, spear raised and ready. Knuckles decided to attack first, counter - charging with superior speed, he jumped and slashed at the statue with his claws. He then noticed that, trailing the claw was the blood red shadow of a cobra. So this is the magic, he thought. The human statue crumbled from the blow, falling over and no longer moving. The snake statue, which had attacked him first, now approached. Knuckles figured that if it worked once, it would work again, so he charged at the snake. It anticipated him, though and swung early, countering Knuckles' blow and repelling both of them apart. Knuckles took a couple more swings, which were blocked, and decided to try something else. He crouched low, and prepared to jump hard at the monster, which was closing in on him now. He then felt the claws start to vibrate, preparing to strike. Knuckles waited until it was only about 10 feet away and unsprung, leaping at his opponent and slashing. From the back of the claws, the red cobra silhouette emerged, adding much more power to his blow. The attack shattered the snake completely, even though it tried to block. As the snake crumbled, Knuckles realized that there was something very special about his new weapons. He smiled, satisfied, and left, wondering about what Sonic must have found.