Something New

[Alpha Omega]

[Oh jeez. For some reason, I thought we were waiting on Mogul. Sorry, I'll make my post when I get home toniggt.]

[Zyra Zteller]

Zyra could do nothing short of snorting when Mammoth mentioned rejoining the Zone Cops. "Are you kidding? What part of 'locked me in jail' did you miss?" She waited for him to finish talking, needing to think a little bit about his assessment.

"Well, I wasn't able to make any sort of connection to the database. It may just be this Zone, or it may have been Eggman Nega's attacks. I didn't have the chance to check before I left. As for them 'being out of play,' I can't say. I don't know just how much of the Cosmic Interstate was destroyed. Could have been just my luck to be standing on the one bad spot, or the whole shebang could be gone. There's no way of knowing until I can browse the database or find a way back."

[Mammoth Mogul]

"Nevertheless, for now it seems that we might be able to count their interference out of the equation for now. As you said, perhaps only a portion of the grand cosmic highway has been destroyed, but given what has transpired, even if they are not gone completely, they will have far greater priorities to attend to in their own zone to dedicate man-power on patrolling others." Mogul said as he glanced conspiratorially out the corner his eyes onto the streets beyond the window.

"Which brings us back to your present lack of employment. Despite my limitless power, I cannot always accomplish everything by myself. Normally I am patient enough to attain all that I need myself, but, time I fear is limited. I could use an individual with your skills. Someone who can move about more easily than myself and capable of special missions. I can promise you rich rewards for your services. Interested?"

[Zyra Zteller]

[Been more than a week, so skipping Sonic + Tails]

She first mumbled something about changing the definition of "limitless," but then crossed her arms, and looked down into her own lap. She sat like this, pondering the offer at hand.

"Rich rewards, huh? I do enjoy rich rewards. And, since I have no idea what happened, or where I am, and most importantly, nothing better to do, I guess we can make some kind of deal. Plus, if even an ancient furball like you says time is limited, SOMETHING must be going on. So yeah, I'm interested."

[Mammoth Mogul]

A large grin spread out from behind his thick trunk at this news. "Excellent. We can work out the remainder of the details once we arrive at my new estate. In the meantime, I think it only fair that I fill you in on the present situation."

Mogul leaned back into his limo's seat, apparently getting himself comfortable for what likely would be a long explanation. "First and foremost, the reason your Zone Cop data base is malfunctioning is because there has been a catastrophic convergence of the very space-time continuum. Entirely different zones, alternate realities and time-lines have either merged together into this single, amalgamated whole or seemingly vanished out of existence.

Take a look outside for instance..." Mogul urged, waving one of his large hands out the window towards the city outside. As Zyra would see, while much of the city looked as expected, here or there, an entire sky-scraper stood with one side exposed as though some titanic sword had sliced cleanly through the building.

"Outside Solenna, the city we are presently in, the perplexing disturbances only become more bizarre. Half cacti, half pine trees growing on a solid granite boulder. People from the past, present and future of entirely different realities mingling amongst each other. The only small comfort appears to be that there are no two same individuals. If it were, there might be a dozen different versions of Sonic the Hedgehog running around, and I'd likely never have any piece."

"I do not yet know the cause of this dimensional merge, but whatever titanic event caused this, the Chaos Emeralds are at the root of it all. Something of such devastating proportions caused the Chaos Emeralds to shatter; and subsequently shattered fabric of space and time itself.

To make matters worse, even this patchwork existence is unstable. People and the very surroundings have simply sprung out of nowhere, or vanished without a trace. If this continues, what's left of this world might with collapse and destroy everyone and everything within it.

That is why I need your assistance, Zyra. I need someone with your skills and abilities to help me hunt down the emerald shards and make them whole once more. Should the shards be combined with a dissimilar emerald shard by some unknowing half-wit, the chaotic backlash could rend our fragile existence to tatters.

[Zyra Zteller]

As Mogul began explaining what happened to this world, or rather reality, Zyra closed her eyes, for once not smirking. While she didn't much care for the other zones and their fates, she was, however, quite attached to her OWN existence, and if what Mogul said was true, it could end at any given second. She looked out at the city, flicking down her visor, and turning it on, hoping to see SOMETHING about all this, whether by simple analysis or by some miracle connection to the Zone Cop's HQ, but there was nothing, other than some size measurements, which meant next to nothing.

When she opened her eyes at the end of the explanation, she looked slightly annoyed, though at who, it would be hard to tell. "While I don't agree with the Zone Cop's use of dimensional travel, this is the kind of stupidity they're supposed to stop. Morons misusing stones that tap right into the forces of the universe. The shocks of those stupid rocks breaking must've spread from whatever world it originated in, and ripped through the Cosmic Highway. Once there, it was free to spread to EVERY world, and the ones with Chaos or Sol Emeralds probably picked up the resonations, and followed suit."

She was quiet for quite a long moment after, before coming to her final decision. "Yeah, this needs fixed. Knowing you, you're using this to further whatever goals you have, but you're a lot more agreeable to my methods and much more likely to let me have SOME fun. So I'll help you. But I'll also be keeping an eye out for some other way to fix this massive breaking, if only because I enjoy my life."

[Mammoth Mogul]

Ah, the persuasive power of self-preservation. Sometimes, even a crisis has it's own silver linings. However, the mention of these Sol Emeralds came as something of a shock to him. Could it be? Could there really be a rival power to the Chaos Emeralds that he, Mammoth Mogul, did not know of? This would bear further investigation. Fortunately, Zyra seemed to have a good grasp for these inter-dimensional nuances, so acquiring her skills and knowledge was truly a fortuitousness boon.

"Splendid, child. I suspect we'll need to discuss these Sol Emeralds you mentioned later in further detail, but that can wait for now." Mogul preened with delight, though towards the end he couldn't hold back from scratching his chin with thinly veiling interest.

"Now then, as it so happens, I have some... special operations planned for this evening. I've heard rumours that a museum in town has recently acquired some very... peculiar gems. You probably already know where this is going so, I'll leave you to plan things out with my associates. I give you full leave to do as you will on this mission, with two simple conditions. First, the recovery of these particular gems are paramount. Any other valuables you happen to acquire along the way are, of course, yours for the taking. All I ask is you focus on the main prize. Second you must take steps to ensure you are not recognized. A disguise, or mask... wearing your visor down perhaps. I can't be connected to any of this, nor may my presence and true identity be made known here yet. My associates are already painfully aware of the need for secrecy, so I fear I must impress it upon you as well. Any questions?"

[Tails]

Looking around, Tails noticed a flyer attached to a streetlamp. Upon closer inspection it was revealed to be a list of local tourist attractions. Listed were the obvious tours of many of the local landmarks, but what really caught the fox's eye was the museum advert. Particularly the section promising a new exhibit featuring gemstones. Coming to the conclusion that it would be time well spent regardless of the nature of the gems, Tails wandered off in the direction of the museum in hopes of arriving before it closed.


(Sorry that took so long. I kind of lost track of the turn order and figured now would be a good moment to jump back in and get the ball rolling for me and Sonic.)

[Sonic]

Sonic sped back to Tails' position, and he'd gotten a new look! He now had a brown scarf across his neck, a pair of sunglasses on his head, and sports tape wrapped around his wrists, gloves, ankles, and shoes. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Tails. Thought I'd try on a new look. What do you think?" (Yes, I gave Sonic part of his Sonic Boom redesign. He's still the game's canon Sonic though.)

[Stormer Aurion]

[From Princess Elise II Memorial Hospital]

Stormer walked out of the hospital doors and into the streets of the City of Light. He looked around at his new surroundings with a puzzled look on his face. He expected to see shiny metallic skyscrapers and roads made of pure water, but what he found was gray bricked roads, a few canals at the underlevels of the city, and no skyscrapers at all. "Hmm. I've never been to Soleanna before, but I thought it'd be more high tech than this. Just what the heck is going on here?" He walked toward the nearby museum, and caught sight of a blue hedgehog and a yellow two-tailed fox. "Wait a minute, that's Sonic the Hedgehog! I remember reading about him and his adventures in the history books! But shouldn't he be dead by now?" Stormer, being a fish out of temporal water in this situation, was very, very confused at that moment. "Something really weird is going on here, and I need to get to the bottom of this mystery!" Stormer ran toward the Blue Blur, determined to ask him just what's going on.