Psionic the Hedgehog - Part V By Shariq Ansari aka DarkeSword Comments? Email me at darkesword@exphyl.com * * * * * They were in a stone temple. Knives had noticed a golden light coming from the ancient builing in the distance, so he and Tales decided to check it out. Vines crawled along the walls and pillars like snakes. They made their way through the temple, trying to find the source of light. They found Psionic floating in the air, above a circular pool of water, with dozens of glowing, golden rings drifting around his unconcious body. It was a surreal sight; the strange golden light of the rings on Psionic's blue quills and white cloak. His head was hanging back, and Tales thought that he looked as though he was hanging, as if someone had tied a string to his heart and pulled up. It was then that Tales noticed that this room looked exactly like the Pond Room of the temple back at South Island. She and Knives ran over to his slowly spinning body. I've never seen him do this while unconcious, thought Tales. What are those things, anyway? Knives walked over to Psionic briskly. Tales' ears perked up in alarm. "Uh, Knives, are you sure you want to do that?" He looked back at her and grinned. "Relax. There's nothing to worry about. The rings won't hurt him." His red dreadlocks were reflecting the golden light as he jumped out over the pond. Much to Tales' surprise, he began to float, as if gravity disappeared. He swam through the floating rings, grabbed Psionic's body, and pulled him back, away from the pool. Gravity returned, and Knives touched down on the ground gently, holding Psionic in his arms. The fierce echidna placed Psionic on the ground. "He doesn't look like he's hurt." Tales ran over and shook the unconcious hedgehog. "Wake up, Psionic!" The blue hedgehog stirred, opened his eyes, and sat up. "Tales! I found you! Hey! Where did you get those glasses?" Tales pushed the oversized glasses Knives had given her up her snout with her index finger and glared at Psionic through the huge lenses. "You dummy! You didn't find me! I found you!" That said, she gave him a big hug. "And I got these glasses from Knives." Psionic looked at the little vixen. "Knives? Who's Knives?" Knives cleared his throat. "Uh...that would be...uh...me." Psionic's eyes widened as he glanced up at the fierce looking echidna. "Whoa!" Psionic quickly phased behind Tales into a defensive position. Tales gave him a look. "Relax, Psionic. Knives wouldn't hurt anybody. In fact, he's the one who found me by the plane and took me back to his treehut." Psionic relaxed from his position. "So you're the one I sensed with Tales. Thanks for taking care of her." He held out his hand. Knives took it, shook it, and smiled. "Well, I have to confess that I didn't do much. She was unconcious, and I didn't know what to do, except take her back to my treehut. You see, I don't get many visitors on the island." Tales pushed the oversized glasses up her snout with her index finger. "That's probably because nobody knows that this island exists." Knives pondered for a moment. "This is also true." Tales turned back to Psionic. "So Psionic, what happened? Do you have any idea why you were floating above that pond in the middle of all those rings?" Psionic took a deep breath. "Well...uh...they sorta asked me to." Tales' ears perked up in surprise. "What?!" Psionic shrugged. "I know it sounds weird, but I was walking through the forest and saw a gold light coming from this temple. When I came in, I started hearing voices." Knives raised his brow skeptically. "Voices?" Psionic pointed to the rings. "Yeah, their voices. They were asking me to join them and talk to Angel. So I floated over the pond and let them link me to her." Tales noticed that Knives jumped when he heard that name. "Wait a minute! You actually talked to Angel?!" Psionic grinned sheepishly and ran his hand through his quills. "Uh...yeah, I guess I did!" Tales looked at the both of them. "Hold on! Who is Angel?!" Knives answered her, clearly excited. "Angel is the blue chaos emerald. She rests in the middle of the dormant volcano at the center of the island and teleports water from the sea into the volcano. That's where the water on this island comes from. She's been here since before my race disappeared. I've always known that she has a mind of her own--that's what Father always said, but I've never heard any stories where she actually TALKED to someone. I wonder if she knows what happened to my ancestors." Psionic shrugged. "She didn't mention anything, but she did say that Tales was with her Guardian. I'm pretty sure that's you." Tales saw that Knives was trembling with excitement. "Knives, are you okay?" It didn't look like Knives had heard her. He just started talking really fast. "She called me that?! Her Guardian?! That's incredible! I mean, sure, I'm the only echidna left on the island, but still, that's such an honor! Father, Mother, you'd be so proud of me!" Tales and Psionic both gave Knives puzzled looks. "Knives? What are you talking about?" Tales asked. Knives looked at them, realizing they were still there. He gave an embarrassed grin and scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry. It's just...I'm so excited! Being chosen as Angel's Guardian is such an honor! It's the most important job an echidna can ever have!" Tales' ears perked up and she smiled. "That's great!" Psionic also smiled and gave Knives a thumbs up. "Way to go!" Tales was genuinely happy for her new friend, but then a startling realization hit her. "Psionic, how much of the Tornado II is left?" Psionic's face turned grave. "Let's just say that Espio's gonna be very ticked off." * * * * * Psionic, Tales, and Knives went back to the echidna's treehut for the night. Along the way, Psionic explained what Angel had told him about the Sentries to Tales and returned her broken glasses. Knives didn't really care what they were talking about; he was too excited about being named the blue emerald's Guardian. The next morning, after Psionic finished his meditation exercises, and the three had eaten breakfast, Psionic and Tales decided to go back to the crash site of the Tornado II to see if they could possibly save themselves from the wrath of Espio. Knives went with them so that they wouldn't get lost. After about 20 minutes, they finally found the clearing where Psionic had fallen and the tree on which the Tornado II was perched. Tales pushed her own taped-up glasses up her snout with her index finger. She had managed to fashion some new lenses in Knives' father's workshop. "How are we going to get it down?" She was leaning her head back as far as she could. Knives was standing next to her, also looking up. "I can't think of anything." Psionic smiled cockily. He knew exactly what to do. "Leave this to me." He walked right up to the giant tree and put his hand on the trunk. He tilted his head back slightly and started to stare past the tree, concentrating on the psychic-chaos field. He felt the strange warmth overtake his eyes as they began to glow in their violet radiance. The sounds of the forest died away, and he began to hear the stirring musical hum of the psychic-chaos field. Psionic moved his mind down his arm, into his hand, and through his fingers into the tree trunk. Something in the field opened, and Psionic knew that he had connected to the tree. The way was now open to have a psychic conversation. "Excuse me?" he asked. The tree "sounded" very much like the grumpy old fruit vendor in town back on South Island. "What? What is it? What do you want, you little whippersnapper?" Psionic tried to be polite as possible. "Yes...uh...well, sorry for disturbing you sir, but I was just wondering if you could put down that plane you're holding." The tree was clearly peeved. "You wake me up so that I can put down a plane that you and your friend crashed into me? You got a lot of nerve, sonny! Alright, I'll help you. But don't let this happen again! You got that?" Psionic smiled inwardly. "Yes sir. Thank you, sir." Psionic broke the link and backed away from the tree. As he did so, the tree seemed to bend over at the trunk. At this point, the top of the tree was at the ground. The tree moved its branches and set the wreckage of the Tornado II down on the ground. Psionic look back at his companions. Tales had her arms crossed, a smile on her face. Knives, on the other hand, was standing there, dumbfounded. "H-how did you g-get the tree to d-do that?" Psionic beamed. "I asked him."