The Tragedy
The Asset
“Hello? Wow this cave is awesome, huh, Cheese?” said Cream. The two had been playing in the mountains on the outskirts of Rockwell Valley again, and were in a cave full of sharp stalactites and stalagmites. One false move could have easily resulted in impalement. But, of course, as younger children are wont to be, they were playing around without a care in the world.
All of a sudden, they heard a slow dripping sound. “Shhhhh! What was that?” asked Cheese.
“It’s probably just a waterfall or something. Don’t worry about it,” responded Cream.
As they continued deeper and deeper into the cave, they started to get increasingly colder.
“Cream, it’s getting cold,” Cheese said, rubbing her hands together.
“Yeah, it probably is getting pretty late now. Maybe we should be heading back.” Cream replied. That was when she saw it — a very small, distant light.
“Wait, Cheese! Do you see that? Let’s go check it out really quickly. Then I promise we will go home,” she said, letting curiosity get the best of her. They continued on, and the light kept getting brighter and brighter until they were outside.
“Wowwwwww!!” they said in unison.
Meanwhile…
“I will be arriving in about 5 minutes. Are the funds deposited yet? …Excellent.” The line goes dead.
Outside the cave…
The girls had stepped into another beautiful part of Euphysyria they had never seen before. It was approaching 9:00 p.m., so it was very dark outside. They just managed to make out tall, old ruins, which looked beautiful at night, a passing shower having just left them dewy and sparkling in the moonlight.
“Look! A shooting star!” Cheese pointed out.
“Can this night get any more beautiful?” Cream wondered aloud.
The “shooting star” kept getting closer, brighter, and larger until the girls saw it fly right in front of their faces, landing about 25 miles away from the ruins.
KABOOOMM!!! The object’s crash created a large explosion, scaring the pants off of Cream and Cheese.
“WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON OUT THERE?!” yelled a voice from inside the ruins.
The booming voice frightened Cream and Cheese, and they scampered behind a giant boulder to hide. They could hear footsteps. Cream covered Cheese’s mouth with her hands so she could not scream. The footsteps got closer and closer until they heard them stop. They could see a giant shadowy figure, but after hearing the footsteps once more, they saw the shadow start to shrink. Once again, it stopped and the shadow appeared to have completely vanished.
“STEEL PUNCH!!!”
The boulder that Cream and Cheese were hiding behind crumbled into tiny pieces.
As the dust settled, they heard “WHO’S THERE?! SHOW YOURSELF!”
“Knuckles?!” Cheese cried out.
“Cream! Cheese! What are you doing here? What was that loud noise?” Knuckles asked.
“We saw a shooting star crash over there. It was like kaboom!!” Cheese exclaimed.
“Cheese, that’s nonsense. I think it was a spaceship!” Cream responded. “We should go check it out.”
“No. You two go home now. I will go check it out.” Knuckles said.
“Fine, Mr.Meanyhead!” Cheese said, sticking out her tongue.
Knuckles watched the girls walk back to the cave before travelling in the direction the girls told him the spaceship landed.
Beep … Beep … Beep …
“Looks like I landed pretty close. I should hurry,” a mysterious figure said, talking to itself.
Elsewhere, a phone began to ring…
“Hello?” Tails answered.
“Tails, what’s going on in Euphysyria? Have you found the last Chaos Emerald?” Shadow asked.
“No…why?” Tails asked in a confused voice.
“I believe you may be having visitors coming after that Emerald. Why haven’t you found it yet?” Shadow raised his voice a little.
“Well, Sonic did not believe it would be necessary to go and find the Emerald right now.” Tails answered.
“Oh, c’mon Tails! You should know better than that! I need you to go find that Emerald and let me know when you get it!” Shadow replied before hanging up abruptly.
Tails sighed. He knew he’d better let Sonic know about the situation. He was about to go find him, when Cream and Cheese suddenly ran into the room.
“Tails! Tails! …Knuckles…Knuckles…” Cream and Cheese panted heavily.
“Hold on, guys. Catch your breath. One at a time…now, what’s going on?”
Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…
“Just a little further now.” the mysterious figure thought aloud.
Knuckles reached the spaceship’s crash location and saw a huge crater waiting for him. He crept closer to the spaceship, but did not see any form of life. He noticed a trail of black soot leading away from the spaceship and proceeded to follow it.
BeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeep…
“I have arrived.” The mysterious figure raised his hand and fire erupted from the ground. All of the flowers and shrubbery around him immediately dissipated. The only thing left was…
“I have it. I will bring it to you right away,” a dark voice said.
“No, I have other plans for you. Be a doll and collect the others for me. They should be easy to find on that planet. Anyway, you have plenty of helpers there.”
“Helpers? What...” The phone clicked. “I don’t get paid enough to deal with these people.”
“Hey, you! Who are you, and what are you doing here!” Knuckles demanded.
“I could ask you the same question,” responded the voice calmly.
“Identify yourself!” Knuckles commanded. “Is that a…Where did you get that from?! Answer me now!”
“I do not have to answer you. I don’t even know your name. How rude!” the voice responded.
“I’m Knuckles. Now give back that Chaos Emerald before I make you give it back!”
“Knuckles, eh? And what do you mean make me give it back? I would like to see you—”
Before the mysterious figure could finish his sentence, Knuckles was throwing punches at him. The figure dodged them all with ease. “Really, Knuckles? You don’t recognize me, do you?”
The figure pointed his index finger at the sky. The moment Knuckles looked up, he received a swift punch to the gut, making him fall to the ground. Heat began boiling up inside of him and he started sweating profusely. “What did you do to me?” Knuckles cringed.
“Don’t worry. It will wear off in a few minutes. By then, I will be long gone, though. By the way, my name is Dark Bandit. But you can call me DB,” DB said as he walked away.
Knuckles felt paralyzed and could not get up.
A few minutes later…
“Hmmm…looks like the other Emeralds are all together somewhere in that direction.” DB was talking to himself again. “Looks like this will be easier than I thought.” He heard people running toward him.
“It’s just on the other side of this cave by Knuckles’ ruins!” Cream and Cheese led Sonic and Tails to the spaceship. They ran right past DB without even stopping to notice. Tails looked back for a second, thinking he had seen something moving, but he brushed it off as his imagination.
“C’mon guys, hurry!” Cheese cried.
“Those must be the helpers HE was speaking of. Anyway, I should hurry and get these stupid gems.”
Once the four reached Knuckles, they found him still on the ground. “Knuckles! Are you ok?” Cream asked.
“Must… catch… thief…” Knuckles wheezed.
“Thief? What thief?” Tails asked. “Don’t move. I am going to try and figure out what’s wrong with you.”
“Does it look like he can move, Tails?” Sonic asked.
“No! You must… stop… the thief,” Knuckles persisted. “Spaceship. Check…the spaceship.”
“You mean the one we passed on the way here?” Sonic asked. “There was no one there when we went by just now.”
“D…B…” Knuckles said, struggling to not pass out.
“DB? Who’s that?” Sonic asked.
“I hope it wasn’t the DB that I am thinking of,” Tails said quietly. “He’s a professional asset from the planet Nekrad, Sonic.”
“Uh sure, whatever. I’m going to check on the spaceship again,” Sonic said.
As soon as Sonic turned around, they heard a loud engine revving up and saw a bright light. They all watched helplessly as the spaceship took off into the atmosphere.
“Crap. He’s…gone,” Knuckles gasped, before finally passing out.
End of Chapter 2
All of a sudden, they heard a slow dripping sound. “Shhhhh! What was that?” asked Cheese.
“It’s probably just a waterfall or something. Don’t worry about it,” responded Cream.
As they continued deeper and deeper into the cave, they started to get increasingly colder.
“Cream, it’s getting cold,” Cheese said, rubbing her hands together.
“Yeah, it probably is getting pretty late now. Maybe we should be heading back.” Cream replied. That was when she saw it — a very small, distant light.
“Wait, Cheese! Do you see that? Let’s go check it out really quickly. Then I promise we will go home,” she said, letting curiosity get the best of her. They continued on, and the light kept getting brighter and brighter until they were outside.
“Wowwwwww!!” they said in unison.
Meanwhile…
“I will be arriving in about 5 minutes. Are the funds deposited yet? …Excellent.” The line goes dead.
Outside the cave…
The girls had stepped into another beautiful part of Euphysyria they had never seen before. It was approaching 9:00 p.m., so it was very dark outside. They just managed to make out tall, old ruins, which looked beautiful at night, a passing shower having just left them dewy and sparkling in the moonlight.
“Look! A shooting star!” Cheese pointed out.
“Can this night get any more beautiful?” Cream wondered aloud.
The “shooting star” kept getting closer, brighter, and larger until the girls saw it fly right in front of their faces, landing about 25 miles away from the ruins.
KABOOOMM!!! The object’s crash created a large explosion, scaring the pants off of Cream and Cheese.
“WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON OUT THERE?!” yelled a voice from inside the ruins.
The booming voice frightened Cream and Cheese, and they scampered behind a giant boulder to hide. They could hear footsteps. Cream covered Cheese’s mouth with her hands so she could not scream. The footsteps got closer and closer until they heard them stop. They could see a giant shadowy figure, but after hearing the footsteps once more, they saw the shadow start to shrink. Once again, it stopped and the shadow appeared to have completely vanished.
“STEEL PUNCH!!!”
The boulder that Cream and Cheese were hiding behind crumbled into tiny pieces.
As the dust settled, they heard “WHO’S THERE?! SHOW YOURSELF!”
“Knuckles?!” Cheese cried out.
“Cream! Cheese! What are you doing here? What was that loud noise?” Knuckles asked.
“We saw a shooting star crash over there. It was like kaboom!!” Cheese exclaimed.
“Cheese, that’s nonsense. I think it was a spaceship!” Cream responded. “We should go check it out.”
“No. You two go home now. I will go check it out.” Knuckles said.
“Fine, Mr.Meanyhead!” Cheese said, sticking out her tongue.
Knuckles watched the girls walk back to the cave before travelling in the direction the girls told him the spaceship landed.
Beep … Beep … Beep …
“Looks like I landed pretty close. I should hurry,” a mysterious figure said, talking to itself.
Elsewhere, a phone began to ring…
“Hello?” Tails answered.
“Tails, what’s going on in Euphysyria? Have you found the last Chaos Emerald?” Shadow asked.
“No…why?” Tails asked in a confused voice.
“I believe you may be having visitors coming after that Emerald. Why haven’t you found it yet?” Shadow raised his voice a little.
“Well, Sonic did not believe it would be necessary to go and find the Emerald right now.” Tails answered.
“Oh, c’mon Tails! You should know better than that! I need you to go find that Emerald and let me know when you get it!” Shadow replied before hanging up abruptly.
Tails sighed. He knew he’d better let Sonic know about the situation. He was about to go find him, when Cream and Cheese suddenly ran into the room.
“Tails! Tails! …Knuckles…Knuckles…” Cream and Cheese panted heavily.
“Hold on, guys. Catch your breath. One at a time…now, what’s going on?”
Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…
“Just a little further now.” the mysterious figure thought aloud.
Knuckles reached the spaceship’s crash location and saw a huge crater waiting for him. He crept closer to the spaceship, but did not see any form of life. He noticed a trail of black soot leading away from the spaceship and proceeded to follow it.
BeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeep…
“I have arrived.” The mysterious figure raised his hand and fire erupted from the ground. All of the flowers and shrubbery around him immediately dissipated. The only thing left was…
“I have it. I will bring it to you right away,” a dark voice said.
“No, I have other plans for you. Be a doll and collect the others for me. They should be easy to find on that planet. Anyway, you have plenty of helpers there.”
“Helpers? What...” The phone clicked. “I don’t get paid enough to deal with these people.”
“Hey, you! Who are you, and what are you doing here!” Knuckles demanded.
“I could ask you the same question,” responded the voice calmly.
“Identify yourself!” Knuckles commanded. “Is that a…Where did you get that from?! Answer me now!”
“I do not have to answer you. I don’t even know your name. How rude!” the voice responded.
“I’m Knuckles. Now give back that Chaos Emerald before I make you give it back!”
“Knuckles, eh? And what do you mean make me give it back? I would like to see you—”
Before the mysterious figure could finish his sentence, Knuckles was throwing punches at him. The figure dodged them all with ease. “Really, Knuckles? You don’t recognize me, do you?”
The figure pointed his index finger at the sky. The moment Knuckles looked up, he received a swift punch to the gut, making him fall to the ground. Heat began boiling up inside of him and he started sweating profusely. “What did you do to me?” Knuckles cringed.
“Don’t worry. It will wear off in a few minutes. By then, I will be long gone, though. By the way, my name is Dark Bandit. But you can call me DB,” DB said as he walked away.
Knuckles felt paralyzed and could not get up.
A few minutes later…
“Hmmm…looks like the other Emeralds are all together somewhere in that direction.” DB was talking to himself again. “Looks like this will be easier than I thought.” He heard people running toward him.
“It’s just on the other side of this cave by Knuckles’ ruins!” Cream and Cheese led Sonic and Tails to the spaceship. They ran right past DB without even stopping to notice. Tails looked back for a second, thinking he had seen something moving, but he brushed it off as his imagination.
“C’mon guys, hurry!” Cheese cried.
“Those must be the helpers HE was speaking of. Anyway, I should hurry and get these stupid gems.”
Once the four reached Knuckles, they found him still on the ground. “Knuckles! Are you ok?” Cream asked.
“Must… catch… thief…” Knuckles wheezed.
“Thief? What thief?” Tails asked. “Don’t move. I am going to try and figure out what’s wrong with you.”
“Does it look like he can move, Tails?” Sonic asked.
“No! You must… stop… the thief,” Knuckles persisted. “Spaceship. Check…the spaceship.”
“You mean the one we passed on the way here?” Sonic asked. “There was no one there when we went by just now.”
“D…B…” Knuckles said, struggling to not pass out.
“DB? Who’s that?” Sonic asked.
“I hope it wasn’t the DB that I am thinking of,” Tails said quietly. “He’s a professional asset from the planet Nekrad, Sonic.”
“Uh sure, whatever. I’m going to check on the spaceship again,” Sonic said.
As soon as Sonic turned around, they heard a loud engine revving up and saw a bright light. They all watched helplessly as the spaceship took off into the atmosphere.
“Crap. He’s…gone,” Knuckles gasped, before finally passing out.
End of Chapter 2