Psionic the Hedgehog - Part I

By Shariq Ansari aka DarkeSword

Comments? Email me at darkesword@exphyl.com

* * * * *

Psionic the Hedgehog sat in lotus position at the very center of the 
pond, floating only slightly above the surface.  His dark blue spines 
were bristled, and yet every muscle in his body was relaxed.  His head 
was tilted back, his violet eyes staring up into the warm sunbeam that 
shone through the hole in the old temple's ceiling.  Vines were 
everywhere in the Pond Room; they hung from the ceiling and they 
crawled up and down the grey stone pillars on which the entire history 
of the South Island was written.

Psionic moved his gaze away from the light of the sunbeam and to each 
of these pillars, unconciously spinning in the air as he did so.

"I am one of the last," he said aloud.  His voice resonated in the Pond 
Room.  His voice was not deep, but there was a calmness that gave his 
voice volume.

He floated upward slightly and straightened his legs so that he was in 
a standing position.  He looked down at the surface of the blue water.  
It was so clear that he could see straight to the bottom of the pond.  
He could see the beautiful, ancient mosaic, depicting the seven 
legendary chaos emeralds and the creation of the world.

Psionic extended his gloved hands downward, his palms facing the 
surface of the clear pond.

"And thus, I must become on of the strongest."

Psionic lifted his head to face the sun and began to float upwards, 
towards the hole in the ceiling.  But Psionic was not the only one 
rising.  It seemed as though the water at the center of the pond was 
bending upwards, as if Psionic was pulling it up with him.  No, he was 
not pulling it; he was only being a guide.  The water was choosing to 
follow Psionic upwards.  The water was choosing to form this strange 
liquid spire which was rising out of the temple.

Standing on the roof, Psionic looked at the fruit of his labor.  A 
clear blue, aquatic spire was poking through the hole of the ancient 
temple.  Psionic smiled and leaped off the roof to the ground below, 
allowing himself to fall as slowly as a feather would.  He entered the 
temple again and went to the Pond Room.  There he saw a sight of great 
beauty.

The water spire had caught the sunbeam and was now refracting the light 
all around the room.  The sunbeam split into many and danced over the 
vines and stone pillars, illuminating everything.

Psionic smiled.

* * * * *

Claire "Tales" Voyant was sitting in her workshop, located on Teller's 
Hill, the highest hill on South Island.  Actually, the small cabin was 
built into the east side of Teller's Hill, for easier access to the 
minerals inside.  Inside the workshop there were all sorts of different 
tools, machines, and equipment.

Tales sat at the main bench working dillegently on recalibrating her 
chaos emerald detector.  She got the nickname Tales when she was 
little, because she was always telling wild stories about ancient 
civilizations and long-dead people.  She let the name stick because she 
didn't like her real name.  It was such a stupid pun, and she never 
forgave her parents for it.

Although she was by no means a rebellious girl.  She loved her parents 
and decided she would be rebellious when she was a teenager.  She was 
only an 11 year old vixen anyway.

Her fur was a brownish-gold color, except on her belly, where it was 
white.  She was wearing thin, wire-frame glasses over her blue eyes, 
and her fur kept falling in front of her face as she muttered techno-
babble to herself.

"Hmm...reverse the polarity...no...maybe the stabilizer...no...that's 
not it..."

"Whatchya doin'?"

Tales screamed and dropped her screwdriver.  She spun around and saw a 
handsome young hedgehog, with long blue quills and deep violet eyes.  
He was wearing a white cloak and red sneakers.

"Psionic!  Don't you ever knock?!" she yelled.

Psionic stood and thought about it for a while.  "Well, I thought maybe 
I should, but then I realized that you might be doing something 
important, and I didn't want to disturb you, so I just phased through 
the door."

Can't argue with that logic, she thought.  "Oh.  Well next time, just 
knock, then phase, so I know your here."

"Got it," he said.  "So, what're you working on now?"

"I'm trying to recalibrate the CED, but I can't figure out if the 
polarity on the field-generator is incorrect or if the stabilizer is 
out of whack."  She frowned.  "Maybe the chaos drive is empty..."

Psionic reached over and plucked the CED off the work bench, much to 
Tales' annoyance.

"Hey! I--"

"Shh!"  Psionic held the CED in his hand.  His eyes became luminescent 
for just a second.  "You've just got your wires crossed."

Tales was extremely annoyed.  "Where?" she asked.

He pointed.  "Here."

"There?"

"Yeah, there."

She glared at him and checked.  Sure enough, the wires were crossed.  
She fixed it and turned the CED on.  There was a confirmation beep that 
signified that everything was working.  She sighed and turned around.  
There was a smile on her face.  "Thanks Psionic.  I've been working on 
that for hours."

"No problem."  Psionic paused for a minute.  Then, his face lit up in 
realization.  "Oh, I remember why I came!  I convinced the water in the 
pond room to form the spire!"

Tales smiled.  "Oh, Psionic, that's great!  Does that mean you passed 
the test?"

Psionic beamed.  "Yup.  I've fully tapped into the Psychic-Chaos Field.  
Now I can communicate with the will of almost anything!  It'll be a lot 
easier to get the chaos emeralds now."

The CED went made a beeping sound.  Tales look at Psionic and smiled.  
"Speaking of chaos emeralds..."  She picked up the little device and 
looked at the display.  "Hmm...its the blue emerald.  The CED says its 
about 100 miles north...and 2 miles up?!"  Tales ran to over to the map 
hanging on the wall.  "Psionic, there's not even an island anywhere 
near 100 miles north of South Island.  How could there be a chaos 
emerald floating 2 miles above the ocean?!"

But Psionic wasn't listening.  His eyes were closed and his quills were 
bristled.  "Hmm...an island for the angels..."

Tales looked puzzled.  "What did you say?"

Psionic opened his eyes.  "Nothing.  I think we should check this out.  
Let's go visit Espio down at the hangar and rent a plane."

"N-Now?!"  Tales was flustered.  "Psionic!  I have to tell my parents.  
I have to pack.  I have to find someone to watch my experiments!  100 
miles is not exactly a trip to the village!"

"Okay okay.  I'll go reserve a plane for tomorrow."  Psionic began to leave.

Tales knotted her brow.  "Espio's is closed today, Psionic.  He's playing in the 
South Island Foozball Tournament."

Psionic blinked.  "That's today?  Well, I'll meet you there tomorrow then.  You 
know what to bring.  See ya tomorrow, Tales!"

"Bye, Psionic!"

Psionic waved and phased out of the room.

Tales walked back over to the map.  "Two miles above the ocean?"