Angel Island - Not in Kansas Anymore

[Lans]

Slowly Knux opened his eyes and looked around. Everything...seemed ok, but he could already feel that something was wrong. "Shortcake, um...little squirrel, you guys ok?" he asked.

[Leda]

Ray was unable to form a coherent sentence; any attempt at speech was drowned out by his fearful sobs and cries. Despite his trembling and tight clinging to Knuckles, an onlooker could tell that he was basically okay aside from being a little shaken not stirred.

[Sipp]

Shortcake stirred slowly. "Muu...." She rubbed at her head.

[Lans]

"Yeah...I know how you feel," Knux said as he got up, one arm supporting the clinging Ray. "Everything looks ok but..." he said, then headed back down the tunnel to Hidden Palace, "I'd better make sure we're not in danger of and sudden crashes before we figure out just what exactly happened."

[Leda]

Ray sniffled and coughed, but otherwise was surprisingly quiet. Apparently being carried by Knuckles made him feel a lot safer than wandering around on his own. The squirrel did his best to behave so as not to upset the guardian, hiccuping quietly and hanging on to Knuckles' shoulders.

[Sipp]

"D-don't l-leave m-me, pl-please, M-mister G-guardian!" Shorcake squeaked, flattening her ears back. She skittered after Knuckles.

[Lans]

"I'm not leaving you anywhere, just keep up," Knux snapped, too worried to be nice for once. They made their way back down to the palace, only to find it just as it was when they left...almost. The Master Emerald's glow seemed a bit dim, as if whatever had happened had drained it temporarily. "But what DID happen?" Knux asked himself out loud.

[Leda]

"Maybe it's broken..." Ray suggested quietly. The little squirrel sighed and rested his chin against Knuckles' shoulder.

[Sipp]

Shortcake cringed when he snapped, flattening her ears even farther back, and lowering her eyes to the ground.

"S-sorry, muu..." She debated staying behind, but her fear outweighed her shame and she followed. Keeping her distance wasn't particularly difficult, as it was kind of hard to keep up with him anyway, but when she reached the entrance to Hidden Palace she lingered there, eyes on her feet, wringing her hands nervously.

[Lans]

Knuckles frowned at the emerald. "No not broken...drained," he muttered, thinking back to the events that had led up to now, especially the fammiliar glow just before the emerald went nuts. "...Chaos control?"

Imediatly he turned and sprinted back outside, scooping up SC on his way out. He kept going until they reached the nearest edge of the island, where, instead of the expected rolling waves, he saw the plush green tops of forest trees. "Oooh crap...I don't think we're in Kansas anymore...whereever that is."

[Leda]

Ray kept a tight grip on the echidna's shoulders as they neared the edge. His blue eyes peered down at the tree tops curiously, and with confusion. They were on land... on top of land? The squirrel's eyes traveled along the skyline for a bit, and eventually spotted where the clouds turned dark -- the point where the natural world ended and Robotropolis began. But then that would mean these trees...

Ray looked back up at the guardian. "Knuckles... H-How'd we get on t-top of the Great Forest...?"

[Sipp]

Shortcake was used to Knuckles randomly grabbing her, so she didn't react as he picked her up again. She did, however, figure that he wasn't mad at her anymore, so she relaxed.

"...W-what's th-the Gr-great F-forest, muu?"

...

"Muu... M-mister G-guardian, y-you s-shouldn't s-swear i-in f-front o-of th-the b-boy." she added with a trace of reproach.

[Lans]

"I'll swear as much as I want to in this situation," Knux muttered, though he did refrain from blurting out a few more swear words that had been on his mind just then.

"And more important that what, where is the Great Forest? I've never heard of it, and I've been everywhere on the planet except the artic zones...well above everywhere anyway."

[Leda]

"Knuckleeeeeees!!" Ray whined. "You do too know where the Great Forest is!! We live there!!" The little squirrel squealed with frustration and buried his face into the guardian's shoulder. This day had been so strange -- even the only familiar face around was acting strange -- and it was becoming too much for the child to bear.

Suddenly a thought occurred to him, and Ray picked his head back up, eyes still wet but no longer whimpering. "...I forgot, you an' Amy weren't from there. You guys came from... that Little Planet place." He paused, then twisted to look down at the treetops below. As another realization struck him, the squirrel turned back to Knuckles and asked, "Oh, is that where we are? Shouldn't Amy be here too? ..." The boy's ears flattened against his head. "...You'll take me home before the planet disappears again, right??"

[Sipp]

"H-he's o-only a-a c-child... h-he c-can't b-be o-older th-than s-six... I-I'm s-sorry..." she added, quietly. She looked at him with wide eyes, "Pl-please... h-hit m-me i-instead... I-I w-would d-deserve it, muu...

[Lans]

Knux just looked at her oddly. "Since WHEN have you done anything deserving of being beaten for, nevermind that I'd never do anything like THAT?" He then rounded on Ray, "And where the heck did you get your info kid? This is Angel Island, I'm from here. Little Planet is just that weird time travel place where Amy and Sonic first met. And speaking of her, not a clue where Amy is, probably in te middle of some new scheme to get Sonic in bed with her or whatever."

[Leda]

Ray's eyes refilled with tears. "...But... I h-heard it... from you..."

Unable to take it anymore, Ray pressed his face into Knuckles' shoulder and stayed there this time, clinging tightly to his body and letting out a muffled wail. "IwannagohomeIwannagohomeIwannagohomeIwannagohome...!!"

[Sipp]

Shortcake winced. "I-I'm s-sorry... I-I'm b-being a-a b-bad Sh-shortcake, u-upsetting you, muu... I-I'd d-deserve i-it i-if y-you w-want t-o h-hit m-me..." she repeating, nodding a little. She then gave Ray a puzzled glance, biting her lip as he cried. She began to stroke the back of his head softly, murmuring soothingly.

"H-he s-said th-that h-he l-lives d-down there, muu..." and then, with a surge of bravery, "I-I could t-try t-to t-take h-him t-to h-his h-home, muu..."

[Lans]

Knuckles just grit his teeth, then, after prying him off himself, dumped Ray into Shortcake's arms, hoping that the squirrel would keep her distacted from any more self bashing.

"All right kid," he said, talking to Ray, "You say you know where this is, so where are we?"

[Leda]

And the instant he was transferred from Knuckles' custody, Ray let out an ear-splitting scream, struggling hysterically to be released from Shortcake's arms. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" the squirrel sobbed, hyperventilating when he did in fact take any breaths. Tears streamed from the child's eyes, and his fur frizzed up on end with his fright. "KNUCKLEEEEEEEEEEEESS!!"

[Sipp]

Shortcake squeaked as Ray's weight was suddenly dumped in her arms. He was too heavy for her even without the hysterical screaming and struggling. She let him down, wincing at the pain his noise caused. She flattened her ears back.

"I-I n-never k-knew I-I wa-was s-so t-terrifying..." she said quietly, biting her lip.

[Lans]

If you listened very closely, you could hear a faint snapping sound from Knuckle's direction. He whirled to face the two, his faced flushed red(er). "Would you two SHUT UP FOR A MOMENT UNLESS YOU HAVE SOMETHING USEFULL TO SAY ABOUT OUR SITUATION!?!?!?"

[Leda]

Still bawling loudly, Ray had started to run back to Knuckles for protection... But was greeted with a furious outburst. Recoiling and folding back his ears, petrified of upsetting the guardian further, Ray bolted away in the opposite direction, bleating with fear, guilt, and loneliness. I wanna go home I wanna go home I wanna go hoooome!!

[Sipp]

Shortcake flattened her ears back all the way and fell silent when Knuckles yelled. When Ray ran off, she looked between him and Knuckles, biting her lip. She opened her mouth to apologize, but then closed it again.

She backed a few steps away from him and stared at the ground, looking dejected.

[Stoney]

At that moment, a nearby section of grassy soil revealed itself to be a cleverly-disguised trapdoor as it was lifted up from underneath. With much grunting and heaving, a heavy-set man in standard plumber attire pulled himself out of the newly-made hole and onto solid ground.

He looked up and found the trio almost immediately. "I knew he'd be here," He mumbled to himself as he stood up and dusted his clothing off. "Who's the squirrel kid, though?" Finally deeming his appearance to be fit for social interaction, he cupped a hand to his mouth and called out: "HEY KNUX! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"







Meanwhile, an airborne rabbit and her pink passenger were coming in for a landing.

Just in time too -- the rabbit's ears felt like large lead weights attached to either side of her skull after all the repeated forceful flapping she'd done with them. She barely managed to navigate both herself and Amy in such a way so they didn't crash-land in the island's jungle canopy, instead aiming for a clearing of soft downy grass that appeared to have recently been grown in an area once suffering from fire damage. Cream finally released her grip on Amy's hands when it was safe to do so and made a lovely ten-point landing, herself.

"...Whew, I'm tired," She groaned as she flopped over to lay on her back, panting for air and resting her weary muscles. The trip had taken much more out of her than she'd thought it would. Oh well, at least they'd gotten away from the scary demon robot and his friends.

After a few minutes of resting, Cream picked herself up off the ground and wearily motioned for Amy to follow her. "Come on, Mister Knuckles should be around here somewhere." She began walking off into the jungle, taking care not to drop Cheese as she did so.

[Lans]

"What's going on!? I'll tell you what's been going on! The whole island's been teleported somewhere, and I can't get any help from these two to figure out where cause one is frightened of his own shadow and the other insists on trying to talk herself into suicide or something!!"

[Leda]

All the way Ray kept running as fast as his wobbly little legs would carry him, wailing at the top of his lungs... until he suddenly realized that he couldn't hear the others anymore. Ray's breath caught in his throat as he turned around and around, unable to recognized the surroundings. Fear suddenly welled up in his chest, and was eventually vomited out in the form of a single screech.

"KNUCKLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!!!!!![/b]"

[Sipp]

Shortcake squeaked in utter terror as Mario appeared.

No, it couldn't be... not him!... Her eyes widened dramatically, and she considered hiding behind Knuckles. But then he spoke, and she returned her ashamed glance to the ground.

She bowed her head. "I-I'm s-sorry..." she all but whispered. She then remember he had told her to be quiet, and backed away. The hedgehog then turned and began to skitter off.



Amy frowned at the scenery. "Where are we? ... Why would be here?" She looked up at Cream, perplexed, but followed anyway.

[Stoney]

"...Teleported, huh." Mario's angry tirade about being unable to work in these conditions was promptly forgotten as he considered this. He probably should have been more surprised at the news, but then again, he lived on a chunk of rock that floated hundreds of feet in the air with no visible means of suspension. All things considered, this seemed fairly normal.

Giving Shortcake a cheery wave after he recognized her, Mario thrust both hands into the pockets of his overalls and walked over to where Knuckles stood near the edge of the island. "So, uh, this teleport...it wouldn't have anything to do with all the pumps in Hydrocity going dead just now, would it?" He looked annoyed as he admitted the next sentence. "I tried to fix things, but the entire system is down. It'll take days to get it all running again, and in the meantime you've got maybe ten minutes of running water left at the most."

But at least we're not leaking this time, he silently added.

Out of curiosity, he peeked over the edge of the island at this mysterious new locale they'd been transplanted into. "...Wow, so that's what flying fish look like."

He winced as an unearthly banshee wail burst forth from the direction that squirrel boy had run off in. "Ow." A quick dig inside one ear with a pinky finger confirmed it wasn't bleeding. Whew.






Cream gave Amy an odd look. "This is Angel Island. Mister Knuckles lives here."

An extremely loud cry cut through the jungle; a child's voice, crying out for Knuckles at the top of his lungs. Cream blinked as she heard it. "Oh my. I think he might be in that direction."

She began to run off, motioning for Amy to follow. "Come on!"

[Lans]

Knux opened his mouth to say something, but then snapped it shut with a small growl when he heard the, as yet indistinguishable, voices of Cream and Amy.

"Mario, stay here and make sure these two don't get hurt," he told the plumber, "I've got some 'visitors' to take care of." And then he began stalking in the direction of the new arrivals, glad that, with luck, he could make this simple and just start chucking people off the edge.