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littleoddwriter · 5 months ago

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Special Little Lamb | Cooper Abbott x GenderNeutral!Reader | Dark Fic

Hey there! This fic is inspired by this textpost and @hibiskooks' tags, which led to further thoughts on my part and then the urge to turn them into a whole short story (hence why I linked my own reblog on my horror sideblog because it shows both our tags and the thought process). Understandably, it's a dark fic, albeit romantic this time, unlike my previous Cooper fic, hjdkhsjk! I hope you'll enjoy it! summary; You were once a captive of the Butcher, but as it so happened, you formed a deep connection with him and are now helping him with his victims. One of them tries to get through to you to help them out of the basement, but hadn't realised your status as the Butcher's favourite. You have a tattoo to prove it, though, and so does he. notes/warnings; Gender Neutral!Reader; Dark Fic; Reader used to be a Victim (still is, if you will); Reader most definitely has Stockholm Syndrome and is Morally Grey/Dark; Implied/Mentioned Murders; Active Captivity of a Female Victim; Abuser/Victim Relationship (if we're being realistic); Ableist Language (once); Partner Tattoos; Hints at Sexual Acitivity, but nothing Explicit whatsoever; Kissing.

With practised ease, you opened the several locks, and then the door they were a part of, down to the basement in the usually vacant house in a small neighbourhood on the outskirts of Philadelphia. The door opened with a loud squeak. You made a mental note to remind Cooper to oil the hinges, again.

As if on cue, you could hear chains being dragged across the concrete floor and frantic rattling of metal against metal.

Carefully, you went downstairs to the basement, where a woman in her thirties was held captive. She sat on the ground in the middle of the room, and the chains of her cuffs were attached to the far wall.

“I’m a little late today, I know. Sorry,” you told her gently, shooting her an apologetic smile.

For a long moment, she just looked at you, while you were walking over to her and then crouching across from her. And just like you did the previous times you visited her, you retrieved a protein bar and a small bottle of water from a bag, handing each item to her.

The woman, Anna, ripped them out of your hands, scooting further away from you when she did, like a small, wild and scared animal. It was almost amusing to you. There was no reason for her to be scared of you, after all.

In silence, you watched her devour the protein bar and down the water in one go. You really had been late that day.

Once she was done, you stood back up, picked up the trash and put it back into your bag. Cooper didn’t like to leave it there in the basement, and so you didn’t either.

You were about to start your way upstairs again when the woman called out to you, “Wait!”

Turning around to face her, you made a small noise, indicating that you were listening.

“You don’t have to do any of this… please… just let me go. You could just unlock the cuffs and leave the door open. He doesn’t have to know! Please!” she pleaded with you, tears in her eyes and desperation clear in her voice, “I won’t tell anyone, okay? I promise. I won’t tell anyone that you’re involved.”

This was the fifth time she begged you to let her go. She was more persistent than most of the others ever had been. Or maybe she’d just been there long enough to come up to five separate occasions of pleading for her life to be spared.

Sighing softly, you shook your head, “No. I can’t do that, I’m sorry.” You crouched down across from Anna once more, making eye contact with her. Then, you pointed to the far edge of the ceiling above and behind you, looking back at her. “He has a camera here. He’d know if I helped you. And even if he wouldn’t… I’m not ruining this for him.”

Sometimes, Cooper liked to take his time with them. This having been one of them. Although, you knew that a lot of it had to do with his work. He had to do extra shifts and stay on call these past two weeks because they were short staffed at the firehouse, due to injuries that affected half of the regular team and rendered them unable to work for a while.

It was only a matter of time until Cooper had the chance to commit several hours to this woman in front of you. But for the time being, you had to keep paying her visits to bring her snacks and drinks, and let her use the toilet in the back of the basement, just so she’d stay alive long enough.

To keep them for more than a week was risky, though.

“Why are you doing this?” Anna asked you after a beat, changing tactics apparently, because this question was new. “I recognise you. I saw you on the news a few years ago. You went missing, too.”

Frowning, you let out a deep exhale, “I know what you’re trying to do. It’s not gonna work, so stop it.”

“What did he do to you? Is he forcing you?” she pressed anyway, unsurprisingly ignoring what you said.

Groaning softly in annoyance, you got up, stretching your back. You looked down at her, seeing nothing but a desperate woman, who was grasping at straws to ensure safety. Unfortunately for Anna, her pleas would only be ignored, since you had no interest in helping her.

“He’s not forcing me. I chose to stay and help,” you told her, then.

For you, this was the end of this conversation, but Anna clearly wasn’t ready to let it stay that way, reaching out to you and gripping your wrists tightly, her chains clanking loudly. At the suddenness of all this, you flinched, trying to shake her off of you.

“Let go of me!” you hissed at her.

“No! Listen to me,” she urged you, her grasp unexpectedly strong, “I don’t believe you. He must have convinced you that this is what you wanted, told you things, threatened you. Why would you ever willingly stay with a monster like him?”

“He’s not a monster!” you interrupted her, raising your voice at her.

Anna wasn’t deterred by it, though, “He kills people! Keeps them in this crappy basement until he’s done with them. He’s a monster. People don’t do that. And you know that he’ll get to you at some point, too.

“Do you really think that he’ll spare you forever? You might be useful to him now, but there’ll be a point where you make a mistake or he just gets bored of you. And I mean, why wouldn’t he? You’re nothing to him! He’ll find somebody else, somebody less damaged than you. And when he does, he’ll discard you, like you never meant anything. Because you don’t. Not to him.

“But if you help me out of here, we can go together. And we’ll get help, okay? He won’t hurt you anymore. You’ll be free, we both will,” she finished her little speech, breathing heavily, frantically, once she was done, and looking up at you with wild eyes, just hoping to get through to you.

There was no denying that she’d hit a nerve in you, but not in the way she had hoped.

Your brow twitched as you tried to keep your immediate rage at bay.

Instead, you composed yourself with a couple of deep breaths, feeling Anna let go of your arms when she seemed to think that she was starting to achieve her goal with you.

With a flourish, you pulled the long sleeve of your jacket up, exposing your inner left wrist to Anna’s questioning eyes, which widened almost instantly when she saw the tattoo on your skin. It was a black thin lined tattoo of a meat cleaver in front of a background that appeared almost ethereal, despite how minimalistic it was. But she quickly connected the dots. Cooper had a tattoo just like it, only that instead of a meat cleaver, it was a lamb at the centre.

“I’m his favourite, you know? We got these tattoos about a year ago. He told me that he wanted something to represent me on his skin, as well, when I begged him to let me get a tattoo that would remind me of him. I didn’t ask him to get one, or make any sort of suggestion to wanting that. But he did it anyway. Because he wanted that reminder of me,” you explained the tattoos to Anna, who just looked at you in disbelief.

With a pleased smile on your lips, you slid the sleeve back down to cover your arm again.

“‘The Butcher’s little Lamb’ is what he told me when we got home after the tattoo appointment,” you told her softly with a wistful smile as you reminisced, “He let me go. But I stayed. I begged him to let me be useful to him. And he did, because I’m special to him.”

“You’re crazy,” Anna spat out in disgust at what she was hearing.

“And you’re nothing. To him, or me. Or anyone,” you retorted easily, “You see, in a few weeks, you’ll be nothing but a faint memory. And in a few months, you’ll be nothing but another number. And for me, you’ll be nothing but that beautiful bracelet you wore when he abducted you.”

This time, Anna had nothing more to say, it seemed, as she slumped back in defeat. You took the chance to finally pick your bag up again and go back upstairs, locking the door behind you to the sound of faint cries.

When you arrived at yours and Cooper’s house, you already saw his car in the driveway, making you feel excited to see him again. It was tough for you to be apart from him while he was working.

Inside, you came to a sudden halt, though, seeing Cooper lean against the doorway to the foyer of your house, idly playing with his phone in his hands. You didn’t expect him to wait there for you, but instantly relaxed when you saw that he was smiling at you. It was one of his gentle smiles that always melted your heart, just like it did now.

“Hey, little Lamb,” he greeted you softly.

Feeling your heart flutter, your face brightened as you beamed at Cooper, walking over to him, as he pocketed his phone and loosely wrapped his arms around your waist, looking at you with a pleased expression.

“I heard what you were telling poor Anna there,” he whispered, “I thought I’d check on you two when I got home earlier, seeing as you weren’t here when you should have been.”

Averting your gaze in shame, you apologised, “I know, I’m sorry. I was cleaning the house and lost track of time, so I left later than usual. It won’t happen again.”

Cooper clicked his tongue quietly, using his left hand to gently take hold of your jaw and move your head to make you look back up at him. “Hey, it’s all right. I was just worried that something might’ve happened,” he told you soothingly.

There was nothing in the world that could compare to the feeling you got when Cooper showed that you were important to him.

“You did a good job, you know?” Cooper continued, then, still speaking in a soft, gravelly tone, “She was out of line with all those cruel things she said to you. And trust me, I’ll make her pay for it very soon. I promise. I’m proud of you for handling it the way you did.”

Those words had such an instantaneous effect on you, causing you to feel hot all over, warm and fuzzy inside your chest as your heart seemed to swell with pride.

“Thank you,” you giggled happily, unable to contain your giddiness.

Praise such as this wasn’t something you were used to, and Cooper wouldn’t have said it if he hadn’t meant every word. You felt like you were on top of the world.

Cooper’s fingers were still gently wrapped around your jaw, now moving upward, his fingertips grazed your lips and cheeks before his palm settled and cupped your face. His dark eyes met yours. His gaze was soft, yet piercing nonetheless, and it took your breath away, just like it always did. There was no escape from his all-consuming presence. It was dominating your every sense.

Leaning his head further down, Cooper’s lips hovered above yours. “I think you’ve earned yourself a reward,” he whispered, brushing his lips against yours as he spoke.

You couldn’t do anything but make an excited sound in the back of your throat, while your hands were tightly gripping his shirt, where you held onto him on his chest, right below his shoulders.

Amused, Cooper breathed out a small chuckle before pressing his mouth against yours in a lovingly heated kiss that conveyed just what kind of reward he had in mind for you. You instantly melted into the kiss, reciprocating it as best as you could while your entire body and mind felt like they were on fire. Even after a couple of years of this, it never ceased to amaze and overwhelm you.

And when you later lay in bed, bodies intertwined and in their most natural states, your finger was lazily and gently tracing the lines of the tattoo on Cooper’s right wrist. The tattoo that was a reminder, a representation of you, for him. You couldn’t suppress the smile when the happiness you associated with that rushed over you.

“My special little Lamb,” Cooper whispered, watching your dreamy face as you kept tracing along the tattoo, and pressed another kiss to your temple and then your cheek and your lips again. This time, it was a gentle show of affection, which you happily accepted, soaking up every moment of it.

Soon, Anna would realise just how wrong she had been about you and Cooper.

#i hope you like it hibiskooks! this was basically written for you dhskfhsjkf <3 #proofread and edited this in a half-asleep state with a headache just now so please excuse uh literally anything #but if i didn't upload it now i'd second-guess myself into deleting the whole thing so yee i'll just check it over again tomorrow it's fine #gender neutral reader #cooper abbott #cooper abbott x reader #cooper adams x reader #cooper adams #slasher x reader #dark fic #fanfic #jesse.writes #i surprised myself with the focus on the scene between reader and the OC lol that wasn't meant to happen #but i also couldn't cut it down tbh because it was exactly how the story flowed for me #sorry the part with Cooper is so short in comparison tho!

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solalunar-eclipse · 7 months ago

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Sonic Boom - S3E19

Chapter title: Unknown From M.E. (Part One)

Summary: Knuckles has been having some odd dreams lately…what could be causing them? The team bands together to explore a new area and find out.

AO3 Link

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[The camera opens up in a first-person perspective. We see two red arms, ending in white mittens with double knuckle-spikes on each hand.]

The echidna pushed aside a tangle of vines, walking through a dense jungle. The scenery looked nothing like the forests of Seaside Island, instead appearing distinctly more tropical in nature.

It seemed quite familiar to the person walking through it, at least, since they climbed over fallen trees and pushed through the undergrowth with ease. Clearly, they were quite confident in their own abilities.

Suddenly, however, a faint chanting could be heard off in the distance.

The servers are the Eight Chaos…

The echidna looked up sharply in the direction of the voice, startled. After a moment’s pause, they began to walk closer to where they’d heard the chant.

“Hello?” they called, their voice pitched high with youth.

Chaos is power, enriched by the heart…

The young person began to run through the forest, chasing the sounds to the foot of a mountain. They looked up at the peak and began to climb, digging their spikes into the solid rock. However, the next time the voices came, they sounded further away.

The controller serves to unify the chaos…

Abruptly, the echidna dropped from their perch, beginning to dig into the ground instead. As they burrowed deeper and deeper, they heard the chant one last time, guiding them into the very center of the mountain.

This is what we have been sworn to guard.

And with that, the echidna emerged into a room—a room that gleamed green from every surface, sparkling and shimmering like it was made of one massive crystal.

They reached out to touch the floor beneath their feet…

…and Knuckles fell out of his hammock in his home, gasping for breath.

[The intro sequence goes off perfectly well! The individual character introductions and team shot all stay the same.]

[This time, the villain intro shows a red glow that illuminates a massive cave painting, one that’s difficult to make out. However, it appears to depict many different creatures holding oddly shaped machinery. Some of them are being struck by a mysterious unidentifiable force, dropping their possessions in the process…]

[The intro then continues on, before ending with the title of this week’s episode.]

Another day, another attack from Dr. Eggman, located in the town square. As always, Sonic and all his friends were there to fight back, frustrating the ever-persistent (or perhaps simply just in-denial) doctor.

“Come on, Sonic! Can’t you just give me one win?” he complained, hovering warily nearby in his Eggmobile.

“I already gave you a win, remember? It was on New Year’s Eve!” Sonic shot back, spindashing several badniks as he spoke.

“That one doesn’t count!”

“Yeah it does!”

“No it doesn’t!”

“Yeah it d—!”

Before Sonic could continue his argument with his nemesis, Knuckles stumbled into his side, having overshot his left hook.

“Wh-whoa!” the hero yelped, struggling to stabilize his taller friend. “Knux, you good?”

“Oh yeah, I’m fine!” Knuckles gave him a thumbs-up. “Just didn’t sleep a lot last night, but it’s no problem!”

Sonic frowned, but let it go for the time being, opting to smash more badniks instead of pressing the echidna on the matter. Soon enough, the tide of the battle was turned, and Dr. Eggman was forced to retreat, grumbling all the way back to his evil lair.

“Knuckles?” Amy called, tugging on her hammer from where it had gotten stuck in a bush. “What happened back there? You don’t normally kick my hammer instead of the robots…”

“Knux here says he didn’t sleep last night.” Sonic showed not a single sign of remorse as he revealed this information to known health enthusiast Amy Rose.

“Sonic!” the echidna cried, shooting him a distinctly betrayed look.

Amy immediately dragged her hammer out of the bush and de-summoned it as she rushed over to get a better look at Knuckles. “Oh no, you’ve even got dark circles under your eyes!” she fretted. “Do you want that sleep hygiene checklist I mentioned a while ago?”

He grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “I dunno, I mean, I don’t drink coffee before bed or anything like that! I just had some weird dreams lately, that’s all.”

“They’re not nightmares, are they?” Shadow asked softly, giving Knuckles a cautious look.

“Nope! Just weird! It kinda feels like someone’s trying to tell me something…” he mused.

Sticks clambered up on top of Knuckles’s shoulders, squinting at him warily. “Do you need me to make you a tinfoil hat? I can make ‘em good so no aliens talk to you in your sleep!”

“Before we decide if it’s aliens or not, I think we should ask Knuckles what these strange dreams are about.” Tails said decisively. “It may be nothing, or it could be important, but we won’t know unless we have all the information.”

“Would you like to talk about it here, or would you prefer to go back to one of our houses first?” Amy asked kindly, taking one of Knuckles’s hands in her own and giving him a reassuring smile.

Knuckles beamed back gratefully. “The second one sounds great.”

Once they’d all settled down in Tails’s living room (“Just in case it does turn out to be something that requires further investigation!”) and Amy had helped make everyone drinks (“We may be close, but that just means I get to be a good host even in your homes!”, she’d quipped), she sat down on the sofa next to Knuckles, leaving a small amount of space in between them and looking up at him hopefully.

“So…in the dream, I’m somewhere else. I can’t see it super clearly, but it’s someplace that isn’t Seaside Island.” Knuckles began. “I’m smaller, I think, and I hear some people talking, so I go looking for them. It sounds like the noise is coming from inside a mountain, and I dig inside, but once I get there, all I find is this cave made of green crystals. Then I wake up! I just wish I knew who was talking.” He frowned, genuinely somewhat concerned by the fact that he couldn’t identify this mysterious person.

Tails leapt to his feet excitedly. “So it really could be someone who’s trying to communicate with you! Is it the same dream every time?”

“Yeah, it is!” The echidna couldn’t help but be infected by his friend’s enthusiasm, brightening up as the engineer began to scan him.

“Huh…” Tails hummed, frowning down at his screen. “I’m not seeing much out of the ordinary, but my screen is a little on the fritz.” He tapped the side of his device, concerned.

Shadow teleported over beside him, making the fox squeak as his fur puffed up briefly. “Sorry.” he muttered, already looking over the device. “Can you scan the ambient wavelengths around Knuckles? That might be a better way to tell if someone else is sending him messages.”

“I guess…my software might have some trouble with something that subtle, but if I boost the strength, it could work.” Tails mused, flying over to his friend and adjusting several settings in an effort to improve the data.

The android moved a little closer to Knuckles as well, only to freeze, his eyes wide. “Tails? Actually, I have a feeling that technology, incredible as it may be, is not what is required here.”

“Why not?” Tails shot him a distinctly skeptical look.

“Because,” Shadow began, “he is currently surrounded by an incredible amount of raw Chaos energy.”

Suddenly, everyone began shouting at once, making Shadow wince at the shocking increase in sound. Thankfully, they all noticed the effect almost immediately, backing off and watching him and Knuckles expectantly, but with a distinct aura of concern.

“It isn’t necessarily dangerous.” the android explained. “Raw Chaos energy simply refers to energy that originates directly from one of the eight Chaos Crystals, without having been absorbed or filtered through a Chaos user’s body.”

The tension in the room dropped significantly.

“But Knux doesn’t have a Chaos Crystal, does he?” Sonic asked, still looking confused. “All he has is that Fregosi Sapphire thing.”

“Yeah! I think I’d know what jewels I do and don’t have!” Knuckles added.

Shadow inclined his head slightly. “This is true. However, distance is not always an issue when it comes to Chaos. From what I have heard, these crystals existed long before the time of even the Ancients, with some legends claiming that they are fragments of whatever force first brought Chaos energy into the world. Legends aside, there was enough scientific research done on them in my time to suggest that the Chaos Crystals do have a limited form of sentience. Essentially, they have their own wishes and desires, and they are capable of limited communication, if they find someone they deem worthy of their attention.”

“Um, that’s definitely not creepy or anything,” Amy said. “Seeing as we’ve spent time around them once or twice already.”

Shadow exhaled in a way that almost sounded like laughter. “Don’t worry. The crystals have always been supportive of people who intend to help others. They want the world and those within it to remain thriving as much as you all do.”

“So how do I find out which one’s trying to talk to me?” Knuckles asked.

“If you will allow me, I can do my best to help.” The android folded his arms. “I can assist you in tuning your personal energy to the same frequency as whichever Chaos Crystal is causing this, so that we can work together to find its source.”

“Why wouldn’t I let you?” Knuckles looked over at him, bewildered. “Go ahead!”

Shadow blinked, momentarily silent with astonishment. “You do realize that you are, essentially, allowing me access to your life force, yes?”

Knuckles shrugged. “I mean, I already trust you not to beat me up every day. I do that with all my friends! I don’t think this is any different.”

A small smile made its way, unbidden, onto Shadow’s face. “Very well then. Let’s give this a try.” He moved to stand directly behind where Knuckles sat on the couch, placing his hands on the echidna’s broad shoulders. “Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be!”

“Very well then, close your eyes.”

As the other four looked on, golden energy began to glow and swirl around Shadow’s hands. It twisted and spun in the air, before slowly making its way down Knuckles’s arms to his hands. At the same time, its color gently faded from gold to green.

Abruptly, the energy shot towards the echidna’s heart, glowing so brightly it was almost difficult to look at—

—and then it vanished, and both of their eyes snapped open as the two suddenly gasped for breath.

“Are you both alright?!” Tails exclaimed.

“I believe so. That was…” Shadow wheezed, “…not a source of Chaos energy I have ever sensed before.”

Knuckles beamed. ��I am in contact with it now, though, and I think I can find it! Thanks, Shadow!”

The android struggled to meet Knuckles’s eyes. “Well…of course. Anytime.”

“A new source?! Do you think you could direct me to it if we were flying in my plane?” Tails asked excitedly.

“I think I could!” Knuckles stood up from the sofa, a determined look in his eyes. “Let’s go find the thing that’s giving me weird dreams so I can sleep normally again!”

Shadow laughed quietly, shaking his head. “Only you all would have to hunt down a mysterious energy source because its mystical dreams were disturbing your sleep.”

“Well, it’s not going to hunt itself!” Sonic declared. “Alright, guys, let’s do it to it!”

Everyone stared at him blankly.

“Uh, I was just—I was trying a new thing.” Sonic stammered, explaining quickly. “Audiences said they wanted us to be a little more genuine, so I thought I’d give it a go, and—you know what, let’s just go find this weird energy thing!”

[Cut to Tails’s plane, carrying all six heroes as it flies over the ocean.]

“It should be coming up on our left now!” Knuckles shouted, trying to make himself heard by the entire team over the roar of the propeller. Tails quickly banked to the left, soaring downwards and coming in for a smooth landing on the beach of the island that Knuckles had indicated.

Once the echidna had hopped off the biplane, however, he froze.

It took a moment for his friends to notice that he was standing stock-still, staring into the jungle beyond the yellow sand of the beach. Amy walked up to him, giving him a concerned look. “Knuckles? Is everything alright?” she asked gently. Knuckles blinked rapidly, before looking down at her with a stunned expression.

“This…this is the island where I grew up.”

“WHAT?!” everyone collectively shrieked, staring at him incredulously.

Knuckles grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “First my gliding, then this…I guess I forgot to tell you guys a lot, huh?”

“I knew you grew up in the wild like me, but on another island? How’d you even leave?” Sticks asked.

The echidna shrugged. “I didn’t originally mean to—I just went out on a raft one day trying to catch fish, but a storm blew in suddenly while I was out on the water. When I woke up, I was on Seaside Island, with no idea how to get back. And as much as I wanted to, once I met you guys, well…that started to seem less important.”

“Aw, Knuckles, that’s so sweet!” Amy latched onto his arm, her eyes wide and sparkling.

Tails flew over to him, hovering around excitedly. “Does this mean we’re gonna get to see the village where you grew up?”

Knuckles sighed, his mood suddenly much lower. “As far as I know, there’s nobody else on the whole island. If I had a family, I don’t know who they are—I hatched alone and learned to survive that way, too.”

Shadow walked up to him, giving him a sympathetic look. “I am glad you survived. It’s incredible that you were able to do so, and the world would have been at a loss had you not.”

The echidna had a small smile on his face at that. “Thanks…” he muttered, half to himself.

“And hey, that doesn’t mean you can’t show us around the place where you grew up! I want all the secret Knuckles lore!” Sonic added, shooting his friend an encouraging smile.

Thankfully, Knuckles perked up quickly and began to lead the way forward into the trees. “Let’s go check it out!”

After some navigating through the jungle, the six emerged into a clearing surrounding a massive mountain that soared up through the clouds, around which were clustered a variety of buildings. All of them were at least two stories tall, bolted into the side of the rock and made largely of intricately carved wood. Outside each one, a knotted rope hung from a hook, with different patterns of knots for each individual house.

“I used to live in this one here.” Knuckles explained, gesturing to the largest building there was. The building was marked above its door with a classic diamond-cut jewel symbol in green pigment. It was twice as wide as most of the other houses and rose eight stories into the air.

Tails whipped out his Miles Electric and began to scan it immediately. “This is a marvel of architecture! I’ve never seen wooden structures of this height before on Seaside Island, either Ancient or modern!”

Sticks frowned. “Hey, Knuckles, do you still feel that weird energy?”

The echidna jolted back to attention, having briefly been lost in his memories of the island. “Oh, right! Yeah, I do—I think it’s inside the mountain, just like in my dream! I can’t actually dig into it, though, it’s made of solid rock.”

“Well, maybe there’s an entrance somewhere?” Amy mused, eyeing the rock in front of her thoughtfully. “There’s a gem painted on the front of that building, so surely they must have known about the existence of powerful crystals, if nothing else.”

“Hey, lil’ bro, I know you’re all hyped about this village, but you think you could spare your scanner for a sec to find us a way inside this mountain?” Sonic asked, tugging playfully on Tails’s shoe—the only part of his brother he could reach, since Tails had started flying in excitement some time ago.

“Sonic!” the fox whined, shaking himself free and landing a safe distance away. “Of course I can!”

He held the Miles Electric up, scanning the general area. “Ugh, there’s so much ambient energy here, it’s making my screen glitch out really badly!” Tails called, frowning at it—

—and then nearly dropped his screen when the glitching stopped entirely.

“Um.” he added nervously. “…thank you? To whoever…or whatever…fixed that?”

The entire team shared wary glances.

“Sooo, if I can still trust this to be even remotely accurate, it says there’s an opening on the roof of that tall building that Knuckles used to live in.” Tails said.

“Nice one, pal!” Sonic zipped over and ruffled Tails’s hair, making the fox yelp and bat at him in an attempt to get his brother to release him once again.

Quickly, the entire team scaled the house, using their various skills. Amy hammer-jumped to get herself to the second level and clambered up from there, while Sonic just sped directly up the mountain alongside it. Sticks climbed the structure with ease, Knuckles punched his spikes into the rock of the mountain, and Tails, of course, simply flew all the way up (stopping to rest once). Meanwhile, Shadow actually ascended through the inside of the house before teleporting through the roof.

[Please envision a cross-section of the house with all of this happening at once for the desired effect.]

Once they were at the top, Shadow scrutinized the mountain’s face skeptically. “That…doesn’t look an awful lot like a door, I’m afraid.”

“Maybe Knuckles has to be the one to open it?” Amy suggested.

The echidna placed the palm of his hand hesitantly against the rock…and nothing happened.

“I’m sorry, guys, I really thought it was up here!” Tails’s ears drooped unhappily at the thought that he’d led them wrong.

“No, I can feel it stronger through here—I’ll try again!” Knuckles insisted. He pushed both his palms fiercely against the side of the mountain, willing it to move as powerfully as he could.

And with that, a circular outline flared green around where he stood, before receding outwards into the mountain…leaving an empty, pitch-black tunnel beyond.

“Well, that certainly isn’t a safety hazard.” Shadow muttered.

Sonic smirked. “Just ‘cause you don’t have special light-up gear doesn’t mean you’ve gotta be nervous, Shads—we’ll keep you safe!” As he spoke, his bandages and bandana lit up, and the other three with glowing gear did the same. (Meanwhile, Sticks pulled out some of their bioluminescent paste and smeared that onto their face, arms, hands, and legs.)

Shadow stared at Sonic unblinkingly for a long, uncomfortable moment. Silently, he held up one hand, palm up, and let golden Chaos energy blaze to life around it.

“Hmph. Show-off.” the blue hedgehog muttered, rolling his eyes.

“Let’s just get in there, alright?” Amy sighed, pushing past them both and into the cave. “We’re here to help Knuckles, not inflate either of your egos any more.”

The rest of the team filed into the cave behind her, walking one by one down the path. Between the six of them, there was more than enough light to see by. It illuminated all the walls of the cavern…as well as the split in the path up ahead.

“So which way do we go from here?” Sticks asked, frowning at the two different tunnels.

Knuckles closed his eyes for a moment, doing his best to focus. “I think we go…left.”

“I trust you, pal.” Sonic patted his forearm briefly, turning to go the way he’d suggested.

“Can you really feel the source of all that energy?” Tails flew up to hover alongside Knuckles as they continued down the path. “What’s it feel like?”

“It feels sorta…comfortable? But also lonely, I think.” the echidna explained, before stopping as they reached another junction, this time with three pathways. “Uh…center this time.”

The caverns continued in a similar manner, branching and diverging in various ways, with Knuckles leading them through all of it. At one point, once they’d been walking for quite some time, Amy spoke up hesitantly.

“We’re sure this energy thing isn’t just leading us in circles, right?” she asked, smiling nervously.

“I don’t think it would do something like that.” Knuckles spoke with surprising confidence despite his low volume. “Something like this…I think the people who made these tunnels knew it needed to be kept safe. If it really is as powerful as it seems—y’know, with all the causing dreams and fixing Tails’s scanner—then it’d probably be pretty bad if someone like Eggman got his hands on it.”

There wasn’t time for more than a second or two of silence before a green light began to shine from the end of the tunnel, immediately drawing everyone’s attention. Amy shook her head wryly. “I’ll admit it. I was wrong to doubt you, Knuckles.”

The team rushed forward, eager for some freedom from the dark, cramped tunnels. Quickly, Knuckles entered the chamber beyond—only to stop short, causing everyone behind him to slam into his back and then sprawl all over the floor. As they began to get up, in various states of grumbling and collecting themselves, they all froze and stared in awe alongside him at the place they’d found.

A massive cavern soared over their heads, formed entirely out of green crystal. Huge gem stalactites speared out from the ceiling, while the floor was polished and smooth. Various ledges were present at different heights along the walls, which formed a near-perfect circle around the jewel-like floor. And within every single facet, an otherworldly green glow shone, casting all of the heroes in its own color.

“Whoa, Knux…what is this place?” Sonic breathed.

But it wasn’t Knuckles who replied.

“Chaos,” Shadow swore. “It’s the Master Crystal!”

#sonic boom #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #miles tails prower #knuckles the echidna #amy rose #sticks the badger #sonic boom: ancient secrets #sol's fanfiction #the second part will be posted tomorrow!! we're so close to finishing this story entirely :O #i edited this chapter to 'red hot skull...for red mountain' if that interests anyone #it's so exciting to almost be finished--i have so many new ideas that are just dying to be written

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